Knowing Spira will have the aid of Rash's unseen archer, Roxana decides to stay back and allow Spira to sneak forward on her own.  She remains vigilant however for any sign things have gone awry and is prepared to charge forward to help her if necessary. 

When she receives the little metal soldier, Spira hears Aedion's excited comment in her mind: "Mom! The invisible crossbowman summoned by your friend Rash saluted you! And now he has his weapon ready and is standing a few steps to the left of us, ready to intervene! That's so cool!"

After that, the Sergeant of Arvandor hurries in the direction of the gang to be delayed. Once she sees them, she notices that there are about ten individuals. Dench is among the furthest from her, since he is in front - while she comes from behind.

The tiefling cleric is about to put her plan based on stealth thaumaturgy into action, but... has she been stealthy enough? And will she be convincing enough?

[[ OOC: Spira, please, roll both a Stealth check (to determine if somebody spots or hears you) and a Deception check (to determine how well you can fool Dench with your cantrip) - unless you have changed your mind, in the meantime. If you've changed your mind about how to act, post what you actually want to do, of course ]]

[[ OOC: OK, OisinmacCameron probably can't post, I will roll for Spira ]]

Stealth: 21

Deception: 3

I'll go on and narrate the outcome later.

Spira manages to keep her voice low, while correctly pronouncing the cantrip formula, and also has the foresight to speak not in the direct direction of the target... therefore, Dench's gang doesn't notice anything, until the attacks begin. tremors under the feet of the big (and fat) barbarian.

"What happens?" he goes near a large pine tree and looks around. Even all the others, dumbfounded, follow her gaze... but the tiefling cleric is in a sheltered position and so, when the gazes turn in her direction, she is already hidden again. She then moves on to simulating the sound of the boulder...

Dench frowns: "And what else happens now!?"

The disquiet of the imposing half-orc is spreading among his followers, but one next to him, who had remained much more skeptical and who has a much more determined look, speaks to him harshly: "It's just a stupid cantrip, Dench, you gullible bear! There is someone here who wants to make fun of you and yours..."

"What!?" Dench's (already not pleasant) face contorts into an expression of fury "We'll find him, Tork, and we'll make him pay! We'll make him a sacrifice to your god!"

The group, now enraged, begins to search frantically...

Tork turns to one side and lets out a whistle... as if he wanted to call someone... or something...

Spira hasn't been spotted yet, but it's probably only a matter of time, if she remains so close to the gang...

Meanwhile, the rest of the party, further away, heard the barbarians begin to shout (even if they didn't understand the meaning of the words) and heard the whistle.

"Whispering telepathically to Aedion, Spira tells him, "Okay, we didn't scare them with the first try ... but something like this happened once before, and we scared them in the end.  Tell your Uncle Rash that when he hears the voice of the snake-bearded Sergeant of AVERNUS threatening Dench, I want an image of the devil on a ridge above the half orc troublemakers, looking like he's got another boulder and about to roll it down on them"  Moving stealthily sideways in the opposite direction from the one Tork whistled towards, she shifts position enough to avoid being found while she calls up memories of the rough voice she remembers the devil using and has it sneer down the ravine, "Is this all the sport the Material Plane has left for me these days?  Bagging these punks will be like bowling for blind puppies in a blind alley." 

=========

Stealth 11

Deception (or Intimidation if you think that more appropriate ... they're both the same + for Spira) 20

(of course, if Rash agrees to the illusion and the kind DM allows that to Help the Deception wheedle wheedle beg?... ;)

Roxana hears the shouts and whistle and looks at Gaer. In a low voice she says, "Sounds like she might need some help. Perhaps we should scout forward a bit?"  She does wait for a response, but presuming he is in agreement, she she starts to move forward cautiously, keeping to cover. (Stealth: 23)

[[ OOC: OK, let's wait for Rash's next post to know whether he can actually create the required illusion or not - and what he decides to do anyway. I'll tell you what happens in the meantime, before the possible illusion... ]]

"Of course mom!" Aedion responds, proud to be called to take an active part in the ongoing heroic action and immediately transmits the request telepathically to Rash.

Meanwhile, Spira manages to change position without being seen by the searching barbarians and makes puts her Thaumaturgy to good use again, while Gaer replies to Roxana: "I agree with you!" and tries to move stealthily with her.

