DM Salsa Presents - Chronicles of Kassen

Game Master AdamWarnock

At a gesture from Moon, the cat bounds through the snow angling for the fleeing half-orc. For all of Grimscar’s fierce reputation and tough talk in town, she finds his cowardice a bit disappointing. As she can’t pursue both men, she splits the difference. She sends her last magical arrow towards Grimscar’s back before dogging Gargle’s steps. ”Stop running, Gargle. You’ll only die winded.”

STAND: Bow @ Grimscar
MOVE: On Map

"SONUVAB~+@~!" Grimscar's curse comes loud and clear as Moon's arrow just finds its mark.

Seeing Moon’s killer cat head for Grimscar, Maidie decides to save her wand and focus on securing at least one live prisoner. She zooms closer to the fleeing Gargle and with a few gestures, summons a deep pit under his feet.

DC 17 Ref or fall 10 ft

”Cowards to the bone, all of you. Kassen is better off to be rid of you.”

Even as a pit opens under Gargle, his armor, already warm, begins to cook.

Wasn't sure if I was supposed to roll the damage for the heat metal or GM was but to save time unless he objects, for second round of the spell dmg is 1d4 ⇒ 2

Grobradon moves through the stone hued lands hoping to close on Grimscar. For a moment he considers entangle but with his luck it would do more to block his allies than his enemy... instead he slams his foot against the ground and a wave of thunder seems to travel through the surface to where Grimscar is

Thunderstomp spell roll 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (5) + 9 = 14

Gargle Ref DC 17: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Gargle begins to sweat as Grobradon's spell truly takes hold. Despite the added distraction, he manages to deftly side-step Maidie's trap.

Betz is up!

Betzolte storms towards the battle with an incoherent roar of anger.

I think that's as far as I can get this round due to the difficult terrain.

Grimscar and Gargle continue to run in opposite directions. The screams of pain from Gargle and the myriad curses from Grimscar echo through the wood as they disappear into the trees.

Gargle Heat Metal: 2d4 + 2d4 + 2d4 + 1d4 ⇒ (2, 4) + (2, 3) + (1, 2) + (2) = 16

Both Gargle and Grimscar have left the field of battle and we are now in chase. Rules can be found here. I'll have the map updated With the chase sometime before Monday. Sorry for not having it ready before now. This is in part thanks to my poor planning. That said, I'm all ears for suggests on obstacles.

Chase rules

After some discussion on the Discord. Just going to call it. They have 34 HP between them.

Neither man listens and after a brief chase through the Fangwood, both lay dead in pools of their own steaming blood. Night is truly falling as you gather whatever may be of use or value and return to the cave where Emerald and Dik are waiting. The young dragon turned human tries to hide her relief at not being alone again on your return.

"I was starting to worry they got the better of you," she says, trying to be nonchalant.

Neither man listens and after a brief chase through the Fangwood, both lay dead in pools of their own steaming blood. Night is truly falling as you gather whatever may be of use or value and return to the cave where Emerald and Dik are waiting. The young dragon turned human tries to hide her relief at not being alone again on your return.

"I was starting to worry they got the better of you," she says, trying to be nonchalant.

Grobradon snorts, "They tried to lose a druid and a ranger in the woods, no the smartest tactic. Nevermind some of us can fly." He is among those, though he'd have to wild shape to do it. His one sadness is he wasn't the one who put the killing shot on Grimscar. That miserable bastard had been such a bully in Kassen that it made it harder for others of orcish blood not to be judged all the harsher and its a testament to the good folk of the village that some knew better than to do that.

Still, he had his part in cooking Gargle, and that's something, though it did mean they had to wait for HIS armor to cool down before taking it off him, "They're dead. Dik give you any trouble?"

"Other than wetting himself every handful of minutes, no. Probably because I told it I'd tear its tongue out if it annoyed me," Emerald answers. "You promised to let it go after finding this Grimscar," she adds, pitching her voice low enough to keep Dik from overhearing where he sits huddled in the cave. "Do you intend to keep that promise?"

”Yes. We agreed that the best use for him would be to let him go free and bring back the news of Krosk’s departure. I suspect we’re not doing him any kindness. His life expectency can likely be measured in minutes once Zuka hears what happened.”

"And if he is up to something, we can always track him by following the trail of piss." Erigga adds.

