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Story Hour
The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #136 Into the Mere of the Dead Men.
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<blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 8069442" data-attributes="member: 16069"><p style="text-align: center"><strong>Dark Squad in the Forge of Fury</strong></p><p></p><p><strong>Session #013a Into the Wild. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here).</strong></p><p><strong>Buggles (played by Stu) Male Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 1/Rogue Lvl 2</strong></p><p><strong>New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 3</strong></p><p><strong>Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 3</strong></p><p><strong>Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 3</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>NPCs</strong></p><p><strong>Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 3</strong></p><p></p><p>This is session 13, unlucky for some- but certainly not for us- this one was a cracker.</p><p></p><p>Here goes, last time we left the Dark Squad they were at Castell Gwythyr in the Neverwinter Woods, and about to head out to a mountain called the Stone Tooth in search of the entrance to Khundrukhar, the location of the lost forges of Durgeddin the Black. Durgeddin was a master dwarven smith back in the day, slightly odd because he manufactured (magical) swords, rather than the more traditional dwarven fair. The Dark Squad found an ancient scroll back in the Sunless Citadel which, after much downtime research, has lead them here.</p><p></p><p>So, into the wilds, although… first up a twenty minute (lively- at times) discussion about how they’re going to travel- do we follow the well-worn track- on which orc patrols have been spotted? When do we travel- during the night or the day? Where are we heading for? The conversation rumbles on for a while until the answers finally reveal themselves.</p><p></p><p>Oh, and just a reminder the Dark Squad are also out to kill orcs, apparently there are a bunch of them in the forest hereby, and they’re getting uppity. Lord Boskin at Castell Gwythyr has offered a 5gp/orc bounty.</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad, it is finally decided, will be travelling at night- they’re all blessed with darkvision, and the orcs are active at night. They’ll be avoiding the trail- going off road as it were, and moving slowly and stealthily- where and when possible, with the rogues scouting a little way ahead. Keep in mind that Buggles lives in the Neverwinter Woods so, he’s at home here.</p><p></p><p>Last call- the Dark Squad are going to initially make their way to the cabin in the wild woods of Spandwick the Magic Gnome (and his wife Bel), ex-mesmerist and Erky’s brother. After checking in with the gnome they’re going to cast around looking for the orcs, and Khundrukhar- of course, while heading towards the Stone Tooth.</p><p></p><p>That’s the plan, y’know- subject to reality.</p><p></p><p>[Travel discussion 100 XP]</p><p></p><p>So…</p><p></p><p><strong>Night 1:</strong> into the woods and all is well with the world, easy job this- it’s cold, there are a few flurries of snow but… that’s it really. The Dark Squad even make good time with Buggles leading the way, and get plenty of rest during the following day.</p><p></p><p>Fret not, nothing that follows is simple and/or easy- time to mess with them.</p><p></p><p><strong>Night 2:</strong> on the second night of travel the snow really comes down, and the Dark Squad switch to trudge mode- no encounters but, at the end of the hike Ram and Vincenzo are exhausted and needing warmth, food and rest. The Squad are forced to get a fire going for Ram, Vinnie on the other hand spends a good time wildshaped into a mouse and safely ensconced in Garumn’s very warm pocket.</p><p></p><p>The pair recover, and are good to go for the next night’s travels.</p><p></p><p>[Staying safe and well on the trail 50 XP]</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]124874[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Look at that FG screen, all neat and tidy- the DM approves, have a house point and an extra bit of tuck from matron.</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Night 3:</strong> and the Dark Squad have to cross the orc trail, and whatdya know- there are orcs on the track, a little on the nose- but why not.