DM Magister Ludi's Legacy of Fire
Game Master Gordon the Whale

The torch reveals that the thicket extends as far as you can see to the right and left, but you think you can make out the opposite edge within the circle of torchlight. There doesn't seem to be any clear path through.

You hear the pitiful cry again, from about 25 feet ahead of you, through the tangle of thorns.

Perception 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Perception 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Valik scratches his beard absently. "I guess we go through the thorns, unless someone has a better idea...?

Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11
Perception: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (15) - 1 = 14

Dross looks the thicket up and down. " Should we try to hack our way through or try to crawl under it? I don't like the idea of being on my belly when we come across this thing. " holding his guisarme in his left hand he makes an experimental hack at the thorny bush with his longsword.

Dashki more or less ignores you, holding his torch high and craning his neck to see through the brush.

Dross, make two attack rolls with your longsword. (But only one damage roll.)

There are some gaps in the tangle of thorns, so you it would be possible to squeeze through. Doing so requires an acrobatics check. To move carefully, make two acrobatics checks per round to move at 1/4 speed; take -5 to the check to move at 1/2 speed. You may also move at full speed by simply barging through the thorns.

Map is forthcoming.

Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 1

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We'll start moving by rounds now that you're close, but there's no need to do initiative until you encounter an enemy. Dross is spending the round attempting to trim the vegetation, so Valik is up.

Attack 1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7
Attack 2 : 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Damage : 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Dross slashes at the vegetation, and manages to cut the beginning of a path. I-11 is now clear; Dross can 5-ft step into it if he wants, or let Valik go ahead.

Just want to confirm my current hp totals... Neither Valik nor Dross were injured in the fight against the gnolls this morning. Valik took 6 damage from the burning wagon. Both have taken 1 hp from thorns. That leaves Valik at 5/12 and Dross at 14/15.

Whoops. I forgot that Valik was so hurt.

Valik limps forward to peer into the thicket.

"I think that you made a good start. I will let you keep at it until you get tired, then I will spell you."

Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 2

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Dashki favors Dross with several critical glances, while holding up his torch and attempting to see through the brush to determine the location of the sound... or perhaps the pugwampi. The goat cries again; it sounds like it's coming from directly in front of Dross, but beyond the torchlight.

Dross nods to Valik and steps into the gap he's made hacking as he goes.

Attack1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Attack2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

Dross slashes through another few feet of vegetation, penetrating deeper into the thicket. A nest of birds bursts into flight just in front of him as he cuts the branch that was supporting it. Dashki stays back, looking on with satisfaction but not offering any assistance other than to hold up the torch. The flickering light casts shadows through the thicket, making it seem as though the plants themselves were animated.

H-11 is clear. If Valik is just going to watch, (and Dashki is definitely just going to watch), Dross can roll for the next three rounds at once, and we'll get through this.

Round1:
Attack1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Attack2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
Round 2:
Attack1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Attack2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8
Round 3:
Attack1: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
Attack2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Dmg: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 = 8

Dross's sword glitters in the torch light as he swings it back and forth though the scrub clearing a path while keeping an eye out for the goat and the pugwampi.

Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 6

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Dashki stands at the edge of the thicket holding up the torch for light as Dross hacks his way through the vegetation. After less than a minute, he has cleared a path to the other side of the thicket, where there is a relatively narrow clear ledge before the ground drops off into a ravine. The moonlight reveals large, imposing cactuses growing up from the ravine floor.

More importantly, Dross also sees a very small goat before him, tied with a bit of rope to one of the branches. It is in a state of panic, pulling at the rope and crying plaintively. It is covered with thorns and burrs, and favors one leg as though it is injured.

Valik moves forward, carefully picking his way down the path that Dross has cut.

"Do you see anything Dross?"

" Just the goat, just think years from now we'll be able to tell our grandchildren of the night we hunted the dangerous pugwampi beast to save the baby goat... If we can track them down that is! "
Dross sheaths his sword and kneels down to untie the goat.

Little Rombard squirms as Dross reaches for the rope. In the darkness, and with the kid seeming to do his worst to interfere, getting at the knots is a difficult task.

I need two Dex checks from Dross to untie the rope.

