The Four are not about to let the two fleeing gnolls escape. Corros acts first, sending forth two more Eldritch Blasts. Each magical projectile finds its respective target; one gnoll goes down permanently, smoking wound in its back (W3 -9HP; W3 is dead!), the other staggers under the impact of the arcane energy, but continues its headlong flight- Nic ends it, planting an arrow between the monster's furry shoulder blades (A4 -4HP; A4 is dead!).

The camp lies about a furlong away. Again, it probably wasn't left undefended, but its guards know not of the fate of their leader and his warriors, and no one is left to tell them.


Your Turn.

-
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:09, Sun 19 Feb 2017.

The Spirits are fading in and out of existence around Jenna, the effects of the Medallion also beginning to lessen, the Priestess's hair no longer moving of its own accord, her eyes flitting from back to milky white as she turns to face Corros.

"You're hurt." she says quietly, the concern etches in her voice as she closes the gap between the two of them. The others are hurt as well, but her attention is focused solely on the young half elf Warlock for the moment. She'll see to the others in the moment. But she'll always turn to Corros first. Always.There's a smile on her lips as the gap becomes nothing, her hammer and shield set to one side as her hands reach out to gently stroke his cheeks "Let me take a look."

With a toss of blonde mane Jenna crouches down. "Look away. This will be painful, but only for a moment, then it will feel better." Her hands grasp the arrow, pull it out of his leg. She knows that it will cause him more pain, feels bad for that, but it will only be fleeting, for her hands are already hovering above the tear in his flesh where the arrow was, her lips murmuring a prayer to the Goddess, radiant energy shimmering around the wound, knotting the skin back together again. There's still a little blood, but it is better than it was.

The Priestess rises slowly, stands next to Corros, looks at the others as the Guardians disappear from sight, their work done. She feels weak, knows that she needs to rest soon, gather her strength, pray. "Does anyone else need healing?"

Corros +7HP, Cure Wounds 2

The battleground is a blood splattered mess except for the curiously bare patch in the middle where the conjured black mass was.  Some of the blood puddles have been curiously cut in half in a sharp line.  On one side of an invisible line, the ground is saturated and sticky.  Then, on the other side of the curving razor divide, the ground is hard and clean.  The effect is disconcerting.

"I'm okay," Corros says to his lover, smiling at her concern.  "You are amazing.  As always, yeah?"  His eyes dutifully turn away when Jenna asks.  Her care is comforting, a complete break from the force of justice and violence she becomes in battle.  And it is so far away from anything he has known in an life filled with fear, secrets, and betrayal.  Better not to think of those things around her.  It is hard enough to keep his mind from reaching out with the pleasant emotions.

He flexes his leg, feeling the newly mended tissues flex and bend.  They are still sore, to be sure.  The healing isn't complete.  Time will heal the rest.

"Shall we finish this my friends?" the warlock asks, pointing at the trail.

He's out spells, except for his blasts.  Those have been doing just fine.

Nicolai squints at the field where the tentacles grew.  Thinks about a pool of blackness sliding across the ground.  Thinks about pools of blackness sliding across Jenna's eyes.  Tests his sword-arm, finds it sufficient to serve for now.  Decides not to ask for magic at the moment.

"Good enough to finish this," he says aloud.

In the Camp

With the guards distracted by events somewhere south of the camp, the Elven Monk, Amaldaris Cenovir, manages to saw through his bonds with a jagged segment of wooden cage slat. He's unarmed and weak from his wounds, but his mind and heart are strong. If something's about to go down, he's not giving in without a fight. Deemed too dangerous to be among the other prisoners- mostly simple miners- the elf is in his own cramped cell. The guards appear nervous and agitated, arguing amongst themselves in their guttural, growling native tongue. They keep looking south; the occasionally clang of steel on steel hint of battle yonder that way. One of the guards, a particularly feral-looking gnoll, keeps looking at Amadlaris, liking its muzzle and slavering.

Meanhwile, the Four, girded for what they hope will be the culminating chapter of the current battle, approach the camp. They can see it up ahead and to the right, just atop a gentle rise leading to a relatively high, steep-sided bluff.

Two of the four guards spot the four humanoid interlopers and bark a warning. They are joined by two more gnolls. The gnoll quartet ready their bows and prepare to launch a volley at the intruders. The feral guard decides to take this opportunity to lunch on the tender, seemingly defenseless elf. He unlocks the cage and enters slowly opens the slatted door...


Your Turn.

