Dismayed at the notion of not finding any other survivors, and not feeling great about the idea of wanting around by himself, Zook turns around and regroups with the others. He's still quite tired, both physically and mentally, and in desperate need for some rest. Along the way, he ponders his thoughts.
I suppose I should have stayed back instead of letting my curiosity get the best of me, even if it was triggered by the hope of finding more people alive. If I were stuck alone in this awful place, I would want me to come looking for me, but perhaps not exhausted, bleeding me. I guess wouldn't make a very good rescue party, not in this state. What if I had encountered more goblins, or another ogre? Or some kind of big blob? That could very well be my last rescue attempt in this world.
Feeling his mind go to dark, needlessly speculative places, Zook tries to shift his thinking and ponder more positive topics. He mulls over his impressions of his newfound companions.
After traveling by myself for so long, it's nice to have some company for a change. I guess I didn't remember how nice it can be part of a group. And what a fine little group we make! Maybe a little quirky, but that's what makes it interesting. I do like these fellows...
Bert is an intriguing chap, so confident and skillful, but with a very good heart. And I've never met anyone like Hawk before. As fast and nimble as a real cat, and dangerous with that bow of his, but kind as can be. He's a good friend. I would very much like to play some music with him again soon and I hope we can find ourselves in a safe place soon so we can do more of that.
And Mandaway... Oh Mandy. What a lovable gentle chum, and so witty with his dry humor. Half the time I don't even know if he's trying to be funny, but I do like the way he talks. And if you need a hug, he's the one to curl up with. Of course, he can swing that mace with the force of a hurricane! I almost pity the goblin who finds himself on the wrong end of Mandy's arm!
When he does finally make it back to the others, Zook drops down to the ground.
"Please tell me we can rest here for an hour or so. I'm pooped. I feel like I was hit by an ogre. Oh wait... I was hit by an ogre."
He then grabs a small stone from the ground, and using his newfound Elemental Attunement ability, he warms it up and places it against his chest. "Oooh... now that feels good. Warms the heart right up!"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Bert does his best to guide Daphne to the cave entrance and introduces her to Zook. "This is Daphne. She's been through a lot... probably even more than we have. Zook, I have a feeling you and she will get along very well. Mandy and Hawk too. Resting here in the entrance sounds doable. Just remember there are all those other goblins that seemed too young or old to be a threat in that first tunnel. Maybe someone should go untie Snigbat and give him some pointers on the leadership position he's just earned by helping us. I'm going to sneak over to those other tunnels and take a look to see into those caves that seem empty from here. Don't worry, I will avoid the one Snigbat said had the blob. Just the ones that might still have more villagers in them. I'll be quiet, don't worry. Mandy, I would love it if you could ask your god for some guidance as I try to do this. It's been a long day. I'd love to be done with this and figure out what's happening with Nightstone."
Stealth: 21 plus 4 if Mandy helps with some guidance
Perception: 22
Bert's just looking at the caves that Zook couldn't quite see into -- tunnel 5 if I'm reading the last few posts correctly. He won't go inside, but he'll quietly look around for any sign of activity, traps, movement, and barely step into the tunnel if it's quiet. He'll come right back and report what he sees, not wanting to risk anything with his friends in such bad shape. He feels guilty that they've taken the brunt of damage so far, but he really wants to be useful.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Hello Daphne, my dear. Alastair Fiddlefen at your service, but you can call me Zook. That's one of my middle names. I'm glad to see you safe and sound here with us. I'm sure you've had quite the ordeal, but rest assured, you're in good hands now. Is there anything you need? A snack? Some water? A little bit of warmth? I can make us a little camp fire if you'd like."
To Bert, he says, "Yes, I suppose we should untie Snigbat, but let's wait until you're done searching the other caves. I would rather us all be together when we finally let him go. Honestly, not in the mood for any shenanigans right now and I have mixed feelings about letting him go, but I suppose we can't just leave him here all tied up. After all, he did help us by providing useful information. I guess he doesn't seem like an entirely bad egg. I'm just not used to having good rapport with his kind."
