Renthiel continues to strike at the enemy between himself and Urdda.
◆◆◆ Use Wand of Manifold Missile to cast the 1st-level version of Magic Missile
"Take that! And that! And that!" Utek screams as the missiles fly forth from his wand.
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Renthiel's sword misses as do the magical missiles as they slam into the ground. Once more the wisp goes completely dark and invisible as it disappears completely from sight. No new shocks come forth and after several tense moments it seems that the wisp has fled.
Utek (61/64)
Urdda** (99/100)
Torra (74/74)
Scratch (72/82)
Renthiel (46/54)
Bangy Piper** 38/96)
Utek screams out, "Gott'em! Did you see that? My missiles disintegrated them!" Utek is oblivious to the fact his missiles missed.
"But I agree Bangy. We need to rest up. Long journey ahead of us. Let's hope more of those things don't suddenly appear."
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Beads of sweat drip off Scratch's brow as he swings his crossbow around, waiting for the wisp to show itself one last time "Ya, you better fly away ya blinkin' bastahd!" Who's he kidding? That was terrifying.
"Yer aim Utek was as good as the rest of ours most of the time." He grunts, looking at each person to make sure they all still lived. "Are those things intelligent? What are the odds they'd come back.. with reinforcements no less..."
Scratch helps patch people up as they discuss options of going back to sleep or worse.. moving through the jungle at night. He makes a nervous face as he looks at Bangy's scorch marks, deciding he best let Torra deal with those. He starts work on himself.
A healthy splash of gin does the trick!
"I'm sorry Bangy, but I just don't know if it will come back. Perhaps with two of it's companions defeated, it knows to stay away. And we won't be here that long anyway."
and
With that, Torra moves over to Bangy to treat his wounds. for
And with that Torra will go back over to her bedroll to sleep for the rest of the night.
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Bangy just lies there while Torra gets to work on him.
She can't tell if he's just being a good patient, or totally dejected...
...feeling better, now he can't sleep! 'What did those things want? Are we just in their spot?" he asks around to see who has the answers to his questions "What do you think Renthiel Simnan?"
Utek is nearly asleep already when Bangy asks a question. With his eyes closed and cuddling with Mita, Utek mutters under his breath, "They may be minions of whats-his-name."
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"Nhimbaloth," Renthiel interjects almost unconsciously. That action seems to jolt Renthiel out of the deep concentration that he was in and he looks up to Bangy with a small smile. He flicks his coat behind himself as he sits down on a log and then takes a deep breath.
"Will o' wisps are actually very intelligent creatures. They are known to lure creatures to traps and deadfalls to cause serious injury. They do this and operate at night to inspire fear. Because fear...is their food. Now, to be clear, I do not believe that they require sustenance. Merely, that they 'consume' fear in the way that we would a delicious meal, for its taste. Chances are that we are in this group's territory and were easy prey as most were alseep."
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Torra tends to everyone's wounds before bed as the rest of the night is not nearly as eventful as they wisp visitors. The next day you pick back up on the trail and around midday the crumbled highway ends at the edge of a large gorge, which must have cut across this path after the highway was already built. Trees and vines choke its entire width and obscure how deeply it plunges, but the sound of rushing water far below indicates a river flowing at its bottom. Two large posts support a wide bridge of rope and planks, but the opposite end of the bridge leads into darkness within the thick jungle.
Utek laughs at Bangy's crawling.
Urdda raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t say anything as she inspects the bridge.
Scratch does his best to keep some sort of watch the rest of the night, crossbow in his lap. He quickly falls asleep though.
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Scratch takes a turn driving the wagon. He gets along very well with the old mules, almost like they're woven from the same stubborn old cloth. "Hold up yer furry backsides. We're gonna check this bridge out, THEN if its safe, YER GOING ACROSS!" He reminds them just who's the boss around here.
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You each check out the bridge and find that the end you are currently on appears to be stable. Renthiel points out extra supports and comes to the final determination that both ends appear to be very stable according to his findings. Urdda believes the entire thing is set to collapse if you take the wagon on it.
Before leaving the campsite, Torra will search around for any clues about previous campers here or anything hidden that they couldn't see the previous evening/night.
Later:
"I'm sorry Urdda, but everyone else believes that this bridge is okay, so I'll join with those wanting to travel using it." She smiles at Urdda.
Urdda doesn’t smile back. ”One at a time,” she orders gruffly. That way we don’t lose everyone - and everything - if the bridge collapses.
Renthiel scrunches his face. "It seems to me that it would be more prudent to do at least two at a time as we cannot see the other end of the bridge."
"I suggest that the rest of us all go together. Let's catch up with Bangy and Renthiel." Torra follows the cart across.
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Grabbing ahold of the cart the rest of the group begins to cross. The bridge holds firm. Torra looks at some of the leaves and greenery...then notices some of it beginning to move! Large drakes sit coiled around the branches, blending perfectly into the foliage
Scratch (82/82)
Bangy Piper** 96/96)
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Drakes
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Torra (74/74)
Urdda** (100/100)
Renthiel (54/54)
Utek (64/64)
"Hurry up and get off the bridge!" Renthiel yells.
Scratch sees the oversized scaly pelicans and snaps on the reins "Move it or lose it ya buncha hairy asses!" Whether he's talking to the mules or his companions we'll never know.
It takes some motivating, but Scratch finally instills some fear into his beast(s)!
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Scratch recognizes these as jungle drakes. Immune to disease, paralyzed, poison, unconscious. They are able to surge through the jungle with great speed, spit and inject venom from their maw and tail stinger.
