"Something tells me any pixes and sprites they've taken prisoner aren't there anymore," Mindartis comments. "Any idea on the number of Hags there now? If we can cut the main gnoll force off from the Fangs and Hags they might turn tail and run away of their own accord."

((what is a korred?))

Del tells the assembled about the hoops from the 3 Great Trees and how the conspiracy uses teleportation. So we cannot countersiege - we will have to break it to relieve. I can cause Plant Growth to slow our enemies - I am thinking a channel straight through to our objective, to limit the speed the gnolls could counterattack.

Quote from skuk >>

((what is a korred?))

"Korreds are unpredictable, secretive fey with strong ties to earth and stone. Because of their magical hair and their mystical understanding of minerals, they are sought after by treasure-hunters, dwarves, and others that desire wealth beneath the earth." (Volo's guide)

They rarely trouble to interact with surface dwellers...the gnolls must have seriously annoyed them.

"Six hags, and eight Fangs," the korred says. "A lot of the regular gnoll soldiers and officers are usually outside the stockade, hacking down trees and such. But if you can get through them to finish the leaders, yeah, they might scatter."

Elwin nodded. Striking the root was a sound plan; a spearhead attack directly upon the hags and fangs would likely make quick work of them. Provided everything went according to plan, anyway.

"If the bulk of us focus on the leaders, perhaps a smaller force could keep the footmen occupied and away from the main fight until it was too late?" It wasn't exactly a brilliant suggestion, but it couldn't hurt to throw more viable ideas onto the table.

The korred finishes scratching up the table:

"Shouldn't be hard to get to the leaders, we can just fly in on those owls."  Raven says with a shrug.

Quentin shakes his head, “And we’re just going to fight ten different powerful enemies at once. And what about your squire. He cannot hope to waltz in and survive that assault. Our whole career has been us waltzing in and powerhousing people down. That’s not going to work every time. We need a better strategy. I think we should force the leaders to split and we take them out in smaller groups.” 

"Hmm. Does anyone have any sort of barrier-creating magic, or anything that might contain the rest while we pick off a few? I've heard of spells that can create walls of stone, or ice. I know Good Quentin can create a wall of fire, but it doesn't seem like it will trap anyone willing to walk through the flames."

Fourteen, even Del agrees Managing the space will be important, and making best use of our skills. If Lord Quentin lays a firewall stockade-to-pond through the middle house, and I grow some plants east of the pond to slow reinforcements from that direction, that should split them nicely. Recognizing we'll have to place different depending on where they are. If the main force attacks the southeast gate that could draw the common gnoll-soldiery away

Flying in at the very last might still be a good idea though Del continues Or Perhaps Sister Raven and Lord Quentin teleport for maximum surprise. Flitterbug could turn Lord Mindatris or Sir Ethen into something fearsome for the first attack - they'd revert to their own fearsomeness after sustaining damage. Does the pond location warrant using that ring of water walking sitting around gathering dust?

“Is Melvarin or the other magical users around? They might have something. Honestly with the force of his  fireball and his ability to bend around allies he could make a good air support fighter. He also has a spell that is similar to Del’s plant growth but makes tentacles that restrains the targets and damages them as well.” Quentin remarks looking to see if they are still here and willing to fight 

Other morning items: Did Skizzix's cousin get the saddles adjusted? (60gp for the pair?) (if not Del & Ejr were premature to get rid of horses, will need a ride)

Del has a conversation with B&LT, how Sir Ethen will ride Bongo, how we are going to a battle - plenty of gnolls to eat! leave the good guys alone! Training roll for the day, assuming help from  SMF &or Sir EG Animal Handling 16

I think we are riding out in a mundane way to stay with the Hall Forces, if we do summoned mounts it'll only be once the battle starts

 

($40 gp for two military saddles, and yes, they are ready. Bono and Laughtrack sense a war in the offing and are eager for blood.)

Melvarin is still here, and so are your other opponents. Those other spell-casters who are still around have allies among the visiting knights and foot soldiers, who they would rather accompany to aid the troops. (And they weren't too impressive, anyway, from what Quentin hears of the earlier battles.)

It sounds like you will have about 400 fighters on foot, 200 on horseback.  More if forest fey join up with you on your journey, or if you find the guerilla resistance fighters and organiize an alliance. 

"We're just going to have to make sure we play our cards right and hope we run into the guerilla troops," Mindartis says, "I can't say the same for most fey but something tells me if they know what we're trying to do they'll want  to help us."

"And don't forget we have that assassin on our trail too." Raven reminds the others.  She would look over the maps drawn and consider where she could sneak around and be most effective.

Eventually, the plans are finalized, and the troops are put in motion! Nearly all the assembled fighters are wood elves, forest gnomes and fey, who are good at slipping silently through the wilderness.  There are a few clumsier types, who get looks of disdain from their fellows when they snap a branch or kick a rock over.  Occasionally in the distance, a balloon pops, or a squaeky horn goes off, or someone sets off a firecracker, these incidents usually followed by a small chorus of voices calling, "Nobody here but us Axebeaks!" 

Lady  Welles, a half-elf who is the ranking member of the Knights of the Hall who have come with you, tells you that if you march straight all day, you should be in sight of the camp by late afternoon. If you prefer to camp and attack in the morning, there are a couple of evacuated villages where they could camp, but those are often patrolled by the gnolls, so a careful watch would have to be kept.   She asks what side of the camp you want to attack from, suggesting that if possible, someone should try to spy out the defenses and decide the best course of action with more recent and detailed knowledge.

At Lady Welles' questions, Elwin takes the time to quickly (and quietly) confer with the others.

"What do you think, this afternoon or tomorrow? I think we'd avoid any surprises if we attack now, plus we should have enough elves on our side that losing daylight shouldn't be much of a problem. And I presume you'll want to sneak up to investigate their defenses, Raven? Although we also have Quentin's familiar, if our wizard is amenable to that."

"The only reason I see to wait would be to see about getting those gurilla bands to join us."  raven says with a shrug.  "If we are not going to take time for that, then I'd say the sooner the better."

I think we agree to march through and attack this afternoon, correct? Del asks to confirm Do you like the idea of a second hopefully surprise attach on the boss region? Of course all this depends on our scout report, for which we can trust the flying fey.

Del considers the potential of guerilla allies from a narrative rather than tactical standpoint What would be great is if the woodland archers showed up at a dramatic moment to turn the tide or something ((Bards gonna bard, the bards say))

"Not sure if that's how that works," Mindartis says, "but we should keep an eye out to see if they make their presence known to us."