Defenders of Highgate, Chapter 3

[oliana0]

Oliana

Oliana looks around for an escape route; there's too much fire power here. If there are any tents nearby that aren't on fire, leaking Orcs, or otherwise obviously dangerous, she will move to one, peek inside, and if it seems fairly safe she will enter it.

Spoiler

Show

Small number of woman and children orcs are okay, anyone with a weapon is not. If it's a women and children Orcs tent, she will enter and notify them that she will not hurt them if they are quiet. But she will take out the children first if they sound an alarm. In orcish of course.

[Holocron Coder]

Deladus

Taking an arrow to the side, Deladus falls to his knees and grips the arrow shaft. Looking around in a mild daze, he sees just how outnumbered their little band is.

Things were not looking good, to put it lightly.

Shaking his head to wipe away the fog, he snaps the arrow shaft, leaving a small portion sticking out. What do I do? We need to get out of here. Half the guys came back here to help me. They can't be punished for that! Balder, help me!"

Grunting with the pain, Deladus stands to his feet, his green skin rapidly turning a very woody shade of brown. Yelling in anger, he swings out at the nearby orcs, even as his movements grow more stiff. Small branches begin sprouting from his shoulders and legs as he fights. The entire process happens rather rapidly, but seems to stretch on forever.

Once the man stops changing, there is no man standing where he once was. Instead, a man of the trees, a treant, stands in his place, branch-arms upraised. The plant stands at an impressive height, enough to see easily over any of the nearby tents.

Suddenly, from the ground sprout the flora of the earth, thorns binding the orcs in the area around the defenders.

Stunned at his own transformation and subsequent powers, Deladus continues to act, grabbing any nearby comrades he can and storming through the orc fighters, trampling any in his path.

Spoiler

Show

Several rounds of actions, here

1: Shapeshift - Plant: Treant (heal 50% of damage taken)
2: Plant Affinity Power - Grasping Vines (Thorns) 5 squares (5 5x5 areas) DC 13 reflex, 1d6 dmg & movement disabled if failed, half movement if succeed, -3 action penalty regardless, 10 rounds duration, DC 10 Str check to break free. Attack at +6 for 1d4 dmg per 5ft moved (AoO from plants)
3: Grab Defenders nearby (I've lost track )
4: Run to nearest exit, using treant Trample ability.

[dauphinous]

Oliana finds that the closest tent is empty of living creatures. It has the routine sorts of trappings of life, such as blankets, pots, clothes, and the like. There are no sources of light or flame within it.

Deladus's startling transformation causes all the orcs in the area to stare, stunned at the tree-thing that explodes from the man. Surprised as they are, the thorny vines that shoot out of the ground, waving and writhing, wrap around several of them easily. Some of the others start to back off, making what look like warding gestures.

With his new vantage point, Deladus can see Hengist hauling the gear briefly before he disappears behind a tent again. He can also see the man int eh blue armor, now looking at him curiously, with an uplifted eyebrow. And he can see the eight orcs that are now flying in, with no apparent means of flight. Four of them cast spells, two creating large spheres of darkness around themselves, which then move through the air, as if they'd been tossed. They land to either side of Deladus, and with them, comes pain. the effects of the other spells are not obvious, but each spellcaster is flanked by a flying orc with a greataxe, the perfect implement for dealing with errant trees.

Sarrok and Hengist move, if not precisely quickly, rather stealthily, given their burdens. They are making a beeline for the closest edge of the camp, and should find themselves at that edge shortly.

Carter, determining that Sarrok could not possibly be strong enough to carry everything, returns to his determined course, towards the command tent. He cannot actually see either Sarrok or Hengist (no one can at the moment), but he does see Hertz as he rips the canvas of a tent down.

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Okay, in a 20 foot radius from the spot on the ground at Deladus's...um...roots, there is total, pitch black darkness that does not hinder darkvision. This is different from the Darkness spell.
Deladus and Nalik each take 5 points of evil-aligned damage (treant DR does not apply to this) from the "pain".
Carter takes 8 points from a hit with an axe somewhere in there.
if Deladus still wants to pick Nalik up, he'll have to locate him first.

[anIceFan]

Nalik

Feeling his strength begin to ebb, Nalik steps to the tree that was once Deladus reaching his hand out and putting it on the trunk, he then offers a prayer to Thor to grant him strength.

