Red Hand of Doom 5e IC

[stack]

Beorn stands yet again, though the strain is taking a toll. Nevertheless, he presses his attack yet again.

Spoiler

Show

(1d20+9)[19] for (1d4+4)[7] + (2d6)[6]
(1d20+9)[25] for (1d4+4)[5] + (2d6)[9]

Targeting the weawkest-looking thing first

[Xihirli]

Gaks toll the bell for the nearest lion and once again retreated, trying to get out of its way.

Trellara increased her distance from the lions a she fired at the physical target again, not sure her arrows even worked on the lions.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Let's see if the felines resist necrotic. (1d20)[10] WIS vs (2d12)[11]
I'm not sure if we've hurt the lions yet if not (2d8)[12]

Trellara will shoot the zombie and move two squares north.

(1d20+7)[8]; (1d8+4)[7]+(3d6)[12]

[Amnestic]

The infusion of positive energy from Freya's staff onto the now much older man brings Beorn back to his feet once more. Perhaps it was the surge of energy rushing over him, but when he strikes with his whip this time it tears through the undead's body once, then wraps around the fragile neck. When he pulls back this time, it tears the creature's head clean off, severing the spine. The body instantly collapses beside the dead thunderlizard with a rattling 'thump'. Still with the lion's gaze upon him, he feels the tint of necrotic energy on the sides of his soul, but he evades the beast's jaws, dodging to one side now that he's no longer harassed by the lifedrinker.

Zuri and her wolves tear down the last essence of the spectral lion, with some having sufficient time and energy to focus on the final target that still holds strong. Trellara's arrow swings wide entirely, and when Gaks' bell tolls there's not even a momentary shimmer in its deadly essence - the spell seems to have had no effect whatsoever, though your allies manage to land a few more arrows in what passes for its 'hide'.

Spoiler: Map

Show

3 wolves+Zuri finish off the spectral lion, the others retarget. Anything above a 13 hits.
Beorn's up from Freya's Heal and kills off the last lifedrinker. He takes 8 damage from necrotic gaze, after making his save. Lion misses with their bite again.
Gaks' toll the dead is entirely resisted. 0 damage.
Allies did a combined 18 damage to the last lion.

Home stretch, one target left.

[Xihirli]

Since her tolling bell had no effect at all, Gaks went with her weaker bolt of flame.

Trellara didn't know if her arrow would do anything, but tried it.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Gangpile on the lion

(1d20+9)[20]; (2d10)[10] fire bolt

(1d20+7)[9]; (1d8+4)[9]+(3d6)[13]

[Bobthewizard]

Zuri

Zuri and the wolves continue to attack the ghosts.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Edited instead of quoting. Sorry.

Spoiler: Wolves

Show

Wolf
Medium beast, unaligned
Armor Class 13 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 11 (2d8+2) (15 with mighty summoner)
Speed 40 ft.
STR12 (+1) DEX15 (+2) CON12 (+1) INT3 (-4) WIS12 (+1) CHA6 (-2)
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4
Senses passive Perception 13
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
Keen Hearing and Smell. The wolf has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Pack Tactics. The wolf has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the wolf's allies is within 5 ft. of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (2d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone

---

* post roll count doesn't match database

[DigoDragon]

Freya

Exhausted, Freya puts away the Staff of Healing and fires off an Eldritch blast at the remaining lion, avoiding its gaze.

Spoiler: Actions

Show

Averting eyes from this lion's gaze.

Firing Eldritch Blast with disadvantage I guess?

Beam A: (1d20+8)[22] or (1d20+8)[11], damage is (1d10)[3] force.
Beam B: (1d20+8)[15] or (1d20+8)[23], damage is (1d10)[1] force.

[stack]

Beorn lashes out at the remaining ghost lion, braving its gaze to ensure that he strikes true.

Spoiler

Show

(1d20+9)[24] for (1d4+6)[8] + (2d6)[7]
(1d20+9)[24] for (1d4+6)[10] + (2d6)[4]

[Amnestic]

With the coordinated strikes, the lion's essence dissolves, its reality unmade by magic and mundane blows alike, and finally the street falls quiet of fighting. In the distance you can still hear clashes - shouts, screams, the clang of metal on metal, but it's encompassed by the steadily expanding flames that threaten to choke you if you remain here, or if the fires remain uncontested.

