Hazim shakes hands with Malki, glad that he is still alive.
Never found the goat? Or the owner of those tracks?
Malki shakes Hazim's hand, until he hears the bleats. As he hears the goat's distress, great light emerges from Malki's crooked staff. He begins moving in that direction. "Leave Rombard alone, djinnling!"
As the surrounding area is illuminated, everyone now hears the bleats of a goat coming from the north. The edge of a dense cactus forest lies in the light to the north, the same direction as the cries. As you all move closer towards the edge of the thicket, the goat sounds very close. A feeling of uneasiness washes over all of you, as if something terrible is going to happen any moment now despite nothing occurring.
Aldebert grips his Guisarme tightly for no good reason, and steps into the cactus field to try and find the bleating goat and get back to camp as quickly as possible.
or
Sadly, his armor gets the better of him and he becomes entangled in a cactus as he moves. Or gets a thorn in his foot. Or gets cactus juice in his eye. Or all of the above as he struggles.
"Yee Gods I hope we don't have to fight anything in this mess! What's a goat doing in here in the first place?!"
He struggles onward...
It'll take everyone two rounds to get to the destination, so you can resolve each round separately or one at a time, your call. Once everyone is there, I'll proceed.
It'll take everyone two rounds to get to the destination, so you can resolve each round separately or one at a time, your call. Once everyone is there, I'll proceed.
Aldebert continues to slog through the damnable cacti. "You guys wait there, I'll get the damn goat and bring it back or holler if I need you. No need for all of us to suffer through this cacti field."
or
Weapon Equipped = Guisarme
Conditions = Half Speed
Foolish hobbit, wandering off alone, chasing some damn fool goat. OUCH! Damn cactus.
Seeing that his new companions are willing to help, Malki touches Hazim and says, "Lalaci make your steps true and safe."
He then attempts to enter in his own.
Feeling uneasey, Hazim pulls his scimitar and dagger. He tries to navigate through the cactus.
Acrobatics for round 1 = rolled an 8 and a 9. 8+8=16 acrobatics.
When there, Hazim attempts to stay low (using cover if any).
Stealth check rolled 7 and 9. Stealth of 7+8=15.
Acrobatics (Amiamble)
Acrobatics (Amiamble)
Acrobatics (Yeenoghu)
Acrobatics (Yeenoghu)
Amiamble presses through the cacti, following his brother closely. He does not cry out as the nettles pierce his flesh.
Readjusting my rolls per DM. In that case my acrobatics roll would be:
round 1 = 9+8=17.
round 2 = 11+8=19
stealth check would be (rolls of 7 and 9)9+8=17.
As the party pushes through the prickly plants, a shape begins to come into view. A goat, tied with a rope to a nearby cactus, bleats cautiously as your approach. A few needles protrude from its skin, and it seems agitated and scared from being forced into the pokey jungle of cacti.
Surprise Round!
Mahdi. . . 13
Amiamble. . . 11
Malki. . . 11
Hazim. . . 7
???. . . 6
Aldebert. . . 2
Perception
Perception
Ami looks around but affixes his attention to the goat.
Round surprise, Initiative 2, location: 10' from goat
Weapon Equipped = Guisarme
Conditions = Half Speed
or
Aldebert sees the goat and gets excited to get the poor creature and get out of the cactus patch. So much so that he doesn't notice anything else going on.
Perception roll of 19+4=23. (I rolled a 19 and a 2.)
Hazim moves behind the creature if possible (to the left of it if not.) Both of his weapons were already drawn.
Acrobatics rolls of 7 and 7
Acrobatics 7+8=15.
Surprising Round
"Djinnling, I said leave Rombard alone! Lalaci, grant us healing that we may bat away the evils that plague your sands!"
A great holy energy emanates from Malki, healing those who have been harmed (including the goat, but not this supposed djinnling).
Reposting with new DM info.
Perception 2+4=6. (rolled 19 and a 2).
Mahdi apparently dawdles behind the others, looking vastly irritated at the thought of having to pick his way through the cactus. Sighing, he attempts to tuck his robes more closely to his body so they don't get shredded, then enters the mess of spiny plants.
...all to no avail. He's pricked through with cactus needles by the time he gets through to the others, and his robes have been snagged in a dozen places.
The young wizard is much too busy glaring at the state of his robes to notice anything about goats... or anything else, at least until it becomes clear to him from the yells of the others that they are now in a fight.
Only Malki spots the tiny creature lurking in the shadows. He gives a prayer to Lalaci, healing his allies from their previous cactus injuries.
