The Iron Circle Commander curses, Augustin is still standing, but she doesn't know how. He has several wounds and blood is spilling out over his armour. (He is on 1 hit point)
Vakiel takes wounds from both Iron Circle Rabble. Meanwhile Grimbald easily avoids the blows of his opponents.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Grimbald sees the state of Augustin, glances at his opponents and says "ah for F*&K sake' ,grabs the acorn, and moves towards the commander 25ft <AOO> bonus action hunters mark on the commander Attack: 27 Damage: 22
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Esa curses under her breath as she sees the bloodied up Augustin, closes the distance and casts Wither and Bloom, granting Augustin the bloom, hitting the adjacent enemies with the wither.
Grimbald sees the state of Augustin, glances at his opponents and says "ah for F*&K sake' ,grabs the acorn, and moves towards the commander 25ft <AOO> bonus action hunters mark on the commander Attack: 27 Damage: 22
You put the hunter's mark on the commander last turn.
Vakiel, assuming the commander must be dead after grimbalds shot (?), will swing at whichever rabble are still standing (in numerical order if that’s easier!)
bonus action shift hunters mark to any surviving rabble near augustin/vakiel or two Grimbald left. He will shout at survivor rabble "Go back to your farms, or die now" (thinking they are not fanatics)
The party loots the bodies, they have little other than weapons and ammunition. The cult priest has a nice ring that Esa thinks might be magical. Grimbald takes it. Then he takes the cult priest's head, then the commander's head. The others are a little unsure about this latest fetish.
A halfling woman approaches you, muddy feet and holding her arm which appears to be broken and has been roughly splinted with a piece of wood.
"Dar Gremath is calling us back, the wounded have been recovered." She heads back towards the bridge.
The party move back across the bridge, noticing tiefling heads on poles facing towards the enemy.
Dar Gremath nods as you take up your station near him once more. There is some missile fire coming towards the bridge, but the elf archers and human resistance give back.
"Looks like a lull in the battle," said Dar Gremath, scratching his head. "I'm not sure what they're waiting for but it's a mixed blessing for us, we have a chance to rest and bind our wounds but I worry that they know something we don't. We've lost the south bank now, the river and the bridge are all that protects us."
Some time passes. There are a few rushes at the bridge, but they are beaten back.
"I still don't know what they're waiting for," mutters Dar Gremath. He turns and yells at Thurston, the Albridge veteran who is coordinating the patrols within the town. "Any sign of the signal fires?"
"No, and I'd tell you if there were," yells back Thurston, a large, pot-bellied man with a huge brown beard. He goes back to abusing a younger man who obviously has done something wrong.
At Tor's Hold crossing and the Easthill crossing there is a signal fire ready to go if the Iron Circle manage to cross there. Easthill would be more likely, having been cowed by the Iron Circle.
"There's a body," a resistance fighter says, pointing to the river. A body slowly moves past with the current, face down, an arrow in his back. "Came from up river, not one of us."
"Fish him out," says Dar Gremath, "quickly!"
The body is brought ashore, checked he was actually dead, then the arrow pulled out so he could be flipped over.
"It's Varney," says Dar Gremath, his face concerned. "It's mucking Varney, he was manning the signal fire at Easthill. The Iron Circle have crossed there, they're on their way here. THAT'S what the Iron Circle army here is waiting for! Waiting for us to be hit from the flank!"
Dar Gremath asks you to take the Woodsinger archers to the north east of the town and see if there is any sign of a force heading their way.
"The road from Easthill joins the Kings Road, so if they come that way they will come from the north," he says. "But they may just come across country. They will be good troops, so be careful, not the rabble you've been fighting up to now. I'll send some other men too, but as soon as they torch a building or give some other sign, you can bet the full force of the Iron Circle will be trying to take the bridge, hoping with have split our forces. But we won't we'll keep most of them here, but you and the elves and the few men I send HAVE to hold off that force they've sent to flank us. Good luck!"
Grimbald relays to Israfen the instructions, and the elf captain calls his troops. A couple of squads of local resistance come with you too, led by the tall, bearded Thurston. You get to the edge of town and look north and east, seeing nothing. Then one of the elves, who Grimbald knows is called Loren, points to the north east.
"What do your elven eyes see, Lorin?" the dwarf asks.
"Where I come from they're just called eyes," said Loren, deadpan but with a tiny spark of humour in the eyes in question. "But I see smoke."
Soon they could all see it, black smoke coming from a building in the distance.
"That's Ilyana's house," said Thurston. "Poor lass, her husband was one of the very first killed by the Iron Circle. She's got two teenage sons and they've been getting on with it. We should go out there."
"Wait," says Israfen. "It could be a lure to get us away from town so the real force can hit while we're off investigating that. But they could also be coming that way. Or Ilyana could have done it to warn us that the enemy are on her doorstep. It's a tricky situation." He turns to the party. "We'll take your lead on this one."
What does the party want to do? What does the party want to tell the elves and the human resistance fighters to do?
The Iron Circle Commander curses, Augustin is still standing, but she doesn't know how. He has several wounds and blood is spilling out over his armour. (He is on 1 hit point)
Vakiel takes wounds from both Iron Circle Rabble. Meanwhile Grimbald easily avoids the blows of his opponents.
