"I don't know if it's related, but there's a rather disturbing scene to the west of our destination. Seems something has torn a body asunder. On a good note, there's no current gnoll activity to be seen."Kei relays Trills recon to the group. "Perhaps the four of us should split from this group and check out the carnage"he suggests in a hushed tone.
”You are a noble and perceptive ally, Trills,” says Gerrard. “Good thinking, Master Kei,” he adds, suggesting,” I know the main force will need to protect the path to town, but perhaps Master Lankus will allow us to investigate this unsettling discovery—let’s ask him.”
Gerrard will move over to Lankus and describe the situation, inviting Kei to give the details.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Oceanus, it should be noted, separated from the party at the start. While he fully intends on accompanying you on any lizardfolk ventures, he much prefers the water to this scrubby wasteland. He will take to the sea and assist from the shore, in conjunction with the naval ship.
Lankus, it turns out, is a retired officer of the Keelish army. He is aging and rusty, but also wise - he knows better than to rush headlong into an unknown situation with a group of novices and commoners against hidden assailants - especially ones as deadly as gnolls. On the other hand, these townsfolk are angry and vengeful - they're not necessarily going to listen to an innkeeper and a bunch of out-of-town yahoos.
Mik is the guard with the chain shirt and the crossbow; together with Lankus, he appears to be the most experienced of the group. A heavyset man of nearly sixty, he nevertheless is intimidatingly large and in good physical shape. The other four guards are par for the course in Saltmarsh - fifty-something-year-old veterans of the city guard, in various states of physical decline. The old man is frail and a little bit crazy; he seems to have a close personal connection to the victims of yesterday's attack. The sisters are fierce but dumb, and have neither training nor much in the way of weapons.
Lankus agrees that it might be wise for the four of you to scout ahead, while he tries to impress patience and caution and quiet in the rest.
This is mostly difficult terrain - thick, twiggy scrub. Any sort of stealth is difficult and slows you down even further as you seek out gaps and game trails through the scrubby maze. You are a couple hundred yards away from the ring of overgrown earthen mounds known as Devil's Den.
Knowing he is out of his depth in scouting game trails and looking for signs of gnolls, so he instead tries to be relatively quiet as he moves and follows the lead of the more experienced trackers.
Stealth: 19
OOC: Dwal, you had 30 minutes to get your own armor if you wanted, or you could have taken the Mariner's Scale Gerrard offered to you at the 'Goat...Your call.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
(Dwal may retroactively gear up the way he intended, having effectively used that thirty minute waiting period.)
Dwal and Peri should make a Stealth check.
Kei discovers many day-old tracks and some dried blood, leading from Devil's Den ahead, to and from the direction of the city wall. There were a lot of creatures - at least six or eight - and a lot of human blood.
Quietly following the foul trail, you arrive at the edge of a rocky rise. Bjorn and Trill provide a view from above.
Thanks to Trill's keen eyesight and his own tracking he spots a path heading West (left on map). He heads through the brush and makes his way to a small clearing. Taking the lead he continues to check for signs of gnolls or other beasts. "This way seems a little less overgrown. It opens up just down here"
19
((That's unmodified. Survival is +3 or Perception +1. Not sure which applies most))
The party makes its way through more scrub, and through a gap in the overgrown rocks, into a small clearing criss-crossed with clawed humanoid tracks and spatterings of dried blood. Peri sees nothing arcane with his Eldritch Sight, but Kei's sharp ears pick up sounds in the distance - footsteps crunching through the dead underbrush, maybe 100 feet or more to the west. You can't see anything - there is too much scrub. But Bjorn transmits something to Dwal from above - a glimpse of several hyena-headed humanoids carrying mostly spears and bows, moving with intent in your direction.
Nodding, to the dwarf, Gerrard bares his weapons and moves behind the east side of a tree, trying to hide and prepare to ambush the gnolls headed their way.
