Old School Greyhawk - Saltmarsh Campaign PFRPG (570CY - Southern Keoland)

Game Master ALLENDM

Naia sees the others moving forward, and, hefting her harpoon anew, follows them.

Soros looks at the water a long moment. "I cannot swim save to tread calm water, but if those of you skilled in woodcraft believe it's our best option, I can cling to a log as if my life depends on it.' And it will. Well, Master Atron never claimed proving myself to others would be easy! Quite the opposite in fact.

The wizard belts his robes tighter about his waist and checks the straps and buckles of his pack in preparation for entering the water.

The Glen

Rabalar skirts off to the right hand side. Okware in turn seems to skirt off to the far left staying just in line with the olf. Zove falls in about ten feet behind the black hunting cat. The small river pebbles and river rocks on the glen floor intertwined with leaves, rotten twigs, and moss make the footwork difficult and times noisy but not loud enough to go beyond your group's earshot. The sound of the water echoing off the walls tends to drown it out easily. Naia not liking the narrow footpath that the Rabalar, Zove and Okware take and are much more accustomed to, slides her legs slowly into the cold water and starts to feel her way into the shallow stream. The floor beneath her feet are filled with what is on the shoreline in addition to sand, fallen limbs, and all sorts of small fish. As she moves into the water she notes it is only about ankle deep at the moment. She maintains her distance back behind Rabalar,Okware, and Zove. Finding she has a good view of both sides and can easily support either of them from her position at the moment. The current is runs between her legs and is light at best. Soros gains some additional confidence as he watches Naia enter the water. He opts to move towards the right and stay partly near the shoreline for now. He is off the left of Naia and behind both her, Rabalar, and Zove. Edan enters the water off to the left of Naia his time in the jungles taught him to keep his sides clear in a place like this and he didn't like the idea of having his back to ground he didn't know. He entered the water and decided to stay on Naia's left flank for now so he could cover both Zove and her cat as well as Naia in a pinch. D'ogryn looked at the party and quickly entered the shallow water near the shoreline on the right. He took up the last position and covered the flank of the entire group. He turned back to where they came from and quickly but carefully scanned the entire area to make sure no one was "closing the door on them". D'ogryn didn't like the fact that they sat in a shooting gallery and if an ambush did come from the sides or above and they didn't catch it in time it could go bad really fast.

The group made their way to the narrow turn as they did the space gradually closed and the group found themselves closer together in width. Those on the shoreline found the shore line diminishing to half the width they started. Rabalar motions his hand to stop the party and surprisingly and rather quickly they all stop. First each of you seem to stare out at the narrow entry ready to fight and then just as quickly each of you begin to turn and scan the areas around you realizing the danger of your position. Naia for a moment was ready to throw her harpoon at the first thing that moved but realized that Rabalar wanted to investigate something on the ground by his feet. She relaxed, cussed under breath and lowered her harpoon. He was just a few paces to the narrow turn and seemed to be inspecting the ground and looking into the narrow.

Gripping her fearsome whale-pike, Naia looks around nervously, increasingly jittery with the searching, scouting and tracking.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (11) + 6 = 17 [Looking up and around, not so much in the water or on the ground]

The Glen

Rabalar goes from a kneeling position inspecting the shoreline to a crouched position and moves slowly into the water as he nears the narrow portion of stream. Okware reaches the end of his shoreline just before the narrow as well and sniffs around himself, looking up and back towards Zove. Rabalar slowly enters the narrow staying close to the right side of the wall. As he does the rest of the group notices the water is now up to his knees and the current around him is much harder as the water channels into the narrow inlet. Okware waits for Zove's command as she nears him she taps his hind and he enters the water and swims in behind Rabalar.

Rabalar moves up about twenty feet as the narrow turns slightly right. Okware swims up the left side, on the wide side of the turn, and goes past Rabalar.

The group notices the narrow is just less than ten feet wide and about twenty feet to twenty five feet long. Zove can moves up and gets into the water on the left side and moves into the narrow and notices the water is now up to her knees as well. The noise of the water moving through the narrow drowns out any other sounds around Zove and Rabalar.

Gripping her fearsome whale-pike, Naia looks around nervously, increasingly jittery with the searching, scouting and tracking.

[dice=Perception]1d20 + 6 [Looking up and around, not so much in the water or on the ground]

Naia

Naia doesn't notice anything out of the norm above her or to the sides. She scans the top of the narrow, which is about thirty to forty feet above them. Okware seems to move out ahead of Rabalar and to his left and both Rabalar and Zove are still in the narrow channel. With Rabalar about to exit the other side and Zove just entering the narrow on the left side.

