OOC: Apologies (again) if you're waiting for me. Crappy week and crappy weekend.


Unless I missed someone, that was the end of that round. Except for the one hell hawk on the ground, the rest flyby and have to circle back around. Technically, they don't have to, but that's just the way they do things.

PM

Saxon was massively limited when it comes to foes at range. More so when he had not had a chance to really get to understand any other monster that came about. So... this was an opportunity to really check and see if some of his unique bombs would work.

After all, he wanted to be sure that he would not hurt his peers when he started lobbing bombs all over the place.

So he tossed a little blue vial at the creature that was driven down. There was a burst of white light that burned at corruption, but would it burn the being?

17:59, Today: Saxon the Dead Smith rolled 16 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 5.
17:58, Today: Saxon the Dead Smith rolled 17 using 5d6 with rolls of 4,6,1,3,3.

16 to hit
22 pnts of damage to undead or similar creatures.
DC 20 reflex for half
Splash damage 10 pnts.

In no particular order...


Another of Elmohtar's lightning bolts strike one of the other hell hawks.


Only one of the three hell hawks struck Tilaleria, and she is able to make attacks of opportunity on the two that missed. It's not a lot of damage, but she did injure them.


Elmohtar's summoned griffin flies after the hell hawks, and manages to hit one of them twice, and critical with one. It significantly wounds the hell hawk, but doesn't kill it.

Elmohtar's summoned manticore also flies after the hell hawks, and manages to hit one of them, but it's not enough to kill it.


Saxon's bomb affects the hell hawk on the ground, sufficiently so that Lady Isile/lammasu is able to finish it off.


You don't see a flying Dwarf every day, but Borun is able to launch himself at the tail end of the flock. He can't quite land on the creature's back, but does manage to land two of his flurry of blows.


At the end of the round, there is only one hell hawk dead, but all but three of them have been injured. The remaining 23 are swinging around to attack again. There's a free round for anyone else to do something before they return.

It was a serious number of bad guys. Lots and lots. Tilaleria moved herself so that she was in the way of any attack on the people on the ground. Obviously it was going to be hard to protect them all, and worse she knew that she'd been lucky not to be hit so far. She was though going to be able to take the time to start putting the hurt in on these creatures. Her whole body exploded with shards of ice dripping off her, and her hands grew particularly cold. These creatures might take her down, but it wasn't going to be easy for them

Borun steadied himself in the air behind the flock and performed a series of rolls and blows at the hell hawks' wing joints.

Swift action: arcane strike
Full-round action: flurry of blows

Borun shall attempt to stun the hawk using Stunning Fist on the first attack.

First attack with Stunning Fist attempt: 37
Stunning Fist Fort save DC 22
First attack damage: 20

If the first attack successfully stunned the hawk, then it loses its Dex bonus to AC and takes an additional -2 penalty to AC.

If the stun attempt was unsuccessful, Borun will attempt Stunning Fist again with the second attack.

Second attack roll: 36
Stunning Fist save DC (if applicable): 22
Second attack damage: 17

If both of the Stunning Fist attempts were unsuccessful, Borun will not attempt Stunning Fist again.

Third attack roll: 20
Third attack damage: 16

Fourth attack roll: 32
Fourth attack damage: 18

If the hawk was stunned by either of Borun's first two attacks, Borun gains two Medusa's Wrath attacks.

First Medusa's Wrath attack roll: 22
Damage: 19

Second Medusa's Wrath attack roll: Natural 20!
Confirm critical roll: Natural 1 - lol
Damage: 18

There were so many hell hawks and so far they weren't thinning the numbers significantly.  It was worrisome to say the least.  Rather than fling another bolt that most would avoid, Anira cast something they had used every night that kept them secure.  A cottage sprang up and she ran to the door.  "EVERYONE INSIDE!!  FIRE WON'T HURT IT AND WE CAN WAIT THEM OUT!!"

---

"The dwelling does, however, provide considerable security otherwise—it is as strong as a normal stone building, regardless of its material composition. The dwelling resists flames and fire as if it were stone. It is impervious to normal missiles (but not the sort cast by siege engines or giants)."

Lady Isile was able to do enough damage to one that she'd hit with her lightning bolt that she is able to finish it off.

Saxon's alchemical bomb wouldn't have normally hit, but the hell hawks had their flight path disrupted, and he is able to hit one of the ones that Lady Isile had damaged with a lightning bolt.

Elmohtar is able to drop another one of his lightning bolts on the same creature, and finishes it off.


Tilaleria is pretty much able to fly among them and let them attack (and miss) so that she can make attacks of opportunity on them.

Her first attack misses, and it takes her next four attacks to finish off another hell hawk, leaving two attacks to damage another one.


