[IC] The Wolves of Haling Grove

[dangelo]

This is the IC thread for "The Wolves of Hailing Grove"
Link to OOC Thread

Hailing Grove never looked so grim. Some houses were still being rebuilt, the mill had been partially destroyed, everywhere there were sad faces and tired shoulders at work. Dwarves from the nearest village, still a long trip away, had came to help rebuilt the Grove; they forged nails and hammers for the builders, but also daggers and spearheads for everyone who could hold one. A barricade was being prepared to stop the Wolves from riding into the chapel, the safest building in the village, where the people planned to hide during the next attack.

There was much to be done, but no one to lead. As the days went by, those with more energy and experience naturally found themselves delegating tasks and overseeing the revitalization process. The deadline given by the Wolves approached.

One morning five days before the deadline, an arguement broke up between the villagers. The young lad Adrien had ventured into the woods and seen with his own eyes the Wolves' camp. Some didn't believe him, but he had no reason to lie in such a devastating moment. It was close, but there wasn't as many Wolves there than in the horde that attacked them. Some villagers insisted it was dangerous, others said the opposite: It must be an advanced post with just a few units, our chance to attack.

By the end of the day, a group of ten young men and women had decided to assault the camp, and were going around the village trying to recruit more. None of them had ever been in a battle nor held a sword, and none of them had even scratched the Wolves during the raid, but hidden under their beds in fear. Despair was turning their fear into foolishness.

Your characters reasoned with the group and talked them out of it, explaining they would simply die instead of helping the community, and would be of better use here in Hailing Grove. They accepted your decision.

Yet, in the middle of the night, you were awaken by one of your fellow townsfolk: "You have to come!" They said. "They left! They took their weapons and left!"

You were taken to the chapel and to what remained of the village center, where the improvised brigade kept the village resources. A few spears and daggers were missing. "They're not at home!" Another villager called from a distance. "We checked everything!"

The ten brave villagers who had decided to assault the Wolves' camp were all young, and their parents still alive. They cried in fear for their children and desperately begged that you saved them; The lad Adrien knew how to get there, and offered to guide you.

You gathered by the river outside the village, still two hours or more before dawn. The night was illuminated by a a full moon, making the pine woods shine like silver. You see acres of burnt fields, farms ruined by the Wolves, and the woods you are soon to delve into at a distance.

[DeTess]

"Oh, for the love of.... how stupid could you be!?" Mitsue exploded in anger. She'd returned home very recently, finding the village of her youth devastated, her brother maimed and her ancestral house half burnt down. She'd been working in a daze since then, helping out where she could with knowledge she'd picked up at the academy, or a helping hand if knowledge proved to be useless. She'd clamped down on her own feelings all that time, the guilt she'd felt for not being there when her family needed her most, and the helplessness she felt in the face of the devastation. All that bottled up emotion now came out all at once.

"What good could they possibly hope to do!? They don't have any sort of training, they don't have a plan, they don't have a clue what's waiting for them out there, and they clearly don't have any..." Her voice trailed off as the flash of anger went as fast as it had come. "Ugh, this is how he must have felt about me whenever I insisted on tagging along with the more dangerous parts of his investigation, isn't it?" She said quietly to herself.

She dropped the backpack with supplies she'd kept close at hand at her feet and detached the bundled tied underneath it. "Nothing we can do about it now except go after them. Idiots they might be, but I don't want to leave them to die out there. I'd like to think I've been taught better than that at least." She opened up the bundle to reveal the armor she'd worn during bouts at a dueling club at the the academy. The duels had been fairly friendly affairs with dulled weapons, but the armor was quite real to avoid threatening injuries. It consisted of an inner coat of hard leather plates and an outer coat of dark grey fabric. The outer coat was for show rather than protection, stitched on the back with a longsword in light-blue thread.

"If we hurry, we might get to them before they reach the camp." She projected an air of confidence, both to calm the panicking parents and to convince herself. She hadn't spend several years trying to crack the secrets of Anim's fighting style only to back off when it could actually do some good, or so she told herself. She'd fancied herself a hero in the making of sorts, someone preparing to set out to save people as she had once been saved. Doing anything but giving it her all now would be betraying that ideal. She finished donning her armor.

"A-anyone else coming along?" Mitsue's voice betrayed her as she asked, a temporary crack appearing in the mask of confidence she'd given herself, the scared young woman used to libraries, not battlefields peeking through the gaps for a moment. She quickly composed herself, pushing those parts down again, trying to be more like the vigilante who had saved her life. She couldn't afford to let her fears and doubts run loose now.

