Fight round 1 and 2
Subject Fight, round 1
Initiative Order(Harp, O2,O3, Ran, O1, O9, O13, Bel, Cai, O16, O8, O4, O10, O14, Surin, O12, O6, O7, Salix, O5, Fal, O11, O15
Harp curses at his inattentiveness. Hoping that it does not cost his companions their lives, he looks at the group of orcs charging at them. Knowing that it is always better to enter battle with the grace of Heironious, Harp sinks to one knee and says a quick prayer. ?Oh Battle Father, look with grace upon your servant and those that he fights besides. Lend your strength to our arms and your wisdom to our hearts.? With that a slight glow envelopes the group. (Bless on group)
Orc 2 and Orc 3 keep running at the group, javelins in one hand, and great clubs in the other.
Ran twists at the sound of the orcs and shouts to the others ?We have time for one ranged attack. Fire at will!? He then shoots his crossbow at Orc 2. Stilling his breathing so as not to throw off his aim, he sites on one of the lead orcs and puts gentle pressure on the trigger of the crossbow. He hears the release of the catch and the bolt streaks at the lead orc. The bolt seems to fly true but it is deflected by the studded leather armor. (AC13, 3+9=12, miss.)
Orc 1, Orc 9 and Orc 13 continue on their run towards the group.
Cai, her bow already nocked with an arrow, turns and sees the orcs charging. Sighting down her arrow, she adjusts for the long distance (Far Shot) and let's fly. Almost before the arrow has left her bow, her hand is flashing to the quiver and another arrow is in place. Using the first arrow as a guide, she shoots a second arrow at the same orc as last time (Rapid Shot). (AC13, 7+6=13, hit, damage 5, 18+6=24, hit. Damage 5+7=12. Orc 5 dead). The two arrows hit the orc as it is running towards the party, one going through its belly and the other passing through its head, splattering brains over the orcs next to it.
Reacting at almost the exact same time as the ranger on the other side of the group, Bel twists, his arrow already on the bow string. Thinking that he should be able to get two shots in (Rapid Shot) he sights down the shaft and lets fly at the first orc on his side of the road (O10), while starting to reach for the next arrow. He rushes his shot and it flys off into the woods and fumbles the next arrow, not even getting it on the bowstring. (AC13, arrow 1 2+8=10, arrow 2 1+8=9, both miss). Cursing his fumbling fingers he calms himself for the next set of shots.
Orc 16, Orc 8, Orc 4, Orc 10 and Orc 14 continue charging the group.
Surin, seeing that the orcs are out of range of any weapon he might have, decides that his best means of attack would be from the cover supplied by the forest, he moves to the wooded area and disappears from view.(Hide 18+16=34, impossible for the orcs to notice.)
Orc 12, Orc 6 and Orc 7 continue charging the group.
Salix hears the orcs before he sees them. Laying the man gently on the ground, Salix stands and turns towards the charging monsters? Had these creatures never seen a druid before? Didn't they know better than to attack a nature priest who was surrounded by nature? Laying his hand on the acorn and oak leaves embossed on his armor, he recites the prayer to Obad-Hai which brings the forest to life to do his bidding (Entangle). He aims the effect about 60 feet in front of the party so that they are not affected. Almost at once, vines start to writhe out of the forest and grab the orcs. Tree branches bend towards the orcs, slowing their progress. Roots reach up from the path and trip orcs or grab their legs. It is as if the forest itself is helping the party.(REF save DC14, saves randomized, Orcs O3,O13, O16, O8, O12 and O14 save and move at ? speed, the rest fail and are held until the spell expires or they make a DC20 strength check.)
Fal looks up at the shouts from the orcs and it takes him a moment to realize what is happening. It takes another moment for him to remember that he has his crossbow in his hand. He raises it up like he was taught that one day in wizard's school, the day that they had taught them how to use weapons. He takes aim and fires. (AC13, 2+2=4, miss) Fal watches as his bolt hits the ground next to Harp.
Orc 11 and Orc 15 are entangled and struggle to fee themselves.
OODM: I have attached a new map. The distances shown are correct now, with each square being 5 feet. The circle is the area of effect for the entangle. I need actions for round 2.
From: Rob
Subject Fight, round 1
((OOC, Mark, are all of them held/slowed? If not, Bel would choose a new target, one that is closest to him, but still moving. Also, I forgot I have far shot as well...I think :D))
Bel reaches back and gets two more arrows, placing one in front of him in the ground for his second shot.
He fires two arrows (rapid shot) at the same orc, this time adjusting to the distance required.
From: Kevin
Subject Fight, round 1
Harp, suffused with the power and glory given him by his diety, raises his crossbow and carefully takes aim at the nearest enemy (O2) While sighting the crossbow, he is amazed to see the forest reaching out, seemingly alive, slowing his oppenents down. If they were slowed down enough, he night be able to get off a number of shots before he has to draw his sword.
OOC: Karl, great call on the entangle spell. Now if you can have Salix come over this summer and do something about the weeds in my wife's vegetable garden, I would really be impressed.
From: Mark
Subject Fight, round 1
I listed the ones that were held, the others are moving at 1/2 speed and must make another save this round. The ones held can make a DC20 strength check to break free.
Check the list and let me know which orc you want to shoot at
From: Kevin
Subject Fight, round 1
OOC: Sorry, forgot to add a few things.
IC: After being amazed by the actions of the forest, he does shoot at Orc 02. When he has fiinished his shot, he will reload his crossbow.
OOC: Mark, is this correct - firing is a standard action and reloading a light crossbow is a move action?
From: Mark
Subject Fight, round 1
Correct.
From: Karl
Subject Fight, round 1
Salix doesn't remove weeds, sorry. He could make your vegetable garden come alive and detain any intruders, though.
From: Karl
Subject Fight, round 1
Salix feels a surge of adrenaline as the forest erupts in front of him, literally pouncing on the advancing Orc party. Salix notes which Orcs have been entangled and is dismayed that a large one near the front of the group appears to have avoided the roots, vines, and branches and is still advancing toward them. Still standing, he beseeches Obad-Hai again, first apologizing for what he's about to request as it might do some damage to a tree or two, then asking for the power of the second most destructive force he knows: Fire. (Flaming Sphere) He touches the divine focus on his armor and recites the prayer. He then drops to one knee and extends both hands in front of himself, pointing directly at the large Orc in front (O14).
(OOC - Salix wants the flaming sphere to appear directly in front of O14.)
From: Randy
Subject Fight, round 1
Ran curses his luck in not piercing the orcs armor but quickly reloads, seeing that there is still time to thin out the orcs ranks. He smiles as the forest comes to life and entangles many of the foes. 'I think I am really starting to enjoy having a druid in our ranks' he thinks to himself as he sets his aim once again on the same orc (#02) and pulls the trigger of his crossbow. After firing he reloads as he watches to see if his luck is any better this time.
Ran calls out to the party "Take out the ones that aren't entangled. We may be able to get some information from any of them we can capture." As he does so he remembers that Harp may not feel too kindly to the prospect of keeping any of them alive and so he moves to flank Harp in case he needs to hold him back.
From: Mark
Subject Maps
From the response I assume that everyone has been able to open the maps I have sent along. Is anyone having problems with the .PDF format?
From: Karl
Subject Maps
Nope, maps look good. I like the grid a lot. (5' per square, I assume).
From: Ami
Subject Fight, round 1
Sorry for the newbie questions
I know that the Entangle spell lasts one minute per level, so Salix's spell should last four minutes, correct? Are entangle spells stackable? What I mean, if another entangle spell were thrown, would those already entangled need to throw twice to get free?
Am I right that a combat round lasts 6 seconds?
Do fallen orcs provide any cover?
From: Ami
Subject Fight, round 1
No problem at all. They are very useful. I just stuck it in photoshop to get lines of sight and highlight who can move this round and who can't.
From: Karl
Subject Entangle
Speaking of moving (or not), when a foe is entangled, is he completely immobile, or just for locomotion? I mean, can the entangled Orcs still use ranged weapons or spell (assuming they have any)?
From: Mark
Subject Entangle
I do not think that they are completly immobile, but enough that they can not attack or cast spells. They can try and free themselves, which I envision as them breaking limbs and snapping vines etc.
From: Mark
Subject Entangle
Sorry I did not look at the DM part of the book about this.
Attackers who are entangled can not move. They also take a -2 to hit on both melee and ranged attacks. Their DEX also drops by 4 which can affect their ranged attacks.
As defenders they have a -4 to DEX so their armor class may drop a couple of points.
If the save is made then they only move at 1/2 speed.
From: Ami
Subject Fight, round 1
Cai, uncomfortable with the number of Orcs still moving towards them, decides to follow Salix's example and casts her spell, centering it where he had, in order to keep the company safe. Instead of reaching for another arrow, she pulls out a chain from under her armor. At the end of it is a crystal vial. A small, red berry; a tiny feather; and a sharp tooth, among other things, can be seen. She holds it up and speaks something in Elvish.
Over the last several days, Cai had contemplated the greenery carefully, touching a plant here and there, taking into herself the slow pulse of its life. She was not a druid, as Salix was, and the workings of only the one spell had taken all of her concentration. She hoped it would be of help.
From: Ami
Subject Fight, round 1
OOC: Uhm, that was another entangle spell, BTW.
From: Mark
Subject, Fight, round 1
Randy, You can not shoot, reload and move in one turn. The reload is a move action and moving up next to Harp would be a move action. You can do one or the other, but not both.
Which do you want to do?
From: Randy
Subject Fight, round 1
OOC: I have revised the description below
Ran curses his luck in not piercing the orcs armor but quickly reloads, seeing that there is still time to thin out the orcs ranks. He smiles as the forest comes to life and entangles many of the foes. 'I think I am really starting to enjoy having a druid in our ranks' he thinks to himself as he sets his aim once again on the same orc (#02) and pulls the trigger of his crossbow. After firing he reloads as he watches to see if his luck is any better this time.
Ran calls out to the party "Take out the ones that aren't entangled. We may be able to get some information from any of them we can capture." As he does so he remembers that Harp may not feel too kindly to the prospect of keeping any of them alive and hopes he can get close enough to Harp during the battle that he may be able to hold him back if necessary.
From: Derrell
Subject Fight, round 1
Fal then casts his Sleep spell on Orc 3. He then reloads his crossbow and will fire on his next turn
From: Abby
Subject Fight, round 1
Surin, now feeling safer with the cover of the forest, ran silently forward through the trees, as close to the orcs as he could, readying his daggers. The part of his mind that wasn't engaged with battle was amused by the dichotomy of this battle. Their enemies were helpless within the bosom of the forest, but Surin was hiding within it. He grinned, pleased at having Salix's friendship and not his enmity.
