He committed the directions to memory, and to his journal: This alone had made everything worthwhile with regards to aiding the red wizard. A solid lead which might well take them to where Gundren Rockspeaker was held captive directly.
"Thank you, I believe that should be sufficient. All that remains is a matter of public safety on the one hand and your privacy on the other. To ensure you are not further disturbed by those who would take offence at your bodyguards, can you estimate how much longer your excavations here will continue, and advise as to the disposition of your bodyguards at the conclusion of such?"
It had been the presence of the undead that had served as a catalyst for their arrival, thus they would be most remiss if they could not, at the very least, provide a time frame for that particular matter to be resolved.
"As a wise man once said to me, 'When the soup is ready, it will be soup'. I do not know how long it will take me but I hope not too long. I have no intentions of making this a permanent residence and now that the orc problem has been solved, the timeframe has been shortened."
With that, he ordered his zombies to return to their stations and bid his visitors farewell and followed his zombies back inside.
ooc: You have a number of options and should discuss where to go in-character. There were other missions and now you know where the castle is. One of the nice things about this adventure is that it's not a railroad.
He acknowledged the praise with a slight nod, but pressed on swiftly to the business at hand.
"We are beholden to several people in Phandelin, and above all else to Gundren. I'd say to Phandelin, make what additional preparations we feel we may need to storm the castle, then to Cragmaw."
He remained quiet with nothing to add during the conversation with the wizard, but now that they know where Cragmaw Castle is he replies, "I don't know, Chandan. Makes sense to restock and see if there's any news at Phandelin, but spending that extra time, could mean Gundren's life."
Dwarves are known for their hardiness, but Davroar worries just how long Gundren has being a captive and possibly tortured.
"Phandelin first, I would agree. Those healing potions alone could make the difference between success and failure. I think we all agree that Gundren is a priority but we should not underestimate what we are up against. It is important that we succeed."
She adds her opinion as she recalls Whisper ready to make tracks.
The march back to Phandelin will take nearly 3 full days and the group decides to get going immediately. They have become aware that the Triboar Trail is a dangerous route and are alert for dangers along the way.
As they march along, they discuss the night watch and conclude that they can all sleep as long as Jaliera lets whisper rest during the day while they walk. The owl can see perfectly well at night and now understands that task, which she takes very seriously.
It is well past dark and Selune has hidden behind clouds and is low in the sky when Whisper wakes Jaliera. It's dark and the young rogue understands that there's imminent danger.
OOC: No surprise either way. You can't see unless you can see in the dark. Please roll for initiative.
She can only see in the dark when looking through Whisper's eyes and now is not that time.
"Wake Davroar" She sends her instruction to Whisper thinking that Davroar is likely to react best to being woken by Whisper. She draws her sword and bends to shake Kallista awake.
Now that they're bound for Phandelin, the old monk happily quaffs the rest of his cider and by the time Jaliera's owl raises the alarm, he is snoring softly, deep asleep with a smile on his face.
Whisper does a terrific job of alerting Jaliera of the impending assault in time to give the party a chance to wake up and be ready for the ambush. She wakes Kalista first and then the men.
It is dark and only those with darkvision can see, but those that can see in the dark see a number of hobgoblins pointing arrows at the party.
Hobgoblins initiative Neptune rolled 1d20+1 and got 17
Jaliera and Kallista go first, then the hobgoblins. Waking the party was already factored in. You may act accordingly.
As last time, we have the roll20 site. If everyone is available on Saturday morning 8am Eastern, we could do the combat live, there. If not, no biggie, we can just move tokens on Roll 20. Here's the link. You're already in the game.
With Whisper on her shoulder she can see in the dark.
"Hobgoblins."
She hisses to her companions, whilst taking her bow and notching an arrow to target the one she can see that is almost due west of her. [Assuming up is north]
Jaliera Arrow Gypsy rolled 1d20+5,1d6+3 and got 10, 8
Kallista (Nep-clicking on the Roll20 link takes me to the previous combat map?)
Rising to her feet she can see the groups of Hobgoblins approaching in the darkness. Seeing the others rising, and that Kriv, their warrior, is closest to the group coming from the north, she faces the group coming from the west and speaks a few magical syllables, pointing into their midst. Kallista Cast Sleep on the three Hobgoblins to the west Zeim rolled 5d8 and got 27
The battle ensues and is swift. With a few well placed spells, a few arrows, some swift blades and an old man's heels, the bodies of a half dozen hobgoblins lay broken on the ground.
OOC: Moving it very fast forward to allow for a clean transition.
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