Drow War Team 1

Game Master Tarlane

I guess we were beaten by an unseen enemy, then...

They're always the worst :(

Map Of Chillhame

We were at a fairly important moment in the scene when everything fell apart, but I think your direction had been decided and it would be very hard to jump back in right at that scene, so I'm going to advance just a little bit to kick things off. I'm going to add some flavor and let you all get your own feel in, then we are going to jump in media res.

I am also making the assumption that you are looking to warn the town leaders/town center rather than going from person to person outside of towns to save on the time of being an outsider trying to convince every single person, and also to essentially be able to trigger the town warning its own people so you can continue on. If this assumption is off, let me know.

Standing atop a hill south of the mine and outside the town of Bronce, the party has had a rough morning. Beyond discovering what looks like a mustering point for an army from beneath, and finding a note that indicates that there is somewhere less than 10 days before it will be ready to strike, the party has discovered that the tribe of hobgoblins they had allied with were killed, likely by the same person who had killed someone back in town.

Now, the party has been equipped with horses, has a note from Mayor Goodchild and Sheriff Davan as well as the note they found about the incoming force, and have been tasked with setting off for the island's capital city of Saragost, hopefully alerting as many villages along the way so they can warn others. It has been emphasized that speed is key. Anyone warned will need to fall back to Saragost, so if the capital doesn't have time to defend itself, little else is accomplished.

The last remaining hobgoblin of the tribe, the drunken Leth is accompanying you despondently. Aside from an initial show of displeasure at being on a horse, he has ridden silently, staring off the road in quiet thought, not even making further requests for drink after his bottle was taken away and he was rebuked. For someone who has obviously seen a share of battle, the loss of his people has clearly weighed heavily on him.

Several hours of riding south of Bronce, the heavy woods begin to open up to farmland. It looks as if this has been done artificially, the woods surrounding having been cut back to allow for food crops to grow.

Occasional farm houses or farmers working in the distance are spotted, but either the group is ignored, or more often, the people retreat out of sight from the strange group. Clearly, these people have had encounters with more monstrous races and are cautious around them.

Within a couple more hours of travel, the farms begin to become more regular though there still aren't too many people working them. By late afternoon, you begin to see growing signs of chimney smoke that would indicate a settlement not too far off, and start to pass villagers with saddle-bagged livestock or walking carts back to their farms from what was likely some sort of market-day in town. When they pass they move as far away as their mode of transport and the small well trodd path will allow and do their best to not make any sort of eye contact.

I'm bringing us back to game about a half hour outside of town, judging from the distance of the smoke. You will be reaching the village just about dusk.

Aye!!

Aetherni also does not like the horse, but with his short legs and heavy armor he could not hamper the party by complaining about it. He kept his mouth shut and observed everything around them, greeting the farmers they met on the road, but avoiding speaking more than that with them, so they could on with their business. They had a goal already.

"So, 'this dusk coming again! We shoulda try to get when the sun is up next time. Helps with the first impression, you know!"

Drombar sits uneasily on the horse, clearly not having ridden before, but he quickly gets the hang of things and takes an interest in the passing scenery. With each new person that becomes visible, he momentarily brightens and looks to engage them in conversation, but after the first few attempts it is clear the locals want nothing to do with him and the disappointment is visibly etched on his face, as he slowly withdraws into a morose despondency. With Aetherni's comments he comes to himself.

"That's true. We will have to think about how we approach this, as many of our number will be treated with suspicion and our message may well fall on deaf ears. Let's hope the Elders are reasonable. Anyone got any suggestions?"

Given Mogwai's size, horse-riding will be tricky. Perhaps he can ride tandem with Vorik?

While not as despondent as Leth, the weight of what happened to the Hobgoblin tribe weighs heavily on Mogwai as well, and the goblin appears to have aged several years overnight. After the strong disagreement between them, he has spoken no more to Leth. Though he has opened his mouth several times, he hasn't had any idea how to speak to the man, and has closed his mouth, with his ears curling forward in a combination of shame and sorrow.

"Not just number but also type." Mogwai replies to Drombar, but doesn't embellish. "Might be for best Mogwai and Leth wait outside walls." It seems as though the heart has gone out of the little goblin. The fury he displayed at finding the tribe slaughtered was extinguished by the knowledge that Leth viewed their tribes as separate, had no use for Mogwai, and seemed to want little more than to waste away to nothing.

