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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Drazulfel" data-source="post: 5274356" data-attributes="member: 43826"> <a href="http://draz01keepontheshadowfell.blogspot.com/2010/07/sunday-26th-anyas-528-nr-early.html" target="_blank">Sunday, 26th Anyas, 528 NR, Early Afternoon</a>      After a brief rest, the friends gathered their wits and continued south  along the wagon trail, intent on finding the lair of this "Irontooth,"  and putting an end to the trouble he was causing for the people of  Winterhaven. Eventually, they came to a spot where small glades of trees  led up to a cliffside waterfall, where a stream tumbled from the top of  a rocky overhang. The water descended the side of the hill and flowed  away to the southwest. Gildras called for a halt, and carefully peered  through the wooded area. Several kobolds were visible through the trees,  and the sound of many voices were just audible over the din of the  waterfall.<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4FJjQESU4S8/TE5IIXBhmzI/AAAAAAAAAB0/sqhZIF8ClK4/s1600/Map+-+Kobold+Camp+Outside+-+Web.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4FJjQESU4S8/TE5IIXBhmzI/AAAAAAAAAB0/sqhZIF8ClK4/s320/Map+-+Kobold+Camp+Outside+-+Web.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>Quietly,  Gildras crept forward, due south, careful to avoid detection. Soon,  Paget followed, with Raxil close behind him. The three tiptoed across  the grass, silent as three mice. Not wanting to be left behind, Bakbuk  shrugged and jogged along to catch up with his companions. His armor and  weapons clanged loudly against one another, and the noise echoed across  the forest. The kobolds were instantly on alert. Paget sighed and drew  his daggers, ready for another fight.The halfling rogue cried  out to his friends to work their way upstream, towards the waterfall,  and to be careful not to get surrounded. Quick as a fox, Paget rushed a  lone kobold who was standing guard in a shallow eddy and dispatched it  with a blindingly swift stroke. Two kobolds, previously unseen, ran  through the trees and threw their javelins at Paget. The expertly thrown  weapons eluded leaf, branch and trunk and found their mark, embedding  themselves painfully in the rogue's flesh. Another reptile waded into  the river and launched its weapon, which also hit home. Halfling and  kobold blood mingled, and flowed together swiftly downstream.A  fifth minion, following the cacophony of Bakbuk's approach, caught sight  of Gildras among the trees and launched its javelin. The pointed tip  struck a bough just inches shy of the tiefling's head. Raxil pushed past  the warlord, and spied a Dragonshield standing in the middle of a  glowing, rune-covered stone circle. It was surrounded by a growing crowd  of minions. Having learned from past mistakes, the young wizard made  sure his friends and allies were well clear of the detonation zone  before he launched a Scorching Burst into the circle. One of the minions  managed to elude the flames by ducking behind a tree, but its  counterpart disintegrated into a pile of ash. The dragonshield, wounded  by the burst, snarled in pain and anger. Before it had a chance to  react, Bakbuk came charging out from the treeline, maul raised high. The  armored lizardman deftly stepped aside, and dodged the mighty dwarf's  blow. With his efforts focused on the dragonshield, Bakbuk never saw the  flaming clay pot that struck him from behind. From more than thirty  feet away, the kobold slinger cackled with delight as it watched the  flames spread across the dwarf's shoulder and sides. The creature's  laughter was cut short when Gildras drew his crossbow and fired a bolt  which buried itself deep into the kobold's thigh. The dragonshield tried  to stop the shot with a quick thrust of its short sword, but missed.  However, two more minions leaped to the protection of their master, and  assaulted Gildras with a painful flurry of javelin jabs which left him  bleeding and angered. Still short of melee range, Phoebe tried to take  out the slinger with a Lance of Faith, but her radiant attack dissipated  among the trees, and vanished before reaching its target. Meanwhile, a  lumbering, sword-wielding goblin ambled around the northern corner of  the cliff with three protective minions in tow.Seeing that his  friends failed to heed his warning, and were quickly becoming surrounded  near the center of the secret, sacred circle, Paget recklessly pushed  past several kobolds in an attempt to reach their side and aid in their  plight. His heroic deed cost him dearly, as three more kobold javelins  struck home.4E Meta:  I made a combat error, here. But, looking at the roll results, it  wouldn't have made a difference. Paget has the Artful Dodger feat, which  grants him a +3 bonus to AC against Opportunity Attacks. As a halfling,  he also has Nimble Reaction, which grants an additional +2 bonus to AC  against OA's. I completely forgot about that bonus when the three  kobold's made their OA's against his advance. However, they rolled a 21,  25, and 21 respectively... all enough to overcome Paget's enhanced AC  of 16 + 5. That poor halfling gets no respect!As  Bakbuk waved his arms in a furious motion, attempting to douse the  flames that were quickly heating up his chain armor, the minion that  survived Raxil's fiery assault caught him in the ribs with its tiny  spear. By now, four minions had joined the dragonshield in the circle,  and all seemed to be drawing some kind of energy from the glowing runes.  