Part 1: Goblin Arrows

Jul 26, 2020 8:05 pm
This Quick Reference Sheet can be used to assist players with Movement, Actions, Bonus Actions, Reactions, Conditions, and Environmental Effects.

The adventure begins for five hopeful adventurers:
Mathias Endren, a human fighter and grizzled old soldier traumatized by a disastrous past encounter with a dragon.
Quinny Dorah, a female half-orc barbarian with a dual personality as that of a con-man named "King".
Alstaer, a half-elf sorcerer with a streak of untamed wild magic. Every spell he casts comes with the potential to blow up on his face... literally.
Severus, a human barbarian wielding a battleaxe and a double-bladed scimitar.
Osvaldo Leafbash, a human ranger who also comes with the scarred past of an ex-soldier. He brings a dark past to the party as well, though his is with orcs and goblins.
Your adventure begins in the city of Neverwinter where each of you has been lurking recently in hopes of drumming up some work of the nature that "adventuring types" generally seek. This work usually provides opportunities to gain experience, earn vast fortunes, and enjoy fame as great heroes. Unfortunately such opportunities rarely fall right into one’s lap for no reason, and each of you have spent a considerable amount of time watching your gold reserves slowly deplete themselves in Neverwinter’s local inns, taverns, and other places where work of this nature is sought out by wannabe heroes.

As things begin looking dire for you, you find a moment of possible reprieve when you are approached by a Dwarven businessman named Gundren Rockseeker. Some of you may know Gundren as a friend of a friend. Some may know of him as a passing associate. Some may merely (and possibly most likely) have enjoyed a horn or two of ale with the dwarf while frequenting the taverns of Neverwinter looking for work. Regardless of how you know the man, Gundren knows each of you well enough to know that you may be desperate for a bit of coin, and he seems to think you may have the skill-sets relevant to a job he needs done. And so each of you are approached one afternoon by the dwarf as you sit in a tavern.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/sword-coast-adventurers/images/b/b9/Gundren_Rockseeker.png/revision/latest?cb=20190702125628

As the dwarf excitedly begins his pitch, he explains that he has need of some well-armed men and women capable of escorting a wagon of supplies from Neverwinter to a small town a few days’ journey to the southeast, called Phandalin. In the course of his discussion with each of you he makes mention that he and his two brothers have discovered "something big" near Phandalin, but says no more on the matter even if pressed. He explains that he has no reason to believe that you or your new companions will have any trouble with delivering the supplies, but that his need for an armed escort to attend it lies merely in the fact that Phandalin has developed a reputation as a bit of a rough-and-tumble frontier town since its resettlement, and he would not be happy to see his supplies purloined by bandits just as they are about to arrive in the village. He then explains that he has no intention of traveling with you, but will set out immediately this night by horse, riding hard and fast and escorted by a warrior named Sildar Hallwinter, as he has business in Phandalin that needs attending to at once. For your efforts though, despite the likelihood that your travels will be uneventful, Gundren will have payment waiting for you at a sum of 10 gold pieces each once the supply wagon has been delivered to a trading post in Phandalin called "Barthen’s Provisions". Confident that he’s succeeded in securing your sword for this task he explains that you should be ready to leave at first light the next morning and that he will have the wagon loaded and ready at his office in the morning, which he then gives you directions to. He then leaves to attend to his own affairs.

Each of you beats the rooster the next morning, waking up well before dawn. You gather your gear and leave the inns you’ve been staying at, more or less arriving at Gundren’s office at the same time. As you look at your new companions, you think you recognise them as others who have been prowling the taverns in search of adventure. Waiting for you is a stringy-looking man standing next to a wagon already attached to two oxen placidly chewing mouthfuls of cud. The wagon is loaded with a bulky cache of supplies, covered with a heavy canvas tarp tied tightly over its contents. The man, who introduces himself as "Sourmash", hands you a map, and explains that the way to Phandalin is to take The High Road south for about thirty or thirty-five miles until you come to a smaller road heading east called Triboar Trail. Follow the Triboar Trail for about twenty miles and then turn south again and the road will take you to Philandin after about ten miles or so. Sourmash then hands the reigns over, explaining that one or two people will need to drive the oxen while the rest walk alongside keeping alert for any signs of trouble or ambush. The High Road itself is pretty well-traveled, and the likelihood of trouble is low. But the closer you get to Philandin, the further you are from civilization, and the more likely you may be hit by bandits and other sorts of unsavoriness and trouble.


