The battle almost over before he realises it, Zaxx's focus is on Mr Skittles.
"Mr Skittles! Good work! What? Yes, yes, I know I got captured just like back at Baldur's Gate. Look, there really isn't time! We must help the barbar-oh, he's killed everyone."
Seeing the big orc drop dead, the wizard holds up his bound hands.
Triumphant Barbarian releases and revives his companions.
Kryinor, in wolf form, tops the north west edge of the dell as Titus rises groggily to one elbow.
The gear of the kidnappers is typical Orc fashion, crude but well made. The only item of interest is a flask of viscous green fluid that has a sharp odor and makes the eyes water if unsealed for too long.
The two Orcs were following the trail of their fellows to the higher slopes of the Sword Mountains and you assume the Tor therein.
A quick check of your gear shows that a healing potion is missing from Titus' pack. All else is as it should be.
Kargan and Eedim turn up a bit later both puffing from a long run.
"Seems I was outplayed. (motioning towards the fallen Orc) That rather large brute was a marvelously skilled chap I do say. To you good Sir, Breecha I thank you. I'm rather worse for wear at the moment and those two helped themselves to my healing potion. Perhaps we should keep moving along the trail until we are a bit closer to Tor Therein, we can camp say a few hours travel from there and undertake some reconnoitering of the area."
OOC: Don how far do I think we are from Tor Therein?
Titus will then cast 2 cure light wounds on himself
"I'm more of a loremaster than a fighter, my good dwarf," smiles Zaxx as he is freed from his bonds.
He rubs his wrists to get the circulation back and, with a short arcane word, snaps his fingers to momentarily produce a small flame on his thumb.
"Well, everything still seems to be in order."
With that he'll scoop up Mr Skittles, give him a pat, and place him back on his hat brim.
After Titus quaffs some potions Zaxx will give him a careful slap on the back.
"My friend elf, I am glad you're in one piece! I tried my best but I must say Breccha and Mr Skittles were the true heroes this day. As for your suggestion, I agree we should head towards Tor but we must stay together. I've had enough excitement for today!"
Kryinor pauses to catch his breath and take stock of the scene before him.
Emotions Check: 20
DC: 5
Fail: he will rush down to the group the rage consuming even conscious thought
Pass: he will take stock of the situation the rage still simmering but controlled for the moment.
He pads down to the barbarian, wizard and ranger. His eyes hard and his hackles raised. He sniffs at Titus and looks keenly at his wounds before turning to the corpses of the orcs. He makes sure they are dead, placing his front paws, one on the skull and one on the chest, he proceeds to tear the throat out of the first orc. he then repeats the process on the second orc.
His eyes are still hard but now his hackles are no longer raised.
Feeling the magic start to drain, Kryinor shifts back into his half-elf form.
"Better safe, than sorry.... Rest as long as you need Titus, then we will hunt these orcs together. I will scout the the immediate vicinity to make sure there are no others lurking."
With that Kryinor will shift again into dire wolf form and scout within 1mile of where the group is, coming back to with ear shot every so often.
"Actually my fine warrior fellows, after listening to those two's conversation, it appears the smaller one was their scout, the larger one - A Mr Gorbag , I believe was the muscle. I might add for my own ego, that I did indeed have the better of our Gorbag here, I presume my missing potion was used to heal his wounds. Unfortunately his smaller companion was more than a match for my subterfuge skills. A timely lesson I believe, timely. I would suggest that we take care with the green liquid - It is poison. No doubt. I felt its effects surely enough after being pierced by its wielders arrow. Do we know anymore about our possible flying menace? we still need to have a care about that. I'm sure now that we are moving into the hills we can find nice cave to camp in. A cave will give us cover from airborne eyes and limit attacks or surprises. The higher the better, we get high enough, our large bronzed companion can use his swords powers to spy the Orcs from a distance. Those two talked about how smart their boss was and he certainly seems very adept if he's setting his troops to cover his movements. Most un-orc like I do say. 100% effort from here on in my friends, I think this is our most skilled adversary yet! Marvelous! I'm sure this will be a fine tale in the telling! I feel strong as ever now after those spells, lets be on with it and find ourselves a nice cave overlooking Tor Thorein."