In Mogwai's attempts to be more civilized, he had forgotten that these things were common to the goblins he had left, and were common to Leth's people as well. Their life was a savage and brutal one, and it always ended in blood. Leth was right that Mogwai's desire for vengeance would likely lead to his own death as well. It was the goblin, the animal, part of him that thirsted for that. And maybe it would be for the best. He certainly couldn't get anyone else killed if he was dead.

Aetherni waves a hand to the goblin, careful not to fall from his horse while doing that. "Don't be ridiculous. If we did that we would have to leave half the party outside the city. And don't think there will be walls, cause there certainly won't be any, as in Bronson... They may as well see our visit as a sign that bad things are about to happen. It will help our cause."

"Much as I dislike splitting us, All it would take is one person like Jim to cause enough trouble to delay us, amd I might remind you that time is of the essence."

"Um, other than the angry midget, we're all unusual. So, either we all go in together, or we send just Aetherni in, by himself. Which, I fully oppose." Vorik says, resting his hand on his horse. He did not seem to have trouble riding it, despite there logically being no need for such an animal underground.

I am going to keep Brutus in the mix for a while at least, hopefully to give him time to catch on that we are playing again and if time favors it, rejoin us. He had quieted down a few times during moments of injustice and I figure with the death of the hobgoblins I can play him a little more subdued and less front and center.

Also, I realize it was sort of jumped to conclusion due to the name of the campaign, but remember at this time you guys essentially know of a duergar invasion. The note was in undercommon, you encountered a duergar preparing, and the carvings on the walls showed duergar warriors. The only thing that would indicate more than that is how the duergar you met was shocked you had Vorik with you and felt his house would punish him.

Brutus, having remained unusually quiet thus far on the ride seems lost in his thoughts and it takes him a moment to realize that he was left off the normal list. The fact gives him a small chuckle and he opens his mouth to retort in his normal snarky way, but whatever first word comes out is drowned out by a sharp crack of rock against rock from a field across the road.

Two farmers working the field look around startled, taking several steps back on what appear to be shakey legs. It takes a moment to realize that it isn't their legs that shake but the ground beneath them, and seconds later a cloud of dust spray up from the ground not far from them as an enormous insect bursts from the earth.

A jet of foul liquid sprays from between its mandibles across the cabbage, causing the vegetables to begin to sizzle and dissolve. It snaps wildly in the air, lunging slightly towards the farmers as they retreat, but looking unfocused in its attacks.

Alright, right now you guys are about 70 feet away from the creature. I'm not going into initiative yet because currently it isn't paying attention to the party. Feel free to post 1 round of actions in any order. Remember, you are on horseback, so you will have to either dismount or ride. Also, there are people on the road with you and they currently are scattering, so I am going to count the first 10 feet of movement as difficult terrain.

I'll get us a map if we move into close combat that requires it.

Kn Nature: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21
General Intelligence: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13

Mogwai's eyes narrow as the ground begins to shake, and widen as the large creature erupts from beneath it. Squinting against the sun, Mogwai can clearly make out the creature. "Ankheg." Mogwai mutters to himself. "Mogwai seen before. Underground predators." He opens his mouth and spits on the ground, pointing to it. "Ankheg spit make holes in things." He explains, nodding.

"Only..." He focuses back on the creature. "Much grace. Something here wrong." Thinking back to the underground, to the man who had been killed silently, to the butchered hobgoblins, Mogwai narrows his eyes in hatred. "Poison. Enemy near." Despite barely being able to hold on as it is, Mogwai urges his horse to go faster, forward towards the creature, and the hole it burst from.

1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16 Perception

What type of horses are we riding? Need to know mine's speed

By the way, have we rested after the fight with the duergar?

Untrained Knowledge: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Aetherni sees the opportunity as the perfect invitation into the city, minding not for "It doesn't matter if it's poisoned or not. It may hurt someone, we have to deal with it! Let's go!"

He moved his horse 30 feet closer and dismounted.

They would be light riding horses. The town didn't have any that were combat trained.

I believe you rested after the duergar(feel free to refresh anyway). You haven't rested since the townfolk came to their decision and you found the hobgoblins. You didn't expend any resources in doing that.

Vorik spurs his mount into a charge and moves to place himself between the Ankheg and the farmers. Largest group or wherever the best place to intercept the monster would be, will also be drawing my weapon. He then dismounts, standing resolutely in the path of the beast.

