Arthur moves closer to the action as quickly as he can. Finding the gnolls being killed quicker than he can advance... is a problem he can live with! "You've got him on the on the back foot Piety!"
Arthur rushes forward towards the action, spurring the advancing Piety on with his encouragement. Reynwyn waits, tense and ready to spring, as the noise continues behind the double doors south of Arthur and Revjak.
Carric dashes to the path between the buildings, towards where his enemy turned to corner, then he moves his mark to the gnoll next to Piery.
The double doors of the southern wing of the lodge swing open, and a squad of the grey spotted gnolls burst out, slavering and brandishing shields and spears. In a chaotic mess, they charge to attack, three of them towards Revjak, encircling the barbarian, and one towards Reynwyn.
Revjak takes a number of small wounds from the gnolls' spears, but also takes a serious wound to his chest.
Carric: 29/29
Piety: 28/31
Revjak: 14/34
Reynwyn: 21/21
Arthur rushes to Revjak's aid knowing the bearer of the fabled blue axe would be pressed by such numbers. He casts some healing magic to keep Revjak up and smiles. "Nice of them to save you the trouble of searching for them."
Reynwyn stares down the gnoll rushing towards him and smiles as he weaves his hands through though convoluted gestures as spectral ravens begin to swirl around him, completely obscuring him from view! Suddenly the ravens disappear... as does Reynwyn! While invisible, he moves away from the gnoll in his face and towards the doors from which these creatures burst!
Revjak feels the spear tips pierce his flesh, hears the words of Arthur - and then feels the fury burn! He powers Azuredge towards the gnoll flanked by himself and the bard, aiming to cleave it in twain!
Grey gnoll: dead
Red gnoll: -12
Orange gnoll:
Green gnoll:
Yellow gnoll: -15
Pink gnoll:
The gnoll beside Piety drops its bow and stabs at him with its spear, but Piety casually knocks aside the weapon with one armoured forearm. Revjak slashes mercilessly at one of the gnolls before him, Azuredge biting deep into its side. Arthur rushes forward, urging Revjak on.
As Arthur reaches Revjak, two upstairs windows fly open above your heads . More grey spotted gnolls appear there, bows nocked!
Arthur: 20/25
Carric: 29/29
Piety: 28/31
Revjak: 20/34
Reynwyn: 21/21
With the sudden appearance of the gnoll archers, Reynwyn recalls the powerful scroll they had found earlier! He could think of no better circumstances than this moment in which to use the very potent magic. He removes the scroll and begins to read aloud, suddenly coming back into visible view near the northern set of doors as an explosion of purplish energy springs forth and engulfs all the gnolls outside the lodge! They all grab their heads in pain as suddenly their minuscule minds are assailed by a powerful psychic force!
Carric steps 5 feet closer to Piety and the enemy that Carric has marked and fires.
Pink gnoll: -14
Carric fires at the gnoll trading blows with Piety, his arrow striking it in the side of its neck. It falls to the ground, gurgling, bright red blood spraying over Piety. At the same time, Reynwyn intones powerful words of magic, and an almost invisible wave of energy emanates from a point between the four gnolls who just rushed out of the lodge. The three surrounding Revjak fall to the ground, blood dribbling out of their ears and noses. The fourth howls in pain but remains standing. It narrows its eyes at Reynwyn in equal parts fear and fury as blood trickles from its nose.
The gnoll archers above Carric see the unhindered elf below them and train their bows upon him. Three arrows make a triangle in the dirt in front of Carric, but the fourth strikes him hard in the side, piercing his armour and lodging in the muscle beneath.
Arthur: 20/25
Carric: 21/29
Piety: 28/31
Revjak: 20/34
Reynwyn: 21/21
Reynwyn lets out a small cheer as all the gnolls surrounding Revjak fall to the ground, hopefully dead or dying; however, he turns to see the same gnoll that harried him before still standing and glaring at him. "Revjak! Perhaps a little assistance, my friend?"
Revjak roars, partly in surprise at gnolls suddenly dying around him.
And then he hears Reynwyn's call.
The Northman turns to face the gnoll which is harrying the half-elf - and he charges!
Piety moves to the door and opens it, bracing himself for further attack.
