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As the plan is sprung Jacinth grips her sap tightly in one hand as she hustles forward, circling around from the north. Considering that two of the men had already fled screaming and another was out on the ground at William's feet, she really doesn't anticipate needing to get violent herself - but it couldn't hurt to try and spread out a bit on approach, right?
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Both Jacinth and Uther quickly grab the opportunity of the confusion to move forward to close in on the Aspis members.
The remaining archer is starting to understand that the ghostly invasion might have been a distraction but he would still need sometime to shake off the shock of the vision when he awoke. He hurriedly studies each of the approaching Pathfinders, but not being able to see Lumo clearly, decides to focus his attention on the armored paladin. He quick nocks an arrow and fires at him. Unfortunately, his hands are still unsteady and the arrow flies up into the branches, disappearing into the darkness.
Just then, a dog-sized lizard leaps out from the carvan. It has two horns on its head and green scales that crackle with sparks of lightning. Its snarls in the direction of the Pathfinders and races across the forest floor towards them.
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"That ain't gold!" Uther shouts out a little unnecessarily as the lizard leaps from the caravan. Pretty sure that the lizard won't cause his comrades much trouble other than blocking their path, he decides to take on the archer. Uther jumps out from behind his tree and makes a b-line for the rudely awoken guard. At the price of a saw forearm from the twanging string, he deliberately draws his bow in a manner that'll make the arrow fly with a severe wobble, hoping to hit the man in the chest with more of the shaft than the tip.
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Lumo, normally a cheerful fellow, looks downright giddy when the lizard leaps out. "Gorum has blessed us with a honorable fight. Come here shocky! " Lumo drops his sap disdainfully. From his back scabbard he reaches for his Earthbreaker. "Short range lightning, Tellerin? Smart man, you are! "
His hand moves to the wooden shaft of his Bec De Corbin. He pulls it out and shifts it in his hands so the spike is facing out. The blade shines silver in the light of the fire. He takes one step toward the lizard and swings from a distance.
Tellerin also recalls that the creature is immune to electricity.
Although Uther's shot is significantly better than his previous one, the archer is nimble on his feet and sidesteps the arrow just in time.
Tellerin moves forward but stays out just outside the light cast by the campfire. William circles around the shocking lizard and closes in on the archer.
Lumo with great glee whips out his long polearm, and swings down onto the lizard. The spike puncture deep into the back of the creature and it screeches in pain, lighting arcing around it. Amazingly though, it remains on its feet.
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As Jacinth comes around the tree, the appearance of the shocker lizard catches her momentarily off guard but then she quickly rallies. Dropping her sap she draws out her longbow as she circles around, having decided that this new arrival changed the game plan just a bit.
She stops and aims, loosing an arrow at the lizard...
...and swears loudly as she hits a nearby tree, instead!
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Nigel moves closer to the battle because he realizes how far away from his allies he is. Hoping that Christina disappearing will play into the fear of what is going on, Nigel begins to pull his favorite monster into our plan. As an eagle enters our world, Christina starts to vanish. Sorry friend... Not how I pictured this going.
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As Christina gets hit, the gravity of this prank sets in. I don't understand, I play pranks on people and Nigel often and no one has ever responded so poorly. I don't think I will be able to carry on. As that thought crosses her mind, she feels the pull back to her home in Nigel's mind. Thank you, friend .
The eagle flies in from its home plane and heads straight for the enemy lizard. It attempts to bite at it.
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Jacinth fires an arrow at the lizard, but the flickering light of the campfire throws off her aim and the arrow sticks into a nearby tree instead. Nigel, fearing for his faithful Christina, returns her back into her native plane, and gets ready to summon more help.
The archer steps back away from William, and fires another arrow at him. However, despite the disappearance of the otherworldly "ghosts", he still fails to recover his wits fully and again, the arrow simply glances off William's armor.
The lizard scampers closer to Lumo and from the horns of its head releases a bolt of lightning which zaps into him.
