Maverick of the Outlands - The North Expedition

[Medic!]

Brother Derry

The monk eagerly pours himself out of the saddle, grasping the reings in one hand, and strides towards the nearest Lizardfolk. "Take the damned thing! You'd be doing me a favor!" He thrusts the reigns out towards the center Lizardfolk with the javelin in hand.

[Aldurin]

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Quoeak's checks

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Knowledge Geography and History:
Lizardfolk are well known as one of the savage races that were pushed into the Outlands during the settlement of Arcopolis. Their usual habitat is supposed to be swamp and marsh areas.
Knowledge Nature:
The surrounding forest consists mostly of coniferous trees growing on what would otherwise be plains. It's definitely not the optimal environment for lizardfolk.
Knowledge Religion:
Lizardfolk religion can vary, and is often imposed by a stronger race of creatures. There is nothing to indicate whether or not these lizardfolk are religious.
Bardic Knowledge:
It's very odd to see lizardfolk outside of their preferred environment. You don't know why they wouldn't continue searching for an area that's at least more humid and instead hunt in the forests.

Spot and Listen checks:
You notice nothing out of place, but then you hear the growling of one of the lizardfolk's stomach, provoking closer examination. Though you're not entirely sure, the lizardfolk look rather frail, and you can almost see the ribcage in some of them.

"HALT!"

Cutter casually takes his bow from his back while talking.

"We can't give them to you. We're following a dangerous fugutive and he could be a threat to us all. Now really, we are only a small group, but if we were not to return succesfully, an army will surely follow. Now my question to you is. Do you really want to risk having an army come through your lands, or would you rather help us succeed and keep your semi-peaceful existance."

Andrew draws his rapier, and prepares to dismount, if necessary, while speaking to the tallest lizardfolk.

"Unfortunately, my companion has the right of it. We have a mission of great importance, and we cannot halt. If you make us do so, we will respond with lethal force; however, if you let us go upon our way, we will not trouble you again, and we can both make our ways peacefully."

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Diplomacy:(1d20+7)[25]

The lizardfolk look confused and begin muttering to each other in Draconic.

For Quoeak and probably Minus (no bonus languages are listed but no wizard in their right mind turns down draconic).

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"What did they say?"
"I dunno, I think they're bounty hunters."
"Bounty hunters? Are you sure?"
"Either way, we should kill them just to be safe. But wait for them to give up their stuff before we do."

Brother Derry

The monk eagerly pours himself out of the saddle, grasping the reings in one hand, and strides towards the nearest Lizardfolk. "Take the damned thing! You'd be doing me a favor!" He thrusts the reigns out towards the center Lizardfolk with the javelin in hand.

You see the lizardfolk's eyes widen and his mouth begin to drool when he looks at the horse up close. Suddenly he rushes the horse and tries to bite into it. In response, the horse rears up and kicks at the lizardfolk, hitting him squarely in the face. The javelin-user hits the ground, unmoving. The others on that side are stunned for a moment, unsure of what to do, and left side trio shouts over to check if they're ok, checking their grip on their weapons while they do.

Surprise Round (you can post regardless of order this round)!
Initiative:
Minus: (1d20+7)[25]
Quoeak: (1d20+2)[16]
Cutter: (1d20+8)[16]
Andrew: (1d20+3)[10]
Brother Derry: (1d20+2)[19]

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-L---C-A---L-
-L----Q-H-*--
-L---M--D--L-
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The asterisk is the lizardfolk that boldly did battle with the horse. The "H" is Brother Derry's horse.

[TaiLiu]

"<Either way, we should kill them just to be safe. But wait for them to give up their stuff before we do.>"

Those words echoed in my head again and again. We had to kill them before they killed us. This was an optimal time for action.

But what were those lizardfolk doing here? This was no swamp.

Then, I remembered their growling stomachs. Of course!

Hunger. That was why they wandered out; that was why they were attacking us and taking our money and our horses.

Do I risk my life and ask them why, or do I kill them and risk a valuable source of knowledge that could potentially led us to Maverick?

...I liked living.

I hopped off my pasty coloured horse and wielded my walking stick as threateningly as possible. Then, I started reciting a dwarven epic in the goblin language.

"U', muk uku, dr'n' 'uk u rukno, rukno t'unv..."

I just hoped that my grunting was passable for words of encouragement...

Rolls or Technical Stuff:

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Quoeak hops off his horse. This is a move action.
Quoeak begins Inspire Courage. This is a standard action.

Everyone that can hear Quoeak receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Translation: ("Once, long ago, there was a hungry, hungry dwarf...")

