Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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"Well, we would have to deal with this Bernard business first and then return to Luskan to report. What happens after that, well we'll see if it seems worth our while to go to Longsaddle or if we will have better jobs closeby." Sorsha says. "Good to know though. Who knows, our search after this elusive Bugbear might just take us in that direction."
"My thoughts exactly," Vars nods to Sorsha. "Well, apparently Bernard either hasn't passed through here, or the man I spoke to just missed him. So...shall we depart?"
"Always on the hunt for more work. Don't you ever sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, Vars?" Stretching, Bjorn gazes out to the open road. "Sometimes I do it before the work's even done. Life is short, you know."
[Good to go, lol.]
Frangipani moves up ahead of the others to keep an eye on the road as they prepare to travel....
Survival:9
Perception18
Ruhm attempts to get a few left over drops out of his keg before tossing it to the ground in disgust..
” there I was, perched in nice bushy tree, keepin me eye on the road ahead and looking for pathways to the river. A wagon with some armed men came into me purview, heading thisaway…”
he tells his tale with exaggerated arm movements and even using his tail. “ I did na see any bears, bugs or otherwise with this wagon. Soon as it got closer, a mob came out of nowhere , cut down the men and started rummaging through the wagons loot. I sneaked up close, invisible and stealthy as death herself….nope, no bearbugs in their gang. I tried to see what kind of goodies they were helpin themselves too when they were jumped by another gang….”
.
Ruhm takes a minute to catch his breath and then jumps back into his story, “ the first guy I seen was huge. And I mean huuuuuuge. He had the face and horns of a bull. He charged right into the first gang and knocked them over like toys, it were incredible..right after him several goblins rushed in to capture the wagon. One of them jerks ran smack dab into meself, knocking me over….I was about to give him what fear, went a crossbow bolt pinged into me keg, I turns around to see a big hairy fella with big hoppy earrings pointing that dastardly crossbow at me for another shot. then poof, I were bounced here…”
Sorsha nods to the others. "Yes, let's get moving." She says, then turning her attention back to Ruhm as they both sit on the cart. "So how far up the road was this?"
"Sorsha, that certainly sounds like the group we are looking for, and the huge bull man is probably our guy." Sparhawk muses. "I have an idea, maybe not a smart one. I'm wondering if we could disguise our cart to hide most of the party and look more like a merchant cart. Perhaps the same group will attack, but we will be ready with a surprise of our own. Maybe this is more Bjorn's specialty." Sparhawk continues. "If we could mount a siege weapon, ballista, heavy crossbows, etc., that would make for an effective ranged counterattack as they move in."
"Finally, I would guess that if we take out the bugbear, the rest of the group would run."
"Of course, if we can find this group in their camp, that is also to our advantage."
At some point on the trail, "By the way, my platinum haired tentacled terror, and I say that with the deepest admiration....ah Captain." He feigns embarrassment by the slip of his normally somewhat formal tongue. He winks at Vars and Bjorn, hoping to win the bet, "The suspense is killing us. The crew and I have been wondering about your tale."
Bjorn transforms his image to that of a finely dressed merchant prince, bedecked in jewels and silks. He stoops like an old man and shuffles ahead. "Unfortunately, my magic isn't enough to disguise our cargo."
[I think Silent Image could do it, though that would occupy most of Sorsha's attention.]
Vars shakes his head, "A fellow with bull horns? Sounds like a minotaur to me, not a bugbear." He turns to Rhum, "Can you give a better description of the hairy fellow with the earrings? Was he a bugbear?"
He blinks when Bjorn transforms into a merchant, "This will definitely only work if we can do something with our cart as well. Otherwise its just going to look like we are escorting you or something...which might be fine, though I doubt they'd bother stopping for one man."
[Quick clarification - are minotaurs just another kind of people in this setting, or are they rare monsters that live in labyrinths?]
“ bout a mile er so…I thinks..hard to tell. I got there by pelican and the road curves itself back an forth so could be a bit ferther.”
( minotaurs are people too…though they do often get hired to protect treasures in labyrinths. They are quite good sailors as well, they have a knack for navigation)
“ he was, big, hairy and mean….could be a bearbug. Never seen one afore.”
“Ah, alright then,” Vars let’s put a breath. “We’ll it’s still the best lead we’ve got so far.”
Sorsha listens and then turns to the crew as she sits in the cart. "Alright my tale will be for another time I can tell you, when we finish this business with Bernard I promise you I will tell anyone who would care to listen all about my dark past. Now, about these bandits, I suppose we can't rule out Bernard is one of them. We should check it out but I would much prefer us to have the jump on them rather than the other way around so I will send my friend here ahead again to try to find out where they are at." She says, then turning to Ruhm again. "Sorry again about your keg Ruhm, but I would appreciate some more scouting now." She then turns back to the crew. "Any other thoughts?"
Sparhawk, who studied the bugbear in the monster manual at Abarnaths, grabs some paper and quill, and sketches the bugbear pic he saw in the book. "Hey, Rhum, did the big guy look at all like this thing?" (Note, bugbear in monster manual, and he emphasizes big pointy ears, and hairy.)
"A mile ahead, shouldn't be too hard to find them, and perhaps some of them are hurt from the encounter they had with the wagon. The question is, how do we surprise them? Bugbears are apparently known for doing surprise attacks, and often have goblins and hobgoblins working with them."
"If we're within a mile of the attack, it's probably time we put our guard up." Bjorn picks up the handful of arrows and summons his bow.
"Bernard's crew would have no reason to double back our way, but at least one of those gangs wasn't his. So they might."
Sparhawk looks at his friends, "unless anyone strongly disagrees, it would be my honor, nay.. I say my duty to take on Bernard directly when we meet. I will use all of my skills (he grabs the hilt of his sword) and goddess given abilities to disable him." (Paladin: Vow of Enmity, Diving smite, and hunters mark....I'll need support/ healing). "As I believe he will try to surprise us, when I see him, I will attack him immediately. Of course feel free to pelt him with arrows and spells, but it would be nice if I didn't get hit by those powerful spells that we are aiming at him." He smiles, looking at Frangi.