Gai-len 2.0 (IC)

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Gai-len is a world different from those most are familiar with. The greatest and most flourishing civilizations consist of Orcs and Goblinoids, which live in relative peace alongside plenty strong and proud tribes of Giants of all sorts, Kobolds, Lizardfolk and many more monstrous beings. The element that disrupts the peace of this world the most is the relatively small and scattered population of Humans, Elves and Dwarves. Gnomes and Halflings exist, but only in captivity. They are being cultivated by the Orcs for their superior qualities as servants and mobile side tables.

Ages ago, the monstrous humanoids (this includes Orcs, Goblins, etc.) decided that the Humans, Elves and Dwarves deserved a place of their own. All humanoids were provided with free passage to a continent far overseas where they were left in peace, as promised. In return, being regarded a pest, the humanoids were outlawed in all other continents and mercilessly hunted down. Being once, in a distant past, the dominant creatures of this world, the humanoids slowly developed a sense of entitlement, however. This was their world and they felt they had every right to be wherever they wanted to be.

Over many, many generations the humanoids developed a tradition in which the second and fourth born son and daughter in every family underwent rigorous military training and was then sent off to the continents of the monstrous humanoids. Their mission was simple: through whatever means necessary, which usually implied guerrilla warfare, attempt to disrupt the monstrous humanoid society and, if possible, start settlements. One important element of this tradition is that this is a one-way trip. Return to the humanoid homeland is not an option: A simple matter of pride. The main characters in this story are guerrilla warriors sent to the monstrous continents, and about to find out that the repopulation tactic of their ancestors had not quite been successful.

Two and a half months at sea had taken its toll on most of the troop you were sent with. Out of 50 men and women, 20 had died of malnutrition and disease. The remaining warriors were weakened, yet determined to succeed. Each and every one of them wanted to slay at least three monsters for every friend they had lost. No one, nothing would stop them from doing so.

The giants that were travelling alongside the sun-scarred beaches disagreed, however. After landing and leaving their vessel, and after congratulating one another on surviving the trip the warriors set out on the beach, discussing the next step.

As if through magic they were surrounded by four colossal dwarves. Although....as if? Their pitch black skins were only visible on their with fierce red hair covered forearms, the rest of their bodies were covered with chain armor. Four devastating sweeps with huge hammers and a few seconds later only a few of the proud warriors remained. Swiftly running back to their boat, they managed to evade a certain death. The giants were not planning on entering the water. Dozens of bodies were stripped of valuables and the band set off, leaving the disillusioned warriors afloat.

You are these warriors. There was one more, Durgol, a dwarven barbarian. In almost all ways a typical dwarf: stout, strong, far from comely and with a determination only surpassed by the length of his pitch black beard. He only lacked the sense of organization and calm typical for his kin. Too terrified to enter the beach again, you stayed afloat for two days. During the second day you noticed two small vessels, quicker than and with more maneuverability than your ship, approaching you, packed with Orcs. If it weren’t for your shattered morale, you would have gone down fighting.

Shortly after your incarceration the Orcs found out about your abilities as magicians and escape artists, which made them decide to transport you bound and gagged. As long as you stay calm you can breathe through your noses and, if necessary, you can communicate using variations on ‘murr’, ‘hnng’ and ‘gaah’. Your feet are tied by ropes to one another, leaving just over one foot of room for careful treading. Your hands are bound behind your backs with small manacle-like contraptions and, in order to make sure none of you wiggles out, they are fit so tight that your skin is torn beneath the edges. Every movement of your hands leaves you in fear of breaking your wrists. These precautions made them so confident to decide to have you escorted by only four Orcs, two of which look distinctly daft. Moreover, you are carrying your own equipment: you seem harmless now and it saves them energy.

During the past two weeks you have been escorted through what strikes you as a savannah, travelling from one source of water to the other. The frequency and density of the bushes is slowly diminishing and you realise you are heading towards a desert. You are heading perhaps towards a mine of some sort to be put to labour or maybe to tribes living on the other side of the desert to be sold as slaves. Durgol, the dwarf, is the only other captive on this transport. You have noticed that with every day his face looks more and more grim. During the past three days you have been hearing distinct whimpering... he is either in a lot of pain, or he is about to crack mentally. Or both. Then, right after a short stop in which the Orcs drank some water and offered you and the dwarf a sip of a mixture of sand and water, a most peculiar event takes place.

It all started with a faint snap, or was it the feral roar? Either way, right after, Durgol leaps forward towards the two Orcs in front of you as you see the manacles hanging from his left wrist and a bloody stump on the end of his right arm. Raging and howling the dwarf smacks the manacles, as if it were a flail, into the back of the head of one of the Orcs. The Orc topples as the dwarf turns his attention to the other Orc. The two Orcs behind you shout and draw their axes while they see the berserker effortlessly snapping the neck of the terrified Orc. Both remaining Orcs charge at Durgol. Probably due to his uncertain footing in the sand the first Orc fumbles his attack horribly, cleaving his buddy in half. For a short moment the dwarf and the last remaining Orc gauge one another as Durgol decides to reach for the axe of one of the dead Orcs. His lapse of defence proves fatal when the rusty blade of a greataxe gets planted in the side of his head.

Merely 10 seconds after the snap and the roar, the Orc pulls the axe out of the dwarf’s head with some effort. He turns around and glares at the you. “So...let that be a warning for you” he grunts in the Orcish language. “Let’s move, pinkskins”. As the Orc reaches out to collect the few valuables he can carry this story starts....


If only being bound and gagged was the worst of your condition. Alas, it isn’t. You are strained to the point where normal mortal souls would have succumbed. It is only through cannibalizing your arcane energy or sheer toughness that you managed to stay afoot and conscious. A mere swing with a rotten club could take you out of commission swiftly. At least, that is how you feel. This exercise also exposes your weaknesses in a painful way. Especially Sahreen and Kaladin are suffering badly. They wobble on their feet and have been supported by Hrothgar (who seems to be coping relatively well) and lady Aderis during the past few days. Renard is hanging in but struggling.

If you only had been vaguely familiar with one another by the time the ship landed, that has changed now. This has been a team-building extraordinaire experience, so far, in which each of you depended on the others to get through....and this was only the beginning. Still....something has to happen....for you are literally dying slowly and this, well, this may very well be the moment. You share a common insight: poor Durgol. We cannot have him die for nothing....because if he did, so will we.


The strain I described above results in the following temporary conditions. No worries, you will get rid of it soon enough:
-Your Str and Dex are reduced by 6 points (to a minimum score of 4). Hrothgar´s Str and Dex are reduced by 3 points, due to his toughness feat..
-You have a -2 penalty on attacks, saves and ability checks (including skills), this is superimposed on the -6 Str/Dex penalty. Hrothgar, your penalty is -1.
-Your hp are low, very low. You don’t know exactly how low, but you are sure it is less than 50% of your standard maximum.
-Spellcasters, invokers, music users and eldritch blasters have used up their arcane soup. You still know/have memorized all your abilities, but you have the energy left to execute/capitalize on just one move. One spell, one invocation, one blast, one song. Make it count, if you can.

This may come across a bit harsh, and that is the whole purpose. No worries, you will get to full power soon enough and I will not rid you of your powers again (well, not like this). It is just the way this campaign kicks off.

[DrK]

They had stood together in caves fighting grimlocks, good the wall fighting mountain trolls and had endured the brutal and harsh voyage so far. Clan brothers they had pledged to guard each other in battle and now he had fallen to a pathetic beast of an orc.

He was exhausted but this was the last he could bear, anger clouds his mind a cry of DURGOL!! on his lips. He threw himself at the bonds forcing the edges of the spiked gauntlets against the rope.



Rage, try and break the bonds [roll0] (and hope to luck!)
Edit: DURGOL shall be avenged!


Hps X / 74 (88 rage)
AC 21 touch 14 FF 17
Saves +14 /6/6 (+2 vs poison/spell, +1 vs traps, +2 fort/will when rage)

Conditions:(not included in above)
Rage 1/9 rounds
Exhausted -3 Str/dex - effective Str 20 in rage
-1 attack/saves

[Autopsibiofeeder]

History repeats itself as yet again a Dwarven barbarian cries out and breaks his bonds, this time without damaging his own limbs. Fortunately for the Orc, he is weary of berserking Dwarves breaking free and Hrothgar doesn´t catch him flat-footed like Durgol had before. The Orc pumps himself up, as if to indicate that he is going to take swift care of this situation. Hrothgar responds quickest to the new situation and may act first.

Remember, your feet are bound to each other, so you cannot move as freely as normal (speed is reduced to half normal and you cannot charge or run).

While the Orc tries to show otherwise, he is afraid....very afraid.


Hrothgar: [roll0]
Orc: [roll1]
The rest of the party gets to act after Hrothgar and the Orc.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The battle maddened dwarf tears free from the bindings and leaps at the orc. His arm cocked as he lashes out with his spiked gauntlets seeking to drive the cold iron gauntlet through through the things thick skull.


Hop 15ft
Punch it in the face!
[roll0] (+11 basic, +2 orc, +2 rage, -2 exhausted)
[roll1] + [roll2] nemesis


Hps X / 74 (88 rage)
AC 21 touch 14 FF 17
Saves +14 /6/6 (+2 vs poison/spell, +1 vs traps, +2 fort/will when rage)

Conditions:(not included in above)
Rage 1/9 rounds
Exhausted -3 Str/dex - effective Str 20 in rage
-1 attack/saves

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar plants his armed fist in the middle of the Orc´s face. "Ow..." you hear a muffled curse as he falls on his bottom "man...". He raises his hands in the air while he spits out a tooth and his nose starts bleeding heavily. "Allright, allright" he speaks Orcish, which you all understand, but he speaks a bit faster than you´re used to and pronounces some of the vowels differently, as if he has a strange dialect. "Okay...you got me. Go. You´re free!" He looks at you, awaiting your next action.

All others may act.

[PersonMan]

Sahreen takes a moment to gather herself, straightening her legs with the strength she has left. Giving the orc a stern look, she turns briefly to Hrothgar and a series of muffled words come out of her gag. She approaches the dwarf as quickly as she can manage, hoping to solve things quickly. She would rather be cut loose now than watch the enraged warrior cut apart a terrified, fleeing orc.

"Hrrrgn, mphmmm, mhmgrhm, mfm, bffphmhmhmh," she says, turning around and pushing her bound wrists towards him.

Gonna try and use the Send Secret Message function of the Bluff skill to communicate here - I think it's the best rule present for 'can you communicate stuff using body language, looks and non-word noises'.

Message is: "Untie me so I can help, don't do anything stupid".

Bluff: [roll0]

EDIT: So, the default DC for a secret message is 15, but 20 is listed as 'complex messages, especially those that rely on getting across new information'. I'm not sure which is most appropriate, I think it depends on whether or not you think 'untie me' is new information when combined with shoving bindings in someone's face.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

It is quite obvious to all that pay attention that Sahreen is trying to relay some information and that it appears to be urgent. Given the context, removing her gag might be a step closer to solving whatever is bothering her.

I think in order to get a "real" message across, you need to actually speak (as in the old innuendo skill), but your check is high enough to bring across an "emotion" or "intent" and, especially given the context, it is obvious that you have to say something of (in your opinion) importance.

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Humming a tune under his breath that he has used countless times in just a dire situation Renard can only think of a few occasions where he has ever been pushed this far to his limits. Master Aramas who taught him that his rapier was more than just a weapon, it was an extension of his arm, pushed him like this a few times to teach him that there will be times like this and to make sure he was prepared for those times. Even so just as he's wondering what the other dwarf could be feeling that dwarf cries out and breaks his bonds flinging himself at the wary orc. This time the battle is over before it began...the orc surrenders before Renard could do anything.

As one of the women gets up clearly in distress Renard attempts to call all of their names to mind as he tries to wriggle out of his own bonds.

[roll0] since you said manacle like I'm assuming their made of metal, however in case their rope of some kind I get a +2 to escape artist against ropes

[GinntroN]

"Hump. That's the smartest thing I've heard an Orc say. Someone unbound me, please. I would like to be armed in an unfamiliar environment as this. We should first find somewhere to recuperate before we move on."
Lady Aderis looks around keeping an eye on every rise and shadow, expecting enemies to be there, hidden, waiting to strike.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin was tired, though, that wasn't saying much.

The past several days had gone by in a blur, thoughts, memories blurred together in a numb mind.

Had he always hurt this much? He thought; as his legs buckled, his support for the last days having moved away from him, making him fall to his knees.

He looked at the others, eyes trying to makeup for an exhausted mind, he only looked on, helpless.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Consumed by rage only the barest portion of Hrothgar attention noticed the orc surrendering. Just enough that as he spun round, axe leaping into his hand with runic crystals in the hilt, the blade turned sideways to use the flat rather than the edge. Evn consumed by rage he would not kill an unarmed creature.



Swift: draw axe
Full attack w/non lethal -4
[roll0] dam [roll1] + [roll2] subdual
[roll3] dam [roll4] + [roll5] subdual

Hps X / 74 (88 rage)
AC 21 touch 14 FF 17
Saves +14 /6/6 (+2 vs poison/spell, +1 vs traps, +2 fort/will when rage)

Conditions:(not included in above)
Rage 2/9 rounds
Exhausted -3 Str/dex - effective Str 20 in rage
-1 attack/saves

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Lady Aderis is so tired and focused on other enemies that she does not notice she is speaking while gagged. A flat "Hrmbl thefunnen ieuauwann" comes from her direction, but there´s no telling what she is on about. Kaladin vacantly watches Sahreen´s plea but can´t make heads or tails of it while he drops to his knees. Renard is occupied with wriggling out of his bonds. They are fashioned from both leather and metal, and quite craftily fashioned. If he weren´t strained he might have pulled off the escape, but he just does not have the nimbleness right now.

The Orc´s eyes grow very large when he sees the Dwarf going at him again. "Please, I have k...." *whack* *smack*. He falls on his back and does not move. You are sure you heard something break. With bloodshot eyes, Hrothgar turns to you. Breathing heavily, the rush of adrenaline holds him from doing the sensible thing: freeing you. After a couple of seconds he calms down and leaves the motionless Orc behind to come and remove your gags. Helping each other, fidgeting and puzzling, you can manage to undo the bindings on your feet and hands, though that may take a minute or three before you´re all done.

Luckily, there are no more threats and you can at least talk while you´re working on freeing yourself. You are in some sort of desert, or semi-desert, with very sparse vegetation. Ahead of you, maybe an hour´s walk, you see a spot with lush vegetation, which may mean that there is a source of water there...an oasis.

Renard, you did not account for the current penalties to dex and skill checks, which is why you did not make the roll.

Hrothgar, I decided to go ahead and have you free them, as that´s what you indicated in the OoC, so we can skip that bit where we wait for you to post you´re doing it IC.

[DrK]

The dwarf takes a deep breath as he uses the crackling blue scaled habdaxe to free the others. Breathing heavily he checks briefly on the orc to make sure the beast is breathing. Tempted as he is to end the things life he restrains himself.

Hrothgar hunts about for a spade, "I know we needs be away from these beasts but I need to bury my clan brother first. He deserves more than a shallow grave in this waste. But needs must."

As he uses a spade (or orchish axes) to dig a grave he looks at the others. "After this what shall we do? I can search out the spirits of the land to help orient ourselves. The oasis may offer us an option to resting for the night. We'd best get the water and food". The dwarf himself stops to drink heavily from his Everfull mug of ale as he digs.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The Orc is still breathing, but not conscious. Looks like his jaw is severely dislocated, or even broken.

[BelGareth]

Kal mumbles as his bindings are undone. He nods to the dwarf in respect and thanks, his eyes fall on the dwarfs belt and realization dawns on his fatigued mind. He reflexively activated something with his mind, and the cold flood of energy spread throughout his body, lifting fatigue from his mind, he was still exhausted, but he could now think.

And when your mind is your weapon, that helps.

He stood on his feet, unsure if he was strong enough. Once standing he pulled on each cuff with the opposite hand, and straightened himself. As if regaining his lost civil posture.

"Well, I've had better porters." He says with half a smile, turning to look at the oasis, "we might be careful about that oasis, might be our original destination, where else would be good for a mining facility?"


Swift action to activate his belt of healing, which he had forgot about in his haze.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Hrothgar looks at the crude grave and kneels down in the dry dust. Taking a handful he sprinkles it onto the crude grave "Last embrace of the earth welcome you home brother. You shall be avenged fifty fold. This, I, Hrothgar Longaxe do so vow." He finishes by driving the hilt of Durgol's axe into the earth leaving the orc blood soaked blade sticking up into the air as a testament to him.

Looking at the others he picks up his bag also grabbing any food or water that were being carried by the orcs and points to the oasis. "Come on then. If any of you have anything that weighs you down pass it over. I'm good for carrying it." Looking at his bedraggled state he taps the runes of healing at his waist twice to help recover his now feeble body. Looking at the oasis he watches carefully for a second before starting to trudge rapidly towards it. Sheathing the axe he makes sure to have his bow to hand lest he spot anything.


Use 1 charge twice from the healing belt for [roll0] and [roll1]

Equip bow and arrow and start walking to the Oasis

Survival [roll2] to look for any tracks of anything (+4 vs ORC)
Spot [roll3] to see danger (+4 vs ORC!)
Hide [roll4] to move cautiously from cover to cover
* Above skills include -1 for being tired and -3 dex penalty

[GinntroN]

Assuming she is unbound and ungagged, Lady Aderis pays her respects to the Dwarf who sacrificed himself for their freedom. She glances down at the broken Orc, struggling to breathe in the dirt. She points and says, "What's to be done about our beloved warden?" The word beloved dripping so much in sarcasm you'd swear there was a physical pool of it on the ground.

[PersonMan]

Sahreen takes a few moments to collect herself, frowning at the marks on her wrists. Her mouth is too dry as well. But at least they were free. She glances over to the newly-dug grave and wonders if she should say a few words, before dismissing the idea. No reason for her to taint the other dwarf's proclamation with hollow commendations of her own.

"We should take him with us," the witch says a few moments after Aderis' question. "Bind him, and see what he knows." No need to spill more blood under this sun.

"We'll have more than enough food and water soon, though I'm afraid no one could teach me how to make it especially appetizing," Sahreen adds as she looks over towards the oasis. "I'd prefer to eat in the shade."

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Renard winces some from his fruitless struggling, however more from the needless violence. He's calmly relieved when his gag is off and he's able to puzzle over the bonds like the others. Freeing himself after a time he sighs and gingerly rubs his wrists and ankles. "Thank you for freeing us. The oasis sounds like a wise option. I'd say we at least search our captors to see if they have any valuable information and after a night at the oasis we decide whats the best course of action."

When Hrothgar has honored his friend Renard kneels down at the crude gravesite and honors him as well. "Your sacrifice shall not be in vain. We will carry on in your stead." When he rises Hrothgar makes his offer. "Won't be needed I just have to move some stuff around." With that puts his belt pouch, small mirror, shortbow unstrung, arrows, and waterskin in the Hewards Handy Haversack.

Renard answers the two ladies. "Although I'd usually agree with you my lady, who's going to carry him? I say we leave him here with enough water to live. On the food issue I have some food bars in my pack, it's enough to feed one person for 1 day. I think we'll all feel better when we get to the oasis." He waits for the party to head out taking up either last or second to last in case a more martial and hale person wants last position.

