As you carefully approach the orc camp, you can see the light from their fires through the trees. They appear to be camped in a clearing inside the cottonwood forest, and as you scope out the surroundings, you definitely see some thickets and areas were the trees are bunched together, either of which could offer a closer vantage point from which you could get a better look at the camp.
Stealth checks for anyone who wants to approach, and you can use Help actions if you wish.
Nym seems to hesitate, taking a brief step towards those going forward before shaking her head and gently patting her abdomen with a muffled rattle of scale male she wore under her robes. In a low whisper as she rested a hand on the shoulder of those going, "Before you go..." And cast Guidance as well as giving Lumen Eilistraee's Vigilant Blessing. With a nod she then went to stand with Chrys.
"I almost feel a lil‘ bad havin‘ Lumen an‘ Kess doin‘ this on their lonesome," Chrys whispers to the others. ”Either o‘ you girls got a way to magically make animal sounds to distract the guards while they‘re sneakin‘ in?" she asks Nym and Vesper.
Glancing over at Vesper, Nym bit her lip and shook her head regretfully to the dwarf before whispering, "I could cast a spell of Sleep on any awake guards? Or make the Dancing Lights figure like I did before in Phelannie's grove... I don't know how they would react to that though..."
Lumen offers to go in under a cloak of invisibility to look around and tries to work out some kind of signal through which he could communicate with the group as to what he finds, and planning the attack.
"I mean, are ya both sure ya couldn't prestidigitation some noise ta distract the guards, or maybe make some dancing lights come together an' look like some sorta weird glowy creature ta draw 'em off? If ya could do those both things together, coordinated-like, them stupid watch-orcs might actually believe there's... say... a glowin' blue fox in the forest teasin' em," Chrys theorizes. "Plus, I could be waitin' on the other end o' the fox with Kess ta jump 'em outside o' their camp an' whittle their numbers down a bit. Maybe Lumen can sneak in an' draw off that mage that wasn't feelin' real cooperative an' get her on our side, too. Anythin's worth tryin' -- an' better than a frontal assault."
Pale eyebrows raising at the coordinated plan that the dwarven warrior came up with, Nym met Vesper's eyes before nodding. "That could work. I've not tried to shape my Lights in such a shape before but it's not that far fetched. We'd probably have to get a little bit closer to be in range but it could work. I'll try to be quiet." Glancing to Lumen she inquired, "So do you want to try and just steal away their weapons? Or do you want to try and win over the one that wasn't keen on Duskbringer?"
Chrys snorts. "I ain‘t real comvincin‘… I let my hammer do most o‘ my talkin‘. This one‘s Lumen‘s call. I will tell ya one thing, though," she says seriously to Lumen. “Mages can be deadly. If she ain‘t gonna be on our side, she absolutely has ta be our number one target. Ya gotta find a way ta make her spells work for us - or not work at all."
Lumen nods. "I'll try to go in invisibly, and grab any weapons I can find, and either hide them or bring them back here. Get a sense of their camp, where they're sleeping. Then return here. If they discover me, well, your distraction would be welcome. Vesper, check in with me with your message every minute or so and I'll try to report back what I see and what's happening. When we have a good sense of them, and evened the odds a bit with fewer weapons than they want, well, we can try knocking some unconscious, scaring the others, and killing those who don't cooperate. That work?"
If so, here's some stealth rolls with advantage, thanks to invisibility and Nym's blessing:
With the plan set, Lumen turns himself invisible and begins walking as quietly as he can towards the orc camp. There are three sentries positioned in a triangle formation at the edge of the camp, but they seem not to notice the half orc as he approaches. Slipping through the sparse trees past the guards, Lumen walks unnoticed into the camp. He can see that there's a fire going, with three of the orcs gathered around the flames, including the chief, and the chain shirted orc that you saw arguing with the chief earlier today. The remaining three orcs are lying on the ground about ten to fifteen feet away from the fire, apparently sleeping with loud snouty snores. Their battle axes are on the ground next to them.