"Dashki followed the tracks of something out here, and I know that they weren't goat tracks, more dog-ish. So something brought the goat out here and tied it up. But in the end, even if we don't find the culprit, we will bring the goat back, and that is good. In the darkness, a single spark will illuminate much...and perhaps even be enough to light a torch so you don't bang your toes!" Valiard barks a laugh. "Lets just thank the Lady and take this little traveler back to his family."

Dex check1: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12
Dex check2: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

Dross tries to get hold of the rope, a tricky proposition in the uneven light. He reaches for it, but just as he is about to grab it, the kid jerks away in fear, and Dross misses the rope. What rotten luck! He tries again, and manages to get hold, but unluckily his fingers slip off the knot. The kid tries to make a run for it, and as Dross tries to keep hold of the rope, Rombard makes a circle around him, wrapping his legs up in the rope. His arms windmill as he tries to keep his balance at the narrow cliff edge... It is an ill-fortuned night indeed!

Now things get interesting... Dross, two Acrobatics checks.

A little help: Your armor check penalty is on your sheet as -5, which is correct for chainmail, but your armor trait reduces that to -4, giving you a total of -3 for your untrained acrobatics.

Acrobatics: 1d20 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (13) - 4 + 1 = 10
Acrobatics : 1d20 - 4 + 1 ⇒ (18) - 4 + 1 = 15

" Damn goat! Woh.. Woh S#1T " Dross exclaims with his arms flailing wildly as he tries to keep his balance.

Valik lunges forward to help Dross.

Dex Check1d20 ⇒ 10

Valik reaches out to steady Dross, but it is too late. The unlucky mercenary pitches over the edge. Rombard is also pulled over the edge by the entangled rope. Dross is given a spin as the rope unwinds from his legs, and lands in a large patch of cactus on the floor of the ravine below, while Rombard is left dangling by the neck halfway down the bank, frantically crying and squirming.

Falling & cactus damage 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7

Dashki chuckles a little, but shifts his torch to his left hand and draws his scimitar. "Oh, yeah. No doubt about it, there's a pugwampi around here, mark my words..."

Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 7

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You may have already figured this out, but the legends of pugwampis causing bad luck are entirely true; while within their aura of unluck, all d20 rolls must be made twice, taking the lower result.

Initiative order:
Dashki (already went)
Pugwampi
Valik
Dross

As if on cue, a shrill laughing sound emanates from a rock to Valik's left. The source is an ugly creature, like a bipedal lap dog, dressed in rags, which is crouched behind the rock. The piercing sound causes Valik's scimitar to begin to hum and shake in an ominous sympathetic vibration.

The creature's attention is fully focused on Valik's scimitar, allowing Dashki an opening to strike at it. Unfortunately, the wavering shadows produced by the torchlight in the vegetation cause him to misjudge the homely creature's location, and his swing goes wide.

Valik, if you have a weapon in hand, you also get an attack of opportunity. If not... Will save DC 10, x2 for unluck.

Valik would have had his scimitar in hand to help with the hacking.

Valik tries to swat at the creature in an attempt to keep it from using magic on his sword.

Scimitar AoA 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22
Critical Confirm 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Normal dmg 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6

Will Save 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Will Save 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

Uh oh.

Dross stands stretching aching muscles and dusting himself off he looks up at the goat and shakes his head. He looks at the cliff and shrugs searching for hand holds he attempts to climb.

climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8
climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (6) + 3 = 9

Attack rolls are also subject to the unluck aura; I will take the critical confirm roll as the second attack roll.

Valik swings his scimitar expertly at the ugly little creature, but as he does so, a family of grouse bolts from the thicket nearby, causing just enough of a distraction that the blow, instead of decapitating the foul canine, swishes harmlessly through the air over its head. The creature's high pitched whining and cackling reaches a climax, and the blade of Valik's sword cracks in two!

The pugwampi gives one more gleeful chortle and dashes off into the vegetation. Move to F-8.

Valik's turn, then the results for Dross.

"Blasted birds!", Valik grunts.

So the beastie can move unencumbered through the branches? Essentially there is no way that I can get to it without hacking down this entire patch, right? Or can I move to it somehow?

It is Tiny, so it can move through the space below the plants without having to crawl.

The brush is spiky, but not actually solid. You can move through it if you want; it is difficult terrain and the spines cause damage. You can attempt to avoid the spines with an Acrobatics check, or you can crawl underneath. See the "Relevant Environmental Rules" spoiler.

