RED OAK: ARCHIVE

Longman's hex-based exploration PBP campaign

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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Longman »

(I had to look up what an abatis is).

Kilian starts work and collecting logs, but he still has crossbow to hand.

Likewise Talin and the elf rogue think about a plan to trap the creature in some kind of leather snare, and then start work on a running a line between two likely trees.

But after only five minutes the roaring noise dies down, and then things stay quite for about ten more minutes. At its closest, Talin and others think the beast was only about 300' feet away behind some big trees, but you have yet to see it, and it might have moved off.

One eagle is still to be seen in the fading light, but has stayed pretty high since you drew out missile weapons.

Do you advance / move off, stay put and wait, stay and keep working on traps and fortifications, or, retreat?

If you advance or retreat please tell me the exact direction.
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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Woe »

Stay in the hex for the night. Did we see anywhere particularly safe or desirable to sleep? They were looking to camp when the roaring started. Rudimentary fortifications ok, but if the party thinks the fortifications are pointless, they won't try.

If possible, Tiana will fill one of the sacks with rocks and perch it on a high branch (50') away from camp. It's for later tonight if needed.

Takin will prop up a few torches for light. He won't light them but the intent is to light them and be able to see without holding a torch.

Freya puts away her bow and without looking at Kilian, tries to entice the eagle down with some meat from her rations.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Longman »

The night goes well. You rig up torches and a bag of rocks as you say, and some log fortifications too, but in the end it doesn't seem to be necessary. The roaring noise is not heard again and the eagles are not seen either, although it is dark now. But you have camped in a place where the canopy is so thick they probably wouldn't see you, anyway. (They are not enticed with food, btw).

When it is the elves watch' and Tiana is going to the toilet*, she spots something on the ground. She thinks it is a herb called Boneset, which is very rare (in this world). She recognizes it from books only, it doesn't grow in the elvish lands, and humans do not cultivate such things any more. If she got some of this to a proper alchemist or experienced wizard back home, they might be able to make a potion used for healing broken bones super-fast. This might be the sort of thing she was looking for on this mission. There is quite a lot of it on the ground in this part of the wood.

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(* whatever elves do when they go to the toilet...)
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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Woe »

What a find! Tiana is so excited that she almost giggles in glee*. What does she know about harvesting Boneset or the amounts necessary for creating these potions? She doesn't want to destroy the shrubs through harvesting a few leaves. If it is truly prevalent all through this area, we'll spend an hour in the morning filling up the sacks -- but again, careful to not ruin the plants. This should help quite a few injured people back in the elven lands.

Kilian doesn't pick any leaves, choosing to stand watch. The party is unclear his true motivations: is it picking leaves that he is trying to avoid, or needing to be gentle and kind to plants as he is picking leaves?

* or whatever else elves do when they go to the toilet.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Woe
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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Woe »

Oh, and same as before -- leave no trace. Kilian has thoughts about that too. Freya kindly suggests to go explore watchtower if he wants the familiar world of stone around him. Freya is quite sure the goblins will find him a nice cell.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Longman »

Tiana remembers a bit more about the book she read, and she thinks the leaves probably need to be be fresh. It's a long way to the place where the nearest elvish magician might be found ( I haven't specified where that is yet but I figure it'd be at least a week away).

So, I figure you'd probably dig up and transplant a few smaller shrubs into make-shift containers made from wood or leather, and hope for the best. Is that enough? There seems to be a patch of it growing in one area, about sixty plants around here. You haven't seen any more elsewhere.

Light comes and it's time to move on. It's day four! You still headed for the lake? What's yer day plan.

PS now I'm curious about the dwarf's reluctance to pick leaves...
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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Woe »

Ooh... if only she had bought those cute ivory pots at Alfheim. They'd be perfect for this. The party will look for some appropriately-sized hollowed-out branches or shallow stones to make into makeshift pots, and borrow patches from Freya's cloak to keep the soil moist and from bottoming out through the branches. I'm not sure how many she can transplant from the forest. It probably depends on the number of pots that they can make. If it's a very shady spot, she'll try a sack as well as outer pouches in everyone's backpack. If it's heavy sun, just the backpacks. While it goes without saying, a note of this goes in her map. Oh and map notes are in elvish.

Lakebound! After a quick consult of the map, we're going from G13 to F12. Pause there as I'm sure Something Interesting will happen.

Was Talin able to learn anything from tracks that the bearish creature left yesterday?

PS Haven't thought the Kilian/forest thing through yet, but few bards sing tales about the dwarf horticulturist who would prance through the forest gathering up garden leaves and keeping them nice and moist for a journey back to elven lands.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Longman »

Interestingly, Talin couldn't find any bear tracks at all when he went to look in the area the bear was heard in. No scat around here either, although there's lots of evidence of other animals, especially deer.

I'll give you two pots, plus one in a sack, plus, a bunch of picked leaves.

You had only spent 2 EU in G13.Did you want a third in the morning to finish the job or are you straight on?

In any case, you hit the lake hex eventually. The forest here is the nicest you have seen. The eagles are overhead. The 'Something Interesting' vibe is indeed in the air.

As you can see, it's a side lake off the river, which is 20' wide here. The area in between the lake and the river is very reedy and there are lots of birds in there.

You might want to consider crossing the river to the south of the lake, then approaching the southern shore? Or do you follow the river north.

IEU in this hex so far.

PS will probably do a major map update when you finish this adventure as you seem to be heading out.
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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Woe »

Freya suggests a giant ghost bear. Nobody is amused. She weakly follows up with "maybe the wind?"

The party is concerned about food stores. They are starting to run low on food and want to avoid hunting if they can. They're on the way out but going to try mapping a few more hexes along the way.

I'll assume one EU was spent harvesting the bonerot. Or you can credit me one hour later. As you put it, "in any case..."

I assume the elves feel very comfortable right now, but Kilian is a bit paranoid. Even Talin is a bit on edge. It feels too right.

To make sure I understand, the reeds are between the lake and the river. If the party crosses here, they'd be crossing into the reeds? Can I tell what the terrain looks like north and south of here? Want to avoid the reeds on the way to the lake if possible.
Freya HP 24/24 AC 16 (17 two weapons)
Kilian HP 20/20 AC 19 (18 no shield)
Talin HP 29 AC 16
Tiana HP 11 AC 12 SP 8/8
Fido HP 9/9 AC 16
Anna HP 12/12 AC 15 (19 defensively)
Bruce HP 20/20 AC 16 (15 no shield)

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Longman
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Re: The Road from Red Oak (chapter 1)

Post by Longman »

Yeah, the narrow strip of 'land' between the river and lake is very reedy, and might even be marsh or shallow water in some places.

Going around and crossing the river at the very bottom of F12 seems like the best choice, unless you are a bird nut.

Ghost bear... :)
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