Fiendish Trouble

[croaker]

You are traveling towards the border town of Havra. it is between Teawyr and Aun. you have been traveling for 7 days with the merchants train with a total of 13 other mercenaries and 8 wagons of goods you each were supplied your own horse. it is around midday and you are traveling through the hills north of Keldon. you are still 2 hours travel till you make it to Havra, the mid point of your journey.

[Umbranar]

Marcel sits on one of the wagons since hes not a very good horserider. Scanning the horizon he looks sort of bored. 7 days staring at a horses back dulls you senses.

He looks to his compagnions.
"Can`t wait to get a proper room in the tavern and something descent to eat" he mumbles.

[weckar]

Cedric, who has taken up rear defense for this leg of the journey, makes every attempt to stay alert. He can't help let his mind wander every now and then, though:

I wonder how much spare time we'll have once we get to Havra. I'd like to see what the town is like.

[Johnny H]

I just hope it's a decent tavern. Not like one of the dwarven dungeons I've lived in this past month. I say, while eating some dried fruits.

[weckar]

Waking up from his musings for the umptieth time, Cedric searches his pockets for his trusty Ioun stone and releases it. Hunger could break his concentration too easily. He looks up, analyzing those riding ahead of him.

Eyes and ears open. I may learn something from them, without them even knowing they were a teacher.

[Umbranar]

Marcel looks at the others. Hmm, doubt they can teach me anything about shadowwalking. If i cant engage in developing my skills, i will look for well paid work.

His mind started to wander off again.

[croaker]

While your characters were thinking of what the next town will bring a mercenary guard at the head shouts a warning about 1 1/2 hours from Havra.

as the merchant gathers his hired help together (except for a gnome and a human bard at the back of the caravan) he tells you the situation"Eric has spotted smoke above were Havra has ta be so to ensure the safety of the train im sending 5 in to check if Havra is too risky" he chooses Prospero, Marcel, Cedric, Eric, and Linara. to head forward to check it out.

they give each of you a horse if you didnt have one and wished you luck.

[Umbranar]

Hesitant at first, Marcel mounts the horse and starts off. Its not the best position to get into hiding but it will have to do.

Gear up and lets go ladies, a hot meal awaits. And if the tavern burned down, maybe i can at least shoot the one responsible.

[weckar]

Expecting anything from mass fires to riots, Cedric follows Marcel in a steady gallop.

"Do not assume arson, fires in cities happen for various reasons. Trust me, I would know. If indeed a building is on fire, we should be concerned with the victims first."

[Johnny H]

I should be able to put out a regular fire, so let's hope that's all it really is. I yell over to the the remainder of our quintet.

[croaker]

"Well lets get this over with I have plenty of better things to do"Eric grumbles as he rides up beside Marcel.while Linara checks her bow string and follows at the rear of the party.


after a 10 minutes of at a jarring pace you crest a hill giving you vision of the sizable town of Havra.the eastern side of the town is in flames in a semi circle cutting off that side of the city. but there is also a road block they look to be hobgoblins in breastplates with their steal bare they hail you telling you to slow down.
Eric holds up his hands"Halt, we dont want to provoke them. though they might be responsible for whats happening down there they might allow the caravan to pass"

they are about 100ft away with logs of wood in the way to stop wagons with a small gap in the middle for small carts. there are 5 hobgoblins.

descriptions
Eric-6'2" human male blonde short cropped hair with chain mail, and a longsword at his hip and a steel shield on his back.

Linara-5'3" human woman with long brown hair dressed in tightfitting black leather with multiple daggers hidden on her person and a bow across her back.

[Umbranar]

Marcel looks around and smiles at finding enough shadows near him.

"Watch my horse, im getting in position to take their leader out if things get messy." He dismounts, casually walks into a shadow, preparing his bow and seems to vanish. The party has seen this before, but to a complete stranger it would look like magic.

Not bothering to move silent yet with the horses near
Hide: [roll0]

[weckar]

Cedric dismounts, as to not cause a false threat by intimidation to the hobgoblins, and stands by Eric.

"I hope you know how to deal with these creatures. They seem too organized to be fooled by mere charm."

[Johnny H]

I try to remember as much as I know about hobgoblins.

What Knowledge check would this be? Nature or Local?

[croaker]

it would be local
as you are pondering Eric says"alright stay in tight formation they usually like to out number people so that means they probably wont attack." as he goes towards the road black at a slow pace.

upon getting closer you see that two of the hobgoblins are definitely different having small horns growing out of their foreheads and red tinted skin.
the obvious leader of the group speaking fluent common "go back travelers this land now belongs to Gwessi, by right it is ours." while making a shooing gesture with his shield arm. at this point you are 40 ft away

[Umbranar]

Marcel sneaks back to the party, trying to close in on Eric before he moves any further. "Psst Eric, we might be walking into a trap. There is a bugbear hiding beneath a grass covered hatch just a dozen feet off the road. Might be more but i did not see them yet." he whispers still hiding in shadows. After delivering the message and after seeing the obvious leader of the group, Marcel tries to use the shadows to close in on him until hes only 25 feet away.