https://sites.google.com/site/dd5gbg/_/rsrc/1443015972755/announcements/2goblinambush/map.jpg
OOC:
This isn't exactly the sort of adventure you were hoping for when you set out on this path, but you're all, if not excited, at least relieved to have some work and a bit of coin promised at the end. Your spirits lifted a bit, you'll all start out with a nit of INPSIRATION.

Your characters have all likely seen each other hanging around the inns and taverns while looking for work or an adventure party to join, but may not know one another much more than that. If you would like to take a moment to have your characters introduce themselves to the others, please do.

The roads and trails you will be traveling are pretty well maintained and you should be able to cover about twenty-four miles a day, if you choose to travel at a normal pace. If you wish to move at a more cautious pace you can slow down to a speed that covers about eighteen miles a day. And if you want to throw caution to the wind and get to your destination more quickly you could cover about thirty miles a day. The wagon requires at least one person sit atop and drive the oxen, though it can seat two persons if you choose to have two drivers. The rest of you will accompany the wagon on foot. Who wishes to drive, and who wishes to travel on foot.
Jul 27, 2020 2:13 am
Enter, the Queen.

A little bit leaner than the usual muscular half-orc she stands 5'10" with an air of confidence and arrogance around her as she stare down all other adventurers with him. She brushes up her short white hair with her hand then starts her introduction.

"I'm Quinny Dorah, call me Queen." She smirks as she check on the adventuring party with her eyes.
Jul 27, 2020 2:48 am
To the right of the cart walks Mathias, more comfortable on his feet than resting in a cart

Broad and athletic despite his years, Mathias is well kept as usual, his beard and hair groomed to near perfection, as was his habit during his days as a serviceman. Humming a marching tune to himself and subconsciously keeping time with his march, he offers a slight nod, pausing his tune.

"Mathias," he smiles warmly, "It's a pleasure to meet you, and to be working with you."
Last edited July 27, 2020 2:51 am
Jul 27, 2020 4:35 am
A tall, wiry, athletic human walks past the others to the cart, and gets on top the passenger seat, drawing out his bow. His face covered by his hood, you hear an older voice emanate "I'll keep watch for any miscreants along the way.
I say we hurry at a quick clip. The name's Osvaldo by the way.
q1
Jul 27, 2020 10:04 am
A slim, average height male half-elf dressed in fine clothes walks next to the cart. He beams at his fellow travelers, "I'm not great with animals, so I'm perfectly fine walking. The name is Alstaer, glad to meet you all". He nervously fidgets with a wooden figure in his necklace that appears to be a small, carved eagle.
Jul 27, 2020 6:50 pm
"I’ll walk, too"
Severus stands at 6 feet and four inches, his hair dark and unkempt, his icy blue eyes blazing with madness. For a big, brutish looking man, his tone is unexpectedly sonorous.
"Nice to meet you too, Alstaer. And you Osvaldo. Mathias, the pleasure is mine. Oh, and my Queen..."
Severus bows his head and lifting it again, a broad smile sweeps across his face exposing his yellow teeth, one of which is missing.
The barbarian’s sleeveless skin jerkin leaves his large arms bare upon which can be seen triskelion tattoos and blue woad that has resisted attempts to wash it off
Last edited July 27, 2020 6:53 pm
Jul 27, 2020 8:41 pm
Introductions are exchanged and Osvaldo is the only member of the newly-formed party to climb aboard the wagon. Seeing as everyone stands around the wagon below, Sourmash shrugs and hands the reigns to the Ranger. "Not much to it really," he tells Osvaldo. "These here oxen have been workin' this wagon a long time. Give the reins a little snap and they move along forward. Snap a couple more times to get them to pick up the pace. Pull back on the reigns and they slow and stop. They get a pretty good feel for who's holding the leathers, so if you drop the reins or nobody's holding them the oxen won't move.
Should be decent weather today. Bit warm maybe, but I don't expect you'll run into any storms. Good luck."
With that, the man slinks away with all the grace of a stray dog.

