The guard begins backing away, seeming to look for an opportunity to alert other HMC folks. She has not yet noticed Saoirse (advantage granted).
The injured kobold speaks in a quiet, private tone to Hemlock, and places an open clawed hand on the ground in front of him, beckoning what seems like an innocent but oddly-placed squirrel towards himself.
"ماذا تفعل تسمع ، الثدييات الصغيرة؟ نحن لا نرى نوعك تحت الأرض. هل أنت لذيذ؟"
We are in initiative. Turn order: Lam;Saoirse; Alerted Guard; Wagon convoy;Injured Kobold, Hemlock, Sha-Gravis
When the guard spots Sha, Lam’s heart flies into a panic. Lam doesn’t really think about his next move other than that he needs to stop the guard from alerting the rest of the HMC. He moves to her and tries to hold her in place, speaking as he does so. He remembers to stay quiet, but his voice comes out more gruff than he intends as he says: “No. Stop. Please. We are not.” It seems like he is processing what she said to them as he talks, and moving without really thinking.
Move: To right above the alerted guard.
Action: Attempt a grapple check on the guard. 10, so… unlikely unless she’s real unlucky.
Saoirse tries to grapple the woman as well. She uses both arms to enclose her from behind, while also extending her right hand to cover the woman's mouth so she doesn't emit any loud sounds.
I've rolled athletics with advantage and got an 8 and a 13. Then used my inspiration and got another 13 again. Stupid low rolls! :(
In the highly unlikely event that I do grapple her, I will use the rest of my movement (20 feet) to move her two squares up so we are covered by the tree where Sha is (because there is another guard that could yet see us).
And, if I don't succeded then I will use my BA to curse her with the Blood Curse of Binding to see if I least I get her to stay put and not run away... STR DC 12
Saoirse ambushes the unsuspecting guard, but the dwarf's instincts and training allow her to push out of the hold in an adrenaline fueled push of willpower. Then, Saoirse's magic pulses, and the dwarf's blood seems to freeze in place. Her feet refuse to move underneath her, and she is bound by the blood curse.
The dwarf struggles to move, but can not. She tries to shout, but her two assailants manage to muffle the noise as they try to hold her still. She slashes out in desperation with her sword, cutting into Lams flesh (6 damage) and then towards Saoirse. Saoirse's dagger is in her hand in a flash, and the dwarf's blade catches in one of the knotches in the dagger. It takes a few moments for the dwarf to pull her blade free, and during these moments Saoirse's rapier flashes out, but it does not find a gap in the dwarf's armor.. She can not do anything else, and the wagons continue northwards, without her warning.
The wagons continue northwards at a measured but efficient pace, as Jonah leads the HMC party back to the keep.
The injured kobold continues to beckon for the strange squirrel to approach, as he lies slumped against the stone wall.
It is Hemlock's turn.
We are in initiative. Turn order: Lam; Saoirse; Alerted Guard; Wagon convoy;Injured Kobold, Hemlock, Sha-Gravis
Squirrel Hemlock shrugs and points to his ears as he watches the injured kobold. When it beckons him, he just shakes his head and takes a step back. He really doesn't want to become the kobold's next meal.
He moves around the cave mouth to the other side to where the kobold is sitting, and points inside towards the sword lying on the ground, and then makes some sword swishing motions. If he can find a stick to do this that would be great.
The kobold looks at the communicative squirrel, and his eyes follow to see the blade where he points. The kobold puts his wrists together and lifts them above his head, miming being chained up. He points at Hemlock and turns his palm upwards in what is clearly an implied <Who are you?>
Sha looks at the Dwarf sees the abject horror on their face, it's almost too much, but Sha faces the guard. "Vi er ikke mordere, vi dræbte, fordi vi ikke havde noget valg. Det er tid for dig at sove." Dwarven
sleep "We are not murderers, we killed because we had no choice. It's time for you to sleep."
A stone on the wall further from you, several feet into the cave, begins to glow a bright, saphhire blue. The injured kobold sees this and nearly leaps to his feet, walking with purpose towards it and ignoring his wounds. He grabs it from the wall, and it comes free easily. Once it's in his hand, the kobold's eyes shine with a similar shade of blue, and he turns to look at you. "Hello, Stargazer. Hamza would like to meet you, and your friends. Call them over, please." He is speaking in clear, excited Common, and when he finishes speaking, he beams with pride, and makes direct eye contact with you in your squirrel form.
