This is not exactly what I had planned, but to avoid even additional delays, I'm just going to go with it.
It Begins...
The plan was to reunite at the village of Ekhart after one year.
Today marks the end of that year furlough.
It's late morning on a bright but cloudy day when Vinwrick and Kythaela arrive. The pair resist sharing details of their year apart -- those details are meant to be shared only once the whole group is present -- as they stand outside the stone gates, waiting for Floki, Gulnur, and Tova to make their returns:
Elkhart.jpg (67.91 KiB) Viewed 6946 times
It's not long before the expected trio of mountain dwarves appear.
At almost the same time, and before the group reaches the front gate, a lone goblin with studded leather armor stumbles in front of their path:
Rumple.png (383.78 KiB) Viewed 6946 times
The male goblin -- badly wounded; its skin and armor and possessions all coated in dried blood splatterings -- staggers and falls to a knee maybe five feet in front of the group's current position. "Help me, the goblin croaks crudely in the common tongue while looking up at the group with bloodshot eyes.
If it harbors any instinctual animosity towards those of the dwarven persuasion, none of that hatred is on display.
“I’ll make you rich...” it forces
It doesn't appear as if the emergence of this goblin has caught the attention of anyone else... yet.
---
Please attempt to limit your responses to only what you can accomplish during 'Your Turn' (and a single Action) without attempting to do too much.
Apologies again for the delay, but we're finally moving.
---
Date: 1 Martius 490 Time: 8:47
Daily Forecast
Sunrise: 7:59
Sunset: 19:23
Temperature: 68°
High: 72°
Low: 67°
Conditions
Wind: Light Breeze
Precipitation: None
Humidity: Low
Visibility: Cloudy
Light Sources
None
Known Conditions
None
Spells in Effect
None
Character Details
ybn1197 as Gulnur | Male | Lawful Good | Mountain Dwarf | Monk (1) | HD: 1 (1d8) | HP: 10 | AC: 15 | SP: 25' | Initiative: +3 | Darkvision: Yes | Inspiration: No
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
While you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield, you can use DEX instead of STR for the attack and damage rolls, you can roll your Martial Arts damage die in place of the normal damage, and when you use the Attack action on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.
Hadarai as Floki | Male | Neutral Good | Moutain Dwarf | Sorcerer (1) | HD: 1 (1d6) | HP: 8 | AC: 11 | SP: 25' | Initiative: +1 | Darkvision: Yes | Inspiration: No
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
Also starting at 1st level, your healing spells are more effective. Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, the creature regains additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell’s level.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Fey Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Trance
Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day.
Sleeping in light armor has no adverse effect on the wearer, but sleeping in medium or heavy armor makes it difficult to recover fully during a long rest.
When you finish a long rest during which you slept in medium or heavy armor, you regain only one quarter of your spent Hit Dice (minimum of one die). If you have any levels of exhaustion, the rest doesn’t reduce your exhaustion level.
First Shift (Three Hours: 21:00-24:00)
T.B.D.
Second Shift (Three Hours: 01:00-03:00)
T.B.D.
Third Shift (Three Hours: 03:00-06:00)
T.B.D.
Rolls
None
Last edited by dmw71 on Sun Mar 29, 2020 8:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Reason:Edit: Added spells for Kythaela and Tova in footer.
Seeing the goblin go down in front of them, the halfling quickly helps him back to his feet. Hold, friend! How did you come to those injuries? I myself have no healing but perhaps one of my friends could assist you. Come, let's get away from the gate before any guards take an interest. Vinwrick will try to lead the goblin away from the gates to a less active location. He will do a quick threat assessment of the area to ensure that trouble did not follow the wounded goblin.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.
Tova, a little hesitant about the kindness of goblins, inquires in the short and guttural language of the creature, "What brought you to this state? What tale do you have to tell?" Regardless of his misgivings, he does lend some aid to the creature...
Kythaela approaches the injured newcomer with Vinwrick while grasping her focus in her left hand and muttering her request to the land and sparking several berries to life in her other hand.
Kythaela casts Goodberry
"Here," she interjects quietly, handing one of the berries to the goblin and putting the others into a belt pouch. It's not a lot all considered, but at least enough to staunch the bleeding.
Floki keeps his distance from the the goblin instead readying his axe in hand and stepping in front of the group to act as a guard. "This better not be a ruse little one.." he warns the goblin before drawing a spell into his mind, muttering the arcane words instinctively and holding on to it as a precaution incase anything else came out.
