Nyshara was about to respond to Gwendolyn when Lily gave the order. She stood up, and drew her sword while looking forward. She dashed over to Lily and take a fighting stance. "Tarmuid and cabal be with me for if I fall know I did so in your name. Now blaze with fury Thakhe Kaluhoon." She takes a deep breath while holding her katana in her right hand and sets it ablaze. The flame replaces the metal of her sword raging with passion as she prepares herself for battle. "May the skirmish fare well for you Lily for you shall have my aid." She wasn't about to let her new companions suffer in combat, it just wasn't in her nature. She said she was going to do something, and her word is her bond.

" It's too late now, we fight here, glad I picked a defensible spot to camp." Korick muttered as he scrambled across the top of the wagon to the top of a pair of large boulders that were nine feet high, on top of the height of the hillock where he had put the campfire. "Alden, there's a thicket to the north east, you should have passed it earlier, take Gwen there and wait for me." The farmer didn't need to be told twice, he grabbed his daughter by the arm and took her up the shore. Meanwhile Korick told Beth to stay behind the rock in cover, and wait for the Hobgoblins to get close. "If it makes you feel better I agree with you two," He said to Vis and Markel, as a bolt hit the boulder he was perched on, " But I think you'll have harder time making them feel that way." He nocked an arrow in his bow and took aim, spying two hobgoblins with crossbows in their hands and long swords at their sides, wearing simple scale armor. He took his first shot that passed between the two, but atleast made them run for some cover. "This looks like an Ironskull scouting party, maybe eight in total. Those two archers in the lead, they'll be followed by a four of footmen with sword and board, and another two spearmen. And if our luck is shite, a cleric. Stick together, they're trained to fight in pairs and won't hesitate to gang up on one person." He yelled. He could already see the footmen coming over the rise to the south east, they had heavy wooden shields, curved broadswords, and were equiped with helmets as well as scale armor. One wearing a much finer set of mail took a second at the crest to survey the parties defenses and bark orders in Goblin before charging towards them with the others.

Markul grinned internaly and stood, he had honestly been waiting for an opportunity to show his magical prowess, "Hmm, about eight?" he breathed deeply and cleared his mind, he wouldn't know what spell to cast until the time came so he needed it to be clear, "I'm sure we can handle them."

"I'd love to avoid battle if possible, but with so little time and a cart we have no chance of that happening, and these raiders might attack a helpless village or caravan. Better us than them." Lily pulled her helm on, leaving the visor open for the moment. "Get into cover positions, get ready to retaliate with whatever ranged weapons we have." Lily ducked back to the wagon and snatched up a crossbow and a fistful of ordinary iron quarrels, slotting one into place and pulling it back with a grunt, then pressed against the back of the wagon out of line of sight of the archers. "Over here with me! Markul, Eranah, Lammy, got any tricks up your sleeves?" She was pretty confident their group could handle eight hobgoblins, but rule of thumb: Never take unnecessary chances.

The hobgoblins moved carefully towards the camp, coordinating between crossbow volleys from the archers which forced Korick and Lily to duck while the footmen and spearmen dashed from boulder to boulder to stay in cover. When they were less than forty feet away the captain gave an order, he and the footmen retrieved one of the three heavy javelins tipped with heavy iron spikes they each carried on their backs. They each sighted a target before the captain yelled, "Stuhl Ahglet!" The four hobgoblins threw their javelins in unison, joined by bolts from the archers. Korick was forced to roll off his boulder and land on Beth to avoid getting skewered a javelin and bolt. The rest of the projectiles began raining down on those who were in the open.

"Nyshara, Batche, prepare yourselves for battle. We'll be holding the line."

Swords were being draw, People running to cover, The guttural battle cries of approaching Hobgoblins Batche's system flushed with stress chemicals, becoming battle ready was beyond her control now. She instinctively inhaled deeply, clamped her mouth shut and then with a sudden push from her twin bellows, used the pneumatic force to shift her study stone armour into position from under her glassy skin. Transformation complete, her jaw unlocked again should she need to communicate with the others. She dove behind the cover of the other 9 foot high boulders to avoid the crossbow fire. Batch watched as the nimble half-ling climb the rock and take aim and bear silently followed orders. Safe behind the rock, those two provided all the information Batche would need as the Hobgoblins assaulted their high ground, as long as the hunter duo knew from which side the Hobgoblin's came, she knew where to throw her initial blow, whether they scaled her boulder or ran round. Fists at the ready, Batche patiently awaited her first hobgoblin victim to stray in arms reach.