Erigga then starts to work on the fire again and once it is giving a pleasant warmth to the cave, she takes her leatherworking tools. Seeing Emerald by herself, she sits besides her in silence for a moment, working on a bracelet.
"So... back with Kernan, I think the shared dream thing as somewhat suspicious, you know? I'm pretty sure Kernan already know who was behind and even if he was uncertain, there was probably other ways for him to confirm it." She says, pausing to take a look at her work, before continuing. "I can very well be completely wrong, but I think he was looking for something else in your memories and brought us along so we'd not be suspicious." She shrugs. "Just be careful, uh? I've yet to hear a story about a fey that wasn't trying to trick everyone in some way or another."

"And... about the dream, well, we pried into something we should not have to. What we saw was probably very personal to you, so I'd like to assure you that I won't share what I saw." Or felt. This whole thing was eating her, like if she had purposefully hidden to overheard a secret. Nasty stuff.

Moon nods in agreement with Maidie. "We made a deal, of sorts, with Dik. We have to keep our word. And... I need to tell him what I suspect happened to his brother."

I added the basic loot info to the loot sheet. I'd very much like to claim the mithril chainmail, if no one objects. I need the AC boost for when we go toe-to-toe with baddies.

Betzolte glowers a bit as the battle ends with the deaths of the traitors.

"Wanted to interrogate them, Grimscar at least...make it abundantly clear to the bastard his actions led him to this state and he weren't the poor, oh-so-unjustly maligned laborer he played at being, at least in his own mind."

She shrinks back down as the spell ends and reconvenes with Emerald and the others. She nods to Maidie and Moon.

"Aye...He's a little wretch he is, but he's a pitiable little wretch, and he deserves what small kindnesses he can get from us."

"But if he ever returns to Kassen , or if he works against our homes again... I'll find a pit of ants to throw him in and bury him in it." Grobradon grumbles.

"You'd need to wait until spring at the very least," Betzolte replies dryly.

Emerald nods as it becomes clear that you all do intend to let the goblin go free, though she doesn't look happy about it.

"It's good to know you keep your promises," she says, "though, I wish you hadn't been so quick to make a deal with it."

Dik, recently cleaned by Emerald's spells, is indeed a wretched, little thing, he snivels and grovels as you approach him. Emerald, notably, stays near the fire with Erigga.

"So... back with Kernan, I think the shared dream thing as somewhat suspicious, you know? I'm pretty sure Kernan already know who was behind and even if he was uncertain, there was probably other ways for him to confirm it." She says, pausing to take a look at her work, before continuing. "I can very well be completely wrong, but I think he was looking for something else in your memories and brought us along so we'd not be suspicious." She shrugs. "Just be careful, uh? I've yet to hear a story about a fey that wasn't trying to trick everyone in some way or another."

"And... about the dream, well, we pried into something we should not have to. What we saw was probably very personal to you, so I'd like to assure you that I won't share what I saw."

Emerald listens as Erigga speaks, willing to let the halfling woman get her thoughts out, however long it takes or awkwardly they come. After she finishes, Emerald looks into the fire for a long time, pulling her cloak tight around her.

"Perhaps," she says quietly. "Perhaps not. The fey are bound by rules only they seem to comprehend." She lets out a bitter laugh. "Besides, it's not as if I have any pride or dignity left to me. What does it matter if you know my darkest secrets and fears? I am only alive because of charity. Isn't it funny? How wretched must a dragon be to lose everything, even her name, and then only be alive because a bunch of people she thought were beneath her showed her pity."

She curls up tighter, pulling her knees to her chest as tears well up in her eyes.

"I owe you all my life, and I have no way to repay that debt, nor the one I now owe Prince Kernan and his house. I may as well be a slave."

"I'm a druid. Nature's pampered son. I could arrange it." He says just as dryly then smirks back at the good dwarf.

"Perhaps," she says quietly. "Perhaps not. The fey are bound by rules only they seem to comprehend." She lets out a bitter laugh. "Besides, it's not as if I have any pride or dignity left to me. What does it matter if you know my darkest secrets and fears? I am only alive because of charity. Isn't it funny? How wretched must a dragon be to lose everything, even her name, and then only be alive because a bunch of people she thought were beneath her showed her pity."

"Kassen has its faults, but we don't keep slaves." He assures.

Poor thing. It seemed some kind words were in need, so Erigga set her work aside and got to her feet, which basically put her eyes and Emerald's at the same level.

She reaches for her cheek. "Emerald..." Reaaaly unfortunate warm words weren't her forte.

