Elena glared at the satyr in stony silence for a second.  Her earlier willingness to show mercy towards the satyr for his co-operation was clearly fading fast.

"...Is this a joke?" She asked  "That's the information you wanted to trade for your freedom?  That we have an enemy to the south?  That's it?  We already know we have an enemy to the south, ZACK.  They just attacked us!  And now you're sitting there, telling us info you just heard our own people say, and acting like it's some big revelation?"

"No.  Do better.  Give us something useful: A name, a location, someone else you know who might be working with this 'H'."

Borric was glad that Elena pushed Zackot for more information. He would hate to be forced into a position not of his choosing. "Let's get the men moving. We've a ways to go and the men are tired." He got the attention of one of the officers and passed along the orders.

Dominique leaves Elena to the questioning--he has no patience for the satyr's games and disregard for life and Borric's agreement would keep his hands tied ... at least until the fey causes bloodshed. Instead he sees to the wounded troops, gathering the worst of them tightly around himself so that he can channel the healing energies bestowed on him by Abadar. He is not the glorious conduit of light that some pretty priests are, his connection is more careful consideration and dogged conviction, but he should be able to stave off death for those close to its door.
Channel Energy for 2d6 healing; will borrow Elena from her interrogation if she still needs some HP.

After failing to learn anything useful from the ogre's body, Kael listens in on the interrogation. He shares Elena's feelings on the information their prisoner provided so far, but she seems to have things well in hand. So when Borric gives out orders, he joins him to ask what are his plans. "Are we going back with the army then? The group that attacked us is likely running back to their lair to report what happened and lick their wounds. And following tracks of giants should not be very hard, if we decide to do that."

"You bring up a good point Kael." Borric waved over an officer from the army to join the conversation. "How are the men? They fit for travel? How about handling a prisoner? We may want to see the trail that the giants left us."

"With only a few minutes' lead and with us mounted we should be able to close the distance quickly. A group of giants should be easy enough to track at pace." Dominique figures aloud and begins to make quick preparations for such a chase--summoning their mounts and conferring with a few of the men to get an accurate accounting of the enemy's and gear(for Locate Object when they get near.)

Zackot gives out a deep throaty chuckle as he listens to the others either deride him or make their plans to follow.

"You arrogant fools. Can you not understand what I am telling you? The ones you just faced weren't the threat, they were the envoys. By the gods how did you defeat me? You do not face a couple of trolls, you face an army of of them. An army that is recruiting amongst all your enemies in the area. If you do not see the value...bah I am done with you. I will not sit here and help you avoid your own destruction. Please, do go on and charge straight into the lands of your enemies without any scouting or backup. Just make sure you tell your next of kin the deal you have penned with me so that the rest of us can carry on after your heroic demise."

To Zackots point the Dark Piper base here represented the edge of the Greenbelt and Narlmarches that Rivermarch had explored and tamed. Following the giants would be easy enough but would also quickly take them into uncharted territory.

"Forgive my more boisterous companions, we only saw a problem and took to remedy the problem," Cara said, "So you are saying there is an army of trolls and giants to the south, that bodes ill for all. You say they sent you a letter, may I see it?"

OOC: 19:44, Today: Caramip Scheppen rolled 25 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 14.  Diplomacy.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:45, Wed 26 Jan 2022.

"The prisoner will address us with respect unless he wants a gag and thumbscrews added to his bindings." Dominique commands both the satyr and the men restraining him as calmly yet sternly as possible before addressing the others, "We shouldn't delve into their supposed lands without a large contingent, but we've little to lose in at least trying to catch up with this small band."

"Easy there, Dom."  Elena cautioned, unnerved by the Abadaran's bloodthirst.  She told himself Dominique wasn't actually going to torture a prisoner for speaking out of turn.  Besides, it wasn't the time or place for that sort of discussion, so she turned her attention to the matter at hand.  Leaving to address her captains, Elena quickly filled them in on what was going on.

"Jorum, have our men search the tower thoroughly.  Leave no stone unturned, and take anything of value, anything with writing on it, anything with a picture that might be a clue about what the Pipers were about and who their allies might be.  Once you're done, pack up the camp and start everyone marching back to Rivermarch.  We'll catch up with you on the way back.  Vyntis, could you stay behind and lend them your magical expertise?"

"Akiros, I want you to take our cavalry and come with us.  We're leaving immediately in pursuit of the Giants.  If we're lucky, we might be able to capture a prisoner and find some answers.  If not...well we can at least keep our mysterious Mister H in the dark about what happened here." 

Akiros gives a nod at Elena.

"I've got some skill at hunting and tracking but I don't normally try and track from horseback at pursuit speeds. Granted they are trolls and ogres so the trail should be pretty easy to follow but can I do it?"

He gives a half-hearted shrug.

"Eh? Maybe? First time for everything, right?"

"We shouldn't be so hasty to attack them, an army of giants could be useful. Obviously we wouldn't want to give them sway over Rivermarch, but the other powers would think twice about invading us if we had a powerful army of giants allied to us," Caramip suggested.

"Cara..." Elena shook her head, as she mounted her horse and prepared to ride off.  "Cara, these giants are a hostile power.  And before we can think about any of that other stuff, we have to make them think twice about invading us."

