[3.5E] Heretic's Bane Icewind Dale

[mshady]

The Minotaurs

Gore fiddles with the casing of the tombstone. It is a thick thing made with dwarven metal that has a blue hue to it and enscribed with the blocky dwarven lettering. Touching the case has been and continues to be an uncomfortable experience. It seems to be soaked in a kind of magic and causes his hair to stand.

The case is heavy, but the contents of it moreso. As far as he understood it, if the black boulder was pulled from it, it would end magic around it. The farther the case was from the boulder, the wider its effect.

Dwarves are too trusting, he decides with a smile. With a hard push, the top of the case opens and reveals the glowing stone.

They didn't even bother with a lock.

Too trusting...

[mshady]

The War Council

"No need to remind us of your rank, First Mace. Know that I have no rank myself, but that it exceeds all" he says with a casual smile. "Trust that your experience is cause for great respect in all matters and I would invite ye to any council on how to proceed"

Buelyir nods deferentially to her. His words and manner are carefully crafted, like a foreign courtier. In other words, exceedingly diplomatic. Clearly this Buelyir was not a mere dignatary.

Her eyes glance again at his sword, as she tries to place the foreign looking thing. Than she remembers. It was something the Shou, from the Far East carried. It was an alien land that no dwarf she knew had ever visitied, yet it continually sent its citizens outward due to famine and war. The sword was called a katana, shortened to be sure. She knew them to be a wickedly sharp weapon. While the Shou she had met had been poor and tread upon in Sembia, their smiths were peerless in their narrow art of sword forging.

"Yes, we know a few things about the old clanhold. The deep road here leads right to its gates, but alas it still does have mighty gates" the Sonnlinor offers. "In there, it be cold. A most unnatural cold is kept there, and much of the walls are iced over, thought it is too warm to truly be frozen."

"There is one way in, but I fear neither duergar or our own will like it very much..." Buelyir says apologetically.

"Not likely, no" the Sonnlinor says with a grimace. "An underground river passes through it, and from there they draw water. We will have to go that way, by pole barge for several miles. The passage through is guarded, but with so many gone, the guard itself should be managable."

Carmard and Buna frown at the prospect of going in by boat. Between the sheer vulnerability of it and the natural dwarven fear of water, it was a decidedly unpleasant option.

"It gets worse" Buelyir says. "The river flows fast enough that getting back out the way we came is far too slow to get clear. Going in that way be a one way trip"

"I crossed the Subrin with Battlehammer. This can be done" Carmard says, shaking his head with firmness.

"Aye, but it gets worse..." the Sonnlinor says this time.

"Getting clear of it, before the stoneburner goes off, means we have to go up the Aurilite passageways to the surface. What we find there is impossible to know. Of course, than we are on the mountain we are blowing up"

Carmard looks at Buelyir with a raised eye brow.

"As plans go, I've heard better" Buna replies tartly.

"But as exciting? I should think not!" Buelyir laughs. "Anyone have a better one?"

[mshady]

The War Council Continued

"Don't bother worryin' about how to get out so much" Tasster interjects. "Gett'n in will be hard enough!"

Buelyri and the Sonnlinor looks at Tasster with a raised eyebrow.

"Um..." is all the Sonnlinor manages to say.

"Well, speaking of getting in..." Buelyir says and looks over at Sable and Wyatt. "How would ye propose gett'n in there? Could ye scale the wall around the gate?" he asks.

"Ye could take Johannes too, and anyone from those new mercenaries that would be good for this." Carmard suggests.

"A second flank would be good, and if they're sneaky enough to kill a few o'their big bads, all the better. O'course, ye'd be throughly without support. Somethin' I think Sable and her friend there just might be fine with" Buelyir smiles slightly at her. "Dealing with that cleric in there will be problematic. I nay want to worry about coming off the barge and climbing up, than dealing with him. That and a couple o'frost giants would be lethal."

"I notice ye have a cleric of Clangeddin here" the Sonnlinor says, gesturing towards Magnum Rurikson.

"Would the war master have any suggestions? If ye had a thought on gettin' the main gate down or us past that gate, we can get my duergar in play quicker, along with those foul mercenaries that are here. Why are they here again?" the Sonnlinor asks Buelyir.

"For charging gates, I presume?" Buelyir says, and winks.

"Ah" the Sonnlinor says and pauses. "I would hope no one would be ill used in this"

"No more than the rest o'us, I assure ye" Buelyir smiles in reply.

[Strangie]

"Yeah, we can scale a wall, no problem. We've done it before, anyway." Wyatt says with a shrug. "No support is somethin' I'm used to, as well. It is the nature of our work, after all, eh?"

[thorgrim29]

The War Council


"I crossed the Subrin with Battlehammer. This can be done" Carmard says, shaking his head with firmness.


I was at the battle of the Subrin too, and nearly as many of us drowned then made it to the other side...

Don't we have gate runes to get out tough? I recall that was the original plan.

[mshady]

"That was the original plan. The original plan nay included a jaunt across the Planes. Now? We're com'n up a bit short on the escape, I fear. It might mean some make a run fer it as soon as we clear the place. The rest see it through to the end. I am, o'course, open to suggestions on that" Carmard muses.

[Gryndel]

Never one for many words, the cleric of Clanggedin grunted when called upon, "If da walls 'round da gate be stone, I could alter da shape enuf to free it. Da gate could then be used as a weapon agin' those within, if'n its pushed with enuf force. As to da river approach, I have da means to allow a limited number to breath water, if da need arises. Could also be a means of gettin' out."

Talk of the enemy cleric seemed to arouse something deep within Magnum, as he grumbled each time this foe was mentioned. With a resolute nod at Buelyir, he declared, "This Aurilite will be top priority, tho' fightin' giants be me specialty!."

OOC: What does Magnum know about these Aurilite clerics?

Knowledge religion +1 if needed

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega looks thoughtful for a moment before speaking:"I suggest we do a little bit of bot(h). A diversion drawing deir attention at da gate mite ease da troop goin in by da water(frowns as she says the word). I'm not muc(h) use in da water or in climbin and sneakin. But I can provide toget(h)er wit(h) some troops and sadly some magicks to draw dem out. I've got a feeling dat we can make dem overconfident and careless if we do a maneuver like dis. We'd need to be prepared to wit(h)draw and keep dem occupied fer some time. Buelyir I do not tink less of ye I just needed to make a point of bein(g) included for once. Dis first time I'm getting any real information.
It be da best plan I can tink of. And I do my best work on da fite as said.

[ArmanMadero]

For the trip home, the whole thing was a blur to Arman. He was physically tired from the stress of having a badly broken leg and not having it set correct and from having so much magic pass through his body lately. The magic he could handle however, but his leg was getting worse it seemed, more than likely due to staying on it for so long. He dreaded the time when it would have to be rebroken to fix it.

On the march back was when he really started to notice the pain in it. So far, the adrenaline of the fighting and the capture of the stoneburner once again, kept him from thinking about it overmuch. But now they were on the march towards home, and it was hurting.

Finally after a few days, they convinced him to ride on a stretcher. He argued on it a little bit, because he knew everyone was tired and worn. No sense in carrying one able to walk and make them more so. In the end, Carmard won out calling him a stubborn elf (which he was) and convincing him to take a seat on it.

Either way, rest and reverie were short with him. He didn't get much at all, and he was glad when they finally made their destination. Not caring about the race of the dwarves meeting them, he ate, and found an empty cot, and slept, not even having the strength to enter reverie.

When he finally woke (he wasn't sure of the time due to lack of sunlight) he felt a little better and more refreshed. He needed to do his spells, and he grabbed his book and did that while waiting for the next thing to come up.

A few days before Carmard had been relieved of duty, and Arman wasn't sure how things were supposed to proceed at this point. It wasn't Carmards fault that things happened the way they did, and Arman, suspected something else was helping make the decision to relieve him of duty.

There were lots of new faces around the area, most noticeable were the ones dressed in black. He overheard someone call them Black's Company and he assumed it was another group of mercs convinced to help them in this quest. Arman let it go at that, but kept it floating around in his thoughts like everything else around him.

Does Arman know anything about Black's Company? And if he does what do I roll for that?

Upon completing his spells, Arman gathered his things and made sure everything was ready for leaving. With a heavy limp, he went to where it seemed everyone was gathering and discussing. Turns out they were discussing how to get in. Arman frowned. Either way it would be difficult for him. Climbing was out of the question. He could possibly go on the barges and be ok there, as long as there wasn't any fighting. He sniffed a bit to himself at that. Like THAT would be likely down here.

Then he had an idea.

"What about when we first went into the room through the stream? We used bags then. With extra-dimensional space. We would of course not be able to breath under the water but if we are just going under a wall, we wouldn't need to be in them for long."

I tried to catch back up as best as I could, if there are issues with the post please let me know and I will make the corrections. I will also have my spell list sometime tomorrow.... I'll think about it while I'm at work. lol

[Melody]

Sable awoke feeling almost refreshed as the chimes woke her. She reached over and helped a bleary eyed dwarf with the buckles on his armor, they had gotten twisted, her nimble fingers moving much more quickly than his own. She tended to get their names confused at times, but the dwarf gave her a thankful, if weary, smile through his beard before he went to help out someone with similar troubles. Seeing that everyone was taken care of she stepped out of the shelter and pushed the goggles up on top of her head as she stepped out into the fire light.

Seeing Werner she smiles and raises a hand in a friendly greeting before seeing Barakus and letting the hand fall again to her side. Turning she smiles at Wyatt as he trundles out of the baracks room and pauses at her side before looking around. They both make their way over to the cookfires and then to the command table as they listen to the plans made by Buelyir and the Duergar. She nods agreement as Wyatt speaks and listens quietly as they all give their opinions of how they might best get into position to activate the Stoneburner.

I could poison their food, if they have a central cookplace. And I should probably go and do that pretty soon so it has some time to work on them.

Sable looks at their expressions as they turn to look at her. She smiles slightly and shrugs a little bit.

It wouldn't kill them, it's a seed that some doctors use to purge the body.. but it would make it very difficult for them to attack while they're suffering bouts of dysentary. If I can get it in their cooking pot, she nods towards their own cauldron full of oatmeal, it should reduce the number of people we have to deal with.

As for trying to assasinate the cleric before this battle gets started, we can see if we can do that while we're there. It would be better to do that before the distraction happens though. If he thinks he's about to get attacked, it's gonna be more difficult to get to him. Also, we want them to have some time to eat. It takes.. oh.. about an hour for the seeds to start working.

I can get through the water, no problem and I'd like Wyatt with me. I'd rather not worry about him running out of breath so a spell would be helpful on him, though I'd not need one. Figure you can send a second group in through the river after we've had enough time to poison the food and get a shot in on that cleric.. then start the distraction. Wyatt and I will try to get into a good position to cause some havoc and make it easier on the rest of you. Though what that means yet I don't know.

She smiles over at Wyatt briefly, and something in her expression reminds him of the look on her face as she helped him heave that bomb over the railing in the Foundry.

[ithildur]

Werner and Black's Company

Werner regards the elf carefully before speaking, than glances at the duergar and dwarves sitting together. He and the elf had not spoken often, as Werner tended to avoid interactions with most for fear of threat. Indeed he preferred to spend his time far apart from the other members of the Company.

His fingers dance in the air, like some sort of nerveous tick as he fights an inclination.

"My rest was as fine as any other hole we've encamped. With fewer insects" he says. That was surely faint praise. He listens to the elf continue with his observations on the interactions of the dwarves.

"Yes... it is quite an odd sight. Unnatural even. The circumstance to bring such together is frightening. Witnessing dwarven coupling is perhaps more frightening" he says, with a guilty smile.

Werner listens to the elf's offer of a bet on how long it would take before it would take before the dwarven favor ended.

"That is an odd bet to take, even for I. Against our own Company?" Werner looks at the elf with curiousity. "Rather than worry about what they may think of us, worry that the dwarf who hires us knows exactly what we are"

The tall elf in turn considers the rail thin mage for a moment. Out of all the members of the Black Company, Werner was one whose presence he could tolerate half well, partly out of pity, partly due to the fact that the two of them seemed to share the same vice or two. But then, the two were not the only ones who were prone to drink excessively among the motley crew.

"You're making progress perhaps, Faern," the elf remarks, as he takes another long sip, rather indelicately, from the goblet. "Declining offers of unfavorable wagers... Perhaps the ranks of our noble company will be significantly thinned out in two days, if your assessment is on the mark.

His sarcasm in the last sentence is evident as the elf makes no attempt to hide what his feelings are towards the mercenary group he travels with. He regards the wizard once more, the thoughts forming in his head silently.

Why do you tolerate it? Find your courage, and leave this group behind, seek a better life with your skills, away from the oppression of this biir*, Marcus and the cleric!

The words never leave his tongue, however. Who was he, after all, to offer such sermons? He himself was no better, whoring his skills for coin with an unsavory band, having strayed from his path and his duties except in rare and reluctant moments, drowning away things he did not wish to acknowledge in alcohol and gambling binges. His own thoughts turn back against him, silently accusing, to which he responds by draining the remains of the firewine.

"Your loss, Faern," he quips, perhaps a double meaning in his words as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "And mine."

Seeing that Werner made no reply regarding the Stoneburner, he turns in the direction of the discussion underway nearby, taking a few steps to attempt to listen in.

Is he close enough to hear most of what they're saying without being too obtrusive?


*garbage

[mshady]

He can be. Just walk over or get sneaky.

[ithildur]

Talamir takes several steps, just close enough to overhear most of the discussion, neither trying to be overtly stealthy nor obtrusive. He freezes for a moment as the limping elf approaches and speaks, quickly making sure his hood is drawn up far enough to at least give his face some concealment, although he fully realizes his kin can see in the dim light as well as a human in full sunlight.

Old habits kick in instinctively and he quickly studies all present, taking note of their appearances and attempting to learn their names as they are spoken aloud, his ears straining to catch every bit of the conversation.

Then he closes his eyes ... and begins to sniff the air like a hunting animal.

((feel free to briefly elaborate on characters' 'scents' if you'd like, and if it's fine with DM. He currently has the Scent ability active with Hunter's Senses stance))

The dwarves, their scent is quite familiar to him in general, though of course, each individual has some distinctives. The duergar... are different, far less familiar, although he has faced their kind in battle before.

Some unusual dwarves among this lot perhaps. Not the usual variety I saw nightly at the Hammer and the Helm.

He pushes aside his feelings for the moment as he familiarizes himself with Arman's scent. A briefly lingering pause, when he catches the scent of Sable... but he moves on quickly to the Hin, and the rest.

The entire time, he tells himself silently, that all he cares is that he be paid well, and survives. This, and nothing more.

[Werewhale]

Nalrak Ironfist

After some food and rest, Nalrak seems to be returning to his usual self, and some colour had returned to his cheeks.
"I have a silencing spell at the ready. I thought to use it against enemy spellcasters or commanders but we could also use it to sneak some heavier soldiers up close to strengthen the scouts' flank without their clanking giving them away."
While suggesting this he discreetly avoids looking at Buelyir as he surveys the reactions of the others.

[Strangie]

Wyatt looks at Sable's smile, and, being reminded of the alchemy bomb incident, chuckles, rubbing his chin. "Eh heh heh heh, oh yeeaaah, 'dis is gonna be fun... hmm." He returns to a more thoughtful expression after a moment. "Well, I can swim, a little bit, but I'm not exactly a pro at it. I can move a bit faster 'dan a dwarf but I ain't as hardy as 'dey are... a water breathing spell would be appreciated. Or... Sable..." He turns to her. "I'd probably last longer if you carried me in an extradimensional space, if you've got enough room. 'dere's about ten minutes worth of air in such spaces, for a human at least, I think I should be alright if we do 'dat. 'dat's if someone can't spare the right spell, 'dough, so, we'll hold onto 'dat idea as a back up plan, unless you like 'dat one better..."

He places his hands at his belt, looking up at Sable. "Just remember, I'm not an assassin, so unless you've got a surefire way for me to take someone out 'dat doesn't involve hitting them over the head, I wouldn't bother. If ya want me to slip poison into their cauldron in a way where I wouldn't accidentally poison myself, 'den I'm good for 'dat, 'dough. But, uh, yeah... I handle out-and-out combat better 'dan I do shankin' people, but I'm sure you knew 'dat already."

He taps his chin at Nalrak's suggestion. "'dat might be helpful, but I think putting the lid on an enemy spellcaster might be more so once we get into the thick of it... say, 'dat cleric once we start takin' him on. What do you think, Sable?"

To Talamir, Wyatt might carry the scent of a well travelled dirt road out in the middle of the woods. If you can picture something like that, anyway.

"Uh..." He raises an eyebrow at Talamir. "Is 'dere somethin' you want?" Wyatt was well aware of his presence, despite his attempts to be sneaky. His heightened senses made it difficult for anybody to get the jump on Wyatt.

Re-Edit: Changed it again to back the way it was. We'll just say Wyatt sense him approached because Wyatt actually has pretty good Spot/Listen modifiers. :smallyuk:

[Werewhale]

Nalrak Ironfist

"Could also cast it on a rock that is then thrown at the cleric, or one of Sable's arrows, you should have no problem sticking one of those in him..." Nalrak strokes his beard and allows himself a tiny grin at picturing the scene.

[mshady]

OOC note: Talamir is hiding, and while there are penalties involved, he smoked his role and Wyatt + Sable didn't. So no one noticed him.

Continue on with your conversation though. I hope everyone used deoderant and is not carrying contraband ;)

To avoid confusion in the future, please note you are calling for a hide check and I'll deal with the result and roll. Or if you can figure out how to roll in the forum, you can handle it yourself. We're all big boys and girls, so can self DM that kind of thing :)

Carry on! Things are going great :)

[ithildur]

((actually, he's not hiding, just trying not to be obtrusive/draw attention to himself, as he moves just close enough to listen in/sniff, hence I didn't roll hide/ms. I considered move silently but he's really not that stealthy so decided he would just walk over quietly, not tip toeing or such, again, not standing right in the middle of things or pushing his way forward. He wants to stay discreet, especially with Arman nearby, but he figures trying to be overtly stealthy would likely actually draw more attention to himself at some point

Plus I want to interact with these folks as well! he'll go ahead and reply to the halfling soon if no one else speaks))

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega looks at Sable:Poison!!! Are ye mad lass. No we must find anot(h)er way den dat. As fer silence dat is good. Now you (h)ave any consideration Buelyri. And w(h)at do we know of da place? Nega seems a little set back about all the magicks and flash but she says nothing just listens intently.

[Strangie]

Gah, sorry about that. I would figure Wyatt probably would have noticed him if he isn't trained in stealth, since, well... finding stuff is kind of Wyatt's job and if he can't notice a guy in an open room then something is wrong haha.

Well, call it like you see it, I suppose. If he's not hidden, then Wyatt likely noticed him. If the case is different, then I'll fix my post (again) and we'll go from there.

[Werewhale]

Nalrak Ironfist

Nalrak arcs an eyebrow at Nega, "Really, First Mace? We are about to paint the walls with Aurilite brains and charred blood on our way to their lair, where we will force a tortured soul to pierce the fabric of the planes and unleash such a torrent of unmitigated destruction that any soul caught within this mountain will likely be extinguished from the trauma, and you are worried about giving a few Aurilites some stomach cramps?" he asks dryly of her. Evidently, the long and exhausting mission was making him, paradoxically enough, more talkative.

[Melody]

Sable glances Nega and then looks over as Nalrak begins to talk. A look of supprise crosses her face and then a smile. As he finishes she speaks into the abrupt and partly stunned silence.

Anyway, it truely depends on if we have enough time for the effects to set in and I can get a clear shot at their cooking pot. Because if the oportunity is there I intend to take it. No offense to you First Mace but anything that saves lives is worth a try.

As to the silence spell... Having it on an arrow would be great if I could get it into the cleric while the spell was still active. If you had a scroll I could enchant the arrow before I shot him, but I can't figure how I could get you close enough to use the spell otherwise.

[Strangie]

Wyatt just stares at Nalrak for a second... and then glances at Nega, trying to hold back a snicker.

"Ah ha... he... ahaha... he's got a point, Nega. You don't have to take any part in it, but we'd like to do our own jobs the way we want to 'dat we think will give us the best chance of success." He takes a much more stern expression, aheming and putting his hands on his belt. "Unfortunately, we can't give 'dese guys any quarter, because 'dey sure as hell won't give us any. We gotta hit 'em with everything we've got, or we won't win. Simple as 'dat."

[thorgrim29]

Thordrek had not payed much attention to the Black Comapany, merely using his darkvision to get a clear, if monochrome, view of the tall elf's face. He smells of sweat, mithril, leather and the random smells more normally associated with mages then heavily armoured dwarves.



Thordrek lets out a low chuckle at Nalrak's outburst.

He is right you know, it's a terrible thing we're about to do, at this point I'm not sure dysentery will leave a, well, a stain on our immortal souls. I'm more concerned about mortal manners right now. I don't suppose there's a settlement of any kind where we could buy teleportation scrolls on our way is there?

[ithildur]

The tall hooded figure speaks up quietly but with a clear, musical voice as he addresses Wyatt, fully aware that speaking might give his identity away to Arman. His tone is curt but not rude.

"I am no one of consequence, master hin. Merely one of the hired mercenaries."

"Does my presence bother you?"

[Strangie]

"Eh... whatever. Nah. 'dere was just this guy we had the displeasure of working with before who would just... stand around and stare at me n' my friends without saying anything. So I get kinda nervous when someone does 'dat. No offense."

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega seeing she is thought to be a prude turns stern:Dere is a difference between da two Nalrak. And master Wyatt one I agree dat we must use da skills we are good at but to fite (h)onorable is no bad ting. I don't doubt you and sable or any one else's skills. But poison are fer assassins and evil. But I see dat I mite (h)ave to keep an open mind on w(h)o would use it. Now if I approve or not isn't important if ye all insist I will (h)ave to bend I guess. Nega was not used to bending when it came to these things but she is starting to notice that a blind eye might be smart all the time.Well w(h)at are we goin(g) for. I'll do my part w(h)ere I am placed no matter w(h)at ot(h)ers do. But I (h)ave standards. I mite even be able to talk a few into surrender if give na c(h)ance. Well go on s(h)ow off yer dark talents It's not the most natural smile but she tries. Sable an assassin!! Who could have thought. Even Nalrak a shady fellar. And Wyatt, well Wyatt wasn't a surprise. Halflings are strange people. She would have to follow these people closer. WELL!!She catches herself having been in thinking modus.

[Werewhale]

Nalrak Ironfist

"I've just seen enough dead dwarves these past days" Nalrak mutters, "So I welcome anything that turns a fair fight into an unfair one to our advantage."

To Sable he replies: "I have no scroll, but the effect lasts for seven minutes, if that is enough to get into position."

[Scow2]

Continue on with your conversation though. I hope everyone used deoderant and is not carrying contraband ;)

[Gore used his deodorant (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE):smalltongue:! Is an anti-magic stone stored in the nondesignated pack contraband?]

Gore remained quiet as the tiny people around him discussed how polite it was to kill the foe in assorted ways. Rather than butt into the conversation though, he merely snorted with contempt for their concern about the proper way of killing their enemies.

Hopefully, as he's always carried two packs, nobody would suspect a transfer of the gear between them.

[Strangie]

"Oi..." Wyatt puts a palm to his forehead. "Well, the Aurilites aren't gonna play by the rules." He swings his hand out to his side suddenly, frowning. "Like hell I will. On the battlefield, 'dere are no rules. You kill or be killed. 'dere aren't any 'standards' to fighting. You gotta use everything you've got. Some might call it dirty, I call it surviving." Apparently, this was a matter Wyatt took very seriously - something that didn't happen quite as often as it may have with other members of the group.

Wyatt sighs, looking off to the side. "Anyway... Whether anybody else disagrees with Sable's plan is a moot point - we're goin' ahead with it unless Buelyir or Carmard or someone 'dey designate as an authority figure says otherwise for tactically sound reasons."

He heard Gore's snort, and turned his head slowly, giving him a sidelong glance. Wyatt had a healthy amount of respect for the larger races - to Gore, Wyatt was even smaller than the humans and dwarves, a mere three and a half feet tall standing up. But that didn't mean he feared them by any means. He simply raised an eyebrow at Gore, waiting to see if he had something to add to any of this.

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega looks at Wyatt"I am one master Wyatt and I beg ye don't look down on a (h)onorable fitin(g). I've been in many fites and I'm still alive even if I did fite (h)onorable. Now w(h)at ye do is up to you. But I will not set myself against any plan dat Buelyri and Carmand descides upon. But I must keep my standards intact even from da mite of (h)alfling kind. Now Buelyri w(h)at is yer word on all dis?"

[Melody]

Sable mainly smells of clean leather and soap. She might also have the faintly acrid, bitter smell of spell components.

Poison is an inacurate term First Mace. It is an emetic used to cure people of such poisons. It works by causing them to get rid of everything they ate in the last few hours, and while it is unpleasant it is not fatal. If it makes you feel better to call the seeds a medicine, please do so. As a scout I rely on distraction to help me slip in unnoticed. Though I have the seeds here as a medicine, I do not hesitate to use them as that distraction. Especially since they would, under normal circumstances, save the lives of those who ate them.

As for the silence spell. I'm not certain. It would certainly be helpful if I could get there fast enough. I think that my quiver might block the spell so that I might be able to cast myself until I removed it to shoot the cleric. If so, that would be ideal. And.. I might have to get some arrows with permanent enchantments on them when this is over.

She smiles slightly and then follows Wyatt's gaze over to the stranger standing nearby.

Well, welcome and add anything you can think of to the planning. You're a new one Marcus hired since I left. I'm Sable. Pleased to meet you, now scoot on closer so you can see the map.

[Katasi]

Arum flips idly through his spellbook as the others talk.

hey guys, trying to get back into posting, not sure where I'm at or what's going on atm in the game though, lol. It's a bit confusing.

Thanks to Melody for getting me caught up

[Werewhale]

Nalrak Ironfist

Nalrak shoots a suspicious glance at the stranger.
He smells of sweat, grime, and spending too much time in heavy armour the usual dwarfy smells, but also of herbs and a lot of dried blood. He also has an extra tang of earth and cool stone.

He turns back again to the scouts, "The arrow could be carried by anyone accompanying you. Speaking of company," he turns to the others, "who could we send to reinforce them? Or is that question better answered after you've taken a look?" he asks Sable and Wyatt.

[ithildur]

The hooded elf considers the invitation, his gaze shifting briefly to wherever Arman might be. In the end he gives a subtle nod regardless, and strides towards the group.

"My thanks. The fact that the topic is the fray for which I've been hired to risk my neck inclines me to be ... somewhat interested."

A brief pause, and he adds with understated sarcasm in his tone.

"I would much prefer to hear for myself, rather than from the fearless leader of my distinguished Company,"

"How dire are the odds you face, and how badly do you expect to be outnumbered? If it is a matter of preserving lives in the face of long odds, a stealthy application of nonlethal drugs may be a sound tactic."

A quick pause, and he adds as he looks towards Nega.

"Surely those who value honorable battle will still have ample opportunity for such."

[Gryndel]

The cleric interjected gruffly, "Da only morale in war is not dyin' while defeatin' da enemy. Each of us must do their part accordin' ta their abilities an' skills ta achieve victory."

Almost as an afterthought, Magnum added, "I too can cast silence."

[ithildur]

The elf nods to Nalrak's words and addresses Sable.

"A spell of true striking, if you have access to the Art or can cobble the incantations of a scroll, followed immediately by an ally, who would have stood far away enough so as to not affect your casting, handing or tossing you the arrow would work."

round 1 sable casts true strike, wyatt then moves 15-20ft towards her and hands it to her. rnd 2, sable fires. or if silence wasn't pre cast (no time, surprise, enemy caster wasn't where we expected him to be, etc), sable casts true strike, a cleric casts silence on arrow, moves 15/20 ft to sable. if he's out of time, rnd 2 he hands it to her, sable delays, gets the arrow, fires. Or combination of both depending on distance/layout/sightline/range of enemies and how the party is divided up?

"I doubt a caster of any rank would be left unattended and alone. The arrow would have to be followed up quickly with a strong attack from several of your ranks, or else the spellcaster will simply turn to others for assistance, who may eventually dislodge the arrow, while others come after the archer."

He repeats his earlier question, querying how bad the odds are, the number of allies vs expected number of enemies.

[Melody]

No offense, I just don't imagine those who can cast the spell are inclined to get in quietly.

Sable smiles to take any sting out of the words. However, I'll be happy to have whoever's help Buelyir and Carmard deem appropriate. As to not taking Marcus' word for tactics. She shrugs and smiles at the newcomer. It's best to know what you're getting into first hand.

As to the silence spell I could bring a small group in part of the way. The quiver is an extradimensional space, like a haversack, but well.. a quiver. So it will contain the spell, so that I can cast while it's in the quiver. At least I think it will.. it should. She smiles. I haven't ever tried enchanting an arrow and putting it back into the quiver. So I'm not entirely certain. It sounds interesting though.

[thorgrim29]

Knowledge arcane to know if it would work:[roll0]
Spellcraft, the same: [roll1]

[mshady]

Hjalmar sits there with his arms crossed as the group discusses the course. He had had little to say up until this point, but that was before he heard Nalrak's response to Nega. He grinds his jaw for a moment and debates responding. He did not really want to be here at all and certainly had his own thoughts about the matter, but Nega was of Berronar's faith.

"Delvesonn, Keeper of the Shield, whatever ye north dwarves style yerselves, I think yer own First Mace's point be valid" he growls out. His eyes narrow and his face become severe. The weathered old skin of his face seems to crinkle.

"Whatever other stains against our honor yer contemplating, using tortured souls, destroying mountains, destroying old dwarven holds that I'd think a follower of Moradin would 'ave issue with... and oh, the bloody duergar!" he growls out, glancing at the ash gray face of Sonnlinor Stonebreaker, "at least lets not stoop to using poison now too"

He holds his hands up in resignation though.

"Do what ye want. I'm sure yer Patriarch will absolve ye" Hjalmar says with a disgusted look on his face. "If ye need me, I'll be releaving myself on the wall somewhere..."

As he walks away from the meeting, muttering something about how he'd rather be on a crusade and killing duergar instead of sharing breakfasts with him.

The entire group stands in stunned silence for a moment.

"He's a bitter old block, isn't he?" Sonnlinor Stonebreaker says quietly, concern wearing heavily on his face.

"Aye, that he is" Carmard replies testily. "That was uncalled for. We apologize to ye, Sonnlinor."

"Don't apologize. With the exception of just now meet'n me, he's spent what? Almost two centuries fighting my kind? I felt the same way 'bout other dwarves for a long time. I made the weapons to kill them, with pride even. It took some... gett'n used to. So where were we?"

[mshady]

"I think we have something of a plan. Using the purgative, if ye can manage it, could really work. Any sort of barracks, they'll have a central kitchen and regular meals. Trick is getting something in..." Buelyir says, weighing things over.

"Sable, why don't ye go over to your old comrades in arms and see who they have for scouts? Take Talamir and whomever else they have. If the good Sonnlinor has a scout, take him too. The north branch out of her goes to a broken old bridge. The river going into the old clan hold goes under there. See if ye can get in there. See how far up ye can get without an alarm. Oh, and pray they don't keep water elementals in the river to make sure no one has the same idea we do. If that can work, we'll try it. Otherwise... its going to be rough going"

"We have a scout. Duergar, as ye know, can disappear at times too. If that may be useful. I'd nay ask him to swim"

"Take me too" says Bundok. "I was the scout here before lady long legs showed up, remember?"

"Oh yes, quite. Quite a scouting party, ye should be safe. Try not to take the place without us" Buelyir winks.

"Now get that happening, alright? Be back in six hours, if ye can. I'll wait up" Buelyir says, filing that part of the plan away and moving on to other things now that Sable had been suitably dispatched.

[Melody]

Yessir.

Sable nods and goes over to talk to Marcus at Black Company's fire with Wyatt in tow.

[mshady]

"Oh yes... before you go, Sable?" Buelyir says, drawing out the words. "I think I know what I'll be doing in this mission. You said no one inclined to cast that spell could get in quietly?" he turns and smiles at her. "Well, I can do that. Good idea on that. A silencing spell can be quite useful at times..." narrowing his eyes. It's a very predatory look.

[mshady]

In terms of smells...

Carmard smells of sweat, as well as the unusual smell of various spell components. There is also the smell of lubricating oil and blood still on his armor. The armor on his left leg has two holes in it.

