Vairar follows the group over the barrier, climbing over the table and coming behind Lunn to attack the archer. The magic in his attack hurts and promises even more hurt if the archer tries to move away from the barbarian.
Escella Bok
AC 14; HP 24/33; HD 1/1d8 2/5d6 PP18 SSdc 13 Slots 3/4 1/3 1/2 SP 4/5 Inspired
Escella blasts the gnoll coming through the window and rushes into the mainroom (to X38). "The ones we left outside," she says. "They're coming in through the window."
"Close them doors then, lass!" Helgrim replies grumpily, dropping his waraxe unceremoniously to the floor where it stays within easy reach. He proceeds to crouch low and grab his crossbow and load a bolt onto it.
"Som'un guard them stairs, too, lads. Don't wanna be su'prised by smelly hyenas or such."
Moving slightly to where the half-orc was only moments before, the old dwarven warrior tries to keep the pillar between him and the gnoll archer, and he gets up to aim his impressive crossbow at the entrance where Escella said more enemies are coming.
OOC:
Switch to crossbow, ready to attack the gnolls coming in through the window, while moving to Z-35 to Gnoll 6 doesn't have a clear shot at him. (If it even survives this round.)
Helgrim AC19 HP 47/58 HD 3/6 PP11* SDdc15 2/5d8 2W 1/1 AS 1/1
Both gnoll pikemen were down - the second dropped by Oh-six's lightning. As Tommi and the orb dashed across the room toward an archer, Lunn and Vairar took on the nearer archer. Injured by Lunn's axe and Vairar's pike, the Archer tried to make a dash for the stairs, but Vairar had imbued it with pulsing energy, which exploded under too much movement, and the archer burst into pieces of gnoll-meat.
Escella dashed into the room, having winged the gnoll who was climbing through the window. Helgrim called out to her while loading his crossbow, but she was already taking cover in the corner of the room, so Lionel took the job - he began to close the door, but a gnoll was there, hacking at him with an axe, while he used the heavy oak door for cover.
The other archer threw down his bow and pulled an axe off his belt. He swung it at Tommi, who took only a light scratch as he rolled away from the blade. Still grateful to Tommi for untying him from a tree, Grottur came over to help the lad, and scored a shallow axe-wound to the gnoll's shoulder before the slavering beast turned to confront him.
OOC:
Tommi & Oh-six killed GG1; Lunn & Vairar killed GA5; Escella did 14 to GA2; Grottur did 3 to GA6. GA2 missed Lionel; GA6 did 3 (after UD) to Tommi.
Name * AC * HP * Hit Dice * PasPrc * Spells * (Notes)
(PCs) Escella AC14 HP 24/33 HD 3/6 PP18 SSdc13 3/4 1/3 2/2 SP 5/5 C:ER Helgrim AC19 HP 47/58 HD 3/6 PP11* SDdc15 2/5d8 2W 1/1 AS 1/1 Lionel AC16 HP 49/51 HD 6/6 PP14 Lunn AC18* HP 44/71 HD 3/6 PP14* RGdc15 1/3 MA 3/3 BM 3/3 Morgan AC12(15) HP 32/32 HD 6/6 PP11 PI17 SSdc15 0/4 0/3 0/3 AW 0/16 Tommi AC14 HP 30/39 HD 6/6 PP17 Vairar AC18*(20*) HP 45/45 HD 4/6 PP13* SSdc14 4/4 3/3 2/3
(NPCs) Oh-Six AC13(18) HP 22/22 HD 4/4 PP15(20)* SSdc13 1/3 fly60' Grottur AC13 HP 16/19 PP13*
Name * AC * HP * PP * (Notes)
(BGs) Gnoll Huntmaster AC15 HP 0/55 (dead) PP13* Gnoll Archers AC13 HP 22ea PP13*
-GA2 8/22; GA4 3/22; GA5 0/22; GA6 19/22; Gnoll Pikemen AC13 HP 27ea PP12*
-GG1 0/27; GG2 dead
Tommi can taste the foul breath of the gnoll before him, the stench of rotting meat oozing from the foul creature. Oh-six whistles, distracting the gnoll, and wIth the rusty short sword in his hand, he stabs.
The blade slides into the creature as it sees its life slipping away. "Run, you dog, run," Tommi dares the beast, as Gutter warms itself in his hand.
Escella splits her blasts. One at the gnoll in the doorway. One at the gnoll in the room. She only manages to wing them both. She moves further into the room. (to AB33)
Hearing the lock turn with a satisfying 'click', Dr. Wells opens the door a fraction of an inch....just enough to see what is going on in the next room.
Just checking the current layout of the enemies and getting ready to do something when people start coming up the stairs or the gnolls act.
Seeing the first gnoll in the doorway, Helgrim rests his crossbow on the flipped table in front of him and carefully aims. He does not want to hit young Lionel, and a few seconds go by before the old dwarf takes his shot.
The bolt hits the creature in the eye, and digs its way out of the back of its skull in a red gorey line. The gnoll falls over dead immediately.
"Sorry 'bout that," Helgrim says as he watches the corpse lying almost in the doorway.
Lionel knew that he wouldn't be able to hold the door for long with a gnoll pushing against it, trying to hit him with an axe, so he followed Lunn's advice and ducked away, running over to the fireplace where he loaded his crossbow and turned it back toward the door. By then, Escella and Helgrim had shot down the gnoll that burst through after him. A second gnoll came into view and he fired his quarrel at that one, catching it in the chest. Both gnolls landed in a pile in the doorway behind the overturned table.
Across the room, Tommi held gutter. When the last gnoll staggered from being grazed by Escella's eldritch bolt and ducked from Oh-Six's whizzing dive-bombs, Tommi slid gutter into its abdomen and it fell lifeless to the floor.