</p><p></p><p>That said the terrible twosome- Ramshambow and Buggles, communicating in thieves’ cant sign-language, and as silent as the grave (apposite) are at the orcs in an instant. There are five of the brutes moving down the trail, a pair of them hefting a recent kill- an already dressed deer.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]124875[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Note two of the orcs are behind a tree and out of sight, my attempt to draw the PCs in to the fight... worked too well.</strong></p><p></p><p>The sneaky pair open up with their bows and leave the two nearest orcs critically wounded- an arrow in the back will do that. The rogues then both scurry away and into deep cover, while signalling their comrades forward and into action, figuring they’ll take the hits when the orcs come running.</p><p></p><p>Which of course they do.</p><p></p><p>Seconds later Vincenzo uses his wand to entangle several of the hefty thugs, however one of the brutes gets to Gwen (Buggles’ skeleton companion) and almost smashes her down.</p><p></p><p>Note Gwen, Buggles’ skeleton friend, is now armoured and helmed and so she appears to the casual observer to be a heavily armoured (but slim) dwarf, odd however that she is wielding a rapier. The latter Buggles’ choice because of the skeleton’s high dex bonus, she also has a shortbow and ammo.</p><p></p><p>Back to the action…</p><p></p><p>Buggles cuts one of the orcs down with his scimitar, springing out of hiding to do so, while Garumn- wielding Shatterspike, his Durgeddin blade, ends another. Newt eldritch blasts yet another- but not quite dead, and then Ram emerges form the foliage to end a third orc.</p><p></p><p>It’s going very badly for my guys here- Gwen even manages to scurry out of the way and shoot one of the brutes. So, embarrassing.</p><p></p><p>I rolled a fair few attacks here, and just kept on missing.</p><p></p><p>Vinne leaves one of the two wounded orcs still swinging heartily (and missing) burnt and in agony with his produce flame spell, the pair of disconsolate enemies make to flee the scene but Buggles and Garumn step up to finish them off.</p><p></p><p>Five dead orcs, and soon after- apres a bunch of checks the Dark Squad are certain that the gang had just completed a successful hunt and were heading for home, somewhere further along the main trail- very probably.</p><p></p><p>[Orc patrol 500 XP]</p><p></p><p>There follows another semi-terse debate in which the various members of the Dark Squad compete in an attempt to come up with the most ridiculous posed battle scene/massacre site ever. Favourite to take the award for a good long while is to pose the dead orcs in a manner so as to appear to the observer that the field-dressed (very dead) deer killed them.</p><p></p><p>The competition for most ridiculous is pretty determined, I’ll not pretend there was a clear cut winner, although sense eventually prevails and the orc frieze finally selected attempts to show that one of the orcs (body well hidden) slaughtered his four companions.</p><p></p><p>Just to note that Buggles has already cut off the right hands of all five orcs, this so that the Dark Squad can collect the bounty from Lord Boskin when they return to Castell Gwythyr. It is therefore very obvious to anyone investigating the scene that whoever killed the orcs was doing so in order to collect some form of reward.</p><p></p><p>That was twenty minutes of my life I’ll never get back.</p><p></p><p>[Pose dead orcs, I’ll give XP for anything, see- 50 XP]</p><p></p><p>The adventurers continue their trek, arriving- eventually, at the hut marked on their sketched map of Erky’s brother and his wife- Spandwick and Bel… the place is a mess, something bad has happened here.</p><p></p><p>After ten minutes of rogue-only sneaking about the other members of the Dark Squad are allowed out to play- there are no enemies present. The investigation of the crime scene goes on for a good long while.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]124876[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>I didn't have a map of a ransacked hut in the wintery wilds, so let your imagination take you there...</strong></p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad discern that Spandwick and Bel were captured alive by a group of at least five orcs accompanied by a very large wolf of some kind, this all happened maybe three or four days ago. It’s also likely that one of the gnomes took a beating, so that’s not good.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers are angry now, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- they like Erky, anyone that messes with his brother, well… they’re messing with the Dark Squad now.