Arthur moves to heal Piety while he calls out "Show them some steel!"
Carric moves his mark to the gnolls engaging Revjak and fires, inspired to aid his friend.
Revjak is starting to feel the pain of his wounds, but it only spurs him on. He swings and swings, aiming to smash apart the hyena-men in front of him.
Revjak scores a solid blow on the gnoll he's facing with Azuredge, and the halberd flashes blue with his fury. The gnoll then gets a good opportunity to stab Revjak in the side, but Carric's arrow sinks into its chest with a thunk! and it falls to the ground, blood gushing out of its mouth.
Arthur moves up behind Piety, and his healing energy washes through the man-golem. Piety simultaneously feels his arms throb with energy at Arthur's exhortations.
Activating his runes again, Piety tries to smash one of the enemies in his way.
His fist crackling with blue-white electric energy, Piety slams his fist into the gnoll in front of him, and even as he feels flesh and bone give way beneath his knuckles, the energy discharges into the gnoll, and the smell of burning fur fills the woods. The gnoll howls in fury, pain, and fear, rearing its spear back to strike at the golem.
Reynwyn gives a nod to his lady as he burns down another fnoll with her granted powers! He watches as Piety and Revjak takes several wounds and grimaces as they appear to be hurting. He channels yet another dark bolt of energy streaking through the trees at the gnolls engaged in the melee!
As the gnoll grips its spear in both hands to thrust at Piety, a bolt of shadow energy strikes it in the side, dropping it to the ground!
The remaining two gnolls see their numbers crumbling and flee, one to the northwest, one to the north. They quickly disappear into the foliage.
2: -24 X
3: -32 X
4: -24 X
5: -23 X
6: -23 X
7:
8:
Carric 22/29
Piety 17/31
Revjak 10/34
Reynwyn 21/21
"We should let them go, then track them back. That should lead us to their camp." said Piety, whose body was extensively injured, between arrows and spear marks, although his own healing subroutines and Arthur's magic seem to have rebuild him some.
Aye, as we will never catch them on foot. Let's gather the horses and either proceed to the lodge, or get on their trail.
"We've taken a few injuries, let us rest and tend to our wounds before pursuing. Let them think they lost us."
Reynwyn glances at his companions and the wounds that many of them had suffered. "I think taking a few moments to rest up would be a good idea before we following behind the gnolls. We can also likely find a good place to keep our horses if the lodge has been ransacked like I fear." He begins going through the gnolls to see if they have any kind of information or intelligence on their bodies that might enlighten the group as to their motives or numbers. "Before we go into the Lodge, I'll send Jareth to scout it out from the windows."
Please do, Reynwyn. Let's round up the horses Revjak, and all meet back here to proceed.
1pm, Higharvestide feastday, 335 NR (1367 DR)
The gnolls have very little to offer in the way of loot, or information, except for a silver teaspoon engraved with the letter P on the end of the handle that is tucked away inside one of the gnolls' jerkins. Carric manages to replenish his arrow stocks, the horses are retrieved, and the party is ready to head off once more.
"Let us hunt the one heading northwest. I feel that he will head for the lodge."
Carric catches his breath after replenishing his arrows. At Revjak's request, he begins to track the Gnoll heading northwest.
"Let me tell you a story twenty two versus long, of a woman who..." Arthur launches into a ludicrous tale filled with inuendo that livens the heart and helps everyone get their minds off the current danger at least for a while.
As the group catches it'sbreath, the damage to Piety's body begins to close on it's own, even as he stands guard.
Carric leads the party into the forest proper, although the gnoll heading this way was light-footed, and the tracks are difficult to follow. The going is slow, and the forest grows quiet as the canopy overhead grows thicker.
The ground gets a little softer underfoot, and Carric notices that the tracks, having grown heavier as the gnoll slowed its pace, become light and fast once again, with no heel marks at all. They also swerve of the animal trail that they have been following. Smelling a rat, Carric peers at the ground in front of him, standing perfectly still and holding up a hand behind him, motioning for everyone to stop.
Even though his instincts are correct, the elf is still caught flat-footed, as are the rest of the companions, when thick tendrils plant matter shoot out of the ground ahead of Carric, attempting to wrap around him!
The tendrils wrap around the ranger and begin dragging him forward, as a huge mass of rotting foliage rises up out of a hollow in the ground!
Arthur is momentarily taken aback but once he regains his wits he moves to charge at the mass of rotting foliage thrusting the blade deep into its form.
Carrick attacks with his Short Sword.
Carric lashes out with his short sword, but as he's somewhat distracted by the tendrils trying to draw him into the creature he fails to make any appreciable mark on the thing's mass. Arthur dances forward, his blade stabbing into the behemoth multiple times, and sections of branches and rotting vegetation fall to the ground at his feet.
"Carric!" Reynwyn quickly raises his ring as shadows swirl from the underbrush into the large gem and he quickly fires off a bolt of the black energy into the strange, plant-like creature! "Revjak, see if you can free him!"
