Gamon shakes the mud off his boot, and makes his way up to the rest of the party. "If you want, I could try to get up close, to see if I hear anything, or find a secondary entrance. I'm not sure going in the main entrance is the best course of action, if we can avoid it."
Tutkia jumps slightly as the halfling speaks. "There you are," he says gruffly but with some relief. "Thought we might have lost you." Clearing a bit of muddy earth and handing a convenient stick to Gunnar he continues, "Why don't you give us a quick sketch of what you saw?"
[OOC: KL, So do I understand from your description that there is a moat of some kind (you mentioned a drawbridge)? Tutkia swims like a rock. Maybe Gunnar or Gamon could try to sneak across the moat and climb the tower? Or maybe we should just suck it up and hope the goblins are all sleeping the day away.]
Approaching Gunnar, Gamon says sarcastically, "well, this bog gets any deeper, you will lose me! Let's just get to where we're going. I'm tired of slogging through this bog."
*Gunnar takes the proffered stick and draws a quick sketch of the fortress.*
"The upper levels of the tower have fallen in, but there could be bandits lounging in the courtyard. I found what look like goblin and animal tracks heading toward the fortress as well. They're pretty fresh, six or so hours old. I'd like to take another, closer, look to see if there's anything in the courtyard."
Tutkia nods. "Fine. Why don't you take Gamon with you so he can dry off? The rest of us will move up to the edge of cover to keep an eye on you in case you run into trouble."
OOC: Yep. I should have been clearer. That's what I get for following the module's text word for word. Sorry about that.
Gunnar, Gamon: [Gunnar, Stalking and Hiding, roll of 36 on dice, +35 skilled, total 71, yields a 90 on the RR table; Gamon, Stalking and Hiding, roll of 36 on dice, +91 skilled, total 126, yields 130 on the RR table] You move closer to the tower, heading up the path through the bogs and to the drawbridge. Just as you get to the bridge, Gunnar takes an awkward step on one of the planks, causing it to creak ever so slightly. A pause. You can hear your hearts beating, but nothing else. Apparently, nothing has noticed you as of yet.
The courtyard itself is a rectangle, with the entrance via the drawbridge in the lower left corner and the tower diagonally across from it in the upper right corner. Directly across from you, in the upper left, is a rubble-covered stairway that leads up to the ramparts of the tower (since collapsed). It appears empty, but a heavy scrub grass and broken tiles cover the ground, obstructing your view of the deeper corners. It's unlikely, but possible that something could be hiding in the corner down and to your right, or in the rubble on the stairwell.
Tutkia, Gallen, Huuliveikkirkkoherra: You wait until the other group is a fair distance away and then you start to follow.
Tutkia, Gallen:
[Gallen, Perception, roll of 91 on dice, +27 skilled, total 118; Tutkias, Perception, roll of 52, +25 skilled, total 77] You each hear a rather loud and somewhat angry croak come from the bog to your right.
Gamon will pause and take a look around to see if he notices anything out of the ordinary. And while we're stopped, he'll cup his ear to see if he hears anything. (OOC: I guess spot and listen are both rolled into perception, but I'll do both anyway)
Gamon will then motion to Gunnar that he's going to check out the stairwell, quietly, hopefully.
Hefting his axe, Tutkia says, "Did you hear that?" He moves away from the crumbling edge of the path, but keeps moving forward. He peers into the thick foliage, trying to make out what might have made the sound.
