Not staggered anymore, Isawa moves forward, to position himself within 30 feet of the other hobgoblin on the right side of the road, and then it repeats the words in Samsaran.
Hearing Bran speak, Tal'ariel echoes his sentiments, but in Goblin.
Actually, scratch that (if possible). Zelligar moves up and heals the ox, sacrificing Bless.
He shouts through the fog "This way elf, my powers can protect and heal as well as destroy."
hits?-->
hits?-->
Yulai guides Os forward, her eyes on the fogged road, searching for the hounds. As she reaches Tal'ariel she nods quietly, comfortable in the mist, and quiet. She gestures behind Os, in case the elf wishes to seek cover.
Yulai
Free - Guide with Knees
Free - Attack With Combat Trained Mount if Relevant
Move -
Standard - Attack hellhound if relevant, else ready attack vs first hostile to come within range.
Os
Move - Move up
Standard - Gore if relevant and check succeeded.
Yuki
Move - no
Standard - Hide
The hobgoblin goes limp in Bran's arms. Yulai leads her ox into the mist, but comes to a stop beyond Tal, not having found any enemies.
Tal'ariel flicks her right wrist and pops out a wand. "Atost!" she cries, and is covered by an invisible force field.
At Zelligar's behest, she then moves back out of the fog toward the mystic.
It seems the question now becomes : How long do you wait?
Iris dismounts her ram a bit slower than she would have liked. She sneaks northeast along the ridge above the road toward where she last saw more reinforcements. She will stop as soon as she sees any of the enemy and consider what to do next.
(quick dismount)
If the raiders are delaying on their turn, or doing things we can't see, it would be back to the party now, correct?
Zelligar will burn Liberating Command to heal Tal'ariel.
"Can you sneak out of this cloud and find their caster?"
Iris sneaks into the fog, but doesn't quite have time to clear it.
You hear more chanting from somewhere inside the fog. It sounds like something gets up and walks away.
The hobgoblins otherwise take no action that you can discern.
Isawa casts Mirror Image at himself, while he stays waiting. He moves towards the forested area to potentially hide.
Tal is glad to receive some healing. She responds to the halfling's question. "I think the spellcaster is in the cloud, but I can disperse the cloud soon if necessary."
Tal drops her wand of Mage Armor, and with her other hand springs out a wand of Shield. She casts it on herself. She then drops the wand of Shield as well, and moves downward on the map 6 squares--she's looking for the goblin that Isawa put to sleep (R2).
Yulai shifts Os casually in front of her new friends, readying her shield.
"When you're ready."
Yulai Free - Ride
Yulai Free - Ride
Yulai Full - Total Defense
Os Uushi Move - reposition in front of Zel or Tal as makes sense.
Yuki Standard - Hide
Bran's arm maintains his hold of the hobgoblin commander, letting it slump back on his shoulder. Better to hold onto this one.
Currently Under:
Rage 4 Rounds, -2 AC, +4 Str, +4 Con, +2 Will
Martial Flexibility (4/10) - Dedicated Adversary (Hobgoblins)
Tal'Ariel finds no sleeping hobgoblin, but there's a patch of blood nearby, and two depressions in the grass, from where two hobgoblins had fallen.
Isawa, walking into the forrest spots one of the hellhounds, steadily walking north. The wound to its side has not been treated, but as it's walking away from his direction, he can't tell if its eye is still a bleeding ruin. Still, just from the fact that it's bleeding that much, yet it's still walking sluggishly, Isawa would bet that that's a freshly animated zombie hellhound right there.
Much further down the road, he sees the other hellhound, sitting on its haunches. It gets up and pays attention to him when he appears, though.
At the edge of the obscuring mist, Iris moves into the treeline while continuing to sneak forward, this time from tree trunk to tree trunk, until she reaches the last tree near the intersection.
Iris sneaks along. Clearing the mist, she sees a semicircle of hobgoblins, bows out and arrows notched, searching the mist with their gaze.
One of the stragglers is coming out of the forrest just ahead of her, in the proccess of running over to join the firing line.
Anyone becoming visible in the mist would be turned into a pincushion right quick, she's sure.
Iris watches the hobgoblins hesitate for a moment, then one of the goblinoids says something, punctuated by a barked order.
Then they run away, northeast off the road, followed by the hellhound.
The zombie hellhound continues to walk northeast, seemingly unconcerned with you.
As she hears the orders, the elf sneaks forward out of the mist and to the edge of the brush, though she moves quickly and carelessly expecting that the enemy might be fleeing.
