Reign of Winter (Inactive)

Game Master Just a Mort

seeing the man standing with a his shortsword, Einar thrusts the Glaive at him.

attack: MW glaive
attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 6 = 7 for damage: 1d10 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14 apparently Einar sucks with the glaive

Cadence moves in and stabs the same bandit as Einar.

atk: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
dmg: 2d4 + 5 ⇒ (3, 2) + 5 = 10

She drops him with a single slash that opens a big gnash from collarbone to hip.

Mr Whiskers moves into the room to daze the other bandit.

will save: 1d20 - 3 ⇒ (5) - 3 = 2

The poor bandit looks dazed for a moment, and that's when Crummock stabs him in the chest.

Combat over

That's when the rest of the party hear, and Einar sees, a door at the back of the lodge open. Beyond the door, the room looks like a kitchen. A female half orc clad in leather walks out of the room, holding bowls of steaming soup,calling out,"Guys!Soups coming!"

"Oh my god what the hell has happened here?" She stares at the scene of devastation, aghast.Then she takes notice of the bloodsplattered party. "Who..who are you?" Her voice trembles slightly.

Mr. Whiskers looks like he was about to speak as everyone hears the woman's voice. Quickly glancing past Einar, he says "Only one!" and tries his Daze spell on her.

"Let's see if we can take her alive."

will: 1d20 ⇒ 2

The half orc woman stands there, dazed.

'I like soup.' Seeing the serving maid, come out of the kitchen, lifting his glaive in as unthreatening way as possible he answers, "Vee are here to bring zees brigands to justice, are you vit them or are you zere prisoner?"

A little GM fiat..because technically you can't talk while dazed...

Looking at Einar covered with bandit blood, she replies, "I'm just the cook. Rokhar would've left me out in the blizzard if I didn't agree to cook for them!"

Sense Motive, Nivean: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

"I believe her."

sorry, didn't see she was dazed until after my post.

Einar rests his glaive on his shoulder, walking up to the woman, smiling and lifting a bowl of soup from her hand, he takes a sip. "Mmmm, not bad. vere is zis Rokhar, are are zere any more brigands about?"

Mr. Whiskers moves into the main room to a position where he can see anyone on the stairs.

"Just as importantly, are any of the Sentinels still alive?"

The soup tastes pretty gamey. Definitely some kind of red meat. Even gamier then beef, and very lean. It could use a little more fresh herbs to even out the taste, like rosemary and thyme, but not too likely that any would be available here, considering the weather.

"I don't know what sentinels you're talking about. It was just Rokhar and his gang when I got here." There's a worried expression on her face that eases slightly when she finds that she can move again."What came over me just now," she wonders out loud."Is that rat going to eat me?"

'gamey, not the worst I've had, that rat?' Einar looks from Mister Whisker to the woman, cocking his head, slurping some more soup, he gestures toward her with the soup bowl. "His name is Mister Viskers, he is ratfolk. Should he be asking instead, if 'ze Ork vas going to eat him? From zee taste of zis soup, it might not be far off, ya?"

stabilize: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (1) - 2 = -1
stabilize: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5

"He said to take me alive...there are some orc tribes that like their food fresh, you know. Or for easier storage, that way you always get a ready supply of meat."She stammers out.

Scrunching up his nose, Mr. Whiskers is obviously insulted by her comment. He replies "I do not eat sentient creatures!"

He quickly calms himself, and then adds "I am called Mr. Whiskers. We are good folk. The bandits were part of a kidnapping and other crimes."

Keeping an eye on the stairs, he calls out "We should stabilize and bind those who are still alive. Might need to question them."

"No it wasn't. It was horse." She looks nervous, as if afraid Einar would be offended. "Rokhar told me to butcher some of the horses he captured from a raid. Said he was tired of eating grain and vegetables and wanted some fresh meat."

Crummock calms down, and looks thoughtfully at the woman, as he cleans off his blade.

