Gai-len 2.0 (IC)

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Yes, yeeeees" He jumps up and down and claps his hands. "Many more. But they are shy, as they should be." He thinks a moment, with a finger in front of his mouth, as if to indicate the need for silence: "And rightfully so, I say!"

"What about you, Orcslayer, will you be our friend?" He turns to Hrothgar.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

THe dwarf stares at the strange frog like winged fey before grinning and holding out a hand to shake. "Aye. Any one who kills the green skin is a friend of mine. And if you be from these lands then ye' be a valuable friend indeed. If you've a mind to help me and Kal' here then we could surely be using the help. It'll take a while for the two of us to bring the greenskin down!" He looks around the wagons. How 'bout you keep talking with what you know of the local area whilst me and Kal' loot what's good and burns whats not.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The creature shakes your hand and smiles. When you´re done talking he looks a bit confused "Burn....?" but then shrugs it away.

"Well...what do you want to know? There is a bunch of oases and patches of forest here that we tend to. Orc karavans come there regularly, to rest. We´ve always had an understanding that they treat the places with respect, and they usually do." Then, his mood saddens a bit: "Lately, they have been coming over here to take the wood from the forests....and we can´t really stop them." He sighs a sad sigh. "I was hoping you´d come with me to my, ehm, home. There´s someone there I´d like you to meet!"

"There will also be good food and rest, I promise!"

Spoiler: Loot and whatnot

Show

As Kaladin already found out, there´s some magical equipment on the Ogre lieutenant. Otherwise, you have a LOT of masterwork quality chain shirts, shields and swords, a bunch of horses and carts, a gem that used to be magical but is not anymore, and one of the Orcs that was disabled by Froad carries a horn that has a faint magical aura.

I am sort-of expecting you guys to not take most of this loot because you have no use for it and know no merchants that would buy it off you. However, if you want you can take as much from the stuff as you can carry, of course.

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods, and waits for Hrothgar to be finished. There wasn't much for them to take, and he had what was valuable already. He did pick up the horn, looking at it in interest, but unsure of what to look for.

"Yes, we can come and meet your friend."

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf finishes searching before nodding to both the strange Froad and Kaladin. Aye, sounds good. Let's meet your fellows. We should help you to deal the orc.

Lookin around he picks the best couple of horses and fills saddle bags with supplies for camping and food/water taking onky a couple spare weapons/armour. "Lead the way Froad"

Spoiler: ooc

Show

Grabbing a horse each plus a pack horse
Then mainly food /water/ tent type supplies to make survival easier.
What type of horses?

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Yeeeeesss." Froad croaks and flaps his wings as if applauding. "Oh, horsies...hmmm." You check out the horses available. There´s a mix of light and heavy warhorses (the heavy ones in fron of the heavy carts). Hrothgar inspects the teeth, hooves, eyes and skin of the animals and concludes that they have been well trained and well taken care of. Humans would not do a better job. Both of you can pick a strong warhorse (either light or heavy) in the prime of its life.

When you start to mount up, Froad croaks: "No...no, need." He smiles. "When you travel with me, we travel by port." He walks some 40 feet into the forest motioning for you to follow. He pulls aside some large leaves and points forwards: "In here."

"We have a series of magical ports connecting many of the oases here. Your kind cannot use them. I advise you not to try, but when opened by me or my kin you may pass." He tosses a branch at the portal and you don´t see or hear it land. "See? It´s safe."

You see no reason to mistrust him and step through the portal, guiding the horse by hand. A not-unpleasant tingling sensation can be felt when you pass through, but nothing else out of the ordinary. You end up on the shore of a pond in the middle of another patch of forest. Around the shore, a myriad of exotic plants grow. You get the distinct impression that this is much like a well-tended, very colourful garden. You hear some rustling, and think you saw something...small animals? speeding out of sight, probably startled by your sudden presence. "Welcome." Froad steps through right behind you. He speaks out loud in a tongue unknown to you, but his words seem of the reassuring type. You think. "You can rest here, there´ll be good food....just treat this haven with respect, please."

