Hellscarred and War-torn (Inactive)

Game Master Zedth

Need I remind you Roland's Charisma is 7. He probably couldn't convince a man dying of thirst to drink water let alone a group of crafty devil's we are a bunch of farmers. Leadership in this case should probably go the one with a good bluff or diplomacy and that is most likely a rogue.

Also we have 100gp in miscellaneous gems from the imp. We could go for the high price option and realy increase our chances of success.

I believe that's just to decide how the party will proceed (other than having to discuss it for 48 hours), so not a real leader. And yes, Roland has charisma 7, and that's why he doesn't try convincing anyone of anything, if you don't want to listen to him, your bad ^_^ But yes Chezarion is a better option in both cases.

"I believe we would be better served by the wagon. We can return it later and get some of our money back, if the man agrees. Not that I care for it, as I've lived with much less than that."

"In the last case we can use the dust to disguise Tylz, right? I mean, we will have used only one charge by then, and we can compensate the boy later. Are you sure he's not following us Meldara?"

"The lad only gave us use o' one pinch o' the stuff by what Meldara be sayin so we need a large wagon to get the two o' them out ifn' they are even here. The imp's jewels will more n' cover the wagon, the mule, and the produce. Lots o' places to hide our stuff or some bodies. When dwarves make a plan we try to cover as many loose ends as possible."

This next part relies on an assumption on my part so ignore it if it doesn't apply.

"Also, hate to burst yer bubbles but I ain't seein many elf farmers here. Tessandriel or Catcer might have to take point and the elf may need to go in alone or in the wagon. Mightn' he sneak in with you points at Meldara and join us at the tavern?"

Chezarion replies to Gromff, grinning while he says, "Of course you haven't seen any elf farmers. We don't grow on trees."

"On a more serious note, Gromff is right that two hours of disguise might not be long enough. We might have to use the wagon to smuggle both Gromff and I in, then apply the dust to Gromff once we get to a suitable spot in town. That would give us the most benefit from the dust. We unload the produce, find something else to put in as the wagon's load, and then smuggle Walker and Tylz out in the wagon."

"Or we can just push our way out. Once we are inside the city, I believe no one will assume we are there illegally. But the city is not that big and we have a specific spot to loot at, so I wouldn't worry too much about it."

He lifts his shoulders. "Worst case scenario, we force our way out..."

With the Everwood so near, (home to Toria, large city of elves) the land around Sojourn does indeed have a handful of elves and half-elves living the farmer's life. Not as many as humans mind you, but they are there.
If I haven't mentioned it already, we can assume that Meldara has informed you all that Sojourn grew to prosperity as a trade hub between Torian elves and the humans who lived in this area. There is a fairly high percentage of half-elves in Sojourn and in the general area.

Meldara says to Roland, "I haven't noticed any pursuit. I don't believe Gilgain is following us."

”Let us get the wagon and the mule, and the other things they offered. I do not think I really need to disguise myself as a farmer, since I already look like one, except for the sword. If they don’t trade in the gems, I have some gold coins that we can use.” says Catcher.
I still have about 160 gp in gold, if they don’t accept the jewels.

Then as Tess may be unable to post we should move ahead! I'll do it now and hope all of you feel free to do that when we need to organize things.

The party agrees with buying the wagon and the mule for 50 gp, plus the supplies to look like farmers for 20 gp. Do they accept payment in gems? Since there is no time to get to town before nightfall, they sleep at the barn and keep someone on watch, from a spot where they can see the house. The wiser in the party are afraid of being betrayed by this family or some of the previous ones, and it's always wise to be careful.

Roland will request information about the guards on town, tax collectors and scouts, if they ever come this far, if there are patrols, or if they had ever seen the hellskinned Orc. Then at last he is ready to rest.

And Gromff will snore so loudly you have stuff him under the hey to muffle the sound.

Chezarion will take his turn on watch when the time comes and hope for an uneventful night. He will also spend some time studying the cart and trying to figure out the best ways to secure weapons under it and how best to hide Gromff in it with a load of produce so he doesn't suffocate.

