Palace of the Vampire Queen (Inactive)

Game Master Terquem

Aside…Take a suit of leather armor for Rownig and Azram, and assume the shuffle in camp took a few moments before everyone filed out.

Rowning speaks quietly to Turrand, DC 16 perception, there is rushing water background noise, and others involved in light conversation, but someone might overhear them

“Tholo? Yes I know them, the whole family is rotten through and through,” Turrand says to Rowning in a normal voice. “He is a second hand, works for the leader of the bandits I’ve been talking about. That one goes by the name of Crackrock Ironhand, and he is a bad seed as well. His real name is Bannios Exanames, I’ve known him for a long time. That one’s broken through and through. Why, he’d as soon tear your fingers off and skin you alive, before he’d give you the time of day. He doesn’t trust anyone. He’s flat land crazy. We’d be better off not finding him there, but that’s a chance were taking. This Tholo, Navalli, you say, I’ve heard of him. He’s not bright, but he’s tough. Mind if I ask why you’re looking for him? Is it personal, or is there a reward for this man?”

Turrand eats a few small pieces of smoked fish, takes a long draw on a skin, and Rownig can smell the strong aroma of cheap wine.

“We’ll we’ve got a few miles to make while we still have good light. Let’s move out. It’s a steady uphill walk for two miles, and then we’ll hit some switchbacks, and the caves. After that, we climb, and follow the river toward the bandit camp. Have the lot of decided what we are going to do when we reach the bandit camp?”

My wife just decided were going away for Canada day weekend so I'll be out of reception area until Monday night. As far a combat just use him to defend people and trip or disarm [anyone that moves into his reach.

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (17) + 7 = 24

Rownig was using a soft voice, barely moving his lips but his words crystal clear for Turrand.

"Yes. It is personal...and yes, he has something that needs to be returned to its owner. It's a delicate situation and quite embarrassing for the owner. If the thief is handled appropriately, I could arrange for coin or supplies."

He begins to pack his pipe with a pumpkin spice tobacco and strikes his flint. Sucking and and fblowing out four quick rings each slightly larger than it predecessor.

"Ah, well, that's another matter then isn't it," Turrand whispers. “He may or may not be in the camp, but if he is, I’ll point him out to you.”

Turrand, nods, and winks at Rownig, and then stands and says, “Let’s move out. Up the rocks here and follow me. Tanner, stay close to the others. Don’t wander off.”

The party is now climbing an easy uphill grade, about eight percent, with occasional rocks to scramble over.

When you reach the switchbacks the path narrows to just five feet wide. You turn back and back again as you climb in elevation. Then after a while, Turrand raises a hand, and announces, “Ready your weapons lads, after we round the next corner, it will flatten out. The path is wider, and there are clearings, but the ledge is a drop of twenty feet in most places, more in others. If you don’t catch yourself in a fall, it could be a long drop to the river below. You’ll see the caves on the left. If you don’t see any ladders, then the Goblins are home, and we’ll need to cross quickly and not get their attention. When you’re ready we’ll go on.”

Rownig follows as suggested but staying near the front of the group. He readies his bow and strokes the fletch.

Helgen readies his hammer and moves to edge of the group closest to the caves. He then moves forward following the others.

If it's been more than an hour since the bridge I will cast Mage Armor again.

Mazrim follows along quietly concentrating on the caves and any other areas of possible ambush.

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Atharessa begins to sing softly, an old Dwarven song,

“We were all rash and roving lads, upon the walls of Harrow Street we ran, and to the sea we shouted, na’er beat the shifting sands. We were all rash and roving lads, our mothers they did cry, out to the sea we sailed, na’er mother turn your eye. We were all rash and roving lads, our nets we left to dry, and to our mother’s house we came, na’er sober till we die. We were all rash and roving lads, upon the walls of Harrow Street we ran, and down to speckled shores we came, na’er upon Dannari’s breast we lay…”

She holds the last word in a long high note, which can barely be heard, and then sighs, “And tell our mothers goodbye.”

Atharessa continues to hum, and mouth the words occasionally.

Moralane moves up beside her and says, “I love that song. I hope it gives us the courage we need.”

and it does, Bards Song, Inspire Courage is now in effect. I just need a check in from Hallister

Take it away. I have nothing to add here.

