When Moon and Histya stalk forward, Maidie flies a bit higher among the treetops, making sure she’s close enough to quickly come to their aid if needed.
At the sound of combat, she dives forward through the foliage. Seeing the relatively minor threat, she reaches the same conclusion as Moon and selects a non-lethal option to enable the capture of a live prisoner.
She gestures and the ground beneath the goblins is suddenly very slick.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Emerald gives Betzolte a glare when she brings up the spiders.
"Just you wait, Betzolte. Dragons have long memories and I will remember this," she growls. "Maybe I'll convince some fey to steal all your left shoes and boots or one out of every pair of socks."
Betzolte chuckles a bit. "I'm complimenting you, Emerald!" she replies. "Guess I'll have to work on getting myself some cold-iron-toed boots!"
At the battle, she rumbles after Moon and Histya roaring a battle-cry.
"THE HEROES OF KASSEN ARE UPON YOU, GOBBOS! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND YOU MAY LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER NIGHT!"
"I thought she was going to scout back and report," Grobradon admits and races forward to join the action.
Gob 1: 14/35
Gob 2: 9/35
Gob 3: 4/35
Moon and Histya take the trio by surprise, badly mauling two of them, but these goblins are made of sterner stuff than your average goblins, and their eyes light with joy and rage in equal measure as the rest of the Heroes of Kassen stumble onto the scene.
Erigga bolts to one of the goblins.
plus
One of the goblins goes down as it clutches its throat after Erigga rips her khukri through it.
”Stay down and surrender, or you will die much more horribly than that one just did.” Maidie says calmly in Goblin to the two remaining goblins, leveling her wand at them.
Grobradon sees that they're trying to get more to surrender and says in goblin "Stay down, and surrender like she says!"
The goblins grin wolfishly before roaring and attacking. Despite their rage-fueled frenzy, both are cut down swiftly, the Heroes' ambush having proved decisive.
3 small masterwork battleaxes
9 small pilums
3 small masterwork suits of chainmail
3 oil of magic weapon
6 potion of CLW
"What were they doing out here," Emerald asks after she catches up.
"Scouting maybe? But if they were, they did a piss poor job of it," The half orc grunts "Still, good gear here looks like."
Moon searches the corpses for the message they may carry, hoping it was written down.
"Good gear indeed!" Betzolte comments, turning over one of the battleaxes and admiring its craftsmanship. "Either the hag's supplying them well or these are older spoils of battle for them. They'll be much better served in our hands."
Moon doesn't find anything written down, given that goblins think writing will steal the thoughts from their heads. She does find that the leader of the small band does have a map with the Manylegs' camp marked on it.
While the gear is indeed far better than what's found on most goblins, it's of gnomish or dwarven make and pretty old based on the wear and tear. More importantly, it's all sized for smaller folks, like halflings, gnomes, and goblins.
A closer inspection of the goblins reveals wolfish fangs and furry patches on their hides. The apparent leader has a wooden trinket carved to look like a full moon that is painted red and hangs from a leather thong around its neck.
Moon is disappointed they couldn't take one of the creatures alive. The information they had was likely more valuable than their gear.
Moon hides the corpses before they continue on.
Noting Moon's look, Grobradon admits "I'm not sure we CAN take this tribe prisoner. I mean, what if the full moon hits while we've got them in custody?"
With confirmation that they have made contact with the Bloodmoon tribe, Maidie rechecks her alchemical supplies to make sure they have a way to overcome their natural damage resistance.
”A captive would only live long enough to answer questions. These creatures are cursed and, I expect, unremittingly evil. Their blight must spread no further. As I would with undead, I offer them the sword’s redemption – nothing else. If we find Meep with them – and afflicted – I’ll try to save her. But for the rest…” she shakes her head decisively, ”I give no quarter, so don’t ask for it.”
Olmira was unusually forthright when it came to discussing the various were-beasts and their traits. Thinking back on it, she probably knew something about the Bloodmoon tribe.
Were-beasts are hardy and can shrug off most attacks, however, silver causes them harm. Some have more control over their transformations than others, being able to shift at anytime and not just on the nights of a full moon. Those tend to be were-beasts that were born that way. Those that can only transform on the nights of a full moon tend to be those afflicted with the were-beasts' curse.
Were-beasts can pass on their curse by biting or sometimes by clawing their victims. Wolfsbane can help someone break it before it sets in, but it has to be administered before the night of the next full moon. Curing someone after that usually requires powerful magic or even divine intervention, something that your mentor wasn't too pleased to admit.
As you recall all of this, you also remember that Olmira started haring off somewhere ever month around the time of the full moon about a year ago. How strange.
Night falls as you all talk. The clouds cover the sky, but before the winter snows came, the moon wasn't quite half-full. Those versed in the basics of the lunar cycle realize that there's only five days before the next full moon.
Grobradon nods "Okay." He sighs a bit "I sure hope Meep ISN't infected. I still worry about her too."
