Lavender Leaf |
"Having a known ally in these parts sounds rather apealing to me, as much as I understand your want to visit the temple as I would want to visit the temple of Nethys, I vote for taking care of Nyx's gnoll problem first. It would also give us a safe haven of our own, someplace to retreat to if needed."
Oh!...But obtaining a base of operations and an ally might be worth obtaining now while we have the chance. M-maybe I should change my vote again...
Bahram Zarishu |
Laying a hand on Lavenders shoulder Bahram tries to reasure her, "Above all princess, we must remain calm."
To the group "Besides having a know ally in these parts Nyx's gnolls are known to have equipment. And we need equipment if we are to continue exploring."
The Vote:
Bahram: Nyx
Rashid: Temple
Lavender:?
Yousef: Nyx?
Keldar: ?
Saul: ?
Lavender Leaf |
Thank you Mr. Bahram. ...Well since Mr. Saul doesn't seem to care, even if I vote for the temple, that's a vote 3 to 2, for the tower. Do we know what their patrols are?
Lavender looks at the raven.
To the party:
Oh, and the "princess" thing was funny at first but it is kinda getting old, please just call me Lavender.
ProfPotts |
'Their patrols?' Mahjub squawks another laugh, 'They're gnolls... their patrols are pretty random... based on how bored they get would be my guess. They seem to be watching the Kulldis gnolls in the town mostly, although the one in charge seems smarter than the rest - he's stationed two of them on the tower's ruined outer wall, and another on the top of the tower - there's a catapault up there, but it's broken and hasn't worked in years... beside, the gnolls haven't bothered hauling any rocks up to use with it, even if they could fix it... which I doubt they can. They swap places and stuff, but I couldn't tell you their timing for certain - again, it seems based on how bored they get and how much the guy in charge yells at them. They usually have two or three of their number out hunting too - there's a well at the tower, but they didn't bring much in the way of rations... but gnolls are pretty good hunters.'
The bird ruffles his feathers, then adds,
'There's only one door at the base of the tower, but it's pretty solid - reinforced with metal. The two levels above the ground floor each have windows, one each front and back. They used to have metal bars in them, but they've rusted out for the most part, so you may get in like that. The top of the tower has a raised stone platform with the busted catapault - I think it's meant to have some mechanism to rotate the thing, but if so then that's long since broken too. The top of the tower has a crenelated parapet and those overhangs... whatcha-call-em... "machiocolations"... the gnolls all look like they have longbows too, so try not to get spotted...'
Mahjub pauses again, then shakes his head,
'Nope - I think that's about all I can tell you. They mostly seem to watch the path which leads up to the tower, so I'd suggest not simply walking up it... But I best be off to report back to my Mistress - she'll be pleased to hear you'll soon be along to help!'
With that the raven takes to the air and is gone.
So, once you've all finished leveling up, I'm guessing a good night's sleep (to gain access to all those nice new spell slots, if nothing else) then... what?
Yousef olan Ahmad |
"We should go in at dawn, when the sun is cresting and the night is gray. We come in from the east. It's much harder to see overland at that time of day and the sun on the horizon will blind them to us on the ground. As long as the gnolls are spread out, and it seems that they are, we should be able to take them out.." He thinks for a second. "Shit. I have to go first, don't I? None of ya'll are sneakey, eh?"
Yousef olan Ahmad |
"A hunting party would be alert, but.... I could help hide Lavender with me on the path. We could jump out and she could do the color thing against them. I stab at them real quick-like while they are blinded while you zap their azzes." He rubs the weeks worth of growth on his chin uncomfortable, then gives it a scratch. "How big can a hunting party be, anyway? Plus, they should have armor. We needs armor!"
Rashid al-Gahiji |
Rashid shrugs.
"Hunting a hunting party could work, but will be difficult to arrange - there is no guarantee that they will come anywhere near our ambush point.
Personally, I prefer the idea of sneaking into the tower at dawn when they will have difficulty noticing, gather up some equipment, and deal with them piece-meal whilst we can bottle-neck them in the various tower rooms."
He then smiles and nods in Lavender's direction.