Rownig's eyes scour the terrain.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (20) + 7 = 27

His keen eyes attempting to notice the finest of detail.

There are five caves on the left, and the lowest one is ten feet above the ground. The ground here is even and fla, fifteen feet to twenty feet wide for a length of one hundred thirty feet.

On the right is a ledge that falls five to twenty feet to other ledges that vary from three feet to five feet wide, and then it is fifty feet down to the water (not the one hundred feet that Turrand thinks it is).

There are no ladders visable, and Turrand begins to hustle to the south. Others, being more alert see that Goblins are collecting at the cave openings. They are armed with spears and long knives. From one of the caves, in the middle, three medium sized spiders emerge, with Goblins saddled on them, and begin a fast climb down the face of the cliff. Once the other Goblins see that the spider riders are attacking, they begin to lower ladders. It looks as if there could be twenty or more Goblins, yelling war cries, in both the Goblin tongue and in common.

"Trespassers! Invaders! Kill them all!"

You are in a better position from the beginning than the Goblins are, and can take a surprise round.

"Woah! Woah!" Hal yells, holding up his hands and beginning to speak in a snarling, nasal tongue. "Ne želimo se boriti! Mi pravedan morati da se kroz klanac! Mi ne znači da tresspass! Mislimo da napadnu razbojnika u logoru u nastavku ovdje! Mi nemamo zamjerki s vama!"

Helgen not understanding Hal's words simply moves to the front of the group and readied himself for combat, waiting to see how things will play out.

Move 20' to place self between goblins and others, then ready an action to attack anything threatening that comes within melee range.

Sparing a glance at Hallister, Mazrim will step in front of the party but doesn't move too far forward and also making sure that he doesn't block Hallister.

Readying an action to disarm any goblin that moves into reach

As others step by Rownig, he aims his bow at one of the spiders that a goblin on the spider.Turrand said this group of goblins was unfriendly, not the kind to negotiate with.? Certainly Kill them all is purty darn clear to me.

Rownig waits till one of the spider goblins gets within 30 feet.

There seems to be no reaction to Hallister’s plea.

The goblins charge forward.

There are three Goblins riding medium spiders (the spiders may or may not be poisonous, you can make a knowledge check based on what you see to try and determine).

There are fifteen goblins and they form three groups of five. They spread out, and attack the party.

The party is arranged with Turrand and the player characters in the lead (five), followed by Atharessa, Moralane and Azram (three) and then Galana, Voranzil, and Orson (three).

One spider rider and five goblins will attack each group.

You should roll for initiative, in the discussion thread. The initiative of the goblin groups is 11 (group 1), 14 (group 2), and 12 (group three).

If no one objects I will roll initiative for group two and three, as separate groups, and those groups will act together on a single initiative count (all members of the group will go together).

Since the spiders and goblins did not stop, Rownig will take take his held action during the surprise round. Note, I've included the +1 inspired courage to the attack and damage, I've also included the sneak attack damage. The spider should be flat footed since we had a surprise round.

Leveling his bow at the nearest spider the deft dwarf shoots his arrow. There's the thunk of the string and the whistle of fletching through the air.

Suprise round Attack: 1d20 + 2 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 2 + 1 = 142d6 + 2 ⇒ (5, 1) + 2 = 8

"Dammit." Hal mutters.

"Keep tight folks. Don't let 'em surround us or git ye isolated."

Rownig’s instincts take over as Hallister’s words fail to stoip the attacking Goblins, and the first attack of the party is made, when an arrow flies from Rownig’s bow and strikes one of the spiders just as it reaches the ground. The spider isn’t slowed, and soon all of the Goblins are moving toward you.

Goblins hurry across the ground toward the party, but cannot match the speed of the Spider Riders.The sound of bones and wooden trinkets worn on ropes around the Goblin's waists is loud and sends a chill up your spine.

Facing the attackers, the rest of the Dwarves in the party are to your left.

Rownig manages to get off another shot as a Spider Rider approaches Helgen, but the arrow goes wide to the right.