Current Character Sheet:

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Quoeak Moonshadow
Male Neutral Good Half Elf Bard, Level 1, Init +2, HP 7/7, Speed 30 Feet
AC 13, Touch11, Flat-footed 11, Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +4, Base Attack Bonus 0
Whip +1 (1d3 (Nonlethal), ×2)
Shortbow, Composite (Arrows (40)) +2 (1d6, ×3)
Quarterstaff +1 (1d6/1d6, Medium) (1d6+1/1d6+1)
Leather Armour (+2 Armor, +2 Dex, -1 Misc)
Abilities Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 17
Condition None

[Medic!]

Brother Derry

"It's regretable, but we can't let you slow us down here."

The monk lashes out in a furious routine of sweeping arms, seeking a knock-out blow and hoping to avoid a fatal strike against the hungry creatures.

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Using Flurry of Blows for a standard action full attack, starting with the near lizard and moving to the next if he drops, and he's within reach (the heroic monk thing says you can move 10ft between attacks, dunno how you want that done during a surprise round, if at all). Going for non-lethal damage at this point.

Attack 1 - (1d20)[9]
Crit Confirmation - (1d20)[11]
Bludgeon Damage - (1d6+3)[6]
Critical Damage - (1d6+3)[7]

Attack 2 - (1d20)[16]
Crit Confirmation - (1d20)[3]
Bludgeon Damage - (1d6+3)[5]
Critical Damage - (1d6+3)[9]

Attack 3 - (1d20)[11]
Crit Confirmation - (1d20)[3]
Bludgeon Damage - (1d6+3)[9]
Critical Damage - (1d6+3)[9]

[white rider]

Minus groans as he hears the lizardfolk talking.
"So be it! Ha!"
Minus barks out an incantation, and a large badger materializes in between Minus and the lizardfolk to his left. With a command from Minus, it lunges at the lizardman.
(1d20+5)[12], (1d2)[1] damage.

[Urist]

Andrew's eyes narrow at the lizardfolks attack, and any hint of goodwill that existed in them suddenly vanishes.

"Well, you've brought this upon yourselves... Let's make quick work of these scum, men, we have a fugitive to catch!"

That said, Andrew leaps from his saddle, and prepares himself for combat.

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Making a Ride check to dismount as a free action. If Andrew makes it, he will charge the lizardfolk to the right(partial charge).

Ride:(1d20+3)[10](DC 20)

Attack: (1d20+9)[13]
Crit Confirm(1d20+9)[10]
Damage:(1d6+3)[8]
Crit Damage(if applicable)(1d6)[2]+2d10[/roll]

[Moranica]

".....", Cutter just acts, knowing the talking is over.

He fires at the nearest lizardman.

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Bow (1d20+5)[17]; (1d8+3)[9] damage

[Aldurin]

Quoeak's song helps the fight, letting the others strike a little better, though how well they make use of it is limited.

Minus' spell goes off perfectly but the badger's claws only hit the dense scales of the lizardfolk it strikes.

Brother Derry's manages to land one punch that knocks the wind out of the lizardfolk but doesn't knock it down, and the other two strikes hit air.

Cutter shows some great accuracy, firing a shot that hits his target in the heart, the lizardfolk falling over with little more than a grunt.

Andrew stumbles at getting off his horse and hits the ground off balance, and spends the next moment regaining his balance.

The remaining lizardfolk are slow to react and remain surprised for a moment.

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Everyone except Andrew gets another round before enemy initiative kicks in.

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-X---C-HA--L-
-L----Q-H-*--
-LB--M----DL-
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X is the dead lizardfolk, H represents unmanned horses, B is for the badger summon.

[Medic!]

Brother Derry

Brother Derry lashes out at the Lizardman with less-than-lethal force once more, his arms windmilling with frightening speed.

If the nearest Lizardman drops, he moves to the next, continuing his routine.

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Flurry of Blows! With 10 ft movement to set the next Lizardman up for a flank with Andrew if the first drops (and using any remaining attacks on the 2nd Lizardman). Still non-lethal damage.

Attack 1 - (1d20)[17]
Critical Confirmation - (1d20)[15]
Bludgeon Damage - (1d6+3)[6]
Critical Damage - (1d6+3)[8]

Attack 2 - (1d20)[10]
Critical Confirmation - (1d20)[20]
Bludgeon Damage - (1d6+3)[4]
Critical Damage - (1d6+3)[5]

Attack 3 - (1d20)[5]
Critical Confirmation - (1d20)[11]
Bludgeon Damage - (1d6+3)[8]
Critical Damage - (1d6+3)[8]

[Moranica]

Quickly Cutter draws out his next arrow and fires at the one next to his first victim.

