"Little bit of... history of what nobles did..." Luca muttered. She was far from being General material - for the most part, the beasts that controlled her seemed to have their own ideas about what should be done, and it wasn't exactly easy trying to explain that to others.
At the edge of her mind, however, a few ideas flickered... if she just gave more to the Void, it would send newer, more powerful minions to drive her enemies before her...
"I understand the basics of most constructions, and what to expect in tunnels, perhaps how to bring them down. The less fighting we have to do is likely the better option." He says knowing he would be able to assist in some construction. He feels the handle of his sword and the other weapons that were taken off of him. He then asks the pirate and if needed Norren after if the pirate did not answer to his liking, "What about some armor? I prefer Scalemail armor and have some in the prisoner camp, but there was little time to collect it."
"Well, I'm a bit of a dabbler in all study, so I've studied history and engineering. I wouldn't rely on me for tactical advice though!"
Norren nods to Logan. "Collapsing their tunnels is possibly our most important goal. And we still have some loading to do, I'll send a man to fetch it."
After all supplies are fetched and brought onto the ship, Norren begins to call out orders. Long poles are used to push the ship away from the dock after the large mooring ropes are undone. Slowly the large vessel pulls away, and sails are unfurled to catch the wind. Over a period of several hours, the ship rounds the island until it reaches the place where the main camp party is dropped off, at the mouth of a river delta. The forest looms tall and dark beyond the river banks.
Longboats are lowered into the water and the supplies moved into them. Norren waves the party into them as well. "We'll take these boats up the river to where we'll set up our camp. If we move quickly we can be established before the goblins notice."
The pirates (and any able-bodied helpers) row the longboats up the river against the fortunately-lazy current. The forest gets deeper and denser the further you go: animals can be seen fleeing the banks as the humans go by, unused to their presence in this part of the island. After some time, hours after the midday sun has begun to sink back towards ground, the pirates reach a prominent fork in the river. The remains of an old stone pier jut out at the deepest point, and broken bits of moss-grown buildings still stand in the space beyond. One by one the pirates draw their boats up to the pier or lash them to exposed tree roots.
"This is it," Norren announces. "Here's where we set up. Get some logs cut and a palisade set up, lads! Mason, I'd be obliged if you and anyone else who knows construction work could plan out some better defenses. If we can't hold this place against attack, it's your skin too."
Vincent nods, his jaw set in permanent displeasure. He gestures to a couple of the pirates, and to Tyrus, Dante, Logan, and Luca as well. "Let's take a look around."
Luca nodded at the command, apparently not having the desire (or the intestinal fortitude) to stand up to Vincent. "O-okay..."
With that, she began moving around the area, keeping an eye out for where people on the smaller side (such as herself) could either hide or break through. It wouldn't do much good to have a big wall up front if the goblins could swarm in through another entrance - particularly one that wouldn't be nearly as fortified against attack.
Structural integrity of the nearby buildings
most effective means of caving in tunnels
effective battles against goblins and bugbears
advantageous locations and possible enemy locations
Dante takes in their forward base with a tactical eye. He became unaware of his surroundings only focusing on defensible positions and effective trap locations.
Tyrus studies his books, then naps as the boat travels upriver. Many men of his mass would snore like a sawmill, but Tyrus sleeps like the dead; barely breathing and motionless.
When they arriver
"Captain. These ruins - do you know their history?"
You don't notice any particular places that look easy to enter from. Most of the banks beyond the pier itself look slick with mud and difficult to scale.
At least one of the buildings looks solid enough to serve as some kind of stronghold - it's walls are whole and it looks built to sturdier standards than the others. Anchoring a set of inner walls on that building, with it serving as a gatehouse of sorts, would be a sound tactical choice.
As for the tunnels, you are aware that destroying any obvious supports is the quickest way to close them. Causing landslides upon the entrance is another sound option. From within, extreme heat or cold can cause rock to crack and expand/contract, which encourages cave ins.
The northern fork of the river rises into hills which give a position above the small peninsula the camp sits on. If the enemy gains a foothold there they will pose a threat.
From an old manual on military fortifications, you know that using fire or other sources of heat to dry the soil where the walls are built will help them stand strong. Putting a short palisade of stakes around the riverbanks will make the more difficult to scale.
