Gird blinks. And then decides that it isn't worth pursuing. "Okay. Let's do this, shall we?"
Gird moves into position.
Oomlowt tries to be stealthy and stuff, hiding so he can protect his ffriends/exploitable allies!
Garhan gets into position, ready to cover for Woden in case there is something horrible and oniony inside the hut.
"I will count on you, my friends, to protect me just in case!"
With that said, Woden marches to the hut. Still worried about what may be there but confident in his and his friends abilities.
You march towards the hut, aiming to talk down or kill whatever is inside when you hear a voice call out from inside.
"Whatdoyouthinkyou'redoin'outthereyouruffian!? Youbetternotbeanother-banditorI'llhavesomeseriouswordswithyou,mostofthempro bablymagical! Socomeonspeakupandbehonestaboutit,whatareyoudoin'hereprettyboy!?"
You still can't see the speaker, but he sounds old, cranky and maybe even a bit insane. The sheer speed at which he speaks is more than enough to be off putting.
The smell of herbs is nearly overwhelming, now, but it is mixed with the faint smell of onions and sweat.
It's delightful.
Startle, and mildly horrified, by the voice, woden clears his voice and speaks back to the voice.
"I-I'm not a bandit! I just wanted to know if anyone was in the hut!"
Gird can't help it. At hearing someone else call Woden pretty boy, she snorts and lets out a quick guffaw. Then proceeds to glare at her teammates. Wasn't her fault whoever was in that hut called it like it was.
Garhan let's out a small yelp as the sudden voice startles him, but he tries to stay focused on staying in position behind Woden.
Gird's glare leaves him unmoved this time. He's pretty much used to Woden being the "pretty boy" by now.
Oomlowt simply glared at the hut in predatory anticipation. His bandit training was kicking in, and he knew that any minute now he'd have a clear shot to kill this poor mark. Just need to wait for Woden to give the universal bandit sig-
Wait, did his comrades even know the universal bandit signal? Oh crap. This could go South quick. Maybe he should just take the shot when he feels like it.
There's a pause, before the voice continues.
Whatwasthatmoise? Arethereothersofyououtthere,'causethatwouldmakeitlikeyou'reabandit."
There's a cough, before the voice goes on again.
"Okay,I'mcomin'outthere,butthefirstsignoffunnybusinessandyou'llbesorry."
There's a shuffling noise and a decrepit,old man waddles out the crude door of the hut, his demeanor twitchy like nervous bird. He quickly looks Woden up and down before leaning in close, his breath smelling of some unidentifiable mix of spices.
"Nowwhatisyername?"
"My name is Woden Cernnos"."
Woden tries to hide his mild disgust and keeps an expressionless demeanor.
Gird doesn't really know what to do. I'll just let Pretty Boy deal with him...
Gird settles better into her cover, not letting her hands off the bow.
It would be ok. It would all be ok. Woden had to know the universal bandit sign. He had to! There wasn't even a clean shot on the old guy yet. Holy hells did that guy reek - Oomlowt could smell it even in his hiding spot. But that was ok too. Woden would give the sign and everything would be ok.
Oomlowt's trigger finger itched.
Garhan tries his best to be so small this weird fast-talking old man wouldn't see him from behind the ever so tall and mighty elf, Woden the Boarslayer, or Spiderslayer, which ever of his heroic deeds you favor more.
Calanthe is also hiding behind her owner.
What?
You mean you didn't know the goat was there?
Oh yeah, the goat was there, all the time.
Don't you try to argue anything else.
The player hasn't been forgetting to mention the goat.
The goat is always there.
Watching.
And now hiding.
Long story short - these two are ducking behind Woden, trying not to make any noise.
Bokken looks hard at Woden and then gazes around jerkily, scanning the surroundings for hidden "bandits."
Bokken Sense Motive:
Looks like the old scary man is trying to spot you! Quickly, Garhan! Uh, duck harder!
And lets see if this goat is a stelthy individual. At least it's been hiding from the player's text for a while.
Well you two seem pretty synchronised!
Stay hidden check:
Satisfied that there aren't any bandits hiding around, Bokken turns back to Woden.
"Alright, 'Woden' whatcha want from me? Is it potions? D'you want to help me make some potions? What is it?"
Holy gods, is that smell overpowering.
"Well uhhh, what kind of potions are you making exactly?"
Woden feels as though he's going to regret this decision.
Bokken guffaws before answering.
