Jillian swings again taking advantage of their surprise attack, hoping to deal with the one getting ready to signal as quickly as possible.
The cramped space, is really making it difficult for her and she misses her attack once again.
Wren again follows Jillian’s swing with two more missiles at the same target.
Damage
Jillian misses again just as another volley of missiles from Wren slams into the already injured hobgoblin. Without Jillian's attacks hitting, the injured hobgoblin remains on his feet ready to sound the alarm in only a few seconds time.
Seeing the hobgoblin about to sound his horn, Emil casts his spell to cause the plants in the compound to grow and ensnare those trying to move through it. Then, he and Pila join Thael in moving toward the tower.
Caspan rushes forward to join his team as they advance towards the watchtower.
With Thael's attacking the front, Selde's eagles all fly behind the hobgoblins to setup flanking. Thael's eagles attack four times, unfortunately all four attacks miss just like Jillian's attacks.
The hobgoblin in front of Jillian drops the horn at his companions feet and pulls out his handaxe. He swipes towards Jillian, attempting to chop the intruder in the chest. Still unprepared for the assault, he bobbles the axe and mistimes his swing.
The second hobgoblin on the tower picks up the horn and blows loudly, a resounding "DUNNNN DUH-DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. DUH-DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN" sound echoing across the ravine.
Jillian swings again at the hobgoblin.
It is no use though her frustration at herself for letting the alarm be raised doesn't help as she misses completely.
As she looks over her shoulder she sees the others rushing toward her and shouts to Caspan "Make sure the rest of the camp can't get up the stairs! The birds, and Wren and I will deal with these two if I can ever hit one of the slippery bastards..."
Wren hopes to drop at least one of the hobbies, giving Jillian and Caspan a chance to retreat if they wanted.
Magic missile damage on the same one
Wren’s third set of missiles finally takes down one of the watchmen, sending the hobgoblin tumbling to the floor of the watchtower.
As the horn sounds, the camp in the ravine below is already clogged with plants and vines that will at least slow the response to the horn, giving the group some time to dispatch the remaining watchtower guard and rain down some trouble on the camp.
Emil continues to trot toward the tower, feeling a slight stitch in his side. Pela runs ahead and looks back for guidance, eager for a fight, but Emil focuses instead on sending help to Jillian in the form of a spiritual weapon.
The first arrow of force misses the guard fighting Jillian and the eagles, but another arrow begins to glow for another attack.
Caspan grunts and moves to the top of the stairway, getting ready to dodge any attacks that come his way.
HP 44/44
AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17, CMD 20 (+2 vs. dirty trick; +3 vs. trip)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +1 (+2 resistance bonus to recover from a continuing effect)
Unbreakable Survivor (7 hp) 0/1
Martial Flexibility 1/5; knockout (DC 16) 0/1
Effects: Steadfast gutstone, bull's strength (+2/+2), Dodge 0/10
Three of Thael's eagle attacks manage to cut the skin of the hobgoblin guard and make him bleed. Three of Selde's eagles manage to strike the watchman as well, but most of all of the attacks from the eagles are minor wounds.
Selde runs north as well, taking position between Caspan and the tower as she prepares to defend against an onslaught climbing the steps from down below.
About a half-dozen hobgoblins and bugbears down in the ravine rise to the sound of the warning horn and make their way through the difficult terrain, several others are stuck and unable to advance from their current positions.
The hobgonblin the tower is overwhelmed with the eagles and attacks the only humanoid nearby, Jillian. Fortuantely for her, the relentlessness of the attacks from the flying friends distracts the hobgoblin enough that his attack fails miserably and misses.
Jillian waits for Wren and the eagles to do their work to see if they can drop the hobgoblin before she attacks. If it still stands she will swing her weapon at it.
If the hobgoblin goes down she will start climbing down the tower to join the others.
Wren delays to see if the eagles can finish the guard in the tower.
