The ratperson quivering on the floor attempts to tuck itself into a corner, out of harms way, as the fight continues….
Running forwards, Tychi needs to roll to evade the flailing arms of the Gug
One of Carran's arrows finds it's target, lodging in the skull of the Gug…mere moments later, as the Gug howls in agony, Tychi and Nike combine their attacks to fell the towering beast…
Luke will move up and hit the gug once.
Major Luke Rand vaults past the dead Gug and positions himself between the Gugs and Figwidget.
With a furious roar, one of the Gugs swipes at Major Luke Rand...lifting him off his feet and hurtling him back some ten feet, where he lands in a heap.
The second Gug concentrates on the bomb throwing nuisance...
Tychi moves over the dead Gug, and jumps up on the wounded Nike.
Tychi and Nike then move into the open area, looking around, and prepare to charge the gugs next round.
Figwidget yelps in pain as he's severely torn up by the angry Gug. He takes a step back, hopefully out of the range of the Gug, and drinks an extract to bolster his health.
Carran moves over to be in line of sight of the Gugs and looses one arrow at the closest Gug.
Standing and dusting himself off, Luke hurls his shield at the Gug that hit him, which then flies back to his hand.
Carran's arrow flies true and lodges in one of the Gug's stomach...
Standing and throwing his shield, which misses wildly, Major Luke Rand drops his defences for long enough for his foes to get a few blows thrown at him.
Total Damage to Major Luke Rand = 21
With a gurgling sound that could only be described as a laugh, one of the Gugs swipes at the approaching Major Luke Rand...lifting him off his feet...again...and hurtling him back some ten feet, where he lands in a heap...again
The second Gug, with a clear path to the diminutive gnome, charges.
Nike charges Gug 2, putting herself between the two gugs, and preventing Gug 1 from closing with the rest of the party.
Tychi unleashes his flurry of blows, spending a ki point for an extra attack.
"Don't you dare jump Figwidget!" Carran shouts as he takes aim for the Gug that is attacking the gnome.
Figwidget sees Major Luke Rand take damage, and thinks that he needs to get over and help the Major with healing... before he suddenly again has problems of his own.
So, instead, he takes a five foot step diagonally backwards, and throws a bomb at the Gug menancing him. (Throw at the NE corner, so that splash damage won't threaten Tychi or Nike.)
Figwidget's bomb explodes in the face of the Gug that had charged him…followed by a flurry of arrows. The Gug staggers under the intensity of the attack and, turning, has to brace against the charging unicorn.
The Gugs rake at Nike's flanks but, undetterred, she slams her horn into the unprotected chest of the struggling Gug…then, in a whirlwind of steel, the mounted tengu finally cuts the Gug down. Turning his attention to the other Gug, Tychi lands a further two blows.
Tychi, seeing that Nike's zigging and zagging while charging didn't fool the other Gug, twitches with his knees to aim her for a chink in the Gug's attack strategy.
The nudge is all that Nike needs to zig instead of zag at the last second, and Gug 1's flailing claws miss the massive steed as she slams her horn completely through Gug 2.
Luke will tumble towards #1 and hit him in the face.
Carran looses another set of arrows at the remaining Gug.
"He's going down!" He shouts before the first arrows fly away from his bow.
Major Luke Rand rolls towards the Gug, his shield raised aloft to protect himself…yet the Gug finds another gap in his defenses…the Major grimaces, on the verge of unconciousness, and slams his shield into the Gug.
The gravely wounded Gug then launches into a wild attack, indiscriminately targetting Major Luke Rand, Tychi and Nike
With the Major succumbing, the Gug turns his full attention to Nike and Tychi...
With Nike and the Major both out of the fight, the Gug hoots in delight...and then Carran's arrow silences it....forever....
Tychi again nudges Nike out of the way of the claw attack, keeping the gug from getting a good hit. Unfortuantely, it does hit a vital soft spot on Nike's side.
As the Gug falls, it's short lived victory is further diminished by Nike regaining her feet...the impact of the Gugs blows being less than enough to down the unicorn....
Tychi's white feathers are streaked with red, much as Nike's black flanks are streaked with red. The two partners blood mingling. "Can someone check on the gug's victim? I suggest we all fall back to the small parts room to heal up and rest for the night?" Tychi says, sliding off Nike's back to relieve the pressure on her wounds.
Nike whiffles softly, panting hard, and glaring at the gugs.
Seeing Rand down, he calls to Figwidget. "I believe Major Rand needs a wand usage, immediately."
Once Rand is dealt with, Tychi will search the two Gugs after returning his whipsword to his waist.
Carran puts down his bow and hurries toward Luke to see if he could be of any help.
"I think he's still bleeding, Tychi's right he needs a zap of the wand soon."
Figwidget rushes over to Major Luke Rand, pulls out the wand that they'd found, and uses it on him.
With a flash of the Wand, Major Luke Rand murmurs gently and regains consciousness...
Neither Gug who came along the corridor are carrying anything of particular value...although one is gripping, in a dead grasp, a reasonably sized mechanical component.
There is a pathetic whimpering coming from the alcove where the rat person was cowering.
"Mr. Figwidget? This former enemy appears to have something that is your specialty clutched in it's hand. I hope it's not explosive."
Then the Tengu moves around to the Ratfolk. "Greetings, I am Tychi, I hope you are alright. Do you require healing?" He will repeat the same thing in multiple languages until the ratfolk responds. "Mr. Figwidget, the wand may be of need here, there is a wounded bystander. Mr. Rand, Mr. Carran? Perhaps someone with more training in helping traumatized survivors would do a better job than I? I've been told I'm disturbing at times." He hoots a small laugh.
