Mounting Avalanche and taking up his lance, The Green Knight looked around at his companions and said "We ride!"
Basdemar kept quiet during the talk with the knight, but peeps up as the party prepares to leave the keep.
"Shouldn't he know about the fey king? If we all fall he may need to negotiate other terms."
Kellen contemplates his relationship with the spirits before the party leaves the keep, adjusting his prayers and being ready for the fire drakes.
Daymar had spent part of the morning preparing his spells, and now headed out with his companions, silently pondering the possibilities of the day to come, and the mysteries of the day before.
The party made its way down the Varnway to the wrecked campsite and then north, following directions they'd gotten at the Fort- everyone knew where Pointer's Rock was. The forest was peaceful and quiet, and as the group exited the trees into the hills they could see the landmark from where they sat.
A few miles to the north, a tall stone monolith rises into the air, shaped like a gigantic stone fist with its index finger extended to the clouds above. The group ascended up into the hills, Bas and Kellen blazing the trail.
Kellen, within a mile of the monolith, stops and mediates upon a rock for ten minutes, when he arises, his eyes have the coloration of the stone around him. He then casts several spells in close succession upon himself. Let us continue then.
Daymar took advantage of Kellen's pause to prepare his own magical defences as well.
Then, with a nod, he continued along with the others, his eyes and ears alert to danger.
As the group passed through a narrow gap between two hills, Kellen and Daymar both heard a strange noise coming from the hill on their right. It was a rumbling, almost like a localized earthquake without shaking the earth. Maybe a small landslide on the other side of the hill?
Kellen hisses out Bas! To our right! Something's happening! and unlimbers his spear, ready for anything to appear to the party's right.
Bas slid from the horse immediately after the warning and went into the stones. The group saw the clawed hand pushing the horse back toward the group and stopping them before disappearing.
EDIT: Argh! Again! You'll find his broken body in a fissure somewhere
Kellen fishes out a wand, and activates it, casting Bless on the entire party. He scans the area, waiting for threats to appear before his eyes.
Loth to abandon his mounted advantage, The Green Knight took up his shield and lance, shifted to a Total Defense stance and poised Avalanche so that he could break NW or SE along the trail if he needed to.
He looked around for threats.
Low-Light Vision, Scent
Even as Kellen whispered and Basdemar slipped from his mount, Daymar's eyes narrowed. His mind brought to the readiness a number of magical options, but in the end, the wizard decided to rely on versatility, rather than trying to guess at what he would need to counter.
Much as it was difficult for him to do so, Daymar decided to trust that their scout would bring them information - whether by verbal report or evident destruction - that he could respond to in a timely manner. So he did not cast his mind about looking for thoughts, nor did he take to the sky, nor did he preternaturally heighten his senses.
Instead, Daymar sat his horse calmly, quietly, waiting.
Most of the group was waiting for it when it came, but what came was a surprise. A huge, four-legged monster, bigger than a carriage and covered in rocky plates, burst out of the hill itself and amazingly launched itself into the air directly at Sir Alfric and Avalanche in the middle of the group.
Bulettes are notoriously foul-tempered, attacking far larger creatures with no regard for personal safety. Solitary beasts except for the occasional mated pair, they spend most of their time patrolling the perimeters of territories that can stretch up to 30 square miles, hunting game and punishing interlopers with a fury that shakes the hillsides.
Bulettes are perfect eating machines, consuming bones, armor, and even magical items with their powerful jaws and churning stomach acid. Lacking other food, the bulette might gnaw on inanimate objects, yet for unknown reasons no bulette voluntarily consumes elf flesh—a peccadillo many point to as evidence that elven wizardry was involved in its creation. Dwarves are also rarely eaten by the beasts, though the bulette still slaughters members of either race on sight. Halflings, on the other hand, are among the beast’s favorite meals, and no halfling with any sense ventures into bulette country casually.
Tactical information based on roll results.
"Bullette!" Daymar shouted, almost as soon as he saw the thing. [b]"It will not surrender or retreat! We must slay it!"[/ooc]
Daymar didn't curse as he realized that the party was too spread out for him to be able to catch all of them with his spell - to do so would be a waste of time and energy - but he did note the situation with some dissatisfaction. And he wasn't about to move his horse into the landshark's line of attack just to include himself.
Somehow, he reasoned, he and Basdemar would just have to find a way to contribute without magically assisted speed.
Even before he'd had that thought, Daymar nudged his horse just far enough forward to be able to include Kellen in his range, and then the elf's hands were moving and his voice lifted in the tongue of magic.
In the blink of an eye, Kellen, Alfric, and Levn all felt the familiar quickening of their senses and movements - the perception of everything else around them slowing down - that came when Daymar magically hastened their bodies and minds. Far rarer, however, was the realization that Daymar had also included their mounts in the effects of his magic.
Haste (Levn, Kellen, Alfric, and mounts): Duration 6 rounds
Kellen focuses the wrath of the spirits upon the monster, focusing his will and letting the ICe Fox flow through him to it.
The Green Knight wheeled Avalanche suddenly and galloped NNW out from under the shadow of the Bulette, slowing to a stop next to Basdemar and turning to face SSE again and kept his lance pointed at the Bulette, looking for a chance to charge.
[dice=Will save, DC 18]1d20+5
The bulette exploded out of the hill toward Sir Alfric but the knight and his mount were too fast. The enormous monster instead landed next to Kellen, claws that could rip through bedrock ready to rend and tear the spirit talker.
"They are fast and strong, but weak of mind," Daymar called out - though he winced as the spirit talker went down. The 'weak of mind' information would be of little use to any of the others.
"There is no use hiding," he called out to Basdemar, "they sense movement as tremors through the earth!"
