Oona can tell that the hobgoblins were slowly flayed to death. The redcaps' wounds were caused by large blades and are quite recent.
Oona stands up from the bloodbath. "Fresh wounds. These redcaps haven't been dead long. Could be we have a potential ally, but more likely we should keep our guard up. Let's go."
After gathering any useful loot, she leads the party to the next level, this time approaching quietly.
Mac sneezes and tapdances up the stairs.
Grevayne creeps along silently, then stares in horrified awe at the complete lack of grace from the natural predator.
Oona and the rest of the party climb the stairs. Mac's sneezing fit gives Oona pause, but she knows she needs to continue, so she does so as quietly as possible. Unfortunately, and predictably, just as she reaches the top of the stairs, an enormous scythe swings around the corner and pierces her just below her left collarbone .
The wielder of the scythe is an exceedingly ugly female redcap. She speaks with a raspy, almost jubilant voice. "I have heard about you lot! I thank you for taking out Halk for me, but you won't find me so easy to kill! Slobber, get 'em!" Behind the redcap, who must be Dearga, is an enormous ugly ... dog? Another much younger redcap looks eagerly on, ready to jump into the fray.
The dog is a trollhound. They regenerate like a troll; acid or fire will stop this effect. They also carry a nasty disease called bloodfire fever that deals strength and dex damage.
Dearga swings her scythe at the exposed and vulnerable Oona again .
The redcap swings her scythe again. Its tip finds its way underneath the bottom of Oona's breastplate and pierces her abdomen. Dearga then pushes the scythe upwards and outwards, tearing easily through Oona's stony flesh. Oona falls, instantly killed as the scythe tears through her organs, ending with the heart .
Slobber moves to straddle Oona's body and bites at Mac, tearing a chunk of flesh from the wolf's shoulder . Mac feels a vicious burning in the wound as whatever Slobber is carrying tries to infect him.
Mac shakes it off.
The other redcap moves up behind Slobber.
Keaken (0 damage)
Dearga (0 damage)
Slobber (0 damage)
Oona (dead)
Mac (45/57 hp)
Grevayne (69/69 hp, 4 images)
Freyja (72/72 hp)
Trjega (52/52 hp)
Bold may act.
Mac emits a scream of rage and agony that sounds frighteningly human and leaps at Dearga. From somewhere outside, thunder rumbles.
"Oona!" Grevayne shouts. He's seen enough death to know a fatal strike when he sees it. "F%+!!"
He looks around at the fact that they're trapped on the stairwell and utters an incantation, then leaps onto the wall and clambers up it with ease, drawing the spear as he goes.
"And if you have any fire arrows, burn that f+$+ing dog!" he shrieks at Freyja.
"What's going on?" Freyja can hear the telltale sound of blades entering flesh, blood splattering on the ground, and then a body falling, but she can't see anything with Grevayne, Mac, and Oona in front of her. At Grevayne's instructions as he escapes up the wall, she thinks what dog?, moments before she notices it harrying Mac.
But if it's on Mac... where is Oona?
"What happened to Oona?!" There is panic in her voice.
She studies the tiny gaps and openings where she can see the dog-thing past Mac, and then sends three arrows through them.
Trjega smells death and feels Mac's agony. Her master wants her to stay but Mac needs help!
No. No I will not stay.
She moves forward and tries to find an opening to get past Mac and into the fight.
Mac isn't able to get hold of Slobber, but an instant later two of Freyja's arrows come out of nowhere and slam into the big ugly thing. The flesh almost immediately begins to close up and push the arrows out, but the trollhound still looks like it is barely hanging on.
Dearga falls back to the center of the room, calling Slobber and Keaken to follow her. She speaks to Grevayne. "Your friend is dead. She didn't last ten seconds against me. But I am not unmerciful. Leave now and leave the fort to me and I will not kill the rest of you."
Keaken (0 damage)
Dearga (0 damage)
Slobber (?? damage)
Oona (dead)
Mac (45/57 hp)
Grevayne (69/69 hp, 4 images)
Freyja (72/72 hp)
Trjega (52/52 hp)
Bold may act.
Grevayne sneers at her. "F@!& you, fey b#$++. If you think we will let the death of our friend go unpunished you ar--"
The thunder gathers outside into a monumental blast of lightning-like energy that strikes McAnally with the crack of a thousand explosions, and the wolf undergoes an immediate and bizarre transformation.
The human-like scream emitting from Mac tuns from human-like to very human, as his muzzle begins to flatten, his ears begin to round, and his legs crack and snap as they change shape. His forepaws elongate into large, meaty hands, and the fur all across his body begins to recede, replaced by thick, coarse, curly body hair. His yellow eyes retain their color but morph from slits to circular pupils. All the while, multiple wet cracks accentuate the transformation as bones and muscles shift.
After a few seconds, a huge, muscular Kellid man leans against the wall, human save for the long, sharp animalistic claws at the end of his thick fingers.
A voice that is clearly neither human nor from this world booms through the room in Sylvan:
With a choked roar, McAnally Clach-Guail, finally freed from his cursed form, steps up to Slobber. If it is his last action in this world, he will avenge the Earthchild's death.
