In the town of Neverwinter, you have found work. You have been hired by the dwarf Gundren Rockseeker to escort his wagon of supplies to the town of Phandalin. "I'm very busy, you see, and I need to get there as soon as possible. But I will need my supplies, and the roads have been somewhat, erm, dangerous, of late. My brothers and I have found," he pauses and looks around warily, "something big. You and the others I've hired should have no issues seeing the wagon safely to Phandelin. Just take the High Road to the Triboar Trail. You can't miss the turn off for Phandalin. Once you arrive, head to Barthen's Provisions. He'll have your pay for the job - 10gp, as we agreed." The dwarf's eyes are alight with excitement and he is almost bouncing in his seat. "Now, please forgive my haste, but Sildar and I must get on the road. I have some business to take care of before the supplies arrive." He gets up and hurries over to an older gentlemen and they head outside.
**Introduce Yourselves**
You've all been hired as escorts by Gundren, so if any of you want to introduce your characters or work out how you knew each other before this job, feel free to post. Perhaps you knew each other from previous work or perhaps you knew Gundren before being hired. After introductions, you will be heading down the High Road escorting the wagon. The wagon has a bench seat with room for a driver and one other (anyone can drive the wagon, no checks required). Two well-trained oxen pull the wagon. Please note your marching order on the road.
Odo is small, even for a halfling, and his strikingly bald head point out this feature even more. He has simple, plain clothes, and carries a leather pack and a staff. Halflings can be a bit quirky by nature, but Odo might take the cake. He's full of questions about seemingly mundane things, enjoys the most innocuous stuff, and and is generally confused most of the time.
He is on the road and needed some coin, so someone he met in passing suggested this job. He knew none of the party before hand, and has plagued them with conversation since they first met.
Even if he takes things usually quite seriously, He is good company if not offended: he is considered hot-tempered and touchy on the things that really matters to him.
At the moment he wears a chain mail over some poor but decent clothes. He wields a pike that we also uses for aiding during the long walks.
Dressed in a forest green shirt with shiny onyx chips for buttons, deep brown pants, a wide brightly studded belt from which several pouches and cases are affixed, soft felt boots dyed to match his shirt, and an overlarge, knee length, green, canvas coat with overlarge pockets, "Hurry and scurry, never seen a dwarf in such a hurry!!" says the forest gnome. He reaches under the table and pulls out a black hat, with a bag-like crown, and a crystal studded wide green brim, with a number of colored feathers sticking out on the left side. and a wide, stiff brim which he places of his shrub-like black hair. Bright, sapphire blue eyes twinkle at you over a longish nose. An intricately carved, bone, calabash pipe sits unlit in his small, smiling mouth. The pipe's bright white surface contrasting with the medium length black beard, which tapers down to a single curled point.
He reaches the table again to retrieve his pack and a four foot staff. The butt of the tapered, tap-root staff is capped in steel, while the rest of the staff is carved in runes and studded with embedded crystal. The top of the staff is carved to appears as his fingers clutching an orb.
"Kyanite Deepdelver be my name, and the arcane arts my trade. Well, its seems we are already late for a date we just made, shall we go?", he says with a mischievous smile.
Mulligan spots a human with two others about half his size, and decides that this must be the group that the old grump Rockseeker told him about. During his time in the military, Mulligan had spoken with Gundren and Sildar a time or two about various mundane military provisions. Because of those conversations, almost immediately upon his retirement from the military, he contacted Gundren to see if any work was out there where he and his hammer could be of use.
He's wearing old chain mail, lovingly if not skillfully maintained, with some clumsy patches and a few extra sections of chain to cover his unusually large frame. He's about 6'3, looks to be about 220 pounds so he's not the most nimble thing you've ever seen, but he gives off an air of quiet confidence.
Ajax shakes hands with everyone and answers the gnome question
“yes, I think we are ready to go”
he guesses the company will be fun, he also hopes they will be able, if necessary... none seems as unexeperienced as him, he hopes it is just an impression.
ooc: I didn’t quite understand if this Gundren already left before us, and whit what? On feet? On horse?
((He left with his companion Sildar, the older gentlemen you saw. Phandalin is several days journey from Neverwinter, so they will be traveling on horse.))
Kyanite smiles at all and heads out the door to find the wagon. Once there, if there is room, he will find a spot on the wagon. Kyanite takes out a match and light his pipe. After a few puffs, he exhales a series of smoke rings of differing colors.
