Zina grumbled some curse words in gnommish at Kanon's logic. "People are rarely exactly what they say they are,"' she said softly to the bard. "I wish I could trust people, but whenever I do someone gets hurt."
The gnome could smell breakfast, the very idea of food doing wonders to improve her mood. "I'll try my best not to scare her away until she proves she's actually out to get us," she said with a sigh.
Pettilaen grabs some breakfast. Complimentary breakfast was always a good thing, in his book, even if the food was subpar. He'd certainly had worst, living on the streets in the Gate. He gnabbed a little extra meat for Gaia, seeing her eye it longingly from his shoulder.
Sitting down with the rest of his friends around their table, he glances to Zina, asking, "Okay brainiac. Ms. 'I know everything because I read books all day'. How do you think we should go about capturing a hobgoblin?" He tosses some meat into the air, which Gaia quickly snatches up in her beak, before breaking apart a roll and dipping it in some jam before eating it.
"Part of intelligence is understanding when one doesn't know something," Zina said loftily between bites of cinnamon roll. "As far as I know, none of us are any good at tracking things. So unless the goblins are being super obvious, we're going to be running around the woods waiting to run into them. We'd either need to make a trap or find someone who is good at tracking."
Kanon joins the others at the table with a bowl of sweetrolls.
"I imagine stumbling into an army of them won't be all that difficult. The closer we get to Beregost, the better our chance." He stuffs one of the sweetrolls in his mouth and eats it greedily. After swallowing, he adds, "I say we loop around the south, closer to the mountain and make our way around so that we're coming into Beregost from the south. We're bound to find something..."
Pettilaen rolls his eyes. Damn, she's smart. "How hard can tracking be?" he asks between bites of some ham. "With Gaia's eyes, I can see just about everything out there, if I look long enough. Her vantage point is superior when she's in the air. And we won't be looking for them in the woods. The topography between Candlekeep and Beregost is mostly plains with some rolling hills... something you wouldn't have seen just from the cart. But I saw it. It'll be easy to spot any hobgoblin patrols while up in the sky, provided they aren't hiding in caves or anything." He takes another bite of ham.
He nods his head in agreement with his mouth full. Finishing, he adds, "South seems like a good route to approach from. They won't suspect it as much too. Are we wanting to ambush them, or set up a trap for them to fall into though? The three parts to this seem to be: finding, capturing, and interrogating. We've got the finding part well established, but we should work on capturing... which I'm drawing blanks on, other than surprising them and knocking them out."
Mara looked at the food, the thought of the refugee children at the front of her mind. As she watched these new comrades stuffing their faces with sweet rolls, she wondered if any of them knew what it felt like to be truly hungry. She picked up an apple, and nothing more, before sitting. "We ambush them. Give them something too tempting to pass up. But without knowing the lay of the land, that would be better discussed after we find them." Mara looked down at the apple in her hand, squeezing it, harder and harder, imagining it to be the head of her enemy. Oh, the things she had planned when she next came face to face with the bastards that took away her home, and made those children suffer.
Working on another sweetroll, Kanon speaks up, "I never actually met a wild Hobgoblin before. Tildra always said they drink the blood of children and eat the flesh of their victims." Kanon stops eating and drops the rest of his sweetroll into his bowl. The image of the carnage in the road ignites his imagination. "I think... I think I might have lost my appetite."
"Can't we just let them come to us? Maybe set up a fake camp, fill our bedrolls with straw, and watch as they wonder into our well-lit campsite?" Kanon has never been one for tactics, but the stories he's read always has some sort of ingenious plan that should never work, but somehow does.
"I'm partial to Kanon's trap plan," Zina mused, licking her fingers. "Although Blackstaff knows, no matter what plan we end up attempting, something will go wrong."
"Goblins are not stupid," the gnome continued, breathing in her coffee. "Setting a too simple trap would be a deadly mistake. We can't just fill our bedrolls with straw, we have to really think this through."
"Or perhaps, Zina, you're just overthinking it?" Pettilaen countered. Zina was smart, but street knowledge and book knowledge were two completely different matters. Experience always trumped paper in his mind. "Though I do agree with you about such a trap... on the principle that waiting in the dark for these goblins is too much of a risk... most of our party don't have the eyes to see at night, as you, I, or the hobgoblins do, which would put them at the advantage."
Finishing his breakfast quickly, he gets up from the table. "To coincide with what our newfound ally, Mara, said, I agree that our plan should be based on the situation we find them in. Which means we should focus our efforts on getting out of Candlekeep and head towards the Cloud Peaks, and then towards Beregost, to try and find a patrol group out there. And who knows? If Mara killed three on her own," he glances over with a grin and winks at her, "then I could kill at least six all by myself... so we shouldn't have any issues with dispatching them."