He whispers: "You really should have run." and let's loose.

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Bow (1d20+5)[25]; (1d8+3)[5]

[Moranica]

Crit!

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Confirming (1d20+5)[10] ; (2d8+6)[11] damage

[white rider]

Minus fires his crossbow at the lizardman to the right of his badger, reloading with a click.

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(1d20+3)[4], (1d8)[2] damage

The badger claws and bites at the lizardman once again.

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claw 1: (1d20+4)[10], (1d2)[2] damage
claw 2: (1d20+4)[11], (1d2)[2] damage
bite: (1d20-1)[14], (1d3)[3] damage

Edit: sorry, forgot the +1 to attack and damage

[TaiLiu]

"Ut kr' ud' ut ud' ut ud'!"

My companions were making quick work of those lizardfolk, shooting and punching and biting and scratching.

"Sudr'n," no't u ouuk romt. "Dr'n''k drud sukd'n - drud b'nb'duummo rukno t'unv!"

It seemed that we had a competent archer, martial artist, magician, and some fumbling horseback rider.

"u!" dr' du'kb'ubm' no't. "Uun nubk un' p'ok 'ud' po Momo dr' Rukno!"

They seemed calmed and prepared, as if they trained for battle day and night. They weren't afraid like me; they weren't huddled next to their horse, fearful of the lizardfolk.

Momo muukr't ud dr' P'ukd. "O p'd O uumt 'ud ouu ub o u' pod'!"

They were either psychopaths or war heroes, experienced with battle.

Rolls or Technical Stuff:

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Quoeak concentrates on Inspire Courage. This is a standard action.
Quoeak uses Total Defence. This gives him a +4 dodge bonus to his AC for 1 round. This is a standard action.

Everyone that can hear Quoeak receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Translations:
(And she ate and ate and ate!)
("Mother," cried a young child. "There's that monster - that perpetually hungry dwarf!")
("No!" the townspeople cried. "Our crops are being eaten by Lily the Hungry!")
(Lily laughed at the Beast. "I bet I could eat you up in one bite!")

Current Character Sheet:

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Quoeak Moonshadow
Male Neutral Good Half Elf Bard, Level 1, Init +2, HP 7/7, Speed 30 Feet
AC 13 17, Touch 11 15, Flat-footed 11, Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +4, Base Attack Bonus 0
Whip +1 (1d3 (Nonlethal), ×2)
Shortbow, Composite (Arrows (40)) +2 (1d6, ×3)
Quarterstaff +1 (1d6/1d6, Medium) (1d6+1/1d6+1)
Leather Armour (+2 Armor, +2 Dex, -1 Misc)
Abilities Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 17
Condition None

[Aldurin]

Brother Derry finally manages to subdue the Lizardfolk, who falls unconscious to the ground.

Cutter's arrow hits the javelin-user straight-on, but only wounds him.

Minus' crossbow bolt misses entirely, but the badger manages to sink his teeth into the lizardfolk he was attacking, the creature screaming in pain. (You forgot to consider Augment summoning into the Badger's rolls.)

Quoeak continues to support the others and remains wary.

Their brains finally turning on, the Lizardfolk begin to react. The lizardfolk that's afflicted with a severe case of badger struggles against the creature, drawing a lot of blood and making the badger angrier. The remaining Javelin lizardfolk tries to retaliate against Cutter, but his throw is rather pathetic and the javelin clatters on the ground and skids right under Cutter's horse. The lizardfolk on the top left charges in and attacks Andrew, managing to strike with the club.

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Ok, Andrew then everyone else can go, since the slowest lizardfolk was incapacitated all of your turns are consecutive now.

Andrew takes 4 damage from the lizardfolk. I forgot to consider spell duration for summon monster, so the badger keeps the extra turn but disappears when Minus moves (so no more actions from the badger).

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-X---C-HAL---
-L----Q-H-*--
-LB--M----D*-
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X is the dead lizardfolk, H represents unmanned horses, B is for the badger summon.

[Urist]

Andrew, snarling at the pain of the club injury, lashes put at the lizard folk with his rapier, aiming to for the heart.

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Attack:(1d20+8)[9]
Crit Confirmation:(1d20+8)[24]
Damage:(1d6+4)[5]
Crit Damage:(2d6+8)[13]+(2d10)[8]

[white rider]

Minus swears as his badger disappears in a puff of smoke, before reloading his crossbow and firing it at the lizardman his badger injured.

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(1d20+3)[13] edit: derp, forgot the bard. That's 14, and 2 damage
(1d8)[1] damage

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Also, you know that one lizardfolk is CR 1, and thus six are something like CR 3 or 4, right?