Buna smells similar, but a dash of a kind of perfume. She also smells of oil, but no blood.

Tasster smells offensively. You could track him a mile away. He smells of sweat and blood and oil to an offensive level. He also smells of pig fat, no doubt used to keep his crest up.

Buelyir is hard to distinguish. He does not seem to smell much at all. The sweat and oil are there, but it is faint. You don't even get the normal smells of a dwarf off him at all. Somehow he is either impossibly clean or soemthing he is wearing masks his scent. It's confounding.

[ithildur]

No offense, I just don't imagine those who can cast the spell are inclined to get in quietly.

Sable smiles to take any sting out of the words. However, I'll be happy to have whoever's help Buelyir and Carmard deem appropriate. As to not taking Marcus' word for tactics. She shrugs and smiles at the newcomer. It's best to know what you're getting into first hand.

As to the silence spell I could bring a small group in part of the way. The quiver is an extradimensional space, like a haversack, but well.. a quiver. So it will contain the spell, so that I can cast while it's in the quiver. At least I think it will.. it should. She smiles. I haven't ever tried enchanting an arrow and putting it back into the quiver. So I'm not entirely certain. It sounds interesting though.

A hint of a smile almost forms on Talamir's lips at the woman's capacity to speak the truth directly, even bluntly, without losing her charm. An excellent trait.

He gives a crisp nod. "Indeed, likely too true, unless they cast it on themselves in which case they hinder their own spellcasting. But when the moment to silence the enemy caster comes, stealth will be necessary only for the one who fires the arrow, and for a brief moment if that. Unless the caster is unexpectedly alone, the arrow will put all those near him on full alert; we will have to act swiftly to take full advantage then, without concern for stealth. "

He allows himself to study her more closely for a brief moment as she directs a smile towards him. Years and decades of conditioning keep his response in disciplined check, as he returns his attention quickly to the business at hand.

He pauses briefly, glances towards the map and adds, "Regardless, much of this is still speculative without more precise scouting. A trip to attempt to administer the dose, while at the same time getting a more thorough idea of what we face may be prudent."



"Sable, why don't ye go over to your old comrades in arms..."

Interesting... that would explain the glares...

He considers Buelyir's recommendation of joining the scouts for a moment, then shrugs.

"I am light enough on my feet perhaps, but no trained scout who can outwit keen ears, master dwarf. Nevertheless, if need be I can prepare an invisibility spell that will last a short duration, as well as a divination that may prove useful in gathering intelligence.

"And I have ... one other skill that may be useful..." he adds, without elaborating.

He gives Beulyir a very curious look, both at his last comment about getting himself in quietly, as well as his most unusual scent.

As Sable and Wyatt start towards the Black Company, Talamir simply watches them for a while, before preparing to head that way as well with a small snort.

[mshady]

Knowledge arcane to know if it would work:[roll0]
Spellcraft, the same: [roll1]

Based on what Thordek knows, it would work.

[Chepe Nolon]

Recap our plan will you Buelyir.

[Gorgondantess]

Johannes, strangely enough, has been silent of late. Not so much brooding as... pensive. Though usually a very talkative sort, and eager to greet newcomers, he doesn't speak a word to Buelyir nor his comrades. Though a usually highly opinionated sort, he offers no comment on the battle plans. This turn of events has, so to speak, rendered him speechless.
Mainly because he didn't like Buelyir.
Actually, that was an understatement. Johannes hated the man. And it wasn't just because of his relation to Glorian (who he despised for good reason), nor his deposing Carmard, but just because of some ineffable reason, he despised him. One would think the two would get along swimmingly, really- they were nigh identical. Both wore similar clothing, had similar talents, ways of speaking, even similar equipment. But if opposites attract, then really, what do identities do?
What broke the straw on the camel's back is that he was going to offer his particular brand of services to the forward party- an illusion here, a glamour there- but then Buelyir offered his own, and with greater potency. Yes, it was irrational, but at this point Johannes simply despised him.
Perhaps it was out of spite, but in full view of Buelyir, he lays a hand on Carmard's shoulder. "Well, Commander, I do believe I find myself at an impasse. Where would you have me?"

[mshady]

Carmard looks at Johannes as he puts his hand on his shoulder, and asks Carmard what it is he should do. The Arcanii raises his eye brow, surprised at the gesture.

There is a polite cough from Buelyir as he observes this. It appears a bit awkward for Carmard as well, suddenly.

"Why don't ye explain to Buelyir what it is ye do, so he knows how best to employ ye, lad" he says quietly, before stepping away from Johannes hand.

"Yes, please do. Now that I'm your commander and all" he says and smiles diplomatically. His eyes twinkle. He got the message Johannes was trying to send.

"Why don't ye explain. My understand'n from Magus Glorian was that you were a non-combatant and handled civil issues for Carmard's detachment. You do appear armed and geared for more than that though. If you were to smooth matters over with our duergar allies, I apologize if my presence rendered ye a bit redundant" Buelyir says as his eyes sweep over him. He suddenly feels like he is being evaluated now when previously he had been discounted.

What can you do for me? Are you useful? is the message Johannes takes from his eyes and body language.

[mshady]

Before Johannes can really reply, Buelyir turns back to Nega to address her question.

"Recap?" he says, confused at the word. "Ye mean go over it? Not too much of one right now..."

He gestures towards Sable and Wyatt, who are over in Black Company's camp now, speaking with that rail thin mage over there.

"Those two are going to go down the north branch of the underway here to the bridge, see if they can get past it and up the river enough to see if we can even get in that way. Sonnlinor Stonebreaker says there are old barges tied up near by to take goods from the road to the old dwarf hold, and the bridge is broken up. There should be warehouses down the river, a grainery, water cisterns and a great old mill that used to grind flour for the part of Delzoun under the spine. Shame we have to blow it up really..." he seems disappointed at that. Any flour above the Spine of the World had to be imported at a premium, with nowhere to grow wheat or grind flour. Plus, it had to come through Luskan.

"If they can get in, they come back and report. We take more up that way and sneak in what we can. Sable does her poisoning and signals us when its effective and she can get to the cleric and all. Attack at her signal. The rest will have to take the main gate by force. Which presents a problem in that we may not be able to count on stone shaping spells, being that its covered in a thick layer of ice"
He pauses and smiles at that.

"Hopefully I'm nay being optimistic. A lot of that is complicated and we could easily be split up. After we sack the place for anything we could use later 'gainst the Aurilites, journals, order logs and so on, we set the stoneburner off and run like hell out of the road to the surface. Figure we have an hour or so to get clear"

He turns back to Johannes...

"Sorry 'bout that. As ye were saying?"

[Melody]

Sable returns to the campfire with Wyatt after having spoken to Black Company and then gathered her gear.

Though they were too far away to hear the exchange those at the planning table could see that the spikey haired blonde had looked angry and spiteful interjecting constantly until their leader, with an annoyed expression, had barked something which didn't stop the blonde from speaking but slowed him down a little bit.

Things continued along in that vein for some time, until Sable finally walked away, she had stoped to speak to a rail thin man in brown robes on her way towards their makeshift barracks. She reached out and rested her hand on his arm for a moment before they both turned and walked their seperate ways. Sable and Wyatt had headed into the baracks and the thin man had wandered off.

A few moments later the blonde with spikey hair and a red brocade vest followed her and Wyatt into the baracks. Sable emerged not long after with Wyatt in tow, fully geared and heading back to the planning fire. The blonde stepped out into the doorway and spoke with a smile. Sable's expression had not looked so amused.

[thorgrim29]

How about the knowledge rolls I made regarding the silenced arrow?

At the risk of repeating myself, we've got a way of going in, we should concentrate on going out now, and quickly. When Carmard activated the stoneburner it was disturbingly eager to go boom, plus I'm sure we don't want to leave Barauk time to test the renewed bindings. Teleportation spells would seem the appropriate course of action, tough we'll need a lot of them to get the whole group out.

[ithildur]

((psst, he replied about the knowledge/spellcraft check))

[Gryndel]

"If they can get in, they come back and report. We take more up that way and sneak in what we can. Sable does her poisoning and signals us when its effective and she can get to the cleric and all. Attack at her signal. The rest will have to take the main gate by force. Which presents a problem in that we may not be able to count on stone shaping spells, being that its covered in a thick layer of ice"
He pauses and smiles at that.
Magnum
A grumble deeper than normal rumbled in the cleric’s throat as he stared steadily at Buelyir a moment, “Aye, da ice be a serious obstacle. I could use me wand’n burn off some fer sure, but doubtful if it’d be enuf.”

With a fierce grin he planted his thick forefinger on the map where the gate was depicted and added, “Now, if’n we had several barrels of oil to roll up an’ bust on da base of da ice around here...”

Magnum trailed off and stepped back from the map. A bit uncertain on that point in particular, he suspected such a plan would end there for lack of supplies. After all, logistics and supplies were not his focused forte.

[mshady]

Sonnlinor Stonebreaker

"Well... about that ice" the Sonnlinor says. A wisened old smile is on his face. "We did bring flame throwers. Enough combustables to keep a fire going and some fire spells perhaps, I think we can melt some ice I would think"

[ithildur]

As Sable and Wyatt start towards the Black Company, Talamir simply watches them for a while, before preparing to head that way as well with a small snort.


Sable returns to the campfire with Wyatt after having spoken to Black Company and then gathered her gear.



((hm. looks like I missed it))

The hooded elf observes the exchange for a while, then remains with the rest of the Black Company for a few minutes to study the mood of his 'companions', and to see if Black has any instructions or information for the lot of them.

[Gryndel]

Sonnlinor Stonebreaker

"Well... about that ice" the Sonnlinor says. A wisened old smile is on his face. "We did bring flame throwers. Enough combustables to keep a fire going and some fire spells perhaps, I think we can melt some ice I would think"
Magnum
A humorless grin graced Magnum's face as he stared steadily at the duergar, "You think?"

[Gorgondantess]

Johannes shrugs apologetically to Carmard.
"Well, I can go and do wherever and whatever I'm needed. In the past, when we've had a smaller group and words wouldn't do much, I've simply gone wherever we could use an extra man. I can scout, I can sneak, I can even swing a sword and I know a few clever little tricks with my spellbook here. You want me to do something, and I can do it as well as any other in this army."
Despite his somewhat boasting words, he speaks in a matter-of-fact fashion. While it's a bit of an exaggeration- he might not be able to match up with the specialists- for the most part, it's true. Just don't ask him to do it more than once a day.

[mshady]

"It appears I've been pleasantly misinformed" he says with a smile. "Why don't ye see about going with Sable and see how things go? We'll know more about our plan when the scouts get back. You never know what talents can be useful in a pinch" Buelyir nods towards Johannes, having dispatched him to his purpose now.

He turns back to Magnum and Sonnlinor Stonebreaker.

"Well Sonnlinor, I hope ye live up to yer clan name on this. I think the flame throwers, wicked things those be, will be sufficient. Hopefully ye have enough left to spray down a frost giant or two after. I'd suggest ye get everything that burns out o'that old fort there and haul it. Throw more on a cart if ye brought it. This'll work, but it's nay going to be fast. Faster we do that, better for those inside already... Ye sort of lose the element o'surprise when ye start a fire on someone's front door. Might be good to get a few up the wall in the meantime to keep the Aurilites off it"

Sonnlinor Stonebreaker nods and asks one of his duergar to start gathering everything that'd burn.

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega looks at Buelyir "Well s(h)ow me w(h)ere ye want me on da map so I can prepare my troops fer battle. I'll leave my maces and s(h)ields in reserve to take care of da (h)ealin(g). I'll need to prepare fer da fite. If da plan works ye are in goodd (h)ands lad and we'll (h)ave dat gate in no time. Now w(h)ere ye want me to place my troops?" Nega leans forward and inspects the map as she waits for Buelyir's orders.

[Strangie]

Wyatt followed Sable out of the barracks, not even sparing the blonde-haired man who had followed them so much as a glance.

"Well, it's all about to start... we call down the thunder, and the rest reap the whirlwind, eh?" Wyatt says. "I'll be happy enough to survive 'dis mess. I'd have a great story to tell at least! Not that anybody would probably believe me, but, hell with 'em. Anyway, if nobody else is comin' along, 'den we better see about gettin' started..."

Wyatt sighed a heavy sigh, glancing around at all the folks around him. He looked overly concerned, an unusual expression for the halfling, as if something else was bothering him deep within, but he stayed alongside Sable anyway.

[ithildur]

((hm, nothing from Black and crew? If so...))

Talamir wordlessly retreats into his tent and shuts the flap closed. The others of the Black Company have likely become used to this near daily practice of the strange elf, although this time, he seems to take longer than usual before emerging once more.

About 15 minutes pass before he reappears, and begins to pack up his tent as well as the rest of his equipment with efficient, practiced speed. His eyes seem distinctly more clear than earlier, and the ubiquitous goblet is nowhere in sight.

He straightens to his full height, and takes a deep breath, then exhales slowly. Something about this day feels different. Perhaps a new beginning is at hand... if they manage to survive, that is.

They.

He pauses as he catches his inner dialogue. The elf starts to chide himself silently, but simply snorts and offers up a short and silent prayer to the Lone Wolf, followed by a more hesitant and even shorter prayer to Corellon Larethian, the Protector of Elves.

[Scow2]

Gore Turrock

After getting lost in the Dwarves' Argument/Conversation about the strategy, Gore turns to Kerik and the other minotaurs and asks. "What is the dwarves's plan for getting us into the enemy base, and out after we activate that piece of Junk?"

[mshady]

Kerik Many Skulls

Kerik snorts at Gore's question and leans on the hilt of his massive great axe. He squints, making his red eyes seem even more fierce even as they are hodded with touches of gray now.

"Dwarves always plan. Dwarves plan to take a shat. In formation" he says, his tone amused by the thought. "Dwarves are brave and do not retreat, surrender or run much. They like their ugly Gods too much. They will blow up that piece of cow shat and go with it if they must. Chasing that... thing ruined their plan. Hope they find another. Our new commander be too senior to die here"

Kerik looks behind Gore and nods to him, than whispers to him.

"Your other pack looks heavier" he smiles, revealing pointed teeth capped in metal. "If we must, we use their magic rocks to stop their piece of junk. Kerik Many Skulls is not dying here"

[Melody]

Alright! I'm Sable and I'm going to be running out little scouting party unless Buelyir is coming along. In which case, just consider this a friendly chat before he gets here.

Sable smiles and rubs her hands together. Joh you're going instead of Buelyir then right? Wyatt, Talamir, she smiles and nods at the hooded elf, ah.. Cook, she looks at the ranger and cook for Black Company, sorry Marcus and Barakus didn't mention your name.

She looks appologetic then smiles and shrugs, I guess Cookie works well enough, Bundok, and.. she looks around and finds the Duergar scout then smiles a welcome, and what shall we call you?

She pauses a moment to let him speak before continuing. We'll be headed North up to the bridge and seeing if we can work our way in. If we have a way in, some of us will report back to Buelyir to bring him and whomever else he wants in while I see if we can make some magic happen in their cookpot.

She grins at Black Company's cook. If possible I will pick a group and we will continue to scout in closer and then come back to meet the second scouting party, which Bundok will lead, at whatever point seems easiest. If there is no way in undetected we'll do our best to get an eye for the layout and pick our points of attack. Then we'll all move in on the distraction.

I'd like our native to take the lead until we get down by the water since he knows this area the best. She looks everyone over unobtrusively to make certain they've all muffled their gear as much as possible and that nobody has anything shiny about them, mostly checking Talamir and Johannes since they aren't always scouts. If you have more of that mixture to mask heat signatures that would be very helpful. She smiles at the camoflauged Duergar. Then looks over to check to see if Buelyir was on his way to join the group or not.

[mshady]

Scouting Summary - So Far...

Sable's scouting group prepares to head out of the duergar encampment to check out the Aurilian held bridge and the access the river provided to the dwarven hold, if any. The group consists of Sable, Wyatt, Johannes, Talamir, the ranger Santana, and the duergar scout. His name was Flint, and that was all of a name he bothered to give. They were now just waiting on Bundok Battlehammer, an eccentric dwarven scouts.

As the group is preparing to head out, and it is a large one, perhaps larger than it needed to be. Sable and Santana, Black Company's scout, quickly get into a heated argument. Santana, being a follower of Beshaba and Sable not, it was inevitable. For what it was worth, Santana seemed a bit more pragmatic about things but was hardly interested in working with her. Bundok arrived with a message from Buelyir however. He was going to go with Santana to check out another fortification that guarded the approach to the Aurilian stronghold, along with some others, for a last review. Santana and Sable were happy enough to part, taking the time to lob a nice bit of phlegm on Sable's boot before parting.

Before they departed, Sable was able to buy some of the camouflage the duergar had used to hide from dark vision. It cost her a fair chunk of her earnings to buy it, but in the right circumstance, such a thing could be priceless.

A few members lighter now, they make their way out of the duergar encampment and towards the Aurilian held bridge to learn more about what kind of opposition they face. The trip is a three hour walk in total, but it is largely uneventful. The Underway is less sophisticated than others the dwarves reputedly built, particularly in Shanatar and Ammarindar, which had not just vast networks of roads, but aqueducts and rail systems as well. Rubble and refuse line the area, and as they get closer to the Aurilian bridge, they can see that the area has been used to heap all kinds of refuse...

In the distance, orange flickers of torches burning can be seen from the bridge and its guard houses. While distant, it looks like a formidable construction. A particularly large heap of refuse sits to the right, and the stench is abominable.
That was when the group heard something move in the garbage and came to an immediate halt when they see its source. An ugly, rubbery tentacle sits lazily in the air and originating from the pile of refuse. Flint thinks he hears something crunch. Whatever it is, it makes no move to attack them or even notice them.

Johannes is the first to whisper to the group what it is they have encountered. An otyugh. It was a subterranean monster that was a scavenger, consuming anything that was remotely digestible yet with a modicum of intelligence. It was that level of intelligence that Johannes tried to play to by offering the hideous creature some meat; specifically the greasy, smell, brain rat jerky he picked up in Sigil and was planning to enjoy himself.
The creature wanted the meat too, and soon Johannes lured it close and it took some of the meat. Apparently someone had taught it basic language and Johannes was able to question the hideous creature, with its rubbery tentacles and gapping, stinking maw. At one point, after eating the bag of jerky that Johannes offered, the thing belched and the smell was quite foul. Indeed it was enough to rock poor Talamir, such was the power of its stench.
Johannes manages to learn that there are few Aurilians around now, confirming the theory that the base would be largely abandoned, as the creature complains they had stopped bringing it "flesh bodies" recently and how hungry it was. He also learns that the bridge is still at least somewhat guarded, but that was about it.

Hardly worth giving up his jerky, really.

Some more jerky sends the creature on its way without further incident, as it liked the relationship where people brought it garbage to eat normally. He even warns the creature to leave the area, because of the dwarven attack and the effect of the artifact they plan to set out, but the creature is too dim witted to take the warning.

When they arrive, they see the bridge has a small guard shack at ground level and two turrets that overlook the approach and the bridge. Flint tells the group that the bridge has a 20 foot gap in the middle and is impassible through normal means, but most party members have ways beyond normal means. The fact remained that the Aurilian never repaired that bridge, and perhaps there was reason. There is no actual sign of the guards, however.

The area itself is now lit by torches, and filled with old carts covered in feral markings that could be used for cover to steal in front of the enemy guards and slip by them into the river. Flint tells them they expect some barges to be by the shore here, as the area is used to carry goods into the stronghold and land at a dock inside.

[mshady]

The Aurilite Bridge - So Far

Sable, Wyatt, Johannes, Talamir and Flint

Feel free to post in reaction to this for now, until the next live session.

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8067/aurilitebridge1.th.png (http://img153.imageshack.us/i/aurilitebridge1.png/)

http://img153.imageshack.us/i/aurilitebridge1.png/



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[mshady]

Buelyir and the Minotaurs

"Well now for the easy part" Buelyir remarks glumly.He looks at the minotaurs and snaps his fingers to get their attention, than gives Kerik a come hither motion with his finger.

"Take the stoneburner over to circle the good Sonnlinor had his lads carved into the stone, will ya?" he orders in a stern voice. Kerik growls at Buelyir, but says nothing. His red eyes say it.

"What?" Buelyir snaps at the massive minotaur after he refuses to move, putting his arms on his hips. "You going to "red eye" me all day or get the trunk over? Believe it or not, we got places to be, eh?"

"Kerik Many Skulls and his herdsmen are not your pack animals" he snarls in reply. The minotaurs jaw works back and forth, repressing its anger.

"These frakking bulls..." Buelyir swears under his breath.

He trots right over to where Kerik is and points to the trunk that lays between the feet of Three Horns and the other minotaur.

"How much gold are we paying you? What part of "we pay you HOW MUCH GOLD to guard a heavy trunk and haul it through the Underdark didn't penetrate between your damn horns, Kerik?" Buelyir yells at the massive bulk of Kerik Many Skulls. It looks like a child yelling at a parent, in terms of perspective, even if the realty was the other way around.

"Where's the gold than?" Kerik snarls at the dwarf.

"What are ye, thick? Where ye going to spend it down here? We're going to haul all that gold down here, just to pay ye? Ye get it when ye get back. Like Sable and the halfling. Like Black's Company. By Dugmaren's Books, get it over there or you'll lose some of that gold when we get home"

[Strangie]

Wyatt crouches down, rubbing his chin and surveying the surroundings. He whispers, "Well... 'dese wagons should work as cover... just a matter of gettin' to 'em without gettin' spotted. 'dese torches out in front aren't really going to make 'dat easy, 'dough... hmm..."

Wyatt looked to see if there was a way to get around the torchlight without having to walk directly through the brightest parts of the light they gave off, which didn't seem likely judging from the way they were placed. He also observed to see if the torches could be easily put out, though he wasn't sure exactly how he would go about doing that without making a racket about it.

Next, he tried to see if the turret on the right, which seemed to be occupied, was actually being watched as carefully as it should. If the guard occupying it wasn't paying attention - likely out of boredom or something else - then it might not have even mattered.

Spot Check: [roll0]

Lastly, he tried to see if there were any sort of trap mechanisms, magical or otherwise, guarding the entry into this area. "'dere might be traps around here, too," he whispered. "Like, simple magical ones... like an Alarm or somethin'... if 'dere is, 'dat might explain why there aren't any guards around here. 'dey're waitin' for the trap to go off..."

Any sort of darkness did not seem to stop Wyatt from being able to search for traps nearby - he had an unusual way of figuring out where traps were and disabling them simply by very, very delicate touch and dexterity. He might as well had been searching for them blindfolded. He took care not to drift into the torchlight, of course.

Ah, gotta love Tactile Trapsmith feat. Darkness doesn't stop me from using Search/Disable Device and I apply Dex to those skills. :smallbiggrin: Search Modifier is +17. He'll take 10 at first. Though he won't go too far as to put himself into the torchlight and expose himself. If taking 10 doesn't find anything, I'll have him roll to see if he does better just to be on the safe side. To my knowledge, Search checks are rolled by the DM in secret, but if you do otherwise in this game, let me know and I'll roll it in my next post.

[Gryndel]

Magnum
With the initial plans in place, as the scouting party left, Magnum retreated to his quarters (or whatever that may be, tent?).

Making bacon, literally, and brewing up a potion (per PM) :smallbiggrin:

[ithildur]

Talamir waits patiently for the halfling to work his magic. Silently he questions for a moment the decision to come with the scouting party, as it was becoming evident that the others with him were skilled enough to likely not require his own talents.

He had a spell of invisibility prepared, but did not wish to use it until it truly became necessary. He would wait to see what the others found, as far as numbers and positions of the guards here.

He looks downstream towards where the Aurilite base is, wondering about the distance, and whether shouts from their present location would be heard as far as the base. Recalling the mention of a possible alarm/warning system as well, he narrows his eyes. If such were indeed in place, his presence could soon prove to be a burden rather than an asset... unless the alarm could be located and disabled, or the guards taken down swiftly enough that none got even close to it.

A possible idea forms in his head, though it would have to wait until the area is more fully scouted.

[mshady]

Scouting Mission Completed

The scouts sit together and look at the bridge in front of them. Two crumbling old towers sit atop of a solid looking gate house. The bridge doors are closed and a thick piece of lumber serves as a massive dead bolt. A lamp sits in one of the towers. At the foot of the gate house is a squat stone structure that is also illuminated from the inside. The area opens up into a wide area where a caravan of wagons are parked haphazardly on the left side. To the right side, the wagons are a little more organized and more densely packed. There are no sign of whatever animals were used to haul the wagons.

To the left of the bridge, two cranes sit on stone pedestals and are made of wood and iron. Several ropes and block & tackle arrangements hang from them. A thick rope or chain runs connects to the bridge and hangs over the river.

They sit and watch the guard house and tower for awhile, to see if they can see any guards moving around inside. Sure enough, after a few minutes, a guard sticks his head out of the tower, than another one. In the guard shack, they see up to four more between the ones they see in the window and the one that steps out to apparently urinate in the river.

Two bells hang on a stand near the guard house.

“Yep, they’re hobgoblins” the duergar Flint observes. “They sure do look bored”

“Not much of a force to guard your back door” Sable replies with a whisper.

“Makes you wonder what the rest is like, doesn’t it? Or maybe they really are gone and these are just the care takers? We’ll have to go in and get’em though. Too far a shot for my liking, and we can’t get’em all anyways.”

Having a firm grasp on what is there, Sable and Wyatt skulk ahead of the group, heads low and eyes peeled for traps and alarm spells.

Sure enough, they spot two alarm spells. The runes are carved haphazardly into the stone floor, but are none the less effective. Carefully, Sable and Wyatt work together to disarm the traps. It would seem that is all there is for traps, because they spot no others.

Sable waves the rest of the scouting party forward, and one by one they slip amongst the wagons. Flint remains behind to watch their rear and cover them if necessary. He holds his It seems they were loaded with supplies at one point and were unloaded quickly enough. It takes several minutes to pick their way through the wagons, but they make their way to the water front without being spotted.

As they suspected, they find two big barges tied up to the dock. Each has two thick chains and a hook to attach to the cable that runs the length of the river. It seems the only way to move down river in a controlled fashion was to attach the chains to the cable and pull the barges down the river. Fortunately, they are not too large and the river runs towards to the old dwarven stronghold. That was good to see.

What was bad to see is a brass tube running along the ground. While it cleverly hidden, Johannes actually spots it first and explains it is a speaking tube. Properly constructed, you could talk into it and be heard a significant distance away, particularly if you were just trying to pass an alarm sound.

What is almost as bad is a thick chain drawn across the river and locked into the shore with a thick looking lock to block anyone from going down river, in a boat or barge anyways.

Still undetected, Sable instructs Johannes and Talamir to go back with Flint and they will get as close as they can to the actual dwarven stronghold. They will proceed down an old, broken tow path along the side of the river and see what they can find. The two look at each other meaningfully, nod and head up the river along the precarious path to see what they can learn.

An hour and a half later, they return and meet Flint, Johannes and Talamir. Both look very tense.

“The way in is open” Sable says, wearing an exhausted smile on her face. “The river goes to another dock. It’s wide open and empty. The old mill is broken, but it appears to be used as a barracks that seems empty too. There’s a gate into what I think is the main chambers. We slipped in there and I got into the main hall. It was quiet, but we caught them just before morning. The cooks were just starting, and I used a spell to get in close to their galley and cook fires and… medicinally enhanced the flavor” she says.

“We don’t know what’s in the barracks, but in the main hall we saw half a dozen giants and an equal number of minotaurs. Even a few minotaurs. The place is very cold, but the floor’s not iced over, just the walls. In the back of the hall is a temple. I think it used to be one to Dumathion, but it’s been desecrated and it is an Aurilian one now as well”

“Not bad” Flint admits. “Let’s get back to the camp and get this done”

Two hours later, they return to the duergar encampment to report to Buelyir and Carmard.

"Welcome back" Buelyir says, greeting them as they arrive in the camp. "How'd it go?"

[Chepe Nolon]

Seeing the scouts return Nega hurries over to Buelyir to listen to their report.

[Strangie]

When they finally get back to camp, Wyatt has a big, cheesy grin plastered over his face. The sign of a successful mission.

He claps his hands and points at Buelyir. "Hah! Did I mention we're the best damn scouts 'dis side of Faerun? We called 'dis one perfectly. Awright, so 'dis is what we've got... here, let's call a meeting right here, right now. 'dis is important business, and everybody should know about it." Wyatt takes a moment to call over everybody involved in the attack to describe what they found. While he would have loved to tell this story more than once, this wasn't much of a time for showboating, so he wanted to make sure everybody heard what they had to say.

Wyatt goes over what they found, from the otyugh to the meagerly-guarded post at the bridge and disarming the Alarm traps, to how they snuck in and planted the poison in the cooking pot. He also goes over the forces they found - the minotaurs, (frost?) giants, and the lousy hobbo guards at the bridge. He describes how they managed to slip into the base, and everything they saw - and didn't see, like what was inside the barracks, for example.

"So 'dere you have it..." He folds his arms, turning his head up to look at the more fighter-like types around him. "The stage has been set. We've done our part - now it's time for everybody to step up and do 'deirs. What do you say to 'dat?"

[ithildur]

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"The hobgoblins obviously need to be taken down swiftly, before they get a chance to ring the bell or use the speaking tube. Another opportunity, perhaps, for a well placed Silencing spell, if we cannot dispatch all of them quickly enough."

[mshady]

"Well that was time spent" Buelyir concludes, after listening to the report. He strokes his short cropped black beard. He taps his nose for a moment before speaking again.

"Well it sounds like we have a plan now, so let me lay it out. The most important part of the plan is that Kaladus was able to successfully bind Barauk back to the stoneburner. His plan actually worked. I think Carmard was a bit indignant about that, actually" he chuckles. "Still, it was damn dangerous. Kaladus and Regina drained themselves entirely in the process and are resting comfortably. With shackes, of course. I'm sure they're holding out. We did have to pull a few of the glow stones out of it to power the spells, but he pulled it off. So now our mountain wrecking, soul rendering weapon of doom run by a suicidal traitor is working again. Of course, maybe that is just what Barauk wants us to think...." Buelyir winces at that though.

"So here's how it's going to be" he says. Buelyir opens up a small note book and starts reviewing it.

"I'll be leading the group attacking through the warehouse" he announces. "Our first objective is going to be to take the guard shack and the tower. That group will include Sable, Wyatt and Flint as our primary scouts.

Coming with us will be..." he pauses to look at his list. "Arman for arcane support and Kelith for clerical support. Johannes and Talamir as well, if Black's Company can spare ye. If not, I'll just pay them for your time. The first objective will be to take out the hobgoblin guards as quick as we can. Flint, ye need to get to that speaking tube and cut it, than stuff some rags and towels in the damned thing"

"Once we do that, we pile on to a barge. Since that part's abandoned, that seems the safest bet and I doubt they'd worry even if the heard a barge coming anyways. We drop anyone we see on the way in and get to an observation post. That cleric of theirs needs to die, and if he got some dinner, I reckon he'll be in his rectory with his rectum. Only ones that can get in there are going to be Sable, Wyatt and myself. Once we have that done, we signal Carmard with a sending crystal to begin"

"Carmard will be in charge of the main assault. Bundok and Santana reported that we have a dozen or so hobgoblins holed up in the other fort that blocks the way to the main entrance. We should be hitting that at about the same time my group is attacking. It's not a long march t'all to the main gates.

We have plenty of crossbows and such to keep anyone off the walls while we work, and magic for anyone else. We push forward some oil soaked carts and the duergars with the flame throwers to melt down the walls. Once that's done, Magnum will crack open the wall and we push through who we can. If we have to open the gates too, we'll have to find a way.

Once inside, Carmard's group will be handing out most of the butcher's bill. We take everything down as fast as we can in the main area, than use the Wall spells ye were provided with to seal off any entrances to the main areas to keep reinforcements from coming down.

While that's happening, I want Black's Company to go ransack the Aurilite temple and get whatever ye can. I'm looking for intelligence mainly. Ye can keep anything else ye find for all I care, just make sure ye can run. Don't say the God's name either, especially while yer desecrating the temple.

We'll go ahead and prepare the stoneburner. Sonnlinor Stonebreaker will be leaving us as soon as the base is secure, and it's important we keep'em alive at all costs. That should give them plenty of time to get clear of the area. For good measure, he's already rigged several points in the underroad to collapse so he nay gets overrun by the magma the stoneburner causes as it floods the area. Pray to Moradin the earthquakes it may cause don't collapse the rest of the roads.

