Nuveril growls at Linah without taking her eyes off the gnolls across the way, where the flame witch disappeared. "You won't find Arjun standing here and arguing. If he has any sense, he'll have fled down out of the city. Start moving." Taking her own advice, she moves down the hill until she has her back to a building , then taking a stand to cover Linah's retreat. "Curs!" she shouts at the gnolls across the way, banging her hammer against her madu. "Cowards! Come and die like your packmates!"
Khalid and Nuveril move toward the granary and the battling Sajan. Grall does likewise, his thrown javelin taking the wounded gnoll in the neck and it drops with a wet gurgle.
The axewielders on the path seem pretty happy to limit their involvement to protecting the archers and wait for further reinforcements before pressing you further. They hold their axes ready.
The lone original bowman retaliates with a shot at Felliped. The shot is powerful but clinks harmlessly off the granary wall several feet above the gnomes head.
Arrow miss
Fighting Retreat!
Round 4
Ordered Initiative
Victoria 21
Linah 19
Granary Gnoll 16
Axewielders from Hyena Group 14
Sajan 12a
Archers 12b from Hyena Group
Khalid 11
Nuveril 10
Grall 7
Guard Gnolls 3
Effects
Bulls Strength (Grall) (1 round left)
Shield of Faith (Khalid) (1 round left)
Bless (Khalid, Linah, Grall)
Felliped moves with alacrity to follow the others, making her way around the granary corner and toward the rest of the group.
Round 4, intiative 19
Linah takes one last look at the path which she thinks Arjun fled down, then turns to run towards the slope (.
The last gnoll left in the attacking group has nowhere to run and little hope and swings wildly at Sajan with all of its desperate strength behind the blows. A final horizontal cut manages to beat the monk's blocks drawing a long thin cut down Sajan's chest.
Axe (power attack)
The axewielders from the hyena group do not move. You seem to have broken their will to pursue (at least to melee) for now.
Sajan attempts to finish off the Gnoll that just cut him.
Tally-
9 gnoll kill
1 demon kill
3 hyena
1 hyenadon
I'll keep it on my profile.
The gnoll manages to partly fend off Sajan's attacks, getting its shield in the way of the first few blows but taking the rest.
The archers focus their fire on Nuveril but the agile halfling manages to neatly take one of the arrows on her madu and the other goes wide.
Arrow 1
Arrow 2
@ Khalid
Get the rrrest of the grrroup out of here, Sajan and I can finish this one and move fasterrr than the rrrest of you to easily catch up! he pleads...
Charge at the last Gnoll.
Grall will drop out of rage as a free action, panting with the effort spent.
You drop the last gnoll in your way and head back down the ramp the same way you came, using the broken buildings on the second tier to shield you from further arrows. Grall and Sajan bring up the rear, Grall panting from fatigue.
You make it down to the bend between the first and second tier. Looking behind you it appears as if more gnolls have reinforced those remaining and the group as a whole has moved forward to the flat section between the granary and the guildhall. The later now appears to be merrily burning, sending plumes of black smoke up into the sky.
You realise you'll have to run a gauntlet of ranged fire to make it past the gatehouse and into the lower town.
There is no sign of Arjun.
Felliped looks a little worried. There can't be that many with bows. If we run I'm sure we can make it.
If you have any healing left, this would be a prudent time to use it. Sajan says.
Once in cover, Linah returns her scimitar to it's scabbard. Leaning against the wall she breaths heavily and clutches the wound on her side. Reaching within herself she emits her last bursts of healing energy.
Invigorated by the divine grace she grabs her shield and readies her self to run.
Edit:
Once in cover, Linah returns her scimitar to it's scabbard. Leaning against the wall she breaths heavily and clutches the wound on her side. Reaching within herself she emits her last bursts of healing energy.
2d6
2d6
Once in cover, Linah returns her scimitar to it's scabbard. Leaning against the wall she breaths heavily and clutches the wound on her side. Reaching within herself she emits her last bursts of healing energy.
2d6
2d6
Once in cover, Linah returns her scimitar to it's scabbard. Leaning against the wall she breaths heavily and clutches the wound on her side. Reaching within herself she emits her last bursts of healing energy.
2d6
2d6
Grall follows behind, turning periodically to dare the remaining Gnolls to shoot at him.
Linah runs forward as fast as she can.
Nuveril will stay to the rear with Grall and Sajan, at least as willing to face the gnolls' arrows as they are
Nuveril will stay to the rear with Grall and Sajan, at least as willing to face the gnolls' arrows as they are
1
Saj
Lin
Kha
Nuv
Grall
Vic
Lin
Kha
2
Saj
Lin
Kha
Nuv
Grall
Vic
Kha
Linah
!
3
Saj
Lin
Kha
Nuv
Grall
Vic
Kha
!
Sajan
4
Saj
Lin
Kha
Nuv
Grall
!
Vic
Khalid
Sajan
!
5
Saj
Lin
Kha
!
Nuv
Grall
Vic
Khalid
!
Linah
6
Saj
Lin
safe
Kha
!
Nuv
!
Grall
Vic
safe
Nuv
Nuv
Sajan
Khalid
7
Saj
Lin
safe
Kha
safe
Nuv
safe
Grall
Vic
safe
Sajan
!
Grall
8
all safe
Crits
Grall no
Sajan no
You move with purpose around the bend as the gnoll archers take up firing positions near the granary. Of the half dozen gnolls who have joined the others only two appear to have bows, leaving 8 archers in total. Their first long range shots arc out into the air as you move into a trot (and for some a flat out run), first the longer range recurves followed a few moments later by the longbows. Most fall short, only Nuveril is troubled enough to change direction to avoid a hit.