"Of course, stunning them with a psychedelic light show also works!"
Lavender Leaf |
I think we should hit 1 hunting or scouting party and try to take them all out. We rest up and wait to see if they send a party to look for the lost, and then attack the tower when the others are are out. When the other gnolls return, we are there to greet them! What do you guys think of that?
are we by mountains or can we gain acess to ground potentially higher than the actual tower? If so Lavender adds:
If we can get higher than the tower we can feather fall our way to the top and attack from the top floor. We could even do a pincer attack from the top and the bottom!
to Zaina:
what's that your fascinated with Zaina?
Luke_Parry |
Rashid give Lavender an odd stare.
"That could work, but my original query still stands: How are we meant to ambush a hunting party? They are sent out sporadically, from what the raven said, and there is a lot of territory for them to cover. How do you plan to funnel them to the exact spot where you have set-up an ambush?"
Bahram Zarishu |
"We'd need to scout the area to have any hopes of seting off an ambush. But the plan sound viable." Bahram nods.
Seeing Zaina's antict with the minature waterfall Bahram smiles and ads to Lavender; 'She's following her nature. She's facinated with any and everything that mixes elements. Such as a waterfall, minuture though it is, mixes water and air and creates mist for example.'
Bahram Zarishu |
ok. Here are the plans so far:
Facts: Keep is on high ground. The hunting party concists of 3-4 gnolls, leaving 6-7 in the keep. Gnolls have exelent sences, darkvision and scent.
A) Wait until hunters head out (3-4 gnolls). Enter keep and clear it out (6-7 gnolls), then recieve the hunting party(3-4 gnolls).
B) Wait until hunter head out (3-4). Follow hunters and try for an ambush then head for the keep (6-7).
C) Head for the keep at twilight and take the gnolls head on (ca. 10 gnolls)
Let's vote please so we can get the ball rolling.
Bahram votes C.
Reasons: plan A) I'd rather not take the chance of some gnolls heading off for reenforcements. plan B) Frankly we lack the skills for this to seem viable to me. Hence, I vote C).
Lavender Leaf |
Thinking it over I have to vote C too. The likely hood of them having some sort of alarm to warn the tower, or the tower to warn the scouting party is probably pretty high. If we attack the scouting party and they raise an alarm, the tower knows that something is up and will increase their defense. If we attack while a scouting party is out and they get a warning, they might come back and cut off our exit or they may flee for reinforcements. I say we attack shortly after the a scouting party returns, that way some of them are tired and they have a false sense of security. Despite the info we have, maybe it would be good to use our Magnifying glass and watch them for about a day.
Rashid al-Gahiji |
C sounds good to me as well; however, I thought dawn was better than twilight; weren't they more likely to be blinded by the rising sun, giving us a better chance of sneaking closer, than at twilight, when they have the advantage of Darkvision?
ProfPotts |
Sounds like a plan. Anyone doing anything I need to know about during the night? And what's the plan of attack for dawn: are you all heading up as a group, is someone scouting, or any other tricks up your collective sleeves? For that matter, are you going the very next dawn, or waiting. IIRC Rashid gets his spells recharged at dawn, so if you're all rushing gnolls at the time, he can't do that. In fact, I think Keldar may also get spells around that time too...
Yousef olan Ahmad |
Sure, Yousef can scout ahead with Zaina while Lavender keeps an out out with the spyglass in case he gets into trouble i.e. rolls a low Stealth check with the gnolls watching.
Another quick question / reminder: are those who took the bugbears' armour making the effort I mentioned back then to adjust it for their own use?
It didn't occur to me. I have a hard time "suspending belief" when it comes to encumbrance, heavy armor, and such. I couldn't imagine a regular sized guy like Yousef draping himself in armor made for a seven foot tall 400 pounder. Maybe Saul would fit in, but Yousef is more likely to want to rely on mobility until he can get a set of armor "made for" him. This is coming from a guy who has had to wear body armor in the past and finds it acceptable only if it fits right.
Rashid al-Gahiji |
When Rashid wakes just before dawn, and enters into the familiar meditative trance where he communes with Sarenrae, he is pleasantly surprised by the increased bounty of spells that she bestows upon him.
