Nerissia puts the boot in and crumples the goblin's skull, ensuring that the while the fall wasn't fatal, it still isn't ever getting up again. Roger's heavy swing is even more powerful, rattling the goblin's teeth but it remains on its feet. Having seen both its dinner run off and its allies put down brutally, it turns tail and runs. The goblin locked in an evenly-matched dual with Alocer clocks its fleeing companion and also decides to make itself scarce.
Hawk follows the goblin fleeing from Roger to keep it in sight before sending another set of force missiles into the little blighter.
"After 'im!" Roger waves his sword after the goblin and gives chase. Perhaps he didn't expect the goblins to have great treasures or was simply caught up in the fray. Who didn't love a little goblin kicking?
Hawk's missiles do the job, thudding into the wounded goblin as it attempts to flee and taking it down. Nerissia holds a hand up and makes quick gestures, signalling that it would be a smart move to see if you can follow the surviving goblin in the hope it will lead you to wherever the Scorchfeathers lair. Letting it get a start on you gives you time to see if the dead goblins possessed anything interesting - no point in leaving it lying around - before the huntress and the pirate lead you in pursuit.
There are few things Roger enjoys more than kicking goblins and his tracking is peerless, easily finding the path through the trees that the fleeing greenskin has taken and leading you onward towards what will surely be the chance to crack a more than a few goblin skulls.
The land continues to rise slowly as you follow until after about half an hour you suddenly pull up at the sound of barking and whining. Not far ahead of you a bluff rises, though there is an obvious path that leads up to the top of the small cliff.
Majara pulls to a stop, gazing up at the bluff with pursed lips.
"That path looks like a fantastic place to be ambushed," she points out drily. "And goblins might trap it, as well. I do have a potion that will allow someone to climb up that bluff without difficulty... but just one. Roger, you're rather light on your feet-- you might be able to quietly scale the bluff and the rest of us take the trail? Merely a suggestion, however. Or, if anyone wants an assist of growth. Plenty of those."
As she speaks, Majara quaffs a foul-smelling potion of her own.
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"Eh?" Roger looks up from his tracking a bit distracted. "Oh, sure thing sure thing Majara. Though- I reckon from my last attempt trying to climb up a goblin trapped path before, if I get stuck up there alone, ya'll run through the traps and take a beating to save me."
"Eh?" Roger looks up from his tracking a bit distracted. "Oh, sure thing sure thing Majara. Though- I reckon from my last attempt trying to climb up a goblin trapped path before, if I get stuck up there alone, ya'll run through the traps and take a beating to save me."
Majara looks nonplussed. "Before my time, I suppose."
She looks to the others. "Anyone else wish a potion? No? Then up we go, I suppose?"
"Well, I'll take a look-" Roger takes the potion of spider climb, and finds a spot a fair bit away from the path (say 50 feet) to climb up and poke his nose out to take a glance.
”Right, well, I can’t let Roger do all the dazzling heroic-y stuff. I’ll take the front door.” Hawk begins walking cautiously up the trail before weaving a spell and vanishing from sight. He immediately steps off the path on the side of the trail nearest to Roger’s course and tries to move quietly upwards.
2nd Spells (4):
1st Spells (7): xxxxx
Dancing Lights (3):
CLW (1):
Effects:
Mage Armor = +4 AC/FF for 4 hrs
Thanks to Majara’s potion, Roger scales the cliff face with ease. He comes up where he intended to, out of sight behind a large rocky outcrop. From his position he can see a number of ugly, bandy-legged dogs lolloping down the slope towards the party. Obviously they were the cause of the barking. He also has eyes on a trio of goblins - one of whom he believes to be the one they have been tracking - coming over to see what the noise is about.
Not to be outdone, Hawk casually walks through a spell and vanishes from sight. It lacks the puff of smoke that certain bard’s tales attribute to the spell, but in reality drawing attention to somebody vanishing would somewhat defeat the point, even if from a performer’s point of view it would add a touch of flair. As it is, the sorcerer hugs the cliffside and begins walking up, just as the dogs round the corner and their yapping increases in pitch and excitement as they spot the group of adventurers at the base of the cliff.
Alerted by the barking, the goblins head over to the edge of the cliff to see what the fuss is about. They don’t appear to have noticed Roger, but spotting the rest of the group they nock arrows and fire down. As the projectiles fly, they burst into flames, literally raining fire down on the unwary adventurers below. They have clearly misjudged the angle, with all their arrows flying wide of the mark.
