"Give up before you all die!" Goivan roars as he continues attacking.
Round 10
Champawat finally stabilizes.
Goivan tears into Goatling 7, his first axe blow, crushing the goatling's left side, following it up with the other head, he cuts the creature in two, killing it instantly.
Qahnaarin stabs the near helpless crawling goatling 1 in the back of the head, ending its life, he also slices goatling 4 a wicked wound and follows through on goatling 6, leaving a massive bloody gash that drops it.
Only one heavily wounded goatling remains, prone, fear has finally set in, and its eyes are wide with doom. One other goatling has slowly made its way into the forest fleeing.
The final goatling surrenders unless you kill him.
Combat is over!
Gunther remains unconscious and wounded where the goatlings incapacitated him, his breathing labored. He is very much still alive, however.
Yay! I managed to survive combat by not bleeding out or contributing in any real meaningful way. Go me!!
"Tend to the wounded! I'll handle this one." Goivan's brows furrow in cold anger as he approached the last goatling. He picks him up and holds him in the air by his neck, then hisses at him. "Talk, before I gore your eyes out."
The goatling babbles something you do not understand. "Bla-taamaa haa, tamaaa-haaaaa!"
Goivan looks around. "Anybody know if these things can speak?"
You tie up the goatling using its quiver sash and belt to keep it reasonably restrained. At least enough that if it broke lose you could smack him down again.
Within a few minutes you see a group of people arrive from the camp to the north.
"Hey there! Everyone alright?"
The free-loving Wyvaran Dragon-Man known as Simon shows up with the rest of their group.
"Oh. Geez. Y'all got hit bad. I can heal a little bit, if you can point me to who needs it most."
He seems instantly, genuinely concerned about the state of the group.
Goivan breathes a sigh of relief. "It's good to see you Simon. We were ambushed by goatlings and they nearly killed us all. Heal Prar, he should be able to get them all standing."
"Thank you, Simon." Qahnaarin points to two unconscious forms. "They ambushed us and hit hard first, but we were able to wear them down with attrition. Prar and Champawat took the worst of it. The rest of us have some superficial cuts. Did the goatlings attack your group as well?"
"Ya. Sure thing."
Simon bends over Prar and casts a spell to heal him, speaking gently.
"Hey, there. Wake up, sleepy."
Healing
He can do that up to 2 more times as required.
"Ya. They attacked us too. They probably got freaked out when we all showed up. It's a dang shame too. They aren't evil. At least not as far as celestials are concerned"
Cardau walks up behind Simon and catches Goivan's and Qahnaarin's replies. "Yes, they attacked us too, but we got luckier than you guys, apparently. Simon, I've got this. We just need to make sure that none of the goatlings are close by." He turns and looks at the rest of his group. "Oh, yeah, I know we were in a hurry to get here and all, but I'll heal you guys too. Anybody close is about to feel the love of Tsukiyo."
Champawat awakens to the flow of the positive energy knitting his wounds and refreshing his spirit.
"Thank you. It is good to see you. Tell me, did we lose anyone?"
Gunther's eyes flutter open as the most serious of his wounds close up. "Ugh," the dark-skinned dwarf grunts and he hefts himself up into a sitting position, careful not to overexert himself. "I guess we made it," he deadpans, looking to his companions and the other group of his kin.
Effects: Mage Armor (1 hour), Staggered
Arrows: 20/20 (P), 20/20 (B)
Maneuvers and Stances:
. . [maneuvers] Enduring Crane Strike SC [1/1], Horizon Wind Lancet SW [1/1], Silver Strike SC [1/1]
. . [stances] Phantom Sun Stance SW [1]
Goivan shakes his head. "We're all alive, thank the gods. I managed to capture one of the goatlings there, but I don't think it speaks common."
"We either keep it alive as a prisoner in case they attack again. Letting him go and he may lead us to his base of operations, but I'm pretty sure I can track them regardless. I don't believe Master would want us to kill it. Still, their presence alone begs many questions...
We must meet up with the other groups. Find out how they fair, see if they have anyone that can communicate with it, although I doubt it will reveal much to us. Would we if the situations were reversed? Can anyone read it's thoughts is the true question that may benefit us.
Qahnaarin, can you please gather as many of their weapons as possible. Goivan, see if they were wearing any armor that we may salvage.
Cardau or Simon, can you heal Gunther more please? I need him in the trees, watching us from up on high with his bow."
Goivan gives a hmph. "I'll go check. Don't be letting him go though, see what we can learn."
"No. You have my word, I will not release him. There is no need. He has more value to us alive than dead.
Goivan, you fought well today. If I had the power to stand on my own, I would bow to you, for you made the gods take notice this day. There is new power in their realm, and they should fear you. I would be dead if not for you. Thank you for saving my life, as well as our brothers. And to you as well, Qahnaarin. If not for you two, Gunther, Prar, and I would be dead, and unable to help master."
Goivan shakes his head. "And I would not be standing if not for Prar. And Prar would not have been standing when he healed me if not for the rest of you. We all contributed, I was just lucky enough to be one of the last ones standing. Or unlucky, depending on how you look at it." He says as he looks down at the goatling corpses, knowing full well how many of them were his. He breathes deeply, then kneels and begins searching them.
Simon's heal to Prar and Cardau's channels bring the group back to consciousness.
Prar channels additional healing as well using the last of his channels.
16 total.
The fallen goatlings each have a bronze shortspear ( broken in some cases ), 3 bronze javelins. Their leader shaman, has a bronze heavy mace, 3 bronze javelins and a healer's kit. All the goatlings wear a javelin quiver made of leather with a belt and shoulder strap. They wear no other clothing or carry any other gear other than perhaps some simple personal effects, such as crude bone jewelry.
