
Rodolpho Santiwale |

"We've got to go searching through the bog and we were hoping to get some advice from someone who knows the area before we get so deep in we would never get out!"

Morgtii |

Given the stranger's display of hostility and distrust, Morgtii chooses to remain quiet and unobtrusive lest drawing attention to its distinctly inhuman appearance leads to more harm than good.

GM IronDesk |

There is a moment's silence then I got no business with bandits or slavers, mind. Why you headin into the bog?

Rodolpho Santiwale |

"I know it'll sound crazy, but we are trying to stop a demonic cult in the area. They've taken our property and given it to some big nasty giants called thrawn. We are going to go take our property back. Don't suppose you have any advice other than don't go in there, do you?"

GM IronDesk |

Another pause, then the door creaks open. A grizzled bear of a man in his late forties steps forward, crossbow still in hand, but lowered. Giant huntin' is it? Sound like fools work t'me, but alright, c'mon in and catch a rest afore ye go on any further. Folk round here call me Possum. He steps back inside the shack, leaving the door open for you to follow.
Once inside, Possum ladles out bowls of pork and turnip stew and settles himself on a stool. He pokes his ladle in Morgtii's direction Saw you with the little hiver there and figured ye fer slavers. Don't know what property's worth headin inta the bog fer, but ah s'pose ah could give ye a few pointers. What'ca wanna know?

Raidh Angharad |

Raidh smiles and dusts herself off, then follows Possum into the cabin. After resting her longspear in the doorway she sits to accept some stew.
"We're a little....not usual... fer slavers, dontcha think? Less'n they's now frogs and hivers..."
Raidh looks at her stew, and pauses before bringing spoon to lip.
"Thanks a bunch fer yer hospitality Possum. Too ken call me Raidh!"
"Lessee now. Well, what are we looking to avoid? Any slaver camps...or... trapped areas that are even more no go than the entire bog? How about them giants? Where do they hole up"
After a further pause...
"Yoo seen any ruins around? Yanno, interesting broken buildings or structures? They say elvins yoosta live round' here. Tho' I expect they be roosting in the trees!" Raidh ends with an emphatic grin, looking to her friends for confirmation of her yokel attitude.

Morgtii |

Morgtii's antennae quiver at the grizzled old man's words.
"You know this one's kind? Have you seen these slavers recently? When was the last time you saw this one's people?"
Diplomacy: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11

GM IronDesk |

Possum warms to Raidh and responds. You'll find ruins and what all over the bog - ain't no right pattern to em that I's ever seen, and yeah they's trapped. Swamp folk know to stay aways what if they's wanna keep all their bits attached. As to giants - well them rag men is right crafty. I ain't ne'er laid eyes on one me'self, and no one knows where they hide up. And yeah, the elvins stick to dese here woods - less'n they be a war party hunting the rag men. Right bad blood between those two there is.
Possum grows quiet as he answers Morgtii. Hm...maybe a year or so's now. Used ta be they'd come by a few times a year- tradin' fer hog hides and leathers, then's they just stopped showin up. Word was the goblins got em. Or the giants. Some say say the wicked witch of the swamp et the whole lot of them, but I don't put no stock in that. Talked to some loggers a while back that said they bumped into some slavers that were tak'in some hivers to sell at Muktarm. I hear they's still some hives left in the mushroom forests to the east, but the ones I knew from the west - they's gone.

GM IronDesk |

Lessee, There's the frog folk - the bigguns, mind, not littluns like yer quiet friend in tha corner there. And crocs. Lots a crocs.

GM IronDesk |

After the stew has been eaten and the warnings heeded, the party leaves Possum's pig farm and heads down into the bog proper. If'n you come across a fellow farmer named Ghopor, tell 'I'm ta stop by ol Possum's fer a brew.
As you reach the bottom of the escartment the short aspens and cottonwoods give way to mangroves, and just after the sun crosses the height of the day, Morgtii and Kee-rik find themselves slogging through knee deep brackish water.
The trees are thick with crows, that seem to flit from tree to tree, flowing you as you move deeper into the swamp.
Aedron: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (16) + 6 = 22
Kee-rik: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13
Morgtii: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (4) + 6 = 10
Raidh: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27
Rodolpho: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
Static DC 15
opposed DC: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14
As the group finds a dryer patch of land to rest upon, most make out the geometric lines of a tower or parapet in the distance, just poking above the trees, maybe a half hours march away. Of more immediate concern however are the shadowy canine shapes moving stealthily amongst the foliage about fifty or sixty feet from you current position...

GM IronDesk |

The party's defensive posturing seems to deliver a message to the stalking canines. After some low growls and a couple of yips, the shapes just - vanish. The trees are still and the only sound to be heard is the constant low hum of the bog's insect life.
What next? Try to follow the canine shapes? Head to the distant tower? Keep exploring the hex? Head home for tea?

Rodolpho Santiwale |

Dolph was relieved that the hounds appeared to withdraw from any possible conflict. He falls back and lets the more adept survival types take command.
Im fine heading to the tower. Or finishing exploring this hex. I'm with the group decision here.