</p><p></p><p>After a bunch more fine words about ‘revenge’, and ‘they’ll pay’ etc. Ram settles down in the hut and starts cooking the deer. Newt, stomping around on the outside of the hut (and in a tizzy), is all for chasing after the orc bastards right now, but… he’s talked down, The orcs have a three day, or so, head start- chillax, here have a haunch of venison.</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad spend a lovely day resting and lounging in Spandwick and Bel’s ransacked hut- very nice, as it happens.</p><p></p><p>Note Newt borrows/takes/steals (you decide which) Spandwick’s diary and a bill poster from the fateful show in which the stage mesmerist somehow managed to steal his wife’s mind, for good.</p><p></p><p>Further note Spandwick’s diary is written in gnomish, which none of the adventurers understand, this however doesn’t inhibit the tabaxi- see a little later.</p><p></p><p>[Spandwick & Bel’s hut investigations 150 XP]</p><p></p><p><strong>Night 4:</strong> and the snow comes down again, which doesn’t help when the Dark Squad are trying to stay on the trail of the orcs that stole away Spandwick and Bel.</p><p></p><p>Note I’m rolling a D20 for the weather- low bad, high good, simple as.</p><p></p><p>It’s a hard trudge again through the freezing sleet, although the weather finally clears up a little later, point of fact as the sun begins to rise the adventurers manage to at last find the orc’s trail again, note they’re staying close to the well-travelled path.</p><p></p><p>The tracks lead to the ruined remains of an ancient fortification, although- it’s not much to look at, one sturdy wall and half a tower. Again the rogues initially take charge of the situation, it is however when the back-up team arrives that things really start to make sense.</p><p></p><p>The place is deserted, however the orcs camped here, the large wolf still with them- and also, hopefully, Spandwick and Bel. Vinnie is very relieved to discover that the charred bones in and around the remains of a fire are those of conies, and not gnomes.</p><p></p><p>However, it also appears that the orcs lit out from here in a rush, something spooked them… odd, this after Vinnie’s adjusted (obviously) ‘26’ survival check.</p><p></p><p>That’s when the first “Hooooot!” is heard, followed swiftly by the sound of something large crashing through the undergrowth close by.</p><p></p><p>Then nothing for a while, as the PCs manoeuvre, by which I mean Ram and Newt hide behind a high wall, Buggles within the foliage, and Vinnie about a quarter-of-a-mile further back (just kidding). Which of course just leaves a swearing (in Scottish) dwarf, that’s Garumn, front and centre.</p><p></p><p>The owlbear crashes into the clearing, and I’ll be honest here- gets massacred.</p><p></p><p>And I mean massacred.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]124877[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Owlbear, just prior to being turned into mince and gravy.</strong></p><p></p><p>Buggles sinks an arrow into the beast as it emerges from the woods, however the big brute is straight at Garumn, tearing into the dwarf and bloodying him in an instant, at which point all of the PCs go hog heaven.</p><p></p><p>Vinnie douses the owlbear in faerie fire- that’s advantage on all attacks- Ram slices and stabs it, Newt hexes and then blasts it, Garumn divine smites it (for 20-something damage) with Shatterspike, Gwen (even the skeleton is getting in on it) skewers it (Buggles bought her a rapier)- at which point my big beautiful beast is already critically wounded.</p><p></p><p>Buggles, snicker-snack, with his twin scimitars finishes it off… take down, 70 HP or so in one turn. Of course, the faerie fire helped considerably, as did the hexed eldritch blast, multiple sneak attacks, and the hefty smite.</p><p></p><p>[Very brief attack of the owlbear 700 XP]</p><p></p><p>There follows a short free-for-all to claim some sort of memento, or token (beak, claws etc.) from the beast. This while Vincenzo speechifies about what a noble creature it was… Soon after Buggles attempts to dress the meat, and rolls a ‘1’, so basically the mad elf goes at it with his twin scimitars until he has before him a puddle/mound of bloody mince/hairy mush.</p><p></p><p>Appetising.</p><p></p><p>The adventurers however are still in a rush, they head on- following the orc trail again, and now looking for somewhere away from the trail to make their camp, which they eventually discover.