Knowledge (Nature): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22 Ooh! Just short!

"It's an ankheg! It will take some time to replenish it's acid. I'm surprised it used it."

Until/unless you guys come up with magical forms of conveyance, there probably will be a reasonable amount of time spent on horses which means its probably a good opportunity to cover some of the riding rules

The most important aspects to remember are going to be that if your mount isn't combat trained, it will be a DC 20 ride check to bring it into battle. Mounting/dismounting is a move action, but if you want to trim that down to a swift, that is another dc20 ride check. Controlling your mount without hands(if you have them full) is a dc5. You can try a fast dismount without penalty, if you fail the roll it just takes the move to dismount or you stay in the saddle

Other pertinent thing is to remember that ride is affected by armor check penalties, so even the easier checks can be rough when you are weighed down.

The group splits, Mogwai and Vorik approaching to within a short distance of the beast, Aetherni breaching half-way while Drombar and Brutus hang back, the monk drawing his bow and letting fly two arrows back to back. One of them strikes the Ankheg square in its throat, causing it to roar out.

Leth on the other hand seems much less sure. He doesn't have any ranged weapons and doesn't look quite as ready to charge headlong into battle against such a large opponent. Rather he rides up besides Aetherni and prepares to ride down any horses that may try to bolt away.

The Ankheg lurches forward, fully out of the earth, catching the leg of one of the fleeing farmers in its jaws with a crunch. The man drops to the ground, but rather than continuing with its meal, the injured beast turns to face the incoming threats.

I don't anticipate this being a long fight, so I am ok with staying out of initiative on this one. Your side is up next.

This fight might be a little longer after all.

Ride: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20

The relationships between Goblins and Horses being somewhat strained already, is not helped by the ferocity and speed with which Mogwai rides the poor beast. Any uncertainty he had with riding before vanished with the necessity of his mission. Possibly to the surprise of the others, and gratitude of the horse, he swerved off from a direct course to the beast, leaping off his horse as it approached the area.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Reflex: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

His leap from the back of the horse is not particularly graceful, but he still manages to land some feet away. Knowing that time is against him, he pauses only long enough to nod at Vorik, trusting that the dark-one would do his best to protect the innocents. And then, with a solemn need more than a hatred building within him, Mogwai makes his way towards the hole that the Ankheg burst from, resolved to finding the one who had poisoned it, and had killed so many others.

Long as the goblin doesn't have a burrow speed. Please don't let the goblin have a burrow speed.

Aetherni moves at top speed, which by normal standard is not much, clanging and hopping while he charges the beast in a non-graceful manner, to strike at it with his Waraxe!
Dwarven Waraxe: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 3 + 2 = 16! Damage: 1d10 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 2 = 9

Where did I end up, and do I need to actually make a ride check? I currently lack ranks, though I plan to grab one on next level

The goblin bounds from the horse, effectively if ungracefully and rushes towards the spot the ankheg burst forth. The earth there is churned up and loose soil in a broad circle but it appears that whatever tunnel it created collapsed in its wake.

The dwarf gallops forward, swiping at the beast and leaving a sharp gash in its side which causes it to rear back and let out a pained hiss.

Aetherni, go ahead and give me a ride check to keep control of your horse after. I realize this is asking for a lost cause.

Vorik, I wanted to establish the ride rules, but I am playing this combat pretty fast and loose since it is more an introduction back into the game than too big of a threat. With it having pursued the farmers last round, we can assume you dismounted but are still within a move of it.

He moved his horse 30 feet closer and dismounted.

No thanks man, to prevent that I've dismounted last round. ^_^

Ahh, you are correct. I was reading 'charges the beast' in the sense of charging on the beast(horse) rather than charging at the beast(ankehg).

Walking his mount forward with his knees, Drombar draws and looses an arrow from his bow. Drombar's horse moves 30', to 40' distance, but he counts as loosing looses at 55' distance.

ride: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
Composite Shortbow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (12) + 5 = 17 Short range
damage if hits: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 lol

I think the drow is the last one up so just rounding things out.

Brutus too guides his horse a little closer and between him and the fetchling a hail of arrows peppers down around the ankheg, though most bounce off one of the bard's manages to draw a bit of dark blood.

