After securing their men and their prisoner the leaders of the land sally forth once more. Where before they would ride out with maybe just Svetlana to wave them fairwell off the walls, now whenever the heroes rode forth children would crowd the streets and the citizens of Rivermarch would stop what they were doing to cheer their heroes on as they rode forth into the wilds.

Heading west the group discovers a natural crossing for the river Skunk river and stumble upon an unusual sight. Just visible through the trees, a small wagon sits mired in the middle of a swiftly flowing river as the waters threaten to overwhelm its sides. The sound of unintelligible cursing echoes through the woods.

Two ponies hitched to the wagon flounder in the swirling waters, close to panicking. Two more wagons sit safely on the far bank. Surrounding the partially submerged wagon are a group of gnomes all struggling in vain to try and tug the reigns and shove the wagon back to shore. The problem is the water is too deep for the gnomes to get too close and even working together they seem unable to dislodge the wagon from its current resting place.

Even as the heroes come into view of it they see the powerful current is threatening to tip the wagon completely over, likely crushing and drowning the ponies and losing all the cargo strapped to the wagon.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:55, Tue 22 Feb 2022.

Heavy armor and quick rivers didn't mix well, but Elena knew she had to act fast.  As she started to wade into the river, the paladin pulled out her potion of enlarge person and quaffed it.  The effects would only last a short time, but at 12 feet tall and over a thousand pounds, her newly enormous body allowed her to reach the wagon with little fear of being swept away.  Reaching down, Elena grabbed the back of the wagon and gave it a shove in the hopes of powering it forward through the rushing water.

11:54, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 18 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 13.  strength check?

Kael follow the paladin in the river. "Quickly, does anyone have any rope? Let's tie it to the wagon, and set the ponies free so we can pull the wagon out."

I don't believe it. After all this time, I still have not remembered to get a rope.

Caramip reached into her sack and pulled out her silk rope (50 ft long) and her grappling hook. "I got these, those poor ponies," she said the river was to deep for Caramip though.

Borric dismounted quickly. He scanned the surrounding area. "Dominique, keep a watchful eye. We never can be too sure. We'll help with the wagon." He grabbed hold of the lines to the ponies. "Elena, Kael! On three."

---

rolled 4 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 1.  STR Check

Haha. The ropes were slippery :)

Dominique frowns at the predicament this gnomish wagon has found itself in, but leaves it to the others to deal with--he'd be only another person in need of saving if he were to go into the water in his plate armor. Instead he dismounts and sets about lending aid where he can--taking rope from his saddlebags to pass to Kael at his request, tying off their own mounts as the others take action, and blessing others with Guidance where it is needed.

"It's stuck in there good. Let's try with our horses." To show what he means, Kael quickly ties one end of the rope to the saddle horn on his horse, then waits for the signal to start pulling again.

I hope we are not pulling in the opposite direction?

It seems like time is of the essence and the group springs into action. In order to help one must first reach the wagon (OOC: DC 10 Swim Check) as standing on the shore isn't going to be very helpful when the wagon pitches over.

The next step is unhitching the horses (OOC: DC 12 Handle Animal check). While they are still hitched and thrashing around any attempts to stabilize the cart will likely just cause it to tip over.

Finally once the animals are unhitched it will be muscling the cart upright. (OOC: DC 26 Strength check but 4 additional players can assist the main character.)

Cara looked on. The water was to deep for her and she'd never be able to swim with all her equipment. Still there were ways that she might help despite her lack of training in animals in general.

She could call upon her gnome heritage. Gnomes could talk to animals. She called upon her ability to speak with animals, something she'd used very rarely in recent events. "It's okay, don't be frightened, we are going to help you. First you need to calm down so that we can help," she told the ponies through her racial ability. To the others it sounded like she was neighing to them.

She wished she knew open/close. That would be something to transition to in the future. She turned to the others. "Do any of you know open/close, while I can talk to the ponies if any of you know that cantrip you can open the harnesses from here and let the ponies go free, and while I talk to them they will hopefully come to me," she asked the others.