You cross the 200’ away mark splitting into three pairs: Linah and Felliped running in the front, Khalid and Nuveril in the middle and Sajan and Grall in the rear, the later two moving slowly but keeping their movements defensive. This seems to momentarily confuse the majority of the gnolls who aren’t sure who to target. They seem to fire at you more or less randomly while the two with recurves seem to focus on the human members of the group.
The arrows fall more closely this time but only Linah takes a hit. A shot to the left shoulder from one of the rangers which numbs her entire arm .
You continue on, Linah and Felliped making it just short of the gnolls.
Another volley and this time Khalid takes an arrow in the ribs from the other ranger , yanking it out he trots on.
And then Linah and Felliped are past the granary. Several gnolls fire on them without success. One hits Grall, despite his defensive focus, but the arrow fails to penetrate simply bouncing off his tough hide . Another arrow finds the meaty part of Sajan’s bicep .
Linah and Felliped run on, the gnome clearly flagging, but the two are only moments away from safety. Khalid and Nuveril are just past the gnolls while Sajan and Grall are just before. Another shower and Khalid is hit twice .
Linah and Felliped run past the shattered stones from the gatehouse and duck behind the intact section, the sorceress falling to the ground in exhaustion.
Khalid and Nuveril are close and the gnolls focus their fire on the pair. Just as the inquisitor puts on a burst of speed he is hit yet again . For a moment he staggers and it looks like he will fall but from somewhere he finds a hidden reserve of strength and he dashes across the last few feet to safety. An arrow gashes Nuveril shallowly across the cheek . Another streaks directly toward chest but she swots it out of the air with her madu. Then she too is safe.
Sajan and Grall are left alone. The two are only a little way past the gnolls but the archers have had a difficult time trying to make contact with them. The pair measure their distance carefully and then in unison drop any pretence at defense and simply sprint toward the gatehouse. Most of the gnolls seem taken by surprise, only one of the rangers manages to track Sajan’s movements, hitting him in the left shoulderblade just before he makes it to cover .
Sajan immediately draws his heavy crossbow, ready for some ranged payback.
As they head for cover, Nuveril is aware of the arrows whizzing over her head and hitting the human on the other side of her. She half-supports him into the gatehouse after the final arrow finds its mark. "Healer!" she barks at Linah. "See what you can do. He'll never make it back in this condition." She changes her tone to a move encouraging timbre as she smiles roughly at Khalid. "That is the downfall of being so large," she teases him, to distract him from his wounds. "You make a more generous target."
"I'll be fine. Who else is badly wounded, I still have another spell left."
"Bah," Nuveril responds, brushing the line of blood from her cheek. "This is a mere graze. Save your healing power in case we run into greater need before we make it back to the monastery."
Linah yanks out the arrow stuck in her arm and the wound flows freely. As she's about to channel a spell Sajan dashes around the corner with to similar wounds. The cleric reaches out to the giant to close his wounds
After healing Sajan the young cleric resumes her attention on her injured arm. A soft light glows under her palm as she places it over the wound
Saj
Lin
Kha
Nuv
Grall
Vic
Linah
Sajan
!
Opting for haste, you rush across the fifty feet or so of open ground to the ruins to the south east.
The gnolls manage one last volley at longer range as you run, just shooting rather than picking out individual targets. Their arrows rain down but their angle is poor and you are running hard and most of the shafts either fall well short or clang off the wooden walls and brickwork. Nevertheless the same ranger manages to peg Sajan yet again with an arrow to the ribs before you are clear.
Once in the ruins you work your way through them, maintaining cover from the gnolls, until you are able to dash south to the safety of the surrounding hills.
You've made your excape and dealt the gnolls a mighty blow.
Pulling out several arrows from his body without complaint, Sajan moves ahead as scout for the group.
You head south for home. If any had hopes that Arjun might have been waiting for you just outside town they are soon dashed. There is no sign of the missing alchemist.
Your tired. Linah and Khalid's magical healing might have kept you going but it exerts a toll on the mind and spirit. Felliped in particular is nearly dead on her feet, several days of hunger and dehydration, as well as unloading her entire magical arsenal, sapping the little gnoll's endurance.
Your nearly there, just about to ascend the hill path to the monastery, when you hear a series of agitated barks. Its the little blink dog, higher up the path and evidently trying to warn you of something.
Looking behind, you see a large black shape scuttle into view from behind a rocky rise. An enormous scorpion, over sixteen feet long, body and tail, it must weigh several thousand pounds. At the sight of you it begins to rush forward, pincers clacking together.
The dogs warning gives you a few precious seconds and you turn to face the creature, quickly forming a fighting line.
Scorpion Attack!
Round 1
Grall
Nuveril
Linah
Khalid
Sajan
Victoria
Giant Scorpion
Ordered Initiative
Nuveril 19
Sajan 18a
Giant Scorpion 18b
Linah 12
Victoria 11
Grall 8
Khalid 7
Effects
Bless (Khalid, Linah, Grall)
Giving a respectful nod to the ancestor-dog for its warning, Nuveril hefts her weapons and charges the overgrown vermin, shouting a feral battle cry. They have survived too much and gotten too close to home to fall prey to a mindless desert creature now.
Reacting quickly, Nuveril gets in close under the creature's pincers before it can react but her hammer blows fail to penetrate its chitinous plating.
Sajan charges right at the scorpion, finishing his swift run with a roundhouse kick aimed at one of the scorpions pincers.