"Let's hope they aren't feeling that spiteful. It might be kinder to kill her than let her suffer through that," Emerald says.
The ranger switches to her bow and continues on toward the Bloodmoon camp.
Grobradon nods, and also goes to the Bloodmoon Camp.
With the dead goblins relieved of their gear and no better options, the Heroes of Kassen move along, deeper into a section of the Fangwood that grows thick and gnarled.
(+2 more to find food and water if applicable)
Betzolte and Grobradon find the trail leading to the Bloodmoon camp, and they also notice that something appears to be stalking them as the Heroes move through the Fangwood. Goblin and wolf tracks, well hidden and showing atypical care and caution for goblins, cross the path the party follows.
Disturbingly, some of the wolf tracks appear to be much larger than any normal wolf's
"Wolf tracks should not be that damn big, some of them anyway are immense. We're being stalked... goblin and wolf tracks. Maybe one turns to the other even if the moon isn't with us, maybe it's just riding wolves of unusual sized." He grumbles.
”Possibly a warg, a dire wolf, or a werewolf that can control its curse… In any case, I don’t like being stalked. Let’s proceed a bit then double-back and set an ambush.”
Arrows (45): xxxxx
Blunts (45): xxxxx x
Iron Arrows (3):
Lead Blades (1):
Feather Step (1):
CMW (1):
CLW (1):
Magic Fang (1):
Hero Points (3):
Kassen Battle Boon: 1x
Kassen Death Boon: 1x
Lead Blades – Rnd x of 20 – all my melee weapons act as one size larger.
Feather Step – 20 Mins – ignores adverse movement effects and can take 5’ steps in difficult terrain
"Could be a winter wolf," Emerald adds. "Some of them can get pretty big." She looks about nervously. "I wish I were still a dragon. Maybe I could scare them off, then."
With confirmation that they have made contact with the Bloodmoon tribe, Maidie rechecks her alchemical supplies to make sure they have a way to overcome their natural damage resistance.
"Emerald, no point in wishing right now unless you have a magic ring we don't know about."
"This is going be a dangerous battle," Betzolte adds. "The only weapon we've got that can pierce werewolf hide outright is Erigga's dagger."
"Prince Kernan didn't gift me one, no," Emerald says, she tries to put on a brave face, but it's clear that she's frightened by the potential dangers of this coming fight.
It soon becomes clear to Moon that they will need to find and prepare a battlefield soon. Howls can be heard in the distance as the would be hunters seek to make the Heroes of Kassen the hunted. As swiftly as the ranger is able, she finds what looks like a good enough spot, a place where two game trails merge by a frozen stream as it wends its way through a gully.
The howls are closer now, maybe a minute away at best.
Already protected by her mage armor spell, Maidie's first priority is to bolster the group with additional warriors.
As she launces into the summoning spell, she reflects on how much she has learned in a few short week. By now, her summoned allies are both stronger and arrive in greater numbers.
The familiar shape of Cragg-el rises from the ground, accompanied by two similar elemental warriors.
"We're exposed here and our enemies approach from all directions. Our earth-born allies here will help us secure the bottlenecks and give us time to assess the strength of our enemies. I'll post one at each trail, to act as our forward defense. "
Maidie gestures towards the three trails leading into the clearing and gives a few short instructions in Terran. They each salute and move to their assigned posts.
Turning to Grobradon and Betzolte, she adds:
"Don't cast your strongest spells before we see what we're up against. We likely won't have time to rest before we assault the Bloodmoon camp. If these enemies are very strong, I can make you all faster, but only if you stay close together."
"Grob, your entangle spell should be our first line of escalation if there are many of them or they have powerful allies like a winter wolf or werewolf. Use it to slow melee fighters, wolfpacks or spellcasters. Save Call lightning for the camp."
"Betz, use low-power spells like grease or color spray to stop charges and control groups of weaker enemies."
Her spells cast, she rises into the air and readies her wand, prepared to quickly assess the threat and adjust her tactics if needed.
Betzolte nods to Maidie, getting into a battle-ready stance, gripping her axe in both hands.
Grobradon grunts, nods and puts a Magic Fang spell on Histya, hoping that's almost as good as Silver.
And a Barkskin on Moon herself.
Betzolte nods to Maidie, getting into a battle-ready stance, gripping her axe in both hands.
When Betzoltes does not appear to cast any defensive spells, Maidie realizes that she may have overdone her warning to conserve resourses.
”A single protective spell is probably wise, Betz. We need to conserve the good stuff, but we won’t make it to the camp if you get mauled here,” she says, pointing to Grob casting barkskin on Moon.
Then she flaps her wings and rises into the air, out of reach of any wolves or other melee fighters.
Erigga raises her shield and sets herself to defend the others with it. "Get ready..."
Betzolte conjures her illusive duplicates to prepare.
Surrounded by as many illusions as she can muster for now, Betzolte plants her feet and awaits the onslaught.