"Oh if you give me some time and supplies I can make you a lot of different potions! Right now I got some cure and endure elements. If you want, you can help me out by goin' out and collecting some fangberries. They make all of the potions delicious you see, without them , they'd taste like... like... like potions!"
Bokken gives you a crazy look while he rubs his nose.
Those potions actually sound rather useful! Maybe this old coot can help him out.
"In that case, I'm sure I can be able to help!"
Bokken's eyes light up and he spits enthusiastically as he explains his mighty quest for the fangberries.
"Excellent! I've been meanin' to go and get more of them. I've been runnin' out for a while. There's a nice big thicket about fifty or so miles southwest of here, I think? Maybe it was sixty? I dunno, just make sure you keep them clean! Don't want to be angering any of the fangberry spirits and there's no way I'm washin' them. That's your job now."
He stops a second, before his eyes widen as he seems to get an idea, at which point he quickly and firmly grabs your shoulder.
"While you're at it, I had this brother," he stops to spit here, as well as brandish his missing pinky finger in your face. If it wasn't gone he would be picking your nose with it right now. "Bastard cut that offa me the last time he hit my mother, Desna rest her soul. But he took off right after to live in a hollow tree down south rather than face the guards, so I guess it all worked out well enough. I was going to track him down myself, but you seem like a strong young feller, so if you see someone who looks a bit like me, living in a tree, can you, like, get rid of him?"
The universal bandit sign! Oomlowt almost jumped in his hiding spot he was so excited! Finally Wo-
Wait, the old man was the one who made the gesture, holding up every finger save his pinky. Did... was the old man a bandit? Were there other bandits here?
Oomlowt was suddenly confused and scared.
"Hm! Sounds like a fair job...I will accept! I will get those berries, and if I run into him, he'll be good as dead!", Woden exclaimed in a heroic demeanor.
Bokken smiles and says, "Good! Good! Now, it's time for you to go Woden Not-Bandit."
Then he turns around quickly and scuttles back into his onion-like hut.
He calls out, "Go on! Leave! It's getting late, and you don't want the night fey to catch you!"
You hear some cackling, a slam, and then nothing from the hut.
Meanwhile, Gird has been spending this whole time wondering to herself just how crazy this old coot is, and if he really has some sort of ulterior motive.
****! I should have used my Detect Evil on him! So stupid!
Although, maybe she can just... sort of...
Gird peeks her head over her cover, whatever it is, and focuses on Bokken, hoping that he is within range.
Her eyes glow with the divine power of a Paladin, and she gazes very intently at the hut, but as far as she can tell, there is no evil there.
She really hopes he wasn't out of range.
Guess I'd better yell at Pretty Boy for giving us a useless job helping a crazy old man collect happy juice.
After some post-Bokken shenanigans and camping, you set out on your journey of exploration and eventual return to Oleg's.
During which nothing really happens. The sky is clear, the wind is a bit breezy and it's unusually warm for Pharast, but that just makes it better.
And so, early in the morning on 22nd of Pharast you arrive at Oleg's.
But something's different. There are a group of tents sitting in the shadow of the Palisade to the south, with some men in armor milling around them.
What do you do?
You each get 25 XP for fully exploring a hex, bringing your totals up from 626 XP to 651 XP
Oomlowt stuck as close to Woden as possible. When other humanoids were around, it was best for "monstrous" creatures like himself to stick as close to the "normal" races as possible. That was one of the first things he learned in bandit school!
Bandit school was not a real school.
Oh no, tents!
'Oh no..! Have the bandits come back when we were away? Are Oleg and the others even alive?'
Garhan has a great need to yell this out loud, but he doesn't. It... Somehow feels innappropriate.
"Those tents look a bit ominous."
Well that was still something.
Garhan seems to shift a bit closer to Woden too. Woden had a good reputation of staying alive.
Gird looks over at the men in armor. Would any of them be a good lay? Any half-orcs around? Gird watches, completely unsure of what to do. Men in armor are usually not good, but Gird has found that being a paladin generally cancels out being a half-orc; people are most often distrustful without being aggressive.
Checking for good lays/half orcs (Perception):
Trying to guesstimate how people there are (Perception):
"Okay, what do you people want to do? I'm all in favor of not getting killed."
"Well I don't think bandits would set-up so close....I also don't think they have as fanciful of armor."
Still, this was nothing less than suspicious, just who are these people!? And why is Woden suddenly the designated meat shield?
"They could be perfectly benign, normal visitors!" Oomlowt said, while thinking to himself, "That's the worst kind!"
"We should just act friendly and normal and nonsuspicious," the bandit kobold murderer said.
