DC: 10
Bones crunch as Minah's magically enhanced club slams into the beast. It roars and staggers, obviously close to death.
Henris
Blaughter
Minah
Owlbear1
Houk - can post
Margut - can post
Roscoe
Owlbear2
Orono
Houk draws and throws a star knife at the owlbear
Margût grits his teeth as the owlbear's beak tears into his flesh. He slashes and parries, attempting to protect himself while keeping the beast distracted. His tactics prove far too conservative, however, not coming close to harming the enraged creature.
Henris
Blaughter
Minah
Owlbear1
Houk
Margut
Roscoe - can post
Owlbear2
Orono - can post
Roscoe cries in a rage of indecipherable sounds swinging for a vulnerable spot.
Roscoe's blade plunges into the owlbear's back, severing the creature's spine. It roars and wails, flailing about itself before dropping in a heap.
While retrieving his star knives
"Owl bear steaks?"
"Given enough time I could skin them," says Orono as she jogs to Blaughter, "but I'm not sure if they're supposed to be plucked or skinned. Or both." She leans down and her creepy spidery fingers trace over Blaughter's neck.
"This looks like a mated pair. There might be a nest nearby. Owlbear eggs - do they lay eggs? - could fetch a pretty penny. Or at least make a tasty omelette."
Minah strokes Sasha's head softly, leaning down to heal the cat with her wand of Cure Light Wounds.
Sasha gets up slowly, looking around at the others, then at the downed owlbears. She growls softly, then begins rubbing up against Minah.
Minah looks to the others, then offers: "Does anyone need healing?"
Margût spits out a gob of blood, quickly mixing another of his foul-smelling concoctions.
"This looks like a mated pair. There might be a nest nearby. Owlbear eggs - do they lay eggs? - could fetch a pretty penny. Or at least make a tasty omelette."
The hobgoblin nods affirmingly, kicking one of the corpses as his wounds slowly knit themselves together. "Yes. Very pricey. More than their stinking hides."
Having made sure that Blaughter isn't in immediate danger of death, Orono trots back to the owlbears and hunches down. She starts looking for their tracks.
Minah looks to the others, then offers: "Does anyone need healing?"
Orono trots back to the owlbears and hunches down. She starts looking for their tracks.
Margût joins the search, sniffing the air like a wild animal as he moves over to where the beasts burst from the underbrush.
While looking about the ground, Orono pulls her arrow from the flank of the owlbear and puts it back in its quiver.
"Of course, we'd have to pay a 30% tax on such things in the keep - unless we purchase a charter beforehand. The question is, are the eggs worth it?"
"If we don't collect the eggs or young or whatever, it's a 30% tax on nothing. The math seems straightforward even to me," says Orono cheerfully (not even sarcastic).
Staggering to his feet slowly, Blaughter hawks and spits a large glob of bloody phlegm onto the ground near the downed owlbear. "Bloody things pack a damn good wholop. Thanks there, lass, for the healin'." He says to Orono, "An' you too." He adds, gesturing to Margut.
Before retrieving his spear he digs out a wand and uses it.
Roscoe surprised as any one at his success, great they will expect more from me now. When he sees the beasts labored breath he finishes them ending any suffering.
"Steaks huh. sounds good. I know folks who pay to have bear skin rugs and such maybe stuffed these things would make a prize. Not fun to carry though."
"An' you too." He adds, gesturing to Margut.
Clearly uncomfortable with the positive attention, the hobgoblin mutters something indistinct and continues to focus on the task at hand.
"Of course, we'd have to pay a 30% tax on such things in the keep - unless we purchase a charter beforehand. The question is, are the eggs worth it?"
Roscoe thinks a moment. "If we think we are making enough in our return we simply buy the charter then bring in the score. But unless the eggs are worth a few grand it might be worth it to just pay the tax."
Minah will start the hunt for owlbear eggs, Sasha keeping pace as she moves through the area.
Aiding whoever has the highest Survival. I think that's Minah, right?
