a Very (un)Common Quest -ic

[Trivino]

It appears to be a typical Thursday in the small town of Ro. However, local legend Val is on edge. He has called for a town meeting and paces nervously as the peasants gather at the town square.

[Chilingsworth]

Jackson

So, what news? Did that bear follow me here?

[Newcomer]

Ellie hears about the town meeting, and surely wants to be there. But will they let kids into this meeting? She decides to sneak in where no one will see her, to make sure she can hear what's going on. She looks for an ideal place to hide, and finds that someone left a cart on the edge of the square, near enough to where Val will undoubtedly be speaking that hearing shouldn't be a problem. She picks an opportune moment and ducks into the cart.

Spoiler

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Hide: (1d20+8)[25]

[nersxe]

Charles hovers at the edges of the square. He's not much for big groups of people like this; he's at his best one-on-one, or in small bunches. He watches the people around him, trying to smile in response to this greeting or that nod.

[moskeeto]

Tommy hurriedly dropped off a barrel at the tavern and rushed for the town square. Tommy edged his way through the crowd to be right by Val. As Val readied to speak to the small town, Tommy felt an unfamiliar ping of excitement build up inside of him.

[Trivino]

Val chuckled at Jackson's inquiry. "Not quite, my dear friend."
Val waited for the crowds to settle before addressing the growing mass.

"My dear people of Ro, I have been informed that there is an Orcish army heading this way. We must be wise in the handling of this situation. We do not need to run heedless and unprepared into battle."

As Val took a moment to choose his next words, an unfamiliar man ran through the small town. He quickly made his way to Val and whispered in the man's ears. After a quiet moment, Val looked back to the crowd and thanked the stranger.

"I have just been informed that the Orcs are heading over now. They will be by here soon! Before we take any course of action, I need input. What shall we do? Shall we inform the king, or shall we stay and fight?"

[nersxe]

Charles

Charles bites into his lip. He dithers a bit, fingering the pouch of sling stones at his side. He knows he can take down a few orcs on his own, but also knows the rest of the village is full of farmers and tradesmen, not hunters such as he.

"Send-" His voice cracks, and he coughs. "Send our fastest runner to the king! If the orcs are at our gates, we haven't enough time to get the oldsters and children out, but we can defend them and pray by the grace of the gods that help arrives in time!

[Chilingsworth]

Jackson

Does the village have an armory of any kind? My master taught me to use a crossbow, but the bear broke it.

[Newcomer]

Ellie gasps. Orcs! How can we stop an army?!

[Dudeons]

"Gods," Aaron thinks as he walks into the town square, "There had better something important happening here, something to give me reason for abandoning the graveyard."

Aaron walks towards the town square, where several people are gathered around. There's a man Aaron recognizes in the center, Val.

"...there is an Orcish army heading this way..." Val was saying.

This caught Aaron's attention, briefly taking his mind off of the graveyard that was surely being ravaged by some intruder. Maybe that brat Ellie finally got up the nerve to sneak in while all the adults were out at this meeting.

"...Shall we inform the king, or shall we stay and fight?"

Now this question started to make Aaron wonder a bit. He stayed back a long ways, trying to find some of the darker shadows of the area to avoid notice.

"An army," Aaron thinks, "If we stand and fight, it will produce no shortage of deaths and work me to the bone. How is one town to stand before an army?

Spoiler

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Hide check
(1d20+1)[11]

[moskeeto]

As the crowd began to murmur, Tommy slowly raised his hand.

"I... I'm not sure that staying behind to fight would b-b-be wise. Perhaps we should m-make an effort to move everyone to the king?"

Tommy nervously scratched his head as he finished.

[Trivino]

Val looked over to Jackson. "We do not have an armory here, Jackson. You know that. However, Morgana, do we have anything that can help us with these Orcs?"

A brunette stepped forward and brushed a long strand of hair from her face. "I don't have anything of particular use, I'm afraid. I just have some basic supplies. New shipment wouldn't come in until tomorrow."

