Guilty until proven innocent [IC]

[Smilex]

OOC thread:https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?621814-Guilty-until-proven-innocent-OOC&p=24790902#post24790902

INTRO

They came in the night. The invaders snuck into the villa of Baroness Basset without a sound. Somehow they captured everyone in the lord's wing without alerting the guards. Or maybe the guards were dead at that point.

You were not awake much in the following days. You were kept blindfolded, drugged, tossed around. Strange voices spoke your name and there was a burning pain.

After days, maybe weeks, the drugs stopped. They no longer cared. You were still blindfolded, gagged and in shackles. Occasionally you could hear familiar voices before they gagged the person speaking again. Your family was near.

At one point there was a river crossing and then even more traveling in a cart. One day there were new voices. While previously your capturers were mostly silent, speaking little near you. You could now hear them discussing with a tabaxi. You were being sold.

The tabaxi cared little for the gags or blindfolds. Your family and a large number of your servants were driven in carts through a thick forest. Your clothes were in tatters, your equipment taken. Even more frighteningly there was an orange tattoo on each of you and it shone with magic. It was a mark showing the bearer to be a heretic, an enemy of gods and king, lawless, one who was allowed to be killed without repercussion.

https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2012/02/29/15/49/chains-19176_960_720.jpg

The cast, level 2 at start
----------
Uncle Zain Stonesorcerer/Cleric of protection Sage Neutral Good
Lucia Ambrosia Wizard(Divination) Noble Hostess Lawful Good
Atronia Ambrosia Fighter [Brute] Soldier Lawful Neutral
Chazwick Ambrosia Rogue Criminal Chaotic Neutral
Caex Lizardfolk Monk [Way of Psion] Wandering cook Chaotic Neutral

---------

[Smilex]

You count you've been travelling awake at least ten days. They've moved you past a wooden guarded barricade. This is a blocked mountain valley. You've seen guarded lumbercamps. Lizardfolk and humans working, guarded by catfolk soldiers. You've seen guarded farms.

It's a pleasant early summer morning. The weather is clear and there's little wind. It's a terrible way to spend such a time.

There's ten of you here. There's four members of the family. There's Chazwick's long-time friend and ally Caex. There's three of the family's loyal men-at-arms: Rodrik, Miranda and Justius. There's Maria the quartermaster's apprentice and finally there's Coatell a gungabide book trader. There's no sign of the baroness or two of her youngest, the twins.

You're all laid out around a flat area about three yards separating each of you.
All of you have hands chained together, feet chained together. You've got your hands behind you. They've struck a stake into the ground through the middle of a larger chain link in the legchain and another in the handchain.

There's only one tabaxi guarding you this morning. Every other day there have been four. They move you in the night and you've spent the days tied down. They've laid out tents for themselves, five of them. There's a cart somewhere behind them, and somewhere there is a team of llamas that draw it.

You can hear a waterfall somewhere not too distant. To every direction around the clearing there's forest. Here and there behind the trees you can spot the outline of a mountain. Then there's the path which you've been travelling. There's the way you've been travelling and then there's the way back.

The tabaxi who's guarding you is a female archer. She wears a hood to shield her from sunlight but you can see that she's a tabby. She's wearing leather armor and carrying a short blade. Her pants are short and you can see there's a tattoo of a chain around one of her shins.

She walks among you talking to herself. She points at each of you in turn while talking.
-Mines, mines, mines... farm, farm, camp, farm ,mines, camp...
Would any of you tell me what those tattoos of yours are? Are you some kind of a cult? She spits. Funny. Uncivilized barbarians. And not even the good kind.

She stops to poke at Coatell, grabs her mouth open and looks at her teeth. She shakes her head and goes to sit against a tree.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick fights down his hatred of the whole situation, hoping he's spotted an opportunity.

"No, this actually marks us as enemies of a cult," he responds in Tukuut. "So if you can remove these barbaric symbols, feel free. The less we have to do with cults, the better, as far as I'm concerned."

He looks down at her shin. "What about yours? What does yours symbolize? Is it just to mark you as a slaver? Or are you not doing this of your own free will?"

[Smilex]

Reading the expressions of catfolk isn't the easiest thing to do but you think she looks like she's been caught.
I can't remove tattoos. And I shouldn't be talking to you...But you've been listening to everything haven't you. Do you know where you are then?

She picks a dagger from a pocket and throws it in the air a couple of times. Then she approaches Chazwick and removes his boots. Then she cuts a wound into the bottom of one of Chazwick's feet for 1 hp of damage.

-That'll hurt you just enough to remind you not to be so smart tomorrow. You'll be doing a lot of walking with that foot. So you're going to learn to watch your mouth.

She turns away and walks around out of sorts. Then she turns at Chazwick again quickly enough to make her spill her arrows quiver. She hisses.

-And now you've made me damage goods. She gives a light backhand slap to Chazwick's face and starts collecting the arrows next to him.

[WindStruck]

Lucia of course didn't like their predicament. Kidnapped, drugged, bound.. now obviously so far from home and chained up on the ground.

But at least it seemed they were all together. Things would probably only get worse from here on out...

The anger and brutality of the Tabaxi woman was uncalled for. "Please. Stop." Lucia said. She didn't know if she could understand her, but it was worth a try. "Can you understand me?" she asked, seeing if she could start a dialogue that didn't involve cutting and slapping another person.

[Smilex]

The tabaxi doesn't react to the use of common language. It seems they don't know it. You might be able to talk twixt each other without her figuring out your plans.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

Glowering at the foul catfolk's back after she harms her cousin, Atronia realizes this is a solid opportunity to make an escape attempt. First she has to get those stakes out of the ground.


Athletics: [roll0]

[Smilex]

Everyone else except the tabaxi is following the discussion between members of the family.

The tabaxi picks up her arrows and puts them carefully in the quiver one by one as Atronia lifts her legs high and the stake that was keeping the chain in the ground flies next to her.

The archer turns around halfway but with a quick glance fails to notice what's going on. She gets back to filling her quiver.

Many of you notice Coatell try to simultaneously wriggle free of her chains. Rodrik and Justius try to repeat Atronia's maneuver but neither seems to have the required strength.

Atronia notices it's not that easy to get the same strength going with the chain behind her back and she has to proceed with wriggling her legs through the chain's loop so that she can pull the other stake while it's in front of her. This is making some noise as the chains rattle quite a bit.

Anyone who wants to do simultaneous things, please comment.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick hears what's going on and turns back to the tabaxi to keep her attention.

This is going to suck, but being a slave will suck more...

And in Tuukut, he says "So, what are the good kind of uncivilized barbarians like? Do they follow the cults you actually approve of?"

OOC: Here's the opening.

[Smilex]

The tabaxi looks at Chazwick. She's squatting about a meter away from him and seems to ponder his words.

You better learn to anticipate. Watch the old slaves. There's no cults for you here. There's just the nobles and the servants. You'll find your role or you won't make it. I'm kind of interested in seeing which path you'll end up on.

While the catwoman is continuing to pay attention elsewhere, Atronia manages to get her arms in front of her and pull the arm chain off the ground.

[gryffydd65]

Uncle Zain grabs a nearby stone and goes through his knowledge of all the gifts his God has granted him.

[WindStruck]

Lucia glances around at the others furtively, with a face that seems to be saying 'be quiet!', yet to any of her companions looking at her, it was obvious she was trying to escape from her bonds as well. She was trying to methodically work the stake behind her free, wiggling and pulling it about, but trying not to make any noise.

slight of hand: [roll0]

Whenever the other catfolk looks in her direction, she stops and appears to only be taking a casual interest in the conversation between her and Chazwick.

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18


Caex has no idea what is being said in cat language. She looks around for something that she can use while trying to loosen the steaks.


Looing for:
- A rock or branch that can be lifted with mage hand and dropped on the guards head.
- If this guard has keys.
- How secure are the keys, can they be pulled away with 10 pounds of force?

I can cast mage hand without verbal or somatic components, and make the spectral hand invisible. Might want to attempt to simply yank the keys away if possible.

Perception: [roll0]
Athletics: [roll1]

[Smilex]

Izzarra looks for the keys but they're not hanging anywhere visible.
Instead she can see a nice rock which she picks and raises to a suitable distance from the guards head before releasing it.

Please, give me initiative and an attack roll with the rock. :smallsmile:

Atronia grabs the stake behind Rodrik, a handsome mustached middleaged fighter in your houseguard. He's still wearing the red shirt of fort Ambrosia, good old redshirts. With little trouble Atronia lifts the stake off from the ground.

Rodrik now rises up to try to get his leg chain off the ground himself.

Meanwhile Lucia manages to get one of her hands free from the chain. It hurts a little but not too much. Coatell, who watches Lucia's wriggling gives a few suggestions on how to try to do this and it helps her efforts a bit.

Zain has managed to locate a sorcerer's focus but is still restrained.

Chazwick has managed so far to occupy the catlady's attentions. But she now turns around to notice Atronia and Rodrik standing up.

And we're now entering initiative order. Caex gets one attack with the rock before we're in normal order of things.

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18



With a rock ready to drop Caex looks for an opportune moment when the guard is distracted. The cat noticing Atronia and Rodrik standing up should do.

Initiative: [roll0]
Attack: [roll1], Advantage roll if applicable: [roll2]

[WindStruck]

Lucia begins working to get her other hand free, and now both of her hands are unbound! It's a good thing too... because now it seemed the others were taking serious action against the guard watching over them, and things were probably going to get rough very quickly.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

Seeing they've only got a moment for this to go well or go terribly wrong, Atronia charges into the back of the horrid catslaver attempting to use her momentum to drive the stake through her heart.


Move + Dash
Action Surge

Attack: [roll0]
advantage: [roll1]
damage: [roll2]
if crit: [roll3]

[Smilex]

The stone, lifted by telekinesis plummets into the guard's head, leaving big bloody gash. She grunts in pain and shakes her head confusedly. Then she growls in anger and turns towards the noise on the other side of the ring.

She gasps seeing Atronia run near her. The chains are slowing her down and making her approach noisy. Everyone's hear skips a beat in anticipation of the collision.

Atronia, armed only with a wooden stake, surprises everyone by savagely ramming the stake into the tabaxi's chest. No noise escapes her lips as the stake goes right through her heart and she dies instantly.

Miranda gives a semi-quiet excited cheer of "Hail Atronia!" until she remembers herself and bites her lip.

Rodrik pulls his legstake free and hushes her.

Lucia frees her second hand and Chazwick lifts his feet strongly enough to get the first stake free.

Zain stops mid-syllable, a spell on his lips. A spell saved is a spell earned.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

Atronia smiles, as a bit of blood splashes her wrist as she quickly pulls the stake out the quicken the tabaxi's demise. She nods to the others in a way that implies something like "Yes yes, hail me but let's be quiet right now." and begins helping the others free of their bindings as best she can without being too loud.

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18



Once free of the stakes, Caex immediately searches the guard as quietly as she can looking to see if there is a key for their bindings that she could not see earlier.

Speaking quietly "We hide among trees yes? Ambush cats that follow, hit and run, yes?"

Athletics roll to pull up a stake in case it is still needed: [roll0]
Stealth: [roll1], [roll2]

[WindStruck]

Lucia sighs with some relief as the Tabaxi woman is slain quickly and quietly. She'd likely be the first of many deaths. It was a pity in some regards, but what were they supposed to do? Remain enslaved by a bunch of savages?

"Good work. It was pretty risky moving so soon, but I'm glad it all worked out," she said, both complimenting her sister, but also critiquing her actions.

Looking to Caex, Lucia says, "We need to get these chains off our feet, or it will be very hard to manage anything stealthy..."

If a key cannot be found, Lucia will try casting Fire Bolt at the lock holding her chains. Precautions will be taken to try this further away from the rest of the tabaxi camp.

Casting this spell with a finger touching or mere inches away from a stationary target should be an auto-success in terms of hitting in my opinion. But the only real question is if it does enough damage to destroy the target, and if I get hurt in the process. But obviously, I'm trying to target something that is both a good target and furthest away from Lucia's feet.

damages: [roll0]
damages: [roll1]
damages: [roll2]

[Smilex]

Atronia and Rodrik help everyone pull the stakes off the ground so now everyone is mobile, though still chained at least at the legs. Lucia, Chazwick, Miranda and Coatell have managed to get their hand chains off.

Nobody's gone through the guard's things so Lucia tries to firebolt the chains. The chains heat up but it seems like it would take a lot more heat to destroy the chain. A sledge hammer might be more effective than heat.

Justius is a young soldier who's only recently started with Ambrosia's guards as a mercenary tryout.
Yes. The cook has it right. Let's kill those catfolk scum. Taking us unawares in the night? Now the Suncobra is up high and it's our time.

Rodrik answers this
Justius. We need to listen to Atronia, she's the ranking officer in this battle.

EDIT:
As you look around you get a bit more of an idea about the territory. The clearing is about 70-80 yards in diameter. It's partially natural, partially it's been enlarged with axes. There's a lot of old treestumps around.

You are in the western part of the open area. The tents are opposite of you to the east.

The forest is quite thick. Travelling there will not be fast or easy. The path is wide and would be easy to travel but who knows what you would find at the other end. Looking at the direction of shadows you can all see that the path is in a general southwest-northeast direction. There's sound of flowing water in the south and you can see a hill beyond the trees a small way towards north.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick goes through the guard's body looking for that key. "Well, the tabaxi probably didn't take us. This brand indicates that we were enslaved by our own nation, doesn't it? So the tabaxi are just a useful way to get rid of us quietly." Chazwick shrugs. "Still, it barely matters whether or not they're the real enemy, or whether or not we owe them vengeance for our current circumstances. They're the current enemy, and they're the ones we need to escape from if we want to improve our circumstances."

He closes the catwoman's eyes, if they're still open. Either way, he says "Poor woman. I couldn't have distracted her like that if she wasn't at least capable of seeing us as people. She needed to die either way, so it's lucky I could distract her... but I'd have felt better if she hadn't had that spark of potential."

[WindStruck]

Lucia frowns as her spell seems to do very little to the lock and chains. "Damn it. There has to be a key for these somewhere..

She'll help search the body.

investigation: [roll0]

[whiteflash]

"No key... but one arrow is specifically marked."

"Hey, does anyone know what she'd be doing with a gently vibrating crystal?" He doesn't touch it, in case it's a communication device that might warn her comrades she's dead.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

While mulling over what answer to give Justius and Rodrik, Atronia spots the sewing kit. Knowing Chazwick might be able to pick the locks of their chains if he had a proper tool or two, she quickly pulls out what's needed and holds them out at him. "We can pick the locks with these yes?" she suggests.


Helping Chawick on lockpicking to cancel out disadvantage.

