IC X

[Innana]

Lanny the Elf

Lanny loses his balance after his lunging attack and slips to the ground, and just barely manages to get his shield in front of him before the cleric's mace would have crushed his chest. The force of the blow cracks the shield in half, rendering it useless. Lanny rolls over and rises to his feet, his sword in a defensive position. He again calls out to Innana in elvish:

"I am wounded and must withdraw! Finish him - I will alert the others!"


Not wanting his corpse to become a liability to the group, Lanny attempts to withdraw from the melee, keeping his guard up in case the cleric follows him. As his companions draw near, he turns his head slightly and shouts over his shoulder to them:

"Friends, avoid his mace if you are wounded or without shield - it is quite deadly!"

Innana the Fighter:

Innana responds to Lanny in Elvish: "I will cover your back. Find safe ground."

Innana pulls both blades from the doppelgänger's body, and then finishes the sentence for the fake Rhys as his eyes roll back and he drops lifeless to the ground, "Yes, I am happy to give you my head," mimicking the doppelgänger's voice.

Innana turns slightly, and faces the cleric with two bloodied weapons.

Innana slaps her wrist against her side, and the cestus retracts. She grabs her shield and gets in the fighting position for battle against a mace. "Today is your lucky day," she says as she circles the Cleric, "It is the day you finally get to meet your Goddess."

Swift Fang Sword (Skilled): +4, 1d12+1 (includes the penalty for silver wire handle)

• -2 AC vs 1 opponent (against the cleric)
  Deflect 1 attack by making a save of 11 vs Death Ray (will attempt to deflect the cleric's attack)

[Grognardsw]

Aquar, cleric

Aquar spits on the dead bandit then moves to assist the injured Lanny.

"Stay still lad and I'll bind you up," he says.

First aid, 3x proficiency. Then we'll see we're things are at for CLW.

[Alethan]

Rhys the Traveler

Rhys looks around to see if anyone still needs help. Noting activity still in the woods, he makes haste in that direction to see if he can be of any assistance, attacking any foes he can find once there...

[thirdkingdom]

Round Ten

Lanny drops back as the cleric swings again, and narrowly avoids being dealt a deadly blow. Innana rushes to Lanny's aid, but the cleric swings his mace in a wide circle that deflects both her blows. Bregalad and Drudsa advance, but the cleric, through a display of superhuman fighting prowess, avoids both their blows. Luckily for the adventurers, both Rhys and Aquar are able to approach the chaotic cleric from the rear, unbeknownst to the prelate. Rhys sinks his blade into the cleric's back while Aquar crushes his skull with a well-placed blow.

The cleric collapses, and all is quiet. Thordin cannot be seen.

So, according to the spell, Thordin will continue to flee for 2 turns. He is currently, however, heading straight towards the mountains. There are also some wounded. Let me know what you all want to do; I will give a more detailed explanation of the spoils.

[Alethan]

Rhys the Traveler

Retrieving his sword from the cleric's back, Rhys wipes it clean and sheathes it.

Then he moves to examine the fake Rhys, curious as to what it will look like dead. While he is at it, he examines the body for anything of value or interest.

[zebediah]

Drudsa the dabbler

Drudsa will look for any traces left by the magician in the place where he was seen last. He will gather some dirt from the ground and throw it around in the area, looking for eventual unseen obstacles.

"Let us be very careful, for all we know the mage might still be in the area."

if his search bears no fruit he will look at the belongings of the shapeshifter and cleric, paying special attention to arcane objects, writings of any nature and other potential connections to Bargle.

[thirdkingdom]

Rhys is watching the doppelganger when a most curious thing happens: its familiar features and garb begin to melt and bubble, like hot wax held in the thrall of some unseen force. Within several minutes all traces of Rhys-ness are gone, and in its place the monk beholds a nude figure, slender to the point of emaciation, with greyish skin and absolutely no distinguishing features. It has a head but no hair, nor mouth nor ears nor eyes, arms and legs and fingers and toes, but no discernible prints upon the digits and it is entirely lacking in sex.