Val let out a slow exhale in response. "Well, I guess that's that. Now what about Tommy's suggestion? Do you all believe evacuation would be the best course of action?"

[Chilingsworth]

Jackson

Evacuation would probably be the best course. Still, don't we have some obligation to the kingdom? Can we do anything that might slow the orcs down a little? Maybe rig up some sort of booby-traps?

[nersxe]

Charles

Charles bites his lip, but speaks up. "I don't know about traps, but I can slow them down. I'm good at hiding, and I've got a good arm."

[Newcomer]

I'm good at hiding, too! I'll be your assistant, thought Ellie. The orcs sounde scary, but she'd have Charles there to guide her and keep her safe.

[Trivino]

Val smirked at Charles's offer, but shook his head. "I can hold back the Orcs. I've still got some fight in me. Besides, you will need all the help you can get with evacuating everyone. Now, make quick work of getting your things together, my dear friends. It is time for you to leave."

As the crowd began to disperse, Val unsheathed his oversized sword, eyes focused on the hills.

[nersxe]

Charles

Charles takes a deep breath, and steps forward. "No. I won't leave you to face them alone, Val. If you insist, I'll run after I fell a few, but this is my village, too."

[moskeeto]

Tommy watched in amazement at Charles's courage. He felt a strange emotion rise up inside of him, pushing him towards Val.

"I... I will stay and fight as well."

[Chilingsworth]

Jackson

Val, you and the others took me in. I don't want to abandon you, either.

[Newcomer]

Out of the cart pops Ellie, much to the others' surprise. "If you lot can't find me, neither can the orcs. I can help, too!"

[Dudeons]

Aaron watches as man after man proclaims that they would stay behind to fight. Astonished, he watches Val telling everyone that they would leave soon. Then he watches Ellie pop out of a cart nearby.

"Well, looks like she's not invading my cemetery.," Aaron thought, "At least SOMETHING is going well today. But what to do here? I have no interest in dying, not while there are still men for me to bury in this world."

[redzimmer]

Randolph

With hay still in his hair from the loft he squatted in the night before, Randolph wanders to the town square.

"Huh. Did I miss something? harvest fair start already?"

The stares that meet his question range from incredulous to scorn to outright hatred. Having not great store of common sense, all this washes right over Randolph's head.

[Trivino]

Val looked over to Randolph, slightly confused. He quickly brushed off the late-comer and looked to the rest of brave souls that had stepped forward. He gave a quick nod of affirmation and smiled.

"I would be honored to have you all fight by my side. As for the rest of you, please head for the castle."

Val watched as the rest of the village began making their way for the castle. Before long, it was just Val and the brave villagers. On the nearby hills, a large number of Orcs began to appear. They were charging... and fast!


(prepare for battle)

[nersxe]

Charles

Charles nodded jerkily, unable to speak past the lump of fear in his throat. He pulled one of his sling stones from his pouch and readied it, starting to swing the sling in anticipation.

Spoiler

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Held action: First orc within 100' gets a sling bullet to the face.

[Dudeons]

"They've come already?," Aaron thinks as he sees the orcs in the distance. Aaron turns and runs back to his graveyard, going into his crude hut immediately. He knows he'll need a weapon if they come here. He grabs his shovel and steps out, waiting for the orcs to come into the graveyard.

[redzimmer]

Randolph

In a hungover haze, Val's words only slowly begin to seep into Randolph's thick head.

Orcs?

Knowing Val has at least some combat prowess, he vows to stay near the man at all costs. He takes up his walking stick and brandishes it in a way that he hopes looks menacing.

"I am behind you all the way!"

[inexorabletruth]

Town meeting... pfft. thought Rodney as he checked the fishing lines tied to his big toes to make sure there was still bait on the end of his lines. Everyone had gone. Even the tavern was shut down. Probably some land dispute, or some celebrity politician coming to visit. So, he had decided to make the best of it and try his luck at the nearby fishing pond. With the whole town hushed, he might actually catch some nice perch for dinner. He leaned back and chomped into a particularly juicy pear, then closed his eyes as a calm breeze chilled the dribbling nectar from his chin.