Grimbald sees the state of Augustin, glances at his opponents and says "ah for F*&K sake' ,grabs the acorn, and moves towards the commander 25ft <AOO> bonus action hunters mark on the commander Attack: 27 Damage: 22
Esa curses under her breath as she sees the bloodied up Augustin, closes the distance and casts Wither and Bloom, granting Augustin the bloom, hitting the adjacent enemies with the wither.
9 damage
You put the hunter's mark on the commander last turn.
RL will mop up the 2 that were near Grimbald by moving moonbeam onto them. DC14 Con save. half damage on save. Damage 7
RL will them move to where the path meets the road
bonus action healing word at Augustin 5 points of healing.
accidentally cast at second level first time so I changed it to first level sorry.
Vakiel, assuming the commander must be dead after grimbalds shot (?), will swing at whichever rabble are still standing (in numerical order if that’s easier!)
Attack: 8 Damage: 11
divine fury 4
I'm going to add a healing dice from the bloom for Augustin.
10
They crumple and die, frizzled by the moonbeam.
bonus action shift hunters mark to any surviving rabble near augustin/vakiel or two Grimbald left. He will shout at survivor rabble "Go back to your farms, or die now" (thinking they are not fanatics)
Vakiel will invoke the dark blessing of his sword.
Rolled on character sheet - 8 temp HP
The remaining rabble see the fallen commander and decide to take RL's advice and head back into the clearing mist.
Combat is over!
XP
Total: 2050 / 5 = 410 410xp each.
The party loots the bodies, they have little other than weapons and ammunition. The cult priest has a nice ring that Esa thinks might be magical. Grimbald takes it. Then he takes the cult priest's head, then the commander's head. The others are a little unsure about this latest fetish.
A halfling woman approaches you, muddy feet and holding her arm which appears to be broken and has been roughly splinted with a piece of wood.
"Dar Gremath is calling us back, the wounded have been recovered." She heads back towards the bridge.
The party move back across the bridge, noticing tiefling heads on poles facing towards the enemy.
Dar Gremath nods as you take up your station near him once more. There is some missile fire coming towards the bridge, but the elf archers and human resistance give back.
"Looks like a lull in the battle," said Dar Gremath, scratching his head. "I'm not sure what they're waiting for but it's a mixed blessing for us, we have a chance to rest and bind our wounds but I worry that they know something we don't. We've lost the south bank now, the river and the bridge are all that protects us."
The Party can take a short rest.
Grimbald finds some more spikes and puts the latest two heads on them, facing towards the enemy. Soldiers look at him, somewhat concerned.
Some time passes. There are a few rushes at the bridge, but they are beaten back.
"I still don't know what they're waiting for," mutters Dar Gremath. He turns and yells at Thurston, the Albridge veteran who is coordinating the patrols within the town. "Any sign of the signal fires?"
"No, and I'd tell you if there were," yells back Thurston, a large, pot-bellied man with a huge brown beard. He goes back to abusing a younger man who obviously has done something wrong.
At Tor's Hold crossing and the Easthill crossing there is a signal fire ready to go if the Iron Circle manage to cross there. Easthill would be more likely, having been cowed by the Iron Circle.
"There's a body," a resistance fighter says, pointing to the river. A body slowly moves past with the current, face down, an arrow in his back. "Came from up river, not one of us."
"Fish him out," says Dar Gremath, "quickly!"
The body is brought ashore, checked he was actually dead, then the arrow pulled out so he could be flipped over.
"It's Varney," says Dar Gremath, his face concerned. "It's mucking Varney, he was manning the signal fire at Easthill. The Iron Circle have crossed there, they're on their way here. THAT'S what the Iron Circle army here is waiting for! Waiting for us to be hit from the flank!"
Dar Gremath asks you to take the Woodsinger archers to the north east of the town and see if there is any sign of a force heading their way.
"The road from Easthill joins the Kings Road, so if they come that way they will come from the north," he says. "But they may just come across country. They will be good troops, so be careful, not the rabble you've been fighting up to now. I'll send some other men too, but as soon as they torch a building or give some other sign, you can bet the full force of the Iron Circle will be trying to take the bridge, hoping with have split our forces. But we won't we'll keep most of them here, but you and the elves and the few men I send HAVE to hold off that force they've sent to flank us. Good luck!"
Map showing Easthill to Albridge route.
Grimbald relays to Israfen the instructions, and the elf captain calls his troops. A couple of squads of local resistance come with you too, led by the tall, bearded Thurston. You get to the edge of town and look north and east, seeing nothing. Then one of the elves, who Grimbald knows is called Loren, points to the north east.
"What do your elven eyes see, Lorin?" the dwarf asks.
"Where I come from they're just called eyes," said Loren, deadpan but with a tiny spark of humour in the eyes in question. "But I see smoke."
Soon they could all see it, black smoke coming from a building in the distance.
"That's Ilyana's house," said Thurston. "Poor lass, her husband was one of the very first killed by the Iron Circle. She's got two teenage sons and they've been getting on with it. We should go out there."
"Wait," says Israfen. "It could be a lure to get us away from town so the real force can hit while we're off investigating that. But they could also be coming that way. Or Ilyana could have done it to warn us that the enemy are on her doorstep. It's a tricky situation." He turns to the party. "We'll take your lead on this one."
What does the party want to do? What does the party want to tell the elves and the human resistance fighters to do?
Esa flies up into the air for a better vantage point, looking towards the areas near the signal fire (Perception check) 15
Then towards the burning house (Perception check) 6