[PersonMan]

"Save your food - I can feed us for the time being. Best to keep your supplies ready in case we're split up, or similar," Sahreen replies. "As for who carries him? No one. We drag him. If no one else will do it, I will."

The witch looks down at the orc, and is fairly certain that she can manage, even in her current state, to drag him along behind her. Not that she wants to for long - one way or another, she's expecting to get help quickly. Watching a visibly weakened young lady dragging a fully grown orc behind her would likely be the sight needed to pull on the pride, warrior's or masculine or other, of someone more physically capable.

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Shaking his head Renard approaches the unconscious orc and prepares to drag him across the blazing sand. "Milady you look exhausted. I'll drag this prisoner to the oasis for you." In the back of his mind Renard isn't sure risking his death under the blazing sun is wise. Master Aramas tried to teach him how to think with his head and not just his heart. However his sisters and mother would not let him live down refusing to help a lady in need of help.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Renard helps Sahreen out with the Orc and slowly you make your way towards the oasis. It takes you the better part of two hours to reach the edge (distances are so hard to judge in this terrain). As you are walking, but especially once you´re close to the oasis, Hrothgar moves back and forth to scout and report. He does not spot any danger. When the group is two minutes away from the edge of the oasis (it is so lush that the vegetation forms a wall in this sparsely vegetated environment), the Dwarf returns with slightly disturbing news.

Right after entering the oasis, the hairs on the back of your neck rise. You hear the thing that is the second worst, next to Orcs, thing to hear: the Giant tongue. Faintly, there is a Giant singing an inane song in the distance. And a giant complaining about the singing. Ogres, maybe? You also hear signs of working. Sawing, chopping, and some commands being issued in Orc. The outskirts of the oasis are a good place to hide, seeing how it is dense and the savages appear well away (you estimate 1,000 ft or more), so you can bring the group here to rest. Advancing beyond this point may have to be done with care.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin sighs, and follows along, he hadn't the strength to argue, or even loot the dead guards bodies. Something he hoped some food and good rest will take care of.

He followed them in silence, he got the distinct impression, his jibes and good cheer, even if forced, would fall flat, this was a dire situation, and perhaps he felt himself they were not in place? If so, he had already grown some since departure, but to face all the facts, he felt that was inevitable, with all that had happened, there was no way someone could come ouf of this without being changed.

He pondered on the changing man as they neared the oasis and the dwarf scouted forward. He was indeed happy for that dwarf, he had single handedly saved him, and most likely, the others as well, he owed him a great deal, and so he decided to treat him with the utmost respect...perhaps he could become friends? He shrugged, it all seemed so trivial right now.

"I'd say we need to rest and gather ourselves, we are in no condition to fight anything...can we rest well without a fire? I don't want to stare down some giants in the middle of the night, or anything else for that matter...."

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Hrothgar stomps back to the others. "Good need and bad news. The oasis is occupied. I have heard giants and orcs and also the sounds of construction. They are further into the oasis. A thousand paces or more I'd wager. Shall we settle here, the brush is thick and should provide cover if we are careful.""

That done he sets about finding a suitable grotto, or budh to shelter in.

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Renard cringes at the noise after they get to the oasis, especially at the singing. His heart almost drops at the thought of more conflict in their current state. Taking in what has been said Renard replies. "The less unfriendly contact right now the better. Let's go settle in and get some rest. Lead on." He continues to help move the unconscious orc.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin agreed of course, but he thought adding anything wasn't going to be useful. He didn't want to waste energy, even if the his belt had made him feel much, much better.

He shrugged, and joined in helping drag their captor to wherever the Dwarf ranger saw fit to deposit them for the night.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Sometimes, things just work out. The savages are sufficiently far away. Hrothgar manages to fashion you a sheltered place to rest. Sahreen conjures the best food you have had in a long time...sure it is fairly bland, but to you it tastes like heaven with an icing of happiness. After the ordeal on sea, followed by a march in captivity that was close to torture, sitting and lying about in a lush oasis is just simply divine.

You arrange who does watch when and start the routine. Along the line, however, and this may be worth looking into, something went wrong: In the morning, the sun is already doing its work, you all wake up simultaneously, as if through magic. Everyone feels very well rested, everyone slept like kings. You feel like you have access to all your abilities in full.

There's a choice to be made now, though: Do you deal with the giants, or avoid them? And....are you being watched? Or have you been watched over? There is something weird, but also weirdly satisfying about this whole situation.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin awoke, refreshed and strong, as if all his ailments had been wiped away.

He sat up, stretching his arms, enjoying the crack of his back and arms when he realized no one was on watch. He started with a jump, before he realized there was no reason to worry. There was no immediate danger.

Shrugging, he stood up and dusted himself off.
"Well, either someone fell asleep, or something weird is going on. Either is plausable, and considering our circumstance, I'm not pointing blame at anyone." He strode forth and regarded the oasis, "I think we should delve deeper into this place" gesturing with a hand "seems much nicer than the desert" as if that simple fact was enough.

[DrK]

Hrothgar.

The dwarf wakes in the morning crawling out of his sleeping blanket and stretches before filing his mug with frothy ale and gulping it down. "I don't know about the rest of you but I feel better this morning. Let us ear and then scout out what lies ahead in the oasis, we may be able to claim our first scalps for our families this day."

He eats with the others before blessing himself with a hunter's agility and then blessing all of them with magic of the land to allow them to leave no trace of their passage.



Cast Primal hunter: +5 climb/juml/swim
Cast Pass w/o trace: whole party of 5



That done when there rest are getting ready he draws bow and arrow and readies to explore.

[GinntroN]

Lady Aderis finishes donning her armour. She takes a few practice swings at an invisible foe to limber up while the others are preparing and talking. After hearing what Hrothgar has to say she sheathes her sword. "Agreed. Stealth would be the preferred method of approach. As much as I would love to ride them down with Flick, she'll just have to be patient until she's needed."

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods at the dwarfs words.

He pulled on his chainmail, which thankfully weighed very little, he had paid a fortune for it, but it was worth every penny, as well as his shield. Some would say it was frivolous, but it weighed less, was beautiful, and also matched his armor. He stretched his arms, and recalled his repertoire of spells, and to his surprise, was able to feel the arcane energies in his mind. Happy, he rested his right hand upon the hilt of his mace, and felt the lightness of his shield and moved out, following the dwarf.

He stopped, turned and looked at the captive they had taken. "What are we going to do about this one though?" he asks in earnest.

[GinntroN]

"I think we may be down to the options of binding him, freeing him or killing him."

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Waking very much refreshed Renard notices the others coming to. The realization that no one had been on watch when they woke comes to him. Seeing no hostiles and feeling way better than yesterday he just files away the information for later. Getting a drink of water he partakes of the morning meal while thinking on the day and what they're going to do. Listening to the others Renard agrees. "Stealth and subtlety would be the best tact until we know what to expect from our fellow oasis companions." He seats his scabbard on the belt having slept in his easily hid armor. The others touch on the quandary of their unwilling guest. "With his injury being able to converse much less ingest sustenance is dubious. I say if we're not going to question him let him go. Although he can bring trouble...we are in better health and will to survive any such occurrence."

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf stares narrowly at the orc, a short sharp motion across his throat. "We should have killed it yesterday. If not we should at least question it and then knock it out so we can move on without it attracting giants and more orcs than we can handle."

Walking over to it he roughly wakes it with a boot. "What beasts are here? Was this were you were taking us?" he asks directly in the harsh orc tongue.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

It takes a boot and a reboot, but at some point the Orc wakes up. The moment he realizes the situation he is in, you notice immediately how scared he is. "What? Where?" He blinks and looks around. "Where are we?" Of course, he has no idea. After you explain to him you are in the oasis close to where you broke free, he nods. "Okay...please don´t kill me. I will tell you what I know." He sits up and rubs in his eyes. "No, I was not taking you to this oasis. I would have stopped in the next one for water. I don´t know what lives here. Animals, probably. Big ones. Crocodiles, hippo´s. Small ones. Deer, birds." He shrugs. "The rumour is that these oases are full of fey creatures, and that they use their magic to make these oases so full of life." His attitude to his own story seems somewhat dismissive: "Not sure if that´s true though...never saw any."

"I was to take you to the nearest army outpost. Five days from here. What was the plan after that, I don´t know. They just pay me to work, not to think or to be involved in the business of my superiors."

[BelGareth]

Kaladin frowned, it didn't seem this orc was of any use at all. He had no love for orcs, none at all, especially with the last days of treatment, what came out of his mouth was a reaction more than anything, and even slightly surprised himself.

"Kill him." he said simply "We don't need the trouble, and its what we're here for."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Terror can now be seen in the Orc´s eyes. "No, but, why....I have kids...I-I...I can help you." He is lost for words. "Don´t know how, but I am sure I can?"

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Renbards ire and disgust rises as the scene unfolds...finally when the orc mentions kids and his terror/panic has overtaken him Renard steps in. Stepping forward he speaks in a level calm voice. "This ends here, we knock him out or let him go. I will not stand by and watch you murder a helpless creature. I may not exactly know what your feeling with the loss of your friend, but I can imagine. It will be pointless if you let your rage and anger overtake you to the point of becoming a monster in your endeavor for revenge. Put away this cold hate and focus on what we're here to do...it's not to kill everyone of them. That would be going too far. Show some mercy and mercy might be shown towards you."

"Let's strive to be better than those we fight. We can knock him out and leave him enough supplies to get out of here, in that time we gain a lead on whatever destination we choose. I say we get out of him where this army post is and scout it out. Taking down a established order requires we diminish their defenses. And there might be more valuable information there as well."

[BelGareth]

Kaladin was taken aback.

how could someone be so stupid as to think they could let this...thing go? Narrowing his eyes, he stormed the weather of Renards verbal assault.

"Renard, you display courage, I give you that, for standing up for your morales, and from my experience, most people who do, are never swayed, so I say this with a small amount of hope you may still change your mind. Aye, we could show mercy, in hopes they show it to us? But where did that get us when we were captured, did we show mercy when we stormed the beach, to fight those Giants, who so easily slaughtered us, we were forced to retreat? Or did the march here addle your brain? How many of us" he points to himself and then Renard as he speaks "Have we lost? How many more of us do we need to lose? These people are not to be trifled with, we barely escaped, and now, you want to release this thing? Let me ask you this, what would you do, without your idealistic sentimentality seeping in, actually do, if they invaded our lands, and we killed most of them, to enslave the rest, and then have them escape on you. WHAT WOULD YOU DO, IF THEY LET YOU GO IN OUR COUNTRY, AND OUR FAMILIES AT STAKE?" he yelled the last part.

He waved a hand, as if he was tired of this conversation already, and he truly looked disgusted.

"We don't need to kill him, because we want to, but because we need to, its a matter of survival. Are you placing your honor, and your morality above our lives?"

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Although showing emotion when the recent massacre happened and the prospect of their own home and families being attacked he didn't back down. He starts speaking with some emotion. "You bring up many valid points. One that should make you reconsider is that we're alone in all this. How far do we go before what happened on that beach happens to us if we don't gain allies or at least those that will look the other way? Showing mercy doesn't always benefit you, however if all you are is ruthless and efficient that's all you will get back. From a foe who has the numbers, intellect, and structure to annihilate us should they wish. I can't stop you if you truly wish to murder this orc in cold blood. But do not put this off to simple survival...it is your choice that will kill him. And I will have no part of it." He walks away to let you do whatever you will.

[PersonMan]

Sahreen, roused from her post-waking meditation by the questioning of the orc, listens silently as the discussion progresses. At first, she doesn't see a point to enter it - let things continue, before she arrives to dispense her wisdom. But it quickly grows heated, and the shouting makes her wonder just how far their next potential enemies are. Now was the time, then. She glances up, her gaze met by a slight shifting of a branch, a ray of sun briefly flashing into her sight. Obviously, a sign. Standing, the witch rises to her full height, unimpressive as it is among a party of warriors, and approaches the discussion. First, a display of power.

Breathing in deeply, Sahreen calls to mind the flash of sunlight from moments ago, one hand going to the holy symbol around her neck as her eyes close, flipping it over to the side dominated by black metal and sinuous curves. As she opens her eyes, they flash with divine energy, and a moment later the air around her glows slightly. What wounds are left on those around her instantly begin to close, down to the smallest nicks and bruises. Continuing along her path, Sahreen crouches down beside the orc. Again, she places a hand on her holy symbol. The other hand flickers with tendrils of shadow, as she puts two fingers to their captive's forehead.

Closing her eyes, Sahreen recites. Old, obscure scripture - a passage about Pelor's light inside a mountain cave, draped in layers of metaphor and archaic prose. At the end of it, she opens her eyes, withdraws her fingers, and stands again.

"There is no need to kill him," she says, waving a hand as if to dismiss the notion, wisps of darkness passing between her fingers as she does so. She's sure to speak in Orc, to ensure their prisoner understands her. "I have placed a spell on him. If he speaks of our survival, or our true location, he will be consumed by rot while he still lives, until each of his limbs falls off and he is nothing but a head and body, helpless."

Yeah this is complete and utter BS. If possible, I'll take 10 on the Bluff check. If it's not possible: [roll0]

I'm assuming I can do small VFX with the Eldritch Blast / other Invocation energy I have lying around.

EDIT: Oh, and using Divine Healing to give everyone FH 3 for 4 rounds. Includes the orc.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin was about to retort when Renard left, he scowled, obviously not happy with the outcome, but ok to be quiet in the mean time as he thought on what to do, or say.

When Sahreen came forward, he was ready for another verbal spar, but found respite in her actions, he was fairly certain she hadn't cast a spell, but he liked her style, and the outcome would be the same. He nodded, content in the resolution, and finding himself happy to be around such people with standards they upheld, and creativity that came out when needed.

Even if they did not agree, he couldn't help but respect Renard for his steadfastness.

He nodded in appreciation to Sahreen, but frowned. "So, we are leaving him here then? Or sending him on his way?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar
seeing the orc still awake hrothgar walked behind it before grabbing it in a sleeoer hold and squeezing tightly until thr orc passed out. He checks quickly to make sure it's still breathing before facing the others "You speak if this creature as innocent. Have you forgotten the sacrifice of my clan brother already. This beast killed him, burying an axe in his head and spilling his blood. Out of respect for you all I have restrained my self. This time. Now while it sleeps we should move on lest it give away our position.

We are here to slay the greenskin and break their civilisation. That is our purpose now."

Leaving the unconscious orc he troops off quietly leaving no tracks and heading deep into the oasis towards where he heard the voices.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The Orc nods silently when Renard pleads for mercy, obviously agreeing. Then, he shakes his head when Kaladin brings forth his points. Yes, this means that this Orc understands the common tongue. When Sahreen approaches him he first scuttles back a bit but then realizes the hopelessness of his situation and sits still while watching her. As she displays her magic and power while uttering the curse you see genuine terror in his eyes. His fingers tremble as he feels his limbs. Still there. His agony is so obvious that you are sure he is convinced that Sahreen´s curse is real. "I....I-I, yes...no..." he whimpers as he almost passes out from the stress. He does not even notice Hrothgar closing in on him and putting him to sleep for the next minutes.

The team presses forward, deeper into the oasis. Hrothgar typically scouting some 50 feet ahead, sometimes signaling the rest to stop and then proceed again. After some 700 paces Hrothgar sits down in hiding and motions for the others the join him. You hear the sound of axe meeting wood, and it appears there is no risk of being heard if you´re careful. Moreover, the bushes provide you with perfect cover so you can take your time to take in the scene in front of you. Some 40 feet ahead of you, you see an Ogre in the forest chopping away at a tree. He is not carrying any special equipment for combat. 20 feet behind him, there´s a patch of meadow in the forest. Apparently, he is not clearcutting the forest, but selecting specific trees. In the middle of the meadow, which is you estimate some 120 feet across, you see a pile of logs that is being organized and arranged by yet another Ogre. Close-by sits an Orc accompanied by an Ogre clad in leather or hide breastplate. They seem to be discussing something, or maybe playing a game. In the distance, you can hear the sound of someone else felling trees. Probably another Ogre.

[GinntroN]

Lady Aderis surveys the scene put before her. "While my blade thirsts for enemy blood, I don't think it's after laborers and peons. Let's see if we get an idea of what they're doing here, then move on."

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf eyes the orc speculatively before turning back to the others. "We have been sent here to do war upon the greenskin and the giants. We can ambush these beasts now with an advantage. If we engage with bow and arrow and spell we can weaken them and draw them towards us where we can finish them with steel. If we will not make war on these beasts why have we come here?" Looking for support he glances at Kaladin to see what he has to offer.

While whispering he has a careful look around for any more foes or if it will just be these 3...


[roll0]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

You spot the other Ogre-lumberjack. It is working on the other side of the meadow, some 20 feet into the forest. Nothing else.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods in agreement, whispering he replies in earnest. "I agree, they are obviously labor for the orcs, if we were to attack, and dispatch them, or even force them into labor for us, it would disrupt the economy and order of things here." he frowns and looks to the others "I'm not sure why you all came here? Our mission is to disrupt, by any means necessary, the goings on in this land, and if possible establish a settlement. We are in no position to settle down." he pauses, making sure to lower his voice and keep it down "but we are in a perfect position to raise chaos, and, gods willing, find our way home in the process."

"You all need to make a decision now, because they have already made theirs" he points to the ogres and orc, "They would attack, or call for warriors if they saw us, so why are we willing to let them go? If they surrender, they surrender, but until otherwise proven, they are our enemies."

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Renard follows along with the others after they finish their deed. He watches them from the back wondering how his journey with them will be. Some have already shown troubling tendencies...however he will give them a chance or his own chance at survival will diminish greatly. What Kaladin said was wise and should be considered.

The group finally comes to a scene that could have been played out in any of the areas around their own villages and towns. This group of ogres and orcs look like workers, not military or leaders of any sort. He shakes his head upon hearing the others converse. Cocking an eyebrow in surprise at Lady Aderis' consternation he comes to the realization she's a true warrior and wants a proper challange to face.

No longer loath to stay quiet Renard speaks his voice rife with jest, but low none the less. "War?" Pointing to the entourage of monstrous creatures. "Do you see weapons, armor, or implements of war? I don't. I came here to wage war, not kill everything in sight. Now yes we could attack and willfully kill the week, however what would that accomplish? They would just start sending out their work groups with soldiers and warriors. Our purpose is to topple their established order. It would serve us better to attack their strength and sap it. Military and leadership. As Lady Aderis I have no qualms with attacking a worthy foe and until they surrender such foe is accorded their measure of lethal respect. Once they've surrendered they are prisoners and worthy of certain considerations. I came here to secure our return, not herald in a darker age of bloodshed and hatred. There are more worthy targets to spend that rage on."

He thinks some then continues. "Might we be able to intimidate them into giving up some information? If they have warriors with them it might also draw them out."

[BelGareth]

Kaladin furrowed his brows in thought as Renard spouted more 'honorable' rhetoric. It was both confusing and frustrating to hear a warrior apply honor to such a situation. He wandered if any of them had taken lessons of war, or even read, even fleetingly upon historical texts that discussed war and its affects upon a people.

He was fairly certain they had not.

But they were not listening to him, how could he tell them, that they were both saying the same thing, except their honor was getting in the way? The quickest way to destroy an army, was to destroy its supply line. This was first semester stuff, simple, guerrilla tactics could destabilize whole regions, if done properly, why could they not see that?

