A second spear would surely have transfixed Bahram's heart, but instead glances off his armour of invisible arcane force, merely causing him to stagger back a pace or two (as much from the shock as from the impact).
AHH MR.BAHRAM! Lavender shrieks, then giving a sigh of relief. I-I think it is time to s-stop these guys in their tracks... Lavender says with a quiver in her voice.
Initiative
Ok, Since the gnolls are charging, lavender does the following...
If the gnolls are close enough together, she casts grease at their feet, stoping their charge, and hopfully knocking them prone.
If she cannot get both of them with grease she tries her color spray since it has a wider area.
If she cannot get them both in color spray's area, she then casts grease on one of their weapons, hopefully causeing it to drop.
She then moves to get cover or if not at least higher ground. Both if possible.
Rashid eyes the rather irate Div-in-sack warily.
"Drowning it would take far too long; it would probably be able to get out of the sack long before that..."
Instead, Rashid wrestles the sack to the ground, and holds it in position for Keldar.
"Smash it!"
'Let us dance, you an I...'
"You want to stick me with that stick or your dick? Dance? Who says that?" Yousef snorts in gnoll.
From behind Yousef comes Zaina's small voice,
'Please, Master Yousef,' she pleads, 'you have to wish it!'
"S!@%" in orc. Then in Katapesh, "Zaina, I wish you would provide some distraction for that gnoll on the exact opposite side of him from me while buzzing him a bit to aid my ability to hit him real hard. Thank you."
Then after she presumably moves into position and does her thing, Yousef moves to attack the gnoll with his spear one handed while digging in his pocket with his other. "Just kidding!" he shouts in gnoll before whacking at his head with a beer bottle.
Once the Div has been dealt with, Rashid will turn to Keldar and comment:
"With things like that floating around, perhaps we had better check on our companions?"
He will then grab his scimitar, and hustle out of the cave in the direction of the 'observation' post...
R
Instead, Rashid wrestles the sack to the ground, and holds it in position for Keldar."Smash it!"
hold it still , ok here goes picks up club and swings two handeds with it
extrs d6=3 for critso 2d6+6 nets me total of 9
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Gnoll chow:
Pleace play nice mr. Dicey...
:,(
Ducking behind the cover of a nice big rock, Bahram's hand erupts with an impressive display of elemental might... a display which flies wide of his targets... The gnolls only howl and grin in response as they charge...
... Lavender's backing off even as she casts her spell. It's touch and go for a moment whether she'll finish casting before the charging gnolls reach her... but she incants and gestures quicker than ever before, as if her life depended on it (which, after all, it probably does). At the last possible moment, the rocky ground in front of her is washed with grease - as if someone had kicked over an invisible urn - and the gnolls charge straight into it! One looses his footing completely: skidding, tumbling, bouncing off a rock as he flies past Lavender, then rolling in the dust as - with a howl of surprise - he skips over a ridge and starts a rather terminal fall down the side of the mountain!
The second gnoll fares better, controlling his slide through the grease and continuing his charge without skipping a beat. Lavender can feel the creature's hot, fetid, breath on her ankles as she flees from him, scrambling up a rocky ridge... and barely manages to pull her legs up and out of the way as - with a gutteral growl - the beast swings a powerful blow with his scimitar at her, narrowly missing to, instead, send sparks flying as his metal sword glances off rock. Staring for a moment after the half-elf, the gnoll's gaze quickly whips round to fix on Bahram... a snarl on the hyena-man's jaws quickly forming into a predatory smirk...
More gnoll chow:
"You want to stick me with that stick or your dick? Dance? Who says that?"
'Oh,' retorts the gnoll as he and Yousef warily circle each other, 'I'm sure I'll find all sorts of uses for your corpse once I've finished you off...'
"Zaina, I wish you would provide some distraction for that gnoll on the exact opposite side of him from me while buzzing him a bit to aid my ability to hit him real hard. Thank you."
'Wow!' Zaina exclaims, 'That's a really specific wish, Master Yousef... I'll see what I can do...'
... Zaina circles (wide) around the gnoll to get on the opposite side of him from Yousef...
