Quince moves back, "Its a wild boar. Cantankerous if I had not charmed him. He is cannibalizing his livestock kin. He might be a problem when the spell wears off. We could put to use as dinner." He explains. [b]"He was strong enough to break into the pen. Might take several of together to hit him with arrows.
Roland nods to Quince, if he wishes to engage the pig. The warrior's blade is still in its scabbard, but the nobleman looks confident that it won't stay there for long, if needed.
"So are we making a roast boar for dinner then? Everyone ready, pull out your weapons and get ready for a charge." He states thinking he is reading the room correctly and was still ready with his bow.
At this point you are all getting ready for your surprise round actions.
The boar went back to rooting around in the dead bodies looking for more meat...
"I don't think he is going to let you all get close. Take up position about what 50 feet back. You all can try to hit it with something ranged. I will let you all get a shot in if it survives to charge I have something that might stun it. Its mostly just a flash of color but it will daze creatures. Unless one of you have something that could hold it fast? Or an alternative."
The elf clambers up the closest tree or building for him to get the best vantage point.
With that done, he blends into the background as he prepares for the upcoming ambush though he pities the boar.
"High ground that's a good idea."
"My rope only reaches about 20', so I won't be able to take a shot until he chooses to charge. I could present myself as a target should he charge, helping the rest of you avoid any concerns." He draws his waveblade instead of the rope dart, preparing to have the animal close specifically with him.
As he disfavors ranged weapons, Roland stands next to Quince and readies a strike if the boar comes within melee range of him and the color spray does not affect it.
Quince glances seeing Roland take position. "Garess and Medvyed together in the shield wall again.
"Can no one put the thing to sleep or at least get out of the way while we pepper it with shots?" the elf states from his position on the tree.
The two were fools he thinks. Why risk themselves getting hurt when the boar obviously could be taken out due to the sheer numbers they had. A few shots would from each of them should do it unless that boar was an unnatural beast.
"That's not a skill I have. It would be handy."
"My spell might stun but if it resists it will charge anyway."
St. John stands just to the side of Quince ready to attack should the beast charge and make it to Quince.
"Again, I should stand before you, to present a target to attract it away from your casting."
"To cast the Color Spray I will need to be 15 feet away when I cast it. So even if you wish to be presenting the target we definitely want it coming to us. Perhaps Lycan has the right idea. The boar isn't going to climb on the roof."
"You know, I could just blast it." Cleonora said. "Rays of fire are great for keeping creatures past arms length."
"Little challenge to shooting fish in a barrel, but I understand the choice for safety, if you would rather."
"I wonder if being Lords have gotten into your heads or something." the elf calls out scathingly.
"We have several of us able to shoot at it and yet you wish to risk yourself in frontal combat. If that's the case then we should all head down and put our blades to it so that it'll have difficulty choosing whom to attack." The elf cannot understand why would one keep insisting on risking themselves when the objective could be met otherwise.
He was beginning to have second thoughts on this expedition. Perhaps all these lords being surrounded by powerful allies might have forgotten what it was like for the normal folk.......
He studies his target.
"I am only here if all of you can't litter it with arrows right away. To buy you more time to send a second volley." He shakes his head. "Some prefer swords to bows." He shrugs. "I would have a bow out if it was not my intention to give the rest of the archers more time to shoot it."
He looks about, "Are we ready?"
"So give the archer's some more time and back up to us." He states.
-----
As Quince gives the signal he lets one arrow fly as he is ready to let others go as well.
Surprise Round
Round 1
If there are no giants or wolves near the dead animals and crows, she will fly above the animals and try to see what killed them, suspecting said giant, wolves or spriggans.
Flying over the village you see that there are lots of crows in the middle of town feeding on dead animals.
There are lots of rats in the grain storehouse.
Getting to the far side of town to the fort you find smoke coming from a camp fire. Beside it is a giant of some sort and wolves. A small grey gnome is ontop of the main tower next to the fire. Another gnome is in the watch tower above the gate.
The three scenes are all seperate.
The dead animals look like they have been dead for a while and picked a lot by the ravens.
Layla pulls her sword and rushes into town.
Being told to keep his distance so that those with bows can hopefully end the problem, the monk stands between Quince and the hog, Rope Dart at the ready, though he is on Total Defense until after the hog starts moving . . ..
Quince readies his spell so that when the boar charges Dinenen he can use color spray.
The elf raises his bow and joins in the volley unleashed upon the boar.
St. John stands ready to strike the board if it gets as far as him.
