Selde aimed at the Hobgoblin Caspan blinded before loosing an arrow.
But her focus could not escape the utter desecration of the temple, of the continued death of people she had known for years. Her arrow sailed off course, sinking in to the wall with a soft thud.
There was something about that halfling that the hobgoblin couldn't get out of its mind! It stared and stared at her, trying to figure out what it was that it was supposed to be doing.
HP 12/12
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +0
CMD 16
Martial Flexibility: 1/4
Effects:
Caspan gulps as he realizes his enemy is now fully armed and ready. He concentrates for a second and then throws a haymaker, but his repeated glances at the axes throw off his aim.
He ducks back, hoping to put a little distance between him and it.
Thael's missile unerringly finds its target in the hobgoblin, blasting his midsection.
The two handed axe blinded hobgoblin swings both blades towards the brawler in more of a defensive than offensive attack, the second finding purchase as it glances his left shoulder . Caspan's retreat does not go unnoticed from the blinded foe, but her swing misses.
Red: -6
Yellow: 0, Blinded
Wren reaches out with her mind, picking up another altar plate that the hobgoblins hadn’t smashed just yet. Focusing her mind on throwing apples, she tries to strike the red tinged enemy with the plate, seeing that it was no longer in combat.
Ranger attack
Damage
Jillian moves into the shrine, seeing the hobgoblin stab Emil, she rushes to assist him. Swinging her sword at the Hobgoblin.
Jillian continues her assualt on the hobgoblin in an attempt to avoid further harm to her friend, Father Emil.
Selde fired another arrow at the hobgoblin, praying to Erastil that it would find it's mark.
Selde and Wren both launch projectiles at the hobgoblins in the shrine, but unfortunately both miss their targets. Wren's plate shatters in the pews while Selde's arrow buries itself in the a wall.
Jillian's second attack with her greatsword strikes home however. The powerful blow from the paladin is enough to upend the hobgoblin and send him pinwheeling to the ground where he lay bleeding to death.
HP 9/12
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +0
CMD 16
Martial Flexibility: 1/4
Effects:
"Draw his attention, and I'll hit him from behind!" Caspan tells Jillian as he closes again with the last remaining hobgoblin in the shrine, ignoring the pain in his shoulder for the moment.
He throws a punch at it, hitting just armor again.
Emil nods his thanks to Jillian for striking down the foe that wounded him. He sees that the hobgoblin is mortally wounded but not yet dead. Although Emil always prefer mercy to revenge, he cannot bring himself to consider sparing perpetrators of such carnage in such a holy place. He raises his scythe and pronounces his judgment, "As you sow, so shall you reap." He brings the blade of the scythe down to penetrate the fallen hobgoblin's throat.
Father Emil removes the head of the hobgoblin from the rest of its body, it's dark blood spilling freely onto the floor.
Thael's missile strikes the last creature, adding to the damage he inflicted earlier from the fire spell.
The last remaining hobgoblin watches Caspan approach and is ready for him. Though his fist appears to strike nothing but armor, he finds a weak spot in her padded armor and punches clean through it.
To retaliate, she spins and buries her battleaxe into the brawler's neck, nearly critically striking him ). She twirls and tries to bury her other handaxe in his chest, but slips on some of the brawlers blood and misses completely.
R=6
Unable to line up a clear show, Selde motioned forward. Lining up her shot, she released an arrow as Nur cleared the alter.
Selde's arrow strikes true and puts and causes the female attacker to stumble backwards into the wall. She quickly loses consciousness from her combined wounds and passes out.
With the threat neutralized Jillian starts to rush through the temple checking to see if she can find Rhyna anywhere. She shouts to the others "Grab anything that may be useful. I need to find Rhyna."
If she can't locate her inside the temple she will head to the nearby house to check for her there.
Jillian searches each of the dead bodies in the shrine, but none of them appear to be Rhyna.
Searching the bodies, the male hobgoblins have the same gear as the previous trio: studded leather armor, a light steel shield, a longsword, and a longbow with 20 arrows. The female was more laden with supplies including three bottles marked as curatives potions of cure light wounds, three marked fire alchemist’s fire, padded armor, composite longbow (+2 Str) with 20 arrows, handaxe, a masterwork battleaxe , backpack, bedroll, blanket, mess kit, small tent, and provisions 3 PP as well as 3 gold coins.
A sack of loot sits in the middle of the badly defiled temple and contains a slim elm wand, a silver cup, a hand-sized darkwood carving of a butterfly, three bottles of Mott's Oldlaw whiskey, 100 gp worth of gold dust, 27 small semiprecious stones, and 76 gp, as well as a round ivory amulet engraved with Erastil’s bow-and-arrow holy symbol strung on a leather thong.
Thanatos perches on the wizard's shoulder and looks around, as well.
Jillian makes her way to the shack outside and cautiously opens the door. Inside the shack, nine terrified people stare back from the corner of the building.
One of them, a Chelish woman with bronze skin, wavy blonde hair, and pale green eyes bursts from the crowd and rushes toward Jillian. She is instantly recognizable as Rhyna, Father Nolan's acolyte.