It was only as the room grew quiet that they realized how noisy the gnolls were - always howling a high-pitched whine followed by grunts and chuckles. A similar sound from upstairs indicated that more of the beasts awaited them above.
OOC:
Escella did 6 to GA2 & 7 to GA6; Tommi finished GA6; Helgrim finished GA2; Lionel finished off GA4. That's all of them downstairs.
Upstairs, Doctor Wells peered through the store-room door, now open a crack. There seemed to be no defensive plan on the part of the gnolls there. They simply waited, psyching themselves into a lather (in one case, quite literally - the gnoll was foaming at the mouth). Three were here, howling nonsense and waiting for their turn to kill or be killed. It all seemed senseless.
From the sound of falling books in the Red Wizard's study, it seemed to Morgan that the Red Wizard, Thegger Grynn was planning a hasty exit and was collecting the most important parts of his studies in a hurry.
In addition, there had to be more gnolls about. Morgan was vaguely aware that Noryeghu, a particularly vicious gnoll who seemed to be the pack leader, occupied the rooms to the south with a few of his inner circle or bodyguards.
On top of that (if things weren't bad enough) an albino gnoll shaman was somewhere about, likely in the rooms to the north.
Name * AC * HP * Hit Dice * PasPrc * Spells * (Notes)
(PCs) Escella AC14 HP 24/33 HD 3/6 PP18 SSdc13 3/4 1/3 2/2 SP 5/5 C:ER Helgrim AC19 HP 47/58 HD 3/6 PP11* SDdc15 2/5d8 2W 1/1 AS 1/1 Lionel AC16 HP 49/51 HD 6/6 PP14 Lunn AC18* HP 44/71 HD 3/6 PP14* RGdc15 1/3 MA 3/3 BM 3/3 Morgan AC12(15) HP 32/32 HD 6/6 PP11 PI17 SSdc15 0/4 0/3 0/3 AW 0/16 Tommi AC14 HP 30/39 HD 6/6 PP17 Vairar AC18*(20*) HP 45/45 HD 4/6 PP13* SSdc14 4/4 3/3 2/3
(NPCs) Oh-Six AC13(18) HP 22/22 HD 4/4 PP15(20)* SSdc13 1/3 fly60' Grottur AC13 HP 16/19 PP13*
Name * AC * HP * PP * (Notes)
(BGs) Upstairs Red Wizard (Thegger) AC15 HP 58/58 PP12 BC2/2 MA1/2 Ho2/2 Inv2/2 Wb2/2 SU1/1 Flind (Champion) AC15 HP 66/90 PP14* Gnolls AC13 HP 22ea PP13*
-Gn1 22/22; Gn2 22/22;
Stoving his battle axe and taking one of the throwing ones in his hand, Lunn gets to the stairs and pauses a moment to wait for others to get ready
"I would run up and establish a beachhead up there. Several of you, Escella, Lionel, maybe Tommi, could dash in, shoot and return, while Helgrim and Vairar come after me to hold the line. What do you say?"
OOC: I won't wait on everyone to respond, everybody does how they like (as usual)
Free interact: put away the battle axe
Action: ready throwing axe
Move: to the base of the stairs AD37, maybe one more square up (if possible without exposing himself to the fire from above)
The last thing that Morgan wanted was for the Red Wizard to escape with all the evidence and, just as importantly, Morgan's spell book!
Quickly, he burst through the door, holding the strand of web delicately in his hand and, while retreating back to the stairs, he shouted arcane words and gently blew on the dusty web. As the web floated across the room, it grew thick and grey, filling the back of the room catching the rear-most gnoll among the thick strands and sealed the door that lead to the wizard beyond.(1) Hastily, the Doctor fled down the stairs, towards the axe wielding Lunn.(2)
"Hello, there, folks!" He nodded to Helgrim, "Your arrival is quite fortuitous and a welcome relief."
1. Casting Web(Save: Dex vs DC 15) or restrained.
TL;DR: If restrained Make Str save vs DC 15 on consecutive rounds to escape.
The webs fill a 20-foot cube from that point for the duration. The webs are difficult terrain and lightly obscure their area. If the webs aren’t anchored between two solid masses (such as walls or trees) or layered across a floor, wall, or ceiling, the conjured web collapses on itself, and the spell ends at the start of your next turn. Webs layered over a flat surface have a depth of 5 feet. Each creature that starts its turn in the webs or that enters them during its turn must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is restrained as long as it remains in the webs or until it breaks free. A creature restrained by the webs can use its action to make a Strength check against your spell save DC. If it succeeds, it is no longer restrained. The webs are flammable. Any 5-foot cube of webs exposed to fire burns away in 1 round, dealing 2d4 fire damage to any creature that starts its turn in the fire.
BQ/BR/BS/BT
34/34/34/34
35/35/35/35
36/36/36/36
37/37/37/37
The intent to to capture the gnoll at BT34 and to stick the door shut to prevent the wizard from leaving the room.
2. Using movement to move down the stairs to BY 37 (or AE 37 on downstairs map)
The spider's web expanded to shroud the the south-west corner of the landing, covering the door to the Red Wizard's study in a thick tangle and wrapping up a startled gnoll. The others howled as the doctor dove down the stairs.
Grottur had began to follow Lunn's order, coming toward the stairs and he yelled to Helgrim in something of surprise, "'Tis the young doctor! They've kept him alive!"
Any suspicion toward the doctor that questioned what he had done to ensure his safety was put aside as the gnoll appeared on the stairs. Dr. Morgan Wells had barely managed to introduce himself to the intimidating Lunn Dornuk, when the gnoll was on him from behind, hacking at him with a hand-axe.
