Growling defiantly, Tygrah draws her weapons and attacks!
"We have to fight the ocean??"
Bavick sees Tygrah attacking a wave with a weapon and tries the same. He moves drawing his rapier and attacks.
While Pai steps back and begins her song, Bavick steps up to assist the ranger. He stabs through one of the elemental creatures and Tygrah devastates the other with a wide swing of her new weapon. It loses cohesion and collapses in a huge spread of water over the already puddled ground.
The remaining combatant throws a pseudo-pod of muddy water in Bavick's direction, but it's clumsy and he has no problems dodging it.
Like poetry in motion, Tygrah whirls on the second elemental and slices with both blades. "Take this, evil ocean!"
”If it is tainted by evil, let it face Irori’s Judgement!” says Rory, maneuvering to get a clear shot and sending the glowing hands over the battlefield to light up the enemy and (hopefully) any of its companions lurking in wait nearby.
He then draws a glowing, golden shuriken and slings it at the creature with a fierce cry in Celestial (heavenly fire ability with point blank & precise shot, plus Pai’s bonus).
Bavick stabs the blob of water!
With weapons flying about it, the remaining elemental has little chance to survive and is quickly dispatched.
Mrrroww?
Delour continues to twine between Tygrah's legs, looking up at her as if expecting a treat. He's soaked and a little bedraggled, but apparantly unharmed.
With the rescued cat, you make your way back through the wind and rain towards the main bridge. The flash of lightning and crack of thunder are coming much more frequently now. There's a much smaller window of time to cross over between the waves that are washing across the main structure connecting Island Town and Walled In.
Once the crossing is made you begin heading towards the Stone Hall. Along the way another loud crash comes to your ears, but it wasn't proceeded by lightning. A few smaller crashes follow. And that was most certainly a roar.
Against the noise of the storm, Rory yells to his companions, ”Is someone attacking the town under cover of the storm? Let’s find out!”
Rory looks in the direction of the new sound, sending his glowing hands on ahead if needed to light the way.
Tygrah claps Rory on the shoulder. "Yes, Hairless Rory! Today you are an honorary half-orc! We go!"
"NO!" Ashlion counters. "GET WEAK PEOPLE SAFE, THEN INVESTIGATE! LITTLE PEOPlE, TAKE WEAK ONES TO INN. TYGRAH AND I WILL GO. HAIRLESS RORY YOU MAY COME TOO!"
Rory and his one, long hair braid heads over with the half orcs and any other party members who join to check out the new threat.
"Fine, but let's be sly about it."
Bavick wants to move while Stealthing to investigate - if the party gets too far ahead of him then he'll move at full speed and take the -5 on Stealth.
There's another flash of lightning as the group redirects their path towards the source of the new noises. They turn a corner to reveal the aftermath of a one-sided battle.
One side of the baker's small shop has been bashed open and strewn around it are the three prone bodies of people you recognize as Sheriff Praet's deputies. As you take in the image, a hulking visage steps out from the building, chewing on a loaf of bread. The creature stands over ten-feet-tall with rough, green hide. One clawed hand holds a huge club.
Perhaps because of the effects of the weather, it hasn't noticed you yet.
"It's a... big, ugly green thing! Kill it with swords!" Tygrah shouts. She rushes towards it, blades at the ready.
Rory moves up, off to the side, and angles a shower of Rainbow Shuriken at the creature so that it misses the charging half-orc.
He also casts a glance at the fallen deputies, trying to see if they are still breathing...
Bavick tries shooting the creature from cover. He'll be within 30' to get Sneak Attack damage.
"That big green thing Tygrah is a Troll. Swords will only slow it down! It heals up real quick. We will need fire or acid to finish it off. And watch out for his arms, he can swing that club farther than you would think."
Standing at the back of the fray and knowing that her weaponry won't be of much use in the combat, Pai once again begins to sing to bolster her allies.
Hey I get a feeling,
It has some kinda healing.
Regeneration Baby,
Makes him feel so fine.
Helps relieve his mind.
You've gotta burn him with fire
or pour on the acid, otherwise things will get dire.
Both of the half-orcs charge in screaming battle cries as Rory bathes the creature in an arcane spray.
The troll shakes off the magical effects and roars as Ashlion's and Tygrah's weapons slam into it.
"YOU PUNY! GRAULAR SQUASH YOU THEN EAT YOU!" it rages. If the voice is any indicator, the creature is female.
She raises her club and retaliates at Tygrah.
The massive club connects with the ranger's shoulder and she feels bones crack. But the half-orc manages to avoid the slashing claws and snapping teeth.
Not having any fire or acid readily available herself, Pai repositions herself so none of her allies are between her and the troll, about 20' away. She then draws an arrow and fires while she keeps up her song.
Unfortunately, as she fires a gust of water ladden wind blows through, causing her arrow to fly wide past its head.
Bavick does have a flask of acid. He draws it and readies to throw.
"Get clear!"
Rory calls out, ”On it, Pai!”
He moves to an advantageous spot with a clear view of the troll, sending the hands of Irori to swirl around its bulbous head like crazed fireflies. Drawing his green shuriken, he starts throwing Acid Shuriken at the creature as fast as he can...
Tygrah takes the hit with a snarl. She retaliates with both weapons before stepping back at Bavick's shout.
"Ashlion, I need a clear shot!"
Bavick throws his acid.
Gripping his trident, Yolar speaks a quick prayer to Gozreh...
As the group assails the creature with blades and acid, she roars out in defiance before turning and fleeing into the storm.
Rory runs up to the downed deputies, trying to see if any of them are still breathing. If they are, he uses first aid (or his heavenly fire ability if they are wearing something that indicates they worship a good deity) and calls for Yolar to help. If they are not, he shakes his head sorrowfully and looks to the others for the next step.
