Joe makes a demonstration of 'less arrows is more' as a more carefully aimed shot turns what would have been a just passing hit into a more significant wound upon the Scourge.  Hindsight now informs Joe that same quality of shot would have just exactly hit the Other Huntsman (Ally Cover and all that), but Hindsight is funny that way.

  On the other hand, The huntsmen will have the same added difficulty shooting at anyone beyond Raichel and Tim, and Tim alone would be enough to make the Huntsmen's lift difficult in shooting Joe unless they moved.

  "Good news, another shot working out.  Bad news, Buterfly's shots reminding me I may shooting at the wrong person entirely."

---

  Minor: Quarry Demonic Scourge
  Standard: Careful Attack Vs Demonic Scourge, Hits. Whoo Max DMG on Attack, low Quarry damage is forgiven.
Fun Facts.  Rolled a 10.  Which would have been the Exact need to a T- Strike on the Scourge, and nice leeway with a Careful Atttack.

Effects: Demonic Scourge has -2 T-Hit for Ranged and Area(Aren't those ranged anyways?) Attacks Until End Of Joe's Next Turn.

INTENTIONS: Disruptive Strike to any 'once an encounter/recharge' power that 'hits' an Ally.  If multitarget, Ally preference in order of squishyness.

Demonic Scourge HP: 82-17= 65(-5)

Joe HP: 40/40 S 7/7 V 10
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:50, Tue 08 Feb 2011.

Elric moves up behind Timothius and then unleashes a barrage of two quick strikes upon the Demonic Scourge placing the runes of Executioner's Call and Word of Exchange on the Demonic Scourge while blooding it as Elric then places a Rune of Mending on Raichel healing her and protecting the group.

<sub>[OOC:
Move Action: Move to AC11
Standard Action: Executioner's Call vs Demonic Scourge, Rune of Destruction, hits for 9 damage.
Action Point: Word of Exchange vs Demonic Scourge, Rune of Protection, hits for 12 damage.
Minor Action: Rune of Mending, Rune of Protection on Raichel, restoring 13 hit points.

Active Rune State:Rune of Protection:
Allies adjacent to Elric (Raichel and Timothius) gain resistance 2 to all damage.
Active Rune Effects:
Executioner's Call, Rune of Destruction:: One ally within 5 squares of Elric gains a +4 power bonus to the next attack roll he or she makes against the target before the start of Elric's next turn. (This is up for grabs as I don't know who needs this most.) Elric's allies gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls against the Demonic Scourge until the end of Elric's next turn.
Word of Exchange, Rune of Protection: Until the end of Elric's next turn, the Demonic Scourge takes a -2 penalty to all defenses, and the next ally to hit the Demonic Scourge gains a +2 power bonus to AC that lasts until the end of Elric's next turn.
Rune of Mending, Protection: Elric and the rest of the party (since everyone was in range) gets a +1 bonus to all defenses until the end of Elric's next turn.

Gnoll Huntmasters HP: 50/50
 AC 19; Fortitude 16, Refl ex 17, Will 14
Gale HP: full
AC 18; Fortitude 16, Reflex 19; Will 20
Timothius HP: full (A.P. spent)
 AC 23; Fortitude 17, Reflex 16; Will 17; Resist 2 all
Raichel HP: 35/37, Surges 2?/7
 AC 25; Fortitude 17, Reflex 19; Will 18; Resist 5 Lightning, Resist 2 all
Butterfly HP: full
 AC 21; Fortitude 17, Reflex 20; Will 18
Demonic Scourge HP: 44/106 Bloodied (-5 on his turn), Everyone does +2 damage to the Demonic Scourge until the end of Elric's next turn. Also there is a single 'floating' +4 to hit the scourge that a person can use for a single attack roll that goes away at the start of Elric's next turn. (I don't know who to assign this to so I'll let the group decide.) The next ally to hit the scourge gets a +2 power bonus to AC until the end of Elric's next turn. (-2 all defenses included below)
 AC 18; Fortitude 19, Reflex 16; Will 16
Joe HP: full
 AC: 20; Fort 17, Reflex 20, Will 18
Elric HP: 43/43, Surges 8/10 (A.P. spent)
 AC 22; Fortitude 18, Reflex 15; Will 19

Elric will use the interrupt Word of the Blinding Shield (A close burst 5 range) in the Rune of Protection state if a chance arises in order to try to negate an attack. Remember that Elric cannot use this to try and negate an attack that only targets him.]</sub>

The huntmaster in Gale's chilling cloud snarls, "You'll pay for that!" and moves east to get a shot at her, but his arrow bounces harmlessly off the wall she's hiding behind.  "Kill the wizard first!" he suggests to his allies.