Stealth: 23
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
"Can your little friend warn Lankus and his group?" Peri whispers to Dwal. Taking comfort from the easy way their little band works together, Peri spreads out about ten feet south of Gerrard and crouches down behind a scrubby bush (Stealth11), hoping it will afford him some cover if the gnolls start lobbing arrows their way. As low as he is he knows the big folk are likely to spot the gnolls before he can, so he strains his ears listening for their approach. Since he's on the far left of their lines he focuses on the scrub to their south, alert to any sign that the gnolls are trying to flank them.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Just as the party scurries to prepare, the bushes to the west explode with a charging pack of hyena-headed humanoids armed with spears and bows; one big, darker-colored one at the south end of the pack holds a long, ornate glaive. They are fixated upon Dwal and Kei, and shriek and call to one another as they charge.
Dwal and Gerrard may act first. (Edit: Sorry - it rerolled when I fixed a typo. Dwal has top initiative - let's give him an honorary "23", then Gerrard, then the Gnolls, then the rest as displayed.)
Grabbing his loaded light crossbow, Gerrard takes a snap shot from behind the tree at the lead Gnoll with the ornate glaive. He then moves to the north out into the open interposing himself between Kei and the charging Gnolls, saying, "Looks like more than a few Gnolls, gentlemen--to arms!"
Crossbow attack (hidden): Attack: 21 Damage: 11
OOC: If the lead Gnoll beat his stealth check, the above attack should use just the first roll to hit.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
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Kei
"I don't know if it's related, but there's a rather disturbing scene to the west of our destination. Seems something has torn a body asunder. On a good note, there's no current gnoll activity to be seen." Kei relays Trills recon to the group. "Perhaps the four of us should split from this group and check out the carnage" he suggests in a hushed tone.
Gerrard:
”You are a noble and perceptive ally, Trills,” says Gerrard. “Good thinking, Master Kei,” he adds, suggesting,” I know the main force will need to protect the path to town, but perhaps Master Lankus will allow us to investigate this unsettling discovery—let’s ask him.”
Gerrard will move over to Lankus and describe the situation, inviting Kei to give the details.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Dwal
"I ain't dressed fer war!" Dwal says. "If'n I get killed in all this I'm coming back and taken the youth of every single one of ye!" Dwal spouts off.
Oceanus, it should be noted, separated from the party at the start. While he fully intends on accompanying you on any lizardfolk ventures, he much prefers the water to this scrubby wasteland. He will take to the sea and assist from the shore, in conjunction with the naval ship.
Lankus, it turns out, is a retired officer of the Keelish army. He is aging and rusty, but also wise - he knows better than to rush headlong into an unknown situation with a group of novices and commoners against hidden assailants - especially ones as deadly as gnolls. On the other hand, these townsfolk are angry and vengeful - they're not necessarily going to listen to an innkeeper and a bunch of out-of-town yahoos.
Mik is the guard with the chain shirt and the crossbow; together with Lankus, he appears to be the most experienced of the group. A heavyset man of nearly sixty, he nevertheless is intimidatingly large and in good physical shape. The other four guards are par for the course in Saltmarsh - fifty-something-year-old veterans of the city guard, in various states of physical decline. The old man is frail and a little bit crazy; he seems to have a close personal connection to the victims of yesterday's attack. The sisters are fierce but dumb, and have neither training nor much in the way of weapons.
Lankus agrees that it might be wise for the four of you to scout ahead, while he tries to impress patience and caution and quiet in the rest.
This is mostly difficult terrain - thick, twiggy scrub. Any sort of stealth is difficult and slows you down even further as you seek out gaps and game trails through the scrubby maze. You are a couple hundred yards away from the ring of overgrown earthen mounds known as Devil's Den.
Gerrard:
Knowing he is out of his depth in scouting game trails and looking for signs of gnolls, so he instead tries to be relatively quiet as he moves and follows the lead of the more experienced trackers.
Stealth: 19
OOC: Dwal, you had 30 minutes to get your own armor if you wanted, or you could have taken the Mariner's Scale Gerrard offered to you at the 'Goat...Your call.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Kei
He takes a step into the scrubby surrounds. Tracking wasn't something he ever excelled at, but he could hold his own. Stealth, however, was.
Survival 20
Stealth 18
Dwal
Dwal would have taken the opportunity to get his own weapons and armor. (missed the offer of the other armor)
Once he makes it back he will have all his gear and set off with the party.