Floki prepares to cast True Strike on himself as a readied action.
Gulner leans on his staff as the group takes care of the goblin. He despised the insipid creature for all that its race had done to his own but he could not bring his hand to harm the retch either. He merely keeps his attention and his senses focused on the world around him in case this was an attempt to draw their focus elsewhere.
Rumple
As the injured goblin collapses just outside the front entrance to Ekhart -- the village the group was set to rendezvous at after a one year furlough -- Vinwrick hurries to the creature's side. "Hold, friend," the halfling says, looking to steady it, and raise it to its feet, if possible. "How did you come to those injuries?" the halfling asks -- but there's no response.
Clutching a sprig of mistletoe in her hand, Kythaela approaches the injured newcomer already being tended by Vinwrick. "Here," she interjects quietly, attempting to hand one of the berries to the goblin, but finds the creature too weak to even raise its hand to its mouth. Almost immediately, a bit of function begins to be restored to the goblin after the berry is fed to it.
"Here, let me give you a hand,"Tova offers Vinwrick, and the pair begin to carefully assist the goblin to its feet and to a place of more seclusion, away from the front entrance of Ekhart.
Floki casually brings his axe to his hand and steps in front of the group, guarding them as nonchalantly as possible. "This better not be a ruse, little one..." he cautions before beginning to quietly utter some non-descript, arcane words as he draws a spell into his mind. Gulner takes extra precautions as well, leaning on his staff as he continuously surveys the immediate area for any hint that the goblin was followed, or that the group is being observed. He finds no evidence of either.
With no other witnesses seemingly present, and with the goblin now somewhat functioning and in a relative place of hiding, Tova questions the creature. "What brought you to this state?" the dwarf asks, reluctantly. "What tale do you have to tell?"
The goblin draws a deep breath. "Khralkaan an Kolkaan," it begins to speak in its native tongue, before switching to crude common after drawing blank stares from everyone except its immediate interviewer. "Name is Rumble," the goblin repeats, wiping some blood from the side of his face. "Back up," it says, carefully distancing itself a bit further from the front entrance. "Me not bad, but they no like --" it says, pointing in the general direction of the village. "Come. A tale I tell."
Once the goblin feels more comfortable at the increased distance, it resumes sharing.
"Name is Rumple," it repeats. "I from the Corpse Gnawers tribe, in the Rockmound Hills," it says, pointing southwest. Based on the dirt, twigs and other evidence of foliage caked to his body and possessions, you suspect he has traveled a fair distance. "We find tower. Rumple explore. Rumple find dragon!" he chirps excitedly. "Swoletoe, tribe chief, order fight dragon. We win, of course."
Rumple takes a breath, still weakened.
"Many friends die, but we win big pile of dragon gold..." he says proudly. "Swoletoe not give Rumple big share; we fight. I barely escape." he sighs.
"Maybe you help?" he asks excitedly, once again needing to pause to catch his breath. "Rumple want his gold. Kill Swoletoe to get it."
"Kill all tribe. Get all gold. That Rumple plan." he says, grinning.
"You help, Rumple share gold with you. Rumple lead you to tower?"
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
While you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield, you can use DEX instead of STR for the attack and damage rolls, you can roll your Martial Arts damage die in place of the normal damage, and when you use the Attack action on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.
Hadarai as Floki | Male | Neutral Good | Moutain Dwarf | Sorcerer (1) | HD: 1 (1d6) | HP: 8 | AC: 11 | SP: 25' | Initiative: +1 | Darkvision: Yes | Inspiration: No
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
Also starting at 1st level, your healing spells are more effective. Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, the creature regains additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell’s level.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Fey Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Trance
Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day.
Sleeping in light armor has no adverse effect on the wearer, but sleeping in medium or heavy armor makes it difficult to recover fully during a long rest.
When you finish a long rest during which you slept in medium or heavy armor, you regain only one quarter of your spent Hit Dice (minimum of one die). If you have any levels of exhaustion, the rest doesn’t reduce your exhaustion level.
Kythaela's eyes dance slightly as Rumple starts his tale. This opportunity is not common, since previously her encounters with his kind were more akin to bandit raids with minimal cultural exchange. If definitely sounded like a big fish tale. A dragon? Overrun by goblins? unlikely. If anything else though, this sparks more curiosity than anything.
