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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 3556617" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>IIRC the ogre guards are L8 fighters, and are pretty tough. But having a bunch of class levels doesn't help much when you're facing a ton of little guys with sneak attacks and good initiative rolls, as we find out today.</p><p></p><p>Of course, good luck must always be balanced by bad, and an unfortunate roll at the end of today's update will set the stage for a dramatic series of events to come...</p><p></p><p>* * * * * </p><p></p><p>Chapter 178</p><p></p><p>TRIBITZ’S GUARDS</p><p></p><p></p><p>The barrage was immediate and devastating. </p><p></p><p>The ogre never knew what was happening, even as the arrows and hurled missiles slammed into its body. In addition to the slab of wood and iron that it carried as a shield, it wore a long tunic of heavy mail links that protected its torso. They failed to protect it, however, from the precision shots unleashed upon it by its concealed foes. A javelin glanced off its shield, but a second pierced the armor covering its hip, the steel head sticking deep into the flesh of the joint. An arrow creased off the left side of its head, and as it twisted reflexively away from the pain, a second lodged deep in its throat. A small axe flipped out of the darkness and embedded itself into its right hand, nearly causing the ogre to drop its spear. </p><p></p><p>By the time it finally realized it was under attack, it was already too late. </p><p></p><p>Dar emerged from a tunnel opening, and charged toward the monster. The ogre had him at a disadvantage, with its long spear, but instead of setting to take the charge, the monster turned and began to lumber away, back up the tunnel to the north. Dar quickly closed the distance, but more arrows and javelins continued to fly past him into the back of the giant. Several shots buried deep into the ogre’s back and the meat of its thighs, and it began to falter. Finally an arrow snicked hard into the back of its head, just under its right ear, and it stumbled. Falling hard to its knees, the ogre could not defend itself from a stroke from Dar’s sword that put it down for good. </p><p></p><p>The others came up as Dar cleaned his sword on the monster’s clothes. “That was unexpectedly easy,” Talen said. </p><p></p><p>“Never underestimate the utility of massed sneak attacks against an unsuspecting foe,” Shay replied, nodding at the goblinoids as they recovered their weapons from the ogre’s body. </p><p></p><p>“We’d better see if there are any more up ahead,” Talen said. Shay turned to translate, but Filcher had already issued directions, and a pair of goblin scouts vanished into the darkness to the north. </p><p></p><p>“Keep your lights shaded,” Talen said. “Maybe we can take them by surprise.”</p><p></p><p>They continued to the north, where another uneven cavern gave way to a tunnel that proceeded more or less to the northwest. Moving as quietly as possible, their lights carefully shrouded to minimize their glow, they pressed on in that direction. A faint noise became audible up ahead, the familiar sound of a swift-moving underground river. </p><p></p><p>The goblin scouts returned, and spent a few moments in quiet discussion with Filcher. “There’s a river up ahead, spanned by a rope bridge,” the goblin scout reported. “And there’s an ogre keeping watch on the other side.”</p><p></p><p>“Did it see you?” Shay asked, in the goblin language. The two creatures looked almost offended, and they shook their heads. </p><p></p><p>“The goblins don’t need light, but we do,” Baraka said. “We won’t get close enough to strike without alerting it.”</p><p></p><p>“Perhaps it will not matter,” Varo said. “I still have a <em>silence</em> spell remaining; I was holding it in reserve for the clerics, but I would not dismiss the value of tactical surprise.”</p><p></p><p>“In any case, I would guess that we’re getting close to the clerics’ stronghold,” Talen said. </p><p></p><p>“An intuition, commander?” the cleric said, with a raised eyebrow. </p><p></p><p>“Call it a feeling.”</p><p></p><p>“Well, I’ve got a feeling that some undead monstrosity’s going to come wandering past here if you all don’t stop your yapping,” Dar said. “If we’re going to do this, let’s just freaking do it already.”</p><p></p><p>“Shay, could you brief our companions on the plan?” Talen asked. Shay passed on their typical tactic using a <em>silenced</em> arrow, and after a few guttural phrases in the goblinoid tongue both the scouts and the warriors were nodding in understanding. </p><p></p><p>The ogre never knew what hit it. </p><p></p><p>The guard was wary, and it was beginning to wonder what had happened to its companion. It caught sight of a faint glow that brightened in the tunnel entrance on the far side of the bridge, but it completely missed the slender shadows that had taken cover by the pylons that anchored the bridge on the other side of the underground river. Its first thought was that the light was its fellow guard returning, nevermind that neither ogre carried a