Funeral of a Friend (Pathfinder 1.0 IC)

[Lokio]

"Well done," the Sarenite said in quite salute to the others, wiping the spike on the end of her hammer off with a bit of the goblin's armor. "It may be prudent for our own scouts to scout ahead and see how much time we have before they arrive to set up camp... and see what sort of situation we're looking at for the rescue."

Dismounting, she set to investigating what sorts of items the fallen goblins had on them. Perhaps it was just their equipment, but perhaps they might be carrying something useful, like orders or a map...

Spoiler: OOC

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Still here and happy to proceed - hopefully we can keep this moving.

[hannahbbug3]

Spoiler: OOC

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Still here, as well!

Tesselin gives a nod at the suggestion to scout ahead. He didn't come through that fight unscathed, but he feels confident enough that he'll be all right for another scouting mission. He looks over to Lenna. "Shall we?" he asks.

[Corlindale]

Hector still seems a tad bewildered after his botched attempt at an attack, but he quickly joins in the conversation - no need to dwell on past embarrassment, after all.

"Yes, yes, further scouting is a good idea. The rest of us should probably try to hide these bodies, then perhaps go back to the river and finish setting up an ambush site. They won't escape us!"

As Erica finishes searching each body, Hector will try to find a place to hide them, and in general make some attempts to remove the obvious evidence of battle.

Spoiler: OOC

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Also here!

[Merellis]

Lenna takes a moment to breath, relishing in the final shot of a hunter. The moment is short, broken by the need of more work to be done, more poachers to be dealt with.

"Just one thing before we go, Tesselin."

"Maple! C'mere!" She calls out to her faithful companion, already hearing the lumbering gallop of the massive moose who's moniker is Maple.

"If you need to, toss 'em bodies on Maple here, she can carry them pretty well." She pauses and looks at the mess that these hobgoblins are making with their blood and wounds. "But you're helpin' me wash 'er afterthat, eh?"

She then strides off towards Tesselin, ready to scout again.

"Make sure you go with them, Maple, no trouble!"

Spoiler: OOC

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Good luuuuuck with moving her.

[hannahbbug3]

Tesselin watches the ornery moose come to Lenna's call, and he feels a bit relieved that he's not being left with that beast... not that Maple hasn't been anything but sweet. And not that the job Tesselin was taking on wasn't dangerous. But he had never really been good with animals, so it was best to leave him do what he was good at. He gives Lenna a nod, before slipping into the brush and scouting ahead with her.

Spoiler: OOC

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Stealth - (1d20+12)[17] + 5 from inspiration in OOC for a total of 22.
Perception - (1d20+10)[22]

[Merellis]

The snowy elf follows Tesselin into the brush, hand hanging next to her axe in anticipation.

"If it gets hairy out there, head back to the others. I'm pretty quick and can hopefully keep them busy." She whispers out as quick as can be.

And then.

Silence.

Spoiler: ooc

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Lenna Stealth! (1d20+10)[27]
Lenna Perception! (1d20+8)[19]

[hannahbbug3]

A small, barely perceptible channel of wind seems to move between Lenna and Tesselin after a moment. "If you see anything, we can talk like this," he whispered. "The wind will carry your words to me."

Spoiler: Whispering Wind

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Going to use my standard action each turn to maintain message between us. It's a DC 20 perception check for anyone else to hear this.

[Corlindale]

Hector's half-formed protest dies on his lips as Tesselin and Lenna slip away, leaving him right in front of a somewhat skeptical-looking Maple. He looks to the others helplessly for a moment, before once again centering his gaze on the strange animal before him. "All right...how much different from a horse can it really be? Ok... Maple... it's going to be just fine, we are just going to drag some of these things over here...no, no, don't mind the smell...just...see here...at your own pace, of course."

Hector proceeds with his efforts to hide the corpses, hoping to get at least a bit of help from Maple, despite not really speaking Elvish and having no experience with moose.

Spoiler: OOC

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Ok, Hector should actually be decent enough at this, but let's see:

Handle Animal: (1d20+7)[10]

[purepolarpanzer]

Maple is... disagreeable at first, wanting little to do with the hobgoblin bodies. But she does seem to remember Lenna's words, and begrudgingly hauls her cargo of bloody corpses out of sight of the area the hobgoblins should be camping in. She gives an ornery moose call, but at the urging of Hector cuts it short.
With the Erica's assistance, it takes only a little time to hide the bodies.

