The rain must be getting into her eyes. :)
During the journey, Arabella busies herself with her tools and an assemblage of gears, armatures, crystals, and lenses. If asked, she just says she's working on a new idea but won't say anything specific about what it's supposed to do, except that it's a proof of concept prototype.
At the palisade, she notices the temple and says, "The baron said we should talk to the priest. Let's check out the temple. It looks as if they have no idea that an attack may be imminent."
"Yes. A priest by the name of Adelmar. Let's get going."
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Returning to her little-big, she lands on Con-nor's shoulder with a wet squelch.
As you near the temple, the door flies open and a boy about Connor's age staggers out, a spear clutched awkwardly in his hands. On seeing you he stops, then raises his spear menacingly. “Halt strangers,” he calls out. “What business do you have in Roxbury? Speak now or I’ll skewer you like a wild pig!”
"We have come to speak with Adelmar. We wish to help your fair city," Marko said, showing no concern over having a spear pointed at him. He then pushed up the glasses that had fallen down his nose. "May we enter?"
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"This welcome makes me wonder what became of the others who took this job all the more," Alexander muttered to Marko. Like the wizard, he wasn't too terribly concerned about the spear in the boy's hands, but all the same he kept an eye on the lad - it didn't take a genius to stab someone.
K'Don would like to see if he can better his armor, since most of initial cash went to his Bat'leth. So, any armor improvements he can afford? Also, a backup dagger or short sword?
See if Connor wants to undergo the rites of a manhood. Also, do a little combat training with the group to see who does what and how we are to fight together. Who has what weapons and how good are they at using them etc. WE don't have to do it in character but I would like to get a general assessent.
OK that is the pre-current time frame. Fast forward to just after we can see the village.
K'Don looks at the flying lizard and says in a matter of fact tone, expecting her to do as instructed
"Wind Dancer, [pointing up in the air and making a circling motion] fly around the village and report to the Boy what you see."
"Boy (or Connor if he passed the ritual) see if you can get her to check out the village safely from up in the air."
Everyone else, stay close and try not to talk too much til we can get a clue as to what's going on here..
The boy lowers the spear with a heavy thud and says to Marko, "Oh, ok. He's inside leadin' the dinner prayers, which he won't stop for nothin'. So sheathe all your weapons and come inside and BE QUIET til he's done."
K'Don will lead the way, hands free but close to his dagger. Eyes looking everwhere trying to notice anything unusual.
If I can use a bene here I will
Holy snake eyes batman.
Your eyes fall out of their sockets. :)
But in this case it doesn't matter, you notice nothing suspicious.
Assuming everyone does as the boy requests, and everyone goes in, what you see is a humble yet obviously devoted "temple" (don't think Greek stone architecture, think large log cabin) to a goddess of agriculture.
There are 12 adult males, 9 adult females, and 9 children (all Human), being led by an old male Human in rough "cleric"-type garb in prayers (and he's doing some ritual things - lighting incense, ringing bells, etc.).
When he sees you he doesn't miss a beat, but he and the people continue on for another 10 minutes or so in vocal and silent prayers.
After everyone else has left, he says "My name is Adelmar, welcome to our humble little village. How may I help you?"
"On the contrary, Father, is is we who are here to help you. The Baron has heard of your plight against K'Plech, and sent us to do what we may to prevent your..." Alexander glanced at the dawdlers among the congregation, "...argument from ending badly for you. Tell me, why is the palisade not finished? What resources do you have to fend off an attack? How many among you are able-bodied and of an age to fight?"
"Indeed, we had expected to find Roxbury a bit more concerned about the upcoming, er, argument."
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"I'm sorry, I'm very confused - I know the Orcs have been more...agitated than usual for the last several months, but they've done nothing wrong to us here. And what is this "argument" you keep talking about?
As to the palisade, well, first we had to build our homes, then till the fields, and as the years went by nobody bothered us, so...we just sort of let it slide.
We have who you saw here in the temple, about 20 or so who could pick up arms, but hardly anyone has any real fighting skills.
Oh, except for Katana, but she...(he drifts off for a moment)...but pray tell me, what IS this all about?"
Marko sighed. "I do believe, friends, that we have been tricked by the Baron. I am shocked," he said in voice that clearly wasn't.
Marko then explained the situation to Father Adelmar, as it was explained to them by the Baron.
