Viconia's attacks strike hard, but the fire genasi still stands, her will to fight not diminished in the slightest. She looks at Viconiawith defiance, and when the servant tries to shove her back into the blackness, she manages to escape him too. (OOC: Acrobatics check 19) Who is he? He's one of her own! She whispers back, "Is féidir liom tú a shaoradh! Tá sé déanta agam roimhe seo. Just a shealbhú ar. D'fhéadfadh siad a bheith Bent an tOrdú, ach ní bheidh siad bhriseadh linn."
"I can free you! I've done it before. Just hold on. They may have bent the Order, but they will not break us."
Sha sees Lam stumble out of the darkness which is not dismissed by the light. He does not see Saoirse. Sha runs to Lam and wraps both hands around his friend in a healing embrace. The shaking he feels tells him Lam was hurt bad, oh my goddess where is Saoirse? Sha calls to Selene/Shar for more healing to Lam but Sha-gravis sprints further around the perimeter in search of Saoirse.
Move 30’ to Lam. Action cast Cure Wounds 2nd level for 7 hp to Lam. Bonus Action Healing Word for 6 hp more. Special feline agility 30’ around the burning tree
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Sha'smagic flows into Lam, much needed. But when the tabaxi rushes around to help Saoirse, he finds the re-emerging undergrowth difficult to navigate, woody shrubs and thistles grabbing at his paws. He gets just far enough to barely be able to see Viconia(I moved your token back a little. 1/2 cover for her, 3/4 cover for you from her), and not far enough to see Saoirseor the armored servant - but he can hear his genasi friend, and she can feel his soothing twilight reach her.
The soldiers lead the northern HMC groups to realiate against the firbolgs, and many of them push far enough through the weeds to begin cut and stab at the treesingers. You see a firbolg fall, landing almost on top of the unconscious dwarf. One of the soldiers, however, fixes his eyes on Lam and Hemlock to the south. "Two more of the tree-orcs! We're surrounded!" He pulls back a longbow, and loosens it. It flies towards Lam (5 to hit, half of 11 piercing). (If that is a hit, he also shouts in surprised pain as a jolt of force seems to run up his arm, and takes 5 damage.)
Two HMC workers struggle halfheartedly against Hemlock's entanglement, and make no real progress. They don't really seem to want to.
Billy and Ahmedlook at each other, then up at Hemlock and Lam."I really hope you know what you're doing" says Billy,almost at the same time that Ahmedgrunts "I guess we're really doing this." They take off running around the grasping vines and the void. Saoirsecan just barely see a bronze dragonborn enter her field of vision around the void.
Initiative:Saoirse, Hemlock, Lam, Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmed
Saoirse's mind races. What is she to do? With the other fire genasi stuck next to her, there's no way she can move to a safer position nor attack Viconiawithout him slashing at her. And she's too hurt to withstand that. Her only chance is to bind the guardian with her curse, but he's to strong for her blood magic to work, isn't he?
As she's thinking all this, her fiery eyes focus on the guardian's, so similar to hers. There is doubt in Saoirse's eyes, but when she turns to look at Viconia, something inside her erupts. An inner rage that makes her decide. She has to attack her. If they finish her, the tide will turn on their favor. With her mind set up, the blood hunter looks at the guardian with sadness, and invokes her curse on him, whispering "Fan a chur. Le do thoil, fan leat. Lig dúinn deireadh léi."(OOC: STR ST DC 12)
"Stay put. Please, do stay put. Let us end her."
Without waiting to see if the curse takes place, she steps away from the guardian, towards a safe distance. Towards Sha. If only she can reach her friend, she might still make it. If she does, she will shoot Viconia.
BA: Blood curse of binding (which will leave the guardian unable to move and take reactions until my next turn) / Movement: a little away trying to end my turn inside Sha's Twilight / Action: If I'm still up, I'll shoot at Viconia with my crossbow. As such, my current AC is 16. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I rolled a 1. This was never meant to work, it seems. At the end of my turn get 8 temp HPs thanks to Sha's Twilight.
You can feel the blood magic take hold, and when the mysterious armored genasi tries to swing at you and prevent your escape, his arms refuse to move. "Ghlac tú an dóiteán," he says, as if that hurts him much more than the blood curse.
"You went through the ritual."
Viconia dives in a wild panic to avoid Saoirse's crossbow bolt. It doesn't matter - Saoirse is so distracted that the bolt never came close to where the warlock had been standing. It flies high over the tents, and lands harmlessly deep in the forest. "Stop talking with her and kill her, Kieran!" Kieran (the armored servant) remains rooted to the ground, but his arms begin to obey him again, and he silently reaches for the javelin hanging on his back.
