Venali silently follows the group into the armory. He looks around a bit before setting the scimitar on one of the racks and packing the cultist cloak in his backpack. He then grabs a longbow and a quiver, "Perhaps it is best not to rely entirely on magic tonight."
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Sophie crooks a wry smile in the direction of Venali and holds up a hand. An ephemeral snake made of longing and unfilled dreams and regret and loved ones hurt in a fit of anger coils with in palm, its eldrich power palpably thirsting to be flung at life; to die, and bring another down into torment with it. "Speak for yourself."
The snake disappears and she blows him a kiss.
Equipped for their next mission, the newly formed Drake's Head mercenary band heads out.
Evener ponders the choices before saying We should avoid raiders and such on the way in - reserve our strength for fighting to clear the mill as well as reserving our strength to hold it against attackers - we could weaken ourselves unacceptably on a straight assault on the forces on the way to the mill.
Hutch nods along with Evendur before speaking. I agree and disagree. I recommend Guerrilla tactics, keep moving stealthily, picking off foes and weakening their forces. When we get to the Mill I will charge and distract them as you guys kill them.
Venali nods once, "I agree on the stealthy approach, we should mute our presence as much as possible until we reach the mill."
The group makes good headway along the moat, the lower ground providing cover, but as they come across a ford, a squawking voice croaks from a roof to the right. A winged kobold perched upon the nearby roof is pointing at you, raising a rock it is holding in the other hand.
Instructed by a gesture of a grey-robed cultist, another one of the giant lizards, you encountered earlier, ponderously turns as three mercenaries, in the the coats of arms of the Bear's band ready their spears and shields. Another cultist lets a drake of its leash and draws his scimitar.
Initiatives
Initiative Order:
- Zillyanna
- Drake
- Hutch, Venali, Sophie
- Winged Kobold
- Mercs, Lizard, Cultists
- Evendur
Enemy Monitor
-nothing yet
The elf shakes her head and shoots an arrow at the closest cultist.
Zillyanna takes aim at the cultist, but her arrow narrowly misses the man, as he ducks the last moment.
The drake stalks forward, teeth bared, it looks ready to bite anyone getting too close.
Initiative Order:
- Zillyanna
- Drake
- Hutch, Venali, Sophie
- Winged Kobold
- Mercs, Lizard, Cultists
- Evendur
Enemy Monitor
-nothing yet
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"Hssssst. Let us lead them on. Their lizards need to close, and we could kill them as the seek to vainly close the distance. I will kill their lookout--he looks the quickest."
Payn emphasizes her words by dancing away a few feet. With a quick motion a baleful aura surrounds the rooftop-standing kobold. Then a sphere made of purple fear and azure sadness, with a touch of green misplaced-trust launches out of her out-stretched hand.
The sphere of energy rips through the foliage of the tree next to the house and slams into the winged reptilian, sending it falling over backwards, with a smouldering crater in its chest. Along with the stone it dropped from its hand, the creature begins tumbling down the slope of the roof.
"Noy jitat," Venali mutters under his breath as the kobold spots them. He slings the longbow off his back and nocks an arrow, taking aim at the drake that charged forward and lets the arrow loose.
Hutch pulls forth the new Halberd, a wicked gleam in his eye.
You have given me a tough choice, but I shall take both your pets from you and add them to my collection. the Mercenary shouts.
He take several large strides, planting himself within striking range of the Drake and the Lizard. He spins his halberd going for the drake.
I'll make sure your head is stuffed along side your brothers you stupid beast! He shouts at the top of his lungs. FOR THE DRAKES HEAD!!!
Venali's arrow lodges itself in the floor, as the drake leaps sideways, right into hutch's halberd blade. The edge cuts across the creature's back. It only barely manages to backstep, as the weapon's shaft comes swinging for it.
Two of the mercenaries charge at hutch, while the third hefts his spear for a throw. Moving around he aims for Zillyanna
The thrown spear grazes Zillyanna's left arm, leaving a cut, albeit a minor one. The first mercenary charging at Hutch seems to be aiming true , the other loses his balance and his spear thrust misses entirely.
The two cultists move around the melee centering around hutch to engage, one gets ready to swing his scimitar , the other takes more time circling around
The large reptile trudges a step closer to Hutch and snaps its jaws at him.
Pain shoots up Hutch's leg as the animal's teeth dig into his knee.