At any other point (like, say, a few moments earlier, when the group conspired to kill a man) Lammy would've been a little hesitant towards the fight. He would've hopped in the wagon after the little girl, and hoped for safe passage through the treacherous lands. But, he remembered he gave Lily his word. That, and he was still coming down from his hunting high, so his adrenaline was still fairly peaked. He and Sheeva took off, flying over the expanse of the lake to avoid the volley of various projectiles. Through a long glide he performed a sharp banked turn, with plans on flanking this band of hobgoblins. It was in this moment where the druid guessed the lady paladin was probably talking about magical spells when she asked if he had any "tricks up his sleeves", as opposed to just diving head first into the enemy, like he was in the process of doing right now. "Oops." Well, now that he thought of it, there was one spell he could do (as opposed to Amaya, who had mastered damn near every druid spell by this point), he just needed to find the right time to cast it. As he came out of the turn, he spotted his first target: a hobgoblin bringing up the rear holding a crossbow and lacking some important pieces of armor. Namely a helmet. He slowed his descent some, letting Sheeva take the lead. "KKKEEEAHHRRR! (Go for the eyes!)" He commanded through a fearful cry. She happily obliged by diving in. By time the hobgoblin could yelp, she was already in his face, scratching and gouging for his ocular organs. Then, taking on his human shape mid flight, Lammy planted both feet into the hobgoblin's chest, knocking his target off to the ground. Naturally, this got the attention of the remaining hobgoblins. There was a brief twinge of regret on Lammy's end, as some spun to face him. "Uh oh." In probably the quickest, cleverest move he would perform for the week, he dove his free hand into the sand. In the same motion, a orb of flame conjured over the hand. With a fluid follow through, he released the mix of fire and sand into some hobgoblin faces. Then he high tailed it out of there before any of them could get a good aim at him. "That was dumb." He frantically flapped away, mentally scolded himself for such a brash mode of action. He was almost certain they were preparing to shoot him and Sheeva out of the sky. Evasive actions would be encouraged. Though, he had to admit, it felt kinda fun! Or, it was just the thrill of the hunt making him so excited that he couldn't think straight. One or the other.

Eranah had already put her work away by the time the hobgoblins had started firing upon them. Following Lily's orders she took cover behind a nearby tree and responded to the request. "There is more to Ilmater than simply helping those in need. There is also punishing those who would bring suffering to others." She responded, answering the question while also not doing so. Preferring to show rather than tell. A goblin entered her line of sight and she decided this would be the perfect time to do just that. Wheeling around the tree she muttered a quick prayer charged with magical energy. Looking directly at her foe she held the holy symbol out in front of her, a large chunk of lava issuing forth from it. Hitting the mark and sending it reeling in searing pain. She quickly retreated back behind the tree to begin her next work. "I have many more tricks, as you would call them." She spoke out.

"Thit!" Vis yelped as another bolt whizzed past his face this one much closer then the last. Ducking behind the cart, Vis groped into the cart for a ranged weapon but came out with nothing, instead he grabbed the nearest object and pulled it out, it was a long wailing harpoon. "whath the fuck am I going thoo do with thith?!" he groaned, peering to the side of the cart a spear narrowly flew past his head. Ducking back for a moment he readied himself, bolting out Vis made a beeline for the closest piece of cover, however from the other side of the boulder he heard the wicked cackling of a hobgoblin. Sterling himself he twisted his way around to the other side of the rock and stabbed the polearm outwards. The goblin, who was a sword wielder, gurgled in pain and thrashed for a few moment before going limp, his body flopping over the shaft of the harpoon; twisting and ripping out the jagged tip, Vis found himself sprayed in the creatures vital fluids as it fell backwards, covered in green gunk he swung around,searching for the next hobgoblin to impale.

Lily joined the barrage of attacks, popping out of cover and sighting along the line of her quarrel, taking aim at the apparent leader, the one in the finer mail. She squeezed the trigger, sending the quarrel flying along its path to skirt along the side of the goblin's head, leaving a bloody trail and getting his attention. She dropped the crossbow back into the cart and drew her sword, slamming her visor closed and shouted in a guttural, barking language as she came out of cover and charged into them. "Thak dok uth moktok graul!"

Markul had dodged a javelin deftly and ducked behind the wagon. He thought about the spells he prepared, considering which one to use. It did not take him long to decide, and he carefully peered around the wagon and caught sight of one of the Hobgoblins. He made the movements needed with his hands and whispered the words, causing a magic missile to fly at his target. He knew that it would strike unerringly and quickly moved back behind the wagon for cover.

Though burned and having already lost one they were too disciplined to forget their training. They regrouped and then split off into two groups, charging up the hillock to engage in melee. One footman and spearmen charged Vis by the cart. The footman took the league, eager to avenge his comrade, he kept his shield in front of him and slammed Vis with the heavy oaken bulwark. While the footman knocked him off balance, the spearman lined his weapon up to stab into Vis's side, but lost his chance when a pair of magic missiles slammed into him. The captain and the other footman charged up the hill at Lily, the footman lagging slightly due to his burns, behind them the spearman. The captain lead the attack, shouting, "Dogh whelp, batlh DaHutlh'a'! Hegh rur Hoch!" As he brought his broad sword town in brutal chop. Meanwhile the other footman prepared to cover him while the spearman waited for an opening to lung forward. The archers used the distraction caused by the charge to move up into a better position. Then began focusing their attacks on Eranah as well as Markul.

