Reynwyn tries to fire a bolt of darkness into the face of the gnoll harrying him and does nothing more than firing the blast into the ground in front of him! He then conjures up a scythe of pure darkness behind the gnoll, which slashes into it's torso! "Carric! A little assistance if you might?"
Exerting slight control over his fury, Revjak yells as he swings:
"So the dog comes to be slaughtered!"
Gnolls:
9: -23 X
10: -22 X
11: X
12: X
13: -17
14:
15:
16:
17 Red: -14
18 Reyn: -6
H1:
H2:
H3:
H4:
PL: 61 38 14
Piety: 20
Gnolls
Archers
Reynwyn's blast smashes into the earth, to no effect, but his conjured scythe slices into his attacker, causing the gnoll to yelp in surprise and pain. Revjak's attacks, meanwhile, nearly stagger the alpha gnoll, and it roars in challenge, spitting blood and saliva across Revjak's face and chest! Feinting, then slashing twice with its glaive, it hits Revjak more than once, leaving bleeding wounds across the northman's chest. The gnoll to its left also manages to spear Revjak in the torso . The archers continue to fire from the darkness, striking both Revjak and Piety .
Reynwyn tries to avoid the lunging gnoll's attacks, but still takes a slashing wound across the forehead . Piety, looking rather wounded, still manages to deliver two crushing blows to the gnoll that just attacked him.
Revjak is battered bloody by the alpha's blows but still lashes out with his own.
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"If you wont die, have the decency to flee!" Arthur thrust the rapier into the gnoll's abdomen.
Arthur steps forward, putting his full weight behind his thrust, and the blade sinks deeply into the gnoll's torso. It goes stiff and slides back, falling on the ground mortally wounded.
Revjak slashes at the alpha with a roar, and Azuredge slides across the huge gnoll's neck. The packlord gurgles as it falls atop the pile of enemies at Revjak's feet.
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Carric moves his focus to the gnoll on Renwyn and fires.
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Carric breathes in, holds for a split second, then fires. His arrow whisks past Reynwyn's ear, lodging itself in the gnoll's eye socket. The half-elf, now free to fire unhindered, targets the wounded gnoll near Arthur with his shadow blast. Though he hits his target, the damage is minimal. He then points, ordering his spectral scythe forwards to attack the same creature. It swings in a deadly arc, decapitating the gnoll.
The three remaining gnolls, seeing their leader fall, turn tail, cowardly as ever, and flee into the darkness to the north. Revjak and Piety swing at them as they turn their backs, Piety landing a glancing blow, but the archers hidden in the darkness continue to fire, covering their comrades' retreat and striking both the northman and the warforged in the legs.
Gnolls:
9: -23 X
10: -22 X
11: X
12: X
13: -19
14:
15:
16:
17 Red: -14 X
18 Reyn: -25 X
H1:
H2:
H3:
H4:
PL: 61 38 14
Piety: 20
"Into the tents, quickly!" Reynwyn calls to his companions as he begins moving towards cover.
Reynwyn's words cut through Revjak's fury, the lack of visible foes also contributing.
The northman snaps back to normal, and can fully feel the agonies of the various slashes and arrow wounds upon him.
"Aye, Reynwyn. No foes remain in sight."
He hobbles towards the nearest tent, using Azuredge almost as a walking stick, casting baleful eyes at the direction where the gnolls have fled.
Carric follows the group quickly back into the tent, then he peers outside and attempts to locate an archer to fire upon.
Arthur moves in with the others. "Revjak let me see those wounds. That fire I started will spread here before long. If you spot anything of use in here grab it, I wouldn't want to spend too long here. Let's withdraw, things went our way but it was a close run thing."
You all rush inside the tent, and apart from one or two more arrows, neither of which strike home, the ranged attacks cease. The sounds of fleeing yips fade off to the north, and it seems you've managed to exterminate most of the camp.
Once everyone is inside, Carric pokes his head out of the tent, arrow nocked but not drawn. To the north, spot fires have begun to take hold, and you can faintly see, perhaps 130 feet or so to the northeast another "corridor" of tightly intertwined trees exits the clearing between two large tents.
"I think we should pull back to the entrance of this place and rest. We've been pushing ourselves hard but now they are scattered and disorganised. I doubt they'll make much progress."
"I agree. I have exhausted all of my spells. A short rest would do well toward returning some of my strength to me. What say you, Carric and Revjak?"
A short rest will indeed be helpful.
Revjak nods, more tired than you usually see him.
"Aye, we rest, then we hunt again."
Cautiously, you exit the tent, and as you move back towards the south and your point of entry to this area you detect no further sign of the gnolls in this area - including, thankfully, the archers you never saw. You retreat back to the fog-filled first area.
"If we withdraw, we do it properly. Let us remove ourselves from sight of this den of filth.", Revjak spits.