Tesselin and Lenna's advance towards the goblinoids goes unnoticed, and they are able to get quite close to the marching army as they come through the trees. The army is moving in as tight a formation as they can with the thick trees, but it still leaves them scattered and a little exposed. They are also evidently weary from their forced march, with many of the hobgoblins huffing and puffing as they make their way past the hiding adventurers. There are a few things of note as they march by. First, there are goblin's among them that are chained into a gang, with a hobgoblin handler bellowing at them to keep moving. These apparent slaves seem scared to be marching through these woods at night, uttering a word in their tongue- Machubee in hushed tones. Next, our scouts spot the captives from the last town that was raided- between twenty and thirty humans, elves, and dwarves being marched in chains much like the goblins. They are being used to haul supplies for their captors, being prodded by clubs and spears to keep them moving. Several are bloody and bearing wounds either from the attack or their captivity. They are being kept in the center of the hobgoblin formation to discourage escape. Lastly, there are six bugbears hauling the object of your desire- the coffin of Eloric Halfhand. There is no sign of the hobgoblin on the flying mount, but in a mockery of the earlier pall bearers these goblinoids are carrying the coffin under heavy guard by no less than twelve armed hobgoblins near the back of the column.

[hannahbbug3]

Tesselin bites back the growl in his throat as he sees the large army of hobgoblins, captives, and bugbears proceeding through the woods. His anger nearly gets the better of him when he sees Eloric's coffin, but he reins himself in from shouting at the last moment. Instead, he looks to Lenna. "Should we return and report this to the others?" he whispers along the wind, keeping the channel open so that she could respond.

[Merellis]

Lenna stares into the moving horde, eyes focused on the ones in chains, and only shifting to the main objective in the back when it was finally going past. The poachers had gathered more things that they should not have, so she would have to free them eventually. The words of Tesselin hiss in her ear, she shakes her head, thinking about what they could do to break the horde, get the coffin, and release the prisoners.

"Yes, lets get back and figure out what we're going to be doing." She whispers back, hand drifting to an arrow. "Before I start something that can't be taken back."

[hannahbbug3]

Tesselin gives a nod, and along with Lenna, he scuttles back to the rest of the group. "They're on their way," he says when the others come into sight. "It's... a pretty big group, but they look tired... and a lot of them are slaves, it seems. I didn't see the hob on the griffon, but there's a group of bugbears carrying Eloric's casket behind the captives..." he explains quickly.

[Lokio]

Erica heard the report, considered it and chewed it in her mind. They needed to create a disruption, slow this group down even further, keep it up, keep it active, play the exhaustion on and on until their quarry were effectively useless. They had a river ford ahead, the kind of place that would be key both to slowing down a moving group -- and an ideal place to harass them and slow them down.

"Given their pace, how long do we have? If they are this tired, then we should play to that. If they mean to cross the river tonight, then I can lead you all in digging tricky trenches and holes -- right in the ford, where they'll need to cross. We can also create good positions from which to harass them as they try. Make them believe they are being attacked by many with movement, create some chaos and, above all else, keep them awake and struggling. The time to attack is when the slaves and the casket are on one side of the river, and the advance group is in the other, after a long, painful night of the ford being unpleasant..."

The Sarenite smiled. Evil would be smote, and soon.

Spoiler: OOC to all

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So here's what I propose for organization and moving this along. Perhaps we do as many Craft (Fortification) or trapping rolls as we can for time, and set the ford up to be a righteous pain to cross. Once they've got most of their people across, we attack the stragglers and free the slaves. Thoughts?

[Corlindale]

While Hector would like nothing better than to rush in and bash some hobgoblin heads together and is not much for complicated plans, even he has to admit that he presence of the slaves does complicate matters. He nods in response to Erica's suggestion.

"I like it. We can do all sorts of things to slow them down...and then, once their force is divided...they'll regret messing with Eloric and our town! I can help with the diggging, got plenty of experience in that area. Hah, never thought I'd see the day when farmwork would be the key to success on an adventure! Once we set up the actual ambush, I'd prefer to be rather close - I can do more damage that way, and also intervene if they decide to do something that puts the slaves in danger. "

Spoiler: OOC

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Hector really likes this plan, and is quite ready to pitch in with Craft: Fortification (or Profession: Farmer if you'll let that one work instead - it's just a +1 difference in bonus, so it's no big deal, mostly flavour).