light source. Ogres were typically recruited as guards for their physical strength and stamina, not for their intellectual talents. </p><p></p><p>It opened its mouth to shout an interrogative, but before it could speak, the shadowy forms shifted slightly, and arrows shot across the river. The ogre heard nothing, only felt a series of sharp stings across its torso. It was well-protected by armor and shield, and it was far tougher than the typical example of its kind, but the first volley of missiles had found vulnerable spots, and blood oozed in plenty down its torso under the chainmail. </p><p></p><p>The ogre let out a roar of challenge, confused when only silence greeted its yell. The light source had brightened, and now the guard could see enemies, at least a half-dozen, heavily armored humans and hobgoblins that charged out of the tunnel toward the bridge. </p><p></p><p>Despite the <em>silence</em>, the ogre could feel the blood-rage boiling in its chest, the angry pounding of its heart at the prospect of battle. But the ogre also felt something else, a dim but persistent memory of orders that had been blasted into its head by repetition and dire threat. <em>Report</em>, came a voice that the ogre had learned to fear, for all that its owner barely came up to its knee. </p><p></p><p>So the ogre did an uncharacteristic thing, which was to turn and flee from those charging toward it.</p><p></p><p>More arrows shot over the heads of the charging warriors as they rushed across the bridge. The rope bridge wavered treacherously at the sudden weight, and one of the hobgoblins was forced to abort its rush, grasping desperately at the rail to keep from being tossed over into the swiftly moving river. Dar and Talen made it across, and charged after the wounded ogre, who was rapidly escaping down another tunnel to the north. The ogre was slowed somewhat by its heavy armor, but both of the humans were likewise more than a little encumbered. </p><p></p><p>A moment later, Shay shot past them like a quarrel fired from a heavy crossbow. Baraka had paused to fire his bow, and the shaft flew true up the tunnel, biting deep into the ogre’s muscled right arm. The goblins kept up their own fire, but while they continued to score hits, they failed to inflict as much damage now that the ogre was farther away, and on the run. Their little arrows looked like tiny sticks, jutting from its armored body. </p><p></p><p>Shadows danced on the walls of the tunnel as the companions chased the ogre, most flaring from <em>Beatus Incendia</em> as the sword swept back and forth in Talen’s hand. Shay caught up to the ogre and slashed her sword across the back of its left leg, opening a deep, bloody gash in the limb. The ogre staggered and nearly fell. It looked back over its shoulder, its face twisting into a furious rictus of rage. Dropping its spear, it smashed its shield around into the scout’s face. Shay ducked but could not avoid being clipped on the shoulder by the impromptu weapon; the impact was enough to send her spinning to the ground. Dar and Talen were coming up fast, and the ogre did not remain to battle them. It turned and lumbered on down the tunnel, where they could now see a set of heavy double doors up ahead at the end of the passage. </p><p></p><p>As they ran, Dar had slid <em>Valor</em> back into its sheath, and drew his heavy longbow out of his <em>efficient quiver</em>. Coming to a sudden stop, he fitted the string to the bow and drew an arrow with a single fluid motion. Grimacing with the effort of fully drawing the bow, he sighted and released. The arrow flew down the tunnel, shot past Talen, and buried itself to the feathers in the ogre’s left leg. The ogre, already seriously wounded, toppled forward. It crashed head-first into the center of the double doors, which buckled from the force of eight hundred pounds of giant and gear smashing into them. The companions could feel the force of the impact through the tunnel walls, but with Varo’s spell still radiating from one of the arrows stuck in its body, an eerie silence continued to surround the creature. The doors were built to open outward, so they remained closed, with the ogre’s head smashed through an opening several feet across in the center of the heavy wooden panels. It struggled weakly to free itself, blood splattering from its body onto the doors and the floor with every movement. </p><p></p><p>Those struggles ended as Talen drove <em>Beatus Incendia</em> through its back, the holy blade sliding between its ribs into its heart. White fire flared from the wound, as blood hissed from the opening. The ogre slumped down, its head still pinned in the opening in the double doors. </p><p></p><p>With an obvious effort, Talen yanked his weapon free. He looked through the opening in the doors. The light from his sword glinted on metal, somewhere in the chamber beyond. </p><p></p><p>Then something else was thrust into view, appearing in between the doors and the metal object. A familiar sigil, white bone held up by a small gauntleted hand. </p><p></p><p><em>Clerics!