OOC:

Use Speak with Animals to talk to the ponies. I don't have handle animal but since I can speak with them hoping that Diplomacy will work to calm them down.

Speak with Animals will last 4 minutes.

12:52, Today: Caramip Scheppen rolled 22 using 1d20+11 with rolls of 11.  Diplomacy.

Elena grabbed the other end of Kael's rope and waded into the river, using the butt of her polearm as a walking stick as she navigated the speedy current.  The gnome's pony-drawn wagon had managed to make it halfway through the water before becoming fouled, and Elena was confident that at 12 feet tall and over 1000 lbs, her magically enlarged body could power through the same path to reach them.

Quickly tying off the rope to the stranded wagon, Elena turned her attention to the panicking ponies.  She didn't know the "Open-close" spell Cara was talking about, unfortunately, but she did have a very sharp blade or two to cut the animals loose.  She could only hope that whatever Caramip was neighing at them worked, because the sight of a gigantic, armored figure advancing on the wagon with a blade drawn was unlikely to be a very reassuring sight for the frightened animals.

OOC: I'm not sure if there's a limit on how many things we can do per post, but here's Elena's intended actions:

1: Drink potion of enlarge person, as per my last post.
2: Advance through the river, using her large size to avoid swimming.  (I rolled strength and got 25.)
3: Tie off the end of Kael's rope to the wagon.
4: Cut the ponies free. (Hopefully Cara's 22 diplo and magic can take the place of a handle animal check, because if it's up to Elena, she got a 6.)

"Well, if we can't pull the wagon out, maybe Elena can carry it pick it up and carry the damn thing to the shore." Kael comments as a giant paladin wades in, only half joking. He stands ready to assist when the time comes.

Not really Kael's field of expertise, this. He can swim (or at least float), but that's about it. I got no points in Handle Animal and his strength leaves much to be desired. If I need to make a strength roll to assist, can I use the strength of Kael's horse instead of his own?

"We can make it work. Come on Kael put your backs into it." Borric tied off one end of the rope to his saddlehorn before taking a firm grip. "On three. One, two, PULL!"

---

Aid other to pull the rope
rolled 11 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 8.  Aid Other (just barely. hehe)

Aid other w/mount
rolled 11 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 8.  Aid Other (8's are popular today)

Cara starts shouting from the shoreline to calm the horses down but even though she can understand what they are saying that doesn't make it easy to communicate with them. The ponies are still just frightened dumb animals but then again Cara isn't trying to negotiate a complex treaty with them, just keep them distracted while a 9' warrior wades through the river with a giant sword brandished.

OOC: RAW explicitly says Diplomacy can't be used on Animals with Int of 2 or less and Speak with Animals doesn't override that in any way. HOWEVER You rolled an 11 and needed a 12 and I would say that being able to speak to the animals lets you use Handle Animal untrained with your natural CHA bonus instead of WIS for a 15 which is a success!


While the ponies don't really understand what Cara is saying at least her tone of caring comes through and the ponies are distracted long enough for Elena to cut them free.

Now it was just a matter of righting the wagon...

Elena make your STR check. Don't worry about the aid another bonuses, I'll tally those up as they come in.

With the Pony's out of the way, Elena put her shoulder into the wagon and did her best to force it back to safety, while the others hauled on the rope with all their might.  Unfortunately, a slick riverbed with a fast current running over it didn't exactly make for ideal conditions to do hard labour: Elena's feet began to slip on the rocks, and she nearly lost her footing.

Bracing herself with the butt-end of her glaive, she spared a glance at the nearby gnomes.  "Do you have any way you could help with this?"  She asked, her voice rough from exertion, but relatively unconcerned.  After all, while the situation may be an emergency, it wasn't her emergency.  She would do her best to help of course, but it's not like any lives were at stake.  Honestly, she was just relieved that she wasn't going to have to watch any ponies get crushed and drowned.

00:45, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 12 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 7.  Heave Ho!
This message was last edited by the player at 06:59, Thu 17 Mar 2022.

Kael's help is unfortunately decidedly unhelpful.

Made two rolls, one for Kael and another in case he can use his horse instead. Not that it matters with these rolls.

