"So what's it boss? Stayin'...goin'?" He looked up at the sky.
"Daylight's awastin'"
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"And how many of these 'fellows' of yours ya got?"
"Huh. From 'ere he looks like an elf, don't he Fang?" "I wouldn't go climbing that tree, it's not stable. Likely to come crashing down. Maybe you could do your whole mind wind thinkin' stuff to get him down?" Vraxis shrugged.
"Huh. An elf in a tree. Didn't see that one comin'." Fang's head turned to look at the halfling riding on his back. Vraxis made met his gaze. "What? Oh what are the odds that it's a trap?"
"Alright. Well, daylight's a wastin."
"So, uh...where to now?"
"Huh. Would you look at that boy. Never thinkin' I'd see a human talkin' to a tree...again...today. Oh just shaddup." Fang's head titled to the side as it looked at the halfling. "Oh hey, you're right." "Well Fang here has four legs, and he says were all right" Vraxis called out.
"Oh yeah, that was a fine idea" he said to Fang as he rolled his eyes.
"Tracking a giant eh? Could be worse..."
"Sure thing boss" was the halfling's only reply before he and the wolf darted north through the forest.
'Rag-tag?' "Ya here that boy? She think's were rag-tag. Well ain't that just dandy..." Vraxis muttered under his breath as he patted the wolf's head. Vraxis looked over at Braden as the man spoke. "Don't sweat it lad. Me mum was a sorceress. Won't no chance I was gonna foller in her steps, that's for sure. Besides, you ain't so timid now, is ya? I bet your pappy would be just fine with the way you turned out, ranger or not." Vraxis leaned in closer. "By the way, what's rag-tag mean?"
"WAIT! It wasn't us!" Vraxis shouts. "We do not want to fight!" Not counting on his winning personality to halt the attack, Vraxis prepares an orison to assist with whatever comes next.
Vraxis was immediately on edge and drew his medium-sized dagger. His head swung around, looking around in numerous directions. "I don't think this fire was a natural occurrence. I think it was set intentionally. There" he said, pointing with his dagger towards a large oak tree in the center of the blackened area. "Two bodies, lodged in the branches." "This could be a trap. Keep an eye out" he said as he looked around.
"It's a daggum shame Fang, nice forest like this." The halfing set about the area, looking for any tracks at all that might point to more information.
His hunt complete, he turned back to Govrina. "So what now boss?"
"Why I can track anything!" Vraxis says with gusto.
"Eh? What's that? Talking trees?" He looks down at Fang. "I guess you better watch where you lift that leg boy."
"Huh" Vraxis muttered. "Would you look at that Fang? That don't make no sense. Why would a tree bring the owlbears? And what kind of tree makes that kinda mark?" Vraxis walked around the spot in a circle, pausing every few feet to stare at it from a different angle. Finally he looked at the wolf. "Are you trying to pull a fast one on me?" he asked with a straight face.
"Hmmprhh. Have it your way." the halfling said with a smirk. "Come on Fang, let's find their trail. Shouldn't be too hard." "Stupid, big, dumb, ugly beasts.."
"They're not evil ya know. Just big, dumb beasts." Vraxis shakes his head as he kicks a stick. "What are ya spectin' to find trackin' em? Seems we got more important things to worry about." "Look, I get defendin ourselves, and our camp and peoples, but going after them like they was goblins just ain't right if yous ask me." Vraxis looked at Fang as he rubbed the wolf's head. "Unleash them on the goblins, that's what we outta do."
Already bored of waiting, Vraxis drew his sling, dropped a stone into it, and let it fly.
"Hold here boy. Let the others soften 'em up for us, eh? Our time'll come soon enough." "No sense in wasting the moment though, eh boy?" Vraxis grabbed the holy symbol hanging around his next and asked Chaldira to help guide the aim of him and his friends.
Fang growled as he caught the scent of the beasts. "Easy there boy. You'll get your chance" Vraxis said, urging the wolf onward.
Still here and willing to continue.