Squirrel-lock cocks his head to the side as the kobold addresses him in common. Magic was at play here.
He sits back on his haunches so his front legs are in the air, and turns to make sure he was not in sight of any of the miners from the HMC. Once that is confirmed, his body starts to elongate, the short squirrel legs and arms extending out into firbolg legs and arms as the fur retracts revealing Hemlocks clothes and armour. The last to change is the head, which fattens up into his usual firbolg visage, with his droopy ears flopping to the sides.
"Greetings, I am Hemlock", he says in his slow manner of speech. "What manner of magic is it that lets you see my true form? And who is this Hamza? For that matter, what is your name?".
As he speaks he makes no aggressive move, he just turns around and waves to his friends, whether he sees them or not. If he spots they have noticed, he will change the wave to direct them to come towards the cave. He does not shout out, for fear of being overheard by hostile ears.
They seem to be out of danger for now, but Saoirse drags the sleepy guard towards the tree anyway. Just in case.
- Damn, that was close! - she says - Thanks for that spell, Sha. I was thinking of knocking her out, but this is better. Now ...- she looks at the guard, arms akimbo - ... what on earth do we do with her? Her companions are going to notice she's missing, sooner or later. But if we leave her here, she'll end up informing Jonah, and we don't want that. At least not until we are finished investigating the mines.
She then looks at Lam:
- Why do I get the feeling we've got ourselves another bundle to carry? This one might not be wererat, but I don't think she's going to be a calmed bundle either ...
With a sigh she looks for rope in her backpack, and begins to tie her wrists and ankles tightly.
“I’d like to set her free, safely when the time is right, it’s something she said, ‘There’s always a choice.’ She has a choice too. I did have a hand in Aerar & Grommit’s deaths. I just don’t want to be a jailer, please let’s not keep her against her will. Maybe Billy and Jonah can reevaluate our prison break.” Sha looks over his shoulder and gets an eye full of Hemlock/Squirrel-lock, oh can’t unsee that...
- Perhaps they can reevaluate our prison break, or perhaps they will imprison us again. Or worse. Did you notice the rage on Jonah's voice when he mentioned us? Are we going to risk them coming back and do who knows what to us because we free her before we are done investigating here...?
“When it’s safe Saoirse not right now. Let’s investigate first, but I believe her freedom will help balance the terrible things which had to be done for our own freedom. Look is Hemlock waving to us?” Sha hangs his head wishing Grommit and Aerar could have lived.
“Billy spotted me. He didn’t alert Jonah. Jonah isn’t the one who lied and tossed me into the HMC prison.”
- In that case then, yes, I agree with you- Saoirsenods, a brief sad look on her eyes when she remembers what they all did to regain their freedom - And I sincerely hope that when we free her and she's able to return to her companions unharmed, she'll relay that we are not the monsters they believe us to be.
The genasi looks then at where the tabaxi has pointed:
- Seems so! Let's go to him. Meanwhile, can you tell me what you saw from your vantage point? I didn't get to see what happened.
(No need to answer that last part! We can skip it but I needed to ask since Saoirse saw nothing at all!)
When Shatells her what happened at the entrance and reveals that Billyspotted him and did nothing, Saoirse gasps in surprise. And when he continues talking about Jonah, she adds:
- That's true, he didn't toss us into Coldwater. But you did listen to him talking about Cylence and the people from Village Tree, right? How he called them "savages"? I agree that today he behaved differently to what I expected from him, but still ... I wouldn't trust him to be fair to us. Anyway, shall we carry the guard together, Lam, as we did with Muro? I don't think leaving her here in the open will be safe. Though...we may need to protect her from the kobolds. They might not take well to see one of the invaders.
As Hemlock shifts back, the kobold's eyes follow his up, and up, and up. Hemlock is fully twice the height of the kobold, who would have fallen backwards as he craned his neck upwards, if he did not have a tail to offer balance and support. He begins to look a bit scared, but he clutches the glowing blue stone to his chest and pulls himself together. "I am Hássan, and I could not see your true form. You are much bigger than I thought. You are the second biggest humanoid I have ever met (the biggest one just killed my friend). Hamza is a champion of freedom, a legend of the deep, and is our great leader, and she knows many things. I do not presume to know how. This gem allows her to speak to me, and with it she has gifted me your tongue. She told me how to address you. It is a great honor to speak for her."
