The tension and pain of the situation galvanize Horatio's resolve, as he seems to exhibit a second wind (+9 HP, 10 is total now). Unable to see Longscarf any longer, he strikes at the nearest oncoming brigand. As he does he yells, "You mad bastards!"
Attack 1: Left Hook - 23 hit, 4 dmg (in game log) Bonus Action was used for Second Wind (no second attack this round)
Ben lashes out at his invisible foe, but catches nothing but air. Cad fires an arcane beam of bluish light, but hits nothing but a swarm of insects, which drop like frozen pebbles into the murky water. He retreats well down the causeway. Horatio takes a powerful swing at the nearest brigand, clocking him square in the shoulder, before pausing to catch his breath.
Longscarf laughs. "It's only a matter of time, my friends. You can make this easier on yourselves..."
An invisible brand lashes out. Branding Iron Attack #1 vs. Ben: 20 Hit: 8 fire damage Branding Iron Attack #2 vs. Titaani: 25 Hit: 14 fire damage Bonus Action: DC11 Quick Fingers vs Titaani: 19
Then he leaps away. Cad hears him landing nearby and racing toward him. Cad, Ben, and Horatio may make an Opportunity Attack at disadvantage if they are still up and have a reaction left.
Horatio goes down under a storm of clubs. Only Cad remains standing. He senses Longscarf close. The three brigands at the other end of the causeway turn their attention toward him.
Cad may act. And Horatio may still have that opportunity attack with disadvantage at Longscarf before he goes down.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Cadwallader:
Cad's heart sinks as he watches his friends fall. He drops to his knees, knowing he'll never outrun the fleet-footed robbers. Knowing it will make no difference, but having no other options, Cad tries one last Ray of Frost straight down the causeway, in the direction the evil harengon must be coming from: 8 for 6
He hangs his head and waits for the inevitable end.
no pressure! first roll 🎲 24 second roll 🎲 23 - with disadvantage! = 10 damage! (( in game campaign log ))
With a wild swing, Horatio connects with Longscarf's jaw. He goes down hard onto the causeway, just as the trio of goons beats Horatio unconscious with clubs and stone.
The three harengon, spooked by whatever it is that Cad can't see laid out on the causeway, leap into the boat with the unconscious sniper and row frantically away into the fog.
Combat is over. Cad is alone, a jumbled massacre of limp figures in front of him - the senseless forms of his friends and foe alike. Longscarf is still nowhere to be found.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Cadwallader:
Cad waits for the final blow to fall, but it never comes. He has a brief vision of Longscarf standing over him, smirking, poker poised. But when he looks up, all he sees are the fallen on the causeway and, just pulling out of sight around a bend, the second boat. He is stunned, having no idea what had happened. Had Longscarf decided to leave him as a lone survivor to tell of his ferocity? No, that poltroon would have had to deliver a monologue first. Which meant Horatio's final blow had connected!
Shocked into motion, Cad stands and dashes down the causeway to his friends' unmoving forms. He grabs Ben's shirt and drags him back from the edge before he can roll into the water below. He quickly checks for signs of life or to see if there are any life-threatening wounds, but he had never had need to learn any more healing than how to bandage a wound from a slipped awl. He scoops up Matilda, the girl's body heavier than expected -- carcasses always are -- NO! Not dead! Not yet. He gently lays her beside Ben, then fetches Titaani and does the same. He looks at Horatio, but he wouldn't be able to move him without dragging him over the rough planks, and that seems more harm than good.
Then, with nothing left to be done, the energy leaves him and he nearly collapses on the causeway. He watches his friends for several minutes, his mind working in circles. All alone. Stop feeling sorry for yourself; they're the ones clinging to life! Alone, in this mad land... Unable to take the silence, he gets up and crosses to the fallen harengon. He tears strips from their clothing and binds their hands and feet, feeling a dark hatred urging him to roll them into the swamp and be done with them. He searches them for anything useful, then begins a careful search of the causeway and the nearby swamp to figure out what became of their leader.
((For what it's worth, Medicine check -- 12 -- to see if there is anything to be done for his companions.))
Cad is able to rescue and stabilize the harengon brigand who fell into the water, and is able to make everyone else comfortable. He binds the four unconscious harengon securely.