"Just kidding!"
The gnoll (sparing no more than a contemptuous glance at the tiny genie as she passes him) lunges at Yousef as he sees what he thinks is an opening... only to yelp as the half-orc swings the beer bottle - which shatters across the gnoll's hastily raised shield! Snarling gnollish obscenities, the hyena-man strikes back with a powerful horizontal slash of his scimitar... which Yousef dodges with a short backwards jump!
Behind the gnoll, Yousef sees that Zaina is weaving her hands through the air in complex, almost dance-like, gestures, as she speaks words which sound more like a whispering wind escaping her lips... Suddenly the gnoll stops, blinks, and looks around as if in a daze - still wary but, for the moment, seemingly unable to act...
A bag-o-div:
"Smash it!"
Struggling to force the bagged doru to the ground, Rashid manages to get it down, then keep it down by standing on the neck of the sack...
hold it still , ok here goes
... Hefting his spiked club with both hands, Keldar takes a generous wind-up, then smashes down the bagged div - there's a hideous crunching sound as something gives way, and the doru's curses become incoherant screaming! A half-dozen more goodly blows rained down on the thing cease the yells... and soon reduce the contents of the sack to pulped ooze...
"With things like that floating around, perhaps we had better check on our companions?"
Leaving the (quite dead... if not, indeed, over-killed) doru, the two dwarves hasten to join their friends...
'Oh,' retorts the gnoll as he and Yousef warily circle each other, 'I'm sure I'll find all sorts of uses for your corpse once I've finished you off...'
"Well now you're just making me unconfortable." He looks at his shattered bottle and drops it. "You broke my bottle. Grabbing his spear now in both hands he thrusts it.
Then he bends over and picks up a handful of dirt while the gnoll is still dazed.
'Wow!' Zaina exclaims, 'That's a really specific wish, Master Yousef... I'll see what I can do...'
"Well, you know...wishes and stuff. Would hate to be misunderstood. Great job with that spell. I wish you would keep up that sort of thing!" He winks at her.
... Lavender's backing off even as she casts her spell. It's touch and go for a moment whether she'll finish casting before the charging gnolls reach her... but she incants and gestures quicker than ever before, as if her life depended on it (which, after all, it probably does). At the last possible moment, the rocky ground in front of her is washed with grease - as if someone had kicked over an invisible urn - and the gnolls charge straight into it! One looses his footing completely: skidding, tumbling, bouncing off a rock as he flies past Lavender, then rolling in the dust as - with a howl of surprise - he skips over a ridge and starts a rather terminal fall down the side of the mountain!
The second gnoll fares better, controlling his slide through the grease and continuing his charge without skipping a beat. Lavender can feel the creature's hot, fetid, breath on her ankles as she flees from him, scrambling up a rocky ridge... and barely manages to pull her legs up and out of the way as - with a gutteral growl - the beast swings a powerful blow with his scimitar at her, narrowly missing to, instead, send sparks flying as his metal sword glances off rock. Staring for a moment after the half-elf, the gnoll's gaze quickly whips round to fix on Bahram... a snarl on the hyena-man's jaws quickly forming into a predatory smirk...
Poping her now safe head out from behind her cover, with a sinister sneer, a newer string of arcane words come tumbling out of her mouth.
Lavender cast's Daze on the beast! if this seems to work she attepts to find the beast's spear.
Watching the gnoll in disbelief as skids past and tumbles down the mountain Bahram flinches as he hears it's screams, 'Ouch.' Turning back to see the other murderous gnoll coming for him Bahram scrambles to keep the rock between him and it. "Die beast!" he says through clenched teeth as he unleashes another bolt at it.
ranged touch ,
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Gnoll fight 'A':
Yousef thrusts with his spear but, even dazed, the gnoll seems perfectly capable of defending himself, and turns the blow on his shield... although being dazed does prevent any more 'witty banter' from the hyena man...
"Well, you know...wishes and stuff. Would hate to be misunderstood. Great job with that spell. I wish you would keep up that sort of thing!"
'That's two, Master Yousef,' replies Zaina, 'I'm not sure Master Bahram will be pleased if you use them all up...'
