Episode 1

Kray speaks out. Fingol, now mostly covered in a veil of smoke from the cauldron, pauses for a short time in his verbal assault - perhaps a bit surprised by the cool response?

But soon the big Dannein launches into another volley. "Your strange commitment to some unknown child must end, Mercon. You will see now that a green-eyed half-breed is the least of your worries. For you, an invader, have now tread upon ground forbidden to all but those of worthy blood and lineage. This site is one of arcane prominence, and your presence here is an offense against me and the powers who bow to my dread will. Soon you will understand the depth of your folly, for now The Occult Hive of the Collective is summoned. It is empowered with might beyond...the... "

Fingol's cadence falters as he sees Qiu spinning around, wielding the pole and baggage in the low ground gully below the platform of the hut. The heavy back pack sails upward in a great heave, launched with the full centrifugal force of Qiu's last lurching turn. The pack arches up slowly and silently into the smoke and then crashes onto the platform with a loud thud and skid. The pack bumps heavily into the front of the flaming cauldron.

Though the cauldron is not hit squarely with enough force to overturn it, the large bowl is knocked into a tilt and shifts backwards with a loud scrape. The coals or logs within are jostled roughly, and a large spray of sparks and smoke erupt upward into the air and all around the platform, some sparks popping over into Fingol's standing space.

The witchman lets out a furious roar of surprise. His hands fly up to shield his eyes in the spray of ash, smoke, and sparks. As he stumbles back a step, his loud voice bursts out, "Fools! You dare?!.... Kill them!! Killll Thheeeem!!" With that, Fingol retreats with a single step back, completely disappearing into the thick blue smoke that covers the upper platform.

Seeing Qiu's uncanny dash, spin, and sack hurl, Ivor and Thorn follow immediately into action, also running past Kray and Talius. They descend downward briefly in the low flooded slump and then begin to slow in the difficult terrain of the upward climb towards the large tree and shelter.

The smoke is heavy in the area. Ivor looks up, hand axe in hand, seeking to target the Dannein witchman. In the concealment of the smoke, Ivor does get a glimpse of an outline but recognizes the difficulty of taking such a throw.Thorn launches full tilt into jumping and climbing up the rugged array of roots and planks. He grabs and pulls with whatever hand holds he can grasp. He draws himself upward along the tree and finally gets a handhold on a plank of the deck that is closer to the trunk of the great tree. He is poised to leap up onto the deck in the next moment. Now he struggles with visibility as he is in the thick of the smoke covered area.

Moments ago, Kray and Talius were the party leads standing closest to hut. After a furious few seconds, the two friends find themselves in the rear of the party's sudden approach. Having seen Qiu, then Ivor, then Thorn launch into action, Kray and Talius give one more assessment of the entire scene. Having heard Qiu's warning of other smoke from positions to the rear, and Fingol's last threat of The Hive, Kray scans outward and backward in all directions.

Qiu was right, the forest and shelter clearing through which the party recently passed is now covered in smoke.


As if they were formed by the smoke itself, five fearsome warriors stand silently in the open area of the flooded clearing. Their stillness is as eerie as their elaborate coverings and masks, perhaps an attempt to let fear set in if it will.

A fight is starting.
Someone roll group initiative.

EDIT AFTER DICE: Opponent initiative 15.

I know we could debate all day on exact positioning, distance, etc. but let's go with this:

The Hive, standing in the increasingly smoke covered area to the rear, are spread out in a few different directions and distances, but for sake of mechanics we will say they are 40 feet from Kray and Talius.

Qiu and Ivor are roughly 30 feet in the other direction, towards the house, spaced apart in the low muddy section below the hut. These guys are partially concealed to Kray and Talius.

Thorn is further on, about 15 feet more forward, climbing in the root and plank section, just got a hand on the lower structure of the deck platform. Thorn can barely be seen at all by anyone else and he cannot see anything outside of his immediate position.

Group initiative! Is Thorn finally going to draw his sword!?

Edit: Aw dang. Sorry fellas.

Ivor and Thorn (in initial advance, before melee interchange)

Ivor hurls his throwing axe into the smoke, where he thinks he saw the outline of Fingol. The axe spins end over end, disappearing in the smoke.
The effects are unclear, but Ivor thinks that he hears a muffled grunt coming from within the smoke. Perhaps the axe hit its intended mark.


Thorn hears clearly, "Yaaaggh!" the witchman blurts out from the smoke covering the platform above Thorn.
Thorn makes a mental note of the position of the sound, also noting the sound of the footfalls and a door slamming, and another knock -
a bolt being thrown over a door.
Fingol is inside, likely in the center door that Thorn remembers seeing before the area was covered in smoke. Thorn thinks he can heave up and make it to the door in his next move, and will need to be prepared to break the door down, or find another entry. Who knows what the witchman will do once he is inside with time to react?

Left to Right, these weirdos are going to be referenced as Bear, Goat, Bird, Phantom, and Bull.
This picture is close on actuals for the makeup and costumes, but in the scene, the Hivers have equipment and weapons somewhat different than the picture.

Talius and Kray
From the slightly elevate rise, on the other side of the low gully at the base of the hut

Kray and Talius stand together and ready for an attack, warning the others as best as they can and then concentrating on battle themselves.

It is shocking to see the quickness of action. Two javelins fire towards the warriors, thrown from handled launchers held by two of the costumed opponents.
Phantom and Bear throwing at Kray and Talius with atlatls.
After the throw, these two opponents move up flank out to the sides, spreading out on the ends to Talius and Kray's left and right as the other three charge forward at extremely high speed. The Hive is upon them, crashing in with fury.

