Circle of Life's Red Hand of Doom IC Thread

[Circle of Life]

Though it is yet early in the morning, the blazing heat of the summer sun beats down on you, bringing unbidden memories of the icy waters in the swiftly running stream you passed some days back. The heat of Elsir Vale in the summer is a beast that each man and woman must tame, or else succumb to, as you have often heard repeated through the numerous flyspeck villages you've passed through thus far. The dry heat of the Vale is not like that of the more populous southern Breland, which at least has the ever-present humidity to temper it to bearable levels.

The hard-packed dirt road you travel stretches to the east for some distance, occasional furrows and tiny ravines the only indication that rainwater has ever so much as touched this area of the Vale. The arid air around you seems to leech moisture from your body with every step, drying tongues and wringing every last drop of sweat out of you that it can. The forest of pines and maples to either side of the road looks inviting at first glance, with its promise of shade, but tales of unwary travelers snatched up in an instant have long since dissuaded you from taking advantage of that luxury.

Since entering the Vale, none of the rather unlikely group of travelers have seen sign of any of the more troubling rumors that seem to be on the lips of everyone you meet, though likely this is due to the fact that the largest gathering of people you have yet seen was a village containing all of ten families, half of them related to each other in some way or another.

Abruptly, a pony-led cart clears the rise in the road behind you, its short-statured driver sawing at the reins. The mere presence of the cart would be surprising enough - none of you recall seeing such a thing on the road recently, likely due to the fact that no sane merchant brings wares into the source of troubles - but the coloring of the thing is even more shocking. Cart and wheels alike are painted in the most garish hues of red and green imaginable, with each of the wheel spokes painted another, different shade of the ghastly combination. Though dusty, the canvas covering of the cart is dyed a yellow bright enough to make lemons envious. As the cart draws nearer, you notice that the driver - a gnome, obvious now that you can see his features - is wearing a voluminous hooded cloak of the single most eye-damaging shade of blue you have ever seen.

Instead of slowing as he approaches your group, the gnome instead lashes the reins across the pony's back again, steering the cart around you even as he shouts for you to make way. There is time only for the briefest impression of intense anxiety in the gnome's features, then he and his cart have passed and are rocketing forward with no sign of slowing.

Looking around, there seems to be no cause for the gnome's haste. Small clouds of dust rise from the cart's path, yet aside from that and yourselves, the road seems entirely empty. The cart zooms around a bend in the road, and then is gone from your sight. Perhaps the gnome is simply quite mad.

[Sallera]

Faien just barely manages to steer his horse to the side of the road in time, the swirling breeze stirred up by the cart's passing ruffling his messy brown hair. "Careful, man. What compels you to such haste?" he calls fruitlessly after the vanishing cart. Shading his eyes against the sun - his own mithril plate is dusty enough by now that it no longer gleams as it once did, but the light here needs no assistance to hamper one's sight - he watches the path behind for a minute, alert for any unwelcome pursuers.

"Hm. Well, if he required our assistance, no doubt he'd have stopped to ask," he comments dryly as no threat materializes along the dirt road. "I have half a hope that whatever troubles this vale will simply find us, that we may cease worrying over these people while you seek your fabled missing treasure. It may not be my country or my duty, but I mislike seeing such an atmosphere anywhere."

[TekHed]

In spite of the oppressive heat, the small party of travelers were quite comfortable...even Faien in his full plate armor, as Auran had attended to the issue with a bit of magic.

As the gnomish cart barreled past, Auran had to dodge out the way, leaping upwards with a sudden thrust of his wings normally kept tightly wrapped around his body and concealed beneath his voluminous cloak. Rather than descend, he flapped vigorously several times, ascending ever higher as the downdraft pummeled his companions on the ground, dispersing the cloud of dust trailing behind the cart. The paladin remained aloft for a good minute, as he watched the general direction of the hurried traveler's path.

Spot: [roll0]

Landing softly back upon the soil once more, Auran nodded. "Any good we can do must be done...though I fear our two troubles may be more related than the village folk realize. Our enemy's coils are closing in on this place...I can feel it."

Endure Elements cast before bed the night before, 24 hour duration.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri gracefully sidesteps the cart as it comes flying up the hill. After it passes, she dusts herself off, shaking the debris of sand and dirt from her clothing.

As she watches the gnomish cart disappear over the hills, "What an interesting shade of blue...I wonder if it would go with my scales?" she muses.

OOC: OMGPonies (et al) -I'm going ahead and switching to the closest color to iceblue I can get if that's okay. If you'd rather me stick to red, I can.

Edit: OOC: This work better colorwise?

[Sallera]

"Well, if that is so, no doubt we'll run into them sooner rather than later, and the better for us."

Faien hides a smile at Vaeri's comment, moving his horse into a walk again with a flick of the reins. "I suspect it was designed solely to grab the attention of anyone present; I would be surprised if it went well with anything at all."

It's a bit hard on the eyes, actually; perhaps a shade or two darker?

Edit: Much, thanks.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni's eyes follow the cart as long as they can before it disappears down the road. "I don't know," he says with a shrug, "I kinda liked it. If you're going big, though, might as well go the whole length and paint the pony to match. Now that shows panache."

While the paladin's spell had kept the group moderately comfortable despite the dry heat, the young spellscale enjoys the dusty breeze stirred up by Auran's wings as he takes to the sky. "That's the ticket, Sol," he calls up to Auran, "you just keep on flapping. Say, I know you 'feel Tiamat's touch' and all that spooky spiritual stuff, but do you actually see anything out of place from up there? Even better, do you see anything vaguely rod-shaped laying within a stone's throw so we can collect? I feel like we've been searching for this thing longer than it took to craft it."

[TekHed]

"I do not." Auran replied with a dryness surpassing the air. "However that garishly garbed gnome had a look of worry upon his brow...no doubt for reasons related to the rumors we have been hearing. One family is already dead for having come into contact with the Key...let us make haste lest more innocents shed blood for our sloth."

The Paladin pushed onward, on foot, lest the strain of flying wear him out before a potential conflict.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri watches as Auran lands gracefully and trudges onward.

That is one determined dragonkin who trudges before us. [pause] To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of someone who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on.
She glances at Roni...Don't ever let me get that way. There is too much life to enjoy!


OOC: Yes, I liked a knight's tale. :)

[Sallera]

"There is little slow about Sir Sol," Faien comments, allowing the spellscales to pass his weary horse as he falls back to the rear of the party, "but you may be otherwise accurate. Nonetheless, we should soldier on ourselves, lest my horse die of thirst ere we next find water. I suspect the summer weather troubles this vale near as much as whatever threats they face from this elusive band of thieves."

[TekHed]

Auran suddenly stopped and turned around, marching up to Vaeri with a determined purpose that suggested he had taken umbrage for her remarks. It was difficult to tell with his fully draconic face and stern demeanor. He stopped before her and gazed into her eyes with his deeply azure reptilian stare.

After a moment and a drawn breath he spoke. "You are very brave for one so young, to accompany me on my dangerous quest...and rest assured, we now walk into certain danger, or even death..."

He paused letting that sink in. "While I have pledged to give my life for my cause, I would not see the bright light of your young years extinguished for my quest. To that end, I have something for you..."

He opened his palm, and lying therein was a simple, yet stunning band of pure platinum. Before she could react, he caught one of her scaled hands and slipped the ring upon her finger, then held up his other hand where a matching band already rested.

"If the time comes that you are under assault, the connection between these rings will allow me to shield you from a portion of any wounds you may receive. Though I do not wish for this to occur, I would rather be as best prepared for the unthinkable..."

Please mark down on your character sheet, 1 platinum ring, the focus necessary for Auran to use his Shield Other spell on Vaeri... :smallsmile:

[Fireheart]

Vaeri starts to take a step back as Auran approaches fiercely.

"If the time comes that you are under assault, the connection between these rings will allow me to shield you from a portion of any wounds you may receive. Though I do not wish for this to occur, I would rather be as best prepared for the unthinkable..."

Vaeri looks at the ring and for the quite possibly the first time, you see a very serious look come over her face.

She bows her head, her white and blue braids covering her face.

"Thank you, Auran." She says softly.

OOC: Will add.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni

The elder spellscale stands silently by, watching the poignant exchange between his sister and Auran. As it comes to a close, he stands in awkward silence with a cheesy grin affixed to his face. After a few seconds (that feel more like hours), he clears his throat, kips himself up on his tiptoes, and says "And my gift for you, Roni..." he says in his best imitation of the dragonborn. The boy arches his eyebrows and keeps his cheesy grin, expectant of a gift as well.

[roll0] to mimic Auran's voice

[Sallera]

"Platinum, hm? Of course it would be." Faien arches an eyebrow at Roni's surprisingly accurate imitation, watching the whole scene with faint amusement. "I fear you may be setting yourself up for disappointment, Roni."

[TekHed]

"Indeed...on both accounts." Auran answered Faien. "Platinum is the metal of Lord Bahamut, and, I have only the single pair of rings with which to focus the magic. I deliberated on which of you to offer this modicum of extra protection, and decided in the end that you would also wish to see your sister safeguarded. As a sorcerous she will be a prime target for our enemies who would weaken us, and even the gift of her wings will not protect her from the poisoned bolt of a crossbow. My gift to you, young spellscale, is to give my life if need be for your sister's or your own. Do you object to my decision Roni?"

[Circle of Life]

Auran does not see much of anything from his midair perch, though he tracks the rising cloud of dust from the pony-led cart's mad dash easily enough even when the cart itself has disappeared along the winding road, obscured by the trees on either side. Still, he does notice a town of perhaps fifty buildings some two miles distant, the first gathering of structures worthy of such a title that you've yet encountered in the Vale. The road you're on seems to lead directly to and through the town, making it likely the gnome is simply in a hurry to reach his apparent destination.

After another half-hour of trudging onwards through the oppressive heat, the memory of the gnome has nearly faded from your minds, replaced with the overwhelming desire to finally reach something approaching civilization. This heat isn't fit for man nor beast to travel in, and a nice cold drink (if something can actually be kept cold in this abominable weather) would go a long way to making the day more palatable. Even Auran's magic cannot completely remove the discomfort of unshaded travel in a Brelish summer, and while the sun poses no real threat to the warded party, it is hard not to imagine real shade and cool breezes of more temperate climes.

Thus, it is with great surprise that you crest a low hill in the road to catch a glimpse of red, green, and yellow through the trees nearest a small branch in the dirt path. A closer look reveals it to be the very same cart that very nearly flew by you earlier, though it seems to be missing the pony and gnome, now.

You share a few uneasy glances. An abandoned farmhouse is just barely visible through the trees, the thatch roof long since worn away by time and the seasons. While it's possible the gnome stopped there for a rest, it seems unlikely, given his earlier haste.

You quickly scan your surroundings, searching for any sign of trouble, but find nothing. Not entirely reassured, you advance carefully, Auran taking the lead, the rest falling in close behind. The air smells faintly... wrong, like a great fire was burned nearby recently, only... different. It smells off, like rotten eggs intermixed with charcoal.

And that's when Roni notices the glint of arrowheads from within the woods.

Before the spellscale can so much as shout a warning, two arrows whiz out of the forest, one from either side of the road. Oddly, they are not directed toward you, but rather launched high up through the canopy. At the apex of their arc, the arrowheads ignite with alchemical fire, the yellow-white of the magical flames obvious even to a casual observer.

Then you see them. Strange creatures, vaguely human but with brownish yellow skin, wide mouths full of serrated teeth, and patches of furry hair covering their skin seemingly at random. The two hold longbows, already reaching for new arrows, and are wearing suits of studded leather of obvious quality craftsmanship, even if the general designs are slightly barbaric. A startling array of knives and swords are strapped along the chest and belt of the two creatures.

The creatures grin wickedly as they set new arrows to their strings, these aimed at much more obvious targets: you.

Creative license taken with the Endure Elements spell. You're all perfectly safe from heat exposure.

Roni manages to spot the ambush, preventing a surprise round. The ambushers win initiative, and spend the round firing an arcing volley high into the air. Party's turn.

Map:http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/3378/ambushz.jpg

Note: The edges of the road are sloped upward and filled with loose scree. They and all forest squares are difficult terrain. The trees are roughly twenty feet tall, should it become relevant to those of you with flight.

[Sallera]

Faien frowns, muttering "Looks like the trouble's found us after all," and raises his hand to the sky, a pale blue blade shrouded in mist appearing between eyeblinks in his grasp. His voice rings out over the forest with his next words, far clearer than he has used before in your presence.

"Let it be known from the start that you will be spared if and only if you surrender. Drop your weapons or die." As both of the creatures nock arrows again, he nods sharply, kicking his horse into motion. "I'm sure you know a signal when you see one," he calls back to the others as his mount struggles up the slope. "Stay with Sir Sol until we flush out the rest of these fools."

Plunging into the forest, his toughened skin and armour allowing him to ignore its barbs and thorns, Faien raises the blade over his left shoulder, a crackle of electricity running through it as he slices down at the archer in a narrow arc.

This is, of course, assuming they don't surrender when asked, which I figured was a safe bet. :smalltongue:
Move: Draw sword.
Ride to D10/E11.
Standard: Attack, charging the blade using the Lightning Gauntlets.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] (Edit: +3, sorry, so 5) + [roll2] electricity

[Fireheart]

Vaeri unfurls her wings in a snap of blue of white. She glides over to take Roni's back.

"Ooh, a fight. Do not mess up my robes!" she says, her eyes smiling.

She waves her hands quickly, speaks some mystic words and sends an orb of blue white ice comes flying toward the other creature.


OOC: Can't see map at work, but she'll move/glide 30ft to stand behind Roni or as close as possible.

Her meditation for the Day will be Chonepsis. Gives her +2 listen & Silent Spell. No real effect in this battle, I don't think. I'll try to mention what her meditation is early in the day/posting from now on.

Aiming at the creature in A1, not the one Faien is running toward
Orb of Cold, lesser (no SR)
Ranged Touch: [roll0]
Dmg: [roll1]

[OMG PONIES]

Auran's Gifts

As Vaeri chides her brother, Roni maintains his wide smile. "Cheese it, sis," he grimaces through his teeth, "if the dragonborn's feeling charitable, I say we let 'im." As Auran responds, serious as ever, Roni's smile fades into a befuddled look. "A two for one deal?" he asks, "I'll take it! But you don't ask anything in return?" The spellscale is flummoxed by Auran's selflessness. He wishes such altruism for himself, but immediately chuckles at the irony of that thought. "Guess that's why you're the hero and I'm the businessman, eh Sol?" While he jokes with the dragonborn, his lips silently mouth a sincere thank you.

Conflict at the Farmhouse

As the group approaches the farmhouse, Roni gazes nervously over Faien's shoulder. "Anyone smell that?" he says with wrinkled nose, "it's almost as if someone is baking an outhouse." He laughs halfheartedly at his own joke, more to ease the tension than anything else. "I can barely stand it," he says as he turns his head and covers his face with the sleeve of his cloak. To his right, he sees the shine of metal poking through the trees. "Guys?" he says, nervousness creeping into his voice, "did anyone else see--"

He is interrupted by the two arrows sailing into the sky, both of which explode as they crest. Roni begins to mutter a profanity under his breath, but quickly reminds himself that he is in the presence of a lawman, a paladin, and his kid sister. The spellscale censors himself as the word comes out: "Fff...lares. Reinforcements are coming." The spellscale sighs deeply and squares his shoulders. "Well, at least it livens up the day!" he shouts. Roni clutches a pendant that hangs around his neck in one hand and gives it a kiss as he retrieves a mandolin from his pack. "Let's fight fire with fire," he says and arches his eyebrow impishly. He begins to strum a fierce melody on his instrument, and the others feel strangely emboldened by the song. As he plays, he maintains eye contact with the odd creatures. He had seen them before somewhere, but couldn't quite place his finger on it...

All allies' attacks now deal +3d6 fire damage.

Swift action: activate Badge of Valor for +1 to Inspire Courage.
Move action: draw masterwork mandolin (+1 to Inspire Courage's attack bonus, -1 to damage bonus)
Standard action: spend one use of bardic music to activate Dragonfire Inspiration for +3d6 damage to all allies' attacks.
No action: activate Collector of Stories skill trick and Knowledge Devotion to learn information about these odd creatures. A result of 20 equals a +2 bonus to Roni's attacks and damage rolls for the duration of the encounter verses creatures of the same type.

Blood Quickening: Unless otherwise noted, it can be assumed that Roni meditates on Astilabor every day in order to gain a bonus on Appraise checks :smallsigh: and unlimited use of Eschew Materials :smallcool:.

[TekHed]

"Stay behind us!" Auran shouted to the spellscale siblings. Speaking a word in some obscure dialect of ancient draconic-elvish, Auran's body swelled with divine power, the muscles of his exposed upper arms and thighs visibly growing in size and strength.

Even as he activated the magic, his massive warstar appeared suddenly in his hand. The paladin strode forward with purpose, readying his brilliant mithril shield as he moved to intercept the Hobgoblin. Still, he did not attack.

"Brandish not your weapons toward us, goblin. Lay them down and no harm shall come to you..."


Swift action cast Bull's Strength (now 18).
Free action draw Warstar (from least crystal of returning)
Ready Shield as part of first move action. AC is now 19 (or 21 vs. ranged attacks).
Second move action to close the distance to O8.

Since combat has pretty much already started with everyone drawing weapons, I don't think Diplomacy will quite work. I will however make an Intimidate check to demoralize the Hobgoblin Auran is blocking.

[roll0] Yeah...I'll say.

[Fireheart]

Only because I can't resist

Stay behind them? What does he think I'm going to do? Run towards the thing that is shooting arrows at me? Vaeri says softly as she comes to a stop behind Roni.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni smiles and mutters under his breath, just loud enough that only his sister can hear. "Vaer, if you find someone willing to play pincushion for you...you quietly let them."

[Circle of Life]

Faien's blade shears through the armor of his quarry with supernatural ease, arcs of lightning and tongues of flame searing flesh in a long line down the hobgoblin's side. The archer lets out a strangled cry of agony, carefully stepping back through the thick undergrowth and firing an arrow at the leg of Faien's mount, apparently intending to cripple the beast, but his injury makes the archer's arm weak and his aim poor, and the arrow instead lodges in the trunk of a nearby tree.

In the ravine, Vaeri moves closer and hurls a sphere of cold toward Auran's chosen foe. The forest is thick and the spellscale's aim poor however, and the spell crashes into a tree some distance from its intended target, splattering white frost and ice shards across the bark. Above, the arcing arrows fall to earth with deadly speed, embedding themselves first in Vaeri's previous position, and then in Roni's arm, alchemical fire searing flesh even as the steel arrowhead pierces muscle and skin.

Auran's foe looks shaken by the dragonborn's surging advance, hands trembling as it steps back and fires. The archer's aim is as poor as his companion's however, and Auran does not even need to bring his shield to bear to deflect the poor shot.

Archers 5-ft back and try to cripple Auran and Faien's mount, but both fail spectacularly. Note: the forest squares are difficult terrain. Unless you have the ability to move through it unhindered, 5-ft steps are not normally possible.

Vaeri's Orb of Cold spell has a range of Close, so she either had to move closer or not use it; I went with what I felt was the more sensible solution.

One of the arcing arrows comes down in Vaeri's previously occupied space at the start of the new round, while the other comes down on Roni, dealing 10 piercing damage and 2 fire damage.

Map:http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/492/ambushe.jpg

[Sallera]

Pushing his mount forward in pursuit of the archer, Faien reverses his swing and slices upward across the archer's chest, the long, light blade serving as an effective cavalry sword despite the dense undergrowth. "Waylaying travelers? Did you think there was no law in the Elsir Vale?"

Ride, DC5: [roll0] - on failure, use shield hand to control mount, lose 3 AC for the round.
Swift to reassign essentia from Gauntlets to Weapon.
Ride to C10/D11.
Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] + [roll3] electricity + [roll4] fire

[TekHed]

Auran's eyes flashed blue and his warstar seemed to gleam for a moment as the dragonborn called upon Bahamut to grant him favor in combat. Thus fortified, he stepped forward, though again did not swing upon the Hobgoblin.

"I said, stand down! This is your last warning. Surrender now or risk injury and death..."



Swift cast Divine Favor (+1 luck bonus to his attack and damage rolls.

move action 5 feet forward to P8. Standard Action demoralize: [roll0]

[OMG PONIES]

Roni grunts as one of the arrows tears into him just below the shoulder. "Snout of a hydra's head!" he grimaces as he pulls the projectile from his flesh. "I think they've been given fair warning, Auran; time to start laying down the law."

He returns his bloody hand to his mandolin, strumming a similar tune to the last. With a quick shout, he ups the tempo of the song; the rowdy cadence makes his allies' blood pump even faster through their veins. The rush of adrenaline causes things around them to slow down slightly, allowing them to place their blows more precisely.

All allies now have a +3 morale bonus to hit and a +1 morale bonus to weapon damage rolls, in addition to the +3d6 fire damage.

Move action: remove arrow from arm
Swift action: cast Inspirational Boost
Standard action: activate Inspire Courage (traditional style) for +3 to hit (+1 IC + 1 masterwork mandolin + 1 Inspirational Boost) and +1 damage (+1 IC -1 masterwork mandolin + 1 Inspirational Boost)

Duration of ongoing effects:

Dragonfire Inspiration: lingers for 4 more rounds
Inspire Courage: currently performing

[Fireheart]

Vaeri backs up to stand beside Roni.

"By the Abyss," Vaeri curses as she pulls spell components from her pouch. Again murmuring words of magic, she casts again.

OOC: Right, I'll cast something as soon as I can get myth-weavers to let me back in!

edited to add: Over in the die rolling thread, will cast magic missile at the hobgoblin who shot Rori

assuming not material change: her magic missiles will be in blue-white :)

[Circle of Life]

Faien's upswing is significantly less accurate than his previous attack, only forcing the archer to sidestep with a quick hop, but it is enough to clear a path for Vaeri to work her magic. A stream of blue-white missiles streak from the spellscale's outstretched fingers, twisting over and around the obstructions of the forest to strike the hobgoblin squarely in the chest. The force of the missiles is enough to stagger the archer; with what you take to be a final shouted curse, the hobgoblin turns tail and runs.

Across the road, Auran's quarry watches his ally flee. Apparently deciding that threat of death by flaming sword isn't worth whatever he was here for, the hobgoblin throws down his bow and flees, moving through the dense vegetation as easily as if it were not there at all.

There is a moment of silence, then rustling sounds from the forest to the south. Another pair of hobgoblins emerge, these much more heavily armed and armored. The two wear breastplates of similar make, but the resemblance ends there. One carries two long, broad swords, the ends curved up into vicious, ripping tips, while the other holds a mace and wears a shield strapped over his other arm. A belt of knives is cinched around the swordsman's waist, two vials of a pale blue liquid thrust through loops of the belt, while the other wears a simple leather belt from which dangle the skulls of two-dozen or more small animals, each cracked open to hold a precious gemstone of a different color. The two are surrounded by something like a dense shadow, a darkening to the air that seems to ripple whenever you focus on it.

The swordsman spits something in a foreign tongue, leveling one blade to point directly at Auran, while he flourishes the other in a series of elaborate, flashing swipes.

Roni:Faien's foe shouts an invective about the knight's questionable parentage in the goblin tongue, spitting toward him before turning and running.

The swordsman also speaks in the goblin tongue. "Weaklings! Their resolve held only through a single blow and the empty words of a krtagh!" he says, derisive mockery thick on his tongue. "We will find them when we finish here, and their entrails will remind any others with weak hearts of the price of dishonor!"

H1 is the swordsman, H2 is his companion. There must be a better way to mark these things; I'll look into clarifying tokens with the next map.

Auran detects the presence of evil creatures to the southeast of himself (note that "up" is not "north" on this map).

Map:http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/6995/ambushd.jpg

[Sallera]

"There you are. If you've more skill than those two fools, face me on even ground." Pushing the horse forward through the undergrowth, Faien slips off its back, shoving off a tree with his shield and landing on his good leg, his blade already flashing through a tight arc and rising into a forward guard as something prevents him from following through. Lightning crackles down its length once more, white arcs of energy attempting to escape the confines of the soul-forged sword.

"Well? Will you press this doomed attempt further, or stand down?"

Ride, DC5: [roll0] to control mount
Ride to G12/H13, dismount into I13.
Swift: Reassign essentia from Shirt to Gauntlets. SR is down to 9. *waits for a caster to show up*
Attack H1: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] + [roll3] electricity + [roll4] fire

[Fireheart]

Roni - they've got a Sanctuary up...I don't think we can attack them. Vaeri whispers quickly as she reaches into her spell component pouch.

