"Sorry, I didn't know you were that close to Bort. I didn't want to wake old memories up. I guess I'm overthinking all of that. Give me a bit of time to pull myself together."
Giggett gets up, leaves a silver coin on the table:
"This one's for me... And maybe you're right. Maybe choice is an illusion. We are just meant to be adventurer, neither for fame, money or any form of recognition, just because it's what we are."
As you all leave wherever you are, and meet up at the caravans, getting ready to set out the next morning-- where do you plan to go?
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The Mayor goes wheeling by the caravan, pushing his chair along.
He wipes some goggles off and puts them back on.
He sees Sitril.
"Oh, hello, Bort.... Bort? Oh no..."
He mutters about not being able to see with these stupid goggles, and tosses them into the turnip bushes.
Sitril looks at the Mayor and a couple of times opens his mouth to say something, but nothing smart comes to him. After the last fight, he finds such moments to happen more frequently.
He lifts the goggles and puts them on seeing an image of a flask. He triest o grab it with his big hand. As he fails, he removes the goggles and puts them back on. He repeats this movement a couple of times amazed by the magic within that eyepieces.
As he goes towards Tamli to try to sell them he wonders on the name for this wonder. Maybe a VR goggles: Very Real Goggles. Yes, this is it! He will get for it at least 3 go.
"Tamli!"
Next morning, Giggett seems clearly in a better mood. She even decided to put a little bit of make-up, a habit she lost some time ago to the Bleaching.
"Hi guys, and gals. I've eaten lion this morning . What do we do now? The orcs were keeping instructions to many places, one was of some interest in my opinion, some kind of lair in the western hills. We should check it. There may be more orcs, so we need to be ready, but it looks like we are."
She's all smiling and happy, which is a rare sight these last days.
Sitril is going through his turnip porridge and stops hearing that someone here was serving lions. He turns his head left and right trying to spot the place.
"Yeah that direction sounds like a solid lead."
Says Sitril and yet again looks at the rune on his axe amazed how nicely it looks in this light.
Looking over the notes and asking around you see that the map to the drop point from Hallod’s Hideout, along with the directions from the Pen, send you to a place some 7 or 8 hours by foot.
After a good night sleep and 1 hour or prayer to his God, Tamerius is in a good mood.
Looking with his comrades at the info they have gathered, he agrees with Sitril.
Lets go there, but we need to be prepared for at leat a 4 day trip and adding one day, "to be sure".
Also, I don't want to arrive at the place after a 8 hours trek. I think we need to cut the travel by 2. Stopping after 4 to 5 hours to get rest and arrive at the place around noon the other day.
Also, we don't know the forest there, it could be full with mutated animals. I will suggest to construct a base camp where we can retreat and regroup if something goes wrong.
Giggett nods.
"Attrition is fine to me. Alchemists have hard time running away from their lab and I'm pretty sure at that stage, Vilree knows about us. Or at least have strong suspicions. So their won't be any element of surprise anyway."
So. do you purchase some goods to go by these 5 days (food, water, bedding...?).
So, you get a nice picnic basket from Delma, and pack a little cart with bedrolls and tents and some firewood.
The directions from the orc laboratory lead to the foothills far west of Etran’s Folly.
About 4 hours of walking later, you make camp.
Then set out the next morning, for another 4 hours of trekking, to arrive around noon at your goal.
The place you are aiming for is nestled in the shadow of the Five Kings Mountains, were there are countless small valleys and crevasses.
The directions lead to one particular valley: a place called “Spite’s Cradle”.
You start scouting, and find the correct valley, you are quite sure since, up ahead, a wooden palisade spans the valley.
A gigantic double door is set into its center.
Beyond this wall, a guard tower is barely visible, although it’s difficult to tell whether it is occupied.
The place you are aiming for is nestled in the shadow of the Five Kings Mountains, were there are countless small valleys and crevasses.
"I always wonder about things like this," says Natsume as the mountains start looming on the horizon. "Like, do you think there was one king that the other four couldn't stand, and now they're in the afterlife like, 'Can't believe King Deku got to be part of the mountain. Absolute travesty.'" She says the last bit with a deep, ponderous voice.
Ask the Dwarfs, they are the one who live in the Mountain and give them that name.
Says Tamerius.
When they reach the fortress, he tries to find some tracks to know how many creatures lurk in the area.
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Natsume turns her head to Bort Dragh whoever their current dwarf companion is. "Any thoughts?"
Tamerius checks tracks as you approach, and his keen eyes record the following by seeing how some branches are broken here and there, and some tracks remain outside...
