Old Ways IC II

[thirdkingdom]

Algernon "Algie" Blackthorn, Magic-user

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Save vs. Wands: (1d20)[17]

Algernon pointedly ignores the cleric just as he is able to ignore the effects of the wand. Taking a deep breath, he sprints for the edge of the ravine, activating his boots of levitation at the very instant he leaps off the edge, hoping his momentum combined with the levitating magic will be enough to carry him to the enemy magic-user, whom he will attempt to grapple with!

[Nevaera]

ASH

Ash grins as she shakes off the effect of the wand. Then she drops her sword and shield beside her (still a good distance from the edge), draws her bow and an arrow, aims for the hobgoblin not interacting with Algernon, and fires.

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AC: -1
HP: 16/16
Bow Range: Close 50 / Medium 100 / Long 150
Bow Thac0: 17
Attack: (1d20+1)[8]
Damage: (1d6+1)[6]
Edit: Poo.

[MeanMrsMustard]

Alanna's surprised when she realizes she can still move.
"Whoopee!" she cheers, almost forgetting that she was lecturing Algernon. When he takes off, she sighs and makes a mental note to have a serious talk with him later.
She's still a bit winded from her run, so she doesn't attack anything.
"Pretty useless magic wand, eh, Ash?"

[Matthew]

Nathros follows up with another mighty skull splitting blow!

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Nathros, Level Three Dwarf: M 90(30); AC 3(2); HP 13(9); THAC0 19.

Attack Roll: (1d20+4)[11]
Damage Roll: (1d10+4)[8]

[Roland St. Jude]

Nathros swings, the but the still surprised hobgoblin manages to leap aside. Behind him, the henchmen continue to fire arrows into the webby mass, the hobgoblins within seem closer to death than freeing themselves, though they continue to try breaking through the sticky strands.

Brandon's arrow strikes the wand-wielder in the chest and a crossbowman manages to catch the other hobgoblin in one arm. The other missiles all miss.

Algie's valiant leap takes him nearly to the hobgoblins, but his momentum runs out short of the target. He comes up short and hangs in the air poised to strike, but the hobgoblin is out of reach.

---
Nathros gets cut by the hobgoblin swordsman, quicker than he looks and perhaps not as surprised as he pretended.

The two hobgoblins stagger back in surprise but manage to keep their wits about them when the human leaper comes up short. The continue to retreat, walking on open air, and nearly reaching the far side of the ravine, perhaps 30 yards away. The wand-wielder issues another blast of paralyzing magic. The other, now obviously the spellcaster, makes some incantation and his gaze switches from those on the ravine's edge to the strange figure of Algie right before him. Suddenly, an immense fireball envelopes Algie. For a moment, its edges reach right to the near edge of the ravine. Those gathered there could reach out and touch the curved edge of flame - except that it is gone in an instant, the feeling of heat like a terrible sunburn on their faces.

Gone with the fiery blast is any sign of Algie.

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PCs lose initiative. Foes' actions presented above. PCs' turn.

Nathros -2 hp
Algie -24 hp save for half. Even if he makes the save, this will knock him below zero and when his consciousness goes out, so do the boots' levitation effect.

A clue as to the hobgoblins' means of movement is available to any character who makes a Intelligence check.

On your honor to open this only if your character succeeds:

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They are moving in a level straight line, though not quite perpendicular to the ravine edge. They're probably walking on a bridge or plank, hidden by an illusion.

A character with sufficient perceptiveness, I'll let you decide if that's your character, may remember where the hobgoblins stepped on and the path they took.

[Matthew]

His mind less groggy, Nathros returns the blow of the hobgoblin in kind. "It will take more than that to bring me down!"

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Nathros, Level Three Dwarf: M 90(30); AC 3(2); HP 13(7); THAC0 19.

Attack Roll: (1d20+4)[14]
Damage Roll: (1d10+4)[9]

[MeanMrsMustard]

Alanna looks back to see the wand-wielder get nailed in the chest and whistles at Brandon's nice shooting. She then looks to the ravine, hoping to watch Algie's daring plan succeed, but less than a second after she turns, the fireball strikes.
She's seen enemies die, some at her own hand. She's heard about slain mercenaries. But she's never seen an ally — no, a friend — get killed right in front of her. As the flames die away, she suddenly thinks back to all the times she glared at, said an unkind word to, or mistrusted the smarmy spellcaster. She also can't escape the way he completely disregarded her advice. In her guilt, she drops to her knees and begins weeping. Her conscience reminds her that the past is the past and that she has a responsibility to those still living. After several moments, she gets up, though she still has tears standing in her eyes.
Alanna watches the hobgoblins' bizarre movement over the gap and tries to figure out how they're doing it. She takes a shot.

