GM SpiderBeard's Ironfang Invasion (Inactive)

Game Master Barvo Delancy

"YAWP!"

The hobgoblins are a wary, crafty folk, but they didn't expect a half-ettin to yell yawp and jump on them. The hobgoblins move beneath the group, and the time to strike is now.

Everyone has a surprise round action. Gregor is now buffed with enlarge person and guidance. It is a 10 foot drop. I'll allow Gregor to add 1d6 to his attack roll, but he must make an acrobatics check to not take damage himself. Alternately, he can charge down the hill for a regular charge bonus, but needs an acrobatics or climb check to not fall. Derrig can also take a standard action immediately after his surprise round action.

Ausk casts Mage Armor.

Keridan will cast guidance on Ausk.

Looking down at the hobs from the escartment, Derrig feels the ancient rage rising in his heart. He swallows the feelings and focuses on his aim.

Attack, longbow +2, favored enemy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Damage, longbow +2, favored enemy: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

He draws another arrow and fires before Gregor and Dane rush into battle.
Shooting at the same hobgoblin.

Attack, longbow +2, favored enemy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17
Damage, longbow +2, favored enemy: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

Sorry guys, slow posts on easter weekend, bear with! I'll get something in when I can. Regular stuff resumes Tuesday.

BACK!

Gregor roars with a slightly odd battlecry, but it's shockingly effective as he kicks off the side of the escarpment and turns an astonished hobgoblin into a fine red paste with a single swing from a greataxe the size of a dinner table.

Leaping out from a bush, Derrig's hatred of hogboblins comes into full play as he riddles one of their party with arrows, although the hogboblin does not quite fall. The hobgoblins quick bark orders in their language and swarm in on Gregor. As one tries to flank him, the enormous great-axe swings out again, killing a second hobgoblin. Only four remain. As they swarm, one manages to graze Dane with a swipe of his sword.

Gregor/Dane take 3 damage! Ausk is up! Two hobgoblins dead, one badly injured. The more dangerous scouts have helmets.

Ausk glares an Evil Eye Hex at the nearby Hobgoblin Scout (with the helmet)

DC14 Will save to reduce to 1 round, otherwise-2AC for 6 rounds

Ausk's will bores into one of the scouts, who shakes his head, resisting the worst of the spell. The hobgoblins rally against mega-Gregor as Dane tries to figure out why he's so large and what's going on. They are extremely successful as they repeatedly stab into the ettin. Roaring in pain, he collapses to a knee. Gregor is in a very bad way.

Keridan winces as he sees Gregor take several hits. He steps up and speaks words from an ancient tongue. "Ma thèid do lotan a shlànachadh!"
Cure Light Wounds + Frontier Healer: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10
Expending [i]Charm Animal]/i] to cast CLW.

Damn and blast em, every one! Derrig mutters. We've got to give them more targets. He calls out to Gregor and Dane. Hang on, lads!

I'm not sure what Derrig needs to do to get down the escarpment. Acrobatics is 0 and his climb is 3.

Derrig throws down the bow and half-jumps, half-climbs down the escarpment, drawing his polearm on the way.

If he can't draw a weapon on the way down, he'll get adjacent to the hobs so he can threaten them with his cestus. He'll draw his cutlass next round. His main point is to get into melee and draw the hobs away from Gregor and Dane.

He brandishes his weapon and sneers at the hobs in their own tongue.

Näytät tutulta - luulen tapoin isoisänne. He spits and shrugs.
Mutta kaikki keittotasot näyttävät samanlaisilta Greenskin Stalkerille ...

I was about to correct you on the fact you're at the top of a 10' escarpment... but Gregor is 10' tall. You're good Keridan!

Derrig can get down in a move action with a climb check. SOrry, will post in the morning!

Derrig takes advantage of Ausk's evil eye and thwaps a hobgoblin with an arrow. He then heroically tries to scamper down the escarpment, but unfortunately dwarves do not scamper and he crashes to the ground. Gregor, newly healed, swipes out with his enormous axe and a head goes flying! He then parries an attack as another goblin tries to attack him.

Derrig takes 3 damage and is prone! Three hobgoblins left and one is hurting. Ausk is up! The rest of you can queue actions.

I just want to say thank you all for making Gregor and Dane effective in this fight while I was gone :)

Still far from healed, Gregor and Dane lurched to the side and swung out with a backhand at the hobgoblin with the helmet, aiming at the spot where neck and shoulders joined.

attack,large: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 6 + 2 = 18
Damage,pa,large: 3d6 + 10 ⇒ (3, 4, 4) + 10 = 21

Ausk moves closer to Gregor/Dane and lays a hand on his shoulder.

