Prizzard looses into the greased orcs.
"That is a beautiful obstacle course!"

rolled 21,7 using d20+5,d8+3 with rolls of 16,4.  Longbow Attack.

Stonecrow wasn't so certain about this 'plan' of the group he'd met up with. But at first at least things seemed to be going...maybe not 'well' but better than he might have thought that they would. Some of them were killed or at least put out of commission for the time being. But there were quite a large number of orcs regardless.

He moved up to engage the orcs in closer proximity, moving to help out Grey Willem as the other group of melee was at least able to aid one another if they chose. He swung his staff in a powerful arc and continued the momentum in to a spinning heel kick right after.

12:29, Today: Stonecrow rolled 11,7,15,5 using d20+5,d8+3,d20+5,d4+3 with rolls of 6,4,10,2.  Quarterstaff and martial arts vs Orc on Willem.

Nyssia but smile at the trap and the orc’s as they were ambushed. The sound of orc battling orc and the orcs and the others walking off the cliff was a particular nice touch. “Stupid bastards.” She muttered as she loaded another crossbow bolt, and fired, missing, she frowned.

---

OOC: Nyssia rolled 11 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 7.  Attack - crossbow.

Victor grimaced with the pain of the orc's attack. Twice more, he swung his Defender.

07:13, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 12,13 using 1d20+6,1d8+5 with rolls of 6,8.  Defender attack, damage (+3 bonus set to AC).
07:13, Today: Victor Harkness rolled 19,7 using 1d20+6,1d8+5 with rolls of 13,2.  Defender attack, damage (+3 bonus set to AC).

"Perseverance is beautiful, and the Lady smiles upon it", said Lureene, as she struck again with both her weapons, while moving to form a more coherent battle-line with her group.

OOC: 21:47, Today: Lureene Raventree rolled 3 using 1d20 with rolls of 3.  Mace attack. -- hit enter too fast, but I guess I need not bother add modifiers or roll for damage, huh?

21:48, Today: Lureene Raventree rolled 17,11 using d20+8,d8+5 with rolls of 9,6.  Spiritual hammer attack.

The battle wasn't as organized as he'd hoped, but his group formed a skirmish line with ranged attackers still hidden in the brush and trees. With nowhere for the Orcs to retreat, it was time for the big spell!

He cast Flaming Sphere in the middle of the Orcs and started rolling it around. Every Orc it rolls over takes 7 points of damage.

By the second wave, Mithra is just fighting defensively and helping any of the others if they get into trouble.

00:30, Today: Mithra Stormraven rolled 22,11,19,4,22,11 using 1d20+5,1d8+3,1d20+5,1d8+3,1d20+5,1d8+3 ((17,8,14,1,17,8)).

That's three hits with pretty good damage on two of them. None of them would be killed by her attacks, but anyone else could probably finish them off.

Figuring he had a few moments before the orcs sliding around in his Grease trap would be a problem again, Ero turns his attention to the fourth wave.  Between his hands a small ball of blue-white fire forms.  It grows brighter and brighter until he pushes it away.  The ball streaks toward the stopped orcs before exploding jut over their heads.  Orcs scream as they are engulfed in cyan flame.

FIREBALL!

Elemental Adept will make all ones on damage rolls twos.

Willem missed the Orc that was attacking him but Stonecrow came up to assist and was able to hit the Orc. The Orc managed to swing at Stonecrow and hits for 11 points of damage!

10:10, Today: StarMaster rolled 22 using 1d20+5 ((17)). Orc attack.

10:12, Today: StarMaster rolled 14 using 1d12+3 ((11)). Orc damage.

Lureene hits the Orc that was attacking her and kills it.

Victor hits the Orc that was attacking  him and kills it.

Theirastra misses her Orc, but Mithra steps up and hits it and kills it.

Prizzard hits one of the Orcs still slipping in the greased area.

And then Krivath's Flaming Sphere starts rolling around and finishes off the rest of the Orcs in the grease and the web.