From: Mark
Subject Fight, round 2
Harp feels the power of his god envelope the group and he knows that his prayer has been answered. While still on one knee, he aims his light crossbow at one of the leading orcs. As he sites it, he sees the forest erupt with vines and tress and bushes, all grabbing and grasping the orcs. He notices that the orc he is taking aim at has avoided the clutching vines and fires off a shot. Just as he releases the bolt he realizes that the orc has been slowed by the undergrowth and his bolt hits where the orc would have been and not where he is. (AC13, 2+6=8, miss). Harp curses himself and quickly reloads his crossbow.
Orc2 is able to fight off the vines for a while and continues at a slower pace towards the group. Seeing Harp in the middle of the road, the orc hurls his javelin at the kneeling figure, but a tree branch swinging out of the woods knocks the javelin out of the way.(AC19, 9-1=8, miss), and grabs onto the orc.(Failed reflex save, entangled.)
Orc3 struggles to break free of the bramble holding on to him but is unable. (Strength check failed)
Ran, having reloaded after his last shot, snarls at his miss and takes careful aim at Orc2 again. He pulls the trigger and watches as his bolt creases the side of the orc. (AC13, 6+9=15, hit, damage 1. He quickly reloads, thinking that he might have to keep watch on Harp.
Orc1 dodges around a few branches, but is finally grabbed by a vine. (REF save failed, entangled.)
Orc 9, who had been grabbed by a branch from overhead, takes a bite out of the branch and chews right through it. He continues moving at the party. Seeing Harp in the middle of the road with a crossbow aimed at the orcs, Orc9 decides to throw his javelin, even at this long distance. He gives a great heave and the javelin thuds into the ground next to Harp. (AC19, 14-3=11, miss).
Orc13 continues towards the party, dodging the branches and vines. He also decides to throw his javelin at the closest target, which is Harp. He makes a mighty throw but misses short. (AC19, 11-1=10. miss).
Bel is disgusted with himself for rushing his shots and messing them both up. Taking a bit more time, he carefully aims at the orc he had missed last time. He notices that the orc has been grabbed by some vines. He releases the first arrow and quickly picks up the second from the ground and shoots it (Rapid shot). (AC 11, First arrow 8+6=14, hit, second arrow 4+6=10, miss. First arrow damage 4+1=5, orc dead.) He watches as the first arrow strikes home and fells the orc. The second arrow falls just a bit short.
Cai, recognizing the prayer that Salix has used, figures that a second one would be useful, pulls out her holy symbol and prays to her nature god. It is hard to tell if her prayer is effective, as the trees and vines and bushes are already moving all over the place grabbing orcs and holding them.
Orc 16 and Orc 8 struggle through the overgrowth that has covered the road and end up unable to move. (REF save failed, entangled.)
Orc 4, who was entangled, gives a huge howl and burst the vines that were holding him.(STR check, success) As he surges forward, he gets entangled by the new spell(REF save fail,entangled).
Orc14 dodges the branches and vines trying to grab him and closes to 30 feet and throws his javelin at Harp. As he is getting ready to throw, he notices that he is almost all by himself. He hesitates as he throws and misses completely. (AC19, 2+1=3, miss.)
Surin melts into the shadow of the woods and starts to move down the tree line, trying to line up a better shot at the Orcs. He sees his friend Salix use one of his nature prayers, and watches as the forest comes alive at the druids command. Not sure what effect the druid's spell would have on him, he decides to skirt the forest a while longer (Move silently, 9+13=22, half speed
Orc12 is able to move towards the party a while before the roots grab his feet. (REF save failed, entangled.
Orc6 and Orc7 both struggle to get free and fail.
Salix, nodding with satisfaction at how the woodlands have responded to his prayer, decides to take a little more direct action. Again touching the acorn and oak leaves on his armor, he prays to Obad-Hai to bring forth his burning wrath on the orcs. He points his hand and a ball of fire, 5? high appears in front of him and starts rolling towards the orcs.
Fal, seeing how close he was to hitting Harp in the back, decides that archery is not a skill he is completely ready to master yet and drops his crossbow. He opens his spell component bag and reaches down to the bottom. There, he pulls a few grains of sand from the bag and starts his incantation. He quickly says the words he had memorized for just this occasion. He looks at one of the orcs and concentrates on him. With a sudden rush in his ears, the spell goes off. (Sleep) Almost at the limit for his range, Fal sees one of the entangled orcs nod off (Orc3 slept). Two other orcs who had been struggling towards the party fall to the ground in a magical slumber and are grabbed by the trees and roots. (Orcs 8 and 4 slept and entangled). One orc, Orc13 continues his rush towards the party.
Orc11 struggles against the woody growth with no luck. Orc15 breaks a few tree limbs and starts to move forward again, when another batch of vines grabs his legs and holds him fast again.(STR check, success, REF save against second entangle, fail, entangled.)
OODM: I have attached a new map showing positions at the end of round 2. The small circle was the area of effect for the sleep spell.
Fight, round 3
Subject Fight, round 3
Fal prepares to cast Magic Missile and will cast it at Orc 14 his next turn.
From: Karl
Subject Fight, round 3
Salix's vision narrows, the field in front of him becoming a green tunnel with writhing branches and vines at the edges and a huge, ugly, violent Orc in the center. (O14). He keeps his two hands pointing at the Orc but notices that another is tangled next to it. (O2) Salix shifts slightly so that his hands are pointing at the still-unentangled Orc's (014) left side (stage left), hoping that if it is unable to advance he might give a serious burn to both of them (O14 & O2).
(OOC - Salix is going to track O14, for the purposes of targeting, however, as stated above, if O14 is unable to advance, Salix wants to put the ball directly between 014 and 02, hopefully burning both. If 014 moves, though, Salix will track with him in order to burn him, at least, if not both. Spell question: If Salix stops directing the ball, it will burn in place. Presumably he can do something else and just let the ball burn. If he does this, can he then re-take control of the ball (assuming there is still time left in the spell) or is the control completely forfeited for the entire spell? It's not an issue in this particular round, because Salix needs to control it this round in order to hit something.)
From: Mark
Subject Flaming sphere
As I read the spell, you need to take a move action every turn to control the ball, wether it moves or not.
From: Karl
Subject Flaming Sphere
From the website:
"The sphere moves as long as you actively direct it (a move action for you); otherwise, it merely stays at rest and burns. "
This implies that not actively directing it does not require a move action from me, but it will just sit and burn on its own. But it doesn't answer my question of whether control can be regained. I'd think it could be, but I'll bow to the DM on that if you disagree. However, it seems clearly implied that I could at least let it sit and burn and still do something else.
From: Kevin
Subject Fight, round 3
Harp, raging at himself for missing his previous shot, lets out a ferocious roar of frustration. After this, he remembers that his lord has already blessed him by providing support for his companions. Regaining control of himself, he notices that Ran had grazed the orc Harp had been shooting at, and that a glowing red globe had appeared in front of the two leading orcs. Realizing that the other spell casters in the group were now joining the fray, Harp decides to switch his aim. He notices an orc to the right of the path (O15). He says a basic prayer to Heironious, asking for his grace in making a clear shot, and lets loose another bolt (shot at O 15).
OOC: If the leading orcs continue to get cut down, Harp will continue to fire his crossbow. If, however, any of them are able to move forward enough that they will threaten to get out of the entanglement area, Harp will drop his crossbow and draw his sword.
From: Rob
Subject Fight, round 3
Bel notices that his arrow drops the Orc, and switches targets to o9, who appears to still be moving forward.
He fires two more arrows (rapid shot), hoping they strike true.
From: Ami
Subject Orcs?
Orc 10 dead (after 5 damage)
Orc 5 dead (after 12 damage)
Orc 2 damage 1
Can I rapid shot at two different targets?
Is Orc9 still moving?
From: Mark
Subject Orcs?
Yes you may pick two different targets.
And yes Orc 9 is still moving.
From: Randy
Subject Fight, round 3
Ran, seeing that there are still many opponents alive, decides not to worry about Harp just yet. He takes aim once again at the same orc (#02), hoping to finally do a little more damage. After squeezing off the shot he once again reloads.
"Keep the pressure on them. They will fall before us. Don't engage in melee combat unless absolutely necessary. I don't want any of us injured this day!"
From: Ami
Subject Fight, round 3
Cai nods, pleased at the results, and especially happy for Fal's spell. Those three Orcs would not be attempting to escape from the writhing greenery. She decides that they would be enough for Ran's purpose.
Meanwhile, she would take down those likely to be a threat should they break free.
She sets an arrow and aims it at Orc15. After firing that one, she rapidly grabs another arrow and shoots at Orc11.
From: Kevin
Subject Fight, round 3
Harp, hearing Ran's shouts behind him, laughs and yells back to Ran
"How can you have a good fight if you don't get a chance to swing a sword. Your'e taking all of the fun out of this."
From: Derrell
Subject Fight, round 3
File casts Magic Missile at orc 14. He will use his quarter staff for hand to hand combat.
OOC: Since my quarterstaff is magical, does that have an effect on the damage it does? Can it do magic damage, or am I simply using it like one would use a baseball bat?
From: Mark
Subject Fight, round 3
Magic weapons have a bonus to hit and to damage. A normal staff gets normal damage.
If you were to attack with your +1 staff, you would get +1 added to your attack roll. If you hit you would get +1 added to your damage roll. A normal staff does 1D6 or 1-6 points of damage, your staff does 1D6+1 or 2-7 points of damage.
That is reflected in the weapons section of the character sheet as well.
From: Mark
Subject Alternate targets
It is not a big deal, but I ran into it today. I have taken care of it but in the future, if it looks like someone else is going to be attacking someone you are attacking, you might want to let me know an alternate target your character would go for if the first one is gone. This is probably more important the further down the initiative list you are.
From: Kevin
Subject Alternate targets
Harp responds the to DM - Personally, I don't care if we riddle their corpses with excess arrows and bolts - I want to make sure they are dead - not mostly dead.
OOC: Suggestion taken, will try to keep in mind in the future. I will also try to curtail my characters desire to inflict pain upon these orcs.
From: Karl
Subject Alternate targets
Of course, if O14 is already dead when his turn comes, he will head for the nearest un-entangled Orc, or the nearest entangled, non-sleeping Orc in that order of priority.
From: Mark
Subject Fight, round 3
Initiative Order(Harp, O2,O3, Ran, O1, O9, O13, Bel, Cai, O16, O8, O4, O14, Surin, O12, O6, O7, Salix, Fal, O11, O15
Harp howls at not being able to hit with his crossbow, thinking that maybe he shouldn't have skipped so many training sessions at the archery range to help feed the hungry children in Gorn. He spies another orc slowly trying to move up the right side and decides to take aim. Unfortunately, as he swings the weapon around his finger brushes the trigger and releases the bolt before he has taken proper aim. The bolt sails past the orcs head. (AC11, 4+6=10, miss.) He quickly reloads again.