Still, she holds forth her tiny hands... and a crackling bolt of lightning erupts from them! The bolt arcs to the gnoll for a moment, causing bright blue sparks to dance across his chain armour as he howls in pain, fur standing on end and smoking as the scent of burned dog-hair fills the air...
As Yousef scoops up a handful of dirt the gnoll blinks a couple of times, his sense seeming to return, snarls at Zaina as he spits out obscenities in gnollish, then tightens the grip on his scimitar as he turns to face Yousef once more...
Gnoll fight 'B':
Advancing on Bahram with menacing and deliberate steps the gnoll raises its scimitar high... then stops, blinking and drooling a little as Lavender's cantrip takes effect!
Seizing his opportunity, Bahram leaps back and unleashes another devastating lightning bolt! Devastating if you're an innocent scrub bush about two feet to the right of the attacking gnoll that is, otherwise... not so much... ;)
Run, Forest, Run!:
Hurrying towards the 'observation post' as fast as their stumpy little legs can carry them (so... not very fast at all...) the two dwarves can make out the vague crackle of lightning bolts being hurled about (willy-nilly) from that direction...
Yousef tosses the dirt towards the right side of the gnolls face, hoping he will dodge left.
(sigh) This is taking forever... and at this rate Bahram is bound to get hurt... bettery try to lockdown his offence...
If the scimitar is the only meele weapon the gnoll seems to have left, she coats it in a nice fine layer of grease. If there are obviously more weapons at the beast's desposal she instead decided to try her hand at frying it.
Ranged touch:
Damage:
The gnoll does indeed dodge left, easily avoiding the thrown dirt... just as Yousef wanted!
Yousef just circles his opponent, waiting for an opening.
'Dung!' Braham spits as another bolt flies wild. Deciding to take a different tactic he throws his hand at the gnoll, causing a burst of light to flare before his face, and turns to the cliff and follows after Lavender to cover.
Seeing the lightning show in the distance, Rashid gives a sigh.
Young people these days. Honestly, you leave them alone for five minutes, and they manage to get themselves into trouble...
Shaking his head, he calls over his shoulder to Keldar:
"We need to hurry! The youngsters appear to be in a spot of bother; I just hope we can get there in time..."
He then continues to power along as fast as his legs can carry him...
equip shield, grab club and follow
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Half-Orc Vs Gnoll... Fight!:
Sneering at what he obviously believes to be an attempt by Yousef to blind him with thrown dirt, the gnoll lunges with his scimitar but stumbles as he does, being easily side-stepped by the nimble half-orc and throwing himself off-balance...
As the gnoll stumbles, Zaina unleashes another crackling arc of lightning, which strike the gnoll's back, causing the creature to howl in pain once more as he's showered in electric sparks and greasy black smoke (not to mention a smell something akin to a barbecue) begins to seep from under his chain shirt...
A Glorious Lightshow!:
The gnoll throws his shield up as Bahram begins casting his cantrip - obviously expecting more lightning (and, not knowing about such things, expecting that his shield would help him...). A moment or two after the blinding flash of light erupts the gnoll peers out from behind his shield, glances about as if looking for evidence of having been blasted, then just shrugs...
... Then howls as Lavender's bolt of lightning, for a brief moment, joins her fingers to the gnoll's back with a twitching ragged line of bright blue-white...
... Steaming (in the sense of being angry... as well as the more literal post-lightning sense), the gnoll growls, sees Bahram scrambling to climb the rock where Lavender found shelter moments before, but then spots that Lavender herself has slipped off and is now standing by his discarded spear . Uttering something (probably nothing nice) in gnollish, the creature charges the half-elven woman, swinging his scimitar... which Lavender barely manages to duck!
Hi-ho!:
Scrambling over rocks Rashid and Keldar finally catch sight of the action in the distance: they see a bright flash of light near a scimitar-wielding gnoll who ducks behind his heavy wooden shield, even as Bahram runs round him and starts to climb a big rock... then a crackle of lightning as Lavender blast the gnoll - which charges her, scimitar swinging... but seems to miss as she ducks!
