Caspian attempts to sneak into town, having Cricket cover himself so others will assume him to be a halfling as well.....if/when they are spotted....
Stealth check
I'm right behind him!
Stealth
EDIT: Man, I'm so awesome! I'm superbad! I'm so frickin' sneaky that Caspian doesn't even know where I am!
EDIT: Man, I'm so awesome! I'm superbad! I'm so frickin' sneaky that Caspian doesn't even know where I am!
Confirming:
Just for a second there, it seemed like your epiphany concerning the fey was allowing you to tap into their natural invisibility... then you realize that you just have really good hedge cover and no dead leaves. Still, your stealthy progress is quite impressive; to your new compatriots, it's like you just disappeared into the brush.With both of you skulking along with no big, clumsy people to crimp your style, you arrive in town undetected. It's easy to spot where Geoff is being kept -- one of the farmhouses has a ridiculously large padlock on the cellar door, and standing in front of it is one of the townsfolk, holding a bill hook at port arms and trying to look like a sentry.
Psst, Caspian--don't freak out! It's me, Cricket!
"Cricket, I walks past guard casts hypnosis spell, makes him look away from youses. I tries convice him I is his relief guard and needs key to lock also. He should be friendly to me. If not works we think o better ways later."
"Yous best stay hided."
Oh, I didn't realize you could cast spells, too. Go ahead, do it!
Jaegr waits for the pair to return hoping the halfling is safe.
I hope he's safe, too! For the sake of resurrecting the thread, I assume that Caspian is casting suggestion. Dude's save:
This chicken is ripe for the plucking -- make a good pitch, Caspian!
--
"I am your relief guard, you have done enough, you could leave your weapon and keys here for when you get back."
Cricket waits in the bushes, impatiently. He wonders what Old Mother Tree has in store for him. He mourns the passing of his good friend Kelsin, with whom he used to roast marshmallows over the fire when he was little during the Tuelvi Summerseve Rutting Ceremony. He curses Caspian for taking so long, and then he remembers that halflings don't have the racial feature Fast Movement, like he does and feels guilty about thinking badly of his new friend.
The kid looks at Caspian gratefully, "Oh, good!"
"Here's the sentry's weapon," he adds, handing over the polearm, which is so heavy and unbalanced compared to Caspian that the poor hobbit can barefly lift it. "And here's the keys, too. I should warn you to ignore whatever the prisoner says -- he might try to bribe you," the former guard adds, before walking off in the direction of a group of houses. He doesn't even glance at the bushes where Cricket lurks.
Is the guard handsome?
Is the guard handsome?
To a goblin? I have no idea. He's one of those young guys who's trying to grow a mustache and can't, but he thinks it makes him look dashing and irresistable to the ladies. And he's a lot taller than you are!
How dreamy... Cricket whispers under his breath.
Caspian lays aside the polearm.....
knocks on the door...."How much are you willin tah pay?"
There is a long pause, then a voice calls "Caspian? Is that you?"
Unlocks the door....
"Of course it is."
"I am opening the door."
...and does so!
You're relieved to see that he doesn't look too much the worse for wear, although they took away his belt and shoelaces. "Gods! It's good to see you! The others are paying the bail, then?"
"Nope, pick up this polearm and follow me we got a ways tah go!"
Leaves behind a sack of 500 coppers......"jus leavin yer bail here, we heard some o us might be wanted too an we kent afford two bails!"
"and be quiet, we are headed tha way where Cricket is hes jus an ugly halflin looks like a goblin though, an thinks he's a wood elf. In other words hes got problems."
Heads to retreive Cricket and go out of town.....
"Haven't we all?" quips Wilbur under his breath, but he grabs the bill hook, leaves the copper, and seems happy to follow you wherever you're going.
"This way!"
Heads to Crickets bush!
For a druid living among the wood elves, I make a pretty pathetic attempt at imitating a whipporwill to signal Caspian.
Is this your friend? Yeah? Let's get out of here! Hi, I'm Cricket, who are you?
"This here is Wilbur, but no time fer tha we best vamoos."
Right you are, little one. Let's go!
With Wilbur in tow we head back to rejoin the others!