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"Ye've scorched yer last feathers!" Roger leaps up from his spot at the sight of archers unleashing a volley on his friends, drawing his blade and leaping into battle.
Making use of his hidden position, Roger quickly closes the gap to the nearest goblin and thrusts his falchion at it, catching it off-guard and spearing it in the side as it has eyes on the group below.
The seething rabble of goblins pouring forth from the cave spots the pirate and charge towards him, engulfing Roger in a sea of limbs, teeth, knives, swords, broken bottles and whatever other weapons the little blighters could lay their hands upon. A second mass of greenskins follows hot on their heels out of the entrance.
Nerissia casts her eye up the cliff, lines up a shot and returns fire with an arrow of her own. She hasn't got the angle any better than them and her shot flies wide of the mark. The tiefling also sends Alocer dashing forward, determined to show the superiority of her sleek companion in contrast to the miserable specimens the goblins have corralled into fighting. The fox snaps its jaws and clamps them around the goblin dog's neck, biting down hard and leaving it barely clinging to life.
In response, the goblin dogs swarm the fennec fox, trying to overwhelm the stronger creature through weight of numbers, much as the goblins above are doing. The dog Alocer has in its jaws tries to retaliate but is too weak to do anything other than paw helplessly before collapsing to the floor, blood pouring from the wound. The others attack in a frenzy, with one of the wretched canines biting down on the fox's leg and opening a small wound of its own.
"Ooch- ow- A high tide of goblins? There couldn't be worse!" Roger lays about fighting best he can with the troop of foes.
Surprise was Hawk’s best tool and he only had it once. Sorry, Foxy. I’ve got a pirate to save and at least one horde of goblins to beat.
With a modicum of regret at leaving the fennec outnumbered, he tries to slip between the battling animals and the cliff face before moving along the edge of the bluff.
2nd Spells (4):
1st Spells (7): xxxxx
Dancing Lights (3):
CLW (1):
Effects:
Mage Armor = +4 AC/FF for 4 hrs
Vanish = Rnd 2 of 4
Majara looks between mangy mutts and pirate-in-peril. It doesn't take long to decide-- she snatches a flask from her vest bandolier and darts towards the cliff base, throwing it in an underhanded lob to try to clear the verticality of the bluff. Hitting the archer wouldn't be bad either.
Emma hears Roger cry out, but at the moment, knows that getting up there to join him will likely require her to take the long way - getting up there in her heavier armor would be more trouble than it's worth, and either way, it wouldn't do to leave the dogs to swarm below or above. She hopes that between Roger, Hawk, and Majara, they'll be able to handle the crowd of goblins above until she can make her way there.
So, brandishing Redemption, she charges at the nearest of the 'dogs'.
As the goblins swarm him, Roger swings his falchion in a wide arc and hews down three of the creatures before they jump all over him. Craning her neck upward, Majara hurls a bomb up the cliff into the sea of goblins, trusting that her aim is good enough to avoid catching Roger in the blast. It is, and more of them go down, their bodies immolated by the alchemist’s deadly concoction. The goblin archer the pirate had hit is also caught by the flames. Emma is not so fortunate. Maybe it’s the run up the steep slope in her heavy plate but by the time she reaches the dogs surrounding Alocer, her thrust with Redemption is unprecedentedly feeble and doesn’t even nick the creature's scabbed hide.
The wounded goblin fighting Roger, drops its bow in favour of a weapon more suited for melee and puts all the strength it can muster into the swing. The other two, viewing Majara’s explosives as more of a threat than Nerissia’s wayward arrows, both target the gnome, raining flaming arrows down on her.
Roger smirks as a fun though comes through his head, and he swings once more, attempting to gain some space and frighten the goblins back for a moment, before stepping over the cliff back onto the side of it. Haha! Let the horde try and get him now!
The goblin steps aside from Roger’s attack but the pirate is also able to scramble down the cliff and out of the reach of the mob. Cursing and jeering at their foe they instead sweep down the slope, with the other mass of goblins hot on their heels.
Seeing that the group has the individual goblins handled, Nerissia moves up to help Alocer with the dogs.
Alocer, meanwhile, focuses his bite on the farthest goblin.
Enacting vengeance for the bite to his leg, Alocer savages one of the goblin dogs and Nerissia plants an arrow firmly into the hindquarters of another. In return, both the remaining dogs snap at the fennec fox from either side but can't penetrate Alocer's hide.
