Thursday 12 July 1280, Evening (Fury and Fear)

"Kill them all!" shouts the leader of the grey men, motioning with his blade for them to attack.

The grey archers loose their arrows, with one finding its target and striking Varros (OOC: 5 hp damage; Varros is now at 1 hp), while all the others miss, clattering against the cave walls.

Seeing his bluff has failed, Oloc sighs and the hurls one of his daggers at the leader, and the wounded Varros, gritting his teeth with a toughness that would impress even the most veteran campaigner, shoots at the enemy leader with his bow. Unfortunately both of them miss their targets. Oloc pulls back with his remaining dagger, observing how the melee forms before deciding who and how to help.

As the others attack the leader, Duran and Gaven target the second swordsman with arrows and spear. Duran's first arrow strikes the swordsman in the throat, and both Gaven's spear and Duran's follow-up arrow skewer him a second and third time, before the body even has a chance to hit the ground.

Meanwhile the hirelings unleash their own volley, following your example, and before the grey men know what hit them, their leader is wounded, and two out of the three archers are killed.

His jaw dropping in dismay, the Grey leader turns and flees with a scream of fear down the west tunnel. The remaining archer, now leaderless, throws down his bow and takes to his heels as well in the same direction.

Varros slumps to the ground, pale from loss of blood, but still conscious.

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OOC: Actions?

Sorry Dienekes – I've been rolling randomly to determine whom the enemy targets, and the dice sure seem to love Varros! Entirely unintentional – the DM is not out to get you!

Recent events have kept you running from cave to cave (partly my fault), with little to no chance to catch a breath and loot bodies (gosh that looks horrible when you see it in print), so let me know if you want to go back and loot anything/anyone that you haven't had a chance to yet. All the loot that you have acquired up to this point is on the list on the "Monsters and Treasure" page.

Also, Karnak has been fluttering just behind you since alerting you to the grey men; I assume the plan is for him to resume his mission and report to Belloc; if no one tells me otherwise, I'll start the next post with him taking off to do so.

Finally, Dienekes previously suggested the possibility of hiding Mackey's corpse; please let me know where you stand on that as well.

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Combat Details:

Initiative: Grey Men: 2; Party: 1, Grey Men have the initiative. Since there is no ambush, and a fair space to cover before melee can be engaged, I ran all missile attacks on both sides, before proceeding to melee (which in the event, never occurred).

Archer 1 (targeting Varros):
d20 = 17 + 2 (short range) = 19 (hit); d6 = 5 (Varros down to 1 HP remaining)
d20 = 11+ 2 (short range) = 13 (miss)

Archer 2 (targeting Stan): 
d20 = 4 + 2 (short range) = 6 (miss)
d20 = 3 + 2 (short range) = 5 (miss)

Archer 3 (targeting Gaven): 
d20 = 7 + 2 (short range) = 9 (miss)
d20 = 8 + 2 (short range) = 10 (miss)

Oloc (throws dagger at Leader/Swordsman 1):
d20 = 4 +1 (medium range) = 5 (miss)

Varros (shoots at Leader/Swordsman 1):
d20 = 6 + 2 (short range) = 8 (miss)
d20 = 8 + 2 (short range) = 10 (miss)

Duran (shoots at Swordsman 2):
d20 = 20 + 2 (short range) = 22 (hit); d6 = 5 (Swordsman 2 killed!)
d20 = 18 + 2 (short range) = 20 (hit); d6 = 4 (Overkilled)

Gaven (throws spear at Swordsman 2):
d20 = 17 + 2 (short range) = 19 (hit); d6 = 3 (One seriously unlucky corpse!)

Stan (shoots at Archer 2):
d20 = 20 + 2 (short range) = 22 (hit); d6 = 2 (Killed)
d20 = 6 + 2 (short range) = 8 (miss)

Gweneth (shoots at Leader):
d20 = 10 + 2 (short range) = 12 (hit); d6 = 2 (Wounded)
d20 = 8 + 2 (short range) = 10 (miss)

Jack (shoots at Archer 3):
d20 = 19 + 2 (short range) = 21 (hit); d6 = 4 (Dead)
d20 = 12 + 2 (short range) = 14 (hit); d6 = 6 (As a door-nail)

Leader/Swordsman 1 (morale check: fail)
Archer 1 (morale check: fail)
Swordsman 2 (killed, no action)