Oren takes only a moment to sigh in relief before moving again. Focusing on the rest of the chaos around him, he heads south and lets loose another blast of sand at the ogre hovering over Gruhx.
Ben moves to Gruhx's side, dropping his scimitar and immediately calling into power another handful of fire. He readies to throw at the Ogre over Gruhx.
Tallvar rushes towards Madir's side, bravely moving into the area of supernaturally growing branches and vines. Unfortunately, he's stymied just as he walks in, and can move in no more. Fortunately, he stops just at Madir's side, since he was so close. Tallvar reaches down and calls upon his odd powers to heal his companion.
Oren lets fly with another blast, and the massive ogre roars as his skin is scoured from his body. Muscle shows through in some spots as blood flows freely from him.
Shalelu fires again, her arrows sizzling through the air at the southern Ogre.
Koya moves to Oren's side and lays a hand on him. Her eyes are on Gruhx. Please, Mister Fireshade, save my boy.
Ameiko looks at the carnage and curses. She moves forward before anyone can stop her, charging into the undergrowth and then somersaulting the last few paces towards the Ogre. Unfortunately, though she seems able to avoid the roots, they provide enough of an impact that her movement is stymied, and the ogre attempts to swing at her. The ever-nimble Ameiko shouts Too slow! as she ducks under the clumsy swing.
The ogre near Ameiko roars and rips at the plantlife about him.
He yells out in rage as he once again cannot remove the bonds.
He roars again, this time in triumph, as he breaks free of the vegetation. Though, looking around, he finds that he's still in the middle of it...
The other ogre tries to whack White again.
Seeing White crumple under the blow, the ogre then tries to break the bonds of the plants, as well.
Oren looks back at Koya as she lays a blessing on him, a little surprised at the old lady's magic ability. "Yes ma'am," he responds, gripping his pick as he repositions himself for a better shot at the ogre. "Get back, ugly!" he cries out at the creature, blasting the creature with a gout of sand.
Move Action: Move 15'
[b]Standard Action: Sand Blast w/ Pushing Infusion (1 Burn)
Shalelu shouts out as she sees White go down. No! Seething, she takes aim again and fires two more arrows at the southern ogre.
This last shot is just barely enough to take the beast down, and it lists to one side, then falls over into the vegetation, bleeding out.
Ameiko steps to the side as she slashes at the Ogre before her, gingerly stepping around the various roots on the ground. She misses her mark, but keeps herself from getting tangled in the brush.
Koya moves to behind Ameiko, standing behind the bold woman and under the tree. She calls upon Desna's power once again and puts her hand on Ameiko's back.
Sandru and the brothers have the wagon back up and out of the mud, and they rush over to the side of the entangled area, drawing swords as they go.
Ben hurls his ball of flame at the ogre, even as Tallvar takes a step back, aiming his crossbow, and loosing a bolt!
The flames scour the ogre's hide, but do no damage. Tallvar's bolt, however, hits the other eye - the one opposite the one that Black ripped out. The "boom" as the ogre drops echoes through the valley.
Seeing that the threat has been dealt with, Oren slips his weapon back onto his belt as he goes around assessing the damage. "Is everyone okay?"
Ameiko looks at Tallvar with a mock look of anger at losing her kill. She then turns it to a grin, and sheathes her rapier. Her grin turns to a look of concern then, as Shalelu rushes towards the felled White. White, no! Ameiko runs to the south to see if anything can be done, while Koya rushes over to Gruhx. She summons the power of Desna again, and again, healing those around her.
Madir and Black come to their senses. Black is quick to get up on his talons and take to the skies once more, as though nothing has happened. Madir, meanwhile, takes a bit more time. When he gets up, he's relieved to see Black in the sky.
Then he turns to White, and sees Shalelu tending to her, in vain. He moves over to her, ignoring his wounds, and silently stares at the tigress. Although he fully understands what is going on, he lacks the means to express his grief. He's not even entirely sure if he can even feel it. He only stares.
He gets down on his knees and puts a hand on her fur. He mutters a word. "Goodbye."
Then, very matter of factly, he looks up to Shalelu. "She should be buried, I think."
Shalelu, openly weapon, falls to her knees beside the great tiger. She rests a slender hand on the brave feline's body, and gives a curt nod. It will be done, Madir. I will see to it myself.
Madir nods. "Thank you. She was my friend. I will help."
Oren makes himself busy helping with clearing out the bodies, making sure that the wagons are in good enough shape to keep moving, and seeing if the boar can be preserved for food reserves.
While the hairless dwarf may know a fair bit about harnessing his own thoughts and emotions, helping others deal with theirs was still something that he wasn't able to cope with very well.
Jerking awake, Gruhx instinctively lashes out. Leaping to his feet, he kicks the fallen Ogre before looking around the battlefield.
"Uh wes win? 'Course we's win." His eyes falling on the tiger, he frowns. "Wat be wong...why no gets up..."