She readies her spell in case they attack Faien.

OOC: Readied Action (or there abouts) Magic Missile whichever one attacks Faein if they do.

[TekHed]

"If it is a sanctuary...they will not be able to harm us either, not without risking their own protection." Auran said, appearing from the brush.

"So tell us...why are you here? What do you want?" Stalling, Auran focused his concentration, pinpointing the source of the malice that filled his senses. Should it belong to these goblinoids...not even their dark magics would save them.

So I can only move so far, to get myself out of the trees...move action to O11. Standard action concentrate on Detecting Evil, and Free action speech...

The others are still out of range of Auran's aura.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni - they've got a Sanctuary up...I don't think we can attack them.

Roni simply smiles at his sister's words; he had seen this spell used many times by fledgling clerics in some of his previous lines of work. Unfortunately, he had also seen the many ways around the spell. "Come on, Vaer," he chides her as he stops playing and stows his mandolin in his pack, "you just have to want it. Anyway, just because you can't attack doesn't mean you can't fight. There's always a way to win." Without even having to reach into his spell component pouch, he mutters a few arcane syllables and snaps his fingers. As he snaps, the air around the two hobgoblins bursts with sparkling metallic confetti. As the hobgoblins claw at their eyes, Roni's smile becomes a smirk.

Both hobgoblins are outlined by the glitter (-40 to Hide), and must make Will saves vs DC 17 or be blinded for four rounds.

Move action: place mandolin back in pack
Standard action: cast glitterdust, centered on the corner of J13-K14.

Duration of ongoing effects:

Dragonfire Inspiration: lingering for 3 more rounds
Inspire Courage: lingering for 4 more rounds

[Circle of Life]

Both hobgoblins sneer at Faien's threat, then again at Auran's words a moment later. Roni's spell catches them off guard however, apparently having intended to rely upon their warding longer than a few scant seconds. The swordsman wipes golden dust from his eyes with the back of a hand, murmuring what sounds like a mantra under his breath, but his companion cries out and paws at eyes filled with glimmering golden flakes, unable to see.

The swordsman whips one of his viciously hooked swords toward Faien, the shadowy warding rippling back as he does so. Fast as the blade is however, Vaeri is faster: a trio of icy missiles strikes the swordsman in the chest, staggering him and throwing his aim wildly askew, the blade slicing into the ground to score a line just before Faien's toes.

As quickly as the warding is gone, the second hobgoblin clutches at one of the gem-studded skulls at his belt and fervently shouts a few words in a twisted tongue. Shadows coalesce around the two once more, shifting with their every movement.

Auran:There are two auras of evil within the range of your Detect Evil. The strongest aura is of Moderate strength.
Roni:You recognize the mantra as a small portion of a technique taught in certain martial circles all across Khoravaire. Known as the Moment of Perfect Mind, it allows adepts of the blade to focus their will into a single moment of heightened resilience, allowing them to overcome greater mental assaults than would otherwise be possible.

The caster is blinded, but the swordsman succeeds on his Will save. The swordsman attacks Faien but misses horribly. Vaeri strikes the swordsman for 9 force damage from her readied Magic Missile, then the caster uses the Blessing of the Dark Queen invocation again, restoring the protection to both hobgoblins.

Map:http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/3189/ambushh.jpg

[Sallera]

Attempting to empty his mind of anything but the need to inflict just retribution on these bandits, Faien reflexively strengthens his spirit against any further assaults from the shadow-wielder, then drops his blade from its guard, letting it swing around and over his head before slicing at the shadows from above.

Swift to reassign essentia from Gauntlets to Shirt. SR back up to 17.
Will save: [roll0]
If it succeeds, Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] + [roll3] electricity + [roll4] fire

[TekHed]

Auran could no longer afford to wait. He had given due warning, inquired of intentions and yet still the hobgoblins remained intractable. Not only that but they appeared to be using dark magics to aid themselves. His course of action was clear.

Suddenly glowing with golden light, Auran picked his way across the difficult terrain, vaulting up the grade towards the enemy caster with an assisting flap of his voluminous wings. When he came in range of the second hobgoblin, he unleashed the full fury of his mace upon the evil interloper.


Swift action cast: Eagle's Splendor
Move action 3 squares to M14, Jump check to bypass the difficult terrain for the last 5 foot diagonal, for total of 30' movement: Jump DC 10 [roll0]
Standard Action: Attack H2 (Blinded): Will save vs. Sanctuary effect: [roll1]

I'm assuming these are the evil guys. If I'm mistaken, remove 7 from the attack roll and 5 from the damage roll.

Mace: [roll2]
Damage: [roll3] + fire [roll4]

Auran's current AC: 19
Bonus to Faien's Saves: +3

[Fireheart]

Vaeri glances back at her brother. "Show-off."

She reaches a finger into her waterskin and pulls out a drop of water. Cupping her hands around it, she speaks, then blows out a firm breath of air and sends a sharp, clear icicle flying toward the second Hobgoblin. A second and third icicle follow shortly each arcing toward the second Hobgoblin.

OOC: I am assuming that the answer to the w/in 40ft is yes. If not she moves, then casts.

Ice Darts: (half damage cold)

Ranged Touch [roll0]
Dmg Dart1: [roll1]
Dmg Dart2: [roll2]
Dmg Dart3: [roll3]

[OMG PONIES]

Roni laughs and says, "Don't confuse creativity with braggadacio, sis." He raises an eyebrow with a smirk as the swordsman shrugs off the effect of his spell and adds, "Moment of Perfect Mind, eh?" almost to himself.

Roni's smirk becomes a smile as he realizes the advantage that this presents him with. Martial adepts could only use a technique once before meditating to recover it, whereas a spontaneous magician like Roni could be a bit less judicious with the use of their abilities. Roni replicates both his words and gestures, causing another burst of glitter to fill the air around the hobgoblins.

Both hobgoblins are outlined by the glitter (-40 to Hide), and must make another Will save vs DC 17 or be blinded for four rounds.

Roni casts Glitterdust again, centered to catch as many hobgoblins as possible without also engulfing his allies.

Duration of ongoing effects:
Dragonfire Inspiration: lingering for 2 more rounds
Inspire Courage: lingering for 3 more rounds

[Circle of Life]

Roni's second burst of glitter succeeds where the first failed, filling the eyes of the swordsman with flecks of golden dust. A heartbeat later, the caster lets out a cry of agony as Auran's mace breaks through the shadowy barrier to collide solidly with flesh, cracking bones and bruising muscle with equal ease. Vaeri flicks a trio of icy missiles toward the pair, but as the ice strikes the shadows, it instantly melts as if subjected to an intense heat, and it is not daggers of ice but droplets of water that strike the hobgoblins, creating little more than an annoying diversion.

The swordsman shouts something in his tongue, and his companion steps away from Auran to make room for the blademaster, who swings toward the dragonborn with a flashing backhanded arc of steel as he closes. Roni's spell proves its worth however, and the attack goes wide by a large margin, whistling past Auran's chest with several inches to spare.

Clutching one of the skulls at his belt, the second hobgoblin chants something in a rough tongue, then gestures in the general direction of Faien and Auran with either hand. Waves of shadow rush from either palm, washing over the knight and the paladin. The waves break around Faien without touching him, but scour Auran - not his flesh, but what feels like his very essence.

Roni:The swordsman shouted: "Back away! This blade will hold them at bay while you work your magicks!"

Auran takes 9 negative energy damage. Faien's spell resistance negates the damage directed at him.

Map:http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5568/ambush.jpg

[Sallera]

As the caster presents an opening, Faien launches himself forward with a shuffle and a leap, landing heavily on both feet and twisting his body to slice down with a surge of electricity past the hobgoblin's warding mace, along its shoulder.

Spellcraft: [roll0]

Move to J14.
Swift: Reassign essentia from Blade to Gauntlets.
Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll2] + [roll3] electricity + [roll4] fire

[OMG PONIES]

Roni draws his bow from his side and knocks a single arrow. He looks towards the blinded caster, steadies his aim, and lets an arrow fly. As the projectile rips through the air, the head of it bursts into flame thanks to the lingering effects of Roni's first magical song. "Good luck working any magicks with that sticking out of your chest," he chides.

22 vs. H2's flatfooted AC (-2 since he's blinded) for 6 piercing damage and 14 fire damage. If H2 is already dropped by Faien's attack, Roni will instead shoot at H1, albeit at a -4 penalty (18 vs H1's flatfooted AC-2).

Duration of ongoing effects:

Dragonfire Inspiration: lingering for 1 more round
Inspire Courage: lingering for 2 more rounds

[Fireheart]

Watching as her icicles turn to water, Vaeri growls.

Oh, no you didn't, she says stalking forward a few steps.

Forming her hands into a ball, she speaks and send a swirling blue-white orb at the fighter.


OOC: Vaeri moves w/in range (if I need to) and casts Orb of Cold at the fighter...(assuming the caster is down.)

will save to attack [roll0]
ranged touch [roll1]
dmg if hits [roll2]

[TekHed]

Auran winced as the dark magics clawed through his defenses. Seeing Faien's wisdom in trading up dance partners, Auran turned his attention to the swordsman and put all of his weight and force into a heroic blow, hoping to end the battle summarily.



No need to move, already buffed up, so just going for the gusto, second verse same as the first.

Warstar:[roll0]
Damage:[roll1] + fire [roll2]

Auran's current AC: 19
Bonus to Faien's Saves: +3

[Circle of Life]

Faien's overhead slash ends the spellcaster before he can so much as cry out, dropping to the ground in a bloodied heap. A heartbeat later, Roni and Vaeri's combined attacks stagger the swordsman, then Auran's viciously effective assault drops him with the sound of snapping bones. Neither of the hobgoblins so much as stir as their blood begins to pool beneath them, staining the surrounding grass crimson.

The faint smell of brimstone remains in the air, wafting from the direction of the farmhouse, but no new threats present themselves.

I'm so sorry that took so long, and for such a pitiful update too, but I keep running out of time before I can actually write something of substance. Forgive me, and it'll be better soon.

You're out of combat for now, so take whatever actions you like.

[TekHed]

Auran lowered his warstar, but remained alert for any further emergent threats.

"Damn them for their foul intent!" he cursed, visibly furious at the violence he had been forced to commit. He looked to the bodies and then to Roni, frowning slightly. He then turned to the Magistrate.

"Well fought Faien. I will leave it for you to search their bodies."

In a louder voice so that the twins could hear he added. "I will have a look at your wounds shortly. First however, we must secure the area. I fear what we shall find in the farmhouse..."

Keeping his weapon and shield at the ready, the Dragonborn grimly made his way towards the rustic building.

[Sallera]

Catching the paladin's meaningful glance, Faien sighs, letting his blade fade away and dropping to one knee to ensure the hobgoblin is indeed dead - as unlikely as its survival seemed, taking chances on such matters was not his usual practice. "They are unlikely to be so foolish as to carry any information of note, but if they are indeed more than simple bandits, there may be some evidence of a larger affiliation. Check the other, please," he calls to the others. Perhaps Auran had his doubts, but their desire to help was genuine enough to bring them this far, and given the circumstances, that said much.

"Confirm his death, and see if he held any symbols of affiliation; they may well not carry their own, but even false ones could tell a tale."

[Fireheart]

Vaeri glanced at Roni and shook her head, Yuck, she says, before walking up to stand beside Faien. Glancing at the other hobgoblin, she was fairly certain of his death given the wounds inflicted.

A quick murmered word and wave of her hands, and Vaeri studies the two fallen creatures.

If you give me a second, she says, I can tell you if any of thier items are magical in nature. Perhaps that may give us a clue as to thier affiliation.

OOC: Detect Magic - whenever you get a chance, Circle. I can always use the "extra" time to discern more information, if anything is magical. :)

[OMG PONIES]

"Well fought, Faien?" Roni asks in disbelief. "No consideration for any Quickwing support, eh?"

The musician arches an eyebrow at Auran's orders. "Leave the lawman to search for loot? Like hell you will!" He jostles between the two larger men to crouch down by the hobgoblin. For a moment, he remembers the first time he had seen a corpse; his reaction had been a bit more visceral than Vaeri's. However, having seen his share of death in his various vocations, the young spellscale had learned to keep the contents of his stomach stowed. He begins rifling through the belongings of the corpses, hunched over them to keep anything particularly worth keeping from the prying eyes of the law.

[roll0]
[roll1] (with another +4 if it's arcana)
[roll2] to pocket any gold/other small treasure on the down-low.

[Sallera]

"I am not 'searching for loot'," Faien replies dryly, arching an eyebrow at the spellscale's haste. "I am confiscating evidence. While we are free to make use of the former possessions of bandits, that should not be our primary concern at the moment."

Perception: [roll0]

[TekHed]

Auran paused in his path and turned to look Roni in the eyes. "You did aid in the battle, and it we would have had to slog it out for longer and with greater injury had you not empowered our weapons with your dragonsong, and blinded the enemy with your magic. You even scored a solid hit with your bow."

He paused, considering. "Though I would like to say otherwise, I can say with certainty that this is only the beginning of the danger we face. Goblins and their more martial kin are known for moving in hordes. It is highly unlikely that these bandits are working alone. They seemed organized and are likely advance scouts for a greater force. Because we are few, it is important that we develop strong synergy and coordinate our actions. We did well this day. Very well I would say, but there is room for improvement."

Withdrawing a slender wand from a bracer at his wrist, Auran touched it to Roni's wound, and the burning pain from the cauterized puncture melted away with a cool and pleasant rush of sensation.

"For example, my divine gifts offer protection not only to their servant, but radiate outward to aid those aligned with my quest. Vaeri, the ring I gave you will only function if you remain in close proximity. Likewise those near me benefit from the grace I've been given, to stave off the effects of black sorcery. However, you must remain within 30 or so paces by my side. Not too close though...clustering tightly can make us vulnerable to balls of fire and other magical artillery. Adapting our positioning to the best possible effect can make the difference between victory and death. Better still to enter a battle only upon our own terms, although this is not always possible. Your keen eye gave us enough warning to avoid the worst of the ambush and allowed us to turn the tables quickly on our foe. If it is a compliment you seek Roni Quickwing, you did well this day."

The paladin then looked to Vaeri. "And you. The power of winter is at your fingertips. Though your skills yet need honing, you are young and will only grow in power. Aye, both of you fought well. I give special praise to Magister Faien for facing the enemy head on in melee. It takes courage to meet death face to face, even when one is not lame."

As Roni moved swiftly towards the dead caster's body, Auran's pupils narrowed and followed him like a hawk. As the young spellscale knelt over the corpse, the paladin's body tensed. For a moment it seemed that he had caught the roguish bard in his act of surreptitious confiscation, but then the paladin merely nodded approval at the others and turned back to the path, grimly stalking towards the farmhouse.

Auran sent out a silent prayer that perhaps someone had been able to hide and escape detection by the murderous bandits, but in his heart he steeled himself for a vision of death. He had seen so much death in his previous life. In this new life, with his penance upon him, it seemed that he would hound death yet again.

In his heart, Auran remembered all he had wrought. Although no altruistic deed would change what he had done, or erase that stain from history or his own memory, he could yet pray that through his sacrifice in this life, a difference would be made for those who now lived, and that the generations which followed would inherit a better world.

In his heart, Auran felt the weight of his return, knowing that if he failed, there might well be no future generations born to claim that inheritance.

Arriving at the farmhouse brought the Dragonborn back from his grim reverie, back to the grim business at hand...

Taking a deep breath, brimstone stinging the sensitive membranes of his nostrils, Sir Auran readied his shield and pressed his warstar to wood. The door opened, hinges creaking noisily in complaint.

ooc:
Auran's use of the word lame is not meant as an insult or statement of pity. It is clear from his tone and expression that the paladin is merely making the statement as a fact, and complimenting Faien for his tenacity in the face of his disability.

Also, Roni heals 11 damage via lesser vigor (spent charge noted).

[OMG PONIES]

Roni misses the rest of Auran's words amidst the glow he feels. However, this glow comes not from the healing wand the paladin uses, but the small compliment he is almost forced to make. "Aye, thank ye," Roni says with a smile. "Not so hard, was it?" The young spellscale finishes his search of the bodies and runs off toward the farmhouse to rejoin his allies.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri listens as Auron explains his earlier words, still concentrating on her magic.

"No offense to Auran" she says as the Paladin moves away. "But if I can stay further away than 30 ft., I will." Half under her voice, she says, "I am not moving closer to battle just on the chance he can take some of the damage that might hit me. No way."

(OOC: I'm stalling on moving closer to the farm house until Circle is back...)

[Sallera]

"It takes no courage to judge an enemy and find him lacking, nor to perform a routine duty," Faien counters with a sigh. "It is good that you recognize right and necessity, but save your praise for praiseworthy actions." He leaves the matter there, although whether he had been complimenting anyone with that remains unclear.

"Ha." With half a laugh under his breath, Faien gives Vaeri a slight smile. "That can be wise, but take care of the terrain when choosing your distances. Even in a pitched battle, unless we are on a flat plain, always assume that the enemy is capable of getting behind you unnoticed, or is already there. Neither of you should stay so far back that we cannot reach you at need, especially if I am dismounted."

[Fireheart]

Still keeping half a mind on her magic, Vaeri begins to seperate items that are magical from non-magical ones.

(OOC: Circle, hoping desperately that there is magical ones but atleast I can keep the conversation going that way.)

She nods at Faien's words. "I suppose that's a reasonable expectation. I'll try to keep somewhat closer." She glances from Faien to his horse. "Do you usually fight upon horseback? Where did you learn to do that?"

[Sallera]

"At my father's estate in Karrnath. I trained as a knight when I was a child, before I found my calling. Most of the itinerant magistrates of our country know the arts of combat to some degree; we are often called upon to deal with bandits such as these, although some prefer to call support from the nearest military outpost. In truth, I am as comfortable fighting on foot; the advantages of mobility cannot be denied, but a warhorse is fragile in ways I am not." The nigh-supernaturally placid horse gives a snort at this, clearly more than accustomed to the sight and smell of corpses, and begins futilely searching the dry ground for something edible. Faien flicks its reins, dropping them firmly to the ground to make clear it ought to stay put.

"And you?" Glancing about in case the fleeing archers had decided to return, Faien returns to the others and their growing pile of retrieved objects. "Despite what I said, you two do not seem entirely unaccustomed to battle. Have you mercenary experience, or do you simply lead a dangerous life?"

[OMG PONIES]

"Not so much danger...more like perpetual dabbling," Roni laughs. He reminds himself not to cross Faien, who it seems has the power to slice him to pieces with word, quill, or sword with equal finesse. The more the spellscale learns about the lawman, the more intimidating he becomes. "After all, what's fighting but hunting a quarry that hunts back? What are tactical decisions but a living chessboard? I can't stress firmly enough that I believe all life's a game, so I've taken upon myself the due diligence of reading the relevant rules...or at least skimming them."

[Sallera]

"A pragmatic approach. Deeper study is often more rewarding, but it is good to maintain competence in all areas of life," Faien replies, looking from Roni to Vaeri. "But is 'dabbling' all you do? Was it pursuit of some greater ambition that led to your involvement in the beginning of this matter, or simple chance?"

[Fireheart]

Vaeri glances at Roni and barely stifles a laugh.

"Ummm...I woud definitely say in this case, chance and a bit of ummm...guilty persuasion. We were in exactly the wrong place at the right time." She says looking over at Auran.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni shrugs and lets out the laugh she kept in. "Only wrong place is one that doesn't lead to an adventure, sis. In that regard, we've been in the right spot all along." Turning back to Faien, Roni says "I've got time to do naught but dabble in all but the sphere of music. That's my great ambition."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

A momentary lull in the conversation gives everyone a chance to get a closer look at the loot that Roni found (or the "evidence" that Roni "confiscated," take your pick) while searching the bodies. Neither the swordsman nor the spellcaster carried anything of particular value that would be easily concealable, much to a certain spellscale's displeasure. Vaeri places the two blue vials and two swords belonging to the swordsman into the magical items pile, while the swordsman's armor and the spellcaster's jeweled skulls go in the valuable-but-nonmagical items pile.

In a larger pouch on the back of the spellcaster's belt was found a small scroll case soaked in his blood and slightly crumpled where its owner fell on it; the two scrolls inside are speckled with tiny flecks of blood, but both were shielded from the worst of the blood thanks to the spellcaster's thick robes soaking up most of it, and both still seem perfectly usable and are placed in the magical items pile. Finally, a small metal amulet on a leather thong around the spellcaster's neck is placed in the nonmagical pile, once it too has all of its former owner's blood wiped off. The amulet is a disk bearing a pentagon inscribed in gold. At each point of the pentagon is a tiny gemstone of a different color: one ruby, one emerald, one sapphire, one diamond, and one onyx.

Auran, Roni, Vaeri
The three of you, given your passing expertise in religious matters, recognize the amulet and what it signifies. It is an unholy symbol of Tiamat, a demoness of no small renown. No, not just a demoness: one of the Demon Overlords, the unholy spawn of Khyber Himself. She has one of the more active demon cults devoted to her worship (and eventual freeing, they hope) and is usually depicted as a five-headed dragon, one head for each chromatic variety. The pentagon design is meant to be a very abstract representation of Tiamat; higher-level priests in her cult are rumored to receive more and more detailed and ornate (and enchanted) symbols as they rise through the ranks.

The actual gemstone fragments in the symbol are roughly-cut and practically valueless--no cult would trust its initiates with anything of actual value so soon, much less Tiamat's--hence why the symbol was not deemed valuable enough to find its way into Roni's pockets prematurely.

The wind shifts slightly to blow more strongly from the direction of the farmhouse, making the smell of brimstone and rotten eggs even worse than it already was. The terrible scent suddenly intensifies as Auran pushes the door open, and on top of that a very slight hint of decomposition can be picked out now as well.

AuranAs the door creaks open, you identify the source of both scents. The scent of decomposition comes from a heap of rotting bodies piled haphazardly along one wall. Some wear armor, some wear common clothing, but all appear to have been dead for less than a day as far as you can tell.

The scent of brimstone comes from two massive canine creatures in the room. Both stand four, maybe five feet tall at the shoulder, have deep red fur and glowing orange eyes, and possess abnormally long, sharp teeth. One of the creatures is munching on one of the bodies and looks up at you and growls as you open the door, as if to complain about you interrupting its meal. It plants its feet under itself, opens its mouth wide, and lets loose a gout of flame at you; tiny flames lick the door frame as the fire washes around you and sets it alight. It then crouches down, ready to spring but waiting for the right moment.

The other creature wastes no time breathing fire at you, and instead simply dashes in your direction, slamming you with one heavily-muscled shoulder and trying to force you back. Its momentum sends you stumbling backwards a dozen or so feet as you scramble to keep your balance, and as you're off balance the beast snaps at your arm with its powerful jaws, which clamp around your wrist and leave a large scorch mark in addition to the bite mark.

[Auran is bull rushed out of the doorway, and takes 7 physical damage and 9 fire damage between the bite and the breath.]

There is a sudden blast of flame from inside the farmhouse and the dragonborn comes flying out of the door towards the rest of you. A massive reddish blur is on top of him; you can make out some flames and fangs and claws, but not much else. You think you can see a similar reddish...thing...inside the farmhouse, but your attention is kind of occupied at the moment with the nearer threat.

EveryoneAnd we begin the second combat of the campaign with an ambush and a better initiative roll by some new enemies. How exciting. :smallamused:

Map--Surprise Round, Round 1

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/psychictheurge10/Farmhouse1.jpg

[OMG PONIES]

"Son of a sea hag!" Roni curses under his breath as the creature crashing into Auran takes him by surprise. He whips his mandolin from his bag with one hand, clutches his pendant with the other and gives it a quick kiss. His plectrum races across the strings of his instrument while his fingers quickly slide down the fretboard, resulting in an extended chromatic slur. "Looks like this dance isn't over just yet," he chuckles.

No action: Knowledge (Planes) to identify the creature, rolled a 14.
Move action: draw masterwork mandolin once more.
Swift action: activate Badge of Valor (charge 2/3 today)
Standard action: activate Inspire Courage (traditional style) for +3 to hit (+1 IC + 1 masterwork mandolin + 1 Badge of Valor) and +1 damage (+1 IC -1 masterwork mandolin + 1 Badge of Valor)
All allies that can hear Roni receive a +3 morale bonus to attacks and a +1 morale bonus to damage.

