Iris Farthingstone |
Iris responds, "I will. Here, Bran, take the reigns. Tal'ariel, come with me if it pleases you." She hands the reigns of her ram to the large man, and follows the trail east to where the presumed encampment lies.
Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Tal'ariel Rhuidon |
"Let's do it." Tal also drops off her horse with the party, and scouts ahead.
Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (2) + 11 = 13
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (16) + 11 = 27
Lol, so much for stealthiness.
Red DM of Doom |
The elf and the halfling sneak down the road, ready to dive into cover at first sign of enemies.
They find the camp concealed from the road behind a hill, betrayed only by the fact that armored boots have clearly been walking to and from more than a few times.
The camp consist of two rows of three rough hide tents extending from a firepit lined with rocks, and on the other side of the firepit, a somewhat larger tent, also made from hides stitched together.
Twenty paces downhill, there's a latrine ditch.
The whole thing looks fairly orderly. The smaller tents open towards the central "street", while the large tent opens towards the firepit.
Iris Farthingstone |
Iris says, "Let's check the main tent first." She stalks quietly toward the campfire and the leader's tent. She will search the tent when she reaches it.
Stealth: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (6) + 15 = 21
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
Tal'ariel Rhuidon |
Tal whispers back to Iris. "Let's not wander too far. It looks like the area is clear. I think we should grab the others after checking the main tent." Worried about what they might encounter, Tal moves especially quietly, but loses sight of her surroundings.
Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31;
Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (3) + 11 = 14
Red DM of Doom |
The hide that covers the entry to the tent is decorated with the imprint of a red gauntlet gripping a yellow disc.
Inside, there's two sets of sleeping furs raised off of the ground on rudimentary cots.
More interestingly, there's a large inflatable water container, a hide backpack filled with several hundred arrows, a stack of twelve backpacks, several of them containing dried meats and hard biscuits.
One noteable feature is a small, wooden chest, stacked next to a pair of saddlebags and two small kegs. This stuff is clearly of different manifacture than the rest of the things in here.
The tent is dark and slightly cramped.
Iris Farthingstone |
Iris's eyes light up upon seeing the chest. She approaches it gingerly, checking for traps, and will try to disable any if she finds them.
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
Disable Device: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (8) + 11 = 19
Red DM of Doom |
It appears unlocked and untrapped. She opens it, revealing a thin book bound in green leather, writing implements, a change of clothes fit for a travelling woman, and a sack of coins small enough to be held comfortably in one hand.
The saddlebags contain corked bottles of wine and other liquors, packed with sawdust to protect them from damage. The two nearby kegs likewise contain quality wine.
The purse contains 2 diamonds each worth 100gp, 5 onyx crystals each worth 25gp, 5pp, 6gp and 2gp worth of change in copper and silver.
Tal'ariel Rhuidon |
Knowledge check to recognize the red gauntlet + yellow disk: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (4) + 8 = 12 Not sure what the right check would be, Tal has basically a +8 or +9 bonus for most things, +12 for arcana, but no knowledge (nobility) or (geography).
After passing into the tent, Tal'ariel eyes the hafling who heads to the chest. She watches over the halfling's shoulder to inventory the items, mostly to make sure that the halfling didn't pocket anything for herself.
Once she has a good sense of that, she decides it's time to report back. "Looks like the coast is clear, I'll fetch the others."
* * *
Once she finds the party, she gives her report. "There's a pretty large camp that was abandoned by the hobgoblins. Seems like they may have used the spot to raid, as we found a small wooden chest with valuables that didn't look of goblin design. You should all come down to investigate."
Iris Farthingstone |
Iris seems pleased with the loot. She reaches reflexively toward the gemstones and precious metals, but stops herself when she realizes that Tal'ariel is watching her. "What? You don't trust me?" The halfling sighs irritably, but she will be happy with an honest share from such an impressive trove. She begins perusing the book.
Zelligar the Mystic |
"Yulai, I think most of us look like easier targets than we are. Only you and Bran have heavier armor. They must have felt they had the advantage of numbers."
Zelligar will look at the sigil. He'll also examine the area with Detect Magic, looking at the unconscious leader as well.
Knowledge-Sigil: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9 for any Knowledge skill, except +7 more if Arcana.
Bran O'Dimm |
"No Zelligar I should be fine, the offer is welcome though." He doesn't know much of magic, but he does notice the mystic is slightly more exhausted after the skirmish, and pushing him would only be selfish.
He takes the reigns of the mount and just walks it. Quicker on my feet anyway if I hear a scream.
When Isawa talks about the hellhounds, Bran thinks for a moment.
K: Religion: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (13) + 9 = 22 Could they be undead? Are they as unnatural as Isawa says?
---
When the scouts return, Bran heaves a sigh of relief and hands the reigns back to Iris, "She's a good one, not a single problem with her." The uncertainty about the beast is apparent, but he pats 'her' on the head once anyway.
