Sanctuaries Overrun- Proper Game

[kladams707]

Cade let out a sigh of relief, his heart pounding from his nervousness. In face, he failed to notice that he was still on his toes, from the attempt to reach Stephen's ears. Less fights, less spells used Cade thought to himself, finally remembering to breathe. Feeling a bit more relaxed, he lowered himself so that his feet once again was flat to the ground.

[Land Outcast]

He was ready to give his life in return for the chance of retribution, a fitting prelude of blood to an announced massacre of enemies.

"Wisdom..." is life tempered by experience

This is not it... monsters crossing over my land without retribution?... warriors he says? warriors? they're but beasts... Farakas drops to his knees But I must survive, I must bring retribution to goblinkind... and I must clear the way to the great dwarven holds.

He grabs his axe I cannot allow disrespect to go unpunished and returns it to its harness and my kin comes before a small stone hold....

Without speech he also retrieves shield and crossbow, Moradin Straighten Me If I Am Wrong and only then rises back to his feet. Silent.
Stone silent.

[CyganAngel]

The Orcs sneer, then turn.

"Fight valiantly, short ones," they snarl back over their shoulders as they begin to lope away.

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That went better than expected. There were points there I expected the Orcs to attack.

[Hefty Lefty]

The cross-legged girl dimly watches as the orcs leave in peace. She picks up a small rock and throws it at the departing beasts, but it falls considerably short. "Well that was boring." Very interested with the ground around her, apparently, Riley plucks a daisy from her right and fixes it in her hair, held in place by her right ear. "I really thought you were going to do something about that, Farakas." She spies him pick up his weapons with a grimace on his face and decides to antagonize the situation. "I didn't know you were such a b*tch."

[Land Outcast]

His emotional surge was before the orcs, before the possibility of losing his home, that last piece of his tangible past... now he is calmer, and back to his senses...

Farakas rises his head and looks up to the girl.
He laughs softly but there's no joy in there.

"Wisdom is derived from life tempered with experience, girl... Ye might think ye have experience, but how long has it been since ye stopped crawlin'? ten? twenty years?" the dwarf stops for a moment and looks around, to the other companions' reactions.

"Ye're lacking it" or perhaps ye weren't strong to stand tha heat of experience an' broke...
"Even dho know better than to seek beautiful death before finishing a vow, Silverhair was right there. Ye should know better than to speak like that to those standin' by ye." and before walking towards Sventir to follow the trail, adds
"It is not wise to try an' divide us, by doin' ye're killin' tha town's last hope from inside; that's you an' me an' they: us."

No, he isn't a soft-spoken, warm dwarven priest.
While he's known mostly humans, he was raised by dwarves, and won't take offense lightly; but he isn't foolish either, won't strike down a non-dwarf for words said... and much less when each and every one counts.

[Wizibirb]

Sighing Alton emerged from his hiding spot spear still in hand, as he moved to rejoin the party he slowly put the spear back in place. He grumbled something about the big suicidal people and tempting fate. He took his place within the group and started scanning the area again...

So this is off to a swimming start wouldn't you say? He asked to no one in particular, he cast Riley a glance... he did not realize she was such a hot head ready for action... he kinda liked that in a woman. Smiling he winked at her and turned to face the front and started walking again.

[kladams707]

Cade merely stands, listening to the in-party bickering. He just shakes his head, exasperated from the patience that had obviously been exhausted. He looks to the others and sees Alton walking off. Deciding to follow, Cade's short legs move in the same direction as the other halfling, not uttering a word to the others.

[journeyman]

Stephen slowly walks back to the group, trying not to shake from the aftermath of adrenaline and nerves. He's kind of back to his somewhat oblivious self, lost in thought reviewing what just happened. He does however have a word for Riley as he passes, though he keeps his voice low."A dwarf has a very long memory. They keep their grudges like they keep their gold; close to the chest until they find the best use for it. I would not say such things if I were you."

"So, did anyone find the goblin's trail yet?"

[GFawkes]

"I think I did." Sventir says, pointing to some footprints in the ground.

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Track check
Survival Modifier: +6 (+2 for Wisdom, +4 for Ranks)
(1d20+6)[1](7)

To DM:
If I fail this check, I'll assume I found useless tracks.

[CyganAngel]

The tracks lead off to the east.

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Yes, you failed that spot check pretty badly. Luckily, I'd thought of this possibility. Keep in mind, they're blaming you if you drag anyone else into this war...

[Hefty Lefty]

Who is he to talk about my experiences, my life? I've been through much more than my years would assume. I doubt that dwarf has been homeless on the streets for four years. I doubt he's had to sacrifice the greatest gift he has to make a few copper just to eat. I doubt his weapons experience comes from defending his life against vile and seedy men looking to take advantage of a small teenage girl. I doubt he's ever seen the victim's end of two orc's primitive urges. I doubt he's ever had to cope with the emotional ramifications of such a night. So forgive me for wanting to see some vengeance on those animals. You don't know what I've been through, so don't act as if you do. These thoughts run raging through Riley's head as she furrows her brow; her rampant thoughts summarized by a mean under-the-breath "Whatever."

