Storm King's Thunder

Quote from jr_el_leon >>

 Ink hears Crownsguard's retort and responds from the cart, an edge to his voice, "Perhaps we'll one day find out what breaks first: you or your prime directive..." Then with a shake of his head, and a sigh, "... but not today."

"So? Where to?" Quill then flaps her wings and takes a position above the camp. Circling. Watching.

"Canye  get th' lay o' th' place before we're sighted? Will be good ta  know what we're walkin' inta. " pausing to look at each of his companions  "an' let's  stay together on this one."

"I can, as we get closer. I need to be within a hundred feet or so in order to see through Quill's eyes. She has pretty decent eyesight, so she'll be able to see things from a bit away," Ink replies.

//  DM question - how close does Quill have to be to start picking up details of the town and movements within it and at the keep, as well?  //

"On the topic of the undead, I'm pretty worthless against that flame skull. It's immune to fire and ice, and resistant to my arrows. Those three are my repertoire from range.  However, it didn't seem to take kindly to your hammer, Flint, or the radiant energy of your sacred flame."  Ink continues sharing whatever knowledge he has of the flame skull and that giant skeleton with the others. 

"I can make Flint move a little faster during the combat if that would help. I know a trick." 

//Longstrider//

Quote from Hardcopi >>

"I can make Flint move a little faster during the combat if that would help. I know a trick." 

//Longstrider//

//Lasts an hour so before we go I will cast it. I can cast it at 2nd level if Rip needs it, but Rip is more a distance fighter.//

“I can enable a shield around one of you, if needed. However, my magic is largely designed for quick and efficient combat, as shown with the skeleton.”

//Rip is good movement wise//

//Then right before we go out I will cast Longstrider on Flint.//

If Quill flies over the top of the trees, she can make out most of Noanar's Hold. She can telepathically communicate with Ink the idea that there is much danger waiting in the sleepy hamlet.

Ink says, "What awaits for us is much danger... That's all Quill can emote to me."

Ink then turns to Marav, "Perhaps you should hold off on enhancing Flint’s speed until we get closer to town."

//  When the party gets closer to the town that Quill can make out details of the town and keep, Ink will see through her eyes to see for himself.  //

Ink asks, "Are we taking the cart into town?" 

"Ah think we should hide th' cart out 'ere"

"Very well then, let's head out. As we get closer, I'll see if Quill can provide us with better intelligence. We'll need all the information we can get.... Rather than going through the town, should we perhaps go around it and breach the keep from a different side?"

“Agreed. I believe that we should assault the keep out of the view of the villagers. It may attract their attention and put their lives at risk.”

"Aye, come at it from th' west"

As Ink sits momentarily deaf and blind, Quill soars overhead into the early morning sun. 

Through the owl's eyes, Ink sees a small army of undead standing on grounds around the keep and on the rooftop. Dozens of them—possibly over a hundred—just standing there outside, as if they're waiting for something. Skeletons and zombies alike stand at the ready, vacantly staring. Some of the zombies are wearing clothes with fresh blood on them.

The Keep of the Hunt Lords is also vastly different from yesterday. The flora around the keep in a 30-foot radius is withered and in an advanced state of decay, and the keep itself has some interesting spores of some sort growing on it—perhaps mold or fungus. 

Patrolling among the horde of undead is a dwarf that Ink recognizes as Amrath, the dwarven castellan. He strikes a rather different figure from yesterday's altercation. He is now wearing gleaming splint mail, and his hair and beard are combed, oiled, and trimmed. All the figures around the Keep cast long shadows on the ground, as the sun is still quite low in the sky. 

When  Ink relays this to us Marav asks "Did they take the villagers?"

Ink slips out of Quill's mind and relays his observations, upon hearing Marav's request, he focuses back on Quill and tries to use her sight to see if any of these zombies are the villagers... without Quill getting any closer. 

//  Quill's Perception Check 5 / 13 ... Quill gets advantage on sight based perception checks, but wanted to separate the rolls just in case. //

“They have increased in number? This is unfortunate. I have the ability to turn undead. This could assist in reducing their combat capacity. If my assumption is correct, Flint should also have a similar, if not stronger, ability. Correct?”

"Aye, that ah  do."