Orc2 struggles to break free but is unable to muster the strength. (STR check fail, entangled).
Orc3, gets some much needed beauty sleep, (Entangled and slept)
Ran, seeing the forest grab so many of the orcs yells to his companions, ?Keep the pressure on them. They will fall before us. Don't engage in melee unless absolutely necessary. I don't want any of us injured this day!? With that he takes aim again at the orc he shot last time (O2), takes a deep breath and pulls the trigger. The bolt seems to appear out of nowhere in the middle of the orcs chest.(AC11, 7+8=15, hit, damage 7, Orc2 dead) The orc looks down at the bolt sticking out of his chest and topples over. Smiling, he reloads.
Orc1 rips the vines that were holding him and moves slowly towards the party, able to avoid the undergrowth that is trying to entangle him. ( STR check, success, REF save, success). He throws his javelin at Harp, (AC19, 10-1=9, miss) but his aim is knocked off by a flailing tree.
Orc 9 continues to move slowly towards the group. (REF save, twice).
Orc13 continues towards the group when several roots entwine themselves around his feet and hold him in place. (REF save, fail, entangled)
Bel grunts to himself in satisfaction, seeing the orc go down. He shifts his aim to the closest orc coming down the middle of the road (O9) and lets two arrows fly back to back. The first hits (AC13, 15+5 =20, hit, damage 4.) The orc staggers, a large shaft sticking from his chest. Bel's other arrow goes wide of the mark.
Cai feels the almost rapturous feeling she always gets after her god answers her prayers. Seeing most of the orcs held fast by the brambles and trees, she takes aim and fires two quick shots at the orcs on her side of the road. (O15,O11) She takes a calming breath, just like when she was on the practice range. Pull arrow, set arrow, draw arrow, aim arrow, release arrow, pull arrow, set arrow, draw arrow, aim arrow, release arrow. No thinking, just doing. She is almost surprised when she looks at the orcs and sees her two arrow shafts in the orcs hearts.(AC11, first arrow, 15+6=21, hit, second arrow, 19+6= 25, hit, damage first arrow 5, second arrow 6,orcs dead.)
Orc16 struggles against the branches holding him but fails to free himself. (STR check fail, entangled)
Orc8 and Orc4 rattle the woods with their snoring. (Entangled and slept)
Orc 14 moves a bit towards the group and is also grabbed by vines and branches (REF save failed, entangled.)
Surin continues his slow movement up the side of the forest. He stops just before where he sees the forest moving by itself.
Orc12, Orc6 and Orc7 continue to try and free themselves but fail. (STR Check fail, entangled)
Salix sees Ran's bolt topple one of the orcs he was directing the sphere at, so he directs it at the other closest orc (Orc14). The orc sees the ball of flame approach, but is unable to avoid it, partly because of being held in place by the forest. (Flame Sphere,REF save DC14, save fail, Damage 10, orc dead.)
Fal nods at seeing a few of the orcs drop off to sleep. Thinking that he should deal with the closer ones with a bit more force, he says the words that he memorized and points his finger at the closest orc (Orc14.) Seeing that orc in flames Fal decides on a different target. As the first orc falls to the ground, Fal sees another orc (Orc1) just behind him. Two bright missiles of light leap from his fingers, weave around Harp and slam into the orc, lifting him from his feet, snapping the branches that had held him. (Magic Missile, 2 missiles, total damage 7, orc dead.)
Orc15 and Orc11 try to escape but finds the arrow sticking out of their hearts hampers their movements enough that they fails.
OODM: I have attached the map for the end of round 3. Orc 11 is actually dead
From: Rob
Subject Round 4
Bel nocks another arrow, and aims for o13 (alt targets 11 or 6, in that order.) He fires two arrows at the Orc's chest.=20
He also sends a message to Ebon to look for others, to make sure none of the Orcs were sneaking up on them from other directions once the ambush had been sprung.
From: Derrel
Subject Round 4
OOC: Is there a limit to the number of spells I can cast during this fight? I'm including two different scenarios for my next turn so I can cover both possible answers to the question.
If I can cast another spell, Fal casts Grease to make things a little more difficult for the orcs.
If not, Fal picks up his cross bow and reloads it. He'll fire it if he has to, but would prefer to continue using magic, since his archery skills are almost nonexistent.
From: Kevin
Subject Round 4
Harp screams in rage. How has he failed his Lord? Heironious granted him his blessing on the group, why would he not grant him the small favor of allowing Harp the favor of killing one of these beasts. Growing angry and frustrated, Harp stands up, aims, and fires his crossbow at Orc 13. When he completes this, he throws his crossbow to the side and pulls his sword.
Fight, round 4
Subject Fight round 4
OOC: Is there a limit to the number of spells I can cast during this fight? I'm including two different scenarios for my next turn so I can cover both possible answers to the question.
If I can cast another spell, Fal casts Grease to make things a little more difficult for the orcs.
If not, Fal picks up his cross bow and reloads it. He'll fire it if he has to, but would prefer to continue using magic, since his archery skills are almost nonexistent.
From: Mark
Subject Error in turn 3
I miss read Ami's turn and she did state that she would shoot one arrow at one orc and another at a different orc, so I will revise the comments when I do the archive. However, Orc11 is now also dead.
From: Karl
Subject Fight, round 4
Salix sees the large Orc drop. Another (o9) appears to have escaped the vines and branches, but Salix leaves him for the archers. He shifts his view further up the path and sees a small cluster of three Orcs (o11, o12, o13) and thinks he might be able to get all three in one attempt. Still kneeling, both hands pointed directly to the spot where the large Orc fell, he bends his wrists so his hands point up at an angle. He has never tried this trick before, but he hopes to make the flaming sphere jump up and land directly in the midst of the three clustered Orcs.
(OOC - From the grid, it looks like the sphere could get all three if it is placed properly. If the jump maneuver isn't kosher, Salix will roll the sphere around O13 and try to wedge it into the spot just behind him and between o11 and o12. If you don't like that, then he'll just aim for o13.)
From: Randy
Subject Fight, round 4
Ran, seeing that Orc 09 has continued to advance, aims and fires. Without waiting to see if he has scored a hit, he begins to advance a little to get into better range for the continuing battle.
"Salix, will the forest leave us free or will it entangle us as well?" Ran calls out, unsure of how far it is safe to advance.
From: Karl
Subject Fight, round 4
"The forest cannot tell friend from foe," Salix replies. "Do not enter the affected area"
(OOC - That is correct, right mark?)
From: Mark
Subject Fight, round 4
I see nothing in the description that says it can tell friend from foe. I have seen spells that do mention being able to differentiate the two, but no mention with this one.
From: Mark
Subject Spells
The only limit to the number of spells that you can cast is the number of spell you have memorized. That is the max number you can cast in a day.
Actually with your DEX bonus your archery skills are there, they are just not on the level with the fighters. Heck, Harp hasn't hit anything yet either and he has shot three times.
From: Karl
Subject Entangle
I was guessing it was the Druid version of the Web spell that mages use. I know that in Tom's game we ran into trouble in our first battle when our mage entangled the bad guys as well as our best fighter.
From: Kevin
Subject Fight, round 4
OOC: I would like to revise my previously entered turn
IC: Harp screams in rage. How has he failed his lord. Heironious granted him his blessing on the group, why would he not grant him the small favor of allowing Harp to kill one of these beasts. Growing angry and frustrated, Harp stands up, aims, and fires his crossbow at Orc 13. If he hits, he will yell in happiness and reload, if he misses, he will yell in anger, throw the crossbow aside and draw his sword.
From: Karl
Subject Harp
Calm down Harp. You're scaring the children. :-)
From: Kevin
Subject Harp
I thought I did that just by walking around. If they havn't made a mess in their pants yet, then I am not doing my job.
Knowing my luck, I am probably bellowing out an orc mating cry.
From: Ami
Subject Fight, round 4
Cai seeing that the others have the closer orcs well in hand, decides to go for those struggling farther away.
She closes her eyes for a moment, taking two measured breaths, then opens them. She aims, fires at Orc6. Another arrow quickly follows its brother to her bow, this time flying at Orc7.
Alternates would be O16 and O12.
From: Abby
Subject Fight, round 4
Surin skirts the edges of the affected area of the forest, waiting for some orc to manage to escape so he could pick him off. He's mildly annoyed that he can't get close enough to attack, but he's willing to wait.
From: Derrel
Subject Fight, round 4
OOC: OK, I'll lay off the spells for a while. Mark, I'd like to retract the Grease spell. As Karl said, I think it's overkill at this point
From: Mark
Subject Fight, round 4
Then you want to load and shoot your crossbow. Fine. That is how I will write it up.
From: Mark
Subject Ammo
I would just like to remind everyone that you do not have a quiver like Legolas in LOTR. You will run out eventually. :)
From: Karl
Subject Ammo
And you shouldn't forget to try and collect your arrows if you can after the fight. I think there's like a 50% chance an arrow is salvageable if you know where it is and can get to it, right??
From: Mark
Subject Ammo
The usual rule is if an arrow or bolt hits then it is considered destroyed. If it misses then there is a 50% chance it can be reused. I might have people make spot rolls to find them and the see if they are any good. I mean a 3 foot arrow lost in the woods. I have a hard time finding arrows at the cub scout archery range and that is only 50 feet deep and just grass. And I saw where they shot them.
From: Rob
Subject Fight, round 4
9,11,12
Bel nocks another arrow and sends it flying at o9. If he hits him and the Orc goes down, he will shot his second arrow at o11 or o12, in that order.
(OOC---Mark, how many arrows does a standard arrow quiver hold? Is it acceptable to have an extra quiver of them on my mount, as bow is my weapon or choice? Not an actual quiver, but a bolt of them perhaps? If not, would it be possible to buy some in the near future? If so, how much?)
From: Mark
Subject Experience
Experience adds up after combat and when certain points in the adventure are completed. For example, I have a particular idea of when this part of the adventure will be done. I do not mean number of days playing, but story line. When that point is reached additional XP will be awareded for completing the adventure and bonus points awarded for good role playing and such.
I will look into your crafting arrows while on the road. Weapons may be able to be salvaged and/or sold, if you want to carry them around. The value will depend on the type of weapon. Clubs are basically just big sticks and would not go for much on the open market.
