Signaling Ghost to guard her from attack, Saélihn raises her bow in preparation for the creatures to attack
Ghost takes a step forward, ready to fight.
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The creatures turn to face the party, raising their horns as if signaling to each other. They advance, stomping through the muddied ground toward the heroes.
Uncomfortable with their proximity, Saélihn fires an arrow, striking one with enough force to knock it over. A loud snort escapes from the fallen creature, while the others groan at the sight of their fallen friend.
Gronilda, Grymwold, Saélihn, Ghost, Lizzie
Green, Blue, Yellow
Zarena
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Gronilda feels the divine power of Erastil coursing through her veins, and she knows it's time to call upon his blessing. She whispers a quick prayer, invoking Erastil's power of nature to grant her the strength needed for this battle "Erastil, grant me your strength to protect my companions and guide my hand in battle."
As she finishes her prayer, her form grows to an impressive size, towering over the bog. She then swings her battleaxe at the nearest horned beast .
The beasts are likely to provoke moving through the difficult bog, and she will profit to swing at them again.
Saélihn studies the advancing creatures, trying to determine what she can of their nature, even as she sends another arrow flying toward the creature at the back of the pack
Ghost growls, a deadly warning as he watches the advancing canines.
Zarena slogs through the bog until she can get a better line of sight at the creatures, then she launches a ball of acid at Green.
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Gronilda whispers a prayer, doubles in size, and then swings her axe mightily, wounding the animal enough to finish it.
Saélihn recognizes these as switchback jackals, animals native to the Nesmian Plains (the region in which the Fangwood lies). Normally they'd be found in the rocky foothills, but water attracts them as well. Saélihn knows the jackals prefer to surround their prey and overwhelm them with combined attacks.
Once she's finished sizing up the creatures, she launches an arrow, taking down a third jackal. Zarena lobs some acid, but the remaining jackal sees it coming and dodges.
Gronilda, Grymwold, Saélihn, Ghost, Lizzie
Blue
Zarena
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The jackals going down pretty fast, Lizzie wonders if she shouldn't simply preserve ammunition, but decides it might be better to just fling at it anyway.
Grym is content to let the ranged barrage take care of the Jackals wary of wading through the bog
But if any come within striking distance
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The last of the jackals turns suddenly, digs its hooves into the soft mud and starts to flee due south.
With the jackals taken care of, you get a better chance to look around the area... and notice a body lying in the bed of a creek stemming off the main river. The body has been brutalized, and its face is almost unrecognizable beneath the bruises and wounds. Next to the body lies a bloodied .
... Wait a minute. Leaning in to closely look at it, you do recognize the corpse. This is the body of trapper Gilida Dravonich, a part-time resident of Phaendar.
The wounds on the body seem to have come from the same sort of weapons the hobgoblins use, and upon closer inspection, you find a broken black fingernail in one of the wounds.
While the injuries were fatal, none of the blows look lethal. Instead, the wounds seem to be shallow and carefully placed to cause pain and a slow death.
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Gronilda lowers her axe as the last jackal runs away "Is everyone ok?"
Gronilda's face darkens as she observes the telltale signs of hobgoblin weapons and the broken black fingernail. The shallow, carefully placed wounds tell a story of pain and torment "This poor soul met a cruel end. These wounds... they were inflicted by hobgoblins. And none of them were intended to be instantly lethal. This was torture."
She pauses, lifting the bloodied handy haversack and showing it to the group. She checks inside in case there is something of interest.
Zarena leans closer to the body, concerned.
Oh Gilda, what have they done to you?
Saélihn's expression darkens at the discovery of Gilda's body, and its condition, the young huntress swearing to herself to bring a painful death to as many hobgoblins as she can.
FU*@$#$#CKIN HOBS! Poor Gilida
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The river flows southward for a while, providing a refreshing sight amidst the dark, dense forest. For the villagers, surely a permanent water source will be a welcome relief. Carrying along the path, the river curves eastward, and as you look further south, you notice something in the trees.
