Orc AmbushAs the group start to set up their camp, with the three wagons rolled into a rough triangle, everyone makes themselves busy with minor routine tasks. Redmane and the other two drivers look after the horses, starting to switch around the fresh ones with the more tired looking ones, spending time watering and feeding them from nosebags.
Meanwhile, Cleo stalks the scrubby grass around the camp, arrow nocked as she searches for game.
Suddenly, Cleo spots something in the grass, something that looks like a body. Even as she changes direction to move towards it, there is a yell, and a figure rises from the grass to one side of her - so close she was amazed she hadn't spotted him. A spear is thrust at her midrift, jabbing in hard in a blow that would have probably skewered her if she hadn't have been wearing her new mithral chain shirt. Even so, she can feel blood welling from the blow. (OOC: 4 hp damage).
From two sides of the camp, a group of orcs burst up from their hiding places in the long grass. They probably had to have been lying there hiding for a while, perhaps intending to wait till dark - it was only Cleo's hunting expedition that flushed them out early.
As the others look up from their chores, they can count nearly thirty orcs, spread out in a rough semi circle around two sides of the camp. Cleo is off to one side.
ROUND ONE
Redmane curses as he hears the orc yells. For a second, he glances at the horse, he is holding, as if wondering if he should simply leap atop it and ride away, but instead, he pulls it back towards the front of the wagon. "Ryan!" he barks. "Get this horse back on the wagon!" Releasing the horse for Ryan to deal with, he reaches up onto the seat of the wagon, and pulls out a couple of crossbows and starts cocking them.
He quickly scans the scene before him to see how many foes they were facing.
Calling out to Merrel he points a finger to the group of orcs to the south (lower part of the map) and shouts "blast them!"
He then calls out to the other fighters in the group "form a line! protect the perimeter while the casters work their magic. I'm going after Cleo!"
Hearing Lucretia's yell, Dorn moves out between the wagons, positioning himself with the wagons at his back.
Letting the string of her bow go slack but keeping hold of the arrow with the fingers of her left hand, Cleo steps forward, punching the orc full in the face. Blood spills from its broken nose and it staggers back a step. Stepping back, Cleo, turns and starts to jog back towards the camp, drawing a dagger with her right hand as she moves. (OOC: Sure you want a dagger? Not your broadsword?)
Behind her, the orcs let out another shout. The nearest orcs charge after her, two jabbing their spears at her and one attempting to trip her from behind. Somehow, despite getting a spear tangled in her legs for a moment, she manages to twist and kick back at it, but the orc has firm grip on his spear and isn't tripped or forced to drop it.
Most of the orcs seem to be armed with both spears and bows, and almost all of them run forward a short way, unslinging bows from shoulders and nocking arrows. A volley of arrows arcs towards the wagons, targeting those sheltering behind them - though many seem to also target Dorn, who had been quick off the mark to step outside the protective cover of the wagons to come towards Cleo, and Ryan, who had been on the outside of the circle of wagons already.
Three arrows smack into Dorn, but richoshet off his armour rather than damaging him. Two strike Ryan, the man crying out in pain as they hit.
Behind the cover of the wagons and horses, Merrell has a shock as an arrow splinters into the side of the wagon right next to him. Several other arrows also would have hit their targets but for the cover provided.
To the north and south, two groups of orcs break away and run to the west, attempting to circle around - presumably to bring fire from different angles to reduce cover.
Lucretia, ignoring the arrows flying around, draws his weapons and touches the hilts together, disappearing from view.
Milo starts to calmly cast a spell to aid the party.
Ceely and Vaslin draw their bows and nock arrow, firing towards the enemy.
Blondung and Yvandel also casts spells, the older mage's form wavering and starting to blur whereas the puppeteer's form wavers then splits into five mirror images of himself.
Merrell on the other hands casts a more offensive spell, three darts of magical energy zipping from his fingers. One of them strikes the orc that Cleo had bloodied. He shrieks and collapses to his knees. The other two darts strike at each of the other two close to Cleo, though they seem made of sterner stuff and shrug off the magical wound.
Ryan, clutching at one of the arrows sticking out of his arm, hurries past Dorn and the horses into the shelter of the wagons where he grabs its reins.
Davie reaches up under the seat of his wagon and pulls out a crossbow which he starts to cock.
ROUND TWO
Redmane finishes cocking the crossbow and firing of a cracking shot that rips through the throat of an orc, felling it like a sack of potatoes.
Dorn stands firm, battle axe in hand, but none of the orcs seem ready to rush forward to do battle with them, instead, the majority holding back with their bows.
Cleo runs forward, jinking towards the one that Merrell's magical dart had felled to avoiding the swinging swords of the the two orcs still close to her. Running full pelt, she closes towards Dorn, grateful to see the dwarf ahead of her, unaware of the invisible Lucretia flying just above her head. (OOC: Move to 43K, then straightline to 32K)
The two orcs who had been tackling her hang back, drawing bows and nocking arrows, aimed at Cleo's retreating back. As they fire, another volley of arrows descend on the party from the circling orcs, as they move slightly closer to get a better aim. The small groups of orcs north and south of the camp continue to run towards flanking postions, already drawing their own bows. As the hail of missiles pepper the caravan, Vaslin catches one in her side, the missile punching through her leather armour and into her flesh (OOC: 5hp damage, now on 28/33). Everyone else manages to avoid being hit, as it appears the orcs are not very good archers at all, their arrows thunking into everything but the .
OOC: Lucretia - do you want to continue to fly TOWARDS the enemy, or do you wish to stay with Cleo now she is closer to the caravans? Check the map and let me know.