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INT check - (1d20)[8]
Magic Sling plus Blessing Attack - (1d20+2)[8]
Magic Sling plus Blessing Damage - (1d4+2)[4]

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran cries out in shock as Algie is incinerated. He tries to figure out how the hobgoblins are walking on air.

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Level 4 Fighter
Hit Points: 14/16

Intelligence check: (1d20)[14]

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran fails to understand; he is too busy trying to fight off yet another wave of paralyzing magic.

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Level 4 Fighter
Hit Points: 14/16

Save versus Wands: (1d20)[19]

[Nevaera]

ASH

In a state of shock, Ash tries to shake off the paralyzing effects once more, though she is somewhat demoralized this time.

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Roll vs. Wand DC13: (1d20)[2]

[MeanMrsMustard]

When Alanna feels the paralyzing magic hit her again, she knows she's not going to make it. She drops to the ground so she won't be frozen in an awkward position and prays that the hobgoblins won't kill the party or take their equipment.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah

Mycah is stunned as he sees Algie incinerated before his eyes, as well as some of the others falling to the effects of the wand. Choking back his shock, he focuses on the spellcaster this time, not the wand-wielder, even as in the back of his mind he considers how they are able to cross the ravine.

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INT Check(10): (1d20)[4]

Mycah, Thief, Lvl 4
AC: 6 HP: 4/5
Attack (Missile): (1d20+2)[10] Thac0 18
Damage: (1d6+1)[3]

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran screeches, his normally baritone voice becoming higher-pitched in his overpowering fury, "They killed Algernon! Everyone fill them full of arrows!"

He draws another arrow from his quiver and looses again at the wand wielder.

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Level 4 Fighter
Hit Points: 14/16

Attack: (1d20)[8]
Thac0: 17
Damage: (1d6)[2]

[Roland St. Jude]

Nathros cleaves the hobgoblin wide open and it falls to the ground as the henchmen finish off the webbed hobgoblins and then begin to move toward the screaming Brandon.

The crossbowman take aim and send another volley, striking two hits on the spellcaster who cast the giant fireball. Mycah also plants an arrow in the unarmored foe. He staggers back, seriously wounded, and now clearly on solid ground on the other side of the ravine. Brandon has less luck, missing and losing his arrow down into the ravine.

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PCs win initiative. PCs' turn!

Wand-wielding hobgoblin injured & spellcasting hobgoblin seriously injured.

[Nevaera]

ASH

Ash's head lowers as she falls to one knee and the paralysis wins over her body. She has a troubled brow under her helm.
The end of her bow scrapes into the dirt though most of it remains firmly gripped in her frozen joints.

In her mind, she puzzles over the strange powers of the hobgoblins - unable to reconcile their abilities with anything she's familiar with.

Unavoidably, Algernon's heroic sacrifice enters her mind.
I thought he had a plan. Why didn't I stop him earlier?
I've failed.

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AC: 0 (no shield or dex)
HP: 16/16

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor

As the party's hirelings and mercenaries continue to successfully pepper the hobgoblin leaders with missile fire, Bran howls, "That's it, men! I'll pay twenty gold pieces for every arrow or bolt you land on those bastards!"

"ONE HUNDRED GOLD PIECES to whoever kills either one of them!"

He draws and looses again at the wand wielder, seeking to shut him down before he can paralyze everyone.

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Level 4 Fighter
Hit Points: 14/16

Attack: (1d20)[5]
Thac0: 17
Damage: (1d6)[4]

[MeanMrsMustard]

Alanna can't see the battle, but she can hear just fine. She listens as hard as she can, hoping to drown out the endless I can't believe Algie's dead… could I have done anything to stop it? Who's gonna be our spellcaster? Ugh, I can't believe myself! A friend died in front of me and all I can think about is how useful he was? Ouch, forgot about that spear wound… running through her mind. She prays in her mind that Brandon, Mycah, Nathros, and the hirelings are able to conquer the menace quickly.