Surprise Round, Init 6
The tiny creature, snarling with the ferocity of an ugly rodent, throws the cactus needle in its hand at Amiamble, who is 10' away.
... Which misses.
Round 1
Mahdi. . . 13
Amiamble. . . 11
Malki. . . 11
Hazim. . . 7
???. . . 6
Aldebert. . . 2
Round 1, Init 11
Amiamble draws his halfling sling and loads it. Yeenoghu will ready to swat it if it comes close.
"Careful now, Yeenoghu," Ami whispers to Yeeonghu.
Round 1, init 7
Hazim had his weapons already drawn. He moves to put himself behind the creature if possible.
Acrobatics rolls (10 and 18) 10+8=18
He then brings his scimitar down on the snarling rat thing.
Acrobatics rolls for attacking (12 and 15) 12+8=20
Attack rolls with scimitar (20 and 9) 9+6=15 (17 if flank).
Damage rolls (6 and 4) 4+1=5 (and if sneak attack add 3 more, and yes I rolled twice for that.)
In that case damage is 6+1=7 and add 4 more if there is a sneak attack.
"By Ymeri's burning throne-- I do not have time for this nonsense," he hisses in Kelish. Quickly, he tells the others what he knows of the little wretched beast, then raises his hand to call forth the fire that he managed to restrain himself from using on the idiot guards.
Fire erupts from Mahdi's fingers and shoots in a blazing line through the desert dunes straight for the little creature.
The creature jumps when the blast of fire flies its way, avoiding most of it but still feeling singed from the flames. Hazim takes the chance to rush forward and slash the distracted, tiny creature, finishing it off. It slumps to the ground in a smelly, ugly heap, and the feeling of uneasiness seems to fade from everyone. Even Rombard seems immediately more relaxed, though still agitated. Upon closer examination, it seems a deep ravine rests just a few feet behind the captive goat.
Mahdi thinks he has heard of tiny gremlins that inhabit the desert, but knows nothing beyond that.
Mahdi nods once to his brother, approval for his quick slash-- in the understated fashion that develops when two men have worked so long together that they almost seem one unit at times.
"I'll let somebody else grab that bleating goat," he mutters, pressing his hand to his mouth to help staunch the blood of another cactus-needle scratch.
Amiamble smiles as the creature is cut down before he has a chance to fight.
Again with the fire. He likes to burn things, that one does. Now for the goat.
Amiamble looks at the cacti, then the goat, then to Aldebert. He will stow his staffsling.
Is this one yours or mine, brother?
Aldebert reacts to the combat in his usual speedy way, and misses the whole thing.
Damn cactii slowing me down!
"Nice teamwork you two - VERY well done! Hazim, I'll be glad to flank with you any time I can... I, uh, was just a little delayed here, but it's clear I was not needed in this fight! Well done indeed." Aldebert grins.
He turns to the other brothers, Amiamble and Mahdi, "So what is that thing? And why is it collecting goats? Maybe we should check for tracks, there may be more of them in this field."
A disinterested shrug. Mahdi is busy scowling at his torn robe.
"Some nasty little gremlin of the desert. If you wish to try and find its tracks among these cursed thorns, I shall not stop you."
Aldebert is disappointed at Mahdi's disinterest, but he covers it quickly.
"OK. I'm not very good at this, but I'll see what I can find."
Aldebert looks around for tracks, and tries to avoid the thorns as he does so.
"Hrm. All I can find is our tracks and a bunch of needles. Ahh well, it was worth a try. I wonder what the creature was doing with the goat in the first place? So many questions." He turns to his brother hoping for some answers.
What kind of creature was that? What is it doing out here? Is it some wizards familiar? Could it have started the fire? How... Get a hold of yourself man. Calm down!
Aldebert calms his racing mind and unhooks the goat preparing to lead him back out of the cactus growth.
Weapon Equipped = Guisarme, Goat tether
Conditions = Half Speed
My brother is so good.
Amiamble goes to assist his brother, dismounting from Yeenoghu.
"Stay here, Yeenoghu," Ami whispers to the big cat. "You can wait for me outside the thorns if you'd like."
Acrobatics (Yeenoghu) to flee cacti
Acrobatics (Amiamble) to get to goat
Acrobatics (Amiamble) to flee cacti
Acrobatics (Amiamble) to flee cacti
Amiamble will approach the goat and stare at it for a minute, trying to get inside it's mind and calm it down.
