Breathing heavily, Silstaren looks down at the corpse and then back up at his companions. He smiles broadly. "That -- was -- well done."
Then he notices Cale's wounds, how deep and bloody. "Cale! Here lie down. Let us look at those wounds."
Heal check .
Garyn steps up to Cale, examining the boy's wounds. "Ye all right there, mate? That boar gave ye a solid one, he did. Strovan, me friend, can ye take a look at Cale here?"
He smiles broadly. "That -- was -- well done."
"Aye, mate," says Garyn, returning the smile with a broad grin of his own, "well done, indeed."
"Tis true, cept for that one nasty gore it twas well done. Here let me look at it."
Strovan looks it over, noting that most of the bleeding has stopped but that it could still use a little more patching up. "Ye want for me to finish the job or do ye have faith that ye will be able dodge the next few blows?"
Cale is white as a ghost after the loss of so much blood. Silstaren tells him to lie down, and he does so wordlessly. As Strovan looks him over, "Is it bad? Is it infected? These beasts can carry diseases some of the time."
"Well I don't know that much bout infections, but far as I can tell it looks good for now. We will know more in a day or so but I healed much of it, how do ye feel now? Good to go?"
Strovan looks around warily and turns to Garyn. "How close are we to their camp, is there any chance someone might have heard that I don't want to be ambushed while mulling over a boar."
Silstaren exults as the energy runs through him. He suddenly feels like he could run all the way back to Oleg's.
"We're still a good four to five hours away, based on what our captive told us. Best get moving as soon as Master Cale feels up to it," Garyn replies, re-mounting Barley.
With the beast down, the forest returns to its quiet wintery self. Cale still has an open wound, which Strovan patched up with a piece of cloth (), but not to the point of closing it. The cloth soon turns red with Cale's blood, but it stops the bleeding soon after.
The positive energy helped to close the wound, but there was still a bit of bleeding. "I think I'm alright. Thank you, Strovan." The dwarf was a miracle worker. Cale would make an effort to stay close to him from here on out. With a grunt of pain and a loud curse, Cale climbs back onto his horse. He puts on a brave face, but it's obvious that he's ready to go back home and lay in a bed. "Let's keep moving. We have to take out this camp." Feeling much less invincible than he was the day before, the young noble continues on.
The positive energy helped to close the wound, but there was still a bit of bleeding. "I think I'm alright. Thank you, Strovan." The dwarf was a miracle worker. Cale would make an effort to stay close to him from here on out. With a grunt of pain and a loud curse, Cale climbs back onto his horse. He puts on a brave face, but it's obvious that he's ready to go back home and lay in a bed. "Let's keep moving. We have to take out this camp." Feeling much less invincible than he was the day before, the young noble continues on.
"Well said, and well fought, Cale," Garyn says, clapping the boy gently on the shoulder. "I agree. Let's keep moving."
Bravely, the party continues forth, leaving the boar's corpse for the forest's scavengers. About 2 hours later, the party reaches the Thorn River's banks and stop to take a drink. The water is refreshing but bone-chillingly cold. The party then proceeds south following the river's bank. Nightfall slowly but surely falls on the party after 2 hours of travel, buy they continue their trek through the forest, ready for danger around any corner.
An hour later, something catches the party's attention.
"Just in case ye hadn't noticed with that boar incident sublty isn't one of my strengths. I assume our plan is when we get close we circle around and let one of you move up stealthily and take out the sentries. I just want to make sure that we stop a ways out so as they don't notice me. And don't worry bout me getting to the fight I can make myself move twice as fast as yer average dwarf and this terrain doesn't bother me a bit."
Stovan tilts his head to the side, listens a bit, "Then again I am not the only one who can be a bit on the noisy side." He then grins over at Cale.
Perception:
Silstaren stops and hisses softly for the others to do the same. Then he whispers, "Just ahead. Do you hear them? Smell the smoke?"
He dismounts and hands the reins to Greehr. "Garyn and I should take a look."
Edit: I didn't think to bring a light source. How are we set for moon and stars? It would be funny if Strovan was our best scout because he's the only one who can see well.
"Aye, Silstaren, I hear them as well," the ranger replies, dismounting. "I agree. We should have a look."
Strovan whispers "Be careful and maybe this will help you two out."
