Chimera Cove lies at the southern tip of a rocky and storm-swept cape projecting into the Inner Sea, in a no-man’s-land between the great nations of Cheliax and Andoran. The three islands sitting just off shore do little to block the sea’s relentless swells, but they do effectively anchor the persistent coastal fog, making local navigation perilous. The fishermen who settled this grim seashore decades ago have a knack for maneuvering their catboats to and from their spindly docks, but no merchant ships dare use the treacherous cove, even with a launch. Few outsiders find the settlement’s steady decline in recent years surprising, wondering only at why the place was ever founded.
It's a day after a bloody battle and the four of you are at The Slaughtered Hog a tavern near the coast when Andoren General Dakovya, sits down at your table. "Soldiers, you did well yesterday infiltrating the castle. The siege was gonna be long." A tavern wench arrives with a fresh round of firewhiskey. "To a good well done." The General hoists his glass and downs it.
"I've another mission for you, I need you to venture down to Chimera Cove to investigate this." He slides a folded letter across the table that reads:
My dear baron,
The power to put an end to
Andoran is here. Send me six
troops, a priest of Norgorber
who will take orders and
won’t proselytize, a holy
symbol of Iomedae, and 30
feet of silver wire, and I will
release the terrible treasure.
Your servant,
Poltur
The Accursed
The General continues, "Whatever Poltur seeks lies somewhere near or within the cove and the three islands. His troops, meanwhile, are holed up in a nearby boathouse, waiting for reinforcements, so proceed with caution."
Here is the inside of the Slaughtered Hog Tavern I put Bug Eater and Quiznab at a table talking with the General. Once the others show me their profile pic I'll create a token and place them in the tavern.
Quiznab eyes the shot glass wairly, sniffs it and promptly sneezes. I Suppose I have to drink that, or at least appear to, the Andorans have been good employers after all...
Quiznab waits for a moment when eyes are averted and he whispers an arcane phrase. If anyone happened to be looking they'd see him down the shot with a grimace. Of course if in reality the sawdust beneath the bench got that little bit damper, well what would be the harm in that?
Quiznab clears hit throat and says, "Well you know me General, I always like to tread lightly. Turns out that's useful in a siege. May I see the letter?"
He utters a single spidery word and to his sight several things begin to glow. He does his best to block those out and concentrate on the letter.
"Hmm, that sounds vaguely ominous. Do we know the baron is and more to the point, do they know who we are?"
The General slides the letter towards the magic user, "Here." When you do your hocus-pocus you don't see anything magical about the letter, parchment, or ink.
"Well the baron barely escaped the seige so he knows we are on his tail. We intercepted a spy that was carrying this document." He waves his hand in the air for more drinks to be brought. "Unfortunately, the spy did escape during lull in the interrogation. All we have is this note."
Bug is a very large man with a shaved pate, featuring tattoos over much of his body. The silvery shirt of fine links he wears seems rather out of place on his otherwise savage appearance.
Bug slams down the shot without hesitation. He will grunt and reply "Thanks. Seems simple enough. We go find those troops and beat the tar out of them. Everyone wants to make the world complicated. Back up on the plateau we kept things nice and simple.
The stiff war priest allows the gnome to inspect the letter.
Xavier would read it, but the General had given the mission already and that was enough for him.
The man had already earned his trust.
We will leave as soon as preparations can be made General. I'm sure everyone here is keen to continue there good service. It continues to be an honor.
The man was barely 5'10 but with a broad and heavy build. Often at a distance he could be mistaken for a tall dwarf.
"Direct to the point." The General chuckles at Bug. "Investigate, disable, and destroy." He smiles at the warpriest. "We can not let barons decide to become fiefdoms we need to halt any this act of treason. As always, danger lurks and protect yourselves to the best of your ability."
Thank you, General we will. Though Bug would never admit to needing protection.
The priest's ale was drained, though it had been Bug who drank it. Xavier never partook in alcohol, not out of any religious obligation, he simply didn't like it. But he always nursed an ale, it helped him fit in with those who took part in life's common vices.
For Xavier, there was War, and there was Ragathiel.
That was enough.
Someday, if he lived that long, he might settle down, but he'd been fighting for so long he wondered if he could stop.
We will succeed or we will fall. The words were a simple mantra of his.
He salutes the general.
The tavern tires me, friends. Shall we plan our journey so we may get some sleep before we leave?
