[D&D 3.5, E6] The Colony at Gaunche [IC]

[Darwin]

At the sight of their missing companion Steelheart jumps to his feet. The urgency in the tribesman's voice dispels any hint of uneasiness from his heart.

"State the situation Tuskhunter. Are there enemies about?" He says with a calm voice as he looks around the camp in a full circle.

[Maeglin_Dubh]

"Not here. Your tower, the one we hold now. It was not lonely, not at all. It covered a supply road, one near an yrch dwelling. They might be wanting it back, yes?"

[HempRope]

Ranier

The sergeant suddenly snores, loudly.

[Lyndworm]

Orgnal

The little goblin reaches Ranier's tent and begins shaking the man as violently as his frame allows.

[HempRope]

Ranier

As soon as Orgnal starts shaking him, Ranier rolls over and flings an arm out, knocking the goblin away from him.

"Wha? Who?" he barks sleepily, pulling his dagger from his belt and sitting up. He blinks for a moment, recognizing the little figure next to him.

"Orgnal? What's going on?" he asks, lowering the dagger somewhat and using his other hand to grope around for the scarf he left next to his bedroll.

[Lyndworm]

Orgnal

Standing shakily to his feet, the little goblin says "It's Tuskhunter! He's returned, and says that he's seen orcs."

[esorscher]

[HempRope?]

[HempRope]

My bad, I swear I responded to that.

Ranier

"Tusk--? Oh yes I see..."

Ranier recognizes the man's silhouette, quite distinctive with the many feathers and odd implements sticking off it, next to Steelheart's smooth bulk. The Sergeant resheathes his dagger and quickly wraps the scarf around his head in two loops.

"What does he want?" he asks Orgnal, picking up his weapons and rising to his feet.

[esorscher]

[Ok, let's see if a little combat gets this going again. LIVE!]

Rather than run off out of cowardice, Tlaloc went off to see if reinforcements would be coming. By the time you got back, the party had gone and the tower was held by soldiers. You returned to Vinganca and informed Velas'qez of this, as well as your discovery:

The tower is supplied by a large orc village some ten miles away. You saw maybe thirty dwellings, enough for more than 100 orcs.

Velas'qez gave you two choices: either wait for the party to return, or chase after them on their caravan trip. Traveling alone, you'd catch up to them by nightfall.

Soon after this was revealed, and the entire party was awake, you are attacked by three orcs. Two on the flanks hurl javelins at you, missing everyone--one bounces off Steelheart's armor. The one in the center fires an arrow from his bow, trailing the blue-green sparks from the battle at the tower. The arrow imbeds itself in Steelheart's shield. The one with the bow orders in orc, "Tot ihm!"

The two traders scrambled to their feet to calm the mules, who'd been startled by the sudden assault.

*Translated from Orc

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Kill them!

Green are the orcs who threw javelins, Blue is the orc who fired a longbow.
----ROUND 1----YOUR TURN----

[HempRope]

It took me a while to figure out that that was all about Tuskhunter. Yikes. It's too late for this.

Ranier

"Quick!" Ranier cries, "Don't let any of them get away!

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Iniative - (1d20+3)[21]

[esorscher]

[You don't need initiative. Just post your combat actions. All your actions will resolve in the most effective way possible, then the bad guys will go.]

[Lyndworm]

Orgnal

Orgnal wastes no time with this battle. He twists one hand into an arcane symbol and grasps a tiny candle in the other. "Athear ixen drekis!" With a soft pop, an enormous beetle appears behind the orc with the longbow. Its mandibles take on a golden sheen and it attacks the orc viciously.

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Actions -

Cast Summon Monster I to summon a Celestial Fire Beetle. The Fire Beetle then attacks the orc, using it's 1/day Smite Evil ability.


Attack:
(1d20+3)[10](13)

Damage:
(2d4+3)[4][1](8)
Total damage is 9 if the orc is of Evil alignment (or subtype).

[esorscher]

The beetle surprises the orc, but its mandibles bounce of the orc's hide armor without effect.

[senrath]

Thurstan

Moving swiftly, Thurstan closed the distance between him and the closest Orc. Calling upon the power of the earth to infuse his flesh and bones, he struck out with his greatsword, hoping to slay the beast in a single stroke.

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Moving to just above the left-most Orc on the map, and attacking it with the Stone Bones maneuver. Also taking -1 on the attack roll to gain 2 temp HP until the start of my next turn, thanks to the Stone Power feat.

Attack - (1d20+3)[11]
Damage - (2d6+4)[13]

I gain DR 5/adamantine for 1 round if I hit.

[esorscher]

The orc ducks under your swing, but only barely.

[HempRope]

Ranier

"Circle around to their sides and don't let them flee!" Ranier urges the others as rushes toward the orc in the center, crossing paths with Thurstan. He draws his longsword as he goes, and meets the orc in a crushing diagonal blow, hoping to take him down before he can retaliate.

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Charge at the blue orc.
Attack - (1d20+8)[10] (+2 charge, +2 flanking) Damage - (2d6+4)[14]
AC: 15 HP: 12

[esorscher]

The orc parries Ranier's greatsword by bringing his longbow against the flat of the blade, pushing it just past him. He laughs.

[To speed up combat, if you haven't posted your turn with 24 hours of the first person to post theirs, I will NPC you for that round.]

