(Corvin/Mordred Adventure 2): Hole in the Thornwall

[shaidar]

Corvin

"Anyone not fighting get to the other side of the room... and clear those chairs out the way."

Corvin takes up a defensive position alongside Astrid. He tries to strike an aggressive pose hoping it will dissuade the bear, making himself as large and imposing as he can and letting out a long loud growl.

[Edeldhur]

Mordred

The Magic User cracks his neck, and gets ready.

Will be casting Sleep as soon as the Bear comes into sight.

[archolewa]

The door shatters apart. The bear lumbers in. Sebastian lets out a great howl and
slams his blackjack against his shield, creating a terrible racket. The grizzly bear
stands up on her hind legs and roars loud enough to shake the building. Many of the
halflings panic, and let out cries of terror, but Leon and the mothers all stand firm,
shouting and waving their arms at the bear. Corvin growls and bares his teeth, while Sebastian's dogs bark
viciously, Astrid bangs her sword against her shield and shouts.

Weaving through the tremendous cacophony is the soothing melody of Mordred's spell,
sung in a deep baritone. The bear sways. Her roar fades to a growl, to a snarl, to a murmur,
and then she pitches forward. Completely asleep.

The other Outside halflings scramble to join the rest of the caravan, huddling against the
barricade.

Corvin Charisma check to see if the caravan held it together: 1d20+12 = 18 < 20

There's a moment of silence, and then one of the women lets out a cry. "Victor and
Sara! They're missing! Where are my babies? Victor! Sara!"


Alright, for overcoming the bear, everyone gets 175/5 = 35 XP, Astrid Sebastian and Kasper
get half at 17.5 rounded up to 18 XP.



Combat rolls:
Initiative:
Sebastian: 1d20 = 20
Grizzly Bear: 1d20 = 18
Eleanor and Leon: 1d20 = 13
Outside halflings: 1d20 = 12
Kasper: 1d20 = 11
Sebastian's dogs: 1d20 = 9
Corvin: 1d20 = 8
Mordred: 1d20 = 6
Astrid: 1d20+2 = 3


y Sebastian intimidation: 1d20+13 = 29 > 20
Grizzly bear roars.
Halfling morale checks:
Eleanor, Leon, Jandley, Beb and Moblim: 1d20+13+4(our kids yo!) = 31 > 20
Other outsider halflings: 1d20+13 = 17 < 20
Dogs morale check: 1d20+13+4(master!) = 31 > 20
y Eleanor and Leon intimidation check: 1d20+10+2 = 32 > 20
Jandley, Beb, Moblim intimidation check: 1d20+10+3 = 19 < 20
Other Outside halflings panic.
y Kasper: 1d20+11 = 20 == 20
y Sebastian's dogs intimidation check: 1d20+10+2 = 25 > 20
Corvin intimidation check: 1d20+12 = 14 < 20
Mordred sleep spell: 2d8 = 12, bear has 5 HD, bear is asleep.

[shaidar]

Corvin

Corvin turns at the mothers cry

"Astrid, Leon, Eleanor, Jandley, help me look for the missing children. Someone check they're not hiding in here."

As he starts to move the barricade he turns to the mother "Come help us too, we can pair up, one halfling per pair. Where do you think they might hide?"

[archolewa]

Leon and Eleanor begin searching the kitchen.

"What do they look like?" asks Astrid, as she sheaths her sword and runs to join Corvin, Jandley right behind.

The mother sniffles. "Umm, well they're halfling children. The Victor is six, Sara is four. They have curly black hair. Both are wearing wool gowns. Both have brown eyes. Victor jumped in some mud last night. Still had dried, caked on dirt on his feet. They must have panicked, run somewhere to hide. Sara's afraid of the dark. Ohhh, I hope they didn't run from the temple! I hope they didn't get separated!"

Jandley reaches over to pat the woman's shoulder, but the woman shrinks away from the goblinesque halfling.