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(After hearing the explanation)
"Ah...well, I served the 'baron's' father for many years and have known the 'baron' since he was a child. I suspect that *he* had gotten wind of an attack, and wanted to get that information as well as your support to us as quickly as possible. He probably just didn't consider telling you that we knew nothing of what was happening.
While this *is* a very serious situation, I doubt we could leave at this point, we have children and animals, and our carts would not do well in all this mud. I think it's best that we stay here and try to hold out until the baron can arrive with more troops, and then hope the military from WeMadeIt gets here soon after.
It's too late to start working on the palisade now, it will be dark soon and nobody's eaten for hours. Why don't we try to stay alert to danger tonight and start finishing the wall at daylight tomorrow?"
When the big mentions "mud" she shakes herself again to fling off more wetness from the rain, then cranes her neck and begins looking around for anything edible.
K'Don moves to be the center of attention. He speaks to our group but includes Adelmar (looks like Addle Minded...Lets hope not).
K'Don says "OK, Seems to me the priority for tonight is to make it til morning. Do we all agree on this?"
Assuming a majority of nods from within our group.
K'Don continues, "OK, then, lets block these gaps in the gate with whatever we have, barrels, wagons etc. Next we need to get some guards posted around the wall. Groups of two, one more experienced than the other. Lets try to keep in sight of each other."
Adelmar seems to be quite sharp for a white-hair.
And the entire village is merely 150 feet by 80 feet (8 buildings total!). Will post a map when I can, probably not until Saturday...
"Barrels and wagons for the gaps is an excellent idea for the night. I would suggest a few walking guards rather than many standing guards so that most everyone, including you folks, can get at least some sleep in order to be fresh and alert tomorrow.
And if you want some 'experienced' people on patrol, I'm afraid that would be you folks. One or two of us can be with each one of you, if you think that will help. Oh and there's Katana, I get the impression she's 'experienced', and her wounds have probably healed enough by now that she could help."
K'Don says to Adelmar
"I'd like to speak to this Katana if she is up to it."
Moving over to The Boy, getting on one knee to be as close to eye level as possible. He address the Boy and the Lizard.
"I'm not sure if you can communicate with your winged guardian here, but if you can it would be helpful if she would make a flying circle around the town every hour or so and let you know if she see anything headed for the town?
Looking at the lizard. Trying to make eye contact. Projecting emotions of friendship and caring he speaks directly to the lizard...
"We could really use your help here little fella."
Pointing into the air at about a 45 degree angle and making a circle around the town making the "I'm watching you" motion, pointing 2 finger at his own eyes then using those 2 fingers on the ground and circling around again. (hope I explained that well enough).
"Fly around the town and watch for anything coming toward the town, let us here know if you see anything.
If K'Don has a piece of fruit handy, he offers it to the lizard in a kinda peace offering (bribe).
"Katana's been spending her days in bed recuperating, but she's well enough that she should join us at the evening meal. Let's walk over to the Hall, dinner should be about ready by now..."
Marko bows respectfully. "Thank you, Father."
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Connor hadn't taken K'Don's maturity test yet, as he hadn't quite decided how he felt about the larger creature, and being tested by it made him anxious. He expected that the tests would involve the warrior wanting to eat WindDancer, teaching Connor all about sacrifice, or having him face his fears and stand in front of a mirror for a full day. The idea of such trials made the boy feel queasy.
When K'Don came up to him, though, and got down to his level, speaking to him rather than shouting, Connor realised that he was just a person, like anyone else. Even though he looked scary, it seemed to Connor that he might himself be afraid. He knew that Alex was afraid, but somehow it was different knowing that something scary could itself be scared.
Connor puffs out his chest. "You can count on us! Right, WindDancer?" He glances at the creature with a grin. "C'mon, girl, let's find some higher ground."
Somewhat disgruntled by the way Connor took to the huge native, Alexander watched him scamper off with a sigh. "Boys will be boys, eh, Father? I'm sure he'll appear for dinner before long. Thank you for your kind invitation." He didn't bow, but did give the old man a nod; commoner or not, he appeared to be the leader of this village and showed remarkably good sense in accepting their help.
On finding that he was literally to eat elbow to elbow with the lower class, however, he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose. I don't suppose they have a private room for their betters, he thought with a sigh. Making the best of a bad situation, he saw to it that he sat between Arabella and Marko, with a space for Connor next to him on Arabella's side.
Arabella lets the men take the lead and uses the time to observe Adlemar. After the initial words, she will see if there is a place she can wash and dry out her clothes and gear. If there is time before it gets dark and before dinner, she'll walk around the town, making mental notes of materials to work with in constructing any make-shift defenses and traps.
