The Wildemount Irregulars (2020)

And so, a half-orc, a halfling, a dragonborn, two horses and a wolf set out from Bladegarden headed south along the road towards Talonstadt.  You pass through the fields and villages, many of which appear almost deserted as those near Bladegarden have sought shelter within the city and the harvest has been brought in.  It's a little eerie how quiet it is sometimes.  But soon you get out into the wilderness, where the quiet is more reassuringly a sign of a lack of predators and imminent danger.  

You spend a peaceful night, unbothered by perytons for once, and on the second day of your journey, as the sun is getting low in the sky, you come upon the turn in the road and the raised outcrop that you recall as the place where the giants attacked.

I should point out that Trigger and Nyx are not happy about Ghost, and vice-versa.  Ghost is still padding along behind you, as long as you are feeding him.  Are you doing anything else to try to build your relationship?  If so, let me know what, and give me two rolls for Animal Handling, in case I decide it should be at advantage or disadvantage.

So, you look upon the place where you found the giants.  There's no body here, so someone has moved or destroyed the dead giant that you left. It's late in the day; let me know what you want to do.

Silent leaves the wolf to Balassar during the journey. Once they reach the site where the giants were encountered, he’ll get down on hands and knees and start scrubbing through the grass and stones for any sign of footprints, blood or refuse that may have been left behind by giants moving through the area. 

In case it’s called for, Survival 15 

Silent, the giant you spared was a big heavy giant, and the footprints, though more than a week old, are still visible, headed east.

Silent sticks a finger into of the footprints, sniffs it, grimaces and then whistles to the others. Giant sign. Probably the one we beat up. Headed thataway. Got at least a week on us. What say we follow, lads? 

Alton helps out Balassar with the wolf as they journey. As they get to where they fought the giants, he looks around for signs of other, more recent, fights taking place.

Investigation: 5 

During the journey Balassar will focus on building a better relationship Ghost during time that is free. As Silent points out the tracks “Yeah best to follow them and try to catch up.”

OOC:

animal handling check: 22
animal handling check: 10

Balassar, over the two days, Ghost seems to become more comfortable, with you at least, if only a little less skittish around the horses.  You find that he is willing now to sleep only a few feet from your bedroll, and seems to be expecting food from you and, to a lesser extent, Alton.  He's less comfortable, though not hostile, towards Silent.

This will be a long term project of training Ghost, but with that nat 20 I would say you're over the stage where you might have to worry about him running off unexpectedly.  So, let me know what you want to focus on first, in terms of how Ghost behaves.  At the moment, he follows you around, doesn't obey any particular commands, doesn't assist in battle, doesn't hunt for you or for himself now that you're feeding him.  What do you want to start with?  And give me an Animal Handling check to see how it goes.

You head east, the northern tip of the Ashkeeper Peaks ahead of you, and Balassar would know that if you keep going through the hills in this direction, you will come to the Ashguard Garrison in a couple of days.  Behind you, the sun is setting and you make camp.

So, please give me two Perception checks each.  I'll assume that Silent, with the highest Survival skill is handling the tracking, so please give me two Survival checks.  Alton, you can assist and give advantage either to Balassar for Ghost, or to Silent for his tracking, but not both.  Let me know what you're doing.

Perception checks: 
18  
19  

I’ll have Silent roll the two Survival checks with advantage just in case. 
12  
10 

Balassar will begin to train Ghost to guard the group first.

OOC:

animal handling check: 9

perception check: 24

perception check: 15

Alton sees that Balassar is doing okay with Ghost for now and helps Silent keep track of the trail they are following.

Perception: 19 
Perception: 22 

15 2

Your walk takes a sharp turn southward, once you are away from the main road.  The giant tracks are easy to follow, and meet up with more - at least three more added to the two that presumably belong to those you met; the single pair heading back turns off to the east, but you continue south towards the origin of these giant attacks.

Balassar, training with Ghost goes less well than you'd hoped.  Increasingly comfortable around you, he seems to believe that he needs to sleep close to you when you sleep, and is unable to grasp the idea of watching for threats while you are sleeping.  Instead, you wake in the morning with a face full of wolf fur, though happily Alton and Silent have managed to keep watch without Ghost's help.

On the second day, the tracks converge with more - perhaps half a dozen more pairs of giant footprints, though they could represent multiple journeys by the same few individuals.  And up ahead, as the morning turns to noon, you see what is likely to be the destination for this strange trail; a ruined town atop a small hill.  From this distance (perhaps a half mile), you cannot see any signs of movement or life in the tower, but it is the most obvious feature around, and the tracks seem to lead right to it.

(OOC: My memory is kinda foggy, did we pass some sort of tower way back in a previous journey that had something weird around it? I’m thinking of the talking bush Balassar encountered for some reason.) 

(OOC: If I remember it was the ruins of a tower that  we used for shelter on our way to and from the friendly giants we met up in the mountains; along with a talking bush.))

Alton looks to Balassar and Silent, "Should we head right in or find a place to keep watch on it for the rest of the day and go in the morning?"

Silent has a hand at the hilt of his greatsword. Ain’t no time like the present. Maybe you can get closer, Alton, real stealthy-like, and scope out the place from a distance. Me and Balassar can bring up the rear, and I can have my Echo walk with you so I can teleport in if there’s a scrap. 

Alton nods, "Okay, but won't someone find a shadow walking around strange? Also, we should find somewhere tucked away to hitch our horses, don't want to lose them." He looks around at the landscape, "If you and Balassar want to find a spot for the horses I can see if I can sneak up on the tower and scout around. If I run into any trouble I can create a puff of red smoke in the air."

Balassar just shrugs looking at the tower “I prefer the direct approach. I’m not a fan of things messing with my mind. Who knows maybe Ghost will be able to sniff whatever it is out.”

"That was at a different tower, but maybe something similar is going on." Alton nods and looks off at the tower, "Not much is going to get done standing here. I'll see what I can scout out and report back." With that, he heads off towards the tower trying to be as stealthy and hidden as possible.

Stealth: 20 

Alton, you approach the tower.  At first glance, it seems quite similar to the one you saw previously.  A slightly closer inspection suggests that it's fallen into less of a state of disrepair, and is more structurally intact.  Both the ground floor and the first floor appear sound, with the ruins of a second floor visible above, though there are no bits of fallen stone strewn around the area.  You can also see tracks - very recent tracks of creatures large and small, coming and going from the tower.

6

You get to within sixty feet of the tower, hidden behind some bushes.  You hear a voice from within, and you freeze, but the door remains firmly shut.  Someone moves across a window, though it's only a slit and hard to see inside, and you continue to hear something that might be muttering.  Make a Perception check.

Where are Silent, Balassar, Ghost and the horses?

Perception: 16