From: Mark
Subject Ammo
A standard quiver holds 20 arrows. It is more than acceptable to have an extra quiver or two or three on your mount, as long as you account for the weight. OR someone else's pack horse could carry them. It would also be possible to have them stacked in a bunch with out a quiver to hold them. IF you pass a town of a certain size you might be able to buy some arrows. We will have to see. :)
From: Mark
Subject Fight, round 4
Initiative Order (Harp, O3, Ran, O9, O13, Bel, Cai, O16, O8, O4, Surin, O12, O6, O7, Salix, Fal,
Seeing another bolt miss the orc he was aiming at, Harp starts to wonder if his god is somehow mad at him. Resolute, he takes aim at another orc (O13) and barely hits (AC11, 5+6=11, damage 2.)
Orc3 continues snoozing.
Ran shifts his aim at the orc that is nearest the group (Orc9) fires a bolt, hitting the creature in the chest and knocking it from its feet. (AC11, 7+9=16, hit, damage 1, orc dead.) Bel shouts at Salix ?Will the forest leave us free, or will it entangle us as well??
Orc13, infuriated at being hit by Harps crossbow, burst the branches that were holding it and starts marching towards the group, but is quickly grabbed by even more branches. (STR check success, REF save fail, entangled.)
Cai chuckles at how well she has been doing with her bow. Of course the elves were natural archers. Seeing a couple of orcs in the back of the pack, Cai sites again and quickly fires off two more shots at two more orcs. One is a solid hit, (O6, AC11, 17+6=23, hit, damage 6, orc6 dead) while the other just barely glances off the armor of the orc (O7, AC11, 3+6=9, miss)
Bel had been planning on shooting at Orc9, but sees Ran's bolt kill the orc. He shifts his aim to another orc(O12). As he is shifting his body to take aim, he hurries his release and misses with the first arrow.(AC11,2+5=7, miss) but corrects himself on the next arrow and hits home(AC11,17+5=22, hit, damage 6, orc dead).
Orc16, who, now that the crowd has been thinned out a bit, looks to be a little bit bigger than that rest and wearing metal armor. He shouts something and the rest of the orcs drop their clubs and javelins. He then shouts at the group in halting common ?No kill more men. Surrender? With that he drops his weapon.
Surin tries edging closer to the woods and almost gets grabbed by the forest. (REF save DC14, 7+10, 17 save.) As he bounces back from the edge he hears Salix yell back at Ran ?The forest can not tell friend from foe. Do not enter the effected area.? Thanks a lot for letting me know, Surin thinks.
Orc7 looks at his leader with astonishment but drops his weapons.
Salix directs his ball of flame along the ground. When it gets close to orc13, it stops next to the creature. The orc moves surprisingly fast and leaps away from the burning ball. (REF save 20, success, no damage)
Fal, hearing the Orc trying to surrender, as well as seeing the battle well in hand, picks up his crossbow and reloads it.
OODM: I have included another map for the end of round 4.
Fight, round 5
Subject Fight, round 4
Harp, with a shrug of satisfaction, reloads his crossbow and takes aim at Orc13. Even though he has seen a few of the other orcs drop their weapons, this one has not. An armed enemy is still a theat, and it is an orc. He remembers Ran's shout to try and take prisoners, he does not see any difference between 6 prisoners and 5. He fires at Orc13.
From: Ami
Subject Fight, round 4
Cai aims at O16, but holds her fire. She wants to listen to what the Orc has to say. With them well held by the plant life, this would be the safest time to interrogate. They will also have time to assign each member of the group an Orc to keep at the sharp end of a weapon once the vines come back to themselves.
But she wonders what we will do with the Orcs once they get the information. We cannot let them return to their leader. But our group cannot possibly think of keeping them prisoner as we travel the road.
From: Randy
Subject Fight, round 4
Keeping his crossbow trained on Orc 13, Ran calls out "We accept your surr-" and then sees Harp let loose a bolt towards Orc 13 and starts again.
"Hold fire! Hold! They have surrendered and I will not have us attacking those who are not defending themselves"
To Orc 16, who appears to be the leader, Ran calls out once again "We accept your surrender. Leave your weapons on the ground where you stand. Gather together with your sleeping companions. Place your hands on your heads."
If Orc 13 was hit Ran adds "I appologize for the injury (death) caused after the surrender was announced. Battles can be chaotic as you know."
Ran realizes that the apology probably falls on deaf ears, but he hopes that it may prevent any renewed desire to continue the fight.
"Salix, can you get the trees to stop so that we may approach our prisoners? I would rather not have to cut our way through."
From: Derrell
Subject Fight, round 4
Fal keeps his crossbow ready, but does not fire. He tells his raven to keep a watchful eye on the orcs, since he's inclined to believe that their surrender is some kind of trick.
From: Karl
Subject Fight, round 4
Salix watches as the Orc dodges his ball of fire. "Damn!" he thinks to himself and prepares to make the fireball follow the cursed creature.
"Hold fire! Hold! They have surrendered and I will not have us attacking those who are not defending themselves"
Surrendered, right, Salix thinks to himself, but dispels the ball of fire, clapping his hands together with a frustrated "POP!" as the ball of fire winks out.
"Salix, can you get the trees to stop so that we may approach our prisoners? I would rather not have to cut our way through."
"I can, but before I do should we not take a moment to insure they are indeed unarmed? Maybe send the birds ahead a bit to make sure they don't have reinforcements even now on their way? In the meantime, parlay carries well across the green. We do not need to enter the infected area to let the creature speak its piece."
From: Abby
Subject Fight, round 4
Surin narrows his eyes, not quite trusting the surrender. He watches the orcs and waits, keeping his throwing daggers in his hands in case one of the orcs decides to make a break for the group.
From: Mark
Subject Fight, round 5
Initiative Order (Harp, O3, Ran, O13, Bel, Cai, O16, O8, O4, Surin, O7, Salix, Fal,
Harp growls in satisfaction at seeing his last shot finally hit something. As he reloads he hears one of the orcs yelling something about surrender. Surrender? Orcs? And do what with them. The orc he had been shooting at drops his club, but Harp thinks he sees him reaching for something else, and fires anyway. He is spot on this time, his bolt crashing into the orc's chest (AC11, 16+6=22, hit, damage 4, orc dead). Oh well, what is one more dead orc, Harp thinks.
Orc 3 is still slumbering away.
Ran, hearing the orc leader try and surrender, calls to his troops to cease fire, but is a bit too late to stop Harp. He watches as Harp's crossbow cuts down the closest orc. Running up to Harp, he pulls the ? orc around, yelling into his face, ?Hold fire. I said hold fire. They have surrendered and I will not have us attacking those who are not defending themselves.? Turning back to the orc leader Ran yells at him ?I apologize for the death caused after your surrender was announced. Battle can be chaotic, as you know. We accept your surrender. Leave your weapons where they lie and gather up your companions.?
Bel and Cai keep watch with arrows in their bows. They are ready to make pincushions out of the orc that makes the first wrong move.
The orc leader looks at Ran with a confused look. He yells back ?No more kill. No more fight. No more move.? He shrugs his body, showing the branches and vines that entangle his legs and arms.
With that Ran turns to Salix and asks ?Salix, can you get the trees to stop so that we may approach our prisoners? I would rather not have to cut our way through.?
Surin hears the orc's surrender and keeps his hand on his daggers.
Salix curses when the flaming sphere fails to find the orc and gets ready to command it to follow, when he hears Ran call for the cease fire. With a frustrated clap of his hands, the ball disappears as he dismisses the prayer. Not sure if the surrender of the orcs can be trusted he is hesitant when Ran calls for him to dismiss the entangle.? I can dismiss the effect early, but before I do should we not take a minute to insure they are indeed unarmed? Maybe send the birds ahead a bit to make sure they don't have reinforcements even now on their way? In the mean time, parley carries well across the green. We do not need to enter the affected area to let the creature speak its piece.?
Fal keeps his crossbow ready but calls Lenore over with a whistle. He whispers to the bird and it takes off, flying high over head, circling where the group is.
Three of the orcs lay there sleeping, while the other two watch the group with trepidation.
OODM: Ok we are out of combat time now. Role play to your hearts content.
The orcs
Subject Fight, round 5
Harp glowers at Ran, working to control his rage at being reprimanded for doing what he thought he should have done. Finally, he nods at Ran, in recognition of his authority over the group, moves off to the side, and reloads his crossbow, in case any of the orcs get any ideas when Salix tells the forest to let the orcs go. He still wonders what they are going to do with 5 orc prisoners - they can't take them with them and they can't leave them behind. Harp is also thinks it is very unlikely that his companions will have the gumption to do what needs to be done for the good of the group (and society at large) and kill all of these creatures once they have divulged any usefull information. Harp thinks about how he can assure that the creatures will not bother them without having to kill them.
From: Randy
Subjet: Fight, round 5
Ran berates himself silently for being too trusting and possibly endangering his companions by freeing the orcs too quickly. Ran quietly says "Right you are Salix. Leave them bound and please send the birds out to scout the area."
To the orc leader Ran calls out "We are unable to stop the forest from entangling you at this time but we are prepared to talk. Why were you pursuing this man?" Ran points to the human body still laying on the ground. "And are there more of your friends about the area?" Ran waits for a response and will press for more information if the answers are unsatisfactory.
To his companions he says "If there are any questions any of you would like answered, please feel free to ask away."
From: Randy
Subject End of combat
Ran curses himself as he thinks over his inventory and realizes he forgot to bring rope. 'A great leader I'm turning out to be' he silently comments.
"Does anyone have a good amount of rope among their posessions?" he asks the group, keeping his voice quiet so as not to allow the orcs to hear.
From: Kevin
Subject Rope
Harp responds with a grunt.
"I have a goodly length of rope on my pack horse, though it will be wasted on these creatures. I say have the ranges keep their bows nocked and let us deal with them with a swords drawn."
There is 50' of silk rope hanging on Harp's pack horse for use.
From: Mark
Subject Hello?
Is anyone out there? Kevin and Randy have replied? Did the rest of you get the last turn?
From: Abby
Subject End of Combat
Surin, being too far to hear the soft voices, just concentrates on blending into the forest scenery.
From: Derrell
Subject End of Combat
Fal continues to ba wary and hold his crossbow at the ready. He will gladly allow his raven to be sent on patrol with the other birds. All Ran has to do is ask. Fal wonders what will become of the prisoners when they have been interrogated.
He calls to Ran, "I offer Lenore's services as a scout".
From: Ami
Subject End of Combat
"I also have a length of rope, but we cannot sustain prisoners for long, and we cannot simply let them go to warn others. I wonder if there is a town or friendly outpost near here where we can leave them. (knowledge, geography OOC: how does that work, anyway?) Perhaps the man can tell us somewhat about the area."
Grey has been circling the area of combat, and now Cai asks him to scout the area for more threats.
