Quest #15 "Taking Down Captain Bing"

[ravenn4544]

Alordan "Spears are good. Maybe we quickly prepare for an ambush. If the scouts ahead run back, we would be prepared to ensnare and deal with the smugglers with the element of surprise"

He starts to dig out his nets. if he can cover the trail head in the clearing with the net and hide it with dirt and sand, he could pull it to trip and entangle the first group of men and provide and advantage.

[kruk]

The cleric looks on ready to assist in whatever happens

[Bigtaff]

Talaris

"I agree we should be ready to ambush, that way we can't be caught unawares."

[Urson]

Luther

The ranger nods. Definitely hit the trees. I'd say put everyone on the same side, so you don't risk hitting a friendly if you ambush.

Ready, Lightfinger?

Luther slips into the undergrowth, moving as quietly as he can. If nothing uncool happens before, he'll stop about 5 yards from the edge of the clearing and assess the situation.

[Bluehorse]

Monocar

Politely as he can, shepards everyone a few yards into the trees to hunker down.

[OGRE MAGE]

Emancipation
Getting Closer
Freeday, The 5th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Warm, Humid, Buggy

Luther and Lightfinger scout out ahead while the others search the huts and begin preparations for an ambush in case the pirates race back this way. Chauncey crinkles his nose and shakes his head at it all, still wishing the group could simply bypass the whole area in order to get around any trouble that might lie ahead. He still sees the main pirate camp as the groups objective and would like to avoid any and all confrontations in between.

Monocar rifles through the meager belingings in the huts, finding very little other than some bits of spare clothing, rags, and a few cooking utensils. He does find a small empty cooking pot, but not much else that he seeks.

The others look around for ways to set up Alordan's net. They sharpen a few branches in hopes of using them as spears if things go bad here.

After moving up the trail another thousand feet or so, Luther and Lightfinger get themselves into position to see where the construction noise is coming from. Neither of them spot any traps or alarms set up along the way, solidifying their belief that the smugglers aren't worried about securing the central portion of their domain out here. The pair stops a few feet from another much larger clearing along the river, keeping themselves hidden as best they can. This one seems to have been a similar village to the others they have already seen, but there is a lot of action here, most of it in the form of new construction of large, makeshift storage barns.

Though they see no ogres from the far southern end of the clearing, they count at least 20 to 25 men working in this area. Most of them are constructing the barns, but a few of them are doing something near the river. More of the long bamboo rafts are spotted there and some of the men appear to be loading them up with large bundles to see how much they can hold while remaining afloat.

The smell of burning plants is strong here, though there is no visible fire spotted. There is a wispy smoke present that faintly permeates the air all around the clearing.

Actions?

You are currently at the second village (square) past the pavilion on this map.
viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p366477

Luther R3 26/26
Lightfinger T4 19/19
Talaris C1 9/9 3/3 first
Monocar F3 30/31
Chauncey MU3 16/16 CL, DM, RM 2/2 first 1/1 second
Lerrick C1 8/8 3/3 first
Alordan R3 18/18

[Bluehorse]

Monocar

To clearify... we are here, correct? also, was MMM able to make a couple makeshift spears? Just want to make sure I know what we are working with.

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The big guy just tries to keep quiet and keep his eyes open, scanning both up and down the trail, alert to danger.

[tkrexx]

Lightfinger blends in.

His first priority is not being seen, not being heard. He understands it's Luther's specialty, stalking and spying, but the big Bear-Man simply lacks the finesse of a Halfling in sylvan settings. This naturally concerns Arte, and he keeps himself a dozen feet or so to the left of his partner. If they are detected, he will not run, but "disappear," in hopes the Ranger's retreat will have the attention of any hostiles. He'll try to communicate this to Luther before they arrive at their destination.

[Urson]

Luther

Luther finds a tree that he can climb, watching the activity in the clearing. He studies the comings and goings, trying to get a sense of the patterns, and the general level of alertness among the men.

Sniffing the air, he tries to identify the smoke, and the type of plants being burnt.

[OGRE MAGE]

To clearify... we are here, correct? also, was MMM able to make a couple makeshift spears? Just want to make sure I know what we are working with.

That is correct.

I wish I knew how to do that whole X thing, but alas, I am too old for such intricacies.

And yes, you are in a jungle forest, so you can make as many sharpened sticks as you like.

[OGRE MAGE]

Emancipation
Getting Closer
Freeday, The 5th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Warm, Humid, Buggy

The group remaining at the village tries to stay quiet as the others search ahead.

Luther finds a tree to climb for a birds eye view. He watches the actions of the smugglers turned carpenters for a while and learns much of the same. These men don't seem too concerned that someone might be watching, in fact, he doesn't spot any guards or patrols from his new vantage point.

