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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 2108349" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p><strong>Hot Pursuit</strong></p><p></p><p>The ettin has two immense black-furred dire wolves leashed to ragged lengths of rope gathered in one of its hands. As the baying, howling noise increases the two-headed giant lets the ropes go. Its other head growls, “Too soon, stoopid!” in Giant.</p><p></p><p>”You da stoopid one,” the first head grunts.</p><p></p><p>“Shut up.”</p><p></p><p><em>”You</em> shut up!”</p><p></p><p>Despite the argument between its heads, the ettin’s body keeps moving. The goblinoid patrols roaming about give it a little distance; a few goblins follow discretely, but all stay well out of the ettin’s reach. He crashes through the undergrowth, his heads shouting at each other, leaving a trampled path that the more cowardly goblins can follow with ease. </p><p></p><p>The wolves dart upslope. </p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>“Let’s get out of here!” whispers Naomi urgently. The party of halflings starts retreating towards shelter. The sounds of barking pursuit are closing in on the top of the hill; our heroes hurry towards the shelter of the trees below, but they are too slow! The first black-furred form tops the hill and speeds down towards them, and in seconds the other dire wolf appears in hot pursuit. </p><p></p><p>“Here they come!” cries Beau, and he fires an arrow, sticking the first dire wolf in the neck. It coughs and yelps, but keeps coming. Sandy shoots the other one, but the creatures are huge. More arrows zing past the wolves, missing, and then a brown-furred form rushes forward, barking madly! Ethel makes her move, grabbing one of the wolves and tripping it. The sounds of barking dogs savage the air. </p><p></p><p>The wolf struggles to its feet and starts to advance, but Sandy has drawn forth his longspear, and he thrusts heavily into its face, and though its tough skull saves its life, it is momentarily stunned. Its brother wolf tears at Naomi, rending her thigh. She gasps in pain and drags herself back, bleeding heavily, and fires off a <em>swarm of crystal</em> to discourage the monstrous wolf.</p><p></p><p>Then, at the top, two voices exclaim in unison. </p><p></p><p>“Aw, crap,” cries Sandy, “it’s the ettin!”</p><p></p><p>Jawbreaker glares and sends an arrow at the two-headed giant, as does Beau; and the lumbering giant hurls javelins back at them while it advances. None of them hit. The ettin is closing fast, hurling another javelin at Jawbreaker and then pulling out a wicked spiked club. Jawbreaker casts aside his bow and draws his axe.</p><p></p><p>Sandy attempts to finish off the stunned wolf, but his sweaty hands slip and his spear turns in his hand, barely damaging the monster.*</p><p></p><p>Ethel, meanwhile, has turned to the defense of the retreating Naomi. She and the other wolf tear at paw and wrestle, barking and snarling and whining as fighting dogs do- but a whole lot moreso. Timothy steps up to it and rolls out a <em>flaming sphere,</em> and the wolf catches fire. It yelps and screams, and Naomi fires another <em>swarm of crystals</em> but misses. Then the <em>flaming sphere</em> rolls onto it again and it gives one last agonized howl. </p><p></p><p>The remaining wolf turns on Timothy and springs, but the pudgy, formerly-insane sorcerer is ready for it. He reaches out and touches it before it can quite reach him; and a loud <strong>ZZZOT!</strong> fills the air. The smell of ozone mixes with that of burning wolf. The canine gives a single yelp and collapses at Timothy’s feet.</p><p></p><p>“Don’t worry!” cries Timothy to the others. “I’ll protect you!”</p><p></p><p>“Jawbreaker not need protection!” shouts Chief Jawbreaker as he strikes the ettin a telling blow right between the necks. It staggers back, then jerks as Federico’s crossbow bolt sticks in it. It gives a roar and swings its two huge clubs at Jawbreaker, but he nimbly leaps over the first one and dodges past the second! Then the Chief is hacking at it again, its defenses barely allowing it to fend off his attack. </p><p></p><p>But while the ettin is focused on one threat, another moves in from behind it. One head cries out a warning, but it is too late. Ethel leaps in, grabbing the ettin by the throat in her toothy maw, savagely shaking the giant’s right neck until it flops loosely. The other head gives a great cry of dismay, and Ethel drags the giant down, not stopping until it is dead.