From: Kevin
Subject End of Combat
If the topic reaches this point, Harp will mention that he believes he has a way to deal with the orcs. It will not involve killing them, though it will cause them some pain. It will keep the orcs from following our group, but will allow them to, albiet with some difficulty, make their way back to where ever they came from.
Harp has no questions of the captives.
From: Karl
Subject End of Combat
Salix also has a rope, but since one has been offered, he will hold off mentioning until it is needed.
From: Karl
Subject End of Combat
Salix does as requested, leaving the "entangle" spell running while asking Noctis to scout ahead. He will send Noctis out to scout the wooded area where his vision won't be hampered by too much light.
"Ran, I'm concerned. As I said, the accent of the fallen man sounded like that of Muhn. We are meeting an envoy from Muhn. The coincidence seems a bit much, don't you think? Ask the creature where this man came from an why they were chasing him. I'd be careful not to give on about the envoy in case they don't know about it already."
From: Rob
Subject End of Combat
Bel says that he has already sent Ebon ranging behind them and to the sides, and that he had no warnings from him at this point.
"I wanted to make sure we weren't fighting a diversion", he tells Ran, "so I sent Ebon ahead at the beginning of the fight."
From: Mark
Subject The Orcs
Harp looks at Ran with surprise. They were not going to kill the orc's? But that is how you dealt with creatures like that. He stared at Ran for a few seconds, until he remembered that Angelwing put Ran in charge. Still disgusted with the turn of events, Harp moves to one side, reloading his crossbow, trying to decide what they are going to do with the orcs. They can't take them along. They could not be left behind. All of a sudden a wicked grin crosses Harp's face. He has a good idea what he will have to do. He is fairly sure that none of the others will have the gumption to do it. He would enjoy it.
Ran takes Salix's suggestion about sending the birds out to scout and questioning the orcs from a distance to heart. ?Would those of you who have feathered companions mind sending them out on a little recon?? At that Bel, Cai and Fal all send their birds into the air. Salix hoots at Noctis and the owl also takes off into the woods. Ran calls out to the leader and tells him ?We are unable to free you from the forest at this time, but we are prepared to talk. Why were you pursuing this man? Are there more of your people about?? While the orc leader thinks, Ran asks the group if they have any questions they would like to ask. He also asks the group ?Did anyone think to bring any rope along??
Harp replies from the side of the road, ?I have some rope on my pack horse, but it would be wasted on such as these. I say have the rangers keep their bows trained on them and let us deal with them with drawn steel.? Cai also says that she has some rope,?but we can not sustain prisoners long and we can not simply let them go. I wonder if there is a town or friendly outpost near by where we could drop them off. Perhaps the man can tell us some what about the area.?
At that comment Harp speaks up. ? I have an idea. It does not involve killing the orcs,though it will cause them some pain. It will keep them from following, but allow them to move, albeit painfully. I can hamstring them.?
Salix confers with Ran and the others who are close by. ?Ran, I am concerned. As I said, the accent of the fallen man was that of Mnuhl. We are expecting an envoy from Mnuhl. The coincidence seems a bit much, don't you think? Ask this creature where this man cam e from and why they were chasing him. I'd be careful not to give on about the envoy in case they don't know anything about it already.?
Ran relays that question to the orc leader. Again in halting common the orc leader replies.? Me Bonegnasher. This my tribe. We come down from hills 6 days ago, look for food and shelter. Saw man running with no one around. Good sport. We chase man, catch man, get slave. Maybe food. Maybe gold. You kill tribe. We go back to mountains. No more bother powerful man things.?
A few minutes pass and eventually the other orcs wake up and the forest stops grabbing them. Bonegnasher tells them not to pick up their weapons. He and they lay down on the ground waiting for the group to decide what to do with them. . The birds also start to show back up and none of them seem to be bothered by anything at all. Lenore and Ebon sit on the shoulders of their masters and shake their heads sideways, seeming to indicate that there is nothing out there.
Orcs, Camp and lessons
Subject Orcs
Harp grunts derisively. 15 against 1 human - that seemed like the orc way of doing things. These creatures knew nothing except torture and killing. They should be killed, but Harp knew that would not be allowed. He turns to Ran and says:
"These creatures know nothing. We should not delay any longer. May I suggest that we search the captives and tie them up, you take the rest of the group and my pack horse, head forward, leave me here with a knife, and I will make sure that they do not follow us. I know, I know, I give my word as a member of the Order that I will not kill them, tempted as my heart may be to do so. We can put a few miles between us and them before night fall and they will be in no condition to follow after mounted riders, even if they had the inclination."
Looking around and seeing the unconcious human, Harp grunts - "you will probably have to tie him onto the pack horse, unless one of you want to try and carry him behind you on your horse."
From: Karl
Subject Orcs
Salix is somewhat surprised by the Orcs surrender, but even they must know they can't win this battle. When Cai suggests leaving them in a town or village, Salix responds. "Do you really think a town would take them? What do you think they would do with them? This is wild country. I imagine the humans here have little love for Orc raiding parties. They will either kill them or laugh at us and tell us to kill them ourselves."
He moves over to Ran and says quietly, trying not to be heard by any of the Orcs, "Ran, we cannot take them with us. We cannot sustain prisoners. Tying them up and leaving them or hamstringing them would be as good as a death sentence in this wild land. If we are considering those options, we might as well take the less cowardly route and kill them outright. On the other hand, we can take their weapons and demand that they leave this area immediately. We can tell them if they are seen again they will be killed without mercy, but send them on a path that is away from the direction we are heading."
He thinks a moment more and adds, "We have beaten them without losing so much as a drop of blood even though they outnumber us nearly 3 to one. This will not set well with the leader. I imagine he will kill the others himself, or at least try to, so that word of this defeat will not spread. He will then likely either return to his tribe with some story of how he and the party were ambushed by a tribe of ettin or some other fiercer foe, or else he'll forget his tribe altogether and look for another Orc tribe to join. At any rate, I don't think he'll be bothering us any further."
He looks and Ran and he seems almost overwhelmed by the options. "Kill them, or let them go unarmed, but unharmed. That is my counsel. Either way, I will support your decision as leader."
***********
After the Orc decision is made, Salix will approach Ran again. "Ran, we need to decide on camp soon. I don't think a long horse ride will improve our new friend's condition. We should move a little way along the road further, then camp. In the morning I can heal his exhaustion and fatigue and we can learn his story."
From: Ami
Subject Orcs
"I seem to recall that there is an outpost of some kind within 2-3 days ride," Cai reports, "It would be longer with the Orcs on foot and presumably tied up. Unfortunately, it is not on our path. I fear this would put us much too far behind schedule to be of any use, but that is a possible option."
She considers the creatures. "I understand your distrust of these. But these Orcs would not be likely to report to their chief, if Bonegnasher is not the same, that they had been taken out by so few of us. Our victory has been sure and complete. This small band will not follow us. Let us show mercy.
"Harp here, though aggressive, has shown himself to be disciplined and well mannered simply by his upbringing. This is a young people, schooled by evil beings in savage ways. We cannot hope to find a connection with them if we only continue to return the violence they give to us.
"I suggest we restrain them, and wait until the man from Muhl wakes up to confirm his part of the story. We search them for evidence of being part of a military or merely a village needing supplies. If Bonegnasher's words are in line with what we find, then we let them go."
From: Randy
Subject Orcs
Ran looks coldly at Harp and says "We will not kill or injure those who have surrendered to us. We will make sure they are unarmed before we move on. They are clearly not a threat to our safety. If we treat them with such animal cruelty we are no better than them."
To Cai he replies "The outpost is too far out of our way. As you say, we cannot afford the delay. Besides, Salix is right. Any we leave them with will just kill them anyway. Please get your rope and start binding their wrists and ankles to form a marching line."
Speaking to the group he says "We will tie them up for the time being and find a suitable area nearby to make camp. We need to allow this man time to recover. In the morning Salix can help to heal his exhaustion and speed his recovery. After hearing the mans story we will free the orcs, unarmed. First we will send the underlings off to give them a chance to avoid the rath of their leader and then we will send him off about an hour later.
Once the orcs are tied up Ran says "Surin, will you please search the orcs for any concealed weapons or other sources of information."
Ran turns to Cai and Salix and asks "Thank you for the council that you offered me to make this decision. I have one more task to ask of you now. Can the two of you scout around for a suitable campsite within a half hour from here and report back."
Addressing Harp once more Ran says "I need you to rise above your nature. I saw a bloodlust rising in you during this encounter and it made it harder to see the human side of you. Please do not embrace the violence and chaos that is the nature of the orcs. Now do I need to have someone else cover your watch tonight or can I trust you to leave the orcs unharmed?"
From: Ami
Subject Orcs
Cai nods at Ran. "I will take the second watch when camp is made," she says. She waits some moments until the entangle spell disappates, and makes a quick search for the arrow that missed the last orc (spot check). She scouts down the path for a suitable place to camp.
On her way, she hunts for the group, hoping to keep up their stores for the journey. After she helps set up camp, she continues the task of hunting and gathering until her watch comes up.
She returns a short time before it is her turn and sits quietly next to Harp.
"It was no kindness to your mother how you came about, but you are proof that the race of your father can be redeemed. You are a strength and an asset to this group."
From: Ami
Subject Arrows
Not sure if we'll be taking this day by day from now on, but Cai will be attempting to craft arrows when they make camp over the next few days of travel. (craft check)
From: Karl
Subject Cai
Salix accompanies Cai on the task of scouting for a campsite. While so doing he takes the opportunity to get to know the elf ranger a little better.
"I was impressed that you were able to command the woods back there. It was good that you could entangle the Orcs that I missed. We likely would have suffered some injury were it not for that. How did you come to learn the ways of nature to accomplish this?" He asks this with genuine interest.
He also asks about what other powers she has mastered and suggests that they coordinate their preparations so that they do not duplicate efforts in the future.
From: Mark
Subject Lessons: Opposed checks
Ok since we have several new people to D & D I am going to use this time to do a little education.
There has been talk about tying the orcs up. This is not a bad plan, for the moment, but it is not an automatic action, at least to tie them up so that they can not escape.
When someone binds a character, the bound person is considered bound until he tries to to one of two things. 1st, he can try and break the bonds. This requires a fairly high STR check. Usually it is so high that only people with 18 or higher strength stats should even attempt it. For example, if the STR check is a DC25, then even someone with a STR of 18(+4 bonus) can only roll a 24(20+4) and would be unable to break the ropes.
The second thing a bound person can do is try and use the Escape Artist skill. You compare the bound persons escape artist roll to the Use rope roll of the person who did the tying. Since it is easier to tie someone up then escape, then the person doing the tying gets a +10 to his use rope skill.