As for the rest of us, we make a run for it. Considering the power of it, we'll drop a Wall of Force behind us as we take a road to the valley this place exits into. It should hold back the magma. So long as we can get out of the valley and behind some solid cover we should be alright. We'll try to get as many out with teleports as we can, but its not going to be all. Without the Gate spells that were prepared for this mission, at enormous expense I may add... that's the best we can do.

When we get the area secured, I want to send Bundok and Santana out to see the best way out of the valley to a safe spot. Since we're so far under ground, the actual blast may not be as bad, I'm told. The damage to the area after we bring down this mountain above our heads will be when those gates to the elemental plane of fire fill the area with magma. That's going to ruin much of the deep road network in this area too, but at this point that's just nostalgia. We're hardly the one's using it"

"So... any questions?" Buelyir asks.

[ithildur]

"Arman for arcane support and Kelith for clerical support. Johannes and Talamir as well, if Black's Company can spare ye. If not, I'll just pay them for your time."

Talamir's eyes shoot towards Arman the elven wizard, his jaw tensing slightly. Already he could imagine the curious questions after the battle, harmless and well meaning initially perhaps, but then, what if they led to further queries, wondering, and guesses? One should not underestimate an elven Faern...

Any yet, the alternative was far from appealing - to find himself once more in the unpleasant company of the motley mercenaries on the eve of a larger scale battle than usual. He imagined their colorful breaths and body odor, the alcohol binges which he too often took part in, and worst of all, the pitiful verbal posturing and half witted jokes that passed for banter. He also guessed that when push came to shove, few if any of them would put a comrade's well being over their own hide. In some ways, working with them had been worse, far worse, than the years of solitary roving.

O'su... I do wish you could be here, at my side this day.

His thoughts are interrupted as Buelyir continues.

"I want Black's Company to go ransack the Aurilite temple and get whatever ye can. I'm looking for intelligence mainly. Ye can keep anything else ye find for all I care, just make sure ye can run. Don't say the God's name either, especially while yer desecrating the temple."

Talamir looks to the dwarven leader with a puzzled expression. Work of a rather sensitive nature, requiring some subtlety perhaps. Did the unusual smelling dwarf truly trust Black and his men to carry out such a task? What if they kept what they found for themselves? Or was there something he was not revealing?

[Chepe Nolon]

And w(h)ere pray tell (h)ave you decided to put me Buelyir. It's not dat I don't like being left off duties but I do like being mentioned. Or am I sitting dis one out? Nega frowns and looks disgustingly at Buelyir.

[Werewhale]

Nalrak Ironfist

"I assumed those not directly mentioned would be under Carmard's command," Nalrak says, looking at Buelyir for confirmation, little to no trace of his dislike for the dwarf visible. Whether he was mollified by being under Carmard's command or pushing it aside to focus on bigger things was not evident.

[mshady]

"Yes, those not mentioned by name as part of the scouting group are going with Carmard's group. Those in the scouting group with me, as ye can tell it's a light group. If we get pressed, we fall back anywhere and try to draw as many with us as we can when we go to ground. It's a big place and if we go to ground, we should tie up a lot of them. I can teleport us back if need be"

"As for how Carmard organizes his own command, I leave that to him. Nega and Thordek are the most senior though. Sonnlinr Stonebreaker agreed to let his forces be under our command for this and I reckon both of ye will have a dozen duergar with ye"

"As for Kerik and Gore, I think our best bet is to let them approach the old fort. They have minotaurs in there, and maybe they'll think they are on their side. Should be a quick fight once they get in, along with any follow up from us" Buelyir states. He smirks when thinking about that fight is going to go. The two minotaurs were a frightening prospect in close quarters.

"A question though. Kerik, Gore... are either of ye going to have a problem fight'n another minotaur? We need to know before ye go in"

[ithildur]

Talamir looks up from his thoughts, then approaches Wyatt and Sable, speaking to them quietly.
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"My curiosity gets the better of me it seems; I'd be grateful if one of you would briefly explain what this stonebreaker or Barauk is about."

"Also, do either of you have a spare potion of Jump or Expeditious Retreat handy? I'll gladly repay the 50 odd gold pieces after all this is over."

[Strangie]

"No potions, sorry. But, uh, about Barauk, let's just put it 'dis way... 'dere ain't gonna be anythin' left of the place once he goes off. And you don't wanna be around when he does. Let's just leave it at 'dat," Wyatt says, shrugging.

[thorgrim29]

Plan seems solid enough

[Gryndel]

Magnum Rurikson

Emerging to attend the final battle plan, the dwarf cleric listened closely. Having no words to add to the discussion, he merely nodded in agreement, itching to get this underway. He knew that well thought out and developed battle plans were often the difference between victory and defeat, but they could just as easily be wasting precious time. The concern about the minotaurs caught his attention, and he stared steadily at Gore waiting to hear what the answer would be. He had no trouble with fighting minotaurs of course, and though he'd helped Gore in the past, betrayal was a instant death sentence in his mind at this point.

[Scow2]

Gore growls as he's addressed, "Are they of our tribe? If not, they die like everything else. Why are we wasting time talking?"

[Strangie]

"Well, 'den it's settled. Let's get the hell out of here and get 'dis show on the road, eh? Our 'taurs are soundin' bored. But 'dey don't have to worry, 'dere's plenty of fools to smash up ahead." Wyatt steps forward, prepared to lead the group, as he always has in the past.

He turns to Sable, as he steps ahead of the group, with a grin. "Well, fancy 'dat. Looks like we're leadin' the pack again. Ready to continue building on our legacy as the best sneaks 'dat ever walked across Faerun? Let's go blow up a damn mountain already."

[Chepe Nolon]

It's a plan if nay a great one. But I figure ye got it under control. I'll await Carmards orders den. Now to make my troops ready.Nega goes and gets her troops ready then she walks over to Carmard.Commander your (h)umble servant awaits yer orders. She bows slightly.

[mshady]

The two groups split up, with Buelyirs group heading to the bridge and Carmard's group to the other fortification.

They set up along both sides of the wall on the tunnel and prepare.

"You're on" Buelyir whispers across to Sable with a smile. His eyes are narrow and intense. In his hands is a compact looking short bow. It is nearly square in shape, with pulleys at the end of the arms.

Here is the map for the Battle of the Aurilite Bridge.

S = Sable
W = Wyatt
T = Talamir
K = Kelith
B = Buelyir
F = Flint
A = Arman Madero

Blue B1 - B5 = Known Aurilite Hobgoblins. Their positions are last known, but they do not seem to be very active.

Initiative will be rolled when someone starts combat.

http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/2639/aurilitebridget1.jpg (http://img543.imageshack.us/i/aurilitebridget1.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[mshady]

The rest of the war party heads towards the Aurilite fort that was blocking their way. It is walled, but crumbling, with a central keep and a tower serving as a weapon's platform that barely seems occupied.

Gore and Kerik stand at the front with a heavy battering ram in their hands, ready to break down the very gates of the place with a powerful charge. Tasster and his sons are right behind them, beyond eager for a fight.

The rest of the forces are divided between Nega and Thordek, with each commanding some of the duergar force.

Black's Company is kept in the rear as a reserve, for now.

Go ahead and begin the attack. Squares are 5 feet. It's not a big place, but it is a pain.


http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/821/auriltefortt1.jpg (http://img42.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt1.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[Gryndel]

Magnum
Fort Battle
As they took up their positions in the hall, Magnum used his rune stone to enact a Mass Shield of Faith. When the signal was given to attack he cast Guidance and moved forward (20') as he drew Arctis.

Not sure about CL for the rune. Since we know what's ahead, I presumed he can use that just before rd 1 and cast Guidance on rd 1. If not, he'll use the rune on rd 1 and move forward
Initiative +1[roll0]

[thorgrim29]

Thordrek casts animalistic power from his wand on himself, and when the signal is given he turns to the duergar:

Well then gentlemen, shall we?

He follows follows the advance of the minotaurs and Tasster.
initiative: [roll0]

[Werewhale]

Nalrak Ironfist

Before starting to march, Nalrak turns back to his cousin, giving him an exasperated look. "Try not to be encouraged by this to do something stupid, cousin," he says tiredly, but with the slightest twitch of the corner of his mouth, and grabs his arm, channeling some of Dumathoin's power into the dwarf before turning to the front and starting to move.

((Casting Bear's Endurance on Grathalmor and joining the advance.))

EDIT:((Turn 2: If archers/crossbowhobgoblins appear, he will cast Entropic Shield on himself. If a spellcaster appears, he will cast Silence on him. If neither happens, he will save his spells and follow the melee combatants, staying ten feet behind them.))

[Chepe Nolon]

Yes we s(h)all even if I am not a gentleman. Nega advances on her side.

[Strangie]

Wyatt readies his mace and buckler, getting in line with Sable. "I've got your back. You're good at 'dis plannin' stuff - how should we get 'dis rolling?"

[Scow2]

Initiative: [roll0]

Not wasting any time in getting into the fray as soon as possible, Gore and Terrik advance toward the gates at a cautious hustle (Turn 1: Double-move 40 ft/8 squares toward the Gate.), before breaking into a charge. (Turn 2, charge the remaining distance.)

[ithildur]

Talamir eyes the two bells with a slight frown, then turns quickly to Buelyir before anyone makes a move. He points at the bells, and whispers:
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"You hinted previously that you can cast spells of silencing, yes?"


((how big are the bells? Are they movable? He's also trying to locate the speaking tube; it doesn't seem to be on the map; will roll if necessary))

[Werewhale]

Fort Battle - Nalrak Ironfist
(Forgot to roll initiative)
Initiative: [roll0]

[mshady]

"I did" whispers Buelyir. "What do ye have in mind, elf?"

[ithildur]

"I did" whispers Buelyir. "What do ye have in mind, elf?"


http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"I suggest the maiden and the hin get into position using stealth and prepare to strike. As soon as they are ready, I can provide a diversion and get the hobgoblins' attention."

"We may not be able to strike down all of them quickly enough to prevent one from getting to the alarm; a Silence spell on the bells should take care of that, yes?"

With that the tall elf draws on his hood tight, and looks to Sable and Wyatt.

[mshady]

"Hmm" Buelyir says, thinking to himself for a moment. "Aye, we can do that too. I was figurin' on Flint knocking out the tube with a nice axe hit, and no one inside would get a chance to ring a bell if they were inside, but that works too. Safer bet even" he smiles slightly. Actually, he seems disappointed that this way might be less risky.

He looks at Sable and waves to her, than uses a sign language she would remember from working with Waterdhavian thieves. Wyatt would not be able to read it. He seems very fluent with the signs as well.

"Get in position. Strike guard house. T-A-L-A-M-I-R has diversion. I will silence bells. Look out for new arrivals. Been 6 hours since we were here. Good hunting"

His hands move in a blur, as far as anyone else is concerned. He thinks a moment, than signs something else to her.

"Tell your side I want prisoners" he signs.

Than, he turns back to Talamir.

"Well that's done. Fair idea, for an elf" he smiles, his eyes twinkling for a moment. "Pass down the line on our side. Get me some prisoners"

[ithildur]

The elf simply nods in response to Buelyir's quip, a slight curl of the corner of his lips.
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"It may be unnecessary, but just in case."

He takes a moment to examine the pommel of his longsword, seems satisfied with whatever he was looking for, and waits as the newest instructions are passed down the line.

[Melody]

Sable watches the hand gestures and nods to show she understands, then signals back. Checking empty tower on right first, then taking out tower guard on left, will signal all clear. Then all move in for barracks. She leans down and whispers in Wyatt's ear sotto voice.

Buelyir is going to silence the bells, Talamir is going to cause a distraction, we're to look out for new arrivals since it's been a while since we were here, and he would like us to take some prisoners.

She straightens a little as she finishes speaking and then moves out to come in around behind the guard tower from the direction of the broken tow path. Leaving Wyatt at the base of the tower Sable slips off her boots and pulls a pair of, by now to Wyatt, familiar looking slippers. The trick would be to get rid of the gate guard before heading around to the barracks. Getting to the top she peers inside carefully and quietly. ((This is the right tower, we expect it to be empty.. but we need to check))

[thorgrim29]

Thordrek directs the troops next to him to follow the minotaurs and be ready to follow them and Tasster ino the breach

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega Commands her troops to be ready to follow when Throdrek's troops are threw to follow them and to secure their entrance in case of attack from behind

[mshady]

Battle - Aurilite Fort

Turn 1

Kerik looks down at the hefty battering ram that the duergar had brought with them. It was a thick piece of iron shod lumber with a heavy steel head shaped in the likeness of a minotaur's head instead of one of the surfacer's goat heads. It was fitting that minotaurs would carry it today.

He looks over at Gore and grabs one of the minotaur's steel shod horns and gives it a shake to get the younger bull's attention.

"Try and keep up with Kerik Many-Skulls if you can, calf" he smiles, barring a smile missing a few teeth. Kerik, at least, meant the statement as a gesture of respect. He respected Gore enough to at least think the younger bull could keep up with him. It was more than he normally offered.

He paws at the ground his booted hooves and snorts loudly. The sound is like someone striking a drum. However strong they both were, it still took two hands to hold the ram with any stability as it was still 30 feet long. In front of them, the enemy's gate waited. Inside, he would take their heads and keep the interesting ones. He had enough puny humanoids. Now he wanted something bigger.

Behind them, Tasster and his sons wait impatiently.

"Get on with it, ye old bull!" Tasster calls out. The two enjoyed taunting each other. "Bet ye a trade bar o'gold I kill more than ye do! Both of ye!"

Kerik looks back and scowls at the bloody minded dwarf. His eyes blaze red with the challenge presented. Gold and heads?

"Try and keep up with Kerik Many Skulls if you can, dwarf!" he says, than laughs. So does Tasster. Kindred maniacs indeed.

The two minotaurs break into a trot and move out into the open, and there is an immediate reaction from the guards. Several of them yell out at them in under common. Stop! Halt! We'll shoot! the two minotaurs hear.

They could care less. Even as several ballistae from the tower take aim at them. The two break into a run now, announcing it with an almighty roar as they thunder onwards. Two ballista fire at them now. A pair from the tower itself, which miss badly. Another volley comes from the gate they are charging that they did not see before. The first hits the stone with a spark and spins off into the darkness. The second spears Kerik in the gap between his shoulder and arm pit. Such a wound would fell most things, but Kerik's finely wrought dwarven plate mail featured a thick circular disk of adamantine called a basagew to protect the vulnerable joint. It still drives through the protective armor and draws blood, but no real damage before being shaken out. Kerik does not even slow down.

Kerik takes a hit from a ballista, and a critical was threatened but not confirmed. He takes 4 damage, after damage reduction.

Turn 2

The heavy ram connects with the gate with an almighty boom that shakes the very walls of the old fortress. Indeed they seem to shift a bit. The thick wooden doors, shod in iron, are clearly replacements of the original doors. No runes are carved into it to repel rams either. The wood splits from the wood, and if they wanted to, the minotaurs could probably chop their way in. A gap opens in the door as the log barring the gate is warped by the impact.

The dwarves are far behind the two minotaurs. Dwarves and their short legs.

Turn 3

Growling that the ram did not do its job, they immediately heave it back and send the massive ram crashing into the gate. This time, it yields with a crack and flies open. Kerik and Gore drop the ram with a thump. The two unlimber their weapons; Kerik a wicked looking great axe and Gore his heavy two handed sword.

Hobgoblins rush from the left and to the right towards the minotaurs, swords and axes raised and screaming as they rush in.

"Stupid goblins" scoffs Kerik as they round the corner, his voice full of contempt for the creatures. "Hardly worth the killing"

http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/5619/auriltefortt4.jpg (http://img19.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt4.jpg/)

[mshady]

Aurilite Bridge

Will have to post this thursday or friday night. If you can specify what square your're going to, that'd be great. I may advance it a few rounds to get you into the scrap.

[Strangie]

Bridge

Wyatt reminded himself to ask Sable how to talk in sign language once this was all over, and followed her along to the right tower (I believe that's correct, anyway). As she ascended with her slippers of spider climbing, he waited at the base, and picked the best spot he could to hide in the shadows. Hiding was something he was good at. Perhaps too good.

Taking 10 on Hide and Move Silently checks if possible, with mods of +21 and +19 respectively that makes those checks 31 and 29. If taking 10 isn't possible (it should be, if Wyatt isn't distracted or being directly pressured), go ahead and roll, or tell me to roll and I will go ahead with that. As far as exact square, if a particular square offers a good place to hide without putting me in danger, I'll take one closest to the tower on the north side, which is the side I think we looped around and came from according to Sable's post.

[Scow2]

Aurulite Fort
With his sword in hand, Gore lowers his horns and charges the Hobgoblins (With either a "Moo"-like roar, or Roar-like "Moo"), sword held back to build its momentum.

[Charging the hobgoblin immediately diagonal from Gore, and setting up Momentum Swing from my Combat Brute Tactical Feat]
Attack:[roll0] Damage: [roll1]

[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort
Elated by the success of the minotaur charge against the gate, Magnum activated the frosty magic of Arctis and moved forward. Seeing only hobgoblins initially disappointed him a bit. Then he chuckled a bit as he remembered that this was only a minor skirmish that could at worst serve to delay them a bit from their primary objective.

Looking at the others around him as they emerged from the tunnel, Magnum sighed heavily, as if frustrated, "I hope they save a few fer us!"

The cleric chuckled and added, "C'mon Nega, what say we run in an' get dis blood bath flowin' fast? Da quicker we get done here da better." He had two reasons for this in his mind. First, he wanted to get into the battle as soon as possible without breaking ranks. Secondly he wanted see Nega's reaction to his specific words.

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort
Nega looks at the ClericNever underestimate an enemy we secure our flanks no running inn ladd wit(h)out securin da flanks. Da ones in front can (h)andle da goblins

[mshady]

Aurilite Bridge

Sable and Wyatt keep low to the ground sneak around the tower without notice. Once there, Sable puts on her slippers of spider climbing and scales the wall with apparent ease, although her cramped arms tell the rest of her body a different story.

She scales the walls at AH15.

Once up there, she feeds a rope down to Wyatt and hauls him up with great care. His foot slips once on the wet stone and the scrapping sound is cringe worthy, but no one seems to take notice.

The two get a good look at the river below them. It flows at a lazy pace, but it is fairly wide for an underground river. They get a good view of the old dwarven bridge. It looks like an axe cleaved it in two. A span twenty feet wide seems to be gone out of it.

The two towers do indeed have windows on all sides; ones big enough to shoot out of or crawl into. Inside the one in front of them, there is indeed a guard here. He sits asleep in a chair, a battered tin cup sitting next to him. Looking to the far tower though, something seems to be different.

There are three barges now.

Down below, Flint ducks and weaves amongst the wagons and stops in a position that will give him a good view of the guard house. He dare not approach any closer, but he can see the speaking tube plain as day. The problem was he could see into the guard house from here and it would be hard to stay out of their line of sight if he got closer. Talamir and the quiet fire priest of Kossuth move up to replace where Sable and Wyatt had sat.

Buelyir is crouched down at one knee with his spy glass, watching the tower and waiting for a signal.

[ithildur]

Talamir shifts up to Sable's former spot, relaxed but ready to step forward quickly. His eyes follow the stealthy trio's movements for as long as they remain within sight, occasionally shifting between the barracks and what he can make out of the towers.

As the three move into position and out of his sight, he looks back to Buelyir and waits for the relayed signal. His longsword is sheathed in its scabbard, though he makes sure it's loose enough and ready when needed.

The irony, he thinks to himself as he watches Flint. To find myself working alongside Grey dwarves... while worrying about how another elf will respond, if he knew...

He forces himself to focus on the task at hand, and sniffs the air around him a few times, reminding himself of the scents of those nearby him.

[ArmanMadero]

((Arman smells of old sweat, new sweat and blood overlaying a faint smell of sunlight and wilderness and a small amout of sour smell of infection.))

Arman listened to the discussions his head nodding every so often as if he was thinking of all the possibilities and agreeing or disagreeing with them. His leg pained him and he soon found a spot to sit amongst everyone. He noticed again the strange robed figure but took no other note of him until he spoke.

The tones were distinctively elven. The cloaked figure was an elf. Interesting. Arman wondered what an elf was doing with a company that seemed to be crude and full of death. Arman smirked at this, considering who he was with and what they were carrying. Pushing a mental note to the back of his mine to ask the elf later how he came to be with Black’s company, Arman paid attention to the war discussion.

Soon Sable, Wyatt and a few others were sent to put some things into the food of the Aurilites, and also see what they would have to deal with. They returned soon enough with all the details. He would be with the group with Buelyir, Sable, Wyatt , the strange elf and a few others. After everything was ready, Arman went to Sable, wondering if she had any other items of medicinal properties. Specifically pain relief. His leg was hurting him, and he hoped that he would be up to Buelyir’s expectations with the pain. Maybe Sable would have something for it.

”Sable I was wondering if you had anything for pain relief also. You seem to have a wide assortment of herbs on you, and I wasn’t sure if you did or not. However, I would be most grateful if you did have some that I could use.” Arman smiles a little. ”I’m afraid the use of so much magic and the traveling has made the pain quite intense.”

If Sable has anything he can use cool, if not, he will deal with the pain.

After making sure that everything was set, they went towards the river. Upon reaching the river, they started to set a plan into motion to get to the barges, without letting the enemy know what was going on before they got there. He smiled and softly cast a spell on himself. No sense in getting hurt more than he was already

Arman casts Greater Invisibility on himself

[Strangie]

Wyatt - Bridge

Wyatt frowns and shrugs at Sable once he reaches the top. Even the best sneaks can't always get it perfect.

He gestures quietly at Sable, and then the sleeping guard, while looking at Sable still, and then makes a motion with his hand across his throat - he knew that Sable was best equipped to take someone out in the quietest way possible.

[Werewhale]

Fort Battle - Nalrak Ironfist

Rather suspecting that the two minotaurs could fight this battle on their own without help from anyone else, Nalrak still advances with the others.

((Staying in formation, moving along with everyone else. If formation breaks or stops, he will keep moving ahead up to AH23 at the furthest to keep an eye on the melee.))

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort
Nega secures the gate after the others are through keeping keen eye on the surrondings.

[Melody]

Sable moved into position behind the guard and slipped her dagger into her hand. She gestured Wyatt to stand behind her as the dagger drew across the hobgoblin's throat, severing his arteries and airway in one quick cut. She held him pressed down into the chair as he gurgled, unable to draw a breath until he was finally still. It was over quickly, and there was an impressive amount of blood, none of which was on Sable. Even her dagger was nearly clean, having been drawn through so quickly.

She left the body sitting up. In the dark the blood wasn't immediately noticable and it would seem that the guard was still on duty. Pulling out her hat of disguise she opened the door and stepped onto the bridge as the guard she had just killed. She gave Bueylir time to see her, knowing he'd be watching, then signaled.

Careful. Three barges, was two. Moving to scout, then tower.

She stretched and walked back into the tower and pulled off the hat, putting it back inside her pack. She lowered Wyatt and then climbed down after. They moved quietly along the tow path towards the docks, getting a good view of the barges as they went. They both listened and looked carefully to see if there was anyone still on the barge and whether it was fastened tight and locked like the other two had been.

From there they went up the second tower where the crane would block anyone from the ground seeing them and out of sight of the barracks. The procedure was repeated with Wyatt careful not to make sound as he was pulled up the face of the tower.

[Strangie]

Wyatt - Bridge

Wyatt watched silently as Sable took out the guard, unmoving. It was pretty gruesome, and he thought for a moment how someone who is so pleasant to talk to normally can also be so deadly at the same time, unlike most, who usually were composed of demeanors as unpleasant as their lines of work.

He put the thoughts aside for now and refocused as Sable walked back after signaling to Buelyir, and followed her up the next tower. He tried his best to make sure he didn't slip this time, taking the lessons of the last trek up the other tower to mind to make sure it didn't happen twice.

I've made a lot of contributions to this group up to this point, I'll be damned if I screw it all up now... he thought to himself as he made his way. Either way, once there, he prepared himself to be able to support Sable as much as he could if things got hairy, keeping his mace handy when he wasn't using his hands for other tasks.

[ithildur]

Talamir - Bridge

The ample torchlight in the area is sufficient for the elf to see quite well with his low-light vision, and he sees Sable's signals to Buelyir. Not knowing their meaning, he looks once more to the unusual dwarf and waits, his hood drawn up and muscles prepared to spring into action.

A simple diversion should suffice, and perhaps prove useful to reveal their numbers if there are more than we accounted for.

A trace of a smile forms on his lips as he silently imagines the reactions of the hobgoblins, whose racial hatred for elves is well known to him.

clear illumination for 40ft radius/shadowy 80ft from torchlight

[Gryndel]

Nega - Fort
Nega looks at the ClericNever underestimate an enemy we secure our flanks no running inn ladd wit(h)out securin da flanks. Da ones in front can (h)andle da goblins
Secure da flanks, check."

Magnum veered off, angled to the right as they advanced. He wanted to get a look at the north side of the fort and where the north road was indicated on the map. He certainly didn't want to be outflanked by such rabble, and marching straight into the path of heavy siege weapons was never wise when avoidable. The whole time he kept looking up at the central tower for any sign of leaders.

Double move this rd to AQ15. Rd after another double move to AK10. Finally another double move to AE6. Each round move pending direct order to the contrary or encountering unknown foes on the way.
Listen[roll0]
Spot[roll1]

[mshady]

Aurilte Bridge:

Sable moves over to the second crane after killing the first guard and signaling to Buelyir. She scales it easily, almost freakishly with the enchantment of her slippers. They may not have been stylish at all, but as shoes went, they were some of the best in her collection. The twenty feet of crane takes hardly any time at all to scale. When she finds a place to anchor herself on the crane. Once again, the rope is fed down to the ground where the waiting Wyatt is doing his best to blend in and up the halfling goes.

Perched atop the crane, Sable can see where Flint is hiding. The duergar could probably move up at this point, but is staying in hiding to avoid even the risk of detection. Instead, he sits there with a flask set out and a field ration open as he calmly eats his dinner. Flint's crossbow is propped up next to the nearest wagon. Apparently this was taking long enough for the duergar to have his lunch.

It was about to get more interesting, though. The third barge is docked further down the dock than the other two. Several large crates are stacked near it. Were there more wagons here than before? How could they have got in? Sable wonders. Before the answer to that, there was a new problem. Two giants were laying down the barge. It looked like a male and female and are asleep in the bottom of the barge, arms wrapped around each other and surrounded by furs. Two suits of chainmail lay to the side of the barges, as well as a set of axes.

DM Note: Sorry for the short update. A lot happened, but not a lot to actually say on the DM level.

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/3589/auriltebridget2.jpg (http://img132.imageshack.us/i/auriltebridget2.jpg/)

http://img132.imageshack.us/i/auriltebridget2.jpg/

[mshady]

Turn 3

The two minotaurs charge at the hobgoblins, without fear or care, only blood lust. Gore's charge is not with his horns however, but with his sword. He uses the momentum from his charge and transfers it to a devastating swing. It connects with a loud, wet, thump and catapults the hapless hobgoblin into the fortress wall. It's torso is nearly cleaved in two.

Kerik's attack is a little more traditional. He lowers his head and charges right at the nearest hobgoblin. The spike atop his helmet spears the hobgoblin in the gut. A powerful toss of the head clears the spike, and his axe flashes into a high guard position as the hobgoblins rush into him.

Behind Kerik, Tasster and his sons follow him into the slaughter. The family of maniac dwarves scream wildly as they rush in to meet the hobgoblins. Only Tasster himself manages to get close enough on his initial charge; his deadly great axe ends a hobgoblin messily.

To their rear, the two columns of dwarves and duergar plod on ahead, eager to join the battle but maintaining discipline.

Atop the tower, the crew of the ballista work to reload the weapons. Another crew labors to prepare the catapult. In total, there must be half a dozen hobgoblins up there.

The hobgoblins charge in themselves, and while they might be individually weaker, they had numbers going for them at the moment. The group attacking Gore is smart enough to realize they would have little chance against such a heavily armored opponent and try to topple the minotaur by grappling it to the ground.

They try the same thing with Kerik, but shockingly enough, manage to carry the powerful minotaur to the ground and pile in on him. Kerik roars as he is carried to the ground. It a frightening sound, one promising painful death as soon as he was able. Even prone, there was little chance the hobgoblins could penetrate his magnificent armor, nor had the strength to hold him down for long.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/237/auriltefortt5.jpg (http://img17.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt5.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega-Fort
The bull is alone da ot(h)er fools didn't split up. Come wit(h) me Magnum we (h)ave new orders suddenly.
Nega moves to AF17 and engages a hobgoblin. (H)jalmar guard da arcanii and secure da gate and keep close eye.

[Gryndel]

Magnum
The dwarf cleric considered casting Spiritual Weapon to battle those atop the tower. But seeing Gore get grappled initially, he decided to join Nega immediately, "Right beside ye!" He moved forward, Arctis ready to cut down the first foe.

move to AG17, attack AG16
Attack[roll0]
Damage[roll1]
Frost Damage[roll2]

[Strangie]

Wyatt - Bridge

Wyatt frowned at the sight of the two giants, slowly shaking his head.

Damnit, was the only thing that went through his mind at the time.

He knew they would have to be taken out eventually, but he tried to figure out a way to remove them from the scene that didn't involve him attempting to have to do a coup de grace alongside Sable - making a close kill like that wasn't really in his portfolio, and he could try it, but giants were a fortuitous bunch, and Wyatt was not very strong.

He looks at Sable, glancing at the giants and shaking his head. The look of doubt in his eyes was evident. He turned and looked back at the other tower, considering pressing ahead and leaving the giants alone... for now. While they might be a problem, they weren't an immediate problem, and might be better handled by the other members of the party waiting behind, and therefore hopefully didn't turn into his own problem.

[thorgrim29]

Taking a look at the scurrying goblins preparing the siege weapons, Thordrek mutters an oath and turns to his spellcasting companions

We've got to take out the ones manning the seige engines or this could get messy quick.

He moves up next to Tasster's group (AH21) and:

1: If he has line of sight to one of the goblins loading a ballistae, he shoots a Kelgore's fire bolt at it:
[roll0] (fire damage if it matters)

2: If not, the same to the Goblin on AD19

[Melody]

Sable leaned against the crane and studied things for a bit. Fighting two Frost Giants was never her idea of fun. The mooring line would be easy, but the chain stretched out across the river would stop the barge from floating away. She focused on the padlock holding the chain across the river and something began to happen.

She felt the air beside her flex somehow.. just like when she cast the spell mage hand. Reaching into her pack she pulled a tension bar and pick and handed them to the empty air, like moving something from her left hand to her right. The pick moved across the empty space to the lock and stopped, tension bar resting against the bottom, as the pick moved the tumblers into position. She felt the last tumbler click into place as the beginnings of a headache began to throb just behind her temples.

The padlock opened and the chain slipped loose, sliding down into the water and out of the way. A whispered spell and she felt the familiar flex of empty air, then the mooring line loosened and the barge was free. The barge floated quietly down river bearing its sleeping passengers away.

Sable and Wyatt crept back down the crane and then up the second guard tower. Peering into the room they saw the second guard was awake and alert. She slipped inside, garrote in hand, with Wyatt close on her heels. At that moment the guard began to turn. Everything happened quickly after that. She surged forward tossing the looped end of the garrote over the hobgoblin's head as he stood up suddenly, then pulled the garrote tight with a quick jerk. The hobgoblin jumped to his feet, knocking over the chair, but Wyatt caught the chair and moved it out of the way before any sound was made.

The hobgoblin's movements became weaker and weaker, his hands clawing at his throat as his eyes bulged. The fingernails digging bloody furrows trying to loosen the thin mithril wire to no avail. Eventually his struggles ceased, but she held tightly to the wooden handle until she was certain there was no way he could be faking unconsciousness. That done she slipped the garrote back over his head and stowed it in her pack. She checked to make certain that the creature was dead. Buelyir wanted prisoners, but having the tower guards alive was a complication she wasn't interested in.

Going to the window she signaled thumbs up to Flint and then in Buelyir's direction.

Both tower guards dead. Barge with two sleeping frost giants sent downstream. All clear for barracks assault on Flint's go ahead.

