The seriousness of the situation is easily broken by the very sexual glance shared between the two horndogs. Oh also, the wound is jammed full of gauze.
Ellen (-6]
Dev (3 images)
Jacques
Akimi
Ogres (Blue -4 HP)
Bold may act! Definitely better foes than the kobolds!
Jacques stares at the hulking foes before him and his eyes grow wide. Surely this will be a chance for great glory!
He wiggles his eyebrows tauntingly at Yellow.
Come, Finley, show them what you can do!"
Then Jacques falls back and waits for trouble to follow him.
Sir Dev does the same spell at the two targets he can see then falls back to support Jacques.
Crackles of lightning dance over the front line ogres, sizzling flesh and creating an acrid stench in the hall. Rushing out of the whispy tendrils of smoke are two of the foes! The one in the red leotard gets to the corner, sees a target and hacks at the foe that hurt them!
Very poor is the result. The next one, really concerned about Jacques, ignores the foxes behind them and pulls a javelin out to launch soon (next round, probably).
Filling in behind are the other two ogres. One attacks Ellen twice with a big axe and the last draws another javelin and flings it at the only target it can see.
But with all those attacks, none land. But now the foxes are separated, hopefully this tactic will work!
Ellen (-6, bm'd from Akimi)
Dev (3 images)
Jacques (panache)
Akimi
Red Ogre (-5 HP)
Yellow Ogre (-10 HP, Frightened 1 -> needs to attack Jacques to remove)
Blue Ogre (-19 HP)
Green Ogre
Bold may act! Definitely better foes than the kobolds! Only better foes if they roll higher than a 4...
Jacques slashes at the Red ogre ahead of him.
+
He utters menacing words towards the Blue giant behind the Red one.
Then Jacques lifts his buckler and braces for the blows that are sure to rain down on him.
Jacques stabs at his big target and whips the blade back disappointingly. Then he notices Finley cheering at him and looks to the blade which is dripping in blood. Apparently he DID hit his foegre.
The confidence shown by the swashbuckler definitely concerns his new target.
Ellen (-6, bm'd from Akimi)
Dev (1 image)
Jacques (panache)
Akimi
Red Ogre (-15 HP)
Yellow Ogre (-10 HP, Frightened 1 -> needs to attack Jacques to remove)
Blue Ogre (-19 HP, Frightened 2, needs to attack Jacques)
Green Ogre
Bold may act! Edit to update Dev’s images, the two misses popped two of them. :(
Ellen takes a steadying breath; this isn't ideal, but... well, one can only play the hand they're dealt.
Akimi sizes up the ogre in front of Ellen, determines its size is "Large," and looks for a spot to stab it with a crossbow bolt. They find a nice little spot right next to the ogre's jugular vein and plant a bolt there. They nod satisfactorily and begin humming to themself as they reload the crossbow.
♦
♦ x2
♦ Reload.
Sir Dev, seeing a good opportunity to unleash one of his stronger spells, simply steps forward and swings his hatchet.
You know, while also wreathing it in electricity and commanding the primal forces of the universe at his whim. Nothing special, really.
for
Kazaaaap!!!
As the ogre in blue falls, Ellen strides forward. No breaks, all pressure!
Ellen shows the ogres who is the Captain! A flurry of punches kicks, bites and even a toenail scratch in there, she devastates her target. She then moves up into flanking with her allies, but can't get her next strike to land.
Akimi refocuses onto the next easiest to hit target, drilling them in the back of the neck with a nice barbed crossbow bolt. Reaching up to swat away the nasty skeeter bite, the ogre causes more harm by ripping out the projectile.
The magically inclined Dev unleashes one of his most powerful abilities, and it hits! And with the damage from Akimi, his foe drops like a massive bag of organs hamburgers.
The ogres are enraged by this. Or they stay the same amount of raged. Either way, they aren't surrendering or retreating. Instead they close the pinchers and attack Ellen all out.
for
Perhaps her movement will prove to be unwise, but we shall see!