17:30, Today: Kael Valleni rolled 5 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 4.  Aid.
17:31, Today: Kael Valleni rolled 6 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 3.  Aid (Horse).

In reply to Elena Sazikova (msg # 14):

"Watch out!" Borric called out when he saw Elena slip in the river. "Hold on. I'll come down and help you." He drink a potion of Enlarge Potion. His form grew to match that of Elena with each step into the river. Borric grabbed as much of the wagon with his enlarged form. He shouted to his mount and pushed.

---

rolled 19 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 15.  STR Check

rolled 11 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 8.  Aid Other from mount

As Borric took his turn putting his shoulder into the wagon, Elena wedged her glaive under the axle and tried using it as a lever to lift the wheels out from where they were lodged into the riverbed.

OOC: 22:50, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 17 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 12.  aid another.

"It's stuck in there good." Kael readies himself for another try at pulling the wagon out of the river.

Managed not to mess up this time. Should I also roll for a mount? Four other character can help out, so Elena, Kael and two more?
16:04, Today: Kael Valleni rolled 14 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 13.  Aid Another.

Caramip saw the horses cut free and called, "Come" to them holding out her hand hoping the ponies would come to her on the shore.

The group tries again and again to right the wagon but every time they start to make progress something catches on the river and threatens to tug the whole cart right back over.

Meanwhile Cara works to get the ponies back to shore. Not that they were keen to stay nearly drowning in a raging river anyway but still her commands from the side lured them to safety on that side of the shore.

DC 26 strength check. Make sure to designate a primary and only 4 people (or animals) can combine to aid another so. You would estimate that you have 2 more chances left...

Elena felt a flash of anger as the wagon wedged itself back into the riverbed.  What were the gnomes doing through all of this?  It was their wagon, and they didn't seem to be helping at all!  None of them even responded to her shouting, they were just...just standing there like bumps on a log while she risked her back and her body in an attempt to save what was theirs.  What were they even doing out here, trying to ford a river in troll-invested woods if they couldn't take care of themselves?

Drawing on her frustrations, Elena wrapped her arms around the wagon in a massive bear hug, putting one last burst of strength into hauling the wagon out of the rushing river.

OOC: First roll was a 15.  Since this couldn't succeed even with help, I rolled for the next round.  24!  Just need one successful Aid Another.

12:40, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 24 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 19.  Last chance.
12:33, Today: Elena Sazikova rolled 15 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 10.  Heave ho!
This message was last edited by the player at 18:47, Thu 24 Mar 2022.

With their horses properly lashed to a nearby tree, Dominique rushes in to lend his aid in pulling the floundering wagon from the river. Despite not being as gifted in might as many of the others, the sheer weight of his full plate armor forms a considerable counterweight as he grabs tight to the leading rope and leans into the pull.

20:42, Today: Dominique Telvari rolled 19 using 1d20+1 with rolls of 18.  Aid Another.

Borric stepped next to Elena. He brought his hand on the other side of the wagon and pushed. "It's moving!"

---

rolled 15 using 1d20+4 with rolls of 11.  Aid Other

There is a groan, a creak,  a snap as the water finally starts overtaking the leaning wagon. Elena sees it starting to tip over and in a last act of desperation she grabs the rails on top and throws herself backward putting all her strength and weight into moving the wagon upright. Her strength is formidable, doubly so under the magical enhancements but it still isn't enough. The river too fierce, the angle too steep.

But Elena isn't alone. Seeing their comrade's last attempt the group on the shore haul as well on their ropes and the jerk from Borric and Kael and the others finally pulls the wagon back over its tipping  point and the wagon finally lands on all four wheels in the middle of the river. While it is still going to be a lengthy process to get it out of the river, at least it is no longer at risk of tipping over and as long as the group brings it in carefully, the danger is passed. The cargo is saved and there is a group of very happy gnomes lining the shore.

The leader of the gnomish expedition introduces himself as Jubilost Narthropple.

"And as you can well imagine this is the Narthropple expedition. You see I had heard about Brevoy's decision to settle and explore this border far too late to join the initial expedition. If I had I would have, of course, helped keep things on track."