The Spider Rider charges the lead group, Helgen is ready and swings his heirloom hammer at the spider’s leg, but the creature shifts suddenly to one side and the swing strikes the ground with a thud. The spider lunges forward to bite, but is blocked by the Eidolon, while the Spider Rider swings a long knife, and catches Helgen on the arm 1 point of damage

One Goblin,on foot, wielding a long wicked looking knife, closes in and comes within range of Mazrim’s weapon, and with a flourish, thrust and sweep, Mazrim knocks the blade from the goblins hand. The Goblin is undeterred, and charges forward. In the sudden exchange, Mazrim realizes he has forgotten to remove the leather guards from the points of the weapon. It still works to disarm as he expects, but he is mortified to realize that he will have to use it as a blunt weapon if he wants to deal damage.

Hallister is on the move, and hurries to give the archers in the group at least one more opportunity to fire, by putting himself in the path of the oncoming Goblins.

Toward back of the group, Orson fires his crossbow, but misses, as a Spider Rider closes in upon him, but before it can attack, Galana and Voranzil both attack the hairy monster, one from either side. The spider seems confused by the motion of two Dwarves in its field of vision, and although it manages to avoid a blow from Galana’s spear, Voranzil connects with his spear, wounding the spider.

The spider, reacting to the injury, turns and bites Voranzil on the leg 3 points of damage.

Another Spider Rider is moving toward Azram, but Atharessa is moving at the same time, and cuts off the monster’s route, forcing it to stop and confront the attacker. Atharessa, singing loudly now, swings her short shword, but misses, while Moralane takes careful aim with her bow, and with one arrow, slays a Goblin coming in close behind the spider rider.

Finally Turrand draws a long, heavy bladed knife and attacks the Spider Rider that Helgen also attacked, but he misses as well.

End of Round One

Hallister deftly maneuvers around the Spider Rider attacking the lead group, and gesturing with one arm he reminds everyone to stay close together. He closes with a Goblin and swings his weapon in a wide arc, but the Goblin ducks and avoids the blow.

Atharessa and Azram, hearing Hallister’s instructions, begin to shuffle sideways, toward the lead group, and they move behind Orson, Galana and Voranzil. Moralane tries to notch another arrow, but seeing the others move she is distracted, and before she can fire, a Goblin moves in and stabs at her with a small, curved sword. Moralane tries to pull her body back and away from the blow, but she is hit 2 points of damage. Atharessa blocks the Spider as it tries to bite her, but she does not attack, using her sword to parry the creature’s fangs, the defensive maneuver forces the Goblin Spider Rider to shift his position, and he has to hold onto his mount, and cannot attack.

Orson takes a step back, drops his crossbow, and draws a long knife from his belt. He watches the Goblins as they rush in, and stepping to the back and side, he puts himself in a bad position. Orson is flanked, but he manages a bold slash, up and away, and catches one of his attackers across the face. The Goblin screams, drops its weapon, and falls to the ground clutching at the gash. Voranzil, ignoring the pain in his leg, thrust with both hands toward the Goblin Spider Rider, bringing his spear to within inches of the little monster. The spear doesn’t find the Goblin, but the attack forces the Spider to rear up, and as it does, Galana, strikes with her own spear at the spider’s exposed underbelly. The spear strikes true. The wound isn’t fatal, but the spider’s convulsions force the rider to lose his grip, and he is thrown backward off of the mount. Meanwhile, two other Goblins attack Galana, but both miss, their knives slashing only at air.

Rowning’s third arrow flies between Turrand and the Spider he is attacking, narrowly missing both.

Seeing the arrow miss the target, Helgen steps in and smashes the spider’s head in one crushing blow. The Spider’s body, acting like a sort of lever, pivots and the rider is pitched forward. The Goblin tumbles, and rolls over the cliff behind the party. A Goblin steps in close to Helgen without him realizing it, and stabs at him, but the blade is again stopped by Helgen’s armor. Mazrim sees a Goblin moving to circle around and get behind Helgen, flanking him, but Mazrim pulls his weapon in close and spins the long shaft with all of his strength. The head of the weapon catches the Goblin in the side of the head. There is a loud crack as the Goblins blood and brains are spilled on the ground. For a moment the dead Goblin continues to stand, almost as if the thing is unaware that its head has been broken open, and then slowly it falls backward onto the ground with a thud.