"That's stupid!" one of the others says, "Kill the closest!"

The other two fire their arrows at Timothius.  One arrow would have hit home, but Elric's protective rune deflects it at the last second!  The third huntmaster makes it through the magical defenses and even pierces Timothius' armor!  But at least it's only a flesh wound as Timothius' hide is made tougher from Elric's protective rune state.

(( Timothius takes 5 damage.  Updated map.  ))

A whispered hissing sound not unlike what the monsters from the movie Alien would make can be heard coming from inside the well.

"Hells yeah!" one of the gnolls cheers.

"You're in for it now!" another boasts.

From the inky blackness of the well a beast that looks like a giant tentacled brain with an eagle's beak floats up!  It raises one if it's spined tentacles, and attacks Timothius!  Joe reacts with a disruptive strike just before the grell's tentacle hits, but his arrow deflects off it's beak!  The tentacle wraps around Timothius neck, grabbing him fast!

The gnolls cheer and laugh!

(( Tentacle Grab (standard; at-will)
Reach 2; +12 vs. Fortitude; 2d8 + 4 damage, and the target is
grabbed. The grell can grab only one creature at a time.

Timothius takes 14 damage due to having resist 2 all and is grabbed!  Map updated,  ))
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:31, Wed 09 Feb 2011.

Days like this Tim really hates the army back home for making him a paladin. Why oh why couldn't he have pursued cleric? Still, he is not able to handle more than one foe at the moment. As the monster grabs Timothius with a rather harmful grip, he yells in pain. However, he figures the best tactic for now is focusing on the boss-type guy until he's dead. Especially since he feels compelled by Elric's powers to do so and Tim is STILL next to the nasty gnoll. "LAUGH AT THIS!" he swings and chops the gnoll's left arm off, causing it to gush blood. "And THIS!" he adds as he glows brightly, filling the immediate area with light before his wounds seem to start closing, some of them closing entirely. He looks at the demonic scourge with a dour expression, his glow remaining.

(Standard: Hold Fast v Demonic Scourge. Hit!)
 dmg: 21 (Taking into account Elric's +2 to dmg)
 Demonic Scourge is immobilized until the end of Tim's next turn.
(Free: Punitive Radiance.)
 dmg: 2
 Demonic Scourge is granting combat advantage and can't benefit from invis.
(Elric's power: +2 AC)
(Minor: Shed bright light out to 4 squares for effect. Light of Order feat fun!)
(Minor: Lay on Hands on self.)

Tim HP: 24 + 11 = 35
Demonic Scourge HP: 44 - 23 = 21


Gnoll Huntmasters HP: 50/50
 AC 19; Fortitude 16, Refl ex 17, Will 14
Gale HP: full
AC 18; Fortitude 16, Reflex 19; Will 20
Timothius HP: 35/43 (A.P. spent)
 AC 25; Fortitude 17, Reflex 16; Will 17; Resist 2 all
Raichel HP: 35/37, Surges 2?/7
 AC 25; Fortitude 17, Reflex 19; Will 18; Resist 5 Lightning, Resist 2 all
Butterfly HP: full
 AC 21; Fortitude 17, Reflex 20; Will 18
Demonic Scourge HP: 21/106 Bloodied (-5 on his turn), Everyone does +2 damage to the Demonic Scourge until the end of Elric's next turn. Also, combat advantage taken into account in addition to Elric's -2 to defenses.
 AC 16; Fortitude 17, Reflex 14; Will 14
Joe HP: full
 AC: 20; Fort 17, Reflex 20, Will 18
Elric HP: 43/43, Surges 8/10 (A.P. spent)
 AC 22; Fortitude 18, Reflex 15; Will 19
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:03, Wed 09 Feb 2011.

Butterfly is not missing the chance to actually HIT something now that the gnoll is so slaggin' distracted it would take a minor miracle (or major blunder) for the gnoll to evade Butterfly. She's right. She runs by, skewers the gnoll in the heart, dropping it in a single shot! Just as quickly, she disappears behind the wall. This is why she is a skirmishing ranger.

(Minor: Quarry Scourge)
(Standard: Skirmish Shot v Demonic Scourge. Hit!)
 Move as part of attack to AB8
 dmg: 22 (Taking into account Elric's +2 to dmg)
(Move: to AE9)

Demonic Scourge HP: 21 - 22 = KO
This message was last edited by the player at 07:07, Wed 09 Feb 2011.

