Angel swore in her native tongue at seeing the savage blows the orc dealt Talia and Orila. Maybe they had underestimated these foes. Quickly shaking the thought from her head -- there were much better times to engage in hindsight-thinking -- she mentally shifting her magic to the last remaining orc. Then Angel cautiously closed with the orc, hoping to flank it with one of her companions and bury her dagger in its back...

OOC: Bonus -- shifting Hex to last orc (Str checks affected, if needed)
     Move -- as needed to avoid AoO and flank orc
     Action -- "stabby stab stab stab"
     20:32, Today: Angel rolled 11 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 6.  Dagger Attack (AC 16).
      (Miss!)

Orila shouted a battlecry. The Earthbreaker smashed into the shoulder of the orc! However the backswing just missed the orc's head.

---

Move: Currently flanking
Attack Orc Hits AC 18, 13 Damage
rolled 8,13 using 1d20+6,2d6+4 with rolls of 2,5,4.  ATK/DAM
rolled 18 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 12.  Advantage

Second Wind Attack Orc Missed!
rolled 12,12 using 1d20+6,2d6+4 with rolls of 6,5,3.  ATK/DAM
rolled 10 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 4.  Advantage

rolled 1 using 1d6 with rolls of 1.  Earthbreaker missed roll

Another savage blow cause yet another waterfall of blood to flow down her side. Even if she had twisted to reduce the impact as the voices had instructed, the fatigue and damage were accruing. A pressure to end the fight was building. The pressure did not cause her to consider retreat or caution, however, only to add her own pressure to the orc. She felt her grip upon the mace slickened even as she swung once more at the brute.

---

Move: none
Bonus: none
Action: Attack, no reckless since flanking.

10:45, Today: Talia Alden rolled 10 using 1d6+6 with rolls of 4.  damage.
10:45, Today: Talia Alden rolled 22 using 2d20+6, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 11,16.  attack, flanking.

It seemed like just a matter of time before the warrior among her companions cut down the orc, but Yry doesn't want any of them to be hurt any further before the final blow is landed. To that end, she continues to channel ice magic to slow its limbs and numb its warrior instincts.

_ _❆ Yry Sweetwater ❆ the sorcerer iii______ ___ _ __ _
 hp ██████████ hd ♡♡♡
 ac {15} [13 d. resilience + 2 dex] p.per {13} p.inv {10} p.ins {13}
 sorcery points ❆❆❆ spell slots ❆❆❆❆ ❆❆
 dragon tear ❆
 {action; frostbite on the orc, con save dc 13 or take 4 cold and disadvantage on next attack}
 {03:18, Today: Yry Sweetwater rolled 4 using 1d6 with rolls of 4.  frostbite con dc 13.}

The party finds a suitable location in the woods and begins resting....

OOC: Short resting. Spend your Hit dice.




This message was last edited by the GM at 21:57, Mon 05 Apr 2021.

At the last frenzied flurry, Talia exhales deeply. As she does, the presence of the guiding voices fades from her awareness and the pain of her wounds intrudes rudely. Groaning audibly, she sinks a bit then collapses to her knees. "Ow! Tyr's teeth! Those things hit like a sack of rocks swung by giants." Exhaling in a blustery way, like she was trying to exude the pain from her form through her breath, she rolls her shoulders and slowly stands up. "We didn't happen to find a new priest recently, did we?" She then looks to Orila to see how the doughtier woman fared.

Orila smiled as she stood over the dead orc. Earthbreaker was over her shoulders. She laughed, "That was fun. He put up a good fight." Clearly the goliath enjoyed the challenge of this fight.

---

Not sure if I already received the HP from Second Wind during the combat.
But here it is again :)
15:24, Tue 23 Mar: Secret Roll: Orila rolled 13 using 1d10+3 with rolls of 10.  Second Wind.

Yry moves over just about in time to help Talia up-- not that Yry is much help, but she does what she can. "Yeah, they seemed dangerous. Fought right through my ice magic. Hopefully if they are this strong they aren't numerous, as well."

Alyssa walked over to her friend and looked her over. "No, no priest. But I can patch you up a little bit." The halfling reached out and touched Talia directing the healing energies around them into her.

Alyssa saw how little the spell had apparently and then added, "But we'll need to find a priest if you don't learn to step out of the way!"

---

OOC:
Cast cure wounds for 4

12:33, Today: Alyssa Tealeaf rolled 4 using 1d8+1 with rolls of 3.  cure wounds on Talia.

