 |
| This is where we left... |
The situation
Since 5 walruses were either dead or unconscious (those with pennies) with arrows in an eye, a general retreat had been called. Unfortunately, Sir Galdor just got trapped under Wanda the walrus, and Halin and Arnadil were an second away from being rammed from behind by other ones. The wall was closing in all around the fighter in a grand strategy that I borrowed from Canae. Thannolf was riding a walrus, trying to stab it in the face with his knife, but mostly grazing into blubber.
 |
| This is Wanda, the magic model mini that I made with my daughter the morning of... the final version has glowing red eyes and blood on the tusk. |
The action
As the wall was closing on the company, the walruses launched a new collective howl which sent the hobbits into a panicked mental stun. Halin and Arnadil both got slammed under two charging bulls while Thannolf kept on trying to stab his mount in the eye. Halin managed to sprain his left arm while trying to pull himself free [ Critical fail on his ST check.]
[+] . With the three fighters pinned and surrounded, and the rest of the company outflanked from both sides, the situation was no longer looking good.
Kasper took a step backward and uttered a few words in the old language of his Treatise. To his surprise, the magic flowing out of his hands was visible! Swirls of green glowing hues, like a vortex of wraiths sprung from his torso and and scattered like the eye of a storm over friends and foes. About a quarter of the walruses panicked and began a backward stampede. This was enough to stem the general encirclement of the company, although the walruses currently pinning the fighters did not get affected.
Halin managed to pull himself off while Thannolf was madly stabbing his walrus to no effect. Irina was shooting at another one threatening to enclose completely the fighter into a narrow leathery booth. Galdor, unable to breath, let alone defend himself, got hit by Wanda's crushing tusk and suffered a major wound to his chest. While Halin was picking himself up from the ground, a second wave of waiths sprung from somewhere behind and sent more walruses stampeding backward. Unfortunately, this time, it also affected Araliniel and Galdor. Galdor, now choking under a beast had no other option but writhing harder and cry. Araliniel, in the other hand, ran away from the horror and into the confused mass of bouncing mammals. She was, in seconds, out of sight.
Bravely, Finbert interposed himself between a new walrus and a helpless Halin [ The GM told him that he would almost certainly be able to dodge the slam attack... which was true but not very prophetic.] [+] . Finbert did protect Halin, but himself got slammed into the wet ice. Which triggered a new wave of rescue attempts by Thannolf and Irina. An exasperated Halin launched into a rapid strike and struck two nearby walruses, felling one. Kasper drained what was left of his energy to let out a third wave of terrorizing wraiths out of his body, sending almost all remaining walruses backward. Ironically, Wanda the walrus managed to resist the Panic spell three times in a row and kept on smothering Sir Galdor and turning him into a pulp with its tusk.
Kasper was on the verge of collapse when Irina passed him her bottle of "brain explosion", an energy concoction of her own [ Gain 1d6 FP, then crash for 2D6 in 1 hour. ] [+]. Thannolf freed Finbert from his walrus and swiftly killed another one by throwing his knife into the beast's eye at point blank range. The walrus conveniently was climbed atop another one which ended up pinned under its dead friend. All that was left to do was to get Sir Galdor from underneath Wanda without getting more people pinned. Kasper attempted a number of all-out attacks with mighty blows to try to strike it down, but managed only blubber hits. Araliniel emerged from the confusion as Galdor was pulled back on his feet.
As the company scurried back to the ship, Thannolf managed another deadly eye stab and killed a second walrus with nothing but knives! The sailors, stunned by the violence and horrific visions of the clash on the ice bank, helped the company members on board and pulled the gangway up before leaving shore.
Kasper took a step backward and uttered a few words in the old language of his Treatise. To his surprise, the magic flowing out of his hands was visible! Swirls of green glowing hues, like a vortex of wraiths sprung from his torso and and scattered like the eye of a storm over friends and foes. About a quarter of the walruses panicked and began a backward stampede. This was enough to stem the general encirclement of the company, although the walruses currently pinning the fighters did not get affected.
Halin managed to pull himself off while Thannolf was madly stabbing his walrus to no effect. Irina was shooting at another one threatening to enclose completely the fighter into a narrow leathery booth. Galdor, unable to breath, let alone defend himself, got hit by Wanda's crushing tusk and suffered a major wound to his chest. While Halin was picking himself up from the ground, a second wave of waiths sprung from somewhere behind and sent more walruses stampeding backward. Unfortunately, this time, it also affected Araliniel and Galdor. Galdor, now choking under a beast had no other option but writhing harder and cry. Araliniel, in the other hand, ran away from the horror and into the confused mass of bouncing mammals. She was, in seconds, out of sight.
Bravely, Finbert interposed himself between a new walrus and a helpless Halin [ The GM told him that he would almost certainly be able to dodge the slam attack... which was true but not very prophetic.] [+] . Finbert did protect Halin, but himself got slammed into the wet ice. Which triggered a new wave of rescue attempts by Thannolf and Irina. An exasperated Halin launched into a rapid strike and struck two nearby walruses, felling one. Kasper drained what was left of his energy to let out a third wave of terrorizing wraiths out of his body, sending almost all remaining walruses backward. Ironically, Wanda the walrus managed to resist the Panic spell three times in a row and kept on smothering Sir Galdor and turning him into a pulp with its tusk.
Kasper was on the verge of collapse when Irina passed him her bottle of "brain explosion", an energy concoction of her own [ Gain 1d6 FP, then crash for 2D6 in 1 hour. ] [+]. Thannolf freed Finbert from his walrus and swiftly killed another one by throwing his knife into the beast's eye at point blank range. The walrus conveniently was climbed atop another one which ended up pinned under its dead friend. All that was left to do was to get Sir Galdor from underneath Wanda without getting more people pinned. Kasper attempted a number of all-out attacks with mighty blows to try to strike it down, but managed only blubber hits. Araliniel emerged from the confusion as Galdor was pulled back on his feet.
As the company scurried back to the ship, Thannolf managed another deadly eye stab and killed a second walrus with nothing but knives! The sailors, stunned by the violence and horrific visions of the clash on the ice bank, helped the company members on board and pulled the gangway up before leaving shore.
Harvest time
The pups and females had by then largely jumped in the water and left the bank. Once this was completed, the males left the ice as well, leaving on the shore nothing but the lifeless bodies of 10 walruses. The company waited about 15 minutes and returned to the ice to retrieve shields, swords, arrows. Astor, the gondolin sword was pulled from within the chest cavity of one of them. They beheaded the walruses and loaded up the heads in board. Finbert suggested that the company load 2 walruses to bring as a meaty present to the villager in Hlechui. This idea would prove to be a very good one.
Reading this two days later still gives me anxiety.
ReplyDeleteIm going to have to alert PETA to your campaign!
ReplyDeleteThannolf, as a vegetarian turned down the blubber broth. That should count for something.
Delete