"Healing would be welcome.. thankyou to Orono for healing me during the fight... they did hit quite hard.." he sort of stumbles and limps a bit at this.
"I'm afraid I've exhausted my resources in that regard," Orono says as she continues looking for tracks. "If we do find owlbear young, we should probably either camp here until tomorrow or else head back to the Keep forthwith."
Minah stops the hunt for owlbear eggs momentarily and heals Houk with 3 charges from her wand.
Shudders initially at the feeling of his injuries healing, but this is soon replaced by a look of relief as the wounds heal
"Oh thankyou, no wonder that sort of magic costs so much, wow! I feel great."
Houk bows to Minah with a big gratuitous smile on his face.
The trees are still budding, and not in full foliage, which makes it much easier to find the way in the forest. When the leaves are fully grown, it is likely they will create a grey/green twilight world in which those without a good sense of direction will easily get lost.
After about half an hour of tramping through the woods, avoiding fallen trees and getting whipped by springy branches, you are able to follow the heavy tracks that the owlbears left in the damp forest floor back to their lair. A small rock outcropping has hollow at its base, and it looks as though the two owlbears hibernated there. The hollow is permeated with a strong scent of the owlbears, and there are a number of curious, melon-sized and shaped lumps of what looks like earth mixed with bone scattered around.
Some owls cough up the undigestable parts of their prey in the form of pellets. Maybe owlbears do too?
There are fragments of large eggs in the cave too, but they are obviously old - perhaps remnants of a previous season's brood?
Blaughter uses his own wand twice more while watching the others look for eggs. He didn't know much about owl bear dens, so didn't have much to offer in the hunt, but he could keep his eyes peeled for any more danger.
Roscoe looks at those getting ready to track the creatures, "Before we get moving is anyone going to try and butcher and skin these guys? Might be worth the money."
Roscoe is far more wary than previous. Walking with slingtaff in hand. "Wouldn't have thought visibility would be this good."
"Do we have enough daylight to get back to the road? This might be a good spot to camp."
"Hmm. Pellets. These owlbears have been very successful hunters. Looks like there was a brood earlier in the season."
To Roscoe, Orono says, "I can probably skin them but... the combination of hide and feathers makes it a little weird. May be tricky."
Minah looks about the woods as the group travels, trying to get a feeling for where the group is.
Once we find the owlbear cave, she points out the broken eggs with a sigh. "Seems we've come a bit late."
Houk will aid Roscoe in his skinning and preparing
Seeing that the group has been denied their prize, Margût curses harshly in the guttural Goblin tongue. He descends into the den, intent on finding something to make the trip worth their while. The hobgoblin pays special attention to the pellets, knowing they might contain something of value that the owlbears were not able to digest...
Idly, Henris casts detect magic in the cave, looking to see if any magical items might be hidden.
Most of the pellets contain nothing more than fur and bone, but eventually Margut's persistence pays off. Breaking open a pellet reveals the remnants of some humanoid creature, including scraps of leather an clothing. Mixed in with the bones are a number of gold and silver coins, and what appears to be a short gold chain loop - perhaps a bracelet or a necklace. None of it is magical however.
Margût lets out a satisfied grunt as he starts counting the coins. He tosses the gold chain to Henris, letting the self-proclaimed jeweler appraise the trinket.
Henris examines the loop, attempting to determine both its value and what it is.
"You found gold in crap. . .wow."
At Roscoes words "Snort... hahahahahahahaha"
Slightly embarrassed but unable to stop himself Houk moves away til he can compose himself
"Too bad they tax by value rather than volume, otherwise we could just give them a big bag of poop for their 30%."
"Eh, I suppose it's as good a start as anythin'. What's the plan now then, hey?
Iff you get them back to the keep you can take 10.
"I can take care of tanning these if we can get them back to the Keep."
"No other means of prep or preservation?"
Minah suggests we continue exploring, though our first fight was rough. "Shall we continue for another few hours then bring the skins back?"