Crossed Paths, Part II

Octar slips between two gnolls, hoping to hack the back of one of the Gnolls surrounding Brioc, hoping to give him some breathing room.

I'll be 2 squares south of Brioc.

Thinking about recent events Tullius starts just as he begins his charge.This is no magic user, perhaps the hissing of the dart was due to poison. I must remain cautious.

"Ehldannis, artium magister* any help you could provide would be most appreciated at the moment. This Gnoll looks to be a tough nut to crack!"

Tullius then starts chanting in an earthy tone of voice.

OOC: Sorry, but I just realized this guy's not a caster at all I'm going to cast Summon nature's Ally I, Wolf and have it attack the bodyguard Gnoll.

*Master of arts

~Dhormium takes a brief glance and realizes that the gnolls are starting to loose their grip on the situation. A wide broad grin starts to appear on his face, he already know what is about the happen. …Those gnolls are going to have a big problem…taking some extra care and effort to complete the divination.~

“Grant this cleric the size he needs to convince these beasts of Your power”



Ooc: casting enlarge person on myself, concentration check= 15.
another ooc: WHOAH 100 posts! drinks around the house!

Round 7
Marcus leaps upon the stairs & crosses to the other side to aid Mendicus (balance check DC=5). He manages to flank the gnoll, and sinks his blade in to the hilt in a gap in its armor. (9 pts dmg) It dies. "Thank you, my friend" nods Mendicus.

Round 8
Elhdannis completes his invocation, and the two gnolls battling Brioc's wolf drop to the ground. Ehldannis still has a round 8 action. The black wolf leaps at the gnoll, but is shoved aside by its halbert.

Tullius, in a moment's repreive, begins casting a spell.

Octar steps around the gnolls, and slices his blade into one of Brioc's opponents. (6 pts)

Dhormium begins a spell.

The gnoll to the East slashes down its halbert at Elhdannis' wolf, but can't connect to its wily oponent. Behind it, the black-robed gnoll again mutters and twists his hands, and another mauve bolt shoots out towards Tullius. This one hits, and the bolt of acid slips through the rings of his chain shirt, eating into his flesh like the bites of a hundred ants. (4 pts dmg) Tullius is able to retain his concentration.

In the west, the black uniformed gnoll drops his bow and pulls forth a large flail with both hands. Stepping forward 5 feet, he swings this at Brioc's wolf, missing. The other gnolls strike out at their opponents, one strikes the earth elemental. Octar's opponent steps back to keep the roman away from his back and his sword deflects off Octar's sheild. Meanwhile, Octar's former opponents again double-team Brioc, striking him with morningstar and greatsword. (13 pts)

Marcus, seeing Mendicus is safe for the moment, decides the greater threat lies to the east. Hussling up the stairs two at a time, he reaches the gnoll battling the wolf. He thrusts with his great sword, but is forced to step back by the swinging halbert.

Brioc's wolf snarls and leaps at his new opponent, catching his left wrist in his jaws and jerking him to the ground. Brioc swings at his injured opponent, but his scimitar deflects off the gnoll's sheild. Mendicus moves forward to support his outnumbered master, but his sword swing is ineffective.

[end round 8]

These Gnolls are highly motivated, we've killed half their number without suffering one casualty ourselves, yet they keep fighting. We must be close to something important. Perhaps Mantriculus is near?

"Let's finish this!" Tullius shouts. "Eventus stultorum magister*." Tullius advances towards the strange Gnoll, letting his and Ehldannis' wolf take care of the bodyguard. "You and me now, I will make your entrails munus Apolline dignum**."


*Fools must be taught by experience
**A gift worthy of the acceptance of Apollo

OOC: Move towards the strange Gnoll, who apparently IS a spellcaster, darn you Manzanita and remove his entrails from his body as an offering to Apollo.

Ooc: I assume when it’s my initiative I am enlarged and I will post accordingly.



~There he stands enlarged and tall, proud to be a cleric of Clangeddin, and about to inflict some serious blows with his battleaxe. Making a small step so that the gnoll attacking Brioc now is within his reach and giving Brioc some room to step back if he wants, he raises his axe high and swings it at his small, puny and insignificant opponent.~

“hyena dogs, suffer my blade! Spill your blood and accept your faith, Clangeddin demands your death”

~After swinging with the intent to just cut his opponent in two Dhormium keeps the gnolls at bay, swinging his battleaxe and shield dangerously around him. And so leaving a small but intentional gap in his defence, to lure them in closer and into a more preferable range to learn them a hopefully fatal lesson about what happens when you fail to notice a heavy battleaxe that’s going straight for the chest~



Ooc: 5”step to the square under g15, attack g17. I’m trying to ‘abuse’ my new reach, so keeping the gnolls at 10”, messing them up when they move to attack me or any other gnoll foolish enough to make that mistake.

Octar presses the attack on those hounding Brioc.

