Due to Mithra's early rousting and organization, by the time the sun peeked over the horizon, the mounted group was ready to head out. While Mithra temporarily remains behind to make sure the other groups all get started, Willem leads the rest of this group, moving at slightly faster than a walk

This group consists of:
- Alecks (mount)
- Cinnabar
- Mithra (mount)
- Nemeia
- Prizzard (mount)
- Sala (using his magic disks)
- Stonecrow
- Theirastra
- Willem (mount)

At the last minute, Goyle decided to head to Phandalin.

Of those that don't have mounts, which of you are interested in having your own Travelling Disk to ride on and control? Otherwise, do the rest of you want to ride on a horse or on a disk? Cinnabar had expressed her intent to just walk/run alongside everyone else.

It'll take a full two days to reach the Ruins of Thundertree, and that's by pushing it for a bit each day. Otherwise, it'll take three days. For the entire distance, you'll be able to travel two abreast, and even spread out more once you travel across the plains to the west of the forest.

So, you need to determine a marching order.

I'll definitely be ritual casting the 2nd level version of the disk and attempting to change its shape to provide a little more protection from slipping off.

1st
07:53, Today: Sala Menes rolled 7 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 3.  Int check for disk shape. – [roll=1645573986.27058.364018]

2nd
07:53, Today: Sala Menes rolled 23 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 19.  Int check for disk shape. – [roll=1645574013.59497.364018]

3rd
07:53, Today: Sala Menes rolled 17 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 13.  Int check for disk shape. – [roll=1645574017.75312.364018]

PS: Holy crap, didn't realise it had a duration of 1hr/level. Thats great as they will last 4 hours per cast.

Before setting out, Alecks performs the ritual to cast his own bowl shaped disc. He looks at those who are without a mount and offers a ride.

"Someone Please try the disc. It should work fine while we are on the road, just holler if you get stuck."

He mounted his mule and nodded, sending his owl up to watch for an ambush.

ooc:

19:15, Today: Alecks Senechal rolled 15 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 13.

19:15, Today: Alecks Senechal rolled 18 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 16.

19:15, Today: Alecks Senechal rolled 34 using 1d20+22 with rolls of 12.  shape.

Anyone who hadn't already figured out that Cinnabar was a druid of some kind loses any kind of ignorance very early on in the trip, replaced instead by a sort of mystery that doesn't provide as easy of an answer.  As the last member of the team mounts their horse, the last of the traveling disks already in place, the small halfling woman vanishes, and far more quickly than the average transformation is replaced by something more than a little bit unusual.

Her new form is similar in shape to that of a large cat, but made out of vine like plants and a few plates of stone that can be seen providing structure under the shifting surface.  If that wasn't enough two of the upper teeth in its otherwise granite mouth are long tusk like pieces of obsidian that look to be unhealthily sharp.

In this form she easily, almost lazily, keeps pace with the horses, often ranging a little ways off the path to jump and play in the trees before catching up, only returning to her halfling form when the party stops to rest for meals every few hours.

Nemeia looked at the floating disk with distain. She did not trust the magical transportation but without her own horse, she could not afford to be picky.

"I will be rear guard. The cape will get me to the front quickly if needed". she said stoically.

The paladin then proceeded to her spot with a slight frown.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:44, Wed 23 Feb 2022.

Prizzard rode a quick riding horse rather than a strong beast of a warhorse, so he could easily act as a forward scout. As first to a new rest site he would set out a trap or go fishing for a bit at each, or if a particularly good target revealed itself he might try his luck with an arrow.

Willem quickly stowed his gear and prepared to depart, solemnly accepting  the charge to lead the group until Mithra caught up.

He nodded in agreement as others volunteered for specific duties. Prizzard would ride solo, acting as a scout a little farther up the road. Cinnabar, in her strange beast form, covered their flanks as she disappeared from view into the undergrowth.

So Willem and Alecks had the pleasure of towing the remainder of the party. Sala was welcome to ride with him if desired, or could cast his spell on Willem if he preferred to travel on his own disk. Willem wasn’t certain how the magick worked but was trusting enough to allow the strange magician to do as he saw fit. They would make a strange sight indeed to any passing observer!

Willem’s horse, Draxus, was an ordinary looking beast. A gelded bay rouncey with leather barding and saddlebags. But closer inspection would reveal that his feet didn’t actually touch the ground, he floated a few inches above it! As he walked he moved effortlessly over the ground, no matter what the terrain.

Suggested marching order:

                     Prizzard

Willem                                  Alecks
Sala                                      Stonecrow                           Cinnabar (roaming on either side as she sees fit)
Theirastra                            Nemeia

                      Mithra

Can I also say, some of you I have adventured with before some some are new to me. I am very much looking forward to gaming with you on this mission.

"There are several of us that can serve as rear guard, and still get to the front rather quickly." She said in reply to Nemeia. "Myself included. My boots, my Fey Step, and or my bladesong would allow me to do so."

Theira will cast her disc, attaching it to Sala who has his attached to Willem, in order to keep the marching order.

OOC: Apparently I can cast the disc spell and leash it to Willem's horse. I planned on creating three but myself and Theirastra could actually tether to Alecks and Willem accordingly and each end up with the maintenance of just 2 discs each.

In reply to Sala Menes (msg # 10):

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Less fuss for you casters.

In reply to Grey Willem (msg # 11):

[OOC: And gives Theira a very fun springboard with which to use her new boots from. :) ]

"Now that we are all assembled. I'd like to introduce myself." says Sala, with a small bow to the assembled departees. "I am Sala, a mage of small repute and tinkerer of small things." he explains. His voice is of middling depth, but has definitely got an accent that is hard to place.

"It seems I have been shorn from my family, but as luck would have it they all hated me anyway. I feel no desire to return, and I'm keen to learn more of these lands. Where I am from, chronomancy is rare and frowned upon. I hope that I find more acceptance within these lands."

Willem nodded when Sala introduced himself. "Well met, Sala. Let us hope you can find a new home here. I am Willem. I am a part of an Order, the Holy Protectors of Torm." Absentmindedly he rubbed the strange arcane mark on his face. A keen observer would note that he did not say he was actually a Holy Protector. To those that know of such things their tabards are black, while those of an initiate of the Order are white. The grey tabard Willem bears is something of an anomaly...

"I am not familiar with chronomancy, but as long as it doesn't meddle with dark powers then you will have no trouble from me. Maybe as we ride you can tell me more of this chronomancy, and your homeland too if you wish to share such knowledge. Such talk may help us know each other better, and while away the time on the road."

"I believe that's time magic, I'm sure I've come across the term before." Offering a wave to the newcomers: "I am called Prizzard, just a wanderer enjoying life as it comes. I prefer the rapier but try to be.. prepared." Indeed he seems to carry a bit of everything and even knows a little magic. A well-rounded noble, if such a thing exists.

This group sure did like to talk. Instead of keeping an eye out for possible ambushes, they were just chattering away like there was not a possible orc army ready to pounce. Yes, there were scouts but relying on them alone could get someone killed. Maybe they were just trying to relieve their fear, nervousness or outright boredom. At least they were not singing...yet.

Nemeia did find an advantage of the magical floating disk as transportation. She could keep facing the rear as it continued moving forward. The paladin kept a sharp eye out and mainly ignored the conversations. She just hoped all the talking did not bring any unwanted attention from sharp eared enemies....or maybe she did. Nemeia stole a quick glance at her war scythe before continuing watching the rear.

Much like the smaller cats the big one Cinnabar turned into is quiet for its size.  That doesn't make it quite silent, but compared to the clopping of horse hooves and the chatter of humanoids it may as well be undetectable.

Occasionally visible in long stretches between heavy cover, or leaping over one stream or another, it is clear that she is keeping up but keeping her distance.

Sala still isn't specifying which spell he's casting... Tenser's FLOATING Disk or Tenser's TRAVELING Disk.

The Floating Disk has a range, so it can be cast on someone else. If he cast it on, say, Nemeia, it'd float behind her at 20 feet, carrying whatever she put on it. In those cases, it only lasts for one hour, but Sala could cast it again just inside the 1-hour limit to 'renew it'.

The Traveling Disk also has a range, so it, too, can be cast on someone else. However, it lasts 4 hours, and if he casts it on, say, Prizzard, it's under Prizzard's control. He can ride on it and control where it goes.

So, again, Cinnabar is ranging out in front on foot.

Does Nemeia want to be on her own independent disk?

Does Stonecrow want to be on his own independent disk?

Does Sala want to be on his own independent disk?

Does Theirastra want to be on her own independent disk? Or does she want it attached to one of the horses? For that matter, which version is she casting?


Remember, the disks are nearly invisible, so it appears that anyone on a disk is floating in the air.

I was always casting the second level version as posted here.  I planned on casting it on the horses so that it would be pinned to them. We follow where they go. Anybody can hop on a spare. When we talked after this initial post we figured out we would only need two discs.

OOC: I cast a second level version at the same time as Sala. It is bowl shaped and centered on my mule. Note that with the feat it was cast from the ritual book. I did not need to prepare it for the day.

Though with the main group, Alecks remains watchful and in contact with his owl that is watching from the air above the group.

His watchful demeanor wavered once to respond to the introductions.

He smiled as Sala and Prizzard introduced themselves. "I am Alecks, navigator on the merchent vessel known as the Osprey and a follower of Selune. I met Willem and Theirastra in the caves. Seems there's more to be done to keep the area safe.  I'll do what I can to help.",

The 2nd Level spell, Tenser's Traveling Disk, can't be attached to anything.

If it's cast on the horse, then the horse would be riding on it and would have control of where it goes, assuming it doesn't panic.

Same for Alecks's mule.



As the first group that left, you reach the Triboar Trail without incident. There aren't any steams or ponds or lakes along the way to fish from, wild game is scarce due to the Orc presence, and the only option is foraging for nuts and berries.

Once on the Trail, you make better time to clear the forest to the north, and then skirt the western edge of it to head north across the open fields towards Thundertree.

Neither on the path nor on the trail have you seen any sign of Orcs, goblins, or any other animals, creatures, monsters or people. Once you leave the Trail, however, Cinnabar starts to get the feeling that there's something in the forest watching them.

After an hour, it disappears... perhaps because the sun is setting.

Each time they take a break every few hours Cinnabar returns to her halfling form, and shares out a few more berries for others to eat, which provide nourishment to them and their mounts, and heal minor aches and pains of travel.

Whenever possible she will update them on anything found out in the forest then, but so far it is mostly just trees.  Once everyone has taken their short rest she returns to her large tusked cat form and bounds back into the forest.

The lack of visible meat does little to deter Prizzards efforts, he's a bit more optimistic than any commoner has the luxury to be. He still has some rations for the night, and while the berries fulfill the bodys nutritional needs there's just something right about the feeling of eating and a full stomach afterwards.

Nemeia, I'm sure most of that conversations was done before travel began and possibly continued at rest stops. It's not easy to speak over too many hooves striking the packed dirt of a good trail.

If the sun is setting we're pretty late getting started on the nights camp. Prizzard will find a spot quick and see to Tra'am thoroughly after such a long days ride.

Apologies for the confusion on the discs. The spell description is almost exactly the same as the floating disc spell. I can't actually see any differences in the text that would make it perform as you've just described in the thread above, but obviously you're the DM and your decision is the one that matters :)

The main element which makes me think that no control is needed is the text "The disk is immobile while you are within 20 feet of it. If you move more than 20 feet away from it, the disk follows you so that it remains within 20 feet of you". Again, happy to have this clarified to mean that this only occurs if you are the caster of the spell.

OOC: My bad. I could have sworn I wrote this up somewhere in one of the posts. As near as I can figure, I copied Floating Disk into the new spell thread for reference but must have gotten interrupted before finishing the full description of the new spell.

It's been fixed now.

Thanks for clarifying. I would therefore cast one tenders traveling disc with double speed upon myself, and a second traveling disc on myself that acts like a floating disc with extended duration.

(I assume Mithra has now caught up with us)

When the time came to set up camp, Willem quickly set his tent before attending to his horse. He made sure Draxus was watered and staked on a long rope near some thick grass for him to munch on. Satisfied that his mount had been tended to he considered his own rumbling belly. The foragers had found a little food en route and he used it to supplement his own trail rations, sharing food with those who had none. It was only dried meats and fruits, trail biscuits and hard cheese, but it was nutritious and satisfying enough if you're hungry.

Having seen the other two groups off, she decided to cut cross-country a bit to save time, which is probably why she missed the Castle group's encounter with the wolves.

She didn't feel she needed to push the horse that hard, though it did occur to her that she might wind up regretting that. But, she caught up with the Thundertree group about an hour before sunset... just in time to set up camp.

"I see you've made good time," she comments to Willem. "Let's hope everything else goes just as smoothly."

Before camp is even set, though, she tends to her horse first... removing the saddle and blanket, giving it some water, feeding it and then grooming it. She then scans the area where they've set up camp, noting how defensible it is and where the best and desperate lines of retreat are.

"I'll take the late night/early morning watch," she volunteers as she eats, and curls up in her own bedroll and quickly falls to sleep. It'd been a long day already.

They had made it through the first day of travel relatively well. Almost too well in her opinion. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits and getting along but it was only the first day. All she wanted to do was to sit down. Standing up for hours on that traveling disk made her legs hurt.

As for sleeping arrangements, all she had was her hooded cape to keep warm. Nemeia had set aside her backpack and other gear before confronting Sly at his hidden cabin. Then something went wrong with magic, and she was here. At some point, they should get to a real city that sold supplies and camping equipment. Eventually.

It was then the reluctant leader said something about watches.

"I will take the watch that is darkest. It is easy for a tiefling to see in the darkness."

The paladin then found a spot and started to take off her chainmail armor. It was risky sleeping with her armor off but if she lived through the night, she wanted to be well rested for the next day. It seemed much cooler with no armor on. She tugged the cape closer around her and sighed. This reminded her of Basic Training in the Order but this time, it wasn't snowing.

Nemeia kept a constant hand on her war scythe next to her. The damned thing still had not talked to her since she found it. Maybe it was her imagination. Maybe she was just tired from the magical teleport and then the fighting. Maybe she was finally going crazy from the guilt. Maybe......

A troubled sleep finally claimed its victim.

The screams started again.

Young Nemeia ran through the burning streets crying as shadowy demon-like figures set fires to buildings and ritualistically slaughtered the people of the village. It was not supposed to happen this way. This was all her fault. The people did not treat her well, but they did not deserve this. All she wanted was the coin the leave and start a new life.

She then found the human in blood red armor and cloak. Young Nemeia ran up to him and grabbed a fistful of his cloak to get his attention.

"You were only supposed to sneak in and grab the treasure underneath the church. Not destroy the entire village!" she screamed.

Sly looked down on Nemeia with a wicked grin before back-handing her suddenly. She stumbled back a few steps before falling to the ground.

"Why?" moaned Nemeia as she slowly got off the ground.

Sly gave another wide grin. "Your hate, along with these sacrifices, will feed his blood sword. He has plans for you." Before Nemeia could say anything more, Sly kicked her in the chest, sending her crashing into the church's wall and falling to the ground again. Then part of the wall collapsed on top of her.

Then she found herself looking at death itself.

The woman in black armor was very tall with shoulder length bright red hair and a wicked black scythe on her back. She would have looked pretty if not for her stern look, piercing blue eyes and an aura of dread surrounding her.

"First. You will tell me everything you know about the…. people who did this. Second. You will have a choice. Take the Oath of Vengeance, train hard and then seek redemption or die now like you deserve." the woman said without emotion, but the woman's eyes were daring her.

"Vengeance will be yours!"

Nemeia woke up suddenly in a cold sweat. It was the dream again. She looked down and saw her hand clinched tightly around the war scythe. Might as well get dressed. She was not going to get anymore sleep tonight.

OOC I apologize as this is a bit out of order.

Once they stopped for camp, Alecks took time to care for his mule. He removed her saddle and blanket, then tethered her with the other mounts before giving her a bit of a rub down to check for burrs or minor injuries. Once satisfied that she was in good condition and in a good spot for forage he pulled his ritual book from his haversack and performed the ritual to cast alarm in a 20 foot cube centered on where she was tethered.

Once satisfied that the mounts were in good shape he layed out his bedroll and joined the others for their meal. He thanked Willem and Cinnabar for the food they shared and offered some of his own to those who had none.

After his meal, he took some time to inspect his gear and mend any minor tears or breakage. He offered to do the same for the others.

Before turning in for the night he spoke about his turn for the watch.

"I have cast an Alarm by the mounts that will warn me if any but us get close to them. Let me know the time for my watch. My owl, Kiki will watch though the night. He will screech if he sees or hears anything suspicious."

Before turning in for the night, Alecks speaks to Mithra.

"Have you been to Thundertree before? What do you expect to find there?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:13, Mon 28 Feb 2022.

"Yes, I've been to the Ruins of Thundertree before," Mithra answers. "I've already forgotten why we went there and what we found. I think it was a bunch of undead. Oh, and spiders."

"I expect to find more Orcs there. I don't claim to understand the way Orcs think, so I have no idea what they will be doing there. They certainly aren't going to rebuild the hamlet. Just over a dozen buildings. Trees. The only thing that makes sense to me is if they set up some sort of base camp and make raids from it."

"I just don't know what they'd raid. The only thing in the area is the High Road. If they start attacking merchants on the Road, that'll bring the wrath of Neverwinter down on them. Although, I suppose... technically, we're already that wrath."

"Of course, they may not realize that."

"We think there's a Drow pulling the Orcs's strings, but we have no idea to what end. Only an all-out war would make a significant difference in the area. Well, unless they burnt down the forest. I definitely want to drive them out of the area before that happens."

"A Drow... that does not sound good." He shook his head. "Can't go back to the Ship until this is settled then. My sister and her husband settled near Phalandrin. I told my family I'd check on her and make sure the area was safe. I'm glad I found you folks. Seems like you're all up for the task. I will do what I can to help." 

Theirastra would be using her own disk.



"I do not require a lot of rest, therefore I can take a longer watch. First and part of second." She said with a small nod. She was an elf after all.

"Drow are no good from what I hear. Perhaps they are only using the orcs as a diversion from some other scheme? That is the drow way." She said, in thought.

"Yes, it's either that or it's a rogue Drow with some personal agenda," Mithra agreed with Theirastra.

"We almost caught him in the Mine. We think he's calling himself the Black Spider, which means the Orcs and the goblins and the hobgoblins and even the Redbrands may not know he's a Drow. For that matter, 'he' may be a 'she'."

"Unfortunately, we have to deal with the Orcs first before we can look for him."

When Cinnabar felt that the group was being watched, she had cautiously investigated the forest at that point, confident she could flee from any serious threat.

All she found was two widely-spaced footprints of a large humanoid and a musky scent. Both headed deeper into the forest and she lost them.


Other than that, the night passes without incident. It's not like the area is infested with monsters... at least nothing that anyone has encountered. The goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, and Orcs are all of a kind... invasive humanoids. The older wyverns and the more recent ogres are probably just a fluke.


The next day starts out with Sala and Manaen casting more Traveling Disks, pointing out to Nemeia that she doesn't have to stand on it for 4 hours--she can sit, kneel, crouch or even lay down on it and still direct it; she can change position as often as she wants during those four hours.


The morning passed equally uneventfully, and since the spell only lasts 4 hours, stopping for rest and refreshments at midday gives them time to recast the spell.

Getting underway again is done with a bit of tension/anticipation, since everyone knows they'll be approaching Thundertree sometime in the afternoon, though it probably won't be till close to sunset. Still, who knows if the Orcs will have any scouts out.

As if in response to those unspoken concerns, a pair of figures are spotted about mid-afternoon. First appearing behind a low rise, when they top the rise, you can now see that they are centaurs... except, they don't quite look right.

Once they spot your group, they start running towards you. That's when it becomes apparent that the torso isn't that of a horse, but a lion! Additionally, another creature is riding on the back of the leo-taurs.

They didn't come from the forest, but from the plains and rolling hills to the west of the forest, which is why Cinnabar didn't spot them first, since she was in the forest. Additionally, had they been centaurs, she might have heard/felt/sensed their hoof beats through the ground.

"Perhaps by dealing with the orc's we'll find more clues towards this drow." She said with a nod.

When morning came she would conjure her own Traveling Disk. She also appeared different, very different in fact. Her skin had a very different color to it. Instead of a light green tone to her skin, it was a more darker green like you would see in a summertime grassland. Even her hair was darker. "Lets go do this."