Seeing what had just happened to Kellen, Levn wheeled his horse and pulled out his bow.
Levn's arrow could hardly miss the huge creature at this range but it bounced off the beast's stone-like plates.
Seeing what had just happened to Kellen, Levn wheeled his horse and pulled out his bow.
Bas charges out of hiding - not that it is any use against this thing and charges. It is armored, sure, but the beast that size needs its joint mobile - there will be parts he can bite into or cut.
stunning fist DC 14
AC: 27 until hit, then 25
HP: 64/64
Bas rushed up and hit the bulette in a vulnerable joint. So vulnerable, in fact, that the enormous beast was frozen in place for a moment as it registered the shock and pain.
Kellen lies on the ground, unconscious from the injuries sustained by the bulette's attack and continues to bleed.
Unable to do anything but watch as the monster crashed down and trampled his companion, The Green Knight stood up in his saddle and shouted out his Challenge while waiving his Banner.
Then he shifted out of Defensive stance, lowered his lance at the Bulette and kicked Avalanche into a charge.
for a possible piercing damage.
Basdemar looks up at the savaged joint and focuses. As the creature starts to move he shreds it further, leaving great, bleeding rent on the "arm" underside.
But his focus cost him, the thing flinched away as he rent flesh and his jaws snapped on air with an audible snap. His tail swished overhead, but the thing was to big and it didn't reach the intended target, bouncing instead of the armored knee.
"Blast!"
Stamina use:
2 for x2 +1(claw attacks to hit bonus)
5 for 2x5 damage for the round
(leaving 1 because I don't want to be fatigued)
Alfric's lance found the vulnerable joint in between the bulette's shoulder plates, sinking deep into the beast's neck and drawing a roar that crashed off the surrounding hillsides.
Meanwhile, Bas whipped his claws into a shredding, rending storm as he tore at the weak spot he'd already hit once.
Levn fired off another arrow at the monster but missed.
The giant beast looked to be wavering, but Daymar wasn't sure how close it was to being defeated. Unfortunately, he didn't really have any spells at hand that he felt would be particularly effective against such a large beast. So, he decided to chip away at the thing. Who knew? Perhaps he would even do enough damage to the creature to bring it down.
With a gesture and some words of power, Daymar sent three green-white bolts of magical force slamming into the bullette.
Daymar's magical missiles slam into the bulette's stony hide one after the other, each one imparting an incredible amount of force. The last one almost topples the huge monster over but the landshark stumbles and catches itself instead. The action seems to shake it out of the shock it felt from Bas's hit on a critical nerve center, though, and it starts moving once more.
The missiles hadn't knocked the creature over - frankly, Daymar hadn't expected them to. The beasts were huge, but also low-slung and wide-bodied. The chances of getting one off of its feet without killing it were slim. Even for one ad gifted in the magical arts as Daemariel Fiondi.
A quick estimation of the creature's condition, in light of the abilities of his companions, led Daymar to conclude that the creature would fall soon enough, with or without further aid from him.
Still, he judged that it would be best to keep the creature distracted from the fallen Kellen. Thus, with a flick of his fingers, a ray of freezing air and ice projected forth from Daymar to caress the Bullette in frigid frost.
Kellen stops bleeding, but remains unconscious on the ground. The shaman unable to move or do anything to help himself.
As the beast starts stirring, Bas looks up and revises his position directly under the beast.
Still, looking at the open wound, even if he can just sever a tendon or something it might be enough given the size of the monster.
"Once more!"
OOC: 31 damage - and potential crit with the tail.
Might actually hit and for max damage too :D
Also from the last round add 4 damage because it was denied it's dex bonus (I forgot kobold super power)
(+2 damage if flanking/dex denied)
The Green Knight reared back and plunged his lance into the creature again and again...
for a possible piercing damage
for a possible piercing damage.
The bulette's stony hide proved remarkably resilient. Only Basdemar, tucked right up into the huge monster's hind leg joint, was able to do any damage.
Unfortunately that made Bas the monster's sole focus. The enormous landshark, bleeding profusely from its neck where Alfric had speared it and the rear hip where Bas had virtually burrowed up into its guts, spun in a full circle, whipping its tail at the kobold's head, then came down with all four claws and its huge jaws like a cat on a mouse, rending and biting.
The thing looked almost dead but it was still strong enough to nearly snap Bas's head clean off with a single bite. Only incredible reflexes kept the kobold's head on his shoulders.
Daymar narrowed his eyes in frustration and then let fly with another ray of blue, frigid energy.
The bulette, nearly dead from the mauling Basdemar had given to its guts and the lance in its throat, finally gave up the ghost when Day's pinprick of freezing cold energy sliced through a gap between its back plates. Basdemar was the first to notice, as the giant monster stopped trying to rip him into four or five separate pieces.
"Medic," Daymar began, but then realized that the person he'd been about to call for was the medic. Instead, the elven wizard dismounted and moved to the side of the fallen spirit talker.
Kneeling, Daymar pulled one of Kellen's wands from his gear. He examined it, to make sure he had the right device and remembered the proper motion and verbal command. Then he activated the wand and touched it to his fallen companion.
The smell of brimstone immediately filled the air around the two of them, and a deep, ugly red light briefly surrounded the wand, and then moved into Kellen's body.
"He should be fine in a minute," Daymar said. Then he turned to Bal. "Can you wait for Kellen, or do you need immediate assistance?" Daymar held up the evil-looking wand.
"I don't like that wand." Basdemar quickly looks over himself.
"Most of the blood is of the beast. I have scratches and bruises that will hurt soon, but armor turned most of the attack away."
"I want to take a reminder of this beast, a trophy if you will. I won't take long."
The Green Knight will go round up any horses that fled the battle in fright of the Bulette.