Vigan

The goliath shifts his weight on Nyx as he watches Rixton depart, and addresses Ladrian's question.  "Since we met, he's had more brushes with death, and survived, than the rest of us.  He's nothing if not lucky."

"Now, let's hunt some goblins."

Andor

"God's watch over you Rixton, I'm sure you'll need it, just as I'm sure you'll be back with a new scar and some wild stories."

Andor smiles to himself and then turns his own horse after Vigan heading off after the pack of monsters. 

A few minutes after Rixton disappears to the east, Andor, Carrow, Ladrian, and Vigan make their way northeast, following the wide swath of tracks left by the goblins, hobgoblins, and ogres. Roughly twenty minutes later, the four riders finally see the ones they've been chasing for the past two days. Two hundred feet ahead, atop a low, wide hill stand over a dozen hobgoblins, three ogres--all of which have the same catapult device on their backs--and at least thirty goblins. From where the ogres stand, the western wall of Xantharl's Keep is another two hundred feet away. 

A goblin, wearing a spiked helmet, clambers into the bucket of each catapult and a few seconds later the ogres pull a release chain that sends the goblins sailing through the air, in a high parabolic arc toward the Keep.One of the goblins smashes into the outer wall and falls, lifeless, to the ground, The other two goblins sail over the wall, landing somewhere within the Keep. Immediately thereafter, the ogres launch three more goblins, all of which clear the wall. Then the unmistakable sound of a war horn echoes over the landscape as the alarm is sounded in the Keep. 

Tracking:

• The ogres, hobgoblins, and goblins are approximately 200' west of Xantharl's Keep
• Andor, Carrow, and Ladrian are another 200' west of the ogres, etc.
• There's very little cover between where the four riders stand and where the ogres are stationed. 

Carrow

The ranger slips from his mount with relative ease and beckons the others to follow suit, kneeling now with his friends nearby he mutters to himself in Orcich

 Carrows shadow blurs slightly for a second and begins to bleed  outwards as he continues his mantra, repeating it, he looks to each of his companions as their shadows too begin to bleed and merge with his. All falls eerily silent as he stands, sweat beading at his brow he catches his breath a strange popping in his ears. "Stay close together it will keep us concealed, we should have the element of surprise here"

 Pass without trace

 Rixton:

While I wait for the frost giant to act, I think of what I have read or heard about Xantharl's Keep and what the giants would hope to find here.

History: 18

 Andor 

The sorcerer nods in understanding to Carrow and moves with him, never straying far from his side. 

 Rixton: 

(For Andor, Carrow, Ladrian, and Rixton, a map of the area west of Xantharl's Keep will be provided soon)

Stealth 29 

Rixton:

Now is not the time for mundane details, I think to myself. Why is Xantharl's Keep important to the giants? If only I had Ferrill's History of the North right now.

I sigh. Wild possibilities run through my mind. No, death, won't work, death, won't help, don't have that with me, death. One thing I know is that the town is the target and...and...and that the battle is taking place exclusively to the west. But the giant is over here. Waiting. For what? For...for the Keep to be distracted. They want something on the east side. Maybe not even in the keep. I'm not sure how I could find it. How will they find it? They either know or will use magic to divine its location. This train of thought leads nowhere either and I grit my teeth in frustration. Instead, I study the giant and his companions for anything that might give a clue as to how they will locate or obtain what they must surely be after.

Investigation: 7

West of the Keep, Andor, Carrow, Ladrian, and Vigan prepare to close the gap between themselves and the attacking horde of ogres, hobgoblins, and goblins. They notice that several guards begin to take their positions atop the wall that surrounds the village. 

 Map of area west of the Keep:

Southeast of the Keep, Rixton watches the frost giant and the four bugbears begin a slow walk toward the eastern gate of the village...

Rixton:

Pressure mounting to act, I decide instead to lay low and creep forward to the site where the giant and bugbears we're gathered, keeping a safe distance behind them.

Stealth: 11

Andor

"Surely none of those goblins are going to survive the impact of being fired like that, seems a stupid tactic, there are guards on the walls too, I think we can afford to wait for a few more volleys in order to thin their ranks out a little. After that we can try to get over to one side of their line, it'll mean they can't all attack at the same time, we'll do better if we split their attention between the walls and us.  Are we going to leave the horses here?"

Rixton:

As Rixton nears the abandoned building, he is approximately 60' south of the frost giant and bugbears. Stepping lightly through the snow, he brings his foot down on an unseen piece of rotten lumber that makes a distinct cracking noise. Hiding behind the decrepit building but looking through the large cracks in the slats in the walls, Rixton sees that the frost giant slowly turns his head toward the noise. The giant mutters something under his breath and points. One of the bugbears immediately turns around and heads toward the noise; the other bugbears continue walking north alongside the fire giant.

(Blue square = giant | Black circles = bugbears)

Carrow

Having already dismounted Carrow moves carefully up to the western side of D8.

Rixton:

I move up 20 feet through the unfinished structure, quietly drawing my short sword (stealth 24), and find a secure place to hide (bonus action with cunning action: stealth 24) where I can ambush the approaching bugbear. I then ready to dodge in case he surprises me (my regular action).

Initiative for future reference: 13

Vigan

The goliath dismounts, and follows Carrow to the crest of the hill, then continues another 30 feet or so down the other side.  Along with the weapons he usually has to hand, he also carries one of the longbows picked up from his fallen colleagues.

"No time like the present to learn the art of the bow, what do you reckon Carrow?"  Vigan draws the string of the bow a few times in order to get a feel for it, and plants the arrows he picked up into the ground at his feet. 

The lone bugbear, rather than making a straight approach toward the small structure in which Rixton is hiding, makes a wide, clockwise circular approach. Standing approximately 30' south of the little building, the bugbear peers into the shadows cast by the nearby trees and stares through the broken walls and windows of Rixton's hiding place. Rixton is too well-concealed, however. Convinced that all is well, the creature begins to head north to rejoin the giant. In doing so, it passes within 10' of where Rixton is hiding. 

Rixton:

My heart pounding at this spontaneous chess match, I see my opportunity and take it.

Short sword (+1) Attack (with advantage): Attack: 26 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll., sneak attack damage: 9

Bonus action: Unarmed strike (elbow strike) Attack: 20 Damage: 7

Reaction gives me a +2 to AC against melee attacks.

Carrow 

"No time like the present" Carrow crests the top of the hill and gets ready to fire.

Andor 

With his Mage Armour protecting him invisibly Andor dashes after the others cross bow drawn, unwilling to show his abilities in the opening salvo. 

"Let's make these count, they won't bother with us if we can't hit them!"