Tulle takes lead again as the group forms in a column behind him. Holding his neck where the bug got him, he feels the bleeding stop and the spot begins to swell under his hand.
At least I wont bleed to death. This bulge will not be comfortable with my pack strap rubbing against it...
Turning his head back to the column:
Well Petian, once we hear the waterfall perhaps you can sneak ahead and scout the area. We will stay within range enough to hear if you are in trouble. When you do go and scout, look for any avenues of approach that are not straight into the front gate. See if you can spot any area where our driver may be held at.
Will do, but if you hear me scream; You all better come running.
Should I accompany him as a "translator"? Or would you rather go it alone?
|
Finally after some trekking through the woods, you find a stream, and following it, get closer and closer to the noise of a waterfall. Coming to a small grove at the foot of the waterfall, you can see some lights up at the top, a roughly 50 foot sheer vertical face. Immediately, a way up isn't obvious, though you can certainly search around for one.
If searching, please specify if you are searching to the left or right of the waterfall, or somewhere else.
Petian turns to Axel and says
I would not turn down the company if you think you can be stealthy enough.
As he says this, he is looking to the left of the waterfall to see if he sees anything.
Tulle looks to the grove of the waterfall, looking to see if there is any trail or cave. He is also keeping an eye out for any scouts.
In a hushed voice Tulle whispers: Petian, with the camp at the top of the cliff, having you scout ahead may not be the best plan. From here we should be able to find a way up together and I would rather not have you that far away from the group.
Does anyone see anything?
Staying with the group... and looking left.
I am for sticking together...
Also staying with the group. Not so stealthy, but looking left
Perception:
There has to be a way up...
|
|
Adokul finds a riskier climbing path (DC 10) on the right side, but Axlem and Tomak manage to pinpoint an excellent route of ascent on the left side of the waterfall. It will require only a Climb DC of 5 to move upward.
Do you send someone up alone to drop a rope to the rest, or do you all climb without a rope simultaneously?
The cliff face height is 45 feet. Making the Climb check allows you to move upward by a quarter of your speed, so if your movement is 20, a successful Climb advances you 5' up. (9 successful checks to get up.) If your movement is 30, a successful check moves you 7.5' up. (6 successful checks to get up.)
If you fail by 5 or more (roll 0 or less on the left face or 5 or less on the right face) you fall from whatever height you have attained. If you fail by 1-4 you just stay at your current height and can resume climbing from the same altitude on your next check.
So does one or more people start climbing?
I have to head up anyway, so I will drop a rope to those who dont want to follow. If you want to follow, come on up...
My movement is 30, so I assume I only need to pass 6 checks, and I will take the route I found...
So I can drop a rope...
[EDIT: As Adolkul suggested I should attempt to do this quietly...]
And to determine what I find when I get up there:
Tomak steps a safe distance away from where Axlem is climbing for falling rocks. He keeps his attention divided between looking up to check on axlem and keeping watch for goblins (or anything else) returning to the falls from outside.
Keeping his word Petian follows Axlem up the cliff face.
Once uptop Petian follows Axlems lead once again and scans the area.
I would think that you can.
|
|
That certainly works. Some of you climb up, and Axlem drops a rope for the rest. Finally, all of you are up at the top of the sheer cliff face. It's quite a drop down, and a little gust of wind before you move away from the edge reminds you of just how precarious things can be.
A large boulder gives you enough cover that you are not spotted even though the camp is very nearby -- about 50 feet from you, you can see the nearest tents of a circle arranged around a campfire. The camp is on the other side from the stream that drops into the waterfall, so you would need to cross the rapidly flowing water to get to the tents and camp.
Having climbed the rope Tulle turns to Axlem whispering, Thanks Dwarf, you did well on those rocks.
Tulle pears around the boulder taking in the scene.
|
|
The stream is about 10' wide in most parts. From a distance you can't get a good view of the depth. It does look like it's flowing quite rapidly, and the noise it makes is enough to obscure most small noises in the area. The camp setup looks to be a trio of small teepee like tents and a fire in the middle of the triangle. You do not spot the driver or anything that looks like a container to hold him.