Raichel hops over the falling gnoll mid-fall and roundhouses the Grell so hard it lets go of Tim with a shriek and spins to smack a gnoll. Raichel yells, "How about we turn your pet on YOU and see how funny it is?!" With that, she says, "Gale, Elric, if you have something that'll hold 'em long enough for me to get in, that'll help!"

(Move: To grell)
(Standard: Drunken Monkey vs Grell. Hit!)
 dmg: 13
(Free: Centered blabla)
 dmg: 5
(Grell Tentacle Rake vs Gnoll Hunt Master 2. Hit!)
 dmg: 11

Grell HP: 156 - 18 = 138
Huntmaster 2 HP: 50 - 11 = 39 (slowed, -2 to attacks, save ends both)

"Nice shot!" Gale commends Butterfly, "I can slow the thing down, Raichel."

She holds out her orb dramatically, and both the first huntmaster and the grell scream!  Their movements now look sluggish!

(( Horrid whispers daily hits!  8 psychic damage to both, -2 to attacks and they grant C.A. to Gale (save ends) ))

  Joe fires a pair of arrows that unfortunately are much less impressive than his previous shots.  The first one scrapes across the smooth brain lookin center of the Grell only scratching it, and the second dings off it's beak.  "Grell.  Goes without saying the thing can gab you from a distance and it hurts like hell.  But Tim got of lightly with the least it can do.  Bastard's beak has a stunning poison, and it's tentacles are tipped with a lesser 'screws with your coordination' poison."

---

  Move: Duh
  Minor: Quarry Grell.
  Standard: Hunter's Bear Trap vs Grell. Miss. 29 DMG/2= 14 DMG
  Action Point: Evasive Strike vs Grell. Miss.

  Effects: Well, Since Gale and Joe have same Initiative pass, nothing that isn't redundant.  And a Grell has no Ranged attacks.

  Knowledge check: 20 total. (Meaning I rolled a 10 when I can't Take-Ten).  All Grell has is a 15 DC bit so go go everything and the rare instances of Cannon Dungeoneering usefulness.
  Assume any details about Grells you want to Know, Joe can and has referenced for you.

Grell HP: 130-14= 116

Joe HP: 40/40 S 7/7 V 10

Elric moves up to reach the Grell with his Greatspear and then unleashes the Word of Exchange as a Rune of Protection upon the Grell, momentarily weakening its defenses as the Warforged stands firm, “We got one down, now just three more of the gnolls and this thing.”

<sub>[OOC:
Move Action: Move to AC13
Standard Action: Word of Exchange on the Grell, Rune of Protection, hits for 9 damage 116-9=107HP left.
Minor Action: Unused.

Active Rune State:Rune of Protection:
Allies adjacent to Elric (Raichel and Timothius) gain resistance 2 to all damage.
Active Rune Effects:
Word of Exchange, Rune of Protection: Until the end of Elric's next turn, the Grell takes a -2 penalty to all defenses, and the next ally to hit the Grell gains a +2 power bonus to AC that lasts until the end of Elric's next turn.

Gnoll Huntmasters HP: 50/50
 AC 19; Fortitude 16, Refl ex 17, Will 14
Gale HP: full
AC 17; Fortitude 15, Reflex 18; Will 19
Timothius HP: full (A.P. spent)
 AC 22; Fortitude 16, Reflex 15; Will 16; Resist 2 all
Raichel HP: 35/37, Surges 2?/7
 AC 24; Fortitude 16, Reflex 18; Will 17; Resist 5 Lightning, Resist 2 all
Butterfly HP: full
 AC 20; Fortitude 16, Reflex 19; Will 17
Grell, 107/156HP left and the next ally to hit the Grell gains a +2 power bonus to AC until the end of Elric's next turn.
AC 20 (22 while the grell has an enemy grabbed); Fortitude 17, Reflex 18, Will 15
Joe HP: full
 AC: 19; Fort 16, Reflex 19, Will 17
Elric HP: 43/43, Surges 8/10 (A.P. spent)
 AC 21; Fortitude 17, Reflex 14; Will 18]</sub>

Timothius swings his sword at the grell and hits a tough spot, doing no damage. But at least he has the grell's attention. "I wish there was another way, beast. But you are leaving me little choice."

