Thorek scowls, not trusting that the centaur wouldn't change his mind about double-crossing them a day or two from now...but also not seeing an option short of killing him. Grumbling, he relaxes his stance to be less menacing.
Yorc awkwardly bundles up his supplies, his nervous fingers fumbling with his blanket and food supplies.
"You can probably guess this by now, but careful who you trust out here," the centaur cautions. "The next covert hunter or runner you encounter might be far more ruthless than I. The hobs spread two currencies among potential allies: gold and fear. You'll find that both are very effective motivators."
He finishes tucking his things back into his large satchel and rises back to his four equine legs.
"The Ironfangs have already begun to turn their attention southward, into the Nesmian Plains and along the Tamran highway - hence why they're keen to recruit swift messengers. Despite the fey and the Blight that lurks deeper within the forest, you would be wise to stay hidden within the Fangwood."
If he is not pressed with additional questions or warnings, Yorc spares only the briefest farewell before making a quick departure.
" Just stay safe. And don't get caught. We're already at the point where they are going to find us. It's just a matter of when. "
As soon as the centaur is out of sight, Bree suggests they head back, but by a circuitous route, just in case someone might follow us.
"It looks like we're still on our own out here. We should make sure we have a solid plan for attacking that outpost given the forces we have."
Cyrioul wonders at the report that the others bring back to him. I'm glad that you are all safe - he could have been a powerful ally. I hope that we can take advantage of his warning, but I agree that we most certainly need to eliminate the outpost to best secure our footing here. I assume that we can simply overwhelm the emissary when he returns, but that brute force will not work quite so well on the rest of that encampment. What proposals do you have for the assault, my friends?
Lily strides back and forth a bit. "Im not sure what we can do. If we separate them we have a better shot but I have nothing.... Maybe I can disguise myself as the emissary? Ehhh...."
"I'm of the impression that the simplest solution is to sack the tower, either by stealth or speed, and then use the bottleneck to outlast the Ironfangs as they try to take it back," suggests Cedric. "Personally, I favor speed as I'm not very good at stealth, but there is magic that can help with that, I suppose. I wouldn't exactly call myself a tactician, though, so if someone has a better plan I would very much like to hear it."
I had hoped to research a spell granting a longer duration of invisibility, but if we are short on time, perhaps a shorter fix will do.
"If we can inflict casualties before moving on the tower, so much the better," Thorek suggests. "We should ambush a patrol, kill three or four of their number. If the camp's forces press us badly we'll have no means of escape at the tower."
The dwarf strokes his beard, considering. "I still like the idea of preparing an ambush out in the woods. We saw that messenger has a wolf, and there may be more that could follow our scents back here if we don't get them all. So we raid that watchtower and burn it, then flee back to our ambush point before turning to bloody any pursuit--focusing on beasts and trackers. Thoughts?"
Boudra nods vigorous agreement. Our people have always survived by striking hard and then vanishing into the Fangwood, she signs. A pitched battle seems...difficult.
"Whittling their numbers would certainly be helpful before hitting the outpost full on. If and when we do attack, we need to take out that tower early on. Perhaps even a limited invisibility would allow someone to get close enough to set it alight." She begins picking her nails with a dagger. "The rest will depend on how many 'tributes' the 'fangs bring in. I'm thinking it would be most helpful to go for a two-prong approach. Some of the less trained people could be atop the cliff, raining down arrows and rocks, while a second prong strikes from the main entrance." She kneels down and draws a map of the camp in the dirt with her blade to illustrate what she's thinking.
What do you think, Aubrin? Could some of our ragtag militia assist us in a fight like this?
Aubrin pauses her work, carving slivers of wood from a long shaft of elm that she has been working for a couple days. She idly taps the blade of her knife against the wood as she considers the question. Her eyes dart side to side before she beckons you closer, so she can speak more quietly.
"Your band of refugees here reminds me very much of the spirit of the Nirmathi that I have observed over many years: at once ill-prepared yet ready for a fight," Aubrin says so only the party can hear. "They're no soldiers, but that will not hold them back from trying to strike a blow against the Hobs. The real key will be the ones who lead them," she says with a knowing nod toward you. "If you can get them to believe they can win...well, that will be the trick right there."
"Well, we know where to find them. We should whip our militia into shape for a raid and prepare out fallback ambush position. Good use of those bear traps we picked up at Kelloch's cabin, no?"
Boudra nods. Indeed. And if we must, we can always disperse into the woods and separate.
Right, then. I'll get to my research as quickly as I can. Here's hoping for a breakthrough...