Emil looks down on the camp and sees the hobgoblins and their allies making their way through the entangling plants. He draws out his scroll with the spell Plant Growth. He reads the scroll and directs the magic to fill the camp below with bushes, trees, and all manner of vines, such that entire camp is affected from west, just at the stairs, all the way to the east entry way and points north. The plants are so thick, movement through them will slow to a crawl and the entangling magic already there intensifies the difficulty. "Thus does Erastil curse your efforts to exploit his realm," me mutters as he watches the plant life spring up around the enemy.
Meanwhile, his spiritual weapon continues to attack the hobgoblin up on the tower.
Caspan grunts and moves to the top of the stairway, getting ready to dodge any attacks that come his way.
HP 44/44
AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17, CMD 20 (+2 vs. dirty trick; +3 vs. trip)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +1 (+2 resistance bonus to recover from a continuing effect)
Unbreakable Survivor (7 hp) 0/1
Martial Flexibility 1/5; knockout (DC 16) 0/1
Effects: Steadfast gutstone, bull's strength (+2/+2), Dodge 1/10
Caspan prepares to trip any humanoid that makes it up the stairway, or punch anything else that comes his way.
"How're we gonna get down there now, Pops?"
Caspan prepares to trip any humanoid that makes it up the stairway, or punch anything else that comes his way.
"How're we gonna get down there now, Pops?"
"Let them come to you. We'll pepper them with arrows in the meantime."
As the yellow hobgoblin came moving up the steps, Selde took a moment to aim before loosing an arrow.
Father Emil casts another spell as his spiritual weapon misses again.
The second round of attacks from the eagles is much more effective, with nearly half of all of them striking the poor hobgoblin watchman. After sustaining another eight injuries or so, he collapses and tumbles off the watchtower to the ground 30' below.
Jillian desecnds the entire 30' of the ladder, just reaching the bottom.
Selde's arrow finds its mark on the hobgoblin climbing the stairs rapidly.
Wren uses a magic missile at the hobgoblin that Selde’s arrow struck.
Damage
Wren's missile continues to damage the hobgoblin, but doesn't do enough to take him down.
The hobgoblin on the stairs see Caspan standing at the top defiantly and decides to shoot him with his bow. He takes a shot that flies within an inch of the brawler's face, missing.
Throughout the overgrown camp, several hogboblins are unable to advance while a few are able to cut their way forward slowly.
Jillian calls on Erastil for protection in the fight ahead as she moves over toward the stairs to help the others.
Bonuses - PfE (+2 Deflection AC, +2 Saves)
HP: 35/35
AC: 21 (19 Base, +2 PfE)
Lay on Hands: [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Smite Evil: [ ] [ ]
Spell-like Ability: Alter Self [ ]
Level 1 Spells: Protection from Evil [X]
HP 44/44
AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 17, CMD 21 (+2 vs. dirty trick; +3 vs. trip)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +1 (+2 resistance bonus to recover from a continuing effect)
Unbreakable Survivor (7 hp) 0/1
Martial Flexibility 1/5; knockout (DC 16) 0/1
Effects: Steadfast gutstone, bull's strength (+2/+2), Dodge 2/10
"Get out of the way!" Caspan growls as Jillian steps in front of him.
Not really wanting to pull his own crossbow, since that wasn't really the plan, he crouches down to cut the field of fire.
As the hobgoblins began to climb the stairs, Selde continued to loose arrow after arrow.
Selde's second arrow hits nearly at the same time as Wren's missiles. Both attacks continue to pile on damage, but the lead hobgoblin on the stairs still remains on his feet.
Emil redirects the spiritual longbow to now target the hobgoblin on the stairs. Then he shoots an arrow at the same one.
Though both the spiritual weapon and Emil's longbow both are very well executed shots, the defenses of these hobgoblins appear to be superior to those they have encountered in the past. Both attacks miss as does all four of Thael's eagles.
Dropping their longbows, the two forward hobgoblins pull out battleaxes and swing towards the eagles. Two swipes and two of the eagles are cut down by the massively powerful weapon.
