Chapter 25: Tooth and Claw

[Inferno]

The Pictish Wilderness, the World of Hyboria
Day Seventeen. Midnight. 27th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia







"Raven Jhil! Jhebbal Sag, lord of beasts! Avenge your faithful sons!"

The last words of the Raven Picts echo through the forest of the night.

Not long after, as if in answer, comes a bloodcurdling howling of wolves.

The adventurers urgently prepare for the coming onslaught of fangs. Torix, their guide in this strange land, calmly warns them of lycanthropy! He and Amethu make their stand atop the cliff. Dahinna scales a tree, as nimble as a cat. Cruloc, Kiri and Zahra form a grim phalanx at the base of the cliff, their escape rope behind them. Beyond the fire (F) that cooks their rich store of salmon, Pict corpses are laid out in rows with weapons upon their chests (P1-5).

The howling swells as frantic preparations are completed. The adventurers stand ready, awaiting the inevitable.

The fearsome baying surrounds them in the pitch darkness. Those atop the stony precipice hear it behind them, or is it reverberating off the higher cliff?

There must be some dozen wolves out there, unseen, just beyond the reach of the firelight that betrays the adventurers' position. The unnerving cacophony grows louder still.

Torix and Cruloc are all too familiar with the cunning, ancient tactics of wolves.



The barbarians know well that the brutally efficient pack will drive fear among its victims so that one will break in panic and flee, separating itself from the safety of numbers and making itself easy prey.

The howling seems nigh to deafening now, and the deep, primal urge to fight or take flight threatens to overtake the heart of the adventurers!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter area is visible, all else is from memory.
F = Fire. P1-5 = Dead Picts. Cliff that protects campsite is 35 feet high. Bottom of map is north.

Behind the DM Screen:

Torix climb: [1d100]=100 No fumbles in this game. Torix fails to climb the cliff. So he scales Cruloc's rope.

PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 4/17, Spells: 3/8 1st lvl, 3/5 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 36/54
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 15/25
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 15/21, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
Torix: Pict Savage Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 24/38
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 21/29

PC Magic:

None currently

Player Resources:

The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

The Zamoran rogue bites her lip to keep from crying out in fear at every howl as the wolves close in. She has a stone-headed dart in her hand and is prepared to drive it into the back of a wolf as soon as one comes into range. She whispers a prayer to Mitra and waits...

[Urson]

Zahra
They wish to drive us like a frightened herd. Hold your ground! Zahra follows this comment with a snarling, screeching warcry.

[ChubbyPixie]

If Kiri is frightened at all by the baying of the wolves, he doesn’t show it. The look on his face is more one of stoic practicality, as if he had business to conduct here in the woods and nothing more.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Cruloc braces his spear against the cliff wall, awaiting the lupine charge.

"Your howls will soon ring with pain and fear, curs!"

[ravenn4544]

Amethu waits with sorcerous patience to observe the advancing beasts and their tactics before weaving a spell.

[jemmus]

Torix waits and watches the circle of firelight from above, arrow nocked and ready to be loosed.

[Inferno]

The Pictish Wilderness, the World of Hyboria
Day Seventeen. Midnight. 27th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia







Beneath the infinite stars, death stalks the land as it has for millennia uncounted.

In the eternal cycle of hunter and hunted, apex predators honed by millions of years of merciless evolution ruthlessly pursue their prey.

The howling reaches its harrowing crescendo. But against their every instinct, the adventurers do not break!

Suddenly, the wolfpack bursts into the firelight! Flames reflecting demonically in their eyes, they descend upon Zahra, Cruloc and Kiri in a frenzy of murderous jaws!




Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter area is visible, all else is from memory.
W1-15 = Wolves. F = Fire. P1-5 = Dead Picts. Cliff that protects campsite is 35 feet high. Bottom of map is north.

Behind the DM Screen:

How many wolves?: [3d4+8]=7+8=15

PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 4/17, Spells: 3/8 1st lvl, 3/5 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 36/54
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 15/25
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 15/21, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
Torix: Pict Savage Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 24/38
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 21/29

PC Magic:

None currently

Player Resources:

The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[ChubbyPixie]

Somehow caught off guard by the suddenness of the wolves’ frenzied attack, Kiri manages to cut only air with a lunging sweep of his Claw of Chobek.

Attack with Trident +1, Claw of Chobek (THAC0:18): To Hit: [1d20+4]=4+4=8 Damage vs. s/m: [1d6+8]=6+8=14, vs. Lg: [3d4+7]=8+7=15

[jemmus]

Torix looks for a wolf that might be a little different than the others, possibly a shapeshifting shaman. But he she's note that are notably different. He raises his bow to one that is flanking Kiri and lets fly.

W9
THAC0 20
THAC0 [1d20]=7[1d6]=4
THAC0 [1d20]=6[1d6]=2

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

The appearance of the wolfpack unnerves the rogue in the tree, but she grits her teeth, picks her target (W10) and hurls one of the Pict darts at it. Seeing it drive home, she quickly hurls two more, but in her rush to finish the wolf, her aim is off and the branches of the tree prevent further damage.

Darts: [1d20]=17 [1d3]=2 [1d20]=8 [1d3]=2 [1d20]=1 [1d3]=2

[ravenn4544]

Amethu stands watch rather helplessly.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

With a guttural snarl, a wolf lunges, a blur of fur and teeth. Time seems to slow as the beast closes the distance, its powerful haunches propelling it through the air.

spear vs. S/M opponent [1d20+2]=14+2=16
spear vs. S/M opponent [1d6+3]=5+3=8 13?

