Lion's Way

Heart still pounding as she works, Stella tries to stay focused to keep her hands from trembling—nobody wanted a healer prodding wounds with an unsteady hand! Despite her insides churning, she manages a mostly calm demeanor.

Her eyes keep drifting to the bloody corpses, however, specifically the crossbowman with one of her arrows sticking out of it.

They were trying to kill us all, she reminds herself.

She had never killed a person until now—and she had only ever killed one animal before—and the idea that she held the power to both save lives and take them was an unsettling one.

Quote:

Aiwë blinks. "Araleth's light, Stella!" She rolls her head on her shoulders and stretches her side. "You've gotten really good at this!"

Stella shivers, shocked out of her thoughts.

"Oh! Well, it's mostly just a new breed of Moon Cress I found growing in a neighbor's garden. Apparently it grows really well alongside pumpkins...it uh..." She gives a wry smile. Perhaps she shouldn't tell her patients that she was giving them a minor hallucinogen absorbed through the skin...It had miraculous healing properties too! But she found she couldn't let anyone have too much at once...

"Nevermind. I'm glad it works! Just...take it easy, okay?" she smiles.

When she gets to Wirrow and examines her wound, she furrows her brow at the congealed cut.

"Strange...Clotted already? I hope that bolt wasn't poisoned..." she wonders. After quickly cleaning and bandaging the cut, she looks sternly at Wirrow. "If you feel dizzy or find yourself losing focus today, let me know! I'm going to find one of those bolts before we leave so I can check it for poison later..."

Last edited June 6, 2021 1:23 am

Jun 6, 2021 1:41 am

Aiwë pauses. She has almost forgotten that this is likely the first battle Stella has been in. The wolves on the hunting expedition or the yeti on the camping trip doesn't count. They weren't people.

"It's always you, Stella," Aiwë says, hearing her mother's voice echo over her words. "When we can we offer them a choice before, and we spare who we can after," she gestures to the captives in the cart, "but they chose to risk lives. When you chose who to save, it's always you, or those you protect." She gives Stella a very gentle bump on the arm.

"You helped all of us, and did amazing. You must be so proud of yourself."

Last edited June 6, 2021 1:41 am

Jun 6, 2021 1:45 am

Aiwë shrugs. "I have seen more blood, and I was hurt more, but it's not a contest. Besides, I wasn't so bad off. Just tired, and the blow caught me off guard. There was no crunching snow to let me know he was there!" Aiwë grins.

Stella

Carcabob

Jun 6, 2021 2:02 am

deoelvenmage Inactive forever!

Stella purses her lips and nods at Aiwë's words, but avoids eye contact. "That makes sense." She had heard it before, though it was a good reminder. "For some reason, the logic isn't settling in my mind yet...but it'll probably just take some time."

Quote:

"You helped all of us, and did amazing. You must be so proud of yourself."

Stella clenches her jaw and a few stars in her eyes fade to orange. She must be proud of herself? Why did she have to be proud?

Though...her actions were well-performed—except for her archery, compared to Wirrow's. Still, positive self-reinforcement would help her perform well in future encounters like this one. Statistically speaking, the odds of another deadly fight in her future were...well, very high.

With that figured out, she looks at Aiwë and smiles, her eye stars returning to their normal, soft yellow. "Thanks Aiwë. You were wonderful too! And throwing mallets?! That's a new one," she chuckles, then moves on to administer care to another party member.

Last edited June 6, 2021 2:02 am

Wirrow Bloodbyrn

Jun 6, 2021 3:55 am

Catsqui1688 Inactive forever!

Quote:

"If you feel dizzy or find yourself losing focus today, let me know! I'm going to find one of those bolts before we leave so I can check it for poison later..."

Wirrow nods. There was something undeniably pleasant about Stella's care and concern. "I'll tell you, then. I mean, I don't think it was."

And even though Stella finds no poison on any of the bolts, partway through the journey back Wirrow does in fact stagger, feeling unwell just like Stella described. She lets the other girl know, as she was asked, but also tells Stella it's more just the heat getting to her (understandably so), and requests to travel the rest of the way inside the wagon.