Though you remain at a distance, Tamerius can tell you that: "It seems only one person, a hunter, comes in and out. Without really covering his tracks, this archer is still one who leaves little tracks. And this person brings food back. By the frequency of these forays, I'd say there are less than a dozen people eating in there."
Depending on when the lone archer do his hunt, we can try to get and interrogate him? It could be an easier way to get in without having to climb these wall or fight the dozen people inside.
Several times per week, either every day, or every other day, or so...
"Good idea. We can catch him, and then wait for the others to send a rescue mission. That way, we should be able to separate them. Let's prepare our camp, and then an ambush on his usual way into the forest."
Tamerius is quite sure the hunter came in today, with a bunch of pheasant, if the little feathers he found tell the tale.
On the other hand, there is no way to know where the hunter will go once leaving the camp.
The person goes all different directions, and the area is immediately wide once you leave the little part of the gorge that leads to the palisade.
The area you are in is a mixture of woods and small flowerly fields.
So. Giggett tells you of her plan to look around for where snares might have put out, and to try and find good hunting places, and then hide and observe the hunter when he exits, to find the best place to ambush him.
Do others wish to go along with this, or do they have some other plan in mind?
What do Tamerius, Natsume and Sitril say?
Sitril nods to the idea
"If we can take them down separately I am down to that. We seem to be not rushing here." says Sitril being glad staying for some time in the forest instead of caves and infected places.
I don’t mind waiting for a day or two. I need to prepare a spell of charm for when we will catch the hunter anyway.
Let’s find the best post to ambush him.
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Sitril will be happy just to walk around, following along, taking in the forest-- and help Tamerius and Giggett find the best place to ambush the hunter?
Sitril decides to help Tamerius in a more active way
"Let me try and find what kind of animals are here, and where do they roam, maybe then we will bump into some snares or hiding places of the hunter."
Tamerius will look for the best spot to prepare an ambush.
Sitril looks around.
He is unable to figure out what kind of big game is around here, although he is sure there are some... but he does manage to see traces of small animals.
And he does easily and well recognize those traces: rabbits and partridge.
He can figure out where and how those move around. and does find some snares set up near a rabbit warren.
Tamerius cannot really figure out the best place for an ambush.
He sees some woods here and there.
Fields in between.
No special natural outcrop or whatever that would help...
Natsume finds that the plant life is okay around here.
She spots one nice little grove that would be perfect for a shrine to Daikitsu.
Oh, the ambush? Err...
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Natsume spends a few minutes setting up a local fern to have nine equal sprigs.
"We can ambush him with weapons. But we need to catch him alive, so he can speak. The best would be to charge at him.
By the way, I know some gnome hiding tactics. One is called the 'trou de combat'. It consists in making a hole and going in there. From the outside, you see nothing until you are too close. So we don't need much natural protection, and it'd be best to put it..."
Giggett raises her finger while looking around...
Giggett looks around and finds a spot-- how good a hiding place will it be?
"... There!"
Giggett shows a place that she thinks could be a nice one. It has a direct view on the snares, it's not directly on the path the hunter will take to come, and it's quite easy to hide in there.
"What do you think of it? Do we set up our ambush here?"
I will try to charm him before we use weapon.
Says Tamerius.
Could be a good idea to create some hole. But we need a scout or a lookout to be sure to not miss the guy.
"I can always hide somewhere if needed. But I would prefer to avoid giving him multiple chances to spot us... If he comes to check the snare, he will fall onto us, and even if what happens next is messy, we will be four of us to catch him. If he spots our scout, unless the scout can shoot him on his own, it's a failure. Never split the party, as they say."
Natsume shows you all the perfect fern array.
"Ikebana!"
Sitril likes the place and begins preparing the spot for hiding. First he wants to Cover their tracks and then begin preparing some spots to hide comfortably.
He gathers some branches and clears spot in where one can sit still being hidden.
Sitril uses a branch to sweep things up all around where you are hiding, covering your tracks around the ambush area.
So, you dig a hole for Giggett to hide in...?
Tamerius will hide behind some vegetation, ready to charm...?
Sitril covers your tracks around the ambush site, and then...?
Natsume-- when done arranging ferns..?
All this in a good spot near some snares that the hunter put down.
Tamerius will follows his comrades's recommandation to stay in cover and tries to not be seen.
He will use his knowledge of nature and hunting to do that.
Natsume will find a good place to hide. Ideally a tree with nine branches, but she doesn't spend more than a few seconds determining if there is such a one before moving into cover.