Half-Orc Vs Gnoll... Fight!:
Sneering at what he obviously believes to be an attempt by Yousef to blind him with thrown dirt, the gnoll lunges with his scimitar but stumbles as he does, being easily side-stepped by the nimble half-orc and throwing himself off-balance...
"Well you win some and you lose some. Looks like this wasn't our lucky turn." philosophizes Yousef.
As the gnoll stumbles, Zaina unleashes another crackling arc of lightning, which strike the gnoll's back, causing the creature to howl in pain once more as he's showered in electric sparks and greasy black smoke (not to mention a smell something akin to a barbecue) begins to seep from under his chain shirt..
"Oh, stinky!" He says in gnoll, then in Katepesh. "Great job Zaina! Awesome. Let's see if I can bring this to an end."
"Guess not."
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Gnoll al-la Zaina:
Even off-balance the gnoll manages to bring his shield up to deflect Yousef's rather obvious spear-thrust... but Zaina's next lightning-bolt is again on the mark: the gnoll howls one last time as he goes stiff as a board and keels over to crash, unmoving, to the dirt - little arcs of electric blue dancing over him for a while in fizzes and pops. The tiny genie grins at Yousef,
'Is that the sort of thing you had in mind, Master Yousef?' she inquires... then yelps and ducks behind the half-orc as an arrow whizzes past her - the gnoll atop the tower has (now the melee is over) resumed firing!
"Awe Hellll-NO!" Yousef shouts at the gnoll after Zaina yelps. He then hefts his spear, takes a couple steps, and hurls it at the gnoll.
Then he leans over and picks up the gnoll, hefting it over his shoulder. "Sorry bub, but you got some armor I need badly." Then he scoops up the spear that the gnoll dropped and runs as fast as he can while carrying a body.
'Ooh! COME ON!' Bahram spits in disbelief as he sees Lavender now exposed to the gnoll. Steeling himself he takes aim, again, at the gnoll and lets loose another blast of lightning before jumping down again.
Ranged Touch ,
Acrobatics
Lavender lets out an Eeee... as she wheels back from the swunging blade. She narrows her eyes at the gnoll. This needs to end now, before someone gets hurt! Namely ME!
Lightning bolt:
Damage:
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Run Away!:
Yousef's hurled spear falls short of the fort but the defiant act makes him feel better anyway. As he shoulders the gnoll, grabs the spare spear, and starts to run he hears Zaina's strange breeze-like words again... Turning he's just in time to witness what he can only describe as a wall of thick black smoke, maybe forty feet long and ten feet high, rise up out of the ground at the tiny genie's behest, cutting off his view of the fort and the tower!
'Maybe we should hide, Master Yousef?' suggests Zaina as she floats over to hover by his head as he runs, 'I don't think my smoke will last long... and you are very sneaky!'
Girl Power:
'Ooh! COME ON!'
Having not yet made it up the rock Bahram doesn't need to jump down, but does blast the bejesus out of the ground a half-dozen feet behind and to the left of the gnoll...
This needs to end now, before someone gets hurt!
Stepping back, Lavender shows Bahram the concept of accurate aiming - her blast of lightning discharges dead centre into the gnoll's chest (of course, she is at point blank range... ). The gnoll stiffly jiggles as Lavender's elemental power flows into him, his fur standing on end and smoke seeping from under his chain shirt. As the flow of power ceases, the hyena-man slumps... but doesn't quite fall!
Obviously staggered, the gnoll drools (even more than these guys usually do) and sluggishly advances, his shield slipping off his dragging arm even as he somehow finds the strength to once more lift his scimitar... the last ditch effort comes as something of a shock to Lavender, as the gnoll seems to expend all his remaining strength to score a telling blow - the curved blade powers past the invisible armour surrounding Lavender's body and buries itself painfully into her left shoulder!
... However, the effort proves too much for the gnoll: he snarls a mocking grin, then his eyes roll up, his jaw goes slack, and he collapses, unconscious and dying, into the dirt.
Yousef pants as he drops the body behind some rocks, taking advantage of the black smoke. The he dives at the body, ripping off the chain shirt and, if time permits, puts it on himself. "Pew!" he complains. "But better than my poor hide and these fine rags."