</p><p></p><p>Panting, Sandy says, “Listen!”</p><p></p><p>The sound of baying is in the distance.</p><p></p><p>“Oh no,” moans Federico. “They’re gonna eat us! That’s what giants do to halflings, right? Oh, man!” He shakes and tucks his tail between his legs. </p><p></p><p>“We need to find somewhere to hide,” Sandy says.</p><p></p><p>“Or kill them all,” suggests Jawbreaker.</p><p></p><p>“There’s too many of them, and I think I saw a couple more of those ettins. And tons of goblins.” Naomi is ripping ragged strips from her blanket to bandage her bleeding thigh. </p><p></p><p>“Let’s get out of here,” Beau says, and the group continues their descent.</p><p></p><p>”There were caves all over the hills,” Naomi observes. She’s limping slightly as she hauls her bulk along. The sounds of pursuit are definitely getting closer as our heroes get under relative cover, with a thicker concentration of brush and grasses. This island, alas, is not a jungle.</p><p></p><p>“Most of them had guards out front,” Sandy says. “That may not be our best option.”</p><p></p><p>But our heroes find a cave without any guards fairly quickly; and they move just inside it. Watching carefully, they can see a group of goblins and wolves, and another ettin, coming towards them. </p><p></p><p>“The cave goes back a ways,” reports Federico from deeper within the cave system. “Hey, it smells funny back here.”</p><p></p><p>The party falls back a little bit, into the full darkness of the cave, and soon they see the first of the enemy arrive at the cave and stop. The number of the enemy keeps increasing over the course of a few minutes. Sandy gets increasingly uneasy as the opposition grows. <em>I hope there’s a back way out of here,</em> he thinks. </p><p></p><p>As if reading his mind, Federico whispers, “Let’s get the hell out of here. Come on.”</p><p></p><p>The party heads deeper into the cave.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> What lurks within the cave?</p><p></p><p></p><p>*Stunned dire wolf = +2d6 sneak attack for Sandy. Sadly, Sandy rolled absolutely terrible and dealt 4 hp of damage.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 2108349, member: 1210"] [b]Hot Pursuit[/b] The ettin has two immense black-furred dire wolves leashed to ragged lengths of rope gathered in one of its hands. As the baying, howling noise increases the two-headed giant lets the ropes go. Its other head growls, “Too soon, stoopid!” in Giant. ”You da stoopid one,” the first head grunts. “Shut up.” [i]”You[/i] shut up!” Despite the argument between its heads, the ettin’s body keeps moving. The goblinoid patrols roaming about give it a little distance; a few goblins follow discretely, but all stay well out of the ettin’s reach. He crashes through the undergrowth, his heads shouting at each other, leaving a trampled path that the more cowardly goblins can follow with ease. The wolves dart upslope. *** “Let’s get out of here!” whispers Naomi urgently. The party of halflings starts retreating towards shelter. The sounds of barking pursuit are closing in on the top of the hill; our heroes hurry towards the shelter of the trees below, but they are too slow! The first black-furred form tops the hill and speeds down towards them, and in seconds the other dire wolf appears in hot pursuit. “Here they come!” cries Beau, and he fires an arrow, sticking the first dire wolf in the neck. It coughs and yelps, but keeps coming. Sandy shoots the other one, but the creatures are huge. More arrows zing past the wolves, missing, and then a brown-furred form rushes forward, barking madly! Ethel makes her move, grabbing one of the wolves and tripping it. The sounds of barking dogs savage the air. The wolf struggles to its feet and starts to advance, but Sandy has drawn forth his longspear, and he thrusts heavily into its face, and though its tough skull saves its life, it is momentarily stunned. Its brother wolf tears at Naomi, rending her thigh. She