As people began to stride frantically about, Arion took a deep breath, then knelt down and put both hands on the ground. As she did so, a white runic circle appeared on the ground around her, and energy slowly began to fill it as she reached out through her connection. If there was trouble - and it certainly seemed like there was - the camp would need warriors to protect it. At the moment, that meant calling up the most dangerous entity she could... but it would take a minute or so for her to manage it. On the other hand, she was pretty sure they had at least that long before people could get moving. Alas, there was no time for talking - not when she had to pour all of her focus into getting ready for whatever was about to happen.
(That, and honestly, she just wasn't used to explaining herself to others. That would come in time, though... assuming she lived that long.)
Qahnaarin walks to the wagons, careful not to get in the way of any of the martial types who might be running about with sharp pieces of metal. He looks over the assembled goods.
He takes the green velvet cloth and stuffs it into his pack. If anyone looks, he shrugs. "Well, I am a tailor."
He also takes the bandages.
He walks over to join those who are assembling near Ishak. He bows with exaggerated courtesy. "If I may, I have an idea I would like to humbly submit. If we can find a location to prepare an ambush, I would be happy to be the bait. In fact, I believe that I could reasonably delay a significant portion of their scouts for nearly an hour, if I may be so bold."
At the red flare, Maqli and Karsak turn almost as one, staring at the light for a few moments. Then the still terror is over, and people begin moving. Maqli makes a sound that almost sounds like a feline yowling as she makes for the equipment wagon, scrambling on all-fours as she leaps over a log. At the wagon, she glances over the equipment, but the few weapons are of little use for her. Instead, she begins strapping on one of the armors, loathing the colors and symbols but knowing armor is important for surviving a fight.
As she finishes putting the armor on, Ishak informs the group of the mission, and Qahnaarin speaks up. Maqli only nods. Ambush, strike fast, whichever. Killing time is here.
Taalik's eyes follow Octavian's gesture toward the wagon. He takes off running with speed and grace. Reaching the wagon, he notes a few others grabbing arms and armor for themselves. Noting that several of those around the larger fire are nearby, he calls out. "All of you, to arms. If our blood is to be spilt, let each drop claim the life of one of those murderous beasts!"
Rummaging through, he begrudgingly takes one of the suits of armor. I'll need to deal with that symbol later, he thinks to himself even as he dons it. He then slips a short sword through his belt, and tucks a spear across his back. Then his hand finds it. It is not like those crafted with artistry by his people, but it is serviceable - a longbow. The hunter is wise to use the right tool for each task. He had his ancestral blade, but the bow would allow him to strike from afar. Grabbing a cluster of the arrows and stuffing them in a quiver, he moves off to unite with the growing defense force.
Kyarla first grabs some armor, tearing out the symbol with her teeth as she quickly slips into it. As she dresses, she considers a bow, but it didn't have the pull to replace her sling.
She takes one of the bottles of spirits, but then sees that she has something to keep her head clear for. She puts it back to take a healing draught. Her sack is worn, so she puts it into one of the backpacks.
When all this is done, she turns to the tailor. "Be clever and quick. We need a tailor to fix this armor," She points to the torn symbol on her chest. But her eyes recognizes his courage in facing them.
Bree snapped her head toward the flash of red in the sky and the sound of alarm. She started to panic and realized that she wandered off on her own again. She began to babble melodically as she quickly grabbed one of the satchels of healing supplies, having nothing else really on her person and started to beat feet back to where Ishak was.
Anyone that hears her probably in most cases just assumes she is singing in a made up language and not in her right mind. In a way they were right, but it was only partially. She never knew it was actual languages, she just felt like she got tongue-tied when stressed or in danger.
She called out for Ishak as she ran along, dodging out of people's way whenever she needed to.
Ahhhhh, fighting hour was here. All that talk of revenge and resistance - her blood was up and she would soon get her chance to sink her claws into the hated humans. Snarling, she leaps from her seat and makes for the supply wagons, bounding and leaping over campfires and scattered possessions as chaos engulfs the camp. The symbol on the scavenged armours pleases her none, but they cannot afford to be choosy. She dons one of them, intentionally leaving the fastenings loose, in case she needed to... how did that kobold put it? Change to her true form. She chuckles at the thought as she snatches a spear, hefting it to test its balance.