"Agreed. We're certainly in no state to fight a dragon if we ever were but I think we can make a foray in once more after catching our breath. Thin the numbers of the gnolls further. Whatever they came to do they needed good numbers so their plan should be slowed down already. With their supplies aflame they may have to divert some of their number to go foraging."
You all make your way back outside what you assume is the dragon's lair and set up a temporary resting place in the foggy woods.
Revjak settles down to an uneasy rest, his many injuries aggravating him.
"I have yet to recover my strength. I will fight, but I may not be able to stand against as many foes as usual."
Carric meditates briefly.
"Right taking them all out with a dragon on the prowl is foolish to do in one night. We must temper our zeal and fury. One more foray to keep them off balance before we retire from the field for the day."
Revjak starts to perk up.
"Aye, that is wise. I would slay at least a few more gnolls this night, but we can save some for the morrow!"
Reynwyn sends Jareth out to keep an eye on things while he spends some time reading through his uncles journal, now imbued with His Lady’s powers. Once done, he flips the pages closed, feeling refreshed and energized for more fights. ”I feel that perhaps we should not go after this dragon until we are fully rested, perhaps we could give these gnolls another go!”
You all take up restful positions, though keeping a keen ear out for any disturbance in the surrounding woods. At one point you raise your heads, looking up and each other, as you hear above you the swoosh of what must be huge wings pushing against the dark night.
Now a few hours past midnight, you gather yourselves up to re-enter the wooded lair. As before, the mist slowly boils out of the entrance, falling to the ground and dispersing as it drifts away across the forest floor.
Revjak seeks danger at ground level.
Arthur is not completely sure, but it sounded like the flying creature was neither coming nor going, but rather circling the area. It isn't too much of a stretch to infer that the creature may be searching for the source of the disturbances inside the lair - that is, you.
Revjak does a comprehensive search of the immediate area, but the forest is eerily quite and devoid of animal activity.
Arthur kept his voice low. [smaller]"Right I think that Dragon is circling around trying to find the intruders that entered it's lair. It might have killed the gnolls and started looking for us. If we enter now while it's out we can be sure."
Reynwyn stares back up into the sky when Arthur mentions it seems the beast is hunting more than coming or going. ”Let me send Jareth out to scout the area a little better. Perhaps we can get some what of a better understanding.”
Reynwyn sends Jareth up into the night sky, and the raven wheels and turns, attempting to get a good view of the entire lair area. However, though the moon is bright, the fog withing the area obscures most features of the forest lair.
One thing Jareth can see is the centre of the mist-wreathed area. The fog seems to be held back by an invisible barrier, and in the middle of the fog-free area stands an ancient stone structure. Jareth's eyes twitch as he flies above the structure; can he see something moving in the clear grassy area around it? Reynwyn can't be sure.
Of dragons or gnolls, there is no sign. Some way off to the northeast, a wolf howls, the sound murderous.
"Let us push to the stone!", he says, refreshed and eager to act.
Reynwyn nods at Revjak. Yes, I am very curious about this stone. Something arcane is occurring there, I would like to investigate it to see if we can use it to our advantage.”
Let us proceed, then.
Carric notches an arrow to his bow and moves forward with the others.
The Albino is gone... but has he his prize?
"Let's move swiftly and uncover what secrets this place has. I hope we can find the Flind's corpse or failing that it's trail."
It is now well past midnight as you move forward together into the ghostly moonglow fog. You travel swiftly through the areas you've encountered (assuming you didn't want to take a different exit from the first area), and find yourselves back in the gnoll campsite. The wood-lined avenue beckons, and you see it curls around to the right as it goes on - hopefully twisting towards the centre of this strange section of forest, where Reynwyn saw the ancient stone building.
"Does anyone see signs of gnolls remaining?", Revjak whispers, his eyes moving as he speaks.
Revjak's sharp eyes spot no movement around the campsite. It appears as though the area has been deserted since the recent battle.
"They fled. Let us see what they sought in the stone halls."
"With luck the only refuge they found was in the belly of a dragon." Arthur says as he is ready to move forward with the others.
You move forward carefully but purposefully into the tree-walled tunnel of bark and leaves. As you begin to move along it you can see a strip of the sky above, the stars somewhat washed out by the bright full moon. However, the further you go, the thicker grows the fog around you, and soon you can barely see five feet from your face. The avenue has continued to coil around to the right in a smooth, lazy arc. The air is still, and deathly silent; not a bird or rodent stirs in the night-cloaked foliage.
Hand on the back of Revjak in front of him, the other tightly gripping his bow, Carric moves forward into the fog.
Hand on someone next to you. We need to stay together in this soup.
Maintaining touch in a chain, you continue to head forward together into the deepening mist. You're not even sure where the walls are at this moment; you're relying on your senses of hearing and touch, and the skills of Carric.
Arthur stays alert as best he can. "The fog should reduce the advantages the gnolls would normally have in this terrain."