"Ach, I cannae condemn someone purely upon her heritage. If ye have truly just been shanghaied to be y cogydd, I have nae quarrel with ye. We have dealt with three bandits outside, and a total of nine inside. How many more can we expect to find?"

Edit: Crummock ninja'd my post but not so bad as to change it ;)

'Lots of doors, it would be good to know if anyone is behind any of them.'Einar looks around the room again then back at the prisoner, sipping his soup again, "Let us start over ya. You have met Mister Viskers, I am Einar, Zee handsome man vit zee starknife is Crummock-I-Phail und zee Fräulein Cadence. Vee are here in part for zis Rokhar und his followers, if you are not part of zem you have no fear from us. ya? Do you know vere he is? Und is zere anyzing you can tell us about him?"

perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (10) + 8 = 18 just looking around the room for anything that stands out

"That's all of the gang here. Rokhar said he had a special "guest" in the cellars...I'd never clean the cellars anyway. God knows what lies down there. Rokhar also told me never to enter his room uninvited. There was once I tried...saw something like a skeletal hand, wreathed in ice. I slammed the door, then ran down as fast as I could." She shudders. "He also had this lady in a tattered green dress he captured from a raid brought up. Argent-ah I cant remember her name. Never seen her again ever since."

The party hears a lot of angry muffled oopmhs from the tied up bandit.

"He also converses with some strange visitors. Small blue flying creature he called Izoze. And he'd often go out on trips alone into the snow. Told us not to follow."

Puzzled, Mr. Whiskers asks "Where is Rokhar then?"

"Up the stairs." She points at the stairs. "I'm Ten-Penny."

'Up the stairs then.' Einar hands Ten-Penny back the empty bowl of soup, smiling at her. "Danke Ten-Penny." Einar turns and looks at his companions, then starts to head up the stairs,

Let me hit office and we can start rollin init

Seeing what Einar is about to do, Mr. Whiskers holds up his hand and says "Wait!"

Looking around, he then asks "Did any of the bandits survive?"

If no one stabilized them, he would try to.

"Do we want to quickly search before attacking? He likely heard the noise of our combat and will be ready regardless of if we go now or in ten minutes."

I edited the above post.

Hearing Mr. Whiskers call "wait" Einar turns around. "Vat vould you do instead mien freund?"

"We should do a quick check down here first. Keep a watch up there, but we enter as a group."

Mr. Whiskers checks each of the bandits, to see if they are still alive and also if they have any potions or other interesting items on them.

You're in hostile territory. I suppose you will check if the rooms have hostiles, so you will open them, but chances are you are not going to be opening every nook and cranny, so no doing all the checks in those rooms. After that we can go to Rokhar.

On each of the bandits the party finds : padded armor, buckler, short sword, shortbow with 20 arrows, 8 gp, 5 sp. One of the bandits is dead.

H5
The Sentinels stored most of their tools for the construction and upkeep of the lodge here. The shed contains a few shovels, axes, and hammers hanging from the walls.

H6
A wooden roof extends over this wide porch. Double doors provide access to the lodge itself. Two small glass windows are set in the walls to either side of the doors.

H7
A bearskin rug dominates the floor of this trophy room, and the heads of several deer have been mounted on the walls. Doors lead north and south, while two hallways go farther east. Beneath the Bearskin Rug, Cadence, Crummock and Einar spot a hidden trapdoor, which is locked (DC20 DD check)

H8
A large fireplace takes up most of the north wall of this room, its radiant heat providing palpable relief from the cold weather outside. Cabinets and shelves line the remaining wall space, and four windows look out on the wintry landscape surrounding the lodge.

H9
None of the bandits have claimed this room for their own. It remains dark and silent. The wardrobe contains linens, a washboard, and nothing else of interest.

H10
A single rumpled bed occupies this room. The room is otherwise empty.

