DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Fantasy SKT: The Storm King's Thunder 3L - The Deer With the Golden Horns

Glork

Glork glowers at the barbarians. Intent on watching the battle and to watch the barbarian spectators.

Jaliera

She will naturally gravitate towards Davroar and then stop to watch the fight.

Kriv

Whilst he did not intend to kill the barbarian, to provide anything less than his full talent would defeat the point of the exercise. Thus he demonstrated his mastery of his weapon with a series of rapid, brutal strikes as an opener.


Using Great Weapon mastery, -5 to hit, +10 to damage.
Using the Knocking a creature out rule if target hits zero hp.
Kriv Attack Barbarian Leader with maul, GWM -5
AJ rolled 1d20+2 and got 3
Kriv Extra Attack Barbarian Leader with maul, GWM -5
AJ rolled 1d20+2 and got 6
Action Surge
Kriv Attack Barbarian Leader with maul, GWM -5
AJ rolled 1d20+2 and got 14

Kriv damage
AJ rolled 1d6,1d6 and got 4, 2
Kriv GWF reroll
AJ rolled 1d6 and got 3

21 damage if 14 hits.

Kriv Extra Attack Barbarian Leader with maul, GWM -5
AJ rolled 1d20+2 and got 11

Kriv damage
AJ rolled 1d6,1d6 and got 1, 5
Kriv gwf reroll
AJ rolled 1d6 and got 6

25 damage if 11 hits.

DM

The barbarians surrounding the ravine cheer as combat begins. This may be better than the deer even! Most of the tribe is watching the battle, except for the one next to Glork, who is wondering if he should move elsewhere.

The tribal leader carefully prepares for the oncoming attack, attempting to measure the skill of his attacker. He also doesn't intend to kill his foe.

The first attack lands, drawing first blood with an effective, but not debilitating, hit. The second attack misses. (OOC: AC 13)

The damage is enough to give the leader an idea that this battle is going to be short, and he takes the advice of an ancient warrior to heart. "He who will not risk cannot win." He's going all in.

Reckless. At the start of its turn, the berserker can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.

He swings his axe with all his might, hoping to slice Kriv in two! Or, at least, draw blood.

Greataxe. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: (1d12 + 3) slashing damage.

AquaDyne rolled 1d20+5,1d20+5,1d12+3 and got 14, 16, 14

The swing would have inflicted some serious damage had it landed well. But it succeeds only in scratching the dragonborn. And the move leaves him open to a counterattack...

Glork

Looks down at the Barbarian next to him and smiles.

Kriv

Ever the scholar, ever the keen student, Kriv was intrigued by the clash of styles. Whilst he was trading precision for power, getting the most out of the size of his weapon, his opponent was trading defence for accuracy, getting into dangerous positions where only the superior nature of Kriv's equipment kept him from harm, but at the cost of leaving the leader somewhat exposed. The Dragonborn wasn't going to turn down the opportunity thus presented.


Using Great Weapon mastery, -5 to hit, +10 to damage.
Using the Knocking a creature out rule if target hits zero hp.
Kriv Attack Barbarian Leader with maul and advantage, GWM -5
AJ rolled 1d20+2,1d20+2 and got 12, 10
Miss, no damage.

Kriv Extra Attack Barbarian Leader with maul and advantage, GWM -5
AJ rolled 1d20+2,1d20+2 and got 22 (Crit!), 10
Kriv Critical hit damage
AJ rolled 1d6,1d6,1d6,1d6 and got 4, 3, 6, 2
Kriv GWF reroll
AJ rolled 1d6 and got 2

29 damage, GWM bonus attack procs on a crit.

If the Barbarian leader is still conscious after that and does not yield:

Kriv GWM Bonus Action attack Barbarian Leader with maul and advantage, GWM -5
AJ rolled 1d20+2,1d20+2 and got 20, 9
Kriv damage
AJ rolled 1d6,1d6 and got 3, 2
Kriv GWF reroll
AJ rolled 1d6 and got 6

23 damage.

DM

OOC: 21 + 29 + 23 = 73 vs. 67 HP.

To the barbarian leader's credit, he never wavers or shows any sign of backing down.

Of course, he ends up on the losing end of the battle, his risky move opening him up to two blows, the second of which sends him to the ground, unconscious.

And it seems Kriv chooses not to impart a death blow.

The barbarian tribe members watching the battle seem initially stunned at how fast the battle played out, as their leader is felled... and yet, it seems that laying unconscious after a valiant, if futile, effort, seems respectable to them. It starts slowly, but a cheer erupts honoring Kriv for not just his victory... but his honor in refraining from further attack.

One of the barbarians climbs down into the ravine to tend to the leader's wounds, offering Kriv a nod of appreciation, while the others start to talk amongst themselves about the warriors facing them, a few fingers pointing toward other members of the party, including Arus and Glork, and of course the still-unharmed Kriv.

Kriv

It might seem a strange point of commonality, between the noble-born and occasionally ruthless Dragonborn scholar and this human who had risen to the top of a savage band of his kind, but Kriv had always strongly valued self-improvement, backed by a will of iron that was never satisfied with 'Enough'. He understood the drive to see how oneself measured up against potential threats. Kriv himself had once dangled the prospect of single combat in front of a captured Orc sentry to get it to talk, and had been true to his word. He did not usually respect humans, and the relative ease with which he had bested this one wasn't going to reshape that opinion, but he absolutely respected both the ambition of this one, and the intelligent, efficient solution that minimised risk to the group as a whole in the face of a greater threat.

