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Like wheat before the scythe, Gaius is thrown off his feet by the force of the Officer's strike. Conjuring a crack in the fabric of reality in the ground below him, he falls through and collapses on the ground on the other side of Esperanza.
Holding one hand to his bleeding wounds, he fires off another salvo of blasts at the Officer. "Get away from me!"
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Lily once again feints the soldier allowing Esperanza to once again attack.
The officer winces, first in surprise as Gaius vanishes, then in pain when his latest volley of magical missiles strike her.
"At least you put down those worthless deserters," she groans with a grimace. She whirls about her twin-bladed sword and takes a step towards Undari before setting upon him with a flurry of steel.
Esperanza turns and sprints straight at the officer, the blade of her glaive slicing through the taller plants as she runs. She lunges forward, aiming at the Ironfang's abdomen, then twirls and aims another blow to the neck.
Staggering from the powerful slash, Undari blocks the follow-up and wills the Flaming Sphere to crash into the hobgoblin officer, then returns the slashes himself with his Liquid Glass Scimitar.
The combined assault from Esperanza and Undari reduces the hobgoblin officer to a heap of burned, separated limbs. Thus, the fate she postponed at Fort Trevalay is finally visited upon her.
Looking over these hobgoblins' gear, you deduce that they've been out in the wilds without resupplying for some time. Most of their limited food supply is all freshly gathered wild root vegetables and recently killed and overly salted venison. They have neglected care of their arms and armor in an obvious break with the traditional discipline of the Legion.
By contrast, the officer has maintained her gear with almost religious zeal.
From Eygara:
Oil of Magic Weapon (x4)
Alchemist's Fire (x3)
+1 Breastplate
MWK Javelins (x4)
MWK Two-Bladed Sword
Cloak of Resistance +1
Bandoleer
Keyring with iron keys
From Deserters:
Oil of Magic Weapon (x12)
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (x4)
Alchemist's Fire (x8)
+1 Hide Armor (x4)
Longbow (x4)
Arrows (x68)
MWK Sickles (x8)
Cloak of Resistance +1 (x4)
228gp
Esperanza flicks the gore from her glaive with a flourish, then turns to Undari with concern on her face. "Are you all right? Can you continue?" She turns back to the way she came, shouting "Gaius! How badly are you hurt!?"
Undari nods at Esperanza, saying, "I am injured, but not mortally so." He gets out a poultice and puts it on his worst wound, then uses his own internal magic to heal his other injury.
Checking on Gaius, Undari assesses the severity of his wound, using another poultice on him.
"Everyone's alright and accounted for? Good work turning that ambush, friends." Seeing the wounded being attended to, Thorek starts stripping the dead and stowing the bounty.
"If everyone's better, let's step lively. We've gotta find those refugees before someone or something unfriendly does."
"Indeed, the forest was our ally in that fight," responds Undari, pleased that they both avoided the bear in her territory and routed the Ironfangs in their ambush.
Assuming everyone is healed up and they have scavenged the useful item, Undari resumes leading their trek, looking for tracks and any other useful information.
Gaius falls to his knees. "It hurts so much... I don't know how much longer I can hold out for... So.. much blood!" he says, pressing both hands against the wound.
"oooooooooooo," Flopsy cries as her invisible form bursts into view after tackling the wizard to the ground. "You promised to teach me so much! I can't let you die!"
Standing on him, she pries his hands away from his wound. "Hmmmm..." She prods the wound with a little finger a couple times (once to check, twice to be sure, but the third time was just for fun), much to Gaius's endless torment. "He'll be ok," she explains, taking Undari's poultice and unceremoniously slapping it against Gaius' cut.
"If you aren't going to defend us right, then it looks like I will!" she declares, rummaging through his things while he whimpers. "These are mine now, thank yooooou!" she sings while patting him on the head and taking to the sky with three of his wands.
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As a thin stream of tears slide down his face, Gaius pats around for his book and quill. Still in the fetal position, he scribbles a bit. Rapid emotional transitions. Tender compassion to insufferable cruelty at the drop of a hat.
He stands back up and silently helps identify and collect the items. "That explosion was pretty cool though..."
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Gaius and Undari can hear faint sounds coming from somewhere nearby. It is most comparable to muffled moaning and the occasional clink of metal.
Undari is also able to pick out the tracks left by the now-slain hobgoblins when they arrived at the bend. These tracks presumably lead back to their hideout, and the sounds also seem to originate in the same general direction.
Undari says, ”I can backtrack the hobgoblins—presumably to their lair.” cocking his head to one side, he adds, ”And I hear sounds of injured people—in armor—nearby as well.”
Looking to Thorek, he asks, ”Shall we go and see if we have refugees to save or more Ironfang deserters to kill?”
Esperanza rushes to Gaius's side when he falls to his knees in pain, but stops short in confusion at the pooka's display of concern/cruelty. As the wizard climbs back to his feet, she closes the erst of the distance and helps brush dirt and leaves off of him. "Were you just mugged by your own pet?" she asks, her tone befuddled.
Lily looks at Esperanza and says,"Less mugged and more poking fun at. I'm still trying to figure out how such polar opposites came together. Though that's for another time as we have people to rescue."