"I agree! I don't want to act suspiciously!" Garhan exclaimed.
"They might not be bandits but... I hope they're not here to kill and loot everyone approaching."
Gird laughs. It's not a pretty sound.
"Right. A kobold, a half-orc and some demon spawn walk into a bandit camp...that sounds like the start of a really, really bad joke." Gird unconsciously rubs at her shoulder and eye. "Really, really bad..."
As you try to figure out what to do, one of the armored men approaches you, not particularly handsome, and says, "You the explorers Oleg told us about?"
This man gets straight to the point.
Gird nods in affirmation. "Yeah, that'd be us."
Well this man doesn't look like an evil bodylooter... At least yet.
"You know Oleg?"
The man nods, "Yes, I'm Narven, and I'm one of the guards Oleg sent for. We arrived just after you left, and Oleg was very particular about making sure we didn't attack you on sight," He looks down at Oomlowt for a second before turning back to Garhan. "Given how... exotic your party is."
He then turns to Gird, "By the way, there's a Cleric of Erastil who arrived a day after us who is very interested in speaking with you." He stops to turn back and address the whole group. "And a Kellid savage drifted in a few days ago, and he's taken to loitering in the guesthouse. He seemed to be really interested in your efforts of exploration.
You get the feeling that they just want to get rid of the drifter.
F***.
"Another holy ma-person. I can't wait..." Gird grins, hoping it seems genuine. Clerics (and other paladins) to Erastil were almost as bad as Erastil himself. And they tended to be messed up motherf***ers.
"That was... Very nice of Oleg." Garhan smiles. It would've indeed been bad if these guard guys had attacked our party of heroes.
"A Kellid savage interested in our efforts? Huh... I... Guess we got to go meet him, then."
Garhan does a slight bow-like gesture to the guard and leaves, heading for the guesthouse. He felt kind of uneasy around the guards, even if they weren't evil bodylooters, so going to see this savage person sounded like a good idea.
"Yes, I believe we should see him first, unless you'd like to see that cleric Gird."
Woden still feels a bit unsure of the situation, but at least these guards were on THEIR side. At least he hopes.
Gird almost groans. Damn her and her believability!
"Yeah, sure, okay, let's go meet him/her/it."
Oomlowt simply waited for his more humanish companions to make a decision while trying to look as meek and inoffensive as possible to the armored fellows.
And with that, your group sort of awkwardly shuffles into the fort proper to search for this "Kellid savage."
You find him exactly where you were told you could, the Guesthouse.
The Kellid man looks a bit morose when you enter.
This will be interesting.
This... Man looks kind of scary.
"Uh, hi?"
Garhan waves his hand as a hello.
"We... Were told you... Uh, would be interested in our efforts of exploration?"
Random notification - Calanthe also followed Garhan inside the house.
It didn't feel good to be a goat surrounded by armored men.
So yes, the goat's inside the guesthouse too. It's just an extremely sneaky goat so it's left unmentioned a lot of times.
Gird sizes the man up. Pretty boys; nothing but pretty boys. Or kobolds. Gird is pretty certain she'd crush Omelet if she ever tried to tap that. Some sort of Omelet/crushed eggs joke enters her train of thought, but Gird dismisses it.
"Yo. Some guy said you were interested in us?" Gird stands, impassive. He doesn't seem to be carrying any sort of sword or mace or other heavy object, and his armor is padded, as opposed to metal. Great, yet another idiot walking around, wanting to be a hero with NO FRIGGIN' ARMOR.
Oomlowt remained unsure of how to act around the newcomers, but at least this "kellid savage" looked unsavory enough to maybe possibly be nice?
"We'd love more help," Oomlowt said to build off Garhan and Gird's invitation to the newcomer.
The young Kellid glanced the group which arrived. Maybe these were the ones he had heard? He kicked himself away from the wall he had leaned to when he was greeted. He took the little stick he had been chewing away from his mouth, throwing it away.
"Yeah." He said with bit rough common. "Name is Huey Springtwig. Thought it might be interesting to travel with some group..."
"Well, we certainly travel as a group a lot!" Oomlowt said while trying to be as un-awkward as possible.
He failed his un-awkward check.
This..! This new guys' behavior was so... Cool, somehow.
"My name is Garhan Ghaidos", Garhan introduced himself.
"And my friend's name is Calanthe."
Garhan nods to the goat who lets out a very bored "baa".
"And this is a good group to be a part of!"
Even if there was the most warm smile possible of Garhan's face, I don't think this was a good advertisement speech at all.