Bert: from the enterence you can't see anything but you hear the occasional echo of wings. There are ogre tracks on the floor, and what appears to be lots of other overlying tracks, some too big for goblins but hard to tell for most as they are overlapping so much
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Mandaway happily says a blessing over Bert and then tries to make sure the woman, Daphne, is comfortable. Normally he'd think it better that someone small and unthreatening like Zook take the lead with her...but she may have had her fill of small humanoids lately. He stayed nearby in case he was needed.
" Snig can stay where he is for the moment, until we've secured everyone. Honestly I'd rather one of the old females took over but I'm not sure goblins minds work that way....".
Once he'd rested his bones long enough he headed over towards Bert, " What have you found?"
" Lets not leave Daphne alone, more goblins could return from outside and not know theres been a change in management."
Bert returns right away from his scouting mission and sits down with his friends to rest. He tells them what he found. He says Snigbat might be right - that the tunnel seems to have a lot of footprints from creatures smaller than ogres and bigger than goblins, so it could be villagers. He also heard some kind of wings, so looking up would be a good idea. He asks if the group is up for another rescue mission to try to repopulate the village. (He understands if it's too much.)
"Wings, you say? Remember, we saw a natural chimney earlier..."
Looking over to Snigbat, he asks, "could that be a way for a winged creature to come and go? Do you know anything about that? And what about the cave with the boulder in front of it? Is there anything behind that stone?"
Answering Bert, "Yes, I'm all for returning to Nightstone, at least for starters. We can get a good night's rest there, and we obviously want to return Daphne to her people. And what do you mean when you say repopulate the village?"
Mandaway frowned, " First we rescue them then we give them the option of going home or going elsewhere. I don't thing the Zhents will see the villagers as anything more than an opportunity for forced labour."
" Lets go find the villagers now, that little kip did me a wonder."
Bert assures Zook he meant that literally all the live residents of Nightstone were in this cave so if there was to be a populated town again that wasn't a thiefdom, they had to be rescued.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"I'm ready to go find them if they're to be found, Mandy. I'll sneak ahead and look for any threats and warn you through that new message spell of mine," Bert says.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
After seeing his allies need some rest, Hawk will finally sit down and try to relax his mind, stay focused on the moment and forget about the potential danger the villagers could be in. He sits down on a small boulder near the entrance of the cave, trying to be alert at anything approaching or coming into the cave, but also resting his mind (Hit Dice 1x: 4).
After giving it some thinking, it probably wasn’t a great idea to leave the Zhent people take over the town.. if the villagers want to return, we’re going to have to help them for sure! Perhaps they know of a secret way into the town... but for now we have to wait until we know what survivors we have..
Hawk doesn’t entirely trust Snigbat. Unfortunately, he has some prejudice against Greenies and has the feeling he’s being “helpful” only to save his own skin... He wonders if he knows more than he’s letting on, or if he is hiding anything (Insight check on Snigbat: 20).
After the rest, he will follow Bert, giving him enough distance to scout ahead, but close enough to be able to help him out if he gets in any trouble, he has his hands on the hilts of his swords.
(I’ll use a second Hit Dice, adding it at the end of the post so it doesn’t mess with the rolls: 8)
You aren't sure about snigbat, greenies are hard to read emotions wise.
Going down the tunnel, Bert sees the sound of wings emanates from a naturally formed pit in the cavern’s floor, which is covered with bat guano. Ten-foot-high ledges surround the pit and form raised alcoves to the north, east, and south. Huddled in these alcoves are thirty Nightstone villagers, all trying to remain quiet
Bert Messages back to Hawk and then Mandy and Zook that there are a few dozen villagers hiding in the chamber.
He takes a risk and calls out, "hi there, we just took out the ogres and the goblins out there. And we rescued Daphne from that Hark guy who seemed terrible. Any traps or other goblins I should know about before my friends and I try to get you back to Nightstone? Name's Bert by the way. I'm a cartographer, but I've been dabbling outside of my usual trade with my friends back there. They're the rave ones, you see. Anyway, we're trying to put Nightstone back together and that involves getting you all out of here!"