With his Christina safely out of the way, Nigel can now focus fully on the battle. He quickly bringing into existence a celestial eagle, which soars over to the lizard. With a mighty blow, the eagle drives its beak down onto the creature, tearing a large gashes across its head. The lizard is not looking good.
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William hisses as the arrow misses him narrowly and has to suppress cold rage that screams for him to rip his greatsword out and finish this archer. With death in his eyes he stares down the archer, growling out.
"Your doom approaches."
But better sense prevails and he forces his bloodlust down and calmly steps forward and lashes out with his sap once again.
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Uther curses as another of his arrows misses it's target, These blunt ones will take some getting used to! Instead of throwing more gold to the wind, he decides to cut off the archer's escape. He hustles up behind the archer, drawing a dagger as he goes, "I admire your courage, son, but it's time to drop your weapon. You're the last man standing, and you're surrounded, there's no dishonour in surrendering now."
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William swings his sap at the ranger with deadly calmness but the nimble back sidesteps just in time to avoid the blow. But William's overwhelming aura puts nonetheless lays fear in his heart. Nonetheless, he yells at Uther with defiance in his voice, "Surrender to bandit scum? I think not! I have my duty!"
Lumo takes another step back, and swings down the business down of his weapon upon the back of the lizard. This time, it pierces right through its backbone. It struggles weakly briefly, then lays still for good.
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Tellerin allows his silent image to dissipate as it seems to have done its job. Instead he moves in quickly towards Jacinth to be in position in case anything else unusual happens.
More unusual than a shocker lizard being kept as a pet in a wagon, at least!
He hisses out "Uther, Will, I'm going to secure our prize! Shout if you spot anything!"
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With the lizard disposed of and only one guard remaining, Jacinth readies another arrow and trains her bow on him.
"Nothing personal, friend," she says, a hint of apology in her tone. "Stand down and stay still, please. We'll be out of your hair in a few moments."
If the guard moves to make a violent attack on William or Uther, Jacinth will try to shoot him in the leg as a warning.
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His preliminary work done, Tellerin dismisses the illusion and dashes forward towards the centre of action. Jacinth, seeing only one combatant left, warns him to stand down, training her weapon on him.
The ranger nonetheless appears defiant and still seems intent to keep fighting to drive away who he thinks are bandits, and starts to raise his bow. Suddenly, though, a raspy voice calls out from the west. "Pull back!" The ranger thus withdraws from combat towards that direction.
That same raspy voice calls out one word, "වෙබ්!" And suddenly the area around Uther, William, Tellerin and Jacinth is filled with thick binding strands of web, criss-crossing across the trees and ground. At the same time, a man in red robes appears in the west in the dim light of the campfire, waving a wand in your direction!
Web creates a many-layered mass of strong, sticky strands. These strands trap those caught in them. The strands are similar to spiderwebs but far larger and tougher. These masses must be anchored to two or more solid and diametrically opposed points or else the web collapses upon itself and disappears. Creatures caught within a web become grappled by the sticky fibers. Attacking a creature in a web doesn’t cause you to become grappled.
Anyone in the effect’s area when the spell is cast must make a Reflex save. If this save succeeds, the creature is inside the web but is otherwise unaffected. If the save fails, the creature gains the grappled condition, but can break free by making a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check as a standard action against the DC of this spell. The entire area of the web is considered difficult terrain. Anyone moving through the webs must make a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check as part of their move action, with a DC equal to the spell’s DC. Creatures that fail lose their movement and become grappled in the first square of webbing that they enter.
If you have at least 5 feet of web between you and an opponent, it provides cover. If you have at least 20 feet of web between you, it provides total cover.
The strands of a web spell are flammable. A flaming weapon can slash them away as easily as a hand brushes away cobwebs. Any fire can set the webs alight and burn away one 5-foot square in 1 round. All creatures within flaming webs take 2d4 points of fire damage from the flames.
Web can be made permanent with a permanency spell. A permanent web that is damaged (but not destroyed) regrows in 10 minutes.
The eagle sees a new opponent and flies over as fast as it can.
