D&D 5E (IC) Scourge of Daggerford


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Escella spoke with her usual authority (she was, after all, the only one acting in any official capacity, if one didn't include the permissions of the elf lord Darfin). The group packed their things and left the Jagged Scythe camp behind them, returning to the forest for cover. They circled westward and worked their way clockwise around the hill upon which stood the ruined keep.

The sun was lowering at their backs in the west and the forest cast long shadows that made for excellent cover. The group were able to get within four hundred feet of the castle. The keep had been built by the solid construction of dwarves, but in the human style. It had been ruined for some five-hundred years. The original wooden structures which would have stood on the stone foundations were long since gone, but various squatters over recent years had built ramshackle replacements - a crooked outbuilding here, a watchtower there. The forty-foot high stone tower bore a relatively recent roof.

The ten-foot-thick outer wall had a breach on the south-east side, only just visible from their observation point. It was just past the old archway that went over the access road and connected the main wall to an outbuilding (most probably a guard station, stables, and menagerie in times past). Looking up the hill at the keep did not make it possible to see over the walls, but a watchtower flew a banner that looked like a crescent moon mixed with a fanged maw.
 

Tommi had tried to get rid of the war-pig, but every time he shooed it off into the forest, it would show up ten minutes later, following them.

"Ye shood nae have fed him," scolded Angis.
 


It seemed that the orcs rode their boars without a saddle, and aside from a simple leather hood with metal studs to protect its face, it had no barding. Tommi had seen the orc boar-rider control the beast (and hang-on) by thick, coarse hair on the back of its neck. He tried that, but he found it hard to pull hard enough (or correctly) to get the boar to go where he wanted it to. It was easily distracted by various smells, and would wander off the trail to snuffle under a bush while Tommi kicked and pulled to no avail. In addition, Tommi found its back terribly uncomfortable, and when he dismounted, he discovered a lingering pain in his groin.

By then, Tommi was quite convinced that he was getting the hang of it. He imagined how Sherlen would laugh to see him ride into town on bare boar-back. Dandin would have made a lewd joke of that. He wondered if he would ever see either of them again.

When they arrived at their look-out spot, the boar sat down nearby and went to sleep.
 

"Dangerous beasts. Be careful, Tommi. War beasts don't last long, don't get too attached." Vairar looks at the young human with amusement
"It was a brave thing you did with that orog."

"It is not much information, but we don't have a better vantage to count the orcs…If anyone feels fleet enough to run back to the estate and deliver the info...or maybe Angis could call another bird to fly there? " he looks over the group
"...if not, we should probably be as far away as we can before orcs come."
 

They stood in the lengthening shadows of the trees, far down the hill from the ruined castle and observed as an orcish hunting party returned carrying a stag. On the north end of the west wall, a somewhat poorly-fashioned wooden double-door had been secured to what had once been an impressive gate-house. The orc hunters pounded on the door and shouted. From the cheers within, it seemed there were quite a few hungry orcs inside.

As the hunting party was let in, a make-shift shutter on a window of the intact tower opened, and a bald male human looked out, as if to see what the ruckus was about. After looking down from the tower into the courtyard for a moment, the human seemed satisfied and closed the shutters. By then, the keen-sighted observers were convinced that they had spotted a Red Wizard of Thay.

They were about to return to the safety of deeper into the forest to discuss what they'd seen and to reconfirm what their next steps would be, when Tommi's War-Pig began to squeal, a sound that threatened to betray their presence to the castle guards.

The boar had stood up, and attached to its head was a serpent-like creature slightly taller than a man. The thing had four tentacles, which wrapped themselves about the boar's neck.

Another of the serpent-creatures was behind the boar and it opened its tentacles to reveal a sharp-looking beak, which bit at the boar's behind. Rustling in the bushes suggested that more of the creatures were likely nearby.

OOC: Boar (needs a name) takes 20 damage and is grappled. Then we start combat.


 

GM: Encounter: Doughty Daggerfordians vs Gricks
GrickForest1.jpg

(General Features) Difficult Terrain: Trees, Rocks; Visibility: Bright Light (Day); Dim Light under trees. Hazards: Potential observers to the East
Name * AC * HP * Hit Dice * PasPrc * Spells * (Notes)
(PCs)
Dornuk AC18* HP 10?/71 HD 4?/6 PP14* MA 3?/3 BM 3?/3 S.dc15
Escella AC14 HP 20/33 HD 0/6 PP18 SS 4/4 3/3 2/2 SP 5/5
Lionel AC16 HP 51/51 HD 4/6 PP14
Tommi AC14 HP 37/39 HD 3/6 PP17
Vairar AC18*(20*) HP 29/45 HD 1/6 PP13* SS 2/4 1/3 1/3
(NPCs)
Angis AC14(15) HP 54/58 HD 1/6 PP15* SS 2/4 1/2 3xAxe+6;1d10+3
Oh-Six AC13(18) HP 22/22 HD 4/4 PP15(20)* Shock+5,1d8; SS 2/3 fly60'
Boar AC13 HP 22/42 HD 5/5 PP8 (grappled)
Name * AC * HP * PP * (Notes)
(BGs)
Gricks AC14 HP33ea PP12*
-Gr1 33/33; Gr2 33/33;
-Gr3 33/33; Gr4 33/33;
GM: Begin Round One
 

Tommi hears the squeals. "Sergeant Pork!". The boy had been stretching his muscles, trying to work out some of the stiffness that had built up, and continuing to poke in his side where he'd got stuck (like a pig) on the barricade from the orc camp.

He runs to see what might be causing concern, reaching into his pockets and removing three stones as he does so. "I'm coming," he whispers to himself, as he blows on the pebbles in the curl of his hand.

OOC: Move and Action Dash: 60' to AC36.
Bonus: Cast Magic Stone (3 stones left).

HP: 37/39.
 

Lionel heard the squealing too and followed Tommi as fast as he could. Between the trees, he could see the boar being grappled by a snake like creature. We need to quite this down, he said to Tommi, who looked like he was readying some stones for his sling. Lionel lifted his trusted crossbow and let the bolt loose on the snake thing. But running that far made him huff and puff so much that he missed the snake.

Bonus action: Dash
Move: to AE35, right behind Tommi
Action: Crossbow attack, with damage: 1D20+7 = [5]+7 = 12
1D8+4 = [5]+4 = 9
, miss!

Hmmm, is the boar an ally of Lionel? Could Lionel get sneak attack on the grick? Well, Lionel missed this round...
 

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