Inikai watches the others wielding magic that pulls these men from the brink of death and feels a tinge of regret. He wonders if he should have followed his father's path and become a priest of Nethys. The thought passes after a moment and he focuses his attention on the three men on the floor.
Jakardros nods solemnly..his face you can see is etched in pain at the thoughts he must be having.
"No word from the Fort...that is worrying and would explain why there has been no attempt by the Arrows to rescue us.We.." he indicates the others "...were on patrol..there were 8 off us we didn't expect the Grauls to be so woodwise and fell into a trap.We lost track off time and the graul's were not exactly gentle in their treatment off us..the others have been taken one by one and I fear they did not meet a pleasant ending."
Romon's stage whisper carries well in the still barn. "This backwoods hoosegow isn't the most propitious venue for a family reunion."
Muchorak nods at Romons' words, "We should be on to the house to deal with the Grauls." He looks at the rescued rangers, "You are welcome to meet us back in town after we deal with the Grauls or come along for the battle."
|
Marak draws forth his morningstar and hands it to the most hale looking of the rangers, and then hands off his dagger and sling to the other two, "This is not a good place to be unarmed, whether you wait here or accompany us. If we can find you some better gear, we will. Perhaps even your own gear."
He also hands them 3 days worth of rations and a waterskin, assuming that the ogrekin have not bothered to keep their captives well provisioned.
Must remember to carry spare sets of clothing, for such occasions, and some better mundane weaponry. No use having a never-ending haversack if I carry nothing in it! he chides himself for the spartan lack of useful things he brings with him.
When Marak offers his morningstar Inikai realizes that he should do likewise. He drops his haversack (which is much nicer that Marak's by the way) onto the floor, reaches into it and pulls out a masterwork longsword. "Here, it's a well-balanced blade with a sturdy hilt" he says as he offers it to one of the men.
Romon watches the others divest themselves of weapons and counts his own. list
Esteriande produces her light mace and her longbow and normal arrows.
"We left one of our number with our 'orses only a mile from 'ere. If you can walk, we will point you in zat direction. Tell 'er ze Comptess d'Litran said to escort you and ze 'orses back to ze Ferry. We will meet you zere, later, and arm you all properly if you wish to aid us."
Esteriande pats her elven curve-blade.
"Zis is all I need to deal with ze Grauls."
Jakardros and the others take the offered weapons gratefully.
"If you find our gear we'll be looking for some payback ourselves" the elder ranger states as he strings Esteriandes Bow "Make them pay"
The three men head out off the barn and away from the Farmstead.
"Zen let us be about our business." Esteriande approaches the farm house, watching for any signs of life. She circles it slowly, looking for all means of entry or exit.
Perception:
As the three men make their way on the trail Inikai mutters a folk blessing for Desna to watch over them.
Ali takes to the skies in hawk form, quickly circling around the building, looking for any exits or signs of life, peering in any widows, and getting whatever sensations her fine senses allow.
Perception:
She then flies back to the group, flows to Gnome and gives a report on anything she may have found.
Flies around and checks out building in Hawk form. (Perception 29+ Scent + Smell Evil) Reports to group
"Normally I dont suggest something like this but couldent we just burn them out?"
"Unless there are other prisoners inside I think that is a good idea."
"There could be other survivors," Muchorak pauses, flexing his grip on his blades, "We can't take that chance when others lives are in the balance."
"I agree, zere may yet be innocents inside. Also, zey should 'ave the opportunity to save zeir lives and repent, zough I doubt zey will accept it."
This giant decaying farmhouse covered in moss slumps drunkenly at the edge of the damp forest clearing. Rickety stairs crawl up to a porch covered by a huge eave held aloft by thick pillars of pine.
These timbers are decorated with crude carvings of manticores impaling children with their tail spikes and women being ripped apart by wolves. The carvings look like a child’s work, but the subject matter grows more gruesome and depraved from one depiction to the next. An unsettlingly large rocking chair of lashed wood and bone sways erratically in the breeze at the far end of the porch under a vast menagerie of wind chimes composed of decidedly humanoid bones. The house’s windows have all been
boarded up with thick timbers, although it’s unclear if this was done to keep intruders out or imprison whatever unspeakable things make their home within.
A host of ants marches happily away here and there on the porch, many the size of a grown man’s thumbnail. A moth the size of a shovel-head clings to the porch ceiling, watching the party with alien eyes, but it allows them to pass unmolested. The scent of bad meat, urine, sweat, and decay wafts now and then from between the cracks in the boarded-up windows, promising worse to any who seek to go inside.
There is a door in from the Porch and a secondary door on the western side.
"...Sure we shouldent go for the burn it down plan?"