Kanon stands up, offering the remaining sweet roll to Mara as he does. "We should take some of the food as rations. I'm not sure how well any of us can hunt... I mean, I read a book about it once, but I'd never call myself a hunter." Heading back to the selection of foods, he begins putting a few more sweet rolls in his satchel along with slices of dried ham. He grabs a bowl and places a heaping pile of ham with extra pig fat, topping it off with a couple sweet rolls as well. Afterwards he returns to the table and says, "I think I'm ready to go. Got Orst his breakfast as well." After a moment of thought he adds, "We might want to get a second bowl..."
Portia remains silent through breakfast. Her main goal was to just get them going and having some solid food for the day. She sticks to healthier choices and food that will go a long ways unlike a sweet roll. She never understood how they could make you full, but two hours later you are hungry and tired. She hated that. She grabbed a couple of apples as they started getting up.
"Whatever the plan turns into, I'm ready to keep you alive."
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PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
Mara balked at the idea of taking all this food. She watched the greediness of her new companions, shoving food into their mouths, loading up their pockets with excess morsels. Looking down at the uneaten apple in her hand, she rose, silently. She looked at everyone a moment, then said, with a coolness to her voice, "Take only what you need to survive. There are refugees... children... who need this food more than you will ever know." Then, without waiting for reply, she left to wait outside.
Just as Mara exits the common hall, two worn and weary Elturgardian horsemen enter. You recognize them as Serjeant Bernam and First Lancer Mallus, two of three men you crossed on the road to Candlekeep. Upon recognizing Kanon, Bernam holds his hand up by way of greeting.
"It is good to see you well, young Kanon," he calls out, approaching the group. "You look prepared to travel. Where are you headed?"
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PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Kanon waves the pair over to the table. Once there, he reveals their plan in hushed tones.
"We're going to get to the bottom of this. Fighting an enemy without a face is folly, and if the keep blindly continues on their current path of researching who they think is the enemy, we'll get nowhere in retaking Beregost." He looks at each of them in turn, "I know you both probably have orders of some sort, but we could use seasoned warriors in this venture."
He'd only really met the two on the road, but both Petti and Zina seemed to know them quite well. They were able to take down a giant!! Their help in this matter could be a key to its success.
"We've heard from Lord Dhelt and are to stay in Candlekeep until his Hellriders arrive - then we return to Elturgard with Master Regis Kennet to recover and regroup. While I cannot offer our blades, however, I believe I can share information that will help you."
He sits and takes a hit from a flask of spirit before he continues.
"Most of the hobgoblins appear to have returned to the mountains, to the south. Some few are still camped to the east, near the Wood of Sharp Teeth, though we've thus far been unable to determine exactly why when their compatriots have withdrawn. They're organized in small groups of half a dozen or so, patrolling the roadway by night. By day, they camp at the forest's edge."
He offers the flask to First Lancer Mallus, who waves it off, then he takes another sip before wedging it under his iron greave.
"Your best bet, I think, is to loop down, then come up from the south. They won't be expecting a threat from that direction. Be careful, though. If they raise an alarm, you'll need to run. They're highly organized and still have fifty capable warriors in the area. I wouldn't challenge that force with anything short of a half-dozen Hellriders."
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PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Pettilaen sits back down, listening intently to the news and information they have to bear. "It would make sense that they would patrol at night." Pettilaen spoke up after Bernam. "They can see in the dark pretty well, so they would use that to their advantage. I surmise that they camp together along the forest's edge before going on their patrols at night, correct? It would make sense, strategically, to strengthen their numbers while they sleep to avoid a potential ambush. We'll loop down then, and approach from the south."
Pettilaen looks them over, before asking, "Where's Garen? Did he sleep in or something?" Pettilaen knew better: given their line of work, Garen was most likely dead, like Heron before him. But he hoped for better news.
"Someone needs to remove the greatstaff currently shoved up their-" Zina muttered in gnommish as Mara left them. She was interrupted by the two guards entering and greeting them, which was probably for the best.
She listened quietly to them explaining the situation, her fingers absentmindedly tracing runes on the table. "You see, now we have the start to an actual plan," the wizard grinned. She would be loathe to admit it, but Pettilaen wasn't bad at this tactical thinking.
She was about to praise his intelligence when the idiot asked after the probably dead, conspicuously missing third man. Zina reminded herself that she should learn the silence spell as soon as physically possibly.
