Radok, catching up, grunts. "As long as he pulls as much weight as the rest of us. That wound better not slow us down."
"Speaking of...Is there any who has skill in healing?"
Aubrin steps up and seeing Mord and Radok are still injured she channels.
"That better?" she says
"Much better" says the straggler.
You continue on until dark without encountering anything else and stop for the night.
Now you can roll survival for shelter and foraging food and tomorrow we will proceed to the next day.
"Yes, Zelik speaks true! Like a flock of birds, our best chance is to stick together!"
After a time, as the daylight begins to fade, the sounds of the evening forest come to life. Cicadas begin to chirp, frogs ribbit, and fireflies and mosquitoes begin their nightly dance. Though they are in an unfamiliar location, the mood is very familiar, and welcome.
"We'll need some shelter from the wind and rain, and to help hide us from searchful eyes." Zith goes in search of fallen branches and young trees for a frame, sturdy tendrils of ivy for lashing, and large, broad leaves to lay down as a crude roofing.
I'm fine with you joining as well. We are going to need as many people as we can get."
--Evening--
"That's a good idea Zith, I'll help look too."
Filon moves through the woods, looking for materials to build basic shelters and taking the time to allow emotions he had been bottling up to come flooding in. At one point he takes a minute and rests his head against a tree, small droplets of water touching his eyes as the destruction of the day plays through his mind.
After a moment he stands, focusing on his breathing and then continues gathering supplies before returning to help build shelters. Filon takes inspiration from the Druid's ways and decides to follow in his path.
Oreld and Jet will give aid another to Izit and Filion giving you each +2
While the others go searching for materials for the shelters Zelik and Lola begin preparing the area to build them. He clears away underbrush and finds suitable trees to help support the lean-to shelters. He hums quietly as he works. When the others return he adds his hands to theirs in lashing together the sticks.
Taking 10 is not an issue but taking 20 would take a very long time and leave your character fatigued the next day.
Jasmine gets a fire for dinner and the night going so the group can decide what to do the next and the the rest of the week, as well as introduce themselves.
Thanking Aubrin for the aid Morde continues to lead the trek towards the woods.
Seeing that the others are close to exhaustion and the night is near he stops at a little glade known to him.
Shrugging he adds."We should stay here, at least for the night!"
He then works hard to get another shelter errected.
Taking care of spot he tells the others to us a spade to make a hole and in this hole make a fire, so that it won´t be seen from afar.
"We should make a council. Or ask the people if they want a speaker!"
Zelik stays in camp and watches Morde work. "Why that man knows what he is doing" he thinks to himself as he looks at his own shotty craftsmanship. "It's no high tower, but it will do for tonight."
"That is some good work you are doing young man." Zelik says approaching the hunter. "You look like one who would know their way around the forest. We all thank you for guiding us today. You have saved many lives. And your friend here is quite fierce, aren't you boy?" he adds turning to the grizzly bear. "I've my own companion who assists me in her own way, but she is a bit more slighter then, what did you say his name was? I thought I heard you refer to him as Spot. Spot you did a great job today, thank you. I've no food to give you but perhaps we can go fishing together sometime, do you fish? I do love to fish." this last comment is directed to the bear.
Radok does his best to assist in the efforts of building shelters, and while he knows little of the construction, he dutifully finds materials for it.
He then ponders on the situation, struggling to think on where they should go next. The hobgoblins seemed to be a large force, and common logic suggested that they would not be able to move as swiftly than the group of refugees.
Still, Radok thinks,The fact that no one saw these hobgoblins coming worries me. How did they get into the center of town without anyone panicking?
You manage to scrape together enough shelters for everyone.
You rest for the night and everyone eats a decent meal while a few manage to forage something for themselves. 57 provisions -38 + 11 (foraging) = 30 provisions left.
You continue on towards the hunting lodge and you getting close when you find a dead hobgoblin with 3 arrows in his chest.
Looking around more you find another dead hobgoblin and then a dead human woman. It looks like he someone beat on her body long after he was dead and only a single set of footprints leave the site.
However killed her didn't bother looting the bodies however and all the equipment was left behind.