She is keen to see who this Katana person is. Sounds exotic and perhaps a kindred spirit.
After dinner, she'll get a lantern and go house to house, making a list of residents, asking them about what they know how to do, what kinds of tools and weapons they have, and finding out which houses have root cellars and such. She will also try to get a sense of the mood of the villagers, whether they are weak with fear or strong-willed and defiant or something in between.
Once the census and inventory is done, she'll try to stay awake long enough to sketch some ideas for make-shift weapons and traps. For example, she will see what kinds of chemicals they have and which might be used to make acid or basic solutions that could be thrown at enemies, any flamble liquids. If anyone has any kind of simple machinery, she'll list what might be removed from the machines and used in other machines of her own devising.
Being a con artist, she wonders if the houses all have root cellars, if the orcs could be fooled into thinking the village had been abandoned, disguising the entrances to the cellars and then creating the impression either that everyone left in a hurry or that the village was attacked, while the people were really hiding in the cellars.
Eventually, however, fatigue takes its toll and she checks to see what shift she will be taking on guard duty and then crashes.
Result = 5, success unless there is a minus to the roll.
I'm going to put a series of notice rolls down, which the GM can use if there are things to notice.
Result = 11, success + raise
Result = 5, success
Result = 11, success + raise
She tenses and shifts back on Con-nor's shoulder as the big-big comes very close. But the feeling is different this time, and she doesn't issue a warning hiss or prepare an attack. Still, she watches warily.
Having used the "I'm watching you" gesture on the big-big (no doubt where it had learned the trick) -- combined with what she's getting from her little-big -- she understands fairly well what's being asked of her. After looking at Con-nor for a few moments as if for assurance of her little-big's approved, she makes a motion she'd seen the bigs using.
She nods at the big-big in agreement.
First sniffing the offered slice of fruit, she cautiously takes it from the big-big, restraining herself to calm nibbles while keeping her gaze focused on the hulking brute. Just to be safe.
"Krrrryt!" she responds to Con-nor as she rides out on her little-big's shoulder.
Just to emphasize the point, everyone probably saw WindDancer nod at K'Don's request. It could have been just a coincidence, but...
Well, it looks to me that things are now in Fox's hands. What time of day is it now (lots of things happening at various times)? Where are we, is it dinner now? How does the town respond to us? How are our preparations for defense going? etc. Like to talk to the japanese sword now, oh sorry like to talk to Katana.
Oh sorry, not trying to rush, just letting fox know I ready for more information.
Another element of preparation planning on Arabella's list is to see that every household has materials on hand for basic first aid: cloth that can be torn into bandages, basins and fresh water with some soap, needle and thread for makeshift stitches, splints, etc.
Since the men will doubtless be concerning themselves with defenses and combat preparation, Arabella will try to organize the women and children and old folk, keeping everyone busy so as not to dwell on possible disaster. She'll urge people to store whatever food is available in cellars, fill every available container with fresh water in case of a siege, consider ways of covering up and disguising the entrances to any cellars.
Of K'Don, she asks , "Orc raiding parties. Anything you can tell of how they might behave? Do they smash and grab and move on? Do they kill everyone or just the men. Do they take slaves? I'm afraid to ask what the fate of women is in such a situation. If they thought the village had been abandoned, would they search it top to bottom to see if anyone was hiding out or would they just move on? I realize you can't predict everything, but I'd like to know what you can say with fair certainty."
K'Don responds to Arabella.
"Orc in general prize strength above all else. If your too weak to defend yourself you deserve what you get even within the orc hierchy. Doesn't matter to them be you male or female your all treated the same. Human women usually don't survive rape. But rape is not common. Some Houses have been known to take slaves. Sorry for them, better to die in the battle than to be captured. Of course if your killed or even captured, you may end up in the cook pot. But, you really don't want to be captured. The life expectancy of a slave is 1 year or less. And that would be one year of hell."
"They are opportunists, if the village appears empty, they will go through it and gather anything of value, be it armor, weapons, cook pots, jewelry food. They won't spend a lot of time doing detailed searches but they will look in the obvious places and look for loose boards and hidden doors."
Arabella (and others) :
You can't clean up before dinner, it's being served now. But during dinner everyone shows up, and you can take your "census" then (see above for the numbers), as well as gauge their mood afterwards (afraid, but willing to fight for their homes and children).
