RED OAK: Return to the Pass of the Hounds

[Woe]

Retreat! The dwarves (and everyone else) will back up into the room and out of the fire. They'll also back up the stairs and onto the balcony. At some point, the dwarves will need to be single file.

Archers will continue to fire as they back up, now at the nearby target. Tiana may ast her net; not sure the circumstances but she has it ready.

[Longman]

save point - we can come back here if required.

The dwarves go into a fighting withdrawl, which means they move 30 backwards and then hold their positions, without attracting an opportunity attack.

The archers move then fire:
Freya misses, very narrowly.
Talin misses.
Anna misses and nearly hits Kilian in the head. It's very hard to do this as the dwarves are retreating backwards.

The dog, mage and mouse girl start back up the stairs.

The robot man on the bridge remains stationary for half a round, and then turns and starts walking 30' back across to the west side. He will still be just visible to the archers in the following round.

Do you want to keep fighting? You could get some shots at #2, as it retreats. If so I will draw another map. Otherwise, battle over.

[Woe]

No shots, battle over. Time to lick our wounds.

[Woe]

Kilian @ 13 and Bruce @ 5, correct? A few minutes after everything calms down...

How are the dwarves? Some slight burn damage but no post-combat effects (like radioactivity sapping away their health)?

Is it possible to lower the portcullis? Killian and Bruce will try. Freya will look to see if she can see the two firing from the fortified area (up on the right). As for the crumpled heap of metal on the bridge, did it ever bleed? Does it have a cool-looking sword? All of this is done from cover.

Kilian will take (but not imbibe) one of the healing potions, and give the other to Bruce (with the same instructions). If nothing happens in the next few turns, they'll rest it off instead. Freya and Anna will listen at that northern door. We can at least ensure the only area to guard is the bridge.

[Longman]

Dwarves not taking any extra damage.

Firing ceases as soon as you get out of bridge area. You haven't tried the portcullis yet. The reason is, I already told you it is rusted beyond all use and repair so there's no point even trying to get it down. The one on the other side is the same.

Up to the right - you can't see much at all when Freya sneaks back there - just plain wall with a few rough areas. The holes must be quite small and well disguised. It'd be a miracle shot to get an arrow in one of those holes.

Robo man did not bleed - some pink and red steam came out of his neck, that was it. His sword is faintly magical, and so does his body. Both of these also looks non-rusted, so it may well be just a preservation charm of some kind.

The north door is open and leads exactly where the map shows. You don't have to worry about anything from that area. It's all empty over this side, unless there's more secret stuff you've missed.


Bruce is on 4/9. Kilian is on 14/22. (I had to recalculate Kilian's HP: 9 at 1st, +5 at 2nd, +6 at 3rd, +2 for going to 3rd 1st).

Bruce's wounds will heal at 1 overnight and 2 for a full day's rest. Does anyone have healing? That's be faster. Kilian's wounds will heal at 2 overnight and 3 for a full day's rest. See the healing thread.

Bruce liked the hand to hand fight but not the missile fire. 'Ya know, if we just charged over there out of the blue, we'd be on top of them before they had time to fire twice! I like those odds!'

He's probably right. It's only about 60 feet. And the sides are about 3' high so if you ran / scuttled, the ones on the left probably couldn't aim at you anyway.

[Woe]

He's probably right. It's only about 60 feet. And the sides are about 3' high so if you ran / scuttled, the ones on the left probably couldn't aim at you anyway.
"Yes, ye are probably right that we could have /gotten there/ without being hit by more than two salvos. Ye are forgettin' that one of dem robots were still on the bridge. Ye thinkin' it'd not stab ye in the back? Or how dang-diddily hard it be to take the second one down? And by the by, how many are out on the other side of dat bridge? At least four more, maybe more. Dat not be as good odds as I like." Kilian sighs. "These not be creatures, methinks."

Tiana continues the thought. "These are some kind of automations, like golems. You notice that it retreated once we past the portcullis? Golems follow their rules very strictly. If the orders are 'challenge all creatures on the bridge' then once we left the bridge, it couldn't challenge us anymore. So now we need to figure out the rules and work the rules in our favor."

"Like using the creek instead of the bridge?" asks Freya.

"Yes, that could work. Let's think about it more and see what we come up with."

Some other ideas that Tiana wants to explore: using the mage hand to tie a rope around the robot and the sword, using the mage hand to retrieve arrows, or using the mage hand to lift the entire skeleton to the bridge. Just looking for feasibility on the ideas. Personally, I think the first two are ok and the third is not, but still want to ask.

