Fiona listens to the discussion over dinner, nodding along and asking a question here and there to draw out more information. She nods, too, at the suggestion of heading out the same night. "Better get to it," she comments, "trouble rarely waits on convenience."
She keeps a good pace, clearly accustomed to marching long hours. Her mouth quirks in an understanding smile as Rickan explains about his child, and she nods. "Gods' blessings on the child," she offers. "Even if you don't name it Hamish Junior."
"Incidentally, do you have a guess at what time they come through here?" she asks him, glancing around warily and hoping they're not being surrounded as they speak.
Nodding farewell to Rickan , she turns to Merlan, her tone pure soldier. "Now's your chance, wizard... I suppose you can cause a rock to shed light? I'd suggest that we each carry one, covered thoroughly, and take a look around the area. You should look at the magical stone Rickan mentioned—it'd be best if the orcs don't know we can read their messages, and we can avoid an encounter with them this night."
She turns to the others, hoping Xia can read lips in the dark, and continues. "If that's not possible, then we should plan on watching and being prepared to capture one of them for information. Either way, we'll need the lie of the land — good ambush spots and such. I'll look over their tracks and see if I can find out which direction they usually come from."
"I am sorry, spear-wielder, only one shining rock at a time for each caster of light, and it must be renewed frequently" Sahar murmurs quietly, picking up a pebble, making it glow, then closing it in her hand. "If we split up the track-searching, it will go faster. Can anyone get along without a light? As for the cairn, I have no knowledge of snares or tricks."
Turning her hand palm-down, she makes a tiny crack between her fingers until a spear of light shows the ground at her feet.
<starting out> Merlan 'oohs' over Rickan's glowing stone & dagger trick. You can almost hear the waterwheels turning in his head.
ANd he offers a hearty congratulations when Rickan informs them his wife is pregnant, so enthusiastically that the others hush him immediately.
He waves farewell to Rickan as he leaves, looking around the area.
Merlan waggles his fingers, as if waking them up.
"Firstly, yes, I can cast an enchanted light on a stone or somesuch. But it's just a simple charm. If I cast a second one the first will simply end. So sorry, no endless supply of magical torches. Not until I get a closer look at Rickan's magical light stone,..." The halfling says with a tone that indicates it will be 'WHEN' he gets a closer look, not 'IF'.
"Secondly" He turns to face Xia. "I do NOT think we should examine or touch or try to disarm any magical charm that may be on the rock. If they show up tonight, I can learn much more about it from simply watching them interact with it. And THEN examine it after they leave. We don't want them to KNOW we know about their hidey-hole, right?"
"Besides. I'M in no more of a hurry to get 'Zapped' than Rickan is." Merlan adds with a grin.
"What we need is to find good places to hide, and watch. Far enough away that they wont easily spot us. Close enough to see what they're doing here. Let them come, and leave, and THEN we'll see what surprises they left for us!"
Merlan sounds almost gleeful with anticipation. Like he's expecting a plate of sweetcakes or something.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Fiona lets out a gusty sigh, as Merlan's "magic" once again disappoints her. Watching Sahar and Xiaruau light up stones as well, she chews her lip, frowning. When Merlan suggests watching the orcs and then letting them leave, she shakes her head. "It's no use. How're you going to watch them when none of us can see a thing without a light? You think they're just going to say, 'Oh, some unusual light. Oh well, we'll just open our secret stash and ignore it'? I can't see a thing out here, just vague shapes when the moonlight hits just right."
She turns to Lani. "Your kind can see in the dark, right? If that's the case, then Lani has to be our lookout — and decide whether or not we need to attack them. I'll have to stand near one of you light-bearers, since I can't make rocks glow."
"So Lani should hide close enough that she can watch them. The rest of us hide a bit farther... can orcs scent us? And the mage has the daunting task of remaining quiet for half an hour," Sahar recaps. "We should find places to hide. If Lani shrieks for help, we can toss our stones to light the scene and run in to aid her."
She shines her ersatz hooded lantern around the area, seeking a place of concealment. "Of course, if that happens, this drop will be useless in the future. And there is always the danger of orcs picking us off with arrows from the darkness where we cannot find them." Sahar shudders. "It is best to hide successfully."
Lani shakes her head. "Nah, you're thinking of dwarves. Or perhaps my distant cousins, the svirfneblin. I can see better than humans in the moonlight but if it's pitch black, no such luck!"
"Right! I can't see in the dark any better than you. Buuut Squeaks can! He can give me a warning if they spot us. Better for now if we hide far enough away to not be spotted. Right now this is our only known way to get info directly from the orcs themselves. Let's not give that up our first night out!"
"So, everybody pick a comfy hiding spot! And,... Heeeeeeyyyyyy!" Merlan turns to peer at Sahar, as her comment finally makes it's way past his obliviousness.
Merlan instructs Squeaky to find a hiding spot (should be easy, he's tiny) and give him a silent warning if it looks like the orcs spot any of the others. Then he goes to pick his own 'comfy' hiding spot, mumbling something about 'I can be quiet, it's just I've got a lot of important things to say!'