The Cimmerian's spear meets it mid-flight, and a sickening crunch is audible as ribs shatter. A howl of agony, half-choked with blood, escapes the wolf's maw as its momentum impales it further upon the unyielding shaft.

"Ha! The claret in your gullet is your own! Drink deeply, and toast your impotence!"

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra slashes at (W1), her blade cutting only the air in front of the beast's muzzle.
att [1d20+4]=6+4=10

[Inferno]

The Pictish Wilderness, the World of Hyboria
Day Seventeen. Midnight. 27th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia







Bursting from the darkness in a howling fury of ravenous jaws, the wolves descend upon their prey in a feral onslaught that outnumbers them five to one!

High above the deadly havoc, Torix and Amethu survey the mounting chaos. The Pict scans unsuccessfully for a skinwalker among the firelit pack. He then fits arrows to bowstring and fires them down upon the wild fray! Two flint-headed missiles pierce a wolf (W9), wounding it but not killing it!

From her hidden perch in the high branches, Dahinna flings a spray of darts at the back of a hungry predator (W10) and two sink deep! In the frenzy of bloodlust, the beast scarcely notices!

And then the wolves are upon Cruloc, Kiri and Zahra!

Cruloc kills the first one that comes within reach of his cruel spear, disemboweling a surprised wolf in a grisly ruin of gore and entrails! (W5)



Before the Cimmerian can free his spear from the blood soaked corpse, another wolf takes its place, lunging for Cruloc's throat!

Beside him, Kiri and Zahra cannot land a strike against the furious maelstrom!

The three warriors are besieged by a storm of hungry fangs that rip their flesh without mercy! (8hp damage to Zahra! 11hp damage to Cruloc! 7hp damage to Kiri!)



Amethu and Torix can hear a woman's voice on the wind, barely discernable above the brutal mayhem! Suddenly, impossibly, Torix's bow warps in his hand until the weapon is useless!


Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet. F = Fire. Cliff that protects campsite is 35 feet high. Bottom of map is north.

Behind the DM Screen:

Initiative: Party: [1d6]=2, Monsters: [1d6]=3 Monsters win.
But I'll rule that Cruloc's set spear, and the party's missile weapons, precede the wolves' charge.
W1, W2, W3 charge Zahra: [1d20+2]=1+2=3, [1d20+2]=2+2=4, [1d20+2]=12+2=14 W3 hits.
W3 damage to Zahra: [2d4]=8
W4, W12, W6 charge Cruloc: [1d20+2]=9+2=11, [1d20+2]=11+2=13, [1d20+2]=14+2=16 W12 gets a -1 to hit for fighting over a wolf corpse. W12 and W6 hit.
W12 and W6 damage to Cruloc: [2d4]=5 [2d4]=6
W7, W8, W9 charge Kiri: [1d20+2]=3+2=5, [1d20+2]=16+2=18, [1d20+2]=1+2=3 W8 hits.
W8 damage to Kiri: [2d4]=7

PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 4/17, Spells: 3/8 1st lvl, 3/5 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 25/54
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 15/25
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 8/21, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
Torix: Pict Savage Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 24/38
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 13/29

PC Magic:

None currently

Player Resources:

The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[ravenn4544]

Amethu with little to no options, he uses his sorcery to make Cruloc a giant - hoping to lend aide to the group and allow them to scurry up the rope. He knows, after many dark days together, the barbarian may recoil at the magic - however there is little choice. He'll just need to deal with it...

Cast enlarge on Cruloc

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra snarls in pain and slashes at (W1). att [1d20+4]=2+4=6

[jemmus]

Torix's trusty shortbow twists and warps before his disbelieving eyes, and hairs on the nape of neck rise in superstitious fear. "What devilry is this? The Raven clan shaman woman. Come with her vengeance for her foolish, defeated, dead 'hunters'." He wonders if the bow of selected yew and horn is permanently cursed, or if the sorcery will wear off over time. From atop the 30 foot cliff, he scans the area from which the cannibal witch's voice came.

The tattooed Pict makes a quick decision ducks his head between the curved wood and sinew of the short bow and slings it over his shoulder. He clambers down the face of cliff using the rope, as much falling as climbing. Eight paces from the bottom, he readies the ancient spear, from the time before the Hyborians. The wolf shot before still wears it two arrows. He gets a toehold on the rockface, and springs to drop beside the giant Khitain Kiri and be rid of the world of this snapping wolf.

To spot the witch [1d20]=11
De-scaling the cliff (aided by the rope)[1d100]=18
Not sure if the attack is possible this turn. But just in case.... [1d20+1]=3+1=4 s-m [1d6+1]=5+1=6 l [1d8+1]=7+1=8 To hit. Based on Torix's old Pictish spear. But the Atlantean one? It remains untested.

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

Nearly out of darts...again...the rogue begins to shimmy down the tree, knowing if she doesn't help her companions, the wolves will tear them to shreds. "There's too many of them!" she hisses to herself, worry and dread flooding her soul.

Does Dahinna also hear the woman's voice?

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

HNAHHH!

Beyond reckoning is the strength which hurls the limp carcass of the disemboweled wolf through the air like a broken toy. The indefatigable Cruloc then draws his Thracian longsword and slashes relentlessly at the snarling fangs arrayed before him!

+1 Thracian sword [1d20+3]=16+3=19
+1 Thracian sword vs S/M [1d8+4]=3+4=7, vs L [1d12+4]=1+4=5

"Back to your kennel, where you can choke on a half-plucked farmer's chicken!"