For the most part the orcs at the fire are not paying any attention to the slumbering orcs. They're all staring at the fire, while the chief occasionally speaks in low, hushed tones. It's too quiet to hear what he's saying.
"I guess, if nothing else, they won't be expecting us at all, considering Grumbar's supreme confidence... wish us luck, ladies?" Kess would say with a smile to Vess, Chrys and Nym.
The plan was simple enough, Kess reasoned; get in, swipe their weapons, possibly knock out owners of said weapons or take them "off the board", and then get out. What could go wrong???
Taking a moment to prepare, Kess would assure that she was out of sight and casted two spells on herself: Comprehend Languagesand Longstrider. If she was going to be in the midst of their enemies, Kess figured it would be a good idea to know what was being said, should it come to that. Doing this would expend what little magical reserves she had outside of minor castings such as cantrips, but given the danger involved Kess believed this more than warranted such an expenditure of resources. With that, she then threw herself into the darkness, creeping in behind Lumen, taking care to shift from cover to cover to avoid drawing the attention of the camp sentries, remembering and thankful for the instruction in the art of guile from her Moonwood relatives.
Stealth: 16
If nothing else, she had to trust that Lumen wouldn't do anything completely foolish, given that she couldn't see her musical companion.
Making use of her natural elven agility and using any available sources of natural cover she can find to help conceal her presence, Kess is easily able to follow behind Lumen, and creep past the sentries into the camp undetected. She has the same view, and her darkvision eyesight allows her to see the group by the campfire, and also the three resting/sleeping orcs lying on the ground.
From your current position, the orcs at the fire are about 50 feet ahead and to your left, while the sleeping orcs are straight ahead about 25-30 feet directly in front of you.
Lumen moves forward and slowly and quietly lifts an axe a few inches off the ground and, doing his best to find rocks and shrubs and trees to use as cover, slowly walks it parallel to the ground out of camp. He tries repeating this with the other two axes. (Let me know if you want additional rolls for this...)
With Kess watching his back, Lumen carefully creeps through the brush up to the first sleeping orc. Looking down on the tusked face, he can't help but think back to his own days in the tribe. How long ago was that, compared to how long ago it actually seems in his own memory? In any other instance, this could very well have been him, sleeping soundly in camp, while an unseen invader makes it past the sentries and looks down upon the slumbering warriors in their most defenseless and vulnerable position. It would be so quick to end this orc's life, just as it would have been so easy for Lumen to have had his own life instantly snubbed out by a surprise attacker.
Lumen reaches down to pick up the first axe and then slinks away, as silently as possible, placing it on the ground in the brush far away from its owner's reach. He then creeps back and repeats the same motion, while Kess watches the other orcs at the flickering fire. It's hard to discern exactly what they're saying, since they're speaking in low voices but the gist of what she does hear with her magical comprehension is a mix of recounting old battle stories and the notion of them being in the service of a mighty dragon, and what that would mean for the tribe, even as it's been severely reduced in numbers during the battle with Aelar and his Warriors of Sehanine.
When Lumen returns for the third axe, he picks it up and turns around to step away, when he loses his grip on the handle and drops the axe to the ground. It lands with a dull thud, except for the head, which slams on a rock and catters with a muffled, but audible clunk.
The five orcs at the fire stop talking and turn around to look. They don't seem to notice Kess hunkered down in the brush just a few feet away, and they can't see Lumen of course,... at least he would hope so, but they train their eyes and ears on his position, which is where they heard the noise. As of right now, the three sleeping orcs are still slumbering away, apparently unfazed by the sound.
One of the orcs makes a grunt, which both of you understand to be, "What was that noise...? as they continue to poke their eyes around the area.
Lumen freezes, doing his best to make no sound. He readies to pick up the axe and hurl it into the brush if he's discovered, but he's relying on his magic to shroud him until they lose interest.
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As you carefully approach the orc camp, you can see the light from their fires through the trees. They appear to be camped in a clearing inside the cottonwood forest, and as you scope out the surroundings, you definitely see some thickets and areas were the trees are bunched together, either of which could offer a closer vantage point from which you could get a better look at the camp.