He silently shook his head, looking towards the dwarf, "Maybe we let them try? That failing, they attack us, we get what we want?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar

He looks at Kaladin shaking his head at the bizzare notions of honour from the bard with them. "How long will it be until you find someone your are wiling to fight?" He squeezes the bow triggering the wand bound to the shaft. Then seconds later he steps forward from the bushes, bow held outright as he steps to the edge of the brush. A loud shout of "You, drop your axes and surrender" even as he shouts he readies the bow and arrow focusing on the orc first and foremost.


Round 0: Cast Hunter's mercy from wand

Round 1: Move to edge of bush
Ready to shoot anything that looks threatening
[roll0] dam [roll1]
= +2 to hit and +12 damage if the orc was the first to move

Hps 74 / 74 (88 rage)
AC 21 touch 14 FF 17
Saves +14 /6/6 (+2 vs poison/spell, +1 vs traps, +2 fort/will when rage)

Primal Hunter 24 hours (+5 climb/jump/survival)
Pass w/o Trace ~ 5 hours

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods in agreement to the dwarfs statement, and walks out with him, hand ready to cast a spell.

He makes sure to be a good distance from the dwarf, bunching up would only allow enemy spellcasters to get them all with a well placed fireball. Old habits were hard to deny.


He walks out 25ft apart from the dwarf. Readying a Fireball.

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Seeing that the time for talk was over Renard takes his shortbow off his back and notches an arrow. He follows Hrothgar and Kaladin out taking a spot infront of Kaladin, behind Hrothgar to their left side giving him a clear shot should it be needed. The bow is being held to his left side at the ready but pointed slightly downward, his arms ready to spring up and draw the string back for a quick shot. He stands there attempting to look menacing.

He walks out 15ft behind Hrothgar and to his left. Intimidate [roll0]

[GinntroN]

Aderis resigns a sigh and calls on her horse, Flick, and mounts her saddle. "Supply lines are supply lines I suppose."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The Ogre nearest to you reacts genuinely surprised, but also genuinely annoyed at the appearance of the bold Dwarf and his companions. He does not lower or drop his axe. The armored Ogre shouts out a command in Giant:

Vun, Tork, Fight!

and starts moving towards you, drawing a huge greatsword. The Ogre near the wood pile responds and starts moving as well, a large tree stem in his hands and you see another Ogre emerging from the northern bushes with an axe in his hand. The Orc speeds away, as fast as his beer-belly allows, to hide behind the pile of wood.

This all happens as the group moves to back up Hrothgar (and summon a mount) (basically all small/partial move actions). Since Hrothgar had a specified readied action, he may shoot his arrow on the Orc, Ogre 1, Ogre 2 or Ogre 3 if he is not satisfied with the behaviour of your opponents (resolved before their move actions).

Then, the first round, all of you get to act before the Ogres and Orcs.


Link (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwBF08i13s81NmpjSi1OUi1wNWs/view?usp=sharing)
Hope this works for everyone. You all have a small icon that corresponds to your speech colour. It should be clear.


Group:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

Foes
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf lets fly at the ogre as it begins to run towards him, a great cry of "DURGOL!!" as the arrow takes the beast in the throat downing sending it tumbling to the ground. He points at the armoured one and hurtles forward leaping the dead one, axe flying into his hand, rune crystal glowing, as he presses the rune stone on the axe, the spectral outline of a massive rhino outlining him for a second before he chops down mightily with a double handed blow!



Free: draw axe with Crystal of Return
Swift: Activate wand of rhino rush
Full: Chop once Charge armoured Ogre [roll0] (Add extra +2 from charging) dam [roll1] - increase to 1d10+7 from 2-handed, then double from Rhino Rush for: (3+7) x2 = 20


Hps 74 / 74 (88 rage)
AC 21 touch 14 FF 17 (+4 vs Giants like ogres!) -2 charge = 19 / 23 vs ogres
Saves +14 /6/6 (+2 vs poison/spell, +1 vs traps, +2 fort/will when rage)

Primal Hunter 24 hours (+5 climb/jump/survival)
Pass w/o Trace ~ 5 hours



Edit: Edited to charge armoured ogre as Ogre 1 died to the arrow

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

round 1
As the group is getting into position to support Hrothgar the creatures show just why they are derided as beasts and monsters when they go to a aggressive reaction rather than thinking it through and acting accordingly. He doesn't even hesitate as Hrothgar downs the nearest ogre and charges the armored one. His arms spring up drawing the string back and he fires at the furthest opponent seeking to down them quickly. His arms blur as two arrows are released.

full round action - fire on ogre3
1st shortbow att[roll0] dmg[roll1], crit conf[roll2] dmg[roll3] (magic)
2nd shortbow att[roll4] dmg[roll5], crit conf[roll6] dmg[roll7] (magic)

AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +6 armor, +1 deflection)
HP 45
Fort +7 Ref +8 Will +4
Grp +7

[BelGareth]

Kaladin sees them charge, and nods in amusement and smug self assurance.

But be that as it may, that was for another time, he altered his spell slightly as he began to cast, summoning not fire, but Ice, and wind, and hail. He conjured a small ice ball between his hands, moving them about it, making it larger, and power powerful until he was happy, and once he was happy, he released it, sending it shooting towards the middle of the ogres to erupt in a hail of ice.


He casts Ice Storm (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/iceStorm.htm) on intersection 5/6,H/I getting the two closest ogres (3 & 2) 20 ft spread will miss Hrothgar.

Battle magic adds +1 per die, and warmage edge adds +4 to the initial damage.
Both take:
[roll0] & [roll1] no save
All land movement is halved for one round to all within area (they don't have to be damaged)

[PersonMan]

As the battle begins, Sahreen moves forwards, watching one of their foes collapse already. Probably not the most difficult of battles, then. Briefly touching her holy symbol, which still has its dark-colored side facing forwards, she extends her arms, encircling her allies in her view and speaking a few words - another scrap of ancient text, this one part of a lengthy description of the shade provided by a massive tree. As she finishes, a soft glow surrounds her, before flashing outwards in all directions. Wherever the light touches one of her comrades it sinks into them, filling them with warmth and confidence, a feeling that the sun itself is watching over them.

Gonna move to L20 and cast Bless, catching all allies within 50' (which should be everyone - if not Sahreen will move up further).

+1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves against fear effects.

[GinntroN]

Lady Aderis slightly taps Flick with her heel and says to her softly, "Come on girl. We have ogres to slay. CHARGE!"
Flick tears up and whinneys, slams her hooves into the dirt and charges straight for the 2nd armoured Ogre. She veers off slightly as they reach the ogre, so Aderis can lean out of the saddle and attempt to land a large gash on the monster.

Attack [roll0]
Damage [roll1]
Ending movement at around J, -1

[Autopsibiofeeder]

As soon as the Ogres move Hrothgar releases an arrow that strikes the nearby Ogre (1) in the throat. With some weird gurgling noises, he collapses. Sahreen steps forward and instills you with divine bravery (Bless for all), while Kaladin unleashes an unnaturally powerful (and surprisingly local) hail storm. You can hear the ice pounding on the Ogres. The unarmoured Ogre (2) with the lumbering axe´s skin feezes over and bursts in several places: Whimpering, he topples. The armoured Ogre (3) deals better with the icy assault, but he also suffers dearly. Especially since Hrothgar plants his axe in his side, Renard puts an arrow in his shoulder and Lady Aderis nicks him in the neck.

Actually, it is rather impressive that the warrior Ogre still stands. Impressive, and reason for concern because now it is his turn to return the favour. Since Hrothgar appears the closest and biggest threat, he focuses on the Dwarf and swings his Greatsword at him.

There we go, this may hurt:

Greatsword 1: Attack [roll0], crit confirm [roll1], damage [roll2], bonus crit damage [roll3]
Greatsword 2: Attack [roll4], crit confirm [roll5], damage [roll6], bonus crit damage [roll7]

The last remaining Ogre maneuvers around the Ice Storm and ends his move next to Hrothgar. He does not have an opportunity to attack yet.

The Orc is hidden behind the pile of wood, as far as you can tell.

MAP (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwBF08i13s81ckwyU3BZQVVJY2c/view?usp=sharing)

You are up.

[DrK]

Hrothagar

The dwarf storms in, axe burying itself in the ogre but the momentum leaves him open and the first blow from the ogre sinks deep into his chest leaving a bloody trail behind. As the pain hits him he feels the rage filling him. A curse in his family line the beserker blood flows throw him as he roars a savage primarl scream and chops left and right at the two ogres howling like some sort of maddened beast ignoring the blood pulsing from the gash in his side.


RAGE
Atk 1 vs Armoured Ogre [roll0] Damage roll [roll1]
Atk 2 vs unarmoured Ogre [roll2] Damage roll [roll3]



Hps 52 / 88 rage (74 base)
AC 21 touch 14 FF 17 (+4 vs Giants like ogres!)
Saves +14 /6/6 (+2 vs poison/spell, +1 vs traps, +2 fort/will when rage)

RAGE! 1 / 9 rounds!
Primal Hunter 24 hours (+5 climb/jump/survival)
Pass w/o Trace ~ 5 hours
Bless +1 hit/vs fear

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar plants his axe in the Ogre´s upper leg, piercing his armor and, seeing the amount of immediate blood loss, severs an artery. The Ogre sinks on his knees and falls. The biggest threat is disabled. While his other strike also hits, the unarmoured Ogre still stands.

Letting you know so the others don´t waste actions on the armoured Ogre.

[BelGareth]

Seeing the armored ogre fall, he knew he could focus on the other one. He moved to the side, away from the others and activated his gloves as he did so, conjuring 5 wickedly sharp daggers in front of him, and sending them to strike at the ogre with unerring accuracy.


Move to the side 20 ft. to P20
Swift to activate arcanists gloves to increase next 1st level spell CL by 2
Standard cast magic missile at CL 9th.
[roll0]

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

round 2
Watching the ogres fall quickly Renard wishes to end it before any of his comrades gets seriously hurt. He takes aim and fires at the last standing ogre as quickly and accurately as possible.

full round action - fire at ogre 3
1st shortbow att[roll0] dmg[roll1], crit conf[roll2] dmg[roll3] (magic)
2nd shortbow att[roll4] dmg[roll5], crit conf[roll6] dmg[roll7] (magic)

AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +6 armor, +1 deflection)
HP 45
Fort +7 Ref +8 Will +4
Grp +7

[GinntroN]

Lady Aderis wheels Flicka around to land a good slash on the last remaining enemy.
Attack: [roll0] Crit: [roll1]
Damage:[roll2] Crit:[roll3]

[PersonMan]

Sahreen flicks her right wrist, and a shadow grows around her hand, coalescing quickly into pitch-black darkness that she flings forwards at the remaining ogre.

Eldritch Blast at the last enemy.

Touch Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

After Hrothgar finishes off the armoured Ogre, the rest of the team assaults the last remaining Ogre. Force missiles, conventional missiles, eldritch missiles and the occasional melee weapon: it is hard to say what it was that formed the final blow for this Ogre. What is quite obvious, though, is that seldomly an Ogre was so swiftly and expertly put to death. After a mere 10 seconds after the combat started, silence returns. Four Giant corpses decorate the meadow, and then of course there is the Orc. Didn´t he go and hide behind the pile of wood?

[GinntroN]

Lady Aderis trots Flicka slowly over to the orc. Still being cautious, she has her shield pressed towards him as she approaches the last spot he was seen.
She calls out, "I'm not one to slaughter captives or prisoners of war, but I can't speak for my companions. Give us some information we need and you'll be treated well. If not, well I can't say what they might do to you."
She places as much fear behind her words as she can to intimidate and scare the orc into giving himself up.
[roll0]

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The burly dwarf let's loose a great bellow of victory before starting to roughly search the bodies before he sits down feeling the pain in his chest. Activating his runic belt a cool glow washes over him as tortured flesh knits together.


2 charges of healing belt
[roll0] [roll1]



Feeling good, if tired by the beserker rage, he reaches into the armoured ogres mouth and yanks and pulls on the beasts canine until it comes free. Washing the tooth he drops it into his belt pouch contemplating his enemy spirit pouch as he does so.

Looking at Aderis he nods thanks before speaking. "Does the beast have anything to say? How many more are in the forest? What are they doing here?"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The Orc has somewhat of an unexpected appearance. Having crawled over the ground, he looks dusty and roughed up, but he seems rather well-kempt. He wears fairly fine clothing, the type you order custom at a tailor and wears a monocle. "What do you want?" He speaks the common tongue, flawlessly. He also appears genuinely offended by your presence. "What are you doing here? You have no business here!" He calms down, and coughs. "No, it was just us....well, as far as I know. We were logging. Wood, for building purposes." He looks at you all and shakes his head slightly. He obviously disapproves of your actions.

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

While recovering any usable arrows that missed Renard hears Lady Aderis' entreaty with the orc. He stops himself about to dispute her calim when he realizes that intimidation could have a useful outcome. The look of the orc makes him think that he could be in any jewel shop or casters shop. The answer he gives to Hrothgars questions seem off and makes him uneasy.
[roll0]

"A logging operation requires armor and weapons? I think not. Or maybe your answer is not as informative as we'd like. Me...I'd just leave you be to make your own way" indicating Hrothgar and Kaladin. "...they might not. What is someone like you doing out here? Such physical work isn't your lot in life is it? So why come out here among such work? I honestly think you are hiding something." Now giving the orc a particularly appraising stare.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

You get the impression that he is sincere, there is no clue in his behaviour that he is lying.

The Orc frowns and replies, mumbling a bit, as if he is talking more to himself than to you. "You don´t have the right to be here, and what I do is none of your business." He sighs and looks up at Renard. "Look...what is it that you seek? I am overseeing a logging operation. Don´t think you saw me actually work. We had one guard, yes, the rest of us were unarmed." He points at the forest around. "Nature holds many dangers, as you may know. A guard is standard protocol. And I think you are living proof that a guard is very much needed." He takes his time to stand up and dust off his clothes a bit. "Oh, darn" you hear when he notices some of the stains won´t come out so easily, "So...you here to kill me, rob me, rape me? Huh?"

[GinntroN]

Lady Aderis thinks for a moment and asks, "What you been commissioned or tasked to build?"

[BelGareth]

Kaladin scowls, the fight was too easy, either they had only encountered the one armored warrior, or these creatures had displayed a strong front at the beach. This reeked of something else however, and he moved closer to listen to the 'interrogation'. Now, he had read, and learned that proper interrogation techniques actually take several weeks. The slower the process, the better the information, pain, generally speaking, did nothing for the veracity of the info provided, and at most times, added to the misinformation, even when said information would be the source of more pain.

Pain was a curious thing.

But did all of that apply to these orcs? he wandered, the few that had talked to them seemed to be much like the pompous political types that used to tour the college, he had always hated that, he saw the need alright, but failed to see the net profit. Politics was always something he cared little for.

He steps closer, dropping his shield to the side, "We're asking the wrong questions, we need to know where he came from, where are others of his kind, if he has any maps, we need information, not what he was contracted for." he takes a moment, and sighs deeply, you can't tell if that is part of an act, or part of him prepping himself to talk to the orc. "We mean you no harm, my friend came out of the bushes and threatened you yes, because we were threatened ourselves. We did not instigate the fight, but instead, you did. I am not pointing fingers, but merely setting the scene. We are in need of some information, and then, if it helps, you can go back to your life, to a change of clothes, and maybe a warm bath."


General int check to see if he could guess this guys character, if needed
[roll0]

He's not completely lying, the intent as was debated, was to talk to them first. Which we did. But if its needed:
[roll1]

And finally the actual thing I'm attempting:
[roll2]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Well," he shrugs, "What exactly do you need to know?" He scratches his head. "I am but an independent businessman, I don´t know much about military or politics, which seems to be what you are after." He smiles and tries to explain further. "Look, I am setting up a small business some 60 miles from here. It is currently being built, uhhh...the office, that is, and in order to make some money, and because I had heard about these lush oases and wanted to see them once, I accepted a job to oversee these Ogres on their manual job. They work for the military, but I am sure they are just hired muscle or low-ranked." He points at the wood. "This is not for me, I understand it will be picked up later on."

He seems to be telling the truth.

[BelGareth]

Finally, they were getting somewhere.

He looks at the wood, and then back at the orc. "Picked up by whom?" he asks, he hoped it was the military, as he had suggested, but at the very least, they had managed to get a general location of somewhere else to go, this office could even stand as a place of rest for them.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

He stares blankly at you. "What, eh, well....someone from the military, I guess....maybe a hired transporter. I don´t know..."

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

Seeing the others getting more out of him Renard lets them work. The answers the orrc gives make sense, but Renard still has some questions he'd like answered. "Do you happen to know of a military outpost a few days from here? And in which direction it might be? Who or what can be found there?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Finishing searching over the bodies and holding his tusk trophy from the ogre the dwarf walks over still splattered liberally in blood as he stares up at the strangely well dressed orc. Switching to orc he says nothing for a while before chiming in "How many more creatures did you come here with? WHere are your supplies that you collected for a 60 mile trek across the wasteland. When is the wood being collected?. Whilst waiting for the answers he shakes his head as they seem to have gathered yet another prisoner on their travels.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The Orc nods at Renard: "Some eighty miles north-east of here. More east than north. There´s.....not sure. Sixty, maybe eighty or a hundred people stationed there?" He then looks a little bit apalled at Hrothgar´s bloody appearance, but still answers him politely. "We have a horse and some rations stashed back there in the forest," he points over yonder, "all I know is that we had two more days to gather the required wood. We were actually just about done. Not sure when they will pick it up, though." He shrugs. "´Twas just me and the Ogres. Just me now. And you." a nervous smile appears on his face.

[BelGareth]

Good, this was good information. Kaladin thought to himself. He almost pitied the Orc, he was something Kaladin despised back home, let alone here, and an orc.

He had fulfilled his use, and so to Kaladin, wasn't needed any more.

Turning to the Dwarf "Good, now we have the information we need. Should we kill him here, or have Sahreen curse this one as well?" he asks with a raised eyebrow, as nonchalantly as possible.

[GinntroN]

Lady Aderis turns her head slightly towards Sahreen and asks, "How often can you curse a creature? It seems it would be a finite resource."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

´The Orc´s´eyes widen at the mention of death and curses. "Now he wait, let´s not be hasty." This businessman is obviously an opportunist: "I may be able to help you in some way....ways that don´t involve death or dark arts?"

[BelGareth]

Kaladin raises an eyebrow, he folds his sleeves up on each arm as he replied "Pray tell us orc, in what ways?"


Not sure either is needed, so rolling just in case.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[PersonMan]

Sahreen remains silent, standing in the back of the group and looking down at the orc with a disinterested look. No need to speak, when the orc was already folding. The words of her instructors pass through her mind, and she feels a soft satisfaction at seeing the fruits of her labor so quickly. It was a small thing, but it was nice to see her work to create an exaggerated appearance of great power was already paying off. If rumors of her abilities could be used to threaten their enemies, she would likely need to use far less of her actual gifts to persuade them to give up their knowledge.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The Orc hesitates: "Uhm, well....not sure. I don´t know what you guys want. I assume you want to find your way home. I may be able to arrange for a ship?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf stands near the back of the group watching intently as they speak with yet another orcish prisoner. He looks at the others before chipping in "We do not need a ship. We need a map of the area marked with orc settlements thatwe can raid."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The Orc is initially stunned by what Hrothgar said. "...."

