The trail grows ever more brilliant with the vibrant colors of the flora.  So to does the number of jellied life forms increase.  Most appear dormant.  A few send out a tendril as if sniffing the air while the group passes.  Vertium casts a spell over the group that is a variation on the magic shield spell common to most young wizards.  In this case, the shield is cold in nature and causes the jellies to draw back before touching anyone in the group.

Soon, the group comes within a few hundred yards of what the silver raven indicated was the goal.  The jungle is thick, full of magic and color, of life and the jellies.  It is not possible to see the camp, but that means they likely can't see you either.  There is a rise over which the camp is settled in a protected grotto surrounded by rocks and cleared of the jungle life.

A little unnerved by the number of jellied life forms nearby, Adryn tries to make note of all the ones nearest to the group... particularly the ones that appear to be less dormant.

"Flynn, you think you could head over there and get a head count for us? Keep a wary eye out for those jellies. The last thing we need is to contend with those in the midst of dealing with that camp."

A flash of insight washes over Adryn. "Unless of course we can use them to our advantage. Perhaps we could use them to distract the camp. Given their affinity to heat, those dragonmen would practically be a buffet for them. Vertium, can you think of any way we can lure those jellies over to the camp using heat?"

"Not until I get the lay of their camp and the land."

Adryn nods. "Of course, that makes sense. We should know more once Flynn returns."

Kahmaul kneels for a moment as they await for Flynn to scout ahead. He begins a simple prayer for the parties success and safety.

Flynn returns to the others, "It seems that there is a large force ahead of us. At least 20 of those dragon men, an Ogre, and I think a hobgoblin and perhaps another amongst them. They can't be more than a mile out. I didn't want to chance alerting them before we knew how we wanted to deal with such a large number of the enemy."

The Invar begins to survey his options, "I Still have some of my illusion cards, and I'm sure that I can keep a few of them off their game if I can get into position to catch them with my bow."

"That's not much different than what you faced rescuing me.  This time you have me with you."  Her eyes narrow and she looks ready for some vengeance.

"We shouldn't overlook your insight. You've probably spent more time around them than we have. Do you have any suggestions? Do you know of any weaknesses they have?"

A look of deep thoughtfulness passed over Adryn, "Either way, we need to devise a plan to minimize risk to our group."

"I wasn't around them all that long, but I know something of their makeup.  Their scales provide better protection against bladed weapons, but they aren't any better against the crushing power of blunt weapons.  Fire obviously does nothing against them.  They also seem to have weak eyesight in the daylight, but it improves dramatically at night."  She taps her chin.  "I've prepared a number of spells that won't actually harm them, partly because they are more sweeping in effect, partly because there is no telling what will happen down here in the heart of the Cradle.  Vertium and I will likely be nigh useless down here.  What I recommend is allow us to go ahead, away from the rest of you, and fire off some blanket spells against the group and see what happens.  Then the rest of you can come in and do things the old fashioned way."

"It's a shame we don't have more time... I have a spell in mind that would certainly illuminate a distinct advantage for us, but it would take a few hours to prepare.". Adryn chuckles a little bit thinking that he actually made a subtle joke.

"At the very least I can put protective measures on those who will be on the front lines. I can toughen up our skin so that their claws will be less likely to hurt us, and create a blessing to protect us from fire."

"Aethen, do you have anything prepared we might be able to make use of?"

Kahmual shakes his head, "I would have liked an idea of how they camped and what the layout of the area stands as... With it we could have divided and conquered as we had in rescuing you, Kaithlian. That fight was closer than I would have liked and relied heavily on our ability to tangle up a great number of the dragonmen so that they were helpless. Your insight on them might help us to best them again but we have not struck the first blow yet. Do not underestimate them, wizard."

Aethen looks up from his staff, which he seems more focused on in the past days than ever before.  "Addiyr has granted me wisdom to provide what you need, brother."  He whispers a few words, head bowed against the staff.  Then he bends down and begins to draw in the dirt.


O = Tree   d = dragonman  e = Echtinik  u = unbular hobgoblin
s = dragonman in shaman garb c = giant cat-like creature

 O OO OOO OOO OOOOO   O O OO OOO OOOOO  OO OO   O O OOOOOO O
  OOO       O    OO        O O    O    O    O   O      OOO  O
   OO OOOO                  OO    O                      O   O
O              O                            O            O
 O  O                                                  O   O
OOO        d  d          OOO     dd            d          OO
  O    O    s             OO                O           OOOOO
OOOOOOOO          O     OOO             OO             OOOO
 OOOO    OOOOO                      OOOOOO   d d      OOO   OO
OO    OOO             OO             OOO      s         OOOO
 OOOOO     OOOOO  d d                                        O
OOO        OOOOO   s      u  e                             OO
 OOOOOOO      OO          ____                OOOOOO      OOOO
OOOO                     |    |              OOO         OOO
  OOOOO     d            |  c |s  d
O                        |____|                         O
 OO      d   s                    d                      O O
OOO                O                          O           O
  OO         O           O       O                      O
O          O  OO       OOO               OO            O
O      O  O OO   O           OO     O  O     OOOO        O  O
O OO OOO OOO O OOO   O O OO O O OOO  OOOO OOOOOO O OO OOO O

"As I understand it," Aethen continues after he finishes his drawing.  "The large groups of 'trees' are actually a single, impassible protrusion from the primary trunk of Niaaca's Cradle."
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:16, Thu 15 Nov 2012.