Surprise Round
Round 1
Sindri continues to squint his eyes at the smoke. It seemed somewhat odd to him, but he couldn't quite his finger on it. And with so many people preparing themselves to fight the boar surely they didn't need his help, right? He kept an ear out if it sounded like anyone got maimed, but continued to stare in the direction of the town
The boar is not taken down in surprise round, though as it charges forward the second salvo of arrows takes it to the ground before any spell or melee is needed.
Around the muddy pigpen are scattered the rotten, half-eaten corpses of a number of feral hogs, now covered in clouds of fat black f lies. One wall of the pen has collapsed, allowing a particularly massive feral hog to enter and feed on the bodies of his starved kin.
building. The village tanner lived and worked here. His combination home and shop is filled with hides in various stages of stretching and curing. Out back is a fenced enclosure with three horse hides stretched upon it.
The ground slopes steeply downward to the river bank, where the river runs wide and shallow, though it is muddy with the runoff of recent rains to the south. The opposite bank rises at a gentler slope into the town proper.
The Kiravoy River is shallow here, only 4 feet deep at the
center.
---------
---------
She moans in pain waiting for help and healing.
Before you move much further than the pit trap and getting Layla out a swarm of crows descends upon the group. Maybe more than one swarm...
This long, low building partially surrounds a yard encompassed
by a split-rail fence. A sign above a wide, barn-like entrance
shows harness for a horse and a blacksmith’s anvil. Despite
the abandonment of the village, it appears that many mounts
and a great deal of livestock were left behind, trapped in the
livery and yard. A half-dozen horse carcasses, decomposing
and ravaged by the crows that continue to pick at them, lie
sprawled in the yard.
----------
----------
Although the 20-foot-deep well once held good drinking water, it currently contains the decaying body of a naked gnome?
A hawk's cry signals Delilah's return. She lands softly on top of the tiger's back and speaks.
"There is a giant and wolves in the fort near the fire. Spriggans are keeping watch in the towers. Many animals have also been killed and left in the middle of town." She and Iodren will follow along as they all enter the town.
She first flies into the house connected to the pigpen and uses her spirit sense.
"Well, should we start here, work our way through those houses, then over to the larger buildings that look like businesses over by the river?" As he speaks, the tiger and hawk move into the closest building.
"I guess so." The Iroran follows, giving things in the broken hovel a quick search.
Delilah you find a mess in the boar house and nothing of value really. Nothing alive either.
St. John nods to Quince as the hog falls and then heads to the closest farmhouse and looks for clues as to what happened. Once satisfied he continues through the others.
It is strange that literally no clues were left behind.
Quince moves to the fallen hog. He covers his mouth and nose from the smell. He pulls at the hogs legs a few times before picking the hog up by the legs and moving it away from the smell of death. He notes the tannery and brings the fallen hog their.
He guts the creature thankful that their are the facilities to help. He skins the beast putting the skin on a rack. He does a swift job of butchering of the animal.
"These horse hides. They seem incomplete. Strange."
"Spriggans, wolves and a giant. We might wish to speak to them but that doesn't sound like a wholesome bunch. Do they know we are here?"
He listens to what the others found.
"Just gone in the middle of activity?"
"Whatever these spriggans and friends are about. They don't need to see all of us even if we wish to treat with them. Lets check what we can this side of the ford then we can move to see what's going on there."
"Has anyone seen Layla?"
The elf not finding anything much within the farm houses finds himself drawn to the tannery.
He blinks as Quince mentions the 'horse' hides.
He curses loudly as he strides over to confirm that his eyes weren't deceiving him.
"They're not Horse hides. These are Centaur skins!" Lykàn blisters the air with foul invectives in his mother tongue at the affront of the slayings.
"These folks deserve to die for their deeds." His knuckles whiten as he looks towards the far side of town where supposed spriggans and giants were holding up. It seems that his ire has found a place to vent.
The elf not finding anything much within the farm houses finds himself drawn to the tannery.
He blinks as Quince mentions the 'horse' hides.
He curses loudly as he strides over to confirm that his eyes weren't deceiving him."They're not Horse hides. These are Centaur skins!" Lykàn blisters the air with foul invectives in his mother tongue at the affront of the slayings.
"These folks deserve to die for their deeds." His knuckles whiten as he looks towards the far side of town where supposed spriggans and giants were holding up. It seems that his ire has found a place to vent.
Quince nods, "How old are they. I would hate to think they predate the disappearance?"
She flies along with Quince and Lykan into the Tannery, though not much help in her hawk form.
It takes Lykan's greater knowledge before she too sees what they are. "This may make talking to the centaurs more difficult."
"How could this have been any other than the tanner with the proper skill to do the job. And perhaps the hunter who brought them the skins. The tools are also too small for the giants and too large for the spriggans."
