The ogre, a map, the chase, a city
Subject Status
Ok guys.
Just curious as to where we are? Has a decision been made on what to do with the ogre? That is the only major thing I think I need. Any comments from any one about what they want to do before I write up the next turn.
Just give me a "I am ready to go" and I will write the next turn.
Just to let everyone know, last night my oldest and I scripted out the rest of this adventure and set the basic story line for at least two more. I hope every one plans on staying around for a while. :)
From: Karl
Subject Status
If it's still an open question, Salix votes for the coup de grace.
From: Kevin
Subject Status
Harp agrees. We have what we want from the creature. It is time to end it and move on.
From: Randy
Subject Status
Ran looks to Harp and nods in agreement. "Harp, will you please do as you have said and end this creatures suffering?"
Ran will turn away before the killing blow is issued and offer a prayer that the Ogre will die quickly.
From: Kevin
Subject Ogre
Harp nods, and will suggest again that the rest of the group head down the path aways and that he will catch up after he has done the deed.
From: Karl
Subject Ogre
Salix will follow the group, though he thinks Harp is shielding them unnecessarily. They have all seen and been responsible for death before. This type of action shouldn't be scapegoated to one of the group as they all share responsibility here, too. But Harp seems willing to take the action upon himself, asking no one else to share the responsibility as witnesses, so Salix will keep his peace on the matter. At the start of the journey, he might have suspected Harp's volunteering to be born of eagerness and bloodlust, but after spending time with Harp he is sure the cleric's motivation is pure. He even admires Harp's self sacrifice. He will tell him so, quietly, once the Half Orc rejoins the group.
From: Mark
Subject Map
I am attaching a map of the country you are in now. I have not had a chance to colorize this one.
You will probably need to rotate the map 90 degrees CCW to get the proper orientation. You should be able to see where this is in realitionship to the larg world map I sent out a few months ago. You can see that at this link, http://www.sakeriver.com/kalevan/viewdigest.php'select=10 , at the bottom of the post.
The pass should be obvious and your party is about half way through it. The scale on this map is 1 Hex =4 leagues, which is 12 miles.
I hope this helps.
From: Karl
Subject Map
Are we heading NNE or SSW? (I.E. towards Bhyo or towards the spot marked "Impact") And what is "impact"?
From: Mark
Subject Map
The party was on the north side of the mountains heading west. The pass goes through the mountains and the party is heading south through the pass. Towards Undulant. Impact is the "Capital" of Undulant.
From: Mark
Subject The chase continues
As the party gets ready to ride, Salix coughs to get everyone's attention. ?We aren't going to just leave it tied up here are we? We should just kill it outright if we are going to kill it at all, and you?re fooling yourselves if you think that's not what we?re doing if we leave it tied up in these woods in the condition it is in.?
The party looks at each other with a few embarrassed glances. Harp then speaks up. ?Lt. Ran, if you would get the rest of the party moving, I will take care of what needs to be done and catch up.? Ran, not happy with killing the creature in cold blood, but seeing no alternative, nods his approval and starts the group on its way. A few minutes later Harp catches up with the group, silent. Harp has killed many times before, usually in battle. Once before he was required to perform the coup de grace, and it was no easier this second time. Even though he knew it had to be done. He would have preferred defeating the creature in combat.
The day drags into monotony. The two rangers scout ahead looking for signs of the passage of the goblins. Between the two of them they keep the trail fairly easily. About the third hour of the day, Cai tells Ran ?I think that they are moving a bit slower than before. Maybe they think the ogres would deal with any pursuit. We may be able to catch up a bit quicker. At the rate they are going now, and from what I remember of the maps of the area, I would guess four days or so to catch them.? Ran seems relieved to hear that they are closing on the goblins.
There are several times during the day where the trail fades out, but since the goblins have been heading in the same direction for the past 4 days, the rangers discount that. They eventually pick up the trail again and keep moving. Bel is amazed at how easily Cai is able to track. (For info purposes only, on 9 track rolls, Cai had 7 rolls over 15 and Bel had 3. This includes the survival skill bonus.) They push on for another hour after they would normally stop, trying to close the distance faster. At that point Salix tells Ran that they need to rest the horses. Ran aggress, comforted that they are gaining ground.
As they make camp for the night, Cai points out the hills that mark the boundary of these mountains. ?We should be at the foot hills by tomorrow night and able to move on to the plains the day after. Then we will see how quickly our horses can catch up.? Salix, who has been in the part of the world a while ago, speaks up. ?If they keep heading southwest they will end up in Impact. That could cause some complications. However, we should be able to re-supply there as well. Impact is what we might call a lawless town, but it does have its rules. The first rule is ?Don't get caught?. The second rule is ?See rule 1??. He smiles grimly, remembering the time he passed through. Only Noctis's sharp eyes and his ability to move with out leaving any trace had gotten him out of that.
