Revival of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master Cellion

Ouch! Well, since you also have handle animal trained...
Colvyn's Handle Animal: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11 Nope, sadly

Colvyn's thrown rations strike the horse in the face, causing it to spasm in fear. The fact that these rations might be edible is entirely lost. Instead, it seems driven into even greater panic by the maneuver - perhaps because the goblins had pelted it previously with their own projectiles.

The horse bucks wildly and raises his fore legs up to attack the nearest creature, in this case, Guiness!

|||| INIT ||||
Warhorse
Guiness
Colvyn
Kargas
Rig
Flo
Kellek

Bold are up

Awww man, I don't want to hurt a horse.
Thinking as quickly as he can, Rig begins a smooth, swaying dance to try to calm the horse.
he's using his fascinate performance. Horse will need to make a DC15 will save or be fascinated. As long as nobody takes any aggressive actions towards him/her, it will sit quietly and watch. Then maybe we can try this over

"If Rig's dance doesn't work, just try to knock it out! I can heal it when we gather up some food and water for the poor thing," Flo pleads, pulling her wand out and getting ready to bless the party with it.
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If the horse doesn't seem to be effected, I'll cast bless on the party.

|||| INIT ||||
Warhorse (fascinated)
Guiness
Colvyn
Kargas
Rig (fascinating)
Flo
Kellek

Bold are up

After drawing some healing energy from the wand, Flo moves as slowly as she can up to the horse and gently tries to stroke it's mane. "There, there, everything will be ok now..." she coos, trying to comfort the horse. Suppose this is the downside of being river travelers... I can fish and sail any day of the week!
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CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (6) + 1 = 7
Handle Animal: 1d20 ⇒ 13

Flo: you have a +6 to handle animal. Don't forget to add that in!

If Handle Animal doesn't work, I'm gonna grapple that horse

Readied Grapple: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24

Guiness lays down his shield, concave side up, and starts pouring water from his cask into the makeshift container. Rather than try any calming of the creature himself, he merely says gently, ” I have suffered the goblin’s tender mercies as well, big fella. I’ll bet you are thirsty...”

With his earlier success , Colvyn rather stay on the sideline for that one. My mentor would have known what to do here. Whether with people or animals, I can't seem to bring peace.

I don't have much left to help with.

As Rig's dancing ends and the warhorse's mind clears, it finds its wounds healed by Flo's magic (though not fully) and a shield-ful of water available in front of it. Gentle, coaxing words from Flo do wonders for its fear, though it still prances back and forth a couple of times as it eyes the courtyard for a way out. With a couple more minutes of effort between Flo and Guiness, it finally accepts the water. And before long you have the proud beast lapping water hungrily from the impromptu dish.

Combat Averted!

By the time it is done drinking, the horse seems relatively calm, watching you with level eyes. Certainly still a little skittish whenever one of you moves quickly, but far from the violent behavior it was showing minutes ago. One thing is clear, however: the horse would definitely not like to stay here.

With Flo and Guiness' quick actions, I'll say you probably only needed one round of Fascinate Rig.

"Now comes he hard part. I have no idea how they got the horse in here, and even less of how to get it out. I mean, we could lead it outside and let it graze around the outside of the fortress until we're done?"

Guiness nods at Rig, but then asks, ”What about the goblins on the mainland? If the horse crosses the bridge, it could be attacked. Do you think it would stay on the island and eat the thistles?”

Does the horse have markings that indicate it has been domesticated (a brand, marks from wearing a saddle, etc,, or does it look like it is wild?

The strange rash has spread across to both cheeks now, and Guiness absentmindedly scratches his thigh as he speaks.

No horse wrasslin', probably for the best

"Letting it graze here seems like the best thing to do, getting it out of here is a problem for after the area is cleared."

"I agree, as much as I want to let him roam, it will likely be a death sentence for it and maybe even us if it attracts enough goblins over here," Flo adds. "Let's keep going and once we've cleared the whole structure, we can figure out what to do with our stallion."

"Maybe there are some supplies through this door to the south," remarks Guiness, heading that direction after having retrieved his sodden shield. "It may actually be cleaner than before. Not bad."

Now that the stallion has calmed down, you all note that there are markings (sores really) from where it once had a saddle. Clearly the animal was domesticated before the goblins had captured it.

Guiness' augury proves correct as he opens the southern door. The small room is filled with shelves with crude tools, nets, and tack for goblin dogs lining the walls. To the northeast stands a large L-shaped wooden cage that contains dozens of scrawny rabbits, each about the right size for a goblin dog to snack on.

Unsurprisingly, there's no equipment here useful for horse-rearing or care.

"Okay then. Let's leave him here and continue this way," Rig says pointing to the north.

