Yazhi runs to Ristreto's body, sniffing. <BARK! BARK!>
"One of your cousins is missing? We'll look around for any hints about what may have happened to her."
Neither Ristreto nor Rosy are alive. Ristreto's body is face down in the door. It is covered in a plethora of bites and tears from the dull human teeth of the now-destroyed trailgaunt, many to the face and chest. It is missing its feet, lost to the ravenous hunger of the trailgaunt, no doubt. His body shows several hoof prints on his back.
Rosy possesses all of her hooves and shows no bite marks on her. She is riddled with arrows. The arrows are quite primitive, by the looks of them. She is laying on her left side. All the arrows are on her right side. Rosy's corpse is on top of Ristreto's body.
Rosy's mouth is covered in dried foam, a sign of her terror. There is little to no blood mixed in with the foam, suggesting she foamed in terror before being arrowed to death, rather than foaming in fright as she died. No arrows appear to have pierced her lungs.
Outside the circular gravel road to the south are numerous, small, clawed footprints. Somewhere between four and six unique sets. Among them are a single set of human-sized boot prints. Likely a woman's by the depth of the prints. Or a very lightweight man. The boot prints stop a few feet from the circular road. It looks like the woman fell. After that, no sign of boot prints. The tracks are, perhaps, two days old. Three at the latest.
Inside the Varisian Wanderer is all of Ayita's three cousins' gear. In a pair of lady's underwear, stuffed into a grain feedbag, are 303 gold sails, the currency of far away Korvosa, and legal tender throughout Varisia.
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Ayita is very upset.
She examines the tracks of the small feet... She also activates her 1 minute of Animal Focus, into "Wolf" so she has Scent (10 feet). She only has a little experience with this, but hopes this can help her recognize these scents in the future.
She'll try to match the scent of the small bootprints with the scent on Shirri's person items.
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If the scents match, she'll try to teach Yazhi the scent of Shirri too.
The following actions would take a while, maybe other folks are doing things too? -- assuming she doesn't need to react to other PCs, she takes a really deep breath, and does the following as quickly as she can:
She goes through her cousins belongings for a few small personal items that the Cousins' family might appreciate getting back safely. Also a bit of Rosy's mane decorations.
She uses "detect magic" around the area; is the hanging amulet in the tree magical? What is it?
She asks Ter to fly around and search for anything fairly close that got dropped. Ter knows Sherri, but Yazhi doesn't.
If we have time: she'll want to bury her cousins, though quickly; she looks for a shovel in the wagon, or rocks to cover them with (unless the other PCs have alternative ideas). She'll say a Varisian prayer over them, then a Shoanti one.
Ayita is very upset.
She examines the tracks of the small feet... She also activates her 1 minute of Animal Focus, into "Wolf" so she has Scent (10 feet). She only has a little experience with this, but hopes this can help her recognize these scents in the future.
She'll try to match the scent of the small bootprints with the scent on Shirri's person items.
The smell of the boot prints matches the smell of Shirri's personal items, to your enhanced animal sense of smell.
The amulet on the tree is definitely magical, radiating an aura of abjuration. The silver is etched with the symbol of Desna.
TER'S RECON
Ter doesn't see Shirri, but does report back that she can see a low ridge in the distance, rising above the forest slightly. Lush and prickly blackberry (YUM!) vines creep across every surface. The stale smell of goblin sweat, even high up in the air where Ter flies, and the sight of smoke drifting up, makes a cave entrance stand out.
On the far side of the same low ridge is a stone house, partially covered by the ridge's dirt and rock. An organized camp, with several small wagons and a few horses, is visible at the clearing in front of the stone house.
BURYING THE COUSINS
Burying Vano and Ristreto takes a little while. Digging graves, even shallow graves, using the shovel from the back of the Varisian Wanderer is difficult. But they are eventually buried peacefully, with a prayer or two guiding their spirits onward.
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BURYING THE COUSINS
Burying Vano and Ristreto takes a little while. Digging graves, even shallow graves, using the shovel from the back of the Varisian Wanderer is difficult. But they are eventually buried peacefully, with a prayer or two guiding their spirits onward.
Hatfield is saddened at the need for so many burials in such a short span of time.
__________________________________________________I think that amulet created the Undead Thing!!! How can we destroy it?
She looks at her magic-using companions... she picks up Social Control...