Cinnabar sees Ero's Fireball explode in the air above the fourth 'wave' of Orcs that had been stopped by the spike growth. When the flash clears, she sees that all but two of them are dead. Those two were outside the area of effect. Two of the Orcs in the spike growth area have also managed to work their way out.

All four of them flee back to the camp.

Ero claps his hands together.  "That was simple enough.  I'm sure the others can handle the clean-up."  He pulls out his book and starts leafing through the pages to where he left off.

Willem held a grim look over the battlefield. “That was a slaughter.” He stepped forward carefully, checking the bodies to ensure they were dead, applying a coup de grace to a couple of dying Orcs who’s flesh was burned away and life essence was fading. They might be the enemy, but nobody deserved a slow, lingering death like that. It was mercy to release them.

The stink of the battle filled his nostrils, and he fought back the urge to gag. He turned to his companions and asked “Shall we pursue, finish the job?”

As the dust and smoke clears from the fast and brutal conflict Cinnabar finds herself near enough where the main force is regrouping to overhear and engage in the discussion, clearly willing to let the spells already in play continue their work without expending more resources.

”If you can catch and kill those four Orcs that might be useful, then we can maintain at least some level of surprise.  Otherwise we will likely be best served by moving to another position and observing their reactions from afar, then we can wait until the hornets nest we stirred up settles down again before we strike, or at least let them exhaust themselves while we rest before we engage again.

Nyssia, holding her crossbow, returned to the group, the fleeing orcs bringing relief to her serious face. “Considering the odds against us, that went better than expected.” Now she was closer to the carnage, she looked around, and her usual hard demeanor had a slight crack. She wasn’t a fan of killing, but when it was nessessary, she didn’t hesitate - and this was one such time.

…even though she didn’t enjoy it.

She looked at the others with a nod. “If they get away, then they’ll have time to regroup.”

Lureene set her mace's head down on the ground and leaned on her shield, her spiritual hammer flitting away as she watched the unbeauteous orcs flee from the skirmish. "Is anyone injured and in need of healing?" she asked solicitously, sending a pointed look towards Victor, whom she had seen get hit in the battle.

"On the one hand, I want to say we were lucky, but we came up with a good plan that worked," Mithra offered. "I don't think that was all of them, though. From what I could see in the caves, it looked like the rest of the Orcs were more entrenched. Plus, I think the caves might be more extensive than they looked."

"They'll be prepared for us now. Taking out the rest of them won't be as easy."

Stonecrow helped Grey Willem finish off the orc in his way. Then he retrieved his crossbow and brought it up to fire at the fleeing orcs, but after a moment, he lowered it again. They were already at some distance and he wasn't sure he could manage the shot. He didn't want to waste a bolt. He didn't have that many.

He looked to the others. "And do you have a plan for this next part?"

"Coming up behind you. . . And we're not orcs." A loud voice calls out. The voice belongs to a tall blond warrior striding up the trail. "Sildar Hallwinter sent us."

Mithra had already spotted the three men approaching and had determined that they weren't Orcs. Of course, that didn't mean they were friends.

At the first one's call out... and he said the magic word, she returned the greeting.

"Greetings. I'm Mithra Stormraven," she said. "Yes, we're pretty much all here at Sildar's request... well, some more than others, but we've a least got a common goal."

"If the Orcs wanted to settle this area and peacefully coexist and trade with everyone else, it wouldn't be an issue. The last time they were here, though, the slaughtered entire villages and burnt them to the ground."

"Now that people are tarting to return to the area, we want to make sure that the Orcs aren't returning as well."

"Considering this is the second large group we've encountered, it would seem as if they are. Makes you wonder, though, doesn't it?"

"Anyway, not sure if you missed anything or not. We think we've taken out about half of this group who've taken up residence in the caves on the back side of Wyvern Tor."