"Don't touch me," hisses the woman.

Jandley holds up her hands and backs up a step.

[shaidar]

Corvin

"Jandley, pair up with Astrid." he heads over to the woman "Jandley is just trying to help, she's a mother too. You pair with me and the four of us will go search."

Corvin looks for signs of dried mud as they move from the kitchen further into the building.

[Edeldhur]

Mordred

As the others scramble to find the children, Mordred ponders what to do with the bear - the creature should remain sleeping for some time, and noise will not wake it. But moving might actually raise the bear from its slumber.

Also... Where are the cubs? He moved to stand watch over the bear, and looked around.

[archolewa]

Corvin

"Jandley, pair up with Astrid." he heads over to the woman "Jandley is just trying to help, she's a mother too. You pair with me and the four of us will go search."

Corvin looks for signs of dried mud as they move from the kitchen further into the building.

Wisdom(Tracking) check: 1d20+13+1 = 28 > 20

Corvin finds a trail of bits of dirt winding its way into the temple. He leads the mother through the temple, Astrid and Jandley following a bit behind, looking for any signs of the children or other dangers. The trail of dirt leads them into the main worship space, and to one of the wooden benches that is grown out of the temple. The children are curled up in a small cavity in the base of the bench.

The mother lets out a cry of relief, and the two sobbing children scurry out to hug her.

"What did you think you were doing?" she cries in a mix of relief and anger. "I oughta spank the both of you right here!"

"We were scared," whimpers the boy. "Everything was so loud, and the bear and Mr. Corvin looked so scary. I'm sorry mommy."

The mother holds the two tightly. "I was scared too, but nowhere near as much as when I realized you were missing. You have to stay close to mommy understand? It's dangerous out here. Mr. Corvin isn't going to hurt you. He's only scary to people who want to hurt us, ok?"

Astrid lets out a relieved sigh.

Jandley is warily watching the worship space. "We should get back to the others Corvin. If we've drawn a bear's attention, we might draw other nastier things too. We need to get moving as soon as possible."

Mordred

As the others scramble to find the children, Mordred ponders what to do with the bear - the creature should remain sleeping for some time, and noise will not wake it. But moving might actually raise the bear from its slumber.

Also... Where are the cubs? He moved to stand watch over the bear, and looked around.

Trying to move the bear would indeed raise her from her slumber. Mordred steps to the doorway and carefully steps over the large, slumbering beast. He looks around in the grey light of dawn for any signs of the bear cubs Wisdom check:1d20+11-1(bit dim outside) = 20 = 20. It takes him a moment, but Mordred can just barely make out two bear cubs cowering in some underbrush at the edge of the glade where the temple resides.

"I see you see them." says Sebastian, looking out the window at the cubs. "Too small to fend for themselves. They were likely born this spring. If we decide to slay the bear, we should slay her cubs as well. It would be more of a mercy than leaving them to starve without their mother."

[shaidar]

Corvin

"We were scared," whimpers the boy. "Everything was so loud, and the bear and Mr. Corvin looked so scary. I'm sorry mommy."

The mother holds the two tightly. "I was scared too, but nowhere near as much as when I realized you were missing. You have to stay close to mommy understand? It's dangerous out here. Mr. Corvin isn't going to hurt you. He's only scary to people who want to hurt us, ok?"

Corvin smiles at the children

"I'm sorry I scared you, I didn't mean to. I had to look scary for the bear."

Jandley is warily watching the worship space. "We should get back to the others Corvin. If we've drawn a bear's attention, we might draw other nastier things too. We need to get moving as soon as possible."

Corvin nods "I think you're right, it's light and time to get moving. Let's get back."

[Edeldhur]

Mordred

"I see you see them." says Sebastian, looking out the window at the cubs. "Too small to fend for themselves. They were likely born this spring. If we decide to slay the bear, we should slay her cubs as well. It would be more of a mercy than leaving them to starve without their mother."

