Once prepared with truestrike, Magnus lets fly his arrow from his bolt, then moves to any cover available.
Kalaya looks at the old man. "I warned you."
Liquid darkness seems to flow into Kalaya's eyes as her gaze brigs forth a wave of doubt across the old man's mind.
Stilgar frowns, hesitant to engage the bizarre beast in direct combat, even with his defensive magics. Too many teeth and claws for his liking. Seeing as it looked angry enough, he assumes a defensive stance, intent on letting the creature come to them.
Magnus' bolt catches the old man in the upper arm, tearing a wide hole in the flesh as it flies past. He grunts in pain, as Kalaya sends her powers out and he blinks rapidly, beads of sweat breaking out on his wrinkled forehead as his breathing becomes quickened, as if frightened.
His beetled brows knit into a scowl as he looks at Magnus. "You! Kill the woman! The Horned Lord commands this be done!"
Below, Auric moves to stand at Stilgar's left, sword and shield at the ready.
The creature lets out a snarl and begins to charge through the water, throwing up spray as it hurtles its way across, lowering its head and aiming its antlers directly at Stilgar! He puts up his shield and the points crash and scrape across its surface before they can gore him, however.
The cleric lets out a heavy grunt as his buckler catches the brunt of the creature's attack. Catching his breath, he then swings his hammer as forcefully as he can manage, attempting a counterattack.
Magnus loads the next round into his light crossbow. and takes aim at whoever his next target is.
Auric drives a strong blow at the bearstagthing.
Longsword w/power attack:
Eyes narrowing Kalaya unleashes a piercing scream that only the druid is able to hear, pummeling him with sound.
Up on the cliff, Magnus reloads his crossbow, feeling a sudden compulsion to point it and shoot it at Kalaya rather than his enemy, but fights off his foes magic, retraining the crossbow on the old man and firing, taking him in the thigh.
Kalaya then opens her mouth wide and the old man reels, blood trickling out of one ear as he stands glassy-eyed, wobbling slightly on his feet.
Meanwhile, down below, Stilgar lashes out at the great creature with his hammer, landing a solid, thudding hit along the side of its stag-like forequarters. Auric follows this with a downward slash that sends feathers flying as it slashes open the bird-like torso. Then Jon steps forward and tears the flesh of its bear-like flank with his scythe.
Roaring in pain, the thing unleashes a flurry of activity, lashing out with its claws at Auric and Jon, raking each of them bloody and then brings its antlers crashing down on Stilgar, the tines tearing into his scalp and forehead, the dwarf barely raising his buckler in time to avoid being blinded.
Stilgar's bushy eyebrows keep blood from trickling into his eyes as he steps in with another heavy blow.
"C'mon you big, dumb chimera thing! Is that everything you got?"
Auric slashes at the beast again with his sword, since that's all the paladin's got coincidentally.
Power attack:
Magnus sees the wavering of the opponent and opts to go for a more precise hit to finish off the damage. He waves his hands in a rarely seen formation and summons a glob of magical acid to throw at his target.
"Last chance. " Kalaya intones sonorously.
Magnus' acid impacts on the old man's chest, hissing and burning. Kalaya lets loose her hex and the old man narrows his eyes, fists clenched, and actually takes a step forward before his features go slack and a soft moan of "No..." passes his lips before he falls senseless to the ground.
Down below Auric and Stilgar keep up the savage battle against the creature. The cleric's hammer slams into its birdlike torso with a sickening crunch, as the paladin's blade opens a vicious gash on its stag side. Jon's scythe swings for its head, but rattles harmlessly against its antlers.
Snarling, the creature retaliates, raking Auric bloody with its claws and goring Stilgar with its antlers. Jon narrowly avoids having its sharp fangs sink into his arm.
Though battered and bloody, Stilgar stands his ground and swings his warhammer at the beast once more.
Magnus cheers in triumph! "Well done, friend! Should we tie them up, or...?" He looks to Kalaya for the final decision. Once they have been either bound or disposed of, he moves to the opponents and picks away any potential weapons or key items.
Auric grits his teeth and swings once more before stabbing his sword into the ground to free up his right hand and knit some of his wounds.
Power Attack:
Lay on hands, swift action:
Binding and gagging the sleeping old man, Kalaya then moves to the boy and does the same. "We can talk to them later."
"Alright, then let's head back outside and see how our allies are doing dispatching the rest of the gang." Magnus says, preparing to head down the ladder.
As Kalaya binds the fallen cultists and Magnus starts heading back down the ladder, Auric takes a swing with his sword, finding it deflected by a flailing claw before he heals his own wounds. Stilgar's hammer strikes a crunching blow to its foreleg, and the creature crumples forward, allowing an arcing strike from Jon's scythe to shear off one of its antlers, along with a good portion of its skull and brain. The great creature falls to a heap at the party's feet.
As Magnus climbs down the ladder, Kalaya simply steps off into the air, floating down to the ground below as if barely affected by such trivial forces as gravity.
"What... in Baal's name... was that thing?" Stilgar asks between heavy breaths as he finally lowers his guard, his hammer heavy in his hand. He stows the weapon on his belt, before moving his hand to his belt, invoking the power of his bead of healing.
