"I think we should start by scouting out the camp," Wulfram replied. "We need to know what enemy strength we're dealing with. If there's only a few, we could launch an immediate assault. If there's more than a few, then we need more subtlety."
Over the month, Rogar's taken up going barefoot, as he claims it helps him with his abilities. His appearance has also changed slightly, and his beard is almost the color of iron, eyes that sparkle like emeralds, and skin almost the same color as clay and the consistency of dry stone.
When Eustoma approaches him, he's coaxing the last few jewels out of the wall. It's almost mesmerizing, with the earth flowing almost like water as the stones clatter to the ground. He looks at the halfling on the ceiling, with her hair hanging down, and shrugs, "If ye want, lass." Rogar indicates to the pile on the ground, and they flow upwards, towards the gecko and seep into the saddlebags. "How does stuff stay in there, anyway? I' seems like it should all fall ou'."
As they make their way to the armory/treasury , Rogar looks around at their work. The walls were smooth and secure, the floor was hard-packed earth or cobbled stone, and several pieces of furniture were inbuilt into the walls. He nodded to Kining as they passed her in the forge- not that she payed him any heed, if she even noticed them at all while she was focused on her work- and continued onward. He unlocked the room with a wave of his hand, the stones spinning themselves into place. Once it was done, he returned to another side project- sculpting out new rooms, working on that until the day was done.
The next morning, as they ate, Rogar nods at Wulfram's sentiment, "Aye. They've been 'ere too long. They're comfortable now, and while Hobs'll never relax, they think tha' they got us cowed. We need ta take them out. Eustoma an' I can scout ou' a little, with per'aps Aubrin covering us. When we ge' back, we call in tha calvary an' take tha res o' them."
"It's quite a ways to their camp, I think," Wulfram said. "About ten miles, if I recall correctly. Karla and I should come with you. We can wait while you two scout ahead, and be ready to attack, should things look favorable. If you run into trouble, we'll be nearby to back you up."
Eustoma upside down giggles at Rogar's question. "Good latches on the saddlebags. If one gives way, there will be a mess." She rides stuck off to drop off the stones.
Eustoma is enjoying her breakfast meal very much. "I don't want to become complacent. We're fortified here, but who knows what has been going on outside our little settlement. Ten miles is at least a couple of days travel I would think."
She drinks some tea and enjoys a flat bread with scrambled eggs on it. "I think the four of us. Well the six of us including Sia and Niko should go and scout the camp." Seven if you count Stuck, but he won't be fighting.
Eustoma slips a piece of sausage to Sia, and continues eating her breakfast. "Taking the time to find allies is a good suggestion Karla. I was just thinking we needed to see out the rangers if we can. We could look for signs of them on the way to check out the hobgoblin camp. I'd like to see what we are up against with the hobs. If we can find the rangers, they might like a base of operations to work from."
"I'd say the war started when the Legion attacked Phaendar!", Wulfram replied to Karla. "I agree that we want to make allies, but we need to be able to travel in the woods to be able to find them. We're not going to be able to go far with that camp there.
"The Rangers were withdrawn from the local base, which suggests they were needed elsewhere. I'm sure we're not the only ones under threat. The Ironfang may be trying to take over all of Nirmathas."
"Ah think tha' we shoul' fight. We tried ta find tha rangers, remember? It dinnae work well. Eustoma an' ah can go an' see tha camp, then we can figure out wha' ta do from there. As Karla says, we're all bu' blind 'ere."
Aubrin wishes the blessings of Cayden Cailean upon you, and the rest of your fellow refugees offer words of hopeful encouragement as you set out from Misthome to track down the hobgoblin camp. You follow the map you took from Fahrak, navigating through rises and dells as you head northwest.
You are still about two miles out from the camp when the sun begins to set. Before you can consider making camp for the night, a howl gets your attention. From the woods nearby, a bloodhound emerges, growling and baring its fangs. Three hobgoblins follow it out of the treeline. Two seem like typical soldiers, while the third wears a furred coat over her studded leather armor and wields a scimitar and a net. She sneers at you.
"Ah, finally found some prey. Time to collect some heads, boys."
The lead hobgoblin sends her hound to circle around and bite at Rogar while she moves in and throws her net at the dwarf!
