(Casual D&D IV) A Knight for a Pawn

Raven pokes through his memory, but can't come up with any particular details about this band of scarf-wearers or about this region in general. Based on observation, however, these cliffs are littered with caves, most likely the shallow sort that lead to nowhere, and such places are often home to groups of men who have (or believe they have) something to hide from.

It's slow progess across the rocky path, although your horses don't seem truly troubled save for a few spots here and there. Oliver keeps his eyes up; for much of the day, there isn't much of interest to be seen but the passing of distant ships on the water, a credit to the old eyes that they're seen at all. If there are other watchmen along this road, they are well-concealed.

As the sun runs close to the place where it will set, Oliver notices something else: A brief flash like lightning among the clouds about a hundred yards out over the water. But this is not lightning: There is no bolt, no thunder, just a flash... and birds. Large ones, very large ones, and they are coming quickly closer. There are four of them, one of them larger than the other three, and for a moment it seems like there are eight huddled together in a pack... but no, it's the wings that gave that impression. They each have four wings.

(Note that you're about twenty yards from the water's edge, so they're about 360 feet away at the time they appear.)

Xiao Yu, male human stranger.

Xiao bounces his way cheerfully down the rocky path. He likes his new scarf, it goes nicely with the darker tones of his robes. And it keeps his neck warm. Why had no one thought of this back home. I will introduce it. And become rich. And famous. I will keep the fame but give away the rich. Which will make me more famous. Everyone likes a generous rich man.

Xiao shifts his grip on his staff when his attention is drawn to the birds.

"They are big. Are they danger?" he asks no one in particular.

[ooc: spot 21, listen 23]

Nurthk looks up when attention is brought to the avian silhouettes.

"I don't like the look of those one bit," he says, and looks around for some caves or densely packed tress, "They have the advantage, we need to force them onto the ground if we want to take them."

"DOWN, DOWN"
Raven curses, and jumps of his horse. He looks around for a nearby cavemouth, or a large rock to get some cover.
He strings his bow and nocks an arrow, ready to draw and fire at the least sign of hostility.

Cylantro : Female Human

The young woman gets a smirk on her face as she hears the remark of grounding them. "I can try and bring one or two down." She looks at the creatures and tries to judge distance between them. Meanwhile, Ginger shifts uneasily upon her perch in front of her mistress and Oregano stands in place at the moment.

"An excellent proposal, Cylantro," Nurthk responded, "Although I'd advise waiting for visual confirmation on what they are before we counter."

Nurthk takes his bow in hand, and looks around once more for a place for the party to take cover in.

As you ready, the birds continue their approach, twisting through the air like serpents in the sky, their orange feathers catching the light of the setting sun. As they approach, both their distance and size become clearer: Three have wingspans varying from fifteen to twenty feet, while the larger fourth stretches at least thirty feet from wing to wing, and about twenty from beak to tail.

By the time Oliver's alert has been heard by all and weapons and so forth have been ready, they are about two hundred and forty feet away.

Nurthk: As far as cover is concerned, there are some clefts running along the cliffs, though a climb down them could be risky. The is some concealment available from the brush around the path, but nothing that would give real defense.

(Which puts them just off the edge of the attached map. Oh, and roll for some initiative.)

Cylantro : Female Human

Cylantro pulls out several scrolls and a wand from her backpack. Then she readies herself for combat, mentally going through her tentative plans.

OOC: Initiative 20

Raven puts his back against the rockface and gets ready to fire at the creatures whenever they appear to attack someone from the party.

He searches his memory, desperately trying to figure out what kind of critters these beasties are.

OOC :
Init : woohoo 24
Knowledge : nature : 12
(move to J,K or L 7, to have some way of not being attacked from behind or above, and having a clear shot at the beasties, and readying an action for to fire whenever they try to attack a member of the party. If they should be undead, I have a bonus... )

Fendric clutches his holy symbol and invokes a Blessing over the people within the spell's radius.

Hiritus readies himself atop Justice to swing at whichever of the large birds comes within his range.

Hiritus: Init 17 - Attack (MW longsword) +10/+5 d8+2 (19-20/x2)
Fendric: Init 3 - Attack (Light Flail) +6 d8+1 (x2)

Fendric's Bless will begin at his turn when we go to initiative time, and give +1 to attacks and saves against fear for seven minutes afterward, to everyone in the party (within 50' of Fendric, which should be everybody).