Two ideas that Kilian wants to explore: building a ballista (haha!) out of parts from upstairs, and whether the portcullis can be rigged to slam shut. I know the outcome of the second, but Kilian will fiddle with it for a bit (for comprehensiveness on the planning front). Oh, and a third idea: building a crenellated parapet wall on the bridge head.

Abigall could set small traps on the bridge, though I'm unsure whether a small bridge would trap a robot. Would she be willing to transform into a mouse and go scouting on the other side?

(interlude for the NPCs to suggest ideas. Also, I'm going to assume Abigall was firing her sling because I didn't state it being how she's an NPC, but stated Bruce's and Anna's actions thereby violating my own pattern).

[Woe]

Oh, and Anna can check out those two chests now.

[Longman]

Anna already did that. Not trapped, and she can't open the locks. Same result for Freya. I don't mind you ordering the NPCs around, if they disobey you, I'll say so.

Typical weapon / hand choice from now on:

Kilian - axe and shield
Bruce - mace and shield
Talin - longbow (?), light helmet
Freya - shortbow when scouting (?)
Anna - shortbow, light helmet
Tiana - hands free for spells, spare crossbow at ready
Abigall - hides at the back, ready to turn into a mouse and run away
Fido - at the back with the mousegirl and Tiana.

Is that OK?

Mage Hand cannot replicate the effects of the cantrip 'Knot' and only has a range of 40' anyway. The arrows are all beyond that range. So it won't be much use here. You could maybe grab the sword though.

To get into the chasm - the floor of which is only 20' down and a pretty easy climb - you'd need to get outside the portcullis arch in the first instance. Freya and Anna could do this very quickly. The others would probably have to spend a round each, getting around the arch and over the first few feet of the bridge wall to get down. You are not sure if this will trigger an attack. In fact, being in the chasm might trigger an attack anyway...

Tiana's knowledge of animated stuff is from elvish automated creatures (golems?) that can behave similarly, although are far less crude. This is obviously human magic. However her theory seems to hold true so far.

The portcullis is totally unworkable. Kilian thinks it was human made, after the dwarves had finished making the bridge.

You could, possibly, move some junk from above ground and elsewhere in the dungeon to make a defensive wall just beyond the archway. It'd take a day or so. It certainly would not constitute full rest, though.

The NPCs have not spoken up with any brilliant ideas so far...but Bruce makes the pretty obvious point: "whatever is over there, they must have really wanted to keep people out!"

He was glowing with pride when the shield wall held, and wants praise from Kilian for it. He looks a bit dashed when the older dwarf says his 'charge' idea is a bad plan.

[Woe]

Weapons mostly ok, though hopefully Abigall uses her sling more often next time. Haha.

Can the locks be bashed open? If so, they'll do that with the pickaxe.

Bruce is as insightful as Kilian is lucky.

Kilian notices Bruce getting crestfallen, and will add, just loud enough for Bruce to hear, "Nice work on holding the shield wall on that first attack. Ye didn't ever serve in the Rockguard, did ye? No? Very fine work then. Now, we take a break for a bit and save dees healing potions for later. I dunno about ye but I'm thirsty for an ale."

Talin and Freya can do the heavy lifting while Kilian supervises from the comfort of his chair, located on the balcony. We can't use anything from above ground though, at least not today. I'm sure there's enough that can be made, between the furniture and more importantly, Talin swinging the pickaxe.

Tiana's mage hand will fetch the sword late in the day.

Is Abigall willing to try scouting as a mouse?

[Longman]

Can the locks be bashed open? If so, they'll do that with the pickaxe.

Not really. It's take a miracle dex roll to do that. Most likely you'd break the lid or the whole chest. The chests are ornate, and could be valuable - up to you if you want to break them or not. No more lockpick rolls though.


Talin and Freya can do the heavy lifting while Kilian supervises from the comfort of his chair, located on the balcony

He couldn't see from the balcony. You are making this in the portcullis arch, right?

Within another few hours there's a half-way decent barricade made out of the table and chairs from the secret room, jugs, pot plants, to give good cover (-2) for archers. The stone benches are set into the walls, and immovable.

The metal men do not attack you while you are doing this, even though you slightly stray onto the bridge by a foot or so. Last time they only activated when Freya was well across.

Abigall will need some serious persuasion to try a scouting run. "What, you think I am some kind of noble fool, always doing the bidding of larger creatures for the greater good? They told me you might think this way about our kind! But I am not like that at all! What's in it for me?" she asks.

Bruce doesn't even know what a Rockguard is. He served as a mercenary against some bandits, and a bouncer, a city gate guard, and a few other things. But nothing like real warfare, and certainly nothing like this. He's pumped, but nervous. "Got any ale, then?" he asks.