Though, then it hits inter-tribe politics and that... sits less than kindly. But, opportunity presented itself and Kythaela is no fool to ignore it. She kneels down, sitting on her feet so she's more eye level with the inured goblin. "What are Swoletoe and the others like?" she asked. "What do you typically do in a day?"
Asking this served two purposes. One, to learn about a being she hasn't had the opportunity to before. And two, hopefully justify not showing his tribe the same mercy he is currently being shown now.
Floki spits on the ground and approaches the group glaring down at the goblin. "Can't say I'm surprised to hear it, no loyalty among his lot... You! How many in your tribe and how much gold we talking about?"
Don't be so quick to judge him harshly. This would not be the first time a nation's ruler has gotten fat off the blood, sweat, and tears of those who wage war on their behalf. I am interested in hearing more of Swoletoe and the others in the tribe. There may be an opportunity for us here if we choose to help Rumple. Remember, we wouldn't be just getting him the gold he is owed, but we would get a good share of everyone else's gold.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.
"The is of little interest to me, but the opportunity to cut down one of their tribes and install a figure head who owes us does sound like a win-win situation to me."
Rumple continues to back away from Ekhart's front entrance. "Come. Come." he says during his retreat. "You follow. Rumple lead you to tower. We talk on the way."
Assuming the group does follow the barely alive goblin, he answers all questions posed at him:
"How many in your tribe?"Floki asks, spitting on the ground in general disapproval of goblin-kind. Rumple holds up both hands revealing eight fingers -- except, the group notices he is missing his small, pinkie fingers on each hand and eight fingers are all that remain. "And how much gold we talking about?" the dwarf continues. Rumple excitedly holds up the same eight fingers. "A big pile. Dragon gold!"
"Don't be so quick to judge him harshly,"Vinwrick offers optimistically. "Remember, we wouldn't be just getting him the gold he is owed, but we would get a good share of everyone else's gold."
"Well, the opportunity to cut down one of their tribes and install a figurehead who owes us does sound like a win-win situation to me,"Gulnur contributes.
Not accustomed to parleying with goblins, Kythaela approaches the opportunity with tact. "What are Swoletoe and the others like?" she asked, before following with: "What do you typically do in a day?" In a reaction that seems genuine, Rumple grunts at the mention of his former boss. "Swoletoe a shizabolble!" he spits. "Rumple like him no more!"
The goblin gets so agitated speaking about his former leader that he's forced to stop for a moment to catch his breath. After composing himself, he replies to the second question posed by the druid. "We hunt. Fish. Do what we need to do to survive. Swoletoe was one that wanted to expand territory, and why we out here."
"Shizabolble!" he curses again.
After giving their goblin guide a moment to regain his composure -- again -- Tova chimes in; a look of concern on his face. "So, to clarify, you want us to kill your tribe and get your gold for you?"
Rumple flashes a toothy smile and nods affirmatively.
He is willing to answer any other questions the group may have for him.
Your goblin guide, even in his weakened condition, seems to know the area well and you make steady progress south-west, avoiding any main roads or travel thoroughfares.
After a few hours, you find yourselves approaching the Rockmound Hills, which are low and rolling with the occasional steep, rocky gorge. The poor soil in the area is decorated by scrubby grass, thorny brush and the thickets of dry, scraggy trees.
Based upon the position of the sun, you guess it is about noon. Despite the occasional light breeze, it is definitely a warm day and your armor and gear are beginning to feel heavy. Thoughts of a break or a meal begin to enter your thoughts...
But those thoughts are rudely interrupted by a sudden squealing sound coming from in front of you. Bursting out from behind a spikey bush no more than thirty feet in front of you are a trio of boars.
They squeal again as they begin to charge!
---
Note:
I will provide a map in time for my next update. I still need to find the appropriate tokens for your characters, and build the scene on a map, and just basically get things set up... which takes a bit of time.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
While you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield, you can use DEX instead of STR for the attack and damage rolls, you can roll your Martial Arts damage die in place of the normal damage, and when you use the Attack action on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.
Hadarai as Floki | Male | Neutral Good | Moutain Dwarf | Sorcerer (1) | HD: 1 (1d6) | HP: 8 | AC: 11 | SP: 25' | Initiative: +1 | Darkvision: Yes | Inspiration: No
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
Also starting at 1st level, your healing spells are more effective. Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, the creature regains additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell’s level.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Fey Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Trance
Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day.