Talia nodded her thanks up to her friend as she felt the tension and fatigue easing. Heaving a solid breath, she grinned at Orila next, "Aye, a good challenge. I don't feel the need for such on a daily basis though..." Looking around at the group, she sucked her bottom lip for a second then nodded as if a decision had passed through her mind, "Lest take a short rest then push on. However, perhaps we can find other options for such confrontations in the future?" She chuckles then points at the bodies then the fire, "Lets search and dispose of the bodies then have a sit?"

A quick pat down of the orcs revealed nothing of interest but a bit of information. They weren't carrying typical traveling supplies and thus were likely not expecting to be out for longer than a few hours. The party was not just on the right trail, but likely fairly close to their destination.

"Agree. We can all take a short rest." Orila moved to drag the wolves to the side. "A short rest is welcome."

"A bit of a breather sounds good to me," Angel replied, limping over to sit on a nearby fallen log. She felt nearly halfway drained of vitality and could use a moment to refresh herself. The wolf who'd tried to trip her had shredded her pant leg from the knee down -- which wasn't really a problem, she could always fix that with a bit of magic... kinda -- but the flesh below that pant leg was a different matter. She gingerly peeled back a section of blood soaked cloth and grimaced when she saw the puncture wounds beneath. They were still seeping blood. "Wouldn't happen to have another one of those for me, would ya?" She asked when she saw Alyssa use a cure spell on Talia.

Alyssa looked at the elf and then her leg. "He did get you good there. I can stop the bleeding but how much more I can't say for sure. Here, hold still." The halfling then closed her eyes and channeled healing energies into her companion's injured leg.

---

OOC:
11:14, Today: Alyssa Tealeaf rolled 7 using 1d8+1 with rolls of 6.  cure wounds on angel.

Angel sighed in relief as the healing magic took hold, stopping the bleeding and stitching the flesh together again. "Ahhh... much better. Thank you," she said, standing again and testing out the leg. The magic didn't completely seal the wound, but it was enough so that the she-elf didn't feel the need to limp anymore. With a thought, she summoned her magic and 'fixed' her shredded pant leg -- the cloth seemingly flowing together so that it looked just as it had been before the wolf tried to use her as a chew toy. "There. Good as new."

"So," she continued, addressing all her companions, while they took a short breather. "Two orcs and two wolves certainly gave us a run for our money, and there's most assuredly more in this raiding party we're tracking, so what'd the plan for any future encounters?"

OOC: Alyssa's heal spell takes Angel from 11/24 to 18/24, and spending 1HD (1d8) during the short rest... 19:29, Today: Angel rolled 8 using 1d8+1 with rolls of 7.  Short Rest heal... which takes Angel all the way to full (24/24)

I'm assuming we can discuss this while walking, so ready to move on whenever everyone else is.  :)

"We can take them in a fight." Orila sounded confident. The goliath seemed ready for the challenge. She did stop and stared at Angel's wound on her leg. "That should give you an impressive scar. You can make the scars stand out if you put some pickled berries on the wound before it heals."


Orila should be at full health

"We should certainly scout them out first. If they have patrols or... scouts... or deserters out this far then we can probably whittle down their numbers if we are canny." Yry rests alongside her companions, leaning back in the grass and not quite dozing off, but coming close to it. After a while the sparkle in her dragon's tear comes back, ready to be used once again.

"You mean like this?" Angel replied to Orila, her smirking face suddenly bearing an ugly red scar running down and across one milky-white eye. "Or how about this one?" She added, her face now horribly burned on the left half. "Oh wait, I've got just the one!" Angel exclaimed, her face suddenly looking exactly like the goliath's. "Definitely the worse one of the bunch, right?" The goliath-faced she-elf quipped in characteristic mischievous fashion.

Assuming her normal elven features again, Angel turned an attentive ear to Yry. "Now that's a plan I can get behind," she said appreciatively. "So you're thinking we scout out what paths they take when they leave their camp and set up some ambushes?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:34, Sat 10 Apr 2021.

OOC: Skipping ahead a little bit

After resting Alyssa was able to follow the trail of the orcs back...and around...and around again. It was clear they had been lost for awhile as the group followed the trail back to their original encounter three times before finally being led to their hideout.

The trees and tall grass end, and the forest opens to a large clearing dominated by a ruined stone keep. This is the once-proud stronghold of some ancient baron or count long since abandoned. A fortified wall surrounded this place long ago, but only the eastern and western sections remain intact. The entire upper level of the keep has collapsed. Two towers, one in the northwest, the other in the southeast, acted as lookouts once; now only the northwest tower remains intact. Time has ravaged this place. The underbrush is clear for sixty feet surrounding the ruin, with lit torches placed every forty to fifty feet. The walls of the keep are as bare as the ground, not overgrown with choking vines

Staying close to the tree line the party observes the stronghold secretly for quite some time and are able to put together a general overview of the inhabitants.