For those watching closely, he dipped his right hand into one of his pouches for a pinch of fleece and cast Minor Illusion
He looks at the rest of the party, smiles and gives a conspiratorial wink.
The party has been traveling south for several days on the High Road. The High Road is teeming with traffic flowing in and out of Neverwinter and is well-policed, so the travel thus far has been uneventful. The turnoff onto the Triboar Trail was clearly marked and the party had no difficulty following it. The oxen plod along, well-trained and seemingly immune to the noise of the other wagons and carts along the journey.
As the sun begins to reach its zenith on this day of travel, the wagon eases its way around a small bend in the road. Up ahead, you spot two dead horses sprawled about 50 ft ahead of you, blocking the road. Each horse has several black-feathered arrows sticking out of it. The woods are close to the trail here, with a steep embankment and dense thickets on either, so the horses will have to be moved in order to make way for the wagon.
"Oh! Well that's very inconvenient for us! Who would leave dead horses in the middle of the road?" Odo hops down from the wagon. "Would one of you help me move them? We don't want to be delayed too long."
Ajax hails a hand to Odo, suggesting it to stop and whispering to everyone:
"A second, let's not rush: those over there are arrows so the riders are likely to have fallen in an ambush, let's observe the surrounding first and let's stay close to the cart"
Ajax looks around, especially on the woods and on the bushes around (feel free to roll passive perception for me)
ooc:
1. have we ever seen (or do we know) something about black feathered arrows?
2. Did we see Gundren and Sildar leaving on their horses? I mean: do we remember if those horses have something particular? Like colors, a mark on the forehead, some pouches etc. I simply wanna know if we can assume those are our recruiters' horses
Odo furrows his brow, realizing that he should have known something was up. He crouches over a bit, and walks under the wagon and takes a knee. He stands roughly three and a half feet tall, so it is quite easy for him to take cover underneath, he has plenty of room to move. He watches the path behind them, making sure there is no one sneaking up.
"The horses? Poor beasts didn't do anything to anybody..." He mutters to himself.
"A trap!! Of course! Well, let us see if we can flush these villains from their hidden spots. Ajax, take a firm hold on the horses."
After Ajax takes the horses' lead, Kyanite dips his hand into a pocket again, and very precisely makes a several gestures to caste Minor Illusion. From 30 ft. up the road and back in the woods to the right comes a load roar and an inhuman scream of agony which is cut off by the sound of bones being crunched. The crunching goes on for some time.
Odo pokes his head out from under the cart just a hair and looks around frantically trying to locate the source of the terrifying roar, face clearly blanched.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"He tucks his head back under the cart and yells from underneath. "Forget whoever shot those horses, we need to run before whatever THAT thing is can get here!"
"Shusshhhh... It's only a little trickery of mine. Smoke without fire," Kyanite says with a chortle. "If anyone is still out there, they should think the same."
"Shusshhhh... It's only a little trickery of mine. Smoke without fire," Kyanite says with a chortle. "If anyone is still out there, they should think the same."
"Well next time a little warning would be nice... I don't know about that... Stuff... But if you scared them half as bad as you scared me, I'm sure they're halfway to Luskan by now..."
Ajax: ((You can't make out much about the horses at this distance. You'll need to move closer to them if you want to investigate.)) You search your memory, but the arrows don't mean anything that you recall.
Mulligan: The horses are saddled, so they likely had riders.
As Ajax and Mulligan move to the front of the wagon, Ajax hears a slight rustling sound to the left. As you turn, an arrow comes whizzing out of the bushes straight at you.
Attack: 21 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll.
Ajax, you feel the arrow find its mark, sinking deep into your left shoulder.
Initiative!!
Attacker Initiative: 5
((Please use the dice roller here in the forum for all your rolls. If you would like to post your action at the same time, please do.))
