Third Time's the Charm

[Eulalios]

Lorath, without taking an arrow from his quiver, thoughtfully bends his bow. "Nonsense and drama," he says firmly. "This is no place for it."

[Zhym]

Gaerys, unable to improve on the druid's words, ignores Ethan and continues on to track the ogre.

[drpete]

"Antheris, tell me what, exactly, we hope to gain by sitting here. Are we following the idiot who killed Kjelti in sitting here because we hope he will bring us all down? Is there nothing one can day to prevent you from wasting the lives of our company on his arrogance? Personally, I think one dead companion is too many, but he is lining more up for spite.. Right now. If we want that, let's just go down the stairs. This is stupid, and the lot of you are stupid for following him. You really want to do this without Vor, without healing? Why? General curiosity? I'm happy you saved Lorath. Congrats. But people don't execute prisoners the way you seem to think they do. We could have saved him without nearly killing everyone. We didn't need to bury these dead. We could have assaulted this compound with strength. We have no achievable goal here now, except losing more people. Please, see reason. For once!"

[NJWilliam]

Antheris

Antheris is clearly working to contain himself.

"'Lord' Ethan, you should leave.
"Gaerys - if that is who you put the blame on yet don't have the courage to name - cause the death of no one.
"Your words of one dead companion, when there are three dead, are hollow. You only fear being the next.
"No decision has yet been made - that I have heard - other than the ranger's choice to see from whence our foes came while he can.
"You are guided by fear. Let it guide you back to camp. You'd be heading there yourself soon enough, regardless of what we do, I'm sure.
"My resolve is not to abandon my companions."

To the others, he says, "Let's not let Gaerys out of our sight while he tracks. We need to know where they came from, even if only to know the safe route back to camp."

Antheris strides off after Gaerys, beckoning the loyal and courageous companions to join him.

[Todd Spengo]

Tybalt will maneuver to keep both Gaerys, et al and the rest of the party in view as much as possible.

[drpete]

Ethan nods grimly to Antheris. "I'm sorry Antheris. I didn't think we were counting the animals. If the foolishness of our "leader" led us to lose three companions, I would be upset. I wouldn't continue to do what got them killed... Following Gaerys around on fool's errands! Since we obviously don't care about the dead Gaerys insisted we rack up last time, I think it's really important that we continue to screw around here. Hey, Gaerys can run around chasing the ogre! Maybe we can stumble into something big! Does anyone else's opinion here even matter, so long as we stick together? I guess you have a few more Urns to spare, right Antheris?"

EDT: tried to fix the fact that I got off track with Antheris' actions. Original in ooc2.

[Eulalios]

"Enough of this. I was not sent to sit and listen to you fellows squabble. My task is to ravage and scour this place, without needless delay. I tell you, today it is time to get clear. Let the enemy reinforce the nearest posts, drawing from their hidden reserve. Let us spend the night forming tactics to slaughter them in ground we already know. If we go in now, we will have to bring the fight to unknown places. If we wait, they will bring us meat for carving."

Lorath turns and strides after Gaerys, stringing an arrow in case of trouble:

Lorath's long bow +2 {THACO 16} [1d20+5] = 5+5 = 10; SML [1d6+2] = 5+2 = 7

[drpete]

Ethan shrugs.

"Alright! Let's go! No time like the present to... Follow Gaerys!"

Ethan will follow Lorath, Antheris and company.

EDT: again, tweaked to fix a misreading of the situation.

[Magnus]

ROUNDS 13-14

The party intensely debates their course of action; anger from the poor strategic decisions made by the party bubbles over into the discussion. The party stops and starts with a couple different options, then collects itself to settle on a final decision.

Gaerys sees, as he has previously noted, the ogre went into the Steading via the northwest door.

*************************************

Shield - 43 rounds
PfE - 15 Rounds
XXX XXX XXX

**************************
Antheris: 39/48
Vorsyin: 48/48
Gaerys: 23/60
Hollis: 27/50

Ethan: 19/71
Marcus: 35/35
**************************

No map.

[Computer +1]

Vorsyin listens to the exchanges on both sides but says nothing. There is nothing to say to fools who act like fools while making foolish decisions. When the group appears to have decided the rude ranger Vorsyin wordlessly follows along. He hopes that the idiot who decided to light a pyre in the middle of the enemy encampment gets only himself killed this time.

As he walks he looks over at the visible wounds that each member is showing. I appear to be in the best health of all of us. I suggest that since I have no intention of fighting hand to hand that those who do should eat one of the healing mushrooms now....

[drpete]

Seeing that the ogre went into the door, as Gaerys suspected, Ethan moves to "double spike" it, as seemed to work when we faced the giants downstairs.