[gryffydd65]

Uncle Zain comes over to the locking picking pair and casts a quick spell .

guidance [roll0]

[whiteflash]

Chazwick nods as he takes a dagger for himself. "Thanks. You're more than decent with sewing needles, so with your help..."

[roll0] to see how that goes. Does that roll cover all of the chains, or just the first one?

Edit: I forgot to factor in the Guidance roll. Bearing that in mind, it comes out to 21... although, a 20 probably succeeds anyway.

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18



While waiting for the locks to be picked, Caex takes the golden armband.

[Smilex]

Everyone gathers in anticipation to watch or attempt to help the lockpicking. Chazwick and Atronia start with the one's they have on them. With sweat collecting on their brows they twist the insides of the lock on Atronia's off-hand chain lock. Chazwick is at first frightened because the lock is much worse than he'd expect from a group of brigands to employ. It's complicated. But with determination he pushes on. The tumblers start falling into place and finally there's a click and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

Lucia's keen mind knows the picking of the first look took four minutes and twentyone seconds. There's 31 locks left altogether.

More worryingly, Atronia looks at the needles. They've bent a little. The metal will likely not last through all of the locks.

During the passing time the wind blows and the waterfall somewhere south keeps going. Scattered clouds keep coming from the east. Up till now there isn't a peep from any of the guards in the tents. But the keenest of you start hearing someone approaching on the western path, singing in Tukuut.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"Ok, we don't have enough time. We need to leave now." Atronia says and picks up the dead tabaxi, slinging the body over her shoulder and makes for the nearest wooded area (or other area where they get out of sight and hearing).

[WindStruck]

"This is taking too long," Lucia says. "Best to wiggle or squeeze out of the chains if at all possible. And anyone who may want to sneak into the camp, make sure they have all their chains removed first. As for the llamas, maybe.. wait..!"

Atronia must have heard it too. Lucia tries to usher everyone into woods to hide from whoever was coming.

[Smilex]

The woods.
The main tree seems to be a willow with very large flowers. You can see three types of palms and a type of smaller tree with large beautiful trumpetlike flowers. The floor of the forest is rich in various ferns. They grow over waist height so simply kneeling or squatting under their level gives a person good cover in most places.
There's various flowering vines on the trees.

Insects are plentiful and you can hear small animals moving under the ferns. The ground itself is quite moist.
There's a rich atmosphere of plant smells and birdsong.

You quickly spy that there's some rich clumps of ferns near the road. If your aim is to ambush the comers, this seems like a nice spot. If your aim to hide and escape, you see a small forest path lead northwards. This would be easier going than in the thick woods.

The hill that rises in the woods relatively nearby might also be a suitable target for your push if you're looking for a vantage spot, somewhere from whence to gaze upon the region.

[whiteflash]

"Longterm, our goal has to be escape," Chazwick whispers to Atronia. "There's more of them than I want to fight as it is, and if they get a runner out to their allies we are screwed. Short term, we might have to ambush these new comers: these chains will slow us down and make us too noisy to sneak effectively, and if they come this way, they'll find us before we can slip the chains."

[WindStruck]

Now that the others had slipped into the woods, Lucia continues trying to explain her plan where she left off. "Assuming that whoever comes by doesn't cause us trouble, I think we could afford to completely remove the chains from one or two people. They could then have a much easier time navigating the camp undetected. Perhaps they may find the keys to these locks. And perhaps we can just take the llamas to ride ourselves."

[Smilex]

You rush to the protection of the woods and then rapidly advance near the western road. You hide under a patch of high ferns on the northern side and wait to see whoever's coming.

Miranda picks up the bow since nobody was choosing that one. Justius and Rodrik pick up the daggers in the absence of other takers.

You hear the comers before you see them. They're singing in a folksy tune
Pear logs and apple logs
They will scent your room
And cherry logs across the dogs
Smell like flowers a bloom
But ash logs smooth and gray
Buy them green or old, sir
And buy up all that come your way
For they're worth their weight in gold sir

Two snakelike reptilianfolk, ophidians by the look of them, come walking. They're carrying a large bunch of wood on their backs each. THey're wearing dirty headscarves, dirty torn shirts and skirts. One of them looks male and the other female.

They seem tired but they still manage to sing in a happy way. They seem unarmed and they walk quite slowly with their heavy loads.

[Smilex]

Zain casts a spell to create ominous whispers and moving of branches on the opposite side of the road.

The two stop in front of you and turn towards the movement. The female ophidian starts talking. The male lifts his hands up clumsily in greeting.

Sir, guard, sir. We're from the camp of Wrengap and we bring wood for the tradepost.

They're about 10 feet in front of you with their backs turned.

[whiteflash]

"They deserve this even less than that guard did... but we need them to quiet down," Chazwick whispers. "I'll take one. Who'll take the other?"

He turns to Rodrick. "And... can I have that knife back for five seconds?"

[Smilex]

Rodrik, a kind and gentle warrior, asks you whispering.

He're's the dagger back young sir. But I beseech you, could we capture and interrogate them instead? We have chains we can use to tie them down farther in the forest.

[whiteflash]

"If we do that, I don't think I need the dagger... but we need to decide now."

He turns to Atronia. "Judgement call, cousin."

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18



Speaking quietly "The Caex help fight with no kill."

[Smilex]

The two woodcarriers call to the woods once more:
-Are we allowed to go on, sir guard, sir?

Then the female says to the male in common.

-Dear, I think it's just a capybara. Let us continue.

[whiteflash]

"Did... the problem just solve itself? Or are we still trying to catch and interrogate them?" Chazwick whispers as he hands the dagger back to Rodrick hilt-first.

[WindStruck]

"That depends on if they keep quiet," Lucia hisses.

"...and I hope they do. If not, we should at least talk to them."

[Smilex]

The couple starts onwards and not a few steps have gone by before they start singing again. In about a 100 m they'll be in the middle of the catfolk camp.

Justius dashes in front of them, metal chains clanking with every step. He brandishes the dagger in front of them. And hisses at them.
Be quiet if you want to live.

The couple stop moving immediately.
The male puts his hands in the air again and says.
We know we're surrounded so we're not doing a thing. Do you need firewood?

[whiteflash]

"We need to know where we are, and maybe some other things. Follow."

He looks at their burdens. "Someone should help them out with those packs. They slow our captives down too much, but we can't leave them. If the guards find abandoned lumber lying around, there will be questions. Maybe we can drop them in the ferns, so we don't have to carry them too far?"

[WindStruck]

Lucia steps out of the woods as well.

"What we need is to get out of these chains. And your continued silence." Her eyes narrowed a bit, hopefully clearly implying silence in the not-so-near future as well.

"And though you sing, perhaps you do not fancy life as a tabaxi slave. We are of a noble house, and any aid returning to our rightful place would surely be rewarded."

Let's try to recruit them to our cause!

persuasion: [roll0]

[Smilex]

The two woodcarriers bow under their heavy loads best as they can. They start following Chazwick back into the woods and you start looking for a suitable spot where to spend a little while picking locks and talking.
Rodrik and Maria help them carry the wood in the forest while Justius keeps close to them with blade in hand.

After Lucia mentions silence the two keep silent as they can. Even when one of them stumbles on a treeroot the other one helps them up but they're quiet. As you have more time to look at them, you see signs of many old wounds on the couple. Scarred over, bones healed back together, yet their bodies remember.

When you mention nobility, they look confused and the female has a suspicious look. Again though, they keep quiet.

You find a place where there's a flat stone in the ground. There' a clear space around the stone and you can climb on the stone even with the chains. Here you can sit down and work the locks. The road is maybe 80 meters away so nobody should hear you talk.

They lay the wood to the ground and wait.
Justius snaps at them Tell us who you are and what is this place!

The couple look at each othe quizzically at each other. The female then quietly whispers to Lucia
Are we allowed to talk?

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"You don't need to keep shouting at them Justius, they're just civilians who were unlucky enough to stumble into this situation. Keep an eye on them yes, but until they do something there's no reason to assume they're a threat." she says lightly rebuking Justius. It's not like they need more tension in this situation. Their captives were calm right now and calm meant less noise to attract their own captors.

To the couple she gesticulates that they can continue and says,
"As long as you don't shout feel free to talk. In fact, if you could tell us anything about where we are and the dangers present to us here it would be appreciated." She tries to say all this with some warmth, and maybe there's a bit there, but mainly the practicality of her tone is what dominates as she's too focused on helping with the locks to also focus on putting up a properly welcoming facade. Not that such things had ever been her strength to begin with.

[Smilex]

The male ophidian asks
Are you with the guards?

The female says
They've got chains on. I think they're from the outside. Did the Iron Chain bring you?

The male goes
But they said they were nobles.

The female continues
Indeed. Are you part of a gang?

The male goes
You've got to look out for the guards then. I think there's a whole camp full of them in the next clearing.

The female continues
You're on the guarded side of the river here. The gang turf is on the other side.

The male says
When you ask about dangers do you mean like the spiders and the wild dogs?

[whiteflash]

"Spiders and wild dogs? Yes, those both sound like things my cousin meant."

"And yes, we're from the outside. I... think the Iron Chain brought us? The guard we... escaped from had a chain tattoo on her leg, and I could swear I heard the phrase 'Iron Chain' while we were being dragged here... but what is the 'Iron Chain,' and where is 'here?'"

[Smilex]

The male ophidian looks perplexed and the female looks to be in deep thought for a moment. Then she replies to you in a serious tone.

The iron chain is band of mercenaries that bring new prisoners to the valley. They buy them from others or raid poorly guarded areas in the Fist and Palm. Then they sell the prisoners to the mraow nobles.

The male interrupts, finally having reached a conclusion
Would you mean the giant bear too?

The female stops him
Dear, the bear isn't dangerous. It's a pet.

The male whines
But maybe if they anger it somehow?

Female answers
Why would they try to anger an enormous bear of all things?

The male goes very quiet
I was just wondering. I don't want them to get upset with us.

Female shushes and then continues
This is the valley of the Floater river. The mraow call this the Valley of Souls and the whole valley has been a prison camp for twenty years now.

Coatell interrupts the discussion at this point.
A-ha. I knew it! The mraow are the rebel faction of the tabaxi. They are the ones who conquered the area of Birdland from our kingdom. A hundred years ago this was still territory of Fist and Palm! The Floater river is a tributary of the Birdriver, the eastern one of the two Cornrivers that give our duchy it's name!
She looks very proud after saying this.

The name, Floater river instantly brings you memories. You and the baroness came to the area of Ambrosia as pilgrims with your parents as young children. The family used to live near the upper parts of Floater river. You were so young you don't remember the area but you remember the stories your father told of a beautiful forests filled with exotic birds, of the colourful flowers of cockspur trees and of a river covered by waterlilies and other flowering waterplants.

[WindStruck]

"Yes, you may speak. Just no yelling, please," Lucia says. "Or singing," she adds.

"We are nobles, indeed, but from outside. I don't know what you mean by gangs, though. What do you mean by gangs, and why would only one side of the river be guarded?"

"Hold on. You mean to tell us this entire valley is like a prison camp??"

She tries to clarify the whole situation."Listen. We are from the Fist and Palm. And we intend on getting back. Obviously, people who mean to keep us as slaves, or who might have some other reason to attack us are a threat, as well as wild animals."

She sighs, pausing a bit and looking thoughtfully at them. "Perhaps, think of us as slaves that are trying to escape. Where should we go? And what dangers should we look out for?"

Lucia looks over at Coatell and nods satisfactorily. "Yes, we've been traveling mostly east this whole time. I figured we would have wound up in either Emberdin or Birdland by now..."

[Smilex]

The two ophidians nod along Lucia's words.

The female repeats.
No singing.

And the male goes
Can I hum? How about yodeling?

He looks earnest and nervous.

...

The female continues in a serious tone.
The mraow dwell in the mountains. They also have a series of walls and forts blocking the way in and out of the valley. They've got metal nets and chains in the river. It's tight. If you try to get out of the valley, they catch you and make an example of you. They guard the river's crossings and some of the camps on this side of the river. If you make trouble they might toss you to the other side of the river. There's no guards on that side. On that side gangs rule. There's the gnolls, the dwarves and empire loyalist groups.

The male goes
Aren't the dwarves all dead? And what about the caitsith?

When Lucia asks why only one side of the river is guarded, the female lowers her head and goes silent.
The male waits a moment and says
Maybe you could ask the ranger?

When you talk about escape the female says.
There's no escape. I don't think there's an escape, at least on this side of the river. Maybe some of the gangs would know something...

The male goes
Maybe you shouldn't try to ecape. You'll just die on the walls. One can live peacefully here as long as one just mind's oneself. The guards will trade you for food if you give them herbs or lumber.

The female repeats morosely, shaking her head.
The whole valley is a prison.

The male suddenly has an idea.
Maybe the king of llamas could help you escape?

The female gives a harrumph
That's a myth. There's no king of llamas and he won't come no matter how you whistle.

The male says
Maybe he's just difficult to find.
He tries to whistle, then he looks at Lucia and bites his lip
Sorry.

[WindStruck]

Lucia looks a tad bit annoyed when the male asks about humming or yodeling. Though she says nothing. On one hand, all the little clarifications seemed a bit annoying. But all that extra thoughtfulness could maybe actually be useful in case someone overlooked something... Still, exercising some common sense would be nice. It's why she tried to explain their situation more.

"And what about all those scars? How did you get those?" Lucia asks rather pointedly. Didn't seem like their life as a prisoner was all that great.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"You don't happen to have a map do you? Also I'm not sure I caught your names. As for threats, while I did mean wild animals and monsters, I also meant the military of criminal kind." Atronia adds.

[Smilex]

The male introduces themself as Micruru and the female as Yarara.

Micruru points at a spot on his head where he's missing scales.
This one I got when I tried to jump over a waterfall.
Then he points at a his feet that are bent.
The legs I broke when a tree fell on me... And the lashwelts... my cousin tried to escape so they whipped everyone in the camp while his head was put on a stake.

Yarara scowls
I fell... Several times... Don't you understand? We can survive here. It's the gangs that kill. The guards just want lumber. How was it different when my mother paid taxes to a baron of Fist and Palm?

Micruru seems frightened
Darling, aren't we just helping these people, these nobles? Aren't they victims who need help? What have we got except our happy spirits? So no, I'm afraid we don't have a map.

Yarara collects herself a little
If you want to know places, maybe you should talk to the ranger. He's a knight of Fist and Palm as well as a cat.

Micruru brightens up
Isn't that a great idea?

Yarara continues
It's not far from here. And the area is quite safe too, far as you don't go antagonizing guards.

[gryffydd65]

Uncle Zain let the younger ones handle this situation. He gives thanks to (god of protection). And spends his time trying to get out of his shackles.

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18



With the needle broken Caex looks through the equipment at their disposal eventually pulling an arrowhead off of an arrow.

Speaking quietly "Use this to open chains?"

[whiteflash]

"Uh... hm... I think it can be done?"