From beneath his leather armor he pulls out a small journal that is full of scribblings. He flips through a few pages and then nods to himself.

"Ah yes, you must be Borric then, the self-appointed ruler of these lands."

Jubilost points at Elena before nodding to himself and making another note.

"And you must be Kael" he says pointing at Borric. He proceeds to misname almost everyone, except for Cara who he correctly identifies without even having to consult his notes.

"Ah, the poet Caramip Scheppen. I have heard a tale composed back in Rostland about how you convinced one of the Stag Lord bandit camps to completely surrender? One song had them in tears and throwing their weapons down at their feet. Remarkable, really. I would never have imagined a place as savage and barbaric as this to have such sophisticated methods of diplomacy but, as they say, the pen is mightier than the sword."

He grins at her and then goes back to writing down more notes in his journal. After a few more notes he puts the journal away and turns back to Elena.

"Ah, perhaps I haven't introduced myself properly as you don't look like you realize what is happening. I am the Jubilost Narthropple and I am here create a proper map of this region. Even the great maps in Absalom use a carefully placed illustration of woods and rivers to cover up the fact that nobody seems to know just what this area looks like. I just came through the most unpleasant swamps and for a modest patronage I would be more than willing to offer my services as a consultant for your own cartography. I think you'll agree that proper information is one of the most valuable weapons in both diplomacy and in war."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:37, Wed 06 Apr 2022.

Breathing heavily from her exertions, Elena risked leaning against the newly stabilized wagon as she tried to catch her breath.  She didn't pay particularly much attention to the hot air coming out of the gnome's mouth as thought over the next steps of hauling the wagon out of the river.  Was it worth trying to hook the ponies up again and have them pull it out?

She took a moment to size up THE Jubilost Narthropple, trying to judge the man's competence based off of his gear and bearing.  Most likely, it lay somewhere in between the uselessness of his immediate impression and the extreme confidence he was trying so hard to project.

Once the moment had passed, she spoke. "Are you going to keep talking all day, or are you going to actually start helping us haul your wagon out of the river?"  Her tone suggested she was supremely unimpressed with the explorer's talents so far.

Kael looks like he is about to correct Jubilost, but then just shakes his head and continues working on pulling the wagon out of the river. "Yeah, I am sure we will all be properly impressed with meeting such an important personage once we are not standing in the middle of this damned river."

Caramip's cheeks turned a bit rosey in color at the mentioning of her tales being told far and wide. To think that it had been heard in Rostland, surely word would travel soon.

She spoke to him in their native tongue, [Language unknown: Ac m ilofai Celese Wiltedverver, Ichainintame ev Are thrind int Taenfi u Bedialul. Rehail p ineametho ngon pe peneat mo t seei stieraeau. E a nd moriceer ni wa wadi Utprunun Tedevelesenting, evand ulme alosseur i wail seerut tedivelat k conmenoun bleughcom, ica for witac se whitinted rutsetkor n heie? ]

She turned to the others reverting to common, "There is always time to be polite. We might learn more of the swamps from him and he could possibly aid us. Still perhaps first we should correct some inaccuracies."

She pointed to Borric, "That is Borric d'Tor, Lord of Rivermarch."

She pointed to Elena, "That is Elena Sazikova, Master of Arms of Lord d'Tor."

She pointed to Kael, "That is Kael Valleni". She intentionally left off his title, it was probably best folks not know he was the Spymaster she figured. After all once word got out you were a spy, pretty soon you couldn't spy anymore.

She pointed to Dominique, "That is Dominique Telvari, High Priest of Rivermarch."

"As for the wagon I believe my fellow gnomes are perhaps to small to haul it out of the river. I'm almost no help either other than getting the ponies here to the shore. I don't suppose you could summon something larger to pull it out? Say some oxen or draft horses Dominique?" she asked seeking to perhaps find a solution.

Borric smiled when he was introduced. A master cartographer was a great boon. "Well we should compare maps. Since we've spent quite some time mapping the region ourselves. But we must deal with the first order of business - getting your wagon prepared for travel." The potion he drank had the same effect as that of Elena's potion. He was equally as large. "Elena, let's get this done." He turned to Kael and the others. "We should probably make camp and dry ourselves off. We can compare notes and discuss national security matter too." Having updated maps was great. But he was worried about any of his enemies having a map directly to his front door.