[Moranica]

Cutter just keeps them arrows flying.

Targetting the wounded lizardman, he let's loose.

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(1d20+7)[12]; (1d8+5)[11]

Forgot +1's from bard and point blank range.

[TaiLiu]

Lizardfolk fall and bleed everywhere.

The fumbling horseman is now a fumbling swordsman. Nice rapier, though.

While everyone else is fighting, I continue my epic while asking the nearest lizardfolk if he loved me in Draconic.

Rolls or Technical Stuff:

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Quoeak concentrates on Inspire Courage. This is a standard action.
Quoeak Feints the nearest lizardfolk. If he succeeds, the lizardfolk will lose it's Dexterity bonus to AC. This is a standard action.

Roll for the Feinting: (1d20+7)[14]

Everyone that can hear Quoeak receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls.

Current Character Sheet:

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Quoeak Moonshadow
Male Neutral Good Half Elf Bard, Level 1, Init +2, HP 7/7, Speed 30 Feet
AC 13 17, Touch 11 15, Flat-footed 11, Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +4, Base Attack Bonus 0
Whip +1 (1d3 (Nonlethal), ×2)
Shortbow, Composite (Arrows (40)) +2 (1d6, ×3)
Quarterstaff +1 (1d6/1d6, Medium) (1d6+1/1d6+1)
Leather Armour (+2 Armor, +2 Dex, -1 Misc)
Abilities Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 17
Condition None

[Aldurin]

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Tailiu: You technically shouldn't be able to both concentrate and feint in the same round, but that's a pretty interesting way to go about it so I'll allow it for this case.

Brother Derry moves to assist Andrew, striking at the lizardfolk from behind in attempt to subdue it. The lizardfolk takes a moment to register what Quoeak just said, and then he stops and his face wrinkles up as he tries to process what just happened, taking a punch to the back of the head, lucky enough that Andrew's rapier hit his scales instead of piercing.

Minus' crossbow shot hits the bottom left lizardfolk right on his bite mark, causing it to hiss in pain but otherwise causing little damage.

Cutter's shot barely skids by the other lizardfolk, leaving a minor cut.

The the lizardfolk on the right gets really pissed off by Quoeak's feint, and tries to charge him. Fortunately this leaves Brother Derry and Andrew a chance to attack it, and both their strike connect, leaving the wounded lizardfolk unconcious.

The middle left lizardfolk limps over to his fallen comrade and takes his club, and attempts to shuffle over to Cutter.

The lower left lizardfolk picks his club back up and moves toward Minus, bleeding heavily and full of anger.

Map:

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-X--LC-HA*--
------Q-HD*--
----LM-----*-
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[Moranica]

Realising he is now in melee, Cutter readies another arrow at point blank range.

And let's loose, giving the arrow only 3 feet of air to pick up speed before reaching it's target.

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(1d20+7)[18]; (1d8+5)[11]

[Urist]

Andrew, emboldened by striking the lizardfolk he was engaged with, charges the remaining one, weaving through his allies to help surround the lizardfolk before stabbing at it heartily.

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To clarify, that's the lizard folk on the lower left that Andrew's charging.
Attack:(1d20+10)[29]
Crit Confirm: [roll]1d20+10[roll]
Damage:(1d6+4)[8]
Crit Damage(2d6+8)[14]+(2d10)[18]

[white rider]

Minus, seeing the Lizardman close to melee range, Minus dismounts to the other side of his horse and fires his crossbow at the beast once again.

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(1d20+4)[20]
(1d8+1)[8] damage

[TaiLiu]

I grab my whip and attempt to trip the angry lizardfolk with the club.

Rolls or Technical Stuff:

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Quoeak grabs his whip; this is a move action.
Quoeak trips the lizardfolk; this is a standard action.

Quoeak makes a melee touch attack: (1d20+3)[22]

Everyone that can hear Quoeak receives a +1 morale bonus on saving throws against charm and fear effects and a +1 morale bonus on attack and weapon damage rolls. This effect will last for four more rounds.

Current Character Sheet:

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Quoeak Moonshadow
Male Neutral Good Half Elf Bard, Level 1, Init +2, HP 7/7, Speed 30 Feet
AC 13 17, Touch 11 15, Flat-footed 11, Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +4, Base Attack Bonus 0
Whip +1 (1d3 (Nonlethal), ×2)
Shortbow, Composite (Arrows (40)) +2 (1d6, ×3)
Quarterstaff +1 (1d6/1d6, Medium) (1d6+1/1d6+1)
Leather Armour (+2 Armor, +2 Dex, -1 Misc)
Abilities Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 17
Condition None

[Aldurin]

The two remaining lizardfolk topple under the assault, leaving the group in peace, at least for the moment.

