A Keep On The Borderlands: Arrival

[Kaodi]

Brother Comoray does as has been suggested, though he is perhaps mildly annoyed that Sh'aah thinks he needs direction to wash off some plant goop. Better to endure such than to undo any progress made with his new companion.

" I think that the fire burns in her heart. In that she honours the goddess, " says Brother Comoray. " So yes, I do like her. "

With a miscievious grin, the priest adds, " It merely remains to be seen how much. "

 

[ahayford]

"Probably for the best," Arcata says with a nod towards Greggory. "You didn't have numbers to withstand an attack and, strictly selfishly of course, I'm glad you escaped that fate. We'd have ridden right into trap otherwise." She watches the sergeant's men eating, then says "There's still some wine left if you prefer that to water. It's thin and warm, but the best I can offer at the moment."

After that she leaned over to stare intently at the diagram. "We should assume the worst; that the keep and its fortifications are occupied. We haven't forces enough to risk a direct assault. What are our options as far as you see them?" she asks Gregg, then looks at Bastian as well, inlcluding him in the question.

Greggory is a bit shocked by Lady Arcata's generosity.

Thank you....My men will appreciate it. I'm afraid I don't touch the stuff. Father was a bit of a drunk.

As far as options....I think we have two choices....

Greggory picks up his stick and draws a road leading out from the fort.

First, we try and draw out anything that might have taken up residence at the fort. We make ourselves up to look like a small supply caravan come to supply the fort from the river. We'll have a small group head up the road and then fake a broken axle here, well in view of the fort. The rest of the men would lie in ambush positions along the road in these rocks.

Greggory draws a ridge line and some rocks a the amush point.

If nothing comes out, we lose nothing. If we manage to draw them out, we gain the advantage. The second option....

Greggory draws an arrow at a point along the wall.

I noticed a small breach here, on the west wall. A small group could sneak in under the cover of night to investigate the fortress. It would mean crossing no mans land without cover and climbing over the abbatis. Once we reach the fort though, we should be able to make it through the wall here behind the stable....assuming that whatever is in there sleeps.

Greggory looks at Lady Arcata and her body guard expectantly.

 

[jkason]

Bastian Sangue, human cavalier

Bastian frowns, considering.

"Well, I'm not much for sneaking, myself," the cavalier says, gesturing vaguely to his clanking metal armor. "But I would like to get some kind of eyes on the place before we set ourselves up as bait. I'm not sure we need to get inside for some preliminary scouting, though. But since you've steered clear of the area since you left it, Greggory, it might be good to get at least a basic glance at the landmarks to make sure they haven't shifted in the meanwhile.

"If we can verify the ambush site still seems intact and viable. I'd rather that plan, where we can take advantage of our full force, than risk losing anyone from our already-compact company separated from us for an infiltration."

 

[Axel]

Sh'aah

"Good," is all the half-orc can think to grunt in reply. After standing and watching Brother Comoray continue to clean the statue for a bit longer, and with nothing more to say, Sh'aah wanders off without a word to find a water source.

Must try to catch some of the rabbits tonight. Good eating on them...

His path takes him near enough to the circle of three plotting humans, where he notices the scrawled lines and shapes on the ground. The ranger studies them as he lopes past thinking Funny sort of writing for human writing. Looks magical. Probably too much talking again...not enough doing. Should go see the living dead tonight when everyone sleeps and count them. Less talking that way.

 

[Shayuri]

"I agree the ambush is the only real way to engage," Arcata says, poking idly at the drawing with a stick. "But I hate to get into a fight knowing nothing of our opponents. We need more information. It's a risk, but we need to scout the enemy...get at least an estimate of their forces and disposition."

At that, a small lizardlike head popped up from the large satchel she'd set down beside her and emitted a querying sort of chirp. Arcata smiled and reached down to scratch just under the corners of its jaw.

"No, not you. If you could fly, maybe...but they'd cook you for dinner if they caught you, and then where would I be?"