Jubilost looked past the group at the wagon as if suddenly remembering it was still stranded>

"Yes yes, deal with that first. I shall consult with my colleague here while you finish saving our supplies."

He turned and opened up his book and thumbed through a few pages.


Abruptly he shifts back into Common as he continues speaking.

"Really they only have themselves to blame. A problem of their own doing."

He gives a nod towards the wagon and the group slowly but surely bringing the wagon back to shore.

At Jubilost's response, Elena abruptly stopped pushing the wagon.  She turned to face the supposedly great cartographer, cold fury evident in her lance-straight posture and quiet tone.  "So that's a "no" to my question, then?  You're not going to contribute in any way to saving your own wagon?  Then as far as I'm concerned, it might as well stay in the river." She turned to the others:  "You can do as you wish, but I believe I've reached the limits of my charity.  We've handled the risky part, they can do the rest themselves."

"Or maybe they can't."  She added, making sure to keep her voice loud enough to reach the arrogant gnome over the noise of the river.  "Because we've known this man for all of two minutes, and in this time he's just about established himself as the most laughable excuse for an explorer that I've ever seen.  He drove his wagon into a river he wasn't prepared to cross, then sat on the bank watching it tip over.  He seems to have no social graces at all: If this is how he talks to the ruling party of Rivermarch while they're actively saving his ass, can you imagine him making friendly contact with any of the local creatures?  But worse than any of that is the confidence with which he just called most of us by the wrong names.  This dumb bastard-pardon my language-this idiot just looked at Dominique, a man covered head to toe in the symbols of Abadar with a golden key hanging from his neck, and declared without a doubt that he must be Elena Sazikova, the paladin of Shelyn.  How could we trust anything he puts on a map after something like that?"

With a visible effort to calm herself, Elena continued.  "Forgive me, Lord Boric.  And the rest of you.  I didn't mean to get so heated.  But in my honest opinion, we've wasted enough time dealing with this oaf.  Let's leave him to his river, and get back to the business of exploration."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:36, Thu 07 Apr 2022.

For a moment Kael stops pulling the wagon as well. "Well, I may not have such strong feelings about this, but I do wonder why exactly are we doing this ourselves instead of having someone else do it for us. Somehow I doubt pulling wagons out of rivers is in any ruler's job description. You definitely need more peasants to order around, Lord Borric."

Caramip rolled her eyes, they were going to find ruling this land very hard if her friends did all the talking.

[Language unknown: "Miad anysa witul i eststaica of pe o stni str waenil thereaure, u outionica itckta arst thnapl for waweadom fi poomne riunto the we, nce ec ha le on u leithoal meol aineausom,"] Caramip told Jubilost.

"Because we are here and they are in need, no one else is here and surely we would wish to have a good name for our kingdom. What reputation will we get if we allow merchants to lose their wares. No one will come here. He indicates he saw signs of troll along the southwest area of the lake, but like us has yet to fully investigate that area. He may have much more valuable information if we only be good servants and lend a helping hand.

"If memory serves doesn't Shelyn's code require 'I see beauty in others. As a rough stone hides a diamond, a drab face may hide the heart of a saint.' Furthermore does it not also require 'I will never destroy a work of art, nor allow one to come to harm unless greater art arises from its loss. I will only sacrifice art if doing so allows me to save a life, for untold beauty can arise from an awakened soul.'

"Therefore what art might be lost if you abandon the wagon?" Caramip posed to her companions.

Elena couldn't help but grin as Caramip brought up the oaths Elena bore as a Paladin of Shelyn.  It was a bit cheeky, and it was definitely a stretch to declare a wagon full of traveling supplies as "art", but it wasn't wholly unreasonable.  Besides, now the paladin felt honor-bound to at least give the argument proper thought.