[Fireheart]

As Roni curses, Vaeri quickly glances up and around.

Spotting the creature attacking Auran, she raises her hand quickly and a silver blue dagger of ice crystalizes and flies at the creature. She then moves back away from the battle.

OOC:

Spell-like ability: ice dagger

ranged touch (splash weapon) AC5
[roll0]

[roll1]

move 10ft away from combat

(Auran technically takes a 1pt of cold dmg assuming he's w/in 5 ft.)

[Sallera]

"Hem them in! Do not give them the opportunity to run free." Shuffling forward, Faien lands heavily on his good leg, his sword appearing in his hand with the intensity of its contained power glowing like a miniature star. Swinging it upward to draw the burning creature's eye, he abruptly reverses direction and slices across the dog's exposed flank with an audible crack of discharged electricity.

Swift to reassign essentia from Shirt to Weapon.
Move adjacent to the nearer hound, drawing sword.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] electricity

Edit: Confirmed, for a total of 43.

[TekHed]

Auran grunted heavily with surprise as the beast barreled into him, the searing heat of the hellhound's fire making his blood boil with more then mere anger.

Rallying, the dragon born sidestepped, bringing his resonating warstar down into the creature's snout. Quickly calling forth the protective power of Bahamut, Auran called for protection from the unholy fire.



5-foot stepping down one square to get flanking bonus.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Combat Casting Concentration check: [roll2]
Battle Blessing: Swift cast Resist energy (Fire): Shrug off 10 points of fire damage per round.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The creature barreling over Auran stumbles as its fur is torn to shreds by shards of ice. It slows down enough for you all to see that it has vaguely canine features, and that it does not appear to be visibly bleeding from the many small wounds in its side. The creature stumbles to a halt, whimpers pitifully as the areas around its wounds darken and cover up with ice, and slumps over after one or two final steps; by the time its body thuds to the ground, it looks like someone might have just pulled it out of a snowdrift in the Frostfell.

The creature still in the farmhouses growls loudly and springs toward Vaeri, revenge obviously on its mind. It covers twenty feet in two short bounds, leaps past Faien...and is intercepted by Faien's powerful swing, which takes it in the ribs and keeps going, slicing up and through its ribcage and neck. The miniature thunderclap that follows the blade's lightning discharge sends the decapitated head flying a few feet away. This body, too, does not bleed from any wounds, instead starting to dissolve into a brownish-red sludge along with the other one.

The battle is not finished, however: the hair on the back of everyone's neck rises (for those who have hair on the backs of their necks, that is) as twin piercing howls arise from the farmhouse. Two more massive creatures come loping out of the smoldering doorway, both belching fire as they soar through the air. One lands between Faien and Auran, its fire sweeping out to strike Vaeri in retaliation for her killing their companion; the other aims at Roni and Auran as targets of opportunity and lands in a crouch, ready to leap again.

Vaeri hesitates a moment too long before ducking and her clothes are nicely roasted by the creature's breath, but its fire is abruptly cut off as Auran's warstar smashes its jaw shut. Its face is heavily mangled after the blow and it doesn't look to be in good shape. His follow-up slam to the side of the head puts it down for good, leaving only one enemy on the field

I'm assigning Auran's attack to Hell Hound #3 since Vaeri and Faien dispatched the first two, and between that and the AoO it goes down.

Vaeri takes 10 fire damage, Roni takes 4 fire damage, and Auran takes 0 fire damage thanks to his resist energy

RoniThese creatures are hell hounds, fire-breathing dog-like fiends. Aside from the fact that their bark is almost as bad as their bite, you don't know too much about them.

Map--Round 2

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/psychictheurge10/Farmhouse2.jpg

[Sallera]

Buffeting the hound's snapping jaws aside with his shield, Faien takes a half-step back, the ghostly illumination around his blade drawing inward to limn its leading edge with a hard white light. Leaning forward into the strike, he cuts across the creature's front legs with another crack of power, then circles around to ward off any further assault from the farmhouse interior. "These dogs burn truly enough, but they die strangely. Is their presence here the result of some summoning?"

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] electricity
Move 10ft south/left.
Reassign essentia from Weapon to Shirt (SR 17).

[PairO'Dice Lost]

With a single blow, the final creature is felled: it collapses forward into the strike as its front legs give way, and soon it joins its fellows as a patch of strange sludge on the ground. Though Faien waits several heartbeats for any new threats, and then several more just to be sure, no further creatures emerge from the farmhouse and no threatening noises can be heard.

Anyone who goes into the farmhouse
As you pass through the smoldering doorway, flames still licking the moist wood from the first creature's breath, you can identify the source of the scent of decomposition you detected earlier. A heap of rotting bodies is piled haphazardly along one wall, slightly disturbed where it seems one of the creatures barreled through it. On the other side of the pile is another room, revealed by the creatures' disturbing the pile of bodies, which was probably the main room of the house before the creatures did their best impression of a hurricane and smashed all of the furniture (what little of it there probably was) to pieces. The few window coverings that are still intact consist of heavy wooden shutters held in place by thick branches, a final futile defense against whatever force brought the soldiers and fire creatures here.

Some of the corpses in the pile wear armor, and some wear common clothing, but all appear to have been dead for less than a day as far as you can tell, and a few of them have been chewed on by your fiery friends. A closer inspection shows that none of the armor left on the bodies is in any condition to be usable; all of the armor of any quality at all is stacked in the far room, along with piles of coins, small bags and boxes, and various other odds and ends. The coinage in the room consists of mostly silver pieces with a few golds scattered here and there, totaling about 95 gp. Three sets of studded leather armor, three longswords, four light crossbows, and five sunrods appear to be salvageable from the clusters of miscellaneous gear, and there is some fancy clothing that might be fairly high-quality once all the blood is washed off.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

"You okay there, kiddo?" Roni calls out after seeing the flames flaring near Vaeri. "Didn't singe your wings, did they?" Roni waits for an answer, frozen in place until he knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that his sister is okay. She always put on a strong face, but Roni remembers a day not too long ago when she would cry over scraped knees and spilt milk. She was still a sensitive young girl, while he reminded himself that he had to serve as the man of the family, especially without their parents around.

As he enters the farmhouse, the young spellscale runs the gamut of emotions. He starts out with slight disgust as he holds his cloak over his face to avoid the stench of brimstone and decomposition. However, as they spot the pile of bodies, he drops his cloak and his jaw. Such wanton violence had no place in his happy-go-lucky view of things--granted, he knew it existed, but always tried to romanticize away the gore in favor of the story of a good war epic. Seeing the real thing up close for the first time shakes him to his core, and he turns to the paladin for answers.

"You believe in good when there's evil like this lurking about?!" he incredulously asks Auran. "This world doesn't need heroes," he mumbles to himself, "it just needs less monsters." The only comfort Roni can find in the farmhouse is the pile of loot, but even that is tainted by the thought that most (if not all) of this belonged to the victims. He expands his interrogation to include both Auran and Faien, asking: "How can the two of you prattle on about justice when things like this happen? How is it just that we get the gold and they get the grave? Poor blokes..." He looks down at his feet, unsure of what else to say. Surprisingly, he hasn't even laid a finger on the coins. For the first time in a long time, Roni looks very much like the sensitive little boy Vaeri had grown up with rather than the devil-may-care young man he often tried to hard to portray.

[TekHed]

"Vaeri!" Auran cried out as the gout of flame washed over her. The dragonborn raised his warstar, preparing to step into the breach, but Faien beat him to it, finishing the final beast.

"Check the building," he barked. "These beasts stink of Tiamat...if they be summons, their summoner may yet be in the area...unless that were the blasphemer from before."

Auran rushed to Vaeri's side. "I am so sorry, child...I should have protected you. Allow me to mend your wounds..."


Withdrawing the slender golden rod from it's wrist sheath, Auran touched it to Vaeri's scaly forehead, allowing it's soothing warmth to permeate and salve her burns. "I'll tend now to your brother..."

Only once all were healed did he turn the magic upon his own grievous wounds.

"Do not blame yourself young spellscale" Auran said with audible sadness. "It is not your fault that evil is done in this world...believe me, I know. And do not discount your role in what is to come...so long as any monsters prowl, there will always be need of those brave enough to put what is most precious on the line. As for the gold...we should attempt to bequeath it upon any surviving kin, or failing that, a charity."

I'm marking off charges on my lesser vigor...is Faien injured?

[Sallera]

Faien grits his teeth as he enters the farmhouse, burying the point of his blade in the floor. The soul-forged sword lingers for a second as he shuffles forward, then flickers out. "We would appear to be dealing with worse than demon-serving bandits. I should not have let that one flee." There is a hard edge to his voice, but it is carefully contained, a tone matched by the expression on his face. Striking one of the sunrods, he chases away the last shadows concealing the scene, and kneels down to inspect the bodies more closely. "All of these in... a day, perhaps two at most? Is this road so well travelled? And why not bury them? What were they trying to hide?"

At Roni's query, Faien turns, using the sunrod to aid his standing. "I told you before, did I not? Justice is not of the world. It is our creation. It is not unjust that these people were killed; it is misfortune. Justice fails only if we do not mete out appropriate punishment to the killers. You are thinking only of what you see, and not the consequences. Look beyond what is here. You see that stolen coin, and subconsciously categorize it as 'ours,' while bemoaning the fate of those it was taken from. Should it not be returned to their inheritors?"

"We must seek justice, not make excuses for its percieved lack. If you truly believe there is no such thing, then certainly, you will never see it." Leaning the sunrod against the wall, Faien slowly draws his sword from the air, holding the blue-tinged blade just below eye level. "But as long as society exists, so will laws, and so will the sword that enforces them. On the day I can no longer draw this blade - only then - can you say there is no justice left in the world."

Letting the weapon fade away once more, Faien allows a little of the mask to fall away from his face. "If it were easy, there would not be magistrates like me. I cannot force you to change your views, and I will not try. But we may yet see worse than this if we continue pursuing these creatures, so if you can gain neither resolve nor insight from the sight, then avert your eyes. It will be... kinder, that way."

"Now, are any of you skilled in tracking? I would pursue the archer that fled, if I can."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

Roni smiles inwardly as Auran rushes to heal Vaeri. As the dragonborn turns to offer the young man healing, he raises a hand and politely turns him away. "No need, Auran," he says to the paladin, "save the healing for any others that need it. I learned a while back to procure my own means." He activates his belt and sighs as he feels the gentle tingling of the curative magic flowing through him.

[roll0]

"I don't blame myself," he says firmly as he rebuilds his facade. "I blame the evildoers. I never fancied myself much of a hero, but if it means stopping awful things like this from happening, I'm in--pro bono, even." As Faien joins the conversation, the bard raises an eyebrow. "Misfortune?!" he half asks, half exclaims, "This is just a result of bad luck, and justice is only our attempts to even the odds? You're more of a gambler than I initially thought, magistrate."

As Faien shares more of his zeal for law enforcement, Roni sees for the first time the nobility of it. This man isn't simply doling out consequences for breaking an arbitrary set of rules; he is protecting the world from itself. Roni nods as Faien vows to uphold the law until his dying breath and responds, "I definitely agree that it's not an easy concept to throw yourself behind, so I'm glad that you're willing to do so. Who knows? I may even change my wayward ways." He exchanges a quick wink with his sister, indicating that he has no plans to do so. However, something inside his heart tugs at him. The two men traveling with him are formidable examples, and Roni begins to consider for the first time what it means to live for something greater than oneself.

"I can prepare myself for whatever cards come up," Roni says, puffing his chest a bit and taking on a more stoic demeanor. "It's just there are some deals you wish for and some you wish against, savvy?" He tries to play the part of the hero, but feels like little more than an understudy given his current company. Did his sister still view him as her brave older brother? Or could she, too, see that he was just a boy among men? He puts the thought out of his head and chimes into the conversation once more. "Sorry, Faien, I can't track worth a copper. Speaking of coin, it would be nice to pass this inheritance to the next of kin," he says, "but how exactly do you propose that we find them? It's not like we can just ask the decedents, and I don't see any Last Wills or Testaments laying about."

[TekHed]

Inwardly, Auran nodded to himself. The boy was young yet, especially by Auran's elven standards, but there was yet much potential in him...no doubt the coming crucible would serve to harden his resolve.

"There will be more settlements nearby...should they yet stand, we will inquire about the residents here, and inform them of their demise. Of course, we'll inquire before we mention their unfortunate inheritance..."

[Fireheart]

(OOC: Sorry...out of pocket a bit longer than I expected)

Shaking herself out the shock of being burned, Vaeri looks at her singed cloak.

"Bloody beasts." She says, stamping her foot. "Thank you, Auran." She nods slightly to him. "That feels much better, thank you."

Following the others into the room, she gasps at the sight and turns her head. Crystalline tears hover on the edge of her eyelashes when she turns back. "Merciful Tamara." she whispers.

As the others discuss the values of justice and good and evil, she kneels beside the bodies and quietly whispers a prayer to the gods.

"I do not like this." she adds. "This," she points to the pile of treasure in the corner, "is the work of men, not beasts. Yet, the beasts clearly had some intelligence in them. Could the bandits we faced earlier summoned the beasts and been the cause of all this?"

[TekHed]

"Almost certainly so." Auran answered.

"I've exhausted most of Bahamut's blessings for this day, and will need to rest and recover. I suggest we give these souls a proper burial, then make camp for the night. Roni and I can perform the manual labor. Faien, you and Vaeri should scout the area more, make sure there aren't more bandits waiting in the woods nearby. Your horse and her wings will let you cover a lot of ground, while still being able to flee back and regroup if you should run into any trouble..."

[Sallera]

"I realize you may have gotten turned around in the fight," Faien comments dryly, "but it is mid-morning, not mid-afternoon. I had thought to press on and inform those in the nearest town that they might bring a guarded party here to identify and retrieve the fallen. However, I suppose we can't be assured of finding a town today, and in this heat, they may well be better off buried, so that I have no objections to. Still, dig a single grave and mark the place. That should not take you all day." Stepping outside, Faien whistles for his horse, which approaches the farmhouse with clear reluctance.

"If none of us are skilled at following a trail, I suppose finding the archer will prove difficult, but he did not appear to be taking much care as he fled. Give me any empty waterskins, and we will see if we can at least find something drinkable while we are out; if your magic is waning, then we can spare wasting it on such mundanities. Two hours should be sufficient time for you to dig a hole; if we are not back by then, continue onward and we will cut across to catch you up. Given that we have seen no sign of these bandits until now, the trail is unlikely to head back the way we came, so if we follow it too far, there is no sense in waiting around while we retrace our steps."

Pulling himself up onto his mount, Faien guides it away from the farmhouse. "If you have no objections, Vaeri, let us leave them to their work. The sooner we set out, the better our chances will be."

Assuming no great objections to be dealt with...

Take 10 on Survival for 12 (assuming Vaeri aids) to follow the archer's trail. Since it can't be done without Track if the DC is higher than 10 anyway, we'll just see if that works.

If we lose the trail, Survival to find water: [roll0]

[TekHed]

:smalleek: Auran didn't get turned around...but his player did. :smalltongue: Paladin's don't get that many spell slots. Did you want Auran to create some water?

"I didn't mean to imply that it was nearing bedtime, merely that there are only so many pitched battles I can fight at full strength. Still, your words are wise magistrate. See whom or what you can find, be safe, and we'll be on our way if you've not returned by high noon."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

The spellscale nods solemnly as Auran volunteers him for the work of digging. A few days prior, the boy would have bristled at such indentured servitude, but now he found himself thinking from an alien perspective: if it was him or Vaeri crumpled in the farmhouse, how would he want others to act? For once in his life, it seems that the right thing to do and the most comfortable thing are not the same. Even Roni has his limits, though, and he speaks up at Faien's suggestion that they press on immediately. "I don't think it's too selfish to want to sit and have some lunch once we're done serving as undertakers. After that, I could press on but might not be at my fullest. If we find a spot to camp until darkness settles, we could travel by night. It might be more difficult to see, but that could help ensure that we don't walk into another ambush."

He looks to the others as he finishes speaking. Vaeri was too kind to ask for a rest, so he'd get no support from her. It seemed that Faien, despite his limp, could trudge on as the seasons changed around him. And from what Roni had gathered about the dragonborn paladin, he'd soldier on as well. Auran likely wouldn't even complain with his dying breath. Outmatched, Roni sighs, drops his pack to the floor, and pulls out a collapsible shovel. "Fine, fine," he concedes, "we dig, we eat, and we march on. But as soon as we reach a town, it's straight to the inn! Well, maybe we can tarry a bit in the tavern first..."

[Fireheart]

Vaeri starts to stretch her wings but then realizes there is not enough room the crowded hovel.

"Yes. I can gain a bit of height with my wings, but they are not quite strong enough to fly as yet. But I will do what I can."
She unshoulders her pack but takes the waterskin and holds out her hand for Roni's as well.

"I am with my brother though. Upon reaching the next town, a bit of rest would be good. Sleeping in a real bed would be very welcoming at this point. As would a turn in a bathhouse." She glances down at her singed cloak. "And I'll need a new cloak." She grumbles under her breath.

aid another [roll0]

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Faien and Vaeri

Two hobgoblins, running full-tilt through a thick forest, leaving plenty of scraps of clothing and footprints...neither of you may be particularly skilled trackers, but the archers would have had a hard time being less subtle without painting themselves pink and attaching bells to their boots. Moving slowly through the dense undergrowth so as not to miss any signs, you manage to track your quarry a little over three miles to the edge of a swift-running river. The river is clear and its water seems fresh and clean, giving you a good place to refill the waterskins, and you estimate that it's several hundred feet wide.

The tracks stop at the water's edge, and aside from a bit of mud kicked up where they meet the water there is no other sign of the archers' passage. The river has washed away any clues to whether they went upstream or downstream, tried to swim across or doubled back, or clues of any other sort. You can make out the hints of civilization downstream at the limits of your vision--that would probably be the next town along the road, so the hobgoblins probably wouldn't have headed that way, but then again there's plenty of forest between you and the town and who knows what's in there?

With no other way to track your quarry, you make your way back to the farmhouse to reunite with your companions.

Auran and Roni

Just over an hour later, after you've finished laying the dead to rest and before you have a chance to snack on anything, Faien and Vaeri emerge from the forest. They are perhaps a bit more sweaty and dirty from the heat and the undergrowth, but they do not appear to be more wounded and they have no hobgoblins in tow, so it looks like their search was in vain.

[Sallera]

"They were in a hurry, but they were not complete idiots," Faien offers by way of greeting. "However, the waterway we lost them at is but three miles from here, and there was a town some ways downriver; I think we should meet it if we continue along the road." Tossing the full waterskins back to Auran and Roni, he guides his mount back to the road.

"Rather than eat here, let us continue on. We ought to be able to secure a proper meal soon, and we can spread the word of these bandits, if the townsfolk do not already know."

[TekHed]

"Indeed." Auran replied. "I am most disturbed by this turn of events. That hobgoblin possessed a holy symbol of Tiamat. I do not believe these are regular bandits at all...I believe they too are looking for the scepter we seek..."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni wipes the sweat from his brow. While Auran's protective spell had kept the heat at bay, it had done little to stave off the exhaustion caused by grave digging. "Of course they are," he laments, "otherwise it would have been too easy." Turning to Faien, he cracks a smile and says, "You had me at 'proper meal.' Let's be on our way, then."

He looks back over his shoulder at the pile of coins, eyeballing the loot very much like a small child eyes a cookie jar just after his parents have told him he can't have any. "Er, if we're giving this to any kin," he says, "should we take it with us? You know, so we can give it right to them without having to send them back here?"

[Sallera]

Faien looks back over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "You have not already? Go ahead, then. We certainly needn't burden ourselves with the task of distributing it; the town's watch or council, whichever seems more reputable, can handle that if we give them the coin."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni laughs at Faien's suggestion. "Nay, magistrate," he chuckles. "It seems your hometown may be the only one that doesn't impose the Greedy Guard tax. It varies from one municipality to the next, but can range from 1% to 100%. We'll not be leaving this much temptation in the hands of any guardsmen."

[TekHed]

"Agreed. The council will be the best place to leave notice for the bereaved and of their inheritance. We should be off at once, or I fear there may not be a village left standing. I can only pray the Key has not already fallen into the talons of the enemy..."

[Fireheart]

Vaeri helps collect the items. "What happens if there is no record of who lived here?"

Pulling her cloak back about her wings, she brushes the sweat and dust from her forehead. "A town would be nice, but a bath would suit me far more than food at this point."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Once everyone has collected all of the items they plan to take with them, the four of you take your leave of the farmhouse. The road is empty of travelers and obstructions--including travelers' remains, fortunately, so it looks like the hobgoblins only had the one ambush spot prepared--and you make excellent time. Half an hour or so after leaving the farm, the forest thins out enough so that you can see the river through the trees and catch a glimpse of some fishing boats passing by in the distance. The road meanders closer to the river as you go along, and you can start to make out farmland, a few buildings, some docks, and other parts of a town, but the distance is still too great to make out any details.

After another several miles, you reach a point where the road is following right along the riverbank. You're close enough now to make out some sort of guard tower next to the road, hastily constructed of wood and brick and only partly painted; a fence lies across the road, with two humans standing in front of it bearing spears and shields. The emblem on the guards' shield is the same as the incomplete emblem on the guard tower, a somewhat-abstract pattern resembling a small boat sailing on crashing waves between two cliffs.

The guards stiffen up into a ready posture s soon as you come into view, and when you reach the barrier one steps forward and holds out his spear, point up, in a halting gesture. "Well met, travelers," he says in a friendly yet wary voice. "I hope you've had a safe and pleasant journey, you're the first to come along this road in days. What are your names, and what business have you in Drellin's Ferry?"

[Sallera]

Eyeing the makeshift fortifications as they approach, Faien gives a cautious nod of approval. "Not much, but it could be worse. Such haste in the construction bespeaks a recent effort."

As the guard halts their passage, Faien nods courteously. "Good day and well met. I am Faien Illimis, magistrate of Karrnath, and our business here would appear to be unfortunately related to the reason you have had no recent travelers by this way. Might we speak with your superiors? There are things we wish to discuss regarding the state of this area, and I would rather not have to explain them twice."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The guard nods cautiously at Faein's introduction, but does not lower his spear. "A meeting could certainly be arranged, Magistrate. Before I can allow you to pass, I will need to see proof of identity for you and your companions."

[Sallera]

"Of course." Reaching into his pack, Faien withdraws a small wooden case emblazoned with the Karrnathi seal, flipping the catch open and handing it to the guard. Glancing back at the others with a slight frown as the guard peruses his official documents, he recalls that between Roni's 'advance tickets' and their departure from the Rail in, effectively, the middle of nowhere, he hadn't actually seen papers from any of them.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The guard steps back and leans his spear against his shoulder as he inspects Faien's papers. He takes almost a full minute to look them over, then hands them back with a smile. "Thank you, Magistrate Illimis. Welcome to Drellin's Ferry." He seems relieved that Faien is who he says he is and not yet another threat to the town. He looks over his shoulder without taking his eyes off the rest of you and calls "Oy, Arton! Message to run! Get out here!"

A small human boy, seven winters old at the most with features strongly reminiscent of the guard's, comes clattering out of the tower and skids to a stop behind the fence, his eyes wide as dinner plates as he stares at the eclectic bunch of travelers before him. "Go find Drathgar and have him pass the word on to Speaker Wiston there's a magistrate here to see him about the goings-on. Tell him I'll be sending them to Gausler's and he can meet them there or send word another way." The youth turns and runs off with a chipper "Sure, Pa!" and the guard turns back to face you all. His expression is warmer, but still cautious. "I'll still need to see identification for the rest of you. I'm sure the Magistrate keeps good company, but in these times we aren't taking chances."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni rifles through his pack for identification papers, and finds no fewer than five separate sets, each with a different name. A different identity, a different story, a different mask...The young spellscale feels a pang of some odd emotion he does not yet know to identify as guilt, and pushes them to the side. He pictures the disapproving glares of Auran and the magistrate should they ever find the forgeries, and with a heavy sigh he unbuttons the false bottom inside of his bag. He pulls out a ratty old Brelish identification card--the real deal--and produces it to the guard.