The sleeping dwarf snores a little, just a cute little chortle, and sleeps on. She will wake in another 40 seconds or so.
"It is an honour to speak to you Hássan, and to learn of Hamza. We will be honoured to commune with her and learn more of her gifts", Hemlock replies. "And know I am sorry about your friend. My companions and I had no part in this, and in truth the one who made the killing blow did so against their will. The one you call the biggest you have seen. The lady you have captured used magic to do this, I saw with my own eyes".
He thinks for a moment, "It is sometimes the case that good people make bad choices, work for bad people. I think this is true of the big one we talk of, the one called Captain Jonah".
He turns to look at his friends approaching and spots the captive. "It seems there is an extra guest. I hope they will also be treated kindly?".
Lam helps Saoirse drag the guard to the tree, and then waits patiently while she ties the guard’s wrists and ankles. “I will carry,” he says, his voice revealing a hint of hesitation. The way he sees it, either the guard alerts the others and they come back to fight or they realize she’s missing and come looking for her anyway. He nods along with Sha’s idea (and confirms what he saw) and shares Saoirse’s hopes, though his face shows uncertainty. Lam takes the entire burden of carrying the dwarf if Saoirse lets him, watching the guard’s face carefully to see when she’ll wake up. With her mouth uncovered, he wants to be ready to put a stop to it if she shouts. He is ready to follow his friends.
Can Lam carry the guard and also be ready to cover her mouth if she wakes up and tries to shout?
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Squirrel Hemlock gives the kobold a wave with his tiny paw, just as he hears a commotion from behind him and turns to look.
Initiative: 5+1=6
The guard begins backing away, seeming to look for an opportunity to alert other HMC folks. She has not yet noticed Saoirse (advantage granted).
The injured kobold speaks in a quiet, private tone to Hemlock, and places an open clawed hand on the ground in front of him, beckoning what seems like an innocent but oddly-placed squirrel towards himself.
"ماذا تفعل تسمع ، الثدييات الصغيرة؟ نحن لا نرى نوعك تحت الأرض. هل أنت لذيذ؟"
We are in initiative. Turn order: Lam; Saoirse; Alerted Guard; Wagon convoy; Injured Kobold, Hemlock, Sha-Gravis
https://www.owlbear.app/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP
DM: Heavy is the Head
When the guard spots Sha, Lam’s heart flies into a panic. Lam doesn’t really think about his next move other than that he needs to stop the guard from alerting the rest of the HMC. He moves to her and tries to hold her in place, speaking as he does so. He remembers to stay quiet, but his voice comes out more gruff than he intends as he says: “No. Stop. Please. We are not.” It seems like he is processing what she said to them as he talks, and moving without really thinking.
Move: To right above the alerted guard.
Action: Attempt a grapple check on the guard. 10, so… unlikely unless she’s real unlucky.
Lam tries to reach his muscular arms around the guard, but she maneuvers under his grip and pushes his arms away. She resists the grapple.
DM: Heavy is the Head
Saoirse tries to grapple the woman as well. She uses both arms to enclose her from behind, while also extending her right hand to cover the woman's mouth so she doesn't emit any loud sounds.
I've rolled athletics with advantage and got an 8 and a 13. Then used my inspiration and got another 13 again. Stupid low rolls! :(
In the highly unlikely event that I do grapple her, I will use the rest of my movement (20 feet) to move her two squares up so we are covered by the tree where Sha is (because there is another guard that could yet see us).
And, if I don't succeded then I will use my BA to curse her with the Blood Curse of Binding to see if I least I get her to stay put and not run away... STR DC 12
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
Saoirse ambushes the unsuspecting guard, but the dwarf's instincts and training allow her to push out of the hold in an adrenaline fueled push of willpower. Then, Saoirse's magic pulses, and the dwarf's blood seems to freeze in place. Her feet refuse to move underneath her, and she is bound by the blood curse.
The dwarf struggles to move, but can not. She tries to shout, but her two assailants manage to muffle the noise as they try to hold her still. She slashes out in desperation with her sword, cutting into Lams flesh (6 damage) and then towards Saoirse. Saoirse's dagger is in her hand in a flash, and the dwarf's blade catches in one of the knotches in the dagger. It takes a few moments for the dwarf to pull her blade free, and during these moments Saoirse's rapier flashes out, but it does not find a gap in the dwarf's armor.. She can not do anything else, and the wagons continue northwards, without her warning.
