How are we handling armour Mk?
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sorry other stuff came up and I completely forgot to finish my character, I will do that after work today
I am thinking Signature Wargear, Weapon skill and Willpower as my initial XP expendatures, which would leave me with 100 xp left and will take the free +5% to toughness
I will re-roll perception
I am also interested, either as a stormseer or a terran devastator.
working on a dwarven ranger, what type of animal companion would make sense? Edit: I am thinking one of bird, bear or wolf.
Interested, thinking some kind of martial character
As you get to about 50ft away you can clearly tell that the cloaks and movement of the humanoids clearly matches that of the bandits you fought a few days ago. The bear is down but likely still alive, 3 of the 4 bandits are standing, but 2 are clearly injured.
They are facing away from you so you can't see who they are.
You advance through the woods a couple hundred paces you see a fight in a clearing, 4, now 3 as one drops after being clawed, cloaked figures around a large bear. The bear is clearly hurt as blood flows down it's flank. You are currently about 100ft from the fight, the woodline ends 80ft in front of you. There is a cave on the far side of the clearing.
The tracks lead into the forest and after several hours of tracking you hear the roar of a bear relatively close down the trail ahead of you.
someone give me a survival check to follow the tracks
The rest of the day and that night pass uneventfully. Shortly after you get moving again you see signs that someone was on a hill about half a mile north of your camp observing through the night.
The tracks are very similar to those you found around the attacked caravan. As you look around more carefully, you see that their night watch was clearly positioned to watch the track coming up from the village. The site was used for at least 2 nights by 4 or more individuals. There is a trail with day old tracks that heads mostly south and a bit west. The most recent tracks head north in parallel with the existing main trail.
As you head north on the trail you come across evidence of a recent camp about an hour north of the village. It is abandoned now, but was clearly used last night, and is it far to clean to be an orc camp.
The night passes uneventfully. The morning is chilly and foggy and none of the villagers seem sad to see you go. Strangely the track north seems better established than the track you came in on.
"They had sought the trail of a great boar in the forests north of here. Such a creature could feed this whole village for days."
"A bandit hide you say? Was there anything worthwhile stashed there?" the innkeep turns to the Dragonblood "A hunting party did go missing a few days back, we assumed the orcs or a bear got them."
"I have never heard of Elf bandits threatening travelers in such groups. your friends are right that elves are not common bandits and often have better woodcraft than elves. "As for other threats, the orcs are the biggest organized threat but wild animals are a big threat as well."
"Welcome Imperials, we don't get many of your kind up here. mostly local brew on tap. We made some bread yesterday and there is some stew if you wish. 2 Silvers for a room and 1 silver for a drink and supper. It is warm by the fire if our weather is not to your taste. Varin, you have more friends than usual, got some extra special cargo this time?"[/b] "No Marcus, these travelers helped us out of an awkward situation with some rather uppity elf bandits. Seemed like some kind of cultists."
You enter the village unchallenged, as the merchant knows the guards at the gate. The merchant also says that the only place to stay is the inn, run by one Marcus 8 fingers. The innkeeper or one of the locals should be able to draw you a map.
Once you burn the bodies you continue north with the survivors of the caravan. You arrive at a small village about an hour before dark. The village has a high wooden palisade with towers at each cardinal point. There is only one gate into the village and the wall is set up so that anyone approaching has to walk straight towards the south tower for at least 50 ft with no cover. You see half a dozen orc heads in various states of decay on stakes leading to the gate. The merchant claims to have contacts in the village and suggests you spend the night here.
"Then you sir can do the deed," the cartographer says.
"They won't answer any questions about how many others there are, all they say is more than enough to enlighten us all. I agree with Artemis I doubt that we will get anything more useful, and their dialect of elven makes it hard to get specifics."
"They say the old blood should know that their kind are far to noble to live in caves. They do provide useful bases to operate from."
"Your question seemed to confuse them, ma'am. Once they recovered their shock they explained that enlightenment will be achieved when all have received the benevolent rule and wisdom of the Matriarchs."
The cartographer talks to the bandits again at one point one of the bandits spits on the ground. "Sir, they say that all were aware of the risks and that soon all openworlders will kneel before the Matriarchs and accept enlightenment. They also made some disparaging comments about your ancestry which I feel no need to directly translate."
the cartographer speaks Elven and tries conversing with the bandits. "Sir I can barely understand them, I think they speak an obscure dialect of Elven. They didn't seem to want to cooperate, they called me a filthy openworlder and said that "the enlightenment" was coming for us all. I feel like I am missing the nuance to much of what they are trying to say."
The bandit looks at you uncomprehendingly.
Artemis walked over to the group and looked to their group while Ulmarr was dealing with the bandits. "Did anything happen while we where gone?" She asked. "Nothing of note."
Your further investigation of the amulets reveals little, they use some kind of teleportation magic but that is all you can discern. "There are old caves in the hills to the west, I would start there." By the time you get back to the wagon and the rest of your party the two wounded bandits are stirring.
Both the surviving bandits have an amulet that gives off a faint conjuration aura. Otherwise their gear is very new and uniform for bandits, they each had a rapier, 2 daggers, another 14 bolts for their hand crossbows and a waterskin. "These bandits attacked us from the treeline, we fled when it was clear they were going to win the fight. They chased us and I guess decided to take us alive for some reason. Presumably they were going to take us to a camp or hideout nearby."
Both visible bandits, who upon your closer examination are both female, are alive but require urgent medical attention. Both will die without it. There is no sign of the other bandit or leader. "Thank the gods, I don't know who you are or how you found us but our situation seemed hopeless."
