“Well don’t be shy Eblis. Go make friends.”

The owl buried its head into its wing.

“Oh fine be that way. You can stay here with me. Two of you may look suspicious anyway”

He scratched the bird’s head affectionately.

As the party comes upon the two bodies, both clothed in chainmail and wearing holy symbols of Ilmater, a pack of eight two-headed, howling wild dogs rushes upon the party from over a small hill. One of the two bodies, horribly mangled, moves, reaching a hand toward Karon. The man whispers something to the half-orc before breathing his last, strangled breath.

Begin combat. Roll initiative and post your actions for the first round. The dogs are currently about 150 feet away.

Lucien snaps back to his own body as soon as he spots the dogs, but it takes him a moment to reorient himself as his first arrow flies wide of the creatures. He repositions himself so as to keep away from the rabid animals as he knocks another arrow. "I must say, I wasn't expecting actual dogs."

Lucien Nailo rolled 15 using 1d20+3.  Initiative.

Action: Attack with longbow hits AC 8 for 4 damage.

Lucien Nailo rolled 8 using 1d20+5.  Attack.
Lucien Nailo rolled 4 using 1d8+3.  Damage.

“Fly now, time to work.”

Volani urged the owl off his shoulder and into the air. The familiar began to circle over head, looking for additional danger.

While the owl rose higher the chultan man held his schwam flute in one hand and a dagger in the other. He called to Lucien...

“You’ll get the next one, no worries.”

---

Move - none
Action - dodge
Bonus - bardic inspiration to Lucien. Add 1d6 after making a single roll (lasts ten minutes).

Familiar flies up and looks for addition dangers.

22:18, Today: Volani O'Tamu rolled 9 using 2d20+3, dropping the lowest dice only.  Perception with advantage (familiar)
22:15, Today: Volani O'Tamu rolled 16 using 1d20+2.  Initiative .

Karon gets to the two men, but as he tries to see how badly wounded the conscious one is the man expires in his hands. But not before whispering a few almost inaudible words, as the blood gushes out of a nasty wound on his throat. "We're too late, there is nothing we can do for them," Karon tells the others. He is about to say something else when the two-headed dogs appear.

"Now we're talking," Karon says with a grin, a bloodthirsty tone creeping into his voice as he gets up, adjusts his shield and grabs his pick again. He hadn't been able to save the two soldiers, but he would at least avenge them and make sure the dogs won't hurt other travelers.

"Come on, boys, let's take the fight to them!" he says to the others, leading the way towards the two-headed dogs at a jog, his pick at the ready and shield ready to repel any rabid curs that think biting a massive half-orc clad in metal armor is a good idea.

OOC: Karon's initiative is a massive 12:
07:52, Today: Karon rolled 12 using 1d20-1 with rolls of 13.  Initiative.

He will move  30' towards the dogs and then use his action to dash another 30', closing the distance by a total of 60'. Hopefully the others can keep up!

Upon seeing the dogs, Lathan quickens his pace, dashing towards them, swords ready.

03:18, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 7 using 1d20+2.  Initiative (advantage).
03:17, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 13 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.

As he sees others dashing ahead, Gerbo decides to move a bit slower himself. He moves 25 feet towards the dogs, and then tries to shoot the nearest one, but they are still too far away to hit easily.

11:58, Today: Gerbo rolled 13 using 1d20+2. Initiative.
12:08, Today: Gerbo rolled 10 using 2d20+4, dropping the highest dice only. Crossbow (disadvantage).

How long did it take from us hearing the dogs to seeing the dogs? Bless only has a duration of one minute.

Rissa waits until the dogs draw closer, then fires off a blast of twisting purple energy with that strange double speak of hers.  As before, her first shot goes wide.  She mvoes to keep her companions between herself and their foes.

08:30, Today: Rissa Twiceborn rolled 12 using 1d20+2.  Initiative.

08:31, Today: Rissa Twiceborn rolled 9 using 1d20+5.  Attack.

Arixos sees the dogs heading towards them, and draws his longsword at charges at them alongside Karon. "Sounds like a good idea to me!" He shouts as he runs alongside the half-orc.

21:34, Today: Arixos Darmaaren rolled 18 using 1d20.  Initiative.
Movement and Dash as an action to close the distance, also 60' distance.

The two-headed dogs and the party rush across the moor at each other.

Next round. Arixos, Karon, Lathan, and Terminax will be in melee range.