"That's not a pleasant thought. But sound logic. That's why I wondered the age. Perhaps like us the new arrivals found a convenient place to butcher their kill."
Quince looks toward Delilah, "Do they have eyes on the ford? How close and how exposed are we going to be before we can get to where they have gathered. Is there cover for those that can hide?"
With no skills in nature or herbalism, Roland is a bit out of his element with centaur hides, crows, and boars. He is much more acclimated to city life. He watches intently, ready for some surprise attack.
When finished with the farmhouses St. John moves to the brewery to see what he can find there. He taps the barrels and reports back to Quince.
He walks up to Quince in the tannery with a smile on his face which disappears when he smells the place. He says "Nothing in the farmhouses, it's like they just vanished in the middle of their day. The brewery is the same, but I did find 15 barrels of beer."
"Well let's get ourselves on alert. If we weren't already. Keep our eyes peeled."
"Bacon and beer. For later." He smirks though his attention is on planning.
He pauses a moment and looks toward the direction the spriggans and giant were reported. "If we are going to approach. The smell of death will maybe hide us from the wolves for some of the approach. I don't think they are going to want to parley. But they may know something of our mystery?"
"Perhaps if some of us approach looking to talk we might learn something. Those who can hide, remain out of sight or take more innocuous forms we can let you take up position, where you think you will disrupt them the most. I know we have some scrappers with us. We can approach and see if they will talk. If, and likely when that fails. Those in wait can disrupt and likely knock them off guard."
"They have a watchtower. They'd be fools not to have arrows or worse to cover them. So if one or two of the stealth squad can be close to or in the tower. That might neutralize their ranged support. The wolf and whatever Spriggans use melee will likely skirmish letting the giant be the real disruption. Giants love boulders in the stories. So they will want to make us approach." He looks to Delilah again, "Any idea of what type of fighters the spriggans might be; bow, spears, anyone that you felt stuck out as a spell slinger?" He shrugs. "Plans rarely survive meeting your foes. Anyone have ideas? We could dig in here a bit send in more scouts . . ." He looks about those gathered open for insight.
St. John shakes his head, "While I may be nimble I am not stealthy. I am not sure of the fort's line of sight to us so I don't know how much of the town they can see and when they will see us approach. I imagine that tower has a good field of vision though. I would recommend talking to them from outside the fort. If we are in there then we can be cut off from the exit. If we have to we can get in there and engage in melee. Like you I'd recommend our ranged and spellcasters remain out of sight as an added surprise."
Quince nods.
"I will go where you think I can be the most help. As for how to proceed, more scouting so that we build a general map of the routes up to the fort walls and can estimate line of sight from the towers can only help. After that, we can more thoughtfully decide where to send teams, and build them. Working to create a series of options that can taken once the plan is destroyed through facing an enemy."
"Well the time has come. I took the liberty of raiding our stores for some helpful equipment. He pulled off his pack. He put his hand in again and again. Each time drawing out a bundle from right on top of the pack. He smiles, [b]"The clothing is not much just sturdy exploration gear many of you have well loved gear but if this will serve then I would be pleased if your own equipment is preferred just as well. However, the cloaks are simple but powerful. The will help you to resist harmful spells and magics. Such things are difficult to quantify. But I am told that these are of the highest factor. I will apologize if the sensibilities is decidedly woodlandsy."
As you unwrap the bundles there is a full set of sturdy exploration gear in a rich brown accented with tan, and tan fur trim. The gear is a full matching set including leather gloves and sturdy boots. The cloak is rather nice. A deep green color, hooded, though the hood is mantled about the shoulders in black fur. These outfits are similar in design to some of the Reeves of Greenwatch outrider marshals that are law and order in the rural and wild regions of the barony.
After the moment is over. Quince agrees with Dinenen, "A better layout would be good. Those who would do well scouting. I trust your judgements, none of you have the reputation of fools, don't take unnecessary risks. Pull back here if there is trouble. Those that don't deem themselves the best at hiding, lets set a watch and look to defenses if this is going to need to be a fall back location."
He reaches into his pack again and pulls out a wood case from near the top again. He moves to a clean table or workbench and pulls out some paper. "Delilah can you give me an idea of what you saw when you were flying." He starts with a line of the rough shape of the river and a few landmarks on this side of the river and does his best to recreate the few buildings that have explored on this side of the river. He then will listen to whatever account Delilah gives.
No good religion could condone such actions knowing it came from a sentient.
Varnhold, also the map is at the top!
The fort/outpost is on the far side of the town. Built on top of the only major hill in the area.