"Roni Quickwing," he says with a short nod. "And the girl's my kid sis Vaeri," he adds, unsure of whether his sister brought her papers with her. "Please, sir, tell me that Gausler's is some manner of eatery." He smiled, and laughed half-heartedly. Roni hadn't been joking; his stomach had been grumbling for the past hour, and even Auran's protection from the elements couldn't stop his throat from getting parched after all the work he'd put in this morning.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The guard picks up Roni's identification with just two fingers, holding it gingerly as if he expects it to disintegrate at any moment. "You know, Mr. Quickwing," he says dryly while carefully examining the card, "you're supposed to have fresh papers issued to you every few years. You might want to pick up a new set the next time you're in a major city; this one looks like it went through the Mourning. Twice." Despite his tone and the papers' condition, the guard finds no issues with Roni's identification and passes them back.

"Yessir, Gausler's Brewhouse is the best restaurant and tavern in town. Well," the guard chuckles, "it's the only restaurant in town, and the only hostel. If you're going to be staying for a few days, he's got some beds for good rates." More soberly, he continues, "Rates are a bit higher these days, though, with the lack of travelers and business. Real shame, that." He returns to attention to wait for Auran's identification, but adds one last piece of advice to Roni: "Ask for the roast pheasant with pear sauce. Tastes like it came straight from Syrania, and you won't need to eat for a week after."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni's eyes light up, for once with genuine joy and not impish mischief. "Bless you, kind sir," he says to the guard with a smile. "Pheasant...alehouse..." he sighs to himself, "what are we waiting for?" He heads off toward the gates. Roni explored the nooks and crannies of Sharn before breakfast each day; finding the only tavern in a small town should be child's play by comparison.

[roll0]

However, Roni finds himself stymied by the sheer simplicity of the town. There were no markings on the roads--no real "roads" to speak of, more like ruts cut into the ground by passing wagon wheels. Sheepishly, he backtracks a few steps and asks the guard, "pray tell, good man, where can one find this ambrosia?"

[TekHed]

Auran seemed to be put off a bit by the guard's adamant request for official documents. His eye slits narrowed appraising the man before him, before drawing himself a bit higher than resting upon his digitigrade legs, reaching nearly a full 8 feet in height.

"My dear child, you are standing before a Paladin of Bahamut. Even had I not travelled through time and space from ancient Aerenal, I pay no fealty to any nation, nor any house, nor organization that would vet me as you seem so bent upon. However, should you not wish my aid in your coming battles, I will remand my companions to your good keeping, and patrol the surrounding area for any further hobgoblin bandits..."

As the dragonborn spoke, the man felt the divine presence of the paladin infuse him, pouring vigor into his bones, resolve into his mind, and spring into his step.

Settling back down into his normal 7 foot resting height, Auran awaited the guardsman's response...


So a couple of things are happening. Auran officially "allied" himself with the man, meaning the guard now counts as an ally within 30 feet...gaining a +2 to all of his saves...he would experience this as an uplifting emanation of good, as only a paladin would radiate.

The other thing is that Auran is using diplomacy. I assume we are using Richard Burlew's revised diplomacy rules in which case Auran is effectively making the following proposition:

Allow Auran to pass and gain the aid and gratitude of a Paladin in his village, or he may refuse in which case he loses nothing but the chance for the former, while Auran vows to defend the village from outside the perimeter. So you can come up with a DC based on that, but I'm going to roll now.

The following roll includes a +4 bonus from his Just Templar class feature that applies to any rolls involving legal matters (such as traveling papers or the lack thereof).

[roll0]

Hmm...not the best roll...almost a botch (perhaps because of Auran's elf-like condescending mannerisms)...but perhaps if the risk to reward ratio is perceived as good enough, the roll might yet succeed by more than a fair margin. I'm guessing the relationship modifier is 0, but I'm not sure of the guard's level, or his wisdom modifier. However I was aiming for a risk reward of somewhere between favorable and fantastic, since if the guard refuses he loses nothing (save perhaps face lost for potentially offending an honest-to-Bahamut paladin), and if he accepts, he gains the favor of a powerful new ally.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The second guard looks on with a smirk as Roni confidently passes through the gate without a clue where he's going. "Very simple, sir. Just follow this road down a ways, past the wheat fields, until you reach the--"

He is interrupted by Auran's pronouncement, and both guards turn to stare at him, unconsciously straightening their postures and looking like they're suppressing the urge to salute. The guard nearest Roni murmurs, "A paladin? Here? By Dol Arrah, we may survive this yet." The first guard finds his tongue after a moment and stammers, "N-no, sir. I mean, y-yes sir, your aid would be most welcome. It's just, the only scaled ones around here are lizardfolk, and you didn't look like you were from around here, but I wasn't sure, and there have been raids, and we weren't sure who was with the hobs, and...and...sorry, sir. You can go in." He steps out of the way and ushers Auran, Faien, and Vaeri through the gate, latching it behind them.

The second guard continues with his directions to Roni, which are simple enough, and soon you find yourselves in front of a fairly large two-story building claiming to be the town's tavern. You got a few strange looks on the way in, but not too many, and that reaction plus the tavern's size point to a regular influx of merchants and adventurers through the area in normal times. When you're a few feet from the door, a burly half-orc swings it open with one well-muscled arm. He has a floppy chef's hat on his head and a frying pan in his other hand, and the steam wafting off whatever's cooking in it is heavenly. He wipes his free hand on his apron and beckons you inside with a toothy grin. "C'mon in, c'mon in, ladies an' gennlemen. Saw you a-comin' on down th' road an' figured ye could stand a warm fire fer yer feet--" he motions with the frying pan "--an' fer yer bellies." With a hearty chuckle, he leads the way inside.

The front room is full of tables and empty of visitors; the small fireplace crackles cheerfully anyway, and the many stuffed animal heads on the wall look out over the empty room the same as any other day. The bartender--presumably the eponymous Gausler--clunks his frying pan down on one of the grills in the back and leans over the bar. "Take any ol' table, none o' th' regulars gonna be here fer a good while. What can I be gettin' fer ye this eve?"

[OMG PONIES]

The bartender can only get out "What can I--" before Roni calls out his order, just like the guard had suggested: "Roast pheasant, please, with pear sauce and a big ol' tankard of honey mead." He licks his lips and rubs his hands together in preparation for the meal. However, something one of the guards said keeps nagging at him.

Once the barman is gone, Roni turns to his companions and whispers, "One of the guards mentioned something about 'surviving this' now that we're in town. What do you think he was talking about surviving?" It's unclear whether Roni hadn't heard the guards talk of hobgoblins over the growling of his stomach or just hadn't paid it any mind. "Think it's got anything to do with those hobs we saw out on the road?" Just as quickly, he's back to the menu. "What do you think I should get for dessert?" he asks himself aloud. "Should have asked that guard some follow-up questions. Oh well, guess we'll just have to sample one of everything." The boy bounces from topic to topic with joy, evoking the image of a much younger child in a confectioner's shop.

[Sallera]

Faien doesn't bother waiting until the guards are out of earshot to shoot a withering glance in Auran's direction. "That display was hardly necessary, Sir Sol. Belittling the town's protectors in such a fashion is not going to aid them in performing their duties." Shaking his head with a sigh, he continues. "Was that your true reason for not carrying papers? Devotion to a god does not put you above mortal authority, nor should one perceived threat be the death of standard form and courtesy."

Once they reach the inn, Faien takes a minute to stable his horse before joining the others inside and nodding to the bartender. "Thank you; your hospitality is most welcome after today's journey. The pheasant sounds pleasant; I shall try that as well, and a glass of white wine, please, if you have some." Choosing a table further from the fire - the day's heat had been quite sufficient in that regard already - Faien nods in response to Roni's query.

"Most likely. They spoke of raids, and the archer fled in this direction. No doubt we can learn more when the Speaker arrives."

[TekHed]

He is interrupted by Auran's pronouncement, and both guards turn to stare at him, unconsciously straightening their postures and looking like they're suppressing the urge to salute. The guard nearest Roni murmurs, "A paladin? Here? By Dol Arrah, we may survive this yet." The first guard finds his tongue after a moment and stammers, "N-no, sir. I mean, y-yes sir, your aid would be most welcome. It's just, the only scaled ones around here are lizardfolk, and you didn't look like you were from around here, but I wasn't sure, and there have been raids, and we weren't sure who was with the hobs, and...and...sorry, sir. You can go in." He steps out of the way and ushers Auran, Faien, and Vaeri through the gate, latching it behind them.

Auran bows a nod to the guardsmen. "You are right to be on alert. However, we are clearly neither lizardfolk nor goblins. I know these are dark times, but there is still light in the world."


Faien doesn't bother waiting until the guards are out of earshot to shoot a withering glance in Auran's direction. "That display was hardly necessary, Sir Sol. Belittling the town's protectors in such a fashion is not going to aid them in performing their duties." Shaking his head with a sigh, he continues. "Was that your true reason for not carrying papers? Devotion to a god does not put you above mortal authority, nor should one perceived threat be the death of standard form and courtesy."

The dragonborn snorted through it's nostrils. "Simply Auran will do. I'm a paladin, not a knight, magistrate."

He shook his head. "It is as I said...the only records of me are in ancient books on Aerenal, and the memories of of the Undying and Dragon-kind. You forget that I only arrived here but a few short months ago. Even my form is not as it once was," he said gazing at his taloned palm by way of emphasis.

"As for the humans, I am certain they will do fine. You heard the one. It is good for their spirit to know that help has arrived. When hope dies, there is nothing left to fight for. At least, that is why I still press on..."



The bartender--presumably the eponymous Gausler--clunks his frying pan down on one of the grills in the back and leans over the bar. "Take any ol' table, none o' th' regulars gonna be here fer a good while. What can I be gettin' fer ye this eve?"

"We are honored to sit at your hearth." Auran replied. "I will have water, bread, and today's catch from the river."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni kills the time he spends waiting for his food by engaging in more philosophical discussion with Auran. However, gone is his stubborn stance from their conversations earlier. Instead, it seems clear that Roni is genuinely interested in Auran's answer. "What do you still hope for, Auran?" he asks.

[Sallera]

"Ah, so you are aware of how fantastic your tale sounds. But that alone would not stop you; the Brelish authorities, at least, are not shy about issuing identification, and a few rounds of truth magic would likely satisfy even the cagiest of them, despite your appearance. They are well-known for taking in refugees." Tapping his finger on the table, Faien looks at Auran with the air of one repeating an argument held with uncounted others, and already resigned to its eventual direction.

"If you do not, in fact, consider yourself above mortal authority - as you should not - then why have you made no effort to rejoin society? Do you plan to die when your current task is complete?"

[Fireheart]

Vaeri seems a bit surprised at Auran's actions and given her papers were sitting at the bottom of her pack, is not unhappy to find herself shuffled along with the others.

Upon entering the inn, she glances quickly around before taking a seat beside Roni. Adding, "whatever he's having is fine," to the bartender's order motioning toward Roni.

She removes her cloak, folding it and hangs it across the chair.

Oh, and please, tell me there is a bath house available? We are staying at least one night?" the last she directs to Auran?

[TekHed]

Auran's expression changed to something none of the others had seen before...sadness, or perhaps regret.

"I have already died, and been damned." he said. "My redemption was unexpected, my new life not my own. I have been hunting the Key since my karmic rebirth, and to be honest I do not wholly expect to survive my coming ordeal."

He turned to the scaled siblings.

"As for your question young Master Quickwing, I may have been redeemed, but what I seek is forgiveness. Should I be blessed enough to see my task successful, I would return to my homeland, to beg the forgiveness of my people."

"I cannot predict the length of our stay, young Miss. All depends on what the Speaker has to tell us. I am eager to pursue the hobgoblins, before they find the key, if they haven't already, or take it back from them if they have."

[Sallera]

Faien gives a resigned sigh, Auran's answer being more or less what he had expected. "I have told this to more people than I can count; precious few have listened, and more of the rest are dead than should be. All the same, I'll say it only once: Don't expect death. You'll only encourage it."

Dropping the matter before the lurking feeling of wasting his breath grows any stronger, Faien turns instead to answer Vaeri. "While we cannot make any promises, I would certainly expect that we will stay at least tonight. By the time we finish our meal and consult with the Speaker, it will be late afternoon at best; not a good time to go hunting in unfamiliar terrain."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

When Roni orders the roast pheasant before he can even mention what's on the menu, the half-orc belts out another laugh. "Sounds like ol' Gustav's on watch today. He ain't ordered a dif'rent dish in years." He listens to the other orders, nodding at each. "Three married birds an' a fish outta water, comin' right up. I'll have one o' th' girls bring out some oats, too, no extra." He clomps through a door behind the bar and down some stairs, coming up shortly with mead and a bottle of wine, which he tells Faien is a Rheklor '83 as he pours everyone's drinks. Gausler fires up the grill, and the scent of roasting fowl slowly fills the room as you have your conversation.

A few minutes later, a young goblin girl comes up from the cellar with a bag of oats, which she takes out the side door to the hitching post that serves as the stable. She comes back in and fetches a fresh, warm loaf of dark bread, which she takes to your table in time to hear Vaeri's question about a bath house. "There are baths in the rooms, miss," she answers softly. "If you want the water heated, I can bring you some heating stones. You can keep those for your stay, and just leave them in the bath when you leave. Assuming you are staying, of course." The serving girl tops off Auran's water before returning to the bar, where Gausler is still slow-roasting the pheasants.

[TekHed]

"Death is one of the few certainties we must all face" Auran countered. "We may only choose how we face it. Believe me...I am in no hurry. I would speak to my living ancestors, and my descendants; however, I hold no illusions about the stakes at hand. If the Dark Queen of Dragons should be released from her prison, bandits in the woods will be the least of anyone's concern..."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni cracks a smile from behind his huge mug of mead. "I don't know many who have chosen their ends," he says, "neither the when, nor the what, nor the how of it. For some folks, death seems a hasty end to what was a budding exposition. For others, it might be the dramatic climax. For me, I plan on getting my thrills while I can and living 'til my scales are shriveled, with death as more of an appropriate denouement than anything else. If you wish to be a martyr in this task I can't stop you, but I'll be doing my damnedest to keep me and mine alive...that includes you both now, like it or not." At Vaeri's mention of a bath (and the goblin girl's mention of a warm one, at that) his train of thought switches tracks once more. "Aye, a hot soak seems like the cure these aching bones are searching for. Well, that, and a good deal more alcohol, of course."

[Sallera]

"Hm, indeed." Faien smiles slightly, following his own advice and putting the talk of death out of mind. "I am well accustomed to traveling long distances, but returning to a good inn and a hot bath is always welcome nonetheless. However, while I won't bother trying to stop you, do try to save the overindulgence in alcohol until after our discussion with the Speaker. 'Tis not good news we bring, and it does not seem that their own will be any better."

[TekHed]

"I've no wish to be a martyr. I'd much rather live on to victory. Still, your sentiment of valor is appreciated, young Roni."

Turning to Faien, Auran querried, "...and you Magistrate. You are also one of deep conviction. You possess strange power, yet are neither sorcerer, nor bard, nor paladin. By what means do you pursue justice? Is your magic related to your deformity? I have heard legends of gods who maimed themselves in return for knowledge, wisdom, or power..."

[Sallera]

"Unfortunately," Faien replies dryly, "I am not so puissant as to be considered a god, so such methods are closed to me. Even I am injured, from time to time."

"However, there may be some relation," he continues in a more serious tone, sampling the wine. "Some thought it so, at least, among my family's household. I myself cannot say. What I wield and wear, this magic of mine, are simply echoes; the resonance of what was, made real once more. As our souls leave their mark on time, those who come after can use what was built by those before. As the ancient courthouse, resonant with history, so too my blade."

He waves a hand idly. "Therefore, to answer your question, one would say that I pursue justice by means of justice itself. Paradoxical, is it not? Or perhaps simply tautological, depending on one's point of view."

[Fireheart]

Vaeri listens carefully as the others talk of life, death, magic and shakes her head in wonder.

"How can you all stay so focused all the time? I would think I would go insane with such a such a burden. Do you not have fun?"

[Sallera]

"Ah, is the conversation not to your liking? I do apologize." Faien sets down his glass with an expression of solemnity, although a smile twitches at the corner of his mouth.

"Truthfully, I do find it difficult to relax when I am working, and after today's events, that is indeed my current position. Perhaps later, after we have finished our meeting, it will be easier to turn my thoughts to lighter matters; for now, however, I must keep my focus on what has happened, so that I do not forget details that may prove significant once we share our information and obtain a greater understanding of the situation. So do please bear with our gloomy manners a bit longer."

[TekHed]

Auran broke off a chunk of steaming bread, his eyes growing distant for a moment as he gazed through the vapors, and beyond into the distant past.

"Duty is all that is left for me now, at least until I have paid my soul's ransom." he replied.

"As for focus, it is something that is trained into we elves from a very young age, although where we place it does shift as we mature and our interests diversify over the millennia."

Taking a bite of the bread he chews it thoughtfully, giving Vaeri an appraising look.

"Although, I suppose it doesn't hurt to admit I am also looking forward to a hot soak."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"I'm afraid, honored visitors, that your refreshment from the rigors of travel will have to wait," opines a grandfatherly voice as the door swings open. A tall male human, graying at the temples and leaning on a cane but still looking tough and sturdy, stands in the now-open doorway flanked by two guards. One of the guards enters ahead of him and pulls an extra chair up to your table; the older man follows behind him and lowers himself into it with a small grunt of effort. The second guard enters as well, and both take up flanking positions behind the man. Last but not least is the small boy who fetched the Speaker, Arton, who ducks in after them, says hello to Gausler, receives a handful of cookies and a pat on the head from the half-orc, and rushes back out to the guard post.

"My name is Torval Wiston. I am the Town Speaker of Drellin's Ferry, as you have probably gathered." The Speaker's piercing gaze travels around the table as he speaks as if carefully taking your measure, and you can tell from his tone and his manner that this is a man used to holding a position of authority. "Please pardon the gentlemen behind me. They aren't here because I don't trust you, I've simply picked up a guard detail since the last raider attack," he says, indicating his leg and cane. "But that shouldn't come as a surprise to you, since I hear you've had a few run-ins with the local trouble yourselves." He leans back as Gausler clomps over and serves everyone's meal, including a plate of roast mutton and a tankard of something strong and alcoholic for the Speaker.

Torval pauses to take a bite of the mutton and a sip of his drink before continuing, and smiles wryly at the bartender. "I must be getting predictable in my advancing years. Wonderful as always, thank you, Gausler." The half-orc tips an imaginary cap and heads back behind the bar, returning with small glasses of beer for the guards which are gratefully accepted, drained, and returned. "Now, what news can you tell me about our hobgoblin problem?"

[Sallera]

"Good day, Speaker. I am Faien Illimis, Magistrate of Karrnath." Taking a last sip of wine, Faien sets down the glass and begins his explanation. "We encountered a group of hobgoblin bandits at a small farmhouse some ways down the western road. They had been waylaying travelers there for, as far as I could tell, approximately a day. While we slew most of them, along with their hounds, two fled toward the river and escaped. One of those we killed carried the symbol of Tiamat; we are thus operating under the assumption that these are the same individuals my associate has been pursuing regarding a misplaced artefact of the same."

Pausing briefly, Faien glances at Roni. "Those they killed included, we assume, the inhabitants of the farmhouse, as well as several travelers; they have been buried, for now, but should you know the residents, we have kept the stolen coin apart that it might be returned to any inheritors. Any excess can be used to improve your defenses here. Now, what can you tell us about the situation? It sounds as though there is a more significant force in the area."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni blanches as Faien offers up the excess gold to the town. The town, of all places. They'd most likely squander it on mundane things like road repair, signage, or extra shingles. The young spellscale fights back both a yawn and the thought of how many tankards of mead the excess gold could buy. He allows the bureaucrats to keep talking it out.

[TekHed]

"Not just hounds...the hounds of hell." Auran added.

"You seem a learned man speaker...what do you know of the Dark Lady of Dragons?"

[Fireheart]

Vaeri listens as the Magistrate and Auran talk to the Speaker. With half an ear toward the conversation, she also lets her eyes wander the bar.

OOC:

Perception for anything unusual
[roll0]

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Speaker Wiston listens calmly to Faien's tale and Auran's interjection. When the two ask him questions about the situation, he holds up a hand, asking for a moment to think. He half-closes his eyes and traces an imaginary path on the table with one finger. "Let's see, a farmhouse on a western road...that would be along Donegan's Way, since you came in through the north gate...we've had visitors from the Durin and Clovis families in the past few days...the Lochtans are visiting family in Zilargo and wouldn't have returned yet...which would leave the Wainwrights, whom we haven't heard from in a while." He opens his eyes, a mournful expression on his face. "A real shame, that. Such a nice family; Mrs. Wainwright always baked treats for all the children at the Autumn Festival." He shakes his head. "And so far as I'm aware, they have no relatives in the area. The freeholders don't keep records in town, of course, so they might have some relations among the other freeholders, but I don't recall any mention of other family. I suggest, then, that once we've finished here you record what you found at the farmhouse and donate it to the use of the township, and if any come to claim inheritance we will know what they are owed."

Torval takes a long pull from his drink and leans back. "Now, getting to your questions: the situation around these parts. Drellin's Ferry has seen quite a few raids from goblnoids over the years, but they aren't usually a problem." He shrugs, unconcerned. "Usually, it's just a handful, maybe a dozen, of young adventurous types looking to cause trouble. That's the risk you take, being situated so near Darguun, but it isn't too dangerous. Recently, though, the situation has become more serious. As far back as two months ago, we started noticing more hobgoblins than normal in the raiding parties, where before you might have just one or two, or none at all. We assumed that was a temporary concern and did not make any special preparations, but since then the raids have become more frequent and more organized. They used to occur mostly on the Darguun side of the river, but in the past two weeks even here on the west bank there've been some heavier raids."

He sighs heavily. "About nine days ago, we had our first losses. A squad of a dozen hobs snuck in along the road and killed five townsfolk before we could run them off. That's when I ordered the guard posts put up and traps and fences laid in the forests to prevent them getting in that way. They haven't troubled us since, but the steady flow of travelers we usually have this time of year--mostly merchants, some Zilargo-bound river travelers who stop here on their way, some Darguun-bound travelers who stock up here before reaching the Seawall--has dried up to a trickle. You're the first non-locals we've had in a good four or five days, and even the local freeholders haven't dropped in as often as they normally would."

A moment of silence ensues as the Speaker and the guards remember the fallen and ponder the new turn of events. The Speaker strokes his chin a few times and continues, "As for your question, sir," this directed at Auran, "I am an educated man, but by no means an expert on the supernatural. I assume from your bearing and your mission that you are a servant of the divine, of one sort or another, and probably a warrior given the heavy weapons you carry. I assume by the scales of you and two of your companions that you serve one of the Dragons," he motions vaguely up at the sky, referencing the draconic constellations, "or one of the sects of the Host that believes them to truly be dragons--not that that would be a problem, Sir Knight," he adds, making a placating gesture. "I know the urban temples consider that a heresy, but out here in the country we figure a Host follower is a Host follower." He shrugs and folds his arms. "And as for Tiamat, I know she's one of the older and more powerful demons, and she probably has a cult around her since she's got a constellation up there, and it's probably not a good sign if the hobs are wearing her symbol, but that just about exhausts my knowledge on the subject. I've been too busy of late to read philosophy."

VaeriYou see some unusual things, but nothing that can't be explained by the lack of travelers. The entire room is much cleaner than your average tavern, which is probably due to Gausler and his serving girl having nothing else to do without customers around.

[Sallera]

Faien closes his eyes for a minute, pondering the information. "Organized raids, ignoring well-defended targets... well-coordinated over a larger area, if they are harassing traffic from all directions. Some charismatic young leader must have gathered the raiders together under one banner, promising greater rewards from cooperation. I have certainly seen it happen more than once. And with this dense forest, they could hide a base of operations with ease - they would need one nearby, to keep such pressure on the area without needing to retreat over the border. If only we had not lost their trail..."

Sighing, Faien looks to the Speaker. "We could wait for them to become arrogant and reveal their hand, but if their leader is skilled and keeps them under control, that could be weeks; months, in the worst case. That would be a last resort; I would much rather cut them off at the root and be done with it. You know this area well, I'm sure; can you think of any out-of-the-way places they might be using to store supplies and acquisitions?"

[TekHed]

Auran's scales bristled at the notion of sitting and waiting.

"It is most urgent I recover the Key." he noted. "Magistrate Illimis, I know that your accompaniment was merely an expediency upon your way, and not part of your formal duty. I understand if you must return to Karnnath, though your aid in these matters is appreciated."

Turning back to the Speaker he replied, "Aye, indeed I am a paladin of Bahamut, sworn enemy of Tiamat. What your history books will not tell you however is that She is very real, and imprisoned in corporeal form right here on Eberron. Unfortunately her dark influence is not so easy to keep jailed, and it is one of the keys to her cell that has recently been lost in this area."

