[DM rel20] Darkmoon Vale

Game Master djpika

Anyone else have knowledge(local).

Stevesie says, "Well we found these scales. Perhaps people dealing with animal pelts? I'm really at a loss for the hunt for the children right now. Maybe something will come around at nightfall. I vote that we camp at the burned out orphanage tonight and see what came after the children."

"You think someone might be poaching human skin?"

Stevesie retorts, "Yo dawg, I don't have reptilian scales as skin and neither do you elf. Unless your some weird thing, then I don't even want to know." Stevesie pokes Churdon just to make sure that he is real and not an illusion, "I guess we just wait."

So the plan is to wait by the other camp that you found? For how long?

Until morning

As the party builds camp and waits out the night, Churdon notices movement in the woods on his watch.

I have Churdon start shaking people awake.

Churdon whispers "Hey guys I think there is something out there."

Stevesie looks up from his book and grabs his shortbow. Stevesie looks at the direction that Churdon pointed in.

I think our perception checks have already been rolled but just in case.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

If nobody sees anything
Stevesie shouts, "Halt! Who goes there?"

Ulfgar gathers his things and readies for a fight. If nobody sees anything , he casts light on a stone and throws it where Churdon saw movement.

"D-d-d-don't shoot!" cries out a soft voice. A girl peeks around a large tree, about 30' from the campsite. Her hair is disheveled, and her clothes have seen better days.

"Identify yourself!" Kalani shouts.

"M-my name is Jeva. Who are you?" Jeva asks, stepping away from the tree. Jeva is a rail-thin, green-eyed girl, although she is particularly diminutive for her age. Her mouse-brown hair is a tangle of twigs and brambles and her face is smudged with dark stains. Her back, arms, and legs are covered with brutal scars.

Stevesie tries to recall if he remembers seeing Jeva before.
Knowledge(local): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (15) + 8 = 23

Stevesie also tries to guess the age of the child and the approximate cause of the scars.
Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21

Stevesie replies, "You shouldn't be alone in these parts. Why are you out here all alone?"

Stevesie is suspicious.

Stevesie doesn't recall seeing Jeva before. She looks like she might be between 11-14.

"I used to live at the orphanage. But it caught fire and burned down. I've been out here ever since," explains Jeva.

"Hey Stevesie, when did you say the Orphanage burned down again?"

Stevesie believes the orphanage burned down about 6 months ago.

Stevesie explains, "Well my name is Stevesie and these are my companions: Ulfgar, Churdon and Kalani." Stevesie gestures to the party members as he says their names. "Have you seen anyone else here after the fire burned down the orphanage?"

"Are you hungry? We have some rations here that we're willing to share" Kalani offers.

Jeva nods enthusiastically, and moves to take the food from Kalani, which she devours ravenously.

"There were others here a few nights ago, but they weren't from the orphanage."

Stevesie asks Jeva, "Were they adults or children? And how many were there and where did they go?"

Stevesie turns to the rest of the group, "We should probably take her back to town, even without a family there has to be a church or something that will take a homeless child in."

Stevesie turns back to Jeva, "We could take you back to Falcon's Hallow if that's what you desire."

"They were about my age. There were five of them..." Jeva says, as she eyes the food and pouches, hoping to get more.

"But if you want to try and help them, we better do it fast. They were attacked by a group of reptile men."

Would it make sense to have Jeva stay behind at the camp? Seems a good way to put the kid in danger again to have her come with us (Unless we cannot find the rest without her)

Stevesie thinks for a moment, "Well Jeva can positively ID the children for us, which is a plus."
Stevesie whispers just loud enough for the party to hear, "But I don't fully trust a child who has lived alone in the woods for any length of time."
He adds, "I see no other choice but to take Jeva, if she wishes, along with us to find these reptile men. Otherwise, we can point you on the way back to Falcon's Hallow and journey alone."

"Right. Do you know which way they went?

Ulfgar, can you track them?

If she doesn't tell us where the other children are, Ulfgar gathers the reptile scales we found and gives the scent to Bort.

survival Bort: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (18) + 7 = 25
survival Ulfgar: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

Jeva informs you that they headed north into the woods. Bort appears to agree, as he starts moving in that direction.

"Let's head that way, following Bort. No time to lose!" Kalani shouts before following Bort.

The group heads north into the woods. Mosquitoes buzz annoyingly above and the trees cast long shadows over the trail. Following the scent and the occasional scale, Ulfgar comes to a stop as he finds an arrow wedged into a tree.

