"A horse is probably too big for me. Maybe I can ride on someone else's. Cheaper too."
"You can ride with me, Leik. I guess I may be the best rider avaliable..." N'Kai tells the bug-man.
Aethorduil 'pony ups' the 75gold for a horse and 25 more for saddle, saddle bags etc.
"75 gold."
"We are seeking a small number of animals and tack and are off to hunt the Beast. What sort of discount might we get?"
"I have to go ask the owner. He's at home.....I'll be back soon."
He walks off.
Huzzah
He's gone for 20 minutes.
During the time he's gone, Rholf checks out the horses.
They're riding horses. About fifteen of them.
The kid there shoveling out their stalls looks like this avatar.
His name is Wayne, though; not Dwayne. But his buck teeth sounds like he's saying Bwayne. He talks about himself in the third person quite a bit; which is odd because he's probably not aristocratic.
Another 20 minutes go by; he's not back.
Got a bad feeling about this... Forget the horses - let's get out of here .
"I was beginning to have the same thought. Maybe I should not have mentioned the Beast - I thought if he thought we were pursuing 'the monster', it would look favorable."
"Indeed. Let's find another seller." Rholf says with a yawn. "Fare thee well, young Wayne. May Sarenrae's favor light your path."
Cant help thinking that we may want to walk - we've not made a lot of friends of late.
"Wayne, do you happen to know who is the owner of the horses, by any chance??" says N'Kai, adressing the stable boy.
He nods energetically, and says "Th' Bawse Man!"
"We can walk. We will need provisions and plan on camping roadside in case there is no inn. I don't expect to find an inn. Fare thee well, Wayne!"
"I would have thought as much, Wayne. Thank you" N'kai then turns to the rest of the party. "Agreed. Walk through the woods it is, then."
Edwin nods sagely.
"A brisk walk in the woods sounds like just what the doctor ordered." He agrees.
Saves me 100 gold then... I'll get some more rations
And goes and buys another week of trail rations and an extra water skin... not knowing if the cleric can provide water or not.
He spends 10gp to get 9 days food an 2 waterskins.
The group heads out around 8:30 am.
It's a long trudge down the road, but the only thing they see is trees, birds, and a squirrel or two. It's a welcome calm from the usual grind of blood, fire, and mayhem.
Leik notes that the constant cool drizzle would make a forest fire difficult. Maybe in a week.
The group reaches the end of their journey; a half mile away, there's a cluster of buildings that can only be Castle Caromarc.
On the south side of the river is a gatehouse. A small side road continues up to the gatehouse and terminates there. A bridge reaches on the opposite side of the entry, to a small squat islet in the river upon which stands another building, and from there to another, and another on the opposite side.....far up on the opposite side of the river is a lone tower; the route to reach this tower is unseeable from this angle. The third building looks badly damaged.
The river reaches a group of waterfalls, and the buildings of Caromarc seem to all be clustered at the edge of these falls. They look dangerous, if not totally deadly. The other side looks like hard going; no road, just hard scrambling ground and hills, and fording the river this near to the falls would be perilous. The opposite side of the river offers not much purchase either; steep crags promise a slippery climb.
i.e. you could try to "back enter" this dungeon, but it would be a byoch.....
They reach the castle at sundown.
"Are there any lights in the windows? The damage to that building concerns me - what if Dobitoc's 'father' isn't actually around anymore? What will he do then?"
No lights.
N´Kai tries to look for any signs of activity around the guardhouse from where the party is standing...
N'kai doesn't see any activity.
oh yeah, i suppose Leik should be getting a closer look as well.
You don't see anything either.
"I say we just knock on the door, shall we?? Cover me."
With that, N´Kai slowly draws his scimitar and begins to approach to the gatehouse, keeping low and making use of any avaliable cover
Leik will follow N'Kai to back him up.
Who else?
Aethoduil mutters that this can't end well... knocking and all and knocks an arrow and covers them from 50ft back.
Larissa waits and watches from where she's at.
Does she eat popcorn?
j/k
As soon as they come within sight of the place, Rholf ties his hair back and pulls his hood over the silent flames dancing upon his head. He will accompany N'Kai in approaching the gate.
Rholfy's stealth
They spot or hear Rholf at 35 feet away and two come forward and start baying.
Trollhounds.
Four of them.
Leik and N'kai get a standard action each then initiative.
Yellow is the road; black is the gatehouse and there's a bridge on the north side of that.
Brown slopes down steeply to the roiling water below, which is represented by blue.
Leik and N'kai get a standard action each then initiative.
"Trollhounds!!" yells N´Kai then intonates: "Labens!!"
Leik and N'kai get a standard action each then initiative.
roll perception; we'll see.
"Trollhounds!!" yells N´Kai then intonates: "Labens!!"
where does it say they can't get past corners?....
the one that says "thf" falls prone or whatever.
Leik will ready an action to hurl a dagger at the first one to round the corner.
Aethor; (if he gets a good percep roll) then initiative
where does it say they can't get past corners?....
Cool. Didn't know that....