"Good to hear Thjodolf. Talathel, I take it things went well with your lady friend?" Before Talathel could answer that question Darvin said, "Good, good. Alright, lets go." And the three friends briskly departed the ship. The group made their way to the main gates of the city and headed to the town's stables.
"Talathel, will you head over to that cartographer and procure us a map while Thjodolf and I take care of getting us some mounts?"
Talathel walks over to the cartographer.
ReplyDelete"I need a map of Waterdeep and the Silver Marches."
Darvin walks into the stable and informs the man behind the counter that he needs his three fastest horses. Darvin pays the man the money and heads out to the stable to meet his mount. Thjodolf picks a brown mare with a star on her forehead. Darvin picked Talathel a gray gelding with a black mane and black tail. For himself, Darvin found a red stallion with a dark mane and tail. Thjodolf and Darvin led the horses out to the front of the stable to wait for Talathel.
ReplyDeleteThjodolf got a large horse on account of him being a large fellow.
ReplyDeleteTalathel comes back, maps in hand. He looks over the horses.
ReplyDelete"A flashy beast for yourself I see. Though, is the stallion for you or is it for Nym? At any rate, he are our maps. We should go soon as we have a long ride."
Darvin ignored Talathel. It was good to be traveling with the elf again. Darvin kind of missed the snarky comments. Talathel had been spending so much time in the crows nest lately they hadn't seen much of each other. But at any rate they had places to be. Darvin quickly looked over the map, "We need to get to Red Larch by nightfall. Nym has a half day's headstart on us. Let's mount up!" The three friends climbed on their horses and galloped out of the gates. For the first hour they pushed the horses hard, but found they were making good time and decided to slow down. There was not much talking on the road to Red Larch, everyone was preoccupied with different things. For Talathel it was what he left behind, for Darvin it was what he was going after and for Thjodolf, well, no one knew what Thjodolf was preoccupied with.
ReplyDeleteThey arrived at Red Larch just as the sun was setting and the gate was about to close. "Let's head to the inn and rest ourselves and the horses," Darvin said. And so they did.
I'm assuming these three were light horses, of the 75 gp variety? If so, Talathel's mount can move at 6 mph, but Thjodolf's and Darvin's will only be able to move at 4 mph, because of the weight they are carrying.
ReplyDeleteAlso because of the weight, their light horses can just make it to Red Larch in 8 hours (1 day of traveling) if they hustle for an hour. 8 hours of traveling will put them there at 8:30 PM, which is about 12 minutes until sundown.
As Darvin and Talathel get close to Red Larch, they hear a large amount of movement and rustling in the badlands off to the right, and in the light of the setting sun, they see several large creatures moving toward the city ahead of them.
ReplyDelete"I know we are tired after a long day's ride, but I would advise that we don't let our guard down," Talathel said, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
ReplyDeleteJust in case this helps me notice anything more about those shadows or anything else...
ReplyDeletePerception:
Roll(1d20)+8:
9,+8
Total:17
As I must go to work now, Talathel will report anything he sees to Darvin and Thjodolf.
In the badlands, you see a lot of small animals moving: some wolverines, a couple squirrels, the odd badlands duck, and some porcupines and snakes as well. You look especially hard at two very large shapes moving in the near dark, and think you make out a troll and a dire wolverine.
ReplyDeleteIs this a friendly looking troll?
ReplyDeleteStupid dire wolverines...
ReplyDeleteNo, the troll doesn't look that friendly. He is ambling toward the town meaningfully. Not angrily, just as if he will not be deterred.
ReplyDeleteSo he looks determined? Does he look as those he would be interested in eating us at any point in time?
ReplyDeleteHe does not look overtly aggressive, no.
ReplyDeleteThen we shall continue on our way.
ReplyDeleteAs you approach the town, you see that the city has a wooden stake fence, and the gate is being gnawed on by several large rats, who appear to be trying to get in. As you watch, a couple pitchforks are thrust through an opening and used rather ineffectively to deter the vermin.
ReplyDeleterats... why does it always have to be rats!
ReplyDeleteBetter than snakes?
ReplyDelete* start random comment: Snakes are much cleaner and spread a lot less disease than snakes do. However a lot of humans have an odd anti-reptile bias. There is some very good anthropological literature about that. A lot demon spirits in world mythology appear as snakes or in a reptilian form.
ReplyDelete*end random fact.
I sure hope Darvin doesn't say "are they attacking us? No? Good, we keep going."
ReplyDeleteDarvin surveys the scene before him. "Oh fuckstockings," He says. "Well, lads, it appears those villagers need our help. Let's go!" The friends ride into the fray.
ReplyDeleteI rolled initiative Dan and I got infinity.
I'm not afraid to roll for you, don't worry. :)
ReplyDelete"Snakes are much cleaner and spread a lot less disease than snakes do."
ReplyDeleteI feel so much more informed about snakes now!
Damn... "Snakes are much cleaner and spread a lot less disease than rats do."
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't post random facts while writing a master's thesis. They both get reduced in quality.
Or I could actually bother to go back and review it, but where is the fun in that.
So...are we fighting the rats? Are we going into town to let them know that we, The Rat Conquering and Lady Killing Heroes of Baldur's Gate are here to save the day?
ReplyDeleteWell, it appears that Darvin is charging in to fight the rats, at least.
ReplyDeleteYou two need to raise money for BH to make you some healing turbans for the next time you run off without a healer.
ReplyDeleteTalathel takes a quick pull from his flask.
ReplyDeleteTalathel slows his horse down then dismounts. Quickly unsheathing his kama he attacks a rat that had been ignoring the occasional poke from a villager.
ReplyDeleteRoll(1d20)+6:
10,+6
Total:16
In case that was a hit...
ReplyDeleteRoll(1d6)+2:
5,+2
Total:7
A swing and a rat dies. The spreadsheet has been updated.
ReplyDeleteDarvin, you may attack, as well. They aren't attacking you yet, so initiative doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteIf initiative doesn't matter...
ReplyDeleteRoll(1d20)+6:
20,+6
Total:26
Roll(1d6)+2:
5,+2
Total:7
He's dead.
Meaning that Darvin could attack before they had a chance to respond, but once he does, if they decide not to attack, then your attack is good.
ReplyDeleteAh, I figured that with these apparently being low level rats, and mine done, I could just go hack at the other one.
ReplyDeleteI await the inevitable "Darvin misses".
Darvin's away from a computer right now. His attack:
ReplyDeleteAttack:Roll(1d20)+7:
17,+7
Total:24 Hit!
Damage:Roll(1d6)+2:
1,+2
Total:3
The second rat is dead by Darvin's cutlass before Talathel has a chance.
"I suggest we ride in to the inn and maybe discuss the rat problem with the locals. We don't have time to help them now, but perhaps on our way back with Nym we can lend a hand."
ReplyDelete"I agree Talathel, however I doubt the inn is open or taking in guests at the moment. I think it best if we go around the town and camp when we are well out of site of the town and these beasts."
ReplyDeleteThe inn would probably take you in. It would seem a horrible time to be turning away travelers, when there are wild beasts roaming around. Your choice, though.
ReplyDeleteWell, in that case, we would like to go stay at the inn for night.
ReplyDeleteThat will be 5 sp per person. Nym, I forgot to tell you the same. 5 sp for your night's stay in the inn.
ReplyDeleteNot quite sure where we are in the timeline, but I think Darvin and I may be a bit behind. Before I plan another post though, I want to make sure of where we are time wise.
ReplyDeleteBeranhond is on the same day as you, and Nym is on the next day.
ReplyDelete