[Matthew]

Seeing how things are developing, Nathros looks about for a bow or a crossbow to use, whilst keeping an eye out for any straggling or still hidden hobgoblins.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Seeing how close they are to victory, Mycah calls out encouragement to the hirelings. "We have them now, men! One more volley to finish it!" Leading by action, he takes aim at the spellcaster once more time, the obvious threat after what he did to Algie.

After he fires, he dashes to the edge of the ravine where he believes the pair stepped off. Scooping up a handful of loose dirt, he throws it in a fan, hoping his hunch is correct, and that the hobgoblins trick will be revealed.

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Might as well us the same trick Indy did, right? Let's finish this!

Mycah, Thief, Lvl 4
AC: 6 HP: 4/5
Attack (Missile): (1d20+2)[22] Thac0 18
Damage: (1d6+1)[4]

[Roland St. Jude]

Nathros looks about for a spare bow, but the hobgoblins were not archers. All that presents itself would be to wrench a sling or bow from a paralyzed ally. Fortunately, the combat comes to a dramatic conclusion.

All seven archers line up along the ravine and fire a volley. Mycah's arrow catches the spellcaster full in the eye and drives him straight back and he falls to the ground dead. The archers have similar success, two of them striking the falling spellcaster and two of them scoring precise hits on the leader. The hobgoblin leaders lie dead, side-by-side, stuck like pincushions.

Mycah's dirt cloud reveals a wide, simple wooden bridge angled from one side of the ravine to the other. Nothing more than planks, it seems sturdy, though not necessarily all that safe. A gust of wind or misstep would easily mean one's doom.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran screams in bloodthirsty joy. He shouts across the ravine, "YES! GOT YOU FOR ALGIE, YOU BASTARDS!"

Then he looks abashed and mildly horrified as he counts the number of arrows that have landed in the hobgoblins...

But he waves off considerations as petty as money. He knows he has more than enough. Sweet revenge for the incinerated Algernon is much more important.

Soberly but smiling, he says to the mercenaries and hirelings, "Good work. You were very brave to stand up to those magic-using and abusing scum. Don't worry, I'll pay you all what you're due..."

"But only while the bastard hobgoblins were still alive. Sinking arrows into corpses don't count, hey?"

Bran eyes the hirelings to see if anyone disagrees with or protests his belated codicil to his promise of gold.

[Koren n'Rhys]

As the two leaders fall to a rain of arrows and the stillness of post-combat settles over the area, Mycah stands alert for any sign of a remaining enemy. Once it is clear that the fight is over, he drops his bow and runs to Ash's side.

Fumbling with the unfamiliar equipment, he unbuckles her helm and tugs it free. Hands cupping her face, he looks into her eyes, searching for signs of awareness or recognition, and feels for a pulse at her neck. Discovering she seems alive and well, he gently lays her down in what he hopes is a more comfortable position. "It's ok, Ash, you'll be ok," he tells her in a quiet voice as he holds her hand, "It's scary to be trapped like this, I know, but it will wear off in a bit. I was fine remember?"

With difficulty, he finally lets go of her hand and looks towards the others to see if anyone is helping Alanna. If not, he goes to her as well, as careful as he'd been with Ash, though perhaps without as much tenderness...

[Nevaera]

ASH

Immortals, this is near unbearable!

I knew it was fool hearty. Why didn't I say something?
I know why. I got cocky.
I thought we had them on the run, even if all of us couldn't move. I - had faith in my allies. And I was right. But having hope for someone I've only just met - I was too hasty. We have a flow and he didn't know it yet.

Where did that fire come from? How could they have such a power and not use it sooner? Maybe they were saving it for something else.

Algernon, if you can hear me, I'm sure you saved many lives though it was at the cost of your own. You scared them. You were perhaps too brave for your own good, but you will be remembered well for your deeds here. I pray your soul is comfortable in whatever afterlife you find yourself in.

There's a touch of moisture accumulated within her eyes.

---

Whoa, helmet. Mycah - Yes. I'm alive. Thank you for checking.

Oh, sideways. Okay, now it's all sideways.
Effort noted. Going to be stiff when I come out of this either way, but it's nice to know someone cares.

Heh, yeah, that's right. We just hauled you up like a bag of potatoes, didn't we? I knew you'd be okay. I guess I wasn't thinking about how you felt at the time. Sorry. What could I say? We barely knew each other.

Unless Mycah removed her gauntlet, she can't feel his hand.

As he's about to leave her side, she thinks, Oh, kick-butt shot by the way. I kinda saw it.