It's around 6am as you leave Neverwinter. The sun is just rising over the forested landscape to the east. Since Osvaldo has control of the oxen and none of his companions solicited any input as to the pace the group wanted to keep, Osvaldo decides to push it a bit. The miles tick by, with the Sword Coast and the Trackless Sea beyond always keeping five to ten miles off to your right. To your left, fifteen to twenty miles over open rolling plains you watch the dense forests of the Neverwinter Woods scroll by. As Sourmash predicted, the day runs a bit on the toasty side; probably in the mid-eighties for those that know Fahrenheit, or around thirty degrees for any Celsius folk. It might have felt a bit more comfortable had any sort of breeze complimented the mid-summer day, but the afternoon remains windless, the air still, and not a cloud graces in the blue sky above. Eventually those walking next to the wagon start feeling a bit sweaty in their armor, and relief comes to all on foot when around mid-afternoon (around 2pm) you bring the oxen to a halt. You estimate that you've traveled somewhere around thirty miles over the course of about eight hours. Continuing on for the day is possible, but you'd be pushing the animals who are already breathing heavy and drooling hard in an attempt to regulate their body temperature.
OOC:
You party covered about thirty miles on the first day, in 8 hours of traveling. On the map above, you party is somewhere around the word "Road" on "The High Road". You can continue to press forward, covering about 4 miles for every hour at your current pace, but become subject to Forced March rules (pg. 181; PHB). For every hour you continue you will need to make a Constitution saving throw (DC 10+1 per extra hour of marching) with failure resulting in 1 level of exhaustion per failed roll. Or you can make camp for the rest of the day, get some rest, and set out again at sunrise the next morning.
Jul 27, 2020 9:20 pm
"We've made excellent time. What say we give these poor beasts some respite? A march halts it's progress rather quickly when the draft animals die on the road."

Mathias moves forward to a slight rise just feet off the road and looks to his surroundings, covering his eyes with a weathered hand. Despite Sourmash's assurances, he's never been one to blindly trust his own luck, particularly so far into the countryside.

"What say you all?" Mathias calls over his shoulder, "Is this a fair place for a rest?"
Jul 28, 2020 1:04 am
"I do need my beauty rest so thank you for being... considerate Mathias." Queen says as she climb down the wagon to check out the spot where they were camping at. As much as she wanted to get to their destination as fast as possible, the Queen knows that she wouldn't want to pull a cart herself.

"Dearie, I'm not used to camping out but if you tell me what to do, I'd love to assist." Queen tells the group.
OOC:
Queen wants to use Help Action to anyone who want to do Survival check.
Jul 28, 2020 8:28 am
"Let's call it a day. There's no rush, right?"

Severus begins examining the ground around the cart and party looking for tracks of game.
OOC:
I'll take Queen's Help on any Survival roll. Happy for you to make it!
Last edited July 28, 2020 8:28 am
Jul 28, 2020 10:55 am
Alstaer wipes the sweat from his brow, he clearly hadn't thought the whole "walking next to a wagon for an entire day's travel" bit through. He feels exhausted and is very happy at the notion of resting for the night. "Ah yes...I mean...we could go on...but...ah, this is such a lovely spot, let's just rest here for the night". Alstaer looks around, he struggles to remember having been this far out of Neverwinter before. The calmness of the countryside suits him, the magical energy inside of him is bubbling far under the surface and he seems to be in control for once. "I'll collect a bit of wood and start a fire perhaps?".
Jul 28, 2020 2:38 pm
Mathias nods, "Allow me to accompany you, friend. It's dangerous to go alone, so they say."