For example, let say Harp decides to tie the orcs. His bonus is +2 for DEX and a +10 for doing the tying, for a total of +12. If he rolled a 5 that would be a total of 17. If the orcs made an escape artist attempt and got 17 or higher, they would be able to get out of the ropes.
However, is someone like Surin did the tying it would be different. Lets say that the Orc rolled a 20 for his escape artist. Surin Rolls a 2. Looks bad for Surin, right? Not really. Surin has 12 ranks in Use rope, so his total is 12+10+2 for a total of 24, and the orc stays tied. He might also have a synergy bonus if he has 5 ranks in Escape Artist.
Similar things happen with move silently against a listen check or hide in shadow against a spot check.
If any you have questions as to how this works let me know.
That concludes todays lesson. :)
From: Kevin
Subject Orcs
Harp, struggling to control his anger, glares at Ran, and finallly mumbles "You know nothing of these creatures". He then takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, says a short prayer to his lord, gathers the inner peace he had learned, and then steps back one step. He opens his eyes, and says to Ran:
"Excuse my actions. Now you see why I have advanced so slowly in the order. I know the right things to say, the right things to do, but when my heart gets the better of me, my "wild" side can, and often does, get the better of me.
I will tie up the captives, and, to calm your conerns, I think it is time that we go to 2 person watches overnight. I will work out a schedule as we travel."
With that, Harp goes to his pack horse, takes out his rope and heads over to the orc captives. He motions them to stand up and proceeds to tie their arms such that they can be marched but are unlikely to be able to free themselves.
After he finishes, he waits around while the rest of the group gets ready to move to their camp site. He might even look for some of his crossbow bolts that he missed with a short while ago. While searching, he is approached by the female ranger. She says to him
""It was no kindness to your mother how you came about, but you are proof that the race of your father can be redeemed. You are a strength and an asset to this group."
Harp looks at her, startled. He had not expected such words from her, but the more critical words of Ran Ell, as he had heard them many times before. He had been impressed by this small elf's ability with a bow, and was sure that he would not want to be on the receiving end of her weapon. He considers her words and replies:
"I thank you for your words, though they seem hollow to me at this point. I continue to struggle with my more wild side. My training from the Order helps immensely, but when confronted with situations such as the one we just had, I find myself losing that control, especially when they are orcs. I am not sure what type of an asset I am, other than to cause dissention in our ranks. However, I appreciate your feelings, coming from one who must have a natural dislike of orcs."
From: Kevin
Subject Ropes
Harp, looking at the job he had done tying up the orcs, thinks that maybe he has not done such a great job. He calls Surin over, since it seemed that Surin was very familiar with ropes, having been exceptional at setting up the tents and having heard about his days with the circus.
From: Abby
Subject Ropes
Surin comes out of hiding and investigates the job. He quickly starts to work, fingers nimble and quick.
From: Derrell
Subject Camp
Fal agrees that the we can't take the Orcs with us. He asks Ran what he can do to be of assistance at the moment. If needed, he will help set up camp, or guard the prisoners. Once camp has been set up, Fal must spend some time studying his spellbook and resting, so that he can be ready for anything that might happen tomorrow. He will do anything that is asked of him, though.
From: Rob
Subject Camp
Bel walks up to Harp and says " Nice job back there, restraining yourself. I know it couldn't have been easy for you...it wasn't easy for me, and I don't have your history with Orc. They remind me of big Goblins, though, so I think that perhaps you might have had the right idea after all.
Still, it is Ran-Ell's decision, so lets hope he is right."
(he waits to say this in private to Harp, so not to embarrass Harp in front of the company)
From: Mark
Subject Alatyr
The group stands around for a while, trying to figure out what to do with the orcs. Harp is all for killing them, but is willing to settle for just hamstringing them and leaving them to the mercies of nature. Salix and Cai are for taking all their weapons and setting them free. The rest of the party is ambivalent about them, not really wanting to kill them in cold blood, but not really wanting them to be set free. Ran finally decides that they are not going to kill the orcs, but that in the morning they will be set free and told to head away from the group. He asks Surin to help Harp tie up the orcs and for Cai and Salix to try and find a camp site not too far away.
Within half an hour Cai and Salix return. They have found a nice spot just about 10 minutes away. It is near a small stream, so they would have fresh water. Ran ask Cai if she would try and get them some food while the rest of the group moved to the camp. Cai moves out to hunt.(DC10, 12+7=19, can feed 4 others) The rest of the party gets their horses and head towards the camp area. Ran and Bel take as much care as they can not to disturb the unconscious man.
Harp tells Surin that he has some rope on his horse and he goes to get it. When he gets back, Harp starts trying to tie the orcs up. Surin watches for a few minutes, trying not to laugh at the ? orcs attempt. After a few minutes Surin reaches over and pulls on one piece of rope and several of the knots Harp had tied fall right off. Surin giggles a bit at the look on Harp's face. ?I have been tying and untying knots before I could walk. Let me show you some tricks.? With that Surin takes about 5 minutes tying up the orcs. When he is done, it is obvious that they are not going anywhere, and if they try they are very likely to hurt themselves in the process. Surin leads the orcs to the camp while Harp follows.
As Harp and Surin are tying off the orcs at the new camp, the creatures keep looking at Harp with wide eyed astonishment. One even asks Harp ?Why are you with these humans? You should join us and you could lead us.? With that Harp kicks the orc in the face, breaking it's nose. ?I am with the humans because they have treated me better then your kind could ever hope to.? With that he stomps away to gather fire wood for the night's meal.
About an hour after they have made camp, two things happen. First, Cai returns with a small boar over her shoulder. As she gets to camp, the strange man from the road finally wakes up. Salix is the first to hear him. He bends over trying to help him take a drink. There is much coughing and sputtering as the man tries to drink too fast. After a few frantic minutes the man finally realizes what is going on and starts asking questions.? Who are you? Where am I? Is the Lady ok? Did you find the caravan?? It all comes out in a rush. Over the next few minutes his story comes out.
He is Alatyr Nix, guard of the Lady Rochell. They had been attacked by a large party of goblins. He had been sent out by the Captain to scout ahead and had heard the commotion. When he got close he saw that over 100 goblins were attacking the caravan. There were only 15 guards and several of them had fallen. The Captain had seen him and yelled at him to ride away and try and find help. It must have been almost a day ago. He had ridden his horse to death getting away from the goblins and then run as fast and as far as he could.
He did not remember the last part of his run, just that he had to get some place and get help for the Lady.
OODM: The role of Alatyr will be played by Nate from now on.
Making Camp and Alatyr
Subject Alatyr
Fal listens to the story with great interest. If Fal is not needed foranything he will turn in early so that he can get up before the others and have time to study his spellbook uninterrupted before the beginning of the day's activities. When he goes to bed, the raven will perch atop his tent so that it can help keep watch for any strange goings on.
From: Rob
Subject Alatyr
Bel takes his turn at watching the Orcs, making sure they don't escape. He leaves Ebon in his tent, asleep.
Providing nothing happens during his watch, he then goes to sleep, although lightly because he doesn't trust those Orcs.
From: Kevin
Subject Camp
Harp, still some what put out from the earlier discussions on how to handle the captives, will check out the camp site preparation, including the hobbling of the horses and the securing of the hostages. While he was mightly impressed with Surins rope job, Harp still does not trust the orcs. He will snear at any that try to talk to him, but he will not risk getting caught abusing one of them again.
OOC: Mark, Harp mentioned to Ran earlier that they should go to a 2 person watch. Do you want me to try and come up with and actual schedule or will you just assume that we get one worked out?
From: Mark
Subject Camp
Please do.
From: Kevin
Subject Camp
When the correct time presents itself, Harp will inform Ran (somewhat stiffly) that he proposes the following watch schedule
1st watch (approx. 4 hours) Bel and Cai
2nd watch (approx. 4 hours) Harp and Salix (dark vision and Owl)
3rd Watch (approx. 4 hours) Surin and Ran
He leaves Fal undisturbed as he is familiar with his need to get a good nights sleep and likelyhood that he would be of minimal help in case of a surprise attack in the middle of the night.
Unless he hears otherwise, he will set this schedule.
Alatyr's story
Subject Camp
Ran looks to the Rangers and asks them if they will be able to track where the man came from and also asks that Noctis be sent out immediately to scout in the night looking for signs of the goblins and the caravan.
"We'll need to get an early start in the morning so let's go with three two hour watches instead of four hour ones. Let the leader of these orcs go at the end of the second watch and send the others on their way half-way through the third watch."
To the orcs he says "When you leave, do it quickly and do not look back. We will not hesitate to fire on sight if you try to cross our path again."
From: Karl
Subject Camp
"How long ago was this?" Salix asks Alatyr. "Hours? Days?"
(OOC - I'm assuming it's been at least a day at a full run)
"Your news is the first we've had that it has been attacked. We will leave to assist as soon as we are able." He looks to Ran and the others for confirmation, wondering why no one else has addressed the man. "Clearly haste is our biggest worry. There is no telling what the goblins may have done with the caravan and the sooner we get there, the better. But we can't leave with you in this condition. You need to rest and therefore we should take the opportunity as well."
To Ran he says, "I can send Noctis out to look for trouble, and I might be able to make him understand we're concerned about goblins, specifically, but something as complex as looking for signs of a caravan, etc, would require conversation with him directly in his language. I'm afraid I've exhausted my god's favor in that area this day. Perhaps in the morning I can send out the hawks?"
"I agree about the early start. Shorter watches are a good idea, provided our mage gets sufficient rest."
(OOC - Mark, does rest or lack thereof affect a divine spellcaster like it does a mage? What about Salix's prayer time. Does it have to be the same hour every day? If he's been doing it just before dawn, and we leave before that time, will we need to stop for Salix to pray?)
From: Rob
Subject Camp
Bel asks Ran, " Are you sure we want to let them go in the night. Night is their element. Wouldn't we be better off leaving them here, allowing them to work free on their own? That way we would have less to worry about tonight..."
From: Nate
Subject Alatyr
"How long ago was this," the half elf had asked him. "Hours? Days?"
The man of Mnuhl being a bit of a quiet person in his nature sat and took his surroundings in, not that he was afraid to speak, just he knew very well that one learned quite a bit by keeping ones mouth shut, and ears open.
"You must forgive me, Elf, for my mind is on other things. We were attacked last night before we supped, just settling in for the night, right as the orange part of the sky disappeared. I have been serving the Princess Rochell for all my life, and right now I could not care less about sitting here doing nothing. However, you are right about that rest. I fear I would just be a burden right now unless I rested some, and had a bite to eat."