"Ohhh...yes...I wanted you to meet someone." He whistles sharply: "Belle!" Some 100 feet away you see the head of a large dog, or wolf, emerging from the bushes. Slowly and lazily, it crawls out from under and approaches. You think it is a dog, but one that´s very close in appearance to wolves. It struts towards you, increasing its speed and getting more excited. When it is close, it barks and wags its tail vigourously, running circles around you, sniffing you up and down. "Now, now..." the dog turns to Froad and licks him on the face. "Ahhh...thanks...Now go." The dog retreats back to where it came from. "Well, that was Belle. She seemed happy to meet you, eh?"

Spoiler: OoC

Show

Stopping the narrative now to give you players the opportunity to give me a feel of how your character responds to all this.

[BelGareth]

Kal raises an eyebrow.

Of course there were special gates.

And of course they couldn't use them.

He turned to his dwarf friend and shrugged, moving through as suggested, guiding his light warhorse along.

The sensation was strange, but not overtly foreign, it felt like some of the more advanced spells his instructors had cast on him at college, it subsided and he opened his eyes in surprised.

It was quite beautiful. Nothing about school, or the fables of this land said anything about it being beautiful, and it came to him as a surprise that it might be. Froad seemed to be genuine, if he could even tell, and he found himself in a silent shock.

He nods in mute silence at the request to treat it with respect, these were no orcs, or giants. These were obviously peaceful creatures, and he could respect that, and their wishes.

He regarded the dog like Belle with fascination, and reaches out tepidly to stroke it.

"Froad, this is amazing. Is this your home?"

[DrK]

Hrothgar

THe burly dwarf pulls the light warhorse and the two spares through the portal then stumbles to a halt as he looks around, glancing back as the portal back vanishes. Whispering to Kaladin "Ye ken I hope we've not made a msitake here..." before more loudly and carefully keeping his hands raised and not near any weapons turns to Froad. "What a place. Where is it is and how far have we travelled. I don't look like too much orc blood is here to be spilled."

He lets horse free to wander and munch the long grass and wanders around the small clearing before walking up to the large dog nodding and offering a hand stained green with orc blood to the beast in frienship. "Belle eh. Not a fierce sounding name."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"Yes, this is my home. Not just mine. Many creatures live here. You may meet some, but they are shy." He smiles. "Some, like me, can speak, some can´t and others won´t. It´ll take some time." He turns to Hrothgar: "We´ve travelled some 40 miles south-east." He points at the dog who is now again lazily under the bushes. "So, it was her I wanted you to meet...Let´s sit" He sits down near the water, and the expression on his face saddens.

"Belle is not what she appears to be. Actually, her name is not even Belle. Her name is Sylvia, but she does not respond well to being called that." He sighs. "I think she wants to forget who she is. Belle is actually one of your kind. Well, a human." He winks at Hrothgar. "She came here in the same way as you, some three years ago. From what I´ve gathered she was the only one to survive and land, but she was captured by a tribe of Ogres." Tears well up in his eyes. "We managed to free her when they were not paying attention to her...but we haven´t been able to free her of the horrors she must have endured in captivity. What they did to her..." He swallows and considers his words, "....unspeakable. She was in a terrible state, physically and mentally. She has the ability to take the shape of an animal and has spent almost all her time with us in animal guise." He points at the water: "Rarely, in the depth of night she bathes here in her normal form. Twice I was able to strike a short conversation with her, but she appears to have shied away from who she is. Shunning her body and her past."

"I guess I am just hoping that your presence here might shake her out of her stupor, and help her remember why she is here." He pulls some grass out of the ground and starts chewing it. "You can maybe do something that our kind can not. Bring some justice, and maybe peace of mind. The head of the tribe that took her, a powerful Ogre Mage named Gort, he is responsible for her grief and he still lives. Not far from here." He looks at you, waiting for you to speak up.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf pats the dog no the head sadly looking at Froad over the dog's back. "Ogres you say. I hate them almost as much as I hate the orc. We will destroy them. Not only for Belle here buit because that is why we have come.

These portals... can you make them anywhere? That would be a powerful weapon to help us?"

[Autopsibiofeeder]

"I am sure that´d make her happy. Or at least bit less sad." He shakes his head when you ask about the portals. "There´s a small number of them scattered throughout this corner of the continent. They were made in long forgotten ages, when fey were more powerful and had more powerful allies. It´s an art that´s been forgotten. There is one portal close to where the Ogres live, though."

