"Why is the elf fighting the orcs while I'm chasing the cook? JERICHO! QUIT MESSING AROUND OVER THERE!" Goliath is known more for his power than his swiftness. "And what happened to the other elf?" Goliath takes momentary shelter in the galley and casts a spell to lengthen his stride.
Ripping his spear free from the dying orc, Ulmo turned and moved towards what was left of the melee. The fighting wasn’t over, and thus it wasn’t time to rest on his laurels or to let his guard down.
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Penny snores on the ground. :)
Round 5: Tark
The orc barbarian continues raging, believing that he can take out the dwarf and the half-elf. He moves 5' west and takes a swing at both of his enemies and misses both poorly.
Round 5: Gash
He acts.
Attack vs. Ulmo: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9
Round 5: Gash
He acts.Ulmo, who has taken 13 damage is now up, followed by Jericho to start Round 7.
”Right. Two again one.” Ulmo muttered as he sheltered behind his shield. Orc berserkers were always such a headache. They never knew when they were dead, let alone when to run. With spear atop shield, he moved to position himself so that he and the elf could flank the orc, so that they could take advantage of their numbers. Once in position he thrust his spear at the orc, forcing him to turn and defend himself against the dwarf (and thus leave himself open to the elf) or vice versa.
Jericho follows suit with Ulmo and moves NE to flank the barbarian.
He then yells to Goliath, "Gimme a sec! I'm coming over soon!"
The orc barbarian makes the fatal mistake of stepping 5' west, allowing Ulmo and Jericho to flank it. It is able to deflect Ulmo's blow harmlessly, but in doing so, it falls prey to Jericho's sword, as it pierces its back and lung, killing Tark, as he screams in pain, before choking on his own blood, and crumbling to the floor.
With the elfs no help, Goliath summons a hunting companion.
A giant spider appears next to Goliath. What do Ulmo and Jericho do? You see no combatants.
Seeing no combatants, Ulmo held his spear at the ready and called out ”Roll call! Anyone hurt? Anyone lost?” He did this in a clear and loud voice, wary that the danger might not yet be past.
Seeing no enemies, Jericho rushes over to Penny, sheathes his sword, and gently pours a potion of cure light wounds down her throat, feeling that she is still warm and not dead.
Penny heals 9 hit points of damage and is conscious.
Penny blinks and returns to he land of the conscious, thanking Jericho for the healing potion,
"He could have learned to cook properly but no...." She mutters climbing to her feet and looking around hoping to see Gash's corpse waiting for her kick.
Goliath will heal himself with his wand, then go hunting for orc with his eight-legged companion.
Goliath searches the ship with his spider companion and with his survival skill and the blood drops that he finds near the railing at the front of the ship, he surmises that the cook jumped overboard and is nowhere to be found.
The rest of the crew recover after about an hour and once again, they are thankful for saving them from the orc barbarian and the treacherous cook.
The Captain asks, "Will you be staying on board until tomorrow to allow Penny to heal or will you be disembarking now?"
”Best to wait a day than to bury a comrade. I can work something up to help as well.” Ulmo replied.
In doing so he handed the pair of potions they found to the half-elf, trusting the foundling to use whatever was needed.
Penny spends a Arcane reservoir point and casts Cure Moderate wounds. The tops herself up with a Cure Light wounds.
Saving the potion for an emergency.
"Does anyone else need healing?" She asks once she's feeling less wounded.
"Luckily, I never got hit. I think Ulmo and Goliath are bleeding however."
Goliath puts his restorative wand to work. "Captain, I really think you should consider a different line of work." The captain would have lost his ship four times over if not for the travelers from Trunau. Absurd that they were the ones paying for passage. "We'll rest here for the night, so we can prepare the appropriate spells for tomorrow." While he does not show it, he is rather excited to find the old druid circle. "At least the trip hasn't been boring."
The captain sneers at Goliath's comment. "How could I predict that our cook would poison the crew to turn us over to an orc barbarian? I thank you all for your assistance, but I wouldn't be in this predicament if I had not agreed to take you to the border of this swamp. And these are the comments that I get?! You may stay the night and then you are to get off my ship at first light." Clearly pissed, the captain storms off.
The party rests for the night and recovers all spells. In the morning, you are escorted off the boat, with the crew quickly disappearing down the river. On the riverbank, you spot a stone carved with a circle of thorns—the marker Silvermane described that will lead you to the entrance to the Vault of Thorns.
You head north, looking for more markers, officially entering the Ghostlight Marsh. The marsh is mainly comprised of slow-moving streams, pools of stagnant water, and waterlogged reeds. On average, the water is 4 feet deep and each square counts as 4 squares of movement.
Ulmo watched the captain go, and thought about calling out after him. But he decided against it. He was far from being eloquent, and the awkwardness of the situation felt insurmountable. At length he decided to wave goodbye to the rest of the crew, as they turned and left.
He attempted to stay stoic, as the land went from bad to worse. It did not take long for him to find himself neck deep in stagnant water. The only thing keeping his head above water was his spear, which made for a perfect walking stick. Gripping it tightly he trudged on, silently hoping that they’d find solid land to walk on. That, and that someone had the magical power to clean them all off. Wet feet and drenched socks were a recipe for long term foot problems.
"The currents, the wildlife, his cargo and his own crew attacked him. Yet it's our fault? More pride than brains!" Penny grumbles, having not being impressed by the boat or its captain.
Penny travels carefully, keeping an eye out for problems.
Jericho was grateful for the lift to the swamp from the captain - it sure beat walking all the way here. He thanked him for his hospitality and the ride when he disembarked.