Chazwick takes the disassembled arrow and tries to use it as an improvised lockpick.


Rolling with disadvantage... Pathmaker don't fail him now...
[roll0]
[roll1]
Edit: Is it too late to ask Uncle Zain (or Brother-In-Law Zain, in my case) for Guidance?

[Smilex]

You have a period of calm and you get to look around a little. You hear many birds sounds in the jungle. There's also the sound of howling monkeys somewhere further off.
At one point you see a running bird, the size of a pheasant appear from under the ferns and run away again when it notices you.

The next new sounds are not what you wanted though they were expected. There's distant shouting from the direction of the camp where they held you.

Yarara comments
They'll start looking for you soon. Would you like us to show you the way to the ranger's cabin?

Micruru says
Or we could take you to a hidden crossing. You could get to the other side of the river without the guards knowing about it. Would you like that? ... Or we could take you back to our camp, we've got a bit of food.

Yarara interecedes
Isn't that just a bad idea? Guards visit our camp sometimes.

Micruru shrugs.

[WindStruck]

Lucia shakes her head. "There's ten of us. They'll surely know you helped us."

"Quickly. Just who is this ranger, exactly? You said he's a cat? So.. he's with the Tabaxi guards??"

[whiteflash]

"This river crossing: would it break up our tracks?"

[Smilex]

Yarara answers
Jaime is an elderly catfolk. He says he used to be a knight of Fist and Palm. He's a friendly sort. He's not with the guards but they leave him alone because he's a cat.

Micruru intercedes
Or maybe because of that bear of his.

...
Micruru answers the second question
Plenty of water, waterplants. Can't see or smell through water. No tracks. Don't you think so?

[whiteflash]

"Yeah. That does sound right."

He turns to Lucia, Zain, and Atronia. "I think our best chance at making it through the night is to find this river crossing and use it. Especially if we can go downriver a short distance without getting swept away..."

He turns back to their captives. "Uh... is that an option?"

[Smilex]

Micruru answers
Maybe you could wade in the stream near the opposite shore?

[whiteflash]

"That would work. Could you point us towards it? Actually... is it possible to give us instructions simple enough that we can find it on our own?"

"For that matter... can you tell us how to find the ranger in the morning?"

[Smilex]

The ophidians try to explain the locations of the rivercrossing and the ranger's cabin but their descriptions are confusing. They use instructions like "Go towards the large tree from the warbler nest". You get the general idea that the crossing is somewhere below the waterfalls and that the ranger's cabin is somewhere north of the nearby hill. You suspect you could find the cabin with a bit of looking. The crossing might be difficult, possibly even dangerous without a guide.

While you discuss, the morning sun is covered by some clouds and you wonder if there might be rain later.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"I think seeking out this ranger with our two new friends here as guides sounds like our best bet. Let us make haste on whatever path you two feel we can best avoid crossing paths with anyone else." Atronia says, holding back from saying aloud that she doubts these two would betray them to the slavers after going so far to guide them to someone who could help them escape given that would be more likely to get them harmed than get them a reward.

[whiteflash]

"Cousin... are you sure? I think, given our current situation, the first step should be to make as sure as possible that we aren't being followed. We're going to have people come after us soon, and I'd rather we had already reached safety by the time they set out."

[WindStruck]

"Let's just go. No time to talk about it now. Apparently, the place we would cross the river is also nearby where this ranger lives, isn't it? So we might as well head in that direction for now."

[Smilex]

The duo of ophidians start guiding you north. The way takes you near the hill you've been looking at but they take you along the hill's eastern edge. In this area you see a number of fruit-bearing trees. You can see a few ordinary apple trees and another with hairy, red fruit. The ophidians refer to it as chomchom.

You can pick up fruit worth one meal without any significant slowing down here. Two meals worth if Caex stays a little behind to collect and runs after the rest. More if you want to actually spend time here.

After the fruit-trees you continue until you come to a smaller hill and a clearing. The hill is not particularly high, barely five or six meters higher than the surrounding ground. On top of the hill is a wooden cabin.

You can also see a fat orangecoloured catfolk lying on the cliff on his belly. He's lying on what looks like a cloak and wearing pants and a swordbelt. He looks to be enjoying the sun.

Lucia would say the trip took you 35 minutes. You can still hear yelling somewhere to the south but it hasn't come closer so far.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

Atronia immediately considers the value of mugging the catfolk for their sword, but instead looks at their guides and pointedly looks at him and whispers, "Is this who we're looking for? If not let's just go around."

[Smilex]

Yarara points at the orange fat cat and says
We've come to the ranger's cabin.

The cat, having likely heard you come, still only now bothers to turn around and look in your direction. He yawns and lifts one arm in a mild wave.

Micruru happily enounces
Hello Jaime!

The cat lifts an eyebrow and says:
The red shirt and blue ribbon of Ambrosia? How did you stickpickers collect a noble retinue in these woods?

Looking more closely at the cat you can see his skin is sagging on his face. He must've been enormous once if his shrunken form is this fat. He's missing hair here and there, possibly battle scars. His hair's unkempt. There's also a certain regality about him even in this condition. His simple stare is intimidating and despite his girth he moves easily and with uncommon grace.

[whiteflash]

"Uh... more the other way around, really." Chazwick can't resist chiming in. He looks to Lucia and Zain, figuring one of them will probably want to do the actual talking.

[Smilex]

Blue and red was it? What's that then? I can't remember all of them northern houses. Too many.

Jaime slowly lifts himself into a sitting position and scratches himself.

So... You come as a group, fresh. Some of you still wearing chains. There's no escaping chains. They come in many forms.

[gryffydd65]

Zain brushes the dirt off the clothes and steps forward. I am Zain Ambrosia. I am the younger brother of Lady Ambrosia. We have been wrongly accused of a crime and taken prisoner, we have since been sold to slave gang. We recently escaped and now seek your help. We could have easily taken these two slaves lives, but we are more interested in getting back to our land and reestablishing our fair name.

[whiteflash]

"To clarify my earlier comment, what I meant was that the noble retinue collected them," Chazwick adds, realizing a second too late that what he'd said was a bit ambiguous.

[Smilex]

Oh. Well spoken. I can't speak that well but my name's Jaime Day Glamorgan.

Day is an addition to the name of a noble house used by some southern houses in Fist and Palm. It's added in the name to honor the divine Suncobra.

Jaime keeps sitting down and speaks slowly.

Judgments we get, everyone. They called me a bannered knight once, for I killed enough barbarians that they judged me worthy to own land. They didn't care that I was a cat. Later I noticed that I care. We can't escape the judgments we make ourselves.

He stands up and walks slowly down the hill towards you. He makes a hand gesture used by knights to greet each other on the battle field.

He keeps talking, painfully slow even. But his voice doesn't waver.

You look familiar, Zain Ambrosia... I suppose you want hospitality? Knightly virtues. The kingdom's gods don't fare well here. But I'll offer you the hospitality. It's proper after all, even if we're in a land that doesn't recognize those rules. Host offers sanctuary, visitor honors host. No bad blood on this hill. Be welcome.

[gryffydd65]

Thank you kind sir, your hospitality is most welcome. If you have anything that might help in the release of these shackles it would be appreciated. But more importantly we need to know where we are and how to back to our land. Our Baroness is not with us and time is a commodity we don't have. Zain says gripping the ranger in the warrior's hand shake of the north.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick wasn't sure it was his place to interrupt again, but he felt his brother-in-law was ignoring the elder elemental in the room...

"Also... do you have some way to help us shake anyone who might be pursuing us? We... aren't sure we got away clean, and we're afraid we might have to avoid or hide from pursuit very shortly."

[WindStruck]

Glancing rather nervously behind them in the direction the shouting was, Lucia adds, "We would greatly appreciate the offer of hospitality, but as my kin says, we may not have time for it..."

"We heard you were a ranger, we just don't know how to get back, if we can even get back. But we've got to try. Do you know some secret way out of here or do.. do you think maybe joining up with one of those loyalist gangs might be our best bet??"

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18



As the group moves through the forest she tries to set up a false paths or two for the pursuers to follow by heading off in a different direction intentionally disturbing the brush then backtracking.

Caex takes the opportunity to fill one of the packs they made with fruit.

[Smilex]

With her fast movement speed Caex had no trouble making several false paths and keeping up with the others.

Now the cat ranger listens to everything you say and waves you to come with him toward the cabin. He suddenly moves with surprising speed in front of you and by the time you're up the hill he's already gone into the cabin and come out again. He's got a hammer and a metal spike. He gives these to Atronia.

Can you use these?

He scratches his chin and wipes his forehead. Then he says
I won't break guest right for the Iron chain. I'll drive them away. They're not nobles, they're just mercenaries. They won't care too much either. They would've been paid for you when they got through the gate-forts. Now they're just in trouble for breaking contract, not getting you to the farms and mines that are expecting new blood.

When you talk about a way out he pauses for a moment. Then he points toward the southeast and now that you're a little bit higher you can see a little further. Namely you can see three large plumes of smoke.

There's no way out on this side of the prison but something's broken over there. There's fire, I'm sure there's chaos. Probably a battle. Things can get messy but maybe there's a way out for you in the middle of that chaos.

He notices your tattoos and comments.
Are you sure you want out? You sure there's a good life out there? They don't care about tattoos here.

He takes another look at Zain
I knew a man called Xain who lived over the river. Sunkensky farm. Looked a bit like you. You could do worse than start there with your search for loyalists.

Xain was the name of your father and he talked often of having lived at Sunkensky.

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18


Pulling an apple out of the pack Caex offers it to the ranger.

"The Jaime-Day is most nice. This not much, we give thanks."

[whiteflash]

Chazwick hesitates, then sighs. "You're right about the tattoos. There's got to be a way to remove them, and if there isn't, I'm sure Zain and Lucia can make one given enough time and practice... but that's a long term project. Short term, we need to live with them. Maybe... maybe that's best done among the loyalist gangs. If they don't care about the tattoos. Uh... do they?"

[Smilex]

Jaime looks a little bit bothered by the offer of the fruit. He still takes it and bites into it.

Are you calling me fat?

It's impossible to know if he's joking. He eats the whole apple, just spits the seeds out one by one.

Some of the trees here didn't use to be just trees. There were dryads and ents. You couldn't pick fruit in those days. Somehow though all the faeries got weak over time. Some of them made new ways to survive here. Most of them left... who knows where. ... Reptiles and humans like to remember Birdland before the mraow came, but this wasn't originally the country of scaled ones.

He pauses again. When Chazwick brings the tattoos back into the conversation he answers...

Loyalists... heh heh... there's no loyalists. It's just a name. There's a group of sorry wretched prisoners and a leader who makes them believe in things... things like loyalty. If they don't like you, it won't be because of a tattoo.

He gives a weird toothy smile to Chazwick.

While this is going on Yarara says
Right. Nice to meet all of you. I think we'll be going then.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"Yes, yes I can. Thank you." Atronia replies with a small smile and then gets to work removing the rest of the chains from the group.

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18


"The Maria, can try make sling weapon from boot leather, yes?"

Caex goes searching the nearby forest.

Asking Maria to try to cut the boots into cord and braid the cords into a sling, when she has time.

While more manacles are being removed Caex searches the surrounding forest for small trees or fallen branches that could be useful. Something that can be used as a quarterstaff, club, or hunting/fishing spear, etc.

[WindStruck]

Lucie sighs. How the heck did they end up in this situation??

"These tattoos are fake. They have to be. We'll find a way to remove them, one way or another..."

Anyway, after killing one of the guards, she kind of doubted they'd have the chance to go back to a "nice and easy" life of.. mining, lumberjacking, breaking her back under heavy loads. No thanks.

"Sounds like there may be nothing but trouble for us beyond the river but... I guess it's the only way out of here."

[Smilex]

Caex spends about thirty minutes looking for suitable materials in the woods. She notices that the loud voices of people in the south don't seem to be getting particularly closer within this time period. If there's pursuit, they seem to be not particularly successful at finding the right tracks.

In her searching she finds three branches that would reasonably make crude clubs and 2 long branches that could be turned into spears with little effort. Also she finds a large beehive.

No skill roll but 10 minutes of work with a dagger to turn each of these into an improvised weapon with no extra minuses. A carpentry check to make them into the real thing.

Maria spends a few minutes staring at boot leather and then talks Rodrik into helping her try to make a sling. They end up failing in their efforts and shredding the rest of the boot leather for no gain.

Jaime keeps talking with the others and says to Lucia
The mountains on this side of the valley are full of mines, crystal mines. That's the thing that draws the nobles... The smell of immortality. The southern side of the valley is less interesting to the mraow, the mountains there less guarded. You might meet caitsith tribes in the woods there but we're not guards. We've always lived here... Cats of the city of stars.

The two ophidians leave into the woods.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"You don't happen to have a map or know where we could most easy find a forge we could use do you?" Atronia asks, thinking to herself that they sure do have a good amount of iron in the form of chains that could be turned into other things.

[Smilex]

Jaime starts walking toward the hill and bids all of you present to come with him.
He finds an easily climbable path to the hill and asks you to look around and try to memorize what you see.

https://i.ibb.co/m0pQ6p9/Vale1.png

Quite a view. See there, in the east. That's where I was born seven hundred years ago, on the shores of a lake. Now the lake's cursed and my people have scattered.

He waits for everyone to get a good view, the he points more southwards, at a point where there's a small lake.

There, behind the two rightmost plumes of smoke, next to the lake. There you might find some of those... loyalists. That's Sunkensky. Maybe they've got a forge too, maybe not. If the nobles had found one from them or anyone else they would've dismantled it.

You can also see the clearing where you started your escape from. The tents have been dismantled. You can just make out some people moving there.

Coatell asks
You speak of nobles a lot and so did our guard. I know your religion is based around nobility but what does it mean really?

Jaime gives a scornful laugh.
You ask me of religion? It means nothing, nothing whatsoever. A mraow noble is just a cat who owns a bit of land.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick decides not to mention that the sudden tumble has helped him realize his family were just humans who owned a bit of land.

"Do they claim to be something else? Do they claim to draw legitimacy from the gods, or anything like that? Or do they just straight-up say 'you'll obey because we have the power to enforce it?'"

"And, is there any sort of code of conduct the mraow nobles are supposed to follow, whether or not they actually do so?"

He suddenly breaks out into a grin. "Actually, if there is one... then do the mraow nobles take it seriously enough that they don't like getting caught breaking it?"

[Smilex]

Jaime starts a long monologue, during which he starts to sweat and sway a little to the rhytm of his words.
A code, yes. There's a code...
Under the Red Eye we live. We respect the Choice. The Choice creates the Plot. The Plot creates The Act. The Act creates the Loser as well as the Eternal.

We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us-if at all-not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.

The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms

In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river

Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.



