Seeing the monster threaten Ember, Quite Large but Not Quite as Large as He Could Be Ozyre scrunches his face and focuses his full attention on it. He strides towards the monster with reckless abandon for the one behind him.

"THUNDERBOLTS..."

He lines his massive hammer up with the shadowy creature's head, the neck still twisted towards Ember, and takes a swing with full force, aiming to knock it off entirely and prevent Ember from suffering its piercing red gaze.

"AND LIGHTNING!"

Ozyre plants a foot a bit behind himself, then spins around with remarkable speed, the force of the spin combining with the force of his tiny magic muscles to send his maul flying into the dome of the shadowy monster on the other side of him. It makes impact right between the two red eyes, with bone-shattering power.

MOVEMENT: 5 feet southwest, provoking OA from the topmost monster
ACTION: Attack the monster to the southeast: 13 (8 + 5) to hit, 16 (8 + 3 + 5) bludgeoning damage
ACTION SURGE: Attack the monster to the west: NAT 20 to hit, 21 (10 + 3 + 9) bludgeoning damage, plus Trip Attack, DC 13 Strength save or Prone

As Ozyre steps forward, the creature in front of Thurodim tries to swipe at the gnome, but it’s too slow and the attack fails miserably.

Now able to see the monsters clear as day, Ozyre goes on an assault with renewed vigor. The first swing of his weapon knocks the creature off its feet and onto the ground before vanishing in a cloud of smoky shadows. The second swing aimed at the creature who has been lagging behind has such force that the creature’s head explodes in the same puff of smoke before its body does the same.

There remains only one creature. Who, in the same mindless action, sends its dark claws to swipe at the giant barbarian.

Attack: 21 Damage: 7

(Thurodim is up after this, then Cork if it’s not dead by then)

Roaring with frustration now as invisible claws still rend at him, the massive blonde bearded warrior swings Skullcrusher again in a wide arc to smash towards the unseen assailant.

Skullcrusher: 17 Bludgeoning: 24
(-5 to hit and +10 to damage included)

In one fell swoop of Skullcrusher, the barbarian turns the remaining monster into a fading cloud of dark smoke, before it evaporates out of existence.

As the final enemy is taken out, you feel a sense of relief, as if that tiredness and strain you had been feeling throughout this fight was suddenly lifted of your shoulders. 

(Combat comes to a close. You may now remove the level of exhaustion that you have.)

The massive blonde bearded warrior does not immediately realize the last shadow was defeated, making another forceful swing into the darkness without connecting again, then standing warily with his mighty maul ready, trying to sense if there are still enemies around, breathing heavily as the ursal rage subsides. "Little one, shed some light!" He growls, not seeming comfortable in the darkness around him.

[Sound of Cork Popping] retreats back to the stairs now that it seems the last creature has been destroyed.  He waits near the bottom step, clawed toes clicking nervously on floor and sword still unsheathed, gripped tightly in two hands.

His head pivots in a twitching manner as he looks behind them, to either side, above them... cocking his head back and forth to look with each of his black eyes.

Mimicking Ozyre, Ember shouts, "SCARY MOOSE!" at the dissipating shadows, stomping a bare foot for good measure. Aganazzar immediately leaps down from Thurodim's shoulder to hurry back to his ward, fretting as he checks her for wounds. 

"I'm fine, Aggie! Grandpa's smoke saved me," she says, said smoke curling around her shoulders briefly before fading away. "But you guys! They got you!" she pads over to the others and looks between the three as she feeds the flame of the torch, gradually doubling the light it casts. "Are you okay?" 

The massive blonde bearded warrior simply grunts and nods at Ember's question, seeming to relax a bit as the red-haired girl's witchcraft lights up the room. There are some wounds but barely more than scratches, and Thurodim doesn't even seem to notice them. Not wanting to spend more time than necessary underground, Thurodim then starts to look around the cellar.

Perception: 21

As the heat of the battle starts to diminish, so does Ozyre, down from Quite Large but Not Quite as Large as He Could Be Ozyre, past Human-Sized Ozyre, and finally coming to rest at the unbeatable classic that is Wee Ozyre.

