Baldrech
The shifter takes full advantage of Anarak's successful attack to launch a flurry of impeccably placed slashes, cutting the lizard's legs out from under it and finally delivering a deadly blow to the windpipe. Under his assault, the lizard simply collapses.
The shifter merely nods laconically at the effect of his handiwork.
An anguished howl breaks from the duergar.
"Kill them, kill them all!" he screams.
The two remaining conscious kobolds look tentatively at each other, eyes rolling slightly. The unarmed kobold takes one look at the bloody glade, hauls himself upright, realises he is weaponless and ignoring the howl of his leader, heads for the nearest exit.
The remaining upright kobold is made of slightly sterner stuff and boldly launches his last remaining firepot at Baldrech. Feeling he has nothing to lose makes his aim sure, and the shifter is hit by the same sticky flames that caught Kia, Gobi and Whiteclaw. The look of triumph is short lived however and the little beast decides living is what he wants to do as he also flees from the glade.
Whiteclaw looks up from the ruined kobold she dropped and looks over the bloody clearing, taking a moment to gather herself and then moves towards the others.
Gobi
Realising that his skills will be needed on the other side of the glade, Gobi also takes the opportunity to catch his breath before hefting his trusty warhammer and advancing toward the duergar.
He is deeply and painfully affronted by the knowledge that this evil being is closely related to his own honourable kin.
The duergar for the first time looks a little uneasy as he realises he now has to face six opponents single handed.
"Cowards and fools", he hisses at the departing kobolds, "do you think your masters will let you live?"
Vel marches on the fleeing kobolds and reaches a slender arm out toward them. "Die."
The now-familiar golden flames shoot up around them, but evidently due to the weakening from the poison still coursing through her, she does not score a clean hit on either.
"Let them burn. Unworthy fools."
The duregar watches scornfully as Vel's blasts of flame tear up the ground around the kobolds, then fires his crossbow bolt at Kia. The bolt tears through her side, ripping across her ribs and causing the normally jovial warlord to scream.
"Catch me if you can." snaps the duergar, clicking his fingers and vanishing again.
Anarak throws caution to the wind, and takes a double move to try and get close to the Duergar for a possible attack on the following round. He'll eventually end up on C13 with his weapon drawn (path G15-F15-E15-D14-C13). If he is attacked along the way, he will stop moving in whatever square he's in and, if he's moved three squares or less, he'll make an attack (Reaping Strike).
Baldrech howls in pain as the sticky contents of the fire pot burn the skin on his neck and his wild mane. He tries to ignore the sting of his wound, keeping an eye out for signs of the duergar's passage -- flattened grass, bending branches, footprints, etc. The shifter maintains a defensive posture, both swords cutting at the air around him.
.
.
Baldrech's finely honed senses put him on the alert. In silence, he listens, watching the ground and hears breathing coming towards him. Anarak's flanking move is brought to a halt by a fierce gesture from the shifter. The duergar is next to the dragonborn who slashes ferociously at the seemingly empty air . The blow lands and you all hear a sharp intake a breath, hastily suppressed.
The companions gaze at the spot indicated by by Baldrech. The combat now seems surreal, as you move cautiously, trying to watch the movements of the invisible foe, weapons ready and poised to attack.
"Where ya gonna run to now, dwarf!"
Kia turns towards where she now sees the Duergar is. "Don't do that!" she says. "Now I'm really angry! Anorak! Hit him!". (Commander's Strike again)
She storms over to J11 to be a bit further away from the Duerger and spends an action point to recover 5 HP. She now has 10HP, so probably won't be wading in to the fray too much unless it is likely to be decisive.
The fleeing kobolds pause at the edge of the glade, witnesses to the curious, oddly graceful dance of the warriors as they parry blows across an empty space. Their companion finally rouses himself and scrabbles pathetically for weapons long since removed by the party.
The duergar is clearly suffering. At least one of the blows dealt by the shifter and the dragonborn has wounded him badly, and blood is now pooling on the ground between them.
With a final look, the two upright kobolds head from the glade as fast as possible.
Whiteclaw is still upset about the singeing of her fur, so, when she sees the kobold she is beside stirring and waking she growls angrily and swings her flail at it.
Whiteclaw's flail tears into the defenceless kobold and it cringes back, horrified at the sight of a six foot tall infuriated gnoll looming over it.
Gobi
Unable to reconcile it with his conscience to obliterate an unarmed foe, Gobi half-heartedly swings his warhammer and misses.
BLOCK 1
Vel cautiously circles the area where the duergar had been, listening for him.
