"Get overe here you filthy mutts!" says Yarask swinging his earthbreaker down on the wolf in front of him
@gm: Per trait, I have..."if able to act during surprise round, may draw a weapon as free action."
So during surprise round I would actually 5-foot step and stand next to Dolgrym, then prepare an attack if a wolf approaches:
During regular round, then, move into flanking position for sneak attack and another Attack:
=> Taking an AoO from wolf during that move into flank position.
Ogden groans in surprise, not being the most battle-hardy dwarf. He takes a step back next to Auughh, looking over his shoulder at their companions farther away. He begins to yell gruffly, words of encouragement and also tactical advice, as he watches the battle flowing around him.
Tegnar comes out of the Ramblinghouse to see the other group being attacked by wolves. Just as he gets ready to move in their direction, he hears growling behind him and is able to avoid the bite of a wolf from another group. He pulls out his dwarven waraxe and prepares to deal with the scavengers.
Adrian yells: "Not wolves, why did it have to be wolves." The halfling runs fleeing to the gate of Trunau never to be seen again.
Yarask and the agile Dvalin both leave two wolves bleeding on the ground. Yarask's blow is sheer power, while Dvalin hamstrings the wolf with a shot to the vital muscles and tendons in the hindquarters. Their four brethren attack, and hit Tegnar, Aggh, and Boram knocking them to the ground. Tegnar dodges the first strike, but the second wolf flanking him hits him unbalancing him. The group by the Ramblinghouse seems to be having more trouble than the group returning from the gate.
ORDER
Dolgrym
Boram
Tegnar
Ogden
Aggh (may want to cast defensively if casting)
RND 2
Dvalin
Yarask
Wolves
Map updated - P on your figure indicates prone
Not being able to do anything else, Augier tries to cast sleep DC 17
Auiger manages to stammer out the spell and targets the two wolves next to him[ooc]DC 13 will or fall asleep for 1 minute[/dice]
regardless off what sizing we now use, Dvalin will run to the ramblinghouse-group as the situation here seems under control, while the more socially-minded dwarfs that stayed behind seem to be in trouble!
As Boram flanks the last wolf Yarask's weapon thunders down charged with the dwarf tremendous killing intent!
blasted wolf, knocking a fella down, no respect
Boram stand up and turning moves toward the other group brandishing his walking stick and yelling
Not in a position to get a very good slaying on the sleeping wolf, Ogden draws his battleaxe and swings anyway, stepping over to flank it with Tegnar.
They are in trouble over there, I better help.
Dolgrym runs over to the other group to try and help them.
Yarask hits the last wolf brutally leaving him bleeding out with his two brothers, and his companions rush to help out.
The staggered wolf lunges at prone mage.
The staggered wolf lunges at prone mage. The two other wolves attack Dvalin, flanking him. The mage and Dvalin take nominal bites (1hp each) and are not knocked down.
Aggh keeps his concentration and finishes off the complex spell and the two wolves slumber. They are quickly finished off by the rest of the party.
Combat Over
A quick search of the area in the fading light yields little except
Embarrased to find himself knocked to the ground, Tegnar swings his axe angrily at the wolf between himself and Auiger.
He then straps on his shield to try to protect himself.
well that went better than expected
After Yarask brutalize the wolf that attacked him Boram rushes to help his clan-mates he watches Aggh put the last two wolves to sleep and the rest of the dwarves finish them off. getting to the second group, ignoring the fact that all the did was get knocked down and stand back up, he says
"well we certainly beat tha stuffing outa that bunck didn't we"
He then looks around quickly before the sun sets.
Agghh struggles up. Bloody dogs! Who let them loose?
Yarask joins the other muttering under his breath:"Something is very wrong here... breaches of security like these don't bode well... not at all!"
Ogden heaves a sigh and stows his Axe after wiping it clean on its pelt. "Damn wolves caught us by surprise, did not expect a second group a' them.. Is anyone badly injured?
He helps look around for tracks or other clues.
"I think they got Aggghhh pretty good. It smells like they ripped his abdomen open!"
"Them wolves are definitely not here by chance. T'was an attack. Someone ain't like what we are doing and finding out. You guys think this could be that same cart we saw tracks of outside the walls? If so, I sure hope the guards remember who came in with it."
"Wolves don't belong in a town unless they've been trained well or caged."
Dolgrym circles the dead wolves and the starts walking to an alley.
"Look here! Here's how they got in. Someone put them in this cart, though I don't know how they kept em quiet enough to get through town. We must find out if the guards know who brought this cart in."
Ogden takes a look at several of the bites Agghhh received, grunting, "These are pretty bad. Best be patchin' ye up in case more a' them wolves be visiting, or their master.." He looks around, almost as if expecting to see him lurking somewhere.
He reaches out and touches one of the bites, muttering one of many prayers to the dwarven pantheon of protection for traders and travelers. . Turning to the others as the wounds close, he says, "We need ta find the owner of this here cart. Doubtless the same one what visited Rodrik last night."
And this one could use a bath.. he thinks as he stands in close proximity to Agghh.
I got bit on me arms and legs, my guts are still inside. Augier sighs in relief as Ogden heals.My thanks.
