“I’m fine to try sneaking in, I doubt anyone will recognize me. People don’t tend to pay a lot of attention to us gnomes. We’re small and easy to overlook. That said, I’m not exactly the sneakiest gnome in the world... get a bit distracted sometimes. But who knows? Maybe it’ll be easy.” She grins and pats her new flask on her hip, quite large in comparison to her size. “And if not we’ll figure it out. Right, Jalt? Just like always.”
Elspeth nods decisively, sharing a grin with Soar. "I'm glad we have a plan that we can rely on up front this time. It sounds good, and hopefully it'll survive contact with the bandits. I'm fairly confident I can play my part in scouting. Unless anyone has any other issues, I'd like to get a full night's sleep, please. We can head out at first light."
With all four members of the party weighing in on what seems to be an extremely important decision, a consensus seems to have been reached to follow Jalt's plan, or at least no-one has strongly opposed it. All four of you head off back to the place where Soar, Elspeth and Badger spent the previous morning. It's not been long since you all slept, but the previous day's adventure was strenuous enough that your body welcomes a further chance to rest, and you all get a good night's sleep and complete another long rest.
In the morning, you awaken before dawn, and the keep's cook insists you join him in the kitchen for an early breakfast; few others in the castle are up so early, though you do see guards alert on the walls. You take some time to ready you possessions and your plans, and as dawn breaks you stand in front of the keep with a cart led by two very tame oxen; their handler gives you brief instructions on how to control them, nothing unfamiliar to anyone who has worked as a caravan guard in this part of the world.
The air is cool and fresh; the day promises to be fine and clear, and you set off in good spirits, despite the challenge that awaits you. You move through the streets of Greenest; there are more people up now, braced for another day of repairs and fixing the mess. A few recognise you directly, and most have heard of you and recognise you from secondhand descriptions; they are friendly and wave, and one or two come up to speak to you and offer thanks for what you have done. But they are also keen to let you go about your business, and get back to their own.
About halfway through the town, you pass by a tavern that seems to have escaped the worst of the raiders' attack. As you go by, a young man walks up to you, limping heavily on his bandaged left leg. He's human, with short brown hair and a friendly, open face. Excuse me. You're the champions aren't you, the ones who drove off the dragon and faced the raiders' leader? I hear that you intend to follow the raiders and see where they’ve gone. I’d like nothing better than to come with you, but in this condition, I’d slow you down. In the midst of all this tragedy, there’s no reason you would have heard about the fate of my master, Leosin Erlanthar, but it’s important you know. He is a monk from Berdusk. He disappeared last night, after we fought a particularly savage battle against raiders. A few others and I fought our way to this tavern and held it against the attackers, barely. Leosin didn’t make it at all. We went back yesterday to look for him, but only found a few small items of his. I think they might have taken him prisoner.
He looks at you hopefully, and then flushes red. Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I'm Nesim, Nesim Waladra.
"Nesim, I'm Soar, your friendly neighborhood doomguide,"Soar says with a smile. "Thank you for letting us know about Leosin. What does he look like? And what was he training you to do? How long have you been in Greenest?"(Would Soar know where Berdusk is?)
Regardless of what he says, she'll say, "we'll keep an eye out for him and if we can, we'll bring him back. This is a scouting mission to find out what they're up to, but if possible, we'd like to rescue some of the people who were taken."
(Yes, Soar and the rest of the party would know of Berdusk, and may have travelled there. Along with Iriaebor and Beregost, it's one of the nearest towns to Greenest. Generally speaking, the map on the campaign page shows locations that would be common knowledge to anyone travelling in the Sword Coast.)
Soar, the young man hesitates, but then answers your question. My lady, Leosin has been investigating these raiders for months. I fear that he might have tried to infiltrate their group when they retreated. No one understands these bandits better than he does, and his knowledge will be invaluable against them. When you find their camp, please look for any sign that Leosin is there. One of my brothers has already departed for Berdusk to bring back help, but it will be many days before help arrives. Anything you can do before then would be a godsend. If you can truly rescue him and other prisoners, you would have my sincere thanks.
He gives you a good physical description of Leosin; it will be easy to recognise him if you come across him. He tells you that he, Leosin and a few other monks arrived in town the day of the attack. He tries to explain his training, but isn't able to convey it clearly - some meditation, some basic fighting skills, but you're certain that he's failing to grasp, and therefore explain, some underlying philosophy.