After spending some much needed time resting and meditating, Zook perks up at Bert's message. "Great Glittergold, that's better news than your last good news, Bert!"
Turning to Mandy and Hawk, he says in an excited voice, "Bert found the villagers!!! Should we go see if he needs any help bringing them out of the cave?"
A vast amount of bats suddenly fly up from a lower cave at the loud noise and fly agitated around the room. You sense this is why the villagers had been quiet.
Visibility is reduced to 5ft, you can still move but every 5ft you move, you take one damage from them flying agitated into you and scratching you, even accidentally
Could Bert misty step either back down the tunnel or up to one of the ledges holding the villagers as the bats begin to fly around the room? Guessing not from the visibility reduction. So prob not that option. Let's hold on that.
Could Bert cast silent image in a way that encourages the bats to leave the cavern, or more ideally, return to their perches? Perhaps an illusion that makes it seem like the rock wall completely surrounds the bat cave, keeping them away from the people? Guessing not, based on echolocation. Or maybe, if Bert would know this, an image of a big tantalizing fruit back down in their cave to encourage them to calm down? Or an image of a big predator, like a giant raccoon, trying to chase them out of the cavern? Though both of those would just be fooling them visually, so I'm guessing Bert would know enough that it would be useless.
Can he just drop to the ground and wait for them to calm down, and then try again to help the villagers out, quietly? He's feeling foolish and a bit nervous for the villagers, hoping they're okay.
If he can get them out at all, he's also going to go back to Snigbat and ask where Hark kept his valuables.
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Dismayed at the notion of not finding any other survivors, and not feeling great about the idea of wanting around by himself, Zook turns around and regroups with the others. He's still quite tired, both physically and mentally, and in desperate need for some rest. Along the way, he ponders his thoughts.
I suppose I should have stayed back instead of letting my curiosity get the best of me, even if it was triggered by the hope of finding more people alive. If I were stuck alone in this awful place, I would want me to come looking for me, but perhaps not exhausted, bleeding me. I guess wouldn't make a very good rescue party, not in this state. What if I had encountered more goblins, or another ogre? Or some kind of big blob? That could very well be my last rescue attempt in this world.
Feeling his mind go to dark, needlessly speculative places, Zook tries to shift his thinking and ponder more positive topics. He mulls over his impressions of his newfound companions.
After traveling by myself for so long, it's nice to have some company for a change. I guess I didn't remember how nice it can be part of a group. And what a fine little group we make! Maybe a little quirky, but that's what makes it interesting. I do like these fellows...
Bert is an intriguing chap, so confident and skillful, but with a very good heart. And I've never met anyone like Hawk before. As fast and nimble as a real cat, and dangerous with that bow of his, but kind as can be. He's a good friend. I would very much like to play some music with him again soon and I hope we can find ourselves in a safe place soon so we can do more of that.
And Mandaway... Oh Mandy. What a lovable gentle chum, and so witty with his dry humor. Half the time I don't even know if he's trying to be funny, but I do like the way he talks. And if you need a hug, he's the one to curl up with. Of course, he can swing that mace with the force of a hurricane! I almost pity the goblin who finds himself on the wrong end of Mandy's arm!
When he does finally make it back to the others, Zook drops down to the ground.
"Please tell me we can rest here for an hour or so. I'm pooped. I feel like I was hit by an ogre. Oh wait... I was hit by an ogre."
He then grabs a small stone from the ground, and using his newfound Elemental Attunement ability, he warms it up and places it against his chest. "Oooh... now that feels good. Warms the heart right up!"
Bert does his best to guide Daphne to the cave entrance and introduces her to Zook. "This is Daphne. She's been through a lot... probably even more than we have. Zook, I have a feeling you and she will get along very well. Mandy and Hawk too. Resting here in the entrance sounds doable. Just remember there are all those other goblins that seemed too young or old to be a threat in that first tunnel. Maybe someone should go untie Snigbat and give him some pointers on the leadership position he's just earned by helping us. I'm going to sneak over to those other tunnels and take a look to see into those caves that seem empty from here. Don't worry, I will avoid the one Snigbat said had the blob. Just the ones that might still have more villagers in them. I'll be quiet, don't worry. Mandy, I would love it if you could ask your god for some guidance as I try to do this. It's been a long day. I'd love to be done with this and figure out what's happening with Nightstone."