"It's great to see you two alive and well," she cut in with an apologetic smile. "Idiot," she then whispered to Pettilaen in gnommish.
Portia nods to the guards and takes in the news. She gives Pettilaen a pointed look as Zina calls him an idiot.
"Thank you for the information. We were thinking of looping around that way, but it is good know where they are camping. May you have a safe journey getting Regis home finally. He's seen enough already."
She looks after Mara not sure what to tell her.
"We were heading out when you showed up, but glad we met again to share information." She says a quick prayer over each of them in their duties to come before heading for the door.
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PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
"Sleep in? No..." Serjeant Bernam laughs. "We haven't slept in some time. But we did find some items of value and I sent First Horse Garen to have it all appraised."
He tips his cavalry helm.
"I don't mean to keep you, though. We're just here for a bite, then we're getting some rest."
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PBP "Beregost Blues" - Dungeon Master of Gnome Slaying +5
Pettilaen smirked at Zina's remark regarding Mara. He hoped she didn't secretly speak Gnommish like the rest of the party... this way they could at least gossip about one of the party's members.
"It's great to see you two alive and well," Zina cut in before they could respond. "Idiot," she whispered to him in Gnommish. A bit taken back, he could only smile widely as Bernam gave the good news he was hoping for.
"Oh praise Ilmater! I thought he was dead. We all thought he was dead." He sticks his tongue out at Zina, following the action with a counter-whisper in Gnommish, "Idiot."
Having been so excited to stick it to Zina, the fact that they had found items worth appraisal almost sailed over Pettilaen's head. Almost. "Wait, what? Treasure?" He stands on top of the bench, saying it more loudly, "These hobgoblins have TREASURE??!" His breathing quickens as he frantically looks to the other party members. "People, we need to go. NOW. This is the big payday we've all been waiting for. Well... that I've been waiting for, at least."
Quickly gathering his items, he races for the exit, barely having time to say, "Thanks for the tips and information! May Lady Tymora favor and oversee your appraisals!" To himself, he adds, "Now where's my pony, Dandeliongrazer?"
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Zina grumbled some curse words in gnommish at Kanon's logic. "People are rarely exactly what they say they are,"' she said softly to the bard. "I wish I could trust people, but whenever I do someone gets hurt."
The gnome could smell breakfast, the very idea of food doing wonders to improve her mood. "I'll try my best not to scare her away until she proves she's actually out to get us," she said with a sigh.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Pettilaen grabs some breakfast. Complimentary breakfast was always a good thing, in his book, even if the food was subpar. He'd certainly had worst, living on the streets in the Gate. He gnabbed a little extra meat for Gaia, seeing her eye it longingly from his shoulder.
Sitting down with the rest of his friends around their table, he glances to Zina, asking, "Okay brainiac. Ms. 'I know everything because I read books all day'. How do you think we should go about capturing a hobgoblin?" He tosses some meat into the air, which Gaia quickly snatches up in her beak, before breaking apart a roll and dipping it in some jam before eating it.
"Part of intelligence is understanding when one doesn't know something," Zina said loftily between bites of cinnamon roll. "As far as I know, none of us are any good at tracking things. So unless the goblins are being super obvious, we're going to be running around the woods waiting to run into them. We'd either need to make a trap or find someone who is good at tracking."
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Kanon joins the others at the table with a bowl of sweetrolls.
"I imagine stumbling into an army of them won't be all that difficult. The closer we get to Beregost, the better our chance." He stuffs one of the sweetrolls in his mouth and eats it greedily. After swallowing, he adds, "I say we loop around the south, closer to the mountain and make our way around so that we're coming into Beregost from the south. We're bound to find something..."
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Pettilaen rolls his eyes. Damn, she's smart. "How hard can tracking be?" he asks between bites of some ham. "With Gaia's eyes, I can see just about everything out there, if I look long enough. Her vantage point is superior when she's in the air. And we won't be looking for them in the woods. The topography between Candlekeep and Beregost is mostly plains with some rolling hills... something you wouldn't have seen just from the cart. But I saw it. It'll be easy to spot any hobgoblin patrols while up in the sky, provided they aren't hiding in caves or anything." He takes another bite of ham.
He nods his head in agreement with his mouth full. Finishing, he adds, "South seems like a good route to approach from. They won't suspect it as much too. Are we wanting to ambush them, or set up a trap for them to fall into though? The three parts to this seem to be: finding, capturing, and interrogating. We've got the finding part well established, but we should work on capturing... which I'm drawing blanks on, other than surprising them and knocking them out."
