Giles' breath caught in his throat as he saw the colorful mound and the unfurled rug. It looked like this place may have been more recently inhabited and he felt his skin prickle as it sensitised and expected some immediate and surprising contact.

Waving slightly to signal quiet Giles took a half-side step into the room with his back to the closest wall in order to survey the room more completely. If he could see clearly in the low-light he would have definitely noticed the whitening of his knuckles as he tightly gripped the wooden shaft of his spear. I can feel the grain of the wood with such detail he thought to himself and then revelled momentarily in the odd places the mind wonders in such situations.

Looking to the man holding the torch Giles held his hand up to signal that he shouldn't pass the edge of the passage way. Moving into a clear opening would illuminate everything around them and let anybody further up instantly know.


OOC:

Stealth:
15:39, Today: Giles 'J'naeth' Hind rolled 13 using 3d6.  stealth. // i hate this dice roller :)
Naturally, all out defence (double) - should it be required

Giles slowly pads his way forward, his eyes watching the colorful mound atop the rug.  Though he attempts to walk silently, the whole process is impossible with the chain armor all over himself rattling this way and that as he walks.  The mound ahead, nor anything else seems to take notice though and the whole scene seems out of place, however, he does not have long to contemplate the matter.

All of a sudden several things happen at once.  Giles feels a soft, wet slap, like a hand patting him on the back, but all over his head, face, shoulders, and upper back.  Whatever it is that has hit him does not have the weight of a full man, perhaps only thirty or forty pounds at best, though it sticks on his armor all over.  Reflexively, Giles closes his eyes, and it is a good thing, for as soon as the mass is atop his body, he can feel the slow burn of acid upon his face, the only exposed skin he has.

Behind him, Pierce gasps slightly thought the two have taken no action yet...

OOC:  Couple of notes.  If you plan on still trying to be quiet, please roll vs. Will in order to keep from crying out.  You are currently grappled (for lack of a better term) by a jelly-like mass that covers you from your shoulders on your front side to your mid back, completely encompassing your head.  You have your eyes closed and cannot see, you can attempt to open them if you wish, but it is not likely you will be able to see much through the thing on top of you based on how thick it feels.  You have multiple options here.  You can try and attack the thing (with risk of injuring yourself) or you can attempt to break grapple.  If you wish to attack, please roll a normal weapons skill at -5 for close combat and for not actually seeing the thing.  If you wish to break the grapple, roll vs. ST or escape to throw it off.  You have just stepped into the 'hallway' and the two corporals are standing behind you in the Tunnel.

Giles felt his face fall to the enveloping of the thing on him and instantly took to motion. The panic hit him like a warhorse and he pulled and began to flap himself like a fish out of water. As the tingling on his skin began he closed his eyes and mouth and tried to hold his breath as he wrestled off the creature.


OOC:

08:56, Today: Giles 'J'naeth' Hind rolled 10 using 3d6.  St/judo?

Giles inadvertently cries out as the thing encompasses his head and unsure of what else to do, Giles heaves the viscous blob using his shoulders and free hand, luckily, it seems as if the thing has not quite acquired a steady grip yet and it falls to the floor with another wet slap.

The thing is grotesque with no form it slithers away from the impact, slowly sliding towards the wall of the cavern...

Up ahead, the colorful mound begins to stir with all the commotion, and rises into a crouched position.  What Giles had thought was simply a pile of painted cloth is instead a human... or something like it anyway.  It is decidedly female, with long red hair cascading over her back and breasts, though her arms seem to give way to feathered wings that are aflame with crimson and purple.  Instead of feet, she has enormous claws like those of a hawk exploded to ten times that size.  All told, she stands just under five feet tall in her crouch.

Her eyes turn and find Giles, axe in hand, and she shrieks a piercing scream that makes Giles jump in his skin.

"Harpy!"  Pierce whispers from behind.  Alerting Edenburg, who is still behind in the tunnel, to the danger.

OOC:  Roll vs. Naturalist or IQ-6.  The slime that attacked you is now three yards away from you and moving away at a speed of about 3.  The Harpy is about 11 yards away and so far is not doing anything other than making a lot of noise.

harpy
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:33, Tue 06 June 2017.

Giles, spent a moment or two wiping his face and head clean of the syrupy liquid left upon him by the creature that had almost enveloped him. Instinctively he took a step away and moved out of its grasp, back into the cave system.

As the mound began to move and take form Giles' stomach sank further but he tried to hold. "The lieutenant warned me about waking your wife Edenburg... he commented with a half-grin, indicating the harpy in front of them.

His next thoughts were two fold. First, they had to defend against the harpy and stay away from the wicked looking claws that potruded so offensively from her feet Pity... if she wasn't crossed with some demon fiend she'd be a good looking woman he thought to himself before observing that he was really just focused more on her womanly features. It was a passing thought.
The second feeling was to avoid the thing on the ceiling of the cave, and not let anyone else be captured by it.

Okay... hold in the entrance of this cave. And if she comes at us wait until I hit before circling quickly around both her sides and attacking. You must both go at once, no hesitation lads. he ordered consisely but hadn't diverted his eyes from the threat to hand.

His goal was simple, draw the harpy into the jaws of the acid-mouthed creature. And if that failed, attack as one from different sides.

[8 blank lines suppressed]


OOC: Did Giles not still have hold of his spear? I'm pretty sure I still have the spear in hand, rather than an axe.