-

"No more tentacles?" Nicolai asks Corros warily.  When the witchling shakes his head, Nic grunts an acknowledgement.  "Okay, then."  He whistles.  A cloud of ravens descends from the sky and plummets toward the remaining gnolls.  As the hyena-creatures' eyes flick upward, Nicolai charges, slashing at ankles and bowstrings.

Nicolai
AC 16; HP 45/61, Superiority Dice 2/4
Move + Bonus: Into melee with gnoll archers (Cunning Action for Dash)
Attacks 1&2: Rapier +1 on bowstrings if available; gnolls if not (attack +7, damage 1d8+4)
This message was last edited by the player at 19:05, Mon 30 Jan 2017.

Without breaking stride, Corros starts pulling yet more magic out of the ether.  The warlock's more formidable energies are spent, leaving him only the simplest spells.  The first that The Library taught him.  Those spell have proven over and over to be enough.  His face wears a simple expression of cold determination to finish this thing and free the prisoners locked in the camp ahead.  Someone has to.  It might as well be them.  Walking with his friends into yet another battle feels comfortable and familiar now.  It's another battle.  Another chance to make the world a little better.

"Let's finish this," he says, releasing his attack.

Corros
47/61 HP, AC 13
Eldritch Bolt x2 at a gnoll archer.  +8 to attack.  d10+5 damage ea

Jenna raises her shield arm to try and block any arrows that the Gnolls may be able to loose at the Four as they try to close down the distance between themselves and the foul beasts as rapidly as possible, the blonde haired Priestess breaking into a run, breathing harder as she tries to keep pace with Nicolai, Arma's Blessing held in right hand, the blunt end of the hammer still stained with blood and gore where it had met the pack leader's skull.

Closing with the archers she will swing the hammer towards the archers as Nicolai's ravens swoop at them, lips moving in a silent prayer to the Goddess, imploring Her to guide the blow, to strike down the remaining gnolls.

Jenna
AC: 21, HP 51/56
Melee Combat with Gnoll archers, Warhammer +1
Using War Priest feature for bonus action (3/5)
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 18:30, Mon 30 Jan 2017.

As the gnoll approached, seemingly intent on taking the opportunity to take himself some elf flesh to eat, Amaldaris struck, lashing out with a series of blows on one of his tormentors.

Though he was in poor shape from his time as a prisoner they had left him alone for long enough for him to collect his wits.  He had meditated and drawn the mystical Ki power that emanated throughout Tohrweld, present in everything that was natural and in harmony with the world, to him, filling up his reservoir of energy that allowed him to perform great feats.  Though he seemed defenceless to his guards, his spear and other weapons taken by them as trophies to adorn the walls of their crude huts, he was not.  Many decades of study and practice of the kata taught by the Ral'Keth had made his hands and feet as strong as iron, able to inflict grievous wounds without the need for a blade or other weapon.

The sounds in the camp that Amaldaris had been listening to for a while now indicated that something was up.  The gnolls were disturbed by something and seemed rattled, unsure what to do.  A sizeable number of warriors, a war party if he was any judge, had left a little while ago on some errand and a quiet anticipation has fallen on the rest of the camp since their departure.  Maybe someone or some thing had challenged their cruel brute of a leader or some rival tribe was attacking.  Something was clearly going on and either way Amaldaris doubted that he would get as good an opportunity as this to escape.  Summoning his Ki energy he unleaded a torrent of blows on the gnoll who had opened his cell door, trying to drive his opponent back out of the prison so that the entrance was open and Amaldaris could make his bid to escape from his torment.


OOC
Amaldaris
HP: 39/63
Ki Points: 8/8
Spending 1 Ki point to perform Flurry of Blows to have a total of 5 attacks.  He will try to drive his opponent back out of the cell and then knock him prone if possible.

Attack #1: +7 to Hit, 1d6+4 damage - if he hits he will spend a 2nd Ki point to make it a Stunning Strike (TN#13 Con save or be Sunned until the end of Amaldaris' next turn)

Attack #2: +7 to Hit, 1d6+4 damage - if the last attack failed to stun the gnoll and this attack hits then Amaldaris will make it a Stunning Strike

Attack #3: (from Flurry of Blows) +7 to Hit, 1d6+4 damage - if Amaldaris hits he will use Open Hand Technique to force the gnoll to make a TN#13 Str save or be pushed back 15 feet

