Tavlor addresses the halfling with respect, "Good sir, I believe your name is Proudstump? We, that is my friends and I here, were told that you could guide us through the swamp. We have set forth in a quest to rid this land of the recent Goblin intrusion. We've already dispatched a couple on the way here, but if you could help us infiltrate their camp without much trouble... we would appreciate it greatly."
Group at the door
"Goblin hunting are you..yes yes I think you should definitely go and hunt goblins. They are over that way"
He waves a hand towards the South-west
Omara and Lissa only
Group at the door
Namuril shrugs at Zaladrel's statement, smiling a bit. "Mae pobl yn bobl ddiddorol, i fod yn sicr. Maen nhw wedi tyfu ar mi ers tro cyntaf i mi ddod i Sandpoint. Mae ganddynt penodol. . . swyn mai dim ond gall y byrhoedlog ymgynnull. A yw'n anobaith, efallai?"
His eyes wander over to Runa as she speaks to the bearded Ulfen.
Namuril shrugs at Zaladrel's statement, smiling a bit. "Mae pobl yn bobl ddiddorol, i fod yn sicr. Maen nhw wedi tyfu ar mi ers tro cyntaf i mi ddod i Sandpoint. Mae ganddynt penodol. . . swyn mai dim ond gall y byrhoedlog ymgynnull. A yw'n anobaith, efallai?"
** spoiler omitted **
His eyes wander over to Runa as she speaks to the bearded Ulfen.
Zaladrel emits an almost a barking laugh. Anobaith? Dyna'r emosiwn yr ydych yn sylwi ar? Zaladrel's face breaks into a wide smile as he continues to look out over the clearing at the hut and marsh Rydych yn rhy ifanc i deithio y ffordd. Rydych bron yn swnio fel y Forlorn. Zaladrel will chuckle lightly and shake his head.
Desperation? That is the emotion that you pick up on? --- You are too young to travel that road. You almost sound like the Forlorn.
I joke of course Zaladrel looks back at hut. They are talking, I hope things are going well...
Group at door
Runa Only
Runa looks down at Tofa, his fur brisling and teeth showing. "Čo vás zmysel? Je to dom, alebo halfling?
"We were hoping that you might guide us through the swamp."
Group at door
Lissa
Runa
In a voice just loud enough for Ulf and the elves to hear, Runa says "Something is not right with the halfling. Tofa senses something very wrong about him. We need to warn the others."
At the door
If a Sense Motive roll is needed:
Omara
Perception
You see nothing particularly unusual
"Might we come in and discuss this. We have traveled a good distance and are willing to pay well," Lissa asks, putting on her most innocent smile.
"Next week doesn't really work for us. Might we come inside to discuss the situation?"
At the Door
He steps away and those who enter find themselves in a small living room.The only furniture here is a small settle and some pot plants..one knocked over.
Proudstump moves very slowly as if extremly tired.."May I offer you something to eat" he asks
Úlf frowned at Runa's warning, turning to face the house. If there was something hiding around it, he'd have pretty much no chance of seeing it, but even so, he felt like it would be a good idea to try and see what he could see.
He saw and heard nothing beyond what he expected to. He knew that animals often had senses far beyond the range of an ordinary human..though of the lookouts, only he was human..surely elves had better hearing than he did. He tightened his grip on his axe, hoping to be ready for trouble should it happen. How could they warn them? "Is there any way that Tofa could warn them? Carry a message? I did not think to bring pen or paper with me, but I do not think it safe to interrupt their attempts at diplomacy by shouting or walking to them." he answered, his heart skipping a beat as he saw the halfing step to the side, as if inviting the forward group in.
Runa move swiftly to get to the door before the party can be split in two. She levels her crossbow at the halfling and calls to the others, "There is something wrong here! Be on your guard!"
Úlf growls low in his throat, shaking his head in disgust. "En kvinne avgifter i kamp, mens en Ulfen mann tør ikke. Jeg vil aldri høre slutten av det!"