He seems to come out of a memory and gives a minor explanation

The Choice is the first God, the eldest. Poet's call it the Starlight-Spear for it shows the way. It is the God of nobility and leadership. Anyone with the power to make a choice is akin to God. Anyone who can make another follow a code is noble. Make others into followers, servants. That is to be divine. That's how the nobles think.

He hisses and spits. Then he continues.
I Like the kingdom's Suncobra. I like the warmth. Most mraow hate the sun. Good for something at least this God of yours.

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18


After spending a few second admiring the bees going about their work, Caex returns to the others. While getting some honey might be nice she is a little pressed for time.

"The Caex got sticks, good for fight, better then no stick."

She offers the club sticks, and potential spears to whoever would like to use them, keeping one spear for herself.

Once everyone else is free of the manacles she gets her other hand free.

[Smilex]

Caex notices the others on the hill and get the same view as the others.

Justius would happily accept a spear and Rodrik a club with kind words:
Thank you dear Caex. Now I'm finally feeling more prepared.
He sets to making the grip better with his dagger.

Meanwhile Maria grumbles in a quiet way.
Many knights are rough around the edges but this host of ours takes the mediocrity of spirit to a boring new low.

[gryffydd65]

Uncle Zain will pull aside five of the best fighters and start his 10 minute inspiring leader speech. Each of them will gain 4 temporary hit points.

[Smilex]

When prodded for more information Jaime points towards the east, to the northern shore of the water areas he called cursed.

In the lower areas of the mountains there. There's ruins of a fort there, abandoned. It was called Tearhill. You can find it if you look for a large red stonecolumn. The fort lies between the column and the cursed lake. Maybe you'll find their forge functional. Certainly some skeletons are less of an obstacle than the mraow army.

Roughly between the coordinates E and F.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick says to Maria. "Well, he is helping. Let's not forget that."

When Jaime mentions the possible forge in the skeleton infested ruins, Chazwick stops to think. "But... if we use it, it'll make a column of smoke visible for miles, won't it? It might be worth going there, to see if the skeletons are protecting any loot worth using, but we'd just draw attention if we used the forge."

Chazwick pauses. "It... might still be worth doing, if we decide what we're making after we take stock of what's already there but before we light the forge, and if we get everything done as quickly as we can and leave immediately after we finish. But it's still a risk."

[Smilex]

Maria seems humbled by Chazwick's words.
I'm sorry for speaking out of turn. I gave but voice to what I believe everyone thinks.

Rodrik continues the conversation
I see a bit of charm here and there. He's not that bad. Besides. We are guests, we should give him respect.

Maria continues.
Still I wonder. Is it all an act?

Rodrik:
The man seems to hurt. I don't see anything wrong in that.

Maria continues
We can ill afford to consider another's hurt when we are ourselves in such a serious state. I'd like the man more had were we back home. I suspect the direct way... his push to direct into an area of battle. An ancient fort might hold something better than a forge. Maybe magics for Lucia to wield.

[gryffydd65]

Uncle Zain looked back and forth as the conversation went on about the forge. Fact we have killed one of the enemy and they will seek us out. Fact they know we want to return to our side , so they might wait for us at the closest crossing or follow us. Fact we need to get better equipped and the fort could be a great source to get those supplies. I will now regale the mighty tales of our forefathers and how they survived insurmountable odds. Uncle Zain will now use his inspiring leadership to five of the those gathered. They will gain 4 temporary hit points.

He talks for ten minutes straight talking about our forefathers and their struggles they overcame to make the Ambrosia Family name strong and famous.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

After Uncle Zain's tale is finished Atronia says, "So it's agreed then. This Tearhill is our first destination. How long do you think it would take us to get there?" At this she looks to Jaime and looks to the sky to try and judge how much daylight is left. It'd be great to arrive before sundown, and even better still to not be poking about the abandoned fort in the dark.


Is it reasonable for Atronia to know that bludgeoning weapons would be a good idea to have on hand to deal with skeletons?

[Smilex]

Noon's approaching as you start back down the hill towards Jamie's cabin.

You'll reach Tearhill by night if you walk the roads. They'll notice you for certain that way. But they might just let you walk along unless they also notice your weapons. The way doesn't look too far but the changes in elevation and the winding of the road make the path longer than it looks.

Were I to make the trip I would just go through the woods. It'll be slower but you can forage as you go and avoid prying eyes. There's a third alternative too. You can go up the hill beyond the treeline and walk there. That path has the disadvantages of both the first choices without any of the positives.

You'll probably run into a lumbercamp or a small farm somewhere along the way. They won't have much to share. Poor sons of otyughs that they are.


As you come to Jamie's cabin you see a bear, almost the size of a musk ox. It's missing one eye and part of one front paw. Jamie approaches the bear and gives it a half-hearted scratching around the ears. The bear tries to hug him.
There there Odien, that's enough.

The bear's other front paw has some red on the claws.
What have you done, Odien? Did somebody come snooping while daddy was gone? Well, you got them better than they got you.
He ruffles the bear's fur again.

The Iron chain isn't that tough. They do carry bows though. It'd be better if they didn't come back. Are you leaving?

He says this in a way suggesting that he'd actually prefer if you didn't stay long.

Rodrik asks
Would you guide us to the border of your realm?

Jaime winces.
My realm is in Glamorgan, in the hills of south-west Gales. Ownership of this sorry plot of land is claimed by Shiniraer 'Longsocks', a baroness of Northern tunnels. Best hope you never meet her. I'll guide you a little while though if you'll do me a favour. I should've taken a certain thing to tribal lands years ago but I've never got to it. Would you do that for me?

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"Sounds like our best choice is to travel through the woods and sleep outdoors for a night so we can tackle Tearhill in the morning when we're fresh, rather than after a day's trek in the dark. I would be happy to accept your request, you've been generous with your time and knowledge with us."

After a pause to make it not seem like this comment is in any way attached to accepting his request Atronia asks, "You don't have any supplies of any kind you could spare do you? Anything at all would be a boon given our currently impoverished state."

Then a few moments later she asks the assembled group, "If I only worked the forge at night do you think we could avoid our smoke being seen?"

[Smilex]

Jaime gives a grumble which sounds vaguely appreciative of Atronia's words.

He walks into his cabin and brings out a few items. The first one he presents to Atronia is a longsword. It's exceedingly rusty and dented. You wonder if it's been used as a plow to make it reach it's current condition.

A longsword that does d6 crushing damage in it's current condition.

This is a sword that belonged to this old cat. He was a passable companion but now he lies dead in the Lake of Mirrors in the middle of that cursed area. It needs to be tossed to the lake so it reaches the one it belongs to. Who knows maybe his corpse will reach out and calm the ones still moving about... You can also keep the hammer I gave you.

Another thing he brings out is a large water skin, filled with water. He gives that to Maria.
There. Take that one and don't spill any!

Then he turns to Rodrik and gives him this: https://i.etsystatic.com/8120659/r/il/314db5/2424005895/il_570xN.2424005895_6kkz.jpg

You've a heart. Take this. I used this as a youngster. Maybe it'll do you good.
BAGH NAKH
Martial Melee Weapon
Name Cost Damage Weight Properties
Kasa 1 gp 1d6 slashing 1/2 lbs Finesse, Light, Exotic
The item also removes disadvantage to climbing checks for having no holds on a surface if the surface is such that the blades can penetrate.

Then he gives Chazwick a pair of boots.
I don't know what you did with your boots, poor guy. But if you don't cover that wound it's going to fester.

Then he turns to Zain.
I was no friend to Xain. I beat him up for he tried to intervene when I was punishing a poacher. I'd like to say that happened only once. This was his. I'd think he would have wanted it passed to you.
He gives Zain a leather armguard with two golden rings to tie it to a hand. A picture of Dimvaran, the God of protection has been painted on the leather. There's a plate of stone on the item. It is made of the same vibrating crystal you have seen before.

Finally he turns to Caex and gives him a sling.
You were looking for one of these. I use this rarely. I'll find a new one.


I don't keep much inventory. Here's a few things I had around. Find good use for them.
Rations for 14 people for 1 day.
A dagger
A herbalism kit
2 flasks of oil
2 shirts
Three blankets


When Atronia asks of the smoke Jaime responds
You'll decrease visibility that way. Sure enough. You shouldn't expect to be unseen though. Mraow have wizards and they usually specialize in divination. Being uninteresting is always better than being unseen.

[whiteflash]

"I didn't do anything with my boots. A rather insecure Iron Chain thug took them off so she could cut my foot for being a wisearse. Thanks for replacing them."

When Jaime hands over the small clutch of items meant for nobody in particular, Chazwick asks "Is it okay with you guys if I take one of the daggers?"

And when he mentions the divination wizards, Chazwick says "Then maybe setting up our own forge isn't wise. We should still head to the old fort and clear it of skeletons, but we should assume the mraow will be on us before we can do much with the forge. I say we scavenge what we can, then head to the gang territory with it... and maybe set up our own forge if we manage to get control of the area."

[gryffydd65]

I thank you for this wonderful gift, it means the world to me. My father was a peaceful man and that does sound like him. Uncle Zain shakes his hand once more.

[Smilex]

With pleasantries exchanged you start moving into the woods. The route is towards north-east. Atronia and Jaime move in front, followed closely by Justius. In the middle are Uncle Zain, Miranda and Coatell. Rodrik and Maria are at the back of the line.

The woods would be rather pleasant in other circumstances. You encounter more of the fast walking birds that run under cover of ferns though you catch none. You see spots where the ground has given way and mid-forest there's a ravine, usually with water in the deep below. One time you hear a pack of wild dogs somewhere distant. Later you start hearing horns on the mountains.

Jaime comments
They're rounding up troops. We might have to dodge them a bit even if they're going towards the trouble in the south.

He alters your course slightly and you find yourselves facing a cliff wall. Jaime shows you a path up the wall which is walkable all the way up top if you know where to step. The rise is not huge, but walking 12 meters up a cliff feels scary at times.

It's afternoon and you've moved maybe a fourth or a third of the way by this point. The weather remains beautiful.

Troops would have difficulty following this path. There's a couple of other same size rises to come in a while. I'd suggest camping between those rises. There's a nice small area that's quite difficult to reach if you don't know what you're doing. If you start early in the morning, you'll be able to forage while moving and you'll still reach Tearhill in daylight hours.

The travel continues another hour before you reach the next cliffrise and it takes most of another hour to safely reach the small flat area he referenced. It's an area maybe thirty by forty meters in size with some thorny bushes and beautiful pink flowers. Above it the cliff rises another ten meters.

I'd suggest the best climber among you climb up there and lower vines for the others in the morning. I'll be heading home at this point.

[WindStruck]

Lucia is silent for the most part, thinking over the options. None of them seemed very good. But alas, this was the situation they found themselves in.

"Yes, I suppose the abandoned fort is the way to go. There's no telling what we'll find but.. seems to be our best chance either way."

After Jaime gives some items to everyone, Lucia offers a slight bow and says, "Thank you, Jaime. I wish there would be some way we could repay you for your kindness and hospitality. However, you do seem content with your life here and I presume want to stay. I fear we may only be in a position to reciprocate after we are long gone."

Though come to think of it, she still had a prestidigitation trick she could use. If there was time. Or perhaps there was a slight chance he was interested in the meager possessions they looted from their dead captor.

Lucia marches with the group wherever she feels the safest. She was not a good fighter by any means.

[Smilex]

Jaime seems disarmed for a moment by Lucia's courtesy. Then he shakes himself a little and assumes the same frown that is typical for him.
I don't need anything as long as I've got my spot in the sun. I've tried it all. I had my good times.

Jaime starts to lower himself down the cliff wall, leaving your group in peace.

Below you, in the valley, you hear the sound of horns somewhere distant. It appears they're not coming for you at this point.

The plumes of smoke have died down.

The most perceptive of you can make out the outline of a small fortress to the southwest, at the riverfork.
In the previous map you would now be under the word 'north', more exactly under the letter 'h' in the word.

[Smilex]

Caex climbs up the hill to find another forest. More trees of palm, the leaves of which would easily suit cooking. You also see this wood is full of vines. They grow on other trees and have small white flowers that have a powerful scent.

You surprise a group of howler monkeys that start making their characteristic noise. They climb up the trees and watch as you collect the leaves. Caex has never seen such monkeys before. They look strong and there's many of them but they don't seem aggressive. Their sound seems likely to alert anyone in the region though.

The vines are thick, woody and relatively rigid. It will Caex a while to tie enough of them to make into something climbable. The end result will be strong enough but it will not be rope, you couldn't make coils out of it and transporting large quantities would not be easy.

Caex returns to camp and makes the evening meal. Everyone gets to enjoy a bit of fresh meat along with fruit, nuts and hard bread. There's water enough though it's running short.

The night passes until...
It's time to wake up refreshed. As luck would have it nobody disturbs you. The guards heard movement of troops twice in the night, once in the north, the second time in the south.

[Smilex]

After breakfast the journey continues. The monkeys do start howling once more when you climb over the cliff and start moving under their trees. You get a nagging feeling that somebody is following you from then on.

The day is not quite as beautiful as the one before. There's a few clouds here and there. If anything, this makes it nicer to walk since it's not quite so hot.

After a couple of hours of trekking Caex manages to catch a fernrunner bird. It's very docile once caught.

You start seeing more spiders, and curiously also small crabs that live in trees. They're red and move in swarms. You capture a few of those too just in case they could taste good.

A little bit later you come to a small river. While on the shore of the river you can see further distant - and you get the first peek at the red mountain column that Jamie referenced. The column is not fully separated from the mountain's side. It must be made of some strong mineral which has allowed it to stand while the mountainside around it has eroded.

After some inspection you find out that one can wade through the river, it's not deep. There's no real trouble.

About 20 minutes of walking later you start hearing noise. People are hacking trees with axes. You continue a little further and you can start seeing the source of the noise. You're still hidden in the woods but you can see an area where the forest has been cleared. There's a tent village of eight tents. The tents are conical in shape, large enough for maybe four people each. They're made of leather.

On your side of the tent village, about forty meters from where you stand you can see two people chained and cuffed to a felled tree. Both of them are wearing the livery of house Ambrosia. One of them is a tortle, and you immediately recognize squire Yaj'dak who is the only tortle any of you have ever seen. The other person, dwarf-sized and extremely hairy, you suspect is probably Sir Rikkan who Yaj'dak has served loyally for years. Though Rikkan is usually never seen without a full helm so it's hard to be sure without hearing his voice.

You can't see any catfolk in the area. Instead there's eight ophidians and four lizardfolk doing with axes and saws felling trees and cutting branches. They are dressed in worn and dirty clothing. They are working to the left of where you stand, about thirty meters distant. You can see six more of the reptilians further distant between the tents, at a fireplace, likely cooking.

Justius reacts:
Should we just march there and remove their chains?

