They all followed the trail of the Gnolls until they found some large bushes that they could hide among. Ewtain and Taloc noted the location and went off to scout the area. While the rest of the group waited, Vultressant used the interface in his HUD and opened up the Races section to review what it had to say about Gnolls. He read: Gnolls are humanoids with the head of a jackal, although some more closely resemble wolves, coyotes, or hyenas. They are aggressive and do not need a reason to attack. They eat those that they vanquish, and when they are finally sated, they typically enslave those lucky enough not to be eaten. They are tribal, have low intelligence, and are dangerous when in packs. He had hoped that it would have updated after the encounter, but he knew that that was a lot to hope for. They had spent time with several Anurans, and the notes on them had changed little over that time.

Vanya, who had night vision, spent most of the time looking for any sort of movement in the area around the bushes that they hid among. She then attempted to use her commune with nature ability to see if any of the animals in the area might be able to give her some information. She mentally reached out, looking for anything in the area that might be around. Her power touched nesting birds and squirrels that either had not seen the Gnolls or couldn’t see any longer. She probed deeper, or maybe it was farther away, and she made contact with three rabbits that could see a fire and were running away from it. One of the rabbits flashed her a mental image of something extremely large and terrifying. The problem was they were rabbits—everything was large and terrifying to a bunny. Vanya couldn’t pinpoint the exact location of the fire they had seen, but she could make a guess as to its general direction.

There had been no reports of either Taloc or Ewtain from any of the animals, and she released her power, as she was growing mentally fatigued. She checked the time—she had been at it for forty minutes. The two scouts were taking forever to get back, but they must be on their way, so she tried to relax while she waited.

When they finally returned, she noted that not quite an hour had elapsed since they had departed. “What did you find?” she asked when they entered the bushes.

“We found six Gnolls, or maybe five Gnolls and something larger,” Taloc said.

“They have a camp on the side of a large hill,” Ewtain added. “And that big guy looked a lot like the other Gnolls, but he’s going to be trouble.”

“Is it that way?” Vanya asked, pointing to the north.

“Yes, actually,” Taloc confirmed. “We didn’t come back from that direction, so can you hear them?”

She shook her head. “I tried to get some information from the wildlife around here. I got an impression of a campfire and some loud noises in that direction, so I assumed that it was probably the Gnolls and not our stealthy scouts.”

“Can you talk to the animals?” Ewtain asked.

“I wouldn’t call it talking,” she replied. “It’s more like I can sense their feelings or sensations, and I then have to translate that information to what I know about the world. My perspective is different from that of a small animal. It’s more like an empathic link.”

“I’ll bet,” Taloc said. “You can do some of the scouting for us now.”

She shook her head. “That won’t be enough. It took me nearly as long to get the information as it took you two to get back. Sure, it may be a far less dangerous method of investigating, but I really didn’t get much information.”

“You can still give us a direction to look,” Taloc countered.

She thought about that for a moment. “I guess.”

Satisfied, Taloc turned to Ewtain. “If we set up and shoot at them before we engage,” he said, “there will be fewer to deal with, and we can still ambush them. We just have to try to make sure that we kill all of the adds prior to fighting whatever the large one is.”

Vultressant smiled at the game reference despite himself. “Then Maroftis can tank, Ewt can dodge in and out and either strike it or just distract it, and the rest of us can shoot and blast it to death. I like it.”

“Is this thing like mummy-big?” Isla asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

Ewtain went over and put a hand on Isla’s shoulder. “Think of the difference between it and the other Gnolls as an NBA center compared to a normal person, or a normal person compared to Vult.”

Vultressant looked at Ewtain and said, “I’ll remember that, tough guy.” The edge in his voice was belied by the half-smile that appeared on his face as he delivered the line.

“We found a spot that we can attack from,” Taloc said, trying to focus the conversation back on the matter at hand. “It’s down-wind of them, and I believe that we can get a couple of volleys into the camp before they can react. If we can kill or disable two or three of them, then the fight should be easy, and they might even try to flee, in which case we can either give chase or leave as well.”

Isla looked a little skeptical but said, “I guess that we give it a shot.”

Taloc nodded. “The Gnolls don’t seem to have night vision like our resident Elf, since they were carrying torches, but they probably can see better than we can in the dark. Currently, they’re all close to a pretty large fire, so if we can get them to charge us, their eyes will have to take some time to adjust to the darkness. There is some moonlight, but the hill blocks most of it. They should be able to see something regardless, but we should certainly have the advantage there.”

