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Lanny the Elf

Lanny pokes his head out of the tent as Aquar awakens him. He curses his luck, being both unarmored and without any Magic Missiles. He starts to reach for his bow, but sees that melee has already commenced, so he takes up his sword and shield instead.

"Help Rhys at the rear, I'll wake the others and then join you," Lanny says to Aquar.

Lanny darts to the tents of Drudsa and Semele.

"Get up, the beast has returned! Semele - keep a safe distance, but be prepared to heal anyone who falls..."

Aquar, cleric

The beast is upon them. The warrior-priest maneuvers for a flank or rear attack, keeping distance as he hurls Fury's Fist. "May Procan guide me!" Throwing Hammer, Basic proficiency

Round Two

Rhys and Thordin spring into action. The lithe mystic circles the Beast and drives his sword into its haunch from the rear, while Thordin boldly advances, swinging his mighty blade in an arc and opening a gash on the great cat's shoulder. Bregalad mutters the words to a spell, and all of a sudden there are two additional elves standing beside him. The cat hisses, and, obviously unprepared for such resistance, leaps back out of the camp and vanishes into the dark.

Lanny the Elf

Lanny follows the beast to the edge of the campsite, peering into the moonlight to try to get a good glimpse of the general direction it is fleeing before turning back to the campsite.

"Well defended, everyone... I would suggest that we wait until morning to pursue the beast. It is much faster than we are anyway... A good night's rest will give us mages a chance to prepare some Magic Missiles for our next encounter."

Lanny looks around to make everyone is present and accounted for, and that no dopplegangers have slipped into the camp. Then his eyes fall squarely upon the Bregalads.

"Oh no... Not again..."

Thordin the dwarf chases the cat for a few feet before determining how futile it is.

"NO!" his stout body raging with fury and booming voice echoing through the dark forest, "Get back here! I would have my finality!"

When he sees the elfin triplet, Thordin takes a step and shakes his sword at him. "This had best be your magic and not the skinshifter! I have a desire to cleave more than its leg!"

Innana the Fighter:

Right about when she is about to strike, the cat leaps into the forest. Innana looks over at Thordin. "It seems this Feline knows when we are at our most vulnerable, and always hits us at that moment. It came to us again. It comes right up to our camp, but never falls into any of our traps. It is like it reads our minds. She probably ran off this time because she was reading yours Thordin. Innana walks back toward the tents, come Thordin, you will need to rest up. I have a feeling you will need it."

Innana sees Bregalad, and walks up to him; " Bregalad, I want to Thank you for the armor. It is much more comfortable to sleep in." She then the other Bregalads. Innana shakes her head. "I don't have the heart to swing my sword at you Bregalad, so I hope this is a spell, and you are not a changeling."

Aquar, cleric

"Procan heard me not that time," says Aquar, picking up his thrown hammer. He is relieved no one was hurt.

Drudsa the dabbler

"What was this all about?" asks Drudsa as he comes out of his tent "Is everyone ok?"

Once he understands what is going on he makes one comment before going back to sleep "We can expect this might be happening again. Our best chance is to find the beast's lair and put it on a corner."

Bregalad the elf

Bregalad watches with fascination as his other images move with him. "Worry not, my friends. They are only magical reflections, a spell taught to me by Drudsa."

zebediah wrote:Drudsa the dabbler

.....Once he understands what is going on he makes one comment before going back to sleep "We can expect this might be happening again. Our best chance is to find the beast's lair and put it on a corner."

Bregalad the elf

The elf agrees with the magic user, "Yes. And if we lose its tracks again, or if it proves too difficult to reach its lair, then we may also consider hunting as the cat does -- sleep during daylight and prowl at night. At least then it will not catch us sleeping."

Lanny the Elf

Lanny nods in agreement with Drudsa about the possibility of having to pursue the beast to its lair, presumably in the mountains.

"It did appear, from the firelight, that its wounds had not healed very much since our last engagement, so perhaps the odds are slowly shifting to our favor... as long as we continue with a careful approach and a strong defense."

