Wiri listens to the guttural language of, she assumes, the dwarves. She can’t quite stop the corners of her mouth from twitching up at Grastrak’s walked-back dig at elves. She wonders what the dwarf thinks of her presence, very obviously kin of the drow though with slightly grayer skin than her underdark-dwelling forebears. Having had but few conversations with the caravan leader, she did not have time chip away at the prejudice most have against her kind. As the banter continues, Wiri’s mouth and eyes smile kindly at the rugged dwarf, before moving again to the newcomers, Tyto and Narr. She dips her head a bit at them: “You are most welcome, fair firbolg, and noble dwarf.”

The half-drow’s eyes follow Swan and Sabynn as they discuss the plan, noting Sabynn’s attitudinal shift as she retorts in the dwarf’s tongue. Leaning slightly on her staff, she says, “The stream seems to be the best option, as our dear friend Grastrak and his company can aid those fleeing directly across the plain. If we can make haste, we’ll hopefully reach the village in time to make a difference.”

Her smile remains, though a stoic look settles into her slightly watery eyes.

With the consensus reached, you are moving towards the stream through the high grass. The sun is getting lower painting the landscape in red and orange. Otherwise beautiful scenery, has now a dreadful connotation. The area, the town and world around you look as if they were burning... Even the half moon slowly rising in the sky looks as if on fire.

The evening is quite warm, however one would expect crickets or mosquitoes buzzing in the grass, but it looks like everything has gone quiet around you.

A few hundred yards later, you approach the stream bed. Both banks are covered with bushes, but a few yards later, you easily pass by into the rocky banks of the stream. The banks are more or less flat - the closer to town, the steeper are the banks covered with bushes. One person can move there easily. Two can fit, but occasionally one will need to take a step back in order to let the other one pass if they want to keep their feet dry. The stream is quite shallow - mostly a feet or two deep. Sometimes a bit deeper. The width is about five to ten feet. 

Without any problems you manage to approach the town until you are about few hundred yards. In the distance you can see the tower of the keep with a dragon lazily circling few hundred yards above. Kind of strange is the dragon itself doesn't look interested in whatever is happening below. He just flies above the town for now not even once diving to attack or devour anything... 

The thick smoke is raising high in couple of places within the town but you are unable to determine what is burning as you are below the towns ground level. In the distance you manage to catch faded screams of the towns people, clinging of the arms, neighing of the horses...

Please describe the order you are moving forward, any items (weapons) you have drawn and ready (or not) and how you are approaching the town. You may communicate via Evil Queen chat or here (OOC) to agree for a strategy.

The white-haired elven maiden moves swiftly and nimbly, carrying her elven longbow in one hand, following Swan into Greenest along the stream.
Perception: 16
Stealth: 23

Meanwhile Y'landrothiel keeps an eye out for threats to the team.
Perception: 23

As Swan marches along the stream towards the town, her heart grows heavy with each step. The tragedy of the town weighs heavily on her shoulders, and the thick smoke rising from within only adds to her apprehension. In the distance, she can hear the faint sound of screams and horses' whinnies, and she knows that the people need her help. The dragon circling above the town is a chilling sight, but Swan remains steadfast and determined, her amber eyes scanning the surroundings for any potential threats. She’s wearing her shield on her arm, spear on her back, ready to draw in a moment’s notice. Her blonde hair is pulled back in a ponytail, and her armor clinks softly with each movement. Her sharp featured face is set with grim determination as she prepares to face the challenges ahead.

“The kobolds may have set up traps or ambushes around the gate,” she says, considering the routes of entry, at the same time impatient, eager to move forward and aid the townspeople, but she knows that caution is imperative, “We’ll have to be careful about how we enter.”

Perception: 10

Tyto made his way through the streambed barefoot as always, and carrying only his quarterstaff in his right hand, which he also uses as a walking stick. On his back he carries what looks like a piece of thick tree bark or something similar, that you assume could be used as a shield, and below it you can see a slim bow that was made from an exotic-looking dark wood.

He turns around to the group.

"Well" His deep voice rumbles, every syllable taking its time to be fully enunciated. "Here we are."

Tyto made the impression as if speaking did not come natural to him at all - as if it took him a lot of effort to put his thoughts into the words of the common tongue.

“We’ll have to be careful about how we enter.”

Tyto turned toward the town again, trying to ascertain the best way to approach the town. 

Perception or Survival (doesn't matter which, same modifier) to find the safest way of entering the town from this side: 21

"These bushes will shield us from the gaze of the dragon. I think that is the safest way to the town center" Tyto looks directly at Swan now "If that is where we want to go, that is."