At Ember's concern, Ozyre casually motions to the small bit of blood trickling through a few chains in his maille. "This? I've eaten wounds worse than this for breakfast! I think Big Man's got the right idea though. Let's raid the cellar. We definitely earned it. And there could be food! Then I figure we prepare ourselves, maybe rest a little bit, and head out to wherever these things came from. I mean, it's probably not too urgent or anything, what with the fracture having been open for 3 months already, so it seems that the most logical course of action would be to make sure we're not rushing in." With those two copper pieces thrown out, the gnome begins to inspect the cellar alongside Thurodim, especially conscious of anything that looks tasty.

Perception: 9 (10 - 1)

"Food," Ember repeats, stomach immediately growling at the thought. She'd been perfectly willing to eat some roasted maggots for dinner, but certainly wouldn't mind something meatier.

"So those things didn't starve down here like Bart thought. Have you ever seen anything like them before?" she asks as she investigates the cellar, looking for anything of interest (especially food). "I wonder if they're from the, um, whatsit... Shadowfell? Grandpa told me lots and lots of scary stories about that place. And," she cocks her head to one side, "I think a poem too?"


((Investigation: 12
Can she also try to recall anything else about that might speak to where the creatures were from? Or more info about the Shadowfell? Arcana: 18))

"You can't eat wounds." Thurodim mutters to himself as he pokes around the cellar. He sort of seems to perk up as he hears the word poem, but as he doesn't understand the context he resumes his searching instead. "Never heard of Shadowfell, is it around here?" He mutters a bit louder without looking up.

As the cellar returns to a state of peaceful stillness, you begin to investigate your surroundings. Lit by torchlight, you search around for anything of interest. Between the four of you, you eventually find a cabinet which contains jars of canned non perishable food. It’s not the most glamorous meal, but it should do the trick. Other than that, you find mostly leftover building materials.

Ember

If it seems reasonable to do so, Thurodim would bring enough canned non persihable food for the brave adventurers and start to head back up to the surface again. "We should find somewhere to eat and rest." He grumbles as he gets going, not seeming keen on sleeping in any of the bewitched buildings.

Survival to find a good testing place outside close to the farm: 22


(We are eating and long resting now right?)

Thurodim grabs a couple canned jars containing food like wild berry jams, pickles, tomatoes and plums. They still look edible, having spent time in a dry and dark place.

Once outside the cellar and out of the house, you see that the rain has not let up. Strong gusts of wind are howling and it doesn’t seem to be a viable place to rest. However, being used to the outdoors, you continue your search and manage to find a relatively untouched place that could make for a passable camp site. The tree branches give a good enough cover from the rain and the foliage helps to protect against the wind.

The rest of the group awaits the return of the tall blond warrior from the comfort of the abode.

"I've found shelter away from this bewitched house." The massive blonde bearded warrior says as he gets back to his small but brave adventuring companions. "We need to eat and rest before finding Bart."

Ember jumps as Thurodim comes back in, in the middle of stuffing something from the living room into her bag. As he suggests resting somewhere outside, she looks positively distraught. 

"But we can't make a fire out there in the rain. It'll be really dark," she says, eyes wide and lower lip jutting forward. 


((Sleight of Hand: 15))

Thurodim looks down at the lip jutting forward and sighs, much like an annoyed parent. "You all prefer staying in this cursed house then?" He asks, looking around at the wee giant and the birdman for their thoughts, although seeming ready to give into the child's wishes. It felt wrong to him sleeping in the same house as those corpses too, but he realized sleeping under a roof would probably help the softskins to a good rest which they would all need before resuming their search for Bart the naïve dabbler in forbidden sorcery.

Ozyre gives an slight, empathetic shrug to Thurodim. "Well, it does have much more of a roof. And much less of the rain. And notably more walls. And a lot fewer wolves. So, uh, maybe it'd be a tad bit more comfortable to stay here. In the cellar, away from the bodies, of course."

[Sound of Cork Popping] moves toward the open door, looking out into the pouring rain and darkness.  Then he looks back inside.  He gestures toward the fireplace, opens his mouth, and the sound of crackling flames and popping oak chords fills the room.  He brushes his arms as if to indicate warmth and comfort.