GREYHAWK CY 576: GREAT LEGENDS RETOLD -- CAMPAIGN THREAD

[narayan]

Ordred smiles and seems to stand a little taller hearing such praise. "Sirrr Walterrr is not a name I rrrecall as a guildsmith, but my worrrk ended at the time of my capturrre nearly twenty yearrrs ago." He pauses, seemingly thinking back with regret before addressing Nimbar. "My fatherrr Kalafarrr was once the head of the family business yes. Sadly, he died aiding my escape. My uncle Olon, my elderrr brotherrr Glanirrr and my elderrr cousin Dalirrr all perrrished in captifity as well." Ordred takes in a deep, raspy breath. "The family trrrade endurrred of courrrse, but my rrrole in it will neferrr be what it could haft been. This is not the face customerrrs want to see." Ordred says with an uncomfortable swallow.

By now it should be clear to anyone listening to Ordreds heavy, labored breathing and the way he talks that damage was done to his tongue and vocal cords. Ordred does not appear to shirk from the effort it takes to speak, but there are still words and pronunciations he struggles with.

 

[Aust Thale]

Quixt:
Listening to these adventurers, Quixt finds himself surprisingly circumspect despite their current locale and the likely Kobold inhabitants of these caves. The rose gold piqued his interest. Originally hired as a burglar/footpad to a group of different adventurers, he feared his employer was dead or worse, given their tardiness. He surmised that his original goal must have been the rose gold, especially given these other four fellows’ interest and knowledge of it. However, he was also much more certain that eating utensils and kobold armor was not what they were after. There was more to this than trinkets. What secrets did this place hold?

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Spoiler: DM HOUSEKEEPING: Proposed Marching Order

Ordred in the front, Hawke & Nimbar in the second rank, 10 feet behind him; Quixt in the third rank, 10 ft. behind Hawke & Nimbar; Sphynx in the rear, 10 ft. behind Quixt.

Not wanting to press their luck, and having made the necessary introductions, the party proceeds down the hall, following Ordred's lead, following the marching order illustrated above. The party is spread out, so as to make less noise and to make themselves harder to see, the logic being that if Ordred moves into the outer limit of the Kobolds' vision range, they may or may not spot him, but they likely will not spot the other party members, who are further behind him.


ORDRED: Make two rolls for me: Move Silently, and Hide. Post the results in LINE chat. EVERYONE ELSE: Make a Move Silently check, and post the results in LINE chat.

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Spoiler: DM HOUSEKEEPING: Party Rolls

Hawke (Move Silent) = 25
Nimbar (Move Silent) = 18
Sphynx (Move Silent) = 19
Quixt (Move Silent) = 8
Ordred (Move Silent) = 5
Ordred (Hide) = 19

Spoiler: Kobold Rolls

First Kobold: Listen 19, Spot 5
Second Kobold: Listen 21, Spot 19
Third Kobold: Listen 13, Spot 5

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

GM: NOTE: You can't "fumble" a skill check. Rolling a 1 simply means a poor performance. You still accomplished what you attempted, just not without flaws. Think of it as a gymnast in the olympics who trips during her routine. She still finishes the routine. She just doesn't perform as well as she was capable of.

There is a lot of debris in this tunnel. Despite Ordred's attempt to carefully proceed down the hallway, he crunches and cracks on several pieces of debris, alerting the Kobold guards to his presence. As soon as he moves into their range of vision, they open fire.

GM: Not a surprise round, technically. Call it a round of preparedness. Ordred is caught flat-footed. He is not surprised; he can act during this round, but he simply cannot act before the Kobolds take their shot. It's like he automatically loses initiative. Kobold #1 Bow Attack: (20) = Hit. Damage: 2 pts. Kobold #2 Bow Attack: (14) = Miss. Kobold #3 Bow Attack: (12) = Miss.

Ordred, you curse as you see 3 Kobolds, at the limit of your Darkvision, hiding behind a make-shift barricade of rocks, logs, and other debris. These Kobolds are much larger than the others you've encountered thusfar! The Kobolds all have short bows, and they release their volley the instant they see you!

Two arrows whiz by, way off target, probably the result of the Kobolds' excitement. But a third arrow grazes Ordred's shoulder, skipping off the breastplate, but hitting hard enough to leave a small blemish on the armor.

ORDRED: It's your turn! What do you do?

EVERYONE (INCLUDING ORDRED): Roll initiative for round 2, and post the results in LINE chat.

