Lenna thinks for a moment to see if she recognizes the creatures before focusing on the one facing Varook and firing.
Recall Knowledge
Hunt Prey on left creature
Hunted shot/flurry
Aramil has no idea what these turtley things are. All he knows is they look dangerous. So, he begins playing a melody to inspire his allies to great acts of heroism. He then shifts the song to fling a piece of rubble at the one Varook and Lenna are attacking.
Raff takes a Step back and pokes at red twice.
Longspear: reach
Longspear: reach
The group charges to the large turtle-thing on the left, beating on it viciously. It lets out a roar, swaying its oddly-shaped head around and sending the corpse flying off with a crash into a nearby wall. The second turtle-thing lumbers forward and they both start biting wildly at everyone in sight. One gets Varook with a nasty bite while Raff is nipped.
They then yank their heads into their shells!
Raff (-5)
Amaril
Varook (-9
Lenna
---
Turtle-thing
Red (-18) (withdrawn)
Yellow (withdrawn)
---
Omari
Raff Steps over a bit before stabbing with his spear.
Tiger Claw: agile, finesse, unarmed
Tiger Claw: agile, finesse, unarmed, map
Omari moves into position so that they can protect as many of their fellows as possible
The turtles clearly weren't friendly, and the way they pulled their heads into their shells meant they could use their shell to avoid damage. Still, the shells would crack eventually. Aramil continued to play, bolstering his allies while he hurled another piece of debris at the same one.
Current HP: 9/18
Shaking off the vicious bite from the creature, Varook continues to try and carve the beast up with his swords.
Action 1&2 - Double Slice
Attack:
Damage:
Attack:
Damage:
Action 3 - Attack
Attack:
Damage:
Crit Damage:
Lenna waits for the creature to stick its head back out of its shell and releases two quick arrows.
Readying action.
Hunt Prey / Flurry
Raff's spear comes down with incredible force, stabbing right through the shell of the big turtle thing and killing it instantly. The group reorients to attack the second one. Omari and Aramil both just have their attacks bounce from the shell but Varook moves and attacks twice.
The first of Varook's attack is entirely blocked by the shell, but he manages to stab a shortsword into the shell and get a solid hit! Lenna's arrow flies in afterwards, doing more damage.
The turtle-thing emerges from its shell, bleeding and in pain and bites out at Varook. Omari is quick to react though, and an arcane symbol flashes before the turtle, causing it to hesitate.
Raff (-5)
Amaril
Varook (-9)
Lenna
---
Turtle-thing
Yellow (withdrawn) (-13)
---
Omari
Seeing Varook taking a beating Omari reaches out and lays a hand upon him "Nethys aid us!" restoring some of his health before returning his attention to the remaining beast.
Bludgeon
Aramil continues playing his lute, working to keep his allies' confidence bolstered as they fight the turtle thing. He also keeps up his barrage of debris, as it may prove a distraction if nothing else.
"Leave him alone!"
Hunted shot.
Shoot again.
Shoot again.
Aramil's lute seems to help Lenna focus and as everyone takes turns beating on the shell, she looses an arrow that streaks right in, instantly killing the creature. It crashes to the ground, slowly extending out of its shell.
End of Combat
Knowing the creatures have been defeated, the halfling warrior still slashes at the creature in anger and some frustration.
"Take that you stupid turtle!"
Feeling the warmth of healing flow into him, Varook turns and thanks Omari.
Omari nods to the halfling. "Of course. You were injured and needed aid. How is everyone else?"
Raff takes the opportunity to bind his injury. "Only a scratch."
Lenna steps up to Varook, concern obvious. ”Are you all right?”
Aramil turns his attention from the now-deceased turtle to the knight in shining armor they had been using as a cover, looking to see if there was a way to identify the person and notify their family of their fate.
The body has not been dead for long and the appearance and clothing give you an impression this was a bandit or some other kind of tough. He still wears a chain shirt, and has a pouch with 6 gold and 9 silver.
Blushing slightly, the small warrior smiles at Lenna.
"Was not more than a slight nip by the vicious beasty...thank you for your concern!"
She gives him a look that he knows she's not convinced and lightly punches him in the shoulder, away from his wounds, before going over to see what Aramil has found.
Aramil looks to the halfling, then says, "It appears our turtles' disguise may have once been a bandit of some kind. I dare say they may have inadvertently made the roads safer. He does have a pouch of gold, and what looks to be decent armor."
Raff takes a few moments to consider the deceased. In another life that could have been him. He looks around at his current companions. It still could.
"If everyone's ready, there's more to be seen."
Omari gestures forward. "Lead on. I shall be at your side."
Of the few ways to go west, Raff picks the middle door.
This open area with a clear view into the courtroom to the east is littered with piles of filthy blankets, half-gnawed bones, and other signs that some sort of creature is squatting here.
As you start looking into the room, a couple of the filthy blankets begin moving. Reaching for your weapons, you prepare for another strange creature to attack you... but instead you hear a cute little yip. Wiggling out of the blankets are two puppies - one black and one white - about the size of cats.