Hemlock gives a nod of his starry head in approval as Sha-Gravis sprints past stopping only long enough to give Lam some much needed healing. He doesn't stay idle himself either, rushes off after the Tabaxi and managing to make his way a little further around the flaming Skyoak.
As he goes, he takes note of the Firbolg treesingers facing off against the soldiers, and although he desperately wants to help he knows he has to stop Viconia first and foremost.
From this new vantage point, he can see Saoirse, Viconia and her bodyguard. Still seeing Viconia as the main threat, he wastes no time in sending a luminous arrow at her, hoping to either take her down or at the least disrupt her concentration on the black sphere with the disturbing sounds emanating from it.
Movement: 30ft North-West towards and around the Skyoak, going into the Plant Growth. Action: Dash Around the Skoak through the Plant Growth - 30ft (reduced by the super difficult terrain) Bonus Action: Luminous Arrow on Viconia - To Hit: 11+6=17, Damage: 6+4=10 [radiant] Special: Concentration - Entangle - 2/10
The void disappears from the clearing, leaving a circle of moss and roots covered in a thin layer of frost, a Firbolg body that is both frozen and - in some places - melted, and a tree trunk that shows scars of fire, frost, and acid all at once.
Viconia, who seemed such a deadly threat, falls to the ground and hits it like any other body. Whether she is dead or just unconscious is unclear without getting closer, but she is almost certainly out of this battle.
Kieran grips his javelin even harder, his eyes dead set on Saoirse. "Viconia is down. Take her, rally, and retreat!"
Initiative:Saoirse, Hemlock, Lam, Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmed
Lam sees black even outside of the void- he knows he is about to pass out. He holds on with desperation until he feels the soft touch of his feline friend embracing him. Suddenly he can breathe better and the black recedes from his vision, and Sha is gone just as quickly as he showed up. Sha can feel in his embrace that Lam’s movements are uncontrolled and frantic, even without most of his energy.
Once he is healed, Lam is back in the fight, and frustrated. All of the enemies he needs to get rid of are on the other side of a terrible void, and even the other ones causing problems are on the other side of a field of nearly impassible growth. He seems unfazed by the arrow from the HMC soldier that hit him directly. His eyes follow the light and magic of Sha and Hemlock, who both brave the plants to get over to where Lam needs to be- closer to Saoirse, and closer to those trying to kill her.
Hemlock shoots an arrow of light, and all of a sudden Lam’s vision of the battlefield gets much clearer as the void disappears. He sees Saoirse, more wounded than he saw her last. He sees the armored man who came the closest to taking him down- and it looks like they’ve hurt Saoirse now, too. He sees his target- probably defeated. He hears the words “Take her” and he knows they’re planning to bring her back, let her hurt more people, burn more trees. “Rally, and retreat!” They want her to recover to cause more pain. They want more of this. He doesn’t realize he’s screaming, doesn’t realize he’s run right up to Viconia, but he knows he cannot let that happen. He puts all his might into one powerful swing of his axe, intending not to leave Viconia in one piece.
Action and movement: charge right over to Viconia. I think he ends up in reach of Kieran too.
Bonus action: Charge attack with greataxe. Advantage because she’s down. Another crit (26). 15+5 charging+2 raging= 22 damage. (His wild magic effect is still up- if someone hits him with an attack roll, 1d6 force damage.)
No investigation to see if she’s already dead. This is what he does.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Kieran is still too slowed by the curse to really try to stop Lam, though his focus is still mostly on Saoirse anyway.
Lam runs straight up to where Viconia's body lies limp on the ground, and his momentum carries through in his greataxe. He can feel some slight resistance as the blade chops through robes, a leather bodice, ribs, squishy organs, a spine, and finally stops in the soil below. A burst of red blood splatters the barbarians arm, chest, and face, as Viconia's heart pops like an overripe berry. Her corpse is split in two at the chest and shoulder. Her head is still attached to her left shoulder and half a rib cage, but not to the rest of her body. Neither side of the corpse is alive... so why isn't Kieran choking like Sebastian did?
Kieran's face is unreadable beneath the helm, but you would be right to imagine him wince slightly, in just the way that Saoirse does when she activates her blood magic. The tip of his javelin cackles with lightning energy, and he hurls it towards Saoirse. (19 to hit, 10 piercing and 7 lightning). He pulls his arm back again, and the javelin vanishes from where it landed and reappears just as he moves his arm to throw it again, again at Saoirse. (8 to hit, 11 piercing and 8 lightning).