As soon as the group decides to move forward and enter the town close enough to encounter villagers, Tyto will use his 'Firbolg Magic' to cast Disguise Self on himself, transforming into what he believes to be a typical Human for the next hour, and shrinking to average human height in the process:

"Better try to blend in." he adds nonchalantly.

Narr grips his warhammer tightly as the unlikely group creeps along the damp creek bed.  He shrugs to adjust his mail across his shoulder as he stumbles on the stones. Hefting his hammer. His heart all pitter patter.

He wonders about his new companions.

"They seem ta hav' their hearts in tha rright place. But can they be trrusted? And what exactly am I trrusting them ta do?" 

"These bushes will shield us from the gaze of the dragon. I think that is the safest way to the town center" 

"I think an important question ta ask now is, what arre we doin' once we get into tha town? We need a plan. We cannea rrun into there all willy nilly jus' swinging away at whatever."

Narr swings his shield off his back and slides it onto his arm. His hammer in the other hand.

"We need ta help tha people and only fight if we have ta. It is not in our powerr ta save tha town."

Tyto, please roll Deception check. We'll see how well you can blend in.

OOG - I will do the follow-up post tomorrow morning.

The silvery eyes of the elven maiden widens briefly as the firbolg suddenly turns into a bearded human, but then she recalls what she read about the abilities of these gentle guardians of the forest to take on different appearances. She wondered what other magics the firbolg might possess. They could use some real magic now.

"Y'landrothiel, my owl, will hopefully be able to warn us so that we don't walk into any unnecessary altercations." Sabynn says softly, just loud enough for the others to hear her melodious voice. "And our plan should be to save as many townsfolk as possible, helping them into the keep, and fighting only the ground forces necessary to do that."

Deception check to blend in: 18 (edit: I think this was a 20 before, not sure why it changed.)

Just FYI though: The spell description says that in order to "see through" the disguise, it's an Investigation check vs. my spell save, not as usual Investigation vs. Deception:

To discern that you are disguised, a creature can use its action to inspect your appearance and must succeed on an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC.

It's also completely fine to use Deception if you want to overrule that, want to see how Tyto's movements and general behaviour fit in, or there's a plot reason or something - I just wanted to mention it in case you didn't know. You decide!

Also please note that Tyto will only cast this spell once we're actually coming close to people (as it's only 1 hour). I think at the moment we're not completely decided how we want to approach the town, so I guess we're still on the riverbed, discussing what to do (?)

"The path among the shrubs makes sense, Tyto." Wiri says, turning her light-filled eyes to the firbolg. "Making progress toward the hill will allow us, perhaps, to utilize the keep as a shield for those who may be scared or injured. Even if the path is dangerous, we can clear it for those who did not choose this battle."

The half-drow turns her gaze toward the center of town, rising to the height of the small, stone keep. As she tightens the grip on her staff, the platinum-amethyst orb at the end glimmers. "I'm afraid I'm no good directly in the fray, my hand-to-hand combat skills are woefully inadequate for this type of situation. Rather, I can assail the enemy from a distance or provide some healing support for the injured."

She turns her watery eyes to the companions and makes a holy gesture. "May the Divines guide us, shield us, and give us the grace to save all who can be saved."

Swan nods to Tyto’s suggestion of moving along the bushes to avoid being seen. “That is where we want to go.” She affirms, her voice steady with resolve. She knows that establishing a central point at the keep will be crucial for sheltering the wounded and making a stand against the attackers. Trying to defend the entire town would be futile.

Swan looks up in the sky again, at the dark form of the dragon circling above the town, her heart heavy. The dwarf's words echo in her mind. He's right, they can’t save the town. But she can't help but wish she were stronger, more capable, and that Hawk was there by her side.

As she turns her gaze back to her companions, she is startled to see a human male where the firbolg had been standing just moments before. It takes her a beat to realize that it is an illusion, and her eyes narrow as she studies it, impressed by how realistic it appears. "It looks...really real," she says, her voice tinged with awe and suspicion.

“That’s the plan.” Swan agrees with Sabynn, “It’d be easier for us to defend the keep when people are all gathered there. For those that can still run, we can direct them to Grastrak.”

As she turns to face the half-drow, Swan bows her head slightly in appreciation. "Thank you for your prayer, mistress," she says softly, her voice laced with gratitude. Her thoughts drift to the difficult battle ahead, and she sighs inwardly, and says to herself quietly, “We’ll need it.” And she nods to others, ready to move forward.