He looked askance of Arus. With honour satisfied on both sides, perhaps an offer of more effective healing could serve to indebt the barbarians before they parted ways, perhaps granting them an opportunity to glean information.

Arus

An impressive showing by the dragonborn and his maul technique. By now the party have triumphed over many, varied monsters. Giants, abominations, undead, but a warrior should never underestimate another warrior.

Arus watches over Kriv's back during the duel and as Kriv's second is on hand to support in the aftermath.

The triton nods to his companion as if to say Well fought and then approaches the unconscious challenger, saying to the other barbarians. "Let's help this stalwart soul to his feet."

When Arus clasps the man's hand, he channels a wave of healing power into the brave fellow.

[Lay on Hands to heal 15 hp]

As for the deer, Arus wished it well. Although he's always been drawn to life on land and its vast array of cultures, Arus still doesn't have a strong affinity with its wildlife.

Under the sea, you could get a conversation out of whale but not a fish. An octopus showed personality, loyalty and made a great animal companion. But how should one feel about a deer? Arus doesn't look at a deer and see steaming venison on a plate. It's just another inscrutable creature to him.

He has a sense of Golden Horn's gratitude though, so it might be a few steps above a surgeonfish.

Davroar

Walking over to Jaliera, he gives her a thorough look and says, "I'm glad you're not hurt, and thankful that we saved the deer without having to fight everyone."
Looking over at the Barbarian leader wounds, he walks over and asks, "If you want, I have healing spell?"

[ooc: Assuming barbarian doesn't object]

Davroar Cure wounds (at level 4)
Dugan rolled 4d8+4 and got 29

<Bern>

He relaxed a bit, glad to see the deer get away safely. He is also glad that they had not needed to use deadly force on the barbarians.

DM

The barbarian tending to his leader makes way for Arus to heal, reviving him. A nod of his head assents to Davroar's additional healing, bringing him well back to a reasonably healthy, if a bit hurt, state.

"Thank you," he says, nodding in order first to Kriv, and then to the two healers.

Whether an excuse or some tradition in his tribe, he continues.

"My armor has proven insufficient to the task and I will be making a better set. You have earned this," he gestures to his hide armor, speaking to Kriv.

OOC: +1 hide armor is Kriv's to use or give away.

"Although it looks like you may not need it, but perhaps one of the other members of your tribe can use it." A hand gestures toward the two healers who are closer, while his eyes scan the ravine edge where others are watching.

"It probably won't fit your ogre. I would love to hear that story," he adds.

Glork

Glork is quickly growing tired of the two groups being nice to each other. He starts grumbling under to himself wanting nothing more than to twist the neck of the nearest barbarian. He holds these feelings to himself though not wanting to anger the party who helped him. He kicks a rock at his feet sending it skittering towards a couple of barbarians growling his displeasure. He grumbles loudly, "I want fight."

Jaliera

She grins at Davroar, pleased though at his interest.

"You know me, I'm fine."

[OOC Armour would be good for Jaliera but maybe others also? ]

Zhu

Once the combat ends, she moves closer to the main gathering. She hears the Barbarian's offer and does her best to repress a shudder at wondering what sort of pests might infest hide armour worn by a Barbarian. She simply shakes her head negatively. "I cannot wear armour, so perhaps someone else?"

Sindar

He considers. "While I can wear armor maybe someone else needs it more?"

(OOC: Is it considered light armor? IE a bard can wear it?)

DM

The kicked rock misses the barbarian by about the same distance as the earlier spear toss missed Glork.

That doesn't stop the target barbarian from issuing a taunting challenge. "Oh, you wanna fight? We'll give you a fight!"

His friend next to him attempts to settle him down. "Hey, don't do something stupid."

More barbarians nearby join in, with enough back and forth chatter it's hard to make out words, but Glork has clearly poked at a hornet's nest.

Kriv

The thought occurred that letting the ogre and barbarians occupy each other’s attention would be the ideal cover for the party’s departure, neatly solving two potential problems. Kriv didn’t expect the hulking, brutish thing to have enough nous to avoid killing the ogre and vice versa. Still, there was one last thing to resolve.

“Thank you for your generosity, I’m sure our people can make good use of it.”

Kriv’s own armour, taken from the depths of the mine they now owned, dwarf-forged in ancient days, was to his mind far superior, but the enchanted hide was certainly good enough for one of the humans, perhaps.

Glork

Roars stepping towards the barbarians brandishing his club

Davroar

Even though he just purhased armour to replace his old furs that were soiled from the fight in Yartar's sewers, Davroar speaks up, "I would gladly accept the better hides than what I currently have, if no one objects?"

However, with Glork trying to incite a fight, Davroar quickly says to him with displeasure, "I, we, shared our food with you Glork. Do not taunt them any more. I will not join in your fight if you do, and you will surely die."

<Bern>

"By all means Dav. I think you earned it", he said with a grin.

Kriv

The Dragonborn looked the human druid up and down, and nodded. "It seems a perfect match," he said, indicating the sweaty mishmash of dead animal pelts enchanted for protection.

Zindra

She walks over to Glork before he decides to bonk someone on the head with his club. "Hey, lets find our from these barbarians if there are any giants to beat up on? Whatcha say pal?"

DM

Despite their challenges, the barbarians around Glork scatter when he threatens with his club, learning a lesson about life in the process, and remaining out of club reach.

For now.