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"Woah! What's going on now!?" Says a surprised Penny who despite being somewhat dazzled by the sudden attack quickly gets going and jumps into the action.
"The hell are those?" Wonders aloud the witch as she takes a look at the canines.
The black haired witch then conjures a temporary shield of force in case one of the beasts attempt to attack her.
Masigonde runs over to the creature that bit Ulrich and swings at it twice. The first lands. He also tries to move it out of the way, but it holds firm.
Ahmad rushes over to Green and swings his sword, landing a solid blow on the beast.
Penny moves toward the action and casts a pair of spells. She is not able to remember anything about these creatures, though.
Green maneuvers carefully and tries to bite Ahmad twice.
piercing and 1 fire
piercing and 1 fire
The first bite lands, but the second does not, and Ahmad manages to keep his feet.
Round 1 - Bolded May Go
Blue (-6 HP)
Masigonde
Ahmad (-10 HP)
Penny
Green (-9 HP)
Ulrich (-16 HP, prone)
Haechi
Red
Maldlethu
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Haechi was so distracted by his observations of the architectural minutiae of the sphynx that he hadn't even noticed the small pack of rather hot looking wild dogs sneaking up on them. It was Ulrich's gurgling cry that alerted the kobold to the new danger. "Oh dear, oh my. What's all this then? Sizzling hot dogs are attacking! Oh great Apsu! Ulrich is down. What to do? What to doooo?"
"Oh, I know," he thinks, and pulls himself together. As he clambers down from the wagon, he says, "Haetae, stay where you are. No need for both of us to get mauled to death today." His familiar had already come to the same conclusion on her own and had no intention of moving from her comfy haven between the boxes. She calls out after him,
Positioning himself where he can see better, he notices a small rock near the creature that attacked Ulrich. With a practiced flick of his wrist and a "lapis verberat canis calidus," he sends it flying at the hot dog.
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Ulrich was not expecting the attack. He was looking at the horizon and was glad to be in the camp. Maybe that let the beast bite him so hard. First Ulrich felt pain in his arm and then was thrown to the ground.
Things went black, and all of the sounds got mixed together, after few seconds Ulrich was able to understand what is happening.
He looked at the beast standing above him.
The time slows down a bit, Ulrich looks at how the beast builds, how it moves when being hit by the Haechi spell. He spots some vital points like veins and tendons and he knows where to strike.
The gnome reaches to his pocket and gets out what looks like a razor.
Lying on the ground he would slice the beast
Then he stands up barely.
Haechi jumps out of the wagon and runs toward his fallen comrade. With his magic, he hurls a chunk of stray stone at the creature, knocking it in the head.
Haetae ponders whether they should have brought condiments for the hot dogs.
Ulrich gets a good look at the creature that bit him, then pulls out a small knife and stabs the beast. There is a spurt of blood, and the creature falls to the ground motionless.
Red also takes a step toward Ahmad and tries to take a couple bites of him.
piercing and 1 fire
piercing and 1 fire
Again, the teeth connect the first time, but when it tries to follow up, he is able to defend himself.
Round 1-2 - Bolded May Go
Blue
Masigonde
Ahmad (-18 HP)
Penny
Green (-9 HP)
Ulrich (-16 HP)
Haechi
Red
Maldlethu
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Maldlethu jumps to his feet, finally coming out of his meditations atop the wagon. “MAGIC!” he yells excitedly. “It is within all things, and all things are within magic. It will nurture you...” Warm light streams from his hand through the air to wrap itself around Ulrich. “...guide you...” Masigonde feels his senses sharpened, his feet steadier, his breath more relaxed. “...and in the end, it will consume you!”
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"They found me... I dunno how but they found me! But I'll not yield without putting a fight!" Was what the witch said before going to help Masigonde in a rather reckless way for someone who doesn't even carry an armor, the meaning of her words is however most likely just random nonsense born from her paranoia.
Now positioned the witch cast a more flashier and certainly harmful spell, as she extend her hand towards the beasts creaking arcs of electricity jolts from her fingers!