Continuing to move cautiously and as quietly as possible, with his bow at the ready, the olf looks far more confident than he feels. The traps could be there just to force us all into an ambush point. Getting these people killed won't help anybody. Ehlonna guide my eyes and feet so that we remain the hunters and not the hunted.

The Glen

Zove sees Okware and Rabalar disappear for a brief moment as she traverses the narrow and as she comes out the other side she sees Rabalar standing on a small island in the middle of a very long winding stream still going southward but snaking left and right. The walls on either side are still steep and range from thirty to sixty feet above them. The area is dusk like with multiple tree lines above drowning out the daylight from above. Zove realizes that a concealed enemy in these narrow confines will be hard to detect. Okware moves up the left side shoreline and under a overhang just twenty feet ahead. The water in the stream is still two to two and half feet deep but the current is a little less stronger now that the narrow is by them.

The stream is about ten to twelve feet wide on each side of the island and the island is about five feet wide and about sixty feet long. There doesn't appear to be any obvious ledges that Zove can see from above on either side.

Nais and Edan can be heard making their way through the narrow. Soros and D'Ogryn are still on the north side of the narrow.

Her eyes flicker in the twilight, a soft green glow behind the orbed surface. Still, a creature of darkness lying in wait could still be elusive...she had to trust her hunting companion now to sniff out what could not be seen. Doubting the short statured goblins could wade through without swimming, she turned her attention to the island...

Nature: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

...she guessed she might find a lizard or two clinging under the rocks still warm from a day's sunbathing.

Naia relishes the play of water, and the feeling of cool rushing energy around her legs. The sounds are a distraction however, and makes her squint in concentration, unable to separate ambient noise from anything else she might try to focus on. She makes sure to stick close to Edan, waiting for him if he slows, speeding up if he is sure-footed - this way they can support each other and defend back to back if ambushed...

Hitching up his robes, Soros proceeds into the deeper water of the narrow behind Naia and Edan. Shivering as the cold water washes over his shins, he again silently remonstrates himself for his morning's elemental attunement. Father's talk of returning to the forge must have poisoned my reason. I must be sure to maintain proper mental discipline, especially when around my family.

Looking back across to the cliff wall on his side, Rabalar frowns. He scans the tops of the cliffs, looking for movement or silhouettes, before scanning the cliffs themselves for any sign of an ambush. Refusing to let himself fall behind, into the middle of the group, he begins moving forward again, still worried that this would be such a great place for an ambush . . ..

Edan was focused on trying to keep solid footing while they were going through the water. This is not something that he would have done in his home village, as there were no few kinds of creatures that looked on anything in the water as a source of food. He was watching the water more than he was looking around, since he did not feel he knew enough about the wildlife in this area. The only reason that he had gotten in the water was that everyone else did not seem to apprehensive about it, otherwise, he may have been inclined to go another way.

Stopping in the water once his footing was set, D'ogryn looks around slowly. He was not used to the outdoors. He dealt with people and buildings. His search proved fruitless as he notice the others had move along. He took on last look to the back and then continue along with the others. He made an attempt to keep his eyes and ears open to the slightest change in the environment. A movement here or a broken twig could be the difference between life and death.
Where can I go if we are attacked

The Glen

Rabalar begins to move forward cautiously as he skirts off the island and back into the water the rest of the group see that the water is still about two feet deep. He begins to make his way down the winding glen. The shoreline seems to change from nearly none to thin to wide enough to allow one person to walk it on both sides. From wall to wall it seems about twenty to twenty-five feet in width.

Zove moves off to the left following after Okware who seems to skirt that thin shoreline and stays under the low overhang. Naia and Edan seem to move as one down the middle of the island following Rabalar. Soros and D'ogryn who had just arrived and had some time to view the island area begin to slowly follow the rest of the group. D'ogryn hanging back a bit behind Soros.

The Glen

After nearly ten minutes of following the snaking stream, the glen turns slight right and then back left and before Rabalar and the group is a long straight run that is about hundred feet or so and then a second narrow. This area is about twenty-five feet wide and about a foot of shoreline on each side. The water is about one and a half feet deep to two feet deep the current seems a bit stronger here as if there is a natural channel.