Actions(Combat:

Wait maneuver-> Stop thrust

The harpy shrieks loudly again, the piercing cry rattling across the walls of the cave and seeming to echo to the single point where Giles is standing.  Though he seeks to slay the beast, Giles does not rush the creature, but settles back towards the mouth of the tunnel to wait for the beast to come to them.

After a lighthearted attempt at a joke, Giles turns to look at Edenburg, who seems completely taken aback by the monstrous form in front of them.  Giles follows up with simple instructions to his two corporals, to circle the thing and hack away as soon as they can get it close enough.  Though Edenburg seems still stupefied, pierce nods, gripping his axe in his right hand and the torch in his left waiting for the thing to charge...

Instead, to his surprise, the thing moves awkwardly to the left, it's giant birdlike claws obviously not built for the cave floors, its enormous wings beating softly as though it seeks to take flight but knows the ceiling is too low.

to his right, the brown slime-like creature still slithers away...

OOC:  Sorry, for some reason I got it in my head that you left your spear on your horse, but it was your shield.  You have your spear ready in a 2 hex, two handed grip.  The brown slime has made its way to the wall at the bottom right corner of the lower corridor map, and is starting to slither it's way up the wall.  The harpy has moved out of the map field of view by way of the tunnel to the left side of the map on upper corridor.  Sorry I didn't have both of these on the last map sequence, I'm not sure how I missed that this was a two frame area.
Upper Corridor
Lower Corridor

Giles gripped the spear closer and considered the wisdom of pursuing the harpy at all. "Are these things always bad? he asked while cautiously stepping forward into the cave, his spear constantly pointing towards the bird-woman, and avoiding any proximity to the slime creature.

"keep an eye on that Edenburg" he said shrugging towards the slim-creature. The momentary pause of the other man would soon pass he hoped, and in this istuation he had more things to give attention to than the shock of another soldier.



OOC: Are we the central dot infront of the doorway on Corridor1.jpg map?

If so, I want edenburg to keep an eye on the slime so it doesn't flank us fully. While we push towards the bird-woman.

Ultimately, we're being threatening and defensive. Giles is deciding the wisdom of engaging in a fight when it might not be needed.

It takes only a few moments before the bird-woman is gone from view, her entire body forced through another gap in the rocks further down the hallway...  "No clue."  Pierce answers back his question, the torch and axe ready in front of him.

Seeing that they have some time to decide the benefits of an all out brawl, Giles does not give over much attention to Edenburg's lapse of coherence.  Instead, he says his name loudly and gives him more instruction, hoping to break the stupor.  The idea works and without saying another word, Edenburg takes the few steps to cut the distance in half towards the slime, though he does not get near enough for the thing to jump on him if it is able.

As for Giles, he walks slowly up the wide room, up to the fringe of the rug on the floor.  Wary of some trick beneath, he steps carefully, but finds only a simple threadbare rug which looked like it was once beautiful.  The pattern on it is intricate and the design far more complicated than a simple market weave, though now it is caked heavily with dust.  Glancing above him, Giles notices a small red arrow painted on the ceiling near the center of the floor covering, though what it points to he cannot tell, for there is nothing but cave wall in that direction.  From off ahead, Giles can hear the reverberating shrieks of the harpy still ringing back toward him.

OOC you are now about half way up the map of the upper corridor, still about five yards or so from the tunnel entrance at the top left.  You are at the center of an old rug which is mostly faded colors of red, black, purple, and yellow, woven in an intricate design and caked all over with dust.  The arrow on the ceiling, painted in red, points toward the right wall of the cave, though it angled just slightly towards the bottom of the map as well.  From the harpy's shrieks, it seems like it has gone on a ways after the mouth of the tunnel to the right.

Fark! Giles muttered under his breath, irritated that he now faced a decision that had no obviously good outcome. They could pursue the harpy, delve deeper into the cave and further into bad odds or they could retreat and cut losses calling their exploration a win.  There was, after all, no need to clear out the living things in the cave and he considered that pushing further would only sate his ego and curiosity.

"But there might be something interesting in there... he said again, to nobody in particular.

He gestured quickly to Edenburg to keep an eye on the wall crawling slime and then considered a moment. "We should see what's in this cave" he reasoned, knowing fullwell that his curiosity of what lay deeper was poking at his insides. "What this arrow means and if there is any more treasures to be found within.

We can take one harpy, and this slime like creature seems to be relatively immobile - and could be useful.

Alright lads, lets form up and go deep he said grasping both the haft of his spear and pushing forward cautiously into the cave.

Giles wrestles with the idea of delving deeper, weighing the potential pros of what he might find against the cons of what further creatures this cave might uncover.  Deciding that the risks were worth the potential rewards (especially with that all that silver just sitting in the cave pond!) Giles presses forward still farther into the caves with Pierce just behind him followed by Edenburg.  The first thing he notices as he begins to move into the next tunnel is the spattering of light that cascades towards him, but as he turns the corner into the next open cavern he is shocked by just how far, and by what he can see.

The first thing he notices is the glow from luminescent fungi, growing in clumps across the cavern, that casts a low light across the entire area.  Apart from that, in the center of the room, a wide shaft of light cascades down onto the floor, striking upon a tile mosaic that looks to be jumble of snakes.

The space in the cavern is far larger than any of the others Giles had seen yet and the ceiling at least fifteen to twenty feet above his head.  The center area is thirty feet wide in each direction, with branches going off to his right, left, and straight ahead.  Off to the left seems to be what used to be a working area, with a desk within view from the alcove they are standing on.  All the way to the back and straight ahead is an area with beds and a trunk.  Just in front of them is a twelve foot wide ditch that descends perhaps another twelve feet down into the earth, though across it's middle is a plank bridge that spans the gap about three feet wide.