Piety swings open the door and sees four gnolls inside, of the type he's fought before armed with short swords and slavering with bloodlust. Already in the act of rushing towards the door, they howl at the sight of the golem and charge him, however Piety's clever positioning restricts their access two him - only one has a clear sight of him, and another can't get to him at all. With Piety's evasive tactics and the slight cover the doorframe provides, he manages to avoid a fearsome flurry of slashes and stabs from the frenzied creatures.
Just as Revjak decides to charge the gnoll with its eye on Reynwyn, two more burst from the double doors, their spears glinting in the sunlight. One heads towards the northman while the second charges Arthur. Reynwyn is the target of the wounded gnoll. All three of them land their charged attacks, and the blood of all three Companions of the Blue Axe drips on the grassy turf.
Revjak responds with a blistering series of attacks, slashing and battering his opponent with Azuredge, and the gnoll swiftly falls to the ground with a gurgle.
Pink gnoll: -14
Orange gnoll:
Cyan archer:
Black archer:
Green flesh gnawer:
Red flesh gnawer:
Blue flesh gnawer:
Yellow flesh gnawer:
Carric: 21/29
Piety: 28/31
Revjak: 16/34
Reynwyn: 13/21
Carric steps 5 feet back into further cover and Mark's the nearest archer before firing and ducking back into cover.
"Revjak help Piety I've got this one. Teach them the error of turning their backs to Azuredge." Arthur thrusts the rapier past the gnolls guard but knows well it will take more than one blow like that to fell a gnoll.
Pink gnoll: -14
Orange gnoll: -4
Cyan archer:
Black archer: -17
Green flesh gnawer:
Red flesh gnawer:
Blue flesh gnawer:
Yellow flesh gnawer:
Carric fires an arrow into the gnoll hunter in the window above him, his bracers giving off warmth as he fires. Arthur trades blows with the gnoll before him, scoring a few light strikes on it.
Runes on Piety's hands begin to glow and spark as he winds up a hit.
Piety then follows it up with a non-sparking hit.
Piety clobbers the feral gnoll in front of him, his fist emitting a crackling charge as he hits. The gnoll flies back into his packmate behind him, and while the packmate struggles to regain his feet the recipient of Piety's blow lies on the floor of the lodge, chest smoking. As another gnoll rushes to fill the gap Piety crashes a fist into his nose as well.
Pink gnoll: -14
Orange gnoll: -4
Cyan archer:
Black archer: -17
Red flesh gnawer: -4
Blue flesh gnawer:
Yellow flesh gnawer:
Reynwyn gasps as the gnoll’s weapon cuts into him and he quickly conjures a bolt of darkness energy from the ambient light. He then sends it blasting into the face of the gnoll! ”We need to get cover and regroup!”
Reynwyn takes a step back and calls on the power of the Raven Queen, channelling her dark energy into the gnoll before him. It arches its back in pain for a moment, then falls to the ground.
Orange gnoll: -4
Cyan archer:
Red flesh gnawer: -4
Blue flesh gnawer:
Yellow flesh gnawer:
Flubnak:
One gnoll archer sees Revjak down his opponent and swings his bow to focus on the northman, releasing two shots in quick succession. Revjak, wary to the danger, moves like a mountain cat, springing aside as the gnoll releases each arrow, and the missiles stand quivering in the dirt. The other archer, Carric's arrow standing out in its chest, as its arrow remains sticking out of Carric's side. It snarls and fires two arrows at the elf, but Carric ducks behind the overpass, avoiding the shots.
The gnoll facing Arthur stabs again and again with its spear, furious at being wounded, its attacks pressing Arthur back against the wall of the lodge. Almost inevitably, one of its attacks gets through his defences, piercing Arthur's left leg.
Piety, meanwhile, faces three frenzied gnolls, yellow-white froth dribbling from their snapping maws. Their short swords flash, and Piety uses his naturally armoured forearms to beat back their attacks. However, one slides through, piercing his torso, then another slashes his leg.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the wounded gnoll archer shrieks as it is propelled out of the window from behind, and it hits the ground headfirst, its neck twisted at a strange angle. Carric, Revjak, Arthur, and Reynwyn glance up and see a horrific figure standing in the window. It appears to be a massive, overmuscled gnoll, although it has dark red fur, its eyes flash with tiny red flames, and its teeth and nails are black. It carries a massive double-bladed halberd, and with a bellow it leaps out of the window, landing with a crunch on top of the now-dead archer it pushed out the window.