Stevesie says, "Some scuffle must have taken place here. Perhaps we can find signs of survivors." Stevesie looks around for other signs of struggle.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17

Stevesie doesn't find anything new.

Kalani searches as well Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23.

"Maybe it was a hunter, or a fight could have been happened here. Regardless, let's make haste. "

Assuming nobody else finds anything.

The party carries on in the direction they are currently traveling, but with extra care to be looking for signs that of other reptilian creatures.

Eventually the trail leads the group to a familiar spot.

Tall grasses and chunks of stone debris have all but overtaken this small yard. Off to one side, a wooden stable has collapsed into a mound of rotting timbers and moldy straw. The outer wall on the east side has also collapsed, leaving a ragged hole. Bits of foundation-work only suggest the monastery’s original layout, fading memories of a world long ago crushed under the unforgiving heel of time.

Too bad no one cast detect magic on the arrow...

Stevesie sighs in dismay, "Back here! again!"
Stevesie shudders at the memories of this place.
"Maybe we can check out the goblins in the basement before we head back. Jeva stay close and call if you need help."

"It seems we are being drawn to this place again " Kalani says.

"We should be careful to not get caught with our trousers around our ankles like last time."

Kalani is ready to enter the place.

"I think they went this way."

Jeva points in the direction of the worg's den.

In addition, the group sees tucked behind the pillar a few things of value hidden by Graypelt, including a bag with 354 gp, a masterwork light crossbow, a potion , and a wand. In the dark corner of the room grows a small patch of ironbloom mushrooms, six in all.

I added the loot to the google doc.

Stevesie inspects the ironbloom mushrooms and tries to see what they are used for.
Craft(alchemy): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Stevesie adds, "Well Ulfgar, do you want to see where the stairs down lead to? Try to be all sneaky like and report back soldier!"

While they are discussing things, Kalani takes a look at the wand to identify it.

Spellcraft: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

The ironbloom mushrooms are a part of the remedy you had to find before. The wand is a wand of light, CL1, 28 charges.

Ulfgar sneaks into the cave and tries to spot any dangers

stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

The stairs descend more than 20 feet below the surface and no sound penetrates from above. The monastery’s walls are masonry, and there is no source of light anywhere.

The stairway opens into a large rectangular chamber. The stone walls of this area are covered with intricate carvings of dwarves toiling in mines or smithies. In the center of the chamber stands the bottom half of a broken obsidian obelisk. Crude picks, hammers, and other tools lie scattered around the chamber.

A group of small lizard-like creatures turn towards Ulfgar and start to shout.

Round 1

Orange winds up a sling and fires at ulfgar.

sling: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16
damage: 1d3 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

Pelting Ulfgar for 1 damage.

Blue and pink move to surround Ulfgar and attack with spears.
spear: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2
damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

spear: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (4) - 1 = 3

Ulfgar is up.

Do we hear the shouting of kobolds? I also suggest that Ulfgar run for help.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27

Stevesie hears the shouting, draws his shortbow and runs to the top of the stairs. He peers down the stairwell shouting, "Hold on Ulfgar, we're comming. Jeva stay back!"

Maybe next time we should at least have our weapons drawn when someone attempts a stealth mission. Lessons learned I guess.

Kalani is able to hear the sound of battle.

Ulfgar shouts and Bort races in to protect his master.

handle animal: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 3

After Bort's attack, Ulfgar runs back beside Stevesie

Churdon moves down the stairs.

Red fires a sling at Churdon.

sling: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
damage: 1d3 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0 = 1

Blue moves in with a spear to attack Bort's side.

spear: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13
damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4

And then Kalani shows up.

Round 2

Orange fires a sling at Churdon.

sling: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
damage: 1d3 - 1 ⇒ (3) - 1 = 2

Pink stabs at Bort in retaliation.

spear: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 1 = 6
damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

Stevesie Initiative: 19
Ulfgar Initiative: 16
Churdon Initiative: 15
Kalani Initiative: 5

Bold may go.

Bort's at 4 hp

Ulfgar fires at Blue while Bort attacks Purple

ulfgar: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24
dmg: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

bite: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5
dmg: 1d6 ⇒ 1
claw: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
dmg: 1d4 ⇒ 3
claw: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4
dmg: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Ulfgar's arrow tears a hole through the kobold and it falls while Bort appears to be more on the defensive rather than trying to land a blow.

When it's Kalani's turn, he snaps his fingers and tries to put the red kobold to sleep Slumber hex, DC 15 Will.

Then he moves forward to engage with the closest kobold with his morning star.