Giznab considers for a moment before asking,"General if we can get a description of the spy, we'll be sure to send him your regards, if we bump into him."
Giznab's tone leaves little room for doubt that 'bumping into him' will involve sharp pointy things.
"He was slender half-elf wearing leathers with high boots. His hands weren't scarred like most warriors but rather soft from a life of privilege, but he was sneaky." He shakes his head. "Can't believe he gave the men the slip."
Quiznab shrugs slightly replying, "Tis a shame that, still folk sometimes are more than they seem, probably wasn't much the men could do."
Quiznab considers Xavier's words and replies, "The journey is not far in days, but we might want to consider the manner of our arrival. To travel openly and fast, and likely be noted, or to travel under some pretext and be noted and promptly forgotten?"
"Why is going to just deliver a beat down so bad? I just don't understand all these silly trappings of civilization. Can't we just go straight for the problem?"
Quiznab suppresses a smile, thinking 'Point Bug in the general direction of the Enemy and retire to a safe distance to watch the fireworks'
"There might be more of them than even The Mighty Bug can take on at once, although we can always retreat forwards. They'd never expect that."
Bug gets a very puzzled look on his face "Retreat forwards? I don't get it. Do I have to kick backwards then?"
"Ha, kind of. If you pick a fight with too many, sometimes you can pick an even bigger fight and hope they all get in each other's way. Doesn't always end well..."
The general orders one more round of drinks, "Have another one for the road."
Bug just sits there will a dazed look on his face, utterly confused, but nonetheless realizing that maybe he should stop before he gets any more confounded.
Daniel notes the Giant's confusion and places an armored hand on his broad shoulders.
The direct approach. I vote for this method as well. Your method's are simple but effective friend, an admirable quality
Soldiers come in all sizes and shapes.
Hello boys, General. What's on tap?. She was asking about the drinks and orders.
"Late as usual Rena." He eyes the elf. "Well I've another mission for you, I'm sure your comrades will explain on the way. You've got a good day's travel getting there and time is of the essence." The barkeep brings over a tankard of ale and a fire whiskey to the newcomer. "While you investigate this." He taps his finger on the noted, "We are heading to the foothills to cut off the other escape route." He stands up getting ready to leave. "Any other questions?'
She smiles... Will you miss us?
"If you weren't the best damn advance team, I'd have you flogged." He chuckles. 'Try to stay alive...will you." He turns and leaves.
The journey took a bit longer than you expected but by late morning on the second day you come into view of your designation.
Dwarfed by the bluffs behind and to either side, a dozen pathetic wooden buildings huddle along the shore within a small protective curve of the rocky coastline. Three imposing islands face the settlement through the fog. The largest, a nearly cubic block of stone, squats in the water like some stubborn beast. The second island sends columns of foam arcing high into the air with each breaker impacting its far side, focusing the onrushing wave into a vertical channel, and a sizzle echoes across the cove as the spray returns to the sea. The last and smallest island is remarkable only for its silhouette: two pointed boulders near its crest give it the look of a horned animal head.
The secluded fishing community of Chimera Cove appears deserted from your point of view. After you spend a few minutes observing the village from woods on the outskirts you hear a crack of wood from 20 feet behind you, followed by "Greetings friends."
Behind you stands a massive hairy young man leaning on a greataxe. "All the villagers were rounded up by a bunch of Orogs and hobgoblns about a week ago, they are beng kept in the boathouse. Managed to kill two hobgoblins that wandered into the woods, but there are too many down there for me alone."
"Ok, I guess that is simple enough. Let's go free them and kill the hobgoblins. "
I'm Rena and these are the boys... You are?
"I'm Targas." He smiles at Bug's direct call for action. "I could use a bit of help rescuing the villagers."
Quiznab eyes the man with suspicion, thinking, 'The general told us there were troops, not villagers in the boathouse. I wonder if this helpful fellow is alone...'
Quiz takes a good look around and listens for any unusual sounds, there is wood pecker nearby that you hear and you see a couple long tail rabbits hop behind the youthful man. You certainly wouldn't expect the animals to get that close to man with an axe but they don't seem to notice or fear him. Further down the bluff you do see a couple hobgoblins walking around a building. You figure the building is the boathouse.
Anybody else from the village around, Targas? Any hobo leaders, shaman, the like... Situation report, numbers, locations, weapons... Something to go on, so you don't get killed while we do our thing.
