Expedition: Anforthas/Hunting the Wolfwere - 01 Oct 2021

[Stirling]

Combat in the camp.

The Vargouilles continue their assault of the party and horses. The two creatures clinging on to the backs of the horses get in vicious bites, tearing mouthfuls of blood rich horsemeat from the haunches of the mounts. The airborne creatures swoop to feast on man and horse, fangs bared as they screech and attack. The party though are quicker to react and an explosion of light assails the senses of the dilated pupils of the beasts. They shun the sudden exposure dartin away but only into the swirling weapons. Lug hacks two creatures, cleaving skulls and wings. Anforthas and Jaime combine to say the pair feasting. Casper delivers last rites to the flapping prone one. Other attacks miss their targets.

The encounter is short and deadly. The surviving trio of Vargouilles flee screeching into the night, heading for the comforts of the Chasm crevasses.

The injured horses bleed profusely. Their wounds are savage and pus infected.

by random chance not design the four horses belong to FC and the guards G, J & D. They are -1, -2, -3 & -4 hp respectively.

Checking on the creatures, Father Clauson exclaims, "By Baudh's mercies. Do their faces not resemble the knights slain?" The other guards confirm the likeness of former comrades.

next actions please.


Varg initiative [1d6] = 4
Varg on horse attack & bite damage [1d20] = 16 [1d4] = 1 [1d20] = 13 [1d4] = 4
Jaime guard [1d20] = 17 [1d8] = 7

to answer your previous concerns.

The Vargouilles won initiative and I narrated you took out five of them in flight as they swooped rather than roll five additional attacks first.

Their attack among the horses was contested not unhindered and two were driven away but not killed.

The intelligence and instinct of the creatures gives them a choice to ignore and focus attacks on singular subjects or objects, in this case the light sources not the characters.

You have normal THAC0 vs them in flight unless I am unaware of a particular skill or advantage you have.

I viewed your horses as tied securely to a tree, rock or other.
If they were loosely tied and could release themselves under pressure then I would roll a reaction and have them galloping into the sunrise.

[Zhym]

"Well, I'm not saying this hasn't been fun," says Lug, "but I've got, um, other places to be. I'll stay with the rest of you until we get back to the nearest town."

Let's make the next stop be somewhere in civilization where we can get an XP accounting (and divide loot, if there is any). But after that, I'm out.

[Karaunios]

"I guess this village we planned about going to is not considered a town?" says Anforthas while looking at the heavy damage the strange monsters have caused. "I don't want to go back to White Tower without anything in our hands, just to go back in search of the fiend."

I understand. It doesn't make sense for your higher level character to take part in this expedition, IMHO. It's not like 400XP are gonna make a difference.

[Zhym]

The village may be a town, but it doesn't count as civilization for wrapping up an expedition. To do that, we need to travel the 16 miles back to the White Tower. That's my preference—we wrap up this expedition, and those who want to continue on can recruit new PCs or NPCs and set out on a new expedition.

[Karaunios]

I'm fine with that. Maybe the knights and Father Clauson can get new mounts or something. Those of us who want to resume the mission may come back as soon as we can.

[Karaunios]

Another option would be, we go to this village and from there, those who don't want to continue on this quest can go back to the White Tower (possibly taking the injured horses back with them). I don't think that'd be any problem in terms of receiving XP, etc. Stirling?

[Zhym]

Lug can only exit the expedition safely (and we get XP) if we go back to a “civilized” location, the closest of which is the White Tower.

What village are you referring to, BTW?

[Karaunios]

Lug can only exit the expedition safely (and we get XP) if we go back to a “civilized” location, the closest of which is the White Tower.

What village are you referring to, BTW?

That community by the coast that hedgeknight mentioned. But going back to White Tower is ok.

[Zhym]

I think it’s a nomadic community, not a village, though I could be wrong.

[Marullus]

There's no need to go back to town. IC you haven't even been gone for 24 hours yet. You already found another civilization, half a dozen Adventure Hooks to follow up on, one of which is promising for your intended purpose of tracking the Wolfwere. Returning now empty-handed would be embarrassing for Anforthas (and unfair to Baldoraur).