Arthur: 9/25
Carric: 21/29
Piety: 18/31
Revjak: 16/34
Reynwyn: 13/21
Arthur keeps his shield up and channels magical energy towards his wounds even as the new gnoll made it's grand entrance.
Piety continues to battle the gnolls in front of him. Once again, he draws on his runes to increase his damage.
Carric quickly moved back around the corner, targeting the new threat in the form of the massive gnoll, before firing and ducking back around the corner for cover.
Arthur uses his magic to heal himself, while Carric launches an arrow at the new, intimidating foe, his arrow appearing as if by magic in its chest. It turns its flaming eyes on the archer, grinning and drooling steaming liquid over its bottom lip.
Meanwhile, around the corner Piety continues to battle his multiple foes, driving his fist like a piledriver into the gnoll in front of him, sparks flying from the contact. The creature shrieks, its fur singed and arm dangling broken from its shoulder, but it keeps up its attacks mindlessly.
Orange gnoll: -4
Cyan archer:
Red flesh gnawer: -18
Blue flesh gnawer:
Yellow flesh gnawer:
Flubnak: -8
From a better position of cover, Reynwyn targets that last remaining gnoll harrying Arthur in hopes of thinning the herd out before focusing on the massive beast that just showed up! He quickly gathers the shadows around him into the focusing crystal on his ring and sends another bolt of darkness streaking through the courtyard into the gnoll's back!
*EDIT*
Reynwyn then sends a telepathic command to Jareth to flit down and harry the same gnoll he just attacked to help Arthur!
Revjak looks into the eyes of the ravening beast - and fear begins to grip his heart.
And then, the fury burns hotter still!
He roars defiance, and charges the monster!
Orange gnoll: -4
Cyan archer:
Red flesh gnawer: -18
Blue flesh gnawer:
Yellow flesh gnawer:
Flubnak: -24
Revjak resists the wave of magical fear that washes over him and charges into battle with the beast, Azuredge spinning. His first blow is turned aside by the huge gnoll's chain mail, but Revjak then smashes it across the snout with the end of his weapon.
Reynwyn fires a blast at the huge creature, narrowly avoiding Revjak and striking the creature in the shoulder. Jareth flits off to help Arthur tackle his opponent.
The archer in the window trains his bow on Revjak and fires two arrows at him, both of them striking him in his tree trunk-like legs. The pain shoots up Revjak's body. The gnoll battling Arthur strikes again with its spear, but he easily evades the attack. Piety once again faces a barrage of short sword strikes, but manages to repel them all, his arms checking the blows that he can't evade.
The giant gnoll snarls a guttural incantation, and the blade of its halberd ignites with a demonic black and red flame. Howling in glee, it takes advantage of Revjak's wild attacks, slashing him across the chest, and the axehead sizzles as it simultaneously slashes and burns Revjak's flesh. The barbarian staggers, dropping his guard, and the gnoll brings the haft of its weapon down on his head, felling Revjak! It roars in triumph and blood lust as it stands over its fallen foe.
Carric: 21/29
Piety: 18/31
Revjak: 0/34
Reynwyn: 13/21
Unaware of what is going on outside, Piety continues his battle in the building, hoping to get to the archers.
Piety smashes his opponent in the face, feeling it collapse like a melon. The gnoll falls to the ground, twitching as it dies.
Revjak clutches Azuredge in a deathgrip, the fell energies of the gnoll's weapon having harmed him severely.
Arthur grits his teeth and takes a risk. Risking an opening he moves towards Revjak to heal him.
Arthur steps back towards Revjak, and his opponent takes the opportunity to score him down his side with its spear. Arthur chants healing words and lays his hand on Revjak's forehead, and the northman rouses himself. Arthur sees the fires of his rage beginning to rekindle again in his eyes.
Revjak is roused, and will rise and strike as soon as he is able!
Carric pops out from around the corner, fires at the massive gnoll again, before firing and ducking back around the corner for cover.
He shouts to Piery, Piety! We need help between the buildings!
Reynwyn's eyes widen for just a moment as Revjak suddenly goes down from the assault by the massive gnoll. Just as the reckless idea comes into his head to rush into that chaotic melee, Arthur steps over and puts some healing into the northman! 'I know you are with us, milady.' He quickly gathers the shadows from the trees into his focusing crystal and sends another black bolt streaking across the courtyard into the massive gnoll yet again! 'Keep it up, Jareth!' The shadowy raven deeps flitting around the face of the gnoll near Arthur, distracting him!