Lightfinger keeps his distance from the ranger, in case the big bear snaps off the branch he is perched on. Making his own visual search of the place, he too sees that his smaller group is definitely outnumbered at least 4 to 1. The experienced thief has seen much better odds, and starts to wonder if taking on a group of this size would be prudent. He tries extra hard not to be heard, just in case.

After observing for a short while, it appears to both of the scouts that this group of carpenters is trying to assemble the storage barns as quickly as possible, almost racing from one to the next. The men at the river continue their experiments with packing the bundles on the rafts as efficiently and seaworthy as possible. All of the work around here seems to be taken rather seriously.

All of the men are armed with at least one weapon and each is wearing light armor. They don't seem to be watching out around them very often, concentrating more on their work at the moment, but it appears that a fight here could prove very deadly for the smaller group. Luther sees that almost every man has a cigarette dangling from their lips, so he assumes that is what he is smelling. The aroma is strong and smells a bit like a skunk.

Actions?

You are currently at the second village (square) past the pavilion on this map.
viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p366477

Luther R3 26/26
Lightfinger T4 19/19
Talaris C1 9/9 3/3 first
Monocar F3 30/31
Chauncey MU3 16/16 CL, DM, RM 2/2 first 1/1 second
Lerrick C1 8/8 3/3 first
Alordan R3 18/18

[Urson]

Luther

The ranger slips back down the tree, and locates Lightfinger. I think we better try and avoid these fellas. Maybe we can scout a route through the trees that leapfrogs this whole clearing?

[tkrexx]

Lightfinger agrees.

Tho he would like to do more snooping, the Thief has enough common sense to understand the party has little chance of a favorable encounter here. The possibility exists, of course, however unlikely. It should be much less risky to circumvent the entire area. His natural curiosity still screams questions: What will they be storing? Why the hurry? Are they practicing for a particular event? Why do I smell a skunk? Who profits from all this activity? How can I profit as well? The answers simply are not the current priority.

[ravenn4544]

Alordan waits for the scouts to return.

[OGRE MAGE]

The scouts return to their friends to tell them what they have learned. Together, they discuss the groups next move.

Remembering the trouble the group had with just 4 of these men the last time, Chauncey agrees that it would be best to attempt to avoid this much larger faction if it is at all possible.

[ravenn4544]

Alordan rubs his chin. "4 to 1 you say? That's dangerous odds indeed. If we go around, do we have an idea of where we should head to camp undisturbed?"

[Bluehorse]

Monocar

Looks like he doesn't like thr odds either. how close can we skirt them and be safe? Are they making enough noise we can hear them even if we cant see them? Hide further back and then cut more north? We could always stop and scout around again like we just did if we this we are too far off the trail. Did it look like there was anything the other side of the river?

[Bigtaff]

Talaris

The half elf pays close attention to the path in case someone happens along. He listens to the conversation while keeping his eyes peeled.

[kruk]

The cleric listens with keen interest to what the scouts have to say and agrees with the others that this group needs to be avoided.

[OGRE MAGE]

Emancipation
Getting Closer
Freeday, The 5th of Goodmonth
Late Morning, Warm, Humid, Buggy

The consensus of the party is to bypass this much larger group all together. The rangers deem that skirting the camp through the untamed jungle is certainly possible, though it will be much slower and far more time consuming travel. Even more so if doing it quietly.

Chauncey thinks on it for a long while before nodding his head in agreement.

”We should go around them, no matter how long it takes. Alerting them to our presence now would prove very badly for us, since we are now surrounded from both ends of the trail. I feel we must push on past this group and try to make the main camp before nightfall. Wes said that their biggest mistake was simply walking right into the camp, so we’re not going to do that. I want to spend at least one full day doing surveillance, observing their movements and learning as much as we can about their defenses before we make our move.”

Remembering how their friend Wes looked after days of traveling through the rough jungle, the party just stares at the west edge of he trail, reluctantly looking for the easiest spot to enter the wildly overgrown jungle forest.

Actions?

You are currently at the second village (square) past the pavilion on this map.
viewtopic.php?f=446&t=6346#p366477
If there is any specific route or extra precautions you want to take before the final stretch of your journey, now is the time to discuss it. I am going to need fairly specific details about how you would like to approach the main camp and any surveillance techniques you plan to use. Hopefully CP posts his thoughts before this slaughter happens, since he was the one who dragged you all into this mess.

Luther R3 26/26
Lightfinger T4 19/19
Talaris C1 9/9 3/3 first
Monocar F3 30/31
Chauncey MU3 16/16 CL, DM, RM 2/2 first 1/1 second
Lerrick C1 8/8 3/3 first
Alordan R3 18/18