Hiding from the underbrush Soledad spat another spell and hurled her sleeping curse as far into the Varlog forces as she could reach. They needed to retreat and they needed to do it now.

((OOC: Cast Sleep. Not sure what the layout is so area of effect will avoid allies. Most likely will be centered on the web to catch the free goblins/gnolls at the edge of the area of effect. Thanks!! Will maintain the web spell.))

"Those arrows are gonna be the death of us.  We need to move to some cover and make it harder for the archers.  Maybe just back into the short brush.  Hornet disengaged with his opponent and moved into the shrubs to gain some measure of protection from the archers

"Those arrows are going to be the death of us".....

Hearing Hornets words and advice Silver lanced out twice more then once again using her skill of fancy footwork moved to the the male elf’s side to help him cover for the rest of the party. When Hornet was ready so would she and both together would find a better postion to fight from out of range of the outcoming cave arrow fire.

Dok stood his ground as he concentrated his Spiritual Weapon against the Gnoll ((If Still Alive))  or the nearest living target to the Gnoll, as the Hill Dwarf Cleric brandished his silver-coated battle axe to execute his nearest foe, convinced that he could not successfully out-run his opponents!

Thäoran's cat-like eyes flicked around, quickly taking stock of the battle. He could see they were vastly outnumbered and, to make things worse, some pesky goblin had even set fire to Soledad's web! It would not be long before their enemies were free to spill out of the Vargolg and swiftly overwhelm them with sheer numbers.

Thinking quickly, the elf made his decision. He disengaged from his foes, retreating into the brush not far behind him, while also preparing to cast Shield to help protect him from any deadly shafts and ranged attacks that could head his way. He moved closer to Soledad.

((OOC: Disengage action. Plus if enemy uses ranged attacks on Thäoran, he will cast Shield. I'm not sure how close I can get to Soledad in one turn. Thäoran is attempting to get close enough to her to protect both himself and her. So the closest Thäoran can move towards her this turn is how far he moves this turn, if that makes sense. Hope I did this turn right!))

The battle rages on.  The web, starting to smoke and burn near the cave entrance still stood between the group and whatever numbers the Vargolg still had to spew.  But even so there were monsters in front of the party and attempting to work their way through the web. 

               The first to act was Thaoran who retreated back into the trees.  The group needed to evade the arrows  and fight from cover.  He was prepared for arrows this turn in case any came his way, but it seemed likely that they would target those more exposed.

               Silver had two goblins near her and reached out with her blades to touch someone.  The first landed a solid blow and took down a goblin, who seemed surprised to find a rapier sticking out of his chest.  The other took a blow across the arm – damaged (-3) but not badly.  Hearing a call for retreat and recognizing the wisdom of such a move, Silver slipped back amongst the trees.  The eyes of the goblin she had just wounded lit up as his enemy appeared to flee and he swung his blade at the retreating elf.  (Attack of opportunity from one foe) but missed. But she could tell her retreat would be pursued. 

               Hornet launched what he hoped would be a critical attack on the wounded gnoll’s vitals but discovered that the creature’s armor was better than it appeared as his blade skittered harmlessly to the side.  It was no killing blow.  With the creature still alive and swinging in front of him he disengaged and moved back into he woods.  Surely the gnoll would follow him, but if it gave the group a respite from the arrows it would be worth it. 

               All of this retreating left Dok as the only character still standing tall (for a dwarf) in front of the brush and he was thus the target of the first attacks of the beasts.  One goblin swung at him and missed, but the gnoll did not miss.  The creature charged and planted his spear squarely on the sturdy dwarf.  Many a fighter would have been done in by such a blow but the dwarf, though staggered, still stood.  (-10 HP) Even more impressively, though knocked backwards a bit into the brush he was able to hold concentration on his spiritual weapon spell.  (Con save made.) 

               Dok was ready to attack but before he did the witch got back into the fight.  Still holding her critical web spell steady she threw out a sleep curse hoping to take down as many of the enemy as possible.  Aiming to target those on the party’s side of the web but not snare any of her group mates, there were still 5 enemies directly in her target zone when she fired off her curse.  Even amongst the brush she pumped her fist when she saw the wounded gnoll topple over.  Two goblins, including the one Silver had wounded, also succumbed.  That left two – the gnoll that had attacked Dok and one goblin alive and fighting on this side of the web.  Of course, there were still those in the web and in the cave. 

