[color=00a651][center]Malkai[/center][/color]


It wasn’t long before the unwanted guests arrived. Gnolls; Malkai should have figured. If his knowledge of these hyena men was right, they typically inhabitants desert-like environments, more so than humans. However Malkai wondered why they were attacking them; assuming that the figures that Falchion spotted were scouts, surely they knew that this wasn’t a caravan. The wagon had nearly no cargo, and just about everyone here was armed or at least ready to fight. Wasn’t long however before the leader of the pack made their intentions clear: they were after Vivian.


Turns out she was a dark elf. This rather surprised Malkai; who’d a thought a [i]dark elf[/i] would chose to travel to a desert of all places. Though perhaps it was due to a drow’s normal inclination to avoid the surface and the sun was why she fled here. At the very least, the chances of Vivian running into her own kind here was slim. But you can never escape the clutches of a Drow conspiracy, not until you or they are dead. If the party was smaller Malkai would have gladly gave Vivian over to the gnolls, for an honest payment of course. But that onion knight went ahead and attacked the biggest of the gnolls, so it seems that negotiation was off the table.


[color=00a651]”Tch! Mindless brute, don’t over extend!”[/color] Malkai hurled one of his spears at the gnolls, the one wielding a greatsword. Although he impaled the gnoll through the shoulder with his weapon, the gnoll didn’t fall and charged Malkai.


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[color=7ea7d8][center]Veridis Quo[/center][/color]


[color=7ea7d8]”Ara ara… Looks like we have company!”[/color] Veridis look around to all the gnolls that surrounded them. Big, shaggy beastmen armed with crude armor but solid weapons. Their leader, presumably, was so big that the longswords on his side were more akin to shotswords to him. [color=7ea7d8]”Now, let’s not get hasty here…”[/color] The gnoll promised to leave the group alone if they simply handed over Vivian, but Veridis couldn’t let that happen. Wouldn’t be honorable to betray a lady after all.


[color=7ea7d8]”I’m sure we can work something out. Oh, I know!”[/color] Just then Catarina attacked the largest gnoll. Seemed like she knew exactly what Veridis had in mind. [color=7ea7d8]”You can all return to the sands! Vivian is important to us, and we won’t let anyone take her away..”[/color] As everyone went on the attack Veridis strummed his lute gracefully. Instead of attacking any gnolls however, his music would inspire courage and competence to everyone, allowing them to strike more accurately and harder than before.

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[center][color=a36209]Gnolls[/color][/center]


There was seven gnolls that confronted the travelers initially. The one leading them was a large gnoll, practically nine feet tall, bulging with muscle underneath all that fur. Compared to the rest of his minions this one wore a proper metal breastplate and two curved longswords, much like what you’d expect from the Sapphire guards. Chances were that they are longswords from guardsmen, pilfered from their corpses. The other gnolls had cruder equipment, such as bucklers and hatchets or the occasional greatsword. Of the other gnolls, five had shields and axes while only two had greatswords.


However before the party could get their hopes up, three more gnolls popped out of the sand behind the wagon, effectively surrounding it from all sides. These gnolls however were smaller than the others, and they had shortbows. Without the sheer bulk to allow them to fight up-front like their larger kin, these gnolls relied more on cunning and camouflage. With hostilities underway each of the three archers released their arrows, one arrow heading to Veridis, another to Parum, and the last one at Kalista, as each of the three didn’t appear to be wearing any sort of armor.


The Gnoll Boss reacted to Catarina’s charge by drawing out his two longswords. He parried Catarina’s blow using his armor, her blade cutting only into its plate. The gnoll boss then swung a blade at Catarina’s helmet, aiming to decapitate her with one swing, while another blade went to her knees to knock Catarina off her feet. The two gnoll greatswords attacked the others, one going after Malkai and another seeking out Elleonora. They both charged recklessly, leaving them open to an attack but allowing them to use their momentum to increase the strength of their attack as they both did an overhead chop to Malkai and Elleonora. 


The other five gnolls with bucklers and hatchets swarmed Alexander, Forbes, and the giant scorpion. They were quite aware that facing a dire wolf and his knight would end badly if they tried to fight on their own. Two went after Fordes and tried to sink their axes into the dire wolf’s hide while one took a swing at Alexander himself, aiming to chop into his legs and/or feet. The other two gnolls jumped at the scorpion and tried to go for its stinger tail, well aware that most scorpions had deadly venom.