Initiative Order:
- Zillyanna
- Drake
- Hutch, Venali, Sophie
- Winged Kobold
- Mercs, Lizard, Cultists
- Evendur
Enemy Monitor
- Drake is Wounded
- Winged Kobold is dead
After a brief moment recovering from the pain, Zillyanna shoots an arrow at one of the mercenaries facing Hutch (#2).
Evendur moves to engage one of mercenaries.
for
My bad - sorry.
I'll find the link.
Turn 2
Zillyanna looses another arrow, hitting the mercenary in the left shoulder. The man winces from the pain, but even so manages to bring up his spear to deflect Evendur's sword, as he charges in to finish the mercenary off.
The drake lunges at Evendur in response.
It catches the cleric in the unarmored back of his lower leg.
Initiative Order:
- Zillyanna
- Drake
- Hutch, Venali, Sophie
- Winged Kobold
- Mercs, Lizard, Cultists
- Evendur
Enemy Monitor
- Drake is wounded
- Mercenary 2 is wounded
- Winged Kobold is dead
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As the kobold falls, Sophie grins as her body is filled with a mix of triumph and ecstasy. In answer to her worthy sacrifice of the winged foe, a minor demon made of shadow and failure and misplaced trust forms around her body. It's smoky carcass orbits her as its soundless mouth screams for death even as it is oath-bound to protect her from all harm.
Her cherry ice cream smile widens as the baleful aura floats across the battlefield like a living thing. Tendrils of failure and goals unmet sniff out the blood that flows from around Zillyanna's arrow and grip tightly to the wounded man.
Another bolt of shame and impotent rage launches from the warlock's hand...
...but no. Sophie feels the hands of fate seek to save the man from her pain. But the man threatens Hutch too deeply. She has reclaimed him from far greater forces then this, and she will not lose to the likes of him.
Through the force of her will she bends the projectile back...
...and it flies a truer course.
Enemy Monitor
- Drake is wounded
- Mercenary 2 is dead
- Winged Kobold is dead
Growling, Hutch spins his Halberd, the blade descending upon the Lizard this time.
The Blade then spins away, the butt end descending. As if responding to the damage he took, the butt end of the Halberd comes down with extra force and with a devastating crack.
DIE you stupid Lizard!
Venali sets another arrow and lets it fly at the drake.
Sophie's blast of energy hits true, striking the mercenary's chest, the sellsword all but explodes as the energy rips into his body, tearing a large smouldering crater into his flesh.
As the man collapses, hutch's halberd descends upon the oversized reptile attacking him, the creature jolts back but can't avoid the blade glancing across its hide. Hutch follows through with a spin until the butt end of his weapon slams into the beast's face, cracking its jaw. The lizard nonetheless stays on its feet.
Venali nocks another arrow and looses it at the drake, the arrow embeds itself in the creature's right flank, and the creature flinches from the pain, turning its attention to the elf.
The two cultists charge in to attack the two elves, to shut down their support fire.
at Venali
at Zillyanna
Both of them backstep effortlessly, causing the robed men to swing their curved blade at empty air.
One of the remaining mercenaries braces his spear and charges Evendur.
The sharp tip of the weapon finds purchase in a weakspot in the cleric's armor, pirecing into his shoulder. Evendur stumbles backward, his wounds too severe for him to withstand he drops to a knee, before collapsing forward.
The lizard shakes off the pain from hutch's strike, snapping its jaws at him once again.
Its teeth hook into his mail for a moment but fail to pierce through.
The other mercenary thrusts his spear at Hutch, thinking he has an opening, but his target it more aware than he would have thought and a swing of the halberd's shaft knocks the spear aside.
Initiative Order:
- Zillyanna
- Drake
- Hutch, Venali, Sophie
- Winged Kobold
- Mercs, Lizard, Cultists
- Evendur
Enemy Monitor:
- Drake is wounded
- Lizard is wounded
- Mercenary 2 is dead
- Winged Kobold is dead
After taking a step back from being attacked, Zillyanna draws her saber and turns to slash the cultist attacking Venali.
Death save
Evendur's condition seems to improve.
Zillyanna's blade arcs gracefully, catching the cultist unaware and cutting across his neck. The edge bites deep and opens both throat and aorta. Bleeding profusely, the cultist drops in an instant.