As the call for retreat goes up and the soldiers and HMC workers begin to turn to move away from the treesingers, their chorus becomes more joyful. They hold their position, but do not keep attacking. They do take the one that fell unconscious among them, and pull her back towards the trees. The firbolg girl who had been in the void makes her way fully out of the clearing.
Initiative: Saoirse, Hemlock, Lam, Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmed
Sha reaches out to Saoirse with cure wounds for 4hp. She looks bloody, and there is a heat radiating from her wounds, but her eyes…
as Sha come around Saoirse he sees Lam now standing over Viconia spattered with a copious amount of blood, but her servant is not choking on the ground…
Hemlock in his majestic starry form nearby is an assurance that perhaps we will survive.
Again, too many things were happening almost at the same time. First, her failed bolt; then the guardian's pained reaction when he noticed she had completed the Hunter's Bane. Why that reaction? What the hell was going on?
It is when Saoirsehears that name that something in her mind clicks. She had heard it before, hadn't she? When she was younger she would sometimes enter a room where a Kieran was being mentioned, and conversations would suddenly die. Back then, it hadn't been surprising, since the same had happened with Sebastian and others who hadn't (allegedly) survived the Bane. But this time, a memory buried deep inside the genasi's memories resurfaced. She remembered the heated argument she overheard the night before the ritual. Her parents were telling one of the elders that a Kieran didn't want her to undergo the ritual. That they had promised him she would have a peaceful life, away from all that.
Her eyes widened. Now, a Kieran - a fire genasi just like her, whose voice sounded familiar - was standing in front of her, ready to kill her at Viconia's orders. It couldn't be, could it? Could she have been lied to so deeply? Had her journey so far lead her to stop believing in her Order's main ideas - starting with its core figure, the Lightbringer - and now to even doubt who her real family was?
As she broods over all this, Hemlock's arrow knocks Viconia unconscious and Saoirse turns her gaze to Kieran, expecting him to start choking. Strangely enough, it doesn't happen. Lam appears right after, swiftly finishing Viconia off. Yet, Kieran still doesn't choke. The armored genasi reveals himself to be a full blood hunter, and Saoirse is in such awe that she almost doesn't feel the pain caused by his crackling javelin. It hurts, yes, but it is as if this is happening to someone else. How can he still be attacking? And why is he so intent in finishing her? "Isn't he..? Then why....?", she thinks. Could it be that Viconia isn't completely dead? But she must be! Lam has made sure of that. Could it be that Kieran isn't bound to her, but to some other person? Any option will be valid as long as he isn't attacking of his own accord.
Saoirse addresses the fire genasi in front of her, and as she does that her voice sounds pained, shocked, sad. As she begins speaking, she feels a healing wave that bears the unmistakable touch of Sha-Gravis. This unexpected comfort gives her some strength and this seems to also fuel her anger, which she channels into her words too.
- Why? Why are you doing this? Viconia is dead and your collar should be killing you. Aren't you bound to her by one of Strixwell's collars? And why do you keep attacking me? I remember hearing about you now. You didn't want me to go through the ritual, did you? Well, I went through it. If you didn't want me to do that, perhaps you should have been there to prevent it.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"They're attacking the lieutenant!" The soldiers move towards Kieran, trying to defend their superior, and the HMC workers fall into step with them. Or at least, they try to. The undergrowth prevents any of them from moving very quickly, as most of them can do little more than push through weeds and hack at shrubs. Two from the group do manage to fire arrows though - one soldier and one HMC worker. They both fire at Hemlock - who shines like a beacon and looks much like the enemy they had just been fighting. (13 to hit, 10 piercing; 9 to hit, 3).
The two who had been restrained by Hemlock'sentangle are very aware that they are now within eyeshot of Kieran, and the one with a shortsword begins to fight against the vines in earnest. He is able to break free, and slowly pushes towards Lam and the fight. "I'm sorry, Billy," the other says, and looses his shortbow at Lam. (18 to hit, 4)
Ahmedsteps in front of the worker who has just escaped the vines. "You have no honor," he said before swinging his scimitar. The worker deflects it with his shortsword. Neither of them is an impressive fighter by any means - but they do seem evenly matched.
Billy runs up to Ahmed and places a glowing hand on his shoulder. "We're in this together," he says, and then in Dwarvish "Må gud bevar vores bånd" and a glowing light shimmers around them both.
