In a surge of great strength and quick movement, Oisin managed to tuck away his javelin not to do harm to the great beast as he shoved the incoming mass away... managing to do a small hop to the side to avoid being pinned down by the feathers and fur.
At this, however, the Owlbear hit itself against the doorway, not hurting itself but surely hurting a little... at the which it let out a harsher, louder scream before it rushed at armored Oisin, trying to tackle him.
Owlbear uses shove action, contest of 4+5 = 9 versus either Strength(Athletics) or Dexterity(Acrobatics) to not be pushed down
(Strength countercheck- Cast Communicate with Animals)
Oisín put down his two legs and readied himself for the charging bear.
"Come now, ye wee pup," He said in a low and softly, in an old and paternal tone "Go away out of your mischieve and hold yourself still, so I can get a look at any bruises ye have given yourself in your rough-housing."
He was ready for a second charge, but his posture was a defensive rather than aggressive on, "Set yourself down and we'll have none of this but I'll look at the damage you've done to yourself."
"No pup. No hurt. Strong. Strongest around. No wolf, no bear, no can best me. Eat as wish and grow bigger. Full on boar meat" come back the shrill cries of the Owlbear, simple thoughts though given a bit more direction than those of Oisin wolves... then however, the frustrated Owlbear looked at another target... and then moved to push down.... Leina.
While an intelligent being may think it pathetic for it to pick such a weak creature to show his strength to, the Owlbear is a bit too simple for it... after being frustrated with Oisin, it merely wanted something to stand on top of "Strong!" it cried pridefully, as it wasn't even a contest that Leina with a huff would be pushed down to the floor, a big Owlbear paw keeping her down.
Owlbear moves and does another shove... rolls 20+5 vs Leina's 12-1
"You'll be grand sure, I told 'er that Amber was the one carrying the snacks, you're only about for dinner music," Oisín said with a smirk before turning back to the bear and began shifted back to ursine tongue.
"You'll prove nothing going about like that and you haven't need to go about doing that either; me friend there is spending a good while praying to her own gods only for to have the chance to trade a couple words with ye."
edited 18th Apr '15 5:09:22 PM by Fauxlosophe
"Ughghgh ang.g.. d-damn, he smells bad... Hmmg... his paw must be heavier than I am... Hmgmg distracting him... Damn it, Amber... I'm cursing you as soon as I get this off me... Hmmg... I'm a mistress of magic eternal... of illusions and the weave of eternity... t-transmuter! I'm no Owlbear toy... Hmgmg!" says Leina as the Owlbear leans down gently to peck at her hair and head "Aghgh!"
The Owlbear then looked curiously at Oisin "Speak? Why. No hungry, ate plenty boar. Want cave, no give. Good cave. Important cave to guard. Want it, I kill for it. Just that" says the Owlbear, pressing down a little on Leina, making her let out a little whimper and another "Aughghg" before it says "Like tiny ermine on two feet. Makes funny noises"
edited 18th Apr '15 5:39:58 PM by daltar
And thus, the Owlbear toyed with Leina for quite a while longer... while Lissa worried and tried to help, the rest were seemingly not too worried with letting the Gnome distract the beast as it rolled her around and pressed down to make her do noises or otherwise.
Eventually Amber's spell would be ready and she would be good to speak with the beast.
"I'd hardly have accused you of trusting my spells before," Oisín shrugged at the bard, "You'll have your flings and be throwing your trust at things when they're after saving you, having done the impossible and proved their own way but mark me a liar and fool if by the crow of that blasted cock, you don't wake and find yourself as bedmates with your old doubts."
He shrugged, "I can only talk with the bloody bear; it's not meaning any harm but it's little interested in much else aside from a home. We're only a curiousity; if we don't go about harming the brute, it'll think naught of us and be on its way shortly."
Oisín turned to the bear and spoke, <<If you're after a cave, I doubt the wee one you've there be of any great use. Me friend who is going about in her thinking, now she might have some words of interest for ye. Now you'd do well to leave off the wee one, as whether you're rearing for a fight or a cave, my friend Amber may have what ye seek.>>
He drew out his sword casually and turned his head to Lissa, "If wee Nim was in any state to be fearing it, I'd have gone at the brute by strength and not spell. Otherwise, I'd advice you not to go harming it, if you go about making a fight of things, Nim's to be the first target. Not yourself. Keep your head about before cast off accusations and spells."
"I wait on Amber's word or Nim's own safety."
edited 25th Apr '15 11:03:11 PM by Fauxlosophe
"Well done Leina, you can feel free to take a break now," Amber said, stopping the dance.
"Hail, great one," she said to the owlbear. "As bearer of a kindred spirit, I say bear-to-bear that we do not mean you and your kin harm. We only seek to know our neighbors. Our cave is large, and has room for many, we do not need to take another's. There are many great evils in these woods that seek to harm our kind, and they wish to take our caves of stone. We have slain some, but there are always more. Have you seen any large evils recently?"
After a good while of playing with the Gnome, the Owlbear finally stopped once Amber finished her ritual and started to speak... surprisingly in a language, but the tongue and the meaning, quite close to his own... concepts it could certainly understand. Removing his great paw from Leina, it sat down looking at Amber...