With that, the Half Elf talks to the others. Alatyr makes note that there are no humans among them. He hasn't had much oppurtunity to become familiar with the other races of his world, just Goblins and Orcs and those of a less unsavory nature.
OODM: Rochell is not a princess, just the fourth daughter of a minor noble.
From: Randy
Subject Orcs
"I don't like the idea of leaving them tied up here and leaving them at the mercy of the environment. It may be more than they deserve to free them at all, but I do not believe they pose us any real threat. I would like to correct my orders however and release the underlings first, one at a time from the middle to the end of the second watch. They are likely to want to put as much distance as possible between themselves and their chief. We will then free the chief half way through the final watch."
"I understand your concern, and if the other in the group share it strongly I may reconsider."
From: Ami
Subject Scouting
"It has been one full day and some hours more since the attack. What condition the caravan is in now depends on why the Goblins attacked. If they did it as a simple raid, I fear we will find no one alive. If they had a purpose or were under leadership, we face a chase and rescue."
"I wonder if a couple of us should not go on ahead now to see what has actually happened, then return and report. Meanwhile, the rest can leave in the morning as planned. I would be willing to accompany the Halfling in this endeavor."
When the sun comes up, she will send out Grey to scout ahead while they travel, as always.
From: Karl
Subject Alatyr
Salix will spend his pre-sleep time making sure that their new companion has enough to eat and drink and sleep comfortably. He will give up his bedroll to the man from Mnuhl, usuing only the extra blanket on his horse for himself.
From: Karl
Subject Orcs
Salix thinks to himself that it's a lot of bother to go through. It's not really a concern of his whether the Orcs kill each other or not. But he agrees that they aren't likely to be much of a threat at this point so he'll keep his opinion to himself unless specifically asked.
He would, however, protest leaving them tied up. He'd just as soon kill them outright than leave it up to the wolves.
From: Karl
Subject Scouting
Salix replies, "I don't think we should split the group. There is safety in numbers and we will need that. The goblins didn't have any problem overtaking an escorted caravan, so it would likely be a simple thing to lay in wait for a couple of scouts. And they will expect us, likely. It would be wise to assume that they know our new companion escaped and has gone for help." He looks to Ran for confirmation of the wisdom in this counsel.
From: Kevin
Subject Orcs
Harp responds to Ran:
"My thought on the longer watches was to make sure that the guardsman got sufficient time to recover from his exertions and to assure that those of us who need time to recover from our spiritual and magical exertions have time to prepare for what may be a very challenging time tomorrow. An extra few hours is not likely to make a significant difference in what has happened to Knight Captain Anglewings betrothed, but it can make a difference in how capable we are in being able to help her"
As far as the orcs, we could leave the 4 underlings when we depart tomorrow, taking the leader with us a few miles down the road, and then turning him loose there. I do not relish the thought of unrestrained enemies wandering about during the night."
Harp will accept whatever Ran Ell decides.
From: Abby
Subject Scouting
"I wouldn't mind a bit 'o rest." says Surin good-naturedly, "But if the rest of you all would want to forge on, I won't argue."
From: Mark
Subject Update
OK every one has replied. I will be sending out a turn tonight.
Just to keep every one up to date. It is around 4PM on the day of the attack. According to to Alatyr, the caravan with Rochell was attacked yesterday evening late. Then he rode his horse to death and ran himself into exhaustion and unconciousness. He seems to be in really good shape, so it figures he was running for a while, on the range of 6 hours or more.
If anyone wants to do any role playing between the characters please go ahead. I might not include it in the write up, but that does not take away from what you guys are doing.
From: Karl
Subject Alatyr
Just to clarify, he's still exhausted, right? So it will require one restore to bring him up to fatigued, and another to remove the fatigue, correct?
What does it mean in terms of mobility and utility for him if he is fatigued? Can he still ride with someone?
I'll modify my spell list for the next day based on your reply.
From: Mark
Subject Alatyr
Well by the time you get to do your spell the exhaustion will be gone but he will still be fatigued.
It takes 1 hour of complete rest to get rid of exhaustion, so he is not exhausted anymore, but he is fatigued and anything that would fatigue him will exhaust him. It takes 8 hours or your spell to remove the fatigue. It will probably blanace out.
From: Karl
Subject Alatyr
So if he gets a good night's rest tonight he won't need a spell at all?
From: Mark
Subject Alatyr
Basically yes. He will have more than 8 hours sleep tonight. Of course that will mean that it will have been at least two days after the ambush before the group gets to where it happened, since there is probably a good hard days ride ahead, just to get to the site. :)
From: Kevin
Subject Alatyr
OOC:Mark, what is the farthest the guard could have run wearing the armor he is? Even if he ran for 6 hours, he cant be more than 20 miles from where his horse died.
Randy, could we put Alatyr behind someone else, ride to where his horse died, put his saddle on my pack horse? I know that there maybe a weight issue, but it will be better than doubling up or having him walk.
Just thinking out loud.
From: Mark
Subject Hustling
Actually with his armor and hustling he can do 4mph which would be 24 miles in a 6 hour period. Plus what the horse did. Your party has been doing that in an 8 hour period on horses. Now your group has been moving slowly for two reasons. First, Surin's pony can only go that fast and the Ranger(s) have been hunting for the group so that their supplies do not run out. Then you have to add on what he did with the horse before it died.
From: Kevin
Subject Hustling
I realize that we are not going to get to the ambush site tomorrow. What I am concerned with is how we get Alatyr moving in the future. I have an extra horse that is not that heavily loaded, but that does not have a bit, bridle, or saddle. If we canter, trot, or something faster than what we have been doing, we should be able to get to where his horse died. I want his horses tack to put on my pack horse. Like I said, its not perfect, but my guess is it will not slow us down anymore than having him ride double or making him walk.
We will see what happens.
From: Randy
Subject Orcs and camp
Responding to the counsel of Salix Ran says to the group "I do not think that we should split up the group either. I am anxious to get on with our quest but I feel we must do it together. If there are as many goblins as our new friend has indicated it would be folly to risk our numbers by splitting up."
Hearing Harp's comments about the spellcasters and also noticing that it is not nearly as late as he thought, Ran revises his earlier instructions. "You make a good point Harp. It is earlier than I thought right now and daybreak is yet many hours away. We will use our standard 4 hour watches. That will allow us to be on the road in the early dawn."
"There is still some daylight available and this may be our last chance for a while to hunt and gather food. Let's replenish our supplies as much as we can in the next hour and then have a meal. After that we should start our watches. I am on the third watch and I will determine whether to cut it short or not in the morning based on how much daylight we have."
OOC: Did anyone else get a lot of duplicate emails in this last set?
From: Mark
Subject Alatyr and his story
As the afternoon passes camp is made quickly. Harp and Ran prepare the camp site itself, with Fal helping where he can. Cai and Bel head into the woods to supplement the small boar that Cai has already caught. They come back a few hours later with several more rabbits. Salix, after making sure that the exhausted man is comfortable, heads out into the woods with Surin. They come back about an hour later with a nice supplies of mushrooms, and wild herbs and vegetables, which Cai uses to season the meat that she has roasting over a fire. Harp spends most of his time keeping an eye on the orcs. As dinner rolls around Ran lets the rest of the party what he has decided on the fate of the orcs. Harp is obviously unhappy, but goes along. Ran then has Harp lay out the night watch schedule. Then the party starts to eat dinner, with Salix feeding the man, who is awake by then.
He informs them that his name is Alatyr and that he was a guard in the caravan that was escorting the Lady Rochell to Gorn. He tells them about how they had traveled by the pass of Undulant with what seemed no trouble and made camp several hours from that pass. He speaks of the attack by the large party of goblins the night before and how his commander had ordered him to get away and try and find help. He talks of his worry that all the caravan is dead including the Lady. It is obvious to all that he would like to ride back right now, but knows that he can not in his condition. He tells the group that he knows nothing of the orcs. Salix is amazed at how fast the man is recovering and is fairly sure that he will be able to travel in the morning with no prayers from him.
Near the end of dinner the birds start to return. From what the Alatyr had said the owners of the birds are sure that they would not have been able to get to where the ambush was, even if they could explain it to them. However, the two familiars are able to get the idea across to their masters that they saw nothing out of the ordinary for many miles around.(OODM:The MU in the group are unable to talk to their familiars, but the birds do have an INT score of 6-7, which means that they would be able to understand their masters, just not talk back to them. It would take a while and there is a possibility of miscommunication, but they would be able to get the point across.)
Harp talks to Alatyr about where his horse might be and wonders aloud how they can get to the place where the caravan was attacked the fastest way possible. Between them they work out that Alatyr can ride bareback on Harp's pack horse until they get to the other horses body and they get the saddle off of it. Harp spends about an hour of the early evening rearranging gear on other peoples horses. No one has a heavy load, but they are all now at a medium load. Alatyr quickly falls into a deep slumber after he has eaten, his reserves emptied from all the talking. The others prepare for an early night since Ran has declared that there would be an early start on the morrow.
The group have a quite night. Noctis helps Salix keep watch, and fly s silently around the camp, keeping an eye out. The orcs, knowing that they might live through this, actually do not try to escape. The next morning, as Harp is preparing a quick breakfast,Fal and Salix spend sometime either praying or studying his tome of magic. Cai and Harp also spend a short time in prayer, asking their gods for what boons they think they might need for the day. By the time the sun is just coming up, the group is mounted and ready to go. Ran sets a hard pace, knowing that it has now been at least a day and a half since the attack and knowing that every hour lost means less chance for the rangers to pick up the trail. At least it did not look like it was going to rain any time soon.
The party rides hard all day. They eat a quick lunch of cold food around noon, and give the horses a chance to recover. Surin's pony in particular is having a very tough time with the pace. However, the party is on the move again after only an hour. Towards dusk, Salix pulls up next to Ran and says ?Ran, we must stop for the night. Surin's pony is almost done for. If we do not stop now there is a very good chance the pony will pull up lame and then we will have to put it down and carry Surin on another horse.? Ran nods, but is frustrated that they have not found Alatyr's horse yet. That man must have the constitution of a bear. To have run that far that fast. At that moment, Bel's hawk fly s darts in out of the forest and lands on Bel's shoulder, chittering rapidly. It takes Bel a few seconds to see what the bird has seen. He reports to Ran that Ebon has seen a dead animal over the next rise.
Ran quickly orders the rangers and Harp to follow him and for Salix, Surin, Fal and Alatyr to follow at a slower pace.
The four fighters quickly mover up the road about half a mile where they find the body of a warhorse in the middle of the road.
