Kingmaker

Game Master Tuyena

"Bit of both" says Oleg to Sugua, "some like the weak stuff."

"You're more than welcome to the book" He says turning back to Kailee, "Svetlana is a much more lax practitioner I'm sure she won't miss it for a short while. Remind me before you all leave and I'll grab it for you."

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"Hmm..." Khargol releases a breath in thought. "Well...I am not certain how well Old Deadeye will take to having the ritual performed out of a book, but it seems we have little other choice at present."

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Sugua laughs heartily, " Well, I suppose there are those tha' enjoy the softer stuff from time to time! On the Healer-type might wanna order them up anyway, someone to field dress just in case we fail or whatever might be good. "

He turns to Kailee, " Pinkskin Kailee you up for bein' a cleric for what.. a day? "

Miro sits back on the chair he is occupying and takes a slow draw of his pipe, frowning around the stem in thought. "Erastil will probably be pretty pleased to see his temple cleansed, regardless of who does it. I do agree with Sugua though, we DO require a Healer. I have a couple healing Spells in me but nothing compared to someone who was born to it. No a dedicated physician would be best!"

Kailee looks at the much taller half-orc, and then at the short bard.
Um, yeh, probably true. Um, I can make some healing extractions, but not a lot. Um, and if I make them, then . . . then I cannot make people big, or small, or some other stuff.

Miro smiles and takes another draw on his pipe, exhaling a ring of smoke before speaking. "And that would be a waste of your resources, yes we need someone who is dedicated to the role, to leave you free to do those other interesting and useful things!"

Sugua smiles, waving his hand. " Naw naw I meant if this ritual or whatever didn' work. A real Cleric might be needed. But I'm up for whatever, Iffn' we kill it fast enough and use the brain, might not need a Healer. I like having the option though. I think you all can do that fine. Now.. WHO's up for a DRINK?! HA HA! "

Sugua raises a fist with a wineskin to the air. " Oleg, how much for the hard stuff I've been dry for a little to long! "

"I concur that the ideal situation is that we will locate and recruit someone skilled in the healing arts. Perhaps we should advertise that they are certain to get very skilled in them if they travel with this merry band." Khargol responds to the others. It's difficult to tell if he meant the comment in jest or in seriousness, his expression as deadpan as usual.

" Well some people like to eat arrows through thier body rather than mouth So I suppose you arent wrong there! As long as you come out on top thats fine but dying full of holes before you get to the fun isnt! " Sugua guffaws.

Khargol gives a light smirk at the response from his companion, shaking his head. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not eat any arrows at all, regardless of how it is done. I have no qualm with making an enemy eat mine the hard way, though."

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Kailee looks about her larger green skinned companions.
Um . . . well . . . if, if you are worried about arrows. Um, I don't know how. But, um, I think I could learn to make bombs that make smoke. Smoke is tough to shoot arrows through.

"Someone who can give proper medical aid would still be a great help, regardless," Xan remarked, "I might know or know of some people who fit the bill. And if they aren't an option, Master Larek knows some people who might. I can send word back to Restov, might get lucky."

I don't actually know anyone who could join, but it could serve as a hook if we get another player.

The night comes to a close and in the morning Oleg provides the group with Svetlana's prayer book and tells them that he intends to send word up to Brevoy to have them send down a clergyman, but he doesn't know if or when they will respond.

Sugua seems his normal self. Brash, sweating from the morning activities with the other martial applicants, getting limber. He sports a new selection of drink and requested another from Oleg, a special variety.

Arms folded and outside the front gate Sugua awaits his comrades.

Kailee thanks Oleg and Svetlana and carefully secures the prayer book in her backpack. She then moves out to join the large half orcs in the courtyard.

So, back to the Temple and then see what else we can find?

Ready to move on.

Miro walks out towards the gate, standing arms crossed across his chest beside his riding dog, chewing on a piece of jerky. "We need to get back to the Temple yes. As soon as we do that, we can get the place back on track. We should try find a priest of the God too, if we can. It would be good to get one on our side!"

He began to tinker with his Crossbow, frowning over a slightly jammed trigger, before clicking it over and in to place with a grin. "Ah, there we are. It is going to be a good day, I can already tell!"

"I am of the mind that there is little else to do at the temple until a priest can be found to consecrate it. Perhaps it is time for us to begin making our way to the Stag Lord's fortress. We now know the pass phrase to infiltrate his headquarters and with his threat eliminate we may find it easier to attract new settlers to the Greenbelt."

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"I'm with Khargol - we don't know how long it'll be before a priest can arrive here so I say we boot the Stag Lord out. It could give us some breathing room to get the temple consecrated, too - no organised bandit force actively looking for easy targets like a group escorting a priest."

