Kyra jerks in startlement as Fren steps up.
"You are amazingly silent."
She looks to Darvan.
"Are you okay now?"
Darvan looks at the scratch that is left on him. "Aye, thank you Fren."
When Bron arrives, he'll find the bandit's bodies stripped and laid out, their gear sorted and piled neatly along with any other gear found at the camp. Kern is just beginning to shift logs for what looks like a pyre.
On Bron's explanation Kern will nod and mount Termach, and follow him to the clearing, where he will dismount and salute Makon.
"My friends say that you wish us to meet your Chief. When and where do you suggest this?"
"Yes. The longshanks at the fort do not know that you are Not Foe. Build a fire in sight of the fort, and we will come to you. When it is safe to come to the fort, we will bring you there. This is truth."
"For us, 3 moons means 90 days...is that what you mean?"
"3 nights, then. I think of a moon as the time from full moon to full moon. We will see you then."
Kern turns to the others, "We meet with them in 3 days. Shall we finish stripping the camp and get back to Oleg's?"
"Aye, let's get to it quick before somebody else pokes their nose in."
"Good man!" Darvan walks over to help redistribute the weight on the horses.
Kern is silent while the gear is distributed, and the party gets on its way. Several hours onto the trail, he finally speaks, "When we get back, and we tell this tale, I expect the man who claims to be our superior will insist we make no alliances with Kobolds."
"Are we going to stand our ground this time?"
Darvan scratches at his stubble. "Don't see a reason to mention it. Besides, the only thing they're guilty of is growing a garden and defending it."
|
"He has the advantage. With his guards coming, we're also outnumbered. If he insist, we should make it known to those Kobolds that it is he who does not count them as friends. Caution on both sides would be view."
Sitting back.
"I'll suspect he may accept this from anyone of you, Kyra most of us. He has some respect for Kyra due to her status. Kern and Darvan, he has acknowledged while I daresay he has ignored me most since being a former wolfshead might not appeal to him."
Kyra sighed.
"If I am going to be the one to tell him, I will need back-up... not a repeat of how last time went."
She frowned. "If I can't count on that, then there's no reason for me to tell him at all."
|
You've explored 12 already, that's where you met the Kobolds, if you want to ride through it again its a half day, leaving you a full day to explore 5 and a day to meet your newest member at Oleg's. You could also go through 13 and explore it as well and leave yourself with a day and a half.
Up to you.
"I'm willing to stand at your back, Kyra. For that matter I am perfectly willing to tell him myself. We all need to agree to stand firm on this, however. Not telling him or otherwise avoiding the issue is implicit defeat here."
"I've already told him he has no legal basis to give us commands, and I still hold by that. If that means he decides to attack us with his guards, so be it. He can reasonably expect a certain amount of respect and courtesy by his position, but no more."
Darvan glances around, then shrugs. "Oh, well yeah. I agree it's a good alliance and I'll stand with you guys on it."
"Well we can get a little work done before our meet and greet. Let's head a little farther south."
Kyra looked around the open plain and nodded.
I bet someone smart enough could hide an entire army here.
Then she facepalmed.
Nice job... tempt the gods to test you. So cue random attack any moment now...
|
|
As you ride, Brok spots an unusual patch of grass just ahead of him. He raises his hand to alert the party and rides up a bit closer. There he notices a deep hole in the ground, covered with debris, to hide it from unsuspecting travelers.
Upon further inspection, it looks like a pit trap covered in spider webs. At the bottom of the trap, Brok sees the silhouette of a body and the flash of a silver stag's head about 20 feet below.
Spider Webs...so where is the spider?
Kern stays mounted, looking about for the creature that created the webs.
|
|
Upon closer inspection, the hole seems fairly safe, save for the fall. When Kyra puts a torch next to the webbing and the immediate area she touches with it flames shortly, blackens and then extinguishes. Recent rains have made it too damp to light all at once.
Darvan thinks that if he tied a rope around his waist or one of his companion's waists, they could lower them down to the bottom of the pit with no trouble at all.
Darvan starts taking out rope and tying it around waist. "I'm trusting you Kyra."
Yup, that's a hole. No doubt about it
Kyra hmmed as her attempt to burn it failed. Then, she held the torch over the hole and let go, letting it drop down inside. She peered down inside, trying to determine if her torch lit up anything.
And probably sees nothing.
And then Darvan talks about trusting her and she grins.
"Do you want me to pull you back up if you encounter anything, or wait until you kill it and grab whatever is down there?"
I pity whatever is in that hole and is stupid enough to attack Darvan.
|
|
As Darvan starts to lower himself down, he notices the way the hole was made and quickly comes to the realization that it is not man-made, but rather a trap some animal has carved out.
As he moves over to better inspect the wall, Brok notices movement.
Initiative
Surprise Round
Brok and the Spider can go in the surprise round.
Spider Goes first.
Bursting out of a hole just beneath Darvan the spider strikes against the flatfooted Stalker.
Hit
Darvan is impaled through the stomach by the spider's massive fangs. Grappling him and knocking him unconscious.
Brok is up
Your party champion is dying and in the clutches of a creature that intends to inject him with poison and suck his insides out.
Then the entire party can go again, before the spider goes. Fren will go last.
Kern leans over the heads of the others from atop Termach, and casts Magic Missile
Kyra curses as soon as the spider attacks Darvan, then begins trying to pull him up. She curses even more as the attacks rain down into the hole.
"Blast it! Darvan, you better be okay! I will hunt down a priest to yell at you while you're in the afterlife if you die!"