Borun's flurry of blows is almost as successful, as his first two attacks both hit and stun the next beast, and the reduced AC lets his 3rd and 4th attacks hit. He is also able to hit with both his Medusa's Wrath attacks.

It was one of the one's 'softened up' by Lady Isile's lightning bolt, so Borun's damage is able to finish it off.


At the end of that round, three more hell hawks lay dead on the ground. That's a total of 4 down and 20 to go.

Tilaleria found little joy in the death of Morgoth's creations, but this seemed necessary. The creatures so far seemed to have no fear of pain and defeat and were keeping on coming. As was often the case in the battles between Light and Dark, the good guys were better but the bad guys were endless...

She decided to nearly follow Anira's advice, moving down to just above the entrance to the magical safe house. She would enter when every one else had done so, and in the meantime would keep on giving back to these Hell Hawks what they were trying to do to her: no more and no less.

As her fists and feet flew at the Hell Hawks that came near here, she muttered a word of power, and pressed her finger to her bracelet, refreshing her mind .. allowing her to call forth more power to fight this battle

The amount of information that he got from that initial detonation was not very conductive to a final verdict if the light bombs would do any real damage to the hell hawks. Sure, he hit it, but he was not really able to see any clear sign that he harmed it.

So with a rub of his chin and a lean forward he gave only a slightly closer inspection of the creature. Wounded or not he should be able to glean signs of physical damage from his undead blomb.

Noticing Anira's instruction and group's retreat into the magical refuge, Borun also made his way over there. Doing his best to evade the talons and beaks of the hell hawks, he ducked and rolled his way in mid-air to the hut's entrance.

OOC: Frak! It's taken me so long to get back to this I forgot half of it!


The hell hawks can barely hit Tilaleria, but she has no trouble hitting them. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of damage to kill one of the beasts. She hits with all but one of her attacks, but can't really apply all of them to just one creature. So none of them drop this round.


Elmohtar makes it to the door of Anira's cottage, and waits for everyone else to get inside as he continues to drop a lightning bolt onto the creatures. He's only got a few left, and they don't do much damage. By themselves, they'd never take out a hell hawk, but they work well to soften one up for Borun or Tilaleria.


Saxon is able to tell that his undead bomb did have some effect on the creatures. As creatures twisted by the dark, the light did hurt them because of its intensity, since clearly normal daylight wasn't bothering them. As near as he can tell, the bomb delivered only half the damage it would have done an actual undead creature.


Borun makes it to the entrance of the cottage without getting hit. As aggressive as the creatures are, they aren't stupid enough to fly into a wall, which is what the cottage represents. Everyone else (except Elmohtar and Tilaleria) is inside by the time Borun gets there. As he flies through the door, Elmohtar continues to drop lightning bolts, and watches Tilaleria's back as she finally makes her way to the door.

As soon as Tilaleria is inside, Anira slams the door closed.

Even thought the hell hawks lair in caves, the small door of the cottage was too small for them to consider. They aren't prone to landing to attack from the ground.

Once inside with the door closed, the hell hawks virtually cease to exist. Whatever they are doing on the outside, it has no effect on the cottage.

"Clever! .. Good idea this place"  Tilaleria said her breath coming fast. She'd been working hard. Really hard. There was few activities as hard as combat, and 'not being hit' by that many opponents took it out of her.

"You can shoot out of this right?" she looked a little annoyed at herself "Now I regret not having brought a bow. I traveled light, and it's rare indeed that I need such a thing."

She paused in thought

"it is clear that we need to defeat this foe. We cannot be trapped here. Perhaps those of us that are skilled in not dying against such unpleasant foes could venture back out to act as a lightning rod for them, and the rest of you can blast them. If you do ... for example ... fireballs, I am quite skills in deflecting such magics from myself, so unless I look battered don't be afraid to launch them at me."

"I'll not go out until we are confident it's the right thing to do"

Once everyone was inside the cottage and the door was closed, the attacking hell hawks had virtually vanished.

Radagast made his way over to one of the comfy chairs, sat in it, pulled out his pipe and began puffing on it.

"I am a creature of nature, much like my friends," he says, even as one of his friends climbs up on top of his head--a bushy-tailed gray squirrel.

"There are some that have referred to me as a 'druid', but while I espouse similar principles, that is not my calling, if I even have such a thing. I suppose the main difference is that a druid strives for balance, but I have no interest in seeing evil thrive."

"These hell hawks are not evil, but they have been touched be evil. Yet they are living creatures, and I do not wish to see them destroyed. Certainly, I cannot contribute to their demise. They are carnivores... predators... and presumably that is why they attacked. Or perhaps they were also defending their territory."

