Quest #6 "Return To The River"

[OGRE MAGE]

They took all of your exposed weapons and checked any hidden sheaths or other bulges in clothing that might have looked like a possible weapon.

They did not strip you down or anything like that though.

That doesn't sound like a question from someone interested in conforming.

[Scott308]

Did they find the silver dagger Brufrig has hidden beneath his backpack? Did they leave him his shovel?
Armor? Trying to figure out what the first guard is going to be killed with.

[OGRE MAGE]

They didn't take your armor. They did take the dagger and shovel.

[Bluetongue]

Ferris

Ferris takes the weed. If we could build a fire like in the hut we came across and got the smoke to billow out the cave and stone the guards instead of us. He looks at the possibilities of creating such. He has another idea though and asks Keliff in front of others to hand over the brazier bowl he took earlier. Perhaps it has some enhancements other than decorative artwork?

The gnome answers the guard,"good old Gronk and Cranky? Oh, we left them back at the store huts with one of our own, some moustachioed druid named Wes. Sure they're having a great time together. They might even have gone river bathing with those other loin-clothed fellows in the skiffs?", he says dismissively and begins to wonder if the druid is sneaking up through the woods to their rescue.

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

She takes a moment to sear the face of the feline slayer in her mind, then addresses Snake-eye. "Fair enough. I'll see you in the morning."

Bonnie takes Aldo to the table and sits, holding him in her arms. She does her best to try and stabilize him. "Since my friend over there refuses to help a sentient being in need, can anyone else assist me in helping Aldo?"

Bonnie will wait until guards and others leave, then start discussing plans.

[OGRE MAGE]

Night #2, The Cave
Godsday, 23rd of Reaping
Evening, Hot, Buggy

Snake-eye nods his head and winks at the fair Bonnie. "Until the morning then. Rest well and don't cause us any more trouble, please."

The guard is happy to converse with Ferris."Oh? So, there are more of you out there, eh? That is very interesting. I am sure you will all be reunited soon enough. The 2 men you saw were humans? They were rafting down the river with loads of river rock on board?"

Being completely out of magical prayers for this day, Keilif does not understand the comment from Bonnie. The nurturing elf hears the final words from her cat in her mind as it peacefully takes its last breath and passes away in her arms, resulting in an uncomfortable and rather somber reaction from the elf.

The sea priest says a silent prayer over the deceased cat, hoping that sits a little better with Bonnie. He then addresses the request of the gnome. "I do intend to use this bowl. Not for burning your devil weed, but for keeping away the insects. I think that is what the ogres were using it for. They had the leaf burning over the top of it, on that metal grate that we left behind. If you want to burn your weed all night, you should find another means to do so."

With that, the priest strikes a light to the strange piece of square charcoal, lighting it easily with only one small spark. Placing it into the magic brazier, the pleasant aroma it gives off is soothing enough, but even better, all of the insects inside the cave suddenly leave. The wrinkled faced priest then looks to Brufrig, who seems to be scheming at the cave entrance.

"If you are planning on doing something stupid......DONT! These guys have been accommodating enough to us. There is no need to jeopardize the safety of the party until we can figure out what is actually happening here. We should all get some rest and see what they have to say in the morning. If you do something.......dwarven, I will not follow your lead! And I would hope that everyone else here feels the same way."

"Ferris is right. I am sure Waes and Franny will be along any time now to lend us a hand."

Actions?

Ferris 6/7 DM, RM, 0/1 first
Krystal 4/5 CL DM RM 0/1 first (US: 61) 3/6
Keilif C2 7/15 0/4 first
Bonnie 6/6
Brufrig Granitesunder 11/15
Aldo (Deceased) R.I.P

alone in the dark jungle:
Franny Buurlslammer 9/12 (private thread)

still back in the clearing:
Waesfaren Rhey -1/10 2/4 first

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

Something breaks in her as Aldo passes. She considered him her chance at redemption, and now he's gone. Bonnie spends quite a while petting the dead cat, whispering to it.

"Shh. Don't talk. Everything will be fine. They'll pay for what happened, I assure you. They'll pay."
"What's that you say? Keilif is what?! No! I'd never..." Bonnie trails off, gently rocking back and forth.

[OGRE MAGE]

Looks like Ogre Claus better intervene again.....

Basically, these are your 2 choices... You could fight your way out, and likely all die in the process. (I was hoping that wouldn't be your first choice)

Or, you could stay the night and see what they have to offer. You can have lights and make yourselves as comfortable as possible, spending your down time resting, recovering, and/or training, doing whatever studying that needs to be done in order to gain your already accumulated XP.

Since it seems like some of you can't decide, I will force my way upon you once again.

The Cave
Waterday, 24th of Reaping
Early Morning

While the others convince the bloodthirsty dwarf to calm himself, lamps, blankets, food, and water are all brought to the cave. You spend the loud dark night under the guard of a few of the men and at least one Ogre, but you are not hassled in the least as you study, recuperate, and sleep.

You awaken thrilled to not have been throttled in your sleep. Perhaps these smuggling, pirate, slave users aren't all that bad after all. More food and water is brought to the cave at sun up, providing everyone a simple but nutritional breakfast of fruit, greens, and meat.

As you all awaken to the new day, you feel refreshed beyond your normal routine. Some of you feel even better than the day you set out on this journey.

XP reward here:

Eventually, the robed Snake-Eye comes around with two rather mean looking men.