It has not yet proven to be such. The Captain still stands! Quite bloodied, but possibly in good spirits. Or at least conscious ones.
Hero Points: Akimi 0, Jacques 1*, Ellen 1, Dev 1
Ellen (-35, bm'd from Akimi)
Dev (1 image)
Jacques (panache)
Akimi
Red Ogre (-51 HP & Dead)
Yellow Ogre (-10 HP, Frightened 1 -> needs to attack Jacques to remove)
Blue Ogre (-55 HP & Dead)
Green Ogre
Bold may act!
*Gained a HP this session
Jacques sees their brave cap'n under attack and leaps to her assistance.
+
Then Jacques reaches out his free hand and gives Ellen a few quick chiropractic adjustments. "Here, this will make you feel as good as new!"
Jacques moves in and strikes hard and deep, penetrating his target in a place that isn't made to be penetrated. The ogre doesn't like it.
Ellen is finally able to turn her head completely to the left! Finally that tense muscle has been released.
Hero Points: Akimi 0, Jacques 1*, Ellen 1, Dev 1
Jacques
Ellen (-31, bm'd from Akimi & Jacques)
Dev (1 image)
Akimi
Red Ogre (-51 HP & Dead)
Yellow Ogre (-24 HP, Frightened 1 -> needs to attack Jacques to remove)
Blue Ogre (-55 HP & Dead)
Green Ogre
Bold may act!
*Gained a HP this session
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"Cool," grunts Ellen as Jacques whacks her in the back of the neck with Finley's pommel.
Satisfied with her work, for now, Ellen backpedals past Jacques and back to Akimi.
"This is going surprisingly well," she grunts. "Hey, do you know what I have in common with dogs?"
Akimi frowns as Ellen backs up. She's starting to look like ground hamburger, herself. They give her a sardonic look.
"Cracked orbital socket. Great. That is going to take me at least ten minutes to patch up."
They know they're being cocky, it just slips out. Maybe they're trying to cover their panic? Because they are definitely feeling panicked.
At least Jacques is still in one piece--for now. Unfortunately, these stupid hallways don't allow Akimi a clean shot on either, but Green has significantly more of their bulk showing, so Akimi tries to pop a shot into what torso they can see and hope for the best.
♦
♦
♦ Reload.
Dev simply steps back again and kazaaps the last two ogres. His job of obliterating one of the foes is done.
Another real hard punch to the sternum leaves the Ogre staggering before Ellen retreats to tend her wounds. Easy enough then to hit with a crossbow bolt by Akimi.
And then Dev steals the kill, zapping the second to last foe into the realm of death.
The last ogre, either only seeing a target that hurt it or seeing one blocking a way out, strides into the corridor and unleashes two attacks at the two Dev's.
for
One hits and the last pops his final image. Sir Dev looks to be juuuust a bit out on an island right now.
Hero Points: Akimi 0, Jacques 1*, Ellen 1, Dev 1
Jacques
Ellen (-15, BaMd by Akimi & Jacques, WoBd herself)
Dev (-17 HP)
Akimi
Yellow Ogre (-51 HP & Dead)
Green Ogre (-4 HP)
Bold may act!
*Gained a HP this session
"Last one!" Ellen chirps, sprinting in. Blows flow out of her and into the ogre between her and darling Dev.
Jacques doesn't want to miss out on the fun and he too dashes forward.
+
Akimi can't even see Dev over the hulking mass of the ogre, so they sigh and try to line up a shot. With the cover provided by their friends, they know they can't hit, so they call, "Try not to die in the next few seconds, Dev. I'll be right back." Then they move down the hallway to peek into the room the ogres came from.
♦
♦ Stride 25 ft.
♦ Seek.
Dev feels no fear, he simply focuses on his arcane mastery and swings again, looking to fell his foul foe!
for
Kasizzle!
Sir Dev obliterates his flanked foe (that had already been beaten to to a point of almost death by the other two foxes). The bloody body thuds to the ground, skin melting with acid all over it.
