Quest #33 "Wizards, Temples, and Obelisks, Oh My!"

[kruk]

Cresty

The fighter joins the fighter-thief in preparing defenses for the camp. \\\


Lerrick

The cleric moves around through the group of villages to see if she can provide any healing for and bumps and bruises that they might have

[Rex]

Tlachtga

"I will help Maag, my ability to leave no trace will be handy for this."

Secondary skill hunter/gatherer might apply here too

[ravenn4544]

Alordan understands the need to cook the food for survival but doesn't like it. That savory smell will carry farther then one ever expects. He sighs.

Maags suggestion to set some traps and warnings is a good one. He wonders aloud if anyone has a shovel that would enable some pits to be dug and concealed to stem any dwarven advance. He'll inquire of the people when the work is done if anyone can add more information about the dwarves or even if someone can say just how many in total there is. His mind drifts also then to the dwarven ship anchored out to sea... what a blow it would be to remove that ship from the situation....

[Brunnacht]

Til-dirion
Assists with the cooking and food prep. He's talking to the locals to gain a bit of their trust. Talks to them about trading opportunities once the dwarves are gone, opportunities that would benefit their settlements in goods they want to trade in. He then asks them what they know about the dwarves. Til-dirion tells the locals that he's happy to help get rid of them, but their removal is only possible if more is known about them.

[Ahlmzhad]

[bJobo[/b]

Will tie up Festus and join those going to prepare surprises for the Dwarves.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Hidden Camp, Reunited
Earthday, 4th of Harvester
Late Afternoon, Hot, Sunny, Buggy, Different

As the group aids the downtrodden former townies as best they can, binding wounds, offering food, and helping with security details, much is learned about what happened with the Stoneguts while they were away. viewtopic.php?p=564942#p564942

Alordan and Til are concerned about the smell of the meat cooking, but the starving refugees seem willing to risk the danger. Maag takes a short rest before rustling up a small group to set up a few traps for the nosey dwarves, but they don't notice any further pursuit from them as they work. Til speaks to the downtrodden humans about the possibility of better trade, but none of them seem too concerned about that at the moment. He notices that al of those gathered here are armed with at least one weapon of some kind, causing him to wonder if they have dwarven blood on their hands.

Jobo keeps his goat tied to a tree, but maintains eye contact after a few of the people were seen salivating while looking at Festus. Head-wound Jombo continues to look around the clearing nervously, just waiting for a bunch of armed dwarves to invade any minute. The young man has a crazed look in his eye since the last time any of you saw him.

Actions?

positions:
Alordan AC3 18/22
Cresty AC4 5/11
Lerrick 4 AC5 15/20 1st 0/5 2nd 0/4 (Light Stone)
Maag AC5 15/19
Tlachtga 3 AC7 9/23 1st 0/5 2nd 0/4 3rd 0/2 (Light Stone)
Jobo 10/10
Til-dirion 10/10
Andron 3/2 AC10 2/13 CL: 1st 0/4 2nd 0/3 MU: RM, DM, CL 0/2
Torbath AC8 5/5 0/1 RM, DM, CL

[Rex]

Tlachtga

Tlachtga helps out as she can. "Can I check your wound Jombo?" She will try and help calm Jombo down a bit.

She will rest and meditate to recover spells as soon as she can.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche

Andronichishche approaches Jombo and rests a hand on his shoulder, intently, but calmly, staring into his eyes until he gains the young man's attention. "You have done well by your duty, Mr. Jombo. Please try to relax. We will help you." He gives the former militia man time to process what he was told. "Mr. Jombo, where is Constable Glansandi?"

[Brunnacht]

Til-dirion
"It's time for us to form a proper plan. I don't know when we're going to have another evening like this of rest, food and good company in numbers. I know we also cannot stay out here in the wild for any length of time."
Til-dirion looks around at everyone.
"Do we now work together as a large group, or do we split up?
The dwarves have hostages so unless I'm mistaken it's likely to affect the commitment of some of us here.
Do we benefit by first exploring more of the island? We know there's something out there that might aid us against the dwarves. Is this our focus? It doesn't feel right to just abandon these good folk.
Shall we focus instead on the dwarves and take the fight to them? What about their boat? I guess most of the dwarves are on land. Is the boat heavily guarded? Is it worth taking? How do we get near it and sneak on board?
It's clear that we're not strong enough to fight the dwarves by that construction of theirs. Or to fight them in open battle. I want to help these good people."