</p><p></p><p>There they settle in for another day in the cold- and so light a fire to cook/smoke the little meat they managed to rescue from the mangled corpse of the owlbear. Although, first watch- Newt is supposed to be on guard, but he’s really not. Instead the tabaxi uses the time to look through Spandwick’s diary, he eventually manages to make out a few of the numbers, and from the date of the last entry works out that Spandwick and Bel were captured five days previous.</p><p></p><p>Alas, while he’s doing this a giant spider positioned high in the branches of a nearby tree decides to do a little fishing, it’s only when the sleeping and now webbed Ram is hoisted five feet into the air that the tabaxi comes alive to what’s happening. The camp is awake at a rush, although too late for Ram (a little).</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]124878[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Spider-Ram!</strong></p><p></p><p>The rogue, now very much awake, decides however to play dead, waiting for the spider- he can see the beast, to haul him all the way up- which is what happens next, at which point the rogue comes alive and stabs the arachnid in its eye cluster (and for 20+ damage, the bastard). The giant spider has the last laugh- it bites, poisons and paralyzes the restrained Ram.</p><p></p><p>At which point the second giant spider makes itself known (it’s in the tree opposite the first spider) by shooting its web bundle at Newt, the tabaxi dodges and rolls and then is up and to the rescue. The cat-man is quickly up and into the first tree, and positioned beneath the wounded giant arachnid which is even now grabbing up Ram. Newt crisps, a little, the creature with his burning hands.</p><p></p><p>Buggles (after an inspiration point) sinks an arrow into the eight-legged terror now escaping with Ram, it’s critically wounded.</p><p></p><p>Meantime the second giant spider web-descends into the camp site clearing and attempts to bite and poison Garum, the hefty dwarf however keeps it at bay.</p><p></p><p>The tabaxi in the meantime completes his Ram rescue operation, climbing up into the canopy of the tree to get a clear shot, he eldritch blasts the enemy dead- fortunately Ram’s body- once released by the dead spider, only falls five feet into the tangle of branches below. Newt immediately heads over to rip the web’s free and pour a potion of healing into the rogue.</p><p></p><p>This while the remaining members of the Dark Squad go toe to toe with the second arachnid, in Vinnie’s case its spider-o e spider-o, the wildshaping druid becomes Vincen G. Spider.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]124879[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Spider-o e Spider-o, the top arachnid heavy weight wuuuuuuuurl champeeeeen-ship! Wrastle!</strong></p><p></p><p>Buggles plugs the second spider with his bow, and then while all the other members of the combat snarl, hiss and miss (or similar} the wood elf grabs out his twin scimitars and wades in, leaving the final enemy critically wounded with a hit-crit combo.</p><p></p><p>Vincen G. Spider is top spider, the wildshaped druid finishes off his evil (maybe) kin.</p><p></p><p>Ram gets lowered out of the tree, and then revived- and rested, and healed; while Newt gets a telling off (just a little) for reading when he was supposed to be guarding.</p><p></p><p>[Two dead giant spiders 400 XP]</p><p></p><p>Buggles meantime tries to recover the poison sack from one of the arachnids, it doesn’t go well- not terrible but, y’know- not a success.</p><p></p><p>Note Buggles, quite often, pretends to know what he’s doing- and then makes a nature check (he’s +0) and has not yet managed (much) to break ‘5’. He’s also actually pretty great at survival (+5, including situational bonus for being on home turf) but his dice (seemingly just for these checks) are broken. With advantage in the past he has rolled a ‘1’ and a ‘2’, and then about ten minutes later- a ‘2’ and a ‘3’. Back in the fight with the owlbear the wood elf- when the enemy raced into sight, screamed out to warn his companions- “Wood Bear Owl!”, this after something like an adjusted ‘7’ nature monster knowledge check- and that’s a high roll for Buggles.</p><p></p><p>The Dark Squad, once again, settle in for a long rest- uninterrupted this time.</p><p></p><p><strong>Night 5:</strong> and much more snow, the going is tough and yet the Dark Squad continue on- to the end of the orc trail marked on their map, and from there after a successful scout-all-about mission they discover a secondary (and much harder to find) track ascending into the lower reaches of the Stone Tooth mountain.</p><p></p><p>The orcs quite definitely went up there- good.