Attacking:
Both Idris and Axe stop bleeding out, after which Axe becomes conscious again. Ama attacks the bandit next to her and cuts away some of his clothes. Almalik sits up and starts reading a book, to relax some of his nerves. Fish moves forward in chase of the fat man and attacks him, creating some gashes on him.
Defending:
The fat man starts casting a spell (defensively) and a fizzling sound is heard. The man now has a panicked look on him.
The bandits still in the towers keep shooting at the white wolf, two of the arrow hit him.
The bandit next to Ama attacks her again and hits her twice, forcing her to the ground.
The white wolf runs to Ama and attacks the bandit. He manages to hit him but the bandits manages to wriggle free before he is tripped.
Combat round 5:
- Almalik 4/23 (DR)
- Fish 15/28hp
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris -2/31hp
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31 (DR)
- Ama -2/24hp (prone)
Combat round 6:
- Almalik 4/23hp (DR)
- Fish 15/28hp
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris -2/31hp
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31hp (DR)
- Ama -2/24hp (prone)
In bold may act!
Axe pulls out a vial, and prepares to apply it to his fallen comrade. "Axe!"
"Stay with me, buddy! You're gonna make it!"
Fish continues to press his attack on the fatman.
Almalik hops to his feet and rushes over to the side of the white wolf.
Ama swings her nodachi at the enemy that just hurt her badly. Her blade speeds up a little during the attack, and deals just a little more damage than it normally would.
Ama then 5-foot steps northeast, and gives the white wolf a nod with her head. "Now we can flank him!"
Attacking:
Nagbur brings Ama back to half health and Fish keeps harassing the fat man. Almalik gets up and makes a move towards the camp. Axe tries to aid Nagbur by shoving a potion bottle in Idris's mouth, forcing the potion down. Ama swings her sword and hits the bandit.
Defending:
The archers continue to attack the white wolf, this time only a single arrow pierces his skin. He slowly begins to look like a pincushion.
The bandit with the chain keeps his focus om Ama and hits her twice, the hits leave behind small cuts.
The fat man takes a step back and points at Fish, releasing a ray of fire. The ray hits him and leaves a nasty scorch mark.
The wolf snaps for the bandit's neck again but misses.
Combat round 6:
- Almalik 4/23 (DR)
- Fish 15/28hp
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris -2/31hp (Prone)
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31 (DR) (Prone)
- Ama 9/24hp (DR)
Combat round 7:
- Almalik 4/23hp (DR)
- Fish 4/28hp
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris -2/31hp (Prone)
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31hp (DR) (Prone)
- Ama 9/24hp (DR)
In bold may act!
"Axe!"
Axe then stands up.
Awakening to the sight of a hairy half-giant man leaning over him with all to intent interest wasn't exactly the way Idris preferred to rise. Still, it beat the alternative of never rising again all to hell. His body felt broken, bruised beyond any good sense, and not in any fit state to continue. He'd been that way before, of course, and had managed to get this far, so it must suffice. He pulled a healing potion of his own from a pack and quaffed it before standing.
Grabs his weapon and moves against a fort wall for cover.
Almalik quickly rubs his hands together, and throws them up. Billowing fog peals out to cover the area!
Fish follows the man into the building. "NO MORE FIRE!" he shouts at the fat man before clawing and tail slapping the caster.
Nagbur frowns at the chain-wielding man. Reasoning that Ama going down hurts everyone's chances due to loss of Fey amplification, he reaches out and touches the bandit.
Ama feels herself wobble on her feet and decides to not take any unnecessary risks. She focuses on her own wounds and significantly speeds up the rate at which her own body heals.
Ama then 5-foot steps into the fog, to give the bandit with the chain a disadvantage if he tries to hit her again.
Attacking:
Axe and Idris heal up and prep to go back into the camp. Almalik covers the camp in a cloud of mist, obscuring view for near everyone. Fish, unhampered by the mist, claws at the fat man again and brings him ever closer to death. Nagbur sucks the life out of the bandit hidden in the mist, causing him to bleed and Fish to heal up.
Defending:
The scout in the guard tower comes down and moves towards the white wolf. The bandit in the other tower does the same and strikes with his chain at the wolf, but misses.
Ama sees the scout come out of the tower and is distracted if only for a fraction of a second. The bandit already next to her trikes in this moment and hits her.
The fat man takes another step back and yells at Fish.