"Good morning then Miss Bonnie. Are you ready for your private meeting? I'm sure you all must be filled with questions you'd like to ask me?"

MR, do you want that convo handled in the private threads er no?

Actions?

Youve gained 1 hit point back and all of your spell slots from resting.
Ferris 7/7 DM, RM, 1/1 first
Krystal 5/5 CL DM RM 1/1 first
Keilif C2 8/15 4/4 first
Bonnie 6/6
Brufrig Granitesunder 12/15
Aldo (Deceased) R.I.P

alone in the dark jungle:
Franny Buurlslammer 9/12 (private thread)

still back in the clearing:
Waesfaren Rhey -1/10 2/4 first

[Scott308]

Brufrig Granitesunder

Before going to bed for the night, the dwarf looks around for anything that could be used as a weapon- likely a decent sized rock- just in case.

When he gets up in the morning, he'll eye the food suspiciously, before eventually partaking. When finished, he begins his morning exercise regimen to stay in shape and keep his mind sharp. If Bonnie and their captor leave to have their discussion, he will gather everyone not named Keilif and work on an escape plan.

[Monsieur Rose]

Bonnie

A poor nights sleep has done wonders for Bonnie. She packs Aldo in her bag, splashes some water on her face and hair, and has a decent breakfast.

When Snake-Eye appears, Bonnie is ready for him. "Good morning Snake-Eye. I'd love to join you. Please lead the way." She turns to the others with a smile on her face.

"I got everyone into this mess, let me sort it out. I'm sure I'll be fine. These are my kind of people."

[OGRE MAGE]

As Bonnie and Snake-Eye make their way over to his private shack, the rest of the group starts their day of confinement off just like any other. They eat and wash up a little with the water that was brought to them. The hot morning sun starts to peek up over the tops of the far off trees, heating up this day just like most others. Brufrig assembles Krystal and Ferris together to discuss a solid escape plan out of earshot of the eccentric priest who is still in deep prayer against one wall of the cave. There is still no sign of Franny or Waes who were both separated from the group before entering into the current predicament. Perhaps they are positioned somewhere out there in the tree line, just waiting to spring into action?

The camp’s surroundings look much like they did the night before. The pirates make their way around normally as the hard work continues in the fields. From the opening of the cave, it is easy to see what is going on out in the fields. The native men appear to all be tied or chained to long wooden posts that are scattered around the vast farming area. The ogres watch over the work being done in the fields under the supervision of a few of the human smugglers. It appears that once the work has been completed in one area, the ogres pull up the posts that the slaves are attached to. They move them to another untended area and pound them back into the ground with huge wooden mallets.

As the morning rolls on, the pounding of the posts seems to dominate over the other natural noises coming in from the fields. The waterfall above the mouth of the river is the only noise coming from that direction. A guard sits on a small barrel about 20 feet or so from the cave opening. He doesn’t seem too fond of the guard duty and is constantly looking around instead of watching the group. Eventually, Keilif snaps out of his trancelike devout prayer and notices the others whispering to one another. He speaks his mind as usual.

“Look out there! These good-hearted people here are being forced into working as common slaves!!! We need to figure out how to put a stop to this entire outfit. No plant is valuable enough to resort to slavery. We must do something to stop these pirates! Any suggestions? Hey……where is Bonnie? If her cat is still alive, I can try to heal it now.”

“So, do you guys have any ideas on how to get out of this mess without being killed?”

[Bluetongue]

Ferris

goes through his morning routine of juggling some pebbles, combing his beard through and repeating the mantras' to learn his daily illusions. The skiffs seem to be too much trouble to handle, so he goes about thinking of other escape attempts. If only he had his pickbow, he could turn it into a shovel and tunnel out.

He makes a few note regarding building placements and how many ogres / pirates there are. How well armed, who seems in control. Any other folk who seem to have some authority like camp clerics or mages?

[OGRE MAGE]

Ferris uses the natural daylight to his advantage, looking over his new environment a little closer. The gnome finds that the cave is indeed cut right out of the cliff rock itself. It is black as pitch and as hard as anything he has ever tried to chip away at. He thinks the rock might be some kind of volcanic basalt, but on this strange island, nothing is for certain. He starts to think that magic might have been used to form this prison-like abode. He finds no way out other than the main opening and no weak spots inside to try tunneling through.

He nonchalantly watches the movements of his captors for a while, discovering little more than he already knew. The person in charge is certainly Bonnie's friend, Snake-Eye. He sees a few others giving orders, but none that wont answer to the grizzled man in the mages robes. Watching the work in the fields, he counts at least 4 ogres pushing the slaves around and threatening them with their huge wooden mallets. There has to be at least 30 or 40 natives chained to their posts, and possibly more. They are kept very busy harvesting the tallest plants, chopping, trimming, cutting, clipping, and bundling the herbs into large bails for transport. One large single hut out in the fields must be where the ogres take their rest as it is the only building out there that can be seen from the cave.

The gnome counts another 20 or so of the men who captured his group. Most are armed with swords or daggers, but none wear any kind of armor in this heat. They come and go as the day passes, working on varying projects throughout their camp. None of those men are working with the slaves in the fields, however. A few of them are near the river, loading bundles onto those dreaded bamboo skiffs.

[OGRE MAGE]

Let's pick this action up in a brand new thread with some new blood!

viewtopic.php?f=446&t=7066

[OGRE MAGE]

Don't forget about your xp!

viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6230#p340978