Once Beorn reports in, Captain Ulverth pipes up a few minutes later. Despite the telepathy he's breathless, his voice strained somewhat. "It looks like they've lost the momentum and are pulling back to regroup for another push. We have some time to breathe." "It may be best to find a safe place to rest and recover, heroes. The fight's not over yet. We've not seen the leadership yet. With the Dawn Way secure for now, the market square should be safe." It's voiced as a suggestion, rather than an order. They're giving you leeway to act as you will, perhaps cogent that they don't know how best to utilise your abilities.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Combat done! A hard fought victory, but a victory nonetheless.

You can take the advice to find a place to hold up and short rest and spend some hit dice, or you can go hunting. Or something else idk, I don't make decisions, that's your job.

[Xihirli]

"Beorn, you need to rest," Gaks said. She used Gaakach's Eye of Seeing What Others May Find Difficult to See In a Magical Manner and went back to the bodies, grabbing the spellbook first and searching for magic items on top of that.

[stack]

"A breather will be welcome if we have a moment. I worry that these attacks have been but a tithe of their force."

[DigoDragon]

Freya

"Would a change of weather bring an advantage?" Freya asks, waggling the staff after she climbs down from the roof. She looks rather upset with all the burning buildings around them. Conflicted emotions in her mind about necessary collateral and all that...

"I worry that these attacks have been but a tithe of their force."

"A tithe? Come now, we must have inflicted major wounds to their army by now.... didn't we?" Freya says, trying to be optimistic. "Destroying the bridge, instructing the townsfolk to burn what food they couldn't carry when they evacuated Ferry, slaying several of their dragons and leaders all over this vale... I refuse to believe we have done so little. We have to believe that we will win this battle."

[Bobthewizard]

Zuri

Zuri instructs her Fey friends to go out of the city and cause whatever destruction they can.

"Go forth and cause trouble. Kill whatever Red Hand you can. If you see something dangerous to me, two of you return here with the news while the others delay the danger. Thank you for your help. I will summon you again soon."

Zuri then finds a safe place to rest and recover, wishing she had some way to recover her ability to access her fey magic. She can feel that she will not have much power left for any remaining fights tonight.

She is grateful for her friends here today. Beorn holding the line up front, Gaks keeping the enemy from casting spells, Freya with her song and inspiration, and fireballs. Don't forget the fireballs. Zuri feels rested and hopeful, even if she's not confident.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Spoiler: Wolves

Show

Wolf
Medium beast, unaligned
Armor Class 13 (Natural Armor)
Hit Points 11 (2d8+2) (15 with mighty summoner)
Speed 40 ft.
STR12 (+1) DEX15 (+2) CON12 (+1) INT3 (-4) WIS12 (+1) CHA6 (-2)
Skills Perception +3, Stealth +4
Senses passive Perception 13
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
Keen Hearing and Smell. The wolf has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
Pack Tactics. The wolf has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the wolf's allies is within 5 ft. of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (2d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw or be knocked prone

[DigoDragon]

"When you say, 'kill whatever ', you mean just members of the Red Hand, right?"

Freya will use Song of Rest for those taking the short rest. Might as well catch the breather while we got it.

[Amnestic]

Gaks' perusal of the battlefield after the fact finds little outside of the spellbook - two potions in the belts of the leaders of the first wave of attacks, but naught else of any noticeable value. By the time you retreat to rest, the fires have spread further, and the raging inferno that now eats away at the city's central buildings, tearing through residential and commercial structure alike, is a constant companion in your less-then peaceful breather. It seems that every other minute you hear a far off scream of pain or agonised cry, but they're small skirmishes at best.

By the time you move to the market square, you can see why the clerics were absent from your battle - the wounded and dying are stretch the length and breadth of the square on makeshift beds if they're lucky, the cold ground if they're not, and you can note that a large number of the bodies are the very clerics that are meant to be healing others. What few still stand are stretched to their limits in the process of triaging, leaving many for dead, unable to even soothe their passing to the next life. Injuries are rampant, and the stench of blood, evacuated bowels and gore fills the place that just a month and a half ago would have been alive and bustling with traders and buyers. Regardless of victory or defeat here, the wave of death the Red Hand has wrought is not one that will soon be recovered from.

Zuri's animals head west, in the direction of where the Red Hand came from, and after half an hour she begins to feel their existences blip out. Eventually two wolves return - their report, such as it is, was they found some Red Hand who were regrouping and attacked, though the force size was overwhelming. Even if they did manage to pick off one or two (which the returning animals couldn't confirm), it's unlikely they did a lot of damage.

Shortly after an hour's rest among the dead and dying of the market square, Beorn hears another message in his mind. "Heroes, we're gathering some of our forces at the Cathedral in preparation for another push by the Red Hand, if you cou-" Lord Jarnaath's 'voice' cuts off, midword, and no attempts by Beorn to make contact receive a response from him. Captain Ulverth doesn't respond beyond telling you he's currently fighting, and needs to focus.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Not much in the way of magic items - two Potions of Healing (2d4+2) and that's it.

