A weasel clamps down on Carlthuzad's hand; or it would, if the lightning emanating from his fist didn't course through the creature, sending it flying back the way it came, where it lies still. Hildigrim's bow clatters to the stone, and his rapier pierces through the heart of the weasel lunging at him. The weight of the creature carries him to the floor with it, and he removes the rapier cleanly. Hex dispatches the chained weasel, leaving only one more that leaps and rolls away from Auriel's halberd, continuing to nip at the paladin's legs.

Round 4 Order:
Giant Weasel
Players <=====

Placement:
All combatants are within movement range of one another.
Auriel is engaged in melee combat with a giant weasel.

Health:
Hex is wounded.
Auriel is lightly wounded.
Carlthuzad is lightly wounded.
Hildigrim is lightly wounded.

Auriel raises his halberd once more, his eyes locked on the last weasel still biting at him. This time, the strike lands with devastating precision and the halberd carves through the creature before it even has a chance to cry out. The animal crumples in silence, its body collapsing, nearly cleaved in two.

Attack: nat20 (26) / Damage: 15

Hildigrim watches as Auriel dispatches the final weasel with clinical precision. He surveys the scene, eyes sharp for any twitch of false death, then wipes his rapier on an inner fold of his cloak and sheathes it. Retrieving his bow, he exhales slowly.

“Well. That was unpleasant.” A pause. He frowns. “Weren’t we promised an owlbear?”

"The sound of chains and snarls made us think it would be here," Auriel says, making a swift cut through the air with the halberd to flick the blood off its blade. "Since it isn't, I can only assume it's outside—perhaps beyond the circle of tents we saw earlier. Which is a problem, of course, since we'd have to get past the dozen kobolds guarding Jeralla's tent to get to open the cage."

Hex stows away her bow and scratches the back of her head. "Well lesson learned - don't make plans on half baked assumptions, I suppose." She begins walking around the cavern, picking up any salvagable arrows she can find while searching the area for anything interesting. "Let's take a quick look around... then, I guess we head back up to that cliffside like Auriel suggested before?"

Carl looks at his scratches from the weasel, feeling woozy from the pain.  “Righ.  Guess that’s the way to go.  Don’t count your owlbears before they’ve hatched…”.  He makes ready to follow,  urging Squirt to walk with them.

OOC: Wouldn't it be something if that attack hadn't killed the giant weasel? (Theoretically possible for it to have had that much health but unlikely)

Each character has earned 50 XP for dispatching the kobolds and weasels within this room.

Area Description:

The ghastly stench remains within this cavern. At the back of the cavern, a darkened passageway leads off into the rock (the tunnel you entered from). A patch of striped toadstools grows near the back of the cave, and the cave mouth exits to the cliffside ahead.

OOC: A hazard of PbP. You don't want to look silly for posting an attack that is completely unnecessary.

Hildigrim lifts the good arrow to eye level, nodding in satisfaction before slipping it back into his quiver. The broken one he leaves behind with a frown, as if personally offended by its failure. At Carl’s joke, his brow furrows in confusion — then, as understanding dawns, his face lights up and he chuckles, the sound soft and breathy like a kettle releasing pressure.

Still smiling, he begins in that precise, know-it-all tone that means he’s about to drop some unsolicited trivia. “You know, there’s always been debate about how owlbears come into the world. Some say they're the result of a deranged wizard’s attempt to splice a bear and a giant owl — which I’ll admit has some merit given their temperament. But more recent field reports suggest they reproduce quite naturally. Lay eggs, you see. Massive things. About the size of a halfling’s torso. Covered in this pale downy fuzz that smells like wet leaves.” He glances around to make sure someone’s listening. Catching up to the group, he continues, “The mothers are fiercely protective. Territorial. And if the eggs are threatened, they don’t just attack — they remember. There was a case in Baldur’s Gate — long story, but it ended with a roofless tavern and three frightened nobles hiding in barrels.” He sighs wistfully. “Magnificent creatures, really.”

Hex makes her way to the toadstools and crouches down near them. She pulls out an arrow and pokes at it lightly. She's only half listening to Hildigrim's trivia, more focused on trying to identify the toadstool.

