At least one was down, he advanced forward on the flank this time shooting at the orcs (pink)harrying the old man.
Cerian lands a solid shot on the pink orc...
getting closer you see the two orcs on the other side of the circle away from the party...they look familiar to you... you think they may be the two toughened orcs your group fought against at the dwarven ruins who fled...
The blue orc moves to attack Bonificious and comments about how when the dwarf dies the orcs will eat his corpse...
just missing the dwarf...
The purple and orange orcs move closer to the party...
The pink orc moves to protect the far left orcs and the brown orc manages to skewer the old man in the gut with his spear...
Combat 2nd Round
Cerian,
Orcs2
Alistair, Mogwag,
Orcs1
Victrix, Bonificious
Alistair makes a beeline for the dark blue orc, telling the story of how orcs were made, mixing pig blood with pure elves.
Round 2
Mogwag will 5ft step behind the dwarf in order to strike at the orc that in fighting Alistair
Current AC 21
Mogwag misses with both of his attacks as he discovers Alistair is jumping around in front of the orc while singing...but that jumping paid off as Alistair strikes the orc...
One of the far left orcs starts chanting and casts a spell on the pink orc who begins to get taller and taller and taller and then the casting orc points to the party...
Combat 2nd Round
Cerian,
Orcs2
Alistair, Mogwag,
Orcs1
Victrix, Bonificious
Victrix steps over the dead orc before her and bears down on another, swinging her axe like a maniac!
Of course, swinging like a maniac doesn't do much for one's accuracy.
Surrounded by orcs the dwarf happily smashes his hammer in the cyan orc.
Victrix steps over one dead orc to get to another which illicites an AoO upon her...
...
And the female Suel misses with her attack...while the dwarf also misses his attack... most likely to Alistairs prancing around which may have nudged his arm in during the swing...
Combat 3rd Round
Cerian,
Orcs2
Alistair, Mogwag,
Orcs1
Victrix, Bonificious
Bonifacius, Alistair.. those two orcs in back, I think they are from that dwarven ruin we explored!
He called to the others as they helped him make it even easier to hit an orc. He fired his arrow then shifted back closer to the others.
The brown orc moves back to protect the other two orcs...
The pink orc moves to attack Victrix with a large Glaive... ... MISS
The purple orc also attacks Victrix... ... MISS
The orc facing Bonificious howls and charges at Cerian to attack...
... HIT
possible crit...
...
The orange orc takes a 5 foot step and looks at Victrix as easy prey and tries to grapple the rehead...
...SUCCESS
The lt blue orc attacks Alistair... ... MISS
Combat 3rd Round
Cerian,
Orcs2
Alistair, Mogwag,
Orcs1
Victrix, Bonificious both have AoOs to roll
"Pigface, wrong enemy.
Alistair continues to do his interpretative dance, oblivious to any problems it might be causing for his friends, posing with high legged steps and wide sweeping movements of his arms, incorporating magic into the show with little flashes of light and energy crackling on his weapon as he flows into the next spot on the battle field and cracks his opponent with his mace.
Round 3
Mogwag will 5ft step forward to be behind Alistair and strike at the blue orc right in front of him
Not used to seeing a mand dancing right in front of him he has trouble adjusting the aime of his swing because of the disturbance
Alistair does indeed drop the blue orc and advances 5 ft to the other orcs around Victrix and Mogwag, seeing the blue orc fall, advances next to the jig dancing bard and attacks the orange orc but misses with his attack...
Bonificious swings at the orc charging on Cerian and staggers him but the orc still manages to get his attack off on the elf seriously wounding the bowman before falling over...
Seeing the battle go against them the two orcs on the left flee towards the west but not before chanting and casting a spell on the brown orc...
Combat 3rd Round
Cerian,
Orcs2
Alistair, Mogwag,
Orcs1
Victrix+AoOs to roll, Bonificious
Victrix chops at the orc trying to grab her. "Shove off, ya knob!"
Victrix makes her displeasure at orcs trying to grab her well known with another violent swing of her axe.
Victrix hits the orc square in the chest but does not drop him until her second attack and then she needs to use her foot to get her great axe out from his torso...
Moving forward Bonifacius smiles at the purple orc before swinging his hammer.
Bonificious lands a solid blow on the purple orc...
Combat 4th Round
Cerian,
Orcs2
Alistair, Mogwag,
Victrix, Bonificious
Moving closer to his allies as he bled all over himself the elf pulled an arrow and took sight letting loose an arrow at the large orc (pink) bearing down on them.
Cerian takes careful aim and strikes the enlarged orc right in the forehead with the arrow going straight through its skull and the orc drops on the ground in front of Victrix...
The purple orc attacks Victrix...
... and lands a vicious attack on the Suel...
While the brown orc, shimmering with some light, runs up to Bonificious foaming at the mouth and swings his Great Axe... ... and lands a solid hit...
... does not confirm on Victrix
Round 4
Mogwag moves up to engage one of the orcs fighting the dwarf
But the vision of the singing and dancing Alistair still trows his concentration off and the swing is just a wild swing
Current AC 21
Victrix whirls on the orc that struck her and screams at the top of her lungs, lunging forward with her axe...
...and then tries to bite the beast.
Victrix misses with the bite attack as the orc was cut in half with her first attack and falling down when she tried...