" HAHA! If that's the case let's go, I've been waiting for your blood to boil a bit. But remember that bastard is strong from what I hear. I wouldnt worry about him comin' out though, remember what Kress said? He's paranoid.. and runnin' low on drink! As long as we go in prepared to kill I'm all for it. " Sugua's grin widened.

It takes the group a few days travel to reach the area that the Stag Lord's encampment is settled.

Along the way, multiple times the party feels like they caught a glimpse of a large black animal shadowing them, only for it to disappear upon further examination.

With the fort finally in sight, the party practically trips over the sleeping body of a black scaled kobold who jolts awake and yelps at the sight of you all.

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Knowledge(local): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (4) + 9 = 13

Realizing that this is a kobold, and that they usually speak the tongue of dragons, Kailee steps forward and attempts to use the tongue she has spent many months studying, but without any to usually converse.

Speaking in Draconic

Hail friend kobold. What are you doing before this fort of the Stag Lord?

The Kobold visibly recoils at Kailee's words before answering in common, "Ahchek! Kipkek says Kipkek, scaleless no speaking tongue of Sootscale!"

The small Kobold brandishes a small Spear at the party, "Dirty Stag men not taking Kipkek alive!" The little creature hops repeatedly back and forth pointing it's weapon at each of you in turn, appearing to become quite agitated.

But it stops once it spots Khargol and Sugua, "Ah!" cries the little dragon, "You is the sick scaleless, proper followers of Chief Sootscale! These is your new worshippers of Sootscale? Is good, yes?!?"

"Kipkek says Kipkek, Chief Sootscale is telling Kipkek to watch for you all and tell him when you intends to fight with Stag man, then Kipkek is helping you." The little kobold puffs out his chest at this and seems to think himself very much important.

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"Er...yes, it is as you say. We are moving to engage the Stag Lord and remove his threat from the region. We are grateful and humbled that the mighty Chief Sootscale would send one of his capable fighters to be our ally in this."

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Sugua snickers, " An' what, pray tell, can Kipkek do to help us? I wouldnt want to step on Kipkek's toes with his.. grand assistance. Cheif Sootscale must be quite kind eh? "

Sugua nudges Khargol in the side.

"Kipkek says Kipkek, Kipkek is being here to give Stagman stabbings. But, also to proclaim great virtues of Chief Sootscale in hopes some scaleless see true purpose in life in servitude to Sootscales!" Kipkek nods his head matter of factly, and seems ready to move on the fort with you all when ready.

" Alrigh' Alrigh' don't lag behind us sick greenskins! Let's get ready to raise some hell! HAHAHA! "

Sugua holds his weapon at the right side.

Khargol nods in agreement, his face a blank mask, as is his wont. He draws his cold iron longsword, spinning the blade in his grip. "The stagman will have precious little time to rue this day."

Kailee licks her lips and looks around at the much taller half-orcs.
We will do this. The Stag Lord has raided his last caravan and committed his last crime. It is time for us to render judgment, swift and severe judgment.

She then looks over at the much shorter kobold.
We shall remove the evil of this Stag Lord, then we shall work with the Sootscales to see that all of us have a place in this land.

" If Chief Sootscale would be so merciful.. ofcourse.. Heh. Still think we should have poisoned him, but thats just me. " Sugua looks over Kailee, " You got spunk pinkskin Kailee just dont be rushin' in first. Im sure after the fight, Kressle'll be swooping in to take advantage. "

Drawing closer to the fort you can see that the ramparts of the structure aren't as heavily manned as you might expect.

Only three men seem to be patrolling it's walls and all of them seem to be in a very uneasy state.

Sneaking through the last bit of foliage between yourself and the clearing around the fort, you watch as one of the guards on the opposite end of the fort scream as he is suddenly lifted up and yanked over the side of the fort wall.

The remaining two guards shout out a warning as they both rush to the site of the abduction, followed by several men who were stationed apparently down below.

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Alarmed, Khargol glances over to Sugua and the others. "Should we investigate? Or infiltrate while they're occupied?"

Kailee reaches into her pouch and takes out a small vial. She then reaches into another pouch and withdraws a small amount of some compound which she sprinkles into the vial causing it to bubble briefly. She then hands the vial to Sugua.

Be careful. When you drink this, you will be much bigger for a few minutes. A little easier to hit because of your size, but you will have great reach and your sword will pack a heck of a punch.

Use infusion to make Enlarge Person extract into a potion.

Give the infusion/potion of Enlarge Person to Sugua - lasts 4 minutes once quaffed.

She then takes another brownish vial from her pouch and quickly drinks it causing her pale skin to take on a rough brownish appearance.

Quaff extract of Barkskin +2 enhancement to Natural Armor - lasts 40 minutes

Finally, she drinks one last vial, this one containing some type of a sparkling dark liquid which almost looks like the night sky and make one think of all the philosophers who have watched the skies over the centuries.