(Dwal may retroactively gear up the way he intended, having effectively used that thirty minute waiting period.)
Dwal and Peri should make a Stealth check.
Kei discovers many day-old tracks and some dried blood, leading from Devil's Den ahead, to and from the direction of the city wall. There were a lot of creatures - at least six or eight - and a lot of human blood.
Quietly following the foul trail, you arrive at the edge of a rocky rise. Bjorn and Trill provide a view from above.
Dwal
"No dwarf worth his weight goes sneakin'" Dwal complains as he tries to move with some stealth.
Stealth: 6
Proving his point by trying not to but making an insane amount of noise :P
OOC: Does the path go up the rocky rise, or does it perhaps skirt the rise to the west towards the bloody rock?
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
The trail scatters, splitting to both sides of the rise; there's no evidence that anything has climbed the boulder pile.
Dwal has difficulty picking out the quietest route through the scrub; the cursing aside, he tends to barrel through, rather than around.
Peri:
Peri quietly follows Kei as he follows the tracks Stealth 8. He keeps his Eldritch Sight active in case some glimmer of magic reveals an ambush.
((Maybe he should have stuck with regular sight!))
Kei
Thanks to Trill's keen eyesight and his own tracking he spots a path heading West (left on map). He heads through the brush and makes his way to a small clearing. Taking the lead he continues to check for signs of gnolls or other beasts. "This way seems a little less overgrown. It opens up just down here"
19
((That's unmodified. Survival is +3 or Perception +1. Not sure which applies most))
The party makes its way through more scrub, and through a gap in the overgrown rocks, into a small clearing criss-crossed with clawed humanoid tracks and spatterings of dried blood. Peri sees nothing arcane with his Eldritch Sight, but Kei's sharp ears pick up sounds in the distance - footsteps crunching through the dead underbrush, maybe 100 feet or more to the west. You can't see anything - there is too much scrub. But Bjorn transmits something to Dwal from above - a glimpse of several hyena-headed humanoids carrying mostly spears and bows, moving with intent in your direction.
Dwal
"Bjorn says there be Gnolls coming our way." Dwal tries to whisper.
Gerrard:
Nodding, to the dwarf, Gerrard bares his weapons and moves behind the east side of a tree, trying to hide and prepare to ambush the gnolls headed their way.
Stealth: 23
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"
Peri:
"Can your little friend warn Lankus and his group?" Peri whispers to Dwal. Taking comfort from the easy way their little band works together, Peri spreads out about ten feet south of Gerrard and crouches down behind a scrubby bush (Stealth 11), hoping it will afford him some cover if the gnolls start lobbing arrows their way. As low as he is he knows the big folk are likely to spot the gnolls before he can, so he strains his ears listening for their approach. Since he's on the far left of their lines he focuses on the scrub to their south, alert to any sign that the gnolls are trying to flank them.
Just as the party scurries to prepare, the bushes to the west explode with a charging pack of hyena-headed humanoids armed with spears and bows; one big, darker-colored one at the south end of the pack holds a long, ornate glaive. They are fixated upon Dwal and Kei, and shriek and call to one another as they charge.
Initiative:
Gnolls: 4
Glaive-wielding gnoll: 10
Kei: 20
Gerrard: 17
Peri: 20
Dwal: 15
Trill: 10
Bjorn: 18
Dwal and Gerrard may act first. (Edit: Sorry - it rerolled when I fixed a typo. Dwal has top initiative - let's give him an honorary "23", then Gerrard, then the Gnolls, then the rest as displayed.)
Gerrard:
Grabbing his loaded light crossbow, Gerrard takes a snap shot from behind the tree at the lead Gnoll with the ornate glaive. He then moves to the north out into the open interposing himself between Kei and the charging Gnolls, saying, "Looks like more than a few Gnolls, gentlemen--to arms!"
Crossbow attack (hidden): Attack: 21 Damage: 11
OOC: If the lead Gnoll beat his stealth check, the above attack should use just the first roll to hit.
Gerrard Feldren - Human Noble in Ghosts of Saltmarsh
Kerric Brightblade - Elven Warrior in "Apocalypse"