Soll waits in his hiding spot until one of the riders draws near enough to make a sneak attack with his crossbow.
Crossbow damage 1d8=7, Sneak damage 1d6=1
After firing, he then reloads his crossbow.
Branomonrik will cast mage armor on himself and move to cover if he can
Pavel will fire an arrow at the lead Horseman.
Shortbow attack: 1d20+4=11, 1d6=1
Kelindra will cast Bless, giving a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saving throws to her companions.
Pavel's shot goes wide, but Soll's is dead on, hitting one of the banner carriers and nearly knocking him off of his horse.
Seeing that the riders are still some distance. Gin draws a javelin and let's it fly.
Flowing instantly into humanoid form, Gal begins to cast a spell. As the last word of the incantation is finished the tress and plants along the road all around the raiders begin to move and writhe, trapping and binding the riders and horses.
OOC-Actions:
Gal casts Entangle gauging the 40' spread to encompass all or as many of the riders as possible as they move into and through it along the road. (DC20 strength or escape artist save each round or be entangled)
Gin's javelin pierces the shoulder of one of the riders while Gal's spell manages to trap about half the riders in vines and roots. Branamonrik uses the opportunity to cast a spell as well. Ivo's sling also hits, but how badly cannot be determined. The free riders stop and begin to hack at the plants entangling their comrades.
Pavel fires another arrow from his short bow, preferably at an already wounded rider that is trying to free a companion.
1d20+5=22, 1d6=6
Remaining amongst the rocks for cover, Soll fires another bolt at the rider he hit previously, and then reloads.
Pavel's arrow flies true and slams into the rider already wounded by Gin. The impact of the shot knocks him off of his horse and the man falls to the ground, twitches for a second, and then lays still.
Gin draws his last havelin and lets it fly.
He dismounts his horse, and prepares to move in.
Pavel's arrow flies true and slams into the rider already wounded by Gin. The impact of the shot knocks him off of his horse and the man falls to the ground, twitches for a second, and then lays still.
Kelindra is kind of useless without a missle weapon. If she can attack with her longsword, she will. Otherwise, she'll hang back and watch for anyone who needs healing.
To hit: 1d20+2 = 10
Dmg: 1d8+2 = 9
[Edit, corrected strength bonus]
Two more riders drop under the fierce onslaught of Gin and Soll. Kelindra holds back, waiting for the riders to charge forward. Instead, the riders wheel there horses around and ride off, leaving two still trapped in the vines.
Pavel calls to the men trapped by Gal's entangle spell.
"Horsemen! Drop your weapons and you will be spared!"
Seeing the remainder of the horsemen ride off, Soll keeps his crossbow trained on the remaining two riders, ready to fire at any false move.
The two riders move to drop their weapons. Then as they take their daggers from the belts, the both plunge them into their chest before you can intervene.
"Cover me" Ivo shouts and begins to move towards the slain foe. He will approach carefully, and begin to search the bodies.
Pavel curses, mostly to himself.
"Buncha zealot drama queens..."
I will approach the riders' horses in order to round them up either for later sale or use.
Wild empathy: 1d20+2=5
Gin follows beside Pavel, sword at the ready.
Soll looks off in the distance towards the direction the riders went. He is trying to determine if they might return, possibly with reinforcements.
As Pavel approaches the horses, several of them buck and whinny and the run away. Soll is pretty sure that the riders will not be back anytime soon.
Snorting in derision at Pavel's efforts, Gal speaks to the panicked animals in their own language, calling to the ones who ran away. He comforts them and lets them know they will be treated well, likely much better than they have been Wild Empathy (1d20+8=24))
After calming and gathering the horses, the strange and wild druid stops and looks at Pavel, seeming thoughtful as he does so. Approaching the ranger he says "I think I may have been rude before, I apologize. I know you tried your best, I just have a... special way with my animal brothers. Please forgive my way, I am still more easy among animals than men" and with this lengthy, for him, speech, the Wild Druid turns back to the horses, continuing to speak with and comfort them.
"Sure, man, no problem. I'll let you get acquainted."
Once Ivo's done rifling through the Horsemen's pockets, Pavel will enlist some aid from the rest of the party to move the bodies a few meters out of the road.
"Good work, let's get a move on."
The horsemen do not really have anything of value other than their armor and their axes. Once the bodies are moved and you head on your way the rest of the day goes smoothly, giving you a chance to talk.
"Interesting day so far. Not often you're attack by raiders. I wonder what they wanted"
"Interesting day so far. Not often you're attack by raiders. I wonder what they wanted"
Kelindra shakes herself out of her introspection. "Well, they obviously didn't want to talk. Strange their just attacking out of the blue. Couldn't have been bandits as I've never met one willing to take his own life if he failed to get his mark..."
"Surely you've heard of the Horsemen of Vangal? They're a blight on the Plains of Lede."
Pavel gets a far-away look in his eye as he recites information from his briefs in the Vigil.
"Bandits, see, they're easy to understand: they want something, you have it, they take it for their own use or sale. Horsemen, on the other hand, are zealots. Crazed followers of bloody Vangal, spreading mayhem and disease in his unholy name. Hell, they even imitate him, the way they fight with two axes from horseback, grow out their beards to be long and disgusting. They make nothing, they sell nothing; they burn, pillage, raze and destroy anything in their path. No mercy. No surrender."
"It's rumored that their leader is a man cursed by the dread god himself. He's been pronounced dead numerous times, only to ride out again at the head of a legion of horsemen. They've only ever united behind him; they got no command structure. I think the god's curse is more on us than on him. The only mercy, if you can call it that, is that they'll kill Titanspawn as much as they'll murder the Divine races."
He makes a sign to Madriel and shakes his head.
"Truth be told, I was a little nervous of what we would find in their back trail."
The half-orc nods gravely at Pavel's words.
"Many orcs bad, but some talk, not fight. Those men... no talk ever. Only fight.
Don't think they come back, though..."
Night falls and the echoing cry of a wolf drifts across the plain. There are no lights except the small fire in the center of your camp. It seems, at least at this moment that you could easily be the last people on Skarn.
I suggest letting the spellcasters sleep longest (first or last watch) to get their rest and we want someone with darkvision in the middle watch. Also, Pavel will quietly move to keep Branomonrik and Gal on separate watches. So:
1st-Gin, Ivo, Branomonrik
2nd- Soll, Pavel
3rd-Gal, Kelindra
Soll has no problem with this rotation...
Gin makes himself comfortable beside the fire.
Ivo is to wound up to go to sleep right away so he spends his watch exploring the general area, and bothering whoever else is awake. Finally towards the end of the watch the long day catches up with him and he is actually ready when his time comes to sleep.
Branomonrik spends his time study and making notes. Somewhere there is a connection to this shadow and they must find it.
The first two watches pass without incident.
Gal sees to the horses for the night, making sure they are safe, confidant, fed and watered. He will bed down by them too. When his turn to guard comes about, he will remain mostly quiet and watchful (1d20+6 =14) (+2 for sight & sound checks) , speaking only when spoken too.
The last watch of the night passes silently. Then, just as dawn begins to paint the sky pink, Kelindra and Gal her the sounds of someone or something moving around just outside the camp.
Making sure Kelindra hears the noise and is ready, Gal draws his greatclub and cast the cantrip Light exactly in the area he hears the sound (on a bush or whatever)
Three humanoid creatures slightly taller than a man appear to be heading toward your camp.
Ivo sleeps with a soft snore, dreaming of mounds of gravy smothered turkey, and mounds of hot raisin cakes.
Pavel's instincts, honed by his life in the wild, alert him that things are out of the ordinary. He awakens completely alert.