SLAP!

"We have..." She starts, poking at Emerald's tit. "...no pity..." Poke. "...for you!" Poke. As a dragon, Erigga figured Emerald would not still be aware how painful a hard poke to the tit was. Now she was.

She points at Dik. "We pity that bugger! Not you!" Poke. Come on dragon, where were her claws? Where was her for? "That trickster stole your body and name. But your dignity and pride?" Poke. Poke. Roar, dragon! Roar! Even now, how long will her take to react to someone half her size provoking her? "You threw them away! Without. A. Fight!" Poke.

Without fanfare, Moon cuts the goblin’s bonds and indicates the cave entrance. ”You’re free to go, Dik. Never go to Kassen or bear weapons against us… and you’ll live. But if you side with our enemies on the battlefield, your life is over. We’ll butcher anyone that faces us - Stickfoot, Manylegs, Bloodmoon, or Bugwump. Goblin, hobgoblin, ogre, bugbear, orc, unseelie, or hag.”

She adds the bad news, ”Your brother Bik is almost certainly dead. I saw what was left of a goblin scout close to our town this last week. He died quickly and probably by surprise. Our defenses are…" she pauses to choose her words carefully, "...efficient.”

Betzolte goes to join Moon in seeing Dik off. She grimaces a bit at Moon's rather dark description of Dik's fate should he be stupid enough to try and rejoin the coalition against Kassen, but it was a pretty realistic assessment, and if it kept this little idiot breathing another day, that made it a mercy.

"May Desna...help something go right in your life for once, little guy," she offers with a noncommittal shrug.

Going to do a little wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff and get Dik to exit stage left before we get to Emerald's reaction to Erigga's encouragement.

Dik nods vigorously at Grob's threats and Moon's warning.

"Dik be good! Dik no go near Kassen," he promises before you let him go. At the news of his brother's death, the wretched little goblin shrugs. "Bik jerk. No one like Bik," he claims.

With nothing holding him here, he scurries off into the deepening night.

===

Emerald's head snaps to the side with the slap and she stares off into space for a moment, as if she cannot believe what just happened. A red, halfling-sized handprint appears on her cheek. For a moment, the young green dragon in human form sits there frozen. Then it sinks in. She has been slapped, and something begins to flicker to life within her eyes as she turns to snarl at Erigga.

Though Emerald is wearing thick winter clothing, finely made mail, and the padding that turns bone-breaking blows into merely bone-bruising ones, Erigga has one thing right, a dragon has no concept of how sensitive some parts of a humanoid's anatomy are, and the farm-raised, Vudran-trained fighter's finger is more than enough to get through. Whatever Emerald had been about to say in response to the slap comes out as a grunt of surprise and pain as she recoils from Erigga's jab. It doesn't help. Emerald falls off the crate she'd been sitting on and curls up as she tries to protect her modest chest from the halfling's pokes. The tears welling up in the dragon's eyes are of a different sort, those born by unfamiliar pain.

"Stop!" Emerald roars as she slaps Erigga's hand away as the halfling goes for one more poke to punctuate her point.

"Stop poking me like that! It hurts," Emerald demands as she covers her chest and turns away from the halfling lest she continue with the painful jabs. "And what would you know?! I'm a runt! I almost didn't survive hatching. My clutchmates despise me for being weak. That's all I have ever been, weak and small, an object of contempt. Nothing but a tool to be used and thrown away!" Tears roll down her face as she snaps back at Erigga, curling her legs under her as she coils like a cat ready to jump. "That's all they see me as," she says as she looks out into the dark forest beyond the cave. "Something that's no longer useful."

Erigga stops the poking and point her thumb to herself. "'Cause I am, the younger and smaller of my kin! I know what it is to be the plaything of others, the butt end of jokes and the target of contempt. My folks were too busy in the farm to keep paying attention on us, so my brothers run free!"

"And we both got over it. I trained my ass off everyday to be good with a sword and I've seen you did the same with your books. We bested them, even if they were stronger and bigger." She then menaces her with her finger again, but no more poking. "And don't you dare to lie you did not, we've all seen it. They came for you because they needed you."

"So you better pick your act together, sister." She then waves in the direction of the others. "These folks are too nice, too good hearted. They will cuddle you and protect you, and say everything is going to be alright, but while this may look nice, it will keep you from hitting rock bottom..."

