Where the Cold Winds Blow... A Lost Mines of Phandelver Story

T'laren will make sure to save some of the wing feathers from the pheasant for fletching. Once the birds are prepped enough, he'll leave them with the party as he roams ahead, not wanting bird carcasses to hamper his movements.

Perception: 23 (Passive 14)

T'laren:

Keashirryl, Droknin, and Garrin:

Approximately 150' ahead of you, you spot T'laren.  He is waving and motioning for you to stop.  Then he slowly sneaks up a hill and peers over the opposite side.

T'laren:

Always on the alert, whenever he sees that T'laren has detected something. He's up on his hind legs, and Mlinzi on both paws. He silently goes to his companion.

Stealth: (6)

After peering over, T'laren would be making his way back to the others when he hears Droknin disregarding his caution to stay back, and he steps out well away to not startle the large cat-man too much. He will report what he saw on the other side of the hill, a large wildman eating a charred haunch by his lean-to, who seems barbaric, but at least sophisticated enough to operate a heavy crossbow he has close to hand.

As the mighty leonin barbarian thunders stealthily along the plain, the elf hears him coming and retreats to cut him off before he alerts the stranger.

The party gathers on the far side of the hill, for now, discussing their options.

"Hm. It can be rude to interrupt, or it can be rude not to join. Best to trust to luck. Flip a coin. Heads, we join the wildman, offer some of our own food. Tails, we sneak around him." Garrin pulls out a coin and flips it, letting it land on the ground. 

1 heads, 2 for tails 2 

"Whelp... There it is. I vote, go 'round."

(Apparently there is no quote regarding stealth from a certain famous Dwarf. Oh well.)

"Go around? Nonsense!! Allow me." With that said, he walks to the edge of the hollow. He opens his wide arms in a non threatening manner, and his signature Leonine smile. "Greetings there!! May I keep you company for this splendid night?" He scans the place for anything that might threaten the party (also if the noses are for real).

Perception: (19)

The big man lets loose a squeal of surprise.  “Oi!  Wut!?”  He bolts to his feet, gripping his crossbow but not aiming it yet.  “Who da Hells are yoos?!  Dis is my score.  Sod off, ‘fore I fix to pound you into a shiny new tiger rug for me den.”

T'laren facepalms, but slips back up towards where he peered over, to have a vantage point to attack, should Droknin not be as persuasive as he intends.

Keashirryl steps somewhat closer, rolling her eyes, but tries to stay at a safe distance. That stranger was bound to be trouble, and now we're approaching. Splendid. She loosens her own crossbow on her back, one of her hands is playing with a bolt.

[Sorry about the absence. In hindsight, Keashirryl would have bought the marked sticks during their shopping trip, I just had no time to post.] 

The big man snorts when T'laren moves into position alongside Droknin.  "Oh, more a yoos?  Yoos think Grunk is scared?  Har har har har!"  He sets down his crossbow, but nevertheless maintains an aggressive posture.

"D'at little pipsqueak with the cart was no fun anyways...."  He cracks his knuckles and then rolls his head around on his neck, the joints in his cervical spine popping in a most unsettling fashion. 

Keashirryl and Garrin cannot see what happens next from their vantage points, but they can certainly hear it.  The man takes in a deep breath, then lets out an awful squeal, like some kind of huge pig.  His palor changes, deeping from dirty human flesh to something dark and grey.  His hair lengthens and thickens, becoming coarse like a hairbrush.  From his mouth emerge two long, curves tusks.  His shoulders heave and you can hear the sickening sound of his bones shaping, growing, rearranging.  He stands a full foot taller when it is over... a terrifying Wereboar! 

"(Snort-Snort) Let's rumble, you puny punks!"

• Droknin:  12
• Keashirryl:  7
• Garrin:  11
• T'laren:  4
• Droop:  9
• Wereboar:  18

1. T'laren/Garrin/Droop
2. Droknin
3. Keashirryl
4. Wereboar

[The slope between Keashirryl and Droknin/T'laren is a gentle hill with no movement penalty.  The demarcation between Droknin/T'laren and the Wereboar is a 10' drop.]

((T'laren would have intended to move into position unnoticed, but I wasn't specific, and this actually works well!))

T'laren has a moment of regret for walking up next to Droknin, he should have snuck over by the tree to his left. The elf shudders with faint nausea as he looks to his left and sees himself crouched by the tree. The Other T'laren raises a finger to his lips, and points down at the boar.

T'laren shakes his head to clear it, and draws an arrow, fitting it to his bow. Right before he looses it, his perception jitters and he is standing by the tree, while the Other is nodding approvingly from beside Droknin. T'laren releases the string and finds himself shunted back to his original position.

Attack: 25 Damage: 7

If the attack coming from an unexpected position were to give advantage... : 18 to hit

Garrin is a bit confused, and just keeps an eye on Droop for now. 

Droknin smiles. "So, that is his trick." He says out loud. "Hey you, ugly... Whatever you are." The Leonin has never seen anything like the creature in his life. "I can play that game too!!" He puffs his chest, and lets our a loud roar (BA: Rage - Tail*). He feels that spines grows from his tail, and that there are a couple large spikes at the end of his tail. He jumps down the slope, and moves to confront the belligerent creature. (Athletics: 24).

With Mlinzi firmly in his paws, and his new found spike tail swinging back and forth. He strikes the ugly creature.

Mlinzi Attack: 21 Damage: 8

(Note: If Droknin is attacked by his tusk, he will use his reaction to use his tail to increase his AC by 2)

*When you enter your rage, you can transform, revealing the bestial power within you. Until the rage ends, you manifest a natural weapon. It counts as a simple melee weapon for you, and you add your Strength modifier to the attack and damage rolls when you attack with it, as normal.

Tail. You grow a lashing, spiny tail, which deals 1d8 piercing damage on a hit and has the reach property. If a creature you can see within 10 feet of you hits you with an attack roll, you can use your reaction to swipe your tail and roll a d8, applying a bonus to your AC equal to the number rolled, potentially causing the attack to miss you.

Keashirryl - assuming the worst - makes her way up the slope, crossbow in hand, trying to get close enough to aim. Seeing Droknin's unexpected transformation, she raises an eyebrow, but leaves the topic for another time.

Instead, she releases a crossbow bolt in the hostile creature's direction. As the situation is not yet clear to her, she doesn't try to make the attack lethal, but doesn't mind doing some damage if it happens to hit.

Attack: 13  Damage: 8