*Hearing the screams Harbeck calls out to Morbrukk while making his way towards him.* “Be wary Morbrukk! It could be a trap, some sort of magic deception or illusion!” *He gets out his rope to toss down to the lady, but waits for Morbrukk to make the first move.*

Strix looks to see if there is a trail in the snow leading to cliff where the woman is climbing up (basically, does it look like she walked over the cliff under the same spell or is the snow unbroken where she's at?)  Perception check: 10

Kyomi shakes the dullness from her head and stares at the woman hanging from the edge of the cliff. (Perception roll in game log) Even from this distance she can clearly see that the woman's fingernails aren't fingernails at all, but sharp claws. Strix meanwhile calls his companions' attention to the fact that there is no trail through the snow to the edge of the cliff. All of their instincts were right, the song and the woman are part of the same trap. As the group starts to move back to the path ignoring the helpless pleas of the "woman" on the cliffs edge, the truth is revealed. The woman suddenly screams a beastly scream and massive vulture wings lift up behind her, flapping with great strength lifting the woman above the edge of the cliff. The "woman" has the massive wings of a vulture protruding from her back and her legs end in the sharp talons of a bird. Here and there about her naked body patches of feathers replace skin. She flaps several times to get some lift bringing her about forty feet above the cliffs edge, mere seconds later another just like her does the same, they screech an ear-piercing noise that seems a mixture of a human woman screaming and a bird's angry cry.

(OOC: Mechanical notes here: Cliff's edge is 170' from the path where Strix currently resides. Morbrukk, Kyomi, Kelsin, and Harbeck are all 30' from the path mired in the thick snow. So the monsters, which anyone can make a Nature check to identify, are roughly 140' from most of the party at this point. Your turn!!)

Morbrukk, having grown up in the craggy mountains of Thgol'd'rak, knows these creatures quite well. "Harpies!" He yells.

Strix casts Bless on Morbrukk, Kyomi and Kelsin. (Add a d4 to any attack roll or savings throw until the spell ends - which is concentration up to 1 min.).

"Ugh more trouble" says Kelsin

Nature check

4

She fires an arrow at the harpy

Attack: 8 Damage: 10

Then uses cunning action to hide in the snow

Stealth check

28

*Harbeck casts shield of faith on Morbrukk.* "Go get em lad!"
(+2 to AC.)

(OOC: Using the Dash action Morbrukk could get 30' closer due to the difficult terrain of the thick snow. This would put him 110' from the harpies.)

Kelsin's arrow bit deep into the feathery flesh of one of the harpies and the hybrid of woman and bird shrieked a terrible unworldly shriek. Afterwards the agile duergar dove behind a drift of snow to hide herself from sight.

Kyomi watched her new friends perform perfectly coordinated actions, and it brought up intense reminders of her days training with her father's house guard. The way every act was part of a complementary dance of coordinated movements, attacks and defenses. Strangely, it wasn't the fun and deep conversations with her new companions that intensified her feelings for them so much as moments like this. Kyomi had a strange thought that perhaps her spirit was a spirit of violence, and only through combat would that spirit be appeased. As she had that feeling a powerful though washed across her mind like a wave. "Use your sword!"  Almost without thinking about it Kyomi unsheathes her ancestral sword and moves her hand along the blade. As she does so the blade is wreathed in green flames. Her sword ready, Kyomi sets her feet in the traditional Tindarese fighting stance and makes ready her attack.

(OOC: So I'm having Kyomi use the Ready action to ready a sword strike in conjunction with the spell Green Flame Blade. Technically the flame wouldn't appear until the casting of the spell, which would only be triggered by one of the harpies coming within her threatened range, 5', but the rule of cool always trumps mechanics.)

Both of the harpies flap their massive wings to gain more loft and close the distance. After gaining a bit of height both creatures tuck their wings slightly and start a dive heading right for Morbrukk, the closest meal.

(OOC: Harpies took the Dash action doubling their flight movement. They are now 30' away from Morbrukk, but also 40' aloft. Using some pythagorean theorem that puts them at 50' for the purposes of any ranged attacks from Morbrukk. This puts them at 60' across 40' up for Harbeck, Kyomi, and Kelsin, meaning approx. 75' for the purposes of ranged attacks. For Strix they are 100' away from ranged attacks. Your turn!!!!)