Handle Animal
Ami will lead the goat out, carrying it if it will let him (although, compared to Amiamble, they are of about the same size).
"Hazim, can you grab the body? It might be worth further study," Mahdi says to his brother, oblivious to Aldebert's disappointment in himself. He starts very gingerly picking his way back out through the patch of flesh-rending cacti.
"Ow!" Another thorn gets him once, and he hisses his frustration.
Amiamble is able to calm Rombard enough to let the halfling guide him out.
Amiamble guides the goat out and hands the rope to Aldebert. He then uses his free hands to pull any stingers from Yeenoghu first, then himself.
"Don't you worry, Yeenoghu, I'll get these out. Sorry about all this," Ami whispers to Yeenoghu.
"Aldebert, do you think you can lead the goat back? I think I saw something over that hill," Ami whispers to 'bert and without waiting for an answer he mounts Yeenoghu and they dash over to see what is above the next crest.
Aldebert collects the goat and tries to drag it back to the camp.
As they walk back, he turns to the others, "So what do we want to tell Almah? I'm at a loss as to who might have started this blaze and why little desert imp things are stealing goats. I hate to tell her we've failed, but I see no other solutions."
Weapon Equipped = Guisarme & Goat
Conditions = None
Ami goes from side to side, scouting.
Mahdi makes a disgusted noise in the back of his throat as they walk back through the dunes.
"We tell Almah that her guards are a waste of time," he says shortly. He takes a few more steps, then exhales and says somewhat more measuredly--
"...that we are looking into it. That many in the caravan suspect Dashki, but that we have no firm evidence of his involvement, yet, and that we, at least, do not damn people before we have proof."
Mahdi inspects the scratch on the back of his hand before continuing. "Investigations do not happen in the space of an hour. It is entirely possible that it was merely mishap and candles... we have no proof otherwise, only suspicions. Let us tell Almah that we wish to let the true culprit, if there was one, be lulled into false security by an official verdict of 'candles'... that we may determine the truth more subtly."
Rombard bleats with excitement as you arrive back at the caravan. Hadrod and his wife come running out of their wagon, the man’s eyes full of tears. ”Rombard! Oh, sweet Rombard, you’re safe. Thank you all so much,” he says, taking the goat’s leash and escorting it back to the animal pen.
”We don’t really have anything to give you for rescuing our Rombard, except for our thanks.” Hadrah says with a smile. Turning to Malki, she says, “And if you dig up any more dirt on this whole fire-business, make sure you come tell me.” Her eyes glimmer with excitement at the prospect of juicy gossip.
Upon arrival at Almah’s tent, you find the leader of the caravan sitting and poring over maps and notes, deep in thought. Garavel is pacing back and forth, and as you all enter, his eyes turn sharply to the party.
”Where have you been? I told the halfling to report to Almah twenty minutes ago! And… Why are your robes torn and your cheeks cut? What in the world have you been doing?”
Amiamble shirks to the back in reaction to Garavel's tirade.
Stealth behind the shorter Aldebert
"You are always good at talking to others, Aldebert. Tell him we were doing good. We fought against wicked little imp that raided the caravan. We protected where all her other guards falied. They should be the ones punished," Ami whispers to Aldebert, nudging him forward.
Mahdi executes a perfunctory bow to Almah, including Garavel in it by extension.
"Lady, I apologize for the delay. There was a desert gremlin, a spirit of mischief and evil, who had dragged away some of your livestock. It seemed a suspicious thing, and such creatures delight in harassing mortals, so it was not outside the realm of possibility that it was involved in the fire. In any case, this far out into the desert, even a mere goat is a resource that we cannot simply write off as inevitable loss. Property is hard to replace out here, as I am sure you well know."
He glances to Aldebert to see if the halfling intends to say the rest of their 'findings', or if he should.
If DM allows me to backtrack, Hazim would have used a coup de grace to behead the little dog monster, and carry back the head as proof.
If allowed, then Hazim would throw the dog head at Garavel as Mahdi is speaking, to illustrate his brothers point.
Almah stands to get a better look at the trophy that Hazim presented. After a few moments of staring with puzzled eyes, she calls out, "Fixx!"
One of Almah's personal guards that you spoke with before steps into the tent. "Yes, my lady?"
Still staring at the severed head, she responds, "Go find Dashki and bring him here. He might have some information that is helpful. This is his area of expertise, after all."
With that, the guard bows and swiftly leaves. Garavel glances at Almah with a look that suggests he does not approve of involving the hunter in this affair.