[Volthawk]

Aldorn had been in two minds when the youths had begun insisting on attacking the camp. A great deal of him had wanted to agree, to go with them. His own anger at his father's death still ran hot, and he knew that someone who knew a little about combat coming along with them would help. Perhaps he could've stopped things going this way, kept them safe on their foolish venture. But the rest of him clung to the way he was raised, the ideas of duty and responsibility and the simple principle that if you did something, you did it right. Running off and taking a big risk that'd weaken the village in the likelihood that it failed wouldn't help anyone, and he had his duty to his family and the village. He'd spent the time since returning to the village after the attack working, contributing to the stockpile of basic weapons with what remained of his family's equipment and supplies after the Wolves had ransacked the place - at least his mother had gotten some of it away or hidden in the time that his father bought for her. Well, most of his time was spent on rebuilding and rearming, anyway. Some had to be spent burying the dead and remembering.

At least he had his armour, shield and hammer. His father had insisted he wear it on journeys outside of the village - they may have settled down as blacksmiths, but his father was a soldier in his day, and he expected Aldorn to learn something of his old ways, for tradition if nothing else. Maybe he saw something Aldorn didn't, some hint of the threat to come. If only he'd gotten back earlier...Aldorn sighed as he listened to Mitsue rage on. He'd spent too long since getting back thinking about what ifs. He probably wouln't stop any time soon, but he had to not let it stop him thinking about what's actually happening. In any case, his gear wasn't the highest-quality stuff, but it was practical and did the job, and he'd become well accustomed to maintaining it himself over the years. It would hold up to one of the Wolves' blades, if need be. He hadn't spoken up when Mitsue asked for people to join her, instead simply standing up from where he was checking the weapon stockpile, grabbing his pack and heading to the door, ready to leave. This changed things, made it so it was time to act now.

[Kallimakus]

Tolin lifts up his glasses and rubs his eyes. He had rushed back home the moment he heard of the attack, arriving a few days after. The passing of his brother had been a heavy blow. Even if he knew he couldn't have saved him, Tolin wished he could have been there for his brother. Since arriving, he had been advocating for a defensive and passive approach. Taking shelter in the chapel was a good idea. And what these hot-headed folks had planned... was not. He didn't want anyone to die.

He is taken from his thoughts by Mitsue's words. "I concur" he says. "We need to go and stop them. From getting themselves hurt or worse."
His satchel was packed with his medical tools and supplies, and he had plentiful provisions. He didn't feel particularly worried about danger, looking at the armored companions that had gathered here. For his own part, he had joined a dueling club in the academy as a fad, and though he had never mastered the sword, he had learned well the art of not getting hit. He had said his farewells to his parents and siblings, and promised to come back no matter what.

[dangelo]

A faint, silver light came from behind the mountains as the morning replaced the night. The adventurers took a path through the pine woods and around the Tall Rock, through grey, rocky hills and cliffs. They took a break to drink some water by the Pale River, where they could safely wade to the other side.

In a tree just before the river, they found a red X painted on a pine tree: the sign of the wolves. It was fresh, painted in the last couple of days, probably when the Wolves first moved to their current hideout.

The tortuous path beyond the river would take them straight to the Wolves' camp, but they could also climb the Tall Rock to scout the place, or avoid the path and travel through the dark woods stealthly. They took a few minutes to decide their course of action.

[DeTess]

Mitsue glanced around. She'd been hooping they'd have caught up to the others by now, but it seemed they had pushed forward quickly. The anger she'd felt before had cooled, replaced by equal parts worry and resolve. "Just walking in through the front door might not be the best plan, but I don't think we have time for anything smarter." She gestured at the path ahead of them. " I might have loved these woods to bits when I was a kid, but I never developed a knack for woodcraft, so cutting through the woods will neither be quiet nor quick, as far as I am concerned." She glanced at her companions. "Any ideas? Otherwise, let's push ahead, while there's still time."

[Volthawk]

When Mitsue brings up her lack of woodcraft skills, Aldorn just looks at her before clanging his shield against his scale mail. "I'm not going anywhere quickly and quietly. Besides, if our people did go to the base, and didn't lose heart on the way, we'll want the wolves focusing on us as soon as possible. If the kids have already attacked, it distracts from their punishment. If they haven't yet, or it's happening when we get there, better the wolves focus on us rather than them. Let's move."

[Kallimakus]

Tolin is worried with the apparent eagerness that his companions take in putting themselves in harm's way, but he has little to offer in terms of alternatives.
"That reasoning is sound" he says eventually, adjusting his glasses, and readying his staff. "I have a few healing supplies on hand, and a single dose of flash powder. If you can get the wolves together, I should be able to disable many of them."

