Beyond Myria (IC) - Book 2

[Ozzy_G]

With the doors closed behind him, Vesha stashes the sun amulet within his furs.
Where did they go? he asks. Where are they going? To attack the column? We know nothing of these lizards... his eyes narrow. While they are gone... this is the perfect opportunity to sneak in to where they were. Perhaps the sun is in there. What did the book say? he asks Jyn.

[Grymmheart]

Jyn replies, "From what I recall, nothing in the translations speak of what is below this mountain. The dvarfs were spoken of as being creatures or spirits from deep within the mountain. I can not imagine the lizard creatures we faced were the dvarfs or decendants of them. Raenis did imply we needed to head deeper into the mountain to free the sun. Maybe this is our chance. But to be trapped down there upon the return of these creatures is frightening. That also ignores the possibility that more of the creatures are waiting below."

[Kain_Tempest]

"A good opportunity shouldn't be lost, but I think Jyn has a point. We'd be in a bad way if there's no way out when those lizards come. And if we did cut our way through them, we may have to contend with the Blackshields." There was muffled chatter from Thyr's bag.
"Faillune agrees."

[Ozzy_G]

Well what else should we do? asks Vesha. Go down the mountain and fight all those lizards outside? This is likely to be our only chance. The spirit of this mountain will be with us.

[Grymmheart]

Jyn replies, "Well if we follow the destiny that I feel the vial of ancestors imparted into us, we should free the sun. We were willing to die to save the people of Primvale from the mountain. Think of how many more will be saved by our freeing the sun."

[Helfdan]

Ingvar the Wolf

"Let us get Onadare first, an we can find him... I would start by the way we came in. We can always come back down here and explore the other exits."

[Ozzy_G]

Vesha nods. Yes, we need him, the spirits have decided. Let's go out the front, where we came in, and see if he's there.

[Grymmheart]

"Let's go then," replies Jyn.

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Moves out with the others to the way we came in.

[Kain_Tempest]

"Let's just hope he wasn't drawn too far away from that noise from before." Thyr mutters as she takes up the rear of the cadre.

[Gygaxphobia]

With soft steps you ascend the stairs, looking about you to make sure that no enemies lurk about still.
The lizards folk seemed to have left entirely and the way out is clear, so lighting torches and stepping more swiftly you proceed back down the rough hewn tunnel.

You leave the gloom and the heat behind you to exit on the Eastern face of the mountainside, on the small ledge above the metal rungs fixed into the cliff face. The cold wind bites into you and an icy rain flicks darts into your skin.

So tightening those furs you had loosen and taking on the water that you can hold you look about. The long descent back down to the valley beckons, some thousand or more feet down the rocky slope.
There is no-one around, except for a flock of birds circling in the wind.

[Kain_Tempest]

"Cosmos. I knew something was up with the Avalancher. He seemed to be in a mighty hurry to leave when the vial was being passed around." A strange thought popped into Thyr's head, but she didn't speak. Her eyes scanned the ground, looking for something to indicate where the mountain had went.

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(( Spot - (1d20+1)[6]))

[The Great Skenardo]

Noj Onadare
Standing on the hill, Noj finds himself in the predicament facing many runaways.
Now what?
The adrenaline of the run wearing off, Noj shifts his weight from foot to foot.
Ach, what the hell. I'm here, and they need help down there.
Noj raises the horn to his lips one more time and sounds it. Then, with a deep breath he draws his newfound sword and begins the descent...

[Helfdan]

Ingvar the Wolf

Ingvar was squatting down to look for the Avalancher's footprints, when he heard the horn once more...

[Gygaxphobia]

There's not much to see in the frost-hardened earth of the mountain ledge. The ground is dry and cold and the rungs of the disjointed ladder refrost quickly if warmed by hands.

Some hundred feet below the cliff tops stretch out some way to the North, below that you can see the field of soft earth where the ogres live.

The second horn blast quivers the air, this time more muffled. The flock of circling gulls are driven off a ways, scattering and climbing to gain altitude over any predators.
The note hangs in the air, straining to reach you as it stretches across the mountainside, clinging to the rocks as kit tries to wrap around from the far side.

