(011) The Expedition North

[waysoftheearth]

danhem wrote:
"Stay clear!" Ulric shouts as the others start to dart about.

"Just a mindless beast," he mutters to himself. "Hopefully it will burn."

Ulric unleashes the Anthracite Sufferance directed at the plant monster.

OOC: This assumes Ulric is in range or can quickly get in range and has a clear shot free of fantastically leaping warriors or fellow magic users running around with open flasks of oil. ;D

[waysoftheearth]

tonneau wrote:
Gustave makes his way to the campfire and seeks a flaming branch. "Living forest for starters then is it?", he comments.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Now that the monstrosity is in view Flewellen runs back to his pack, grabs a vial of lantern oil the fire, picks up a flaming log from the fire. Should he have time, Flewellen will close with the abomination, douse it with lantern oil, and light the oil with the flaming log.

He will have time to dig out a flask of oil and set it aflame from the tiny campfire this round (there are only a few twigs afire over a bed of coals -- but Flewellen could flare it up with oil to provide a decent light).

The rest will have to wait until next round. However. Wandering over to the abomination and dousing it in oil would be no less risky than... say... doing the same to an angry grizzly bear reared up on its hind legs.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
Michele and Victor unleash the high torsion missiles of their weapons with a dramatic kick as Padrig and Anwyn bend their short bows and let fly a pair of arrows that rip across the dark air.

Michele's (1d20=19) bolt flies flat and true -- he could hardly miss the gigantic monster -- and (4dd=2,3,3,3) buries itself in the trunk for 4 hit points. But Victor's bolt (1d20=10) misses in the semi-dark, dashing through the leafy creepers about the monster's great shoulders and head without hitting anything solid. "Thuul's Hole!" he swears at his miss, and spits. Padrid and Anwyn's missiles (1d20=17,6) drill into the beasts right shoulder (1dd=2) for 1 hit point, and the other vanishes into the snarl of woods behind.

With this the monstrosity is provoked and charges out of the trees directly toward Dieter! The thing is BIG. Initiative is rolled (Dieter 1d6=6+1, Foe 1d6=6) "Eschapper!" snaps Dieter as he makes to spring not away from, but toward the towering foe, sword in hand. Hell's Teeth the Man is bold! But to the great surpise of all (including himself) Dieter launches mightily past the monster's enormous swinging arm and into the black night, punching through the shabby canopy above with a chill rush of air, and hurtling beyond sight... and then the monstrous fist thunders into the spot where he had just been, smashing a half foot deep crater into the wet earth.

Almost knocked prone by this tremor, Gustave finds himself kneeling at the fire and hastily extracting one of the few sticks that is not wholly consumed, diminishing the little blaze by a third in doing so. But at least the little branch flares and cackles as he whips it around in the frigid air so it burns between himself and the indescribable swamp terror.

Meanwhile, Caine, Fix and Boris all back off to avoid attracting attention to themselves, while Flewellen hastens to pull a flask of lantern oil form his pack and comes bounding back to the campfire, unstops it and sets it to the small tongues of flame until the oily neck and lip of the flask itself are ingnited.

"Stay clear!" commands Ulric's voice as bolts and arrows fly by him and the tumult of melee escalates. Then his syllables turn to an awful rasping hiss that no Man should speak, and his eyes a copperfire glow as he casts his fingers wide before him and ignites the wintery air with hot blast of sorcerous green-yellow fire that seethes around the giant monster and creates a vast and foul smelling steam, which is mostly blasted back past the target. (1dd=3+1) causing 2 hit points of damage.

...and Dieter drops through the canopy and blast of odourous steam like a stone but lands marvelously soundly upon his feet in the woods right behind the monster. He is completely unharmed by his amazingly 30ft drop out of the chilly night sky (but what a view of Ulric's fire it briefly was)!


The thing, now wreathed in a coat of rising steam, turns low and purposefully toward Ulric and gives such a violent roar that the earth seems to tremor and the little flames of Gustave and Flewellen are nearly extiguished by the excruciatingly pungent rush of air.

Mads and Olaf, standing by with weapons ready, glance at one another nervously...


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Gentlemen, your intentions please...

[waysoftheearth]

tonneau wrote:
Gustave reassess his situation and, noting the less-than-optimal developments, cusses. He regards the pathetically glowing ember between himself and the very large and manevolent section of animated forest before him and dumps it, manoevering himself to the opposite side of the fire from the thing and holding his (suddenly obscenely small and impotent) dagger before him.

[waysoftheearth]

heartless wrote:
Padrig keeps flying with arrows into the beast, keeping this distance if it comes towards him.

"Be careful not to get to close, it has a mean punch. Keep shooting at it!"

[waysoftheearth]

makofan wrote:
Caine decides to try his luck with archery

[waysoftheearth]

mushgnome wrote:
Despite the danger of the situation, Michele grins. No matter the outcome of this battle, his aim was true; he is now a warrior!

Michele begins the long reload process.

[waysoftheearth]

eris wrote:
"That got the monster's attention!" Olaf shouts, "Ulric, do that again!"

"Keep the casters behind a line of steel!", the tall lanky warrior moves forward and to the side of the monster trying to keep a line of shields and cold steel between the monster and Ulric.

"Use fire arrows!" Olaf calls toward Padrig and Anwyn while still facing the foul beast, "If you can."

Olaf will attack with his sword and defend with his shield, but he'll also try to use his feet to keep the monster from getting a direct hit on him with its massive limbs.

[waysoftheearth]

tombowings wrote:
Flewellen will continue his plan.