"Alright, you heard the lass. Time to head 'em up and move 'em out. We're movin' with purpose so let's keep it quiet and keep movin'. You start to fall behind, give a quick whistle." His motivational speech finished, Vraxis gave Fang a quick nudge with his heels and the small group set off.
Ready to continue whenever. Happy belated holidays. Hope everyone is doing well.
"Sure lass, no problem. Should be fun. We can head out right after breakfast. Pack light, we'll need to move swiftly and quietly...so get all your shouting out now before we leave camp. You get yell at Fang if you need to. It always makes me feel better" Vraxis said with a grin.
"She may be mad, and we're all a little on edge, but you heard her. You're my problem now, which means no one will harm you, unless you do something to deserve it. You have me word. You're safe here, as safe as anyone can be in this goblin-infested forest." Vraxis shakes his head, muttering. "This used to be such a nice forest to live in..."
"Woah now. Easy there lass. They gots this close, coulda done a lot worse than just announce themselves. They coulda done the same we did to the gobbos. Let's just all settle down now then." "You'll have to mind, it's been a tough time of late" he says to the new comers. "Lass. Take a breath. We ain't taken no heads because some's walked up on us. We ain't gobbos. Come on, breathe. They're scattered survivors, that's all. Just like we is. I know we're all on edge, but we're all on the same side. Assassins don't just walk up and introduce themselves, not unless they have to, and thems didn't have to." "Oh for the love of, would you put your stinkin' arms down? And you, don't be doin' nothin' that ain't worth doin'." "Lass, I knew he was followin' me, but he's one man, and Fang said he didn't smell like no gobbo, so that's good enough for me. Now for Chaldira's sake, can we please get more stew and some rest. I don't knows about the rest of you but I'm beat, and Fang's worse than me...at least he smells worse...I think." Fang looks back at Vraxis and growls, still sitting next to the pale woman.
"Wha? Hey! My stew!" Vraxis's protests were quickly muffled by Govrina's embrace. Not missing a chance for a pet, Fang hopped up, his legs on Govrina, whining and tongue licking wherever it could. "Go on! Tell momma! I'll tell your pa about spilling me soup!" was all he could say once free again. As the new comer appeared in their midst, Vraxis's hand instinctively went for the blade on his hip, but at fully taking in the girl, he relaxed. "Awe, go easy on the girl, lass. She's half starved. She probably don't eat much, least not as much as Fang." Fang slowly approached the new comer, head lowered, ears raised, and nose sniffing. He circled once around her, then twice, before finally sitting down next to her and looking back at Vraxis. "Don't you looks at me that way. I done tolds ya before, ya don't gets a vote." Vraxis turned to Govrina. "Well, she ain't no goblin and hasn't been around them. Fang would smell it on her. Why don't I get her some stew, and refill my bowl while I'm at it" he said with a smirk.
Walking into camp and leaning heavily on Fang, despite the wolf limping, Vraxis nodded as he went. His ever-present scowl was only interrupted by the mud on his face, and the leaves and twigs stuck to his armor. Fang didn't look much better, his tongue half-hanging out of his mouth as the two made their way into camp. Vraxis made directly for the food stores while Fang found an empty spot to lay down in. He grabbed a pair of bowls and stuffed anything edible that he could find into them. Then he discarded his bone-dry waterskin and grabbed a full one before heading back to find Fang. "Why you lazy, good-for-nuthin' mongrel!" Fang was too tired to listen. He simply turned his head the other way. "Fine, Fine. Here, eat" the halfling said, setting down one of the two bowls. Fang turned back towards Vraxis, his head cocked to one side. "Don't give me that look. I said eat!" Fang rose to a sitting position and began to inspect the contents of the bowl. "Uh uh. Not a word lady. Not until me stomach's full. You's can wait 10 minutes cuz right now, I ain't listenin', not to no one but me's stomach." Vraxis ate like he hadn't eaten in days. Finally he wiped his mouth on his sleeve before looking up at those around him. "What?"