Thorek shakes his head at Gaius' haplessness. "As long as she knows which way to point 'em I wash my hands of the matter."
With an acknowledging nod at Undari the dwarf retrieves his dorn-dergar and stows his bow, approaching the source of the muffled moans.
Undari follows Thorek closely, keeping tabs on the hobgoblin’s tracks and the sounds nearby. His scimitar is out and ready, even though he hopes to find prisoners and not more enemies.
"Don't be so loud!" Gaius urges Esperanza. "She might hear you!" Doing a quick inventory over his equipment, he reports back. "A couple of tricks to be a nuisance, but nothing that'll cause lasting harm to us or the camp." At least fast enough that we couldn't intervene... "Thank you, by the way," he says with a warm smile at Esperanza's attention to his appearance.
"I heard it too Undari," he confirms, before following the others to the source of the noise.
The trail is not long. Tracing the path as it parallels the curves of Blooder's Bend, you soon find a hollow hidden among thick nettles and brambles. Inside, you find five humans bound with manacles linked by short lengths of iron chain - likely the source of the metallic sounds you heard. Filthy rags torn from their own clothing are tightly tied to silence their voices. However, your keen ears managed to pick out their muffled calls upon the air.
While three of them have the look of captured rangers, two of them look like common folk also abducted by the hobgoblins. These two are in particularly bad shape, looking very pale and feverish, their limbs terribly emaciated yet swollen near their iron bonds.
”Be calm, we are here to help,” says Undari, adding to Thorek, ”Didn’t the Ironfang leader have a key ring? Perhaps that may be of use here.”
Pulling out some Goodberries and creating fresh water for the prisoners, Undari says, ”I am a healer—I will treat your wounds once you are freed.”
Esperanza takes the key and tries it on the manacles. Assuming the key works, she gently pulls their bonds open and removes the rags from their mouths, placing a finger on her lips in a quieting gesture.
Invoking a prayer to Angradd, Thorek sends a surge of healing warmth through the captives and any others in the party still injured. "We're friends, don't fear," he offers quietly.
"Nothing and nobody deserves to be chained like this... unnatural" Gaius adds in disgust.
Lily just stands there quietly gripping her bow hard and shaking at the sight
.
Undari recognizes that the prisoners are chiefly suffering from hunger, dehydration, and fatigue. There are no severe physical injuries upon them, but their myriad minor cuts and scrapes have gone untended. The two younger prisoners, the ones in the worse condition, would have survived maybe another few days without intervention, while the other three might have lasted another week or two.
It takes a few tries to identify the proper one, but once you do, you find that one of the iron keys taken from the hobgoblin officer opens the prisoners' manacles. Thorek's divine power whisks away their exhaustion and the pain that wracks their limbs, and the proffered goodberries ease the untold days of privation.
"Thank you. Those hobs were only keeping us around to eat us later. I'm Rex, and this is Wolffe and Gregor. We were searching for a squad that failed to check in, and, well, I guess we found the reason...the hard way. Those two there," he says, pointing towards the two prisoners who were in the worse condition, "are Ageep and Milla. They were recruits over at Trevalay who got caught when the fort fell. They were brought along when that officer, Eygara, arrived."
The freed rangers explain that the four hobgoblin archers were actually deserters from the Legion.
"They bickered so loud, it was only a matter of time before they got caught," Wolffe adds. "They didn't even seem to care that we were listening. After waiting for reinforcements, they realized the Legion had abandoned them, and that the entire Chernasardo operation was nothing but a distraction: keeping our eyes off what they were really up to in the west."
"They also didn't like it much when they figured out they was expendables!" Gregor adds. "Looks like the Legion dumped their 'undesirables' on the Fangwood invasion. Oh, but these hobs was salted about that! I guess these gray boys been working as bandits, stealing what they could before running off to Molthune."
"If memory serves, we've the briefest of ideas about what is going on beyond the woods. What were you lot able to uncover?" Gaius asks.
Upon hearing that the Ironfang troops here were the dregs, Thorek snorts and shakes his head. "I figured as much, the way we've been rolling them these past few weeks. Welcome to the Hemlock Harriers! We've retaken Fort Trevalay and are resettling the place as we speak. Did your captors mention anything about a band of refugees? Word is they've been wandering this area, and we aim to find them before the hobs do."
"The only thing they knew, and it was probably just a guess on their part, was that Longshadow was the Legion's real target."
Thorek's mention of Fort Trevalay's recapture brings proud, hopeful smiles to the rangers' faces.
"I'll wish you godspeed on finding those refugees. We haven't seen any recently, before or after our capture, but if the hobs find them...well, being put in irons and put to work is the best they can hope for."
Gregor sharply raises a finger and interjects.
"I know how we can help! Now that we can walk all free like, we can show you a hidden storeroom that's nearby. Them hobs walked right by it without noticing," he giggles. "We keep a stash of good ammunition tucked away there."
Undari insists on checking each rescued person over and binding their wounds to prevent infection, even though Thorek's surge of positive energy seems to have taken care of the bulk of their issues. He tries not to slow them down on the way to the hidden cache, but he does perhaps fuss a little bit, encouraging them also to eat and drink as much as they are able.