You keep following the stream bed to get as close to the keep as possible. it is getting darker with every passing minute. You can hear various voices in the distance - some quite human, some not... They remind you either some grotesque barking or hissing sounds of some lizards.

Cerau, Swan & Sabynn only:

At one moment Sabynn looks up. Her eyes turn white, as if she was blind.

Sabynn only:

Moment later her eyes are back to normal. She gives a short warning and you can see that from behind the bushes a limping man and three young children race across the bank into the water just a few feet in front of you. Just behind them, a woman carrying a round shield and a broken spear turns and faces back in the direction from which they came. Eight kobolds, a reptilian humanoids, stream out of the alley on the family's heels and fan out around the woman, who looks determined to delay the creatures for as long as possible. The Kobolds have nasty looking daggers and slings

Some of the kobolds see you but they focus on the running woman and the children ignoring you completly.

What do you do?

You have the first turn regardless of the initiative rolled, however here are the rolls:

1. Kobold 1 22
2. Kobold 2 12
3. Kobold 3 13
4. Kobold 4 5
5. Kobold 5 12
6. Kobold 6 9
7. Kobold 7 7
8. Kobold 8 17
9. Kobold 9 16
10. Kobold 10 9
11. Cerau  17
12. Swan 11
13. Sabynn 17
14. Narr 17
15. Wirilone 4
16. Tyto 7

As you are not surprised, please follow actions of turn 0 in any order. Once done, we will follow the initiative order.

Turn 1 order:

1. Tyto
2. Kobolds 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10
3. Wiri & Swan
4. Narr
5. Kobold 2 & 8
6. Cerau
7. Sabynn

Please remember your turn is first regardless.

After Sabynn shouted her warning, Tyto immediately switched the grip on his quarterstaff, to be able to use it as a melee weapon. After seeing the sheer number of Kobolds breaking through the bushes however, he changes plans and begins casting Entangle instead, trying to catch as many of the Kobolds in a 20x20ft. square as possible (assuming they are reasonably well huddled together).

Vines begin sprouting from the nearby bushes, and roots break out from the ground, grasping for the ankles and wrists of the Kobolds.

Entangle is a STR14 saving throw. Assuming at least a few Kobolds will be caught, attacks against those are at advantage, and they have disadvantage on attacks and Dex saving throws.

"Look out, Kobolds!" The white-haired elven maiden calls out to the team, quickly drawing an arrow and taking aim and firing an her elven longbow in one graceful fluid motion, aiming for one of the closest kobolds being ensnared by the firbolg's forest magic.

Elven Longbow: 19 Another roll if advantage on attack roll: 21 Piercing: 6

Sabynn then seeks full cover by the stream in a prone position.

Almost every kobold besided #9 & #10 can be cought with the Tyto's spell effect. 

Let's see who will manage to get free:

1. Kobold 1 2
2. Kobold 2 6 
3. Kobold 3  6
4. Kobold 4  0
5. Kobold 5  2
6. Kobold 6  17
7. Kobold 7  3
8. Kobold 8 0

Almost every Kobold is surprised when vines spring out of the ground twisting around their feet, knees and arms pulling them to the ground. Two are almost caught by the spell but they manage to break free.  

Sabynn lets the arrow loose. As in slow motion you can see how the arrow moves towards one of the entangled kobolds (Kobold #1) and goes directly through his skull, killing him on the spot.

1. Tyto
2. Kobolds 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10 (Kobold #1 is dead. those marked with underscore are considered entangled and attacks against them have advantage)
3. Wiri & Swan
4. Narr
5. Kobold 2 & 8
6. Cerau
7. Sabynn

As the vines grow and twist around the kobolds on his left, Narr steels his nerve. He ducks low to avoid the slings and arrows as he moves to engage the kobolds to his right. To protect the woman's flank and to stop the kobold's advance.

As he moves he fills his lungs with air. He had trained and practiced plenty but, aside from some childhood scuffles, Narr has never seen combat. He tries to recall Father Hader's words on courage. But they wont come. 

"This is it."

He thinks breathlessly as he moves forward seemingly in slow motion. Time standing still for one brief instant.

His fear now forgotten, he swings his hammer high to deliver a viscous overhead blow to the first kobold foolish enough to come within his reach. His stilled breath releases in an audible grunt as he forces the hammer's descent.

Time resumes.

((attack the nearest kobold on the right  18    Damage  10

I'll react to the first kobold to attack me with [Tooltip Not Found] ))

The kobolds do not attack you this turn (just to clarify).