"You're right about one thing."  Elena replied, before turning back to Jubilost.  She gave him a low bow, as formal and dignified as one could while knee deep in a river.  "I would like to apologize for my tone, Mr Narthropple.  My blood was pumping from my recent exertions, and the adrenaline led me to speak discourteously.  I am sure you have many good qualities, that would make themselves apparent were we to spend more time in each other's acquaintance."  And with that, she seemed to once again dismiss his presence from her mind.

Returning to Cara, she continued.  "As for the other tenet...well, who's to say I'm not saving a life by leaving this wagon in the river?  After all, if this expedition is competent and capable of traveling these dangerous lands, surely they can finish the job, now that we've already handled the hard and dangerous parts of the work.  And if they can't handle it...Well, surely that implies they're unfit to explore such difficult country?"  The paladin's tone was light, as if sharing a joke.  She was well aware she was stretching the definition of her oath just as much as Caramip had.  But that didn't mean what she was saying wasn't true.

"And here in the Stolen Lands, unfit explorers die.  If their expedition is to founder and fail, maybe it's for the best it does so here, so close to Rivermarch and safety.  I'm sure these brave gnomes could find use for their talents there, under more competent leadership."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:48, Sat 09 Apr 2022.

Borric was too busy trying to the wagon from falling back into the river. When Elena and Kael stopped helping. He took a strong breath and tightened his muscles. But even in his enlarged form, the weight of the wagon was taking its toll. Finally, when he felt his footing slip. "A little help here. How about we talk about manners... la.. later."

Dominique bows his head politely as Cara introduces him, but leaves the discussion, and drama, to the others. Knowing that he'd be of little help in moving the wagon, the 'high' priest stands dry on the shore as he considers the problem. Partly in response to Cara's suggestion of calling upon Abadar to provide them oxen and partly to guide their efforts he eventually speaks up, "We've no shortage of beasts of burden; what we really need is the rope to lash enough of them to the wagon, tackle to bear the weight, or planks to level the terrain. Did this 'expedition' pack the equipment they need to travel with a wagon? Lord Borric?" He tried to subtly intone a bit of criticism of the gnomes in support of Elena without overly exacerbating the situation, but directs his question to Borric to try to encourage him to take a look in the wagon and rest from his seemingly futile exertion.

After a bit of pause and debate the wagon was dragged out of the river. Funny enough despite Jubilost seemingly uninterested in the survival of the wagon, the rest of the gnomish expedition was more than happy to help out how they could, although being gnomes and this being mostly an act of physical strength and size their help wasn't the most helpful but the effort was there.

When Elena first started to make her criticisms, Jubilost's mouth had snapped open it was clear from the look in his eye that he was preparing a particularly cutting barb...but then nothing came out. Instead he slowly closed his mouth and maintained a stoic visage, the only display of emotions being his eyebrows that raised and lowered as Kael considered Elena's words even as Cara tried to add honey to the mix and Borric was focused on the task at hand.

Jubilost didn't reply, opening his book and jotting down a few things while the group figured out how to get the wagon out of the river. He didn't stir until Elena made her apology and Jubilost finally replied. He spoke at a much slower pace then before with every word carefully weighed and measured.

"I understand. Perhaps I too was just...how did you put it...worked up from the situation. As for your names, this may come as a surprise to you but outside of this local area not much is known about you. You should consider yourselves lucky that I was even able to identify your names, even if they were attached to the wrong person. Is it so outlandish that I would assume the person to take charge would be the ruler? That the person bedecked in holy symbols wouldn't be a holy warrior?

That is part of my reason for being here, to correct the record, so to speak. How can I put this...I'm here to make sure that people beyond the few miles of your kingdom here even realize that there is a paladin of Shelyn or a priest of Abadar here.

As for the river I wouldn't have had to risk fording it if your kingdom wasn't running rampant with trolls...no it doesn't matter. Come, I'm sure Mittens..."

The gnome next to him just shook her head and grumbled "...Mickens. It's Mickens."

Jubilost nodded and continued his thoughts.

"...Mickens here can set up a camp for us and we can partake in an information exchange. If you can help me fill in my map here I can help fill in your records there. I have traveled west of here while your kingdom is to the East. It seems a fair exchange, no? A way for both of us to demonstrate value to one another and a way to help sooth over...less than ideal...first impressions on both sides."