</em> Talen tried to yell, but of course no sound came from his lips. He tried to look away as he felt a cold chill sweep over him, but the power of that horned symbol washed over him, overcoming even his considerable fortitude. The unholy symbol grew until it filled his vision, and then everything went black as he was struck blind.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 3556617, member: 143"] IIRC the ogre guards are L8 fighters, and are pretty tough. But having a bunch of class levels doesn't help much when you're facing a ton of little guys with sneak attacks and good initiative rolls, as we find out today. Of course, good luck must always be balanced by bad, and an unfortunate roll at the end of today's update will set the stage for a dramatic series of events to come... * * * * * Chapter 178 TRIBITZ’S GUARDS The barrage was immediate and devastating. The ogre never knew what was happening, even as the arrows and hurled missiles slammed into its body. In addition to the slab of wood and iron that it carried as a shield, it wore a long tunic of heavy mail links that protected its torso. They failed to protect it, however, from the precision shots unleashed upon it by its concealed foes. A javelin glanced off its shield, but a second pierced the armor covering its hip, the steel head sticking deep into the flesh of the joint. An arrow creased off the left side of its head, and as it twisted reflexively away from the pain, a second lodged deep in its throat. A small axe flipped out of the darkness and embedded itself into its right hand, nearly causing the ogre to drop its spear. By the time it finally realized it was under attack, it was already too late. Dar emerged from a tunnel opening, and charged toward the monster. The ogre had him at a disadvantage, with its long spear, but instead of setting to take the charge, the monster turned and began to lumber away, back up the tunnel to the north. Dar quickly closed the distance, but more arrows and javelins continued to fly past him into the back of the giant. Several shots buried deep into the ogre’s back and the meat of its thighs, and it began to falter. Finally an arrow snicked hard into the back of its head, just under its right ear, and it stumbled. Falling hard to its knees, the ogre could not defend itself from a stroke from Dar’s sword that put it down for good. The others came up as Dar cleaned his sword on the monster’s clothes. “That was unexpectedly easy,” Talen said. “Never underestimate the utility of massed sneak attacks against an unsuspecting foe,” Shay replied, nodding at the goblinoids as they recovered their weapons from the ogre’s body. “We’d better see if there are any more up ahead,” Talen said. Shay turned to translate, but Filcher had already issued directions, and a pair of goblin scouts vanished into the darkness to the north. “Keep your lights shaded,” Talen said. “Maybe we can take them by surprise.” They continued to the north, where another uneven cavern gave way to a tunnel that proceeded more or less to the northwest. Moving as quietly as possible, their lights carefully shrouded to minimize their glow, they pressed on in that direction. A faint noise became audible up ahead, the familiar sound of a swift-moving underground river. The goblin scouts returned, and spent a few moments in quiet discussion with Filcher. “There’s a river up ahead, spanned by a rope bridge,” the goblin scout reported. “And there’s an ogre keeping watch on the other side.” “Did it see you?” Shay asked, in the goblin language. The two creatures looked almost offended, and they shook their heads. “The goblins don’t need light, but we do,” Baraka said. “We won’t get close enough to strike without alerting it.” “Perhaps it will not matter,” Varo said. “I still have a [i]silence[/i] spell remaining; I was holding it in reserve for the clerics, but I would not dismiss the value of tactical surprise.” “In any case, I would guess that we’re getting close to the clerics’ stronghold,” Talen said. “An intuition, commander?” the cleric said, with a raised eyebrow. “Call it a feeling.” “Well, I’ve got a feeling that some undead monstrosity’s going to come wandering past here if you all don’t stop your yapping,” Dar said. “If we’re going to do this, let’s just freaking do it already.” “Shay, could you brief our companions on the plan?” Talen asked. Shay passed on their typical tactic using a [i]silenced[/i] arrow, and after a few guttural phrases in the goblinoid tongue both the scouts and the warriors were nodding in understanding. The ogre never knew what hit it. The guard was wary, and it was beginning to wonder what had happened to its companion. It caught sight of a faint glow that brightened in the tunnel entrance on the far side of the bridge, but it completely missed the slender shadows that had taken cover by the pylons that anchored the bridge on the other side of the underground river. Its first thought was that the light was its fellow guard returning, nevermind that neither ogre carried a light source. Ogres were typically recruited as guards for their physical strength and stamina, not for their intellectual talents. It opened its mouth to shout