Prologue: Meet Me in Phandalin
In the town of Neverwinter, you have found work. You have been hired by the dwarf Gundren Rockseeker to escort his wagon of supplies to the town of Phandalin. "I'm very busy, you see, and I need to get there as soon as possible. But I will need my supplies, and the roads have been somewhat, erm, dangerous, of late. My brothers and I have found," he pauses and looks around warily, "something big. You and the others I've hired should have no issues seeing the wagon safely to Phandelin. Just take the High Road to the Triboar Trail. You can't miss the turn off for Phandalin. Once you arrive, head to Barthen's Provisions. He'll have your pay for the job - 10gp, as we agreed." The dwarf's eyes are alight with excitement and he is almost bouncing in his seat. "Now, please forgive my haste, but Sildar and I must get on the road. I have some business to take care of before the supplies arrive." He gets up and hurries over to an older gentlemen and they head outside.
**Introduce Yourselves**
You've all been hired as escorts by Gundren, so if any of you want to introduce your characters or work out how you knew each other before this job, feel free to post. Perhaps you knew each other from previous work or perhaps you knew Gundren before being hired. After introductions, you will be heading down the High Road escorting the wagon. The wagon has a bench seat with room for a driver and one other (anyone can drive the wagon, no checks required). Two well-trained oxen pull the wagon. Please note your marching order on the road.
Odo is small, even for a halfling, and his strikingly bald head point out this feature even more. He has simple, plain clothes, and carries a leather pack and a staff. Halflings can be a bit quirky by nature, but Odo might take the cake. He's full of questions about seemingly mundane things, enjoys the most innocuous stuff, and and is generally confused most of the time.
He is on the road and needed some coin, so someone he met in passing suggested this job. He knew none of the party before hand, and has plagued them with conversation since they first met.
AJAX
Ajax is 1,70m, brown short hair , broad shoulder.
Even if he takes things usually quite seriously, He is good company if not offended: he is considered hot-tempered and touchy on the things that really matters to him.
At the moment he wears a chain mail over some poor but decent clothes. He wields a pike that we also uses for aiding during the long walks.
"I am happy to walk the first part of the day"
,
Dressed in a forest green shirt with shiny onyx chips for buttons, deep brown pants, a wide brightly studded belt from which several pouches and cases are affixed, soft felt boots dyed to match his shirt, and an overlarge, knee length, green, canvas coat with overlarge pockets, "Hurry and scurry, never seen a dwarf in such a hurry!!" says the forest gnome. He reaches under the table and pulls out a black hat, with a bag-like crown, and a crystal studded wide green brim, with a number of colored feathers sticking out on the left side. and a wide, stiff brim which he places of his shrub-like black hair. Bright, sapphire blue eyes twinkle at you over a longish nose. An intricately carved, bone, calabash pipe sits unlit in his small, smiling mouth. The pipe's bright white surface contrasting with the medium length black beard, which tapers down to a single curled point.
He reaches the table again to retrieve his pack and a four foot staff. The butt of the tapered, tap-root staff is capped in steel, while the rest of the staff is carved in runes and studded with embedded crystal. The top of the staff is carved to appears as his fingers clutching an orb.
"Kyanite Deepdelver be my name, and the arcane arts my trade. Well, its seems we are already late for a date we just made, shall we go?", he says with a mischievous smile.
"ALWAYS GIVE A MONSTER AN EVEN BREAK!"
1st Edition DMG
Mulligan spots a human with two others about half his size, and decides that this must be the group that the old grump Rockseeker told him about. During his time in the military, Mulligan had spoken with Gundren and Sildar a time or two about various mundane military provisions. Because of those conversations, almost immediately upon his retirement from the military, he contacted Gundren to see if any work was out there where he and his hammer could be of use.
He's wearing old chain mail, lovingly if not skillfully maintained, with some clumsy patches and a few extra sections of chain to cover his unusually large frame. He's about 6'3, looks to be about 220 pounds so he's not the most nimble thing you've ever seen, but he gives off an air of quiet confidence.
"I'm guessing this is Gundren Rockseeker's crew?"
Ajax shakes hands with everyone and answers the gnome question
“yes, I think we are ready to go”
he guesses the company will be fun, he also hopes they will be able, if necessary... none seems as unexeperienced as him, he hopes it is just an impression.
ooc: I didn’t quite understand if this Gundren already left before us, and whit what? On feet? On horse?
,
((He left with his companion Sildar, the older gentlemen you saw. Phandalin is several days journey from Neverwinter, so they will be traveling on horse.))
Kyanite smiles at all and heads out the door to find the wagon. Once there, if there is room, he will find a spot on the wagon. Kyanite takes out a match and light his pipe. After a few puffs, he exhales a series of smoke rings of differing colors.