I follow Adokul since he should not be alone...
(Just in case)
Seeing and hearing the clumsy dwarf make the enough of a racket to wake a city block Tulle follows behind readying for a fight.
Tulle jumps the stream, warhammer and shield at the ready.
Not seeing anything at the camp ready to strike at him, Tulle looks back to assist anyone who may fall in.
Petian follows suit, thinking to himself.
It is a wonderful night for a swim.
Checking for an answer to Adokul's question:
perception
Upon hearing Adokuls question Petian tries to check out the camp.
|
|
Together with the rope's lowered DC and Take 10, ascending would have been a non-issue then.
You spot about half a dozen goblins in the camp going about various business. You can't make out any specifics but there's definitely goblins there and they're moving around doing stuff. If you want to move in for a closer look, you'll have to do Stealth rolls.
Detect Evil certainly detects the camp inhabitants as evil.
Petian looks around his group of compatriats,
Well I'm going to go and take a closer look.
Petian sneaks toward the camp, to get a better look.
Tomak readies to charge with his warhammer if trouble breaks out.
Axlem readies his Axe to do the same...
|
|
Petian slips closer to the camp, taking cover behind one of the teepee-like tents so he's right up against one of them. From his close-up vantage point, he waits and observes for a while, counting exactly six goblins going back and forth between the tents and the campfire in the center. It's still possible that there are more inside the tents that never come out, however. There is no sign of the driver, but there is the smell of recently roasted meat in the air. Perhaps they have already eaten the poor guy? Can't know for sure, however.
Petian heads back to the group.
All right folks, I found lots of goblins but no signs of the driver. The good ,or bad news depending on how you look at it, is that dinner seems like it has already been served. Hopefully that should make them a little sleepy, and easier to take down. What do you want to do?
Tulle takes Petian's words under consideration for a moment before taking charge of the situation. While he himself had never been a leader of troops in his time in the militia, Tulle had seen many others do it.
We need to search the camp and those goblins are in our way. Let Axlem, Tomak and me form the front line....um...we will engage the goblins and draw their attention....then, uh...Petian, Markas and Adokul move around to flank them. Yea that sounds right. That should throw them off and open their defenses.
While he didn't sound very confident Tulle knew the tactic was textbook and should work.
I agree Tulle. We can be a distraction. Perhaps they will be too stupid to notice their rear flank disappearing. We should also clear these goblins to make the road safe for travelers.
Lets do it!
That sounds fine with me Tulle.
|
|
All right, everyone roll stealth, especially those of you who are going to try to circle around and flank.
I will not be doing up an actual visual battle map.
While you're rolling your stealths, also roll your initiatives.
You count six goblins visible around the campfire.
You can position yourselves before the assault so that you have a straight line of movement to one goblin or another. This means that you can charge into battle if you will -- that is a specific maneuver that gives you +2 to hit and -2 to AC for one round. You may of course not do that and just regular move and attack the goblins. You can sneak close enough to the goblins that you can move and attack in the same round (20 feet from the nearest goblins).
Therefore:
* roll stealth (especially the sneakers)
* roll initiative
* roll attack and damage if you're going for that
Let do this!
Going to just do a move and attack, not a charge. Going to be nice and loud. But , not until after everyone is in position. When everyone is ready, im just gonna war yell in the camp and smash the closest one with a warhammer. I guess that will be the que to move
Initiative
attack
damage
Tulle wants to draw their attention to Tomak, Axlem and himself.
As Tomak said, we will try and wait for the others to move around into position prior to moving forward.
Moving forward from the boulder they were hiding behind, Tulle steps out and advances forward toward the goblin camp shield held ready. He stands just outside of swinging distance from Tomak and Axlem, watching each of them as they all advance in a line together.
Easy Tulle, just like you've done a thousand times in the militia. Don't get ahead of anyone
Tulle looks to his left and right at Axlem and Tomak: Alright boys, our strength comes from our ability to advance in a uniform and deliberate manner. Do all you can to push the enemy back...right into our flanking troops.
Screaming at the goblins, in an attempt to distract them he shouts: HAAAH! TO ARMS VERMIN!