Storms of Change IC Part 4

[silentspace]

-- Surprise Round --

Staying hidden behind the tree, Manzanita casts her spell.

-- Round 1 --

A rough voice calls out in a strange tongue, and you hear the sound of something crashing through the undergrowth towards you, heading towards the sound of Manzanita's voice.

Manzanita:

Spoiler

"Ambush!" In gnoll.

With shock, Manzanita realizes that the creature is heading towards her location with uncanny accuracy. The big gnoll appears around the tree, right next to her. He no longer has his longbow in hand, he now holds a greataxe in both hands.

With the gnoll right next to her, Manzanita peers around the tree and sees the other 5 gnolls are still on the trail, getting their bearings.

Initiative
Gnoll 1 (greataxe)
-- pause --
Manzanita: shield
Zook
Goven
Lucan
Dunathar

The other gnolls are flat-footed.

 

[Manzanita]

Manzanita

Manzanita is amazed that the gnoll found her so quickly, but she is no longer a combat novice. As soon as realizes the gnoll is heading right for her, she dashes away(move action directly away), and keeps her eyes on the prize by casting her web spell to capture the other five gnolls (standard action).

 

[Sado]

Goven OOC

OOC Couple of questions:

Can I see the gnoll approaching Manzanita from where I am?
Can the gnoll actually see Manzanita or does it just seem to know her approximate location?
Any thoughts on our relative positions? I know we didn't describe it too thoroughly. Goven and Lucan are fairly close together nearer to the gnolls on the road, but what about everyone else? Is there anyone closer to Manzanita?

 

[silentspace]

I have Manzanita, Zook and Dunathar hiding behind trees 30 ft away from the trail. I did have Goven and Lucan closer to the trail, but I thought they were spread out on the flanks, not close together. Everyone stayed concealed behind trees or crouching in the undergrowth, so they had little visibility, but as the gnoll passes their location, everyone can see him. Everyone knows there is a gnoll next to Manzanita.

 

[doghead]

ooc: Thats pretty much how I saw the layout. To which side was Manzanita? Or in other words, is Govan or Lucan closer? Lucan has the left flank, Govan the right.

 

[Sado]

Goven

As much as he wants to aid Manzanita, he knows the party is depending on him and Lucan to keep the gnolls at bay should they escape the web, and is also conscious of the fact that both Dunathar and Zook are nearby should the wizard need help. He grits his teeth and waits for the spell to take effect.

OOC: Sorry, I meant I thought Lucan and Goven were closer to each other than to the rest of the party. Not necessarily that close to each other.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

*Zook regards the gnolls with a bit of trepidation. Clutching his holy symbol, he focuses his god-granted power to a point of pure fear.*

"Look at me, small I be, see in me, fear in ye!" he cries, targeting the closest gnoll, hoping to make him flee before he could hurt anyone.

OOC - cause fear on the one about to hit Manzanita.

 

[silentspace]

-- Round 1 (cont) --

Manzanita scrambles away from the powerful gnoll as he swings his axe. Her eyes widen in alarm as she sees the axe whistle through the air straight towards her neck. A swing like this could easily take off her head! The axe seems to shift just slightly at the end of its swing, deflecting away from her neck. Her magical protections held, though just barely.

Ducking under a low branch, Manzanita rushes away through the woods. Finding herself near Goven, she stops and focuses her spell. Grabbing a bit of webbing, she gestures towards the main body of gnolls. A web springs up between the trees, spreading over them. She sees the gnolls jump as the webs form around them, and several of them nearly jump free. But none succeed, Manzanita has captured all of them in the web.

Zook, holy symbol in hand, cries "Look at me, small I be, see in me, fear in ye!" The gnoll gives out a loud yell, though perhaps more of a yelp. The powerfully built warrior starts rushing away from Zook, in the general direction of Manzanita and Goven, though not towards them.

Initiative
Gnoll 1 (greataxe): frightened (Zook's cause fear)
Manzanita: shield
Zook:
-- pause --
Goven
Lucan
Dunathar

The other gnolls are still flat-footed.

 

[Sado]

Goven

Seeing the other gnolls trapped for the moment, Goven trains his bow on the fleeing gnoll and lets fly his arrow. After that, he discards the bow and takes up his axe and shield, preparing to close with the creature if it still lives.

"Lucan!" he calls. "In the web! Get them!"

 

[doghead]

Lucan is already moving. He grins at the sight of the gnolls all wrapped up in the web. Nice work that Manzanita. The fleeing gnoll catches his eye.

He brings up his crossbow and shoots.

If he has a clear shot, he looses at the fleeing gnoll.

If not, then he picks one of the gnolls in the web and takes aim. The idea of butchering them while trapped gives him pause. They would not hesitate to do it to you, my friend. And it would not be the first time you've had to kill a helpless person if you wanted to live yourself. What would you do with 5 gnoll prisoners anyways?

Lucan moves up and carefully puts a bolt into the biggest, meanest looking gnoll (or any spell caster he can see). Then he reloads, careful to keep an eye on the gnolls as he does so.

ooc: * light crossbow +5 (1d6, 19x2, 80 ft.)