Zeke takes a step back and brings the hammer down on Green.
"Stay behind me, you two. You make juicy looking targets."
Marcianus keeps close, his eyes darting along the tree bridges, waiting for further defenders to appear.
He throws a ball of acid at Blue.
The wolf lefts our a pitiful squeal as it falls unconscious from Zeke's hammer. Marc, however, sends a pitiful amount of acid maybe 3 feet in front of him.
The guards both begin screaming, "The devils have arrived." over and over, but in a panicked nowhere-near-in-unison.
Both guards, having nowhere to use their bows safely, quickly step towards eachother, drop their bows, and draw short swords before attacking their respective miscreant.
Wolfgang quickly squishes his body into the nearby tree branch as a sword crashes directly into the bulk of the branch instead.
Sicaria, however, has nothing to hide behind, and takes a wide slash across the thighs.
Initiative - the BOLD may act!
Active effects:
-----------------------------------------------
Wolfgang
Zelicia
Wolves (Blue: -9, Misfortuned;)
Marcianus
Archers (Yellow: -9)
Sicaria (-5)
Sicaria chuckles. ”Speak of the devils and they shall appear!” She then slashes at the archer in front of her.
She then completely disengages and moves over to the other archer.
"Do you think I look like a Hellspawn? Thank you. Maybe all this exercise is finally paying off." The tip of Wolfgang's tail wipes some of the sweat from his forehead and flicks it at the red archer as the tiefling steps in front of him.
"Speak for yourself, handsome, talking about juicy targets." Zelicia says as she winks and struts over to Zeke and Marc. She will caress Zeke's shoulder as she walks by, casting Guidance on him.
"Nothing better than a big, strong man willing to protect a little lady like me to make her fall head over heels." Zelicia mutters as she blushes and hides her face in her hands.
Sicaria manages to slice the yellow archer leg before dashing away!
The red archer quickly turns around, ready to defend against Sicaria when Wolfgang takes a calculated stab, puncturing straight through the man's abdomen.
And Zelicia flirtaciously casts Guidance on Zeke.
The blue wolf advances a bit and attempts to attack Zeke.
But once again the wolf finds far too much magic in the way.
Initiative - the BOLD may act!
Active effects:
-----------------------------------------------
Wolfgang
Zelicia
Wolves (Blue: -9, Misfortuned;)
Marcianus
Archers (Yellow: -12; Red: -12)
Sicaria (-5)
"Ha! Ha! Mortal women are easy to impress."
Zeke steps away to gain room to swing, bashing the wolf to the ground.
Marcianus begins running toward the ladder, looking to bring the fight up to the platforms.
The wolf very quickly becomes a pancake as Marc begins making his way over to his teammates.
Yellow attempts to move into position with the other guard.
But is instead cut down on his way through Sicaria's threatened space.
Red spits at Sicaria's feet. "You'll pay for that!" he shouts.
Sicaria easily reads the guard's swing and interrupts it with her own blade.
Initiative - the BOLD may act!
Active effects:
-----------------------------------------------
Wolfgang
Zelicia
Marcianus
Archers (Red: -12)
Sicaria (-5)
"You'll pay for that!"
”Tell that to Pharasma; I’ve got a tab going.”
Sicaria then swings her sabres at the remaining archer.
Zeke hustles over to the ladder. Marcianus moves behind him, scanning the trees and ready to dodge away from any incoming missiles.
"Maybe. But if she does, you won't be around to find out." Wolfgang lunges at the remaining archer with his blade.
Sicaria misses twice, but Wolfgang finishes it up with the same flourish that dropped the other guard.
The surrounding trees fall silent for a moment before the winds continue to rustle through the titan aspen around the miscreants. As they stand tense and ready for something to pop out, nothing does. As the final remnants of twilight finally disappear, only an eerie darkness remains, though Sicaria and Wolfgang can see that the torches of the surrounding tree fort are recently lit for the night.
Wolfgang quickly checks the platform and the bodies of the archers for anything that might be useful or of value, before turning to the ladder. When Sicaria is ready, he climbs down as quietly as he can.
Marcianus and Zeke climb up the ladder to the level with Wolfgang, waiting to see which way they lead.
Sicaria nods and follows suit.
Zelicia shakes off her embarrassment and follows Marcianus and Zeke to the ladder, planning to climb up after everyone else.