</p><p></p><p>Then they retreat, back into the cover of the forest, and another long rest is taken- remarkably all of the PCs are on their mettle, no reading diaries or other distractions- no encounters, and another day spent in the cold wilds.</p><p></p><p><strong>Night 6:</strong> and up the mountain, four hours of footsore and eventually to an exposed windswept ledge path- much used, although also a little on the dangerous side. The sneaking-peaking (and stealthy) rogues scout a little way ahead and spot a pair of orc sentries.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]124880[/ATTACH]</p><p><strong>Rogue One... and Rogue Two- this is bad.</strong></p><p></p><p>But that however is for the second part of this write-up, when we head into the Forge of Fury proper, so- we’ll leave it there for now.</p><p></p><p>Stay safe and well you lovely people.</p><p></p><p>Cheers goonalan (& the Dark Squad).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Goonalan, post: 8069442, member: 16069"] [CENTER][B]Dark Squad in the Forge of Fury[/B][/CENTER] [B]Session #013a Into the Wild. Dark Squad (in alphabetical order, no egos here). Buggles (played by Stu) Male Wood Elf Fighter Lvl 1/Rogue Lvl 2 New Tricks (played by Bear) Male Tabaxi Warlock Lvl 3 Ramshambo (played by Kev) Male Half-Elf Rogue Lvl 3 Vincenzo (played by Haggis) Male Shifter (Wildhunt) Druid Lvl 3 NPCs Garumn Male Mountain Dwarf Paladin of Moradin Lvl 3[/B] This is session 13, unlucky for some- but certainly not for us- this one was a cracker. Here goes, last time we left the Dark Squad they were at Castell Gwythyr in the Neverwinter Woods, and about to head out to a mountain called the Stone Tooth in search of the entrance to Khundrukhar, the location of the lost forges of Durgeddin the Black. Durgeddin was a master dwarven smith back in the day, slightly odd because he manufactured (magical) swords, rather than the more traditional dwarven fair. The Dark Squad found an ancient scroll back in the Sunless Citadel which, after much downtime research, has lead them here. So, into the wilds, although… first up a twenty minute (lively- at times) discussion about how they’re going to travel- do we follow the well-worn track- on which orc patrols have been spotted? When do we travel- during the night or the day? Where are we heading for? The conversation rumbles on for a while until the answers finally reveal themselves. Oh, and just a reminder the Dark Squad are also out to kill orcs, apparently there are a bunch of them in the forest hereby, and they’re getting uppity. Lord Boskin at Castell Gwythyr has offered a 5gp/orc bounty. The Dark Squad, it is finally decided, will be travelling at night- they’re all blessed with darkvision, and the orcs are active at night. They’ll be avoiding the trail- going off road as it were, and moving slowly and stealthily- where and when possible, with the rogues scouting a little way ahead. Keep in mind that Buggles lives in the Neverwinter Woods so, he’s at home here. Last call- the Dark Squad are going to initially make their way to the cabin in the wild woods of Spandwick the Magic Gnome (and his wife Bel), ex-mesmerist and Erky’s brother. After checking in with the gnome they’re going to cast around looking for the orcs, and Khundrukhar- of course, while heading towards the Stone Tooth. That’s the plan, y’know- subject to reality. [Travel discussion 100 XP] So… [B]Night 1:[/B] into the woods and all is well with the world, easy job this- it’s cold, there are a few flurries of snow but… that’s it really. The Dark Squad even make good time with Buggles leading the way, and get plenty of rest during the following day. Fret not, nothing that follows is simple and/or easy- time to mess with them. [B]Night 2:[/B] on the second night of travel the snow really comes down, and the Dark Squad switch to trudge mode- no encounters but, at the end of the hike Ram and Vincenzo are exhausted and needing warmth, food and rest. The Squad are forced to get a fire going for Ram, Vinnie on the other hand spends a good time wildshaped into a mouse and safely ensconced in Garumn’s very warm pocket. The pair recover, and are good to go for the next night’s travels. [Staying safe and well on the trail 50 XP] [ATTACH type="full" alt="3.17 Stone Tooth Map.jpg"]124874[/ATTACH] [B]Look at that FG screen, all neat and tidy- the DM approves, have a house point and an extra bit of tuck from matron. Night 3:[/B] and the Dark Squad have to cross the orc trail, and whatdya know- there are orcs on the track, a little on the nose- but why not. That said the terrible twosome- Ramshambow and Buggles, communicating in thieves’ cant sign-language, and as silent as the grave (apposite) are at the orcs in an instant. There are five of the brutes moving down the trail, a pair of them hefting a recent kill- an already dressed deer. [ATTACH type="full" alt="3.18 Orcs on the Trail.jpg"]124875[/ATTACH] [B]Note two of the orcs are behind a tree and out of sight, my attempt to draw the PCs in to the fight... worked too well.