With that Titus stands, sets his pack and pouches, and moves off following the orc trail again.
Breccha breaths deeply as he gets his breath back from his running and fighting. Whne his breathing is normal he takes a large swig of his water. As he does this he looks arout at the surroundings and the dead orcs to see if he sees anything unusual.
As Kryinor's dark furred form scouts the area immediately surround the group the rest of his companions rest, recover, and take stock.
The young Druids heightened senses, gifted form his present form, show nothing apart from the trail of their quarry heading into the hills and mountains.
Rough country included, the more experienced travelers in the group estimate they are about a day and half from the Wyvern Tor if they follow the route the Orcs are marching. Although the pace is somewhat slow due to the difficult terrain they will still arrive half a day before the original path they had planned.
Travelling together and at a more cautious pace the parties trackers find the Orc trail easy to follow as it heads straight towards a large Hill in the distance.
No other challenges or disturbances hinder progress for the remainder of the daylight hours.
The country side is littered with obscured sites good for camping out of sight and protected form the elements. A place to pass the night in safety is easily found.
OOC: Push on or rest for the night?
IS there anything your wish to do in this phase of the pursuit?
When the daylight if failing and Kryinor finds a good spot to camp for the night. "We should rest here for the night. In the morning I will prepare all the spells i can think of that may help us should this poison creature make an appearance. I will take first watch." Once the group has settled Kryinor will find a spot where he can look out over the landscape.
Perception: 22
In the morning he will meditate while thinking through his lessons in the forest.
Spell list : Animal Friendship, Create or Destroy Water, Detect Poison and Disease, Healing Spirit, Moonbeam, Protection from Poison
Making camp in a sheltered overhang in one of the many gullies that crisscross the foot hills you build a small fire and settle in for the night. Watches are set, and taken. The night passes without any incidents ending with the rising of the sun and quick meal to break fast.
OOC: Long rest!
The trail is easy to follow, the orcs seem intent to destroy the country side the pass through. Leading into the lower reaches of the mountains it soon joins a wider more often used trail to the higher slopes.
It appears that the raiding party left the mountain trial after a few hours and headed in the direction of a large rising plateau of land that must be Wyvern Tor. The trail become harder to follow at this point and takes more time to follow as it is often lost, The Orcs have covered their tracks at many points and have circled needlessly and back tracked to throw off any pursuit.
Scouting the area around the faint trail you find a cave about two thirds the way up the slopes of the Tor on the North East side. You are confident you remain undetected and find a good position to observe the cave entrance.
A lone Orc sits twenty feet in front of the entrance sheltering in a small group of stones...
" I suggest we wait a while and watch gentlemen. Would be nice to know their number better, besides any of them come out we should be able to thin them out a bit with out them knowing."
Setting up a watch in secluded position above the Orc on lookout you observe.
The creature seems bored and disinterested in preforming sentry duty. It keeps a halfhearted watch on the area leading up to the cave.
About half an hour later a group of three greenskins approach from the lower part of the Tor along a rough newly worn track. Two rather wiry built ones, dressed much like the Orc 'Snaga' from earlier, and another larger one dressed like the warrior 'Gorbag'.
They confer with their compatriot at the rock pile and make their way into the cave.
A few moments later another trio leave the cave, this time two bulky warriors and one wiry scout. With a curt wave and few sharp words in their language to the sentry they move off down the rack and begin to circle the lower parts of the Tor.
The Sun continues to rise and a slight breeze from the West picks up carrying the scent of dry brush, stirring up the dust on the mountain side.
Kryinor continues his hunt for Titus and the orcs. His rage still fierce.
The battle almost over before he realises it, Zaxx's focus is on Mr Skittles.
"Mr Skittles! Good work! What? Yes, yes, I know I got captured just like back at Baldur's Gate. Look, there really isn't time! We must help the barbar-oh, he's killed everyone."
Seeing the big orc drop dead, the wizard holds up his bound hands.
"I say, great work, Breccha! Little help?"
Triumphant Barbarian releases and revives his companions.
Kryinor, in wolf form, tops the north west edge of the dell as Titus rises groggily to one elbow.