Jon shrugs, breathing heavy and leaning on his scythe. "No idea. Weren't no true god though. Bleeds too much for that."
Auric wipes the sweat from his brow, sheathing his sword once more.
"I'd reckon it was a local god, some kind of monster that gathered a cult around itself using the name of 'The Horned God' to exploit Kurnan's faithful."
The broad warrior surveys the area, looking for any remaining resistance.
If unimpeded, Magnus stops at the entrance to the cavern and gathers up Tuboo and his marbles, making the appropriate "almost lost these" joke.
"Hm. So Kalaya was right - it was merely a pretender, all along."
Tentatively, Stilgar checks to see if the beast is still breathing. As he does so, he asks, "Speaking of whom, where did she and Magnus go off to?"
The surviving cultists have scattered, long since disappearing amidst the trees. Checking the beast shows that it is dead. Jon's scythe seems to have finished the job. Stilgar looks up in time to see Kalaya floating down from the cliff face above the waterfall, with Magnus turning up shortly thereafter.
Magnus comes upon the group with much glee "Excellent work everyone! I'm glad we're working toget...What in the world?!?!" Magnus' voice flips up at the end of his sentence as he looks down at the chimera-like creature scalped before him. "What sort of abomination is this?"
"The object of the cultists' worship, evidently. It came out of the woods not long after everyone else fled." Looking to the cliff, Stilgar asks, "What went on up there?"
"When I tried to get the leader to surrender he summoned something, and then the noises started. I think it was that thing." Kalaya says.
"Guess the situation's in hand. These bastards won't be bullying any more farmers. Let's give the place a once-over and get out of here before any patrols show up..."
"Agreed"
Taking one last look at the slain monster, Stilgar nods.
Combing over the camp by the waterfall, you come up with enough foodstuffs to provide 3 days rations for each party member, 100 feet of rope, various pieces of camping and cooking equipment--including tents, bedrolls, pots, pans, dishes, and eating utensils--all well-used but in good repair, 3 hooded lanterns and a small keg of oil (equivalent to 20 flasks). Hidden under a pile of rags coated liberally in animal hair is a small hollow in the earth containing a burlap sack. In the sack are 307 cp, 156 sp, 3 gp, six gold teeth, and a silver beard ring of dwarven make. A small barrel holds 100 arrows.
The cavern system behind the waterfall is rather expansive, and it takes you some time to explore it all. In the caves are stores enough to keep at least 100 men fed for a month. One large, vaulted cave in the back reveals numerous paintings on the walls and even parts of the ceiling. They show humanoid figures engaged in hunting, gathering, and social behaviors. Most notable are figures shown worshiping a large creature that looks very much like the beast you just defeated. You also find what appear to be the quarters of the old man. Inside you find several valuable furs piled on a bed of pine boughs, and on top of a makeshift altar is a great moonstone, uncut but easily the size of Auric's fist.
Both of Barend's axes are masterwork quality. The old man's holy symbol radiates magic, as do two potions in a pouch at his belt. He wears a belt with a heavy buckle, carved of silver and inlaid with black and white onyx.
You also have a large antler, very sharp and preternaturally hard. Cut down a bit for size and balance, it could prove to be an effective, if unorthodox, weapon in suitable hands.
"Quite the installation here. Let's make claim to what interests us personally, and we'll barter off anything else in the village. Speaking of which, let's return and check in that we have indeed turned back the tide." Magnus looks over the loot and pockets his share of the coins and trades out for any higher quality bedding than his own. He will also take both of the potions with the intention of detecting their properties later on.
Despite not being particularly interested in looting the cultists, Stilgar cannot help but to look through the treasure, trying to determine its worth.
Auric hefts the antler, turning it over and considering what he could make out of it.
"Hmmm. That's pretty interesting; might make a good weapon for someone. And besides this cave complex and all these supplies- could make a good safe house for the Hand once the cultists move on..."
He shrugs off the large backpack he received as a gift and unbuckles it.
"All right, load me up. I'll be your ox until we're a little closer to town and this stuff can be divided proper. I'll need to gather more firewood to hide my sword, too."
"You are with the Hand of Jorin?" Stilgar asks, looking up from the treasure. His tone sounds more inquisitive than accusatory. "I mean, I had assumed but..." The cleric shakes his head, his voice trailing off. "No, I suppose now is not the best time to speak of that."
6 gold teeth @ 1 gp ea.
silver beard ring @ 50 gp
big ass moonstone @ 300 gp
silver & onyx belt buckle @ 100 gp
"At any rate, this should fetch you all some good bit of gold," Stilgar says, in a hurry to change the subject. "Just have to find a reliable trader."
Kalaya's eyes swirl with stars as she looks at the old man's symbol and the potions.
The symbol, carved of antler and interwoven with thorny vines, functions as an amulet of natural armor +1. The potions are cure moderate wounds and slow poison.
Auric parses his lips muttering to himself in elven for a second.
Elven:
"Maybe forget I mentioned that for the time being. Distrust has gotten tiring to me lately, even if it might be the wisest course of action..."