The young girl in white walks away from the situation frustrated. She takes another swig from her flask. The silver container has proven to be her only friend through these dark times. She spots the halfling wink at her from the side and attempts to approach this friendly face before being brought aside by Stephen. The words run through her ear and directly out the other. "I'm over it. I'm over it." Her words interrupt the message she is given. "Look, thank you, but I'm over it. I don't need to take that." She mutters mostly to herself that last part. She walks away from the crowd as they investigate some tracks. She raises her hands behind her head. Again, she begins to cry. She instantly tries to stop the tears from flowing. What did I get myself into? I should've known I can't handle this. "No. Come on. Stop it." The words come out in an audible whisper, and Riley herself seems a bit surprised at the sound. Stop it. You've been messing everything up in the group since you got here. Just stop talking and stop making problems for everyone. She wipes her eyes with her fair-skinned arm, composes herself as best as she can, and approaches the tracks with the group. She honestly has no idea what the tracks are, but she pretends to examine them as everyone else is. If I just do as they do, maybe they'll forgive me for causing such trouble...

[kladams707]

Cade notices the lack of footsteps behind him and halts. He looks behind him to see the others still discussing. Still a bit exasperated from their previous encounter, he chooses not to walk back. He hesitates to speak though, working up the courage to speak with a big voice. FInally he says Are you just going to let the two of us wander off? he says with a half-hearted smile, making sure they could all hear him.

[journeyman]

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry."

The embarrased northman snaps out of his reverie and hustles to catch up with the leaders. Since the others seem similarly wrapped up in their own internal concerns, he tries to make up for his apparent inattention with a quick question...or two....or three....

"So, how do you track? I've never been out with the hunters, so I've never seen it done before. Isn't it hard to find prints away from snow and mud? How do you tell which ones are the ones that you are looking for?"

(OOC: He assumes that they took off because they found tracks, since that was the last question he asked. He isn't all that good at understanding what people really mean.)

[kladams707]

"Track?" Cade inquired almost as if Stephen had spoken a foreign language. "I think Alton took off in the direction we were headed before we stopped." He looks down at the ground for a brief second before adding sheepishly "I followed, perhaps foolishly."

[journeyman]

"Sort of like what I just did, huh?" Stephen notes with a self-depreciating chuckle. "Alton thinks we're all dead men walking, so he might not want to make any friends right now. You should probably leave him alone for a little while. Besides, I think Sventir said he found some tracks. C'mon, maybe we can both learn something."

He won't push the issue, but the young man clearly hopes to have made another friend. He'll wait a moment for a response either way and then head back to Sventir to repeat his questions. He has a knack for picking things up quickly and now he's getting curious. That, and maybe after his usefulness as a translator, he'll finally manage to talk to a real hunter without getting blown off or patronized.

[Wizibirb]

Alton tried to muffle the sigh, he had hoped to convince the group to follow him AWAY from danger but it seemed like that plan had failed. Grumbling he corrected his course to make sure he was with the rest of the group. He casts a look at Stephen, It is a bloody suicide mission... There have been whole cities wiped out! And all they send is a rag tag team of idiots who can't even tell which direction to go! he sighed and shook his head, he wished he hadn't been caught. More than that, he wished people wouldn't talk about him like he wasn't standing more than two feet away.

After a moment he spoke again, So what is your areas of expertise?

[journeyman]

Well this was a surprise. Maybe he had misjudged the misanthropic halfling after all. Stephen'll slow his walk even further so he can talk to Alton on the way over to Sventir.

"I'm a skald, so mostly my role is to keep the wisdom of the elders and inspire the warriors with song. More specifically, I'm well versed in ancient mysteries, magic traditions, arcane symbols, cryptic phrases, constructs, dragons, magical beasts, aberrations, caverns, oozes, spelunking, legends, personalities, inhabitants, laws, customs, traditions, humanoids, animals, fey, giants, monstrous humanoids, plants, seasons and cycles, weather, vermin, gods and goddesses, mythic history, ecclesiastic tradition, holy symbols, undead, the Inner Planes, the Outer Planes, the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, outsiders, elementals, and spells in general."

He catches his breathe after the full recital.

"I pretty much memorized anything anyone in my clan knew about the outside world, which doesn't seem to have included much of its history or geography, but I'm learning as I go along. Believe it or not, I also dance."

He looks rather proud of that last point.

