The Ironfang Invasion: Fangs of War

Game Master vayelan

Learning the lesson from the previous day, today Cedric chooses to not allocate all of his spell ability right at the beginning. Having a little extra flexibility for unexpected circumstances later has already shown that it's something that would definitely be nice to have. As he prays he makes sure to cover the daily basics, though, in addition to the share language spell for the creature down below. I've reshuffled my prepared spell list a bit, and have noted in the character sheet in the alias where the open spell slots are.

"I don't think everyone needs to be involved in this," he suggests to the group. "I know a bunch of you are eager to get that forge repaired. I would appreciate a little backup in case things don't go smoothly. Caladra at least, I think, though someone who knows a bit more about the creature might be helpful as well."

"Well I'll come. They might try and resist the spell and I can help with that. On top of that.... I mean I'm going to be honest. I find them adorable and I want to ensure their safety."

"I'm there if you need me, Cedric, but I might need to focus on the forge repairs today, if it's to help me enchant things later. Don't want to miss where everything goes."

just so we're on the same page, what exactly are we doing with the crysmal?

We are going to cast share language on the crysmal and have a one on one to ensure its safety and they understand the situation.

"I'll help out with the forge as well, sooner that's up and running the better I'll feel. Good luck with the gem-scorpion-thing!"

Cedric takes whoever comes with him down below to the room where the crystal creature has been hanging out. He takes a deep, steadying breath before heading around the corner to where it's been. Assuming that it's still there, he'll try to carry himself in as non-threatening of a manner as possible, hoping that the genial relations of the previous day will help the process. He'll make a point of leaning his spear against the wall as a show of disarmament. Then he'll cast the spell and hold the charge as he slowly approaches the entity with hand outstretched inviting it to touch him. If it doesn't make the contact of its own accord, he'll try to gingerly get close enough to make the contact himself.

Diplomacy for body language: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Perhaps owing to the crystalline snacks the party has provided or how you have treated it respectfully, the crysmal skitters over and places a chromatic pincer upon Cedric's palm - and the buzz of magic races through them both as the spell takes effect.

awwww

Cedric feels the energy of the spell discharging, and breathes a sigh of relief. He begins speaking, starting off simply to establish a baseline of communication.

"My name is Cedric. The magic should hopefully allow you to speak my language. Can you understand me? I'd like to discuss how we can best get along together."

"Hi I'm Lily. We just want to make sure that you stay safe and happy and want to honor your wishes besides you know eating shiny rocks. We can help you with that but we can do more," Lily says with a excited tone that she hasn't used since start of the invasion.

come on unique animal companion!

The crysmal jumps back in shock at the rush of magic, but it seems to arch its shoulders and lower its tail in more sedate surprise as it discovers that it can understand you.

"Clilassh says hello," it speaks in ethereal, chiming Common Taldan.
"Clilassh climbed up from below, looking for food. There was lots of food here, but now it's gone. Clilassh was frustrated. Clilassh thought about going home. Children of Stone brought food for Clilassh - but not a lot. Do you have more food?"

"By food you mean crystals, right?" Cedric asks, more or less rhetorically. "We found a few as we were exploring the place, but I think we already gave most of those to you yesterday." He looks at Lily for confirmation.

"Anyway, the reason we came here in the first place is because we've been seeking refuge from dangerous pursuers. If you have a home to return to that might be the safest option for you in the long run." Cedric shrugs, though he's not sure if the gesture would make sense to such a creature. "But if you prefer to stay, we could probably come to an agreement where you guard this area from intrusion from down below and we provide you with crystals we find in return."

"Yeah... We did feed you most of what we found. Though he does make a good point. There are more of us than just yourself. So imagine how much more food you get helping us. Hell you don't even have to fight them. You can just report back to us that you saw something," Lily says with a slight smirk on her face.

Moving over to Cedric she whispers,"Wasn't there the statue? All it did was cast light..... Not even good light but just the cantrip light."

Wow Clilassh really is pretty. I found the artists picture the the cyrsmal.

we should name him Fred
Fred

"Clilassh doesn't really care about any pursurers, but as long as Clilassh gets plenty of food, Clilassh will watch this tunnel for you."

The crystalline scorpion moves as though sniffing the air.

"Do you have any food now?"