The gear of the kidnappers is typical Orc fashion, crude but well made. The only item of interest is a flask of viscous green fluid that has a sharp odor and makes the eyes water if unsealed for too long.
The two Orcs were following the trail of their fellows to the higher slopes of the Sword Mountains and you assume the Tor therein.
A quick check of your gear shows that a healing potion is missing from Titus' pack. All else is as it should be.
Kargan and Eedim turn up a bit later both puffing from a long run.
OOC: Next move adventurers!
After looking over the two dead orcs, I say to Breccha -
"Well done laddie, there's two Grobbi tha' will ne'er trouble good people again!"
Looking at Titus and Zaxx, but still talking to Breccha -
"Its good to see someone here knows how to put up a fight!"
"Seems I was outplayed. (motioning towards the fallen Orc) That rather large brute was a marvelously skilled chap I do say. To you good Sir, Breecha I thank you. I'm rather worse for wear at the moment and those two helped themselves to my healing potion. Perhaps we should keep moving along the trail until we are a bit closer to Tor Therein, we can camp say a few hours travel from there and undertake some reconnoitering of the area."
OOC: Don how far do I think we are from Tor Therein?
Titus will then cast 2 cure light wounds on himself
8
4
"I'm more of a loremaster than a fighter, my good dwarf," smiles Zaxx as he is freed from his bonds.
He rubs his wrists to get the circulation back and, with a short arcane word, snaps his fingers to momentarily produce a small flame on his thumb.
"Well, everything still seems to be in order."
With that he'll scoop up Mr Skittles, give him a pat, and place him back on his hat brim.
After Titus quaffs some potions Zaxx will give him a careful slap on the back.
"My friend elf, I am glad you're in one piece! I tried my best but I must say Breccha and Mr Skittles were the true heroes this day. As for your suggestion, I agree we should head towards Tor but we must stay together. I've had enough excitement for today!"
Kryinor pauses to catch his breath and take stock of the scene before him.
Emotions Check: 20
DC: 5
Fail: he will rush down to the group the rage consuming even conscious thought
Pass: he will take stock of the situation the rage still simmering but controlled for the moment.
He pads down to the barbarian, wizard and ranger. His eyes hard and his hackles raised. He sniffs at Titus and looks keenly at his wounds before turning to the corpses of the orcs. He makes sure they are dead, placing his front paws, one on the skull and one on the chest, he proceeds to tear the throat out of the first orc. he then repeats the process on the second orc.
His eyes are still hard but now his hackles are no longer raised.
Feeling the magic start to drain, Kryinor shifts back into his half-elf form.
"Better safe, than sorry.... Rest as long as you need Titus, then we will hunt these orcs together. I will scout the the immediate vicinity to make sure there are no others lurking."
With that Kryinor will shift again into dire wolf form and scout within 1mile of where the group is, coming back to with ear shot every so often.
Stealth: 17
Survival: 16
Perception: 10
"Aye lads, we can expect more Grobbi soon. When these two are missed, the rest o' the scum will come lookin' for 'em, best we move on."
I will hide the bodies in the bushes, and try to cover the evidence of the fight.
Survival 13
"Actually my fine warrior fellows, after listening to those two's conversation, it appears the smaller one was their scout, the larger one - A Mr Gorbag , I believe was the muscle. I might add for my own ego, that I did indeed have the better of our Gorbag here, I presume my missing potion was used to heal his wounds. Unfortunately his smaller companion was more than a match for my subterfuge skills. A timely lesson I believe, timely. I would suggest that we take care with the green liquid - It is poison. No doubt. I felt its effects surely enough after being pierced by its wielders arrow. Do we know anymore about our possible flying menace? we still need to have a care about that. I'm sure now that we are moving into the hills we can find nice cave to camp in. A cave will give us cover from airborne eyes and limit attacks or surprises. The higher the better, we get high enough, our large bronzed companion can use his swords powers to spy the Orcs from a distance. Those two talked about how smart their boss was and he certainly seems very adept if he's setting his troops to cover his movements. Most un-orc like I do say. 100% effort from here on in my friends, I think this is our most skilled adversary yet! Marvelous! I'm sure this will be a fine tale in the telling! I feel strong as ever now after those spells, lets be on with it and find ourselves a nice cave overlooking Tor Thorein."