Luckily, you are not stopped as you leave town -- maybe you're being stealthy enough, although Caspian suspects that some of the townsfolk were only lukewarm in their support of jailing Wilbur to begin with, and intentionally turned a blind eye to the three figures departing town.
Or it could be that they spotted Cricket and ran away!
In any event, you reach the others without any problems -- but also without any horses.
"Caspian! You made it. Now we can finally head out of here."
"Yes. We should indeed depart as soon as possible..."
The two former merchants seem happy to be free, but are also dispirited.
"Well, we were gonna drive the horses west, but I guess that plan's out now. Without those horses, though, we have nothing to trade. We can't even buy food for ourselves!" Wilbur says.
Geoff nods, and adds, "And without our reputation, we wouldn't be able to trade anything anyway. Any of you guys have an idea what to do next? The two of us are beholden to you for what you've done, and we'll stick with you for that, but we really have nothing to contribute at this point -- and nowhere to go."
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"No worries you guys ken share tha polearm we found by tha barn!"
[Listens intently to conversation, trying to pick up clues of what's going on]
Wilbur looks at the polearm, then ruffles Caspian's hair affectionately (which seems to inspire some degree of jealousy in Cricket). Still, it's clear that's not exactly the kind of advice he wanted...
"We will see tha yah are fooded an clotheded...."
Glances at Cricket....
"An yer other needs get met!"
"Seems we ought to decide what next on the road as none of our reputations are that great around here.
"Seems we ought to decide what next on the road as none of our reputations are that great around here.
"Seems like we need to pick a place to head to, maybe one of the options we talked about before?"
[Maintains a straight face when mention is made of my "other needs".]
I'm sure whatever path we decide to follow will be the one clearly demarcated by Old Mother Tree. Now tell me, which of you has a cosmic secret? Which of you were orphaned? Raised by sorcerous great-uncles? In possession of an ancient artifact?
Err you will havs tah excuse him he is a wee bit confused on several matters...."
"Fear not though merchants I an this ugly wood-elf shall defend you when we is not hiding from dangers."
"Woe be unto those tha find us!"
There are any number of active or potentially-active threads you can pursue:
"Maybe a trip to Kaisersberg is in order. The bandits that wanted the box was from there, and that mystery still gnaws at me. Also, Vanya, your 'friends' at the inn were reporting to someone from there and I don't think it will be the last time we see them."
What is this great and imperturable Mystery of the Box that you speak of? And do they have bath houses in Kaisersberg?
What is this great and imperturable Mystery of the Box that you speak of? And do they have bath houses in Kaisersberg?
"A Number of people have been looking for a box with who knows what in it. We thought maybe we had found it, but that was not the case. We were going to head to Kaiserberg to look for it, but thought we should take care of the goblin problem here. As to what is or isn't in Kaiserberg I have no idea since I haven't been topside for long."
"Lead on valiliant warriors, I shall accompany you an write songs of your worth."
"I am currently workin on Jaegr Bests tha Bargehest!"
"No doubt tha songs will tell tha tale an set tha story straight, an ye ken return tah bein merchants."
"I am currently workin on Jaegr Bests tha Bargehest!"
"They went down with one swing like all the rest?"
Caspian starts his bagpipes.....
"tis no wonder he ain't tired
an he ain't winded
cause with one crushin blow
Tha barghests head bended."
"A hundred baddies he slew
tah save tha hobbit from stew
only took a hunnerd blows
Jaegr kills goblins when he blows his nose!"
"Maybe a trip to Kaisersberg is in order. The bandits that wanted the box was from there, and that mystery still gnaws at me. Also, Vanya, your 'friends' at the inn were reporting to someone from there and I don't think it will be the last time we see them."
Grim oprichinik calls his familiar to his shoulder and the little piglet instantly changes its shape to that of an arctic owl and flies to him. "I agree. We should travel to Kaisersberg."
"Feelin left out huh?"
"Seems to be as good a destination as any."
Kaisersburg is on the southeastern short of Estren Lake, which means if you simply follow the river upstream you should walk right into it. It might take a long time, though -- and there's always the threat of bandits, hostile wood elves, goblins, or other wandering monsters. Taking a boat upriver would be faster and easier, but it seems unlikely you can just waltz back into Farmwall and demand a lift.