All of the hobgoblins caught in Emil's plant trap are stuck unable to move, totally overrun by nature.
In the distance at the opposite end of the ravine, the group catches site of a group of hobgoblins exiting and moving up from the east.
Jillian calls out to the hobgoblins as a whole "If you are smart you will lay down your weapons and surrender!" She knew it was a long shot, but it might thin there numbers a bit if some decide to give up.
Her words are only half-hearted though and don't even sound that convincing to herself.
Assuming the ones on the stairs don't surrender she moves forward to attack.
Even if her words don't have any weight perhaps her attack will change some of their minds.
In the distance at the opposite end of the ravine, the group catches site of a group of hobgoblins exiting and moving up from the east.
Emil moves closer to the ravine and Pila comes closer to his side, awaiting instructions. Emil doesn't want to put her into the fight against such powerful opponents, however. He sends another arrow at the back of the hobgoblin closest to him on the stairs, praying to Erastil to guide his hand. This spiritual longbow fires off one more shot before expiring.
All of Thael's eagles attacks miss the two forward hobgoblin.
Emil's longbow lands the killing bow on the first hobgoblin on the stairs who was already injured from prior attacks, his spiritual weapon missing.
Jillian's powerful blow eliminates the second threat on the stairwell, critically severing his head from his body.
Wren double moved to get closer to her friends, hoping to bolster their attacks next round.
Selde continued to loose arrows at their foes, focusing on the Pink hobgoblin after Jilian felled the yellow.
One of Selde's eagles is able to attack the floppy-eared bugbear who is entangled in Father Emil's instant-jungle.
Caspan takes note of the second group of hobgoblins approaching from the east, outside of the camp proper. He calls them out to the party "Second group north east!" as he pulls out his crossbow and prepares to use, just in case.
The bugbear that was just attacked breaks from from his entanglement and smashes his morningstar into the eagle, destroying it. He moves up five feet, but that's as far as he gets.
Wren adjusts just a bit to the south, and casts Bless on the entire group, stealing them for the pending battle. ”Please Guide our sword hands, Green Mother. Your blessings will turn the tide into our favor!”
Emil chants and gestures his summoning spell, calling on Erastil to send more eagles to the fight.
HP 44/44
AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 17, CMD 21 (+2 vs. dirty trick; +3 vs. trip)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +1 (+2 resistance bonus to recover from a continuing effect)
Unbreakable Survivor (7 hp) 0/1
Martial Flexibility 1/5; knockout (DC 16) 0/1
Effects: Steadfast gutstone, bull's strength (+2/+2), Dodge 4/10, Bless
Caspan fires the crossbow at the closest wolf on top of the escarpment -- the bolt slams into its shoulder, just missing its neck -- and then drops the crossbow, ready to fight hand-to hand!
With the eagles dealing with the ones below and most of them stuck for now Jillian heads back up the stairs to help the others with those approaching from the east. She moves up near Caspan and gets ready for them to close in.
Selde tries to adjust to the change in plans, but both of her arrows fly off the mark and past the incoming targets.
Caspan's bolt finds its mark, injuring one of the oncoming assailants.
Three archers move around the perimeter and fire arrows at the party, two towards Jillian and and one at Caspan with one arrow hitting each. .
A white-caped hobgoblin lumbers forward and tosses something towards Jillian, but it falls short of her and explodes on the ground nearby.
The lead hobgoblin raises his weapon and charges your paladin. Unfortunately for him however, Jillian was prepared for this and nearly severs his head from his body with a powerful blow from her greatsword. The hobgoblin is still standing after the attack, but he looks like a gust of wind might take him to the ground.
The wolf that attacked Caspan charges towards him, but misses when it tries to bite his shins.
A hobgoblin and a grey-furred rat looking hobgob both move in adjacent to Jillian, but don't attack quite yet.
Down below, the hobgoblins continue to struggle through the rough terrain.
Wren casts spiritual weapon and a glowing scythe appears and attacks the red enemy just north of Jillian.
Attack
Damage