As she sees the goblins run away, Tal'ariel dismisses the fog so all can see again. "The hobgoblins are running away!" she announces.
Hearing that Tal'ariel has already made an announcement to the group, and wanting to see where the hobgoblins are going, Iris dons her goblin mask and sprints across the road following the fleeing hobgoblins.
Bran slumps in a huff, trying to catch his breath as the adrenaline finally wore out.
"I can't chase like this. I need a moment."
"If you wish to head forward without me, I can probably keep up for a while."
He looks at the unconscious hobgoblin leader and drops him. "We have this leader here, he's taking a nap for a couple hours. That was pretty good all things considering!"
Currently Under
Fatigue 1/8 Rounds (Can't Run or Charge, -2 Penalty to Str and Dex)
Martial Flexibility 5/10 Rounds (Dedicated Adversary); relevant due to Perception, Sense Motive, Bluff and Knowledge bump against Hobgoblins.
The hobgoblins seem to be fleeing. We can probably just let them go. That undead abomination, however... - says the Samsaran, as he moves forward towards the hellhound.
Once again the ley lines themselves seem to bend, and Isawa casts another of his toppling magic missiles, targeted at the undead hellhound.
The force of the missiles is quite strong!
"Well, it's an abomination of some slight academic interest, being an outsider zombie, but still..."
Zelligar moves 30' down the road and joins in with Isawa's attack.
He looks very unconcerned.
The zombie falls over. Then it slowly gets up; apparently it's going to keep walking away.
Iris runs over to get a look at the fleeing hobgoblins.
They're headed vaguely north: beyond the copse of trees you were fighting them in there's a small stretch of grassland, some five hundred feet, before giving way to a bunch of hills. Those hills would probably be a great place to hide.
You also know that there's a river somewhere north of here, although you can't see it right now.
Iris removes her mask and returns to report her findings to the party and ask what they want to do next. She also fetches her mount.
Bran scratches his head and listens to Iris' report. "These marauders may strike again, and the next time it could be on people who can't defend themselves." He takes a deep breath, "Do you all want to pursue? I know we all have somewhere to be but I don't know if I can live with the knowledge of letting these... things stay around and have their way." He waves his hand over the battlefield, and it ends on the undead outsider.
"Iris do you think they could be leading us into another ambush?" He starts to tie up the hobgoblin chief on the floor. "I'm no strategist, so I'll leave it in all your capable hands here. I'm sure Isawa and Zelligar have more worldly knowledge than I do."
He waits a few moments and walks up to Tal, extending his arms, "Great job by the way." He looks at the unconscious hobgoblin and realizes his gesture may come off as misunderstood and switches quickly to a handshake, "That was some great swordplay."
The jovial smile darkens fairly quickly though, "Also at some point we have to deal with the survivors."
Tal'ariel does not pursue the goblins heading north, allowing the goblin-masked halfling to sneak ahead and scout out the Hobgoblin path.
First, she tends to her wounds, using a wand. "Rauko Agar!"
Her wounds heal over the next minute. Certain members of her party might disapprove if they understood what magics she was invoking.
Next, she cleans and sheathes her sword and takes some time to pick up and re-load the wands she used during battle, before shaking Bran's extended hand. "Thank you. You also fought well, Bran. Very well. You snared the best prize of all! We will have to question that one to learn more about this goblin uprising."
As the talk goes to survivors, Tal shakes her head. "There was some sort of invisible spellcaster healing these goblins - certainly healed the first one thought I'd finished with frost! For all we know, these goblins can be up and walking again of we are lax." She begins walking over to the fallen goblins, drawing a silver short sword and obviously intending to use it. Unless someone stops her, she kills them, and then begins collecting their scalps using the sword. "We may find a bounty to be had for these; at least it's worth considering." With a little magic, she cleans the blood off the scalps so that they can be stored in a sanitary fashion.
Yulai settles Os and dismounts, sheathing her sword. Running her hands along the Ox she fingers the scarred hide barding a moment and then continues her inspection.
"You're fine you big goof. It only singed the threads. I can fix it when we get to town tonight. Oh, and it's safe Yuki, you can come out."
Yulai mounts again, then turns Os back toward the vale. Yuki pokes her head out, then ducks back into the sack.
"We could spend a long time chasing goblins in the hills, or we could go into town and find a local that probably knows right where to find them. Look around - rough to play hide and seek."
Zelligar is happy to keep walking after the zombie hellhound and using the Staff. He feels protected enough that he's not worried about the archers.