Bangy fires off a couple of shots. One manages to clip across the drakes scales as they swoop in and around the wagon.
Urdda gets her hand nipped as one of the drakes comes in from behind and bites right across Utek's back and chest. From the south a drake rears back and spits all across the group in the middle of the bridge. Sticky venom bursts across each of their faces and bodies.
Maximum Duration 6 rounds
Stage 1 1d6 poison damage and enfeebled 1 (1 round)
Stage 2 1d6 poison damage and enfeebled 2 (1 round)
Scratch (82/82)
Bangy Piper** 96/96)
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Drakes (Green -12)
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Torra (74/74)
Urdda** (81/100)
Renthiel (54/54)
Utek (12/64)
Urdda doesn't flinch as the acid drenches her skin, nor as the overgrown lizard's teeth draw blood. Settling into her familiar crouched stance, she steps in and grabs the drake's tail with both hands. "Stupid flying pests," she grumbles.
Utek screams out in pain as the drake bites him. "Get it off, get it off, get it off!"
As a reaction to getting bitten, Utek decides that enough is enough. "I'm outta here guys."
◆◆ Cast Invisibility on self.
"Not really. I'm still here but they can't see me now!"
◆ Cast Nudge Fate on Scratch.
Renthiel rushes in to open up an escape for the cart.
Dodging the sticky venom, Torra immediately looks toward Utek at his scream. Grasping her prayer beads with one hand, she sends a surge of opalescent energy his way.
Scratch takes some poison to the face and yelps "Sonova biscuit, just another day in paradise!" He whips out his crossbow, spits some foul words at the green drake and fires!
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Utek immediately feels rejuvenated as the prayer beads do their work. Urdda leaps at one of the drakes, attempting to grab ahold of it. The smaller dwarf latches onto it's clawed leg as she tries to keep it pinned to the bridge.
Renthiel makes a run for the cart while Utek turns himself invisible. Wiping the thick mucous from his eyes Scratch raises his crossbow and takes a shot into the drakes chest, while Bangy prick a couple more into it's back.
The drake snaps and stings at Urdda to let it go.
Maximum Duration 6 rounds
Stage 1 1d6 poison damage and enfeebled 1 (1 round)
Stage 2 1d6 poison damage and enfeebled 2 (1 round)
Scratch (52/82; Poisoned Stage 1 1/6; Enfeebled 1)
Bangy Piper** 96/96)
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Drakes (Green -50; Grabbed by Urdda)
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Torra (42/74)
Urdda** (62/100)
Renthiel (54/54)
Utek (52/64)
Utek nods at Torra, even though she cant see him. 'I'll thank her later.'
Suddenly, Urrda feels a bit faster in her movements as Utek casts a spell on her.
◆◆ Cast Haste on Urrda
◆ Sustain Nudge Fate on Scratch.
"Ow! Ow!" Complains Scratch as the stingers keep coming at him like a possessed water dipping bird! "Don't you eat birds Whiskers? Tear these things a new cloaca!" He quickly reloads and shoots green in the chest again, then reloads again. I dunno how long I can keep this up.
Urdda grimaces as the overgrown lizard's teeth catch her again. Sloppy - letting your guard down. Not bothering to wipe the blood from her brow, she punches twice with extra force.
With how fast she feels, the dwarf lets herself throw a kick in too before grabbing a piece of linen and tying it around her forehead to soak up the blood. Finally, she raises her arms to ward off any retaliatory attacks.
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◆) Inspiring Martial Stance
◆◆) Strike x2
Bangy Piper gets into his groove. He targets the held drake point blank, his first arrow flying right under a scale into it's soft flesh underneath. He even claps back at Scratch "Don't you shoot birds?" Dwarven snark wasn't his first language, and in fact, it doesn't feel right crossing his tongue. But he did call him "whiskers", so...
Renthiel moves in next to Bangy and strikes out with his sword cane.
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Urdda's fists shatter the scales as the drake wobbles on the bridge, about to fall at any moment. Renthiel rushes the drake and quickly realizes his mistake. As his blade skewers into the drake's neck killing it the poisonous stinger strikes out at his chest
The tail jerks and falls limp before it can make contact. Utek speeds Urdda up so he can get off this bridge in one piece. Scratch's crossbow misses as Bangy turns his focus onto the yellow eyed drake.
Scratch (49/82; Poisoned Stage 2 2/6; Enfeebled 2)
Bangy Piper** 96/96)
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Drakes (Yellow -15)
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Torra (42/74)
Urdda** (83/100)
Renthiel (54/54)
Utek (52/64)
Torra carefully Steps back and away from the drakes and then sends a flow of energy to Scratch.
HP to Scratch and +1 to her HP.
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Torra heals scratch as the poison seeps further into the pairs bloodstream.
The drakes descend on Scratch as their combined attacks batter the dwarf down. Torra looks one as one final stinger stabs into Scratch's back before he loses consciousness.
Scratch (0/82; Poisoned Stage 2 2/6; Enfeebled 2; Dying 2; prone; Unconscious)
Bangy Piper** 96/96)
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Drakes (Yellow -15)
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Torra (38/74; Stage 2 poison and Enfeebled 2; rounds 2/6)
Urdda** (83/100)
Renthiel (54/54)
Utek (52/64)
Renthiel moves in next to Urdda and strikes out with his sword cane.
Seeing Scratch go down, Torra rushes through a quick prayer to Sarenrae and sends healing to him.
HP to Scratch, +1 to Torra.
Then she moves back, remaining within 30 feet of Utek.
”Don’t try to get up,” Urdda grumbles as she moves between Scratch and Renthiel. “Just stay down and try not to draw attention to yourself.”