[dangelo]

The Wolves had made their camp in a strategical location at the bottom of the Tall Rock. They built a short palisade to secure an enclosed area between the rocks, and kept a few of them watching the woods.

Having grown up in this region, the three adventurers knew that the location was also the entrance to the Blue Caves, a small gallery of tunnels underneath the Tall Rock, which indicated they could be storing or hiding something in there.

Spoiler: battlemap

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credit Neutral Party


You can't see inside the camp. Consider that your characters are hiding in the trees a few yards to the south.

[DeTess]

Mitsue slowly looked over the fortified camp, though she relied more on her ears than her eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on. if there had been an attack, or if one was still ongoing, surely they should have been able to hear some commotion...

Spoiler: perception check

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(1d20+3)[12]

[dangelo]

The camp is strangely quiet: If an attack actually happened, it ended quickly. There was no spilled blood outside the camp, though.

[Volthawk]

Aldorn frowns as he looks at the palisade and at the Wolves watching it before moving his gaze over to his companions, giving their equipment an appraising glance. "Alright. I've got a crossbow, so I can try to pick off the one up there on the rocks. The other two might notice, so be ready - if they react quickly they might close the distance before I can reload or switch to my hammer and get between them and you. Any better ideas, or does that sound good?"

[Kallimakus]

"I suppose it's good" Tolin says. "I should say ahead of time I'm not a very good fighter. I... I can handle myself. I think" he says nervously.

He readied his flash powder in case.

[DeTess]

"I'll try to keep the others at a distance then." Mitsue spend a moment to focus a sliver of her power into a shimmering, translucent field floating in front of her left arm, her left arm, then nodded at Aldorn to indicate he could begin his plan.

[Volthawk]

Aldorn gets his crossbow ready as the others talk and nods in response to Mitsue, raising his crossbow to aim at the Wolf on the rocks. "Alright. Don't use this much, but let's see..."

Spoiler

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Initiative: (1d20+1)[2]

Firing Aldron's heavy crossbow in the surprise round.
Attack: (1d20+2)[13]
Damage: (1d10)[3]

[dangelo]

The bolt hit the wolf-masked target, but no blood was spilt: it got stuck in the bandit's leather armor. He was startled and quickly reached for an arrow.

Spoiler: ooc

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This effectively ends the surprise round, I assume? Now we need everyone's initiative for first round.

[DeTess]

"Mei-Su!" As Mitsue called out an icy glow appeared in her eyes and started dancing around her fingers and through the ends of her long brown hair. A mystical, ghostly glow, the like of which has only been seen by the hardiest explorers of the world's icy northern reaches surrounded her, then all at once collapsed in front of her outstretched hand in the shape of an icy blue blade. The weapon hung there for just a moment, but then, with a wave of Mitsue's hand, was sent flying at the further of the two bandits guarding the gate to their camp.

Spoiler: OOC

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movement: If Mitsue is further than 20 feet away from the gate, she'll move forward to be within 20 feet of the gate.
swift action: summon bound sword
action: lift bound sword, move it to be right between the two guards at the gate, then strike at the further of the two.
to-hit: (1d20+6)[26]
damage: [/roll]1d8+5[/roll]

[DeTess]

Messed up my damage roll. Also, rolling to confirm that crit:

crit confirm: (1d20+6)[24]

damage: (1d8+5)[7] (doubled on crit)

[dangelo]

Mitsue's ice blade flew through the air like an arrow shot from a bow, spinning graciously as if wielded by an invisible swordsman. With a wirlwind, it thrusted deep into the Wolf's chest and came clean through the other side.

The Wolves meant to retreat as soon as Aldorn's bolt announced their position, but the passage was too narrow for both the guards to come in quickly, and one had to fall behind. The remaining guards dragged the dead Wolf into the limits of the camp and quickly shut the gate of the palisade.

The crossbowman kneels behind a wooden cover set up specifically for archers in his position before firing two bolts in quick succession at the exposed Mitsue.

Spoiler

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Full attack: Heavy Crossbow (Rapid Shot; Crossbow Mastery)
[roll]1d20+2[/roll]; (1d10)[8]
[roll]1d20+2[/roll]; (1d10)[8]

Mitsue swiftly quickstepped out of the way of the first bolt, then raised her shield to block the second. Shee was safe, but the crossbow-wielding Wolf was already reloading his weapon.

Spoiler: OOC

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Tolin is next

[dangelo]

Spoiler

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Also messed up the rolls lol
Fixing now:
(1d20+2)[10]
(1d20+2)[9]