"So be it." Lily said, her voice harsh and resolute, belying what was going on in her head. Oh shit. She brought her sword up into a salute for a heartbeat, then raised it into a high, two-handed guard, her sword angled slightly back and over her head. As they closed she twisted to the side, the goblin's chop grazing along the shoulder of her plate. Dad is going to kill me when he sees this plate after today. The absurd thought ran through her mind as she turned, swinging her blade down in a two handed chop at the footman, who raised his blade a hair too slow, her blade gashing deep into his chest. The goblin staggered back with a cry of pain and rage, only to be shoved aside by the spearman as he approached. Lily twisted on her heel to face the Captain again, who had already recovered from his strike and came at her again with a series of cuts. She gave ground to him, twisting to keep him between her and the spearman.

Lamont rounded back, the rush of battle keeping him interested in the fight. "SCRAWWW! (Found our next target!)" He spotted one of the spearmen, the one helping his leader gang up on the Lady Paladin, Lily. Diving in, he mentally prepped himself for another spell as he and Sheeva neared their target. His hawk screams turned human as he rammed into the spearman, knocking the hobgoblin off kilter. As the druid landed in the sand, his hawk companion followed up by going for the spearman's eyes. Successfully performing the same plan twice, Lammy had to wonder if the hobgoblins were really paying attention. "Hey man, 3 versus 1 is unfair!" He quipped, emphasizing his point with a well placed strike to the hobgoblin's chin. "Whoo!" The quarterstaff looked to inflict much more damage then he would've assumed. "Gotta love ironwood enchantments." He turned back to Lily. Didn't really seem like she needed the help all that much, now that he realized, but there was nothing wrong with evening the playing field. With a whistle, Sheeva returned to Lammy's side, finally letting up from the hobgoblin's face. Or, knowing Sheeva, what remained of the hobgoblin's face. Talons once stained in red, were now drenched in green. Lammy took a chance to grimace at that. "Ugh, please wash yourself after all this is said and done." He recommended before taking off again.

Nyshara for a moment was unsure of what to do but then came to her senses, and runs to the cart to aid the half elf. She then reaches into the pouch she had tied to her hip pulling out a hand full of ashes. She clenched her hand around it feeling heat gather into the ashes as her hand glowed bright red. Within moments, smoke started to form around her hand as she felt the ashes harden into a solid mass of rock and flame. She took a deep breath and looked to the half-elf's attackers and drew her arm back throwing a flaming rock the size of her fist. "Vu Hew Uh Du!" She yells as the rock leaves her hand spinning in the air leaving a trail of smoke. The flung rock meats its mark at them hitting one of the spear-man square in the stomach. The effected hobgoblin fell to the ground screaming in pain from the flaming stone. "Well, that is on less opponent to concern myself over." she sighed then held her sword charging up her hand with lighting. "You will persevere my companion. Just hold out a bit longer." she said to the half-elf reassuringly not taking her eyes off of the hobgoblins.

Stupid archers, Markul thought as he rushed for cover from said archers. He knew he could take them out, but he didn't want to get shot in the process. He carefully peeked out from his cover only to have the feathers of an arrow brush his nose, which still hurt. Markul swore as he pulled back, being pinned by archers was never fun. There were several ways he could go about this, but the moment he came out of cover the Hobgoblin would shoot at him. That didn't mean the Hobgoblin would hit him, but Markul did not like to take chances even though he knew that sometimes you had too. Besides that, if he stayed here too long the Hobgoblin would surely come up with a plan of it's own. Finally he decided that it would be prudent to cause a distraction. Markul reached into his bag and brought out some fleece, then proceeded to make the required hand movements and say the required words for the spell. This time a duplicate image of Markul appeared and he sent it running out from his cover to a tree. It made no sound but Markul hoped that it distract any Hobgoblins aiming at him so that he could get a shot off at them. Markul carefully peered out from his cover again to mark any potential targets, though it was somewhat difficult because he had to concentrate on the image to keep it from dissipating.