"Tal'ariel, I would be more than happy to treat your wounds with proper healing magic. While I have no moral objection to that spell, I have a strategic one; the gifts of Asmodeus always serve his interests, not ours. He is a schemer without equal, and we don't know the long-term price of using that spell. I would rather rely on the gifts of Nethys."
Iris observes Tal'ariel's actions with approval.
She contributes to the discussion about what to do next by saying, "We could probably follow that lumbering scaly dog without much trouble. It may lead us straight to its master. I agree with Bran that it would be unkind to leave the brigands alive to rob the next caravan, plus they may have treasure! On the other hand, I do not mind going into town and getting our bearings. It would be helpful to know exactly what we've gotten ourselves into. Let's go to town."
Zelligar is indeed quite able to gun down the zombie.
As for your bearings, you're supposed to hit Drellin's Ferry later today, according to the maps you've seen, and the locals you've talked to on the other side of the border.
You notice an unusual number of flies in the air - they seem to concentrate around the ruined farmhouse.
I'm sure you're seeing the same I am, my friends. - said the Samsaran with a very calm voice, and his pupiless eyes pointing directly at the ruined farmhouse.
You know, the dead usually attract flies. Several flies. And considering our last... Encounter... I'd say we should pay that place a visit, and maybe find what Iris would like to.
He smiles towards the others, and turns his head slowly. The robes seem to fly loosely around the mysterious old warlock.
Upon hearing the name of Asmodeus and the conjuring of devil's blood, a sharp chill goes down Bran's spine. He doesn't know the spell, but from Zelligar's description and his understanding of Infernal, he is able to put it together.
He scratches the back of his neck where the scar and tattoo are; trying to deal with a burn that won't seem to go away and mentions softly, "Just be wary Tal, Zelligar speaks the truth. Trust me, as a man who has lived through plenty of forced anointments..." He trails off and catches himself in a reverie, "Just be careful, there is always a price."
His doesn't sound mad, despondent or fearful. In fact, there is nothing in his hollow voice at all.
The halfling shudders involuntarily as the party approaches the ruined dwelling. "Gah! Flies! I've got a bad feeling about this. There's probably a pile of corpses stacked inside the farmhouse. One of you should take a look."
"Yes, we should head for that farmhouse. Yulai, are you or your ox still injured?"
Tal frowns as her companions warn her about toying with Infernal energies. "You don't need to worry about me, I know how to handle myself around magic! There's a price to pay for all things, even serving the God of Magic." She looks between Bran and Zelligar, and lets out a big huff. "How did I run away from home only to find more folks telling me what I shouldn't do?" There was little doubt that Tal bore some similarities to human teenagers, despite likely having many more years under her belt.
As the subject of conversation turns a new leaf, Tal heads over to the fly-infested farmhouse. Drawing her long curved blade once more, she prepares to scout ahead . . . quietly, in case danger lay inside.
"We'll be fine with a bit of rest I think, but let's check the house."
Yulai heads toward the house, cautiously.
The clouds of flies get thicker as you approach.
Inside, you find two horse carcasses, stacked up against the northern wall.
The place is otherwise empty.
Behind the farmhouse, you spot five freshly dug graves.
Tal grips her sword more tightly in anger at the gruesome discovery. "Seems like the goblin bastards killed the family that lived in this farmhouse."
"But who buried the bodies? There must have been a survivor. Perhaps we can still help them."
Bran jogs up to the party, finally relaxed again. As he approaches the stench of the carcasses fill his nose. "Did they do this?" The question is foolish of course, the answer is clear, but he decides to break the silence anyway.
"Think there are any tracks to follow? If we have a survivor, we should find them before thy get harried down like a fox in a hunt."
It's fairly clear that whatever happened to ruin the farmhouse, happened long before those graves where dug.
Bran finds plenty of tracks leading back and forth between the ruins and the east, further down the road. That's probably where the hobgoblins held camp when they weren't lying in wait to ambush you.
"Maybe the hobgoblins broke camp in a hurry." says Iris. "Maybe they didn't even break camp. We might find a map or a letter or treasure if we check it out."
Agreed. That's our next destination, I'd say.
"Good idea," agrees Tal'ariel. She will retrieve her horse.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Bran nods and starts to move back to the mounts of his companions.
"Iris, think you can keep a little ahead of us when we get to the camp? I am far more noticeable amongst the trees than you. Who knows what we might find, and it would benefit us to get the jump first."
As hes walking he wonders, "So what were those dogs anyway? I saw the flames but its nothing I've seen before and I would like to be prepared in case I need to wrestle one down."