[Autopsibiofeeder]

A small silence follows and you notice that Froad finds it awkward, because he starts speaking again soon enough: "You see, it would help her out but I won´t lie, it would be a good thing for us as well. And I think you helping her might give you an ally with potential." He tosses a grass-leaf into the water which instantly gets gobbled down by a fish that spits it out right after...he giggles. "We...can´t do what you do. You humanoids. Humans, Dwarves and Orcs...it seems to me that your kind reproduces faster than your eternal warring causes victims." He shakes his head. "Does not work like that for us. We simply are, and may be nigh eternal. A loss on our side is not easily replaced, so we can not risk our lives in combat like your kind does." He shrugs: "We also don´t have the physique for it. We can befuddle, cloud, prank and when needed sting....but we don´t have the brute force."

"What say you? Shall I bring you to the portal? Tomorrow, of course. I think a good night´s rest and some food is in order first." He starts to make some gestures and performs an incantation which takes a while, but after a minute a hearty meal appears in front of you. You notice it is a vegetarian meal, but even the most hardy and stubborn dwarf will have to admit that it looks very appetizing. Fruits, crispy vegetables, an assortment of healthy nuts and two types of bread (light and soft, and a dark dryer type) are available, as well as a bowl of fruity wine. Froad looks at you humbly: "I am sorry...I don´t do beer and meat...I don´t know how. If you must, you can shoot one herd animal per week for consumption. There´s some deer in the forest here, and sometimes zebra´s and gnoe pass by." You´re not sure what gnoe is.

[BelGareth]

Kal listens with respect and a small amount of wonder in his eyes.

He nods at the offer of food, and the suggestion to stay a night before heading out. "I agree, those portals could be a combat multiplier" but he whines at the words used by his dwarf friend, and was relieved when their host held no offense. "Ogres are a handful, and would allow us to test ourselves against a different foe. I am for raiding them, and if it brings a little piece to Belle, all the better."

He takes some offered food, grabbing some bread, the softer kind, and chewing on it hungrily, suddenly realizing how hungry he really was.

[DrK]

Hrothgar looks at the strange fey and nods his head, a hand brushing at his thick beard. "Aye, ogres be a fine test for ourmettle. Be good to take the fight tae them and take them down.

The dwarf grins at Kaladin at the food in the glen. "Dinnae worry my wee friend. If we need some more meat we can travel back through the portal and take some frae the oasis."

Turning in for the night he enjoys the fresh air and the promise of battle in the morning.

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The day advanes into the night as you sit by the pond. As time progresses, more and more animals feel confident and approach the water to drink, albeit at a safe distance from you. The sun slowly sets, but the temperature never drops to uncomfortable levels. With the good food and peaceful atmosphere the burden of the horrors you experienced slowly fades.

Froad turns out to be an entertaining and curious host. He keeps the conversation going and is especially keen on learning about the customs and traditions of the "other" humanoid races he is less familiar with: the Humans, Dwarves and Elves. He talks about the Orcs and you notice that while he is unhappy with the recent, more aggressive stance of the Orcs he in general regards them a fairly civilized and advanced species. This is in rather strong contrast with what you've been taught. But then again: what does he know about the struggles of the humanoids?

You end up drowsy and having a long, well-deserved and very satisfying stretch of sleep. In the morning, Froad is ready to take you to the portal and bring you to the Ogre village.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

If there is anything you want to do or discuss before we move to the violence, now is the time to do so (I didn't want to railroad/drop you in the middle of it before giving you this opportunity).

[Autopsibiofeeder]

The next morning Froad takes you to the portal you came through to get to this particular Oasis. Again, you step through an invisible barrier between two broad-leafed plants and end up in a different environment. You are in a forest, which is relatively dense. Large trees block much of the sun, but on the ground there is a lush growth of ~4 feet high plants with thick, dark green, broad leaves. They provide perfect cover and also dampen any sounds you may make. Not far away, to the north, you hear water streaming. You also hear voices, quite clearly Giant, but not clear enough to make out what is being said. A short moment of observing your environment reveals that there are three Ogres gathered near the stream. It´s hard to say whether these are warriors or not, but it sounds like they are doing laundry. To hear what they are discussing you´d have to get closer, of course at the risk of being spotted. Froad finds himself a good hiding spot near the portal. "Good luck," he whispers.

