Everyone in the tower looks at one another, then turns to look into the rest of the compound. They nod.
"The newt is next to the command tent. Proceed on. I'll summon Captain Shar. Wait for him before you get too close to the tent, if you wish to avoid the Newt."
They sound three short blasts of the warhorn, and then motion the survivors of the ambush through.
As they near the catapult, they see the Stormtrooper Captain, a big, gruff looking Hobgoblin, approaching from the command tent with his helm resting in the crook of one arm.
"What is it? Report."
Jek looks around a bit before moving closer and whispering. "General Vurdrad sent us from the Dark Tower. There has been inconsistencies between the reports we were receiving from our people and what we were receiving from the Newts. Judging by the fact that we were ambushed on our way here with no warning from the Newts is telling. They probably never even told you we were on our way. They have become a liability. I suggest you take every available troop at your disposal and start clearing out the Newts. We can hold down the fort while you clean up this mess." As Jek speaks, he bends his magic and sends it into his words, making his spell as undetectable as possible.
Captain Shar squints as Jek renders his report. and he looks over his shoulder as inconspicuously as he can to the Newt sitting near the command tent.
"But, what then happened...you know what, forget it."
The Captain whistles and makes a hand circling motion over his head, and many of the other Stormtroopers begin to move his direction. There are disgruntled grunts as others wake up in their tents. The Captain is oblivious to this flurry of action as he approaches the Newt and snatches the flute away from it. He stuffs the flute into his armor, then draws a huge greatsword from over his shoulder. The Newt doesn't even have time to react before he brings the sword down once, twice, and another Stormtrooper jumps in, slashing with its own sword. The newt goes down in a spray of blood, screaming, before Shar begins barking orders.
"The Newts have betrayed us! Our orders are to round them up and destroy them! They have been leading Imperial forces into ambushes and reporting false information! Our immediate mission is seek and destroy! Muster at the gate, all of you! Move!"
Shar returns to the Ardent Remnants.
"Well done, brothers. We'll move forward and destroy the enemy. I suggest you continue to pass the word and call for reinforcements."
And with that, he steps past Jek and the others and moves through the serpentine, the rest of the Stormtroopers beginning to file out behind him...
Rum watches and listens from the sky above the camp, as the storm trooper captain executes the lone newt in the compound before gathering his troops and heading out.
"Friend Jek has succeeded in emptying the camp", he whispers to Porkins. "We should do a circuit of the camp to ensure no-one else remains. Be sure to avoid the areas that are trapped".
With that, Porkins flies through the camp at a safe distance from the floor, avoiding the area they know to be trapped in case that extends to the sky above. If they find the camp empty, he will land in a safe spot close to the others and send Porkins into the sky to keep watch for the storm troopers returning, remaining unseen as he does so.
"Well done, friend Jek. You are indeed a master of subterfuge", he says to Jek with a wide feline grin. "Now, be careful to avoid the traps in the middle of the camp, and let's see what they have before we move on. I saw a couple of large chests from the sky, that might have useful items in. They are likely to be locked and trapped though, fellow Remnants. We should also look in the Captain's tent for anything of interest".
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Having watched Captain Shar march out of his tent, then attack the newt, and finally march out of the camp, Lady Kaede will trace his steps backwards, walking his exact same path but leading back to his command tent. She’ll march right in, like she was commanded to go in there, just in case anyone stayed behind. If no one is present inside the tent, she’ll start looking through things, but with a little observation first, looking for any traps.
Jek breathes a big sigh of relief when they leave. "I can't believe that worked. Hey, Lady Kaede, I can't see magic while I'm focusing on this. I'm just going to follow you. Ro, can you help look for traps? Can you dispel some of the magic ones? "
As he enters the tent, he will help Lady Kaede look through the tent. "Let me know if you find any information. I can pass it along to the others with the AUYRN.. I think. It wasn't working right earlier... Do you think the Newts will all hide before the Stormtroopers get there? I hope they don't actually kill them all based on my trick.... Oh no, what have I done?"
As Jek follows Kaede, Ro nods and sets to work, walking around the encampment and sniffing out all sorts of traps. Land mines. Magical traps connected to trip wires. Dart traps near the slalom in front of the portal.
Inside the command tent, Kaede and Jek find a few books set out on the table, all of which are mostly mundane but one does give a breakdown of Undercommon, which it seems the Stormtroopers aren't very prolific with.
Spread out on the table, however, is a map of the Great Cavern, with multiple locations marked. Among them are three guard outposts along a main supply route that runs the length of the cavern to an X on the shores of the Subhylian Sea that appears to be the location of the Titan Forge...