[mshady]

Buelyir sits in the tunnel and watches through his spy glass as Sable sits atop the crane and concentrates for a long time before he hears a soft snap sound. A moment later, he hears the "clack clack clack" sound of a chain unspooling, than a splash in the water. He cringes and whips his spy glass around to examine the guards. If they had heard anything, it did not occur to them that something was amiss. Buelyir returns his spy glass to where Sable is, and sees she is working an actual spell this time. He adjusts the view and watches as a translucent blue hand uncoils the two ropes holding the barge with the sleeping giants from its moorings.

"Clever girl..." he mutters under his breath in appreciation. The dwarf is smiling widely. He watches Sable and Wyatt descend from the crane now and move on to the second tower. It doesn't take long for Sable to slip into the tower, but she stumbles on the way in. Buelyir watches her work through the portal cut into the stone watch tower as she slips a garrote over the hapless hobgoblins neck, than spin around and pull the creature on her back and pull down hard on the garrote. If asphyxiation didn't kill the hobgoblin, it might have had its neck slit due to the pressure.

Even Buelyir did not hear a sound. Once again, he smiles in appreciation to the point of pride.

He waits for Sable to signal him in their shared sign language.

Both tower guards dead. Barge with two sleeping frost giants sent downstream. All clear for barracks assault on Flint's go ahead.

Buelyir takes a chance and stands. His hands move deliberately as he replies to her with the silent speech.

"Good Job. We have it from here. Watch for anything we missed. Contribute as you want now. Wait for Flint." he replies.

When Sable acknowledges the message, he looks over at Flint. The duergar is finishing his lunch apparently, and already packing things up. At least Buelyir would not interrupt the duergar's meal. He had done so a few times in the past, but times were different now. He waves his hands until he gets the duergar's attention, and it takes a frustratingly long time before he even notices. Once he does, he waves back in acknowledgement and brandishes his hatchet meaningfully to show Buelyir he was ready. Then he slips away into the darkness.

"Get ready..." Buelyir says, tensing up. His fingers fiddle with the hilt of his sword as he contemplates untying the peace bond on it. "Talamir, take Kelith and get to where Flint was. We'll go the other way" Buelyir says quickly. He explains himself to Johannes and Arman quickly, and the two slip along the edge of the wall and take up hiding spots amongst the wagons.

As soon as they get into position, they catch their breathes for a moment and wait. The hobgoblins were likely outnumbered, and the Patriarchate force was full of skilled veterans. There was no reason to expect this to be a hard fight, especially after Sable's work.

Things commence with the sound of a loud "whack" as Flint chops the speaking tube that runs into the side of the guard house. That got the guard's attention finally. Suddenly you hear sounds as they react with surprise, unsure of what just happened. The answer comes a moment later when Flint jams a smoke bomb through the severed speaking tube. Thick black smoke billows from the smoke powder grenade and the guards quickly run out of the guard house and into open ground. Five hobgoblins run out of the guard station, shields in hand and gagging. Nonetheless, they take position in a wedge around the guard station in a loose maneuver that almost looks practiced. Moments later, two more hobgoblins come stumbling out, both tougher looking than the regular hobgoblins...

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/5312/auriltebridget3.jpg (http://img560.imageshack.us/i/auriltebridget3.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[Strangie]

Wyatt - Bridge

Wyatt watches with a grin, reaching into his haversack. "Great work, Sable," he whispers. "Now it's my turn to shine. I got you a present - reach into my haversack and think of a tanglefoot bag, and drop it on one of 'dose tougher-looking hobbos."

As he speaks, he looks out over the tower, taking aim and lobbing a tanglefoot bag directly down toward one of the stronger hobgoblins. Making the biggest threats much less of a threat would make life easier for everybody.

Initiative: [roll0]
Ranged Touch Attack vs. B6: [roll1]. A hit Entangles the target (-2 to attack rolls, -4 penalty to Dexterity) and they must make a DC 15 Reflex save or be pinned to the floor. A successful save still Entangles them and limits their movement speed to half.
Tanglefoot Duration on successful hit: [roll2]

Obviously I'm probably not going first with that initiative roll, but the rest of that stuff takes care of my turn for the most part. Just one question - how far is it from where Sable and Wyatt are to, say, the roof of the guard shack? I might have Wyatt drop down on top of the shack on his next turn (he already used his move action to grab a tanglefoot bag on this one)

Edit: Edited post based on new information. See spoiler. Changes are in underlining.

[ithildur]

Talamir waits with patience during the unexpected wait, deciding to trust that whatever the unusual dwarf's reason for delaying was likely due to what he saw through the spyglass.

He arcs a brow slightly at the new directive, but unsheathes his longsword and moves to the spot indicated, apparently undetected. These hobgoblins weren't the most alerts guards he'd ever encountered, that much seemed obvious.

Twack! The sound of the duergar's work becomes apparent, and Talamir shakes his head and smirks. So much for silence! The hobgoblin guards finally stumble out of their shack and form a semblance of a formation, a formation all too convenient for a spellcasting opponent to take advantage of. He looks towards Arman's direction briefly and hopes he, or any of the others, do not waste more than one well selected spell.

"Faer Aegis Theur!"

He utters the elven words for Magic Protection Shield, triggering the wand stored inside his blade's pommel and releasing it's abjurative magic. Sensing the familiar invisible force form into a protective shield, he steps out into broad view in front of the wedge and draws his hood back, plainly revealing his elven features.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png"Greetings," he declares in the Common tongue with clear, melodious voice. "I trust I've not arrived too late for the festivities. Now then, is this all of you that are attending tonight's dance?"

His longsword is held out to his side openly, his left hand held out empty as well as he gives a small bow, all his senses on full alert, though slightly focused more on the nearest large hobgoblin. He begins to hear, to feel the mystical song in his mind, the flow of the dance, as his body begins to ready itself.



Not sure how we handle initiative, but rolling:
[roll0] Initiative
Activate Wand of Shield inside wand chamber as standard action, move to 28W (30 feet in front of B6), declaring Dodge feat on nearest big hobgoblin (which I'm guessing is B6)
AC 28, 29 vs bighobgob
Active stance (consider as default unless specified): Hunter's Senses/Scent ability 30'

[Melody]

Sable signals back understanding and translates for Wyatt. She pulls out her shortbow and reaches over her shoulder to the quiver there pulling out an arrow. Suddenly there is a loud Whack sound and hobgoblins pour out of the building below them.

She smiles and stands behind Wyatt in the window as he pulls out a tanglefoot bag. Her bow is drawn and ready and she whispers a spell as she looks down at the unsuspecting hobgoblins. Focused as they were on the party in front of them she could get off at least one good shot while their backs were turned. She whispered quietly and a charge seemed to pass from her hands into the bow itself, settling into the arrow. She let loose as Wyatt heaves the tanglefoot bag at the hapless hobgoblin beneath them.


Cast the spell Critical Strike and taking a ranged sneak attack against B6. Holding my attack until Wyatt's assuming I get higher than he does.

Initiative [roll0]
Attack [roll1] Target is flatfooted against my attack. Critical on a roll of 19 or 20 and +4 to crit confirmation (Because of the spell)
On hit the damage is [roll2] + sneak attack [roll3] (1 extra d6 due to the spell)

[Gorgondantess]

Johannes sighs. This... was not his sortof battle. He'd had some combat experience in the past, and as far as he was concerned, it was all he'd ever need.
Nevertheless, he walks out, casting a spell.
He waves at the nearest hobgoblin. "Excuse me, good sir, but would you kindly drop your weapon, come over here and have a chat?"
Suggestion is a fun spell. DC 18. Probably B5.

[Scow2]

Gore Turrock - Castle Battle
[cleave from Round 4]As the unfortunate hobgoblin first to stand in the blade's way was cast aside by the blade's impact, Gore carries the weapon through to the next. [roll0] [roll1]

[Attack of opportunity, at -4 Power Attack]When the Hobgoblins attempt to swarm around him, he thrusts at the first to let its guard down, maintaining the momentum of his charge. [roll2] [roll3], [cleave] and attempting to carry that one into another Hobgoblin as well [roll4] [roll5]

Turn 5

Then, [Assuming the survivors don't Successfully beat his [roll6] Grapple Check] [Executing Momentum Swing] with his training allowing him to still hold the momentum of his charge and bring it to bear with greater force than before, Gore Turrock swings his blade for a third time through the Hobgoblins swarming about him, with incredible power behind his unwieldy blows. [roll7] [roll8] [CLEAVE] [roll9] [roll10]

Even after this fun, the carnage continues as his blade comes around again [roll11] [roll12] [Cleave] [roll13] [roll14]

"Don't let them get you down, Keric!" he lightheartedly taunts his superior, knowing the champion would get up and kick more ass before he took any serious damage.

[Gryndel]

Fort battle

Magnum
Future intent; attack nearest hobgoblin...

Initiative[roll0]
Attack[roll1]
Damage[roll2]
[B]Frost Damage[roll3]

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega Fort Battle
Attacks the closest hobgobling.

[Werewhale]

Fort Battle - Nalrak Ironfist

As the formation makes contact with the enemy, Nalrak will join the melee, but sticking to the flanks rather than jumping into the fray, so that he will have an easier time disengaging to attend to other needs of the battle.

((As in: attacking the hobgoblin with the fewest friends around him))

[Werewhale]

Fort Battle - Nalrak Ironfist Part II

((Forgot to actually roll for stuff)

Initiative is 11 as rolled before.
Attack Roll: [roll0]
Damage Roll: [roll1] +1 Fire Damage

In case of Critical Threat:
Confirmation Roll: [roll2]
Damage Roll: [roll3], not sure if fire damage is multiplied too.

[mshady]

Aurilite Fort Battle

Down on the ground, Kerik roars in frustration as the hobgoblins try to keep him pinned to the ground. It's a futile effort, considering the minotaur's massive strength and bulk. He casts aside the hobgoblins, but the effort of it delayed him from unleashing his fury upon them. If they had any other illusions about bringing down the minotaur, they were quickly dispelled.

It didn't delay Tasster and his sons. Their axes sing through the air, with two of the son's claiming a hobgoblin a piece and Tasster knocking down two with the swing of his axe. He cackles madly as he pulls his axe from the entrails of a fallen foe.

Nalrak closes in with his hammer held high over his head and when a hobgoblin comes close enough, he drops it on the evil things head. It's helmet is about all that remains of its head as it drops to its knees. The dwarf kicks the beast in the chest and sends its body to the ground.

Gore's sword is still swinging, as he lets his swing continue by letting his blade travel over his head and come crashing back down again on the next hapless hobgoblin. He opens up the hobgoblin's belly from front to spine and sends it spinning to the ground. The blade continues to go until the next hobgoblin stops the blow with his shield. Bits of wood go flying from the shield.

Coming behind Gore are the holy warriors, Nega and Magnum. Nega immediately clocks one of the hobgoblins solidly on the head, knocking it senseless and to the ground. Magnum's own axe and cuts down the nearest hobgoblin, the sharpness of the blade doing all of the work. The shocking cold of the axe chills the already dead hobgoblin.

Behind them, Thordek pauses and sees that the battle on the ground seems well in hand. The biggest threat now were the two ballista guarding the gate house. He has a clear line of sight and pauses long enough to conjure a focuses ball of fire and sends it hurtling towards the nearest hobgoblin, as he swings the ballista to shoot it at Kerik. He doesn't get the chance, as the ball of fire hits it hard and sends the flaming hobgoblin tumbling to the ground. It's squeals of pain stop as soon as it hits the ground.

Behind Thordek, the two Arcanii decide to take care of another problem. Carmard and Buna send two balls of fire streak from their hands and explode over the top of the keep. They take out the two ballista facing towards the battle down below. Because of the height of the tower, the explosions do not reach far enough back to take out the catapult.

Further back, the duergar move to secure the right and left flanks while Black's Company moves up the center.

On the left side of the remains of the gatehouse, the last remaining ballista swings into the fight once again. The hobgoblin leans down the length of the bolt to check his aim and lets the bolt fly at Gore. The ballista bolt plunges into Gore's back, and the minotaur roars a most mighty roar. It penetrates the armor and into his thick muscle, but it is does not go deeply enough to slay the minotaur. He does, however, have three feet of iron shod lumber sticking out of the back plate of his armor.

The ballista rolls a critical, doing 20 pts of damage.

The hobgoblins flail away at the minotaurs, but their swords are unable to penetrate their thick armor, nor against any of the dwarves.

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/237/auriltefortt5.jpg (http://img72.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt5.jpg/)

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[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort

Chuckling at the feckless efforts to grapple the minotaurs, the cleric moved forward and attacked the next nearest hobgoblin (at AE16). Though not as vocally maniacal as some, he relished slaying enemies in battle, and dedicated each attack to his beloved Deity.

I posted his next attack already (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10193622&postcount=2634) (Atk 26, Dmg 17 +3 frost), mistakenly adding initiative again. :smalltongue:

Shield of Faith, Mass in effect (+4 deflection bonus to AC)

My sheet is linked in my sig, but quick stats:
AC 29
HP 82/82
DR 1/blunt

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort
Engages the closest standing hobgobling next to magnum ;)

[thorgrim29]

Thordrek moves up to be in a better position to intercept enemy reinforcements and for the catapult to be in range (tell me if he sees the catapult servants please)

Double move to get to AC20

[Scow2]

Gore Turrock -Fort battle

Bellowing as the Balista's bolt tried to replace his spine, Gore turned around and continued to slash at the hobgoblins swarming around him. At least one will also end up on the wrong side of his horns.

Swing:[+7 BAB, +7 STR, +1 Weapon, -2 PowAtt, -1 Size][ROLL]3d6+15 [+7STR, +3 1/2 STR, +1 Weapon, +4 Power Attack] CLEAVE: [roll1] [roll2]

Gore: [roll3] [roll4] [+3 1/2 STR, +4 PowAtt] (unlikely cleave)[roll5] [roll6]

More Swinging: [roll7] [+12 TAB, -5 Iterative] [roll8] [roll9] [roll10]

[mshady]

Aurilite Bridge Battle - Turn Summary - Now Turn 8

Summary: Buelyir's group observes the bridge area. When Talamir steps out from behind cover and draws the hobgoblin's attention, followed by Kelith, Buelyir prepares his own action. While Talamir scores a biting wound against the hobgoblin and Kelith manages to disarm his target, plus snatch the weapon from a charging hobgoblin. Buelyir's own shot fails as his complex repeating crossbow breaks. He can be heard cursing as the gentle sounds of metal gears and other bits fall to the floor.

At the same time, Wyatt manages to use a tanglefoot bag to hit an armored hobgoblin sergeant armed with a heavy flail. Sable leans over the edge of the barracks and takes a point blank shot into the officer's back, penetrating his articulating plate armor but still only modestly wounding him.

The elf and the cleric manage to slay their foes in tandem, with Talamir executing a brutally effective move that takes down two of the attackers. Flint had managed to back stab one of the hobgoblins attacking Talamir as well. Arman holds on to his magic, and instead plugs the hobgoblin in the arm with an arrow. That attack is followed up by Wyatt leaping from the top of the guard tower and smacking the hobgoblin officer hard enough with his mace to send the burly goblinoid reeling.

That was when the sergeant struck the bell and yelled out the goblin words for "dinner time". He and his lieutenant duck back inside the guard shack and toss Flint's smoke grenade back out. The clanging bell is answered at first with only glares from the party at Buelyir for failing to silence the bell, as per the original plan. More ominously though, it is answered by a pair of eager roars.

Two aquatic trolls emerge from the water that flows under the bridge, which is as stereotypical as it is menacing. The fast thinking Sable and Wyatt immediately hatch a plan, with Wyatt throwing an alchemist fire bomb at the troll. This only annoys the creature; however much trolls dislike fire, this was not a lot of actual fire. Sable quickly rectifies that issue, by casting a grease spell on the already slippery stone floor. The burning troll slips and falls in the grease and ignites the conjured substance. It immediately turns into a roaring, popping fire that scorches both of the trolls. They scream hysterically in the fire.

The still erect troll quickly steps out of the fire; steam and smoke rise like a cloud from its body. It's claws immediately reach out for Kelith, even after his chain lashes both trolls resulting in painful flesh wounds. The chain wielding priest's already tattered tunic is torn open by the troll's first claw strike and hot blood flows from the wound, but he manages to duck the attack.

Troll 1 took 2 points from the alchemist fire. Troll 2 took 1 point. The grease fire deals 19 pts to both of them. Troll 2 does 8 pts damage to Kelith, who inflicted 9 pts on troll 1 and 8 pts on troll 2.

Initiative:

Buelyir 22
Talamir 21
Kelith 19
Johannes 16
Flint 15
Wyatt 10
Sable 10
Arman 10
Troll 1 8
Troll 2 7

MAP

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/583/aurilitebridget8.jpg

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/583/aurilitebridget8.jpg (http://img577.imageshack.us/i/aurilitebridget8.jpg/)

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/583/aurilitebridget8.th.jpg (http://img577.imageshack.us/i/aurilitebridget8.jpg/)

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[Strangie]

Wyatt - Bridge

Wyatt runs toward the burning troll, twirling his mace around his wrist while holding his buckler shield up in front of him. "Yo, Kelith! Heads up!" He darts past the fire cleric, stepping right in front of him as he delivers a mace swing to the vulnerable, prone troll...

Moving to AF 23, using Spring Attack on TR1. No AoO provoked due to the use of the feat. Improved Skirmish applies to damage. Enemy is prone, so that's a -4 to the troll's AC against this attack.

Attack:
Damage: [roll]1d4+4d6 (1d4 is mace damage, 4d6 is skirmish damage)
Acid Damage: [roll1] (from rune)

Then finish the routine and use last 5 feet of movement to stop in AF 22, completing the requirement for Spring Attack.

Having moved 40', he gains Expeditious Dodge's bonus to AC, which makes his AC 34 until his next turn.

[Strangie]

Wyatt - Bridge, con't

(OOC: My damage for skirmish and mace didn't go through on the last post. Info for that is below.)

Blah, my last rolls didn't go through. This is for damage, not including acid.

Base Mace damage: [roll0]
Improved Skirmish: [roll1]

Wyatt twirls his mace after his attack, spinning and stepping to the side of the troll. He knew the lanky monster would attempt to get up soon. If he did, he'd be ready.

: This is for if the troll gets up. This is my AoO attack.
[roll2] attack
[roll3] mace
[roll4] Improved Skirmish (which applies until my next turn)
[roll5] acid damage

El oh el. Well, that's a whiff.

[ithildur]

Got the greenlight from DM, so here we go


Talamir paused for an instant after he cast the cantrip, feeling the subtle energies of the simple, yet often useful spell flowing through him. It would be at his disposal should he need it for some time now. Eyeing the firepot nearby full of live coals, the elf mentally sorted through possibilities for dealing with the Scrags. Wyatt had pointed out that they did not regenerate out of the water. The key was to keep them landbound...

Seeing the effects of Sable's Grease spell (and the alchemical fire) Talamir held off on such thoughts for the moment, and moved quickly into action to take advantage of the opportunity. He rushed forward towards the Scrag that had slipped and fallen, and leapt into the air...


Move action 30 feet straight east to 23 AE
Sudden Leap martial maneuver to make a jump as swift action, aiming for 23AH, along with tumble checks to avoid AOO (from both trolls if he makes the full 15 feet jump, otherwise just TR1)
Jump check DC 15
[roll1] Tumble to avoid TR1 AOO DC 15
[roll2] Tumble to avoid TR2 AOO DC 17
Standard action single attack on prone troll, Punishing Stance
[roll3] +1 Longsword, +6 BAB, +3 Str, +1 WF, +1 Racial
[roll]1d8+4+1d6 +1 Longsword, +3 Str, +1d6 Punishing Stance (-2 AC)
Dodge feat vs TR2
AC currently 26, 27 vs TR2



Attack of Opportunity
+1 Longsword, +6 BAB, +3 Str, +1 WF, +1 Racial
[roll]1d8+4+1d6 +1 Longsword, +3 Str, +1d6 Punishing Stance (-2 AC)

[ithildur]

Damage rolls both times did not work, so redoing...

1d8+4+1d6 +1 Longsword, +3 Str, +1d6 Punishing Stance

AOO

1d8+4+1d6 +1 Longsword, +3 Str, +1d6 Punishing Stance

[mshady]

TURN 6

DM Note: I made some adjustments to the level of hobgoblins here to make this battle a little more interesting. Enjoy.

Initiative:

Bundok Battlehammer 19
Grathalmor Ironfist 16
Tasster Fiendshredder & Sons 16
Gore Turrock 15
Levtokuld Thordek Torrun 15
Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn 15
Arcanii Buna Soulhammer 14
Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist 12
Duervar Stonespite 11
Kerik Many Skulls 10
First Mace Nega Silverhammer 10
Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff 10
Arum Faer Wed 08
Goblin Archers (x10) 06
Paladin Hjalmar Crownshield 03
South Duergar (x11) 03
North Hobgoblins (x4) 03
Sonnlinor Thordek Stonebreaker 02
North Duergar (x11) 01
Black's Company 01
South Hobgoblins (x5) 01

Bundok (Init 19) and Grathalmor (Init 16) hold their positions outside the fort, crossbows in hand and wait to see if anything rounds the corner. The gnome mage Arum (Init 08) and his cantankerous badger are nearby as well. A flanking force to cut them off, or archers on the walls could both be problems. In the case of the later, they would be ill equipped for such an even if not for the presence of the mage. Hjalmar(Init 3) and Duervar (Init 11) have point on the opposite wall, while the duergar hold further back.

Tasster and his sons move up to support Kerik, and in doing so cut down one hobgoblin personally while his twin sons each hacked down another hobgoblin. These hobgoblins seemed no match for these lucky and wild hobgoblins, even though one of managed a cut on Tasster's arm.

Tasster takes 5 HP damage.

Gore and Kerik continue their own work with similar bloody efficiency. With a mighty swing, Kerik separates a hobgoblin's head from its shoulders than angles the back swing to sweep the hobgoblin off its legs, sans both knees. A stomp of his massive foot silences the pained screams of the goblin as he looks southward. He snorts with contempt at the dead around him.

"Hardly worth the killing!" he boasts, than beats his chest with his free hand, than roars mightily. His eyes are a blazing red from the blood lust. Nalrak holds his hammer and looks around for something to swing at, than frowns in disappointment.

Across the court yard, Gore roars in pain from the ballista bolt stuck in his back. He can feel a stream of hot blood flowing down his back from the wound; what would be a fatal wound to anyone else though is just a painful wound to the minotaur. The broken ribs would be a problem for later. He decides to take out his fury on the nearest hobgoblin, but barely gets his strike past the hobgoblins shield. The last thing the hobgoblin had to consider was that it probably should have paid better attention to its shield work. With the momentum from the powerful swing, he sweeps the sword back at the next. With one hobgoblin still standing next to him, and throws his iron shod horns at the surprised hobgoblin. His horn hooks the hobgoblin underneath the arm pit and sends it flying into the keep's wall.

Thordek (Init 15) moves up as well. No matter where he goes, he can't get a clear enough line of sight to hit the catapult. The only way he knows it is there was seeing the arm of it protruding in the air, and now it has been winched down. Aiming it for the enemy would be equally difficult though. Any spotter who stuck his head out would likely be killed by one of the mages or a crossbowmen.

Magnum and Nega work together in parallel to Gore's own ferocity to clear out the first wave of attackers. It takes little more than a well timed feint to land another devastating blow on a hobgoblin. His fine axe separates arm from shoulder, than splits his foe's chest. The creature falls to the ground in shock.

Magnum does 17 axe and 3 frost damage with the terrible Arctis.

With that hobgoblin on the ground, Nega shifts targets to the last remaining hobgoblin. Her first strike wounds the creature, but even the righteous power of the mace is not enough to fell it with a glancing blow. When it doubles over to cradle its shattered arm though, she swipes it across the head. Blood and teeth fly as it goes down, brained and limp.
Nega's first blow does 9. The second does 18.

With the catapult likely ready, the enemies had to aim the thing now. One of them sticks their head out to try and spot for the catapult crew. Buna (Init 14) uses a magic missile spell to kill the hobgoblin, sending it's body tumbling to the ground.

They still fire though, but the stone soars past where Sonnlinor Stonebreaker is standing and crashes into the stone floor, shattering and throwing fragments around the immediate area. Another hobgoblin sticks his head out and barks something, but it is faster than anyone else can react this time.

Surprise Round

With less than a dozen hobgoblins visible, and now all dead, this looked like it might be an easy fight and most would not even get their axes wet. That misconception was rapidly dispelled. Atop the walls on the south side of the gate, at least 10 smaller figures run to the walls. These goblins lean over the walls and look to see what they can shoot at. The first rank crouches and the second rank stands, and they send a volley of arrows down at the surprised Bundok and Grathalmor. None of the arrows wound Grathalmor, but two are turned away by his breastplate. Bundok is not so lucky, as the foul goblin arrows punch through his boiled leather and chain mail armor.

Bundok takes two hits, one for 7 HP and one for 4 HP. He is now at 65/76 HP

Other reinforcements round the corner moments later. To the north, a line of much burlier hobgoblins appear dressed in ice blue tunics emblazoned with the holy symbols of Auril. Two chainmail armored orges stand in front of them, holding great swords. Behind that group stands four more hobgoblins. Two are wearing half plate with spiked mauls. Behind them are two more hobgoblins. One is clearly a shaman, as he is adorned in robes with a sword and shield. The other appears thinner, and has the look of a mage, complete with a staff. Last in that group stands a massively strong looking hobgoblin with a two handed axe and splendidly crafted plate mail that appears to be made of a white metal, similar in complexion to Magnum's axe Arctis.

To the south, four minotaurs round the corner as well, also wearing chain and holding two handed weapons.

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1172/auriltefortt6.jpg (http://img708.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt6.jpg/)

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http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1172/auriltefortt6.th.jpg (http://img708.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt6.jpg/)

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[ithildur]

Damage rolls both times did not work, so redoing...

1d8+4+1d6 +1 Longsword, +3 Str, +1d6 Punishing Stance

AOO

1d8+4+1d6 +1 Longsword, +3 Str, +1d6 Punishing Stance




re-redoing damage... again! :smallmad:

[roll0]
[roll1]
AOO

[roll2]
[roll3]

[ithildur]

Seeing the effects of Sable's Grease spell (and the alchemical fire) Talamir held off on such thoughts for the moment, and moved quickly into action to take advantage of the opportunity. He rushed forward towards the Scrag that had slipped and fallen, and leapt into the air...

... and launched himself into a somersault, avoiding exposing himself to monstrous claws, landing gracefully on his feet with a soft thump right in front of Buelyir. Immediately his longsword sings as it rises, slashing back downwards hard into the flesh of the prone Scrag, as he sacrifices some of his momentum for parrying for the sake of a heavier strike.

Out of the corner of his eye, he prepared to evade the attacks of the second Scrag, as he calmly addressed Kelith and Buelyir.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png"Plenty of room for all of us to dance,"

His left hand was extended, open palm upwards and gesturing to the left as if extending an invitation, even as his right arm reset his blade into readied position.

[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort Battle
The dwarf cleric of battle stepped around Nega (5' step to AF16) to engage the first Ogre he could reach (OG2). Though he suspected some of these newly exposed defenders might have resistance to Arctis' chill, they seemed shielded behind these brutes. So first things first, in as orderly a fashion as he could manage in the chaos of melee.

He grumbled loudly as he attacked the ogre furiously, "Some might be worth the effort Gore!"

Attack[roll0] (added in the +1 from Guidance on this one)
Damage[roll1]
Frost Damage[roll2]
Gauntlets of Giant Felling[roll3]

OOC: Shield of Faith, Mass in effect (+4 deflection bonus to AC)
AC 29 (+4 dodge vs giants)
HP 82/82
DR 1/blunt

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort Battle
Nega steps up beside Magnum and engages an ogre with a smite evil.
Okey Magnum lets brain some brutes"
She shouts out a powerful warcry. "By Berronar I brain Thee!" She manages to smile at magnum as she strikes.

[Werewhale]

Fort Battle - Nalrak Ironfist

Nalrak only mutters a "Ah, there they are," at the sight of the reinforcements. Then he takes another look at the goblins on the wall and grins. Turning to Bundok and Grathalmor, he shouts at them, pointing at the goblins on the wall "Shoot one of the ones closer to me to make some room!" and grips his holy symbol.

If one(or more) of the goblins on the wall within 60 50 ft. dies
Nalrak will cast Summon Monster III and summon a small earth elemental on top of the wall, by the goblins, commanding it(if he can be heard in the din of battle) to push the goblins off the wall. Don't forget that the elemental gains +4 to strength and constitution from Augment Summoning and that the spell has a range of 45ft(Nalrak has +1 CL when casting Earth spells), is ready to take a 5ft. step and speaks Terran.

If none of the goblins die
Nalrak will move to AI25, or close enough to bring AH30 into range of the spell.

[mshady]

OOC Note: That's pretty darn clever!

[Scow2]

Gore Turrock - Fort Battle

With the first batch of Hobgoblins dead, Gore takes a single step up, getting both ogres, within the range of his sword. Given the uniform, military appearance of their enemies, he didn't see the Ogres' swords as particularly valuable. With a mighty swing of his sword, he clashed his incredible greatsword against the left Ogre's blade, on a course with the giant itself. [roll0] [+7 BAB,+7 STR, +8 ImpSund&ShattSword, -4 PowAtt.]
[roll1] Sundering Cleave: [roll2] +7 BAB, +7 STR, +8 Sundering, -6 POW. (By RAW, I should also be allowed to add my +8 from Sunder Bonuses to this roll as well due to the "This attack is made with the same weapon and same attack bonus that destroyed the weapon or shield" line. But that sounds like cheese :smalleek:) [roll3] [+12 1.5 STR+Sword, +10 POW)

With a bellow after the weapon clash, he drives his sword again, in synch with his horns. [roll4] [+2 BAB, +7 STR, -4 PowAtt] Damage [roll5] [roll6] Damage [roll7]

[A 2 on the opposed Sunder Attack roll!? SERIOUSLY?!]

[thorgrim29]

Remembering the encounter with a certain other goblinoid shaman, Thordrek decides to take the newcomer out of play. (Assuming he's HS, if not I'll do something else, not sure what yet)

He takes a step forward to get a clear shot (5 foot step to AD19, putting the goblin in range) and in quick succession fires off 4 rays of fire at him.

(using quick spell to shoot 2 scorching rays at CL7, meaning 4 rays in total)

Ranged touch attacks, +11 to hit (7 BAB, 2 DEX, +1 weapon focus (ranged spell) , +1 goblinoid)

Spell 1:

To Hit 1: [roll0], damage 1: [roll1]
To Hit 2: [roll2], damage 2: [roll3]

Spell 2:

To Hit 3: [roll4], damage 3: [roll5]
To Hit 4: [roll6], damage 4: [roll7]

If the first spell doesn't work for any reason, the second one goes to the mage instead.

Come on forum roller don't fail me now:smalleek:

Wow roller, that's some pretty hardcore failing on the damage... around 50% damage....

[mshady]

TURN 6

DM Note: I made some adjustments to the level of hobgoblins here to make this battle a little more interesting. Enjoy.

Initiative:

Bundok Battlehammer 19
Grathalmor Ironfist 16
Tasster Fiendshredder & Sons 16
Gore Turrock 15
Levtokuld Thordek Torrun 15
Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn 15
Arcanii Buna Soulhammer 14
Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist 12
Duergar Stonespite 11
Kerik Many Skulls 10
First Mace Nega Silverhammer 10
Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff 10
Arum Faer Wed 08
Paladin Hjalmar Crownshield 03
South Duergar (x11) 03
North Hobgoblins (x4) 03
Sonnlinor Thordek Stonebreaker 02
North Duergar (x11) 01
Black's Company 01
South Hobgoblins (x5) 01

Bundok (Init 19) and Grathalmor (Init 16): The two dwarves swing their crossbows at the goblins on top of the keep's walls. There weren't a lot of ways to get them off of their quickly. Thankfully they were good shots, but it would take awhile. The two drop to their knees and swing their crossbows at the goblins, aim and fire. Grathalmor misses, but Bundok hits. One of the goblins takes a bolt in the eye and topples to the ground.

Tasster and Sons (Init 16): "Now this is more like it, eh Kerik?" Tasster yells at the minotaurs, and laughs.

"Break out the spears!" he orders his sons. They hold back and reach for their backs, quickly grabbing for the pieces of their massive boar spears. The metal shafts would screw together and the three dwarves would use them against whatever their father was fighting. The tactics weren't clear yet to anyone else though.