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Maldlethu uses magic to treat Ulrich and buff Masigonde.
Masigonde takes a couple of swings at green, and uses the magic to make sure the second one connects.
Ahmad follows up with an attack of his own, then heals himself.
Penny casts a spell to harm the first two beasts. The first jolt of electricity seems to hit the flanked creature as it fell, but the other struck the previously unharmed assailant.
Round 2 - Bolded May Go
Blue
Masigonde
Ahmad (-5 HP)
Penny
Green
Ulrich (-2 HP)
Haechi
Red (-5 HP)
Maldlethu
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Ulrich covered in blood turns around looking for enemies
"Thanks Maldlethu! I needed that!"
He looks at the last standing foe and observes its movements. The way it tries to dodge attacks from Ahmad and Masigonde.
Ulrich reaches out for his bow and takes an arrow. He moves to the side to have a clearer shot
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Haechi is quite relieved to see Ulrich finish off the nearest beast. "Phew!"; "Jolly good show there Ulrich. That's the way to show these mangy beasts who's the boss."
He then switches his focus to the last remaining hot dog in the distance. He moves forward to get closer to his target.
Once in position, he wraps his arms around himself and shivers theatrically. "Brrrr.". Then, he opens his arms and thrusts his hands toward the last doggy, saying "refrigescant et canis calidus." A ray of concentrated cold flies from his hands and after barely missing Ahmad, plunges into the hot dog's chest.
Ulrich moves away from the lone opponent and hits the creature with an arrow.
Haechi decides to put his hot dogs in the freezer.
The final beast has little to do other than continue to try to chew on Ahmad.
piercing and 1 fire
piercing and 1 fire
piercing and 1 fire
It lands two strong blows, but its luck runs out before the third, and it gets a mouthful of sand.
Round 2-3 - Bolded May Go
Blue
Masigonde
Ahmad (-16 HP)
Penny
Green
Ulrich (-2 HP)
Haechi
Red (-18 HP)
Maldlethu
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Haechi looks to see how well his spell did and is a little disappointed to see the last puppy still standing and mauling Ahmad some more. "Hang in there my friend; we'll have this last one taken care of in no time."
Since his last cold ray worked so well, Haechi decides on a reprise. This time he closes his eyes; tightens his hands into fists in front of him; and sets his whole body to trembling. He then opens his eyes and snaps his hands open. Saying "glaciem ad calidum canis," Haechi claps his hands together loudly. As before, a ray of concentrated cold flies from his hands, skips past Ahmad, and plunges into the hot dog's chest.
As almost an afterthought, Haechi says the word, "scutum," and the space around him shimmers slightly for a second.
Another blast from Haechi puts the last hot dog on ice.
They definitely seemed more intelligent than you would have expected for an animal. Plus the burning jaws.
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Ulrich comes closer and tries to recover his arrow... which snaps. "Damn it."
He gives some time for Masigonde to analyze the beast and then he tries
"They were odd, burning jaws, not letting bites to bleed, but burning like hell itself." He pokes the animal that he sliced with a razor and touches the teeth. His two-colored eyes looking at the direction from which they came from.
"Maybe we should check if the goblins are ok." suggests
These are cinder wolves. They are animals that do fire damage on a successful bite attack, as well as Knockdown. They do extra precision damage when they attack in groups of three or more.
Once all the wolves are defeated, the goblins return to the caravan. Some of them are shaken up, but they don't have any physical injuries. You have some time before the caravan is ready to finish the journey if there is anything else you'd like to do in this area.
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Ulrich shares what he knows about the wolves. The gnome cleans his razor and keeps his bow ready.
As the goblins keep going he joins them.
"Let us come and try to reach the site before the next attack happen. One thing is certain, this attack would not do much harm to a team of guards. So Yigrig must not be a generous goblin."
You have at least 10 minutes before Muckmuck has everything secure and everyone pointed in the right direction (he is not the most motivating teamster ever), so if you want to look around, take any actions or have a short rest, you may.
