Torsten Bock |
"Just not so much hams and ribs, animals who eat animals most times are full of worms and such," Torsten warns Ivo. He drops to a crouch by the fallen boar and makes a careful cut to check the truth of his own words.
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
While the meat of Old Tuskgutter is not full of worms, as you might expect, it is true to the creature's name - old. Stringing and likely very tough under the best of circumstances, it would seem the old boar is better as a trophy than a meal.
Where to? Continue on to the village? Return to Oleg's to claim your prize for Tuskgutter? Something else?
Garethane Seregon |
I vote we keep moving and try to catch up / protect the caravan. We can trim out a "trophy" for Oleg relatively quickly and leave the rest for the scavengers. After all, Bass has cut the head mostly off for us already :)
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
Do you intend to preserve Tuskgutter's head in some way? You are currently a day out from Oleg's and a day out from the village. So under a best case scenario, under your current plan you are likely 3-4 days away from ridding yourselves of the head.
After finishing the job Bassius had started in removing the head from Old Tuskgutter, the party mounts back up continues off toward the village described by Jhod.
The ride is uneventful, and perhaps even pleasant as the weather cooperates as it is a warm, but not too warm, breezy, late spring afternoon.
DC 20
Perception, Bassius: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Perception, Ivo: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13
Perception, Garethane: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (15) + 13 = 28
Perception, Razarak: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23
Perception, Torsten: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Perception, Tove: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
As evening arrives you find a suitable location to set up camp for the night. While sitting around the campfire, just after your evening meal, Raz, Garet, and Bass hear some growling and yipping off to the west. Their best guess would put the sounds a couple of hundred yards away.
What would you like to do?
Razarak Medvyed |
i say we investigate, better ti have whatever is making thatnoise hear us and come search
Bassius "Bass" Vibulus |
Bass perks up at the sound. Turning to the rest of the party, he says"You hear that? sounds like might be wolves, or dogs. I'll go get my armor, if someone can go investigate."
Ivo Crownwheel |
"Maybe even waaaargs!" says Ivo.
"I can go check it out. But wolves have a good sense of smell - hiding in the bushes won't keep me safe. So ahhh... yeah, I'll wait 'til you're armored up and then go have a look."
Stealth (later): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32
Ivo sneaks off to the west, hunkering down in the dim light, sticking to shadows and brush, to see what he can see with his low-light vision.
Torsten Bock |
Re keeping the head, would Purify Food and Drink cast each day keep it from going off?
"Wolves run faster than gnomes I hear - but with a moment magic can change that! All to the better if wolves get too close, eh?" After studying his spellbook Torsten casts a spell on Ivo.
Expeditious Retreat
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
Once those who need to be armored up have done so, Ivo slinks off into the early evening dusk to see if he can find the source of the yipping and growls.
After a relatively short amount of time, it is pretty obvious to the gnome what has happened, as he spots a dog like creature, down in a pit.
Ivo Perception vs. Traps: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31
Garethane Seregon |
As for the boar head, we can smoke it over a low fire this evening to keep the bugs out and stink down. Perhaps talk Tove into casting Gentle Repose on it in the morning? That will buy us a couple days.
Garret will stay with the rest of the party, bow drawn to give them the advantage of low light vision. Feral Focus to that of the Falcon for enhanced perception.
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
@Torsten - While Purify Food and Drink would keep the head edible, it wouldn't do anything for any natural decay as per the spell description. Gentle Repose, as suggested by Garethane, would be a better magical solution.
Torsten Bock |
"They dig a pit and leave it? That is no good hunter. Any beast might fall in." Offended, Torsten strides over to see into the pit.
(unable to actually fail that knowledge check)
"Hah, I know this name, thylacine, that is it. Like a dog but not. Nastier than dogs, most things are. Do not let it bite you." He kneels to check the ground. "Ah Strauch where are your keen senses now? Still, the earth tells me some."
survival - looking for the pit-makers' tracks: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (20) + 8 = 28
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
Torsten is just about to give up the search when he notices a faint set of tracks heading away from the area of the pit.
