[D&D 5E] Securing the Alliance: An Adventure in Tethyr (IC)

Boddynock watched the Gnoll archer run away, putting enough distance between them that he gas to think momentarily about his tactics.

Dammit...

He could stretch things and hit the running Gnoll, but there was still one foe in range to deal with. He let loose another bolt of fire, aimed at the remaining Gnoll.

Gnorth beguns to whistle as he drops his hammer, pulls out his bow, and knocks an arrow, all the while sauntering towards the escaping gnoll.

Lorenzo shakes his head ruefully at the gnoll snapping at his duplicate.

"No, over here."

Then he gives a quick thrust with his blade, trying to end the fight in his favor.

Round 5

Corilo moved forward to aid Lorenzo, firing his hand crossbow with lightning speed. The first bolt hit solidly. The second looked like it was going to hit the rocks behind which the gnoll had taken cover, but a lucky ricochet off the top of the boulder skipped the bolt deep into the gnoll's chest. The force of the shots knocked it back briefly, just in time to spoil Lorenzo's aim with his rapier. Cursing, he readied for another attack when a bolt of flame slammed into the gnoll's head from the right. The heat of the flames sucked out the air from its lungs, not even giving it a chance to howl in pain as it crumpled to the ground, quite dead.

Gnorth took aim at the fleeing gnoll but missed badly. The gnoll continued its flight in the distance, darting into a
copse of trees and disappearing from sight. Aside from the guttering of flames, the silence of the night was complete.

Lorenzo and Lorenzo shrug expressively, and then there is only one, who bends down to clean his blade on whatever rags the gnoll wore before sheathing it again.

"Well, that happened. Odd for there to be gnolls running around this close to a major road like that. Still, that one seemed to be in charge, I assume he's the reason they're here. The question is, 'do we trust the last one to keep running, or do we have to find somewhere else to camp for the night?' Because I'm bushed."

He wanders back over to the cart and Joté, who seems barely cognizant of the whole scene. He thumps the beast on the side, "Good donkey." then looks to Corilo, "Where'd your horse go?"

"Nice shot," Brue called to Corilo. "Anyone hurt?"

Hearing Brue's dry compliment, Corilo lowered his eyes "Er, thanks Brue, you're too kind. You fought very well too." he answered, and walked away abruptly, on the direction where Andal went.

Corilo whistled, and Andal came back, galloping. "Here he is", he replied to Lorenzo with a smile. He dug a piece of cloth from his saddlebags and bandaged the scratch he got from the gnoll's glaive. He cursory checked the dead gnolls, to see if they had anything of value on them.

Then, he addressed the party:

"I'm not sure we should rest here. The one that got away might come back with friends. I don't know gnoll customs, but they might want to get back the bodies of their buddies. Or at lest their armaments. Let's keep going another couple of miles."

Corilo then reached Gnorth, whose wounds seemed not to bother him much "Thanks for the warning earlier, that arrow would've got me. I owe you one"

The battle over, Boddynock stumbled a bit as he sat back down on the seat of the carriage. Pulling at the strings of magic was hard work, and the unbalanced nature with which he plucked those strings always left him feeling a bit woozy. Especially when he bent the forces beyond what they should be capable of and then didn't continue to use them properly; the wild nature of his magic needed balance, and that balance now would only come with some rest.

When he regained a bit more solid footing he jumped down from the cart and made his way towards Brue and Lorenzo, his eyes a bit glassy and his head still swimming just slightly. He looked up at them for a a few moments before the words he was searching for came to him.

"What help do you need of me? I agree with our friend Corlio that here may not be a safe place to rest. Besides," he said, nodding towards Grimfang, "that one might have a bounty on his head. He was obviously in charge; the rest of these dog-men didn't appear to be too intelligent to make any decisions on their own other than to run like cowards."

He walked over towards Grimfang's body, still cautious, his hands twitching a bit. He hadn't seen many fights before, and had been in far fewer than his recent courage would belie. He wanted everyone else to think that he was brave and capable, even when the unbalanced nature of his magic coupled with adrenaline made him want to vomit. He choked back some stomach acid and knelt down, making it seem like he was looking through Grimfang's possessions.

Lorenzo nods at Boddynock.

"I think we're all set then. If we're moving on, not much to be done with this lot. Just recover the horse and all climb up on the cart again."

Corilo searched through the pouches of the defeated gnolls and came up with some pocket change. While pretending to search through Grimfang's possessions in order to recover from the stress of the battle, Boddynock spotted a small pouch on the pack leader's belt. Opening it up, he found a few gemstone, one transparent green gemstone and three transparent blue crystals. Clearing the field near the gnome, Brue warily chimed in, "The green one's a chrysopase and the blue ones are quartz." Her nature as an earth genasi and her training in jewelcrafting meant that she was readily familiar with gemstones. If the bandit crew had other wealth, it was likely in a hideout somewhere; it was also very likely that the archer who got away just became a relatively wealthy gnoll.

Moving the bodies to the woods, the party set off south for a few miles. The night had taken full hold by the time they stopped. Managing to locate a moderately defensible position surrounded by large boulders, Corilo notified the rest of his companions and they setup camp. Donkey Joté seemed rather pleased at the idea of stopping for some time. With the watch set, the hares Corilo brought down earlier were chopped up into a decent stew. The night passed in relative peace and quiet. In the middle of the night, Gnorth thought he heard some rustling nearby, but failed to see anything, even with his darkvision. During the last shift, Lorenzo heard a twig snap, but quickly realized that Donkey Joté had woken up and stepped on a nearby branch as he moved over to graze.



With dawn breaking, the group gathered up their equipment and set off south again. Nothing interrupted the rest of their travels and by late afternoon on the 9th of Marpenoth, they arrived at the gates of Port Mir.


A small line of merchant carts and wagons waiting to enter Port Kir stood between the party and the entrance to the small city. What drew their attention, however, was the large body of an ugly ogre tied to a hastily erected scaffolding standing next to the road leading into town. The body appeared to have been preserved to some degree, but the signs of serious wounds could not be hidden, even by a skilled hand.


​Credit Lothar Zhou @ DeviantArt

As the party finally reached the gates of Port Kir, a pair of guardsmen stopped the procession. "Afternoon, fair travelers. Do you have any goods to declare before entry to Port Kir?" asked one of the guards, eyeing the cart with skepticism.