Seeing his friend being snatched by a plant, Revjak hurtles towards him, dropping Azuredge in his haste.
He seizes the vines around Carric - and yanks hard!
Arthur's words had cheered Revjak, helping him fresh strength.
Reynwyn's arcane blast strikes the thing, but seems to do little
damage. Revjak charges forward, grabbing at Carric in an attempt to keep him away from the creature, but a sudden jerk from the plant beast yanks the elf towards it. A gap opens up within its mass, and Carric falls into it helplessly. A split second later, the gap closes, with Carric trapped inside.
Carric manages to gulp in a breath of air before being engulfed, and rolls with the strange pummelling that he feels inside the monster. However, two large pseudopods emerge from the creature, attempting to slam down on Revjak. The barbarian manages to roll out of the way, avoiding them. They strike the ground with an impressive thump, and you all deduce that being struck by the thing will definitely hurt.
Carrick attacks with his Short Sword from inside the creature, attempting to cut his way out.
"Carric! No!" He calls out to his elven friend. He calls upon the power of his Queen and brings down a Hex upon the plant creature as a flock of spectral raven begin swarming around it from above! Reynwyn then conjures his shadowy blast, but seems a bit too preoccupied with watching the ravens swarming above!
Revjak roars, the fury seizing him. And he seizes the plant!
With his bare hands, he attempts to seize the edges of the gap and wrench them open!
Watching the creatures' behavior, Piety moves forward and tries to pry open it's mouth.
Arthur let the others try to pull Carric out he'd try to reduce some more of it's vegetative mass with another thrust.
Piety moves up to where Carric disappeared into the creature's bulk, and with a mighty wrench peels open the branches and vines to reveal Carric's arm and leg, the rest of him still trapped and pinned within the thing. Carric is unable to even move his sword arm, let alone attack the creature's insides. Arthur stabs, and Reynwyn casts feverishly, his blast firing wide. Revjak, seeing the opening created by Piety, grabs each of Carric's visible limbs with a huge hand apiece and yanks with all his might. Carric squeezes out, shaken and gasping but not visibly harmed.
The creature begins flailing even more aggressively, it's "limbs" seeking targets to strike and grab.
S: 108
Two leafy "arms" rear back, then smash into Arthur, hurling his body back five feet. The bard lands, crumpled, on a pile of dead leaves, blood leaking from his mouth.
Having freed his companion, Piety unloads into the creature, fist sparking from his first attack.
Arthur lies there almost without any semblance of life but his chest moves up an down slowly as he takes his unexpected nap.
Piety unleashes a flurry of blows, and manages to smash into the creature twice, bits of foliage filling the air as he does. The thing doesn't seem to register any pain, but its flailing does grow slightly more intense.
S: 94
Revjak moves to seize Arthur and carry him beyond the plant's reach. And then seize Azuredge.
Carrick stands and swings at the creature.
Carric slashes with his blade, biting into the plant creature, the steel glinting in the afternoon sunlight angling through the canopy overhead. Revjak carefully moves to Arthur and manoeuvres him outside of their enemy's range and towards Azuredge..
Reynwyn maintains his distance, holding his raven ring aloft and channels his Queen's power towards the hulking thing, but as the bolt fires towards it his target lunges forward at Piety, attempting to smash the golem with two leafy limbs. Piety deflects one of the blows with his naturally armoured arm, but the other strikes him in the chest.
S: 86
Carric: 29/29
Piety: 15/31
Revjak: 21/34
Reynwyn: 21/21
1 Success, 1 Fail
For whatever reason it didn't click with me I could roll now, just got up when I posted that... might have been a factor.
Carric continues to lay into the creature.
Revjak strides into the fray, wildly swinging Azuredge!
S: 53
Piety lashes out again at the sentient mound of vegetation, one blow smashing a huge chunk of plant matter aside, and Carric attacks with his shortsword on the other side of it, with similar result. On the ground behind his companions Arthur emits a choked gurgle, and a spray of blood erupts from his mouth. Reynwyn rushes up to him, murmuring ancient arcane words, and Arthur seems to quiet under the warlock's magical ministrations, his chest beginning to rise and fall in a normal breathing pattern once more. Revjak steps up, Azuredge glowing, and cleaves into the thing with wild, almost crazed swings. Vegetation and sap flies under the northman's attacks. The thick, vine-like appendages stiffen in shock under his blows, and redirect from Piety to Revjak, one striking him in between his wild blows.
Carric: 29/29
Piety: 15/31
Revjak: 12/34
Reynwyn: 21/21
Reynwyn is glad to see Arthur breathing once more and he turns his attention back to the mass of murderous plant material behind them! He is too quick to send another of his patented blasts streaking through the treeline and instead of hitting his target, he blasts a chunk of wood from the tree next to Revjak. "Sorry, Revjak!"
Carric gathershimself and brings down the shoertsword with two hands upon the creature.