"I do need to learn giant before I can really broker a deal with them, just you know my motto, better to charm than fight," Cara said with a sheepish smile. "I'll support you with my stories wherever you go."

"Seems that we have enough of a force to track down these giants." Borric moved through the battlefield. There were several foot prints, too many to distinguish one from another. But the giants were easier to spot. He followed the prints away from the battlefield, but eventually lost them. "I think the giants doubled-back the way they came. But then one set moves away, and then another joins them. There's too much. I can't really distinguish where they are headed."

---

rolled 10 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 3.  Survival

Gag. Don't think that 10 is going to impress anyone :)

The party rushes off on horseback along the trail of the the trolls but when they reach a clearing and stream Borric pauses and the party starts circling around trying to find where the trail picks up again but to little avail. It seems the trolls (or ogres) were just cunning enough to use the stream for travel to hide their tracks. They could re-emerge anyway upstream or downstream. Eventually an hour later the scouts they brought along find the trail again but by this point the chances of cutting off their escape seem to have vanished. A five minute head start was one thing but an hour, especially when they have shown basic ability of hiding their trail, seems to have shifted the expectations of their expedition.

Cara, make your Knowledge: Geography roll please.

"I think we are going in circles, let's think about areas nearby that they might hide at or would be appropriate for such giants," Cara said staying cheerful.

OOC: 08:12, Today: Caramip Scheppen rolled 18 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 9.  Knowledge: Geography.

Based on her knowledge of the area Cara thinks she can somewhat pin the probable troll lair to a few square miles. It was still a lot of terrain to cover but it gave them a rough idea of where to go when they were ready to march.

Unfortunately it was deep in the Narlmarches. Given the density of the forest cavalry wasn't going to be much help. Archers as well would be hampered in this kind of terrain. They would need to either lead foot soldiers in or lure the trolls out to more open and favorable terrain if they wanted to engage them with the full might of their army.

Map has been updated. Red circle indicates the three hexes where the trolls probably are.

"M'Lord a military solution might not be possible. Not if my hunches are correct, I believe the trolls are holed up based on the geography of the area in one of these areas," Caramip says.

"The Narlmarches are far to dense to take your cavalry in and the foliage so thick that archers would be reduced to near point blank range negating their advantage. If only I could speak giant I'd suggest a diplomatic mission first and would gladly volunteer but given the language barrier such a mission would not succeed. I'll have to brush up on giant in the near future if we are to deal with the giants. Who would have thought so many races in such a small area," she continued not being known for being pithy.

"That leaves us alone to go forward, either to deal with them ourselves or to lure them back to the army," Cara stated the options, "I wish there was a diplomatic way but barring someone speaking giant here I don't see a way."

Akiros clears his throat to speak up.

"Perhaps this is a matter best settled another day? We can post sentries to keep an eye out if the trolls march on our lands and the men are getting tired. We've been sieging the pipers for several days already. We came out here to deal with bandits, not troll armies. Uh...my lord."

Elena sighed.  "He's right.  I don't know how we could fight in this kind of terrain.  Our cavalry can't charge, our archers can't shoot at any kind of range, and even our infantry would have trouble holding any kind of formation.  But trolls don't care about any of that.  A disorganized brawl is exactly the kind of fight they excel at.  If we fight them on their terms, I'm worried it would go the same as it did back at the tower: 25 of our dead for 1 of theirs."

"Plus, our troops..."  Elena looked around, making sure none of the common soldiers they brought with them were around.  "To be totally honest, they suck.  I did my best to train them, to get them ready, but...these people are barely soldiers.  A few days in the field, and they're already showing signs of exhaustion.  They're just not ready."

Kael shrugs. "Doesn't look like we will manage to stop them from reporting back to whoever or whatever send them aynway. And I don't relish the prospect of taking on who knows how many giants in their lair right now. We need to learn more about our foes, prepare ourselves better, and, if possible, fight them at our terms and on our ground."

Ok with heading back. We will likely need to scout out this place at some point, but maybe we should not be dragging cannon fodder with us then?

Borric was itching to go hunting, even troll hunting. But his advisers were right. "Alright. Give the signal to return home. We did get what we came for."

"An excellent choice m'lord," Caramip said, "We will have to return in time but it is best to prepare. We'll need fire and acid among other things to kill the trolls if we cannot broker a deal."

Caramip moves to the tired levies and smiles warmly she then performs and ode to give strength to their legs for the journey home.

"Sometimes men need the winds most,
      at other times
            waters from the sky,
                  rain descendants of the cloud.
                  And when a man has triumphed
            and put his toil behind,
      it is time for melodious song
to arise, laying
            the foundation of future glory,
a sworn pledge securing proud success.

For the Rivermarch victors, such acclaim
      is laid in store
            without limit, and I
            am eager to tend it with my song."

OOC:

23:15, Today: Caramip Scheppen rolled 18 using 1d20+12 with rolls of 6.  Perform: Oratory.

Guess Cara is a little pooped today :)
This message was last edited by the player at 04:17, Sat 12 Feb 2022.

Elena tapped her foot along to the music as they returned to the rest of their army, and then to their home.

"We'll have to do some more exploring, I think."  She mused to the others as they rode.  "Quietly, just us.  Maybe we can find something to help us in the unexplored south.  More allies, a path through the forest we can march an army though, something like that.  Or at least someone who knows what's going on."