She then comes closer, still angry. "And from the little we've seen from your siblings, they'll eat you alive when they find you, unless you claw your way out of this hole of misery and pity you have dug up for yourself. And this," she says, giving her a final poke, "is me grabbing a shovel and helping you hit the bottom faster, 'cause we don't have much time."

"And if you are a tiny bit like me, and I'm pretty sure you are, you know that there is no way you can live being the runt forever." Her poking finger then turns into an open hand. "So... claws out, Emerald. Will you earn your name back? How about you remember you are the dragon, not me?" Sweet Desna, in her wildest dreams, Erigga had never imagine she would be teach a dragon how to dragon.

"Erigga is right, Emerald. I'm the youngest too, and never very popular. And the same fey that stole your dragon form and your name transformed me as well. But thanks to my knowledge and magic, I could still go toe-to-toe with the goblins and the traitors from Kassen," Maidie says as she hovers near the cowering dragon.

"You're only helpless if you choose to be..."

Grobradon watches Erigga and Maidie with Emerald, then mutters to Moon "The whole party is full of runts. Who knew?" It's probably an attempt at humor

Emerald shrinks away from Erigga's poking finger as the halfling threatens her with it again. The final poke causes her to lose her balance and fall over. She doesn't look up at Erigga nor Maidie, instead looking at her own hand. There's still a lot of pain and fear in her eyes that she's trying to hide, and more than a bit of anger and shame to go with it. Whatever else may come of this exchange, it's clear that both Erigga and Maidie have given her a good bit to think on, even if it's also clear that Emerald is feeling more humiliated than encouraged at the moment.

Going to give Moon and Betz a chance to chime in before moving on.

Moon watches the goblin scamper off and then continues watching for awhile longer, just in case. But she is mostly lost in thought. She returns to the deeper portion of the cave in time to catch the tail-end of the angsty drama.

Grobradon watches Erigga and Maidie with Emerald, then mutters to Moon "The whole party is full of runts. Who knew?"

Moon gets the joke… indicated by both a smile and an eye-roll. ”It’s a tragedy worthy of Gloriana and her ilk. Thankfully there are no added tales of star-crossed, half-breed waifs to make it even more tragic-al.” She shoulders the druid and smiles, just for him.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 12 + 2 = 15 (+2 vs Undead; +2 in forests)

The weather is getting worse, and it's a question if Dik will survive out in the cold night. The wretched goblin, however, shows no signs of wanting to return.

Giving Betz just a little longer.

Betzolte hears the shouting and hustles over.

"HAMMER AND TONGS WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" she bellows.

"It's all right, Betz...just a bit of halfling slap therapy. Apparently, a good slap is the universal cure for thieving teenage girl gangs and sulking dragons...or is it punches for stealing and slaps for wallowing in self-pity, Erigga?" Maidie says wryly.

Then she peers out into the dark snow-covered forest.

"We should get some rest. We can either use this cave or the pavilion Prince Kernan gave us. Either way, we should keep a double watch - we're in hostile territory out here, and I doubt Ganny's fey spies will have a hard time finding us if they come looking."

"I see ye have a good head on your shoulders, lass," Doffery tells Maidie as he seems to appear from out of nowhere on Betz's shoulder. he hops down and pulls out a small wooden staff as he walks to the entrance of the cave. "Ol' Hoarfrost startin' t'blow something fierce. I say use the cave," he adds before starting to mutter something to himself and drawing runes in the snow that had gathered at the cave's mouth. As he works the noise from the wind fades little by little.

Emerald gives Erigga and Maidie a questioning look as the tiny wizardess explains what happened to Betzolte. Curiosity easily wins out over self-pity.

"A gang of thieving girls," she asks. "What kind of a brainless idiots would try stealing from you?"

Anyone looking over at where Doffery is continuing his line of runes notices that he has his head cocked so he can keep an eye and an ear on the conversation.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (20) + 11 = 31

"That's a useful trick, Doffery...could you teach me how to do that, seeing as I'm one of the fae folk now?" Maidie says after carefully studying their guide's runecraft.

Erigga rests a hand on her hip. "It is more about the effect than the method. When folks are set in a hairy path, nothing like a good shock and surprise to get their noggin shaken... with some luck, they'll set in a better path."

Turning back to Emerald, she answers. "The girls were stealing from Meep and figured they had the whole town swirling around their fingers, but did not account for, well, me, who did not give a flying fig about them as I'm an outsider."

