Alicia scrambles over and around the catapult, drawing her rapier, and stabs the female half-orc.
Mahath moves up,patting the reassuring bulk of his hopeknife as he goes. From its presence and the history it represents, he draws courage and joins Dorn and Marikel. From his new vantage point, he assails the orc engaged with Alicia with a beam of frigid arcane power.
Move to G6, cast ray of frost at orc 2.
To hit
Damage
Markel steps forward still snarling and swings again at the orc before him.
The orc barely notices the instantaneous cooling of the air on one side of her as Mahath's ray goes wide right.
Marikel presses the attack against his foe but fails to connect.
Levvy curses quietly at the orc's resistance to her hex. "Fine, try this," she mutters and casts a spell.
.
Once again, the stubborn orc resists Levvy's mental influence.
Grimacing in pain at the orc's uncanny marksmanship, "Fine!" he yells as he moves to take the humanoid head on.
Dorn's hammer makes a considerably more noticeable effect on the orc than on her seige engine.
The orc north of the Barterstones steps back warily and then makes a quick grab at Levvy. He is so quick, he nearly succeeds, but she is able to press herself against the boulder and avoid his grasping hand.
Skyreaver continues to follow the orc and attacks.
Skyreaver follows the orc and tears at him with beak and talon.
The orc by the catapult swings her falchion at Dorn, then steps back toward the siege engine.
Alicia makes good use of Dorn's distraction and skewers the half-orc.
Mahath sees the female half-orc shifting away from Alicia and giving him an opening. He dips a finger into his pouch and pulls it out with a smear of colored sand on his fingertip. He thrusts that finger at the half-orc with an arcane syllable, and the magic takes over.
Casting Color Spray in F4-5/G3-5/H4-5. DC16.
A vivid cone of clashing colors flashes forth from Mahath's hand, and the orc slumps to the ground.
There is a roar from the northeast, and everyone turns to see a Large, tusked humanoid approaching from the direction of the main battle. A chain is attached to each massive wrist, and from the end of each the creature is dragging a dead orc, clearly once its handlers.
Marikel's eyes widen in dismay at the approaching monstrosity. He glances back to the orc nearby, grits his teeth and steps forward in an effort to end things quickly.
Marikel runs his sword all the way through the orc, but somehow the badly-injured creature stays on its feet.
Levvy gulps at the sight of the approaching tusked creature. She backs away from the orc by her and intones the words of a spell. Her eyes begin to burn like flames and she turns her gaze on the orc.
Levvy casts her spell and then her rat pokes his head out from under her cloak. The rat's eyes burn like fire. Neddy turns his gaze on the orc.
The rat's burning eyes turn on the orc, which bursts into flames and collapses, still burning.
Dorn turns at the newest sound. Noticing the freakishly large beast, "You gotta be freakin' kiddin' me. By the looks of that thing, if we don't kill it quick, I'm thinkin' we might just get pounded into jelly." The dwarf then withdraws a potion from his pack and drinks it.
Dorn drinks a potion that is clearly past its best-by date.
Dorn hollers at Skyreaver to head his way and the roc heads in the dwarf's direction.
Alicia runs the unconscious half-orc through.
Alicia neatly tidies up loose ends before the new combatant joins the fray. This is obviously one of the cave giants Kaleb warned of.
Mahath moves up (to E8) and calls out "A cave giant! Beware, they don't go down easily! They'll keep fighting long after they should have collapsed." He points at the giant, and a beam of heat projects out at the behemoth.
Scorching Ray
Touch attack to hit
Damage
Marikel puts his shield up and edges out into the open.
"All of you, keep back behind Dorn and I."
Marikel swings his sword low and a burst of healing energy flows over all his companions around him.
Mahath moves up next to Marikel and readies a spell.
Marikel puts himself on the front lines and channels healing energy into his companions.
Levvy turns to look towards the approaching giant. "Let it get within 30 feet before rushing it," she says to the others loud enough that Dorn can hear as well as those in the message spell. "I need it close for my magic to work."
Neddy, his eyes still burning intensely, turns his gaze in the direction of the giant.
Levvy also waits for the giant to get closer.
Dorn takes out another potion and moves up next to the cleric. "Don't you worry about that, lass. I think I'll be lettin' that one come ta us; especially considering he seems ta be in a hurry ta get here."
Readying another potion, Dorn moves up next to Marikel to form a front line.
The giant lumbers on, dragging a dead orc from each wrist. As it nears, it is clear that it hasn't come through the battle unscathed, though the wounds it carries so far seem superficial.
As soon as it is near enough, Levvy fixes it with a malign glare, but the creature's primitive mind is slippery enough to resist her hex.
Neddy's burning gaze is another matter: a patch of fire erupts from its bristling hair, although with a bellow the creature shakes the flame out before it can spread.
A few steps nearer, and it is in range of Mahath's spell. Perhaps the wizard's pointed finger shakes slightly as the massive behemoth approaches ... but there is too much bulk for the ray to miss. The beam sears the giant's flesh, and it roars in pain and outrage.
Skyreaver makes his way next to the dwarf when called.
Alicia tenses and gets ready to sprint toward the cave giant.
Marikel takes a deep breath and holds his sword, rock steady before him. He mutters a prayer to Iomedae and blows across the blade.
"I pray this works."
Marikel closes in cautiously towards the hulking creature.
Alicia waits for an opening.
Marikel attempts to stop the giant in its tracks, but the simplicity of its mind is too great for the priest to penetrate.
"DAMN!"
Marikel steps back .
"Keep back. Let it come to us. Keep it moving."
Marikel waves his shield at the creature.
"OVER HERE, BEAST!"
Dorn steps back next to the cleric and waits for the giant to near.
"I'm running out of options," Levvy whispers to the others. "They keep resisting everything I throw at them." Then she tries another spell.
Neddy keeps his fiery gaze centred on the giant.
Levvy's attempt to daze the cave giant is turned back by the overwhelming strength of the creature's will.
The rat's gaze sears another patch of the approaching giant's exposed flesh, but the monster once again smothers the flames before they can spread.
Mahath mumbles "Well, if that thing is going to rip us apart, might as well make it do it with its bare hands."
He casts a spell as it approaches, trying to disarm the giant.
Then, suddenly aware of how far forward he is, Mahath takes a step or two backwards, hoping his nervousness doesn't show.
Dorn finally remembers the potion he's holding and drinks it down.
Mahath glances across his allies, taking note of their positioning and stances. He estimates how the giant will close with them and how his allies will react to that. Based on his calculates and assumptions, he slips over to Alicia and casts a spell on her, making her disappear from the battlefield! He hisses to her "This won't last long."
Mahath crosses to Alicia and casts a spell that makes her vanish from sight.
The seared giant roars in pain and rage and swings one arm with a mighty heave; the dead orc at the end of the chain hurtles at the roc, which barely dodges out of the way of the heavy corpse. With another step forward, it swings its other arm, and the other dead orc slams into Marikel like a side of beef.