"...Raid?"

He ponders a moment. "Well, but, ehh...., there are no settlements around here. Just some military outposts and caravan stops." He explains: "For the mining. Transport. The Orcs live hundreds of leagues from here. Look around. This place is fairly barren."

[BelGareth]

"Tell us about the caravans and the outposts." He stepped forward somewhat, flexing his right hand, as if to cast a spell.


[roll0]

[GinntroN]

"An outpost would be a good target. They'd have supplies, both in weapons, food and water."

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

When Kaladin asked about what to do with the orc and Hrothgar mentioned attacking settlements Renard began to say something but in the end kept his mouth shut to observe whether or not these two will actually descend to such behavoir or they was just using it as a intimidation method. His own usual behavoir might have been affected by what has happened, but he wasn't going to slip down that particular slippery slope...where he became worse than the creatures they we're sent to fight. The orc proved to be holding something back and Kaldadin looked more eager to attack a military target, which lines up more with his own endeavors.

"I agree, a military target will be better to attack, rather than involve civilians in our affairs. A military outpost will probably have some information we can use as well as supplies. I too would like to know about the caravns and outposts." He looks pointedly at the orc.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Well, the karavan stops are usually abandoned, unless a karavan is stopping by. It´s usually some sheds, a well and a fireplace." He shrugs as he tells you this. "What do you want to know about the military outpost? Other than that it has a wall, dozens of trained men, horses and, well to be honest, a tendency to be lethal to those that attack it." He peers at you intently: "Surely you don´t have a death wish. I mean, one trained Ogre is not the same as a host of well-trained soldiers."

"What is it you seek to do here? For wealth, raid the karavans, it will cripple our society more than dead soldiers. For a glorious death in combat, do face our army..."

[GinntroN]

"Hmph", Lady Adris mutters, considering her options. "If we are considering either option, we'll need to begin formulating a plan of attack and scouting locations or caravan paths."

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods in satisfaction, he had expected not very much from this orc, and he seemed genuine. But they couldn't ask him questions all day, he was giving information, but at a slow pace. They would need to move, get ready for any ambushes they made, this whole mission, was going to be a balance of guerrilla tactics, attacking, and then fading away, to survive another day.

"We need to do something other than question this orc, we should setup an ambush for the military detail that is going to come for this lumber, it's nice here, and it will allow us to recoup, and test their military tactics and procedures at the same time. If we can capture one of them, we'll be able to get much more detailed info. Then we can formulate our plan, move and then hit our next target." he stops, turns to look at everyone. "I know I'm not in charge here, but we have to decide now what we're doing. We can run a very effective guerrilla war upon these people, which involves us picking targets, hitting hard, and then withdrawing, and moving to another target. Constantly. We could disrupt this whole region if done right. Or, we could head home, back to where we came, with our tails between our legs. I think, personally, that we're in a very specific, and favorable position to do some damage upon these folk, maybe cause enough disruption that the next party would land without issues?"

Shrugging he continues, "Either way, this orc knows too much, and needs to be dealt with." he says, turning and pointing an finger at the orc.

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

"I concur. Are we sure the wood is being picked up here though?" He continues to look at the orc. "Otherwise I agree with what you've said about setting up an ambush. I will not slaughter civilians though...just those who have accepted the same risks and rewards as us. Guards, soldiers, leaders, and others like them. Let me deal with the orc while you guys get ready for whatever we're going to do."

[DrK]

Hrothgar nods at Kal's words. Aye. We can recuperate here and then take the military detail that comes fer the wood. Then start on the out posts and caravans I guess. Economic damage may be best bet "

At Renard's words he glances up in surprise. " You actually going tae deal with him or just kiss him better and let him warn his fellows. I don't care if this one has a hat, it's still an orc."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The Orc nods: "Yes, the wood is here and we were not going to move it. Don´t see how." It is indeed a fairly massive pile of wood that needs two, maybe three large carts to transport.

[GinntroN]

"I am in agreement. Let us test a military detail. As with what to do with this one, he either gets enchanted or he's dealt with in a permanent manner. I leave that detail to someone else. I will not harm an unarmed opponent, even if they are an Orc."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Slowly the conversation shifts to attacking the pick-up crew and towards tactics concerning that. After a while the Orc scratches his neck casually: "So, ehh....do you need me for anything else, or, ehh...?"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

You "curse" the Orc, who seems to believe he is cursed, though he is not as gullible as the first Orc. You tie him up with the other Orc, who is still terrified of you and dares not speak. You do get the impression that the more sophisticated Orc you now bind to the tree may figure out in the long run that he was not cursed at all.

You spend 2 days in the meadow, waiting for the pick-up crew. While this sounds terribly boring, after what you have been through this is like a luxury holiday. You can provide food, there is water, a nice temperature, shade for those that prefer shade and the soft grasses in the meadow feel like the most expensive bed ever crafted. Actually, at times the feeling creeps up that you are too comfortable. There are more important things at hand, though. In the distance you hear the sounds of cartwheels. They are coming.

You seek out your agreed hiding places. Hrothgar has given you pointers and created solid hiding places for you, and you are confident you won´t be seen. It looks like the pick-up crew has sent a forward scouting team: Two Orcs, obviously soldiers...chain shirts, shields, axes and javelins. They enter the small path towards the meadow, talking about some sports match they both watched. When they see the pile, one of them points. The other whispers sharply and in the distance you hear the cartwheels grinding. Probably this small path is not so easy to traverse with carts, so they wanted to make sure the wood was actually there. The two scouting Orcs stand about, continuing their conversation. Based on the sound, you estimate the cart may be here in a minute.

To Fireball or not to Fireball?

Map (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwBF08i13s81ZDJldFJfbWVYS0E/view?usp=sharing) (icons corresponding to speech colour...Kaladin red-ish, Renard Brown/Orang-ish)

[BelGareth]

Kaladin sees the orcs and waits, fireballing them there would be too premature, and if he could get them by the wood, it will catch fire, or more will come. He waits for now, fingers ready to cast the spell as he watches.


He'll ready to cast a fireball if one of them notices us.

If not, he'll wait until the cart gets here with more troopers.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

A minute later you hear the ruckus of more Orcs arriving. Two more come and join the first soldiers in the field, towards the pile of wood. They stand around, duiscussing that these Ogres apparently do know how to stack wood. You get the feeling Orcs are very familiar with Ogres, deal with them on a regular basis but also tend to feel slightly superior, more intelligent, evolved. They continue discussing a strategy to load the logs, as another orc positions two horses and a cart. It turns out that the cart is nothing more than a wheeled crossbeam with chains. They probably drag the logs out of the forest along a trail and have a proper cart outside the forest.

Map (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwBF08i13s81QTZPYThhdURLcWc/view?usp=sharing)

To reflex save, or not to save?

[BelGareth]

Kaladin finally sees the moment open up, and his fingers release the spell that was held there.


[roll0]
Ref save DC 17 for half
Center of fireball is intersecting L/M 9/10

[roll1]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

There is something serene about Fireballs. The barely audible woosh that announces its arrival, the bright light, the plop of a small vacuum that was created and then the screams and shouts of terror, the scent of seared flesh, the sound of burning equipment, and the moans of the sole survivor, crawling, dying, covered in his mates´blood. Magic is art, some might claim. Others might claim it is messy business.

Kaladin´s Fireball takes out three of the four Orcs. They were probably not that well-trained, or this Fireball was just rather hefty. Or both. The fourth Orc lies on the ground, moaning. Unless he gets medical attention, he probably won´t make it. The fifth Orc looks at the scene, as if nailed to the ground with open mouth.

The party gets a surprise round. Please also include an initiative roll with your post.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[GinntroN]

Lady Aderis draws her sword and puts her sheild in front of her as she steps towards the survivors, hoping for some swordplay.
[roll0]

[DrK]

Hrothgar smiles behind his beard at the fire washing over the orcs consuming them. Seeing most of them falling and toppling to the ground burning he spins around and bounds through the woods twin axes in hand to burst out beside the orc by the cart, a terrifying smile on his bearded face.


Double move to beside the orc by the cart

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

surprise round
Smiling at seeing a swift resoltion to a problem involving enemy soldiers resulting from his groups spellcasters Renard moves aside of Kaladin and advances toward the only credible threat left. He would have fired except for the very thick foliage which obscures the target too much.

move action - move 15 ft closer to the orc (I'm assuming half movement so Q16-P15-P13 further if our movement isn't that impaired)

Init [roll0]
AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +6 armor, +1 deflection)
HP 45
Fort +7 Ref +8 Will +4
Grp +7

[Autopsibiofeeder]

When you exit the foliage and face the Orc, you spot another Orc further down the path, at R1


Just pointing out that if you go to the meadow and move over the grass, you can move more towards the Orc. You´d give up surprise, of course, but still. You could end up at O6 with good line of sight to shoot, for example.

[Vertharrad]

Renard Montoya

round 1
Renard continues to put one foot in front of the other drawing closer to the orc and carts position. He calmly stalks forward hoping the fireball made enough noise and drew enough attention to mask any noise or moving shadows he's making.

move and standard action - double move 30 ft closer to the orc P13-P7(if close enough to see the orc he'll raise the bow at the end of his movement)

AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex, +6 armor, +1 deflection)
HP 45
Fort +7 Ref +8 Will +4
Grp +7

[DrK]

Hrothgar sees the second orc further down the path and ducks around the startled one by the cart to reach the second one, axe chopping down hard as the habdaxe readies for the fight to come.


Move to further away orc and hit him
[roll0] dam [roll1]

[BelGareth]

Pleased with the way the fireball had worked, Kaladin moves through the underbrush to follow his companions and not get lost behind.


Double move after Renard, so single move through difficult terrain.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The blast Kaladin produced surprised the Orcs, allowing you a fair amount of actions before the Orcs get to act. Kaladin and Renard move northwards, choosing to stay in the cover of the forest and Sahreen also stays in hiding. Lady Aderis moves out into the open and inspects the mayhem caused by the Fireball. She concludes that none of the Orcs that were in the blast will survive, they all look pretty dead to her and if there is still a breath being taken, it is likely one of the "last kind".

Hrothgar chooses the offense and darts and leaps to the path, running beyond the Orc everyone can see and to a second Orc a bit further on the path. He lands a solid blow, but not solid enough to slay the Orc.

Finally, the Orcs are released from the state of shock from the Fireball and start to act. The Orc next to Hrothgar draws a sword and lunges at the Dwarf:


Attack [roll0], crit confirm (result of 25-26): [roll1]. Damage [roll2], crit damage, if applicable [roll3]

The Orc next to the horses retrieves something from his pocket and shouts: "Attack! The Horn....Blow the Horn!" While shouting he throws something towards the meadow. It is a fist-sized object, and it looks like a gem of sorts. *plock-plock-thud* it bounces off the pile of wood and lands in the grass.

Map (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwBF08i13s81a1EzdmM0bEhDU00/view?usp=sharing), the party may act.

[DrK]

Hrothgar grunts as the orc blade cuts into his shoulder. Growling an oath he brings up the buckler and handaxe in a defensive Patten a he hews at the orc. A shout of "Get the one by the cart lads, don't let it blow the horn!"


Full attack
[roll0] dam [roll1] + [roll2]
[roll3] dam [roll4] + [roll5]
[roll6] dam [roll7] + [roll8]

HPs 65/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17)
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)

[BelGareth]

Kaladin moves through the forest with haste, he had no skill like the others, and so it was a little clumsy, but, he got through, hearing his dwarf friend, he surveyed the scene before him, the bloody fiery remains of his handiwork directly behind him, and shook his head at loosing another fireball.

Spells scrolled down a mental list as he thought through the situation, as to what would be the best suited for this instance. He kept coming back to one spell, shrugging his shoulders, he intoned the words, and bought his hands up to his chest, wrists together, and palms outwards, and then pushed them forward, unleashing a massive bolt of lightning before him, twisting, jerking, and dancing with electrical deadliness.


Move to O6
Cast Lightning Bolt through O column
[roll0] DC 17 Ref for half.
[roll1]
[roll2] Check for Casting Defensively, because hey, they might have invisible creatures around :P

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar professionally hacks the Orc to pieces, hitting with two out of three attacks. One thing is for sure, this Orc won´t be shouting for reinforcements any time s*kazaa*!CRAAACK!, a thunder bolt jolts through the space behind Hrothgar, and diminishes not only the Orc, but also the horses and cart to ashes.

Well, that´s taken care of. Or is it? You get the feeling that this is not over yet, even though every Orc (and horse and cart) in sight is dead as can be.

You can make one full round action plus one standard action (with this creepy feeling in mind) before things that might happen may actually happen.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin grins for a moment as he sees everything in sight fall.

There was only ever one good kill. And that was overkill.

He looked to the dwarf and frowned, he was hit, not bad, but hit. He concentrated for a moment, and placed his Aegis upon him. Bold Lines of golden energy formed around him, as if a suit of armor, eldritch sigils glowing and rotating slowly at important junctions of power, barely only slightly above his own armor and skin, but it stayed with him as he moved.

Done he narrowed his eyes and they lit up when he recalled something, moving with haste, he ran over to the cart to pick up the jewel that the one orc threw down.


Assign Arcane Aegis to Hrothgar (+4 Morale bonus to AC)

Double move to H12, just makes it. But I'll need to pick it up next round.

[DrK]

Hrothgar raises an axe in salute as the glowing aegis settles round him. "Thor's wrath eh! I like it. Can you see any more of the buggers eh?"

He backs towards the cart, eyes searching, orc senses on!


Using "detect orc"
Perception [roll0]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar focuses his senses as Kaladin speeds to the object in order to pick it up. At this point combat (i.e. initiative-based actions) ends (for now). Hrothgar does not detect any Orcs in the nearest vicinity. However, the cart the brought was only good for moving logs out of the forest, so it stands to reason that a cart suitable for long-distance transport is present outside the forest and it may very well be that this cart is attended by one or more Orcs. Kaladin can look down the path the Orcs you killed came from, and it is for sure longer than 60 feet. After roughly 80 feet it bends to the left.

Kaladin reaches the object and can pick it up. It is a gem or crystal of sorts. Kaladin is not big on appraising or crafting jewelry so you have no idea of the value or the nature (is it actually a gem or a crystal, and what kind of gem then, and what is the difference between a gem and a crystal...is there a difference?). It is fist-sized and cut so it has eight sides. It is transparent but with a light-blue hue, just like the water in some clear lakes. Since folks refer to such waters as "crystal-clear" it feels safe to assume this is a crystal. Anyway, more importantly, it seems to pulsate. Nothing visible, audible or tangible, though. Maybe it is Kaladin´s nature as a creature of magic that allows him to detect the sensation. It is not obviously benign or malign, you just sense that this object holds some form of energy.

[BelGareth]

Picking up the gem or jewel or, whatever it was, he felt the item with interest for a moment, it pulsed. Obviously magic, but he lacked the ability to detect such things, so he pocketed the item, and moved over to Hrothgar.

"There is most likely more around that curve" he points down the road to the bend to the left "Care to go hunting?" he says with a smile. "You can move through the woods, and I'll take the road, be the anvil to your hammer." Kaladin knew he was no good hiding, and would only give their position away, so he would provide a much better distraction.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf looks at the dead orcs strewn around the area and nods to his friends a happy smile on his green blood splattered beard. "A good plan friend Kaladin. I'll dump these crispy ones into the trees then I agree, we can head down that path and see whatever beasts lie in wait..." He pauses for a few minutes to drag the current dead orcs out of the clearing and rolls them into the thick bushes making sure to check orc was dead before he dumped them. That down he waves to Kaladin and moves rapidly down the edge of the path keeping to the thick brush eyes open.


Hide [roll0]
M.Silent [roll1]
Spot [roll2] +4 vs Orc
LIsten [roll3] +4 vs Orc

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 65/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 aegis
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Spells: Aeigis of protection +4
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Kaladin pockets the precious rock and communicates with Hrothgar. A solid plan is being concieved. However, before Hrothgar can start dragging of Orc corpses he notices a minor detail. A detail that slipped his usually keen eye before. A big detail, to be honest, if not huge. So big that Hrothgar is sure it was not there before, and so big that it is amazing that Kaladin is noticing it. In Kaladin´s defense, the 12-foot tall giant is behind him and the warmage is not famous for his vigilance.

Where it came from, and how it got there so fast is not important at the moment. What matters is that Hrothgar is caught in a flat-footed shock while Kaladin is plainly unaware of the problems you got yourselves into: A giant human-like figure, 12 foot tall, with as much stupiduty in his eyes as fat on his bones (only beaten by the amount of muscle in his body) is hulking over Kaladin. He is wielding a great club and wearing cave-man like hide armor. To be honest, he appears to be as surprised as you are, but he also seems to have the swiftest reflexes at the moment. He points his club at Kaladin: "Irch d´ran!"

In giant, it means as much as: "you will die"

Then, he kicks Kaladin brutally in the butt making Kaladin fly 5 feet forwards and land face down in the grass against the pile of wood (Kaladin starts his turn prone). Following, he swings his great club at the poor sorcerer.


The trip event is covered in the OoC thread, if you want to look it up. You are prone and flat-footed.

Greatclub: [roll0], damage [roll1] (crit confirm if 20: [roll2], damage [roll3]). Non-magical bludgeoning damage.


MAP (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwBF08i13s81LXpUWS1kMjNjckE/view?usp=sharing). You are up.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin is kicked to the floor with enough force to knock the wind from his chest, wandering what in the hell happened, the club comes down and wails on him, almost knocking him unconscious. He barely has enough time activate his anklets, teleporting him away from the Giant, allowing him to use his belt of healing.


Kaladin is disabled.
Swift: Activate anklets of translocation to G11.
Standard: Activate Belt of Healing for 1 charge - [roll0]
Move: J6

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf looks at the giant, cursing how he hadn't seen the massive beast, cursing even more as it kicks Kaladin across the earthy ground. Seeing the beast he feels his racial hatred rising forth as he remembers the tales of orange haired giant slayers.

Giving in to the rage he leaps across the ground charging the axe with the runic wand!




Swift: Rhino rush
Free: rage
Full charge: [roll0] dam [roll1]
(Threat [roll2] extra dam [roll3])

Q: did the giant beat my hide roll or do I catch him unawares?

HPs 65/74 (88)
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 aegis +4 vs giants
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)

Rage 1/9 rounds +2 will, +4 Str/con
Spells: Aeigis of protection +4
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

With some swift and smart thinking, Kaladin manages to get out of harms way and to heal himself a bit while Hrothgar charges the Giant. The Dwarf is having a field day, getting not only to fight his favoured enemy, but also his racial nemesis. Hrothgar´s charge is brutal and precise, and with great force he plants his axe in the Giant´s belly. He is very close to gutting his foe, causing a lethal wound, but it appears the charge was just not controlled enough. This is probably due to the gooey, half-molten remains of the Orcs that Kaladin had incinerated earlier that are covering this area. Nevertheless, the Giant is left with a solid gash in his abdomen. This does not stop the brute from retaliating, however. He lifts his great club and grunts: "Ka-klaka!",

This means as much as "cockroach" or general pest in Giant

and pounds at the Dwarf twice.