Mara looked at the food, the thought of the refugee children at the front of her mind. As she watched these new comrades stuffing their faces with sweet rolls, she wondered if any of them knew what it felt like to be truly hungry. She picked up an apple, and nothing more, before sitting. "We ambush them. Give them something too tempting to pass up. But without knowing the lay of the land, that would be better discussed after we find them." Mara looked down at the apple in her hand, squeezing it, harder and harder, imagining it to be the head of her enemy. Oh, the things she had planned when she next came face to face with the bastards that took away her home, and made those children suffer.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Working on another sweetroll, Kanon speaks up, "I never actually met a wild Hobgoblin before. Tildra always said they drink the blood of children and eat the flesh of their victims." Kanon stops eating and drops the rest of his sweetroll into his bowl. The image of the carnage in the road ignites his imagination. "I think... I think I might have lost my appetite."
"Can't we just let them come to us? Maybe set up a fake camp, fill our bedrolls with straw, and watch as they wonder into our well-lit campsite?" Kanon has never been one for tactics, but the stories he's read always has some sort of ingenious plan that should never work, but somehow does.
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"I'm partial to Kanon's trap plan," Zina mused, licking her fingers. "Although Blackstaff knows, no matter what plan we end up attempting, something will go wrong."
"Goblins are not stupid," the gnome continued, breathing in her coffee. "Setting a too simple trap would be a deadly mistake. We can't just fill our bedrolls with straw, we have to really think this through."
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
"Or perhaps, Zina, you're just overthinking it?" Pettilaen countered. Zina was smart, but street knowledge and book knowledge were two completely different matters. Experience always trumped paper in his mind. "Though I do agree with you about such a trap... on the principle that waiting in the dark for these goblins is too much of a risk... most of our party don't have the eyes to see at night, as you, I, or the hobgoblins do, which would put them at the advantage."
Finishing his breakfast quickly, he gets up from the table. "To coincide with what our newfound ally, Mara, said, I agree that our plan should be based on the situation we find them in. Which means we should focus our efforts on getting out of Candlekeep and head towards the Cloud Peaks, and then towards Beregost, to try and find a patrol group out there. And who knows? If Mara killed three on her own," he glances over with a grin and winks at her, "then I could kill at least six all by myself... so we shouldn't have any issues with dispatching them."
Kanon stands up, offering the remaining sweet roll to Mara as he does. "We should take some of the food as rations. I'm not sure how well any of us can hunt... I mean, I read a book about it once, but I'd never call myself a hunter." Heading back to the selection of foods, he begins putting a few more sweet rolls in his satchel along with slices of dried ham. He grabs a bowl and places a heaping pile of ham with extra pig fat, topping it off with a couple sweet rolls as well. Afterwards he returns to the table and says, "I think I'm ready to go. Got Orst his breakfast as well." After a moment of thought he adds, "We might want to get a second bowl..."
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Portia remains silent through breakfast. Her main goal was to just get them going and having some solid food for the day. She sticks to healthier choices and food that will go a long ways unlike a sweet roll. She never understood how they could make you full, but two hours later you are hungry and tired. She hated that. She grabbed a couple of apples as they started getting up.
"Whatever the plan turns into, I'm ready to keep you alive."
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain
PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
Mara balked at the idea of taking all this food. She watched the greediness of her new companions, shoving food into their mouths, loading up their pockets with excess morsels. Looking down at the uneaten apple in her hand, she rose, silently. She looked at everyone a moment, then said, with a coolness to her voice, "Take only what you need to survive. There are refugees... children... who need this food more than you will ever know." Then, without waiting for reply, she left to wait outside.
A dwarf with a canoe on his back? What could go wrong?
Just as Mara exits the common hall, two worn and weary Elturgardian horsemen enter. You recognize them as Serjeant Bernam and First Lancer Mallus, two of three men you crossed on the road to Candlekeep. Upon recognizing Kanon, Bernam holds his hand up by way of greeting.
"It is good to see you well, young Kanon," he calls out, approaching the group. "You look prepared to travel. Where are you headed?"
Kanon waves the pair over to the table. Once there, he reveals their plan in hushed tones.
"We're going to get to the bottom of this. Fighting an enemy without a face is folly, and if the keep blindly continues on their current path of researching who they think is the enemy, we'll get nowhere in retaking Beregost." He looks at each of them in turn, "I know you both probably have orders of some sort, but we could use seasoned warriors in this venture."
He'd only really met the two on the road, but both Petti and Zina seemed to know them quite well. They were able to take down a giant!! Their help in this matter could be a key to its success.
