OOC: totally fair cop, dis- and ad-vantage where due :)

Perception: 9

(and again, just so it's stated, Nikta would be running up the mage armor invocation for AC 15/8 hr)

Perception: 9

Lena will swing around the manor, then take the main road back to her party.

Spoiler for Lena:

Gerard Perception: 4

Spoiler for Gerard: 

Spoiler for Carxus and Nikta:

 DMs note: Please let me know what you want to do. There's not really much cover where you all are on the outside of the fence, just fyi.

Lena will fly as fast as she can back to the group, when she gets back she'll turn back into a halfling, and if she makes it back before the goblin-halflings do she'll tell her group about the disguises. If she doesn't make it back in time she get as close as she can and will prepare herself for a possible battle.

Provided Lena makes it back to us in time and we are aware of the disguises:

"Perhaps one of us could approach them before they make the gate, ascertain their intents by pretending to be on a pilgrimage to meet the great Tapwell family and drink straight from the source, so to speak... If anything goes south, those of use hiding could mount a surprise."

And in the instance that Lena can't make it to us in time, 

Is the surrounding area amenable to us being able to make a surprise attack from range or even just letting them pass? Tall grass? Trees? A culvert or ditch? 

(If Lena makes it back in time)

”I could pretend to be the pilgrim. I, um, have a way with words...when I want to.”

(If not)

Carxus looks to Nikta, sensing he has a plan.

OOC: traveling today through Monday, hoping it won’t mean any interruptions but it may. 

In Game: How is young Tapwell responding to all of this? I’m getting the sense these Halflings may be on the Tapwell payroll for an insurance scam or something if that exists in this world, but whether or not they know they’ll be attacked and not just have to play-act is nebulous. 

Carxus waits for the young Tapwell’s response before attempting to engage to halfling/goblins.

(OOC: Sorry, I misread the DMs Post)

TAKE TWO!

Carxus waves to the Halfling/Goblins and says in common:

”Hello, do you work for the Tapwells? I love them so much I had to come all the way from Calla to meet my heroes! Their drink is divine! Are your masters home?”

Deception: 18

DM's note: Safe travels, Nikta! 

(Carxus and Nikta hear Lena's story and turn to Augustus.)

"They're Halflings in disguise. What is your family playing at?"

(Augustus stammers and hems and haws.)

"Wh-wh-wh... I-I don't know anything about that! We thought they were Goblins! I swear!"

(You're not sure what it is about him, but you believe he genuinely doesn't know anything. Carxus then goes towards the patrol as stated above.)

DMs note: Made a DM decision there, I could have done the whole Insight roll thing, but I think for the flow of the game we'll just go with this. Carxus, I need to know what you're doing as you get closer to them.

(OOC: I misread your original post and so I changed my actions above)

(OOC: Did I break the game? Should I reroll my Deception check?)

DMs Note: Not at all, sorry about that. I had a crappy, crappy Friday because I got stuck in this: Ugh

7 hours in traffic, had to call in to work.

Next day made up for it, though, got to go to Long Beach Comic Con. :) I'll get us back on track. Sorry.

(The 3 guards look you over and whisper to each other to try to decide what to do. They are wearing armor and have weapons, and seem to be ready to draw them. One of them steps up. He looks convincingly enough like a Goblin, but since you know the truth, you can pick out some small signs that they're not. The 'goblin' speaks like he's trying to convince you he doesn't know common, very broken and slow.)

"Leave... you in... danger... don't want hurt you... leave..."

(They keep moving forward as if to usher you toward the exit...)

Carey’s stands his ground. “Come on fellas, that’s no way to act. Just tell your boss that his biggest fan is here! He’ll love to meet me!”

(Two of the goblin guards take out their shortbows and one of them takes out their Shortsword. They advance on Carxus. Everyone else at the gate can't really tell what's happening, they only see figures in the distance.)

"Tapwell gone. Leave now... or else."

DM's note: Carxus, unless you give them some reason not to or tell them something very interesting, you're going to have to roll initiative.

Carxus puts his hands up in defeat and backs away towards the gate. 

“Okay, okay, I get the hint. I know when I’m not wanted.”

If Carxus is not being followed he acts like he’s leaving and returns to the group. If the guards are at his sides and looks like he’s going to be escorted out, he’s going to wait until they are close enough and cast Thunderclap. Damage: 2 Then high tail it back towards the party.

(Carxus puts his hands up and backs away towards the gate. The Goblin guards move to escort him back to the gate, as they were heading there anyways. Carxus waits until they get within 5 feet, then gestures and casts Thunderclap!)

DC 13

Guard 1 Save: 20

Guard 2 Save: 10

Guard 3 Save: 4

(One of the guards with a Shortbow is taken by surprise and takes 2 damage, but the other 2 manage to hold their ground. The Shockwave, however, knocks off the 'goblin' masks and you can clearly see that these are Halflings! In their surprise, they give up all pretenses of pretending not to speak Common.)

"What the?"

"It's a Sorcerer! That murdering Tapwell must have hired him! Get him!"

(Carxus runs away as fast as he can, and is halfway back to the fence, a good 50 feet, before the guards react. The guard with the Shortbow raises his bow to take a shot at Carxus, but the other one yells out.)

"Aim at the legs! We're not killers, Mark!" 

(The guard who is shooting complies, and takes a non-lethal shot at Carxus.)

Attack: 11 Damage: 3

(The arrow hits the ground very close to where Carxus legs were just a moment ago.)

"He's going to get away! What do we do?"

"We have to get Pa! We'll fight to keep what's ours, if we have to! Come on!"

(The Halflings retreat back towards the manor in a hurry. Carxus makes it back to his party.)

What do you all do?

Carxus explains to the rest of the crew what he saw and heard while over there, especially the part about how the halflings are not killers and how they fight for what’s theirs. He looks at the young Tapwell for an explanation. 

Unconcerned with the halflings at this point and feeling confident we can reach an agreement with them, Nikta turns to the Tapwell kid and begins welling up an eldritch blast, the crackling energy pausing before release (mostly for effect), and speaks as intimidatingly as he can manage and looking absolutely irate:

"Sit down and come clean with us right now or I can't promise we'll be as reasonable as these play actors..."

Intimidation: 18 (edit: the dice rolling gods obviously find this hilarious)