Auran resisted the urge to look scornfully at Roni as he uttered this last. What was done was already done.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Wiston looks between the magistrate and the paladin, sighing heavily. "A stolen key to the prison of an all-too-real demon lord, and a sudden upsurge in goblinoid activity in the area where the key was lost. If that is a mere coincidence, I'll dip my cane in Gausler's barbecue sauce and eat it whole," he says matter-of-factly, a slight smile on his face. The half-orc snorts loudly, not quite as decorous as the Speaker. "By the Host, Speaker, I hope it is. I'll whip ye up a special batch o' th' Dark Honey sauce, just in case, go better wit' that stick o' yers than the Sweet an' Sour would."

The Speaker chuckles at the bartender's joke. "I look forward to it. As for your question, Magistrate, I'm sure my granddaughter has played pretend in more nooks and crannies in the forest than the hobs will ever find. The Vale has plenty of hiding places for raiding parties, and the Seawall Pass is only a few dozen miles away, plenty close enough for a base of operations. We have...allies...in the forest who could help us seek them out, but that could take quite some time."

[TekHed]

Auran did not sigh at the elder's levity. His duty weighed heavily upon his heart, but seeing them jest amongst themselves was a reminder to Auran of what he fought for. It was not yet time to despair, he told himself, but that clock was winding down.

"Unfortunately, patience is not a luxury we can afford, honorable Speaker. It sounds like the Vale and the Seawall Pass are the first places we should scout."

The dragonborn turned to his erstwhile comrades.

"Let us enjoy our supper, then retire early," he said. "It would be best if we left well before the first light of dawn..."


Looking back to the speaker, he queried. "Can you spare any horses for the three of us?" Auran indicated himself and the siblings. "We'll be able to cover more ground that way..."


So, when our original DM Fury of Metal knocked us back down to 5th and I lost flight I actually purchased a horse and wrote it down on my sheet, but at the start of the game I forgot it, so haven't had one yet. I figure asking the Speaker for one is better than a Varsuvius "pop" in.

If we can get one or two for the spellscales even better. If not, they can double up with Faien and I, since we'll be dismounting in combat anyhow.

[Sallera]

Faien nods to the Speaker's reply, his tone unchanging. "Contact your allies and inform them of the situation. We will not find the hobgoblins easily ourselves, and should we not prove lucky, it would be best to have a secondary method. I am concerned less with finding the raiding parties than with finding where they keep their supplies, at the moment; they may well be foraging, but even in this forest, if their numbers are as great as they sound, that would not likely suffice, or would take too much of their time. Someone must be giving them orders to keep them this well organized, and it is that one I wish to deal with."

At Auran's professed enthusiasm, Faien only sighs. "Can you see better in the dark than a hobgoblin, Sir Sol, or can your powers grant us that ability? If not, then festina lente, as the old Galifar would say. Scouting the Vale is a large proposition; we will make no progress searching these woods at night, and if we are to offer ourselves up as bait to lure our targets, then it would not be wise to give them unnecessary advantages."

I'd been wondering where you left your horse.

Anyway, it's not really practical, doubling up. Faien's only got a light horse, he wears full armour, he does fight from the saddle sometimes, and riding two to a horse is a stretch at the best of times.

[TekHed]

Auran held open his palm and a golden light sprang forth there.

"I can light our way. I do not suggest we search the woods at night, however we should take to the road at the latest by the first light of dawn. I'll be early to bed and early to rise then, to have performed my devotions prior to heading out. In the meantime, I would be happy to take stock of your defensive situation, Speaker Wiston, and a tour of Drellin's Ferry."

Yes I know I'm a spontaneous caster, but I figure he still wakes in the morning to pray/meditate.

[Sallera]

One corner of Faien's mouth curves upward slightly, although there is little in the motion to remind one of a smile. "A light in the dark is a mark for a shaft, and eyes on a torch are blind to all beyond. When you traverse unfriendly terrain, worry about lighting your foes' way, not your own. We can leave early, certainly, but we will wait for the sun."

[TekHed]

"If you insist." the dragonborn answered, quaffing the last of his water.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri watches as the Magistrate and Auran argue over when to leave. Once a decision seems to be made, she rises.

"If that seems that," she says, I'm for a bath and bed. I will see you all in the morning.

OOC: She'll find the baths, take one and then find her room. (I am fine with handwaving all of the above until the next morning unless you need something to happen at night.)

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The Speaker nods solemnly as decisions are made, and he motions one of the guards forward. "Have word sent to Avarthel. Explain the situation to him, and suggest that we would appreciate it if he and his...friends...would start searching the area for hobs." The guard's eyes flick toward you all, but both guards seem confident by now that you aren't a threat and so aren't going to protest the Speaker sending one of them away. He clasps one fist to his chest and gives a short bow, then jogs out the door and down the road.

Turning back to you, he smiles down at Vaeri in a grandfatherly fashion. Torval may be a strong leader, but it is obvious he cares for his people and has a soft spot for young ones. "After a long, hard day of travel with another one ahead, I don't blame you, my dear. I wish I had the time for a nice long bath to get away from the world for a while. Suppertime is in an hour or two around these parts, but I'm sure Gausler can send up a small plate of something tasty so you don't go hungry...?" At the bartender's nod, Wiston continues, "Excellent. Now, about those horses...though normally mounts are too dear to lend to outsiders, we can indeed spare three horses thanks to their owners' passing in the raid I mentioned. I'll have those sent here tonight, and they will be groomed and ready before you leave in the morning. A small donation for their prior owners' relations would be appreciated, of course."

The Speaker levers himself to his feat with his cane, waving off assistance from the remaining guard. "Sir Paladin, if you and your companions would like to take a gander at the defenses while the young one relaxes, I'll have our Captain of the Guard give you the grand tour; you should be able to take stock of everything and be back in time for supper."

[TekHed]

"Of course Speaker..." Auran opened up a concealed pouch within his voluminous cloak and counted out 9 pieces of platinum.

"I believe this should cover my mount, riding gear, and a little extra. Once we have finished our meal here, I shall convene with your Captain. Just tell me where to meet him."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Holy--!" The guard's eyes widen comically at the sight of the platinum pieces, and he leans closer involuntarily to get a better look. The Speaker merely nods appreciatively and sweeps them into a belt pouch. "Thank you, I'm sure that will be appreciated. The Captain is likely at the stables this afternoon, inspecting her troops; we have plenty of time," he says, and you pass the rest of the mealtime with small talk about the weather, local crops, and other nothings, and introductions are made for everyone.

When everyone has finished--including the guard, Wilhelm, whom the Speaker insists join you given that there won't be any threat to the Speaker's life during the few remaining minutes of the meal--the serving girls clears out the plates and the Speaker prepares to leave.

Auran and Faien

Those of you who follow Speaker Wiston take a leisurely stroll down the road into town. The fields are to your right as you head towards the river, with a forest ahead of you. The Speaker mentions that you'll have to cross the river with the ferry that gave the town its name in order to get to the stables, but before you reach the banks you are interrupted by a tall, muscular armored woman striding towards you. "Ah, Captain, good to see you. I presume Arthur told you we were coming?"

"Yessir. He stopped by the armory on the way to see Avarthel, mentioned we had some outsiders with news and that one mentioned wanting to look around the defenses. Figured you'd send them my way, so here I am." "Wonderful, wonderful. What a responsible young man. Now, Soranna, I'd like you to meet Sir Auran Sol of Aerenal and Magistrate Faien Illimis of Karrnath, the outsiders Arthur mentioned. Gentlemen, this is Captain Soranna Anitah, Captain of the Guard of our town and retired Brelish Field Marshal."

Soranna slips off a gauntlet and extends her hand to each of you. "Pleasure. Karrnath, huh? Not exactly a friend of Breland. Competent army, though. Very disciplined. I like that. Though it's quite a trek for a Karrnathi to make it all the way down here." Her manner is businesslike and somewhat abrupt, but still polite, and she throws Torval a salute as he turns to leave. As she motions for you to follow her back toward the ferry, she pulls out a large sheet of parchment and unrolls it to reveal a map of the town. She points out a few landmarks and begins to explain the layout of the defenses as you examine it, and answers any questions you have.


http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/psychictheurge10/DrellinsFerry.jpg

If Roni and Vaeri have any questions about the town or the map, post them in the OOC and I can answer them there or Auran or Faien can ask them instead.
Soranna points out the entrances to the town, where quick sketches of guard posts have been added in recently. She explains that Drellin's Ferry has only 30 regular soldiers, so since the raids started she's raised 102 militia members--almost a tenth of the town's population--and each guard post holds one regular and six militia members at all times. More militia members roam the forest and fields, and even patrol the roads if they have a hint of incoming trouble. They're relatively well-armed and -armored for an out-of-the-way town, but they don't exactly have military-quality gear for everyone.

Roni and Vaeri

Those of you who stay behind are handed the heating stones the serving girl mentioned earlier from behind the bar and shown to your room. Each of you receives your own small but clean and well-lit room, and as promised there is a small washroom off to the side with a small tub inset in the floor. The girl--who introduces herself as Dulanna, once she gets over her shyness around strangers--shows you how to work the pumps to fill the sink and the bath and gives you the command word for the heating stones, then withdraws downstairs.

When placed in the water and activated, the heating stones glow a cozy orange and heat the water to a comfortable temperature. The scent of wildflowers fills the room, and the dust and mud from the day's travel disappears from you, your clothes, and the rest of your gear. A tiny rubber ducky appears in the bath with a soft plop, fairly crude and obviously magically-formed but cute and lovable nonetheless. You can sit and soak and ignore the outside world for a few hours.

I'm assuming Roni would rather relax than walk around town; if he wants to be on the tour, let me know and I'll edit things to suit.

[Sallera]

"Pleased to meet you, Captain Anitah." Faien removes his gauntlet and takes the offered hand with the same slightly distant politeness he seems to assume for any official introductions. "This is indeed somewhat out of the way; my business took me to Sharn, and chasing these raiders has become something of an unexpected detour on the return trip."

Faien examines the map quickly, getting an idea of the immediate area. "It seems the defenses are well in hand. You are well supplied with archers, I hope? There are few approaches they could hope to gain from, save the river itself; I suppose that is why they have contented themselves with attempting to isolate you here. From which road did the first raid come?"

[TekHed]

Auren did not remove his mithral gauntlets, or take the hand, but rather bowed instead. "At your service, and please, Auran will do. As I keep saying I'm a paladin, not a knight. No monarch has bestowed upon me such station, and my jurisdiction is simply to uphold the law and root out evil wherever it hides."

Turning to examine the map he followed up Faien's appraisal with an "Indeed. It seems you have done well with your resources. One element you might consider... This small islet here near the bridge could be turned into a fort, to defend the bridge and the river's approach to it."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Plenty of archers, don't worry. Being right on the Darguun border, every man, woman, and child in this town has some training with the bow or sling," the Captain says, obviously proud of the townspeople's skills. "The Seawall Mountains are southeast of here, both of the eastern roads meet up with two other roads to form the Seawall Pass into Darguun." She points out both eastern roads, then taps the stand of trees between them. "Very heavy foliage here. The first few raids came in that way, they usually do, but we had a few come up past the stables near the south road and even one from the west road. Almost never happens, really, they usually stick with the eastern approach."

At Auran's suggestion, she shakes her head and taps the two lines across the river. "No bridge to guard. The bottom lines are the ferry, that's just a bunch of cables and the ferry itself. Can't see it from here, but the top set are just the remains of an ancient bridge here. The stone columns prevent too-large river traffic, but that's it. Fishermen use the islet for fishing and crabbing anyway, construction there would drive them away. We have stationed some militia members there, though; no hobs that way so far."

[Sallera]

Faien frowns, rubbing his chin. "As I'd thought, they seem to have a careful and skilled commander. All of this speaks to a concerted effort to isolate the town and avoid retribution. Attacks from every direction, every route we can think of guarded... I wonder if perhaps we ought to simply scout the other roads for further ambushes and attempt to take prisoners for interrogation. They would seek to avoid letting word of their activities get out, lest their targets stop arriving - although of course that will happen eventually anyway."

Turning to the Captain, he waves a hand out to the side. "What think you? I have no formal military training myself; can you discern any pattern to these attacks that might lead us to a base of operations?"

[TekHed]

"So, all roads lead to Darguun." Auran mused. "The speaker mentioned the Seawall pass as a likely place to check, and also mentioned Elsir Vale as a likely place to start searching. How far away is it, and in what direction?"

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

After his soak, Roni changes into the luxurious robe he makes sure to keep tucked in the bottom of his pack. Just because one lived like a vagabond didn't mean he had to dress like one, now did it?

He pulls a harp from his pack and begins playing it, plucking out a delicate melody. There was a song he had heard in his dreams; it began a few years back, but it had become a recurring theme--equal parts poignant, haunting, and triumphant. Try as he might, he had as of yet been unable to capture its essence...but that didn't stop him from trying.

[roll0]

[Fireheart]

Vaeri spends enough time in the water to wash out all the dust and grime from several days travel from beneath, between and beyond her scales. Washing her white blond hair, she takes the time to put it up in elaborate braids as well as paint her talons and eyes.

Once she felt, well...normal again, she returned down the stairs to the bar area. She asks for a drink at the bar. Then finding a space in a corner, she digs out a book from her pack and starts to read, sipping on the drink and listening to the random conversations from the bar.

OOC: hoping her carrying a random book is not too unusual!

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Auran and Faien

"More like all roads lead away from Darguun," the Captain replies with a very un-lady-like snort of amusement. "Nothing against goblinoids, but if I never set foot in that country again it'll be too soon. No, Magistrate, no pattern specific enough to pinpoint their origin. Tactically, they're predictable enough that until the big push at the end there we figured out good ways to hold them off after a raid or two, but strategically they've kept us guessing. Nasty little buggers have dozens of ways to scuttle through the Seawalls if they're coming through that way, and plenty of forest to hide in if they're coming from the north or south. We can probably rule out somewhere west, since hiding it there and getting enough hobs across the river to attack from the east as many times as they have without being spotted would be damn near impossible."

Soranna rubs her chin a bit at Auran's question. "North of here, maybe a handful of miles. The Vale's the area between the Dragon's Crown to the West and the Seawalls to the east, so it's a few score miles across that way, and it goes all the way up near New Cyre, over a week's travel. Not that the hobs'd be that far from here, but that's a lot of land to hide in. Speaker's right, good place to look, but if it's just the four of you looking you'll want to narrow it down more than just 'look around the Vale'." She shrugs in sympathy. "Too bad you couldn't take anyone alive. Any survivors that could answer questions would be invaluable for that."

Vaeri

By the time you return downstairs, a few regulars have trickled in, and groups of twos and threes have formed around the common room. The conversation is quiet and subdued--not just due to a lack of volume, but to a general feel of resignation and apathy in the air. The conversations center around the hardships of the season: one half-elf says he won't be able to pull in a full harvest by the usual time this year after one of his farmhands was killed in the raid; two women commiserate over the lack of news from nearby towns, wishing that Sivis would set up an outpost here for faster communication with their friends and relatives; a few younger men grumble about the fact that a lack of merchants coming through means the smiths in town will have to forgo their normal craft to make more weapons and armor, and with Morlin (presumably a smith) doing that there'll be no one to make more horseshoes for the workhorses.

The room grows quiet and every head in the room turns to look as you find yourself a chair; a well-dressed non-human lady from out of town isn't exactly a common sight, after all. Still, even such a sight can't cut through the haze of despondence, and they soon return to talking. There is one there who shows some curiosity, though. When you've gotten halfway through your drink and several chapters into your book, you notice a small pair of boots fidgeting in front of you and look up from your reading to see young Arton standing there, staring curiously at you and nervously wringing his hands.

When he notices you looking at him, he jumps a little. "Oh! Uh...hi. I'm, uh, my name's Arton. Arton Cooper. What's your name?" Before you can respond, he takes a deep breath and rushes on: "Why do you have scales on your face? Is your mom a dragon? My dad said your mom's probably a dragon. Did you really kill a hundred hobgoblins all by yourself? Do you have any stories to tell about your travels? You're, uh, you're really pretty." The boy blushes at that last bit and stammers to a halt.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni tries with all his might to recall the full beauty of the song he had heard once, long ago, but it alludes his grasp. Sometimes he felt as if he was trying to hold a stream of water or the love of a good woman--this song seemed equally intangible and difficult to quantify. Was it the meter, the melody, the underlying harmonies? No, it was the emotion behind it: dramatic without veering into melodrama, heartfelt but not heartbreaking. With a sad sigh, he tucks away his instrument and heads down to the bar.

Roni is impressed to see Vaeri flirting with one of the locals. For a moment, he has in mind to scare the boy away from his kid sister, but then he takes a second glance at the situation: his sister was hardy a kid anymore. Instead of a girl, she was becoming a woman, and a hero at that! Roni had dragged her into more nefarious dealings through no will of her own, but now here the two of them were, fledgling do-gooders making company with a holy warrior and a lawmaker. Roni shakes his head for a moment at the improbability of it all before sitting at a corner of the bar far from Vaeri's table. He quietly orders a glass of honey mead and sips it as he watches his sister's interaction with Arton. Should he catch her glance, he winks gently to let her know that he's staying out of this one unless she feels the need to bring him into it.

[Sallera]

"Indeed, it would have been. Had I realized the scope of the problem, I would have been more careful, but at the time I thought them common bandits, and I could not catch up to those who fled." Faien sighs, letting his hands fall to his sides. "We should start with the roads, then, come the morrow; perhaps the south road on the east side? Isolating another blockade and taking some prisoner will likely be more effective than simply searching on our own."

"For now, I believe I shall return to Gausler's. I have walked enough for one day." Faien nods to Roni and Vaeri as he returns, heading to his room to take advantage of the baths before supper. For all that he avoided mentioning the matter, his leg was not suited to long periods of walking, even on the occasions when he reinforced it with his shaping, and the heated water of the bath is a welcome relief. He dresses in a simple, but clean, set of trousers and buttoned shirt of earthen colours, and takes a few minutes to wipe the accumulated dust of the last few days from his armour before neatly arranging the pieces against the wall to air out the padding and returning to the common room.

[TekHed]

Auran nodded. "Thank you for your time Captain. Rest assured, we shall do our best. Continue your fortifications. We leave at dawn upon our quest."

After taking his leave, Auran returned to the inn, and made his way quietly to his quarters.

After shutting the door, he sighed, fighting the urge to collapse into a lean upon the wall. His armor felt heavy with the weight of his duty. He leaned his longspear, warstar and shield against one of the walls, then set about removing gauntlets, greaves, and breastplate. Each one in turn he cleaned meticulously, pulling out some polish from within his rucksack.

As he finished, the tools of his purpose gleaming back at him, he caught his reflection in the mirror-shined surface of his breastplate. Reaching up with one golden scaled hand he touched talon to cheek, the face that was not his own. Gone were his fair features, the high regal cheekbones, the elegantly pointed ears. It was the face of a dragon which stared back at him, fierce and regal in it's own way, yet alien. Even were he to return to his ancient homeland, there would be no one to recognize him.

Pushing the melancholy of his thoughts aside, Auran set about the chore of cleaning the rest of himself, bringing the same loving attention to his scales as he had his vestments. He may be an elf no longer, but he still had elven pride.

Once his ablutions were complete, the dragon-born returned down the stairs. Although he was in no great mood for socializing, it was perhaps best to discuss their plans for the next day before retiring to rest.

[Fireheart]

"Oh! Uh...hi. I'm, uh, my name's Arton. Arton Cooper. What's your name?" Before you can respond, he takes a deep breath and rushes on: "Why do you have scales on your face? Is your mom a dragon? My dad said your mom's probably a dragon. Did you really kill a hundred hobgoblins all by yourself? Do you have any stories to tell about your travels? You're, uh, you're really pretty." The boy blushes at that last bit and stammers to a halt.

Vaeri smiles as the boy stumbles through his questions. She carefully closes her book and looks at him, then nods toward a chair.

She places her chin on her hand and tilts her head as she looks at the young man.

"My name is a Charivaeri Quickwing. My mother was not a dragon; she was human like you. My father, myself and my brother are all spellscales. True Dragons are rare creatures that are not often seen." She pauses and catches Roni's wink.

"I didn't kill 100 hobgoblins by myself. I barely killed one." she says, as she looks seriously as the young boy. "As for stories of my travels," she shakes her head, "You would be better to ask my brother, he is the story teller. As for me, I would tell you that I would be just as happy to curl up in front of a good fire with a good book than travel the length and breadth of Breland."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Roni and Vaeri

Arton plops down in the offered chair and says, "'Spell-scales'? So you're made of magic or something?" The boy scrunches up his nose as he tries to puzzle that out, missing Vaeri's wink to Roni. Then, after she explains: "Aw, killing a hundred hobs would be cooler." He quickly adds "But even killing one means you're pretty tough!" in an earnest tone, as if trying very hard not to offend her. "My pa killed two hobs, once, and my older brothers have all killed a couple goblins. I'm not allowed to fight yet, but I practice with my sword every day after lessons! Well, except when me and Silas go fishing instead. Or when I go swimming with Tor. But every other time I practice every day, and I'll be a warrior too someday!"

Arton is quiet for a moment, searching for something to say, when he catches sight of Roni. "Hey! You're a spell-scales too! You must be her brother! Did you kill any hobs? She said you're a good storyteller, do you have any stories to tell?" He looks hopefully at Roni, putting on his best puppy-dog eyes, though he keeps darting glances at Vaeri.

Auran and Faien

The Captain says she'll plan for an expedition tomorrow morning and dismisses you with a polite nod. The serving girl is ready to escort you to your rooms when you return to Gausler's, and on your way up the stairs you pass Vaeri sitting in the corner, reading quietly.

By the time you've finish making yourselves presentable and return to the common room, Roni has joined Vaeri and she has stopped reading. The messenger boy from earlier is sitting across from the spellscales, muddy boots dangling as he swings his legs back and forth, and he's talking loudly about something involving hobgoblins. When you get closer you can hear him asking Roni to tell him a story and staring hopefully at the bard.

[TekHed]

Auran grinned a toothy-fanged smile and pulled up a chair, spinning it around so he could sit backwards on it and give his wings a chance to stretch out a bit.

"Yes, Master Quickwing, let us hear a tale or two..."

[OMG PONIES]

Arton is quiet for a moment, searching for something to say, when he catches sight of Roni. "Hey! You're a spell-scales too! You must be her brother! Did you kill any hobs? She said you're a good storyteller, do you have any stories to tell?"

Roni's eyes light up, as he could never pass up an opportunity for the spotlight...now matter how small the audience or how young its members. "Well, Arton, everyone's got stories. Think of your life as one big book. Each big thing that happens to you is a chapter, and every day's a page. Even though you and I may have less pages than some," he says with a nod to Auran, "we've all got stories. Allow me to share one of my more recent pages..."

Roni proceeds to tell the tale of how the Quickwings met the dragonborn. He sets the tone, introduces Gavin as a proper villain, and has the boy on the edge of his seat. Roni raises his fingers in front of his face to give a visual impression of the shifter's awful fangs, and holds up a hand with fingers askew in an attempt to mimic his horrible claws. The bard brings the tale to its climactic point: a powerful spell has had no effect on the tough, and Vaeri's life is in danger. Of course, Roni strategically leaves out the part where he weeps.

In a first for Roni in the telling and Vaeri in the hearing, the tale does not end with an inflated account of the elder Quickwing's heroic exploits. Instead, he tells of how Auran swooped in to rescue the two of them. The draconic storyteller stands tall and puffs his chest as he does his best impression of Auran, causing the others to laugh at its accuracy while the Dragonborn nods in assent. Roni tells of how Auran bought them precious time to escape and how they met again in secret, but leaves out any mention of the rod they're hunting. As the story draws to a close, he narrows his eyes a bit so Arton know's he's serious. "You see, my young warrior," he says to the boy, "anyone can kill. The true heroes, however? They're the ones that save people. And I think you can grow to be much more than a warrior; I think you can grow to be a hero just like ours."

Roni ends his story with a glance and a smile at Auran. It felt odd telling a story that had a moral beyond his own greatness, but it was a feeling of strange satisfaction. Oftentimes, his tales were nothing more than tools to impress those of high station or women with whom Roni wished to share a bed. There was something about telling a true story that was much more visceral, difficult, and, well...authentic.

