1: Ilyana's Plight

Leirthal ignores Nok.

"Did anyone ask them how many people they have mercilessly oppressed or killed?  Maybe the woman has the stomach.  Maybe the Druid can recommend a proper local authority to administer Justice.  But if these villains escape, we sentence this family to death.  Is what we have done here today Justice or fair play of war? If it is Justice then the uncooperative one dies. That will reinforce the quality of our remaining prisoner. I would give him a last opportunity. But I am not in charge of such mundane things."

To Nok: "Yammerin Chatterheads make me grouchy, little one, not racoon bites. Whatever was that bit ya was rabid, and it made ya rabid fer a spell too. Think ya can find a druid house in them woods over there without gettin noticed if we send Ara along to babysit...errr, help ya?"

To Leirthal: "Yep, yer only in charge when it suits ya, per usual, but we agree can't let them Circle jerks go."

To Drusus, Quxx, Ara, and Bru: "Leirthal's up for offin' the mouthy one. I say we drag 'em both to the druid's place and get his take on it. What say ye?"

navyik wrote:Leirthal ignores Nok.

Nok persists in striving for attention from Leithral, "I could find the Druid's house, no problem, sure. Leithy, do you want me to find it for you? Would that be helpful? Did you notice how I saved that woman and her kids? I talked them out of the house before it burned. That was a really good job too, right? I can keep an eye on Ara, he might be afraid of the woods, you know, if they are dark and scary. What do I do when I find the Druid's house? Should I come back or just say "Hello" or what?"

Chris wrote:

navyik wrote:Leirthal ignores Nok.

Nok persists in striving for attention from Leithral, "I could find the Druid's house, no problem, sure.  Leithy, do you want me to find it for you?  Would that be helpful?  Did you notice how I saved that woman and her kids?  I talked them out of the house before it burned.  That was a really good job too, right?   I can keep an eye on Ara, he might be afraid of the woods, you know, if they are dark and scary.  What do I do when I find the Druid's house?  Should I come back or just say "Hello" or what?"

Quietly exasperated, "You will not find the Druid. He will find you. We must go together. There may be other enemies."

"Oh I dunno Leithy. Nok's pretty sneaky when he wants ta be. I'd wager a tankard at the next pub he could make it through without the tree-hugger findin him. That perfume you insist on wearin though...he'll be sniffin you out from a mile away." With a hearty chuckle Cyclone heaves himself back to his feet and goes over to take a straw poll from the others about the fate of the prisoners...

navyik wrote:

Chris wrote:

navyik wrote:Leirthal ignores Nok.

Nok persists in striving for attention from Leithral, "I could find the Druid's house, no problem, sure.  Leithy, do you want me to find it for you?  Would that be helpful?  Did you notice how I saved that woman and her kids?  I talked them out of the house before it burned.  That was a really good job too, right?   I can keep an eye on Ara, he might be afraid of the woods, you know, if they are dark and scary.  What do I do when I find the Druid's house?  Should I come back or just say "Hello" or what?"

Quietly exasperated, "You will not find the Druid.  He will find you.  We must go together.  There may be other enemies."

Nok's eyes light up, "You're coming with me?!? oh boy oh boy oh boy." Nok gathers all his gear, which somehow ended up scattered all over the grass. He whistles happily to himself.

Bru looks towards Cyc and nods his head. "Leirthal is right, we can't let them go. I think they have earned swift justice. Taking them with us to the druid is fine, but they will make it harder. I leave the choice to the group."

He then returns his eyes to meet those of his captive, removing the cloak with the Iron Circle symbol. He says "Answer the questions, Garr. If you help us, they might help you. If you don't, I might help you."

From the two brigands, the companions learn:
About six weeks ago, Captain Nazin Redthorn led a large company of 250 Iron Circle mercenaries into Harken in a surprise attack. The brigands stormed Harken Keep and took Baron Stockmer captive.