Milo calmly casts another spell designed to prevent the enemy from targeting him. One of the orcs who had been getting ready to line up a third arrow at him, blinks and then chooses another target.
Ceely plucks another arrow from her quiver and takes aim at the nearest orc to her, before swiftly repeating the action. Both strike their target, who crumples to the grond
Vaslin also fires an arrow, but it flies wide of the mark.
Blondung, his shape blurring and hard to look at, moves up close to one of the wagons in an attempt to give himself more cover. His arm hazy, he points at the orcs circling to the south. "Try to take out those ones before they get an angle on us!" he blurts, before going into a new spell casting. A set of four magic missiles burst from his own fingers, zipping to strike at the orcs he'd pointed at. Each missile finds a different target, making two of the orcs stagger and nearly fall, though the other two seem to handle the magical force better.
Yvandel, or at least the real Yvandel amongst all his images, hunkers down behind the cover of a wagon and casts another spell, this one with no visible effect.
Meanwhile, Merrell casts his fast becoming signature spell, a fireball. It engulfs the four orcs running to the north of the camp in a dull "whomph". As the flames die, four figures stagger and fall amongst the still burning brush. A mushroom cloud of smoke starts to rise into the air and drift over the camp.
Ryan, using the horse he was holding as cover, starts to fasten it back into the harness, hampered slightly by the arrows still sticking out of his arm.
Davie, having finished loading his own crossbow, takes careful aim at the orcs to the south, and fires. His aim is good, the bolt striking the nearest orc still staggering from Blondung's magic missile. The orc drops to the ground to lie face down in a tussock of grass.
ROUND THREE
Redmane starts cocking his crossbow again
Dorn continues to stand firm as Cleo turns at his side, urging him him to retreat to inside the cover of the wagons.
One of the orcs to the south seems to shriek something only Milo can understand (since he speaks their language!) [Private to Milo: "Kill the magic users!"], and most of the orcish archers change their aim slightly, aiming towards Merrell and Blondung. A hail of arrows descends towards the two magic users, who do their best to keep behind the cover of the wagons. Two of the archers who had come around to the south have now started to target the magic users however, and from them there is no cover. Merrell takes an arrow from that direction, even as he is hit by a lucky from the other direction. (OOC: Merrell takes 10hp damage, now on 13/23) Blondung also gets a couple of near misses, both of which would have hit him had the orc archer not had his judgement put off by the blur effect.
Meanwhile, Lucretia continues his flight, before spinning around and slamming his swords into the back of an unsuspecting orc near where Cleo had originally been surprised. The orc collapses, with a yell that turns into a bubbling shriek. Several nearest orcs glance around horrified to find themselves surrounded.
Having no desire to further become a half-elven pin cushion, Merrell ducked under the wagon before him taking care not to do more damage to himself by hitting one of the arrows already sticking out of him. He cursed when he hit the fletching end of one of the arrows on the side of the wagon. "Damn that bloody hurts!"
Once under cover Merrell yells out to Blondung, "Use the lightning wand you wool-heaeded ex-Zhent before we all die!"
The older mage spares a moment to throw a blurred scowl at Merrell, but makes no move to pull out the old bone wand.
Ceely plucks another arrow from her quiver and takes aim at the nearest orc to her, before swiftly repeating the action. Both strike their target, who crumples to the ground
Vaslin also fires an arrow, winging an orc, who grunts in pain.
Blondung, sweating slightly from the near miss, casts another spell, though this one has no immediate visible effect.
In a surprise move, the multiple Yvandels, suddenly leap up and charges out towards the orcs, moving twice as quickly as normally. Running up to two orcs close to a pile of rubble at the edge of the camp area, he casts a spell. A vivid spray of colours erupts from his fingers, stunning both orcs and knocking them unconscious.
Again Merrell casts a fireball, this time taking Yvandel's movement, the appearance of Lucretia and the movement of the orcs into consideration. It catches four orcs just in front of Lucretia in a dull "whomph". As the flames die, all four stagger and fall amongst the still burning brush. A second mushroom cloud of smoke starts to rise into the air and drift southwards. The smell of burnt flesh is strong in the air.
Ryan, continues to fasten the near panicked horse back into the harness, working awkwardly with his injury.
Davie, starts to load his crossbow again.
ROUND FOUR
Redmane again raises his crossbow, takes aim and fires, winging an orc.
Dorn continues to stand firm as Cleo backs off to behind cover, raising her bow and taking two shots to fell an orc.
There is a scattering of several arrows, but the shots are mostly wild, as the orc moral is broken. The two fireballs, the sudden appearance of Lucretia amongst them, and then a whole bunch of Yvandels running out and using colourful magic against them is finally too much - and after loosing a final few arrows, the group scatter, running for the safety of the hills.
Lucretia continues his flight, taking out a couple of orcs with his swords, even as they start to run.
Milo casts a spell of healing onto Merrell, wincing only slightly as Ilmater's power allows him to take on the suffering of others to ease their pain.
Ceely again lets fly at the now retreating orcs, the first arrow slamming home, the second missing.
Vaslin also fires again, winging the same orc again, but not quite killing it. It continues to run/stagger off.
Blondung, stands straighter and moves back into the open. "You can come out of hiding now"" he says to Merrell, looking down on the other mage under the wagon.
Meanwhile, the multiple Yvandels again run impressively fast after a couple of the orcs who had lingered to fire an arrow before turning, and again casts his spell of many colours, dropping them.
Davie, raises his crossbow to fire at the fleeing orcs, then lowers it again. "Looks like the buggers have had enough!" he grunts.
Ryan spits on the dirt at the departing foe, wincing in pain. "Hey big guy!" he turns, calling across to Milo. "Will the Broken God spare some healing for me?" he asks.