The other hobgoblins come around the other way, moving to attack Wulfram. The smith takes attacks of opportunity on them.
Despite being badly wounded, they try to slash at the shaman. One scores a good hit.
1st lvl: Bless, Entangle, (two open slots)
2nd lvl: Barkskin, Bull's Strength, (one open slot)
Wandering Spirit: Battle
"I think you should be worried about your own heads!", Wulfram roared. He dropped his spear, drew his magic mace, and swung it at the hobgoblins that dared to strike him.
With a growl, Sia moves up to the dog, and bites at him.
Eustoma quickly gives the aspect of the Tiger to Sia, and then she rapidly fires two arrows at the dog.
Rogar, dropping to one knee as the net falls over him, catapults up a maelstrom of whirling stone blades, shredding the net as he stands up and steps back, "Ye cannae take me so easy there, lass. Ah'm afraid it'll be yer head tha' is taken today."
Sia runs around to get behind the hound before biting it, her fangs tearing into the smaller canine's flank.
Eustoma shoots the dog twice, and it whimpers and goes down.
Karla unleashes a color spray on the two Ironfang soldiers, and both slump to the ground, unconscious!
Nik'o lunges at the remaining hobgoblin, biting her and dragging her to the ground!
Wulfram draws his mace and steps up to the hobgoblin, bashing her with the heavy weapon!
Rogar steps back and tries to focus his power to blast the net off of him. He manages to do so, sharp rocks shredding the fibers of the net.
The female hobgoblin seems surprised that the tide of battle has turned so quickly. She risks opportunity attacks as she stands and tries to fall back!
Rogar quickly pulls a spike of stone out of the ground beside him, hurling the newly-made stalagmite like a javelin at the fleeing hobgoblin.
Wulfram swung his mace down on the enemy leader as she tried to get up.
The hobgoblin doesn't make it very far. Taking several hits as she stands up, she staggers away only for Nik'o to lunge and drag her back to the ground. Karla's magic missile finishes her off, and she groans and lies still. It's a simple matter to dispatch the unconscious soldiers after that.
Rogar emotionlessly drives a spike of stone into the hearts of the unconcious hobgoblins, barely paying attention as he does so.
"We mus' be getting close now. Per'aps Eustoma an ah can go ahead an star' scouting? Rogar suggests, and, if the others agree, vanishes into the underbrush alongside the halfling.
"We should make camp before it's dark," Wulfram said. "It's up to you whether you want to do any scouting after that."
"Let's look for a good place to camp. I don't want to stay near the hobgoblins they stink." She starts looking around for a good place to camp for the night.
Wulfram joined Eustoma, looking for a defensible position in case of attack.
You find a secure, defensible position in a nearby dell where you can make camp. You keep watch throughout the night as you rest, but fortunately no hostile creatures stumble upon you. In the morning, you continue heading northwest.
Only a few hours later, you reach your destination. Knee-high grass covers this gloomy clearing. To the west, earthen walls rise to form a steep-walled ravine in the side of a low hill. Thick briars grow to heights of eight feet to the south. A makeshift barricade of sharpened logs has been erected to close off much of the ravine, and a single gate hangs loosely on iron chains near the palisade’s center. Faint trails through the grass form strange loops and nonsensical paths.
Greasy campfire smoke rises up from within the camp beyond the palisade, filling the air with a hazy smog. The din from within is constant as hobgoblins shout at each other, wolves yip and howl, fires crackle, and troopers brawl.
There are no battlements on the palisade, but through the open gate, Karla can see four hobgoblins and a hulking bugbear sitting around a large fire.
Further back, a simple wooden watchtower rises above the ravine’s far end, providing a perch for lookouts to scan the entire area. A pair of hobgoblins archers are stationed there.
Rogar gins at the perfect layout for the camp, "They've put themselves righ' in harm's way. Perfect." He scans the hillside, picking out structural weakpoints in the hillside.
"Hmmm.... Ah think that, with a few days, ah coul' bring down tha hillside. Shoul' ah try? It migh' bury a good amount o' tha camp, an' give us an easy place ta attack from. At tha very least, it'll annoy them an' catch them off guard."