With saying that he takes another step back and releases a wave of fire from his hands. He sets half the room on fire and nearly sets Fish on fire as well, but only leaves another nasty scorch mark on his body.
The white wolf swirls around and attack the bandit that came from the tower. The mist clouds his vision and he misses.
Combat round 7:
- Almalik 4/23 (DR)
- Fish 12/28hp
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris 8/31hp (Prone)
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31 (DR)
- Ama 15/24hp (DR)
Combat round 8:
- Almalik 4/23hp (DR)
- Fish 6/28hp
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris 8/31hp (Prone)
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31hp (DR)
- Ama 15/24hp (DR)
In bold may act!
Smirking over his successful attack and relieved to see Idris up and about, Nagbur does a quick health scan across his collective. Sensing Almalik is closest to death, he uses his amplified wand again to help him.
Idris stood and loped towards the communal brawl in the center of the watchtowers. He came up behind the white wolf, just in time to see the creature hit by a few more blows.
"Axe!", yells Axe as he moves around the corner and, finding a bandit, swings at him hard!
Fish closes the gap again, trying to end his fight with the fat wizard.
Nagbur heals Almalik back up whilst Idris joins the melee again. Axe walks in the mist and hacks away at the bandit he encounters, downing him. Fish slashes again with his claws and the fat man looks extremely nervous. He begins sweating very badly and falls face forward to the ground.
Combat round 7:
- Almalik 4/23 (DR)
- Fish 12/28hp
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris 8/31hp
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31 (DR)
- Ama 15/24hp (DR)
Combat round 8:
- Almalik 13/23hp (DR)
- Fish 6/28hp
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris 8/31hp
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31hp (DR)
- Ama 15/24hp (DR)
In bold may act!
Fish slumps down next to the fallen fat man, struggling to catch his breath. "Fish very very tired."
I will carry Fishy!
Almalik lets out a groan of relief as he feels his burn wounds heal up. He raises his hands, and the mist vanishes.
"Should have done that earlier," he muses as he sees the archers engaged in melee.
"You fools, your leaders are dead! Surrender!"
Ama 5-foot steps back to her previous position.
"Surrendeeeeer!" she yells at the bandit next to her, while not giving the bandit a chance to do so by immediately swinging her blade.
Attacking:
Almalik releases his spell and the battlefield becomes visible again. Ama, whilst Almalik releases his spell, swings and sees a small cloud of smoke drift by. Being distracted very fast she misses.
Defending:
The bandit immediately acts when the mist lifts and nearly downs Ama again. The wolf attacks the bandit and downs him with a single bite. The scout retaliates pokes his rapier in the wolf's ribs, leaving a small puncture wound.
Combat round 8:
- Almalik 4/23 (DR)
- Fish 12/28hp (Fatigued)
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris 8/31hp
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31 (DR)
- Ama 2/24hp (DR)
Combat round 9:
- Almalik 13/23hp (DR)
- Fish 6/28hp (Fatigued)
- Bandits
- Wolves (hp see map)
- Idris 8/31hp
- Nagbur (DR)
- Axe 8/31hp (DR)
- Ama 2/24hp (DR)
In bold may act!
Seeing as the end of battle is close, Ama ignores her wounds and swings her nodachi at the remaining enemy.
Ama chops down the last man standing. You stand on the, now empty of enemies, battlefield. Two wolves dead and one near death on the ground near the gate. The white wolf moves over to the unconscious wolf and nudges him, trying to wake him up.
"Can you help him?"
He asks softly.
Around you are the corpses (unconscious bodies) of 6 scouts, 4 bandits and the two bosses. The insides of the houses remain unexplored.
Scouts (bandit):
- Studded leather armor x6
- Buckler x5
- Composite longbow (+1 str) x1 with 12 arrows
- Rapier x5
Bandits (highwayman):
- +1 chain shirt x4
- +1 spiked chain x4
- masterwork composite longbow (+1 Str) x2
- Arrows 21
- cloak of resistance +1 x4
Boss melee (sellsword):
- cure light wounds x2
- +1 breastplate
- +1 heavy steel shield
- +1 bastard sword
- cloak of resistance +1
- 40 gp
Boss wizard (Battle mage):
- Potion of invisibility
- wand of magic missile (CL 5, 33 charges)
- 20 gp
Idris moved from body to body, verifying that they were dead and removing items of interest. He pocketed one of the curatives from the boss, and tossed the other to Axe, replenishing their stocks. He pointed at the pile of cloaks and pulled at the collar of the one he now wore. "These seem useful, no?"
