The unreadable bird mask covering his face made it hard to tell what Stonecrow was thinking or feeling. His head turned towards Prizzard for a moment before looking to others that had spoken as well.

After a moment he asked, "Are we taking a rest as...Ero, I believe you called him?...suggested," That word was definitely diplomatic for 'demanding haughtily' as the case may be, "or are we pushing on?"

((OOC: I went ahead and put people into the teams based on the posts we've had.))


"Other than catching our breath while we figure out teams, I don't think we should rest just yet. It'll give the Orcs time to organize and prepare for us. Fighting Orcs is one thing, I don't want to have to worry about traps, too."

Ero rolls his eyes.  "I have other spells.  I just don't think it's an efficient use of my time to stand there and go, 'there's an orc!'" The wizard pints and a tiny dart of flame streaks out only to disappear within a yard.  "'There's another one!'" He shoots another dart.  "If we kill them all at once, then we can be done with this, return to town, and sleep in an actual bed for once."


Good choice, Mithra!  Just the pairing I would have picked.

"Thia and the big human.  Thia's competent enough and the human looks like he can handle that axe."  And the two will probably keep each other occupied talking about chasing deer and eating bark, leaving me to my studies, the wizard surmises.

Nyssia smiles as Ero spoke. Careful elf...that almost sounded like a compliment. Has that stick finally fallen out of your ass?" She had her arms crossed as she smirked at him, glaring all the while.

"I compliment skill when I see it," Ero replies. "Which is why I never have to look in your direction."

The gnome took the insult with a grain of salt, still smirking at the elf. “You’d be surprised the skills I have elf….and I don’t rely on a book for mine.”  Nyssia had an almost evil glint in her eye. “…besides, I’m surprised you can see anything beyond your big head. I think even a red dragon would have a smaller ego than yours.”

She looks at the others. “Yeah, I know….,I’m being hard on him, and yes he has skills. Just ask him, and he’ll tell you….REPEATEDLY!”

"I'm sure you have plenty of useful skills, whatever-your-name-is," Ero replies.  He starts counting them off on his fingers.  "Cleaning chamber pots, mopping floors, mucking out stalls...."

Nyssia narrowed her eyes at the elf and snorted, turning to the other woman with raised eyebrows. “For a wizard, your sure dumb….noticed how many women are here?” The comments didn’t upset her - she had heard it all before.

She decided not to push him further at the moment…they had a job to do.

"Arhm..."

The Northman attempts to get noticed between those people bickering, be it playfully intentional or not.

"So, my group is composed by two elves, Ero and Thia. Well met, again. My strong arm shall be the one who will hold most kills.."

A mockery that comes with a smirk, just to assay their own behavior and grit, possibly.

She walked over to Willem and looked at him a moment. "I guess that means it's you and me. You do realize my magic is not meant for range, and is not meant for assaulting groups, save for one spell. Yes?"

Ulric, shaking his head with a grin, says to Nyssia "Me know better than that elf, not insult women. Me mum'd have my hide."

"We're with Lureene, where we go next?"

"Vane and Kessife, was it? Perhaps we should go over each of our capabilities. Besides my heavy armor, shield, and magic sword, I dabble in a bit of Arcane magic. I can put enemies to sleep, hit nearby enemies with a blast of thunder that can send them sprawling, conjure a momentary magic shield to supplement my considerable defenses, or even fire a few magic missiles. And if we need to jump off a cliff, I can slow our fall. Beyond that, I have cantrips of light, frost, illusion, and moving small objects at a distance."

Nyssia looked at the human and smiled a half smile. “Your mother sounds like a smart woman….your lucky.” She looked at Lureene and nodded. “I guess we go forward and pick a cave.”

" Yes we should head forward. "

"Best my group stay with the main group as long as possible and be last to break off -- we don't have much healing magic, and it would be best if the side groups could readily fall back towards a healer in an emergency", suggested Lureene. "But let us be off."

"Where you come from only women do those tasks?" Ero replies.  "How provincial."


"Yes.  Wonderful.  Just remember to stay to the side.  You don't want Thia shooting you in the back.  Accidentally, of course."