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"Is that something I can help you with?" Bree asks.
"Listen if you need to rile up the people I can help with that. Im probably the most in over their heads right now and it might comfort people to hear me make the speech."
Thank you, Bree. If you can come help me keep that in mind the next few days, I'd appreciate it.
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You are able to create a rough sketch of the Ironfang's camp from memory. It is not much to look at, but it will serve its purpose as you plan your tactics against the legion.
With aid from Bree, Cyrioul is able to make progress in his research that is quite impressive given the scant resources at his disposal. However, his work does not reach completion before your "informants," the sentinels posted to watch the woods around Hidden Hope, scramble to find you.
In a near panic, they report that an Ironfang patrol is marching directly towards your refuge - and that they have bound humans in tow.
Lily tenses up a bit. "Well its time to ambush them. I'll try and move them into a more advantageous spot."
"What's the play? Some of us could hide in the foliage outside Hidden Hope, Lily plays the role of trog chieftain accepting sacrifices and offering fealty. Once the captives are safely inside we spring the trap!"
"I think that sounds good, but we may need to be on-guard in case we need to attack early." She hands a stink bladder to Lily. "Don't forget your perfume," she jokes.
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Step 1--Training Attrition
Step 2--Notoriety Penalties
I don't think we do anything here since we're at 0, but GM please correct me if I'm wrong!
Step 3--Treasury Shortage Penalties
We're over 20gp, so we're good to go there!
Step 4--Increase Rank
After Upkeep we at Training Score 29, which is enough to move us to Rank 3! Until we level up again this will be our cap, however.
Step 5--Deposits & Withdrawals
As stated above, I vote we make a 1gp deposit to bring the Treasury to 22gp, in line with how much change we got from Novvi.
Lily just glares at Bree while she takes the stink bladder. "Thanks...."
Cyrioul curses. Gozreh's beard, I knew I should have started work on this sooner. Damnation! Very well, we'll get ready what we can, and have to figure it out on the way.
He grabs his crossbow and wands, and gets ready to be in position to help with taking out the hobgoblins.
Once the captives are inside, I'll craft an illusion of a rock barriacade in the way - in case the Legion members try coming any further in.
A half-dozen hobgoblins march into the clearing at the foot of the rocky outcropping that houses Hidden Hope. Two of them appear to be veteran scouts, while the other four are simply rank-and-file hobgoblins.
Eight humans are in tow, bound at the wrists and neck with thick lengths of hempen rope. The hobgoblins lead them like hounds on a leash. Four of them are children, while three are elderly, and one man has a mangled and poorly healed arm. Although you do not know them by name, you recognize them as residents of Phaendar. It is clear that the Ironfangs are trying to dispose of slaves they see as ill-suited for labor, and who would otherwise be a waste of food, by offering them as sacrifices to their troglodyte allies.
Even before the "perfume" of the stench bladder wafts over to them, the hobgoblin squad is utterly fooled by Lily's illusion. One of the veteran scouts offers a half-hearted gesture of greeting - pounding her fist upon her chest like a curt salute and quick nod.
Lily starts laughing at the sight of the people she is rescuing. "Perfect.... Perfect.... Let me take the prisoners into the cave and we can talk more about what you want my tribe to do."
Turning to the villagers she says,"I'm going to make sure your treated very nicely here..."
The villagers are taken aback by the disguised Lily's appearance, but with reassuring whispers in Common and the sight of other refugees silently beckoning them deeper into Hidden Hope, these new arrivals easily understand that they are indeed saved.
The squad leader barks out as the delivered slaves slip within the "troglogyte warren."
Thorek hunkers down behind a bush with the hobgoblin band just out of view & with his dorn-dergar in hand, thinking stealthy thoughts.
...but not taking particularly stealth actions, it seems.
As the last of the captives disappear into the cave and the hobgoblin hollers at Lily, the dwarf takes that as his signal and rushes out of the bushes to attack. "Fik æren til Kraggodan, døden til Jerntann!"
Bree waits cautiously as the hobs deliver they're slaves. She recognizes several of them from home and wonders how many more might have survived. It's the first time in a long time that she's felt any degree of hope that her family members may actually be alive.
As Thorek bellows his battle cry (whatever the hell he said), she throws a thunderstone toward the center of the hobs, hoping to impair their battle abilities.
Upon seeing the others start their ambush Lily singles out the largest opponent and fires an arrow at them. Upon seeing the hit she starts to panic a bit once they realize that this was a ruse.
All things considered, this is going pretty well. As soon as things start to go toward their inevitable conclusion, Cedric casts magic weapon on his spear and breaks from the cover of the cave to join his comrades in the conclusion of this grisly transaction.