[/B] The sneaky pair open up with their bows and leave the two nearest orcs critically wounded- an arrow in the back will do that. The rogues then both scurry away and into deep cover, while signalling their comrades forward and into action, figuring they’ll take the hits when the orcs come running. Which of course they do. Seconds later Vincenzo uses his wand to entangle several of the hefty thugs, however one of the brutes gets to Gwen (Buggles’ skeleton companion) and almost smashes her down. Note Gwen, Buggles’ skeleton friend, is now armoured and helmed and so she appears to the casual observer to be a heavily armoured (but slim) dwarf, odd however that she is wielding a rapier. The latter Buggles’ choice because of the skeleton’s high dex bonus, she also has a shortbow and ammo. Back to the action… Buggles cuts one of the orcs down with his scimitar, springing out of hiding to do so, while Garumn- wielding Shatterspike, his Durgeddin blade, ends another. Newt eldritch blasts yet another- but not quite dead, and then Ram emerges form the foliage to end a third orc. It’s going very badly for my guys here- Gwen even manages to scurry out of the way and shoot one of the brutes. So, embarrassing. I rolled a fair few attacks here, and just kept on missing. Vinne leaves one of the two wounded orcs still swinging heartily (and missing) burnt and in agony with his produce flame spell, the pair of disconsolate enemies make to flee the scene but Buggles and Garumn step up to finish them off. Five dead orcs, and soon after- apres a bunch of checks the Dark Squad are certain that the gang had just completed a successful hunt and were heading for home, somewhere further along the main trail- very probably. [Orc patrol 500 XP] There follows another semi-terse debate in which the various members of the Dark Squad compete in an attempt to come up with the most ridiculous posed battle scene/massacre site ever. Favourite to take the award for a good long while is to pose the dead orcs in a manner so as to appear to the observer that the field-dressed (very dead) deer killed them. The competition for most ridiculous is pretty determined, I’ll not pretend there was a clear cut winner, although sense eventually prevails and the orc frieze finally selected attempts to show that one of the orcs (body well hidden) slaughtered his four companions. Just to note that Buggles has already cut off the right hands of all five orcs, this so that the Dark Squad can collect the bounty from Lord Boskin when they return to Castell Gwythyr. It is therefore very obvious to anyone investigating the scene that whoever killed the orcs was doing so in order to collect some form of reward. That was twenty minutes of my life I’ll never get back. [Pose dead orcs, I’ll give XP for anything, see- 50 XP] The adventurers continue their trek, arriving- eventually, at the hut marked on their sketched map of Erky’s brother and his wife- Spandwick and Bel… the place is a mess, something bad has happened here. After ten minutes of rogue-only sneaking about the other members of the Dark Squad are allowed out to play- there are no enemies present. The investigation of the crime scene goes on for a good long while. [ATTACH type="full" alt="3.19 Spandwick & Bel's hut.jpg's hut.jpg"]124876[/ATTACH] [B]I didn't have a map of a ransacked hut in the wintery wilds, so let your imagination take you there...[/B] The Dark Squad discern that Spandwick and Bel were captured alive by a group of at least five orcs accompanied by a very large wolf of some kind, this all happened maybe three or four days ago. It’s also likely that one of the gnomes took a beating, so that’s not good. The adventurers are angry now, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again- they like Erky, anyone that messes with his brother, well… they’re messing with the Dark Squad now. After a bunch more fine words about ‘revenge’, and ‘they’ll pay’ etc. Ram settles down in the hut and starts cooking the deer. Newt, stomping around on the outside of the hut (and in a tizzy), is all for chasing after the orc bastards right now, but… he’s talked down, The orcs have a three day, or so, head