No other visitors find you on the causeway. Even the brigands atop the massive stump, who had come in and out of view through the drifting fog, have vanished.
Cad also locates the invisible, limp, but still breathing body of Longscarf, and is able to both bind him extra securely and remove his invisible branding iron and knife. The invisible scarf, however, Cad finds he is unable to remove.
Everyone is awake and at 1 hp (except Cad, who has a scant few more.)
Matildas eyes fluttered awake and she instantly regretted it as her hands went to her burns and bruises, her eyes filled with tears and she tried to hold back a high pitched keen from the pain of her wounds.
She struggled to her feet and looked around her eyes fixing on one of the tied up rabbitfolk, she marched over towards it and began kicking it roughly in the ribs and kidneys, each kick punctuated by a word.
Waking up swollen and bruised, Horatio momentarily thinks he's back home after taking on a local gang of teenage ruffs. Then the sounds of the swamp infiltrate his haze, and he recalls where he is. He fumbles into a standing position to hear Matilda pummeling Longscarf, followed by her folding into a ball of tears and pain. His own scars - a branding iron! - burn as well. He walks over to Matilda and gingerly pulls off his leather work apron, draping it on her shoulders like a cape. He goes over to wherever the brand is, and looks to Cad. "I remember him being a lot less tough when we first met. But also... he likes magic weapons. Can you take a look at this thing? And anything else he's wearing for that matter..." He tries to remove the scarf and also discovers it cannot be taken off. To Cad he says, "Well.. that's gotta be some kind of magic. I wonder, do you think it's like a leash or prisoner's collar? Maybe he can't take it off either? He seemed... not right in the head..."
Longscarf is still completely invisible to the party. Nevertheless, he shamelessly blubbers and pleads for his life. The other four harengon seem crestfallen and glum, and are actively shunning Longscarf. They don't have much on them but shoddy weapons.
Longscarf's (invisible) branding iron has gone cold. It doesn't appear to function for anyone else.
When Ben stirs, tears of relief spring to Cad's eyes, but he quickly wipes them away. "I don't know if it was a win, but we didn't lose. Not as bad as could've been, at least. And Longscarf is tied up over there. I think Horatio may have walloped him." When Matilda stirs a bit more of the know in his chest loosens. Then the girl begins kicking the stuffing out of one of the -- prisoners? He's not quite sure what they are. He reaches to restrain her but she collapses into tears before he can reach her. He stands awkwardly behind her, having no experience with comforting children. Fortunately Horatio steps in.
At Horatio's question about the magical items, Cad snaps back to himself. "Oh! Yes, of course! I should have done this first thing. After tying up the rabbitfolk." He qickly checks to be sure Titaani is still breathing, then moves to a clear space on the causeway. He begins a ritual for a spell that allows him to detect magical effects. As he's nearly finished his concentration is almost broken by the invisible Longscarf suddenly thrashing against his bonds, then pleading to be released. He completes the spell and begins looking over the area for any spell effects or magical items. "Oh be quiet! Much as you deserve it, we're no executioners, so your hide is probably safe. Be glad and give thanks to your deity that I'm a leatherworker and not a furrier."
Titaani wakes up, her cyan eyes even wider than usual. She looks around, with a sort of dumbstruck, shocked expression. For the first time, she starts to wonder if it was a good idea to come here, whether she should not have walked through that glass without a care in the world.
She struggles to get up, and walks towards Tiny in a haze, ignoring Longscarf and the other brigands. She hugs her familiar for a long time, then leads him over to Matilda.
“Tiny...being with Tiny helps,” she offers, sitting down cross legged next to the weeping girl. “He’s very gentle, and you can pet him if you want...”
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Pronouns: She/her/her's
Currently playing as Titaani Leelathae in The Wild beyond the Witchlight
Titaani wakes up, her cyan eyes even wider than usual. She looks around, with a sort of dumbstruck, shocked expression. For the first time, she starts to wonder if it was a good idea to come here, whether she should not have walked through that glass without a care in the world.
She struggles to get up, and walks towards Tiny in a haze, ignoring Longscarf and the other brigands. She hugs her familiar for a long time, then leads him over to Matilda.