What is most apparent however, is the dias that sits just ahead of him and to the right.  It rises five feet off the ground and atop looks to be the remains of an old rectangular table, pulverized and flaying its legs out in all directions.  perched in the center is a nest made of grasses and twig, easily ten feet long.  On top of that is not the one, but four harpies, the closest of which stands and stares at Giles, shrieking a piercing cry that reverberates into his chest.

"Oh shit!"  Edenburg says behind him, dropping his axe to the floor with a clatter as he grasps wildly for his bow.

OOC:  I've got my awful rendition of a battle map below if you want to reference it.  Again, disregard the mounds of treasure, not to mention the man lurking behind the door on the dias.  Go ahead and give two rounds of action.  If you are not stunned, and wish to give a bonus to Pierce and Edenburg to their will rolls, you may roll against leadership.  Although the closest harpy is about seven hexes away, if you want to get to where the Harpies are  you are going to have to either cross the bridge or leap across the chasm (or otherwise cross by magic).  Please state your intent if it is your wish to move closer.  Also, note that the stairs to the dias are on the back side, and if you want to simply go up without climbing you will have to go all the way around.

Battle Map
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:07, Fri 17 Mar 2017.

"Alright, Edenburg, shoot them bring them down as you can. Loose at your will...

You, if they get close and land, put your axe in them..." he said with his own authority and grasping his spear to give it the best effective range he could muster. He prepared for an assault, but knew that their current position gave them the best defensive opportunity.

Surveying the surroundings briefly, Giles felt his throat tighten as the adrenaline surged into his body and all of a sudden he was reconnected with childhood. Standing behind a shield line with his father and brothers fighting with the north men and stabbing at their feet through the line, with a spear. In that moment Giles felt gut punch of loss, knowing he would never stand beside his brother again, and that even his father may be closer to the point where such warring was best left to younger men. He sighed as he felt the crumbling of his youth bring into sharp relief the current conflict that was imminent. "To glory... he said through gritted teeth.

Their situation, as he saw it was as strong as it could be in the room. The bridge ahead of them bottlenecked any advancement on the ground, and the chasm prevented crossing without serious threat. They harpies would be forced to fly into the assault and Giles had the range, but without an open space to maneuver their sweeping attacks would be stifled by the wall and they would undoubtedly be clumsy. At least that's how he imagined from his memories of watching hawks prey upon small game.


"Hold strong lads. We have the better ground and the range. Take your time edenburg, aim and fill them with arrows.



We will hold position.

Actions:

Stop-hit on any harpy coming into range. I guess their dodge would be hampered but i'll aim for a random location too.


Tactics:

Hold the line - with spear (giles)
Shoot at range, to take them out individually (edenburg)
Axe is for close combat should they get past the spear (pearce)

Giles is confident of the upper hand, with only a single avenue of approach, not to mention a ranged weapon.  However, things start moving quite more quickly and less in his favor that he would expect.  Edenburg grasps for his bow, but is unable to take his eyes from the monstrosities ahead and fumbles the bow as he brings it from over his shoulder and sending the weapon tumbling to the floor next to his axe.  Horrified, the corporal bends over to retrieve his weapon.

Up ahead it does not take long for the winged beasts to begin their attack.  The largest of the beasts shrieks again as it flexes its enormous wings and lifts itself to the high interior of the caves, perching on an outcropping near the ceiling as it unfolds its wings, making ready for some sort of dive.  Two others of the beasts leap down from their perch, launching themselves with their powerful legs across the chasm at nearly the same time!  Giles takes the first of the two bracing his spear and aiming towards the beast's chest.  It comes with an unhuman speed, reaching its razor claws out in front of it makes a single wingbeat to increase it's speed.  Luckily, Giles spear is just longer than the talons and he manages to rip a singing gash in the beast's stomach.

Giles braces himself for impact, but luckily it never comes.  The spear-thrust, though far from devastating, was enough to send the harpy off course, it grips outward with its enormous feet but misses its landing badly and stumbles backward into the pit below, landing with a sickening crunch at the bottom as it crumples into a heap with a mutter.

The second harpy is not so unlucky and launches itself towards Pierce, each swipe at the other, the Harpy reaching its claws forward for the soldier's chest though he swivels his body out of the way, bringing his axe down hard as the Harpy turns its body midflight to avoid the blow.  The thing lands on two feet between the three solders, screeching it's displeasure.

OOC:  Battle map updated.  Harpy 1 is currently perched near the ceiling of the cave and has it's wings unfolded.  Harpy 2 was lightly gashed by Giles, but then badly failed it's DX roll and fell backwards into the pit, landing on it's head.  It is not apparent yet if it is out of the fight.  Harpy 3 launched itself at Pierce and both Pierce and the beast made their dodge rolls to avoid the slam and the axe-blow.  It has now landed between the three men, though it is in close combat with Pierce, 1 hex range from Giles, and 1 hex range from Edenburg.  The last Harpy has made it's way towards the edge of the pit and seems to be readying to attack.  Giles has his spear ready in a 2 hand grip and is facing the chasm (SW on the map).  Pierce has his axe ready and has shifted to face the Harpy (SE on the map).  Edenburg missed his will roll for two consecutive turns and I decided to play it out in a more realistic manner than just standing and staring.  He is in a crouch and has his bow ready.  Please note that if you attempt to attack the harpy standing next to you your thrust will be at -4 unless you shift to a one hex grip (takes a combat turn).  Please post 2 rounds of action and note your planned defenses.