Cedric looks between Clilassh and Lily, using his hand to brush the overly grown hair from his ears as he does so. "Alright, it sounds like we've got an understanding," he says. Now that he's been able to talk to the crystal creature he's been able to mostly get over his visceral reaction to the scorpion-like form of their new friend.

"I don't think the one from the statue should be our first choice," he continues, directed toward Lily, "but if that's the only one we know about right now, then I think I'd be fine with handing that one over to Clilassh. I don't think we're hurting for light sources. I'd bet that Cyrioul can make light, and I know I can. If you would be so kind as to grab it for our friend to eat, or any un-enchanted ones if there are any, I'm going to try to lay some groundwork for the future."

He turns back to Clilassh. "So this magic which lets us speak the same language won't last for more than a day a time. Hopefully we'll be able to remain on friendly terms for much longer than that, but that makes communicating a bit tricky. Unless things go badly, we can continue giving you crystals and you can continue hanging out here with the assumption that all is well. If we need to talk more another day, I'll be able to prepare this spell again. If, on the other hand, you need to talk to us, we'll have to have some sort of pre-arranged signal that you can give us to let us know that I need to cast the spell again. I imagine you're pretty adept at digging, right? Would you be able to scratch a symbol into the wall?"

Lily looks slightly awkwardly as she is ready to point out the fact that the crystal is attached to the statue but then sets off. Staring quietly at the rock she tries to yank the crystal off.

strength: 1d20 ⇒ 19

The glowing crystal breaks free from the ancient statue, snapping off the insectoid digits in the process.

As Cedric speaks with Clilassh, it becomes clear that while the crysmal's intelligence is well above that of a mere animal, it's thoughts and comprehension are rather simple.
Nonetheless, Clilassh skitters over to the tunnel wall and - using its claws and tail to each make a stroke - scratches a crude triangle onto the raw stone.

"Excellent," Cedric says, nodding with approval. "If in the future you feel the need to speak with us like this again, scratch another one of those triangles into the wall. I'll have our people keep an eye out for any new ones of those. Agreed?"

Lily approaches with the crystal and says,"You know I would have some reservations about destroying the statue but ensuring someone is happy and full is more important."

When Clilassh sees the size of the glowing crystal that Lily brings, the crysmal eagerly agrees to Cedric's proposal and pounces upon the proffered feast.

.....

Back on the upper level of the caves, as the party attends to other matters, Jet approaches you.

"We've got a matter for you all to settle," she says, smiling. "Folks have been asking what we should call this refuge of ours. I've heard a few suggestions, some of them even halfway decent, but Aubrin and I agreed that it would be best to see if you had any ideas."

Thorek considers the question for a long moment. "This is to be a temporary shelter while we wait out the Ironfangs, right? What about..."Hidden Hope or Resilience? Bah, I've no talent for this."

Bree snickers. "Well, those are better for morale than Fort Stinky or the Doubtful Redoubt." She looks to Jet. "What are the ideas you guys had?"

"It's worth considering a nonsense name to throw off anyone that hears it, but doesn't know what it's referring to," Cedric says, thoughtfully. "Something like 'The Cliffside Keep,' or whatever. Give the impression that it's something else, somewhere else to help keep it safe."

"I agree with Cedric - something to throw off any that might hear it. If we are planning to bring in anyone new, we'll want to have them come in on our terms, not theirs. Cliffside - by itself - might be sufficient when we're off-site. I rather like the Hidden Hope idea, Thorek."

I like Hidden Hope as well, Boudra signs with a smile.

"Hidden Hope, then?" Jet muses with a jaunty tilt of her head. "It has more character than Misthome, and that was the only good suggestion I heard from the other folks. I think it will do us proud."

Jet begins to walk away to share the decision with Aubrin and other community leaders, but she stops herself and turns back.

"We're making good progress on clearing that stinky fungus, but I can't believe that it could possibly taste good. Then again, I've been surprised before. Let us know if you have any changes to the chore rotation. I think getting back a sense of normalcy and routine is doing everyone a world of good."

Lily sits there idly and says,"You know once we find the enemy camp I have a plan. Maybe not a good one but still a plan...."

"Enemy camp? Singular?" Thorek scowls to cover his worry. "A full army overran Phaendar, if the Ironfangs are building outposts in the forest I doubt they'll stop at just one. But go on, I'm open to any and all ideas, Lily."