How come you're not with the rest? Spy, coward, out hunting?. As she waits patiently, she unslings her massive crossbow. The weapon looks too large for any human or elf to wield comfortably. But, it is sleek and covered in runes. Most notably, it is not pointed in Targas' direction.
Rena hits on a touching subject for the young man. He fidgets a bit, “I… am not exactly a member of the village anymore." He looks Rena in the eyes as he speaks. "They have all the villagers and I stay in the woods and surrounding region, now."
He pauses then switches the attention to the invaders. "Now you know it's Poltur. Son of the late Pelan and grandson of Pelastour, who founded this village. He disappeared a few years ago but that was too good to be true. When he returned with a score of hobgoblin and these large orog soldiers, the village was completely unprepared. He rounded up everyone, and his troops are still holding them in the boathouse. I think that they’re still alive, but they must be nearly starving at this point.”
Still wary, Quiznab says, "Well they need rescuing soon. How many ways are there into the boathouse?"
"I killed two, I've counted 2 more hobgoblins and 4 Orogs that are still there, when Poltur sailed off to the islands. Two of them thought they would make a patrol of the village one night, looting whatever they chose, and they tried to bury their stash in the woods, I killed them. Now there are four. But six is still too many for me, when the villagers are within their reach.”
He looks at Quiz, "Well the front door and the from the water."
"Probably needs to be the front door then, I can get us there unobserved if everyone stays close."
Xavier uses his spell like ability to DETECT EVIL on the man.
Why is it friend, you live in the woods? I am happy to help, but if there is anything about you that would make you a danger, we need to know. Entering the village IS our goal so you may count us as allied. But I'd rather not have to watch you as well. Are we safe with you at our back?
He nods his understand. "I...er, ...I'm not a bad person and I try to keep the village safe. But you have the right to know that I've been inflicted with lycanthopy - born with it." He looks at the group, "I take can take the shape of bear at will.
he pauses a bit ashamed, "growing up I fell victim in my youth to one of Poltur’s schemes and fled the village in shame when Poltur framed me for murder, at the same time exposing his secret of lycanthropy."
"Sounds to me like you got some payback to give. Might as well come on along and help. "
Seemingly coming to a conclusion, Quiznab says, "I think we'd better get going then. Like I said I can get us to the front door unseen, and the element of surprise will help when we breach that door."
1st: blurred movement, grease, silent image (DC 18), vanish (DC 18)
2nd: create pit (DC 17), threatening silent image (DC 19)
3rd: threatening major image (DC 20)
Are you in control of yourself in bear form? If so, you can come along. Let's reclaim this village. You know the area best. Is there a covered route to get closer? It would be better to get close and pick them off one by one. But I am a disciple of a Angel of Destruction. Stealth is not my forte. Quiznab, your suggestion is our best option. Get us close enough so Bug can get his hands on somebody. I'll drop another. Grenadel can run support. If you have a spell to hinder them, that won't restrict Bug or I would be best. Now let's go.
The priest falls into his practiced habit. Bug was a weapon and not unlike a bear himself once he got going. Quiznab provided whatever they needed given a minute or two. Grenadel was a .....specialist.
Quiznab nods and tells the party, "You'll need to stay pretty close to me, don't worry you'll still see each other although you'll look insubstantial. Anyone outside the aura won't see a thing unless you do something uh aggressive."
With that the little gnome pulls out his spellbook and sits cross legged, licks a finger and flicks to a page full of incompressible diagrams and script. He studys it for a moment before standing up and announcing, "I'm ready when you are."
The buildings of Chimera Cove are modest, even appearing dilapidated from a distance, but all are sound and well-maintained where it matters. They are wooden, with stone chimneys and heavy thatch roofs. Windows are rare, uniformly small, and generally face away from the cove to avoid the worst drafts. You approach from the south.
Xavier will go with his Bastard Sword in hand and his shield on his back. When he is within 20feet of a foe he will Swift cast DIVINE FAVOR and charge.
I'm certain you've considered this, but... What ifthe door is locked or otherwise barricaded? Wouldn't drawing them out be wise?
Closed quarters isn't my forte. That place is small, no room to operate.
"Maybe, there's nothing better than a good illusory fire to draw them out, problem is I'd need line of sight. I figured Bug's battering ram fists would solve the door problem, unless it's uh very strong."
I'd use the villagers as human shields.
What if you set up by the door, and I saunter over and draw them out? You slip inside and Targas and I take care of outside. Everyone gets a piece. She points her chin at Xavier, gauging his response.