Stealth: 21 plus 4 if Mandy helps with some guidance
Perception: 22
Bert's just looking at the caves that Zook couldn't quite see into -- tunnel 5 if I'm reading the last few posts correctly. He won't go inside, but he'll quietly look around for any sign of activity, traps, movement, and barely step into the tunnel if it's quiet. He'll come right back and report what he sees, not wanting to risk anything with his friends in such bad shape. He feels guilty that they've taken the brunt of damage so far, but he really wants to be useful.
"Hello Daphne, my dear. Alastair Fiddlefen at your service, but you can call me Zook. That's one of my middle names. I'm glad to see you safe and sound here with us. I'm sure you've had quite the ordeal, but rest assured, you're in good hands now. Is there anything you need? A snack? Some water? A little bit of warmth? I can make us a little camp fire if you'd like."
To Bert, he says, "Yes, I suppose we should untie Snigbat, but let's wait until you're done searching the other caves. I would rather us all be together when we finally let him go. Honestly, not in the mood for any shenanigans right now and I have mixed feelings about letting him go, but I suppose we can't just leave him here all tied up. After all, he did help us by providing useful information. I guess he doesn't seem like an entirely bad egg. I'm just not used to having good rapport with his kind."
(Spending 2 Hit Dice for my Short Rest - 19
Bert: from the enterence you can't see anything but you hear the occasional echo of wings. There are ogre tracks on the floor, and what appears to be lots of other overlying tracks, some too big for goblins but hard to tell for most as they are overlapping so much
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Mandaway happily says a blessing over Bert and then tries to make sure the woman, Daphne, is comfortable. Normally he'd think it better that someone small and unthreatening like Zook take the lead with her...but she may have had her fill of small humanoids lately. He stayed nearby in case he was needed.
" Snig can stay where he is for the moment, until we've secured everyone. Honestly I'd rather one of the old females took over but I'm not sure goblins minds work that way....".
Once he'd rested his bones long enough he headed over towards Bert, " What have you found?"
" Lets not leave Daphne alone, more goblins could return from outside and not know theres been a change in management."
Short Rest: 3x Hit Dice. 20
Bert returns right away from his scouting mission and sits down with his friends to rest. He tells them what he found. He says Snigbat might be right - that the tunnel seems to have a lot of footprints from creatures smaller than ogres and bigger than goblins, so it could be villagers. He also heard some kind of wings, so looking up would be a good idea. He asks if the group is up for another rescue mission to try to repopulate the village. (He understands if it's too much.)
"Wings, you say? Remember, we saw a natural chimney earlier..."
Looking over to Snigbat, he asks, "could that be a way for a winged creature to come and go? Do you know anything about that? And what about the cave with the boulder in front of it? Is there anything behind that stone?"
Answering Bert, "Yes, I'm all for returning to Nightstone, at least for starters. We can get a good night's rest there, and we obviously want to return Daphne to her people. And what do you mean when you say repopulate the village?"
Mandaway frowned, " First we rescue them then we give them the option of going home or going elsewhere. I don't thing the Zhents will see the villagers as anything more than an opportunity for forced labour."
" Lets go find the villagers now, that little kip did me a wonder."
Bert assures Zook he meant that literally all the live residents of Nightstone were in this cave so if there was to be a populated town again that wasn't a thiefdom, they had to be rescued.
Snigbat says "I watch that chimney always. Not used. Sometimes a bat though. No worry about boulder. Nothing important."
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Mandaway looked dubiously at Snigbat, " Well, I'm heading down this tunnel and finding the rest of the villagers....whose with me?"
"I'm ready to go find them if they're to be found, Mandy. I'll sneak ahead and look for any threats and warn you through that new message spell of mine," Bert says.