"If zere is any chance of an innocent inside, non."
Esteriande shakes her head.
"Strange, zere is no sortee against us. Zis means eizer zey are overconfident and unaware of us, or zey await us to come to zem. Romon, mon amor, we may need your skill at finding traps."
Taking the home and attempting to take in less of the smell the Shoanti stands facing the front door. Ursus at his side, the bear occasionally rubbing its snoot an attempt to remove the stench. He turns slightly looking at Romon and the house, "These people may be skilled in keeping intruders out. Please lead the way and know my blades are ready at your defense."
I still think Naria is right Inikai thinks to himself as he draws his sword. Before joining the others he looks around the corner on the left side of the house in case something tries to sneak up on them. If there is nothing there he will back up to look at the roof for any foes.
Inikai sees nothing to alarm him.
It's the front friggin' door. It's daytime and some of their kin are out and about. Of course it's not trapped. Only an idiot would trap it.
After looking the house and porch over, Romon skips up the steps to the front door. He pulls a small bag out of his pack, before throwing the door open.
Perception on the house overall --
The small bag is a tanglefoot.
Landing and flowing back to Gnome, Ali reports the litte she had found. She does though hotly protest the idea of buirning down the house. Only calming down when she is assured that that will not happen.
As Roman readies to open the door, she flows back to wolf and she and Lunas get ready to rush inside if necessary.
Romon
Romon chuckles, shakes his head and stows the bag in his belt pouch. He draws out his mace and dances up the steps. He uses the mace to vault-step across the porch landing beside the door. Then he swings the mace wide to touch the door in its center.
"Non," Esteriande shakes her head, smiling and her eyes glowing as she watches the rogue in action. "'Ee does notheeng wizout reason, and 'e takes great joy in 'is skills. I 'ave not met so accomplished a locksmith, you would be amazed what 'e can do wiz just an inch of wire."
Romon's strike on the door unleashes a double trap..Firstly a series of sharpened bone spurs mounted on a hinged rack swings down from amongst the bone chimes to strike the wood work.Then a series of hidden gears beneath the floorboards creak into life and a number of rusty saw blades would have sawn at your feet.Romon manages to leap out off the way of both traps.However they both reset before he can find a way to jam them.
DC25 to disarm each individual trap
"........Still time to take the fire plan guys."
"They seem to fear intruders." The Shoanti says, "I would assume the inside to be just as trapped as the front door."
"The whole place might be a trap for intruders. Why else block the windows and doors?"
"Zere is only ze one way to discover, mon amis: to enter. I do not desire to discover ze bones of ze innocent in ze burned ruins and wonder forever after if ze could 'ave been saved."
Putting snouts to the ground, both Aliwolf and Lunas begin searching for the trail which leads to the true entrance to the house that it's dwellers must use.
Ali Survival(track w/Scent):
Lunas Survival(track w/Scent):
A creature with the Survival skill and the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Survival check to find or follow a track. A creature with the scent ability can attempt to follow tracks using Survival untrained. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10. The DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry's odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Survival skill in regards to tracking. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.
The trail leads to the side door
Romon vaults the railing and lands back in the yard. "I could fix those with enough time, but it seems like too much trouble. It will take too long. Ali's got the right idea. There's got to be a side door. Let's find that."
"Just around 'ere," Esteriande walks around the front porch to the east side of the building where there is a side-door.
Romon does the usual routine. He's pretty sure this door won't be trapped given that it's used a lot, but, considering that they trapped the front door so nastily, he doesn't want to take any chances.
Perception, check door for traps
Perception, Listen at Door
Diasable Device (if needed)
"If the Graul's are so paranoid, there might be a guard inside. We should lead with our chin." Romon grins at Muchorak.
After leading the party to the side door, Aliwolf and Lunas step back to allow sneaky man to do his thing.
The lupine pair though stand ready just to either side to him to leap at anything which may try to come out or be waiting within the doorway.
The two also use their noses to try and get a sense of how many enemies may be within and how long ago this trail was last used.
Perception:
Perception:
This extraordinary ability lets a creature detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.
A creature with the scent ability can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at three times these ranges.
The creature detects another creature's presence but not its specific location. Noting the direction of the scent is a move action. If the creature moves within 5 feet (1 square) of the scent's source, the creature can pinpoint the area that the source occupies, even if it cannot be seen.
You get the scents of more than a dozen individuals.The door has been used today.
Muchorak nods back Romon and assumes a battle stance signaling he is ready to go with his plan...
Esteriande draws her long blade and signs that she is ready to back up the Shoanti.
Inikai nods to indicate that he is ready.
Romon opens the door and stays out of the way. While the others stream in he pulls out the bag and his best dagger.
Naria forms up the rear