The orc guard keeps his eyes on the battle, which, aside from Vernon’s initial blow has turned into a contest of competing blocks and parries, and also on Zyllith, making sure she doesn’t do anything funny.
He has no idea that Elion has silently approached the back end of the prisoner chain, and is now standing next to the last two halflings with his finger over his mouth. The noise from the battle, and also from you all spectating very loudly helps provide additional cover for Elion’s actions.
Pulling forth a long dagger, the dark haired elf grabs the rope and quickly slices through the rope, freeing the first of the two prisoners at the back of the rope line. The orc doesn’t seem to notice, so he gets ready to cut the next halfling’s bonds, while motioning for the first freed person to remain frozen in place so as not to cause any disturbance.
Meanwhile, Vernon and Uguk continue on with their melee, swinging, blocking, dodging and parrying as they each look for and opening in the other’s defenses. Deflecting Vernon’s last attack, Uguk feints a swing and then quickly changes the trajectory of his axe, hoping to catch Vernon off guard.
Attack: 22 Damage: 12
The move works, and Vernon takes a hard cut to his left side that draws blood and takes some of his breath away.
Arisa moves towards the line of halflings as well, also yelling out and attempting to distract- “you are an embarrassment of an excuse for an orc I am sure. Does your father know you are losing your life to a gnome over a few halfling slaves? I used to fear orcs. Your kind are pathetic!”
Vernon tries to recover from the hit, but it shook him up quite a bit and he's unable to get his balance set and land an effective strike retaliatory strike against Uguk. With the commotion of his friends yelling starting fill his ears, Vernon grips his shield tightly and braces himself for his opponent's next strike, which comes in fast and high. Attack: 16 Damage: 10
Fortunately, Vernon is able to get his defenses up in time and the blow glances off of his sheield.
As Arisa moves forward, the other orc raises his battle axe toward her and starts yelling. "Back, you!!! Honor the duel! Nobody moves until one falls!"
Twenty feet behind him, Elion cuts the second halfling free and the three of them stand there still as statues, hoping the orc doesn't notice them. The other 4 halfling prisoners are looking back and forth with terrified looks on their faces as they await whatever fate beholds them.
Vernon tries to also go high, but still can't land a hit. He contemplates dropping his shield to get a better grip on his hammer, but decides the shield is doing better work right at the moment.
Vernon's "high" strike is easily parried by Uguk, especially given that "high" to a gnome is only waist-high to an orc, and thus the dance of combat continues. Uguk shifts his grip on the handle of his weapon, winds up and brings the axe straight down above Vernon's head in a brutal attempt to chop the gnome in half as if he was trying to split a log. Attack: 16 Damage: 5
Vernon watches as the axe drops with a vicious downward arc above him, but at the last second, he quickly steps to the right and thrusts his shield overhead with an extended arm and deflects the axe strike away from his body, thus averting what could have easily been a death blow.
Arisa keeps jeering at the Orc, but stops advancing. she readies healing word in case Vernon goes down. “Hah! What do Orcs know of honor! Too weak to capture trolls or giants as slaves were you? Too cowardly to duel one of us with our magic? You two are an embarrassment to Orc kind...”
Vernon counters quickly, getting inside Uguk's defenses. It's a glancing blow, but his tenacity and martial training are beginning to pay off, and Vernon can tell that the orc is beginning to tire a little bit and become more frustrated with not not being able to quickly finish off the gnome as quickly as he might have thought. Uguk's anger rises and he lets out a series of loud grunts as he brings his axe around once again to try and land an effective strike against his rather skilled opponent. Attack: 17 Damage: 12
Meanwhile, the other orc yells back at Arisa, "You know nothing about toughness and honor, woman! You're welcome to taste my axe too, if you want!!!"
“You are welcome to come over here and try to hit me, if you aren’t too chicken of a little human girl and her scary magic!” She yells back. (The experience with the orcs in nightstone and believing she can help distract the other Orc from the rescue of the halflings is fueling her anger)
Zyllith remains quite for the time being as she watches the fight, or rather pretends to. As she listens to the orc and Arisa yell back and forth at each other, she waits to see if there will be another opportunity to sneak away and hide.
( If there's an opportunity to try to hide again, she will try again. )
As the battle continues in a series of increasingly determined grunts, attacks and loud clanging blocks, Uguk goes in for another overhead chop. Attack: 6 Damage: 7
The swing is easily telegraphed, and Vernon steps aside as Uguk’s axe slams into the dirt sbd sticks for a few desperate seconds.
Meanwhile, Elion manages to cut free another one of the halflings.
Zyllith can made another stealth check with disadvantage to see if she can slip away without being seen.
And a worst case it was, as she fumbled on some dry branches hidden within the tall grass. She could only hope the others were distracting the orcs enough to prevent them from noticing her blunder.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Realizing that there was no way she was going to slip away unnoticed, Zyllith remains where she is, while keeping an eye on the orc, and occasionally casting a quick glance at Elion, who has just cut another halfling prisoner free. Four of them are now free of their bonds, and those four begin stepping ever so slowly away from the orc, doing their best to remain absolute silent.
