Heavy is the Head - Campaign thread

Saoirse draws the dagger. She's about to attack with both weapons, but seeing that Sha-Gravis has offered Eliza to stand down, she waits to see her reaction, though she's more than ready to attack in case she persists on her behaviour.

 - I would listen to my tabaxi friend here, if I were you. 

Hemlock hears Sha and Saoirse speaking to the one called to Eliza, and holds his power to create flame ready to use against Gordon if the opposition does not stand down. He maintains the effect of the scorching armour though, not letting up.

He tries to maintain cover from the people on the ledge.

"I would listen if I were you, it will go badly for you if you don't", he calls out.

Lam is aware as he jumps into the fray that his friends are shouting- he is pretty sure they are defending him, which causes his chest to fill up with a warm feeling. Meanwhile, his own head is getting hot with rage. In the exact moment that he seems to let his primal instincts take over, a small blue morpho butterfly appears near the cliff, in between the man threatening him with a sword on ground level and the man threatening him with a bow above them. Lam takes his Greataxe and, roaring a battle cry, goes to unleash his rage on the man who had been so rude to him.

"Stop hurting Gordon, giant!" Clark is overwhelmed by everything happening, but does manage to make the connection that it is Hemlock who is responsible for Gordon's screams of pain. Notching and firing his shortbow is an action so practiced it needs no active thought, and even though Hemlock dove behind 1/2 cover, Clark's arrow still finds itself true, and buries itself in Hemlock's flesh. Then, seeing the strange, glowing butterfly appear at the same instant Lam screams in rage, Clark backs up from the ledge only a foot or two, dazzled by its beauty. When the arrow hits, Hemlock immediately lets his flame fly at Gordon, who screams again as a new section of his skin bubbles into fresh agony.

It is Sha's turn, then Gordon.

https://www.owlbear.app/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP

Eliza didn’t call for a stand down so...

 Sha will once again ready, “Stand down this is not necessary!” (She must declare it)

The arrow buries itself in Hemlock’s shoulder and he grunts in pain, but his concentration remains firm.

Eliza twists out of the way of Sha's warhammer, moving surprisingly fast despite seeming transfixed by the butterfly that has just appeared before her.

"Owowowowow hothothot!" Gordon runs forward while drawing his javelin, hoping to get a clean shot to throw it at the druid who is boiling him in his armor, and to get away from the 'monster' who has already cut him deeply. When he runs into the open, the raging barbarian he ran away from swings an inherited greataxe after him, which passes through the glowing chainmail like butter, cleaving Gordon in twain. His torso falls to the ground, a couple of feet away from his legs and hips.

At almost the same moment, the beautiful blue butterfly which popped into existence in front of Clark and Eliza explodes in a burst of energy. Clark is able to brace and avoid damage in time, but Eliza is taken off guard and her head is pushed back with the blow, like a slap in the face.

"Gods damn you all!" Eliza screams, and then she mutters words none of you can hear while gesturing first at Sha, and then at Lam, causing two bolts of lighting to crash out of the clear blue sky. One strikes the ground remarkably close to Sha, but does not quite hit him, and the other almost hits Lam, but his wild turn to slash at Gordon has also carried him out of the way of the strike.

 It is Saoirse's turn.

https://www.owlbear.app/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP

The fire genasi watches Gordon being split in half with a shocked face. She knew Lam was very strong, but not to that extent. For a split second she is freezed, and thinks that this fight has gotten out of hand, but then she recovers and thinks again: this is not the time to be doubting, but the time to try to finish the fight as quickly as possible. So she goes for the leader, Eliza, and swings twice with rapier and dagger. 

Her first attack does not seem to find purchase in the caster, probably because Saoirse's still a little bit shocked. Swordbreaker though doesn't miss, and the blood hunter swings it trying to knock Eliza out, instead of plain killing her. It might be good to try go interrogate the remaining mercenaries...?

Eliza turns the rapier away with a sidestep and a sweep of her robes, but is not quick enough to avoid the swordbreaker slapping her bluntly and powerfully on the side of her ribs. Magic is humming around her as she readies more magic. It is Hemlock's turn.

Hemlock watches Lam cut the one called Gordon in half and is a little shocked at the ferocity of his friend. He had been hoping Gordon would submit after a while, assuming he was sturdy enough to survive the hot armour a little longer.

