IC

[thirdkingdom]

Telemachus

The mage proposes they begin to sweep the first "hex" of land today, and asks the innkeeper of ways to cross the river.

Innkeeper

"You can probably use the bridge, especially if you're working for the Crown. I hear it's close to being done, and should be open soon.

[shaidar]

Newton starts the day with his usual routine, getting up at dawn and heading outside to find a peaceful spot of grass. He sits, facing the rising sun and meditates, connecting to nature and replenishing his spells. Once done he heads into the stable and checks on his horse, making sure she is fed, watered and ready for the day ahead. Only then does he head into the inn to meet the others for breakfast.

Talk of getting out of Junction and starting the sweep seems to have put him in a good mood.

[Pulpatoon]

Aldus looks fretful and jumpy, this morning. He was born and bred in the city, and would honestly rather be there, now. "Have you see that young woman, Wolf... uh... Wulfka? I'll feel a lot better when I have someone with a vested interest in keeping my hide intact along for the ride."

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"I'm going to gather my mercs and cross the river. I'll meet you all on the other side and we can begin our adventuring career in earnest."

Telemachus then does just that.

[thirdkingdom]

Aldus looks fretful and jumpy, this morning. He was born and bred in the city, and would honestly rather be there, now. "Have you see that young woman, Wolf... uh... Wulfka? I'll feel a lot better when I have someone with a vested interest in keeping my hide intact along for the ride."

Thirdmonth, Secondday
Junction

The adventurers take their leave of Seneschal Beorthmac. There is some talk of seeking fishermen to interview, and more talk to try and persuade a farmer to let the mercenaries bed down in a fallow field or unused barn. Nothing comes of either proposal, though, and companions eventually retire for the night.

Thirdmonth, Thirdday
Junction

The sun rises, and it looks to be a beautiful spring day. Wulfka Ad is downstairs at the inn even this early, outfitted in her new gear and grinning foolishly. "I am yours to command, Sir Aldus."

Thirdmonth, Thirdday
The other side of the bridge

Trailing mercenaries behind them like a grim carnival parade, the adventurers cross the river. The bridge is largely done, and it's definitely safe to cross, at least in the middle, but the masons and carpenters are already hard at work this early taking care of a thousand smaller details. On the other side of the bridge a dozen soldiers are breaking their fast around a campfire that just barely manages to take the chill off the air. The bridgehead has the look of a semi-permanent fortification, hastily built but then gradually reinforced. There are three canvas tents that have been cobbled onto, a stone chimney in which the fire roars, and a wall of wooden timbers forms a semi-circle of about 200 feet, separating the camp from the woods beyond. Past the defensive wall the ground has been cleared for fifty yards or so, to make it difficult for the enemy to sneak up.

The road continues on through; on this side of the river it is poorly maintained and rough, little more than a track in some places. A grizzled soldier in chain, with insignia indicating he is a lieutenant, greets the adventurers. "It's going to be a nice day for traipsing through the woods, I think. Beorthmac sent us word yesterday to keep an eye out for you folks, said you were going to work on clearing the land around here. It's been quiet, so far, the past week or so. Every once in a while arrows get shot at us through the trees, or we see shapes lurking in the shadows, but mostly we just shoot back, or light a fire, and they don't do anything."

[shaidar]

Newton nods at the lieutenant

"The seneschal mentioned orcs and bowfire. Has there been anything else odd seen or heard, or even rumours, not just recently, but further back?"

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"If you still have any of those arrows, we'd love to see them. Might give us a clue as to who's shooting at you. Otherwise, it's time for us to start cleaning up!"

Ready to start crawling some hexes!

[thirdkingdom]

Newton nods at the lieutenant

"The seneschal mentioned orcs and bowfire. Has there been anything else odd seen or heard, or even rumours, not just recently, but further back?"

Lieutenant

"Of course there've been rumors! There are always rumors. Can't think of anything specific, though. Two winters ago some goblins on wolves tried to attack Junction, once the Sarn had frozen, but they got beat back in no time. There were two caravans last year that tried to make it to Rocky Peak, but both got turned back by some weird man-lion things that supposedly lurk out there."

[thirdkingdom]

Telemachus

"If you still have any of those arrows, we'd love to see them. Might give us a clue as to who's shooting at you. Otherwise, it's time for us to start cleaning up!"

Ready to start crawling some hexes!

Lieutenant

"Sorry, don't think we kept any of the arrows."

[thirdkingdom]

Thirdmonth, Thirdday
Hex 73.46

The adventurers press on, following what's left of the road, sweeping north in a methodical fashion to explore the woods. Nothing of interest is found. The trees are a mixture of hardwoods, mostly. Oaks and poplars, walnuts and chestnuts. They're just getting in their spring growth, and the woods are a riot of vibrant green. Without full leaf cover there's actually a fair amount of light, and that keeps the air from feeling too cold.

It is on their way back that trouble hits. The plan is to return to the bridge and camp at the rudimentary fortifications. Suddenly, from the unexplored south, a swarm of enormous bees, each as long as a man's forearm, buzz forth from the trees! Before the adventurers can act the bees are amongst them! Wulfka and Gardo both manage to avoid the stingers, but there are some yells of pain from the soldiers that speak to stingers finding their mark.