Prizzard quickly returns to the main group and dismounts, describing the incoming creatures, and hooking his backpack on the saddle.

Sala prepares for the incoming attack by creating an illusory shelter to hide behind. It takes the form of a bushy hedge that springs up in front of him a full five feet tall and five feet wide.

OOC: Minor Illusion of a hedge twenty feet in front of me. I'll move behind it also for cover.

Alecks wonders if an attack is their intent. He casts thaumaturgy to increase the volume of his voice. Shouting as loudly as the spell allows, he cautions the approaching creatures,

"Approach slowly if your intent is peaceful!"

Nemeia frowned at the fast-approaching creatures. Were they scouts of the orc hoard or an entirely different group? Then she noticed the others grouping together to form a defense. It was a sound tactic unless the enemy had offensive spells to take out groups. The party was planning to be reactive and not proactive.

Keeping this in mind, Nemeia stood away and behind the group with her war scythe at the ready as the party readied their turtle defense.

Confident in her ability to out run allies, and probably centaurs as well Cinnabar's feline like form stays hidden in the trees until the questionable approach is done deciding what it is to be.

Willem quietly observed the incoming creatures. They were fast and manoeuvred quickly. He reined in his horse and slid off onto the ground. He was competent enough fighting on horseback but Draxus was no trained warhorse, and he figured he would be more effective on his own two feet.

He adjusted the new morningstar at his belt but didn’t draw it yet, waiting to see if the incomes were hostile or merely curious. He raised an eyebrow at Alecks’ extremely loud voice but said nothing, waiting to see what the creatures did next.

The lion-taurs don't slow down at Alecks's loud words nor because the group seems to have taken up a defensive posture.

It takes a moment to realize that both the lion-taurs and the riders are holding some sort of 'wand' in their hands. The lion-taurs hold a sword in the other hand.

Even though prepared for it, Nemeia can't react fast enough to keep the attackers from using their wands. A yellowish-green beam of light springs forth from the wands.

16:11, Today: StarMaster rolled 21,16,22,10 using 1d20+4,1d20+9,1d20+4,1d20+9 ((17,7,18,1)).

It's unclear if they are targeting anyone specifically, other than what they can see. The first lion-taur hits Willem with his ray for 14 points of fiery force!

The creature on his back hits Prizzard for 12 points of damage.

The second lion-taur hits Mithra for 16 points of damage.

The creature on its back misses Alecks.


Nemeia goes into action then. When the creatures get within 400 feet, she teleports 10 feet above one of them, just barely timing her action with the movement of the creature. She just barely hits it, delivering 30 points of damage with a thunderous smite whose sound doesn't reach the rest of you.

Unfortunately, the other lion-taur is farther away than 10 feet so it can't be reached. Also, the lion-taur that she hits makes its Strength save (mostly due to the 4-legged stability it has), and while it isn't pushed away and knocked prone, it is slightly staggered as its rear end is pushed aside slightly, interrupting its momentum.

16:32, Today: StarMaster rolled 16 using 1d20+8 ((8)). Lion-taur save.

As Nemeia descends to the ground, the creatures run past her. The creature on its back manages to turn enough to shoot at her with its wand. Although at a Disadvantage, he still manages to hit for 13 points of damage.

16:49, Today: StarMaster rolled 18,25 using 1d20+9,1d20+9 ((9,16)).

Up close and personal, Nemeia thinks at firs that the creatures on the backs of the lion-taurs are Dwarves... albeit beardless Dwarves. The wild tangle of reddish-brown hair without adornment and the feral look in its eyes makes her rethink that. It now looks more like some sort of feral Halfling.


To the rest of the group, it now becomes apparent that the charging creatures are going to have several more rounds to shoot at them before they close to melee... if they even do that. That does seem like they are intent on doing that... based on the swords in the lion-taurs hands.

Sala stepped out from his position of safety momentarily, before he cast a Sleep spell upon the advancing creatures. He hoped that it would have strength enough to stop at least one in its tracks.

He then stepped back behind his illusory hedge cover.

09:36, Today: Sala Menes rolled 30 using 5d8 with rolls of 8,5,8,7,2.  Sleep spell HP affected. – [roll=1646616986.95043.364018]

Anshegar watched from the hilltop as the wemic and halfling rider moved to join its brethren.  The problem here was that he had no context for the situation.  Who was the aggressor?  Were the people encroaching on territory?  Were the wemic riders engaged in a legitimate raid?  A small voice wondered if there were such a thing as a legitimate raid, but there was no time to have that debate now.  The moment called for action.

When it came down to it, it was the somewhat unusual behaviour of the wemic that decided the matter for him.  He broke into a dead sprint after the departing wemic.  He might not be able to beat them in a footrace, but he could focus on nothing but running, and they were trying to run and fight at the same time...

---

Using the dash action to double my movement rate.  How far am I from the closest wemic/rider?

Having snuck as close to the brewing conflict as she could Cinnabar, or rather her somewhat plant golem like feline form, bursts out from behind the last tree before the planes the bad halflings and their presumably sentient mounts are already sprinting across and closes to engage them making a cautious zig zagging pattern that still eats up a lot of distance.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:03, Mon 07 Mar 2022.

Ah, so a hundred-meter dash. Prizzard drops his weapon and sprints like it's a race. Hopefully he could close the gap before they had another moment to use those blased wands!
This message was last edited by the player at 08:20, Mon 07 Mar 2022.

"OUCH! What the hell was that?" she exclaimed out loud as the ray from the enemy's wand hit her.

She had no idea what strange weapons these creatures were wielding, but they seemed to have a much greater range than anything she was familiar with, though based on Nemeia's actions, spells could cover the distance.

If she just stood there waiting for them to reach her, they'd get a dozen shots in that time!

She hadn't dismounted yet, using the height to get a better view of the attackers. She saw the third one running to catch up to the other two... and she saw another person charge after the third lion-taur... for lack of a better term.

Her bow was already strung and slipped over her shoulder, so she slid it off, drew an arrow, knocked it, took aim, and shot at the one on the left... the one that Nemeia hadn't attacked.

And then she let off a second arrow. Two could play that game!

02:45, Today: Mithra Stormraven rolled 24,13,2 using 1d20+5,1d20+5,1d8 ((19,8,2)). Bow shot with disadvantage at long range, but adding superiority die for Precision Attack maneuver. And missed! (Or did she? Hit AC 15?)

02:54, Today: Mithra Stormraven rolled 6 using 1d6 ((6)). Damage from arrow... just in case.

02:46, Today: Mithra Stormraven rolled 9,13,8 using 1d20+5,1d20+5,1d8 ((4,8,8)). Bonus action: rinse and repeat! Missed even worse!
This message was last edited by the player at 07:57, Mon 07 Mar 2022.

Willem winced as the bolt of energy struck him. He cursed himself for being such an easy target. He grabbed at the morningstar at his belt and held it aloft, then charged forward at the advancing enemy. As he ran he bellowed a simple battle cry to inspire him, "Torm!"

Action - Dash towards enemy.

GM - I have a Brooch of Shielding. Did that offer any Resistance to the attack (you mentioned fiery force)?

Nemeia staggered back a few steps as the force missiles impacted against the front of her chainmail.

Kill the halfling rider! It dared to use such a cowardly attack! Vengeance must be paid in blood!

The paladin's normally calm and solemn face turned ugly and hateful.

"Unless you can shoot stars out of your blade, your anger means nothing!" she growled at the weapon.

The enemy had the speed, mobility, terrain and range on the group. All they had to do was run circles and pepper them to death. This was going to be a range fight and she was all but useless! The others were finally coming out of their turtle defense but it was going to be a slaughter even if they closed the range. The only good thing was now the enemy had a foe behind them so they would have to split their fire. All she could do was keep threating the rear.

Weapon at the ready, Nemeia pressed on to the rider that attacked her.

OOC:

06:09, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 9 using 1d20 with rolls of 9.  Will save.

Bonus action: Cast Shield of faith: +2 AC
Reaction: Hellish Rebuke

07:14, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 9 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,3.  Hellish Rebuke damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:15, Mon 07 Mar 2022.

Alecks cursed when the creatures responded with ranged attacks.  He saw that three companions were hit and decided to help them as best he could. Using his staff for the fisrt time, he cast cure wounds through his owl familiar. The bird dove at Mithra to touch her and deliver the healing power of his spell, before angling its flight back towards Alecks. As the bird turned, Alecks cast a second spell directing additional healing to Willem.


OOC: Cast cure wounds on Mithra, healing 9 damage through familiar who used fly by attack to deliver the touch effect. As a bonus action cast healing word on Willem to heal 10 points of damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:55, Tue 08 Mar 2022.

Apparently in 5e, no one and nothing is capable of actually running. As near as I can guess, the Dash is the equivalent of a double move at the end of which you can still take an action. At the same time, if a character feels it needs to run, he can just do it... there's no game mechanic/rule for whether he can or how far he can go. Presumably, that's being left up to the DM to decide, but there also aren't any guidelines for the DM to base his decision on (other than Real Life).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sala is the first to react to these strange creatures' even stranger attack. He casts Sleep on the pair of charging lion-taurs even as he spots a third one much farther away. With only 15hp left, the lion-taur that Nemeia attacked falls asleep in mid-stride and stumbles to the ground, throwing its rider off. The rider easily tumbles to his feet without taking any damage from the fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Although Anshegar takes off after that third lion-taur, even an all out run (speed x 4) doesn't let him catch up to it quickly due to its four legs. However, when one of the forward lion-taurs falls to the ground, this last one slow down to reassess the situation. As wild and vicious as it might be, it's not a barbarian to rush in where others might fear to tread.

That gives Anshegar just enough time to catch up to it. He is able to catch it completely unawares though not quite flatfooted, which is still enough to give Anshegar Advantage over it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cinnabar, who was out of sight in the forest, charges out at the lion-taurs. She's gotten about halfway when the nearest one collapses to the ground. The second was about 20 feet beyond the first. Her dash doesn't quite let her get close enough to that to engage in melee, but it's certainly within range for ranged weapons or spells.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prizzard drops his weapon and charges out to meet the lion-taurs. A Dash, of course, won't get him very far, but but a sprint (run; speed x 4) closes the distance. He also only gets about halfway when the one falls to the ground. He veers towards the second one and quickly realizes that he's not going to get there before the beast and rider can get off another shot. However, they've got multiple targets to choose from.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mithra stands her ground, still mounted on her horse, and fires off arrows at the second lion-taur, though she isn't sure if that's the one that shot her. Surprisingly, she just barely manages to hit it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willem isn't quite sure what the attack was, but his Brooch of Shielding does seem to have reduced the impact part of it so he only takes 3/4 damage.

He also charges forward at a full run.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nemeia is a bit startled when the lion-taur she attacked suddenly stumbles to the ground and... goes to sleep! The faint bluish glow tells her it was a spell cast at it.

She was targeting the rider anyway who was thrown off the beast yet managed to tumble to its feet. It continues to target her, however, probably thinking she is responsible for the lion-taur's 'demise'.

Her Hellish Rebuke spell does 10 points of damage to the rider (Hellish Rebuke does 2d10 damage, not 2d6).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alecks first uses his new magical Staff of Healing to cure Mithra of 9 points of damage via his owl and then casts Healing Word on Willem which cures him of 10 points of damage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lion-taur #1 is down and fast asleep.

Rider #1 is no longer mounted, but is facing Nemeia now. He shoots his wand at her.

14:18, Today: StarMaster rolled 12,7 using 1d20+9,3d6+3 ((3,1,2,1)). Based on that dice roll, Nemeia must have had a greater effect on him than she realized. He misses!

Lion-taur #2 shoots at the person who shot him with an arrow--Mithra.

14:20, Today: StarMaster rolled 26,12 using 1d20+9,3d6+3 ((17,3,2,4)). It manages to hit her for another 12 points of damage.

Rider #2 doesn't see Cinnabar yet as she's coming at him from the flank, so he has to choose between the two charging foes or Alecks. He decides Willem looks like the greater threat, so he shoots at Willem, depending on his sabre to deal with Prizzard.

14:25, Today: StarMaster rolled 13,15 using 1d20+9,3d6+3 ((4,5,2,5)). And he misses!

Lion-taur #3 has been running to catch up with his pals, but when one of them falls to the ground, he slows down a bit to reassess the situation. If turning around and fleeing even occurs to him, he decides against it. The only person he's close enough to shoot is Nemeia.

14:30, Today: StarMaster rolled 22,17 using 1d20+5,3d6+3 ((17,4,6,4)). He just barely manages to hit Nemeia's improved AC for 17 points of damage.

Rider #3 sees the same thing that his mount sees, and also attributes the other lion-taur's fall to Nemeia. Since she's the only one within range, he shoots his wand at her, too.

14:30, Today: StarMaster rolled 12,13 using 1d20+9,3d6+3 ((3,4,4,2)). And he misses!

Nemeia gnashed her sharp teeth in pain as more force missiles impacted her chest, right thigh and one hit the side of her head. Blood flowed freely from the head wound but the target was in range. It was most likely the next shot or two would bring her down. But this was her Duty. This was her punishment. Everything so far has led to this moment. If the paladin fell here, the village will have its revenge. If the paladin fell here, Sly's demon-god's plan for her would have failed. But most important of all, if she fell here fighting evil, her life had fulfilled its purpose.

Now is your chance! The wicked one has to pay in blood for striking you!


The paladin strode boldly to the halfling, past the sleeping lion thing and pointed at it.

"With my dying breath I mark you for death. With the last of my strength, you will bleed!" Nemeia said as she hefted the wicked looking war scythe for an attack.

OOC

Bonus Action: Hunters Mark: +1d6 damage per weapon strike
14:34, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 9 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 4.  War Scythe attack.

Missed. With the pain and damage she has suffered, its not surprising. Oh well. This character was fun while she lasted.

Alecks watches with dismay as Nemeia gets struck by the force bolts. She remains out of range for his aid. Prizzard is between them though. He sends his owl toward the duelist, instructing it to deliver the heaaling power of the spell he casts through his staff. After the owl flies by Prizzrd he is directed to close the gap to Nemeia. The cleric casts a second spell sending his healing power to Mithra.

OOC: Cure wounds cast on Prizzard heals 10 points of damage. Healing word cast on Mithra heals 12 points of damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:47, Tue 08 Mar 2022.

Anshegar felt his blood rush to his head and face, and found himself almost relaxing into the state of heightened awareness and anticipation.  Time seemed to slow, and he seemed to have all the time in the world to consider events and take the appropriate action.  The wemic and its rider were operating as a trained pair -- and at the speed they were all moving, he'd have only one opportunity to get in a free shot.  First order of business then, was separating the wemic and the rider.

As the rage swept over him, Anshegar felt the change that sometimes came with it.  A long, heavy spiked tail grew from his hips, streaming out behind him as he leapt in the air -- not at the wemic, but at the halfling rider, trying to grab him and pull him down, using his own body weight as the mechanism to do so.

As he hit the ground, Anshegar's tail lashed out behind him, helping him to maintain his balance and ready to interrupt any follow-up attacks.

---

Bonus Action: Enter Rage (round 1/10)
Move: close the distance with the wemic/rider.
Action: 10:38, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 18,17 using 1d20+5,1d20+5 with rolls of 13,12.  Grapple with Advantage.
Reaction: 10:46, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 6 using 1d8 with rolls of 6.  Form of the Beast: Tail (reaction) adds 6 to my AC against an attack that hits.

Sala is well behind the others now, so he advanced to get closer to the action to allow himself to be involved more.

OOC: Racing ahead to get closer to the others. It's all I'm doing but I'm also risk adverse so I wouldn't charge to put myself ahead of everyone else. If that means it's just a move and dash that's fine, otherwise I'll sprint to keep up if thats what it takes.

Quite familiar with the problems of putting things to sleep and leaving them there mid combat Cinnabar keeps up the pace of her rapid closing speed and engages the bad halfling thrown from the now sleeping mount to keep it focused on something it knows how to deal with, rather than letting it think up any other plans.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Thu 10 Mar 2022.

Prizzard finished closing the gap, smiling from the warm healing, and launched into a flurry of stabs toward the lion-taur. Go for the enemys mobility first!

rolled 27,16,12,10 using d20+9,1d8+8,d20+9,1d8+8 with rolls of 18,8,3,2.  Attack ×2.
rolled 26, 9,15,14 using d20+9,1d8+8,d20+9,1d8+8 with rolls of 17,1,6,6.  Surge: Attack ×2.

Willem charged forward, unaware that his magic brooch had provided some protection from the magic spell, or that Alecks had used his healing magic to aid him. No, his blood was up and he was determined to deliver a serious blow to this invader.

He swerved as another blast of magical energy shot towards him from the Liontaurs diminutive rider, Dawnfrost whirling in his hands. As he closed within reach of his enemy he smashed the heavy morningstar mace down on the skull of the mount. As the weapon drove hard into bone and flesh he continued his swing and used the momentum to bring it round again, this time swinging hard into the Liontaur's jaw. Teeth and blood flew in the air as the heavy spiked mace-head bit deep.

Willem
AC - 15 (+ Resistance to Force Damage from Brooch of Shielding)
HP - 60 / 60

Move - Dash to close in and engage with Liontaur#2.
Action - Two attacks v Liontaur#2 - both hit for total 34hp damage.

I assumed both were hits, I can edit if required.

11:07, Today: Grey Willem rolled 15,1,17,1 using 1d10+7,1d6,1d10+7,1d6 with rolls of 8,1,10,1.  Damage from 2 hits (Piercing/Bludgeoning & Cold).
11:05, Today: Grey Willem rolled 23,17 using 1d20+10,1d20+10 with rolls of 13,7.  Two attack v Lion-Taur that fired at me.


Also, not sure if Great Weapon Fighting ability applies to the Cold damage from my magic weapon or just the main weapon damage. If it does apply then please use these rerolls:

11:22, Today: Grey Willem rolled 12 using 2d6 with rolls of 6,6.  Reroll Cold Damage for Great Weapon Fighting ability if applicable.

This means I would do an additional 10hp damage!
This message was last edited by the player at 11:26, Wed 09 Mar 2022.

Nemeia attacked the Wildling but missed, probably because she was hurting and maybe because she wasn't used to fighting small creatures.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alecks casts some healing spells to help those in combat, but for this round, Nemeia is out of reach.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anshegar ran up behind the third lion-taur without even being heard. Just like the lion-taurs didn't make any hoof beats, Anshegar on the run was relatively silent as well. And the lion-taur's and rider's focus was on the battle ahead of them.

The rider had a moment of surprise as Anshegar got within reach, and then he was on the ground as the Dragonborn Monk grappled him off the lion-taur's back. Anshegar was too enraged to notice that the lion-taur didn't have a saddle, which made dragging the Wildling off easy.

The lion-taur seems to think the Wildling fell off but he doesn't stop running forward... until he glances back and spots Anshegar. Then he comes to a complete stop, glances at the other fight as if trying to make up his mind, and then starts to run back to Anshegar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It'll take Sala Menes a round to reach the two lion-taurs but only because they've stopped their forward charge as the others reached them and attacked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cinnabar easily reaches the Wildling and blindside attacks him because his focus is on Nemeia and he never saw you coming. Now his focus is on Cinnabar, but he seems to only have the 'wand' in his hand... no other weapon and it's clearly not a very good melee weapon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prizzard reaches Lion-taur #2 and attacks with a flurry of stabs, managing to hit twice for 25 points of damage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willem also reaches Lion-taur #2 and attacks twice, managing to hit both times and do a massive 38 points of damage! That's enough to finish off the lion-taur. As the lion-taur keels over, the rider goes tumbling off. It doesn't seem like he was expecting the lion-taur to get killed so easily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Theirastra decides to hold her position still, not only covering Mithra's back and guarding the horses, but also canning the surrounding area in case there are other threats. The battle was out of her reach for the moment, and it didn't seem prudent for all of them to charge forward.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mithra fires two more arrows at the remaining targets but both arrows miss... probably because she's trying to avoid shooting into melee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lion-taur #1 is still asleep.

Wildling #1 is engaged in melee with Cinnabar. He swings his 'wand' at her, but misses.

Lion-taur #2 is dead.

Wildling #2 is in melee with Prizzard and Willem. He, too, tries making a melee attack against Prizzard but misses.

Lion-taur #3 wasted too much time running forward, stopping, and then making up his mind so he doesn't get back to Anshegar in time to attack with his sabre, and with his rider grappling with the monk, he can't get a clear shot with his 'wand'.