Kieran makes eye contact with Sha-Gravis - pointedly not speaking directly to Saoirse. "Your group knows of many dangerous secrets, it seems. My life is bound to lord Strixwell, and I served Viconia at her pleasure. My orders in this scenario are also clear... please, just flee."
Initiative: Saoirse,Hemlock, Lam, Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmed
Hemlock winces as the arrow slices the skin as it passes his shoulder, but thankfully it doesn't do too much damage. He also maintains his concentration on the vines.
"Strixwell!? Silvia Strixwell herself?", Saoirse lowers her crossbow in utter surprise. She looks towards Sha and Hemlock, who are closest to her, appearing lost and confused. It isn't until she sees Hemlock wince in pain that she registers that they are still under attack and that both soldiers and HCM are closing in. What to do? Under different circumstances, she would have wanted to keep fighting, but she was too hurt, they were too many, and the reawakened memory had deprived her of the will to fight Kieran.
The fire genasi stowed the crossbow and gathered the rapier and dagger she had dropped in order to shoot Viconia. The rapier still crackled with lightning, just like the lieutenant's javelin. Adopting a defensive stance, she addressed him again.
"At least do me the courtesy of showing your face. And I dare say I am owed an explanation. Who the hell are you to me, Kieran?", Saoirse demanded.
Even if she is trying to stand tall, she feels she has already lost the battle. Her will to fight is gone, replaced by the urge to run away from it all - just as Kieran wanted. She steps back until she's between Sha and Hemlock and says, "I've remembered something the moment I heard his name. I think he's family. I can't do this. I can't fight him. Let's just go, please. We've done what we could here. They are retreating, and we have our own path to follow."
Action: Dodge / Movement: Will move a little backwards until I reach Sha and Hemlock / Gained 7 temp HP
"It is best that some doors are left unopened. The man who was someone died a long time ago, and I am what is left." He is still addressing Sha-Gravis. Then he shouts more loudly. "Leave here and let us take the Viconia's corpse, or die! Rally, men, to me!"
Hemlock looks from Saoirse to Kieran, torn as to what to do.
"Take the witches body back to your Lord. Remind her what happens when she sends her lackeys into this valley", he says steadfastly in his slow drawl. "But be warned, if any of you attack whilst we are leaving, that one will die", he says louder, turning towards the soldiers coming through the undergrowth.
After he has said his piece, he reach out to the mind of the closest Firbolg tree singer, "We will not go far, please find us, we are friends".
With that said he starts to move towards to the West.
Intimidation: 9-1+4=12(Using the storyteller bonus if that is how it works - he chose Persuasion to have proficiency in not Intimidation so not sure it is allowed)
Some of the the hmc workers flinch in fear of Hemlock's words, but the soldiers are unmoved, and Kieran even less so.
"Viconia has ordered me to kill the Genasi. I can not let her leave without attempting to do so." He speaks low enough that his men do not hear him, but you do.
Initiative: Saoirse, Hemlock, Lam,Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmed
Lam is vaguely aware that HMC soldiers are shooting arrows at him, and that they are hitting him. He is too focused on destroying Viconia to do anything about that. He gets the impression as he thinks for his next objective that Kieran and Saoirse seem to know each other. When Saoirse announces that they’re leaving, Lam turns and takes a few steps away from the bloodied corpse, towards his friends. He doesn’t seem ready to leave himself- it seems like an effort to turn away from the battle. When he hears Kieran’s last words, something snaps in him and he wheels back around to face the other genasi. The next words are practically roared, with specks of Viconia’s blood flying from his face: “IF YOU KILL HER, YOU DIE.” He makes a grab for Kieran’s javelin- anything to try to stop the opponent from his next move.
Movement: Walk around Kieran towards his friends. If possible, position himself to where Saoirse is getting cover.
Action: Try to grapple Kieran. The main goal is to make it as hard as possible for him to attack Saoirse with his javelin. 19, with advantage!
Reaction: If Kieran leaves his reach to go towards his friends, he wants an opportunity attack- preferably a grapple attack if that is allowed (which he just tried that, so it might not be), but just a swing with his greataxe if it isn’t. He is still raging. The force damage retribution is still happening.
Viconia's attacks strike hard, but the fire genasi still stands, her will to fight not diminished in the slightest. She looks at Viconia with defiance, and when the servant tries to shove her back into the blackness, she manages to escape him too. (OOC: Acrobatics check 19) Who is he? He's one of her own! She whispers back, "Is féidir liom tú a shaoradh! Tá sé déanta agam roimhe seo. Just a shealbhú ar. D'fhéadfadh siad a bheith Bent an tOrdú, ach ní bheidh siad bhriseadh linn."