Garyn quietly makes his way to the bandit camp to have a better look.
1d20+8
1d20+8
Past the wagon, north, 40' and 50' NE of the wagon lie 2 broken logs on the ground. Just then, 2 human males, clad in similar furs as Calvin, pass by, one of them eating a piece of meat on a stick. They appear to be patrolling in a circle. You hear that the laughter comes from further NE.
Perception
Cale glowers at the dwarf cleric for suggesting that Cale may be less than stealthy. It was true, of course, but it was just rude. While the others scouted out ahead, Cale dismounted and waited with as much patience as he could muster. He kept an eye on the edge of the woods, looking for boars that may be lurking in the shadows.
Stealth:
Perception
Garyn and DM :
[ooc] Any sign of the sentinel platforms?
Deathlok :
For DM and Silstaren:
Death-lok and Garyn:
If the bandit camp is walled Silstaren will lead Garyn in a wide circle around the perimeter, stopping periodically to let the patrol go by. He wants to see all four walls and get the location of all gates in and out of the camp and the location of both platforms.
If there's no wall then we'll creep a straight in for a better look.
Stealth :
No, there is no wall or palisade that you can see.
Perception:
DM and Garyn:
Stealth roll in case Garyn is ready to go back too.
DM and Silstaren:
You both easily make it back to the others without notice, to the best of your knowledge.
As the minutes slowly tick by for the first time in the entire journey Strovan appears to be tense, and not his usual jovial relaxed self. He checks his weapons, looks over his crossbow and is constantly scanning the woods.
"Tis the waiting that bothers me." He whispers "I hate just wish there was something we could do but I guess we have to trust in their skill."'
When the two finally return he breaths a silent sigh of relief and his demeanor visibly brightens. Quickly he whispers. "Ahh tis good to see you two, what is the situation is it exactly like Calvin discribed? Will our plan work? Were you able to kill any sentries? Forgive the onslaught of questions friends, it is times like this that I wish I worth a dang at the sneaky stuff."
Silstaren smiles at the dwarf's obvious relief. "It is largely as Calvin said. No, we did not kill any sentries."
Here it is:Bandit Camp
Cale listens as they describe the camp, pensive. "It seems fortified. What are our options? I see that their watch towers give them a high ground from which to snipe at us. We should find a way to either neutralize those or avoid them altogether. One possibility is to take positions along the path of the sentries and all of us aim to destroy them from afar. We could take out those two then retreat to an agree-upon area. If they follow, we can face them there and they won't have the aid of their watchtowers, which eliminates two more of their number and gives much better odds. If they don't follow, then let them go, and we'll do it all again later. Thoughts?" The sharp-eyed youth was somber now, in his element as he discussed tactics.
A solid plan.
"That sounds solid to me, Master Cale. I'm no tactician. Just tell me where to be and when to shoot, mate," Garyn says, rubbing his short beard and nodding as the boy speaks.
Some times he seems like a spoiled child, and others he comes across...well he comes across as a man. And a fine one. The ranger smiles in approval as the young noble seems to find his stride.
"The most exposed bandit is the one on the western platform. And he will be across our retreat. One of us should target him. He'll be less likely to try to stop us if he's dodging arrows. That leaves four to ki-- four for the patrol."
"Well once again right before we leave I can bless us all with a touch of extra luck hopefully it will allow our first salvo to hit our targets. I would say Garyn takes the shot on the lookout, that appears to be the most difficult of the initial targets."
Looking at Greehr "Do ye even have a bow of some sort, or do you just use yer bombs? I dunno, will ye have the arm strength to reach the patrol with them? I think rushing in for the first attack will be our best option the fact is I have a feeling that while the sentries missed these two sneaking around they will hardly miss the rest of us.
Strovan looks at the area they are currently in, trying to see if he sees a good defensive location near their current location. "Now if with the aid of surprise we could make a quick strike eliminate the western sentry and the 2 patrolling and then retreat to here we may be able to have a significant advantage. They won't know exactly what they are facing our numbers will be even and between myself and Silstaren we have better vision in this darkness."
"Oh I can handle the bastard on the lookout platform, no worries," says Garyn. "I can get into a good position, fire a shot at him, and try to stay in cover. Don't know if I can manage it, but maybe I'll get a good shot and won't need to take another. Just tell me when."