Upon reaching Inire, Tiferet is among the many who are able to spot the irregular set of tracks. She takes a few steps backwards, afraid to disturb the trackers' work, while allowing Eirikr to do his job.
Nathara takes a few slow steps closer to Vosi. A creature torn out of the world into which it belongs, for it would suffer the fate of his friend should it try. And their deceit to trick him into helping them, while necessary and the only reason why he is still alive, gnaws on her.
Maybe it is time to leave the lies behind and least let him know she understands him. She addresses him in a strange language. Every now and then the words remind a bit of elven, a clear pointed melody, but mostly it sounds like a forest river running over a bed of stones and then like a summer breeze running through a tree.
Vosi remains quiet for a moment.
"There were at least three people here. Can't make out much else. Headed along the ridge. You didn't notice anyone, fairy?" says Eirikr when he finishes examining the tracks.
"Woods were empty aside from animals when Vosi came through," the little fey says, snapping out of his funk long enough to answer. "Could be hunters. Looking for intruders. Or something else. Don't know."
"So follow the tracks and hope for the best? Evelyn wasn't too worried about an ambush since they had a scout so following what could easily be a trap didn't bother her much.
"Hopefully it's a trap. We're good at running into those," says Eirikr as he begins to follow the tracks
The party continues along the trail, following the footprints. The tracks seem to stick fairly closely to the trail, crossing back and forth in the snow. The tracks seem to fade out as you go over the top of the ridge and start making your way down toward the heart of the woods.
"Lost the trail. Might've been from the snow. Or could've flown off, if it was fairies," says Eirikr, walking to where the trail seems to disappear.
"Not flown off" Tiferet says, pointing at the mounds where the tracks seem to vanish. "Dug in."
"Ambush?" Morgraine asks softly.
Inire shakes her head slowly as she'd failed to see the mounds. Had she been in the lead once more... that could have been disastrous, but following the tracks wasn't something she could do, and something her allies seemed to desire. Still having a hard time spotting the mounds even when they're called out, she stays quiet.
Nathara offers an understanding nod and continues to speak in that strange language of the forest, with her own, distinct elven mark on it.
She gives him a wink. Was that yet another cryptic response that other species dislike so much about elves? Was it indiscreet to say something like that without being asked for? It was not like Nathara had all the answers to her own questions; time would tell. She just wanted to make Vosi feel a little better.
* Sylvan with a single one phrase in Azlanti
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"Stay calm, Lily, we got this." Nathara says and tries to lend her voice conviction. She lets go of the horse, since she needs her hands free.
Nathara draws her sword as Tiferet points out the mounds and lifts her hand in a smooth gesture, a graceful gesture that creates a strange contrast to the martialic one of readying her weapon. She takes a step ahead to be able to cover the group. She does not engage, however, but rather looks around whether there is anything more that belongs to the trap.
As the party moves forward, the mounds all erupt at the same moment, causing nearly half a dozen ice covered skeletons to emerge from the snow. The undead let out rattling howls and prepare to attack the party. Much to Nathara's disappointment, she recognizes that her daze spell will be no help here.
Initiative:
Evelyn
Vosi
Skeleton 4
Skeleton 2
Eirikr
Skeleton 1
Skeleton 3
Tiferet
Inire
Skeleton 5
Nathara
Morgraine
Evelyn steps up to form a complete circle for their group and draws her sap ready to swing if one of the skeletons gets close.
Vosi sees the undead rising and immediately rises ten feet in the air, well out of reach. "More nasty undead things. Nasty, nasty..." He snarls, not having anything that can harm an undead that is immune to his frosty powers.
Two of the skeletons close in, their icy claws swinging through the air. Eve attempts to attack the one that steps in close, but her blow is clumsy and misses by a wide margin.
The skeletons lay into their victims with rending claws, tearing into flesh and leaving long bloody gashes that almost instantly freeze shut in and incredibly painful way. Both women are left barely conscious and hardly able to stand.
Eirikr is up!