She throws her arms around her, her tear-stained face evident in the dim light. She pulls back from Jillian and looks behind her for someone. "Where's Father Noelan?" she asks. "Are the looters at the shrine gone? We need to go help him!"
Selde hopped off Nur, giving the elk a nuzzle before commanding him to stay alert. "The smell of death does not belong in this place.". Taking a breath, she tried to shake if off before she began searching for anything useful to pack up.
Jillian's spirits lift when she sees Rhyna run toward her. She embraces Rhyna, tears running down her cheeks. When Rhyna asks about Father Nolean Jillian holds her at arms length "I... I'm sorry. He is gone... I... I couldn't save him." She shakes her head "It's all my fault... somehow the war followed me home." Looking down at the ground she adds "First my parents, now my home and Father Nolean..."
She just stands there holding Rhyna, staring at the floor a moment. Then she takes a deep breath I failed Nolean, but I can't fail the rest of them... she thinks. Looking back to Rhyna, then to the others "We will have time to mourn later. I... we need to get everyone to safety. The town is over run. Myself and some others are saving who we can, gathering supplies and plan to leave town before it is too late."
If no one else does so, Father Emil dispatches any hobgoblin that clings to life with a coup de grace so that he can channel energy without reviving any enemies. He makes sure anyone injured is within 30 feet and stands as close to the bodies of the villagers in case any is still alive but unconscious.
Caspan's and Emil's wounds partially close.
He looks through the presumably dead, hoping Erastil's energy might have revived someone.
He picks ups the holy symbol of Erastil, suspecting it may be the one Father Noelan always carried with him.
He locates the fallen cleric and covers his wounds with an altar cloth before respectfully taking anything of value he may have been carrying. He feels terrible doing so, like a murder hobo. But he knows the old man would approve of a prudent collection of valuable items. He then pulls him into the shrine and begins arranging the other dead villages in respectful postures. He plans to torch the shrine as the only respectful way to lay them all to rest. But before he does so, he remembers something.
Father Emil looks around knowing the older cleric kept some of his more valuable supplies hidden away. He discovers an urn in an alcove with some materials that can be used to make holy water and a few other items.
He presents the amulet and wand to Thael for identification. Emil never bothered to study the details of magic, trusting Erastil to provide what he needed. Now he wishes he could be more useful identifying valuable magical components and enchanted items.
"We should set the shrine on fire before we leave. It is desecrated and the fire will cleanse it as well as providing some distraction from our flight."
|
Thael assists Emil in searching the shrine, though he averts his eyes as the cleric dispatches any fallen foes.
This is bloody business...we may not yet survive this day...
When Emil hands him the items he's found, Thael takes a few moments to try to identify them.
"These could prove of great use," he says.
Tears flow from Rhyna's eyes as she buries her head on Jillian. She sobs for only a moment before realizing now is not the time. She turns around motions to the others, "Come along now, Jillian is going to safe us."
From the darkness at the back of the shack eight people hobble out behind Rhyna, terrified of what is beyond. Aubrin and Jet lead the other five refugees from the north down to join the band of survivors from Phaendar.
With everyone in tow, Jillian takes the entire group back into the shrine to regroup with the others from the party.
HP 8/12
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +0
CMD 16
Martial Flexibility: 1/4
Effects:
Caspan staggers as the hobgoblin nearly decapitates him, sagging in relief as Selde's arrow ends her threat.
"Nice shot," he grunts, holding onto the altar to keep himself on his feet.
He sighs in relief a bit as Father Emil heals him.
"Still a bit hurt. If we're going to fight our way out of here, I think I'll take one of those potions now..."
He picks up the handaxe as well, stashing it in his belt.
"Could come in handy," he says with a shrug.
"If you're going to burn this place, let's do it and get out of here. Who knows when more of those bootstabbers will show up ... "
Wren remained respectfully quiet, not really her normal self, as the others collected the bodies and cleaned up the holy shrine. She gave a weak grin to the people the group had saved, wanting to try to keep their hopes up as best as she could muster, when her own hope had dwindled down quite a bit.
Wren sidled up to Thael as the others were continuing the preparations. ”Could I see one of those twin wands? Looking at it from afar, it looks like the sort of natural magic I practice. Those tiny thorns of force will help us save this town!”
Selde worked in silence to gather supplies and ready the corpses and shrine for cleansing. She went to say something multiple times, but simply had no words. Instead she found something else to pack, split some kindling, tested the weight of the composite longbow she found, anything to stay active. Once things were tended to, Selde hoisted herself back on Nur's saddle. Bow in hand, she nudged Nur in a slow trot as she began to closely circle the area, alert for any danger.
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After Jillian leads the other survivors back into the shrine, she assists Father Emil in the preparations. Before they finish she kneels next to Nolean's body and whispers "I'm so sorry... today was meant to be a joyous one and then this... I promise I will protect the others, save what I can of this community so that we may rebuild one day. May you join Erastil and walk the peaceful forests of his realm."
Taking a deep breath she stands and looks to the others "We should move on. There may be more survivors we can rescue."
A feeling of warmth washes over the group once the shrine is decommissioned, almost as if Erastil or Desna sent you their blessing.
