Dregg works his jaw as he considers the map of the region he's been slowly assembling in his mind and how much time it will take to follow Arryn's suggested course.
Aramis raises her eyebrow to find that despite all of Dregg's effort to find the boots, he didn't even want them. With a snort she holds them out to Arryn and Isabella. "I've already got magic boots."
Since nobody else wants them, Arryn takes off his own boots and is about to put them on when he notices the smell. He holds them out towards Aramis, and says, "Would you mind using that little spell you have that cleans things on these? I think there's still part of the old owner inside."
Once they're on, he experiments with them. The extra movement puts him off balance for a bit.
Giving a mighty leap, one of the boots slips on a rock, but he still manages to jump 5 feet straight up into the air.
"Happy to oblige," Aramis replies, magically cleaning the boots and replacing the stink with the smell of cedar. "Enjoy."
She smiles happily, the simple cantrip having only made her skin take on a slight pallor for a few seconds. But, a few moments later she stares at her wrist with an inquisitive look. She rubs at her inner wrist for a few seconds, looks again, then frowns. With a shake of her head she shoulders her pack and gets ready to keep moving, apparently ignoring whatever had caught her attention. "You know where we're heading, Dregg?"
"Well, yeah, but we'd be tromping around for at least a week before we got back to that ravine if we check in on the others. I'd rather head back there now if we intend to clear out the hobgoblins and give the Ironfang Legion a kick in their stinky teeth."
"What's wrong?" Isabella asks, bluntly, having caught Aramis stare and rub at her inner wrist. "You got vines growing under your skin or something? That why you're turning green?"
"Okay, how about a compromise? Head to the ravine, but at least cross the path between the ravine and the caves and check for the trail of a large war party, just in case."
Looking at Isabelle, Aramis raises an eyebrow. "Vines? Gosh, I hope not." She chuckles. "That sounds unhealthy. But, my veins are weird." Holding up her wrists it's clear that her veins are, indeed, a dark green. "I feel fine." She adds hastily. "Maybe I'll make the time to worry when I don't."
Turning her attention to Dregg and Arryn, Aramis nods. "Sounds good, Arryn." She looks around...
"Which way is that..?"
Apparently Aramis still has no sense of direction.
You make your way back toward the caves, the tension melting away as you get far enough that you realize no war band has made its way toward the camp (unless they've planned far more stealth than you have reason to expect from the hobgoblins).
You make your way back toward the ravine, trying to decide how best to approach.
Arryn squats onto the ground and takes a stick to sketch a layout of the hobgoblin base.
”Here’s my plan. At night, we create a diversion at the barricade. While the knobs are dealing with that, I use my power to quietly lift Dregg and Isabella — probably one at a time — up to the top of the tower to deal with the sentry. With the sentry incapacitated, we can get a better view of the base and attack from the west unmolested.”
"Nuh-uh. If the tower's got more'n two inside, you'd be lifting us into a meatgrinder. Yes for the distraction, but after that we sneak up and shank 'em quiet-like. Don't let 'em get an alarm off."
”Maybe we can get close enough to see how many there are in the tower.”
”Oh.” Dregg offers flatly as the group outlines the plan. ”I was thinking I’d just, well, run up to the tower, climb it quick, and break whoever’s at the top.” He thinks back to the distance between the copse of trees they’d hidden in before and works his jaw. ”Yeah, I’m pretty sure I could make that in a count of three. Maybe four, but sneaking is good too, if we’re, uh, good.”
So we need a vantage point somewhere around 120-130 feet from the barricade for Arryn’s distraction, and close enough to the tower to bake a quick dash for it. And we want to wait for dark. Hobgoblins can see 60 feet in the dark, so if we stay out of that range, they’ll be as blind as we are.
So Isabella and Dregg are climbing the tower under their own power? What will Aramis do once the distraction has begun?
Before getting into the fight, Aramis uses a wand on herself, then casts a spell on herself, . Once it's time to get moving she's going to hurry under the tower and out of sight . She moves last since she knows the others are more important to get into a fight quickly.
With everybody ready, Arryn reaches out to lift a large rock. He prepares to hurl it at the distant barricade, but rethinks. ”Needs to be bigger.”
Dropping the rock, he looks about, stopping to stare at Dregg, when he gets an impish smirk. Arryn reaches both hands out, and debris begins to orbit around him, and the air around Dregg begins to hum. He doesn’t feel himself be lifted, however, and Arryn says with a strained voice, ”Dregg, could you move over a bit?”
Dregg hears one crack from behind him, then another, and the ground begins to rumble as a large pine tree behind him, about 75 feet tall, slowly works itself out of the ground and up a hundred feet into the air. The massive tree slowly floats until it’s above the barricade, losing a bit of height, until, in position, it drops fifty feet onto the eastern barricade with a thunderous crash!
