Round 1
Etherial looks to the caravan, his elf vision allowing him to see as clearly in the light of Yong as he can in daylight.
To the north and south of the caravan he sees burly humanoids, 6 ½ feet tall, with reddish brown hides. More hobgoblins! Each group contains a handful of archers, maybe eight warriors, and one worg rider. It’s too quick to get an accurate count. Then Moondance tells him “Master! There are creatures across the water!”
Etherial looks back to the east and sees spots five hulking creatures, nine to ten feet tall, weighing 300-350 pounds, with grotesque yellow-brown skin. Ogres! They are 200 feet beyond the stream (400 feet from the caravan). They look to be fiddling with something in their hands. And standing just behind the ogres, Etherial sees two more hobgoblins mounted on worgs.
By the Ivory Brotherhood! This is too much! And as bad as it is for the caravan and for his companions, Ethereal knows its worse for him. Hobgoblins delight in killing elves! He is going to be their primary target when they spot him! And if anything could possibly be worse than that, well, it would have to be ogres! He curses the capricious gods, and the day he decided to accept that scroll and join this caravan. Etherial yells “Hobgoblins from the north and south! And ogres from the east, 400 feet away!” He casts Mage Armor on himself. He considers running away for a moment, but decides to ride straight back to the caravan, hoping there will be greater safety with his companions.
Glendrake does not appear from his tent.
Darien hears the alarm and charges back into the caravan circle. He knows he is too far to make a charge attack this round, and he can’t see his targets. He runs to the back of Wagon 1 to grab his lance, shouting “Ogres! Grab your lances!”
Hobgoblin Archers advance and fire their arrows at their blind targets. Etherial is the only one who can see them. The northern archers (Archers 9-12) fire arrows at Driver 1, but he is well protected and covered. The southern archers (Archers 21-24) fire arrows at Driver 6, and one hits. Driver 6 is injured badly.
Guards 4, 5 and 6 follow Darien to Wagon 1. They cluster about Wagon 1, ready to grab their lances next round. Their torches brighten the area.
Drivers 3, 5, 7 and 9 stand up, drawing their swords as they do so. Their crossbows and torches are on their wagons.
Driver 11 (Mirena) is already awake. She has enough light from the guard’s torches to see, so she stands up and climbs into the rear of her wagon (her wagon had an empty spot on the back). She looks like she’s going to climb over the boxes, chests and barrels filling the wagon to get to the driver’s seat next round.
Sabala yelps and rises up, uncertain what to do.
Dunathar melds back into the shadows, moving silently again after his run last round, holding his sword under his cloak, ready to attack.
Filbert stands up, grabbing his crossbow. “Throw the torch!” he shouts at Driver 1. Then he peers around the corner of the wagon to fire at the approaching target, who is just outside of the torchlit area. He fires, and hears a thunk. Sounds like he hit something.
Zanock can’t see the ogres behind him. He’s not about to face a bunch of ogres alone (OOC autopilot decision – hope it was the right one), so he runs back to the caravan, eager to see how far his falchion will slice into a hobgoblin’s body. As he gets closer he sees the hobgoblins, and heads to the north end of the caravan, ready to intercept them.
Northern Hobgoblins
Hobgoblin 1, mounted on his worg, sees Darien in front of him, and turns his worg to the side, avoiding him and the big orc, circling around Wagons 9 and 10, moving into the center of the caravan. He sees the blind Driver 9 in front of him, and fires his bow. He hits. Driver 9 is injured.
Hobgoblins 2 and 3 advance and throw their javelins at Driver 2. They miss.
Hobgoblins 4 and 5 advance and throw their javelins at Driver 1. They miss.
Hobgoblins 6, 7 and 8 were planning on throwing their javelins at Driver 10, but seeing a giant orc pull up in front of them, they hold back, keeping their distance! Zanock can see they are clearly frustrated, maybe because they preferred firing at blind targets. They don’t attack him on melee, the cowards! Instead they stop and throw their javelins. Zanock manages to dodge all three javelins.
Southern Hobgoblins
Hobgoblin 13, mounted on his worg, moves into the caravan circle, right by Driver 5, who can’t see him in the darkness. Driver 5 has his sword out, and makes a wild swing in the darkness at the passing creature. Against all odds, he hit something! It wasn’t a solid hit though. Hobgoblin 13 remains in his saddle. After passing the human, he wheels around and fires an arrow at Driver 5, hitting him.
Hobgoblins 14 and 15 advance and throw their javelins at Driver 4. One hits, injuring Driver 4 badly.
Hobgoblins 16, 17 and 18 advance and throw their javelins at Driver 6. Two javelins hit. They don’t do much damage, but its enough to push the already wounded Driver 6 into unconsciousness. He is dying.
Hobgoblins 19 and 20 advance and throw their javelins at Driver 8, but both miss.
Those who can see can tell the hobgoblins prefer to fire at targets who can’t see them.
Alan (autopilot) draws his bastard sword and rises to his feet, calling his new companion, his unnamed horse, as he does so. He does not hear an answering whinny.
Braveheart is nowhere to be seen.
The ogres in the distance light their torches.
Driver 1 hears Bert’s yell and tosses his torch out, 30 feet to the north. Two hobgoblins become visible. He kneels down in his wagon for greater cover, and fires his heavy crossbow at Hobgoblin 5. He misses.
Drivers 2, 4, 8 and 10 shift in their seats, moving towards their targets. They also hear Bert’s yell, and draw their ever-burning torches, tossing them out. Several other hobgoblins become visible. The hobgoblins were not expecting this, and several of them are exposed. They had stopped just short of torchlight range to throw their javelins. The guards kneel down in their wagons for greater cover and fire their crossbows. Driver 4 hits Hobgoblin 14, and it goes down. Driver 10 sees Zanock and says “Zanock! Take the torch! If we see the hobgoblins our crossbows can help you take them!” Zanock sees the torch at Q24. Driver 6 lies dying, stuck with an arrow and two javelins.
Rowyn draws her shortsword and stands, ready to attack. Her gnomish vision allows her to see as well in the light of Yong as she can in daylight. She looks at Sabala and says “Sabala, guard!” Sabala barks affirmatively, but Rowyn sees that Sabala is blind in the darkness. The worgs look like they are blind in the darkness also, but they are being guided by their hobgoblin masters, who have darkvision.
Guards 1, 2 and 3 draw their swords in one hand and their weapons saddlebag in the other as they stand, calling their warhorses. You hear the warhorses whinnying and coming towards the caravan (all three)
Mavdeno does not come out of her tent.
Thevin does not come out of her tent.
Initiative
22 Etherial
21 Glendrake
20 Darien
19 Hobgoblin Archers
19 Guards 4-6
19 Drivers 3,5,7,9
18 Driver 11
18 Sabala (readied action)
17 Dunathar (readied action)
17 Filbert
16 Zanock
13 Hobgoblins
13 Alan
13 Braveheart
11 Ogres
11 Drivers 1
10 Drivers 2,4,6,8,10
9 Rowyn (readied action)
8 Guards 1-3
6 Mavdeno
6 Thevin
Status
Hobgoblins 1 and 13 are injured.
Hobgoblin 14 is down.
Drivers 4, 5 and 9 are injured.
Driver 6 is unconscious and dying.
Fighting Blind: When you are blind, you don’t know exactly where the enemy is, even though you can see them on the combat map. You can hear them, but you have a chance of attacking the wrong square. Creatures with scent know what squares their enemies are in, but they still have all the penalties for being blind (at least they won’t attack an empty square)
Riding Blind Mounts: You have no penalties for riding blind mounts, assuming you are not blind.
