S1: The Strange Case of Aif Jenkins' Farm (E13 judge) - Concluded

[El Jefe]

"Where's she going?"

Boog sighed. These two fools were probably trying to kill him and this little halfing didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. "Use the Mindlink!", his thoughts practically barked inside Beamer's head. "And the answer to your question is, 'I don't know'."

"At least I wasn't fool enough to try to warn that drunken dwarf, too", Boog thought privately to himself.

 

[SlagMortar]

Sorry, Beamer says through the mindlink. He let's Louie (bat familiar) out and sends him over to the stable to crawl in under the eve and see if a two people are inside.

 

[Manzanita]

Boog and the others don't see the men outside in the dark. The moon provides enough light to determine this. At the gate, a man sits by a torch on a platform about 5 feet off the ground. From here he is able to see over the wall. This, presumably, is the night guard for the little fort.

Toler and Rafferty have indeed moved to the stable. They are unfolding blankets and making pillows out of clothes in order to sleep in the straw. Boog steps to the door followed by the others. They look up. "What's up?" asks Toler.

 

[El Jefe]

"What's up?" asks Toler.

Boog tried his best to look relaxed. "Nothing important", he said with a shrug. "I was just curious as to what sort of cargo would be so valuable that you'd want to sleep out here to protect it." Through his loose eyelids he kept a close watch on the man. "Just a little distraction", he thought to himself, "that's all I need to use my Power."[sblock=OoC: ]Bluff at +2 to divert suspicion. Should an opening present itself, he'll manifest Psionic Charm on Toler, DC 14 Will save negates. Of course he'll try to suppress the display, +9 on the DC 16 concentration check to do that.[/sblock]

 

[Patlin]

Through the link: Beamer's good at distractions. Ask him to use his noise spell.

edit: Err, that is if your earlier thought was over the link...

 

[Manzanita]

"Our cargo is our business." says Toler suspiciously. "It's late and I'm tired. We can talk again in the morning."

The men have no obvious cargo. They have one horse each, with normal saddlebags. Rafferty has the fine heavy crossbow, and also has what appears to be a dwarven waraxe made out of a single piece of dark metal. He is still wearing studded leather armor. Toler has leather armor, a long sword, and a small metal sheild on his horse.

I'm not sure what oportunity Boog is waiting for to manifest his power. Both men are looking at him at this point.

 

[El Jefe]

"Our cargo is our business." says Toler suspiciously. "It's late and I'm tired. We can talk again in the morning."

"I suppose it is", replied Boog. He feigned being miffed, and turned to leave. His eyes met Beamer's.

"Distract him", he thought to the halfing. "I wish to use my Powers, but without being obvious about it."

I'm not sure what oportunity Boog is waiting for to manifest his power. Both men are looking at him at this point.

OoC: Just need Toler to look away for a moment. Psionic Charm would still work even if he was staring at Boog, but this way there would be a lot less explaining to do if he made his save.

 

[SlagMortar]

Beamer quickly tries to think through a couple of possibilities that might work well as a distraction. He's not quite sure what these men would find distracting, but quickly settles on wolves howling as something that would not seem out of place and at least take their attention away from Boog for a moment if no more. He moves a bit away from the stable to make it happen. He casts ghost sound immitating the sound of wolves howling back and forth south of the lodge and slowly moving closer to the wooden pallisade.

 

[Boddynock]

Eusebius, standing behind Boog, looks to the south at the sound of wolves.

 

[Manzanita]

The sound of the howling wolves clearly affects both of the men. They look at each other. Both men strap on their weapons. "Sounds like trouble out there." says Rafferty. "Maybe we should all check it out."

They move towards the door. Assuming the PCs step aside, the two men pass through the door and look around. The palasade does not have a catwalk all the way around. It is about 8 feet high. It does have a platform about 4 feet above the ground at each corner and in the center of each wall. A man could stand on one of these to shoot arrows and see over the wall. Toler and Rafferty move South, towards the wolf sounds and the gate.