start- chillax, here have a haunch of venison. The Dark Squad spend a lovely day resting and lounging in Spandwick and Bel’s ransacked hut- very nice, as it happens. Note Newt borrows/takes/steals (you decide which) Spandwick’s diary and a bill poster from the fateful show in which the stage mesmerist somehow managed to steal his wife’s mind, for good. Further note Spandwick’s diary is written in gnomish, which none of the adventurers understand, this however doesn’t inhibit the tabaxi- see a little later. [Spandwick & Bel’s hut investigations 150 XP] [B]Night 4:[/B] and the snow comes down again, which doesn’t help when the Dark Squad are trying to stay on the trail of the orcs that stole away Spandwick and Bel. Note I’m rolling a D20 for the weather- low bad, high good, simple as. It’s a hard trudge again through the freezing sleet, although the weather finally clears up a little later, point of fact as the sun begins to rise the adventurers manage to at last find the orc’s trail again, note they’re staying close to the well-travelled path. The tracks lead to the ruined remains of an ancient fortification, although- it’s not much to look at, one sturdy wall and half a tower. Again the rogues initially take charge of the situation, it is however when the back-up team arrives that things really start to make sense. The place is deserted, however the orcs camped here, the large wolf still with them- and also, hopefully, Spandwick and Bel. Vinnie is very relieved to discover that the charred bones in and around the remains of a fire are those of conies, and not gnomes. However, it also appears that the orcs lit out from here in a rush, something spooked them… odd, this after Vinnie’s adjusted (obviously) ‘26’ survival check. That’s when the first “Hooooot!” is heard, followed swiftly by the sound of something large crashing through the undergrowth close by. Then nothing for a while, as the PCs manoeuvre, by which I mean Ram and Newt hide behind a high wall, Buggles within the foliage, and Vinnie about a quarter-of-a-mile further back (just kidding). Which of course just leaves a swearing (in Scottish) dwarf, that’s Garumn, front and centre. The owlbear crashes into the clearing, and I’ll be honest here- gets massacred. And I mean massacred. [ATTACH type="full" alt="3.2 Owlbear.jpg"]124877[/ATTACH] [B]Owlbear, just prior to being turned into mince and gravy.[/B] Buggles sinks an arrow into the beast as it emerges from the woods, however the big brute is straight at Garumn, tearing into the dwarf and bloodying him in an instant, at which point all of the PCs go hog heaven. Vinnie douses the owlbear in faerie fire- that’s advantage on all attacks- Ram slices and stabs it, Newt hexes and then blasts it, Garumn divine smites it (for 20-something damage) with Shatterspike, Gwen (even the skeleton is getting in on it) skewers it (Buggles bought her a rapier)- at which point my big beautiful beast is already critically wounded. Buggles, snicker-snack, with his twin scimitars finishes it off… take down, 70 HP or so in one turn. Of course, the faerie fire helped considerably, as did the hexed eldritch blast, multiple sneak attacks, and the hefty smite. [Very brief attack of the owlbear 700 XP] There follows a short free-for-all to claim some sort of memento, or token (beak, claws etc.) from the beast. This while Vincenzo speechifies about what a noble creature it was… Soon after Buggles attempts to dress the meat, and rolls a ‘1’, so basically the mad elf goes at it with his twin scimitars until he has before him a puddle/mound of bloody mince/hairy mush. Appetising. The adventurers however are still in a rush, they head on- following the orc trail again, and now looking for somewhere away from the trail to make their camp, which they eventually discover. There they settle in for another day in the cold- and so light a fire to cook/smoke the little meat they managed to rescue from the mangled corpse of the owlbear. Although, first watch- Newt is supposed to be on guard, but he’s really not. Instead the tabaxi uses the time to look through Spandwick’s diary, he eventually manages to make out a few of the numbers, and from the date of the last entry works out that Spandwick and Bel were captured five days previous. Alas, while he’s doing this a giant spider positioned high in the branches of a nearby tree decides to do a little fishing, it’s only when the sleeping and now webbed Ram is hoisted five feet into the air that the tabaxi comes alive to what’s happening. The camp is awake at a rush, although too late for Ram (a little). [ATTACH type="full" alt="3.21 