Round one
(this was followed by round two)
There is rustling in the trees around the campsite that everyone hears now. Whatever is coming, is coming from above.
Arya,
Ember,
Aanbo, and
Theran notice two shapes in the canopy: a
giant arachnid ("Six"), and a
small humanoid ("Three").
Arya and Ember notice "Three" as well (they cannot see "Six" in the darkness). (
Note: amended because Six is just at the edge of the firelight)
Note that the things in the trees are 15' above the ground where the party stands.
"There!" Ember calls out, pointing to the humanoid in one tree (Three) and the arachnid in another (Six). She leaps to her feet and runs to the edge of the firelight below the tree with the
giant spider in it, whipping out her rapier to prepare for the spider's approach.
Chase whirls away from
Aanbo, yanking out an arrow and nocking it as he spies the shape of
Three in the tree branches above them. He draws, aims, and looses; the arrow is lost in the darkness.
The
giant spider aims its spinnerets and launches a stream of silk at
Ember.
Ember is Restrained by the silk.
Seeing the danger,
Morton pulls at the thread of awareness that is ever at his side. Mentally grasping it,
Morton feels the fell attention of the being he has come to think of as the "
Laughing Lord." The Entity is amused at this situation; as
Morton points, the Laughing Lord opens a gateway to the Abyss, and a jet of heat streams from the half-elf's finger. The branches of the tree rock in the blast, but the
giant spider is unharmed.
Barely seen from this angle, a figure sits upright on the spider's back: another small humanoid! Brandishing a javelin like a spear, this one (which we will call "
Five") shouts into the night:
"Bree-yark!" Chase doesn't know what it means, but he instantly recognizes the tongue of the hated foes from his days as a Boundary Warden:
goblins! Of the assembled
Dungeon Busters, only
Aanbo can speak the language, and understands the battle cry as
"Get them, everyone!" The
spider-riding goblin flings its javelin at
Theran.
The javelin whistles over
Theran's head and lands in the fire, sending sparks flying.
Myrtha grabs up her weapons and rushes to the bound
Ember's side. She flings a hatchet into the tree at the
spider-riding goblin, but it smashes through the leaves and falls somewhere beyond the tree in the darkness.
Myrtha then switches the magic spear to her dominant hand.
Jonel draws upon the pulsing magic within him; the energy flows up his arm and blasts out of his outstretched hand as a bluish-white beam toward the goblin perched in the tree branches.
Three takes 2 cold damage and its speed is reduced as frost forms on its body.
Theran scans the
goblins and the
spider hiding in the trees, as he lets his will flow outward, the power of his intent serving as a catalyst for the invisible field of spores surrounding the wood elf. Even as he does so he draws the power of nature up through the tip of his staff, hardening it as little blossoms sprout along its length.
Arrows fly from the
four goblins crouched in the trees around the clearing. Three of them had been more successful in their Hiding that they remained undetected until now.
Aanbo would have taken 7 piercing damage but he catches the arrow before it hits him. He decides not to throw it back at the attacker.
Arya takes 5 piercing damage.
Jonel takes 4 piercing damage (with a 14, it would still hit even if Jonel casts
Shield).
Note: enemies one through six are 15' up in the trees.
Having snatched the arrow out of the air,
Aanbo drops it on the ground and blurs forward, running full tilt at the tree where the
goblin archer revealed itself. With a tremendous leap he bounds into the tree. A moment later, the
goblin falls from the tree, dead.
Goblin One takes six damage and falls, dead.
Mother Arya prays for healing.
Arya gains 4 HP.
Arya rushes toward the tree where
Aanbo is crouched, shield held over her head.
"Camping is cursed in that forest!"
Note that the enemies and Aanbo are all 15' up in trees.
23 - Ember (9/9) Restrained
23 - Chase (14/14)
23 - Giant Spider (Six) 15' up in a tree
20 - Morton (9/9)
20 - Spider-riding goblin (Five) 15' up in a tree
16 - Myrtha (18/18)
15 - Jonel (3/7)
13 - Theran (18/18)
11 - Goblins One, Two, Three (-2, speed reduced), Four 15' up in a tree
10 - Aanbo (27/27)
9 - Arya (9/10)