---------------------

Noj finally exhausts his breath, panting. The second sounding was easier to start but much harder to make a loud noise and the note was not nearly as effective.
Unsheathing his sword, he steps down from the rocks and into the snow, on the long descent down the hillside into the battle.

Some way down it seems the ambushers have taken heed of his announcement. Coming up slowly towards him are a pack of scrabbling little white furred creatures, perhaps a half mile away. They hop and skip together as they caper towards him, but behind them something much larger comes, a hulking dark skinned thing.

[Grymmheart]

Jyn is about to speak when a second blast from the horn is heard. "I wonder if that is Noj and the horn he picked up. It seems he is not on this side of the mountain in any case. We either follow the lizardmen the other direction and hope they have an exit on the other side of the mountain, try our luck at traversing the mountain to the other side out here, or try our luck deep within th mountain. I would hate to leave Noj on his own, but he did make his own choice to leave us. Grrrr, what to do?" Jyn growls in frustration.

[Ozzy_G]

We must find Noj, says Vesha. He doesn't seem bothered by the fact that one of his feet is barefoot in the chilling wind. Freeing the sun without him would be much harder.

[Kain_Tempest]

"Noj probably didn't re-enter the mountain so it may be better if we go there from this side of the mountain. Ingvar may be able to catch his trail in the meantime."

[Gygaxphobia]

The ledge is shear on all sides and so you have to descend to make further progress. You wrap your hands to climb down the familiar the metal rungs and steel yourselves to hold tightly.
By the thirtieth or so rung your muscles burn and your fingers ache, and the firm ground is welcome. Looking about the cliff tops are quiet, the birds are still in flight and no sign of the ogres appearing again.

In the blustering wind the breeze brings strange new scents to Ingvar and Thyr. Some familiar signs of Noj's boots are noticed by the hunter, and the wind tells you he hasn't passed long before, less than a half hour by any rate.

You face an arduous walk, the loose rock and shingle make the gentle slope treachorous but not impossible, though tiring.

------------------------------

Noj hurtles at break-neck speed down the slope, stepping lightly and carefully to avoid slipping and he ploughs straight into the on-coming wave of spindley creature.
The trunchkins move fast to surround him, some scratching frantically with claws and some waving lumps of hardened wood.

The highlander skim past one, slicing acorss it's neck with a careful blow, the next is neatly hamstrung and rolls gasping in agony in the snow.
Small claws reach for him, and one attachs itself to his back, seeking to latch on with razorsharp teeth, but he spions and throws it from him and runs another through, lifting it by the hilt of his new blade and casting it aside.

He cuts and slashes, keeping his feet moving to avoid being overwhelmed. These creatures will not test him much, they will only slow him.

While they slow him the people below die to the wolves and the great slow beast lumbers up the hill towards him, bloodthirsty and desparate to crush him in it's embrace.

[Helfdan]

Ingvar the Wolf

Ingvar stops for a second, studying the terrain. He then turns to the others and speaks seriously. "We have need for haste. I need you all to trust me, and my skills. You will follow me single file, stepping exactly where I step. If you do not, you risk falling or staying behind." With that, he takes one more look at the slope and loose rock, and lopes ahead.

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If at all possible, Ingvar is trying to treat this as an encounter. i.e. he gets some tokens, then uses them to move normally through difficult terrain. As per the rulebook, if the others follow in his steps and heed his advice, they benefit from this too... the hunter blazes a trail, etc.

Man, but hunters are insufferable know it alls... ;)
For some reason, if this were a movie, I visualize the heroes jogging down the trail to the tune of Aerosmith's "Walk this Way"

[The Great Skenardo]

Noj Onadare
Noj grimaces as he jinks left and right, tossing the lesser Wendigo in his wake like a true Avalanche coming down the mountain. As he approaches, Noj tries to size up his opponent.
Big. The bigger they are, the harder they are to make fall. But I'll but he's not expecting this...
Noj charges forward at an incredible pace, the downward slope lending him momentum. About fifteen feet away, he plants his feet squarely into the snow and launches himself upwards and forwards! Flying through the air, the Avalancher uses the tremendous momentum to try and send the giant sprawling back down the slope...