"And, no, I don't have a plan for digging them out of the caves, Stonecrow," she adds in answer to his question. "If we had a couple of Dwarves, we'd be golden. Also, we don't know how extensive the caves are. Based on the name of the mountain and what little history I know about the area, a bunch of wyverns once nested in the caves. They probably didn't go in to deep, so those who cleaned them out aren't likely to have investigated the caves all that well."

"That's apparently now up to us."

rolled 25,9 using d20+5,d8+3 with rolls of 20,6.  Longbow Attack. (CRITICAL)

Prizzard looses one more, and a retreating target proves easier to lead. After that the orcs should be moving out of view, definitely not out of range. He'll approach the melee group in time to hear the monks question and Mithras response. "We could try to smoke them out, but it'll take maybe all day to prep. I should have enough oil to pull it off."

The Barbarian walks with Ulrik and the Warlock toward this newfound group, saluting them by raising his Axe.

"Greetings, adventurers. Me and my companions here had an affair with poor bastards orc here. No match for us, aye. Name's Viridovix, son of Bannus. So, you work for Sildar too? This means we'll have to share the compensations..."

He studies the group, and counting them among his first group...it's kinda large, aye?

"Orcs are no match for me...neither you, it seems. Thing is, they are many, and very strange encountering them in these paths. We're not into the pure wilderness, aye? Anyone knows why?
And so, these cowards flee. Ah!"

Viridovix salutes with a nod the only one who presented herself, Mithra. Kinda the warrior time like himself and Ulrik, it seems.

Not all of the group come out of the woodwork, as it were, right off the bat, so the newcomers don't get a good sense of just how many there are. A rough estimate is ten.

Prizzard manages to hit one of the fleeing Orcs with an arrow... a critical hit that kills the Orc. Another round, though, has the rest of them around the bend and out of sight.

Searching all the dead Orcs produce 51 gold pieces and 317 silver pieces. Even the ones that weren't burnt don't have anything else of value or use, except the weapons they were wielding--an assortment of war axes, long swords and short swords. There are also over 200 javelins, as each Orc was carrying at least three. All the weapons are bulky, though, particularly in bulk like this.

Knowing that there are group members still hidden in the trees and keeping a watch out for Orcs, Krivath sets about searching the bodies, collecting the coins, and gathering up the weapons into a pile.

"Quality doesn't look to be all that great," he comments, "but I'm not that skilled or knowledgeable with weapons to say. I can use a sword, but already have one. Axes and javelins in my hands would be more dangerous to the rest of us than to the Orcs."

"Greetings!" he calls out to the newcomers. "I am Krivath Sparkfyre, Warlock at large! Welcome to the party!"

"Well met, everyone," the third newcomer says. "I am Vane Talstepp, and I, too, am a Warlock."

"However, I came not for the treasure of coins but for the treasure of knowledge. If I am correct in my studies, these caves are the old remains of Riga Vashon... an ancient order of Monks that once lived in the area. If they are, then I may know something about them."

"Not that smoking them out isn't a good idea, Prizzard, but smoke rises," Cunaar responds. "If, as we suspect, the caves go down, how do you propose to get the smoke to go down?"

"There might even be air currents through the caves. I don't think it's within our scope to block up all the cave entrances."

"Cunaar Clothar the Fourth, at your service!" he finishes, introducing himself to the newcomers.

"We can splinter this ton of javelins, gather some scrub from the slopes, and cut up some left-over cloth from these bodies. Weave a bunch of spheres from the materials and soak them in oil. Add a rope to the ball and you have a way to kinda throw it. They roll downhill well enough and could get down into the caves."

A craft check would determine if it can be thrown at all and how well it would roll. I estimate it would take 2 hours to build one per two-person team if they're really trying to make it right. One issue is that cave systems can have weird air currents and fire can change them a lot. Too big of a fire on one end and smoke on the other end gets pulled deeper, through the cave to the bigger fire. Knowing the layout and elevations could greatly reduce the quantity we need for success. As for their use: even a well-built smoke ball has a short range and a chance of coming apart when thrown. It travels slow enough that any in it's path could make a low reflex save for zero damage and anybody failing that save would probably stop the ball.