Nike shuffles around the corner, and pings the ratfolk with Detect Evil.
Figwidget will investigate the component the gug was holding, trying to understand it.
After doing this, he'll look at the others. "We're looking pretty beat up. I say we find a place we can secure and rest and recover. If you give me a few minutes, I can brew up some healing infusions to help us recover."
"A good plan Tychi, though I don't think rats are more comfortable talking to one that looks like a cat than to talk to one that looks like a bird."
"I wish I was trained in helping trumatized survivors, I'm more of the one that inflicts pain, not the one that heals it sadly."
Nevertheless Carran walks up to the ratfolk and sees if he would talk. He'll begin talking in Common to start things off.
"Hello there, the Gugs won't trouble you anymore. My name's Carran what are you doing out here all by yourself?"
The ratperson is a pathetic looking creature…it is wearing rags and, from the constant scratching and itching, appears to be infested with some kind of parasite.
"Are they….gone? Have you….actually killed it?", perking up, "Himnentep is gone…at last….gone….oh thankyou, thankyou, thankyou….it's been so hard….since they came….no food and….my soldiers...my soldiers and spies….they don't come back…"
Standing and brushing himself off, "I'm okay….I'm okay….", taking a sip from a vial tied on a cord around it's waist, "You won't hurt me….will you? …just want to be….left alone…. I could help you?"
"No, we don't intend on hurting you. Perhaps you can tell us what's going on in this mine? Things have been happening here which effect the outside world."
Nike seems satisfied enough, for now. "It does not appear evil." The unicorn informs the others. "It does appear to need medical attention, and a flea treatment." She turns her head toward Figwidget. "Alchemist, perhaps you can make a vermin repellent from the supplies you found in the lab? I am sure that would help."
Tychi nods at the ratfolk. "They are dead. You may come with us if you like, or you may leave the cave safely now. Or you may take up residence in one of their abandoned living areas if you prefer. Can you tell us what lies below in the mine? And how long the gugs have been here?"
Figwidget says, "This component goes with that big winch we saw earlier."
Figwidget looks at the ratperson and tries to figure out how badly he's hurt. ()
To Nike, Figwidget says, "I could whip up a vermin repellent, but it would take me a few hours to do."
Figwidget looks at the ratperson. "Hello! I'm Figwidget." He waits to hear the answers it gives to the others' questions.
"This is my home....have lived here for 3 summers....just....just....had to hide when Himnentep and his tribe arrived....couldn't go down the mine....is bad down there...Two-Heads rules down there....slaves, torture, killing....not for Habblegash, no.....Habblegash won't go down there.....", the frantic ratperson stops for a moment, regains his composure and continues, "Thankyou....Thankyou for what you have done....I will stay up here....have so much important work to do....."
Scratching himself, yet again, he then enquires, "So....what are you doing here? No-one just stumbles into this place...are you looking for something?"
"Two-Heads... how long has two-heads been down there? And, how long has Himmentep been around? We're here because out-of-control clockwork has been plaguing Alkenstar, and we believe that the source of the trouble is somewhere here in the mines. Do you know anything about that?"
"Is that why you broke the machine that lets the carts come back up? and what sort of work are you doing?"
"Two-Heads, No-Brain has been down in the lower levels for many months now…I don't go down there anymore….is mining they're doing…slaves….too dangerous for Habblegash….to dangerous", scratching beneath his rags, he continues, "these Gugs….led by Himnentep….I don't think they are anything to do with Two-Heads and his operation…they just came into the mine over the winter….and started destroying things….it was them that destroyed the decline winch….is a steep climb without it….you should fix it if you want to go down there"….the increasingly chatty creature shivers at the thought…."I don't know why you want to go down there though"
Thinking about Figwidgets question, "Clockwork you say…well Habblegash knows a thing or two about Clockwork…I have seen things….Alkenstar machines out on the plains….coming and then going a few days later…they started arriving sometime after the mining started"
Figwidget rubs his chin with his hand and says, "Hmm, so the clockwork started showing up after Himnentep and the gugs started their mining. Interesting."
"Oh, and, I didn't catch your answer to my friend's question: what sort of important work is it you have to do?"
To his companions, he says, "It looks like there may be two factions down there. And we need to get that winch back in order; I should be able to piece that together without too much trouble, if we can find all the missing pieces. First, though, we should rest and recover. A lot of us look pretty beat up!"
Figwidget gives both infusions of Cure Critical Wounds to Major Luke Rand. "You will need these. Drink them," he says, trying to sound stern and commanding. (.)
He gives the infusion of Cure Moderate Wounds to Tychi. "This is for Nike." (.)
He quaffs the extract of Cure Light Wounds himself, restoring hit points to himself.
"Right," he says. "That done, who needs some zaps from the wand?"
Tychi takes Nike's equipment off, and the unicorn sighs as he rubs her down with a brush. "I am still wounded, but save the wand for emergencies. I will do some more healing of myself in the morning, and we'll see how things go. We may need the wand's healing more later." She responds to Figwidget.
Carran keeps his bow close, thinking he's almost certain they've heard the name Habblegash before while in these caves. He can't just seem to remember whether it was positive or negative.
He keeps a wary eye on the ratfolk, but other than that moves close to Luke Rand.
"You okay there Luke? You still took quite a beating from those Gugs."