Redelia's Ironfang Invasion (Inactive)

Game Master Redelia

Kwiazy, while eating and seemingly enjoying both the repast and the 'entertainment', such as it is, keeps his eyes and ears open for trouble and deception. He feels like Koseruk's 'promise' of discussion later is almost more of a threat than a promise, and he watches the leader of these folks with a bit of suspicion for the rest of the meal.

perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (16) + 13 = 29

sense motive: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

While Kwiazy is usually quite perceptive, he has trouble figuring out other people's intentions by their words and actions. Still, he maintains the effort regardless of his lack of natural gifts and training in that regard.

Perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (3) + 14 = 17 +2 if we're in a forest terrain
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (14) + 3 = 17

There is enough variety of meat that you can certainly eat heartily without eating anything you should not.

You notice one of the ranking officers among the hobbogobbos looking slightly uncomfortable with some of the badder stories being told over the meal, and being a bit cautious about which meats to eat. You also overhear him being called by name, and realize he is the one who the plotters were trying to frame for 'elf magic.'

by what name are they calling him? I forget what name the plotters mentioned if any.

Kwiazy watches the uncomfortable hobbogobbo surreptitiously while he eats... making sure his gaze wanders often, rather than any kind of intense concentration on the fellow. Perhaps, he muses to himself, this is a hobbogobbo who might be recruitable to the light...

Alaka thinks that this hobgoblin must be like Harik, and decides to tell him the story of Harik when she has a chance to talk to him without any bad guys hearing (he has automatically become "not a bad guy" in her mind).

Xakroo blinked, muttering to himself if this hobgoblin is willing to be an ally...

He's called Cornid by the others. He listens to the story of Harik with interest. He explains that he understands such actions, but he will remain loyal to the Legion. He just wishes he could get the legion to 'fight cleaner' and not hurt people more than is needed.

"Yeah fight cleaner! Those skunk stinkers are the dirtiest of all! We should clean them out! With the power of water! ... Um I hear that makes things clean AND some weird goblin fights with it. Not that I've ever taken a bath or anything... Hi I'm Dry Guy! So what do you think about those smelly guys, Cornid?"

Alaka asks Cornid if there is anything they can do to help.

She also tells him about the skunk crew that are trying to get him in trouble.

Petrahk appears to mumble under her breath as if she's grumbling at the antics of her minions.

Petrahk would like to Message Cornid using environmentally safe 'dragon magic'.

"The reason we've come to help Kosseruk's forces is because both sides are fighting 'dirty' and I'm hoping we can get this side to stop being as dirty with their battlefield antics... then maybe the stupid humans will just go away rather than trying to out-do the atrocities. I'm the short dragon over there waving."

Petrahk will flap her right wing as if trying to work out a few kinks or tightness.

Kwiazy approaches Cornid and speaks quietly with him a few moments... "I concur with your desires... But wishes don't accomplish much and there are no innocent bystanders. For evil to win just needs good folk like you and me to do nothing. Maybe we have to take a stand?"

Cornid nods to Petrahk and responds politely to those who talk to him. He explains that he had disciplined the 'smelly guys' for atrocities that interfered with the team's mission, and they wanted revenge for that. He will do his best to keep his team from doing any more harm than is necessary in war, but does not think he can do much to impact the other commanders.

Without compromising security or intelligence, Petrahk will try to get the unit that this particular commander is in charge of, with the understanding that supporting 'clean' fighting will bring this war to an end much more quickly -- no need for escalation will help everybody.

And so we can pass along to the folks we're dealing with on the 'good' side what unit to accept surrenders/not ambush in darkness/whatnot, as well...

Petrahk easily gathers the desired information.

After dinner, you are summoned to a council meeting with other unit leaders to make plans. The main topic of conversation is the strength of the garrison at the city of Longshadow. Because it's been so long, I want to remind you that your mission right now is to protect that city.

Trinket watches and listens carefully, trying REALLY HARD to remember the bad guy's plan so she can somehow tell the good guys.

ball is in your court, gang.