Slowly the realization hits the big man, water swelling within his massive eyes. "Sorry...I 'elp." he mutters, tugging a shovel out of his pack.
Finding a place near a tree, he immediately begins to dig a hole.
Koya puts a hand on the big fellow's shoulder, sharing his pain. Son, you really shouldn't be out challenging creatures like...this. She glances down at the Ogre, then looks back to the south - the road to Sandpoint. Maybe your brother was right...the first problem we've run into and one of us is...gone from this world.
Shalelu nods, and together she and Madir lift White and reverently deliver the poor noble animal to her final resting place, which takes Gruhx nearly no time to dig.
Back at the wagon, Sandru is barking orders at the two Varisian brothers, directing the re-hitching and repairs. He looks up at Oren as he approaches. Well, its not good, but could have been worse. We lost a wheel here - cracked when the wagon was flipped. Axle's still good though, and we have replacements. Maybe... He looks up at the afternoon sun. An hour...maybe two? What do you think, should we just camp here for the night then? May be no sense restarting the trip so late in the day.
The boar is massive, the size of a small rhino. It's dirty, but certainly not sickly, and doesn't appear diseased. This would be a tremendous feast!
As they finish the burial, Madir stands near the grave in silence for a while. Afterward, he turns to Shalelu. "I have not managed to feel sadness or grief for a very long time now. Thank you for shedding tears, for my sake as well."
He then moves to help the caravan where he can.
Back at the wagon, Sandru is barking orders at the two Varisian brothers, directing the re-hitching and repairs. He looks up at Oren as he approaches. Well, its not good, but could have been worse. We lost a wheel here - cracked when the wagon was flipped. Axle's still good though, and we have replacements. Maybe... He looks up at the afternoon sun. An hour...maybe two? What do you think, should we just camp here for the night then? May be no sense restarting the trip so late in the day.
Oren takes in Sandru's assessment. "You're right, we don't have time to go any further. On the other hand, if we can't clear out these bodies, camping here may attract further issues. Get to work on the wagon, we'll see what we can do with the site."
Oren makes his way over to Gruhx, once he's done helping Madir. "Hey big guy. Think you can help get rid of these ogres? We need to try and make a safe camp for the night."
He also approaches Shalelu, "Shale, I know that he's grieving, but maybe you can have Madir help you with that boar. If we can get as much of that meat as we can carry, we'll be set for a good long time."
Shalelu nods, though she doesn't speak, still lost in her anger and sorrow. She sets about working on the boar, asking Madir to help and hopefully providing a good distraction for the time being.
Gruhx nods quickly and begins pulling away the ogre bodies - basically taking them as far as Oren directs. By the time the sun sets, the way is clear and you can build a camp off to the side of the road.
Sandru nods in satisfaction as he wipes his muddy hands off from his wok with the wheel. Should be okay; we've camped off of this road many times...though of course we never fought ogres beforehand. I'm not sure what brought these beasts out of the hills, but they were obviously ready to attack something substantial. We should be even more vigilant as we go north...got a long way to go.
The night passes without event, and the next morning proves to be bright and cool. The caravan starts out to the northwest, wagons in order and ready for another day...hopefully less eventful than the last.
Indeed, the day passes without event, and just as the sun begins to fall, you can see lights in the distance. Sandru calls a halt, and motions everyone over.
Up ahead is Wolf's Ear - a small village, fair people, if a bit superstitious. Shall we camp out here for the evening and pass through tomorrow, or do we head in and stay in an inn for the night?
Ameiko, for her part, seems to balk at the idea of a stop, but...well, everyone had to sleep at some point. She seems to be getting more ansy the closer you get to Brinewall.
Madir spends the day with his mind occasionally wandering off, staring into the road they'd just wandered, as though mentally walking back to White's grave. He snaps out of it and gets back to work easily enough, though.
When Sandru asks for input, he replies. "I can camp out here just fine, but either is fine to me. As long as they don't worry about Black."
Oren thinks for a moment before answering. "Probably better not to cause any problems with the locals. As nice as a proper bed would be, I'd rather just get an early start."
This close to town, nothing seems to bother you as you set up camp, and the night passes without interest or mishap. The next day, you're up and on your way just after dawn, and you pass through Wolf's Ear. Indeed, it's a small village, and the majority of those within give you a somewhat queer look as you pass through, but allow you to do so unmolested.
Sandru shakes his head slowly as you leave the village behind. Told you...superstitious lot.
Day 5/13
The fifth day passes on without mishap as well, as the road generally proceeds to the northwest until it is headed directly north. There's a light drizzle about midday, but it doesn't seem to affect your route, and you once again make camp for the evening.
The night also passes without any difficulty, and you set out again the next day.
Day 6/13
At about midday of the sixth day of your journey, Shalelu calls from the rear wagon. Hey! We're being followed!
"And here I thought we'd get away without any further hassle," Oren mutters to himself.
He makes his way back to the rear wagon to join Shalelu and see what was going on.
"What have we got, Shae?" he asks, trying to see for himself as he does.