Dog 1: uninjured
Dog 2: uninjured
Dog 3: uninjured
Dog 4: uninjured
Dog 5: uninjured
Dog 6: uninjured
Dog 7: uninjured
Dog 8: uninjured

Another blast of eldritch power, buzzing out into the night.  This one found its mark, one of the lead dogs, though it only grazed the beast's flesh in a searing line before flying off into nothingness.

12:05, Today: Rissa Twiceborn rolled 18 using 1d20+5.  Attack.

12:05, Today: Rissa Twiceborn rolled 2 using 1d10.

Walking forward, Volani played a low mesmerizing tune on his long bulbous flute. The notes carried across the moor toward the oncoming dogs.

---

Move - 30’ toward combat
Action - cast sleep on as many dogs as possible. 24 hp worth in a 20’ radius (I’ll set the spell to avoid party members)
 14:12, Today: Volani O'Tamu rolled 24 using 5d8.  Sleep.

Familiar - my owl will perform the “help” action on Lathan’s target and use fly by attack to move back out of danger.

Gerbo moves close enough he can trust his aim (within 80 feet of the dogs), and shoots at one that didn't fall asleep do to Volanis song. It seems to be a hit.

23:23, Today: Gerbo rolled 15,8 using d20+4,d8+2.  Attack with crossbow.
Hits AC 15, does 8 damage.

Would I need to use an action if I wanted to try and see if I know anything about two-headed dogs like these? I'll do an roll just in case it'll be a free action.
23:30, Today: Gerbo rolled 19 using 1d20+7.  Knowledge about enemy.
19 if it's Nature or Arcana, 17 if History or Religion.

Lathan clenches his jaw and leaps into the fray, attacking the first dog to come within reach.

Attack 1: Hits AC 14 for 5 damage; Attack 2: Hits AC 12 for 4 damage.

19:56, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 14 using 1d20+4.  Attack (advantage).
15:40, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 4 using 1d6+2.  Damage.
15:40, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 5 using 1d6+2.  Damage.
15:40, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 12 using 1d20+4.  Attack.
15:39, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 13 using 1d20+4.  Attack.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:58, Mon 28 May 2018.

Karon increases his pace as he gets closer to the dogs, charging the beasts and swinging his pick at the lead dog.

20:47, Today: Karon rolled 21,10 using 1d20+5,1d8+3 with rolls of 16,7.  Attack and damage on doggie.

Terminax hurls an axe and then steps forward, drawing his sword. "Great. More dogs."

Lucien looses an arrow at a dog as it closes with the large dragonborn. He finds himself humming a tune along with his new Chultan companion's flute playing. He also shifts his position to keep as much distance as possible between himself and the attacking pack.

Action: Longbow attack against a dog hits AC 17 for 14 damage.
Move: Maintain safe distance if necessary.

Lucien Nailo rolled 14,11,3 using 1d20+5,1d8+3,2d6. Longbow attack.
Lucien Nailo rolled 3 using 1d6.  Bardic inspiration.

Arixos charged towards the dogs, hefting his longsword and letting out a roar as he closed in on them, jumping into the fray with a large swing of his sword.

20:45, Today: Arixos Darmaaren rolled 15,12 using 1d20+4,1d10+2 with rolls of 11,10.  Longsword Attack hitting on 15 for 12 damage.
Trying to get a flank, round the side of the dogs as much as possible to contain them.

Arixos gets the first blow in, slashing one of the dogs with his longsword. Both of the dog's heads snap at Arixos in retaliation; one of them gets past the dragonborn's armor, leaving a deep, bloody wound. A second dog lunges at Arixos but is (barely) deflected by his chain mail. Karon receives a fierce bite from a different dog, then stabs the hound with his pick. Lathan is also bitten, though his wound is less serious than those of his comrades; he stabs the dog twice in response. Lucien's arrow strikes the dog that Arixos slashed, as does Gerbo's bolt and Terminax's handaxe; the dog is battered and bloody but remains standing. Rissa's eldritch blast comes to Karon's aid, glancing off the flank of the dog he is fighting.

Volani's sleep spell has no effect on the ravenous, two-headed dogs.

Next round. All eight dogs will be within melee range of the front line.

Dog 1 (Arixos): severely injured (-36 hp)
Dog 2 (Arixos): uninjured
Dog 3 (Karon): injured (-9 hp)
Dog 4 (Lathan): injured (-9 hp)
Dog 5: uninjured
Dog 6: uninjured
Dog 7: uninjured
Dog 8: uninjured

Terminax moved into position, unleashing a cone of flame at the hounds as he tries to catch them all.