Norren glances to Tyrus while he supervises the pirates bringing things ashore. He gives a shrug. "More Obanese ruins, far as I know. Most of the stone structures on the island were built by them before the Elven War. Maybe they had problems with the goblins too; built this to pen them up like we're going to do."
You know enough of engineering to see that the buildings on this part of the island don't bear the marks of Obanese military construction. Strangely enough, they look a bit dwarven in origin.
"Hmmm." Tyrus ponders, as Norren's men move past him
"Goblinoids possess excellent night vision, and the stories have them attacking from the dark. They're reputed to be incredibly good at surprise. If I had to guess I'd say...
They move a force around us to scout, staying just out of light range. When they think we've relaxed - perhaps three in the morning - they boil out and grab one of the sentries... or possibly just whoever is close to the rim. Then they take them back to the forest and torture the poor wretch in the hope that his anguished screams will cause us to stumble into their prepared ambush while our own eyes are barely functioning in the dark.
They repeat this night after night, until we are forced into to sleep during the day and huddle for protection around our fire at night."
Tyrus, unaware of the concept of morale except in the most abstract sense, paints a gruesome scene.
"If possible, captain, I think it might be worth investigating those structures still standing that are suggestive of dwarven work. I, for one, would like to sleep with walls around me."
"Also, the men might want to set some fires to dry the ground before we put some makeshift walls in - or alternatively perhaps just leave a wall of fires burning all night. That should discomfort any goblin who does make it through."
"Logan? Dante? Do you concur with my analysis?"
Luca looked more than slightly worried by Tyrus' vicious appraisal of possible goblin tactics. Horrible little monsters on one side and horrible otherworldly ones on the other... this was not going to be a very enjoyable experience, was it? With that, she quietly changed to looking for the most secure parts of the buildings - ones that goblins couldn't snatch her from. If they could find enough of those, maybe everyone could be safe...
Dante continues his survey of the area. He doesn't appear to paying attention but he answers promptly. "That is probably one of many tactics we can expect. I have heard that goblins come up with plans more foolhardy than anything most of the time but it is because of this that they sometimes succeed. They are highly unpredictable. They might even build slingshots and launch their own over the walls."
Circling one of the buildings he seems to come to a conclusion. "This is the one you should turn into a command center," he says to Norren. "Its the strongest of the remaining structures and large enough that could build fallback points on the inside by anchoring more walls. Surprisingly strong really...huh. It is dwarven. That's odd," Dante mutters, getting temporarily lost in is own curiosity. It reminds him of the tunnel they found in the other ruin and the dwarven notebook. This place has more history than just an Obanese outpost. He shakes his head to get rid of the distracting thoughts and points at a hill up the northern river fork. "We will also need that hill. It has too good of a view on this camp to let the goblins have it. And the ship and lifeboats that we took here need to be heavily guarded. They are our lifelines, transportation and greatest advantage over the goblins. We lose them and we lose a great tactical advantage."
At Tyrus's predictions of tactics, Norren shrugs. "We won't be huddling around anything. This is a base for staging attacks, not to hide in. We'll lose fighters, but they'll lose more."
Norren looks to the hill that Dante mentions, nodding. When he speaks his voice seems to betray a begrudging respect. "Aye, good points, especially about that hill. We'll have to put fighters up there, maybe erect some sort of tower. Soon as the lad Vincent is done looking around this area, I'll send him up there with you and a few others to get that done. You, Mr. Tyrus, and a few others can set up bunks in the intact buildings. Set up a spot to treat the wounded as well. We brought the same sort of medical supplies we had back in the town."
"Also, might as well erect a tower near the water to keep an eye on the shores and the fork. I am not sure if goblins can swim but they are crazy enough to drown trying." Dante looks around one more time and nods his head, signaling that that is all he could think of. He then moves to the boats with the others chosen to check out the hill up the river.
Luca listened to Dante's thoughts - as well as Norren's note that the group planned to be more offensive than defensive. Good gods... I think the monsters -like- the goblins. The beasts sounded utterly insane. Slingshots? Swimming and not even knowing if it would succeed? This was... this was totally absurd. She focused inward a bit, finding it uncomfortably easy to find the link to her Eidolon. "You're going to become a scout." she muttered quietly before rejoining the others.
She coughed slightly. "Um... one of the... the monsters... that appear around me... they can, um, probably sicken the goblins and soften them up before we attack." she offered. "Another will, uh, kind of blow up if they stab it... if that will help..."