"Ain't that tha symbol o' Desna? Tha Goddess o' Fortune ain't exactly known fer creatin' undead."
"Are you saying it's magical? Mind if I check it as well? I agree with Doc, Desna and undead don't usually go together."
Frantino casts detect magic to analyze the amulet's aura.
"Look, this is actually an aura of abjuration, not necromancy. However, the colors are very similar, at least at first. We should practice reading magical auras in the evenings, it can be tricky business until you get used to it! In exchange you can help me improve my ability to pick locks with these handy tools hidden in my bracers."
"Anyway, it looks like this amulet can protect you from spells and such that can affect your mind. Pretty handy thing here."
Roscoe pats Ayita on the shoulder. "Sorry about your cousins. I know you were looking forward to finding them. Did you know them well?" he asks.
As they look through the wagon, his eyes fix on the gold and go wide.
More--more--more.
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"Are you saying it's magical? Mind if I check it as well? I agree with Doc, Desna and undead don't usually go together."
Frantino casts detect magic to analyze the amulet's aura.
[dice=Spellcraft]1d20 + 8
"Look, this is actually an aura of abjuration, not necromancy. However, the colors are very similar, at least at first. We should practice reading magical auras in the evenings, it can be tricky business until you get used to it! In exchange you can help me improve my ability to pick locks with these handy tools hidden in my bracers."
"Anyway, it looks like this amulet can protect you from spells and such that can affect your mind. Pretty handy thing here."
Whew, thanks for double checking that, and practicing skills sounds great. I'm always glad to help wherever I can, too.
Roscoe pats Ayita on the shoulder. "Sorry about your cousins. I know you were looking forward to finding them. Did you know them well?" he asks.
Thanks, Roscoe. The two here -- I never got close to them, though they were family; they, well, they thought I was a "barbarian" bumpkin. She rolls her eyes.
But Shirri has been very supportive and we get along great. She taught me a lot about Varisian manners and food, and always had treats for Ter! We have to rescue Shirri!!!
Ter pipes up... BACON TREATS!!! BACON!!! Rescue!!!
Ter gets a little fixated on the idea of "bacon" then and keeps calling out "BACON" every few minutes. Ayita soon realizes that Ter thinks that the group is actually rescuing BACON.
After dusting himself off from burying the cousins and saying a small prayer for Sarenrae to protect them, Nasir gets himself ready to move out.
"Now that the dead have hopefully found rest, it is time to find the living. I know we spent a lot of time here, but if they had planned to kill the girl, they probably would have done it when they killed the rest of the cousins. It's time to go find those goblins.
From Ter's recon, it's near where the Stone house is. It didn't sound like the Roadkeepers were working with the goblins from what Jug and Bottle, or whatever their names were, said, but they sure seem camped real close to each other. Let's try to rescue the girl before we try to move on the Roadkeepers.
Sound like a plan? Any objections?
If not, gather what's still salvageable then let's move out and find that cave. Weapons at the ready as these goblins clearly like an ambush.
I don't want to try fighting goblins at night, so Ayita, about how far away is the goblin cave based on how Ter judges distance?"
"I don't want to try fighting goblins at night, so Ayita, about how far away is the goblin cave based on how Ter judges distance?"
"<KAW!> Ter right here, man! RIGHT HERE! <KAW!> Cave close. Before sunset."
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Thank you, Ter!
The goblins could easily locate us at night, it's so close, so I suggest we pay them a visit...
But how many goblins, how many Roadkeepers...
I have to wonder, they might have some sort of pact, or else one of the groups would have left the area.
Ter, what do you think is a good way to approach? You are much appreciated.
"We should step off soon and track these footprints while we still have light. Time is of the essence, and I have no desire to run into goblins in the dark when they'll have the advantage. Perhaps Ter can scout ahead while we are following.
"Is anyone a worshiper of Desna? Ayita, do you want to wear the amulet, since it probably belonged to one of your cousins? Or should Nasir wear it? I know you worship Sarenrae, not Desna, but I certainly don't want anyone controlling you against us!"
Roscoe nods when Frantino mentions starting after the tracks while there's still light.
"Anyone good at following tracks?"
Seeing that everyone is ready to move out, Nasir examines the tracks.
"I know a bit of tracking. In the desert, tracks a few days old would be wiped away by the shifting sands, but in your wetter lands, they may last a bit longer. Either way, we have Ter to guide us to the cave since he has seen where it is.
