| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Elo nods and squints to look for the rope as he watches the others move forward.
-----------------
Esha steps over the rope she sees and follows just behind Laurel.
She completely ignores the talking and lobs a javelin at Hallod.
He clutches his chest, obviously winded, and seeing blood stream down his chest.
"Not playing games today, are ya little 'un?"
He swings a heavy crossbow round into both hands. It had been hanging down his back, from a strap over his shoulder. He then fires a bolt off at Esha and reloads it.
His bolt strikes true, and slams into Esha .
Laurel will stride right up to Hallod "Thet's it - we gon' hafta tek you out t'day"
◆◆) Stride / Step
◆) Twin Takedown
Round: 2
Init: 15
HP: 16
Hero Points: 0
Effects: none
Round 1
Init 9
HP 12{12}
Hero Points 1{3}
Effects mage armor
Welp. I guess this isn't the time to hold back! Elo barks through his cigar.
He doesn't move but incants Draconic through the smoke he puts out, and sends three force missiles at Hallod.
Elo's three missiles slam into Hallod from three different directions, making him curse some more.
Laurel rushes forward from her cover, slamming their starknife into Hallod and twisting it crelly. As Hallod notices the new combatant though, he manages to swivel out of the way of the second attack.
Laurel's first strike rings true!
"Lookout - there's two them ropes!" he warns his party!
Round: 2
Init: 15
HP: 16
Hero Points: 0
Effects: shield
|
Round: 2
Init: 16
HP: 17
Hero Points: 0
Effects: Raging
Esha cuts her eyes at Hallod and snarls at him the rushes toward him to assist Laurel. She looks for the ropes Laurel is talking about, but as she doesn't see them, she follows his path instead. Laurel's okay, so there must be no traps on his route!
When she reaches Hallod she swings wildly at him, too infuriated to pay much attention to technique.
As Esha runs forwards the rope slung across the cave pulls taught, and a spear flies out of nowhere to slam into her side. HEr attack fails to impact the large man, and he laughs. "I thought I told you at the inn, not to bite off more than you can chew little girl?"
Calvus again casts his spell but fails to make it hit home.
Hallod, drops the crossbow, letting it swing. Then punches out at Laurel with both hands. Neither blow hits, and he grunts in frustration before pulling out a wicked sharp Kukri.
Round: 3
Init: 15
HP: 16
Hero Points: 0
Effects: enfeebled 1
Round 2
Init 9
HP 12{12}
Hero Points 1{3}
Effects mage armor
The kobolds gravelly voice echoes throughout the chamber as he calls to his companions, completely ignoring Hallod.
Don't be careless with this one! We don't need to help him add to his body count today!
Elo seems to close his eyes and concentrate on his staff for a mere instant before unleashing more magic missiles on Hallod.
Laurel ducks as Elo's missile fly over his head and strike true.
"Thas Elo - don' wanna mess withum" introducing the kobold to Hallod "formally" now...
Elo's missiles again slam into the big man. He shudders under their impact, blood dripping from his nose now, visibly shaken, but defiantly still standing.
Calvus again draws upon his magic to keep Esha in the fight.
Laurel works into a furious frenzy of blades!
◆) Twin Takedown
◆) Strike
◆) Strike
As Hallod laughs at Esha's futile attempts to cut him, his retort is lost to a gurgle of blood in his throat. Laurel's first strike sinks his dagger to the lit, up under the man's ribs.
The big man sinks first to his knees, then to the floor, blood pooling around him.
Laurel pries the "wicked sharp Kukri" from his cold dead hands and checks it out...
...after a few moments, he says "Okee so Now Whut!?"
Elo approaches the body, joining the rest of the group.
So... is he unconscious, or really dead-dead? asks the kobold, hoping they can get him to a cell along with sufficient evidence.
Calvus walks over to Hallod's body and delivers a direct kick to his face...
...only to squeal in pain from the attempt. In fact, you can see his eyes have started glowing and he looks especially feeble and unstable.
So... is he unconscious, or really dead-dead?
"I think 'e moved" Laurel observes after Calvus kicks him, helping the adults make their decision as to what to do with him...
What do the rest of you think? I don't know if he can be patched up, but with the receipts in this chest the local authorities could take over? Or have you noticed that he has connections there?
"It's hard to say," adds Calvus sitting down on a nearby rock and catching his breath. His eyes are glowing less intensely now that he has expressed his anger. "On the one hand he clearly has a lot of resources but he's also acting clandestinely. It could go either way,"
'Ain' ther a Shairf?"
Laurel unceremoniously goes through Hallod's pockets. The results are less interesting than possibly he expected. There is a key, and a letter.
Hallod,The final shipment of corpse blood is due in just over a week, and it is the last thing I need from that greedy bastard, Bort. I’ve enclosed a parting gift for him that should ensure he never tells anyone of our dealings. Be sure that he gets it, my darling.
Drop off the reagents as soon as they arrive. My work is almost done. You will find your usual reward in the stump.