Surprise round is over. Intentions for round one, please. The bees are intermingled with the party, so area affect spells may potentially be somewhat less effective than desired.
The adventurers explore subhexes 0707, 0608, 0507, 0408, 0307, and then retreat back to the bridge. Encounter occurs on the way back to the bridge. Note that returning to the bridge is basically the same as returning to Junction, so it doesn't actually save any time, but will likely be safer.

Encounter on 1-2: 1d6 1
When does the encounter occur (hour):: 1d8 7
Encounter type, surprise (PCs, then encounter), reaction roll:: 1d8 1 1d6 1 1d6 6 2d6 7
10 killer bees. Actually, let's see if any of the PC's aren't surprised . . . yes, looks like everyone is.

There are 10 killer bees. The bees attack . . . PCs (in alphabetical order, Wulfka, light foot (20), 1st Rangers (10), 2nd Rangers (10):: 10#1d46 6 38 3 42 24 12 29 11 27 33 Infantry are 7-26, 1st rangers 27-36, and 2nd rangers 37-46.

That's Wulfka, Gardo, 2 foot, 3 first rangers, 3 2nd rangers. Okay, attack rolls, damage rolls, saves, in that order: http://orokos.com/roll/732003: 10#1d20 8 2 5 9 17 15 17 2 4 19 10#1d3...
Looks like only the last Ranger fails their save and dies. The other three take 3, 2, 3 damage, respectively.

Hex 73.46 Player's Map.png (88.8 KiB) Viewed 1612 times

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"Rally on me, men, and open fire!"

The mage casts Sleep on the giant bees. Aiming to get the largest number of bees in the radius, even if it means catching some of the mercs. Will strive to avoid affecting PCs.

[shaidar]

Newton grabs his bow and opens fire on the bees.

[Pulpatoon]

Aldus shouts encouragement to Wulfka: "Excellent shield work! Focus on defense while I try to prick it through with a needle or two!"

Aldus takes up his bow and fires at the bee menacing Wulfka.

[VonAlric]

"Who messed with their nest? I know better than that." Gardo curses being caught unawares and calls out. "Yo, Mariusz! Take cover behind me and be eyes!" Sizing up the swarm, he swings his sword at one of his striped foes.

[Gerrin]

Elerik Van Der Haas

Elerik draws his mace, "Men , to me! Form up!"
He will get the men to get in formation.

(OOC: I assume they have a javelin or spear?)

Pointing at the bees, "Aim, loose!"

[thirdkingdom]

Round One

The adventurers act first, recovering from their shock. Aldus and Newton both fire arrows; they both hit, but neither downs a bee. Gardo attacks, his sword a blur, and soon three bee bodies litter the ground. Wulfka and Elerik both lash out, but neither connects with their target. Telemachus utters words of magic and four of the bees fall from the sky, instantly put to sleep. Inexplicably, the rest of the bees die without being touched.

One of the mounted cavalry is dead; two of the foot soldiers look to be badly injured, but they are tended to by their comrades. The stingers are lodged in the wounds, and must be withdrawn quickly or they continue to deal further damage.

Combat is over.
Initiative: PCs first, then mercs, then bees:: 3#1d6 6 2 4
Okay, so order of operations again: morale, movement, missile, magic, melee.
Aldus fires at bee threatening Wulfka: http://orokos.com/roll/732192: 1d20+6 14 1d6 1 How many hp does that bee have: http://orokos.com/roll/732193: 1d4 4 Bee reduced to 3/4.
Newton opens fire as well, hitting: http://orokos.com/roll/732194: 1d20+7 14 1d6+2 3. Attacking bee # http://orokos.com/roll/732195: 1d10 2 which has http://orokos.com/roll/732196: 1d4 4 hp, reduced to 1/4
How many bees can Telemachus catch in the sleep spell: http://orokos.com/roll/732197: 1d4+3 4 He puts 4 to sleep.
Gardo attacks: http://orokos.com/roll/732198: 3#1d20+7 16 21 21 3#1d8+4 5 5 5 I ruled that he could reasonably attack three of the bees within range.
Wulfka attacks: http://orokos.com/roll/732199: 1d20+1 9 1d8+1 5
Elerik acts: http://orokos.com/roll/732200: 3#1d20+4 5 19 13 3#1d6 2 5 6

[Pulpatoon]

Aldus hops off his horse, Athanathius, and draws his sword to deliver the coup de grace to the sleeping bees and to examine the bodies to see if he can make out any reason for them to have all died. "Is there an apiarist among our number? Anybody's family keep bees?"

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

The mage also dismounts and goes over to the fallen horseman.

To the squad's lieutenant, he says, "Make sure this man gets a proper burial and his family gets his possessions."

[shaidar]

Newton heads over and looks at the injured footmen.

"Elerik, I can help one of these men, can you do something for the other?"

He take a guess as to which of the two is worse off and kneels down besides them. He orders one of their comrades to carefully remove the stinger, and he then calls upon nature to heal their wound (Cure Light Wounds).

[VonAlric]

Gardo wipes the ichor off his blade and sheathes it. He looks around for Mariusz to make sure he is still okay. After confirming good health, he walks to the other party members.

"My dad always said to hit your enemy where they lived, hopefully while they aren't there. Might be more of the stingers around. Probably should look to see where they came from and that we don't get surprised again by them. One of the guys I knew said that the honey they make might be good for something. At least they make wax which someone might find a use for."