The watchtower is supported by four posts. They are relatively exposed, and destroying any of them would cause the whole tower to collapse.
Eroding the northern hillside would likely cause the two large tents on the edge of the ridge to tumble thirty feet into the ravine. The other structures are on sturdier ground, so it would be difficult to sabotage them through moving the earth.
Before turning in for the night, Wulfram communed with the spirits and cured his wounds.
That evening, he took his turn at guard duty, and then turned in for the night.
Wulfram rose the next morning and prepared for the day ahead. In addition to the flame spirits, he commune with local spirits of battle in preparation for an attack on the hobgoblin camp.
Orisons: Create Water, Detect Magic, Guidance, Light
1st lvl: Bless, Entangle, Liberating Command (one open slot)
2nd lvl: Barkskin, Bull's Strength, (one open slot)
Wandering Spirit: Battle
When they reached the hobgoblin camp, Wulfram listed to the scouts reports. "The guard tower should be our first task, it sounds like," he said. "If we can get round to that side, as long as I can get within 140 ft, I can envelop the top of the tower in fog. Then we can move up and take out the support posts."
He surveyed the local weather conditions, trying to judge the wind strength
You seem to be experiencing a bit of a heat wave, as the weather is several degrees warmer than usual. But the wind is calm, not nearly strong enough to disperse a fog cloud.
"Hmmmm.... Wha' if we, instead o' collapsing tha watch tower, instead take it? We collapse tha stairway, an' from there, we can star' shooting tha hobgoblins in their camp, an' forcing them ta come to us, instead o' tha other way around. When they finally do come, then Wulfram can use tha' fog cloud ta cover our repositioning, climbing down tha wall inta the camp, and take out tha last o' them." Rogar strokes his beard in thought.
"That sounds like an interesting idea Rogar. I can cast an Obscuring Mist as well. Maybe I cast the spell the first time, and we use that cover to climb up in the tower. Then wait to pick off who we can once the mist clears. Wulfram then obscure their view again, and we can relocate. I can stay atop the tower and continue to pick them off." Eustoma pats her bow.
Wulfram listened to the other's ideas. "If we were to capture the guard tower, instead of bringing it down, we would have to be prepared to defend the base of the structure," he said ."Rogar and Eustoma could be stationed in the tower, while Karla and I (and Sia) remain on the ground. Those up top would have to have a plan to evacuate quickly if need be.
"As far as collapsing part of the hillside, what would that involve? If you were to do that, Rogar, where would you need to be, and how long would it take? Would the enemy in the watch tower be able to see you?"
Eustoma nods in agreement with Karla's point. "We don't have a quick safe way to get down from the tower. My climbing skills without Stuck are not good. I am interested to hear more information on Rogar's plan to bring down the hillside. It may be better that they don't realize they are being attacked."
Eustoma digs into her backpack. "Ah here it is. I still have that scroll of Plant Growth. We can use that to make the approach to the tower more difficult."
Rogar shakes his head, "At firs' it seemed like a good idea, bu' most o' tha ground it too solid. Ah could try and take out tha top o' tha ridge, but anything else would take too long- weeks or months- an' tha hobs migh' find me in tha' time."
"It seems like our current options are to either bring down the tower or to capture it," Wulfram replied. "Collapsing it is probably the easier of the two, although it's possible that capturing it may provoke the enemy to do something unwise."
"I like the capture idea myself. We can make it difficult for the enemy to get to us with the spells we have. It depends on how many hobgoblins are in the tower. Did I see a bugbear in the camp?" Eustoma puts in her two cents.
"I should add that I could memorize a spell to summon a swarm of spiders or bats to attack the tower," Wulfram added. "The difficulty is that it's a lengthy incantation, and could be ruined if someone shoots me before I finish it. It's short range, so I'd need to get very close to the tower."
"Ah think tha', we firs' take tha tower, then while some o' us defend tha staircase, others take out any ranged attacker tha' tha Hobs have, ta force them ta attack one at a time."
"How do you want to take the tower?" Wulfram asked. "I could use my summoning spell, but as I mentioned, I would likely need an invisibility potion to cast it successfully. In any case, I think I should meditate briefly to memorize a couple of spells based on our plan."