The critter chirruped and popped all the way out of the bag. It had the approximate body shape of a very lean, somewhat small chicken. Its forelimbs were fairly short...long enough to reach the ground, and its own mouth, but no more so. Its tail was flexible, a little like a cat's...not like a normal lizard's stiff tail at all. Perhaps its two-legged mode of walking required a tail that could counterbalance it more flexibly. The tiny scales that covered the creature were a mottled pattern of green over most of it, fading to brownish over the forelimbs and legs.

It gave Greggory a curious look, then padded to the fire where it squatted down to enjoy the warmth of it.

Arcata sighed. "What I wouldn't give for one of father's spyglasses right now."

 

[jkason]

Bastian Sangue, human cavalier

Bastian regarded Aracata's familiar a moment. The small lizard-bird had unsettled him at first, but he'd quickly come to realize that while it might look odd, it was as loyal to his liege as he was (or, he was ashamed to admit, moreso). Still, the Lady's concerns gave him a vague idea.

"What do beastmen eat?" he pondered aloud. "I mean, bloodthirsty folk like that are carnivores, and if they don't maintain livestock, and I can't imagine they do, then surely they hunt, yes? Maybe if we set ourselves to watch a good game trail or a watering hole, we might catch sight of a hunting party, and either question them ourselves or perhaps extrapolate vague numbers by how much they seem to be catching?"

OOC: Please note: my character is trained in military strategies and the like, but I'm fairly horrible at it. Go easy on poor Bastian for having to verbalize my malformed ideas.

 

[Axel]

Sh'aah

Sh'aah's ears were well tuned to odd sounds. It was a neccesity of survival in the wild parts of the world. As he passed, Sh'aah distinctly heard the big warrior that deferred to the Lady mention the beastmen and his ears pricked up.

Turning around, he volunteered a statement without prompting for the second time that day - surely a new record. "I know about beastmen. Why talk about them when tomorrow we fight the dead at the fort?"

OOC: Hey, many people trained in military strategies are god-awful at it. Many people that aren't are probably fairly handy at it but just haven't tried. [MENTION=21938]Dr Simon[/MENTION] What does Sh'aah know about Beastmen? I've fought against the Broo in Runequest that you mentioned they were based on, but that's all I've got to go on. Any chance that Sh'aah would know a few basic facts (diet, night vision, preferred environment etc)?

 

[Shayuri]

"The dead?" Arcata asked. "According to Sergeant Greggory, the keep was attacked by Beastmen, and overwhelmed. If there are forces still holding it, they'd likely be beastmen. Come sit with us, Sh'aah. If you know about beastmen, then we're all very interested in hearing what you have to say."

 

[Dr Simon]

[sblock=Sh'aah]
Beastmen are scavengers and opportunists. They eat anything, living or dead although they prefer fresh meat (despite their herbivore appearance). Generally they are lazy, slovenly and undisciplined. It's unlikely that they would post any kind of organised guard, but then it's also unlikely that they would have taken it in the first place, so....

Knowledge (local) will give you more information.
[/sblock]

[sblock=OOC]
This is kind of cool. Four pages and the GM's only posted three times, including this one!

Knowledge (local) will give information on the beastmen.
[/sblock]

 

[Axel]

Sh'aah

Sh'aah's brow wrinkles, and he scratches the back of his head while he processes what Lady Arcata has just said. Still, he takes a few steps towards the trio and squats down in the dirt with a good view to all three. "Beastmen are bad news. They are tough and strong but lazy and with no order to things, like Orcs. Eat everything like dogs, but fresh meat is better. Like dogs in many ways, now I think about it. Bad smell, bad teeth, noisy, many things the same." He grins a little, trying to emphasise that the last sentences were an attempt at a joke.

Looking to each of the three in turn, he asks "Why was this place attacked? Not normal for them to attack a strong place. Need to know more to keep everyone safe." Pointing to Greggory, the half orc adds "He said only corpses there now. Corpses are dead, yes? If all are dead, then no problem?"