"And I punched the girl in the crotch... a poke in the tit is nothing compared to that, so consider yourself lucky." She half smirks. "You were sitting, after all, so your cheek were easier to reach."

When Moon smiled and shouldered him, Grobradon's own smile expands@@@@, we ARE minstrel material as a group. I guess I need to get used to being happier than normal. WEIRD.

Nature: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (12) + 11 = 23

And he makes a mental note about that charm.

Doffery chuckles when Maidie asks the tiny woodland guide to teach her how to do what he is doing.

"Aye, I can if ye have a knack for it, Lass," he says as the equally tiny wizardess studies the runes. "But not until this mess is finished with."

Emerald shudders, not wanting to imagine something even more painful that the poking Erigga had given her. She unconsciously reaches up and touches the still distinct handprint on her cheek.

"You've mentioned this Meep several times since I've met you. Who is she? I gather she's a goblin, but I don't understand why you'd go out of your way for just a goblin," she says, preferring to sate her curiosity than dwell on the implications of what Erigga has said.

That one is fearless. I'd almost feel sorry for anyone that crosses her, but only almost.

Not trusting fey magic exclusively to hide them from their enemies, Moon decides to rely on more mundane methods of disguise. When the conversation turns to Meep, she leaves the cave. The ranger walks across the snow tracklessly and uses branches to obscure all the footprints in the area.

Survival: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 10 + 2 = 22

Betzolte turns and sees Doffery's spellcasting.

Knowledge (Arcana): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (19) + 10 = 29

"Fey charms...not just pretty but useful too," she comments.

She listens to the conversation about Erigga's "tough love" to Emerald and her face turns red as a coal in the forge.

"Erigga...you're lucky Emerald seems the forgiving type, at least in this case. But don't do that again."

When Emerald asks about Meep, the color fades a bit from Betzolte's face and she gets a sad look on her face.

"Well, that's something of a tale. See in our town, Kassen, we gotta tradition called 'The Quest for the Everflame.' Every generation, when the kids come of age, they're given supplies and sent to the tomb of our town's founder, Ekat Kassen, to retrieve a piece of the magical, everburning fire kept there and bring it back to the town. This year it was our turn."

"We'd been taking a shortcut we found through the Fangwood and stopped to camp for the night, when a band of Bugwumper goblins led by that Lugruk slag you've heard us talk about discovered us and thought we'd be easy prey. Was our first real battle. Meep was part of that warband, bullied into it by Lugruk and the rest of the tribe, and when the battle turned against them, she surrendered to us while Lugruk and the others ran and left her for dead."

"Naturally, she was terrified and fully expecting us to be just as bad as her kinfolk, so when we showed we weren't she was...well, she was as confused as you've kinda been with us. Guess we're kinda surprising to most people we encounter. Meep told us she was as good as dead to the Bugwumpers after this, so we kind of let her tag along with us. She repaid us by helping us avoid Lugruk's attempts to hunt us down for revenge, and warning us about a bunch of Razmirans who'd apparently broken into the Tomb and stirred up a bunch of undead. We managed to get to the Tomb just in time to prevent our fellow townsfolk who were going to set up the challenges for us in there from walking right into the undead and getting themselves killed."

"That meant the undead came OUT of the Tomb to attack us, and in that battle, Meep found her courage and joined us in fighting back. Think we might've lost someone if she hadn't been there. And she joined us in the Tomb as we cleansed it of the evil that'd gotten in there, and, at least in my opinion, proved herself as worthy to be a Kassenfolk as any of us who'd been born there."

She looks over at Moon. The expression on her face is clear: I think it'd be best if you told her the next part.

"These folks are too nice, too good hearted. They will cuddle you and protect you, and say everything is going to be alright, but while this may look nice, it will keep you from hitting rock bottom..."

"Erigga...you're lucky Emerald seems the forgiving type, at least in this case. But don't do that again."

Erigga doesn't reply, but looks back at Emerald and discreetly raises her eyebrows.

Doffery finishes writing the runes, and those attuned to the magics of this world and the First World feel the thrumming of the charm taking hold. The cave grows more comfortable as the chill and the snow are kept outside. His work done he takes a seat by the fire and pulls out a long, curling pipe that is nearly as long as he is and begins the process of filling and lighting it with practiced ease.

His eyes, and Emerald's for that matter, after sharing a glance with Erigga when Betzolte proves the halfling's point, are on Moon as she and Histya get settled after erasing the tracks around the cave.