Stealth checks for anyone who wants to approach, and you can use Help actions if you wish.
Chrys hangs back, knowing just exactly how stealthy she is in her heavy dwarven armor.
Nym seems to hesitate, taking a brief step towards those going forward before shaking her head and gently patting her abdomen with a muffled rattle of scale male she wore under her robes. In a low whisper as she rested a hand on the shoulder of those going, "Before you go..." And cast Guidance as well as giving Lumen Eilistraee's Vigilant Blessing. With a nod she then went to stand with Chrys.
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Being of only middling stealth, Vesper will hang back and let the others go.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
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"I almost feel a lil‘ bad havin‘ Lumen an‘ Kess doin‘ this on their lonesome," Chrys whispers to the others. ”Either o‘ you girls got a way to magically make animal sounds to distract the guards while they‘re sneakin‘ in?" she asks Nym and Vesper.
Glancing over at Vesper, Nym bit her lip and shook her head regretfully to the dwarf before whispering, "I could cast a spell of Sleep on any awake guards? Or make the Dancing Lights figure like I did before in Phelannie's grove... I don't know how they would react to that though..."
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Lumen offers to go in under a cloak of invisibility to look around and tries to work out some kind of signal through which he could communicate with the group as to what he finds, and planning the attack.
Does anyone have message?
:I don't have any spells that can help us sneak by."
Vesper does have Message.
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
"I mean, are ya both sure ya couldn't prestidigitation some noise ta distract the guards, or maybe make some dancing lights come together an' look like some sorta weird glowy creature ta draw 'em off? If ya could do those both things together, coordinated-like, them stupid watch-orcs might actually believe there's... say... a glowin' blue fox in the forest teasin' em," Chrys theorizes. "Plus, I could be waitin' on the other end o' the fox with Kess ta jump 'em outside o' their camp an' whittle their numbers down a bit. Maybe Lumen can sneak in an' draw off that mage that wasn't feelin' real cooperative an' get her on our side, too. Anythin's worth tryin' -- an' better than a frontal assault."
Pale eyebrows raising at the coordinated plan that the dwarven warrior came up with, Nym met Vesper's eyes before nodding. "That could work. I've not tried to shape my Lights in such a shape before but it's not that far fetched. We'd probably have to get a little bit closer to be in range but it could work. I'll try to be quiet." Glancing to Lumen she inquired, "So do you want to try and just steal away their weapons? Or do you want to try and win over the one that wasn't keen on Duskbringer?"
Nym Durnodel - Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn // Danica Amastacia - Red Dead Annihilation
Chrys snorts. "I ain‘t real comvincin‘… I let my hammer do most o‘ my talkin‘. This one‘s Lumen‘s call. I will tell ya one thing, though," she says seriously to Lumen. “Mages can be deadly. If she ain‘t gonna be on our side, she absolutely has ta be our number one target. Ya gotta find a way ta make her spells work for us - or not work at all."
Lumen nods. "I'll try to go in invisibly, and grab any weapons I can find, and either hide them or bring them back here. Get a sense of their camp, where they're sleeping. Then return here. If they discover me, well, your distraction would be welcome. Vesper, check in with me with your message every minute or so and I'll try to report back what I see and what's happening. When we have a good sense of them, and evened the odds a bit with fewer weapons than they want, well, we can try knocking some unconscious, scaring the others, and killing those who don't cooperate. That work?"
If so, here's some stealth rolls with advantage, thanks to invisibility and Nym's blessing:
Stealth: 11 19 23
With the plan set, Lumen turns himself invisible and begins walking as quietly as he can towards the orc camp. There are three sentries positioned in a triangle formation at the edge of the camp, but they seem not to notice the half orc as he approaches. Slipping through the sparse trees past the guards, Lumen walks unnoticed into the camp. He can see that there's a fire going, with three of the orcs gathered around the flames, including the chief, and the chain shirted orc that you saw arguing with the chief earlier today. The remaining three orcs are lying on the ground about ten to fifteen feet away from the fire, apparently sleeping with loud snouty snores. Their battle axes are on the ground next to them.
