Freyja feels the tiniest bit of panic as she sees Oona fall. She turns her bow on the hobgoblin that felled her and fires twice .
#1 tries to shove the tip of his sword through Mac's back. It sinks in but doesn't penetrate any vital organs .
Katia (16/16 hp)
Freyja (22/22 hp)
Hobgoblin 1 (13 damage)
Oona (-4/20 hp)
Mac (10/24 hp)
Hobgoblin 2 (15 damage)
Bold may act.
Oona continues to bleed out on the floor, her blood unnaturally dark.
Mac makes a guttural noise somewhere between a snarl and a yelp, and lashes out at the hobgoblin that nearly killed him.
Mac's bite can't find any purchase through the hobgoblin's thick hide. #2 steps up and takes a swing at Mac but he deftly dodges out of the way.
Katia (16/16 hp)
Freyja (22/22 hp)
Hobgoblin 1 (13 damage)
Oona (-5/20 hp)
Mac (10/24 hp)
Hobgoblin 2 (15 damage)
Bold may act.
Freyja takes a short step forward and fires two more arrows at #2.
The first arrow takes it in the throat and it falls to the ground.
#1 again recoils from Katia , but continues its hot streak and lands another swing with its longsword .
Katia (16/16 hp)
Freyja (22/22 hp)
Hobgoblin 1 (13 damage, -2 AC [1 round])
Oona (-5/20 hp)
Mac (1/24 hp)
Hobgoblin 2 (22 damage, unconscious and dying)
Bold may act.
Mac limps, whimpering and snarling in an arrhythmic pattern, and snaps at the hobgoblin again.
Mac, bleeding profusely from multiple wounds, takes another look at his downed master and knows he has to finish this to save her. And finish it he does; his leaping bite rips the hobgoblin's throat out and it falls.
From near the hearth, you hear a voice whispering and then you feel a burst of warm, calming energy wash over you.
Oona wakes to see her stomach stitching closed, and a small pucker of intestine that had been threatening to spill out slide back in behind her abdominal wall. "That is... disconcerting," she says hoarsely. She staggers to her feet, looking at the devastation the two hobgoblins caused. "Ah, Mac. Stupid mutt." She hunkers down slowly and runs her hands through his bloody fur, muttering a prayer to Magdh as she does, and sends healing energy coursing into the wolf's body.
Aubrin looks up at Katia. "Help me sit up, dear." With Katia's help, she leans up against the hearth, groaning in pain. She takes a look back at the ballista bolt still stuck in the wall and shakes her head and chuckles, then groans again. "Okay, no laughing, got it."
She looks around at the people gathered around her: the terrified townsfolk, the faces she recognizes in Freyja and Oona, and the face she doesn't in Katia. "I guess ol' Cayden still has work for me to do here. But it... it sounds like there's an army outside the door. How did they fall on us without being seen? These damn plains are so flat you can see an elk from two days off, let alone an army!" She winces and presses her hands against the bloody hole in her chest. "They sound large. Too large to fight on the ground like honest fools. We need to gather what we can, cross the bridge, and hide out in the Fangwood. I... I know a few secrets that may keep us safe. Should probably figure out how to take down the bridge while we're at it, else they'll just march themselves across before we have the chance to hide."
She considers for a moment. "We will not be able to save everyone. We must save who we can and get out. No good to anyone if we all die. First, let's check upstairs and the root cellar, then... then we see who else we can save." She holds a hand out to Freyja. "Help me up."
Once on her feet, she wobbles slightly, then looks at the state of everyone in the room. "Them hobbies did a number on you all, didn't they? I have some healing but it won't last forever. Best not let them get the best of you again." She pulls out her holy symbol and again whispers a prayer to Cayden Cailean.
She motions at the bodies. "Search those bodies, then let's clear the rest of the inn."
As Oona moves towards the hobgoblin bodies, Aubrin seems to notice how hurt the oread is for the first time. "Oh, my dear, come here!" She reaches out a hand to touch Oona's forehead. "Blessings of The Lucky Drunk upon you."