[roll0] (if all Perform skills are grouped together)

[Fireheart]

Vaeri smiles as Roni starts to tell the story of thier meeting with Auran. As the story progesses, she is surprised to find that he places the Dragonborn in the position of hero, she offers a rare proud smile at her brother.

"Nicely done, brother." She says softly.

[Sallera]

Faien sits quietly in a nearby chair as Roni begins his tale. He hadn't yet heard the finer points of his companions' meeting, so the authenticity of the details was impossible to judge, but it made for an engaging story nonetheless. The boy - no, he really ought to stop thinking of him that way, demeanour or not - Roni had a good voice, and an effortless understanding of emotion, despite his claim to have no passion for anything other than music. Then again, story and song were once effectively synonymous, so perhaps it was not so surprising.

"You use your words well, when you put your mind to it," he comments from behind the elder spellscale. "Have you ever turned your hand to oratory?"

[OMG PONIES]

Roni can't help but blush slightly at the words of recognition from Faien. Luckily, his rosy scales help to conceal his embarrassment. "Nah," he dismisses the notion, "I never wanted to be like those windbags back at the University. Let me sit down and plunk out a few songs and I'll be happy as a clam; can't exactly sit around and improvise an oration, savvy?" The spellscale breaks into a yawn and stretches his arms high above his head. "Listen, I'm just about two blinks away from Dal Quor. I'm going to head off to bed, unless there's anything that can't want until morning..."

[Sallera]

Faien frowns slightly at yet another reminder of how driven people were by their essential natures, but keeps his peace and shakes his head. "No, nothing of note. We plan to scout the other roads out of town early tomorrow, so be ready."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Little Arton looks like he's going to break his neck listening to Roni's story. The boy stares at Roni with rapt attention as he spins his tale, looks over at Auran--who he hadn't noticed before--with eyes the size of dinner plates, taking in the dragonborn's strange and frightening appearance, looks back to Roni, steals a glance at Vaeri, looks over at Faien when the magistrate is mentioned, back to Roni, back to Vaeri...a boy in a Sharn sweets-shop wouldn't look half as excited as he does. He cowers away from Roni's evil cultist impression, cheers with glee when the hell hounds are defeated, laughs at the impersonation of his father, and when the story concludes with its moral, he sits there with a huge smile on his face.

As Arton sits there quietly thinking about the story, you notice that the whole tavern has discreetly turned to listen to the tale. The spell is quickly broken and everyone returns to their own conversations, but now there are smiles on several faces and the woeful slump is gone from most of their backs. Gausler comes over and thanks Roni for the story with a hearty slap on the shoulder, then tells the boy it's time for him to go home. "Awww! B-but Mr. Gausler, sir, just five more minutes, please?" The bartender chuckles and, pointing a finger towards a clock behind the bar, says, "I ain't throwin' ye out, boy, it's yer ma what's doin' that." Arton's eyes grow wide again, he hops up with a quick "Um, let's see, little hand on the seven, big hand on the...oh no! Ma's gonna kill me! Thanks for the story, Mr. Vaeri's Brother, sir!" and dashes out the door.

The rest of the patrons look like they'll be there for a while, though they're finishing their conversations and their dinner and the fire is beginning to die down.

[Sallera]

Faien lingers a little while longer, but as the silence stretches on, he eventually rises; perhaps all that needed to be said this day had been. "I will see you in the morning, then. Sleep lightly; we are technically in a town under siege, however well-hidden the lines may be."

Returning to his room, he follows his own advice, leaning his shield against the wall near the headboard and placing his boots next to it. Falling into bed fully dressed, he lies atop the covers, staring at the ceiling; the night was more than warm enough, even without the paladin's faded magic. With a final irritated sigh at the nature of everything he'd stumbled into, he clears his mind of everything but duty and plans for the morrow, and eventually drifts off to sleep.

[TekHed]

"You have a true talent for entertainment," Auran nodded, "though it is odd to be the subject of such tales. Such is to be expected when traveling with a Bard I suppose."

As Faien moved to take his leave, so to did Auran. "Indeed. Sleep lightly, but sleep well. We may not receive such sumptuous circumstances again for some time..."

Huh..I was going to cast Endure Elements again on the party, but I just checked and discovered it is only one person per casting...for some reason I had thought it was a group effect. Oh well...when Auran has a leftover 1st level spell at night, he'll use it before bed to recast Endure Elements on himself, which I'll do so now...

[OMG PONIES]

"You have a true talent for entertainment," Auran nodded, "though it is odd to be the subject of such tales. Such is to be expected when traveling with a Bard I suppose."

"Well, get used to it," Roni says with a smirk, "a proper hero like yourself is bound to do more worth retelling." With a nod to his companions, Roni slaps a few coins on the bar as a tip and heads up to his room. He stows his belongings so they are safely out of place yet available at a moment's notice, and he is fast asleep by the time his head hits the pillow.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

You spend a sleepy, uneventful night in this sleepy, uneventful town, and nary a goblinoid disturbs your slumber. Well, unless you happen to be awakened at early o'clock in the morning when the serving girl makes her rounds, sweeping the hallways and refilling lamp oil. That's quite unlikely, though, as the door is heavy and thick and so are your blankets, too comfortable after a long wearying day to let some soft footsteps disturb your rest.

A rooster crows just before the crack of dawn, followed a bit later by the tolling of a loud bell from somewhere across the river. The town comes alive outside your windows shortly thereafter, and even with some thick curtains shielding you from the commotion and the sunlight, anyone would be hard-pressed to sleep through all of that. Once you've had a bit of time to either wake up and get out of bed or curse the world and roll over for a few more minutes, each of you is visited by a young boy in working clothes. The boy is a goblin of the same coloring as the serving girl last night, and is of similar age, probably making them siblings; he knocks quietly, places a cup of berry tea and a plate of toast on your night table, informs you in a whisper that one of the town militia is downstairs whenever you're ready and there's more breakfast in the common room if you'd like some, and leaves just as quietly.

[TekHed]

Auran's internal clock had awoken him an hour before dawn. Sleep was a new experience for him, something he had never known in his former life as an elf. The reverie was a lucid experience, reflecting upon the decades of the past as if looking through the clear waters of a placid pool. Dreaming was chaos in comparison. Memories blending and colliding, out of order, out of time, fading in and out between consciousness and unknowing oblivion, and then the abrupt landing back into one's body. It was a miracle how the shorter-lived races managed to stay sane.

Auran stood up and flexed his wings; he had inadvertently crushed the left one in his unconsciousness and it tingled fiercely as the blood supply returned in earnest. Sitting himself down cross-legged, Auran forced himself to meditate, ordering his mind after the night's chaos. Once he felt composed once more, he quickly brushed his teeth and groomed his scales fastidiously before easing into his armor in practiced fashion. By the time the young goblin made his rounds Auran was slinging his shield between his wings and hefting his spiked warmace and longspear.

The dragonborn thanked the boy, and quickly quaffed the proffered juice, before munching on the toast as he made his way down the stairs.

Auran looked for the militia member, keeping an eye out for his rousing companions.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri smiled at the boy as he brought her the food. After he left, she rose gingerly out of the bed and stretched her wings. Taking a moment, she put herself through stretching exercises, holding each position until she felt the tightness release. Several muscles hurt more than she was used to and she was grateful for the hot bath from the night before.

As she moves through the exercises, she meditates on Lendys for the day. Faien and Auran's conversations around Justice and the Law had already prepped her mind to consider the Balancer.

OOC: Blood quickening: Lendys, +2 Concentration, Still Spell Feat for the day.

Reaching into her bag, she picked out a set of traveler's clothes in blue and purple. She had unbraided her hair from last night and, now she rebraided it in a simple traveler's braid and tucked it up under a large floppy hat.

Carefully, opening a box at the bottom of her pack, she pulls out two large feathers, purple and blue and tucks them into the brim of the hat, tightly.

Taking a glance at herself in the reflection of the window, she gives a satisfied smile, shoulders her pack and throws her deep blue cloak over her arm as she heads downstairs.

[Sallera]

Faien is already up when the serving boy arrives, having spent a few minutes carefully stretching out his legs before standing. Nodding to the boy, he eats methodically and with little attention, his mind focused instead on his shaping. The keen-eyed scouts of the past, all those that had divined paths for armies and saved squads from ambush, lend their tales and histories to his own. The faint blue lenses over his eyes change form slightly, shifting his enhanced perception from the realm of the supernatural to the mundane. If they were to walk willingly into another ambush, he wanted to catch it first, and if the hobgoblins deigned not to attack, at least he would still have a chance of finding them.

Eventually, he dons his more-or-less dust-free armour (among its many other benefits, mithril was, as he had discovered, blessedly easy to keep clean) and heads down to meet the others.

"Good morning to you all. You slept well, I hope?"

Shaping Keeneye Lenses in place of the Mage's Spectacles, and investing essentia for a +8 to Perception.

[OMG PONIES]

You spend a sleepy, uneventful night in this sleepy, uneventful town, and nary a goblinoid disturbs your slumber. Well, unless you happen to be awakened at early o'clock in the morning when the serving girl makes her rounds, sweeping the hallways and refilling lamp oil...Once you've had a bit of time to either wake up and get out of bed or curse the world and roll over for a few more minutes, each of you is visited by a young boy in working clothes. The boy is a goblin of the same coloring as the serving girl last night, and is of similar age, probably making them siblings...

The presence of the serving girl does little to wake Roni, as he snores so loudly every sound she makes is covered over. The young goblin boy who follows has to shake the spellscale vigorously to get any reaction, and even then he does little but mutter and roll over to shield his eyes from the light. However, he perks up as the scent of berry tea hits his nostrils and the talk of a more substantial breakfast goes straight from his ears to his stomach.

Before coming downstairs, Roni thinks back over Auran's story of repentance. He retrieves a piece of parchment from his backpack and begins plucking out a tune on his mandolin. The song begins with lingering minor intervals, but picks up speed as the spellscale moves to higher and higher positions on the fretboard. As the notes get quicker, they also take on a more triumphant, major tonality. After hammering out a few bars, the spellscale jots a few notes down on the parchment before they flee his memory. In the empty space at the top of the page he scrawls: Auran's Theme.

Roni rolls the parchment up and stows it away, then slides down the stairs like a silk sheet falling off a clothesline. Despite his morning activities and his desire for breakfast, his legs have still done little to awaken from their deep slumber. He finds his way to a chair as soon as possible, and nods to his companions that have already gathered. "So," he yawns, "any chance for bacon and eggs before we meet this minuteman?" His eyes catch the young goblinoid siblings busily running around serving the residents of Drellin's Ferry, and he can't help but ask. Leaning forward and lowering his voice, he asks, "Does anyone else see irony in the fact that they're calling gobs their slaves and a deadly threat in the same breath?" His voice is low enough that only his traveling companions can hear him.

[Sallera]

Faien raises an eyebrow sharply, wondering just where such notions were coming from. "I would not find such a situation strange in the least," he replies, choosing ambiguity over a lowered voice, "but I think you are greatly overstating the former half of the equation."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The goblin boy overhears Roni's rhetorical question as he passes by and nods politely. He walks over to the bar, drops off the plates he was carrying, and says something to Gausler while pointing over at your table. Gausler nods in return and spoons a heaping helping of scrambled eggs, grits, and sliced fruit onto five plates from the grill or various bowls. "Oi, Zeke!" the half-orc bellows as he starts frying up more eggs, his powerful lungs easily cutting through the background chatter. "Those're them," he says as he points in your direction, "an' it looks like they're gonna be takin' a bit. Siddown an' have some chow!"

A man stands up on the other side of the room, clad in a militia uniform and not looking like he's a morning person at all. He walks across the room and pulls over a chair to your table, sinking into it with a large yawn. "Thanks, Kech," the guard says with a smile as the goblin boy slides a plate and a mug in front of him, and the boy does the same for each of you before retreating. "Man, am I glad you folks decided to do breakfast. I hate doing the morning shift without my coffee." The man looks to be in his mid-forties and has the bearing of a laborer; calloused hands hold his mug as he takes a long swallow. He raises a hand in greeting when he puts the mug down. "Well, I'm Zeke Wright. Nice to meet you. I'll be coming with you this morning; the Captain sent me to come fetch you, so we can leave whenever you're ready. But don't worry, take your time. No sense in hurrying out if everyone's half-asleep on the way."

[TekHed]

"Well met Zeke. It is good we are to have a guide in your territory." Soren dug into his grits which he swallowed with barely any chewing.

"If it's all the same, I'd prefer we head out as soon as possible, to make the most of the day's light. Do enjoy your stimulants though..."

[OMG PONIES]

Finally, Roni thinks, akindred spirit. He takes advantage of the opportunity to eat before marching out and begins to shovel food into his face. "Jush gum me a few mumums," the spellscale tries to say from behind his food. Realizing the futility of speaking right now, he instead chooses to focus on his meal.

The foods themselves are nothing he hadn't had a thousand times over in Sharn, but there's something about the way Gausler prepares it or the seasoning he adds that truly makes the flavor spring to life far more than any eatery in the city. This half-orc can cook.

The elder Quickwing finishes his food in the blink of an eye and leaves his utensils clamoring against an empty plate. He bounces in his seat with the enthusiasm of a child, and any lingering malaise seems to have vanished. "Okay," he chimes as loud as a church bell, "let's beat feet!" He looks around the group and is surprised to see others still eating.

[Sallera]

"Good morning, Zeke; I am Faien Illimis." Taking a seat as it becomes clear they will be staying a bit longer, Faien tilts his head as Roni's food vanishes almost as quickly as it arrives. "How do you manage to march after eating like that?"

Despite his words, he eats fairly quickly himself, and if he does not quite finish the meal, well, it is certainly not the fault of the cook. Once everyone has finished, he places a hand on the back of the chair and pushes himself to a standing position. "We do have a fair bit of ground to cover, but that alone will not be enough, so I am hoping rather for good fortune in our choice of paths. Let us meet with the Captain."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Me too," Zeke agrees with Faien's hope for a short search. "Everyone's nerves are really getting frayed with all of the random attacks, and I can't wait until we can find their base and slaughter the fu--erm, the, uh, kill the hobgoblins," he finishes lamely, belatedly editing his expletive as he remembers that there's a young girl at the table. His cheeks redden over his error as he stands up abruptly. "Um, right then, let's go. No time to waste!"

Guardsman Wright leads you all outside, holding the door for you with one hand and shading his eyes against the early morning glare with the other. When you're all outside, he unsheathes the short sword at his belt and suggests the rest of your ready yourselves. "They haven't made it to this part of town yet," he explains as he leads you down to the ferry, "but they keep getting closer, so best be ready for an attack at any time." The image he presents of a wary, alert militia member is spoiled by more than one yawn on the way. Soon enough you round a stand of trees and reach the ferry stop on the river, where the Captain and three other militia members are standing. A short, pudgy human--or a tall, thin dwarf, he could really be either one--stands in the ferry itself, and a large warforged stands next to the large capstan whose cables move the ferry. The Captain greets you, not looking or sounding at all tired, and ushers you on board.

When you're embarked and ready, the man calls out "All right, Anvil, give 'er a spin!" and the warforged begins methodically turning the capstan, giving you a nice, leisurely journey across the river. You have a chance to talk a bit while you cross, and the man introduces himself as Drathgar, the great-grandnephew of the Drellin who gave the town its name. He explains that normally it's one silver for outsiders to cross, three with a mount, but the money Auran gave the Speaker will cover than and you're welcome to ride the ferry a few more times for free. The Captain informs you that the three militia men with you besides Zeke were chosen for their archery skills; they aren't as good in a straight-up fight, but no wounded hob is going to get away from you this time.

The ferry trip takes a little over five minutes. You're soon disembarked and headed along the southernmost of the two eastern roads, called the Frowning Way. Zeke explains that the main north-south road to the east that you're headed for is called the Stern Road because it passes through Sterngate and is patrolled by the fort's soldiers, so some jokester in the town's history named the lower road to it Frowning Way due to the road's down-turned corners on a map and the upper road Smirking Way for similar reasons. Those townspeople who suspect the goblinoids of attacking from this area don't know whether to believe that the Sterngate soldiers no longer patrol the Stern Road and so have allowed the goblinoids to travel it unmolested, or that the goblinoids are just too cunning to be caught by the patrols, and they don't know which prospect is more disheartening.

When you reach the Stern Road, there are no immediate signs of either goblinoid blockades or Brelish patrols, and as the road is made of wide, smooth stone, trying to determine what kinds of creatures or vehicles might have passed by is likely to be futile. "Right then," Soranna says when you reach the road, spear in one hand and shield in the other. "We can go north and look around the Vale first, or south and look at Marguul Pass. Basically comes down to whether you think they're coming out of the Seawalls or already have a presence in Breland. Your choice."

[Sallera]

"If I were in such a position... I would be nearby, to coordinate the forces in place. I would guess that the commander here is the active type, one who would want to be close enough to swiftly receive news of disruptions and redeploy accordingly." Faien looks down the road, his eyes adjusting to the extra detail his enhanced sight can pick up. When every leaf stood out clearly, it became much easier to spot anything out of place, but it was also possible to become overwhelmed by the additional information.

"North, then, would be my guess."

[TekHed]

"I agree with the Magistrate's assessment." Auran spoke. "Unfortunately, my wings are not yet strong enough to hold me aloft long enough for aerial reconnaissance, so our steeds will have to suffice, for now." The dragonborn reached down and stroked the neck of the handsome horse the speaker had provided for him.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri had eaten quickly but quietly as she listened to the other make plans. Now on the road, her wings tucked carefully behind her as she sat on the horse, she watches the trees on both side of the road.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Your expedition makes good time along the road. You run into a towering half-orc leading three massive hounds through the woods sometime around midmorning. The man is carrying a large cord of wood, which he shifts to one shoulder to allow him to shake your hands, and he introduces himself as Jorr; he's a lumberjack who lives out here in the woods with his sons and his hounds and is the source of much of the wood Drellin's Ferry uses for firewood and carpentry. He chats pleasantly enough with the Captain and townsfolk, though it's clear from the dogs' skittishness and his impatient expression that he's in a rush to get home. "Hain't seen no gobbos hereabouts t'day," he tells you when you mention your current objectives, "but there been plenty o' gobbos trampin' 'round these parts recent-like, and I don't like t'leave the young'uns on their lonesome inna cabin more'n I need," and with that he takes his leave.

Noon rolls around and Zeke suggests lunch. The militia give him a bit of ribbing about that--none of them got to sample Gausler's cooking this morning, after all, and if they can press on so can he--and one points out that they should wait until they reach the bridge ahead to take a break for lunch. "Dunno about you, but I haven't had any good crawfish in too long. You can catch yourself a rabbit or something, but I'm waiting for the river." That settles the matter, and everyone presses on.

The river mentioned is the Derrek'egaar, Goblin for "Twisting Serpent," and indeed the general shape looks like a massive slithering snake when it comes into view. It's more of a swamp than a river for most of the year, since the river overflows its banks in the rainy season and turns the surrounding area to a marshy mush, so as you all approach the river the Stern Road narrows to about two-thirds its normal width and transitions into a raised wooden causeway about a food and a half off the ground. You can see the occasional short ladder leading down from the causeway with small wooden platforms at the bottom, for people who want to go fishing or find prawns or just sit there and enjoy nature. There is very little tree cover near the riverbanks, so as you get close enough to hear the flow and babble of the river you can make out something sticking out of the water and reeds on the left side of the causeway.

On closer inspection it appears to be a wagon with a few humanoid corpses scattered around it, but any identification of the wagon or the bodies at this distance is practically impossible, as both are covered in mud and sunk partway into the bog. "Damn hobs," the Captain growls. "Guess that explains the lack of traders on the eastern roads. Should probably see if we can pull them out and identify them."


http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/psychictheurge10/Causeway1.png

The green grassy areas are normal dry land. The bluish green areas are two-foot-deep bog and count as difficult terrain. You can hop down from the causeway to the bog or climb back onto it from the bog as a move action. The causeway itself is slippery, and you need to make a DC 10 Balance check to move at full speed across it, or DC 15 to run or charge, otherwise you fall prone.

Knowledge (Nature) or Survival 15From the way the wagon and bodies are slowly moving back and forth with the reeds, it would seem the area along the river's edge with the darker mud and grasses is deeper and more watery than it would first appear. You'll need to be cautious to avoid falling in if you get too close.

Perception 19There is a reptilian...something coiled around one wheel of the wagon. It's long, sinuous, fairly thick, and scaly, possibly a large snake of some sort.

[TekHed]

Auran seems to be enjoying the warm beautiful weather and the views of the Vale, and doesn't even notice the overturned wagon and it's former stewards until it's pointed out to him.

"Well, it might have been goblins or something else. There's no way to be sure without closer inspection. I'm afraid I'm not much of a woodsman. Once, in another life, but so much of that knowledge has been lost to me. Nonetheless, it would be prudent for us to stop and investigate, before we pause to rest and eat."

He squints his eyes at the bog. "What do you think Faien...can our steeds handle it?"


Survival:
Perception: [roll1d20+5

[Sallera]

"Hm, bringing them down there would be unnecessarily troublesome. Unless we end up needing to drag the wagon out of there, we can climb down on foot." Faien scans the trees on both sides of the river carefully, but seeing no sign of archers, advances partway up the causeway before dismounting.

"I see no sign of an ambush, but I shall go ahead, in case they are evading my sight. Follow if it becomes clear the way is safe." Walking carefully up to where the wagon apparently tipped off the causeway, he drops down into the bog to inspect it more closely.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Zeke and one of the woodsmen follow Faien as he walks over to inspect the wagon. "Careful, sir, it looks like the bank's eroded a bit and the ground drops out right next to the river," says Zeke, pointing out the different coloration of the reeds near the wagon and the squishiness of the ground there. "You'll want to stay on this side of the wagon."

The three reach the wagon and begin their inspection. Zeke reaches out to turn over one of the corpses near the rear left wheel, but hesitates. "Uh, Magistrate? I think there's--!" He is suddenly cut off as what appears to be a thick, ugly snake lying over the axle hisses and rears back, mouth wide to show many gleaming fangs. It is joined by a second snake-thing that rises out of the water...then another...then three more...then finally a massive body to which the snake-things are attached. Zeke only has time to get out an "Oh sh--!" before the fanged maws dive in towards the magistrate and militia.

Faien dives out of the way in time, getting quite a bit of mud on his clothes in the process, but the others are not so lucky. Zeke's left sleeve is torn off and five or six reddish gashes appear on his arm as he throws his arm over his face and dives to the side. His companion has it even worse as the monster's bite rips a huge chunk out of his stomach, and with a strangled gasp the militia member unceremoniously slumps face-first into the mud. "No! Zeke! Bors!" cries one of the militia on the bridge with the others, but it's looking bad for Bors, and unless someone can get to Zeke and Faien quickly they should probably change their names to "lunch" and "dinner."

Surprise! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_Gi2FoJaow)

Two bites for each of you, all against flat-footed AC
Zeke
Bite: [roll0]; Damage: [roll1]
Bite: [roll2]; Damage: [roll3]
Redshirt
Bite: [roll4]; Damage: [roll5]
Bite: [roll6]; Damage: [roll7]
Faien
Bite: [roll8]; Damage: [roll9]
Bite: [roll10]; Damage: [roll11]

Initiative
Vaeri: [roll12]
Roni: [roll13]
Auran: [roll14]
Faien: [roll15]
Soranna: [roll16]
Militia: [roll17]
Monster: [roll18]

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Map--Surprise Round
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/psychictheurge10/Causeway2.png

[Sallera]

Bashing away a fanged maw with his shield, Faien curses as the militia members are not so lucky. "Zeke, withdraw," he snaps as he gauges the terrain, flicking a gauntleted hand to the side to grab the creature's attention. "I will heal Bors as soon as I am able."

"Roni, Vaeri, stay on the causeway and provide fire support," he calls. "I can handle its attention; it won't likely be deterred easily, so we will have to dispose of it."

Yay, everyone in danger botches their initiative checks. Silly NPCs, Faien told you to stay back for good reason. :3

[OMG PONIES]

Roni raises his mother's brooch to his lips and kisses it, murmuring "Better them than us, Vaer," to his sister under his breath. He pulls his mandolin from his satchel and strums a fierce tremelo. Part of him hated being stuck on the causeway far from the action, but another part of him blessed his lucky stars that he wasn't closer to the ravenous heads. "Fire support?" he calls out with a smirk, "I think I can handle that." As he continues playing, small sparks fly from his fretboard.