As you recuperate, you have one more issue to address. Three of the lizardfolk are unconscious, one of them to soon bleed out. If you let them live, you may regret it as they know what you're really out here for. But they were merely looking for food, desperation driving them to fight. Do they really deserve to die because you were too slow to remember your cover identity? What do you do?

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The combat may be over, but you still have to address the last part of the encounter. A bunch of good-aligned people have a difficult decision on their hands now.

[Moranica]

Cutter finally gets of his horse and quickly checks the fallen lizardmen, stabilizing them if needed.

"Someone help me out here, we've made our point, I think."

Heal checks
(1d20+3)[21]
(1d20+3)[19]
(1d20+3)[15]

[Aldurin]

Cutter expertly stabilizes the one bleeding lizardfolk, and determines that the other two are fine and should wake up soon.

Meanwhile Brother Derry walks over to the edge of the tree trunk to see how easy it would be to get around, but before he makes it all the way an unusually large bear suddenly crashes out of the woods, charging into him and grabbing him as it plows into the trunk, causing it to spin around and eventually back on the bear, throwing it into the woods along with the unlucky monk still in the bear's mouth. Bewildered by the tree, the bear charges back into the woods at a blinding speed, and the sounds with it quickly fade. The tree trunk spins to a stop so that it runs parallel with the road, your path westward no longer blocked.

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Brother Derry has left the party due to Medic! disappearing without response for 3 straight weeks. As an FYI, you can't catch the bear.

The party gains 1000 xp each, and you all level up! Technically I was supposed to give less but level 1 is painful to balance properly and I'm sure we'd both like it to be over with.

[white rider]

"Someone get rope- we can leave them tied to a tree or something."
Minus walks around his horse.
"Pity about the monk, though. Ah, well. Did he drop anything of use?"

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The reaction to Derry's death is a bit OOC, but I think it wouldn't do to dwell on it.

[TaiLiu]

What happened?

I shook my head, rubbed my eyes, and thought.

Nothing but blood and gore; nothing but suffering and death.

The death of that odd monk - it was expected: they had warned us of the dangers of entering such an uncivilised and chaotic place. I will mourn for him, but I haven't time now. A more pressing question rebounded throughout my mind: what of the lizardfolk?

The lizardfolk will be angered once they awaken. What is our plan? No, I didn't know. What are their plans? What are my companions' plans?

Is our plan to interrogate the lizardfolk? We had slain their friends; it would be foolish to assume that they would agree to spill information. Were we to leave them there? They will die of starvation!

My companions will know - they must.

"What are we planning to do to the lizardfolk?"

Character sheet:

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Quoeak Moonshadow
Male Neutral Good Half Elf Bard, Level 2, Init +2, HP 10/10, Speed 30 Feet
AC 13, Touch 11, Flat-footed 11, Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +5, Base Attack Bonus 1
Whip +1 (1d3 (Nonlethal), ×2)
Shortbow, Composite (Arrows (40)) +2 (1d6, ×3)
Quarterstaff +1 (1d6/1d6, Medium)
Leather Armour (+2 Armor, +2 Dex, -1 Misc)
Abilities Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 17
Condition None

[Moranica]

As the bear crashes back into the undergrowth, Cutter is quick to follow. Sprinting on foot he charges after it. .... only to return a couple of minutes later.

"That is one fast bear. I could follow it's tracks for a bit, but we have no way of catching it on foot. And our horses can't travel through such thickets. Vengeance will catch up to him though. That is the way the world turns."

As Cutter looks around him, he wonders.

"This land is far more brutal then the forests I lived in. The bears there are scared of people and there are no lizardfold or anything like it. What did we get into...."

[TaiLiu]

What did we get into?! The answer was simple: a mess.

Still, there were more pressing issues.

"Speaking of Lizardfolk..."

"...What should we do with these?"

Character sheet:

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Quoeak Moonshadow
Male Neutral Good Half Elf Bard, Level 2, Init +2, HP 10/10, Speed 30 Feet
AC 13, Touch 11, Flat-footed 11, Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +5, Base Attack Bonus 1
Whip +1 (1d3 (Nonlethal), ×2)
Shortbow, Composite (Arrows (40)) +2 (1d6, ×3)
Quarterstaff +1 (1d6/1d6, Medium)
Leather Armour (+2 Armor, +2 Dex, -1 Misc)
Abilities Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 14, Cha 17
Condition None