For those watching closely, he dipped his right hand into one of his pouches for a pinch of fleece and cast Minor Illusion
He looks at the rest of the party, smiles and gives a conspiratorial wink.
"ALWAYS GIVE A MONSTER AN EVEN BREAK!"
1st Edition DMG
The party has been traveling south for several days on the High Road. The High Road is teeming with traffic flowing in and out of Neverwinter and is well-policed, so the travel thus far has been uneventful. The turnoff onto the Triboar Trail was clearly marked and the party had no difficulty following it. The oxen plod along, well-trained and seemingly immune to the noise of the other wagons and carts along the journey.
As the sun begins to reach its zenith on this day of travel, the wagon eases its way around a small bend in the road. Up ahead, you spot two dead horses sprawled about 50 ft ahead of you, blocking the road. Each horse has several black-feathered arrows sticking out of it. The woods are close to the trail here, with a steep embankment and dense thickets on either, so the horses will have to be moved in order to make way for the wagon.
"Oh! Well that's very inconvenient for us! Who would leave dead horses in the middle of the road?" Odo hops down from the wagon. "Would one of you help me move them? We don't want to be delayed too long."
AJAX
Ajax hails a hand to Odo, suggesting it to stop and whispering to everyone:
"A second, let's not rush: those over there are arrows so the riders are likely to have fallen in an ambush, let's observe the surrounding first and let's stay close to the cart"
Ajax looks around, especially on the woods and on the bushes around (feel free to roll passive perception for me)
ooc:
1. have we ever seen (or do we know) something about black feathered arrows?
2. Did we see Gundren and Sildar leaving on their horses? I mean: do we remember if those horses have something particular? Like colors, a mark on the forehead, some pouches etc. I simply wanna know if we can assume those are our recruiters' horses
,
Odo furrows his brow, realizing that he should have known something was up. He crouches over a bit, and walks under the wagon and takes a knee. He stands roughly three and a half feet tall, so it is quite easy for him to take cover underneath, he has plenty of room to move. He watches the path behind them, making sure there is no one sneaking up.
"The horses? Poor beasts didn't do anything to anybody..." He mutters to himself.
"A trap!! Of course! Well, let us see if we can flush these villains from their hidden spots. Ajax, take a firm hold on the horses."
After Ajax takes the horses' lead, Kyanite dips his hand into a pocket again, and very precisely makes a several gestures to caste Minor Illusion. From 30 ft. up the road and back in the woods to the right comes a load roar and an inhuman scream of agony which is cut off by the sound of bones being crunched. The crunching goes on for some time.
"ALWAYS GIVE A MONSTER AN EVEN BREAK!"
1st Edition DMG
Odo pokes his head out from under the cart just a hair and looks around frantically trying to locate the source of the terrifying roar, face clearly blanched.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" He tucks his head back under the cart and yells from underneath. "Forget whoever shot those horses, we need to run before whatever THAT thing is can get here!"
Do we see anything that might give us some idea who was riding those horses? Do the horses have saddles, or might they have been strapped to a cart?
Ajax holds the horses, puts back his weapon and takes a javelin, he is completely alert and a little scared
,
"Shusshhhh... It's only a little trickery of mine. Smoke without fire," Kyanite says with a chortle. "If anyone is still out there, they should think the same."
"ALWAYS GIVE A MONSTER AN EVEN BREAK!"
1st Edition DMG
Mulligan joins Ajax up front, shield out and ready.
Perception: 9 - for scanning the area for whatever may have shot the horses or other would-be ambushers.
"Well next time a little warning would be nice... I don't know about that... Stuff... But if you scared them half as bad as you scared me, I'm sure they're halfway to Luskan by now..."
Ajax: ((You can't make out much about the horses at this distance. You'll need to move closer to them if you want to investigate.)) You search your memory, but the arrows don't mean anything that you recall.
Mulligan: The horses are saddled, so they likely had riders.
As Ajax and Mulligan move to the front of the wagon, Ajax hears a slight rustling sound to the left. As you turn, an arrow comes whizzing out of the bushes straight at you.
Attack: 21 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll.
Ajax, you feel the arrow find its mark, sinking deep into your left shoulder.
Initiative!!
Attacker Initiative: 5
((Please use the dice roller here in the forum for all your rolls. If you would like to post your action at the same time, please do.))