Recognizing the threat, the young wizard took careful aim and sent  forth another well-placed Scorching Burst. When the flames faded, the  dragonshield and one minion stood alone in the midst of three smoldering  corpses, slightly singed, but otherwise no worse for the wear.DM Note: Okay, wizards are awesome!Grunting  in pain as flames licked the tip of his beard, Bakbuk swung his maul  around in a mighty arc and crushed life out of the remaining minion  against the dragonshield's armored body, knocking the wind out of the  creature and rendering it bloodied. Gildras helped the dwarf douse the  flames as another flaming pot burst on the ground, several feet shy of  the pair. Not eager to find himself aflame, the tiefling dropped his  crossbow, drew his longsword and charged the slinger before it could  load another pot. With a lightning fast Viper's Thrust, Gildras pierced  the creature's torso, causing it to emit a shriek of agony and rage.  Meanwhile, bereft of its companions, the desperate dragonshield attacked  Bakbuk with a fierce volley of sword blows, and managed to bloody the  dwarf. Finally clearing the trees, Phoebe saw another minion coming  across the river towards Paget. Calling out a quick Healing Word to her  halfling friend, the half-elf called upon Bahamut to consume the  unfortunate minion with a glowing Sacred Flame. By this time, the goblin  blackblade had entered the clearing and lunged at Gildras with a sloppy  sword thrust, which the tiefling easily dodged. Additionally, two more  minions crossed the river and rushed into the sacred circle to aid the  dragonshield, and one of them managed to wound Bakbuk with a cunning  jab.Encounter Meta: Sacred  Circle - Old magic runes still glow on the ground in this location. Any  creature standing on the runes or in the center of the circle receives a  +1 bonus to attack rolls.The bodies of dead minions  littered the forest floor, and Paget added one more to the pile with an  upward dagger slash as he jogged into the sacred circle. Seeing no  reason to change his tactics, Raxil fired another carefully placed  Scorching Burst into the midst of the fray. A minion managed to dart out  of the way, and the dragonshield took the brunt of the explosion. Weak  and wounded, the creature blindly thrashed about with its sword and  shield. Bakbuk tried to seize the opportunity to dispatch the kobold,  but a lucky sweep of its shield blocked the killing blow. Several yards  to the east of the main melee, the wounded kobold slinger stepped away  from Gildras, out of the reach of his sword, and flung another pot at  the tiefling's feet. This pot was not on fire, but rather full of a  sticky, viscous fluid that effectively immobilized the warlord.4E Meta: Immobilized characters can pretty much do anything, except move out of their square.Muttering  an Inspiring Word to close some of his wounds, Gildras lashed out at  the goblin, who was still within his reach. His clumsy thrust failed to  connect, but the maneuver helped him to break free of the sticky glue  that had him bound in place. The goblin's pitiful counterattack likewise  missed its mark. The enraged dragonshield and one of his minions  slashed out at Bakbuk, and the fighter knocked aside both attacks.  Phoebe stepped into the circle, blessed the dwarf with a heal, and  toasted one of the two remaining minions with a Lance of Faith.Paget  was badly wounded, and out of range of any immediate threats, so he  took pause to gather his wits and catch a Second Wind. Raxil took  control of the situation and, with a final Scorching Burst, fried both  the dragonshield and its one remaining minion. The battle in the sacred  circle was over, but the goblin blackblade and the slinger remained. The  cowardly and clumsy goblin shoved the kobold towards the companions,  and growled "Hold them off! Irontooth must be warned!" Bakbuk, without  missing a step, met the slinger head on with a monstrous overhead Brute  Strike from his maul, splattering the poor creature to the four winds.4E Meta: (Bakbuk: [GM] [DAMAGE (M)] Brute Strike[6d6+3 = 24]) ... pwnd![/GM][GM]Covered  in kobold blood, the goblin turned and fled towards the waterfall. All  five companions knew that if the greenskin made it inside, the element  of surprise would be lost, and the fight against Irontooth would be that  much harder. Everyone surged forward in a desperate attempt to stop the  creature from passing through the rushing water. Gildras managed to  nick the goblin with a light stab, which only seemed to hasten its  retreat. However, to reach the safety of the cave behind the waterfall,  the goblin would have to pass straight by the readied weapons of  warlord, cleric and grunting dwarven fighter. The creature managed to  knock Phoebe's mace aside, but the tiefling's blade bit deep, and  Bakbuk's maul cracked ribs, and would have knocked the goblin off its  feet if the raging current hadn't held it up.The goblin reached  the waterfall and was beginning to disappear from site. In desperation,  Raxil fired off a pair of magic missiles, which sizzled into the torrent  and fizzled out. Paget whipped a dagger at the greenskin's back, only  to have it knocked out of the air by the rush of water. In a last ditch  heroic attempt to stop the goblin, Bakbuk charged into the waterfall  with his maul in the air. His four friends watched and held their breath  as the dwarf disappeared into the mists. After just a few seconds,  which felt like an eternity, a bloody green body bobbed to the surface  and floated downstream. Bakbuk plodded out from beneath the rushing  water, wrung out his beard, and grunted with a grim smile.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4FJjQESU4S8/TE5ITOOZIhI/AAAAAAAAAB8/N_NA2vNs-KY/s1600/Img+-+Bakbuk.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4FJjQESU4S8/TE5ITOOZIhI/AAAAAAAAAB8/N_NA2vNs-KY/s320/Img+-+Bakbuk.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>BakbukDM Note: Z is out of town for a few days, so the adventure into Irontooth's cave will have to wait until at least next weekend. [/gm]</blockquote>

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