Norren looks at Luca with an uncertain expression, seeming to really take notice of her for the first time.
"But can you control who they'll attack? Where they'll go?" he asked. "Magic is a great weapon, but not if you can't control it."
The girl swallowed nervously. "Th-they don't like it when things threaten me. I th-think they'll do it." She wasn't a good enough liar to boldly state her confidence that the creatures would do exactly as she said. It was far more likely they'd do whatever the heck they wanted - without regard to what she'd prefer them to do. Of course, she'd prefer all of them go away and never appear before her again, so perhaps the otherworldly beasts had a point there... still, if there was one constant in their actions, it was a desire to protect her regardless of all other factors that might be involved.
"She's fine," Dante says stepping between the two. "Without her help more prisoners would be dead and definitely more of your men. Her and here summons will be vital in your efforts to stop the goblins. In fact," he says turning back to Luca, "I would love to hear more about the one that explode. How big are we talking? Do you think the explosion could cave in a tunnel?" he asks leading her away from Norren. On a quieter note he says, "You should be more confident in your skills. Without you we probably would be dead."
Tyrus eyes start to well up
"It is as you say Captain. Goblins are supposed to be attracted to the scent of fear and pain, so a defensible infirmary is an excellent idea."
He stops awkwardly
"Thank you for... listening to me."
Turning away quickly he starts walking to the quietly talking Luca and Dante.
Luca shook her head in response to Luca's question. "It would h-hurt any of the creatures around it, but wouldn't do anything to stone unless it was already set up to fall when damaged." she explained. The explosion was nice, but it wasn't truly powerful - most of a wizard's offensive spells would be far more useful in a situation like that. "It's m-maybe fifteen feet across in total, with the th-thing in the middle." In short, like most explosions, it would hit everything around it - but not be too threatening past that.
Vincent comes back from his walk, speaking authoritatively to the small group of engineering-inclined pirates who had accompanied him. They, in turn, began to peel off and started giving orders to their own fellows. Norren pointed out the high ground that Dante had identified.
"We need to find a way of keeping that area clear of goblins. Get up there and take them with you - they seem to have some good ideas." Norren then waved over some fighters to accompany them.
Vincent nodded, his lip curled in the little snarl he always wore when Norren addressed him.
It is only a bare couple of minutes to cross the river, and then you all trek upwards along the easiest path you can identify. The "high ground" rises about thirty feet above the river surface at its most advantageous spot. It offers an impressive view of the whole campsight, and indeed has good lines of sight down all three branches of the river.
Vincent looks to Tyrus and Luca. "Unless your magic can somehow make this area dangerous for long periods, I think they'll have to guard it at all times."
Dante looks around the hill in obvious thought. "This hill is an obvious tactical advantage if we set up down there. What if we turn that into a trap. We can work slowly and make it sloppy. Then, when they attack, we hold out for a little bit, then let them in and close the cage door. Take out a good chink of the enemies and maybe get some information. They also won't want to assault the hill again if they think its a trap."
One of the accompanying pirates speaks up.
"What kind of trap? We can't hide enough of us up here to ambush any decent numbers."
"...I thought the goblins were too crazy to hold back if they thought it was a trap?" At least, that's what the earlier description of them had implied. It was far too easy to set up a trap, expecting the opponent to react in just the right way when it turned out that they were actually far too nuts to be taken in by the deception... there were times when it was best to stick with simple and reliable.
"Alright Dante, Perhaps we should go investigate the building you thought would be best? I want to make sure to set up the Infirmary before the" looking at the woods, Tyrus shivers "Injured start arriving"
Sensing that Tyrus wanted to talk about something Donte agrees. "Sure."
"Alright, well, we'll take the ideas to the captain." says the pirate.
Vincent also speaks: "The right kind of trap could work, but it will probably only work once. If we're going to do it we'll want to do it first, while the goblins are more likely to be reckless. In any case, I've seen the lay of the land up here and we can't start building anything without more hands. Let's go. If you think of something Dante, or you others, best speak up sooner rather than later. I'm not eager to help this Norren bastard, but the safer we make this place the more likely we'll be to live through all this."
"Well I was thinking. Just in case the goblins decide to commit a large force to the hill, it should be trapped to prevent further incursions. I believe one of my in instructors called it "Shut the door to catch the thief". We set up the fortifications in such a way that when we leave we can collapse or burn the whole thing with the enemy forces within. Then we can retake the hill with ease. We should also get logs up there and set them to roll down the hill. And we could carve out some of the hill to give our walls more height. Just to name a few."