While Leina meanwhile, crawled pathetically away from it... not harmed at all, though her clothes were now a little dirty from the grass and with dry twigs stuck everywhere. The Gnome breathed heavily from squeaking and groaning so much as they crawled away towards the party... looking from so down up at Oisin and Amber in particular as she said "I-I'm going to kill you... haa... as soon as I get my breath back... spend the rest of your life as mice... or toads... toads are less popular..."
"No big evils come by my cave, none bigger than me, but small ones do. Boar things in two legs, like the squeaky one is ermine thing on two legs... they move quiet like wind. Only caught sight of them once... but for few days they hang around my cave. Leave food for me that reeks to my nose and tongue of things that do harm. No trick me and if they become bold enough to fight I kill and eat. Thought you may be them, but no boar on two legs among you. No same smell. They reek of stank, deep earth, boar and blood... Hmmm... even now... their scent I catch on the wind"
"You're not exactly going about making your case here, Nim," Oisín said with a wry smile, "You if we charged the beastie, you'd have been crushed right quick. Patience for some bloody diplomacy and we saw it through."
"Trust in caution would do the lot of you well," the old Elf sighed.
edited 26th Apr '15 7:35:32 PM by Fauxlosophe
"Boar...?" Amber said to the owlbear, grimacing sharply and clenching her fists. "I think these might be worse than mere boar. Do you call them that because they walk on two legs like us, but have two large teeth like boar?"
"Don't suppose any of you know if anyone's reported orcs in the area?" she added to the rest of the party. "Whatever creatures it is he's talking about, he smells them, they may be upwind."
edited 27th Apr '15 1:52:27 AM by nman
"Yes... big tusk and the skittish rage of boar. Boar on two legs. They hover around cave... but now their scent is strong..." says the Owlbear, rising to two legs, sniffing the air and letting out a shrill cry.
"Orcs? Well... not that I have heard lately" says Leina, thinking back before noticing "I remember like a month ago, some news of strange orc movements by the tribes out of the province"
"We are enemies of the big-tusks," Amber told the Owlbear. "If they attack, we will fight against them. We do not want to attack you. We have all been in the woods for a long time, if they have been waiting until now to show themselves, it is because they wished for us to fight against each other, so they could pick off those of us who survived. Do you want those big-tusks to make fools out of all of us, or do you want to show them we are much stronger and smarter than they are?"
"Well be on your guard, then, and keep your eyes and ears open," she said to Leina and the others. "He smells a whole bunch of them closing in. I don't suppose you have any magic for finding ambushers, do you? Or are you limited to toad-themed sorcery?"
"I'm really beginning to think I should have kept seeing the ruins to myself," Lissa muttered, drawing her rapier and turning to look around the forest. Not that there was much to see, as far as she could tell; still, between a pack of orcs and an owlbear she still wasn't convinced was friendly, she knew which one she'd rather not be surprised by.
Perception check to see anything.
It's been fun.At those words... the Owlbear rears up on its hind legs and then begins sniffing the air... and when he does he screeches, beady black eyes looking up into the foliage of nearby trees.
And at that... Lissa will barely make out movement about fifteen feet up... something moving among the foliage shifting... and greyish green skin.
"Allie boy, Ria, best be on your toes, there's trouble a-foot, no telling how many might try and dash out," Amber said, grabbing Blackout's handle and pulling it from its holster, twirling it in her hands until it was held at the ready. "Looks like we found something to stretch out the old muscles."
Ready action: Defend if she is attacked.
edited 7th May '15 10:53:33 PM by nman
It was at that moment, as Leina set her feet down and prepared for what may happen, when Ria stepped to the very back of the group and Aldrik brought a hand down to his blade... when suddenly from the foliage came... a net.
And an Orc, tangled on said net. It appeared as if the creature had been preparing to throw the net on the group but the branches had caught on it, ruining the throw and the weight of it dragged him down... tangling him up on it painfully by one arm and leg as he hung from a branch awkwardly.
Another Orc, at the very same time seeing this jumped down from the three... and started running away from the group in a hurry.
Orc 1 tries to throw net, critical failure by rolling 1. Orc 2 seeing this jumps out of the three and dashes away into the woods. Vicious Mockery hits Orc 1, dealing full 4 damage... stinging extra deep in his psyche due to the fumbled throw
The trapped Orc growls, huffs and thrashes on the net for the moment... giving the group a good look at him... armed with a sheathed blade, armored in leather... big and strong looking, with greyish green skin an ugly face with big tusks showing, bloodshot eyes... and a mark. A red hand on his armor and face.
Lissa didn't even have to try to burst out laughing as the first orc snagged himself on the tree limb, a tangle of muscular limbs and armor wrapped in his own net, but the magic in her voice twisted and multiplied the sound, making her laughter sound like a whole crowd of people mocking the hunter's failure. Still, she kept an eye on the others moving in the trees, careful not to let them circle around out of sight. "Where's that one going?" she called, pointing at the runner.
It's been fun.

Gunnar tried to hop out of the way while still keeping his spell in mind.
Gunnar rolls a Dex check (+3).
On empty crossroads, seek the eclipse -- for when Sol and Lua align, the lost shall find their way home.