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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 9797886" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 22Vinx examined her new sword with a critical eye. It was a looted goblin blade, and so it was crap. She pinged the steel with her thumbnail and sighed. She’d found a dozen good stones for her sling on the way here; it was probably best that she stuck with that in the upcoming confrontation. The thought of going toe-to-toe with that human bruiser that the other side had with them made her shudder.A soft crunch drew her attention up, atop the massive boulder that served as their watch post. The halfling was seated up there, eating an apple as if they were out on a picnic instead of waiting to kill some people. She wished she could be as calm as he was; her whole body felt like it itched, and her bowels were twisting as if trying to escape her body. Though maybe that was the stew the bandits had served in their camp.She looked over at the pale bandit. The boy had said barely five words since they’d parted ways with Pral and the other bandits. Though she had a feeling that the bandit lord didn’t want him around any more than she did. The man had an eerie quality to him; she occasionally caught him staring into space in a way that wasn’t entirely right.She sighed again and turned to clamber up the rock. She was a good climber, so it only took a few moments to reach the perch where Jacko was seated. He had finished his apple, but she noticed that instead of tossing it aside he put the core carefully into his pouch. Smart, that one. Not a man to turn his back on, despite his size. He’d put on a pair of goggles, narrow crystal lenses set in a silver frame shaped a bit like a bird’s face, but he left them up over his forehead for now. She assumed they were something to help him see over long distances. Her hands itched to examine them, but she was smart too, smart enough to know not to get on this halfling’s bad side.Of course, if something were to happen to him during the fight…“See anything?” she asked.“If I had, you would be the first to know,” he said.She looked past him, through the gap in the trees through which a long sliver of the trail was visible. Anyone coming in this direction would have to come that way, unless they elected to cut through the forest, which had its own dangers. She assumed that Pral’s informant had taken that option into account; in any case it wasn’t her concern.“So,” she said. “You kill people for money?”“That’s right,” he said without looking up.“There a lot of money in that?” she asked.“I get by,” he said.“Who’s the toughest guy you’ve ever killed?”At that his eyes flicked up to her, just for a moment. “Well, there was this one dwarf…”He trailed off, his demeanor instantly changing as he focused his attention on the distant road. Vinx could see them too, the foursome just emerging from the shadow of the trees, a long bow-shot off. Even that far away it was impossible to miss the differing heights of the four travelers, which identified them as clearly as any marker.Still, she asked, “Is that them?”The halfling didn’t immediately respond. He’d lowered his goggles over his eyes, and was staring through them. She looked over and saw that his jaw had clenched, and a slight tremor passed through him; it was the most emotion she’d ever seen him display. “What’s the matter?” she asked.He reached up and pulled off the goggle-mask. “I’m out,” he said.She stared after him as he got up and hopped down from the boulder, coming down on the side away from the road and their marks. “Wait!” she hissed, hurrying after him. “What are you talking about?”She caught up to him as he dropped the last six feet, landing lightly on the mossy ground. He tossed Pral’s bag of coins at her as she dropped to the ground next to him, and laid the magical pole on a rock nearby. “Give these back to him.”“What? Why?” she asked.An exasperated look appeared on his face. “There is not enough time to explain. I will not be taking part in this any longer. Return the coins, or keep them, it’s all the same to me.”“What about Pral? We’re supposed to give the signal when we see them.”The halfling considered a moment, then he placed his fingers to his lips and let out a loud, piercing whistle.Vinx’s jaw dropped. “They’ll hear that!”Jacko ignored her. He turned to leave, but during the exchange Devin had moved up to stand between the halfling and the trail. The human hadn’t reached for his weapon, but the way he stood there was still ominous.If Jacko was worried, it didn’t show; the confrontation seemed to allow him to recover some of his earlier equilibrium. “Step up or step aside, as you prefer,” he said.After a moment, Devin stepped aside.Vinx didn’t realize she’d missed a chance until the halfling was already nearly gone. He turned off the trail after just a few steps, vanishing into the tangled undergrowth.Devin looked at her. Vinx cursed and hurried around the edge of the boulder, careful not to expose herself to anyone watching from the road. But when she got into position to get a mostly-clear view, she was not surprised to find no one in sight.“Damn it,” she said.* * *Pral was checking the fletching on his new arrows when he heard the loud whistle from below. He quickly got up, careful not to silhouette himself against the crest of the ridge where they’d set up their ambush.“Was that the signal?” Mardan asked, nervously fidgeting with his crossbow. He’d been on watch, but Pral quickly confirmed that there was nothing in view, either down on the trail below or in the trees beyond.“I thought they were going to wave or something,” Zara said. She looked intently at Pral; she wasn’t stupid, though she was still wary of the bandit leader after the reaming he’d given both of them after their hasty flight from that clash on the trail. Though inwardly he admitted that if they’d stuck around, both would probably be dead, and he as well.