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Thael frowns at the meager shelters, though it did look slightly better than sleeping under the stars.
"I am afraid my spell preparation requires that I have a full night's sleep," the wizard demurs. "Because my magic requires the utmost concentration, I am afraid I am a poor candidate for sleeping...outside. Well, this is all outside..."
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Gozran 2
"I'm used to sleeping outdoors, so I'll just sleep with Nur." Selde quietly replied to her brother as she weaved branches in to thatching. It was good to have work. On top of everything else, Selde was growing increasingly worried about her Grandfather. She didn't know if he had been at the festival at the time of the attack. If not, the forest had certainly informed him of the Hobgoblin threat by now. "But why hasn't he found us yet?" Selde shook the thought from her mind. She had enough things to worry about, and Grandfather was more than capable of taking care of himself.
When the group had moved just far enough along the road to be out of sight of any archers, Emil fished out a small pouch that had been discovered during the exodus from Phaendar. "As I understand it, this will cover our tracks for a ways. Best use it now to keep them from sending troops on our trail."
As evening falls and the refugees are making camp for the night, Emil makes a round to identify who is in the group. He calls Jillian, Rhyna, Mia, Austyn, and Garth into a quick huddle. "We are what's left of the spiritual leaders of Phaendar. We must set examples for everyone. So no complainin' or grumblin' or cussin'! Let's hold a prayer with the community morning, noon, and night. If ya notice anyone bein' a prophet o' doom, point it out to me or Jillian an' we can try to inspire hope. Any questions?"
While discussing the direction to head, Emil makes the following observation: "If we can arrange it, we should pass by my farmstead so we can get a few things that might be useful. I've not got much, but might be a few items we can use to keep warm at night or make tents out of."
In the morning, Emil gets up and spends some time at a ritual that helps him focus on his spell preparation. He forages for five seeds such as acorns, berries, or the like. He plants them in an arrow shape and then says a prayer, "Erastil, watch over us all. Alert us to danger and lead us away from harm. Give us food and shelter as we travel that we might establish our community anew. Blessed be." He sketches the holy symbol of Erastil in the ground and then sits as he prepares his spells for the day.
”I suppose I can sleep outside tonight, too. Weather could be worse, I think. I can look at the stars if there’s a break in the trees,” Wren says to no one in particular, trying to pump herself up in spirit. This was a lot different than simply staying outside for fun.
At breakfast, he checks on Aubrin and spends a little time trying to provide her with bandages, splints, or other props to make it easier for her to travel.
Since provisions will be important, Emil will volunteer to do some foraging and/or hunting.
As he gets started, he keeps an eye and ear open for crows or hawks. If he spots any, he'll call out using his speak with animals ability and alert the birds he has food he will trade for information. If any responds, he'll ask if any has spotted some deer or wild boar or other game animals he can hunt or if they know of any patches of fruit or berries.
Erastil blesses Emil with several game animals, a few bags of fruits and vegetables and mushrooms.
With the dawn comes a collective groan from a night out under the stars. Brushing yourselves off, you take in some liquids and go about assigning the duties for the day.
As your small group debates your day's plans, Selde and Caspan suddenly look up, almost simultaneously, at the sounds of someone or something running rapidly through the brush - directly toward you and your camp. They quickly alert the group for trouble, and weapons are drawn as they prepare for a hobgoblin attack.
A bedraggled human man - wounded, dirty, and panicking - appears from the brush and sprints toward you; or rather, away from whatever might be behind him, though you can't see or hear any kind of pursuit. He is looking over his shoulder as he runs and would likely have run directly into Wren had the group not spoken up. Instead the man jerks his attention back around and lets out a terrified shriek on seeing the halfling.
He is medium height and tanned, not unhandsome if you are into such things, with dark hair pulled back into a simple bun and a five o'clock shadow darkening his cheeks. Deep bags under his eyes suggest he's not slept, possibly all night, and his clothes are ripped and smeared with both dirt and blood.
The man looks, wide-eyed, among the armed group, but he finally focuses on Selde and shakes his head, gasping for breath. "I... my name is Edran, from Taldor. I was staying at the Taproot in Phaendar when... when.... the hobgoblins and their minions showed up."
He is still breathing hard, and his terror at seeing the invaders in the streets seems quite genuine. He goes on to describe how he managed to flee before being spotted, actually crossing the bridge before you arrived at it, but subsequently getting lost in the woods. He witnessed a ferocious bugbear with a scarred head tearing a townsperson apart. "The screams... I can still hear the screams..." he says, tears rolling down his cheeks.
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Thael slept horribly, despite sleeping in the shelter. Two or three people snored incessantly, he had a root jabbing him in the back, and the sounds of nature ensured he slept hardly a wink.
Still, he did his best to have a good attitutde.