"I can free you! I've done it before. Just hold on. They may have bent the Order, but they will not break us."
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
"Bhris mé fadó." He readies his sword to strike you down.
"I broke long ago."
DM: Heavy is the Head
Sha sees Lam stumble out of the darkness which is not dismissed by the light. He does not see Saoirse. Sha runs to Lam and wraps both hands around his friend in a healing embrace. The shaking he feels tells him Lam was hurt bad, oh my goddess where is Saoirse? Sha calls to Selene/Shar for more healing to Lam but Sha-gravis sprints further around the perimeter in search of Saoirse.
Move 30’ to Lam.
Action cast Cure Wounds 2nd level for 7 hp to Lam.
Bonus Action Healing Word for 6 hp more.
Special feline agility 30’ around the burning tree
Sha's magic flows into Lam, much needed. But when the tabaxi rushes around to help Saoirse, he finds the re-emerging undergrowth difficult to navigate, woody shrubs and thistles grabbing at his paws. He gets just far enough to barely be able to see Viconia (I moved your token back a little. 1/2 cover for her, 3/4 cover for you from her), and not far enough to see Saoirse or the armored servant - but he can hear his genasi friend, and she can feel his soothing twilight reach her.
The soldiers lead the northern HMC groups to realiate against the firbolgs, and many of them push far enough through the weeds to begin cut and stab at the treesingers. You see a firbolg fall, landing almost on top of the unconscious dwarf. One of the soldiers, however, fixes his eyes on Lam and Hemlock to the south. "Two more of the tree-orcs! We're surrounded!" He pulls back a longbow, and loosens it. It flies towards Lam (5 to hit, half of 11 piercing). (If that is a hit, he also shouts in surprised pain as a jolt of force seems to run up his arm, and takes 5 damage.)
Two HMC workers struggle halfheartedly against Hemlock's entanglement, and make no real progress. They don't really seem to want to.
Billy and Ahmed look at each other, then up at Hemlock and Lam. "I really hope you know what you're doing" says Billy, almost at the same time that Ahmed grunts "I guess we're really doing this." They take off running around the grasping vines and the void. Saoirse can just barely see a bronze dragonborn enter her field of vision around the void.
Initiative: Saoirse, Hemlock, Lam, Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmed
https://www.owlbear.rodeo/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP
DM: Heavy is the Head
Saoirse's mind races. What is she to do? With the other fire genasi stuck next to her, there's no way she can move to a safer position nor attack Viconia without him slashing at her. And she's too hurt to withstand that. Her only chance is to bind the guardian with her curse, but he's to strong for her blood magic to work, isn't he?
As she's thinking all this, her fiery eyes focus on the guardian's, so similar to hers. There is doubt in Saoirse's eyes, but when she turns to look at Viconia, something inside her erupts. An inner rage that makes her decide. She has to attack her. If they finish her, the tide will turn on their favor. With her mind set up, the blood hunter looks at the guardian with sadness, and invokes her curse on him, whispering "Fan a chur. Le do thoil, fan leat. Lig dúinn deireadh léi." (OOC: STR ST DC 12)
"Stay put. Please, do stay put. Let us end her."
Without waiting to see if the curse takes place, she steps away from the guardian, towards a safe distance. Towards Sha. If only she can reach her friend, she might still make it. If she does, she will shoot Viconia.
BA: Blood curse of binding (which will leave the guardian unable to move and take reactions until my next turn) / Movement: a little away trying to end my turn inside Sha's Twilight / Action: If I'm still up, I'll shoot at Viconia with my crossbow. As such, my current AC is 16. Aaaaaaaaaaaaand I rolled a 1. This was never meant to work, it seems. At the end of my turn get 8 temp HPs thanks to Sha's Twilight.
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
You can feel the blood magic take hold, and when the mysterious armored genasi tries to swing at you and prevent your escape, his arms refuse to move. "Ghlac tú an dóiteán," he says, as if that hurts him much more than the blood curse.
"You went through the ritual."
Viconia dives in a wild panic to avoid Saoirse's crossbow bolt. It doesn't matter - Saoirse is so distracted that the bolt never came close to where the warlock had been standing. It flies high over the tents, and lands harmlessly deep in the forest. "Stop talking with her and kill her, Kieran!" Kieran (the armored servant) remains rooted to the ground, but his arms begin to obey him again, and he silently reaches for the javelin hanging on his back.
Hemlock's turn.