Madir moves to the rear wagon as well, and calls for Black to join him.
Shalelu points to the south, where a small cloud of dust has picked up. I can't quite make it out.
It's not often that any eyes prove better than Shalelu's keen ones, but Oren is perhaps maybe proving a point here. His eyes pierce the veil of dust to see what is actually approaching - it appears to be a wagon, with several small green-skinned figures hanging over the sides.
There are a few larger creatures though - as tall as humans, with gray skin. It's too far to make out their weaponry, but they are obviously coming your way, and their horses are lathered - they've been running hard!
Oren tries to make out the figures, but can't seem to get much details. "Greenskin? Goblins? Maybe Orcs? Can't say for sure. But whatever they are, they are near killing their mounts. Not sure if it's to follow us, or if we're just in their way. Maybe we should get Sandru to pull off the road into a defensible position and see if they'll pass us by."
Shalelu grimaces. It would be folly to think that they're here for anyone other than us, I imagine. Maybe that would be best. Oren, Madir, if you have any ideas, let me know. Gruhx, big guy...where do you want to be in this?
She hammers a fist down on the wagon surface, then shouts out. Sandru! We have company, coming in fast! Can you get to a good spot to defend?
Sandru turns back and winces, then begins to scan around the surroundings. Though there's not much, you could pull off near a group of boulders that you could physically fall back to if needed. Otherwise, there's really nothing to shield the wagons or hide them behind.
Anything you want to do to prepare?
Oren helps to guide the wagons off the road to a defensible position, using the wagons to create a ring around the group, with narrow opening to allow passage and weapon fire to pass through. The thought would be to prevent the enemy from getting behind them, as much as possible.
You guide the wagons to the side of the road, pulling them into a semicircle about you, with you and yours in the center. And, then you watch to the south. Within a few minutes, the other wagon comes into sight. It's topped with goblins wielding shorbows, and two larger creatures - hobgoblins most likely, yell at the horses to spurn them on faster. You hear a loud, growling bark, and see goblins riding massive wolves ranging ahead to either side of the wagon.
One of the hobgoblins looks your way, and lets out a shout, though you can't make out the words at the distance. They're coming your way!
The archers knock arrows and take aim, but are too far out. They hold their shots as the caravan rumbles onward.
The hobgoblins approach in the wagon, the goblin archers ready to loose their arrows. However, the war wagon rolls to a stop, with the hobgoblins calling out for the horses to stop and pulling on the reigns. They stop at some distance away and one of them retreats back into the wagon, roughly grabbing at someone...a prisoner?
Madir considers sending Black out, but decides against it. He gets his weapon ready and moves to the front of the caravan, ready to face the hobgoblins.
The tense moment continues, as the caravan members look about in concern.
Oren readies his ability to let loose once one of the goblinoids gets into range.
As you watch the odd caravan, the lead hobgoblin rips off the sack, and you see a bruised and battered Eli, the cleric's robes stained with dirt and dried blood. He blinks his eyes in the sun, having no doubt not seen the light of it for some time.
No! Koya nearly jumps forward in action, and Sandru has to hold her back. What do you want with him?! The hobgoblin snorts, and points at Ameiko. He says a simple word in common, obviously not his first language.
Trade.
As you watch him, the goblin riders are nearing your position on the sides.
Koya looks up at Gruhx. We have to save him! He's your brother.
Slowly walking forward, nothing in hand, Gruhx shows some uncharacteristic restraint.
"Ya give bro back an ya kin leaf wichout 'arm."
Stopping about 30 feet from the other wagon, he pops his wrists. First, the two smaller wrists *crack*, then the two larger wrists *CRACK*.
"Me no is pat-tent. Me no tend give chance 'gain."
Seeing the Trox make his way out to the caravan, Oren will fall into step behind him, reading his abilities to blast at the first sign of combat.
Arren shifts slightly under his uncomfortable blanket of goods, and focuses his attention on the sounds outside the wagon in an attempt to decipher what's going on.
The hobgoblin tenses, and the goblin archers each focus their bows on Gruhx, their strings taught and arrows loaded. The hobgoblin holds up a hand, and roars out his terms, again.
Trade!
To the east and west of Gruhx, the goblin riders turn their mounts towards the big fellow, raising spears. Apparently not preparing for a proper lance charge, they instead raise them up above their heads, as if to stab down at a normal person....or up at the massive trox.
"Trade" echoes the trox, glancing towards his companions with mild confusion.
Slowly reaching into his pack, Gruhx pulls out his skillet. "My say trade gud. Wes trade ya life fer me brutta life. Is gud trade."
Taking another single step forward, he eyes the potential enemies with interest. 'Mayhaps deys 'urt 'im iffen wes try take from im.'
With a heavy sigh, he holds his four hands up, the skillet in his longer right hand, and says "Give 'im o'er and Gruhx cum to ya. Is trade."
Madir sends Black out to fly over them and be ready to swoop when needed, then joins Gruhx to back him up, arms raised up to follow along with Gruhx.