The horned warrior crashes headlong into Talius with all of his weight and momentum, attempting to drive the Dannein backwards off of the rise, towards the low gully behind.

The bird faced warrior seeks to grab Kray with clawed gloves and hurl him to the ground, and still the claws are raking and scratching at Kray in a flurry. The skull faced warrior carries a long spear is close behind, and stabs in at Kray with the long weapon.

Dice Results

Phantom javelin to Kray. Critical Natural 20 hit. Damage: 17
Kray must make CON save vs. Bat Hannoc poison.

Bear javelin to Talius. 10. The javelin sails past, a miss.

Bull. STR Comparison to Shove Talius: 20. Talius must beat that on comparison or fly 10' back, downhill, Prone and take 3 points non-lethal damage.

Bird STR Athletics to throw Kray down: 16. Kray must beat that or take Prone condition.
Bird scratch attempt to hit: 26 (first roll so Advantage not applicable)
If hit successful, damage is 6.

Goat spear stab attempt 1 at Kray: 26 (first roll so Advantage not applicable.)
Damage if successful: 12

Goat spear stab attempt 2 at Kray: 23 (first roll so Advantage not applicable. Note: mistakenly rolled 3 times. 3rd roll disregarded. Irrelevant anyway because 1st roll was highest.)
Damage if successful: have to reroll dice, typed inaccurately first attempt. Corrected damage if applicable is 9.

Talius (cont'd)

Talius is pushed backwards off of the ground and crashes hard down upon some roots in the gully below, landing on his back in some roots.
Talius looks up in time to see the large fur covered Hive member hurl another javelin down towards him.
Bear javelin throw 2
Bear throw 2 hit attempt result: 23
I think that is a hit. Damage: 6. Talius must make CON save vs. Bat Hannoc poison.

Talius can see Qiu not far behind him now, standing within the smoky area closer in the approach towards the hut. Ivor is a few steps further on, deeper in the smoke.

Qiu, Ivor, Thorn

Qiu and Ivor hear some call from Kray or Talius. The next thing Qiu sees is Talius crashing down hard on the ground a few steps away in the curve of the gully. Qiu then sees a javelin sailing straight in his direction.
Phantom, Javelin throw, targeting Qiu.

Javelin throw hit attempt result: 15
Javelin Damage if applicable: 6. If hit, CON save vs. Bat Hannoc poison.


[note="xorthan, jabes.plays.rpg"]
Ivor and Thorn hear some commotion, but can see little from the smoke.

[note="DMJ"]Thorn hoists himself onto the deck and moves as quickly as he can towards the cabin, though not at a full sprint so as not to run into anything in the low visibility. Once he gets to where he can make out the door of the structure ahead of him, he looks to the left and right to see if any windows may be a better idea than trying to break down a bolted door. He also checks the roof of the house for any weaknesses or entry points he might observe from this vantage point.

Thorn
[note="Xorthan"]Thorn checks the door. It feels sturdy, but also only wood. It could be broken possibly, even with a bolt or brace supporting it on the other side, but the time to do so is not certain without trying it.

Looking quickly for other options, Thorn searches along the edges and side walls. There are no other windows, but did pass an inward opening on his way to the door. He takes a few steps back and into the walkway. It is some sort of outside storage, with several odds and ends leaning about - sacks, old ropes, a few handled tools, sticks wrapped together in strange configurations, tarps, skins, a few porcelan pots, and other rubbish. The smoke is slightly less oppressive in this area.

Within the supply closet, the wall left of the entrance (which is the wall that it would share with the inner room of the house, that must separate the space from this outer closet to the interior room that has the outside door on the deck) seems somewhat thin. A few boards to the back corner seem very old, green, and rather rotten from water damage. Thorn must wonder if these boards could be a week spot. Could they be a way to lead through to the interior if they were breached? Thorn is not sure, and it is unknown what is on the other side, but he surmises that he could likely burst through the boards in a few seconds with a strong shoulder crash and possibly a chop or 2 from the greatsword if necessary. If he does so, he will need to fling a few things aside to clear the area.

A shriek breaks out from inside the house. It is faint because the sound is dampened by distance and separation by the wooden walls,
but it seems like a higher pitched voice, speaking sharply in aggression.

Following this, Fingol's voice booms out in anger. The words are indecipherable, but the anger in the witchman's voice is clearly detectable.

Talius
Poison resisted. No damage or negative performance effects, though Talius can feel a burn at the wound site and a little bit of queasiness that will set in over the upcoming minutes.

[note="DMJ"]Thorn is wondering if he's seen these tied stick formations before. At the sound of the shriek, Thorn decides now is not the time to ponder. In the storage room, he shoves aside some of the odds and ends that are in his way. He puts his shoulder to the boards that seem the weakest, and draws his sword for the first time in a long while. He takes a few quick breaths. He pounds his shoulder against the boards and brings his sword to bear on the wall to chop a hole big enough for him to jump through.

Gully is a slanting slope downward, about 10' distance for a drop of 8 - 10' elevation back to the south upper landing (from which Talius was shoved).

Kray is at the top of that same higher landing, at a slightly different position from where Talius was previously standing. In sum: Kray is about 10-15' away, at the crest of the small rise, from Talius.

Going backwards up the slanting ground is NOT Difficult Terrain, but going in the opposite direction, towards the house (also towards Qiu and Ivor) is Difficult Terrain because it is covered in roots and is a sharper climbing incline to the house.

Qiu and Talius, from the edge of the smoke, look upward at the rise from which they both recently passed. The costumed warriors of The Hive are positioned along the crest of the upper landing.