Attack #4: (from Flurry of Blows) +7 to Hit, 1d6+4 damage - if the gnoll has been knocked back by Attack #3 Amaldaris will use Open Hand Technique to fore the gnoll to make a TN#13 Dex save or be knocked prone - if the gnoll was not knocked back by Attack #3 then Amaldaris will attempt the knock back again

Attack #5: (Bonus Action) +7 to Hit, 1d6+4 damage - nothing special

Movement: Presuming that Amaldaris manages to clear a way out of his cell he will use his full 45 feet movement to put some distance between himself and any gnolls

Reaction: He will attempt to catch and throw back any missile weapons fired or thrown at him - Deflect Missiles for 1d10+12 damage

Gronk loves a good ol'-fashioned headlong charge as much as the next half-orc gladiator. He tries not to outstrip the others as he throws himself into the fray, picking out an opponent and attempting to render the unfortunate gnoll dead posthaste.

Gronk
HP / ; AC 19
2x melee attacks v. unengaged gnoll

-

With his conspiracy of ravens distracting the gnolls, Nic closes the distance first. His rapiers severs one of the archers' bowstrings. The second gnoll quickly yanks his bow out of the rapier's long reach, then drops it and draws a short sword. He lashes out at the Ardani, but the ravens have got him seeing double. The blades whistles by inches from Nic's throat.

Corros blasts his target with Eldritch energy, badly wounding the gnoll archer, but failing to take it out of the fight (A3 -19HP). The stricken gnoll counterattacks, hitting the warlock with an arrow (Corros -6HP).

Jenna calls upon her god to grant accuracy to her strike. Arma's Blessing falls true, pounding her target, but the gnoll survives the blow and strikes back (A4 -11HP). Smoke once again deflects the blows, leaving Jenna unharmed.

Gronk goes after Nic's first target (Nic is engaged with his second) and bludgeons it to death with his morning star (A1 -27HP; A1 is dead!).

Amaldaris launches a flurry of lightening fast blows against the feral guard, knocking it backwards and beating it down to the ground. When he's done, the gnoll lies dead at his feet (GFG -27HP; GFG is dead!).

Three guards remain, all wounded.


Your Turn.

-

Nicolai skips backward as he briefly becomes the focus of far too much of the archers' attention.  For a moment, it's a blur of reeking hyena breath and notched, rusty swords.  Then Jenna and Gronk plow into the formation, completing its disarray.  The Ardani grins and drives forward, ready to finish off the pack.

Nicolai
AC 16; HP 45/61, Superiority Dice 2/4
Attacks 1&2: Rapier +1 on any available gnoll (attack +7, damage 1d8+4)
Bonus: Dagger +1 on any available gnoll (attack +7, damage 1d4+4)
Special: +2d6 sneak attack damage to first successful attack on a gnoll that's engaged with an ally

As her shield deflects the gnoll’s blow easily Jenna is aware of Nicolai by her side, catching sight of the Ardani out of the corner of her eye for a moment before he lunges forward. The blonde haired Priestess’s eyes come to rest on the gnoll that her hammer had already connected with once, the beast’s muzzle matted with blood, although whether its own or some unfortunate victim’s she can't tell. Jenna does not hesitate, lashes out again with Arma’s Blessing intent on ending this fight as rapidly as possible.

Jenna
AC: 21, HP 51/56
Melee Combat with A4, Warhammer +1
Using War Priest feature for bonus action (4/5)

A kind of sick laugh of the damned escapes Corros's lips when another arrow strikes him.  He's not resigned to death.  He's just really tired of being treated like some noblewoman's pincushion by dog headed bastard children of a chaos god.  They all just need to fuck off and die at this point.  Thankfully, there aren't many left.  Soon, there will be even fewer.  The warlock's allies are all fighting strong and he moves forward with them.

Corros
Eldritch Blast x2
One at A3, A4 +8 to hit. d10+5 damage

Stepping over the body of the dead gnoll Amaldaris gave the guard no further thought.  It had been intending on eating him and so killing it had been his only option.

Instead he looked around the camp and spied a pile of gear that the gnolls had dropped in the middle of the camp, including his backpack discarded on top.  Moving quickly he made his way over to the equipment that the gnolls had confiscated from their prisoners and started to search through it all, looking to see if the contents of his backpack had been emptied out and whether his spear was buried somewhere in the pile.  He loaded up his possessions, put his backpack back on and then slid his dagger into the scabbard at his belt.

All the time he kept glancing around for any other gnolls, either guards or other ones living in this camp.  Something was going on, giving him this opportunity to escape, and he wanted to find out what it was.  Particularly as there were other prisoners incarcerated in the camp and Amaldaris wanted to free them from their fate, either as slaves or as food.