Squinting at the map drawn in the dirt, Adryn begins to analyze the situation.

"Very impressive brother, Addiyr clearly has given you great insight today."

Sighing a little bit at the sheer number of adversaries, Adryn quietly states under his breath, "There sure is a lot of muscle out there."

Adryn looks over to Aethen, "It may be a good idea to summon some reinforcements to even up the odds a bit."

OOC: Where is the group in relation to the map?

The group would come in from the top of the map down the "path" the silver raven followed.  You could conceivably come in from any direction since you are far enough away and it seems have not alerted the camp.

There are jellies all over, though and off the path they are numerous.

Speaking to the party in general, Adryn asks "Remember how fond those jelly creatures are of heat? Imagine if we were to conjure a being made primarily of fire and sent it into the camp. If we could get the jellies to follow it, surely they would be attracted to the dragon men. Kaithlian, Vertium... how possible do you think that would be?"

Looking back down at the map, "If we could use that as a distraction for the ones on the left side of the camp, we could come in from the right side and potentially take them by surprise."

Adryn picks up a stick and points to the cage-like structure around the cat. "Aethen, do you have any insight as to what is binding the yircat? A cage of sort sort?"

"I can accomplish your goal with much less waste of power.  If the Cradle lets me, your diversion shall be done."  The Invar grins and winks.

Kahmaul grins, "That sounds like a surefire way to cause a distraction, would you need any help preparing such a feat? Or Do you have something similar in mind there Veritum?"

The Anthros warrior bends down and points towards the Echtinik and the Dragon shaman, "IF we can focus our first strike entirely on the shaman, what are the chances the Yircat could fight with us?"

"Probably not very likely. According to Toravich, the yircat is pregnant. I would rather keep her out of harms way. If Flynn is willing, I'd like to use him to free her while the camp is busy with us."

The lithe invar nods, "I think I can manage something like that."

"I won't need help and its best that you aren't near me in case the Cradle warps my spell.  The chances are good for that since I'm going to use not only magic, but some of what I've learned from the Tsuwrah tome."  He pats the bulky book hanging in a satchel at his side.  Vertium seems eager.

"I suggest we begin.  The Cradle is winning the battle with the Yircat."  Aethen's head lifts and his gaze is clear and focused again, though he looks sad.

The group heads toward the camp in relative silence.  Even Kahmaul's armored bulk is silent, owing much to his Anthros heritage.  The rise overlooks the camp which is almost exactly as Aethen described it in the dirt.  Vertium motions for the group to wait for his signal then he and Kaithlian disappear in different directions.

Long minutes pass, then there is a commotion in the camp.  A hundred tiny flames pour out of the jungle, presumably from Vertium's position, and spread out through the camp.  Immediately thousands of jellies detach from the trees all around the camp and roll toward the flames.

A shout goes up in the guttural language of the dragon-men and they begin to respond to the jellies.

O = Tree   d = dragonman  e = Echtinik  u = unbular hobgoblin
s = dragonman in shaman garb c = giant cat-like creature

       F    At  Ad  K  D  Ar  T
 O OO OOO OOO OOOOO   O O OO OOO OOOOO  OO OO   O O OOOOOO O
  OOO       O    OO        O O    O    O    O   O      OOO  O
   OO OOOO                  OO    O                      OV  O
O              O                            O            O
 O  O                                                  O   O
OOO        d  d          OOO     dd            d          OO
  O    O    s             OO                O           OOOOO
OOOOOOOO          O     OOO             OO             OOOO
 OOOO    OOOOO                      OOOOOO   d d      OOO   OO
OO Kt? OOO             OO             OOO      s         OOOO
 OOOOO     OOOOO  d d                                        O
OOO        OOOOO   s      u  e                             OO
 OOOOOOO      OO          ____                OOOOOO      OOOO
OOOO                     |    |              OOO         OOO
  OOOOO     d            |  c |s  d
O                        |____|                         O
 OO      d   s                    d                      O O
OOO                O                          O           O
  OO         O           O       O                      O
O          O  OO       OOO               OO            O
O      O  O OO   O           OO     O  O     OOOO        O  O
O OO OOO OOO O OOO   O O OO O O OOO  OOOO OOOOOO O OO OOO O

OOC: My apologies. I wanted to post this before the fighting started. Adryn was going to cast Barkskin and Resist Energy (fire) on the 7 party members at the top of the map.

[Private to GM: 1 casting of each, time split evening among each person (approx. 7 mins each).]

"Flynn, you need to sneak in and try to release the yircat. Looks like those jellies might keep them busy to the west, we'll try to provide more distraction from the east."

Adryn unsheathes his spear, "As for the rest of us, we should try to stick together as much as possible. Our strength will come from focusing on small groups at a time." He pauses for a moment, "... and whatever you do, keep an eye out for those jellies."

Initiative?

GM: Yes, roll initiatives.  Also, if you have any spells you wanted to cast before the battle begins.  Now is the time.

21:24, Today: Adryn Longmane rolled 7 using 1d20+2. Initiative.
Aside from the 2 buffs cast on the others, Adryn takes a moment to cast Bull's Strength on himself

Adryn pauses to say a modest prayer of strength, delaying his actions slightly as his comrades proceed into battle.