"I admit that they caught us by surprise. Our focus was on reaching the Ent-wives before they truly did die."

"I think it is clear by now that the Ent-wives very existence is being masked by the dark forces of Mordor... in some manner that is beyond my ken."

"I have been pondering this as we traveled. Much time has passed. Sauron's activities... even his minions...  have affected the land in ways we can barely imagine. This scarp, for instance, may not have been here when the Ent-wives came this way, which means the very shape of the land has probably been altered."

"Will the Ent-wives be able to return this way?"

"As for the hell hawks, it seems as if only Tilaleria and Borun are suited for a prolonged battle with them. As I observed the battle, you two were well-defensed against the hell hawks such that it took a lucky effort for one of them to hurt you. At the same time, though, they were able to take a lot of punishment."

"If they were intelligent, or being controlled by some intelligence, this cottage would not survive long against their onslaught. They are only animals; they will not throw themselves against the walls of a building."

"So, now we must decide what to do. They will most likely give up their hunt by nightfall and return to their nests. I am thinking that we may be able to seal them in their nest-caves with a bit of spider webs."

"While the rest of you were learning magic, we were learning not be hit" Tilaleria observed. She suspected with the 'right' spells the others would have been that effective, it was just that they hadn't a chance to prepare

"The world would be a better place without them" Tilaleria continued "And they may choose to hassle us after we have passed. I would also comment on the fact that they have no fear. They have lost numbers, but still attack like crazed things. I think the safest option is not to run away from them letting them attack us when we aren't ready, but for us to attack them. It looks like you can target spells on them while still inside this shelter. That means that Borun and I can draw them in, and you can all blast. That would play to all of our strengths. It is a simple plan and I think likely to work. With this fly spell upon me I don't particular fear their most potent attack: the pick up and drop. Since it will not last forever, we should engage them within a minute or two"

"They do seem to be unthinking animals," Borun agreed with Radagast. "Perhaps we can indeed bypass them without further combat."

Borun considered the problem for a moment. "While I don't have a spider-web spell like you suggest, I can create simple illusions, both visual and sound. How about an illusion of a prey animal, perhaps a lamb? The little lost lamb bleats and draws the attention of the hell hawks while we sneak around."

"I will only attack the hell hawks if they attack me," Arithal says. "Nor will I attempt to provoke them into doing so. They have as much right to live as you or I."

"They are not evil creatures; they were only altered by evil--merely the first step on the way to produce the Ring-Wraiths."

"Perhaps, though, Borun is on the right track. While they might attack potential food, what might cause them to flee? What do they fear?"

"No they don't" Tilaleria disagreed with Arithal "We are not creatures of Morgoth and we don't attack, rend and kill people passing through our territory in a mindless and violent fashion. The same argument could apply to orcs: do they have the same right to live as you and I? If you think the answer to the question about orcs is yes, then I think we'll just have to accept we differ on that. If you think the answer to the orcs is no, then exactly the same answer should apply to the Hell Hawks"

"I don't like the idea of leaving them to attack us when we aren't expecting it. They move faster than us. They can fly. We are all 'set up' for the fight now, and we won't be if they attack us on the move"

"We've had a while to talk about it and I think we haven't come up with a good idea that doesn't just allow them to attack us at will when they choose, harrying us as we travel. So unless there are any strongly dissenting views I'm going out that door, and will attract their attention. I'd appreciate your company Borun: they are scary and it only takes a mistake for it to go wrong"

"I will attract them together. So you can blast and tentacle and so on. If any of you have spells that will help me resist the magics you will use that would be great, if not I will have to rely on my training"

OOC We've been about three weeks saying 'yes or no' with no real ideas, so I'm just moving this on. If anyone objects say so, or otherwise this weekend I'll move out the shelter

"There is the difference between the orcs and the hell hawks ... intelligence," Anira injected.  "So you can't really compare them to each other.  I agree they are creatures and normally I would say to leave them be but they have been warped by evil and pose a threat to any and everyone in this area.  There are valid points on both sides but these abominations will attack over and over so we will be forced to kill them," she said, trying to appeal to both sides of the argument.

"That said, I will need to rest and commune to get spells that are less about healing and supporting and more offensive.  I recall some spells that might be helpful and will look through some notes I have taken over the years."  She looked at Tillaleria and shrugged her shoulders.  "That will require time and patience but it is the best I can offer as my focus was on not only magic but fighting as well," she stated with a half-smile.  Her type of fighting was quite different from the exotic elven woman's.

"As Anira has just said, there is a difference," Radagast says. "The real difference, though, is whether Orcs have souls. I feel it is safe to say that the hell hawks do not."

