She walked along wearily as they moved to try to outpace the elves. When they came to the steep decline, she had to grab ahold of brush and whatever she could grab to keep from tumbling down. It was times like this she wished her people could still fly. Once they reached a place to rest, she flopped down in a heap and tried to catch her breath, not bothering to try to hide.

08:36, Today: Raven rolled 7 using 1d20+1. con check.

OOC: Rog, Riza, Raven, Minmorc, Moffdust and Nurzhan are all fatigued after the forced march. They suffer -2 penalty on Strength and Dexterity until they are able to rest for 8 hours.

Minmorc, Riza and Nurzhan take shelter behind trees as they wait for the elves to arrive. Riza and Nurzhan have their bows readied and both shoot as soon as they see the first of the elves 60 feet away in the forest.

Arlein the cat crouches in the few weeds that there are at the lip of the slope, watching what everyone else is doing.

The rest of the group manages to slide or scramble safely down the steep slope, ending knee deep in water and mud at the bottom of the slope, which at least cushions their landing. Getting down was easy. Climbing back up might be more difficult. Everyone except Raven quickly takes cover behind the numerous boulders that dot the slope. They are able to hear the twang of two bows being fired up above and a single brief scream of pain, then several voices shouting in elvish. 

OOC: Map updated.

 She heard the scream and the voices, so staggered up and tried to find a place in which to hide. She stumbled through the wet weeds and crouched behind a tree as fast as her soggy clothes and feathers would allow.

15:32, Today: Raven rolled 21 using 1d20+7. trying to hide again.

Dregz whispers to Jurz ...

Minmorc reacts to the seriousness of the situation by picking his nose. He seems to find an idea in there because he pulls his finger out and first points it at Riza, then one by one at the other members of the party. "I blesses you and I blesses you and I blesses you and I blesses you... " he then flicks the booger at Nurzhan "errr... Why nots, I blesses you too elfy Orc." He then sticks his arm out and gives the finger to the elves and yells "but I don'ts bloody bless you buggers, no bless fer you!"

Bulldust leans a bit closer to the huge boulder he is hiding behind. So close that his head must have got squashed down into his shoulders or something. He pulls back and looks at Moffdust.

"Oy Moffa, vere's somevink wrong wiv vis rock. It's got a hole in it big enough for an ogre to fall in it. Let's find anuvver one what's gonna stop ve elfies's arrows more better."

In reply to Bulldust (msg # 19):

"[Language unknown: Dinstison beouev reaerestr... Be]!!"

Riza hisses angrily to herself and through bleary eyes let's another arrow fly at the elf she missed last time.


OOC: rolled 16 to hit elf e6 and rolled 5 for damage if I hit this time

"Orcs rule! Death to all elves!" Nurzhan shouts defiantly.

He leans around the right side of the tree trunk and shoots two arrows as fast as he can. The first is right on target for one of the elves on the right flank (e5) but the second misses the elf behind him (e12) by a wide margin.
This message was last updated by the GM at 12:38, Wed 17 Sept 2014.

Moffdust looks at Bulldust very strangely for a moment before copying what he did by pushing her own head inside the huge boulder they are sheltering behind. After a moment she pulls it back out again, smiling.

"Youza big silly billiez, Bully! Its called a tunnelz!"

Moffdust's yells cause Dregz to turn away from his whispered conversation with Jurz.  "Tunnelz !  Dat's more like it !  We're going down der tunnelz, everyones !"

The priests eyes flick back and forth for a moment as the thinks for a moment.  "As it wuz written !" he adds more quietly, nodding vigorously.

 She readied her sling again, trying to dry the straps off and tighten the knots, then dug out some bullets out of her pouch, and placed it onto the sling pocket. When the chance came again, she tried to shoot it out at an elf. The wet leather wasn't cooperating too well though.

23:11, Today: Raven rolled 4 using 1d4+1. sling.
23:16, Today: Raven rolled 9 using 1d20+4. ranged attack (sling).

  Suddenly a smile spreads across his face as he hears Moffa say they have found a tunnel, and his grin gets even wider when he hears Dregz send everyone ove towards it.  Now it is the God's fault if it all goes wrong.  Especially as it is written.

