Yetis at the Gate Report

General Summary

25 Eleint 1485   As the caravan approached the town, a guard from the tower hailed them. When the gates swung open, the caravan let out a ragged cheer. Slowly, the wagons began to file through, with the drivers in back calling out impatiently as those in front paused to greet the townsfolk who have come out to greet the caravan. Suddenly, the calls in back gave way to desperate shouts and muffled screams. The caravan was under attack!   Monstrous figures—as tall as men, but with bodies coated in thick, white hair—rushed the wagons and leapt through the gate, lashing out with deadly claws. “Yetis!” cried the guard on the tower, waving frantically to warn away townsfolk come to welcome the caravan. Then, rising above the clamor of battle, Beorne Steelstrike’s commanding voice rang out, “We need to get the rest of the wagons inside the gate. Hold them back!”   Barnabas leapt from the wagon he'd been riding into town, and dashed toward the nearest yeti. Sorren followed close behind, walking slowly toward the yeti and fired both pistols into the yeti opposite Barnabas. Two quick shots dropped the yeti, and he mumbled over his shoulder to the rest of the group, "Ehh, they're not that much of an issue."   Saiph's form shimmered as she launched an arrow of light at the yeti Barnabas had rushed toward. The arrow connected, and it howled in pain as it turned to look at her starry form. Further into the courtyard, the lead yeti pounced on a nearby guardsman, its claws raking across his abdomen and severely injured him.   With Barnabas in his face, the yeti turned to slash at him with its claws. The first swing connected, but the second went wide. Behind him, Barnabas caught a glimpse of the fourth yeti fleeing further into town, rather than attacking the guardsman, though one follows close on its heels.   The town guards joined in the fight, slashing at the remaining yetis as the townsfolk quickly evacuated the courtyard. Mr. BiG ran to Barnabas' side and clipped the yeti, finishing it off. Robin followed in his footsteps, and ey aimed for the last yeti still harassing the caravan. The arrow flew true, exploding as it struck the center of the yeti's chest. A small vial attached to the arrowhead caused the explosion, singing its fur and finishing the job the arrow started.   “Almost there!” cried Steelstrike as another wagon moved through the gates. The town’s defenders, alerted by the screams and sounds of fighting, rushed along the wall to join the battle. Meanwhile, more yetis clambered over the battlements and past the gates, overwhelming the guards. “We’ll be hard pressed to hold the gate with those beasties droppin’ down on top of us,” growled Steelstrike. “Quick, to the walls!”   Barnabas ran back through the gate toward the yeti attack from the rear of the caravan, "At them, men!" He cast a fire bolt at the yeti, burning it to death in an instant. Sorren disappeared from his position next to the second wagon, and reappeared a second later atop the gatehouse tower. Raising his pistol, he fired at a yeti on the wall. The bullet pierced its skull and it fell to the stone floor, dead.   Saiph launched two spells at another yeti atop the city wall, but it quickly disappeared from view as her attacks failed to finish it off. The group heard a series of grunts before a cry rang out, followed shortly by a thump of a body falling to the ground. She turned her head as a nearby yeti charged, swinging for her. Despite a solid hit, she remained standing. From within the city walls, they heard laughter, a yelp, and the sound of another body falling to the ground. Mr. BiG rushed over to help Saiph, landing a solid hit on the yeti that attacked her. An arrow flew between their heads, piercing the yeti and it fell over backwards, dead.   Another wagon lurched through the gate, this one with Helda Silverstream beside it. Her axe and shield were spattered with blood. As she fell back, she called out, “That’s the last of the wagons! Close the gate!” No sooner did she speak than a hulking figure stepped out of the storm—an ancient yeti with claws like obsidian knives and cruel eyes that promised a cold death. The creature let out a terrifying howl as it planted itself opposite the gate, while more yetis rushed in behind it.   Small coils rose from the ports on the back of his forearms, electricity arcing off of them. As he slammed his hands together, a thunderwave burst forward, covering the large yeti and its two smaller companions in front of him. The larger one was pushed back by the force of the shockwave. From atop the gate, Sorren's pistols spat bullets at the yeti who had killed the guard atop the tower.   Saiph ducked away from another large yeti and ran toward the last wagon. She turned and fired an attack back at the yeti once she was at a safe distance. The yetis continue their attack on the guards and party members as they press toward the city gate. One of the yetis ripped a guard's head off right in front of Mr. BiG, the faint echo of a scream still escaping from its torn esophagus.   Mr. BiG joined Saiph behind the open gate's arch and yelled to the rest of the group, "We've got to get the gate closed!" He fired off four magic missile darts at the large yeti that took a swipe at him while he escaped to safety. The yeti swarm quickly dropped Helda and the other town guards still outside the gate walls, and heavily wounded Barnabas before he could get to safety. Barnabas found himself paralyzed from the last attack.   Robin finally pushed through the trapdoor at the top of the tower, and turned to Sorren, horrified, "What happened!? Where did all these yetis come from?" Ey rushed to the edge of the tower and drew an arrow on the large yeti about to breach the gate. Vines erupt from the arrow after it pierced the tough hide, and the yeti fell to the ground with a massive thud.   Face to face with a yeti, Sorren tilted his pistol up under its chin and fired all in one smooth motion, brain matter exploding from the back of its head. As the corpse fell to the ground, he turned to look over the rampart, targeting one of the yetis attacking Barnabas, but his shot flew wide. Saiph dropped a flaming sphere on the large yeti, singing its fur and it howled in pain. She hurled a light arrow at it, as well, but the beast remained standing, despite its wounds.   The yeti horde continued to snap and claw at Barnabas, but he managed to evade most of their sharp claws, until one of the claws slipped past his defenses, and he crumpled to the ground unconscious, accidentally evading the next swing from the yeti horde. The horde turned on Mr. BiG next, leaping over Barnabas' prone form to swing at him. From further within the city, the group heard the sounds of a small rampage. Mr. BiG cast a healing spell on Barnabas, to restore his consciousness, then turned his magic on the yeti horde.   