Mogwai begins raking his claws through the dirt, trying in vain to uncover a path through the collapsed tunnel. As the realisation hits that he again is too late, and that even more people are likely to die, he lets out a loud howl as tears begin streaming down his face.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13
Kn Nature: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25
Heal: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Turning towards the Ankheg, Mogwai is overcome with sadness. This creature was not at fault, and yet it was likely that it would be killed all the same.

Realising he was taking a great risk, he called to the others "Stop! Move away!" and ran up to the creature himself, trying to get close enough to see if he could tell where the poison had entered the creature, and if he might be able to do something about it, rather than killing the poor insect.

Mogwai, the source of the poison is hard to spot. That was the initial perception check in the encounter and unfortunately you didnt spot it there.

With your nature check, however, you would realize that while ankhegs arent simply vermin, they are barely more intelligent than such. Take away a source of pain and calm an animal and they may well retreat. Something like this relies so much on instinct it will probably keep attacking as long as there is a target. If everyone falls out of its awareness it will likely continue just trying to get away from what hurt it rather than pursuing, but that may prove hard to do with the wounded farmer slowing you down.

Trusting in the goblin's instincts, Vorik calls to him "Mogwai, what are you doing?"

Can I move to be in-between the Ankheg and the injured farmer?

Vorik, you can. The farmer got as far away as he could(about 10 feet) so you could slip in between. With the pain of the arrows striking it, the Ankheg looks a bit more interested in you guys at the moment anyway as it tries to figure out why its hurting.

As the Goblin and Drow both get in close, doing plenty to distract the creature from the wounded man, the Ankheg rears up. It's mandibles part for a moment as if it were trying to spray its acid upon the drow, though clearly none remains. Then, with a lurch, it crashes back down, snapping forward to try and bite the paladin, though the bite seems almost staggered and is easily avoided.

Most of the farmers are sprinting away by now. The wounded one doesn't seem to have use of his leg and scrambles the best he can, managing to get another 10 feet from the creature in his panic.

Alright, back to the players side. The thing is swinging wild, but obviously still has a lot of power behind its swings. I'm interested to see what you guys come up with if you are looking to do this without killing.

Alright, so I'll move to intercept and just wait to get a response from Mogwai

Aetherni will also circle the creature and goes into total defense, hoping it will not be able to land a hit on him. AC 25

perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

Seeing the mount approaching, Drombar calls out,

"We got company! Mogwai, what are you doing?"

Drombar moves his horse to within 30' and draws. He will hold his fire until Mogwai indicates to attack or Mogwai gets targetted by the Ankheg.

Attack if it happens: 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (14) + 5 + 1 - 4 = 16 +1 for PBS, -4 firing into melee

Damage if hits: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2 lol

"Poison." Mogwai shouts back to Drombar, still . "Not fault. Bring humans safety, not need kill. Not is smart. Is hurt and scared. Will attack if we injure. Give distance, should retreat back home." To Vorik and Aetherni he pleads. "Help Farmers get away. Will not chase."

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Seeing the mounted figure approaching, Mogwai snarls and shouts back to Drombar. "That keep back too!"

Intimidate: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Mogwai begins chasing after the farmers, trying to scare them into running away faster by howling and gnashing his teeth. He is hoping that by giving the creature a wide amount of space, it will thrash for a moment before returning back underground. And if that happens, perhaps he will be able to follow it, after all.

Being more normal than the goblin, and using the heaviest armor, Aetherni will try to help the small guy with words, almost screaming so everyone could hear him, while he keeps his shield up in a defensive posture, not daring to leave the creature alone with the goblin. "Back away everyone! We've got this covered! Move to a safe position everyone."
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 2 = 21

I just recalled I avoided investing in diplomacy because Vorik had it...

"Poison," Drombar mutters. "That would explain the odd behaviour. Probably dying."

Flagging down the approaching horseman, he calls out,

"It's dying. No need to risk yourself."

"Ya know, I could heal it" Vorik calls out, as he aids the wounded farmer in moving away from the beast.

Making a few die rolls on this one since with Aetherni's AC he is pretty hard to hit and we can probably drop out of combat rounds.

The dwarf proves to be a good distraction, ducking and parrying the powerful but ungainly jaws of the enormous insect while the others help(or chase) the farmers to safety. Once out of immediate range of the creature some of the others help the man with the badly wounded leg onto a cart to help distance him further.