The Iron Circle's continued sweeps and raids have quelled any show of resistance, leaving Harkenwold a conquered land.

The new bandit "authorities" are pillaging Harkenwold through "tolls" and confiscations, harshly punishing anyone who resists. Nazin is further strengthening his hold by negotiating with other malignant forces. In partiular, he's used some of the loot he's plundering from Harkenwolds' suffering populace to buy the freindship of a group of odious bullywugs.

The Iron Circle's ruler is known as Lord Vhennyk. The group came to the Nentir Vale from the southern city of Sarthel roughly two months ago. Their mission: Bring the Nentir Vale to heel. Vhennyk decided that overt operations would start in the relatively isolated Barony of Harkenwold, a collection of hamlets scattered over fifty miles of the upper White River Valley. He tasked Redthorn with seizing the Harkenwold region, while implementing other plans for the Vale. Besides using force, Vhennyk has spies and informants operating in local towns. The group has ties to evil gods and devils.


Ilyana had walked up and listens to Garr and Terry spilling their guts (mostly Terry does the talking). She adds, "There IS resistance in the Wold, but we are not great warriors. Dar Gremath and Rethann are the ones most knowledgeable about the rebellion."

Bru cracks a smile which turns wide. "Looks like were taking these good boys along with us. Will someone keep their eyes on Garr here so I can rest a moment?"

Once someone relieves Bru from POW detail, he will sit down to take a drink from his waterskin and clean the scrapes.

Using a hit die leaves 2/3d12.
Result of the throw of dice "1d12" : 3

Leaving Bru with 31/35 HP

Cyclone's old soldier brain starts ruminating on the intelligence the party's received from the captives.

"Hmmm. 250 men raidin' over 100 sq miles is gonna leave 'em spread out and vulnerable to bein plucked off. Problem is we ain't got the numbers yet to be everywhere at once to do the pluckin'. Armin' the common folk ain't the tough part. Teachin' em to fight is. Drusus has that spot on."

To Ilyana: "This druid yer sendin us to, he receptive to visitors? I don't fancy gettin' run through by an oak branch if he's feelin' surly."

Leirthal is careful to keep his voice out of the prisoners hearing. "As Drusas said, farmers make poor soldiers.  But maybe as guerillas against a spread out force... But then what do when they consolidate and reave in force... That's when we attack Harken.  First reduce their numbers in small groups.  Draw them out.  Take the fort while they are gone. We need a map of homesteads that have not yet been taxed..."

Whitey wrote:To Ilyana: "This druid yer sendin us to, he receptive to visitors? I don't fancy gettin' run through by an oak branch if he's feelin' surly."

"SHE is an old wise woman. I think if you approach Reithann in a friendly manner, she will be receptive to you."


Ilyana's son Jarek stands close to Drusus now (the family is taking a break from the clean up), and looks to be awe of Drusus' armor and knightly stature. The boy holds a wooden sword. He stares wide-eyed at Drusus' moon-touched longsword, then back at his humble wooden sword and sighs.

"Excuse me sir," he asks. "Do you have a squire?"

"No I do not young man... and I am not looking for one."

Drusus walks away from the child.

whit10 wrote:"No I do not young man... and I am not looking for one."

Drusus walks away from the child.

Nok fights back tears. He knows only too well the sting of being scorned by someone you admire.

"Taking these two to the Druid is the closest thing to turning them into the law - a good move in this case, and a good start to establish credibility here. From there we could begin to consider strategy, most likely with greater knowledge."

Chris wrote:

whit10 wrote:"No I do not young man... and I am not looking for one."

Drusus walks away from the child.

Nok fights back tears.  He knows only too well the sting of being scorned by someone you admire.  

"Hrrrmph". Cyclone quietly steps up besides Nok and puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. In a low, gruff voice he tells Nok "Yer loyalty is yer strength, son."

Cyc then moves on to help Bru and Quxx prepare the prisoners for their forced march through the woods.