Turn 2!

Giles felt his insides torque into uncomfortable positions as he heard the bow clatter on the floor. He made a mental note that Edenburg was not combat seasoned, nor stoic in the face of danger - but he said nothing to make it worse. Istead he felt the gusting of the air as the wings moved around his area. It felt so soft, like a gentle gust that seemed odd juxtaposed to the screaming threat of the harpy that stood next to him. The claws looked menacing and Giles had to push back the thoughts of the damage that the claws could do.

The line is broken, deal with that bitch!" he shouted, trying over the screeching of the harpy next to him. Ultimately, he couldn't turn to attack it without prompting further attack from the remaining two creatures. IF they were swarmed, things would become very bad indeed.

Instead Giles recalled some of his past and grinned slightly as he began, maintaining his stance and position  in a stern, loud and commanding voice to speak.

"Let those who sit within the frozen heavens be drawn from its cold with the burning of soul fire! came the mantra.



OOC: I don't know the feasbility of this, but ultimatelyt we're doing more than 1 turn so here it is:

Actions:
1) Any reactionary dodge or parry
2) Shape fire (spell) on the torch (not all the flame). This fire will then be controlled to start ribboning and dancing around the nearest harpy.

I reckon I can burn or singe the wings enough for her to get a bit worried or at least distracted.

3) Stop hit on any additional harpies coming in.


Sorry for the dramatic spellcasting :D bu there you go.



This message was last edited by the player at 09:45, Wed 22 Mar 2017.

"Let those who sit..."  Giles begins his spell, attempting to channel the mana from around him, though his words and thoughts are broken by the deafening screech from up above.

"SCREEEEEE!"  The Harpy on the ceiling dives straight for Giles!  He works to get his spear in front of him to stop the blow just as he had with the other monstrosity, but his actions are too late and the beast rushes past him, diving at his face!  Franticly whipping his spear about again, he attempts to get it between himself and the talons he is just too late and the claws tear into flesh raking at the edges of his mail coif.  Hot blood spatters everywhere, arcing across his vision as he stumbles backwards, attempting to gain his balance...

Just behind, Giles can hear the screeches of the other harpy.

OOC:  That was only 1 combat turn.  Since the Harpy went first in the combat sequence, I elected to try your stop hit rather than cast the spell, which missed.  You subsequently missed your parry and took a major slashing attack to the face from the claws.  Roll vs. HT-5.  If you succeed the roll, you may act normally on your next turn, but with a shock penalty of -4 to your actions.  You would still have a ready spear in a two hex grip.  The Harpy who just attacked you will drop beside you in close combat.  If you fail the roll, you suffer knockdown and stun, meaning you drop your spear and are unable to do anything this turn, but may defend at -4.  In that case roll against HT again to recover from stun.  If you fail your first HT-5 roll by 5 or more you fall unconscious for the remainder of the fight.  Give me 1 more turn of action.

Giles saw the bird coming and stabbed at it. His heart plummeted when he felt the tip of the blade cut through air without any resistance and knew that he was in that trouble. "H......" was all he managed to get out as his entire world changed in that moment.

Suddenly everything he had thought about, all his worries the concessions his affections, feelings, goals, desires and frustrations with life all got slammed into the back corner of his mind and diminished to irrelevance; it was something that could only come as one's mortality came into sharp relief. He may have found it interesting to know what kind of man he was. Thinking on such situations as those infrequent and deeply disturbing situations that many people face in their lives, providing a true testament to the character. He may have considered it if the entire world didn't fall away into darkness and then come back into focus like a hammerfall to his face.

A welting scream of pain shot across Giles's face and he didn't know or care if he screamed out in his own anguish. It bubbled some slick warm fluid over his skin and as it began to pool in his mouth and nose the man dully formed a half-realisation that he was prone.

Through the haze Giles prayed to any deity that might be listening and tried to shake his head clear of the fog and red-blindness he now felt.




18:38, Today: Giles 'J'naeth' Hind rolled 8 using 3d6.  HT-5.
// well, it was a noble effort...

I guess that's a wrap, a short and sweet adventure, with lots of potential...  I'll start writing a new character

Unfortunate that I missed with a spear skill of 13. And pity about not getting a sword, otherwise i'd have been using sword + shield, maybe. Note to self, bring a shield (though in fairness i felt it was much more true to realism to not have a shield strapped on while having a casual look in a cave.

For the next turn:
18:51, Today: Giles 'J'naeth' Hind rolled 13 using 3d6.  IQ to recovery from stun.
// at least that's fortunate :)

The clang of steel and shrieks both mortal and beastly echo around Giles who hangs in a limbo, half aware of the carnage taking place all around him.

Behind, Edenburg forsakes his bow to grab his axe, realizing the time for ranged weapons is long passed.  He manages to escape the razor talons of the beast and deals it back a steady blow to the chest!  The thing crows weakly as it collapses in a swoon.

Pierce, likewise is taken up with the beast in front of him, striking away with all his might, until his is surprised by behind as another of the beasts collides into him from behind.  Slightly jarred by the impact but seeming no worse for wear, Pierce turns, swinging wildly at his foe, though he manages to strike nothing as the beast shifts it's weight abruptly with a half-beat of it's enourmous wings.