As the huge gnoll looks down at Arthur and Revjak and raises its halberd to strike again, Carric's arrow strikes it in the chest. The brute looks down at the fletching protruding from its torso confusedly, and what appears to be molten lava drips from the wound. Glowing red cracks start appearing all over its body, and Revjak and Arthur can feel waves of heat emanating from the creature. Still, it snarls, steps forward, and begins to swing at either Revjak or Arthur, it's not clear which... but then a bolt of darkest shadow strikes it in the face, taking most of its jaw off at the hinge. It roars in fury and pain, and the cracks in it start to widen and bulge. Before your eyes, it explodes in a mess of fire, lava, flesh, and bone. Revjak feels the heat of the explosion wash over his feet, but luckily he is just outside of the blast radius.
The archer nocks another arrow, and the gnoll behind Arthur grins as it prepares to strike at his unprotected back, but at that very moment a voice booms out of the window. "Hold! Hold, my warriors!" A human hand appears on the archer's shoulder in the window, and the creature falls back, making way. The gnoll behind Arthur stops mid-attack as well.
Looking up, you can see a red-robed human, with a long brown beard and a shaved and tattooed head. He also holds a bone wand in front of his torso. Beside him is another very large gnoll, also with reddish fur, holding a wicked looking knife to the throat of a naked, hairy, heavily muscled, but badly beaten human male who struggles to keep his feet. There are more gnolls behind them as well, all of them with a similar reddish-brown colouring.
"Hold, invaders! You have slain many of my allies, but they have extracted a toll on you as well! It is in all of our interests to halt this conflict. Speak to me, tell me what you want and why you are here, and perhaps we can solve our differences peacefully. What say you?"
The gnoll behind Arthur shifts nervously, surrounded by enemies but also with a clear shot at Arthur. He holds, however, whether through respect for the robed human or fear of his situation. Around the corner Piety is able to hear the booming voice clearly, and while his enemies don't initially react, two more reddish-brown gnolls appear through a door on the other side of the room. They bark at their allies in the yipping language of gnolls, and the two smaller creatures snarl in anger and frustration, but back away from Piety.
Piety will refrain from attacking or entering, but will instead hold the door and shout "Are you alright?"
"Any chance that was you volunteering to surrender... I'm fairly certain we have enough rope." Arthur gives a wry grin and heals Revjak again... surely they wouldn't object- he hoped.
"You banditry and raiding can not be tolerated. You knew something would be done about your little group sooner or later but I suspect you hoped not as soon as this. You should have gone to a forgotten place deep in the woods to feast on game, not the flesh of travellers and hunters." He did not strike with his blade but kept it ready before looking at it and adding "A belly fully of cold steel seems to have granted a reprieve for some of your number."
Revjak stands, still gripping the halberd. His wounds eased with Arthur's magic.
Practically growling, he replies.
"Hand over your prisoner. Now."
Reynwyn holds his position as his companions speak with an unseen foe. He switches his eyesight into Jareth and directs the bird to look at the man. The red robes, tattoos... Thayan. Reynwyn did not know much about the practices of the strange wizards of Thay, but he knew they were trouble and untrustworthy. He shifts his sight back to his own eyes and whispers into his ring to the others. "He is a Thayan. A wizard most likely by his look and the wand he carries. We cannot trust his words." He waits tensely from behind the trees and switches his eyesight into Jareth's eyes once more and sends him flapping up into the sky to get a bird's eye view of the entire area... He will look specifically for any more forces trying to flank around the lodge.
The human narrows his eyes. "I am not here to harry insignificant travellers or hunters. But I do not try to control the lives of my troops. Nor will I hand over this man without being granted concessions in return. So my proposal is thus. You will retreat to the exterior of these grounds, and remain there, in full sight, for the rest of the day. By sundown my troops and I will leave this place with all of our belongings, and in doing so hand over custody of this... abomination," he sneers, looking at the captive human. "I should let you know, for your own safety, that this man is a filthy lycanthrope. If you free him, I cannot guarantee your safety. But then again, I don't really care. Those are my terms. You would do well to accept them!"
Piety, hearing no response from his companions, watches as the mixed group of gnolls carefully backs their way out of the chamber and through the door in the opposite wall, closing it behind them.