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Jacinth swears loudly as the web springs up all around her, sticking to her arms, legs, body, and her bow. She struggles mightily, trying to free herself...
...and manages to do so. Turning, she tries to make the few steps needed to get clear of the thick webbing...
...and promptly gets trapped again!
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Tellerin manages to avoid the initial expansion of sticky webs, but finds the world around him transformed into a nightmarish landscape of gooey strands. He spots a less dense area to the north east.
This does NOT seem like a varisian trade caravan!
Tellerin tries to push to safety outside the web, but finds his going gets tough almost immediately! Before he can move more than a foot or so he gets tangled in sticky fibers. His further struggling only gets him more stuck.
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Uther attempts to rap the archer over the head with the pommel of his dagger as the man falls back, but is too slow and only hits air, "Ha! I'm beginning to like you, you have the heart of a lion." He says as the man withdraws to the mage's side.
"Woah, were'd he come from?" Narrowly dodging the webbing, Uther whispers a short prayer to the Lucky Drunk, and runs through the sticky and difficult terrain without even looking at his feet. His luck holds out and miraculously he treads on nothing that would slow him down, or trip him up.
Without having to worry about his footing, Uther dodges through the webs with ease. He decides that to go after the leader and rushes to surround the wizard before he can cast again.
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Uther swings the pommel of his dagger at the ranger, but he held back to not cause lethal damage and his target dodges the attack easily. Then the whole world turned white and gooey.
William, Uther and Tellerin manages to quickly step aside from the extending lines of web, but Jacinth gets caught. William ducks down his head and bashes his way out of the field of web. Uther summons the divine assistance of his god and deftly weaves his way out of the web, closing in rapidly onto the spellcaster. Being at the edge, Tellerin hops out of the webbed area. Jacinth manages to squirm her way out of the strands that hold her fast and similarly leaps out.
Meanwhile, Nigel, his sumoned eagle and Lumo take the long way round to close in on the remaining two enemies.
The ranger seeing Uther close in on his employee, turns to fire upon him. With almost supernatural grace, Uther ducks out of the way of the arrow. The ranger quickly draws further away, fearing William closing in.
"You useless mercenary! I paid good money for you! Do something!" the robed spellcaster yells at the archer, clearly desperate after seeing how the "bandits" escaped his web so easily. Seeing how easily Uther escaped the bonds of the web, he chooses a different tactic. Taking a step back and pulling out a scroll at the same time, he reads aloud from it, "වළකින්න!" Suddenly, a 10x10ft pit appears under Uther's feet!
You create a 10-foot-by-10-foot extradimensional hole with a depth of 10 feet per two caster levels (maximum 30 feet). You must create the pit on a horizontal surface of sufficient size. Since it extends into another dimension, the pit has no weight and does not otherwise displace the original underlying material. You can create the pit in the deck of a ship as easily as in a dungeon floor or the ground of a forest. Any creature standing in the area where you first conjured the pit must make a Reflex saving throw to jump to safety in the nearest open space. In addition, the edges of the pit are sloped, and any creature ending its turn on a square adjacent to the pit must make a Reflex saving throw with a +2 bonus to avoid falling into it. Creatures subjected to an effect intended to push them into the pit (such as bull rush) do not get a saving throw to avoid falling in if they are affected by the pushing effect.
Creatures who fall into the pit take falling damage as normal. The pit's coarse stone walls have a Climb DC of 25. When the duration of the spell ends, creatures within the hole rise up with the bottom of the pit until they are standing on the surface over the course of a single round.
The eagle will make a small swoop in to bite and claw at the mage, but not to kill him.
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Stumbling back out of the thick webbing, Jacinth turns and begins crashing through the undergrowth as she circles around the northern wagon and hops over the nearby fallen log. She skids to a stop next to Tellerin, thankful to finally be able to see what's going on.
"Seems like you all have things well in hand," she huffs.
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William finally pushes through the vegetation to reach the spellcaster, and likely the leader of the caravan. He swings the sap at him, but the blow is deflected by some magical barrier that surrounds him. That's when William noticed that the ground he is standing is sloping down towards the pit!
