The Wilderness

Feeling much better after Stella’s help, Sheemish rolls his shoulders and cracks his neck. Checking his equipment, he nods his agreement to keep moving forward.

While everyone is healing I quickly go to Dieter and use lay on hands on him and myself.
"Thank you for healing me, Stella!"

Dieter heals 7
Ruenson heals 10

Aiwë easily picks up Minsc's trail, and the party is off once more, keeping a wary eye out for more gnolls or other dangers.

Several more hours pass, and the breeze begins to carry the telltale scent of saltwater. They eventually come upon a cliff overlooking a vast expanse of dark water as far as the eye can see. The Sea of Swords, which they haven't been this close to since Candlekeep. Far below, perhaps some 200 feet, waves crash against the cliff face, and... there's a corpse splayed across the lowest rocks, water slightly tugging at it as it recedes back into the ocean.

Stella notes that there is indeed some disturbance at the cliff edge.

Minsc grunts as the gnoll bites into his shoulder, the hyena jaws crunching down with terrible force. In such close quarters his greatsword is useless, but he still has his greatest weapon: himself.

The big man clamps his hands onto the gnoll's toothy mouth and forces it open and away, then his heavy punch knocks the gnoll back several feet. Towards the cliff edge. With his own blood roaring in his ears, Minsc charges forward. He accepts a painful jab from his enemy's spear, and then drives his shoulder into its hairy gut, forcing both of them to the precipice...

There are narrow furrows in the dirt right up to the edge, as though someone attempted to grab onto something, anything, to keep from falling to the rocks and water below. From the look of a nearby shrub, halfway torn from the ground, that someone did find purchase and pull themself up. But was it Minsc, or his enemy?

Sheemish nods to Stella and gives a quick whistle.?Stitch zips from overhead and dives quickly to identify the corpse.

Stitch flits down the rocky cliff and quickly makes her way to the corpse. This close, she can easily make out the soggy thing's features: long, leanly muscled arms and legs covered in spotted fur. Definitely not Minsc.

A big wave crashes in, flooding the nook between rocks and nearly catching and pummeling Stitch. The tide must be on its way in; any wave now might be the one to carry the corpse out to sea. As the water rushes back out, the gnoll's body lolls over to one side, revealing a potion hanging from its belt, attached by a knotted strip of leather.

With more waves incoming, Sheemish and Stitch are faced with a choice: return up to the cliff and its relative safety, or try to retrieve the potion and risk being swept up in a wave?

Buzzing over the corpse, Stitch descends towards the potion bottle. A thrumb emits from its small workings as she builds a magnetic charge on her underside. Stitch dives down and tries to connect with the metal ring of the corked lid. Not used to slow decisive aim, it takes two tries but she she just manages to connect. Witheffort stitch bobs back to the group.

A large wave comes crashing in just behind Stitch, wetting her lightly with spray, but she makes it back up the cliff safely with the bottle in tow.

If the tell-tale deep red color isn't enough, Sheemish learns the potion's purpose with a mere sniff; it's a healing potion, and a potent one at that.

Sheemish attempts to hide as well but his clinking armor kind of deaf ears the purpose.

The party scrambles to hide, but there just doesn't seem to be enough cover. In short order the group of gnolls arrives, two large brutes leading several others. The one in the rear wears some kind of a headdress made of gnawed bone. They easily spot the party and give cackling shrieks of delight as they charge forward!

Round 1 Player Phase!