The forest grows thicker here, trees pressed close together with their branches intertwined. A gloom hangs in the air. Foliage around the base of the trees is sparse, stunted by lack of sunlight. The songs of birds and noises of small animals have ceased, adding to the eerie atmosphere of the ancient woods. Ahead, you notice a large tree house built up above the muddied water.
" WQe should scout the area before we approach, there's likely to be some kind of defenses." Saélihn says quietly.
Good point. Can you tell if any hobgoblins have been around here?
Agreed with the scouting, but don't get too far away that we can't rush in and help if needed
Gronilda nods in agreement, stepping cautiously toward the bridge "I'll check the bridge and make sure it's safe for us to cross" she says, moving with deliberate care.
As she reaches the bridge, she examines it closely, checking for any signs of traps or instability. If it appears secure, she crosses carefully, keeping her senses alert for any danger. Once across, she surveys the house, looking for any signs of movement or potential threats.
Moving forward carefully, Saélihn scouts the area for any signs of danger, defenses or recent activity.
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Saélihn and Gronilda advance on the bridge, their eyes peeled for danger. It's a good thing too, because Saélihn notices a nearly invisible strand of webbing tied tightly across the path in front of the bridge, hoping to ensnare anyone approaching.
Up above in the trees, she also notices a large spider dangling from its web just above her head.
Should we just yell and state our business? I can't believe rangers wouldn't have someone watching.
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Carefully moving back to the others, the huntress keeps her voice low.
"There's something watching...giant spider right above where I was standing." Saélihn whispers, being careful not to look up. "That's a trigger line." she says nodding toward the strand of webbing tied tightly across the path in front of the bridge.
Lizzie was quietly walking alongside the others.
As things grew quiet, something felt amiss.
"I don't like this, what happened to all the sounds?"
, but the cause she hears from Saéhlin.
Gronilda turns to look at the spider Saélihn is signaling "Mmmm... I do not like this... if someone is in the house, they might be in danger by this spiders..."
With some care, Gronilda looks for a fallen branch or a big boulder and throws it at the web strands by the bridge to see what happens.
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It's eerily quiet, with no voices coming from the treehouse ahead. Saélihn whispers to the others of the danger present, while Zarena suggests calling out to the inhabitants. Lizzie peers around, but doesn't notice anything beyond what Saélihn had already noted.
Gronilda finds a nearby stone, which she whips at the web. The rock snaps the web with a resounding crack, sending vibrations through the trees. Immediately, the air fills with the rustling of leaves and the ominous skittering of creatures above.
The spider quickly moves towards the trunk. Another spider emerges, and worse, a hideous creature with the face of a spider crawls out from hiding.
"Welcome to our web, little flies," it groans. "Struggle all you want. You'll only make it easier for us to feast on your flesh."
It spits something down at Saélihn, and the hunter finds herself ensnared in a thick ropy web. The spiders shoot webs at Ghost and Grymwold, and both find themselves covered in a disgusting mess of webbing. The three climb down the trunks of the trees.
Who's up
Spiders
??? (DC 13 Dungeoneering to ID)
Saélihn (Entangled vs DC 15), Ghost (Entangled vs DC 12), Lizzie, Zarena, Grymwold (Entangled vs DC 12), Gronilda
Grym bursts through the webbing, draws his scimitar(move), takes a quick step(5ft) toward the nearest spider and swipes at it with his blade
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Letting out a curse as the sticky webbing slams into her, momentarily hampering her movement, Saélihn calls upon her bond with the natural world, drawing on the speed and agility of a tiger to effortlessly slip out of the webbing as if it wasn't even there.
Her bow snaps up, an arrow knocked and sent streaking toward the vile spider-faced menace.
Nimbly leaping free of the entangling webs, Ghost also attacks the creature having just climbed down.
Lizzie steps 5ft southeast, and flings a bullet at the spider near Grymwold.
Zarena moves forward, then casts Acid Splash at Green.
"You better run!" Gronilda shows her holly symbol to the red spider while asking Erastil for a cause fear.