"He sounds very impressive, and I for one will keep my eyes peeled for him. I'm sure it will work out,"Soar tells Nesim. She looks to the rest of the party to see if they have anything else they'd like to tell or ask him.
Once the party finishes their interaction with Nesim and they are underway again, Soar will look at Elspeth, and quietly ask, "I've never been called Lady Soar before getting to Greenest -- any idea why it's started up now? Not sure it fits, but I trust they mean well..."
Soar will be keeping her eyes glued to the path ahead and around them for any sign of cultists, traps left behind, ambushes, debris, etc. as they go. What is the countryside like as they pass out of town and into the wildlands?
Elspeth smiles warmly at the stranger as he approaches. "Greetings, Nesim. Will that injury of yours be fine? Get it checked out, just in case. We'll do our best to locate and retrieve your mentor, or at least find out something about his whereabouts."
She doesn't have much else to ask Nesim, and is content with moving on as soon as the others are ready.
"I believe it was a sign of respect, for your accomplishments. You deserve it, Soar." She adds, with a smile. "Appreciate it."
Once they're a good distance from the town, Elspeth suggests that she scouts on ahead a little so they can be warned if any bandits approach. Otherwise, she sticks fairly close to the cart, watching the path ahead for any signs of life.
My injury will mend soon enough, Nesim smiles. And thank you. I shall pray for your success and your safety. Nesim bows to each of you in turn, and stands and watches as you move away.
You resume your journey, four of you with a cart and oxen. In the beginning, you are moving through fields, though the harvest has mostly been collected and there is little growing at the moment. Winter is not near, but not too far either. You pass through small villages, then what could better be termed clumps of houses, and then you see the occasional isolated farmhouse or sheepherder's hut, and then... nothing. Just wilderness, patches of woodlands, gentle hill and sometimes not so gentle hills. By mid-morning, the sunshine is warm and the day very pleasant.
At this point, I need:
one person to drive the cart (make an Animal Handling check),
one person to find the best path to follow the raiders, one that will allow the cart to follow too (make a Survival check)
and one person to watch for danger (make a Perception check).
The one remaining person can choose to help any of the others, thus giving them advantage, but only if you do so before they make their roll).
Elspeth, you are able to track the large group of dozens of raiders easily, and the trail heads south-east as the captured raider said it would. The tracks are a mess; you're not able to learn anything new from what you see.
Badger, it's tricky to control the oxen and cart; though the beasts are docile, they are perhaps too docile and prone to stopping for no reason. It takes you a while to follow, and this slows the group down.
Soar and Jalt, in the early afternoon you both notice a plume of smoke about a hundred and fifty feet ahead of you, pretty much on the path that you are following. You can see that there is a small collection of rocks and bushes that are probably natural, and from the middle comes the smoke, the faintest sound of conversation and perhaps even (given the high perception roll) the faintest smell of cooking. It's a low spot, surrounded by hills, but the rocks and bushes look like they would make it easy to sneak up closer without being noticed.
Soar lets the others know about the smoke and the lay of the land ahead. She offers to circle around into the cover to be ready to jump out if it's a threat.
"It coouullllllld be an innocent camping party but just in case it's not, why don't we see if we can surprise them and take out any threats and see what they might know about the cultists. Other ideas? I'm a little loud so I'm not the best option for sneaking but maybe Badger or Elspeth would want to take a look as we get ready to pounce? I just don't trust anything after the last few days."
“I’m fine to try sneaking in, I doubt anyone will recognize me. People don’t tend to pay a lot of attention to us gnomes. We’re small and easy to overlook. That said, I’m not exactly the sneakiest gnome in the world... get a bit distracted sometimes. But who knows? Maybe it’ll be easy.” She grins and pats her new flask on her hip, quite large in comparison to her size. “And if not we’ll figure it out. Right, Jalt? Just like always.”
Rees Changeling Rogue in Tales From the Yawning Portal: Sunless Citadel
Nikya Centaur Blood Hunter in Death House Halloween Oneshot
Elspeth nods decisively, sharing a grin with Soar. "I'm glad we have a plan that we can rely on up front this time. It sounds good, and hopefully it'll survive contact with the bandits. I'm fairly confident I can play my part in scouting. Unless anyone has any other issues, I'd like to get a full night's sleep, please. We can head out at first light."