”That should get their attention,” he says, swooning slightly from the released strain.
The tree rips free with a loud crack and then another tremendous crash as it flies over and drops on the barricade! Shouts of alarm -- and several canine howls -- rise immediately from the camp as Isabella and Dregg race for the tower, the half-orc easily outpacing the half-elf.
He makes it to the tower top, where he finds a pair of scouts. They pull axes and set to it, hacking at the sudden intruder in their midst. One manages to cut him while Isabella waits for him to clear the way.
Arryn reaches out, grabs Isabella and lifts her 30 feet up.
"G'day!" Isabella tells the hobs as she suddenly appears in their midst, and sets two with both blades!
Aramis hurries over to the tower after Isabella and Dregg.
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Dregg glances down at the wound on his arm, then looks up at the hobgoblin that struck him. "Heh. That's a cute toy. Scarvinious teach you to swing like that?" He smirks, then brings his own axe around in a tremendous flashing arc.
HP: 35/39 // Temp: 8/8
AC: 14 (10 T / 13 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +8/+4/+4
Rage rounds used: 1/8
Spell slots used
Level 1: 0/2
Bless (bead): 0/1
Cure serious wounds, remove blindness/deafness, or remove disease (bead): 0/1
-Ongoing Effects-
Rage: +2 to hit, +2 damage, +2 Will, -2 AC, +2 temp HP
Accurate stance: +1 to hit
Focus: +2 Str
Round 1
Isabella's blade cuts deep, and while she doesn't quite get it through the hobgoblin's chest, it seems to catch in its collarbone, leaving the soldier easy pickings for Dregg, who finishes him off with a blow that frees the half-elf's sword by splitting the enemy in twain.
The other blanches for a second but then snarls at Dregg and swings his own axe. It nearly cuts into the half-orc, but twists at the last moment as it catches Dregg's armor, leaving only a bruise.
"Scarvinious is the last thing you'll ever see, traitor!" he snarls. "You should have fought WITH us, not against us!"
Aramis climbs the tower!
"Blah blah blah, DIE," Isabella says as sbe whirls her blades at the remaining hob.
Arryn sneaks his way towards the tower.
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"Traitor? Me? Hah. You don't know a thing about me. I know something about you though." As Isabella slides her blade free, Dregg drops one shoulder and steps into the hobgoblin with a sudden rush, yanking back with one arm while rising stiffly with his leading leg. As the hobgoblin somersaults over the edge of the tower and falls to the ground in a heap in front of Arryn, Dregg looks down and finishes with a chuckle. "You're dead. Heh. Stupid-face."
HP: 35/39 // Temp: 8/8
AC: 14 (10 T / 13 FF)
CMD: 17
F/R/W: +8/+4/+4 (includes +2 from rage)
Rage rounds used: 2/8
Spell slots used
Level 1: 0/2
Bless (bead): 0/1
Cure serious wounds, remove blindness/deafness, or remove disease (bead): 0/1
-Ongoing Effects-
Rage: +2 to hit, +2 damage, +2 Will, -2 AC, +2 temp HP
Accurate stance: +1 to hit
Focus: +2 Str
Dregg's words prove prophetic, though he's not sure the hobgoblin wasn't already dead from Isabella's strike before it landed on the ground, passing Aramis as she ascends.
You find yourselves alone in the tower, though Arryn is still making his way there. From your vantage point, you can see a wide, open area makes up the center of the camp. A large fire smolders in a shallow pit. The bodies of skinned woodland creatures slowly roast on spits, filling the camp with a meaty smell. In the center of the camp, a wooden pole rises ten feet in the air. A red-streaked swath of fabric and a curved bit of bone covered in dried blood hang from the pole. You can see several cloth structures as well. The camp still appears to be in chaos -- more than a dozen goblinoids arming themselves as they investigate the tree dropped in their midst, plus several canines and a centaur -- but you don't think that will last long.
”I can continue to distract them, but it is draining,” Arryn says as he finally appears topside.
Dregg’s eyes narrow as they fall on the centaur. ”Yorc. He won’t get away this time.” The half orc frowns, then looks to the others. ”Any of those tents look like where you’d be if you were the boss of this?” He poses the question as he pats down the one sentry.
"I can start taking pot-shots from up here," Isabella offers. "Anybody got a little extra oomph for my bolts?"
”As soon as you start, they’ll know we’re here. A few might be stupid enough to try to climb up, but then they’ll just decide to burn us out. This isn’t really a secure position.”
Aramis shakes her head. "No. We can make this work." Looking at Isabella she adds, "If you start shooting, I can grease the stairs from the camp up onto the ridge. It might help slow them down."
"While you shoot..." Aramis grins. "Their tents look really flammable and I've got a few alchemist's fire. If I run along the northern ridge I could probably get both those tents over there alight. The big ones near the cliff."
