Quest #17 Hunting With Ren And Stumpy

[OGRE MAGE]

Hunting Up The Loggers Trail
Freeday, 5th of Goodmonth
Mid Morning, Hot, Humid, Buggy

Leaving the Treehouse, the three friends, along with their pair of new hunting buddies, decide to check the area along the loggers trail again for the day. They hope to find something big and easy they can kill to bring back for the townspeople (and themselves) to eat.

There isn't much action near the trail head. Farmers are out plying their trade in the sorry looking food plots, but their crop in most of the areas looks abysmal. There are a few areas where they seem to be getting decent growth, but they are few and far between.

Stumpy and Ren check their bows and count their arrows, ready to do anything other than sit around. They quietly await direction from their new hunting pals.

Wes D3 24/24 4/4 first 4/4 second 0/2 third (man you got a lot of spells already)
Greff 13/13
Galanthas 8/8 1/1 first

[Jernau35]

Yeah, 3rd level spells at 3rd level is awesome! Clerics get that at 5th level. My only regret is he doesn't have an 18 Wis so no bonus 4th level spell

Wes

Wes checks his gear too, including his newly acquired dagger. He tries to remember the details of his previous trip up the logger's trail. Despite only happening two weeks prior, the information seems hazy and hard to recall, almost as if it had actually happened a year and a half ago...

As the group sets out along the trail, Wes picks up a couple of sturdy sticks that could serve as clubs and shoves them in his belt. He also picks some of the herbs and plants he used previously to make his famous bug repellent.

[LtTibbles]

Greff follows along with Wes up front keeping an eye out for any movement off the trail.

"So Wes, you said you fought some giant apes out here how. I've neve seen them myself, how tough were those things?"

[Jernau35]

Wes

"Very tough indeed" replies Wes, seriously. "And cunning too. They ambushed us pretty good. Had a couple of apes making noises on one side of the trail to get us looking that way, then a bloody big male attacked us from the trees on the other side." Wes shudders at the memory. "There were eight of us, I think, and we just about killed the male and drove off the others. That was a scary couple of minutes".

"On the other hand, the male probably weighed about 400 pounds. If we could bring something like that back to Beachtown, that would feed a lot of people".

[Karaunios]

Galanthas

Galanthas keeps bow and arrow at the ready, looking around him while half-listening to the conversation. "Wow. That'd be good... By the way, it seems you've seen your share of adventure here, Wes. How long have you been here already? And you Greff?"

[Jernau35]

Wes

"I've been here a little over two weeks. My first trip out into the jungle was along this trail. We discovered a side trail further up that seemed to have been made by dwarven-sized boots. We followed that, but almost died of thirst because we couldn't find any water and it was so hot".

"My second trip was up river. We found some native villages that were being destroyed by the pirates. The natives were being captured to be used as slaves. Eventually we found the pirate camp, but we were captured too. The pirates let us live as long as we went on a mission for them, looking for some kind of strange tree. We found the tree, but then the pirate leader showed up. A fight broke out, some of our group were killed, some captured, and I escaped and found my way back to Beachtown, by the grace of Obad Hai".

As he walks along, Wes tries to see any signs of animals they might be able to track. He also tells the group that the encounter with the apes was quite close to Beachtown, so they should stay alert.

[OGRE MAGE]

Hunting Up The Loggers Trail
Freeday, 5th of Goodmonth
Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Buggy

Ren decides to share a few of his groups experiences out here as well.

“Our first trip was to the west, up the beach and into the jungle. It sucked! We were attacked by shit constantly. We had to run away from stuff more times than I can count. We eventually came across a huge clearing, miles wide. It was filled with huge green lizards. Hundreds of em! They were docile too, but since they were as big as a horse, we didn’t mess with them much. We spent the night camped in that clearing. Couldn’t sleep,worth a shit with all the noise and bugs. If you haven’t noticed, the bugs are pretty damn bad out here. Well, they’re 20 times worse at night. You ain’t sleeping out here unless you got a good shelter or a roaring fire! Preferably both! Our halfling got attacked during his watch. He was carried off screaming by some huge wasp-like monster. Never saw him again. He was the first one of our group to.......”