Atop Giles, the strongest of the harpies knows his advantage, and its eyes gleam wickedly as it stamps down hard to try and finish the job.  The blow catches Giles on the leg, completely covered by his chain, and does little more than jar Giles from his stupor.  Irate with the durability of its prey, the harpy shrieks its displeasure directly into Giles face, a resonating sound that would have cowered many other men, but still reeling from the first blow, Giles does not make much of the display of intimidation.

As Giles is shaking himself back to action, Edenburg steps ahead, nearly on top of him, swinging his axe wildly at their strongest foe, though with all the fallen forms underneath he misses his swing badly, just able to regain his balance.

OOC:  That was two rounds of combat.  Unfortunately, recovering from a stun is a roll against HT and not IQ (mental stuns are IQ) so your roll of 13 was a fail.  I rolled for you for the next round and it was a success.  Battle map is updated below.  You are barely aware of what happened around you, but you can ascertain that there are two Harpies in front of you, the first is squared off with Pierce, the second is the one that clawed your face who is engaged now with Edenburg.  Both of them have readied axes.  Pierce has bleeding from each of his legs, though he seems to be little the worse for wear at the moment.  You are currently prone with both hands empty.  Your tile is where your head is, your feet are near the edge of the ravine.  Harpy 3 is unconscious, about a yard to the right of your head, its tile has been removed from the map and it is no longer a factor.  Harpy 2 is still at the bottom of the pit moaning, though it seems to be conscious from all you can tell.  Your spear is next to the hex with your feet on the right side.  Please give me two rounds of action.

Turn 3

Giles came back into the world of the living for a moment and was wrecked with pain across his face and in his leg. He didn't know quite what was going on, how damaged he was or whether they were winning or losing, he simply acted on instinct. He felt his body reflexively crunch up into a ball lifting both legs right up into his gut before kicking out with all the force he could muster.

A roar from himself echoed into the chamber as he mustered every last bit of energy to kick at the legs of the harpy that had clawed his face into bloody ribbons, it wasn't much but there was nothing else for him to do that would help their situation and even if there were, he had little time to think about it before his allies were similarly shredded and devoured by the she-bitches he now fought against to survive.

In the back of his mind the sound he let out felt somewhat unnatural, and he felt a deep unsettling reverberation pulse through his body.



OOC: The posting is okay, right? (I appreciate that a lot of the other plots are a lot more narrative and lengthy (i just think given the nature of the current situation my posts are a little shorter)


Actions:

In any order:

Spell(Sound (or simply illusion): He will make some kind of incredibly loud bestial sound. Something that sounds vaguely terrifying and predatory.

It could be a dragon screech (though he doesnt' know what that sounds like) but as he's just going on his gut instinct, it might be a lion/gorilla/baboob-like or wolf snarl , or something he's naturally more familiar with. In either case, it's supposed to give the impression of very big predator.


Attack:

Brawling Kick, All out attack Determined, Telegraphic, to the knees, + Mighty Blows

I'm pretty sure that you need the focussed fury perk to stack AoA(Strong) and mighty blows But either way it's going to be a double stamp to the legs. In which case he'll used determined

I guess it'd break down like this:

DWA(kick) -4, Prone -4, legs -2, Tele +4, AoA  +4 -> final skill 13
Ultimately, if he's successful, he should get
2x 1d6+3 (+1 for boots too) crushing attacks agianst the harpy's legs.
DWA means that there will be a defensive penalty of -1
Tele gives it +2

I am assuming though that given I am currently stunned and the harpy is engaged in combat with edenburg that it might count as a surprise attack and give it no defence at all. Or in the best case count as some half-way maneuver like run-around attack or flank attack.


... i'm scared of rolling for these. So i'll let you do it :)

All about Giles, the world spins with flying axes, razor-sharp talons and the spittle and blood of the combatants are riddled across the walls of the close spaces.  Above him, Edenburg battles with the larges of the demonic birds as beside, Pierce slashes wildly at the only other remaining foe.

Finally shaking himself from his stun, and finding themselves with a numbers advantage, Giles thinks it pertinent to scare off the remaining two foes, and he conjures the mana around him attempting again a spell to scare off the beasts but just as he has started to draw the magic around him he is surprised by another attack.  The Harpy slashes out with it's claws wildly, digging a fierce track into the crotch of Giles's mail coat and digging into his skin.  Giles inadvertently lets out a gasp, spoiling his spell midsentence.

To his right, Pierce and the beast battle back and forth savagely, claws flying and Pierce's axe tearing gaping wounds in the monster not once, but twice.  Flailing wildly to avoid the blows the beast throws itself to the side, but misjudges entirely, catching the worst of the blow right upon it's chest.  The beast howls with madness scrapping to keep its footing although there is none and it falls backwards into the pit with a sickening crack of bone.

Edenburg brings his axe to bear as well, slashing out at the leader and rending a gaping wound that pours blood onto Giles's midsection, stinging his new wound all the more.  Thinking to end the creature's fighting ability, Edenburg slashes again for the creature's leg, catching only bits of flesh with the heaving swing.

Thinking along the same lines, Giles flashes out with a blistering series of kicks from his back, the first one just barely missing, but the second one hitting his mark enough to leave a bruising blow.

Alone and badly injured, the last of the harpies flares it's wings backwards as it lifts and thrusts itself to the other side of the bridge.  Bleeding heavily and with its back turned to the group, it pauses for a moment before it lifts off again, making it's way back to the perch onto the ceiling.  With intended and lethargic movements, it glides towards skylight in the ceiling of the caves, casting shadows on the floor as it perches on a ledge near the ceiling.  One last time it looks back at the small party of three, screeching pitifully one last time before it launches itself away, leaving the caves entirely.