With a grunt of agreement, Kargas retrieves his ranseur and posts up on the next door.

I will be away from home this weekend. Signal should be fine, but I won’t be able to move my figure on the map.

Seeing nothing in the supply room except perhaps tonight’s supper of rabbit stew, Guiness responds to Rig, ”Reasonable suggestion. There can’t be too much left on this level, anyway.”. He moves north to join Rig at the door.

The group heads through the northern door and into a narrow, low-ceilinged hallway that turns to the east. You push through a rickety door that hangs partway open and spot a small room on the right. The room contains a low wooden table and a plethora of goblin-sized stools littering the place. From the mix of old food stains and blood stains on several surfaces, it looks like this room served as some kind of meeting space and/or interrogation chamber and/or cafeteria.

Back in the hallway, you take the door to the north and find a short passage that ends in another flight of stairs leading downwards (all the way in the north-west corner of the fort) as well as a rickety side-door that leads to a foul smelling little closet. Inside, the room features nothing more than a reeking hole in the ground, its rim stained with refuse and briny-smelling goblin waste.

"My what an incredible smell you've discovered."

"Looks like we got 'em, at least the ones up here. How deep do you think this place goes?" Rig wonders aloud, peering down the stairs. "Care to find out?"

"Kellek and Flor need their spells back first, but yeah, we're going down there after them. Guiness, help me find a table or something, we're gonna wedge it at the top of that stone stairway Rig found and make a barricade..."

Once that is completed, Kargas finishes off any unconscious goblins. After all the corpses are stripped of anything valuable he tosses them off the head into the water below--on the opposite side from their boat, in case something dangerous came to feed.

So we're reasonably confident there are goblins across the bridge & goblins below. That's two different areas to keep an eye on during watch rotations.

"We could simply burn the bridge, ya know. (Not sure we can get a horse across it anyway) Or maybe Colvin can rig it so it falls if anyone tries to get across. Then we only have one front to keep an eye on."

Guiness will help block the stairwell, as requested. He seems to have a minor limp at this point, favoring the leg bitten by the goblin dog. (Of course, he is far too prideful to request any healing, as he is nowhere near keeling over dead). He tries to cut down a few of the bushes which look like they might be edible for a horse, breaking off the thorns as he goes. It is slow work, but he seems to be sympathizing with the hunger of the noble creature.

"We could simply burn the bridge, ya know. (Not sure we can get a horse across it anyway) Or maybe Colvin can rig it so it falls if anyone tries to get across. Then we only have one front to keep an eye on."

I’d advise against burning the bridge. If you look at the double doors in the map, they lead back to the main entrance, and I suspect it may be the only way to get the horse off the island.

I also would prefer to keep the bridge intact if we can help it. Having a guard posted who can tumble any goblin attackers into the water should be sufficient. Maybe another barricade for cover against any goblin archers?

In addition to deciding how you want to handle your watches, if you want to rest overnight, please point out where and how you're resting. And also your watch order.

If you'd like to make a standard watch order, feel free to throw it in discussion for future reference.

If I recall, this offensive started fairly early in the morning, so it probably isn't too late in the day yet. I don't know if we can take an 8 hour rest during the day or not, but that may affect our plans...

"I can stay in the front room to keep watch if you spellcasters need a rest," volunteers Guiness, limping that direction after dropping fodder off for the horse. "I should be able to see if anything tries to come up those stairs too," he adds, pointing to the door to the east.

"Guiness, what's with your leg?"

"Oh that," says Guiness self-consciously, stopping in the middle of a scratch, "That's just where the blasted goblin mongrel dog bit me. It does itch a bit," he allows.

"I've got some soap if you'd like to wash it off a bit," Rig offers. "But you might want to let Flo or Colvyn have a look at it. Hate for that to spread to more sensitive areas, right?"

You may or may not have ever seen a dwarf's ruddy complexion turn white. Now, you can say you have...

"Uh, Colvyn, a moment if you would," says Guiness, looking decidedly worried. He gestures over to the side room, obviously wanting Colvyn to follow him.

Assuming he does, Guiness will ask Colvyn in private to see if he can heal the (now rather awkward) wound.

"I'll take no argument either, Guiness," Flo adds after Rig's suggestion. With security and plans made, she gently treats the reacting area. Glad this training is coming in handy!
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Heal vs Disease (Guiness): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16 iirc, he gets a +4 next time he has to save against the disease if that beats the disease's DC
The plans look good to me! Watch rotation that Kargas described should work. Idk what else we can do with our daylight hours if we can't rest, but unless the goblins decide to raid us, we might be able to just fast forward through that part.

This is a disease that gets cleared by any amount of HP healing (it has some special rules as described in its spoiler on the previous page).