Swift action: activate Badge of Valor (2/3 daily charges remaining)
Move action: draw masterwork mandolin
Standard action: activate Dragonfire Inspiration (3/4 daily uses remaining)
No action: activate Knowledge Devotion (boosted by Collector of Stories) [roll0] and identify this creature.

All allies' attacks receive +3d6 fire damage. Roni's attacks also gain a further +2 insight bonus to attack and damage from Knowledge Devotion.

[TekHed]

Auran's eyes went wide when he saw the many-headed monstrosity make a meal out of their guide. Wasting no time Auran unfurled his wings, flapping them with a great downdraft to vault himself over the railing into the marsh, readying his shield as he did so. The muck proved quite difficult to move through however, and he barely managed to make it to Faien's side in time. Once there he withdrew his healing wand from it's sheath.

"Faien, keep it's attention, while I see to Bors. I'll back you up shortly." The Paladin's presence was palpable, and everyone nearby felt a sense of courage fill them, making them feel invincible, able to parry any attack.

"Zeke, bring Bors here, there may yet be time to save him. Watch those heads!"


Too bad we can't use Immediate Actions while Flat-Footed, or I might have been able to save Zeke.

Take 10 on Jump Check gives me 21 or 10 feet without running start. Then the rest of my move action to close the next 1o feet (difficult, counts as 20') to end up in the square to the right of Faien. By my understanding of the space and reach rules, this puts me just out of the diagonal reach of it. Let me know if not. Draw Shield as part of move action. Free action ready wand from bracer. This assumes Bors is still alive; you made it sound like he could survive if given immediate attention, and lesser vigor should stabilize him. Let me know if upon getting closer, it is clear that there is no coming back for Bors, and I'll have Auran ready his Warstar instead.

Immediate (in this case my swift action since it's on my turn) action to activate Protection Devotion, giving Auran, Zeke, and all other allies within 30' of Auran a +3 Sacred bonus to AC.

Auran's AC now 22. all allies within 30' gain +2 on saves.

Protection Devotion: 10 rounds

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"By the Six, people, wait more than five seconds before you follow someone into a dangerous situation!" Soranna calls out in frustration. Zeke looks embarrassed as he starts sloshing through the knee-high reeds back to the causeway. The Captain looks at Auran and Roni leaping into action, then over at the other two militia men fumbling out their bows, and snaps, "Davis, Baden, we've been through this! Hobs and swamp monsters aren't going to send you an engraved invitation! Come on, come on, come on!" The Captain already has her spear and shield in hand, of course, and she nods approvingly as Roni's tune sets her spearhead ablaze.

"If you want something done right..." she murmurs as she looks for an opening in the creature's weaving pattern of gnashing teeth, and when Vaeri offers to transpose her with Bors she quickly accepts. As soon as the white glow of Auran's healing magic begins to trace over Bors, Soranna motions to Vaeri with her spear and suddenly Bors is sprawled unconscious on the causeway while Soranna is standing next to Faien in a combat stance. She moves to cover the magistrate with her shield as the creature lunges forward to attack, then lunges forward and thrusts at it in return, but the creature's heads are whipping around too fast for her to get in a solid hit.

The woodsmen finally ready their bows and send a pair of arrows flying at the beast, one of which sinks into a long sinuous neck. The creature hisses loudly as the fire surrounding the arrow sears into its skin, but as you watch the arrow is slowly forced out of the wound and the burn begins to fade.

Anyone adjacent to the Captain gains +5 untyped to AC.

The hydra attacks 6 more times, 3 each to Faien and Soranna
Faien
Bite: [roll0]; Damage: [roll1]
Bite: [roll2]; Damage: [roll3]
Bite: [roll4]; Damage: [roll5]
EDIT: Two auto-hits, yikes. Faien takes 12.
Soranna
Bite: [roll6]; Damage: [roll7]
Bite: [roll8]; Damage: [roll9]
Bite: [roll10]; Damage: [roll11]

Soranna's attack:
Shortspear: [roll12]; Damage: [roll13] plus [roll]3d6[roll] fire

Militia attacks
Longbow: [roll14]; Damage: [roll15] plus [roll]3d6[roll] fire
Longbow: [roll16]; Damage: [roll17] plus [roll]3d6[roll] fire

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Map--Round 1
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/psychictheurge10/Causeway3.png

[TekHed]

Seeing their militia man would be safe, Auran tossed his wand aside in the grass, then raised his shield high, calling upon Bahamut to protect them in battle. The shield began to grow brightly, and as he moved into position, the dragonborn used it to swat away at the hydra's heads. As he trudged through the knee-deep muck, Auran drew his warstar, now enflamed, and drove it's heavy spikes into the beast's scaly hide.

Free Action drop wand in grass-filled square south of Auran's current position (where it won't sink into the bog and be lost).

Swift Action Divine Shield, spending one turn undead attempt, granting Auran a further +5 tuntyped bonus to his shield AC (32 now while adjacent to Soranna).

Then move 15' (costs 30') up and diagonal to be adjacent just north of Soranna on the map. He moves out of two threatened squares so will take two AoO for doing so.

Standard action attack with warstar: [roll0] Damage: [roll1]+[roll2] fire.

Protection Devotion: 9 Rounds
Divine Shield: 2 rounds

[Sallera]

As two of the creature's maws clamp down on his arm, battering mithril and bruising flesh, Faien raises his other hand, the azure tracery on his breastplate and the lenses over his eyes fading into transparence as he draws forth a blade already humming with contained power. Struggling forward through the bog, he sweeps the blade out to the side, the flames of Roni's song taking hold as he brings it back across the base of his foe's many necks.

Tek, you can't provoke more than one AoO from the same creature with a single movement, but it doesn't matter since Faien's going to eat one of them anyway. I just hope it doesn't roll too many more 20s.

Swift to reassign essentia to Blade and Gauntlets.
Move 5ft forward to the left of Soranna, drawing sword.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] electricity + [roll3] fire

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

Roni grimaces as he watches his allies' attacks miss, one after the other. His magical song wouldn't go far if the others couldn't land a hit. For a quick moment, he thinks about changing his tune to inspire accuracy in his allies, but a different idea struck him as quick as a bee sting. He realizes that, given the beast's number of heads, it may be a better idea to hamper it than to make his friends any stronger.

With a quick utterance, Roni plucks a pinch of glistening, golden mica from his pouch. He blows it from his hand, and it flies upstream to settle in a cloud that envelopes the hydra but spares his friends. Should work, he tells himself. Hydras are strong as a house and quick as a carriage, but dumb as the oxen that pull 'em. Hopefully this one sticks." As the glittery cloud settles in the monster's eyes, a faint sizzling sound is heard as the glitter burns the creature's skin.

The hydra must make a Will save (DC 17) or be blinded, and if it is evil it also takes [roll0] damage thanks to Roni's blood quickening.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri shudders as the multi-headed creature attacks her companions. Having whisked the militia man out of the way she turns to her spells.

"Whoa, that's quite a beast. Let's see how he likes this."
OOC:

Move closer 15 ft.
Cast orb of cold, no save, no SR

ranged touch
[roll0]
[roll1]

[OMG PONIES]

Rnoi Quickwing

Roni watches as his opponents attack the hydra, and suddenly it clicks. They could attack the body until the cows come home--the only way to kill the beast was to sever its heads and burn them before they grow back twice over.

"Oi!" he shouts at the others, "Slice the heads off like you're harvesting wheat. Only way to kill the damned thing!"

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Faien ducks and weaves through the mud to try to find an opening, but the swarm of snapping jaws doesn't leave him a good target. The beast tries to gnaw on the magistrate's sword arm, then roars as Roni's cloud of glowing motes settles over its many eyes and blinds it. Auran takes advantage of the distraction to strike a telling blow, and the beast rears back in pain as the fire sears it. It tries to retaliate, but between not being able to see its prey and the Captain weaving a defensive screen with spear and shield it doesn't manage to connect.

Soranna hears Roni's shouted advice and goes for the beast's throat--well, one of them, anyway. She plants her spear butt-first in the muck for later retrieval, draws a short sword from her back, and lunges in to the attack. The woodsmen on the causeway keep firing, not nearly confident enough in their abilities to risk charging in, and between the two of them and Vaeri's spell the hydra begins taking wounds faster than it can heal them.

AoOs vs. Faien
Bite: [roll0]; Damage: [roll1]; Crit Confirm: [roll2]
Bite: [roll3]; Damage: [roll4]; Crit Confirm: [roll5]
Bite: [roll6]; Damage: [roll7]; Crit Confirm: [roll8]
Bite: [roll9]; Damage: [roll10]; Crit Confirm: [roll11]
Bite: [roll12]; Damage: [roll13]; Crit Confirm: [roll14]
Bite: [roll15]; Damage: [roll16]; Crit Confirm: [roll17]

-------------------------

Will save vs. glitterdust: [roll18]

If the save fails, Auran doesn't provoke the following AoOs:

AoOs vs. Auran
Bite: [roll19]; Damage: [roll20]; Crit Confirm: [roll21]
Bite: [roll22]; Damage: [roll23]; Crit Confirm: [roll24]
Bite: [roll25]; Damage: [roll26]; Crit Confirm: [roll27]
Bite: [roll28]; Damage: [roll29]; Crit Confirm: [roll30]
Bite: [roll31]; Damage: [roll32]; Crit Confirm: [roll33]
Bite: [roll34]; Damage: [roll35]; Crit Confirm: [roll36]

-------------------------

Hydra's attacks; if it's blinded, it has a 50% miss chance against Soranna and Faien and has to make a Perception check to find Auran

vs. Soranna
Bite: [roll37]; Damage: [roll38]; Crit Confirm: [roll39]; Miss chance: [roll40]
Bite: [roll41]; Damage: [roll42]; Crit Confirm: [roll43]; Miss chance: [roll44]

vs. Faien
Bite: [roll45]; Damage: [roll46]; Crit Confirm: [roll47]; Miss chance: [roll48]
Bite: [roll49]; Damage: [roll50]; Crit Confirm: [roll51]; Miss chance: [roll52]

vs. Auran
Perception [roll53] vs. Stealth [roll54]
If it succeeds, the hydra attacks
Bite: [roll55]; Damage: [roll56]; Crit Confirm: [roll57]; Miss chance: [roll58]
Bite: [roll59]; Damage: [roll60]; Crit Confirm: [roll61]; Miss chance: [roll62]

-------------------------

Soranna's Sunder attempt
Short sword [roll63] vs. Bite [roll64]; Damage: [roll65] plus [roll66] fire

Militia Attacks
Longbow: [roll67]; Damage: [roll68] plus [roll69] fire
Longbow: [roll70]; Damage: [roll71] plus [roll72] fire

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Map--Round 2
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/psychictheurge10/Causeway4.png

[Sallera]

Faien manages to avoid injury, shield and sword warding away the many jaws and forcing them to find less potent avenues of attack - only to glance off his fine plate. At Roni's call, he takes a moment to charge his blade, the edge humming with the contained current as he judges the path of the whipping necks. Certainly, it had not proven fruitful to close further, so... with the crackle of unleashed electricity, he lashes out at the first opening he sees, utilizing the blade's superior length to slice across the thick stump.

Sunder attempt: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] electricity + [roll3] fire

[TekHed]

Auran blocked high with his shield, glowing with faith, and blocked a killing bite from one of the heads, but the creature used the opening to strike low with another of it's thrashing appendages, apparently still deadly accurate in spite of it's new sightlessness.

Realizing he had no weapon suitable for a severing cut, Auran pressed on. "You two take the heads! I'll work on the body..."

Waiting for an opening, he smashed the heavy end of his long warstar into the huge flank of the beast.

Warstar: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]+[roll2] fire.

Protection Devotion: 8 Rounds
Divine Shield: 1 round
AC: 32

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

The spellscale smiles, glad to see that his tactics were having an effect against the creature. He strums another song to help keep up his friends' strength before winking back at his sister. "Stay safe, Vaer," he admonishes the younger Quickwing, "come what may." He hops off the causeway into the marshy grass with a splash and trudges off toward Soranna, Faien, and Auran. "We want stabbing, Sol," he calls out as he draws his longsword, "not smashing."

Swift Action: cast Inspirational Boost
Standard Action: activate Inspire Courage for a +3 morale bonus to attacks and a +2 morale bonus to damage.
Move Action: move towards those in melee with the creature, drawing a longsword as he moves.

[TekHed]

"Actually, I should think cutting would be the most effective type of instrument. Anyone have an extra blade to lend?" the Dragonborn called query to his allies.

[Fireheart]

"I've a dagger you can borrow." Vaeri says, chagrin in her voice, "but I'm not sure how much help it'll be!"
In the meantime, she sends another orb of cold at the fell creature.

Side note: Vaeri should be 15 feet closer, off the road. (Mainly 'cause orbs are short range spells.)

Cast orb of cold, no save, no SR

[roll0]
[roll1]

[TekHed]

Auran shook his finned head, grimacing against the pain shooting through his leg. "Dirk's are for thrusting. This calls for a cleaving instrument with some heft, a sword, or better an axe. If none can be found, I will make do regardless."

Presently, the Dragonborn steeled himself behind his shield in preparation for the swiftly incoming counter-attacks.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

The elder spellscale shrugs as he draws near his allies. "Slicing, stabbing, slashing. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Take this, Sol," he says as he offers the dragonborn his longsword.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The beast lashes out blindly, snapping at the three warriors near him or at least the last places it remembers them being. A frenzy of gnashing teeth descends upon them, then, unable to see and still smarting from Vaeri's blast of frost, the creature staggers backwards with jerky movements--not from injury, but from uncertainty about where to place its feet, as is logical for a beast used to seeing with twelve eyes and now seeing with none. The three warriors next to it take advantage of its distraction to strike at its necks; the magistrate just misses, but a four-part chorus of pained screeches greet the soldier's and paladin's successful strikes.

"Hit it before it gets down!" Soranna calls, but the woodsmen don't quite get their shots off before the creature is back in the water, the bulk of its body below the surface and the heads and necks behind the wagon's bulk. Though it cannot see, its heads are still facing the threat; one or two of them move to face in the direction of the bridge before turning back to the warriors, earflaps twitching as if it expects everyone to try to dash to safety. "Host-damned snake-head," the Captain growls, still brandishing her short sword warily. "Come back here, you filthy creature, I dare you."

Hydra's attacks
vs. Soranna
Bite: [roll0]; Damage: [roll1]; Crit Confirm: [roll2]; Miss chance: [roll3]
Bite: [roll4]; Damage: [roll5]; Crit Confirm: [roll6]; Miss chance: [roll7]

vs. Faien
Bite: [roll8]; Damage: [roll9]; Crit Confirm: [roll10]; Miss chance: [roll11]
Bite: [roll12]; Damage: [roll13]; Crit Confirm: [roll14]; Miss chance: [roll15]

vs. Auran
Bite: [roll16]; Damage: [roll17]; Crit Confirm: [roll18]; Miss chance: [roll19]
Bite: [roll20]; Damage: [roll21]; Crit Confirm: [roll22]; Miss chance: [roll23]

The hydra now has concealment (from the water) and cover (from the wagon) against attacks.

Everyone should make Move Silently checks with their actions if they're going to try to move across the bridge.

Soranna readies a sunder attempt for when the hydra comes back within reach
Short sword [roll24] vs. Bite [roll25]; Damage: [roll26] plus [roll27] fire

Militia Attacks
Longbow: [roll28]; Damage: [roll29] plus [roll30] fire
Longbow: [roll31]; Damage: [roll32] plus [roll33] fire

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Map--Round 3

[Placeholder post until Photobucket is working again. The hydra moved 2 square northwest, Soranna moved 3 squares north, everything else is the same.]

[Sallera]

"Retreating it may be, but we can hardly leave it here to menace traffic. Although I suppose the hobgoblins are the only traffic it's seen lately," Faien says sourly, struggling forward and holding his blade low to the side as he awaits an opportunity.

Faien does not deal well with difficult terrain. :3
Move 5ft north, ready action to sunder a head if one comes in range.
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] electricity + [roll3] fire

[Fireheart]

Move closer if she needs to, cast orb of cold, no save, no SR, ranged touch attack still.

[roll0]
[roll1]

"At least my spells seem to hurt it. I don't have anything that will remove the heads but maybe if we damage it enough, it will fall into the water and drown."

Vaeri edges around the wagon to try to get a clear shot.

[TekHed]

Auran stepped up next to Soranna, who clearly had a knack for phalanx fighting. Brandishing the blazing longsword Roni had lent him, Auran prepared again to cleave into the beast.


Justiciar applies to this round (free action from AoO).

Longsword Readied Sunder: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]+[roll2] fire

Protection Devotion: 7 Rounds (+3 Sacred AC to allies 30' radius)
Divine Shield: Expired
Auran's AC: 27

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The beast must have been scared by the last onslaught of swords, arrows, and frost, for it ducks down as low as it can in the water, the tips of its heads just barely peeking above the surface and poking around slowly as if not sure why they can't see anything.

The Captain holds her position warily, glancing back at the bridge. Her eyes narrow suspiciously, and she says, "Don't know what it's up to. Probably nursing its wounds. Should probably try to get everyone across--either it lets us get across unharmed, or we draw it out and finish it, a win for us either way."

The hydra is below the surface of the water, giving it cover and total concealment. Photobucket still isn't working for me, so no map again, but you all are easily within range to move up to it in melee if you want--just remember that the bank is eroded and you'll probably end up in the water if you try to get next to it.

Soranna continues readying a sunder attempt for her action.

[Fireheart]

"I'm fine with running across the bridge." Vaeri says, dusting invisible specs of dirt from her robes. "If it comes out of the water after me, the rest of you can attack it, yes?"


OOC: If no objections, Vaeri will try to get a running start, snap her wings and glide to the other side. Double move to get 60ft across.

[Sallera]

"Well, it's now two-thirds of the threat it used to be," Faien says wearily. "Still, I'd rather see it finished before we leave. It seems to recover easily, and if it chases the others across before we can follow, it would be difficult to catch it in time."

He closes his eyes for a few seconds, and his tabard dissolves into streaks of blue energy, which bind around his feet before solidifying into an extra pair of soles beneath his armoured boots, boosting his feet up through the mud. "If you begin the retreat and guard the others as they cross, I can chase it over the river as necessary."

Rapid Meldshaping, swapping the Spellward Shirt for Cerulean Sandals, and reinvesting essentia into them. If a Water Walk would remove the difficult terrain of the mud at this point, he'll also take a 5ft step north.

[TekHed]

Auran nodded. "Understood."

The paladin also flared his wings, flapping them once, then twice for a couple of leaps allowing him to clear the distance back to the bridge, before climbing back up to the slick surface.

Take 10 on 2 jumps to close the 20' gap, then a second move action to climb back up. This puts Auran at 2 squares above B on the last map that was posted, since I moved 5 feet up last turn.

Will have to go back for mace and wand after we defeat it.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni follows the lead of the others, beating his feet as fast as he can back through the marshy grass in order to return to his sister.

OOC: Double move 60' back towards and across the bridge.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Vaeri gracefully glides above the slick wood of the walkway, Auran lifts himself back onto it, and Captain Soranna begins backpedaling through the muck towards the bridge, keeping her shield facing the water where the hydra was last seen. "Davis, Baden, Zeke! Grab Bors and get your asses across that bridge!" she calls. One of the woodsmen grabs Bors's still-unconscious body and begins dragging him along while the other walks carefully along the slippery walkway.

Zeke, looking more than a bit overwhelmed by the situation, climbs back onto the walkway and begins jogging across to clear the danger as fast as possible. His boots slap noisily against the wooden boards. Slip-slap-slip-slap-slip-slap-THUD. One foot slides out from under him as he passes Roni and he falls loudly and face-first into the boards.

As the echoing thud of his fall fades, the river surges and the hydra rises out of the water near the bridge, mouths snapping wildly. It doesn't come close to hitting anyone--it's still blinded and hasn't risen near enough to seriously threaten anyone--but the crossing has suddenly gotten a lot more dangerous.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Map--Round 4
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/psychictheurge10/Causeway5.png

[TekHed]

Seeing more of the party in imminent danger, Auran's instincts kicked in and he took charge. "Soranna, follow my lead. Everyone else be silent. Faien, flank from the water. Roni, Vaeri, withdraw safely and keep up the barrage. Let it focus it's attacks on us three."

The paladin sidestepped across the bridge, then made an avian-like wing assisted hop to land and balance on the railing, wings outstretched. Pulsing another burst of brilliant platinum fire to coat his shield, Auran held it forward. He started clanging Roni's longsword, blazing with orange dragonfire, againt it. This created a terrific din accompanied by impressive explosions of incandescent orange sparks and micro-eruptions of platinum firebursts, which of course did nothing to impress the sightless hydra. The din however was, as stated, quite terrific.

"UP HERE! THIS WAY! ATTACK ME! I"M OVER HERE YA BIG BLIND BEAST!!!"

Auran takes one diagonal step up, just out of the hydra's current reach, the another diagonal hop to the northwest, to land on the railing.

A couple of acro rolls, for the jump, and the balance.

[roll0]
[roll1]

Spend another turn attempt (swift action) to up my Shield AC for another two rounds.

AC 27, or 32 if Auran still counts as adjacent to Soranna.

Protection Devotion: +3 Sacred bonus to AC within 30 feet of Auran: 5 rounds.

Defender Aura: +2 Divine bonus to saves 30' emanation, constant.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri continues to move away from the hydra. Shielding her eyes from Auran's display, Vaeri again calls on her magic, this time she shoots darts of ice at the hydra.

[roll0] ranged touch, no SR
dmg
[roll1] 1/2 dmg is cold

OOC: Can't see map at work, so assume she moves 30 ft away but then stops to cast.

[Sallera]

Pushing forward out of the mud, Faien skates across the surface of the river, rounding the bend with rather more alacrity than he displayed on land. As he slides to a stop next to the hydra, the glow from his sandals flows back into his gauntlets and belt, his skin toughening in anticipation of further attacks. "You have your foes, creature," he says, more to make sure it knows he's there than as any sort of threat.

Double move along the river to the square just west of the hydra's centre, reassign essentia from Sandals to Gauntlets and Belt.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni desperately wants to stay and fight with the others, but realizes when his skills are redundant. Instead, he joins his sister on the other side of the bridge and pulls out his mandolin once more, ready to continue inspiring his allies.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Vaeri's freezing darts sink into the beast's hide and its many necks slump into the river in exhaustion, its many wounds too much to bear. The woodsmen raise their bows, but the beast ducks under the river's surface and slinks away to nurse its injuries.

Sorry for the additional delay, folks; I was trying to get Photobucket to work since the maps still aren't showing up on my end...but I waited until I got it working to resolve everyone's actions and it turns out that Vaeri's spell drops the hydra to below the retreat HP threshold so the map wasn't needed after all. I'm an idiot. :smallsigh: :smallredface:

The hydra's defeated, yay! Everyone gets 375 XP.

[TekHed]

Auran leapt down from the railing, stowing his borrowed longsword as the flames licking the blade died down. He then moved to retrieve his wand, warstar and longspear, before cautiously approaching the scuttled cart.

d'oh! Too bad we couldn't have finished it off...with it's fast healing it will no doubt be back to further harass us, or others...no way to follow it underwater I suppose...

[Sallera]

"Damn the creature. This river is deeper than it looks." Sighing as the hydra vanishes from view, Faien lets his blade fade away and skates across the surface of the water toward the half-sunken remains of the cart.

"Well, at least we should be able to take our time with this now. You should regroup on one side or the other while we search, in case it returns." Pausing on the opposite side of the cart, his ethereal sandals keeping him from sinking into the mire, Faien removes his vambrace and takes a small hammer from his pack, setting the armour piece down on the edge of the cart and beating the dent from the hydra's teeth back into shape. That done, he takes a look at the contents of the cart and the possible identities of the fallen.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

The militia men continue dragging the fallen across the bridge to a safe spot, and as soon as Soranna assures herself that they all will live--if barely--she begins to give the conscious woodsmen a tongue lashing they won't soon forget.

The interior of the wagon is full of muck as one would expect, all sloshed up against the side nearest the bridge as if something had pulled the wagon toward the river through the bog. Up close, the very faded remnants of a symbol painted on the side of the wagon can be seen, an indeterminate outline colored in with what is now a smattering of rust-red paint flakes. The rotted remnants of cloth bags and sacks are scattered haphazardly inside surrounded by buzzing flies; most are empty except for a few that contain chunks of rotting meat, wilted half-bushels of grain, and other supplies.