To the west, you make out a clearing at the edge of the forest. The stream seems to end in a small pond and, interestingly, it appears that the water does not flow any further. In the clearing you identify a number of tents, at least four but no more than eight. It is hard to say from this distance exactly how many tents and whether there is activity there. Again, you´d have to move closer (the map provided below gives a bit more detail than you make out now).

Spoiler: Map

Show

[BelGareth]

Kaladin nods with a smile, and steps through, he hadn't felt this good in a long time, and he wanted it to last, but first, he needed to test his mettle. And ogres was what he heard as soon as they stepped past the portal.

He immediately hunkered down, doing his best, but he was no Hrothgar. He nodded to the dwarf, and activated his aegis on the dwarf, his arcane armor appearing without sound, and then disappearing from sight. "Do you want to go scout" he whispered. A sudden thought came to him, they should generate their own sign language, he had read stories of some elite units doing it, it would help here surely. He tucked the idea away for another time.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The burly dwarf enjoys the night of peace. Happy somewhat with their refuge, even if it seemed strange and otherworldly and the odd toad like inhabitants were disconcerting. Waking in the morning he enjoyed the simple breakfast before checking that his weapons were ready. Praying to his ancestors he repeated the spells of the day before leaving no tracks and senses sharpened to an elite hunter.

Bow in hand he looks to Kaladin nodding and moves a little closer seeking to close to around 60 or so feet to the tents whilst remaining near the ogres. Before he goes he nods at the trio of ogres, "If they see us drop frire on all three and then I'll close and end them with my axe."

Spoiler: Hrothgar

Show

Move to X17 to look at camp

Hide (1d20+9)[13]
M.Silent (1d20+8)[20]
Spot (1d20+7)[21] +4 vs Orc
LIsten (1d20+5)[8] +4 vs Orc

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17)
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar manages to stay undetected. He looks at the camp and can now clearly see all the tents and the fireplace. There are no signs of activity, but he spots a pair of legs coming out of tent 4, as if an Ogre is lying in there (asleep or awake). He does not spot anything else in the camp, but that does not mean there are no Ogres in the other tents, of course.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

Signalling Kaladin he points at the tent and makes a "throat cutting" motion and moves slowly towards the tent circling around to observe the tent and see if the pair of boots belonged to an awake or asleep beast. Hoping that the beast would be asleep so he could end it quickly and easily. With one eye on the trio of ogres down stream he ghosts slowly closer intent on murder and wreaking havoc on the orcs and their ogre lackeys.

Spoiler: Hrothgar

Show

Move to X17 to look at camp

Hide (1d20+9)[10]
M.Silent (1d20+8)[28]
Spot (1d20+7)[25] +4 vs Orc
LIsten (1d20+5)[10] +4 vs Orc

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17)
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Hrothgar creeps and sneaks around the camp. He inspects Tent 4 and decides that Ogre must be sleeping. He also notices a creature in Tent 1, most likely also asleep. Further, there appears to be someone in Tent 6: No legs stick out, but there´s sound coming from it. A soft tapping, as if someone is doing some form of handicraft.

Spoiler: OoC

Show

It is unclear where you moved to. It says X17, but you alreadt were there. Does not matter much right now, but for next round it´d be nice to know where you went .

[BelGareth]

Kaladins heart was pounding as he watched, or tried to, Hrothgar sneak around, the dwarf had some kind of special sense about him, and he looked on in amazement as he approached one of the tents with gruesome intentions, it was sound, if he could dispatch one or two before they were alerted, it would make things that much easier.

His fingers twitched with anticipation, a spell in his mind ready at a moments notice.

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf continues to circle around creeping forwards, drawing his axe and with an evil grimace creeps silently through the brush and woods. He approaches the SE tent (#4) and slowly creeps in, making sure to glance out of the narrow slit in the fabric to make sure he isn't visible from the other two occupied tents. Seconds later he stands over the ogre and with a desperate heave of his arms brings the blade down into the beast's sleeping face and head seeking to separate its head from its shoulders.