Mogwag attacks the shimmering orc in brown and misses...
Combat 4th Round
Cerian,
Orcs2
Alistair, Mogwag,
Victrix, Bonificious
Combat 5th Round
Cerian,
Brown Orc
Alistair, Mogwag,
Victrix, Bonificious
Smiling at the big orc with the red stripe Bonifacius points to the sky. "A dragon!" before smashing the hammer into him.
Bonnificious strikes at the last orc in front of Mogwag but misses...
Alistair continues his dance, spinning around the battle field and performing a pirouette to attempt to avoid a blow from the opposing orc as he gets into position
Alistair barely hits the buffed orc, but does succeed in his attack and gives the orc a deep wound...
Cerian is up
Moving forward to one of the fallen the wood elven ranger spun and fired a quick arrow at the remaining orc before glancing down to see if they were alive still
Cerian finishes off what Alistair started and the orcs are all dead. Cerian goes and checks on the dead humans. All have expired. It seems three were druid initiates and the green one int he center was the druid of this grove of trees. He was older with a grey beard.
Victrix's rage leaves her, and is immediately replaced with searing pain as her wounds finally take their toll. She falls to one knee and drives the head of her axe into the dirt to steady herself. "Owwww..."
She looks around the battlefield, at the corpses of the innocent men slain by the orcs. Her jaw clenches and briefly grinds together before she punches the earth in frustration. "Dammit! DAMMIT!"
Alistair ends his dance and inspects the initiates.
"Well this sucks" he states sardonically.
He crosses them and covers their faces.
Seeing the dead druids Bonifacius walks over and start to prepare the last journey, asking his comrads to clear the pigfaces from the clearing and gather some acorns or other seeds.
Their clothing and markings identifies them as members of the Old Faith religious order. They had simple weapons and equipment, possibly just looking to tend after this grove. The old one with the grey beard had an ornate hand crafted wooden ring that radiates magic.
Alistair gives an encouraging speech to whoever wants to make those rolls for a +2 Inspire Competence.
The dead orcs had nothing or real civilized value save the last one had a MW Falchion in a sheath while there is an assortment of orcish trail rations and a crudely crafted clay jar that the group collectively learns is a burst jar...
Since two escaped we should be on watch at night, time to start trapping out encampments at night. I dont suppose any of you know healing magic?"
He asked quietly looking at both his nasty wounds and Victrix's.
Also do we follow their trail while its hot? or should we hole up somewhere and heal?
Victrix's hands are shaking as she takes a potion out of her bag and chugs it down.
She lets out a groan of relief as the enchanted liquids fix some of her worst injuries. "Oh, bloody 'ell, that feels soooooo much better..."
The group backtracks back to the horses and the campsite hoping to find them both still safe. Finding all is well they secure their belongings and continue their movements southward. Cerian spots easy to see tracks of worgs on the western edge of the grove where they fought, most likely the means of transport for the fleeing orcs. The group now has a decent set of tacks that could lead them to the orc army they are supposed to find.
Bonifacius after preparing the druids for the journey walks over to victrix and then Cerian and offers them the blessed draught of Hanseath healing them while they drink.
Bonifacius nods to Alistair concerning the healstick and would carry the ring, but not wear it.
Cerian points out to the others where the track marks are and where they head (South towards Berwyn). The group follows the track marks but do not travel as fast since the worgs are going over land and not using trails while the group has horses used to roads and trails. Bonificious informs the others as he helps Cerian track, that the worg tracks they are tracking have joined a larger worg group... Bonificious and Cerian consult each other and determine it is around 10 orcs on worgs they are tracking now. The trail takes them past the town of Braxem and into the forest south of the road.
After a day of pursuit the group stops for camp and pass the evening without incident. The next morning at dawn the group resumes their pursuit of the orcs. At about midday they come upon the remains of a battle...in a small forest clearing scores of dead elves and orcs and a few worgs, the ones the group was chasing, lie intertwined amongst the trees. Counting quickly 4 elves, 6 orcs and 3 worgs lie dead.
So if we are counting correctly that means a few orcs left with a very big bunch of worg. Do you think we could find thoses elf Cerian or we are still not welcomed ?
I dont know my friend. I dont think the elves one this fracas... they wouldnt have left their dead exposed to the elements. And its not that we wouldnt be welcomed wit the current... situation being what it is I'm afraid you wouldnt be Mogwag.
Don't worry Mogwag knows enough... Our job is to roam around thin the herd when we can and get as much info as we can without getting killed. So lets hurry and catch what is left of that raiding party
As Cerian and the others check the battle scene, they do discover that the orcs that fled were injured. Also there were only four elves involved in the fight and all four perished. One elf in particular seemed to be surrounded by a few orcs, was finely dressed and possibly was the elf leader of the band. That elf had some masterwork gear (a Darkwood Composite Longbow +2 Strength, an Adamantine Rapier and a Mithral Chain Shirt). The two orcs in question were not among the dead orcs.
The group picks up the orc trail rather quickly...
Cerian with great reverence despite the need to follow the trail would at least pull the elves from the fray and set them aside neatly. covering them with some of the canvas and blankets. Altough looting from the dead (especially from what he would consider friendly) wasnt exactly a polite thing to do, he didnt think the elf would mind if they used that gear to get revenge on the killers.