Move Silent: [roll0]
Dont know if you require a new hide check for sneaking towards the leader.

[weckar]

Cedric answers.

"We respect your right of ownership, and that of the one you call Gwessi. All we request is safe passage through your lands for us and our train. We will make no attempt to draw arms or impede your occupation in any way. "

After which he boldly adds:

"Any added violence or resistance would only hinder you and your men. Please, if you will allow us passage, also permit us to remove the previous, unjust occupants of this land for you."

[Johnny H]

Unable to recall any useful information about Hobgoblins, I start paying more attention to the ongoing discussion.

What? Why are you looking for a fight? You know nothing of what's been happening here, how can you immediately side with these Hobgoblins? I whisper, completely startled, to Cedric.

[croaker]

The hobgoblins seem surprised by your outburst and two of them start to converse in goblin. after a minute of discussion the hobgoblin leader declares "very few humans know their place in this world, so you shall be able to pass but only after talking to our commander on the topic" as he waves you forward.

Eric whispers"nice cant believed your bluff worked though you did get carried away on the help them take Havra part." as he slowly goes to meet the hobgoblin captain.

[Umbranar]

Those who have spotted Marcel, see he looks confused and somewhat disappointed. Still with his bow at the ready, he follows the party, still remaining hidden in the shadows. "Pff, reasoning with hobgoblins..." he mumbles to himself.

[weckar]

Cedric whispers in a low voice so only his companions can hear:
"Taking responsibility to remove the townspeople from the town is our best bet to make sure that they will live. Look at the place, it was doomed before we came here. Where I come from, we call this making the best of a bad situation."

[croaker]

upon reaching 15 from the hobgoblins 2 odd looking bugbears one on each side pop from the earth it seems. one charges upon Eric the other spotted Marcel.

roll initiative say who your attacking and roll your rolls so it hopefully speeds up combat (the bug bear on the side that Marcel is on doesn't get his surprise round


[roll0]B
[roll1]H

[Umbranar]

Softly cursing to himself for being seen, Marcel tries to react before the bugbear is able to attack him.

Initiative
[roll0]
Lol havent rolled above 4 yet.

[weckar]

Cedric is startled, but regains composure quickly. He takes split aim at the two bugbears and fires "Scorching Ray!"

[weckar]

Fudged how the rolls should be done, sorry... No cheating, promise!
Init: [roll0]
Ray 1: [roll1]
Ray 2: [roll2]

[croaker]

this is what they are going to be doing and most of you are after the baddies and i forgot to roll initiative for the npc's
and wecker you still need to roll to see if you touch with the rays.

bugbear1-t1
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

bugbear2-t3
[roll6]
[roll7]

hobf1-t1
[roll8]
[roll9]

hobf2-t1
[roll10]
[roll11]

hob1 charge t1
[roll12]
[roll13]

hob2-3 charge t2
[roll14]
[roll15]
[roll16]
[roll17]

Eric initiative [roll18]
attack b1 [roll19]
[roll20]

Linara initiative [roll21]
attack b2 [roll22]
[roll23]
[roll24]
[roll25]
[roll26]
[roll27]

[weckar]

Touch-hit rolls for scorching ray:
1d20+8
1d20+8

EDIT: those don't look too bad :)

[Johnny H]

Initiative: [roll0]
With a mixture of arcane words and hand gestures I weave an Extended Mage Armor around myself.

[croaker]

the hobgoblin captain and his second pulls out javelins and throws it at Eric who's armor stops it from piercing his chest,while the other hobgoblins charge 2 at Cedric(23damage) and one at Eric. the fist bugbear unleashes a torrent of attacks on Eric slowly wearing him down, while the second gets a quick slash at Marcel(9damage). Eric trieds to retaliate but his sword cuts air as the bugbear dodges around. Linaras rain of arrows upon the first bugbear scored 2 hits while the first was stopped by his chainshirt.

weckar your roll didnt come through for the touch attack can you roll it again. and umbranar what do you do?

[Umbranar]

Marcel tumbles away from his attacker, when out of reach he tries to hide in shadow. He then readies an attack, next time the hobgoblin attacking Cedric swings again, he will put an arrow in his chest.

Move action: move 20 feet (5 ft tumble, 10 ft normal, 5 ft hiding)
Tumble: [roll0] (part of move) 5 ft
Hide: [roll1] Hide in Plain Sight within 10 ft of a shadow (part of move)
Standard Action: Ready Attack on Cedrics Attacker, trigger=attack

[Umbranar]

Attack when ready action is triggered:
[roll0]
[roll1] if he does not spot me
[roll2] if he spots me

[weckar]

sure:
Touch-hit rolls for scorching ray:
[roll0]
[roll1]