"You could be a bit more confident. I'm sure that those cities did a lot of wiping out of their own at the time. There might not be nearly that many goblins left. After all, they also have to compete with the gnolls, orcs, drow, undead, ogres, and trolls out here. They've probably taken heavy casualties already. So, what is your area of expertise?"

(He's totally oblivious to the fact that that last point might not be encouraging.)

[kladams707]

Cade merely nods in response to Stephen's suggestion as the walk back toward Sventir. He listens and smiles, laughing a bit inwardly at the skald's longwinded explanation as to his specialization in the group. Not wishing to interrupt, he remains silent to allow for Alton's exposition to his role within.

[Wizibirb]

Alton had a look of pure disbelief, Doesn't it then surprise you that they are still able to push forward. That they could keep coming? That there is no end to the horde? As he spoke he attempted to demonstrate his skill set, he attempted to lift Stephens wallet. As he attempted to do that he continued to speak hoping to keep him distracted. As you know I was caught thieving, so I guess you could say that my talents lie in stealth and trickery.

Spoiler

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(1d20)[13] Total -20

Woot! so I lifted his purse! now dc 25 spot check to notice (+5 for being distracted)

[Hefty Lefty]

Area of expertise? Riley looked down at her body. Her white dress tried to hide her pale white skin. She ran her hand through he thick, blond, shimmering hair. She took a long drink from her water skin. Upon latching the canteen back onto her belt, the dress supported loosely on her shoulder fell. She quickly caught it and studied the manner in which she was clothed. Her dress generously highlighted her figure. The length of the dress has caught many an eye. After all, that was the point. I suppose... this... is my area of expertise. For good or for bad. Examining her body and clothes, she made her way down to her curvaceous hips, upon which rested her short swords. In the privacy of the back of the party, she quickly grabbed them both and threw herself into a battle position. Her dress flew in the motion. Her light hair gracefully fell into her face. She smiled with a devious smirk. Maybe the combination of these is my expertise. She swings her left hand down in a swift strike, in the process bending down and a revealing to her imaginary enemy the cleavage of her dress. She throws her head back with a heartfelt laugh. This is gonna be fun.

[Land Outcast]

Farakas keeps walking in silence, following Sventir. Apparently lost in thought, he is alert, waiting for the orcs to turn around at a moment's notice or for a goblin scout to jump from behind a rock.

[journeyman]

Alton had a look of pure disbelief, Doesn't it then surprise you that they are still able to push forward? That they could keep coming? That there is no end to the horde?

Stephen lights up with enthusiasm at the stream of questions from the halfling. He'd heard that they were curious, but this one either has an expansive interest in the reasons behind current events...or he's asking rhetorical questions. Completely unable to distinguish between the two, the skald once again errs on the side of preference and answers to the best of his ability. Besides, walking and talking at the same time is actually kind of pleasant.

(OOC: I'm not going to bother with the spot roll, I'd need a nat 20 anyway.)

"It would actually surprise me if they didn't keep pushing forward. They don't have a choice. Goblins don't farm land or raise livestock, they only hunt or scavenge. If there are even a fraction of the number you think there were, they must eat up all the food in any given area fairly quickly. To avoid running out, they must either split up into much smaller groups over a large area or the entire group must move on together. Those are the times when they attack towns, because a town is the only place where food is concentrated enough to feed such a horde for even a short while. When they fail to take a town, they at least have less mouths to feed. Even so, without food reserves to fall back on, the survivors of these raids must be spreading out to forage. So, unless the bugbears are managing to ration food, the goblin horde has no choice but to disperse between attacks."

The young man smiles at his new friends and makes an effort to figure out if anyone else has become interested or if he's lost his audience already. Either way, he'll drive on to the conclusion quickly enough so he can ask Sventir about the tracks they're now following.

"Any one of us should be more than a match for a goblin. So, as long as we use tracking and scouting to limit the number we face at a time, we should have free reign through their territory for some time. If we can find and kill the bugbears, the goblins may even lack the leadership to come together in a horde. At that point we can pretty much act freely as long as we are careful to leave no survivors and not get caught. Given your expertise, I expect you'll find these kind of raids much more to your liking than whatever sort of suicide charge you were expecting. Northmen value cunning as an equal to strength. I have every intention of living to be old and gray, tending the camp and telling stories to my grandchildren."

[kladams707]

Cade listens as Stephen shows off his insight in goblins and strategy. He smiles a bit, semi-appreciating Stephens perspercacity, albeit a bit wordy. Feeling a bit more relaxed around the group, he quickly quips "Well, make sure you survive, else you'll have no grandkids to tell your tales." He winks, making sure he conveys a good-hearted demeanor and connotation to the innocuous statement.

[Wizibirb]

Alton rolled his eyes, he had a hard time believing that this man could believe things would just go well.... It did not matter though he would do what he had to.

He wondered if he should give him his money pouch back just yet, but decided that it could wait.