The small party of three is beleaguered and exhausted.  Giles's face is still heavily wounded and beading small rivulets of blood and he has to squint and reposition to keep it from running in his eyes.  Pierce is also wounded, once in each leg with one larger and one smaller tear in his leathers.  Edenburg, the last one to join the fray is the only one lucky enough to have escaped being wounded.  Down in the pit, the two fallen harpies still murmur and moan with their injuries...

Watching to ensure the last of the harpies is entirely gone, Edenburg turns and swings his axe one last time, cleaving off the head of the harpy that had fallen next to them.  "Good fucking riddance!" he intones as newly detached orb lolls in a roll to come to a stop a foot away from Giles, its eyes fixed in a glare of madness.

OOC:  To answer your question, the posting is perfect.  I also find myself in difficulty to post large swath of prose when doing a fight scene - I'm really more of a plot guy myself anyway, though I strive to bring out the characters when I have the opportunity.  Secondly, Congratulations!  You guys managed to fend off the harpies and avoid any debilitating injury.  Giles is however, reeling from his wounds and is at half move and dodge.  If first aid is not performed on his facial wounds he is likely to bleed into unconsciousness before long.  Pierce is also slightly wounded, but not as badly and has his full capabilities.  Please make 2 HT+1 rolls, one labeled 'face' and the other labeled 'groin'.  While I am assuming that you guys are going to explore the last room of the caves, please give me some specifics on how you are going to do that.  Firstly, are you going to perform first aid first (Edenburg can perform first aid on you while Pierce manages himself) and then explore?  Secondly, give me a general order of who is leading the exploring or if you are each going to different portions of the cave to explore.  If you say nothing I will assume that you are leading the group and exploring all portions of the cave together (and one at a time).

After the harpy had flown off, Giles let his head fall back to the stone and gasped in a breath to bring himself under control. As he lay there, feeling the cool rock seep through his flesh he considered his previous naivety; the pain he felt washing through his body was better compared against a gentle fire's warmth versus hot irons blackening one's flesh.

Squinting and moving the muscles in his face he used the jolts of pain to gauge the damage. Quickly giving up that task he gently pulled himself into an upright position, taking more than one attempt to grit through the burning wound in his low abdomen. A brief sense of relief brought a half-smile to his half-ruined face as he noted his gender was still in tact.

"Are we all here? he asked aloud to the room, not yet wanting to risk the pain of turning to look around the cave.

"Are you all okay?" he said a while after, gritting his teeth, holding back the whimpers and puyshing himself to his feet.

Their wounds had to be wrapped and halted for blood, or it was so the man thought as he was continuinally reminded of his own battle trophies. Grinning a wry smile at the notion of the skirmishes irrelevance in the grand scheme of thing, Giles reflected on the ease with which fate could have had easily let him be bird food in a random cage in a random part of a random kingdom in the world. He felt small.

After all of the wounds had been appropriately attended Giles suggested that Edenburg finish looking around the cavern. "Try not to drop your axe, or bow" he stopped himself from saying pissily. The amount of blood on him compared to the others and the fact that he was the only man picking himself up from the floor had knotted an iron-root in his gut that made him re-double his resolve to become stronger than the others. As he stood there watching Edenburg make his rounds, Giles flexed his arms trying to assess the power they could generate but then flinched after deciding he'd do the same to other parts of his body.





19:15, Today: Giles 'J'naeth' Hind rolled 11 using 3d6.  infection :/ HT+1. // groin
19:14, Today: Giles 'J'naeth' Hind rolled 16 using 3d6.  infection :/ HT+1. // face

Haha, so so unlucky. Either lose his ability to procreate or his face. (I assume it's for the infection)


We will look around the last places after tending everybody's wounds. There's no point letting people continue bleeding and not cleaning out the wounds as best we can.

"Are we all here?"

Even as the words leave Giles's mouth he knows that he is by far the most hurt of the group.  Though he had seen Pierce take a wound as well, the man had still been up and fighting at the end of the fray.  Willing himself to get back up and to direct his men, Giles decides to apply bandages to all the wounds, and then to get moving and see what is in these caverns before making their way out, Broskow was probably already complaining about their absence.  Pierce seems to be able to work his own ministrations, so Edenburg takes a look at Giles's face, spreading a thick salve on his face and placing some cloth across the wounds.  Luckily, it seems no damage was done to the eyes, so apart from wearing bandages across his face for the time being Giles is no worse for wear.

Deciding to let Edenburg take the lead for a change, the three set off to cross the small footbridge crossing the gully.  Giles is just biting back an insult about Edenburg's combat nerves, when the man suddenly starts falling in front of him!  Taking a half step back in shock, Giles watches as a small portion in the center of the footbridge gives entirely, revealing a trick door just under Edenburg's feet.  The man grasps out wildly, but was not expecting his passage to give way underneath him and he only manages to grasp the edge of the footpath before plunging into the trench below.

"Allen!"  Pierce's voice is urgent from behind Giles.  Taking a quick hop over the small trap door, Giles places himself at the other side of the trench, kneeling down to place himself at the edge of the drop.

"Just twisted an ankle I think!"  Edenburg calls back up.  "I guess I'm lucky both the birds down here are out...  Guess I'll hack them a bit before I try and work my way up."

His gruesome task accomplished, Edenburg is just able to clasp hands with Giles to pull him up and out of the ditch.

