Aeryn calls her bat to come to her as she runs towards the screams.
Bowen rushes out the door, "What can it be now?"
Rall rushes into the woods first, followed by Balnar and then by Bowen. Each man is about ten to twenty feet away from the other, moving in a line.
There are no more cries and all seems quiet and still under the trees. Sunlight shines green through the leaves but further in, it fades as the tall trees grow ever thicker.
As the men rush into the woods, the two women burst out of them, and into the clearing. In the middle of the clearing is an old hut, its doorway open. The trees around the clearing are all twisted as if they have striven over the years to grow away from the hut and the small clearing.
Listen Check: (1d20+6=26) (Yay for 20's)
Rall comes to a stop about two hundred feet into the woods, unsure of which way to go. It is getting darker as the sunlight grows dimmer and there is a small ravine running across his path, in front of him. Behind him he can hear the others moving towards him.
Just as Aeryn arrives at the clearing she notices her shoe laces have come undone, she then precedes to bend down and tie them.
As Arla bursts out of the clearing, she comes to a stop, glancing around at the hut and the twisted trees. Unable to hear any more screams, she takes a step closer to the strange hut.
"Did it come from there?"
I look towards Bowen to see if he notices any tracks.
As Rall turn’s to look at Bowen, he can just make out the halfling following behind. Only Balnar is not surprised by what happens next, for he hears the creaking of the branches above and turns in time to see the massive hairy form in the trees above.
The wolf in the woods: Surprise Round
The Beast – Initiative: 14
Balnar – Initiative: 14
A shaggy beast, only dimly visible in the gloom, drops the ten feet to the ground, right behind Fee. It towers above the diminutive priest and just before it slashes with one massive claws it lifts its muzzle and howls.
Claw Attack: (1d20+3=17)
Damage: (1d4+1d6+1=7)
The halfling and the monster at his back are forty feet from Balnar. Moving in a straight line will require moving through difficult terrain. The distance can be covered over cleared ground, but not in a straight line.
The wolf in the woods: Round 1
Rall – Initiative: 19
Aral – Initiative: 19
The Beast – Initiative: 14
Balnar – Initiative: 14
Aeryn – Initiative: 13
Bowen – Initiative: 7
The two women, near the hut, hear a howl from the woods on the other side of the clearing.
The monster is fifty feet from Rall and twenty feet from Bowen. The halfling is between Bowen and the creature, but otherwise the way is clear.
Round 1: move 40' to within reach of the beast, activating rage and power attack(1) and taking a swing...
Attack Roll: (1d20+4=24) - Critical threat!
Confirmation Roll: (1d20+4=9) - fail to confirm (dang)
Round 2: If he is still in my face, beat on him again. If not, charge if I can (Add 2 to attack and damage).
Attack Roll: (1d20+4=6) - (miss either way)
Bowen calmly stalks up to the creature looking for a shot.
And swings his scimitar looking for a hit.
As Arla finishes speaking, she hears a howl from the woods close by. The thought flashes across her mind that it could be the beast that they'd been tracking.. or it could be a perfectly innocent animal in the woods.
Given the scream moments before, she decides not to take the chance. Breaking out into a run again, she sprints across the clearing in the direction of the howl, assuming that Aeryn and Ash will be close by. The strange hut is forgotten for now.
Rall shoots an arrow in the direction of the creature. He intended to shoot the arrow at the creature but his aim sucks.
Aeryn follows Arla as she runs across the clearing towards the creature.
Aeryn follows Arla as she runs across the clearing towards the creature.
Surprise Round Summary: The monster jumps behind Fee, attacking with a claw. Balnar moves forward, into attack range.
Round One: Rall lets fly an arrow and misses badly. Arla and then Aeryn rush across the clearing and enter into the woods, heading towards the source of the howl. Fee stumbles backwards and clutching his holy symbol utters a panicked prayer. His wounds close as divine light washes over his body. Undeterred, the monster stalks closer to him and attacks with tooth and fang:
The wolf attacks: (1d20+3=17, 1d20+3=6, 1d20-1=15)
The halfling manages to avoid the long teeth and one claw but the other scratches him up alongside the face. damage: (1d4+1=2)
Balnar at the same time swings a mighty blow, but though his axe head connects, and the beast snarls at him, it doesn’t produce the bloody wound that Balnar thinks it should. . Bowen in the meantime, moves up alongside Fee and attacks, but the beast ducks intelligently under the blow.
Though the monster looks savage, there is an intelligence in it’s eyes and it is moving on two legs. Now that they are closer, Balnar and Bowen can see it has the head of a wolf but it is not a wolf. Furthermore and more disturbing, it is wearing clothing! And the clothing looks identical to that worn by Jeva.
The wolf in the woods: Round 2
Rall – Initiative: 19
Arla – Initiative: 19
Fee – Initiative: 17
The Beast – Initiative: 14
Balnar – Initiative: 14 (already acted)
Aeryn – Initiative: 13
Bowen – Initiative: 7
Arla and Aeryn are about a hundred feet from the action and they can hear the clear cries of battle and the growls of a ferocious animal.