Hawk considers the two hordes of goblins sweeping down the hill. This is a really stupid idea…
He waits for the opportune moment then steps between the groups and suddenly appears on the battlefield accompanied by a roaring sheet of flame that strikes both groups.
2nd Spells (4):
1st Spells (7): xxxxx x
Dancing Lights (3):
CLW (1):
Effects:
Mage Armor = +4 AC/FF for 4 hrs
"--ow," Majara hisses grimly as burning arrows find her shoulders and arms, the latter being raised to cover her head. Ow ow, ow....
She scurries along as close to the cliff base as possible, trying to find some cover while she works into a less vulnerable position.
Emma lets out a sigh through gritted teeth, doing her best to regain her footing. The charge had left her unbalanced enough that she'd completely missed the mark on her approach.
Taking a moment to realign herself, she tightens her grip on Redemption and brings it down upon the beast in front of her with a little yell.
Hawk appears as if from nowhere and immolates as many goblins as he can catch within the area of his fire spell. The goblins are taken aback at the man’s sudden appearance - a second ago there was nobody there, though the flames burn hot enough to take out enough greenskins in the first mob to lead to its unravelling. While Majara makes herself an even smaller target against the cliff face, Emma thrusts Redemption through one of the dogs and heads forward to stand beside Alocer.
The closest goblin hisses and drops its bow, charging at the sorcerer who has miraculously appeared in the middle of battle. It swings its sword wildly but effectively, piercing Hawk's magical defences. Unable to reach Roger on the cliff side, and with shots at Majara looking difficult, the other two goblins fire at Nerissia. This time their arrows do not catch fire as they fly, suggesting an end to that particular kind of ammunition. One lands on the tiefling's shield but the other catches her in the shoulder.
Roger moves along the edge of the cliff to engage the two archers. But it's an awkward angle to attack from.
It would appear that Hawk is not the only one making use of invisibility as four goblins suddenly make their presence known. Three of them are garbed in navy robes and are already chanting their way through spells at the point at which they appear. Their movements are uncannily similar, so much so in fact that surely they must be magically linked somehow, or perhaps a single goblin being mirrored. With a cry of ”Ti see kahl kat nyal! enjorit mei!”, the trio point fingers at Hawk and identical jets of flame burst forth, catching the tattoo artist in the chest and flooring him.
The fourth goblin is clad in leathers, packing steel and a bow, and wields a finely made obsidian black rod inlaid with silver. It points it at Roger and an arrow made of pure flame shoots at the pirate, taking him unaware.
The remaining mass of goblins rumbles down the slope and jumps all over Emma and Alocer.
"Alocer, step back." Nerissia commands, prompting him to step back out of the goblin troop's reach before biting at it again.
Nerissia follows it with an arrow towards the group of disgusting goblins.
Despite wavering, some part of Hawk's heritage, the dragon's blood that courses through his veins, allows him to shrug off at least some of the flames and he just about manages to stay on his feet.
As the goblins swarm over Alocer, the fennec fox obeys his mistress, falling back before enacting swift and bloody revenge by savaging a pair of goblins with quick and brutal snaps of his jaws. Nerissia's arrow unfortunately lodges itself in a shield. The goblin holding it didn't seem to be looking at the shot so it's sheer luck that saves it rather than finding its torso and a major organ. The rabble holds together though, at least for now.
In among the goblins, the last remaining dog whimpers. It considers turning tail, but bolstered by the roiling mass of weapons, limbs and teeth it attempts to bite Emma. Its jaws are no match for the Iomedan's fine armour though.
In the smoking ruins of his clothes, Hawk staggers. Glad I didn’t have my new hat on.
He was a hair’s breadth from being out of this fight. With the half-pint caster, his rod-wielding pal, and the vicious little swordsman literally in his face… whatever he did now was likely his last shot, so he had to make it count. Preventing himself from being hacked to pieces and breaking the ‘siege of Roger’ at the bluff’s edge seemed like good ideas.
He steps around the swordsman, hoping to use him as a shield, and then weaves his best fire spell. Like a billiard ball, he detonates it in the gap between the swordsman and himself before sending the ball of fire to rebound between Roger’s opponents.
Hoping it appears he was also blasted by the spell along with the swordsman, Hawk collapses on the ground in a heap – playing dead.