This, too, shall pass.
As Edran comes barreling into camp, Thael looks carefully behind him for any pursuing enemies.
Thael nods sagely as the man explains what happened to him.
"We are all in this same floundering ship," he says. "We are also refugees from Phaendar. I think I saw you at the inn...I stayed there, too. This is all that is left of the town...at least that we know of. You should stay with us...we are making for a small logging town."
As they make their plans for the day, he says "I still think it is a mistake not to have someone watch Phaendar to discover this army's movements and plans. Surely, we could spare one woodsman for this task."
...
Emil introduces himself, with a firm and welcoming handshake, "I am Father Emil. Welcome to your new family. Erastil has guided you to us and we will do what we can to guide you the rest of the way to safety. Everyone is doing what he or she can to help with the tasks we need to complete to survive day by day. What can you offer?" Emil offers him a cup of water and an apple to take the edge off his hunger and fear.
...
As they make their plans for the day, he says "I still think it is a mistake not to have someone watch Phaendar to discover this army's movements and plans. Surely, we could spare one woodsman for this task."
"Said woodsman would have to travel back the way we came an' then return, riskin' being attacked by the villians she or he is scouting fer, not to mention wild animals. Everyday we travel puts us farther from there.
"'haps Jillian's companion could fly that-a-way and give us a bird's eye view, as it were, provided she can find 'er way back ta us. I could talk ta her ta find out what she observed.
"But it might be wise to send one scout ahead o' us to warn us if'n we're headin' into danger an' perhaps one ta trail behind us ta watch fer pursuit. Drulis an' Ameliel seem best suited ta such tasks. They seem canny an' shrewd."
Edit:
We are also refugees from Phaendar. I think I saw you at the inn...I stayed there, too. This is all that is left of the town
Edran nods to Thael and just now realizes the group is larger than the six of you in front of him. He steps a step back and offers his Keanu Reeves "Whoa." as he looks around.
What can you offer?
Edran ravenously accepts the water and apple, quickly devouring them. With a mouth full of food he offers "Thanks!"
Edran finishes the meal and blinks several times at Father Emil for a moment before answering, "Me? Well, I'm a city boy, I don't really do well in the woods... but I've always had a way with animals. I can handle a sword, I guess, though I wouldn't say I'm 'skilled' exactly. But I do know a little magic... If you've got anyone with spells here, though, I imagine my talents won't amount to much."
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The thought of leaving Phaendar without some kind of scouting seems bizarre to Thael.
Information is power...if we are to find out what happened and where they are going, we need eyes on the town. I would volunteer myself, but am probably the least capable in the wilderness.
The wizard shrugs. It seems no one else is interested in the idea.
He turns to Edran, dropping the subject.
"What kind of magic do you practice?" the wizard asks. "Do you prepare your spells ahead of time, or is your magic innate?"
Jillian stands back as the others go to greet the newcomer. First she looks in the direction of where he came and nods toward Hunter "Go have a look if you would." Then she takes a moment to look the man over for anything out of the ordinary, wanting to make sure this wasn't some sort of ruse.
"What kind of magic do you practice?" the wizard asks. "Do you prepare your spells ahead of time, or is your magic innate?"
Taken aback by the questions, the man stutters a second before responding. "Uhm, I don't prepare anything now. I sort of just call on it when I need it and it's there. I can do this a couple of times a day. I guess that's innate?"
Hunter surveys the area from which the newcomer arrived from while Jillian gives the man a once over. From what she can tell, his wounds look genuine as does his fear and exhaustion. Hunter confirms that it looks like he was running in this direction for quite sometime. They do not pick up on any sense of foul play or anything out of the ordinary.
”Wlecome to our merry band of travelers. I’m Wren. Wren Chevali. We’d be happy to add you to our little group. You weren’t followed, were you?”
Wren thinks for a minute and turns to Jillian. ”Did the bird see any of those awful creatures heading this way? If so, we need to go remove them. Hopefully you made it here unnoticed.”
The halfling plops down on a comfy looking plot of grass and takes a quick breather, ”If you’d like, Edran, you can help me go corral some of our sheep. I’ve got a bit of a way with animals as well. The more sheep we find, the more milk and cheese we Willie able to eat,” she smiles to make the man feel welcome.
Handle animal check
"The only ones who could reliably do that are Abrin and I." Selde says bluntly. "She is too injured for the task. As for myself, I can tell you well enough what will happen. Everyone that didn't escape is either dead or captured. They'll be used for amusement and worked until they are dead. Meanwhile that army will spread. Every town and hamlet within leagues of here will be razed. They'll either expect to have more warning of an attack or be looking in the wrong direction. The loss of the bridge will slow the main force, but they'll already have scouts on this side of the river. They will begin to move in to the forest, squadrons at first. They'll look to secure the boarder to the woods to protect their flank and utilize it's resources. Their presence will only grow in time. If this isn't the work of Multhrune, you can be sure they will seize on the opportunity it provides..."