Gaer's Stealth: 13

While the devil's voice resonates in the night, Roxana, a shadow in the shadows, manages to find a shallow hole in the ground in which she can practically disappear, being able to observe the others, in the dim light of the moon and stars, without being seen herself. She thus discovers, like Spira before her, that Dench is with a dozen other barbarians, mostly half-orcs like him, and they are all looking around together, convinced that someone is making fun of them. Less impulsive is another half-orc, who stays next to Dench, but looks sneering in one direction... from which, shortly after, a creature appears with which the girl from Longsaddle is by now quite familiar: a Yeth Hound! Could it be... Balfby? Or it's another creature of the same kind? Anyway, the creature seems friendly towards this half-orc...

Gaer had meanwhile looked for an equally hidden position, but in reaching it he unintentionally moved a large stone poised under a layer of snow. The stone, rolling, attracts the attention of two nearby half-orc barbarians, who point in his direction: "This way! Here!"

The attention of Dench's gang therefore seems to focus on the point where Gaer had tried to hide and it seems that they are all about to rush there...

[[ OOC: How the situation develops further also depends on what Rash does. Will Dench's gang be scared off by Spira's move (perhaps combined with Rash's move)? Or will they actually launch themselves towards Gaer's hiding place? For clarity: Spira, who walked away to make sure she didn't get discovered, hasn't seen the Yeth Hound coming, yet. Only Roxana noticed at the time. ]]

Rash growls in frustration.

"This is just bloody brilliant... I hate to break it to Spira, but I don't happen to have a spell like that prepared..."

He sighs... he really doesn't want to kill Dench, even if the guy is a jackass... but...

"I could make two more of the invisible warriors," Rash says after a moment. "Perhaps three invisible enemies doing real damage to them would get the message across... and even if they don't, getting smacked a few times might at least force them to rest and buy us some time that way..."

OK, so Aedion quickly informs Spira of Rash's counterproposal and is ready to telepathically convey a yes or no from his mom... in the meantime, however, the barbarians start running towards Gaer's hiding place... and Gaer, in response, casts a quick spell and, starting to move quicker than usual, mocks them: "Try catching me, you stupid wimps!" then he runs, getting chased in a direction that will take the gang away from both their original target (the Uthgart Barabrians) and the party (still unseen by the gang).

Meanwhile, Roxana, who is the only one to see the half-orc with the Yeth Hound, sees him grab Dench by a scrap of fur and scold him: "Don't you see that he's made himself fast with magic? You'll never catch up to him! Let my savage friend take care of him!" and he, sneering, turns to the Yeth Hound "Go, my trusty one! There's an extra hunt for you!"

And so, while Dench shouts to his gang: "Forget that fool! The beast will take care of tearing him to pieces!" and the barbarians, some shouting insults and some sneering at the thought of the fugitive's sad fate, stop chasing him and begin to return towards Dench, the Yeth Hound begins to run...

[[ OOC: The party, except Roxana, for now does not see the Yeth Hound - but Spira heard the words that were said and the rest of the party (too far to understand the words) notices anyway both Gaer's move and the initial chase attempt by the gang, and the (suspicious) rapid renunciation by the pursuers ]]

"Yes, and quickly!  One just said there was a beast helping them!," Spira calls to her 'son'.  "Let everyone else know what's happening too ... especially Uncle Gaer and Aunt Roxana, they really know what they're doing in the wild, so maybe they can think of something!"  Switching tactics accordingly, she looks for a place she can support the diversionary force of Rash's Unseen Warriors.  In the meantime, she uses her thaumaturgy to make her trebled voice boom and echo like thunder from the mountain glens as she moves away from whatever target they had been tracking, as she guesses it is likely one of her friends (Insight roll in log: 17) , "Go back home, fools!  Your ill-digested scheme is doomed to fail, like all cub schemings do. iGo home before the old wolves have to show their fangs!"

=========
Investigation 17

Intimidation 21

While Aedion informs everyone that 'a beast' is helping the gang, Spira insists with her own cantrips... and the situation begins to get more confusing.

The Yeth Hound disappears into the shadows, presumably hunting Gaer. Gaer, who had already moved away in the hope of bringing with him the barbarians to delay, now at least, warned by Aedion, knows of the threat. Aidwyn and Dawnborn, hearing of a beast, set out on Gaer's trail, not wanting to leave him alone - and therefore an easier target for the possible beast.