Sleeping in light armor has no adverse effect on the wearer, but sleeping in medium or heavy armor makes it difficult to recover fully during a long rest.
When you finish a long rest during which you slept in medium or heavy armor, you regain only one quarter of your spent Hit Dice (minimum of one die). If you have any levels of exhaustion, the rest doesn’t reduce your exhaustion level.
Sometimes this summer I will most likely be participating in another 24 hour game of Dungeons & Dragons as part of Extra Life. This organization uses gaming to help raise money to donate to children's hospitals. I'm raising money for Marshfield Children's Hospital in Marshfield, WI, and all money I raise will go to that hospital. All donations are tax-deductible. Please take a moment to check out my donation page below. Thank you.
Readying his axe for the oncoming charge Floki extends his will and points his finger to one of the undamaged boars. "Come and feel the bite of my axe, I'll make the lot of ya' into bacon!"
Gulnar finds his center and waits for the boars to get close. Once close enough, he will swing with his quarter staff and then bonus action strike with his fist.
Kythaela tries to intercept the aggressive hogs, grabbing her focus around her neck and holding out a hand, "stay yourlselves!" she announces after casting speak with animals
Round 1
Seeing the hogs charging them, Vinwrick reacts quickly and scampers up a slight incline to create a more clear shot. The halfling fires an arrow at the boar leading the charge (red). Despite his less-than-perfect targeting, the arrow sinks into the dark brown, mud-coated fur of the grunting beast and pierces a vital organ; dropping the creature dead in its tracks.
Tova holds his ground. The cleric focuses his divine power on the next nearest boar (green). A fiery shroud erupts around the beast, this one with mud-coated gray fur, singing it badly.
The boars, undeterred by the attacks being leveled in their direction, issue high-pitched, piercing cries and continue their charges. The first (blue), with dark brown fur is missing its left ear. It charges furiously at Gulnur, striking the monk solidly with its tusks (-8), and attempts to bowl the dwarf over. (See note.)
The second beast (green) targets Floki with similar success. The unsuspecting sorcerer gets struck squarely in his thigh by the creatures' tusks (-7) and risks being toppled over. (See note.)
Both Gulnur and Floki are left heavily wounded, but both are able to fight through the remain conscious.
Kythaela takes a few steps to her right as she grips the focus dangling around her neck. "Stay yourselves!" she commands, holds out her hand in the boars' direction. Everyone else hears a wild series of high-pitched cries and grunts. Kythaela hears:
"Urszula not pick me if I stop!" the gray-furred boar replies. "No, Urszula not pick me!" says the brown-furred boar.
The druid immediately understands it's their mating season, and the rutting creatures are clearly intent on impressing a female of their species -- and neither will be willing to give quarter to the other lest risk looking weak in the eyes of their intended conquest.
Map
E01, R01.png (1.84 MiB) Viewed 5065 times
---
Notes:
ynb1197, please make a DC 11 Strength saving throw for Gulnur or be knocked prone.
Hadarai, same for you. Please make a DC 11 Strength saving throw for Floki or be knocked prone.
---
As Gulnur and Floki act next. I will hold off on the resolution of round one until they complete their saving throws.
Everyone, Gulnur and Floki included, please declare your actions for round 2.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
While you are unarmed or wielding only monk weapons and you aren’t wearing armor or wielding a shield, you can use DEX instead of STR for the attack and damage rolls, you can roll your Martial Arts damage die in place of the normal damage, and when you use the Attack action on your turn, you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.
Hadarai as Floki | Male | Neutral Good | Moutain Dwarf | Sorcerer (1) | HD: 1 (1d6) | HP: 8-6-1 = 1 | AC: 11 | SP: 25' | Initiative: +1 | Darkvision: Yes | Inspiration: No
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Dwarven Resilience
You have advantage on saves against poison and resistance against poison damage.
Stonecunning
Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check.
Also starting at 1st level, your healing spells are more effective. Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, the creature regains additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell’s level.
You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Fey Ancestry
You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
Trance
Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day.
Sleeping in light armor has no adverse effect on the wearer, but sleeping in medium or heavy armor makes it difficult to recover fully during a long rest.
When you finish a long rest during which you slept in medium or heavy armor, you regain only one quarter of your spent Hit Dice (minimum of one die). If you have any levels of exhaustion, the rest doesn’t reduce your exhaustion level.