Cedric can't help but laugh out loud at Thorek's comment. He needed that laugh, what with all the stress of all the days since Phaendar fell. "I agree. I'd like to hear your thoughts. I've been so focused on managing survival I haven't even been able to spare a thought for how to progress to actually making a move against the enemy."

Indeed, Boudra signs, I don't know if we're at that point yet. But what's your idea?

"Well I was thinking that maybe eventually I could disguise myself as a hobgoblin and infiltrate the camp with you as my prisoners. Eventually, I'll be able to keep the disguise indefinitely. I even learned the language. Though you are right we'd probably need help first. ," Lily says while casting disguise self to look like a hobgoblin.

disguise: 1d20 + 10 + 6 ⇒ (1) + 10 + 6 = 17
What a perfectly apt time to roll a 1.

"Needs more work, dear. The blind woman can see through your disguise," Aubrin teases Lily as she walks up to the group.

"By now, the Legion has assuredly build a new bridge, even if only temporary, to cross the Marideth. Likewise, they've probably begun sending patrols into the Fangwood to hunt for stragglers and holdouts."

"We should talk about what our next move is. We've got a base of operations. We've got a forge to make weapons. Of course, we need to get some training taken care of. But what should we do long-term? Focus on a guerrilla fighting campaign? Try to get help from outside? Look for other refugees?"

All of those are important, Boudra signs. But I think we need to focus on training our people to fight and looking for refugees first. Cyrioul already tried to reach out to Tamran, right? If so, hopefully help or at least word will be on the way soon.

"On our own we won't amount to more than an annoyance to the Ironfangs, we need to find the main force of Nirmathi resistance in the area and link up. We need to find the Chernasado Rangers, but if we can safely cripple and hobgoblin patrols or camps in the area, we should. In the meantime, we rest and build up here."

"Sounds good," Lily says while blushing at Aubrin's remark.

"We'll entrust the planning and exploring to you capable heroes," Aubrin grins. "If it helps, we used some pigments we found while cleaning up to make a rough map of the region, including some of the landmarks encountered during our flight."

She hands you the scrap of parchment, depicting the southern Chernasardo region of the Fangwood.

"I'm not sure what luck you'll have tracking down the rangers - I know they certainly never thought much of me. I was too 'undisciplined,' I guess," she says with a shrug of feigned ignorance and innocence. "But some of the Phaendar folk mentioned other leads.

"Due west of here, on the edge of the forest, is Gristledown. It's a tiny logging village - less than two dozen strong - but it might be small enough to have evaded the Legion's notice so far. We could find allies and supplies there. There's also the woodsman Keloch. That half-elf redefined 'loner' and 'misanthrope,' keeping to himself, the woods, and his wildcat companion. Of course, beggars can't be choosers, and his skills could come in handy if we can find his home."

"We should investigate Gristledown first," Thorek says hurriedly, tapping the map. "If they haven't fled already we could use the extra manpower, and people who know this forest well."

"I agree completely," Cedric adds, nodding.

"Back on the road already?" Cyrioul sighs. "Very well. I suppose it is for the best. I'll help get everyone settled on tasks for the next few days, then I'll prepare our own supplies. How soon do you want to head out?"

"We should head out in the morning. Assuming everyone's settled." She turns to Aubrin. "Can anyone tell us where this Keloch is? Is he near Gristledown?"

I agree—to Gristledown first, Boudra signs.

Aubrin adds one last mark to the map, showing the location of Gristledown.
Cyrioul, applying his knowledge of geography to the rough map, estimates that the logging thorp is about 20 miles west from Hidden Hope, and that it will be a day's hike there and another day back.

In addition to any packing you may do for the trip, Aubrin asks if you would like to leave behind instructions or chores, in your absence, for the residents of the newly minted Hidden Hope.

"So a day out and a day back. Don't fret if we need to take a little time to search around. Or hide from patrols."

"And if there are any of those crystals left, or if anyone can find any, it would probably be a good idea to check in on Clilassh and feed him while we're gone." He goes on to explain the particulars of the arrangement with the crysmal down below.

Boudra makes sure that the few medical supplies that Hidden Hope has are in good order and, after much debate, leaves her healer’s kit with Aubrin. You May need this if anyone gets injured or falls ill while I’m gone, she signs. I almost don’t want to go...I’m worried about what might happen here. But I guess we have no choice.

Lily just looks at Aubrin and says,"What Cedric says. Don't make me look like a liar to our newfound friend. One of the few people we've encountered who isn't a jerk."