Turrand moves a few steps, but is quickly outmaneuvered. Two Goblins attack him with clubs. He manages to block one of the blows with his knife, but the second club hits him hard on the hip three points of damage

One spider is down, one is badly wounded, and the third is attacking Atharessa. One Spider Rider has left the battle, one has been unmounted, and is prone.

Two Goblins are dead.

Atharessa, Moralane, and Azram, take a position forming a semi circle around Rownig, while Turrand, Hallister, Mazrim and Helgen form the rest of a half circle with the cliff behind them. Orson, Galana, and Voranzil, are cut off from the rest of you by as many as nine goblins and a Spider Rider.

End of round two

"Shit" Hal curses, seeing the predicament they'd gotten into and ducking away from the goblin in front of him. "Tha's why we keep together!"

"Helgen, take point! Turrand, Maz, ye follow! Everyone else, move wit' 'em. Helgen, yer th' point o' the wedge an' we're drivin' through t' th' others."

Realizing that the friends of Turrand have been cut off from the rest of the group Hallister shouts out,"Helgen, take point! Turrand, Maz, ye follow! Everyone else, move wit' 'em. Helgen, yer th' point o' the wedge an' we're drivin' through t' th' others."

Helgen glances over his shoulder and sees a path to the three Bandits, but he must run straight through one of the Goblins. Before he has time to consider the consequences, he pulls his shoulders in close, lowers his head into a defensive position, and barrels toward the others. The surprised Goblins around him stab out at him, but their knives only find empty air.

The Goblin, unaware that Helgen is heading toward him, turns his head just in time to see the ghostly armored Dwarf coming at him. The image is to much for him to take in and in a panic, the Goblin leaps off of the cliff, aiming to land on a small ledge below him. As Helgen passes the Goblin who has jumped, two more Goblins try to attack him as he runs past, but their attacks are a second too late.

Hallister and Mazrim, startled by the sudden brave run of Helgen, turn away from their opponents, and follow as best they can. When Mazram comes to a stop, he uses his momentum to thrust forward with the guarded pole-weapon. The leather capped tip connects, striking a goblin directly in the chest, knocking the wind out of the little creature, and sending it flying prone on its back. Hallister closes in on another Goblin, slashing in a low arc, he cleanly removes a Goblins head from the neck. The head flies through the air, and lands on the ground near the Spider Rider by Moralane and Atharessa.

Turrand steps back, and blocks two thrusts from Goblin knives, cursing out loud, “They’ll get the best of us if we don’t stay together!”

Azram dodges as another Goblin closes in and takes a swing with a long curved blade that comes close to his arm.

Atharessa, excited by the sudden movement of the other’s, throws her weight forward, body slamming the Spider in front of her. The Spider, shuffles all eight of its legs to keep upright, but is knocked back five feet, and it too throws its rider. The rider lands on the ground next to the severed Goblin head, and the little creature lets out a frightened howl, “Aieeeee!”

Orson, Voranzil, and Galana, haver the jump on the other spider, and attacking together, bring it down in a series of three blows that all find home, spilling the spider’s blood on the ground.

The Goblins begin to move erratically. They look from side to side for help from one another, but the idea that they are beaten spreads through the expressions on their large toothed faces. They scatter, moving quickly, as if their lives depended on the strength in their legs. Some head toward the ladders, others scramble over the cliff and down toward the river, slipping and sliding over the ledges, while a few turn and run to the south as fast as they can run.

“That’s the way to drive them off!” Turrand shouts as he jogs toward Helgen and slaps him on the shoulder. “A show of determination like that, they understand all too well, now, quickly, to the north and up the slopes as fast as we can, before they regroup in the caves and come out with the women and Giddlings at their sides. Those kinds are too stupid to know when to run. We’ll treat pour wounds when we are well out of their territory, go, run!”

Hal nodded grimly, huffing a bit.

Winded. Still too young t' be this weak after a little tussle like that. Gotta train more. Mind's still sharp, but the flesh ain't up t' snuff yet.

Taking a moment to glance around and force a few slow, deep breaths, he takes off at a run with the others.