Quaff Cognatogen - +4 Int, -2 Str, +2 Natural Armor -- lasts 40 minutes

AC now 20.

She looks over at the large half-orcs.
Time to play with the Stag Lord my friends.

Xan quietly loosened her sword in its scabbard, ready for the fight.

"Whatever's going on over there could be risky, we'd best keep an eye out if it decides to start coming after us." Xan remarked. "Until then, we'd best make the most of the distraction."

" Bigger, well might as well use it now. let's take advantage of the Chaos and strike them from the flank. take anyone from range that you can, we'll get the close range ones. " Sugua gulps the liquid with a satisfying smile and moves forward to take the enemy down.

Kailee follows behind the much larger orc, hoping that his great size will help to keep anything from hitting her. As she walks, she nervously plays with the chemicals and vials in her pouch, both as a nervous twitch, and to be prepared to launch any bombs if needed.

"Hmm. I am no advocate of sneak attacks. It seems...dishonorable. Though I suppose the applicable saying here would be 'When in Absalom...'." he replies, assenting to those who advocate taking advantage of the chaos to slip in.

Ride-[/ooc1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Clicking his heels softly in to the flanks of his riding dog, Miro keeps pace with Khargol, his crossbow gripped before him, resting in the crook of his arm.

"Honour can be found in the flawless execution of a tactic that brings about your triumph over your enemies, my old man always used to say!" He grinned up at the Half-Orc to show he was joking, before his face went cold.

"Keep your eyes open, watch your corners and above all, do not die out there. You are all dear to me now. Well... dear is a bit strong. I'd miss you all for different reasons. Even you Sugua!" He glanced at the other greenskin, before nodding.

"Hit them hard and fast and keep moving. Punch through to the center of camp and cut the head off the snake. We do that and we win!"

[ooc]The Speech is Miro beginning to Inspire Courage so everyone gets +1. The Inspiring will begin just before we actual can get off our first round of combat.

The party quickly scales the walls of the fort and finds themselves upon the ramparts across from the gathering of Bandits.

To your left is a ramp that descends into a long structure that takes up the majority of the keeps interior. To the right leads around to the mass of Bandits upon the walls.

The few Bandits still remaining in the courtyard take quick notice of your arrival and begin shouting to those stationed in the walls.

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At this point a map would be appreciated because positioning is key

It's forthcoming, I was more waiting to see whether the party wanted to engage with the Bandits in the wall, or make their way inside.

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Well the logical thing would be to take them out while they are distracted rather than sneak in and get side-wined whenever they find/kill/ escape back from whatever is causing the issue. Basically pick them off in the ruckus.

This was before my time. Do we know whether the bandits are in it because they are depraved and evil? Or because they are opportunists who are kept together by a strong leader? How the organization is set up may dictate how we proceed. I was not with the party for most of the interaction with Kressel and any other bandits we have fought, so I don't know what we have found out. Kailee probably does, but behind the scenes discussions are less then optimal for informing the player, me.

I would think that those who were present at the taking of Kressle's camp would have relayed to the newer members that the Bandits, atleast those in Kressle's command were a mixed bag. Some were in it out of necessity, others for profit, others just to do evil.

But they generally all respect the hierarchy that's been established, and though some attempt to overthrow those in power, almost all operate out of fear of their superiors.

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Lets find this Stag Lord and take him out. We will then see if the other bandits are following out of desire, or desperation.

"Agreed. The Stag Lord has always been the priority and should remain as such. Whatever we can do to handle the miscreants afterward will be done."

I'll have the map up as soon as possible.

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Sorry for the delay, the map has been updated.

Due to the commotion caused the party is able to act first.

Entering into the interior the party soon finds themselves face to face with a number of bandits as well as some who appear to be ranking members of the Stag Lord's small army.

A nearby unearthly howl tells you all that Kressle has begun her assault as well.

The party is free to act.

Kailee takes one more vial from her pouch and quickly downs the liquid. As she does so, her form begins to shrink, making her emaciated form, and overly large head, even more out of proportion.

Action: quaff infusion of Reduce Person (lasts 4 minutes).
--> effectively +2 AC, +2 attack (+2 Dex, size small)

At the end of this round, AC22

"Drop your weapons and reach for the sky. There is no chance you can stand up to what stands before you!"

Miro levels his Crossbow and sends an encouraging wave of energy flowing out from him, targeting all of his allies.

Miro Inspires Courage.

The massive half-orc laughs as his blade cuts down on one of the bandits.

Studied Powerful Blade Slash: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (12) + 12 = 243d6 + 15 + 1d6 ⇒ (4, 5, 3) + 15 + (4) = 31

" AHAHA! Or Die just like that!

Edit: Adjusted for Inspire