A handful of barbarians, perhaps less convinced than the others, perhaps more impressionable than the others, uncomfortable with all the arcane manifestations that followed (supernatural noises whose source they cannot find, an enemy who escapes with magic, the enchanted beast that chases him ...) decide to abandon the venture and return to the village.

In doing so, they come into sight of Rash and Anita. "Oh, Rash!" one exclaims, surprised.

"Rashugri!?" Dench then thunders. While the less determined barbarians hurry to flee in the direction of home, of the Bloodskull tribe, Dench, with the other mysterious half-orc at his side and the five most determined barbarians behind (those who remained with him), emerges from the trees and glares at the wizard: "You would have done better not to bother yourself with facts that don't concern you!" he points his finger threateningly "I knew that you had to be behind all this! But this is the last time you will put a spoke in my wheels! This place will become your grave!"

[[ OOC: Rash certainly had time to cast another spell, before being discovered by Dench - another Unseen warrior, I suppose - he can specify the details. Now hostilities are about to break out... if Rash or some other member of the party wants to attempt dialogue or some non-combat action this seems the last chance... if not, Dench seems ready to unleash what is left of his gang on Rash (and perhaps to charge himself) at any moment. Plus, Gaer is somewhere in the wilderness, chased by the  Yeth Hound, chased by Aidwyn and Dawnborn. ]]

Roxana watched Gaer run off with a bit of worry in her heart, fearing all these half-orcs going after him.  But then the situation suddenly shifts, the pursuit given up by all but this apparent yeth hound. It doesn't make her feel any better.  She's' also worried that they haven't helped Spira much with her situation. Although it seems like maybe she has a plan and the others will know where she's at. Gaer may be off on his own - she goes after him.  

She tries to move quickly and stay out of sight of Dench and his followers. (Action to Dash after Gaer - which I presume is behind the hound - and Cunning Action/Bonus Action to Hide. Stealth: 22 - if another roll is needed)  

(OOC - Not fully clear on the exact positioning. If it looks like the yeth hound might catch Gaer soon - say next round - she would probably try to fire on the it and thus alert Gaer. She'd really prefer to be away from Dench and the others so they continue to not know she was there.) 

[[ OOC: Yes, it's true, I was less precise than usual about positioning. Considering that Gaer had a bit of an advantage and magically sped up, the beast shouldn't catch up to him in one round - but in some rounds yes, because it is still faster anyway. Gaer, rather than 'behind', was to the side of the Yeth Hound. ]]

The girl from Longsaddle runs agile and silent, remaining completely undetected as she pursues the beast and the tiefling. It seems that it will be Rash, Anita, Spira (maybe with Aedion) and Zentromya, therefore, who will have to deal with Dench...

Gaer's pursuit lasts less than half a minute: the tiefling ranger manages to move away a little, but, aware of being chased by a beast, when he finds a fir tree with many branches that provide grips, he quickly climbs up and prepares to defend himself from there. A simple beast shouldn't be able to reach it...

Then the beast arrives. And Gaer realizes that it is a Yeth Hound. Tiefling and beast look into each other's eyes for endless moments. Is it an impression... or is the beast sneering at her?

It's at that point that Roxana, Aidwyn and Dawnborn arrive.

“Balfby?” Aidwyn tries to ask "Is that you?"

The Yeth Hound, still grinning, turns towards the young heroine and the two look at each other... They seem to be having a private telepathic dialogue...

Meanwhile, hostilities begin on the Rash - Dench front.

[[ OOC: Roxana can still do something if she wants, but the Rash-Dench battle has flared up in the meantime and I would say that at least 3 rounds of it have passed in the meantime. The first 3 rounds of the battle that we will play, therefore, took place simultaneously with what I have narrated above.

Rash, Spira, please roll for Initiative. ]]

Initiatives for monsters/NPCs in the Rash-Dench clash:

Aedion (in case instructed to act): 18

Zentromya: 1

Anita:  6

Dench: 6

Tork: 10

Impassive Barbarian: 8

Shaggy Hair Barbarian: 13

Goatee Barbarian: 13

Snub Nose Barbarian: 8

Scarred Barbarian: 2

Rash: 11

Roxana tries to keep in cover as she approaches the spot were Gaer and the yeth hound are facing off. (Stealth if needed again: 24) Her shortbow is drawn an arrow knocked, ready to strike should the beast attack. However, as she sees Aidwyn call out 'Balfy' she hesitates and waits to see what happens.