Eirikr readies himself to fight the skeletons, but before he has time to do anything but draw his weapon they are upon them, ripping Inire and Evelyn nearly to shreds. Cursing under his breath, Eirikr moves towards the skeletons attack Inire while placing his hand on her shoulder; divine energy flows through him, partially healing her injuries.
Eirikr steps forward and calls on his powers, closing most of Inire's more painful wounds. She immediately feels much better, though she's still a little uncomfortable. Ashen growls and lunges at the nearest skeleton, his strong jaws closing around the undead's bones and crushing its bones between his fangs.
Two more skeletons close in on the group, one lashing out at Eirikr while the other attacks his companion.
Their claws are just as brutal, tearing into flesh and leaving painfully frozen slashes across both of their bodies.
Tiferet is up!
"Seems a distinct poss..." Tiferet whispers back to Morgraine just as a flurry of rotten, yet razor-sharp bones emerges from the freshly fallen snow, tearing apart everything in their wake. She watches in horror as Inire and Evelyn bear the brunt of their fury, immediately followed by Eirikr almost being felled in front of her very eyes.
Her warrior reflexes finally kicking in, her first instinct is to lay her palm on Eirikr's open wound, pouring her healing energies into it. Once most of the bleeding has stopped, she draws her weapon and steps into the fray.
"Try to disengage!" she shouts at her companions. "Nathara and I will keep them at bay" she adds gritting her teeth, bracing herself for the upcoming onslaught.
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Eirikr's wounds mostly close, leaving him in much better shape than he was a moment ago.
Inire is up!
"If they follow, I'll hit them with another fire." Inire says, nodding.
Inire, heeding the words of her leader, withdraws, trampling easily over the snow, and dodging the last attempts to snag her as she slips away.
Inire withdraws to a safe distance.
Nathara is up!
Even though she had been expecting an attack the ferocity with which the undead struck took the elven tiefling by surprise. And the little detail that it were in fact undead; they had imprisoned the necromancer after all.
"In the name of Sarenrae, thou shall burn!" She yells and leaps forward to engage the free standing zombie, hoping that the other flank will hold it together - there was no time to cast a protective spell.
Nathara massively overextends as she attempts to strike at the skeleton, leaving her off balance and barely able to right herself properly, ruining her fighting stance.
Morgraine is up!
Though she had half-expected an ambush the moment she had espied those strange mounds, Morgraine was nonetheless taken aback at the speed and ferocity of the attack. Swiftly, and for once without thought of taking the time to hide her abilities, she casts a hex upon Eve.
She then moves back, heeding Tifferet's call to disengage while still maintaining a position to cover the retreat of the others.
Morgraine's hex closes a few of Eve's wounds, helping her move a bit better.
Evelyn is up!
Evelyn takes a step back careful to avoid taking anymore hits she places a hand on herself causing a small pink spark and her body seems to slighlty blur as if two of her where standing inside one another.
The skeletons seem undaunted, perhaps even excited by their success, and continue their attack on the nearest warriors.
However, their attacks are significantly more clumsy this time. Nathara smoothly dodges around her opponent's claws while Tiferet brushes aside the first attack from her skeleton. It's second claw slashes across her arm, but she catches most of the blow on her bracer and manages ward off the worst of the wound.
Eirikr is up!
Still reeling from the injuries inflicted by the skeletons, Eirikr and Ashen back away from the skeletons, though they seem unwilling to leave their companions to fight them alone. Once they are out of the undead's immediate reach, Eirikr places a hand on Ashen's back, and his injuries begin to heal.
A few of Ashen's wounds close, though his fur is still a bit bloodstained and his movements are a bit unsteady. The next group of skeletons moves in to continue their attacks.
The skeleton that was attacking Eirikr seems intent on its prey, but its claws are less deadly this time. Still painful, but survivable.
Tiferet is up!
Tiferet weathers the storm of bony claws evading when she can, and trying her best to deflect the attacks when she must.