Wildling #3 is grappling with Anshegar, tries to break the grapple, but fails.

While clearly not the most effective combatant the big cat does manage to look at least a little bit more dangerous than one if it's smaller cousins batting around some vermin as it swings a big paw near enough to at least be concerning to the bad halfling it is keeping busy.

Elation sang in Anshegar's blood, and he found his face splitting into a wide excited grin -- something that was surely terrifying to those unfamiliar with dragonborn facial expressions.  The halfling beat ineffectually at his arms, trying to get free, but even if he had the strength to match the barbarian's, he lacked the leverage to make it effective.

He slammed his elbow into the halfling's face, once to shut him down and a second time to make it stick, and hauled himself around the halfling's body to put it between himself and the charging wemic, his eyes narrowed and his tail ready to interpose as the wemic drew closer.

---

Rage: 2/10

Action: 15:30, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 26 using 1d20+6 ((natural 20)).  Unarmed Strike vs the halfling.
15:33, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 10 using 2d4+4 ((4,2)).  Critical hit on unarmed strike.
Bonus: 15:34, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 14 using 1d20+6 ((8)). Unarmed strike vs the halfling (Monk Martial Arts).
15:35, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 6 using 1d4+4 ((2)).
Move: position Anshegar so that he's holding the grappled halfling between the wemic and himself
Reaction: 15:36, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 8 using 1d8 ((8)).  Form of the Beast: Tail (reaction) adds 8 to AC against an attack that hits.

Sala was now in range to attack, and he aimed to set fire to the lion-taur's fur when he launched his fire bolt spell. It was a laughable attempt, and though it hit, it didn't really cause much more than a slight burn.

13:27, Today: Sala Menes rolled 1 using 1d10 with rolls of 1.  Damage. – [roll=1647235663.91897.364018]
13:27, Today: Sala Menes rolled 17 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 11.  Firebolt. – [roll=1647235653.38973.364018]

After crushing the skull of the mount, Willem turned his attention to the rider. He was in no mood for mercy and swung his morningstar mace hard, laying into the diminutive figure. He hit hard, then hit again for good measure.

Willem
AC - 15 (+ Resistance to Force Damage from Brooch of Shielding)
HP - 60 / 60

Move - Turn to face Wilding #2
Action - Two attacks v Wilding#2 - I believe two hits. 1st - 12hp Piercing/Bludgeoning & 1hp Cold. 2nd - 13hp Piercing/Bludgeoning & 1hp Cold. Total 27hp damage.

09:03, Today: Grey Willem rolled 1,13,1 using 1d6,1d10+7,1d6 with rolls of 1,6,1.  Rerolls.
09:02, Today: Grey Willem rolled 12,1,8,2 using 1d10+7,1d6,1d10+7,1d6 with rolls of 5,1,1,2.  Damage from 2 hits (Piercing/Bludgeoning & Cold).
09:01, Today: Grey Willem rolled 17,16 using 1d20+10,1d20+10 with rolls of 7,6.  Two attacks v Wildling #3. EDIT - should be Wilding #2.

Prizzard will attack but try not to kill the creature. It would be good to know who armed them. If this one is already out but breathing, he has manacles. It would seem the effort to strike carefully was too much.

rolled 13,13,11,16 using d20+9,d8+8,d20+9,d8+8 with rolls of 4,5,2,8.  Attacks.

Two more arrows had missed... probably because she was being extra careful shooting into melee once the rest of her group had engaged the attackers.

There wasn't any point to shooting more arrows. She'd either miss or hit one of her allies!

"The advantage was ours out here in the open," she commented to Theirastra, the only other person who'd remained behind, "simply by way of numbers, though those strange wands were dangerous."

"This just wasn't our battle. It'll be different in the ruins where Orcs can come at us from multiple directions at once, hide behind and within buildings, and probably swarm us if we get separated. Range weapons will mostly be useless."

Nemeia swayed slightly on her feet. Blood had run down the left side of her face, closing that eye. The halfling was being distracted by a large cat-like thing so it was not using the annoying wand. Must be the work of the small changing one that was scouting the flanks.

Now is your chance! Only its death would complete your vengeance!

The paladin gritted her sharp teeth together and held the war scythe tightly with both hands.

"I am your opponent. You will face vengeance by my hands!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OOC:

Bonus action: Channel Divinity: Vow of Enmity: gain advantage vs enemy for 1 min.

Hunters mark still in effect: +1d6 damage

11:43, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 22 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 17.  War Scythe attack
advantage.

11:55, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 7 using 2d8 with rolls of 6,1.  Divine Smite.

11:45, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 6 using 1d10+3 with rolls of 3.  War Scythe damage.

11:44, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 4 using 1d6 with rolls of 4.  Hunter's Mark Damage.

Total damage: 17
This message was last edited by the player at 17:00, Mon 14 Mar 2022.

In reply to Nemeia Sorrow (msg # 68):

Alecks rides forward at a trot and watches his owl as it closes the distance to Nemela. He uses two charges from the staff to cast cure wounds at second level. The owl swoops down to touch the Paladin and deliver the healing power from the spell. Then the  owl circles back toward Alecks after touching Nemela.

He continues the trot until he can pause to the flank of Sala before casting a second spell.

OOC: 14:16, Today: Alecks Senechal rolled 22 using 2d8+9 with rolls of 5,8. Cure wounds second level on Nemela, as a bonus action casts shield of faith on himself. now ac 19

This message was last edited by the player at 01:12, Tue 15 Mar 2022.

Cinnabar's attack this round against Wildling #1 misses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While now grappling with Wildling #3 on the ground, Anshegar attempts to smash the wildling with his elbow, and not only succeeds, but does so with a critical hit. It's not enough to kill the wildling, but it has certainly damaged him.

Anshegar than tries to follow that up with a martial strike, but that one misses.

He then moves to position himself between the wildling and the lion-taur, who continued to run forward but now turns back toward Anshegar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even though it's a bit farther away, Sala is able to hit Lion-taur #3 with his firebolt, but, alas, only does one point of damage. It's not enough to set the creature's fur on fire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No one is more surprised than Willem that his attacks don't land on the wildling. Apparently, the wildling is a lot tougher than his smaller size indicates, and clearly tougher than his mount.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prizzard also attacks Wildling #2, but can't hit it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nemeia seems to be the only one that can hit the tough wildlings. Her war scythe slashes into Wildling #1 for 17 points of damage. It's not enough to take it down, but the creature is definitely hurting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alecks trots his horse forward while his owl swoops down from behind and barely touches Nemeia with a wingtip. It's just enough to send the Cure Wounds spell into her, giving her 22 hit points back.

Fortunately, Nemeia had already made her attacks for the round, or else she might have thought the owl was attacking her and swung at it! So brief and delicate was the touch, though, that she might not even have felt it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the end of the round, the status hasn't much changed.

Lion-taur #1 is still asleep.

Lion-taur #2 is still dead.

Lion-taur #3, now riderless, is heading back towards Anshegar to help his dismounted rider. Although Anshegar has positioned the wilding between him and the lion-taur, the lion-taur still fires his wand at Anshegar (with Disadvantage).

23:04, Today: StarMaster rolled 18,18,7 using 1d20+8,1d20+8,2d6+3 ((10,10,3,1)).

The lion-taur would have hit but Anshegar's swinging tail proved too much of a distraction and the lion-taur's aim is off--he misses!

The lion-taur continues his move until he's close enough to swing with his sword.

23:14, Today: StarMaster rolled 26,11,14 using 1d20+6,1d20+6,2d6+4 ((20,5,6,4)). If it wasn't for Disadvantage, the lion-taur would have hit, tail or no tail!


Wildling #1 is in melee with Cinnabar and Nemeia. He doesn't seem to consider Cinnabar much of a threat, so he focuses his attention on Nemeia.

He doesn't have a melee weapon, though, so he moves 5 feet away from Nemeia and tries to shoot her with his wand, even though he has Disadvantage because of Cinnabar flanking him.

23:24, Today: StarMaster rolled 29,27,18 using 1d20+9,1d20+9,3d6+3 ((20,18,5,6,4)).

Even with Disadvantage, he manages to hit Nemeia for 18 points of damage--half fire, half force.


Wildling #2 is in melee with Willem and Prizzard. He's in the same boat--no melee weapon, so he tries the same tactic. He takes a five-foot step away from both of them, and decides that Willem is the bigger threat, so shoots at him.

23:30, Today: StarMaster rolled 12,28,15 using 1d20+9,1d20+9,3d6+3 ((3,19,3,3,6)).

He's at a Disadvantage because he's in melee with two foes, one of which is always flanking him, so his aim misses.


Wildling #3 is still grappled by Anshegar. Once again, he tries to break free from Anshegar's grip.

23:33, Today: StarMaster rolled 9 using 1d20+3 ((6)).

With no other options, his Strength check fails.

The wildling thrashed in Anshegar's grip uselessly.  Maintaining his grip on the halfling, the dragonborn slammed a few crushing blows into the wildling's back.

---

Rage: 3/10
Action: 15:55, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 13 using 1d20+6 ((7)).  Unarmed Strike.  Assuming that missed, so not rolling damage.
Bonus: 15:56, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 17 using 1d20+6 ((11)).  Monk Martial Arts unarmed strike.
15:56, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 7 using 1d4+4 ((3)).  Damage
Move: Keeping the wildling between myself and the charging wemic.
Reaction: 15:58, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 1 using 1d8 ((1)).  Form of the Beast (Tail) defensive reaction.  Add 1 to AC against an incoming attack.

The hit was solid but the halfling was still up. If anything, the wound she inflicted would leave a nasty scar. Then suddenly there might have been a soft fluttering of wings before her vision cleared and the pain in her head subsided. Nemeia barely had time to register the miracle before the halfling skipped back a few steps and unleashed another volley of magical force from that dammed wand. The paladin felt more impacts against her chest, left shoulder, right leg and side of the head again!

Nemeia plunged the butt of the war scythe in the ground and held on with both hands as to not fall over. She could feel the blood running down her face again. The thought of buying a helmet when able flitted through her mind for a moment. Then a familiar voice seemed to punch through her mind fog.

The half-runt can't be suffered to live for striking you. It is only a few steps from you. It will face your vengeful judgement!


The paladin let out a deep throated growl as she got into a combat stance and looked at the halfling with murderous red eyes. There was only one more card left to play and it was time to end this now.

OOC:

Hunters Mark: Still in effect: +1d6 Damage
Vow of Enmity: Still in effect: Gives advantage against target

Bonus action: Cast Searing Smite:

The next time you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack during the spell's duration, your weapon flares with white-hot intensity, and the attack deals and extra 1d6 fire damage to the target and causes the target to burst into flame. At the start of its turns until the spell ends, the target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 1d6 fire damage. On a successful save, the spell ends. If the target or a creature is within 5 feet of it uses an action to put out the flames, or if some other effect douses the flames.

02:32, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 18 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 13.  Searing Smite weapon attack.

02:34, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 12 using 1d10+3 with rolls of 9.  Searing smite (weapon only) damage.

02:35, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 4 using 1d6 with rolls of 4.  Hunters mark Damage.

02:36, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Searing Smite fire damage.

Total damage: 22
This message was last edited by the player at 07:42, Mon 21 Mar 2022.

Willem stared in disbelief as the creature evaded his attacks; it was clearly a lot more nimble than he had anticipated.

As the creature stepped away he flanked it so that he and Prizzard were not in each other's way. He doubled his efforts and swung again. His first was clumsy and sailed wide, but he arced it around and struck the creature on it's exposed flank. This time the heavy mace head connected with bone and flesh with a reassuring thwack.

Willem
AC - 15 (+ Resistance to Force Damage from Brooch of Shielding)
HP - 60 / 60

Move - Press attack against Wildling #2
Action - Two attacks v Wilding#2 - I believe one hit: 16hp Piercing/Bludgeoning & 6hp Cold, total 22hp damage

10:33, Today: Grey Willem rolled 9 using 1d10 with rolls of 9.  Reroll d10.
10:33, Today: Grey Willem rolled 9,6 using 1d10+7,1d6 with rolls of 2,6.  Damage from 1 hit (Piercing/Bludgeoning & Cold).
10:31, Today: Grey Willem rolled 16,27 using 1d20+10,1d20+10 with rolls of 6,17.  Two attacks v Wildling #2.

As Mithra watched the last of the battle, her eyes widened in astonishment that the smaller riders seemed to be causing so much trouble. She'd made the same mistake most of the others had, that the lion-taur was the greater threat, when, in fact, it was the rider that was the most dangerous. Well, partly so, since all it seemed to wield was that magic wand. Still, they were avoiding many of her group's attacks, and the few that did hit didn't seem to be nearly as effective as they should have been.

"Maybe I spoke too soon, Theirastra," she told her companion. "I think we'd better lend a hand!"

With that, she charged forward, barely able to reach the nearest group with a dash.

"You take the one on the left! I'll get the one on the right!" she called out as she ran.

It almost didn't seem fair to gang up on the lone dismounted rider that Cinnabar and Nemeia were fighting, but having been struck by that wand's beam, she knew first hand how lethal it could be.

STRIKE! Using Precision Attack and adding a Superiority Die to the attack!

10:25, Today: Mithra Stormraven rolled 8,15,8,1 using 1d20+5,1d20+5,1d8+5,1d8 ((3,10,3,1)).

Fudge! Even with Advantage and the Superiority Die, I don't think she hit. At least now she understood why the creature was giving the others such a hard time. And being surrounded now on three sides, it didn't have anywhere to go.

Seeing the same thing that Mithra did and agreeing with her that the battle was far from over as they'd both thought, Theirastra activates her Bladesong ability. It not only gave wings to her feet, but increased her AC by 4 on the off-chance that the wildling decided to shoot her as she charged.

A dash and an attack on Wildling #2--the one that Willem and Prizzard were fighting.

10:49, Today: Theirastra Nailo rolled 13,22,4 using 1d20+7,1d20+7,1d8+3 ((6,15,1)).

With Advantage, I hope that's a hit, even if it's only for a minimum of 4 points of damage.

Perfectly willing to take advantage of a presumed weakness Cinnabar's big cat form waits until the bad halfling turns away from her then lunges in and claws it in the back.

The Selunite nudges his mule forward pointing at the two standing wildlings and commands them to "DROP" then he continues forward and casts a second spell, calling on his healing power to aid Nemeia.

The owl circles overhead.

Aleckes casts Command at second level. Per the spell description, the wildlings should drop their wands if they fail their save and understand common. The spell check is 17 wisdom save.

As a bonus he casts Healing word to restore 10 hp to Nemeia.


Alecks Senechal rolled 10 using 1d4+8 with rolls of 2.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:13, Tue 22 Mar 2022.

Sala had made sure to be closer to the party so that he could impact on their success. With Willem close by, he noticed an opportunity to do just that, rewinding time a touch and giving the champion a time to shine.

He was so engrossed in doing just that, that the firebolt he shot out completely missed his target.

08:14, Today: Sala Menes rolled 5 using 1d10 with rolls of 5.  Maybe even again? – [roll=1647908069.52309.364018]
08:14, Today: Sala Menes rolled 1 using 1d10 with rolls of 1.  Reroll for 1d10? – [roll=1647908060.4885.364018]
08:13, Today: Sala Menes rolled 9,3 using 1d10+7,1d6 with rolls of 2,3.  Willem second damage. – [roll=1647908039.16455.364018]
08:13, Today: Sala Menes rolled 8 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 2.  Attack liontaur fiery bolt. – [roll=1647907990.36065.364018]
08:12, Today: Sala Menes rolled 25 using 1d20+10 with rolls of 15.  Willem dice reroll if he missed on a 16. – [roll=1647907953.16733.364018]

Reaction: Chronal Shift for Willem, one attack now hits AC 25 for 9+3 damage (or 12+3 damage....unsure how those rerolls work)
Action: Fire bolt misses
Move: Close the gap to be closer to party members (hard to visualise without a map, apologies)

Prizzard adjusts to keep up the flanking position and manages to keep up with the small target far better this time. He remains intent on disabling rather than killing it.

rolled 23,12,23,11 using d20+9,d8+8,d20+9,d8+8 with rolls of 14,4,14,3.  Attack Action.

Anshegar's first strike misses, and his second one only manages to hit because he has Advantage over the wildling he's grappling. Anshegar realizes it's going to take a lot more of that. The wildling may not be all that strong, but he sure it tough! And he easily keeps the wildling between him and the lion-taur.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nemeia only takes 5 points of damage from the fire, but her Hellish Resistance doesn't affect the force damage.

Her attack against the wildling hits this time because she has Advantage from Cinnabar flanking it. She does 22 points of damage to it and sets him on fire! Although he's clearly hurting, he doesn't go down. It's only about now that she sees the crazed, wild look in its eyes. It's almost as if the Halfling has gone feral!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willem continues to attack Wildling #2. His first attack misses... but then it's as if Willem pictured that attack in his mind and knew that stroke was going to miss and so changed it for the real thing.

Then his second attack also hits. He's hurt the wildling, but it's still got a lot of fight left in it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mithra reaches the fray and attacks Wildling #1. In spite of it being flanked on three sides now, she still manages to miss it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Theirastra moves up with Mithra and attacks Wildling #2, and manages to hit it... mostly because of the flanking Advantage. She only does 4 points of damage, but it now knows there's another threat to it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cinnabar in her cat-form now has Advantage because Mithra and Nemeia are flanking the wildling. She pounces and strikes, hitting it for 19 points of damage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alecks casts Command on the two wildlings and then casts another heal spell on Nemeia.

01:29, Today: StarMaster rolled 12,17,5,24 using 1d20+4,1d20+4,1d20+4,1d20+4 ((8,13,1,20)).

It almost succeeds, but the crazed look in the wildlings' eyes tells Alecks that they are in some sort of berserking state giving them Advantage on saves. It's probably moot anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sala Menes reaches the closer battle just in time to see Willem miss his first attack on the wildling. As a reaction, Sala activates a Chronal Shift that to some eyes looks as if Willem's action suddenly reverses for a moment and when it stops, he swings and hits the wildling this time.

The success of the action startles Sala so much that his own spell attack misses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prizzard again attacks with a flurry of stabs, managing to hit twice for 23 points of damage. It doesn't finish off the wildling, not even knocking it out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wildling #3 continues to struggle to free itself from Anshegar's grapple.

01:40, Today: StarMaster rolled 17,8 using 1d20+3,1d20+3 ((14,5)). Strength check to escape grapple. It has no Acrobatics or Athletics skill, and it's at a Disadvantage because it's grappled.

01:42, Today: StarMaster, on behalf of Anshegar Moonscale, rolled 25,22 using 1d20+5,1d20+5 ((20,17)). Anshegar easily succeeds at his Strength (Athletics) skill check (with Advantage) to maintain the grapple.

Lion-taur #3, having missed with his wand last round, seems unsure about trying again. Instead, he closes the distance and tries to hit Anshegar with his cutlass.

11:31, Today: StarMaster rolled 13,18,10 using 1d20+6,1d20+6,1d8+4 ((7,12,6)). At a Disadvantage in trying not to hit the wildling, it misses.


Completely surrounded by foes, neither wildling can move away in order to use its wand as a ranged weapon, but in their berserk state, they desperately swing the wand at the enemy.

01:47, Today: StarMaster rolled 21,10 using 1d20+3,1d20+3 ((18,7)). Wildlings' attack.

Wildling #1 manages to hit Willem for 4 points of damage.

Wildling #2 completely misses everyone.



At the end of the round, Wildling #1 appears to be on its last legs.

Wildling #2 is seriously injured.

Wildling #3 has barely been hurt but continues to be grappled by Anshegar.
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:33, Tue 29 Mar 2022.

Anshegar longed to go after the attacking wemic, but Anwyn's voice sounded in his memory.  Once you have control of someone, don't let them go.  Adapt around them, and make their allies have to go around them to get to you.

Anshegar circled around, dragging the wildling with him as the wemic tried to find a way in.  As he moved, he threw two more body shots at the wildling, hoping to start accumulating some damage.  Who knows, maybe they needed this one alive?  Even the mightiest of trees can be felled by the smallest of axes...

Anshegar's long, spiked tail thrashed between himself and the wemic.

---

Sala watched and decided to help Anshegar with his liontaur problem. Aiming more carefully, he was able to get a shot off that he was certainly proud of.