Oona nods gratefully to the cleric. "We'll take a look upstairs." She turns to the wolf. "Come on, Mac."
She hurries up the stairs, scythe in hand but not at the ready; she isn't expecting hobgoblins to fly in through the windows upstairs, and she doesn't want to startle anyone more than they already would at seeing a life-sized statue galavanting about with a scythe. Anyone she finds, she tells to head downstairs and wait there for further instructions.
It seems that these hobgoblins had already done some looting throughout town before they reached the inn. They carry quite a haul:
- Masterwork backpack
- Heavy crossbow
- 20 bolts
- 10 masterwork bolts
- 8 potions of guidance (clearly labeled)
- A wand
- A scroll
- Dried goat's meat, sheep's cheese, and a jug of sheep's milk
The hobgoblins wear an insignia on the shoulder of their uniforms.
"Oona, wait! I will come."
Oona, Mac, and Freyja check the upstairs thoroughly. It seems as if most of the guests were downstairs celebrating; most of the rooms are empty. However, there is one door that is locked and the two men inside refuse to come out.
When you initially knock on the door and explain who you are, the men respond with fear. "No! We are safer here behind this door than out there with those beasts!"
"Don't be ridiculous," she calls to them. "There is an army out there. A door isn't going to stop them. Come with us and you have a chance to escape."
"Ridiculous?!" The voice is incredulous. "You are the ridiculous one if you think we will be able to escape past this army!"
Freyja frowns. "Sirs! There are many of us and some of us are trained in fighting. We can help you escape to safety! Oona is right -- this door is going to be no deterrent to this army. They will kill you, or worse."
There are a few moments of muffled conversation behind the door, then the voice speaks up again. "We aren't leaving."
Freyja rolls her eyes. "We don't have time for this. Perhaps we have Katia try and then we either force them to come with us or leave them to their idiotic fate."
Oona turns her inscrutable gaze to Freyja. "I fear you are right. We do not have time. Let's go check the root cellar."
On her way back down, she says to the others, "There are two upstairs locked in their rooms. They refuse to come out. Perhaps one of you can talk some sense into them; we had no luck." She turns to Jet. "Where is your root cellar?"
|
"Er," Katia says sagely. "I am not a 'perople' person. My social skills are limited to Harrowings. And, ah. Other things." She adjusts her silk gown, giving very much the impression of a cat grooming itself to ignore something clumsy that it just did. "But I'll try. Can't very well live with myself if I don't at least try to save them."
She hustles up the stairs and finds the locked room, considering her options. She really isn't any good at this sort of thing, and she's already on edge.
She heaves a frustrated sigh and bangs on the door. "Get your sorry asses out here or so help me, you won't have to wait for the Ironfang Legion to kill you! I'll break this door down with magic and kill you myself! Now move it!"
Again, there is a conversation of hushed but clearly stressed out voices on the other side of the door. Then Katia hears "FINE!" and the door opens. Two men in fine dress come out and look at Katia impatiently. "Well? Lead the way!"
-------
She turns to Jet. "Where is your root cellar?"
Aubrin speaks up. "Jet isn't here, dear, but there is a trap door in the store room back there. Go past the kitchen. You can't miss it." She points to the door behind the bar. The townsfolk gathered there move away from the door to make room.
Oona heads down into the root cellar through the trap door, and sets to work grabbing every single item that might be useful that she can carry.
|
|
Katia rolls her eyes and storms back down the stairs, muttering several very unkind words as to the mens' intellects and genitalia size as she goes.
"The geniuses upstairs finally saw the light. Where's Oona?" She glances toward the kitchens. "I'll go help her gather supplies. We need to get out of here as soon as possible."
She hustles down into the root cellar to help Oona look for goods.
As you step through the door to the kitchen, you see that the back door has been kicked open and there is a hobgoblin looting the store room beyond the hearth. It looks up when it hears you enter and snarls.
