After around 20 minutes, Darvin looks and finds that he's made Skiaceq and Valji appear thoroughly subdued, their weapons hidden within Valji's magical bag. The sun sits high in the sky as the party continue onward.

Survival: 7

Skiaceq feels somewhat uncomfortable with the false blood on his feathers, somehow moreso than with real blood. He scratches a bit at his skin. When that doesn’t work, he resorts to nipping the itches with his beak.

”I am not as skilled a performer as you, but I will try to seem pathetic.” Skiaceq sways uneasily, as though he’s just been struck in the temple. “How was that?”

Performance: 4

"Hmm... well it's pathetic alright, just maybe not in the sense you intended," Darvin replies. "You look more... constipated than injured." He pauses to study the aarakocra for a moment. "I think... I think you would try to walk proudly and suppress your pain. Maybe just limp a little every few steps, and otherwise walk normally?"

Advice in mind, the party continues south, the sun high in the sky. Rolling hills spread out on either side of the party as the wind their way through the serpentine path shown on the map. After a couple hours, the road begins to give way to more rocky terrain, though still easy enough to navigate. Soon after, Skiaceq's impressive bird-like vision detects the smoke of a campfire just a little ways off the trail, but far too close to town to be the encampment marked on the map.

“Wait,” he hisses to the others. “Something over there. I’ll take a look.”

Skiaceq makes his way carefully toward the smoke, scanning the area as he goes. When he is able to make out details, he stops and stays low behind a large rock, watching.

Stealth: 5

Perception: 19

In a valley between two hills, Skiaceq sees a group of stragglers stopped to roast a few prairie hens for a meal. Tall boulders have rolled into a loose jumble around them, blocking the view but offering little protection or cover for the small camp. Around the campfire sit four humans and eight kobolds. The humans’ weapons are stacked against a rock, out of easy reach, while the kobolds have their weapons on their belts.

The group is bickering among themselves, the humans attempting to boss around the kobolds and the kobolds doing their best to ignore them while hungrily eyeing the meal. 

When Ski reports what he saw, Valji will cast mage armor on himself and then tell the others, "I recently discovered the magical incantations to mimic a dragon's breath...let me lead the way and catch them all by surprise in a group with a nice gout of acid, or fire. I can even cast an illusion on myself of a real dragon! Then we can pick them off one by one while they run away terrified!" A wicked grin spreads across the little gnome's face as he pictures this in his mind...

"Woah, woah... What reason do we have to slaughter these people? Just because they're kobolds? We need to pick our battles."

Skiaceq feels a prick in his chest. No good could come from the cult’s existence. And the kobolds; just seeing their reptilian visage sets him on edge after the events in Greenest.

He voices none of this. “Darvin is right. We have the element of surprise. But a warband wouldn’t camp this close to a town they are about to siege. I don’t think they are going to threaten the locals. I don’t want to reveal our destination before we know the situation.” He looks to Valji. “It’s up to you, friend. If you want to make them pay, I’ll gladly join you.”

"You honestly think a band of cultists and kobolds is NOT up to no good?! Oh, wait...they're just out here doing kind deeds for others. They're misunderstood outcasts who only want to be left alone to make a living in the area near a town. They aren't going to hurt anyone! Baahh…" Valji says in a sarcastic voice, spitting on the ground. 

"I tell you what. You go first and ask them how they're doing and if they need anything. If they don't club you and capture you, then I will stand corrected and owe you an apology. But if they attack you - don't get mad at me when I come in spewing acid or fire!"

(Valji will not push the others one way or the other - but he didn't sleep so well and is a little grumpy today, so he's not holding back his honest opinions ;-D)

“I would thank you to melt them on the spot. But I think they are here for reasons other than harassment this time.

”So we head into town?”

If Darvin agrees, Skiaceq will take the lead moving stealthily.

To clarify, town is behind you, and encampment is ahead of you, and a small camp is what you are close to. What is Skiaceq asking?

"How were the humans dressed?" Darvin asks. "Did they have those robes that we keep seeing?"

Skiaceq would be able to tell you that a several of the humans are in robes, but they mostly seem to be lower level members and mercenaries along with the kobolds. 

"We are using up our daylight - either we take out this group of stragglers or sneak around them and continue to the place marked on our map to find and destroy the dragon eggs. If we leave them, I hope they don't catch up to us later - then we'll be in a dragon cult sandwich. Not tasty - not at all!" 

“Very well,” says Skiaceq while drawing his new scimitar. A highly reflective, bold red ribbon wafts from the hilt. It was the richest dye available.

Using groundcover to conceal his approach, Skiaceq makes his way toward the cult until he is about 30ft from the nearest cultist. Then he waits for the others to signal they are ready.

Stealth: 23

Initiative: 17

OoC: Looking for a surprise round here. Lower level maybe, but they outnumber us three to one. That’s a lot of attack rolls.

Darvin counts on his fingers for a minute. "I don't like how many more fingers it takes to count them than it takes to count us. But alright, I guess if we're doing this we'd better get a jump on them."

He adjusts his hat, and his form shimmers for a moment as the robed cultist that previously stood there is replaced by that of a city guard.

"Alright, let's get this over with one way or another." He loads his new hand crossbow and follows Skiaceq, stopping about 15' behind him.

Stealth: 24

Initiative: 22

OoC: Oh noooooo

Valji nods grimly and leads the group to the edge of their makeshift campsite. Determined to use his new breath weapon spell and roast these nasty creatures where they sit, the wizard nods to the others and pops a small and bright red pepper into his mouth. He then moves to a spot near the cultists between two large stones and begins spewing fire like a dragon in a 15 foot cone! 

Stealth: 10

Initiative: 8

Dragon's Breath: Each creature in that area must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 9 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Edit: I missed two of the posts. Fixed response below.

With the 4 cultists and 8 kobolds still surrounding their campfire, the party attacks them unawares.

Round 1

Skiaceq
Darvin
Valji
Kobolds (Surprised)
Cultists (Surprised)

OoC: forgot that Darvin's new crossbow gives him advantage on initiative (though just saw the cultist and kobold rolls, so it's not likely to matter, but...): 5 (previous roll 12)

K, never mind