"Shall we see what is in the buildings? Once you heal the wolf, I mean. I am assuming that we are all friends now, yes?" He said the last while staring at the white wolf.
"No kill them!" Nagbur shouts to Idris, "Nagbur drain what they gots left for us!"
"You okay for justly now, yes Ama? Let Nagbur down quick!" He hops from her backpack at the first opportunity and trots over to the remaining wolves. Approaching cautiously, palms forward, eyes glued to the white wolf he says, "Nagbur sorry no could help during fight, no link mean have to touch. Me touch now, okees?"
Kneeling next to the downed wolf, he gently places a hand on him. After a moment he nods and looks up at the white wolf. "Muchly hurt and knocked out, but be okay soon."
He closes his eyes for a moment...
... and the wolf stirs. "Shh, no no, stay still, stay quiet yet." He closes his eyes again.
"Okay, go slow first, you be muchly weak," the blue says as he stands and moves to check on the other downed wolves. After a time he comes back to the white wolf and shakes his head sadly.
"Nagbur sorry, some way powerly healer maybe is help other wolves, but me no so good as that yet." He places a hand on the white wolf to check its wounds. "You hurt too but be okay if rest."
He moves around to the front and looks the animal directly in the eye. "Wolf. Nagbur muchly sorry you lose pack members, maybe friends, maybe family. You no had to fight with us but did anyways. Was big fight, prolly we die if not. Thank you."
He gives the white wolf a solemn head bow, then turns his attention to healing the others.
GM, I'll assume he can pull 7 HP from one of the downed baddies. If that's not the case, let me know and I'll mark off an additional wand charge.
Doing Idris first since he has to be handled differently.
Idris now 14/31, Stinky 14 NL.
Idris now 19/31, Stinky 19 NL.
Manifesting Steal Health against one of the baddies. Stinky gains 7 HP.
Idris now 25/31, Stinky 18 NL.
Idris now 30/31, Stinky 18 NL.
Using the Amafier method for remaining heals over links.
12 to Almalik (topped off), remaining 2 HP to Axe (now 10/31)
11 to Axe (21/31)
10 to Axe (topped off), remaining 2 to Fish (8/28)
10 to Fish (18/28)
10 to Fish (topped off), remaiing 3 to Ama (5/24)
Ama, I have no idea if this works the same on you as it does when shuttling to others, your special abilities are like magic to me (hah)! I'll assume it does, let me know if not.
8 to Ama (13/24)
9 to Ama (22/24)
2 to Ama (topped off), remaining 6 to Stinky (12 NL)
Almalik groans, collapsing from the exertion and his injuries. From the ground he glares at Ama with a look of open hostility, but keeps his mouth shut. After a while, he silently gets to his feet, and starts searching the bodies.
The wolf nods.
"We are pack."
He glances back at his to other dead pack members.
"My old pack no longer."
After a short pause, the wolf seems deep in though, he continues talking.
"We follow you. We rid of old pack and then we track you."
Almalik keeps himself busy with the loot and finds almost all the armor and weapons are magical, though not high level.
"These were some astonishingly well-equipped brigands," he mutters, gathering the weapons and armour into a pile as he looks at the slaughter inflicted by his party.
"What a pathetic waste of life. Why did they fight to a man?" Shaking his head, Almalik turns to the wolf.
"Your pack fought bravely, we are honoured to have you follow us."
Once the valuables are massed, Almalik will do another search of the buildings in the encampment for other objects of interest.
Fish has curled up and is taking a nap inside the building with the fat mage.
"Axe! Aaaaxe!", the large man smiling at their victory.
"We pack brothers! Tooth and steel, puppy and man, working together!"
The pile of loot begins to grow and slowly you it begins to dawn that it is still a large task to get everything back to the camp. Inside the camp you find nothing of special value, some general household items and poorly made training swords. The boss's quarters hold some maps of the area but nothing else.
The white wolf in the meanwhile goes to the two dead wolves. He grabs one by the gruff of his neck and starts dragging the body away into the forest. His friend slowly follows with the other dead wolf.
Almalik breathes as he sees the incredible wealth the group has accumulated, completely forgetting the wolves.
"All right, maybe this was worth risking our lives for. Let's get back and give our workers - and ourselves some rest before we finish this damn road."
Once the loot has been accumulated he makes his way back to the camp, hopefully with the rest following.