"Hobgoblin bands..." For them to get violent like this... there must be something brewing to stew their overconfidence.
"They wouldn't fight just for the sake of it. I've fought them in the pits before, and frankly they are just as wily as any of us. Mistaking them for goblins would be a recipe for disaster."
He pokes at the unconscious commander after hearing Zelligar's compliment about the armor and the physicality he has. "Worth a shot right?"
Iris Farthingstone |
Iris hears Bran talking to himself. She returns with the saddlebags and the purse. She slings the saddlebags over her mount, and adds the purse to her original pair of saddlebags. "It's a he, and yes, he's a good mount. Thanks for watching him." She resumes perusing the book while she listens to the conversation.
Red DM of Doom |
It's the logbook of Andra Whitley, travelling wine merchant.
It describes where she stops to trade, the sales she's made, her expenses, and so on.
The last entry describes her plans to travel to Brindol before turning south-west into Cheliax, as well as the four guards she took on at her last stop due to rumors of hobgoblins.
As for the hellhounds, they weren't undead until one of them died and was raised as a zombie.
The party approaches the camp again, this time all together. Nothing appears to haev moved.
Tal'ariel Rhuidon |
Iris seems pleased with the loot. She reaches reflexively toward the gemstones and precious metals, but stops herself when she realizes that Tal'ariel is watching her. "What? You don't trust me?" The halfling sighs irritably, but she will be happy with an honest share from such an impressive trove. She begins perusing the book.
"Sorry, I mean no offense. Just a habit of being a mercenary." In truth, Tal'ariel had no reason to trust her new ally. Admittedly, she also held some prejudices against halflings.
* * *
Having returned, Tal'ariel checks out the wine and liquor, to estimate what it might worth. Appraise: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25.
"I say we take what we can for salvage and burn anything we can't carry. Don't want these hobgoblins reclaiming their supplies. We've seen how much damage they can do with all those arrows."
At an opportune moment, she'll start checking out each of the other tents, though she does approach with sword drawn and a modicum of caution in case something lay within. Stealth: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24
Red DM of Doom |
Tal'Ariel is pretty sure that this wine and liquor, it's the good stuff. All in all, there's fifty pounds in various bottles and kegs.
A rich man who's interested in wine would pay 2700gp to add the lot to his cellar. You'd basically have to go all the way at least to Brindol, if not Dennovar, to find a buyer with that sort of money to spend on wine.
Four of the bottles are, relatively speaking, cheaper. Those will sell for 50gp each. Coincidentally, that's about as expensive as you can expect to sell in a small town like Drellin's Ferry up ahead. If you sell the whole lot at that price (a fraction of its true value) you end up with about 900gp.
The elf moves through the row of tents, carefully peering inside each of them. Their interior is clearly standardized: each one has two bedrolls, a waterskin, and two hide backpacks containing flint and tinder(otherwise empty). Washing was clearly not a priority, as you find no spare uniforms.
Distributed among the backpacks are some personal belongings; various keepsakes and talismans, sewing kits and the like.
Iris Farthingstone |
"If we cannot get full price for all of this wine, then we should drink a bottle or two of the good stuff ourselves." says the halfling. "We can sell the rest." She accompanies Tal'ariel in her travels.
Stealth: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32
Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17
Tal'ariel Rhuidon |
"Anyone heard of some nobleman with an estate in these nearby lands who might buy this wine? It would fetch quite a fortune if we found the proper buyer, but Drellin's Ferry wouldn't really be the place for it. We could just sell there at a steep discount and let some entrepreneur brave the roads to Brindol to resell it."
Anyone enjoy being keeper of the loot?
After checking out the tents with Iris, Tal looks for anything else she might have missed. Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (13) + 11 = 24.
She also sees if she can recover some banners or other material to be used to disguise their identities, should they decide to pretend to be associated with this band of hobgoblins.
Yulai Sakura |
"None for me, I sing"
She trails off.
"It's not pleasant. Let's gather it up and get back on the road. I'd rather not find ourselves ambushed again."
Bran O'Dimm |
"I'll try some of it, celebration is in order after all! Its like we've become a family in these short hours!"
He gets back on the path and prepares for a long jog.
Bran O'Dimm |
I can't speak Goblin, so I'll drag him around with us to town unless someone has another idea.
"Oh right, uh, the commander. I myself can't speak to 'em but if someone else would like a hand, we can squeeze some information out possibly. Otherwise well..." He knows what lingers on that sentence.
Tal'ariel Rhuidon |
Oh yeah, the prisoner!
"Do we want to try interrogating our prisoner now? He might have some useful information." Tal reaches into a pack and pulls out a bottle of pungent smelling salts. "A whiff of this and he should wake up . . . I think."