With his own axe in hand, Tasster launches himself at the closest minotaur, laughing or screaming as he goes. The minotaur's axe flashes at Tasster, but be bounds to the right and than leaps at the minotaur with a wild man's scream. His axe chops through the minotaur's mail armor and he nearly knocks the minotaur over. With his axe lodged in the screaming creature's chest, he hangs onto his axe and pushes with his legs to yank it free.

Tasster does 31 points of damage to the minotaur, nearly slaying the creature outright.

Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn (Init 15): The war priest Magnum Ruriksonn looks at the ogres and relishes a real challenge, and a real challenge they appeared to be! These ogres were not the just runts; they appeared far brawnier and stronger than a typical one. Their armor might be a problem too, for a lesser warrior than Magnum at any rate. He holds his shield at the ready and moves forward with his axe. It vibrates with its eager power and chills his hand, even through his gauntlets. Could a weapon enjoy killing? He knew a Living Axe certainly did. This one just seemed to react to an enemy's presence. He never recalled uttering a command word to bring its chilling effect alive this time, either. One good blow from his axe could nearly fell a normal ogre, he figured.

The problem was landing the blow. He lead with shield and thumped the ogre in the chest with it hard enough to rock the creature, then swung for its belly to eviscerate the creature. Instead of the axe chopping through the chainmail and leather it wore, the ogre moved just enough that he could not land a square blow and only part of the blade caught the chain. Rings of steel went flying from the armor, but no blood flowed from the wound. Shimmering ice covered the damaged chainmail, where the eager Arctis had tries to numb the creature, but it never met flesh to do his job. Even the ogre seemed surprised to not take a wound. From the manic look in its eyes though, Magnum's not entirely sure it would even care about anything less than a killing blow.

"Shalestone!" Magnum spits. A vile dwarven curse indeed.

Magnum attacks Ogre 1, but does no damage to it.

Gore Turrock (Init 15): The hulking minotaur grips his magnificent sword and looks at the ogre heading towards him. He almost feels sorry for it. It was in his way. He looked past it at the hobgoblins, all in a nice line he could cleave through them. That was where he wanted to be. The two ogres seemed to be carrying nothing special, and the sooner he separated its weapon from its hands, the sooner he could separate its head from its shoulders. Nothing could stop his sword, and the irony was it was once wielded by an ogre from their own faction he was told.

"You have Shaman Wormtongue's sword!" the ogre growls at Gore. He looks at the sword enviously. He was about to get all he ever wanted of the shaman's sword. Gore swings the ogre, but it was not as stupid as it looked. Gore relied on raw strength for his first attack, trying to break the ogre's sword and slay it. Instead, the ogre thrusts its axe head right at the blade, utterly stopping its momentum.

Maybe it would be better to just try and kill the thing. His sword flashes back at the ogre, but it blocks the sword by slapping its axe back at the flat of Gore's sword. He bulls his way right at the ogre and tries to hook his horn into the side of its head. He misses that too.

He roars unintelligibly at the ogre and at himself. Stop playing with the trophies, he resolves. At least the damn dwarf next to him was having trouble with them too.

Levtokuld Thordek Torrun (Init 15): So many options. Thordek debates on a few different tactics, but decides not to do what his foes want. Instead of being held back by their guards, Thordek decides to take on the shaman directly. Last time he fought one of their shamans, it nearly killed him. He wasn't going to take any chances. He conjures fire and sends four fist sized rays of fire at the shaman. The rays of fire burn the shaman badly, and he can tell he nearly killed the thing from its surprised screams.

Thordek does 49 hp to the shaman. Not quite dead yet. Dang!

Arcanii Buna Soulhammer (Init 14): Not wanting to use any more magic than he had to, Buna knows she has little choice at this point. She snaps a wand from her belt and flips it, than points it at one of goblins. A stream of blue spheres of arcane force shoot from the wand. Another goblin is knocked down.

Ogre 1 (Init 12): Angry that this incompetent minotaur dared to use the shaman's infamous sword, it swings its own axe at the shaman. The dwarves apparently had a good idea encasing their minotaurs in so much armor, because first one blow than the next rebounds right off of Gore's armor. Sparks and bits of metal fly, but he just can't cut through the thick armor. Have to hit somewhere else, it seemed!

Ogre 2 (Init 12): The ogre focuses on who first tried to do it harm, and the ineffective Magnum seems like an easy target to the ogre. It roar is thunderous as it raises its axe high over its head. Magnum watches the axe rise and stands on the balls of his own feet, raising his shield and preparing to dodge the overhead attack. Dodging such a clumsy attack was something dwarves practiced from the time of their first whiskers, using their lack of height for an extra moment to side step what was otherwise a deadly attack. It was also why dwarves wore thickly armored helmets; failing to dodge such a blow was often lethal. You just had to get the timing right...

The great axe fell from on high like the White Death itself, what dwarves called an avalanche. Knowing his shield could do little more than divert the blow, Magnum angled the shield and pushed away as the blow came down. The blow was far harder than he expected, and instead of his shield diverting the blow, it was knocked away. Magnum only had enough time to twist enough to let his thick shoulder armor and back take the blow. It cut through his plate armor like a can opener and he heard bones crunch. Blood splashed from the blow and the ogre yanked the axe free, lifting Magnum momentarily off his feet. The pain took his breath away and drove the air from his lungs. He nearly toppled from the blow, but knew doing so would be the last thing he ever did if he fell now.

The ogre's next blow was a sideways cut that gashed the armor of his breast plate, but thankfully it was strong enough to withstand THAT blow. Reeling from the blow, Magnum could feel the blood in lungs and he even bit his own tongue. He spits the blood from his mouth and raises his shield again and returns to his stance. Counting on just his armor and spells would not be enough against this brute, he realized. Taking it alone may not even be an option, and there was another ogre too. Plus more hobgoblins, and casters too.

The Ogre does 25 HP to Magnum...

First Mace Nega Silver Hammer (Init 10): She cringes as the ogre nearly drops Magnum. It certainly didn't take the Alaghor of Clangeddin long to get into trouble that required her to save him. But then again, it never really did with them now did it? Not unlike a certain priest of Moradin she knew. Or Berronar, for that matter. Oh well, It's what I do, she resolves than slams the beaver of her helmet closed.

She spins her mighty mace in a figure eight motion, steels herself and steps into the fray. She concentrates and summons the power of her faith to imbue herself and her mace with the power to smite that ogre. Nega's mace blazes with a holy fury as she draws it back and swings right at the ogre's abdomen, in about the same place Magnum had just hit the ogre. Where Magnum failed, the more experienced Nega succeeded as she rocks the raging ogre. Bits of chain and ice fly and blood splashes, followed by a blinding explosion of golden light as she smited the ogre.

"That's how ye do it, lad!" Nega says joyously. She watches the ogre groan and stagger, clutching its blasted side as blood streams from the wound.

Go down, ye big bastard! Nega thinks. No such luck though. The ogre regains its wits and fury, than roars right back at Nega. So Nega takes another swing at it, sweeping her revered mace back at the ogre, but this time the ogre slaps the mace right back at Nega. Still some life in this one!

The First Mace of Berronar's Valkyries looked past the ogres and at the rest of the hobgoblins and smiles grimly under her helmet. She had been in plenty of battles from one end of Faerun to another, in the company of the high and mighty and the protector to weak and helpless. She knew this was going to be a wild one.

...and Carmard said this was supposed to be the easy part?

Nega's first blow hits on a 29, and her smite does 33 HP to the ogre.

Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist Init 10: Seeing an opening atop the keep's wall, he knows what to do. He is close enough to use a summoning spell, and that was exactly what he does by summoning it right atop the keep's wall. That was one reasoning summoning was so feared in a siege; who needed siege weapons when you had a priest or mage? In a puff of silvery smoke, a small elemental appears on the wall. The goblins scream in terror as one of them is pounded to a paste immediately. For the first time all day, Nalrak smiled.

Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff (Init 10): As a commander, if only for the lack of Buelyir's presence at the moment, he hated not knowing what was going on across the wall. He felt confident that there was little this diminished guard could throw at Tasster, the minotaurs and the other dwarves to stop them. Rather than worrying about that, he decided to deal with that ballista before it shot one of the minotaurs again. Following Buna's lead, he conjures a magic missile spell and drills the hobgoblin on the gate house. The nice thing about the spell was that it can't miss, and in his annoyance he aimed the spell right at the hobgoblin's head. It explodes in a red spray and the creature falls limply.

Kerik Many Skulls (Init 10): Kerik paws the ground in annoyance at the quartet of scrawny minotaurs. He could not decide if they just did not feed them, or they were runts cast off from another tribe. Certainly not Turrock Herd! He watches that wild dwarf Tasster nearly take down one of the runty minotaurs and he does the most shocking thing he could. He laughs. Laughs at the other minotaurs.

"You stupid calves!" he roars them, laughing. "I am Kerik Many Skulls! The Bull of the Turrock Herd! Run and live. Stay and I take your heads!"

The three unengaged minotaurs look at each other, than back at Kerik and stupidly attacked him. The first to reach him soon learns he made a bad decision. Kerik sends his axe low, taking the minotaur's leg off at the knee. The next blow separates the minotaur's head from his shoulders.

The Minotaurs: With one of their number slain already, the crippled one lashes out wildly at Tasster. It's attack actually its Tasster, cutting a bloody line across his armor and chest. He yelps out in pain, but it would take much more than that to kill the Prince.

Tasster takes another wound for 19 HP.

Arum, Hjalmar, Duergar, Sonnlinor Stonebreaker and Black's Company: Without any other orders and no one flanking, they stay in place. Their only concern was the catapult, which was slow to fire and wildly inaccurate so far.

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[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort
Spitting blood through his beard as he chuckled at Nega's words, the ogre was proving a more serious challenge than he initially expected. All the better in his mind, though it did confirm his suspicions about his little foray, voiced in part by the First Mace. Deciding not to hold back against these foes, he tried to ignore the pain and unleashed some Divine power on his next attack, "By da silvery beard o'Clanggedin, ye or me die today ogre!"

Attack[roll0] (+3 from Smite Giant)
Damage[roll]1d10+14 (+7 from Smite Giant)
Frost Damage[roll1]
Gauntlets of Giant Felling[roll2] (1 or 2 sizes bigger? rolling for just 1 size)

Shield of Faith, Mass in effect (+4 deflection bonus to AC)
AC 33 (+4 from dodge vs giants added)
HP 57/82 (did you include his dr?)
DR 1/blunt

[Gryndel]

I intended to be in AF17, but AD is fine... 5' step back to AD17 :smallbiggrin:

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort Battle
Nega slaps the cleric on the arm saying a prayer(lay on hands 25hp ) and bracing herself against another strike from the wounded Ogre.
She has 160hp to deliver meaning she has 135hp left ;)

[Scow2]

Gore Turrock - Fort Battle

Reiterating his swing against the Ogre, the Minotaur bellows with the might of his blow, aiming to remove both the blade from the Ogre's sword, and the head of its wielder. [roll0]+18=29 (same bonuses as last time) [roll1]. "His head is now my trophy, as will! Be! YOURS!" Gore roars. Sundering Cleave: [roll2]+18=33 [roll3] (12+8 PowAtt)

Yet again, Gore's blade and horns work in synch to skewer the ogre, crashing against the chainmail. [roll4]+5=20 [roll5], [roll6]+4=21 [roll7]

[ArmanMadero]

Everything seemed to be moving fast once the giants were sent downriver and the hobgoblins in the towers were down. Hobgoblins came running out of what seemed to be the barracks, and soon the fight was on in full.

Arman had shot one of the hobgoblins and was lining up his bow for another shot. There were two hobgoblins that didn't seem the same as the others, and Arman was seeing them as a worse threat at the moment. Until the Scrags showed up. He shifted his aim to them but held his fire. Sable and Wyatt fell upon them like wolves on a deer and then Talamir jumped in. Arman's eyes opened a little wider briefly and then went back to searching for threats. If what he saw was correct, they had a good ally in Talamir.

Arman drew back on his bow and aimed at one of the trolls on the ground. The hobgoblins seemed to be under control, and the Scrags were a larger threat.

Arrow at Scrag#2. I seem to have forgetten how to roll and my damage... lol

[thorgrim29]

Thordrek takes a step back to see if he can't get a clear shot at the Shaman. Seeing that's not possible, he decides to lend a hand to Nega and Magnum. Trusting his armor and skill at evasion to to protect him (36 AC) , he calmly walks up to the ogre (Ogre 2, just right of Nega) while casting, and strikes at it, the black metal of his axe crackling with barely contained power.

To hit: [roll0] +13 (normal +2 for shocking grasp)
Damage: [roll1]+ [roll2]

[Werewhale]

Fort Battle - Nalrak Ironfist
"That's not really what I intend-" Nalrak starts shouting at the elemental, but after a quick look at the remains of the unlucky goblin that was its first victim, he changes his mind, "Never mind, carry on."

He drops his hammer into the loop on his belt and draws his pistol as he moves back inside the walls, looking for a target, suspecting that any attempt to heal either Tasster or Kerik would be thought of as an insult rather than a favour by the overly proud warriors.

Move Action: Sheathe magma hammer.
2nd Move Action: Move to AF24, drawing one of the forgemark pistols on the way.

Next Turn if you do it: Nalrak will shoot whatever he has a clear line of fire to, prioritizing the minotaurs. AB+5, DMG 1d10(19-20/x2)

[mshady]

Bundok Battlehammer: 19
Hobgoblin Sergeant 1: 18
Hobgoblin Shaman 19
Grathalmor Ironfist: 16
Tasster Fiendshredder & Sons: 16
Hobgoblin Cleric: 16
Gore Turrock: 15
Levtokuld Thordek Torrun: 15
Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn: 15
Hobgoblin Guards 15
Arcanii Buna Soulhammer: 14
Hobgoblin Leader: 14
Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist: 12
Ogre Barbarian 1 12
Ogre Barbarian 2 12
Hobgoblin Sergeant 2: 11
Duergar Stonespite: 11
Kerik Many Skulls: 10
First Mace Nega Silverhammer: 10
Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff: 10
Arum Faer Wed: 08
Minotaurs: 05
Paladin Hjalmar Crownshield: 03
South Duergar (x11): 03
Sonnlinor Thordek Stonebreaker: 02
North Duergar (x11): 01
Black's Company: 01

Bundok (19) and Grathalmor (16): Both dwarves take shots at the troublesome goblin archers. Once again, Bundok is the one who hits and Grathalmor misses badly. The goblin that Bundok hits is only wounded. It yelps in pain, but appears to be still able to fight. Bundok looks at his crossbow in dismay to see if it had malfunctioned somehow as an explanation for why the shot did not kill the goblin.

"Damn silly contraptions!" he curses the crossbow. While it reloaded easily enough, the complex crossbows were indeed prone to malfunctions under harsh field conditions. In this case though, poor aim was likely the case instead of the crossbow. Not that Bundok would ever admit that. Grathalmor cursed as well. Plinking at mere goblins with a crossbow was not a warrior's path. At least his cousin was getting into that fight with one of those elementals he liked to summon....

Bundok does 3 HP to Goblin 10.

Hobgoblin Shaman (Init 19): Wounded by Thordek's fire, the shaman backs away and drinks deeply from a potion to heal his painful wounds. Burning embers are still smoldering on his robes, as he tries to extinguish them with his gnarled old hands. It is now hidden behind the wall of the keep, out of line of sight.

Hobgoblin Sergeant 1 (Init 18): The first of the two sergeants moves up behind the first and second guard, ready to support the ogre if he can get in.

Tasster and Sons (Init 16): While his sons stand behind him and hold their long spears to apparently deter anything from charging Tasster, their father continues his bloody work against the minotaur. He gives the reeling minotaur a wicked grin and screams at the monster. His war cry is immediately followed by an irresistibly strong blow with his great axe. The blow strikes the minotaur in the belly and cuts through right to the monster's spine. With a grunt, he yanks it free as the minotaur wobbles, thoroughly disemboweling the minotaur. Without use of its legs, it tumbles to the ground in a heap and lands at Tasster's feet. He looks down at the face of tortured beast and smiles at it.

"You've got a pretty head..." he leers down at the gasping minotaur. It's eyes go wide in recognition of the dwarf's words as he stands over the dying creature. Seeing the recognition in the minotaur's now helpless eyes, Tasster licks his lips and grins. In a flash, his axe rises and falls, cleaving the minotaur's head from its shoulders.

Behind him, his sons take up position and set their spears against an anticipated charge by the minotaur.

Hobgoblin Cleric of Auril (Init 16): As he watches the scorched shaman slaps the last of the burning embers on its once fine robe, the cleric snarls a curse aimed at all dwarves. He rubs his hands together and snarls the words to a spell as he draws on the blessings of Auril before throwing a sizzling ball of white light at where Magnum stands. The spell sizzles and explodes in a spray of white light. The area is filled with a whistling sound as magic is strained and shredded in the area...

Hobgoblin Cleric uses an area dispel! Shield of Faith is DC23

Magnum Cleric rolls 13 - Saved
Nega Cleric rolls 26 - Dispel Shield of Faith
Thordek Cleric rolls 25 - Dispel Shield of Faith.

The cleric snarls triumphantly... than falls back behind the fall to aid the wounded shaman. Next time the two make an appearance, they will be more prepared no doubt

Gore Turrock (Init 15)

Once again, the furious minotaur tries to use his shattering sword to destroy his opponent's weapon than kill the defenseless foe with ease. He raises the distinctive greatsword again and leans into powerful downward swing, aiming it right at the ogre's weapon again. It holds its great axe with both hands, towards the top and bottom of the hilt. Instead of his Shattering Sword chopping through the stock looking great axe of this stupid ogre, once again it deflects the axe to the side. Once again, Gore's sword bits into the stone.

"Hah! Har! Heh!" is what Gore hears. The ogre was actually laughing at him!!
By Tempus, he hated this damned ogre with a passion!

Gore rolls a 29 for his sundering attempt, but the ogre rolls a 35!

The minotaur growls and swings his sword right back at the ogre's weapon, but once again it bats the weapon away with near ease and continues its grunting laughter at Gore. In his frustration, he even tries to ram one of his horns into this infuriating ogre's side but THAT blow is turned away by its armor.

The ogre rolls a 23 on its second opposed sunder check, while Gore only rolled a 21. His second Sunder attack would be at a -5. Had to roll this all myself as I was not able to determine the second roll really. Sorry...

Levtokuld Thordek Torrun (Init 15): Seeing that these ogres are not going down easily, and that Gore is being surprisingly ineffective at a very bad time, Thordek decides to take a more direct approach. He concentrates for a moment as he charges his black adamantine axe with a powerful electrical charge. The axe vibrates in his hand, enough to make his hand numb even. With his axe ready, he shows the ogre why a Levtokuld was so dangerous.

Of course, the ogre reminded Thordek why angry ogres were so dangerous as well. With its long reach, the ogre swats its axe at Thordek as well. He tries to dodge the ogre's blow, knowing that relying on his shield would be useless. He ducks at the last second, but the ogre's axe hits him in the shoulder and slashes the metal down the front of his banded mail. Metal screams in protest and he can feel the axe slice a bloody line across his shoulder and chest.

Thordek takes a 26 point hit from the ogre, with it having rolled a 35 to hit, v. Thordek's AC34! (Seriously!)

The dwarf grunts through the pain as blood streams out of his armor. His shield arm feels weak thanks to the torn muscles. Something for Nalrak to look at later, if he survived.... With his axe arm still strong, he stoically closes the distance and hacks at the ogre with his adamantine axe. The weapon cleaves through the ogre's chain mail before the spell discharges. It screams in shock and pain, and it's body tenses from the electricity involuntarily.

Still the ogre won't go down! Blood flows from two major wounds now, and the stink of burned flesh turns Thordek's nose. The ogre shakes its head, seemingly dazed for a moment, before it roars once again.

Thordek does 28 HP to the ogre. It's still alive.

Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn (Init 15): Still reeling from the last hit he took, Magnum focuses on channeling Clangeddin's hatred for all giantkin and using it to kill the ogre through the power of sheer faith and rage. Like Nega's mace, Magnum's own axe glows a brilliant gold and he swings it at the ogre... only to almost lose his grip! Once again he curses his luck as he fumbles for his weapon and wonders at his hideous luck!

Hobgoblin Guards (Init 15): The guards move up, pushing up through the gap between the two raging ogres. Gore swings at the first one, but even the hobgoblin blocks Gore's attack. Magnum's own attack is turned away as well. Even the hobgoblin seems surprised it lived through the gauntlet It thrusts its sword at Gore, but Gore's thick armor turns the blade aside as well. Behind the hobgoblin, more of the guards close.

Gore rolled an 18 and Magnum a 13, neither enough to hit the hobgoblin. The hobgoblin rolled a 25, but it was not enough to hit Gore. It just barely missed a gap in his armor.

Arcanii Buna Soulhammer (Init 14): Not one to stand around as a guard, Buna looks to Carmard for directions. He motions her to get involved finally, and she acknowledges the order with a wide grin. She withdraws a wand made of fever iron set with a red ruby at its tip, and levels it at the ogre that Nega, Magnum and Thordek are fighting. She just barely hits the creature, but the one ray of fire from the wand does certainly get its attention! The flames roast the creature's arm and already battered chest. The thing howls in pain, and the air is filled with the scent of scorched meat.

Buna does 19 points of damage with a scorching ray wand against the ogre.

Hobgoblin Leader (Init 14): The hobgoblin leader moves up as well, ready to get into the fray.

Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist (Init 12): Watches the elemental on the wall with some satisfaction. He got it up there alright, but it didn't seem to be heeding his orders to push them off the wall. Then again, if they fell off the wall, it was unlikely to kill them either where its pulverizing fists might do the trick better. Once again, it raises its big fists and squashes a shrieking goblin with a wet splat.

The elemental rolls a 15 to hit and does 12 damage against a 5 HP goblin.

Figuring his pistol would be more effective than his hammer against the minotaurs, Nalrak limbers his maul and reaches for one of the ornate Forgemark pistols that Carmard had given. The pearl handle and mithril barrel made it a fine looking weapon, and it worked as a pretty fair club in a pinch as well. He pulls back the hammer until it clicks twice and moves towards the fray. Unfortunately, his chosen path is blocked by the long boar spears carries by Tasster's sons, so he resolves to go behind them instead.

Ogre Barbarian 1 (Init 12): Having twice shrugged off Gore's single minded attacks against its axe, the ogre attacks Gore with a vengeance. It howls in a rage and swings it's great axe right at Gore's chest. The big axe blade chops through his finely wrought dwarven armor and blood pours from yet another wound. Having finally drawn blood, it's next swing is right at Gore's head! However, Gore blocks the attack with his own sword and pushes it away!

The raging ogre barbarian hit's Gore on a 31 and does 25 HP damage to the Minotaur.

Ogre Barbarian 2 (Init 12): Already gravely wounded, the ogre just keeps on attacking. Having already hit Magnum once, it tries again. This time the dwarf blocks the first attack and moves underneath the second attack.

The ogre rolls a 1 for its first attack, and a 26 for its second. Not enough to hit a dwarf, though!
Duergar Stonespite (Init 11): The half duergar former slave miner and now warrior looks at Hjalmar with a deep frown.

"Get the feeling they're not coming 'round this way?" he asks the burly paladin. Hjalmar looks at him with his one good eye and squints hard at the dwarf.

"Yer orders were to watch the flank" Hjalmar reminds him.

"Aye? Well I'm for watching it over there. Let's see if we can get through the other gate. If they try to flank us, we'll be closer when they do"

Without waiting for Hjalmar's response, he dashes off. The old paladin curses the younger half breed as he goes.

Hobgoblin Sergeant 2 (Init 11): The other sergeant moves up as well, ready to get into the battle if the tottering ogre falls.

Kerik Many Skulls (Init 10): With two of the minotaurs down already, one by his hand and one to Tasster's, Kerik looks at the other minotaur with pitiless eyes underneath his thick steel helmet. He lowers his head and charges the minotaur, the blood encrusted spike atop the helmet aimed squarely at its belly. The charge hits the other minotaur, nearly knocking it to the ground. Kerik's center spike and iron shod horns rip through his foes armor, but it is not quite enough to kill the other minotaur. The two beasts roar at each other and it swings its own axe at Kerik, but the axe does little more than bang off his thick armor.

Kerik does 29 pts to the other minotaur, not quite slaying it. It's attack of opportunity misses badly.

First Mace Nega Silverhammer (Init 10): Seeing the ogre reeling, she trusts that the others can take down the stubborn thing in short order. Magnum's own devastating wounds and poor luck convince her the best way to help would be to heal him as much as she can. She takes a defensive stance and reaches out for the wounded Magnum, pressing her free hand under her shield on the gruesome wound on his back. The soothing effects of the divine healing completely heal the wound.

Nega heals Magnum for a total of 25 HP, leaving hear with 135/160 HP left in her healing pool.

Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff (Init 10): With nothing to immediately attack with his throwing hammer and wanting to conserve his magic at this point, Carmard moves up to just behind Nalrak and prepares for whatever he can do next.

"What do ye think about circling around behind the keep and getting at those hobgoblins, eh Nalrak?" he asks.

Arum Faer Wed (Init 08): Not wanting to get into the middle of the fight, a lesson he learned when they fought those orcs in the cave a week ago and he charged into them with a lance he could barely hold, Arum uses his finely made crossbow to take a shot at one of the goblins. He hits one squarely through the crenellation. It clutches its chest and pitches over, falling to the ground below.

Minotaurs (Init 5): The two remaining minotaurs are fighting for their lives now. Only one of the four remains unwounded. Not truly understanding what powerful foes it was really facing and having little regard for dwarves and their pointy spears, the third minotaur lowers its pointy head and charges right at the dwarf with the crested hair and nasty axe that had slain its brother. Two of the three spears flanking the nasty dwarf hit the minotaur, doing far more than it bargained for.

With the weapons set against a charge, the barbed spears stab into its chest and shoulder. The spears bend sharply from the minotaur's momentum before they snap back straight and dig the hateful spears deeper into the minotaur's flesh. It howls in pain and tries to push forward still, but the wide hooks behind the deeply sunk spears stop it from going any closer and the barbs prevent it from freeing itself from the spears. It struggles for a moment and sees the dwarf smile at its suffering. That was the last thing it ever saw, as the armored minotaur swung it's axe once against, cleaving it's skull in two.

"Oi Kerik! Kill yer own, ye bastard!" Tasster howls in protest.

Two of the three long boar spears hit, dealing 10 and 13 damage when doubled against a charge. Kerik did an additional 19 damage with his attack of opportunity; more than enough to kill the minotaur.

The last remaining minotaur, seeing what it is up against, does something quite unexpected. It turns tail and runs!

Minotaur 4 withdraws from combat, running around the keep.

Paladin Hjalmar Crownshield (Init 03): Cursing all the way, the paladin runs as fast as he can in his heavy armor to keep up with Duervar. What he said made a measure of sense, but it should have been Carmard who ordered them to move up. Then again, by virtue of Hjalmar's own experience, he would be in command of such an expedition back home and knew the move made sense. Even if they had to batter the gate down, they had a chance of doing more that way than where they were.

Goblin Archers (Init 3): With their numbers being thinned out, the three facing Nalrak's elemental did their best to counter the unexpected foe. Surprisingly, all three of the goblins manage to hit the tough little elemental with their maces. It's hardly enough to deter the elemental, though. They were, after all, goblins.

All three goblins hit, thanks to lucky rolls and flanking, but do a total of 5 HP to the elemental. Hardly enough to be a concern to the elemental, or Nalrak.

The three remaining goblins still try to make use of their bows. This time, they shoot at ArumfaerWed, mindful that the little gnome had just killed one of their own. Two of the three arrows strike Arum.

The first arrow does 1 point, which is stopped by his padded battle robe and earth silk shirt. The second arrow does 2 HP, stabbing through but again doing little more than prick Arum.

Everyone Else! Of the rest involved, none take action, content to hold their positions for now unless called for.

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[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort Battle

Shaking his axe hard in his tight grip, the dwarf cleric bellowed in Dwarven, "Crumbled granite Arctis, wake up! I know dis be only a skirmish, but c'mon, spill some blood fer me'n Clanggedin!!"

Wordlessly thankful for the healing, Magnum was a bit surprised that Nega had chosen that course instead of attacking the wounded ogre. Oh well, no explaining women, or paladins, and this in particular! With a growling determination, he swung his beloved waraxe at the ogre again, yelling a battle cry, "Luck only lasts so long in combat, yers is over!"

Attack +11
Damage +7[roll1]
Frost Damage[roll]1d6]
Gauntlets of Giant Felling[roll2]

Shield of Faith, Mass in effect (+4 deflection bonus to AC)
AC 33 (+4 from dodge vs giants added)
HP 82/82
DR 1/blunt

[Gryndel]

Ooops...Original Frost Damage[roll0]

woohoo! First hit and its a crit too, well maybe...
Confirm Critical +11[roll1]
Damage +7[roll2]
Frost Damage[roll3]
Gauntlets of Giant Felling[roll4]

[mshady]

Aurilite Bridge

Buelyir (Init 22): Lethal sword in hand, Buelyir moves towards the scrag trolls. The upright troll tries to swing at Buelyir, but the dwarf simply weaves out of the way with practiced ease.

He turns his attention to the troll on the ground and slashes at it, once than twice. Both strikes with his razor sharp sword hit, slicing the creature's torso badly and deeply, but it yet still lives. He frowns at the troll, as it flails about on the ground in pain. He flicks the sword to send droplets of blood flying off of it and resumes his stance.

Buelyir hits it twice, doing 11 points with each swing.


Talamir (Init 21): The elf reaches the trolls with a somersault and immediately strikes at the fallen, burning scrag troll with a vengeance. His sword finds the creatures neck, slashing it open in a gout of foul smelling blood. It gasps helplessly and succumbs to its wounds finally...

Talamir hit the troll for 16 HP, enough to kill it.

The standing troll swings at Talamir as well, but the elf is even harder to hit than Buelyir was, and the claws fly wide.

The troll rolled a 15 on his AoO.

Kelith (Init 19): With his chain circling, Kelith moves to the right and tries to lash the remaining troll with his chain. This time, the troll is wise to what the chain can do and hops out of its way. Kelith's chain whistles through the air and the fire priest curses.

Johannes (Init 16): Johannes stays back with the hobgoblin, waiting until the battle was over to preserve his prisoner. He did not want to take a shot at the troll unless he had to, as it might risk breaking the suggestion.

Flint (Init 15): Flint readies a shot in case the hobgoblins come back out of the guard shack.

Wyatt (Init 10): With the first scrag troll dead, the little halfling rushes at the remaining troll. He is moving too fast however, and bounces the hilt off the trolls leg. Now he finds himself standing next to the trolls leg.

Sable (Init 10): Sable looks around to see what else she can do. With her fine short bow in hand, she moves to the edge of the guard house and is happy to see that she can line up a short with the remaining troll. She draws the bow in one quick, fluid, motion and lets an arrow fly at it. Followed by another arrow in quick succession. Her aim is precise enough that, despite the troll being engaged with her friends, she knew they were at no additional risk. Both arrows hit, but she knows it is hardly enough to kill the troll. From its reaction though, it certainly felt it! Two arrows stick out of its torso and black blood flows from the wounds.

Sable hit the troll for 4 and 5 HP respectively. Certainly not the hardest hits she had ever landed..

Arman (Init 10): Having kept his distance from the fight due to his crippled leg and wanting to conserve his magic, Arman tries to shoot the troll as well. He tries to aim high to avoid hitting anyone else and lets the arrow fly. His bow twangs and the arrow soars... but it misses the troll completely, instead flying off into the darkness.

Arman rolled a 13 against the troll, -4 for shooting into melee, so it is effectively a 9. Big miss.

Troll (Init 7): The last remaining scrag troll swings at Talamir, trying to kill the presumably frail elf. He twists around the first claw strike and ducks the next one with complete ease. It looked more like a precisely choreographer dance as he avoids the claw strikes. The troll howls in desperate frustration!

The troll rolled a 17 on both attacks against Talamir, completely missing the elf!

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[Gryndel]

ooooh crit x3!

Not sure if the frost and gauntlets of giant felling are multiplied, so rolling in best case hopes...

Damage +7[roll0]
Frost Damage[roll1]
Gauntlets of Giant Felling[roll2]

[thorgrim29]

Stupid ogre... Hey Mike quick question, I can't figure out where the +2 misc bonus to AC is coming from on my sheet, I'm thinking maybe it's an artifact of when I thought the ring of protection was misc, but maybe it's something legit to, want to take a look? http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=32657.