At the top of the ladder, a fragile looking wooden railing runs along the edge of a broad platform. Near the center of the platform, an elaborate lift hangs beneath an array of ropes and pulleys. To the east, a small wooden shack huddles near the trunk of a mighty tree.
The covered area here sports a few rickety chairs and a crank to control the lift.
The miscreants see nobody, but are aware that the area is on alert.
The miscreants carefully cross the bridge to the south as the trees begin rattling above them. Gigantic pale trunks reach through gaps in the mossy platform. Railings surround much of the area, but have fallen away in several spots, along with half of a building still clinging to one of the tree trunks. Treacherous hanging bridges stretch to the north and east.
The rustling in the trees above seems to be coming from a small creature that appears to be made entirely of leaves. It's carefully watching from above the half building on the middle-left platform (the one the tokens are currently on)
Sicaria looks up but sees nothing. Though she is still on edge after hearing the rustling.
What the hell?
Zelicia scans the area, thinking she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. When she turns to look, nothing is there.
The rustling in the trees above seems to be coming from a small creature that appears to be made entirely of leaves. It's carefully watching from above the half building on the middle-left platform (the one the tokens are currently on)
Wolfgang's head snaps up to glare at the leaf-creature staring at them from the trees above the half-done building. He points at the thing with his rapier.
He hisses at it, "What the Hell are you supposed to be? Get down here, now!"
"I'm a rebel!" it shouts cheerily in a high-pitched voice. "So are they!"
Several clumps of leaves on the tree begin to move as well, marked on the map. They are currently 10 feet up among the treetops.
Initiative - the BOLD may act!
Active effects:
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Zelicia
Wolfgang
Sicaria
Leaves
Marcianus
Zelicia can't help but giggle at the creatures, thinking about how fun it would be to pick them apart like flower petals. She casts Misfortune on purple then spins in place to become invisible.
"Of course you are." Wolfgang snickers at the diminutive leaf people and steps up to stand next to Sicaria. The tiefling yanks a vial of alchemist's fire from his bandolier and chucks it at Green .
The green plant instantly burns up, quickly turning to ash as a little bit splashes to its friend.
"Oh poop!" the red one squeals. "Meanie!" shout the other two. "We're gonna tell Degan!"
With that, the leshys begin climbing among the treetops, heading across the bridge ahead, but they stop a little short and each pick a pinecone from their body and throw it at wolfgang!
Two of 'em hit wolfgang with a deafening crack, dealing a small amount of damage after which the miscreants hear a male human void say "What!? Oh. Guess that's my cue!"
Wolfgang's ears ring, but he's not deafened by the blast.
From the south, a man with gray-ish skin pops out on an archer's platform and fires an arrow at the only miscreant he can really see: Wolfgang.
And he JUST hits.
Initiative - the BOLD may act!
Active effects:
-----------------------------------------------
Zelicia
Wolfgang (-9)
Sicaria
Leaves (Red: -1)
Archer
Marcianus
Seeing an arrow come flying in at Wolfgang, Zeke moves in that direction, drawing a javelin as he goes.
Dropping the hammer at his feet, he chucks the javelin at the archer.
Marcianus moves up behind Zeke, but finds the archer out of range of his spells.
He instead opens the door next to him to see if there is a way to get to the platform through there.
“Ow! Dammit! It’s another archer.” Wolfgang takes a step back and uses his tail to yank a potion from his bandolier. He sheaths his rapier, then pulls the cork from the vial with his teeth and gulps down the contents.
”Oh for Pete’s sake!”
Sicaria drops both of her sabres and moves forward, drawing the shortbow that she most definitely had this whole time and shoots at the far-off archer.
"My little leaf friends, you can run but you can't hide!" Zelicia whispers as she moves forward. She then becomes visible as she casts Ear-Piercing Scream on red.
Zeke yeets a javelin into the tree across the way as the archer quickly leans back to avoid it.
All Marc sees past the door is a bunch of leaves and rubble surrounded by poorly maintained wooden walls.
Wolfgang heals a bit after putting away his rapier.
Sicaria draws her bow back and puts an arrow in the opposing archer's shoulder.
And Zelicia continues to harass the leaf leshies.
The red one freezes in place as its leaves stand on end like a surprised cat.
