"Ha! Sound's a plan than lads!" Bogorin laughs in response to the others "But I don't snore! Ain't never 'eard o' a dwarf that did! Well, 'cept fer me great uncle Amos Toefingers o'course. 'E could wake tha dead e' could." and, giving a polite enough goodbye to the ladies, he departs for sleep, a fresh mug of ale in his hand.
Seltyn will get up early, and since he's got no spells to prepare, try to buy 3 days' trail rations, a donkey, a pack saddle, and 5 days' worth of feed (50 lbs.) (14.75 gp).
If he can get it:
If not, just the rations (1.5 gp).
Satisfied with both the chel's reactions, and what she learned from his display of professionalism, Ridley happy skips back to her chair and digs into the meal. After eating her fill she replaces the three gold she spent on food with three of the five she made from the dwarf's diplomacy, she leaves the remaining two on the table as tip.
"Well, if the women are sleeping in one room and the men are in another, we're kind of limiting our options for getting to know eachother there aren't we? But I'm not one to judge Mr. Stinger, don't you worry."
Otherwise equiped and prepared for the trip, Ridley curles back up around her own pack under another chair, though this time she is far more selective, looking for one that seems less likely to be jostled about atop her.
"I'm sure there will be plenty of time to get to know each other that way before the trip is done for those so inclined. I just don't think that given people's state of intoxication, it's wise to invite trouble." Beestinger retorts.
He also rises early to collect his thoughts, not really needing to buy anything further, though if everyone else buys a mount, he'll spring for a good quality riding dog.
As Iriesys wakes, before she does anything else, she goes to the local Alchemist or Apothecary, getting a dose of Alchemist's Kindness [1gp].
She will then return to the tavern and prepare her spells.
If possible, afterwards she'll go to the armorer and see if they have a Haramaki[3gp]
Seltyn Sevenleaf And Bogorin Rockstomper take Tauster's chest of material goods to their chamber and cover it with some of the straw mounds that serve as crude beds. Eventually the newly formed group retires to their respective rooms. The morning after a heavy night of drinking the sun seems to rise entirely too early, but everyone who needs to run errands before departing, is able to drag themselves out of bed. The local general store and trading post facilitates everyone's easily enough (Wartle is a bit too small to have a full sized smithy or stable that can stand on its own) and soon the party is gathered and ready to head North to Galduria.
Edit:
Once Iriesys arrives, you see that she now has a simple silken sash lined with chainmail. She still looks pretty bad from last night but with a wave of her hands, her hair is tied in a bun, her glasses are cleaned, and the small vomit stain on her sleeve is gone.
Ridley will hang out in the middle of the group, as we have people up front and behind...likely chattering away in depth about the theorized breeding habbits of the Unglin tribe of goblins, a tribe that lived in these parts a few thousand years ago.
Bogorin is decidedly making sure he is out of easy earshot of that conversation. Even speaking with a half orc would be preferable to discussing goblin breeding habits.
Dreadan will not mind Bogorin's company. Since he is broke anyway, he has no fear of a dwarf trying to take his gold.
So, Borgorin and Dreadan together in front, Followed by Ridley talking about goblin breeding habits, with Seltyn leading the donkey, Iriesys in back, and Beestinger staying off the road, skulking sometimes in front or behind us.
9th Rova...
Travel over the next couple of days goes rather uneventfully; the weather is warm with a slight breeze, and the trail North is barren of other travelers. On the second morning on the road the party passes the bend in the path toward Nybor and continues onward toward Galduria . A few days later- on the fourth afternoon after leaving Wartle, the sun hangs low and lazy in the sky. The first group of other people since leaving the small town appear on the road ahead. A small group of farm laborers, leaning wearily on pitchforks approach from the opposite direction. They give friendly smiles as they see your group and wave or nod in a passing greeting as they draw closer.
Iriesys moves up next to Seltyn and starts speaking much too fast.
"I think those guys are up to no good. That's what it looks like, at least. You wanna straighten them out? I don't particularly like that sort.It's not a good idea to mess around with travelers in Varisia, where Desna is such a prevalent goddess. I really think we should help them, do you want to help them?"
Loud enough to carry to his walking partner but no where near loud enough to be heard by those in the woods, Bogorin leans into Dreadan "To yer left. Don' look! Fig'r them pair 's settn' tae rob them ther farmer's. 'M thinkn' we run at 'em, draw ther fire, n' our magiky types kin blast 'em from afar. What say ye?"
Get ready to shoot them, Seltyn says to Eriesys and Ridley.