The man slaps Stumpy on his shoulder in a comforting manner and says no more for a while.

The hunting trip is hot and miserable, only made worse by the constant barrage of insects that seem to be everywhere. Walking over the discarded logs that make up the main trail is exhausting work in the grueling heat of the midday sun. Once again Wes notices that the groups water rations are being used up rapidly.

After about 4 hours of walking and hunting, seeing neither game or monster, Wes begins to recognize the current area as the one he was describing earlier. Though this time he spots some noticeable differences. A smaller trail moves off the main trail towards the west, though the mark on the tree left by Monocar is barely visible anymore. The smaller trail is much more easily noticed now as well, with the opening into the jungle heavily trampled by boot prints. But the most noticeable difference to the druid and his new friends is that there are 4 large standing stones that now mark the entrance to the smaller trail, 2 on either side. The stones look natural from a distance, standing about 5 feet high, they clearly mark the beginning of the side trail.

Actions?

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Wes D3 24/24 4/4 first 4/4 second 0/2 third
Greff 13/13
Galanthas 8/8 1/1 first

[LtTibbles]

Greff swats at the various pests buzzing around himself as they march along. "I've been here just a few days, had a stint with the town guard but the constable seemed more interested in building a fort than trying to help the town so I decided to take an independant position."

As the group approaches the two new trails he eyes the standing stones wearily. " 'Lotta rocks popping up lately."

[Jernau35]

Wes

The druid studies the standing stones from a distance. "Hmm. The head of the trail was discreet before. I can see why whoever uses it would want to mark it to make it more obvious. But why four stones? It makes it very obvious, but what's wrong with one? Or two?"

He turns to the others in the group."This is our decision point. The main trail to the loggers camp is likely to be very dangerous. Monocar and the others who went up there were mobbed by creatures they called vegypygmies. Lots of them, and very dangerous apparently. I don't think we should go that way."

"I've been down this side trail. It's hard going, but we may well find something to hunt down here. I can at least make sure we don't run out of water this time. But who else will we find down there?"

Wes studies the stones again. "Just a thought...if we do go down the trail, perhaps we shouldn't pass through the stones. Let's go around them instead." He adds, almost as an afterthought, "I can try to detect if the stones are magical. But apart from telling us if they are magical, it wouldn't really help us much. Might be a waste of a spell really..."

[Karaunios]

Galanthas

"The idea of going around them sounds pretty sensible to me. I could also check if they're magical, if you will." Galanthas takes a look at the trail where Wes said the veggypigmies were found. "Better avoid that one, yeah... Since the first time I heard about them, I thought encountering them wouldn't look nice."

[OGRE MAGE]

Hunting Up The Loggers Trail
Freeday, 5th of Goodmonth
Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Buggy

A few suggestions are tossed about, most of them leaning towards the group simply skirting around the rocks at the head of the trail.

Stumpy and Ren just shrug when Greff mentions that there seems to be a rash of rocks like this popping up nearby. Though, the ranger does not elaborate on his comment.

Actions?

main map: viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p366477

Wes D3 24/24 4/4 first 4/4 second 0/2 third
Greff 13/13
Galanthas 8/8 1/1 first

[LtTibbles]

Greff

"I'm not exactly sure what a pygmy is but it sounds like we don't want to go looking for them so let's take the other trail. Just be wary going around those rocks they might've been set up to distract us from traps laid around the outside."

The ranger will try to find a suitably long branch to poke the ground 10 ft away from the stones.

[Jernau35]

Wes

"Do these rocks look familiar to you, Greff? asks the druid.

After listening to the reply, Wes takes a look around at the jungle canopy for any signs of an ambush. If there is nothing to be seen, he casts Detect Snares and Pits and moves around the stones to the next trail, staying at least 20 feet from the stones at all times. He uses his spear to prod ahead, to avoid stepping on snakes and other surprises.