Elion then takes another step closer to the orc, grabs the rope in his hand and carefully slices through it, cutting the fifth one free. However, as he does so, he accidentally drops the rope, which falls to the ground right behind the orc. The moment becomes incredibly tenuous for a few seconds, but with all of the distractions, the orc doesn't even seem to notice, he just keep growling and shouting encouragement towards Uguk and curses towards the rest of you.
Meanwhile, Vernon takes advantage of Uguk's overextended attack and bashes his hammer right of his opponent's elbow. It's not an especially serious injury, but it's enough to start wearing down the powerful orc. Uguk definitely seems to be slowing and feeling the consequences of Vernon's martial prowess and sheer dedication. Ripping his axe blade out of the dirt, he winds up and swings again, this time with even less precision. Attack: 18 Damage: 6
Sensing the increasing urgency, Elion motions to the fifth halfling to being walking away from the orc, and then he bring his dagger up to the rope again and cuts free the sixth and final prisoner. This time, he gently lays the rope down to the ground and begins backing away, leading the terrified halfling with him.
Then he stumbles.
Perhaps Elion's foot caught on a small divot beneath the grass, or maybe he just tripped over his own feet walking backwards, but for whatever reason, he falls to the ground mere feet away from the orc. This time, the orc senses something and he turns around to see his line or prisoners, all free, slowly moving away form him in the grass, and a dark haired elf lying on the ground at his feet. A furious expression boils onto his face.
Lying there, practically defenseless below the hulking creature, Elion, spins his head around towards the halfling and yells at the top of his lungs...
"Run!!!!!"
A second later, Vernon completes his windup and swings the hammer with his full strength towards Uguk. He slams the blunt weapon right into the orc's ribcage, meeting no parries or deflections along the way. It's not the strongest hit, but his aim is perfect. Vernon hears a dull cracking sound and and watches Uguk lose his breath in a forceful exhale and then topple to the ground with an expression of ghastly surprise and pain permanently fixed on his piggish face.
Slight of hand: 16+3=19
The orc guard keeps his eyes on the battle, which, aside from Vernon’s initial blow has turned into a contest of competing blocks and parries, and also on Zyllith, making sure she doesn’t do anything funny.
He has no idea that Elion has silently approached the back end of the prisoner chain, and is now standing next to the last two halflings with his finger over his mouth. The noise from the battle, and also from you all spectating very loudly helps provide additional cover for Elion’s actions.
Pulling forth a long dagger, the dark haired elf grabs the rope and quickly slices through the rope, freeing the first of the two prisoners at the back of the rope line. The orc doesn’t seem to notice, so he gets ready to cut the next halfling’s bonds, while motioning for the first freed person to remain frozen in place so as not to cause any disturbance.
Meanwhile, Vernon and Uguk continue on with their melee, swinging, blocking, dodging and parrying as they each look for and opening in the other’s defenses. Deflecting Vernon’s last attack, Uguk feints a swing and then quickly changes the trajectory of his axe, hoping to catch Vernon off guard.
Attack: 22 Damage: 12
The move works, and Vernon takes a hard cut to his left side that draws blood and takes some of his breath away.
Vernon reels back, making a wild swing with his hammer. He remembers it wasn't that long ago when such a hit would have downed him.
Attack: 8 + 4 = 12
Damage: 4 + 2 = 6
Arisa moves towards the line of halflings as well, also yelling out and attempting to distract- “you are an embarrassment of an excuse for an orc I am sure. Does your father know you are losing your life to a gnome over a few halfling slaves? I used to fear orcs. Your kind are pathetic!”
Vernon tries to recover from the hit, but it shook him up quite a bit and he's unable to get his balance set and land an effective strike retaliatory strike against Uguk. With the commotion of his friends yelling starting fill his ears, Vernon grips his shield tightly and braces himself for his opponent's next strike, which comes in fast and high. Attack: 16 Damage: 10
Fortunately, Vernon is able to get his defenses up in time and the blow glances off of his sheield.
As Arisa moves forward, the other orc raises his battle axe toward her and starts yelling. "Back, you!!! Honor the duel! Nobody moves until one falls!"
Twenty feet behind him, Elion cuts the second halfling free and the three of them stand there still as statues, hoping the orc doesn't notice them. The other 4 halfling prisoners are looking back and forth with terrified looks on their faces as they await whatever fate beholds them.
Vernon tries to also go high, but still can't land a hit. He contemplates dropping his shield to get a better grip on his hammer, but decides the shield is doing better work right at the moment.
Attack: 8 + 4 = 12
Osmord readies a sleep spell to release upon the two Orcs should things go badly.
DM - Caves of the Kobold Slave Masters
Vernon's "high" strike is easily parried by Uguk, especially given that "high" to a gnome is only waist-high to an orc, and thus the dance of combat continues. Uguk shifts his grip on the handle of his weapon, winds up and brings the axe straight down above Vernon's head in a brutal attempt to chop the gnome in half as if he was trying to split a log. Attack: 16 Damage: 5
Vernon watches as the axe drops with a vicious downward arc above him, but at the last second, he quickly steps to the right and thrusts his shield overhead with an extended arm and deflects the axe strike away from his body, thus averting what could have easily been a death blow.