Rory checks the bodies strewn around the ground and discovers that two of them still live - the third is beyond help.
"Yolar, can you hit us with some healing? Two of these people are still alive!"
Looking around to see if the troll is truly gone, Rory asks (unless they have already run off after the troll), "Ashlion, Tygrah, can you help with the unconscious deputies? We need to get them to the inn!"
Ignoring the pain of her injury, Tygrah hefts one of the unconscious victims over her shoulders and nods to Rory.
Yolar holds his dripping holy symbol above his head as a warm glow surrounds him...
With Yolar's healing energy, one of the still prone deputies groans and manages to get to his feet. The one on Tygrah's shoulder shifts a bit, but seems content to make the short trip to the inn on the arm of the strong warrior.
You escape out of the rain into the crowded common room of the Stone Inn. Very quickly you are joined by the Sheriff with relief on her face. One of the deputies says to her, "It was Graular. She was raiding the bakery."
"Graular?" the Sheriff responds in a confused tone. "What's she doing here? She stays in the forest." She looks over the two men you brought with you. "Jonas?" she asks. The deputy shakes his head sadly. "Damn!" is Adaela's response.
You look around the crowded room to see most of the faces filled with fear. You don't see Amal, but Mirya is sitting at a table with Annabella and they seem to be engaged in conversation. The sketchbook Rory gave her is sitting on the table between them.
"Delour!" a voice cries out and you see Maso pressing through the crowd.
mreowww? the stout cat responds, still twining around Tygrah's feet.
"Oh, my baby," the large man says as he scoops up the tabby into his arms. "Daddy was so worried about you." Tears begin to form again in the round man's eyes. "I don't know how I can ever thank you," he says, looking at all of you. "This is the least I can do, here," with that he reaches up and pulls from Delour's collar a pearl. "It's a family heirloom and I want you to have it. Thank you so much."
"I'm thankful as well," Sheriff Adaela says as Maso walks away. "There'll be a lot fewer casualties because of the work you've done tonight." She glances through one of the cracks between the boards covering one of the inn's windows. "I don't know if you've noticed, but a lot of the lightning strikes have been hitting Island Town near where some of the barricades are at. That's not natural. I'm going to go investigate and I'd like you to stay here and watch over everyone and keep them safe."
She moves to the door and shifts the board holding it closed. "I should be back in a few minutes." With that she slips out into the storm and Tomas moves the board back into place.
Rory checks out the pearl, then says, "Some items I can use to focus my Ki...this is not one of them. Can someone else use this?"
When the sheriff leaves, Rory looks to Pai, asking, "How should we best protect the inn? What do I need to do?" Casting a glance at a certain priestess of Shelyn, Rory continues hopefully, "Maybe I should get a feel for what has been going on with the populace..."
Responding to Ashlion, Rory says, ”And Bavick and I would have kept it dead with the steady flow of acid!”
As they get back to the inn, Tygrah pulls Ashlion into a passionate kiss. "Well fought, husband! Next time the troll will not escape our fury!"
Pai glances at the Pearl, but shakes her head. "Such an item would not be useful in empowering my particular kind of magic or performance. At least not in the way it is intended to be used. Perhaps Yolar could make use of it?"
She looks worriedly out the door that the Sheriff left through. "I don't like it. This is not a safe storm to be venturing out in alone. If something were to happen she has no one with her to take her to safety."
She looks around at the assembled crowd whose safety they have been charged with. "Not much we can do to keep this lot safe except make sure they stay here. Rory, find some townsfolk that are a bit more brutish and can back up the deputies if need be. Maybe slip them some coin to make it worth their while. I say we give Adaela 10 minutes and if she is not back by then we go see if she needs back up."
Disappearing into the crowd, Pai begins looking for potential conscriptees - like she told Rory to do.
.
Pai puts a small stack of 5 silver pieces on the table in front of her mark.
”An excellent idea, as usual,” replies Rory to Pai, as he gazed out the window at the concentration of lightning strikes near the barriers, wondering how the sheriff is doing.
Not getting any new insight into the storm, Rory moves off around the edge of the crowd as Pai plunged into the middle of it. Coming across Munzho in a darker corner, he fills in their rescued halfling on the more...unusual aspects of the storm.
in Polyglot, Rory begins, ”Water elementals, trolls, and maybe other enemies may assault the Inn. Can I count on you to help in its defense? Your contribution could go a long way to repair relations between our societies. You are welcome to use my crossbow if you think it would help.”
Rory then shyly approaches Annabella’s table, suddenly conscious of his sodden and soiled appearance. Waiting for a break in their conversation, he says gently, ”I am pleased to see the sketch of you again, Mirya. I hope to hear the tale sometime soon.”
Turning to Annabella, he continues earnestly, ”There is more out there in the storm than just wind and rain. Enemies are taking advantage of the storm to attack the town. We have seen a few, and the sheriff has just left to investigate more. If we are attacked here at the inn, can I count on you to shepherd the people away from danger as we defend them?”
Pai finds a couple of thick-limbed villagers that take her up on her offer of silver. Muhdzuzi isn't quite as receptive. He frowns at Rory's request.
Mirya harumphs at Rory's comment and turns her eyes away. "No tale there at all," she says brusquely, but there's very little bite to it.
"Where would I shepherd them, Rory?" Annabella answers. "Other than the temple, this building is probably the safest place to be for many miles around." She glances at the sketchbook and then at Mirya. "I'll do what I can. I'm not trained for this."
Fifteen minutes go by and the storm seems to be getting worse. The thunder and lightning are quite frequent now.
And the sheriff hasn't returned.