You head back fully packed, taking twice as much time as you normally would. Whilst heading back through the forest the workers come out of hiding and join you on the walk back, taking some of the load. When back you take some well earned rest at a nice and warm campfire.
The workers seem relieved that the bandits have gone, they now seem ready to finish the road.
Several days of small bridges, lots of rain, a broken down cart, slippery slopes and grumpy workers pass before you reach you end destination. You manage to do the job just in time, with only an hour of two to spare. At the end of the road someone is waiting for you, the small and timid woman beckons you to follow and to leave the supplies behind.
Compared to the village you started in this village is a lot smaller. It only takes a short walk for you to reach your destination. You enter a somewhat house, more luxurious than the others, and are met by a stately looking figure.
"Welcome to my humble abode! I see you finished the job you were offered, and that our trusted employees remain unharmed. I want to thank you for your services. Has everything gone as planned?"
Ama picks her longbow and arrows up on the way back to the camp. She immediately heads toward the workers.
"There were bandits," Ama tells the woman, "but we took care of them. They are no longer a threat."
Almalik interjects.
"There was a large, fortified encampment. These bandits were organized, well-funded, and armed with magical weaponry. Without the incredible amounts of additional help we received we, and your workers would be dead. The danger for this mission was severely understated. That said, the camp has been completely wiped out, ensuring that future travellers on this road are safe. I believe we are entitled to additional pay."
Idris hung back, not originally part of the construction crew, but still having done his part of the assault ont he bandits and the defense of the workers. not to mention all of the stone he had lifted. When Almalik got to the part about payment, Idris straightened and made a face that clearly said "yes, I believe money was involved".
Nagbur nods. "Well funded," he says, mimicking Almalik's words. "Nagbur think you got muchly bigger problem than bandits only. Somebody be bankrolling this. We kill all now-bandits yes, but whoever gots money pouch prolly be hiring more, then road not safe again. You need put on guards or find who gots money." He makes a finger-drawing motion across his neck to show what he thinks should be done with said person.
"We gots new wolf friends now, maybe they help keep road safe if we ask nice."
The white wolf trailed behind you during the trip, mostly taken to himself. When you entered the village he disappeared.
"It has become more quiet lately, that explains a lot."
He replies to Ama and Almalik.
"Magical weaponry you said? "
The man seems to be thinking to himself, softly muttering. He glances at Nagbur and seems to reach a decision.
"I will have the servants ready your reward momentarily. Thank you for you wolf guard offer, but we rather take care of such things ourself. We will start a research on the bandit supplier though."
He stands from his chair and motions for the door.
"I need to think on this, please leave me. The servants will be with you shortly."
Several minutes later two servants carry in a heavy looking chest containing roughly 1200 gold.
Almalik rubs his hands together, his foul mood after the battle having brightened considerably for the greedy arcanist.
"Excellent. It is important to know your worth. I believe we can consider this a job well done. That said, Ama - if you attack a fortified bandit encampment before we discuss strategy again I'm going to turn you into a radish."
He looks to Idris and Axe.
"You've been an invaluable help. I think we can get you regular employment at the guild - the work pays exceptionally well, but is as dangerous as what we just went through. So far we've travelled to multiple fascinating locales and have overcome some truly strange, and infuriating obstacles."
He then looks to Axe.
"Axe axe axe axe axe axe. Axe axe axe?"
"I studying have been you now speak. Good this what?"
"Fish glad that over. Boring watching for bandits all day." The kobold then holds up the wand they found. "Also Fish found his own magic stick."
-Posted with Wayfinder
"But I was shooting arrows at them, to lure them out!" Ama replies to Almalik.
"Hmpf, you should've just stayed in the bushes with me..."
Ama's takes her share of the 1200 gold pieces, and is soon after distracted by the wand Fish holds up. "What's that do?"
"I don't know about 'invaluable'. How bout we start with a fair share of the loot, and work our way up from there? Still, your offer does hold some interest for me. I think it may be time to slow the random wandering for a steady income and motivation once more."
"Yay, Fish! What it does?"
Nagbur turns to Axe and Idris. "Almalik be right. Nagbur glad you on our side in fights. This be work what means something, and plus is free food!" His stomach growls at that, and nothing else in the world matters until he's retrieved a jar of gnarly pickles from his backpack and is munching away. A puzzled look crosses his face. "What me was saying? Oh. So you two be joining up?"