11:24, Today: Sala Menes rolled 6 using 1d10 with rolls of 6.  Damage. – [roll=1648610695.19164.364018]
11:24, Today: Sala Menes rolled 22 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 16.  Liontaur fiery bolt. – [roll=1648610684.73605.364018]

AC 22 for 6 damage

Ignoring the minor wound from the other opponent, Willem pressed on against the foe he had already struck. His first effort passed overhead but the follow up caught the wildling in the side with a heavy blow.

Willem
AC - 15 (+ Resistance to Force Damage from Brooch of Shielding)
HP - 60 / 54

Move - Press attack against Wildling #2
Action - Two attacks v Wilding#2 - I believe one hit: 10hp Piercing/Bludgeoning & 6hp Cold, total 16hp damage

10:10, Today: Grey Willem rolled 10,6 using 1d10+7,1d6 with rolls of 3,6.  Damage from 1 hit (Piercing/Bludgeoning & Cold).
10:09, Today: Grey Willem rolled 14,22 using 1d20+10,1d20+10 with rolls of 4,12.  Two attacks v Wildling #2.

Blood flowing down the side of her face mixed with sweat kept the paladin's right eye closed. Nemeia was tired and hurt. This battle had taken a lot out of her and there were still two more wild halflings to deal with. The paladin had used everything she had against the foe, and it was still not enough. Was she really that weak? If a crazy halfling could bring her down, what could she do against the other evils of the world?

It was her duty and punishment to die fighting evil.

That is what was drilled into her during The Training. If she survived that, then her duty was clear. Nemeia took a deep breath and tightened her grip on the war scythe. She took a little comfort knowing that the halfling was fairing little better. It was most likely the halfling was already dead, but its wild rage was the only thing keeping the body moving. From the whites of its eyes and frothing of the mouth, the halfling would never recover. It did not even have the mind to try putting out the fire that was burning its flesh. The wild swings with the wand were just a survival instinct.

Then she felt the familiar tingling warmth envelop her body. It had to be one of the healers trying to help. If not for that, Nemeia was sure she would have fallen already.

Then the Reluctant-One finally showed up on her steed. Where had she been all this time? Did she stay in the back, watching everyone else fighting and joined when things looked dire? A leader lead from the front and used overwhelming force to end a battle quickly so the healers would not have to use all their spells in one fight. Nemeia knew she could not say anything because humans had such fragile egos. Maybe one of her lieutenants would notice and tell her. This proved that just because someone had good organization skills, did not mean they were a good leader. It just meant they were a good Quartermaster.

She was also frustrated with her weapon. It would not shut up now! Most of the time, it kept saying the same thing over and over again. The war scythe kept seeking the death of the enemy that had attacked her first. The paladin did not try to fight the over-whelming urge at first because it made sense at the time but now it could pose a problem in the future. Plus, the weapon's abilities were very underwhelming, and she did not notice any difference from a supposedly magical weapon. It did not need to be constantly sharpened. That saved some time. It was very durable. Good to know it would not break during combat. No wonder it was in the Ork's Cave for nobody else would want it. If it had any abilities to end this fight quickly, that was the only thing the war scythe was quiet about.

Before preparing for her next attack, she came up with the name of the war scythe.

Death Seeker.

OOC:

Hunters Mark: Still in effect: +1d6 Damage
Vow of Enmity: Still in effect: Gives advantage against target

08:44, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 23 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 18.  Death Seeker Strike: Advantage.
08:45, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 12 using 1d10+3 with rolls of 9.  Death Seeker Damage.
08:42, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Fire damage .
08:47, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 2 using 1d6 with rolls of 2.  Hunter's Mark Damage.

Total damage: 20
This message was last edited by the player at 14:34, Wed 30 Mar 2022.

After waiting for the slower movers to finish off the nearby wildling Cinnabar's big cat form bounds off after the next of the wildlings to join the allies engaging it.  When she gets there she rakes it with a claw to make sure it knows it is now even more surrounded.

Even surrounded as it was the little creature was nimble, Prizzard barely managed another good stab. Trying to avoid the vitals wasnt helping. Despite the wounds from the wand attack and the short sprint he seemed energetic, as though fighting took no energy.


rolled 25,17,13,17,10,13 using d20+9,d20+9,d8+8,d20+9,d20+9,d8+8 with rolls of 16,8,5,8,1,5.  Flanking Attacks (Advantage).

In reply to Prizzard (msg # 86):

Alecks casts Sacred flame on the wemic pursuing Ashegar and carefully watches the health status of the group as the fight continues.


OOC:

Dex save 15 or take 8 damage

17:36, Today: Alecks Senechal rolled 8 using 1d8 with rolls of 8.  damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:37, Tue 05 Apr 2022.

Theirastra once more swings at Wildling #2, determined to bring it down one way or the other... casting Green Flame Blade as she swings.

02:33, Today: Theirastra Nailo rolled 13,23,10,5,using 1d20+6,1d20+6,1d8+3,1d8 ((7,17,7,5)). With Advantage for flanking.

That should be a hit for 15 points of damage. Don't think the other Wildling is close enough for the flame to arc to him.

Still wondering what makes these wild Halflings so tough, she needs to stop them first before investigating them further! The fact that they were willing and eager to attack a larger group was also troubling.

She swung again at the small creature, no longer concerned that three of them were ganging up on him, especially considering the state Nemeia was in.

10:27, Today: Mithra Stormraven rolled 11,22,5 using 1d20+5,1d20+5,1d8+2 ((6,17,3)). With Advantage from flanking, that should be a hit if only for 5 points.

Anshegar's has no problem maintaining his grapple on the smaller creature as it doesn't have great strength, but it struggles and squirms so much that it's hard for Anshegar to hit it. Both attacks miss.

As he manages to keep the wildling as a shield between himself and the wemic, he realizes that the wemic will have a difficult time attacking him while he's on the ground due to their peculiar anatomy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sala Menes, having not met the stranger dealing with the third wemic and rider yet, goes with the idea that 'an enemy of my enemy is a friend' and offers his own sign of friendship by attacking the wemic with a spell. The firebolt only does 6 points of damage but it's enough to get the wemic's attention.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willem continues to attack Wildling #2. His first attack misses... but he connects on the back swing. This time, the damage is enough to drop the wilding to the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nemeia strikes once again with Death Seeker, Advantaged because the wildling is surrounded on four sides now and can't defend against everyone.

The 20 points of damage she does is enough to finish off the wildling!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Even as the wildling dies, Cinnabar, in her cat-form, is able to pounce and strike the wildling as it falls down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prizzard's next flurry of stabs manages one hit pretty much as the others also hit. Certainly the combined attacks are enough to kill the wildling finally.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alecks casts Sacred Flame on the third wemic that's threatening the stranger that's grappling with the third wildling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Theirastra again attacks Wildling #2, and manages to hit it even as it falls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mithra winds up in the same boat as Theirastra, attacking and hitting Wildling #1 after it was already dead (probably) but before it could fall down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the end of the round...

Wemic #1 is still asleep.

Wemic #2 is dead.

Wemic #3, just having been burnt by two spells and seeing that the others are all down, decides he's had enough and he runs off.

Wildling #1 is now very dead.

Wildling #2 is also very dead.

Wildling #3 is still being grappled by the stranger. Now that you have a moment to look, you can see that he's a Dragonborn, but none of you recognize him.

As soon as the halfling's bloody and crisp dead body hit the ground, Death Seeker's mind curse receded back into its dark hiding spot. Nemeia's facial features returned back to its calm and solem expression. Even being healed, she was still tired and bruised. The paladin had used everything she had against the crazy halfling, and it was almost not enough. The day was still young, and she had nothing left except swinging around Death Seeker.

Now that she was not fighting for her life, Nemeia looked over the battlefield and noticed the fight was over. In the distance she could see an odd Dragonborn out here in enemy territory wrestling with a crazy halfling. The other enemy was either dead or running. If it wasn't for the stranger distracting the third lion thing and its rider that had come out of nowhere, the paladin would have fulfilled her duty and punishment.

It was better to let the friendly looking Relucent-One deal with the newcomer. Nemeia's type of negotiations delt more with fear and intimidation. The paladin was about to clean off the blood on the large crescent blackish red blade of her weapon when she noticed something odd. Death Seeker was already clean and dry. Nemeia frowned slightly and shook her head. She must have already wiped the blood off. She did just take two shots to the head. That did remind her that she had wash the blood off her face.

Nemeia was about to do just that until she heard a loud snort. The paladin looked over and saw the slight rise and fall of the human-tiger thing's chest. It was the enemy she first attacked at the start of the fight. One of the magic-users must have put it to sleep. Nemeia walked over towards it and looked down. After a moment, she used the butt of her weapon to knock its weapon away, so it was not within easy reach. The paladin held Death Seeker firmly in both hands and looked down at the sleeping enemy intently.

Evil did not deserve mercy. It would be a quick and simple task but...was it really evil? Where the halflings? Where they scouts for the orcish hoard?

Then she remembered another night. A night of screams and bloodshed...because of her.

Nemeia shook her head to banish the memories. At least this one will have a choice.

Taking a few steps back and getting ready to defend herself, Nemeia poked the man-lion thing in the ribs HARD with the tip of Death Seeker.

"Wake-up and run!" she yelled.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:50, Wed 06 Apr 2022.

As the wemic fled, Anshegar whipped his tail around at the halfling in his grip, the spines slamming into the wildling's belly.

Drawing his head closer to the wildling's, Anshegar spoke in common.  "Look!" he swiveled the halfling around to see his compatriots on the ground, then to see the wemic fleeing.  "Look!  Your compatriots are dead, or gone.  Surrender!"

---

While Anshegar maintains control of the halfling, Alecks approaches. He considers the feral condition the halflings have been in and wonders if it could be something he could cahnge.
He casts one more spell with the hope that the condition can be reversed.

OOC: Cast lesser restoration on the halfling.

Sala seems less on edge now that the combatants are heavily reduced in number. He returns to his own floating disc to relax in as the more militant members of the party go about securing the wriggling wildling. The shaped disc floats over the corposes of the wildlings as he ritually casts his magical detection spell.

As his opponent crumpled in a messy heap on the floor, Willem looked around to survey the scene. A strange-looking newcomer seemed to have hold of the last remaining Wilding, and several of his companions were in attendance. One of the liontaurs had fled, the others seemed to be downed, though Nemeia appeared to be shouting at one of them. He raised a quizzical eyebrow but said nothing, Tieflings were indeed strange creatures, sand that one seemed more touched than usual.

Instead he shook the gore off Dawnfrost, and in a moment the spiked head was clean and gleaming. He knelt down next to the first Wilding body and began to search it. He laid the wand device to one side, leaving that for the wizards to worry about. With his free hand he checked the body, looking for bags, pouches or pockets that might contain a clue to the strange creatures seemingly random attack.

Already in pursuit of the third wemic when it turns to flee the big cat like wooden creature just keeps running, chasing after it across the plains like any predator would wounded and fleeing prey.

Theirastra will end her bladesong and go over and help Grey in searching the bodies of their foes now that things have settled.

The wemic's speed is 50, so Cinnabar can catch it if her speed is greater than that.


Sala does not detect any magic on any of the wildlings or wemics.


Nemeia's poking the sleeping wemic in the ribs is enough to rouse it from its magical slumber. At her words, a quick glance around convinces it to do as she says... and run!


Willem and Theirastra search the bodies and, oddly, find only the 'magic' wands, the cutlasses the wemics were wielding, and the belts that were being worn. There is no other possessions that they seemed to have. In total, you recover 2 cutlasses and 5 of the wands.


The wildling doesn't seem to pay attention to Anshegar's intimidation efforts, but then Anshegar realizes that the creature is either crazed, berserk, or both.

Alecks approaches the last wildling that Anshegar is still grappling and casts Lesser Restoration on it. Within seconds, the wilding stops struggling and a calmer expression seems to come over its face.

He glances around sadly at the bodies on the ground.

"Oh, thank you! I don't know what came over us," the now 'normal'(?) Halfling says. "We were suddenly blinded by rage and began attacking anything and everything that moved! I don't remember much that happened after that. It was like I was falling deeper and deeper into a yawning chasm of despair, frustration and anger! It became increasingly hard to think... until I just stopped thinking altogether."


Mithra and Prizzard, now that the battle is over, keep watch on the surrounding area in case there are any more surprises.

Now that the threat seemed to be neutralised, and having found nothing of interest on the bodies, Willem approached the newcomer. "Welcome, Dragonborn. I am Willem, a Grey of the Holy Protectors of Torm. Your intervention here was welcome, you clearly have some talent. Are you here alone, or do you have companions camped close by?" He offered his hand in a formal greeting.

Anshegar looked at the hand Willem offered, but didn't take it straight away.  He'd been around enough of the city people to recognise the gesture for what it was, but the mistrust of strangers ingrained into him from his clan was hard to cast aside.

"No," he said in clipped tones.  "Just me.  Saw this happening, decided to help."

Anshegar shook the halfling a little roughly and leaned in to show his opened mouth, hissing.  "Why'd you attack these people?  Who did this to you?"

---

OOC: 23:32, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 11 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 8.  Intimidation on the halfling.

Using her superior speed, at least in this extremely speed focused form, Cinnabar runs alongside the fleeing wemic trying to cut it off and steer it back in the direction of the others.  When it goes the wrong way she slaps it with a paw hard enough to eventually knock it down if it keeps trying, but not to outright kill the thing.

Sala listened as the halfling told it's tale. "So strange. What do you remember of the date of your last period of lucidity?"

Although the Halfling still seems a bit dazed, he responds to Anshegar's questioning readily enough.

"I don't really know why I attacked anyone," he says. "I don't even really recall attacking anyone, though the evidence is clearly there. I... don't know who did this to me. My memory is a bit foggy... and most of what I can recall is sort of looking through a red haze."

"I only have a vague recollection of the passing of time... I'm thinking it was a few months ago," the Halfling responds to Sala's question. "We were exploring this strange tower. Then I think we started to get sick after we left it. It's where we found those strange... weapons."

Alecks's spell, as near as he could tell, seemed to have ended the 'poisoned' condition, rather than cured some disease, although there almost seemed to be a bit of that as well.


Cinnabar has no trouble keeping up with the wemic, but she quickly realizes it's in the 'flee' mode of 'fight or flee'. The more she tries to herd it, the more panicked it becomes. It still holds its weapons, and after the third attack by Cinnabar, it finally attacks back... almost as if it feels cornered.

11:42, Today: StarMaster rolled 10,25 using 1d20+6,1d20+6 ((4,19)).

It misses as it's Disadvantaged because of its current state of mind--panic!

Nemeia was a little relieved as the half cat-man woke up and ran. There has been enough violence for now. She then took the waterskin off her belt and used its contents to wash her face of the blood. Now the paladin could see with both eyes. Nemeia really hoped they would find a lake or stream to bathe or at least wash her hair that was still caked with blood. She had already been in the wilderness for a week, hunting her target before the accidental trip.

The paladin then put a hand on her head and felt the soothing warmth of her ability. The pain stopped and things become less blurry. Then she could hear the halfling talking and see the others crowding around it. It looked like the madness was gone and it was talking normally.

Nemeia went over to investigate.

OOC:

Lay on hands: 18/20
This message was last edited by the player at 21:42, Sun 24 Apr 2022.

Alecks shakes his head sadly, wishing he could have brought an end to the fight sooner. The other combatants seemed to be clearly beyond his aid. "Were there more of you who fell under the spell? How is it you stayed together and did not fight amoung yourselves?"

"What tower?  Where?"

"Did you get sick before or after you claimed the weapons?" She said, considering something as she looked around a moment at what the Halfling was indicating.

Not seeing any particular reason to let the wemic get away the quasi organic cat version of Cinnabar keeps playing with it, batting it around hard enough to knock the wind out of it, but not use claws to kill it.

"The strange weapons don't appear to be under any magical influence that I can tell." says Sala. "The tower sounds strange, and also dangerous." he adds.

"If it has this kind of influence on all trespassers, it could be dangerous to leave it alone. If you can tell us of it's location, perhaps there is a reward for dealing with it?"

Prizzard is off by his horse, cleaned and weapons stowed, beginning to walk toward the group.

Was Nemeia laying hands on herself or someone else? Also, all healing is max when out of combat.


"The tower is up in the forest," the Halfling replies to Anshegar, Theirastra and Salas. "We saw a fireball in the middle of the night and we went looking for the source the next day. That's when we found the tower. It was a gleaming metal tower in the middle of a scorched area of the forest. It was leaning a bit, so we figured a red dragon had attacked it. After waiting for awhile and seeing no sign of the dragon returning, we decided to investigate the tower."

"We sort of wondered if there might be anyone injured inside."

"The inside was very strange. Lots of metal. Lit by an eerie blue light. We found six bodies on the ground floor. We couldn't really tell what species they were. Kind of human-like, but looked like they'd been burnt pretty badly."

"That's where we found the weapons. We were going to check out the upper levels when we started getting blisters and burns on our skin. We grabbed the weapons and headed out. After than, things get a little blurry. Since we were all suffering from the same thing, we all decided to stick together to try and find a cure."


The wemic that Cinnabar is chasing had 38 hit points left, so she's managed to deliver 44 points to it and it collapses.

Alecks listens carefully, then responds. "I'm sorry I could not help all of you. You're attacks were quite violent and effective. I dared not try until I had the chance. We could check to see if any of your friends can be stabilized. If so, I may be able to help after I get some rest."

Sala listened to the story of the halfling and wondered if the wands themselves had any latent energies that could warp their minds. Whatever had affected the wands didn't appear to be magical at any rate. "How do these wands work?" he asked, curious to know more.

OOC:

Lay on Hands: The Paladin has a healing pool of 5 HP per level. At level 4, that 20HP. It takes 5 out of the pool to cure poison. They can choose how much to use in the pool. Nemeia used 18 out of the 20 to be fully healed. That leaves 2 just in case someone needed to be stabilized. It was just on herself.

Nemeia frowned at the halflings account. It sounded like a spell or a curse was put on anyone who stepped into the tower. If it happened to the halfling's group, what would stop it not effecting them? It sounded like something to stay away from. Maybe go to a large city and spread the word. This lands ruling class should take care of it. Bring in a small army to keep people away. They already had a mission of their own.

But knowing this group, they would want to charge in and investigate. Then they would get infected by the mind curse and their roving band would be attacking anyone they came in contact with.

The paladin glanced at Death Seeker she wielded. Nemeia was already dealing with a type of mind curse and did not want another.

Anshegar shook his head and released his hold on the Halfling, letting his rage die away.  It didn't sound like this was the same tower he'd encountered, full of wood and stone.

"I am glad to have been of assistance, my erstwhile friends, but this tower is no business of mine.  If someone could point me in the direction of Thundertree, I'll be on my way."

With the first fleeing Wemic down, and likely to be unconscious for a while, the cat looking plant thing does a really good impression of a regular cat looking around for another toy before she bolts off in the direction of the no longer sleeping Wemic, slowly but surely closing the head start it got by being awakened early.

Willem joined Prizzard in gathering the horses, making sure that they were unharmed. He took the opportunity to allow them a brief rest, and tried to find a small stream and soft grasses to allow them to eat and drink.

Theira frowned gently as she listened to the story being told she then looked towards Salas. "I could examine the wands if you want."

"Well, we thought the weapon--we didn't know that's what it was at the time, of course--looked like a hand crossbow that was missing the bow part," the Halfling replies. "It certainly fit into our hands like it was."

"There's a sensitive area on the front of the grip. When you squeeze it, the weapon fires. We discovered that by accident. Almost killed Hondo. Oh. I guess he really is dead now."


Theirastra can examine one of the weapons as there are five of them. It appears as if it was cast in one solid piece... except it appears to made of bone or porcelain... or some sort of bone-like material. That might mean it was carved. Then again, if there is some sort of... mechanism... inside, how did it get there? It occurs to her that it could have been made first, then dipped into a liquid that was then fire-hardened after it dried.

There's no opening in the front, like a blowgun would have, and the area where the Halfling indicates has no moving part.

"Some testing might be required. But we should have restraints in place just in case the user turns on us like this halfling was inclined to do so." suggests Sala.

"This really is great craftsmanship." She said as she examined it very closely. She will surely make sure it's magical or not as well.

The weapon definitely doesn't detect as magical.

However, as Theirastra examines it, she notices a 'discolored' area along one side. Upon closer examination, it appears as if this is a section that's clear but the area behind it is the same color as the rest of the material. It isn't until she actually grabs it by the handle that she sees there's a faint red glow in that area. It seems to be some sort of gauge as it has vertical line markings. If she's reading it correctly, it would seem to have a maximum of 20 markings but the glow only indicates 5.

