Spider's Path

[HolyMan]

The following is a sub-quest from the Off to War campaign thread. Our heros have been sent out from the main army to warn Harkon Manor of a small army of Treylor heading their way. To reach the manor first the are going to take a shortcut through the Western Woods (a part know as the wilds).

Players for this side quest are:
ghostcat
Dragonwriter
Theroc
Myth and Legend
Frozen Messiah

NPCs:
Martomum Stonebreaker - grumpy dwarf
Greyhay - tracker
Unknown - tracker

Links:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/talking-talk/257877-off-war-recriutment-discussion.html
http://www.enworld.org/forum/playing-game/258495-off-war-ic.html
http://www.enworld.org/forum/plots-places/257898-rg-off-war.html
http://www.enworld.org/forum/plots-places/258310-five-kingdoms.html
http://www.enworld.org/forum/d-d-3rd-edition-house-rules/258313-off-war-houserules.html

 

[HolyMan]

[sblock=read first] play attachment as you read [/sblock]As the group walks along the woods seem normal after Martomum's strange caution. The normal sounds of birds, small animals, and the wind through the trees is all present. And the sounds of the group slowly marching through are the only things that seem out of place.

It is about noon when Greyhay returns to the group from his scouting trip. Everyone is sitting about on logs, rocks, or the ground, where ever they can find a spot.

"Gnolls tracking us," he reports grimly to the old dwarf.

 

[ghostcat]

After the dwarfs warning, Trinham tries to move through the woods as quietly has possible, while at the same time moving quickly so as not to slow the others down.

On hearing the scouts report, Trinham will become alert but won't stand up. He looks at Martomum waiting for orders. He doesn't say anything but thinks to himself. If it was up to me, I would hide in the trees and ambush the goblins. There again I'm a greenie, so what do I know. The last thing I want is to get on the wrong end of Martomum's tongue; again. So I'll just sit here and wait for orders.

[sblock="OOC"]The part about Moving silently is for atmosphere.[/sblock]

 

[Theroc]

Aidan blinked. "We're being followed? Suppose we are leaving a trail... Wut's a Gnoll, and how many are we talkin' about?" he asks, scratching his head. He hadn't much experiences outside the farm and ring-matches.

 

[Myth and Legend]

Lora looked around and tried to assess the situation. They could not outrun the Gnolls for sure, so it would be best to use the terrain to their advantage and stand their ground. "Gnolls - they are beast men, part human and part dog. They walk on two legs and wield melee weapons with proficiency. For a group as large as ours, evading them would be impossible. I say we stand and fight, preferably on higher ground. Those with ranged capabilities and spellcasters in the middle, the rest circling them for protection. We ready ourselves versus their approach and try to hurt them as much as we can, before they close in. Now, higher ground is what we need."

Lora's voice was with a serious tone, as the girl put her mind and knowledge to use. She had read some books on warfare and tactics, although out of curiosity more than for practical reasons. She was now glad that she had done so.
[sblock]Any checks needed HM?[/sblock]

 

[HolyMan]

"Eyes expec..." Martomumstarts to say but is interupted by Lora's... (triad?). He sits there listening quietly and when she is finished he shakes his head. "Ye be in right about all tats, buts we's has no tims fur its."

The dwarf jumps up and says to the group, "Tease 'oods be full 'o tem dog'eads. Ands mays be tey attack or tey wonts. So in if ye sits awaitn' tins ye lose ta times we gots."

"We's are 'eadin ta da Madds Eatercap, mays bee tey leavin us alone, ans may bees not, so keeps alert ye greenies." With that the dwarf shoulders his pack and starts of again.

[sblock=ooc] Maybe we should discuss a marching order (just in case Martomum is wrong ) maybe use the ooc for that. Greyhay and the unknown backtracker are out scouting [/sblock]

[sblock=ML]
No checks as of yet, but a list af spells for the day if you please. [/sblock]

 

[Dragonwriter]

Jareth's lip curls at the mention of gnolls, knowing a bit about the loathsome creatures.

At Lora's little speech, the duskblade looks a bit surprised. "How'd you learn so much about the dog-men? Anyways, it was pretty well put and a decent strategy, if the dwarf thought we had more time..."

Jareth shrugs and pulls his chain from his hip, lazily swinging one end about as he walks a little behind Martomum. Now that the weapon is uncoiled, it's easy to tell this is one of the unusual spiked chain weapons, a difficult thing to wield properly but also very useful.

[sblock=OOC]
Jareth will stay near the front.

If you want to roll my Listen and Spot, HM, they don't have a modifier.

And Jareth has the following spells:
0 level (Used 0/3): Touch of Fatigue, Acid Splash, Ray of Frost, Disrupt Undead
1 level (used 0/3): Color Spray, Shocking Grasp
[/sblock]

 

[Theroc]

"Hmm... dogmen. Maybe they had somethin' ta do with pa's crops..." he muttered under his breath, before turning to the others. "I've no objection to anything we do really, as long as we dun't get sidetracked and get the message through too late..."

When the group moved, Aidan made sure he was relatively close to Lora.

[sblock=OOC]
For marching order, Aidan will stay as close to Lora as he can without being creepy/invasive, so he can jump between any attackers and her. Aside from that, he won't have any preferences as to back/side/front.[/sblock]

 

[Myth and Legend]

Lora mounted her Glaive on her shoulder and leered her head to the side, looking at the new face in the group. A young, soft faced red haired boy, that was a full head taller than Lora, but seemed skinny to her. "I read a book. And who are you again?" she replied dryly, and continued marching. She turned towards Martoumum and tried to reason with him. "I'm positive we cannot evade them for long and that the more we prolong this, the bolder they will get. If we cut them down now, the others will be afraid to approach us."

[sblock]0 level: Daze, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Ghost Sound
1 level: Enlarge Person, Sleep, Backbiter

Dragon - 5' 10'' weighting 115 pounds only? Lora is 5'4' and weighs 129 pounds.. You described him as muscular in the RG post, so I didn't know which one to go with and only said skinny, although honestly his ideal weight is around 166 pounds which makes him severely underweight.[/sblock]

 

[Dragonwriter]

Jareth shrugs. "You didn't seem too interested in who I was when you walked right by me in camp. Name's Jareth, newly stuck with this bunch."

He keeps walking, idly swinging the chain around and looking about. He's never been too comfortable in the woods, despite where he was raised...

[sblock=OOC]
Sorry. What I meant was that he's very wiry. He's definitely a beanpole, but strong nonetheless. He looks real skinny, but that's just appearance. His overall frame belies his strength, but his arms are well-muscled. And since he's so young, he's not fully grown out yet. You can kinda think along the lines of Tobey Maguire in the new Spider-Man movies (particularly the first one), if that helps.
[/sblock]