It is obvious that the scavengers have been at it and a few vultures fly off the group approaches. The four dismount and approach the corpse. Cai and Bel make a quick check (Track DC15, 15+2=17, success) and find the tracks of the animal leading ahead of them, west. A few minutes later the rest of the party shows up. Alatyr pulls to a stop and hops off his horse. He slowly walks around the body of the large animal. In the failing light of dusk, it is a little hard to see his face, but some of the party members hear the hitch in his voice as Alatyr speaks. ?This is Blue. I raised him from a foal. He served me well for 7 years. I trained him. I fed him. I took care of him when he was sick. He was always there for me when I needed him. The most faithful companion I ever had. He did all that I asked of him. Even...? Realizing that he had been talking out loud, Alatyr suddenly stops talking and moves off a bit into the woods.
Ran talks to the party. ?We have ridden enough for one day.? We must rest the horses. According to Alatyr, he was only able to ride for a few hours before his horse died. He had been riding all day before the goblins attacked and his horse was already tired when he started his ride. I figure that we should reach the spot of the attack by noon tomorrow. We will set up camp down the road a bit. Salix, do you think that Noctis would be able to fly ahead and see if he can find the spot of the attack. Salix nods.
The party moves down the road a bit further and quickly sets up camp. There is no need to hunt since they had collected enough food the night before. Harp takes it upon himself to help Alatyr get the saddle and other riding tack from Blue and get it sized for the pack horse that Alatyr has been riding. Salix touches the symbol on his armor and says the prayer that allows him to talk to animals. He quickly explains to Noctis what he wants the bird to look for and what do if he finds it. He then concludes with telling Noctis how he should behave when he gets back so that Salix can figure out what the bird saw. With a final admonishment to be careful and to stay high, Salix send Noctis off into the night. Knowing that owls are not the fastest fliers in nature, Salix knows that it will be several hours before the bird returns.
The group settles down for the night, keeping the same watch schedule as the night before.
OODM: Any role playing that you want to do, go ahead. Also, sorry about the formatting. The progam used to make the archives has a limit to how long a paragraph can be.
Alatyr and his story
Subject Alatyr and his story
Harp asks"
"Alatyr, could you determine from your brief view of the attackers how they were armed? Light? Heavy? Bows? Were they mounted? I realize that you did not get a great look at things, but anything that you might be able to remember would be of great help."
From: Mark
Subject ?
I am hoping that every one, except my heartless brother, was so moved by my scene of Alatyr and his horse that they are unable to write a response. ;)
From: Derrell
Subject Alatyr and his story
Fal eats as he listens to Alatyr tell his story. He wonders if anyone from the caravan is still alive. Fal asks if there is anything he can do before he turns in for the night. If not, he'll go to bed, so he can be well rested in case the group encounters any more orcs tomorrow. He'll rise early and study his spell book before the others get up.
From: Kevin
Subject Brothers
Trust me all - if you had had to spend 41 years in purgatory as I have, you would have become as heartless as I have become.
Next time, try to write a scene that actually tries to convey some emotion instead of falling back on the poor writers cannard of the dead animal. Been there, done that.
From: Rob
Subject Fal
Bel turns to Fal and says " Fal, I didn't say this earlier, but good work with that sleep spell during the fight. Once I noticed that a few of the Orcs were down I knew I didn't have to worry about which ones to keep alive during the fight.
From: Derrell
Subject Fal
"Thank you for the compliment. I felt that we would stand a better chance if at least a few of the orcs were unable to fight. I only wish my archery skills were as well developed as my magic." Fal says "Bel, you did well in battle, too. "
Goblins and Tracking
Subject ?
Hi everyone. Just checking to make sure you all got the turn that I sent out late last Thursday. So far I have only heard back from Kevin, Rob and Derrell. Did the rest of you get the turn?
From: Karl
Subject Turn
Got it. Had a very busy weekend and morning today. Hope to send something soon.
From: Karl
Subject Alatyr's story
Salix sends Noctis away, saying a small prayer that he may return safely. He isn't too concerned, however, as adult Great Horned Owls have few predators. Humans and Orcs were a danger, true, but since owls aren't particularly good eating even those threats are minimal.
Noctis gone for the evening, Salix sits down next to Alatyr, near the fire. "What can you tell me about your caravan? Do you have any idea why the goblins might have attacked? Any feeling as to whether this was an attack of opportunity or if it were planned ahead?"
He listens to Alatyr's response, expecting either no useful information, or maybe something that would confirm prior planning on the goblins' part.
(OOC - Mark, can I get a knowledge check or something for Salix. What would he know about goblins and their habits. What would he think the chances are that this is a random attack? aside from the obvious coincidence.)
From: Mark
Subject Goblins
Knowledge check(DC15, 15+7=22), This attack seems in character for goblins. When they attack they tend to do it by surprise or overwhelming numbers, or both. The idea of a fair fight never crosses their minds. A "Fair" fight is one where the other guy never sees them coming. Salix knows however, that he is making this judgement on very limited information.
From: Randy
Subject Alatyr's story
Ran informs the group that starting in the morning they will be using every available moment of daylight to try to track the goblins. He speaks to the spellcasters and asks if there is any way they can speed up the travels or gain insight into the whereabouts of the caravan. He also asks the Rangers to continue taking the lead and investigating any possible tracks (especially coming from Alatyr's horse).
Ran will respond to any other conversation others initiate but will generally be brooding a little.
As they turn in for the night, Ran goes off to pray to his god. 'Please grant me wisdom to lead and help speed us on our journey. Help us find the goblins and bless Lady Rochell that she has survived this encounter.'
OOC: Sorry for the lack of response earlier. I had a really busy weekend and morning as well.
From: Mark
Subject Tracking
Just some quick info on tracking. Both of the rangers can make track checks.
TRACK [GENERAL]
Benefit: To find tracks or to follow them for 1 mile requires a successful Survival check. You must make another Survival check every time the tracks become difficult to follow.
You move at half your normal speed (or at your normal speed with a ?5 penalty on the check, or at up to twice your normal speed with a ?20 penalty on the check). The DC depends on the surface and the prevailing conditions, as given on the table below:
Surface Survival DC Surface Survival DC
Very soft ground 5 Firm ground 15
Soft ground 10 Hard ground 20
Very Soft Ground: Any surface (fresh snow, thick dust, wet mud) that holds deep, clear impressions of footprints.
Soft Ground: Any surface soft enough to yield to pressure, but firmer than wet mud or fresh snow, in which a creature leaves frequent but shallow footprints.
Firm Ground: Most normal outdoor surfaces (such as lawns, fields, woods, and the like) or exceptionally soft or dirty indoor surfaces (thick rugs and very dirty or dusty floors). The creature might leave some traces (broken branches or tufts of hair), but it leaves only occasional or partial footprints.
Hard Ground: Any surface that doesn't hold footprints at all, such as bare rock or an indoor floor. Most streambeds fall into this category, since any footprints left behind are obscured or washed away. The creature leaves only traces (scuff marks or displaced pebbles).
Several modifiers may apply to the Survival check, as given on the table below.
Condition Survival DC Modifier
Every three creatures in the group being tracked ?1
Size of creature or creatures being tracked:1
Fine +8
Diminutive +4
Tiny +2
Small +1
Medium +0
Large ?1
Huge ?2
Gargantuan ?4
Colossal ?8
Every 24 hours since the trail was made +1
Every hour of rain since the trail was made +1
Fresh snow cover since the trail was made +10
Poor visibility:2
Overcast or moonless night +6
Moonlight +3
Fog or precipitation +3
Tracked party hides trail (and moves at half speed) +5
1 For a group of mixed sizes, apply only the modifier for the largest size category.
2 Apply only the largest modifier from this category.
If you fail a Survival check, you can retry after 1 hour (outdoors) or 10 minutes (indoors) of searching.
Normal: Without this feat, you can use the Survival skill to find tracks, but you can follow them only if the DC for the task is 10 or lower. Alternatively, you can use the Search skill to find a footprint or similar sign of a creature's passage using the DCs given above, but you can't use Search to follow tracks, even if someone else has already found them.
Special: A ranger automatically has Track as a bonus feat. He need not select it.
This feat does not allow you to find or follow the tracks made by a subject of a pass without trace spell.
So the base DC will be 15. If you move at normal speed the base DC will be 20. It will be modified by the time( A couple of days, so +2 or +3), the weather(no problem yet) and the number of creatures being tracked and their size(unknown by the group at the moment). The ranger who picked goblins as their favored enemy get a +2 in addition to any Stat mods and ranks. For example, Cai has +7 and gets +2 for favored enemy, so has a +9 to her rolls.
If the group wants to not move at normal speed it will give the rangers a better chance to track.
From: Karl
Subject Goblins
What else does Salix know about goblins? Are they likely to be in league with another power? Would they do a work for hire, for instance? Or would they only do this sort of thing for themselves?
From: Mark
Subject Goblins
Salix knows that that they are easily cowed and bullied. They are only 3-1/2 to 4 feet high. Numbers is their biggest advantage. They are sort of the grunts of the evil humanoid world. Not terribly smart, but cunning. It would be possible that some one is using them. It depends on what was done to the caravan and the people. Right now either option, this just being a goblin raid, or an organized attack run by someone else, is possible.
From: Karl
Subject Ran
Salix watches Ran and notices his brooding. Knowing that he has taken leadership reluctantly, Salix thinks to give him a word of encouragement when he sees Ran leave the group briefly. Not wanting to disturb him, Salix waits until he returns and stops him before he rejoins the others. "Your decision on handling the Orcs was a good one. You were more merciful to the underlings than I probably would have been, but compassion is hard for me where Orcs are concerned. Nevertheless, you showed good judgment and a level head. Angelwing was wise to name you leader."
From: Ami
Subject Goblins and Cai
Goblins are something Cai has come up against many times in her travels. She is confident in being able to confront them once they make contact, but she is frustrated with the wait and the time it will take to catch up. She will track the goblins at Ran's direction (speed wise), when they get to the site.
During her rest, she meditates about the lay of the land, to know if there could be any traps set by any creature (preparing Detect Snares and Pits: Reveals natural or primitive traps.). She thinks the spell will be useful once they reach the site where the caravan was overrun.
Thinking ahead, after they pass the site and start tracking the Goblins, she will prepare to be ready to call for help of one of the forest creatures here (Summon Nature's Ally).
From: Randy
Subject Ran
"Thank-you Salix. I am grateful that I have your support and I hope that my leadership will be sufficient to complete our quest. I only hope that it is not too late for Lady Rochelle."
"I am always open to any suggestions of where my decisions can be improved and I appreciate the advice you have been able to offer me so far."
From: Rob
Subject Tacking
Bel goes ahead with Cai to try and track the goblins, and also look for tracks made by the horse (Track).
He also sends Ebon out to scout ahead, looking for more goblins, or other large groups of creatures.