As for the amulet, I am no worshiper of Desna, but she is an ally of Sarenrae and I would welcome her protection if others do not need it more than I.
Let's get moving."
I follow Milani, but Desna is loved among some family members too. Nasir, please take the amulet.
Ayita gathers her items, carrying Social Control in one hand. She gives Yazhi the "defend" command. Ter is set to guide the group.
Leading the way, the Shoanti hunter follows the goblin tracks into the wood, through small animal paths, across small creeks, and towards the small ridge Ter saw (and continues to see).
Halfway there, Ayita finds some interesting signs: a large imprint of a human. No tracks. Just a large imprint and other signs of a human-sized person. The obvious assumption is the goblins were carrying a human and put them down, briefly. Likely an unconscious or unmoving human. Then picked it/them up and continued moving towards the ridge.
The tracks continue.
The entrance to the cave opens on the western slopes of the same low ridge in the Churlwood that the Stonehouse is located on. Lush and prickly blackberry vines creep across every surface and obscure the dark mouth of the cave if viewed from a long distance, but the stale smell of goblin sweat and the sight of smoke drifting up from the cave entrance makes locating the cave entrance relatively easy.
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During the forest walk, Hatfield muses: "Hey! Are those chanterelles?"
"Well, I'll be! They are." Then he picks one with a happy, oblivious smile.
[dice=Ayita's perception]1d20+5+2+3
Ter is helping watch from above... or, is she really looking for blackberries?
[dice=Ter's perception]1d20+14
Pls let me know if Yazhi needs to roll.
Not with you already rolling so high.
Nasir looks at the area around the cave entrance.
Looks empty to me, but Ayita isn't giving the all clear. Maybe she sees something?
Nasir looks at Ayita and points to the cave and shrugs his shoulders. Then he waits for a response, not daring to move too much as he has never be very good at being stealthy.
Nasir nods in understanding. He quietly sheathes his sword, stows his shield, and readies his bow.
He motions the team close so that they can quietly whisper out of earshot of the sentries.
"It doesn't seem like the guards have spotted us. Perhaps we can take them by surprise at range and kill them before they can raise an alarm? Who else has ranged attacks?
We can split our attacks between the two to increase our chances of taking them out. Ayita shoot the one on the right, and I'll shoot the one on the left. Everyone else help where you can.
Once the first shots are fired, let close the distance as quickly as we can in case we can't drop them.
Sound good?"
"I see them, too. I have some javelins for ranged attacks, but this would be a very long throw. I will wait for Nasir and Ayita to shoot and then I'll hustle forward into a closer throwing position. If any of the goblins survive and try to move into the cave I'll be able to throw more accurately. Then I can move up with my sword."
Sounds good! If I can get closer, I'd do better with this bow (not my best weapon), but they might sound the alarm.
She sheaths Social Control and readies her bow, which she plans to drop when she sprints up.
Roscoe nods once Ayita points out the goblins.
"I have some ranged spells," he whispers.
"Okay, then we are agreed. Let's take them out."
Nasir will aim at the goblin on the left from the tree line. He will time it to shoot his goblin when she shoots at hers.
Nasir seeing Ayita raising to shoot also takes his shot.
Likewise, Roscoe fires a jolt of electricity when the others are ready.
As the arrows and jolts fly by, Frantino leaps out of his hiding spot and starts hustling toward the goblins, javelin in one hand and greatsword in the other.
Ayita fires into the bushes! It narrowly misses the goblin, who immediately screams! His companion screams, too, and turns to see Ayita, standing in the open. He grabs his bow and fires back!
HIT!
Nasir's shot flies straight and true, impaling the first goblin in the mouth, mid-scream. The goblin lets out a gurgle and slumps the ground.
The remaining goblin's eyes open even wider as he see Frantino charging forward with a massive sword in one hand and a javelin in the other!
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Sorted Initiative ROUND ONE
Doc
Frantino
Roscoe
Goblins
Ayita+Yazhi
Nasir
BOLD may act!
Map now available, but you're all still 60-70ft away. Your tokens are on the map just so you can see what's ahead.
Hatfield moves (or double moves, as needed) to be right behind Frantino.
"Aw, shucks! I'm an herbalist, not a sprinter."
Frantino doublemoved in the surprise round, so he's ten feet away from the goblins (ON THE MAP! WOOOOT!).
Frantino moves another 20 feet closer and then lets loose with the javelin.
,