Rappan Athuk - IC

[Rizban]

The men seem more bored than anything and show no signs of having fought recently.

[J-H]

Joseph

"Proving my side in an academic debate, and possibly also becoming fabulously wealthy if we don't all die of exsanguination, conflagaration, dissolution, or gravitation. In the short term - investigating yon column of smoke."

[Rizban]

"Umm..." The leader pauses for a second, clearly a bit confused by all the words he's not used to hearing. "The smoke is from our camp."

[Dexam]

Wexler

"There you go, then; now you know - more or less - what we're doing out here... mind telling us what you're doing camped out in the middle of the wilds?"

[Rizban]

His eyes narrow, apparently not liking Wexler's tone. A few seconds pass, then he just sighs and shrugs.

"We call this place Lawbreakers' Haven. Anyone on the run from the law is welcome here... well, with a few exceptions. We don't take in murderers, slavers, or other more violent criminals, and we punish crimes committed against us harshly and immediately.

We're close enough to the dungeon that no one really bothers us, and we're defended enough that the local hostiles usually think better about attacking. Usually..."

[J-H]

Joseph

"Local hostiles? What have you had problems with? If you have any who are injured or poisoned, I would be happy to help before we continue on our way."

Spoiler

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Diplomacy (1d20+5)[12]
Hopefully they'll be grateful in the form of maps, directions, and tips.

[Rizban]

"Oh, uh, not much lately. There's a nest of harpies between here and the dungeon though. Best to circle around that one, unless you want a fight. They're pretty ruthless hunters, but they stay in their own territory for the most part.

There's a pretty mean nest of giant spiders west of here that we have to watch out for, but they don't hunt this direction too much anymore. They've found easier prey elsewhere, I guess.

A druidess has a grove just south of the Wild Edge River too. She's a real witch, if you catch my meaning. Stay far away from her if you know what's good for you.

Oh, don't wander around in the swamps up north either. Stay on the road if you go that way, or Cazrak will get you.

Actually, just stay on the road no matter where you are. It's safer that way... unless you're going to the dungeon. Then stay off the road. Almost every road claiming to go there is going to be a trap, and the ones that actually do go there probably have bandits waiting in ambush nearby. Cross country is your safest bet, but... not really."

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Graxin

Graxin nods. "Thanks for the tip." he says earnestly. "Where abouts does the dungeon lie from here?"

[Rizban]

"Almost exactly due east, about a day's walk."

[Jeriah]

Jhuris Tyn

"Lawbreakers' Haven? You make it sound like some kind of town. Is it just the few of you here?"

[J-H]

Joseph

"Thanks for the tip. This sounds like a dangerous area. How do you feed yourselves -- and why not go somewhere safer?"

[Dexam]

Wexler

The gnome rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Sounds like it might be a place we could possibly fall back to, if camping closer to the dungeon for any lengthy time proves to be too dangerous." He looks at the leader. "Assuming that you'd be okay with that? In exchange we might even be able to help out with any of the more dangerous beasties that might be getting too close to the Haven. Thoughts?"

[Rizban]

He nods. "Like I said, anyone is welcome in our camp, except the most unsavory... and lawmen. As long as you aren't killing people or trying to make arrests, you're welcome. We're pretty self sufficient. We've got a couple spellcasters who conjure up enough food and water for everyone, and we've got a few other sources of supplies, mostly trade caravans. A few stop to do trade. Others get hostile with us, so we raid them. It works out."

He motions for the group to follow through the tree line. As you pass through into the camp, you see what looks less like a camp and more like a small settlement. There's somewhere between 150 to 200 men, women, and even children. Most seem to live in tents, but there are a few small shacks cobbled together mostly from old wagon parts.

Looking around, you think this is probably the safest place this close to the dungeon, assuming you can trust the large band of admitted criminals on the run from the law.

[J-H]

Joseph

Joseph looks around. "Impressive."

[Rizban]

"Eh, not really. We're just refugees and fugitives, but we look after our own.

If you want to help out though, you could try killing the Damsels, er, the harpies east of here. They're the most dangerous to us, and they've been expanding their hunting grounds lately. They've even started attacking caravans on the road a bit. If the caravans stop, we'll be in real trouble."

[Dexam]

Wexler

"We might look into that after we've had a chance to try our luck in the dungeon," Wexler says to the leader.

To the rest of the group he asks, "Do you think we should overnight here? Or shall we head back towards the road and dungeon? Personally, I'm more inclined towards the latter - we should reach the dungeon around midday tomorrow, instead of around sunset."

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Graxin

"Seems reasonable to me. Anyone else have an opinion?" Graxin asks.

