"But Ise got to put dat fire out," Dregz whines in response to Moffa's warning, watching the unfortunately beset cheetah at the mouth of the tent, which is where he needs to be if he's to have any hope of achieving his aim. "Mebbee der rats will eat der big cat if dey can kill it."

  At the end of last round Bulldust whipped the flail at m16, as the tenacious warrior stepped in too close, leaving the bugbear free to advance.  He steps forward 5' and swings the flail overhead at the man with the glowing sword m5 (critical hit, 32 hp).  He resumes his crouched defensive stance and leers down at the little men.  "Who's next?"

It was the snarl that did it... The man shouldn't have snarled....

Riza has just enough control to slip her bow away as the man approaches before her eyes glaze over, and an unearthly hiss emerges from her mouth.
As the man closes in she waits, flexing her claws, until he is right up to her before letting loose a single furious swipe... She almost feels sorry for this guy if he's still standing after this

Moffdust looks at the big cat spluttering in the swarm. She sings it a wicked little song "De ole ladies catses has swallowed a ratses. Well fancy datses, it swallowed a ratses. Perhapses it will dies!"

She hears the wolves howling and softly calls through the tent to Oopses. "Aroooo!" she snickers.

She puts a hand on Dregz shoulder and hisses "Dont youse worries bout dat fires now Dregzie, de whole camps is on fires, all de tentses is burnin. An dese ratses is busy wid de cats for a whiles yet, den de ratses will all goes, den I'll kills the cats. But now wes gotta gets dat ole womans." She peers through the slit and starts casting a spell. "Good doggies." she breathes into the incantation.

Giant Minmorc finally loses control of his temper and starts to twitch and foam at the mouth. He strides forward between the tents then thrusts his greatspear at the human leader (m5) with the flaming scimitar, grievously wounding him. Moments later giant Bulldust steps a pace or two closer and brings his white-tipped flail down in a devastating blow on the human leader's head. The man is killed instantly and his body falls to the ground. The flame of his scimitar also dies as the enchanted weapon falls from his lifeless fingers.

Arlein scurries into the big northern tent  just as Jurz rides Rog around past Minmorc then past the attacking warriors and the archers behind them. Jurz slashes at one of the warriors as Rog races past but the warrior just manages to dodge the weapon of flame.

The rest of the goblins (Dregz, Moffa and Oopses) watch the fun from inside or behind the big eastern tent, with Moffa reciting the words of another spell as she peers out the slit in the tent wall.

On the other side of the camp Riza's anger boils up in her as well and she hisses like some sort of serpent from the pits of hell as she slashes savagely at the warrior (m24) sent to get her. Her claws slice through his thin cotton robe and slash his chest in a grievous wound that leaves him gasping and barely able to stay on his feet. He slashes at her desperately with his scimitar but loses his grip on the scimitar and the weapon flies away over Riza's head into the darkness. The desperate move rips his wound open even further and Riza is sprayed with blood as the warrior collapses to the ground, slowly bleeding his life away.

One of the warriors (m23) turns and flees from Bully and Minmorc but the rest of the warriors stay brave and press forward to attack. The veteran soldier (m6) with the glowing scimitar takes charge and leads the attack against giant Bully while a younger warrior (m9) leads the attack against giant Minmorc. Bulldust's flail thumps three of them as they rush forward, killing two (m12 and m10) and seriously wounding the veteran with the magical scimitar (m6). Two of them (m6 and m4) manage to get close enough to attack Bulldust with the humble warrior (m4) managing to seriously wound the giant bugbear!

Minmorc skewers one of the warriors (m9) rushing at him but three others close in and attack him, including the two leather armoured warriors (m1 and m2) who were on guard duty.  Fortunately for the giant orc they almost seem to get in each other's way as they rush in and all three of them miss him completely.

Jurz suddenly finds himself the target of a trio of archers (m8, m11 and m17) lead by one who seems to be another veteran (m8) wielding a beautifully crafted shortbow. He shoots an arrow at Rog and hits him in the shoulder inflicting a nasty wound. One other archer misses Rog and the other would have hit Jurz but the arrow fails to penetrate the goblin’s current tough, bark-like exterior.

The terrified women and children back away from the fighting and congregate in a frightened mass on the northwest side of the fire lit area. The long-haired old woman scowls at them but stands her ground and pulls out a slender wand from inside her robe. She glances at it and scowls again, then pulls out another wand as well. She faces the fighting with one wand gripped tightly in each hand and her large, ornamental, necklace glowing brightly on her chest.