EDIT- Merlan seems keen to pick a hiding spot near the warrior Fiona. Seems he has a plan,.... ;P
At Lani's negative reply, Fiona's frown deepens and she throws one hand up in the air (her other being occupied holding her polearm). She listens to Merlan's suggestion, then shakes her head as if in disbelief. "So let's go through this. You're proposing that we hide, somewhere where we can't see anything, and wait until the orcs come. If they see us, your... Squeaky will 'warn' you... and then what, they'll attack us at an enormous advantage? And if they don't see us... we just sit here in the dark wondering what's going on and learning nothing at all?"
She shakes her head again, her expression plainly wondering how did I end up here with these... people... instead of real soldiers?
"We may as well head back to town if that's your 'plan', because I don't see what good it does us to sit out here."
Taking a deep breath, the tall woman reaches up and flicks a moth off her sleeve. "If their mixed-blood leader can't see in the dark, we might have a chance at gaining knowledge without capturing any of them. But that's a very long shot, and no good battle plan is built on long shots. So either we plan to attack them—with light—once they're clustered around their drop, or we sit here hoping that they don't ambush us and slaughter us all."
Sahar suddenly blurts out "This is madness. If none of us can see in the dark, we should leave instantly. We can return when the moon gives more light and we have a chance against night-seers if we are caught. We can learn nothing tonight and cannot hold our own in battle. Let us go. Now... unless..."
With sudden inspiration, she taps Xia's arm to get her attention and allows a little of the light from her shiny rock to touch her face so Xia can see her lips.
"When you take the form of an orc, can you see in the dark as they do? I can understand the orc's tongue; I could hide and listen, at least."
Sahar shakes her head. "A valiant offer, but it is too dangerous to have you meet up with them. I, at least, can understand them and listen to them from hiding. We were hoping to know what they did with the rock, which is where seeing in the dark would be helpful. I think we should hide, quickly."
She waves her shiny rock at Fiona and Sandy. "Look for tracks, see where they come from so we know where to hide? Time fleets." There is some urgency in her voice.
To her urgent words, Sansy looks around the area keeping low to the ground and his leonine friend stalks beside him.
He moves around the area trying to find a direction of travel and a good spot to hide and ambush.
You find only two sets of recent tracks at the burrow - one orcish, the other... not... a clawed quadraped of some sort.... You'd say they're not quite a day old... They lead back to the east and north to a firepit, where you find some ash and a number of small bones, some of which have been cracked open to have the marrow sucked out.... There's a mess of tracks here, were they've all walked over each other -- but at least a half-dozen.
After taking a bit of time to puzzle things out, you catch their trail -- they left heading north -- well, probably more north-north-west -- which means that those other tracks, from the east, would be their backtrail....
Sahar accompanies Lysander, shining her shielded light where he directs and trying to help.
Sandy nods in gratitude as Sahar accompanies him, appreciative of the help and then after gathering information moves back to the group and makes sure everyone can hear or read his words; "They went nor-nor-west, about a half dozen left. Just a man and his lizard beast at the burrow." Sandy ruffles the mane of his similar companion.
"Ah. Ah hah! So the leader doesn't trust, or at least doesn't want the others to know what he does with the drop-spot? Curious."
Merlan makes calming gestures at Fiona and Sahar.
"I understand your concerns. I simply do not wish to disturb the drop spot until AFTER they have visited it. Once that secret is out we lose a possibly valuable resource."
"IF you warrior-types think that trying to capture and interrogate this leader is the best idea,... well,... most of you are bigger than me, so,..." He shrugs.
"But if we're going to try that, at least let us hide on the OPPOSITE side of the drop from where the rest of his gang make camp. That way we have a chance to take him and his pet by surprise with out his followers close enough to help. Again, Squeaks can hide close by and let me know when the time is right to strike."
The halfling grins, it looks sinister in the light from his magically glowing stone.
"And if THAT'S our plan, have I got JUST the spell for you!" He says to Fiona.
"They'll never know what hit them!" He chuckles happily, then begins whispering to his familiar, who cranes down his sinuous neck to hear his master better.
"Yes, that was the point of scouting the tracks... so we are away from where they show up," Sahar explains patiently. "I think we would be fools to engage this enemy in the dark, unless we throw in lighted rocks and shoot arrows at them. Why do we not simply break into the drop once they have gone?"
"The orc and lizard aren't there now, but were during the past day. My guess is that they dug into burrow to find a tasty meal - thus there's evidence of the bones at the campfire." Sandy says softly and precisely; "They are long gone with the rest...."
"Yes, that was the point of scouting the tracks... so we are away from where they show up," Sahar explains patiently. "I think we would be fools to engage this enemy in the dark, unless we throw in lighted rocks and shoot arrows at them. Why do we not simply break into the drop once they have gone?"
"Wha?,... I,... You,...I,..." Merlan looks genuinely puzzled, and keeps pointing between himself and Sahar.
