Slaves to the Ochre Fang (Inactive)

Game Master Dalton the Thirsty

"You heard the man. Speak quickly or I'll give you to the beast."

As he speaks, he will nod towards Jethop.

It's the Ravener at the moment. The pressure got too much for Jethop to take. He would simply be horrified by this business. Nice boys don't eat traveling devil worshipers.

"Amelia...she..." the man gulps, staring at the Ravener. He closes his eyes a moment and takes a deep, shuddering breath. When he opens his eyes again, they're clearer. "Amelia was to be sacrificed, and her body to become a mortal vessel for a creature of Asmodeus' making. This..creature..would be weak for some time, inhabiting the girl's form, and so the Dark Prince would be sending along two demons to protect it. We were to...host them..." his voice trails off as he looks up at Jokum. "The power that was promised..." he actually smiles up at you, and you can clearly see now the evil that was always behind the fear. "Well. Suffice to say that if I possessed it now, our positions might be reversed."

The girl is frozen as Grrazz nuzzles her, and you can smell the stench of urine mixed with her fear as she quivers before you. You're reminded of a small woodland creature, a rabbit perhaps, petrified before the eyes of a snake.

Beleste would rise once again to his hooves, pushing roughly down upon his shield to smash the man beneath it.

"Unfortunatley for you, that is not the case," Beleste would respond while planting his right hoof firmly into the man's back to keep him from moving as he turned his gaze towards Jokum.

"Do we have any further use for this man?"

"Wait! Wait wait -ow! Wait! Ow!" the man cries, protesting. "If you let me go, let me make the ritual complete...I just need Amelia! She and I wanted this! Please! I can make it worth your while!"

Beleste would turn his attention to the man once more. "How would you make it worth my while? You already said you have little to nothing to offer me.[b]"

Then, while pressing a little bit harder into the man's back with his hoof, Beleste would add, "[b]And why should I trust you?"

"AaaaaAAGH! Stop! Stopstopstopstop..." he exhales a huge breath, then sucks in another deep breath and says quickly, "I admit, I was concealing the letter as Asmodeus would have wished. But, I am weak, and you are strong! Clearly Asmodeus would rather you have the power anyway, right? And if I can escape with my life and Amelia's, I can get my esteem back in the Dark Prince's eyes! PLEASE!" he gasps another quick breath. "I can...tell the Hellpriests to bless you! Asmodeus would bestow power on you that would allow you to overcome any foe, break any chains! With the great power you already wield, you would become terrifying avatars of power, I swear!"

Beleste's eyes would narrow. It was as if the pitiful man knew exactly what to say to spark his interest. "Does the child still live?" he would call out to his companions.

The Ravener calls down from the cliff, "Why would a god waste energy on you, you who could not even do one task. Had he the power to help us, he would not be so easily taken."

A strange sense of complacency settles over Jokum as he watches Beleste grind down the man struggling on the cold stones. Why am I not helping? I don't do these things... But the thought seemed fleeting. A shape on the edge of his mind's eye. In a cold tone, the tiefling says with a sneer, "I don't think we can trust the man to keep his word. Nor do we know that he has the authority to see his promises through. Our companion..." he gestures towards the Ravener, "seems to have the right of it. We are short on time. The girl and the letter may be valuable, but this man doesn't seem so. He may be, in fact, a hindrance and a danger to our work. Let us get back to our real task before it is compromised. Do with him what you will." Jokum leaves Beleste and makes his way towards Grrazz. After tucking the letter into his coat pocket, he says, quietly, "The girl might be valuable. We need her quiet and out of the way and then we need to deal with our assigned task. Can you do that?"

"You heard the man," Beleste while raising his blade to the side. Then, like the pendulum of a clock, Beleste would bring his blade down in an attempt to take the man's head off in one foul swoop.

Longsword Attack with Power Attack: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
Lonsword Damage with Power Attack: 2d6 + 11 ⇒ (3, 4) + 11 = 18

Well that's a crappy roll...I figured I should roll since the guy was not completely tied up and sure enough my luck shows up with a 1.