With one talon aiming for her throat, she instinctively raises her right arm in front of her, a screeching sound suddenly resounding in the air as it slides down her right gauntlet and draws a long, red line along her forearm. With a grin on her face, she swings her axe in retaliation against her over-eager aggressor, while swiftly repositioning herself as she catches a glimpse of a skeleton moving behind her undefended back.
________________________________________________________________
Tiferet's strike catches on the skeleton's bones, impeding it from cleaving straight though the creature's body, but she still manages to break the things collar bone with a satisfying crunch, leaving it's arm barely able to move.
Inire is up!
Inire pulls out her alchemist fire, and sweeps back over the snow, arcing around her allies to get a more clear shot as she does so. But she can't quite hit the skeleton without hitting Tiferet, too. She thinks for a moment... and eyes the claws on the skeletons, and the minor wounds already showing up on her allies, nods... and then shakes her head. "Tiferet, I need you to get clear. I'll hit them with a fire as soon as you're away."
Nathara half registers Inire's call but she cannot let the opportunity to corner the creature of darkness slip. "Go ahead, I welcome the fire" she hisses between her sharp teeth, trying to maintain focus.
Trying to find her own balance between the rage of a demon and the grace of an elf she slips between the two creature, one hand letting her sword go down on the back of the monster, the other casting a spell.
Nathara finds herself unable to cast properly while trying to keep the skeleton from attacking her, making her hand gestures useless. The shield spell fizzles out and she feels the arcane power slipping away. Likewise, her sword strike is still off target and fails to touch the skeleton at all.
Morgraine is up!
Morgraine winces as she watches the skeletons continue to press their attack against Ashen and Eirikr. She moves behind the pair next to Eve and casts another healing hex on Eirikr.
Eirikr's wounds are cleared away almost instantly, undoing the damage of the last skeleton's strike.
Evelyn is up!
Evelyn was pretty useless against the undead since all of her abilities were mental and after taking such a heavy hit she fears risking another attack, instead she stays back and gets ready to launch a counter in-case they get close to her again.
nonlethal
Eve withdraws a bit, taking a defensive stance and ready to attack if one of the skeletons closes in on her. However, the undead seem much more interested in attacking the nearest living being and continue their assault.
Their wild clawing has little effect, missing both women by a fair bit.
Eirikr is up!
Gripping the spear tightly in his hands, Eirikr focuses his concentration on the skeleton that still remains next to him. He thrusts his spear into the monster as hard as he can while Ashe bites at the monster's heels.
"Burn those bastards down, Inire!"
________________________________________________________________
Eirikr lunges forward with supreme accuracy, driving his spear straight through the skeleton's skull. You hear a dry crunch and the rest of the body falls away, leaving the skull hanging on the shaft of Eirikr's spear.
The next skeleton moves to attack Tiferet again.
It manages to claw across her shoulder, leaving a bloody gash, but the damage is mostly superfluous.
Hearing Inire's warning cry, Tiferet is quick to find a way out of the splash zone - or to create it, as the case may be. With a bellowing roar, she smashes her axe into the skeleton behind her almost in unison with Eirikr's thrust, and then carefully steps among the crumbling bones to escape the fiery inferno about to flare up.
"Burn those bastards down, Inire!"
________________________________________________________________
Inire is up!
As soon as Tiferet gets clear, Inire throws the alchemist fire at the single skeleton, uncertain of how injured any of them truly are... and hoping she can reduce their numbers before they become a bigger threat. Afterwards she maneuvers easily across the snow.
Inire's alchemist fire arcs through the air and strikes the frost skeleton's center, igniting its body with a burst of flame. The creature howls in absolute agony before crumpling over dead.
Nathara is up!
Nathara takes another step past the remaining creature in order to make it easier to corner and thrusts her sword at it.
Nathara's blade once again misses as the skeleton ducks back instinctively.
Morgraine is up!
Morgraine hexes Ashen.
Ashen looks significantly better with his wounds treated by Morgraine's touch. His fur still has some blood on it, but he's in much better shape.
Eve is up!
Evelyn takes a full defense stance trusting her allies to deal with the undead pest.