With all four members of the party weighing in on what seems to be an extremely important decision, a consensus seems to have been reached to follow Jalt's plan, or at least no-one has strongly opposed it. All four of you head off back to the place where Soar, Elspeth and Badger spent the previous morning. It's not been long since you all slept, but the previous day's adventure was strenuous enough that your body welcomes a further chance to rest, and you all get a good night's sleep and complete another long rest.
In the morning, you awaken before dawn, and the keep's cook insists you join him in the kitchen for an early breakfast; few others in the castle are up so early, though you do see guards alert on the walls. You take some time to ready you possessions and your plans, and as dawn breaks you stand in front of the keep with a cart led by two very tame oxen; their handler gives you brief instructions on how to control them, nothing unfamiliar to anyone who has worked as a caravan guard in this part of the world.
The air is cool and fresh; the day promises to be fine and clear, and you set off in good spirits, despite the challenge that awaits you. You move through the streets of Greenest; there are more people up now, braced for another day of repairs and fixing the mess. A few recognise you directly, and most have heard of you and recognise you from secondhand descriptions; they are friendly and wave, and one or two come up to speak to you and offer thanks for what you have done. But they are also keen to let you go about your business, and get back to their own.
About halfway through the town, you pass by a tavern that seems to have escaped the worst of the raiders' attack. As you go by, a young man walks up to you, limping heavily on his bandaged left leg. He's human, with short brown hair and a friendly, open face. Excuse me. You're the champions aren't you, the ones who drove off the dragon and faced the raiders' leader? I hear that you intend to follow the raiders and see where they’ve gone. I’d like nothing better than to come with you, but in this condition, I’d slow you down. In the midst of all this tragedy, there’s no reason you would have heard about the fate of my master, Leosin Erlanthar, but it’s important you know. He is a monk from Berdusk. He disappeared last night, after we fought a particularly savage battle against raiders. A few others and I fought our way to this tavern and held it against the attackers, barely. Leosin didn’t make it at all. We went back yesterday to look for him, but only found a few small items of his. I think they might have taken him prisoner.
He looks at you hopefully, and then flushes red. Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I'm Nesim, Nesim Waladra.
"Nesim, I'm Soar, your friendly neighborhood doomguide," Soar says with a smile. "Thank you for letting us know about Leosin. What does he look like? And what was he training you to do? How long have you been in Greenest?" (Would Soar know where Berdusk is?)
Regardless of what he says, she'll say, "we'll keep an eye out for him and if we can, we'll bring him back. This is a scouting mission to find out what they're up to, but if possible, we'd like to rescue some of the people who were taken."
(Yes, Soar and the rest of the party would know of Berdusk, and may have travelled there. Along with Iriaebor and Beregost, it's one of the nearest towns to Greenest. Generally speaking, the map on the campaign page shows locations that would be common knowledge to anyone travelling in the Sword Coast.)
Soar, the young man hesitates, but then answers your question. My lady, Leosin has been investigating these raiders for months. I fear that he might have tried to infiltrate their group when they retreated. No one understands these bandits better than he does, and his knowledge will be invaluable against them. When you find their camp, please look for any sign that Leosin is there. One of my brothers has already departed for Berdusk to bring back help, but it will be many days before help arrives. Anything you can do before then would be a godsend. If you can truly rescue him and other prisoners, you would have my sincere thanks.
He gives you a good physical description of Leosin; it will be easy to recognise him if you come across him. He tells you that he, Leosin and a few other monks arrived in town the day of the attack. He tries to explain his training, but isn't able to convey it clearly - some meditation, some basic fighting skills, but you're certain that he's failing to grasp, and therefore explain, some underlying philosophy.
"He sounds very impressive, and I for one will keep my eyes peeled for him. I'm sure it will work out," Soar tells Nesim. She looks to the rest of the party to see if they have anything else they'd like to tell or ask him.
Once the party finishes their interaction with Nesim and they are underway again, Soar will look at Elspeth, and quietly ask, "I've never been called Lady Soar before getting to Greenest -- any idea why it's started up now? Not sure it fits, but I trust they mean well..."
