"Growler, stop. Stand guard." calls Aishe to the she-wolf once the bandit surrenders. To the bandit she adds "Move and she'll rip your throat out. Stand still until we're done with your friends, and you may just walk away from this." She then turns and dashes for the doors to the lodge, concerned for Yagello and Daegan, who have been fighting the bandits inside without further aid.
Sighing, Daegan nods at Cervin and heads to Yagello's aid. Whatever the motivation driving the bandits to such madness, he could no longer concern himself with.
Inside, the half-orc deftly dodges Yagello's slice. The cold has taken quite a toll on Yagello, and the half-orc is keeping back, moving quickly and dodging his attacks. Daegan tries to help with the sick human bandit, but he manages to avoid Daegan's blow.
Outside, Growler calms down, but watches the surrendered bandit carefully.
Stepping up to the doors, Aishe brings up her crossbow and looses the bolt at the nearest bandit...
Aishe lets her bolt fly, and the bandit must have been distracted while dodging Daegan, because the bolt catches the guard in the back of the neck. He lets out a surprised yelp and looks like stiff breeze could knock him over.
With Growler guarding, Arkady approaches the bandit, crossbow still pointed.
"Smart man, let's hope your companions inside do the same."
"Down on your knees! I haven't yet decided if you'll survive or not!"
I'm getting far too good at this. I must make sure it doesn't become reality.
Igmar spins his pick in his hand, keeping an eye on the bandit while still scanning the surroundings.
Outside, the bandit obeys Igmar quietly, getting down.
Inside, the half-orc and the other remaining bandit try to keep Yagello busy. The bandit snarls at Yagello to get his attention, and the half-orc again waits for the distraction before swinging her sword. She keeps her distance to protect herself from a retaliatory strike.
Yagello falls to the ground, and the female half-orc raises her eyes to Daegan. "Are you next, brother?" she snarls.
"NO!" screams Cervin. "Erastil, father, lord and protector of the family and good strike this foul creature from our land!"
Cervin's bow is outlined with a white light as he cries out his prayer. Arrows start flying for the half-orc, trailing that same white light behind them.
Cervin sends a volley of arrows. The half-orc dodges one and nearly deflects the other with her blade, but it sinks into her shoulder and she grunts in pain. Despite her large size, she moves surprisingly quickly.
Daegan's face is even as he faces the two remaining bandits. "Sister, even you must see that it is not I who will fall here. It is a shame that such a slaughter must take place, but it seems that none of you are willing to accept defeat. Make your peace."
Daegan heaves his greatsword toward the last human bandit.
Growler sits on her haunches, her eyes intently focused on the surrendered bandit. Every time he moves or twitches, a low growl emerges from her throat.
Struck by the bandit's sword, Yagello crumbles to the ground, and everything fades to black.
The sickly bandit flinches but relaxes slightly as Daegan misses him. The bandit makes a few false moves to distract Daegan as the half-orc disappears behind the fireplace. Daegan barely has a chance to react as the other half-orc appears behind him, slicing with her sword.
Maintaining her guard, the half-orc strikes too carefully, and her attack comes up short, just missing Daegan's leg.
Have to take out that flanking bandit - think strategically, Cervin! Yagello looks like he'll make it, so keep on task.
He fits and fires two arrows, one at the half-orc, one at the near-dead bandit respectively.
Aishe cocks and reloads her crossbow as quickly as she can, then raises the device to her shoulder and lets fly at the female half-orc bandit.
Aishe and Cervin loose arrows and bolts at the remaining bandits to try and help their companions. Aishe's bolt goes wide, but Cervin manages to hit both bandits. The sickly human goes down with a yelp, and the half-orc growls as another arrow hits her side. Daegan now directly faces the other half-orc once Cervin takes down the distracting bandit behind him.
Igmar keeps his grizzled voice, but shouts to Aishe.
"How are things in their Aishe?"
Cervin overhears Igmar shouting at Aishe.
"We've got a mean one in here and Yagello is down! Move in, we need everyone!"
Pick in hand, Igmar rushes back to the building, ready to support his companions. As he bursts through the door, he begins to sing his lullaby, hoping to incapacitate the enemy.
Looking pointedly at the bandit, Arkady says, "If you move, the wolf *will* eat you." He then moves toward the door.
The half-orc snarls at the sight of the dwarf, but as she hears his song, her eyes roll back into her head, and she falls to the ground. After the noise and commotion of the battle stops at last, only the crack and hiss of the logs on the large fire break the near silence that follows.
Cervin's eyes go wide as the half-orc collapses, and he turns around to see Igmar finish the spell. He lets out a delighted whoop and rushes over to clap Igmar on the back.
"That was brilliant! Well do--," he trails off and looks down at his feet, suddenly somber. The lodge is covered with bodies. "I think I shot something like seven people," he says quietly to himself. Kneeling down, looks over the bandits.
