Arnald nods to Sylyra. "Seems to be a thing here. No one seems to care if they survive. I have half a mind to leave and let what will be, be. We can stop this at some other village or at Phlan." Raising his voice a touch, "No sense fighting here where they're ok with dying and likely to be upset at us for not letting them."
Sylyra smirks, but also ponders what both Ola and Arnald offer. "There's no escape for us, unfortunately, so we're forced to make the best of our own safety. And if safety means defeating the ... ghosts or whatever they are, then that's what we must do." He looks at the woods again. "Despite what the child says, I'd like to try to persuade some of the local fauna to act the spy."
Sylyra's plan is to enter the woods, but not go more than 100 feet in. He'll look for birds, especially, and try to convince them (using his speech of the woods) that there is danger coming, and ask if they would they be willing to fly above the trees and keep a watch and report back at the goat barn if they see a ship or monsters of any type. Squirrels, foxes and deer would be good, too.
Uragum gives a final shrug and follows along with the others. "It's a shame it is. But we have tried and while they will not fortify now, when the night comes and our warning comes to pass, I will bet weapons will be found in their hands."
OOC: Now that you're back together, it is getting later in the evening. There is likely time to investigate one more location. Of the places that Elisande pointed out to you, The Dark Wood is the only one that you've not looked at closely (unless you also count the Landing, which you've seen up close).
Sylyra's plan is to head into the woods, and Arnald is following. Are the others also following, or is there another location anybody wanted to follow up on while the woods are explored by the others?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
OOC: I'll assume Eonis is hanging back with Ola until she returns to us.
EONIS & OLA:
Elisande still follows you, teasing and playing with the goats for a few moments in the barn until she grows bored and departs, running off toward the others as they walk to the woods.
After studying the barn for a few moments, it does not look like it would be easily fortified. It is nearly ruined, but the area between it and the houses is wide, and could be leveraged for basic field traps, like ditches, pits, or a palisade. There is enough time before night falls to build one of these options.
________________________
ARNALD, SYLYRA & URAGUM:
Sylyra Animal Handling:19
The forest is oddly thick and dark for such a small island. Filled with pines, walnuts, hawthorns, and dense underbrush of thorny plants, it is not a pleasant place to walk. Strangely, Sylyra finds no birds within the edge of the woods. A few squirrels and rodents seem to manage to survive in it, however, and the druid is able to work out a basic agreement with a few of them: If they see a big monster or an even bigger wooden monster, they will run to the barn.
Palisade seems as the least obtrusive defence - in case the group manages to repel the attack and some villagers survive, it would be easier to deconstruct, than pits and trenches. If nobody protests, Ola organizes construction of palisade around the barn.
"That's the best we can do," Sylyra says, not looking very satisfied. He lifts his chin to scan the trees again. "It's very odd there are no birds." Looking at Uragum and Arnald, he asks, "Shall we return to the barn to prepare?"
"Before we do back, let me try this," Uragum says and pulls out his spell book. He then take the time to ritual cast detect magic as part of the investigation into the forest. Depending on what he'd find, if anything, he would keep the spell up as they returned back to the village in case something caught his attention there.
Uragum spends ten minutes in concentration in the quiet woods, bringing his magical detection to bear.
For Uragum:
You detect magic within the vicinity, but the only auras you see when you focus are the potions within your packs.
OOC: Sounds like Sylyra and Uragum are wrapping up their side of the investigation. Giving some time to make sure this is the case before advancing to evening and the construction of a palisade.
"All I'm catching is the magic from our potions. So, maybe there are more natural things keeping them away such as animals, natural scents, like from the smoke house? Heck, maybe they decimated the fowl population. What ever it is, its not an ongoing magical effect." Uragum says.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Sylyra Nature: 9
OOC: Sylyra gets whatever vibes DirtyDogP gets here. It's certainly odd that there are no birds around, but the flora of the forest appears natural, if unusually thick.
After a half hour of investigation, Sylyra returns with Arnald and Uragum to the barn. With only a short time until sundown, Ola's idea to construct a palisade will be cutting it close, but possible with enough help. All that is needed is a source for the wood to construct it, and a low wall can be built in the area leading from the landing to the open area between the barn and the village to funnel any attackers through.
Sylyra is not excited about manual labor, but will pitch in at least half-heartedly. He happily shares his shovel, hammer and miner's pick if helpful. If it is suggested that they use wood from the barn, he will argue against it since the goats live there.
Forest is a good source of wood, normally. And I guess Sylyra can point out the trees that are dead or about to die anyway. Trees should be wet enough at this weather, so freezing it in strategic places to crack the trunks can speed up the process of cutting them down.
Arnald nods to Sylyra. "Seems to be a thing here. No one seems to care if they survive. I have half a mind to leave and let what will be, be. We can stop this at some other village or at Phlan." Raising his voice a touch, "No sense fighting here where they're ok with dying and likely to be upset at us for not letting them."
If Sylyra heads to the woods, Arnald will follow.
