Before dusk the night before, Votun asks Munin to fly over the lodge and scout it out. He looks for the trap that they were warned about. He looks for sentinels and anything useful for an ambush.
Kirridell endures the cold through the night…dreaming of the tropics and warmth…and waking every so often to bitter reality. As dawn breathes a weak light into the forest, Kirridell begins his morning meditation and prayer.
Eventually, as everyone else stirs and wakes, Kirridell has fully decamped, checked one last time upon the tied bandits and announces that he is ready to depart.
Munin speaks Common and tells everyone.
Let's avoid the trap, and go around the back looking through the windows to see if the doors are barred from the inside and count bad guys. Is Colberg stealthy enough to go first?
Jorgo looks at his companions, then at his formula books, than at his companions again.
"You know... all this talk of winter monsters and whatnots kinda gave me an idea." he opens up his formula book, where a crude charcoal sketch illustrates the formula.
"You've all seen me yesterday with the mutagen. I get bigger, stronger, nastier. Gorged muscles tend to do that. Now if I were to cobine it with this..." he points at the sketch of a person turning into a giant () "...and we throw in little disguise to make me even uglier than I am..." he points at another formula () "...I think that old Jorgo can get so big and nasty to attract a lot of attention on himself."
He closes his books "Needs a bit of preapration of course, but can turn in handy if you folks need to escape with that Lady or sneak in somewhere else with the attention is on me. But you gotta tell me first if you want to do that... because I only have enough catalysts for two extracts, and making those two means I don't get my daily drink of ass-saving from big nasty wounds..."
Votun shrugs, "We need to take on a lodge full of bandits. Go big, or go home."
"Their time has come."
AFTER Colberg sneaks up and assesses the door and number of victims.
The lodge house begins to show signs of stirring. You hear yawns, but no footsteps yet. The interior is still dark but fresh smoke starts to pour out of the chimney on the northwestern corner of the place. The smoke brings the smell of foodstuffs.
A horse whinny's in the small stable to the south.
The outhouse remains quiet.
From Munin you know that the bridge on the other side looks a bit rickety...but it should hold a person. The creek below it is pretty far down, it would definitely hurt to fall and hit the frigid waters below.
"Go ahead Jorgo. Wake them up." Votun whispers.
Jorgo cracks his neck and grabs not, one, not two, but three vials from his belt. He gives his companions time to move near the windows and their favorite entry points. Then, hidden behind the well, drink his two of his three cocktails. He immediately feels his appearance shift a bit and his muscles grow thicker, while his mind gets numb and less refined: where there was cunning, now there’s mostly fury.
The beefed up alchemist gets close to the door, drinks his third extract. Just when he feels his size magically increasing, he slams it open with a kick and announces himself with an inhuman scream and a fire bomb.
“KNOCK KNOCK!” he roars at the top of his lungs “You thought you could bring havoc to my forest! YOU FOOLS! This are MY WOODS! Get out, flee while you can or I will feast upon your marrow! ” he ends his show by grabbing his enlarged axe and hacking violently at the nearest bandit.
As the door caves in to Jorgo's knock, two men look back startled. When they see the size they pale. "They're REAL!!!" one of the men—the one by the fireplace—exclaims. He looks ready to flee.
Then the bomb detonates in the middle of the table.
Both men are struck by the debris and flame.
The nearest man is caught in the face and screams while clawing at the flames. He drops to the floor.
The man by the fireplace takes a large piece of wood to the shoulder and goes down to one knee. "Leave me alone...no more fire...mama no!!!"
The sounds of the rest of the lodge scrambling emerges through the racket caused by the men, Jorgo, and the bomb.
Init
Gripping his sword tightly, the priests' eyes blaze as he proclaims to no-one in particular "In the name of Justice...release the Lady...and you may yet live!!!"
Colberg charges in and swipes at the nearest bandit with his falchion, almost taking his head off. The man drops to the ground, his life blood flowing to the floor.
Kirridell moves to a position just outside the eastern most window of the lodge and watches to see how the fight plays out.
In his alchemically altered state, Jorgo is enjoying the sensation of power What would have said the Green Ogre, that character father was fond of... what was his ah yes JORGO SMASH! he shows his teeth in an evil smile. He looks in the eyes the biggest and toughest-looking of the bandits, the one that wasn't so shaken at his big entrance.
"Look at them juicy limbs on you. Imma eat you first!" that said he hacks at the bandit with his axe.
Jorgo does indeed smash the bandit left in the room. In fact, it caves in his skull and part of his torso.
There are sounds of rustling in the rooms and throughout the rest of the place. Noone else has entered the main hall yet but it sounds like that is not far off to happen.
Votun moves up to the door taking total cover from inside the lodge.
