Ok. The scouts all see the same thing. The steep slope does, in fact, present the face of a low cliff on the far side of a small clearing. Set back slightly is an arch, in carved stone. There are mystical symbols around the edges, though there's nothing suggesting they have any actual magical significance.
Standing in the recess under the cliff face, on either side of the door, are two large figures. Both appear to be human, in heavy cloaks and furs, armed with axes.
Barnaby, you are not watching through Tulip's eyes, right? You're getting her information when she comes back to you?
Barnaby: Oh. This is terrible. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. Those poor children. We must go talk to those men and convince them to give us back the young ones. If they will not, we will fight our way in. We can't just leave them there. I have already expended most of my arcane powers for the day, but I can still be of use, and there is clearly no time to dilly dally.
Hmmm, sure wish we had gotten some kinda rest, but saving children is of higher urgency, right? Perhaps the children were theirs and if we present ourselves as rescuing them from bone-grinding witches they will be appreciative. It's cold and wet out here and already been a long day, maybe we can talk our way out of this...or maybe the ***** with the big shoulders just alerted whoever is inside that we've been spotted and the jig is up...what think you lot?
Kif has backed away from the clearing to confer with his team mates in whispers
"Saving children is the most important thing. Otherwise we may as well just be the Burgermeister. Always pretending things are okay while letting terrible things happen to others. I'm super tired though so we should be cautious."
The party may retreat a distance and take a short rest. An hour passes without interruption. You are cold and shivering; the rain has penetrated your clothes and armor. But you check the edges of your blades and the conditions of your spell components, and head back down the muddy path. Nothing has changed at the clearing.
Is there any kind of check that we could do to confirm if these are the werewolves? Perception? Nature? Arcana? Did we see the children's tracks on the way here or does it seem they were carried. If there were tracks, were there any signs that they were being dragged or otherwise forcibly moved?
Barnaby: I think we should draw them away from the cave before we engage with them whether it be a social or a physical engagement. This will reduce the likelihood of reinforcements or them warning those inside. Perhaps Kif could approach as if hurt calling for help while the rest of us stay out of sight. We could then ambush them once they have moved into the edge of the woods here.
I'll take either Arcana or Investigation, based on the idea that you've now encountered known werewolves a couple of times, so you can compare notes if you remember well enough. Like an investigator. Anyone who wants to approach close enough to the edge of the clearing to study them again, first please give me a new Stealth roll.
After you've rolled Stealth, you can roll Arcana or Investigation. If you get a 16 or higher, read this:
Living in the woods in the middle of Barovia, they're probably werewolves. They're also dressed in the same heavy furs and are similarly armed with heavy slashing weapons. Werewolves? Probably. You just can't tell from looking, for sure. They're quite tricky, those lycanthropes.
Misalyk will sneak up along with whoever is doing the investigating as an additional safety measure but has never seen a werewolf and cannot help identify them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Kif is going to sneak up to the clearing (not stepping out into it) and look about
Stealth: 17
Perception 12
Barnaby will send Tulip ahead to scout out the clearing on Kif's recomendation. Good idea Kif, we can't be too careful.
Tulip: Stealth 4, Perception with advantage 15.
Misalyk spreads out in the opposite direction of Tulip. Stealth: 7 Perception: 16
Ok. The scouts all see the same thing. The steep slope does, in fact, present the face of a low cliff on the far side of a small clearing. Set back slightly is an arch, in carved stone. There are mystical symbols around the edges, though there's nothing suggesting they have any actual magical significance.
Standing in the recess under the cliff face, on either side of the door, are two large figures. Both appear to be human, in heavy cloaks and furs, armed with axes.
Barnaby, you are not watching through Tulip's eyes, right? You're getting her information when she comes back to you?
That is correct.
Barnaby: Oh. This is terrible. Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire. Those poor children. We must go talk to those men and convince them to give us back the young ones. If they will not, we will fight our way in. We can't just leave them there. I have already expended most of my arcane powers for the day, but I can still be of use, and there is clearly no time to dilly dally.
One man, one woman. They have large builds, comparable to the werewolves you've already met. It's possible that that's what you're looking at here.
While Kif watches, and Tulip reports back, the female guard goes inside the doorway and comes out again, less than a minute later.
So, how does the party want to approach the clearing? (Or does it want to chicken out?)
Hmmm, sure wish we had gotten some kinda rest, but saving children is of higher urgency, right? Perhaps the children were theirs and if we present ourselves as rescuing them from bone-grinding witches they will be appreciative. It's cold and wet out here and already been a long day, maybe we can talk our way out of this...or maybe the ***** with the big shoulders just alerted whoever is inside that we've been spotted and the jig is up...what think you lot?
Kif has backed away from the clearing to confer with his team mates in whispers
"Saving children is the most important thing. Otherwise we may as well just be the Burgermeister. Always pretending things are okay while letting terrible things happen to others. I'm super tired though so we should be cautious."
A short rest would be ~45 minutes. A long rest, of course, would be a whole other thing.
even a short rest in the cold rain would make a huge distance
Barnaby and Chubs are eager to go after the children, but Josh sees the wisdom of a short rest.
Barnaby: I suppose we're no help to them if we're dead...
Indeed.
The party may retreat a distance and take a short rest. An hour passes without interruption. You are cold and shivering; the rain has penetrated your clothes and armor. But you check the edges of your blades and the conditions of your spell components, and head back down the muddy path. Nothing has changed at the clearing.
What do you do?
Is there any kind of check that we could do to confirm if these are the werewolves? Perception? Nature? Arcana? Did we see the children's tracks on the way here or does it seem they were carried. If there were tracks, were there any signs that they were being dragged or otherwise forcibly moved?
Barnaby: I think we should draw them away from the cave before we engage with them whether it be a social or a physical engagement. This will reduce the likelihood of reinforcements or them warning those inside. Perhaps Kif could approach as if hurt calling for help while the rest of us stay out of sight. We could then ambush them once they have moved into the edge of the woods here.
OK, first Kif never second winded before the rest so he's going to do that as he backs into a safe place in the wood
14 he's also going to burn a hit die 13 put a few more hit points and lots of shenanigans back on the table
Barnaby, I like your plan, I'd be happy to play a little role in a deception
pausing for a moment to see if we can gain any more info like Barnaby suggests.
I'll take either Arcana or Investigation, based on the idea that you've now encountered known werewolves a couple of times, so you can compare notes if you remember well enough. Like an investigator. Anyone who wants to approach close enough to the edge of the clearing to study them again, first please give me a new Stealth roll.
After you've rolled Stealth, you can roll Arcana or Investigation. If you get a 16 or higher, read this:
Living in the woods in the middle of Barovia, they're probably werewolves. They're also dressed in the same heavy furs and are similarly armed with heavy slashing weapons. Werewolves? Probably. You just can't tell from looking, for sure. They're quite tricky, those lycanthropes.
Investigation 6
not going closer to clearing just yet
3 Hit die during short rest.
23 Stealth 19 Investigation
Misalyk will sneak up along with whoever is doing the investigating as an additional safety measure but has never seen a werewolf and cannot help identify them.