The Stinking Bugbear Cave (Intro)

[Urson]

Horsefly

So- youse gonna make with the flying? I'm ready when youse is.

[Starbeard]

Sorry for the delay! Busy week

CON 15: [3d6] = 5

Loopis stops fiddling with his magical decanter. "Oh yeah, I'ma ready when you are. Up and away!"

He out from under the stone outcrop, making sure that he can take to the sky without being seen by the towers. If he can't, Loopis will skulk his way northward toward the trees, so that he can fly up hidden within the rising treeline.


(I admit I'm a little confused here; the flyers were zapped to the keep along with the others, right? Or are we flying over there from the caves?)

[OGRE MAGE]

No problem! Everyone teleported to the base of the keep together.

I will try to clear that up in my next post.

[OGRE MAGE]

At The Tunnel
2 Days Left
Early Evening, Dark, Clear, Quiet

The rest of the group teleports in without any shrieking from the pain of the magical transportation. They silently dread going back if this was supposed to be the easy leg of the journey.

Kermut moves to the opening of the tunnel, looking back before entering. The dark narrow tunnel continues on towards the castle with nothing much to see inside so far. Horsefly follows the gnoll, waiting for the flyers to take flight. Shozbot watches it all happen, looking for someone to take his frustrations out on.

Othrod climbs out to the edge of the outcropping of rock where he can now see the western side of the Keep walls. He sees that from here, he could climb up another 10 feet or so to access the rock ledge that rings the outer perimeter of the Keep. As he stares at the wall to detect any movement there, he spots a single guard in between the square rear tower and the tallest tower. The guard doesn't seem to have noticed the huge bugbear through the darkness yet.

Loopis takes to the sky, flying to the north a short distance first so he can avoid any light given off by the torches that line the upper walls and towers. He can see that each section of wall has at least one torch burning, as do the tops of each tower. The crafty kobold thinks he could fly around to get a better look at the place and still keep himself clear of the globes of light given off by the torches, if he wanted to.

Carl and Ondrake stay put for the time being, knowing that they wont fit into the tunnel anyway. They see Othrod crawl out onto the rocky ravine wall towards the base of the castle walls. Thamansa thinks over the groups current position, happy to see that some monsters have already taken the initiative to get the spying started.

Actions?

map:
viewtopic.php?f=694&t=8176#p402444

Loopis (kobold) 8/8
Horsefly (goblin) 8/8 [3/3/1]
Shozbot (orc) 18/18
Kermut (gnoll) 16/16
Thamansa (bugbear) 20/20 [3/3/1]
Othrod (bugbear) 30/30
Horny Carl (minotaur) 40/40
Ondrake (hill giant) 50/50

[Rex]

Othrod

Othrod crawls back to the others and in whispers lets them know about the guard he saw. "There is a single guard in between the square rear tower and the tallest tower. I don't think he saw me."

[ravenn4544]

Ondrake stares at the bugbear "what we do now? Wait for them to open gate? explore the ledge further that way," as he points to the south, "for our way in?"

[Rex]

Othrod

Whispering "I think you stay here, laying down behind cover and if the we are discovered the crew sneaking in the tunnel can fall back to you. You just to big to sneak around. I will try sneaking around and see if I see any other weakness. I am big, but bugbear sneaky."

[Urson]

Horsefly

Horsefly stays near Thamansa, but snoops around- specifically looking for rats, rabbits, or other small rodent-y mammals.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Horny Carl quickly realizes he is too large to be of much use. Still, he moves North along the base of the cliff they are at, looking for anything remotely useful. Maybe a guard on patrol, even.

[Pulpatoon]

Thamansa pulls out a rough harness of rope and leather. She whispers to Horsefly, "C'mere, poppet. I'll strap yuh to me like Babybjorn*."

*Babybjorn, of course, was the famous goblin chieftain who, having lost an arm and two legs mid-battle, had himself tied to the chest of his bugbear aide-de-camp so that he could continue fighting.

Once she has the goblin secured, she says to the others, "The winds won't hold me aloft f'r long. I'll be back here soon. I'll fly up, take a gander, drop some fire, and be back before you can say, 'lordy lordy, those ingrown hairs set off Thamansa's eyes in th' ravishingest way.'"

With that, she follows Loomis into the clouds.

Third level spell, Fly, expended.

[Urson]

Horsefly

The Gnome's face crumples into a knot of annoyance when he's called "poppet," but he lets himself be strapped in, and makes ready to fly.

[Scott308]

Kermut

Kermut continues sneaking quietly, deeper into the tunnel.