—V
The key, after some playing around, turns out to fit the strongbox that Elo carries.
Finally, the crates in this area are not all empty. They contain 50 gp worth of alchemical reagents that can be used in Crafting
alchemical items, a runestone containing a shadow rune, and 2 everburning torches.
"Whoever wrote this is ill-educated," says Calvus "Does that sound like Hallod? And who does 'darling' refer to?"
I got Hallod for Bort.
Laurel reflects on the past few days spent here at Etran's Folly. Stowing away on a caravan. Meeting some new friends. Fighting wolves. Participating in a bar fight. Finding a missing goblin. And just now, putting Bort's killer down.
Eventually, he wanders back to the lodge, collects his Ma, and giving a round of hugs - and tearing up a little - takes her hand as she smiles back, the two of them disappearing back into the forest they had emerged from.
It had been a few great days respite, but having grown up a little now , the boy decides it's time to find the rest of his brothers and sisters, traveling back in the direction they had originally headed from...
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Calvus examines the bastard's body to see if he is still alive.
Elo becomes particularly interested in the reagents, given his recent studies.
Hope you all don't mind if I take these...
He then notices Calvus looking over Hallod.
What do you think? Is he gone-gone?
Hallod is out for the count, and bleeding badly. If you don't do something, he will definitely die. If you do something, well, he might still die.
Calvus stops the bleeding and does what he can to brign the bastard back to consciousness.
Hallod is quickly tied up. Then Calvus uses a little more of his magic to heal his remaining wounds. A few minutes later, he wakes up. Presumably hurling insults at you, but it's difficult to tell through the sock Esha stuffed in his mouth, and tied off.
While Elo catalogs the items in the cave, Laurel wanders off out into the open air and realizes that you are about a mile and a half outside of town. He can see smoke rising from the odd chimney in the distance, and finding your way back from here is easy enough.
Hallod reluctantly walks behind you on a rope, Esha's readied axe making it obvious there's no other choice. Rolth Garley takes custody of Hallod, locking him in a back room, while he hears your testimony, and reads the evidence you provide. He sends Laurel to get Phinnick, who repeats what he told you now that he knows he won't be blamed for the murder. Rolth sees that as an end to things. He knows who did it, he knows, why, and how it wont happen again. He's happy to hold Hallod for the circuit judge to deal with.
Over the next few days you recover from your wounds. Elo finds the stable hands will help with removing the alchemical items to one of the empty houses so that he has a place to work on them, for just a few coppers. The poor dogs in the basement are released into the wilds.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Oh I'm fine, really," says Calvus. He looks like a strong wind might carry him away, his eyes are glowing and his hair is floating around his head.
Town life returns somewhat to normal.
Elo manages to spend some time practicing his new skills at alchemy, and selling the results.
"Bort's" Caravan, now cleared of any charges, is free to leave town, and does so. Amid a wave of farewells, the townsfolks have grown to enjoy having the caravan there, they move off to continue their journey. Tamli makes a point of shaking the hand of each of you, and thanking you for your efforts.
Hallo remains locked up awaiting a judge.
Two or three days later, by pure coincidence, you all happen to be passing outside the feed station at the same time on some errand or another. A woman shrouded in a heavy brown cloak trimmed with leaves marches up to you, pulling a simple wooden sledge behind her. As she approaches, she brings the sledge to one side and uncovers her cargo, a pile of wolf carcasses. She turns to you, and despite having her cloak’s hood pulled low, you can make out weathered lips and a slender chin. In a pointed tone, she asks, "Is this your work?"
Elo emerges from their break with clawed fingers a little more stained by ink, and burned by alchemical processes. He made a tiny bit of coin, but spent far more thickening his spellbook. There are now numerous scrolls peeking out of his backpack.
He smiles his toothy grin at his recently-made companions on seeing them in the street, in town. Then the woman rolls up on them...
He frowns at her pile of wolves, looks at his own ink-stained hands again, and responses in a confused tone.
No... I've been in the books for a week now!
Calvus has spend the past several days in prayer and contemplation. The spiritual powers bestowed upon him do not make sense. He feels the sky pulling him upwards. When he draws upon these powers to deeply, his body weakens. What journey has the Guiding Star set him upon? These questions weigh upon his mind always.
So the mysterious woman they run into interrupts his thoughts quite suddenly. Calvus is mildly grossed out by the dead bodies. My fellows and I are not responsible for... this,"
|
|
Esha has been alternating between moping about Laurel leaving and flitting around town chatting up anyone who will stand still enough. In fact, the moping doesn't last all that long, maybe a couple of days. In the evenings, she spends time drinking (not too heavily), smoking, and playing dice at the tavern.
When the woman walks up with the sledge, Esha scurries over to peer at the contents. She waits for Calvus to finish speaking, then says, "But, Calvus!" and tugs at his sleeve to lean down. If he leans over, she whispers to him urgently.
Esha turns back to the wolves and looks at them again, looking for any signs of green ooze.