Season 1 - Episode 5: On the Trail of Alma

[Birthright]

Tannen picks himself up of the ground, wiping his eyes as he remembers where he is and what happened yesterday. He looks around and asks the rest of the group how they are faring. Then he asks after the old man.

[JoeCarr28]

OOC: Goodness, give Tannen a chance to comment before heading down this route of communication. He is still on his feet and is generally the voice of the party. Nivek just got back to zero HP after all.

Easy Smoot! You know from your past conversations with him that the old man's a somewhat difficult character. He asked a perfectly reasonable question, and five members of the party ignored him. What did you expect?

[JoeCarr28]

Doughbert rouses from his reverie at the old man's outburst and goes to seek him out. When/if he finds him he says, "I'm sorry for our rudeness. After yesterday's events, we are just so overcome with the sudden safety that you provide us that we are much too relaxed. We faced many goblins and nearly lost it all several times, but we left that cave cleared out of all goblins that were there when we arrived. We learned that a few had left with the farm wife before we arrived and took her to another of their strongholds. We intend to go there to rescue her once we have healed and resupplied."

Doughbert pauses to see how the old man is taking this. Then continues, "We did leave a particularly big and mean looking wolf that Nivek suspects is a warg. We didn't know if you would want it so we left it chained in the cave. What would you like us to do with it?"

"Hmmm ..., OK then", says the old man, softening his disposition slightly and returning his attention Nivek's wound. "Well, I thank you for your efforts with the goblins, you were true enough to your word. Leave the wolf to me - I'll sort it out."

He pauses for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "But where is this goblin stronghold? I don't think it can be in my wood or I'd already know about it."

Without warning, the old man presses hard on Nivek's back and the arrow wound is flooded with heat. After a brief flash of pain, Nivek feels much restored (back to full hit points).


Doughbert: HP 4/5.
Hiker: HP 7/9.
Karl: HP 8/8.
Nivek: HP 7/7.
Paladin: HP 0/4. Stabilised.
Tannen: HP 7/9.
7 am, 28th day of Harvestide.

[Hywaywolf]

Seeing the old man heal nivek, Doughbert decides to use his limited abilty to heal on Paladin. He moves over to the him, grasps the holy key thats hangs from his neck and places his right hand on Paladin's injury. "Oh, Master Loche, Lord of security, protection and stealth, this poor foolish halfling has been endeavoring to assist you in encouraging all creatures large or small to protect what is theirs. He has aided in the removal of goods that the unworthy did not properly protect. Give me your strength so that I may provide him what relief from his injuries that you think he deserves."

Doughbert will then pray silently long enough to use his two healing orisons.

[Eevans]

Hearing Hiker repeat his words, Karl smiles and says, "We should practice. Practice is good."

Before he starts practicing though, Karl unwraps the sweat-rag around his head, revealing a massive, crimson scar on top of a deep, crushing dent in the left side of his forehead. He gestured to his wound, "I didn't keep my shield arm high."

"Let's practice."

Hiker smiled up at Karl..."Yes let's practice...." then with a slight pause, but still smiling, realized he had no idea what that meant.
"Umm whats a practice? Hiker added with confusion, but his mind was clearly trudging up into the mountainous heights of his mind where for a moment he found a sapling of realization on the barren cold of his mental glacier scape, " Oh, Practice keeping our shield arms high? .. mine is still a bit stiff from the toughening up I received."

[SmootRK]

"Grumpier than a old dwarf... I am getting to like this human of the woods," remarks Nivek as he stretches out his previously wounded back. While the others go about their business, Nivek looks for various chores that need tending at this camp... happily chopping wood, carrying odds and ends around, and otherwise trying to make himself useful, muttering about "idle hands".

ooc: did the hermit heal Nivek before his orisons were applied. This would be great, so Nivek could apply his own healing amongst the party in addition to any recovery we might get before morning.

[Hywaywolf]

Best I can tell is that you haven't used your orisons yet today. so I use my two on Paladin that should leave this:

Doughbert: HP 4/5.
Hiker: HP 7/9.
Karl: HP 8/8.
Nivek: HP 7/7.
Paladin: HP 2/4. Stabilised.
Tannen: HP 7/9.

After a day and night of sleep paladin will be back to full health (full 24 hr bed rest should heal 2 hp naturally, correct?) So if you use an orison each on hiker and tannen then we should all be to full strength in the morning. Or we could leave now after the Orisons and hope we aren't attacked as we travel. I don't know how much time is of the essence concerning Alma.

[JoeCarr28]

"Give me your strength so that I may provide him what relief from his injuries that you think he deserves."

There's an unusually long pause, and for a moment Doughbert wonders whether Master Loche considers Paladin a wholly undeserving case. But then Doughbert feels his holy symbol grow momentarily warmer and the weak healing energies are bestowed upon Paladin's wound (he gains 2 hit points).

The old man, watching, raises his eyebrows, but it's difficult to gauge whether that's in appreciation or derision of the halfling's healing efforts. With the merest tap of his finger on Paladin's remaining injury, he completes the job (restored to full hit points). Similarly, without a word, he restores Doughbert, Hiker and Tannen in turn.

"So then, ..." he begins brusquely, "... now that there are no more distractions, you mentioned some sort of goblin stronghold. Do you know where it is, and what is your plan? It is essential that you eliminate all traces of these foul creatures."

ooc: did the hermit heal Nivek before his orisons were applied. This would be great, so Nivek could apply his own healing amongst the party in addition to any recovery we might get before morning.

Yes.


Doughbert: HP 5/5. No '0' level spells remaining today.
Hiker: HP 9/9.
Karl: HP 8/8.
Nivek: HP 7/7.
Paladin: HP 4/4.
Tannen: HP 9/9.
7 am, 28th day of Harvestide.

[Hywaywolf]

Doughbert sees the ease at which the old man heals the party and shakes his head at the waste of his efforts. He then turns to the old man and tells him what he knows.

"The prisoners we questioned said the boss Goblin took her away earlier yesterday to a tower up on the coast. He and another gob took her off to see the Big Boss to help understand her answers to their questioning. The tower is about a days ride on wolves. Their are about fifty goblins, a dozen orcs and more wolves. We saw a scrap of clothing we believe belongs to the woman on a bash where the trail to the cave splits to head North."

[Birthright]

"The prisoners we questioned said the boss Goblin took her away earlier yesterday to a tower up on the coast. He and another gob took her off to see the Big Boss to help understand her answers to their questioning. The tower is about a days ride on wolves. Their are about fifty goblins, a dozen orcs and more wolves. We saw a scrap of clothing we believe belongs to the woman on a bash where the trail to the cave splits to head North."

While the healing is going on, Tannen asks Karl about his scar. "By the gods, that is a serious battle scar! You'll have to tell me about how you got it some time."

Tannen thanks the old man for his kindness and then elaborates on Doughbert's informaton:

"Yes, there looks to have been a skirmish of some sort at the site where we saw the scrap of Miss Alma's clothing. There was the corpse of a body and warg there too. Do you know of anyone in these woods aside from yourself and Barnaby that would be out to kill goblins?"

Once the old man has had time to answer, Tannen then asks whether he knows anything of a tower along the coast.