(Move: To grell)
(Minor: Divine Challenge)
(Standard: Miss)

Raichel moves over to be next to Timothius and with masterful expertise, swings her staff around, hitting the grell! Enter slow motion again as the staff passes huntmaster 1, just an inch from his nose. Then back to normal speed, it smack the other huntmaster that was just around the corner. Just as quickly, Raichel follows up with a blur of a kick towards the gnoll that dodged her just .01 seconds ago and although her foot doesn't hit him, lightning shoots from Raichel's foot into the gnoll and travels to the grell, causing it to fall back 5 feet! "At this rate, you dogs won't live long enough to see your pet fall before us! So I'll be sure to keep you alive so you can see it's unconscious body before you!"

(Standard: Masterful Spiral. Hit grell & hunt2, miss hunt1)
 dmg: 20
(ACTION POINT!)
(Standard: Twin Thunders vs Hunt1. Hit!)
 dmg: 10
 dmg to adjacent: 10 (grell)
(Centered Flurry)
 dmg: 5 and slide target (grell)

Raichel gets +2 power bonus to AC thanks to Elric

Huntmaster 1 HP: 37 - 10 = 27
Huntmaster 2 HP: 39 - 20 = 19
Grell HP: 107 - 35 = 72

Butterfly's next tactic is a simple one. Freak out and fill the grell with arrows! She comes back out to the open, and with the amazing speed of fear, fills up the grell with 4 arrows! The grell shrieks in pain! Not like Raichel didn't hurt it just as much.

(Move: Into position to see grell)
(Minor: Quarry)
(Standard: Twin Strike. Hit! Hit!)
(ACTION POINT!)
(Standard: Twin Strike. Miss! Hit!)
 total dmg with quarry: 24

Grell HP: 72 - 24 = 48
This message was last edited by the player at 17:04, Sat 19 Feb 2011.

Gale is in awe of her allies, but focuses first on a tactic to try and trick the enemy.

"Oh sure," she says sarcastically, "Real stupid.  Ignore the wizard who can light you on fire!"

Both the grell and the huntmaster next to it are suddenly engulfed in flame!  The second huntmaster in the blast manages to sidestep the spell somehow.

"Good teamwork, everyone!" she commends her allies, "Raichel's right.  Take out the floating monster first."

(( gale fiyaball v grell, huntmaster1, and 2

1d20 +9
1: 8 + 9 = 17 misses! ;.;
2: 12 + 9 = 21 hits!
3: 4 + 9 = 13 misses

Wait!  I have C.A.!  19 vs 20 reflex.  Miss.  Seriously?!  >.<  WAIT!  ELRIC'S -2 TO IT'S DEFENSES!  HIT!  Sweeeet!  Thank you, Elric!  ^.^  8 damage to targets hit.

Bluff check to enrage the gnolls to attack Gale instead of the others: 28.  We'll see how that pans out. ))

The grell makes another attempt at Timothius, but the paladin is ready for the tentacle and easily blocks the attack!  The beast then floats over to be above the well.

(( Oops!  Monsters were supposed to go right after Elric.  Will post them now, then after Joe and Elric go, the monsters will go again. ))

"Fool!" the second huntmaster snarles at Gale as it fires an arrow into her arm!  "You'll pay with your life for that!"

It briefly crosses the mind of the third huntmaster to use the nearby children as a human shield, but... Warforged and two shifters.  Maybe the humans and the elf will give a hoot about the kids, but that won't stop those three.  And you can't shoot a bow with only one hand.  It decides to shift away from Raichel and fire at her.

"Kill the electric Razorclaw!" it shouts, "And spread out!"

The first huntmaster also shoots and retreats.  Neither arrow hits it's mark.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:52, Sun 20 Feb 2011.

  All sorts of carnage going on, but a thought comes to mind.  Every single enemy is likely half dead by now (well, half dead is more like 'still more HP than you have' in the Grell's case), except for the one heading for the next area and giving sensible tactics advice to their allies.

  Joe decides to put progress towards changing that situation, as the so far uninjured Gnoll is given an arrow in the thigh, free of charge.

---

Minor: Quarry Hunter 3.
Standard: Careful Attack. Hits. 13 DMG.

Effects: Hunter 3 Is Slowed Until The End Of My Next Turn. Hunter 3 has -2 Hit Ranged/Area attacks Till then.

Gnoll Hunter 3 HP: 50-13= 37

Joe HP: 40/40 S 7/7 V 10
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:38, Sun 20 Feb 2011.

Elric shifts adjacent to Timothius and then swings his Greatspear at the Grell but it easily avoids the strike. The Warforged seems to utter a sound that appears mildly annoyed.

<sub>[OOC:
Move Action: Move to AD14
Standard Action: Word of Exchange on the Grell, Rune of Protection, misses.
Minor Action: Unused.