Rum moves with Ro around the camp helping him spot traps, and noting where each is and what it does. He then makes his way over to the first chest and if Ro hasn't already been to it and made it safe, he will check for traps from a short distance away. He is mindful they might be decoys.
"Ro the Red, these chests are a little too exposed to be genuine. Surely if they had anything of value, it would be hidden away in one of the tents?", he says, voicing his concern that they are just there to encourage the unwary to rush across and fall victim to something.
"And where is Greko the White?".
Perception (to check out the first chest before approaching too close): 6+11=17 (Passive 21)
Rum spots the zigzagging newt and immediately drops into a fighting stance, ready to intercept it and wondering how it came to be in the camp. He was sure it had been empty when he did a fly around on Porkins.
"What is it doing?", he says to no-one in particular. If it looks like it will raise an alarm, he will move in to take it down.
Lady Kaede rushes out of the commander's tent to see what all the hustle and bustle is about. After watching the strange newt make a zig-zagging course towards them, she's rather confused if the newt is a friend or enemy, but it's obviously being chased by something. So, Kaede will launch an exploding arrow, purposefully shooting the arrow over the oncoming newt's head such that it lands behind the newt before exploding in a large fireball. Hopefully that will stop the newt and whatever is chasing it in their tracks.
Jek follows Lady Kaede out of the tent and watches the arrow explode. This is when he sees the newt running in, and is shocked as his compatriots are attacking it. "No."
Why, are they attacking this Newt? They've already condemned them... no, Jek condemned them. "No. Stop attacking it! We don't need to kill it."
Jek looks on as the others attack "Oh, Bright Lady, did I do the right thing? It was the only path I saw." He turns away, he can't watch what's about to happen.
The Newt's tail is singed by the flaming arrow's explosion. The newt yells "Greko's tail!" and continues to run towards the group. He the newt gets about 15-20 feet away as the flying beast called porkins comes launching towards it. The newt looks like it is ready to leap and pounce onto Rum! For Rum whose Pass.Perc. is high enough to see
As the newt gets ready to leap into the air towards Rum, Rum sees a sprinkle or maybe a jimmy depending on where you live, caught between the claws of the newt.
Rum turns to Jek as he exits the tent and calls for them to let him be, almost taking his attention away from the newt as it races towards him. "Apologies friend Jek, are they not the enemy?".
Porkins appears swooping down out the sky flying through the flames quickly enough not to get hurt by them but making quite an image.
What did that newt just say?
He looks more closely, seeing the evidence on it's hands that the newt has been eating donuts.
"Porkins, stand down! I'm afraid this is not lunch after all. Perhaps you should hunt for a while", he says quickly in Celestial to stop the Star Lancer from attacking. He receives a growl in his mind as Porkins veers away and up towards the cavern ceiling.
Rum braces himself to catch the newt that is about to jump on him. "What are you playing at, Greko the White? You almost got yourself killed".
The newt lands on Rum and looks him straight in the eyes " Meesa make friend newt. Newt lose head. Meesa make newt friends?" Greko tries to communicate the best he can without shifting back to Greko.
The next shakes its head and answers "Itsa meee. Newt with flute....lose head...Meesa try friendly....Newt with flute" Greko motions across his tiny newt neck like someone lopped off the newt with the flute's head.
Ro's inspection of the chests reveals little. One is full of provisions, mostly rations, and two medicine kits. The other has some very basic weapons in it; short swords, arrows and various ammunitions, three hand axes, and a couple of sharpening stones. Upon deeper inspection of these stones, it seems that one is of excellent quality and could probably permanently improve one bladed weapon (takes any weapon up by +1).
The Illithid's inspection shows all of the traps and boobytraps around the encampment. Mines down the central and left most approach to the portal; the right side is the only safe avenue to the portal from the interior of the camp. There are boobytraps mostly around the outskirts of the camp nearest the walls to alert the Stormtroopers to anyone trying to gain entry by climbing down the rocks along the outskirts of the camp.
When Ro is finished investigating the camp, he stops, near the far end at the biggest of the guard towers, the tentacles of his cephlapoid face undulating as he looks the rest of the band over with onyx eyes.
"This is as far as I go." He informs them in a voice that is devoid of emotion, even to Greko's shenanigans. "There will still be Stormtroopers on this side of the portal. I will deal with them when you have passed through. Until we meet again, Ardent Remnants."