Greatclub: [roll0] crit confirm (if 36) [roll1], damage [roll2] bludgeoning crit damage (if crit) [roll3].
Greatclub: [roll4] crit confirm (if 31) [roll5], damage [roll6] bludgeoning crit damage (if crit) [roll7].


Link. (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwBF08i13s81Q0dfZHpHU1hhcFE/view?usp=sharing)

Since I decided that Hrothgar could charge because Kaladin had moved towards him, I am placing Kaladin on the other side of the Pile of wood. In terms of cover/safety, the situation is similar I´d say. DrK let me know what´s wrong with the maps, whether it is a persistent problem. Bel...where do you host your maps? I could make .xlsx maps and screenshot them if that suits you both better.

http://i.imgur.com/ugLd7QM.png

[BelGareth]

Having recovered, and the giant being entertained by his stalwart companion, Kaladin decides to turn up the heat on this giant.

Kaladin mutters a powerful incantation and points to the giants weapon, willing it to shatter into a million pieces, ending his spell with a simple powerful word. "Break!"


free action: 5ft step to K7

Casts shatter (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/shatter.htm) on the giants club.
DC 16 Will to negate. Ignore if club is magical.

[DrK]

Hrothgar dodges left and right avoiding the giant club. He looks up at the giant Hegh puqloD targh as he checks to see Kaladin us upright and switches to the more common tongue. "I'm going to gut you slow beast and leave you here to be shamed in front of your clan brothers ". He follows up the threat with a spinning hacking assault from the axes as he tries to hew the giant down to his size.



Axe [roll0] dam [roll1]
Axe [roll2] dam [roll3]
Hand axe Axe [roll4] dam [roll5]


HPs 65/74 (88)
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 aegis +4 vs giants
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)

Rage 2/9 rounds +2 will, +4 Str/con
Spells: Aeigis of protection +4
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Kaladin scrambles up and witnesses the Giant swing at his friend twice. One blow hits merely air, but the other connects and only barely glances. Kaladin is convinced his Aegis was at work there. Hrothgar follows up with a series of attacks. Only one lands, though. Still, the Giant groans as his knee cap is almost split. The groan turns to a moan, a questioning moan even, when Kaladin utters an arcane phrase that penetrates the core of his weapon and rips it to bits of wood only good for making a campfire.

Unarmed, the Giant makes the obvious choice: What is a pile of logs for one creature, is a pile of make-shift greatclubs for another. He reaches out for one of the logs stacked besides him, opening up his defenses, allowing Hrothgar to take advantage:


I´ll roll it to save time, if that´s okay with you

Axe: [roll0], damage [roll1]; crit, if 32: [roll2], damage [roll3]

Hrothgar manages to plant his axe in the Giant´s bottom as it turns to grab the log. Combat surely seems to go your way.

He is now in possession of a club again, albeit an inferior club, and he uses it to smash Hrothgar´s head. At least, that is the plan:


[roll4], damage [roll5]; crit, if 22: [roll6], damage [roll7]

[BelGareth]

Seeing the giant pick up the impromptu weapon made the grin only last a few seconds as it went to swing it at his friend.

Damnable giant! he thought to himself as he began casting a more offensive spell, hopefully he would be able to hit the darn thing!


Back sup to L7 and casts Scorching ray (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/scorchingRay.htm)

Ray 1
[roll0]
[roll1]

Ray 2
[roll2]
[roll3]

[DrK]

Even in his rage Hrothgar can feel the aegis protecting him as he hacks at the beast as it picks up a log, dodging under the club he rolls under the beast chopping and hacking at its groin and knees.



Atk [roll0] dam [roll1]
Atk [roll2] dam [roll3]
Atk [roll4] dam [roll5]

HPs 65/74 (88)
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 aegis +4 vs giants
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)

Rage 3/9 rounds +2 will, +4 Str/con
Spells: Aeigis of protection +4
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Kaladin´s fiery rays both hit the Giant in the chest. It roars and sinks to its knees, allowing Hrothgar to now properly look it in its eyes. Hrothgar meets nothing but raw hatred in its gaze and he swiftly finishes off the brute. With a solid *thud* the giant falls to the ground, displacing some of the logs on the pile of wood. This particular threat seems to have disappeared almost as swiftly as it appeared.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin quickly uses his healing belt.


[roll0]
[roll1]
In phone, just wanted to get this in here

[DrK]

The axes rise and fall a few more times until the giant:smallfurious: is a quivering mess before he catches his breath kicking the beast over. "Aye, victory lad. Do we leave the bodies tae rot? Plus best head away from of danger and see where the big carts are.

[BelGareth]

Kal watched in numb horror? He wasn't sure, just happy that he was still alive.

Hrothgar had some rage issues, perhaps killing all these orcs and giants would help...but Kaladin knew deep down, it probably wouldn't.

Shrugging to himself, he replied. "I would leave them here, take to long to drag and hide all of this, best to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to foster the fear mongering, I'm still good for a few more spells, care to scout the rest of this party?"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Do you head for the (supposed) other carts in plain sight, or in a sneaking fashion?

[BelGareth]

While they wait, Kaladin casts a quick cantrip, one he had forgotten about in the heat of battle. He uses it to scan the scene of bodies, giant, and the bauble he found.

[DrK]

Hrothgar nods to Kal, "You feeling better now eh? Let's search this lot then head out." Hrothgar joins the search for anything of value before nodding at the woods. He looks at the gash in his leg tagging the rune on the belt to heal the injury.


[roll0]


He motions ahead, nodding to the warmage, "Hang back a bit till I've seen what's ahead. You ain't the most stealthy ". Keeping to the edges of the brush he stalks forward.


Hide [roll1] m.silent [roll2]
Spot [roll3] listen [roll4]
-- perception +4 vs Orcs

[Autopsibiofeeder]

While Hrothgar scouts ahead, you inspect your surroundings for signs of magic. The Orcs that came to get the wood do not appear to have any magic equipment, nor do the Ogres that were chopping the wood. The Ogre lieutenant, however, the one that was armed, armoured and sitting with the Orc supervisor at the start of the initial encounter appears to have a magical weapon and armour. The aura is not very powerful: you would not be surprised if it turns out to be a basic +1 breastplate and a +1 greatsword. Both far too large to be of use to any of you.

The gem you pocketed also has a magical aura, but it is lingering, as if it held magic but is now expended. You also notice that it no longer resonates with your arcane essence like it did before. Given the brightness of the lingering aura, you estimate there was high-level magic involved, actually a level of magic you have not mastered yet. The school appears to be Conjuration, but there also seems a twist to it, as if it involved a type of magic that is different from arcane and divine power.

You scout ahead, following the path to beyond the bend. After some 80 feet, the forest opens up and you see at least three large carts standing. Next to the cart, you see two Orcs face down in the mud lying on the path. There´s no blood visible, but you don´t detect them with your Orc-attuned senses. This suggests that they are actually dead. You may not be alone here, it appears. Currently, you are hidden in the forest, some 20 feet away from the two Orc corpses. You´ll have to come closer and out of hiding if you want to inspect the bodies to learn what happened here.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf pauses at the edge of the forest looking at the corpses. A mixture of a frown and a smile on his bearded face. Switching from the axes to his bow and nocking arrows he steps lightly down the path to Kaladin. "Kal, we got some competition. Found the carts but only a couple of dead orcs. No blood neither so my magic senses tingling. Can you cover my back..."

Heading back to the edge of the wood he moves slowly out towards the two bodies and the cart, arrow readied to shoot if something bad happens. Circling slowly he checks the bodies and searches the carts and bodies both



Spot [roll0] listen [roll1]
Search [roll2]
Survival (tracking) [roll3]
Heal (cause of death) [roll4]

+4 survival/spot if Orc related

[BelGareth]

Huh, weird, this must have...what, summoned the giant? But the dumb thing didn't know its arse from its head, maybe they stored it somewhere? mentally shrugging away the thoughts for another time he looked at Hrothgar as he approached and nodded. "I can do that" he says through a concerned frown Competition?

He follows the dwarf carefully, a spell on his lips as scans the environment anything.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar approaches the corpses and does not hear or see anything out of the ordinary. It seems you are alone. You find no traces of violence on the corpse. Their deaths must be due to magic, poison or some other non-violent means. Then, from the forest, you estimate some 15 feet away, you hear a voice. You don´t see anything there, which is uncommon, given your keen eyes. "It would appear," the person speaks in common, but with a dialect unknown to you. Moreover, his voice does not sound very human-like. It is thin, as if the person is rather small, but rather low at the same time: it kind of resembles a croaking sound. "We have a common enemy." There is a short silence. "Will you promise not to slay me if I show myself?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf pauses at the voice and looks about but still cannot see a target. Trusting his instincts he lowers the bow to point at the ground. "I do not know who you are. But, if you do not have green skin then you have nothing to fear. The force I am scouting for is here only to slay the orc and their ogre and giant lackeys." Looking around he continues to casually loot the dead orcs and the wagons. Also assessing the beasts of burden pulling the carts both as transport or lunch....

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Uhhh....." there is an awkward silence.

Then, there is some rustling in the bushes and a creature steps out. You have a hard time to decide whether you would call this creature just weird or very weird. It certainly has the looks of both. It walks on two legs, has two arms and a head. And two leathery, but transparant wings. His skin is like that of an amphibian, and yes, it is green, which may explain the awkwardness before. In short, he has the looks of a big, humanoid, toad. With wings. "Hi," he walks around Hrothgar and the corpses in a rather frivolous manner, "my name is Froad. And who are you, besides master Dwarf and Orc-slayer?" he giggles a bit and then nods in the direction you were fighting before. "Is your friend coming?"

[BelGareth]

Kal followed the dwarf, and not being stealthy, stayed on the edge of the pathway, he was able to see the dwarf begin to speak to...someone?

When the creature stepped out, he was visibly shocked, he had never seen anything like this, was it a toad or some kind og magical experiment, he had read about those, strange creatures created by mad scienzards, wizards who liked to bend reality to their own will. Creating creatures that shouldn't be. The Mystical Owlbear was one such legendary creature. Kal had grown up on such stories.

He approached, not caring about stealth. (could he even?)

"Hrothgar, who's your new friend?" he asked in jest by way of introducing himself.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Hrothgar!" the creature croaks. "Splendid!"

"My name is Froad....and yours, wielder of flame?" He smiles, at least that´s what you think it is, and seems the least bit intimidated or concerned by your presence. Probably his light-hearted nature, because he was hiding before.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin smiled as the toad like creature spoke to him.

He bowed his head slightly. "My name is Kaladin, Froad, what brings you to this lovely area?"


[roll0]

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf looks at the strange beast seeing no threat in such an odd monster. Slinging the bow and happy that no further orcs are here he gives a short bow to the beast. "Well met Froad. I am indeed Hrothgar, now a beast of these lands to smite the green menace. How did you come to be here, what manner of beast are you and most importantly.... have you seen many of the Orcs?" He looks about and at the two dead ones. "You have done well to slay these nasty beasts"

Looking around at Kaladin he nodded to the wagons. "Shall we have a look and see if we can recover anything of use?" If not we can burn it and see if we can attract some more."

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods "Agreed, we should take what we need, and burn the rest." he says in thought, looking at Froad quizzically.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Froad smiles. "Ohhhh...they do talk!" He keeps hopping back and forth, not nervously, but just energetically. "So many questions!" His behaviour is as weird as his appearance.

"Well, how did I get here...I live here! Your presence here is more of an exception!" He giggles and then grins: "But never mind, I know how you got here". Suddenly, he stands still and looks at Hrothgar in a serene, solemn manner. "I," he points with a finger in the air, "I am a....Froad...I guess." Smiling, he continues: "Your kind refers to my kind as Fey. I have decided to take that as a compliment." He ponders. "Is it?"

He nods, as if answering his own question with a solid "yes". "Did I slay these Orcs? Yes....maybe...but surely not alone! Look at me! Teehee!" He leaps towards the Orcs and sniffs them. "Pfffff." Then, he turns towards you.

"You are from the other side of the sea, yes? Came here to fight the Orcs, no?" He eyes you for a moment. "Will you be my friend? If so, I may have a surprise for you."

You´ll have to do the looting etc. after this conversation.

[BelGareth]

A fey? Kaladin had never seen one before, he'd heard fairy tales sure, but he thought they were just that. And, of course, they had not come up in any of his college lessons at the war academy.

Smiling he nodded to the strange creature. "Of course Froad, we can be friends. So, are there more of you?"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Yes, yeeeees" He jumps up and down and claps his hands. "Many more. But they are shy, as they should be." He thinks a moment, with a finger in front of his mouth, as if to indicate the need for silence: "And rightfully so, I say!"

"What about you, Orcslayer, will you be our friend?" He turns to Hrothgar.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

THe dwarf stares at the strange frog like winged fey before grinning and holding out a hand to shake. "Aye. Any one who kills the green skin is a friend of mine. And if you be from these lands then ye' be a valuable friend indeed. If you've a mind to help me and Kal' here then we could surely be using the help. It'll take a while for the two of us to bring the greenskin down!" He looks around the wagons. How 'bout you keep talking with what you know of the local area whilst me and Kal' loot what's good and burns whats not.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The creature shakes your hand and smiles. When you´re done talking he looks a bit confused "Burn....?" but then shrugs it away.

"Well...what do you want to know? There is a bunch of oases and patches of forest here that we tend to. Orc karavans come there regularly, to rest. We´ve always had an understanding that they treat the places with respect, and they usually do." Then, his mood saddens a bit: "Lately, they have been coming over here to take the wood from the forests....and we can´t really stop them." He sighs a sad sigh. "I was hoping you´d come with me to my, ehm, home. There´s someone there I´d like you to meet!"

"There will also be good food and rest, I promise!"


As Kaladin already found out, there´s some magical equipment on the Ogre lieutenant. Otherwise, you have a LOT of masterwork quality chain shirts, shields and swords, a bunch of horses and carts, a gem that used to be magical but is not anymore, and one of the Orcs that was disabled by Froad carries a horn that has a faint magical aura.

I am sort-of expecting you guys to not take most of this loot because you have no use for it and know no merchants that would buy it off you. However, if you want you can take as much from the stuff as you can carry, of course.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods, and waits for Hrothgar to be finished. There wasn't much for them to take, and he had what was valuable already. He did pick up the horn, looking at it in interest, but unsure of what to look for.

"Yes, we can come and meet your friend."

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf finishes searching before nodding to both the strange Froad and Kaladin. Aye, sounds good. Let's meet your fellows. We should help you to deal the orc.

Lookin around he picks the best couple of horses and fills saddle bags with supplies for camping and food/water taking onky a couple spare weapons/armour. "Lead the way Froad"



Grabbing a horse each plus a pack horse
Then mainly food /water/ tent type supplies to make survival easier.
What type of horses?

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Yeeeeesss." Froad croaks and flaps his wings as if applauding. "Oh, horsies...hmmm." You check out the horses available. There´s a mix of light and heavy warhorses (the heavy ones in fron of the heavy carts). Hrothgar inspects the teeth, hooves, eyes and skin of the animals and concludes that they have been well trained and well taken care of. Humans would not do a better job. Both of you can pick a strong warhorse (either light or heavy) in the prime of its life.

When you start to mount up, Froad croaks: "No...no, need." He smiles. "When you travel with me, we travel by port." He walks some 40 feet into the forest motioning for you to follow. He pulls aside some large leaves and points forwards: "In here."

"We have a series of magical ports connecting many of the oases here. Your kind cannot use them. I advise you not to try, but when opened by me or my kin you may pass." He tosses a branch at the portal and you don´t see or hear it land. "See? It´s safe."

You see no reason to mistrust him and step through the portal, guiding the horse by hand. A not-unpleasant tingling sensation can be felt when you pass through, but nothing else out of the ordinary. You end up on the shore of a pond in the middle of another patch of forest. Around the shore, a myriad of exotic plants grow. You get the distinct impression that this is much like a well-tended, very colourful garden. You hear some rustling, and think you saw something...small animals? speeding out of sight, probably startled by your sudden presence. "Welcome." Froad steps through right behind you. He speaks out loud in a tongue unknown to you, but his words seem of the reassuring type. You think. "You can rest here, there´ll be good food....just treat this haven with respect, please."

"Ohhh...yes...I wanted you to meet someone." He whistles sharply: "Belle!" Some 100 feet away you see the head of a large dog, or wolf, emerging from the bushes. Slowly and lazily, it crawls out from under and approaches. You think it is a dog, but one that´s very close in appearance to wolves. It struts towards you, increasing its speed and getting more excited. When it is close, it barks and wags its tail vigourously, running circles around you, sniffing you up and down. "Now, now..." the dog turns to Froad and licks him on the face. "Ahhh...thanks...Now go." The dog retreats back to where it came from. "Well, that was Belle. She seemed happy to meet you, eh?"

Stopping the narrative now to give you players the opportunity to give me a feel of how your character responds to all this.

[BelGareth]

Kal raises an eyebrow.

Of course there were special gates.

And of course they couldn't use them.

He turned to his dwarf friend and shrugged, moving through as suggested, guiding his light warhorse along.

The sensation was strange, but not overtly foreign, it felt like some of the more advanced spells his instructors had cast on him at college, it subsided and he opened his eyes in surprised.

It was quite beautiful. Nothing about school, or the fables of this land said anything about it being beautiful, and it came to him as a surprise that it might be. Froad seemed to be genuine, if he could even tell, and he found himself in a silent shock.

He nods in mute silence at the request to treat it with respect, these were no orcs, or giants. These were obviously peaceful creatures, and he could respect that, and their wishes.

He regarded the dog like Belle with fascination, and reaches out tepidly to stroke it.

"Froad, this is amazing. Is this your home?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar

THe burly dwarf pulls the light warhorse and the two spares through the portal then stumbles to a halt as he looks around, glancing back as the portal back vanishes. Whispering to Kaladin "Ye ken I hope we've not made a msitake here..." before more loudly and carefully keeping his hands raised and not near any weapons turns to Froad. "What a place. Where is it is and how far have we travelled. I don't look like too much orc blood is here to be spilled."

He lets horse free to wander and munch the long grass and wanders around the small clearing before walking up to the large dog nodding and offering a hand stained green with orc blood to the beast in frienship. "Belle eh. Not a fierce sounding name."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Yes, this is my home. Not just mine. Many creatures live here. You may meet some, but they are shy." He smiles. "Some, like me, can speak, some can´t and others won´t. It´ll take some time." He turns to Hrothgar: "We´ve travelled some 40 miles south-east." He points at the dog who is now again lazily under the bushes. "So, it was her I wanted you to meet...Let´s sit" He sits down near the water, and the expression on his face saddens.

"Belle is not what she appears to be. Actually, her name is not even Belle. Her name is Sylvia, but she does not respond well to being called that." He sighs. "I think she wants to forget who she is. Belle is actually one of your kind. Well, a human." He winks at Hrothgar. "She came here in the same way as you, some three years ago. From what I´ve gathered she was the only one to survive and land, but she was captured by a tribe of Ogres." Tears well up in his eyes. "We managed to free her when they were not paying attention to her...but we haven´t been able to free her of the horrors she must have endured in captivity. What they did to her..." He swallows and considers his words, "....unspeakable. She was in a terrible state, physically and mentally. She has the ability to take the shape of an animal and has spent almost all her time with us in animal guise." He points at the water: "Rarely, in the depth of night she bathes here in her normal form. Twice I was able to strike a short conversation with her, but she appears to have shied away from who she is. Shunning her body and her past."