Kwiazy will listen to what the other unit leaders have to say about any scouting of Longshadow and what they've learned, if anything... He will carefully watch how the leaders react to any scouting news. If there is actually need for more scouting, he will look to Petrahk for a cue as to how she wants to handle this... offer misinformation that we 'already know'? or perhaps offer to scout now?

There is indeed a need for a last minute round of scouting. You also are able to gather the entire battle plan of the Legion, including a rather nasty ambush tactic.

"You're really, really overthinking this. When we went past that area, they barely had enough forces to chase us off when we were thinking of 'helping' them." Petrahk chimes in after the commanders speak. "Yes, they do have some good fighters, but not nearly in the numbers you think they do."

"But if you'd prefer, me and my minions can go in and get some better information -- we're pretty sneaky and can get confirmation so we can finish this campaign quickly." the little dragon then offers with a toothy grin. "We are savoring the opportunity for some proper misbehavin', if you catch my meaning?"

The minotaur seems amused by the suggestion that Petrahk and her minions can do much, but gives permission for the scouting expedition.

"Alright you lot, night-time's a wasting. We go in, get the info, get out. No fires if we don't need them -- YET. You DON'T want to be poking around in the daylight, those longshanks aren't light-blind." the small dragon intones ominously, glancing to any of her lieutenants to offer any last-moment insight or advice before shooing them along.

"YES, MISTRESS!!!" Trinket fawns, bowing and grovelling behind her great and villainous master on the way out.

Alaka, playing her bad guy part, salutes the tiny dragon leader and follows, but she grabs some extra food to eat for later on the way out.

Dripple follows the other goblins' lead and awkwardly alternates between trying to salute and grovelingly bow.

As you are about to leave, a hobbogobbo leans over to whisper something to Koserusk.

Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5

perception: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (8) + 13 = 21

Kwiazy casually passes Petrahk and as he does so, he whispers to her in Draconic. "We'd best watch our backs... That one is suggesting to Koserusk that we get shot in the back on our way out.

Perception: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

Petra nods to Kwiazy and glances to the rest of the team before rumbling quietly in Draconic. "At least we got a dinner out of it. If they shoot at us, we take down the shooters only. If they wish to escalate past that, we do what we can to extract and provide a proper reward for betrayal."

Perception: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (20) + 20 = 40

As she is getting ready to leave with the group, Alaka overhears a comment about whether they can be trusted, and they guy smells like skunk. She decides to confront the issue, and she walks up to skunk-smelling guy.

Wow, I smell skunk on you, pretty strongly. Whew, you stink. Must be my sensitive goblin nose. How about that. I distinctly remember seeing a couple of skunks around when we overheard some treasonous slimeballs talking about killing their superior. I guess you were one of those guys, eh?

She doesn't expect a fight in front of everyone, figuring he'll probably defend himself to the boss first, but just in case, she notes all the sources of fire in the room, in case she has to call some.

Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17

Trinket nods. "Yup! That's the stink, alright! I'd know it anywhere."

Kosserusk's eyes widen at Alaka and Meloriel's words, and then she begins to laugh. The whispering hobbogobbo appears humiliated and slinks away.

You journey to the outskirts of Longshadow. OK, what now, gang?

Poke, poke...

Kwiazy ponders what they will do exactly when they arrive at Longshadow... they could desert their new 'allies' and slip into the town and help defend it.. or maybe stay with the attackers and sabotage their efforts from within... He looks to Petrahk and lofts a brow questioningly... He sidles closer to her, seemingly casually and whispers oh so quietly, "What now, o fearless dragon-leader? Shall we sabotage the attack, or desert the attacking army and join the defenders?"

"We're going to do what we do best. We may be smaller, but we're good at what we do. We'll 'find out' what the 'defenders are willing to pay' for our information, then 'get a better offer from them' Then we can go back to the army with whatever 'intel' the local defense wants us to use to lure the opponent into traps/ambushes/whatnot and keep off to the side of the battle, poking at the stress points to get the outcome we want."