2nd Spells (4): x
1st Spells (7): xxxxx x
Dancing Lights (3):
CLW (1):
Effects:
Mage Armor = +4 AC/FF for 4 hrs
Summoning as much sheer power as he can muster, Hawk launches a cracking, roaring jet of fire that burns up the nearest goblin despite its desperate dodge out of the way saving it from taking the full force of the spell. The flames then leap over to the two near Roger and the pair are distracted with the pirate and unable to move quick enough. One staggers and screams, badly hurt but alive, while the other simply collapses to the floor a smoking corpse.
Majara can't easily see the carnage happening on the bluff ahead, hugging the cliff as she is, but she can hear the roar of flames, the sound of screams... Somedays it's a real b!@+& being short and short-legged. She darts forward still keeping to the base of the bluff, hoping to put a stop to the mob of goblins still harassing Emma and Alocer.
With a well-placed toss, Majara’s missile catches the goblin dog full in the face as it explodes with force and blows the unfortunate creature into unrecognisable chunks. The goblins surrounding it are caught in the blast and howl with pain, hopping about and trying to extinguish the flames. The remaining goblins look a rather sorry lot at this point.
"Blasted goblins!" Emma hisses as they swarm before and around her. She holds her shield firmly but a few of the small creatures manage to get past and swipe at her in the weak points of her armor.
One of the goblin dogs comes up and tries to take advantage of the chaos, but fortunately, it isn't able to find purchase and she kicks it off as she turns to the goblins.
Before returning the favor, she whispers a quick prayer to Iomedae and feels a small surge of holy healing energy flow through her, restoring some of the wounds she'd sustained from the goblins.
Then, with a small growl, she steps forward and strikes at them.
Wincing at the miss, Emma trusts that the others will be able to handle the cluster of goblins, which are looking rough, and heads further up the path towards Hawkren to lend a hand and potentially provide a different target for the goblin still harassing them.
Emma’s swing is wide and doesn’t connect with the any of the remaining goblins. Glancing round the bend she can see Hawk lying on the floor and huffs her way up the slope to stand guard over him, trusting her companions to deal with the remaining goblins here.
For a brief moment she may have regretted her action as the goblin she has moved to intercept thrusts its blade through a rare weak point in her armour. That one hurt, but such is the life of a warrior of Iomedae to put her body on the line.
Roger attempts to put down the goblin while it's distracted by the fire- the old one two!
A powerful strike hews the flailing burning goblin down, then Roger crests the hill- well, one of them has a staff, so maybe he does magic stuff that should have a stop put to it! Roger moves forward at the Goblin ominously.
Roger scythes down his opponent before it has a chance to properly put the flames from Hawk’s spell out and its smouldering garments are suddenly irrelevant. Buoyed by this success the pirate chases down the goblin magic user.
As the somewhat smaller mass of goblins continues down the slope towards Nerissia and Majara, Alocer stands firm and snaps left and right, scragging a pair of goblins and suddenly the mob is little more than a trail of broken things: bodies, metal, glass. Emma’s faith in her companions’ ability to deal with them was not misplaced.
Faced by a large angry bearded man wielding an even larger blade, the goblin trusts in its spell defences and takes a few step back. This time it simply spits out ”Guthil, hohl!” followed by another jet of fire.
The last goblin stashes the rod in its belt and draws a scimitar as it practically bounces across the ground to where Roger is stood and thrusts its blade at him. In its bloodlust its aim is off and the curved sword simply glances off the pirate's armour. It laughs as the residual flames from its earlier spell continue to burn, however.
As the burning acid hits him, Roger stumbles back a step. That's not the good kind of burn- the one that a healthy kick of adrenaline'll ignore. Something's in a bad way. Only thing to do is grit your teeth and hope you've got backup.
Hawk is a little touched that Emma raced up the hill to guard him. It seems a kindness that ought to be rewarded. And what was sorcery when it wasn’t shared? Sprawled on the ground he looks at the menacing goblin. ”Let’s see if your luck holds.” He expertly weaves the same spell again and hurls the ball of fire into the little monster’s face.
2nd Spells (4): xx
1st Spells (7): xxxxx x
Dancing Lights (3):
Effects:
Mage Armor = +4 AC/FF for 4 hrs
"Alocer, chase." Nerissia commands, prompting the fennec to double move up the hill arriving next to the goblin with Roger.
Nerissia, on the other hand, launches another arrow towards yellow, precisely avoiding hitting her newfound companions. It flies wide however, the hill throwing off her aim.