"Come, Yama!" She lets loose a long, modulated whistle in that special language that she had been training Yama to understand and obey. It was made up of natural-seeming sounds - bird whistles and trills, water drops, the swishing of dried grasses, the yips and barks and hoots of animals. Somehow, the lioness never mistook the sounds made by actual animal and birds and insects for the ones that Inja made to convey instructions. Perhaps the lioness had much finer hearing than Inja did, or perhaps she was just that smart. This particular whistle is an entire phrase - "follow me, stay close, engage foe when I do" - but anyone else hearing it might easily confuse it for a bird call.
As the signals rang out through the camp, Jasmine could taste the fear as rushed preparations were made to prepare for departure. While everyone frantically danced around, the elf female did the opposite, closing her eyes for a long moment and centering herself. Fear, as she well knew, clouded the mind, and prevented people from thinking rationally. In addition to this, increased heart rate actually had a detrimental effect on marksmanship, so Jasmine kept her eyes closed and regulated her breathing, keeping it steady, manipulating her body to better prepare for what lay ahead.
Finishing her exercises, Jasmine followed the others to the wagon, briefly passing the frantic looking gnome she had met earlier.
As she approached the wagon, she hissed at the sight of the armour that awaited her. She knew it well of course, and she wasn't interested in even touching it. "I'll die before I put that on" she announces firmly, instead reaching past the items and taking a swathe of arrows. She ignores the remaining longbow and pulls out her own. The bow is clearly wooden, but flares gold before Jasmine extinguishes the light with a touch, while impressive looking the glow was wholly impractical when sneaking up on someone.
Ishak would wait until everyone grabbed what they needed or wanted, though really it wasn’t like he was going to make them charge into battle unprepared. The sight of the armor made him remembered the act of ripping them off of the dead humans. ”Armor is armor” he’d mention to Jasmine but he would leave it at that, he wasn’t going to force her to don something that would distract her. Shaking his head he quickly discarded the thoughts from his mind as he would motion to the assembled group. ”Waste no more time. Let’s go.” He would turn and begin at a run towards the flares that lingered in the sky. ”Bree! With me!” he’d yell over to her to get her attention as he ran towards the tree line.
He would lead the newly armed fighters down several winding passages and trails to brought them to a semi decent grove, after at least a good several miles of hard running. He’d raise a hand and turn to everyone, he was slightly out of breath but he seemed to be holding himself well for a kobold. ”Find spot to ambush from. Suggestions?” He’d watch them and await for anything they find.
The area they were in had a slight dip in the center, with the hills creating a natural dip in the ground that led to the camp of refugees. There were thick, tall evergreens on either side of the dip with a few saplings growing along the hills. The grass was tall and thick, which would actually come close to Ishak’s neck. Roughly a little over two feet in height. Bushes were abundant and grew mostly near the trees.
Hearing the same melodious tones that seemed as familiar as the ones she herself uttered, she paused briefly. She looked around for several moments, fairly confused and unsure of who spoke to her. Shaking her head, she shouldered the bag she carried better and hurried along to figure out where Ishak was at that current moment. She would spare a second glance behind her for a moment longer, looking for the one who spoke to her and tried to calm her nerves.
It wasn't too long before she made it back to where the fire was that she sat at only a short while ago, but she didn't readily see her kobold friend. She did a slow circle, her eyes scanning the scrambling refugees for him. Her ears perked up when she heard his voice call out to her from near where the trees were, and she quickly scampered over to where he was.
She yelled, her voice making that same melodius sound as she called out to him. She didn't know if he'd understand her, but she knew he should hear her as she got closer to the tree line.
Arion's summoning finished a minute or so after it had began, as the others got ready to leave - and when it had, the figure that appeared was similarly humanoid, but even a fairly cursory examination was enough to show a variety of animal traits, including some rather rough-looking paws. <"Trouble, is it? Stay behind me."> the figure said in Celestial after Arion explained what was going on... and the two moved to join the others.
Every now and then, Ylva's - the Eidolon's - nose twitched as she scented the air, quite on the lookout for signs of trouble.
"Find anything?" Arion asked as Ishak suggested looking for an ambush spot. Ylva looked around-
-and after a moment, she gestured. "The terrain around here is simple enough. If our targets are over in that direction, we should be able to get a good vantage point from over there." the Eidolon explained calmly.
Jasmine mutters a spell under her breath as they approach the area. Wanting to get an excellent ambush zone in, she relied on her magic to give her the positioning edge as she glances watchfully around.