gasps in pain and drags herself back, bleeding heavily, and fires off a [i]swarm of crystal[/i] to discourage the monstrous wolf. Then, at the top, two voices exclaim in unison. “Aw, crap,” cries Sandy, “it’s the ettin!” Jawbreaker glares and sends an arrow at the two-headed giant, as does Beau; and the lumbering giant hurls javelins back at them while it advances. None of them hit. The ettin is closing fast, hurling another javelin at Jawbreaker and then pulling out a wicked spiked club. Jawbreaker casts aside his bow and draws his axe. Sandy attempts to finish off the stunned wolf, but his sweaty hands slip and his spear turns in his hand, barely damaging the monster.* Ethel, meanwhile, has turned to the defense of the retreating Naomi. She and the other wolf tear at paw and wrestle, barking and snarling and whining as fighting dogs do- but a whole lot moreso. Timothy steps up to it and rolls out a [i]flaming sphere,[/i] and the wolf catches fire. It yelps and screams, and Naomi fires another [i]swarm of crystals[/i] but misses. Then the [i]flaming sphere[/i] rolls onto it again and it gives one last agonized howl. The remaining wolf turns on Timothy and springs, but the pudgy, formerly-insane sorcerer is ready for it. He reaches out and touches it before it can quite reach him; and a loud [b]ZZZOT![/b] fills the air. The smell of ozone mixes with that of burning wolf. The canine gives a single yelp and collapses at Timothy’s feet. “Don’t worry!” cries Timothy to the others. “I’ll protect you!” “Jawbreaker not need protection!” shouts Chief Jawbreaker as he strikes the ettin a telling blow right between the necks. It staggers back, then jerks as Federico’s crossbow bolt sticks in it. It gives a roar and swings its two huge clubs at Jawbreaker, but he nimbly leaps over the first one and dodges past the second! Then the Chief is hacking at it again, its defenses barely allowing it to fend off his attack. But while the ettin is focused on one threat, another moves in from behind it. One head cries out a warning, but it is too late. Ethel leaps in, grabbing the ettin by the throat in her toothy maw, savagely shaking the giant’s right neck until it flops loosely. The other head gives a great cry of dismay, and Ethel drags the giant down, not stopping until it is dead. Panting, Sandy says, “Listen!” The sound of baying is in the distance. “Oh no,” moans Federico. “They’re gonna eat us! That’s what giants do to halflings, right? Oh, man!” He shakes and tucks his tail between his legs. “We need to find somewhere to hide,” Sandy says. “Or kill them all,” suggests Jawbreaker. “There’s too many of them, and I think I saw a couple more of those ettins. And tons of goblins.” Naomi is ripping ragged strips from her blanket to bandage her bleeding thigh. “Let’s get out of here,” Beau says, and the group continues their descent. ”There were caves all over the hills,” Naomi observes. She’s limping slightly as she hauls her bulk along. The sounds of pursuit are definitely getting closer as our heroes get under relative cover, with a thicker concentration of brush and grasses. This island, alas, is not a jungle. “Most of them had guards out front,” Sandy says. “That may not be our best option.” But our heroes find a cave without any guards fairly quickly; and they move just inside it. Watching carefully, they can see a group of goblins and wolves, and another ettin, coming towards them. “The cave goes back a ways,” reports Federico from deeper within the cave system. “Hey, it smells funny back here.” The party falls back a little bit, into the full darkness of the cave, and soon they see the first of the enemy arrive at the cave and stop. The number of the enemy keeps increasing over the course of a few minutes. Sandy gets increasingly uneasy as the opposition grows. [i]I hope there’s a back way out of here,[/i] he thinks. As if reading his mind, Federico whispers, “Let’s get the hell out of here. Come on.” The party heads deeper into the cave. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] What lurks within the cave? *Stunned dire wolf = +2d6 sneak attack for Sandy. Sadly, Sandy rolled absolutely terrible and dealt 4 hp of damage. [/QUOTE]
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