[J-H]

Joseph

"Let's head back and rest near - but not too near - the road."

[J-H]

The group rides away from the outlaw camp, heading cautiously back towards where they think the buried dungeon might be...

[Rizban]

Jhuris Tyn

"I think we should leave the mercenaries here at Lawbreakers' Haven. It's probably the only safe place around."
Assuming the others agree with her, she sets up a schedule with the mercenaries to meet them at the dungeon entrance in five days time. That gives a day for traveling there and then four days underground before returning. This matches with her previously calculated timeline.

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Dungeon Master

You make it back to the road and set camp just to the west of it. During the night, you hear the screeching of harpies from the east, but they fortunately do not trouble you. Perhaps they don't hunt this far west, or perhaps they just found other prey first. Either way, luck continues to be on your side.

The next morning, you look in the direction from which you heard the screeching. There is a large field between here and the treeline. Several miles distant, just within the forest, you see a massive, gnarled tree standing some twenty or so feet above the treeline. Within the high branches, a giant nest has been formed, which you rightly assume to be the nest of the harpies. A dirt road winds across the field and into the forest, presumably to Rappan Athuk beyond. A crudely made wooden sign driven into the soil nearby even points the way to the dungeon as being along this road.

One of you remembers that harpies, though more intelligent than most beasts, aren't that smart and live as much by instinct as thought. Harpies are known to hunt in the evenings and early night, sleeping through the early parts of the day. If you hurry and don't make too much noise, you can probably make it through the harpy sisters' hunting grounds before they awake for the day.

[J-H]

Joseph

The human looks across the field at the Harpy nest and frowns. He looks north and south. "A longer route might be safer."

If we circle a couple of miles out of the way, are there trees we can travel under?

[Rizban]

Looking around, then looking to the map you picked up back in town, you realize that the only forested area between here and the dungeon is the small forest around the harpies' nest. The rest seems to be plains and low hills.

From what you've been told, their hunting grounds seem to only stretch from five to ten miles from their nest. You're fairly confident that circling around either direction would be relatively safe, assuming you stayed at least that far away from the trees.

[J-H]

Joseph

"I'd rather swing around south and avoid them."

[Dexam]

Wexler

Wexler studies the map, then says with a shrug "Going south seems as good a direction as any. We can always try going north on the way out to see if it's any better or worse. "

[Rizban]

Jhuris Tyn

Taking out some colored chalks, Jhuris marks the map with the information gained back at Lawbreakers' Haven.

"It might not be perfectly accurate, but it's good enough based on what the guardsman told us. Gives us an idea of where not to go, at least.

I say we follow the river and then circle around to the north. It might cost a day's travel, but it should avoid the bird women."

Spoiler: Edited Map

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DM

Since it seems the majority of the party is in agreement, you circle around to the south. You make it several miles before cresting a hill and stumbling directly into a bandit camp! Fortunately, it seems the camp has already been destroyed. Evidence suggests harpies...

[J-H]

Joseph

"We're still in their hunting grounds. I doubt they'd come back here since they already took what they wanted. Maybe the harpies missed something useful. Let's stay low, stay quiet, and check."

Joseph cautiously advances into the bandit camp, checking the tents and anything else (wagons, containers) for anything useful or valuable.

Spoiler

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Search mod is at +0, but I don't think we want to spend the time to take 20 on the whole place.
Thanks for the updated map!

[Ragnarok'n'Roll]

Graxin

Graxin helps search. However he seems more concerned with remaining quiet and keeping an eye out. "We should probably keep moving.." he suggests. Part of him wondered if they should tackle the harpies sooner rather than later. If they are injured and fleeing the dungeon, he would hate to have to deal with them.

[Dexam]

Wexler

Wexler likewise conducts a search of the remains of the bandit camp, trying to find anything left untouched by the harpies that might still be useful.

He also tries to determine how long ago the attack took place, examining any drops of blood for how dried they are and inspecting the camp fire to determine how cold it is. Part of his search and investigation includes trying to estimate how many bandits were here when the attack took place.

Spoiler: OOC

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Search check: (1d20+1)[10]

Survival check: (1d20+1)[4]

[Rizban]

Jhuris Search - (1d20+5)[11]

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The party finds little of value. It seems that either the harpies or other scavengers carried away any valuables they could easily find. Only the tattered remains of tents, random small bits of destroyed leather and metal, two broken barrels, and a few humanoid bones picked completely clean remain.

[J-H]

Joseph

"I guess those harpies are more than just animals if they looted the place. Let's go." Joseph tugs on the lead rope for his mule.