Spider-Ram.jpg"]124878[/ATTACH] [B]Spider-Ram![/B] The rogue, now very much awake, decides however to play dead, waiting for the spider- he can see the beast, to haul him all the way up- which is what happens next, at which point the rogue comes alive and stabs the arachnid in its eye cluster (and for 20+ damage, the bastard). The giant spider has the last laugh- it bites, poisons and paralyzes the restrained Ram. At which point the second giant spider makes itself known (it’s in the tree opposite the first spider) by shooting its web bundle at Newt, the tabaxi dodges and rolls and then is up and to the rescue. The cat-man is quickly up and into the first tree, and positioned beneath the wounded giant arachnid which is even now grabbing up Ram. Newt crisps, a little, the creature with his burning hands. Buggles (after an inspiration point) sinks an arrow into the eight-legged terror now escaping with Ram, it’s critically wounded. Meantime the second giant spider web-descends into the camp site clearing and attempts to bite and poison Garum, the hefty dwarf however keeps it at bay. The tabaxi in the meantime completes his Ram rescue operation, climbing up into the canopy of the tree to get a clear shot, he eldritch blasts the enemy dead- fortunately Ram’s body- once released by the dead spider, only falls five feet into the tangle of branches below. Newt immediately heads over to rip the web’s free and pour a potion of healing into the rogue. This while the remaining members of the Dark Squad go toe to toe with the second arachnid, in Vinnie’s case its spider-o e spider-o, the wildshaping druid becomes Vincen G. Spider. [ATTACH type="full" alt="3.22 spider-o e spider-o.jpg"]124879[/ATTACH] [B]Spider-o e Spider-o, the top arachnid heavy weight wuuuuuuuurl champeeeeen-ship! Wrastle![/B] Buggles plugs the second spider with his bow, and then while all the other members of the combat snarl, hiss and miss (or similar} the wood elf grabs out his twin scimitars and wades in, leaving the final enemy critically wounded with a hit-crit combo. Vincen G. Spider is top spider, the wildshaped druid finishes off his evil (maybe) kin. Ram gets lowered out of the tree, and then revived- and rested, and healed; while Newt gets a telling off (just a little) for reading when he was supposed to be guarding. [Two dead giant spiders 400 XP] Buggles meantime tries to recover the poison sack from one of the arachnids, it doesn’t go well- not terrible but, y’know- not a success. Note Buggles, quite often, pretends to know what he’s doing- and then makes a nature check (he’s +0) and has not yet managed (much) to break ‘5’. He’s also actually pretty great at survival (+5, including situational bonus for being on home turf) but his dice (seemingly just for these checks) are broken. With advantage in the past he has rolled a ‘1’ and a ‘2’, and then about ten minutes later- a ‘2’ and a ‘3’. Back in the fight with the owlbear the wood elf- when the enemy raced into sight, screamed out to warn his companions- “Wood Bear Owl!”, this after something like an adjusted ‘7’ nature monster knowledge check- and that’s a high roll for Buggles. The Dark Squad, once again, settle in for a long rest- uninterrupted this time. [B]Night 5:[/B] and much more snow, the going is tough and yet the Dark Squad continue on- to the end of the orc trail marked on their map, and from there after a successful scout-all-about mission they discover a secondary (and much harder to find) track ascending into the lower reaches of the Stone Tooth mountain. The orcs quite definitely went up there- good. Then they retreat, back into the cover of the forest, and another long rest is taken- remarkably all of the PCs are on their mettle, no reading diaries or other distractions- no encounters, and another day spent in the cold wilds. [B]Night 6:[/B] and up the mountain, four hours of footsore and eventually to an exposed windswept ledge path- much used, although also a little on the dangerous side. The sneaking-peaking (and stealthy) rogues scout a little way ahead and spot a pair of orc sentries. [ATTACH type="full" alt="3.23 Rogue Two.jpg"]124880[/ATTACH] [B]Rogue One... and Rogue Two- this is bad.[/B] But that however is for the second part of this write-up, when we head into the Forge of Fury proper, so- we’ll leave it there for now. Stay safe and well you lovely people. Cheers goonalan (& the Dark Squad). [/QUOTE]
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The Dark Squad in the Secrets of Saltmarsh #136 Into the Mere of the Dead Men.
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