Runeson

Jun 6, 2021 7:55 am

I join the rest of the group in either cleaning up the battle scene, getting the axle fitted and preparing to return to Candlekeep.
I also go and receive healing from Stella. "What concoction is this? I guess I'll try it... Wow, that is some powerful stuff!"
As we return to Candlekeep I cant help but wonder... Who had sent those bandits to retrieve the iron and how did they know were to find the caravan?

HP: 11/12

Last edited June 6, 2021 8:01 am

Rolls

Healing from Stella - (1d6+5)

(3) + 5 = 8

Jun 11, 2021 1:40 am

Aiwë watches her friend go with the sinking feeling that her words hadn't had the effect she had hoped for, and the reminder that of all her friends, she is the only one who was raised a soldier.

Why should Stella be proud? She only wants to read and study. And she is allowed to. Stella was never at war.

Aiwë checks on the bandits in the back of the wagon, then sets to watching their perimeter as they return to Candlekeep. She will see Stella back safely to her books.

Keggruk

Jun 16, 2021 4:21 am

OOC:

The party has just left left Candlekeep in a hurry.

The day’s warmth and humidity haven’t yet dissipated, and so though it is dark, the night is still quite warm and muggy. The moon shines brightly, however, illuminating the straight run of the Lion’s Way across the peninsula and back onto the mainland.

Keggruk’s eyes glint red in the dim lighting. "Let’s put some distance between ourselves and Candlekeep, and then we’ll rest until morning. Then, if all is well, you can discuss as a group where you want to go next."

As it turns out, ‘putting some distance between ourselves and Candlekeep’ means driving a hard pace until nearly midnight. The orog paladin pushes the group hard. Sometimes he leads from the front, and sometimes he keeps to the rear, glancing back often as though expecting pursuit, but always he keeps the party moving. His unspoken apprehension is contagious, and even those accustomed to the dark of night find themselves looking over their shoulders more often than necessary.

When a threat does reveal itself, however, it doesn’t come from behind.

It is directly in front of the party.

Armored Figure

Jun 16, 2021 4:22 am

A hulking figure in spiked armor stands in the middle of the road. Horns protrude from its helmed head. It holds a greatsword easily in one hand, and its eyes shine with a fierce yellow light.

It watches the approaching party with a singular, fixed gaze.

Keggruk

Jun 16, 2021 4:22 am

"Now you show yourself." Keggruk moves to the front of the group, hands tightly clutching his axe. "These days I try to give people the benefit of the doubt when I see them about to attempt something stupid. Maybe they just don’t know better." The paladin lifts his axe to rest on his shoulder. "How confident do you feel tonight, stranger?"

Armored Figure

Jun 16, 2021 4:26 am

The armored figure doesn’t give an answer, but raises a spiked gauntlet. From either side of the road step truly large creatures, both of them humanoid and clutching greatclubs. Ogres. They flank the armored man as he begins to move forward. Each step grinds stone beneath steel-plated boots. Each step is inevitable.

OOC:

They are about 60 feet away.

Jun 16, 2021 4:58 am

Victor.Strokov Inactive for 4 months

Shelur beats her drum quietly, then quickly builds tempo and volume as the ogres approach.

"GRONAR!" she shouts, beginning her orcish war chant and stamping her feet along with her drum. She draws her sword with one hand and beats her chest with the flat of her blade, baring her teeth as she spits threats at their enemies and buoys her allies with her cries.

Last edited June 16, 2021 5:06 am

Rolls

DONT MESS WITH US WE'RE BIG AND SCARY TOO (intimidation) - (1d20+5)

(12) + 5 = 17

Dieter

Jun 16, 2021 5:04 am

deoelvenmage Inactive forever!

Dieter lowers his pike. "They’re not so big and besides they only have one mouth each" Dieter whispers

Wirrow Bloodbyrn

Jun 16, 2021 5:18 am

As the huge forms walk towards the party, Wirrow backs away equally, quietly, heedless of if anyone else follows her back into the shadows behind their group. She fingers her bow, a crimson glint searching for a weakness in the yellow glare's owner.