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Okay, going to use a charge combined with a Skill Challenge on the jump. I figure since I'm charging downhill and I begin the jump 15 feet away, that should make the actual point of impact higher up on the giant.
Anyways, Adding +10 DC to Jumping 15 feet to increase the power of my attempted Trip attack by +5.
Jump vs DC 20 - (1d20+18)[22]
Declaring Dodge on the Giant.
AC vs Giant AoO: 21 +8 + 1 + 8 (Mobile defense, 80 feet moved this round)
= 38
AC vs. Giant next round: 30
Attack - (1d20+23)[41] (13 + 8 Mobile Assult +2 charging)
Trip - (1d20+10)[24]

[Kain_Tempest]

Thyr nods curtly and tigthens the load on her back. Again taking up the rear in order to pace those in the middle. Faillune mumbles something in her pack.
"I'm just suprised you can hear anything in there." She comments to the weapon and starts heading on after the group.

[Ozzy_G]

Vesha nods. Very well, Ingvar the Wolf. He follows, trying to step exactly where Ingvar steps. The fact that he's stepping through the snow with only one boot doesn't seem to bother him at all.

[Gygaxphobia]

Having spoken, Ingvar bends his head to the trail and places careful, surefooted steps along the loose shale.
Some moments later he finds harder ground and his pace suddenly increases, so he is soon loping ahead of you. He hesitates once, suddenly shifting to one side, and catches you by surprise; after that you learn to be more careful and his abrupt zig-zag steps are followed more easily by you all.

The trail hardens into tightly packed rocks, and rises up towards the wide crest on the North slope. Strange scents take to the wind, and the air smells of musk and sweat and mildewed fur...

---------------------------------------

Noj stamps on one tiny foot and cracks the curved sword's pommel into the creatures temple, then pivots with an up-arcing slash that opens the last trunchkin in a thin line from groin to throat. Spilled entrails and arterial blood leap out from a stack of small corpses around the black slush at his feet, a giant stain on the mountainside's virgin snow.
Scarcely slowing, Onadere's breathes easily and continues his run, only a light sweat breaking his brow.

The bulking monster slogs its way towards him, thick feet shaking the rock its hands swings close to the ground and its shoulder rise up high alongside its huge head. This leaves hardly any neck visible, and creates the impression the creature is as wide as it is tall.
It has some resemblance to a Man, but more to the ogres on the opposite cliff face, and as it mounts a rise, the sun catches it in the face, illuminating in and its nakedness.

Noj's grimace becomes a snarl as he throws himself onwards, his sword whips back and forth to balance his hurtling run over the slippery and unsteady footing. He leaps some fifteen feet from the beast with blade raised to reflect the light towards the monster's eyes, it raises a hand instinctively against the sun.
Noj gathers his feet under him in the air and thrusts his boots out to strike the giant full in the throat; it gasps and splutters and falls away to one side rolling to lay prone. The impact winds Noj in the air and throws him off course, though he lands well and dances up.

The beast gathers its breath and its thick hands under it to rise.
Onwards down the hill, the packs of wolves are well into the rows of defenders at the caravans.

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TGS nice challenge, though I would call that move an Overrun rather than a Trip. I know Trip is better for you, but you succeeded at the Overrun anyway.

Helfdan that's fine, you're in an extended encounter where time/speed does matter, using your terrain tokens effectively doubles the speed of the party.

I need to resolve Noj's combat before I can move you both to the same scene. The big group is effectively two minutes behind him after Ingvar's trailbreaking.

[The Great Skenardo]

Noj Onadare
Noj moves to the side, his blade flickering a waltz of metal around the fallen creature's hide as it climbs to its feet...