               Seeing the wounded gnoll he was about to attack fall asleep Dok shifted his spiritual weapon attack to the other gnoll but couldn’t connect.  His mortal axe, however, dealt a heavy and mortal blow to the lone goblin still standing directly in front of them.  The creature was flung to the side by the force of the blow.  Dok now found himself with nobody directly in front of him.  The gnoll was there, but a bit off to the side.  Seeing the rest of the party retreat and free for the moment of a melee opponent the dwarf followed the lead of the others and slipped back into the woods.  (FYI – Hammer did not specify retreating, but since (A) everyone else retreated, (B) he was not currently engaged in direct melee to provoke an attack of opportunity and (C) it is hard to change plans in mid round as events unfold in a posting situation, I made what seemed the obvious choice.  It seemed highly unlikely that a player would want to leave their character standing alone as the only target for 6 archers and perhaps other attackers.) 

               Still in the web were 2 goblins and 1 gnoll.  Seeing enemies in front of them and flames behind them they strove to break free from the web.  The first goblin seemed to only ensnare himself further and failed to escape, but the other goblin and the last of the visible gnolls broke out of the web and rushed towards the party’s position.  There movement was accompanied by a flight of arrows from the cave.  The arrows smacked into the trees around them, but somehow two still found their mark – Hornet and Silver (-4hp each) both took shots. 

 

Overview

You have now all moved 10-15’ back into the brush/trees.  From this point you have partial cover from any arrows shot at you.  (This means they roll two attack dice and use the lower of the two rolls.  It is a lot harder to hit but as you noticed, hitting is still possible.)  None targeted Thaoran so he did not use his shield spell.  On your side of the web there are two uninjured gnolls and an uninjured goblin.  Asleep on the ground are 2 goblins (one injured) and 1 gnoll (badly injured.)  They are currently 10-15’ away from you and so not in melee, but they will easily be able to reach you and attack next turn.  (At least one of those gnolls moves before Dok and Soledad.)  Soledad is another 5’ back from everyone else.

               In the web there is only one goblin.  The web is now clearly burning.  If the goblin does not escape the web next turn he will get burned.  Your best guess is that it will take two full rounds for the web to burn completely away leaving the path open from the cave entrance.  If there were no web in the way you are a little over 30’ from the cave mouth.  FYI – most humanoids move 25-30’ per round so that once the path is clear anything from inside the cave could reach you at the start of the second round.  6 more arrows came from the cave this entrance. 

               Bigger picture:  The gulley was about 20’ wide at the end – where the entrance to the Vargolg is located.  It does widen out slowly as you go towards the river.  There is about 80’ of gulley behind you.  Except for the path it is full of brush and scrub and is difficult terrain – but you can move through it.  Right at the end the brush gets very thick, and you must go through the gap/entrance in the brush to get out of the gulley.  At that point the brush is very thick (If you remember, the intent was clearly to make the gulley unseen.) and attempting to get out by pushing through the vegetation would be possible but very slow and difficult.  The river is about 20’ beyond the end of the gulley, which puts it about 100’ from your current location.  At this location the river is quite shallow – easily fordable.  But it gets much deeper quickly either upstream or down. 

 

Total Killed so far:

Goblins:  13 goblins and 1 gnoll

Currently asleep:  2 goblins (1 wounded) and 1 gnoll (wounded)

Thäoran crouched amongst the bushes and quickly took stock of the battle. He noticed Silver's reetreat and the goblin that would inevitably persue her. Silver's back was exposed to the deadly weapon of the foul little fiend. Thäoran could not let the nasty creature wound his companion!
He quickly knocked an arrow and pulled on the string, the swan feather fletching tickling his pointy elf ear. Taking aim at the goblin's head behind Silver, he loosed the shaft, hoping his aim was true...

Hornet once more turned to his crossbow and aimed at teh magically slumbering Gnoll.  Hopefully one last bolt would finish it.  Then he blended into the shrubs.

Bonus action hide

Soleded hissed a curse as her web blew up in flames. Her only hope was that the final remaining cretin caught in the web was likely to become flambé. There was little to gain from caution now. Responding, the witch hurled a firebolt at the nearest beast before retreating further back into the wooded underbrush.

((OOC: Cast Firebolt and moves back as far as she can while still maintaining the web))

As Soledad unleashed a Fire Bolt at the nearest creature, Dok stood his ground, focusing his Spiritual Weapon at the nearest threat to himself and the retreating party!

((OOC)) Dok concentrates his attack with Spiritual Weapon at any living opponent that is unaffected by the Sleep Spell. If there are now only the sleeping opponents, then Dok uses his Spiritual Weapon to attack the Gnoll. If the sleeping Gnoll is already dead, then Dok attacks a sleeping Goblin! ((OOC))

Secondly, instead of attacking with his silver-coated battle axe, the Hill Dwarf Cleric of Helm decides to unleash another 1st level Guiding Bolt with the mouth of the cave being his target reference! Dok is hoping that Helm guides his aim swift and true, so that any emerging or unseen opponents are eliminated before they can enter the fray!