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche

"The Stoneguts will almost certainly search this area in force to avenge their clan members killed today. Therefore, our first priority should be the safety of these people as this camp is no longer safe."

"We have also recently activated another of the crystal obelisks. It may have something that could aid us against the dwarves. More importantly though, we must ensure they do not acquire it first. The obelisk itself is only a short distance northeast of the dwarf mine. They may already be aware of it now."

"The obelisk is west by northwest of the old temple. We could relocate the people there on our way to the obelisk. It is mostly intact and certainly more defendable than this clearing. There is also a trail that runs east from the temple to the river."

[gurusql]

Torbath

“Andron while I agree with your tactical assessment and strategy my question is why did these people choose to hide here and not escape with the rest of the townsfolk? That answer, if it is more than random chance could affect the will of the group to relocate.”

[Rex]

Tlachtga

"Do we know how many groups like this there are? It seemed some people were still in town, plus this group, still doesn't amount to everyone."

[OGRE MAGE]

Jombo tries to answer a few questions.

"We are the only ones left who wanted to stay and fight! If you didn't fight, they left you alone, but if you killed one of them, they would hunt you down like a dog. I dont know how they havent found us here yet, but if you said they were trailing you here after you killed some of them, they will find us eventually."

"We are the only group out here. Most of the folks from town decided to cut their losses and go along to the settlement at the cliffs. We should have done that too, but we didnt want to abandon the people in town who didn't want to leave."

"Any of us can go to the cliffs, including you. But we are trying to hold out until everyone else is ready. Some folks, like Randall, still don't want to leave."

Just then there is a rustling noise in the bushes outside the clearing. Something is obviously making its way into the small camp, but Jombo and the others don't seem too excited about it.

[Quonundrum]

Andronichishche

"I thought the dwarves would spot us if we move through town, though ..." He stops when the rustling in the bushes is heard. "It could be Randall," he suggests in a whisper.

[Rex]

Tlachtga

Tlachtga prepares herself for whatever comes next, sling at the ready.

[Ahlmzhad]

Jobo

Reacting in full guard mode "HALT! Who goes there?" he yells as he knocks an arrow ready to fire at the noise or what is making it.

[Brunnacht]

Til-dirion
Is slicing carrots for the pot with his hunting knife. He pauses until the source of the rustling is known. He can throw that knife if he needs to. If it's of no threat then he carries on prepping the food and talking to the militia.

[kruk]

Cresty

Cresty drops the sticks he had been sharpening and grabs his sword and moves to the source of the voice.



Lerrick

The cleric places an bullet in her sling and moves to a nearby tree but doesn't climb it just yet.

[jemmus]

On the other side of the bushes, Theo thinks, "These guys seem a little high-strung, whoever they may be. I don't blame them, from what I've seen of this island so far." He wants to slap a few mosquitoes that are helping themselves to his blood, but he's afraid physical or magical missiles might come flying through the shrubbery. He says in a rather bashful voice. Erm... ahem. Greetings. I'm Theo, a human and a ranger from the Principality of Urlek on the mainland. I've been exploring this island. I heard your voices and smelled your cooking and... erm... well, I tracked you to here. Which was bad manners, I know. Tracking people you don't know, without their knowledge or consent. I'm sorry. But I thought that anyone who isn't a predator, monster, or a bad dwarf out here could maybe... uh, lend each other a hand?

With his ranger's superior ability to surprise foes, he uses both hands to slap at the mosquitoes on his neck, in rapid succession. They were so bloated with his blood and engrossed in the enjoyment of it that he managed to get two out of nine. "Two of you suckers, dead! I'm getting better at this," he thinks. He hopes somebody will say "Come on in, enjoy some roasted pork with us!"

[Jernau35]

Maag

A few seconds after Theo introduces himself, Maag appears out of the undergrowth right behind him, with 'arry der Bastard's sword ready to swing.

"Personally, I fink sneakin' up on strangers wivvout der consent can be very rewardin'" he growls, then lowers his sword.