“Tiny...being with Tiny helps,” she offers, sitting down cross legged next to the weeping girl. “He’s very gentle, and you can pet him if you want...”
Matilda engulfs Tiny, wiping her eyes with a smile at Titaani....
Cad completes his Detect Magic ritual. He concludes that the brand and the scarf are both of arcane nature. Nothing else in the vicinity, however, exhibits any magical nature.
The harengon prisoners begin to quietly groan and complain. Longscarf continues to beg for mercy, invisible except for his bindings. "Let me be! Let me be! I promise you free passage! You can have everything!"
Taking it all in, Ben says to Cadwallader, "I had hoped to converse reasonably with Agdon about his mischievous activities, but he and his brigands attacked us ere we could have our discussion. Now that we have prevailed, I am inclined to take a more hardline stance--take his scarf and poker and give them to the Queen Titianna when we find her. He can earn them back from her by providing proof that he has made the proper amends to those he has wronged...But it seems he is still invisible and--did I hear--that his scarf is not removable?"
Struggling to his feet, Ben looks down at something different on his chest. Where the dull amulet was before, a perfectly reflective mirror sits. Looking into it, the surface seems alive somehow, with depth and texture. He HAD used it to do something--to heal, to smite? But he was just a simple stonemason...wasn't he?
Finding no unexpected magical effects, Cad flips through his spellbook for the other spell, the one that helps to identify what magical objects can do. Finding it, he goes to sit beside Longscarf. Since he already has at least some idea of what the branding iron does, he decides to start on the scarf. He takes it between his hands, but before beginning the ritual he tells Longscarf, "Free passage? Mighty generous of you, given our circumstances. Now be still; I'm still new to this and I'd hate to set something on fire by mistake." He calls to the two adults, "While I'm doing this, you should probably search him for anything useful he may have stolen from other unfortunate travelers."
Horatio:
The tension and pain of the situation galvanize Horatio's resolve, as he seems to exhibit a second wind (+9 HP, 10 is total now). Unable to see Longscarf any longer, he strikes at the nearest oncoming brigand. As he does he yells, "You mad bastards!"
Attack 1: Left Hook - 23 hit, 4 dmg (in game log)
Bonus Action was used for Second Wind (no second attack this round)
Ben lashes out at his invisible foe, but catches nothing but air.
Cad fires an arcane beam of bluish light, but hits nothing but a swarm of insects, which drop like frozen pebbles into the murky water. He retreats well down the causeway.
Horatio takes a powerful swing at the nearest brigand, clocking him square in the shoulder, before pausing to catch his breath.
Longscarf laughs. "It's only a matter of time, my friends. You can make this easier on yourselves..."
An invisible brand lashes out.
Branding Iron Attack #1 vs. Ben: 20 Hit: 8 fire damage
Branding Iron Attack #2 vs. Titaani: 25 Hit: 14 fire damage
Bonus Action: DC11 Quick Fingers vs Titaani: 19
Then he leaps away. Cad hears him landing nearby and racing toward him.
Cad, Ben, and Horatio may make an Opportunity Attack at disadvantage if they are still up and have a reaction left.
Ben and Titaani are down. (Unconcious, stable, no death saves needed.)
Horatio may have an opportunity attack with disadvantage at Longscarf as he leaps away.
Matilda dreams of the ocean.
The three brigands descend upon Horatio:
Club Attack #1 vs. Horatio: 20 Hit: 6 bludgeoning damage.
Club Attack #2 vs. Horatio: 23 Hit: 6 bludgeoning damage.
Sling Attack vs Horatio: 6 Hit: 7 bludgeoning damage.
Horatio goes down under a storm of clubs.
Only Cad remains standing. He senses Longscarf close. The three brigands at the other end of the causeway turn their attention toward him.
Cad may act.
And Horatio may still have that opportunity attack with disadvantage at Longscarf before he goes down.
Things are looking grim.
Cadwallader:
Cad's heart sinks as he watches his friends fall. He drops to his knees, knowing he'll never outrun the fleet-footed robbers. Knowing it will make no difference, but having no other options, Cad tries one last Ray of Frost straight down the causeway, in the direction the evil harengon must be coming from: 8 for 6
He hangs his head and waits for the inevitable end.