"To da tunnel." he echoes dregz's call as he moves over that way.  [Language unknown: Streng was ainun neeau astndewas ame she ekofil?  Ca ticic ieol isfor wa ofeiio she i iouentout ....] he asks as he gets closer to his racial bretheren.

Up at the forest level Minmorc invokes a blessing to help Riza and Nurzhan hit the elves with their arrows. Riza follows up immediately with a more accurate shot that drops the elf she had missed seconds before (e6). Nurzhan leans out from behind his tree to taunt the elves and quickly fires twice more before they can react. He manages to shoot one (e5) and it too falls on the ground. A goblin voice is heard shouting instructions from down the slope and mysterious echo that sounds like a whole volley of arrows can be heard as Nurzhan and Riza shoot.

The elves may be stung physically by Riza and Nurzhan’s arrows but they are angered more by Nurzhan's taunting. The elder male elf (e3) reacts with a brief prayer of his own that seems to bolster the other elves' courage and determination. A young female elf (e7) at the rear responds immediately with an incantation that hurls a yellow-glowing bolt of energy straight at Nurzhan, hitting him in the shoulder. The other six elves all have bows in hand and all shoot at Nurzhan before scrambling to find cover behind trees as well. Two of their arrows hit the tree he is sheltering behind but four others hit him, including one right in his chest.  Nurzhan staggers back as each arrow strikes. For a moment he just looks surprised, then his eyes glaze over in death and his lifeless body falls over backward to thud on the ground behind the tree.

Arlein the cat continues to hide among the short weeds at the top of the slope and watches the battle as well as what is happening below.

Meanwhile, down at the base of the slope, the rest of the group hides behind the boulders around the edge of the marsh. Dregz stares out across the marsh and wonders about escaping across that boggy terrain until Bulldust and Moffdust discover a hidden tunnel leading back into the slope through one of those great boulders. The fact that the tunnel mouth looks like solid rock and can’t be seen through until they poke their heads inside doesn't seem to bother anyone, at all. The relief of finding somewhere to hide where they will have all the advantages over the elves is more than enough to make the goblinoids happy.

Bulldust and Moffdust are closest and therefore the first ones inside when Dregz announces that is the way to go, even giving it the blessing of his ever-so-holy book "as it wuz written!"

Only Raven is slow to react as she waits with her sling ready if any elves show themselves at the top of the slope above her. Grakk scoops up Oopses under one arm and carries him toward the tunnel too.

OOC: Map updated. The tunnel is about 5 feet wide and 5 feet high, heading roughly northwards back into the slope for about 30 feet before bending out of sight to the left.

Everyone currently at +1 to hit (Bless from Minmorc) for 9 more rounds.

"Come ons." Jurz shouts as he makes his way towards the  strange boulder tunnel.  Once there he will urge Rog inside, to wait for him then pop out to make sure the rest are coming and that any of the archers who make it down the slope know where to come.

In reply to Jurz (msg # 28):

Arlein drops a no light spell centered on minmorc's bottom right Left corner.

as darkness, but has no effect on darkvision, 20ft radius.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:07, Mon 22 Sept 2014.

Minmorc will shout with great indignation, "oh my god, you killed Nurzhan, you bastards!" He'll then add under his breath, "now who's gonna carry his stuff..." Minmorc will dart out from the cover of darkness and will grab Nurzhans corpse, then will haul it back into the shadows, making sure that he doesn't end up in exactly the same spot he started in. Any illusions of altruism will be immediately dispelled when the others hear Minmorc looting and muttering "so, der feathery bit goes on der string and der pointy bit goes in der udder guy..."

Riza cries out in anger at the elves and at her own fatigue "rot in a sewer bloody elves!"

She let's another arrow fly, her anger driving her arrow and focus. She hears Minmorc muttering in the darkness "that's right Minmorc pointy end goes into the elves!"

OOC: rolled 24 to hit elf10 (failed on critical only rolled 6) rolled 5 damage

"Fightin' der Shinin' Ones in der forest," Dregz mutters disgustedly.  "Dey's been out in der sun too long !"

