Storn roars with glee as the giant collapses.
"BAHAHAHA!!
As the giant crashes down, Storn pulls out his wand after cleaning up Gorum's Thorn.
"Well that was fun, and clearly my kill Kipa.
Storn yanks out his wand and gets to healing.
[ooc]Wand is free for use.[/dice]
"Much obliged, brother."
"Ah! That's the good stuff. The rest I can heal naturally."
Looking over at Quill "Haha sure but it was my squirrel stickers that did the giants ankles in. You can say he didn't have a foot to stand on after?" Seeing as no one found the joke funny " How about next pub we are in, the first round is on me to celebrate the end of this blinded footless lug? Clearly it was a team effort. And Quill, you have a way with those arrows. Good shooting."
Look the same way as Sander's " Youre right. We should gather what we can here and move out as soon as we can. The farther we are from here the better."
Sander nods decisively as his fellow halfling talks sense (though he's starting to realize that's not going to be a particularly common happening).
"Also, when we get closer, I can make a couple of us invisible, but it will only last for a few minutes..."
"We should find out where it is we're going, then retreat and get set up for a proper invasion," Molly counsels. "Tool our spells and potions to the job, y'know? Can't invade a fortress on a whim and a prayer; that just leads to sad songs."
"I'm with the lass. If we are going to go in, I'd rather be prepared for it & have the most information we can gather. "
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Quill agrees.
"That's a good plan. Maybe we should have the quiet and less loud people," Quill's eyes dart to Storn, then Dieter, "...stay *WAY* back and out of the way until the normal people go and scout a good way in and get a lay of the land. That way maybe they all don't come out to eat us all at once."
Dieter has a conversation out loud with himself. "Thank you for drawing the enemy's attention during fights and taking all that damage for us, Dieter! Oh, it's my pleasure. No, really, thank you for making it so we can stay behind the front lines and away from any real danger. It's nothing, really. And thank you for protecting our soft, squishy bodies with your magnificent armor, without which we should have surely suffered terrible injuries. Please, think nothing of it."
Storn grins at Dieter but says nothing.
"Fine, let's get out of here. Don't leave us too far behind or else you'll have nobody to get hit by giants on your behalf."
Kipa rolls his eyes at Dieter and laughs slightly.
"Hmm... If we watch them for long enough, we might be able to ambush a scouting party and interrogate them."
"Who? An orc or a giant? Because I would love to see you interrogate a giant."
Dieter shrugs. "Broken thumbs are broken thumbs, regardless of their size."
"But when the thumb is the size of you, it may be tricky to break. Of course, we would need to sneak up on a group and get th first strike first"
"Dieter, you did a good job," Molly says, "but you are just not stealthy]. Feel better now? If not, I can hex your health up, if you like."
"Well my pointy eared young friend. You can head off now or we can hold on for a few moments while those who are gifted in the magic ways get a moment to heal up our friends. You are really good with that bow of yours but you can only take so many orcs out before they get to you. I'd rather wait and have our to big friends here ready to go just in case. " Kipa pulls out his swords and make sure they are cleaned and sharpened before returning them. " Once you two are ready, we can plan the best way to approach this fort ahead"
"That would be great, Molly. Thanks." After being healed, Dieter finds a shady spot under a tree and sits down cross-legged. "No sense being in the open where we could be spotted. Let's wait it out until they finish scouting." The career soldier then sets about weaving long blades of grass into a bracelet to pass the time.
After this 2 allies are healed up and ready to go, Kipa will stand up and stretch "Well looks like we should get moving. Let's see if we can find a place to bunker down while some of us scout out what we will be getting ourselves into. Basically just some place in the wood lines that can be easily hidden to patrols. Once we get a good spot, the scouting group can move out and gather intel. Sound good?"
It was another half mile or so before the scouts found the edge of the woods and the cleared area that surrounded Redlake Fort. Though the rain limited visibility, he fort itself was easy to see, situated at the edge of a lake (presumably Redlake), and surrounded by a wooden palisade. There were a number of orc and giant patrols moving about the area, as well as teams of woodcutters and what might have been hunting parties. The banners flying from the fort looked to have a symbol on them of a bloody heart, with two bent nails or spikes crossed in front of it. The place looked busy.
In an almost wispier "That marking looks almost familiar"
Kipa takes mental notes of the area, the patrols and wood cutters. He also looks for a pattern when it comes to the patrol rotes. Looking around the fort from the angles he is at, he looks for possible entry points. Once they gather all the information they can, Kipa will head back to the main group and tell them what was found.
Sander waits with Quill, hoping Kipa and Molly return soon.
"That one giant nearly killed us. We're all going to die soon, I think," he says sadly. "I'm never going to see Louly again."
Upon returning to the group and giving the infomation that was gathered "If we go about this smartly, we can come out of this alive. It looks like the patrols are set up like the one we just faced. We need to come up with a plan on how to deal with it to work it in our favor. Quill can take out the Orcs at range with ease. I can shot things to help add a bit more damage. You my properly highted friend can bomb them right? Molly can hit them with spells and her crossbow. Dieter and Storn when we get you cleared, you two can get in there and lay the smack down. I'll try to work my way around and help with a bit of support." Waiting a beat after relising he is being a bit bossy "Does that sound ok to every one? any suggestions? I am all ears."