"I do not want to kill her" - he looked back at the mother bear - "But I see no alternative. She might be awake in less than an hour - there is a chance she might be scared and confused and decide to run away. But she might not, and we'll have the same problem all over again"

"Could we tend to them?" - he asked Sebastian.

[archolewa]

Corvin

"We were scared," whimpers the boy. "Everything was so loud, and the bear and Mr. Corvin looked so scary. I'm sorry mommy."

The mother holds the two tightly. "I was scared too, but nowhere near as much as when I realized you were missing. You have to stay close to mommy understand? It's dangerous out here. Mr. Corvin isn't going to hurt you. He's only scary to people who want to hurt us, ok?"

Corvin smiles at the children


"I'm sorry I scared you, I didn't mean to. I had to look scary for the bear."

The children respond with hesitant smiles of their own as they cling to their mother.

Corvin nods "I think you're right, it's light and time to get moving. Let's get back."

The group make their way back to the kitchen, the two missing children in tow. Leon and Eleanor both let out sighs of relief when they see the group return successful, and then get to work making sure everyone is calm, and ready to keep moving.

"I do not want to kill her" - he looked back at the mother bear - "But I see no alternative. She might be awake in less than an hour - there is a chance she might be scared and confused and decide to run away. But she might not, and we'll have the same problem all over again"
"Could we tend to them?" - he asked Sebastian.

Sebastian grimaces. "Maaybe. If I were more powerful I could possibly tame them, but right now I can only manage a single command, and they are still fundamentally wild animals. The grove will have no interest in them. It is not big enough for a pair of full grown grizzlies, and we try not to interfere in the ways of the wild anyway. Their mother has possibly been killed while hunting for food. If so, they will likely perish soon after. Such is the natural world."

I just realized I let Mordred get away with an extra spell. The bear came before his six hours of rest were up, he hasn't had an hour yet for preparing spells, and he cast both of his spells yesterday. I'm not going to try to rewind time, but no more spells for you! Until and unless you take the time to actually prepare them anyway. We'll retcon this as another ability of the Mark. Mordred can quickly prepare a spell that's already been cast (though he cannot swap the spell slot with a different spell), but the corruption will spread on a 1-4 on a 1d6. 1d6 = 5. Got lucky this time, but don't abuse it or the corruption will spread VERY quickly.

Also, since people didn't get a full six hours rest, I'm going to rule that it will take take two hours to prepare spells this morning. One hour to get a bit more rest, and an hour to do the actual spell preparation.

[shaidar]

Corvin

Corvin looks at the others and the bear.

"It's dawn, we're missing the back door, and we've had the commotion from the bear which might draw something else. Why don't we simply get moving? We can stop at the river for water and possibly a small meal. As for the bear, could we move everyone to the other end of the building, ready to go, while a few of us hang back and try and waken it from a distance? Try and find something to throw at it."

[Edeldhur]

Mordred

I just realized I let Mordred get away with an extra spell. The bear came before his six hours of rest were up, he hasn't had an hour yet for preparing spells, and he cast both of his spells yesterday. I'm not going to try to rewind time, but no more spells for you! Until and unless you take the time to actually prepare them anyway. We'll retcon this as another ability of the Mark. Mordred can quickly prepare a spell that's already been cast (though he cannot swap the spell slot with a different spell), but the corruption will spread on a 1-4 on a 1d6. 1d6 = 5. Got lucky this time, but don't abuse it or the corruption will spread VERY quickly.

Ooph you are right - honest I completely forgot about it :/
Worth it though, I got a brand new power!

"It's dawn, we're missing the back door, and we've had the commotion from the bear which might draw something else. Why don't we simply get moving? We can stop at the river for water and possibly a small meal. As for the bear, could we move everyone to the other end of the building, ready to go, while a few of us hang back and try and waken it from a distance? Try and find something to throw at it."