Campaigns:
DM - Waterdeep Dragon Heist PbP
Sylyra smirks, but also ponders what both Ola and Arnald offer. "There's no escape for us, unfortunately, so we're forced to make the best of our own safety. And if safety means defeating the ... ghosts or whatever they are, then that's what we must do." He looks at the woods again. "Despite what the child says, I'd like to try to persuade some of the local fauna to act the spy."
Sylyra's plan is to enter the woods, but not go more than 100 feet in. He'll look for birds, especially, and try to convince them (using his speech of the woods) that there is danger coming, and ask if they would they be willing to fly above the trees and keep a watch and report back at the goat barn if they see a ship or monsters of any type. Squirrels, foxes and deer would be good, too.
Uragum gives a final shrug and follows along with the others. "It's a shame it is. But we have tried and while they will not fortify now, when the night comes and our warning comes to pass, I will bet weapons will be found in their hands."
OOC: Now that you're back together, it is getting later in the evening. There is likely time to investigate one more location. Of the places that Elisande pointed out to you, The Dark Wood is the only one that you've not looked at closely (unless you also count the Landing, which you've seen up close).
Sylyra's plan is to head into the woods, and Arnald is following. Are the others also following, or is there another location anybody wanted to follow up on while the woods are explored by the others?
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If that was the last place left, Ola is happy to return to the barn. She tries to access if it needs/can be somehow fortified for an upcoming battle.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
Uragum will follow. He will summon his hawk to flit about the trees as an extra measure of precaution.
OOC: I'll assume Eonis is hanging back with Ola until she returns to us.
EONIS & OLA:
Elisande still follows you, teasing and playing with the goats for a few moments in the barn until she grows bored and departs, running off toward the others as they walk to the woods.
After studying the barn for a few moments, it does not look like it would be easily fortified. It is nearly ruined, but the area between it and the houses is wide, and could be leveraged for basic field traps, like ditches, pits, or a palisade. There is enough time before night falls to build one of these options.
________________________
ARNALD, SYLYRA & URAGUM:
Sylyra Animal Handling: 19
The forest is oddly thick and dark for such a small island. Filled with pines, walnuts, hawthorns, and dense underbrush of thorny plants, it is not a pleasant place to walk. Strangely, Sylyra finds no birds within the edge of the woods. A few squirrels and rodents seem to manage to survive in it, however, and the druid is able to work out a basic agreement with a few of them: If they see a big monster or an even bigger wooden monster, they will run to the barn.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
Palisade seems as the least obtrusive defence - in case the group manages to repel the attack and some villagers survive, it would be easier to deconstruct, than pits and trenches. If nobody protests, Ola organizes construction of palisade around the barn.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
"That's the best we can do," Sylyra says, not looking very satisfied. He lifts his chin to scan the trees again. "It's very odd there are no birds." Looking at Uragum and Arnald, he asks, "Shall we return to the barn to prepare?"
"Before we do back, let me try this," Uragum says and pulls out his spell book. He then take the time to ritual cast detect magic as part of the investigation into the forest. Depending on what he'd find, if anything, he would keep the spell up as they returned back to the village in case something caught his attention there.
Uragum spends ten minutes in concentration in the quiet woods, bringing his magical detection to bear.
For Uragum:
You detect magic within the vicinity, but the only auras you see when you focus are the potions within your packs.
OOC: Sounds like Sylyra and Uragum are wrapping up their side of the investigation. Giving some time to make sure this is the case before advancing to evening and the construction of a palisade.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
"All I'm catching is the magic from our potions. So, maybe there are more natural things keeping them away such as animals, natural scents, like from the smoke house? Heck, maybe they decimated the fowl population. What ever it is, its not an ongoing magical effect." Uragum says.
Does Sylyra get any "vibes" from this supposed dark forest?
Sylyra Nature: 9
OOC: Sylyra gets whatever vibes DirtyDogP gets here. It's certainly odd that there are no birds around, but the flora of the forest appears natural, if unusually thick.
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Sylyra wordlessly turns and heads back toward the village and the barn.
After a half hour of investigation, Sylyra returns with Arnald and Uragum to the barn. With only a short time until sundown, Ola's idea to construct a palisade will be cutting it close, but possible with enough help. All that is needed is a source for the wood to construct it, and a low wall can be built in the area leading from the landing to the open area between the barn and the village to funnel any attackers through.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!
Sylyra is not excited about manual labor, but will pitch in at least half-heartedly. He happily shares his shovel, hammer and miner's pick if helpful. If it is suggested that they use wood from the barn, he will argue against it since the goats live there.
Uragum will relish the physical labor in helping to build the palisade. Every now and then a good sweat from hard labor is needed.
Forest is a good source of wood, normally. And I guess Sylyra can point out the trees that are dead or about to die anyway. Trees should be wet enough at this weather, so freezing it in strategic places to crack the trunks can speed up the process of cutting them down.
Meili Liang Lvl 5 Monk
Dice
OOC: Waiting for some confirmation on the suggestions given before advancing any further.
See my profile for all my PbP threads!