Spoiler

Show

cureSeriousWounds - (3d8+5)[21]
using 1 turn undead to extend this to Delatree and any other ally within 10'

[oliana0]

Oliana

Oliana flips open the flap to the tent to allow just enough light in that she can see around in it. She rummages quickly for anything that will burn, grabs it and heads towards the far end of the tent. She lifts the bottom of the wall up slightly to peek outside and waits for a clear time to move out and on to the next tent, heading first away from the fight then towards the nearest edge of the encampment.

Spoiler

Show

Alternatively, she wraps herself up in orcish blankets, smears dirt on her face, and moves to the edge of the camp, if anyone sees her she says in orcish: "Have you seen my mommy?"
*snigger*
Rinse repeat. If she sees anyone out there making better progress than she is she will join up with them. Oliana can carry up to 33 lbs of flammable material, less the weight of a blanket to roll up the items in for easier carrying.

[lawful_evil]

Carter

Having determined that Sarrok could not possibly be strong enough to carry everything, Carter returns to efforts to help, moving with some haste towards the command tent. Having spotted Hertz trashing the tent he heads that way hopeful he can get some intel regarding the situation.

"Where are Sarrok and Hengist and our stuff?"

[Annalia]

Hertz

"From what I know, making a run for the camp's edge with all the gear." Hertz answered quickly as he bundled up the tent. "We're done over there. Any news of the others, and of what is going on there?"

Hertz waited for Carter's answer, ready to continue towards the "tree mess". Except that the others were probably in danger, he didn't know much of what was happening. One thing was certain, however: they were doing better when things were confusing, and when the orcs had no idea what to do. If he could bring back a measure of chaos, it'd help everyone get away.

[lawful_evil]

Carter

Carter looks at Hertz in disbelief and says, "Are you sure? There was no way the two of them could have carried all of all of our stuff." Carter looks around for them while answering Hertz's question, "Deladus and Nalik got a little bogged down in fighting. They should be along behind me momentarily."

Carter adds a bit to the destruction and inquires again, "Which way did they go?". Sword in hand, Carter rushes off in that direction, knowing that, even if they did make off with the gear, they'd be nearly helpless and undefended.

[Annalia]

Hertz

Hertz pointed in the direction he'd seen Hengist and Sarrok take, before deciding the sooner Nalik and Deladus would be following, the better. Once Carter takes off, he'll head towards the commotion to see how he can help.

[Torger]

Hengist follows the smaller man out of th village and into a somewhat defensible, concealed position. Taking up a pair of his shortspears. he levels the smaller man with a steely gaze. Remain here and stay hidden. I will return with the huskarl and the others.

As fast as he can travel, Hengist makes his way back the way he came, making an obscure religious gesture at the giant, ambling tree.

[Holocron Coder]

Deladus

Feeling the healing touch on his "trunk", Deladus reaches down and brings Nalik up out of reach. Checking once for any other nearby allies (and grabbing them as well), the tree-man tramples in the direction the other allies went.

[dauphinous]

Sarrok and Hengist's flight out of the camp remains unchallenged, and between the two of them, they find a spot that seems like it won't be discovered within a few minutes, at least. There is some sign of booted feet, but it looks a little old to Hengist, and with the commotion, the little hollow should afford enough cover until everyone can regroup.

Carter, dashing madly through the camp, runs into Hengist, but fortunately not literally, as he is on his way back to help everyone else.

<orcish>"All units, converge on the walking tree! Use fire!" The same voice that boomed out before does so again.

This command is followed by four nearly simultaneous fiery rays being launched at Deladus by four of the flying orcs. Fortunately for Deladus, three of the four seem to be having an off day. Only one lances through his foliage, burning leaves and bark. The others are shot wildly in three different directions.

The four flying orcs with greataxes follow the rays in, and have slightly more luck, though Deladus is able to smack one mightily before it can start choppity chopping away. Some orcs on the ground are squashed under...foot, but those following Deladus are still able to hack away at him.

Oliana is able to slip from tent to tent for now, moving away from Deladus as she heads towards the edge of the encampment.

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

Deladus takes fire 13 damage (already multiplied) and 33 slashing damage. For some perspective, those ray spells were ranged touch attacks, and a treant has a touch AC of 7. Those were incredibly poor rolls on my part, and you should not expect such luck (or lack thereof) to continue.