Manzanita said:

Marcus, seeing Mendicus is safe for the moment, decides the greater threat lies to the east. Hussling up the stairs two at a time, he reaches the gnoll battling the wolf. He thrusts with his great sword, but is forced to step back by the swinging halbert.

Click to expand...

Whoa! I'm invisible! Sneak attack the caster!

BTW, I presume that you mean 'his sword which is great', rather than 'his greatsword', which is really short

Meanwhile back in the real world ... Marcus presses G22, his sword flickering in the pale unearthly light as he attempts to draw out the gnoll and expose him to the wolfs attack*. If the wolf can take the gnoll down with its trip the way will be clear to the spellcaster.

ooc: Aid Another - Attk vs AC10 to give the wolf a +2 bonus to its attack.

gnoll smackdown

Great sword, short sword...one of my more minor typos.

NPCing Ehldannis for now.

Ehldannis puts down his lantern carefully on the stairs beside him, pointing slightly South of Brioc, to give as much light as possible. Then he pulls his bow off his shoulder and prepares to fire.

Round 9
Ehldannis, seeing no clear targets to the west, turns to the east. Although the gnolls have retreated far enough from Octar's dagger to be only slightly visible to the humans, Elhdannis can still see them well. He fires an arrow at the black-robed one. The shot is unerring, burrying the arrow in the gnolls chest (crit, 13 pts). Ehldannis' second black wolf, rears back to spring again at the gnolls, but suddenly disapears into the sulferous smoke from whence it came.

Octar slashes at his opponent, trying to give Brioc a breather, but can't sink in his blade. Dhormium finishes his incantation, and suddenly doubles in size. The 8 foot tall dwarf then steps forward, swinging his huge axe at the unfortunate gnoll already engaged with Octar, but also misses.

The gnoll sorcerer takes a step back, into the deeper darkness. Tullius can barely make him out in his black robes. But his general location is clear as another mauve bolt emerges from the gloom, again striking and sinking through the gaps in the chain links. The acid burns the Ranger's flesh again, and the prior acid splash is still burning, bringing intense pain. (and 12 pts dmg). The gnoll guard brings his halbert down on Tullius' wolf, but the quick beast is too close for the large weapon to be effective.

In the west, the gnoll archer rolls to his feet. Brioc's wolf snaps at him as he does so. The gnoll then brings around his mighty flail, again missing the lithe animal. THe northernmost gnoll shifts to keep Mendicus off his flank, and strikes out at him, sending his sprawling to ground in a splash of blood. Another swings at Brioc, missing. His earth elemental is also missed. Octar is struck by a morningstar, and staggered somewhat (8 pts).

Marcus shouts and feints at the gnoll to draw its attention and give the wolf an opening. Brioc strikes down his opponent, and his earth elemental strikes a solid blow to its. Brioc's wolf leaps again, but its teeth slide off the gnoll's armor.

Round 10
Ehldannis shifts targets again, this time shooting at Mendicus' opponent, and his arrow deflects off the gnoll, with only minor damage.

Tullius advances after the sorcerer, this time closing enough to use both weapons, and cuts the creature down. His wolf, catches the gnoll's arm in his teeth and pulls him to the ground, then disappears from whence he came, leaving the gnoll surprised and prone.

Octar, angered by his recent impotence in the combat, finds renewed strength, and cuts down his opponet (g17)

Dhormium shifts his attention north to Mendicus's opponent(g20), catching him from the flank, and splitting his skull.

The last eastern gnoll struggles to its feet, allowing Marcus the opportunity to sink his blade in deep, killing it.

The gnoll fighting the earth elemental, seeing the writing on the wall, attempts to flee, but is cut down by Octar as he passes.

The last gnoll, wholy involved in his combat against Brioc's wolf, continues to fight, finally knocking the wolf to the ground.

He then becomes the target of Ehldannis' next arrow, which misses.

[everyone else's turn in round 10]

OOC: Ehm, why did my wolf dissapear? It should have been there for 4 rounds.

Tullius snarls at the downed Gnoll sorcerer. "pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas regumque turres*."

Seeing the combat is about finished Tullius bends down over the corpse of the fallen sorcerer and slits his belly to remove the entrails. He then lights a fire and throws the entrails into the fire, muttering a prayer to Apollo. "My thanks for the victory oh mighty Sun God, may these entrails grease the wheels of your mighty chariot as it ascends the morning skies."

"Good work everyone! The Gods were with us and we honored them by fighting bravely and holding the line. We should be proud of ourselves for this day. I am proud of fighting alongside of each and every one of you."

*Pale Death, with impartial foot, knocks at the cottages of the poor and the palaces of kings.

OOC: I'm just going to ignore the last Gnoll, confident that the rest will finish it off. And will proceed calmly with my ritual. If it should have the gall to attack me I'll smite it for it's impudence