Also, doesn't Arctis do x3 crit Gryndel?

Seeing as Manum and Thordrek have the same initiative, would you mind if I took my turn after Gryndel? No sense in wasting an action.

If the ogre is dead: Thordrek takes a five foot step to AG16 and drinks a potion of cure moderate wounds (CL 3 right?) [roll0] or 10 if under (19/2=9.5 rounds up to 10)


If the ogre isn't dead yet (stupidly tough thing), same five foot step, and full attack (flanking with Magnum):
To hit 1: [roll1]
Damage 1: [roll2]

To hit 2: [roll3]
Damage 2: [roll4]

Ogre's dead... that's a waste of a crit, can I keep ir?:smallbiggrin:

[mshady]

Magnum got the kill, so you can do whatever you like with Thordek. Save the roll and use it on the hob or something.

[thorgrim29]

Doing the potion thing

[Gryndel]

Move action (20') to nearest hobgoblin sgt, always toward those bloody enemy spellcasters!?

Initiative 15

[Werewhale]

Fort Battle - Nalrak Ironfist

Nalrak looks around as he listens to Carmard and sees no room to engage the other flank on his side, "Aye, let's run!" he replies and sets off, pistol held high, towards the corner of the keep.

I'm not sure how running is handled. The SRD says you can only Run in a straight line, but sometimes I want to run in a direction that isn't quite one of the eight possible straight lines in a square grid. Nalrak will run, if allowed, to AA32, a distance of 60 feet to which he does have a clear, straight line(past allies, which I assume will let me pass). Otherwise, he takes a double move to AB28.

AC 27 (10 base +9 armor +4 shield +4 deflect from Shield of Faith)
HP 71/71
Initiative 11(according to post 2597 (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=10144417#post10144417))

Active Spells:
Summon Monster III, 6/8 rounds left
Bear's Endurance on Grathalmor, 64 rounds left.)

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort Battle

Now being slightly mad she releases all her fury on the ogre. She goes for the hit using power attack 5 on the first attack. Cleaving on the hobgoblin if successful. Second attack on the ogre." Now Gore come on hit da t(h)in(g) will ye!!! By Berronar I Brain thee again!!!She yells at the Ogre

[Strangie]

Wyatt - Bridge

"Hardly any room to freakin' maneuver around here..." Wyatt mutters. He thinks for a moment, remembering the hobbos in the guard shack. He gets into a defensive stance and then puts his great tumbling skills to use, suddenly rolling backwards away from the troll to avoid any attacks it might try to make against him while he moves, positioning himself to strike at either target - either the troll or the hobbos when they come out.

"Careful, Flint," Wyatt says. "'dose two look pretty sturdy... don't go bitin' off more 'dan you can chew, eh?"

He keeps his defensive posture, his mace and buckler crossed in front of him and standing on the balls of his toes to get ready to move.

Standard Action: Total Defense (+6 Dodge AC)
Move action: Tumble to AD26 (Tumble: [roll0]), end turn.
Total AC: 28 + 2 Skirmish + 2 Improved Skirmish + 6 Total Defense = 38 (I believe so, anyway)

[ithildur]

Talamir could not help but smile faintly as he heard the halfling mutter. There was enough room for four of them to surround the last Scrag and attack, but he'd observed that the hin's combat style was centered completely around striking while on the move, which made his remark understandable.

The elf regarded the ugly creature and quickly determined the obvious course of tactics for the moment: strike it down, fast, while it was surrounded and wounded, out of water. The wagon and the grease pool would prevent flanking perhaps, but no matter; the large brute was not nimble and would not stand long surrounded by foes and fire.

His blade flashed and sung once again with a seemingly simple feint and probe, before slashing downwards once more at an angle that would cut deep if he struck true; the troll didn't seem skilled enough to take advantage of the small gap in his defense such attacks offered... if it was still upright in a few seconds.



Initiative 21 AC 26/27 vs TR2, 66hp
Attack from 23AH
[roll0] +1 Longsword, +6 BAB, +3 Str, +1 WF, +1 Racial
[roll1] +1 Longsword, +3 Str,
[roll2] +1d6 Punishing Stance (-2 AC)

If scrag is still up, 2nd attack/full attack:

[roll3] +1 Longsword, +1 BAB, +3 Str, +1 WF, +1 Racial
[roll4] +1 Longsword, +3 Str,
[roll5] +1d6 Punishing Stance (-2 AC)

Dodge feat vs TR2
AC 26, 27 vs TR2

If scrag goes down after 1st attack, rather than a full attack, he'll move to 21AB UNLESS the scrags are unexpectedly regenerating out of water and he's able to determine/notice that. If so, will post accordingly...

[Melody]

Sable moved out away from the guardhouse to give her a closer shot at the troll while keeping her within range to deal with anyone trying to run out of the guardhouse. With the troll focused on those close to it, she pulled back on the string and let a single arrow fly.


Sable moves to AC 23 putting her within 30 feet of the flanked troll for a ranged sneak attack.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + Sneak attack damage [roll2]

[mshady]

Buelyir (Init 22): Buelyir delays his round until after Arman.

Talamir (Init 21): Talamir was surprised when Buelyir, with his gleaming sword, seemed to defer to Talamir. Using a feint to mislead the troll, it almost feels like a wasted effort on something that's only concern was only to attack, and feed. But why miss the opportunity to toy with the thing anyways, especially if it worked?

Knowing the creature was not very nimble, Talamir steps towards it with his swing, than throws his hips and torso into a hard swing at the scrag troll's leg. His blade flashes once, and it cuts true and deeply into the creature's thing, stopping only when it hit bone. He yanks the blade straight back towards him, cutting more flesh and severing a hamstring in the process. Thick blood pours from the wound and the creature hobbles.

It staggers for a moment and Talamir glides away from the stumbling creature. His eyes narrow and he smiles slightly, knowing he has the opening to finish the beast. Blood flows from half a dozen wounds. To its credit, the troll looked like it had enough fight in it to continue right up to the point of death.

Which wouldn't be long now.

The moment of victory. Over it, at least.

Talamir lowers his sword a moment as he continues his song. He plants his one foot and crouches before springing right back at the troll. His sword whistles through the air, as deadly a musical note as there was, before it cuts a clean, deep line across the troll's belly. It grasps the wound with its clawed hands as dark blood floods from the wound, followed by black ropes of intestines.

Returning to a guard position with his sword, Talamir watches the troll look towards the water helplessly. It's shriek is filled with hysteria as it topples to the ground with a thump, the fight finally leaving the creature as a pool of dark blood spills around it.

He smiles slightly to himself and reaches for a silken rag and wipes the thick, clinging troll blood from the sword. With a little water to wash it off, there would be no stain on it he knew. One of the more practical uses of magic. Or some sort of alchemical treatment, he was not sure.

For good measure, Sable shoots at the fallen troll anyways. She drives the arrow right through its skull and into its brain. If it wasn't dead already, it very much was now.

Talamir does 13 & 12 HP damage, just enough to kill the troll.

End of Combat Phase

The grease fire, long sizzling and popping, burns itself out quickly as the party repositions itself to cover the only exit out of the guard house.

Which would be the front.

With six bows and crossbows trained on the door and window, they prepare to finish the task. Johannes is there now as well, with his "suggested" Hobgoblin standing by him, waiting for Johannes' questions. The effect would last for hours, yet.

After a minute, no one comes out. They see one of the hobgoblins look out the window, but Buelyir orders no one to shoot.

"Johannes!" Buelyir calls out. "Come here, lad. Your the negotiator, aye?What do ye think of talking those two out? I think they get the way of things and none too eager to come out to us. Bribe'em, bargain with'em, whatever ye want. More we can learn, the better" Buelyir says with an easy smile again. "If they come out, we won't shoot them."
He leans in and says something else quietly to Johannes.

"Nay matters if they live or die to me. The blast from the Stoneburner will get'em, I reckon. Not that ye should tell'em that part!" he says, his eyes twinkling. Apparently, he thought that rather amusing.

[ithildur]

Are we out of rounds now? BTW, when Sable cut the barge free that had the giants on it, would the rest of us have seen it float downstream?



Talamir watched with satisfaction as the Prestidigitation cantrip did it's work on the silken cloth. The elf glanced about, listening, and shifted his focus back to a wary but relaxed state of alertness, sniffing the air around him in spite of the stench. They had caught the guards here by surprise, but still.... the resistance here had been surprisingly light. Glancing towards the barges, he could not help but wonder if some other foe would join the fray at any moment.

Sensing no other danger for the moment, he summoned the telekinetic powers of the cantrip to lift a pound of live coals from the nearest firepot. Before continuing, he stopped to examine the corpses.

Just in case...

[mshady]

OOC: Yes, everyone would have saw the barge go or Buelyir would have passed on word.

[mshady]

Correction: Gore's second attack

Gore attacks the remaining Ogre Barbarian, this time chopping his sword directly at the monster. The ogre tries to push back against Gore's blow with his axe again, but that was not the parry he should have been looking for. The minotaur finally lands a hit against the ogre, hitting it hard in the side of the chest. Blood wells from the wound, finally. While the cut is not overly deep nor is the chain mail sliced open, he knows most of the damage came from the hammering blow from the force of the sword itself. The ogre grunts and sputters, the wind knocked from its lungs. It clutches the wound and blood slicks its fingers. With a malevolent hatred in its eyes, it wants to return the favor against this strangely armored minotaur...

Gore rolls a 21 to hit on a 1d200+9. He does 25 HP to the Ogre!

Sorry about that, Scow!

[Strangie]

Wyatt - Bridge

"What do 'dey think 'dey're doing in 'dere, anyway? 'dey are delayin' the inevitable as far as I care..." Wyatt remarked. His eyes glanced at Talamir.

"Don't worry about the scrags. 'dey'll never reach the water like 'dat - 'dey're finished."

[Gorgondantess]

Johannes pops out from around a corner, pet hobgoblin in tow. He's drinking a cup of tea (don't ask how he got it), and nods to Buelyir.
"Mmm. Sure thing."
He hands the hobgoblin his cup. "Sit tight there Gratch, I'll be back in a trice."
He walks forwards until he's in front of the building the hobgoblins are in, and unsheathes his sword. He makes a show of dropping it in front of the window, so the hobgoblins can see he's disarmed. Then he vanishes.
Next thing he's standing behind the two of them, and claps each on the shoulder, smiling. "Come on now, lads, why don't you come on out of the shack so we can discuss this like civilized people, as opposed to having to shout through a wall? Or we can discuss things in here, if you'd prefer. It's all the same to me."
He looks around for a chair to sit down on.
God bless anklets of translocation!

[Strangie]

Wyatt sort of jumps a little from seeing Johannes disappear. While he might have expected such a thing from Sable or himself, not so much Joh... but then again...

This was Joh. He should expect anything.

What worried him more was seeing him appear inside of the building with the hobgoblins. Swordless, no less! "Gutsy, Joh... everybody get ready to move if somethin' goes wrong."

[mshady]

Bundok Battlehammer (Init 19): Taking a mental note of how many shots he has left on the clip and regretting that he had to waste his shots on goblins, Bundok tries to make them count. His first shot does indeed, catching a goblin in the throat. Not where he was aiming, but he'd take it. The goblin keels over, presumably dead. He fires at the next one, but this shot is a miss. It strikes the stone wall instead.

Bundok rolls a 27 & 9, hitting once and doing 6 HP, killing one goblin (G7) that still had its bow out.

Hobgoblin Shaman (Init 19): Up to no good and having no desire to fall to a dwarven axe, the shaman throws up a cloud of diamond dust as it finishes its incantation. A moment later, it has a stone-like complexion.

Grathalmor Ironfist (Init 16): Following Bundok's lead, Grathalmor returns fire as well. His first shot is a clear hit as well, this time hitting a goblin in the center of its mass and sending it to the ground in a screaming, flailing heap. He shifts his fire to the last unengaged one, but that shot ricochets off the stone wall instead with a spark and a sharp crack.

Grathalmor rolls a 21 & 10, hitting once for 9 HP and killing goblin G10.
Roll 21 & 10. Does 9

Hobgoblin Cleric (Init 16): The hobgoblin cleric mutters as it prepares to sacrifice one of its best prepared spells to heal the reckless shaman, but sacrifice it he does. The healing is enough to rejuvenate the last of the shaman's wounds.

Gore Turrock (Init 15): Having had enough frustration and refusing to give up on breaking the ogre's great axe, he draws both arms back and chops at it yet again. Right before he does so, he lashes out with his foot as a feign to make the ogre think Gore was going to kick it. It distracts the simple ogre mind for just a moment. That was when Gore sent Shaman Wormtongue's magnificent great sword at the hapless ogre. It tries to block the blow with the half of the weapon, but this time it parries badly and Gore cuts the haft of the Ogre's great axe in half! Bits of metal and wood splinters fill the air and the ogre howls in rage.

As it was already howling, Gore wanted to make it scream. As he completes his swing, the blade nearly bounces off the stone floor. He sweeps the blade back to his left and flashes it upwards at the ogre. He catches it right in the abdomen and slices open its chain mail and belly, but not deeply enough to disembowel the damned ogre.

Already off balance, Gore rams his horns at the ogre. He tries to drive his metal shod horns through its chest, but the chainmail the ogre is wearing stops his horns from penetrating too deeply, even though he had torn through the steel ringlets.

Gore recovers himself and looks at the ogre, expecting the staggering beast to fall to the ground. Blood pours from its side. Blood pours from its belly like it may as well have been a red water fall. Streams flow from where he had gored it with his horns.

While it may already be mortally wounded, the ogre beat its chest with bloodied fists and roars a challenge at Gore.

Sunder Attack: Rolls a 38 v. opposed roll of 28. Hit! Gore does 33 HP to the ogre's greataxe, cutting clean through it. Greataxe was 20 HP, 5 Hardness.

Sword Attack: Rolls 16 v. Ogre Barbarian - Damage 23

Horns: Rolled 26: failed Crit Confirmation - Minotaur horns do 11 HP.

Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn (Init 15): Suffering from his own frustrations in the battle and perplexed why Nega ignored the ogre to heal him of modest, if however painful, wound, he continues his attack. He raises his axe his and calls out to Clangeddin. Arctis glows a brilliant golden color for a moment before he swings at the ogre, and a hard swing it is.

Aided by the power of his God, Magnum aims for the ogre's heart and chops as hard as he can right at that spot, trusting that his fine axe would cleave through the ogre's mail. Cleave through it he does! The chainmail splits away and Magnum buries the axe so deeply in the ogre's chest, it takes all his strength to recover it from the shrieking monster. Deep red blood splashes from the wound in time with the ogre's heart, which Magnum just split with an axe, as well as the pink and frothy blood from its laboring lungs.

Recognizing that it was mortally wounded only a moment before it died, it tried to back up but fell in place in a lake of its own life blood.

Sometimes he even manages to impress himself, Magnum thinks!

Magnum scores a critical hit, doing over 40 HP in damage with his smite and critical.

Levtokuld Thordek Torrun (Init 15): Having already taken a serious wound from the ogre that Magnum had just devastated, Thordek takes the moment of respite to heal himself. He quaffs a cure medium wounds potion. While it only partially rejuvenates his wounds, the worst of the pain from the deep flesh wound subsided.

Thordek uses a potion and has to take the average potion roll of 11 HP.

Hobgoblin Guards (Init 15): Two of the hobgoblin guards move up towards the victorious Magnum, not caring if they had to step over the fallen ogre to do it. They both swing their long swords at Magnum, but he lets his Shield of Faith spell block one attack and batted the other attack aside playfully with his shield.

The rest of the guards try to get into the fight as well now, moving up on the dwarves.

Arcanii Buna Soulhammer (Init 14): Buna moves up as close as she dares, standing along the inside edge of the broken gate and ready to flank whatever else attacked Thordek.

Hobgoblin Leader (Init 14): The leader of the hobgoblins moves up. His well used greatsword is held at the ready, and it looked like this one knew how to use it!

Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist (Init 12): Nalrak moves up, trying to stay ahead of Carmard and everyone else to catch the fleeing minotaur. It was just out of a desire of thoroughness, but the very real risk that the minotaur could escape and warn its allies. With his pistol in hand, he planned to disabuse the minotaur of that notion!

Atop the wall, the elemental continues to fight on his behalf. It pounds another goblin into paste with its stone fists, even if it takes a 3 HP hit from the goblin's mace.

Ogre Barbarian 1 (Init 12): Now disarmed, the ogre's only weapons are its big, meaty fists for which he would try to use to pound this insufferable minotaur in to the ground. It launches itself at Gore, ready to pummel the minotaur and throw it to the ground by its horns.

No sooner did it throw all its weight behind the charge than did Gore thrust his sword straight into the closing ogre. Gore buries 12 feet of feet of steel right into the ogre's belly. Between the minotaur's strength and the ogre's charge, the blade went into its belly and out the other side of the ogre's torso. Having impaled the ogre on his sword, he twists the greatsword and pulls it free. The ogre falls to the ground in a heap, utterly dead.

Gore rolls a natural 20 on the attack of opportunity caused by the ogre attacking with its fists. His AoO does 55 HP damage. Good thing he broke its axe after all!

Hobgoblin Sergeant 2 (Init 11): Paying no heed to Buna, the second hobgoblin sergeant moved up on Thordek and tried to split his head open with his heavy flail. Instead it bangs off Thordek's shield. The dwarf smiles at the frustrated hobgoblin as it recovers the flail to prepare for the next attack.

Duergar Stonespite (Init 11): Arriving at the gate, Duervar takes his acidic war pick and hefts it high over his head and tries to split open the latch on the wooden gate. Wood chips and bits of metal spray, but the gate remains safely locked, if damaged.

Hobgoblin Sergeant 1 (Init 10): With both ogres dead now, the first hobgoblin sergeant moves in on Gore. He knows he is safe in doing so, as the minotaur had just slain the foolish ogre. It swings its heavy flail right at the minotaur. It manages to hit Gore squarely enough that he grunted in pain.

The hobgoblin sergeant rolls a 26 and does 7 HP damage to Gore.

Kerik Many Skulls (Init 10): - Kerik continues to give chase, hoping to catch the other minotaur before it fled but knowing his heavy armor slowed him down.

Tasster Fiendshredder & Sons (Init 10): Tasster waits for Kerik to get ahead of him before following. In lighter armor, they move faster and keep pace with the longer walking minotaur.

First Mace Nega Silverhammer (Init 10): Calling upon Berronar's blessing once again even after the ogre was dead, Nega smashes her glowing mace into the skull of the first hobgoblin guard on her left. Teeth, blood and bits of skull fly through the air as the hobgoblin falls to the ground but Nega's mace continues its trajectory until she strikes the next hobgoblin. The blow is hard enough to cave in its chest and it goes down with a croak and a desperate, hopeless gasp for air.

Next, she wheels on the hobgoblin sergeant and drives her mace into the side of its chest as well. This one was wearing plate mail though and the mace only split the armor. The trauma of the blow was enough to leaving the hobgoblin gasping and reeling, but still alive...

Nega rolled a combined total of 40 on a smite, but not a critical. She didn't need it, doing 29 HP against the hobgoblin and killing it utterly. The cleave attack 24 HP as well, killing that hobgoblin. The sergeant takes a 21 HP hit as well from her second attack, but this one is "only" seriously wounded. Nega kills hobgoblins H3 & H5, giving her a clean path to the hobgoblin leader

Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff (Init 10): Carmard continues to give chase against the minotaur. With his lighter armor, he keeps up with Tasster and his blood thirsty sons and the longer stride of Kerik. However, it does mean he outpaces Nalrak a bit...

Arum Faer Wed (Init 08): Annoyed that the goblins shot at him, even hitting him, Arum returns the favor with his own splendid little crossbow. It clanks and sends a bolt streaking across the gap between gnome and goblin. The bolt hits the last goblin with a bow right in the chest and kills that one.

Arum hits on a 19 and does 9 HP against the goblin.

Minotaurs (Init 05): - The last remaining minotaur runs for the gate and a potential escape.

Paladin Hjalmar Crownshield (Init 03): Hjalmar arrives, sputtering and cursing. When he sees Duervar's intent to break down the door, Hjalmar tries to smash open some of the half dozen hinges. His attacks break the central hinge, and the doorway groans in protest.

Everyone Else: The rest of the group waits outside the gates, uninvolved for now.

URL=http://img828.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt9.jpg/]http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9740/auriltefortt9.jpg[/URL]

http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9740/auriltefortt9.th.jpg (http://img828.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt9.jpg/)

http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9740/auriltefortt9.jpg

[mshady]

The two battered hobgoblins, who now seem far less battered thanks to some discarded potions, practically jump out of their skins when Johanness suddenly appears inside the guard house. They make signs of warding and back away from him, but cannot go far with the stone wall there. Noting he holds no sword and so close to them, along with obviously being a magic user, has shocked the hobgoblins.

Johannes rolled a 35 for intimidate and a 31 for bluff.

"Dwar mage!" the sergeant cries out and scrambles away, pushing his lieutenant out of the way.

"We surrender!" the lieutenant says quickly. It tosses its weapons to the ground. "Just do not kill us with magic! We do anything!" he begs in broken common tongue.

[Gorgondantess]

Johannes shrugs, grinning.
"Lads, lads... it is in these darkest of times that one must keep their solidarity."
He ambles towards them slowly, internally giggling at their exaggerated fears.
"For if we haven't got our friends, well... we haven't got anything."
He heads to the door, opening it. "Come on out, but don't try and run."
He leads the way, not bothering to turn back to see if they're following. Addressing the rest of the group, "Never underestimate the effectiveness on a well timed pat on the back."

[Strangie]

Wyatt blinks, raising an eyebrow. That was quick, and painless.

"You sure do know how to do... 'dat thing you do. If we make it out of 'dis, you mind comin' with me to meet a friend of mine and giving him some speaking lessons? I think it'd do him some good. Heh..." He allowed himself a smirk as he thought of allies past, before returning his attention to the surrendering hobbos.

Wyatt watches for the hobgoblins to walk out. "Awright. Good. We gotta find out everything 'dere is to know about past 'dis bridge."

He glanced down toward the bridge. No army would be marching across this thing in the state that it was in now, that's for sure, he thought. But it was still worth keeping an eye around the area in case trouble decided to rear its ugly head again and try to break up this little convention they were having here.

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega-Fort Battle

Nega Charges the hobgoblin leader if possible on her next action.
If not possible seh goes for the closest enemy.
Dis seems to be easier den I tink.

Initiative
10

Nega's Bonuses
AC 28
HP 110
Attack 18/13

[ithildur]

Talamir paused for a few seconds, utilizing his unusual training and letting his senses become attuned once more to a more feral side of him. He did not look forward to the stench that would only worsen with such a shift, but shrugged off the thought and let the coals drop on the scrag corpses in spite of the halfling's reassurances, which he acknowledged with a simple nod.

Glancing downstream once more towards where the barge floated away, he turned and joined the others, specifically seeking out Sable and Wyatt.

With one eye on the hobgoblin interrogation, he asked the two of them quietly:

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png"That barge, your handiwork I'm guessing? What was in it?"

[Strangie]

Wyatt whispers back in reply with a smirk, "Pair of frost giants sleepin' in the barge. Sable set 'em free down the river. Woulda been HUGE problems if she hadn't done 'dat... give her the credit for 'dat one, heh."

[thorgrim29]

Still hurting, but feeling much better nonetheless, Thordrek sneers at the wounded hobgoblin, and hews his head open with a single blow from his masterfully crafted axe.

(using the critical I rolled against the already dead ogre, hopefully confirmed, if not, then going for a second attack)

confirm critical (+1 for fighting a goblin) [roll0]

Damage 1 [roll1]

Damage 2 [roll2]

Damage 3 [roll3]


Second attack: [roll4]
damage: [roll5]


Initiative: 15
HP: 60
AC: 30 (possible 28 pending auditing)
to hit: +11/+7

[ithildur]

Wyatt whispers back in reply with a smirk, "Pair of frost giants sleepin' in the barge. Sable set 'em free down the river. Woulda been HUGE problems if she hadn't done 'dat... give her the credit for 'dat one, heh."

Frost giants.

Talamir's eyes narrowed as he recalled his previous encounter with a group of them several years ago as a member of a forgettable mercenary group in the Silver Marches. He alone had survived the battle, and the shattered pieces he carried of Mhaorathil, the enchanted longsword which had been his father's, was a costly reminder of his error in underestimating the dirty blonde axe wielder who'd declared his name as Karle. He could still hear Karle's deep cackle echoing in his mind as his thoughts returned to the present.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"Clever indeed," The elf replied with a nod towards Sable. "Two giants would have cost us spells and other resources, and delayed us somewhat."

He looked once more downstream, and added,

"At some point they will awaken, and either return here to investigate, or we may run into them elsewhere. If our luck holds, perhaps we face them on land without reinforcements."

This time, he would be ready, and with a far more capable group than the last time.

************************************************** ****


Talamir glanced briefly towards Arman, hoping that the interrogation of the hobgoblins would be sufficient to delay the inevitable questions for a while yet...


Feel free to react/not react as you wish, but it's highly likely if Arman grew up among elves he'd have recognized the dance-like movements and the haunting whistling sounds produced by the sword cutting through the air, plus the use of the minor spell (spellcraft DC would've been 15): an unusual but still distinctly recognizable style, but there is no doubt about it, Talamir seems to be El'Tael, a Bladesinger.

[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort

Convinced that his scolding of Arctis was the turning point in his luck during this extended skirmish, the dwarf cleric grinned fiercely over the dead ogre at the nearest hobgoblin. Striding forward to engage, chilled axe ready to strike, Magnum spoke in dwarven, "C'mon now Arctis, just a few minor noids, da casters, an' what rabble be hidin' in da fort. S'go, fer Clanggedin!"

Magnum chuckled and added, "We havin' fun yet, First Mace?"

Attack[roll0]
Damage[roll1]
Frost Damage[roll2]

Shield of Faith, Mass in effect (+4 deflection bonus to AC)
AC 29
HP 82/82
DR 1/blunt

[Werewhale]

Fort Battle - Nalrak Ironfist

Nalrak simply growls as he clanks along as fast as he can while the rest shoot past him.

Running to N31, or N29 if you allow a turn, as you seemed to do with the fleeing minotaur.

[mshady]

Bundok Battlehammer (Init 19): Regarding the battle atop the keep's walls, Bundok watches the bloody progress of the elemental and shrugs. "I think the rock's got that fight won". He slings the crossbow back over his back and reaches for his quarterstaff. "Come'on Grath! Let's try not to miss the real fun!" he yells as he heads towards the bloody melee.

Hobgoblin Shaman (Init 19): Not wanting to be roasted by that damn dwarf's fires again, the shaman casts Protection from Energy upon himself. The shaman, already frustrated at being out of the fight so long, moves up now. He was going to make that dwarf pay!

He looks behind him to see the minotaur they had sent south heading for the gate and growls in disgust. At least someone would get back to the stronghold to warn the rest. So few warriors would never stand a chance against the garrison, but better to warn them. He might have shouted for the minotaur to stop, but he might have to use that exit soon himself!

Minotaurs (Init 17): The minotaur moves up towards the gate and considers hack at the log barring the door before its limited mind works out another solution. Instead, it lifts the log and throws it to the side. The door swings open and the minotaur growls in surprise.

"Well lookie what we have here..." Duervar drawls. He pats his nasty war pick in his hands and sneers at the minotaur.

The other dwarf, this one with heavy armor and an ornate looking hammer, shakes his head in amusement.

"Moradin does provide" he says simply, before raising his shield and hammer into a battle stance.

Grathalmor Ironfist (Init 16): "Aye!" was Grathalmor's response. Shooting goblins off a wall was something far below his skills. While he still felt the wounds from it, he longed to get into a real fight. Like he had against the Black Orc in Sigil. He had survived that and was better for it, even if his own weapon was a wreck and his armor tattered. He reaches for that very orc's greatsword and unlimbers it from his back strapped sheathe with a ring.

Hobgoblin Cleric (Init 16): The cleric moves up closer to the battle now, intent on helping his comrades wear down these hateful dwarves. As it looked, it may soon be just him, the shaman and their commander but that trio were the only useful ones here. The loss of the ogres was regrettable. There were solutions to that though...

The cleric closes with the battle and prepares another spell he had in mind... He calls out a powerful prayer chant for Auril and as he finishes the spell, a wave of cold energy burst forth from him. It was a boon to all who followed Auril and a bane to those who did not.

The cleric casts a Prayer spell, giving all of his allies a +1 luck bonus on attack rolls, damage, saves and skill checks. The Patriarchate group suffers a -1 to attack rolls, damage, saves and skill checks.

Gore Turrock (Init 15): Looking down, Gore sees the source of his latest torment. This time, it was a hobgoblin with a flail that caused his side to ache so! Blood oozed from the wounds and soaked his fur under his armor from that one.

As before, he chopped at his foe's weapon and there was little it could do to block that kind of blow with a flail. The hobgoblin sergeant tries to knock the sword away with a swing of the flail, but Gore's magnificent sword chops through the chain with a surprisingly loud bang and a flash of blue energy. He curses as he realizes the hobgoblin's flail must have been magicked somehow.

Gore rolls a 41 to hit and 27 damage on his sunder. Didn't bother with an opposed roll on that one...

He swings his sword again, directly at the hobgoblin this time, but the hobgoblin side steps the heavy blow with frustrating ease. The tip of his sword bangs off its plate mail armor to no effect.

Gore rolls a 12 against the hobgoblin.

Frustrated, Gore lowers his head and drives right at the hobgoblin. His metal shod horns hit the hobgoblin squarely, sending it stumbling and bleeding. The minotaur smiles nastily, knowing he had gravely wounded his foe and that he would take his head off next with his sword.

Gore hits on a 19, doing 17 HP damage with his horns against the sergeant.

AC: 25
35/87 HP

Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn (Init 15): Deciding to thin the herd before taking down the leader, Magnum attacks the less well armored guard in front of him. His strike is perfectly aimed as his axe, one of the Aurilite's very own axes, crashes past the hobgoblin's weak guard. He strikes it in the chest, a nasty gash that breaks the hobgoblin's short ribs and sinks deeply into its side. The painful, numbing cold of Arctis only makes it worse. The hobgoblin groans and falls to the ground, clutching it's belly. That one is not quite dead yet, but it was on the ground and out of the fight...

Magnum hits the hobgoblin guard for 12 HP, incapacitating but not yet killing it. It is bleeding out on the ground now.

Levtokuld Thordek Torrun (Init 15): Aiming for the hobgoblin's head, Thordek's swing is perfectly timed and the a feign with his shield means the hobgoblin has no defense this time. His magnificently crafted adamantine axe whistles through the air and cleaves the hobgoblin's head in half, splitting it from ear to ear.

Thordek does 26 HP to the sergeant, utterly killing his foe.

With that hobgoblin down, Thordek turns to the leader of the defenders. This hobgoblin wears a fine suit of plate armor and has a two handed sword, along with a buckler on his arm. The thing was strong, burly and looked very competent.

So Thordek swung at it immediately. The hobgoblin's leader easily blocked the attack with the sword and pushed Thordek's axe away as easy as if it were a sparring match.

Hobgoblin Guards (Init 15): One of the two remaining guards moves towards where the cleric is, to guard him. It's comrade moves up behind it, but this time it swings at Buna. The Arcanii parries the blow with her urghosh easily...

Arcanii Buna Soulhammer (Init 14): With one of these weedy hobgoblins up close now, Buna opts to use her urghosh against it. She hits the hobgoblin, but only does 10 HP in wounds against it. Her foes staggers and recovers itself from the hammering blow. The wound smokes from the heat of her fever iron weapon, forged from the Everfire of Sundabar itself it was said.

Hobgoblin Leader (Init 14): Sensing something special about Thordek's weapon and knowing what a weapon of such dark metal must be, the hobgoblin wants nothing to do with it. Seeing the dwarf behead one of his sergeants with it further convinced him. His swordsmanship is superb and he thrusts at Thordek, who tries to block the attack. Thordek was completely unprepared when the hobgoblin hooked his axe under its notch and tore it from his hands, sending it to the ground.

The hobgoblin commander rolls a 32 on his disarm check, and Thordek rolled a natural one. Thordek's axe is now on the ground at his feet.