Stealth: 13
Perception: 10
After seeing his allies need some rest, Hawk will finally sit down and try to relax his mind, stay focused on the moment and forget about the potential danger the villagers could be in. He sits down on a small boulder near the entrance of the cave, trying to be alert at anything approaching or coming into the cave, but also resting his mind (Hit Dice 1x: 4).
After giving it some thinking, it probably wasn’t a great idea to leave the Zhent people take over the town.. if the villagers want to return, we’re going to have to help them for sure! Perhaps they know of a secret way into the town... but for now we have to wait until we know what survivors we have..
Hawk doesn’t entirely trust Snigbat. Unfortunately, he has some prejudice against Greenies and has the feeling he’s being “helpful” only to save his own skin... He wonders if he knows more than he’s letting on, or if he is hiding anything (Insight check on Snigbat: 20).
After the rest, he will follow Bert, giving him enough distance to scout ahead, but close enough to be able to help him out if he gets in any trouble, he has his hands on the hilts of his swords.
(I’ll use a second Hit Dice, adding it at the end of the post so it doesn’t mess with the rolls: 8)
Dungeon Master – MelGon's Tales from the Yawning Portal
Hawk of the Night (Hawk) – Level 2 Tabaxi Ranger – Swift's Storm King's Thunder
Lavandula Angustia – Level 1 Tiefling Rogue – LMoP campaign, DM: novaskyr
You aren't sure about snigbat, greenies are hard to read emotions wise.
Going down the tunnel, Bert sees the sound of wings emanates from a naturally formed pit in the cavern’s floor, which is covered with bat guano. Ten-foot-high ledges surround the pit and form raised alcoves to the north, east, and south. Huddled in these alcoves are thirty Nightstone villagers, all trying to remain quiet
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Does Bert see any sign of goblins or ogres in the tunnel or chamber?
Other than the ogre tracks from the enterance, and snigbat if you brought her, no
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Bert Messages back to Hawk and then Mandy and Zook that there are a few dozen villagers hiding in the chamber.
He takes a risk and calls out, "hi there, we just took out the ogres and the goblins out there. And we rescued Daphne from that Hark guy who seemed terrible. Any traps or other goblins I should know about before my friends and I try to get you back to Nightstone? Name's Bert by the way. I'm a cartographer, but I've been dabbling outside of my usual trade with my friends back there. They're the rave ones, you see. Anyway, we're trying to put Nightstone back together and that involves getting you all out of here!"
After spending some much needed time resting and meditating, Zook perks up at Bert's message. "Great Glittergold, that's better news than your last good news, Bert!"
Turning to Mandy and Hawk, he says in an excited voice, "Bert found the villagers!!! Should we go see if he needs any help bringing them out of the cave?"
A vast amount of bats suddenly fly up from a lower cave at the loud noise and fly agitated around the room. You sense this is why the villagers had been quiet.
Visibility is reduced to 5ft, you can still move but every 5ft you move, you take one damage from them flying agitated into you and scratching you, even accidentally
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Could Bert misty step either back down the tunnel or up to one of the ledges holding the villagers as the bats begin to fly around the room? Guessing not from the visibility reduction. So prob not that option. Let's hold on that.
Could Bert cast silent image in a way that encourages the bats to leave the cavern, or more ideally, return to their perches? Perhaps an illusion that makes it seem like the rock wall completely surrounds the bat cave, keeping them away from the people? Guessing not, based on echolocation. Or maybe, if Bert would know this, an image of a big tantalizing fruit back down in their cave to encourage them to calm down? Or an image of a big predator, like a giant raccoon, trying to chase them out of the cavern? Though both of those would just be fooling them visually, so I'm guessing Bert would know enough that it would be useless.
Can he just drop to the ground and wait for them to calm down, and then try again to help the villagers out, quietly? He's feeling foolish and a bit nervous for the villagers, hoping they're okay.
If he can get them out at all, he's also going to go back to Snigbat and ask where Hark kept his valuables.