You were captured and branded by unnamed assailants. They transported you to a distant place and transferred you to other capturers, catfolk slavers. You were transported in a cart with four others - The castellan of fort Ambrosia and his wife, the Baroness and a young page. These others were removed from the cart before you and taken to places unknown.

You heard the guards wonder several times about why a ratfolk, particular something called a stormrat was hanging out with humans. Many times they wondered if they should take Rikkan to a different place, but they mentioned they had taken money for bringing him to this lumbercamp and so they did.

The catfolk brought you to this camp and chained you to a tree in the middle of a clearing. They told you to watch and learn. Then they simply left. The people in the camp brought you a bit of food and a couple of ophidian women asked a lot of questions from you. In turn they explained to you that this would have to be your home in the future. This was a prison camp and you would soon enough have to join in on the work here. They seemed sympathetic but completely unwilling to help you release yourselves.

The chains that are attached to your legs go under the tree. You don't have handcuffs. You can't lift the tree and you can't slide the chain off because the felled tree still has branches that are in the way. So here you have been, sitting and watching prisoners for the better part of the morning.

[gryffydd65]

Uncle Zain looked at Justius We need to cautious.
Although those are our men, their captors might be out looking for us. Be prepared.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"Is anyone confident in their ability to sneak in to see where their captors might be. If it's more catfolk they may be asleep in those tents. If we're lucky this may be as easy as slitting some sleeping throats and taking their supplies and our people. Either way, we can't leave them here." Atronia says, clearly not too fussed about the value of tabaxi or slavekeeper lives.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick smiles. "Sneaking is what I do." He turns to Caex. "Do you want to come along, or wait here?"

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan looks about. Checking to see if any guards are watching him and Yaj'dak. If they are not he ask Yaj'dak Can you break free?While Sir Rikkan ask he also attempts to break his chains.

[Luccan]

The tortle lifts his head, his gaze studying their surroundings I will try He heaves against the chains, trying his best to wrest them from beneath the fallen tree or perhaps exploit some unknown flaw and break them


I assume this won't work, but Yaj'dak would still try. If a roll is needed:

Strength check: [roll0] I'm also assuming proficiency isn't a factor

[Smilex]

Rikkan looks at the tree he's chained to. It's sturdy. It would require an axe or a saw to break it and even then it would take a lot of time. Then he checks the chain. It's hard, too hard to pull apart. Finally he inspects the locks in the cuffs. Even they are made well, too well to break open without tools. The situation seems desperate. Rikkan realizes he needs help to break free.

As Rikkan looks around, he can't see anyone who's actually watching him and Yaj'dak. The woodcutters do every now and then glance at his direction but not much more. They are concentrated on their work.

Meanwhile at the other side of the clearing...

Coatell starts instructing Chazwick on various types of leaves and how to make least noise while walking on them.
+2 to stealth roll. She's a homebrew class. By sharing her academic knowledge she can give bonuses to a lot of things. It's a nonmagical effect that's close to how the guidance spell works.

EDIT: Yaj'dak pulls with all his might at the chain but it remains intact. The lumberjacks actually notice the grunting and one of them yells.
Sorry. The cats smith their metal well. They don't want you loose before you've calmed down.

[WindStruck]

Lucia tried some of her cantrips to see if they would distract the monkeys earlier.

---

Later, when they come upon the camp and their two captive house members:

"They're clearly slaves and probably wouldn't oppose us if we have a show of force and numbers," Lucia says.

"But they will be bound to tell their masters what happened and where we have gone, or else they will be punished or killed. I'm getting the feeling many of them are used to their lot in their life and would not join us or rebel. I still wouldn't want to kill them..."

"We'd have to be extremely quick, stealthy, and lucky to free them without being noticed. Alternatively, perhaps as a deception, we can leave their camp in a different direction than we intend to travel."

[whiteflash]

Chazwick stops to think. "I don't know... they were enslaved alongside us, right? Which means they're not used to the tabaxi being the authority figures yet. They're used to listening to the Baroness, Zain, you, and Atronia in that order. In fact, if we can spare some weapons to arm them with, they'll probably help us handle the tabaxi."

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18



"The Caex will follow the Chazwick."

[WindStruck]

Lucia gives Chazwick a look and says, "... I am speaking of the ophidians and lizardfolk collecting lumber. Of course we should free the comrades in our livery and try to arm them."

[whiteflash]

"Oh. Uh... sorry. We're on the same page then. But we might not have to do anything with the ophidians, if they don't see us."

How close to our captive comrades are the ophidians? And are the ophidians keeping a close eye on them? Basically what I'm asking is, is what Chazwick is suggesting even remotely possible?

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"That's a good suggestion Lucia. We could also tell them to leave the area before we do. That way they won't be here to see us hide our actual tracks later." Atronia adds.

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan looks around for any large rocks or tree limbs. Just big enough to use as a weapon. In dwarvish he whispers a prayer.Pathmaker I ask for cunning.

[Smilex]

Rikkan grabs a loose branch and starts weighing it. One of the lizardmen, noting what's happening, comes closer and looks at Rikkan.

You look strong. You've been well fed. Yet even you can't take on these guards of ours here. There's an army of them. Many armies even. They fought the Kingdom of Fist and Palm and conquered this area. What is one man?
Or did you think to beat us down in your anger? That would do you no good. We're prisoners here like you. We're your new brothers and sisters. We watch over each other here, like brothers...
If you plan violence though, it's a different thing. We need to tell the guards, or we'll be punished. Then they'll punish you. Then maybe we get to eat that well fed body of yours.

The lizard grins.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick winces and mutters a quick prayer to the Pathmaker. "Our comrades look like they're about to do something drastic, and the ophidians are paying more attention to them. We need to move now. Lucia, do you think you can use a spell to distract them? If not, we might as well forget about stealth and try the 'kill them all to keep them silent' method."

[Slayerofundead]

Rikkan grabs a loose branch and starts weighing it. One of the lizardmen, noting what's happening, comes closer and looks at Rikkan.

You look strong. You've been well fed. Yet even you can't take on these guards of ours here. There's an army of them. Many armies even. They fought the Kingdom of Fist and Palm and conquered this area. What is one man?
Or did you think to beat us down in your anger? That would do you no good. We're prisoners here like you. We're your new brothers and sisters. We watch over each other here, like brothers...
If you plan violence though, it's a different thing. We need to tell the guards, or we'll be punished. Then they'll punish you. Then maybe we get to eat that well fed body of yours.

The lizard grins.

Sir Rikkan grins back. Now holding the branch.
I am not your brother for those I call my brothers would never submit to slavery. Pathmaker shall guid me. Sir Rikkan begins to draw a mobius strip. While he is seeing how far he can move the chains. If he can he ends the mobius strip standing toe to toe with the lizardmen.

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak rises as much as he can behind the knight We have no quarrel with you or your brothers, but we will not submit to servitude as you have. If you wish to do more than merely survive, you could join us in leaving this place. But either way, do not test our might. Even bound we are far from helpless. He shakes some of the weariness from his body and readies himself should Rikkan decide to take action.

[Smilex]

The lizardman takes a few steps back, well beyond the reach of the chains that keep Rikkan and Yaj'dak in place.
There's a lot of fight in you two. Everyone has a lot of fight in the beginning. The fight is going to go out one way or another. Only the ones who work get food.
Your quickest way out is to throw that branch at a guard when they next come around. That way they'll do you in quick. Otherwise you'll end up starving or doing work.
Please don't starve. Nobody wants to watch you starve.

The lizardman keeps standing there, waiting to see how Rikkan and Yaj'dak react. Maybe he's expecting to listen the two of you discuss. But his demeanor has changed from joking to tired.

Meanwhile Rodrik asks the others hiding in the bushes
Chazwick, do you think you think you could circle round the clearing to check out those tents without alerting anyone?

Miranda, with her bow just wryly comments
I've got a clear shot at that closest lizardfolk.

Maria says
If we keep talking they'll just end up hearing us.

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan breathes a heavy sigh and shakes his head. why are you so full of fear? Who are these masters that you fear? Yet you do not fear devine punishment for eating flesh of another sentient. You are outside devine law repent cast aside your lawless and fearful ways. Walk upon the Path of the mighty one who protects the weak. Walk upon the path of the Great Pathmaker!

Sir Rikkan is attempting to convert this Lizardman.

[Smilex]

The lizardman looks confused but attentive.
Why would the Pathmaker punish someone who eats the dead? We've always eaten the dead.

An ophidian slithers closer to the conversation.
The furry rat speaks true. You shouldn't honor the ones that don't have power. That is the law that the mraow break.

The lizardman answers.
You only say that because you can't eat so well with those sad teeth you have. You know snakes even eat other snakes. Pathfinder is God of Snakes. There's no way she would condemn cannibalism.

Another ophidian wanders into the conversation.
I thought Pathmaker is male.

The lizardman continues.
It's all meaningless anyway. We're now under the laws of the mraow and their laws say that servants serve and nobles rule.

The first ophidian says
Who are you rat-being? We see ratbeings only with the guards, running their errands. Why are you imprisoned with us reptiles? Do you also believe in the Pathmaker?

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan looks at them with a confused expression.Cats and Rats?The Marrow? What heretical Land is this? The Pathmaker must have sent me here to teach and to free you of your heretical prison.

I do not understand why you call me a rat. Have you never seen a dwarf? Do you not recognize the Colors of House Ambrosia? I am Sir Rikkan adopted son of Sir Rodrick Knight realm of Fist and Palm. I am a Knight Brother of The Knights of Pathmaker and a household knight of the House Ambrosia.

Yes Pathmaker is a male and yes all details of his story matter with out the details the heretical lies and Devine truth could not be separated.

Why does Pathmaker not allow cannibalism is simple. The body of the dead is unprotected an unable to protect its self thus it is weak thus it is protected by the Pathmaker.

Will anyone of you walk upon the path of the Pathmaker?

[Smilex]

The two ophidians state in unison.
We follow the Pathmaker. ... then they continue meekly
But we also serve the Dimvaran.

The lizardman says.
Yes, and the god of protection demands we protect ourselves. And the only way we have to protect ourselves is to hold the law. Law says that those who don't work, don't eat.

Another lizardman walks closer.
Who are you to talk Sseethe? You've been licking your lips here while we've been swinging axes! Get to work you fools!

[whiteflash]

"I think I can?"

As an afterthought, he asks "Does the Pathmaker actually forbid cannibalism? I kind of stopped listening to the sermons on his teachings after 'tear down weak laws and replace them.' Not that I've ever been tempted to cannibalism, mind you."

[Smilex]

Caex and Chazwick circle round the clearing to the right of the main group and sneak to some of the tents. Unfortunately Chazwick's leg gets tangled on a tent rope causing one of the tents to collapse. Caex manages to remain hidden behind the collapsing tent while Chazwick is unfortunately quite in the open.

At this point Caex and Chazwick are about 40 meters to the right of everyone else. The collapse of the tent raises confusion. Several of the ophidians who were preparing food stand up.

One of them yells
Who are you? Are you with a gang?

For the sake of game flow I'd suggest giving rolls for initiative with your next comments. Just in case conflict erupts.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

Atronia sighs, "So much for stealth." she comments and steps forwards. ""No, we're with them." she says indicating the two members of their house. She then immediately walks over to them to begin breaking them free of their restraints.

[Slayerofundead]

The two ophidians state in unison.
We follow the Pathmaker. ... then they continue meekly
But we also serve the Dimvaran.

The lizardman says.
Yes, and the god of protection demands we protect ourselves. And the only way we have to protect ourselves is to hold the law. Law says that those who don't work, don't eat.

Another lizardman walks closer.
Who are you to talk Sseethe? You've been licking your lips here while we've been swinging axes! Get to work you fools!


Dosen't Dimvaran expect his follower to show hospitality? What would Dimvaran think of you or your master binding an not feeding there guests? It is the law shall you suffer devine punishment with your cats and rats or shall you tred the path of liberty with the great Pathmaker?


Sir Rikkan raises his branch as far as he can to the sky. On This day be on the side of Dimvaran,Pathmaker and Devine Law!

Seeing Atronia Ambrosia an the tent fall he exclaims Behold the miraculous action of the Gods they have sent you away to freedom!!

[whiteflash]

"Maybe they could have put that rope somewhere out of my way," Chazwick mutters.

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak had been watching Rikkan's sermon with grim boredom. He was used to talk of the Pathmaker, but he didn't have much of a head for religion. He was mostly concerned about the possibility of guards or soldiers appearing. When he sees the others arrive, he smiles and bows his head respectfully I am pleased to see you alive and... well, alive. I'm at your service as always. He assists Atronia as he can

[WindStruck]

Lucia sighs, "Well, maybe I could cast a spell to distract them, but... not when that happens." She quite literally facepalms.

And there was already some yelling. More were gathering with their axes.

Lucia stays fairly hidden still, but...

initiative: [roll0]

stealth: [roll1]
This is just for being hidden in her same spot.

She will ready her fire bolt cantrip, holding its energy. If any of the slaves begin to attack, she will shoot them.

[Smilex]

The group of lizardmen and ophidians advance on you. Voices are raised, demanding the newcomers remove themselves immediately and leave Rikkan and Yaj'dak behind. Axes are being waved threateningly.

Caex and Chazwick advance to a distance that they can get in the scuffle with a single move.
Zain has time to prepare with mage armor before the fight actually starts.

Two groups of melee combatants stare each other down until something snaps and a fight breaks out.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: 4 Temp HP

Atronia sees one of the lizardmen begin to raise their axe and immediately steps right up into their face, her chest right up against theirs, noses almost touching, eyes locked with theirs and she loudly demands, "Put. Your. Weapons. Down. .... NOW."


There's no reason Atronia would strike first so she's trying to intimidate them into disarming.
Hope that's a good enough justification for Strength based intimidation. If not, just -4 to my roll here.
Intimidation: [roll0]

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan yells You Fools!! and attempts to bash the nears Lizardman with an axe right in the head. [roll0]

[Smilex]

Atronia's words echo on the clearing and clearly there's an effect. The ophidians who are already wondering about the fight are slightly more taken aback.

Rikkan's club swings in the air but the lizardman called Sseethe blocks the blow with his axehandle.
Don't. We don't want to hurt you.

Zain walks into melee range and casts a cantrip. With electricity flowing in his fingers he tries to grab a lizardman's arm but the lizardman dodges barely.
I took the liberty of rolling some dice because the attack was called while a roll was lacking.

Maria covers behind some ferns while Miranda looses an arrow. The arrow strikes one of the ophidian slaves in the throat and the slave falls down gasping.

Rodrik and Chazwick swing wildly with their weapons, both missing significantly. With surprising speed the older warrior surges into action and strikes a second blow, with his club. The club hits one of the ophidian slaves and the unconscious slave falls to ground.

Yaj'dak swipes wit his claws at one of the lizardmen, cutting into their armpit. The wound bleeds heavily but doesn't seem life-threatening.