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+1 dodge token for missed AoO
Assuming an AoO is provoked when the thing gets up:
Attack - (1d20+23)[39] (Same round)
Damage - (1d6+3)[7]

Then, on Noj's turn:
Circling the giant, heedless of AoO provoked (AC 30)
Circling a total of 40 feet for +4 to hit/+4 AC
Attack1 - (1d20+17)[34]
Damage1 - (1d6+3)[8]
AC vs Giant: 26

[Ozzy_G]

Vesha slogs along after Ingvar. He sniffs the air. What is that smell, he says quietly. Smells like some animal...

[Gygaxphobia]

Noj cuts back and forth, surrounding the giant with cuts as he leaps back and forth, churning up the slurry of snow.
A myriad of cuts bite into it's thick haunches, the leathery skin shows neat lines of razor edged cuts, but not blood yet flows.

As Noj completes the full circle, he catches the trail of tiny blue jagged tendrils he left in his wake. The sparks crackle across the ice in an arc behind him as the beast swipes at him with it's massive hands. One swats just past him and the gust of air throws his hair away from his face. An arm-sized finger grazes his cheek as he leaps away.

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Hmm ok, no wounds for Noj. You can roll a few combat rounds in one go if you like, I'd suggest four rounds at a time.

[The Great Skenardo]

Noj Onadare
Spinning and and scrambling like a razor mosquito around the giant's bulk, Nok takes advantage of some of the giant's stumbling blows and continues to slice and butcher the creature alive!

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Start with 2 dodge tokens.
Then, on Noj's turn:
Circling the giant, heedless of AoO provoked (AC 30 +dodge tokens)
Circling a total of 40 feet for +4 to hit/+4 AC
Attack1 - (1d20+17)[28]
Damage1 - (1d6+3)[4]

Attack2 - (1d20+17)[24]
Damage2 - (1d6+3)[4]

Attack3 - (1d20+17)[33]
Damage3 - (1d6+3)[7]

Attack4 - (1d20+17)[19]
Damage4 - (1d6+3)[7]
using All tokens each round to increase AC vs giant.
AC vs Giant: 26 +dodge Tokens

[Gygaxphobia]

The giant growls in fury as Noj's blade slashes at him left and right. It's gruesome face turns about him trying to keep track of the highlander and it's fat jowls flap under it's chin.
Once or twice it open it's maw, it's upturned canines drip saliva as it rages about it, seeking to catch the small creature in its grasp and bite it in fury.

The cuts slice it's thick hide to ribbons of leather, but no blood comes yet as Noj comes closer and slashes harder to try to slow the beast down.

Once or twice the brute comes close with an awkward swing but its grasping fingers close too slowly.

Noj continues his work, cutting flesh like hardened leather and making the creature dizzy as it turns and turns trying to catch him...

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You're hitting it and wounding it, its DR isn't soaking all of the damage. It will just take quite a few blows to wear it out and get a decent hit on its vitals.
Do four rounds at time, seems to work quite well. You earn 2 dodge tokens/round since it has two attacks and seems to miss quite a lot... :)

[Helfdan]

Ingvar the Wolf

Ingvar pondered on the mildewed, bestial scent ahead as he led his companions on the trail. His eyes studied the path ahead carefully yet swiftly. His hillman's stride was swift, but he held back from the sprint his hunter's (or wolfish?) instincts drew him to... for he had no doubt that this chase would end in combat.

[The Great Skenardo]

Noj Onadare

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Actually, since I freely provoke AoO every time I move, the creature should be getting one more attack per round, which translates to an extra Dodge Token per round if he misses.
Attack1 - (1d20+17)[32]
Damage1 - (1d6+3)[4]
Attack1 - (1d20+17)[29]
Damage1 - (1d6+3)[9]
Attack1 - (1d20+17)[34]
Damage1 - (1d6+3)[6]
Attack1 - (1d20+17)[31]
Damage1 - (1d6+3)[9]

And a few confirm Rolls, just in case:
Confirm - (1d20+17)[18]
Confirm - (1d20+17)[33]
Confirm - (1d20+17)[18]
Confirm - (1d20+17)[25]