"Leave it, I don' care! Let's just go!"

Rodney's left eye pops open at the unwarranted disturbance to his rest. A donkey brays nearby, and he jolts up and wipes his chin. "Heh... looks like my moment's peace is already over." He looks down at his fishing lines with a frown. "Damn... they scared the fish."

Rodney unties his strings and stands up to a sight he'd never before seen. The entire town... on the move. Mothers wrangling children, fathers throwing valuables into carts, some people just untying horses and riding off. What could cause such an exodus? Rodney runs into town half expecting to see the whole thing on fire.

What he saw instead was dust... the dust of a horde approaching, while Val and a group of friends hold a grim last line of defense to protect the evacuees. He drops his pear and fishing line and beelines to his cottage, thrusting supplies and clothes into his pack, breathing short and heavy in a panic and spewing vulgarities. He grabs his crossbow and pauses, thinking about his friends... "To hell with them... they're choice to hold the line." and slings his crossbow over his shoulder, then continues to shove some food rations into his pack. "They know what they're doing. It's their own fault if they get themselves killed." He says, trying to convince himself. He heads out the door and sees Charles load his sling. "He's good with a sling," Rodney thinks. "They'll be fine." Then he sees Ellie. Even a kid? He slams a fist against the door jam and curses once more, then charges of towards the motley militia.

"Aaron, Randolf, Tommy! What in the nine hells is going on? Are we being raided?"

Not waiting longer than necessary to hear an answer, he unslings his crossbow and begins to load it. "What can I do to help?"

[Newcomer]

While the villagers are starting to leave, Ellie comes up with a plan for battle. She knows she won't be much use in hand-to-hand combat, but she has a few useful skills.

Ellie selects a tree near where the remaining fighters are standing (preferably off to the side a little). She sets up her caltrops (usually just toys for her) under the tree, where she thinks the orcs would come from, and proceeds to hide them under a layer of leaves. Then she climbs up high and hides herself in the thick branches. Before she settles into a waiting crouch, she also ties one end of her rope around a strong bough, in case she needs to make a quick escape. Finally, she draws her sling and waits, while a rush of adrenaline and fear flows through her.

Spoiler

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I'm assuming there is enough time to prepare this much, since the orcs were spotted not long after all of the other villagers finished departing. If that's not the case, I'll adjust Ellie's actions.

She'll hook a rope around a branch to help her climb, then take 10 for 11.
I don't know which skill to use for hiding the caltrops.
For herself, she'll take 10 for an 18 Hide.
For Use Rope, I think taking 10 for a 13 is enough.

[Chilingsworth]

Jackson

Feeling singularly useless, Jackson tries the only thing he's come up with so far:

He heads first to Morganna's, then to the tavern, looking for any flammable liquids. If he finds any, he starts making crude firebombs out of them.

[Elrihm]

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Wow, this is being posted fast! I didn't get a chance to get on until now, and I guess i'm going to be fighting orcs because of that.

EDIT: BTW, using the spike trap from DMG 2 under booby traps. Or whatever traps can be scavenged.

Aldaer the smith will stroll up, his pipe burning with heady fumes, his bare feet kicking up dirt from the road, and sees the group preparing for war.

"What in the forgotten is going on?"

As he pulls his pipe out of his mouth, then tamps it out, he looks around, and sees the orcs coming over the distant hills.

"Damnation....."

The glowing crystal floating after him flickers a bit, and gives a bit of a "Bwoo?". For a moment the man's eyes flicker to the retreating villagers, and the over to the group remaining.

"No, I do not.", he responds, "It's not our problem, it's our Kings's", he says, the contempt dripping from his words.

The crystal glows a bit brighter, and the responding chirp is much louder.

"FINE! Fine, we'll fight, and die and then how will you like it?", he throws his hands up in the air, and walks over.

"I can set up some quick traps, if you have the materials. Make it snappy though, I'll need all the time I have.", he offers to Val, "Alternatively, I can conjur up a large quantity of some lethal poisons if you have any means to use it." The crystal behind him glows smugly.