CLW: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 2 = 4

Keridan's next round will depend on how the next set of Hob attacks go.

Derrig's plan to provide the hobgoblins with more targets works, as the sight of the dwarf face-first on the ground is too much to resist. Both Derrig and Dane get nasty slashes from longswords.

Roaring in pain, Gregor and Dane respond with an even cut, which cuts through the hobgoblin's parrying arm, and right into his neck. The creature goes down messily.

Gregor takes 7 damage, and Derrig takes 6 damage. Keridan, Derrig, and Ausk are up!

"Damnation!"
Climb: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23
CLW + Frontier Healer: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Keridan scampers down the embankment and calls upon healing magic again, closing Derrig's wound. "Ma thèid do lotan a shlànachadh!"

Sacrficing Goodberry for CLW.

Derrig nods in thanks at Keridan's aid. Keep back, son--don't let them close on you.

He drops his now-useless polearm and draws his cutlass, swinging at the hobgoblin from the ground.

attack, favored enemy, hatred, prone: 1d20 + 5 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 5 + 3 - 4 = 15
damage, favored enemy: 1d6 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 = 9

Derrig's attack barely, barely misses while Keridan manages to heal the crusty dwarf.

Ausk is up!

Ausk glares at the nearby Hobgoblin. Evil Eye -2AC Will Save DC14 or it lasts 6 rounds instead of 1

The two remaining hobgoblins look at each other, and thump their chests. They have been trained to fight for the death and will do just that. They turn to face both Gregor and Derrig. Although Gregor parries the attack, Derrig takes a wicked slash across his face and down his chest.

Derrig takes 10 damage! Everyone is up!

Gregor turned the sword stroke with his axe, which brought the haft high. Instead of swinging the blade high, he reversed his grip and sent the sharp blade right into the fork of the hobgoblin's legs.

attack,large: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 6 + 2 = 16
Damage,large: 3d6 + 10 ⇒ (5, 3, 1) + 10 = 19

Whether Keridan does anything depends on whether there are any enemy still standing ... I'll wait to see Derrig's and Ausk's actions first.

Ausk glares again at a different hobgoblin. Evil Eye -2AC Will Save DC14 or it lasts 6 rounds instead of 1

If the plain one is still standing, Derrig will attack him from the ground again.

If the plain one goes down, Derrig will stand up, pick up his pole arm, and five-foot step to threaten the triangle one.

Gregor's axe connects in the most unpleasant way possible as the hobgoblin lets out a blood-curdling shriek before he sails into a tree, having been lifted clear off of the ground by the ettin.

One hobgoblin remains, who snarls and bangs his longsword on the ground in a challenge. It is clear he will fight to the death.

Take your actions if you haven't, one left!

Which one is still up? there's 2 on the map.

I think you accidentally removed Derrig's token instead of a hob ...

He was looking at me funny! Ahem. Triangle is still up. Plain is dead.

Dane and Gregor gave the hobgoblin a smile that would have curdled buttermilk, both heads having the exact same expression of fury and desire for violence on them. It wasn't a good look, and they knew it, but they also knew how it affected people. With a slap, Dane wrenched the axe's head out of the groin of the now-dead foe, and hefted it high.

"I'd normally try and scare you off now, but we don't want you running off to tell your mates where we are, do we?"

The axe swung down like a thunderbolt.

attack,large: 1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 6 + 2 = 18
Damage,large: 3d6 + 10 ⇒ (1, 3, 1) + 10 = 15

Derrig had stated if he wasn't threatened he'd stand up, pick up his polearm, and 5' step to threaten the last hob. I'm moving his token into that position. Ker will move up between Gregor and Derrig, and ready an action to heal either one if the hob starts to attack them.

Keridan follow Derrig, keeping the dwarf and Gregor between himself and the hobgoblin, and watches to see which way it decides to strike so he can help the target.

Moot point.

The hogboblin snarls back at Gregor. "We Ironfang are trained to fight to the death, do your wo--urk"

Gregor indeed does his worst as the hobgoblin's head goes sailing off into the distance.

End of Combat

With a successful ambush under your belts, you set to work looting the bodies for badly-needed supplies. As you do so, it's clear that one thing has changed - the Ironfang have crossed the bridge. This is made clearer when you see all of the hobgoblins are carrying the same notice.

Phaendar has not been secured to our glorious general’s satisfaction, and in her name I now offer a bounty of 25 pieces of gold to any member of the Ironfang Legion who returns reliable information regarding the location of fugitive human-likes who fled Phaendar.

The payment is doubled if you insteadreturn their heads. Live captives may be claimed as slaves! All rewards are doubled for the impudent ringleaders of this band! Return all information or heads to my cur of a son, Sergeant Scarvinious.