"Down 'ere !" the goblin priest also calls to those exchanging arrows with the Elves up above, but doesn't hang about, entering the tunnel and blinking to adjust his eyes to the darkness, sighing in relief as he gets away from the heat and light of the world above, then moving forward cautiously, not-quite eager to see what they've got themselves into, but at least wanting to make sure there are no nasty surprises with pointy teeth.

Up at the forest level an area of darkness suddenly appears to engulf Minmorc, even extending out far enough to shroud Nurzhan's corpse as well.

Riza responds angrily to the death of Nurzhan, shooting another elf in retaliation. Once again her arrow puts her target (e10) out of the fight.

The elder male elf (e3) reacts to the sudden appearance of darkness by chanting a brief prayer of his own that swiftly drives the darkness away, leaving Minmorc back where he started. The five remaining elven archers respond with another volley of arrows, shooting two at Riza and three at the larger target of Minmorc. Riza manages to duck behind cover just in time and both arrows whistle past her head harmlessly. Minmorc is similarly lucky as one arrow aimed at him hits the tree beside him and two more whistle past his ears as he bends down over Nurzhan's body.

Arlein the cat still watches patiently from her hiding spot at the top of the slope.

Meanwhile, down at the base of the slope, the rest of the group follows Bulldust, Moffdust, Dregz, Rog and Jurz into the tunnel. The tunnel heads back into the slop for 30 feet then bends to the left before opening out into a large, low-ceilinged cavern. The ceiling is only about ten feet above the floor level and has tree roots poking through in numerous places. The ceiling of the cavern is supported by several great stone boulders that also obstruct vision of many parts of the area. The centre of the cavern floor is filled by a pool of dark, stagnant water but at least there is a sandy beach 5-10ft wide around the edges where the floor of the cavern slopes down to water level. There is just enough light filtering in from outside so that everyone can see well enough to avoid stumbling around in the dark. (Double normal darkvision range. Even those who only have low-light vision can see 30 feet inside the cavern.)

However the thing that catches everyone's attention is the frogs, thousands of them, sitting quietly around the edge of the water. Some are on the sand out to a foot or two from the water's edge and many more are sitting or floating in the water. They have moved away from where the group has entered so that patch of beach is clear of frogs. There is no sound in the cavern except an occasional drip of water from the ceiling and no movement except a few gentle ripples in the water's surface.

OOC: Main game map now shows the tunnel where most of the group is going.

Everyone currently at +1 to hit (Bless from Minmorc) for 8 more rounds.

 Suddenly realizing she is alone, and that the elves have killed one of their group, she sprint hops toward the tunnel as well, trying to get to safety. Tunnels weren't her forte but it must be to some of them. She wasn't so sure when she saw all the frogs though.

The frogs surprise the little goblin priest, but no so much as their silence, which is most disturbing as if all them have their bulbous eyes turned towards him.

Looking around (anything to avoid those eyes !) Dregz is unhappy to discover that some of his tribe have not yet made it down into the tunnel.

"Where's der others ?" he hisses. "Minmorc, Riza, Nurzhan ?  We needs to collapse dis tunnel so der elves can't follow !"

Rog looks back towards towards way out from the cave -  but Jurz has told him to stay -  so he say down and waited.  Looking around the cave his saw the frogs.  His ears perked up and he started to salivate.

So much dinner ...  but Jurz had said wait.  So he continued to sit and watch the frogs.

Crouched behind the rock at the bottom of the slope, Jurz can't see what is going on up the slope -  however, he watches, waiting for any sign of Nurzhan, Minmorc and Riza to come running down the slope to join them.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:35, Wed 01 Oct 2014.

Minmorc will snap off a shot at the elder Elven male then drop the bow and grab up his spear again, and will crouch down behind the tree in a runners sprinting pose. "Oi, pointy ears! Every bugger in dis forest wants us gone and wees just want out. We dinnint run from our army just to fight you shinies on our own. Now bugger off or I'll come on over dare and stick yous til wear all red an dead."