"Don't we want to try to avoid the patrols? If we start attacking them, they'll know where here? But if they're out here, then they're not in there with us, right?"
"Ar," Molly agrees with Sander. "One problem; even if we get in while they're out, we'd need ta lock down the castle to keep them out. 'Less'n we move fast. In an' out, quick an' clean as we can make it. Or leastwise, in and kill everyone as is an enemy 'fore they can signal a patrol."
The Witch looks to Storn and Dieter.
"Congrats, lads! If you're good an' play stealthy for us, you can likely go out an' play after. Sound good?"
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Quill whistles at Kipa's report and presses for more detail.
"How many giants are you talking about? More or less than 100? 10?" Quill asks, trying to figure out how they could kill 100 giants, let alone 10. And he wonders how the Druids thought the goods in the vault would be good enough to face 100 giants.
"We're all going to die soon, I think."
Quill nods agreeing, but willing to try...also trying not to cry.
"Can you describe the entrance?" Quill asks, trying to form a picture of the fort. "Or maybe I'll sneak up to get a look at it myself. I need to know more."
"Isn't there the hidden entrance? Can we look for that?"
Dieter counts off on his fingers. "Troop numbers, troop composition, fortifications, siege equipment, visible officers, supply caches, surrounding terrain, et cetera?"
The scouting parties were made up like the one we faced earlier. 3 or 4 orcs and a giant normally. Other parties may be a bit different. There was a wood cutting group that may have had some hunting parties with them. I did not see any of those so I am unable to report on their party make up. We will have to be careful while moving closer. They did have a banner hung. It had a bloody heart, with two bent nails or spikes crossed in front of it. Does that ring a bell to any of you?"
"Don't think so," Sander replies dubiously. "But we're a far way from home."
The sign Kipa described was that of the Twisted Nails tribe, the same one that attacked Trunau not so long ago. Apparently, the remnants of that army are encamped here at Redlake Fort, which meshes with the information that the Trunau Council had provided. It also means that you are likely in the right place.
From what Kipa saw, the fort has several entrances which are well-guarded by orcs. There were relatively few giants about. There were no encampments outside the palisade, so all of the Twisted Nails tribe must be inside. That is enough to give you a rough idea of the maximum number of enemies that could be there... still a frighteningly large number to contemplate.
After laying out all the numbers that can be seen and the lay out "It looks like being able to dwindle their numbers with hit & runs as well as some ranged attacks before we get the the fun stabbing part. We know that Quill can lay out a quickly, but this will only lay out one or two at a time. Sander, Molly, how are you at laying down mass covering fire with bombs or spells?"
Thinking things over a bit more "With the sheer numbers there, do we have any access to allied forces that can help out in the area?" he asked in shear hope of a bit more help. even if it is just as a distraction for them to get in to the fort.
"There are too many of them for that!" Sander says. "We have to find a way to sneak in. Let's look for the sewer tunnel... I can give Dieter and Storn something to turn them invisible to help them get there if we can find it."
"That is a good plan I think."
Kipa didn't recall seeing a sewer tunnel, just a fifteen-foot high wooden palisade around the fort itself. If there was a tunnel, it was either very well hidden, or inside the wooden walls. The only entry into the palisade that he saw was a stone bridge on the eastern side, with a pair of wooden gates that stood open, and were guarded by both giants and orcs.
Looking at the elf in a matter of fact with no emotion in it good or bad either way tone of voice "You were welcome to come before. You choose to stay here. I just wanted to wait for Storn & Dieter to be healed and ready to defend the others before the scouting group headed out. "
With out waiting for reply, back in his normal tone and back to his fellow halfling "Did you know where or what side the sewer entrance was? North, South ect.? I can head back now that I know of it and look around from a distance. One side is on the lake so I was unable to get a clear view of that one side but the only opens I saw was the bridge. More then likely the tunnel is inside the wooden wall."
Kippa pulls a dagger out of his sleave and starts to draw a very rough outline of what he saw of the lay out in the dirt.
"It was supposedly in a moat on the west side, according to Calrianne's remembering of what her grandfather said..."
"If the enemy would oblige us by lining up, neat in a row, I could do a lot of damage on a lucky casting," Molly offers. "But I can only hurl lightning twice a day, tops. After that, it'd be spiders and hexes for me."
"You know, Molly, you could always try just asking them politely. You could even offer them a shiny copper each to line up."
Storn grumbles as the fortified keep is indeed fortified and hard to get in to.
"All we can do is keep searching. Sewers are a good idea."
Here's the map of the outer palisade.
Key features:
"So, if the sewers is around, then it are behind the wall. I really do not want to see what it flows into. Let me work my way back there & I will see if there is an opening on the west side" Kipa points to the west side of the crudely drawn dirt map "that we can squeeze these two through as well as ourselves. If not, then I'll see if there are any caravans going in & out of it. We may need to sneak in that way. Quill, if you have the itch to go look at the place, you are welcome to join."
Looking for weak points in the defense of the wall. Openings that we can sneak through. If there are caravans going in & out. Looking on the west side of the wall for entry points for the sewer since I was not told of this before the first pass.