Egil
Egil will hop off his horse after following Alistair to the battleground, keeping a wary eye on the circling rocs. As soon as he touches the ground he activates his ring of invisibility before strolling after the Healers, his favorite long axe resting on his shoulder. When passing by Alistair he will mumble "These birds are creepy... they are watching us,... waiting for something."
Egil prepares for a coming attack of the remaining rocs.
Arnolt's Cure spell proves insufficient, as the second mercenary's wounds were too severe. The third mercenary will live, however, thanks to Emmon's holy powers. Alistair judges him to need at least two weeks' bed rest for a full recovery. Unfortunately, his ear is a lost cause and the man will have hearing issues from now on.
The first mercenary dies a quiet, painless death.
Siegmar tries to save one of the mules' life but it is too far past his ability to do so. All three mules that were attacked expire. Losing three of 110 mules will have a negligable effect on the party's supplies this month.
Arnolt notes that his Speak with Animals spell did not allow him to communicate with any of the rocs.
The other rocs, closely watched by an invisible Egil, are still circling the location but not doing anything else.
Remind me what the bonesaw does, if anything, as regards healing. I can't seem to find mention of it in any of the books.
Does Alistair still intend to "scrap the roc for parts"? I am using the Lairs & Encounters rules for mundane monster parts and special components.
Alistair
Alistair does indeed want to harvest the rocs for magical bits. Bonesaws are in D@W:C. They give a bonus to the roll to try to Cure Light/Serious Wounds using the Healing proficiency if you're trying to restore hitpoints to someone who rolled a limb-related Mortal Wound. (So if a merc had -3 HP and a broken leg and needed to be healed to 1 hp within one round, Alistar could try to Cure Light Wounds by sawing his leg off.)
Alistair examines the roc bodies and realizes that, while he is fairly certain that the rocs' talons and feathers will sell for a decent price, he has no idea which body parts are useful to mages and/or alchemists.
He orders a couple of mercs to begin plucking feathers while he saws off some talons.
Anyone else want to take a shot? Anything else Alistair wants to do?
Alistair and the mercs finish their job of stripping the rocs of talons and feathers. The mage removes 18 talons and the mercs pluck 93 feathers. The pack herders salvage what little supplies they can from the dead mules and repack them onto the others. The wounded merc is helped onto his mount and strapped to the saddle so he won't fall if he faints. The two dead mercs are wrapped in blankets and laid across their mounts as well. It takes a couple of hours to round up the frightened mules and get them back in line but finally the column moves out again.
As the last horse moves away from the battle site, the remaining rocs swoop down and quickly strip the mule corpses of any remaining meat.
The party is able to make it another six miles or so before it makes sense to stop and camp for the night. No further encounters occur.
The party is in hex 04.26. Please post the Night Watch order, if any, in the newly renamed Marching Order and Night Watch thread.
If you want to do something different with the wounded merc or the dead ones, let me know and we'll adjust.
During the evening, Alistair's mercenaries making the rounds of the campsite note the presence of a ruined building just off the path. The ruin is quite large, perhaps 50'x50', but appears to be ancient. The walls have been knocked down thoroughly and the knee-high remnants of the site are nearly covered with vines and other brush.
Alistair doesn't think much of the site but Ser Emmon gets a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He orders more torches lit and discovers a colossal, life-sized statue of a dragon toward the rear of the ruin. The statue is half-buried in the earth but still appears to be 100 feet long or longer. The dragon's eyes sparkle in the torchlight, as if they were gemstones.
Suddenly, as the pair approach, a half dozen shadowy figures emerge from the dragon's mouth! They appear as bearded warriors with plumed helmets and short hooked swords. The dark creatures move to the attack!
I rolled an initiative win for the bad guys here but since I took some liberties with Alistair's actions, I will let Susan respond first. Present for the party are Alistair, Emmon, and one platoon of light cavalry. The edge of the campsite is about 150 feet away.
Alistair orders his men to charge and begins casting Shield.
Ser Emmon and the mercs close to attack the enemy. Perhaps a third of the horsemen strike clear blows but their blades pass through the shadowy figures with no effect!
Emmon's blade Wyrmfel strikes true and the foe staggers but does not fall.
If there was any thought that the enemies were insubstantial ghosts, their counter-strike dispels that myth. Two of them land blows with their whispery blades, striking one mercenary down and wounding another. The one facing Emmon sees his blade slide off the paladin's shield harmlessly.
The mercenaries gasp in surprise and dismay as one of the phantoms sucks the very life force out of the wounded merc! The merest touch turns his skin ashen and he falls to the ground without a sound.
Alistair completes his spell, with no obvious visible effect.
The sound of the conflict is heard back in camp. The others may issue orders for the next round.
Emmon hits for 10 damage but his target yet lives. In 4e terms, he's bloodied (i.e. below 1/2 hit points). The mercs landed several solid blows but their weapons had no effect.
Alistair's Shield is, of course, invisible.
Alistair
Alistair sees that this mercenaries don't stand a chance against this threat. "SEPT FORMATION!" He shouts, and then begins preparing a Fireball. Emmon holds his ground while the men declare fighting withdrawals with the intent of forming a tight wall around their mage and praying that the murderous things are content to duel the paladin, or that they can buy their mage enough time to save them. If/when Alistair's spell finishes, he'll aim to catch as many enemies as possible without harming friendlies.