Several skeletons lie under the wagon, one the upper torso of a tall and bulky humanoid that was probably a hobgoblin or bugbear, two more intact skeletons that were probably either goblins allied with the big skeleton or halflings or gnomes who were killed and had their wagon stolen by said big skeleton. Any remnants of skin or clothing are gone, but there are two metal objects there that don't seem to have been too badly affected by the swamp: one is a breastplate that comes out of the bog nice and shiny, the mud sliding off like a well-oiled sword sliding out of a sheath, and the other is a dagger sized for a human, plain aside from a copper filigree in the hilt.

[Sallera]

"This has been here quite a while. And the hobgoblins themselves the victims, it seems. Hm. Better them than some innocent traveller, but I would still have preferred it if we had managed to take care of the hydra."

As the breastplate slides out of the muck, Faien examines it appreciatively. "Good work. Enchanted, perhaps, but well-made nonetheless. We may as well take these two pieces with us; I am sure they can serve someone better than their previous owners."

[TekHed]

"Perhaps we will be able to finish it off on our return trip...with Roni's flame caressing our weapons, it won't regrow any of it's severed necks back." the paladin replied.

"I'll need attend to the injured." he added, flapping his way back through the bog and up onto the bridge. Once across he returned the longsword to Roni, and drew out his wand.

"Now, who needs attending?"

Just let me know how many charges it will take to get everyone back up to full.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Three charges will take care of the NPCs.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri assists in carrying the wounded but otherwise remains quiet.

"I am well, Auran." she says as she helps the wounded to sit and stand after they are healed.

[OMG PONIES]

Roni has a few bumps and bruises, but he's determined to put on a brave face. Before meeting Auran, he would have done so just to impress Soranna, but now he also felt he had something to prove to the dragonborn. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he says with a nod. "Let's keep moving."

[Sallera]

Faien hauls the breastplate and dagger back to the horses, securing them wherever he can find room; even once back on land, his steps seem much lighter than before. Mounting up, he nods, the lenses over his eyes regaining their former sense of reality. "Yes, if everyone is restored and ready to continue, let us resume our marching order. We can only hope our battle has not alerted anyone nearby to our plans."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"That's for damn sure," the Captain mutters grumpily in response to Faien's comment. "If these greenies lost their head like that in a fight against one big dumb beast...." She gives the order for the suitably-chastised militia men to fall in around you, and your party continues to follow the road. You don't see any sign of the hydra nearby, and it doesn't surprise you at any later point in your trek. In fact, it's fairly quiet in the forest for the rest of your journey through it; few birds are singing, and any wildlife you see scamper away at your approach. Something certainly has them spooked.

The road gradually curves to the northwest, and after another half-hour or so you stop for lunch, since obviously fishing at the river didn't exactly work out. The woodsmen manage to bring down and cook some game to supplement the supplies you brought with you, complaining when they return about the annoyance of hunting skittish animals. While you eat, the Captain shows you on the map that the road forks soon, one branch heading off to the west and slightly southerly while the eastern branch continues on to New Cyre. The goblins' camp is unlikely to be much farther north with the traffic around New Cyre, so Soranna suggests that you follow the west road to go deeper into the Vale.

After lunch, you take her advice and take the west road when you reach it. This road, known as Filigree Way, soon meanders out of the forest to leave you in open plains full of waist-high grass and the occasional hill. Off in the distance, you can see the hill known as Dragonmount directly ahead of you, with its famous Dragon's Crown of monoliths atop it. Most explorers and geographers have heard of the Dragon's Crown, though of course no one knows what the monoliths do or why they're there...but, as Soranna mentions with a note of confusion in her voice, she hasn't heard of there being a castle there before. "Castle" is overstating things a bit--it's more of a tower with small outbuildings--but there is indeed new construction on Dragonmount where there shouldn't be any. A few figures are walking around the tower, and a group of several figures breaks off and heads towards the forest (to the south, not coming in your direction) as you observe the keep.

"Gobs and hobs. Bet my armor on it," says Soranna quietly. "Looks like the place we want. Don't like being so exposed, though. How do you want to handle this?"

[Sallera]

"Hrm. We could potentially circle around and attempt to catch up to the group that departed; a direct assault on fortifications sounds rather impractical with this few, unless we have any effective measures available for such a plan?" Faien glances to Roni and Vaeri, looking for their input. "Such construction speaks to their dedication to this campaign. It can only be so sturdy, however, if it is recent. It is certainly high enough to provide them with a commanding view of the area, so I agree that we should decide quickly."

Focusing on the distant keep, he attempts to discern a few more relevant details. "What would you reckon the height of that tower to be?"

Is the tower of wooden or stone construction? Roughly how tall is it?

[TekHed]

"I was just going to say. We ought follow that group there, determine their aim, and possibly capture them for interrogation."

What do the monoliths look like on top of the hill, and how is the for situated in/around them? Are there any pictures? If not a more precise description will help.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Soranna squints and shades her eyes with her hand. "Not sure. Two stories? Three? Dragon's Crown's supposed to be twenty feet tall, and the tower looks about the same."

Sallera: The tower looks to be two stories tall plus battlements on top and mostly made of stone; the outbuildings are less than a story tall and made of wood.

TekHed: The fort is to the north of the ring of ten monoliths, each of which is at least fifteen feet tall. If the monoliths are any more than plain pillars of stone, you can't see any details from this distance, and you'll need to get closer to make out any details of the keep as well. There's a map of just the keep when you get closer.

Knowledge (Geography, History, or Religion) DC 15
The Dragon's Crown monoliths are steeped in mystery. Nothing much grows within or near Dragonmount; any plants aside from fairly sad-looking wilted grass that take root within the ring of monoliths wither and die within days. It is rumored that the monoliths glow with eldritch light when at least one moon is full and "sing" a haunting melody, but none of the locals have been brave enough to find out for themselves if this is true.

It is also said that cultists of the Dragon Below consider the Dragon's Crown to be a sacred site and use it for dark rituals. The only evidence for this has been the occasional corpse found within the ring and rumors of unholy sigils carved in the dirt, but again no one has been brave enough to investigate further.

[TekHed]

"Is that the Dragon's Crown?" Auran asked, squinting. "I've heard ill-rumors of that place. Not a good omen to see it fortified so, if these indeed are the enemies we hunt."

Glancing at Soranna he shrugged. "Granted that be the most likely of explanations, though I am not an an expert in goblin fortifications."


Huh...I'm glad I asked...I imagined the hill to be much bigger...like a big hill easily a few hundred feet tall.

Also, I checked SRD and didn't find anything that prevents taking 10 on Knowledge checks so that gives Auran a 15 in religion.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri looks cautiously and shakes her head. But then she quietly adds,

"Wait...Dragon's Crown, you said? Wasn't there a rumour that followers of the Dragon Below believed the Dragon's Crown to be a sacred site."

She shudders and adds "I think I remember hearing a rumour that there was a corpse found at one point within the ring. Wasn't the corpose supposed to be surrounded by unholy sigils?"

Knowledge Religion
[roll0]

[Sallera]

"I have not heard of the place, but it comes to mind that I have a token to call an oak from the soil; it would grow within seconds, to three times the height of that tower, and would provide us with relatively easy ingress, if we took hold of the tree as it grew. The main issue would be getting close enough to use it without suffering undue arrow fire from above... this grass will not hide us or our horses for long enough to get within range for a charge."

"The issue I see with pursuing the second group is that we would have a difficult time making it around the fort without being spotted. If they have any means of keeping in contact, the scouts will know to stay well out of sight."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

The elder spellscale nods at his sister's description. "Mmhmm, that's right, sis. I'm kicking myself that I didn't pay more attention when I came across that in the Histories of the Loretower Cabal. I remember it was about five years ago, but I can't recall for the life of me what the symbols meant. Even still, nasty hobs camping out at an unhallowed altar don't give me the warm fuzzies."

The bard scoffs at Faien's suggestion, but immediately apologizes. "We're concerned about stealth, but our plan is to ride a sprouting sequoia? I'm sorry, Magistrate--forgive me for being flippant, but I think subtlety is called for here." Roni strokes his chin for a quick moment, and snaps his fingers as an idea hits him. "I think I know a glamer that can do the trick...Vaer, did I ever teach you my little shapechanging schtick? I can take the shape of a hob, and if any of you've got any magic or stealth you can either follow suit or hide amongst our gear. The rest of you will have to do some acting; I'll bring you into the keep as my prisoners, and we'll be inside before you know it. What do you say?"

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Sallera]

"We are concerned about stealth insofar as we wish to actually catch these hobgoblins, without them simply melting out of sight as soon as they catch wind of our presence. If we were to decide upon a direct assault on their fortress, stealth would swiftly become both implausible and unnecessary." Faien shakes his head at Roni's suggestion, waving a hand at the tower.

"The idea might have merit in a larger camp, but at this small outpost, they will know the faces of everyone they work with. While you could become a hobgoblin, you would not be one they would immediately trust. And I would not be surprised if they recognized Captain Soranna as well, if any of them were among those who have been harassing the town. Although on second thought, it might suffice to get us close enough for the other plan..."

[TekHed]

"T'would be foolhardy to attempt an assault, stealthy or otherwise, upon that hill without knowing what we are up against. This is a scouting mission, not a suicide one. What our our options for intercepting their patrol undiscovered?"

[Sallera]

"Few. The fort is between them and us; if we turn back now and circle around through the forest, we might have a small chance of intercepting them on their way back, but we have no way of knowing if they are even intending to come back. If they don't, they will have far too much of a lead for us to catch up."

[Fireheart]

Vaeri shakes her head at Roni's question.

"Nope...not one I've managed to pick up at yet...

Could we perhaps play dumb? Simply walk up? Approaching cautiously but not hididng? We do not yet know that these are enemies, do we? Perhaps they are simply foolish enough to try and build in an area they do not know is claimed?"

[Sallera]

Faien gives a half-smile, shrugging. "It would be excellent if it worked. However, if they are as hostile as we expect, they would need only to wait for us to come well within range, and we would be exposed to arrow fire for far too long." Waving a hand as if to cut off the argument, he motions everyone back deeper into the forest.

"Enough; we've talked for too long already, and we will be spotted. We have time, now that this fort has been located; we will implement our options in ascending order of risk. First, we will send half our force - Auran, Vaeri, Soranna, Bors, and Davis - around through the forest and lay an ambush for the returning patrol. The rest of us will do the same on this path. Should the patrol not return along either path by the time the sun touches the horizon, we will regroup at your position and attempt a covert approach to the fort. If they prove as hostile as we expect, we can use the tree and enter from above; that should negate their defensive advantage. Any further objections?"

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Hate to just let them go like that. What if they're raiding Drellin's Ferry while we're out here? But you're right, nothing we can do about it now, we'd just be seen and they'd get reinforcements." Soranna looks up at the position of the sun in the sky, then back toward the forest. "I'd say wait a little longer, maybe half an hour past dusk. If the gobs are attacking this time of day, they'll probably wait until after dusk to retreat, when they can see and most of the townsfolk are blind. My men can tell the time from the constellations if you can't." She shrugs. "Sounds like a good plan otherwise."

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

Roni was still uneasy with a plan that ended with the possibility of them hitching a ride on a magical tree. He was much more comfortable when he could lie through his teeth, as it allowed him to improvise as long as he knew the key. Following someone else's plan had always felt a bit like sight-reading a piece of music--more of an exacting science than improvisation, and with far less room for either error or experimentation. Even still, he felt that he had to respect Faien's idea of ranking the plans from safest to riskiest. "Say, magistrate," he pipes up, "when you talk about approaching covertly do you mean my Goblin Surprise idea? Or do you mean making it up the Mount without being seen?"

As the others begin to split into the two subgroups suggested by Faien, Roni pulls his younger sister aside. "Listen, Vaer," he says in a tone that, despite his best efforts, comes across as concerned and parental, "I know the lawman thinks his plan will work like gangbusters, but he can't help but think like a lawman. Any half-respecting gobbo will see his ambush a mile away. If you're lucky, they'll steer clear of you. If you're not..." Roni can't bring himself to finish his thought, and instead changes the subject. "The others are used to fighting together, but if anything goes South you just use these and make haste back here, savvy?"

[Fireheart]

Vaeri listens intently to Roni. "I will, Roni. Don't worry. You know me...I like to stay as far away from getting hit as possible."

[Sallera]

Faien nods; an ambush in the dark would be more difficult, but the logic of their time of return was sound. "Half an hour past dusk it is, then."

"The latter would be close to impossible, I'm sure," he replies to Roni. "Likely either some variation on your idea or Vaeri's; we can discuss that further if it becomes necessary."

[TekHed]

Auran furrowed his bescaled brow. "Is it wise to divide our forces in such potentially hostile territory? These woods could be crawling with more patrols. What if one of our groups is ambushed? Or captured?"

[Sallera]

"Have you a better method of covering both paths of return?" Faien waves an arm at the fort impatiently. "Intercepting the scouts was your desire, I believe. Each group will have numbers roughly equal to those of any patrol, assuming they are similar in composition to the one that left earlier. Not only will both groups have the potential advantage of surprise and magical support, both you and Captain Soranna, as well as myself, are skilled in defense, allowing us to take the frontline and occupy the patrol's attention. It is the surest method I can offer you of taking prisoners before we sound the fort."

[Fireheart]

Vaeri listened and then quietly spoke.

"We should go. The longer we wait here, the more chance of being seen by someone in the tower."

[Sallera]

"On that I most certainly agree. Roni, you are, I am guessing, more skilled at staying out of sight than I. If you, Zeke, and Baden can assist each other in finding suitable ambush spots, I will check from the road with these lenses to ensure you will not be seen; if I cannot spot you with my vision enhanced thus, it is unlikely the hobgoblins will. I myself will stay entirely out of sight and count on you for the signal; this armour is far too conspicuous for stealth. Let us move a short ways back along the path so we are well out of range of the tower's eyes even once battle begins."

[TekHed]

Auran sighed. "I too lack much flair for subtlety these days. Nonetheless, we shall take our leave. Good Fortune."

As they split off with Vaeri and Soranna, Auran turned to the militia captain. "Which of your men are best at tracking and hunting? We will need someone skilled to scout ahead."

[PairO'Dice Lost]

"Probably Bors," Soranna answers after a moment of thought. "Must be why I keep him around. Definitely isn't his combat savvy." She smiles briefly to show her complaints are meant in jest now that the danger is past, and from Bors' expression this incident is going to be added to a long list of running jokes that they're not going to let each other forget. "He can help conceal people if they need it." She looks Auran up and down, taking in his shining scales and polished armor with another grin. "And from the looks of things, Sparkles, you need it. Come on, time to set up. Best of luck, Magistrate."

The Captain makes an "after you" gesture to Bors, and he leads Auran, Vaeri, Soranna, and Davis slowly around the perimeter of the forest, staying deep enough in the underbrush so that their movement would remain unseen from the fortress but close enough to the edge to keep an eye out for any new goblin parties. Meanwhile, Baden and Zeke look for a suitable ambush location near the road. Both parties eventually find a good place, and they hunker down to wait.

Since you're under no pressure at the moment, everyone can take 10 on their Stealth checks. Both parties will have their woodsmen Aid Another the others as well:
Baden: [roll0]
Bors: auto-succeeds
Davis: [roll1]
Zeke: [roll2]
EDIT: Looks like the young and inexperienced Zeke just isn't up to the task. Auran and Vaeri get +4 to their Steath, Faien and Roni get +2.

I don't have the module on me at the moment so that update will have to wait a few hours, but in the meantime, pay no attention to the random rolls behind the curtain:
[roll3]
[roll4]

[OMG PONIES]

Roni accepts the offers of help from his companions. As the group starts hiding near the road, the elder spellscale remembers something that he had heard in one of the bard's songs during his short semester at college. "I believe that dirt can serve to mask our appearance, if anyone can find any mud. It's dirty work, but someone's gotta do it." As he jokes, he rubs his hand in the dirt and smears it on his face and arms, helping to prevent his scales from reflecting the rapidly dwindling light.

Stealth check of 19 after burning a point of Inspiration via Cunning Knowledge and taking 10.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri tries to move as quietly as possible but whether it's her wings, her clothes, or something else, she is not very quiet.

Her Stealth is 14 w/the bonus and taking 10. :(

~Fireheart

[Sallera]

After checking from the road to make sure the others are well hidden, and correcting them if they're not, Faien does his best to find a location completely concealed from the road, counting on the others for the necessary signal.

I'm assuming we tied the horses well away from the road; they'd probably be even harder to hide than Faien.

Anyway, Faien's going to try and find a spot with total cover from the road, but if he can't, or the attempt gives no bonuses, Stealth result is 10.

[TekHed]

Auran followed along, feeling very wary and exposed so near a hostile force. He let the woodsman lead the way, picking out the most optimal route for their less than optimally stealthy entourage.

Also have a 14 with taking 10 and aid another's.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

An interminably long time passes sans goblinoids. The leaves, dirt, and other camouflage coverings you're using are starting to itch and get on your nerves, but you continue to wait patiently.

And wait.

And wait.

And waaaaait.

Shortly after dusk, just when you think you can't take another minute of it, the soft sounds of several creatures trampling through the underbrush reach your ears.

Auran and VaeriIt seems the goblinoids are returning the way they left, as the creatures are approaching your location. "Steady..." Soranna says under her breath as the creatures come into better view: four large armored hobgoblins, two bearing swords and two carrying bows. They aren't close enough to see you yet, but they will be momentarily.

[Hobgoblin Perception rolls: [roll0] [roll1] [roll2] [roll3]

You have 2 rounds to prepare an ambush or do whatever else; make them count!]

Faien and RoniIt seems the goblinoids are returning the way they left, as the creatures are approaching the other location. The sounds you hear are very faint and coming from the direction of your compatriots' hiding place. If there are any goblinoids heading your way you can't hear or see them yet.

[You have 2 rounds before the goblinoids reach the other location, during which you can stay where you are, run over to them at the risk of being discovered, or do whatever else. Make them count!

[TekHed]

"I will draw their attention. The rest of you circle around to flank them, prevent them from fleeing."

Auran mutters a few incantations to himself, appearing suddenly more noble and resplendent. Slinging his shield across his back, he tightens his grip upon his longspear, preparing to charge.

First round, standard cast Protection from Evil and Swift cast Eagle's Splendor.

Second round... cast Rhino's Rush and charge in (hopefully with surprise), going for one of the armored Hobs. If for some reason charging is not possible, will forgo RR, cast in the second round, and step out in the third.

(Assuming evil, otherwise attack roll at -7 and damage roll at -5)

Longspear:[roll0]
Damage: [roll1]x2

AC 16 this round.

[Fireheart]

Vaeri nods and pulls out her component pouch. She quickly casts a spell on herself and then readies her spells for the goblins.

First Round:
Casts Watchful Ancestors on herself: can't be flanked, +5 to reflex saves


Second Round:
Waits. - but if Someone engages. She'll cast Magic Missile on that character's creature.

[roll0]

[OMG PONIES]

Roni Quickwing

As Roni watches the goblins' leisurely stroll, he can't silence the little voice in the back of his head that keeps reminding him that those beasts were closing in on his kid sister. The voice whispers at first, then eventually speaks for a moment before it starts shouting; it takes everything within him not to dash to her hiding spot, ambush be damned. Instead, he waits.

Patience, Roni, he hears his father's voice gently chide as he thinks back to the halcyon summer days of his youth alongside the stream that ran through the Quickwing family's property. Roni could still see the splashing figure of young Vaeri in the water, desperately trying to swim. The boy had decided to jump in after her--he had already taken off his tunic and was running to the water in his shortpants. He would have made it in, too, had his father's purple-scaled arm not stopped him. "Some lessons must be learned alone," he said. "She's ready for this." Roni was panicking, but his father remained calm and collected. The eldest spellscale kept both eyes on his daughter and called out, "Remember, Chari, just like I taught you: kick and reach." Roni pushed against his father's arm, but it did little besides cause small scrapes on his bare chest. "If we do not struggle, we can never strive," his father whispered to him. Almost on cue, Vaeri's spastic flailing became a rythmic stroke and she found her balance in the water. "I'm doing it, I'm doing it!" the young girl called out in delight. Her father nodded, beaming with pride as he turned his attention back to his son. "It looks like both of you have learned something today, eh Chen?"

Roni keeps his breathing shallow and quiet as he watches the potential ambush unfold within his field of vision. There would be a time for him to assist, but right now this was not his battle to fight. Okay, sis, he thinks to himself, time to start swimming. You can do this.

[Sallera]

Faien settles into a comfortable wait as the day drags on, half alertness and half meditation. Books and tutors, page after page of ancient knowledge, flicker through his memory, some applied and some discarded. It was where everything he did now had begun, and he had not moved far beyond it in his few years in the field. Foundations, bringing the past into the present; that was the core of his strategies and his magic alike, of everything he relied upon to resolve this unexpected conflict.

Was it the correct source for the situation? Auran claimed to be a war leader, yet his strategies seemed greatly removed from the writings of Galifar or Kaius; even foolish, at times. Had warfare advanced so far since his time? Roni preached deception at every opportunity, and it was not difficult to understand why; it was not something Faien had studied extensively, but even without the constraints of his profession, he could not help feeling that ill-placed, it would do more harm than good. Vaeri seemed eager to learn, absorbing advice and its reasons willingly, but as far as he could tell, had little field experience to build on. No, a former captain of a foreign army she may be, but Soranna was nonetheless the only one he could think of as his superior.

The night is calm and clear, and surprisingly, he has no trouble picking out the sounds of the returning patrol. Heading... for the other ambush. Good; the chances had been greater, and he had assigned the stronger force there for a reason. Now that the trap was sprung, they had only to play their role as reserves. Rising, Faien pulls a sling from his pack and carefully loads a bullet. "Ranged weapons," he murmurs to the others. "Approach with caution, stay within the treeline, and leave the main battle to the others. Focus on bringing down any runners before they can reach the fort."

Going for the stealthy approach.

Wasn't sure how well I was getting across Faien's 'classically educated' persona, so perhaps this will have him make a little more sense. He doesn't have as much practical experience as he might seem to.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Auran and VaeriSoranna nods in agreement with Auran's plan and sends the woodsmen stalking off to the sides with a few hand gestures. She readies her spear and shield and steps up next to Vaeri to defend her, gesturing for the two of them to move more to the side so their targets are more evenly surrounded. The Captain silently counts to herself, then nods sharply to Auran: the woodsmen should be in position now.

Everything happens at once as the hobgoblins step into the open. Auran's spear sinks deeply into the chest of the closest goblinoid as he charges out of cover, and his target goes down with a strangled howl of pain. Arrows whiz out of the foliage behind the hobgoblins and thud into their thick armor without doing any noticeable damage. Vaeri's bolt of magic joins the arrows in attacking the hapless hobgoblin, zigging over his shield and zagging under his breastplate to strike him right in the gut; he's hurt, but still standing.

The hobgoblins may have been taken by surprise, but they react with military discipline to the ambush. The surviving swordsman hefts his shield and his sword warily, while the archers nock an arrow and start scanning the forest for the location of the woodsmen, and all three move closer together to better cover each other.

The woodsmen both attack one hobgoblin
Longbow: [roll0]; Damage: [roll1]
Longbow: [roll2]; Damage: [roll3]

Soranna readies an action to attack any hobgoblin who comes within reach.

Initiative
Hobgoblins: [roll4]
Auran: [roll5]
Vaeri: [roll6]
Soranna: [roll7]
Militia: [roll8]

EDIT: Looks like you two get to act first, then the hobgoblins, then the NPCs.

Map--Surprise Round
http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/psychictheurge10/Ambush1_zpsa01eea51.png

The purple S is the hobgoblin with a sword, the purple As are the archers. The forest is fairly thick with trees, so you can assume that you have cover from the archers as long as you're more than 2 squares away. The edge of the forest and thus the keep is to the right of the map, while down and to the left is back towards Drellin's Ferry.

Faien and RoniYour group hustles quietly towards the commotion, threading your way through the trees as fast as you can without risking being seen. Zeke and Baden retrieve their bows as they go, each nocking an arrow as ordered. Suddenly, the sounds of battle arise from your destination, albeit very faint ones: A barely-audible yelp of pain reaches your position and some muddled clunks and clanks follow it.

"By the Six, this is taking too long!" Zeke hisses. "We need to get over there and help them! Are you sure we have to do things this slowly?"

[Sallera]

Faien/Roni:"I would not have split us up in the first place were I not confident that half of our force could handle an ambush, and the stronger half at that. Have faith, and keep your eyes on the approach," Faien mutters. "If one of them breaks for the fort, that will be the time for haste, but being noticed too soon would only alert them to the danger."