[Maeglin_Dubh]

Tuskhunter darts out to flank the orcs, cursing as he fits a dart to his atlatl. He waits for a clean shot on one of the smaller orcs, and lets fly.

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Attack - (1d20+4)[14]
Damage - (1d6+2)[5]

Next time I need to remember my skirmish damage...

[esorscher]

Tuskhunter's dart flies true, striking the right-most orc between the eyes. The orc falls to the ground, twitching, as the projectile lodged in its brain stimulates its muscles and nerves even past its death.

[esorscher]

Steelheart fires a shot from his crossbow, but misses. The orc drops his bow, black gauntlets forming around his fists. He draws a greatclub from his back and swings it at Ranier. The other orc pulls a long spear from his back, thrusting at Thurstan.

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Greatclub v. Ranier: (1d20+5)[25], (1d12+6)[8]
Longspear v. Thurstan: (1d20+4)[7], (1d8+4)[12]

----ROUND 2----YOUR TURN!----

[esorscher]

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Confirm Crit:
(1d20+5)[22], (1d12)[6] (1d12)[6]

[HempRope]

Just my luck. I get a 2, he gets a 20. This character isn't designed to stand toe-to-toe with anyone, but this is a lil ridiculous.

Ranier

The sergeant collapses. Again.

[Maeglin_Dubh]

Tuskhunter heads farther out towards the treeline, angling for yet another clear shot. His face is split by a feral grin at his previous kill. As he readies his next shot, he darts about unpredictably, hollering pagan blasphemies at the orcs.

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Attack - (1d20+4)[11]
Damage - (2d6+2)[7]
Damage roll is not an error... I just included the skirmish damage this time.

[senrath]

Thurstan

With a loud cry, Thurstan shifted his stance slightly, and swung his mighty sword at the orc who had just knocked one of his allies unconscious.

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Using a swift action to trigger Martial Spirit stance. Using Crusader's Strike on the orc, which'll give 1d6+1 points of healing if I hit AND the orc happens to be an alignment other than my own. Not likely with half of the alignment grid gone, but it can't hurt to try.

Attack - (1d20+4)[22]
Damage - (2d6+4)[12]

Rainer heals for 2 if I hit, thanks to Martial Spirit. And a potential (1d6+1)[4] more.

HP: 13/13
AC: 16

[Lyndworm]

Orgnal

The goblin sprints to the East, twisting one hand into an arcane shape while the other retrieves a bit of dried leather. Orgnal shouts "Hewa litrix!" and his entire body shimmers for a second.

The beetle summoned by Orgnal continues its assault, attacking the orc with the longbow.

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Actions -

Move 30ft (6 squares) East, cast Mage Armor.

The Celestial Fire Beetle just attacks again.

Attack:
(1d20+3)[9](12)

Damage:
(2d4+3)[1][1](5)

[esorscher]

Thurstan's attack brings the orc nearly to his knees as the beetle lunges forward, snipping off the orc's head at the neck. The decapitated corpse collapses to the ground. The other orc may have been about to surrender, but you'll never know. Tlaloc's dart strikes it cleanly through the temple, bringing instant death.

Thurstan is able to heal Ranier. Rodrigo rushes forward, pouring a healing potion down Ranier's gullet. "Unbelievable," he whispers.

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Healing: (1d8)[4]

EXP: 150 each.
Loot: Javelin x4
Longspear x2
Club x2
Hide Armor x3
Greatclub x1
Composite Longbow (Mighty +1) x1
Potion of CLW x2

[HempRope]

Ranier

Ranier sits up suddenly and gropes for his sword before looking around and realizing that the orcs are finished and he's surrounded by his allies. He licks his lips a few times before saying anything.

"Don't know what happened there. I'm usually more careful than that."

He stands up, brushing dirt from his armor and not making contact with the others.

"I suppose... they certainly are more dangerous than regular orcs. Good job with them, all. Are any of them still alive? Check, and search their bodies," he says, becoming more certain and sharper in his tone the longer he talks. "If they're not dead yet try and keep them that way. Tuskhunter, what was on those darts you used?"

Ranier returns to his bedroll and pack and wipes his sword clean, though there's not anything on it but dirt. After a moment he walks back to the others.

"Is anyone else hurt?" he asks. He takes one of the found potions and downs it. CLW - (1d8+1)[6]

[Maeglin_Dubh]

Tuskhunter chuckles. "This one used clean darts on those poor unfortunates, Impiyur. He has not even started using anything fun yet."

He makes his way to the two orcs he killed, pulling his knife and setting to work scalping them and carving the darts out carefully to prevent damage.

[HempRope]

I guess that's a no.

Ranier

I didn't know it was so simple to kill a man with little darts.

Ranier moves to the pile of possessions stripped from the slain orcs.

"This is a nice bow," he remarks, picking it up, and tossing the other orc bow down on the pile. He also picks up the other vial.

"Onate, can we fit the rest of this stuff on the mules?" he asks the old man.

Turning to the others, he pauses for a second before speaking.

"Again, well done. What do you want to do now, try to get a few more hours of sleep, or break camp and try to move on even though it's dark?"

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About how far into the night are we, esc?

[Darwin]

Steelheart

Suddenly awake from the trance of battle he turns to Ranier to answer his last question. "I believe we should move on to a safer spot and rest there, Sergeant. Though this scouting party may be dead, there will probaly be sent out a search party for them before the night has passed."