"I guess I am just hoping that your presence here might shake her out of her stupor, and help her remember why she is here." He pulls some grass out of the ground and starts chewing it. "You can maybe do something that our kind can not. Bring some justice, and maybe peace of mind. The head of the tribe that took her, a powerful Ogre Mage named Gort, he is responsible for her grief and he still lives. Not far from here." He looks at you, waiting for you to speak up.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf pats the dog no the head sadly looking at Froad over the dog's back. "Ogres you say. I hate them almost as much as I hate the orc. We will destroy them. Not only for Belle here buit because that is why we have come.

These portals... can you make them anywhere? That would be a powerful weapon to help us?"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"I am sure that´d make her happy. Or at least bit less sad." He shakes his head when you ask about the portals. "There´s a small number of them scattered throughout this corner of the continent. They were made in long forgotten ages, when fey were more powerful and had more powerful allies. It´s an art that´s been forgotten. There is one portal close to where the Ogres live, though."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

A small silence follows and you notice that Froad finds it awkward, because he starts speaking again soon enough: "You see, it would help her out but I won´t lie, it would be a good thing for us as well. And I think you helping her might give you an ally with potential." He tosses a grass-leaf into the water which instantly gets gobbled down by a fish that spits it out right after...he giggles. "We...can´t do what you do. You humanoids. Humans, Dwarves and Orcs...it seems to me that your kind reproduces faster than your eternal warring causes victims." He shakes his head. "Does not work like that for us. We simply are, and may be nigh eternal. A loss on our side is not easily replaced, so we can not risk our lives in combat like your kind does." He shrugs: "We also don´t have the physique for it. We can befuddle, cloud, prank and when needed sting....but we don´t have the brute force."

"What say you? Shall I bring you to the portal? Tomorrow, of course. I think a good night´s rest and some food is in order first." He starts to make some gestures and performs an incantation which takes a while, but after a minute a hearty meal appears in front of you. You notice it is a vegetarian meal, but even the most hardy and stubborn dwarf will have to admit that it looks very appetizing. Fruits, crispy vegetables, an assortment of healthy nuts and two types of bread (light and soft, and a dark dryer type) are available, as well as a bowl of fruity wine. Froad looks at you humbly: "I am sorry...I don´t do beer and meat...I don´t know how. If you must, you can shoot one herd animal per week for consumption. There´s some deer in the forest here, and sometimes zebra´s and gnoe pass by." You´re not sure what gnoe is.

[BelGareth]

Kal listens with respect and a small amount of wonder in his eyes.

He nods at the offer of food, and the suggestion to stay a night before heading out. "I agree, those portals could be a combat multiplier" but he whines at the words used by his dwarf friend, and was relieved when their host held no offense. "Ogres are a handful, and would allow us to test ourselves against a different foe. I am for raiding them, and if it brings a little piece to Belle, all the better."

He takes some offered food, grabbing some bread, the softer kind, and chewing on it hungrily, suddenly realizing how hungry he really was.

[DrK]

Hrothgar looks at the strange fey and nods his head, a hand brushing at his thick beard. "Aye, ogres be a fine test for ourmettle. Be good to take the fight tae them and take them down.

The dwarf grins at Kaladin at the food in the glen. "Dinnae worry my wee friend. If we need some more meat we can travel back through the portal and take some frae the oasis."

Turning in for the night he enjoys the fresh air and the promise of battle in the morning.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The day advanes into the night as you sit by the pond. As time progresses, more and more animals feel confident and approach the water to drink, albeit at a safe distance from you. The sun slowly sets, but the temperature never drops to uncomfortable levels. With the good food and peaceful atmosphere the burden of the horrors you experienced slowly fades.

Froad turns out to be an entertaining and curious host. He keeps the conversation going and is especially keen on learning about the customs and traditions of the "other" humanoid races he is less familiar with: the Humans, Dwarves and Elves. He talks about the Orcs and you notice that while he is unhappy with the recent, more aggressive stance of the Orcs he in general regards them a fairly civilized and advanced species. This is in rather strong contrast with what you've been taught. But then again: what does he know about the struggles of the humanoids?

You end up drowsy and having a long, well-deserved and very satisfying stretch of sleep. In the morning, Froad is ready to take you to the portal and bring you to the Ogre village.

If there is anything you want to do or discuss before we move to the violence, now is the time to do so (I didn't want to railroad/drop you in the middle of it before giving you this opportunity).

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The next morning Froad takes you to the portal you came through to get to this particular Oasis. Again, you step through an invisible barrier between two broad-leafed plants and end up in a different environment. You are in a forest, which is relatively dense. Large trees block much of the sun, but on the ground there is a lush growth of ~4 feet high plants with thick, dark green, broad leaves. They provide perfect cover and also dampen any sounds you may make. Not far away, to the north, you hear water streaming. You also hear voices, quite clearly Giant, but not clear enough to make out what is being said. A short moment of observing your environment reveals that there are three Ogres gathered near the stream. It´s hard to say whether these are warriors or not, but it sounds like they are doing laundry. To hear what they are discussing you´d have to get closer, of course at the risk of being spotted. Froad finds himself a good hiding spot near the portal. "Good luck," he whispers.

To the west, you make out a clearing at the edge of the forest. The stream seems to end in a small pond and, interestingly, it appears that the water does not flow any further. In the clearing you identify a number of tents, at least four but no more than eight. It is hard to say from this distance exactly how many tents and whether there is activity there. Again, you´d have to move closer (the map provided below gives a bit more detail than you make out now).


http://i.imgur.com/Mw6cvYS.png

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods with a smile, and steps through, he hadn't felt this good in a long time, and he wanted it to last, but first, he needed to test his mettle. And ogres was what he heard as soon as they stepped past the portal.

He immediately hunkered down, doing his best, but he was no Hrothgar. He nodded to the dwarf, and activated his aegis on the dwarf, his arcane armor appearing without sound, and then disappearing from sight. "Do you want to go scout" he whispered. A sudden thought came to him, they should generate their own sign language, he had read stories of some elite units doing it, it would help here surely. He tucked the idea away for another time.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The burly dwarf enjoys the night of peace. Happy somewhat with their refuge, even if it seemed strange and otherworldly and the odd toad like inhabitants were disconcerting. Waking in the morning he enjoyed the simple breakfast before checking that his weapons were ready. Praying to his ancestors he repeated the spells of the day before leaving no tracks and senses sharpened to an elite hunter.

Bow in hand he looks to Kaladin nodding and moves a little closer seeking to close to around 60 or so feet to the tents whilst remaining near the ogres. Before he goes he nods at the trio of ogres, "If they see us drop frire on all three and then I'll close and end them with my axe."




Move to X17 to look at camp

Hide [roll0]
M.Silent [roll1]
Spot [roll2] +4 vs Orc
LIsten [roll3] +4 vs Orc

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17)
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar manages to stay undetected. He looks at the camp and can now clearly see all the tents and the fireplace. There are no signs of activity, but he spots a pair of legs coming out of tent 4, as if an Ogre is lying in there (asleep or awake). He does not spot anything else in the camp, but that does not mean there are no Ogres in the other tents, of course.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Signalling Kaladin he points at the tent and makes a "throat cutting" motion and moves slowly towards the tent circling around to observe the tent and see if the pair of boots belonged to an awake or asleep beast. Hoping that the beast would be asleep so he could end it quickly and easily. With one eye on the trio of ogres down stream he ghosts slowly closer intent on murder and wreaking havoc on the orcs and their ogre lackeys.




Move to X17 to look at camp

Hide [roll0]
M.Silent [roll1]
Spot [roll2] +4 vs Orc
LIsten [roll3] +4 vs Orc

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17)
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar creeps and sneaks around the camp. He inspects Tent 4 and decides that Ogre must be sleeping. He also notices a creature in Tent 1, most likely also asleep. Further, there appears to be someone in Tent 6: No legs stick out, but there´s sound coming from it. A soft tapping, as if someone is doing some form of handicraft.

It is unclear where you moved to. It says X17, but you alreadt were there. Does not matter much right now, but for next round it´d be nice to know where you went :smallsmile:.

[BelGareth]

Kaladins heart was pounding as he watched, or tried to, Hrothgar sneak around, the dwarf had some kind of special sense about him, and he looked on in amazement as he approached one of the tents with gruesome intentions, it was sound, if he could dispatch one or two before they were alerted, it would make things that much easier.

His fingers twitched with anticipation, a spell in his mind ready at a moments notice.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf continues to circle around creeping forwards, drawing his axe and with an evil grimace creeps silently through the brush and woods. He approaches the SE tent (#4) and slowly creeps in, making sure to glance out of the narrow slit in the fabric to make sure he isn't visible from the other two occupied tents. Seconds later he stands over the ogre and with a desperate heave of his arms brings the blade down into the beast's sleeping face and head seeking to separate its head from its shoulders.



Coup de grae the sleeping ogre [roll0] damage and Fort DC10+ damage or "Die"

Hide [roll1]
M.Silent [roll2]
Spot [roll3] +4 vs Orc
LIsten [roll4] +4 vs Orc

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17)
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Kaladin can faintly, sort-of see Hrothgar moving behind and probably into one of the tents. Then, from Kaladin´s perspective, a silence ensues. Hrothgar finds that the Ogre in the tent is indeed sleeping. He takes a moment to find a spot on the Ogre´s neck that is both exposed and vulnerable and drops his axe. Splurgh. Before the head is severed from the torso, the Ogre makes one last, reflexive, spasmic movement with his leg, bumping into a pack that´s in the corner of the tent. The axe lands with a soft, but still audible *thud* on the ground. You tried to do this silently and, skillful as you are, this was quite silent but it was still quite clumsy for your standards and you realize that a skilled person (like yourself) might have picked up the disturbance.

The faint tapping in the large tent stops. "Nex, Radar? Is that you? What´s up?", you hear a low voice asking in Giant. You have to move fast now, Hrothgar, because there´s a good chance someone will come to investigate if he is not answered. Please take one round of actions at a time.

Kaladin is too far away to have heard all this.

[DrK]

Cursing at the noise Hrothgar grins at the dead ogre before dashing out of the back of tent #4 and running into the trees, making sure to place a solid tree between him and the voice in the large tent



Move 60ft south back into the woods seeking a solid 5ft wide tree to gain total cover
Hide [roll0]
Move silent [roll1]

Inc the -5 for fast stealth but no + for distance, tree cover or tent cover

[Autopsibiofeeder]

I moved you on the map, but you did not make it 60 feet because there was also some (carefully) manoeuvering-out-of-the-tent involved. You´re well into the bush, tho.

Hrothgar is well aware of the potential problem he faces and, wisely, moves away from the camp. While running, he looks back once or twice but does not see (or hear) anything of note. He rests behind a wide tree trunk and takes a deep breath. Maybe this all ended well.... "PERKELE!" Both Hrothgar and Kaladin hear this loud curse coming from the camp. "Intruders! Fight!". Okay, it did not end that well.


Monsters (average modifier) [roll0]
Team (average modifier) [roll1]

The Ogres doing laundry spring into action and start moving towards the camp. Kaladin may perform his readied action. If he wants to, that is.

Yes, they fit into a fireball. Or...isn´t that what you were about to ask? :smallwink:

[BelGareth]

[roll0]
Ref save DC 17 for half

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Silently, the bead of fire rushes through the forest, wobbling left and right to avoid tree stems, unerringly reaching its destination which can be best described as fiery Ogre death. Hrothgar also notices the distant inferno briefly lighting up the forest. The screams and cries of agony are a clear indication that the three laundry Ogres will never be able to play the wardrums again. While the mayhem only lasts for a split-second, several burning stands of plants, the smell of burned flesh and the pile of corpses are a clear indication of what happened here.

From a northern tent an Ogre emerges. Armed with a greatclub, he appears to have spotted something because he heads straight in the direction of Hrothgar´s location: "Wut? Hey!" He ends his movement close to Hrothgar, and eyes the Dwarf that tries to hide behind a tree.

You are up (the Ogre used his full round to chase Hrothgar). Aside from the one Ogre chasing Hrothgar (which Kaladin does not see, but he notices the shouting and running noises), there seems to be no other activity/response in the camp.

http://i.imgur.com/A1C5x1U.png

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf looks up, a savage bearded grin and a "You git me..." greeting the ogre before he launches himself around the tree, axe swinging at the ogres knee. A brief shout of KAL! seeking to try and draw the warmage's attention. The smoke and fire a few hundred feet downstream suggesting he's started already!



Move via F20 and G19 (to avoid AoO)
Hit ogre [roll0] dam [roll1]

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 vs giants
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[BelGareth]

Kal moves as fast as possible towards the sound, trying to get a picture of what was happening.


Double move West direction.
Not sure how 1.5 movement works....(im brain farting.)

30 ft movement

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar lunges at the Ogre and deals out a vicious blow. However, not vicious enough to slay it. Now, it is time for the Ogres, or rather the one still standing, to retaliate. Make you guys hurt for what you have done! With a roar the Ogre lifts his greatclub and takes a wild swing at Hrothgar. In the meanwhile, Kaladin runs towards the skirmish as fast as the trees allow.

[roll0], damage [roll1]. Crit confirm if 28: [roll2], bonus damage [roll3]


http://i.imgur.com/gx8iRdd.png


Team is up.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf ducks one wld swing and defects the other with his buckler as he ducks. Rising he stares at the ogre - "You're kind will be driven from these lands and dwarves and men shall rule once more even if i have tae do it one skull at a time! Twin axes flying he goes back on the offensive.



Full attack
[roll0] dam [roll1]
[roll2] dam [roll3]
[roll4] dam [roll5] +1 electrical


"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 vs giants + X aegis
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[BelGareth]

Kaladin moves closer, and as he does, he forms a ball of acid in one hand, streaming green vitriolic acid which vanished into green acrid smoke before it hit the ground, he came to halt, and realized he couldn't use that spell, too much cover was in the way, he dismissed the ball of acid with a twitch of his hand, and summoned several daggers of pure force instead.

With a another flick, he sent 4 daggers unerringly at his target, which zipped and swerved around leaves and tree trunks, to eventually slamming into the things back and neck.


Single move West to R19
Cast Magic Missile defensively
[roll0] vs DC 16 (auto pass)
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar strikes at the Ogre with great force, ripping his armor and burying his axe in his chest. When it is there, he feels the force of four hits with pure arcane anergy strike on the Giant´s back. The Ogre sinks to its knees and fall over. Silence returns, and your ears slowly become aware of the gentle trickling of the nearby stream. So serene, and such a stark contrast with the sound and cries that go with combat.

Combat ends (as do initiative-driven actions). Was this all you came to do, or?

[BelGareth]

Kaladin keeps running towards where he saw the giant fall, he skids to a stop when he sees Hrothgar, covered in ogre blood, as usual.

Nodding to the dwarf, "Do we want to ransack the place? I don't see why not, I can at least see if they have anything worth taking..."

[DrK]

Hrothgar.

The dwarf grins as Kaladin reaches him, a hand raised to the warmage as he appears. "We are missing one friend Kaladin.... There was two others in the camp aside from the one I left sleeping permanently.". Pausing he reaches down and tears out the dead ogre's tooth, pulling out the orc one in his pouch and dropping in the ogre's. "Come, lets go hunting mage. We are missing a foe and have some tents to explore. I reckon we start with the big one!"

Keeping eyes and ears alert he moves swiftly towards the main tent after looting the body at his feet looking for any tracks or other signs of passage. Still alert he looks at Kaladin, "Did Froad join us? I hope so, an extra set of eyes would be useful."


Swap orc --> ogre (giant) in the enemy spirit pouch

Spot [roll0] +2 vs orc or giant
Listen [roll1] +2 vs orc or giant
Survival [roll2] +2 vs orc or giant


"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 vs giants + 4 aegis
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"YOU BASTARDS!"

For a split-second you see a tall silhouette before you and then you are blinded by a bright white light. No, not a light. It is wind, energy....it is cold. Oh, by the gods, it is so cold. You are frozen to the point where your bones may snap should you take a step. Both of you take [roll0] cold damage (Reflex DC18 for half) before the brief assault of the Cone of cold is over. Your vision returns and you see a tall Giant standing in front of you, at least one head taller than the other Ogres. It has a dark-blue purplish skin, red hair, clad in chain shirt and it is armed with a greatsword of phenomenal size. The fury in his fiery red eyes is almost palpable. This is the threat you came to vanquish, now is the time to act like a hero.

This all happens right after you hook up and converse, and before Hrothgar can pull out a tooth and start scouting. Apparently, it has been waiting for you to stand together.

Hrothgar recovers first and gets to act now. Kaladin will have to wait until after the Giant acts.

http://i.imgur.com/7mJ9qif.png


Very much OoC, but just before it comes up. Between supernatural flight, gaseous form, invisibility and the fighting that was going on the Ogre mage was able to defeat detection. This was a surprise action, initiative was rolled in the OoC thread.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin is almost knocked down by the cold blast, the arcane energy sapping his strength. He falls to one knee, overcome with fatigue.

The sky looked so peaceful, perhaps he could lie down for a bit? Recover himself, it wouldn't last long...

A nap sounded such a good idea, Hrothgar would take care of him, he always did.

[DrK]

Hrothgar howls as the cold washes over Jim before he feels the beserker rage inside him explode out, the world going red and all he can do is throw himself forward in a brutal assault of spinning axes!



5ft step
Rage
Full attack
[roll0] dam [roll1]
[roll2] dam [roll3]
[roll4] dam [roll5]+1 Elec

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active
Rage! 1/9

HPs 52 / 88 (74)
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 vs giants + 4 aegis -2 rage +2 increased Con = 29
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

I am very sorry, I was waiting for DrK to post, but apparently the info that he already had had vanished from my mind.

Kaladin strongly considers the option of a nap, and it appears the Giant is satisfied that the mage is out of the equation because it is now fully focused on Hrothgar. The Dwarf had only hit him with his first attack, but it was a dire blow and a good indication of the threat he poses. He swings his giant-sized sword at the Dwarf:


Greatsword [roll0], damage [roll1]. Crit confirm (if 26 or 27) Greatsword [roll2], bonus damage [roll3]

[DrK]

Hrothgar ducks the blow focusing on bringing down this cheap Conjurer, the dwarf angry that he had been burnt and filled with a burning rage as he chopped frenziedly at the massive ogre.





Chop [roll0] dam [roll1]
Chop [roll2] dam [roll3]
Chop [roll4] dam [roll5]+1 elec



Detect Orcs" 60ft active
Rage! 2/9

HPs 52 / 88 (74)
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 vs giants + 4 aegis -2 rage +2 increased Con = 29
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[BelGareth]

Kaladin barely notices the vicious melee before him, his head swam, and his vision began to blur... the ground, the ground looked so inviting...

He stumbled back, and recalled something, his belt...something about his belt.

Think! He thought to himself, Think!

What about the belt?

He frowned, something about it made him better...he had vague memories of using it before, but how?

He touched it, and he suddenly felt a rush of energy, as if he had broken through the surface of a frozen lake. His mind raced all of a sudden, as if it were hidden beneath a layer of fog that had been lifted.


free: 5ft step back
Standard: Activate Belt of healing [roll0]
Swift: Anklets of translocation another 15 feet back.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar delivers one more blow, but sees two merely grazing the Giant´s armor. In the meanwhile, outside of the attention of the combatants, both too obsessed with their fury and hatred for each other, Kaladin saves himself and clears away from the combat a little. The hulking Ogre roars and hacks once more at Hrothgar.