The creature bears a leather pack which, when opened, contains a silver basin similar to the one discovered in the hobgoblin's quarters as well as a smallish box -- perhaps six inches wide, twelve long and four in height. The box is made of some dark, oily wood, and carved into what can only be called the "front" are five buttons. While a seam runs around the perimeter of the box -- likely the join of the lid -- there is no apparent method of opening it.

The cleric wears about his neck a heavy medallion of tarnished silver, wrought in the shape of a skull. Aquar, being from distant lands to the south, is unfamiliar with the deity it might represent. The mace he wields is sturdy but appears wholly normal. He wears a pack slung over his back containing several days worth of rations, three glass vials wrapped carefully in cloth and a coin purse containing thirty platinum coins. All know that such coins are rare, especially in the more rustic lands of northern Karakeikos.

Drudsa finds no trace of the mage, nor any indication of his passage away from these parts.

[zebediah]

Drudsa the dabbler

"Let us carry both corpses if we can do so without slowing the mounts down. The shapeshifter's body can serve as evidence in case the loggers are indeed trying to make a case against us with people back in Threshold. Bringing the cleric back may also be useful, people might recognize him which could throw some light into this whole mess. It might also help identifying the magic-user. If we get really lucky they could be wanted men with a price on their heads..."

Drudsa will also help searching the wererats and thugs.

[frobozz]

Lanny the Elf

As the battle comes to an end, Lanny sheathes his sword and looks around at his many injured comrades.

"Let us pause and administer first aid to the wounded before proceeding..." he says quietly, retrieving some first aid kits from his backpack. He hands kits to the two clerics. "I can patch myself if the two of you could tend to Drudsa and Rhys. Both of them took some pretty solid blows..."

He chats with the group while tending to his wounds.

"Thordin ran past me with a look of dread on his face... a work of magic, no doubt. We should finish up here quickly and then go after him before he gets too far away... though I'm not certain how far a dwarf in heavy plate mail can actualy run before collapsing from exhaustion..."

He glances around at the others, a subtle grin on his face.

When Drudsa mentions about bringing along the bodies of both the doppleganger and the cleric, Lanny just shrugs as he continues tending to his wounds.

"There is no telling how long it will be before we find and kill the Great Cat... So unless we are returning immediately to the camp, I would be ok with just removing their heads and wrapping them up in large sacks. That should serve well enough to be able to identify the cleric, and I would imagine that the unnatural and amorphous shape of the doppleganger's head would likely be identifiable by the more learned sages in Threshold. But the real truth will not be fully revealed until we find out what happened to the real Jaceo. This shapeshifter here might have killed Jaceo just before or after taking on his likeness..."

After first aid is administered, Lanny looks at the exact spot where he saw the mage vanish. He looks for any signs of tracks, although he suspects that the mage did not stick around to watch the fight.

"Let's not tinker too much with the shapeshifter's toys right now... and let's certainly be careful handling the cleric's medallion. I suggest we load everything into a large sack and stow it with our mounts and continue on. Speaking of which, where are our mounts? I hope they did not follow Thordin's lead and run off into the mountains..."

Lanny retrieves his bow and holds up the sad remains of his shattered shield.

"Oh... I don't suppose any of you have an extra shield, do you?"

First Aid: WIS+1=16 (plus a -2 penalty for a self-heal)

Tracking: WIS+1=16 (to search for footprints left by the mage)

[Finglas]

Lanny the Elf

.....Lanny retrieves his bow and holds up the sad remains of his shattered shield.

"Oh... I don't suppose any of you have an extra shield, do you?"

Bregalad the elf

Bregalad offers Lanny his wooden shield. "Here Lantharios, take this one. I still have my metal shield on my horse."

Bregalad heads back up the ridge, to check on the mounts, retrieve his metal shield, and more importantly, to see if he can spot Thordin from the higher vantage point.

[Alethan]

Rhys looks down and realizes for the first time that he's been injured. "Oh..." Then he calmly sits down and waits to be attended, pointing out the silver bowl he found in the shapeshifter's backpack.

[Grognardsw]

Aquar, cleric

Aquar will make the rounds doing first aid. He will then assess his comrades health to see who may benefit the most from his cure blessing. Then the cleric will examine the two wrapped vials from the slain evil cleric.