Deladus has lots of special friends right now, so if, for some reason, Nalik isn't going to heal Deladus, he can pretty much take his pick of orcs to attack. Anyone with ranged weapons can shoot at the flying orcs, though they are in melee with Deladus.

Anyone else who wants to move through the camp at this point should roll a percentile. If Carter and Hengist decide to go in the same direction, only one needs to roll this, and both suffer the result.
01-14 = You've encountered an orc that is going to stop and try to kill you. Roll initiative.
15-59 = You've encountered an orc, but they either didn't notice you or run away from you.
60-95 = You manage to avoid any orcs.
96-99 = You've run straight into a Special Person of Interest, who is definitely interested in killing you. It may be Elisathalan, or it may be an Orc of Quality. Roll initiative.
100 = Aren't you lucky. You've run into Astryn, and he is going to kill you. Roll initiative.

[oliana0]

Oliana

Oliana continues her way through the camp, collecting flamables, trying to be careful.

Spoiler

Show

PercentChangeToDie - (1d100)[21]
Initiative - (1d20+2)[18] (Just in case)
WandDamage - (2d4+2)[8] For any Orc. E and A will get their own special fun.

[anIceFan]

Nalik

Nalik is not sure what has happened to Deladus, but the tree that is helping him appears to be his best chance at safety. He wraps his arms around it and prays to Thor to keep it safe.

Spoiler

Show

cureModerateWounds - (2d8+5)[18]
Trading spiritual weapon, and 1 turn undead to extend it to Nalik as well.
(notice that he is a tree hugger)

[lawful_evil]

Carter

"Hengist!" Carter calls out as he runs up to the foreigner. Once closer he inquires, "Did the two of you manage to recover all of the Defender's equipment?"

Carter's sword drips with orc blood and his face is dominated with an excited smile.

If we've got everything, we can get the others and retreat, otherwise we'll have to go back for the rest.

[Annalia]

Hertz

Luckily encountering no orcs, Hertz finishes his run towards the tall tree. Though he's unable to see Nalik through the darkness, he nonetheless calls out "Nalik! What is going on?"

Spoiler

Show

Okay, I'm going to assume I need two move actions to reach them. He won't jump in the darkness (at least not yet).

[Holocron Coder]

Deladus

Feeling an abnormal amount of fear of the fire, probably from his new-found tree state, Deladus does his best to outpace the orcs. Weaving in between tents, he depends on Nalik to keep him from falling apart while they escape.

[dauphinous]

Deladus is unfortunately not able to move any faster than the orcs are. The flying orcs are keeping pace with him, also, though the movement is making it difficult for all of them to do more than keep up. The flying spellcasters, however, have no such difficulties. They simply rotate as he moves across their field of vision, fly in a little bit, and launch more fire at the huge walking tree. This time, three of the rays sear bark and leaf. Branches are set alight, and Nalik falls to the ground as the tree shrinks quickly back into the human man that is Deladus. He lies on the ground, flesh and hair singed, and still.

Luck follows the rest of the Defenders, though. The orcs everyone encounters are more interested in something else than in doing anything hostile to them. Deladus's fall can be seen by everyone except Sarrok, and Hertz is close enough to swoop in and help Nalik.

[Torger]

Slapping Carter on the shoulder, Hengist hurries off to here he saw Nalik fall.

Come! We have to aid the Huskarl...

Spoiler

Show

Anyone wonder if we're carrying the Raven Banner?

[anIceFan]

Nalik

Nalik is relieved that he is not wearing his armor as Deladus returns to his human form. He is still in a great deal of pain after falling 20' back to the ground. Luckily he is quick to recover.

Rising to his feet he tries to fight his way over to the fallen comrade.
To Hertz. Keep them off my back.

Spoiler

Show

He will try and either carry or drag the body of Deladus out of the camp. If he has to, he will fight any orcs with his hammer
attack - (1d20+6)[18]
damage - (1d8+4)[12]
plusElectrical - (2d6)[7]

[lawful_evil]

Carter

Taken aback by Hengist's enthusiasm, Carter starts to follow, but manages to sputter out, "Huskarl? What is that? Some kind of armor? Did you manage to recover all the rest of the gear?"