OOC, there's no reason this has to be "cashed out" now. Stirling can just subtotal and I can give Lug his XP whenever. Lug is just going to chill in downtime for the winter anyway - the other GMs are at capacity and I already announced we will be skipping ahead to "Spring" when the current expeditions end.

There is no problem if Lug needs to bail on the expedition for IC or for OOC reasons. He's only a few hours from town by horse over patrolled lands and doesn't need the low-level party to escort him. If that's the choice, he can just leave and the party can follow the current Adventure Hooks. This expedition is still young.

[Zhym]

That works for me. I don’t want to bring the expedition to an end, but I also didn’t want Lug to have to travel alone with encounter checks, either. And I thought the rest of the party might want a chance to recruit some muscle to replace Lug.

Lug wishes everyone good hunting, then rides off toward the White Tower, bound eventually for Beith’s Watch.

[Karaunios]

Good that the issue could be solved to everyone's interest. I wanted to continue on with the mission. Haven't been really lucky since I joined the campaign. Thanks for stepping it, Marullus.

Anforthas says good bye to Lug and goes to sleep.

[Marullus]

You're doing a great job.

[Zhym]

Agreed!

[Dram]

Baxtaw- Walks with Lug to his. Good luck on your travel brother. Be safe in your travels. One last drink before you leave? Baxtaw hold out his Red Armor hand for one last drink together and then to shake Lugs hand.

[hedgeknight]

With our main (?) meatshield leaving...how prepared are we to continue this journey? Should we call it a day and return to recruit more adventurers (not that we were that successful to begin with), or just call it done, or continue on searching for a creature which slaughtered an entire group of knights? My current feeling is to follow Zhym's lead...hrmmm....

Casper White watches Lug go with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He is grateful to Gwanwen that Ted was spared attack by those creatures. He squats and examines a dead one, wondering exactly what it is.
"Should we continue on or follow Lug back to the White Tower?"

[Zhym]

Lug is only happy to share a drink with Baxtaw before he leaves. They've been through a lot together, those two. "You want to try the Beer of Guldarim?" he asks. "Be careful, though. Right now it's a love potion. It'd like when you've been drinking a lot, and all your pals are your best friends ever and you can't stop telling them you love them, man." Lug laughs at his own joke. "It'll wear off after a while, but doesn't it seem kind of cool to share a 'best buds beer?' I mean, if both buds agree? It's also really good beer."

Lug thinks back to the time—it feels like years and a lifetime ago—when he got mojoed into liking someone. It wasn't a good time. He fought with his friends because of it, and...well, now he doesn't like mojoing people without their permission.

"And one of these days, you really gotta tell me if you remember all this stuff I remember about a different world, or if it's all in my head."

"Anyone else who wants to go back to town can ride with me," he tells the others. He'll wait long enough for the others to decide what they want to do.

I realize I'm forfeiting my right to kibitz by leaving, but I'd suggest going back to town and trying to recruit. You wouldn't necessarily have to close out the expedition, I wouldn't think. But I'd try to replace Lug if I were you, even though his usefulness as a "meatshield" would have been limited if he can't get in the way of an enemy attacking whatever it feels like attacking.

[Karaunios]

"I respect your offer, but I'm not going back to the White Tower until this mission is accomplished. That's my own thing, though, I won't hold a grudge to any of you if you want to go back." Anforthas says that without looking at the others, just staring at the background, his face illuminated by the fire.

[Dram]

Baxtaw- Smiles at Lugs offer. It does sound like fun, but I better pass. I need to keep my wits about out here. We will see each other again in a more suitable place. He then sees the uneasiness in in some of the others as Lugs prepares to depart. If anyone else departs this party we all should return to town. It would be suicide if continue on with more than 1 of us leaving.

[hedgeknight]

With a heavy heart, Casper White decides to take a drink and return with Lug.