With a wild swing, Horatio connects with Longscarf's jaw. He goes down hard onto the causeway, just as the trio of goons beats Horatio unconscious with clubs and stone.
The three harengon, spooked by whatever it is that Cad can't see laid out on the causeway, leap into the boat with the unconscious sniper and row frantically away into the fog.
Combat is over. Cad is alone, a jumbled massacre of limp figures in front of him - the senseless forms of his friends and foe alike. Longscarf is still nowhere to be found.
Cadwallader:
Cad waits for the final blow to fall, but it never comes. He has a brief vision of Longscarf standing over him, smirking, poker poised. But when he looks up, all he sees are the fallen on the causeway and, just pulling out of sight around a bend, the second boat. He is stunned, having no idea what had happened. Had Longscarf decided to leave him as a lone survivor to tell of his ferocity? No, that poltroon would have had to deliver a monologue first. Which meant Horatio's final blow had connected!
Shocked into motion, Cad stands and dashes down the causeway to his friends' unmoving forms. He grabs Ben's shirt and drags him back from the edge before he can roll into the water below. He quickly checks for signs of life or to see if there are any life-threatening wounds, but he had never had need to learn any more healing than how to bandage a wound from a slipped awl. He scoops up Matilda, the girl's body heavier than expected -- carcasses always are -- NO! Not dead! Not yet. He gently lays her beside Ben, then fetches Titaani and does the same. He looks at Horatio, but he wouldn't be able to move him without dragging him over the rough planks, and that seems more harm than good.
Then, with nothing left to be done, the energy leaves him and he nearly collapses on the causeway. He watches his friends for several minutes, his mind working in circles. All alone. Stop feeling sorry for yourself; they're the ones clinging to life! Alone, in this mad land... Unable to take the silence, he gets up and crosses to the fallen harengon. He tears strips from their clothing and binds their hands and feet, feeling a dark hatred urging him to roll them into the swamp and be done with them. He searches them for anything useful, then begins a careful search of the causeway and the nearby swamp to figure out what became of their leader.
((For what it's worth, Medicine check -- 12 -- to see if there is anything to be done for his companions.))
It takes a few hours before everyone comes to.
Cad is able to rescue and stabilize the harengon brigand who fell into the water, and is able to make everyone else comfortable. He binds the four unconscious harengon securely.
No other visitors find you on the causeway. Even the brigands atop the massive stump, who had come in and out of view through the drifting fog, have vanished.
Cad also locates the invisible, limp, but still breathing body of Longscarf, and is able to both bind him extra securely and remove his invisible branding iron and knife. The invisible scarf, however, Cad finds he is unable to remove.
Everyone is awake and at 1 hp (except Cad, who has a scant few more.)
Ben:
Awaking with a start, Ben is stunned that he is not bound and gagged or otherwise imprisoned. “Did we…win?” he asks, uncertainly.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Matildas eyes fluttered awake and she instantly regretted it as her hands went to her burns and bruises, her eyes filled with tears and she tried to hold back a high pitched keen from the pain of her wounds.
She struggled to her feet and looked around her eyes fixing on one of the tied up rabbitfolk, she marched over towards it and began kicking it roughly in the ribs and kidneys, each kick punctuated by a word.
" I.....am.....a.....little....girl....you...stupid....cabbage.....brained......bunny. What.....the.....hell.....is....wrong....with...you!!"
Then she collapsed to her knees and started bawling.....
Horatio:
Waking up swollen and bruised, Horatio momentarily thinks he's back home after taking on a local gang of teenage ruffs. Then the sounds of the swamp infiltrate his haze, and he recalls where he is. He fumbles into a standing position to hear Matilda pummeling Longscarf, followed by her folding into a ball of tears and pain. His own scars - a branding iron! - burn as well. He walks over to Matilda and gingerly pulls off his leather work apron, draping it on her shoulders like a cape. He goes over to wherever the brand is, and looks to Cad. "I remember him being a lot less tough when we first met. But also... he likes magic weapons. Can you take a look at this thing? And anything else he's wearing for that matter..." He tries to remove the scarf and also discovers it cannot be taken off. To Cad he says, "Well.. that's gotta be some kind of magic. I wonder, do you think it's like a leash or prisoner's collar? Maybe he can't take it off either? He seemed... not right in the head..."