"It's your call las, but I wouldn't take all those people. Hobbies will spot us miles away. We gots to get into their ranks before theys know what's happening. If they're alerted before we make into their camp, we have no chance. They're camp is too well defended and they're too organized. Nows if they wus regular gobbos, sure, probably work, but against hobbos, we can't let them get filed and ranked."
"A sore arse mostly. Ain't much changed with their camp though. A bugbear who seems to be barkin' orders, some kinda potion master, some wargs, and soldiers. They're still sendin' out patrols, pretty regular. There was one thing though. A little after mid-day is when most of their patrols are out, least number of soldiers in the camp. If we hit them then, we can likely cut the head off the snake, but it ain't gonna be easy. No easy way in, they'll see us coming, and even their small force outnumbers us. Still, if we can take it, and move our people there, probably the safest we can make them." "So what did you'n's find?"
GM: "Wake up ya varmint. Your turn to keep watch. I need some shut eye."
GM: Vraxis and Fang eased underneath a tree and waited. "Take a rest boy. We'll probably need to skedaddle out of here fast. Be ready." Fang looked at the halfling before spinning in a circle a few times and curling up in a ball. Vraxis rolled his eyes. "Don't know why you always do that." Fang looked up one last time at the halfling before putting his head down. Vraxis turned his attention back to the encampment. He sat quietly watching, looking for a way in, watching those coming and going and observing the steps they took, looking for any patterns that might indicate places to avoid.
Yup. I'm around, laying in waiting.
I've been dealing with a lot lately but hopefully will be straightened out by the time things get rolling again.
"Oh shaddup you varmint. She does not. I said shaddup. We're supposed to be bein' quiet."
"Momma used to say 'don't follow the one's that wanna be da boss'. Those are the ones that'll get ya killed. It's the one's that don't want it that you's gots to listen to. You're doin' fine lass. You knows I'd tell ya if ya wasn't." "Besides, Fang trusts ya and I trust Fang. He's a pretty good judge of peoples." Fang jumps up, puts his paws on Govrina's chest and starts licking her face. "Govrina, your daddy would be proud. You done your best to keep these peoples alive and safe. What more could anyone have done?" "Alright, come on Fang. Play time's over. We's got work to do."
Vraxis spit onto the ground as his head shook. "Didn't I says that before?" Fang growled at the halfling. "Fine, fine." His tone lowered as he started pacing. "How's you reckon we pulls that one off? Ain't seen 'em much but never seen 'em outside their camp neither. None but their scouts and soldiers." "Boss, we ain't got much choice here. The longer we stays, the more more gobbos may come." Vraxis paused a moment to look around to make sure none of the refuges were close enough to over hear. "Boss I didn't want to say nothin' and start a panic but theys gots to know where we are. At the least they're gonna send someone here to find out what's going on with the trogs they was talkin' to, and once that happens, if we haven't hit them, you's can be sure they're gonna hit us." We's gots to move on them soon, elsewise these caves will become our tombs. "I can spies on them for a day or two, tops. Get better counts, see how many patrols they got, see if they been reinforced. May even be able to grab one if the chance comes, but we can't wait forever...they'ze won't. They'ze looking for us right now and I can't hide 40 people. They'ze gonna find us, and then all these people will be cornered." "Me and Fang's gonna grab some grub and then head out. Think it over. Decide what you wanna do, but if it was me, I'd give all those people arrows and have them fight back with us. We'll be back tomorrow morning...we don't happen to have any poison do we? Like that centaur had with them apples, remember? "You sees us come running before then, you gets everyone into those caves and get ready to defend them."
"Yeah, probably for the best. 'Sides, they'll be more of em. Might get another chance. Although I got another idea that I could use yours help with Braden..." Assuming Braden agrees:
Vraxis pulls some bandages out of his healer's kit before he quickly draws his shortsword and stabs Braden in the arm. "What? They ain't huntin' half-orcs or halflings or...whatever she is, need some human blood and you're all we's gots at the moment." He uses the bandages to cover the wound, collecting the blood more than trying to staunch the blood loss. Once satisfied he had collected enough, he smeared a little on the ground, rubbed a little on Fang's haunch, and held the rest in his hand. "Here, here, I'll fix it. There, good as new"
"Alright, you's should get going. See ya soon. And if you's gets lost, use one of dem thunder stones. We'll find ya." Once the rest of the party has departed, Vraxis and Fang work to cover the group's tracks and obscure the combat site.