Farmer Joe will accept gems or gold in payment, your choice. Please deduct 70 gp from your loot.
The nights are cold, so several animals are brought into the barn at night. Farmer Joe shows you all a ladder up to the hayloft where you will be raised up and away from the livestock, and where you can have an excellent lookout spot where the 2nd floor doors open wide.

In response to Roland's questions,
Farmer Joe says his family usually isn't taxed too heavily since they supply large amounts of food for the population. He says he usually pays 1 gold per wagonload as a gate tax, he expects you will be asked to pay the same.
He says the guards are selfish, lazy, and sometimes brutal. They are bullies and they don't like their authority challenged. He suggests you let them think they're in control.
He says the town patrols don't come out this far, but he has seen them near the town. He describes the same types of patrols that you all witnessed earlier.
He says he doesn't know of any orc, but he's heard the new appointed constable is a cruel Hellskin Ogre. He's never seen the brute, but has heard that he uses a whip and delights in torture.

The night goes by uneventfully. You all awaken refreshed, but smelling a little like hay and manure!

In the morning Farmer Joe helps Chezarion with a few tips on how to secure the weapons on the undercarriage so that they're concealed well. Assuming you are standing adjacent to the wagon, accounting for hunching down and fiddling with straps, it takes a full-round action to secure a weapon, and a full-round action to retrieve a weapon.
He also has long crates with flip-top lids that double as display stands. He suggests Gromff squeeze into one of these crates with the lid showing "display" side up, filled with potatoes. It will give the appearance that the crates are full.

Gromff huddles into said crate with only minor grumbling knowing full well it has to be done. Also am I keeping my stuff since I am going to be under the illusion or is mine going under the wagon?

Unless the GM rules otherwise I don't see why you couldn't keep your stuff. You'll either be hidden in the crate or under the illusion. Given that we won't have to burn time on the illusion getting you through the gate hopefully two hours will cover what we need.

Chezarion will stash his bow, quiver and longsword under the wagon. His pack can probably go in the wagon. His father's dagger will be concealed in one of his boots and the boot dagger will take its place on his weapon belt. He will also make sure that his Holy Symbol of Desna is tucked under his shirt out of sight.

Roland's weapons and armor will all go hidden under the cart, and he will ask Gromff to have the Amulet and his Ring, for now. If they find the dwarf they are pretty much screwed, so it would be best if he was prepared. Then we will see if Farmer Joe has a club he could use, so the guards could focus on the crude weapon, removing it from the barbarian's reach if they want, this imposing their authority with ease.

Farmer Joe finds an old wooden dinner table and removes one of the legs. He whittles it down into a real nice club for Roland.

Chez, it will be more difficult to pull off your disguise with your armor on.
Should be no problem for Gromff to have all of his stuff with him. It's a tight fit, don't ye doubt! It is still a few hours to town from this farm, so I think we can assume that Gromff will enter the crate down the road from here a bit.
I will act for Tessandriel for now since she's under the weather, unless she chimes in to counter something I did for her.

Tessandriel stows her bow, quiver, and leather armor underneath the wagon. She keeps her daggers on her person- one hidden and one on her belt in a sheath. She takes the newly purchased commoner clothing and suits up, feeling naked without her bow and armor. "I am ready. Let's do this."

It is another pleasant autumn morning, warming up nicely as you prepare to depart. Before long you have a wagon filled with beets, carrots, potatoes, cabbages, and a large side of smoked pig. One long potato crate has its lid turned over with the potatoes heaping on top of it, settling nicely in the partitions built in to the lid, allowing it to double as a display rack. Underneath this display lid is an empty space, waiting to smuggle the surly dwarf past the guards.
Farmer Joe gives the harnessed mule a firm pat on the flank, and the wagon juts forward into motion. He and his family wave goodbye and wish you all good luck. Before long they are lost in the distance behind you.

Who's driving the wagon? Make sure you have your last minute preparations (spells memorized, etc) before we move on to the next stage. Catcher, let me know if you have anything you want to do. I will assume that you have your greatsword stowed under the wagon with everyone else's gear.