Majara sees that the battle is moving on upwards and runs along the base of the cliff, then up, passing the mangled bodies of goblins on the way.
The strike from the goblin hurts, but, even so, it was her goal to take the hit instead of Hawkren. Even prone, Hawkren is able to take out the goblin after it's strike against her, and she gives him a thankful nod before hurrying on to fight beside Roger.
As she moves, she once again calls upon the holy energies of Iomedae to heal herself, letting out a quick exhale at the relief that swirls through her.
Then, coming to a clanking stop beside Roger, she strikes out at the one he's engaged with.
Still reeling from the previous hit and letting the holy energy heal her wounds, Emma winces as her attack goes a bit too wide. Still, the tide seems to have turned, and she's there to hopefully provide a more tempting target for the attackers.
With my current luck, being a target is about all I'm good for in this fight, Emma grumbles to herself.
Roger can only pierce one of the wizard’s illusory doubles but at least his aim is true, which is more than can be said for Nerissia’s arrow and Emma’s sword swing. Despite his prone position, Hawk - not half as unconscious as the unsuspecting goblins realised - unleashes a searing gout of flame into the surprised goblin stood above him. As its charred body hits the deck, the tattoo artists stands, reversing their positions. Alocer and Majara simply hustle to catch up with where the remainder of the battle is being fought. With only two goblins still in the fight, it feels like this might the end game, but both have shown themselves to be worth worrying about.
Now faced with three opponents, the scimitar-wielding goblin sizes them all up. Seeing Emma’s symbol of Iomedae he spits at her, before darting in with his blade and doing nothing to improve either her luck or her mood. ”Swtin el moet,” the spellcaster says and perhaps heeding her words, he dances back.
It readily becomes apparent why this instruction was given as the wizard steps into the rough area vacated by the goblin and chants through the words of a spell and with a thrust of both hands towards the three frontliners a cone of flames engulfs them all.
The residual flames from the goblin's rod continue to burn and combined with the other spell, the fiery assault is too much for the injured pirate and he collapses unconscious on the ground, clearly badly hurt.
"Alocer, charge! Chase them down!" Nerissia calls out, catching up to the group as she readies another arrow. Alocer charges to engage green, providing a distraction for the inquisitor's bow.
"ROGER!" She hopes - prays - that someone else is nearby to care for the pirate. Right now, she has one goal - ensuring that the ones that did this to Roger doesn't get away.
She points her sword toward the one with the scimitar. She hadn't understood what it said, but the implication was clear regardless.
"You're not going anywhere! By Iomedae, you will fall!"
Calling upon the holy energies of her patron, she reaches out and smites the foul creature that has danced away from them.
Hawk doesn’t recognize the spell until the sheet of flames emerges. The goblin’s gestures were entirely different than his own… which was an academic curiosity he couldn’t indulge at the moment.
He watches Roger fall. With no healing magic or skills, he had no way of effectively helping the pirate except by ending the fight as quickly as possible. He staggers into the middle of the battle and hopes… that the little firestarter hasn’t inured himself to fire and that his cagey pal isn’t a skilled thief that can dodge his spell with ease. It was all calculated risks at this point and the goal was to do some damage no matter what.
And, quite frankly, paying the flame mage back in his own coin was poetic… if it worked. Using the dwinding reserves of his magical strength, he lobs another caroming ball of fire between the remaining goblins.
”Swtin el moet,”
”Spit in the moat, yourself.” He says, with a hint of testiness.
2nd Spells (4): xxx
1st Spells (7): xxxxx x
Dancing Lights (3):
Effects:
Mage Armor = +4 AC/FF for 4 hrs
The full force of Hawk’s sorcerous prowess is on display with this blast of fire. Without the protection of her illusory doubles, even with some protection against fire - a wise precaution for an elemental mage - it’s utterly insufficient in the face of the spell. Her body thuds to the floor as the fire arcs over to the last remaining goblin. His back to the rocky outcrop was to prevent him from becoming surrounded but in this case it left him with less room to manoeuvre and his attempt to fling himself away from the blast is too late and he, too, catches it in full. Badly burned he may be, but he is still on his feet.
Once she has a line of sight to the battle, Majara hisses a little at realizing Roger is down. The others can no doubt tend to the last goblin-- she is concerned with making sure the smoking, unmoving form of the pirate is still breathing.
She pulls a vial from her bandolier even as she darts towards him, and by the time she skids to a stop next to the large human it's ready to forcibly pour down his throat. Which she does.