RED OAK: ARCHIVE

[Longman]

OK, noted.

Coming from the place you heard the noise, you next hear a signal whistle, the high pitched variety of the type your heard in the woods months ago, when Kilian nearly got lycanthopofied. It's two short blasts. Only the elves, Fido and Kilian can hear it.

There is no response yet from the cottage or the abandoned building.

They'll wait until the noise passes by (or a while passes by) before leaving

OK, so you still haven't moved from your position yet. Freya is now feeling really dizzy and has a noticeable sheen of sweat on her. She says she feels hot but to the touch of others she feels cold and clammy.

Washing the wound with water takes place as you asked. As you are doing it Tiana can see some kind of residue in the wound - sticky grey stuff that has gone into her shoulder. There's a really nasty bruised patch around the wound as well.

Fido is getting a bit anxious and growly about whoever is 120 yards away to the east

[Woe]

Is it the same sticky paste that they found on the goblin spikes ages ago?

Ok, this is getting kinda bad. I'm going to try a map, though I'm not sure how accurate it is. How tactically correct is this?

Code: Select all

                                  party                  noise
abandoned
house

                                    other
                                    house

Is that close? If so, the party will head NNW to avoid being squeezed by the house and the noise.

As for Tiana's ministrations, she'll do what she can to remove the paste and if feasible, bleed out some of the bruised area. First order of business is to move out though.
Is that mostly

[Longman]

Your map is roughly right in shape but I am going to upload a new map anyway.

Whoever the new arrivals are, they seem to heading roughly for the spot where it says 'lane'.

If you want to head NNW from here, you can. That is into grassland and patchy forest. No trails that Talin was been able to find earlier.

In the meantime, you do not hear any return whistle signal from the cottage or the abandoned buildings.

Hard to tell is it is the same as the goblin poison. Let's face it, most plant residue boiled up makes a kind of brown stuff. Even your own wyvern venom looks a bit the same after it's been wrapped in leaves for a while. You have known the Nisha to use poison bolts previously, though. Mrs Carr was attacked by one.

Freya loses a hit point and is feeling terrible. Total 4 lost now.

Tiana tries making some incisions to get blood flowing and this does not seem to help. It just hurts more.

In the meantime the others can be packing up and getting ready to move on. Freya will need to be supported as she walks.

[Woe]

60 yards away or 120 yards away? They were headed toward the country lane south of us. The map has north on the left, so it'd be 120yd east heading south, and they're now 60yd away. That'd be heading west not south.

Regardless, the party is worried about Freya enough to not attempt to engage if they can avoid it. Kilian will have is crossbow, Talin his bow, Tiana her nets. Freya will even have her bow out (though I expect that to be with a penalty). If the noise is headed toward them, they'll wait to ambush it. If it's going to pass safely away from the party, they'll wait for it to pass and then head out for the night.

Can they see what his headed this way?

[Longman]

They are 120 yards away. They are about 60 yards to the north and a fair bit over 60 yards from you to the east. And yes they are heading west, not south. Did I say west at some point? I can't see why this is confusing.

When you said NNW did you actually mean NNE (a bit more into the forest?). NNW would take you closer along the side of the town. Anyway which ever you wanted, that's what you did. It's all the same kind of terrain - grass, stands of oak and saplings, and so forth.

The next thing that happens is that the unknown party repeats its signal - two whistle blasts, repeated this time. They whistle blasts are a bit louder and closer together than last time. They still haven't moved.

Freya loses another hit point. She's complaining of nausea.

[Woe]

Yeah, if you can have your maps all orient north, it'd help those of us who don't live on the bottom half of the world.

The party would like to start moving away from this whole area, which would be upleftup on the map. Every other direction takes them across either the noise, the scorpion blacksmith, or @.

If the party hasn't moved yet and the noise has gone from 120 yards to closer than 60 yards, they're going to abandon all sense of stealth. That's effectively melee range now. Tiana will cast her disc for Freya and Kilian, and they'll try to bolt out before they get ambushed a second time.

[Longman]

You start moving NNW, away from the scene, into grassland.

Incidentally the scorpion blacksmith noise was coming from the area @ is in. Probably the same thing.

You hear a long, loud whistle blast coming from further south - probably not the the abandoned building or the cottage, further than either of them. This is not the newly arrived party in the woods. It's someone else you did not know was there.

You are still maintaining stealth at this point and manage to move 30 yards in what you hope to be a stealthy fashion.

There's no real way of knowing if they heard you or not. You no longer have a clear sense of where the other parties are. You haven't heard @ moving, or the other party either, but you aren't sure.

Freya is now getting the the point where she needs to be supported walking. She loses another hit point.

[Woe]

Oops, you missed a part:

Tiana will cast her disc for Freya and Kilian...


Freya won't need to be supported since Tiana will sherpa her, and the party move rate would be 40' because slowpoke is getting a ride as well.

[Longman]

Ah. I thought you meant you were going into melee if they got that close. So...

Freya lies on the disc with Kilian looking over her and you move off quietly northward.

(She still loses another hp, no change there.)

In the next round, you are another 30 yards out of there, and still nothing has happened behind you. Tiana and Kilian can both make out movement form the cottage area, but it's too far away to see what is going on.

Freya does not lose another hp this round. She starts getting bad stomach cramps though.

[Woe]

Nonono, I'm trying to avoid melee and get out of there. It'd be different if Freya wasn't poisoned or they had a way of treating it. Once they're far enough away (150+ yards), she'll chunder if she thinks she's out of earshot. If they're attacked or spotted, let me know.