The wagons continue northwards at a measured but efficient pace, as Jonah leads the HMC party back to the keep.
The injured kobold continues to beckon for the strange squirrel to approach, as he lies slumped against the stone wall.
It is Hemlock's turn.
We are in initiative. Turn order: Lam; Saoirse; Alerted Guard; Wagon convoy; Injured Kobold, Hemlock, Sha-Gravis
https://www.owlbear.app/room/5nRs1L_uFdxM/HeavyistheHeadPBP
DM: Heavy is the Head
Squirrel Hemlock shrugs and points to his ears as he watches the injured kobold. When it beckons him, he just shakes his head and takes a step back. He really doesn't want to become the kobold's next meal.
He moves around the cave mouth to the other side to where the kobold is sitting, and points inside towards the sword lying on the ground, and then makes some sword swishing motions. If he can find a stick to do this that would be great.
Passive Perception: 15
Performance: 16-1=15
The kobold looks at the communicative squirrel, and his eyes follow to see the blade where he points. The kobold puts his wrists together and lifts them above his head, miming being chained up. He points at Hemlock and turns his palm upwards in what is clearly an implied <Who are you?>
"أنت لست من الثدييات البريئة. ما هو هدفك هنا"
It is Sha-Gravis' turn.
DM: Heavy is the Head
Sha looks at the Dwarf sees the abject horror on their face, it's almost too much, but Sha faces the guard. "Vi er ikke mordere, vi dræbte, fordi vi ikke havde noget valg. Det er tid for dig at sove." Dwarven
sleep "We are not murderers, we killed because we had no choice. It's time for you to sleep."
"Man har ..." *yawn*... "altid et valg..."
"There is... ... always a choice"
The dwarf falls into a heavy, magical sleep. She slumps down, her weight resting awkwardly in Lam and Saoirse's arms. We are no longer in initiative.
DM: Heavy is the Head
Squirrel-lock can see:
A stone on the wall further from you, several feet into the cave, begins to glow a bright, saphhire blue. The injured kobold sees this and nearly leaps to his feet, walking with purpose towards it and ignoring his wounds. He grabs it from the wall, and it comes free easily. Once it's in his hand, the kobold's eyes shine with a similar shade of blue, and he turns to look at you. "Hello, Stargazer. Hamza would like to meet you, and your friends. Call them over, please." He is speaking in clear, excited Common, and when he finishes speaking, he beams with pride, and makes direct eye contact with you in your squirrel form.
DM: Heavy is the Head
Squirrel-lock cocks his head to the side as the kobold addresses him in common. Magic was at play here.
He sits back on his haunches so his front legs are in the air, and turns to make sure he was not in sight of any of the miners from the HMC. Once that is confirmed, his body starts to elongate, the short squirrel legs and arms extending out into firbolg legs and arms as the fur retracts revealing Hemlocks clothes and armour. The last to change is the head, which fattens up into his usual firbolg visage, with his droopy ears flopping to the sides.
"Greetings, I am Hemlock", he says in his slow manner of speech. "What manner of magic is it that lets you see my true form? And who is this Hamza? For that matter, what is your name?".
As he speaks he makes no aggressive move, he just turns around and waves to his friends, whether he sees them or not. If he spots they have noticed, he will change the wave to direct them to come towards the cave. He does not shout out, for fear of being overheard by hostile ears.
They seem to be out of danger for now, but Saoirse drags the sleepy guard towards the tree anyway. Just in case.
- Damn, that was close! - she says - Thanks for that spell, Sha. I was thinking of knocking her out, but this is better. Now ... - she looks at the guard, arms akimbo - ... what on earth do we do with her? Her companions are going to notice she's missing, sooner or later. But if we leave her here, she'll end up informing Jonah, and we don't want that. At least not until we are finished investigating the mines.
She then looks at Lam:
- Why do I get the feeling we've got ourselves another bundle to carry? This one might not be wererat, but I don't think she's going to be a calmed bundle either ...
With a sigh she looks for rope in her backpack, and begins to tie her wrists and ankles tightly.