Rabalar had been listening carefully as he searched the sides of the walls and the shoreline for any sign of the goblins making their leave of the water but he had seen none. But just now he thought he heard a bird in distress. He paused as he heard another one but this time form the opposite side and it sounded as if in distress... Two birds both in distress or at least it sounded as if they were in distress... He turned and looked at Okware who had moved into the water on his left side just a few feet from the open shoreline. The cat was tense, his fur up, ears up. The cat senses it. Damn it this is not good. There it goes again another one on the right side ahead of us and above us...

Zove saw Okware suddenly stop, sniff the air, and she saw the cat tense and skirt into the shallow water as if to get a better view of what was above.

The rest of the group stopped quickly and begin looking around It was D'ogryn who noticed the awful bird calls as Rabalar seemed to be trying to chase them with his ears. Zove then noticed them as well and they were not birds at least not any birds she had ever heard. Rabalar realized it as well the sounds were hoots that sounded like a bird but it was goblins and they were ahead.

Rabalar looked at the walls, which rose nearly forty feet and were covered in moss with a lip on both sides. The narrow closed into about six or seven feet and it looked about twenty to thirty feet long from there he could tell it opened into another area.

She draws her scimitar quickly "Those are not the children of Ehlenestra!"

She grips her holly with her other hand, making a strange sound like a cute little cough as nature magic spills forth and quickly blankets the area with a soft purple glow...

Casting faerie fire at the closest sound's location

Wait, Do not....we....
his voice trails off as he is too late
do not know if they have seen us...
D'ogryn's call was too late as he watches Zove finish her spell.
Damn..we might have caught them unaware of our presence. There is still a good chance that they spotted us out here in the open anyways.
D'ogryn shifts to a side closest to him to get himself cover from whatever may be out there.

The Glen

Zove calls on the powers of nature and directs it towards where Rabalar was last looking and she suspected the sounds came from. Forty feet above her and sixty feet ahead of them and to the right a mote of purple light springs forth on a small willow tree ad the surrounding ferns. The purple lights sparkle, twinkle, and from a neighboring cypress elm dozens of birds spring out on the upper lip of the wall above them.

Rabalar draws his bow looking to engage anything that comes out the area above them hoping to see something through the camouflage and concealment. A few moments go by and the chatter of wildlife above them seems to settle. Naia and Edan almost immediately go back to back looking around and above them preparing for the worse. Soros and D'ogryn both looking around them for an enemy that never appears.

Edan as he scans the top left he swears he sees the ferns, grass and small saplings on the lip above about thirty feet ahead move as if something moved away from them in a hurry.

The Suel wizard looks up at the cliff in alarm as Zove exclaims and bathes the tree in faerie fire. Enemies! His free hand curls into a strange shape, his fingers arranged and bent as if to create some bizarre shadow-puppet. His eyes hurriedly hunt for any sign of enemies near the elf woman's magical flare without success.

"I don't see anything - where are they?" he asks towards Zove, his voice low and tense.

Spellcraft / Identify faerie fire as it is cast: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Rather than add to the commotion that was going on, Edan only pointed at the place where he saw movement, seeing the others prepare as if something was about to attack them immediately. His swear was soft, more something whispered while he threw some water at the ones that did not see him, trying to keep surprise to a minimum. This was not a good place to be caught.

She swallows hard as her mistake sets in ::No! They concealed themselves with life...?:: she looks around confused "I don't know Soros...not where I believed."

Naia was worried now - although she could not see or hear or smell anything untoward or out of the ordinary she could feel the tension of her companions, and marked their various small and large reactions as stressed.

For her part, the young whaler had little to do but maintain a wary countenance and a ready stance, arm half raised to propel her harpoon at a visible target.

After a few long, tense moments Soros relaxes his hand. "We'll obviously be at a disadvantage here during an engagement. If we've scared them away, I recommend we move forward with haste - before they return in numbers that make them confident."

"Seem to have scared them away from this spot. Keep moving and keep watching for where they'll be set next."

The Glen

The Glen & Goblin Encampment

Rabalar and Okware at the same time can hear voices up ahead beyond the narrow. As if someone is shouting...in Goblin. Zove and the rest can't seem to make it out beyond the running water echoing off the walls.

Making sure the others move forward before him so that he can covered the rear. D'ogryn makes his way up the side of the stream.
I did a double move for 60' BUT I will only move as far as it takes to keep me in the rear guard position. I am expecting the other to move further ahead that I am right now.

"Yep, they are preparing an ambush up ahead. At least we know the attack is coming."

The olf moves up slowly, continuing to scan for targets and try to restrict his own visibility, as much as he can.