You, there! he shouts, pointing directly at the men, Lower your weapons! Now!
He does this to warn the other travelers, as well as anyone in our party who hasn't seen them. He doesn't believe they're inclined to obey him.
Dreadan starts to answer Bogorin as Seltyn shouts at the two bowmen. "Nothing to it now.He draws his scimitar as he begins to move. " They die or surrender, the choice is theirs."
Upon seeing the distant farmers Ridley will continue her treaties..."Then the male, to show that he is in heat, will begin producing an excess amount of nasal mucus..." And yes, she's been absently talking about this for the last four days, with occasional interruptions of random anecdotes of her personal experiences with goblins, which generally involve much less sex.
When she notices the archers in the woods she will continue speaking, but will be untying the sling from her wrist and attempting to subtly reposition so one of the bigger members upfront is blocking line of sight to her from the archers. "Much like you see in rabbits, the act itself takes very little time at all, though a healthy Unglin can perform up to a dozen or so times...in fact this one time, I witnessed-" With Seltyn's command Ridley drops all pretense of obliviousness, and prepares to dive into any available cover on the opposite side of the trail as the archers, hopefully with sling and rock ready.
"...but mebbe we shud leave one o' 'em ali..." but the rest of has to say is cut off by Seltyn's shout.
As his new companions all begin to ready themselves around him the old dwarf shrugs and begins to move. He looks like a hairy shield and warhammer wielding boulder beginning to move, seeming to start off slow but picking up momentum as he goes. As his charge gets into full swing he is moving surprising fast for a dwarf. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect though is the maniacal grin plastered on his face. If one didn't know better, one might think that the action of charging two bow & arrow wielding foes makes him...happy.
Sticking to the light underbrush on the side of the road, Beestinger immediately stops when the party does, and uncoils his one shirt cuff, which turns out to be folded up sling. Pulling a softstone bullet from one of many small pockets on his vest and belt, he loads and prepares to fire at the first sign of combat. Any who manage to see him see his face light up as he focuses on the challenge in front of him.
Iriesys will take out her bow and nock an arrow,
Swift action, Arcane pool for a +1 bow.
The bandits in the trees looked a bit shocked as Seltyn calls out and glance between one another and then to the quartet of farm laborers on the trail ahead of you. The lower their bows for a brief second as though to surrender to your command, but then narrow their eyes and quickly pull their bowstrings taught, training toward your party, which they apparently consider more of potential hazard than the farmers they were stalking alongside.
Actions are as above, getting sling out and ready. If she can make an attack she will.
After almost everyone's done, move to H-8 and attack nearest with ray of frost (rolled touch AC 16, 2 dmg), if he's still alive and not surrendered.
Beestinger will move forward to the edge of the road (J-11), and launch a softstone at the nearest bandit.
Charge Bandit in D5. End charge in E6.
Attack:
Confirm Crit:
Damage:
Crit Damage:
Iriesys draws her bow, and taking careful aim fires an arrow, her shot taking one of the bowmen in the gut. He staggers a couple of steps to the side as he goes wide-eyed and pale, staring at the growing bloodstain on the front of his old, leather armor. Beestinger slings a stone almost simultaneously, but the attack unfortunately goes wide as slinks back into the shadows of the tree. Ridley likewise slings a stone at the would-be assailants, but likewise comes up short before diving behind some nearby cover on the side of the trail to help prevent a retaliatory volley coming her way. Dreadan surges forward with his scimitar, and with one wicked slash finishes off the wounded archer and sending him crumpling to the ground in a bloody pile. The other bandit licks his lips nervously in light of the half-orc's ferocity, suddenly rethinking his plan of attack. "Bandits!?" The laborers cry out in surprise at the party's hollering and sudden flurry of attacks. The farmers look about before they quickly rush to join your grouping and brandish their walking staffs and pitchforks defensively. The remaining bandit looks around for a moment, possibly for a decent route to run, but forces himself to focus firing an arrow point blank at Dreadan.
Dreadan's should burns as the arrow penetrates it, and his attacker curses his luck as he is suddenly face to face with a wounded, but very much alive, half-orc warrior. He retreats further back behind another nearby tree. Bogorin moves up near the half-orc, heading for the second assailant.
Seltyn will stay at that spot, and try to see if we've missed any hidden bandits.
Next round, he'll check the corpse of the dead one.
Iriesys moves forward to try to get a shot on the remaining bandit.
AoO:
Damage
Charge Second bowman.