Spoiler: Spellbook

Show

1st level: charm person, absorb elements, sleep, shield
2nd level: crown of madness, detect thoughts, hold person, suggestion
3rd level: fear, hypnotic pattern, counterspell
4th level: charm monster, confusion, unknown

Gaks failed at identifying one of the spells from a quick readover. With ample time she could suss it out but a quick reaction identification means she's missing it.

[Xihirli]

Gaks, who did not require a rest, spent the waiting time getting all of the party members a steed. While normally they were aquatic, these ones were made of fire, a harsh flame threatening to lick the buildings around them.
"It seems we must save or recover the body of Jarnaath. The Citadel? Or is he stationed elsewhere?"

[stack]

"If there is a gathering of forces at the cathedral, we may be needed there. The lord's last reported location was...

(Beorn would probably know this, but I don't)

[DigoDragon]

"The Cathedral?" Freya thought back on her mind the city layout. "Do we go there then, and find out what the Hand is doing?"

[Bobthewizard]

Zuri

Zuri knows that it is best to follow along when either Gaks or Beorn have a tactical suggestion. When they agree, she is certainly going.

"Yes. To the Cathedral to find out what happened."

[Amnestic]

Mounted up on Gaks' steeds, you head straight south - not necessarily away from the battle lines, but neither does it encroach closer towards them, towards the Cathedral's grounds. The darkened streets, only sporadically lit by torches, cast your swift journey in an ominous light. Despite your speed, you arrive to chaos, and hear the yells of panic before you see the state of the grounds. What troops were gathering are scattered, hiding behind whatever cover the sparse grounds offer - little more than bushes. Seven bodies lie motionless, their forms splayed out across the grounds, with a single arrow protruding from a vital point on each corpse. To the east, on the Cathedral steps, you see a vanguard of soldiers clustered into a rough shieldwall steadily moving back into the building. In the hands of healers, hands gleaming with golden magic, is the body of Lord Jarnaath. Not yet dead, it seems, but certainly incapacitated. The arrow stuck in him doesn't appear to be a mortal one, but nevertheless has felled him instantly.

Any hopes of an organised resistance from Brindol's forces to the unseen attacker seem in vain. The vast square grounds are now a mess of people diving away, their morale clearly crushed by the 'loss' of their Lord. One soldier stands up and begins a rallying cry, but a moment later an arrow pierces directly through his throat and he drops dead, gurgling his last breath.

The direction of the shots looks to be coming from the west, where a row of shops lines one edge of the square. Judging from the height, likely from the second floor of one of the buildings. All the buildings are darkened though, and at this distance you can't be sure of which building - not without getting closer. With the Phantom Steed's speed, they could cross the square in moments, but they'd have to be abandoned for any venture inside the buildings. Commercial shops aren't really made for housing large horses, partially-ethereal or otherwise.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

We're not actually in a combat situation yet since this is a tactics question for now - attempt to deal with the sniper from outside the building? Or move in, get a bead on which one they're in (if only one) and then push into a close encounter? Or alternate solution I haven't thought of?

[DigoDragon]

Freya

Freya looks to her companions. "How do we sus out a sniper? And please don't ask me to set these buildings on fire. That's kind of extreme, to be honest."

She considers what alleyways run behind that row of shops. "What if we stealth through the back alleys and sneak into the shops to figure out where the sniper is?"

[Bobthewizard]

Zuri

Zuri listens to Freya and likes her suggestion,

"Yes. We could circle around and try to enter the shops from the back or the side. Have the troops here keep their crossbows aimed at the front in case the sniper tries to flee from us. Let me see to Lord Jarnaath first though."

If she can, she goes to Jarnaath to see if he needs any magical healing, feeding him goodberries if he needs them.

[Xihirli]

"I should be very helpful if invisibility is being deployed." Gaks’s Eye That Is Helpful To See Invisible, Magical, and Ethereal Things pulsed twice, and Gaakach could see what was invisible, ethereal, and magical.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

See Invisibility and Detect Magic are up.
As an aside, is Wibbles back from his solo assignment?

[DigoDragon]

"Good idea, Gaks," Freya says. "This sniper could be using invisibility to move between buildings. Make it hard to pinpoint which one they are in "

[stack]

Beorn takes a quick look around, then sees about moving the wounded lord to cover. "The attacker or attackers likely move between shots. We do not want them to slip our net. We should probably come in from both sides."