"I've seen undead oxen train hitched better than ya tied these two queer orc brothel rejects! Lash 'em and bash 'em, we're runnin outta daylight boys!"

Ara preps himself and shares..."I'm with Cyc. Let's get these wastes of space out of sight. I assume we'll have no ability to stay quiet with these bags of wind heaving along with us. I think Nok and I should run point a mile or so ahead so as to stay hidden and maintain the benefit of coverage and surprise. point me in the right direction and I'll head on my way. Nok, you should join me, but wither way, it's time to go." He checks in with the sweet elf and says "point me in the right direction and I'll take it from here. We'll find a way to check in. Boys, take care of your mother."

As soon as Ara receives a direction, he heads out to run point...hopefully with Nok following along.

The party makes ready to depart. Their goal is the Druid Grove, as advised by Ilyana. She hands out cookies and a flask of mead, for the road.

When re-gathering spent "normal" arrows, there is a 50% breakage possibility. Elven arrows have 25% breakage, because: elves.


The Druid Grove is roughly 3 miles down the road from Ilyana's house. Please identify your character's place in the marching order. Sounds like Ara and Nok are on point...

Bru seems sure he secured Garr, but he shrugs his shoulders and takes a second look at the bonds of both captives. He rips some cloth off of one of the corpses to fashion gags for their new, and potentially mouthy, travelling companions.

To Ara: "Scouting ahead is smart, Try not to get too far."

Bru will maintain control of the gagged Garr in the middle of the pack.

Cyc will secure Terry and follow Bru in the middle of the pack.

To Terry: "Now listen close, son. Yer bound and gagged and about to take a nice stroll through the woods with me and the boys. There's still a chance ya survive this day with yer grubby hide intact, but only if yer as quiet as a mouse and swift as one too. Kord knows I'll kill ya where ya stand if ya bring any trouble down on us. Ya get me, Terrance?"

To Ilyana: "Be alert for more trouble. First sign of it, ya hightail it out of here and head for the druid grove. Ya can always rebuild the farm, but there won't be any bringing you or the boys back if ya get yerselves killed. Good luck. I'll pray Kord sends rain for yer crops."

"put bags over their heads.'

To Leirthal: "Ya bag 'em, yer leadin 'em. I won't be draggin' a stumblin' blind fool through unknown terrain. He'll be on his arse more than his feet."

Leirthal speaks a rare phrase of heavily accented common to the prisoners. "If you run, I will tell your commander that you told us everything."

The story continues: https://lodgestgaming.forumotion.com/t395-2-druid-grove

HP: 25/25 (1d10)
AC: 14
Passive Percept: 14
Speed: 35 feet
Saves: STR (+3) DEX (+5) CON (+1) WIS (+2)
(Advantage on all saving throws against charm and no sleep spells)

Proficiency Bonus: +2
Initiative: +2
Archery: +2 all ranged weapons
Darkvision 60'

Spell save DC: 12
Spell attack bonus: +4
Slots: 1/3 L1


Ara takes the lead and stealthily heads into the woods with hood pulled up and full caution. Ara begins tracking any human or human-like movement or signs.

Natural Explorer (Forest):
You are particularly familiar with one type of natural environment and are adept at traveling and surviving in such regions. Choose one type of favored terrain: arctic, coast, desert, forest, grassland, mountain, swamp, or the Underdark. When you make an Intelligence or Wisdom check related to your favored terrain, your proficiency bonus is doubled if you are using a skill that you’re proficient in. While traveling for an hour or more in your favored terrain, you gain the following benefits:

Difficult terrain doesn’t slow your group’s travel.
Your group can’t become lost except by magical means.
Even when you are engaged in another activity while traveling (such as foraging, navigating, or tracking), you remain alert to danger.
If you are traveling alone, you can move stealthily at a normal pace.
When you forage, you find twice as much food as you normally would.
While tracking other creatures, you also learn their exact number, their sizes, and how long ago they passed through the area.