1d20+2;1d12+4 → [17,2] = (19)
1d20+2;1d12+4 → [11,4] = (15)
1d20+2;1d12+4 → [17,2] = (19)
1d20+2;1d12+4 → [11,4] = (15)
Vel's fingers uncurl to release doom-filled mist at the duergar. He manages a laugh as he becomes visible again
"Not bad little caster girl, not bad ..."
He's a horrific sight, vicious gashes run the length of his body and it's clear he can barely hold himself upright. Defiant to the last, he lifts his warhammer and aims at Anarak's head. Triumph at hitting the dragonborn turns to rage as he realises his weakened condition has made his blow less effective.
"Take me if you can, the stones still go to my master."
He snaps his fingers, shrugs when nothing happens and stays still, glaring you all down. Some kind of deranged pride comes over his face.
"Drokr's last stand. There should be a bard to sing it."
Upon seeing the Duergar's condition, Anarak lowers his weapon, thinking the fight over. A sharp hammer blow to the head says otherwise. Stalking the injured dwarf, he snarls and makes a series a scything attacks with his axe.
Reaping Strike: 1d20+9 = 14 vs AC. Damage: 1d12+4 = 13 (4 on miss)
Anarak's series of well placed blows is too much for the duergar.
"We are as the grains of sand and you cannot stop us ..."
Dorkl's voice trails away as he finally slumps, rejoining his ancestors and the other warriors of his kin.
Kia turns to the final kobold. "Don't think I'm going to forgive you. I've been hit, burned and shot at and I don't like it!"
With that she moves to the the kobold (to K12) and deals it a blow.
Hitting the kobold, plus damage(1d20 6=20, 1d8 3=6)
"...And I hope that teaches you a lesson!"
Baldrech
Longswords flickering in the air, Baldrech moves to the one remaining kobold.
Taking this one down before anyone changes their minds ...
He slashes and the scaly creature slumps quickly to the ground.
Silence falls on the glade and you look at the carnage you have wrought.
"Good little fight" comments the shifter, leaning down to clean his weapons.
Vel's posture slacks as she stands, clearly exhausted. She looks around the clearing at the destruction.
"'Good little fight'? Some of us on fire, at least myself poisoned, and two of the runts get away to summon reinforcements? I'd hate to see a 'bad fight.'"
Vel is clearly returning to herself. As the dust settles, she straightens and feels for the pouch the locathah had given her, and inspects the contents.
The pouch contains two items. A flask of some kind of liquid and a small blue stone on a leather thong intended to be worn around the neck.
Within the glade, you now have a chance look around properly. Despite the bodies it is a peaceful place, austerely beautiful and not much disturbed. Any traffic has been confined to the trails leading out of it.
Of these, the most travelled is the path taken by the fleeing kobolds. You can see that this leads up a steep hill crowned at the top with an imposing grove of ash trees. This is the path that the duergar and kobolds had been emerging from when you found them. The other two paths are less well used, but neither of them are as overgrown as the trail you took from the beach.
Close to the centre of the clearing you can see the large stone dropped when the duergar unharnessed the lizard. It is about 8 feet tall, perhaps a foot wide, 3 feet across and is made of solid granite. The upper surface is carved from top to bottom with runes. This must be one of the stones you are seeking.
Standing over Dorkl's body, Anarak wipes the blade of his axe on a nearby bush and surveys the scene. He takes a deep breath and carefully steps over the Duergar's body, making his way to the rune stone.
"I guess this is what we're looking for. It's a shame we had to kill the lizard..."
Standing over Dorkl's body, Anarak wipes the blade of his axe on a nearby bush and surveys the scene. He takes a deep breath and carefully steps over the Duergar's body, making his way to the rune stone.
"I guess this is what we're looking for. It's a shame we had to kill the lizard..."
"The lizard? what about that dwarf fellow? Though I suppose there's already enough dwarf here eh? especially good looking ones." Gobi chuckles a bit and looks over at his friend Anarak as he approaches from behind him. "Hope we don't have to move this thing eh?"
"The lizard? what about that dwarf fellow? Though I suppose there's already enough dwarf here eh? especially good looking ones." Gobi chuckles a bit and looks over at his friend Anarak as he approaches from behind him. "Hope we don't have to move this thing eh?"
Vel, without looking up from the items, says curtly, "That was no dwarf; it was a duergar."
Vel tastes, looks, thinks back to the library and comes to a few conclusions.
The potion is a healing draught, the blue stone is an amulet of some rarity. The wearer is better able to defend his or her self.
Potion of healing (drink as minor action, spend healing surge, gain 10HP)
Amulet of Protection (neck slot): +1 to Fort, Ref and Will saves
Whiteclaw laughs softly. "It was a good fight. We won and none of us were lost. A fight doesn't get much better than that."