“Just keep quiet, and get ready,” Pral told them. He watched Zara carefully, but the bandit woman just grabbed her bow and made her way to her assigned firing position. The crest of the ridge gave them a perfect firing angle on the road; they’d be able to launch bolts from their crossbows while exposing only a tiny sliver of themselves to fire from below. In order to get to them, the adventurers would need to climb a steep, sixty-foot slope that was almost devoid of cover. And if they hunkered down, seeking cover among the scattered trees and tangled growth on the far side of the trail, they’d be hit by the bandits’ allies creeping up from behind.That was if everything went to plan, of course. The whistle had been unexpected; why would they risk alerting their quarry? Or maybe that was just a signal that someone was coming not related to their target. Not for the first time, Pral regretted that this course had forced him into working with strangers. But he would not—could not!—let the humiliation of that earlier encounter go.Minutes crept on, without the enemy—or anyone else—making an appearance. Pral could feel the eyes of his two surviving cohorts watching him, but he forced himself to present an illusion of calm as he remained crouch, watching the trail as if the sheer intensity of his gaze could make their prey appear. He scanned the trees where the others should be, but there was no sign of them either.This is the perfect spot, he thought. Their foes couldn’t get to them here, and there was an easy escape route down the back of the ridge if things went wrong. Except…He rose to his feet, careful to duck his head so that the motion wouldn’t be visible from below. Mardan started to ask him what was going on, but Pral ignored him. He headed for Zara’s position, where the ridge started to bend back, overlooking a somewhat shallower, boulder-cluttered slope that ascended well back from the road, but where someone creeping up on them might…Even as that thought entered his head, he heard a sizzling hiss. Three bolts of light pulsed through the air, each slamming unerringly into Zara despite the excellent cover offered by the rocks. The last one tore into her chest as she opened her mouth to cry out, and she toppled over, sliding down the reverse slope of the ridge.As he looked in the direction that the magic missiles had come from, Pral could see the dwarf wizard, standing maybe a hundred and twenty feet down the slope. Even as he watched, the dwarf ducked back behind the cover of a small boulder. A moment later, that damned halfling woman emerged from its other side, pointing…Pral threw himself down moments before a streak of light smashed into the rocks where he’d been standing, filling the air with a shower of sparkles and dispersed magical energies. The bandit ignored the pain that jolted through his side at the impact, rolling into a crouch and popping his head up just long enough to get a bead on his target and fire. But his arrow missed as the halfling ducked back into cover. The advantages he’d listed before were now swapped; at this longer range it was almost impossible for him to get a hit, and from this angle both sides would have decent cover.But even as his arrow knifed past the boulder hiding the dwarf and halfling, the human warrior and the elf rose into view behind two more boulders a short distance further up the slope. They ran to the next line of rocks, firing their bows as they came. Neither shot came near Pral, but they would force him to keep his head down.A snap of a crossbow announced the arrival of Mardan, whose shot passed near the onrushing pair, but too late as they ducked behind the rocks. The man’s eyes were wide, and Pral had no doubt that he’d seen what had happened to Zara. The two had had an on again, off again thing, and he’d been badly rattled by what had happened to Gretta before. “We have to get out of here!” he cried.“Hold it,” Pral said, though he shared the man’s sentiment. Movement at the base of the hill drew his eyes, and he turned to see a figure emerge from the trees there. It was the cultist, Devin, who started yelling as he charged up the hill, swinging his sword over his head as he ran.“Our friends are in position,” he said, more for Mardan’s benefit than himself, though he did feel fortified by the sight. “We have the stronger position here, we just need to…”But even as he spoke, a white beam lanced out from behind the boulder that hid the dwarf and halfling. It struck Devin in the chest, and the man staggered. A moment later, a dull, heavy tone echoed over the battlefield, and the cultist clutched his head. He managed one more step before he fell flat on his face.Pral knew what would come next; he held his arrow to his bowstring, and waited. And sure enough, a moment later the human warrior rose up from the cover of the rocks and started forward. Pral shot him in the chest, but the arrow seemed to barely faze him; the head must have been mostly stopped by the heavy mail coat he wore. The bandit snarled and turned to Mardan. “Draw their fire,” he ordered. “I’ll circle around and hit them from behind!”Mardan looked at him in a panic, but Pral was already gone, hurrying down the reverse slope. “Oh man, oh man, oh man,” the bandit said, as he risked a quick look over the crest of the ridge.Pain exploded along the side of his head, and the bandit screamed as he collapsed back into the rocks. He clutched at his face, and drew back his hand to see blood covering his fingers. He could only see out of his left eye; the entire right side of his face felt like it was one fire.“Pral! Help me, Praaaal!”But even in his extremity, Mardan knew that Pral would not be coming back, would not help him. He tried to get up, to run, but all he could focus on was the pain shooting through his skull. After a few moments, he heard movement in the rocks. He looked up to see that big human warrior, Pral’s arrow still jutting from his chest. The man was carrying that huge sword, which he raised as he saw the bandit lying there. Mardan realized that he was still holding his bow, and he quickly threw it away. “I give up!” he yelled. “I surrender!”Game Notes:This one went exactly as I rolled it. I did a group stealth check to see if the party could get close enough to ambush the ambushers without being detected, and the rolls were awesome (lowest was a 12). It was hard for anyone (except Folgar, of course) to score a hit with the range and cover, but Pral could see the writing on the wall. Folgar’s magic missiles did exactly 11 damage to Zara, just enough to take her out. The hit on Greghan did 7 damage (his max hp is up to 24 now); Ravani’s hit on Mardan did 9.We’ll get to what happened with Jacko and Vinx later.</blockquote>

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