"How quickly the much lauded discipline of the Legion disintegrates at the first sign of adversity," Esperanza observes, spitting on the ground. "If they'd had to endure one-tenth of what I--"
The tiefling interrupts herself with a violent shake of her head, then picks up her pace to buy herself some distance from the conversation.
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"WHOA NOW MISSY!" Flopsy shouts, tugging at Esperanza's tail when she tries to pick up the pace and thus breaking her invisibility. "You were about to share some juicy tidbits and I will not be denied!"
"OH! Waitwaitwait!" she insists. "Esperanza, would you do me the kindness of sharing the details of the memory you're actively attempting to repress at this moment?" she pleads pathetically, giving the Tiefling her best cute little bunny eyes. I wonder how long I have to hold this for before she'll concede... Do I have to act like this after she's accepted too?
Esperanza's tail yanks itself free of the pooka's grasp as she whirls around. "Don't you dare!" she snarls, before realizing who her tormentor actually is. She deflates a bit, feeling guilty over yelling at Flopsy, before turning away and continuing forward.
UGH what a diva! Flopsy waits until Esperanza turns to stick her tongue out. Despite her little act of defiance, her ears are still pinned to the back of her head when she winks out of view. So much for manners, guess they work on everyone but her. Hmph. Hippo crate.
"You alright?" Thorek asks Esperanza, throwing a glare at the space where the pooka disappeared.
To Gregor the dwarf nods. "If you're willing to share your caches with us, lead on. The gods know it'll get put to good use."
"The hobs probably never knew how close they were to such a valuable cache," Rex says with a grin as he and his fellows lead you onward.
Not far from Blooder's Bend, you are brought to a redoubt dug into a stout but tall hill. Its entrance is concealed by a fallen tree trunk, nettle bushes, and camouflaging made from old fishing net and leaves. The space within is barely large enough to allow even two of you to stand inside, but the stone shelves set into the earthen walls are laden with ammunition for rangers seeking to resupply.
Arrows, bolts, and sling bullets - all masterfully crafted. Furthermore, there is an earthen pot filled with a heady, magic paste.
"I am sure this ammunition will be of great use to our forces defending Fort Trevalay. If you think you are strong enough, I can prepare nature magic that will help you along your way back to the fort with the supplies," suggests Undari to the rescued rangers, handing over a few more Goodberries and double-checking to make sure their wounds are properly tended.
Turning to Thorek, he asks, "What do you think? Perhaps they can use some of the weapons and armor we just liberated from the Ironfangs to protect them along their way? With a few minutes of prayer, I can bestow upon them the blessing of Nature's Paths to speed them on their way, and we can continue towards Longshadow to look for the other refugees."
"I'll not send anyone into the wilds unarmed. They're welcome to any of the weapons they would like, have them report to Aubrin at Fort Trevalay if they want to help."
Once the arrows and other gear is distributed, the dwarf nods, satisfied. "If everyone's ready let's move out."
Esperanza nods in agreement with Thorek and Undari's plan, but is otherwise withdrawn into her own thoughts.
Certain whatever the Rangers could have stored away was probably of little interest to him, Gaius leaves the crawling in the dirt to the others. Instead, he moves a ways off (but not out of sight!).
"Flopsy! Flooopsy!" he calls out. When it is clear the Pooka isn't going to do him the courtesy of signaling her presence, he rolls his eyes and talks while occasionally turning to the left.
"Flopsy, not everyone wants to talk about their feelings when you want them to. Especially when they're running hot, you know? It might be too much for them to handle at that time. If you really care about what people feel and really are doing it to help them work through those feelings, so not just because you're, uh let's go with curious, you should try to approach them when they feel safe and after you've made friends with them already... uh, ok? Marching through the woods and fighting the Hobgoblin Legion is probably not a time when most people feel safe."
Although the silence is deafening, he shrugs his shoulders and heads back to the group.
________
Shortly after everyone resumes their trek through the woods, a fistful of daisies, smalls clumps of dirt still dangling from their roots, float in front of Esperanza. If she takes them, a small hand later on takes hold of one of her fingers as she walks.
You part ways with the latest team of rescued rangers, carrying with them an arsenal of gifts to be delivered by sling and bow to the Ironfangs. You press onward, using spell and woodcraft to guide your way towards the Fangwood's western edge where the band of refugees was last sighted.
The day's light is soon spent, and you must make camp for the night. However, it is not long before your first watch hears the sounds of something clumsily making its way through the branches and brambles beyond the periphery of your campsite, slowly drawing closer. There is some comfort in the fact that it sounds far smaller than the bear you previously escaped.
Just bedding down in a nearby tree for the night in the form of an owl, Undari notices the disturbance and glides noiselessly above it, trying to determine what it might be...
Lily carefully tries to slink into the bushes upon hearing the sounds coming from the forest.
Thorek opens his mouth to call out a challenge, but pauses when he sees owl-Undari glide over to investigate. Instead the dwarf holds steady, waiting patiently for whatever it is to emerge from the underbrush.