Akimi glances into the room.
Remnants of torture devices—a collapsed wooden rack, an iron maiden with no lid, a dunking bucket smashed into splinters, among others—line the walls of this unusually shaped room. Ragged pelts formed into crude bedrolls take up the rest of the floor space around a wide pit that descends into darkness. The air here smells of stale sweat.
A thought crosses their mind that it’s odd the Iron Maiden has no lid. How would that work? Weird. Oh look! A secret passage in the North wall. I bet that will be useful.
Ellen phews and flexes her knuckles against her hand wraps. "It'd been like several minutes since I beat something to death with my bare hands and nearly had my intestines bisected. I was worried life was going boring on me!"
She seems remarkably insincere about it, which is probably for the best.
"I'm gonna need a breather," she announces, "and then probably a breather after that. Do I sit down in the room full of dead ogres, or the one full of torture equipment that the ogres were trapped in? Ah, choices, choices..."
Akimi sits Dev next to the captain so they can tend to both of them at the same time. "Let's sit out here in the hall, yeah? No more surprises for us out here. Probably."
When they see Ellen just sort of heal the rest of her damage, Akimi huffs and puts their paws on their hips. "What am I even here for anymore, if everybody's just gonna start healing their own damn wounds?"
Akimi squeezes Ellen's arm to assure her they're teasing, and heads into the next room to check out the iron maiden. "Something weird about this," they mumble. "Oh, and there's a secret door right there." They wave absently at the secret door's general location before peering curiously at the iron maiden.
It’s really bugging Akimi about that Iron Maiden. Seriously, it should have a door! Things with hinges should have things ON the hinges.
The rest of the group does not see the secret door, even when Akimi waves them in its general direction.
After receiving a nice wound wrap, even though he had to pull Akimi’s gaze away from Ellen’s cracked rear three times, Dev wanders into the ogres room to look around. While Akimi is following up on the broken torture device, he kicks a small metal object. After a bit of review it is found to be a bloodseeker beak, something sorta useful if attached to a weapon.
He also looks over the ‘secret door’ and remarks, ”Huh, don’t see it. You sure you saw something here?”
Akimi realizes they are obsessing about the Iron Maiden. Looking for clues where there is simply junk. They walk over to the secret door and… can’t find it.
"Hey, not everybody can! If Jacques could manage it he'd get into twice as much trouble," Ellen snarks. She sniffs--immediately regretting it--and gives the room a once-over.
Akimi plops down in front of the stupid iron maiden. "Apparently I'm hallucinating," they gripe. "I need a nap."
Naps are taken, wounds are healed, everyone feels better after a little bit. Heading deeper down the railroad tracks trail to various riches, they check the only other door out of the hallway.
It seems safe.
Opening it they look into...
This spacious chamber has exits to the south, west, and east. Stray feathers litter the ground, along with several fist-sized pellets of dung pushed into one corner.
Quickly the source of both the feathers and pellets becomes noticeable when two large feathered bear-like creatures stand up from their nests against the north wall and hoot out expectantly.
Akimi, feeling much improved after their little sit-down, makes sure their crossbow is loaded. "Call me crazy, but I think they're guarding that tapestry. Or more accurately, whatever it's covering. Might be worth checking out, if we can get past them."
Definitely not getting a full minute, but you have enough time for two more actions. Anything aggressive will immediately begin initiative though.
Akimi mutters, "They're animals. Nasty screech that freaks out prey--which is gonna be us, in a second. I think they're trained to respond to a password of some sort, but I have no idea what it might be."
Taking a shot in the dark, Akimi calls "Mwibah?"
The reply by Akimi does not seem to satiate the beasts as they begin hooting angrily.
Akimi suddenly remembers something the librarian said, and blurts one more try before things devolve into violence. "Praise Lamashtu!"
While Akimi is barking up the right tree, unfortunately it is still barking. And big ole owlbeardogs don’t like to be barked at!