Resting his shield against a tree and depositing his pack next to it, he adjusts his weapon sling which rests across his back, loosening the blade slightly in case of danger.
OOC:
While Alstaer checks for firewood, Mathias would like to keep an eye on his surroundings, perhaps with Perception. Don't wanna be ambushed!
Last edited July 28, 2020 2:38 pm
Jul 28, 2020 4:23 pm
OOC:
From here on out, when you see the image below, it means I'm busy writing a post. You will frequently see notes and dice rolls without any context, so as long as the image below stands, you'll know I'm still working on the post. I'll leave this image stand in tis post so that you can see it, but in the future, when I've finished with my post, the image will be removed and replaced with appropriate text which gives context to the dice rolls and other notes attached. Generally that means "PLEASE HOLD", and I'm asking you not to post anything yet as more information is forthcoming.
https://i.imgur.com/CJMjMHa.jpg
AOC1996 says:
Mathias moves forward to a slight rise just feet off the road and looks to his surroundings, covering his eyes with a weathered hand. Despite Sourmash's assurances, he's never been one to blindly trust his own luck, particularly so far into the countryside.
Mathias stands a moment and looks at the area around him. The day continues to be hot though resting seems to help a bit. As Mathias keeps an eye on his surroundings, skeptical that Sourmash’s weather forecast will hold, he is the first to notice dark clouds approaching from the South. They press themselves over the Sword Mountains, struggling to break over the top of the crescent-shaped range, but they look bloated with precipitation. Tomorrow's weather foretells to be more turbulent than that of today’s journey.
therecusant says:
Severus begins examining the ground around the cart and party looking for tracks of game.
Severus inspects the area with the aid of Queen. They find random animal prints, which seem to belong to birds and other fowl, and some tracks probably belonging larger game animals. None of them seem recent or indicate that they might be nearby. As they’re about to give up their search they find a rather large patch of tallgrass covered in blood, dried and already turned a shade of brown. Accompanying this is a small bit of white and tan fur, appearing to be that of maybe a deer or some other narrow-hooved ruminant. Not predatory animal prints or sign of struggle mar the soil otherwise, but Severus and Quinny estimate that the blood might be no more than a day or so old.

Sassafras says:
"I'll collect a bit of wood and start a fire perhaps?".
It doesn’t take much effort for Alstaer to collect a sufficient amount of firewood as only about fifty meters from The High Road, off to the group’s east, is a small stand of birch trees. Not only does the half-elf find a good pile of deadwood lying about, but he remembers having learned that the natural oils in birch bark are highly flammable, making for an excellent firestarter even when damp. In only about ten minutes he has a few good size chunks of papery bark in hand and enough wood to last the night if the party wishes.

Rolls

Mathias Endren Survival roll - (1d20+4)

(14) + 4 = 18

Severus Survival roll (Advantage) - (1d20+1, 1d20+1)

1d20+1 : (16) + 1 = 17

1d20+1 : (9) + 1 = 10

Alstaer Survival roll - (1d20+1)

(18) + 1 = 19

Jul 28, 2020 9:36 pm
"Look, Queen", Severus plucks the fur from the blood-stained tall-grass and offers it to her. "Might have ourselves a handsome feast before sun-down. Maybe venison! Let's see if we can find the beast".

Severus traipses off into the tall-grass following the trail of blood, gripping his Javelin expectantly.
Jul 29, 2020 12:05 am
"I am not into this hunting gig but I do like meat." Queen giggles as she ready her whip for the hunt.

Queen continues to aid Severus. Beauty rest can wait.
Jul 29, 2020 1:40 am
Watching his two companions move off, Mathias begins to settle into a watch stance, making small talk with the half-elf, "So, what brings you to this line of work, friend?"
Jul 29, 2020 2:30 am
Osvaldo scouts out ahead a bit, doing a perimeter sweep around the camp. He'll also see if he can find any berries or other edibles to go with the venison.
Last edited July 29, 2020 2:31 am
Jul 29, 2020 6:36 am
Alstaer nervously smiles at Matthias as he picks up another branch, "I just...I needed to get away from Neverwinter, it's not a very happy place for me, and I thought that getting adventuring work would be the best way to go about that while making a bit of coin. How about you?"
Jul 29, 2020 1:50 pm
A shadow seems to flit across the warrior's face. He shakes himself slightly, "Much like yourself I'm afraid. Not a happy place..."

After a moment's pause, "But! It feels good to be out on my feet again. I look forward to seeing what the frontier will bring us!"
Jul 29, 2020 8:07 pm
Alstaer nods, he wishes he could share that optimism, but he finds it much harder than he’d thought to leave the comforts of the city
load next

Thread locked