Sala doesn't question Theirastra as she looks over the wand, but instead keeps a canny eye on her to check if she has suddenly turned and gone mad...

Nemeia's red eyes narrowed and a slight frown formed from her lips as she looked at the group handling the halfling's strange weapon. It came from a cursed place that cursed the halfling's group. Mostly likely the weapon was cursed too. The paladin will now have to watch her back in case the curse makes them rage. But right now, they were exposed and out in the open. An orc patrol could come upon them any moment.

"We need to keep moving. You can play with your new cursed toy later. An orc patrol could come buy any moment. Remember the mission. Thundertree and then helping the others in case they need backup. Your cursed tower can wait till then."

Nemeia looked agitated and kept jabbing the butt of Death Seeker on the ground.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 11:40, Sun 22 May 2022.

Anshegar tried to follow the conversation, but so many people talking and doing different things at once was mildly disorienting.  he hauled the halfling around to face him, and smiled -- a disconcerting look on a dragonborn.  "Where is this tower?  And why did you hunt this way?"

"The tower is in the forest back there to the west," the Halfling replies. "Don't remember why we came this way, though I think it might have been because the wemics like the open space to run in."

"Nemeia is right," Mithra agrees. "We need to keep moving. At least get to the edge of the forest where we can have some cover."

"Not sure about an Orc patrol. If this was their home turf... wherever that is... I'd agree with that, but this is raiding territory for them. If they aren't raiding somewhere, it means they've got a leader that's keeping them in check."

"I'm unclear, though, on whether there are two separate leaders or just one--one here, one in the castle. What worries me is that they don't seem to be operating separately. I can't help wondering if that is because of the Drow. What'd he call himself? The Black Spider?"

Alecks nods in agreement. "We should keep the tower in mind but we are committed to Thundrtree first and helping with the tower or the village if needed once our task there is complete."

The group quickly moves out and within half an hour, you reach the tree line.

There's forest to the left, and forest to the right--the one you've been circling to get to Thundertree, but there's a 300-foot gap between them in the form of a slight rise.

Once under a bit of cover, Cinnabar can scout ahead. There are a few low rolling hills in the area, and after clearing the gap, she makes it to the top of the next hill, sees another hill, but beyond that hill is the ruins of the village of Thundertree. It looks more abandoned than ruined, but some of the buildings that she can see are in rough shape.

She also spots a lot of Orcs moving about. There are a couple of 'patrols' that seem to circle the village--three Orcs riding worgs. She can't really tell how many Orcs might be in the buildings, but she counts about 20 out in the streets.

OOC: Can I just check. There was more than just 1 wand left, right? Sala was keen to take one if so.

Yes, there are five of them. One got away.

Anshegar nodded as Aleks spoke.  "Seems we are both headed for Thundertree.  I shall accompany you."

"Well, if the odds are to be greater than three to one, I propose a three-pronged plan similar to that which Mithra set up before, except that we use some physical traps and go as far as we can with stealth before retreating behind our traps."

Anshegar nodded.  Sometimes, when hunting a large pack, it had to be separated down to size before the warriors could leap in for the kill.  "I do not know the plan," he said,  "Tell me?"

Willem nodded at the plan. "I will go in the vanguard to draw them out. I am only good for close fighting, so it serves no purpose for me to hang back. I can be on foot or on horseback, whichever works best."

"The first would be a stealth operation, to take out as many as we can and seem less like a trap. Then we retreat to the prepared traps. Once the traps thin their numbers or cause them to turn back, then we attack openly if there are few enough remaining. If they try to stay in hiding we can snipe them over a few days."

Anshegar nodded to show his understanding.  "Hunt, then ambush, then fight.  With so many, even this may not be enough.  But I have no better plan."

He clapped a hand on Willem's shoulder, and drew a long spear-like weapon with a curved blade on one end.  "I am with you," he said shaking his head so his spines rattle together softly.

The plan was horrible. It relied heavily on traps and the orcs attacking in small groups. Once the alarm was sent, the group would be kept busy with the worgs and give enough time for the orcs in the village to amass the rest of their number and attack with overwhelming force. That was how orcs fought. They just did not have the numbers. If the large party did not split up, they might have had a chance.

The other thing was that she had used everything in the pointless battle with the halflings. She would only be able to swing Death Seeker around a few times before falling from the horde of orcs that would surround them. It was her duty and punishment to die fighting evil. Maybe she could do it on her own terms.

"Let me be the distraction." she stated solemnly.

"I speak their language. If I can manage to walk boldly into the village and force a duel with their War Boss, the rest of you can take them with a surprise attack from the rear. It will have to accept, or it will appear weak to the others."

Nemeia then shook her head slightly.

"But I had used everything I had against the raging halflings so I would most likely fail but it would give the rest of you a chance. They would all be grouped together to watch the fight."

Then the paladin smiled wickedly, showing sharp white teeth.

"But if I won. I would be the Defacto leader of the war band and I could march them to help attack the castle."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:44, Fri 27 May 2022.

Alecks frowned a bit at the strategy. It did not seem like the orcs were preparing to attack the village with any immediacy. They had time.

"I think we should back off a bit and watch for a night. I  could also use some rest after the fight with the halflings."He smiled at Nemelia, "Your plan is brave but very risky for you. A War Boss is likely to pose quite a challenge. Say you win, what stops another powerful orc from challenging you for the right to lead?"

"What if we vary the original plan a bit, we have Cinnabar scout out Thundertree in her animal form, get a real count of the enemy, then she can scout thier patrols to see if the route is repeated. We set an ambush on an established patrol route, let one escape so it returns with more. Set the traps at the ambush location. Then we attack the village or the force that responds to the ambush, whichever seems like the better opportunity."

"Divide the enemy?  Why wouldn't they come to the aid of their own?  If we attack the ones at the ambush site, wouldn't the village orcs hit us?  If we hit the village, wouldn't the ambush orcs turn around and come home?  We'd be caught between two forces?

"I was anticipating an ambush site that is remote enough from the village to separate their forces. We would have to factor for warg riders." He looked at those he had seen casting in previous battles, "Do you have any spells that would help with diversions or controling an area?"

OoC: Your assumptions are, as usual, painful to read.

"That's essentially what I was aiming for, Alecks. It would take considerable time to set up any decent traps in this setting, and first knowing their patrols would give us time to set up. The operation could take a few days to prepare. And again I suggest hunting their night patrols until they catch in and try to chase us off. We can make more progress before resorting to the traps."

Mithra had been listening to everyone's suggestions. They all sounded good. She really wasn't the planner; she'd just gotten lucky before because the situation had been different.

"Those are all good ideas," she commented. "You all seem to have a different opinion of Orc behavior, so I should point out that what we've seen so far isn't... quite... normal behavior. They've clearly got strong leaders, possibly more than just a war boss. They'll keep them in line."

"Clearly you are driven, Nemeia, by some inner demons, but I don't think it's necessary for you to sacrifice yourself just to distract the Orcs. If we don't get this right, we may all wind up being sacrifices."

"Do you think you can find it in yourself to stay alive long enough for us to put an end to this latest Orc threat?"

Nemeia turned to face The Reluctant One.

Her face was cold as the paladin's red eyes seemed to try to bore into Mithra's soul. Nemeia's body was very still.

"Do not speak on what you know nothing about. I am a Knight of Taelther. Faced with a choice of fighting my sworn foes or combating a lesser evil, I choose the greater evil. Ordinary foes might win my mercy but sworn enemies do not. My qualms can not get in the way of exterminating my foes. I will defeat them by any means necessary. Even at the cost of my soul. If my foes wreak ruin on the world, it is because I failed to stop them. I must help those harmed by their misdeeds."

All this was said impassively and like something learned or memorized from many years of training.

"And if the group has to flee, I will be the one staying behind. I do not do this because I am suicidal. It is because I am a Knight of Taelther. It is my Duty and Punishment to do as required of me."

Returning form her scouting mission the unusual cat form Cinnabar had been using sheds away as she rejoins the others mid way through their planning session.

”By any means nessicary can be the easy ways just as much as it can be the hard way.  Lets see if we can kill a bunch of them, and keep us around to keep killing a bunch more of them later, because we know there will be a later and we know there are a bunch more of them in need of killing.

They aren't stupid, or lazy, but they do tend to get angry and be overconfident regardless of what kind of leader they have.  We should be able to convince even small groups of them to hunt down what looks like wounded prey and draw them directly into whatever kind of trap we think best to set.  If that prey needs to be literal animals I can make that happen but it will diminish my ability to assist with the start of the trap, but I could still close the door behind them after they enter the trap.

"It is good to be devoted to something, driven. I do not claim to know of your past or present condition, but I feel Taelther would be better-served if you eliminated a few every day rather than a dozen in one day at the cost of your life. Your total body count would be far higher, I expect. And I must ask, may we spar sometime? Your energy is curious and motivating."

He began with a concerned tone and ended with some friendly excitement.

The paladin turned her head towards the direction of The Highborn Walker. Her eyes and body relaxed somewhat.

"No" she said simply.

"Prizzard I'll go with you. You know I can do stealth very well and am formidable in a close fight as well." She said with a small nod.

Theirastra and Prizzard head off to scout the ruins of Thundertree.

It's a somewhat spread-out village built on a rectangular grid around 280 feet long by 190 feet wide. A single road wends its way among the buildings with a few branches going off to the perimeter buildings. A lot of trees are interspersed amid the buildings.

Oddly, the only intact buildings are on the perimeter. There are three along the back side of the village, including one with a tower, and three along the front side of the village. These appear to be larger buildings than the 10 ruins mostly in the middle of town, so possibly the larger buildings were just better built.

The two of you have no difficulty scouting the perimeter and keeping out of sight of the Orcs, especially since they don't seem to have any kind of watch or guards.

In the six intact buildings there are maybe 4-6 Orcs; it's hard to tell because in the middle of the day, they aren't particularly active. There appears to be another dozen Orcs scattered among the ruined buildings.

You find no signs of women or children, and you spot only three tribal banners.

Situated about 25 miles upriver from Neverwinter, it's nearly twice that distance to Phanalin, though it's across open fields for the most part. It'd take much longer for these Orcs to reach Phandalin than the Orcs in Cragmaw Castle.

Naturally, not all the Orcs are resting at once. You two easily avoid most of them, but have a close call with one Orc that relieve himself in the bushes when you nearly ran into him. Even though you were only 5 feet away behind a tree, he was so involved with his efforts that you don't even register to him.

Artagel had been both suprised and relieved to watch this uncanny group approach the village.
Suprised as he had felt quite alone and surrounded by orcs and thus had been stuck with indecision what to do. When he had set out he had not anticipated so many foes, far too many for a single human.
Relieved as this group seemingly was intending to fight the brutes that had occupied the ruined village. Which might solve his dilemma.
Of course, approaching this group proved to be another dilemma.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:02, Fri 10 June 2022.

Theira motions to Prizzard, then points to the orc, then does a knife motion across her neck. Then she watches him to see if he agrees or would rather wait to see what he does.

There was much preparation to make before setting off any alarms. Prizzard only shook his head slowly.

Artagel was still hiding in the tree as he saw two of the new group scout out the village and the orc deployment.

That being said, please feel free to assume that you have noticed Artagel watching you... non-threateningly
This message was last edited by the player at 10:15, Fri 10 June 2022.

"Many of my talents involve the use of grease spells or sleep spells to control a battlefield." replies Sala, who had mostly kept himself to himself. He seems to have been lost in time, his hair somewhat more disheveled than it had been as he was wracking his brains trying to work out where he was.

Theira nodded, then motioned that they should head back once they have the chance.

Cinnabar watches the scout team leave, then for quite a while afterwards she seems to track their movement through the small village until her attention is drawn briefly to a tree.

”Are any of you expecting an extra human to meet us here?  Or are they growing on trees now?"

Artagel froze as he realized that he had been noticed.
He held both his arms up to show that he meant no harm. Once this motion for peace had been registered he carefully climbed down, raised his hands palm open to his waist and nodded in greeting.
"Greetings.", he said in a low voice despite being sure that they were well out of hearing from the orcs.
"Glad to see you, I was rather stuck up there not wanting to risk a chase. Those worgs sure are faster than I am."
He offered his right hand for shaking.
"I am Artagel."

Entirely straight-faced Prizzard responds with "Under the right conditions, it's possible." In response to Cinnabars joke. Cracking a grin a couple seconds later.

If nobody else does first, he will respond with a hand for the shake. "We are going to be working on a plan. What brings you out here? You have the air of a rogue driven to necessity." Despite seeming noble-born Prizzard takes no issue with the mans appearance, greeting him the same as though they were meeting at a party.

Only now did he notice that the male was dressed like a noble and despite generally not liking the distinction he had learned through harsh experience that it was always wiser to appear humble to those who with or in power.
He slightly lowered his glance as he shook the man's hand to appear meek but answered the grin in kind.
"Necessity indeed. I happen to have had a misunderstanding with some brutes in Phandalin which forced me to take a leg. A quick one, to be honest. I had to run, too many foes, you see."
"By the time I stopped running I ran into a couple of orcs. From the frying pan into the fire. Still, only two, so I thought I'd bide my time and do some good for the free people.", he made a cutting gesture across his neck with a wink. "So I gollowed them, you know, appropriate timing and all that." "Unfortunately, they went to the ruined village there and it became obvious that there were more there."
"Luck eludes me these days, obviously, must have angered Tymora somehow and drawn the attention of Beshaba instead."
"Anyway, this quickly turned into a major orc company and I missed the right time to get out there to report to, I don't know really, maybe those at Phandalin.  Those patrols were always at my heels, though."
The fellow seemed to be rather up front with his recent history, clearly he had high hopes to finally leave the area. Or he knew exactly that he was not the charming type, so being honest was his only option to garner favour.
He frowned in thought.
"You look to be quite a few, together we might actually be able to defeat those orcs rather than run away. In fact, much better. Cannot have orcs threaten the peaceful folk around here."

Only showing discomfort with the deference for a moment, he listens through the story. "With that attitude you will fit right in. And out here titles don't matter, just make sure we can trust you. These are Theirastra and Cinnabar, I am Prizzard, and half of our number are at this camp. Mithra, though she may not accept it, is our leader. You will know the moment you meet her." He's quite happy about it all, chipper even, though he subtly remains on guard.

As they arrived at the camp and his new aquaintances reported to the female warrior about the numbers arrayed against them Artagel took a closer look at the group.
Naturally he was most intimidated by the scowling tiefling and the controlled dragonborn, both of which he kept away from. While he had seen their kin before in Neverwinter their sort typically did not venture forth into the filthy slums where he had spent most of his life.
As introductions were made and the reports were pondered, Artagel was admittedly impressed that the prospect of being outnumberes 5 to 1 did not faze any of them. Either these were brave, reckless or powerful adventurers. Certainly not foolhardy, competence seemed to prevail. Artagel had no personal knowledge of battles at such a scale, the turf wars in the underworld streets of Neverwinter had never been larger than a dozen foes on each side. And even if there had been more than two gangs involved it still did not encompass so many combattants in one place.
He was pleased to see a cleric but only one wizard might pose an issue given their foes' numbers.
Naturally, the leader, the female fighter Mithra, asked about his potential contribution.
He hesitated, then shrugged.
"I'm sure I can sneak up and climb some elevated position and use my bow to cover and support those who go into the thick of melee.", indeed most looked to be fighters, "I can also handle myself in melee, though. Once out of arrows, I'll be right with you."
"I won't run away.", he blurted a moment later.
Artagel was an opportunist, no doubts, and while the thought to leave his predicament while this group distracted the orcs had briefly entered his mind, he had an attitude and he just could not stand idly by. The thought of these orcs attacking the people of the nearby hamlets and villages was a nasty one, one he just could not turn a blind eye on.
He was anything but a coward, but the sheer numbers were daunting. He was not the type to stand and trade blows with brutish orcs, which were both stronger and more resilient than himself.

Nemeia's red eyes narrowed as the stranger entered the camp with the returning scouts. She then strode menacingly towards the stranger with a wicked looking war scythe held in one hand. The paladin stopped a few feet from the new stranger before slowly walking a circle around him, her gaze running up and down his body as if inspecting a new suit of platemail. Once the circle was complete, she let out a disappointed grunt and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Another dagger in the dark. Orcs can see just as well when it is dark as in daylight."

The paladin then shook her head as if the new platemail failed to meet her high standards.

"As for the comment of not running away."

Nemeia turned on her heel and started to walk away since humans did not like the smell of sulphur and brimstone.

"We....shall...see...."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:22, Sun 12 June 2022.

Artagel followed the tiefling's walk around him, then could not help but chuckle at the tiefling's comment.
"Do tell.", he said with eyes wide open, mocked her obvious comment about orc night sight, as if this came as an utter surprise to him, as if that were not the basest of knowledge to any resident of the Sword Coast. Then he shook his head. He had fought bullies all his life. And it was him still standing.
If he had been daunted by her fierce demeanour before, that feeling sure evaporated right away. Did she think she had a fool in front of her? Well, maybe he was a fool, but he sure was not stupid. If she felt the need to voice the obvious, maybe the company she kept was not quite as competent as he had thought on first sight. Or maybe it was only her.
We shall see indeed, he repeated her final words in his mind, applied to a different matter though. Better to be underestimated, always.

Considering how many people had already come and gone from their ranks, Mithra was hardly surprised at discovering yet another stranger out here in the wilderness.

"Greetings and well met, Artagel," she said when they were introduced. "I am Mithra Stormraven. Apparently when we were asked who wants to be the leader, I was a bit slow in stepping back and so became the leader."

"Anyway, it sounds like your run-in with the Redbrands happened before we got there. We made short work of them. Any that aren't dead are in gaol now."

"We were then tasked to scout this valley for any signs of the Orcs returning. As you've seen, we found out that they were. While they are great in number, it does not appear to be an invasion force. But then, I don't know the history of the Orc incursion the last time."

"This is only half our force. The other half is through the forest dealing with another group of Orcs holed up in the ruins of Cragmaw Castle."

"We heard they were planning on attacking Phandalin in a few days. We're here to prevent this half from doing so."

"If Ero was here, he'd no doubt call your presence some sort of confluence. Don't know much about Fate, but there does seem to be some sort of... occurrence happening in the area now. And we seem to be in the thick of it."

"I'm not trying to brag, especially since it's not like I was responsible for all of them, but we've already dealt with 200 Orcs or so. I wasn't really keeping score. And there were a lot more of us that dealt with the first 100 in their camp on the other side of the mountain."

"I suppose that qualifies me as an Orc Hunter now. If we try to deal with these Orcs en masse, we'd certainly be at a disadvantage. I'm confident, though, that any two of us are a match for half a dozen Orcs, so skirmish attacks play to our advantage. The Orcs won't know where all the attacks are coming from, but we will."

Artagel looked relieved when Mithra said the Redbrands had been taken care of.

"How did you learn that these orcs intend to attack Phandalin soon?", he blurted. Clearly, the orcs were gathering. And soon they would be numerous enough to attack. But it was very good intelligence to know the time frame.

Cragmaw Castle. Artagel recalled the name but that was all. Someone must have mentioned the name before during his rather brief stay in Phandalin. He wondered if that 'second half' of the 'force' were besieging the orcs there.
"Your friends attack a castle?", he said wonderingly.
This all sounded like a military enterprise. But looking at the men and women here, he felt it must be a mercenary company. However, while they seemingly had a common goal, they appeared too 'freelance' and too individualistic for even mercenaries.
"This Ero is a cleric then?", he asked when fate was mentioned.
Artagel clearly did have some doubts about fate being involved but did not comment. He definitely did not imagine that fate had anything to do with his presence here. He would simply call it luck, bad luck to be precise.

Artagel's eyes widened when some ten score orcs were mentioned. Things were worse than he had thought.
"I see, so whittling them down now before they get too strong is the goal here.", he nodded in agreement.
"Prizzard mentioned you're planning. Given the report of orc presence in the ruined village, what is the plan?"

Chuckling a bit at the question of Ero: "Ero is quite the wordsmith, a wizard, young, and in his own opinion: impeccable. I daresay I would like to witness him flyting now that I consider it." The thought renews a large grin.

Willem kept quiet, allowing others to do the talking.

Sorry, been super busy so trying to catch up. Assume I’m up for any plan!

Sala also stayed quiet. He had found that quite often it was better to observe and listen than use your words.

