"Keep those buffs coming, Jordan!" shouted Lucille. She ducked the next blow, feeling the waves of reinvigoration provided by the prodigy in the cart. Zidan and Lawrence are still holding their own, for now, but..
Ahh, without Jordan and his healing spells they'd be doomed. It's only fortunate that the Hedge Bears are too dumb to go after the healer.. as long as he remembers to stay out of sight. The kid doesn't know how lucky he is to not need touch or line of sight to cast. Not much time to think, either. Strike, dodge, strike, smash. Lucille falls, but the wound is already healing, hitpoints remaining well above half. Back up, and back to the fight.
After a minute of this, an unfamiliar voice shouts out, to the left, off from the woods. "Hold on guys, I've got the dogs coming!" This is then followed up by a number of yips and barks, increasing in volume. They do sound a bit funny, though.. not quite perfect. Still, they distract the Hedge-Bears, as Lucille's partner turns around once or twice, worried about getting flanked. Enough to let a couple more blows through. Eventually, the bear decides discretion is the better part of valor, and it flees, evading one last whack on the flank. Lucille then turns on Zidan's, and the two of them actually manage a kill on one of the notoriously tough creatures, as it goes down with an awful bellowing. The third one panics and flees into the woods at top speed.
The three humans settle down for a moment. Zidan lies against the carriage and speaks the all clear, in a relatively quiet voice. Lawrence half collapses and can only concentrate on breathing. Lucille is doing slightly better, and looks around for their benefactor, with the dogs. Who are still yipping? They should be here by now.
Something's fishy. "Show yourself! The bears have ran off. It's clear now!"
..and there's the sound of Jordan unbolting the carriage from inside. Gah. "Not you, Jordan!" Lucille says, just as the kid opens the door. Just in time for a small black bird to swoop out of the sky and actually stop in mid-air, backwinging rapidly as it bounces up and down in the air, hovering, about a dozen feet away from the tired adventurers.
"Hello! I'm Raucous. How is the road today?" says the bird, in a merry sounding tenor.
"Do you mind if I eat your kill?" The bird says again, into the silence brought about from its initial statement. After a brief, possibly nonexistent moment, the bird swoops down again onto the dead spiny bear-thing, picking around the spines with its teeth, looking for fresh meat and blood. Quickly, the black bird is covered in red blood, happily chewing away at the corpse.
"Uh.." "Hello." says Zidan, who is on the ground only a few feed away from the body. Might even be close enough for splatter, if he didn't smear blood all over his armour with his sword.
"Can't talk now. Eating."
"Where are the dogs?"
The only response is the continued disgusting sounds of a crow getting an uncontested arrival at a fresh corpse.
Eventually, the blood-soaked animal comes up for air, and starts bouncing towards the creature's hideous head.
"So.. no dogs?"
The bird finally responds, while examining the eyelids. It's really going to do that, isn't it?
"No, no dogs. Just made some dog noises. I can't fight, so I do what I can to help out."
At this point, Jordan opens the door again, speaking up upon seeing Raucous.
"Oh cool! What's that? Some kind of blood creature?"
"It's a dangerous monster! Go back inside."
"Aww, c'mon, it talks! Monsters don't talk. Everyone knows that!"
"Is that true? Do monsters not talk?" chirps Raucous.
"Yes it's dangerous. No, monsters don't talk. And you should go inside where we can protect you!" says Lucille, trying to keep a lid on the situation.
"Aww." responds Jordan, before climbing back up into the carriage and closing the door. At the last minute, Raucous takes off and plows into the gap, just in time to squeeze inside. A moment later the party hears the sound of the bolt being thrown and the door locked. Or, perhaps they do not, as Jordan starts screaming at the intruder.
"Keep those buffs coming, Jordan!" shouted Lucille. She ducked the next blow, feeling the waves of reinvigoration provided by the prodigy in the cart. Zidan and Lawrence are still holding their own, for now, but..
Ahh, without Jordan and his healing spells they'd be doomed. It's only fortunate that the Hedge Bears are too dumb to go after the healer.. as long as he remembers to stay out of sight. The kid doesn't know how lucky he is to not need touch or line of sight to cast. Not much time to think, either. Strike, dodge, strike, smash. Lucille falls, but the wound is already healing, hitpoints remaining well above half. Back up, and back to the fight.
After a minute of this, an unfamiliar voice shouts out, to the left, off from the woods. "Hold on guys, I've got the dogs coming!" This is then followed up by a number of yips and barks, increasing in volume. They do sound a bit funny, though.. not quite perfect. Still, they distract the Hedge-Bears, as Lucille's partner turns around once or twice, worried about getting flanked. Enough to let a couple more blows through. Eventually, the bear decides discretion is the better part of valor, and it flees, evading one last whack on the flank. Lucille then turns on Zidan's, and the two of them actually manage a kill on one of the notoriously tough creatures, as it goes down with an awful bellowing. The third one panics and flees into the woods at top speed.
The three humans settle down for a moment. Zidan lies against the carriage and speaks the all clear, in a relatively quiet voice. Lawrence half collapses and can only concentrate on breathing. Lucille is doing slightly better, and looks around for their benefactor, with the dogs. Who are still yipping? They should be here by now.
Something's fishy. "Show yourself! The bears have ran off. It's clear now!"
..and there's the sound of Jordan unbolting the carriage from inside. Gah. "Not you, Jordan!" Lucille says, just as the kid opens the door. Just in time for a small black bird to swoop out of the sky and actually stop in mid-air, backwinging rapidly as it bounces up and down in the air, hovering, about a dozen feet away from the tired adventurers.
"Hello! I'm Raucous. How is the road today?" says the bird, in a merry sounding tenor.
"Do you mind if I eat your kill?" The bird says again, into the silence brought about from its initial statement. After a brief, possibly nonexistent moment, the bird swoops down again onto the dead spiny bear-thing, picking around the spines with its teeth, looking for fresh meat and blood. Quickly, the black bird is covered in red blood, happily chewing away at the corpse.
"Uh.." "Hello." says Zidan, who is on the ground only a few feed away from the body. Might even be close enough for splatter, if he didn't smear blood all over his armour with his sword.
"Can't talk now. Eating."
"Where are the dogs?"
The only response is the continued disgusting sounds of a crow getting an uncontested arrival at a fresh corpse.
Eventually, the blood-soaked animal comes up for air, and starts bouncing towards the creature's hideous head.
"So.. no dogs?"
The bird finally responds, while examining the eyelids. It's really going to do that, isn't it?
"No, no dogs. Just made some dog noises. I can't fight, so I do what I can to help out."
At this point, Jordan opens the door again, speaking up upon seeing Raucous.
"Oh cool! What's that? Some kind of blood creature?"
"It's a dangerous monster! Go back inside."
"Aww, c'mon, it talks! Monsters don't talk. Everyone knows that!"
"Is that true? Do monsters not talk?" chirps Raucous.
"Yes it's dangerous. No, monsters don't talk. And you should go inside where we can protect you!" says Lucille, trying to keep a lid on the situation.
"Aww." responds Jordan, before climbing back up into the carriage and closing the door. At the last minute, Raucous takes off and plows into the gap, just in time to squeeze inside. A moment later the party hears the sound of the bolt being thrown and the door locked. Or, perhaps they do not, as Jordan starts screaming at the intruder.