Greatsword [roll0], damage [roll1]. Crit confirm (if 26 or 27) Greatsword [roll2], bonus damage [roll3]

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf rolls sideways, an arm upraised letting the sword skit off the edge of the buckler before the rage filled dwarf leaps up, both axes seeking to hamstring the ogre to bring him down eye-to-eye with Hrothgar so that he could vent his fury upon the beast. "Kal, bring the fire!" he yells, excited by images of flaming death even in the bounds of his rage.



Chop [roll0] dam [roll1]
Chop [roll2] dam [roll3]
Chop [roll4] dam [roll5]+1 elec

Detect Orcs" 60ft active
Rage! 3/9

HPs 52 / 88 (74)
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 vs giants + 4 aegis -2 rage +2 increased Con = 29
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[BelGareth]

Kaladin

Having barely caught his breath, the belt bringing him back from the brink, hears his companion and responds in kind, weaving his hands in eldritch patterns and speaking the words of fire. Launching 2 fiery rays upon the giant.


Casts Scorching ray defensively
[roll0] vs DC 17

[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Both rays of energy fly true at the Giant, but to Kaladin´s disappointment they appear to fizzle out of existence upon impact (SR). Hrothgar, however, is more lucky. It would appear that he was just warming up and has now found his rhytm: He hacks three times at the Giant and lands all his blows. Bleeding, gutted and hamstrung the Ogre falls at the Dwarves´ feet.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin watches in surprise as his spells fail to effect the giant at all.

He stands there stupefied and scratches his head, "well I'll be." he mutters, in utter amazement.

Gathering his wits, he touches his belt 2 more times, healing himself further.


last two charges of belt
[roll0]
[roll1]


He looks to Hrothgar and frowns, "Is that the last one then?" he says, looking around in case of danger, he did not want to be caught flat footed again.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

As far as you can tell, this was the last one.


You roll a 25 on your spot check and notice something peculiar: I appears that the Giant´s wounds are closing healing while you look at it. Just like that! While it is unconscious!

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf catches his breath as the rage abates. The ogre down. Seeing the beast starting to regenerate he growls and angrily hacks the head off with a pair of brutal swinging chops. Kal, this bugger won't stop trying to stick himself back together. Any suggestions".

With head removed from body he begins a rapid search of the ogres and the tents looking for information or loot. Every now and then he checks on the ogre body hacking at it to keep it down.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar ransacks the tents and the Ogres and does not find much of particular interest. Well, except for two items that look valuable: A flask with a blue potion (or strong spirit) and a short bow. Not that a short bow is special, but in contrast to the hide armours and basic weapons the Ogres were using, this bow looks to be of masterwork quality and has some interesting elven carvings on it. Kaladin can interpret them.

Nothing pierces like the polar wind, is the best way you can translate it to the common tongue.

[BelGareth]

While Hrothgar is off looting the site, Kaladin peers at the strange ogre they fought and inspects the renitting flesh.

How remarkable, he thought, he had heard of such things before, read of them, but thought them fanciful fairy tales, created to scare of babes and younglings alike.

But here he was, looking at it.

He took a moment to think, and then, recalling one such book, summons a small orb of fire and launches it at the ogre.


[roll0]
[roll1]
No SR

If failed, try lesser Orb of acid
[roll2]
[roll3]


He peers at the flesh to see if the fire affected it, and if not, will cast another spell, but this time, the sphere he summons will drip with acid.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Kaladin inspects the fiery wound he caused and concludes that that specific damage is not undone by the monster´s extraordinary ability.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf looks baffled as the the headless ogre corpse flaps briefly before going still and shakes his head. "A weird beast eh, I'm glad we've done it in. Nae bother from the other 3 for you then eh?"

He scours the camp and the three ogres down the stream before catching up with Kaladin and looking around the camp. Nasty burns aye? Me too."



2 charges belt
[roll0][roll1]



Looking at potion and now he tests the pull if the bow observing the cold ice crystals and the fine elven craft. "It was Griad that sent us this way. Do you know where he is gone? He asked us to kill an ogre mage, I'm hoping this was it?"

As Kaladin considers the answers he climbs up a handy tree to survey the area where the are looking for towns, other pyres of smoke or signs of greenskin life

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Froad is, as far as you know, still hanging out near the portal, hidden. Hrothgar does not see signs of humanoid (or giantoid) life in the vicinity. It seems the most sensible course of action is to head back to the portal. Is there anything, besides the bow and potion, you'd like to bring back to the Fey grove?

[BelGareth]

Kal nods at Hrothgars words, "That bow is a mighty weapon, the aura is truly powerful".

He considers his words as the dwarf climbs the tree, the ogre mage was definitely a strange one, and they would be good to heed the warning it showed. Next time, they would need to be more careful.

"Let us be gone, maybe Froad can help with identifying these items, and heal us some more."

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Scanning the area one last time Hrothgar nods and grins at Kaladin. "How are you feeling now my friend. That was a good scrap, we did well. Another 6 or so of the vile beasts dead. I know we've a long way to go but small steps eh. Come, help me pack up one of these tents. Give us somewhere nice to sleep eh back at Froad's pond. Maybe grab some of the food as well eh? Don't think I can be that happy eating nuts and berries and they didn't seem to please y hunting."

He helps Kaladin strike a tent, grabs some food and begin dragging it back to the portal. He also stops to tear a canine from the dead mage, dropping the tooth into his magical pouch allowing him to choose between the orc or the giant to aid his fighting. Looking around near the portal he calls out gently "Friend Froad. THey are all dead - was there anything else in this area you wanted help with?"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

You manage to break down and fold one tent and even find some meat. You find quite some meat, but this one particular leg is obviously of a deer. The other meat is hard to identify and may very well be humanoid (Ogres are cruel animals after all) and is probably best left alone. You find Froad by the portal and he is visibly pleased with your accomplishments: "Amazing. I am not much into violence, but sometimes what needs to be done needs to be done. Both of you have exceptional talents, and the world can only hope you´ll keep on using it for the greater good." He turns towards the portal. "Belle has been watching your activities," he explains, "Scrying, hmmm...in a pool of water, yes? No?" He shrugs, deciding that he does not care whether you follow what he is saying. "I am sure she will be happy. Yeeeessss." He steps through the portal and motions for you to follow.

Once you arrive in the "home" oasis, you notice Belle has been expecting you. Right after you regain your bearings, the large wolf-dog rushes at you with wagging tail. She jumps up against Kaladin´s chest, knocking him over (it is a big dog) and licks his face, after which she starts running in happy circles around Hrothgar while Froad guides you to the shore of the pond. "Here, let me tend to these wounds," he says and starts working his magic to heal you back to full strength. Belle drinks from the pond and lies next to you, head on paws, ogling both of you intently. "Yeeesss...I think you made a friend." Froad finishes healing you and pets Belle on the head. "Well, more than one friend. You provided the Fey of this oasis a great service as well."

"So," he asks after a while, "what are your plans now?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf looks about at the devastation and eventually shrugs looking non-plussed. "Friend Froad. I am not sure. We seek more of the scum to kill and need to harry and disrupt orc and green skin activites. Are you aware of any pink skins in these lands. Either as slaves or worse - collaborators. Or possibly, and I know this is a lot to hope for but others like us a resitsance against the green skin?". Looking at Kal he nods at the flames. "Once we get you healed up we can continue. We are aready making little stings but it owuld be good to understand the command structure of the orc nations? Or if there are various nations. With your portals and your oasis to aid us we could be effective."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Froad nods understandingly, but you can also note that he is not familiar and/or entirely comfortable with the brusque way Hrothgar speaks and the black-and-white view of the world he has. Probably a cultural thing. "Well, master Dwarf, I think I understand the need for vengeance that drives you, and I won´t stand in your way. You have helped us a lot and I will do whatever I can to facilitate your endeavours." He digs in his memory for a moment before continuing: "I have seen men, dwarves, elves and whatnot....ehm, pinkskins, before. Every now and then some make it through." He points at the wolf-dog that lies near the water. "It does not happen often, though. The last time a group came through here was more than two years ago. Well, a group we interacted with, mind you. I assume we don´t meet everyone of your faction." Again he falls silent while thinking deeply. "Nina....Neela...no! Nala. Nala was their leader. A formidable warrior, and a smart leader she was. They helped us out, after we provided shelter, much like you but then the group left into the mainland. No idea what became of them."

"We´ve seen groups of your faction move through sporadically over the past centuries. Every couple of years one. But they all leave and we have no news that they achieved anything of significance, nor of their survival."

"I have not traveled a lot, but I do hear things and can tell you some things about this continent. However, I can not transport you everywhere. Hereabouts, around the oases, I can. But honestly, there is not much Orc activity here." Froad starts drawing with his finger in the sand. "There are three, maybe four main regions on this continent, and I can transport you to one of them, if you want. That would likely be our last contact then, I fear, because this continent is vast. My drawing is not so good. Please bear with me. This be a schematic drawing of this continent.


http://i.imgur.com/0pLDIO2.png

Froad marks an X on the centre left. "Hereabouts there is grasslands, desert and woodlands. It is some three hundred miles to the east of our current location. It is not all as barren as what you have seen so far. You will find wildlife here, several karavan routes and some settlements. Mostly goblinoids live in these parts, but others do as well. Their ties to the main orc capitals are fairly strong, and they are the link between the orc lands and the resources found in the south. Also, a lot of tribes of giants of all sorts live here. Most of the ogres are employed by the orcs to protect their karavans."

"Far to the south lie the jungles. Lots of wildlife there and I would say the place is perilous. It is a popular travel destination for dragon-spotters. Dragons of all types live there, and also many dragonkin, such as kobolds." He draws an X with a circle on the bottom part of the map and looks intently at you. "You do know what kobolds and goblins are, hum? Anyway, the ties between the jungle region and the orc capitals are very weak. Many precious ores and gems are found here and since orcs are somewhat scared of the forests and its perils, they trade with the dragonkin and let them be. Perhaps that is the best place to go if you do not want to be found. By orcs, that is."

"Far to the east lie the fertile grasslands that the orcs control. Many a farm you will find, little wilderness. Most large orc cities are in this region. You will find orcs, goblins, kobolds and so on here and also some giants. Lesser giants, though. Not the really big ones. This nation is highly organized and you will run into military patrols and law enforcement very regularly. This is the best place to go if you want to be found. By orcs. I guess I would advice against going here, but you seem well-trained, perhaps you can cope."

"Finally, way in the north lie huge mountain ranges which feature boreal forests and alpine regions. Many many wildlife here. Good fishing as well, I hear. It is usually very cold and most humanoids avoid the place. Bands of barbarians, that's how the orcs call them, live here in a loosely-knit society. As far as I can tell, they do not have ties with the orcs. The orcs let them have their warmth-forsaken lands and the barbarians allow the orcs to harvest the fluids they have become so dependent on during the past 50 years. This may be the safest place to go, provided you can handle the cold."

"There are many more regions, but I cannot grant you passage to those." Froad smiles. "Does that answer your questions?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar looks at the weird creature before nodding. "I thank you Froad, I think we'd like to travel to West. We can harass the weakly defended caravans and gather equipment and information before we move on."

He strokes his long beard and then looks once more at the weird beast. "Can we use your oasis as a refuge if we are pursued?" Grinning at Kaladin he gestures back to the portal - "Who wants to go and hunt some orcs and ogres?"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Froad smiles. "You are always welcome in our oasis. However," he shrugs, "You, being non-fey, cannot operate the portals. Which means that after I drop you off you'll have to walk, or ride, back here."

"And it is a long walk....not to mention that this continent is perilous for you. I wish you all the best in the world, I really do, but I must say I fear we will not meet again once you leave."

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods to the dwarf with an eager smile, the chance to hunt ogres appealed to him after his time of being forced march for however long.

He flexed his hand in subconscious anticipation of the hunt, he frowned when froad said they would not be able to help them any further,

"That is sad news Froad, but, as my grandmother always told me, each persons path is a windy one, but they all tend to straighten out in the end, perhaps ours will straighten out in the same area? eh?" he shrugs subtlety, looks to Hrothgar and sighs a little "Well my friend, I am ready when you are." he pauses a moment and looks to the dog, Belle "Will Belle be coming with us? Perhaps some time with her own kind will help?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar looks at Kaladin and then at Froad. "Friend Froad. It may come to pass that we will want transport to the frozen North. Could you wait, unseen by the portal at sunrise after the full moon for the next few cycles. If we are not returned in 3 months we will be dead but aside from that it may be that we are waiting to travel North to the lands of ice and snow. "

Looking at Kaladin he grins behind the beard. Dropping the ogre's fang into his hunting pouch. "Come my friend. Lets rest in the oasis tonight and recover wounds before we begin a life of raiding in the morning. We can bring the horses and the tents for speed and comfort. Each morning I will disguise our tracks so that we will not make things too easy for our ogre and green skin friends."

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods to Hrothgar, "This sounds like a good idea, a nights rest is exactly what I need, especially before we go meet our new friends." he finishes, grinning at the inside joke.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Froad smiles broadly at Kaladin: "The optimism of your kind is refreshing. When confronted with it, one can only adopt it. Till, maybe, we meet again, then!" You spend one more night at the oasis and move, well-rested, to the portal. Almost there, you start addressing some pressing practical issues. Froad listens intently to Hrothgar's suggestion, ponders a moment and then nods. "That is, ehm....well, a sound plan. I can do that for you. Myself, or someone I sent, will be there for the coming three moons." He hands you some water and (vegetarian) rations for four days. "Please be careful. From where we exit, a Goblinoid-dominated town lies roughly ten miles southeast. Not sure how many souls, but hundreds for sure. You may encounter patrols that seek to neutralize threats to the caravans: Both animals and humanoids."

He activates the portal and guides you through. "As for Belle, we'll let her decide for herself," the wolf bolts through the portal and on the other side immediately disappears into the forest, "well, there you go. No worries, she can fend for herself."

You find yourself in a not-so-dense shrubby forest. Trees are relatively sparse and not very tall. In between patches of forest there are grasslands: Tall, often yellow-brownish grasses silently fight the heat and drought. A herd of large herbivores is slightly startled by your presence and collectively, but lazily, move a couple of hundred feet further away from you. Hrothgar knows a thing or two about this type of environment. Large predators can be expected here, lions, cheetahs, hyenas, crocodiles and so forth. They typically don't hunt humans, but they may lash out when disturbed. Dire versions of such creatures may exist, and they will hunt humans for their flesh. Water is scarce, so collecting it whenever possible is wise. Many animals compete for the water, however, and a big herbivore fighting for water can be as dangerous as a lion defending her cubs.

"Please be well." Froad moves towards the portal, about to step back to the oasis.

You are on (or with) horses, so you can't travel through the thickest of bush to optimally conceal your presence. Where will you head first (straight for the village, or?), and what specific measure will you take to remain undetected?

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods and bids Froad farewell, "Many thanks Froad." he says.

Turning to Hrothgar, he looks around and nods. This would do. "I don't think we should rush this, perhaps we tie off the horses and find a spot to hide for a moment and scout out the area. We have no reason to rush, and being careful will keep us alive. Once we find our lay of the land, we can then prepare our plan of attack."

He nods, as if agreeing with himself. "and if we do get discovered, I studied that last orc we grabbed, I have a spell that will change me into one just like him."

[DrK]

Hrothgar

As they enter the new area Hrothgar marks the place carefully with local landmarks before thanking Froad and looking at Kaladin witha wide grin. Muttering he casts some prepatory spells to ready for a day of "hunting"



Primal hunter
Primal instincts
Pass without trace
Heart of air
Heart of water
Longstrider
Lay of the land



The final spell he concentrates hard, making a small map in the trance before seeking the nearest town and hopefully a river and then pointing in the direction. Come on then Kaladin, mount up, lets see what we can find today!"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Froad was right: Hrothgar envisions the settlement northeast of here. Twelve miles actually, but the Fey never gave the impression to know this area very well. Hrothgar does not detect rivers. However, in the area there are several puddles, oases and watering holes. Typically, there is 5 to 20 miles of distance between them.

You head towards the north-east. Not at full speed for a couple of reasons, the most important two being that you don´t want to be detected (and you don´t know exactly what you are "running into") and quite frankly because this landscape is quite wondrous to you: It is not like you are on a timed mission here, or have some place to be. While traveling, you notice colourful birds, herds of different types of mean-horned herbivores and a small family of the oddest-looking animals. With necks almost as long as the tallest tree, they tower well above you and are the tallest creatures you have ever seen. They seem peaceful enough, and Hrothgar can share that these so-called "Giraffes" are not dangerous at all. Aside from the punishing heat, the whole environment seems friendly. Scattered carcasses with obvious claw and bite marks are a regular reminder that it is not always so. In short, for the inquisitive mind and nature-oriented heart there is enough to sight-see here.

After 8 miles, you come across a large oasis (as in, a water that is surrounded by tall vegetation as opposed to a puddle in an open landscape) and you swiftly determine that this area is safe to let the horses drink and cool down (i.e. no obvious predators). Enjoying the small respite and the chance to stretch your legs, Hrothgar picks up a sound in the distance. A group of people is approaching, at least one of them being rather loud. You have time to swiftly hide the horses in the forest and find cover if you want (or run/flee, charge whoever is approaching or some other fancy course of action).

What do you do?

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Enjoying the ride Hrothgar looks at Kaladin, "Its a nice wild landscape Kal'. If it weren't for the greenskin it would be a good place to explore. And to hunt!" He rides happily enjoying the sun, heat and wild animals of the plains. The threat of large alpha predators only adding to his sense of excitement. As they reach the waterhole he hears the sound of voices approaching he nods to the trees and brush. "Move Kal, creatures approaching my friend.. Quick move into cover, move!"



Hide [roll0]
Spot/Listen [roll1] / [roll2] +2 vs ogres or orcs
Detect ORC 60ft

HPs 72/72
AC 22 (Touch 14 Flat 18)
Saves +14/7/11 (+2 vs poison/spells, +4 vs "endurance")

Effects:
Primal hunter (24 hours, +5 climb/jump/swim)
Primal instincts (24 hours, +5 Init/Survival)
Pass without trace (7 hours, Hrothgar, horses, Kaladni)
Heart of air (+10 jump)
Heart of water (Swim speed)
Longstrider (+10ft move)

[BelGareth]

Kal nods and does what he was told, he whispers "Let us not be hasty, watch and learn, we are in no hurry."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

You hurry the horses out of sight and find a comfortable place to observe. After a few minutes of silence you hear some dark booming voices in the distance, followed by some rustling in the bushes some sixty feet away from you. A big bugbear clad in leather armor steps out of the bushes. He peers around intently while sweeping the area with a drawn longbow. He takes ten seconds for his inspection and then turns around and starts speaking in Orc.