When the party ached the bog, Jericho looked with disgust as he and the party start wading through the swamp. "This is disgusting. My nice armor and clothes, all getting all wet and maybe worse. And I have no ranged weapons, so it will take a day or more just to reach any monster that pops up in this damn swamp." Jericho was not shy about his b@!~!ing about the swamp.
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Standing up to his neck in the water, Ulmo looked up at the elf and said in a deadpan voice ”Sounds horrible.”
As the party slugs its way through the swamp, a huge creature with 5 serpentine heads rises from the swamp some 40' ahead!
"Oh boy, that's a big one..." Jericho casts Shield on himself and steps forward one square, sword in hand.
Sloshing through the water with spear in hand, Ulmo groaned. He had always expected that he’d die fighting some large monster, but he had hoped to go out with a better name made and with a more heroic death. Given the terrain, he put their chances low. Sadly, retreat seemed even riskier.
”If this goes bad, run.” He said. He knew that there was no way he’d get away. But if even one of them survived, there was the chance of salvaging his reputation if it was reported that it was a valiant rear guard action.
Goliath begins casting a spell that will bring him up close to the hydra's size. "Not my preferred prey, but big enough!"
Round 1: Hydra
The beast's serpentine heads debate whether to attack the elf or the giant druid and in the end choose the bigger prey! The beast charges through its natural habitat, as the bog does not hinder its movement at all! The beast reaches within 10' of Goliath and then its 5 heads attack, but only one draws blood!
Goliath does what he does bust, swinging his hammer in a backwards, vertical arc and walloping one of the hydra's heads on the chin. A devastating uppercut. "Hah! He aint so tough!"
Ulmo tried to say a witty one liner; but only got a mouthful of swamp water for his trouble. Luckily, his spear was long enough to get to grips with the beast.
Penny takes a 5' step and moves 20' away.
She points and fires a Scorching ray
Round 2:
Round 2: Hydra
The hydra heals 5 damage. Its 5 heads full-attack Goliath again, drawing more blood.
Party is up again: Ulmo, Penny, Jericho, and Goliath.
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Penny tries again, her shot much more accurate and hopefully putting a stop to the Hydra's regeneration.
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The dwarf, neck deep in water, grimaced. His comrade was taking a beating, and there was little he could do to alleviate that. Especially as he doubted that the hydra could even see him, given how deep the water was! Keeping his mouth firmly closed he stabbed out with his spear again, attempting for accuracy far more than power.
Goliath shrugs off the fangs of the beast and answers with another thunderous blow to one of the creatures heads.
The combined strikes of the Penny's fire magic, Ulmo's piercing strike, and Goliath's blunt force trauma kill the hydra.
Unfortunately, no treasure is found.
Ulmo winced as the hydra fell, sending a wave of fetid water flowing over the group. Already deep in the water, the dwarf was momentarily submerged. Wiping the water from his eyes he growled. ”Fooking abyss! Let’s bloody well get to some dry land.” Usually he’d be all for stopping to refill their supplies, as part of him did wonder what grilled hydra tasted like. But the terrain was unpleasant enough to drive away any such considerations.
"Well, that was quick and you didn't even need my help. Well done, all!" Jericho smiles at the party.
Goliath grunts in satisfaction, rolling his massive shoulders. Letting the haft of the hammer slide through his calloused fingers until he is gripping it just below the massive hammerhead, the shoanti draws and applies his curative wand. "Hah! I guess dragonhide beats hydra fangs." His dragon scale armor was certainly amongst the finest armor in the land. Stowing the eternally useful wand, he harvests some of the hydras fangs - one from each head - to add to his trophies of big game creatures. "I'll add these to my armor later." The fangs go into a pouch, and he slaps an enormous hand across Jericho's back. "You elves! Always dallying when there's work to be done!" A joke, of course. Goliath is pondering and slow. Jericho got unlucky with the marshy land and the hydra's long reach.
Fully healed, you continue north and reason that the hydra dominated this territory as over the next hours, you do not encounter any further predators. Eventually, the bog water level lowers to 1 feet deep of swamp. In the distance, you see the light of a campfire. Assuming you approach, you can see a red-haired female dwarf clad in armor squatting near a smoldering fire, apparently mumbling to herself, although you are too far to hear what she is saying. You are about 80' away from her and with her focus on the fire, she has not noticed you.
"Dwarf alone in the swamp muttering to herself. Maybe Ulmo should try greeting her while we stay back?" Penny whispers to the group.
Staying low to keep out of sight.
”Sister!” Ulmo called out in their coarse tongue. ”lWhat ails you? This is not a place one should walk alone.” He said this in a clear and loud voice, as he approached her.
The female dwarf strains to look through the bog to see the face of the stranger addressing her. It is not until Ulmo comes within range of her 60' darkvision that she sees him. She calls out in Dwarven, which everyone understands except Goliath, "Filthy greenskin, I shall not be your meal tonight!" "Greenskin" is the dwarven racial slur for orcs and half-orcs.
The female dwarf stands and draws a dwarven waraxe and handaxe in one fluid motion, holding her ground. "Come meet your death, ya scum of a greenskin!" It is clear that she is directing her threat at Ulmo and has not seen the rest of the party.
”Not a green skin! Look at the beard!” Ulmo called out, his eyes wide. Feeling quite put off by the situation he then yelled to the group ”She’s out of her mind! Try not to kill her…”
He held his ground, hoping against hope that she would listen to reason.
"Ok, Ulmo, will try not to hurt her." Jericho double moves 30' (since it is difficult terrain) closer to the female dwarf.
As the ground is not conducive to movement, Goliath casts a spell to aid his movement. "She sounds like she's hallucinating. "
Penny moves closer, she has nothing that can take the female Dwarf down non-lethally so holds her fire until things change.
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