OOC
Amaldaris
HP: 39/63
Ki Points: 5/8
Searching the pile of gear for his equipment, particularly his spear, as well as looking round, trying to work out what is going on

Gronk doesn't have to lift a meaty, green-grey finger. His companions all manage to finish their respective opponents- Nic and Jenna in a whirlwind of steel, Corros with his Eldritch magic. Three more gnolls lie dead- pierced, bludgeoned, and blasted.

There's no further opposition between the Four and the makeshift prison camp. As they approach the crude stockade, they see an elf rummaging around in a pile of baggage. He could be a confederate of the gnolls, but there's something about the elf that makes that seem highly unlikely.

In a few moments, the Four and the elf are face to face.


Your Turn.

-

Corros walks with a slight limp to Jenna and pulls her close, placing one hand behind her neck and touching her forehead to his.  From here he can smell her sweat and the blood that covers both of them.  Truth be told, it's a combination that he kind of associates with her now.  He breathes it in, along with her breath and just takes in the relief that they are all okay.  The emotions of concern and happiness at their survival flood out of his mind into her's, with more than a little of the depths of the feelings he's developed for this warrior priestess.

After ten seconds or so, he breaks contact and turns to face the camp.  And the elf.

"Hey, look.  An elf."  Corros says with a grin that shows just how tired and drained he is from the fight.  Can we keep him? The Warlock sends to his friends across their minds.

"I'm Corros," he says to the former occupant of the stockade.  "Are there more prisoners we need to free?"

Jenna pulls off a mailed glove as Corros pulls her in, lets it fall to the ground, not wanting anything in the way as her fingers move to find his cheek, tracing an aimless pattern as they glide over his skin. ”Did you cast a spell on yourself to attract arrows?” she whispers to him with a smile as they share the briefest of moments of tranquillity on this field of death. Unlike him she had survived the battle virtually unscathed, her shield and armour having deflected every blow that had been aimed at her, a glance at her shield in particular showing the marks left on it by the Gnoll chief’s flail, indicating how close it had come to landing what would surely have been a terrible blow.

The Priestess was tired though. She had felt the Goddess’ power course through her far more strongly than it had ever done before during the battle, had channelled it against the pack of gnolls but it had left her drained. Exhausted. She needed to rest. And she needed to pray to Arma. To regain her strength.

Reluctantly she steps away from Corros, not wishing to be parted from him. She can see the lines of tiredness etched on his face too. They need to rest. And soon. If they are attacked again they will be down to their last reserves. The blonde haired woman stoops down, to pick up her glove, her eyes, now back to their normal shade of blue, turning to the elf as she rises to her feet again, watching him, waiting for his reply, wondering if any will need healing.

The elf bowed very formally as the reasons for the chaos in the gnoll camp approached him, taking the time to greet each of the four of his rescuers with their own respectful greeting.

His appearance was a lot less serene than his manners however, his clothes showing numerous small tears and a couple of bloodstains along with the general dirt and grime of travelling.  His hair was unkempt and in need to a comb and then trying back in a proper warrior's top knot.  There were also marks on his face, scratches and bruises that he were obviously the result of a beating he had taken at some point.  Or from a series of beatings.  He moved gracefully though and it seemed that his injuries were purely superficial in nature, merely requiring rest for recuperation from them.

"My thanks to you all," he said politely as he finished his fourth bow.  "I am Amaldaris Cenovir, a wanderer from the City State of Thand-vaar and I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.  In answer to your question I believe that there are other prisoners who we should free from their captivity.  I was kept isolated in a cell but this pile of possessions scattered across the ground suggests that there are other victims of the gnolls in this camp.  That is assuming that the gnolls have not eaten them all."

It appeared that the elf either liked to talk or felt the need to make up for a recent lack of conversation.

Hefting his spear he continued in the same polite tone.  "Shall we see what we can find?  Either prisoners to free or more gnolls to defeat.  Or have you disposed of all of them yourselves?"

He took a position towards the front of the group, ready to engage any other threats that appeared, seemingly untroubled by his lack of any armour or any weapon besides his spear and the dagger at his belt.

Glancing round the camp to find his bearings Amaldaris then looked for any other pens or cages where other prisoners might well be kept.

If you keep him, you have to feed him. Nicolai sends before tilting a weary smile at Jenna and deliberately withdrawing from the link.