Spoiler: Status

Show

Coup de grae the sleeping ogre (3d10+24)[46] damage and Fort DC10+ damage or "Die"

Hide (1d20+9)[15]
M.Silent (1d20+8)[10]
Spot (1d20+7)[11] +4 vs Orc
LIsten (1d20+5)[15] +4 vs Orc

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17)
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Kaladin can faintly, sort-of see Hrothgar moving behind and probably into one of the tents. Then, from Kaladin´s perspective, a silence ensues. Hrothgar finds that the Ogre in the tent is indeed sleeping. He takes a moment to find a spot on the Ogre´s neck that is both exposed and vulnerable and drops his axe. Splurgh. Before the head is severed from the torso, the Ogre makes one last, reflexive, spasmic movement with his leg, bumping into a pack that´s in the corner of the tent. The axe lands with a soft, but still audible *thud* on the ground. You tried to do this silently and, skillful as you are, this was quite silent but it was still quite clumsy for your standards and you realize that a skilled person (like yourself) might have picked up the disturbance.

The faint tapping in the large tent stops. "Nex, Radar? Is that you? What´s up?", you hear a low voice asking in Giant. You have to move fast now, Hrothgar, because there´s a good chance someone will come to investigate if he is not answered. Please take one round of actions at a time.

Kaladin is too far away to have heard all this.

[DrK]

Cursing at the noise Hrothgar grins at the dead ogre before dashing out of the back of tent #4 and running into the trees, making sure to place a solid tree between him and the voice in the large tent

Spoiler: Hrothgar

Show

Move 60ft south back into the woods seeking a solid 5ft wide tree to gain total cover
Hide (1d20+4)[8]
Move silent (1d20+3)[9]

Inc the -5 for fast stealth but no + for distance, tree cover or tent cover

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Spoiler: Hrothgar

Show

I moved you on the map, but you did not make it 60 feet because there was also some (carefully) manoeuvering-out-of-the-tent involved. You´re well into the bush, tho.

Hrothgar is well aware of the potential problem he faces and, wisely, moves away from the camp. While running, he looks back once or twice but does not see (or hear) anything of note. He rests behind a wide tree trunk and takes a deep breath. Maybe this all ended well.... "PERKELE!" Both Hrothgar and Kaladin hear this loud curse coming from the camp. "Intruders! Fight!". Okay, it did not end that well.

Spoiler: Initiative

Show

Monsters (average modifier) (1d20+0)[16]
Team (average modifier) (1d20+2)[10]

The Ogres doing laundry spring into action and start moving towards the camp. Kaladin may perform his readied action. If he wants to, that is.

Spoiler: Kaladin

Show

Yes, they fit into a fireball. Or...isn´t that what you were about to ask?

[BelGareth]

Spoiler: fireball!

Show

(7d6+11)[33]
Ref save DC 17 for half

[Autopsibiofeeder]

Silently, the bead of fire rushes through the forest, wobbling left and right to avoid tree stems, unerringly reaching its destination which can be best described as fiery Ogre death. Hrothgar also notices the distant inferno briefly lighting up the forest. The screams and cries of agony are a clear indication that the three laundry Ogres will never be able to play the wardrums again. While the mayhem only lasts for a split-second, several burning stands of plants, the smell of burned flesh and the pile of corpses are a clear indication of what happened here.

From a northern tent an Ogre emerges. Armed with a greatclub, he appears to have spotted something because he heads straight in the direction of Hrothgar´s location: "Wut? Hey!" He ends his movement close to Hrothgar, and eyes the Dwarf that tries to hide behind a tree.

You are up (the Ogre used his full round to chase Hrothgar). Aside from the one Ogre chasing Hrothgar (which Kaladin does not see, but he notices the shouting and running noises), there seems to be no other activity/response in the camp.

Spoiler: Map

Show

[DrK]

Hrothgar

The dwarf looks up, a savage bearded grin and a "You git me..." greeting the ogre before he launches himself around the tree, axe swinging at the ogres knee. A brief shout of KAL! seeking to try and draw the warmage's attention. The smoke and fire a few hundred feet downstream suggesting he's started already!

Spoiler: Hrothgar

Show

Move via F20 and G19 (to avoid AoO)
Hit ogre (1d20+12)[24] dam (1d10+5)[12]

"Detect Orcs" 60ft active

HPs 74/74
AC 21 (touch 14, FF 17) +4 vs giants
Saves +14/6/6 (+2 vs poison, spells)
Pass w/out trace ~ 5 hours
Primal Hunter (+5 climb/jump/swim) 24 hours

[BelGareth]

Kal moves as fast as possible towards the sound, trying to get a picture of what was happening.

Spoiler

Show

Double move West direction.
Not sure how 1.5 movement works....(im brain farting.)

30 ft movement