For the most part the orcs at the fire are not paying any attention to the slumbering orcs. They're all staring at the fire, while the chief occasionally speaks in low, hushed tones. It's too quiet to hear what he's saying.
"I guess, if nothing else, they won't be expecting us at all, considering Grumbar's supreme confidence... wish us luck, ladies?" Kess would say with a smile to Vess, Chrys and Nym.
The plan was simple enough, Kess reasoned; get in, swipe their weapons, possibly knock out owners of said weapons or take them "off the board", and then get out. What could go wrong???
Taking a moment to prepare, Kess would assure that she was out of sight and casted two spells on herself: Comprehend Languages and Longstrider. If she was going to be in the midst of their enemies, Kess figured it would be a good idea to know what was being said, should it come to that. Doing this would expend what little magical reserves she had outside of minor castings such as cantrips, but given the danger involved Kess believed this more than warranted such an expenditure of resources. With that, she then threw herself into the darkness, creeping in behind Lumen, taking care to shift from cover to cover to avoid drawing the attention of the camp sentries, remembering and thankful for the instruction in the art of guile from her Moonwood relatives.
Stealth: 16
If nothing else, she had to trust that Lumen wouldn't do anything completely foolish, given that she couldn't see her musical companion.
Making use of her natural elven agility and using any available sources of natural cover she can find to help conceal her presence, Kess is easily able to follow behind Lumen, and creep past the sentries into the camp undetected. She has the same view, and her darkvision eyesight allows her to see the group by the campfire, and also the three resting/sleeping orcs lying on the ground.
From your current position, the orcs at the fire are about 50 feet ahead and to your left, while the sleeping orcs are straight ahead about 25-30 feet directly in front of you.
Lumen moves forward and slowly and quietly lifts an axe a few inches off the ground and, doing his best to find rocks and shrubs and trees to use as cover, slowly walks it parallel to the ground out of camp. He tries repeating this with the other two axes. (Let me know if you want additional rolls for this...)
(Yes, give me 3 Slight of Hand rolls, or one for each attempt.)
Sleight of hand 1: 23
Sleight of hand 2: 14
Sleight of hand 3: 21
With Kess watching his back, Lumen carefully creeps through the brush up to the first sleeping orc. Looking down on the tusked face, he can't help but think back to his own days in the tribe. How long ago was that, compared to how long ago it actually seems in his own memory? In any other instance, this could very well have been him, sleeping soundly in camp, while an unseen invader makes it past the sentries and looks down upon the slumbering warriors in their most defenseless and vulnerable position. It would be so quick to end this orc's life, just as it would have been so easy for Lumen to have had his own life instantly snubbed out by a surprise attacker.
Lumen reaches down to pick up the first axe and then slinks away, as silently as possible, placing it on the ground in the brush far away from its owner's reach. He then creeps back and repeats the same motion, while Kess watches the other orcs at the flickering fire. It's hard to discern exactly what they're saying, since they're speaking in low voices but the gist of what she does hear with her magical comprehension is a mix of recounting old battle stories and the notion of them being in the service of a mighty dragon, and what that would mean for the tribe, even as it's been severely reduced in numbers during the battle with Aelar and his Warriors of Sehanine.
When Lumen returns for the third axe, he picks it up and turns around to step away, when he loses his grip on the handle and drops the axe to the ground. It lands with a dull thud, except for the head, which slams on a rock and catters with a muffled, but audible clunk.
The five orcs at the fire stop talking and turn around to look. They don't seem to notice Kess hunkered down in the brush just a few feet away, and they can't see Lumen of course,... at least he would hope so, but they train their eyes and ears on his position, which is where they heard the noise. As of right now, the three sleeping orcs are still slumbering away, apparently unfazed by the sound.
One of the orcs makes a grunt, which both of you understand to be, "What was that noise...? as they continue to poke their eyes around the area.
Lumen freezes, doing his best to make no sound. He readies to pick up the axe and hurl it into the brush if he's discovered, but he's relying on his magic to shroud him until they lose interest.