A faint shimmer begins to appear at the edge of the firelight 20 feet east of the long-haired old woman as Moffa's summoned hound begins to materialise.

OOC: Main Game Map updated. The slaves are all still lying on the ground where they were sleeping before.
[Bless from Minmorc: All allies (except Riza) are +1 on attack rolls and saves vs fear for 15 more rounds.]

Abandoning the ride-by tactic for the moment, Jurz decides to close with the last archer, hoping that the confusion of melee combat will put the archers off.

---

OOC:  But the dice roller doesn't like me today

17:49, Today: Jurz rolled 16 using 1d20+12.  Ride SR -  Mounted combat. (last round to avoid Rog taking damage)
18:15, Today: Jurz rolled 7 using 1d20+4.  flaming scimitar on M11 (vs touch ac).
18:16, Today: Rog rolled 9 using 1d20+7.  on M11.
18:17, Today: Neither Jurz nor Rog bothered to roll for damage

Minmorc starts to grin as his spear sinks into the leader then his eyes bulge out of his head as the bugbears flail finishes the man off. Letting out a bellow like a wounded bull Minmorc will reach over the heads of the soldiers attacking him and will lunge at the soldier with the shiny scimitar, yelling "youse stoled mine, I steals yers!"

"Oi!" yells Bulldust as Minmorc targets the leader that he had just softened up.  The flail swings perilously close to the orc's head on its way to return the favour to m4 (16 hp dmg).  Bulldust is seriously wounded but having too much fun to consider withdrawing from the fight yet. "Dats twelve."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:55, Sat 12 Mar 2016.

Moffdust scrambles out of the slit in the tent with a savage gleeful look in her eyes. "Dat catses is nearly dead Dregzie, den de ratses will be all gone too. I'se gonna get dat ole batses."

She moves quickly behind the small tent to the north and peeps out at the old woman from behind the corner of the tent. When her celestial dog appears she points at the old woman and commands "Sic em Rex!" then she calls out to the old woman "Youse a crazy ole cats ladies! Dow does youse likes dogses?!" She casts another  spell and points at the woman.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Sat 12 Mar 2016.

Dregz nods to Moffa, then watches the rats finishing off the big ol' cat, licking his lips with anticipation.

The long-haired old lady (middle-aged actually, but much older than any of Team Arda-Nuff) has a woven breastplate-type ornament on a necklace around her neck. Light is radiating from it in a 20ft radius and it is easy to spot a six inch segment of black rod woven into that ornamental necklace. The whole thing looks like some sort of mystical or religious symbol of some kind.

Bulldust fidgets in his pocket and pulls out a potion vial while keeping his eyes on the battle in front.  Hey look, there's Jurzey and Rog drawing fire from the bowmen.  That's great cos the last thing he needs right now is more arrows.  He pops the vial up under his grimy nose bandage and holds it in his teeth so he can keep both hands on the haft of the flail, just in case any of the men let their guard down and deserve a whack.

Riza fuelled with adrenaline from her successful kill, races back the way she came, until she comes the old woman. Even in her rage fuelled state she thinks 'ooooooooh'
This message was last edited by the player at 09:38, Mon 21 Mar 2016.

Jurz urges Rog forward to attack the westernmost archer (m11) but neither Jurz nor Rog manage to hit that archer.

Minmorc is infuriated that Bulldust 'stole' his kill on the leader with the flaming scimitar so he responds the same way, skewering and killing the man with the glowing magical scimitar (m6) right in front of Bully.

Bully retaliates by squashing the other human warrior (m4) in front of himself and informing Minmorc how their tallies are progressing. Then he sticks a potion vial into his mouth, which will at least keep him quiet for a little while!

Moffdust scrambles through the slit in the north side of the big east tent and scurries northward around the next small tent to get closer to the long-haired old woman. Moffa's summoned dog materialises at the edge of the firelight 25 feet east of the long-haired old woman and, at Moffa's urging, charges straight in to attack her. The dog bites her on the leg and her loose cotton gown is stained red by her blood. Moffa follows up with a spell aimed at the second wand (in the woman's right hand) and the wand shoots out of her grip to fall on the sand at her feet.