"No Ero. She's trying to tell you that the women here outnumber the men, and thus, can likely  do the jobs, such as the one you claim to be able to do, better." She said calmly, collectively.

"It would do us well to remember that it requires all kinds to do a big job. The task ahead is as dangerous as it is great, our time would be better spent considering how our teammates can cover our individual shortcomings." He addressed nobody in particular and used volume without a negative tone. On the last words he was looking at his own team.

Stonecrow sat and rested a moment while the others talked. Since they were not going to a rest he frowned beneath his mask. It was to be noted, he did look like he was slightly wounded from earlier still, and it wouldn't do to go into another battle so injured still.

So he paused a moment, concentrating and then his hand glowed for a moment. He touched his chest with that and the glow suffused his body and then faded away. It seemed ot help a little.

Then he stood and followed after Prizzard, murmuring something quietly.

The large group starts moving forward, breaking up into their smaller groups as they approach the caves.

So, here are the teams again...


This message was last edited by the GM at 05:02, Fri 08 Oct 2021.

After leaving the village of Phandalin, Alecks had a surprisingly uneventful journey to the Old Owl Well. In spite of the roads not being used much in decades, they are still in pretty good condition... easily discernible, which makes following the map he got in the village very easy.

Even the trail that led off of the Tri-Boar Trail towards the Old Owl Well was easy to find, though as he turned onto it, it occurred to him that it showed signs of more recent use.

Turned out that Old Owl Well wasn't quite what he'd been expecting. Yes, there was an old well there, but there were also the crumbled ruins of an old keep. He couldn't be sure that it had been used recently, but scuff marks in the dirt seemed to indicate that.

It was definitely in the shadow of Wyvern Tor... a tall angular spire of a mountain amid the surrounding hills and other low mountains.

It was while he was standing there considering where to go next that he caught the scent of death. It didn't take too much effort to determine that it was coming from farther up the trail, which narrowed to a footpath that winds around the left side of the mountain.

Hoping it wasn't from the people he was looking for, Alecks cautiously proceeded up the footpath. Just around the bend, he found the source of the smell--several dozen dead Orcs scattered across the footpath and the wider edges. He doesn't see anyone that isn't an Orc.

Continuing up the path, he finds more dead Orcs, but still no sign of real people. Continuing on, he comes across what was some sort of campsite, presumably for all the dead Orcs there and here. And six caves that probably housed some Orcs as well.

Alecks paused for a moment to reassure Aster. The molly had been with the family since he was a boy. Having spent time with the Army she was not spooked by the scents of battle but she was clearly on edge. He gently scratched her neck then spoke softly, "Aye girl, there's trouble about. Easy though, the bad ones seem to be getting the worst of it. " He rode slowly, remaining alert until he reached the approach to the first cave entrance. He dismounted, then listed carefully for some sign of the group he was seeking.

As Alecks is dismounting from his horse, and listens at the first cave, he hears the whiny of a horse off to his left.

The path leads past the caves, while the campsite is on the rather wide grass-covered ledge off to the left. A small copse of trees marks the end of the ledge down near the sixth cave. As he looks down the way, he can spot three horses tied up in the copse.

While he doesn't hear anything when he first listens at the cave entrance, just as he's about to turn away, he hears shouting... not too loud, but clearly from somewhere in the cave.

In reply to StarMaster (msg # 904):

Shouting from the cave, maybe there was still trouble within. Alecks tethered Aster to the nearest tree. He entered the cave with caution trying to discern the reason for the shouting. His mace and shield were prepared for conflict as he moved through the fading light. Were there any lights deeper in the cave? Any sign of a struggle.

OOC full move into the cave, use dash to close the gap if he sees anything

Alecks run into the cave and sees an assortment of bedrolls on the floor to either side, and a dark spot at the back that is clearly a tunnel.

Through the cave he runs, into the tunnel which turns out to be stairs going up, and then into another larger cave. The sounds come from across the cave, from the middle of 3 tunnels. Into that tunnel, 10 feet and another flight of stairs going up... into a room.

There is a battle going on... three people attack several Orcs.