He summons a small reserve of energy and turns to the newly-rearmed elf.  He pauses for a moment at the mention of Thand-vaar, flipping through his mental files, but he can't quite summon the right accent.  With a mental shrug, he settles for switching to an academic Elvish, as if book-learned.  "Well-met, wanderer.  I'm Nicolai Romanelli, lately of Balefyre.  That was a nicely-executed self-rescue."  His tone is friendly enough despite the blades still in his hands.

Returning to the trade tongue, he continues, "I think we're out of gnolls for the moment, but this isn't the place to let down our guard.  There's more trouble in the area than these."  He nudges one of the fallen creatures with his boot.  "Let's see if we can rally any other survivors and put their story together."

Amaldaris bowed again and smiled at Nicolai when the man replied in Elvish.  "I am very pleased to meet an educated man," he replied, also speaking his mother tongue, his voice taking on an almost musical tone as he spoke.  "My thanks for your compliment but it is unnecessary.  The gnolls were brutes, not disciplined warriors, and your attack drew off all but one of my guards.  Had he restrained his hunger to eat Elven flesh he would not have given me the chance to escape.  He was sloppy and he paid for it with his life."

When Nicolai switches to Common Amaldaris nodded in response to his suggestion and then led the way, trying to find where other prisoners were  being kept in the camp.

The rest of the prisoners are not hard to find. Their pen is just a few meters away from Amaldaris' solo cell. Two others, chained together by the ankles, are cowering in the shaft.

They all recount more or less the same tale- having been caught outside the mining camp by gnolls, violently subdued and brought to this place, made to dig in shifts until exhausted, given very little water and meat that was extremely suspect in origin. The longest any of them have been here is four days, and that particular dwarf is in very bad shape. The others are weak and hungry, all show signs of abuse. Several prisoners died on the job; the gnolls reportedly feasted on their fresh corpses. No one knows why the gnolls wanted them to dig. The monsters didn't seem particularly interested in platinum, although not much of the precious metal was found anyway.

Filthy bedrolls and pieces of gnoll clothing (to use the term loosely) lie scattered about the camp. Aside from Amaldaris' light panoply, there's nothing of interest or value in the captured baggage. The freed prisoners rummage through the pile, taking back their stolen gear and casting lots for that of the dead.


Your Turn.

-

Corros looks over the ragged former prisoners and has to suppress a grimace.  "You're free," he tells them with an imitation of genuine warmth. "Take whatever you need to from the gnolls.  I wish I had good news for you about the condition of Yonder's Hole.  Alas, I don't.  From what we're hearing, it's not much better than the conditions the gnolls had you in.  We're heading there to try and fix whatever went wrong after we figure out what ever it is in the hells the gnolls were digging for here.

"You're welcome to wait for us to head to Yonder's Hole.  We're going to go hide up in the hills for a bit to catch our breath in case more trouble heads this way.  The better decision, in all honesty, is for you to make your way back to Balefyre.  I can see by your condition that's not going to be easy either.  Let us know what we can do to help."

Nicolai comes up alongside Corros.  "Whatever you decide to do," he adds, "you'd best do it armed."  He waves toward the small pile of rusted swords, unbalanced spears, and warped bows he's accumulated in the course of making sure every gnoll and hyena is truly dead and not just shamming.  "There's a lot of wildlife in this country just as dangerous as these, and probably more gnolls on top of the orcish tribes.  Take what you need.  And if you decide to head back to the city, Pace's is a well-defended stopping point.  Tell Klem we sent you his way and to put your meals on my tab."

He turns away and mutters to Corros, "I fucking hate the wilderness."

Jenna moves amongst the newly released prisoners, having a look at each of them to see if they require any assistance. She knows that she's too tired to use any of the Goddess's healing power on them, that what little reserves of energy she has need to be held back, for her and her friends. It was a harsh calculus, but if fresh enemies fell upon them now it would do these impoverished wretches no good if their rescuers were the first to fall. All that would achieve would be to delay their return to captivity by a few turns of a minute glass. So the last vestiges of Arma's gift to her would need to be saved. instead all that she can do for these poor unfortunates is offer a modicum of aid that will hopefully stand them in good stead whichever direction they choose to go in.

That done, she rejoins the others, just in time to catch Nicolai's whispered aside. She can't resist the temptation to tease the Ardani. "He took me camping once as well."   The Priestess then moves to stand next to Corros, her fingers lightly brushing over his forearm. "Shall we find a place to rest, return here later?" she asks, clearly as much statement as question. Her blue eyes flick to the elf. "What is your intent, Master Cenovir?"