Houwlou is once again thankful for his facial fur, so that his companions cannot see him blush at Aodhán's remark. He holds his head down in shame, and concentrates on his work to strike the camp.
Location: columbia, missouri, u.s. of north america, terra, sol III, Milky way, third demension
Posts: 4,843
"That was not a dream, my friend," says Harnrey over his spell book,"I think that the Gnolls are testing us as to our battle tactics and readieness last night. they only let us know they are there and that thye may or maynot attack.
My Guess is that they are trying to un-nerve us to get us to lose sleep and wear us down. We may need to double our watches, just to give us a faster wake time. What do you all think?" He closes his spell book at this time to look at every one.
"Thank you, Harnrey, for believing me. For a second there, I wasn't even sure if I believed me. Yes, I'm all for doubling the watches." Houwlou looks very thoughtful for a moment and then continues, "But, you know, we can't be letting our Dwarf miss too much of his beauty sleep. Sheesh, he's hard enough to look at as it is!"
renau1g
Sorry, Ry, I couldn't resist! Ok, now I remember what all the 'poor houwlou' stuff was about.
The dwarf looks over angrily at the wolfkin, but then it passes and he pats Houwlou on the shoulder, "Aye, you wouldn't want to see me on a bad day." he says with wink, taking the others ribbing in stride.
Day 20 dawns with promise, but the weather quickly turns sour. Thick gray clouds roll in about an hour after sunrise, and shortly after that the skies open up. Torrential rains pummel the fledgling mercs as they make their way through the mountains toward CrágRi.
You still manage to travel, but nightfall finds you well short of your goal with the rain still coming down. It is possible you could travel through the night and make it to CrágRi well before nightfall but travel in the mountains after nightfall is a very risky proposition.
"I recommend that we stop and make camp here. We don't want to risk going over a precipice in the darkness. The trail here can be tricky to navigate in less than full light. Hmmm, I guess the rain will keep me from getting us any fresh game, too. Looks like a cold camp. Oh, well, beans and hardtack never hurt anyone. Not for one night, at least. On the good side, this nasty weather may keep our 'shadows' the gnolls in shelter and away from us, but, if they do venture out again, the rain will make them doubly hard to detect before they are upon us."
Location: columbia, missouri, u.s. of north america, terra, sol III, Milky way, third demension
Posts: 4,843
"You are a pile of hope and warm fuzzy feelings," says Harn with a grin, "standard watches won't do to night if we are doing doubles. I have cawst no spells so I wont have to study. I can be on any watch. I can also cast magic that allows me to see further in dim light, but we would need some sort of light source to assist me. also it is for a limited duration.
"I can stand during the darkest portion of the night, we dwarves are built for that kind of thing. I agree with the wolfkin, we should bunk here for the night and attempt to cross at first light." Aodhán replies, hoping that Houwlou can find a place to at least partially block some of the rain.
He'll pull out the winter blanket from his pack to help fend off the chill of the night.
Mowgli
I just noticed on OP that there is no section for mundane equipment.
"Isn't there a way to dry some wood using magic? I don't so much mind the dark, though the thought of those gnolls lurking around is a little creepy. I'd just hate to end today or start tomorrow without a good cooked meal."
Seeing Aodhán start to withdraw his blanket in the rain, Houwlou says, "Just a moment, my stubby friend, help me get the tent erected, and you can snuggle yourself where it is dry!"
Location: columbia, missouri, u.s. of north america, terra, sol III, Milky way, third demension
Posts: 4,843
Harn is mumbling and waving his hands about himself as if he is brushing himself off when He hears Kecil. He looks to his own dried clothing and grins guiltily. He then starts gathering wood from around the camp area and sets it in a camp fire pile, prestidigitates the wood untill dri and then says "Xzip-pou" whereupon his finger is now lit with a flame. he then takes to lighting the wood on fire.
Shortly after Harnry dries the wood and gets a fire going the rain - which had been dwindling somewhat over the past half hour - finally stops completely. The night is still dark, the area outside the circle of firelight an inky blackness, but the mercs will sleep (fairly) dry and Kecil will have his wish for a warm meal to end this day and start the next.
This night the excitement comes early, during Aodhán's watch.
OOC
Let's go ahead and get an initiative check for everyone again, along with perception checks all around as well so we're covered if the situation warrants.
Houwlou's initiative is 15; his Perception is 25 (27 for smell/hearing). Additional bonuses apply if gnolls or undead are involved. 1d20+1=15, 1d20+8=25
Aodhán stands watch stoically, some drops piercing the canopy of the tree and splashing on his scale armour. He was thankful to have the protective device on this evening, something didn't feel right, but he wasn't about to wake the others pre-emptively, especially not after his attitude in the morn.
Aodhán’s spent time in the mountains, he’s seen Gnolls before. But the hulking mass of slavering ferocity tearing through the trees toward him is beyond his ken, and has even the tough minded Abhac nearly soiling his armor.
Patience . . . slow and steady . . . wait for the right moment to spring . . . ugh, that doesn’t smell like deer . . . I know that smell . . . that smells like . . . GNOLLS!
Houwlou’s pleasant dream of the hunt is disrupted by a growing awareness of the smell of rotting meat, and he snaps awake and leaps to his feat almost before his mind registers the presence of the Olcán’s most hated enemy.
Nearly twelve feet tall, bulging and bloated with muscle, the beast belts forth a hyena-like cackle as it closes on the armored dwarf. In one of those odd moments of clarity that often come in the thick of battle, Aodhán makes note of the circular patch of thickened, gray scar tissue nestling in the filthy fur in the center of its forehead as it’s canine jaws open wide and it’s thick, arrowhead shaped teeth tear through a seam in the shoulder of his scale mail.
Houwlou just has time to scoop up his sword before he sees what must be the biggest Gnoll in the world barrel out of the trees and tear a chunk out of Aodhán’s shoulder. The creature throws it’s head back and cackles madly, the Abhac’s blood flowing down the sides of it’s jaws.
Harnry wakes to the sound of battle. Sitting up in his bedroll, he’s greeted by the gruesome sights and sounds of his camp under attack. Somewhat befuddled, confused by his sudden waking, he rolls awkwardly to his feet as he struggles to sort out the scene and decide what to do.
"Hoouuuuwloooouuuuu!"
The Wolfkin Ranger’s howl of rage penetrates Keeland’s deep trance. The Áilleacht bounds to his feet and whirls madly, searching for the source of Houwlou’s alarm. Kecil, having wakened only a split second before, is scrambling for his sling.
OOC
The campsite is surrounded by trees (decent sized evergreens at this elevation) so the BAG had cover until it's lack of intelligence and eagerness to fight caused it to charge into battle. I couldn't show all of the trees 'cause the file size got too big so I'll leave them to your imagination.
The gray and black are limits of normal human vision - keep your low-light and darkvision adjustments to this in mind.
Houwlou, Aodhán and Harn act this round, in Initiative order. Keeland and Kecil are surprised and may join the initiative order next round.
Remember in PF you are considered Flat Footed until you act in the combat.
Houwlou grabs his sword and his shield, and rushes out of the tent. Seeing the BAG and Aodhán's distress, he doesn't bother with his armor, but makes straight for the gnoll, Q10, and attacks. (Houwlou's AC=13) (attack +7, dmg +3)
![LoF - A Merc's Life [IC 01]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/iconimages/playing-game/lof-mercs-life-ic-01-a_ltr.gif)
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