Selde trailed off for a moment, looking in the direction of the forest depths and touching her scar as she did so. "No, our efforts are better spent preparing for the things to come. We can ask the forest for aid in watching the Hobgoblins.
Selde took note of the newcomer, keeping her distance and observing for a moment. Seeing that the others hand the situation under control, Selde hopped in to Nur's saddle and did a quick scout of the camp perimeter.
When Hunter returns and nestles up to Jillian she turns to Wren on her question ”No, it doesn’t look like he was followed.” After looking the man over and confident he is not a threat she puts her blade away and walks over to him. Placing a hand on his shoulder she notes ”I’m Jillian. As the others said, you are welcome to join our little community, just be sure to help where you can.”
When they are ready to depart toward there eventual destination Jillian stays up front with Hunter as they scout ahead.
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Caspan lunges to his feet, fists raised as the man barrels into camp, only relaxing after it becomes clear he is in fact by himself.
"Caspan Saal," he grunts, by way of introduction. "I'm from Phaendar, though I hadn't been there in a while, until just recent."
He looks discontent, jumping at normal forest noises as he looks around, relaxing slightly when the others point them in the direction of Gristledown.
(I'm including the attack on Phaendar as Day 1, so this will be our second full day in the woods)
The newcomer thanks Jillian for the warm welcome. He nods to Caspan in greeting, but keeps it silent.
Edran shrugs to Wren as he walks off with her "I'm no shepard, but I've always been good with animals," says Edran.
Once you are split off from the group he looks around and remarks casually "You seem to be one of the one's in charge. Are you planning to resist the invasion? Do you know of any other groups?"
After answering his questions, he continues to rattle off several more questions about the group, their camp and the other survivors.
-=-=-=-
With the morning tasks completed, the party gathers together to being its march north again towards the logging thorp. Similar to the day before, the going isn't easy and the difficult terrain make it slow.
Birds sit in the trees, singing as you journey through the woods. You hear the rat-a-tat-tat of a woodpecker at work which nearly causes Caspan to trip over his feet when it happens the first time. After it happens again, the party spots him toiling away on the light-brown wood of a sycamore tree. He stops, apparently at the sound of your foot-falls (or Caspan's exclamation), and cocks his head in your direction. All around you, you can sense the myriad forms of life that dwell in this forest.
As the day draws to a close, the part starts to split up to gather supplies for making shelter at the days camp. As Selde picks up a rather nice piece of wood that could be particularly useful, she takes note that the roots of an ancient oak tree it was leaning against crisscross the ground like the tentacles of some subterranean beast. A shadow beneath the tree marks the mouth of a den dug deep into the soft earth. A tuft of pale gray fur clings to the edge of the hole, and a musky animal stink lingers in the air.
Wren, standing relatively close by to Selde comments on her find when both of the ladies here the sound of high-pitched yips and thin, growling laughter coming from within the clearing. Moving closer to see what's happening,
You all approach the den, as you get closer you can see through the brush to what is happening they take in a strange sight. Tiny, ugly blue people with enormous heads appear to have invaded the wolf den, eight of them in total. They are laughing as one of them lashes a wolf puppy with a stick while the sounds of the other puppies in distress comes from within the den.
To the side of them within the brush is another wolf, who looks badly injured and in a rage. She is being kept back by tiny torches. Selde manages to stealth in for a closer look, as Wren nearly does. After taking a look and leaning back, a loud SNAP draws the attention of all of the blue creatures as Wren breaks a branch in half with her foot. The little blue creatures spot you as well and shout out something in a strange language! You all feel an oppressive sense of foreboding come over you.
Know. Nature
”Help! There’s some nasty mites over here! And they are torturing some little wolves! We need to remove them from our land,” Wren calls out to the others, going they could be stopped before one of the puppies was harmed beyond help.
As Wren called for aid, Selde knocked an arrow and fired at one of the mites attacking the puppies.
Wren also recalls one useful tidbit of information about the mites, their skin is particularly thick and tough. Most weapons that aren't made of cold iron will seem dulled when they strike them.
Selde's arrow hits its mark, but it doesn't appear to penetrate their thick skin. The mite pulls out the arrow without a wound and drops it to the ground next to him.
"We're just trying to get away now. But no damn hobgob -- or anything else -- is putting a chain on me!" He shoots a glare at Father Emil.
"Hopefully someone's out here doing something to get rid of these dogs"
Caspan closes in on the creatures, lifting his fist to punch.
"Hey, pick on something your own size, ya little runts!" he hollers.