Chezarion will go ahead and stow his armor under the wagon too. He will also add his morningstar and his throwing darts to the stuff that he has stashed under the wagon. Chezarion will also swap out most of his explorer's outfit for commoner gear assuming there's enough he can do that. Otherwise an obviously designed weapon belt might be a little too noticeable. Anything he's not wearing goes under the cart. The only weapons he would then have on him would be one of the boot daggers worn openly on the commoner's belt and a dagger concealed in each boot (keeping the boots from the explorer's outfit).

Okay! I have already adjusted my spell list. If anyone has any suggestion, you can look at the link in human word, and see the spells prepared. I’ll hide the masterwork dagger with the greatsword. Don’t hurt to be careful. :)
After spending the night resting and the day preparing, Catcher is ready for their mission.
Afraid yes, but that’s not something she’ll tell the others.
”So, this is just a get in and get out, right? Should we have an opportunity, are we going to rescue the boy’s items?” ask Catcher.

Chezarion says "No, we won't. If for no other reasons than we don't know where he lived, don't know where in his dwelling they are hidden, and have no idea what we would be looking for. I've got nothing against the kid, but there's a little too much at stake with the other things we've got going on to risk putting more items on the plate."

"Yeah... little to much to let the enemy have lots of possible strong and useful magic items. As if things were already bad enough, now we are going to give the enemy better weapons to fight against us. " she shrugs and continue "But I get your point. What matter is the present, the future is in the future after all. "

-Posted with Wayfinder

"Nice club, thanks!"

Roland will be walking behind the wagon.

The potential problem being that Roland may be the only character with the skill to drive the wagon. That would require either the "Handle Animal" skill or a decent charisma modifier. Otherwise at least half the time you won't be able to get the animal to do what you want it to.

The mule is well versed on its duties. It doesn't take much to control. Any of you could drive, I was just curious for flavor and if it comes into to play here. That said, having handle animal never hurts!

If that's the case I could drive, but if anything out of the ordinary happens I won't be able to control the critter.

My limited mind never thought I would use Handle Animal in that situation, but ride or something else. Makes sense, of course, but still... Anyway, a mule is not going to sprint or anything like that, so it won't matter, right?

At Chezarion's comments regarding the boy's things:

"I agree. No sense biting off more than we can chew."

After the wagon and the supplies are purchased, she will store her weapons with the others.

"Here's hoping we get through the gates. It will be hard enough even if we manage to make it through."

I have nothing else to add here. Just trying to do a keep up post. Had a huge headache most of the day. May it go away soon and let me get to sleep! :|

Catcher hears Tessa words, but makes no further attempt to convince them.

Guess she would side with him, they are brothers after all. Ignore all logic arguments to agree with each other… that’s kinda cute in a certain way. Not that it will help us, but cute nonetheless.

I doubt that the boy will let it settle just with this. If you think hard enough about it, denying helping him, we are giving him a death sentence. Not that I really care anyway. He would not be the first nor the last casualty in this war.

It’s just a shame that instead of making our side stronger, we are in fact helping the enemy. Let them kill a potential wizard, and steal all his mother probably powerful things. Should we intervene? Nah, we are to much busy, thinking in our own skin to care about.

Lost in her own thoughts, Catcher doesn’t realize she was petting her familiar this entire time.

I’m getting too attached to it, too quickly…

”You need a name!” she declares ”Important things must have important names! What about Serpentinaldo?” she asks and if that’s possible, receiving a flat look from the snake. ”That’s no good? Humm let’s see… Viperino?” and if a snake could blink in disbelief, it would have done it now. ”I’m missing something, what is it?” she asks the snake, but alas, it gives no answer.

After a few hours of travel the day has warmed substantially. It feels unnaturally warm for this time of year in fact. The heat doesn't sit well with the dwarf who was more used to the frosty peaks of the Smokey Mountains, and so the proposition of being stuck in this potato-coffin for an extended period of time was not appealing.

Before long you have stopped a safe distance away from the walls, and Gromff climbs into the long crate. The potato-display lid is replaced, and the stage is apparently set. Gromff, it is not pitch black. You can see in the normal vision spectrum from fine imperfections in the crate structure that let in the morning's light.

