Captives of the Enemy

[tomcat]

Well, the gives her a success, but it is not pretty and doesn't afford her any AP.
The path was there before them and with each day, it seemed more fresh than the previous. Esgalwen knew that they were closing on the Enemy and that they would need to be cautious. She had no desire for the orcs to slay their prisoners in a desperate attempt to escape, or to make any would-be rescuer's efforts in vain. On the other hand, speed was essential to their attack and she did not want to give the enemy a chance to set their own ambush.

With the sun now broaching the eastern horizon, the Company of Dale prodded forward their mounts. "We must take care to be cautious, but swift in our purpose. Should you see any prisoners, we will make it our every effort to secure them and see them freed. If we do nothing more than save any captives and drive our enemy away, I will call that a success.

"If we should do both - save any captives and destroy the host we chase - that will be worthy of a song! Forward Men of Dale!"

[Telcontar]

Hathcyn's body was sore, but his spirit burned with hatred for his captors.

"Your head can convince your body of anything Beal. You have to just set your mind to it. For me, my hate drives me. For others it is different. We have stalled them and are unlikely to be able to do that again. I must hasten our help, and be sure that it is indeed coming."

Hathcyn looked at Arbogast, "perhaps on the field of heroes one day we will wrestle and see who truly is the better man. Or if I let you win for the sake of your children."

The Longspear smiled and in the grime his teeth shone white and clean.

"Grimbeorn, I have but little time before the night passes completely, but I will try again."

The form of Hathcyn was instantly still and from the hillock the fox again appeared to the wonder of all.

With no time for caution it bolted as fast as it could back along their trail to find their rescuers. The Goblins spotted it but in their fatigue were not quick enough to take aim and fire. Even their desire for sport had waned through the nights march.

The fox watched the light begin to grow in the east and put speed to legs that already seemed to eat the ground in great haste.

And so as the camp was making ready and Esgalwen located the signs of the trail she saw again the fox. One moment the trail was empty and then a silver tipped tail of a red fox was before her just as the sun clipped the sky and was gone.

Hathcyn opened his eyes, now the fatigue of the night and the journey  were present in his face.

"Friends...take heart. Your Lady of Dale has not forsaken you."

The Beorning shivered in the cold and his eyes closed.

[Eclecticon]

okay well they need to eat again

They certainly do - you've all seen the uruks starting to look appraisingly at the smaller goblins... 

also do i need to do anything to the roots? or just drop them in the pot?

Ordinarily, you would want to dry the roots out, grind them up and use the powder to make an infusion - but that's if you want to enjoy the effect mildly and safely.  Given that safety isn't much of a concern, just getting the roots into the pot will have the desired effect. 

Also, I'll give Hathcyn the use of his Night-goer ability as a freebie, given that it was really just a nice piece of narrative without any special benefit. 

[Eclecticon]

By the way, if anyone wants to jump in with suggestions for Aly, who is a fairly new player both in this context and to RPGs in general, feel free. 

[Telcontar]

  do the rest of us know what her plan is? I can plant a Mr. Spock suggestion and say within their hearing. "These Uruks are blind as well as dumb. Here's a perfectly good chance to have their food served to them by an elf maid."

[Eclecticon]

I don't know that she's had an opportunity to communicate it to you - especially since only Arbogast has enough herb lore to know what she might be pulling up roots for.  But I don't mind OOC chatter.   

[AlyC]

-occ- I've communicated the plan to everyone. We've been walking long enough for me to whisper the information to people. And just a note, the elf isn't the best a small talk.

[Telcontar]

  Hathcyn is the only known small talker in the group.

[Eclecticon]

Arbogast gives a mirthless chuckle at Hathcyn's jest.  "Should that day come, I may give you the victory.  I after all, need not put my prowess on display to win a comely maid's hand."

Then, following Laeral's eye, he whispers "the time is come to put your plan to its proof.  Do you need us to provoke a beating to draw their eyes?"

[AlyC]

With a smile, the elf-maiden replies - That will not be necessary. Laeral then turns her eyes to the sky. The three men watch with mild fascination as the elf makes a small series of sharp movements with her hands.

And with that Arod, who had been circling the party from a great height since they began their journey, starts to attack several of the larger captors. Swooping at great speed, the menacing bird manages to capture the attention of all but the party of four.   

Arbogast notices that the elf looks almost amused by the havoc her owl is causing as she slips quickly over to the pot in which the food is contained and drops the roots she has collected inside.

[AlyC]

-OCC- I probably should have rolled something to see if all that was successful. What do you need?

[Eclecticon]

That would be a Stealth roll, which I'll base on Kurgak's attribute level, since he's the most likely to see through her ruse, so the target number is 16.  Laeral is weary, so any roll of 1, 2 or 3 won't count towards her total, but if she falls short she can spend a Hope point to add a whopping 11 points to her roll. 

Let's roll dem bones!

1d12 : 3, total 3
Rolled 3d6 : 2, 2, 3, total 7

[Eclecticon]

Oh, that's not good. 

[Eclecticon]

Laeral's gait is smooth and near soundless as she slips between goblins scrambling for what meagre cover is to be found on the twin islets, up to where the great iron cauldron squats above the smoking, guttering flame.  Her hands shake as she produces the lilly roots from their hiding place inside her shirt, and she realises only after she has slipped them into the tepid goblin-soup that she had been holding her breath. She releases it in a long, slow exhalation and turns from the fire.  But there, blocking her way back to her companions, is the bulk of Kurgak, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"ELF TRICKS!" he bellows as the scarred back of his hand catches Laeral across the face hard enough to knock her to the ground.  Before the three Men can do more than look on in horror, the great orc seizes the edge of the cauldron in his other hand and overturns it, quenching the pitiful fire and sending both the pit and its contents down the slope into the marsh.

"Beat them!" he SNARLS, loudly enough to be heard by all, and his followers, footsore though they are, need no further encouragement.  Screeching and tittering, they leap to torment their captives and rain blows and kicks upon them in such number that there is no hope of escape, or even of defence.

Kurgak, meanwhile, rounds on Laeral, hatred writ clear in his eyes.  "The Boss wants to see you," he growls, "but that don't mean I have to bring you to him with all your limbs attached!"  He lands a kick on the elf maid's arm as she tries to rise, sending her sprawling once again in the muck.  Before he can do more, though, he cries out in sudden pain, and Laeral lifts her head to see dark blood welling a fresh cut on the orc's neck and Arod already wheeling in the sky for another pass.

His attention captured, Kurgak turns from the elf and spreads his arms, ready to snatch the owl from the air.
 

Everyone loses three Endurance points for the beating.

Kurgak will make a Brawling attack on Arod at an arbitrary TN of 15.  If he makes it, that owl is in trouble...

1d12 : 8, total 8
Rolled 3d6 : 5, 6, 2, total 13

[Eclecticon]

Doug, I realised after I posted that I've been forgetting the existence of Beal.  Please accept my apologies and consider him to have been beaten too.