Justius tries to stab one of the lizardmen but he stumbles at the moment he's about to land a blow. The lizardman steps out of the way.

One of the lizardmen tries to swing at Justius but misses. Two of them strike at Rodrik and two axes hit him, one in the shoulder and another in his thigh. The experienced warrior just grunts, a sad smile on his lips. The last lizardman tries to strike Atronia but misses.

In response Caex punches the wounded lizardman in the gut with the chained wrist. The lizardman bowls over. Another kick by Caex would strikes where the lizardman's head was the moment before he fell down.

At that moment Lucia stands ready with her firebolt spell and strikes one of the lizardmen. The bolt sizzles the scales in his head and he yowls in pain.

[Slayerofundead]

Then drop your weapon or join us Sseethe! Sir Rikkan attempts to push Sseethe back
[roll0]

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 22/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: 4 Temp HP

Atronia frowns as everything erupts into violence immediately despite her words. And then some fool makes the mistake of attacking her. Maybe if she was wearing armor she could have shrugged off the attempt enough to not aim to kill. But given her vulnerable state her training defaults to kill or be killed and she swings her sword with that intent.


Attacking the guy who attacked her.

Attack: [roll0]
damage: [roll1]
if crit: [roll2]

[WindStruck]

Lucia takes a step forward from the foliage and calls, "Seems you lot like to take the easy way, so how about this. Just run to your masters and tell them a gang attacked you. There's plenty of bodies here already. Or do you want to add more?"

some social roll: [roll0] +2 for intimidation, +4 for persuasion.


She'll wait a bit to see what they do (delaying until first enemy attacker). If they keep attacking, she will throw another fire bolt.

[roll1]
damage: [roll2]

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak lets out a low bellow as blade, claw, and spell are exchanged. He seems to become more aggressive as the others are attacked, but holds himself as Lucia attempts to turn the fight with words


Holding an attack, if it looks like the fight will continue

[roll0]
[roll1]

Are we actually free yet or are we still chained to the tree?

[Smilex]

Caex takes two swings at one of the lizardmen, but stumbles a little on the corpse of another. Both of the strikes miss.

Atronia swings at another one and cuts deeply into the neck of the lizard. The lizardman gags on it's blood and collapses.

Rikkan pushes Sseethe the lizardman back in the fray showing his might. Sseethe looks confused by the power of the smaller warrior.

Lucia yells into the fray at the same time as the Ophidians start acting. Two of them, their morale breaking, start moving backwards, avoiding blows, obviously scared. Two others, shaking in fear, swing their weapons wildly and miss their targets. Another one moves away and spits into Justius' face, blinding him.
The last of the ophidians, full of anger, strikes Atronia in her leg with an axe-blow[7].

Coatell moves out of the shadow of the trees, readying for something, though her purpose is unclear.

Zain tries to wield the magics of electric power once more but once more his opponent leaps aside at the last moment - untouched.

Miranda shoots Sseethe in his forearm. The lizardman yowls. He seems to notice that his group, that they thought would easily overpower you, is now at half it's fighting strength.

At that moment... Something surprising happens. There's a twang, and two others. Arrows from a hidden attacker somewhere behind in the woods are let loose and they strike Miranda twice and Lucia once.
Miranda collapses, bleeding. Lucia receives five damage.

Rodrik continues to try to defend Atronia and blinded Justius with his club, but his strike misses.

Coatell speaks, blowing simultaneously a cloud of calming pheromones over the fight The fight is already done! You can not win. Becalm yourselves and find mercy. Racial spell, calm emotions. 5 failed saves.
All of the reptilians except the one who spat at Justius suddenly relax, their arms hanging at their sides. They seem confused by what they're doing. The reptilian not affected by the spell panics and yells
They've got the strength of demons! Aaagh!

Yaj'dak prepares for further possible aggression from the reptilians, but that doesn't seem to be coming, certainly not immediately.

[Slayerofundead]

Yaj'dak lets out a low bellow as blade, claw, and spell are exchanged. He seems to become more aggressive as the others are attacked, but holds himself as Lucia attempts to turn the fight with words


Holding an attack, if it looks like the fight will continue

[roll0]
[roll1]

Are we actually free yet or are we still chained to the tree?



We are free.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 19/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

With the lizardmen standing down and having been alerted to the archers, Atronia swings around and charges in their direction.


I considered taking the Dodge action, but without armor my AC is still so low that even with disadvantage people are probably going to hit me. So I'm just Dashing towords them. If there's convenient cover to take that's nice, but her focus is just getting into melee with them right now.

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan picks up an axe. While keeping an eye on the Lizardmen who were not affected. This is your last chance be on the side of devine law!!

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak scoops up an axe as well Arm yourselves while you can, we could use these later. He then dashes towards the archers

[Smilex]

Sseethe and the other lizardfolk with a burnt face look at Rikkan, still weirdly calm given the situation.
We can't resist you mighty one. We will follow the law as we always do. Hail Dimvaran!

[WindStruck]

After a cry of pain and alerting the others, Lucia tries to find some cover and protect herself from the archer ambush as best she can. Damn, the arrow hurt!

And Miranda! Oh no did they get her too??

With her sister rushing in, she couldn't just hide behind a tent or something. They were probably all going to focus on her next!

So, I'll try to have Lucia move to some sort of cover, but she'll still launch a fire bolt at one of the archers.

attack: [roll0]

damage: [roll1]

[Smilex]

Caex dashes to the forest and hides behind a tree. She can see the trio clearly now. They're all archers, wearing leather an clothing that makes them difficult to notice in the woods. They've got longbows in hand. Two of them have shortswords on their belt, one has a longsword. Two of them have the tattoo of the iron chain clearly visible on their necks.

Atronia rushes to the woods but is slower than Caex and is somewhat behind. She too covers behind a tree.

Rikkan grabs an axe and makes sure the reptilians are no longer a threat.

Lucia casts a bolt of fire that sears the fingers of one of the archers. Then she covers behind a tree.

One of the three archers fires another arrow into Miranda. One of them misses. One of them fires an arrow into Justius who's blindly standing in the open. Then, having loosed their arrows, the trio turns away from you, moves further and vanish. They completely disappear from sight, like ghosts.

Seeing this, Zain recognizes that a teleport spell was being cast and the fading was just a visual effect.

Coatell rushes to Miranda and bends down to try to administer medicine. ...
Dead. Damn them!

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Richard goes to he cuts a piece of cloth from his clothes and creates a mobius strip. He then tells Justius Hold this. Sir Rikkan begins a Healing spell.

[Smilex]

Sseethe throws himself on his knees and starts begging, seemingly quite full of regret
I'm sorry, we are just imprisoned peasants and you're obviously great warriors. I should not have acted above my station. I did wrong. Clearly we should have helped you out of the chains and taken the punishment they will give us ... for now we are already smitten and they will still punish us again.

Noticing that he's not immediately killed and upon hearing talk of teleporting he continues.
They say all the day-walking mraow can teleport. They're called shadar-kai, the shadow cats or the left head of the raven. They'll simply disappear and appear again a few meters away. They can appear anywhere, out of nothing. It's terrible, unbearable. And their wizards seem to know everything. We're scared, so scared.

All of you've seen or at least heard of the battle standard the empire of Tukuut flies - the threeheaded raven. The mraow sometimes use a variant design with two of the heads being skulls instead of living.

While this is happening, three of the ophidians and the reptilians that were cooking at the beginning of events are all continuing to flee east, into the woods.

After a few seconds, Justius gets his eyes clear. He looks quite annoyed and hurt by the arrow as well.

EDIT: when Justius has his eyes cleared, he sees the holy symbol of the Pathmaker in Rikkan's hands. He grabs onto it as asked.
Are you ser Rikkan? I've never seen you without a helmet but you sound familiar. I've never seen a dwarf with a tail either. We seem to be in line for many surprises in this strange land.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 19/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

As the catfolk vanish Atronia cusses for a moment. She stays still making sure they're not coming back for a bit. When she's confident they're not just repositioning for another attack she comes back to see Miranda's body and cusses again. "We should bury her before we leave." she comments sadly. She looks to the lizardfolk and asks, "So what will you do now? You could come with us if you want. Though obviously we can't promise you safety." and looks over to Miranda's body again.

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak lashes his former chain around one shoulder, hanging a pair of handaxes from it, and lifts Miranda's body onto the other shoulder I am not sure it is wise to bury her here, Lady Atronia. We don't know if our attackers will return.

[Smilex]

Atronia, having stayed to listen for a while, hears first just silence for a while. Then she hears movement in the forest, going further away. She realizes they snuck in stealth for a while, then started picking up pace when they didn't hear anyone following. The distance is already significant. It would be difficult to catch them at this point.

EDIT:
When Atronia comes back to check on the reptilefolk, there's five of them visible and concious. All the others have run away.
Sseethe says
We will do what we must. We will take the punishment we're given.

Coatell says
And then you'll eat the dead.

Sseethe opens his arms wide and shrugs.

[Slayerofundead]

As Sir Rikkan walks away from JustiusYes it is I. Sir Rikkan ask Sseethe Do you have any bags or sacks? We must gather up what supplies we can take. Sir Rikkan looks for a dagger and continues towards the fallen tent to gather supplies.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick watches as Yaj'dak hoists Miranda's body onto his shoulders. "Do you think we can spare the weight? I assume the Iron Chain will be after us soon, since we haven't done much to make ourselves boring to them. Not that we've had any choice in any of what we've done, but they aren't going to see it like that: I suggest we get ourselves out of here as soon and as quickly as we possibly can."

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan over hearing Chazwick My Lord you can not mean to just leave her hear? If we should we should gather all the supplies and build a pyre with the rest let us at least burn our dead. The Lizardmen can carry some of the load but should not carry the food or water.

[whiteflash]

"Do I want to leave her here, given what rites she is likely to receive? No, I do not."

He turns back to Yaj'dak. "If you're sure you can carry her without slowing yourself down, please, do so. But if you aren't... then better her than all of us."

[Smilex]

Chazwick feels his heart pounding at the emotional situation. Inspiration bursts in his mind as certainty that this tragedy will not take other lives.
Inspiration

[WindStruck]

"Miranda!" Lucia cries as another arrow is shot into her comrade. But even then it was too late. Far, far too late. With some grunts of pain, she trudges (or limps?) over when the catfolk vanish into thin air. She looks sadly at Coatell and back down at the body.

"We have to keep moving quickly then," Lucia says. "My gods, damned scouts and diviners.. If only I could do something about that..." she grumbles, realizing all too well she was lacking spell books or magical tools of her own to combat this.

"A pyre is simple enough to make. If these are the rites she deserves let's do it, but quickly."

Lucia will try to help gather supplies and stuff for the pyre. In particular she may be interested in:
a dagger, rations, a small saw, the fire making kits, a shovel, the cooking gear, a sleeping mat, a couple sacks, chalk, the healer's kit, and water skins.

[whiteflash]

"Wait, before you pack away the firemaking kit... we had a fire last night without one, didn't we? I'm not sure we actually need the kit... except maybe to speed the process of lighting Miranda's funeral pyre."



Inspiration

OOC: Thanks.

[Smilex]

While Rikkan, Coatell and Maria scavenge through the camp and bring in loot, the others build a small pyre of the plentiful wood that's around. A single firebolt from Lucia lights it quickly enough.

This will bring the guards in sooner rather than later, Coatell says while looking at the smoke. She continues
I talked with Sseethe a little while we went searched their tents. The guards don't think much of the Iron chain, calling them a nuisance and such. The Iron chain has only a few people around. They enter and exit the valley at will though. The guards on the other hand are plentiful. They live in the mountains north and northwest from here. There's a whole city of mraow there, under the mountains

She pauses for a moment to cough when the smoke gets in her lungs. She takes a step away and continues.

We tend to call the catfolk tabaxi back home. The tabaxi are really just one of the tribes that make up the catfolk. There's leonin and khajiit but the mraow don't fully seem to belong to any such tribes. None of leonin, khajiit or tabaxi are to my knowledge creatures with difficulty in acting in the dark and neither do they have inborn magical abilities. The ability to cast spells naturally seems like an ability related to the faeries. My current theory is that the mraow are some kind of catfolk possessed by dark faeries. Maybe the caitsith that sir Jaime mentioned are something like that too.

Rodrik steps closer and asks
Coatell, you've got a lovely voice but do you think this is the right time for a lecture?

Maria says
Pfft. Pishtosh.

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan grabs a blanket and a sack. He begins packing it. He rolls the blanket and puts in the sack along with a Fire starting kit, 3 days of rations and two water skins. He also takes the rope from the other ten. Then he tise the sack.

At the pyre side.

I agree Coatel we should leave
We need to be in a place we can defend befor dark
Vampires or Fairy it doesn't matter there shall be Devine retribution for there faction here today

[gryffydd65]

While not unaccustomed to death. Uncle Zain has been quiet until now.

We must move before we to shall join our comrade.We shall swear an oath that these slaves will be abolished and those who stole our homeland shall be destroyed. This I swear!

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak is silent during the lighting of the pyre and after a short while has passed moves with intent, gathering sacks and enough rations for a day or two, as well as waterskins for the party. He also grabs the maul and skinning knife I do not know if these lizardfolk would be glad to follow us. Their hearts are full of fear.

[whiteflash]

"Which makes sense," Chazwick contributes. "They're guaranteed at least a beating no matter how this goes. But I imagine that's as far as it goes, unless they do something that could be construed as attempting to escape their servitude."

"If they come with us, even because we threaten them into it, that's how their masters will interpret it. And if this whole thing fails, I imagine they'll be executed alongside us. We're risking our own lives for freedom, by choice. Are we going to force them? And what kind of freedom is that if we do?"

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan turns to Yaj'dak. Im not one for slavery. However we should give them a choice. There punishment is to be hunted by the Marrow. No matter the path they choose. However this is not our choice to make. Sir Rikkan turns to Zain I shall take that Oath beside you my lord.

[gryffydd65]

Uncle Zain looks at everyone. They are welcome to join us and come to our ancestral home. We will give them land and shelter. I am sure my sister would approve.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 19/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

Atronia just stares at Chazwick for a solid thirty seconds and then asks, "Who in the hells said anything about forcing them? I was the first person to mention it and I was very clear it was up to them. Did you hit your head or something?"


To be clear this is Atronia sassing Chazwich, not me the player sassing another player for a misunderstanding/different interpretation of words.

[WindStruck]

Ah Coatell was practically a genius in Lucia's opinion. Or at the very least she was very well-educated and well-read.

Speaking of which, Lucia has all those knowledges as class skills as well and a high intelligence! I don't want to nag you with unnecessary rolls, but please offer the opportunity for knowledge checks whenever we can get some juicy lore! Then maybe I can monologue like Coatell. :P

Her Uncle Zain's words move her some. Lucia sighs, in pain physically and emotionally. Yet still, she tried to keep a level head. "Let's not.. get too far ahead of ourselves. We are in enemy territory and extremely vulnerable. We.. we need to get back home first..."