No "machines", just tools. There are a few swords and spears amongst the families, not enough for everyone. Clubs could be made from tree branches.
There is a small amount of lye available (used to make soap) that could possibly be made into a few "grenades", or kept in cups to splash in the face of a foe. And there's drinking alcohol a-plenty. :)
There are some root cellars, but they are small - perhaps the children could hide in them. And very hard to disguise on the bare earth that's inside the log cabins.
Most of the women are willing and able to fight and help with "strategizing". Some of the youngest women and the oldest children are willing to help with "triage". There aren't any elders here except Adelmar.
At dinner, Adelmar does not explain the situation to the townsfolk right away (and has requested that you don't either), so you see them at their best. They are reasonably clean and friendly (for "commoners", Alex :), and ask of news in Jewelston and WeMadeIt. When they find out you're practically off-the-boat from Trellak, you become the center of attention, and they ask about all kinds of things from who's running which country to the latest fashions in the biggest cities.
A quiet, rather plain-looking young woman is there, dressed in simple, loose-fitting plain gray garb, no weapons that you can see. Adelmar introduces her as Katana, and explains that they found her in their fields a few mornings ago badly wounded. They've tended to her and other than a slight limp, she seems fully recovered. He doesn't say anything more about her after the introduction.
After dinner Adelmar calls for a "town meeting" (just a formality, everyone stays sitting where they are), and explains the situation. He presents his argument for staying in the town and finishing the palisades as soon as possible, and everyone agrees.
Katana speaks up at this point, and says "I owe these people my life, I am more than willing to stay and help defend their home."
K'Don address the assembled towns people.
"You seem an honorable people with a big heart. HOWEVER, you are not a fighting people. This encounter cannot be won by combat. I suggest we start thing of other ways to meet this coming attack."
Thinking to himself, this is borderline hopeless.
"Help IS on the way but they are days away. We need to hold out until they arrive. No, I don't know exactly when that will be."
"The objective here is survival, that may mean sacrificing the town itself (it can be rebuilt). Lost lives cannot."
"We need information on these Orcs. We need a scout to find them, count them and generally assess their abilities. And if possible why and when they are attacking." Any volunteers?
To Arabella, quielty, "We need to keep morale up, that is very important and I think you're the one to handle that"
K'Don cautiously approaches Katana, hands in plain sight away from any weapons.
Proudly, but not arrogantly (as is his usual way of introduction)
"I am K'Don, Son of Ugal of the House Ushahamp. I am honored to meet you Katana. I assume you were attacked by Orcs. Can you tell me what happened? Do you know what House attacked you? Why, what were you doing here?"
Adelmar seems to be speaking for everyone, as evidenced by the nodding of heads all around :
"We cannot leave this settlement - not out of sentiment, but out of practicality. If we leave, we become prey in the open that the Orcs could pick off one-by-one.
Information is always good, but none of us are scouts - how about your people?
I suggest we keep a sharp watch tonight as we discussed earlier, and see what tomorrow brings. I would suggest 5 watch periods for the night , each accompanied by 1 or 2 us."
Katana (who is human, I may not have mentioned) perhaps surprises you as she gives you the traditional Orc greeting-gesture, and says "Greetings K'Don of Ushahamp. Under less urgent circumstances I would enjoy challenging you to V'iq Q'id (Orc for combat-to-the-first-wound, a traditional ritual between warriors) - perhaps later.
All I know is that there is a large band of several houses of Orcs several miles to the north. I don't know their plans. They attacked me because of a...difference of opinion, shall we say. I managed to drop several of them before one got in a lucky shot, and then I was only barely able to escape with my life."
Unless this Katana person has some significant skills or special abilities to add to the mix, it doesn't sound like we have a lot of options. We will need a more exact census than "20 or so," including how many can fire any kind of ranged weapon: bow or gun.
What follows is what Arabella will suggest, in summary form, for preparations:
1) Bring every able bodied person to bear cutting down trees and gathering lumber to build up the gate of the palisade (it doesn't need to be a gate that opens, just plug the gap).
2) Build up some barriers to arrow fire elevated off the ground where snipers can fire on the orcs that get through the gate. How many depends on how many guns we have. One spot can be for Marko and Connor/WindDancer. The others should have one person who is a good shot and two others who know how to load a musket or pistol, so they can keep the loaded weapons coming.
3) Cellars are disguised as much as possible and the children are stocked with provisions and sent down into them at the first sign of trouble, with instructions to keep quiet and wait for human voices to tell them it's all clear.