Namuril strides to Ulf, drawing his sword. "Has something happened to Runa?" He calls out to her as she advances to the shack. "Runa! What has happened?" He steps next to her.
Surprise round
As the group at the door try to negotiate their way into the house Runa runs up and cries out a warning at which Proudstump appears to change collapsing into a hairless, faceless leathery biped. It lashes out at Tavlor it's arm stretching unnaturally to smash at him
Slam attack Damage
Tavlor goes down in a bloody heap( at -6 HP)
Round 1
Omara 24
Lissa +0/ Cinder 19
Namuril 15
Ulf 13
Runa 13
'Proudstump' 11
Tavlor 10- dying
Zaladrel 3
Omara will draw her rapier and if the creature is still in the doorway will attempt to skewer it.
Attack
Confirm Crit
Provided she hits:
Damage
Namuril shouts in disgust at the monstrosity that felled Tavlor. He tries to reign in his shock and rage as he lunges at the creature with his blade.
Arriving at the door just as the 'halfling' strikes out at Tavlor, Runa drops to the ground and places her hands on the seriously wounded sorcerer.
Noticing her healing had not brought the sorcerer around, Runa reaches into her beltpouch and retrieves a metal vial.
Úlf, seeing the creature in the doorway where the halfling was apparently once standing, roars in outrage, brandishing his axe.
Reaching the cabin, he brings the axe down toward the creature in a hard slash.
Lissa takes a few careful steps backwards and mutters potent arcane syllables under her breath. "Confn forth de wer Treskri di Edar batobot svabolen sho'vothic!"
Lissa traces the runes of summoning in the air perfectly and conjures from the Plane of Earth a glob of acid which hurtles towards the halfling-thing, scouring it and eating away at its flesh.
Omara reacts quickly her rapier flashing from it's sheath and the blade penetrating deep into the creatures body but seemingly missing any vital Organs..
Lissa steps back and her Acid Splash burns into the things flesh..It utters a roar of mixed pain and disbelief.
Then Namuril and Ulf arrive in quick succession..The elf's swing fails to connect but in avoiding him the thing that was Proudstump moves into the way of Ulf's blade. The greataxe wounds it severely.
Runa stoops to tend to Tavlor,her murmured words closing his wounds and stopping the bleeding.
Whatever the thing is, it staggers back from the door, through another open door 10' behind it and out off sight.
Zaladrel will advance next to Runa and kneel at Tavlor, Stay your resources Runa, Desna has provided for us adequately. Sacrificing his ability to protect others from evil today, Zaldrel will use his ability to heal on Zaladrel.
Seeing that Tavlor is in much better shape, Zaladrel will attempt to look into the hut and identify the creature.
As the magic of the combined healers engulfs Tavlor, his wounds close, bruises fail to form, and color returns to his face. He jerks awake, "What was that!? Did I just see Proudstump turn into a monster and... well did I die?"
He stands up slowly and stares at his hands. "How long was I out? It seemed like hours. I think I had a vision..." He suddenly stops talking and looks around sheepishly, noticing that everyone is ready for action. "So, what did I miss?"
Zaladrel looks down at Tavlor..
"It was a creature of the sort that I believe is referred to as a 'Faceless Stalker' " he says."I have heard that they can take on the form of any humanoid creature..you were lucky my friend, had the others not reacted to drive it off you might have been beyond Desna's reach."
@Zaladrel.You also have heard that these creatures have the ability to squeeze through very small spaces and are basically cowards preferring ambush.
Omara looks at her blade for a few seconds. I can do this, she thinks. She wipes it off and sheaths it with a satisfied look on her face. Then she suddenly looks back to the group and is happy to see Tavlor standing and even joking.
Namuril sheaths his sword, eying the back door. He takes a cursory look around before heading to Proudstump's exit.
"Should we follow? What is this creature, and what is its purpose?"
He opens the back door and scans the area outside.