Survival to tie her = 17
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
“I’d like to set her free, safely when the time is right, it’s something she said, ‘There’s always a choice.’ She has a choice too. I did have a hand in Aerar & Grommit’s deaths. I just don’t want to be a jailer, please let’s not keep her against her will. Maybe Billy and Jonah can reevaluate our prison break.” Sha looks over his shoulder and gets an eye full of Hemlock/Squirrel-lock, oh can’t unsee that...
- Perhaps they can reevaluate our prison break, or perhaps they will imprison us again. Or worse. Did you notice the rage on Jonah's voice when he mentioned us? Are we going to risk them coming back and do who knows what to us because we free her before we are done investigating here...?
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
“When it’s safe Saoirse not right now. Let’s investigate first, but I believe her freedom will help balance the terrible things which had to be done for our own freedom. Look is Hemlock waving to us?” Sha hangs his head wishing Grommit and Aerar could have lived.
“Billy spotted me. He didn’t alert Jonah. Jonah isn’t the one who lied and tossed me into the HMC prison.”
- In that case then, yes, I agree with you - Saoirse nods, a brief sad look on her eyes when she remembers what they all did to regain their freedom - And I sincerely hope that when we free her and she's able to return to her companions unharmed, she'll relay that we are not the monsters they believe us to be.
The genasi looks then at where the tabaxi has pointed:
- Seems so! Let's go to him. Meanwhile, can you tell me what you saw from your vantage point? I didn't get to see what happened.
(No need to answer that last part! We can skip it but I needed to ask since Saoirse saw nothing at all!)
When Sha tells her what happened at the entrance and reveals that Billy spotted him and did nothing, Saoirse gasps in surprise. And when he continues talking about Jonah, she adds:
- That's true, he didn't toss us into Coldwater. But you did listen to him talking about Cylence and the people from Village Tree, right? How he called them "savages"? I agree that today he behaved differently to what I expected from him, but still ... I wouldn't trust him to be fair to us. Anyway, shall we carry the guard together, Lam, as we did with Muro? I don't think leaving her here in the open will be safe. Though...we may need to protect her from the kobolds. They might not take well to see one of the invaders.
Peindre l'amour, peindre la vie, pleurer en couleur ♫
Auriel | Shenua | Arren | Lyra
As Hemlock shifts back, the kobold's eyes follow his up, and up, and up. Hemlock is fully twice the height of the kobold, who would have fallen backwards as he craned his neck upwards, if he did not have a tail to offer balance and support. He begins to look a bit scared, but he clutches the glowing blue stone to his chest and pulls himself together. "I am Hássan, and I could not see your true form. You are much bigger than I thought. You are the second biggest humanoid I have ever met (the biggest one just killed my friend). Hamza is a champion of freedom, a legend of the deep, and is our great leader, and she knows many things. I do not presume to know how. This gem allows her to speak to me, and with it she has gifted me your tongue. She told me how to address you. It is a great honor to speak for her."
The sleeping dwarf snores a little, just a cute little chortle, and sleeps on. She will wake in another 40 seconds or so.
DM: Heavy is the Head
"It is an honour to speak to you Hássan, and to learn of Hamza. We will be honoured to commune with her and learn more of her gifts", Hemlock replies. "And know I am sorry about your friend. My companions and I had no part in this, and in truth the one who made the killing blow did so against their will. The one you call the biggest you have seen. The lady you have captured used magic to do this, I saw with my own eyes".
He thinks for a moment, "It is sometimes the case that good people make bad choices, work for bad people. I think this is true of the big one we talk of, the one called Captain Jonah".
He turns to look at his friends approaching and spots the captive. "It seems there is an extra guest. I hope they will also be treated kindly?".
Lam helps Saoirse drag the guard to the tree, and then waits patiently while she ties the guard’s wrists and ankles. “I will carry,” he says, his voice revealing a hint of hesitation. The way he sees it, either the guard alerts the others and they come back to fight or they realize she’s missing and come looking for her anyway. He nods along with Sha’s idea (and confirms what he saw) and shares Saoirse’s hopes, though his face shows uncertainty. Lam takes the entire burden of carrying the dwarf if Saoirse lets him, watching the guard’s face carefully to see when she’ll wake up. With her mouth uncovered, he wants to be ready to put a stop to it if she shouts. He is ready to follow his friends.
Can Lam carry the guard and also be ready to cover her mouth if she wakes up and tries to shout?