Perception w/ Goblin: 1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 7 + 2 = 15
Stealth w/ Gear: 1d20 + 8 - 3 ⇒ (13) + 8 - 3 = 18

Making sure the others move forward before him so that he can covered the rear. D'ogryn makes his way up the side of the stream.

I did a double move for 60' BUT I will only move as far as it takes to keep me in the rear guard position. I am expecting the other to move further ahead that I am right now.

I thought I posted this but I can't seem to find it.

I will fix D'Ogryn's movement on the shoreline.

The Glen

D'Ogryn skirts past Soros with his eyes fixed on the faerie fire and Rabalar's movement. Soros continues to scan the forest above the group first to the far side and then above himself. D'Ogryn appears to move quickly but is slowed by the debris, loose stones and sand. Rabalar appears to move slowly through the foot deep water against the face of the glen wall. His movements are slowed further by the sand, loose stones and moving water.

Rabalar moves up closer to the narrow and can see it slowly slides downward as if stair stepping its way into a much bigger area. Almost like a pond of some sort but the water seems to continue on. Rabalar's movement's appear to have gone unnoticed. He can hear some movement as if someone climbing up a wall or something being dragged up the wall (hard to tell).

Keeping her eyes on the narrow, Zove moves down the shoreline with Okware restraining her anger in favor of clarity ::Interlopers in the woods will be worn down like craggy peaks with time...:: she wanted to send Okware through the narrow, and no doubt Okware wanted to move through as well...still, some kind of mercy or perhaps an instinct to ward her companion took over, and instead she strove forward first boldy through the gap.

Using all movement to get as far ahead as possible, willing to go through (or attempt to go through) first. It looks like entering the water is unavoidable, but can get maybe 4 squares south first. Then another 2 squares with shallow water...

Reflex: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

...Zove steps off the shore and instantly flips over onto her face below the water with a *crash*, finding some more of that moss she mentioned.

Nonlethal: 1d2 ⇒ 2

Confrontation here does not yet seem inevitable; I shall reserve my magic until it's definitely needed. As everyone continues towards the narrow gap under the threat of goblins above, Soros begins to doubt his reserved approach. Should I hurry? The wizard begins to take a quick step when Zove crashes face-first into the water.

Best not. He proceeds to move carefully up the narrow shoreline behind D'Ogryn, hugging the wall and crossing in front of the cook at the man's indication.

Double moving 50 feet (for 60 feet of movement used) directly south along shore.

The olf points in the direction of the sounds, and then up, before continuing his movement.

I had only moved 1 move worth. Now I'll move the second . . ..

Naia sees no danger yet, and can barely hear Rabalar above the din of rushing water and scrunching pebbles. Stolidly she tramps through the knee high water after the elf.

Unable to access computer right now - double moving south through the water for 50' feet (of 60' allowance) to follow Rabalar...

The Glen

As Rabalar advances and signals back to the party Zove and Okware begin to follow him on the other side. In Zove's rush to keep pace and try to remain somewhat quiet she slips on a hidden branch in the water that is covered in moss and slime. She quickly catches herself but not before falling into the water and swallowing a good deal of it as she quickly rose and recovered. It was Okware who came up alongside her with a look of both concern and amusement. Zove had often noted Okware's amusement with her when she did silly things and the beautiful cat didn't seem amused by the fall at all. She could understand his current look considering the circumstances. Naia saw the fall and winced for a moment as Zove attempted to stop her fall and then recover. Naia moved quickly up to the side of the wall just as after the shoreline disappeared altogether. She lost her footing as well and stumbled into the cold water and Edan tripped over her as well. The two struggled for a bit and recovered but not before they themselves swallowed a good amount of water; spitting and choking the contents out for a minute or two later. D'ogryn moved up quickly and saw his three companions movement in the water and noted how slippery it was and realized this was going to be a dangerous venture. Soros was also concerned as he moved up along the shoreline and noted how difficult the movement was going to be in the water...especially if the went it combat.

Rabalar saw the disaster that was occurring behind him and looked back quickly to the narrow. He realized it was now all quiet beyond the narrow. He could no longer hear the goblins shouting out to each other.

Naia and Edan help each other up and finish their movement.

Soros sees that Zove's faerie fire fades slowly away...the beautiful purple faerie fire simply dims and then vanishes.

Both Edan and Naia take 1 points of non-lethal damage from choking on water.

The Glen

Naia, Zove, and Okware can see the sloping modest waterfall that forms in the narrow and goes downward into what appears to be some sort of large pool of water behind with more steep walls. On the left in the narrow appears to be another stream that drops out of the wall from above and into the running water. These streams appear to feed the glen all along its path, most appear to be natural springs.

