Quest #32 "Visiting With The Neighbors"

[Urson]

Daisy
Daisy is clearly angry, both with herself and the dwarves. Ah apologize in advance, ya'll. Ah may have bravely led a bunch of good folks to their death- or worse. Ah should have known.
Best officer Ah ever worked with was a Guard-Captain Murphy Randle. He always said, "No plan ever survives first contact with reality.

[Paladin]

Sir William Narramore

The knight nods almost imperceptibly. "Aye," he says quietly. "It's a bad idea. And if it gets worse, perhaps you might slip beneath the saddle of the lizard behind us and cut the cinch strap while I bull the riders off." He keeps his voice low and eyes ahead as he speaks. "Never hurts to have a plan B, eh?"

He winks at Daisy. "We aren't dead yet, ma'am. I have faith in you."

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter nods slightly at Sir William's suggestion. "Not bad.... not bad."

[Monsieur Rose]

The Princess

Noticing her companions mutter amongst themselves, The Princess understands the gist and sets herself the task of occupying the Dwarves' attention.

"I do enjoy new friends! Tell me, are all Stoneguts as pleasant as you lot?"

"While we're walking, let me pick your brains a bit. Gems. Which do you prefer? I've heard that many dwarves don't really have a preference, but in my experience everyone does. I prefer rubies, myself. Something about the hue and hardness."

"Ooh. Tell me about Trebor, is he as good as they say? I have an old recipe for moonlight ale that I'm dying to discuss with him. It has to be brewed under a full moon! Can you believe it? Something about a fuller body."

After a few minutes of such things, she starts to slow and limp a bit. "Forgive me, is it still far? These are new boots, you see, and my feet are killing me. You know, people always said I talk more when I'm uncomfortable, but I could never see it. Anyway...my boots. Right." She holds a hand up to a lone dwarf rider. "Give me a lift? I wouldn't be a burden, petite thing that I am."

[OGRE MAGE]

Stonegut Meet And Greet
Godsday, 23rd of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Overcast, Warm, Humid

At the urging of the sour looking dwarves, the party reluctantly agrees to accompany them the rest of the way to the dwarven mine.

The princess tries to keep their attention by making small talk, to which she is largely ignored. Once she slows the pace down to a crawl, she is offered a spot on one of the lizards carrying a single dwarf, though the ride would be bareback.

The others gather together and discuss their options quietly, none of them feeling very good about their chances of surviving whatever these foul dwarves have in mind once they arrive. In a cluster between the 2 lizards in front of them, and the other two behind, the astute party ponder their options as they march westward. Narramore watches and listens carefully at the commands given to the huge beasts, finding that most of the verbal shouts are accompanied with a painful and violent kicking or hitting. The Gallant wonders if the animals are simply manipulated in this way instead of being taught any actual training.

As they look around at the saddles, they find that the tack used on these creatures is made of fairly new leather, indicating that it must have been made here on the island, and tailored to fit these unusual mounts. Though there is a bracing harness connected that loops around the things necks, there is otherwise only one thick strap that runs around and underside of the barrel shaped lizard bellies.

The dwarves speak to each other in an archaic form of the dwarven language, though anyone who understands the modern day language might be able to make out a few words. Anyone who speaks dwarf can make a [3d6] Int check to see if they pick up on a few of these words.

" 12 more strong hands should please the king greatly. The big brute will be able to do a lot of heavy lifting. How much do you bet ol' Peanut takes the she-elf for his own?"

Actions?

Can I get a Hard Wisdom check [4d6] from everyone along with your next action posts.

Dexter 23/23
Daisy 16/16 3/3 first 2/2 second
Jaxsen 19/19
Narramore 12/12 LOH
Princess 5/5 CL, DM, RM 1/1 first
Liam 9/9
overall map:
viewtopic.php?p=366477#p366477

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter can hear the Dwarves talking, but the old dialect throws him off...
Regular Check vs Int 10 [3d6] = 13

"That's strange," he whispers to Sir William. "That's dwarf they're speaking, all right. But it's some dialect I've not heard. Let me hear some more of it and maybe I can make it out."

Dex's Wisdom Check Dexter Hard WIS check vs 9 WIS [4d6] = 12

Jaxsen Wisdom Check Jaxsen Hard WIS check vs 17 WIS [4d6] = 20

*&%$^*^!! Die rolling monstrosity!!

[Paladin]

Sir William Narramore

The knight's eyes widen as he makes out snatches of conversation.

[3d6] = 5

"They intend to enslave us and use the princess for their pleasure," he says quietly and calmly, though his eyes blaze hot and angry. "We need to act now, before we're any closer to the mines. We may not have a better chance.

We could fall upon the pair behind us--Daisy and Dexter could duck beneath the beasts and cut saddle straps and Jaxsen, Liam, and I could occupy the riders. The Princess can handle herself." He glances at the others. "What say you?"

[4d6] = 10 WIS 10

[Monsieur Rose]

"The Princess can handle herself."

The Princess

Wisdom (15):Hard Check: [4d6] = 14
Int (15): Normal Check: [3d6] = 10

After accepting the bareback ride, the Princess is able to pick up enough to confirm her suspicions. "Thanks again for the ride." She has to steady herself by holding onto the dwarf with one hand. She makes sure her other hand is free.

She turns her head to look back at her companions, wondering if any heard what she heard. She locks eyes with Narramore and nods.