Seems like you should be able coup-de-grace him when he's on the ground literally under your heels.

Seems like you should be able coup-de-grace him when he's on the ground literally under your heels.

I'll leave that up to DM Frogfoot, as there is always the chance that our captive might suddenly take advantage of Beleste's dropped guard to find the strength to throw him off balance.

Fair enough. :) I'm thinking the arrogant lawful neutral elf personality is going to start stretching his metaphorical wings a bit. He's kind of fun.

Yeah I don't ask for attack rolls in utterly helpless situations like this. You effortlessly decapitate the man, leaving his headless body twitching under your boot as his blood soaks the earth.

What is in the chests that the Ravener took?

Besides a lot of personal effects - clothes mostly, and a lot of worthless children's toys - the only thing you can find that looks valuable is a scrollcase bound in dark leather. It appears to be locked, but you find the key between your rear molars - it must've been held by your victim.

Assuming you eventually give the scrolls to Jokum, and he takes 20 on his Spellcraft check when you have some downtime, these are the scrolls you find:

5x Deathwatch

2x Detect Good

2x Detect Law

3x Forced Quiet

They also appear to have been carrying 1452 gold in various smaller coins - a decent haul.

Jethop perception: 1d20 ⇒ 14

The first chest you look in has a false bottom containing an Adamantine dagger. Reference pic

The Ravener is uninterested in the scrolls and will hand them to Jokum. He will put the coins in Beleste' chest. Better there to keep for the eventual split.

The dagger he will pocket.

With Faeleen's help Grrazz will see to the health etc of the child.

Beleste would wipe his blade off on the man before sheathing it and going about disposing of the man's body on the other side of the bridge. Hiding it behind some bushes, he would take a moment to pat the man down to make sure he was not missing something that might be of use.

Shrugging as the creature seems to indicate acknowledgement, Daeron turns on his heel and makes his way back across the bridge. As he arrives he says to his companions in an imperious tone, "I think we'd best try hiding again as soon as possible lest our targets slip away from our trap."

"shhhhh"

Forgot dice rolls for stealth/perception to set up ambush again.

Stealth: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

The man is bearing nothing but an ill-made mace that looks old.

The girl slowly backs away from Grrazz, step by step, slowly, staring at the great beast with blood in its fur.

Meanwhile, back at the bridge, the tieflings settle the issue of the corpses. However, the horse is still standing calmly in the middle of the road. It didn't bolt or flee despite the messy massacre of two of the men near to it - clearly, this horse has seen some s$~&.

As Beleste started to make his way back over the bridge, he would use his waterskin to wash away as much of the blood as he could before returning to his hiding place to lie in wait.

Stealth: 1d20 - 5 ⇒ (1) - 5 = -4
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

Really...

There's far, far too much blood to be washed off the road with a waterskin, fyi. Two men were dismembered in the road. There's like...blood puddles. Blood rivers. You can see the blood in the river.

There's far, far too much blood to be washed off the road with a waterskin, fyi. Two men were dismembered in the road. There's like...blood puddles. Blood rivers. You can see the blood in the river.

I was assuming Beleste beheaded the man on the bridge so he was just trying to use the water to rinse it away. He wasn't worried about the mess the others made. He could even use the dead guy's cloak to help wash it away. :P

:P The girl was on her backside so Grrazz can at least keep her from getting up. Also, for when Faeleen posts, that's two of us to keep reign on the girl. Plus, like I mentioned, we'll be doing our best to clean/freshen her up. I thought Grrazz had been 'cleaning' themselves after the fight? Did I miss a spot? :P

Try as he might, Beleste is unable to completely clean up after the Ravener's meal and his own merciless execution. As the tieflings already up the cliff look on, they see Beleste shoving the bodies into the river or under brushes as the horse watches him blithely.

As for Grrazz, they are easily able to pin the girl down if they so choose, and lick her clean. She's whimpering in fear.

Hey! There'll be two of us cleaning the girl up.

