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Message: <blockquote data-quote="silentspace" data-source="post: 1167495" data-attributes="member: 14316">Observing the guards’ interactions, Rowyn guesses that Guard 1 is the closest to Darien.  No one asked him, but he volunteers his name.  His name is Rekar, and he has a shaved head and a large scar on his left forearm.  He replies “You mean hate the hobgoblins?  Well..”  He studies you for a moment before continuing.“You haven’t been guarding caravans long, have you?  When you guard caravans, hobgoblins are your worst enemies.  The other bad ones are orcs and bandits.  And sometimes bugbears.  Oh, there are lots of wild beasts, not to mention ogres, owlbears and other creatures around these parts, but they are not as dangerous because they don’t belong to large groups.“The reason hobgoblins, orcs, bandits, and bugbears will retreat from a caravan is because all those creatures belong to larger war bands.  When they see a caravan, first thing they’ll do is retreat to tell their friends about it.  Then, next thing you know, you’ll have 20 bugbears, or 100 orcs or bandits ambushing you.  Believe me, that’s not pleasant.  "The hobgoblins, on the other hand, won’t even bother setting up an ambush.  Why would you need to set up an ambush if you have 300 warriors?  Or 1,000 if we’re talking about the Red Claw Clan.  Nope, the hobgoblins just walk up and take what they want.  If you’re very lucky, they might let you walk away, if you leave everything of value behind and walk away naked that is.  So the best way for a caravan to survive is to have a good spotter like Darien, who can see the scouting parties, and take them out before they can return and let their tribes know there’s a caravan to be hijacked.“Small groups of travelers don’t think much of hobgoblin scouting parties because that’s all they’ll be facing, the scouting party.  The hobgoblins won’t be running back to call the whole tribe down on them.  Caravans are different though.  We have wagon loads of goods for them to loot and sell.  “Really, I’m surprised this hadn’t occurred to you earlier.  You didn’t think guarding caravans would be a walk in the park, did you?”You get a feeling that he’s holding something back.  You realize that he hasn’t answered your question, and get the sense he won’t be divulging any personal information about his good friend Darien to a stranger.  (barely failed diplomacy check.)</blockquote>

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