Alternatively, you use ranged attacks (he has concealment but not cover), or try to come up with something outside-the-box.

"Grab the goat and lets get out of here. Dashki, I am going to help Dross up. Keep that creature away from us. We don't actually need to kill the creature, just get the goat back, if you can kill it, so much the better. We have all seen it now, and will swear to its existence."

"Dross if you can tie the goat off to yourself, perhaps make a harness, we can get you up, then pull the goat up after."

To clarify, the rope isn't long enough to reach all the way down the bank of the ravine; Dross came free of it while he was falling. It just reaches from the bush it is tied to, down to Rombard. Valik can pull Rombard up if he wants, but it's not long enough to reach Dross.

Dross extricates himself from the cactus and attempts to climb up the bank, but his armor makes the task awkward, and the first few handholds he tries prove to not be sturdy enough to bear his weight, and he makes no progress. Above him, the little goat struggles against the rope around its neck, raining pebbles and sand down on Dross and making an unpleasant choking sound.

Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 8

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Dashki squints at Valik. "So the mighty northern warrior is going to be the hero and rescue a baby goat? I'm sure your father is proud. Hold this." He hands the torch over to Valik assuming Valik takes it and unslings his bow from his back with practiced speed and ease. He nocks an arrow to the string and fires at the pugwampi. However, his finger slips on the bowstring, and the arrow goes wide. Dashki growls under his breath.

The pugwampi snickers malevolently, draws a tiny bow of its own, and fires an arrow of its own. The arrow flies over Dashki's head into the night sky; it's unclear whether the creature was even aiming at Dashki, or anything else. Regardless, it continues its ugly, barking laugh.

Valik is up, then Dross. You didn't really perform an action last round; you can use that action to pull up Rombard and do something else this round if you want.

Dross stops scrambling at the cliff and takes his rope and grappling hook out of his pack. He pauses to take aim at the top of the cliff before hurling the hook hoping it catches on something.

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10 (Dex and BAB Touch attack?)
1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21

Dross's grappling hook catches around the base of one of the sturdier shrubs; it seems to be firmly attached.

Valik starts pulling the little goat back up the cliff, as gently as possible.

Seeing Dashki's failure to shoot the creature, Valik comments quietly, "Now you see why I choose to save the goat and get out of here Dashki. That creature is trouble..."

Valik goes quiet, and continues carefully pulling the kid up the cliff.

Valik pulls the struggling baby goat up. It scrabbles to the top of the bank, crying in fear and tugging away from Valik.

Pulling Rombard up took one round; you have one more round worth of actions. Unless you can restrain Rombard or calm him down, he will run away to the extent of the rope.

Valik doesn't have any real skill in handling animals...too much sailing.

Using his long neglected sailor skills, Valik ties the kid's legs together, immobliling it, and tucks it up under his left arm, holding it fast to his body so it cannot squirm away.

Good idea, but to tie up, you first need to pin. I will consider him to already be grappled, because you pulled him up by his neck, but make a CMB check (times two for unluck) to pin.

CMB Pin 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
CMB Pin 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12

Valik struggles mightly with the little goat, attempting to hold the kid down while tying its legs.

Valik tries valiantly to pin down the little goat, hampered by the torch in his left hand. Rombard always seems to wriggle one tiny hoof free of Valik's huge hands and flail it about. However, the kid is finally immobilized, and it continues to cry piteously.

Pugwampi Hunt
5 Sarenith, 4711
About an hour past sunset
Round 9

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Order of Action:
Dashki
Pugwampi
Rombard
Valik
Dross

Dashki mumbles quietly to Valik, as though he doesn't want the pugwampi to hear, "We can't leave off now. If it lives, it will go up into the hills and tell all its nasty little friends about us." He fires another arrow at the little creature, with similar results.

The pugwampi yips and growls as it fires another arrow. It flies off into the air, as badly aimed as the last, but the pugwampi doesn't seem to notice or care.

Rombard struggles against Valik's grip, but the big Ulfen holds him firmly.

Valik to act (it's a standard action to tie up Rombard, no roll necessary, if that's what you want to do.)
Then Dross. Grappling hook is set for you to climb; Unluck applies.