His next attack is far faster than Thordek could really prepare for. He notes that the hobgoblin's glistening sword has a serrated edge that is red and shimmering. That observation is all he has time to note as the weapon hits his leg, biting deeply but not as deep as it could have thanks to his armor. Blood flows from the wound like water; the sight of so much suddenly concerns Thordek. Had they hit an artery?

"Ton'ray will be your end" the hobgoblin advises the unarmed and bleeding Thordek. His voice is a deathly calm one.

The hobgoblin leader does 15 HP (after DR) to Thordek and -1 Constitution from bleeding damage. Try as he might, he can't quite identify what kind of sword that was. Thordek rolls a 14 on his Knowledge Arcana check.

Thordek is now 38/61 HP - after con penalty from bleeding. 1 round effect

Duergar Stonespite (Init 11): Looking up at the big minotaur, pinned between himself, Hjalmar and that maniac prince, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the minotaur. So he decided to help put it out of its misery. Duervar attacks the minotaur with his pick. Despite it wearing chainmail, both of his attacks draw blood from deep holes he drives in its armor.

Duervar rolls a 21 & a 24 against the minotaur, doing 18 & 18 HP damage.

Both times, Duervar tries to drive his pick right through the minotaur's heart. Not knowing which side there heart was on, he tries left and right. He misses the heart but punctures both of the creature's lungs. It quickly wobbles and chokes on its own blood; the same blood pouring from the nasty holes in its armor. The stink of sizzling acid further adds to the damage.

Somehow, the minotaur stays on its feet. It clutches its axe defensively; it still stands but is staggered. The fight is utterly gone from the monster, for now.

Hobgoblin Sergeant 1 (Init 10): Without a weapon and not wanting to give the minotaur another chance to swing at him, the sergeant wisely withdraws from the immediate battle. He falls back to guard the shaman.

Kerik Many Skulls (Init 10): Kerik runs for the gate as quick as he can, not bothering to wait for whatever the dwarven finger wiggler wanted. His long, powerful strides carry him far but his armor slows him down. The other minotaur outpaces him. Not for the first time, he regretted this heavy dwarven armor!

First Mace Nega Silverhammer (Init 10): Seeing how easily the hobgoblin's leader had disarmed Thordek of his magnificent axe, Nega tries to do her best to save the other warrior by making herself appear more of a threat. Indeed she might be the only one able to handle this beast of Auril! Encased in such thick metal, and it was clearly had been significant magic on it judging from its runes, he would be a tough one to bring down. She had every confidence that Berronar had provided her with the means to deal with such a foe. After all, she had fought worse.

Nonetheless, Nega swings at the hobgoblin leader. The first blow of her mace, impeded as she was by the cleric's magic, was shrugged off not by its armor but by some kind of warding magic. She grunts in frustration and swings again at it, and this time connects solidly through the maze of wards covering her foe. It grunts as her mace bashes in his magnificent armor, denting and holing it. Blood seeps out of it and wisps of golden smoke from where the divine fury of her mace and reacted to her foes wickedness.

Yet somehow she expected more of an effect. This one was clearly made of sterner stuff than the others.

Nega rolls a 26 and a 28, hitting on the second blow and doing 19 HP damage with her mace.

Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff (Init 10): With the dwarves being outpaced by the minotaurs for the race for the gate, Carmard bites his lip. Letting any of them get away to warn the main stronghold was out of the question, and as far as he knew, no one was guarding that exit.

"Wait! Have a spell for all ye!" Carmard says. He concentrates for a moment as he fingers the appropriate rune stones before a shimmer nimbus of white energy shrouds Nalrak, Tasster and his sons.

"Now move!" he implores them.

Carmard casts a haste spell on Nalrak, Tasster and his three sons, than moves as far as time allows.

Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist (Init 09): Now imbued with Carmard's magic, and not for the first time being the Arcanii's guardian, Nalrak waves his breathless thanks and moves onward with renewed vigor. He now covers twice the ground he normally would.

While he could no longer see it, his elemental continued its work. It killed off the last remaining goblin with ease.

Tasster Fiendshredder & Sons (Init 09): Tasster waves his thanks to Carmard and roars with excitement. The already fast barbarian prince moves like a flash now, flying past Nalrak. His sons keep pace as well. Whatever the Arcanii had just done, it almost made Prince Tasster take back all the bad things he had said about mages but that would take a very long time; time he didn't care to waste.

They round the corner to see the minotaur hacking at the already battered old gateway with its massive axe. He takes point and heads right for the minotaur. The monster hears him coming and turns, swinging his axe at the vulnerable Tasster, who can do little more than watch the axe come at him and trust in his armor. He wouldn't have it any other way....

Unfortunately, the minotaur's aim is true and his axe catches Tasster in the biceps and batters his breast plate. Blood wells from the deep wound and he bites back a yelp from the heavy wound.

"Yer gonna regret that! Bwahaha!" he roars at the minotaur.

Arum Faer Wed (Init 08): The gnome watches his two dwarven comrades go and shrugs. With little room to use his spells and one of the dwarves' vaunted arcanii already in that blood bath, he decides to hold position. He cranks his crossbow and levels it at the only goblin he can see. It was a tough shot, but he also didn't care if he hit Nalrak's elemental either. What was a bolt going to do to a stone?

Besides. Arum was a good shot. A really good shot. Just ask him. Or ask the goblin!

Which would be impossible, as Arum sends the bolt right at the goblin's ear. A heavy crossbow, designed to bring a knight down off his mighty horse in his shiny plate mail, had no problem piercing a ratty goblin's skull. He drives the bolt through the goblin's ear and it sinks up to its metal fletching. The goblin drops without a sound, blood or anything.

Arum scores a critical against the goblin from atop his surly badger, doing 13 HP damage to the goblin. It's certainly dead.

Paladin Hjalmar Crownshield (Init 03): Seeing the wobbling minotaur, Hjalmar strides up to the monster without an ounce of pity. He says nothing as his hammer swings and shatters the minotaur's meaty side. His own hammer flares in reaction to the minotaur's wicked taint. It is more than enough to send the minotaur crashing to the ground. It lays on the ground, it's body jolting for a moment in its death throes before laying still.

"Now let's find the rest" Hjalmar growls, as he wipes off his bloodied hammer with a rag.

Everyone Else: The rest of the group waits outside the gates, uninvolved for now.

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/2959/auriltefortt10.jpg (http://img833.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt10.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/2959/auriltefortt10.th.jpg (http://img833.imageshack.us/i/auriltefortt10.jpg/)

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[thorgrim29]

Thordrek takes a step back (5 foot step in the opposing direction) after his humiliating, and painful, pass with the hobgoblin leader. He reaches into his pack and draws his backup axe (move action). He then casts a spell, a minor but very useful divination, augmenting his perception. (casting true strike)

Initiative: 15
HP: 38
AC: 26

[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort

More determined than ever to stop the enemy spell casters, Magnum moved toward them. One guard (H4) stood in a position to prevent easy access to either, so the dwarf cleric attacked that foe with ferocity, "Outta da way scum, yer master needs a haircut!"

Attack[roll0]
Damage[roll1]
Frost Damage[roll2]

Shield of Faith, Mass in effect (+4 deflection bonus to AC)
Enemy Prayer included above
AC 29
HP 82/82
DR 1/blunt

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort Battle

Init 10
Nega draws a mighty breath and yells with all her might:In da name of Berronar Truesilver your time (h)as come She smites with all her divine power down on the leader. She yells again. Gore Get over (h)ere I need ye standin. And a third yell: Secure da gates so no can runaway duergar!!!((If mike lets her yell that much it might all be in one go hehe))
Next turn Nega will heal gore for 50HP if he gets close enough if not she will 5 foot step to do it. If she 5 foots she will yell Magnum side step da beast take my place. in Dwarven ;)
Init 10 for both things.

[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort

The dwarven cleric chuckled as he swung at his foe, “I’ll get right on dat, First Mace!”

To counter the enemy Prayer, the Sum Alaghor began to chant a song in dwarven:

“Spillin’ da blood o’foes, dwarven weapons we praised,
Send ‘em into death throes, all be battle crazed.

Steel turns dark blades away, dwarven armory we exalt,
Shield’n armor worn today, black wounds ta halt.

Now ta end da conflict, brethren press on fiercely,
Death ta foes we inflict, as one we win victory!”

Ehontar (Songs giving fear to the hearts of the craven.)
Dwarves w/in 60' gain holy bonus of +1 attack/damage/saves
Also under the effect of Remove Fear spell (if applicable)
Enemies suffer morale penalty -1 attack/damage/saves
This essentially negates the enemy spell for dwarves within range

[Gryndel]

Perform (singing) check :smalleek:
[roll0]

[Scow2]

Gore Turrock - Fort Battle
"Where are you going, coward?!" Gore bellows as he brings his sword against the retreating sergeant as he tried to stagger out of his reach toward the shaman.[roll0] (If I'm using my -2 POW attack), [roll1]

Assuming the sergeant won't be getting up again, Gore presses on with the battle. Despite his significant wounds, the adrenaline and drunken singing fuel him as he lowers his head, bringing his horns to bear in a powerfull rush to the Hobgoblin Cleric. PowAtt=1 [roll2], [roll3].

[You'll have to modify my rolls with environmental penalties... but did our Clerics just counter each other with the same spell?]

[mshady]

Johannes shrugs, grinning.
"Lads, lads... it is in these darkest of times that one must keep their solidarity."He ambles towards them slowly, internally giggling at their exaggerated fears.

"For if we haven't got our friends, well... we haven't got anything."He heads to the door, opening it.

"Come on out, but don't try and run."He leads the way, not bothering to turn back to see if they're following. Addressing the rest of the group, "Never underestimate the effectiveness on a well timed pat on the back."

Buelyir looks at the scene and how Johannes resolved the situation and shakes his head, but only out of amazement. He chuckles to himself as he strokes his short, thick, black beard.

"Well that's impressive, lad" Buelyir admits. "Now what?" he asks himself.

The two wounded hobgoblins, the guard commander and his sergeant, both look about in confusion. Confusion they were not attacked and confusion about what any of the words Johannes had spoken. What did any of that even mean?

He regards the two hobgoblins as Johannes returns to the first hobgoblin that Johannes had ensnared with some sort of mental spell. The two seem to talk amicably in the hobgoblin's native tongue.

Buelyir shrugs and walks over towards the two hobgoblins, both of which are still armed, but of course surronded by the rest of the party. The bodies of their fallen guards are scattered about the stone.

"So glad ye decided to come out and join us. Saved us from having to go in and hurt ye" he says with an easy smile. His eyes are far from smiling though. "If yer useful to us, we can let ye walk out of here. If not, we'll hang yer from those cranes until yer dead. I'm a reasonable fellow, but I'll only ask ye once" Buelyir informs the two hobgoblins. He rests his hand on his sword and waits for their response.

The two look at each other and shrug, well aware that fighting now would be suicidal.

"Talking is better than dying" the hobgoblin officer concludes, than shrugs. His common is surprisingly good, for a hobgoblin. As intelligent as any human, if not a dwarf or an elf, they were some of the most dangerous goblinkin for their minds.

"Ok" Buelyir states. His lips tighten for a moment. "I want to know how ye get to the surface and lay of the land out there. I want to know how many are in that old dwarven clan hold ye are occupying, especially how many giants. Do ye have any prisoners in there?"

Buelyir makes a point of placing his hand back on his sword again, letting them know failure to answer might mean a sudden death.

The two look between each other and are reluctant to answer at first, but the lieutenant pursuades his sergeant to say nothing and let him speak again.

"You have many questions, dwarf. You think you can attack us?" the lieutant laughs. "Many of ours have gone to your Icewind Pass to fight your stumpie brothers, but we hardly left the place unguarded!" the lieutenant seems amused and counts off the numbers that appear in front of him. "You're very bad spies" he smirks at Buelyir.

"Yer start'n to piss me off, greenskin" Buelyir growls at him, than reaches for his sword. He pulls it half out of his scabbard. Runes blaze blue down its length. For a well dressed and groomed dwarf, for some reason Buelyir could be awfully intimidating. The lieutenant shrugs before continuing, but he seems more nerveous now.

"There is a road up to the surface. It comes out in a cave. A castle of ice and stone overlooks the exit to that cave. It protects the fortrss below from anyone in the mountains. Around it is a wide valley there, where we herd our animals. Little else is there. No one but us is in these mountains. Xurshin and Auril rules the Spine!" he says with pride, placing special emphasis on the dragon's name as well as it's God. Merely saying those names may draw the attention of either, and the lieutenant knew it. When Buelyir glared at him, he smiled coyly.

"Do that again, and you'll be seeing both" Buelyir warns. His face is red from anger. Surprise was one of the few things they had going for them here.

"Tell me about the garrision guarding the old dwarven fortress down the river here" Buelyir asks sternly. "Don't lie. I'll know if ye do" he says, brandishing an amulet. The hobgoblin officer looks at the amulet for a oment and continues...

"I guard the bridge and the river, so it has been some time since I went there" he says, qualifying his information. Buelyir sighs and motions for him to continue.

"There are as many as three dozen frost giants here at any given time. Most left, but I'd expect as many as eight stayed. Several hundred others are normally here, but those assigned merely as guards of this keep are about half a hundred? Not including those at our keeps around the approaches to the old dwarf home. They be guarded well, yet!" he smiles. "Good luck with this. All six of you" he says and laughs.

Buelyir ignores the taunt nd continues to press.

"Any prisoners?" Buelyir asks. "I'm told some mercenaries were captured by an orc tribe we encountered and some were taken here. The halfling was all we found alive"

"Ah" the hobgoblin says.

"Say "Ah" again, and I'll pluck out one o'yer teeth!" Buelyir snaps at him.

"Ah-oh yes" the hobgoblin says. "They came through here to the mines. Four warriors, all beaten and poked by the orcs. We had fun with them before we sent them on. Especially the woman" the hobgoblin says with a nasty smile.

"I see..." Buelyir says, debating between continuing or just killing the hobgoblin now. The implication of what he had done to the woman prison seemed to hit a nerve with Buelyir. His hand flexes on his sword hilt before relaxing again.

"You said mines. You send prisoners to the mines here?" Buelyir asks.

"Yes. Mining is for slaves and stumpies. Better with slave stumpies" he smiles nastily again.

"How many are actually in these mines?" he asks, ignoring the taunt.

"If none died last week, about a hundred vermin slaves. You're not trying to rescue them, are you?" he says, seemingly amused by the absurd notion.

Buelyir looks at him with wide eyes, than sputters and curses. It only provokes the hobgoblin to laugh again.

"I'm done with him" Buelyir says with lethal finality. "Anyone else? I have to think on some things"

[Strangie]

Wyatt narrowed his eyes and stared at the hobgoblins. The way they talked about prisoners just being playthings struck a nerve with him as well. He glanced at the sergeant's kneecap for a moment, thinking how fun it would be to break it with his mace and then beat the oaf over the head while he was on the ground. He put the though aside for now, though.

"Yeah, you keep laughing 'dere, tough guy." he says, seething with utter hatred for the hobgoblin and his stupid face. "Just keep laughin'. We'll see who has the last. No, I haven't anything," he adds, to reply to Buelyir's question. "If we're done with 'em, what now?"

His eyes drifted toward the kneecap again after a moment.

[ithildur]

Talamir remained in the background with his hood drawn up in the interest of facilitating the interrogation, knowing well the hatred goblinoids held towards elves as well as dwarves. For his part, hood or no hood, his body language and pursed lips gave clues as to his feelings towards the wretched pair, even before the officer opened his mouth.

He stayed silent until Buelyr finished his interrogation, then spoke calmly addressing the unusual dwarf, as he remained standing behind the others.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"Would you direct them to remove their armor, weapons, and strip naked?"

The elf still had his longsword unsheathed; one of his eyes seemed to twitch slightly as he considered the hobgoblin officer.

[mshady]

Clarified the hobgoblin's response....

[mshady]

Talked with Melody. Her computer is presently down, probably a power supply. I expect she'll be back in a week or two. In the meantime, I'll be running Sable.

[Gorgondantess]

He regards the two hobgoblins as Johannes returns to the first hobgoblin that Johannes had ensnared with some sort of mental spell. The two seem to talk amicably in the hobgoblin's native tongue.
Wait a minute, what's their native tongue? Johannes can't speak goblin.:smallconfused:
Johannes listens in on Buelyir's interrogation as he speaks with the hobgoblin, keeping him distracted with inane questions.
He then proceeds to ask his hobgoblin the same questions Buelyir asked the others, but in a different order and with different phrasing for cross referencing.
That done, he has the hobbo wait while he goes to converse with Buelyir.
"The amulet," he says, getting his attention.
"Can it really detect lies?":smallamused:
Go ahead and give me a one sentence reply. I have more to say.

[ArmanMadero]

Arman cursed as the arrow missed, but it soon didn't matter as the Scrags were soon put down without much more effort. His attention kept drifting to the other elf, as something familiar nagged at him about him.

He shook his head and chuckled a little when he figured it out. That was interesting....

Soon, the battle was over and Buelyir was soon talking with what remained of the hobgoblins. Arman stayed out of the conversation, and instead listened to all that was said.

m appologies for a short comment. Normally i have internet at the one job and i take time to look at things online during my breaks and lunch, but, we had donors that decided that they should use the free wifi to download illegal music and movies, and the internet provider shut it down so i no longer have that option. :/ I will try and get more things up more often.

[mshady]

Wait a minute, what's their native tongue? Johannes can't speak goblin.:smallconfused:

Johannes listens in on Buelyir's interrogation as he speaks with the hobgoblin, keeping him distracted with inane questions.
He then proceeds to ask his hobgoblin the same questions Buelyir asked the others, but in a different order and with different phrasing for cross referencing.
That done, he has the hobbo wait while he goes to converse with Buelyir.
"The amulet," he says, getting his attention.
"Can it really detect lies?":smallamused:
Go ahead and give me a one sentence reply. I have more to say.

Buelyir looks at the amulet and shrugs. He does crack a smile though.

"Nah, not even slightly. But don't tell them that!" he says and smirks.

[mshady]

Talamir remained in the background with his hood drawn up in the interest of facilitating the interrogation, knowing well the hatred goblinoids held towards elves as well as dwarves. For his part, hood or no hood, his body language and pursed lips gave clues as to his feelings towards the wretched pair, even before the officer opened his mouth.

He stayed silent until Buelyr finished his interrogation, then spoke calmly addressing the unusual dwarf, as he remained standing behind the others.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"Would you direct them to remove their armor, weapons, and strip naked?"

The elf still had his longsword unsheathed; one of his eyes seemed to twitch slightly as he considered the hobgoblin officer.

Buelyir lists to Talamir's request with a nod.

"Aye, good idea" Buelyir agrees. He turns to the hobgoblins.

"Okay ye two. Got what we wanted. Just tell me where ye keep the slaves and prisoners, eh?" he says and brandishes his amulet once again. The hobgoblin regards it with a scowl before replying.

"We keep them south of the temple, on the other side of the river in pens watched by the bridge towers and a stalagmite near the southern gate you dwarves left hollow for us. The stench is horrible and they're near the river, so we can throw the bodies away quickly" he smirks at that last part. "The mines are not too far from that. They bring out the ore and our smithes make our things"

The remark earns another scowl from Buelyir, but he continues.

"Fine" he says sharply, obviously angered about the matter of the slaves again. "We're going to cut ye loose. Take off yer armor and weapons and we'll escort ye a fair bit from here, and don't ye come back!" Buelyir warns. "Now get with the stripping"

"Oi, thank Moradin ye let them keep their clothes there" Flint remarks. "I nay wanted to see all that"

The two hobgoblins growl and the two help the other take off their equipment. The one still has an arrow lodged in his back, but not deeply thanks to the armor. The tip is broken off and the armor removed around it, and painfully at that. With their things piled on the ground, they stand in their pants and arming jackets.

"Unarmed in the Underdark? May as well have killed us!" the sergeant growls, now comprehending the situation.

"Not my problem" Buelyir smiles. "At least yer not slaves" he says. Buelyir turns towards Johannes, who is asking questions of the guard he bewitched earlier. "Is he going with them or do ye want to keep him?" Buelyir asks with some irritation.

Either Johannes sends along his friend or not, but Buelyir continues.

"Talamir" Buelyir says, waving the elf over. "Take Wyatt and Sable and escort these two back down the tunnel and let them be on their way. Take'em for a walk... I've got some thinking to do before we go" Buelyir says, wearing a look of frustration. Without further word, he stalks off to find a place to sit down. The two hobgoblins look at Talamir and wait to see what he'll do.

[Strangie]

Wyatt idly twirls his mace deftly around his wrist a few times as he looks at the hobgoblins. He didn't particularly enjoy babysitting duty, but, it didn't make much difference at this point.

"When you guys rang the dinner bell, I thought you were gonna send somethin' scary out. I wouldn't have gotten on Buelyir's case if I'd known you were sendin' a couple of scrags." He turned and gave Buelyir his little salute with two fingers with his buckler hand. "No hard feelings, eh?" He says with a shrug.

After that, he left Buelyir to his thoughts, resting his mace on his shoulder. He gestured with his thumb behind him toward the tunnel as he glances at the hobbos. "Alright you two chuckleheads. Get ready to start walkin'. No funny business or you can say goodbye to your kneecaps, and I'm pretty sure you can't outrun me." He glances at Talamir. "Let's get 'dese chumps on 'deir way already, eh?"

[ithildur]

As the two hobgoblins' weapons are armor were removed, Talamir fished out a copper coin from his belt pouch with his left hand, pausing to consider whether to use the divination now. He seemed to change his mind quickly however, and replaced the coin. The unusual dwarf's interrogation skills seemed to be quite effective, and the spell might be needed in a more dire situation later on; it was highly unlikely that there would be further opportunities to prepare his spells this day. Besides, there were times when other methods beside using the Art were just as effective.

He nodded once to Wyatt and Sable, whispering.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"Let's go; we may be in need of haste if the giants wake up sooner than later."

The hooded elf stepped towards the hobgoblins, raising his longsword so that its point touched the now unarmored officer's crotch, pressing hard enough to elicit a reflexive squirm.

"You seem to favor a most distasteful use of the word 'stumpy'," he spoke with icy calm. "Get any unfortunate ideas, and it will be a fitting moniker for you. Now move."

He did not seem to be bluffing, nor threatening, merely stating the facts plainly. To emphasize his message, he drew back his hood, revealing his elven features.

[mshady]

OOC: Minor edit to Buelyir's statements.

[mshady]

The hobgoblin lieutenant looks down at the sword and frowns at the demonstration. Apparently he found Johannes more intimidating than a sword to his groin, as he looks at it in contempt and spits on the ground.

"We talked. Now either walk me away from here or let us be gone!" he snarls at Talamir. "Hurry up, Elf. Best let me go soon before our giants come. Maybe I see you again and make your little twig a stump too" he smiles nastily.

[ithildur]

The elf's response is several seconds of cold silence. For a moment he could picture his father's face in his mind, shaking his head. Talamir narrowed his eyes.

Then his wrist twisted, the longsword barely moving.



Not sure about this, but I would think if a roll is required, it's a touch attack against a flatfooted, unarmored target? He's going to leave a small, precise cut, not take the whole thing off. Minimal damage so not adding str bonus to damage roll

[roll0]
[roll1]



"A pair of giants, if they turn out to be as pathetic as the two of you, will make for good sport," the elf hissed with his blade still pressed against the hobgoblin's most vulnerable region, hoping the hobgoblin would take the bait and talk some more, about the giants or other friends.

He ignored the stain of blood.

[Strangie]

Wyatt winces a little at the exchange between Talamir and the hobgoblin. "For the love of..." He shakes his head, pointing down the tunnel with his buckler hand. "Would you just... come on! Let's go already." It wasn't immediately clear who he was being annoyed at, at the moment, but he clearly wanted to get this done and over with regardless.

"You." He points at both of the hobgoblins alternately, then points down the tunnel. "Walk. Now. Just go."

Once they started moving, he would too.

[mshady]

Bundok Battlehammer (Init 19): Seeing the battle joined against the leader of the hobgoblin, Bundok decides to do his best to lend a hand and moves up cautiously.

Hobgoblin Shaman (Init 19): The shaman moves forward with a purposeful look on his face. In his hands, he grasps two black stones. Even though he is covered in a dusting of stone and diamond, the shaman is able to scramble up towards one of the fallen ogres and place two black opals in its eyes. He jams each in with his thumb, creating a wet mess. He stands up and takes a defensive stance.

The shaman is now in a fighting defensively stance.

Grathalmor Ironfist (Init 16): Seeing the hobgoblin leader engaged, Grathalmor moves closer but cautiously. His first instinct is to charge, but after watching how he had just humiliated Thordek, he did not want to make himself any more vulnerable than he absolutely had to.

Hobgoblin Cleric (Init 16): The cleric follows the example of the shaman and moves up, placing the black opals forcibly into the eyes of the fallen ogre... He assumes a defensive stance as well...

Gore Turrock (Init 15): Gore swings at the retreating hobgoblin.

Attack of Opportunity v. Sergeant - Gore rolls a 16 and misses his foe!

He staggers towards the cleric, bleeding from several wounds now, but continues to press the attack. His swing against the cleric just misses the shifty cleric.

Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn (Init 15): Magnum launches into his Ehontar war song, and its effect invigorates his friends and weakens his foes. The effect counters the impact of the enemy's Prayer spell, for now. He now surges forward and calls out to one of the few remaining guards.

This time he hits the hobgoblin and sends it to the ground, a grizzly wound cut across its chest... Magnum does 16 HP damage, killing it.

Levtokuld Thordek Torrun (Init 15): Having taken a serious wound from the hobgoblin leader, Thordek reaches for his spare axe, no minor weapon in its own right certainly. It was what he had wielded until Prince Tolrin had passed out some of the extra equipment to the ground outside Hundlestone what seemed weeks ago. He channels a spell into the weapon and prepares to ready the score against his foe...

Hobgoblin Guards (Init 15): The first guard flails away at Nega this time and ignores Buna to allow his commander a better attack at the threatening dwarven paladin, Nega. Hobgoblin 1 provides a +2 aid another to Ton'ray against Nega.

Arcanii Buna Soulhammer (Init 14): With Thordek disarmed and wounded, Buna wisely backs away from the hobgoblin leader. With her free hand, she draws one of her pistols. She curses the necessity of reserving as much magic as possible and hopes that Nega can handle herself for the moment...

Hobgoblin Leader (Init 14): Ton'ray sees two of his foes clear out and only this female dwarf in the shining silver armor remained. He snorts his contempt at the two fleeing from him and points his sword tip at her, marking her as his foe now. He presents his sword in an on over hand position as he starts his attack on Nega. Having felt the bite of her mace once, he tries to disarm her now as well...

Thanks to the distraction caused by the other hobgoblin, Ton'ray is indeed able to disarm Nega. She tries to block his strike, but he hooks a flange of her magnificent mace and sends his sword into a circle. The momentum is too much for Nega, and without the leverage, the Silver Mace of Berronar is thrown to the ground. She only has a moment before the next attack flashes at her, but she bats it away with her shield. Barely.

Ton'ray rolled a 44 to disarm Nega. His actual attack against her just misses her, rolling a 27.

Duergar Stonespite (Init 11): Duervar moves up to the flank of the enemy now, looking for someone to attack.

Hobgoblin Sergeant 1 (Init 10): Unable to see anyone else coming along the left flank yet, the sergeant unlimbers a shield and a short sword.

Kerik Many Skulls (Init 10): The hulking minotaur continues to run, heading right towards the fray and not far behind Duervar...

First Mace Nega Silverhammer (Init 10): Now disarmed, Nega curses the hobgoblin and his entire race. There was no way she would risk losing the Silver Mace of Berronar! She immediately reached for the weapon, creating an opening for the hobgoblin to swing at her.

His sword raps her hard in the side. The thing, serrated blade catches a seam in her armor, as if it was aimed, and leaves a nasty cut on her leg. The wound bleeds far more than she would have expected...

Nega takes a 8 HP hit from the hobgoblin and a -1 Con. Blood loss reduces Nega's total HP.

92/100 HP

Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff (Init 10): The Arcanii rushes to join the battle now... He covers an enormous distance, thanks to his Haste spell.

Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist (Init 09): Nalrak continues to move forward. Now invigorated by Carmard's haste spell, he covers twice the ground he would normally. He finally rounds the corner of the keep and gets a good eye at the battlefield. Not too far away is the hobgoblin sergeant. If he didn't move, he would have an easy shot at the cretin...

Tasster Fiendshredder & Sons (Init 09): Tasster roars and hollers as he rounds the corner. He barely glances at the battlefield and rushes towards Gore, more out of a desire to steal one of his kills than to truly help him, such was his battle frenzy....

He too misses the cleric, his axe biting into stone instead of greenskin flesh...

Tasster rolls a natural 1.

Arum Faer Wed (Init 08): Arum sits on his badger and waits for a flanking attack. He is content to stay out of the melee...

Paladin Hjalmar Crownshield (Init 03): Hjalmar follows Duervar...
Everyone Else:

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/2893/aurilfort11.jpg (http://img600.imageshack.us/i/aurilfort11.jpg/)

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http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/2893/aurilfort11.th.jpg (http://img600.imageshack.us/i/aurilfort11.jpg/)

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[mshady]

The hobgoblin howls in pain and stumbles backwards. It grasps it's bleeding groin and looks at Talamir with a malevolent hatred. Only the sergeant's restraint stops him from throwing himself at Talamir.

The shouts and commotion immediately draws Buelyir's intention. He studies the scene for a moment, curious how things will play out, but does nothing and says nothing to interfere.

"Damned elf!" the lieutenant shouts at him, spittle spraying. "When we catch you, the Frostlord will flay you alive and feed you to his ice elementals!" the hobgoblin threatens.

He glares at Talamir, but says nothing else. His eyes blaze with hatred and promise of torture against either him or the first elf he could find.

"Come on" Wyatt urges. The halfling prompts Talamir to get going, and reluctantly the two hobgoblins, flanked by Talamir, Sable and Wyatt, head down the tunnel they used to approach the bridge in the first place.

Sable walks near Talamir now and places an arm on his hand gently. She whispers in his ear for a moment.

"The dwarf weapon will kill them anyways. They can't run far enough. Lets just leave them to the monster of the midden heap now and be done with them. No sense risking an alert. Up to you. I can't get both. We can just tell Buelyir we let them go. It would even be true, in a ways."

She leans away from Talamir and shrugs nonchalantly, unbothered by the proposition. Her hand rests on her deadly rapier's hilt as they continue to walk.

[Strangie]

"Uh, 'when we catch you'? Listen, chump. You ain't doin' crap. I hate babysitting your ugly face just as much as you hate getting castrated by elves, so just walk and nobody else do anything stupid." Wyatt gestures down the tunnel with his free hand, poking either hobgoblin in the back of the leg if they stopped moving at any point during the march.

Wyatt noticed Sable whispering to Talamir, but didn't notice in time to hear what they were talking about. He figured she had some kind of plan... she was the type for that. He kept his mace in his hand, ready to whack any rebellious hobgoblins that decide to give him a hard time.

He waited for either Sable or Talamir's judgement to see how far down the tunnel was enough.

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort Battle
Init 10
Nega 5 feets towards gore up behind Magnum and yells: On dat leader lads. Magnum brain da useless monster and get back in dere. Gore ye will feel better now. Heals him 50HP leaving her with 85 on lay on hands and get ready to go for the leader next round.

[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort Battle
Init 15

Magnum added a verse to his Ehontar song to relay information, "Dey be tryin' ta animate da dead ogres!"

He stepped over to engage the hobgoblin shaman (5' step to AE13) and attacked (S1) using his battle intuition bonus again (2nd use).

Attack[roll0]
Damage[roll1]
Frost Damage[roll2]

Shield of Faith, Mass in effect (+4 deflection bonus to AC)
AC 29
HP 82/82
DR 1/blunt

[thorgrim29]

Hey ugly! My turn

A bit lightheaded with blood loss, Thordrek nevertheless rejoins battle with the hobgoblin, his axe lit with a familiar electric glow, intent on wiping that smirk off it's face. Guided by his previous spell, he puts all his force into the strike, trusting in the magic.

-Moving back into contact with the goblin, arcane channeling shocking grasp and power attacking for 7.

To hit: [roll0] + 27 (10+ 1 for goblin, +20 for true strike, +3 for shocking grasp, -7 for power attack)

Damage: [roll1] +10 + [roll2]

[ithildur]

Sable walks near Talamir now and places an arm on his hand gently. She whispers in his ear for a moment.