“My eyes adjust very fast to changes in light and dark, so it might be the same for them,” Vanya said.

“Good to know,” Taloc said, then made a follow-me motion. “Let’s move out.”

They arrived at the hill on the opposite side of the Gnoll camp, and Ewtain and Taloc went around to scout the area again. “It looks about the same,” Ewtain said in a whisper when they returned after just a few minutes. Although they were far enough away to not be heard, they had no idea of the Gnolls’ hearing capabilities. A few in the group had owned dogs and knew firsthand how keen their hearing could be.

“Should we try to shoot at the big guy or just anything that’s an easy target?” Vanya asked in a low tone.

“I think that we should try to kill the adds first,” Taloc answered. “I don’t know how tough the big one is, but if we can face him alone, I doubt that it will be a problem to bring him down.”

Vanya nodded, and they all began to round the hill while keeping close to its base. They could see the light of the fire before they had rounded enough to actually see the camp itself. They stopped as close as they deemed safe and had a real chance of hitting a target: Taloc only had his bow skill up to level three, and that was the best of the group. Vultressant had the skill long shot, which would make it easier for him to score a hit at longer distances, but the rest of them had minimal bow skills at a distance. They slowly made their way closer until they were 30 or 40 yards outside the camp.

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The five Gnolls were visible, but the larger one was inside a natural indentation on the side of the hill and couldn’t be seen from where they were. They would have to move closer to the camp or further away from the side of the hill in order to see it, but doing either would be more of a problem than it had been for Taloc and Ewtain, who were both at least skilled in stealth. Ewtain and Maroftis stood a bit off to the side, each with a sword drawn; the other four drew back their bows and took aim at the Gnolls in the camp. When it looked like they were all ready, Ewtain whispered, “Now!” and they all loosed the arrows from their bows.

Two of the Gnolls were struck by arrows, and the small camp erupted into activity. The Gnolls were able to determine the direction that the arrows had come from, and all five grabbed weapons and started to leave the camp. Then a larger form could be seen emerging from behind the rocky outcrop, and it began literally barking orders at the charging Gnolls. Whatever it said had an effect on them. They all immediately began running away from the hill at an angle. This kept them moving towards the archers, but the light of the fire was no longer on the opposite side of their trajectory and the party. The group had planned on a frontal assault, but the Gnolls were no longer headed straight towards them. Their low skill levels and lack of adequate lighting further exasperated the problem: without the fire to illuminate the Gnolls, only Vanya could see well enough to get a good shot off—and even her arrow went wide of her intended target.

Vultressant shouldered his bow and began to cast his fire spell. It was easier for him to aim fire bolts than arrows, and the fire would both provide some light and possibly frighten some of the Gnolls. The others were reloading when they heard a loud screeching howl coming from the camp, distracting them and causing them to shift their focus to the large form between the fire and the hill.

“Guys, big one trouble,” Maroftis said in Common. “Much tougher us.”

Turning his attention back to the Gnolls, Vultressant saw that they had begun to angle towards the group, and he sent his spell at the closest one. It connected with the creature’s side and ignited the fur and meager clothing that it was wearing. The Gnoll howled in pain and slowed his run to try to put out the flames. Isla happened to be targeting this particular Gnoll, and she was able to land an arrow on the shoulder on the opposite side of the flames. The others missed, and since the Gnolls were almost upon them, Isla and Taloc switched to their longswords. Isla lacked the time to equip her shield, so she used the longsword in the same two-handed fashion that Taloc generally used. Maroftis and Ewtain took this as a cue to move out in front of the group to intercept their attackers.

The burning and injured Gnoll lagged behind, so the melee began with four on each side. Vultressant had decided that he couldn’t cast his offensive spell if he was taken out of the battle, so he put up his personal shield before the enemies reached the group. There was a blue shimmer as the shield coalesced around him, and he looked to find another target.

The Gnolls were fighting in pairs; Maroftis and Ewtain seemed to have a handle on the two that they were facing, but Isla and Taloc were having difficulty keeping the other two at bay. The fifth Gnoll had finally put the fire out and was heading towards the combat, so Vultressant targeted that one, as it was the easiest shot and there was little chance that the fire would strike a member of the group. The fire bolt hit the approaching Gnoll in the chest, and its howl of pain was cut short as an arrow appeared in its neck. Vanya had drawn the same conclusion that Vultressant had regarding the best target for a range weapon, and this time, her aim had been excellent.