The unsuspecting hobgoblins remain oblivious to the lurking danger until Thorek erupts from the bushes that fringe the rocky clearing that cradles Hidden Hope. They suddenly remember the discipline that a lifetime in the Legion has drilled into them, but not in time to be fully on their guard.
Cedric joins Thorek's rush to battle, wielding is now ensorcelled spear.
Cyrioul weaves his illusion behind him and Lily, as her own magical disguise breaks, to seal the entrance to the cavern - at least to the hobgoblins' eyes.
Bree's thunderstone lands in the midst of the squad, the sharp crack and report testing the strength of their militaristic resolve.
Lily affixes her gaze upon one of the veteran scouts, the one who had been shouting in Goblin. The hobgoblin momentarily freezes as their eyes meet, allowing Lily's arrow to strike a more vulnerable place and plunge more deeply into her stomach.
Boudra casts Shadow Trap upon the other veteran scout, locking it in place for Thorek and Cedric and preventing it from fleeing.
Two of the rank-and-file hobgoblins react first, drawing their iron blades as they hustle to intercept the armored dwarf storming towards their officers. They rake at Thorek with their longswords, but his newly acquired armor - forged by his kin in Kraggodan - proves nigh impervious to their swings.
EDIT:
Boudra strides forward, shadows gathering around her. Control it...show them they are not welcome here... The light in the area seems to dim slightly as her eyes go black.
Keeping an eye on the hobgoblins, Cyrioul will cast Cat's Grace on Lily.
cath yn ffafrio! he intones. Should make you a bit more accurate, my friend, though it doesn't look like you need it!
Cyrioul weaves his spell, infusing Lily's muscles with magic.
One of the hobgoblin soldiers dives for cover beside a rock, drawing his longbow as he moves. He nocks an arrow and aims a shot for Cedric.
The arrow sinks deeply into his thigh, almost slowing down his advance.
Lily focuses on the one she hit previously hoping to reduce their numbers as fast as possible. "Get farther into the cave. I don't want you to get hurt," she calls out to the new arrivals.
Lily focuses on deceiving her target, but her aim suffers as a result. Her arrow skids across the gravelly ground and snaps against a melon-sized stone.
The lead scout, straining against the ringing in her ears, focuses her eyes upon the spear-wielding priest approaching her. She slides forward, carefully evading Cedric's spear, and draws her polished battleaxe as she moves.
The furious scout raises her axe high, and Cedric is unable to turn aside the blow. The axehead's blade bites through his armor and sinks into his shoulder, drawing no small amount of blood.
"Urrghh," Cedric grunts. Between the arrow to the thigh and the axe to the shoulder, he's in pretty rough shape pretty quickly. But at least the good news is that, since he's taken the brunt of the offense so far, he's in excellent position to completely negate it. He steps back away from the axe-wielding hobgoblin and sacrifices his prepare shield other spell for a cure moderate wounds on himself.
Bree takes a step forward for a better view and whips off a grease spell at the hobs threatening Thorek.
Cedric's wounds quickly close as his skin knits back together. Bree's spell coats the scrub grass and gravelly ground with slippery grease, and both hobgoblins fail to maintain their footing. They topple to the ground at Thorek's feet.
The other veteran scout pulls out his sturdy longbow, the tightly drawn string audibly creaking. With a sharp snap, he fires his arrow, piercing Cedric's armor again.
One of the hobgoblin grunts charges at Boudra, drawing his longsword with a guttural howl. The blade slices through the shadows that swirl around her and bites painfully into Boudra's side, barely missing vital organs.
Despite the wound, Boudra steps back and casts her next spell, calling down a Bane upon the enemy, and two-thirds of the foes fall prey to the spell's grasp.
Seeing Boudra in trouble, Thorek steps away from the two fallen hobgoblins to come to her assistance. "AY!" he shouts at the Ironfang menacing her. "If it's blood you want, I'll give you your fill!"
Thorek will take that AoO gladly.
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Driven to new heights of battle frenzy by the sight of his compatriots' wounds, Thorek again demonstrates the forge mastery of his kin by devastating one of the hobgoblins with a single lash of his dorn-dergar. He all but slays the foe with one blow, and on the follow through he inflicts another telling wound upon one of the hobgoblins attempting to rise before him.
He continues to swing the mighty chain weapon, but the other hobgoblin evades the opportunistic strike only because he again flops down upon the greased ground. The Ironfang's other comrade likewise falls prone as he again falls prey to the magic grease.