Zove continues the arduous slog through the fresh spring water, still trying to get through the narrow...she takes it a bit more slowly this time...

If I am reading right no reflex needed if not hustling? Not sure how many squares south I can go with the odd combinations of fractional movement, but will go the max I can. Looks like 30 is 20 for a few squares, then 30 is 10 for the 3 ft deep section.

I had no idea a double move was fast - I thought it was just using your Standard Action to make a second Move Action - thus "sees no danger" which led to "stolidly" "tramps". My mistake!

Naia draws cold comfort from the fact that Edan and Zove have also found the going hard. Her hair bunching up into wavy ringlets, the whaler curses mightily under her breath. If this is adventuring, no wonder her grandmother retired. Resetting her grip on harpoon and line, and stepping carefully, Naia heads south again with Zove and the rest.

"I think we are coming up to a pool, fed by another stream..." she says to those around her, trying to muster a sense of...something, other than the disconsolate chill she feels in her bones.

Same as Zove - stepping carefully southward.

Struggling through the deeper water, Rabalar finds himself far enough around to see directly through the narrow cleft.

D'ogryn continues his move forward making sure that he keeps everyone in front of him. His eyes roam the ridge line to his left and behind them.
I will do a double move but only move 30 feet worth of distance. Felt I would use the other 30 feet for terrain and making sure I do not fall.

Soros carefully continues forward, staying adjacent to the rock wall and in shallow water.

While they were following the water- and especially after their dunking in such a manner- Edan was still smiling, though certainly more respectful of the river than he had been prior. "We are intending to remain in the water?", he asked of them in general. Wet was something that he had been before, though he did take a moment while they were walking to tip the water out of the scabbard.

The Glen
Map updated with view.

Rabalar looks out and can see that twenty feet ahead the narrow takes a slope downward as it goes south. At first it is a subtle staircase slope and at the edge of twenty feet it drops into a lazy but short waterfall of about two to three feet into a pool of water. The sides are still steep but the area is open. Maybe thirty to forty feet wide at the widest point in the pool area. It is quiet and the lack of noise other than the falling water echoing off the walls makes the place appear more dangerous knowing their adversaries lie in wait.

As Rabalar surveys the area Okware moves up to him on his left side with Zove just behind them to his left and Naia to his right.

Rabalar doesn't see anything of concern at the moment and neither does Okware. Although at times Okware seems to sniff the air and then turn his head towards Zove and growl. Zove can tell he senses danger in the area in front of them as his fur ruffles on his back and his muscles are tense as if prepared to act. Rabalar can see that if they move into the pool area they will be in the open and if the pool as any depth to it they will be sitting ducks with the goblins holding elevated ground.

Naia

Naia heard what she thinks is whispers coming from the south and to her right. The distance, sound of water, and what sounds like babble makes it unclear but it sounds as if two are talking to each other in some strange language. A few seconds pass by and she doesn’t hear it any longer.

Naia halts, and spins to face her right side, harpoon arcing back in preparation to throw.

"I hear voices over there" she hisses, unwilling to shout, yet unsure if her companions can hear her over the rilling water.

How many hundreds of feet back was there a more gentle slope to get around this?

Heh, feels like we are knowingly and over quite some time and distance walking into an unhealthy ambush point...

We are. But you may have missed the point above where Rabalar spotted traps enough on the side that he felt forced into the water right before the cliffs started . . .. This was well constructed. If you try to get around, you have to go through at least one layer of traps. The olf doesn't know anybody here can do more than set the traps off, and that's unappealing, so . . ..

At this point an ambush seems inevitable. While I don't want to unnecessarily waste a spell, it will be much harder to cast after a goblin arrow has pierced my throat. Besides, a spell cast is never wasted - it serves to strengthen Boccob and the weave of all magic on Oerth.

Soros draws a small piece of cured leather from his belt, tracing a quick, simple triangular pattern in the air in front of his face, chest, and groin with it. "Armis magicae."

Casting mage armor. If given no other lead or instruction, Soros will move forward at a safe (no hustle/Ref save) rate to try to be in the middle of the party.

D'ogryn tries to get the attention of Rabalar.
Perhaps some of us could climb up the wall to our right and get a birds eye view of what lies below. We might even find a way to avoid any traps and proceed without being in the water. I would suggest maybe one or two until we are certain it is safe. the bring the rest up.