Disengaged and heading deeper into the woods to avoid the arrows from the cave’s interior, she steathed her swords and followed in the steps of Hornet. However this time instead of going for her bow she decided to use her single cantrip of Fire Bolt. Not so much aiming as just shooting, she sent the bolt deep into the mouth of the cave hoping to strike any of the archers within. Perhaps she would get lucky and cause chao’s to those inside.

Webs, sleep spells, arrows, spears and rapiers – the battle continued to rage in the gulley before the Vargolg. Having retreated deeper into the brush Thaoran fired an arrow at the last goblin both alive and awake on this side of the web.  The creature was about to bound after the retreating party when Thaoran’s arrow took it clean in the throat.  The creature dropped to the ground adding one more to the tally of dead goblins. 

               Hornet saw the goblin fall and determined to make sure the sleeping gnoll never rose – he lined up a shot o the sleeping creature’s eye and let loose his bolt.  But luck was against him as an intervening branch caught the arrow and sent it winging off into the brush.  (Yes, even with advantage on the shot the roll wasn’t even close.)  Cursing his bad luck Hornet moved deeper into the woods and attempted to hide.  He wasn’t sure hiding would work in the midst of combat, but if the enemy was distracted at all they might focus on others and not notice him.  It seemed to have worked, but he couldn’t know for sure. 

               Silver decided to launch a firebolt at the cave entrance,  Archers periodically popped out of the entrance to shoot and she aimed to greet one of them with a firebolt.  But her aim was a bit off and the blast of magical fire instead smashed into the door next to her target.  The creature seemed surprised to find itself the target of a blast, but was unhurt.

               One of the gnolls leapt forward and smashed his spear at Dok who was took a solid blow but stood his ground.  (-5hp)  The dwarf took a step back but this was not his first battle.  He was able to maintain his concentration on the spiritual weapon.  Meanwhile the lone goblin still trapped in the web stared at the oncoming flames, the whites of its eyes proof of its terror.  It struggled mightily against the pull of Soledad’s magical threads but could not escape.  Its screams echoed down the gulley as the flames caught the creature and quickly silenced it. 

               Having maintained his concentration on his spiritual weapon Dok used the weapon to slash at the gnoll that had just hurt him, but his timing with the weapon had not been good all combat.  It missed.  Looking past the large beast the dwarf aimed a guiding bolt at the entrance to the Vargolg, hoping to stem the flight of arrows piercing his companions.  Just as he fired his blazing bolt a pair of goblins stepped forward to launch their arrows.  The one on the right took the guiding bolt square in the chest as it raised its bow.  No shot would be fired as the creature was blasted backwards into the cave.  Dok didn’t really see it die, but he was sure no goblin could withstand that square of a hit. 

               Soledad saw the gnolls move forward and decided to launch a firebolt at the closest.  Her bolt flew forward but only glanced off the large hyena-like creature.  A miss.  She grimaced but knew that she still had work to do – her web would likely last for one more turn and she needed to maintain it – it still held back the hordes of the Vargolg, if only briefly.  She moved another 30’ back along the trail and into the brush.  She was close to the limit of her range on the web, but it only needed to last for one more turn.   She could still make out the gnolls to target, but nothing else of the battle was visible to her. 

               Arrows continued to fly from the cave, coming in waves even as one of the archers fell to Dok’s bolt.  5 arrows came, but none was able to find its mark amongst the partially concealed party.   The other gnoll now bounded forward and lashed out with his spear at Tharoan.  The elf staggered back as he took a blow.  (-7hp)  It was a hard blow, but he stood his ground knowing the gnolls needed to be taken down quickly. 

 

Overview

The web should hold back whatever is in the Vargolg for one more round.  After that the path will be clear.  Most of you are a little over 30’ from the cave entrance – Soledad is a bit more than 30’ beyond that.  The only creatures alive and awake are two gnolls who are in melee with Thaoran and Dok.  2 goblins and 1 gnoll are also asleep.  For a description of the broader gulley look back to the previous post. 

 

Total Killed so far:

Goblins:  16 goblins and 1 gnoll

 

Currently asleep:  2 goblins (1 wounded) and 1 gnoll (wounded)

  Hornet felt the wounds piling up.  Looking around he saw that the others were in rough shape and adrenaline more than anything was keeping them in the fight.  There were just too many of the enemy.  "We need to retreat; numbers are against us.  Back to the stream and hope the goblins are hurt enough to not pursue!"  Hornet turned and led the way.  

Thäoran heard Hornet's summons to retreat and recognised the wisdom of his words. The elf was confident he could fell the Gnoll, but at what cost? He had already suffered two wounds and was loathe to add more to his collection. So Thäoran kept his rapier unsheathed but disengaged from the Gnoll he was currently in melee combat with and fled towards the river, hoping he was swift enough to reach it and ford to the other side before the Gnoll caught him and re-engaged in the fight.

((OOC: Thäoran disengages from the enemy. This does prevent an attack of opportunity, right?))