Charge Attack:
Confirm Crit:
Damage:
Crit Damage:
Ridley calls out a high pitched hoot and smacks the nearest farmer on the rump (would have gone for the shoulder, but everyone's so bloody tall). "Good show Dreadan!" She calls out "You know," She remarks to the farmer. "I've seen prettier sights watching pigs walk infront of me with their tails up high, but that fella there, he's one good mound of muscle and bone to have in a fight. Just the other day I saw him tear a man's chain mail off by hand, just so he wouldn't ruin that curvy blade of his when he gutted the poor bastard" She takes the flask out and swallows down a measure before wordlessly holding it in the direction of the farmer. "Hell of a sight it was..."
Beestinger will simply move towards the farmers staying hidden in the brush.
If I move to F10, I should have LoS, I think.
Seltyn carefully glances about, but notices no other bandits skulking in the woods, while Iriesys surges forward and fires a shot, her arrow zipping between branches and catching the other archer deeply in the side. He howls in pain, but remains standing, if only barely. The stealthy Beestinger hides in teh tall grass and rampant foliage as he makes his way toward the group, hidden to all but the keenest of eyes. Ridley lets Dreadan move up with surprising speed and with one powerful slice decapitates the bowman with his scimitar, the man's head striking the grass before his body quickly crumples after. Ridley jests with the farmers you spared from their bandit assailants, three of whom are slackjawed with disbelief at your party's battle prowess and expert victory. The head farmer snaps his figers as his lips twist into a sinister smirk. "Get the elf, boys! He be a magic abuser if'n I eve' saw one! I'll take care of this smart mouthed one." His men quickly turn, already having Seltyn surrounded. Two raise their walking staffs, the other his pitchfork, and all swing mightily, attempting to strike the evoker on the back of the skull with the hafts of their weapons.
The two weilding staves connect with each other's weapon in the air above the elven mage, but the third manages to catch him in the gut with the butt of his haft, knocking the wind from him with a blow that is sure to cause a painful bruise. Meanwhile the larger, tougher looking leader of the farm laborers sets his sights on Ridley, while raising a pitchfork of his own, and also strikes out with the blunt haft.
The luck of the halflings saves the day, as Ridley's height allows her to narrowly duck a blow to the skull powerful enough to fell even the most seasoned warrior. The elf steps back and out of the horrible flank he had found himself in, avoiding enemies as best he can while clutching his wounded gut. Focusing on the battle at hand, he starts casting an arcane ritual to burn his foes with a gout of magical flame.
Both victims screech in pain as a wave of multicolored fire engulfs them. Within moments the searing heat has them falling to the ground in a smoking pile.
"Bloody Orc Guts! I knew'd sumthin wuz off!" swears the un-surprised but thoroughly angry dwarf.
With a grunt and nothing more he spins around and charges again, this time straight at what seems to be the lead farmer.
Attack: Damage:
Crit Comfirm: Damage:
Growling like an animal while grinning like a madman, his eyes deadly serious and his aim deadly perfect, the dwarven cleric swings his beaten warhammer, its notched and pitted head smashing into his foe with a thunder of breaking bones.
Beestinger, watching the latest developments, keeps stealthily moving down the road toward where the "farmers" came from to look for any other signs of trouble or hidden foes.
Double move back towards the group
Having built up momentum in her tales of the prowess of her new friends, Ridley misses much of what was said, but does note the haft of a pitchfork nearly clubbing her senseless. "...so then he tells the lap post he just ran into "listen here ya bloody sneak-thief elf,"" She begins in her best rendition of Bogorin, but is interrupted when she is forced to duck down under the surprise swipe.
"What's this nonsense about?!" She demands while taking a 5' step out of her enemy's reach.
"Looks like we get to keep one alive after all!" She says before hastily casting sleep at her attacker.
Seltyn will wait to see if the sleep spell worked. If that's the thanks we get for helping these people, I'd hate to see what they'd do if we made them mad!
The dwarf charges in and with one powerful THACK!, a blow like none other, sends the leader of the group sprawling unconscious in the dirt, blood leaking from his mouth, severely wounded, but still very much alive (for now). Creeping up ahead Beestingers keep eyes spot a glint further up on the road, it looks to be an empty, glass vial, the kind used to store potions and elixers, among other things. It isn't long before Dreadan makes his way back up behind Bogorin and near the group. Flash the donkey starts to gnaw at a tuft of grass on the road, seeming to ignore the combat going on around her as she stands in place. Seeing himself alone on the field the final assailant throws down his arms. "I yield! I yield!" He cries for mercy.