The threesome first make their way towards the harpy nest, looking to ensure there are no eggs or young that need to be dealt with.  They travel near the opposite end of the cave before circling back and up a short set of stairs.  As it seemed from the other side of the chasm, the nest is simply a mix of vegetation and grasses built upon a squashed table.  In the nest itself there is little besides a few small piles of fetid meat, crawling with larvae and maggots.  From atop the small climb the three can also now make out the motif on the floor which they had first thought to be a simple drawing of snakes.  Now it seems readily apparent that painted area is instead a medusa - her venomous hair and sharp fangs bristling menacingly.  The most apparent sensation the group gets however, is the overbearing stench from the monster's nest and the three quickly move away.

Moving on towards the back of the cave in a counterclockwise manner, the three come across the small area broken out into bedding.  Though the flat wooden palates of the bed still stand it seems the straw mattresses have been entirely ripped out and scavenged by the cave's most recent inhabitants.  The small chest at the foot of one of the beds is opened to reveal a few weapons:  A shortstaff, a small hand held blackjack, and a small metallic ring that is sharpened on the outer edge with a few feathers decorating the inner handle.

The group makes their way at last to the small area with desk and bookshelf.  The furniture itself seems in poor repair, though built for function and has not yet failed.  On top of the desk there are a few sheets of parchment spread out, each with writing in the Wazifi language, though it is faded and the pages are cracked.  There is also a small model carving of a toy boat with a worn blue rope fringe, bathed in dust.  The three try the drawers and find a stash of dried up inkwells, broken pens and a worn and cracked map where most of the ink has faded beyond recognition.

On the bookshelf are a mix of cloth and leather-bound books, the cloth ones tattered and in poor repair while a few leather-bound tomes look slightly less weathered - a handful of them even have titles in Anglish.  Battlefield Medicine, Field Unit Composition and the Chain of Command, and Raphael: The Geography and Environs stand out, while the largest of the books have titles that seem to be written in the same scripted language that marks the coins Giles found in the small pond.  Lastly, the end of the top of the bookshelf seems to be topped with a fired clay sculpture of five wolves, each of them tipped back with their muzzles skyward as if howling at the moon.

OOC:  I just went ahead and gave you the whole room, sorry again for the lag.  Edenburg took some damage as he fell down into the pit but it wasn't bad enough to slow down the chain of events here, he basically is walking with a slight limp in order to keep some weight off but should be fine once he can rest it for a bit.  Roll 3d6 labeled ??? for me please.

Small Metallic Ring
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:35, Tue 06 June 2017.

The salve and bandages across his face sat uncomfortably, each time he moved, or turned his head quickly he felt the tugs of cloth against his torn skin and inwardly grimaced at the sharp sensation that throbbed the whole of his face. Every now and then he hoped that his face wasn't total ruin, but soon after he quickly had to push back the thoughts for fear of coming to misery. Vanity wasn't one of his sins, but he had known truly ugly people and how they were treated by the common person, he wished no such fate for himself. As if to accentuate the sickeningly real feeling pulsing through his head Giles felt battered all over, with a dull thudding throb pulsing up through his leg and into his lower gut. Luckily, he reflected, he could move relatively unhindered and seemed to still have control of his whole body, even if it was fragile.

Crashing of the bridge seemed to reflect the feeling that Hind felt, a sinking crashing feeling that sent Edenburg to the bottom of a hole. A quick couple of breaths to steady his feeling were met with relief once the voice came calling up from the pit. Giles noticed that he had lunged forward to attempt to catch the man, but having missed he simply looked down into the pit and was thankful that he hadn't lost any men.

"Yea, make sure they don't come back and then we'll pull you up he called down.


 As they made their way around the nest, Giles looked down at the painted repesentation of the snaked-haired woman and reflected to the others Glad we didn't have to fight against that too. Those snakes look wicked " it was an idle comment and after saying it the half-elven sergeant regretted his words and so he quickly added "But we would have been able to overcome that too, I think. . Before he was able to add anything else the overwhelming stench of rotting flesh hit him and a tugging raced up through to Gile's throat signalling his sickened state; he held back any exclamations though and commented.

"Make sure there's nothing in that nest and lets move on wishing to distance himself as much as possible from the nest.



The chest was interesting and Giles took the items with interest, assessing the weight of the stick, as if it were a sword, before inspecting the round sharpened object. "you guys seen anything like this before?" he said, turning it in his hands and stroking the edges delicately to find the sharper parts. "Looks like it would be thrown..."  he commented before attaching it to his belt. Noting Edenburg's limp, Giles offered him the short stick to use as a walking aid.


As the small group moved to the final area within the cavern Giles felt a familiar excitement when his eyes landed upon the books. It was true, as he had discovered, that entire worlds could be hidden in between the pages of such works and insights into the world obfuscated to most can reveal amazing things. Even if they were fantasy, or poetic in their narrative, they were always interesting and Giles reflected aloud "Pages left unturned are such a waste, take them all" to the other men. He dropped two of the books into his pack and then took hold of the lupine clay models and inspected them with the same interest as the Chakram earlier. Nothing to waste, he thought, as he similarly put those into his bag.

"We will measure these out when we get back to the fort. When i've read the books, I'll see if there is anything of value or if they can be sold and divide the money. he offered diplomatically, feeling that in reality he may have been the only one curious about their contents.






OOC:

He'll spend time inspecting some of the things, mostly a cursory look rather than in-depth.. but then he'll make sure that the items he feels are most valuable will be taken.