H11
Three doors open into this room. A sturdy bed heaped with blankets sits near the only window, and a large maple chest occupies the southwest corner. (DC 25 DD to open)

H12
A bed and chest sit across from one another in this small room. Two doors serve as exits, and a window looks out on the north side of the lodge. The chest in the room is locked (DC 20 DD to open) Ten Penny protests, ”Hey, that’s my room.”

'Ok, we check the rooms first for no surprises, then we go to the upstairs.'Einar nods and tells Ten-Penny, "You may as vell take a seat, Zis vill take longer zan one would expect, ya." while Mr. Whiskers checks the bandits Einar begins checking the doors, first for traps then for locks, and as he disable's or unlocks them he opens them and looks inside. Moving around the room, he stops long enough to pick up another bowl of soup from Ten-Penny. Lifting it in salute, "Nicht schlecht, überhaupt nicht schlecht."

He starts at H9 and goes clock-wise, checking each room as he goes.

Opening the door to Ten-Penny's room last, Einar blushes and looking sheepish, closes the door, "Vergib mir bitte, Ten-Penny" Closing the door he points to the rug, "Zee rug is Sehr schön, does anyvone mind if I keep it?" Moving to the lock underneath, he pulls out his picks and opens the door, looking inside, before he goes down.

assuming he can take 20 for disable device for the lock.

"Thanks, I'm glad you liked my cooking." Ten-Penny is a lot happier after the party has assured her they arent going to murder her or eat her up. "I mean, I could've done better if I had more ingredients..."She looks at Einar again. "Urm...you don't mind it was horsemeat? Some people have reservations, you know..."

No, Einar, no DD. Unless you want nasty things to happen.

Einar, resting his glaive on the table, lifts up the bearskin, resting it on his shoulders, like a cloak. Holding it in place with his hands, he turns and looks at Ten-Penny, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't mind zee horsemeat,Versteh mich nicht falsch, Pardon, Don't misunderstand me, I prefer steak, but I am not zee picky eater, ya." Smiling he goes on, "Any vay, I zay If zee horse vill eat meat, zen vee may as vell eat za horse, ya. Did you know zere are horses who vill eat meat." Stopping for a moment to think he asks Ten-Penny. "So, How many horses are left alive? It vould be good to ride out of here, ya?"

"There are horses that eat meat? Eww, how horrible. I thought horses were docile, and ate only grass!"She puts her hand over her mouth in shock."I hope never to meet those meat eating horses."

"There are 3 horses in the stable, but I don't think they're doing too well. Again its all the blasted weather."

Einar smiles, "I have heard tell, but even zee grass eating vones are not docile all of zee time." he rubs his chin, "Drei, pardon, three, zat is a shame. When ve are done here ve vill check zee horses, möglich ve vill be able to help zem. It vould be gut for zee Dame to be able to ride back to zee village, ya." Nodding to the bandits, Einar asks, "You are not vit zem, und you did not know of zee sentinels; so how did you come to be here?"

"I was travelling in Borderwood when a blizzard came up. I thought I'd die out there in the cold, then I saw a light in the distance. I came in, desperate, knocking on the door, begging to be let in. Then there was this rough shaven man, with his hair like a mop answering the door. He had a pair of cold, hard eyes, like someone who had seen all the atrocities in the world and nothing bothered him anymore. "

"He said they didn't take freeloaders, and asked me why he shouldn't just leave me out there to die from exposure. I begged and pleaded that I'd do anything, and he agreed to take me on as a cook. I guess my cooking must be pretty good not to get thrown out, huh?"She gives Einar a weak smile.

'It's good enough for me, of course I'm not that picky.' Einar smiles, "It's good enough for me."as he takes the bear rug off of his shoulders and lays it on the table beside his glaive. He begins checking the thieves for a good cloak clasp to put on the bearskin cloak. "So where are you headed to?"