[Xihirli]

Gaks nodded, Wibbles appearing at her side. "Very well. Freya, Trellara and myself in one group, Zuri, Wibbles and Beorn in the other so both have a way of seeing the invisible." She pet Wibbles. "Keep an ear out, Wibbles. We may be looking for what cannot be seen."

[Amnestic]

When the party splits, Zuri, Beorn and Wibbles streak across the plaza towards the Cathedral where Jarnaath is still slowly being carried inside. The entrance of new targets seems to get the attention of the assassin though, and another bowshot streams through the dimly lit square, striking Zuri in the shoulder, piercing through armour and flesh both. The pain is immediate, but she soon feels the wound numb slightly - poison. Her natural strength of heart, buoyed by Beorn's presence, keeps the poison from harming or hindering to any great degree. When the two (plus Wibbles) ride up to Jarnaath they find he was not so resilient to the toxic projectile. Though the offending arrow has been removed and the wound patched up with magic, the darkened skin around where the scarred mark is clear. Veins run black, the unconscious lord's breathing is ragged, his entire body matted with sweat - and yet none of those attending seem to have a way to cure the poison, or they would doubtless have done so already. A glance inside the Cathedral tells you why. Bodies are piled long and high, even worse than you saw in the market, and Jarnaath's wound came so late in the battle that those around you have expended what magic and items they had to cure poisons. The clerics, including Tredora, look to you for assistance, but equally don't actually request it - they don't know if you can help, and certainly you've already done "enough". Their faces express torn emotions: Ones that beg to be saved, while seeing that such a pressure is 'unfair'.

Across the other side of the square Trellara, Gaks and Freya have rounded the outside on their swiftest steeds, just in time to hear the twang of a bowshot from above you, in the direction of the plaza - the shot that struck Zuri. The building they're in currently, stood separate to the others around it, appears to be that of a coffin maker, a suitably morbid temporary residence for an assassin to hole up in. From your position on the ground, there's no chance of seeing up to where the archer hides. There may be other windows, but in the back alley behind the shop you can only see through north- and west-facing windows, which display the main sales room. Rows of wooden coffins are lined up against one another on display, but you know all too well that there's too few here for the countless dead. It's a spacious area, some 40' in both directions, though a chunk of the southwest is occupied by another room you can't see into. The insides are dark, with no torches, no candles, no lights - and no blood. The original occupant likely evacuated or was drafted. Darkvision or no, invisibility sight or no, there seems to be no one in the main room. Those of keen ears do, however, pick up what sounds like a spell being cast inside, on the ground floor, behind one of the south-facing doors.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

No map, for now at least, so we're going off of descriptions. Any Q's just ask in the OOC thread.

Zuri, Beorn and Wibbles are at the Cathedral entrance, some ~170' away from where you think the arrows are coming from. The unseen attacker strikes Zuri for 25 piercing damage. She makes her save against the poison though, even without Beorn's aura (though I included that too). This means they could reach the building on a dashing phantom steed, though your movement after would be limited after dismounting.

Trellara, Gaks and Freya have circled around to north+west side of the building (the closest sides to the 'back alleys' - east is facing the main square you came from, south is further out. The coffinmaker's shop has two floors. From your current positions you only have visibility on one room - the main room, which is empty of people (visible or invisible), but you heard mystic chanting coming from inside - on the ground floor, though not from anyone you can see. Gaks can sense the magic, but if she wants more details she'd have to spend an action, which is a costly thing to spend at the moment.

You can see 3 doors on the to other rooms inside the building - two to the south, and one into a south-west direction. Four windows you can see through currently - two on the north side, two on the west side. A glance further down the building shows no other windows on the west side for the southwest room, but you don't have visibility on the south face of the building, nor do you have full visibility of the east side.

Though I'd expected rolling separate initiative for the enemies would mean they'd be interspersed between you, you've somehow managed to roll into a block anyway. C'est la vie.

[stack]

Beorn pauses when Zuri is hit, "Can you continue, or do you need a moment?"

[Xihirli]

Gaks's heart twitched when the arrow twanged.
"Inside!" She declared, and led them in, dismounting if necessary before going for the door.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Is the door unlocked? What's it made of?

[DigoDragon]

Freya attempts to enter the building quietly, sticking to the shadows and behind cover if possible.

Stealth (1d20+5)[22]

[Bobthewizard]

Zuri

Zuri waits for Beorn to lead the way around to the side of the building. She stays out of the sniper's target area.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I thought we were staying out of the sniper's range last round. That's what "If she can," was supposed to mean. Sorry if that wasn't clear. She'll stay under cover this round.