Active Rune State:Rune of Protection:
Allies adjacent to Elric (Currently just Timothius) gain resistance 2 to all damage.
Active Rune Effects: None due to the miss :( ]</sub>

The three huntmasters fire at their chosen targets: Gale, Elric, and Raichel!  The one attacking Gale misses again, but the other two score bulls-eyes!

"Never mind the stupid wizard!" one of them barks at the other.

(( Hunt 1,2, and 3 vs. Elric, Gale, and Rai.  CRIT!  Miss.  CRIT!  16 damage to Elric, 14 to Rai. ))

The grell reaches it's tentacle out and grabs Timothius by the ankle!  It then knocks him down and proceeds to drag him toward the well, probably to pull him down, but Timothius stops himself at the lip!

(( tentacle grab hits!  9 damage!  ACTION POINT!  MOVE A GRABBED TARGET: STANDARD ACTION
✦ Strength Attack: Make a Strength attack vs. Fortitude.
Do not add any weapon modifiers.
Hit: Move up to half your speed and pull the
grabbed target with you.

Hit!  Free action: Drop Timothius into the well.  Tim saves!  ))

  Right, the Grell is trying to slam dunk Timothius into holes now.  Only the combined danger the Gnolls still held, as well as the fact near everyone else was focusing their attentions on the Grell kept Joe from taking a vindictive shot at the floating creature.

  Instead, he fired a well placed arrow between Tim and the Grell that buried itself deep into Gnoll guts through their armor.  Joe couldn't help but feel he could have removed one of their problems outright if it was a closer shot.  Still, Progress.

  "Gale, if you have one of those 'can't miss, just stings' spells I hear so much about now would be the time to use it on that guy please."  Silly Joe, Gale doesn't know Magic Missile.  "Also, I'll be right back"  This said as he takes cover not unlike the previously mentioned Mage.  For as much as he loves the benifits of being a 'back row blaster', Joe seems to find himself on the front lines of that category most often.

---

  Standard: Careful Attack vs Huntsman 2, Hits. Whoo max damage.
  Move: Duh. Takin a page from the Gale Playbook.

Huntsman 2 HP: 19-15= 4

Joe HP: 40/40 S 7/7 V 10

Only one more hit from any of us will down them guaranteed... The trick will of course, be landing that hit.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:43, Sun 27 Feb 2011.

Timothius is just glad the thing is so focused on him. When the grell dropped Timothius, he flapped his wings and managed to keep from falling with said flap. He concentrates, healing up yet again even as he stands with sword and shield at the ready in a defensive manner and glares at the Grell. "I have wings, you unobservant beast! That hole won't hurt me any more than you!"

(Move: Stand from prone)
(Standard: Second Wind - spend healing surge and +2 to defenses.)
(Minor: Divine Challenge vs Grell)

Tim HP: 26 + 11 = 37

Butterfly does as Joe requests immediately rather than wait to see if Gale DID have such a spell. An arrow hits the gnoll in the lung, making it collapse and gasp for air, gurgling on its blood. But even as it is in mid-fall, Butterfly fires another arrow at the grell. "Can we down the floating tentacled brain with a beak first please?!"

(Minor: Quarry grell in case I didn't have it quarried)
(Standard: Twin Strike v Huntmaster2, Grell. Hit! Hit!)
 dmg to Hunt2: 4
 dmg to grell: 14
(Move: To out of sight land)

Huntmaster HP: 4 - 4 = KO!
Grell HP: 40 - 14 = 26

Despite the gnoll that shot her, Raichel realizes Butterfly has a point. Raichel scoots over to Timothius and Elric and throws a kick in the grell's direction. Unfortunately, she was overly cautions about not hitting Timothius or Elric. Combine that with hurting and you have a completely uneffected grell. She might have argued stupid and wizard shouldn't be in the same sentence if not for meeting Curivar. But she will not stand by while Gale is called stupid. "Gale is much smarter than you ever will be!"

(Move: Adjacent to Tim and Elric.)
(Standard: Dragon's Tail v Grell. Miss)
 A roll of 4 misses everything but a huntmaster's will. XD

"Thanks, Raichel," Gale chimes, "Butterfly is right.  Timothius might be fine falling down that pit, but someone else won't be.  I don't have any spell guaranteed to do damage, but I do have one that's guaranteed to hassle anyone who stays in it's effect."

She causes a frigid cloud to appear over the well.

(( 5 cold damage to grell.  any enemy attack made within the chilling cloud area will suffer a -2 penalty. ))
This message was last edited by the player at 17:47, Tue 01 Mar 2011.