Moon brushes the snow off her coat while she thinks of a concise answer, since it seems she hadn’t avoided the conversation entirely. ”Some people think ‘family’ is defined by blood. Others, including me, think ‘family’ is the people we choose to have in our lives. Meep is as close to me as a little sister. I don’t give a sh!t about her blood or her race.”

She pokes the fire speculatively before completing her thought, ”Dragons have ancient ways and, as a Tien, I respect tradition like few do. BUT you might consider if siblings that tried to kill you are worthy of still being called family. What does ‘family’ even mean if you can’t trust them to guard your life?”

"Heh, and I thought dwarves were supposed to be the plainspoken ones!" Betzolte adds with a smirk.

Moon offers a slight smile, "I was just getting to the core of Emerald's question... By the way, there are a dozen or more wargs stalking around. They didn't come this way but no one should stray from the cave."

With Moon's new information, Erigga gets up from the warmth of the fire and begins to inspect the cave they are in. First, because she doesn't want to get surprised by something attacking them from an angle they were not expecting. Second, because if the urge to crap hits her in the dead of the night, she wants to know where to, now that wargs were on the outside.

Halflings are famous for their luck. Erigga, however, prefers to be prepared than rely on luck later.

Thankfully, Erigga discovers there are no other entrances to the cave, and it's deep enough that one can relieve themselves with a modicum of privacy and keep the smell away from the main area by the fire.

Doffery pulls on his pipe as he listens to the conversation going on between the Heroes of Kassen and Emerald.

"I--I think you may have a mistaken impression about how dragons view family," Emerald tells Moon as she looks away and into the fire. Her golden eyes are dark as she wrestles with what she's heard and tries to reconcile it with what she already knows.

"Family and friends are weaknesses," she mutters under her breath, sounding as if she is repeating a mantra she'd learned, but perhaps one the she is starting to no longer believe.

"Wargs. wish I brought pepper powder..." He ponders when they get the report. He checks the wind to see if it is carrying their scents in any particular direction.

To Emerald he says "Don't let what you are define things for you, let who YOU are define it. And ultimately YOU decide who you are."

There is a lot of truth on Grobadon's words. Erigga started as a halfling farm girl and while she was still that to some extent, she decided who she wanted to be. Or who she was trying to be.

Now, choosing between being a runt dragon or a wimpy bard? Anyone saying they'd choose the second is a liar.

The storm blowing in comes from the east, off Lake Encarthan, and its winds blow west, however, Grobradon realizes that any wolves or wargs not taking shelter soon will likely freeze to death as the snowstorm truly takes hold.

Emerald falls silent after Gorbradon's advice, thinking about what she's learned and about how her life has turned out as it has. When sleep comes, she does not rest easily as she grapples with how her world has been overturned in multiple ways over the past several days. Whatever else may come from her meeting the Heroes of Kassen, she knows that she'll never view humanoids in the same light.

The howling of the wind continues well into the night and only begins to die down as sunrise approaches. Doffery's magic keeps the cave comfortable, though with seven people and a large cat, even if three of the people are no larger than children, it is on the cozy side. As dawn comes and those not on watch begin to stir as Doffery cooks breakfast, the last vestiges of the storm fade leaving the snow piled high outside of the cave.

Studying the map Krosk gave you, you see that, with the snow making travel difficult, both the Manylegs camp and Halk's camp are about a day from where you are right now and a day and a half from each other. The main question now is where do the heroes strike first.

Betzolte sleeps like a rock throughout the night, and it's a good thing Doffery's magic keeps out the curious, because her snores reverberated through the cave and out its entrance.

The morning comes and Betzolte is among the last to rise, a grumpy expression on her face as she tucks in to the breakfast Doffery's made for them.

"Thank you, Doffery," she says. "A good breakfast makes a cold morning like this bearable."

Once they're done, she joins the rest of the group in looking over the map.

"I'm thinking hitting the Manylegs while we're fresh and ensuring they can't join Lugruk's coalition is probably the better tactical decision."

She gives Grobradon an apologetic look.

"I...know you wanna confront Halk the sooner the better, but we know where he's going and not where the Manylegs are going, so if we go after him first, we may lose the goblins, and trying to break apart Lugruk's alliances is our main goal. Besides...even if we're not fresh when we confront him, likely he won't be either, so it's more even odds."