Everyone is awake. Your brands burn and itch.
Longscarf is still completely invisible to the party. Nevertheless, he shamelessly blubbers and pleads for his life. The other four harengon seem crestfallen and glum, and are actively shunning Longscarf. They don't have much on them but shoddy weapons.
Longscarf's (invisible) branding iron has gone cold. It doesn't appear to function for anyone else.
Cadwallader:
When Ben stirs, tears of relief spring to Cad's eyes, but he quickly wipes them away. "I don't know if it was a win, but we didn't lose. Not as bad as could've been, at least. And Longscarf is tied up over there. I think Horatio may have walloped him." When Matilda stirs a bit more of the know in his chest loosens. Then the girl begins kicking the stuffing out of one of the -- prisoners? He's not quite sure what they are. He reaches to restrain her but she collapses into tears before he can reach her. He stands awkwardly behind her, having no experience with comforting children. Fortunately Horatio steps in.
At Horatio's question about the magical items, Cad snaps back to himself. "Oh! Yes, of course! I should have done this first thing. After tying up the rabbitfolk." He qickly checks to be sure Titaani is still breathing, then moves to a clear space on the causeway. He begins a ritual for a spell that allows him to detect magical effects. As he's nearly finished his concentration is almost broken by the invisible Longscarf suddenly thrashing against his bonds, then pleading to be released. He completes the spell and begins looking over the area for any spell effects or magical items. "Oh be quiet! Much as you deserve it, we're no executioners, so your hide is probably safe. Be glad and give thanks to your deity that I'm a leatherworker and not a furrier."
Matilda gives Horatio a brief smile but continues weeping....
Titaani wakes up, her cyan eyes even wider than usual. She looks around, with a sort of dumbstruck, shocked expression. For the first time, she starts to wonder if it was a good idea to come here, whether she should not have walked through that glass without a care in the world.
She struggles to get up, and walks towards Tiny in a haze, ignoring Longscarf and the other brigands. She hugs her familiar for a long time, then leads him over to Matilda.
“Tiny...being with Tiny helps,” she offers, sitting down cross legged next to the weeping girl. “He’s very gentle, and you can pet him if you want...”
Pronouns: She/her/her's
Currently playing as Titaani Leelathae in The Wild beyond the Witchlight
Matilda engulfs Tiny, wiping her eyes with a smile at Titaani....
Cad completes his Detect Magic ritual. He concludes that the brand and the scarf are both of arcane nature. Nothing else in the vicinity, however, exhibits any magical nature.
The harengon prisoners begin to quietly groan and complain. Longscarf continues to beg for mercy, invisible except for his bindings. "Let me be! Let me be! I promise you free passage! You can have everything!"
Ban:
Taking it all in, Ben says to Cadwallader, "I had hoped to converse reasonably with Agdon about his mischievous activities, but he and his brigands attacked us ere we could have our discussion. Now that we have prevailed, I am inclined to take a more hardline stance--take his scarf and poker and give them to the Queen Titianna when we find her. He can earn them back from her by providing proof that he has made the proper amends to those he has wronged...But it seems he is still invisible and--did I hear--that his scarf is not removable?"
Struggling to his feet, Ben looks down at something different on his chest. Where the dull amulet was before, a perfectly reflective mirror sits. Looking into it, the surface seems alive somehow, with depth and texture. He HAD used it to do something--to heal, to smite? But he was just a simple stonemason...wasn't he?
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Cadwallader:
Finding no unexpected magical effects, Cad flips through his spellbook for the other spell, the one that helps to identify what magical objects can do. Finding it, he goes to sit beside Longscarf. Since he already has at least some idea of what the branding iron does, he decides to start on the scarf. He takes it between his hands, but before beginning the ritual he tells Longscarf, "Free passage? Mighty generous of you, given our circumstances. Now be still; I'm still new to this and I'd hate to set something on fire by mistake." He calls to the two adults, "While I'm doing this, you should probably search him for anything useful he may have stolen from other unfortunate travelers."
Ben:
Shaken out of his reverie by Cad’s request, Ben begins the awkward task of searching the invisible Agdon for any purloined items.
Investigation if needed: 14
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"