"Since we are in for more action, would you please heal me, Tybalt? While we gather things up, here, should Hollis ward this door, to make it more secure?"

[Todd Spengo]

"Since we are in for more action, would you please heal me, Tybalt? While we gather things up, here, should Hollis ward this door, to make it more secure?"

Tybalt rides forward, dismounts, and tends to Ethan's wounds.

He lays on hands to restore 16 HP.

Afterwards, he will remount and retreat to his former over-watch position.

[drpete]

Ethan nods in thanks to Tybalt. "Thank you, Ser Tybalt. Let's hope it is enough."

"Marcus, when the fighting starts, and it probably will... your job is to keep Vor safe, at all costs. All costs." He will give Marcus the flame blade to help with this.

[Eulalios]

Looking at the flame-charred walls to the south and west, Lorath returns his arrow to the quiver, hooks his bow over his shoulder, and casts Levitate. Once he has attained a certain lightness of being, he will re-string the arrow and rise up to get a look over the walls.

[NJWilliam]

Antheris

It looks like the party hasn't officially left the courtyard yet, so:

Before the party leaves the courtyard, Antheris searches the bodies of the Frost Giants, picks up Nosra's spear, and says "Let's make sure we have anything of use off of our fallen foes."

While the wizard eye is being conjured, and the fighters are spiking the doors, Antheris will cast Protection from Fire on himself.
5 segment casting time, invulnerable to normal fire and absorbs 81 points of magical fire damage.

[Todd Spengo]

I figured my lay on hands and maneuvers were my round but in case they weren't...

Tybalt stays in position to keep a watchful eye on the party's line of retreat through the north gate.

[saalaria]

Hollis joins Antheris in searching the bodies.

"I still think we should leave sooner rather than later" he mumbles to the Druid.

[Zhym]

As Antheris and Hollis search the bodies, Gaerys runs to the southern courtyard door to the Steading and spikes it closed.

[Magnus]

ROUND 15


The party collects itself and makes moves to execute its plans for a quick search/retreat/reconnaissance.

Ethan receives Ser Tybalt’s healing, then makes his way to the northeast doorway and prepares to spike it. The paladin redraws his sword and takes a central position in the courtyard, watching the northern gate.

Vorsyin counsels for a quick retreat but is overruled by the party. Marcus heeds the order of his Lord to guard the mage with his life and takes a position by the mage.

Hollis and Antheris search the bodies of the Frost Giants and other fallen foes. They find nothing but a single small vial of a white liquid on one of the beserkers. Antheris then smartly picks up Nosra's spear, which he immediately notices is incredibly wieldy for such a massive weapon. The druid casts Protection from Fire upon himself.

Lorath takes to the air. He does not notice anything unusual from his new vantage point, but draws his bow in any event.

Gaerys moves to spike the doors to the south. The ranger (and the rest of the party) is taken aback by a deep-throated shout originating from in the Steading. In a blink of an eye, six horrid humanoids in tattered clothing lope forward with shocking speed and ferocity. Three fall upon Gaerys, just as a pair of crossbow bolts fly at the ranger from within the Steading. It is now obvious that the parties’ foes were watching and waiting for them to make a move towards that door…

ghast.jpg (19.69 KiB) Viewed 827 times

The stink of death and corruption waifs over the ranger just as he is engaged. Gaerys tries to hold his breath, but is overcome with the stench. He wretches with sickness as his knees buckle.

Gaerys: -2 to all actions

One bolt thumps into Gaerys as another bolt breaks upon his armor. The ranger fends off a flurry of bites and claws from the horrid creatures, fortunate that his shield remained in his hand just prior to spiking the door. However, the ranger feels a sharp pain in his ankle, and glances down to see that one of the horrors had bit him in the space between his boot and armor. Instantly, the ranger feels his muscles stiffen, ache, and then lock into place. Gaerys falls to the ground, paralyzed.

6 damage; Gaerys paralyzed!!!

Declare Actions!

*************************************

V:
Shield - 43 rounds
PfE - 15 Rounds

A:
PfF: [Cast R. 15 - tbd]

L:
Levitate: [Cast R. 15 - tbd]

**************************
Antheris: 39/48
Vorsyin: 48/48
Gaerys: 18/60
Hollis: 27/50
Lorath: 40/40
Ethan: 27/71
Marcus: 35/35

* Players - please double check
*****************************

Map:

Courtyard Fight5.jpg (265.42 KiB) Viewed 827 times

[NJWilliam]

Antheris, 39/48

Seeing that the courtyard does not have enough plant growth to work his entangle spell, Antheris circles back to the North, changing into a giant eagle and leaping into the air and gaining altitude and distance for a dive attack next round.

Antheris, healing from shapechange: [1d6] = 3 x 10% heals 3 hp on the shapechange