It is comforting to know that even out here, where hope only a short time ago seemed all but extinguished, the Dawnflower still takes an active interest in her followers, watching over them.
Working on the assumption that we spend a day 'staking-out' the fort, and generally preparing...
Rashid will spend the day of preparation attempting to modify one of the suits of leather armor as best as he is able, hopefully with some hints and tips from Keldar, our crafting guru extraordinaire :-) He will also re-sharpen his scimitar with his trusty whetstone, making sure that it keeps its keen edge.
Bahram Zarishu |
Getting up with the dawn Bahram will remain quiet for 15 minutes as he sits up, washing his face and focusing his mind with with deep breaths.
Feeling replenished and more energetic than he had ever felt before in his life Bahram will take to preparin breakfast with a smile, chattng happily with Zaina.
As she and Yousef set out to scout he will tell her to be coutious, not get cought and return safely and promptly and to alert Yousef of any danger she percieves, following his directions. Then he will go with Lavander, making sure he has planty of water, to watch them through the spyglass.
Dang! Should have taken message as my cantrip this level!
ProfPotts |
Interlude:
A gentle wind from the north stirs the night air, causing the dust before the cave to swirl into almost living patterns and shapes. A tiny genie-like figure silently floats out, smiling at the seemingly playful motes of dust. Suddenly she pauses and turns,
‘General?’ she asks in a whisper. The north wind blows once more, the swirling sand and dust creating the faint outline of a figure. The sound which issues forth from the image is no more than a breeze, but the little genie seems to perceive words within...
‘No General,’ she replies to the wind, ‘I was summoned, and bound.’ She smiles under her gossamer veil, ‘It seemed a good way to visit this plane of existence: the way the elements meet and dance is so...’ she trails off as the wind stirs once more, then nods, ‘Yes, General: ten of them... although he hasn’t used any yet.’ Once more the breeze stirs the dust, outlining the faint figure of a man, and the tiny genie glances at the eclectic group of recently escaped slaves sleeping within the cave, then sighs, ‘I know, General – but they need looking after... they’re all so young, and there is danger here that...’
Whatever words the genie perceives within the wind cause her tiny eyes to open wide as she stares at the faintly outlined figure,
‘The time is now, General? The Legacy of Fire? You must warn the Princess, gather the Templars! I...’ she once more trails off as the breeze seems to interrupt her, then shakes her head, ‘Yes, these young ones encountered Kardswann, but I didn’t want to believe it. And you, General? What has befallen you?’
The north wind blows, the faint figure moves a step forwards, even as the tiny genie shakes her head in disbelief,
‘How can that be, General?’ she asks, ‘The Princess’s wish... you can’t be...’ She hangs her head at the reply, then murmurs, ‘I know even the most well-crafted wishes can fade, General, but still – the skill the Princess has... and your loyalty has never been in question! Surely...’ Another wind-swept reply and the tiny genie’s hand moves to wipe the tears forming in her eyes, ‘Yes, I realise it’s been a very long time, General.’
The faint figure of wind and dust steps towards the cave, seemingly looking down upon the slumbering figures within, and the tiny genie floats up to join it,
‘He is my Master,’ the genie states, pointing towards the young man with the scar on his face. She smiles at the soft breeze, and replies, ‘yes, the touch of an old friend at work. And the girl...’ the tiny genie bows to the faint figure in response to whatever it is she heard it say, ‘... of course you do, General – how could you not sense it?’
The faint figure steps over to where two dwarves sleep in the cave, the tiny genie follows, hovering by its shoulder,
‘No – that one has the spirit of fire in him... it would be a conflicted match... interesting, but it wouldn’t serve your needs, General. The other – he’s dedicated to a higher power already... and even genies must bow to gods.’