You see the morning queue building up outside of the west gate. So far everything appears normal. So far...

With Gromff safely tucked away in the potato box Chezarion moves the wagon forward to join the queue.

Meldara bids you all farewell and good luck. She hands Chezarion a tiny glass vial with a few pinches of dust in it. "Well this is it. Stay sharp my new friends. This may be the last time we meet for all I know. Chezarion, I'm leaving one dose of magic dust in your custody. Use it well. She explains its use to you. As the wielder of the magic, you picture what your target will look like and then sprinkle the dust on them. The illusion will match your imagination, within the bounds of the Disguise Self spell description.
I'm going to sneak into the city through the south wall, and hopefully I can get these kids out quickly. I hope you find Walker and Tylz. If what I heard is true, they could unlock secrets that could put an end to this war.
Godspeed!"

The elf slips away from the group, soon disappearing behind a hillside.

Everyone, feel free to add in a retcon'd action between when Gromff conceals himself and when you line up in queue, if you so desire.

You approach and join the line of commoners, farmers, and travelers outside Sojourn's west gate. The people around look fairly calm and nonchalant, despite the impaled bodies on spikes, crows and other carrion birds picking at their flesh, and despite the tension and rotting stench in the air. These bodies have torn tabards sporting a lion on a silver shield. Among the dead humans is one elfmaid's body, leaning against the perimeter wall. It is peppered with arrow shafts, apparently left to rot where she fell.

There are six human male guards, all wearing a red and black tabard decorated with stylized flame. They wear chainmail and a helm, and are armed with spears and sheathed shortswords. One sits at a desk just outside the gate; the desk has an iron lockbox with a coin slit on top. This guard has a very bored expression on his face.

Three guards stand with spears readied blocking entry to all but those who are waved through by the remaining two guards. These two are apparently conducting brief interviews and collecting tolls. Of these two, one has a small weak chin and a soft demeanor about him. He is looking closely at the goods in the cart at the front of the line.

The other has a dirty, mean face and appears to be enjoying himself. He says, "Oi, looka' wot we got 'ere mates. This one'za farmer's daughter, fresher than a mornin' dew!" The girl he is lewdly eying is a young teenager, and is very pretty. The rough mannered guard looks to her father. "That'll be one gold for yer cart, 1 silver for each o' your family, but how much you want for her?" He points his thumb to the side, motioning in the direction of the girl.

The farmer goes red in the face, trembling with anger. The people in line near you start looking at each other, anticipating danger. Just then the kinder looking guard steps forward and diffuses the situation, "That'll be 1 gold and 4 silver.... move along, move along." He motions to the three guarding the gate, and they move aside for the farmer's family and their cart.

The two active guardsmen appear to be having angry words with one another as the family passes. The conversation isn't audible save for the occasional shouted word, "..EVER do that......MY job..."

On a side note, you hear these tolls and are amazed. Most tolls to enter a city are 1 copper piece, maybe up to a silver piece if it is a high-tax bigger city. The notion of taking almost a gold and a half for this cart and its family into such a small town is unheard of in civilized lands.

Are we there yet. It's hot in here and my beard hairs are tingling. Evil is afoot isn't it?

Fortunately Chezarion has 2 gold 4 silver on him so that should cover it. He will cover the toll out of his own coin pouch and ask for reimbursement later. Better to let the guards see one guy with just barely enough to cover the toll on him then give them any idea how much the party funds might be.

I'll just deduct it from the group loot now (unless the DM changes the value, it might be arbitrary) and we'll assume you paid out of pocket for RP purposes. We have 2gp 10sp 30cp right now.

The line moves forward little by little. An imp flies into sight and lands atop the town wall, a few feet north of the west gate. It looks at the queue with contempt, and spits.

Tessandriel keeps her eyes lowered as they pass through the gates into the town. Even when the devil spits she does not raise her gaze to meet it. Too much at stake, she mustn't react to the abomination. "The time will come. The time will come. The time will come. The time will come. The time will come." she mentally repeats to herself as they continue.