Rownig grumbles a bit and brings his body to a trot to follow, taking the rear guard position as they go.

Keeping pace with the rest, "Well, we're now officially blooded as a group."

Rown continues to guard the rear as the group pushes forward.

"Turrand, how far before we are out of goblin territory?"

Rownig continues to trot behind the group, "Not the time to stop folks, keep on moving up there." His bow in his hand with an arrow readied.

Turrand moves off to the south as quickly as his short legs can carry him. He turns his head and shouts, “Tanner, boy where are you?”

“He’s here with us,” Voranzil calls out from the back of the group. “Smart boy was hiding near the ledge. He’s alright, keep moving. We’re right behind you.”

Appearing to be satisfied with his son safety, Turrand turns back around, leans forward and picks up his feet, moving even faster. He clears a good hundred feet of the terrain in front of him, which is clear and follows the river below, but then he turns to the southeast, away from the river. Ahead of him looms a large stand of rocks. Turrand goes to the east, around the rocks, stops, puts on hand on a large boulder and turns to see if everyone is following.

"Turrand, how far before we are out of goblin territory?" Mazrim asks.

“Up this slope,” Turrand huffs and puffs. “It’s an easy climb, up about sixty feet, and then levels off again. The Goblins won’t follow up there. It’s wide open up above, and they can’t get an advantage. Let’s keep moving.”

“Is anyone injured too badly, should we stop and check?” Azram asks as he comes up close to Mazrim.

“We’re fine,” Moralane smiles at Azram as she passes him by, “Keep moving. Atharessa can you keep up?”

Atharessa jogs passed Azram, her braids fling from side to side, a wide smile beaming on her face, “Hooo wee, I can run all day if we have to. Don’t worry about me. But look, Turrand is breathing hard, someone should help him.”

“Shut your trap, girl,” Turrand smiles as he watches Atharessa pass him by, “I may not be as young as the rest of you, but I’ll give you your money’s worth if’n you’re asking for it.” He takes a few breaths, and as Helgen and Rownig round the boulder he winks at them and says quietly, “I bet that one’d wear out the lot of us if you gave her a chance. You men travel with some fine women, if I do say so myself.”

Rownig glances one more time to the rear, looking for signs they are being pursued, but nothing stirs from the caves behind them.

Hallister jogs along with the last of the group and mutters to himself.

It is an easy climb, hand over foot, up a steady slope, and then at the top the ground levels out and a field of tall green grass, topped with yellow flowers spreads out to the south in front of you. Once everyone is at the top, Turrand waves to gather everyone in close.

“The river turns southeast here, you can find it by heading off in that direction,” Turrand points. “We can take a pause here, or maybe just move out at a slow pace, but I’ve a feeling we’ve been held up by too many things, probably stopped too long this morning for a smoke. Anyway, we go south here about two miles, and then turn east by southeast. We’ll see some hills to the east by then. We head for those hills. The old mining camp will come into sight, but we might not reach it before dusk, and we’ll either have to pass it by in the dark or camp through the night, and then pass it by in the full light of morning. The village, at Eight Fountain Springs is to the east and a bit south of the mining camp, further up in the hills.”

"The mining camp still populated?"

"Keep moving, we are still to close to goblins."

"I'd rather not get caught too close to those bandits after nightfall. Is it possible to push on and make up some time or do we need a rest?" Mazrim turns around and looks everyone over in an attempt to gauge weariness.

Turrand straightens up, arching his back and taking a deep breath, as he begins to speak, Mazrim notices that Turrand has shifted his weight and is favoring his right leg.

“The mining camp, well, it’s been abandoned for over ten years, since the mine up in the hills to the west of it was closed. I’ve been there, lived there for a while, when I was younger. There are about six, maybe seven buildings grouped around a well. I think there was a bloomery, but it may have been only a small forge. The bandits prefer the buildings at the mine, easier for them to defend, but they sometimes will camp for a few days in that old abandoned site, mostly when they are trading with people for goods they’ve run out of. Some of the bandits travel around these parts all of the time, gathering information and keeping trade contacts aware of their needs. It’s hard to say if we will or won’t run into any of them there. If we do, it could be bad for us. They’re not always vicious, but the least we could expect is that they would demand everything we have as a toll to pass through the territory. We should press on, get close and see how much daylight we have left. The clouds are piling up, and we could benefit from a cloudy sky, which could help us sneak past the camp in the dark.”