Rall realizes his skills at archery are if anything worse than his skill with the sword, still Flea is in trouble! He runs towards the creature pulling his sword and hoping Flea will still be alive when he gets there.
Hearing the sounds of fighting and growling, Arla continues to sprint for the source of the noise, attempting to avoid branches and roots as she re-enters the forest again. If something bad is going on (which it sounds like it is), she hopes that they're not too late.
Fee scoots back away from the beast once more, this time casting Bless upon the group.
With the halfling scooting back, away from the fight, rather than move between Bowen and Balnar, the wolf monster chooses to instead focus her attentions on the two men. She leaps at Balnar. And though Balnar keeps the Jaws away from his throat, the savage claws tear at him.
Attacking Ballnar with claws and Fangs: (1d20+3=15, 1d20+3=21, 1d20-1=2)
Damage: (1d4+1=3, 1d4+1=3)
As she attacks, she circles around Balnar, a little further away from Bowen.
Aeryn continues to run towards the fray, hoping it wont be all over by the time she gets there.
The Chronicler & Arla
do arla and aeryn have a good enough view yet to conclude that this is the monster they have been hunting?
As she attacks, she circles around Balnar, a little further away from Bowen.
Is she only moving 5 feet around me? or should I get an attack of opportunity due to her moving through threatened areas?
Is she only moving 5 feet around me? or should I get an attack of opportunity due to her moving through threatened areas?
As she attacks, she circles around Balnar, a little further away from Bowen.
Bowen eyes and tries once again to move into a position that will force the creature to split it's attention between himself and Balnar.
Bowen again swings his scimitar but the creatures clothing distracts him and he is unable to land a blow.
Rall, terrified to be in melee combat, swings his sword somewhere near the monster. 1d20+2=4; 1d8+2=5
The wolf in the woods: Round 3
Rall – Initiative: 19 (already acted)
Arla – Initiative: 19
Fee – Initiative: 17
The Beast – Initiative: 14
Balnar – Initiative: 14
Aeryn – Initiative: 13
Bowen – Initiative: 7
Arla and Aeryn come within sight of the fight. In the dim light of the woods they can see a hulking, hairy wolf-beast attacking a group of men. It growls as it attacks and the sounds are almost like some insane laughter. Both women are within charge range.
Balnar is the one the beast is attacking and has some injuries. Fee was hurt but has since healed himself.
After taking a split second to take in the scene in front of her, Arla notices that the large man that the beast is focusing its attacks on has already sustained some injuries.
She makes a dash across the clearing towards him and the wolf-beast, intending on attempting to heal his wounds once she reaches him.
Once more the savage monster attacks Balnar with claws and fangs. One of the savage claws finds a mark.
Attacking Balnar again: (1d20+3,1d20+3, 1d20-1=[1, 3], [19, 3], [1, -1])
Damage: (1d4+1=3)
Balnar needs to make a fortitude saving throw.
Ensuring that he is now in a flanking position with Rall, Balnar swings again...
Aeryn moves 20ft closer to the combat (by my calculations that puts me 20ft away) draws her crossbow and prepares to fire a silver bolt.
Balnar's attack, once more seems slightly less effective than it should be. It is enough however to make the creature decide it has had enough of the fight and it yips in pain and then starts to back away from Balnar.
Bowen once again steps up and takes a swing at the beast. Now concentrating only on the fight at hand.
The wolf in the woods: Round 4
Rall – Initiative: 19 (already acted)
Arla – Initiative: 19
Fee – Initiative: 17
The Beast – Initiative: 14
Balnar – Initiative: 14
Aeryn – Initiative: 13
Bowen – Initiative: 7
Bowen's attack, though it would have skewered almost any living man, is still not enough to slay the beast. With a growl and a snap of its teeth it prepares itself to flee.
Rall, embarrassed at not having been able to do more than swat at the fleas abandoning the creature, slashes at the beast twice in quick succession.
Arla glances at the hulking wolf-beast before turning her attention to the large, wounded man with the axe. "I'm just going to help heal your wounds", she calls to him before speaking an incantation. Her hands glow faintly, and she moves to cast Cure Light Wounds on Balnar.
Aeyrn attempts a shot at the creature,
The wolf headed monster stumbles away and as it does so, it is beset by attacks on all sides.
Strangely, none of the attacks seem to truly be a death blow, though its blood flows freely and its breath comes as ragged. Finally a silver bolt flies through the air and embeds itself in the creature's throat and the shaggy monster falls to the ground, completely unmoving.
Slowly the fur recedes and the shape changes until all that is left on the ground is the battered body of a thirteen year old girl.
"More ... dead ... children," Rall mutters before stumbling to a tree and throwing up.
With a primal roar, Balnar imbeds his axe in the closest tree and sits down, the power of his rage now burning his own muscles. "It had to be the kid didn't it?" he asks rheotrically.
Walking towards the body and the group, Aeryn is obviously distraught by the sight of her bolt protruding from the girls throat.
"A girl... nobody said it would be a young girl..." Aeryn begins to sob quietly as it occurs to her that only a few years separate her and the dead girl.