Vraxis's Plan: Vraxis and Fang will head towards the hobgoblin base from their current position, not far, just far enough to try to find an intercept point between the combat site and the base. He'll try to create a fake combat site away from the real one, smearing some of the collected blood around and leaving little traces as he makes his way away from our camp near the caves. He'll look for a cave or water to lead the tracks to. He'll spend the rest of the day leaving a trail away from the caves and doubling back now and then to create confusion. A few hours from sunset, he'll make his way back to the camp. If at any point he's seen, he and Fang will withdraw as fast as possible. Rule number 1 is don't get caught.
"I mean they fired that noisy arrow for some reason. I have to imagine it's to let others know that they were in trouble...or where we are...or both." "Ruined a perfectly good net" he muttered to himself, shaking his head. "Far as heading to their base, that's her call" he said, nodding towards Govrina. "Don't know though. Gobbo's are different, and hobbies is different than the rest of 'em. More military minded. We're a little spent and it's just us. They got more than us so we's gotta be at our fullest to take 'em." "If it was me, I'd be sendin a larger scouting party, one that can track. They ain't lookin' for us exactly, they lookin' for everyone. All dem civies. Gotta be makin' them mad can't find that many civies with a dang military force. We gotta keep that be'in true." "That arrow was to call for help, so they'll be sendin' some. Question is how many and how close are they. We go after their base when it's empty, doesn't might do us much good. We can't hold it. We wreck it, they'll build another. We gots to take'em out. All of 'em. Best way I sees to do that is to hit them when they're all there. Best time to burn the hornets' next is when they're all in it. Even a few gets out, you're gonna have problems." "Me and Fang can lead them away. Hide yours trail so we don't go walkin' em right back to the caves. Lead in the wrong direction and what not. We're faster, well he is, and we're harder to see, well I am, so we should be okay, and it's a risk we're willing to take" "You shaddup" he said, waving a finger at the wolf. "Up to you boss."
"Oh sure, just use a bigger rock why don'ts ya. Stupid gobbo's, ruining my net. That's what you get" the little halfling shouted. "You's gotta go. Get outta here. I can intercept what's coming and lead them away. Hide our tracks too. Take the gobbo bodies wit you. Braden's big deer should be able to carry 'em a ways. Drops em at different spots as you go. We can meet back at the caves, rest some, and then see about hitting the camp."
Staying back behind the others, Vraxis loads a sling stone and let's it fire at the free hobgoblin.
"You think I want to do it? Well I don't, maybe Fang, but he's different." The wolf's ears perked up. "You shudup. Ain't no one talkin' to you's." "I tell you this though, they ain't gonna play by our rules. We gotta start playin' by theirs. I'll do's what I gots to do's to help keep those people safe and that's all there is to it. You don't like it, fine, don't watch, but we're at war, and that means doin' things that need doin', whether we like it or not." Vraxis drew his shortsword and headed over to the worg. Kneeling down, he set about butchering what was still usable of the hide. Fang slowly walked over and nuzzled the halfling, nearly knocking him over. "Oh shaddup you" he said with a humph.
Once done, he cleaned his blade before grabbing a bite to eat. "You know this has gotta set for a while to cure. Smoking it would help it along. Alright, gonna grab some supplies and set out. We's gotta get going. Got gobbo's to stalk."
"I got an idea" he said with a smile.
"Yeah, you got it boss. We need a live one though. I got some questions of me own."
Fang and Vraxis moved up, taking a position between Govrina and nearest hobgoblin. With one hand holding onto Fang's neck, Vraxis leaned out and thrust his shortsword at the hobgoblin.
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