Grevayne stares slack-jawed. "Buh."
He recovers enough sense to act, leaping off the wall and charging at Dearga, funneling arcane power into the shortspear as he goes. It's not the weapon he's used to using with it, but it will do. He sharpens its edge and ignites it in magical flame before driving it at Dearga's heart.
Dearga looks from Mac to the sky in confusion, wondering where the hell that voice came from. "Who are you peo...?" she has time to say before Grevayne is on her. She swings her scythe in reaction to his charge and slashes him across the chest .
Freyja blinks in reaction to Mac's transformation, and then as he moves away, she finally sees what she fears: Oona's body.
No.
"Trjega, kill!"
She climbs the stairs, her gaze lingering on Oona as she delicately steps past her. She sees Slobber on the ground, still breathing, and then sees Dearga's vicious attack on Grevayne.
No!
She draws one of her four remaining cold iron arrows and fires it at the redcap.
The arrow zips past Dearga and hits the wall.
NO!
Trjega has no idea what is going on and who this man that smells like Mac is, but he seems to be on their side. She flies past her master in a full sprint and leaps into the young redcap's face.
The first act of Mac's new (old?) form is to put down the trollhound, but it immediately begins healing. It will regain consciousness shortly unless someone can stop the regeneration.
Dearga's scream of frustration when she fails to hit Grevayne turns into a scream of pain as the cold iron tears into her fey flesh. Freyja has an uncharacteristic lapse in concentration. Trjega can't penetrate even the young redcap's hide, but she manages to get hold of him and prevent him from using his scythe or attacking her master.
Unfortunately, Keaken immediately rips himself out of Trjega's grasp.
Dearga swings her scythe at Grevayne again, and pops another image.
Keaken (0 damage, grappled)
Dearga (15 damage)
Slobber (?? damage, unconscious but regenerating)
Oona (dead)
Mac (45/57 hp)
Grevayne (69/69 hp, 2 images)
Freyja (72/72 hp)
Trjega (52/52 hp, grappled)
Bold may act.
Grevayne swipes at the downed trollhound, letting the fires of his spear end its regeneration.
The trollhound taken care of, he steps to the side to begin setting up a flank with the strange naked beast-man.
Mac stumbles away and grips his head, bellowing in pain, as his form begins to twist again. This time the transformation is much more rapid but also much more pronounced, as the six-foot, two-hundred pound human, naked but for a wolfskin belt and leather bandana, suddenly shifts into a massive wolf.
Freyja has three cold iron arrows left. They all belong to Dearga.
"S~+!."
Trjega didn't taste blood. Why didn't she taste blood?
Grevayne puts Slobber down for good, but Freyja is only able to put one of her remaining cold iron arrows into Dearga, who is hurt but still going strong, and pissed about Slobber.
Trjega can only hope to keep Keaken away from Freyja.
Dearga only has eyes for Grevayne, but she falters for the first time since combat began, missing him so terribly that it doesn't even affect his images. Keaken has better luck, though, bringing his scythe down on Trjega in an overhead strike .
Keaken (0 damage)
Dearga (24 damage)
Slobber (dead)
Oona (dead)
Mac (45/57 hp)
Grevayne (69/69 hp, 2 images)
Freyja (72/72 hp)
Trjega (34/52 hp)
Bold may act.
Dire Wolf Mac howls and unleashes his fangs upon Dearga.
Grevayne sidesteps again, then gathers spell energy into his hand and unleashes his full fury on Dearga.
"I'm out of cold iron! Hold them off!" Freyja hurriedly waves her hand over her bow, mumbling the magical words that she still does not understand. Warm white lines of energy surround it.
She is still surprised every time it works.
Trjega has to override every primal instinct that is screaming at her to flee. She can't hurt this thing but it can hurt her, and bad.
She can probably survive one more hit.
Mac fails to hit Dearga but Grevayne strikes true with the spear again. Freyja increases her bow's strength so she has a chance of hurting the redcaps, and Trjega continues to do little else than distract Keaken.
Dearga's wounds close up a bit as she swings her scythe. This time she guessed which Grevayne is the real one and he feels the blade tear his flesh open . She follows it up with a kick that misses terribly.
Keaken fails to land a hit on Trjega. She is doing her job.
Keaken (0 damage)
Dearga (30 damage)
Slobber (dead)
Oona (dead)
Mac (45/57 hp)
Grevayne (50/69 hp, 2 images)
Freyja (72/72 hp)
Trjega (34/52 hp)
Bold may act.
Grevayne sidesteps once more, now providing flanking for two allies. He looks between the two redcaps, then decides it will be more beneficial to the party (and more cruel to Dearga) to kill the small one first.
He reaches out and touches Keaken with his spell-charged hand.
Mac's enormous jaws lash out again at the flanked Dearga; he is still only half-conscious, acting on instinct and the will of his patron. He will devour this redcap's flesh for her transgressions...
Freyja fires three arrows at Dearga. She grabs magical arrows for the first two.