Once the gnomes started to put in at least a token effort towards helping out, Elena once again put her shoulder to the wagon and helped them move it back to safety.  Her mood improved measurably once her feet were back on stable, dry ground.  It improved even more once the diminutive explorer started making his own effort act civil.

As for the map exchange, that seemed reasonable enough as well, though she still had her misgivings about Jubilost's conscientiousness.  A man who didn't like blank spots on his map was a man who might just put down his best guess, and she had seen just how far this man was willing to trust his assumptions.  But an unreliable map was better than no map, and if the expedition had come this far, they couldn't be completely useless.

"You say you came from the West?"  She asked, doing her best to seem casual.  "That would be Lord Drelav's land, wouldn't it?  Or did you come all the way from Pitax?"

Kael is just happy to be out of the damned river, and is only looking forward to a campfire and a warm drink right now. But once he is no longer shivering he will take a look at those maps. Since he is in charge of the new nation's intelligence service (or the only person in it at the moment, really), something like that probably is in his job description.

Cara was happy to see that everyone seemed to be getting along now. "I think it would be great to exchange what information we can. Indeed more knowledge of the lands west would be helpful. How many trolls have you seen?" she asked.

Borric hesitated for a second but upon seeing the map, "Alright. Let's compare notes."

---

rolled 9 using 1d20+7 with rolls of 2.  Sense Motive

At the mention of Drelev, Jubilost huffed a bit and rolled his eyes.

"Somehow it is possible to find places in this area even more inhospitable than this one. Yes Lord Drelev and let me just say if you want to have any chance of dealing with the man you cannot forget it, not even once. As if anyone is expected to remember courtly titles while surrounded by muck and mud..."

He pulls out some notes he has to show how Drelev is building out his empire. It seems that Drelev is building out a rather large military-style fort on the west side of Lake Hooktongue. There is plenty of room between it and Rivermarch, with the lake, the Hooktongue Slough (a massive swamp) and then the western forests. It seems he is already building up a strong military and is looking at becoming a regional power through the might of his army instead of skills of diplomacy.

"Or....it could be because of the barbarians in the hills to the west that are constantly raiding his lands. Woe be to any savage that thinks they can win a fight over Drelev. That man would drag himself through the a dragon, end to end, just to remind a barbarian of his place.

Now then...about your side of the border...let's see here..."

Most of what Jubilost has to share is known geography. Even the expedition had basic maps of the area and since founding their Kingdom those have been greatly improved. There were three interesting locations of note that he pointed out.

The first was what looked to be an abandoned keep (G1).

"Elven architecture, clearly. I recognize the style as pre-fall so roughly....ten thousand years old...give a couple centuries or so. No idea when it was abandoned though and trust me, it is abandoned. Likely haunted by now. Most elven ruins still standing are just magnets for incorporeals. I did not investigate, just in case you were foolish enough to ask. I am a cartographer, not a grave robber so I noted it and moved on."

The second location of note was an island in the middle of Candlemere lake (H3). According to Jubilost it had a lone tower set atop the peak of the island.

"Now strange towers in the middle of lakes isn't particularly noteworth but we happened to make camp across the shore and I saw what looked to be lights on the distant shoreside. Most likely some kind of bandit operation, perhaps even a local hermit or wizard. But that place is inhabited by something with a lantern. Several of them actually, I think I recall...a half dozen lights or so in total but they were blinking in and out all over the island so who can really say. Perhaps it was just one wizard teleporting rapidly from place to place."

The last place of note was most unpleasant for the gnomish explorer: a tribe of lizardmen.

"We studied them from a distance for fear of being mistaken for food if we came any closer. It looked like they had a whole village set up, a society of lizards, can you believe it? Dozens of them pretending to be civilized. Ha, quite the sight to behold."

He smiles to himself and begins copying over the more detailed maps of the parts explored by the heroes. It seemed he felt he had satisfied his part of the bargain at least.

"This is...actually pretty useful information."  Elena remarked, as the party updated their maps using the information Jubilost presented.

