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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 9832981" data-attributes="member: 143">Chapter 38Leana was at Ravani’s side in moments. “Take it easy,” she said, helping the injured elf to a heap of animal furs that apparently served as beds for the cave’s inhabitants. She examined the deep wound, careful not to touch the arrow sticking out of his belly. “I can get this out, but you’re going to need more than bandages and disinfectant,” she said. “I think you should drink the potion.”“Shouldn’t we save that?” Ravani gasped out.“Lad, you’re about to bleed out, and I have a feeling those two that left will be back soon with friends,” Folgar said. With the aid of a tiny knife from his healer’s kit the wizard removed his own arrow, and began wrapping a bandage around the wound.“Fine, fine,” Ravani said, digging the glass vial from his pouch. He uncorked it but waited for Leana to finish her preparations.“This will hurt,” she told him. “Sorry.”“Go ahead,” the elf said, “I can… ooohhh, gods below, Lee, what are you… gaahh!”“I’m sorry, it’s caught… damned barbed heads…”“G-man!” Ravani shouted. “What’s behind the door?”“I, ah…”Ravani’s eyes bulged as Leana continued her efforts, the halfling’s body thankfully concealing the bloody work from view. “Distract… me!” he urged.“There’s a small room, with stairs leading down,” Greghan said. “There’s a log or something sitting at the top.”“A… log!” Ravani cried, tears pouring from his eyes before Leana quickly popped back. Done!” she said. Ravani quickly chugged the potion. Folgar leaned in to observe. “Hmm, I wonder if a perforated stomach interferes with the absorption of the curative,” he said.“Those things are pretty much foolproof,” Leana said, giving the bloody arrowhead a sour look before tossing it aside. “You could pour it into a wound and it would be about as effective.”“Thanks,” Ravani gasped, as the potion took effect. He tried to get up, but desisted when Leana pushed him back down. “Give it a moment to work,” she said. “A basic potion like that might not be enough to fully heal a wound of that magnitude.”“We might not have a moment,” Ravani said. But he allowed Folgar to check him, loosening the straps on his leather armor enough for the dwarf to examine the wound. The wizard clicked his tongue and reached for his satchel of powders and poultices. “That log… sounds like a trap,” Ravani said as his friend went to work. “Would be a shame not to put it to use.”* * *They came in silence, without light, moving through the darkness as if they had been born to it. As they reached the stairs, the goblins spread out to flank the route, cowering behind cover with arrows fitted to their tiny bows. They chittered softly amongst themselves, disturbing the quiet with their needless chatter. The two bugbears did not say anything; such was to be expected from their little cousins. Later, if they lived, would be the time for remonstration and penalties.The pair started up the steps. The log trap was in position, not having been triggered. The intruders must have come from the secret door leading to the minotaur’s lair; that marked them as dangerous even before the frantic report from Gargle and Yams about the nature of the foe. Neither bugbear held any illusions about their brother Mragkak’s fate, but they were children of Hruggek, hunters born, and they would avenge their brother, for that was the Way.The bugbears slowly slid up the staircase, shoulder to shoulder, each with a hammer in hand, ready to bash or throw as needed. They reached the first landing, where the one on the right—his name was Morog—hesitated. His brother, Dorog, looked over, voicelessly inquiring about what the other had detected. Both held utterly still, their tall, broad ears drinking in every sound. But nothing stirred, save for their restless companions behind them.Morog finally nodded, and stepped forward again.Suddenly, a figure slid out from the cover at the top of the stairwell. It was an elf, an arrow drawn to his cheek, the string snapping even as the two bugbears recognized the threat. The arrow plunged into Dorog’s shoulder, piercing through his armor of layered hides and leather, inflicting a painful but not debilitating wound.A moment later, there was a snap of leather throngs being cut, and the log began to rumble forward. The bugbears reacted quickly; Dorog sprang up and was only lightly clipped by the log as it tumbled wildly down the stairs. Morog tried to duck under it, a strategy that proved to be a mistake as the log slammed down hard onto his back and knocked him prone on the landing. The log kept on going, shooting past the base of the steps and colliding heavily with the wall beyond. The goblins’ caution proved well-founded, as none of them were struck. As the log clattered to a stop, a light erupted at the top of the stairs, bright enough that Morog lifted a hand reflexively to shield it from the glow.Dorog didn’t wait for his companion; he charged up the stairs, focused on the elf archer. The cowardly bastard tried to dart away, but the bugbear lunged and snapped a meaty arm around his neck, drawing him close. Morog started to get up but paused as bowstrings snapped over his head; the goblins were finally joining the fray. As he rose he saw that a dwarf had joined the elf, stumbling back from the other side of the stairs with two arrows stuck in his coat. The goblins’ wild accounts were proven in at least one particular as the dwarf pointed and blasted a white beam across Dorog’s back, drawing a hiss of pain. Morog advanced up the stairs, cursing the trap that had delayed him coming to his brother’s aid.The delay was proving a costly one, as the elf’s friends tore into Dorog. A human warrior stepped into view, silhouetted in the light, armed with the largest sword that Morog had ever seen. He drove the weapon into Dorog’s side repeatedly, even as the bugbear tried to twist and dodge to insert his captive into the weapon’s path. But the elf was using the distraction to good effect; he had slid a brightly glimmering sword from its scabbard at his hip. Morog’s shouted warning came too late as the furless bastard reversed the weapon and thrust it up under his brother’s jaw. Dorog went limp, the elf stumbling clear as Morog roared and rushed forward.The elf was fast enough and smart enough to get behind the warrior, but Morog didn’t hesitate; he launched himself at the human, swinging his hammer with all his might. The blow landed, crunching into the layered plates covering the man’s hip. He grunted with pain, indicating that at least some of it had gotten through the armor, but he refused to go down. He planted his feet and swept his sword up between them. The angle was awkward in the close quarters, but Morog felt a searing pain as the razor-sharp edge of the sword carved deep into his chest. The final foe, a halfling woman, stepped up behind the human and touched him on the back, likely healing him.Morog knew two things; the goblins wouldn’t be coming to his aid, and he was going to share his brothers’ fate if he remained up here. Even as the thought formed he felt another stab of pain as the elf shot him in the side, having recovered his bow. The bugbear, instead of falling back, lunged to the side, narrowly avoiding a white beam that drew a line of frost along the adjacent wall. The human predictably shifted to match him, but Morog instantly reversed himself and seized hold of the man in a tight grip around his right shoulder. The bugbear turned and force-marched his foe down the stairs, using their own weight to propel them away from the melee.“Shoot this bastard!” Morog yelled as the two charged pell-mell down the stairs. At least one goblin obeyed, darting out from his cover to shoot, but the arrow shattered on the human’s breastplate. The human tried to pull himself free but failed, as Morog kept pressure on the arm-lock. The bugbear shifted his weight, intending to hurl the human to the ground at the base of the stairs, right in front of the goblins, but even as he began the maneuver he heard the thrum of a bowstring, followed by an explosion of pain in his back. The last thing he saw was the human tearing free as Morog was the one propelled forward, the ground rushing up to greet him even as the darkness swelled and enveloped him.Game Notes:I did a party Stealth check for the ambush, and rolled really well; Ravani got a natural 20 and Greghan managed a 14 even with the Disadvantage from his armor. The surprise mechanic is much more forgiving in 5e 2024, which works both ways, I suppose, as a party that got ambushed in the earlier ruleset could quickly find itself in a world of hurt with no way to strike back until the second round of combat. But it was useful here for the Heroes, as the bugbears could have easily avoided the log trap if they’d won initiative.</blockquote>

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