Trjega continues her weird ineffectual dance.
The tides may be turning a bit. Grevayne and Freyja both hurt their respective targets, and their targets are unable to score hits in return (though one of Grevayne's images does pop).
Keaken (17 damage)
Dearga (35 damage)
Slobber (dead)
Oona (dead)
Mac (45/57 hp)
Grevayne (50/69 hp, 1 image)
Freyja (72/72 hp)
Trjega (34/52 hp)
Bold may act.
Grevayne continues trying to help free up Trjega with a little spell combat against Keaken.
Mac, practically mad with grief and fury at this point, continues his wild thrashing in Dearga's general direction.
Freyja fires three more times (two magical).
"Grevayne! Attack her! I'll finish off the small one!"
Trjega turns her attention to Dearga.
Grevayne's vicious attacks takes the younger redcap down (but he won't stay there for long unless someone finishes him off). Freyja hits Dearga twice again but the arrows just aren't doing that much.
Dearga's scythe pops Grevayne's last image and then her spiked boot finds its way into his abdomen .
Dearga and Keaken's wounds continue to heal.
Keaken (45 damage, unconscious and healing)
Dearga (42 damage)
Slobber (dead)
Oona (dead)
Mac (45/57 hp)
Grevayne (38/69 hp)
Freyja (72/72 hp)
Trjega (34/52 hp)
Bold may act.
Mac foams and snarls, thrashing madly. However, his wild attacks finally bear fruit
Grevayne turns to see Mac tear into Dearga with abandon and hesitates for a moment, uncertain what to do with this enormous, mad wolf. He decides to table it until Oona's murderer is dead, and unleashes a spell combat on her.
Freyja walks up next to the small redcap. It almost looks like a child, but a quick glance at Trjega's blood-matted fur reminds her that she shouldn't hesitate.
Mac exacts vengeance on his master's killer, tearing her throat out with his second bite. Freyja puts an arrow into Keaken's eye socket and through to the floor.
Mac doesn't leave his dire wolf form right away, spending several moments savaging the redcap's corpse. Bits of bone, ichor, and meat fly in all directions. The sound is something akin to a tree splintering and falling in a swamp: multiple sharp, staccato cracks of shattering bone followed by wet sucking noises.
When the massive wolf raises his head, his entire visage is soaked dark with blood, from the tips of his ears all the way down his bone-ridged chest and forelegs.
Then, with a shudder and a moan, the wolf shrinks down and morphs back into a naked Kellid man. His features are difficult to make out through the mask of gore on his face; pieces of bone and intestine coat his curly mien of long black hair and scraggly beard, spilling down his barrel chest and across his wolfskin belt. Despite no longer being a wolf, his eyes are wild as any beast.
Grevayne keeps a healthy distance from Mac, shortspear still at the ready, eyeing the massive dire wolf with obvious apprehension and suspicion as it (he?) eats.
When he morphs back, Grevayne brandishes the shortspear. "Alright. Please explain what in the f~!$."
Mac snarls at Grevayne. "Forgrim wuth alvogarr! o ketheth vraid, Mal-Skend!"
Then, as his senses slowly return, his face drops. "Oona!!"
He rushes to her body, picking her up and cradling her. "Oona! Oona, paxi mei! Bagand! Bagand!" One doesn't need to understand the words, to understand the sentiment. The enormous man erupts into a broken, sobbing wail as he cradles her lifeless form, rocking back and forth.
Freyja puts her bow on her back and holds her hand out to Grevayne in a "stand down" gesture. "Trjega, stay."
Then she walks slowly over to the man, hands open, palms out. As she reaches him, she says in as calm a voice as she can manage, "Mac? Is that you? It's Freyja. We are your friends, remember? Oona was our fr- friend." The last word catches in her throat as she realizes she used the word "was", not "is". She slowly reaches out with her hand and gently places it on his shoulder. "Mac?"
Trjega sits in the corner and grooms herself.
The big man stares uncomprehendingly at Freyja, clean streaks under his eyes through the blood, as he takes a shuddering breath. "Mac." He rocks back and forth. "Mac."
He looks down at the vacant eyes of his companion. "F... frriieendd..." He struggles with the word, clearly not familiar with the language. It is obvious now that Mac doesn't speak Common. "Freyyja." He looks at her pleadingly. "Ben-Skend. Freyja. Ayand mei. Ayand Oona. Bagand." He sobs the last word out. "Bagand..."
Grevayne watches the interaction for a moment before swallowing hard and turning away. He busies himself looking through the shredded remains of Dearga for useful items, doing whatever he can to not look at his dead ally or the weeping man.
Grevayne finds some stuff.
On Keaken:
- Medium scythe
- Small leather armor
On Dearga:
- +1 medium scythe
- Small leather armor
- Feather token (whip)
- Potion of CMW
- Potion of fly
In Slobber's disgusting nest:
- 22gp
- 476sp
- A bracelet made from black jet (200gp)
- 13 chess pieces carved from soapstone (5gp each)
- Albino beaver fur cap (300gp)
- Sandalwood statuette of a bear eating a lion whole (150gp)