Jasmine glances up at the grassy area, and the high trees above them. Wanting to stay out of harms way, and remaining unseen for as long as possible, she ties a rope around an arrow, firing it up into the canopy and latching onto a tree.
Testing the weight for a moment, she climbs up it, before peering out into the darkness, attempting to spot any scouts.
Qahnaarin pats Kyarla on the chest. "In due time, in due time. Speaking of which, time is of the essence, so I will be brief. We need the camp to form a thin line. As thin as possible. The scouts following our tracks will likewise form a line as our tracks converge. It should only take a mile or two to have them following us like a snake."
He starts drawing lines and shapes in the sand with a finger. "As soon as we find a place with cover, I will stop. Disguised as a human, I will engage any scouts who approach in conversation. I can be very enthralling when I need to be. To prevent them closely scrutinizing my disguise, I will wrap my face and hands in these bandages and play the part of a leper. Anyone who approaches within 150 feet of my will want to listen to my fascinating lecture on various stitch patterns and knots. I can keep them enthralled with my lecture for nearly an hour. In that time, the main camp will be able to get at least four or five miles away. We can then spring an ambush on them. I would be happy to answer any questions concerning my proposal."
Jasmine assesses the Speaker for a moment, thinking the plan over, as she plays around the opportunities. "I think its a big risk" she remarks at last. "You see, anyone out here is a refugee or a refugee sympathizer, so even if you claim to be human, there's nothing stopping them from attacking anyway. Claiming to be a leper gives them even less reason to fire from range. Like, I could do something similar (albeit maybe less effective) myself by hiding in a tree and drawing their attention upwards, leaving them less concerned with surroundings. The advantage is clear in that it gives the camp an extra hour to leave, but doesn't give ourselves much of a tactical advantage, and leaves you in a less secure position."
As the vanguard gathers in the slight ravine, Taalik listens to the words of the Speaker. He casts a doubtful look upon hearing his plan. "While I am in support of a trap for these monsters, given their drive to slaughter, they may well just as likely cut you down for being a sickly or tainted human. And I'm afraid to say that it would be doubtful the caravan of tired, scared refugees could make it four or five miles in an hour's time moving into the desert. It might be best to strike fast and shatter the scouts to a man, lest they have time for their full force to catch up."
Taalik and Katras move up onto the right flank, carefully finding a position in the trees on the hill above the pass. Taalik nestles himself in low under the branches, taking the bow and knocking an arrow before placing a hand on Katras' head.
Inja's lip curls in disgust as the gray one suggests that he attempt stop the humans with words. He had been too long among them and had been infected with their lying, deceitful manner. Or perhaps he was still loyal to the humans and had been sent here to infiltrate their camp and lead his masters to their prey. She glowers at him with suspicion and her hand chops the air in a decisive motion.
"No. We fight. We kill them."
Careful not to turn her back on the gray one, she surveys the site, searching for a good spot where Yama and herself could position themselves for an attack. Their hunting style was all about running down their prey and not so much skulking about, so she doesn't really trust their ability to remain undetected. She searches for a spot behind the main group, hoping their presence would help screen Yama and herself, and confident that they could still close the distance to their foe when the time came.
There isn't much time to search for the perfect spot, so Inja settles for a tree opposite the elf with the bow, crouching in its shadow behind some bushes. Eyes scanning the path for approaching humans, she starts making her preparations.
Qahnaarin holds up his hands in a conciliatory manner. "Very well, very well. I am merely trying to make myself useful. Please, do not allow me to distract from those with more experience in such matters."
He follows carefully on the periphery, trying to stay close to Octavius and Breewyn.
Kyarla will take the east flank and use the shade of the tree to remain hidden. She keeps her tribal blade sheathed - it is only steel and much less useful than her real weapons.
While she had no magic to expire, she understood the concern. It was a great advantage to have such powers. But few could channel such gifts.
As the others moved forward, Arion carefully remained back in a... somewhat safer location. She had a few kinds of protection, but honestly, she wasn't nearly as tough as many of the others. Nor, for that matter, was she terribly stealthy. Rather than potentially ruining things, she felt it was better to stay somewhere out of the way as Ylva remained up front. Now, how exactly was this going to turn out, hmm? She was curious - not just to see those they were trying to ambush, but also to see how the others in this camp behaved, thought... acted.
Bree moves over to get closer to Ishak, nudging him gently. She points at him, then points at herself, then points to one side of the path. After pausing briefly, she points to the other side. Finally shrugging she gave him a questioning expression. Not knowing if he knew what she said, she tried her best to convey her feelings and thoughts with merely gestures.