The trio that was assaulting Lily refocused as when Lammy jumped into the fray. Deciding that a lightly armored druid was a better target than the Paladin, they dedicated their efforts to killing him. The footman launched into a flurry of slashes and chops while the Spearman crawled back up to his feet, giving Lammy a hate filled glare with his remaining eye. As the footman kept Lammy's attention with his onslaught, the spearman strafed left and lunged at Lammy, the long sharp tip of his spear sliced into the Druid's leg. Lily tried to protect Lammy but the Captain intercepted her and stopped her from getting closer. He slammed he with his shield before bringing down his sword overhead. Lily just had enough time to block the high blow before he followed up with a boot to the stomach. As the other footman saw his comrade struck down with the firebolt he chose to join the others. He ran towards Lily and Lammy, taking a grazing cut from Nyshara as he disengaged. As he ran back towards his allies he saw the Captain attacking Lily, the footman's training kicked in and as he ran by he sliced low with his broadsword to the back of Lily's armored thigh. The archers couldn't help take a shot at what seemed to be Markul running out in the open. The fired again and again but despite a few solid shots they never seemed to connect. The continued their assault, leaving their former targets unmolested. This brief opening gave Korick enough time to climb back on his boulder and loose an arrow into one of their sternums. The archer died with a gurgling breath as his partner started to consider fleeing.

"Lammy!" The distraction as the druid was cut was enough for her guard to falter, and a moment later she was staggering back under the force of the Captain's strike, only to let out another cry as a blade bit into her leg. Reflexes kicked in even as she fell to one knee, twisting to slide her blade under her arm. Before the hobgoblin could work his blade free from her armor her own sword punched into his stomach from below, ripping through him. She yanked her sword free and lurched to her feet, a lance of pain running through her. No time for that. She let out a scream of pain and righteous fury as she forced herself into a clumsy but effective charge back into the fray, slamming into the spearman and driving him to the ground, locking him into a grapple. "Lammy, get clear! I can handle this!" Even as she spoke she nearly had to eat her words, the goblin was tenacious. She gave ground to him, let him get on top of her, then wrapped her legs around the goblin's waist and began to squeeze.

As the spearman was knocked down, Vis took the opportunity to rid himself the swordsman with the shield. Planting his back against the boulder, Vis named to get his feet between him and the shield, he powered his legs forwards and sent the Hobgiblin stumbling backward, pulling out his rapier and corkscrewing his way from another blow with the shield.  "Ga sher Dogh," yelled the Hobgoblin as he discarded his shield, "Batlh wik Gdersh!" The goblin charged him and Vis returned the favor, charging back but not blindly like his opponent. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out the fistful of ash he had collected from the camp fire and as the goblin got close enough, he threw it at the creature's face. It was blinded and had started to swing his sword wildly, approaching low, Vis sliced his rapier along the knee of the goblin but he came to close to the goblins backswing and was hit in the back by it's sword, leaving a jagged wound along his back and shoulderblade. Quickly regaining balance he turned on the spot and thrust his sword outwards, embedding it in the goblin, in the space between his helmet and armor. As he turned from his latest kill, he froze, a spear was being lunged towards his face and was inches away, but suddenly it was pulled back ferociously and the spearman was writhing in pain on the floor, the smell of smoldering coming off him. Tracing from where the projectile might have come, he saw Nyshara, giving her a small nod, he went for cover. **GOBLIN TRANSLATION: One eared fool, you will be defeated!**

"HhhnggH!" Lammy managed to stifle a yelp as he was attacked. That well placed slice did well to incapacitate the druid, dropping him down to a knee as the footman proved to be a worthy distraction. Sheeva didn't take that too lightly. As Lily tackled the spearman to the ground, Sheeva shot back into the spearman's face, making sure she dealt with the surviving eye, along with whatever else remained of the hobgoblin's already mangled gob. Or, at least proving to be a worthy distraction for the hobgoblin. The footman on the other hand, was beginning to revel in working over the druid, as several overhead strikes clanged and clashed with his quarterstaff. The hobgoblin would laugh and taunt as he struck, clearly working down Lammy's defense. One last strike ended with Lammy's staff falling to his side. With the defense broken, the footman went in for the kill, with a swing that would've no doubt lopped Lammy's head off. Acting on instinct, the druid dropped from his kneeling position, plopping back into the sand. The footman had a chuckle at the boy's tenacity, and instead went in for another overhead strike. "Any last words, kid?" The hobgoblin was sure he had the upper hand. Lammy scowled at the taunt. "Just one." He shot a hand towards the goblin's face, a ball of flame forming. "FIRE!" The orb launched, blasting the hobgoblin head on. He reeled back, squealing in pain as his greasy goblin cheeks sizzled and smoked under the influence of fire. With the opportunity presenting itself, Lammy grabbed for his quarterstaff. With his good leg he sprung into a spin, swinging the stick with enough force to knock the taste out of the hobgoblin's mouth. Lammy stumbled back into the sand, with the dazed hobgoblin following after him. The footman dove face first into the grit, unresponsive. The druid smirked a little before thinking back on his dire situation. "I gotta get out of here..." He mumbled, crawling back some before quickly reverting to Hawk status and flying off. Sheeva noticed her retreating companion, and followed after him.