The door is already open..it's not a back door but one that leads into a Kitchen.
The rear wall of the shack,indeed all the walls, have significant gaps in them none however more than 8 or 9 inches across.There is, surprisingly, no sign of the Stalker creature.
Runa leans back as the elf calls upon his goddess to heal the sorcerer. She returns the potion to her beltpouch and scans the room. "We need to go after that beast", she says. "We cannot let it get away to cause further mischief!"
She calls to Tofa. "Can you track this beast for us?" she asks the fox
Tofa runs out off the shack with you on his heels but he loses the scent in the brackish waters of the swamp.
Runa surveys the brackish fen, then turns her back and sighs. I hope that is the last we see of that thing!
Shaking off the bad feeling, she heads back into the house to rejoin the rest of the group.
"Well, thank you all for rescuing me." He smiles, and even chuckles a little. "I'm not sure I'm the best man to be walking into the traps in the future... Well, that can't have been the real proudstump..." he surveys the room around him. "I wonder what happened to him."
"You seem to me none the worse for wear, as the saying goes. answers Úlf, grinning as he gives Tavlor a friendly clap on the back. "It does seem curious that the real Proudstump is not present here. It is unlikely he would have abandoned his home to that beast. Perhaps he has a basement or other hidden place where he has taken refuge? We should make a thorough search of this place. he adds, joining Tavlor in looking around the room.
Looking around you don't see much sign of a struggle..a knocked over plant pot being the only real indicator.
You can take time to search the shack.Layout is as below
1. Main Room: This living room features a settle and several somewhat damaged potted plants.
2. Dining Room: A wooden table with a single chair
decorates this dining room along with a simple woodburning stove.
3. Pantry: Food and water are stored here.
4. Storage: Several wicker cages containing sparrows, mice, and other live food for, you would surmise, the halflings snakes
5. Snake Garden: This garden is open to the sky and walled in with a 10-foot-high brick wall (DC 10 Climb check to scale).
6. Supply Room: This room contains tools, hunting supplies, and spare weapons, including three handaxes, a longbow, 40 arrows, and two Small suits of leather armor.
7. Guest Room: Sheets cover the furniture in this usually unused guest room.
G8. Walthus’s Room: This bedroom looks well lived in.
Zaladrel nods at Tavlor and Ulf, At least there is no permanant injury, and hopefully we can minimize sending you into further traps....
Stepping into the halfling hut Zaladrel will look over the scene.
Hopefully we can gain some insight into Proudstump's absence otherwise we are left wih a mystery here and journey into the marsh with no information...
Runa listens to the other then speaks. "Perhaps the creature killed the poor halfling. It cannot be ruled out. I will ask Tofa if he can find the scent and perhaps we can know the fate of Mr. Proudstump." She leans down to the fox and whispers into its perked-up ear. It barks once then puts its nose to the ground and starts sniffing.
Tofa puts his nose to the ground then moves up the stairs and into the storage room where he paws at the wall in the north west of the room
Following the fox up the stairs, Runa searches the wall.
Well Runa and her friend seem to be on the hunt Zaladrel will follow the woman as she climbs the stairs, having seen nothing of interest himself. Climbing the stairs Zaldrel will shoulder his bow and draw his sword, coming up behind Runa as she searches the wall. Perhaps it would be best if I stand guard in case whatever the fox has found has the capacity to not be happy to see us
As Runa searches Zaldrel will say in a calm low voice, I'm read to strike if something happens.
Omara follows Runa and Zalandrel up the stairs.
Úlf nods to the others as the ascend the stairs, planting his feet at the base of them and shifting his grip on his greataxe slightly. "I stay down here and stand guard. Will not do if strange creature returns to try to finish the job, or if any other uglies decide to sneak up on us. Please let me know what Tofa is leading you to. he calls to the others. "If Tofa has found something not friendly, please yell and I will come!"
Since everyone is going upstairs, Lissa takes the time to look around the ground floor.