Oh, right. Memories aside - it would be good to check on the others and organize our return. Don't forget to see if there's a way to salvage from the fallen in the ravine. Their equipt - ugh, who'd have thought I'd miss talking? Just when there are things to do, of course.

... this is going to take at least an hour.

[Matthew]

Nathros looks about him at the carnage with a sense of satisfaction. "Pity we could not take any alive; I would have been interested to hear what lies they might have spouted to explain their being here. We had better check the area for any signs that some were not here at the camp to be slain, for they could still be lurking about. Counting the beds and bodies is probably the easiest way." He looks mournful for a moment. "It was an unlucky day for Algernon when he joined with us. To me it seems that it can only have been sorcery or madness that compelled the magician to charge the hobgoblins, unarmed and unarmoured as he was, but perhaps he saved us from a similar fiery fate."

[MeanMrsMustard]

I wonder if I could learn a spell to remove paralysis… it certainly seems like that sort of thing would fit with my healing spells. Maybe the hobbos have some sort of magical doodad to help you resist, or to take the curse away. I'm pretty sure wands can miss. Heh, oh Mycah. You know I know what this feels like. Go back and whisper some more sweet nothings in Ash's ear. Huh, I wonder if Algie's spirit is still hanging around… I hope he's not, this would probably make him sad. I swear, I will do his last rites myself, even if I have to do it over an empty casket. Maybe we can find something of his that wasn't burned.

[Roland St. Jude]

Neither the hirelings or henchman complain, though they seem a bit confused by Brandon's addition. They shrug.

---
Ash's paralysis persists a full hour, pushing the day further into the late afternoon.

The fallen hobgoblins each have a short sword, short-hafted spear, crummy padded clothing or leather armor, and a few coins. Twenty gold pieces worth of assorted coins can be gathered from the fallen and small stashes in the various tents. The tents themselves hold a small amount of foodstuff, but nothing of an enticing quality, and little else of value. The sleeping arrangements appear to be communal, and one of the tents has been ruined by flame. Nathros' rough count, though, suggests it's unlikely they could have bedded down more hobgoblins than they've slain. This was probably all of them.

---
The ravine is quite deep, and a search for Algie's remains will require scaling the cliff or hiking east or west to see if it becomes more shallow.

Also, crossing the make-shift bridge to the bodies of the leaders is not without some risk.

[MeanMrsMustard]

Alanna is happy to finally be able to move again. She stretches, then attempts a cartwheel. Fortunately, she didn't start out close to the ravine's edge.
Alanna approaches Mycah, guessing he was in charge of searching the camp.
"So, did we find anything useful that might have belonged to the hobgoblin with the wand? Or maybe the magic-using goblin?"
When the group gets together, she asks if anyone would like to be healed. She's not sure if they'll try to cross the bridge, make camp here, or head back home before the sun sets. Remembering the carts and horses, she hopes they'll choose to go back into town.

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran announces, "I am going to get my horse and try to ride around the ravine, because clearly trying to cross it is kind of dangerous."

Speaking to both his companions and the party's hirelings and mercenaries, "I want one or two of you to accompany me, just in case. The rest should stay here, and guard the bodies. Just shoot at anyone who tries to interfere."

Bran seems interested in going east around the ravine, to try to cross it at a more shallow point.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Mycah

Alanna approaches Mycah, guessing he was in charge of searching the camp.
"So, did we find anything useful that might have belonged to the hobgoblin with the wand? Or maybe the magic-using goblin?"

"The search was mostly Nathros' doing, Alanna. He wanted to be sure we had taken care of all of the hobgoblins and shouldn't be expecting anymore to return from someplace else. As far as the leaders, I want to go across and search the bodies, but have waited until you all were back on your feet and things were secured here first."

Bran announces, "I am going to get my horse and try to ride around the ravine, because clearly trying to cross it is kind of dangerous."

"I think it's safe enough to walk across with some care. After all, those two big fellows made it. I don't know that I'd go across in that armor of yours, but I'm sure I'll be fine. It will save a lot of time if I cross here rather than you trying to ride all the way around."

[Frivolous]

Brandon Bor


Bran is about to climb on his horse, then he hears Mycah's response.

He turns around and seems to be thinking. Then he nods.

"All right. But I want the bodies, too, or at least their heads. Maybe Merlinda or Lord Bost will recognize them."

"Oh, and could you count the arrows on each body? Need to figure out how much prize money I owe our men."

He watches Mycah navigate his way across the ravine. His expression is deliberately neutral.