She gave him a couple moments to respond, but the human threat drew closer with every moment that passed by them.
Maqli only scowled at the gray Speaker as he suggested using deception and words to halt the humans. She agreed much more with the others--killing their scouts to a man would be much more satisfying, and quite possibly more efficient. So she casts about for a good hiding spot, lamenting the relatively flat terrain, and crouches there with Karsak nearby.
Ishak would tug Bree and then quickly move off to the side, finding a good set of bushes and brambles to hide behind. He'd motion her to take a spot next to him with a finger pressed to his lips. He would turn his attention back to the trail that was just before and below them.
He'd become one with his surroundings, if Bree wasn't looking at him she'd feel like she was alone in those two bushes.
It wouldn’t take long after everyone settled into their hiding positions that everyone could hear commotion coming from further down the trail. Tension began to fill the air as the noise was getting louder and closer. The sounds of human voices, the common tongue lifting from the darkness only caused the air to become filled with this unnerving energy.
”Come! It’s this way!”
Soon a band of humans, all armored and wearing red and gold, appeared in a hurried march. Though they did not seem to notice anything immediately as they moved forward. Most of the humans wore helmets or masks that concealed their visage. Each one seemed armored in one way or another. The majority of them wore mostly leathers and some plate, all with hues of red and gold, with pieces of cloth and the Mad King's insignia on proud display. One of them in particular looks like he was adorned in more plate than anything and one more that seemed slightly less armored, but they wore an odd pointed hat and held a longsword in one hand.
”Hold! Wait, don’t just rush in blind you idiots!” a gruff voice yelled, which caused most of them to slow their hurried march into a cautious movement. ”They’re pitted against a desert, they have nowhere to run. Unless it’s running to their deaths, HA!”
Bree felt Ishak tug her along and then slipped into the bushes with him. As he put his finger to his lips, she nodded and crouched down. She held her breath in anticipation as the party of humans began to get closer. She prepared herself to need to be quick on her feet, feeling nervous, scared, excited all at once. She went over the few spells she knew, she had to make them count.
As the party of humans began to slowly creep into the clear part of the path, she quietly looked around. She couldn't see any of her companions, but she trusted that they were still there as she stayed still. She didn't move a muscle for fear that she would be heard and lose the element of surprise.
For the moment, Arion stayed hidden - and kept her companion with her, rather than suddenly rushing out. One of the unfortunate limits of her power was that her Eidolon could safely only go so far away from her, so it was better to try and draw the targets into a better position, or at least have them get pinned down in a way that would make it much easier for the two of them to approach. Fortunately, some of those here seemed rather inclined towards that sort of activity...
Maqli clenches her fists in the sparse grass as the humans arrive and begin to pass. To have a party so close, there, unaware and unready... Karsak growls beside her, and she looks at the warcat with a feral grin. She responds with a rough hum of her own, and together they begin to creep forward, moving slowly and quietly, ever closer to the humans...
Kyarla will hold still. They were too far away for the others to strike. A few seconds more and the ambush would be perfect.
Having noted that none of his melee focused comrades have sprung from their hiding spots, Taalik slowly draws his arrow back and takes aim at the closest human in the party. He prepares to fire as soon as one of his companions moves forward to attack.
Qahnaarin taps Kyarla on the shoulder and whispers. "Which will you strike first?"
The gnoll is waiting across from them on the other side of the clearing. The impatient hunter often goes home hungry, so Inja hunkers lower into the bushes as she waits for a more opportune moment to spring their attack. The soldiers were still in a position that would allow them to retreat and escape; they would have to wait until they drew closer to the north side of the clearing, well within the group's reach. She knew that Yama and herself could close the distance to the nearest human, but that would leave them exposed to the rest of the soldiers. She flexes her hands on her club, now writhing with thorns and living vines, tensing her legs for a leap and a sprint when the moment comes.
Inja AC: 20/13/17 (Ironskin) HP 70/70
Yama AC: 20/40/26 (Barkskin) HP 50/50
From high up on the branches of her tree, Jasmine watches her targets approach. Fully aware that the others around her were waiting to spring the ambush, Jasmine delays her attack, contenting herself to trigger her Studied Target ability on the two most unusual members of the group. Preparing an arrow, Jasmine focuses towards targeting what appeared to be an obvious spellcaster the moment that the trap was sprung. If she has a spare moment, she will also attempt to trigger her Bane ability, selecting humans as her preferred target.