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Serjeant Bernam shakes his head.
"We've heard from Lord Dhelt and are to stay in Candlekeep until his Hellriders arrive - then we return to Elturgard with Master Regis Kennet to recover and regroup. While I cannot offer our blades, however, I believe I can share information that will help you."
He sits and takes a hit from a flask of spirit before he continues.
"Most of the hobgoblins appear to have returned to the mountains, to the south. Some few are still camped to the east, near the Wood of Sharp Teeth, though we've thus far been unable to determine exactly why when their compatriots have withdrawn. They're organized in small groups of half a dozen or so, patrolling the roadway by night. By day, they camp at the forest's edge."
He offers the flask to First Lancer Mallus, who waves it off, then he takes another sip before wedging it under his iron greave.
"Your best bet, I think, is to loop down, then come up from the south. They won't be expecting a threat from that direction. Be careful, though. If they raise an alarm, you'll need to run. They're highly organized and still have fifty capable warriors in the area. I wouldn't challenge that force with anything short of a half-dozen Hellriders."
Pettilaen sits back down, listening intently to the news and information they have to bear. "It would make sense that they would patrol at night." Pettilaen spoke up after Bernam. "They can see in the dark pretty well, so they would use that to their advantage. I surmise that they camp together along the forest's edge before going on their patrols at night, correct? It would make sense, strategically, to strengthen their numbers while they sleep to avoid a potential ambush. We'll loop down then, and approach from the south."
Pettilaen looks them over, before asking, "Where's Garen? Did he sleep in or something?" Pettilaen knew better: given their line of work, Garen was most likely dead, like Heron before him. But he hoped for better news.
"Someone needs to remove the greatstaff currently shoved up their-" Zina muttered in gnommish as Mara left them. She was interrupted by the two guards entering and greeting them, which was probably for the best.
She listened quietly to them explaining the situation, her fingers absentmindedly tracing runes on the table. "You see, now we have the start to an actual plan," the wizard grinned. She would be loathe to admit it, but Pettilaen wasn't bad at this tactical thinking.
She was about to praise his intelligence when the idiot asked after the probably dead, conspicuously missing third man. Zina reminded herself that she should learn the silence spell as soon as physically possibly.
"It's great to see you two alive and well," she cut in with an apologetic smile. "Idiot," she then whispered to Pettilaen in gnommish.
PBP: DM of Titans of Tomorrow
PBP: Lera Zahuv in Whispers of Dissent
PBP: Evaine Brae in Innistrad: Dark Ascension
PBP: Cor'avin in Tomb of Annihilation
Portia nods to the guards and takes in the news. She gives Pettilaen a pointed look as Zina calls him an idiot.
"Thank you for the information. We were thinking of looping around that way, but it is good know where they are camping. May you have a safe journey getting Regis home finally. He's seen enough already."
She looks after Mara not sure what to tell her.
"We were heading out when you showed up, but glad we met again to share information." She says a quick prayer over each of them in their duties to come before heading for the door.
PbP - Beregost Blues - Portia Starflower, Half Elf, Cleric, Life Domain
PbP - Tome of Annhilation - Vistani Mocanu, Human, Bard
"Sleep in? No..." Serjeant Bernam laughs. "We haven't slept in some time. But we did find some items of value and I sent First Horse Garen to have it all appraised."
He tips his cavalry helm.
"I don't mean to keep you, though. We're just here for a bite, then we're getting some rest."
Pettilaen smirked at Zina's remark regarding Mara. He hoped she didn't secretly speak Gnommish like the rest of the party... this way they could at least gossip about one of the party's members.
"It's great to see you two alive and well," Zina cut in before they could respond. "Idiot," she whispered to him in Gnommish. A bit taken back, he could only smile widely as Bernam gave the good news he was hoping for.
"Oh praise Ilmater! I thought he was dead. We all thought he was dead." He sticks his tongue out at Zina, following the action with a counter-whisper in Gnommish, "Idiot."
Having been so excited to stick it to Zina, the fact that they had found items worth appraisal almost sailed over Pettilaen's head. Almost. "Wait, what? Treasure?" He stands on top of the bench, saying it more loudly, "These hobgoblins have TREASURE??!" His breathing quickens as he frantically looks to the other party members. "People, we need to go. NOW. This is the big payday we've all been waiting for. Well... that I've been waiting for, at least."
Quickly gathering his items, he races for the exit, barely having time to say, "Thanks for the tips and information! May Lady Tymora favor and oversee your appraisals!" To himself, he adds, "Now where's my pony, Dandeliongrazer?"