Lavender wrenches back placing her hand over the bloody cut. When the beast falls she removes her hand and stares at the blood drenched mess upon it.
hurry my friend, our friends need us
Seeing Lavender's blood gives Bahram a start. Rushing to her he starts fiering questions and remarks in rapid succession. "Princess! Are you all right? Your bleeding! Did he hit you hard? Blasted gnoll! He was just to quick for me! He seemed to dodge all my attacks the viley thing. Come! We need to have you looked at! Can you walk? Let's find the dwarfes! They can heal! I'm so sorry. I never should have made you stay. Attacking the gnolls was a stupid idea! I know nohing of combat. What was I thinking!? I could have gotten you killed! I'm so sorry. Here let me help you." fussing over her he will attempt to get her back to camp.
wakes up tired and grumpy. nods to others and finds a quiet place for meditation. torag is too beasy so acually communes with the great forge of creation and its relation to the world. dream keeps distracting so takes alittle longer to commune. thanks the forge for the aditional spells to fight the destructive forces all around.
since resting today take 3 goodberries since last 2 days. cast them on berries from patch. 2d4=;2d4=;2d4=
here my friends, these will nurish you and heal some of your wounds. think should hold them for tomorrow though. should stabilize someone if they go down. though will probably have to help them eat it, maybe like the moma bird does for baby bird. shrugs shoulders and walks off to study the cave better,as if were to mine it.
didnt specify how divided, but figure 3 each to none dwarves and 2 for us since we can cast healing
Seeing Lavender's blood gives Bahram a start. Rushing to her he starts fiering questions and remarks in rapid succession. "Princess! Are you all right? Your bleeding! Did he hit you hard? Blasted gnoll! He was just to quick for me! He seemed to dodge all my attacks the viley thing. Come! We need to have you looked at! Can you walk? Let's find the dwarfes! They can heal! I'm so sorry. I never should have made you stay. Attacking the gnolls was a stupid idea! I know nohing of combat. What was I thinking!? I could have gotten you killed! I'm so sorry. Here let me help you." fussing over her he will attempt to get her back to camp.
Lavender stares, blinking at Bahram as he goes on... She fishes out three berries and eats them, Gahh! Bitter! and stands up as Bahram goes to help her up. Thanks Mr. Bahram, but I'm fine, look the cut is already healed! The thing just surprised me with its last attack. She says, the cut, healed over, but a nasty purple bruise still lingering there. Gods it hurt, but she refused to let that knowledge show on her face. Lets, gut the thing before it regains conscious and take it's weapons while we can. She says as she makes her way over to the downed gnoll. burp! E-excuse me...I feel really full all of a sudden... She says as she thinks that eating all three of those berries at the same time might not have been the brightest idea.
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Stripping the corpse:
Yousef quickly pulls the (rather ragged, but still perfectly functional) chain shirt off the dead gnoll. By the time he's got it on himself (and adjusted the armour and his clothes a little here and there for comfort and fit) he sees the last wisps of Zaina's smoke drifting past, having dispersed on the breeze. He also notes that the arrows have stopped flying, for the moment, which suggests that either the gnoll atop the tower has no idea where Yousef is... or that he just can't hit him when he's behind a rock... (although the guy seemed perfectly willing to take some pretty long range pot shots, so would probably be the sort to try indirect fire at Yousef if he did know where he was).
Hovering at Yousef's head-height Zaina asks,
'What now, Master? There's only...' she quickly counts off numbers on her fingers, then continues, '... eight of them left - if the bird was telling the truth. Do you wish to continue your brave assault? Or should we rejoin Master Bahram, the Princess, and their dwarf minions?'