Again the night passes quickly. (OODM: Every one is back to full hit points.) The moon is waxing towards the full and the sky is clear. Fal thinks, ?Say what you must about the creatures and people from this country, they do have some wonderful scenery. The party is up before dawn the next morning and off again. It is another day of stunning vistas but boring riding. The rangers continue tracking the goblins, who do not seem to be trying to hide their passage. Cai comments ?If the weather had been worse we probably would have lost their trail in the mountains. Let's hope that the rain holds for at least one more day. We should be able to follow them in a bit of rain once we are close enough. (Track rolls over 15, Cai 7, Bel 4)
Since the rangers have spent all their time tracking, there has not been as much fresh food to eat. Salix does his best at finding some wild vegetables to freshen up the meals, but the party is starting to get down to eating the trail rations they all brought along. Ran is glad that there is a city that might be on their way so that they can re-supply. He starts to think on how they can do that and still keep up with the goblins.
The second night is spent talking about how they might handle the goblins when the party closes with them. Alatyr is all for a head long charge and Harp nods in agreement. Surin and Fal take a dim view of this. Nothing is decided since they have no idea what the situation will be when they finally run the goblins to ground.
The third day dawns and the party is off again. The mountains are behind them now and they are heading south west out of the foot hills and into the plains. They can see a smear far in the distance in the clear air, southwest from where they left the mountains. The goblins seem to be heading in a straight line, almost for the city. The party should be able to make Impact today. As the party follows the trail it leads them to the north of the city.(Track rolls over 15, Cai 5, Bel 4) As night falls the party finds itself just north of the city.(OODM: Right now the party is in the hex just to the north of the city of Impact.) Cai and Bel are fairly sure, baring unforeseen things; the party should be able to overtake the goblins late tomorrow.
OODM: Ok do you folks want to do anything?
From: Kevin
Subject The chase continues
OOC: Mark, the description shows plains in this area - would this be basically grassland with the occaisional tree? Basically, sufficient vegetation for Salix's entangle spell to work should we need it?
FYI, I am going to update my spell list prior to our turning in this evening.
Also, my understanding from the turn was that the goblins did not stop in the town but went north of it as we are so far.
From: Mark
Subject Map
Yes this is plains area, basically grassland, although it is still early to mid spring so the grass is not all that tall yet. There is the occasional tree. Since it is magic, there is enough vegatation for Salix's entangle.
As far as the rangers can tell the goblins have passed north of the city. They have not been able to tell if any one left the goblins and went to the city. Either becuase no one did, or becuase they failed their track rolls.
From: Kevin
Subject The goblins
Fine, but a few may have headed in, but the group as a whole stayed out of the town/city, right?
From: Mark
Subject The goblins
It is within the realm of possiblitly. I wil neither confirm or deny.
From: Kevin
Subject The chase
Harp, some time during their travels, will acknowledge Salix's comments regarding the dispatching of the ogre. "I seem to become unreasonable only when I encounter orcs. My 1/2 brothers could become so much more if only they would try to see a better way. But centuries and centuries of taking the easy way and years of the illusion of power through threats and intimidation are hard to overcome. It is one of the area in which I continue to strive to make improvement, but one where I still fall short."
Harp is torn between getting to the goblins as quickly as possible, and tyring to supplement their group by stopping in the town. He sees the nearly empty quivers of the two rangers and thinks what a great assett a couple dozen more arrows might be in a fight, especially with small creatures like goblins. A couple of well placed arrows might not bring down the ogres they just faced, but they would certainly bring down almost any goblin they encountered. Food was not really a concern, yet, as if they were able to overtake the goblins tomorrow, they could return to Impact and reprovision then. He ponders the possibility of one or two of the group breaking off to head in to town to get some arrows and some provisions and then catching up with the rest of the group the following morning.
He is pretty sure that Surin would be capable of doing do - in fact, he would probably feel right at home. However, Harp is uncomfortable suggesting that one person go into the town alone, but is also uncomfortable with splitting the group anymore than needed. He is glad that Ran will have to make this decision. Harp will add what he can to the discussion, but will go with what ever Ran decides. When he gets a chance, he will ask Ran to explain how he came to his decision, so the Harp may learn more about command.
Harp will suggest as appropriate that Salix's ability to bring the surrounding plants to life to entangle their opponents might be very usefull, especially on the wide open plains.
From: Rob
Subject The City
OOC: Mark, when we first began I was having trouble with accessing
Sakeriver, my character in particular. I remember having a discussion about arrows, but that was during the time I was having problems, so I don't think I got a chance to edit my character sheet at that time, and then I forgot about it.
I seem to remember asking if I could have brought more arrows, and could have put it on my horse, and I think you said yes.....but it isn't on the character sheets...would you rather have us buy more now, or can it still be added....I even referenced the extra arrows in a couple of my turns, I think.
Your call, it shouldn't matter since we are close to a town now. Either way I think I would suggest stopping, at least for an hour of two, to resupply.
From: Jake
Subject ogre
I've got a pile of mail to go through after this, so it may not matter, but Surin, who votes for slitting the ogre's throat, is ready to go. After the ogre's throat has been cut.
From: Jake
Subject Ogre
Surin shakes his head. He will watch as the blow is delivered.
From: Derrell
Subject Ogre
Fal is ready to go. I agree we can't take the ogre with us, but what do we do with him?
From: Derrell
Subject City
Fal would like to stock up on crossbow bolts and supplies for his spells in town in the morning. He also thinks the group should come up with a plan for dealing with the enemy once we catch up to them. He is against the idea of charging blindly into the enemy without a plan. What if they outnumber us by a considerable margin? Once we get close, it might be wise to have the birds scout ahead to see what we're facing.