The Cave Of The Unknown

[Darithe]

Sorry been a bit busy with work.

Magdal

Pim shakes his head "Not really. Climbing Isn't my strong suit today, but I heard the crossbows really well."

"Correct deliveries isn't his strong suit either," Magdal mutters under her breath, overly tense at the current situation. They were clearly at the disadvantage and had no reason now to push things further. She looks to the others, feeling whoever is in hiding is likely up to no good but lacking much evidence to confirm this, "Well, unlike the bandits, I feel we have no business poking our noises where they don't belong here, so I suggest we push on towards the cave. But as always, if others think different we can investigate." She looks to Crobeus, Dredd and Renna for their thoughts.

[OGRE MAGE]

No problem at all Darithe. Just letting the others know what was up.

Searching For The One Cave
Grumpy Men In The Trees
Partly Sunny, Mid Morning

Certain this is the area they need to traverse through the woods to get to the Cave of the Unknown, this dangerous setback is especially unwelcome.

Without much other choice, Renna calls for the group to retreat back the way they came so there is no chance of biting off more than they can chew with these unseen threats. As they leave the area, the same voice calls out again. "The best decision you ever made! The caves you seek are another mile up the road! Towards the north!"

When the group gets back to the area of the road, they can't really tell if they are still being watched or not.

Actions?

Magdal Haldeene AC7 16/16
Crobeus AC3 10/10
Pimlan Greenstride AC6 8/9
Renna Kellamin AC4 9
Sylla Lontharra AC5 6/6/9
Stobart Galt AC5 10/10
Dredd AC3 16/16

[Scott308]

Crobeus - Human Paladin

"We'll need to be very careful on our return. I don't know if that truly was the best decision we ever made, but they definitely know about the cave we seek. I'm afraid they might ambush us on the return trip, but I don't really want to go messing around with them right now. They may be a future us problem, unfortunately."

[hedgeknight]

Crobeus - Human Paladin
"We'll need to be very careful on our return. I don't know if that truly was the best decision we ever made, but they definitely know about the cave we seek. I'm afraid they might ambush us on the return trip, but I don't really want to go messing around with them right now. They may be a future us problem, unfortunately."

Dredd shakes his head in frustration. "We've made two bad decisions since we left the keep. Never leave an enemy behind you for later is what I've always been taught. And one other thing, don't announce your fucking presence when you're in the middle of nowhere!" He gives Sylla a glare and then returns to his position in the marching order, at the back of the line.

[shaidar]

Stobart

"Blindly attacking an enemy when you have no idea of their numbers and location is a bad idea too, as you'll just as likely to get wiped out as to win. In the future we need to be more cautious and learn as much as we can about the situation first before making our decisions."

[sastaz]

Sylla gives her comrades a stern look back.

"Well, sneaking up on someone is considered a hostile act, while calling out to negotiate is not. So there's that to consider as well. We simply can't eradicate everything we bump into on our way there just because we might happen to encounter them on the way back (or can we ). Maybe if you hadn't been trying to spy on or ambush them we'd be exchanging information with them instead of threats right now, did you ever think of that?"

The "caves we seek" is the Caves of Chaos, right, that's what he refers to? These boys and girls are blocking our path to the Cave of the Unknown? So we need to pass them or change plans to go to the Caves of Chaos instead?

[GreyWolfVT]

Pimlan shrugs still hurt in the tailbone a tad "Well, I don't know about all that I haven't been taught much in the way of adventuring. But based on what few solo adventures I've had not everyone is your enemy. So I suppose we shall cross that bridge when we come back." maybe wise words hard to say considering the source. "Shall we continue on, they said another mile but maybe we go a half mile then try for the woods again?" he suggests.

[Scott308]

Crobeus - Human Paladin

"Out here, I think it best to assume everyone is hostile until we learn otherwise. I know not everyone is really going to have bad intentions, but better to be to be prepared for danger than get caught flat-footed."

[sastaz]

Sylla

But do you all agree that they're blocking us? They're not directing us to another path to the Cave of Unknown, they're saying we should go to the Caves of Chaos instead? Is that how the rest of you players also read it?

Sylla moves closer to the others and says in a low voice

"It is what it is now, I think we have to fight them. My suggestion is swift and decisive. Let's move through the woods. As long as we stay off the wagon trails, their crossbowmen should have a hard time getting a clear shot. If we're lucky they might panic when attacked.

[gurusql]

Renna

For the record this is not at what I meant, which was continue forward and circle back but in the end all that matters is I was not clear enough.