[Karaunios]

Galanthas

Galanthas treads carefully behind his more experienced companions with his bow ready.

He tries to listen for any abnormalities. Are the birds singing? Are there footsteps or any movement behind the underbrush? That kind of thing.

[OGRE MAGE]

Hunting Up The Loggers Trail
Freeday, 5th of Goodmonth
Afternoon, Hot, Humid, Buggy

Before moving around the rocks, the trio looks all around to see if they can spot any signs of an ambush. Nothing out of the ordinary presents itself, so they resort to poking around a bit more. Greff breaks off a large stick, not sure how to answer Wes's question. He pokes around at the ground 10 feet from the rocks, but doesn't find anything unusual.

Galanthas becomes one with nature for a minute, listening to the normal noises of the jungle. He hears the insects buzzing around his head. He also hears most of the normal animals, hiding just out of his sight in the trees, but he doesn't detect anything that causes him any concern.

Wes casts a spell that would expose any pits or snares to the eye of the druid. None are seen.

Once Wes begins skirting the large stones, clearly intending to pass them to get further down the trail, a deep booming voice is heard above the normal din of the jungle.

"HALT!!! NO MAN MAY ENTER THIS TRAIL WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE KING!!! STEP AWAY AND GO BACK BEFORE YOU ARE DELT WITH HARSHLY!!! THIS WILL BE YOUR ONLY WARNING!!!

The voice is coming from the direction of the standing stones.

Actions?

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Wes D3 24/24 3/4 first 4/4 second 0/2 third DS&P: 11
Greff 13/13
Galanthas 8/8 1/1 first

[LtTibbles]

Greff

"Someone's been laying down stones along the trail in different patterns, I spent some time investigating but didn't get much headway. The only thing I know for sure is that it's more than one peson and they're doing it at night-" As soon as the booming voice makes it's demands the ranger drops his stick and raises his hands taking a few steps back while watching the trees he whispers to his partners. "Anyone see anything?"

[Karaunios]

Galanthas

Also in a low tone, Galanthas says: "Nothing... Don't see or hear anything at all. But this warning just gave me the creeps. I don't know what's worse, whatever could befall us following this trail, or the veggypigmies. What king has any authoirty on these lands anyway? I thought this isle was completely forsaken."

[Jernau35]

Wes

Wes crouches down close to the others, for cover, and motions that they should do likewise.

"First we heard stories about mysterious dwarves who arrived on the island and went straight into the forest and never came back. Then we found this trail that had dwarven sized boot prints on it. Now we have mysterious rocks, which makes me think 'dwarves' again, and a self-proclaimed king".

Wes looks at the other members of the party. "To be honest, the only thing I like about this trail is the fact that I know the other trail is definitely very dangerous indeed. This one at least is unknown danger. If we go this way, we should do so slowly and carefully, and be ready to retreat at the first sign of trouble." He shrugs. "We're so broke we can't even bribe our way out of trouble if it is dwarves".

"Of course, before we do choose to go this way, we do also have the option of simply breaking a new trail into the jungle and looking for something to hunt there".

Wes takes advantage of his spell to orient the area of effect onto the stones, knowing that outdoors it will reveal almost any kind of trap.

[Karaunios]

Galanthas

Looking at the thick underbrush in the areas occupied by the jungle Galanthas says: "Walking through the jungle might be as dangerous, if tedious. I'd vote for the trail. This 'self-proclaimed dwarven king' thing has picked my curiosity." He shrugs: "At least we can always follow the trail back if we run into trouble."

[LtTibbles]

Greff crouches down along the others.

"I guess it would he good to know what we're dealing with out here, there can't be that many of them right? Somebody would've noticed a kingdom coming in by ship." The ranger looks down thinking hard. "Unless they tunneled there way here under the sea... they couldn't do that though, right?"