—Lieutenant Scabvistin

You also find the following useful equipment on the hobgoblin bodies:

- 16 provision points worth of dry rations
- A spyglass
- 50' hemp rope with a grappling hook
- a fine woolen cloak, dark gray and lined with dun-colored silk
- six notebooks, full of notes written in goblin
- 4 potions cure light wounds
- 4 alchemist's fire
- 2 composite longbows (+2 str)
- 27 arrows
- 2 mwk battleaxes
- 2 mess kits
- 18 gp
- six backpacks, bedrolls, and blankets

The six hobgoblins also all have longswords, studded leather, and steel shields if you want to take those as well.

The quoted note is now listed as a handout on the 'online maps' link.

Is the bounty notice written in Goblin or Common? Seems strange for it to be in common, but that could just be that the AP author wanted to make sure the players could read it ... ;-)

"I was really hoping they'd stay in the town longer while we got prepared. We'll really need to work on defenses for the camp ... and maybe ways to hide it from prying eyes. At least we have some more gear to help folks out, and a little breathing room on food, even if it is combat rations."

"It's strange enough that they would attack the town at all, but why are they so concerned about catching the refugees? What point is there to rounding everyone up and killing them?"

Is the bounty notice written in Goblin or Common? Seems strange for it to be in common, but that could just be that the AP author wanted to make sure the players could read it ... ;-)

Derrig speaks Goblin, so he can translate them anyway.

Remember, lad, they were taking slaves for some reason. The old dwarf shakes his head. This is strange for them. I don't like it.

Hah. Since someone can read goblin, it's in goblin. But yeah I imagine it's that way so the players can read it.

With the bounties in hand and many more provisions and equipment gathered, you make your way back to camp.

---

Upon arriving at camp it's clear that the filth fever has now afflicted a couple of more people in the camp as the symptoms Jet was showing have spread to two more people. Lirosa, one of the half-elven siblings who has been working herself far harder than she should has now come down ill, as well as Severin, a sculptor.

As with Jet, they show no sign of bite marks.

"Now we have disease in the camp? We just cannot seem to catch a break, can we? Let's move the latrines father away from the main camp, and see if that helps. Also, can any of you treat or cure diseases? Dane and I aren't really good at that sort of thing."

"I'll start checking everyone. We may need to set up a quarantine area."

Ker's Heal is +11, so he will take time Taking 10 for 21 to check everyone (including ourselves) for signs, and try to determine where the illness is coming from. He will then set up an infirmary and begin tending to the sick. He will use the Treat Disease action of the Heal skill on each person to try to help them recover.

Ausk inspects the cooking areas.

Keridan starts a laborious go-through of every single person in camp, checking them for signs of filth fever while Ausk sets to work inspecting the cooking areas.

Keridan, let me know about any questions you're asking. Ausk, what are you looking for in particular?

Mostly to see if something untoward has been added to the food to taint it.

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
"Dammitall, what a time for me to be out of burdock. We'll have to go see about rounding some up."

Keridan talks to the three sick to find out where they have been, what they may have touched, eaten, or inhaled that others haven't. He's trying to figure out what they might have in common. He'll then look for anyone else who might have been exposed and check them first for early symptoms.

Ausk checks out the food closely, realizing that filth fever can be spread from tainted food. However, he's unable to find anything of note in the food.

Keridan, however, uses a more general approach and finds something of note. They've all been working in or near the kitchen, and although Ausk checked the food, Keridan discovers that there is a large waterskin that they've all been drinking from. A quick look over it shows the problem - the hide was never tanned properly, and they've effectively been drinking from a rotting carcass without realizing it. It may be a few days for them to recover, but the source has been found out.

It's possible, in fact likely that the tainted waterskin has seen consumption around the camp. The best you can do is destroy it and keep an eye out for any more symptoms.

Please make your checks for the day. Remember if you assign someone to help you out, they can provide a +2 to your check.

Ausk goes out in search of foragable food.

Survival: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

survival: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

Gregor and Dane work on curing some skins from the animals killed for food recently. They were going to need some clean skins for more waterskins and other equipment. While they were at it, they pointed out some trees with spongy bark to make corks from, and showed the refugees how to boil them to harden the outer surface and remove the chance for contamination.

Take 10 for 21 Heal as my check for the day.

Keridan spends all of his free time tending to those affected by the illness and doing his best to help everyone else avoid getting sick.

If this is the same day as the Hob fight, Ker has a single Longstrider spell left; since that can't be made into a potion, he'll convert it into another CLW potion.

Derrig goes out looking for food...

Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23

...and has pretty good luck!

Sorry guys, things are crazy, will update tomorrow.