Uther, again with remarkable grace coming from a large man, leaps away from the put just in time, daashing towards spellcasting and grabbing him in bear hug. "Let go of me, you oaf!" Nigel's summoned celestial eagle take the opportunity to tear into the restrained man. "Aaahhh! Get away, you stupid bird!"
Meanwhile, Lumo, Tellerin, Jacinth and Nigel close in.
Knowing he can't do much about Uther, he waves his wand at the other approaching "bandits" and again, thick strands of web appear, this time around Lumo, Tellerin, Nigel and Jacinth. "Get rid of this ape!" he yells at the ranger.
The archer, seeing his employer grappled, steps out into the darkness and fires at Uther, hoping to get him to release him. However, he once again proves rather ineffectual, even against someone who is quite distracted at this time.
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"Blathering blatherskite!" Jacinth hisses as she finds herself once more trapped by thick webbing. She struggles mightily against the webs...
...and manages to break free! The elven woman immediately makes a beeline towards the edge of the webbing...
...and gets stuck again.
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Gathering his footing on the treacherous ground, William raises his sap once more, ignoring the warrior priest's pleas for lethal weapons.
"Bah, he has only used nonlethal spells this far, I will return the favor."
To the mage, "This would have been easier if you just ran away like a good little mage"
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"Ha! I'll take that as a complement, apes are creatures! Brave and strong..." Uther bellows as he continues his struggle to restrain the wizard, "But enough monkey business! Drop the wand and call off your guard, no one has to get hurt... More than they already have."
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The blast of webs flies out. Ugh! I finally move my stubby little legs over here and he pulls this on me! That being said, he manages to dodge the webs but he is surrounded. Well... maybe... I can take out the bow man at least from here.
He looks at the bowman, creates the familiar loop with his arms of conjuration but but the words are different and the way his hand is are different. When he finishes the incantation, a glob of grease flies from his loop landing on the longbow of the archer.
Nigel is afraid to move because from here, he can cast spells, if he gets grappled, he can not.
Knowing the eagle can not do nonlethal damage, it will hold of on making an attack. I agreed with the paladin we wouldn't kill anyone unnecessarily on this raid.
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Tellerin freezes in place as a new set of webs expands around him. Not again!
Very carefully and slowly he weaves his way out of the web and to the west. As he does he says "I'm starting to want to toss this guy in his own web and see how he likes it!" He looks back over his shoulder "Its going to be a nightmare to get the wagons free..."
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Jacinth unfortunately finds herself caught once again by the web. She manages to squirm herself free but she barely takes a few steps before finding herself trapped again. Tellerin and Nigel fares better. Tellerin with great dexterity manages to weave his way through the field of web without getting caught. Nigel, through the mass of web, catches a glimpse of the ranger. He summons grease to coat his longbow. The ranger, however, has quick reflexes. He notices what Nigel is trying to do despite the cover and yanks his bow away just in time. The grease scatters harmlessly onto the floor instead.
William avoids falling into the pit right at the edge of his feet, but the treacherous footing makes his sap swing go wild.
Uther continues his wrestling moves on the spellcaster, restraining him even further by wrapping his arms tightly across his body, such that he is not even able to raise his wand any longer. He wriggles desperately to break free but Uther holds firm.
Seeing himself being surrounded, he finally realises that to keep fighting is futile, and changes tack. He falls to his knees (or as much as Uther allows him to) and yells out a snivelling voice, "Oh might bandi... uh... I mean heroes from... from.. from wherever you're from! Please take the gold! Take my belongings! You have proven your prowess! But please don't hurt me! I wouldn't hurt a fly!" Calling to his hired guard, he commands, "What are you doing! Drop your weapon! Surrender to your betters!"
The ranger looks hurt by this. "You're not paying me enough to join you in this," he spits out in disgust. He looks with some concern at his fallen companion, but seeing way to rescue him, turns and flees into the darkness.