First aid, 3x proficiency, including on himself (6/8 HP). Will look at HP totals after that for CLW candidate.

[frobozz]

Bregalad offers Lanny his wooden shield. "Here Lantharios, take this one. I still have my metal shield on my horse."

Lanny accepts Bregalad's wooden shield with a nod and a smile.

"Thank you my friend. First your extra spell scribing supplies, and now your extra shield. I must apologize for my own lack of preparation for this long journey... We Callarii rangers are so accustomed to travelling as lightly as possible and with the fleetest of feet, and living off the land with nothing more than the barest of essentials. It is a 25-year habit I am going to have to break if I ever expect to make it as an 'adventurer'..."

[Finglas]

Bregalad the elf

Once Bregalad reaches the top of the ridge, if he is not able to spot Thordin in the distance, then he will attempt to locate his tracks. If necessary, he will backtrack all the way back to the trees below to pick up the dwarf's foot prints.

Tracking skill = 12 (11 WIS + 1)

[thirdkingdom]

The various cuts and bruises are quickly seen to as Bregalad ascends the slope. Luckily, the mounts are still where they were left. Thordin himself is not visible, but the woods-wise elf is able to pick up the tracks he left in his blind panic. The tracks head due east, running parallel with those of the giant cat.

The silver bowl does indeed have the same inscription as that engraved around the rim of the other bowl. A quick search of the wererats reveals that aside from rough rations and a few obscure personal effects they have no treasure. Their blades are serviceable but unremarkable. Curiously, both are wearing an iron band around the left bicep.

The human bandits are roughly attired and armed. None bear anything of any value. A quick appraisal of spoils indicates that none of the adventurers' attackers were especially wood-wise or expecting an extended trek through the wilderness -- none have tents or bedrolls or even cooking gear.

All checks are successful. Don't forget that damage will be healed less 1 hp than maximum. So, a PC at 4/6 healed for 3 hp will still only be at 5/6.First Aid checks (Aquar on Rhys, Lanny then Semele on Drudsa): (1d20=15, 1d3=3, 1d20=4, 1d3=2, 1d20=5, 1d3=2)

[frobozz]

Lanny the Elf

Lanny gathers his gear and quickly moves out of the woods and back up the hill to rejoin Bregalad. As he passes by the dead thugs and were-rats, he looks them over and then comments to those around him.

"City dwellers and street thugs, by the looks of them. It is no wonder we heard them approaching from a mile away... And what is it with the armbands on these rat-men? Were they just released from prison or something?"

Lanny continues back up the hill to rejoin Bregalad. When he sees the dual footprints side-by-side, he stops in his tracks.

"This is not good... not good at all..."

Lanny takes out his spyglass for a better look, though he doubts he will be able to see anything through the trees.

"My instinct is to rush ahead, but we cannot afford to lose this trail, so I suggest we proceed with our usual tracking speed. Bregalad, are you ready?"

Tracking: WIS + 1 = 16

[Innana]

Innana the Fighter:

Innana watches in amazement as the doppelgänger morphs. "Ew", Innana wrinkles her nose up, and picks up the silver dish and wraps it in a cloth, and holds it out to Rhys. "This could come in handy later if we want to see who is behind all this."

Innana then follows Lanny up the hill in search of Thordin, and check on the mounts. Seeing Thordin's tracks Innana becomes concerned. "Hmmm. We should make haste, and find Thordin before the cat finds him.... For the sake of the cat." Innana is ready to follow Bregalads lead.

"It seems that the bandits camp is close. We may want to come back, after finding Thordin, and look to see if there is anything at their camp of interest or worth."

[Finglas]

Lanny the Elf

....."My instinct is to rush ahead, but we cannot afford to lose this trail, so I suggest we proceed with our usual tracking speed. Bregalad, are you ready?"

Bregalad the elf

"Ready, my friend -- as soon as the rest of us are."

Innana the Fighter:

....."Hmmm. We should make haste, and find Thordin before the cat finds him.... For the sake of the cat.".....

Bregalad the elf

"Hah! I believe you may be right, warrioress!"

[Alethan]

Rhys is ready to leave when the others are.

[zebediah]

Drudsa the dabbler

Drudsa will move after the others.