"Good morning Cad! Oh, and keeping a low profile is a good idea," Titaani agrees, stretching from where she had fallen asleep at Tiny's side. "Shall we attack them once everyone's fully awake? We'll have the element of surprise!"

Ben:

”Hmm…” says Ben as he slowly wakes up.  In response to Cadwallader’s observation, he suggests, “Perhaps they have trapped the wooden walkways, so they use boats and the rope ladders instead.”

Horatio looks thoughtfully at Titaani, surprised by her casual zeal. Then considers Ben's words and adds, "That's a great point... I've been a carpenter for years, and I can tell you this wood framework is so rickety it would be very easy to rig false supports or other nasty surprises... But, I feel like the marsh approach is just as prone to that. We cannot really see what is under the water, so we may be exposed to snares or sharp objects that way too. Could be the boats are the only truly safe option. If you all want, we can try to quietly pry some planks up and I can fashion us a raft and a couple of oars? I've got my tools, and it shouldn't be too loud to lash something together."

Matilda stood off to the side, " Just tell me where to go......I've never actually attacked anyone before."

The sharp-eyed among you have spotted some of the harendon on the foggy walkways – although not the one nearest you so far. So at least some of them are in use. To get a look at the boat(s) and what it navigates, you would need to approach closer. The rope ladders give access to the massive stump, 30 feet above the water and 80 feet across, which the brigands camp atop. Horatio's idea to pry wood from the walkway to fashion a raft is possible but would probably require a non-trivial feat of stealth.

Make Stealth and Perception checks if you want to quietly approach and try to discern more.
Roll Stealth and Initiative if you want to charge them or fire at them (they're 300 feet away).
Make a (higher DC) stealth check if you want to pry boards off to assemble a makeshift raft.
Or... how would you like to proceed?

From what you can make out, there are at least several brigands on top of the giant stump (what a massive tree that must have been!) and at least two additional harengon in one or more unseen boats in an unseen body of water.

Cadwallader:

Cad quietly asks the others, "What is it that we're trying to accomplish here? Are we going to murder all of those harengon? Or is there something specific you want from them? I don't think we're getting into that stump without either fighting our way through or surrendering ourselves. Or I suppose we could fly a flag of truce -- armies do that, don't they Ben? The leaders go out and discuss terms and then they either come to an agreement or the battle is on. At least that's what the histories say, but you know historians..."

Ben:

”While it would be nice to approach stealthily and observe them first, I think my primary objective here is to speak with them and convince them not to steal other people’s food anymore.  Just walking up to them openly might put us at a tactical disadvantage should they decide to attack us from above, but sneaking up on them could also startle them into rash action,” says Ben.

”Perhaps if those of us who are stealthy and perceptive would like to approach from a hidden direction, the others of us can approach directly.  That way, we get a chance to negotiate and, if they attack us instead, we have a surprise element on our side,” suggests Ben.

"Murder?" Titaani looks horrified. "I was just planning on overwhelming them with magic...or something..." she trails off, aware of how stupid that sounds, especially in comparison to Ben's idea.

"I can help you convince them. My moms say that I'm quite charming when I try to be!" she grins, batting away the thoughts of murder. "Also, with Tiny by my side it'll look super official. Ooh, what if.. what if we say we were sent by an archfey to warn them against any further thievery? They'll have to stop then!" 

Ben:

”Excellent, Titaani.  Let us walk up together and make our case,” says Ben, adding, “Who else wants to join us, and who wants to be on the Stealth team?”

Horatio:

"I'm so-so being sneaky, but really stink at convincing people of things." He gives a sheepish look to Cad. "I should probably go with the stealth group, I'm strong and good in a fight. That's really all I'm good for..."

Matilda raised her hand, " Sneak!"

(  If given the nod she will head off with the other sneaky folks to try and flank the bandits like the old men said.

Stealth:20

Perception:16 )

( Oh...dear)

(Lol at least her perception's good)

Ben and Titaani clamber up onto the walkway and begin to carefully but openly make their way toward the stump. The plank causeway is in poor shape, but it's easy enough to avoid the unsafe areas when walking normally. (Running, however, could be dangerous!)

Matilda and Horatio start slogging through the mud off to one side. (How close to the walkway would you like to walk, parallel to your ambassador team?)

On which team would Cad like to be?

Matilda begins to loudly advance through the muddy underbrush. Horatio (and Cad, if he chooses) should roll a stealth check to try to mitigate Matilda's noisiness. 

Cadwallader:

Cad looks with distaste at the swamp water, then at the dry, if rickety, walkways. If it falls out from under you, you'll just be in that same water you'd be slogging through anyway. "I'll go with the parlay team. Maybe they'll have a ting about respecting elders. Not likely, but I'm not going to try sneaking up on them." He casts mage armor over himself. For a few seconds there is a faintly glowing sphere surrounding him, but it fades to invisibility as it shrinks to conform to his person. He tells Ben and Titaani to give the Stealth Team a minute's head start -- no reason drawing attention their way before the others are hidden.

(Lol at least her perception's good)

((OOC: Reminds me of the time our submarine thought we were tracking a super-sneaky Russian boat. Every time we maneuvered, so did he. After a great deal of maneuvering and a thorough investigation we figured out we were tracking our own ice cream machine. So we had great Perception, not so much Stealth. Or Wisdom.))

Matilda and Horatio are given a head start as push through the boggy underbrush. Matilda makes a fair amount of noise in the process. 
(Horatio: make a stealth check to try to mitigate Matilda's racket!) Unless you tell me otherwise, I'll assume the flanking team will be about 50 feet parallel to the diplomacy team? (Any further, and they will likely never be in sight of one another. Between the brush and the fog, visibility is pretty limited on the ground.)

After a moment, Ben, Titaani, and slightly-shimmering Cad begin to openly stride forward on the plank causeway, taking care not to step into a hole or a rotten board.

(( Horatio's stealth was 17, in the DDB log ))

Ben, Titaani and Cad carefully stroll forward, their eyes fixed on the massive stump ahead. The foggy scrub turns to swamp, and then to mostly open water. More causeways intersect, making a web of wooden walkways surrounding the stump. 

An odd feeling suddenly comes over Ben as he becomes aware that sometime in the last minute or so, a hunched, hooded figure has joined your trio.

The harengon casts off his cloak with a flourish and a guffaw, revealing his 15-foot-long, bright blue scarf. He holds a hot branding iron in one hand and a small round shield in the other. As he does, the sound of a bagpipe erupts from somewhere up ahead. After a few notes, you recognize it as the song sung by the harengon brigands you met earlier. Your new visitor sings the song as he takes off at a run, a wide grin on his rabbit face as he bounds from one plank to another in a circle around the party. 

You've heard his song before:

With sticks and stones, we’ll break your nose;
We’ll beat you blind and steal your clothes.
But none among us can compare
To one wily, swift, and stand-up hare—
Scarf that’s glorious, thief notorious,
His deeds are truly meritorious!

Meanwhile, Matilda and Horatio find themselves wading through murky, waist-deep water. Through the fog ahead they suddenly see a skiff, containing four more harengon, paddling quickly toward the walkway supporting Ben, Titaani and Cad. They don't appear to notice Matilda nor Horatio.

Roll initiative!

Cadwallader:

"Oh, delightful. I do prefer my robbers to have panache..." Cad grumbles to the air.
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