"The dwarf weapon will kill them anyways. They can't run far enough. Lets just leave them to the monster of the midden heap now and be done with them. No sense risking an alert. Up to you. I can't get both. We can just tell Buelyir we let them go. It would even be true, in a ways."

She leans away from Talamir and shrugs nonchalantly, unbothered by the proposition. Her hand rests on her deadly rapier's hilt as they continue to walk.

Talamir paused to consider both the woman and the implications of her whisper. It wasn't an entirely unjustified thought; he certainly had no love for any of the wretched and evil goblinoid race, and this one in particular had done nothing to change his views. If it were not for the fact they had surrendered, he would not have hesitated to draw the edge of his blade against their throats in combat. The fact the wretched biir* had smugly hinted at what kind of 'fun' he had with a female prisoner had been nearly enough for him to slice a bit deeper than he had. This, along with the jaded cynicism that had built up over his recent years, were nearly enough to cause him to nod in response to Sable's suggestion.

But the wretches had surrendered. This, he realized, changed certain things; even in his current condition, Talamir knew this both by teaching and by instinct. Perhaps it was his father's teachings, or perhaps it was some part of a deeply ingrained love for life intrinsic to all but the most hardened of elves. Regardless, the image of his father's face, seeming patient and watchful, once more returned to him in that moment. Talamir shut his eyes.

He also knew enough of the Underdark that there was some truth to the hobgoblin's protests, that being unarmed and unarmored could very well be fatal sooner or later. He remembered one of his father's strange little mantras, "Until you are dead, you are not dead." He remembered the hungering, foul Oytugh, the situations they were in, the two slumbering frost giants, and the urgency of the moment, all in a flash.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"No need to go that far, maiden," Talamir replied in whisper, opening his eyes and looking at her. "The main thing is to keep them from stirring up trouble by alerting others or some other mischief, until we make enough progress that what these two might do will become irrelevant."

"Between the three of us I trust we have enough rope and skill to make bindings that they will not escape from easily. Let's take them further down a little ways, and bind their hands and feet, and return. We need to make haste, and I've little desire to meet that stinking creature once again."

"I suggest we bind their hands now," the elf nodded slightly as he addressed Wyatt, opening his pack. "And then their feet, when we've gone down a little ways from here."

The elf chided himself silently for his previous action, and determined he would not repeat such a deed again. A clean kill perhaps, but not... that.

Not even to a hobgoblin.


Talamir has 50 foot of silk rope if needed, although I don't think they'll need that much to bind the two





*waste/garbage

[Strangie]

"Whatever sounds good." Wyatt obviously didn't care how this task was carried out - just that it was completed was all that mattered to him. "Let's do it and get it done with."

If nobody else had any particular training with the usage of rope between the three of them (read: ranks in Use Rope), Wyatt will do the honors of the bindings on the hobbos, likely being the most dexterous between the three. "Hold still, numbnuts," he orders as he or whoever else does the bindings of the hands first, and then the legs once they've reached their destination.

He cracked a grin at his own joke once he realized how appropriate the title he had just given to the hobgoblin sounded.

Wyatt has a +6 Dex mod, but he isn't trained in Use Rope, so unless either of you can beat that, then he will do the binding.

[ithildur]

Talamir winced a little at the pun, which might've been amusing to him if it weren't for the fact he hadn't changed his mind about such things. He did smile a bit as he watched the dextrous hands work rapidly.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"Gagging them might be a good idea as well, and lastly, a through patdown before we leave them to the mercies of their gods," he put in. Taking prisoners was something that he wasn't used to dealing with; most of his experiences with enemies invariably had been life or death struggles.

"When we get back, we'd better make certain that the speaking tube is truly out of commission, for good."

He paused briefly, and looked at the hobgoblins before they were gagged. Just in case... he thought he'd probe one last time.

"You still think you and your friends will catch us?"



Search check Aid Another roll to assist whoever is going to pat them down (I'm guessing both of the others have better search modifier than Talamir)
1d20+5 Search Aid Another for +2 bonus DC 10

[ithildur]

[roll0] Search Aid Another for +2 bonus

[Strangie]

Wyatt's Search mod is +17, and typically it's a secret roll made by the DM.

Wyatt complies, making sure he starts before Sable can even say anything. He conducts his search efficiently and quickly, not enjoying this part any more than the rest. "Sorry, I'm not letting a lady get her hands dirty on some grubby hobbo. Bloody, on the other hand, well, it's a bit late for 'dat, heh."

He let the hobbos have their response to Talamir, before gagging them. He removes the hobbo's shirts and uses that as their gag. "Here, you can smell own sweat and grease until fate decides where you end up."

Once all was said and done, he knelt by the sergeant, narrowing his eyes. "Oh yeah... one more thing. When whatever terrible monster comes by for you, tearing your flesh right off your body, between your squeals of agony and terror, I want you to think about 'dose prisoners you had 'fun' with as the monsters are having fun with you in 'deir own way. What goes around, comes around, blockhead." He tilts his head with a smile, patting the hobgoblin's shoulder with reassurance - reassurance that the hobbo was utterly screwed, at least. "Good bye." He stands up, pushing off the hobbo's shoulder roughly as he turns around, whirling his mace around his wrist and letting it come to a rest on his shoulder gently.

"I think we're done here. Let's go."

[mshady]

Bundok Battlehammer (Init 19): Seeing the growing crowd around this unusually skilled hobgoblin, Bundok decides to join in the action. His first attack with his quarterstaff merely hits the ground with a crack. The second attack hits the hobgoblin on the side of the knee. His foe yelps and staggers for a moment before regaining his footing.

Bundok rolls a 13 and a 26, hitting due to flanking and doing 11 HP against the hobgoblin leader.

Grathalmor Ironfist (Init 16): Grathalmor joins the fray now. He wields the mithril greatsword that he had taken from the Black Orc a few days earlier, and he wields it with gusto. The first strike opens the hobgoblin's shiny armor, drawing a splash of red blood for the effort.

Grathalmor rolls a 27 and a 14, hitting on the first attack and doing 14 HP damage.

Gore Turrock (Init 15): While badly wounded, Gore doesn't let his wounds slow him down much. His first vicious swing with his sword rocks the hobgoblin cleric back on his heals, opening up a grizzly wound across his chest. The creature snarls and clutches the bloody wound, than tries to block Gore's next swing. This he manages to do, catching the blow on his shield and pushing it away.

Gore rolls a 29 & 23, doing 29 HP with his first hit. His second strike misses.

Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn (Init 15): Magnum tries to cut down one of the last hobgoblins in front of him, but perhaps he tried a little too hard. His swing misses the hobgoblin completely!

Levtokuld Thordek Torrun (Init 15): Returning to the fray, Thordek does his best to chop his foe down. His axe vibrates with electrical power as it cuts towards the hobgoblin. It slides smoothly into a defensive stance to stop Thordek's attack, but had it not been for a spell to guide his strike, the block would have worked. Instead, the blow hits the hobgoblin squarely in the belly and doubles him over as the electrical power channeled into the axe. His is jolted badly by the blow and staggers backwards, clutching the wound. He wears a look of surprise on his face

Thordek hits Ton'Ray for 39 HP.

Hobgoblin Guards (Init 15): Only two of the guards remain. The first one finds himself confronting Grathalmor and another far closer than he wanted to be to Tasster. Both go into a defensive stance.

The first one swings at Grathalmor, but the dwarf easily, even playfully, blocks the attack. The second hobgoblin attacks one of Tasster's sons, but he throws the attack aside with impunity as well. Seeing the cleric's signaling, he makes room for the boxed in cleric to fall back now...

Hobgoblin Cleric (Init 14): Wounded badly by Gore, he still has plenty of fight left in him. He casts defensively and braces himself for another attack from the burly minotaur. He need not have worried, as the over eager minotaur's blade splits the stone just by his feet instead with a thunderous crack that sends sparks and stone fragments flying. His black incantation quickly gains potency and tendrils of black smoke stab at the fallen ogre. It's flesh bursts open and falls away, revealing the ogre's massive skeleton. Once again, the monster is animated. It rises and pushes everyone else away from it. It's eyes flicker with infernal green energy.

Bereft of its axe, it swings its clawed fingers right at Gore's face but strikes his helmet instead. The blow jostles the minotaur, but little more. Gore was surprised how fast this skeletal ogre was...

Arcanii Buna Soulhammer (Init 14): Buna closes with the guard that is fighting Grathalmor now. She yells as she attacks and her urghosh cuts deeply into the hobgoblin's side. This time, the hobgoblin does down, finally succumbing to the wounds. The wound smolders from the heat of the Everfire forged blade.

Hobgoblin Leader - Ton'Ray (Init 14): Having taken three blows in rapid succession, the once confident hobgoblin falls into a defensive stance. Had another sword master been evaluating that defense, they would have been impressed by it. His sword darts from left to right, spinning in flashes and creating a wall of steel. It's nearly mesmerizing to watch. From that stance, Ton'Ray swings once again at Thordek and still manages to connect with the dwarf. The blow cuts through his armor and leaves an angry red wound that smolders from the red energy of the sword. Blood flows freely from the wound once more...

Ton'ray rolls a 27 and hits Thordek for 16 HP and another -1 constitution. Thordek is now at 22/61 HP

Seeing that the dwarf must be feeling as badly as he is now, Ton'ray pulls back...

Hobgoblin Shaman (Init 13): Unopposed, the hobgoblin shaman raises his hands high and begins an incantation of black magic. Tendrils of black smoke reach into the fallen ogre, animating the fallen creature once again. It's flesh peels back and sloths away, revealing the ogre's skeleton.

It reaches for it's axe and stands to its full height. Where its eyes were, an infernal green flame now flickers. Everyone around it is pushed aside... His delay allowed an opening for his commander to fall back. Satisfied with his work, he falls back now as well...

Seeing how wounded Thordek already is, the skeletal ogre attacks the battered dwarf.

It rolls a 22, just missing Thordek...

Duergar Stonespite (Init 11): Seeing the hobgoblin's deadly shaman, he raises his war pick high over his head and leaps towards the shaman. His pick cuts the shaman's stone skin protection, and most of its momentum is lost. The pick does get through though and still stings the shaman. The acid leeching from the war pick hurts him just as much. The shaman stumbles and tries to cover the wound as blood trickles from it, and his eyes promise vengeance. Duervar's second attack is a clean miss...

Hobgoblin Sergeant 1 (Init 10): The remaining sergeant moves to attack one of Tasster's sons with his heavy flail, and manages to connect. The blow hits him in the back of the shoulder and the young dwarf growls, but is staggering by the blow. It was not nearly enough to kill the dwarf though, something the sergeant would soon regret..

He hits one of Tasster's twins for 6 HP with a two handed flail.

Kerik Many Skulls (Init 10): Kerik moves up as much as he can, but his way is blocked in the tight quarters.

First Mace Nega Silverhammer (Init 10): Seeing how wounded the incorrigible minotaur Gore was, Nega falls back enough to reach out and place a hand on him. She channels her healing powers into the minotaur, closing most of his wounds and keeping him on his feet. Now she needed to try and keep Thordek on his feet, never mind her own wounds.

Nega heals Gore for 50 HP

[B]Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist (Init 09): Nalrak follows along and speeds, yes speeds, ahead, finding enough of a cap to get a shot off with his pistol. He draws the pistol and aims for the shaman, although truthfully he was just the first target Nalrak saw. He pulls the trigger and the gun barks in response. The shot hits the shaman and fragments of stone, as well as some blood, go flying.

Nalrak hit the hobgoblin shaman for 16 HP, doing 6 HP after the stone skin DR.

Tasster Fiendshredder & Sons (Init 09): "That's disgusting" Tasster remarks, as he watches the skeletal ogre rise. He takes a step towards it and swings once, than twice at it with his axe. Bone fragments shatter and fly through the air, as well as hungs of wet flesh and chain mail. His first blow connected most solidly, but his second did not, sliding off the skeletal ogre's chain mail and toughened bones.

Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff (Init 8): Carmard delays and follows Nalrak, but does not have a shot to take with the close quarters and fewer foes. "We almost got them!" he yells out to the group.

Arum Faer Wed (Init 08): Arum waits, the sole remaining guarding of the southern flank.

Paladin Hjalmar Crownshield (Init 03): Hjalmar moves up as well, poised to get into the action again.

Everyone Else: The northern duergar group moves northwards.

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[Katasi]

Arum continues to wait, looking carefully around for anyone who might try to slip through the defenses.

[mshady]

The hobgoblins are patted down, but nothing else of use is found on them. Most of their things had been left by the bridge already.

Before being gagged, Talamir tries to goad the hobgoblin into saying more, but he growls at the elf and says nothing. With nothing else to accomplish there, Wyatt ties up the hobgoblins securely enough. They would be able to get out of it eventually, but not anytime soon. Which was all the time they needed...

They gag the hobgoblins with their own wretched shirts and head back to the bridge where Buelyir and the rest wait.

"How'd it go?" Buelyir asks them immediately upon their return.

"Well enough. We left them tied up and alive. No resistance" Sable replies on that subject.

"Well, I'm glad you three are back. We need to get moving" Buelyir announces. "Since you and Wyatt have scouted ahead already, do ye think we should take the barge or try the crumbling little path along the side of the river?"

[ithildur]

While the others deliberated, Talamir headed directly for the speaking tube, examining it to see if the Duergar's work had been thorough enough that there was no chance of repairing the device.

[mshady]

There is no way of completely disabling it, short of tearing up all of the pipe that is exposed and all that runs to towards the other end. Flint's axe broke it and he stuffed a rag and a tanglefoot bag down it, so its pretty well blocked off. Granted, someone could cut around the blockage and use it.

Once the pip goes under the stone, it seems pretty well secured. Typical of dwarven stonework.

[Gryndel]

Magnum - Fort

Fortune ebbed and flowed in battle, of this Magnum was fully aware. He just wished it flowed toward him more positively in some situations. A heavy sigh and a deep growl escaped him as the ogres were animated into skeletons. Seeing the battle closing in, support coming from all sides now, he grinned and swung at the hobgoblin (H4) again.

OOC: If his attack drops H4 he will 5' step to take its place at AE13
If H4 is still up he will 5' step to AE14

Attack[roll0]
Damage[roll1]
Frost Damage[roll2]

Shield of Faith, Mass in effect (+4 deflection bonus to AC)
AC 29
HP 82/82
DR 1/blunt

[ithildur]

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/7632/talamirs.png
"Further disabling the speaking tube may call for someone with more stonecunning or other skills than I," Talamir spoke as he returned to the others. "I wonder if leaving it as is is a risk we can afford. Should anyone from their ranks, hobgoblin, giant, or otherwise with half a wit come along here and discover what has happened, if they manage to get it working again, our element of surprise will be lost."

The elf looked down the narrow path Buelyir spoke of. Perhaps there were access points further downstream where the tube could be cut. He felt fairly confident he could manage the path, but what of the less agile amongst the group? Regardless, time was ticking...

He turned back to the others, waiting patiently.

[thorgrim29]

COWARD!

Roars Thordrek as he sees his foe retreat. His hand goes to his spell components and almost starts a spell before he realizes that the last blow he instinctively blocked came from a mass of bones, and that he could not see the goblin leader. His rational thoughts fight through the haze caused by pain and adrenalin, and he gives his allies a chance to fell the skeleton before acting.

((Ok, so I'll be delaying my turn until everyone who's fighting the ogre skeleton has acted))

Scenario 1: The skeleton is still standing:

Thordrek, snarling in frustration, chops at the skeleton with two overhead and none too precise blows:

Power attacking for 3, making a full attack:

Attack 1: [roll0] Damage 1: [roll1]
Attack 2: [roll2] Damage 1: [roll3]


Scenario 2: The skeleton is killed and Thordrek has a clear shot at Ton'Ray

With a smirk and an obscene gesture at the Hobgoblin, Thordrek fires two almost solid bars of flame at Ton'Ray

Casting Scorching Ray at it (both rays):

To hit 1: [roll4] Damage 1: [roll5]
To hit 2: [roll6] Damage 1: [roll7]

If it kills him (one can hope):
Woozy from blood loss, Thordrek shouts at his fallen foe as life fades from it's eyes:

What do you have for fiery beams of death? You have nothing for fiery beams of death!

(cookie for the reference)

[Strangie]

Wyatt rubs his chin in thought about the speaking tube. "Well, I can take a crack at it, I suppose, and see if I can give it a proper disabling beyond what Flint has done..."

He puts his mace away, reaching in his vest, and twirling a set of tools around his finger. He walks toward the speaking tube, deftly flipping through the individual tools on the metal loop with his dexterous fingers. "Let's see what I can do about 'dis... after 'dis, 'dough, we need to split. Figure out our path while I work, eh?"

I'm going to play it safe, since I know I've got a good modifier in this, and take 10 on a Disable Device check if possible since there's no distractions. With a modifier of +22, that gives me a total check result of 32.

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort Battle
Seeing that her lot in life has become to keep people standing Nega takes her mace and slaps the skeletal Ogre in front of her with all her might again and again. If thordrek is attaced she will preform a Valiant Rescue imposing herself between the Ogre and Thordrek. If not she will bash the ogre to dust.
Now pus(h) em up into da corner lads get em trapped. Now lets get dis ting over wit(h).
Init 10

[Werewhale]

Nalrak Ironfist

Nalrak holsters his pistol, frowning at the small effect it had had on the shaman. Instead he grasps his holy symbol and summons the power of Dumathoin.
"Return to death, abominations!" he bellows at the ogre skeletons and a wave of golden light washes out from his golden symbol.

Turning Undead!
Turning Check: Max. [roll0] gives a maximum HD of 13!(7 levels +1 Imp. Turning +1 Gold Holy Symbol +4 from roll)
Turning Damage: [roll1]HD total

[mshady]

Talamir and Wyatt converse regarding the speaking tube, contemplating if it could still be used to warn the distant stronghold of their presence. For a stupid pipe in the ground, which they did not know if it still worked to begin with, it was proving a very vexxing problem.

Wyatt carefully examines it, which doesn't take too much really. It's a mithril pipe that rises from the stone and into the guard shack. It was kind of like a big musical instrument.

The only way to really disable it was to cut it off even with the stone and jam it up with something hard to remove. The problem was that such a thing probably had plenty of cleverly hidden access points in case someone got the same idea Wyatt had. Short of ripping out the entire pipe, it was impossible to completely disable. It was only a matter of degree. Dwarven things could be very difficult to disable. He didn't need to look at this infernal tube to know that one, however. Especially considering recent experiences. At least this tube would not try to become a God and kill everyone... but it was best to watch it, just to make sure...

[Strangie]

Wyatt rubs his chin at the contraption in deep thought. Realizing that this was no ordinary device, he walks back over to his companions, with a slight look of defeat.

"Okay, little bit trickier 'dan I thought. Basically, you can't really totally disable 'dis thing - aside from just ripping the whole thing out, which would take entirely too long, the best we could do is chop it off even with the stone that it rises out of and clog it with something difficult to remove. 'dough it might have a bunch of other access points in case someone else had 'dat idea..."

Wyatt taps his chin, looking back at the guard shack. "Which I hope is really not the case..."

[mshady]

Sable frowns at the analysis and nods in agreement.

"It's devious really... It's just a dumb pipe" she admits. "If they were smart, they'd use it to check in with the guards periodically. To make sure the trolls didn't eat them or something. Not that they seemed too smart"

Sable pauses and looks at Kelith.

"The one guard mentioned the Frost Father. Who's that?" she asks the suave cleric of Kossuth. As he seemed to be contemplating something else, she repeated the question to get his attention.

"That is odd..." he says, thinking over the term and tapping his chin. "Usually the term for their Goddess is Frostmaiden. I'd presume that is the priest in residence there"

He smiles and flips his chain in a lazy figure eight. "I'd like to meet the man"

"I'm sure you would" Sable smirks. She glances over at a pacing Buelyir and back to Wyatt and Talamir.

"I understand the concern about the giants. I'm worried too. It bettered the odds to have them split up though. I don't think that is what our leader is upset about though" she says in a low voice.

"The same thing's been bothering me. What are we going to do with a hundred slaves when we can barely get out ourselves in time?" she asks dead pan.

[Strangie]

"It's pretty grim... maybe if we were able to free 'dem ahead of time, we could give 'dem a head start on the explosion? 'deir chances are pretty slim as it is, but a slim chance is better 'dan no chance." Wyatt says with a shrug.

"Either way... I don't think 'dat it's gonna be easy to swallow. I don't want to abandon the prisoners, it's... hard. I know what's it like to be in captivity and it stinks." He says, shaking his head and looking down. "Still... we've a job to do. All we can do is try our best." Wyatt says as he looks up at Sable with a frown. "Right? So what do we do from here?"

[mshady]

Ogre Skeleton 1 (Init 22): With only its claws, the swift ogre takes a swipe at Gore's face and leaves a bloody claw mark across his face. The mark would probably leave an ugly scar, not that the minotaur minded that one bit.

The ogre skeleton does 10 HP to Gore. He is now at 75/87 HP

Ogre Skeleton 2 (Init 21): The second ogre slashes at Thordek with its axe. The axe hits Thordek harder and faster than he ever expected it to. Faster than he bet on a skeleton could ever swing an axe...

If Thordek was surprised, Nega was not. The Valkyrie rushes over and litterally throws herself between Thordek and the ogre skeleton's wicked axe. The axe falls hard on her, cutting her into her helmet and drawing across her cheek, splitting his gorget of chainmail and tearing into her armor. She rights herself as blood streams from her head and neck wounds, in what may leave a scar, as well some of her upper torso. The axe sticks in her armor awkwardly until she grabs it with one hand and yanks it free, pushing it back towards the ogre.

Had she not taken the blow for Thordek, the dwarf would have certainly been on the ground and dying...

Nega uses her Cover special ability to block a 29 HP hit. The blow was an unconfirmed critical and will cause some armor damage...

Bundok Battlehammer (Init 19): Suddenly finding himself in a melee with a skeletal ogre, Bundok swings at it once, hitting it to no effect. The second blow has no more effect than the first one, however. He growls as the skeleton's chain armor shrugs off the blows and falls back and to the right, to give Nega a chance to get out of the way.

He rolls an 18 twice, missing.

Grathalmor Ironfist (Init 16): Hoping to have better luck, Grathalmor moves to the Mountain Hammer stance from his repetoire and swings at skeletal frame. His first swing cuts through the chainmail, but the follow through force of the overhead blow does far more. Bones are crunched and fragments fall, but it seems hardly effected by the blow. The second swing does nothing either though, the chainmail and bones shrugging off the blow. Satisfied, he backs away from it to give others a chance to maneuver.

Grathalmor hits the skeletal ogre 2 for 25 HP but only does 7 due to damage reduction. Grathalmor rolls a 28 & 14, hitting once.

Gore Turrock (Init 15): Infuriated about having to kill the damned ogre a second time, he grips it tightly and swings with all his might. His sword crashes down against the ogre's and sends chainmail and fragments flying. The draws the sword back and swings it again, but this time the chainmail shrugs the blade off. Failing with that, Gore grabs the ogre with a free hand and head butts it, head to head against it. That shakes the ogre, sending the skeleton stumbling. He had to admit, the dwarf's healing had certainly helped him though.

Gore's first attack does 23 (18 after DR) and another 13 HP after DR. His second sword attack misses, rolling a 19.

Alaghor Magnum Ruriksonn (Init 15): If he didn't know better, Magnum might think he was a complete novice. Once again he over swings and the hobgoblin steps aside easily. Thankfully the sheer force of his swings seem to deter the hobgoblin, but it is infuriating as the runt's job was to distract him and it was working!

Levtokuld Thordek Torrun (Init 15): Badly shaken by seeing Nega display of bravery in literally catching an axe for him, with her head no less, he resolves to do his part to bring the skeleton down before it can get him first....

He bravely goes into a full attack routine against the skeletal giant. His first swing hits well enough, but the undead thing largely shrugs off the blows as an axe had little effect against something with little to slash. His second attack is completely shrugged off by the ogre and its armor...

Thordek hits on a 26, but only does 3 HP damage after damage reduction....

Hobgoblin Guard 4 (Init 15): The only remaining guard now, he continues his dance with the ineffectual Magnum. Trying to keep him tied up, he shifts to a total defensive stance now in an attempt to further frustrate the dwarven cleric.

Hobgoblin Cleric (Init 14): Using a prepared spell, the hobgoblin cleric presses its hand against its wounded leader. Swirls of golden and ice blue energy fill the air as it channels all the healing energy it can into Ton'ray, and to great effect.

The cleric heals Ton'ray 30 HP.

Arcanii Buna Soulhammer (Init 14): Not willing to waste a spell on a skeleton, Buna takes a swing at the skeleton as well. Her urghosh bites into its chainmail and leaves a swath of chainmail a dull red, but the skeleton itself survives the attack without any appreciable damage for her efforts.

Spitting a curse at it, she clears away from it as well. Buna falls back behind Grathalmor, were an Arcanii should be anyways...

This was getting out of hand. If the silent Carmard didn't get this sorted out soon, she would have to open up.

Hobgoblin Leader - Ton'Ray (Init 14): Still hurting badly, Ton'ray goes for a healing potion as well. He quaffs it quickly and tosses it aside and slides back into his bewildering defensive display with his greatsword. Almost completely rejuvenated, he looks for his next opponent.

Hobgoblin Shaman (Init 13): Infuriated about how close Duervar is, as well as the bite his pick carries, the hobgoblin shaman curses the dwarf. Needing to get him away from him, along with as many others as he can, the shaman conjures a spell of confusion and throws the sizzling cloud of white and blue energy right back at Nalrak, who had just shot and wounded him. The spell bursts and its effects wash over the northern flank of the dwarven advance...

Will Saves v. DC 17

Kerik Rolls 9 - Fails!
Hjalmar Rolls 26 - Pass
Carmard Rolls 14 - Fails!
Nalrak Rolls 18 - Pass
Duervar Rolls 14 - Fails!
Tasster's Son 1 Rolls 14 - Fails!
Tasster's Son 2 Rolls 20 - Pass
Tasster's Son 3 Rolls 21 - Pass
Hobgoblin Sergeant 1 Rolls 4 - Fails!

Duergar Stonespite (Init 11): Duervar rolls a 94 on his Confusion Check, attacking nearest creature. On a coin flip between Hjalmar and the shaman, he goes after Hjalmar instead!

Confused very badly by the shaman's spell, he wheels around on Hjalmar and tries to bury his damaged military pick into the surprised paladin's skull!

"I'll never be your slave again!" he screams at the shocked Hjalmar, as he switches to an overhead hammering stance. His first attack hits the paladin, and well it doesn't even hit his helmet as intended, it digs painful through his armor and jabs a painful hole in his pectoral muscles and breaks a rib beneath. The acid burns him badly as well.

Duervar rolls a 30 and hits Hjalmar, doing 10 with his pick, 5 more due to acid and 5 from his mountain hammer stance for 20 HP total.

He rips his war pick from Hjalmar's armor and blood wells from the sizzling wound and he tries to hit the old paladin once again. This time Hjalmar uses his immense shield in a swing that thoroughly blocks the attack.

"I'll kill you, Moradinite scum!" he yells at Hjalmar, preparing to attack again.

"What the frak are you on about, ye gray faced loon? Get yer head right lad! It's a spell! Go hit the goblin, not yer kin!" the paladin barks back at him.

Hjalmar Crownshield is now at 60/82 HP

Hobgoblin Sergeant 1 (Init 10): Confusion check - Rolls a 73. At the edge of the shaman's otherwise well placed spell, the sergeant is confused as well. He too goes after his nearest foe, but swings at the hobgoblin guard that Magnum has been having so much difficulty with. Surprised by the sudden attack by his flail wielding superior, he nonetheless avoids this attack as well. He must be the luckiest hobgoblin alive, he figures!

Kerik Many Skulls (Init 10): Confusion Check - Rolls a 49.

By far the most powerful physical combatant on the battlefield, Kerik's mental resistance was nonetheless lacking. Rather than reach for a throwing axe and stay in the fight, he stands and looks around and babbles about something incoherently instead of doing something useful.

First Mace Nega Silverhammer (Init 10): Having already been rocked by a heavy hit from this blasphemous, and ugly, skeleton, Nega decides the reason Berronar provided her with such a fine mace was that the best defense was sometimes a good offense!

Her first blow is a crushing one that sends chainmail and bone flying. The blinding golden flash of sacred force explodes as well, lending additional damage to the blow. While the torn chainmail still hangs from the ogre's side, a whole section of its rib cage has been shattered now and the ogre seems unsteady now, its frame nearer to collapse than before.

Nega strives to finish the job, but her second attack is blocked by the flat side of the axe blade. Her mace rings off the axe loudly and she curses the skeleton, shocked that such a seemingly thoughtless thing had anticipated her attack so easily.

Nega rolls a 29, hitting once for 17 HP. Her second roll is a 13 and obviously misses. She is at 63/100 HP after the 29 HP hit from the skeletal ogre.

Delvesonn Nalrak Ironfist (Init 09): Somehow shrugging off the shaman's spell, Nalrak rights himself mentally and reaches for his holy symbol, made of the purest gold held by its thick mithril and gold chain. He holds aloft the heavy symbol and summons the power of Dumathion, crying out "Return to death, abominations!"

A wave front of golden energy explodes from his golden symbol and it washes over both of the skeletons. They seem panicked by the energy, but with nowhere to go, they cower away from the righteous light and then its source...

The skeletons are now "In Awe" due to the turning.

Tasster Fiendshredder & Sons (Init 09): Confusion Check - Son 1 (91)

While his brothers had shrugged off the effects of the spell, one of the twins had not. Confused on what to do, he slashes at his father's back and sinks his hatchet into the meat of his bicep. Tasster howls in pain and confusion and looks at his son in shock, before the seasoned Prince realizes his son had been bewitched. Not taking any chances, he yells for his other sons to tackle him to the ground and aids them as best he can, while shielding him from the skeleton, all the while cursing the lost opportunity to fell the foul thing...

Arcanii Carmard Grindstaff (Init 8): Confusion check - Rolls a 22.

Carmard was about to heave his hammer at the shaman, but his mind is suddenly seized by the shaman's spell and he stops in mid-heave. Instead he looks around and starts trying to shout something important, but it is comes out as something stammering and incoherent instead...

Arum Faer Wed (Init 08): Arum keeps the watch still, in case more goblin archers, he tells himself. He reaches down into a satchel and pulls out a concoction of some sort of fruity drink he favored and takes a pull. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.... In truth, he was positioned favorably to cover anyone leaving the court yard or flanking although he expected the duergar cleric could handle his own as well...

Paladin Hjalmar Crownshield (Init 03): Having taken a bad and surprising wound from the half duergar called Duervar, which pretty much meant the same thing to someone he rationalized, Hjalmar curses the shaman's cowardly magic.

A worse problem was that the massive minotaur and their own leader seemed afflicted as well, and he did not want to be anywhere near that minotaur in case it got the wrong idea. It would not take much confusion for it to decide it liked dwarven heads as well as anyone else's because that was probably how the beast normally thought! Nonetheless, he shouted a warning to the others.

"Get clear o'Kerik! The shaman's spell got him good!" Hjalmar yells out in warning to the others.

He moves 10 feet to the south to give him some distance, even if the interlocking joints of his armor were jostled out of place to do so. He elects to give the shaman a good smack with his hammer, if he can as well. He drives his hammer right into the shaman's guts and the blow sends him stumbling backwards before recovering. Fragments of stone shower to the ground. The flash of the hammer's sacred energy being unleashed only further wounds the shaman, but that seems to be the only impact.

Hjalmar rolls a 20 and hits the shaman, doing 8 damage with the hammer that is absorbed by the stone skin and 3 damage with the holy effect on his hammer.

Everyone Else: The duergar forces continue to move north, unaware of the confused state of Kerik and Carmard...

DM Note: To avoid further confusion, I have removed the torches from the map...

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[Chepe Nolon]

Nega takes the hit ;) So you can go on Thordrek will be unharmed the sweet little thing ;) Nega uses cover.

[mshady]

Updated for Nega's action and a few more moves before I have to go. Sorry all! It will be done Saturday night.

[mshady]

Ok, fully updated. What's going on with the bridge group, everyone??

[Chepe Nolon]

Nega - Fort Battle

Nega Knows Thordrek is important and good lad. She heals him fully on init 10 defensive stands ;)

[Strangie]

Wyatt - Bridge

Wyatt is waiting for Buelyir's orders, after his assessment of the speaking pipe was complete and given.