---> Lucky Number triggers and reroll
She indicates the lead warrior. She then points at Qahnaarin and directs him to the leader and spellcaster in the middle.
Qahnaarin nods to Kyarla.
It seemed the humans didn’t catch sight of anyone awaiting in their spots. They were wary but moving quickly yet still, all weapons were drawn as they neared Kyarla’s position.
”Wait a minute, what is…” was said just seconds before Inja sprung from her spot, charging the human flat-footed. The soldier took the clubs hit, yelling in surprised pain as he tried to scramble back before being charged by Yama. He was able to recover just enough to shift to the right, avoiding the lioness bite.
In quick successions, three arrows were loosed by Taalik and Jasmine, the feathered projectiles finding their targets with ease. Jasmines arrows bite quickly into the caster’s body one impaling him in the shoulder causes a short cry of pain before another followed causing him to stumble back before her third found its home within his skull. Taaliks arrow found another man's stomach, causing him to double over.
”To Arms! Kill them all!” yelled heaviest armed one, though he was held fast by Qahnaarin’s spell. ”What the?” the man tried to struggle against the spell but his limbs were locked into place. ”Kill the caster damnit! Find him!”
Once the others sprung the combat, Ishak would quickly jump from cover and sprint up just to be in range before he would yell ”Harkajup Kepesk!”
Bree heard the voices and then peaked over the bush some just as she watched two of the humans drop from her companions and another two were preoccupied. She carefully stepped around the bush to give her a more direct route to getting to any who had decided to engage in melee. So far it seemed only Inja and her lioness moved in to engage one man before his allies were being felled like trees.
She heard Ishak leap from the bushes and rush forward and she carefully followed behind to back him up as he let loose a spell on the one human that seemed to be standing rather rigidly.
As the ambush was sprung, Arion moved forward together with Ylva. It looked like they'd been off to a very strong start, but she wasn't about to drop her guard or get complacent. Even a weak man might manage a lucky hit, after all, and it was better to do things right instead of doing them quickly. For now, that meant approaching carefully and moving to support the others as the trap closed on their targets.
Octavian continued to bark out commands as the camp dissolved around him, his staff waving with imperious authority. His tent and belongings had already been broken down and stowed on wagons, Acteon saddled and ready. He motioned for a small group of figures to head down the path first, each and everyone of them capable of seeing in the dark. They had all been briefed on some of the horrors the desert could throw at them and how to avoid the attention of some of the lesser creatures. And while the Illidari leader could not tell them what exactly to look for that denoted the correct pathway they knew west was the only way they could go.
"Clear the base and prepare for relocation! We aren't ready to cross yet!" he yelled over the din. The leader, a hard nosed male dwarf, nodded and spoke a few words to the motley group of figures. Within moments they vanished over the edge of the cliff and started down the path that hugged the edge of the cliff all the way down to the desert. Octavian glanced back at the gap in the mountains and cursed the situation. As long as the humans had not found their tracks the location on the cliff top was their safest bet. Now it didn't matter if the scouts were killed, the imperial soldier's knew where they were. He could only hope that the desert wouldn't kill them any faster.
As the combat breaks out, with arrows plunging into flesh and spells holding men fast, Maqli breaks from her stealth to sprint forward, Karsak roaring at her side. The pair move in concert and cross paths as they go; Maqli slipping down the ridge as Karsak bounds into the air, driving for different targets. Maqli slams into hers with a powerful kick, followed up with a vicious elbow to the jaw; meanwhile, Karsak savages his target with powerful jaws.
Kyarla moves with a speed beyon
Kyarla moves with a speed beyond vision. In a blink, she is upon the closest soldier, biting deeply through his armor and into his skin.
From there she goes into a frenzy of tooth and claw, ravaging the human before he can react.
Jasmine feels a surge of delight as her three arrows find their mark. "Choke on that" she mutters to herself as the final arrow lodes into the casters throat.
While feeling extreme pleasure at her skill, Jasmine immediately turns her attention to the second human she had studied. The human was currently locked into place, which made aiming for him much easier. Still locked into position on the tree branch, Jasmine picks her spot carefully, before unleashing a further volley.
Bree moves closer to Ishak and touches his back. She speaks in melodic tones and invigorates his aim to be more true.
She smiles after intoning her spell upon her comrade. She feels her power wash over Ishak, and grant him surer strikes.