For a moment the breeze fades, the dust falls... then there’s a renewed gust of wind from the north, and the figure once more forms, this time besides the hulking badawi nomad and the half-orc: the tiny genie joins it,
‘Yes,’ she nods, ‘that one would certainly be the strongest, but...’ she floats down besides the slumbering half-orc, stifling a giggle as she narrowly dodges as his hand reflexively wafts as if swatting flies away from his face, ‘... this one makes me laugh. He’s wild and thinks he’s selfish... but in his heart I think he’s so much more... or at least could be. If...’ she floats back up to the faint dust-outlined figure, once more hanging her head, and trying to choke back tears, ‘... if this really is the only way... if this is the last the wish can do to preserve... to... to pass on what is left, then this is the one I would recommend. ‘
The tiny genie bows low to the dust-blown figure, her palms together,
‘Goodbye, General...’ she whispers as the dust seems to swirl around the sleeping half-orc for a moment, before settling to the ground, still and lifeless; the genie wipes away her tears, blinks, then smiles as the half-orc snorts and turns over in his sleep, and she adds, ‘... see you soon.’
End interlude.
You wake in the morning to Zaina zipping to and fro as she gathers berries and fresh water for your breakfast, humming a happy little melody, with a smile on her lips under her gossamer veil.
Yousef olan Ahmad |
Waking up suddenly with a start, Yousef sits up. His forehead is in a cold sweat and he wipes it quickly. "Damn hot in here," he grumbles. He scoots over and grabs a handful of berries, munching on them with relish. "Thanks partner. Looks like we'll be scouting ahead together to see what those gnolls. If we get into a situation where I have to hole down, head back quick-like and get the crew. I'll try and stay inconspicuous the best I can. We should get a move on. " He then goes to fill his watersking with some of the fresh water and pockets some baboon jerky.
Bahram Zarishu |
Bahram wakes up with a shudder. 'General!' he moans and reaches out as if trying to reach someone.
His eyes flutter open and he sits up with a start. Looking about he breaths deep to calm his racing heart. Seeing only the campsite, Yousef and Zaina chatting and the rest of the party still in their beads he breaths a sigh of relief. Getting up he washes his face and focuses his mind praying to Nethys.
When finished he will join heartyly in the breakfast, thanking Zaina for her kindness.
"I had the strangest dream. I was in a great battle of air versus fire, dragging the princess away we witnessed what I think was the general fall with a spear of fire through him." he says dreamyly. "It was so real. Almost like a memorie." he muses.
Lavender Leaf |
Lavender awakens, bolt up, tears running down her face NOOOO! WHY IS EVERYONE I LOVE DYING?! W-Why am I crying?! Wha-I...
...I-I want my mommy...(sob)
It takes almost 5 minutes for Lavender to calm back down
Lavender blushes and looks away from everyone I-I'm sorry everyone, (sniff) I had this really sad dream, and I've kinda been bottling everything up with... with my mother and I kinda lost it... She stands up and brushes sand and dust off of herself. Is...Is that breakfast?! She says with a smile as she walks over, as if the last five minutes never happened.
Yousef olan Ahmad |
Yousef starts and then gazes at Bahram. "What the f#+@ you talking about? Ah.." then Lavender begins to cry. His stern eyes soften, "I..uh...Bahram. I dreamed I was the one with the flaming spear pierce my chest. I was fighting some great evil....oh shit. What the f+*+?" He pinches the bridge of his broad nose between his index finger and thumb.
jjaamm/Keldar |
wakes up tired and grumpy. nods to others and finds a quiet place for meditation. torag is too beasy so acually communes with the great forge of creation and its relation to the world. dream keeps distracting so takes alittle longer to commune. thanks the forge for the aditional spells to fight the destructive forces all around.
since resting today take 3 goodberries since last 2 days. cast them on berries from patch. 2d4 ⇒ (3, 3) = 62d4 ⇒ (2, 1) = 32d4 ⇒ (1, 3) = 4
here my friends, these will nurish you and heal some of your wounds. think should hold them for tomorrow though. should stabilize someone if they go down. though will probably have to help them eat it, maybe like the moma bird does for baby bird. shrugs shoulders and walks off to study the cave better,as if were to mine it. when uncomfortable he'll fall back on whats comfy for him
Rashid al-Gahiji |
Rashid gives a troubled frown.
"I too had an unusual dream, but I saw something rather different: I saw a great beast, a destroyer of worlds, that twisted and melted the terrain around it. Corpses littered the landscape; it had laid waste to a great host, and I quailed before it."