The hobgoblin sees that it is outnumbered and you can see it looking around for something to help it gain an advantage. Its eyes settle on a water barrel; if you don't distract it, it seems likely to try to use it as a weapon or shield, which would almost certainly damage the barrel and ruin or drain the water. If you are going to set up long term camp in the woods, you need all the provisions you can get. Probably best not to let it damage the barrel!
Oona (16/20 hp)
Mac (19/24 hp)
Hobgoblin (0 damage)
Freyja (22/22 hp)
Katia (16/16 hp)
Bold may act.
Oona places a hand on Mac as she draws her scythe. "Magdh guide your fangs, forest stalker." There is an air of ceremony to her words that is unusual for her. A faint thrum of power settles over the wolf, as if the Three Herself is guiding the wolf. Then she points with her scythe at the hobgoblin and growls, "Attack."
Mac looses another deep, wet snarl and leaps at the hobgoblin, guided by the powerful forces of Fate.
Mac rushes the hobgoblin and, with the blessing of Magdh, clamps his jaws around its leg. Before it can react, Mac twists his head powerfully to the side, and the hobgoblin tumbles to the ground with a crash.
It immediately tries to stand and is bitten again by Mac. Its day is getting worse by the second. Still, it is able to recover enough to put the point of its longsword into Mac's flank .
Oona (16/20 hp)
Mac (15/24 hp)
Hobgoblin (7 damage)
Freyja (22/22 hp)
Katia(16/16 hp)
Bold may act.
Freyja curses under her breath and rushes to the open doorway of the store room. She aims over Mac's head and takes a single shot.
From such close range, a shot with a composite longbow should normally be quite deadly; unfortunately, the hobgoblin was able to deflect the shot at the last second. The arrow lodged itself in its shoulder but failed to bring it down.
The hobgoblin stares right back at Katia, at first unmoved, but unable to hold her stare long.
Oona (16/20 hp)
Mac (15/24 hp)
Hobgoblin (13 damage, -2 AC [2 rounds])
Freyja (22/22 hp)
Katia(16/16 hp)
Bold may act.
Unable to quite reach the hobgoblin herself, Oona let's Magdh's power do the work for her. She touches Mac's flank through the door an mutters her chant again.
Mac looses the power of his companion's patron in a vicious bite at the hobgoblin's leg.
Mac overreaches on his bite and the hob makes him pay with a slash across his back .
Oona (16/20 hp)
Mac (11/24 hp)
Hobgoblin (13 damage, -2 AC [1 rounds])
Freyja (22/22 hp)
Katia (16/16 hp)
Bold may act.
Freyja watches Mac take yet another sword wound and screams in frustration. She looses two more arrows.
Freyja puts the first arrow between the hob's eyes and it falls in a heap. She quickly grabs the quiver of arrows off its back to replenish her supply.
|
|
Katia breathes a sigh of relief as the bastard falls to the ground. She feels mostly useless; her magic is not of a particularly martial bent.
"We need to get out of here, fast."
She helps dig through the root cellar with Oona for supplies. After a moment of hesitation, she grabs the longsword and takes it out to the common room. "I have no skill with a blade, but if any of you know how to swing a sword, best to arm yourself."
"Dammit, fur face," Oona mutters, her voice strained. She presses a hand to his flank and whispers another prayer to the Three.
She then hefts up the water barrel with a little effort and lugs it into the common room, along with whatever supplies she and Katia were able to find in the root cellar.
"Fresh water might be handy wherever we end up. Boiling water will be risky; we'll need to light a fire to do it. The less time out there we go with a fire burning, the better."
She glances around the room. "I think it's best to be on our way. Aubrin? Can you lead us?"
Mac chuffs gratefully at the oread's attentions, but still walks with a slight limp, keeping most of his weight off his front left paw where the hobgoblin's sword grazed him.
You find a dusty lockbox on top of a shelf in the store room, containing a few things:
- A wand
- Another wand
- 2 elixirs
- A set of juggling balls
You check the trap door in the floor but it seems to be barred from the other side. You can hear shuffling and muffled voices from below.