"As you are all aware, I respect Life... in all its forms. So I do not normally take a life if I can help it, which I usually can. Whether Orcs have a soul or not, it does not bother me to slay an Orc, so I wonder if that means that they aren't truly Life."

"The hell hawks have been touched and twisted by evil, but they are not evil. They are merely animals. They are no different than a wolf or bear--you invade their territory, they will defend it. We invaded the hell hawks territory, and they merely defended it."

"As Arithal said, if we can find something that they fear--if they fear anything at all--then perhaps we can use that to keep them from attacking us as we pass through their territory."

"I don't really care" Tilaleria said, her voice reasonable despite the words "Matters of 'are they evil or animalistic' are for those people in ivory towers that don't have to live in the world. Let us suppose that we had been a group of women and children heading this way. Perhaps fleeing from something with intelligence...  What would have happened to that group of women and children? That is not an idle question: I want you to think about it. To think about the sheer violence, aggression and horror that they wanted to visit upon us, and were only foiled because of our magical power and strength of arms"

"The Hell Hawks are creatures of Morgoth that is clear. Their hatred for all things is not natural it is imbued in them by the Evil One. The world will be a better place if they are not in it. That ignores the fact that if we leave them alone they may well ambush us. It is far better to use their unreasoning behavior against themselves. The spells cast on me will wear out in a few minutes, so we have a short time to discuss this, and despite my 'I don't care', it is a valuable discussion. My 'I don't care' is because I care not about their nature being evil or animalistic: the end result is the same. In both cases I want them all gone. "

"I assure you I was not raised in an ivory tower but nature itself, not quite like Radagast but I and the others do understand the world a lot more than you are giving us credit for, Tillaleria," Anira stated just as reasonably.  "I agree that it would be horrid if women and children were coming through here but given this isn't normal territory, I doubt seriously that would happen."

She had tried to remain quiet times before when the arrogant elf tried to enforce her will on the entire group but she couldn't any longer, not when she was actually being unreasonable.  "I was offering my assistance but it will take time as most of my spells aren't what you need.  The spells that you have on you now can be recast yet you are insistent that we do what you want right now.  We are a team and there's a phrase of 'there is no I in team' ... and your need to kill things now could get us all killed."

"There is an I in team. Lot's in fact, one per person. And it is important to balance the I with the team with the goals of the venture. Otherwise the venture will fail. You should know that. "

"You are talking quite aggressively, and accusing me of having a 'need to kill'. I think you heard the words I said but didn't really think about them. You should be aware that I almost always try and avoid fights. I have avoided every possible conflict I could on the way over here."

"I don't however think this is a fight we can avoid. I'm not worried for myself particularly. I have been trained by the Lady Galadriel and feel fairly confident that I will not be killed by the creatures, although things can go wrong in any fight. I am concerned for you and the others. You have invested your time into learning magics, while I and Borun have spent that time learning how to survive this sort of conflict. I have not heard a credible way of avoiding these things, despite waiting for some significant time, so I want to deal with them in a way that plays to our strengths and minimizes theirs. I want a way of dealing with them that doesn't end up with one of you dead. If you want to hear those words as some sort of blood lust you are welcome to do so, but you would be mistaken"

"They are creatures of Morgoth and the world will be better for them going. I will not sing a song of joy at their passing, but I will sleep more soundly knowing the world is safer place. "

"Now if your magics are exhausted we can always do this in the morning. Perhaps someone will come up with a better plan, before them. But this 'I' in team, isn't really keen on any plan that is based on hoping they don't attack us"

"You are the one who is hearing but not thinking or paying attention, too busy going on and on about how great you are," Anira retorted.  "I told you I would assist but needed time to seek the power of different spells because what I had prepared for today wouldn't be of much help, not that my magics were exhausted.  Either way, I was saying some time needed to be allowed but you kept pressing that we do this now because the spells you have on you were about to expire.  Also, since this is a team, the majority should rule and if there are more votes against you then we will not be setting upon the hell hawks ... unless you do it by yourself and are no longer part of the team."

Borun was disconcerted by the bickering. He stepped forwards between the two ladies and coughed politely.

"We are indeed a team and we are trying to help each other, right?" Borun looked at both of them. "We all bring useful talents to the group, be it magical or mundane, else Master Radagast would not have invited us. I am sure we are past the point of judging each other's skills." Borun chuckled awkwardly.

Borun looked at Anira. "I am unsure what this "majority rule" concept is. All groups, however large or small, require a leader who makes the important decisions. While individuals might occasionally give advice, the leader has the ultimate power."

"We acknowledge Master Radagast as our leader." Borun looked carefully at Tilaleria. "As well as being our leader, he is an Istari with unsurpassed understanding of nature, as well as vast experience of dealing with evil."