There are always 4 orcs in the watchtower keeping watch, one in each direction. They rotate every couple of hours, likely out of boredom. It seems likely there is at least a dozen orcs, maybe more, inside but at this distance it is difficult to get an accurate count.

The exterior can be described in three parts:

- While trees and underbrush have been cut down the grass leading up to the keep is very long, nearly three feet high in some places. Someone Alyssa sized could quite easily sneak through but taller folks would need to crawl which might lead to a trail being spotted by the sentries.

OOC: For Alyssa it would be a DC 11 Dex(Stealth) check. Everyone else would have the same roll but would roll at disadvantage for having to crawl.


The easiest way in would be from the north because the northern wall of the bailey has completely collapsed although the northwest watchtower is the one that is being used by sentries. There are smaller holes on the west and southern sides but the narrow gaps would be easy to trap as a precaution against intruders.

- The main gate is on the southern side and is made of thick oak reinforced with bands of iron.

- The bailey has been cleared of vines and there is even signs of rudimentary repairs that had been made. The guards in the watchtower never seem to look at the bailey even as sounds of combat echo up on occasion. It seems that these orcs are quite prone to quarrels with one another which might serve the group well as if combat breaks out there is a chance it does not alert the rest of the keep.

Talia had found a tree to rest against while they took a much-needed breather. Though her wounds had stopped bleeding by the time they were ready to go again, she was still not in top form. Pressing her lips together, she considered her status and nodded sharply. She'd make do, even if the orcs had proven far doughtier than she had expected. Standing and testing her legs, she gripped the handle of her mace firmly once then moved to follow.

Talia Alden rolled 13 using 2d12 with rolls of 4,9.  short rest.

Crouched with the others at the forest's edge, she felt the tightness in some of her muscles still. The position seemed easily defensible. Their previous encounter had taught them that facing a horde of orcs head on would be a disaster. She appreciated the lesson the two had provided. "How confident are we about being able to avoid traps?" That said, she eyed the strong door dubiously. "Perhaps, we could approach that way then enter through the ruined tower?"

"That's hard to say without seeing them. I'm good at spotting snares and deadfalls but anyone more cunning than a trapper could get the better of me." Alyssa turned to Angel, "I don't suppose you have any experience with traps, do you?"

Scratching behind her ear absently as she scanned the grass and the walls the halfling added, "I would imagine I could get to the base of the inner walls with a little care. Once there, I'm not sure what I could do on my own. The fallen tower would make sense as long as those orcs aren't watching from deeper in that we can't see."

---

OOC: Dungeon Master, just for clarification where are we on the map/ where did we approach it from?

OOC: It doesn't matter. As long as you stay behind the tree line (40' from the wall, off the map in this case) then you can approach from any direction given an hour or so to walk around.

After they had kept hidden in the trees and made their way completely around the ruined keep to survey the layout, Angel was considering their options when Alyssa asked her question. "Much better with other skills than simply spotting things, but I suppose I'm better than average at that too... but I've a another idea."

She stooped down and took a stick to draw a crude sketch of the keep. "The easiest way in is this north wall here, right? But the main obstacle there is this tower," she explained, tapping her dirt sketch where the tower was located. "The west and south have some smaller holes we could try, but those just scream ambush and trap. Plus the southern side is where the main door is, so much more likely running into more orcs there. It's always better to go with the devil you know..." she paused slightly to chuckle to herself at some private joke. "...than the one you don't, so I say this is our best option," she concluded, tapping the north wall. "We just need to eliminate this," she added, tapping the tower part of the sketch again. "And I think a great way of doing so is that magical fog you summoned back at the inn," she said to Yry. "Set it right on top of the tower and we rob them of the ability to see anything."

Finished with laying out her plan, Angel paused to hear the others thoughts on it...

After a few minutes discussion with the others, it was decided that Angel would try infiltrating the keep disguised as an orc and attempt to lure another orc back to her companions for questioning.

Once decided, Angel summoned her magic and assumed the exact likeness of one of the orcs they'd battled earlier, skirted the tree-line to approach from the south, and started walking toward the keep...

OOC: Approaching the keep from the south, heading toward the main door. Let me know what rolls I need to make, if any. 

Talia said a silent prayer to her ancestors as Angel made her way toward the keep. The tactic was dangerous but also could acquire valuable information for them on the disposition of troops within the fortress. She bit her lip nervously and watched the other woman stroll across the grass as apprehension built within her chest with each stride.