"If we can quickly pack and move, then we do not need to wake it - it will eventually wake up by itself, or when its cubs come sniffing" - Mordred replied.

[shaidar]

Corvin

"We don't exactly have much with us so should be able to move quickly. Hopefully the bear and cubs will be OK until the bear wakes."

[archolewa]

Ooph you are right - honest I completely forgot about it :/
Worth it though, I got a brand new power!

Just no whining if Mordred starts throwing around Obviously Evil and Corruptive Magic willy nilly, and Edeldhur has to bust out a fresh character sheet in six months.

"If we can quickly pack and move, then we do not need to wake it - it will eventually wake up by itself, or when its cubs come sniffing" - Mordred replied.

Corvin

"We don't exactly have much with us so should be able to move quickly. Hopefully the bear and cubs will be OK until the bear wakes."

Alright, so the spellcasters did not have time to prep any of their spells, so you have Sebastian's Cure Wounds from yesterday, but that's it. Well, and Mordred can play with fire if he wants to.
The caravan quickly and quietly gets everything together. They move quickly and quietly out of the temple, and back to the river where they had briefly camped last night.

While Eleanor, Leon and Kasper work to help everyone get some water, Astrid approaches Corvin and Mordred.

"So, do we want to try to feed everyone?" asks Astrid. She looks up at the lightening sky. "We're leaving a few hours sooner than planned, so I think we might be able to get to the Wall by early afternoon, if we don't run into any complications."

Sebastian lets out a sigh. "I'll be so happy when we're back behind the Wall. I'm getting tired of constantly looking over my shoulder."

"I'm going to sleep for a month," says Astrid with a tight smile. She takes a deep breath, and lifts her face to the early morning rays beginning to peak through the canopy. "But I appreciate the fresh air and sunlight at least."

[shaidar]

Corvin

"With everything that's happened, I think it'll be good for morale, and well as physically, if we could stretch to at least a half meal for everyone, including us."

[archolewa]

Sebastian nods. He turns and calls. "Hey Kasper, come here!"

The cleric walks over, while Sebastian takes a quick inventory of his food.

"We're figuring out how much food we can give everyone," says Sebastian.

Kasper nods, and opens his own pack. "I have about eleven days worth of rations. A week's worth of dried, and four days of fresh."

"I have four days of fresh food, five days of dried, and my donkey has another week's worth of dried on him. So sixteen days," says Sebastian.

"I have a week's worth of fresh," says Astrid. "So, between the three of us, we have enough to fully feed 34 people for the day, plus whatever you two have. Of course, then we'd be completely out of food."

"My people from the Temple did make sure to bring food," says Kasper. "Because of the Outsider halflings, the food will be stretched a bit thinner than expected, but should still be more than enough to get the victims to the nearest garrison, and from there the army can help get them home. I'm sure everyone's village is within half a day to a day's travel of the Wall anyway."

[shaidar]

Corvin

"I have a week of dried left." He thinks for a moment "So we do have enough to give everyone a full breakfast and that should get people to the wall where there is more food . If my sums are right that'll be something like two weeks rations to cover breakfast for everyone, maybe a little less because of the children."

[shaidar]

Corvin

After a short pause Corvin drops his voice low

"Do you think it'll be safe to go to the garrison? All it takes is one word from one of the victims and they might try to arrest the halflings. Something to think about."

[archolewa]

Kasper considers Corvin's words for a moment. "It would be easy enough to leave the kidnap victims with my people, and allow them to bring them to the nearest garrison, while we take the Outside halflings to the monastery ourselves. By the time anyone reached a garrison, we would be well on our way to the monastery. Even if the garrison tried to mobilize anyone, by the time they got to us we'd be at the monastery. And if worse comes to worse, I can declare them under the protection of the Weeping Eye. That will be a much stronger statement once we are inside the boundaries of the Monastery, but even on the road an overzealous captain would be playing with fire if he tried to ignore me."