It is not hard for Catcher return to those days in her childhood.
The feeling of helplessness, her head down, she do not look anyone in the eye. She do not react to any provocation at all.

For his part Chezarion does his best to appear as a bored farmer. He's just here to sell his goods and leave.

Before
Roland will mention that, if by chance the guards want to torture him a bit, you should not worry about it. Just let them be, as punches and kicks cannot hurt the barbarian much. He will be fine and happy by knowing the guards won't be able to do much, and will be easy to fool. But he will have his revenge, be sure about that.

Gate
Roland does not act so sheepishly. He keeps calm and take slow, but vague looks at the things happening. People usually look at that stuff, turning around only when the guards looked their way, and thus he reacted as the crowd did. After all, if the humans bring them profit there should be no problem, and everyone wins. He had seen much worst than that in his hard days, enough to put up a blank face and focus on the task. He tries to commit to memory the face of the cruel guard.

The barbarian realizes the Imp could be a problem, and although he believes no creature saw their faces, he could be wrong. So he pretended he didn't notice the little devil, and moved forward behind the cart, the club on his belt.

"Better be a darn big mug a ale ready when we get to Ashvale...Ashcroft. Damn, done forgot where we're goin," Gromff mumbles within the crate.

You are next in line. The cruel guard approaches and places his hand on the mule's reigns. The more mild-mannered guard walks around and looks at your cargo. He picks up a carrot, and places it back. He lifts a red potato, and replaces it as well.
"Whatz your business 'ere? Whatcha sellin'?" says the cruel-faced guard.

Gromff, you can hear strangers' voices nearby. In the beams of light peeking in through the cracks in your crate, you see the air in here is dusty. You get an itch in your throat. What feels like a small spider crawls from your neck up your chin and wanders across your face. You have a strong urge to swat it, and a strong urge to address the tickle in your throat!

After a few more moments of looking in your wagon, the kind-faced guard says, "That will be 1 gold for the wagon, and 1 silver for each of yeh." After you pay him, he brings your money to the lockbox and deposits it. "Move along, move along." He waves you through.

Suddenly... a woman's voice breaks the morning stillness. "You call that an inspection?! They could be smugglers! They could be...enemies." That last word positively drips with a venomous tone.

This woman is wearing a dark blood-red robe of fine quality. It is trimmed with silver thread and buttons, and leaves little to the imagination-- her lithe body's shape is easily seen through sheer fabrics and opened slits in the robe's design. She has wicked flail in her hand, made of a black metal. (very likely more Dark Iron, you deduce.) She wears an amulet with a large glossy black scale dangling on its end. This scale looks very similar to the black scaly armor that protruded from the devil-child's back--the devil-child you slew back in the holy cave. Among these features, possibly her most prominent is the hate-filled stare in her eyes. She is flanked by two elite guards, and they appear to have finer armor and weapons than the gate guards. The evil imp cackles with laughter, and flies down closer to the scene. It lands on the table with the lock box.

She walks past you all and hops up onto your wagon. She looks at each one of you in turn, and then to the guards who were so recently waving your through. "Watch. And learn." She takes a barrel of beets and pushes it over on its side, spilling most of the contents on the wagon floor and out into the dirty road. She looks in the mostly empty barrel and says "Nothing in there. What's in there!?" She points to...something. You're not sure if she's pointing to Gromff's crate or an adjacent crate of cabbages.

Roland feels the need to do something, and instead of speaking he moves closer to the wagon, get on his knees and starts picking up the beets that fell on the floor, showing how important they are to him.

Chezarion says, "We're just farmers trying to sell our produce. Beets, cabbages, and potatoes. Nothing to be interested in unless you're hungry."

Bluff check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Are you sure the RNG isn't in league with the forces of darkness?

Catcher does her best to don’t attract any attention to herself, before getting closer to the city gates, she hide her familiar, to avoid any suspicion.
When the guards stops the carriage, she tries to peek at them, to see what manner or weapons and armors they are using.
Perception: 1d20 ⇒ 2
She however, is too much focused on doing nothing to see anything.