DM: Heavy is the Head
Hemlock gives a nod of his starry head in approval as Sha-Gravis sprints past stopping only long enough to give Lam some much needed healing. He doesn't stay idle himself either, rushes off after the Tabaxi and managing to make his way a little further around the flaming Skyoak.
As he goes, he takes note of the Firbolg treesingers facing off against the soldiers, and although he desperately wants to help he knows he has to stop Viconia first and foremost.
From this new vantage point, he can see Saoirse, Viconia and her bodyguard. Still seeing Viconia as the main threat, he wastes no time in sending a luminous arrow at her, hoping to either take her down or at the least disrupt her concentration on the black sphere with the disturbing sounds emanating from it.
Movement: 30ft North-West towards and around the Skyoak, going into the Plant Growth.
Action: Dash Around the Skoak through the Plant Growth - 30ft (reduced by the super difficult terrain)
Bonus Action: Luminous Arrow on Viconia - To Hit: 11+6=17, Damage: 6+4=10 [radiant]
Special: Concentration - Entangle - 2/10
The void disappears from the clearing, leaving a circle of moss and roots covered in a thin layer of frost, a Firbolg body that is both frozen and - in some places - melted, and a tree trunk that shows scars of fire, frost, and acid all at once.
Viconia, who seemed such a deadly threat, falls to the ground and hits it like any other body. Whether she is dead or just unconscious is unclear without getting closer, but she is almost certainly out of this battle.
Kieran grips his javelin even harder, his eyes dead set on Saoirse. "Viconia is down. Take her, rally, and retreat!"
Initiative: Saoirse, Hemlock, Lam, Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmed
https://www.owlbear.rodeo/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP
DM: Heavy is the Head
Lam sees black even outside of the void- he knows he is about to pass out. He holds on with desperation until he feels the soft touch of his feline friend embracing him. Suddenly he can breathe better and the black recedes from his vision, and Sha is gone just as quickly as he showed up. Sha can feel in his embrace that Lam’s movements are uncontrolled and frantic, even without most of his energy.
Once he is healed, Lam is back in the fight, and frustrated. All of the enemies he needs to get rid of are on the other side of a terrible void, and even the other ones causing problems are on the other side of a field of nearly impassible growth. He seems unfazed by the arrow from the HMC soldier that hit him directly. His eyes follow the light and magic of Sha and Hemlock, who both brave the plants to get over to where Lam needs to be- closer to Saoirse, and closer to those trying to kill her.
Hemlock shoots an arrow of light, and all of a sudden Lam’s vision of the battlefield gets much clearer as the void disappears. He sees Saoirse, more wounded than he saw her last. He sees the armored man who came the closest to taking him down- and it looks like they’ve hurt Saoirse now, too. He sees his target- probably defeated. He hears the words “Take her” and he knows they’re planning to bring her back, let her hurt more people, burn more trees. “Rally, and retreat!” They want her to recover to cause more pain. They want more of this. He doesn’t realize he’s screaming, doesn’t realize he’s run right up to Viconia, but he knows he cannot let that happen. He puts all his might into one powerful swing of his axe, intending not to leave Viconia in one piece.
Action and movement: charge right over to Viconia. I think he ends up in reach of Kieran too.
Bonus action: Charge attack with greataxe. Advantage because she’s down. Another crit (26). 15+5 charging+2 raging= 22 damage. (His wild magic effect is still up- if someone hits him with an attack roll, 1d6 force damage.)
No investigation to see if she’s already dead. This is what he does.
Kieran is still too slowed by the curse to really try to stop Lam, though his focus is still mostly on Saoirse anyway.
Lam runs straight up to where Viconia's body lies limp on the ground, and his momentum carries through in his greataxe. He can feel some slight resistance as the blade chops through robes, a leather bodice, ribs, squishy organs, a spine, and finally stops in the soil below. A burst of red blood splatters the barbarians arm, chest, and face, as Viconia's heart pops like an overripe berry. Her corpse is split in two at the chest and shoulder. Her head is still attached to her left shoulder and half a rib cage, but not to the rest of her body. Neither side of the corpse is alive... so why isn't Kieran choking like Sebastian did?
Kieran's face is unreadable beneath the helm, but you would be right to imagine him wince slightly, in just the way that Saoirse does when she activates her blood magic. The tip of his javelin cackles with lightning energy, and he hurls it towards Saoirse. (19 to hit, 10 piercing and 7 lightning). He pulls his arm back again, and the javelin vanishes from where it landed and reappears just as he moves his arm to throw it again, again at Saoirse. (8 to hit, 11 piercing and 8 lightning).