She sighed and continued, "We need to find out who did this to us.. See after our own kin and loyal servants first. And after we have gotten back.. we can continue to help the war efforts. We may yet help the empire push back the Tabaxi invaders."

Gesturing at the slaves that were sticking around she says, "We couldn't and shouldn't force them to come with us. But.. perhaps a gentle request is all I would do. Can't blame them for what they choose either way." Looking at the enslaved Lizardfolk and Ophidians directly she says, "I'm sorry you've been put in such a predicament of no fault of your own. Though to be fair, the same had happened to ourselves."

Lucia wobbles a bit and says to Coatell, who seemed quite versed with first aid, "Coatell, this arrow..." Her hands were coated in her own blood from holding the wound, and she looked paler and short of breath. "It is a serious wound. Could you help tend to it?" Serious may be debatable, but Lucia's body wasn't all that hardy. Another arrow like that, or if it had been an inch or two over, and she wouldn't be standing here.

Trying to be more realistic about the wound. Better late than never I guess. Or maybe since we're out of combat, time will flow strangely.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick nods. "My mistake. I guess I'd just kind of assumed, given how clear they'd made it that they were afraid to leave. Obviously if I thought they wanted to go, I'd want to let them, but..."

[Smilex]

Rodrik says towards Zain's direction Your parents came from somewhere around here didn't they? ... It would feel right to have Atronia lead a charge to liberate this valley but I think we need an army before we do that.

Justius says
My parents were killed by a mraow wizard. Threw a fireball that engulfed the farm's main house. Two brothers and a little sister, all gone. If there's an army that comes to free this place of the mraow, I want to be on it.

When Lucia asks Coatell to help her with an arrow, Coatell seems shy. Looking at the situation, Maria comes in and starts inspecting the wound. She turns the arrow point out of the wound instead of pulling it away. The back of the arrowhead has spikes to make it more difficult to detach. This hurts quite a bit. Coatell instructs Maria on binding the wound and while it looks like Maria knows what she's doing, she still accepts the instructions.

At this point horns start blowing in the mountains. This time it seems to be nearer than the last time you heard them.

Prudently, the group eventually starts moving eastwards again. The reptilefolk stay to tend their wounded. Caex, being faster than anyone, moves slightly ahead and shows you a path forwards. You continue to work your way forwards in the thick woods. The trees are getting smaller though. The soil is not so deep as you move higher in the valley. The ferns too are less lush. There's more small clearings here and there.

One time that you cross a clearing, you see movement in the mountains on your left and slightly behind. It looks like a column of troops is moving towards the smoke of the pyre you created. They're not moving towards your current position. As you feel satisfied that they're not directly following you, there's an interruption.

A llama, with a rope around it's neck and a leather strap tied around it's midsection runs into the clearing from east-southeast. It's looking tired, agitated but unwounded.

[whiteflash]

"Catch, or follow?"

We got a bird's eye view of the valley recently. Did Chazwick remember seeing anything like a farm nearby that it could have escaped from?

[Smilex]

It wasn't quite a bird's eye view, more of a view from just above most treetops. But no, you don't remember seeing anything farmlike this far in the east on this side of the river.

[WindStruck]

"Either someone was attempting to capture this llama, or it's been domesticated. I think the latter, seeing how it didn't avoid us. We could have acquired a free pack animal. Or perhaps the owner may be following," Lucia says.

[WindStruck]

"Erm.. anyone good with animals?" Lucia will see if anyone else volunteers, but if not, she'll try to slowly approach it and hold the rope on its neck.

animal handling: [roll0]

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak shrugs and goes to help Not really, but I'll try my best he attempts to approach from the other side so the beast doesn't run past them. He leaves his new equipment behind to appear as non-threatening as possible


Can I use the Help action to provide advantage?

[Smilex]

Lucia grabs the rope on the neck of the panting llama. The llama makes a bleating sound.
Then it tries to smell and poke Lucia with it's head.

Maria starts immediately loading the llama with claypots tied with ropes.

Justius says
Nice forest. Free llamas.

Rodrik asks
What do you think it was fleeing from?

[WindStruck]

"I don't know. Something may have happened to its old owner.." Lucia says. Since it's more or less calmed or restrained for now, she checks the llama for any other clues. Only fair since it was sniffing her.

Investigation: [roll0]

"The beast is obviously tired, so I don't think it's a good idea to overload it."

[whiteflash]

"Something or someone might have happened to its owner. Maybe that something or someone is coming this way..."

Chazwick looks around for any nearby hiding place big enough to fit both Lucia and a llama.

[Smilex]

Lucia finds rope burns around the creature's neck. Clearly it's been dragged harder than necessary.
There's dirt and leaves on the llama's fur and an odious aroma.. it needs a bath.
You also find some webstrands around the creature's hindlegs.

EDIT:
Chazwick finds any number of trees and bushes. :smallbiggrin:

[whiteflash]

"Lucia, do you think you could coax it into the bushes? Just in case who or whatever spooked it is coming?"

Chazwick spares a quick glance between the llama's legs, since he feels weird calling the llama "it."

[Slayerofundead]

looking at this llamas condition the owner cant be to friendly
Sir Rikkan looks to see if he can spot anyone or anything else.

[Smilex]

Rikkan finds, with Coatell's help, that the tracks of the llama are relatively easy to follow if you desire to do so. Nobody seems to be chasing. All the sounds you hear are what you'd consider normal forest sounds.

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 10 HP: 19/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

"I guess the question is if we want to play bandit and free some llamas from their abusive owners or if we want to just take the one that came to us and be on our way without drawing more attention." Atronia says, intentionally not weighing in with an opinion either way.

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2342778)
Tortle Barbarian
AC: 17 HP: 23/23
PP: 14 PIs: 14
Conditions: -

Yaj'dak picks at the strands of webbing It seems this one came across a big spider. I don't know if it would be the wisest choice to head the way it came He picks up his sack and the maul again, slinging it over his shoulder Not my decision. I've got a good hammer and my shell is sturdy as ever. I go where you command.


Here's about what he looks like, if you're curious
https://i.imgur.com/7WEhnHs.png?1

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan speaks upMy Lady doesn't Pathmaker instruct us to protect the weak?Would not this Llama and any others with such an abusive master be considered weak?

Yaj'dak was it wise for them to free us? If it was for wisdom we would be in chains.

[whiteflash]

Satisfied there's no immediate danger, Chazwick turns his attention to the conversation, the llama... and the spider silk in the knight's hand.
"I don't think the llama's abusive master is the real danger here. And if this little guy had any llama friends, I think his master is the least of their worries right now."

He turns back the way the llama came. "If we were back home, I'd want to at least scout out the area that llama came from. It'd be our responsibility to do something, if it looked like there might be a monster nearby. Here, I'm not so sure."

[Slayerofundead]

WWPD? What would Pathmaker do? My Lord.

[WindStruck]

"I do not think the Pathmaker would care about llamas much. Llamas fall under the purview of the King of Llamas." Lucia says, eying Sir Rikkan. "You have a good heart, but we cannot risk our lives to free what may be imaginary llamas and fight some person that otherwise isn't concerned about us or who may already be dead. It's impossible to say for sure, but I think the owner was attacked by one of those giant spiders."

"Let's not stray from our path and risk being lost. This llama is a gift from the gods, so the best I can say we do is treat it well."

[Smilex]

Rodrik, Justius and Coatell all agree that Lucia's plan is best and that she, as the heir should be followed anyway.
Who knows if the baroness is dead or alive?
Justius says.

So the journey continues towards the reddish column on the northern mountains.
The ground rises to a point that you are surrounded by brushland and random small trees rather than a true forest.

By then the afternoon is progressing fast enough. Hunger drives you to stop for a meal. While you're eating, you are able to appreciate the beautiful view to a small lake in the southeast. A number of streams combine to this lake and there's an island in the middle of it.

It's Zain who first catches sight of Tearhill. As Jaime said, there's a structure halfway between the red column and the 'cursed' lake.

You start towards the fort as you feel urgency to get there before dark. The hill itself is a grasscovered, almost perfectly round hill that rises about 20 meters above it's surroundings. There's an opening in the side of the hill. A corridor goes straight in. The path of the corridor is covered by small round rocks and the walls are also made of stone.

On the hill stands the fortress or at least what's left of it. It must have burned at some point. What remains is a single stone structure that covers maybe 200 square meters. On the structure there has once been a wooden second and possibly a third floor. Around the fort there has once stood a wooden palisade of which small remnants stand here and there. The bottom parts of two other building remain as they were built of stone. The upper parts of these buildings have also burned down.

On the outside of one of the remaining stone building's walls there's a stone firepit. From afar Atronia recognizes that a forge must have once been here.

You see no movement on the hill or near around it. Caex does catch sight of a curious black butterfly with shape on it's wings that looks like a cat's skull.

[whiteflash]

"I don't think Ser Jaime told us the place had been burned. I wonder how that happened? And if it has anything to do with the undead that are supposed to 'live' there?"

Chazwick facepalms. "And whether or not anything worth looting survived it. Damn."

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan eyes the place. Glancing this way and that.It is to bad we do not have the time or resources to properly prepare ourselves to face the undead

[whiteflash]

"I'd suggest burning the place down on top of them, if we weren't trying to loot it. And if it hadn't already been tried."

[Smilex]

Looking around the area Rikkan finds two other stone corridors at the base of the hill. There's a northern, western and a southern corridor. All of them have boot tracks that are somewhat recent.

Rikkan also finds, in long grass at the base of the hill the corpse of a gnoll. The hyena-man was about six feet tall and seems to have died from a series of a narrow puncture wounds.

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan bends down to investigate the wounds. Being a Paladin and learning how to heal wounds he has seen all sorts. What do we have here? Perhaps the work of the undead?

[Smilex]

All Rikkan can tell by himself is that the wounds are not made by a manmade weapon.
Atronia, with her medical knowledge would see that most peculiarly there's next to no blood in the wounds.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick takes a look around to make sure whatever did that isn't around.

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan look's up at Atronia I have never seen wounds like this
They were not made by any blade that I know of. Sir Rikkan takes up the battle axe.
Would anyone be opposed to me keeping this?

[Smilex]

Chazwick rises on to Tearhill itself to examine the burnt fortress' yard.

Chazwick looks for moving things and threats. There seem to be some guinea pigs looking for whatever sustenance they can. The stone building has a single heavy wooden door. No windows. There is a metal latch in the ground immediately next to the building suggesting a cellar of some kind.

There's a small cairn, suitable maybe for a pet or a baby near a corner of the yard.

Disappointingly, Chazwick also notes the absence of an anvil.

Looking down from the hill Chazwick sees no beasts or armies in the immediate vicinity. Much farther and lower in the valley there is another plume of smoke. Even for a wild area with a reputation of having 'gangs' this seems like a lot of burning.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick heads back down to rejoin the party. "I don't see anything moving, apart from some guinea pigs. Unless they're secretly magical monsters powerful enough to kill a gnoll, I don't think they're much threat."

"I also didn't see any sign of an anvil, which is disappointing given why we wanted this place. I did see a cellar door: maybe there's some stuff behind it? Stuff in there could have survived..." He waves at the burned fortress. "Whatever this was."

"Speaking of burning, I saw a new plume of smoke. Even for a place with a gang problem, there's a lot of fire here. Uh..." He turns to Zain. "Did you hear any reports of a civil war in this area before we were kidnapped? Or of the empire trying to take it back, or anything?"

[Smilex]

Rodrik says
An anvil is a pricy, but a heavy thing. If you leave in haste you don't carry an anvil but hide it. That's how we would do it.

You've heard of some small groups doing raiding to Birdland but nothing major.

[WindStruck]

Lucia waves Coatell and Maria over to the corpse of the gnoll, bringing them for their medical expertise as she kneels down to examine it.

What could have caused these wounds, then? What killed it?

investigation: [roll0]

medicine: [roll1]

insight: [roll2]

[Smilex]

Lucia waves Coatell and Maria over to the corpse of the gnoll, bringing them for their medical expertise as she kneels down to examine it.

What could have caused these wounds, then? What killed it?

investigation: [roll0]

medicine: [roll1]

insight: [roll2]

Carefully examining the body Lucia finds that there's a fracture in the gnoll's skull, back of it. The death actually occurred by a blunt strike and the more easily visible wounds occurred after death. That would seem to be the reason for no signs of a battle. The wounds themselves...they are uneven, possibly caused by something organic.

[WindStruck]

Lucia nods, takes a breath, and announces to the others, "Alright, thankfully we are not dealing with some undead monster. It seems this gnoll was killed by a blow to his head. These other puncture marks are merely the mark of some kind of carrion feeders. Perhaps like a bird that drinks blood or.. something. But in any case, I think we are relatively safe, for now."

[Ramsus]

https://64.media.tumblr.com/3f1d9d896c05351b865eaaa6f145e7a9/fb74f24bde460e48-67/s640x960/a3906956a73da0e6d9b15b3b8b1ffe6c632945e7.jpg
Atronia Ambrosia (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2338000)
Human Fighter
AC: 12 HP: 19/22
PP: 11 PIv: 9 PIs: 11
Conditions: --

Atronia curses under her breath when she sees the spot the forge once was, but isn't any longer. Her spirits are slightly lifted at Rodrik's words giving hope of some ability to work metal, but still a proper forge set up and ready would have been nice to find.

At Rikkan's words, she goes over to examine the body and the wounds in more detail to see if there's anything she can figure out.


Medicine: [roll0]


But not learning anything more that hasn't already been said she just gets up and shrugs, taking the creature's shield as she stands.

[Smilex]

Rodrik walks with Atronia to the forge. He points at a spot near the fire pit where the ground is uneven and patchy.
I would dig there. That's about where I'd bury the anvil.

Maria hands Rodrik a shovel and he gets to work. Soon enough, there's a clank as metal strikes metal. Buried under about 20 cm of earth is the anvil. Rodrik continues to uncover it as others continue their own explorations.

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak moves to test the cellar doors Who knows, perhaps they're locked?

[Smilex]

The cellar door is a metal latch that is set in a groove where it can be pulled to the side until there's a stop. There's no lock in it. There's quite a bit of noise as the metal slides against rock but it opens easily enough.

There's a steep set of stairs that goes into a dark cellar. It smells dry and dusty. A single set of gnoll footprints goes up and down the stairs.

[whiteflash]

"If there's anything hiding in there, it can't have missed the noise. Want to wait and see if it comes out to meet us?"

[Smilex]

"If there's anything hiding in there, it can't have missed the noise. Want to wait and see if it comes out to meet us?"