After finishing closing down the shrine, the party leads a group of sixteen men and women from the Riverwood Shrine tot he Phaendar Trading Company. If it's even possible, there seems to be more soldiers about burning, looting and killing townsfolk.
On the way to the next destination they party come across another lean and ragged wolf. This one appears to be on the scent of something as it stalks into a dead-end alley towards a wagon.
Seeing the wolf’s prey attempting to hide, Jillian quickly gets some more meat and attempts to lure the wolf away.
HP 15/12
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +0
CMD 16
Martial Flexibility: 0/4
Effects: +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, 60 mins.
"Damn, was hoping it was after something we didn't need to care about, but there's a couple girls in there," Caspan says.
The big man rushes forward, trying to kick up dirt into the wolf's face. Unfortunately, the ground is so blood-soaked, all he does is scruff the mud.
"Hyah! Get away from them!" he orders.
Wren attempts to aid Jillian’s calming of the woodland creature. ”Now take that meat and run home to your family. We don’t want to have to hurt you, Mr. Wolf!”
Handle animal aid
The wolf snarls at Jillian, buck then backs down a bit when she calms him down. When the meat comes out it snatches it up in its jaws and tears off away from the cart with its prize. Once more the group manages to overcome the wild animals with skill and bribery without the need to engage in combat.
When the group sounds the all clear, the two girls come out looking completely terrified. When they realize you are here with a bunch of other survivors, they quick dash out into your midst. Each of them wears a backpack stuffed with food supplies that they offer up to you for saving them if you take them with you.
The growing party continues to sneak behind the buildings and stay to the shadows. Chaos continues to reign in the streets. It doesn't take long to get to your destination.
A signpost by the road announces the clapboard wooden shop and barnlike smithy sharing a single large, stone wall to be the Phaendar Trading Company. The smithy's double doors stand open, revealing a large, still-glowing forge within. Two slaughtered goats and a dead horse fill an adjacent animal pen. Many fresh scratches and dents mar the trading post's heavy wooden door, and a chair leg juts through one broken window. Small flames lick at the thatch rooftop where a red-hot iron has been tossed.
Four Ironfang soldiers prowl the yard in front of the building, though all seem to be nursing injuries. Still, they turn to face you as you draw near, snarling and brandishing their swords.
"Surrender!" one yells towards your group.
Emil hands the unidentified wand to Wren, hoping she can identify it. If no one objects, he puts on the amulet , feeling it may be his to use as an item held by Father Noelan.
Emil stands by to help negotiate the peaceful departure of the wolf. After it leaves, he gives the girls a reassuring hug and ushers them to the growing throng being led to safety.
When more Ironfang recruits are encountered, Emil steps a little to the side and readies his longbow. He's not a great shot, but his years of hunting have made him confident he can put a few arrows into their filthy hides.
Caspan nods in appreciation as the women get the wolf to back away, though he's not happy about losing the food.
"Good job. Guess if we can specify 'em, that beats having to fight them..." he says, nodding as the two girls join their group.
HP 15/12
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +0
CMD 16
Martial Flexibility: 1/4
Effects: +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, 60 mins.
"Shut yer mouth hole," Caspan barks as he closes in on the nearest hobgoblin, the latest in a seemingly endless army of them.
They're more of 'em than fleas on a Canorate cur...
He lands a meaty fist into the enemy's midsection, hoping to put him down quickly.
Seeing there were four enemies this time, Wren uses her last bit of 1st Level magic, again calling on the Green Mother’s aid to defeat the invaders. ”Please sharpen our blades and strengthen our blows,” she whispers.
Seeing Caspan head for the closer group, Jillian decides to move up to the furthest hobgoblin to attack, hoping to seperate the enemies attention.
With the passing of Father Nolean, Jillian puts a bit of extra effort into her swing, planning to hold true to her oath to the dead cleric.
As you approach the trading company, you quickly take note that this is one of the many structures in town that is on fire. While not in a complete blaze yet, the fire is quickly spreading on the thatched roof.
As Jillian and Caspan close the distance to the building, they make out the sounds of numerous people screaming and crying for help inside the building.
Both Jillian and Caspan strike their respective targets. Jillian's target looks like it can barely stand on its feet much longer and nearly done for, but still hanging on.
Orange: -5
Purple:-15
Getting closer and hearing the sounds of survivors inside she shouts back to the others ”There are people inside! Someone help them while we deal with these brutes.”
Selde sets Nur forward to line up a clear shot. She took a moment to aim before loosing an arrow on the hobgoblin behind Jillian.
Erastil truly took favor at the cleansing of the shrine, and Selde's arrow flew true, striking hobgoblin with a wet thud. "The fire." she called out to her allies.
Selde's shot was perfectly aimed, with just the right amount of pull. The arrow buries itself into the skull of her target and sends it flying backwards to the ground.
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"I can deal with the fire!" Thael shouts, knowing he had a cantrip available that might help.
We need these supplies!
"But the hobgoblin that just set the fire is going to cause some problems for me. Someone engage him!"
The wizard moves forward behind Caspan and casts daze on the enemy engaging him.