As the call for retreat goes up and the soldiers and HMC workers begin to turn to move away from the treesingers, their chorus becomes more joyful. They hold their position, but do not keep attacking. They do take the one that fell unconscious among them, and pull her back towards the trees. The firbolg girl who had been in the void makes her way fully out of the clearing.
Initiative: Saoirse, Hemlock, Lam,
Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmedhttps://www.owlbear.rodeo/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP
DM: Heavy is the Head
Sha reaches out to Saoirse with cure wounds for 4hp. She looks bloody, and there is a heat radiating from her wounds, but her eyes…
as Sha come around Saoirse he sees Lam now standing over Viconia spattered with a copious amount of blood, but her servant is not choking on the ground…
Hemlock in his majestic starry form nearby is an assurance that perhaps we will survive.
Again, too many things were happening almost at the same time. First, her failed bolt; then the guardian's pained reaction when he noticed she had completed the Hunter's Bane. Why that reaction? What the hell was going on?
It is when Saoirse hears that name that something in her mind clicks. She had heard it before, hadn't she? When she was younger she would sometimes enter a room where a Kieran was being mentioned, and conversations would suddenly die. Back then, it hadn't been surprising, since the same had happened with Sebastian and others who hadn't (allegedly) survived the Bane. But this time, a memory buried deep inside the genasi's memories resurfaced. She remembered the heated argument she overheard the night before the ritual. Her parents were telling one of the elders that a Kieran didn't want her to undergo the ritual. That they had promised him she would have a peaceful life, away from all that.
Her eyes widened. Now, a Kieran - a fire genasi just like her, whose voice sounded familiar - was standing in front of her, ready to kill her at Viconia's orders. It couldn't be, could it? Could she have been lied to so deeply? Had her journey so far lead her to stop believing in her Order's main ideas - starting with its core figure, the Lightbringer - and now to even doubt who her real family was?
As she broods over all this, Hemlock's arrow knocks Viconia unconscious and Saoirse turns her gaze to Kieran, expecting him to start choking. Strangely enough, it doesn't happen. Lam appears right after, swiftly finishing Viconia off. Yet, Kieran still doesn't choke. The armored genasi reveals himself to be a full blood hunter, and Saoirse is in such awe that she almost doesn't feel the pain caused by his crackling javelin. It hurts, yes, but it is as if this is happening to someone else. How can he still be attacking? And why is he so intent in finishing her? "Isn't he..? Then why....?", she thinks. Could it be that Viconia isn't completely dead? But she must be! Lam has made sure of that. Could it be that Kieran isn't bound to her, but to some other person? Any option will be valid as long as he isn't attacking of his own accord.
Saoirse addresses the fire genasi in front of her, and as she does that her voice sounds pained, shocked, sad. As she begins speaking, she feels a healing wave that bears the unmistakable touch of Sha-Gravis. This unexpected comfort gives her some strength and this seems to also fuel her anger, which she channels into her words too.
- Why? Why are you doing this? Viconia is dead and your collar should be killing you. Aren't you bound to her by one of Strixwell's collars? And why do you keep attacking me? I remember hearing about you now. You didn't want me to go through the ritual, did you? Well, I went through it. If you didn't want me to do that, perhaps you should have been there to prevent it.
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
"They're attacking the lieutenant!" The soldiers move towards Kieran, trying to defend their superior, and the HMC workers fall into step with them. Or at least, they try to. The undergrowth prevents any of them from moving very quickly, as most of them can do little more than push through weeds and hack at shrubs. Two from the group do manage to fire arrows though - one soldier and one HMC worker. They both fire at Hemlock - who shines like a beacon and looks much like the enemy they had just been fighting. (13 to hit, 10 piercing; 9 to hit, 3).
The two who had been restrained by Hemlock's entangle are very aware that they are now within eyeshot of Kieran, and the one with a shortsword begins to fight against the vines in earnest. He is able to break free, and slowly pushes towards Lam and the fight. "I'm sorry, Billy," the other says, and looses his shortbow at Lam. (18 to hit, 4)
Ahmed steps in front of the worker who has just escaped the vines. "You have no honor," he said before swinging his scimitar. The worker deflects it with his shortsword. Neither of them is an impressive fighter by any means - but they do seem evenly matched.
Billy runs up to Ahmed and places a glowing hand on his shoulder. "We're in this together," he says, and then in Dwarvish "Må gud bevar vores bånd" and a glowing light shimmers around them both.