an interrogative, but before it could speak, the shadowy forms shifted slightly, and arrows shot across the river. The ogre heard nothing, only felt a series of sharp stings across its torso. It was well-protected by armor and shield, and it was far tougher than the typical example of its kind, but the first volley of missiles had found vulnerable spots, and blood oozed in plenty down its torso under the chainmail. The ogre let out a roar of challenge, confused when only silence greeted its yell. The light source had brightened, and now the guard could see enemies, at least a half-dozen, heavily armored humans and hobgoblins that charged out of the tunnel toward the bridge. Despite the [i]silence[/i], the ogre could feel the blood-rage boiling in its chest, the angry pounding of its heart at the prospect of battle. But the ogre also felt something else, a dim but persistent memory of orders that had been blasted into its head by repetition and dire threat. [i]Report[/i], came a voice that the ogre had learned to fear, for all that its owner barely came up to its knee. So the ogre did an uncharacteristic thing, which was to turn and flee from those charging toward it. More arrows shot over the heads of the charging warriors as they rushed across the bridge. The rope bridge wavered treacherously at the sudden weight, and one of the hobgoblins was forced to abort its rush, grasping desperately at the rail to keep from being tossed over into the swiftly moving river. Dar and Talen made it across, and charged after the wounded ogre, who was rapidly escaping down another tunnel to the north. The ogre was slowed somewhat by its heavy armor, but both of the humans were likewise more than a little encumbered. A moment later, Shay shot past them like a quarrel fired from a heavy crossbow. Baraka had paused to fire his bow, and the shaft flew true up the tunnel, biting deep into the ogre’s muscled right arm. The goblins kept up their own fire, but while they continued to score hits, they failed to inflict as much damage now that the ogre was farther away, and on the run. Their little arrows looked like tiny sticks, jutting from its armored body. Shadows danced on the walls of the tunnel as the companions chased the ogre, most flaring from [i]Beatus Incendia[/i] as the sword swept back and forth in Talen’s hand. Shay caught up to the ogre and slashed her sword across the back of its left leg, opening a deep, bloody gash in the limb. The ogre staggered and nearly fell. It looked back over its shoulder, its face twisting into a furious rictus of rage. Dropping its spear, it smashed its shield around into the scout’s face. Shay ducked but could not avoid being clipped on the shoulder by the impromptu weapon; the impact was enough to send her spinning to the ground. Dar and Talen were coming up fast, and the ogre did not remain to battle them. It turned and lumbered on down the tunnel, where they could now see a set of heavy double doors up ahead at the end of the passage. As they ran, Dar had slid [i]Valor[/i] back into its sheath, and drew his heavy longbow out of his [i]efficient quiver[/i]. Coming to a sudden stop, he fitted the string to the bow and drew an arrow with a single fluid motion. Grimacing with the effort of fully drawing the bow, he sighted and released. The arrow flew down the tunnel, shot past Talen, and buried itself to the feathers in the ogre’s left leg. The ogre, already seriously wounded, toppled forward. It crashed head-first into the center of the double doors, which buckled from the force of eight hundred pounds of giant and gear smashing into them. The companions could feel the force of the impact through the tunnel walls, but with Varo’s spell still radiating from one of the arrows stuck in its body, an eerie silence continued to surround the creature. The doors were built to open outward, so they remained closed, with the ogre’s head smashed through an opening several feet across in the center of the heavy wooden panels. It struggled weakly to free itself, blood splattering from its body onto the doors and the floor with every movement. Those struggles ended as Talen drove [i]Beatus Incendia[/i] through its back, the holy blade sliding between its ribs into its heart. White fire flared from the wound, as blood hissed from the opening. The ogre slumped down, its head still pinned in the opening in the double doors. With an obvious effort, Talen yanked his weapon free. He looked through the opening in the doors. The light from his sword glinted on metal, somewhere in the chamber beyond. Then something else was thrust into view, appearing in between the doors and the metal object. A familiar sigil, white bone held up by a small gauntleted hand. [i]Clerics![/i] Talen tried to yell, but of course no sound came from his lips. He tried to look away as he felt a cold chill sweep over him, but the power of that horned symbol washed over him, overcoming even his considerable fortitude. The unholy symbol grew until it filled his vision, and then everything went black as he was struck blind. [/QUOTE]
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