Seldom Spring

Um. Kay! Animal Handling: 20

That animal has been mis-handled! :)

Jambiya, you try to impress on the horses and ponies that they need to stay put, but you're not sure how well you've communicated. They seem a little more interested in finding something to nibble on than paying attention to your insistent instructions.

But you can't stay here all day. You leave the horses and ponies in their mini corral — a hidden place surrounded by rocks and scrub brush — and set out in the direction Maldorn remembers from looking through Sagitta's eyes. You round a few bends, finding what appears to be a pretty well-hidden trail that doesn't appear to have been used in a while. You're still on the outskirts of the mountains, and the rock formations at their highest are only 12 to 15 feet tall. You eventually enter a wide, shallow ravine. You're in the mouth of it before you realize you are, such is the nature of the trail.

Immediately, you see that the ravine is flanked by the derelict shells of primitive wooden structures. Skeletal humanoid remains in ragged clothing litter the ground. The rusted blades and warped shafts of their weapons still lay among them. Further along the ravine — about 55 feet away — a lone hooded figure sits hunched beside a smoldering fire. Seemingly sensing your approach, it raises its head to glance in your direction. Having acknowledged your presence, the figure returns its attention to the fire, if you can call it that.

A dark cave mouth forms an opening in the ravine wall, a short distance behind this hooded stranger.

Erric stops short when he sees the figure by the fire, looking closer to try to get any sense of how this person got here, what they might be up to, if they've been here a while, if they've got friends anywhere, anything interesting near them. Perception: 5

He looks to his friends. "Well, we might as well go be friendly, since we're in the neighborhood?"

Striding forward, he lightly grips the neck of his lute, tapping the bottom rhythmically, and beginning to pick and strum a simple, disarming melody. "Hello, friend. Sorry to bother you. Care if we join you briefly by the fire and exchange news? I'm Erric, a humble minstrel. These are my friends. We're here to try to help someone who's had a bad few days. Can you tell us what happened here, and what might be in that cave?"

Persuasion: 15

Well then, that's a roll!

As Erric steps forward, Maldorn tries to keep a close eye on any potential danger. He is worried!

-> Perception: 19

(OOC: Too worried, I guess.)

Jambiya steps up with Erric, smiling as she listens to him introduce the party. "I'm Jambiya," she adds. She watches the stranger, using her mother's gift to try to suss out the individual's motivation.

Guidance assisted Insight: 19

As the party walks through the supposed former battlefield (as tiny as it is), it doesn't take much effort for Maldorn to clearly identify the remains as orcish: skeletal humanoid remains in ragged clothing litter the ground. The rusted blades and warped shafts of their weapons still lay among them.

The individual looks over at the five again as Erric speaks. As they get closer, they can make out the figure is an orc.

"Hello, friend," Erric says very persuasively while playing a simple, disarming melody on his lute. "Sorry to bother you. Care if we join you briefly by the fire and exchange news? I'm Erric, a humble minstrel. These are my friends. We're here to try to help someone who's had a bad few days. Can you tell us what happened here, and what might be in that cave?"

"I'm Jambiya," the pretty goblin girl adds.

The orc shrugs apathetically and extends an arm toward the other side of the mound of red coals in an invitation to sit. "I am Thrakk." He looks around at the ruins of what must have been a small culture. "I was part of this tribe until I was enslaved by a being that controlled my mind and forced me to reveal their whereabouts. Under the foul creature's control, I led a band of grimlocks through the Underdark, which is accessed by the cave behind me until I was finally able to escape. I tried to get here to warn my tribe, but I was too late. Now that the grimlocks have feasted on the blood of battle outside the cave, I suspect they will surely return and attack even more tribes. They will be a threat to this whole area."

Jambiya:

Has Erric ever heard of a grimllock?

Um ... roll an intelligence check. DC10, you have.

Maldorn would like to try to remember any information on grimlocks as well, if possible:

-> INT check: 8

9 (believe this is just a straight roll for fair Erric, without looking...)

Neither of you have ever heard of anything called a grimlock.

Jambiya will consider all of the stories her fathers have told, in an effort to remember anything about grimlocks. History (specific to Seldom's stories): 20

"That's just awful!" Jambiya is genuinely aghast at what the orc has been through. "I cannot imagine, how did you break free of this... control? I cannot imagine, to know you are doing this... and not be able... I am so sorry."

Jambiya, you don't remember any grimlocks being mentioned in any of Dirk's stories.

"I'm not sure," the orc replies. "Perhaps I was far enough away from the creature. Or perhaps it could sense the grimlocks were close enough to the surface that it no longer needed me."

The old ranger finds it odd that this stranger is so willing to share quite the damning story. How does Maldorn feel about this orc's tale?

-> insight: 17

DM rollz: 11

Maldorn:

Jambiya crosses her arms. "I don't think you're telling us the whole story, Thrakk. What are you leaving out? We are ready to help."

Maldorn agrees with Jambiya: “The lady is right, old orc. If you want help, spill the beans!”

Still strumming, Erric to the shock of no one, has a few questions. "What's a grimlock? What are they like? And are you telling me that cave leads right to the Underdark? I'd love to hear what we'd see if we walked in there. And I assume you're saying you'd be happy if we went in there and took out the grimlocks for you. Would the being that took over your mind be aware if this happened? Or is it too far away?"

He almost sits down at the campfire but thinks better of it.

(Let me know when it's been a minute since Erric started strumming his lute.)

Anafrey would lean against a nearby tree with her foot tapping impatiently. "Are we REALLY going to help this guy?" Anafrey would protest as she rubs the bridge of her nose. "I'm not worried about some grimlocks.." She would add with a scowl. 

Grimlock knowledge? 19

Anafrey:

DM rollz: 18

As Jambiya and Maldorn express their suspicions and demand more information, the orc looks frustrated, but its eyes keep darting over at Erric as he strums. As the halfling begins speaking, the orc visibly relaxes and even appears to smile a little bit at the bard. "Grimlocks are sightless humans that live in the underdark. They're ruthless, but not well organized when left to their own. Yes, the cave behind me leads to the underdark. There's not much to see. It's very dark. I haven't said it yet, but I think we should work together to stop the grimlocks from leaving the cave again and doing more harm in the region. I will lead you to them so that we can stop them together. And I'm not sure what the creature who controlled my mind will know. I'm not sure where it is now."

To Anafrey, Ebokk says a bit apologetically, "I think we have to go in anyway. This must be the cave Skadoula saw."