Thursday 12 July 1280, Afternoon (An Increasingly Bloody Affair)

Hearing that the fight has already started behind, Oloc realizes now is the time for action.

"Run," he shouts to the hirelings as he darts back towards the path in the direction of the cave.

As Oloc runs east, the hirelings scatter, sprinting away from Swede in different directions. Gweneth and Jack disappear into the trees north and northeast respectively, while Stan moves southeast, roughly toward Duran's position.

The hobgoblin bounty hunter swears in his native language, but doesn't take a shot, as the four party members dash too quickly into the cover of the woods. With a snarl, he takes off running up the path in the direction of the fighting.

As Swede makes chase, Duran turns to cover Oloc's flight. He draws back on his bow and lets fly with two arrows, but between the cover and the moving target, neither missile finds its mark. Then Stan practically stumbles into Duran, panting heavily, as Swede, Oloc, and the other two hirelings move out of Duran's line of sight.

*****

Up the trail, Varros drops his bow and draws his sword, attempting to kill Anders, whom he had sidestepped. Unfortunately his blow swings high as his adversary ducks. The hobgoblin ripostes with a vicious hack, but Varros successfully deflects it with his blade. 

At the same time, Gaven throws aside his spear, grabs his club and attacks Lars, "For the Light!" The cleric swings the club in a mighty arc – in the shadows beneath the dark canopy of trees, the trailing curve behind it seems to glow faintly with a silvery light. The hobgoblin nearly dodges Gaven's swing, but the club catches Lars' shoulder.

Unfazed by the sudden appearance of the magical weapon in Gaven's hand, Lars strikes back, once more slicing Gaven with his axe, this time across the cleric's left thigh (OOC: Gaven takes another 1 hp of damage). Gaven is now bleeding profusely from his two wounds, and he staggers.

Suddenly, from above, Karnak streaks down into the fight, raking Lars' neck, face and throat with his talons. The cuts go deep, and Lars falls, blood spurting from the gashes.

*****

Oloc, rapidly outdistancing Swede, soon comes up the trail and enters upon the scene of the mêlée just in time to see Gaven take his second wound and to see Karnak's swift attack. The mage can see that Varros is holding his own, but Gaven looks to be in bad shape, though out of immediate danger since Lars is down. As he takes in the situation before him, Oloc can hear Swede pounding up the trail behind, perhaps some 20 to 30 feet distant by the sound.

*****

OOC: Actions?

Visibility:

• No one can see the hirelings or Swede, Gweneth or Jack.
• Oloc can hear Swede pounding up the trail behind him, and can see Varros, Gaven, Karnak,  Anders, Duran and Stan.
• Varros, is preoccupied with his own situation – he is now directly aware only of Anders. He still has a vague sense of Oloc's direction, but he doesn't know exactly where he is (i.e., he doesn't know Oloc has run back, or that Swede is right behind Oloc), and he of course is aware of Duran's position (but doesn't know Stan is there too).
• Gaven, upon looking around, can see Duran, Stan, Varros, Karnak, Oloc and Anders.
• Duran can see Varros, Gaven, Karnak, Lars and Anders, and, at the end of the round, can now make out Oloc, who has just entered into view at the edge of the combat scene. While he cannot see Swede, he knows that Swede was following after Oloc, and he has a rough sense of where Swede must be.

Note: Gaven is now down to 2 h.p. (one more hit is all but guaranteed to finish him off).

*****

Combat Detail:

Initiative: Varros and Gaven – 2, Hobgoblins – 1

A. Swede's reaction roll (no initiative roll) indicated no shot + running to help in the fight (which dictated the sequence: Oloc runs, Swede follows, Duran shoots)

Duran:

Shoots at Swede: d20 = 6 + 2 (close range) -1 (cover) = 7 (miss)

Shoots at Swede: d20 = 5 + 2 (close range) -1 (cover) = 6 (miss)

B. Varros and Gaven fight Lars and Anders

Varros:

Attacks Anders: d20 =12 (miss)

Gaven

Attacks Lars: d20 = 16 + 1 (Maggie's Ribbon) = 17 (hit); d6 = 1 + 1 (Maggie's Ribbon) = 2 (Lars wounded)

Anders:

Attacks Varros: d20 = 13 +1 (normal to hit bonus for his HD) = 14 (miss)

Lars:

Attacks Gaven: d20 = 16 + 1 (normal to hit bonus for his HD) = 17 (hit); d6 = 1 (Gaven wounded)

C. Karnak (passes "arrives-on-scene" roll and gets one attack at end of round)

Attacks Lars: d20 = 17 + 1 (normal to hit bonus for his HD) +2 (from above, unseen) = 20 (hit); d6 = 1 (Lars killed)