Sniffing, Dvalin watches Augier being healed by Ogden: "You certain about that? I could swear...nevermind"
Dvalin stays upwind of Augier for the remainder of the day, and will, before they retire for the night, secretly place a purchased piece of soap in front of his door.
Boram takes a careful look at the cart to see if there is any more information about it
these fella's are great, it's like being home in Glimmerhold, nothing brings a group of dwarves together like a good fight.
Boram, watching the interaction of the dwarves, he bites his lip so he doesn't laugh out load at Dvalin's interaction with Augier, he smiles a little as the whole group begins to become a team.
"Wolves in carts, don't seem natural at all, shall we drag it over to the tower an' see if tha guards remember who was drivin' it? We may as well toss tha dead wolves back on, till we decide what to do with tha hides an' such"
won't hurt for the guard to see the wolf carcasses, they'll at least believe there is a threat, and there is a slim chance someone will recognize the wolves
He then goes to the front of the cart, waiting for help to push it over to the dead wolves and then to the guard tower.
"Sounds like a plan, Boram. Let's see if anyone remembers who drove the cart... and somehow I think we already know the answer to that question will be "some half-orcs"... There are killers on the loose here, and they wear the faces of half-orcs!" says Yarask nodding at Boram and moving along the halfling.
The investigation of the cart begins in earnest after dinner, and the simple handcart with a handle with a crossbar was pulled by two. Following up a lead from one of the patrols, you discover two field hands were hired to pull it inside the city and paid an entire gold piece for their labor. Their employer was a young, tattoed half orc with broad shoulders. After that, the leads seem to dry up.
The next day appears to be sunny and clear, with no sign of clouds. The smell of sizzling bacon, a favorite of Rocks, permeates the Ramblinghouse along with some sizable pork chops. Rock starts off his day with hard cider, pork chops, and bacon for breakfast.
He shakes his head at the ambush. "Not something a dwarven fortress would allow to happen, not at all. Well, I have to continue to see about provisions. You can follow up on the murder--I bet you are getting close and that is why you were attacked!!"
The group considers where they will go, who they will question, and what security precautions they will take. Although it may look alarming to the locals, being armed while in town may be prudent.
Augier scarfs down his pork-chop. So who else should we question? We should at least keep a dagger ready to pull out in case of another dog attack.
Since no hunting dog could be procured in the past day, and seemingly no one of the guard listened to the suggestion of painting additional white swords in strategically defensible locations, Dvalin feels confirmed in his opinion about humans.
That they would so easily allow bribery without dire consequence, infiltration of their ranks, and a setting of a somewhat "general"(doubting the wolves would have stopped the attack if they had succeded against the dwarfs) attack within a populated city...humans, halflings, half-orcs, the world would be better off without all of them...dwarfs and honorary dwarf-halflings were the only ones to rely on.
Brooding and feeling both ignored and that the population here earns whats coming to them, whatever it may be, Dvalin will go along with whatever plans are made.
He will, however, take some time to try and talk with Ruby. She may have come of age, but she was still the kid sister of Rodrik(if memory serves right?). Dvalin will mostly try to console her(not actually trying to get information out of her), but IF she mentions anything about her brother that would sounds interesting, he'll try to find out more.
"Yes, Stonecrusher... but if that's true we might be able to lure these traitors out in the open. They want us dead? Let's give them an easy target I say!" proclaims Karthak slamming his fist down on the table, hard
there is a lot of work today I better eat light
after a pleasant night of hearing nothing but dwarves snoring, Boram awakens refreshed and ready to investigate. He goes to the common room and orders a light breakfast: pork chops and bacon, three eggs,a short stack of pancakes, oatmeal, fried potatoes and toast with no butter or jam; he didn't want to be overly full. Seeing Yarask preparing to slam his fist on the table he quickly picks up two of his plates to make sure he doesn't loose their contents. Fortunately only one pancake slid off of the short stack and Boram quickly picked it up and put it back on the plate.
three second rule, not that any of the dwarves care
Hearing Dvalins plan to speak to Ruby Boram asks
"If'n ya don't mind Dvalin I'd like to go talk with Ruby also, but some time today can we try an find 'at half-Orc oracle, I still think he can help us, if nothing else he can tell us about his visions, Rodrik must have believed him or something."
Boram will go with Dvalin and help translate some of the Dwarven vocabulary
Plus maybe find out about the hopeknives. Just who makes em?
Ogden eats meticulously, and also goes to assist in the discussion
He also keeps an eye out, in case someone else tries to kill them.
while Boram and Ogden are helping Dvalin tald to Ruby he keeps a keen eye out for trouble. Then asking the dwarves.
"when we are done here, are we looking for tha oracle or the wolf sender?"
could be there the same person
Tegnar eats his breakfast with the rest of the group. "While we were caught off-guard, I'm not sure we should walk around armed just yet. If the town is placed on high alert, then by all means we will. We shouldn't split up too much, so I'll come with you two to talk to Ruby."
Ogden glances around and responds, "Methinks tha best course o' action now'd be ta look fer both. Personally, think someone stealthy like our burglar here ought to walk separate from us a ways unnoticeable, and try to catch whoever it is laying a trap fer us. They tried once, they'll surely try again."