One of them sees Raff and bares its teeth, snarling a little.
Omari sees the puppies and their eyes go wide. "Puppies!"
"Stand back!" Raff warns tossing an arm out to hold back his allies. "They could be dangerous people-eating beasts in disguise or their flesh-eating mommy could be close by." While Raff talks tough, he also takes out his rations and tosses them to the pair of little fuzzballs.
Varook looks at Raff, then the puppies, then back to Raff.
"Ummm...ok? Have you had some experience with vicious puppies before, or are you just being cautious?"
The halfling fighter partially draws his weapons, but stops and looks to the others to see what reaction they have to the two fuzz-balls.
”Awww! They’re so cute!”
She scans around, looking for a parent, before approaching, but she clearly wants to approach the pups.
Aramil looks at the puppies, then looks at Raff’s reaction. ”Um...I don’t think I’ve ever heard of puppies masquerading as people killers...”
You all look around carefully and something becomes pretty clear - these puppies have been abandoned and are barely weaned. They're also not... dogs, or wolves. Their jaws are a little strange.
Omari finally figures out what he's looking at. These are wargs. Wargs are intelligent cousins of wolves who are noted for their association with goblinkind. They have a reputation for evil, although whether or not that is their nature, or poor social conditioning is unknown. Their lower jaws also have an unnerving ability to unhinge.
There is no recent sign of a mother. They've been left along for a couple of days at least.
Omari stares at the puppies for a moment, eyes wide with glee before coming to a realization. "Wait a minute. These aren't dogs. They are Wargs. Which are basically intelligent dogs. Large intelligent dogs. Large intelligent dogs that may be evil. Well, may grow up to be evil if left to their own devices. We can't do that. We should keep them. They will need someone to take care of them, and teach them to do good in the world... Also, they are adorable and I love them." Omari bends over to scratch the closest one behind the ears.
Aramil looks about at the group, then says, "Um...aren't wargs more like wolves than dogs?"
The puppy snarls at Omari but doesn't attack, and is soon rubbing his hand as he scratches her behind the ears.
Wargs are fully intelligent as far as Omari knows, and can even learn and speak languages. Not at this age though. They're just saying the canine equivalent to 'goo goo gaa gaa'.
Lenna crouches down to the other pup and offers her hand to be sniffed. If it seems to accept her, she will scratch behind its ears and show it some love. "We could train them to aid us. How intelligent is intelligent? I mean, are we talking like a trained warhorse or like Varook?" She watches to see if he reacts and winks if he looks at her.
"See! People-eaters." Raff stands away from them.
"Lenna, Varook, give them your rations. They're obviously hungry." he says before belatedly adding, "and I don't want them to come for my face or anything."
Omari doesn't take their eyes off the pups, giving them all the scritches. "No, they are fully intelligent, like you or I. They can even learn speak. These little ones are just babies though. They are just hungry, aren't you? Yes you are." Omari devolves into baby talk as they continue scritching.
Aramil doesn't know a whole lot about training wild animals - he was a city boy, and when he lived in Underbridge back in Magnimar, the animals didn't tend to last long - or were more likely to kill you than them. He stayed back a bit, very unsure about approaching the wargs.
Varook looks at the puppies and then frowns at Leena as she remarks about his intelligence.
"Hey now...that was uncalled for. Now if you were saying I was a cute as these puppies...well then I would have to agree!"
The warrior reaches into his pack and hands Raff some of his rations and watches to see what happens.
With Omari soothing the the pups, you hand over some dried meat. This manages to draw the puppies out of their den who sniff at and then grab the meat from Raff's outstretched hand. A little unnervingly, their jaws suddenly extend down a great deal before the pieces of dried meat are swallowed whole.
They seem far more relaxed and happy now and emerge from the den to start playing. They're both female.
Varook looks at the puppies and then frowns at Leena as she remarks about his intelligence.
"Hey now...that was uncalled for. Now if you were saying I was a cute as these puppies...well then I would have to agree!"
She giggles, "OK! You've got me there!"
She stays back while Omari and Raff make the pups' acquaintance. "If we treat them well, especially if they are intelligent, they would hopefully imprint favorably on us as though we were family. We might be able to teach them once they are a bit older if they accept us."
Omari stops and thinks for a moment.
"I have no idea how to raise a puppy. What do we do with them while we clear out the rest of the keep?"
"The goblins maybe?"
"Well, we should keep them safe, but the more time we spend with them, the better the imprint will be. Could we fashion a leash for each of them so they stay near me? I'm staying back from combat to fire my bow, so they should be safe if I am, right?"
"It would be irresponsible for us to take them with us. They might make noise when we're trying to be stealthy or they could be in harm's way even in the rear of the group. They will be safer with the goblins until we can return and retrieve them."
The puppies, now more comfortable around you and having been fed, start wrestling with each other while making cute yipping sounds.
"Yes, let's take them to the goblins."