Ewtain was jumping aside from a sword thrust when one of the Gnolls that he and Maroftis were fighting attempted to move around the lizard man, but it had not accounted for the large tail that Maroftis used to slap at its legs. It stumbled, and Maroftis was on it. The Gnoll flailed and swung a wicked-looking axe at Maroftis, but the large Korak simply slapped it away with his sword and slashed at it with his free claw, making long bloody gouges across the neck and chest of the stumbling Gnoll. The creature made a high screeching noise, but it was able to right itself, and it took up a defensive position.

While Ewtain and Maroftis had the upper hand with the pair that they were fighting, Isla had both a stab wound and a long cut from a Gnoll wielding a spear, and Taloc was barely keeping an oversized axe from cleaving him to bits. Watching all of this unfold, Vultressant could tell that Isla and Taloc needed help fast. He considered sending a fire bolt at the Gnoll with the spear since it was clearly the biggest threat at the moment, but he was afraid of hitting his two companions. He decided that if he could free up Ewtain and Maroftis, then they could surround the remaining two Gnolls, and the spear would hopefully not be as much of a problem.

The Gnoll that Maroftis was primarily engaged with was already wounded, and Maroftis had positioned himself so that Vultressant was facing his profile instead of his back. They were still moving around, but there was a good chance that his attack would miss Maroftis. Even if it did strike him, Maroftis was not only immune to fire, it was supposed to heal him. If the bolt caused damage from just the impact, then the HP was healed by the fire, and his regeneration ability would likely help him withstand that as well. Vultressant released the spell.

Ewtain dodged a lunging strike from a Gnoll wielding a curved sword and stepped in front of the trajectory of the fire bolt. He quickly dropped to the ground, allowing it to fly over him. The fire bolt connected with the side of the outstretched Gnoll, and some of the fire sprayed into its face. It howled and turned to flee, but Maroftis reacted quickly and struck it down before it had taken two steps, and he then began an offensive push against his other adversary. Ewtain was then able to get up and move to help Isla and Taloc, who were looking more harried by the moment.

Vultressant moved to get into a position where he could fire at the lone Gnoll still fighting Maroftis, and he saw that Vanya was trying to do the same thing. Ewtain had moved behind the other two when the large one called out “Backs together!” or something similar based on what Vultressant could determine from the language. It then let out another screeching howl into the night, which filled Vultressant with a feeling of dread. From the look on Vanya’s face, she felt it as well. The Gnoll with the large axe turned to intercept Ewtain, while the other one used his spear to keep Isla and Taloc at bay. The Gnolls were taking up defensive positions, which was far different than the previous encounter when the Gnolls had charged recklessly into danger. This group didn’t seem any more skilled in combat than the one that they ambushed, but they were far more disciplined.

Vanya sent an arrow wide of the Gnoll fighting Maroftis, and Vultressant came closer to hitting Maroftis than the Gnoll, but he missed both by a fair margin. Focusing and aiming using the targeting reticle helped, but the two combatants were constantly moving, and targeting them with a ranged weapon or spell was difficult. Vultressant gave a glance to the Gnoll camp and noticed that the larger Gnoll, whom he had internally named the Gnoll captain, was no longer in sight. “I don’t see the captain in the camp anymore,” he called to the rest of the group.

Taloc was circling the spear-wielding Gnoll, probing for an opportunity to strike, but he stepped back to let Isla take it alone for a moment and surveyed the area. “I think that there are more coming!” he exclaimed. “I hear something approaching from the west.”

That would make retreat difficult—they had rounded the hill on its west side. They needed to finish these three quickly and charge either the captain or the approaching Gnolls. The former made the most sense to Vultressant, provided that it was still at the camp. The captain was giving directions to the Gnolls and causing them to fight with more discipline, which made it a greater threat.

Vultressant prepared another spell as he tried to circle around behind the Gnoll still causing Maroftis problems. This would give him the best chance to get a clear shot, and if it turned on him, the shield he had in place would absorb any damage that it inflicted.

Vanya shot an arrow while he was maneuvering into position, and while it didn’t strike the Gnoll, the attack did make it dodge and distracted it from doing anything about the Wizard attempting to flank him. Maroftis added to the distraction by attacking with a flurry of sword strikes. The Gnoll was able to parry or dodge all of the mostly wild strikes, but Maroftis was able to rake his free claw along the dominant shoulder of the beast during one of its successful dodges. It howled in pain and slowed down enough for Vultressant to get a good shot off. The bolt struck it in the lower back, causing the creature to bend in an unnatural way. This opened up its guard enough that Maroftis was able to get in two clean sword strikes, and it dropped to the ground, lifeless.