Then he smiles, "And I know just how to do all of that."
Luca quietly listened as Dante talked, thinking about how she could best support the plan. "Um... the b-beasts I can call are best when they take the initiative and I have time to prepare them..." she said quietly. They could only be in the world for a few minutes, long enough to accomplish something, but not so long that they could lie in wait to spring a trap that involved a lot of patience. "I m-might be able to use them to help stop any goblins that try to escape, though." Sending them out in all directions, as-needed, ought to help at least a bit. "I w-want to save most of them for o-offensive things, though." She'd still help as she could, of course. If nothing else, her Eidolon could be used if the goblins attacked the hill.
"Can that earth one move through the ground or just rock? That could be extremely useful when setting off traps or disrupting command. I mean, imagine if on of those things pops up beside a bugbear mid-fight. Probably ruffle some jimmies for sure," he says with a silly grin.
Like all Tyrus' practised speeches this one was all too flowery and went all too long.
"However this little war of ours proceeds, it is not difficult to foresee that there will be casualties. My task in this coming time of strife - a burden I am happy to shoulder - is to try to keep as many of the injured as possible from passing on."
"I lost two patients recently. The experience was unsettling and unpleasant. I can accept that there are those whose injuries are beyond my skill and the equipment at my disposal... but if I let them die when I could save them, am I not in some way their murderer?"
"I beg you friends, we have alchemical healing remedies that could save lives back at the site of our incarceration. Please let us send for them. They could save lives."
"I will not mention them without your blessing. We have a covenant of blood binding us together from our shared fight. If I have at least tried to gain access to them then I can face any unnecessary dead secure in the knowledge I have done what I can without breaking my word."
Luca blinked, looking utterly lost at Dante's last words. "I... um... maybe?" she squeaked out. That was when Tyrus began speaking, and the girl tilted her head, feeling slightly more comfortable with this topic. Something about his words seemed... self-incriminating? Why might that be? Maybe... maybe she could help him later, at least by doing what she could to assist the injured. Carry bandages and water or something.
Once you are finished speaking amongst yourself, you join the others and take the boat back to the main camp. By now it is only an hour or so until noon.
Norren comes over as soon as he notices you've returned. "What's the word on that hill?" he asks.
Vincent is the first to answer. "Stable enough ground, we can get some kind of crude fort thrown up. Dante here had an idea for a trap, as well. Whichever we decide on we need to start immediately - it needs to be ready before it starts to get dark."
Norren looks to Dante. "Tell me what you had in mind."
Well I was thinking. Just in case the goblins decide to commit a large force to the hill, it should be trapped to prevent further incursions. I believe one of my in instructors called it "Shut the door to catch the thief". We set up the fortifications in such a way that when we leave we can collapse or burn the whole thing with the enemy forces within. Then we can retake the hill with ease. We should also get logs up there and set them to roll down the hill. And we could carve out some of the hill to give our walls more height. Just to name a few.
:)
"Sounds good to me," Norren says. "Goblin recklessness is both a strength and a weakness, but if we can make them more wary of us here that's a good thing. No time to waste, then. I'm giving you half my men - get up there and do what you can to build these things. Take whoever else you think you need."
In the first round of the challenge, you're finalizing design, gathering raw materials (cutting logs), and setting down the basics. Each player please choose TWO of the following options and roll! All base DCs are 12 - each additional 4 you beat that by counts as another success (eg., rolling a 21 counts as 3 successes)
1) Know(Engineering) - Help with the design (REQUIRES two more successes to move on - I'm counting Dante's original plan and really good Knowledge check as one success already. Additional points will improve the design and increase the chance it has the desired effects!)
2) Strength - Help cut down some lumber and start moving it into place. The pirates with you can make sure you get the bare minimum, but more always helps. Successes here will reduce the work required in the next phases of construction.
3) Diplomacy - Convince your work crews to work harder. Also, explain the plan to a bunch of (mostly) dim pirates. Etc etc. Successes here will reduce the chance of mistakes during construction.
4) Choose Your Own Way to Help! - If you can think of a way to utilize your character's strengths or take precautions I haven't listed here, give it a try! Also, describe what you're doing and make your case as to its logic. ;)
had another idea. Set up multiple avenues to the base using giant caltrops made of wood with pitfalls in between. That way enemies are funneled into one or two routes up the hill. This is where the logs will be stacked to roll down. Use Geography to predict the best places for these and the most likely points of attack from the forest.