Essentially, Petrahk is suggesting we subtly get in touch with the town leadership to give them all the intel we gathered, and then in true kobold/goblin fashion set up the army using the information. After that, then we go back to Kosseruk's army with whatever information we were able to gather, and in 'true bumbling goblin/kobold style' cause 'accidents' on the battlefield -- that ultimately will help the defenders but look on the surface like 'we're trying really hard, honest'!

Alaka makes sure they are far enough away from everyone that they can't be overheard and says I like the plan, except... can't we light everything on fire? I think that would be a good addition.

Reappearing after some time slinking around unnoticed, Jynnjun puts in her own two coppers. "Guess we need to be on the battlefield then. Escaping a fire might cover us there, but the townies won't like a fire near them too much." She coughs slightly in embarrasment and follows it with, "Hi guys. I was looking for awful military secrets out in the camp but, uh, I didn't find too much."

"If we take care of the leaders of the stinky ones, maybe can create enough of a mess that the more smarty pants hobogobo leaders will flee! Can do that either way we fight, secret or all-out fire and ice! They'll never see the ice coming since they only know Dry Guy!"

Dripple somehow still believes his cover identity to be of value. Like anyone would even know who the little frostykineticist is in the first place.

Xakroo didn't add much, but he did slip in his own thoughts. No matter what our plan is, if you need us to take care of any hobgoblins properly...make sure they're alone without anyone to help. I can take them down quick enough. And I can at least scout ahead to figure out any good escape routes that can cover our trail.

OK, if you're wanting to make contact with the town...

You hear humans moving through the woods near you. Any among your team who investigate more closely find that it's a small team of sentries patrolling. They seem completely unaware of your presence.

Kwiazy will get the attention of one of the others, preferably Xakroo or Petrahk, but whoever is closest if neither are around. He will tilt his head towards the woods. Then even though Kwiazy isn't the best at stealth, he'll head into the woods as surreptitiously as he can, and if he's spotted by any of the army, he'll act like he just needs a moment to relieve himself.

stealth: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (9) + 15 = 24

bluff if nec: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27

He tries to get to the patrol without raising any alarms from either side, and approaches the patrol with no weapons drawn and a finger to his lips... he whispers to them when he has their attention...

<whispering>"Shhh there is an enemy army approaching Longshadow... you need to make ready your defenses NOW... My friends and I will impede their progress and attacks as much as we can without giving away our actual affiliation until we absolutely must. Warn the town, my friends!"

He will pause to answer any questions they might have, with information on army size, compilation and intentions. He'll do this as quickly and quietly as possible, then slink back to the army, emerging from cover with a shake and a tuck, as if returning from an 'obvious' task.

The sentries nod. Their leader talks to Kwiazy, efficiently gathering all the helpful information he has to offer. He also shares with you a password you can give any other sets of sentries so they will listen to you, rather than just assume you are enemies.

Anything else anyone wants to do before I do a big fastforward? I'd like to give you guys a satisfying ending to this bit, and then get us back on track.

I'm good with a big fast forward, but in the montage, can there be some nice fire? And can we not kill the one nice hobgoblin, but maybe delay him so that he is still ineffective, but avoids the trap or something?

I need to sleep on it, but I think Petrahk will have something, more extrapolated from the events at the camp than actually lined out.

Dripple "Dry Guy" is ready to break cover in some kind of fire and icy water combo attack! Hmmm... Dripple and Alaka prolly just need to shoot things in different directions.

Petrahk will sneak off to let the community know about the refugees they freed, the general's attitude, and the fact that if Kosseruk can be defeated directly, it might shatter some of the cohesion of the army, in addition to the things she already mentioned as concerns previously.

She'll also point out that while there were a couple of opportunities to take a shot at the leader, there were no good ones that would not have compromised the cover of the infiltration team.

During the lead-up to the battle, she will 'discipline' her minions, and not be very careful about where her acidic frothing splashes end up. ie, 'just' miss someone to hit a saddle/cartwheel/supply pile whatnot...

