Benedict moves up next to Grum and draws his bow. He uses Alter Self to take the form of a halfling. "Better for archery," he whispers.
"Still can't see it. Grum, want a dagger or javelin to get it moving?"
Grum's second shot scores the bramble, and it recoils in response to the wound. It is a human-sized blue-green vine with touch, sharp leaves and thorns.
Amkarang pulls out a sling. However, he is fairly out of practice with ranged attacks and his shot goes wide.
Jie shoots her crossbow
Grum's and Amkarang's shots are off the mark, but Jie's heavy crossbow sends a bolt that rips into the plant.
It is twisting and writhing wildly now, but its strange senses pinpoint the threat and it surges toward the cluster of fleshy creatures. It uproots itself and flops on the ground, inching toward the group like an oversized inchworm.
It's... not fast. It writhes forward roughly 10 feet from its former spot, still forty feet away from the party.
Amélie moves ahead ten feet for a better shot, then takes aim.
Her arrow passes by within a hair's breadth of the creature. She stomps her foot in frustration.
Halfling-Benedict lines up a shot at the angry shrubbery. He's spent quite a lot of time among halflings, and seems fairly comfortable in this form, not at all disoriented by his smaller size. He still has the strength to draw the bow properly.
Amkarang tries to fire his sling at the bramble once again. Somehow, his shot goes wide in the exact same way as before.
Grum and Benedict each send shots that rip into the plant creature. Grum's shot causes it to rear up in something like pain, and Benedict's arrow shatters its trunk. It flops down with one last spasm and lays still.
Jie spends her action reloading the crossbow and as she brings it back up realizes it isn't moving anymore. "Is it dead?" she asks, ready to shoot it if it twitches.
Benedict moves up, drawing his sword, and pokes at it.
"Yes. Let's gather those berries as our refugees had meant to do. Then back to camp to build more shelters for the night."
Benedict will also look around the area for remains of any other victims.
It is quite dead. Harvesting the berries and collecting what was already picked yields 5 provision points.
The journey back to the encampment is uneventful. The refugees are glad that the thing is dead and Shellein avenged.
The evening meal is passed around, the tart berries lending a note of sadness to the meal. Aubrin sits down with the group.
"I'm sorry. I feel like it's my fault. We need to have people on watch at all times, so I told them to be on lookout on that ridge. I thought three together would be enough to keep them safe. I can't really blame them for wanting to gather those berries." She hangs her head.
After a moment, she looks back up. "If there's any good to come of this, it's that hopefully everyone'll be smarter. But I don't like being here. I'm nervous about those hoofbeats we heard last night. If you're gone again, we won't have enough fighters to hold off more than a light patrol.
"I think we should move tomorrow. The day after, at the absolute latest. But I'll follow your lead. We've got the Legion on one side, and the dangers of the forest on the other. If we're lucky, Shillein will be the only one we lose, but..." she trails off, not wanting to finish her thought.
"I agree, Aubrin, but we really don't know where to go.
The ranger redoubt? It's something, but not very defensible.
Gristledown? Too far, though Jie will ride there tomorrow to warn them.
The caves would be good if we can find them.
We could also just head out northeast from here tomorrow morning, and leave cairns or coded signs for Jie to follow, I guess."
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Grum ate in silence, letting the others say their fill. ”Shouldn’t leave without Jie. She’s a fighter.” For Grum, it was the highest compliment he had. ”Losing her would be bad. And the hobknobs aren’t stupid. I’ve fought them before. Tried my hand with a merc company before this. They were smarter than us, better organized than us. Not many of us survived...” He sighed. ”Not good memories. Anyways, leaving a trail will lead them to us.”
"If we are going to move, I would prefer to move with you if we are going somewhere I don't know. I think I would have difficulty finding you. So if I go to Gristledown that leaves the clearing we found today or the Ranger Redoubt."
"Good point, Grum.
Okay Jie, how about if we all head out due north tomorrow. As far as we can get in a day, or until we find a good spot.
Then the following day you can scout Gristledown while the rest of us help rebuild our supply stocks."
Jie tests the air and studies her surroundings for a few minutes, which includes noticing animal behaviors -- especially the birds. She comes to the conclusion that tomorrow will be a fine day of balmy weather, but the day after looks to have a precipitous drop in temperatures. The cold snap will require good shelter for the refugees or they may suffer from frostbite or worse.
"Agreed, north seems as a good a direction as any. Further from the hobs is better than closer."
Jie frowns. "Tomorrow will be nice, but it is going to be followed by a nasty cold snap. We definitely will need shelter."
Amélie looks to the sky and frowns as she contemplates the weather turning unseasonably cold. "Zis is not good. If we stay, we risk ze 'obgoblins coming to attack us. If we go, ze weather could do just as much harm."
The night is quiet and peaceful, allowing everyone to gain a full night's rest. In the morning, several of the refugees have prepared a meal and pass out bowls of a morning gruel.
"Are we traveling?" Aubrin asks as everyone begins to gather round. It didn't take long before the rumors had spread throughout the entire group, and they were anxiously looking to Jie, Amkarang, Benedict and Grum for confirmation.
Benedict tries to hide his anger, but inside he is furious at the thought of the next two days.
Who was on watch that night when the hoofprints appeared? Why didn't they see anything? What are we running from? The hobgoblins couldn't possibly have rebuilt the bridge that quickly, could they? And tracked us?
He collects his thoughts.
