The man walks over to the woman and puts his arm around her "Don't worry, it's over now." He turns his head towards you and answers: "We lived in a small hamlet back that way." He points to the way you came and continues: "The goblins caught us unaware, killed the others and burned the houses down. They seamed to be searching for something." He grins this perhaps and fishes out a piece of slate from in side his clothes. He hand the piece to Sir Gerard, "It's properly better for you to have it anyway."
"They're from that burned village we passed. Here's another drawing like the one we have." he answers Logen. Turning to the young man, Gerard asks him, "Do you know what this is, or why the goblins would be looking for it? Do you know where they were taking you?"
The woman's crying turns into sopping as the man answers you: "I'm not sure my father gave it to me and asked me to keep it safe. I thinking he might have said it was part of a tablet. I guess that is why the goblins where looking for it. I'm not sure where we were going I guess the next hamlet from our direction, but your guess is as good as mine."
"We have to go back and follow the other group that split off from this one at the last village. Otherwise we have no idea where the other goblins would be. How are we going to bait them if we aren't in communication with them and don't know where they are? After we find them, that would be an excellent idea. No more of this running after them crap." Gerard chimes in.
"This is all very interesting, but what shall we do with these civillians?" asks Darius.
"Do you two know where Castle Firrenne is?" Gerard asks the young man and woman.
They both nod and the young man answers: "Yes I think, but it's almost a days walk from here and who knows what might else be out here?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
"Yeah, who knows? Go find out. We do know however that there are more goblins most likely headed for another village at this very moment. We don't want what happened to you to happen to anyone else. I will ask good Sir Volniq to accompany you back to the Castle. We are needed elsewhere. You must be brave my lad." Gerard says smiling, he slaps the boy heartily on his shoulder.
"Alright. We have a few more pieces of this puzzle, but I feel like we need to... I don't know... continue searching for more? Does that work?" asks Darius.
The last thing you hear before the three leaves you is the young woman whispering: "Thank you for saving us." Then the three sets course for Castle Firrine.
Vaslo searches the corpses, but realises that Logen striped them for anything of interest.
"There was another trail of a group of goblins that split off from the others was there not? We could go back and follow it. Otherwise we might just end up wandering around randomly."
"That would take time. I fear for the safety of the other hamlets." Darius says.
You all head back along the trail you followed, since this is a known path Zeke walks along the rest of you not racking. He is somewhat playful pushing to some of you as you head along the path. It is somewhat faster travelling home than out. When you head through the burned out hamlet both the man and woman are visibly emotional affected. You make a short stop as they gather a few belongings from their burned out house. As before the hike is uneventful and you reach the point where the paths split without and disturbances. Sir Voldniq escorts the survivors along the path you came from earlier to day and you turn east towards a new trail leading into Lastwall and further into the hills south west of Castle Firrine.
Vaslo urges Zeke to pick up the scent of the other track and after roaming around the make shift break site he pick up the scent at heads east at a pace slow enough to follow into the surrounding hills.
The track moves in the valleys between the hills and as you follow it you head further in to Lastwall. To the best of your knowledge no hamlets or large structures lies in this area. At some point Castle Firrine will be north of you and further inland you'll reach Kestrel River but that is more than a day march away.
Following the track it widens but the size of the tracks doesn't increase. The goblins you're tracking must be more comfortable here.
@Logen Scouting ahead everything is normal, you manage to catch a glimps of a few hares and a falcon but nothing out of the ordinary. after some time however you notice a thin pillar of smoke in the horizon, it could be from a fire.
"We're dealing with a bunch of wandering Goblins, and we see a fire up ahead... Let's be a little bit more careful this time, ok?" Says Darius.
From your current vantage point it would seem as though the hills continue, moving closer your first assessment is confirmed.
As you peak above the top of the hill you see an orc looking straight at you. Ducking back down you expect the worst but it is silent, no yells. Carefully you peak back over the hilltop and see that the orc has returned to eating. With is 3 other orc and 2 goblins sitting around a fire eating some roasted animal, you think. They are not speaking high enough for you to catch what they're saying but they gesture at each other. To your surprise the goblins don't seem that afraid.
"Well, you know those Greenskin types. Maybe they thought they could burn and pillage more with the two of them teamed up than seperate, if they thought at all." says Darius.
"Well, lets attack them before they finish. I'll knock out one of the goblins for interrogation. Sound good?"
"Did they have ranged weapons? We could shoot at them from the top of the hill. Perhaps Vaslo can do that plant trick again, to keep them down there or at least slow them down. If we all focus on one and get off a few good shots I think we can win it."
|
Vaslo think for a moment. And then speaks, his voice filled with a cold hard hatred, "No, a direct assault only give us a partial elemnt of surprise. I say we lure them out and ambush them. Logen, I and Zeke can hide while someone baits the gorup out of their camp site. We attack when they pass between the pincer and not only surprise them, but divide their attention. I believe it is a sound strategy... and a excellent way to kill the vile orcs.. no offense Logen."
"And by someone... you mean me, right? I think it's a nice idea to lure them out, but I don't see us getting through them without one of us getting seriously hurt." says Darius. His voice is not filled with confidence, but it isn't filled with fear, either.
"There is neither time nor terrain to set up a complex ambush here. If you can entangle them again, the hill and surprise will give us the advantage we need. We pop over the hill, raining arrows at them while you cast your spell. If one or two get out, we can deal with them individually. Once they finish their meal, they may move on or at a minimum will be more alert. We should act now."
"Sounds like a plan, you lead us on, Sir."
"Lets go. Vaslo, when you're ready cast your spell, and that will be the trigger to attack. I'll hang back a few paces, I'm loud as hell in this armor." Once everyone is ready with their ranged weapons out, Gerard will creep up the hill as quietly as he can his longbow ready.
As you sneak up the hill you can't overhear how much noise Sir Gerard makes. Your best guess is that the Orcs won't either. As Logen, Vaslo, Darius and Zeke reaches the crest of the hill you notice that the 6 monsters are still eating. It is only a matter of time before they'll notice you.
The distance from the crest of the hill to the orcs is 60 ft. It is downhill and they are sitting out in the open around a fire. All the monsters are sitting close to their gear.
Intiative:
, We'll use your initiative for Zeke.
Intiative:
Logen 21
Vaslo and Zeke 17
Goblins 15+
Sir Gerard 15-
Darius 11
Orcs 1
Darius waits next to Vaslo, congradulating him for doing such a magnificent job casting the spell.