"There is no point in this if you don't shut up, Borf. Anyone here will have heard us way before I start scouting." What must be the strongest and tallest orc you have seen so far in your life steps out of the bushes and joins the bugbear. "BWAhaa, hehe...take it easy. There is noone here. I am afraid of nobody anyway." If his shaven and scarred skull is not his most impressive feature, the gigantic axe on his back must be. The orc starts taking off his chain shirt. ""Let's go swim! Or do you need to check the pedimeter there as well? Bwaha!" The orcs rushes to the water as the bugbear turns around to face the bushes again. "Perimeter...." He continues to mutter some soundless words with a hopeless expression on his face, adressing the two last figures coming out of the bushes. The small robed goblin has her attention fully focused on a scroll she is holding, but the orc, clad in a nicely ornamented full plate, that follows the goblin shows some understanding. He makes a calming gesture and says: "Let him. The man is excited to see water and this place seems peaceful enough, huh?" The orc smiles at the miffed bugbear and the three of them proceed to sit next to the water.

As the orc swims around and produces some weird exclamations of joy and encouragement for the others to join him, the goblin sits quietly and keeps reading her scroll. When offered a drink from a watersack she waves it away absentmindedly, not even looking up. The orc and bugbear sit together and have a small conversation about how they have been travelling for three weeks now and how the last part of their travels through this relatively flat and barren land has been quite swift. The bugbear also repeatedly makes the point that they should be more cautious and allow for better and more scouting. The orc in general replies that he should have more faith and that they enjoy protection from 'above'. During a short period of silence the bugbear looks around lazily as he suddenly sits up. "We are being watched." He starts drawing his bow as suddenly the goblin speaks up: "It is the Fey. Don't worry, they are harmless." The female sounds very certain, but does not take the effort of looking up to confirm her theory. The bugbear is now focused on the ground surrounding them. "People were here. Orcs...? Hmmm...and horses, I think." "It is a trading route, my friend. Many an orc and horse will be frequenting this place, no?" It seems the bugbear is satisfied, as he puts back his bow and continues to lazy about. "Yeah...let's camp here."

"WOO HOO!" The orc splashes some water on his companions on the shore before he leaves the water and yields some annoyed comments. "So. We camping here, huh? That's good. I approve of this. When I retire, I am going to build me one of these. Oasis, huh? Haha!....Two oasises even!" Apparently his companions are used to the nonsense the orc produces: he does not get much response.

"So...Yana. We are almost there and we are far away from cities and people, right?"

"Hmmm...."

So...you get to tell me what we're doing, no?"

"Hmmm....."

"I mean, is it far to the south...towards the end of the world? The world does end somewhere, no?"

"Hmmm...."

"Hmmpf."

"Tell him, Yana. Otherwise I will. With my head for detail, you might want to do it yourself, no?"

"Yes!"

*sigh* "Do you remember the big machine...that brings wood to the city?"

"Yes"

"Do you know why it moves...out of itself?"

"Yes...magic"

"No, magic can not do that. Well, it can, but that would be too expensive."

"No, it is magic, I am sure"

"God kill me...please"

"Hey!"

"Sorry, but come on!"

"Guys, I am speaking. Okay, Dorf, it is magic"

"Yes, told you so"

"Buuut...it is special magic. It requires a special stone to function. A gem"

"Yes, a magical gem"

"No, not a magical gem"

"Then, what's so special about it?"

"Well, it is green. It is also very big. Almost as big as your head"

"As big as YOUR head?"

"Uh, yeah. And it is warm to the touch. Hold it for too long, and you will burn your hands"

"Okay"

"So, the gem for the second machine was found a while ago. They are very rare, we may never find a third"

"Ohhh....lucky finder"

"Yes, but it was stolen"

"No!"

"Yes"

"By who?"

"Dark elves"

"No way? Dark elves??"

"Yes"



"Yana?"

"Yes?"

"What is a dark elf?"

"Dark elves are evil creatures that live deep underground"

"Evil? Isn't it dark there?"

"Yes, they can see in the dark"

"No way!"

"Yes....if my information is correct, there was a time when your kind could do so as well"

"Wow. So....where are we going?"

"Endar..."

"Right. Borf, we walk for maybe two weeks to the south and find maybe ten more oases"

"Oasises. Ten is more than one."

"Yes. The landscape will turn to jungles. Very funny forests. We should be able to see two volcanoes...mountains....very large hills. We then go to the right one. At the foot of the big hill is a mine. That is where the gem got stolen. The drakefolk that live there have made carvings in the trees that lead us to the entrance of the dark elf lair. From there on, we are on our own"

"Oh....Yana?"

"Hmmm..."

"The world does end somewhere, no?"


The conversations continue, but this was obviously the most interesting part. This is obviously an adventuring/mercenary party and they intend to sleep here and travel on the next morning. Given their equipment and confidence, there is a good possibility that these are well-trained folks. If you want to, you can let them pass without them noticing you. If you want, you can confront and/or disturb them. If so, now is the time.

[DrK]

Hrothgar looks at Kaladin, "Adventurers. Savage ones, maybe take one alive eh?" before he begins to mutter, a swirling cloud of dust beginning to form in the water beside the swimming orc as a massive 20ft long heavy set crocodile appears and snaps at the naked swimming orc!



Summon nature IV - giant crocodile
- appears beside swimming orc adjacent to him and between him and the shore
- bites surprised naked orc! [roll0] dam [roll1] grapple [roll2] vs [roll3]+???

If possible crocodile will then sink underwater :smallbiggrin:

Init [roll4]


HPs 72/72
AC 22 (Touch 14 Flat 18)
Saves +14/7/11 (+2 vs poison/spells, +4 vs "endurance")

Effects:
Primal hunter (24 hours, +5 climb/jump/swim)
Primal instincts (24 hours, +5 Init/Survival)
Pass without trace (7 hours, Hrothgar, horses, Kaladni)
Heart of air (+10 jump)
Heart of water (Swim speed)
Longstrider (+10ft move)

[BelGareth]

Kaladin sighs inwardly, he had hoped they could have followed them, attacked at night, picked them off one at a time, but he should have said something, his stalwart companion ever eager to spill greenblood.

He watched him carefully, and prepared to cast his own spell once he was done, it would tip them off to their location, but, they should be worried about other things, hopefully.


Readies to cast fireball (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fireball.htm) centered on the group out of the water at the same time the croc is summoned.

[roll0] Ref DC 18 for half, and things will most likely catch on fire.
[roll1]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The crocodile that Hrothgar summons grabs the Orc, causing a gaping wound near his shoulder and starts to establish a hold on the onfortunate barbarian (to pull him under it´ll have to establish and maintain a pin). At the same time, a devastating Fireball explodes on the rest of the adventuring team, leaving a serious scorch mark on the sand and rocks they sit on and the bush behind them immediately starts to catch fire (you may want to control this, because a fire here could be devastating). All three adventurers are damaged and scorched, but they all still look very much alive and kicking: All of them had a tremendously swift refles in response to the assault (see OoC for save rolls if you want to).


http://i.imgur.com/iVudaJi.png

Initiative
-Hrothgar
-Enemies
-Team (Kaladin´s action resolved first)

Hrothgar is up

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Seeing the foes dodge quickly Hrothgar mutters a few curses before summoning the thorns from the bush that roll outwards towards the goblin adventurers and the bugbear. The weeds rise up striking at them to bind and wrap them up to slow them down as Hrothgar drags the axes free of his belt. In the water the crocodile sinks underwater seeking to drown and chew upon the hapless orc



Move to J7 drawing axes
Cast Entangle at P1 DC 15

Crocodile [roll0] vs [roll1] +?
-- if win sink underwater and [roll2]



HPs 72/72
AC 22 (Touch 14 Flat 18)
Saves +14/7/11 (+2 vs poison/spells, +4 vs "endurance")

Effects:
Primal hunter (24 hours, +5 climb/jump/swim)
Primal instincts (24 hours, +5 Init/Survival)
Pass without trace (7 hours, Hrothgar, horses, Kaladni)
Heart of air (+10 jump)
Heart of water (Swim speed)
Longstrider (+10ft move)

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The situation with the Orc and the Crocodile is best described as a swirling mayhem of splashes of blood-red water. It is hard to say whether the Orc still lives, but it is surprisingly easy to feel sorry for him: It looks like a very brutal and merciless death. At the same time, at Hrothgars command, the plants in the bush behind the rest of the group of adventurers creep towards them and start to grab them. The adventurers, startled by the Fireball head for the cover of the bushes, ironically very much impeded by the plants they seek cover in. The Orc in full plate casts a spell, seeing how he waves a symbol about obviously a divine spell, and the goblin lady produces a sly gesture (obviously in order to cast a spell) but the plants harass her so heavily that she fails.

http://i.imgur.com/QF5xN4U.png

Team is up, Kaladins action resolved first.

[BelGareth]

Seeing the goblin lady attempting to cast, and assuming she was a spellcaster of some kind, Kaladin takes aim at her, seeing her as the primary threat at the moment. He infused his bow, and subsequently the arrows with arcane energy, he unleashes a small volley of arrows at the goblin.


Sacrifice a 2nd level spell to arcane strike.
Full attack using Adjust for Range technique from Woodland archer, each attack that misses gives next attack +4 to-hit.

[roll0]
[roll1] & [roll2]

[roll3] (+4 to-hit if 1st attack misses)
[roll4] & [roll5]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Kaladins arrows strike true, and the goblin topples over.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf bursts from the bush and runs towards the nearest foe, the bugbear. Content to cut through him to reach the orc. With his druid powers the entangling bushes bending around the dwarf. "Ha, green skinned scum, we've got you now."

As he chops at the bugbear the croc continues its effort to drown/eat the orc.



Move to N5
Hit bugbear [roll0] dam [roll1]

Croc drowning orc [roll2] vs [roll3]+?? Dam [roll4]


HPs 72/72
AC 22 (Touch 14 Flat 18)
Saves +14/7/11 (+2 vs poison/spells, +4 vs "endurance")

Effects:
Primal hunter (24 hours, +5 climb/jump/swim)
Primal instincts (24 hours, +5 Init/Survival)
Pass without trace (7 hours, Hrothgar, horses, Kaladni)
Heart of air (+10 jump)
Heart of water (Swim speed)
Longstrider (+10ft move)

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Both the Orc and the Bugbear move, slowly and strugglingly, away from Hrothgar, seeking to evade the unanticipated onslaught.

Hrothgar can make an attack of opportunity against the Bugbear, who moves 15 feet westwards. The Orc moves eastwards. Hrothgar does need to save aganst his own Entangle (unless DrK can convince me otherwise).

http://i.imgur.com/buyBxSt.png

Team is up, looks like the Orc and Bugbear are going to make a run for it, not certain of the size of the opposition they face (and having already lost two companions in a blitz).

[DrK]

Hrothgar

As the green skinned adventurers move to flee Hrothgar realises his own error and dismisses the grabbing and snapping bushes leaving only the normal shrubbery that steps out of his way. Following up he steps after the bugbear both axes swinging a dark song of death and despair. The croc, still chewing on the naked orc plunges out out of the water, long teeth snapping after the fleeing orc.



Dismiss entangle
5ft after the Bugbear
Chop him up
[roll0] dam [roll1] OOC: 21 to confirm and if hits then 35 damage :smallsmile:
[roll2] dam [roll3]
[roll4] dam [roll5]

Crocodile - charge fleeing orc
[roll6] dam [roll7] and grapple [roll8] vs [roll9]+??



HPs 72/72
AC 22 (Touch 14 Flat 18)
Saves +14/7/11 (+2 vs poison/spells, +4 vs "endurance")

Effects:
Primal hunter (24 hours, +5 climb/jump/swim)
Primal instincts (24 hours, +5 Init/Survival)
Pass without trace (7 hours, Hrothgar, horses, Kaladni)
Heart of air (+10 jump)
Heart of water (Swim speed)
Longstrider (+10ft move)

[DrK]

[roll0] total critical hit dam [roll1]

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar swiftly and efficiently dispatches the Bugbear, burying his axe deep between his shoulder blades as he turns to run. The Crocodile releases the Orc fighter and moves out of the water to chase the other Orc. However, the Orc is currently a bit too far away to reach it, and given the Crocodiles limited skill in traversing forest terrain, there is a good chance the Orc will be able to outrun it.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin moves out onto the beach and grasps his necklace, holding onto the amber amulet he intones a word and a giant wasp appears directly before the fleeing bugbear, poisoned barb flashing in the sun towards him.


Move action: Move to K10
Standard: activate amber amulet giant wasp (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/giantWasp.htm) (lasts 1 minute), summoning in K/L,1/2

Wasp immediately attacks
[roll0]
[roll1] + Poison Fortitude DC 14, Initial [roll2], secondary [roll3]

Rounds remaining: 10/10

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Kaladin moves out of the bushes after witnessing Hrothgar hewing down the Bugbear. He summons a giant wasp that tries to sting the Orc, but the stinger fails to pierce the Orcs full plate. The Orc keeps running, though, in northeastern direction, provoking an attack of opportunity from the wasp.


I just noticed I accidentally swapped your positions, so K is Hrothgar and H is Kaladin.
http://i.imgur.com/EbkVrM9.png

Team is up.

[BelGareth]

[roll0]
[roll1] + Poison Fortitude DC 14, Initial [roll2], secondary [roll3]

[BelGareth]

Kaladin moves closer, casting as he goes, summoning four spheres of rushing energy around him, and with a flick of his hand, unleashing them towards the running orc. He couldn't let him escape, he thought, as the sounds of the spheres impacting his target could be heard, one at a time.

His wasp continued on attacking, charging the orc, in hopes of stinging it with it's barbed tail.


Move action: Move to P12
Standard: Cast Magic Missile
[roll0]
[roll1]

Wasp charges
[roll2]
[roll3] + Poison Fortitude DC 14, Initial [roll4], secondary [roll5]

Rounds remaining: 9/10

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf drops his axes before pulling out his crackling lightning bow, an arrow streaking after the fleeing orc! Even as that happens the crocodile runs after the orc, the massive beast sprintingbafter the orc.



Shhot the orc [roll0], dam [roll1] + [roll2] Shock

Crocodile - run 80 after irc to be w/in 5ft to make it provoke AoO if it moves

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The fleeing Orc stands no chance against a barrage of force missiles, energy-laden arrows and poison-laden stings: receiving a massive amount of damage in his back, he topples over, face down in the sand. The giant crocodile comes thumping right behind him and starts to enjoy his second course of Orc for the day. The cracking of Orc bones between the powerful jaws is masked by the noise of his armor being crushed. Silence returns to the Oasis, though the blood-stained water and corpses littered throughout the area are still a powerful reminder of what had just transpired in the past 20 seconds. It´s not just the big predators of these plains that are swift and merciless killers, it seems.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin sighs, "Well that was eventful" he said out loud, not to Hrothgar, but more to himself.

Walking over to the corpses on the beach, he narrows his eyes. "You know, we could have followed them, or even left one alive, they seemed to be on an important task, I'd say we should follow in their footsteps, though, we're limited to what we heard." he thinks for a moment, lifting a dead arm of the goblin with his foot "although, it shouldn't be too hard I imagine."


Tag and bag those above water.
Detect Magic and then Identify on those items that radiate aura's

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Hrothgar wanders across, patting the crocodile on the head before the massive scaled beast vanishes in a puff of muddy smelling dust. Hrothgar helps Kaladin drag the remains of the 4 bodies into a neat pile by the lake and helps the catalouging and stripping of the goblinoids. Checking carefully any paperwork or maps they may have he happily loots them looking for any clues about the world all around them. "Hard to control the big beasts Kal. The crocs get hungry in these parts" he gris behind the beard showing his attempt a joke. "Come. we can scout around, and make sure the area is deserted. If it is we can have some nice food. I'm sure I can catch something edible"



Look for any other orcs/humanoids [roll0] spot/listen
Survival to find some food for lunch [roll1]



He grins at Kal as he happily loots the dead and looks around. "Some of the creatures conversation was interesting. It sounds like there may be some issues within the goblin/orc empires. Maybe something that we can help drive a wedge into. ANd this talk of underground elves. Have you ever heard of such a thing?"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar does not find any indication there are more Orcs (or other hostile creatures) around. You collect the last Orc you killed and find immediately that the full plate he was wearing is probably not as valuable as it once was: Repairing it might be more expensive than what you could fetch for it at an armor shop (ignoring the fact that it is unlikely you´ll find an armor shop hereabouts, let alone one that is willing to deal with the likes of you). You start rounding up the dead and soon enough you notice something disturbing: The Goblin lady, the one that was called Yana and was mostly interested in reading a document she had, is gone. You are absolutely positive she went down and are 100% sure she went down on the spot you are looking at right now. Hrothgar can clearly see the tracks of her lying there. There are no tracks of her moving away from this spot, however (whereas you do identify the tracks she made moving to this position). It is as if she has vanished into thin air.

I am happy to waive the expensive material component of Identify, but it does take a while to cast (so it can´t be used "tactically"). Identifying a bunch of items is therefore by definition a "downtime" thing, and I´ll be assuming that every time you Identify loot, you´ll be camping for the night as well (unless it is just one item).

[BelGareth]

Kaladin curses as he notices the goblin was gone. Damn mage must have gone invisible, gaseous or any other countless means to escape...

He kneels down, finger tips of his left hand barely grazing the sand of where the goblin lay, eyes looking out at the plant growth around him, he frowned. "Damnit, we've got one missing. She could have cast any number of spells to go, but I'm guessing it's invisibility, which means, unless she has levitate, you should be able to track her Hroth. Care to take a detailed look? I'll keep watch while you do, we should assume this is not a safe place until we find her."


Good with me on the Identify, I had bought some material components for it, but we can waive it, makes it easier.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf looks at the spot where the goblin has been and shakes his head. "No tracks, no nothing. Smells like magery to me. Little green devil must have faked death. Come, we'll loot these then move away. The horses and us leave no tracks. We can find a patch of scrub to camp in for the night."

[BelGareth]

Kaladin looks back to the dwarf, "Sure" he says in resignation, he didn't like leaving the goblin out there, possibly watching them. He moved to help Hrothgar, gathering what supplies they wanted, and tossing what they didn't.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

How far away do you want to go? This specific oasis and associated bush is fairly large. You could move 1200 feet from this location and still be in "this" oasis and find a suitable place to rest. Alternatively, you move on to a different patch of forest.

[BelGareth]

I'm fine with just away from the area we just killed a bunch of people.
But I'll leave it up to Hrothgars expertise.

[DrK]

Hrothgar surveys the area choosing thick brush at least 1000ft away from the ambush. Settling down he begins to examine the loot and suggests to Kaladin they keep watch tonight.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar finds a safe place to rest. It is well-secluded and offers good positions for watch keeping. You experience a quiet, uneventful night. At the start of the night, Kaladin figures out what kind of valuable items you found.

First of all, you have found 250 gp worth of coins on the corpses. You also find 4 cloaks of resistance (+1), a +1 one-handed mace, a +1 composite (+4) longbow, a belt of health +2, a belt of giant strength +2 and a +1 greataxe (the last two floating on the shore of the pond).

You have reason to believe the goblin got away, and it is possible (but not a given) that she alerted the goblin town. Do you still intend to head straight for the village, or do you want to take a more careful/stealthy approach?

[BelGareth]

After they split the loot, Kaladin sits down, he has a frown upon his face.

Turning to Hrothgar "I'm worried, there is a good chance that goblin is going to the town nearby, and when they here word there are a few of our kind running around, this place is going to get a little to dangerous. Maybe we should leave while we can?" he shakes his head not knowing the best course "Perhaps it is best to go hunt down this issue they were talking about? it did seem to be important, but, I guess we can disrupt things here too, though, I'm hesitant to push them too far, I have no skill in transportation magic, so a quick escape will make it hard."