"I'd like to say it was our superior skill that uncovered the plot," Mithra replied, "but we just stumbled on it."

"We were investigating Old Owl Well, which used to be an old wizard's tower, when a pair of goblins stumbled upon us. Turns out they were delivering a message to the Orcs camped at the caves. Not only were those Orcs new to us but so were the caves."

"The message was about coordinating the attack on Phandalin between the goblins and the Orcs. Once we eliminated the Orcs in the caves, we found evidence that other tribes had occupied both these ruins and the ruins of Cragmaw Castle. Not sure if all of them were planning on attacking Phandalin... it was an awful lot of Orcs for one little village."

"Our scouts have reported that the Orcs are scattered throughout the village. At the camp, they were all gathered together so we could attack them from multiple directions. Here, we can't do that. And since we only have a day to deal with them, I think skirmish attacks are our best bet."

"I've been thinking of the best way to disperse our forces. I was thinking Cinnabar, Prizzard and Theirastra should circle around to the far side of the village and attack from that side, focusing on the larger intact building where the leader might be."

"I'll move a bit to the north and attack from the west. I was thinking maybe you'd join me, Artagel."

"Nemeia and Sala should attack from the southwest."

"Grey and Stonecrow should attack from the south while Alecks and Anshegar should attack from the southeast."

"I was also thinking that a flaming arrow shot into the sky over the village could be the signal to attack."

She didn't think the others would be willing to trust Artagel just yet. Heck, she wasn't sure she did, but if it didn't work out, it'd be her life on the line and no one else's.

"If anyone has a better plan, we're all listening."

Cinnabar doesn't wait for more than a moment before speaking against that kind of plan.

”perhaps we try a version of the plan where we don't split up.
Several of us are extremely capable of fighting up close, others are not.  We should sneak into the edge of the village and start ambushing the already split up groups of orcs with ranged attacks.  When they inevitably charge you intercept them up close."

As always, Mithra took things into account Prizzard hadn't considered. "I was hoping we had more time. Spend a day on traps, a night picking at their numbers, and the next night leading them into the trap. Perhaps even a few days picking them off as a small enough group that they would be too proud or confident to flee from. But if we are so pressed for time this works, aside from the signal. I suppose the next question is when, and I believe midday right after a fresh patrol leaves the ruins would be a good time. I believe, Cinnabar, the idea of splitting up is to cause as much damage as possible before they know there is an attack. Perhaps it would be wise to have a signal arrow each to call for backup once a group is discovered. I'm no fletcher but I should be able to turn a reed or bamboo shoot into a whistle." Such an 'arrow' wouldn't do much harm, if it could even hit a target, but it would make quite a noise before tearing itself apart. That kind of signal would also draw attention away from the other groups. Risky to use, but a good trick for such an aggressive plan.

"Attacking from several directions stand a good chance to confuse them and make them lose time in reacting coordinatedly."
"Still, too many directions and too small a group may become overwhelmed in case they choose to concentrate all their warriors against one group."
"Maybe make the groups bigger? Four? Maybe even five?"

"Why are we pressed for time? Do you know the time of the attack against the village?

He was no tactician, but Mithra's suggested plan had been employed many times in the turf skirmishes in the streets of Neverwinter. Cinnabar had a good point, too, though.

Nemeia could see many problems with the plan but it did not matter. The small groups would be surrounded and overwhelmed as soon as the first warning horn was sounded. The paladin said nothing as she turned and walked away to ready herself for the slaughter to come.

It was her Duty. It was her Punishment.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:40, Mon 20 June 2022.

It seemed to Mithra that Nemeia's lack of enthusiasm with the plan indicated her unhappiness with it. She admitted to herself that it had... well, not so much flaws as ways it could go wrong.

Orcs could be tough but she was convinced her group was tougher.

"With this plan, the advantage is ours," she tried to garner more agreement. "If we attack as a large group, we'll be outnumbered when they rally and attack back. This way, as long as we all attack pretty much at the same time, they'll never be able to get organized enough to rally--every little group will be getting attacked."

"We shouldn't have to worry about getting attacked from them hiding in the buildings because we'll be clearing them out as we go."

"And, yes, I did consider making our groups a bit larger, but if we do that, we won't be able to attack from as many directions. If we fling a lot of spells at them, it'll make it seem like there are more of us."

"Besides, once we enter the village from five different directions, we'll be one large group again. Remember, we're not soldiers. We're not trained to fight in formations. Well, I'm certainly not."

"The message we intercepted said they were going to attack in two days. We've already wasted one day getting here. Couldn't be helped. I expect they'll march out tonight towards Phandalin and attack tomorrow."

"Anyway, since you all seem to think of me as the leader, if we all die in this attack, you can blame me."

OOC: As I understand it, we're making plans at pre-dawn/sunrise.

Artagel nodded.
Then he shared more intelligence about their foes.
"The Orc leader is camped in the intact building over in the northeast corner of the village. Didn't catch his name. He's at least a head taller than any of the other Orcs I've seen, and bulkier. Wears a chain shirt and wields a great axe. He doesn't appear to be a member of any of the three tribes, but also doesn't display any tribal symbol himself. He seems frighteningly strong, I have seen him crush another Orc's head with his bare hands."

"I think there are three tribes camped in the village."
"Skullsplitters who all wield axes and their leader is Grax who wears a split skull on each shoulder of his leather armor. Those are camped to the north and northeast."

"Disembowelers who all wield scimitars and their leader is Korvax the Red because he wears red leather armor and has red hair. Korvax might be a Half-Orc. They are camped to the west."

"And the Bonecrushers who all wield war hammers. Their leader is Snarlybones who wears a bone breastplate. The Bonecrushers are camped to the south and southeast."

Clearly, Artagel had learned so much from observation while hiding in the tree. And he seemingly was able to understand their tongue or he could not possibly know the tribal leaders' names, let alone the tribe names themselves.

Doesn't seem to bothered by her first suggestion being turned down.

”Very well, I recommend at least myself and two defensive melee types head for the north east and engage the leader to keep him distracted after I open up with some magic to get things going.

I won't be sticking around for the obvious fight part of things as I will be making use of the forest and trees to be able to stay undetected.  The other groups should be focused on harassment and mobility but stay close enough to keep an eye on the delaying action against the leader if support is required."

Artagel scratched a map of sorts on the earthen forest floor.
Two buildings and a tower in the north, none ruined.
That's where Grax and his Skullsplitters were, and in the northeast their leader, the brute with the greataxe whom Cinnabar proposed to distract.
The north western was held by Korvax and his Disembowlers.
Ten ruined buildings in the middle of the village.
Another three sturdy buildings in the south, the most western held Disembowlers, while the other two held Snarlybones and the Bonecrushers.
"Best to circle the village in the east, less leaders.", he nodded to Prizzard and Theirastra. He took them to be nimble combattants.
He tried to recollect what Mithra had suggested.
"You and me follow them and try to take the tower from the Skullsplitters?", he asked Mithra. He hoped to then have a good place to shoot arrows from.
He looked at the dour tiefling and the mage, "You come from southwest and then make for the tower to help us ?", the wizard would likely find the defensible tower to his liking, just like himself. Especially, if two melee combattants were defending the entry.
"Alecks and Anshegar should attack from the southeast and then help out Cinnabar?", he repeated Mithra's plan. He should not expect to have the cleric near him until the end of the fight. And the dragonborn was an enigma to him. No armour, probably a spellslinger then.
"The rest attack Snarlybones and his Bonecrushers ?"
Grey looked a fighter of sorts and Stonecrow looked like a rogue to him.
But who knew? This was the Sword Coast and guessing a person's capabilities was just that: a mere guess.
He had absolutely no wish to command any of these men and women, but after days of hiding in the trees and evading orcs he was fairly restless and wanted to get to grips with them. And just repeating their leader Mithra could be a big stride to get their trust. Or so Artagel thought.

"A half-orc is less likely to be trusted. Perhaps we can blame our attack on him and sew some extra choas that way. 'Korvax sends his regards'"

Nemeia walked a short distance from the group meeting but still within the camp and hearing distance. It was plain to see that her suggestions were not wanted. She would basically follow what was decided, no matter how she felt about the plan. The paladin was here to fight evil until her death. No matter how bad the plan was executed. It was her Duty and Punishment.

The paladin leaned Death Seeker against a tree before starting to take off her armor and cape. All she wore now were gray small clothes and shift stained with sweat. There was no modesty or shyness. All of that was trained out of her during The Ordeal and then The Training. What was most important was form and function. But now she took the time to uncurl her devilish long thin tail. She was trained to hide it within a cloak or cape. With a hood, she was able to mainly hide her devil horns. It was a necessity to hide her devilish horns and tail when in a town. Not many humans liked tieflings and hiding the tail in combat kept it from getting chopped off.

Nemeia did lament about the lack of a stream or river to bathe. She had been hunting Sly for weeks in the forest near Mulptan before finding him in a lone cabin at the base of the Sunrise Mountains. The paladin was used to rough conditions but now that she was in a group, the need of a wash was sorely needed. Nemeia then tried to run her fingers through her long red hair. It was a wasted effort. Most of her hair was still matted with dried blood from the head wounds she received from the mad halflings. It would take more water than that was in the waterskin to wash her hair.

With a disappointed sigh, Nemeia kneeled infront of her weapon, armor and cape before closing her eyes and started her breathing exercise.

She then started to mentally prepare for the fight ahead.

There were at least twenty orcs in the village. There was no information on how many were in the buildings. How many roving patrols were there? The worgs were going to be a problem. If only there was enough time to take them out first. All it took was the beating of the orc's drums or a blowing of a war horn and the worgs would be alerted to the attack. While a small group attack the orcs, they would just run in and attack from the rear. Then the numbers will just grow to the next small group and the next.

Deep breath in. Smooth breath out.

Nemeia opened her eyes and looked at her black armor and gauntlets. They were sturdy and imbued with magical protection. But it did not make her invulnerable. There were a few dents from the halfling's weapons but nothing major. Eventually she would have to find the money to get it repaired.

Deep breath in. Smooth breath out.

Then there was Death Seeker.

A new found weapon that might be more trouble then it was worth. The black weapon felt comfortable in her hands and its long, red-tinged crescent blade was magically sharp so there was no need to keep it sharpened. But as soon as the fighting starts and she gets hit, she has to fight to control her emotions and will. The need to kill the one that strikes her was overpowering and sane strategy is lost. She will bend the weapon to her will. It will just take time. At least it has been silent after the battle with the mad halflings.

Deep breath in. Smooth breath out.

Then there was the possible trump card.

Nemeia reached into her shift and pulled out an amulet by its chain. The amulet was a thin and battered looking bronze triangle with a thin silver circle around it, attached to a copper chain. On the triangle was a faded picture of a closed eye. This was the only thing keeping Sly and his Demon-Lord master from knowing her location with magical means.

She was only alive because Sly's master had plans for her. Nemeia did not think that those plans involved her getting killed by orcs. If she died, then the Demon-lord's plan would be ruined. And if the plans were ruined then Sly would have failed his master. Sly's failure would mean his death. Even with their short fight in the orc cave, he had used a spell that did harm her but not out-right kill her. The attack against her bought him enough time to escape.

It was only a vague theory. All she had to do was toss away the amulet. Then Sly and his master would see her in trouble and make sure their long intricate plan was not ruined. But doing that might be part of the plan. Trying to figure out the plan of demons and gods would cause a mortal to go insane, so she did not dwell on it much. The Order has been known to use evil to fight evil.

But doing that might condemn the souls of the group. Was she willing to do that? Being snatched from the opposite end of the world, finding this group and then finding the perfect magical weapon to deal out her vengeance. What if they were already part of the plan?

Nemeia returned the amulet back under the shift and closed her eyes once again.

Deep breath in. Smooth breath out.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:38, Tue 21 June 2022.

Mithra was starting to get annoyed with half of their group. She wasn't ignoring their ideas, and she pointed out why she thought they might not be as effective, but they seemed to be ignoring her even more than they thought she was ignoring them.

"Fine. We'll do what everyone else wants to do," she said with a sigh. This was why she hadn't wanted to be a leader--she wasn't leading--everyone just wants to do their own thing. "Next time, somebody else can be the leader."

She put her helmet back on, checked her sword, and headed off... to her death. She was convinced they were all going to die... because they couldn't... or wouldn't... work together. Maybe they'd a least stop the attack on Phandalin.

Sala walked over to Mithra and spoke gently to her.

Mithra's reaction confused Artagel. He had seemingly misunderstood the group dynamics. Or maybe he had been not empathic enough to feel unvoiced objections. His glance wandered from Mithra to the tiefling who had walked off, looked at Prizzard and shrugged with a raided eyebrow before looking at the halfling who had also commented.
He had actually assumed that they all had agreed on her plan. The comments given had not really changed the plan, or had it? Had he mixed up the names or the directions given by the female fighter?
Artagel frowned, then slapped his head.
"Apologies, Mithra. You mentioned that the two of us should attack from the west, not the north. I agree."

---

actually misread, sorry, somehow only saw the 'move north'. Other than that, though, and except for unvoiced concerns, I thought we are ready to go?

Prizzard was geared up, packed, horse left tethered, ready to go. He walked to his assigned partner Theirastra, excited, and with no hint of a poor mood attempted a compliment: "Try not to make me look too bad out there, bladesinger!"

When Artagel joined them, she commented to him.

"Yeah, I thought sending the scouts to the far side would be easier for them than us," she said. "We'll have to stay low because there isn't much cover around the village. Looks like they cut most of the trees down to make the buildings."

She didn't bother looking to see what the others were going to do. They weren't going to follow her. All she could do was her best.

 Cinnabar looks a little bit surprised by the map, more so the idea of making one rather than its detail level.  It only takes a few moments for her to get the hang of it and she points to the same tower indicated earlier.

”While my natural inclination is to make use of trees, if it is your intent to hold the tower I can both assist with that and influence very nearly the whole village from a concealed position atop it, so I should accompany whatever team is to go there."

Willem was happy with Mithra's plan and nodded his agreement. Wading into the fray with his morningstar swinging was good enough for him, let the other's think about some kind of strategy...

Stonecrow noticed that there was some division on the plan of attack but that it seemed like it might be resolving itself. He was fine to help however he could so he didn't comment against it. He readied himself instead, stretching a bit this way and that, and made sure his mask was in place firmly.

"I will cook a nice meal for us when we are all done."

Nemeia opened one eye to look at the stretching figure in the mask.

Someone who could actually cook? The paladin would have to make sure the masked cook would survive if she could help it.

Nemeia closed her eye once again and continued her breathing exercise.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:56, Wed 22 June 2022.

Artagel turned to Cinnabar.
"Never mind. I misunderstood Mithra's plan in regard to her and myself. We will not go immediatedly for the tower but attack straight from the west."
He turned to Sala, but his glance included the meditating tiefling.
"Obviously that goes for you, too. No rush to that tower.", he added with a grin.

He then hurried after Mithra and taking into account that the trees would make usage of the bow a bit awkward, drew both his blades. The shorter blade was very obviously of high quality and arcane marks were edged into the slightly bluish blade. The larger scimitar looked plain in comparison.
"Dispatch, then kill. We will be quickly outnumbered after all. I will stay close to you, that way I can support you best.", he muttered to her.
He had seen dirty bloodwork in the streets of Neverwinter. He had a more straight approach to combat, he was not a 'dagger in the dark' as Nemeia had presumed. He was nimble and quick and that necessitated the exclusion of heavy armour and a shield.

"The plan has merit, I say we get to it. As to the flaming arrow if we need assistance...  I hope one of the other two with me have such as I do not." She said with a small shrug.

OOC: A map of Thundertree is now up in Game Map 0. North is to the top of the map.

The walls with yellow marks signify buildings that are mostly in ruins. Normally, the center section of an expanse of wall is the weakest point and that's what tends to collapse first. There are gaps in the wall at these points, though not always large enough to step through. There is rubble on both sides of the wall.

Most of the doors in the ruined buildings have long since rotted away.

Building #2 has a two-story tower.

Building #3 is also two stories. It is where the war chief has camped.

Outside that building is a courtyard to the south that still has a statue standing in the middle of it, though the head has been knocked off.

The green area is a mix of weeds, scrub grass, and low bushes. The weeds and grass are maybe a foot tall while the bushes are around 2-feet high.

Buildings 1, 2, 10, 13 and 16 have between 5-8 Orcs camped in them, though the scouting estimate was 6-7.

Building 2 may have as many as 10 Orcs, but there seemed to be Orcs coming and going rather frequently so it was hard to get an accurate head count.

Building 3 may have as many as 12 Orcs in it.

The rest of the ruined buildings through the center section of the village could have 1, 2, or no Orcs in them.

Outside the map area, there are more trees, a little denser for a hundred yards or so, but then they thin out to scrub grass, weeds and a few scattered bushes.

The 'PLAN' was this:

Cinnabar, Prizzard and Theirastra are to circle around the village, either to the north or the south, and are responsible for dealing with the Orc War Chief in Building #3.

Nemeia and Sala are to attack up the southwest path and deal with Buildings #10, 11 and 12.

Grey and Stonecrow are to attack from the south and deal with Buildings #13, 14 and 15, possibly assisting with Building #12 or Building #16.

Alecks and Anshegar are to attack from the southeast, deal with Buildings #16 (and 15 if necessary), then sweep north to deal with Buildings #8 and 9.

That leaves Mithra and Artagel to attack from the northwest path and deal with Buildings #1, 4, 5 and 6.

Building #2 is up for grabs to however gets their first, though it's most likely the Orcs will all rush out once the battle starts.

Stonecrow listened to the recap of the plan, then gave a nod. He glanced at his 'partner' for the mission. He wasn't sure if too much was being asked of him or not, but he was willing to try at least.

He spun his quarterstaff around in one hand, flipped it around his body and in to his other hand. Then he took off in a roundabout way to get in position, planning on starting stealthily.

Prizzard may be dexterous and acrobatic for a human, but he wasn't practiced in stealth. And while he was practiced in scouting he didn't have particularly sharp senses. Thus, he would gladly follow the lead of his more gifted allies.

rolled 17,14 using d20+4,d20+4 with rolls of 13,10.  Stealth, Perception.

Cinnabar waits for the whole plan to be explained then casts a spell that makes everything and everyone near her quieter.

”We can circle the encampment along the south side, that will make my group the last to arrive at our starting location.   When each of you get to your starting position find good concealment as the spell won't protect you any more after I move on with everyone not yet deployed."

Geared up and mostly rested, Nemeia walked towards The Soft Spoken One and looked him up and down with a practiced eye. She had never seen a mage wear armor or use a shield. The crossbow showed he was prudent in the case spells failed him. The owl on his shoulder was...cute. Nemeia's frowned deepened as she tried to push that thought away. During the battle with the mad halflings, she did not see him cast any flashy spells. But the paladin had been in the thick of it and had taken a few shots to the head.

They were actually going to go ahead with this plan. And The Reluctant One thought she was suicidal! The enemy had clear line-of-sight one hundred yards around the village. Once they left the cover of the forest, they would be spotted. If the orcs had archers, they would be cut down before they got close to any buildings. The only thing going for them was the element of surprise and attacking just before the sun appeared. But the orcs had darkvision! Maybe they would be too drunk and lazy to look outside the village?

The worst case would be being spotted by the worg patrol before everyone was in position. The alarm would be sounded and then one of their small groups would be attacked by a bunch of orcs and then flanked by the worgs. If only they had more time to prepare. Taking out the worgs on patrol first would have been ideal. But time was against them.

Nemeia let out a low grunt from deep in her throat. She could not take it anymore and had to know. The paladin hated showing such weakness.

"What is your owl's name?"

Artagel followed Mithra first west and then north to circle around to the northwestern intact building.
Followed as in 'keep out of sight' and 'check your surroundings'. No need to be detected right away because his companion preferred a more direct approach, he thought to himself.

---

rolled 18 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 14.  Perception (WIS) .
rolled 16 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 8.  Stealth (DEX)
This message was last edited by the player at 18:28, Wed 29 June 2022.

She still wasn't sure everyone else would follow her plan since they still disagreed with it. She was a fighter. For her, the direct approach was always the best. Oh, sure, she recognized the advantages of other methods of fighting... she just didn't see any of them working here.

She led Artagel a little farther west, into the thin forest, and then went north to where the old road was. She almost missed it because it hadn't been much of a road even back then but now it was all but invisible in the overgrown underbrush.