[OGRE MAGE]

At The Tunnel
2 Days Left
Early Evening, Dark, Clear, Quiet

Othrod returns to the others after his short climb up to the ledge at the base of the Keeps walls. He tells the party about the guard he saw and suggests that Ondrake better wait right where he is for now. Horny Carl decides to crawl out on the ravine wall to have a closer look at the rear of the keep. He also spots a circle of firelight atop the north wall where a guard stands alert. There is no ledge at the back of the keep that could be accessed like there is around the rest of the structure. The walls at the back of the keep are built right on the edge of the high plateau.

Horsefly doesn't spot any nearby animals, so Thamansa straps the growly goblin shaman to her large body and uses her arcane skills to take off up into the air. She flies slightly to the south after seeing Loopis head to the north. The flyers see things that those on the ground cannot. There is a torch lit on each of the tower tops and another along each section of wall. A single guard can be seen in the aura of light given off by the torches. The guards seem to be looking out over the ravines, though none of them seem to be looking down or at the area where the others are waiting.

Shozbot watches at the outside of the tunnel while Kermut enters the dark, narrow opening. The gnoll finds that the tunnel continues on towards the corner of the back tower. He moves inside a few more feet and sees that the tunnel branches off into a larger room to the north. It also continues on towards the keep.

Actions?

map:

IMG_2426.JPG (1.2 MiB) Viewed 564 times

Loopis (kobold) 8/8
Horsefly (goblin) 8/8 [3/3/1]
Shozbot (orc) 18/18
Kermut (gnoll) 16/16
Thamansa (bugbear) 20/20 [3/3/1]
Othrod (bugbear) 30/30
Horny Carl (minotaur) 40/40
Ondrake (hill giant) 50/50

[Pulpatoon]

Thamansa gains altitude in preparation for flying directly over the Keep. She says to Horsefly, "We kin leave spyin' on soldier-men an' whatnot fer th' lil' bat! Me and you are headin' for the wizard's tower. If you got The Sight, then yer should open yer hex-eyes and look around. What sorta 'sorcelments has we got here?"

That is to say, Thamansa is hoping Horsefly will cast Detect Magic and they can learn something about any enchantments on the Keep's defenses, generally, and scout out the Wizard's Tower, specifically.

[Urson]

Horsefly

Shht! Not so loudly! Sorry, gots no mage sights tonight. Can't smell any magics workin', but... Horsefly whispers.

[Pulpatoon]

Thamansa spits and hisses at Horsefly, "Yer ain't got yer eyes? Then why shouldn't I just unbuckle you and watchyer splat like a melon? What hexes has you got?"

Can Thamansa cast Detect Magic while Flying?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Horny Carl notes that there isn't much he can do so he returns to the arrival point.

[Urson]

Horsefly

Horsefly scowls at Thamansa as best he can from his position. I gots plenty da magics- but nothin' I can use on youse witout killin' me too.

[OGRE MAGE]

I guess I will keep plugging away at this, with only 3 players posting IC since Monday.

At The Tunnel
2 Days Left
Early Evening, Dark, Clear, Quiet

Thamansa tells the ancient goblin she is carrying to test the area for magical defenses. She considers simply dropping the little shit once he tells her he hasn't the ability. She does a fly over to see the entire complex, avoiding the light aura from the torches on the walls and towers. (yes, she can cast other spells while flying)

The pair spots a huge fire burning in some kind of brazier atop the large southeast tower. There is at least one guard up there as well. They also note a well lit area around the front gates of the keep. Guards are spotted on the ground there as well. A quick flyby reveals all of the areas of the keep that are well lit and where possible guards are spotted. (red X's on map) There is an eerie blue light coming from both balconies on the southwest tower, and also from the uppermost floor of the main central wizards tower. No guards are seen within the blue aura of light.

Horny Carl doesn't want to risk climbing across the back edge of the keep any further, so he climbs back under the outcropping of rock where he cant be seen. There he finds Ondrake, Othrod, and Shozbot. All of them seem to be watching the back of Kermut as he disappears further inside of the narrow tunnel all alone.

Actions?

map:

IMG_2431.JPG (688.44 KiB) Viewed 515 times

Loopis (kobold) 8/8
Horsefly (goblin) 8/8 [3/3/1]
Shozbot (orc) 18/18
Kermut (gnoll) 16/16
Thamansa (bugbear) 20/20 [3/3/0] Fly:? (a good long while)
Othrod (bugbear) 30/30
Horny Carl (minotaur) 40/40
Ondrake (hill giant) 50/50

[Pulpatoon]

Staying well above the eye-line of the guards, Thamansa decides to investigate to corner tower emitting the blue light first. For all her bluster, she also does not have the ability to see magical energy, a lack she sorely regrets at this moment. She whispers to Horsefly, "Do yer think we could land on the roof of that tower an' eavesdrop?"