Scanning quickly through the remnants in the cave, Giles chooses his loot quickly knowing that they have already been too long.  As he grabs the steel disk to place it in his pack however, he notices a curious shimmer on the surface that cannot be explained by the torchlight or the various shafts of light that fall down several yards away.

The books too, Giles passes around to the others, offering the most diplomatic solution, to split the carriage so that each of them have a few.  The things are massively heavy for their size, though between the three of them they make easy work of them.  Lastly, Giles grabs the clay sculpture, noting a little of it's mediocre craftsmanship as he places it in his bag.

Seeing nothing else of significance, and finally ready to make their way back out, Giles leads his men back over the bridge (being careful to avoid the pitfall) through the tunnel and back out the front entrance.

As the three make their way back up the incline into the daylight and back towards their horses, it is easy to tell that Redman has not enjoyed his time alone with the lieutenant.  The man is out of his saddle, holing the long lead ropes of the other horses as he brushes his horse's hindquarters, using the full bulk of both his animal and the others to block himself from Broskow.  The lieutenant however, is giving the body language little mind and seems to be midstride in a long diatribe of leadership lessons to his fresh private.

"Ah!"  Broskow remarks as the three make their way up the hill just a stones throw away from the horses.  "It is about time you three made it back, we were about to - GOOD GOD MAN!"  Broskow's face changes immediately as his eyes bulge and his chin and cheekbones sag to meet Giles's gaze full in the face.  "What have you been doing in there?  You look like you have been savaged by a raccoon!"  Broskow does not wait for a reply from the three but instead moves right along to his next thought, getting back to the patrol.

"Nevermind, we're behind as it is.  I hope that you three are ready to move out, the horses are well rested and we'll have no more dallying about!"

OOC:  I've made note of the items you have taken as a group but only have the disk and the sculpture specifically on your person.  You can bring them up or not now if you wish, just let me know what you want to do in game terms with splitting the loot (tell Broskow, tell Brashear, keep it to yourself).  If you want to tell Brashear about the whole thing then we can wait and do that after the thread is over or in OOC.

Giles sucked on his teeth for a moment, tasting the metallic sensation of blood on his tongue. A wry grin passed across his face as he reflected on the meagre prize for such wounds. The prospect of gold or finding something amazing always pulling him a little too hard. Curiosity killed something, no doubt.

Giles had earlier felt something of an anxiety when talking to their lieutenant; he didn't want to make enemies so early in his post but now, through the throbbing and pain, in the context of the life that he'd just fought so hard to keep, Giles cared much less.

"There were three raccoons" he said ironically. And then ignored the command to get moving, instead opting to do sate his newly formed thirst. "Redman, bring us that water, would you?" he said while still shuffling to his horse.

He'd not bother elaborating further to the Lieutentant.



No problem, he'll keep the items found amongst him and his men for now... he didn't lie or do anything that could directly be considered insubordinate as the Lt didn't ask... he's thinking about telling it to the captain (which he probably will but after some deliberation)

Broskow half smiles at Giles response, though says little else as the men mount up.  Redman passes the water skins back, a quizzical look on his face, though the other two corporals brush him off for the moment instead whispering a few words under their breath.

The team pushes out again, with little other ado on their mission.  The ride is not difficult, though the rolling badlands make quite the impression of desolation on Giles as he takes in the hours of dry, cracked terrain speckled only with the dry grasses that shot up from every nook in the earth.

It does not take long for the five men to make their way back onto their original, planned route and from their they make acceptable time.  Though his face is certainly feels uncomfortable, Giles thinks it little more than the after effects of such a significant wound.

It is perhaps another few hours, surprisingly tolerable with minimal interruptions from the lieutenant before the small band has made their way back to the fort with nothing else of significance to report.  As they make their way to the drawn gate, Broskow pulls his mare to a halt before leading the way through.

"Perhaps you had best go through to the infirmary, Hond, at least get those scratches looked at."

In truth, the last hour of the ride, Giles had felt poor at best, though it had seemed fine at first, he was now rather sure that the cuts on his cheek were swelling.  Besides, he had felt tiredness and thirst draining away at his energy rapidly.

Behind him, Pierce speaks up as well.  "I'm going to do the same sir, I think my leg is swelling up from a wound of my own."

OOC:  This thread is effectively over, but you may feel free to write up a closing post as you wish.  Congrats on the successful mission.  I'll send you a private with more specifics on the loot you took as well as the CP earned on that mission.

"I've had worse from your mother Giles said under his breath in reply to the lieutenant with uncharacteristic impulsiveness. He was lucky that it hadn't come out at full volume, as there was a chance Broskow would have missed it. It was a bitter and petty response to the belittling of the near-death experience the trio had experienced and salt in the wound to the new sensations of infection Giles was seeming to feel. He made a mental note of ensuring that Braskow had his own share of raccoon encounters in future, maybe that'd make more strongly coupled with the spirit of the soldiers.

"Come on Pearce, lets get these tended, and we'll meet Edenburg and Redman later for a drink..." he announced in camaraderie at a mission well complete. Another little gesture that Giles hoped Braskow had the mental fortitude to notice.


After the infirmary and a few drinks Giles made his way to the captain's office and donated a book. "Raphael: The Geography and Environs".



Fantastic! I'm glad Giles managed to get through that without getting too badly maimed. And I'm hoping there'll be a next mission/encounter/etc. too.

If pressed by the captain, Giles will reveal what he found and provide a full report. Before giving the book however, a quick read of it would be good :)


This message was last edited by the player at 08:48, Thu 06 Apr 2017.