Carter is further confused by Hengist running towards the battle instead of towards the tent. All the same, he runs along, taking out his sword and preparing to exfoliate some of orcs.

[oliana0]

Oliana

Oliana sees a tree fall in the camp and wonders why the Orcs were attacking a tree. She shrugs it off momentarily until she realizes that the tree was moving.

"Aw, crap." That was probably some weird effect that tree thing that took my rope gave to Deladus.

Oliana rearranges the goodies she's holding, drops any that she can't hold in one arm, pulls out her wand from her robe and zaps one of the flying orcs starting with the magic users. She then moves as far as she can in the general direction of away (and preferably out of sight), but trying to stay within magic missle range of the flying orcs.

Spoiler

Show

Works from 130'!! If she has to move into range first she will.
damage - (2d4+2)[10]

[Torger]

Hengist

Not stopping to speak, Hengist addresses Carter over his shoulder. The small man has all the posessions beyond the encampment. We must no retrieve the Huskarl and you're overly clever companion, if we are to last the day.

[dauphinous]

Oliana fires off a couple of missiles at one flying orc, who then turns and starts looking around, presumably for the source of the spell. The rest of the flying orcs seem to be a little disordered, possibly trying to wrap their orcish brains around the disappearance of the walking tree. The orcs on the ground that were following Deladus seem equally confused, and there is a moment of total silence and stillness as Nalik looks into Deladus's eyes and knows the truth.

<orcish>"Converge on the last location of the tree!"

The Defenders are first to feel the breaking of whatever sort of spell held everyone still. There is a mess of to-ing and fro-ing as the team starts trying to really disentangle. Nalik clambers to his feet and grabs Deladus to drag him away as Hertz dashes in to give him some cover. Hengist is not far behind him, darting around a nearby corner and into sight, followed closely by Carter.

It is just after Nalik gives Deladus's arm a good yank to get moving that he feels the fingers of that arm - the arm he thought a moment ago belonged to a dead body - grasp him back.

[Holocron Coder]

Deladus

Shaking his head and muttering under his breath, Deladus uses Nalik's hold as leverage to pull himself off the ground. Glancing over his shoulder at the swarm of orcs, his eyes widen and he continues to run in the direction he was being dragged. "Not out of the woods yet, it would seem."

[anIceFan]

Nalik

Although totally stunned by the return of the dead Deladus, Nalik is not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Calling to the other Defenders in the area, Lets get out of here! Hengist lead the way.

He will run as fast as his little dwarf legs will carry him in the direction that the walking mountain takes.

[lawful_evil]

Carter

Carter rushes up, sword in hand to hold off the rampaging orcs while the slower defenders flee. Once the team starts moving away, Carter will disengage and fallback a distance only to make another stand and then fallback using his skill at tumble to escape combat.

As he arrives at the edge of the battle he calls out to Nalik, "Keep going, I'll cover our retreat and take the rear."

Rolls...

Spoiler

Show

"attacks/cleaves/crits" - (1d20+9)[29]
"attacks/cleaves/crits" - (1d20+9)[26]
"attacks/cleaves/crits" - (1d20+9)[14]
"damages" - (1d8+4)[10]
"damages" - (1d8+4)[11]
"damages" - (1d8+4)[6]
"Tumble" - (1d20+9)[26]
"Tumble" - (1d20+9)[18]
"Tumble" - (1d20+9)[24]

[Torger]

Hengist

Hengist nods at the command, and begins to rapidly take the Defenders from the orc encampment. He stope suddenly. What of the Alf girl? Is she not still within?

[lawful_evil]

Carter

Carter says, "I haven't seen any Alfs... Girl? Oh, Olianna.... No, well." Carter slashes at an Orc and then continues, "I saw some her magic shooting those flying orcs. Maybe she's off that way." Carter gestures with his 'shield' hand, which is currently empty.

Carter tries to suppress a smile as he ponders little orange aliens attacking the orc camp.

[oliana0]

Oliana

Almost as soon as the words escape the Northerner's lips, a pair of small missiles shoot up from an area near the group and hit one of the flying Orcs. If the group could see her, they would see a little half-elf darting behind a tent.

Spoiler

Show

Dramatic effect. Continue the shoot and hide/run process. Keep hitting the same Orc until he goes down.
[roll=2d4+2]