The guard then says ”Move along, move along.” Sorry, could not resist. :D
That was easier than I though. Maybe we’ll have… ” You call that an inspection?! They could be smugglers! They could be...enemies.” sounds a female voice and catcher flinch as if slapped. Damn, that’s bad, that’s real bad.

When Chez tries to convince the woman, Catcher steels herself to help too.

”Are you mad?” she asks Chez desperate ”Don’t talk to her like that!” she is crying as she pleads him. Then she run near the woman and kneeling, with her head pressed against on the ground she pleads ”Please, forgive him, honored lady! We have just come here to sell our farm goods. Carrot, potatoes, beets, cabbages.”
Bluff: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Please, let the farmer advice be a good one, they must think they are in control! I don’t care if I have to humiliate myself.

Catcher, the guards have spears and shortswords. You see a handful of crossbows on the lockbox table.

This red-robed woman throws a befuddled look at Chezarion. "Did he just... crack a joke at me?" No one responds to her rhetorical question. She appears to be thinking about her next move when Catcher's pleading and genuflection draw her attention away from the elf. She smiles and narrows her eyes.
"Now that is better. Everyone take a look at this one here. This, is how you show proper respect and loyalty." She steps off the wagon, bends down, and gently grabs Catcher by her chin, steering the young wizard's face upward into her eyes. "Beg me. Beg for his life, or I will take it from him, ever so slowly!"

Oh woe is me, stuck in a box with a spider and dying of thirst.

Gromff grabs at the spider slowly and as quietly as possible. Once he has it he looks at it with a stern gaze, says, "No," and pokes it towards a crack so it will leave. Spiders never really bothered him that much seeing as he has fought much bigger in the tunnels of Khaurak-Khozil. That and his dwarven hardiness usually renders their bites nothing more than a nusance. The thirst, however, is far more pressing. For a moment he thinks about conjuring water but the voices outside halt him. Who knows what type of magic detecting spells they might have? Besides if he did old Rodgar Thunderhammer would be rolling in his grave at the bottom of Moradin's Crevice. Are ye a Dwarf or aren't ye? he'd say. Magic was making him go soft. Wounds and dying were the only reasons to conjure water using the divine power o Moradin. That and trying to drown imps.

Fear started to crawl in the girl and finally she realizes that it might not have been a good idea to help the elf.
What she knows about lying and pretending?
She starts to tremble as the woman gently grab her chin.
It’s always like this. They are always gently at first. They always make you think you have a chance to escape, only to break you in the next moment
Her childhood jumps back at her, all feeling of helplessness, the pain and humiliation.
Why I’m doing this for him? but she don’t know the answer.
The crying could have been fake at first, but it was not anymore.
”Please, I’m begging you. Forgive him.” she pleads trying to avoid the woman gaze.

The woman's visage softens at Catcher's plea. The malevolence remained but the urgency was gone. She smiles at Catcher, "That is all That I needed to hear. Karaxa is not unjust."

She looks up and around to the commonfolk queued up behind, and raises her voice to be heard by all nearby, "That is all our lord Ultruu asks...nay, demands!... loyalty and contrite obedience. Any who wish to become a player instead of a pawn, come to our temple site by the north gate. You will be welcomed."

She turns her gaze back to Chezarion, giving him a lewd stare. She leans to the side so that a shapely leg peers out from a slit in her robes, "You. You will come to my bedchambers this evening to receive my...blessing. Meet me at sundown at our temple's construction site near the north gate. Be there or I will have your head on a pike before the morrow's first light."

Karaxa waves you through. The guards move and allow your passage through the gates unhindered. As you pass the threshold into Sojourn most of the guards shoot hateful looks of jealousy at Chezarion.

Once the group is both past the gate and well past where anybody back there could hear them Chezarion lets out a sigh of relief. Then he looks for the inn that they are heading for and also for a spot where they might temporarily stash the wagon.

Perception check: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19

Roland puts the beets back in the crate, and waves a hand for them to keep moving. The place where they needed to go was close to the center of town, so they should still take a while to get there.

He nods his approval to everyone, and looks behind them to see if the Imp is around.
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

What time is it, please?