Jek looks around a bit before moving closer and whispering. "General Vurdrad sent us from the Dark Tower. There has been inconsistencies between the reports we were receiving from our people and what we were receiving from the Newts. Judging by the fact that we were ambushed on our way here with no warning from the Newts is telling. They probably never even told you we were on our way. They have become a liability. I suggest you take every available troop at your disposal and start clearing out the Newts. We can hold down the fort while you clean up this mess." As Jek speaks, he bends his magic and sends it into his words, making his spell as undetectable as possible.
Subtle Spell Suggestion, Wis 17 save.
Captain Shar squints as Jek renders his report. and he looks over his shoulder as inconspicuously as he can to the Newt sitting near the command tent.
"But, what then happened...you know what, forget it."
The Captain whistles and makes a hand circling motion over his head, and many of the other Stormtroopers begin to move his direction. There are disgruntled grunts as others wake up in their tents. The Captain is oblivious to this flurry of action as he approaches the Newt and snatches the flute away from it. He stuffs the flute into his armor, then draws a huge greatsword from over his shoulder. The Newt doesn't even have time to react before he brings the sword down once, twice, and another Stormtrooper jumps in, slashing with its own sword. The newt goes down in a spray of blood, screaming, before Shar begins barking orders.
"The Newts have betrayed us! Our orders are to round them up and destroy them! They have been leading Imperial forces into ambushes and reporting false information! Our immediate mission is seek and destroy! Muster at the gate, all of you! Move!"
Shar returns to the Ardent Remnants.
"Well done, brothers. We'll move forward and destroy the enemy. I suggest you continue to pass the word and call for reinforcements."
And with that, he steps past Jek and the others and moves through the serpentine, the rest of the Stormtroopers beginning to file out behind him...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Rum watches and listens from the sky above the camp, as the storm trooper captain executes the lone newt in the compound before gathering his troops and heading out.
"Friend Jek has succeeded in emptying the camp", he whispers to Porkins. "We should do a circuit of the camp to ensure no-one else remains. Be sure to avoid the areas that are trapped".
With that, Porkins flies through the camp at a safe distance from the floor, avoiding the area they know to be trapped in case that extends to the sky above. If they find the camp empty, he will land in a safe spot close to the others and send Porkins into the sky to keep watch for the storm troopers returning, remaining unseen as he does so.
"Well done, friend Jek. You are indeed a master of subterfuge", he says to Jek with a wide feline grin. "Now, be careful to avoid the traps in the middle of the camp, and let's see what they have before we move on. I saw a couple of large chests from the sky, that might have useful items in. They are likely to be locked and trapped though, fellow Remnants. We should also look in the Captain's tent for anything of interest".
Having watched Captain Shar march out of his tent, then attack the newt, and finally march out of the camp, Lady Kaede will trace his steps backwards, walking his exact same path but leading back to his command tent. She’ll march right in, like she was commanded to go in there, just in case anyone stayed behind. If no one is present inside the tent, she’ll start looking through things, but with a little observation first, looking for any traps.
Perception: 12
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Jek breathes a big sigh of relief when they leave. "I can't believe that worked. Hey, Lady Kaede, I can't see magic while I'm focusing on this. I'm just going to follow you. Ro, can you help look for traps? Can you dispel some of the magic ones? "
As he enters the tent, he will help Lady Kaede look through the tent. "Let me know if you find any information. I can pass it along to the others with the AUYRN.. I think. It wasn't working right earlier... Do you think the Newts will all hide before the Stormtroopers get there? I hope they don't actually kill them all based on my trick.... Oh no, what have I done?"
As Jek follows Kaede, Ro nods and sets to work, walking around the encampment and sniffing out all sorts of traps. Land mines. Magical traps connected to trip wires. Dart traps near the slalom in front of the portal.
Inside the command tent, Kaede and Jek find a few books set out on the table, all of which are mostly mundane but one does give a breakdown of Undercommon, which it seems the Stormtroopers aren't very prolific with.
Spread out on the table, however, is a map of the Great Cavern, with multiple locations marked. Among them are three guard outposts along a main supply route that runs the length of the cavern to an X on the shores of the Subhylian Sea that appears to be the location of the Titan Forge...
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York
Rum moves with Ro around the camp helping him spot traps, and noting where each is and what it does. He then makes his way over to the first chest and if Ro hasn't already been to it and made it safe, he will check for traps from a short distance away. He is mindful they might be decoys.
"Ro the Red, these chests are a little too exposed to be genuine. Surely if they had anything of value, it would be hidden away in one of the tents?", he says, voicing his concern that they are just there to encourage the unwary to rush across and fall victim to something.
"And where is Greko the White?".