The remaining goatling looks on with wonder as the other group arrives and the wounded begin to heal.
Eleanor keeps a close eye on the goatlings. "It seems they attacked all of us simultaneously so their numbers must be great. I don't think this was the civilization any of us were expecting, but at least it's a start. Is anyone able to communicate with them? We didn't leave any standing."
Goivan finishes his pile of bronze and shakes his head. "Either doesn't speak common or is covering it up."
Maybe we can try to learn there language
Xanya arrives with the others astride her trust Eidolon Cryxial. She smiles as she is fully healed by the channels. "It's good we decided to head here right away, it would not have done to have you perish from your wounds on the cold ground. Do anyone need any more healing? I still got some more left after healing us earlier. Me and Cryxial were the only ones who suffered any wounds in our attack. It was glorious, so much pain and suffering both dealt and received and best of all it was all good due to protecting my friends. My powers allowed me to stun most of them before they could fully launch their ambush, allowing the rest to get up from sleeping before they were surrounded. If you ever find yourself in a situation like this again I would advise that you do something similar.
We should probably continue to the next group, though the sound of fighting has long died down. I do have a recipe for a mixture that will help me understand their language, but sadly it only work one way. They wouldn't be able to understand me back. It wouldn't take more than a minute to make, but that's still a lot of time if someone is freezing to death on the ground in the other camps. I guess I can get started on making it while you discuss tthings." Xanya does as she says and start to mix up the extract. Pulling out various ingredients and vials and mixing it all into a clay jar.
Prar's healing knits most of Gunther's wounds closed. He lifts himself off the ground, storing his weapon and dusting himself off. "Thanks," he says to the mindflayer, before moving to join the others.
"If only I had such powers. That would be useful, I'm certain we can learn more if we can at least understand them."
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so much pain and suffering both dealt and received and best of all it was all good due to protecting my friends.
The goatling does not detect as evil.
" my magic only allows me to speak to animals and I don't think they are primitive enough for that. So let's try the languages we can speak without magic first, I speak Spiderling, I don't think that that will help, Sylvan, Aklo and the language of the druids." Kiki adds from Xanya's shoulder.
so much pain and suffering both dealt and received and best of all it was all good due to protecting my friends....
The other mind Flayer, Quassine smiles, "Good ... good ... everyone is alive! So anyone else need healing or did Simon, Prar, and Cardau healed you all?"
While Xanya makes the Comprehend Languages formula, Quassine speaks to the prisoner goatlings by saying, "Hey" in every language he speaks to see if he gets a response (Undercommon, Common, Celestial, Draconic, Dwarvish, Elvish, and Infernal).
The goatling gets the basic idea that you are greeting him, but since 'hey' is so generic, it may not be a good test. It is likely that he doesn't truly understand that you are saying these words in any language he understands as he does not respond, to him you are just stringing a bunch of words together that may just be all the same language.
"So, what are you guys doing here? Did you come checking for survivors? Where you chasing fleeing goatmen? I only ask because I'm curious as to the lodgings of the goatmen...If they struck with coordinated attacks at some of our camp sites, then they must have been watching us somehow, and not just watching one group, but watching multiples of us. I did not notice being followed as we trekked through the forest, so that means they have other less obvious means of observation. Maybe magic, maybe the animals, hard to tell at this point.
And what are your plans now? To rendezvous with the other groups? To check on their status as well? I think it was foolish for us to split up, in hostile territory, with no guide or idea of the environment of terrain. I think we should all regroup together as one group and coordinate our actions better. Our sheer impetuousness put all of our lives in danger and got us no closer to finding master. Also, has anyone seen or heard from Jovar since yesterday?"
While it is another 6 or 7 minutes after the group from campsite 2 arrives, a second group does come to the camp
As Champawat mentioned Jovar, a small group of people from Tolheimia's arrives, and with them is Jovar. They relate that their group had an exceptionally large battle, but suffered no fatalities. They also are working to communicate with some of the goatling captives. They plan to move to campsite 6 after this and visit them and then on to the final camp. They report that group 1 is ok and that a separate group has gone north to communicate with group 4.
They will move back to the other groups and relay any messages you have. Their group was composed of (in addition to Jovar the Homunculous):
Ania, also a Goodwin golem(often considered Tolheimia's 'little sister' although such familial relations make little sense for the created race)
Borthas a Boggard sorcerer and ranger
Klimdon a skinwalker, Werebear, a powerful melee combatant
Shiepas a Mite, quiet and reclusive, but skilled sneak rogue
Ania says "Well met brothers and sisters. We bring tidings of the battles with the goats."
She surveys the area and sees all the blood, even though most of the combatants are now fully healed.
Quassine smiles, "I guess everyone is healed up?" He then looks to Champawat, "When we finished dispatching our goatling threat, we decided to check up on our brothers and sisters who we heard still fighting. We had no prisoners and hoping other groups had prisoners to see if we can question them. By the looks of it, it was a coordinated attack and we have not found where the goatmen have originated from. Perhaps if we somehow learned the goatman dialect, we can ascertain more information. I am trying to get one of these goatmen speaking but I may have to resort to more aggressive means." Quassine turns to back to one of the goatman and flails his tentacles showing his mouth parts, he picks up a discarded bone, drools on to it, as his saliva eats through the bone, he turns it over to show the goatmen in attempt to intimidate the goatmen into asking for mercy or whatever.