Renna will speak quietly in case there is someone silently trailing the group. "We have two choices move through the woods on the same side of the trail as them to try and ambush them or move on the other side of the trail to evade them. I would vote that they have shown themselves to be hostile when parleyed so we should move to strike and not have to pass them to on the way out. I was hoping to cast Sleep on the enter of the group to limit their effectiveness."

[sastaz]

Renna

For the record this is not at what I meant, which was continue forward and circle back but in the end all that matters is I was not clear enough.

Renna will speak quietly in case there is someone silently trailing the group. "We have two choices move through the woods on the same side of the trail as them to try and ambush them or move on the other side of the trail to evade them. I would vote that they have shown themselves to be hostile when parleyed so we should move to strike and not have to pass them to on the way out. I was hoping to cast Sleep on the enter of the group to limit their effectiveness."

Sylla agrees with the same-side-and-ambush proposal.

We have quite a few good-aligned PCs in this party, I'd think that they'd object to killing everything in a preemptive strike without parley.

Keeping this discussion in the main game thread for now since it's very much affecting our course of action.

[hedgeknight]

Dredd

Shaking his head out of disbelief, the Half-Orc snorts derisively. "So, now we're attacking? Is that the plan? I don't trust you at all, Sylla, in these type of situations." He looks to Croebus and Stobart. "What do you think?"

But do you all agree that they're blocking us? They're not directing us to another path to the Cave of Unknown, they're saying we should go to the Caves of Chaos instead? Is that how the rest of you players also read it?

I don't agree with that. They could be, but maybe this is a red herring. The only way to find out is to go see. Or we can always retreat and go looking for another way than this cart path. And this group is going to the Cave of the Unknown; the other group is bound for the Caves of Chaos.

[sastaz]

Okay, I have a hard time expressing myself. I will try to be more clear. The question is, do you agree that the voice behind this quote:

As they leave the area, the same voice calls out again. "The best decision you ever made! The caves you seek are another mile up the road! Towards the north!"

That this man or woman screaming at us from somewhere inside the woods is referring to the Caves of Chaos when he/she talks about "the caves you seek"?

[OGRE MAGE]

The "caves we seek" is the Caves of Chaos, right, that's what he refers to?

This seems to be a logical assumption.

It also seems like this group is going to have a hard time agreeing on actions.

[OGRE MAGE]

I might also suggest reading my updates more carefully.

After a moment, you hear a stern male voice calling back loudly from the trees. "This aint no place fer sight seein folks!....

[Darithe]

Magdal

"I don't know much, as this is my first journey far from home," the young ranger states looking back towards the woods, "But I do know I don't want to attack someone just because they are in the way and don't want us coming near them. You don't kick a beehive when you come across it. You give it a wide berth and move around it and note not to get close when you head back that way. I'd rather not kick this beehive when we don't have to."

[OGRE MAGE]

Searching For The One Cave
Grumpy Men In The Trees
Partly Sunny, Mid Morning

Unsure if they are being watched from the woods, the group stands near the road arguing about what they did wrong.

When they finally realize that isn't helping matters, several in the group suggest moving down the road, out of sight from this area, then trying for the woods again. Though Magdal is as green as the rest of the party, she thinks she can use her skills to find their way back to a trail through the woods, beyond the dangerous men, if there is one to find.

The normally lawful Sylla changes directions completely and suggests going back to attack the men they heard in the trees.

Actions?

Magdal Haldeene AC7 16/16
Crobeus AC3 10/10
Pimlan Greenstride AC6 8/9
Renna Kellamin AC4 9
Sylla Lontharra AC5 6/6/9
Stobart Galt AC5 10/10
Dredd AC3 16/16

[sastaz]

Sylla will agree to what the others suggest, as a group.

I have really bad experiences keeping up arguments on this forum when there are misunderstandings and confusion, and I don't want to repeat that.

A suggested way to proceed might be to agree we disagree on a lot of things (as PCs and as players) and maybe even randomize someone to just choose for the group?

[GreyWolfVT]

Pimlan chimes in one last time "I'm good either way we decide. But it would be bad to attack someone and find out they were goodly folk."

[hedgeknight]

Dredd

The Half-Orc sucks his teeth and looks down at the Halfling. "Who says we were going to attack them, Pim? We were just scouting out the area...until someone gave our position away."
Dredd doesn't look at anyone else in the group; rather he stares at his boots and then heaves a deep sigh. "No use for it now."