Respen Keeps His Sense of Urgency
~
How capital!! Down the hole with you, but then what? ~
Respen, slightly amazed that the plan actually worked, collects himself for a moment. With the last attack on the orc closest to him, the party had vanquished a demon-woman, perhaps a succubus, a golem (perhaps not destroyed, but certainly put back), and a collection of orcs. Particularly, he made mental note of the tactics that each of the party members had engaged. Dewydd's assaults were nearly always frontal attacks, and if surprise was successful, the attacks were particularly deadly. Lathir's attacks were calculated, almost as if he were applying the correct tool to a problem; Respen sensed the magical significance of the dispatching of the succubus, though he wasn't entirely sure what it meant. Vale's and Sylvar's attacks were direct where necessary, and restrained where necessary. And the new hobbit's presence clearly presented an additional surprise; an opponent unseen, an opponent indeed. And Respen's...his attacks were more effective in getting obstacles out of the way; distraction and countermeasure.
As Sylvar ropes the captive red orc, Respen leaves the 'true believer orc' #3 to Lathir and moves quickly toward the well, peaking over the edge for a moment before moving toward the ashen remains (or not) of the succubus, taking a small sack from his backpack. He scans the tree line in a 360-degree circle.
He stops abruptly in mid-thought, looks toward the captive orc, and then he looks back at the well again.
He speaks to Sylvar in elvish,
but as close to Margull’s voice as he can manage; although his Hat of Disguise allows him to look like the Lord Mayor, it does nothing for the voice.
“Toron (brother), don’t touch anything on him without using a sack or glove. We really ought to strip search him and either throw him down the well or remove him from here.” Watch for a visible reaction from the orc, even imperceptible, that the orc understands or doesn’t understand elvish. Respen speaks again, this time in common (still in Margull’s voice)
“Say no names lest we tip our hand.”
| GM: |
Sense Motive roll = 3 (fail)
The Orc makes no obvious sign of understanding, although you can't be 100% certain. One thing you do know is that the Orcish language is a twisted dialect of Archaic Elvish, at least in spoken form. He might have been able to understand some of what you said, based on this fact alone. But if he does understand, he's got an excellent poker face.
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He turns and motions for Dewydd,
"Warrior, would you be so kind as to watch my back for but a moment, and perhaps keep an eye on the tree line around us? "
Using the sack as a glove so not to not touch anything that might curse or otherwise harm the party or him, Respen searches and removes any useful items from the remains of the succubus.
| GM: |
You find a ring, and a wand among the ashes.
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He remarks in a normal voice,
"We'll just carry this to a place where it can be more carefully discerned. We need to do this to the others. Warrior, would you check these two fallen?” Respen motions toward Orc #1 and #5.
| GM: |
There were originally 6 Orcs. 5 are dead, one is captured. Assuming you strip the captive of his possessions, you will end up with:
6 Chainmail Shirts
6 Falchions (of Pomarj design and markings)
6 Short Bows
6 Quivers / 20 arrows each
12 Belt Pouches with miscellaneous small tools (flint and steel, etc.) and rations (dried meats, rancid nuts [an Orc delicacy], and dried fruits. The fruits and meats are edible, although they stink of Orcish seasoning, and smell nothing like you would expect them to.)
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He again scans the tree line in all directions, moves to peek into the well a second time, and then address Sylvar again in elvish,
“Who among us speaks Orcish?”