Oopses chooses this moment to charge out from behind the big east tent and dash straight at that woman. As he reaches her he leaps up with his hands clutching for her bulky, glowing necklace but at the last moment she sees him coming and slaps him down with a stinging slap across the face that stops him in his tracks.

Meanwhile in the big eastern tent there is a sudden outburst of hissing, snarling and squeaking that suddenly goes quiet. Dozens of rats scurry out of the tent and disappear into hiding places throughout the campsite.  Dregz appears at the tent flap moments later with the words of a prayer on his lips. He points at the central campfire and suddenly a deluge of water lands straight on it, extinguishing the campfire in a cloud of steam. Now only the two burning tents, Jurz's flaming scimitar and the old woman's glowing necklace provide illumination in the campsite.

Riza races back around the northern side of the camp until she reaches a point on the northern side where she suddenly sees the old woman with the glowing necklace fighting Oopses and a big dog similar to the one Moffa has summoned in previous battles.

The long-haired old woman points her other wand at Oopses and the dog and shrieks something almost incomprehensible at them. [Language unknown: "Ekfo ure!"] A broad jet of flames roars out of the wand at Oopses and the dog and one unlucky slave (s6) at the end of the line. Oopses and the slave are singed by the flames but the dog ducks underneath them completely.

One of the archers (m17)turns and flees from Jurz and Rog but the other two archers stay to fight. The one Jurz attacked (m11) steps back between his sergeant (m8) and the dead campfire and they both shoot at Jurz. One arrow (from m8) hits Jurz in the thigh inflicting a nasty wound.

One brave warrior (m13) steps over the fallen bodies of his leaders to swing his scimitar at Bulldust but misses the giant bugbear completely. Three other warriors (m1, m2 and m19) continue to attack Minmorc and one of them (m2) manages to jab the giant orc with his spear.

The rest of the women, children and cowards are mostly cowering in the northwest quarter of the campsite and the slaves are still lying in their chains north of the extinguished campfire.

OOC: Main Game Map updated. [Bless from Minmorc: All allies (except Riza) are +1 on attack rolls and saves vs fear for 14 more rounds.]

Pain from the soldiers spear snaps Minmorcs focus back to the immediate threat. Hopping back five feet and snarling like an enraged Rog Minmorc will stab Vera back in return.

Bulldust makes a half-hearted swing and misses m13.  "Daff fur-een." he mumbles with his teeth clunched on the potion vial.  Technically this is true.  Anyway he doesn't expect Minmorc can count this high so he thinks he'll get away with it.

The wounded bugbear squeezes between m13 and the big tent where the rats just came out.  He offers advice in common tongue to that brave man m13 as he pushes past.  "Do i ee an a wo i oo."  He skulks warily towards the archers until he's within his 10' reach of them then twirls his flail menacingly. "In ee a umm i ya?!"
This message was last edited by the player at 10:39, Wed 23 Mar 2016.

With the central fire extinguished, Dregz is satisfied at last that destiny can once more gallop along, and he breathes a sigh of relief, looking around the camp to see how matters are progressing.

The little goblin notes Minmorc menacing a few humans and Bully heading purposefully towards the archers, the pair both towering above all around them, though the bugbear seems to be hurt.

"I c'n 'elp wid dat !" the little goblin priest announces, "'ang on, Bully !  Ise comin' tah 'elp !  Ise got der magic stick !"

No, not that magic stick. The other magic stick ...

Holy book clasped tight beneath his arm, Dregz marches forwards towards Bully, fishing the magic stick of healing from his pocket.

"Dats de ways Oopsies! Go gets her!" Moffdust dances up and down with glee as she moves a bit closer to the fight. What a magnificent sight, a goblin on a mission. Just exactly what she may have liked to have done, if she hadn't such a healthy respect for her own green skin. She points her wand at him and shouts "OOPZILLA!!".
This message was last edited by the player at 13:08, Wed 23 Mar 2016.

Riza stares southwards between the tents and hisses angrily when she sees the hairy old woman slap Oopses down then try to fry him with a jet of flame! Riza hisses loudly and charges straight at the nasty old hag.

Riza rolled 13 using 1d20+8.  Charge Attack old woman.
Riza rolled 7 using 1d3+4.  Possible damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:40, Thu 24 Mar 2016.

Jurz  silently rides Rog onto the bowman he attacked previously (M11) and into the square adjacent to the sergeant (M8), threatening both ...

However, he continues to attack his previous target (M11).  As the blow strike home, the goblin lets out the loudest scream he can  "Yearrrrrrrgh!