Soar will be keeping her eyes glued to the path ahead and around them for any sign of cultists, traps left behind, ambushes, debris, etc. as they go. What is the countryside like as they pass out of town and into the wildlands?
Elspeth smiles warmly at the stranger as he approaches. "Greetings, Nesim. Will that injury of yours be fine? Get it checked out, just in case. We'll do our best to locate and retrieve your mentor, or at least find out something about his whereabouts."
She doesn't have much else to ask Nesim, and is content with moving on as soon as the others are ready.
"I believe it was a sign of respect, for your accomplishments. You deserve it, Soar." She adds, with a smile. "Appreciate it."
Once they're a good distance from the town, Elspeth suggests that she scouts on ahead a little so they can be warned if any bandits approach. Otherwise, she sticks fairly close to the cart, watching the path ahead for any signs of life.
My injury will mend soon enough, Nesim smiles. And thank you. I shall pray for your success and your safety. Nesim bows to each of you in turn, and stands and watches as you move away.
You resume your journey, four of you with a cart and oxen. In the beginning, you are moving through fields, though the harvest has mostly been collected and there is little growing at the moment. Winter is not near, but not too far either. You pass through small villages, then what could better be termed clumps of houses, and then you see the occasional isolated farmhouse or sheepherder's hut, and then... nothing. Just wilderness, patches of woodlands, gentle hill and sometimes not so gentle hills. By mid-morning, the sunshine is warm and the day very pleasant.
At this point, I need:
The one remaining person can choose to help any of the others, thus giving them advantage, but only if you do so before they make their roll).
Soar will help whoever's watching for danger.
Breena will either drive the cart or find the path.
(Both animal handling and survival are the same modifier, so I’ll make the roll and then if anyone has a preference one over the other that’s fine)
6
Rees Changeling Rogue in Tales From the Yawning Portal: Sunless Citadel
Nikya Centaur Blood Hunter in Death House Halloween Oneshot
Jalt would look out for danger, sensing his druid or ranger friends would have an easier time time finding a suitable path to navigate through.
(Shall I roll with the advantage?)
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - Jalt Rhogar - Dragonborn Cleric (9)
"Ive heard it both ways."
Yes please.
Perception: 21
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - Jalt Rhogar - Dragonborn Cleric (9)
"Ive heard it both ways."
Elspeth will then do her best to track down the path the raiders took.
24
Elspeth, you are able to track the large group of dozens of raiders easily, and the trail heads south-east as the captured raider said it would. The tracks are a mess; you're not able to learn anything new from what you see.
Badger, it's tricky to control the oxen and cart; though the beasts are docile, they are perhaps too docile and prone to stopping for no reason. It takes you a while to follow, and this slows the group down.
Soar and Jalt, in the early afternoon you both notice a plume of smoke about a hundred and fifty feet ahead of you, pretty much on the path that you are following. You can see that there is a small collection of rocks and bushes that are probably natural, and from the middle comes the smoke, the faintest sound of conversation and perhaps even (given the high perception roll) the faintest smell of cooking. It's a low spot, surrounded by hills, but the rocks and bushes look like they would make it easy to sneak up closer without being noticed.
What would you like to do?
Soar lets the others know about the smoke and the lay of the land ahead. She offers to circle around into the cover to be ready to jump out if it's a threat.
"It coouullllllld be an innocent camping party but just in case it's not, why don't we see if we can surprise them and take out any threats and see what they might know about the cultists. Other ideas? I'm a little loud so I'm not the best option for sneaking but maybe Badger or Elspeth would want to take a look as we get ready to pounce? I just don't trust anything after the last few days."
Jalt nods. I would be as subtle as an earthquake if I tried to sneak up on anyone. I was not built to go sneaking around.
Hoard of the Dragon Queen - Jalt Rhogar - Dragonborn Cleric (9)
"Ive heard it both ways."
(Are we traveling through the forest at this point?)
Rees Changeling Rogue in Tales From the Yawning Portal: Sunless Citadel
Nikya Centaur Blood Hunter in Death House Halloween Oneshot
(No, it's still mostly open grasslands; there are hills, and occasional wooded areas, but you're not currently in one.)