She will totally ham it up unless it looks like it's about to blow the cover story for the team.

The day of battle comes. You notice some of the Legion engaging in what in a more civilized time or place would be called 'war crimes,' yet the small team you identified appear to be fighting cleanly but well. The heroic defenders of the town fight on. Eventually, both sides begin to appear exhausted. It has become clear to you that the only way to get this fight to end and the town safe is for you to fight Kosserusk.

Like directly, and not just "accidentally" from within the ranks?

Alaka notices that things need to change, so she makes sure her friends know her plan and stay away from the center of the army.

Then she walks off till she is about 150-200 feet out in a direction away from the good guy army, hides herself if possible (to delay people from identifying the source and coming after her as long as she can) and starts lobbing fireballs into the center of the bad guy army (on the side that doesn't have the nice hobgoblin if possible).

She has been calling fire and setting some "accidental" fires up to now, but the full force of her 5 fireballs for the day go directly towards the command tent, or wherever the leaders/generals of the army are, as fast as she can cast them.

Fireball 1 damage: 9d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 3, 5, 2, 6, 2, 2, 4) = 34
Fireball 2 damage: 9d6 ⇒ (4, 2, 5, 6, 1, 5, 2, 4, 4) = 33
Fireball 3 damage: 9d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 5, 2, 1, 3, 2, 3, 3) = 24
Fireball 4 damage: 9d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 5, 5, 1, 4, 5, 2, 1) = 28
Fireball 5 damage: 9d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 3, 5, 1, 2, 6, 2, 1) = 31

if she is unable to get all 5 off before someone comes after her, she darts off in another direction and then tries to get the rest off.

Despite being worried about getting caught, Alaka smiles. This is what she was born for... raining down fiery destruction in a righteous cause. It still overwhelms her every time she thinks about it that such spectacular burniness can be good.

Kwiazy positions himself in such a way that he can protect Alaka if any enemies notice the source of the fireballs and come after her before her fifth and final one goes off successfully... He won't be 'obviously' defending her until someone gets close enough to threaten her. If anyone notices him hanging about near the source of the fireballs, he'll look surprised and spin about in place, as if looking for the infiltrator-wizard. When anyone else gets close enough, he'll feign an 'aha! so it was YOU!' moment, accuse them and take them on, keep them at bay until Alaka can make her escape.

Once Alaka is safely away, he'll fight a defensive withdrawal if the foe(s) overwhelm him... and make his escape as well as soon as it is clearly safe to do so.

If Alaka's not a target, and Kosseruk is still up and fighting, Kwiazy will make an attempt (hopefully in concert with the others), to get close enough to participate in a little bit of murderhoboing her.

If, on the other hand, Alaka manages to kill Kosseruk, maybe with the help of Xakroo's arrows if they are necessary and he can find a secure tree to fire from perhaps, and throws the inhuman army into disarray, he'll act panicked along with the others and 'flee for his life'. Seemingly confused, he'll run in the direction of the town.

bluff to throw off suspicion: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (13) + 14 = 27

if I need any more rolls, let me know and I'll roll 'em, but I figure at the very least, he'll need at least one bluff check

Petrahk has been very conservative in the use of her resources Just In Case this was the likely possibility.

"Did you just... really? For the love of... argh. They were going to give us a cut of the LOOT! Did you even stop to THINK of the HOARD I'm trying to amass?"

The dragonette has Clearly Had Enough as she blinks out Greater Invisibility and takes flight, lining up her breath to catch Kosseruk and as many of their lieutenants in a nice robust line...

Breath Weapon (Acid): 13d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 1, 5, 4, 6, 3, 4, 6, 6, 2, 5, 6) = 58 60' line, DC 20 Reflex for half

If the first shot doesn't appear to work, she will then fly around about a quarter of the way towards the rear of the formation and let loose a second gout before rapidly moving again.

Breath Weapon (Acid): 13d6 ⇒ (3, 5, 3, 2, 6, 1, 4, 5, 6, 5, 1, 4, 2) = 47 50' line, DC20 Reflex for half