"The old keep could be a useful stronghold, if Drelav or Pitax ever get it into their heads to launch a full-on invasion.  And one way or another, the Lizards could wind up being an important factor in the current invasion we have to deal with.  As for the lights on the lake...I dunno.  Smugglers?  Hanspur worshippers?  If Malchan Fillinolds is trying to set up shop in our territory, we might just have to make good on the promise I made at the ceremony."

Fair was fair, and Elena wasn't going to stop Jubilost from looking at their own maps unless somebody else spoke up.  There weren't any important secrets to hide in their territory, as far as she could remember.  At least, nothing that Rivermarch's enemies couldn't learn just as easily from any other traveling merchant.

Kael's makes notes of the explorer's discoveries on his own maps and nods in agreement to Elena's words. "A ruined keep is a half-build keep, and it is in an excellent position to guard our entire southwestern border. Lizards... well, we already have kobolds around, so maybe we can cut a deal with lizards as well? And as for the lights on the island, I'm not sure. I'd expect campfires it we are dealing with your run-of-the-mill bandits or smugglers. Lanterns... sound weird."

He turns back to Jubilost. "You did mention seeing trolls as well, right? At the moment that seems to be the most pressing threat to us."

Jubilost gave a shrug.

"Sounds like quite the problem. I don't believe in all my studies I have ever read about rulers having an easy time holding a country together."

"We have our work cut out for sure, but we'll manage. We always pull through even when it seemed darkest at times. We need to show the inhabitants that cooperation is better than fighting one another. With cooperation we can all prosper, from kobold to mite to troll to humans and beyond," Caramip says.

"With cooperation we can build bridges and roads, forts and colleges, It'll be the greatest land in all the River Kingdoms due to Lord D'Tor's wise decisions," she added.

"Well we lost the trail of those Trolls. We will need our scouts to remain on their guard." Borric scanned over their map with the additional notes from Jubilost. "But it seems that we have two places that we need to investigate. And I'll put some gold and wager that Caramip wants to talk with the lizard folk. Where shall we go first?"

"You know, now that you mention it, I wouldn't mind talking to the lizardfolk myself." Elena responded thoughtfully. "If they're living so close to where the trolls have set up, they must have had some kind of dealings with them.  Hopefully, they're not on the same side or anything like that."
This message was last edited by the player at 10:31, Tue 10 May 2022.

"It is likely that the lizardfolk know of the trolls and may know where the trolls live or at least their normal patrol patterns so as to avoid them themselves, thus I believe that would be a wise course of action for us to pursue first to talk to the lizardfolk as it could help us accomplish the second item," Caramip suggested.

"What do we know about lizardfolk?" Borric asked as it seemed that the lizard people may be their first destination. He turned to Jubilost, "You said that they were trying to build a settlement of some kind. Were they trying to farm or something?"

Dominique tends to the horses--both their own and the expedition's--while the others speak with the gnomish explorer. He is out of his element in their exchange, especially after spending a year dedicated to the role of placating the clergy of three churches who oscillate between jockeying to be the official state religion and trying to figure out what it even means to be co-state religions. It is good to get out from behind his desk and travel once again, but he is at a loss for what to do about the looming giant threat or which, if any, of the gnome's leads they should pursue first.

"Lizarfolk are carnivores, thus farming is not likely though perhaps they are farming animals. As carnivores and like most tribes the most appropriate gift would be a gift of food, meat. They are not cannibals though that is a common rumor. They resist and resent the encroachment of civilization though. So perhaps we should hunt some meat for them or give a gift of cattle?" Cara suggests.

"Sounds like some quality hunting weapons would be a very appropriate gift as well. Assuming they are not used on us, anyway." Kael offers his suggestion as well.

With the discussion of their next steps seeming to come to indecision and his tasks tending to the mounts complete, Dominique approaches the party and weighs in, "Claiming Elven fortifications, dealing with bandits on our lake, and dealing with this band of lizardfolk, one way or another, are all worthy tasks for us to undertake in cementing the lord's claim to these lands and protecting our people, but I can't say which should be our priority."