Today is a day for the "different shades of Guiness".

So, as white as he was before, Guiness' complexion moves straight through his standard "ruddy" and doesn't stop until "red and rather uncomfortably embarrassed". However, if it gets him a new save, here goes:

Fort save with Heal: 1d20 + 6 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 6 + 4 = 23

This is a disease that gets cleared by any amount of HP healing (it has some special rules as described in its spoiler on the previous page).

Understood, GM...but Guiness has no idea about that effect, being untrained in the healing arts. If you want to re-purpose Flo's Healing roll to know that, that would seem fair--totally up to you; it has already made for some interesting role-playing.

happy to toss in a CLW if Guiness needs it, especially since we're about to rest
Rig suppresses his natural inclination to laugh at the dwarf's embarrassment. He doesn't wish to be rude... even if it is kinda funny.

Kargas chortles unabashedly at the dwarf's expense.

happy to toss in a CLW if Guiness needs it, especially since we're about to rest

Rig suppresses his natural inclination to laugh at the dwarf's embarrassment. He doesn't wish to be rude... even if it is kinda funny.

Please do. Having his nether regions doctored by the attractive female he just swore and oath of honor to because she saved his life is a bit on the nose even for the normally sensible dwarf...

clw: 1d8 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7
"Hopefully that'll clear things up," Rig says kindly. "Don't be too proud to get injuries looked at, friend. Gods know what foul plagues these critters can carry."

Somewhat mortified by the whole experience, Guiness merely says, "Thank you," as the rash begins to subside. "Let's settle in for a while to recover."

Once the rather awkward rash-removal session is done, the party settles in to rest for the remainder of the day. The long afternoon leaves plenty of time to get to know your new comrades, despite the level of potential danger associated with your position. Late in the afternoon, a group of six goblins come out of the thorn bushes on the mainland, but you're able to spot them well in advance of their arrival on the fort. Not expecting anything unusual, the goblins loiter about near the end of the bridge for a few minutes and then start heading across it as a group.

Three of the goblins immediately lose their footing and tumble off the bridge and into the icy water 80ft below. They die on impact. The remaining three grab a hold of the rope holding the rest of the bridge up. This leaves them swinging precariously, holding onto the rope with two hands and yelping in alarm. (With only three left, and them in such a poor position, I'll resolve this narratively) The three goblins try to reverse direction, moving hand over hand as they shimmy back towards the mainland, but Colvyn is ready with his bow. A few accurate arrows later, and the remaining goblins lose their grip and tumble into the surf.

----

The rest of the afternoon passes uneventfully. Whatever further dangers lie below, they don't come up to the surface levels. You take your watches through the night and don't spot any more goblins coming from the mainland either. Perhaps the bridge being out is dissuading them. Or perhaps there aren't many left over there?

Its during the early morning hours while Kargas and Guiness are on watch that they hear low rumble emit from somewhere in the bowels of the stone head underfoot. The rumbling lasts only a few seconds, but it sounds as though some massive beast is growling. Thankfully, whatever the source of the sound, nothing comes up to the surface to disturb the party's rest.

Dawn comes, and with it, you're all able to begin the morning's preparations.

(Please make sure to update your prepared spells on your profile. If you'd like to post your prepared spells in gameplay, please do so in a spoiler.)

How much was Guiness able to feed the horse? His plan is to leave as much fodder and water as is practical for it so it can recover while they go below...

Once satisfied that he has done all he can for the magnificent creature, Guiness leaves the horse behind and asks the group, "So what is our next step? Down the steps or clearing the mainland?"

As an aside, Guiness speaks with Colvyn. ”If those 6 goblins that you dumped into the sea were their only forces on the mainland, I would be tempted to set the horse free, assuming the bridge can hold it. However, it looks like the creature is accustomed to the saddle, and I fear it may not survive the wild. What do you think?”

"We should go down to make sure there isn't something worse than goblins waiting below. That rumbling you spoke of... I don't like the sound of it."

Assuming Colvyn reassures him about the horse, Guiness will nod at Rig’s suggestion and move towards the stairs.

"Agreed, at this point I doubt much if any goblins are waiting on the mainland. Let's delve deeper into this compound and quell any lurking terrors," Flo says after completing her morning prayers. The rest seems to have done a number on her mood, the horrors of the storage room well out of her mind.
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Unless anyone has any suggestions, I'll prep my usual 1st level spells and pick out a couple of 2nd that suit our current situation/party (as best as I can). Once we are all ready to go in, I'll cast longstrider on myself.

As the rumbling echoes up the stairwell Kargas nudges Guiness with his elbow. "Hear that? That's the sound of something that might impress the tribe, if I'm lucky. Probably not lucky though."