As Turrand answers Hallister’s question, Mazrim looks around at the rest of the group. Everyone is winded, Atharessa’s face is bright red, but she is still smiling. Voranzil is sitting down, and he is examining a tear in his trouser leg. There are blood stains on the trousers, but he doesn’t seem distraught. Moralane is talking with Azram, and as she speaks quietly to him, she lifts up her chain mail shirt to reveal a nasty gash on her left side just below her rib cage. Azram touches around the wound, lightly, and shakes his head, as if to say, “No it doesn’t seem that bad.

”I agree with Rowning,” Azram says as he turns away from Moralane, who moves in close to stand behind Azram. “We should keep moving as long as we can all walk. We should get to the village Turrand knows of, as soon as we can. Rest there, and learn what we can about the valley and anything that can help us find the Palace.”

Turrand nods, as Tanner comes close to him. Turrand leans on the boy’s shoulder, and turns. He points to the south west and says, “Alright, this way then, let’s move out.”

are there any trees or saplings nearby that we could improvise a walking stick for Turrand? If so I'll quickly fashion one for him and then catch up to the rest as they move on. And I'm taking the cover off the blade.

Nothing larger than sage brush (not really suited to making a walking stick).

Noted

Rownig looks over to Azram, "Can't you do anything to help Turrand?" He has a frown on his face as he waits for the clerics answer.

As the group moves out across the flat grassy meadow, Rownig expresses concern for Turrand to Azram.

Azram glances ahead, and then slows his pace, nods his head backward, trying to signal that Rownig should fall back with him. When Rowning has matched Azram pace, Azram leans close to him and whispers

Atharessa moves close to Moralane and whispers to her

Moralane, listening politely to Atharessa’s words, shakes her head and says out loud, “No, nothing I haven’t had to deal with before. But,” and she seems hesitant, tips her head down and says, “thank you, anyway.”

perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

"How are everyone's injuries? If anyone is hurt bad we should tend to them now before risking another fight"

Rownig looks at Azram, "Heal the man if you can, if there are more than one injured is there anyway you can heal multiple people?'

"I can. It may not be much, but if everyone gathers in close I will try," Azram says.

Channel Positive energy
1d6 ⇒ 5

Rownig slaps the cleric on his back afterwards, "Well done."

Thank you Azram. So how is everyone now?"

"I'm fine...wasn't injured. Turrand and Moralane how are ye doin'?

Turrand’s gait improves, but he says nothing.

“Thank the goddess,” Moralane says as she rubs her side below her breast, “that was really starting to smart.”

“Yes, thank you priest,” Voranzil says.

Atharessa moves in close to Hallister and whispers,

The band of dwarves moves at a slow walk across the grassy fields. The ground rolls, in wide spaced gentle hills, and after a couple of hours the hilltops begin to get closer and closer together. Slowly, and then more rapidly, the rise in elevation as you continue southwest, is obvious. Finally, Turrand stops at the top of a hill and points to the southwest.

“There, just ahead another mile, maybe less, but look,” he points to the sky above a row of small buildings you can make out in the distance. “I can see three, no four, plumes of smoke coming from chimneys. That could be good, or bad. I can’t imagine why the bandits would advertise themselves like that. Who knows, maybe their leader has finally cracked like a stone in a fire pit. Well, be on guard. We’ll be within sight of any of their guards now, it’s best to approach and see what is going on.”

you can post any actions, preperations, conversation, you need to have done before you are at the camp proper

As you approach the mining camp it begins to look to all of you as if something sinister is going on. What Turrand had described as a few buildings around a common well, now turns out to be more like a fortified outpost. There is a mound of earth, nearly four feet high piled in a great circle around the buildings, and on the top of the dirt is a short wooden wall. The wall is no more than three feet high, and you can see that it must have a raised walking surface on the inside, as you can clearly make out Dwarves, wearing hide armor, wooden helmets, and carrying crude spears 9but thankfully no bows or crossbows) walking along the wall, their shoulders and heads visible above the top of the wooden wall.