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...is there is anything else you'd like to do in this area.
Haechi looks over the wolves and agrees with Masigonde and Ulrich's conclusions. He then looks up and using his hand to shield his eyes from the sun, looks out in the direction the wolves came from. "I wonder where these dire creatures came from? Haetae! Come here. I have a job for you."
When Haetae finally arrives on the wing and lands on his shoulder, Haechi says, fly around a little in that direction and see if you can tell where these wolves came from. I'll go have a look in this direction. Oh, and don't take too long; we've only got 10 minutes before we have to leave."
Haechi knows nothing more about the wolves.
Haetae flies around and notices something shiny near the statue. Haechi comes and takes a look - it is a small weapons cache with bolas, a khopesh and a fighting fan.
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Haechi beams at his familiar's find. "Good job, Haetae. It appears that you can be useful on occasion after all." Ignoring any retort from his familiar, he calls out to Ulrich and waves him over. "Ulrich my good fellow. You won't believe what we just found over here."
As they examine the cache together, Haechi picks up the strange curved sword and looks it over. "Why, I do believe this is what they call a khopesh. How exciting! Some poor devil from neighboring Osirion must have met an untimely death at the hands of our recent adversaries." He looks over the rest of the weapons. "Quite the eclectic taste in victims our lupine friends had, eh, Ulrich?"
With Ulrich's help, Haechi hauls them all back to the caravan and drops them in the back of a wagon for safe keeping.
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Haetae had been snoozing peacefully in the back of the wagon even as the sounds of battle raged on nearby, but the call from her master was not something she could so easily ignore. "No rest for the weary I guess." She leaps into the air and follows their shared mental connection right back to her master.
Getting her instructions from him, she once again takes to the air and scans the indicated area for anything of interest. Finding nothing, she heads back to her master to report. As she approaches, she sees that her master is so entranced by the nearby statue that he walks right past something shiny in the sand without glancing down. "Sigh!"
She lands next to it and clears her throat to catch his attention. "Ahem!" Nothing. She tries again, louder this time. That does the trick. Her master looks over at her. She points to the shiny object with her wing, and finally noticing it, he comes running back to see what it is.
She flies back with her master and his friend, and reclaims her place in the back of the wagon.
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Ulrich looks at the weapons that Haechi is pointing. "That blade is interesting, also look at those balls on the rope. I think I saw someone using them." Ulrich spins them above his head and throws them at the nearby rock. The weapon misses the target and bounces off the ground
"Yeah, skilled folks can do it better. And what is that? A fan?" He opens it wishing to fan himself when he spots the blades.
"Most interesting. Curious loot for a group of canines."
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"Thank you very much for your care, Masigonde I appreciate them very much but know that sometimes I can also channel the power of my God to heal, I have not only been trained in battle. But I thank you very much for your attention. As the good old Haechi says these wolves are not exactly normal and could perfectly end with a group of bodyguards I think our friend the greedy goblin is belittling the dangers of this route. Let's hurry to get to the camp.
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After a small amount of work, the goblins get everything back together and the trip resumes. There is no further incident before you reach the camp, which is bustling with activity. Goblin engineers do their best to guide goblin workers as they build the decking and assemble the piers; the bridge appears simple, but sturdy, and is approximately half complete by this point.
As the wagons are unloaded, Muckmuck shows the PCs to Zig, leader of the bridge camp.
While many of the goblins at the work camp are covered in dirt and sweat, Zig stands tall and straight among them. He pours over maps of the surrounding area before speaking.
“It is good to see you. They call me Zig. I’m glad my father asked you to come here to help.
“We have been building a very important bridge. But every night, the big cats attack our camp. We leave out meat for them and they saunter right past it. Instead, they seem bent on filling their bellies with goblin flesh. If we move camp across the river; they cross over it overnight. If we light fires around the camp to scare them away, the goblins workers burn themselves in the flames. It’s a lose-lose situation.
