Quest #32 "Visiting With The Neighbors"

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen realizes that the trip back to Beachtown and back has taken a toll on his body. And while he might normally ask the Queen's Children for a respite, their unusual actions and behavior leave him skeptical of his safety. So, he takes a moment to focus his mind, delivering himself from the distractions that would otherwise compromise him. He takes a drink of water, carefully gauging what he needs to continue versus what he would otherwise find satisfying.

"The Dwarves may have tough hides," he thinks. "But they are no more impervious to the Children than I am, and likely a good bit less. If I do not come to their mine soon, then I must come to a rest spot along the way that they seek shelter in." And with that thought, along with the brief rest and a drink of water, Jaxsen sets off to find one or the other. He forces patience upon himself, still not allowing himself to run at full speed and lose what stealth and detection he can muster.

Normal check vs CON (16) [3d6]=10

[OGRE MAGE]

Just dropping this here for recordkeeping and so the real Paladin knows he's been healed.

Daisy performs her morning prayers, then returns to Narrimore. She examines his wounds, makes sure they are clean and un-infested by insect larvae and eggs, then begins prayers for the man.
CLW: Heal [1d8]=2
CLW: Heal [1d8]=1

Daisy sees that the insects have indeed infested the wounds of the paladin under her care, but she takes solace in the fact that his kind have a good physical defense against certain things, so she heals the mans ailments anyway.

Narramore slowly regains consciousness, though he still feels like he was recently trampled by a herd of giant lizards.

Narramore 2/12 LOH

[OGRE MAGE]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen realizes that the trip back to Beachtown and back has taken a toll on his body. And while he might normally ask the Queen's Children for a respite, their unusual actions and behavior leave him skeptical of his safety. So, he takes a moment to focus his mind, delivering himself from the distractions that would otherwise compromise him. He takes a drink of water, carefully gauging what he needs to continue versus what he would otherwise find satisfying.

"The Dwarves may have tough hides," he thinks. "But they are no more impervious to the Children than I am, and likely a good bit less. If I do not come to their mine soon, then I must come to a rest spot along the way that they seek shelter in." And with that thought, along with the brief rest and a drink of water, Jaxsen sets off to find one or the other. He forces patience upon himself, still not allowing himself to run at full speed and lose what stealth and detection he can muster.

Normal check vs CON (16) [3d6]=10

Jaxsen returns to the trail after a short rest and a drink, pleading with the Queens children to avoid him if they can. The monk travels for several more hours, knowing by this time that it cant be much longer before he sees daylight again. All the way the insects continue to persuade him to follow them northwards, but he still cant figure out why.

About to rethink his idea that the dwarves must have a place to escape the jungles wrath, Jax suddenly smells a hint of smoke on the air in front of him.

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Morning of Waterday, the 24th. Must be back in Beachtown in about 24 hours.

Jaxsen stops and slowly drops to a crouch. He checks the breeze to verify from which direction the smell of smoke is coming. Once he is sure, he checks himself, making sure that the camo that he and Dex placed is still at least mostly in place. (If not he replaces it.) He then drops to the ground and does a low, slow crawl in the direction of the smoke. Coming from downwind, he decides, should help obscure his scent from the lizards, if there are any present. He moves very slowly, careful to move as little of the foliage as possible and watching and listening as closely as possible.

[OGRE MAGE]

Waterday, 24th of Goodmonth
Nearing Dawn, Warm, Humid, Buggy

Jaxsen gets low, creeping towards the smell of smoke coming from somewhere up the trail.

It takes a while for him to reach the area at a crawl, but the Brother of Bralm eventually starts to see a flicker of firelight through some distant underbrush.

The fire appears to be set off the trail a short distance, and the outline of a small shack can be seen in the flickering light.

There are no other noises besides the usual din of the nighttime jungle.

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen adopts his most stealthy behavior as he moves a little closer to the shack. He moves only when there is a slight breeze moving the foliage. He stays actually against the ground, propelled by arms and legs in a 'flat swimming' motion. He is looking for lookouts, lizards, or any other action. He is listening for the same. For now, he will not approach any closer than the very edge of the ring of light from the fire, counting on a combination of the smoke, the darkness he is in, and the heat from the fire, to hide him from any lookouts or lizards.

[OGRE MAGE]

In the darkness, with his face pressed to the ground as he crawls forward, Jaxsen starts to hear the natural guttural sounds of more huge lizards nearby. He still cant see them, or tell how many there are, but their distinct sounds are unmistakable.

Then he starts to hear gravely voices from what must certainly be dwarves, though he cant understand anything they say in their native tongue. He thinks he picks up three separate voices, but cant be sure, still unable to see exactly where they are unless he tries sticking his head up a little higher out of the weeds.

