As Taka regains consciousness, he looks around, confused. His head is still throbbing from the multiple blows his foes landed with their bone tomahawks. Instinctively, he begins to accelerate his healing, by manipulating nearby waylines. He will offer to help his friends, as well.
Taka asks, "Why didn't they kill us? Surely they know that we will not stop coming after them?"
Taka looks at himself, taking note of the absence of his armor and weapons.
Taka says, "We don't even have knives to cut ourselves some wooden spears. We will need to rely upon our special talents. I agree with Coldtree, we should burn them. Heat is hard to stand against."
Taka will take the time to forage for any rocks, stones, or minerals that could enhance wayline manipulation, especially things like flint, which augment heat attacks.
Both Coldtree and Taka realize that they are not physically injured. The blows only caused enough superficial damage to produce a loss of consciousness. Once awake and moving, any stiffness and residual pain quickly fades.
Seeing as it is about the middle of the night. it is quickly decided to wait until daylight to give pursuit or perform any meaningful search. One thing that is noted, without delay, is that the enemy took their injured with them, indicating to all three men that the enemy would be traveling slower.
Finding the trail in the morning light is easy, for two of the enemy could not walk, and the drag marks would glare at even an amateur explorer. While tracking, Tehn will also divert back and forth hoping to sense something of use. Given the supposed rate of travel of the enemy, the few extra minutes are decidedly affordable, provoking Coldtree to join in, especially in hopes of locating some fire weed.
During the search, no useable stones are located but when it comes to ores, being so close to the mountains, Taka and Tehn come across separate boulders containing a total of 16 ingots worth of lead. Coldtree comes across a boulder containing 7 ingots worth of tin. In a moment worth a malicious grin, Coldtree finds the prize of 7 measures worth of fire weed. T & T both find a large patch of itch weed, which yields 16 measures. Due to the difficulty of collecting the itch weed without personal injury, only one measure each is taken.
As it becomes obvious that the enemy will shortly be overtaken, Tehn addresses the others. "We need a better plan to go at these fellows. Any ideas?"
Coldtree smiles and T&T can practically feel malicious intent emanating from him. He says, "They still have their injured, correct? I will use my power to set the blankets of the wounded on fire. When the others rush to put the fires out, we attack. We should focus our attention on one enemy at a time to grant an outnumber bonus."
Taka says, "No, we should not go to them; we should make them come to us. And I volunteer to be the bait. We will approach their camp unseen, and take up ambush positions. I will expose myself, and openly challenge them. They will not be able to resist rushing me. And when they get close enough, we strike. What say all of you?"
Use these rolls for whatever you need, in whichever order is convenient.
76, 88, (96+64), 89, 62, (93+74)
Tehn waves his hands in a gesture of hold on a second. "Coldtree has been able to bend waylines at a distance since we fought those malevolent birds. I say we do both. Let him light one up and then you expose yourself. When they rush you, we rush back, triple teaming them one at a time as long as we can to keep the advantage of numbers. It is what they did to us to take us out before. We need to turn those tables."
The sun has just dipped behind the near mountain, but the light has not near faded for the day. The enemy, it seems, has stopped early. They are enjoying themselves in some self-induced festivity. The captured women are participating with them. None of the enemy remains incapacitated. It is estimated that a day and a half may have passed since the previous conflict. Two of the enemy is still exhibiting signs of serious injury, for they are not really participating in the celebration.
It proves to be of little difficulty to close within 15 strides for Coldtree to affect one of them. Having to alter his plan slightly, he grips a handful of fire weed, nods to Tehn, and ignites the loincloth of the one who appears most injured. Tehn does the same thing to the other injured man. As the men scream, Taka hollers to get the attention of the others. The party is immediately over, as the men scream back in their unknown language. The women stare in amazement.
The uninjured enemy reacts faster than expected but it appears that the combatants will require 3 seconds of time to close the gap between them, causing all three adventurers to realize that they can assault two each of the enemy before melee ensues.
Bending + various collegiate + d100 Coldtree: 19 + 32 x 2(fire weed) = 83 + 150 = 233 x 2 Taka: 22 + 23 x 2(fire weed) = 68 + 88 = 156 x 2 Lunnaya: 30 + 22 x 2(itch/fire weed) = 74 + 124 = 198
Despite the augmentation of the fire weed, an impressive stroke of luck allows the men to resist being heated by Taka. Coldtree, however, severely injures two, while Tehn hurts the other two. Due to the sudden injury, it is one of the men Tehn affected who finds himself facing three opponents, first.
The man defends himself impressively well, especially for being hurt, but three on one is fatal, even when he is the only one with a weapon. As the other three men engage to a fury of heat and a reacquired sword, they know their deaths are certain. They being to sing a strange song as their lives are quickly ended. The adrenaline rush from the quickness of the new assault combined with the memory of the previous failure, leaves a pounding in everyones heads for a few more seconds.
The women stare at the scene as if struck with paralysis.
OOC:
All characters receive 3 DP. All fire weed was expended.
Once it is determined that the battle is over, Coldtree will hold up his hands to show no animosity towards the women. He says, in Hebrian, "There is no need for further violence. We are the Dragon Way Adventuring Company, and we were hired to put an end to these villains and return you to Midway."
Taka says, in Hebrian, "These men were brave warriors. I was honored to be able to fight them again. My friend speaks the truth; we are not here to harm you. We are here to escort you safely back to town. But I am confused about what I saw. You were celebrating with these men. Was this of your own, free will? Or were you simply trying to avoid being mistreated? Sit with us a moment, and gather your wits; we would be honored if you would tell us the tale of your captivity."
During the pause before the conversation begins, many thoughts come to Taka's mind: ~I felt helpless without my sword, but my talent with waylines is growing. I should return to the ways of my youth; there was a time when I preferred the use of my hands. Perhaps I should return to that way of being? You cannot disarm an unarmed man. And waylines can be manipulated to harden the body and sharpen the mind. I have strayed from my original path for far too long. When I get back to town, I am going to sell my sword, and give the pick handle back to the smith. It is time to turn my BODY into my greatest weapon.~
Once it is determined that the battle is over, Coldtree will hold up his hands to show no animosity towards the women. He says, in Hebrian, "... We are the Dragon Way Adventuring Company... return you to Midway."
One woman, the eldest in appearance, yells back, "Do you always holler at others from such a distance?"
She answers none of the questions and asks nothing further. She speaks some quiet words to the other five woman, who retrieve their discarded sandals and shirts. The woman who spoke does the same.