Gutting the prisoner:
Feeling a lot better without a big hole in her shoulder (if a little bloated from scoffing three meals in one sitting!) Lavender kneels by the fallen gnoll. A quick look at him suggests that gutting him would only speed his demise, as without the attentions of a healer he's unlikely to last long - lightning burns under his armour and clothes have charred his flesh badly, and even his ragged breath smells of smoke. It strikes Lavender that, amongst the bits of bone and claw pierced through the gnoll's flesh, their are several rings and other items of pilfered jewellery he's 'wearing' as grusome trophies (most with little leathery bits of flesh still attached where they were ripped from their previous owners) which may actually be worth some coin. Apart from that there's the two spears the gnolls hurled, and this one's scimitar, dagger, heavy wooden shield, longbow, quiver (with a score of arrows), and chain shirt.
While Lavender examines the dying gnoll, and Bahram frets over Lavender, the two dwarves finally scramble over some rocks to come within shouting distance of the sorcerous pair.
Calming a little at Lavenders non-chalance Bahram just blushes at his outburst, feeling even more stupid. Eager for somthing else to do he looks over her shoulder as she bends overs the gnoll. 'Those look valuable.' he mutters at the gnolls trinkets. Muttering and gesturing his eyes, again, glow a faint blue as he looks through the gnolls possessions.
Scrambing over the rocks as quickly as his legs can carry him, Rashid grinds to a halt in front of Bahram and Lavender. He quickly looks them over,
and after determining that they appear largely uninjured, gives an exasperated sigh.
"I thought you were supposed to be reconnoitering, not engaging! What happened, and where is Yousef?"
He will spare a quick glance in the direction of the tower, and then hunker down behind some rocks.
"I think the element of surprise is long since gone. Perhaps we should just head straight for the tower, using the terrain to provide as much cover as possible?"
He then looks at the fallen Gnoll (and in particular its metal armor) with a calculating look in his eye.
"Of course, we can probably stop briefly to re-equip before the assault..."
Hovering at Yousef's head-height Zaina asks,'What now, Master? There's only...' she quickly counts off numbers on her fingers, then continues, '... eight of them left - if the bird was telling the truth. Do you wish to continue your brave assault? Or should we rejoin Master Bahram, the Princess, and their dwarf minions?'
"We make a great team, but I don't think we can take'em all on ourselves." He winks at her. "We should probably get back."
Yousef grabs the gnolls equipment and heads back to the cave.
"I think the element of surprise is long since gone. Perhaps we should just head straight for the tower, using the terrain to provide as much cover as possible?"
"We took two out out there," Yousef mentions as he points over his shoulder. [b]"And it looks like you managed to bag one as well. So that should leave only seven left. I saw a back way in. There is an archer on the battlements that likes to take pop shots, but he is looking this way. If we circle wide we maaaaybe will be able to get by without alerting attention. Here. I thought this might be useful." He holds out the wooden heavy shield and scimitar to Keldar.
Hovering at Yousef's head-height Zaina asks,'What now, Master? There's only...' she quickly counts off numbers on her fingers, then continues, '... eight of them left - if the bird was telling the truth. Do you wish to continue your brave assault? Or should we rejoin Master Bahram, the Princess, and their dwarf minions?'
"We make a great team, but I don't think we can take'em all on ourselves." He winks at her. "We should probably get back."
Yousef grabs the gnolls equipment and heads back to the cave.
"I think the element of surprise is long since gone. Perhaps we should just head straight for the tower, using the terrain to provide as much cover as possible?""We took two out out there," Yousef mentions as he points over his shoulder. [b]"And it looks like you managed to bag one as well. So that should leave only seven left. I saw a back way in. There is an archer on the battlements that likes to take pop shots, but he is looking this way. If we circle wide we maaaaybe will be able to get by without alerting attention. Here. I thought this might be useful." He holds out the wooden heavy shield and scimitar to Keldar.
thanks my friend equip new shield and scimitar
"And it looks like you managed to bag one as well. So that should leave only seven left.
Maybe six... Lavender says as she edges towards the cliff and pears over its edge to see if she can confirm a hopefully dead gnoll. I helped one over the...burp...cliff...
perception
Rashid strokes his beard thoughtfully.
"Well, if four of the ten have already been dispatched, that will make our job substantially easier. However, these Gnolls seem to be better equipped than the ones in town, so we should not be too overconfident.
I still recommend a careful approach, utilising as much cover as possible, to make targeting us with arrows more difficult, if nothing else."