------

13:14, Today: Jurz rolled 23 using 1d20+4.  Attacks bowman.
13:16, Today: Jurz rolled 8 using 1d20+4.  Potential crit?  (Oh, well :(
13:17, Today: Jurz rolled 4 using 1d8+2.  Damage.
13:18, Today: Rog rolled 25 using 1d20+8.  Bite bowman.
13:18, Today: Rog rolled 7 using 1d6+5.  damage the bowman.

In reply to Jurz (msg # 116):

Oopses rolled 7 using 1d20+1. grapple opposed if no AoO.
 Oopses rolled 11 using 1d20+1. melee touch 4 grapple.
Oopses rolled 7 using 1d20+5. will save vs enlarge person.


Oopses staggers at the wand wielding woman.

In reply to Oopses (msg # 117):

Seeing her chance as Oopses has her distracted Arlein leaps at her try to get the necklace.

 Arlein rolled 7 using 1d20+1.  Disarm: +4 if necklace is easy to cut away, +7 if i get weapon finesse free on natural attacks.

Further enraged by being stabbed by a spear, giant Minmorc steps back a pace to give himself room to stab Vera straight through the heart of the offending warrior (m2), killing him instantly.

Giant Bully swings and misses the warrior in front of him but claims credit for another victim anyway and pushes past him to go and menace the two remaining archers instead. The warrior swings fiercely at Bulldust as he squeezes past but his scimitar does little more than rattle the steel links of the giant bugbear's chain shirt.

With the campfire extinguished Dregz finally feels free to focus on other things, so he marches out of the rat-infested eastern tent, wand in hand, ready to patch up Bulldust next round.

Jurz and Rog lunge forward at the less-experienced of the two archers. Jurz's scimitar of flame scorches the man's face and Rog's teeth bite hard on his neck. The archer (m11) collapses on the sand, bleeding profusely.

Moffdust cackles with glee and edges forward close enough to target Oopses with her magic wand. Suddenly Oopses grows to 6 feet tall; a full head taller than the long-haired woman (fA) in front of him. Moffa's summoned dog bites the woman savagely again on the same leg as before then Riza charges in from between the northern tents to spear the woman as well. She is more seriously injured and bleeding from several wounds. Oopses almost falls on top of the woman as he suddenly looms over her and she tries to slam him away again. They wrestle for a moment but Oopses doesn't manage to pin her down. Then Arlein the cat darts out of the big northern tent and leaps up at the woman's chest, clawing and biting at the ugly, great big, glowing necklace the woman is wearing.   Arlein bites through the thin leather band of the necklace and tears it free from the woman’s neck. But the old woman isn't going to let it go without a fight. She grabs the necklace but can’t tear it free from Arlein's jaws. Arlein ends up swinging from one end of the glowing necklace with the old woman gripping the other end tightly in her fist.

The veteran archer (m8) steps back away from Jurz and Rog and aims an arrow at the bigger target, Bulldust. Bully swings and misses with his white-tipped flail and the arrow glances harmlessly off Bully's blackened chain shirt.

The last armoured guard (m1) lunges forward with his spear at Minmorc just manages to pierce the giant orc's breastplate.

The other two warriors (m13 and m19) decide the battle is lost and make a run for it. Minmorc skewers one of them (m19) with his greatspear Vera but the other one (m13 escapes between the tents towards the east and is promptly joined by the badly wounded warrior (m22) who previously hid in one of the small tents in the east of the camp.

That is the last straw for the terrified women and children in the northwest corner of the campsite. They suddenly turn and flee past the burning tent and toward the north and northwest. Their terrified screams draw out another 14 women and children that were hiding in the tents and they join the desperate exodus running away from the camp toward the north and west as well. All the screaming is the final straw for the string of horses closest to the burning tent and they finally break free and join the screaming horde of women and children fleeing the campsite.

OOC: Main Game Map updated. The slaves are all still lying on the ground in their chains where they were sleeping before.
[Bless from Minmorc: All allies (except Riza) are +1 on attack rolls and saves vs fear for 13 more rounds.]

In reply to Wyrm of Wyrd (msg # 119):

Oopses goes to attack/tickle the woman, but falls flat on his bum.

"Thirty kills! Waaaargh!" Minmorc will again hop away from his aggressor and then will again lunge in with Vera. "Bloody Bully... Bloody flails... Spears is still better..."