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Feeling the need to know if this group of dwarves is, indeed, the ones who passed them on the trail earlier, Jaxsen slowly raises his head in an attempt to see even one of their faces. He moves with the breezes, not wanting his motion to stand out, even back in the shadows. To keep a minimum profile, he raises his head sideways, right eye on top.

[OGRE MAGE]

From his hiding spot in the shadowy weeds, behind the small campfire, Jaxsen picks his head up high enough to spot the outline of what must be a guard shack or small barracks of some kind. The three voices are coming from near the shack, still about 30 feet away, but the monk isn't able to make out who is doing the talking from this distance.

The grunting lizard noises are coming from a bit further beyond the building.

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Making up his mind, Jaxsen begins to pull away from the small camp, back towards the trail again. Once he gets far enough from the camp to no longer fear being seen or heard, the Monk stands and heads back to the trail at his regular speed. (Full Speed: 17")

Once he gets close to the trail again, Jax begins following it again. Having encountered no patrol other than the one he has seen three times now, and the one that was slain, he suspects something is seriously wrong at the mine. He continues following the trail, just inside the foliage again. He once again slows enough to remain stealthy and attentive, looking and listening constantly. Noting the earlier lack of animal life, he begins to look for them as well.

[OGRE MAGE]

Moving back to the trail again, Jaxsen continues towards the west, hoping he is far enough away from the firelight to pass by the guards unseen.

He doesn't go more than a few steps further before he realizes that he has already reached the end of the trail. Difficult to see anything in the early morning darkness, the monk suddenly understands that this guard shack is the first building of many that he can now make out from the shadows. A vast open clearing stretches out as far as the dark horizon, and as far as he can see in such limited light.

There are glowing orange dots from light sources in the distance, but it is hard to tell what they might be illuminating from so far away. Few sounds can be heard over the natural noise of the jungle, but some distant noises deeper inside the clearing tells Jax that he now has dwarves behind him and in front of him.

[SirOwen]

Could I get a rough map centering on Jax, so I can get some idea of what directions building and sounds are coming from, please?

[OGRE MAGE]

6B967C80-3E0D-4441-9F05-87B9F8EB9D3F.jpeg (58.36 KiB) Viewed 330 times

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Not sure of the orientation, so I'll use Right, Left, Up and Down.

Jaxsen, realizing just how close he came to getting caught, moves quietly into the foliage. (Due Left) He'll get far enough in that he can still see the torches, but is in no way illuminated by them. (30-40' from current location) He then drops again and begins silently low-crawling along the lines of the buildings outside the apparently empty darkness. (Due Up) He suspects the 'big empty' is probably the mine itself, a pit mine with the buildings built around it, but doesn't simply accept that answer.

Please let me know if I come to an edge of the foliage, so I can adapt this.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Mine?
Waterday, 24th of Goodmonth
Nearing Dawn, Warm, Humid, Buggy

Jaxsen orients himself with his surroundings in the darkness, moving south, back into the jungle.

He crawls towards the west until he breaks the tree line again, seeing the outline of another shack directly in front of him.

He cant make out any features of the building in the dark of night, but there is no doubt what is happening inside when he hears the unmistakable sounds of several loud snorers coming from beyond its thin walls.

Action?

Jaxsen 10/19

08979D03-CE7A-4E16-9B06-2E1E946021BF.jpeg (21.75 KiB) Viewed 313 times

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Jaxsen retreats back into the foliage about 10'. He allows for the shadows, and the noise of the jungle and the snorers, and doesn't go into a low crawl again. But he does crouch and stays as silent as he can as he follows the perimeter of the camp westward. He continues to keep an eye out for guards, mobile sentries and the like.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Mine?
Waterday, 24th of Goodmonth
Nearing Dawn, Warm, Humid, Buggy

Moving back into the jungle, Jaxsen looks around for guards. He doesn't see any due to the slowly diminishing darkness.

Continuing west about 30 feet, the sneaky monk thinks he can hear something up ahead in the bushes. Can I get a percentile roll, please?

Action?

Jaxsen 10/19

[SirOwen]

Coming right up!

Jaxsen Reiter - Percentile Roll [1d100]=25

[OGRE MAGE]

The Mine?
Waterday, 24th of Goodmonth
Nearing Dawn, Warm, Humid, Buggy

Jaxsen thinks he hears something out of the ordinary coming from a bit further west along the edge of the jungle, but the noise stops before he can place it.

Action?

Jaxsen 10/19

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

With a wry smile, Jaxsen goes back into full-stealth-crawl-on-your-belly-very-slowly mode. He moves in the direction of the noise, listening, looking and even smelling for whatever made the noise.

Is there anything he noticed about the sound other than "out of the ordinary"? Did it sound like a branch being stepped on? An animal snort? A dwarf coughing? Any kind of descriptor?