She wasn't much for stealth either, but being careful was an adequate substitute since they had to wait until the others got into position.

She had to admit that her plan was based on the behavior she'd seen from the Orcs already. They preferred attacking at night, tended to sleep during the day, and didn't have many sentries... at least, none  that seemed any good at it.

The best sentries they had were the worgs, but this hour of the morning, there wouldn't be any breeze from any direction. The ocean to the west would have finally cooled down and the sun wouldn't have had time to heat up the land, so there was an equilibrium.

Once they were in position, she began to move forward, from tree to tree, from bush to bush, from weed to weed if necessary, until they got close enough to observe the first two buildings. Now they just had to lay in the tall grass, watch and wait.

If there were any sentries on the buildings, she was counting on spotting them when they moved. She was also hoping to be able to take them out with bow.

"See anything?" she whispered to Artagel.

In reply to Nemeia Sorrow (msg # 195):

"Name? I'm sorry, what? I just call her owl. Hasn't failed me yet." answers Sala. "So, for our plans. We need to be sly, right? I can create illusionary boxes of shelter to cloud the enemy's vision of our approach. They could be just bushlike, or walls of wood if you prefer. They will block them from targeting you, but are quite useless at offering any physical protection." he says.

"I can also make your reactions much quicker than normal for a short time, make an area become quite greasey, or put several weak creatures to sleep for several minutes."

This message was deleted by the player at 07:18, Fri 01 July 2022.

Nemeia gave a slight nod. It was a good idea not to name pets, especially when combat was bound to happen. Attachments to things when in combat only weakened you. With the explanation of his spells, she had a different outlook on their chances. This mage was going to be more useful than she first thought.

"Local shrubbery. Then we wait for a signal. Let's go."

She'd thought that a half-hour was sufficient time for everyone to get into position... though she had no idea what the surrounding terrain was like.

She glanced back for a moment before saying to Artagel: "Old Sarge at the Academy used to say that no plan survives contact with the enemy... because can't predict what the enemy is going to do. Sometimes the enemy will surprise you and do just what you think they'll do. Most of the time, though, they won't."

"It seemed to me that the others' ideas depended on the Orcs acting a certain way, which didn't seem reasonable from what we've already seen. My plan was based solely on what WE could do. Didn't really matter what the Orcs did. That's not to say we couldn't fail."

"If that happens, we retreat as fast as we can! Head for the trees back there. If the worgs are still around, they can easily catch us in an open run, but we're a bit more nimble dodging around trees and such."

She pulled an arrow out of her quiver and wrapped some scrap fabric around the tip, ripping it into strips so she could tie it tight. Then she poured a bit of lamp oil on the cloth, finally tucking in a bit of tinder from the surrounding grass.

Artagel nodded grimly as he drew both blades and watched as Mithra drew back the string of her powerful bow, aimed at the sky above the ruined village and let fly.
A streak of fire arched across the sky, a signal as agreed upon.
He nodded again as they both got ready to hustle forward toward the building they had set their eyes upon.

Sala casts two minor illusions to cover both himself and Nemeia so that they could not be seen from afar. He will keep recasting these for as long as it is required for them to remain unseen.

Nemeia's eyes followed the streak of the flaming arrow. The signal had been sent. Now they had to get closer to the buildings and see how the orcs reacted. Her weapon was hindered in the close confines of buildings so the fighting would have to be in the open. She would have liked to target the worgs first and distract them long enough to give the others the time they needed to cut down as many orcs as they could, without the fear of being flanked and over-whelmed.

The paladin started walking towards their first target building, Death Seeker held threateningly at her side. (Building #10)

"When I give the word, drop your spell on me and try to stay concealed as long as you can." she whispered to The Soft Spoken One.

When the orcs start running out of the building, it will be time to show her true self.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:45, Sat 02 July 2022.

Even as the arrow rises from the ground the sky above the small cluster of buildings clouds over, making a small storm that covers most of the area.  As if in answer to the bolt of flame a bolt of lightning flashes down into a small group of orcs somewhere in the open.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Mon 08 Aug 2022.

LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!

Once Mithra let fly her flaming arrow, hopefully everyone was in place and in position to see the signal. And launched their attack.


Mithra and Artagel
Attack from the northwest path and deal with Buildings #1, 4, 5 and 6.

Up till now, neither Mithra nor Artagel spotted any Orc lookouts. The most likely place for one would have been on the roof of Building #1, but there was no sign of such. Slipping from behind one tree to the next, the two worked their way closer to the building. It was only then that they realized there were no windows in the building. Unusual architecture to say the least, but then windows were vulnerable points.

That left access to the interior through either the front door or the back door, so Mithra led the way to the back door. If they flushed out Orcs, better the Orcs ran into the kill zone of the village rather than escape into the wilderness.

There was no guard at the back door, which was only partly open to let in some light. The door wasn't in great condition, though, with numerous cracks and holes in it.


Cinnabar, Prizzard and Theirastra
Circled around to the south to deal with the Orc War Chief in Building #3... if he's there.

The three had no difficulty in circling around the longer distance. The terrain was mostly flat, not fully overgrown and there were no obstacles. They didn't run into any Orcs along the way, but that did make a bit of sense. Any Orc patrols to the south had a greater chance of being spotted by someone coming from or going to Phandalin, which would have disrupted their assault plans.

Having spotted the lookout on the roof of Building #3 as they approached, they were able to sneak close to the building through the trees at the back. Since there were no windows, the only way in seemed to be the front door and the back door, though there may have been a way to get to the roof from the inside.

The lookout does not seem to be very good at his job. Not only does he not spot them as they approach, but he seems completely oblivious to the flaming arrow that arcs across the sky.


Nemeia and Sala
Attack up the southwest path and deal with Buildings #10, 11 and 12.

Under Sala's illusion disguises, the two are able to approach Building #10 without being seen, particularly since there doesn't seem to be a lookout or guard. Nor does there appear to be any Orcs camped in Building #11.

As you approach the building, you realize there aren't any windows, and you only see the front door. Almost oddly, the village has the appearance of being deserted. And yet there's a feel to the place that belies it.

While Nemeia wanted the Orcs to come out and fight her in the open, at the moment, that isn't happening. She has no idea why the flaming arrow didn't cause that to happen, although the lack of lookouts may be the reason.


Grey and Stonecrow
Attack from the south and deal with Buildings #13, 14 and 15.

Although there was no path from this direction, the terrain was only slightly rolling and not so overgrown that passage was difficult. As you approach Building #13, an Orc steps out of Building #14 through one of the gaps, moves around the corner to the south side of the building and relieves himself. He doesn't even look around, so he's completely oblivious to the presence of Grey and Stonecrow.

Building #13 has no windows, so apparently the only way into the interior is through the front door, although there may be a back door. The door doesn't look to be in very good condition, but it remains closed.


Alecks and Anshegar
Attack from the southeast, deal with Building #16, then sweep north to deal with Buildings #8 and 9.

Sneaking up on Building #16 is easy enough as there are trees close to it, plus the fact there aren't any windows that you can see. You don't spot any lookouts on the roof, and there isn't a guard outside the back door in the south wall. That door doesn't look to be in great condition as a couple of boards seem to be nailed up across it to hold it together.

The paladin started to get an uneasy feeling. She had not seen any orcs on their approach and getting this close was too easy. Something nagged at her mind. The village seemed too empty, and orcs liked dark places like caves or...underground. Nemeia quickly knelt down, took off a gauntlet and placed her hand on the ground. With all those orc bodies moving and preparing for an attack, she might feel slight vibrations.

If there was a large system of caves underground, their plan of attacking in small groups would not work. Underground the orcs had the advantage. They would have the numbers and would know the layout. What if Dagger In the dark did not see their true numbers? What if there were hundreds of more orcs living underground! They should regroup. But what if they could cut off possible exits? Could they just burn them out and most die from the smoke?

Nemeia closed her eyes to concentrate but did turn her head toward the mage.

"Do you have anything to burn or take down this building?" she whispered.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Sat 02 July 2022.

Artagel felt uneasy about the situation found in the village. Had the orcs moved out already and they had missed a veritable force passing nearby? Had the discussion about the attack plan occupied them to such an extent as to not notice the orcs marching on Phandalin? Were were the orc patrol? Where were the worgs? He felt a shudder down his back.
He indicated for Mithra to keep ready and that he would approach the door alone to check.
Stealthily he closed the ladt couple of yards and then first listened then took a look through the damaged door...

---

rolled 13 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 9.  Perception (WIS) .
rolled 26 using 1d20+8 with rolls of 18.  Stealth (DEX) .

Stonecrow had crouched down a bit, to try and remain a bit more unseen, waiting silently, mask covering his face. Until the signal was given. He saw the arrow afire go up. And then he saw a lone orc come outside.

His head tilted to the side for a moment. The orc didn't seem to have noticed them. So he gave a nod to his partner, Grey, to indicate the orc. "let us begin with that one."

Then the monk closed the distance quickly and unleashed a wide quarterstaff swing on the orc to try and bring them down before they knew what was happening, before they could sound the alarm, followed up quickly with a kick to the back.

OOC: Hopefully Grey is attacking as well, trying to coordinate if we can to attack at the same time. Hit AC 23 for 7 dmg and AC 20 for 7 dmg.

22:31, Today: Stonecrow rolled 23,7,20,7 using d20+6,d8+4,d20+6,d4+4 with rolls of 17,3,14,3.  Quarterstaff & Martial Arts vs Orc.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:42, Mon 04 July 2022.

Willem followed closely behind his nimble companion. As he tried to move forward stealthily his foot landed on a stick that broke in two with a loud snap! Not waiting to see if the urinating Orc noticed he surged forward behind the Half-Elf and joined the fray. As Stonecrow grabbed the Orc's attention Willem launched his own flurry of attacks with his magic morningstar mace, Dawnfrost. He smashed the Orc hard in the torso, then followed up with a heavy blow to the skull. Hopefully that would down the creature without making too much noise.

Willem
AC-15
HP-60 / 60

Move - advance to south side of building #14, trying and failing to be stealthy!
Action - two attacks v Orc at #14 - 2 hits for total 30 hp damage

11:15, Today: Grey Willem rolled 4 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 2.  Stealth.
11:10, Today: Grey Willem rolled 13,2,11,4 using 1d10+7,1d6,1d10+7,1d6 with rolls of 6,2,4,4.  Damage from 2 hits (Piercing/Bludgeoning & Cold).
11:08, Today: Grey Willem rolled 25,26 using 1d20+10,1d20+10 with rolls of 15,16.  2 melee attacks v Orc at #14 .

Nemeia doesn't feel any vibrations in the ground that might signify a group of Orcs marching through tunnels.

It isn't unreasonable to expect one or more buildings to have a root cellar, but there doesn't seem to be any tunnel system below the ground.

As Mithra tried to point out, these Orcs are operating somewhat differently than Orcs normally do... at least as most people think of them. This is slowly becoming obvious to Nemeia. The only thing that comes immediately to mind is that they have a very strong leader that's keeping them 'in line'.

She wants them to come out and fight, but nothing so far seems to have prompted them to do so. On the other hand, if you uses that booming voice... that's bound to get some of them to come out... if for no other reason than to see what's causing it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Artagel reaches the back door undetected as far as he can tell. When he listens, he can definitely hear noise from inside, but he can't quite put his finger on the cause.

When he peaks in through one of the holes in the door, he can see that light filters into the room through holes in the room providing on a dim light of the interior. He counts 6 bedrolls scattered about the room, all occupied except one--that Orc is leaning against the wall rather than laying down. Maybe he's supposed to be the guard. Artagel now realizes that the noise he's hearing is the snoring of Orcs. He's never actually heard an Orc snore before; it's distinctively different than Human or Dwarven snoring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The snap of a twig under Grey's foot isn't very loud and as it isn't repeated, the peeing Orc doesn't seem to think anything sinister about it. Thus Stonecrow and even Grey are able to reach him before he's quite done. He's just starting to turn to go back inside when Stonecrow's staff smacks him in the head followed by a kick to his back. The staff attack doesn't prevent the Orc from sounding an alarm, but the kick drives him face-first into the wall. As he bounces back, Grey's mace attacks easily finish him off.

The Orc slumps to the ground... dead.

"I can set things on fire with a bolt, but nothing that will affect a large area all at once." whispers Sala to Nemeia.

Artagel made signals to Mithra about the numbers and that obly obe was awake. Then he waved her over and prepared to quickly open the door for her to charge inside following immediately after her.

---

rolled 6 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 2.  Initiative (if used/required).
This message was last edited by the player at 08:56, Mon 04 July 2022.

Nemeia shook her head and sighed as she put the gauntlet back on. It looked like there was no choice. The attack was underway, and the others were most likely using stealth to dispatch the enemy. The plan had a higher chance of succeeding the longer the enemy was unaware. She was not going to put the others in danger by alerting the entire village of their presence.

The paladin then went to front door of the building. Nemeia gave The Soft Spoken One a look, pointed at the door and then made a swinging motion with her fingers. She then got into a battle stance with Death Seeker held at the ready.

"My enemies will feel the wrath of my vengeance." she intoned softly to herself.

A swirling black mist ran up and over the weapon a moment before vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

All there was left to do was to run in once the mage opened the door and attacking the first orc she came to. The only good things about the entire situation were the element of surprise and she had dark vision if there was no light inside.

OOC:

Spell: Wrathful Smite
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Self
Components: V
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute. (10 combat rounds)

The next time you hit with a melee weapon attack during the spell's duration, your attack deals an extra 1d6 psychic damage. Additionally, if the target is a creature, it must make a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of you until the spell ends. As an action, the creature can make a Wisdom check against your spell save DC to steel its resolve and end the spell.

02:17, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 19 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 14.  Death Seeker Strike.
02:18, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 11 using 1d10+3 with rolls of 8.  Death Seeker Damage.
02:19, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Psychic Damage.

AC: 18
HP: 49
Save DC: 14

Sala opened the door for Nemeia and wondered if he would have anything of use to do himself...

Prizzard fished out a string on his Necklace of Fireballs so it would be easy to grab, a mid-size orb. He reached toward the back door. "Shall we?"

If the 'plan' is agreed to Prizzard will open the door and throw the (5d6, DC14) fireball in.

Clearing the edge of the roof the now spider shaped plant and stone beast that Cinnabar has become stays mostly hidden even as a second bolt of lightning falls upon the Orc spotter on top of the building.

Stonecrow winced and restrained any further noise from himself as the orc sounded an alarm. That wasn't the plan. That was too fast. And it might draw all of them this way, which would screw up the plan more.

He shook his head and then headed towards the entrance to the closest building.

OOC: Heading to building 13, unless it sounds like more are coming out of the buildings. If they are, he will hide against the back of building 13 until some come that way to investigate. Unless Grey has other ideas.

Willem followed Stonecrow, keeping close to the building and keeping his ears open.

Theirastra had her longsword out and ready, then nodded to Prizzard to go ahead.

Mithra and Artagel attack Buildings #1, 4, 5 and 6.

When Artagel opens the door, Mithra rushes into the room with Artagel right behind her. At this hour of the morning, the sun isn't so bright yet that Mithra's eyes have to adjust to the dim light of the interior. As Artagel reported, only one Orc was awake... well, half-awake, at any rate... so Mithra darted across the room to attack that Orc.

Not making enough noise to wake the others until Mithra's attack, Artagel then finds himself surrounded by the other 5 Orcs who sit up and try to figure out what's going on. Only one of them immediately scrambles to his feet prepared to fight... even if he doesn't know who yet.


Cinnabar, Prizzard and Theirastra circled around to the south to deal with the Orc War Chief in Building #3.

Cinnabar began the battle by looking for a group of Orcs to Call Lightning down upon them, but there were none out in the open. While daylight doesn't particularly bother Orcs, since it seemed likely that they would sleep during the day so that they could move to attack Phandalin at night, it made sense that they'd want to sleep in the cool and dark interior. That left the two Orcs on guard duty atop the 'tower' (main building).

The first bolt of lightning strikes the first Orc, but, somehow, he manages to make his Reflex save and only takes half damage.

The second Orc isn't so lucky, and the second lightning bolt kills him.

The crack of the two lightning bolts is certainly heard by everyone in the area, including the sleeping Orcs. On the other hand, it's just lightning, like from any storm. So there's nothing unusual about it that would rouse them. Neither is bolt either powerful enough to sound like a nearby strike, even though they were. To those in building #3, though, they would definitely think the building got struck by lightning. Still... just nature at its worst.

Down on the ground, at the back door, Prizzard opens the door (fortunately it isn't locked) and tosses in a Fireball bead.

10:31, Today: StarMaster, on behalf of Prizzard, rolled 18 using 5d6 ((5,3,2,6,2)).

In the aftermath, Prizzard and Theirastra can see that the ground floor of the building was divided into several rooms. The back door opened into one room, and the door to the next room was straight across--open. As was the next door. Prizzard almost forgot to close the door again as the blast area of the Fireball was a 20-foot radius. He'd only tossed the bead in about 10 feet!

Dashing into the building a moment later, Prizzard and Theirastra can see that the fireball exploded into all three of the ground floor rooms. There are a few fires that got started, but they are small and soon burn out. There are two dead Orcs in the first room, two dead Orcs in the second room, and one more dead Orc in the third room.

However, the fireball didn't quite reach into every corner of the second and third rooms, nor did it penetrate the ceiling or reach up the stairs that are along the front wall.

Thus, three Orcs are still alive at this level. While there was a whooosh from the heat of the fireball consuming the oxygen in the air, it wasn't very loud, but it did create a flash of light. The combination was enough to wake the remaining three Orcs--two around the corner by the stairs and the third in the far corner of the third room. You can also hears sounds from above.


Nemeia and Sala attacked up the southwest path to deal with Buildings #10, 11 and 12.

In spite of the thunder and lightning, the Orcs in Building #10 don't seem interested in coming out to play. Of course, if there was a storm outside that was spewing thunder and lightning, then the safest place was inside, and even Orcs had enough to do that.

That didn't stop the storm from coming inside in the form of Nemeia! Sala opened the door and Nemeia rushed in. As the scouting had reported, there were six sleeping Orcs in this building--three in the corner on the right and three in the corner down on the left. Since the ones on the left were the closest and her rush carried her in that direction anyway, Nemeia attacked one of those Orcs. She doesn't quite kill it, but it's in bad shape and cowers in the corner in fear!


Grey and Stonecrow attacked from the south to deal with Buildings #13, 14 and 15.

Stonecrow moved to attack a lone Orc that had gone outside to piss. His staff whacked the Orc twice, but it wasn't quite enough to kill the Orc.

Fortunately, Grey's follow up attack killed the Orc... twice!

The attacks were swift and fairly silent because the Orc didn't have time to shout a warning or even defend himself. Thus, it's not likely that anyone inside heard the short fight through the stone wall.


Alecks and Anshegar attacked from the southeast to deal with Buildings #16, #8 and #9.

The Dragonborn Barbarian would have preferred to grapple his opponent, but he didn't want to rush into the room only to find that there was only a mouse in there to grapple! That would have been embarrassing... unless it was a giant mouse!

At the flash of Mithra's flaming arrow, he charged forward and simply slammed against the door to bash it open (it didn't look all that sturdy any more). Crashing into the interior, he breathed his cone of cold at the first Orc he saw and then attacked with his fists.

11:15, Today: StarMaster, on behalf of Anshegar Moonscale, rolled 3,20,8,17,8 using 1d10,1d20+6,1d4+4,1d20+6,1d4+4 ((3,14,4,11,4)).

The icy breath softened up the Orc but it was his 1-2 martial strikes (for max damage) that finished off the Orc.

Alecks was there mostly to heal the Barbarian, but when he saw the other three Orcs, he decided he needed to do something... else. He remained in the doorway to keep any of them from escaping and cast Spiritual Weapon in the form of the regular mace he carried.

11:24, Today: StarMaster, on behalf of Alecks Senechal, rolled 24,7 using 1d20+6,1d8+2 ((18,5)).

That certainly hit one of the other Orcs and should keep it from ganging up on Anshegar with his two remaining buddies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

None of the Orcs will react quickly enough to attack before everyone has a chance to take another action. At this point, all the PCs have initiative, though that may change as the battle progresses.

Artagel stabbed at the first orc who had come to his senses quickly but had not risen yet, then nimbly moved next to Mithra to slash at an unsuspecting foe with the second blade.
With a sudden burst of speed he then continued to attack the orcs.