Arnolt
Assessing the situation, Arnolt yells to his men, "Saddle up! We must ride to their aid!" Without waiting for his men, Arnolt rides towards the ruin. If he gets close enough, he will attempt to turn the undead.
Egil
Egil curses as he hears the commotion and tells Reinhart to secure the camp with his men while he hops onto his horse, barely awake, to follow Arnolt to the ruins.
Round 2
Emmon stands firm against the shadows, most of which face him rather than chase the retreating horsemen. Emmon is an excellent swordsman but fighting off four foes at once is too much, even for him. One of the misty weapons strikes him and, while the hit seems no more than a scratch, the blow seems to hurt him more deeply. Still he fights on!
On either side of him, one of the foul creatures strikes another merc and he falls as if his very soul was taken away.
Alistair uses his genius intellect to calculate the optimal trajectory for the Fireball so that it catches as many shades as possible without hurting Emmon. Three of the four attackers around Emmon feel the burn. They all die, flames still flickering from their scorched bodies.
Arnolt and Egil jump onto their unsaddled horses and begin to ride toward the fracas. The other mercs scurry about, grabbing weapons and saddling horses.
Imagine the six enemies from left to right, numbered 1 to 6. Numbers 1 and 6, furthest away from Emmon, pursue the mercs. Number 1 misses but Number 6 hits and kills a merc. Numbers 2 through 5 attack Emmon. One of those hits with a natural 20. Emmon takes 4 HP damage and is drained one level.
Emmon misses with a 9. Alistair hits Numbers 3, 4, and 5 with a Fireball. All of them fail their save and take 32 damage. All of them die.
Arnolt and Egil grab weapons & shields and mount up this round. They can close to melee distance next round. If they attack on horseback without a saddle, there is a chance they are unseated in the process.
Edited to reflect Alistair's elemental power.
Egil
Egil doesnt want to ride into the ruins but jump off his horse behind a wall, activating his ring of invisibility while dismounting. With a grin he grabs his axe firm to approach the battlesite unseen. Once he spots the shadowy figures his grin vanishes though (not that anybody would notice...) but with determination and a silent curse on his lips he engages the closest cluster of ghosts.
Egil obviously tries to get into position for a good round of backstabs. If he is too slow to do that this round then he will in the next.
Vinric Lahes
"Uh, I'll just stay here and keep an eye on the camp, then," he says, doing just that.
Arnolt
When Arnolt gets within range, he presents his holy symbol and attempts drive the foul creatures away.
Round 3
Egil rides up close, hops off his horse, and dons his Ring of Invisibility. He maneuvers into position behind enemy #6 for a backstab (coming soon to a melee near you!).
Vinric gets horses saddled, fires lit, and bows strung. The camp is well on its way to being ready for battle.
Arnolt weaves his horse through the retreating mercs, practically leaping off of it when he arrives at the battle scene. Presenting his holy symbol forcefully, Arnolt commands the shades to withdraw from this place. The two on either side of the battle ignore him, and continue to pursue mercs. The one attacking Emmon spins on its shadowy heel and flees with all haste. Emmon delivers a mighty strike on its back but does not slow it down.
The shade to the left fails to strike a merc but the one on the right, with Egil creeping up behind it, is successful and slays another horseman.
Enemy 1 misses, Enemy 2 (who was attacking Emmon) is Turned and flees, Enemy 6 hits, drains a level on the merc, and kills him.
It occurs to me that you guys can puppet Atlic's PC if you please. Of course, you have your own henches who can enter battle as well.
Also I suspect that some of you are reticent to enter battle due to the extreme penalty that comes in the form of a level drain. I'm not a big fan of level drain in PbP games, where it's so hard to accumulate XP at a decent pace. So I'm making a house rule. See the House Rules thread.
Alistair
On his next turn, Alistair will throw out another Fireball as carefully as he can and really wish he'd learned Magic Missile at some point. Emmon will attack the wraiths attacking mercs.
Arnolt
If Arnolt can get within 30' of the shades, he will cast Dispel Evil.
Egil
Egil suddenly fades into existance behind a shade swinging his ancient axe with savage force, trying to cleave the ghostly figure in half.
Round 4
The shade to the far left changes targets, deciding that Emmon is more of a danger than the retreating mercs. Emmon parries his attack with laughable ease. The other, to the far right, strikes down yet another retreating merc. The one in the middle continues to retreat as fast as he can, and disappears from view.
Despite his skill in parrying attacks, Emmon is unable to turn the situation to his advantage, his own attack missing. Egil pops into view to the right, attempting to cleave that shade in twain. Alas, the shadowy foe twists in a manner most inhuman, and dodges what otherwise would have been a devastating strike.
It matters not, as Arnolt presents his holy symbol quite forcefully and speaks harsh Words of Power. The shadow facing Egil is blasted out of existence!
Alistair turns his attention to the sole remaining shade and again artfully crafts a firing solution that targets the shadow and not his trusty Paladin. The shade smokes and chars but yet stands.
Enemy 2 disappears back into the dragon statue's mouth. Enemy 1 misses Emmon. Emmon misses Enemy 1. Enemy 6 kills another merc. Egil somehow misses Enemy 6. Arnolt's Dispel Evil destroys Enemy 6. Enemy 1 saves on Alistair's Fireball but is still "bloodied".