Ulmarr's strike drops another of the bandits. and Izussavar hurts the leader, who then reaches for a pendant with his free hand and as he crushes it disappears.
The first "Velf" collapses as Ulmarr's blow breaks their neck, strangely the body and equipment has disappeared before it hits the ground. The second "Velf" falls to a slash from Izússavar's savage weapon. He is alive but clearly out of the fight. The surviving bandit advances to flank Artemis with the leader. Bandit damage After the bandit attacks, the leader steps back dropping his bow and drawing a short sword. He is clearly ready to slash the first one to close with him.
As you approach the clearing you can see that there are 4 bandits, wearing black cloaks. The 2 humans you are looking for both appear wounded and secured. Just before the bandits notice you, you hear 2 of them talking in an elven dialect. elven:
your pair needs to take these prisoners back to the assembly point, we will secure the wagon. The bandits detect you when you are about 40ft from the edge of the clearing. The bandits are about 20ft into the clearing. Initiative
Order
The 3 bandits other than the leader each move forward 30ft and unload their hand crossbows at you. Each targets 1 of you. At Ulmarr
Ulmarr takes damage and needs to make a DC13 fort save. The leader takes a shot with his shortbow at Aremis
The remainder of your party stays on the track to guard your animals with your supplies. As you head into the woods you can follow the path the others have taken quite easily and about half a mile in see a larger pool of blood and a bloody arrow. As you keep advancing you see a small clearing about 100ft away, there appears to be movement.
Izussavar I do appreciate you indicating when you are ready to move on. It is very helpful in preventing things from stagnating as everyone thinks someone else wants to say something.
It is clear from the tracks that 2 groups headed into the woods approximately an hour ago. The first 2 individuals moving quite quickly, one bleeding, likely both human. Second group of 4 individuals, at least one bleeding, humanoid likely elf. "Unnaturally pale elves, 2 pairs of them."
"This is a body there." Artemis said as she pointed to the fallen man. "But I am unsure if it is either of your friends." She honestly told him. "What did they look like?" "That is Harlug, I saw him fall in the fight. There was no need to ask about him. Ulrik is armoured like me, and has a warhammer, Varin has leather armour and a small crossbow. Ulrik is tall, broad of shoulder and has dark hair. Varin is round with a mop of blond hair."
Artemis looked around before she sighed. "I don't think they made it...What is your name?" She asked. "My name is Svafar. If they didn't make it where are their bodies?"
"Gone." Artemis said with a nod. "Ulrik? Varin? Where they fellow guards?" She asked. "Ulrik yes, Varin is the merchant who hired us. Said he had imperial goods to sell, said they were worth a lot to the villages up here."
The wounded man groans as his wounds seal and he regains consciousness. "Whe...Where are the bandits? And Ulrik and Varin?"
You detect no magic while looking. It is unclear if this attack was orcs or other uncivilized humanoids, it could just as easily be on of the human tribes of the area. Regardless they didn't leave any weapons or wounded behind. It is clear at this point that the guard against the wagon is still alive, though unconscious and likely to die without medical attention.
Better late than never crime: Trey'Tos didn't need justification to harm someone, but the coin he had been paid and the tale of shady business practices didn't hurt. He had waited until after dark, after all walking the streets with a large axe tends to draw attention he didn't need.
When the time came he kicked the door in, axe already in hand, it probably wasn't locked yet but he wanted to make a point. as he entered the room the moneylender started to get up. "Ulrik said to say hello, " Trey'Tos said as he swung his axe the first time, the blow opening up a cut along the man's torso. He heard screaming as he swung the axe around again. He buried the axe in the man's skull on the second swing. He was still trying to dislodge it when the watchmen arrived.
As you keep heading north the trail becomes more established and several side trails feed into it. About an hour after you stop for lunch you crest a hill and see clear signs that a merchant was attacked. A wagon is tipped over on the side of the track, a dead donkey is still attached to the wagon tangled up in it's tackle. A mercenary or guard is face down in a small pool of blood, another is in a half sitting position against the wagon. He clearly dragged himself several feet to get there and an arrow is buried in his gut. A heavy mace is still gasped in the dead man's hand a shield dropped beside him, a heavy crossbow lies beside the other guard clearly having slipped from his hands, a short sword is stabbed into the ground within reach. Two lines of blood drops head west into the woodline and several other paths have been broken through the undergrowth and branches.
physical description:
Trey'Tos stands a little over 4ft tall, and looks slightly on the small side for a dwarf. His short frame is layered in slabs of muscle. His black hair is cut short but his beard is kept long and well maintained. He has a tattoo on his upper right chest, at first glance it appears to be a birthmark as the runic text is so small and dense.
He wears practical clothes of dark, earthy tones. personality:
Trey'Tos defaults to brooding and perceives slights where none were intended. His anger and rage issues are apparent to anyone who spends time with him. Like many of his kindred he is a borderline alcoholic. He craves power and respect that believes he deserves. He respects only those who can maintain their position through their ability having little time for those who use politics or money to maintain their power. I know I still need to cover his crime but I don't have the time right now. I should have it done tomorrow.
After giving it some thought I am going with a NE Dwarf Barbarian that committed murder. More to follow over the weekend.
The night passes uneventfully, but as you head out in the morning you notice fresh orc tracks approximately half a mile north of the ruins you spent the night in. The tracks are going east to west and seem to indicate that they stopped for a short time.
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