GM IronDesk |

The group decides to head for the tower.
A wooden palisade rings the upper slope of a steep hill overlooking the surrounding bog. Narrow stairs are built into the steeper, lower slope of this hill, leading up to the fortifications above. A squat, fieldstone tower built at the pinnacle of the hill stands within. Crows are thick in this area.
At the base of the hill, where the stone stairwell begins its steep climb, is a small, gated guard post. It consists of little more than a gate and a gong. A pair of burly goblinoid guards lounge at their posts outside.
Your group is about 200ft away from the guard post and sheltered from view by the vegetation. The distance from the guard post up the stairs to the gate is about 100ft. Any movement closer will require stealth checks, but the guards are currently not paying attention

Morgtii |

Do we have 4 people with ranged attacks that can reach the goblins? Morgtii can activate its Steel Rain Drill, and if two people each attack one goblin, that's 4 attacks per goblin with Target of Opportunity, which with the bonus damage from Steel Rain may be enough to take them out.

Aedron Ekstrom |

Our ranged attack options look like this;
Me: 2 Shortspears 20ft. RI
Kee-rik: Sling 50ft. RI
Morgtii: Longbow 100ft.
Raidh Angharad: 1 Javelin 30ft. RI
Rodolpho Santiwale: Destructive Blast 30ft. flat. Maybe more stuff I don't know about, not familiar with incanters.
So in short, probably not, sorry.
DM, does it look like they could reasonably use stealth to get closer, without totally getting discovered immediately? Kee'Rik and Morgtii are super stealthy. They also just so happen to be the ones with the ranged weapons.

GM IronDesk |

I will be applying penalties for cover range and laziness to the hobgoblin's perception checks, so yes the first few stealth checks should be relatively easy. However, the five of you assaulting the front gate of a fortified hilltop fort in broad daylight might not be the wisest of actions...

GM IronDesk |

Okay, here's some more recon...
The tower is 20 feet tall with a crenelated roof.
*A scorpion has been positioned on the top of the tower.
Stone stairs cut into the side of the hill provide a point of entry.
* A palisade surrounds the tower and is interrupted by a gate for the stairs.
* A narrow ledge runs along a steep cliff just inside the palisade wall to a cave opening.
*Several camp sites are easily visible atop the hill in front of the tower.
*Small figures can be seen moving around the campsites.
Check out the Hilltop tower map in my avatar header.

Kee-rik |

Let's see what Kee-rik notices...
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26
Kee-rik reconsiders his decision to sneak up on the much-larger-than-he-thought encampment.

Morgtii |

Morgtii sees...
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Also, since we leveled up, Morgtii can pass around some fairly serious Stealth bonuses with his Assassination Drill and Scout bonuses (+4 bonus right now, and the whole group within the drill's effect takes the highest Stealth roll between all of them).
"Friends... Does anyone else notice how still the sentries are?"

GM IronDesk |

To avoid possible confusion... The two sentries Mortii mentions are the two at the top of the tower, not the two at the gatehouse at the base of the hill.

Raidh Angharad |

Becoz we are sneaker-hobos?
C'mon, we've been trounced so many times, and are more or less still here...More or less.
At the thought of stealth, Raidh inwardly curses her heavier metal armor, but follows Aedron's eye to see the trees that lead to the palisade.
"Funny that Possum didn't mention this place.. [scans the guards locations] They might not be...terribly bad...folk. Then again, they look to be. Do you think this is an elven ruin repurposed? " she asks no-one in particular.
GMID - does it look like an elven ruin?

GM IronDesk |

The tower is squat, inelegant and ill-built - not what you would envision when you think of elven architecture. And while it is old and in poor repair, it is neither ancient nor ruined. As your group ponders the hill top fort, more crows gather noisily in the branches above you.
Possum didn't mention the place because he stays out of the swamp whenever possible. While he is a good source of information about folks coming or going from it, and a valuable rest stop if one should need it, his first hand knowledge of what lies deeper than an hour or so from his hut is extremely limited.

Kee-rik |

So, now we roll high.
Kee-rik, with a little shrug and sigh, follows the rest, but at a short distance (30 feet or so).
Stealth: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (16) + 16 = 32

GM IronDesk |

The group moves up to within 80 ft from the guard post without alerting the sentries, who still loll about their posts without much regard for their duty.... You are close enough now that you can hear the two talking, and that any movement closer comes at a greater risk of discovery.
You can let your previous stealth checks stand for the next check if you plan to move closer to the guards. I'm curious to know what your next move is :> If you overcome the two hobgoblins at the guard house, there's still a 100' climb up to the fort gate with no cover.

Aedron Ekstrom |

Aedron sneaks a little closer(20ft.), then breaks from cover, running towards the watchpost with his axe lifted.
So, the idea is to kill those two hobgoblins, then melt back into the trees. When reinforcements come, we kill those, rinse and repeat until the number of people in the tower is down to a manageable level where we can storm it up the stairs. Sorry if this is a s!@%ty plan, but I think it is better than extending this stagnation we're at with no-one wanting to take charge of a bad situation.