Seeing the melee fighters in danger of being outnumbered and surrounded by the pack of dogs, Lucien pulls some fleece from the pouch on his hip, waves his hand over it and speaks the words. As he does so, a giant hole appears to open in the ground behind and on the flanks of the line of fighters. When he finishes his spell, he shouts down to them: "It's just an illusion to fool the dogs." At the same time, his owl familiar dives down into the pack of dogs and graps at one of their tails before swooping up and out of danger again.

Action: Cast Silent Image to make a long pit appear around the melee fighters to protect their backs and flanks.

Familiar Action: Use Help to provide advantage against Karon's dog.
Familiar Move: Use Flyby to get out of reach without provoking AoOs.

As Karon's pick impacts solidly into one of the dogs he is surprised to find the creature still snarling and biting. Any remotely normal dog would have gone down to a hit like that. To make matters worse, he only manages to get his shield up far enough to block one of the heads snapping at him. The other bites solidly into his leg. His armor takes the edge off the hit, but he can feel the sharp teeth penetrating through the links of his chain armor, drawing blood.

For the first time he starts wondering if perhaps he and his new friends might be in over their heads. He looks around, trying to see if there is a defensive position nearby, trees or something to fall back to, and is surprised when what looks like a pit opens up behind him. He thinks he hears Lucien shout something about an illusion and hopes the pit what the elf is referring to.

Undeterred he batters the dog away with his shield. The dog snarls viciously and dodges a swing from Karon's pick. Suddenly something swoops down ad the creature, pecking at it's tail. Both heads look to see what's happening, snapping at an owl that has rather corageously tried to take a bite out of the dog's tail. Seeing his opening, Karon roars and raises his pick high, putting all his considerable strength behind a blow into the dog's back. The pick sinks up to the head into the torso of the animal and rather than trying to yank it out, the half-orc simply leaves it in and draws his longsword.

OOC: Karon will attack the same doggie with advantage from the distracting owl:
13:08, Today: Karon rolled 25 using 2d20+5, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 12,20.  Attack with advantage thanks to the owl infestation.
13:14, Today: Karon rolled 18 using 3d8+3 with rolls of 8,3,4.  Damage for a critical, 3x thanks to the Half-Orc Savage Attacks ability.

Owl will get a tasty meal for this later since it allowed Karon to score a critical hit with a natural 20. The damage is 18 Piercing.

Rissa's orb flickers with the conflicting dance of radiant gold and darkest purple energies.  Again the strange double speak, the twined words.

"Irkigaar."
"Irkigaar."

The first her regular tones, the other something different, something darker.  The words drew forth another inky orb of buzzing energy, which she sends buzzing out towards one of the wounded hounds.  It flies wide, missing the beast by mere inches.

Yet her voice was not silenced.  Another word rings out, no another twined word, one speaking on top of the other.

"Ar'Hannoran
Ar'Hannoran"

Yet it is not the same second voice that lends power to her words, not the same seductive thrill of promises of power in the dark.  This new voice was glorious, ringing out into the air about her like a triumphant and beautiful song.  As she sings, a cascade of the golden energy bursts forth from within her orb, settling like a mantle upon Arixos' shoulders.

07:24, Today: Rissa Twiceborn rolled 11 using 1d20+5.  Attack.

Miss.

07:30, Today: Rissa Twiceborn rolled 3 using 2d6.  Healing Light.

Arixos heals for 3 damage.

Dice roller is not my friend today.

Lathan does his best to shrug off the pain of the bite wound and presses the attack, stabbing the dog twice more.

Attack 1: Hits AC 18 for 9 hp. Attack 2: Hits AC 22 for 3 hp.

09:43, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 5 using 1d8.  Colossus Slayer.
09:42, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 3 using 1d6+2.  Damage.
09:42, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 4 using 1d6+2.  Damage.
09:42, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 22 using 1d20+4.  Attack.
09:42, Today: Lathan Swiftstrider rolled 18 using 1d20+4.  Attack.

Arixos growls as two dog heads bite at him, grimacing at the wound that they left in his side. Two more heads try the same but Arixos barely manages to move out of the grasp of their teeth, tearing a few links in his chainmail instead. A golden glow floats down over his body, and he feels some of his strength returning, the wound in his side not bleeding as heavily anymore.

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Terminax breathing flame over the dogs, and a small grin breaks out on his face. "A sound plan! He shouts across the fray, before unleashing his own roar at the dogs, an icy blast of energy roaring across them.

17:19, Today: Arixos Darmaaren rolled 6 using 2d6.  Ice Breath.
15ft cone, trying to hit as many of them as possible. DC 11 Con save, 6 on fail, 3 on success.