He dismisses those thoughts, and looks about, knowing that Sha was still trying to get the one called Eliza to stand down. Feeling the arrow in his shoulder, and wanting to give the other two a chance to surrender, he takes his shield off his back and holds it in front of himself. Between that and the cover, he hopes he can afford being hit again.

"Time to surrender, you don't all have to suffer your companions fate", he calls up, although he is not sure Lam looks like he is prepared to give them that option right now.

Action: Equip shield
Movement: None - still in half cover

In other circumstances, Lam might be ashamed about what he just did to Gordon. He had been trying not to hurt people that severely. However, in these circumstances, Lam is entirely focused on different things. Namely, he is focused on Clark who had just threatened Hemlock and sent an arrow into his flesh. He roars, “STOP HURTING HIM.” And in the moment he roars, a new butterfly appears in almost the exact same place as it had before. He does everything in his single-minded power to go after Clark and stop the attack on his friend.

The leather armor might as well not be there, as Lam's axe cuts a deep gash into Clark's torso. "I think this is the end of the line, boss. Been an honor working with you." With that, he leaps at the raging bugbear, throwing caution to the wind, and attempting to grapple Lam.and pull him back down the slope.

 It is Sha's turn.

Sha somewhat reluctantly swings with crushing force attempting to bring Eliza down...

 ”You don’t have to die.”

Clark leaps at Lam, his arms grebbing around the bugbear's neck, and his weight pulling then both downwards. For a moment, it looks like Lam is going to be pulled down, but a hard thrust upwards against the smaller man's arms dislodges him, and Clark continues by his own momentum downwards, landing in a hard, awkward thud. He only barely keeps from falling flat on his face, blood seeping out of his side. The second butterfly also explodes, but this time Eliza manages to avoid the damage.

Eliza screams as she sees this, anguish over what looks like certain defeat, and already the death of at least one of her coworkers. "Why are you doing this!? This was supposed to be our big score! Damn you all, then!" She stares angrily at Sha in answer to his threat, as the mutters some more words and slams her spellbook shut. As the pages shut, a sound får louder than seems possible sweeps out, as a thunderwave sweeps out from it. As you reel from the sound (and Saoirse and Sha are maybe pushed back), she tries to run away, heading northwest and around the tower.

https://www.owlbear.app/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP

It is Saoirse's turn. 

Saoirse manages to sway around the thunderous wave and is not pushed away. Gritting her teeth and ignoring the damage she has received despite that, she runs after Eliza, again trying to knock her out.

Sha stands his ground as the blast washes over him feeling the pounding of Eliza’s spell... “You don’t have to die...”

Hemlock sees Clark fall and rushes over to him, waving Lam away.

"Go and make sure the others are ok, and that Eliza doesn't escape. Try to use the bits of your axe that aren't sharp to subdue her", he says to Lam, hoping he gets through to his friend.

Then he makes sure Clark is no longer armed and then checks to see if he is breathing, before trying to stabilise him if necessary.

Free Action: Remove any weapon
Action: Medicine check to stabilise Clark if necessary - 5+4=9

Eliza stumbles as Saoirse continues to attack, her ploy to escape having clearly failed. She is badly hurt at this point, only barely keeping herself up and active. But she's not fully out of the fight yet.

The same is true for Clark, who holds on to his shortsword and Bow when Hemlock reaches for them, and stands on shaky legs, his face full of fury and determination, with no rationality left. It's a look that suggests he'll swing that sword as soon as he gets a chance.

Hemlock sees Lam take a real moment to consider his words, and he sees Lam’s eyes return to a more familiar look. Lam nods and goes to obey Hemlock’s orders, a twinge of guilt in his eyes as he catches Hemlock going to check on Clark- but he is gone before he sees what happens next, having rushed off to Saoirse’s side. When he gets there, his mind is on something and he seems to want to talk instead of fight, but he silently holds his Greataxe and turns it to swing blunt-side first.

Clark lunges forward with blind fury, managing to stab at Hemlock in his ribs, and slice again at his arm as he pulls the sword back out and up. "For Gordon!" He shouts. Ince his weapon is free from the firbolg's flesh, he turns to try to run, wheezing and limping slightly as he does. It is the last attempt of a man that knows he can not survive combat much longer,