He pauses for a moment, and then continues.
"We should probably keep an eye-out for other creatures as well; Keldar and I encountered a Div at our base camp..."
AH, a most foul beast it was. if we are to assult today I have but burning hands left
Rashid nods.
"I still have my full complement of blessings from the Dawnflower."
He then gives a wide grin.
"However, I also have plenty of scimitar to give to the Gnolls as well. Let's clear-out the remaining Gnolls now!"
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Examining the various 'trinkets' grusomely worn by the gnolls as trophies, Bahram assesses their value. Many are claws or fangs of various creatures, undoubtedly impressive to fellow gnolls as trophies of one's prowess, but worthless in the civilized world, but a few are choice items of gold or silver jewellery, some with semi-precious stones - a ring pierced through a collar here, a single earring pierced through a nipple there... it's a grizzly task retrieving the various items, but in the end Bahram harvests roughly five gold darics worth from the gnoll Lavender slew.
Bahram, unsurprisingly, detects no magic amongst the gnoll's possessions.
Cautiously peering out over the edge of the mountain, Lavender fails to see where the gnoll landed (it's rocky terrain, he could have bounced anywhere), but it's far enough down that he's almost certainly a goner... Unless he happened to have a ring of feather falling on him or something, but that doesn't seem likely.
Night's falling as the group follow Yousef's lead circling wide around the fort... which is likely a good thing (although gnolls can see in the dark, like dwarves and orcs, they can't see that far). As the last vestiges of sunlight fade from the evening sky, the flickering of camp fires can be seen from the direction of the fort and tower. The journey takes a while, but eventually the recently escaped slaves find themselves approaching a large breech in the side of the fort's outer wall, spotted by Yousef on his earlier reconnoiter. Even Bahram, being a visually impared human, manages the journey without recourse to illumination - the star and moonlight, as well as the aid of his night-sighted companions, sufficient to make sure he doesn't accidentally walk off the side of the mountain or anything...
Observing the fort the group can see two or three large bonfires in the courtyard at the front of the tower, as well as the flickering of lit torches from the windows of the tower itself. What seems to be a smaller campfire can just be made out on the roof of the tower as well. A half-hour or so's more observation reveals that three of the gnolls appear to be in the front courtyard (eating, drinking, and laughing... as well as, sort-of, keeping an eye out on the road up to the fort), and one's on the tower roof. If the raven's information was correct, that leaves two unseen - they could be inside the tower, or maybe off hunting in the dark. There appears to be quite a bit of rubble built up in the fort's courtyard, offering cover, but also offering a challenge to movement.
"They are going to be wondering what happened to their compatriots. I wonder if we could lure a couple out. I don't like the odds of six against us."
If we could get in close or if we lure them out together, I could try to knock them out with my color spray... Lavender says as she absent mindedly rubs her bad shoulder.
Rashid rubs his hands together in anticipation.
"Well Lavender, there are three gathered together around a bonfire; surely that would place them close enough together to be in range of one of your light shows?"
Regarding the one on the roof, whilst he can certainly take pot-shots at us, unless he plans to jump down, he should take a while to get to us.
That leaves 'only' two unaccounted for; hopefully, they will take a few seconds to realise what is going on, giving us time to deal with the three out front before they can come outside and engage us."
"It sounds like no time but the present. Take those three f!*!ers by the fire first. I got a longbow we can use to try to get the one up top. But the other two we want to get as well and not let get way."
Before we go, I can use ghost sound to maybe distract the guard up at the top, get his attention somewhere else so he doesn't spot us on the way to the other three. Any ideas of how to do it without him raising an alarm?
Just as we get into position to assault the Gnolls around the fire, Rashid will cast Virtue on himself and each of his allies , and then invoke the Blessings of the Dawnflower.
"I could produce a flash of light to go with the sounds. Maybee if we cast together we can produce the likings of an explosion or thunder?
Rashid shrugs.
"By all means, do so if you believe it is the correct course of action; it will certainly get everyone's attention!"
i can soften the three up with burning hands and have fire bolts that may reach the tower gnoll