GM: INITIATIVE COUNT FOR ROUND 2: Ordred: 21 Sphynx: 18 Kobolds: 17 Quixt: 13 Nimbar: 9 Hawke: 7

 

[narayan]

Ordred frowns as the arrow grazes his shoulder narrowing his gaze at the Kobolds and their makeshift barricade. ~What strange breed are these?~ He ponders, noting their larger size. For a moment he has the urge to charge at them but thinks better of it. Where there was one pit-trap there could be more.

However, searching for traps under volleys of arrows didn't seem particularly wise either. ~I wouldn't give you the satisfaction lizard-brains!~

Ordred drops his morning star [Free Action] which swings harmlessly off the strap around his forearm, freeing his hand to reach into a belt pouch. He retrieves a smokestick, igniting it against his shield, [Move Action] before throwing it down the tunnel [Standard Action] into the midst of the Kobolds. ~Here's smoke in your eye!~

(Strength Check: <DC 10> = 22)

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Spoiler: Hallway Map

The X is the 10-foot cube of smoke. (This map is scaled in 10 ft. squares.)
The circles show the APPROXIMATE location of the party members.

GM: You didn't roll to-hit, so I will do it for you. Direct middle of barricade = AC 5. 2 Additional Range Increments (20 ft. x 2) = AC 9. Attack Roll: (11) = Hits.

Ordred throws the smoke stick with expert precision, causing it to land in the direct middle of their barricade. The smoke fills the immediate area, and sounds of frustrated coughing and cursing in the Draconic tongue can be heard. It is clear that the Kobolds were not expecting such a tactic. Within moments, a thick wall of smoke prevents the Kobolds from seeing down the hallway, as well as preventing the party (at least those with Darkvision) from seeing the Kobolds, also. This is the end of the "preparedness round." Round 1 of combat follows.

ROUND ONE OF COMBAT (ROUND 2 OF ENCOUNTER):

ORDRED: It's your turn! What do you do?

 

[narayan]

Ordred calls back to the rest of the group. -Speaking Dwarven- "Thrrree Kobold arrrcherrrs ahead! Behind a barrricade. I blinded them with smoke. Mofe up to my position with haste!"

Ordred hopes the Kobolds are less likely to speak Dwarven then trade-common. He knows Tellerian Hawke speaks dwarven at the very least, but it occurs to him that there might be a rarer language they could use in these situations? ~It would be smart to discover what other languages we might share as a tactical advantage.~

He then proceeds to retrieve and activate a Sunrod from another belt pouch [Move Action] ~So much for the element of surprise. I might as well help the others see what we're dealing with~ and begins to move forward towards the barricade at a walking pace (20 ft.) [Move Action] Ordred assumes the rest of the party will catch up by the time he reaches it.

Spoiler: Dwarven Stonecunning Racial Ability

Meanwhile, If there is any unusual or dangerous stonework in the tunnel (sliding walls, traps, pitfalls, shaky ceilings and the like) Ordred automatically gets a Search check with a +2 bonus (as if he was actively searching) once within 10 ft. Something that isn’t stone but that is disguised as stone also counts as unusual stonework.

I went ahead and made a Search check just in case. (Search Check: = 26)

 

[Tellerian Hawke]

Ordred makes it twenty more feet down the hallway, with no hiccups or unexpected pitfalls (pardon the pun.) The entire hallway is now adequately lit, and the party can see all the way down the hallway, to where the wall of smoke hides the cursing, reptilian dog-men. The end of the hallway is a bit more dimly lit, of course, but lit well enough to allow for those with normal vision to see clearly.

SPHYNX: It's your turn! What do you do?

 

[MacConnell]

Ordred... SPHYNX: It's your turn! What do you do?

Moving his head from side to side, while in the back of the procession, Sphynx instantly realizes that he cannot see the enemy, but he suspects their location within the proximity of the newly obscured barricade. Taking a pinch of sand from one of his many pockets, he blows it in the direction of the kobolds, thinking of the benefit from having recently acquired this particular magic from Nimbar's use of it. It may seem silly to blow sand from the back of the party, but the magic is performed at the barricade, targeting the kobolds. It does not emanate from its caster.

Sphynx makes a small humming sound after he blows the sand.

OOC: Cast Sleep

Afterward, he thinks to himself, ~I think I can improve the usefulness and power of this magic. I need some zombie powder or even bone dust. I know I can make this stronger.~