With that Titus stands, sets his pack and pouches, and moves off following the orc trail again.
Breccha breaths deeply as he gets his breath back from his running and fighting. Whne his breathing is normal he takes a large swig of his water. As he does this he looks arout at the surroundings and the dead orcs to see if he sees anything unusual.
Perception: 12
"Ach, it's easy to tell when Titus has recovered from injury, by the length of his speech!"
As Kryinor's dark furred form scouts the area immediately surround the group the rest of his companions rest, recover, and take stock.
The young Druids heightened senses, gifted form his present form, show nothing apart from the trail of their quarry heading into the hills and mountains.
Rough country included, the more experienced travelers in the group estimate they are about a day and half from the Wyvern Tor if they follow the route the Orcs are marching. Although the pace is somewhat slow due to the difficult terrain they will still arrive half a day before the original path they had planned.
Travelling together and at a more cautious pace the parties trackers find the Orc trail easy to follow as it heads straight towards a large Hill in the distance.
No other challenges or disturbances hinder progress for the remainder of the daylight hours.
The country side is littered with obscured sites good for camping out of sight and protected form the elements. A place to pass the night in safety is easily found.
OOC: Push on or rest for the night?
IS there anything your wish to do in this phase of the pursuit?
When the daylight if failing and Kryinor finds a good spot to camp for the night. "We should rest here for the night. In the morning I will prepare all the spells i can think of that may help us should this poison creature make an appearance. I will take first watch." Once the group has settled Kryinor will find a spot where he can look out over the landscape.
Perception: 22
In the morning he will meditate while thinking through his lessons in the forest.
Spell list : Animal Friendship, Create or Destroy Water, Detect Poison and Disease, Healing Spirit, Moonbeam, Protection from Poison
While following the orc trail, I will look for signs that might indicate how many orcs are using this trail
perception 8
Titus perception while we head to our overnight camp 19
Making camp in a sheltered overhang in one of the many gullies that crisscross the foot hills you build a small fire and settle in for the night. Watches are set, and taken. The night passes without any incidents ending with the rising of the sun and quick meal to break fast.
OOC: Long rest!
The trail is easy to follow, the orcs seem intent to destroy the country side the pass through. Leading into the lower reaches of the mountains it soon joins a wider more often used trail to the higher slopes.
It appears that the raiding party left the mountain trial after a few hours and headed in the direction of a large rising plateau of land that must be Wyvern Tor. The trail become harder to follow at this point and takes more time to follow as it is often lost, The Orcs have covered their tracks at many points and have circled needlessly and back tracked to throw off any pursuit.
Scouting the area around the faint trail you find a cave about two thirds the way up the slopes of the Tor on the North East side. You are confident you remain undetected and find a good position to observe the cave entrance.
A lone Orc sits twenty feet in front of the entrance sheltering in a small group of stones...
" I suggest we wait a while and watch gentlemen. Would be nice to know their number better, besides any of them come out we should be able to thin them out a bit with out them knowing."
"Ach, curse their filthy green hides!"
I grip my axe, and look for an opportunity to attack
perception 18
Setting up a watch in secluded position above the Orc on lookout you observe.
The creature seems bored and disinterested in preforming sentry duty. It keeps a halfhearted watch on the area leading up to the cave.
About half an hour later a group of three greenskins approach from the lower part of the Tor along a rough newly worn track. Two rather wiry built ones, dressed much like the Orc 'Snaga' from earlier, and another larger one dressed like the warrior 'Gorbag'.
They confer with their compatriot at the rock pile and make their way into the cave.
A few moments later another trio leave the cave, this time two bulky warriors and one wiry scout. With a curt wave and few sharp words in their language to the sentry they move off down the rack and begin to circle the lower parts of the Tor.
The Sun continues to rise and a slight breeze from the West picks up carrying the scent of dry brush, stirring up the dust on the mountain side.
"Whatsay we set an ambush for those three greenskins on patrol lads. Thin out the numbers eh?"