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Grymwold and Saélihn use their strength and agility to burst out of the webbing. Saélihn locks her bow on spider-face and fires, impaling its shoulder. Grymwold can't get residual web out of his eyes and whiffs, while Lizzie lobs a bullet at a spider, taking out a few of its many eyes.
Gronilda holds up her holy symbol and tries to get into the spider's mind, but nothing seems to happen.
The spider-faced creature snarls, yanking the arrow from its shoulder with a twisted grin. It takes a step back, then spits more web at Ghost, but the wolf hops over it. The two spiders advanced on Gronilda and Grymwold, snapping at the heroes, but both easily evade the attacks.
Who's up
Spiders (Green -6, Red)
Spider-faced menace (-6)
Saélihn, Ghost, Lizzie, Zarena, Grymwold, Gronilda
Zarena lobs another glob of acid at Green.
She is distracted though, looking at the other spiders and hoping they will get closer to each other, because that would be a good set up to blast them with fire.
It would also risk a forest fire of course, with all the webbing around, but hopefully it would also get additional hidden spiders. A hard call, and one she wasn't going to make quite yet, but she kept an eye out for her chance.
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Gronilda is genuinely surprised the spiders are not scared by the presence of her god. She grasps her axe with strength as she swiftly starts to grow into a giant version of herself "Well, then, die beast!"
As the slice goes wide, she tries to call Pawnies for help.
The dog responds howling and coming around to bite the spider.
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Grym takes a mighty swing at the nearest spider
Saélihn takes another shot at the spider-faced creature, this one thudding into a tree trunk as she commands Ghost to press the attack.
Ghost spring forward, jaws snapping viciously at the spider creature.
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Zarena's acid misses its mark, splashing into the trunk of a tree and sending up a plume of steam as it burns through the bark. Gronilda, baffled that her deity's power couldn't frighten the creature, swings wide in her confusion - but her trusty companion leaps to her side and bites a chunk of spider leg for dinner.
Grymwold, fed up with whiffing attacks, digs his feet firmly into the ground and swings his axe in a wide arc, cleaving the spider in two.
Saélihn misses her mark, but Ghost advances and snaps at the creature's ankle, his fangs sinking in. The creature grunts as purple fluid pours from the wound.
Who's up
Spiders (Green, Red -2)
Spider-faced menace (-12)
Saélihn, Ghost, Lizzie, Zarena, Grymwold, Gronilda
Lizzie double moves to get near her companions, seeing the wolf bite deep into the creature's ankle.
She can't help but let out a soft "good Ghost".
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Lizzie advances. The wounded spider-faced menace shakes off Ghost, then claws and bites at the wolf.
It comes away with a chunk of furry flesh in its jaws and what might pass as a wicked grin if its face wasn't so warped. "You'll regret challenging me, little flies," it hisses menacingly.
The spider skitters around Gronilda, closing in for a bite, but she sidesteps its attack like a chef avoiding the splatter of hot oil.
Who's up
Spiders (Green, Red -2)
Spider-faced menace (-12)
Saélihn, Ghost (-8, DC 15 Fort), Lizzie, Zarena, Grymwold, Gronilda
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With an angry snarl, Ghost continues to attack the creature, trying to sink his fangs in again.
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A near identical snarl rises in Saélihn's throat as she sees her companion savaged by the spider creature, her aim true, focused on sending an arrow right down the bastard's taunting throat.
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"We will not fly into your malignant web of crimes beast!" Gronilda shouts in response, a bit worried to see her friends to be bitten, but resolute to stop the spiders by working together with Pawnies against red.
The dog keeps trying to fight the same spider.
Grym rushes toward the hideous spider-man? creature
Zarena moves forward and throws acid at the spider-faced creature.
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Saélihn's pure rage at Ghost's injuries hones her aim, and she unleashes a deadly bolt targeted at the center of the creature's head, impaling it. It slumps over and gurgles up some bile.
Gronilda finishes off the remaining spider with a well-placed slash to the face.
In the trees above, you notice the remains of many webbed creatures; most animals, but some humanoid. Zarena senses magical auras emanating from the clothing and equipment webbed up with two of the corpses.