Any locals recognise Gilida Dravonich, a part-time resident of Phaendar and skilled hunter.
Gilida still has her studded leather, buckler, battleaxe, composite longbow (+1 Str) with 20 arrows, she still carries her handy haversack, which contains a bear trap, a climber’s kit, 4 days’ worth of rations, two waterskins, and animal skins worth 150 gp.
The two hobgoblins also each carry 2 rations a water skin, a leather armor and heavy mace and assorted coins (36 gold total)
Grabbing the Longbow and offering the x-bow to the others he looks at the others and smiles.
A decent bow, this little will avenge her owner..
"Ooooh, this is terrible, just terrible! I'd hoped we'd left the violence behind us." Zith uses his luck charm, then scans the nearby trees and growth for signs of wild animals.
"It looks like someone left after everyone here was killed. Can someone track these footsteps?"
The only animals around are a few birds. Izith asks them what happened and they tell him that the big hairy ones fought the soft skin one and they killed her but she killed two of them first, the last furry one was hurt pretty bad and he left going towards the big town.
Filon raises his hand, keeping his eyes away from the dead body."I could use it if no one else will."
He looks down at the tracks, thinking."It seems like they are ahead of us then. We are going to have to be careful then.
Should we follow and see where the tracks take us or continue on?"
Izit finishes up his conversation with the cuckoos with a series of rapid clucks, then turns to the others. "It seems the lady was slain by the hobgoblins, but not before she'd killed two and seriously injured a third. That one drug itself off in that direction."
Morde looks at the tracks and nods.
"We should finish him off. He is alone, wounded and easy prey. Then they will be unknown of this area, which is good!"
"Aye, they can't talk if they can't breath!", he says while cracking his knuckles, "Let's hunt it down!"
You follow the tracks and soon find the wounded hobgoblin who seems to have stopped next to a stream to take a break.
Morde and Spot try to sneak closer.
--Prior to Finding the Hobgoblin--
"If we find it, we should try and keep it alive if we can. It might hold valuable information. If not what is going on, at least knowledge of possible patrol routes and number."
--As Morde Sneaks Off--
Filon stays a distance back, loading his new Crossbow and training it on the injured Hobgoblin.
It would be nice to learn what in the name of the Faith is going on. I'm not sure I can stomach needless killing anyways. Filon grimly reflects on the loss of life that has been had already as he watches and waits.
Before they leave to sneak up on the hobgoblin Zelik says "If we can take him alive we may be able to learn valuable information about who was behind this attack and why our town was targeted. I know the urge to kill it will be high, but try and show restraint. We have all lost much and I've no qualm with disposing of him later, but it is paramount that we gather as much information as we can if we are to fight back. We do mean to fight back don't we?" the aging wizard asks, and again a youthful glint can be seen behind his spectacles.
"I'm no good at sneaking around, but bringing the hobgoblin down without killing him shouldn't be a problem." Radok says, stretching his stone arm.
Radok stays where he is as the others move forward, ready to move in if need be.
Betto waits out of sight. If muscle and hard knuckles are needed, he will provide.
Mord however manages to get within 50 feet unseen.
Spot follows his master almost as silently!
Go ahead and make an attack you can take -4 to strike non-lethal with most melee weapons to knock him out. He is badly injured to likely any hit would do.
Morde tries to subdue him.
Mord walks up to him unseen and then knocks him cold with a solid blow to the back of the head.
Izit searches the bodies of the dead hobgoblins, then follows to find where Morde's path leads. "Excellent hit, Morde! Bears are good luck, you know. Let's see what we have here. Ugh, they smell awful." Then he searches this one's body too.
First completely undressing the goblin than binding it to a tree Morde speaks up.
"Let him squeel! I am not good with people, someone else do the questioning."
He then waits a bit before taking a bowl and splashes it with the water.
Looking at the stream he adds.
"Let us drink carefully, first humans, then animals and fill all canteens to the brim."
He will need some healing before he can wake up or wait a few hours.
Filon approaches from the woods, letting his crossbow hang more loosely as the immediate tension drains from the scene.
"Nicely done Morde. I've seen few bears that move with such silent menace as your friend."