4) If there is time and personnel, dig a pit trap just inside the main entrance, camouflage it, and hope that if/when the gate becomes indefensible, some of the orcs will fall into the trap and the others will have to negotiate the pit to get in range for melee attacks. This assumes the orcs will try to enter at the weakest point.
5) The ranged weapon people also need to have places on the wall from which they can fire, but a way to get to the interior sniper positions quickly.
All this assumes we have sufficient time and people to get the work done.
6) K'Don and (judging her name) Katana can lead the rest in melee attacks if/when it comes to that. Make sure everyone who can fight has one or two weapons, even if it's just a club or a shovel.
"So the orcs might attack any minute?!?"
Katana says "I don't know their plans, all I know is that they are all gathered together. It could be for some multi-tribal council as far as I know".
Seeing as they supplement their crops with wild game, about half the adults can shoot a bow or gun to some degree.
Alrighty, the dice-bot god has been good to y'all. Plenty of ammo, too.
1) has been discussed, that will start at dawn tomorrow. Just to reiterate, there is already a working gate (hinges, can be barred, etc.), but two 10' gaps in the wall.
2) if I understand what you're saying, that would take several days especially since most everyone needs to be finishing the palisades. "Just have shooters stand on barrels", suggests Adelmar. "But if you want a stream of guns to be reloading, that cuts down on the number of guns available for shooting. To have non-stop rifle shots with 4 rifles, we could only have 1 rifle position".
3) hard to disguise *well*, but they can be disguised.
4) that would also take a while if finishing the palisades is highest priority.
5) ok, I don't get the difference between 2) and 5) - can you please re-word 2)? Or does "use barrels" cover 2) and 5)?
To Adelmar
"You may not be given a choice of weather to stay or not. If it comes to retreat or die I suggest you retreat. I'll leave the plans of retreat to you (Adelmar). Have a way out of the village and a place to meet up afterwards."
"I suggest the first thing we do, and do it right now, is to put something to block the gaps in the walls. Next we need to assign everyone to their tasks. Third get prepared for battle, setup firing positions etc."
To Arabella and Katana I'm going to try a little recon, see if I can determine enemy position and size. Any comments before I go?
Arabella's expectation (hope?) is that we can defend the palisade from inside with ranged attacks for a little while, but the orcs will eventually find a way to break/burn down the gate. Those shooting guns/bows would then retreat to the elevated locations (#2 in my above list) to continue harassing them with ranged attacks once they enter the compound.
Do rifles take 2 or 3 rounds to load? I thought 2 but sounds like maybe it's 3. I was thinking if we had more guns than people who know how to use them, then we could improve our rate of fire with loaders and firers but maybe that is moot.
Perhaps the best we can do is erect some defensive walls to provide cover along the edge of some of the central houses and have people shoot from there after retreating from the walls. It doesn't sound like we'll have time to do much else if they are only a few miles away, unless they don't actually know where the village is or need some time to prepare.
@K'Don: "Go if you must. Katana ought to know their numbers well enough based on her run-in with them." She glances nervously at Conner playing with WindDancer. "I wouldn't want to send Conner and WindDancer, but I suspect they might be able to do better recon, with Connor sending WindDancer out to scout and report back to him what he's ... what she's seen."
"That was my first thought, but Alex will never allow it. Besides he is just a Boy."
Arabella
Now I understand. There may not be time to make elevated positions or another defensive wall. Adelmar's suggestion of barrels next to the palisades will allow shooters to easily shoot over the wall, but duck down for cover. And he emphasizes the need to fill in the gaps in the palisades first, which can provide the best defense possible. Then perhaps they can work on your other ideas.
K'Don
Adelmar gets people to start moving wagons and barrels (etc.) into the gaps in the wall.
Katana already said the Orcs were a few miles north. She estimates their numbers at 50 or so.
Adelmar suggests that such an excellent fighter as yourself could do far more good here if the Orcs come, rather than being out in the field.
Connor/WindDancer
Having observed the mini-drag, Adelmar asks Connor how long WindDancer can stay in the air. (WindDancer can answer directly, this is just how the question is posed.)
Once the wagons and barrels and such are in place, Aldelmar says "I think we've done all we can for tonight. Let's try to get some sleep to be alert and fresh in the morning to permanently fill in those gaps as fast as possible. Who wants to take first watch?"
Anyone care about watch order? Alphabetical ok?