The large yeti swung its sharp claws at Barnabas just as he regained consciousness, knocking him back unconscious. It then pushed through the gate to swing at Mr. BiG, but didn't swing low enough to hit the dwarf. Robin threw emself off the tower as the quickest way to get into the fight but misjudged the landing and ey injured emself as ey hit the ground. Ey darted between the yetis and uncorked a healing potion into Barnabas' mouth, shouting once he regained consciousness, "Get up and get out of there!"   The city guards rushed up, trying to push the yeti horde back so they could swing the gates shut. From atop the ramparts, Sorren caught movement further in the distance, and could barely make out more yeti rushing toward the city walls. A distant figure with antlers atop their head stood just visible in the swirling blizzard.   Barnabas managed to dodge the claws of the yeti horde and pushed toward safety, clearing the gate zone. Sorren called down to the rest of the group, "If we don't get these gates shut, we're going to be in bad shape!" He fired twice into another of the yetis, and it crumpled into the snow. A third shot flew past that yeti's buddy, narrowly missing its head.   Joining Sorren atop the rampart, Saiph commanded her flaming sphere to ram forward into the large yeti that had breached the gate. It screamed in pain as the heat sears its flesh. One of the younger yeti attempted to dart deeper into the city, past a gate guard, but a reflexive strike from the guard ended its rush and the corpse skidded to a stop a few feet away. Mr. BiG hid behind his shield as the yeti horde rained furious blows down on him, only one managing to bypass his defenses, until a heavy-handed paw tore a heavy gash out of his side. Pushing through the pain, he locked his shield back in place just in time to block another swing.   A woosh of flame erupted from nearby as the flames from Saiph's sphere flicked out at the nearby yeti, singeing the arm that struck at Mr. BiG. Mr. BiG slammed his mace against his shield, whispered a prayer to Mystra, and his mace began to glow red with heat. He moved backward slowly toward safety, pointing his red-hot mace toward the yeti as he left the range of its claws.   From the other side of the gate, one of the large yetis snarled loudly and punched its claws through the chest of one of the guards. As the guard's limp body fell to the ground, the yeti turned his chilling gaze on Mr. BiG, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on him. Robin and the guard, working together, began pushing the gate door shut. After a short test of strength with the yeti horde on the other side, they managed to swing the door shut. Only one gate door remained open.   Barnabas' coils sprung out from his forearms again, and another thunderwave rocked forward, pushing the yetis back through the gate. The force of the impact partially closed the second gate door. A faint green energy shield appeared in front of him as he engaged a defensive shield. The guard next to Robin yelled out, "We need to get the brace once the other door is shut. The braces are in the towers, one in each!"   Sorren leaned over the side of the gate tower, firing off shots into large yeti. The first shot missed, and the large yeti slowly turned its head towards Sorren. The second shot went straight through its head, taking the side of its face with it. Saiph directed her flaming sphere forward into one of the remaining yetis pushing against the gate, the flames curling up its arm, then turned to race back down the tower stairs. She grabbed one of the braces, and dragged it out of the tower toward the gate.   The yeti managed to withstand the heat from Saiph's flaming sphere and continued to press against the gate door, attempting to push it back open. A second one squeezed through the still-open side and charged Mr. Big, but its claws failed to find purchase. Fearlessly, Mr. BiG shoved his red-hot mace into the yeti's throat, burning the skin and muscle while forcing the yeti backward into the ground. Hearing the guard's instruction, he ran over to the tower and grabbed the second brace, dragging it back toward the gate.   Robin left eir post next to the guard, slipping a health potion into Barnabas' hand as ey ran past him, and pushed the other door shut. Ey turned back toward the group, "Quick! Quick! Get the bar in!". Barnabas grabbed the bar from Mr. BiG and shoved it into place over the two closed doors, then leaned against the gate to help brace until the second bar was in dropped into place.   Sorren adjusted his position atop the tower roof to get a line of sight on the last yeti bashing at the gate doors, firing a round into it and it slumped down against the gate door. Sorren reformed his weapon into a sniper rifle and turned his vision out to the field, where he'd previously seen the figure. Saiph hoisted the second bar into place and they all heaved a sigh of relief.   The town guards moved quickly to reclaim the battlements, their slings and arrows driving the attackers back from the wall. From across the wall, the creatures howled in defeat as they disappeared into the wild. Looking around, the amount of destruction wrought by the creatures in just a few short minutes was staggering. Smashed crates and overturned carts choked the street, while nearby buildings had holes torn in the walls from the creatures' claws and scorch marks from the fires they started, while lying all about were the mangled bodies of men and horses. The townsfolk seemed stunned, as if unsure whether to count themselves cursed for having been visited by such ruin or lucky for having survived it. However, the guards gave the group solemn nods of respect. They knew how much worse it might have been.   Striding through the wreckage, a man with a stern countenance and an air of authority stopped to question one of the guards, who pointed toward the group in response. The man approached and, resting his hand on the pommel of his sword, gave a curt nod. “Greetings, friends. My name is Markham Southwell, sheriff of Bryn Shander, and it seems we are in your debt. If not for your brave actions here today, I warrant this destruction would have been far worse. You have my thanks. I will see to it that the speaker hears of your deeds; perhaps she will see fit to reward you for your service to the town.”   A call from one of the guards drew the sheriff’s attention away. “And now, I pray that you will excuse me,” said Markham as he turned to leave. “Even after the fighting, there’s always work to be done.”