Tyrus' role is largely confined to helping Dante sketch out ideas in his spellbook, making occasional suggestions - though he is astounded by just how far Dante's knowledge exceeds his.
Before they start he finds the work crews . He has no speech prepared, and speaks from the heart.
"Look, Dante is going to be telling you what to do. He's young, and he holds a grudge for his capture, but he's got a genius for this sort of thing. I know he's going to rub some of you the wrong way, or look crazy."
"I trust him. If you trust me, trust him."
Luca busied herself with helping as she could - which, at times, mostly meant having her Eidolon do the heavy lifting.
...Maybe it was her nerves, though, but the young girl... well... wasn't actually able to help all that much, and her nervousness seemed to be contributing to futile attempts at inspiring others.
Proving to have a preternatural gift for this sort of work, Dante (with assistance from Tyrus) plans out the fortification, the traps, and even ways to shape the battlefield to maximize the effectiveness of both. Each part of the design is elegant and as simple as possible, presenting little difficulty in understanding for the pirates who will be executing it. The rolling log traps will be triggerable from the fort itself. The booby trap that will destroy the fort (and hopefully anything within it) is planned to be sturdy enough to prevent accidents, but once used it knocks out supports along the fort's foundation, causing the entire thing to collapse and much of it to tumble down the steep cliffside and into the river below. A few ropes, suspended from the trees above, could offer quick escape back to the main encampment for any daring individuals left behind to trigger the the parting shot.
Luca bumbles around trying to help, but often just gets in the way. In the end her contribution is something of a wash.
Once the plan is finalized, It's time to set about construction.
In the middle round of the challenge, you are building the bulk of the fortifications. Points beyond the initial ten make it sturdier and less prone to accidents. As before, you can make two skill rolls. Unlike before, this phase will probably require more than one round of rolling. DCs and successes work just like the first round.
A total of 20 construction points are needed to complete it.
Each round takes 1 HOUR and you have 6 HOURS before sunset.
The pirates generate 4 points an hour, so unaided they'll finish the thing in 5 hours (but you have plenty more you can do if you finish faster...)
1) Strength - help cut wood and build things. Generates Construction points with each success.
2) Diplomacy - Help make sure the pirates really understand the plan. Initial success generates one construction point. After that, successes go towards preventing mistakes from cropping up...
3) Survival/Knowledge(Nature) - Plan how to better hide the traps (helps in the third phase).
4) Something Else - As before.
"Damnit girl, would you git out of the way," yelled another disgruntled pirate as Luca somehow managed to get in the way again. They weren't happy taking orders from Dante, even though Tyrus had smoothed things over. But they at least respected his professional insight. It was a good thing he studied more than fought back at school. He calmly walks over to the pirate and walks Luca away from him. "How about we find a productive use for your unique abilities?" he says trying to sound friendly. Even his generous nature was getting tested with her. It was uncanny how often she found herself in the way. Something must be going on with her that he couldn't tell form the outside. "Can you send your guardian into the forest nearby to scout. We need to know the best avenues of approach and I would like know when they are coming before they reach the edge of the forest. Also need to make sure we keep their scouts far away."
Round 1:
Still hate me. Maybe if I get down and dirty too.
Round 2:
This might work
Round 3:
Round 4:
Round 5:
Throughout the day, Luca worked on two things. On the diplomatic side, she did her best to cheer people on - with a surprising degree of effectiveness during the earlier part of the day, though it tapered off a bit later.
To go alongside that, however... well, she was actually fairly good at lying. Her Eidolon was ultimately dismissed - she couldn't easily send it into the woods without harming it, though she appreciated Dante's suggestion - and instead the girl focused on using cloth and other items to disguise what they were making and help render it more effective. In short, she was trying to help make one gigantic bluff, and worked on it throughout the afternoon.
Round 1:
Round 2:
+2 Points
+3 Points
Round 3:
+3 Points
+1 Point
Round 4:
+1 Point
Round 5:
+1 Point
Round 6:
+1 Point
+1 Point
Total: +13
Round 6:
5 more points.
"I'm sorry Dante. I need to head back. I worked through last night, and I suspect I'll do the same again tonight. I haven't slept like this since my youngest started sleeping through the night!"