After a few minutes, not a peep. Nothing comes out.

Meanwhile Justius has been examining the fortress grounds.

He yells
Hey, I think I found some faerie magics or something.
Anyone who comes to check the place sees a ring of white stones put on the ground, about 3 meters in diameter. The air over the area is shimmery, hazy, almost like fog was present.

Lucia looks at the spot and immediately recognizes that the circle is at the exact center of the top of this very very round, circular hill.

[whiteflash]

Chazwick spares a quick glance behind them to make sure nothing's creeping up on them with a club.

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan looks around for any torches near the door. Upon seeing the stone rings. He exclaims Blood sucking birds, Gnolls and Fairies oh my.. Its going to be an interesting night

Sir Rikkan looks around. We should do our best to make this area secure the are before we bed down. I also suggest we have more than one guard to night.

[Smilex]

Sir Rikkan looks at the stone building's main door. It seems intact and it's ajar. There's no torches on the outer side so he peeks inside.

There's a corridor with one door on the right, one to the left.
There's a second doorway on the right with no door.
Finally at the other end of the corridor there's a larger room.

There's some sounds here, like grunting and scraping. Seems like the noise is coming from straight ahead, deep in the building.

No torches. The floor, surprisingly enough is relatively clean. You can see the brush strokes where somebody has used a broom.

[WindStruck]

"It's definitely no coincidence that this circle is exactly in the center of the hill. Faerie magics may be right... for now, nobody touch or enter the circle. It could be dangerous," Lucia says.

"We'll need to break camp somewhere. Maybe within the fort or its cellar could be safer? At the very least, no one would spot us casually. But first, we need to make sure its safe."

Joining the efforts to explore the cellar, Lucia casts Dancing Lights. Thankfully she can send the lights whisking around to illuminate things from afar.

[Smilex]

Yaj'dak descends to the cellar lit up by dancing lights. The first room that you see is filled with stacks of firewood. Only a narrow corridor goes through the piles towards a doorway.

In the far distance at the edge of the shadows in the next room you can see something scurrying fast towards darkness. Might have been a rat.

It's silent and dusty. The smell of wood is lovely.
There's about 7 cubic meters of wood here.

[Luccan]

Firewood. Lots of it. There's a door at the end of the room. Watch out for rats Yaj'dak will proceed quitely towards the door and see if he can hear what's on the other side



Stealth [roll0]

Perception [roll1]

[Smilex]

The doorway doesn't actually have a door in it so Yaj'dak is simply able to see into the next room. The next room has a large number of sacks and some barrels. A number of the sacks are broken and there's plenty of grain on the ground. The casks have markings like 'fungus bits', 'tubers', salted fish', 'seeds' in both common and tukuut.

On the floor in the grain there's bit of what must be at least a hundred rats. Some of the corpses are still intact enough to recognize the species but many are strewn around as mummified bits. The bits of rat and rat droppings have obviously spoilt the grain on the ground but there are some sacks that you suspect are intact.

There's another doorway, this one with an actual door. It's blocked by a collapsed pile of sacks. The door is on the left wall and the wall on that side is somewhat cracked.

On the right side of the room, behind a pile of casks there's a large wall-sized winerack. There's a number of bottles still there, at least a few dozen of them.

[Slayerofundead]

Sir Rikkan follows Yaj'dak as he walks by.

[gryffydd65]

Uncle Zain will follow with his hand axe in his hand and if he needs more light he will cast light upon the head of the axe. He follows the others into the cellar.

[Smilex]

It's not a particularly large room in the cellar. With Yaj'dak, Justius, Lucia, Rikkan, Zain and finally Chazwick all pushing in, the room is starting to be very, very crowded. Hard to move in even. And this is the order in which you are either close to the next door or the exit.

At about this point five of the rats that are less in pieces start moving. They open their eyes that glow a dark purple in colour and start making squeaking noises.


For the sake of fluidity I took the privilege of rolling initiatives for everyone, even those not involved directly. Those present in Bold.

18 Rodrik
17 Justius
17 Lucia
15 Chazwick
15 Caex
14 Zain
?
9 Rikkan
9 Yaj'dak
8 Maria
5 Coatell
?
2 Atronia

[WindStruck]

Lucia didn't like going into this room with all the rats. What the hell? And it was rather claustrophobic with so many here.

When the rats seem to animate, her eyes go wide.

She didn't want to have to deal with them, but also, she realized if her dancing lights went out, that probably wouldn't be a good thing.

Lucia climbs on top of a barrel to try to keep away from the rats, and she'll continue concentrating on dancing lights. If the spell is about to expire, she'll recast it.

Also, do I have the time/ability to cast fire bolt at a rat? Dancing lights requires concentration, but I think I can briefly cast a spell that doesn't require concentration and still keep dancing lights going, right? Also, since I know the cellar must be crowded, there may not even be a clear shot at a rat.

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak retches at the sight of the dead rats, but composes himself quickly. As the seemingly living rats rise up from the pile, he takes his maul in hand, careful to avoid his allies, and swings it at the nearest


Barring the sudden revelation of intelligence/lack of malice, it's time for whack-a-rat

[roll1d20+5[/roll]

[roll0]

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18


Caex checks out the place looking for a location to set up a kitchen.

[Smilex]

Justius swings an axe at a rat but misses. Cramped up in a difficult spot he's trying to avoid hitting a friend so he strikes too slow while trying to be careful and the rat dodges.

Lucia climbs on the pile of food. One of the rats on the pile is just in front so she tosses some flame on it. The rat turns to ashes. At the same time, Lucia catches a better whiff of the aroma of the rats. She thinks there's a resemblance to an ingredient she once used 'powdered claw of ghoul'.
For the sake of fluid action I rolled some dice. 19 was the hit roll and damage came out 10.

Chazwick decapitates another rat with a deft stroke of blade. The head of rat, toppling down, seems surprised. It's eyes brighten for a moment, before the glow stops completely and... finally?

Oblivious to the events down below Caex locates the point in the building where a smokehole is. Having located that, she enters the building and opens the first door on the right.

Caex sees a room that's quite, but not completely dark. Small amounts of light come in through cracks in the wall near the ceiling. There's an oven in the room, and cauldron and a second fireplace. This is indeed the kitchen.

There's a worktable, on which there's two piles of wooden bowls. Standing next to it is a human woman who's cleaning a bowl with a rag. SHe's probably in her sixties but given her terrible condition she might be younger. She's thin and pale. Her hair is messy and her fingernails are cracked. She's thin and covered by dirt. She's dressed in a tunic and a skirt. On her belt hang a number of tools and a lantern which is not lit. Near her next to the wall are a broom and a shovel. When she turns her head to see who came in, you notice her teeth are as broken as her nails.

She smiles shyly, closing her mouth to hide her teeth. I'm sorry, my husband's not here. Can I help you?

...

Meanwhile in the cellar...

Zain's hands clow with electricity and he grabs a ghoulrat by the tail. The rat jerks around but doesn't fry back to death. It's still moving.

At this point...
A darkness starts to seep into the room from the cracks in the leftside wall. The darkness takes shape akin to rats and the shapes of shadow rats start dropping on the floor. One, two, eight, twelve, eighteen... they keep coming through the wall!

Yaj'dak hits another ghoulrat, hitting it aside and against the wall. That one seems done.


Rikkan's move is yet not done in round 1.
9 Rikkan
8 Maria
5 Coatell
4 Ghoul rats (2)
2 Atronia

Round 2
18 Rodrik
17 Justius
17 Lucia
15 Chazwick retreat?
15 Caex
14 Zain -tries to retreat
13 shadow rats
9 Yaj'dak - hits and strikes at a rat , 9 damage

[gryffydd65]

Zain holding his axe with the cantrip light in it. Yells to the others. Retreat, there are to many. he starts heading up and out.

[WindStruck]

"They could just be an illusion, but.. -" Well, no time to explain. The animation of the rats and their purplish glow clearly seemed to be necromancy. As for the shadow rats, it was likely some form of illusion, and therefore probably harmless. But still, better to err on the side of caution.

"R-right, let's just retreat for now," Lucia says trying to get out of the room when able.

But first. If we're dealing with necromancy or illusion spells, someone had to be casting them, right? She calls out at the doorway blocked by sacks. "Is - is someone there?! Listen, we aren't minions of the Mroaw or some violent gang! We want to get back home!"

Though she wasn't sure if someone was even there to hear her pleas or if they would listen.

[Smilex]

Sir rikkan slashes a ghoul rat apart with his battle axe while yelling.
In Pathmaker's name!

The last ghoulrat stares at Lucia a a moment and tries to run at her to bite her, but the grains collapse under the rat and it slides all the way down to the floor.

Justius tries once again to kill the last ghoul rat but doesn't succeed. His gangly limbs have difficulty in narrow spaces.

Lucia is stuck on the pile of food and pleads for the invisible assailant to stop their actions.

Chazwick and Zain run to the ladder climbing away from the cellar one by one. FInally there's a little more room in the cellar.

The shadow rats start piling into a swarm while more of them keep dropping through the cracks in the wall. They chew at the legs of everyone on the floor. It's not a biting sensation, rather than a numbing effect. You feel the muscles simply weaken, nerves stop telling what's happening in your legs. They do notice Lucia too, but they haven't yet been able to rise onto the foodpile.
Yaj'dak, Justius and Rikkan lose 2 points of strength and 3 hit points in necrotic damage.


Despite losing muscle tension, Yaj'dak still manages to crush the last ghoul-rat.

Rikkan moves to the ladder and ascends them, fingers having difficulty in grabbing for ladders he still makes his way out of the cellar.

Justius rushes after Rikkan and he rises onto the ladder, away from the reach of rats.


Round 3
17 Lucia
15 Chazwick retreat?
15 Caex
14 Zain -tries to retreat
13 shadow rats
9 Rikkan
9 Yaj'dak
8 Maria
5 Coatell
2 Atronia

Round 4 starts
18 Rodrik
17 Justius

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2342778)
Tortle Barbarian
AC: 17 HP: 17/23
PP: 14 PIs: 14
Conditions: -4 Str

Yaj'dak climbs to the top of the ladder and slams the cellar closed behind them I think I understand why they tried to burn this place down. He sets his maul down with a heavy thud and sits to catch his breath

[Smilex]

As everyone, including Lucia, has removed themselves from the cellar...
The last thing Yaj'dak sees in the cellar is the shadow rats forming a line in front of the ladder. They seem to know somehow that they can't get out.

At this point Lucia and Yaj have received 2 points of strength damage and 3 necrotic damage.

Outside, the air is pretty, calm winds caress your hair and a number of birds settle down on the nearby remains of the burnt external wall.

Justius points at the front door
Damnit, somebody's gone in the building.

Maria approaches with the llama
It was Caex. That one's certainly got a mind of her own.

Rodrik asks
What's all this about? Did you find a good place to shelter for the night?

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18


Bowing to the woman. "The Caex must apologize for entering. The Caex thought no one was here."

[Luccan]

Yaj'dak (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2342778)
Tortle Barbarian
AC: 17 HP: 17/23
PP: 14 PIs: 14
Conditions: -4 Str

Definitely not safe. Some cursed rat nest. I can barely hold my hammer after that. There's fuel and maybe still good food down there, but the rats are unnatural. They seemed aware they couldn't follow us. It's possible they hate the light... His eyes go wide They might swarm the hill come nightfall.

[Smilex]

Bowing to the woman. "The Caex must apologize for entering. The Caex thought no one was here."

She mumbles in a low voice...
I was quiet. It was my fault so I apologize to you too. It's so difficult to keep things clean here. The river's a pretty distance away and I can't get the water here easily.

She stands and brings you clay cup full of water.


I mean, I try, but there's all sorts around. The caitsith avoid this place and the mraow don't come here anymore but I could run into them in the while getting water. And there's gnolls and fourlegged dogs too.

She pauses to brush a stray hair off Caex's face


So I go in the night when people at least don't see me from too far. Even if they see in the dark, they still don't see as far in the night. But I must remember to be quiet too, because they have ears as well.

She steps back, grabs the cup she was cleaning, then turns back to you

Are... you with the gnolls?

[Smilex]

Definitely not safe. Some cursed rat nest. I can barely hold my hammer after that. There's fuel and maybe still good food down there, but the rats are unnatural. They seemed aware they couldn't follow us. It's possible they hate the light... His eyes go wide They might swarm the hill come nightfall.

Maria answers
Rats are indeed hateful creatures. Might as well come straight from the hells for all the work they do on stores. They are actually most active in twilight, not dark.

Rodrik goes
Rats, eh? With the forge here we're going to need a lot of that fuel.

[whiteflash]

When Yad'jak warns the group that they could be hip deep in rats when the sun goes down, Chazwick starts swearing in a mixture of Common, Terran, and Dwarvish. He calms down after a few sentences and turns to address the group as a whole. "It's either run like a dwarven god offered us a bargain, or gamble that fire scares them off. Think there's enough daylight left for the former, if we grab Caex right now?"

How much daylight is left, by now?

[Smilex]

How much daylight is left, by now?

A little under 3 hours.

[WindStruck]

Lucia looks quite shakened from the encounter and extremely weak as well.

"I.. I don't know..." Is all she can stammer about leaving.

"Wait. Let's just close the cellar door firmly again and keep the bolt locked. That should keep them out, right?"

Lucia will find someplace to sit down and rest. Any place not far from the others will do. She doesn't plan to be very active anymore today, but she can still talk. Between the arrow wound and the bites of the shadow rats, she is feeling pretty terrible.

She's at 2 HP.

Also Caex is talking to someone that lives here? So it's probably safe??

[whiteflash]

"We should do that, but I'm not going to feel safe unless we have a fire going too."

Chazwick pauses. "Why don't we light something on fire and toss it in after them? See if that fire scares them?"

The someone Caex is talking to is probably safe. We can't assume that means we are. For all we know she could be specifically warded against the rats, or their conjurer could have instructed them to ignore her specifically... or she could have conjured them.

[WindStruck]

Lucia manages a grim smile and says, "You're welcome to try..."

[Izzarra]

https://images2.imgbox.com/89/07/nLyh01pr_o.png
Caex (https://docs.google.com/document/d/134DKsCgZqhUThW4t20QfuxSDDIPWDOpwvzkZ1N_QrLY)
Monk, Way of the Psion
HP: 19/19, AC: 18


After accepting the water from the woman with a thanks Caex hesitates unsure of how much she should tell this person. "With gnolls? No, the Caex with humans."

[Smilex]

"With gnolls? No, the Caex with humans."

She nods.
Humans aren't so bad, eh? Gnolls are such messy creatures. Causing ruckus and breaking things. And I think they stole my cat. Poor thing. What did they do to you?

She points at the back of the house.
Instead they leave me with... whatever it is. Been there a fortnight. Nasty thing, tries to scratch you if you get near. As if the house didn't have enough trouble.