Dev
Ellen
Blue
Jacques
Red
Akimi
Bold may act!
Ellen sizes up the situation.
She flings some foxfulgur at the one on the left, grinning as at least one of them hits true.
x2???
"Bottlenose 'em!" she orders, taking two steps back and hoping that everyone else also takes two steps back!
The first mate seems confused, "What uh... do dolphins have to do with this?"
But as Captain Ellen acts, so does he. A small ball of flame appears in his hand and it follows the foxfulgur to the same target. Then happily falls back.
for
The first owlbear to react screeches as loudly as anyone has ever heard. It's quite terrifying, maybe. Or maybe you were prepared for it from Akimi's warning. Hard to say!
It then moves up and attempts to bite Jacques's head clean off.
for
No head removal (it's too big) but a decent wound. Akimi sighs. Running low on bandages.
Dev (Will Save)
Ellen (Will Save)
Blue
Jacques (-7 or -14 HP, Will Save)
Red
Akimi (Will Save)
Bold may act!
"Hmm. I'm a little Frightened. Are the rest of you frightened?"
Akimi prepares for the eventuality that they'll have to start tearing their cloak up for extra bandages, at this rate.
The sound is just plain freaky, but they manage to mostly keep their cool. Mostly.
"Well, if anyone's in the area beyond, they definitely know we're here!" They try to line up a shot on the one Ellen just hit, hoping that focusing fire is the way to go. They spot a small area of scorched fur just above the owlbear's collarbone, next to the jugular, and fires off a perfect shot.
♦
♦
♦ Reload.
Dev says, ”I ain’t scared of nothing!”
Akimi jumps the gun juuust a hair, but they are so damn sure about their shot it doesn’t really matter. Those neck veins just look so damn big and easy to hit. Blood sprays but the owlbear remains standing. Other than the neck wound and the scorched leg from Ellen’s attack, the foe looks pretty healthy.
Hero Points: Akimi 0, Jacques 1*, Ellen 1, Dev 1
Dev
Ellen (Frightened 1)
Blue (-17 of 500?)
Jacques (-7 or -14 HP, Will Save)
Red
Akimi (Already Acted Round 1)
Bold may act!
*Gained a HP this session
Jacques glares at the giant monster. He doesn't like being intimidated - that's his job! He wiggles his eyebrows at the creature in hopes of reminding it that it is supposed to be scared of him!
+
Jacques manages his usual stretch of doing exactly what is necessary. At least on his attack. It strikes true on the frightened foe, leaving a deep bloody puncture.
The other owlbear charges forward and tries to dig claws into the braggart’s body.
for
And with those long talons digging into supple flesh, it squeezes tight, holding Jacques fast in place!
Hero Points: Akimi 0, Jacques 1*, Ellen 1, Dev 1
Dev
Ellen (Frightened 1)
Blue (-29, Frightened 1)
Jacques (-14, grabbed)
Red
Akimi
Bold may act!
*Gained a HP this session
Grabbed: You're held in place by another creature, giving you the flat-footed and immobilized conditions. If you attempt a manipulate action while grabbed, you must succeed at a DC 5 flat check or it is lost; roll the check after spending the action, but before any effects are applied.
Ellen grimaces. Jacques getting grabbed--and getting grabbed there, of all places--really throws her strategy out the window.
"Reminder to self: if we survive, I need to explain the concept of 'bottlenosing' to the rest of the group."
"...Bottle NECKING. Is that why we're getting confused?"
She takes a deep breath, clenching her fist.
"I hate that I'm about to do this," she grimaces, then rushes in.
She doesn't fancy her odds of hitting with a third strike; she takes a careful step backwards, hoping to stay within blue's reach but out of red's and thus divide their attentions. Maybe.
Dev shrugs, happy to be the safest of the four right now, ”Careful Captain, those claws look sharp. And I think Jacques is managing things juuuust fine.”
His hands crackle together and both foe’s furs burns with electricity.