The drake turns its attention toward hutch, snapping its jaws.
In the confusion of the melee, its teeth clasp at empty air however.
Initiative Order:
- Zillyanna
- Drake
- Hutch, Venali, Sophie
- Winged Kobold
- Mercs, Lizard, Cultists
- Evendur
Enemy Monitor:
- Drake is wounded
- Lizard is wounded
- Mercenary 2 is dead
- Winged Kobold is dead
for
Uses clerical ability War Priest ability for 2nd attack
for
Evendur stumbles back to his feet, wounded but not broken. As he rises, he picks his sword off the ground and raises it with a vicious uppercut, sending one of the mercenaries stumbling back a step with a deep cut across his face, before the blade crashes back down with equal force biting deep into the man's shoulder. The cleric puts his foot against the mercenary's chest as he falls to his knees, and with a push of his leg frees his blade, sending the lifeless body to the ground and standing to his full height in one motion.
Initiative Order:
- Zillyanna
- Drake
- Hutch, Venali, Sophie
- Winged Kobold
- Mercs, Lizard, Cultists
- Evendur
Enemy Monitor:
- Drake is wounded
- Lizard is wounded
- Cultist 1 is dead
- Mercenary 1 is dead
- Mercenary 2 is dead
- Winged Kobold is dead
Sophie, would ya like a trophy from this fight?! Hutch called out with a dark laugh.
It feels like time stopped for a while, then again I do get distracted easily in combat so who knows how long I have actually been at this
Hutch spins his Halberd around as if stretching out his muscles, battling at the lizard with the blade and the butt of his weapon.
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A low, nasty, awful, terrible, chuckle escapes from Sophie's throat as she replies to Hutch. "Oh aye! I want a fang from the thing's mouth! I'll hang it on a necklace where it may evermore nuzzle my bosom. An eternal reminder that no monstrosity of nature...
...is deadlier than we are!"
The baleful demon that drank deep of the dead mercenary now leaped about the battlefield, at last its sickly orange haze smells the fresh blood drank by Hutch's halberd and infests the giant reptile. A nauseating smell of death and rank decay emits from the reptile, a creature of death taking payments on the future.
Payn launches another sphere of purple torment and wailing doom toward the giant monitor....
Enemy Monitor:
- Drake is wounded
- Lizard is dead
- Cultist 1 is dead
- Mercenary 1 is dead
- Mercenary 2 is dead
- Winged Kobold is dead
Enemy Monitor update:
- Drake is dead
- Lizard is dead
- Cultist 1 is dead
- Mercenary 1 is dead
- Mercenary 2 is dead
- Winged Kobold is dead
Venali lowers his bow and gives a nod of thanks to Zillyanna as the cultist falls to the water. He mutters a quick incantation and traces a sigil in the air between him and the cultist behind her. Ice crystallizes on the man's legs and robes, soaked as they are from the stream, and quickly spreads to the rest of his body forming a thin coating along his torso and arms.
Hutch's blade arcs around, smacking into the large reptile's maw, separating the jaws of the creature from each other. The beast slumps to the ground with a moan.
Sophie's blast smashes into the smaller reptilian creature, causing the drake's head to detonate with a wet noise.
Venali's incantation finishes and the cultist behind Zillyanna begins to shiver, the water on his wet boots freezing.
The remaining mercenary dodges away from hutch's looming halberd blade: "This s#!+ ain't worth the pay!" he says as he turns to flee down the street north.
Seeing all its allies felled in a few instants and the last one fleeing, the freezing cultist takes a step back from Zillyanna and turns to run south.
Initiative Order:
- Zillyanna
- Hutch, Venali, Sophie
- Merc, Cultist
- Evendur
Enemy Monitor update:
- Drake is dead
- Lizard is dead
- Cultist 1 is dead
- Cultist 2 is wounded
- Mercenary 1 is dead
- Mercenary 2 is dead
- Winged Kobold is dead
Hutch laughs darkly as the remain foes flee. Should have grabbed a ranged weapon, he says to himself.
He pulls two teeth from the Lizard, and puts one in his belt pouch. Got you a trophy my lady! Hutch calls with a chuckle. These things didn't put up as much fight as I thought they would.
Hutch then looks at Evendur. You alright priest? It seems your god doesn't want you yet, though I imagine that bite was painful.
I live yet... but I may join Him before the sun sets. So may we all.