Garethane Seregon |
Knowledge (Local) would fall to our intrepid rogue. Garethane can back you up on survival, however.
Survival: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (14) + 9 = 23
"Good eyes, Torsten. Let's see where these tracks lead. It appears that bandits aren't the only danger in these woods. And judging by the size of these tracks, this danger is a fairly sizable one."
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
Regardless of not being able completely identify the track due to their age, the tracks are humanoid, large, and appear to have claws on the end of the toes.
Going to try to follow them or move on? Doing anything about the thylacine?
Bassius "Bass" Vibulus |
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Looking back at the tracks, Bass turns to Ivo. "I agree that it could be a tough fight, with tracks that big. Furthermore, whatever it is, it presumably lives here, and harbors less immediate potential for harm than the Stag Lord's men hunting down the caravan. As for the dog-thing, I have a rope, and Garethane has a ranger's touch." A smile breaks out on the paladin's face. "We'll have it out in no time!"
Torsten Bock |
Huh, Abadar's man is not without care for the wild. This is good, thinks Torsten.
"I would come back here once we know what Jhod's village can tell us of this caravan, maybe, or maybe they will tell us more of bad hunters with much size. For now let us see this beast free of a foolish trap." He prepares to back Garet up if necessary.
Sleep (Will DC 15) if Garethane can't calm the thylacine.
Garethane Seregon |
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"Bass, have you ever wondered why I don't have an animal companion? I fear you're about to find out?"
Garret attempts to calm the thylacine. Wild Empathy: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4
Yeah, about that "ranger's touch"...
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
It's a touch of some type...not so sure that's a ranger's touch...
In spite of Garet's efforts to calm the thylacine, the trapped creature just seems to get angrier. Fortunately Torsten's efforts appear to be more fruitful as the thylacine falls asleep following the spell.
Will Save DC 15: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3
Ok, sleeping thylacine in a pit. What now?
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
You carefully extricate the now sleeping thylacine from the pit and leave it sleeping in a nearby bush before returning to your camp for a delightfully uneventful evening.
Morning arrives with a slight chill in the air and a bit of mist. Uncomfortable, but not terribly so. After a quick breakfast you break camp and begin to ride out to the southwest again. By lunchtime you find yourselves on the banks of the Skunk River and all of its sulforous glory.
Just across the river you see what appears to a large lumber camp that, if looked at in the right light, could be mistaken for a small village.
What would you like to do?
Torsten Bock |
Torsten replies defensively, "What difference would you expect to see Ivo? Scruffy folk, maybe carrying weapons, maybe lazing around - is this bandit or lumberjack? We must have words to know." He pauses. "Also, this is an idea it might have been good to know earlier."
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
After Torsten calls out, a couple of individuals - humans both - look out from across the river.
"Hello yourself." the older of the pair calls out.
"Just travelin' through, lookin' for work, or somethin' left better unsaid?" he asks while cranking back the firing mechanism on his heavy crossbow.
Bassius "Bass" Vibulus |
Bass lifts the visor on his helmet. "I am Bassius Vibulus, paladin of Abadar, if that tells you anything of our character. We are seeking a caravan that passed this way recently. If you have any news about them, we would appreciate it."
DM Talomyr - Kingmaker |
The older gentleman, still not seemingly convinced of the party's motive says, "We had a supply caravan stop in a few days ago, dropped off their wares and headed back north towards Brevoy, by way of Varnhold if I remember correctly".
Tove Hellstrom |
Tove fingers the tip of an arrow lightly as she watches the men across the river.
Knowledge (Geography): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
She thinks to herself for a moment, then passes on her knowledge to the rest of the group.
"Varnhold, that's east of here, a week's journey or more. A fairly new settlement, set up by another of the Swordlords' expeditions."
Garethane Seregon |
Garethane appears to take the words of the woodsmen at face value, "Unfortunately, if they're headed to Varnhold they'll likely be just as vulnerable to banditry until they're out of the area. Should we turn east and continue the patrol?"
Quieter, just so his companions can hear him, "We can always come back and scout this place out at night, if we don't find evidence of the caravan."