Merlan's eyes roll upwards to look at the familiar perched on his hat.
"I swear i JUST said that!?!?"
"But you were planning spells to attack them. Unless... could it be possible we agree upon something?" Sahar gapes at the mage in astonishment.
You pick up a faint abjuration aura, a glyph of warding .
"But you were planning spells to attack them. Unless... could it be possible we agree upon something?" Sahar gapes at the mage in astonishment.
"Stranger things have happened!" Merlan says cheerfully.
"Not in the last 24 hours, but they HAVE happened."
Merlan snaps his fingers a couple of times.
"OK. We have a couple of plans. What we NEED is a consensus. Like Now. Do we A, hide and wait for them to come and go? or B, Wait for them to come, and attack them? or C, hide and wait for them to come and go, and if they spot us go straight back to B!?!?"
Merlan holds up his hands in a vague gesture of surrender.
"I'm easy. We may get all we need from seeing what they leave in the drop. OR we may get more info from a prisoner. Provided we can capture one without killing him. Orcs aren't likely to just surrender easily. Either way we need to decide, and HIDE."
Merlan smiles, looking from face to face.
After taking some time to get the lay of the land, you discuss a number of options, and then set yourselves up to ambush the orcs - hoping for a prisoner, or, at the very least, more clues to go with whatever's in the burrow.
It's just over an hour after you're in your hiding spots when you first hear the echoes of guttural voices... still distant, but... closing...
Merlan picks his spot, lays down, makes some adjustments depending upon the advice of his friends, and goes silent and still.
Lani hides in the underbrush near Xia, ready for a fight!
A voice, faintly, "Bu küçük mavi piçlerin en kötü yanı yenilebilir olmamalarıdır."
"Hayır, en kötü yanı, dişilerinin ovada boğulanlardan daha çirkin olması.", responds another.
A third voice grumbles, "En azından rapor etmemiz gereken iyi bir şey var ... Belki artık nihayet baskın yapabiliriz."
Finally, a figure that you're just starting to make out spins on his heel and shouts behind him, "Sessizlik! Kara dişe katılmanıza izin verdik çünkü siz savaşçıydınız, elfleri değil. Sizi Bt'arg'a beslemeliyim ... Thurg'a ne olduğunu gördükten sonra çok fazla soru sormakla ilgili dersinizi almadınız mı?"
Another voice, almost as annoyed, growls, "Sadece ateş yak ve ye."
In the dim light, you can see the dark silhouettes of four orcs moving toward the firepit, each with a spear in hand on which hangs some sort of dead animal. Trailing slightly behind them is a larger, more powerful figure, carrying a double-axe, and pointing at the firepit.
One of the four stops and starts looking around, as if he may have seen something when the large orc kicks him. "Ye dedim. Şimdi."
The four take their places around the fire, and you see sparks from a flint, when you notice a sixth figure with a feline-ish beast at his side. He growls, "Eti fazla pişirme Grash, yoksa bacağını yerim." as he walks past them, heading toward the fox burrow.... when the beast's head suddenly perks up, sniffing the air, as if it caught a scent. The orc freezes, and says, "Keskin görün."
#1: "The worst thing about those little blue bastards is that they you can't eat 'em."
#2: "No, the worst part is that their females are uglier than week-old floodslain."
#3: "At least we have something good to report ... Maybe now we can finally raid"
#4: "Silence! We let you join with Blacktusk because you were warriors, not mewling elves. I should feed you to B'targ... Didn't you learn your lesson about too many questions after seeing what he did to Thurg?"
#5: "Just light your fire and eat."
#6: "Eat. Now."
#7: "Don't overcook the meat, Grash, or I'll eat your leg."
#8: "Look sharp!"
Surprise Round
Conditions/Bonuses: Bless (All party members), +1 morale to attackSurprise Round
Party
Enemies
Initiative Order: (Surprise Round) Sahar, Fiona, Merlan, Orcs (of colour), Xia, Lysander, Lani, Venak, Thrukk
Next up: Whole party may act - all orcs are surprised (though the Warcat is not, but it has no orders)
Merlan doesn't delay. He hands Squeaks the thunderstone, and whispers so low that Fiona next to him cant hear him.
Squeaks takes off, flapping for altitude, his path taking him over the fire. He continues to flap upwards, as a tiny object drops after him,... possibly droppings from an avian in flight, or,
Merlan is already muttering and making swift, precise gestures with his small, nimble fingers. When the thunderstone goes off Merlan touches Fiona lightly on one shoulder and mutters, "Engorgio" and Fiona starts to grow.
Merlan whispers, "Wait for the Magic fire glow!
As purple flames appear around the lone orc and his companion, you get a decent look at him. He's wearing a breastplate and grey leather breeches, and you see what you assume is a greatsword over one shoulder, and a large bow over the other.... his build and smaller tusks suggest he's likely a half-orc.
The creature beside him looks like a cross between a lizard, armadillo and a mountain lion - a warcat of rull -- but you catch glints of metal scales over his natural armour.