Stella

Carcabob

Jun 16, 2021 3:56 pm

Stella is silent and melancholy as the party leaves Candlekeep. As the group presses on and on into the night, she becomes increasingly exhausted, not even bothering to look up at the stars.

Quit pouting, girl, she scolds herself. Would you rather stay in Candlekeep with assassins after your friends?

Somehow, the self-talk didn't make her feel any better.

Quote:

A hulking figure in spiked armor stands in the middle of the road.

Stella starts as the group halts, facing this new threat.

Quote:

"How confident do you feel tonight, stranger?"

The armored figure doesn’t give an answer, but raises a spiked gauntlet. From either side of the road step truly large creatures, both of them humanoid and clutching greatclubs. Ogres. They flank the armored man as he begins to move forward.

She backs up, teeth grit, eyes wide with the stars in them blackened with fear.

We're a big group, and there are only three of them, right? Three...massive juggernauts...But we have Kregguk! He's a seasoned warrior—a paladin!

Trembling, Stella shrugs her bow off her shoulder and sets one end behind her foot to strings it—this time, she hadn't listened to Wirrow's reminder. Thankfully the enemy was approaching only slowly.

Last edited June 16, 2021 3:59 pm

Armored Figure

Jun 16, 2021 4:01 pm

Thunder rumbles, mixing with Aiwe’s war chant as roiling clouds above threaten to steal the moon’s light. Ahead, the armored man and his two ogre allies move forward with that same slow, deliberate pace.

In a flash of lightning, however, Wirrow sees more. Two men with longbows silently creeping forward along the sides of the road, nearly hidden by the trees. And yet another figure, this one cloaked with the hood drawn up, stands farther back on the road, out of the sight of anyone else on this dark night. It is significantly shorter and much more slender than the others.

The man in spiked armor raises his sword and punches the weapon forward, and the two ogres bellow their warcries and charge!

Jun 16, 2021 4:19 pm

yaroto98 Inactive forever!

Round 1 Player Phase!

OOC:

This is the first fight of the game for some members of the party, so as a quick refresher: There's no initiative or 'turns' really, just go ahead and post what you do this round. You've got the AC and HP of the enemies detailed here, so if you roll an attack roll and see that you hit, go ahead and roll damage and narrate it all! If an enemy needs to make a saving throw against a spell you cast or something like that, just jot down what needs to be rolled (ex. Ogre 2 needs to make a DC 13 Dex save) and I'll roll that at the end of the round.

The enemies are marked with various colors in the chart below, basically indicating how close they are to the party:
Green means they can be engaged in melee.
Orange means they're a bit further back, roughly 30-60 feet (You could reach them if you move forward, but that would risk incurring opportunity attacks from the green folks (ogres).
Red in this case means that they're pretty far back, roughly 100 feet. Some ranged attacks can reach them, but if they're outside the range of your darkvision, you'll have disadvantage.

IMPORTANT STUFF!
Please at the end of your post just make a note of your HP, your AC, and roughly where you are compared to the rest of the party (ex. 'In front to tank' or 'In back to NOT tank', etc)

Try not to die!

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2a/b3/2c/2ab32cd1c2bb435478156aa7b62aa282.jpg

Ossein Handel

Jun 16, 2021 4:30 pm

deoelvenmage Inactive forever!

Bert leans his head back and seems to take a deep breath, but not with his lungs. Violently pitching his head forward and opening his mouth farther than seems possible, a green wet beam sprays out of his mouth towards one of the slinking archers. Unfortunately, the spray lands short of the archer catching them off guard, and briefly creating a puddle at their feet, but ultimately not doing any damage.

Bert's AC:12
Bert's HP:5
Definitely towards the front.

"Nicely done Bert. Well, I suppose this just goes to show how far we have to go. Next time, we'll focus more on aiming, yes?"

Last edited June 16, 2021 9:17 pm

Rolls

Ray of Sickness attack - (1d20+4)

(5) + 4 = 9

Wirrow Bloodbyrn

Jun 16, 2021 4:59 pm