[SirOwen]

Dexter Broadleaf

Dexter lets Sir William finish and then suggests quietly, "Orrr... if we all break for the trees to the same side, we can take away their advantage of being mounted. As well as give us a head start if we are simply fleeing. They'll have to dismount to follow, or they might go for reinforcements. Fighting them here in the open would seem to favor them. But open combat is not my specialty..."

[Bluehorse]

Liam

He hears the Dwarves talk as well, though he doesn't let on to that. He subtly reaches his hand down to make sure his rapier is no longer peace stringed and ready to draw. He turns to Jaxsen: The drones protect the queen. hoping his little cryptic whisper is enough to signal something is up

WIS 12 v [4d6] = 16

[Urson]

Daisy
Daisy listens to what the dwarves say without understanding any of it. She knows a smattering of Dwarvish- mostly profanities picked up from mercenaries.
She nods at Narramore's statements. Don't surprise me a bit. Sir William, you're the warrior: for now, ya'll are in charge. Give the orders, an' Ah'll follow 'em.

[SirOwen]

Jaxsen Reiter

Noting Liam's subtlety, Jaxsen merely nods. He starts looking around and starts humming softly as his grip secures itself to his halberd.

[OGRE MAGE]

Stonegut Meet And Greet
Godsday, 23rd of Goodmonth
Early Afternoon, Overcast, Warm, Humid

Watching the dwarves more carefully now, Narramore, and the Princess notice that at least two of them have what appear to be horns of some kind tethered around their necks. One of them is the rider in front of the stately elf.

Listening to their weakly coded old language, a few members of the party start to realize that these dwarves are likely taking them to their doom. Trying hard not to overreact before alerting the others, the groups paladin knows they must fight their way out of this mess before they get much closer to the settlement. He says so in hushed tones to the others as they walk along, allowing Dexter to suggest an alternative solution that will equalize the dwarves mounted advantage.

Either solution will not likely end well, but compared to a life of servitude......or worse, their appears to be little other option.

The rear dwarves must catch a hint of their hushed conversation. One of the more sinister looking of their lot pats his ax handle menacingly, as if to say, "just try it".

A short distance ahead the path winds around a gentle bend where the trail widens slightly.

Actions?

positions:

5F12ADB3-BBCF-46E6-A3A2-7AB0A1A17FC6.jpeg (94.06 KiB) Viewed 783 times

Dexter 23/23
Daisy 16/16 3/3 first 2/2 second
Jaxsen 19/19
Narramore 12/12 LOH
Princess 5/5 CL, DM, RM 1/1 first
Liam 9/9
overall map:
viewtopic.php?p=366477#p366477

[Bluehorse]

Liam

Speaking loud enough for the dwarves to hear but not wanting to sound like he is speaking loud enough for the dwarve to hear. Lord Narramore, do you think the kobolds could have tunneled this far by now? Surely they will head this direction since the river blocks their progress that way. I would think the higher elevation would be appealing to them and offer more levels to dig out. I hope we are not too late to warn to warn our friends here of the encroaching dangers... They could be like termites to this hillside.

[Paladin]

OM, do we think the lizards could be effectively ridden into the jungle? Or is it too tangled?

For that matter, do we think WE could escape through the brush? It would surely be slow going, but then that would be the case for our pursuers, as well.

[OGRE MAGE]

Great question!

The vegetation along the sides of the trail is thick and nearly impenetrable. In most places, it will be necessary to literally chop your way through. (depending on size, of course)

There are spots where the lizards might be able to push into the jungle a short distance, but not much further than a few feet.

The way I see it, escaping through the forest will be slow at best, but only for the first person chopping a path. Any pursuit will be able to follow that path fairly easily, unless some precautions are made to prevent it.

[Paladin]

Sir William Narramore

"Aye, Liam, I believe you're right," he says in a voice meant to be heard. The knight narrows his eyes. "Get those horns," he says very quietly. "Nothing else we might do matters if a horde of dwarves comes down upon us. Small ones cut the cinches and find cover. Big folk bear the riders down. Then get behind the lizards and fallen riders so the ones up front can't trample you.

With that, he catches the eye of their Princess and winks, then launches himself at the pair of dwarves riding behind him and Liam, propelling the full bulk of his bone, sinew, and plate armor at the foremost rider. If his great weight isn't sufficient to upend the dwarf, he'll latch on and try to wrestle him from the saddle by sheer brute strength, with an assist from gravity.

Whatever rolls are needed, just let me know and I can edit them in. I've never actually tried killing myself attacking like this, so...new territory for me.

[OGRE MAGE]

I know STR wont be a problem for him, so I will take a normal Dex check for now, to see how this plays out.

[Paladin]

Yeah...nooow I roll high. Can't roll 17 on an attack to save my life. But a dex check? Every time. Against my Dex of 11.

[3d6] = 17

F*ck.

[Urson]

Daisy
Daisy points at the dwarves on the lead lizard Sophie! Kill! Even as she does this, she scrabbles the knife out of her first aid kit and charges the second, where the Princess is riding double. Her intent is to cut the cinch on the second's saddle while Sophie wounds/distracts the rider on the lead.
Sophie leaps and scrabbles up the leg of the riding lizard as if climbing a boulder, screeching.

Daisy (cutting the cinch strap)attack [1d20] = 11

Sophie sophie [1d20] = 5