"Yes, we will have to move deeper into the woods. We have avoided the Ironfang thus far, but we can't be complacent. Today we move. Tomorrow we will have to build some sturdier structures than the lean-to shelters we have been using. Jet, Kining, Netthias, Farrow, Clidon, that will be your task tomorrow along with myself, Grum, Amkarang, and Amélie.
Rhyna, I need you, Salesi, and Yangvit to prepare every Endure Elements spell you can. We may not have enough shelters for everybody right away.
Anybody who knows how to herd, that is the priority today. We have 17 livestock and 17 of you are trained at herding. That's easy enough. You are all responsible for one animal in this move. Don't lose it.
Those of you not skilled at living off the land, you will have to learn. Each of you will spend some time shadowing us when we get back to foraging. And watching us as we build shelters. You can do this, but you will need to work hard at it.
We are still here. We are surviving. We are Nirmathi."
Jie welcomes the dawn with a prayer and as she eats breakfast she laughs at Grum's joke. "The way I heard it was about fish I think but I like your version better." She spends the morning scavenging as much material from their old campsite and trying to hide the rest.
The Phaendar refugees leave what they had been calling "Castle Grum" with some trepidation. That feeling was mixed with the anxiety of the hobgoblins eventually descending upon them in force, so they resolutely begin the steady march to somewhere they could call home on a more permanent basis.
The refugees travel as swift as such a large group is able through a trackless forest, but the trailblazing by the party the day before was not wasted. Nothing fierce or threatening was encountered, leading the group to reach the glade of evergreen trees in the early evening.
This bit of good fortune allows those with survival skills to scout the area in the last bit of light for a more secure shelter to prepare for the turn in the weather.
Jet and Farrow find some decent wood and stone to help begin a basic shelter. Clidon's and Kining's efforts are entirely fruitless, but Netthias finds a cluster of tall trees that will easily form the basis of a sturdy structure.
Current Survival score: 25
Amélie walked along the group's flanks, her bow at the ready. When the reduced rations are passed around, she stoically eats her morsel and continues to walk, refusing to complain.
Her efforts provide a fair amount of firewood to make sure the makeshift shelter provides sufficient warmth against the elements.
Despite the pangs of hunger, Amkarang still manages to be quite helpful. He finds several large, sturdy curved boughs that would be an excellent start to making a roof.
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Somehow in good spirits, Grum declared happily that they had left Castle Grum and were now making “Fort Amkarang.” He went to work with gusto, despite his empty stomach. He knew that morale was a strange thing. Hard to grow, easy to lose, and it only really died with you. He did what he could to keep it up by finding joy in what he could.
Benedict tries to help build the shelter. Between the dwindling food, the incoming cold weather, and the lack of time to build, he is not as confident as Grum, but tries to hide it and put on a brave face.
Although many of the Phaendarans are unskilled getting along in the wild, those not focused on herding the animals help where they can despite their rumbling stomachs.
Shelter capacity: 19
Jie attempts to help, but becomes frustrated and leaves to help with the animals.
Aubrin agrees with the suggestions about choosing several castings of endure elements. When early evening arrives, her appointed time to pray for spells from Cayden Cailean (happy hour), she receives four castings. The other three adepts had prepared their spells in the morning, and have two castings of the ward each.
The refugees huddle in their makeshift shelters, bracing for the predicted turn of the weather against them.
You hear the heavy flap of wings high above you in the canopy. After a moment, something lands in on a branch in the upper boughs.
Jie, knowing that she will have a long hard ride tomorrow, will take the first watch, so that she will at least have a good, uninterrupted sleep before her travels.
Benedict will take second watch, as he is able to see well in the middle of the night. He'll ask three of those with Darkvision to join him on this shift (so three out of Kining, Netthias, Likolm, Yangvit, Geerum, and Varesha).
Likolm, Geerum and Varesha assist with the late night watches.
Geerum's head snaps up to the high branches overhead. "Something's up there, big and heavy," the dwarf whispers.
Benedict looks into the trees and draws his bow.
"Go get Grum, Amkarang, Amelie, and Jie."
Benedict is able to make out a woman in the trees about 50 feet above your head. The woman appears to be part bird.
The others on watch nod and begin to move to the bedrolls of those Benedict instructed to collect. Before they're able to reach them, however, and after Benedict has his bow in hand, a haunting song comes drifting out of the treetops.
The others on watch stop in their tracks and stare upwards into the trees, fascinated by the song.
This is a harpy, a monstrous humanoid.
Amélie climbs out of her bedroll but also stares upward, fascinated by the song.
Benedict stares fascinated at the creature.
Jie doesn't snore, but is deep asleep in preparation for her trip tomorrow.
Amkarang remains deep asleep. The faint sound of the song even seems to make him breathe deeper and send him further into sleep.
Those awake and fascinated by the song feel drawn toward it. The rich and haunting melody is sung with otherworldly vocals, and a deeper, hidden meaning that is just beyond understanding. Perhaps, perhaps if one could get closer, the mysteries would be unraveled.
But to get closer, you'd have to climb.
The Climb DC is 15.
Likolm and Geerum climb skillfully, reaching fifteen feet up the trunks. Varesha doesn't make it off the ground.
Amélie pulls herself fifteen feet off the ground, trying to reach the music. She spares a glance down and the obvious danger of her position snaps her out of her fascination.
"What?!? What are we doing?" she shouts.
She then tries to drop safely to the ground. Instead, she hits hard and falls prone.
It's so beautiful... must get closer...
"Aah! Kill it! ENEMY!"
Benedict tries to drop down.
He actually lands on his feet, and has his bow ready for next round.