---

Attack
rolled 8,6 using 1d6+5,1d6 with rolls of 3,6.  Shortword, pierce, lightning damage.
rolled 18 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 11.  Shortword Attack
Move Mobile feat
Bonus Action
rolled 1 using 1d6.  Sneak Attack.
rolled 10 using 1d6+4.  TWC Scimitar slashing damage.
rolled 21 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 15.  TWC Scimitar Attack.

Action Surge
Attack
rolled 15 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 8.  Shortword Attack
rolled 8,5 using 1d6+5,1d6 with rolls of 3,5.  Shortword, pierce, lightning damage
Bonus Action
rolled 7 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 1.  TWC Scimitar Attack.
rolled 10 using 1d6+4.  TWC Scimitar slashing damage

This message was last edited by the player at 04:14, Tue 26 July 2022.

The surprise attack went well.

Just as planned, the wounded orc was now cowering in fear and would not be a danger to them...for the moment. But there were still a group of three other orcs on the other side of the room but hopefully the mage had a spell to slow them down. If not, things were going to go bad fast. The other two orcs on her side had to be dealt with promptly. With a quick twirl of Death Seeker and the shifting of her stance, Nemeia attacked the next closest orc that was not afraid of her...yet.

OOC:

11:11, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 18 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 13.  Death Seeker strike on non-afraid orc. Wrathful Smite still in effect.

11:12, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 8 using 1d10+3 with rolls of 5.  Death Seeker Damage.

11:14, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 6 using 1d6 with rolls of 6.  Psychic Damage.

Wrathful Smite: 8 rounds left.

Total damage: 14

And yes, I changed the character's portrait. This one is not perfect but expresses the tone of the character better.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:31, Sun 24 July 2022.

Stonecrow cocked his head slightly as he listened for sounds of alarm or the others fighting in the distance. However, he didn't stop moving carefully forward for the moment. He continued heading towards the entrance to the closest building, intending to follow the plan.

OOC: Heading to building 13, unless it sounds like more are coming out of the buildings. If they are, he will hide against the back of building 13 until some come that way to investigate.

The plant and stone spider that was Cinnabar stays stuck to the upper wall of the main building long enough to direct a third bolt of lightning into the wounded but not quite dead Orc, virtually assuring its demise, before climbing up onto the roof proper to be able to view the larger battlefield more efficiently.

The orcs appeared to be sleeping still, and as such Sala treated his opponents with impunity. He performed an attack with an often used fiery blast on the closest sleeping orc.

08:50, Today: Sala Menes rolled 8 using 1d10 with rolls of 8.  Damage. – [roll=1658710209.89691.364018]
08:47, Today: Sala Menes rolled 15 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 9.  Firebolt. – [roll=1658710058.33892.364018]

They're probably all within hearing range so Prizzard sows some chaos as he moves to attack an orc wielding something other than a curved blade: "Korvax sends his regards!" Shouted in Common. His attacks were highly inaccurate though.

rolled 11,12,12,14 using d20+9,d8+8,d20+9,d8+8 with rolls of 2,4,3,6.  Attacks.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:51, Mon 25 July 2022.

Willem followed Stonecrow to the doorway of the nearby building (13). He looked to see if it was ajar, or if there was a crack he could peer through. If there was such an opening he looked through, trying to get an idea of what was inside. If there was nothing to look through he would pause and listen silently, again trying to ascertain what might be on the other side of the door.

Once satisfied he was sure what they might encounter he opened the door and stepped inside, ready to swing his morningstar at whatever target presented itself. He didn't see the value of waiting too long, pretty soon the whole village was going to be on high alert so better to take a few out now before they could get organised.

10:18, Today: Grey Willem rolled 15 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 14.  Perception.

Rushing into the building, shield in one hand, rapier in the other, Mithra only vaguely spotted the Orcs in the dim light but swung her rapier at two of them just the same. (attack + bonus action) She made the second one a Distracting Strike (spend Superiority Die to give Artagel a bonus attack).

09:44, Today: Mithra Stormraven rolled 12,11,9,9 using 1d20+6,1d8+4,1d20+6,1d8+4 ((6,7,3,5)).

Damn! The dancing play of shadows as the two of them moved into the room, along with the prone Orcs scrambling to get up, completely threw her for a loop! Both of her attacks missed!


So much for the surprise round! But, she still had initiative over the Orcs for the next round. Having not taken out any of the Orcs, she decided to burn another Superiority Die to improve her AC (+5) as she kept moving around the small space.


09:55, Today: Mithra Stormraven rolled 5 using 1d8 ((5)). Superiority Die to AC.

This time, she decided to focus on just one Orc at a time. Maybe that was her problem--divided her attention and didn't have enough for either Orc to make it count!

09:58, Today: Mithra Stormraven rolled 23,11,19,7 using 1d20+6,1d8+4,1d20+6,1d8+4 ((17,7,13,3)).

Unless the one she attacked is an Orog, she probably hit it twice and finished it off.

Mithra's grasp on the tactical situation allowed Artagel to stab at another orc who twitched. Maybe he was just dreaming, maybe he had heard the crackle of the energy flowing along Artagel's blade, maybe he had heard the thunder from the lightning strikes outside... or maybe he was not actually a he. It did not matter, the blade sank deep below the arm pit...

---

rolled 7,5 using 1d6+5,1d6 with rolls of 2,5.  Shortword, pierce, lightning damage.
rolled 24 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 17.  Shortword Attack

"AAAAH-AAAAA!" Anshegar lets out a warcry of victory at having smashed one Orc already. He now turns to deal with the remaining three.

He sees that Alecks is beating on one with a spiritual weapon, so he targets the other two.

18:18, Today: Anshegar Moonscale rolled 14,7,11,6 using 1d20+6,1d4+4,1d20+6,1d4+4 ((8,3,5,2)).

"I'm not going to waste my breath on puny Orcs!" he snarls as he delivers another 1-2 punch to an Orc.

Not bad, but not as good as last time.

Theirastra dances into the room and glides upto the nearest orc assaulting him with both magic and blade!

[OOC: Use Bonus Action to activate Blade Song. AC is now 20.

Standard Action to cast Green Flame Blade, and attack with with Longsword as part of the casting the orc in question.

01:08, Today: Theirastra Nailo rolled 19,7,3,5 using 1d20+6,1d8+4,1d8,1d8+4 with rolls of 13,3,3,1.  Green-flame Blade (Longsword).

Hit AC: 19
Damage: 7 Slashing
Damage: 3 Fire to initial target
Damage: 5 Fire leaps to next orc within 5']

Mithra and Artagel attack Buildings #1, 4, 5 and 6.

Mithra missed with her first attacks on the Orcs, but managed to hit both times in the next round and killed one Orc.

Artagel was able to finish off one Orc in the surprise round and hits a second Orc (#4) next round with his first attack, but misses with is second attack.

Orc #1 is dead, Orc #3 is dead, but the remaining 4 Orcs are now awake and attacking. Orc #3 is wounded by Artagel.

One of the Orcs (#2) Mithra attacked in the first round but missed now swings at her.

20:37, Today: StarMaster rolled 17,8 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((12,5)).

And he misses!

Orc #4 attacks Artagel.

20:46, Today: StarMaster rolled 17,15 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((12,12)).

That should be a hit! For max damage!


Cinnabar, Prizzard and Theirastra circled around to the south and up to the northeast corner to deal with the Orc War Chief in Building #3.

Cinnabar's lightning bolt strikes the Orc guard again and finishes it off.

After Prizzard's fireball scorched the room, Prizzard and Theiastra charged into the building, finding that there were interior walls. Whether they had any affect on the fireball isn't clear, but there are three Orcs still alive.

Prizzard moves to attack the lone Orc in the far corner of the third room. His first 3 attacks miss but he does hit with the fourth attack. It's not enough to kill the Orc, though, and it attacks back.

21:18, Today: StarMaster rolled 9,8 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((4,5)).

It misses!

Theirastra moved to attack the two live Orcs in the corner of the second room where the fireball didn't quite reach. She attacks one of the Orcs and the green flame from her blade leaps over to the second Orc, but neither is enough to kill them. They both attack back.

21:19, Today: StarMaster rolled 7,9 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((2,6)).

The first one misses.

21:20, Today: StarMaster rolled 24,15 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((19,12)).

However, the second one is able to hit her for maximum damage!


Nemeia and Sala attacked up the southwest path to deal with Buildings #10, 11 and 12.

Nemeia again strikes one of the Orcs on the left with pretty much the same result--she doesn't quite kill it, but it's in bad shape and cowers in fear in the corner.

That still leaves one Orc to attack back.

21:58, Today: StarMaster rolled 21,15 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((16,12)).

That's a hit! Again, for maximum damage.

Sala, following Nemeia into the building, casts a firebolt at the Orcs on the right. He has no problem hitting one of the Orcs, but it's not enough to kill it.

Because his attack was at range, the once-sleeping Orcs have to get up and close the distance, but they don't get the chance to attack this round.


Grey and Stonecrow attacked from the south to deal with Buildings #13, 14 and 15.

Stonecrow listened at the closed door of Building #13 but didn't hear anything. The door wasn't fully closed as it was the door that the pissing Orc had come out of and he hadn't bothered closing the door behind him, but it had swung closed anyway from its own weight. It just hadn't latched, so there was a small gap that Stonecrow could peer through. He vaguely can see a couple of bedrolls in the dim light... he thinks there might be four... two in each of the corners not near the doors.

After indicating the same to Grey, Grey go ahead and pushes the door open and enters, and moves to attack the closest Orcs, which are still sleeping.


Alecks and Anshegar attacked from the southeast to deal with Buildings #16, #8 and #9.

Anshegar attacks another Orc, but only one of his swings hits. It's not enough to kill it, though. While the Orcs were slightly intimidated by Anshegar, they're Orcs--you hit them, they hit back! The Orc Anshegar strikes swings back with his great axe... and manages to hit!

22:12, Today: StarMaster rolled 24,10 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((19,7)).

Anshegar takes 10 points of damage.

Alecks continues to direct his spiritual mace to attack the Orcs as well.

22:29, Today: StarMaster, on behalf of Alecks Senechal, rolled 12,12 using 1d20+5,1d8+5 ((7,7)).

He just missed.

But, while that was a bonus action, he channels his divine energy into a burst of healing directed at Anshegar--heal 10 points of damage!
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:26, Mon 12 Sept 2022.

The monk moved in to the sleeping area and brought his quarterstaff around in a powerful downward arc at the nearest sleeping orc. He also then tried to followup with a kick but with much different results.

23:25, Today: Stonecrow rolled 26,12 using 2d20+6,2d20+6, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 11,20,3,6.  Attacking sleeping orc.
23:27, Today: Stonecrow rolled 12,8 using 2d8+4,d4+4 with rolls of 4,4,4.  Damage (Critical hit, then 12 probably misses).

Artagel tried to parry but the brute strength of the irc sent shivers down his wrist, spraining some tendon. With his scimitar he slashed at his foe but missed. It was meant as a distraction anyway: the attack allowed him to side-step the brute, move nimbly away and stab his magical blade at Mithra's attacker exploiting the orc's preoccupation with the warrioress' retaliation.

---

Reaction vs orc#4
rolled 5 using 1d8+4.  Parry, reduce damage by SD+Dex
3/4 SD remaining
41/50 HP remaining

Action vs orc#2
rolled 2 using 1d6.  Sneak Attack Damage.
rolled 10,3 using 1d6+5,1d6 with rolls of 5,3.  Shortword, pierce, lightning damage.
rolled 18 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 11.  Shortword Attack.
hit AC18 for total 15 damage

Bonus vs orc#4
rolled 13 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 7.  TWC Scimitar Attack.
Miss

With her own immediate vicinity clear of orcs Cinnabar stays hidden on the rooftop where she can see the vast majority of the exterior of the town, and influence it with her spell.  Another bolt of lightening reaches out to fry the biggest concentration of orcs available to it.

Sala saw the blow on Nemeia and attempted to influence the attack, only causing the attack to strike even truer!

08:42, Today: Sala Menes rolled 19 using 1d20 with rolls of 19.  Chronal shift reaction (attack on Nemeia). – [roll=1659919344.52444.364018] - no change :(

The pressing orcs to his position did make him fret. However, his trusty Sleep spell came to mind as he attempted to configure the spell to affect as many orcs as possible without threatening Nemeia or his own safety.

09:01, Today: Sala Menes rolled 31 using 5d8 with rolls of 8,6,3,6,8.  Sleep Spell. – [roll=1659920510.73166.364018] nice one!

The paladin staggered back a few steps from the hit as extreme pain made her take a sharp intake of breath. That was when Death Seeker started yelling in her mind.

"...it dares strike you! You must kill it now. It must DIE, DIE, DIE!...."

Nemeia's calm and solemn expression twisted into something ugly and predator-like.

"Yes...it must die but first..." she said softly to herself.

Nemeia knew she had to do something different. She was now surrounded and flanked. There was a good chance her Duty and Punishment would be served when most of the orcs attack her. The paladin needed some breathing room. It was time to release her true self.

Most paladins had a natural charisma or aura around them that made others seem in awe of them or inspired others to do great things. But a Paladin of Vengeance was different. Nemeia had held back in order to protect others. It was the reason most people considered her odd or felt uncomfortable around her. Now there was no need.

Nemeia twirled Death Seeker in a figure eight motion and billowed out a loud war-cry that even the orcs could understand. Now the full charismatic force of a Paladin of Vengeance was unleashed. One of dread and sorrow that all the forces of evil could feel.




OOC:

07:23, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 11 using 1d20+2 with rolls of 9.  Wisdom save vs 15.
07:49, Today: Nemeia Sorrow rolled 15 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 9.  Intimidation room full of orcs.
Wrathful Smite: 7 rounds left.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:19, Mon 08 Aug 2022.

As Stonecrow approached one corner, Willem approached the other. Looking down at the recumbent figures he raised his morningstar high and began to swing at the first of the pair. But just as he did so the Orc rolled over in its sleep. Too late to adjust the angle he only just managed to avoid hitting the floor, instead arcing the heavy mace-head around and swinging again with even greater force. This time it found its target and the orc's head popped like an overripe watermelon, spraying gore and skull fragments across the floor.

Annoyed with himself for his clumsy attack he turned to the second sleeping Orc, ready to bash it before it could wipe the sleep from its eyes.

Willem
AC-15
HP-60 / 60

Move - carefully move to the corner to where the other pair of Orcs are sleeping
Action - two attacks v sleeping Orc #3. First is a miss (WTF!?!). Second is a CRIT (Improved Critical feature) so total damage is 27hp

14:03, Today: Grey Willem rolled 9 using 1d10 with rolls of 9.  Reroll the 1 - Great Weapon Fighting.
14:02, Today: Grey Willem rolled 13,6 using 2d10+7,1d6 with rolls of 5,1,6.  Crit damage - pierce/bludgeon + cold.
14:00, Today: Grey Willem rolled 27 using 2d20+8, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 19,9.  Attack 2 v sleeping orc 3. EDIT - should be 29 using a +10 mod.
13:58, Today: Grey Willem rolled 10 using 2d20+8, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 2,2.  Attack 1 v sleeping orc 3. EDIT - should be 12 using a +10 mod, still a miss though!

(Prizzard only attacked twice in the previous round. Saving that surge for the great uniter.)

Finding his footing this time, the stabs drove deep, enhanced by the magic of Quicksilver.

rolled 26,12,25,15 using d20+9,d8+8,d20+9,d8+8 with rolls of 17,4,16,7.  Attacks.

[OOC: Because she is 5th level the Green Flame effects both now. 1d8 to the target hit in melee, and 1d8 plus spellcasting mod to the target it leaps to. http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:green-flame-blade]

"I officially do not like either of you!" Theirastra said as she continued her Bladesong and once more casted that same spell, slashing her blade at the initial Orc once more!

[OOC: Continue Blade Song. AC is still 20.

Standard Action to cast Green Flame Blade, and attack with Longsword as part of the casting the orc in question.

23:04, Today: Theirastra Nailo rolled 23,9,7,10 using 1d20+6,1d8+4,1d8,1d8+4 with rolls of 17,5,7,6.  Green-flame Blade (Longsword).

Hit AC: 23
Damage 1: 9 Slashing
Damage 1: 7 Fire (Orc hit with sword)
Damage 2: 10 Fire (Second Orc)]

Mithra and Artagel attack Buildings #1, 4, 5 and 6.

Mithra again missed with her attack on an Orc.

Artagel does manage to hit Orc #4 again. Combined with the damage from the first hit, it's enough to kill it.

His second attack against Orc #2 also hits, and the combination of attack, lightning and sneak attack is enough to finish it.

Orcs #1-4 are now dead, leaving only two that Mithra is engaged with.

Orc #5 attack: 10:44, Today: StarMaster rolled 12,12 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((7,9)). And that's a miss!

Orc #6 attack: 10:45, Today: StarMaster rolled 16,13 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((11,10)). And that's a second miss!

While they are focused on Mithra because she LOOKS like the greater threat, they are quite aware that two more of their buddies have just been killed by the other intruder. That's got to be a bit disconcerting as well as distracting!


Cinnabar, Prizzard and Theirastra circled around to the south and up to the northeast corner to deal with the Orc War Chief in Building #3.

Unfortunately for Cinnabar, there simply hasn't been enough of an alarm to rouse all the Orcs from wherever they are hiding. This round, there's no Orcs visible for her to direct her lightning bolts at, but she is able to hold her action until an Orc sticks its head out. That will probably happen shortly after she hears a warcry.


Prizzard managed to hit the surviving Orc in the far corner of the third room last round, but it wasn't enough to kill the Orc. It attacked back and missed.

His double attacks this round both hit, though, and the combined damaged makes mincemeat of the Orc.


Having just taken a serious hit from one of the two remaining Orcs, Theirastra is spurred to attack with renewed vigor as she isn't sure how many more hits like that she could take.

However, since both are already wounded from her previous attack, this time she is able to finish both of them off--the first with her weapon attack and the second with another dose of Green Lightning.


Nemeia and Sala attacked up the southwest path to deal with Buildings #10, 11 and 12.

Having been hit last round, Nemeia feels like she's now surrounded. She seems to disregard Sala's presence.

She whirls her war scythe in a figure 8 pattern as she lets out a loud warcry! Perhaps it's the peculiar architecture of the building, but it echoes around and outward, finally alerting all the remaining Orcs in the village that something's up!

The remaining Orcs in this building, however, get the full effect of the Paladin's intimidating Aura of Vengeance. Only one seems to not be bothered by it and moves to attack, either not seeing Sala or not considering him a serious threat.

11:20, Today: StarMaster rolled 24,10 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((19,7)). That's a hit!

For some reason, Nemeia seems to be a magnet for the Orcs' greataxes! Nemeia is hit for another 10 points of damage.

While Sala was casting his Sleep spell, one of the Orcs in his corner managed to slip by and attack Nemeia. The other two are intimidated by Nemeia's warcry and succumb to the Sleep spell.

Grey and Stonecrow attacked from the south to deal with Buildings #13, 14 and 15.

Since one of the Orcs had gone out to relieve himself, the others, whether sleeping or not, weren't bothered by the door opening again.

Stonecrow moved to one corner and attacked the two Orcs there. He critical hits one of them and kills it but misses the other one.

The other Orc, being an Orc, does manage to react to the attack on his buddy, vaguely makes a swing at Stonecrow (with Disadvantage) and misses by a mile.

11:45, Today: StarMaster rolled 6,6 using 2d20+5,1d12+3, dropping the highest dice only ((9,1,3)).

Over in the other corner, Grey almost does the same thing, just in a reverse order--he misses the first Orc but critical hits the second one.

It, too, is alerted by the attack, realizes it's an attack, and tries to attack back (also with Disadvantage from its prone position).

11:50, Today: StarMaster rolled 9,5 using 2d20+5,1d12+3, dropping the highest dice only ((4,14,2)). And that's another miss!


Alecks and Anshegar attacked from the southeast to deal with Buildings #16, #8 and #9.

Anshegar attacks the same Orc he hit last round, but only one of his swings hits. That's enough to kill it this time.

The second Orc attacks.

12:00, Today: StarMaster rolled 19,10 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((14,7)). That's another hit!

Anshegar takes another 10 points of damage.


In the other corner, Alecks continues to direct his spiritual mace to attack one of the Orcs as well. It's not enough to kill it this time, but it should go down with his next attack.

The other Orc is able to close and attack.

12:01, Today: StarMaster rolled 9,6 using 1d20+5,1d12+3 ((4,3)).

He missed.