"Daegan, can you see to Yagello? I'll see which ones can be saved here. Can someone else tie up that awful half-orc?"
Cervin then sets to sorting out the unconscious, dead, and dying from one another He'll check for valuables as he goes and refill his arrows.
"Well, it seems I was right, after a fashion. She did fall."
Daegan turns towards his companions.
"I can tend to Yagello, but my healing will also affect those bandits who still live. I will take him elsewhere to heal his wounds. Could you all bind the rest, as well? They will regain consciousness at some point. Their hands, at the very least, should be made immobile. After that, we will need to discuss their fate. Unless you think we should bind them and then include them in my healing?"
Looking a bit embarrassed at the congratulations, Igmar breaks in to a smile against his will.
"Glad I could help, friends. I'll take to binding these folks, starting with the half-orc."
Igmar begins by binding the arms and legs of the half-orc, and then continues to the others, binding just their hands.
Cervin goes through the bandits' possessions. While most of the bandits did not carry much more than their weapons, the half-orc's pouch had four glass vials, each holding a different colored liquid. The pouch also contained a small iron key.
After having refilled his arrows and sorted the dying bandits Cevin looks over to Daegan.
"Let's get Yagello outside and heal up. I'm not particularly keen on accidentally awakening someone who can stab me in the back."
Arkady keeps an eye on the bandit outside while the others move around in the lodge. "I don't have any rope on me to tie him up, can someone find one for me? Once that's done I can look to see if I recognize any magic."
After Cervin has finished his crude triage he moves to the bandits who are dying and starts doing his best to treat their wounds to prevent them from bleeding out.
The party makes quick work of the bandits, restraining them from any potential surprise attacks, while Daegan carries Yagello outside to heal him.
After Aishe goes outside to help tie up the bandit there, Arkady goes inside looking for magical auras. Cervin hands over the glass vials, and while Arkady is unable to recognize most of them, he is fairly certain that one of them would enable the imbiber to become invisible. Scanning the reoom, Arkady thinks he senses something peering through his fingers upstairs, but it is difficult to see through walls, and with the group spread out he hesitates exploring the lodge alone.
Arkady thinks he imagines it at first, but then it becomes obvious to the others that there is a scratching sound coming from the door at the top of the stairs.
Cervin finishes patching wounds on the last bandit and looks up at the group. His arms are covered in blood and he generally looks like he's seen better days.
"Closer and closer. Anyone who needs healing head out with Yagello to receive his blessing. I wi-- what's that noise?"
Cautiously, Cervin makes his way over to the stairs to look to the source of the scratching. "Think our lady is up there?"
Aishe goes outside to bind the hands of the bandit whom Growler is still guarding, and lead him back inside. She will check the bodies of the slain for any signs of life as well, stabilizing anyone who can still be revived if possible. When Arkady cannot identify some of the potions he confiscated from the half-orc, Aishe will try to examine them too.
When the scratching sound starts from the door at the top of the stairs, the sorceress stops whatever she is doing, picking up her crossbow and reloading it. "There's still something up there - we haven't found the leader of this lot yet, have we?"
Outside, Daegan has settled Yagello upon the porch and sat down next to the unconscious man, clutching his holy symbol. A brief murmuring of prayers and some of Yagello's wounds stitch themselves back together. A few moments later and Yagello begins to stir. Daegan stands, dusts himself off, and offers a hand to the man. "Welcome back."
Yagello's eyes slowly open, and he instinctively flinches as he feels the cold on his skin. He finds Daegan standing over him with his hand extended, and he shakes his head in confusion.
"What, what, what happened? The battle? Our enemies?" He takes the offered hand nonetheless, and winces as his feet hit the ground. The memory of the battle begins to come back, and his multiple wounds start throbbing with the increased blood flow.
Aishe takes a glance at the potions that have stumped Arkady, and quickly confirms the details of each. One for moving stealthily, one that magically erases your trail, and one for climbing walls. All in all, likely tools of a thieving scoundrel.
The scratching sound continues upstairs insistently, occasionally getting louder, and occasionally growing quiet, as if the source is waiting. The bandit that had surrendered outside was led into the room with the others by Cervin, and looks up to the room. "It looks like Rohkar is waiting for you."
"Right, the guy who shoots lightning from his fingertips," says Cervin dryly. He wanders over to the doorway and calls out. "Glad to see you up, Yagello! Saved who we could, tied up the rest. Now it sounds like their leader is scratching at a door like a cat. Let me know when ready so we can put an end to this and go home."
Cervin walks back into the lodge and stops at the base of the stairs. He stares at the door.
Cervin stares hard at the door at the top of the stairs, and counts three evil auras, with one slightly stronger than the others.
Cervin heads back over to his companions.
"At least three upstairs that I sense evil from. We must be vigilant. Any ideas on how to approach? After that battle everyone in Taldor knows we're here."