Kieran makes eye contact with Sha-Gravis - pointedly not speaking directly to Saoirse. "Your group knows of many dangerous secrets, it seems. My life is bound to lord Strixwell, and I served Viconia at her pleasure. My orders in this scenario are also clear... please, just flee."
Initiative: Saoirse, Hemlock, Lam,
Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmedhttps://www.owlbear.rodeo/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP
DM: Heavy is the Head
The one who shot Lam spasms in sudden pain, as he takes 6 force damage from the magical retribution.
DM: Heavy is the Head
Hemlock winces as the arrow slices the skin as it passes his shoulder, but thankfully it doesn't do too much damage. He also maintains his concentration on the vines.
Concentration Save: 14+2=16
"Strixwell!? Silvia Strixwell herself?", Saoirse lowers her crossbow in utter surprise. She looks towards Sha and Hemlock, who are closest to her, appearing lost and confused. It isn't until she sees Hemlock wince in pain that she registers that they are still under attack and that both soldiers and HCM are closing in. What to do? Under different circumstances, she would have wanted to keep fighting, but she was too hurt, they were too many, and the reawakened memory had deprived her of the will to fight Kieran.
The fire genasi stowed the crossbow and gathered the rapier and dagger she had dropped in order to shoot Viconia. The rapier still crackled with lightning, just like the lieutenant's javelin. Adopting a defensive stance, she addressed him again.
"At least do me the courtesy of showing your face. And I dare say I am owed an explanation. Who the hell are you to me, Kieran?", Saoirse demanded.
Even if she is trying to stand tall, she feels she has already lost the battle. Her will to fight is gone, replaced by the urge to run away from it all - just as Kieran wanted. She steps back until she's between Sha and Hemlock and says, "I've remembered something the moment I heard his name. I think he's family. I can't do this. I can't fight him. Let's just go, please. We've done what we could here. They are retreating, and we have our own path to follow."
Action: Dodge / Movement: Will move a little backwards until I reach Sha and Hemlock / Gained 7 temp HP
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
"It is best that some doors are left unopened. The man who was someone died a long time ago, and I am what is left." He is still addressing Sha-Gravis. Then he shouts more loudly. "Leave here and let us take the Viconia's corpse, or die! Rally, men, to me!"
DM: Heavy is the Head
Hemlock looks from Saoirse to Kieran, torn as to what to do.
"Take the witches body back to your Lord. Remind her what happens when she sends her lackeys into this valley", he says steadfastly in his slow drawl. "But be warned, if any of you attack whilst we are leaving, that one will die", he says louder, turning towards the soldiers coming through the undergrowth.
After he has said his piece, he reach out to the mind of the closest Firbolg tree singer, "We will not go far, please find us, we are friends".
With that said he starts to move towards to the West.
Intimidation: 9-1+4=12 (Using the storyteller bonus if that is how it works - he chose Persuasion to have proficiency in not Intimidation so not sure it is allowed)
Some of the the hmc workers flinch in fear of Hemlock's words, but the soldiers are unmoved, and Kieran even less so.
"Viconia has ordered me to kill the Genasi. I can not let her leave without attempting to do so." He speaks low enough that his men do not hear him, but you do.
Initiative: Saoirse, Hemlock, Lam,
Viconia, Servant, Firbolgs, Sha-Gravis, Soldiers, HMC group North, HMC pair West, Billy and Ahmedhttps://www.owlbear.rodeo/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP
DM: Heavy is the Head
Lam is vaguely aware that HMC soldiers are shooting arrows at him, and that they are hitting him. He is too focused on destroying Viconia to do anything about that. He gets the impression as he thinks for his next objective that Kieran and Saoirse seem to know each other. When Saoirse announces that they’re leaving, Lam turns and takes a few steps away from the bloodied corpse, towards his friends. He doesn’t seem ready to leave himself- it seems like an effort to turn away from the battle. When he hears Kieran’s last words, something snaps in him and he wheels back around to face the other genasi. The next words are practically roared, with specks of Viconia’s blood flying from his face: “IF YOU KILL HER, YOU DIE.” He makes a grab for Kieran’s javelin- anything to try to stop the opponent from his next move.
Movement: Walk around Kieran towards his friends. If possible, position himself to where Saoirse is getting cover.
Action: Try to grapple Kieran. The main goal is to make it as hard as possible for him to attack Saoirse with his javelin. 19, with advantage!
Reaction: If Kieran leaves his reach to go towards his friends, he wants an opportunity attack- preferably a grapple attack if that is allowed (which he just tried that, so it might not be), but just a swing with his greataxe if it isn’t. He is still raging. The force damage retribution is still happening.