*Edit* Once the prisoner is properly bound, Tal gives the smelling salts a shot, to see if he will wake.
Having read the text, I'm not 100% sure smelling salts is effective; if not, there's always old fashioned healing or just waiting until he comes back to consciousness.
Isawa Ayoshi |
Isawa kept his silence - he spoke many languages, but goblin wasn't one of them. At this point, though, he was willing to bet the creature would be able to understand common as well.
I think we should talk to him, before escorting him to his new home in the prison dungeons in town. - he said from the back of the party.
Red DM of Doom |
Tal'Ariel waves the smelling salt under the hobgoblin's recessed, triangular nose. It doesn't do much. He's way too far gone to wake up - his face is heavily swollen by Bran's pummeling at this point. He'll need healing before he comes around, you're pretty sure.
Someone should probably also tie him up and take his weapons away, before you try to rouse him.
Tal'ariel Rhuidon |
Tal hands the kukris over for Zelligar's perusal, and disarms the hobgoblin of other weapons and armor. She leaves the rope tying to Bran.
Zelligar the Mystic |
"I think if he is disarmed, prone, and surrounded, he will decide to comply even though there is a small chance of escape. Thereby making him more complicit in his own captivity than if we simply tied him up. How he reacts would give us a clue as to how to influence him.
Of course, if you want to tie him up, go ahead. I am merely speculating here.
I can channel holy power to heal whenever you are ready. Any who are wounded should also stand near."
Iris Farthingstone |
Having just now finished securing the two small kegs of fine wine to her mount, the halfling rejoins the group and says, "I thought all of us spoke goblin. I definitely think we should tie him up. Trying to trick him into being his own prisoner seems risky at best."
Bran O'Dimm |
Bran moves to the rope and begins to tie him up. "Just like a grapple really, but with less prolonged effort!" He hears Iris comment on Zelligar's idea and chimes in himself, "I don't want a quick knife in the side, or even worse a prisoner who dies for some overzealous cause. That won't give us anything."
DC 37 to break, surprisingly Iris has the better numbers here :O
"I can always just stand around looking menacingly, doubt he doesn't speak common truth be told."
Zelligar the Mystic |
"Hmm, if you think the direct approach to be best - I presume you will threaten to do violence if he does not talk - then good luck." Zelligar sounds immensely bored by this idea, but resigned to it.
Intimidation is such an unimaginative tool...
Once the prisoner is bound, he channels healing energy. If that brings the prisoner around, he wanders off to keep an eye out for reinforcements.
Channel: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9
Yulai Sakura |
"Count me out. I'll defend myself but interrogating captives is a task for magisters, not apprentice fox priests. He's evil enough, but playing with him is cruel."
@dm Every dm is different about LG paladin code, and it can be a drag on the party. I'm not interested in doing the fall from grace thing with this character. Lmk if I need to be more or less lawful stupid if I hit your sense of code wrong and I'll adjust, Yulai isn't supposed to know better, but Yuki does so retcons are easy enough if required.
Channel puts her and is at full.
Iris Farthingstone |
Iris goes over to the hobgoblin leader and sits cross-legged by his head while Zelligar heals his wounds. Once the spell is complete, she leans forward and whispers in his ear.
She places a hand on his chest and shakes him ever so gently trying to wake him.
Red DM of Doom |
Paladins are not allowed to torture prisoners. They can execute them, if doing so would be just(although certain faiths uniquely prohibits this), and they can use magic or persuasion to compel them to tell the truth, but torture is a nono.
The hobgoblin comes awake with a cough. He rolls over on his ass, sitting up while carefully testing the bonds.
He says something short and barking, ending with a question.
Tal'ariel Rhuidon |
"Count me out. I'll defend myself but interrogating captives is a task for magisters, not apprentice fox priests. He's evil enough, but playing with him is cruel."
Channel also puts Tal'ariel at full HP.
"He's lucky not to be lying in a field with his victims. . . ." says Tal'ariel grimly. "Mercy is for those who are repentant, not murderous beasts." It's pretty clear that Tal has low regard for hobgoblins, feeling quite superior to them.
To be clear, this statement happens before the hobgoblin is awake.
Iris Farthingstone |
Iris draws a dagger and moves to sit in the hobgoblin's lap. She straddles him, her face not so far from his own. She holds her dagger to the side, neither threateningly nor unthreateningly, but ready to stab him should he so much as twitch aggressively.
"He wants to know what we want of him."
Bran O'Dimm |
"I hate to say it, but it doesn't look like he will say much. Its no skin off my back to bring 'em to the authorities nearby." He eyes Yulia, "You are an authority right?" He's unsure about the statement, having never met a paladin in his days, but he hopes he doesn't offend.
"I am the one who put us here in this situation after all, I apologize but this is far different than the heat of battle."