"We could just guard that door, search the rest of the lodge in hopes of finding this Lady Argentea, then worry about Rohkar and whatever he's got up there which is radiating evil." says Aishe in response to Cervin. "In fact, assuming the noblewoman isn't in there with the bandit leader, once we find her then we could get everyone else out of the lodge, and burn it down around Rohkar's ears."
When the stunned looks start to dawn on her companion's faces, the half-elf sorceress just shrugs and adds, "Well I'm getting tired of fighting these people and the fey on their terms. The Sentinels are dead - at least according to the bandit we interrogated earlier - and once we find Lady Argentea we have to get her back to Heldren, so we can't stay here. In which case why not do it the easy way for once?"
"The biggest problem I see with burning the place down is that this is the best place for us to rest out of the cold before returning home. Other than that, your idea has merit. I do wonder, though, why this Rokhar scratches at the door and doesn't just come for us...?" With that, he looks toward the conscious prisoner and raises an eyebrow, inviting him to answer.
Daegan shrugs. "As Cervin implied, we won. The ones left alive have been trussed. We haven't yet decided what to do with them. Come, it'd be best to get you inside. It's warmer there, and the others will be pleased to see you back on your feet." Daegan claps a hand lightly on Yagello's shoulder before heading back indoors.
Inside, a furrowed brow is his first response to the discussion. "We're burning down the lodge now? Seems rather an extreme measure. Arkady is right, we need this place standing, at least for the night. Unless you'd all like to sleep in the stable?"
Yagello hobbles into the chamber, shocked at the extreme course of action suggested by his friend Aishe.
"I may be hurt, but I rather die on those stairs than sink to the level of these bandits. This building is not ours to do with what we please. There may be more orders of these Sentinels out there who can bring warmth and life back to these halls, or perhaps other rangers who will protect your town. And what of the forest? How will we control this fire lest it devour half of these woods?"
He calms down a bit after getting that off his chest. "Trust me sweet Aishe, I know how you feel. Every plan we've worked out so far has gone awry, leaving us at the mercy of these tugs and their icy friends. We need to draw them out somehow, fight them on our terms like you said."
"I'm probably going to regret saying this, but maybe we can use magic to our advantage. Fool them into thinking we lost this battle and are at their mercy. Can any of you mask your voices or speak like these fey? Make Rohkar think his fey allies arrived just in time to sway the course of the battle.
In the meantime, we can make cover out of all the furniture in this hall. We'll hide behind them and then blast our enemies to smithereens when they come down the stairs. Especially with our champion here..."
He smiles as he says the last part and respectfully claps Cervin on his right shoulder.
As the party decides on the next course of action, the scratching stops again. After a moment of silence, the door opens invitingly. There does not appear to be anyone there, although the poor sight-lines from the main room provide only a small angle of visibility in the room, leaving the possibility of someone hiding behind the door or even in the far corner of the room.
To Arkady, the bandit gives the best shrug he can muster with his bound hands. "Wizards have never made sense to me. Hauling around those books with nonsense in their pages and mixing a leg of this bug with an eye of that lizard."
Cervin acknowledges Yagello's compliment with a nod and a smile. He speaks softly, hopefully not to be overhead by those on the top floor.
"There is something of significant evil up there and we must confront it. I think it is obvious how the battle went, though. We did find those potions. Perhaps somebody could become invisible and stealthy so he or she may scout? That way we will be prepared for whatever ambush awaits us."
Aishe just shrugs unconcernedly when her suggestion is shot down in flames. "Cervin's right however, it's far too late after that little battle to try fooling Rohkar into thinking we lost, otherwise one of his underlings would've reported to him by now." She looks at the potion vials she was examining, selecting two of them and holding them out to the others. "These two concoctions will turn whomever drinks them invisible, and able to climb anything as well as a spider could. Who wants to volunteer to climb the outside of the lodge and see what's in that upstairs room?"
Cervin beams at Aishe. "Brilliant as always, I didn't even think of climbing up the side. Let me - if we get in a fight it will let me find the best positions for archery and am at least somewhat light on my feet. That said if another has a burning desire I won't stop them.
Yagello nods his head at both Aishe and Cervin. "Yes, climbing up the side sounds like a good idea. Do it Cervin. Your archery skills saved Daegan and myself from that firing line, and I'm sure we'll need your talents once again soon."
Cervin nods his thanks to Yagello and grabs the potions. Letting out a breath he downs the spider climb and invisibility potions. The last sight before he fades from view is an expression of surprise.
Now invisible, Cervin playfully ruffles everyone's hair before he shoulders his bow. Carefully, he places a hand on the wall and tries to pull himself up.
Staying at a safe distance while Cervin moves up the outside, Arkady resumes peering between his fingers, watching for any magical signatures.
Now invisible, Cervin playfully ruffles everyone's hair before he shoulders his bow.
Growler can smell the two-legs with the bow, but she can't see him, so when something suddenly ruffles her fur the she-wolf snarls and twists around to snap at the offending object... only to be left twitching in confusion once she realises that there's nothing there.