[purepolarpanzer]

Spoiler: OOC

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Everyone can roll (even if it's just strength) to try to implement Erica's plan.

[hannahbbug3]

Spoiler: A couple rolls for Erica's plan

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Engineering - (1d20+9)[22]
Perception - (1d20+10)[19]

Tesselin aids the others as best he can in building the defenses and the traps, though he keeps an ear out for the approaching army.

[Lokio]

And Erica gets to using her skills in crafting fortifications to do the work...

Spoiler

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(1d20+4)[5] crafts fortification if another roll is needed after my previous one

[Corlindale]

Hector rolls up his sleeves and gets to work as best he can, digging trenches and making the riverbed hard to navigate. While digging, he eyes the surroundings hoping to find some trees or bushes that would make a convenient hiding place, preferably near the ford on the side closest to the approaching forces. That way he might be in a good position to take down stragglers while the main force is distracted trying to cross the water.

Spoiler: OOC

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Profession (Farmer): (1d20+6)[8]
Perception: (1d20+6)[17]

[purepolarpanzer]

The fortifications are erected swiftly with the group's planning and relevant experience, making the ford a terrible place for an army to march through. There are pits, snares, and furrows to impede movement across the water. Now it only remains to wait for the hobgoblins to cross.

Spoiler: OOC

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Sorry all. My computer died. Back up and running though.

[Lokio]

"Very good. Let's find a good spot to position ourselves so that our archers have cover. The way I think we ought to strategize is thus: let the forward element cross the river. The captives are in the middle. Our quick, stealthy people can attack them from the rear from cover, and draw their rear guard off -- while retreating and not getting caught. Then, I charge from the side to the center and free the captives with the rest of you in support. Splitting them up and causing chaos is our best bet, and a battle will exhaust them even further."

Westmarch smiled. It seemed she was looking forward to this rescue.

"Does anyone disagree or have any plans for how they can contribute?"

[hannahbbug3]

"I'm better with my bow than in any sort of melee," Tesselin says. He reaches into his pack. "I also have a few Alchemist's Fire tucked in here. Would anyone like one or two of 'em to use?" he asks.

[Corlindale]

Despite his mud-splattered clothes, Hector also seems to be in a good mood at the prospect of finally getting to face the enemy. "A good plan, Erica. I will join your charge, though perhaps from the opposite side. The more confusion, the better!"

At Tesselin's question, Hector shakes his head and smiles. "You hold on to those, Tesselin. Also, don't worry too much about tossing them around me." Hector pulls back one of his mud-splattered sleeves to reveal the pattern of golden speckles, continuing: "I've found that fire does not hurt me much anymore, after these started cropping up."

As Hector eyes the scene around them, he mumbles a few words and waves his hands, conjuring a shimmering barrier around himself.

Spoiler: OOC

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Hector casts Mage Armor (assuming it's less than three hours 'till they arrive - otherwise he does it a little later. Just didn't want to forget!

[Lokio]

OOC: Bump - Erica will find a concealed spot to wait and make her move when the enemy comes.

[purepolarpanzer]

The hobgoblins approach your concealed position after about an hour, unaware of the trap that awaits them. The main force is moving across the river first, followed by the slaves and finally the casket, all well guarded. How do you choose to spring your ambush.

[Lokio]

Erica peers at the group, doing a quick count...

Spoiler: DM

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How many bad guys are we looking at with each group approx?

[purepolarpanzer]

Erica peers at the group, doing a quick count...

Spoiler: DM

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How many bad guys are we looking at with each group approx?

Spoiler: OOC

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The vanguard main force is thirty hobgoblins. The slaves are under the lightest guard, with only six hobgoblins moving them along. The casket has four hobgoblins and six bugbears.There is also torches in the distance of a larger force moving towards the river, but still an hour or two away- the large force that attacked the town, probably numbering more than a hundred.

[Lokio]

Then the plan would be to let the main force go across and get mired down in the screwed up river. When they're mired and can't help the slaves and casket crew, the archers and casters can tie down the casket crew while Erica and Hector can hit the group on the slaves and free them. They might even be inclined to help us some to escape.