The toadstools are large enough to make a meal out of, but Hex has never seen their ilk before, and is unable to identify the striping.

Seeing Hex poking at a toadstool, Hildigrim joins her to try to identify the fungus.

Unable to identify them, she turns her attention to the rest of the group. "Anyone recognise these? Might not be anything but I don't know... They might be something useful?" As Hildigrim approaches, she scoochs over a bit to give him some space.

Auriel finds himself disliking this place—and its inhabitants—more and more with each passing moment. The fight they just endured had been unnecessary, serving only to drain their strength further. With most of his healing power spent, he can't help but worry about what else they'll have to face before they can finally leave this cursed place behind. That concern shows plainly on his face as his brow furrows deeply.

He doesn't pay much attention to what Hildigrim is saying at first, lost in his thoughts. But something in the halfling's tone eventually cuts through the noise in his head, pulling him back. "Wouldn't mind hearing more of that story," he says, referring to the roofless inn and the hiding nobles. Perhaps on the way back, Hildigrim will be willing to elaborate.

The Eladrin, in his Summer mood, looks visibly impatient while Hex and Hildigrim investigate the toadstools, though he still glances over at the fungi—just in case he recognizes them.

Carl takes notice of Hildigrim, looking on with interest in his story.  “Well I’ll be… didna know that.  Have ta agree with yer there..”.   He would definitely like to hear more of the story as well, but he has no interest in the toadstools, saying “Not to be a downer or nuthin, but I think the faster we move in this matter, the better.  The two headed winged pain in the arse is probably making something go wrong right now, I think we need to keep moving.”

Skill Checks:

Auriel Nature: 13
Hildigrim Nature: 16

For Auriel:

For Hildigrim:

Hex realises Auriel and Carl's impatentice and gives them an apologetic look. "Yeah, you're right, sorry. I thought these might have something to do with the weird mutations the kobolds went through. I'll check out this cliffside here, might be a better place to get a look at what's going down in the camp."

She readjusts her hood and makes her way to the cliffside, peaking out to see if anyone or thing was out there first before stepping out the cavern and trying to get a glimpse of anything happening below them.

Hildigrim makes a pleased, humming noise in his throat — the sort one might make after tasting something unexpectedly delicious. “Ah, I recognize these beauties. Can’t quite recall the exact name, but see those stripes along the cap? That’s the giveaway. These are highly poisonous. Chewing on one of these could bring you to death’s doorstep before you even taste regret.”

He pats his cloak and digs through a few pockets, then glances up, eyes bright. “Anyone have an empty pouch? We should take a few. Just in case.”

Auriel tears a strip from his gray cloak and holds it out to Hildigrim, offering him a place to set a few of the toadstools. Once they're arranged, he wraps them carefully in the cloth, stores it in his backpack and sets off after Hex.

OOC: Added 3 striped toadstools to Auriel's inventory.

Hex moves toward the opening leading outside to the cliffs, with Auriel following a short distance behind. From inside of the cave, little can be seen but the drab gray of the foggy environment.

A dark figure emerges from cover outside of the cave's entrance, suddenly directly in front of Hex. Looking little more than a shadow, its skin is wet from pitch. It wears an iron helmet hammered into the shape of a dragon skull and wields a rusty axe. Tusks rise from its pig-like jaw. 

"For the Scaled Lords," it snarls, and leaps forward.

Behind it, five other orcs rush into the cave with similar garb, greataxes, and javelins.

Initiative:

Party: 11.5
Orcs: 10.5

Round 1 Order:
Players <=====
Orcs

Placement:
Hex and Auriel are within movement range of the orcs.
Carlthuzad and Hildigrim are 40 feet away from the orcs.

Tracking:
Hex is wounded.
Auriel is lightly wounded.
Carlthuzad is lightly wounded.
Hildigrim is lightly wounded.

"Hainard's hairy toes," Hildigrim curses under his breath. He plants his feet, readies his bow, and fires an arrow at the closest orc.

Attack: 23; damage: 7

1 arrow used