Lanny turns to Innana.

"Did you feel ready with your new skills in swordsmanship when the beast attacked? If not, perhaps we might consider just a half day of travel tomorrow while we do one final push in the morning to get you secure in your training. We will need you to be fully prepared the next time we face off against the beast..."

Finglas wrote:Bregalad watches with fascination as his other images move with him. "Worry not, my friends. They are only magical reflections, a spell taught to me by Drudsa."

"Aha! So that is how the spell's effect appears to our enemies. Such a spell should keep you safe if you are targeted by the beast... assuming that its attacks strike your images and not you!"

Despite Bregalad's reassurances, Lanny draws his sword anyway and lightly pokes each image of Bregalad with the tip of his sword.

frobozz wrote:Lanny the Elf

"Aha! So that is how the spell's effect appears to our enemies. Such a spell should keep you safe if you are targeted by the beast... assuming that its attacks strike your images and not you!"

Despite Bregalad's reassurances, Lanny draws his sword anyway and lightly pokes each image of Bregalad with the tip of his sword.

If two of the three Bregalads are actually solid in form, Lanny will immediately back away from them and then cast a Sleep spell on all three of them.

Bregalad the elf

"Hmm. If you feel you must cast Sleep, then first allow me to lay back down. I would like to get right back to my dreams."

Only one Bregalad proves to be corporeal; the illusory images vanish into a coruscating curtain of light upon being pierced by Lanny's blade.

After the excitement of the nocturnal ambush the rest of the day is uneventful. Travel is slow; the adventurers barely make half the distance of a day with the mules due to the rough footing. In addition, both Bregalad and Lanny are unable to pick up the Beast's tracks for the first hour or so, and much time is spent ranging about looking for spoor. Finally, the trail is found, and it continues to head eastwards towards the mountains.

A secure camp is established late in the afternoon. The spellcasters study their magicks, while Innana finally has the breakthrough she has been seeking under Thordin's tutelage. Night falls.

Flaurmont 18, AC 1000
2:00 am

It is an hour or so into the third watch when Aquar and Rhys become aware of a presence, or presences, surrounding them. Large shapes flit between the trees; making out the exact form is hard to tell, but they seem to be some species of enormous bat! It is difficult to make out how many there are -- four or five, perhaps -- but they circle with malevolent intent!

Rhys once again wakes Thordin and Innana with not-so-gentle nudges of his boot.

"More company!" He calls out, unsure as to why his shift seems to be the eventful one...

Aquar, armored cleric

Aquar yells, “Awake! Giant bats – five! Bats!”

The cleric stays low, grabs a torch from the camp fire, and hurls it at the nearest bat.

Innana the Fighter:

Innana pops up like a cross eyed, poofy headed, overly wired groundhog, complete with armor, and sword in hand. Her bed covers seem to roll off her in slow motion. Innana furrows her eyebrows, and squints her eyes into focus as she follows Aquars fire torch up in the air. The Fire lights up the sky, and Innana can make out huge flying figures dipping down from the sky. Innana looks around quickly to see if any magic users are casting spells, and sees she is clear to strike at the....bats, that's what they are.

Innana holds her sword with her right hand, and springs her cestus on her left hand. She squats slightly so that as the bats approach she will jump, and swing her cestus, and then her sword at the nearest bat.

Thordin the dwarf awakens groggily, grasping at his sword as he swings it wildly around, attempting to look like wounded prey. If any bat gets close, it will find differently.
"Let's take one, maybe the Cat won't resist some wounded bat!" he hisses.

Lanny the Elf

Round One

Rhys awakens Innana and Thordin while Aquar snatches up a burning brand from the fire and tosses it at the nearest bat. His throw is wild, unaccustomed as he is to hurling burning hunks of wood. However, the bats are clearly unaccustomed to fire, and the giant creatures flee away into the night air.

Aquar, cleric

Aquar smiles when the bats flee. Then he frowns, moving over to where the torch landed. He hopes he didn't start a forest fire.

'It appears they fled," exclaims Aquar. "Procan was with us tonight."