Arisa keeps jeering at the Orc, but stops advancing. she readies healing word in case Vernon goes down. “Hah! What do Orcs know of honor! Too weak to capture trolls or giants as slaves were you? Too cowardly to duel one of us with our magic? You two are an embarrassment to Orc kind...”
Vernon circles around just a little bit further, then launches his counter attack.
Attack: 17 + 4 = 21
Damage: 2 + 2 = 4
Vernon counters quickly, getting inside Uguk's defenses. It's a glancing blow, but his tenacity and martial training are beginning to pay off, and Vernon can tell that the orc is beginning to tire a little bit and become more frustrated with not not being able to quickly finish off the gnome as quickly as he might have thought. Uguk's anger rises and he lets out a series of loud grunts as he brings his axe around once again to try and land an effective strike against his rather skilled opponent. Attack: 17 Damage: 12
Meanwhile, the other orc yells back at Arisa, "You know nothing about toughness and honor, woman! You're welcome to taste my axe too, if you want!!!"
“You are welcome to come over here and try to hit me, if you aren’t too chicken of a little human girl and her scary magic!” She yells back. (The experience with the orcs in nightstone and believing she can help distract the other Orc from the rescue of the halflings is fueling her anger)
Vernon again catches the blow with his shield, but is knocked back too far to get a good hit in.
Attack: 6 + 4 = 10
Zyllith remains quite for the time being as she watches the fight, or rather pretends to. As she listens to the orc and Arisa yell back and forth at each other, she waits to see if there will be another opportunity to sneak away and hide.
( If there's an opportunity to try to hide again, she will try again. )
As the battle continues in a series of increasingly determined grunts, attacks and loud clanging blocks, Uguk goes in for another overhead chop. Attack: 6 Damage: 7
The swing is easily telegraphed, and Vernon steps aside as Uguk’s axe slams into the dirt sbd sticks for a few desperate seconds.
Meanwhile, Elion manages to cut free another one of the halflings.
Zyllith can made another stealth check with disadvantage to see if she can slip away without being seen.
Vernon strikes at Uguk's straining arm.
Attack: 19 + 4 = 23
Damage: 1 + 2 = 3
With the orcs apparently distracted, Zyllith tries to slip out of sight once again. In the worst case she will hopefully prove a distraction.
Stealth (1,19) + 9 = 10
And a worst case it was, as she fumbled on some dry branches hidden within the tall grass. She could only hope the others were distracting the orcs enough to prevent them from noticing her blunder.
Realizing that there was no way she was going to slip away unnoticed, Zyllith remains where she is, while keeping an eye on the orc, and occasionally casting a quick glance at Elion, who has just cut another halfling prisoner free. Four of them are now free of their bonds, and those four begin stepping ever so slowly away from the orc, doing their best to remain absolute silent.
Elion then takes another step closer to the orc, grabs the rope in his hand and carefully slices through it, cutting the fifth one free. However, as he does so, he accidentally drops the rope, which falls to the ground right behind the orc. The moment becomes incredibly tenuous for a few seconds, but with all of the distractions, the orc doesn't even seem to notice, he just keep growling and shouting encouragement towards Uguk and curses towards the rest of you.
Meanwhile, Vernon takes advantage of Uguk's overextended attack and bashes his hammer right of his opponent's elbow. It's not an especially serious injury, but it's enough to start wearing down the powerful orc. Uguk definitely seems to be slowing and feeling the consequences of Vernon's martial prowess and sheer dedication. Ripping his axe blade out of the dirt, he winds up and swings again, this time with even less precision. Attack: 18 Damage: 6
Vernon ducks, then performs a longer wind up than usual, trying to incorporate some of the spin force that Uguk has been using.
Attack: 11 + 4 = 15
Damage: 6 + 2 = 8
Sensing the increasing urgency, Elion motions to the fifth halfling to being walking away from the orc, and then he bring his dagger up to the rope again and cuts free the sixth and final prisoner. This time, he gently lays the rope down to the ground and begins backing away, leading the terrified halfling with him.
Then he stumbles.
Perhaps Elion's foot caught on a small divot beneath the grass, or maybe he just tripped over his own feet walking backwards, but for whatever reason, he falls to the ground mere feet away from the orc. This time, the orc senses something and he turns around to see his line or prisoners, all free, slowly moving away form him in the grass, and a dark haired elf lying on the ground at his feet. A furious expression boils onto his face.
Lying there, practically defenseless below the hulking creature, Elion, spins his head around towards the halfling and yells at the top of his lungs...
"Run!!!!!"
A second later, Vernon completes his windup and swings the hammer with his full strength towards Uguk. He slams the blunt weapon right into the orc's ribcage, meeting no parries or deflections along the way. It's not the strongest hit, but his aim is perfect. Vernon hears a dull cracking sound and and watches Uguk lose his breath in a forceful exhale and then topple to the ground with an expression of ghastly surprise and pain permanently fixed on his piggish face.