The figure in the distance rapidly grows larger, relatively, until you can make out a halfling on a riding dog rushing forward at full speed. As she gets within about 50 feet she pulls up in a stop, her brow furrowing, trying to take it all in. "What the devil is this? You are on the lands of Lichgate and those people you are terrorizing and your beast has attacked are its people. Disperse your pet and surrender for questioning or there will be consequences."

The halfling is middle aged, by her races standards and looks comfortable in the saddle. She's wearing studded leather and carries a rapier and handaxe.

The drow, who was hovering a bit protectively over the farmer, looks to the newcomer, slightly confused. "Excuse me Miss, but I do believe you have things turned around. We are trying to protect the villagers from this beast. We also come bearing an important, urgent message from Bronce"

1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28 Diplomacy

Nice speech you got there!

"Indeed!" That's all the dwarf says, but his action of stopping the creature's attacks are certainly going to favor their side even more.

Diplomacy aid: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 = 19

The halfling raises a brow slightly at that, letting her eyes flick from the drow who seemed to be offering to heal the ankheg to the goblin who was chasing away the farmers. Still, her body language does relax slightly, even as the Ankheg lashes out again and nearly catches the distracted dwarf.

"I see that. So lets say I believe this isn't your pet and the bearded fella is just hard up for a dance. I don't know that it rightly matters, where the Ankheg is served. Simple folk might take their wounded and get away, maybe we trick it and get off ourselves. But its on the surface now and had a taste of someone. We ride off and its just going to wander til it runs into more folk, and then it will be hunting. Big guy looks right spent now, sure, but run off, give him a few hours to find himself and he'll be dangerous."

"Well, I can't say I don't agree with him Mogwai! We need to put it down unless you got something else!"

Mogwai looks at the halfling with something akin to pity, an odd look to be coming from a goblin, for sure. "You not underestimate. Plenty have taste of flesh not become monsters. Mogwai people have trained Ankheg before. Mogwai train self. All creatures learn." He finishes with a stubborn look.

Mogwai's body language is such that he's not protecting the creature - if they want to kill it, they can, but he's not going to either help or stop them.

Didn't you say it was poisoned, Mogwai? It is certainly behaving oddly. What made you think it was poisoned?"

Mogwai looks at Drombar in surprise. "Drom Bar not see Ankheg before?" he asks. "Watch movements. Stumbling. Not can see well. Normally more full grace. No wound so not hurt."

"Shouldn't we take it out of its misery?"

"Depending on the poison, it may die anyway. How about we stand off and shoot it?" So long as the Farmers are safe, and it doesn't get it into it's head to attack one of us, it shouldn't take long. What concerns me is how an ankheg got poisoned in the first place. Ankhegs running amok can't be good. Although, these farmlands will have to be abandoned anyway."

Whatever is slowing it doesn't seem to be stopping the angry creature, at least not yet. It snaps forward at the dwarf, but it seems to have tired itself in its burst of energy a moment before and Aetherni is easily able to avoid its lunge, even mid-conversation.

While the party is at least keeping the creature distracted and giving the farmers time to get farther away the halfling seems at least amused by their odd debate over their odd debate on what to do with it while it tries to tear them apart. Drombar's commentary interrupts that however.

"Abandon the farms? Bloody hell, its one ankheg and a sick one that has already been dinged up at that. Nobody is abandoning anything, you hear? Look..." She draws back her arm and lets the handaxe fly, striking the creature squarely between its plates just as it extends itself for another bite at the dwarf. The blow is apparently successful as it shudders and collapses.

"Problem solved. Now, I'd appreciate that you don't go stirring up folks more than necessary. We've got plenty of messes around here on our own without needing passer throughs telling folks that they have to leave their homes cause of some little..." She pauses at that and eyes over at the ankheg "Well moderately sized bug problem."

And of course she rolls a natural 20 and back it with a natural 20 while trying to prove a point with a weapon that isn't made for throwing.

Drombar has the grace to look a little embarrassed. "Ah, well. That would be the nature of our important message from Bronce that my colleague mentioned. Is there anywhere nearby that's more private where we could discuss this? perhaps along with any other Worthies of Lichgate?"

Aetherni kicks the creature on the floor, just to be sure it's really dead, then removes the bolt, and also the small weapon to return it to the halfling. "Yeah, well, as he said. Problem is on its way, so we better have a conversation, and judging by this feathered bolt that came along with the creature, I would say we don't have much time. Look, it's the same bolt that killed Jim's Thug. Or at least it looks like it."

For Aranu's sake, what's the deceased boys name again?