Munin starts circling the lodge from 50-ft up with the understanding that he will squawk if he sees trouble coming from the other side.
Sigrun moves to the other side of the door, hammer held ready for the next bandit to appear
As the two bandits inside are decimated by the now hulking Jorgo and Colberg, doors start to open and more bandits pour into the room.
A few of them take a look at Jorgo and a loud "*Ulp*" can be heard. Several (4 on the stairs) of the bandits look to be ill or recently ill.
From below Seila could hear the battle raging overhead.
She assumed it was perhaps some rivals, or perhaps a fight gone bad. Either way the way they were speaking earlier she immediately decided that the best thing that she could do was be anywhere but here. The battle would be an ample distraction. If she had time she might be able to free the others. Running off in differnet directions may even increase their chances.
She looked wildly about searching for a means to cut herself free or at least a way to alert others above of their predicament.
Perception
Oliver perks up at the shouts above, his mind trying to wrap around what kind of forest spirit has come to wreak vengeance on these men. He is also intrigued by the idea that the thing may just be aligned with the man calling for the release of 'the Lady'. Whether they meant Lady Argentea or his other companion wasn't exactly clear, but either way he was there with them both and had the opportunity to be freed.
As Seila starts looking around, he instead just listens to what goes on above, in hopes of piecing it together.
"Munin?! What's wrong??!! Who could have...gak!"
As you look by the door you see that the crossbow trap jury rigged to the roof of the porch has fallen directly onto his head. A large gash with grayish matter exposed does not bode well. The crossbow triggers from the impact with the old man's head and fires...the bolt flying directly into the throat of Colberg. He sinks to one knee, then both, with surprise on his face. The gurgles coming from him can mean only one thing.
More bandits start to pour through the doors inside the lodge.
As Sigrun witnesses the sudden deaths of two of her allies, one of whom was the first one in this land to befriend her, Sigrun feels the chill in her blood that signaled the onset of an icy rage that leaves her with nothing so much as the need to be unleash violence on these men.
Striding forward, she wields the massive hammer with terrifying ease bringing it down on the first one within range.
This doesn't bode well...Votun and Colberg down barely before we have entered the lodge...here's hoping that these villains scare easy!
"This is your final warning...drop your weapons and no more harm will come to you!!!
Kirridell stays at the window, sword drawn ready to attack...but mindful that he may yet be called upon to heal his friends....
Sigrun runs up and inside the house. As she grits her teeth and swings her rage fueled hammer, the gong like sound ringing off the poor bandit's head leaves no doubt that he is down and out for the count.
One of the bandits disappears back into the room up the stairs while the others mill about in their rush to get into some sort of defensible position in the greatroom.
Oliver is somewhat cheered to hear there is someone asking for an end to the hostilities, but is disheartened for feeling that the bandits will not take the opportunity to surrender. He wriggles at his bonds as best he can, which really isn't all that well. The position he's been in has his bad leg in an awful pain, and every twist he makes just makes it worse. He's only willing to work so hard against these bonds he is almost certain to not be free of.
Kirridell comes up behind the frightening Jorgo and puts on his best preaching voice, "Yes you sons of foulness, lay down your arms or risk the wrath of Iomedae! Watch as the goddess grants me her power to pass to her servant here!" His hand glows brightly and he touches Jorgo's arm which glows briefly.
Jorgo, still alchemically enlarged, lets go with one hand the ginormous battleaxe he is holding.
He squats and grabs the nearest corpse he just produced. “Tha’s what happens to the fools who get in my way!” he says lifting the corpse “Do you still want to face me? DO YOU?” he slams the corpse near one of the remaining bandits, then lifts his axe “I ain’t waiting no more. You’re next!” he says looking at another bandit.
Five of the bandits drop their weapons and run out the door on the opposite side of the lodge. Two of the bandits stand there, shaking in their boots, "Wha...what...WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?" one of them screams.
Sigrun glares at the terrified men, an icy cold rage glittering in her eyes, overwhelming er senses.
"Downstairs!!! They are keeping the prisoners downstairs...."
....then hearing noises from outside, "Jorgo, Sigrun...let us make haste....I fear reinforcements will be upon us soon"
“What’s that?” screams Jorgo pointing at the ground “Y’all better be talking now, or you’ll be keeping company to some spices in my belly tonight!” Jorgo exhibits his scariest, toothiest grin “What’s that noise? Whatcha keeping down there?”
Barely waiting for answer, Jorgo lifts his axe and crashes it down onto the floor - or a trapdoor, if there's one visible.
(before subtracting hardness)
Alarmed at Jorgo's novel approach to avoiding having to use the stairs, Kirridell braces himself for the possible collapse of the floor.