“Every few nights, the cats come back to hunt us. Everyone is terrified and that’s bad for business. With all this talk of some saber-toothed whatever coming for us in the night, we’re all too scared to finish our work. If someone doesn’t take these furballs out, I suspect the bridge isn’t ever gonna get built.
“These kitties aren’t natural. Whatever you need, you got it. I can give you workers to build fences. But fences alone aren’t going to be enough. Either the cats go, or this bridge is history. The only other answer is death.”
"Please. Anything you can do to stop the felines from preventing the felines from killing more goblins would be greatly appreciated.
"We can spare some material and personnel to build a few more sections of fence, but we do need to keep working on the bridge as well. Let me show you around a bit."
Zig escorts you to each of the main features of the camp. They include the supply depot (where tools and materials are kept for building the bridge), the mess hall (where Zig works and food is stored), the infirmary (where sick or injured goblins are cared for), and the tents where each goblin sleeps.
This tour includes an introduction to Pearlybones, the camp medic, who will Treat Wounds for you and any worker who is injured, and a running commentary from Muckmuck about how close the goblins are to leaving the work site.
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After listening to Zig's woes with the big cats, Haechi looks over the layout of the camp. He keeps in mind the sections of fence that they have to work with. He mentally positions them into different configurations and tries to imagine the beasts moving through the camp with them in place.
"Well, I'm no expert in warfare or defensive contruction techniques, or anything along those lines, but..." that's never stopped him before.
"...how about we position the sections of fence around the tents to limit access to them while the goblins are asleep at night, but not so that they get in the way of their work during the day?"
Haechi uses a stick to draw a rough map of the camp and shows more or less where he thinks the fence sections should go. "What about something along these lines, ha ha?" He's very proud of his little joke. Haetae rolls her eyes.
"We are builders, not warriors, and these animals seem particularly cunning. They have always found a way into our camp. Once inside, they always go after our people, dragging them away."
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Ulrich spends some time walking around the camp. He gets a goblin coat, shirt and pair of trousers. He changes his skin color to be of the green color and eyes to red. His hair changes to black, which he makes to be in disarray. Then using his disguise kit and manual skills he creates long ears that he straps to his head. Inside his pockets he puts dead fish 'for the smell'.
Ulrich dressed as a goblin shows to the party and asks "What do you think? I could be bate. There is hope that they might come after me."
Zig says to Ulrich, "If you wanted to work on the crew, you could have just asked!"
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Haechi is directing the construction and placement of the new fence sections within the camp when a rather ugly goblin (though aren't they all, really) approaches wondering if he might be used as cat bait. "My dear fellow, I wouldn't hear of it. We're here to protect you from the cats, not feed you to them. No no no, that would be entirely inappropriate...." It is at that moment that Ulrich identifies himself to the kobold.
Haechi takes a step back from the "goblin" in amazement. "Oh my, what a marvellous surprise! Is that really you under all that, Ulrich? I must say, you did a bang up job of turning yourself into a goblin. Your bait idea doesn't sound like such a bad one anymore. Perhaps we should stake you out in the middle of the camp for good measure, ha ha." but Haechi is clearly kidding.
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Ulrich smiles when Haechi took him for a goblin. "Yeah, well let's wait and see if it will work for the cats." says Ulrich using the fan to coll himself a bit.
"Rest sounds like a good idea." says Ulrich finding a spot for himself next to the fireplace that coincidently is near the entrance to the tent areas.
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"We should probably try to get some rest during the day before we spend all night on guard for the lions," Masigonde suggests once they have set the fence-builders in motion.
When Haechi hears Masigonde's suggestion, he opens his eyes wide in admiration. "You're quite right Masigonde; I hadn't even considered that aspect of the situation. Good thing we've got you around to keep such details in mind. It wouldn't do to be stumbling about in the dark half asleep with a lot of large cats roaming around trying to kill us. No indeed! That would not be the way to do it."
Once Haechi believes that everything is under control with the new fence sections, he takes his turn resting in an available tent. While on watch and during the night, he will tend to stick close to Ahmad, or Masigonde if Ahmad is resting.