She rests for a little while herself, cleaning her flail, and tending to her fur.
Vel makes her way to the runestone to inspect it, and learn what she can from its appearance.
Vel
You have found the Rune Stone of Creation. The carving is ancient, far older than anything you've seen before and you can only imagine the distance of time that has passed since the runes were freshly marked. The message and meaning is clear to you however as you slowly piece together the markings.
Upon the Rune Stone of Creation the past is revealed, the story of the beginning of existence. The planting of the World Ash is described and the setting in its branches of the Astral Sea, Underdark, Feywild, Elemental planes of Chaos and your own familiar world. The carvings reveal the origins of the dwarves and the creation of the first man and woman.
As you finish reading the stone, a strange sensation overwhelms you. The stone has granted you a boon. You have a certainty that the stone will allow you to grant your companions aid in some divine way when it is needed most.
Vel staggers back from the stone, then rights herself. In a subdued tone, "We must -- we must find the others. Before the duergar take them."
Vel staggers back from the stone, then rights herself. In a subdued tone, "We must -- we must find the others. Before the duergar take them."
"Well then, let's get on with it eh? They might already be moving the other ones." Gobi says while looking up at the stone.
Kia checks herself over to make sure none of her clothing is smouldering and resets her hair to the nearest approximation of immaculate that is attainable under the circumstances. Hitting the unarmed kobold was probably not the most charitable of actions, but she did feel better for it and they were trying to kill her. She puts her pending guilt aside for a more appropriate time.
"Who is the most susceptible here? They should take the amulet. And I agree with the rest that we should find the others and make sure the Duergar don't get to keep them. But I need a bit of a rest first to get myself back to normal.
"Who is the most susceptible here? They should take the amulet. And I agree with the rest that we should find the others and make sure the Duergar don't get to keep them. But I need a bit of a rest first to get myself back to normal.
"I seem to be rather susceptible to poison beard quills," Vel answers dryly. She takes out some of the supplies from her pack and begins to make the desired rubbings of the runestone.
Baldrech
Baldrech finishes cleaning his weapons and prowls the clearing, hunting for any salvageable arrows. As he passes Whiteclaw, he pauses, dropping a hand on the gnoll's shoulder.
"This'll make a tale for the woodsy boys. Hroaldr knew what he was about."
Smiling a little wryly, he goes to the Rune Stone and absently traces the markings with his long fingers.
Old friend, old friend, you're a quiet wise one. I'm going to get to the bottom of this and keep an eye on Whiteclaw, whatever that uppity dragonborn thinks.
"Nice work there all of you." It is a reluctant admission.
Whiteclaw looks over at Vel. "Do you think we'll have a battle over each stone?" she asks as she rises up, stretches a little, and prepares to set off once more.
"I should hope not," Vel answers the gnoll. "But the only way we'll know is to go to the hill and see if any others are missing."
"Well, if we do have to fight for each of them, can we have some sort of plan for the next time? I don't really want to go through that ordeal again."
Baldrech pauses in his examination of the stone at Kia's words.
"What kind of plan? I prefer working alone, but if you've got suggestions, I'll listen."
It's clear the shifter's attitude to the group has changed since the fight in the glade. He's far from mellow, but he's open to discussion of tactics for the first time.
"Well...for starters, we can try not to spring the ambush until we're actually close enough to take advantage of the element of surprise. We should at least make sure we're on solid, flat terrain."
Anarak walks over to pick up the hand axe he dropped earlier, and continues, "We also might want to surround our foes if possible. Baldrech at least can probably circle around without alerting the enemy."
Vel ignores the dragonborn's implied criticism.
Looking at the Sun, she judges the directions and points to the Southwest. "The hill with the stones should be that direction. Kia, is there any reason we should further delay?"
Barring objection, Vel slips on the amulet and passes the potion to the warlord.
All:
Gobi nods his head in agreeably with Vel,
"Aye, didn't some of those kobolds get away?... our element of surprise might not be at its strongest anymore."
Anarak is amenable to the plan of heading SW as soon as possible, and has no problem letting Vel keep the amulet. The combat showed his companions to be the more vulnerable, and he would happily forsake protection for greater glory.
"Baldrech should scout ahead. I'll go next with Gobi, and Whiteclaw can take up the rear."
He assumes no objection to this plan.
Before heading off, Anarak works out some basic hand signals with Baldrech to communicate tactics without speaking. It would probably be a good idea for Kia, at least, to learn them as well.
Suggested signals:
- stop and be quiet
- wait X number of rounds then follow
- wait X number of rounds for me to return
- directions (ahead, behind, to the side, above, on the ground)
- friend, foe, or unknown
- prepare ambush
- possible trap