Filon sits and spends a minute brewing up an extract of Cure Light Wounds. "I think we should awake him sooner than later. I also don't want to carry him unless we have to and we already have enough mouth's to feed as it is. I think we could give him this, question him, and then knock him back out and let nature decide what should happen to him. Maybe leave him his water skin and keep the rest."
Filon pauses. "I'm not very good at questioning either."
Zelik approaches the goblin and slowly lowers on to a log and rests his quarterstaff in his lap. He begins to speak in a tongue that is high pitched and his voice cracks before dropping into a lower, smoother goblinoid dialect.
"That appears to be a nasty wound you have there. Such a pity. My name is Zelik what is your name?" He pauses to wait for a response and then continues. "I am here to offer you a deal. A quick and honorable death in exchange for information. You see we are refugees from the town that you and your compatriots just savagely sacked and we want, no, need to know why our village was targeted, who led the raid, and who ordered the raid. If you answer our questions truthfully then you shall die with honor and your name will be spoken of near and far as a warrior who died with honor in battle. If you choose to not answer us your death will be slow and your kin will know that you died a coward weeping for your mother," His voice swells when he speaks of honor and battle and becomes sibilant with disgust as he finishes.
Zelik then sits back and sighs "It has been a long time sice I have had an occasion to use that tongue and if it's another several decades before I have to use it again it will still be too soon" This he says in common to anyone near.
Betto watches, impressed by his comrades-in-arms.
Quite a few Filon it has only been a few hours since you got up.
@roll intimidate or diplomacy and lets see. Anyone else with ranks can contribute.
You manage to get the hobgoblin to reveal a few useful informations.
The captive is from an army called the Ironfang Legion.
A great hobgoblin general—Azaersi—leads the army, but she isn’t commanding this attack personally.
Only the highest-ranking officers in the army are allowed to speak to the general.
This attack force was sent to capture the town of Phaendar, and take the humans within as slave stock.
The hobgoblin doesn’t know why the Ironfang Legion wants the town.
The leader of the attack force is a brutal, sadistic hobgoblin named Scabvistin, but most of the soldiers answer to his various adult children.
The attack force arrived through a very long underground tunnel that ended in the middle of town, and the hobgoblin doesn’t know where precisely Phaendar is.
As Zelik relays the information, Radok's face turns to angered shock. "A tunnel? Do you expect me to believe that the hobgoblins dug their way into Phaendar? That would take years of planning, more than what the town could be worth."
"Yeah, that's bull! What was with that tower in the town centre?"
Hearing the words Morde looks skeptical, but adds.
"Maybe those tunnels were there before`?"
"Good point! Where the tunnels there before?"
Filon scratches his chin at these revelations, wincing as Zelik mentions a quick death being the reward. Filon was not at all prepared for the brutality that had and seemed like was going to continue to occur.
Is there really no other way He muses to himself.
He clears his throat as if to physically shift his thoughts.
"So if they used these tunnels, perhaps there are other tunnels as well? Regardless, that certainly sounds somewhat dubious, that doesn't explain where that tower came from."
He continues to ponder the tower and the tunnels before thinking over some of the other information.
"We might be able to use some of that information later on. There might be other survivors from Phaendar then."
The hobgoblin knows nothing of the origins of the tunnel his warboss told him to go trough the tunnel and raid the town so he did.
The only thing he can tell you about the other side of the tunnel is it was an old dwarven place deep underground.
He doesn't know anything about the tower or it's origins it was there when he got there.
Zelik leans over and again interrogates the hobgoblin. "You have done good thus far. How long did you travel in the tunnel? How many are in your army?" asks the aging wizard in goblinoid.
Turning to his companions "I believe the hobgoblin is telling the truth, as for the tower I doubt he knows anything. Does anyone have other questions to ask?"
He shrugs "A good while, hour or two maybe
He grins "A whole legion" (typical hobgoblin legion is around 5000 strong.)
"I've answered your questions, grant me death"
"Just one." Radok says, lowering himself to the hobgoblin's eye level.
"Where does your legion think they go when they die?"
He smiles "The eternal battlefield" and he attempts to headbutt Radok.