His face then breaks into a beatific smile.
"However, the Dawnflower came to me, and gave me the courage to continue on. I fear that something terrible is stirring. What part we may play, I know not, but we should do whatever we can to stop it!"
Bahram Zarishu |
Bahram lays a hand on Lavenders shoulder reasuringly as she joins them for breakfast. 'It will be alrigh Lavender. We'll get trough this.'
"It seems we are connected through more than our recent trials. Somthing great is hapening and I think we need to find out what it is." Looking to Zaina he asks, "Do you know what happend here? Do you know what connects us?"
jjaamm/Keldar |
Rashid will spend the day of preparation attempting to modify one of the suits of leather armor as best as he is able, hopefully with some hints and tips from Keldar, our crafting guru extraordinaire :-)
** spoiler omitted **
will give it my by best try. not skilled in armor yet
ProfPotts |
Great roleplay guys! Loving it!
"Do you know what happend here? Do you know what connects us?"
Zaina pauses in her floating back and forth to help serve people breakfast, turns to Bahram, a smile on her face under her veil, and does one of her formal bows,
'I am, as always, your slave, Master.' she replies... which doesn't, of course, answer the question in any way...
With stomachs full, prayers offered, and meditations fulfilled, the group sets to work. Beginning to get a sense of the wilderness of this place, Keldar guides the others to a nearby outcropping of rock from which the watchtower can be seen in the distance, the druid seeming to almost dance through the scrub undergrowth as if it weren't there. Inching forward onto the vantage point at a belly crawl, the escapees carefully take a look:
It appears as the raven Mahjub described - three floors tall, plus overhanging battlements on the roof, with a single door in the base, and a single arched window for each of the other two floors. The tower is of a square design, maybe forty feet across, tapering slightly towards the top, with the aforementioned battlements overhanging. A raised stone platform can be seen in the centre of the roof, with the remains of a small catapault war engine on top. Harder to make out, with the intervening mountainous terrain, is the outerworks surrounding the tower - a wall, maybe one-hundred and twenty feet or so to a side, but with many breaches in it. Standing nearby the area cleared for the construction of the small fort is the broken and heavily eroded remains of a statue of Sarenrae - it seems to be facing across the mountains towards where the old monastry should be, and looks to be positioned so that it overlooks the trail leading towards what was once the gatehouse of the fort (but is now just another hole in the wall).
Observing the site closer through the aid of the repaired spyglass it can be seen that the tower is also pretty eroded as well, although it looks (the dwarves agree) to be structurally sound. As the bird mentioned, there don't seem to be any bars remaining in the windows. The area surrounding the tower isn't easy to observe from the vantage point, but from what can be seen, it looks to be quite heavily strewn with rocks, boulders, and mountain scrub bushes - presumably a variety of debris which has accumulated since the time the tower was manned and the area would have been kept clear. Beyond that once cleared area the terrain is, of course, mountainous - approaching the tower from any way but the trail leading up to it will be time consuming, but also provides excellent cover for those wishing to remain unseen. You recall hearing that remote fortifications such as these sometimes used trained falcons or eagles to help watch for approaching enemies... but it's doubtful that the gnolls would do anything with such birds beyond eat them...
Initial observations spot the three gnoll guard positions the raven mentioned: one on the top of the tower, who can be seen looking out over the battlements every now and then, but by no means constantly. The other two appear to be stationed at the front two corners of the broken outer wall... which, if what the raven said was correct, suggests that there are no guards towards the rear of the structure, where the terrain is more mountainous and an approach would be less likely.
As Yousef makes to head off scouting, Zaina calls out,
'Don't forget the bottle I'm bound to, Gen... uh... half-orc / half-human person...'
Okay then: Stealth and Perception rolls for Yousef, Lavender, and Bahram. Craft rolls from the two dwarfs who are modifying armour.
Lavender Leaf |
Perception 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Stealth 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9
I think the spyglass might give a bonus of some sort, cant remember. it does let us see a lot farther obviously.
Obviously moving around while looking through a spyglass is too much for lavender to handle...sheesh.