Past the wall, as you come closer you walk up another hill giving you a view beyond the wall, you see the buildings, much as Turrand described them, and the remains of a Bloomery. There is smoke rising from chimneys of four of the buildings including what looks to be a very newly built long rectangular hall.

You also see Dwarves, working in small garden patches, and at two separate sites where it looks as though wagons are being repaired, Goblins. There are also Dwarves and Goblins moving baskets of something you can’t identify, from this distance, but it looks like grown vegetables or tubers.

Among the Dwarves and Goblins that are working there are also Dwarves in similar armor to those walking along the raised wall, and it looks as if there are at least ten such armored, spear carrying Dwarves in the camp. You can count four Dwarves on the walls.

Everywhere that Goblins and Dwarves are working you see that they move in pairs, sometimes a Dwarf and a Dwarf, or a Goblin and a Goblin, but occasionally a Goblin and a Dwarf, always moving as a pair.

Rownig is not wanting to cause alarm so he keeps his shortbow on his shoulder but makes sure his arrows are accessible on short notice. By the time the group has gotten to this point, Rownig would have taken point to scout a ahead.

Hal simply nods to Atharessa, not wanting to get into a conversation that might be overheard by he wrong ears.

As they approach the mining camp, Hal calls for a halt to let a smaller group approach the walls. As Rownig vollunteers to move out ahead of the rest, Hal says "Be careful."

Looking to Turrand, he gestures to the wall. "Ah take it this aint what ye expected?"

Are there any crests or sigils visible anywhere to possibly identify if these belong to nobility.

“No,” Turrand says as he lifts his hand and holds it above his eyes, shielding the afternoon sun. He squints and peers out toward the fortifications. “It’s been a few months since last I passed this way, and all of this is new. I don’t know what is going on here, but it doesn’t look good.” He turns to face Hallister, looks at him oddly for a moment and then says, “Here now, wait, I was talking to one of you earlier today about these bandits, but it wasn’t you. Yes, it was that other fellow, the one called Rownig. Well, here and again is what I told him. The fellow that leads the bandits in this part of the country calls himself Crackrock Ironhand, and he is a nutter, a real bad egg and with a violent temper. His real name is Bannios Exanames, and, well, a long time ago he and I worked the mines, not this one, but one farther to the west. Exanames took the shutdown of these mines in a hard way, blamed the local knight, and put his mind in the wrong place. But this, this is beyond simple banditry. If the bandits have built this up, they are practically asking for a regiment of the King’s army to mach down here and burn this place to the ground. It’s got bad written all over it.”

Rowning signals the group to stop and wait, while he moves ahead more slowly, approaching the wall as casually as he can. Atharessa, Moralane and Azram follow him.

“Do you think we are walking into a trap?” Aszram asks Rownig.

Moralane overhears Azram and offers her own answer, “If we are, it is one we aren’t getting out of easily.”

Meanwhile, Mazrim, standing away from Hallister and Turrand, scans the buildings looking for some sign, some indication of who or what is in control of the fort. He doesn’t see a coat of arms, no heradrly, but then just as he is sure there isn’t anything that stands out, he catches a glimpse of a flag, hanging limply off of the longest building within the walled town. It hangs limply, folded in upon itself, but a breeze catches it, and it unfurls for just a moment. It is a yellow flag, and painted on it is a black skull wearing a green crown.”

A Dwarf walking the wall sees the small group of Dwarves(Rownig, Atharessa, Moralane, and Azram) approach. He watches them for a moment and then his head moves to look toward the rest of the group standing on the hill. The Dwarf looks back toward Rownig. He looks tired, and he frowns. He slowly moves one arm out and drops it over the wall, and waves it vigorously as if to say, “keep moving, don’t stop here,” while he turns his head and looks the other way.

"Yes, it's the makin' of a trap seems the one the wall is tellin' us so. We best be heddin' back now." Stooping a bit lower and getting the group to duck and dodge behind anything available. "'urry up." Looking back over his shoulder to see if anyone else has spotted up or decided to come after the group.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

"Did tha' wall guard jus' wave us on? Hell, if we c'n make it past this place wit' out a fight, that's be fanf!%#ingtastic."