Strix fires her crossbow, aiming for the unwounded Harpy.

Attack: 6 Damage: 7

Kelsin fires an arrow at the same harpy she hurt from her hiding place granting her advantage

Attack: 20 Damage: 5

Then uses cunning action to hide in another snow drift

Stealth

13

"I've got a plan! I'll hurl my net onto the harpy, I just need to get close. Cover me!" *Harbeck runs full speed towards the harpy, as fast as his legs will carry him. As he runs he prepares to throw his net when he is within 15 feet.* "Dwarfs are natural sprinters!"

Strix's arrow misses, but Kelsin's does not, neither does Morbrukk's javelin nor another blast of eldritch magic released from Kyomi's fist. The concert of attacks all aimed at the same harpy make her wings sputter and falter, she falls to the ground, landing with the sound of cracking bone and squelching flesh. Red blood begins to stain the snow around her. Her death evokes a powerful scream of rage from her sister, and she slightly tucks her wings to increase the speed and distance of her dive toward her foes. Harbeck charges toward the soaring monster and jumps and throws his net in one swift arc. Seconds later the group watches the net tangle all around the harpy's wings and body and she crashes into the ground leaving a deep scar in the snow and coming to a halt almost right at Harbeck's feet. Now on the ground the harpy struggles to escape her binds.

(OOC: Harbeck I rolled the net attack roll on the game log for you, for two reasons. 1) The closing of the distance to the Harpy would only have happened if Harbeck continued to move through the snow this round, and I figured that's what you would want to do. 2) If the net was successful, as it was, that would totally change this round of combat for everyone else. Point being, Harbeck's turn for this round is completed, and it ended with devastating effect for your foe! Everyone else can still go, and the harpy is currently on the ground (both restrained and prone) 5' from Harbeck, 10' from Morbrukk, 30' from Kelsin and Kyomi, 70' for Strix. Batters up!!!)

Strix starts moving to where the Harpy and other party members are.

If it still lives then Kelsin stabs the trapped harpy with her rapier

Attack: 25 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll.

As the harpy struggled against Harbeck's cruel net, Morbrukk slammed his axe hard into the harpy's chest, then Kelsin stepped up and stabbed the point of her rapier through the monster's midsection. Finally, Kyomi, her blade still wreathed in crackling green flames, bounded through the thick snow and drove her fiery blade through the harpy's neck, spraying blood across herself, her comrades and some of the snow that remained white around them. The winged and naked woman's body fell entirely limp, and the group took a collective breath.

Morbrukk, having had many dealings with harpies in the craggy mountains of his homeland Thgol'd'rak, speaks up after it appears that everyone is safe. "You know, it's possible these two were the only two occupying their nest. Harpy nests are known to have the collected treasure of all their victims in them, they hoard it much like dragons. It might be worth taking a look over the edge, to see just how close their aerie is to the top. Might be we could just lower someone on a rope to gather some treasure for us all to share?"

Kelsin perks up as the thought of treasure. "Let me take a look" She then heads to the cliffs edge and then lays down in the snow and looks over the edge to see if she can find the harpies nest.

Perception

11

Strix nods at Morbrukk.  "Very good to know Morbrukk.  Risky, but then again, what on this mission isn't, eh?  Ye've all been promised an equal share of whatever valuables we come across, so if ye're all in agreement, I say we proceed - let's see if these Harpies have anything to compensate us for our trouble."

Creeping on her belly to look over the edge, Kelsin sees a crag filled gorge that drops down several hundred feet to an icy stream below. Thankfully she also sees that the harpy nest is indeed only about fifty feet directly below her. The nest is littered with bones and scattered bits of cloth and metal, but she can clearly see more than a few items of notable value from here with the naked eye. Morbrukk was right, it appears as though the monstrous bird-women were hoarding the wealth of their kills like a pile of trophies. She calls her friends over so they can figure out who among them will get lowered down into the nest to gather up all the treasure.

"I think I see treasure" says Kelsin. She takes out a piton and hammers it into the ground with her crowbar. Then she ties a rope to the piton and tries to repel down.

"You need any help there lad?" *Harbeck leans over the cliff and asks Kelsin, having his axe planted firmly in the snow to avoid falling.*