Perception (to check out the first chest before approaching too close): 6+11=17 (Passive 21)
At that moment Rum, Jek, and Kaede notice a newt running straight towards them in a crazy zigzagging manner
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Rum spots the zigzagging newt and immediately drops into a fighting stance, ready to intercept it and wondering how it came to be in the camp. He was sure it had been empty when he did a fly around on Porkins.
"What is it doing?", he says to no-one in particular. If it looks like it will raise an alarm, he will move in to take it down.
The newt continues to zigzag, leap and hop it’s way towards the others frantically waving its arms at them
"Porkins!", Rum calls out in Celestial to get the attention of the Star Lancer. "Lunch time", he continues and points at the newt.
Lady Kaede rushes out of the commander's tent to see what all the hustle and bustle is about. After watching the strange newt make a zig-zagging course towards them, she's rather confused if the newt is a friend or enemy, but it's obviously being chased by something. So, Kaede will launch an exploding arrow, purposefully shooting the arrow over the oncoming newt's head such that it lands behind the newt before exploding in a large fireball. Hopefully that will stop the newt and whatever is chasing it in their tracks.
Purposefully missing Explosive Arrow Attack: 27 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll. + 3 explosive/fire damage
Last to know and first to be blamed...
As a free action, can I regret my life choices?
Jek follows Lady Kaede out of the tent and watches the arrow explode. This is when he sees the newt running in, and is shocked as his compatriots are attacking it. "No."
Why, are they attacking this Newt? They've already condemned them... no, Jek condemned them. "No. Stop attacking it! We don't need to kill it."
Jek looks on as the others attack "Oh, Bright Lady, did I do the right thing? It was the only path I saw." He turns away, he can't watch what's about to happen.
The Newt's tail is singed by the flaming arrow's explosion. The newt yells "Greko's tail!" and continues to run towards the group. He the newt gets about 15-20 feet away as the flying beast called porkins comes launching towards it. The newt looks like it is ready to leap and pounce onto Rum! For Rum whose Pass.Perc. is high enough to see
As the newt gets ready to leap into the air towards Rum, Rum sees a sprinkle or maybe a jimmy depending on where you live, caught between the claws of the newt.
Rum turns to Jek as he exits the tent and calls for them to let him be, almost taking his attention away from the newt as it races towards him. "Apologies friend Jek, are they not the enemy?".
Porkins appears swooping down out the sky flying through the flames quickly enough not to get hurt by them but making quite an image.
What did that newt just say?
He looks more closely, seeing the evidence on it's hands that the newt has been eating donuts.
"Porkins, stand down! I'm afraid this is not lunch after all. Perhaps you should hunt for a while", he says quickly in Celestial to stop the Star Lancer from attacking. He receives a growl in his mind as Porkins veers away and up towards the cavern ceiling.
Rum braces himself to catch the newt that is about to jump on him. "What are you playing at, Greko the White? You almost got yourself killed".
The newt lands on Rum and looks him straight in the eyes " Meesa make friend newt. Newt lose head. Meesa make newt friends?" Greko tries to communicate the best he can without shifting back to Greko.
Rum catches the newt and tries to hold it out at arms length, looking at it closely.
"Is that you, Greko the White? What have you done?", he says, then looks at Lady Kaede, Jen and Ro the Red for any help they might offer.
"We really don't have time for this, fellow Remnants".
The next shakes its head and answers "Itsa meee. Newt with flute....lose head...Meesa try friendly....Newt with flute" Greko motions across his tiny newt neck like someone lopped off the newt with the flute's head.
Ro's inspection of the chests reveals little. One is full of provisions, mostly rations, and two medicine kits. The other has some very basic weapons in it; short swords, arrows and various ammunitions, three hand axes, and a couple of sharpening stones. Upon deeper inspection of these stones, it seems that one is of excellent quality and could probably permanently improve one bladed weapon (takes any weapon up by +1).
The Illithid's inspection shows all of the traps and boobytraps around the encampment. Mines down the central and left most approach to the portal; the right side is the only safe avenue to the portal from the interior of the camp. There are boobytraps mostly around the outskirts of the camp nearest the walls to alert the Stormtroopers to anyone trying to gain entry by climbing down the rocks along the outskirts of the camp.
When Ro is finished investigating the camp, he stops, near the far end at the biggest of the guard towers, the tentacles of his cephlapoid face undulating as he looks the rest of the band over with onyx eyes.
"This is as far as I go." He informs them in a voice that is devoid of emotion, even to Greko's shenanigans. "There will still be Stormtroopers on this side of the portal. I will deal with them when you have passed through. Until we meet again, Ardent Remnants."
DM of AURYN: The Measure of Devotion - Escape from New York