He grunts in thought, "Did they lock tha gates down tight? Should be not a soul gettin' in 'r out until the perpetrator be found."
"I think we have better go looking for the oracle. Whoever set the wolves on us is probably far away now or in hiding. But I insist we prepare to turn the tables on our assaliants..."
During breakfast, the guard leader Omast Frum speaks to Dvalin. "Since I been erasing graffiti myself and you have not, I'll not be making any more graffiti to act as targets that I'll have to clean up later!!" Those who spoke to Omast found him personally cleaning graffiti while dangling from a harness, and his clothes smell of lye. He does admit: "The dogs, I did order me some of them, but it takes Burnie some time to deliver them after getting them trained." And, it appears hunting dogs are available, but expensive and in short supply. Nevertheless, the guards have tried to get some.
The situation with Dvalin gets explosive when Rock intervenes, and the guard leader stomps off.
Rock nods when the wizard brings up the hopeknife, and mentions: "I know wizards are smart. The only decent place to get hopeknives is the Clamor. Sara Morninghawk probably knows all the hopeknives in town."
After breakfast two groups split off to interview Ruby and go to the Clamor to talk to Sara.
Dvalin and company arrive and speak to Ruby. She beams at your appearance and tries to be helpful. "I heard you were attacked, and I will help all I can. What specifically can I help you with?"
Agggh and company arrive at the Clamor (Building G on the city map), officially known as 'Morninghawk's Fine Steel', and are greeted by a mannerly half orc that obviously has the strength to operate a forge. After introductions are made, she explains she is an expert on hopeknives. She seems concerned about your motives, and asks Aggghhh: "Why are you asking about these hopeknives? As a duly elected member of the Town Council, I stay informed of town events."
PICTURE OF SARA
"Ms. Morninghawk, we mean no offense but we are trying to solve this murder and information about the hope-knives may prove vital."
Dolgrym tries to be helpful but isn't much for dealing with others.
Sara brightens up at Dolgrym's directness. "I appreciate those that get to the point. Rodrik commissioned
a new blade a week before his death. I
did the preliminary work on the knife, then
handed it off to one of my apprentices, whom
I assumed finished the blade.
I guess it doesn’t matter so much anymore, but I wonder where it went—it must be around here
somewhere.”
After a few minutes searching for the knife,
Sara comes up empty-handed. “I’ll bet that clumsy oaf
Urnsul put it somewhere before she up and quit the other
day; it’s hard to get good help. I’ll let you know if I find
the blade. How is the investigation coming?”
cannot hurt to ask
Boram takes Ruby by the hand and tells her
"We are very sorry for yer loss, Ruby, yer brother seemed like a fine sort. He had a friend, an oracle half-orc Katrezra who had dreams and visions. He seems ta be missing from tha Sanctuary, would you happen ta know where he is?
Half-orcs all over the bloody place. Augier thinks.
Do you know where Urnsul lives?
Rock nods to you, and rephrases your earlier questions about the cause of death. Kurst responds: "The only thing I have is
Rodrik’s hopeknife, which he supposedly used to kill
himself. I’ll need it back for his funeral, but if you think it
might help, you can have it until then.” He hands over a hopeknife to the group.
Augier shows the knife the smith. This it?
Yarask considers his options carefully:"The girl is unlikely to know much about this Katrezra, so as far as I can tell we are better off asking around for his description. Trunau is a small town, everyone knows everyone else, and a crippled half orc claiming divine guidance is bound to attract some curiosity at the very least. Then there's teh matter of Brinya... we could ask her again for any information about the oracle, maybe she misremebered something or she wasn't being entirely truthful. And at the very last we could return to the shrine of Iomedae and ask again about Katrezra. Besides all that we still have to solve the mystery of those white swords painted everywhere..."
Then the dwarf talks in his usual low tone:"Good day Ruby, as Boram said if you remember anything about Katrezra it could help our investigation immensely. We have discovered Rodrick was killed and that half orc was a known acquaintance of your brother. He could be a key figure in all of this... so if you know anything please tell us"
While Dvalin indeed considered to ask Ruby if her brother ever mentioned what he was doing in a passing comment towards her, some location he would go to or places she should avoid(especially that one), he did not intend to add to the barrage of questions already placed before her.
That child is so helpful, she clearly still is in shock over the loss of her brother. I swear, I'll try and make sure you are ok, Ruby. Humans grow up so fast physically but inside, you're still a child, with so few years yet. And whatever grim future fate holds for this place, I'll try and protect you.
Ogden speaks softly, having a tender place in his gruff little heart for small things like halflings and children, "Lass, did ye know that Rodrik lost his hopeknife? D'ya remember if he mentioned anything about it?"
Ogden grunts after the group has come back together, "Wait a second... This Rodrik supposedly lost his hopeknife during tha investigation, 'cording t' tha half-orc girlfriend. But Kurst had his hopeknife as it supposedly was the murder weapon. And then he supposedly commissioned a new one a week afore he died, which is 'missing'..." He looks exasperated.