Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mathew_Freeman" data-source="post: 1123336" data-attributes="member: 1846">14th September, Game Account. The group swiftly assembled on the morning, preparing to take the Margravine away down south for her diplomatic mission. The only thing that was changed was that money was converted to large, expensive diamonds, since Tarquin had revealed that he now had the power to cast the raise dead spell. Sol was the only one to opt out of paying for the cost of the gems. "My family is dead. My village is destroyed. If I do die - I don't want to come back." The Margravine, her handmaiden and the party rode out easily and early, passing the newly reopened tannery on the southwest side of Gaxmoor. Cho had elected to scout ahead, since she had the speed on foot to match the horses that everyone else rode. After a decent days travel, filled with virtually no conversation, camp was made near to the river in a sheltered area. The group was about halfway to Crisqui town, the first major settlement on the way to our destination. Watches were set, with the simple discovery that Sol only needed four hours of sleep. He offered to stay near the camp for the rest of the time, as he had nothing much else to do. It stayed quiet during the night, but on the final watch, Leo and Tarquin thought they might have heard something... They had. They had heard Sol off to one side of the count shouting at the top of his lungs and shooting his bow at the large gnoll that was aiming an arrow back at him! Sol's arrow found it's target first, striking into the gnoll almost before it could react. Striking deep. Somewhat surprised that he hadn't killed it, Sol was further surprised as two gnolls fired back, following it with the charge of two further gnolls! Sol ducked and weaved before their blades, taking only minor damage. Out of the darkness came more foes. Two hideous ratmen charged Leo, chittering. With great luck, he took only a tiny scratch. The Margraves handmaiden Eryla was not so fortunate, being struck by an arrow and remaining unconscious. Another arrow struck Xiang in his sleep, awakening him. And then Tarquin suffered worst of all, dodging one arrow but being hit by another, and then seeing three hulking Orcs charge him, one hitting him again! Another Orc leapt out of hiding and struck Titania as she slept, hurting her badly. Sol dropped his bow, still yelling for the others to awaken, and drew his paired swords. But his attacks failed to wound his opponents as they loomed over him. Aos fared better as he awoke, leaping to his feet and slashing one orc across the neck, almost killing it. Cho also showed great awareness, leaping to her feet straight from sleep, charging a gnoll and stunning it for a moment. Titania's effort fared badly. Although she rolled to her feet and dodged another sword swing, a second axe blow from an orc crashed into her side. Momentarily distracted perhaps, her confusion spell was launched directly at her feet, the waves of magical energy arching out to all around her. Her own mind became clouded, as did that of Aos and the three orcs stood closest. Leo glanced round and sighed heavily in his head, mentally making a note to teach her a few things about the finer points of spellcraft the next day. Assuming they all survived... Saphie woke groggily from sleep, but went from nought to angry in three seconds. Glancing around, she saw Sol and Cho battling gnolls on one side of the clearing, and with no hesitation launched a powerful fireball in precisely the right place. Sol flung himself backwards, dodging the blast entirely, and three gnolls were instantly incinerated. The fourth remained standing, but was badly burnt. It growled angrily. In response, the enemy forces attempted to grapple Saphie, perhaps mistaking her for the Margravine. Two goblins came out of the darkness, but Saphie - showing surprisingly strength and making the best of her larger size - managed to throw them off. It was Leo's turn to be in trouble next, as the forces of evil closed in around him. First the two ratmen lunged forwards, one catching Leo a nasty blow to one arm. Next, a hobgoblin stepped forwards, magically hasted and moving fast, and launched another deadly onslaught on the battered wizard. Leo dodged as best he could, but the wiley hobgoblin dealt him a fearsome blow. Finally, yet another goblin struck a small but well placed thrust into his leg. One of the confused orcs lunged at Titania, cutting her. The other appeared to decide that cowardice was the best strategy, and fled. The final confused orc turned and struck his friend, all the time with a puzzled look on it's face. Tarquin came to Leo's rescue, as he had so often before. Moving up, he laid his hands upon Leo and healed him of damage, buying him precious time. And then finally, the ever-slow to react Xiang-San Chang got up, snatched the Black Spear off the ground and dealt the goblin in front of him a mighty