HP 21/21
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15, CMD 19
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +0 (+2 resistance bonus to recover from a continuing effect)
Unbreakable Survivor 0/1
Martial Flexibility: 0/4
Effects:
Gozran 3
Caspan growls as the group utterly fails to find shelter.
"We can't just sleep under the stars! Stop being lazy and go look! Like this!" he growls, looking around. "See, right there! That's where I'm sleeping."
The mites launch into a full attack, though most of it continues to be against the wolf. Two of the mites swipe their daggers into the hide of the protective wolf and while it doesn't appear to do much damage to the already burned and bleeding wolf, the damage continues to pile up. The wolf attempts to relatiate but is clearly in no position to do so and snaps open air in its jaws.
Three of the mites move up to engage the party, all three launching darts towards you. Two darts fly past Caspan and one sails overhead of Wren, all missing their marks.
HP 21/21
AC 15, touch 10, flat-footed 13, CMD 17
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +0 (+2 resistance bonus to recover from a continuing effect)
Unbreakable Survivor 0/1
Martial Flexibility: 0/4
Effects: Charge (-2 AC)
Caspan charges forward and slams his fist into the nearest mite's head.
"Crepy little creature!" he growls.
Jillian moves up, pulling out her greatsword as she gets close to attack the nearest mite.
Caspan's powerful punch is enough to send the mite's head snapping back as his body leaves the ground and collides with a tree behind it where it slides down into a crumpled pile, unconscious and dying.
Thael's missile detonates on the mite, blasting a hole in its body that it cannot recover from. It flops to the ground near the wolf, unconscious and bleeding to death.
Wren can’t think of anything except helping those poor wolf puppies. She pulls her trusty wand of magical thorns and fires a needle at the red tinted wolf closest to the pups. ”Help the momma too, I’m not sure how much more she can take,” she calls out, almost in tears at the scene.
Magic missile damage
Wren can’t think of anything except helping those poor wolf puppies. She pulls her trusty wand of magical thorns and fires a needle at the red tinted wolf closest to the pups. ”Help the momma too, I’m not sure how much more she can take,” she calls out, almost in tears at the scene.
Magic missile damage 1d4+1
Emil takes in the situation and he sheds his normally laid back manner, draws his scythe, and rushes to the side of the momma wolf, yelling and making himself look as fierce and angry as he can to either scare the mites away or draw them to attack him. "Leave her alone ya craven blue-skinned sons o' goblin droppin's!!!"
Seeing whatever the blue creature was pull the arrow from its skin, Selde spurred Nur closer as she pulled her bow back. Taking the time to line up her shot, releasing the arrow when she could see the yellow of her foe's eyes.
Father Emil is very familiar with these vermin. More than a few times he's had to exterminate them when they invested a favorite grove or when they mutilated benign children of Erastil as these are now doing.
Father Emil knows that mites have a hatred of gnomes and dwarves, so much so that their anger seems to empower them during battle. Also, as druids are to animals in nature so the mites are to vermin.
Father Emil also knows that these mites are clearly out of their element against the party. Wren's missile doesn't knock the mite, but it is barely on its feet and looks like a strong gust of wind could topple him. Meanwhile, Selde's arrow pierces her target and sends him spiraling to the ground.
The mites surrounding the wolf grow desperate as they seem their companions fall. The mite with the torch throws it at the wolf, hitting it square in its body. As another mite stabs the wolf, it finally gives out and collapses to the ground as the flames begin to burn its body. Two other mites miss the falling, burning wolf with their attacks.
The last mite turns its attention to Caspan and casts a spell on him! After the spell, it backsteps quickly and makes its way away from the imposing brawler.
Nur continued to circle the battlefield as as Selde took aim at another mite. She released her breath with her arrow, sending it sailing smoothly through the air.
The red mite runs away, but not far enough to get out of range of Selde's arrows! With a satisfying sound, the arrow finds its target and sends another mite to the ground.
HP 21/21
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 15, CMD 19
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +0 (+2 resistance bonus to recover from a continuing effect)
Unbreakable Survivor 0/1
Martial Flexibility: 0/4
Effects: Charge
"You don't scare me, you little rotter," Caspan growls in response to the spell, closing on the mite and launching a vicious kick to its stupid, large head.
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Wren screams as she sees the mother wolf taken down. She uses the last bit of magic from her wand, thanking the Green Lady for the fortuitous find, blasting the gray mite. After doing so, she moves 20’ closer to the poor mother wolf, planning to use her healing powers to help her just as soon as she could make it to her side.
Damage
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Jillian steps up next to Caspan and swings her blade at the nearest mite.
Later that evening as everyone is setting up camp Jillian helps when someone mentions that it appears there are going to be too few shelters again.
After having no luck in creating a shelter she talks with Hunter a moment before sending him off to scout Phaendar and give her a report before it gets too late.