"Honestly, I didn't think that far." She looks resigned. "I initially wanted to head to Oppara. But with the weather being so cold, I'd probably just end up as one frozen corpse on the road before I got there. Anywhere warm, with nice people, honestly, would be fine by me now."

Finding a clasp with a heavy pin on one of the cloaks, he goes back to the bear hide. "Vell once ve have zee Dame I assume ve vill head back to Heldren, zat is vere Cadence is vrom." Nodding over toward Cadence. "You are velcome to return zere vit us, if you choose." Holding the hide up by it's forepaws he wraps it around his neck and pins it over his winter coat. "Vat do you Think?"

hey, no reason to leave a bear hide go to waste.

Crummock looks thoughtful.

"Well, if ye be a half-ways decent cogydd, I reckon ye c'd winter in Heldren."

'Cogydd?' Taking the bearcloak off and laying back down on the table he nods his head in agreement with Crummock. "Ya, und if zat is too difficult Sie könnten kochen oder sogar Metzger, er I mean you could do zee cooking, or maybe even zee butchering, ya."

Ok, that probably made me laugh more than it did Crummock or Ten-Penny.

"Well, that rugs been lying on the ground for a while, I wouldn't be doing that..."

She looks out of the windows wistfully, "Sometimes I wonder if the winter will ever end and summer return. I've been here like forever, it seems."

She perks up when Crummock and Einar mention about Heldren."I've never heard of Heldren before, what's the place like?"Then doubt creeps back into her face."Will they run me out of town because I'm a half orc?"

Crummock shrugs.

"There be bigots everywhere, t' be sure, but Cadence here is from the village - I am sure that she could put in a good word..."

'Wouldn't be doing that?' Einar looks from Ten-Penny to his new cloak, "vy not?" Then shrugs, pulling the hair back from his horns. "zey accepted me vit zis Taint, zay should accept you, ya?"

"I don't know, you look perfectly fine to me, if a bit toothy. Me? I'm green!" She sounds morose.

'green? Smiling a little, "True, It's not easy being green, But at least zere are others, some very famous." Pulling up his sleeve to show her the blue tint to his skin he continues. "My blue skin clearly idenivies me as related to zee Cambion. Zey are all Monsters. ya"

you know if we were killing stuff I wouldn't have time for this ;)

Edit: At least I've figured out what Einar's voice sounds like for when he sings with Cadence...

"T' be sure, but ye dinnae have the knowledge o' what Einar here is like when he is angry - he turns into a bit of a Balff, with really long teeth, and nasty sharp claws; and they sure as Hell dinnae drive him out of town; in fact, they be hirin' him to protect it!"

"And here I thought you were out in the snow too long. Is blue your natural colour?"She asks Einar curiously.

"Yeah I get why no one wants to be on his bad side."She gestures at the bandit bodies.

Her own room? With it's own locked chest? Very strange!

Mr. Whiskers takes a moment to look the cook over again.

Weapons? Armor? Spell component pouch? Any indication she is more than a cook?

Perception: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 2 + 2 = 10 Well, not going to see anything hidden on that...
sense motive: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 2 = 5 She seems so sincere...

"You must be pretty good with people, convincing Rokhar that you should have your own room."

She is carrying weapons. Like this

"There are lots of rooms, pick one, claim it. Better that I secured everything before someone stole it and started using it for gambling."She replies.

'That does make sense, they were thieves.' Einar, done messing with the bear-rug turned bear-cloak, picks up his glaive. "Ya zee blue is my natural color, sometimes it is even brighter." Seeing that Mister Whiskers, Crummock and Cadence are ready he nods to the steps, "Shall ve make Zee acquaintance of zis Rokhar?"

Einar walks up the steps and waits until the team looks ready, when he sees everyone nod he kicks the door three quick times, bursting it off it's hinges.

str: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (8) + 4 = 12
str: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17
str: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22

I assumed that it is a good wooden door, if it's a strong wooden door can he rage and still get it with three?