Pardon me. "As for Grrazz and Faeleen, they are easily able to pin the girl down if they so chose, and clean her." However, as Faeleen is MIA with real life concerns at the moment, how you deal with Amelia is basically up to you. She's just "assisting you" and making sure you don't eat the girl basically.

Pah..is too scrawny and small to be eated. ;) Yah, clean the girl up and keep out of sight on this side of the bridge. Wishing every one all the very best.

So Grrazz, clarify for me since you're fast as hell - how far into the forested area did you run with your captive? Can the other tieflings see/hear you?

How long/far is the bridge? Kind of put Grrazz 200' from where people were having lunch. :P

That's well across the bridge and into the forest. The forest only continues for a short way, west of the bridge, so you and Faeleen are sitting at the edge of the forest before it turns into open grassland. You can't be seen from the bridge through the trees, but shouting can ensure that you are heard by both parties.

While the Ravener wasn't completely sold on Kabriri, he had enjoyed slaughtering those devil worshipers on a whim for the demon's honor. Now for the main course, the wayward drow.

Ah! Sorry DM Frogfoot. I thought the bridge was a tad bigger and the forest...well a tad more foresty. Hmmm...Grrazz would rather be closer to the bridge than closer to wide open, sweeping plains. :P Much cheers and season's greetings to all. (^_^)

The Ravener, Jokum, and Beleste are hunkered down on the cliff overlooking the gorge next to the river. Faeleen and Grrazz are still in the forest with Amelia, keeping her pinned to the ground.

Grrazz, the others are waiting in ambush and they have a little time before the drow should arrive at the bridge. Amelia's been cleaned up but she's still terrified.

Amelia seems to grow a little braver as Grrazz continues to stare at her without eating her. "Well, monster? Are...are you going to eat me or not?" she asks, her voice trembling.

While Faeleen helps Grrazz with cleaning the girl, her assistance is limited to keeping the girl from fleeing and giggling hysterically at the ridiculous scene while letting the other tiefling do the actual cleaning.

"Don't worry kid, you're not going to be eaten," she says, trying to sound reassuring for a change rather than snide. "Though you should really not call others "monsters". Haven't you been taught any manners?"

Now Amelia gets indignant. "Your beast abducted me from my family and spirited me off into the woods! As he stole me away, I saw Durmond being...he...he was..." she's unable to continue, and her face crumples up as she tries to keep talking. Her words trail off and she begins sobbing.

Bunkering down once more next to Jokum, Beleste would inquire into his ally's thoughts on the information they had just received.

"Do you think there is any truth behind the words the man spoke? Should we look into it before informing the Doctor about the completion of our mission?"

Grrazz will make a bit of a point in showing that their 'hands' are not really well equipped in dealing with the more subtle aspects of clothes, being almost 'paws' => Image:Full Body => Image:Hands Seeking more assistance from Faeleen with the child.

Sorry, but this is the first time I've seen Grrazz the character speak...I'm going to ask for a little more detail for such an important event :)

Jokum listens to Beleste's questions and mulls over them for a moment before answering quietly, "I'm not sure about truth in his words. The bargain... it seems like what little folklore I know of them. The question is whether it would follow through. And also perhaps if it matters who possesses the letter. As for after completing the mission... I'm not sure if the spell could truly be tracking us. Perhaps if I can study it, I can determine if it is safe. Let me think on it some, and we can decide."

I assumed some basic knowledge about devils being willing to make bargains. Knowledge rolls for my thinking:

Knowledge(Planes): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (9) + 11 = 20 Would a devil make such a bargain and likelihood of it following through.
Knowledge(Geography): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25 How far away is Outsea?

(¬_¬)

Beleste would respond as quietly as he could manage, "Didn't she say that the tracking spell would not activate until we took action to make it do so?"

Jokum considers for a moment before replying, in a quiet undertone, "I suppose she did at that. I still wouldn't put it past a drow to have some way to look in on us. If this Outsea is fairly close, it could be worth investigating. Anything to be free of these damned drow, eh?"

"That was what I was thinking," Beleste would say with a smile.