blow, ignoring the feeble blow dealt to him in return. Disdainful of his lack of armour, he scanned the battlefield, and realised that from his exposed position on one side, there was little he could do. Finally, Leo used his brain and cast a dimension door to get him out of trouble, transporting him across the road to the horses. The humanoids cursed as a weakly armoured foe escaped them. [Note - ladies and gentlemen, all that was one surprise round and one full round of action. The whole party was now up and on it's feet.] Sol utilised his well learned battle tactics, sneaking around to flank an orc and despatch it with a sharp blow to the base of the neck. However Aos was still confused and stood still, his powerful rapier and expert fighting skills made useless by the miscast spell. Titania, too, stood still, apparently attempting to claw her own face off in a fit of madness. Cho charged another orc, but this time missed, as behind her, the Margravine ran to safety and Leo by the horses. She kept her composure, however, and remained a little concerned for her handmaiden, struck down before the fight even really began. Again Saphie showed forth her arcane power, projecting a sheet of flame in front of her, singeing and burning the goblins, ratmen and the hobgoblin that had begun to surround her. As they closed in, striking at her, she felt like her life was draining away before their attacks, her blood staining the grass below her. The orcs pressed the attack on Tarquin as well, although another confused orc decided to run away. Tarquin, concentrating hard, managed to use his domain spell to dimension door away to the group by the river. Xiang showed forth his worth to the party, and Saphie in particular, with a blow of awesome power. The Black Spear ripped through one goblin, splitting it almost in two as the strike cleaved through to the second goblin. A second strike on the backswing, and there were two goblin bodies lying on the ground. [Note: First ever critical with the Black Spear whilst Power Attacking. 82 points of damage! Fear me!] From his position of safety, Leo launched a series of scorching rays at the foes surrounding Saphie, killing another goblin. She still looked to be in a vulnerable position, however, but the path to the river was at least open to her now. Sol again flanked an orc with Titania, even though she was under the effects of her own spell - a spell that couldn't be dismissed! Sol's devastating attacks felled the evil humanoid, his swords cutting it to the ground. Aos still suffered, again standing with a dreamy look on his face. Seeing that Saphie was still in danger, Cho flung herself across the battlefield, past Aos and on to the ratman, killing it with a single blow. She then switched targets to the hobgoblin, striking it twice more, making it reel back in pain. Titania found an interesting bit of darkness to look at, whilst in the very back of her mind she berated herself for casting confusion where she could hit herself. Saphie took Cho's intervention as a moment to flee away from the goblins that surrounded her, running across to Leo and Tarquin. The gobbo's simply followed her, one striking her across the back, making her cry out in pain again. The hobgoblin trades blows with Cho, but misses horribly, whilst the gnoll commanded reappeared briefly at a short distance, hitting Sol with an arrow. Tarquin moved amongst the goblins blades, healing Saphie and earning her heartfelt thanks. Then Xiang again proved his awesome power, charging across the battlefield and bringing both goblins low in a powerful cleaving attack! [Second crit of the fight!] Seeing the path clear before him, Leo made swift use of a Magic Missile spell to kill the hobgoblin. Sensing the tide of battle had shifted in the heroes favour, Sol went into the surrounding forest to find the two orcs that had fled. Aos, still confused, ran off in another direction. Cho followed Sol into the forest, looking for the gnoll commander who had retreated, whilst Titania, in the final throes of her confusion charged the Margravine - before Saphie dispelled the effect. Titania promptly apologised. In the forest, Sol found the orcs quickly and began duelling. One orc, a split second before ambushing him from behing, confusedly ran away again. Back in the clearing, Tarquin moved over and prepared to heal the Margravine's handmaiden, as Xiang checked over the horses. Leo, his mind ever ticking over, cast Greater Invisibility and began to hunt for the gnoll as well. The fight was won. Sol killed the two orcs in the forest, after some cat-and-mouse stalking, and as the party piled up the bodies and searched them for treasure, a resounding Boom! told the tale that Leo had located and Chain Lightninged the final gnoll. Battle won. No casualties. No enemy survivors. Great treasure was found, including several magical items that would need to be identified at a later date. More coming soon!</blockquote>

Verification