---
The leshies (well, all except red) quickly clamber down the nearby large branch and stand at the other end of the bridge, blowing raspberries to the miscreants.
The archer fires an arrow back at Sicaria.
Sicaria manages to move JUST out of the way of a fatal shot; the arrow instead pierces into her shoulder.
Initiative - the BOLD may act!
Active effects:
-----------------------------------------------
Zelicia
Wolfgang (-1)
Sicaria (-4)
Leaves (Red: -3)
Archer (-3)
Marcianus
Sicaria shoots another arrow before retreating from the archer’s sights.
Sighing at not being able to get into spell range, Marcianus draws his crossbow and loads it.
Curious about the leshies' actions, he examines the bridge.
"I can't see anything wrong, but I wouldn't trust that bridge."
Grunting as the javelin hits the tree, Zeke calls out. "Why prolong the inevitable? Just come over here and let's get this over with"
He pulls another javelin and hurls it.
Wolfgang draws his bow and fires an arrow at the gray archer.
Zelicia gives guidance to Sicaria after hiding behind the assassin.
Sicaria sinks an arrow directly through the archer's drawing arm as he shouts in pain.
Marcianus indeed sees nothing wrong with the bridge.
In response to Zeke, the man shouts, through winces of pain, "I. Was told. You guys. Wouldn't be able. To. GAAAH!" the man finally pulls the arrow from his arm. "Fight back! Where is that damn witch anyways!?"
The man looks up again just in time to see Zeke's Javelin flying towards him as it impales the man's abdomen, pinning his unconscious body to the tree behind him.
Wolfgang instead aims for one of the leshies, but finds the target just a bit too small for his usual aiming spots as the arrow just flies above one of their heads.
The leshies all IMMEDIATELY stop laughing and jeering and instead scurry around the nearby building. Well, all except red, who remains out in the open as he can't quite go as far as his friends.
Initiative - the BOLD may act!
Active effects:
-----------------------------------------------
Zelicia
Wolfgang (-1)
Sicaria (-4)
Leaves (Red: -3)
Marcianus
"Which witch? Our witch? Why ... ah, well. Never mind." As the archer slumps into unconsciousness and starts bleeding out, Wolfgang turns away and shoots an arrow at the red leshy, then moves up closer to the bridge. "We must not let them get away!"
Zeke glances down at Wolfgang and asks, simply "Why?"
Stepping closer to the bridge, he also gives it a look over.
If he doesn't see anything he will reach down and give the bridge a good shake.
Sicaria runs out in front of Marc. ”At this point, it’s just target practice.”
Zelicia will walk up to the group, wondering why no one has gone across yet and questioning the sudden shaking that Zeke has done to the bridge. She also tries to see if there's anything strange about it once the shaking stops.
Wolfgang's arrow misses, but Sicaria's connects, killing the red leshy.
Zeke doesn't see anything odd with the bridge and gives it a good shake. The bridge moves as a rope bridge is expected to move.
The miscreants hear the pitter patter of the leshies running deeper into the compound, but neither of the other two become visible.
Initiative - the BOLD may act!
Active effects:
-----------------------------------------------
Zelicia
Wolfgang (-1)
Sicaria (-4)
Leaves
Marcianus
”Yeah…I don’t trust going over there without my swords.”
Sicaria puts away her bow and moves over to where she dropped her sabres.
Shrugging, Zeke glances at Marcianus. "Not sure why you are so concerned about this bridge. Seems solid to me."
Zeke picks up his hammed and steps out on to the bridge to begin crossing.
Assuming Zeke makes it across, Marcianus follows.
Zeke does NOT make it over. In fact, as Zeke steps onto the middle of the bridge, he hears a distinct "Ka-chunk" from the building across the bridge as the ropes on the far side of the bridge suddenly go slack.
Zeke scrambles to grab onto the bridge as the far side lowers, but doesn't react fast enough.
And Zeke hits the ground, prone. It will take him 3 move actions to climb back up the ladder to the north.
"Leave this place and nobody else has to get hurt!" shouts a higher-pitched male voice from within the structure.
Initiative - the BOLD may act!
Active effects:
-----------------------------------------------
Zelicia
Wolfgang (-1)
Sicaria (-4)
Leaves
Somebody Else
Marcianus (Zeke: -11; 3 move actions to enter from the north.)