"Then I'll hurry back to the tower. If it's going well we can keep fighting, I've got some spells to hinder them with -- and if not we can all hurry off once the camps on fire."
Without waiting for a reply Aramis turns and heads down the ladder on the watch tower.
From the base of the tower she casts a grease spell on the stairs leading down to the camp. Then she pulls out an alchemist's fire.
Aramis casts a second grease spell on the stairs then hurries along the northern ridge.
”I can throw those alchemist fires for you,” Arryn whispers at Aramis’ un-hearing back.
He shrugs and instead reaches out to grab a burning log from their fire (I did Pythagoras, and unless the ravine is 70+ feet deep, he can reach), which he then slowly floats over towards one of the tents.
”Payback’s a b itch!@ he mutters.
If any of them notice the floating fire, he makes it dodge about and pretend some invisible guy is carrying it.
Isabella looks at Aramis' retreating back -- and grins. It is a frankly disturbing sight. "Oh, yeah," she tells Dregg. "I like a scrap fine, but this? This is where I get to have fun. Keep the filth off my back while I make it rain, okay?"
The Half-Elf marches to a good vantage spot, lowers her goggles and unslings her crossbow. "Hey there, dobbin," she says as she slots in a bolt, spins the crank almost merrily, and opens fire! The first target is, of course, the centaur who tried to poison the team.
Eerily, after the second shot, Isabella starts to laugh. "Top of the world, Ma!" she shrieks, gleefully.
Before Isabella starts firing, Dregg looses the power within a bead hanging from a leather cord around his neck then hurries down the tower to take up a position at the top of the greased stairs. He dumps some oil over his shortbow then begins putting it to work as well, focusing his fire on Isabella's target(s) so long as he's able.
HP: 35/39
AC: 17 (13 T / 15 FF)
CMD: 18 ()
Rage rounds used: 2/8
Spell slots used
Level 1: 0/2
Bless (bead): 1/1
Cure serious wounds, remove blindness/deafness, or remove disease (bead): 0/1
-Ongoing Effects-
Rage: +2 to hit, +2 damage, +2 Will, -2 AC, +2 temp HP
Accurate stance: +1 to hit
Focus: +2 Dex
Bless (x/10): +1 to hit, +1 Will vs fear
Magic weapon (Bow, (x-1)/10): +1 to hit, +1 damage
Round 3
You quickly execute your makeshift plan, but it's not until Isabella manages to hit a hobgoblin that the camp seems to realize the source of the attack. Several of the goblinoids immediately start to surge toward the stairs, while a handful more pull out bows and return fire. One of the bugbears slip and fall on the stairs, but two others make it about halfway up. Meanwhile, their arrows all hit the ledge, which provides fine cover for you all, even if the heights alone weren't an advantage already.
The centaur retreats after the first bolt misses him, moving toward what appears to be a kennel.
One hobgoblin doesn't seem to be participating in combat, merely watching the others as the attack and defense unfold.
Aqua: 14
Arryn gathers power, and the tower begins to vibrate. One of the hobgoblins’ arrows comes loose from the ledge, and flies out at the magenta bugbear with great force.
Too great of force and it flies over the creature’s head.
Dregg frowns at how quickly the hobgoblins organized themselves, looks at his bow, and shrugs as he mutters to himself, "Well, crap. That was a waste of that magic oil stuff." He downs a potion then readies his axe, waving the nearest standing bugbear on the stairs to come challenge him. "You gonna come fight me or roll around in the muck like an idiot?" He thrusts his chin toward the watching bugbear. "You want to impress Scarvinious over there, don't you? Heh." He holds his scarred arms out wide and grins, "Here I am. Impress him."
HP: 35/39
AC: 17 (13 T / 15 FF) (includes +1 from Dex focus)
CMD: 18 ((includes +1 from Dex focus)
F/R/W: +8/+5/+4 ([smaller](includes +1 from Dex focus))
Rage rounds used: 2/8
Spell slots used
Level 1: 0/2
Bless (bead): 1/1
Cure serious wounds, remove blindness/deafness, or remove disease (bead): 0/1
-Ongoing Effects-
Rage: +2 to hit, +2 damage, +2 Will, -2 AC, +2 temp HP
Accurate stance: +1 to hit
Focus: +2 Dex
Bless (4/10): +1 to hit, +1 Will vs fear
Magic weapon (Bow, (3/10): +1 to hit, +1 damage
bull's strength (1/10): +4 Str
Aramis tosses an alchemist's fire down at the biggest tent then pulls out another one.
Before Dregg moves away, Isabella speaks an arcane phrase.
Isabella looks for any hobgoblin who looks like he's starting a competent ranged defense, and shoots at that one.
"You got those stinkers, right, green genes?" she calls to Dregg.
”Yeah! I got ‘em. If they’d quit tripping over themselves like a bunch of idiots.”