Wrenn reacted quickly to the larger threat, sending bolts of glowing energy flying at the creature.

Action: cast Magic Missile at level 2
Result: 14 Force damage

22:08, Today: Wrenn Muernig rolled 3,3,4,4 using d4+1,d4+1,d4+1,d4+1.  cast Magic Missile lv 2.

Griswold looked tentatively back at the spear lodged into the wall. Grimacing at the shattered stonework, he returned his gaze to the monstrosity and gulped.

"Well, that's...worrying."

With one trepidatious step after another, he moved toward the diseased mutant.  Each pace came quicker than the last, slowly building up momentum until he peaked at a sprint.  "Let's do this!" He shouted, adding evasive manoeuvring to his charge.

OOC:
Move: Engage the creature in melee, if possible.  Otherwise get as close to it as possible, without dashing.
Action: <Dodge>
Bonus Action: <None>
Reaction:  Cast <Shield> if hit

Welcome back, GM :)

Worried about accidentally hitting Griswold with an arrow, Eri drops her bow and flicks her spear up from the ground with a toe, grabbing it and running to the fray as quickly as possible. Her intent of course, is to help the poor man, but of course she's more than a little wary herself. Her brothers though, would never have let her live down cowardice when they lived. She ignores her racing heart, eyes hard.

[Private to GM: Alright, from some cursory research it looks like there is no quick draw in 5e? If that's the case she's just going to try to switch weapons and book it to Gris. I don't know how close she is or if she needs to hop the wall like he did or if she is in fact close enough to attack so I'm going to give you a couple of rolls just in case you need them, though I'm sure that's too much in one round. I figured it would save time though if I was missing anything. Thanks!


p.s. Sorry if I screw anything up. I'm in a bit of a hurry today!

05:43, Today: Secret Roll: Eri Sato rolled 10 using 1d20+3.  Dexterity
roll/acrobatics.

Possible spear attack:


05:45, Today: Secret Roll: Eri Sato rolled 14 using 1d20+5.  possible spear attack.

05:45, Today: Secret Roll: Eri Sato rolled 5 using 1d6+3.  damage.]

Arizima watches the monstrosity emerge with a roar with a raised eyebrow the only sign that something was different. "That is... Unexpected."  She hurries toward Griswold and the rest with a wave of her hands and a whisper. "G͜a̡c͜t̡h͡i̷a͟ ̧s͏ìá'nt͠ t͜af҉r"

Move:  Toward Griswold and the monster
Action:  Cast Dissonant Whispers (DC 13 Wis Save)

07:16, Today: Arizima rolled 12 using 3d6.  Damage (Psychic).

The monster shakes its head as the words of Arizima try to tear into its mind. Griswold is shortly joined by Eri, her spear piercing the side of the beast. Blackish blood begins to ooze  from the wound, as if it had started to coagulate in the body. Searing magic bolts enrage the beast further as Wrenn's attack strikes true. A sickly stench radiates from the impact as pus pockets erupt from the force. Bleeding the beast glares at the ready Griswold and speaks with a voice like thunder pulled through a swamp. "No more hurt, Grunt!"

The wicked great club slams into Griswold's shield with a cracked of strained magic. You are under no illusion that if your magic was not ready on your lips, you would have been little more than paste. Not waiting for a second, Griswold is able to barely dodge out of the way of the backswing. The stone wall behind him erupts into a cloud of fragments and dust as the club impacts it.



OOC: Good thing you dodged, Gris! That could have been very bad.
15:24, Today: GM rolled 16 using 1d20+6.  Second Attack vs Griswold(Disadvantage).
15:23, Today: GM rolled 26 using 1d20+6.  First Attack vs Griswold(disadvantage).
15:21, Today: GM rolled 26 using 1d20+6.  Second Attack vs Griswold.
15:21, Today: GM rolled 19 using 1d20+6.  First Attack vs Griswold.
15:20, Today: GM rolled 14 using 1d20-2.  Wisdom save vs Arizima.

Seeing just how dangerous,(not to mention disgusting) this thing really is, Eri goes pale and swears savagely.

It takes every nerve she has left to stay and fight, but since she's determined to do so, adrenaline courses through her and she desperately takes the opportunity to stab at him again, being sure not to thrust it in so deep she can't get it back out again. Such was the dangerous allure of the spear. "Never use all your strength," June used to say. "Just aim better."

13:08, Today: Secret Roll: Eri Sato rolled 7 using 1d6+3.  damage.  13:07, Today: Secret Roll: Eri Sato rolled 24 using 1d20+5.  Attack.

Arizima continues to approach with a frown and a twist of her fingers.  Her eyes seem to give way to a hint of something beyond herself for just moment and her frown is replaced with an almost manic grin that appears to be wholly out of place with her earlier demeanor.   "I don't believe you heard me. G͜a̡c͜t̡h͡i̷a͟ ̧s͏ìá'nt͠ t͜af҉r!"

Move:  Closer to Grunt.  Still a way behind our melee types though.
Action:  One more Dissonant Whispers.  (DC13 Wis Save 4d6 damage.  Half on a save.  I forgot to upgrade the damage last time)

21:50, Today: Arizima rolled 17 using 4d6.  Damage (Psychic).

Even with his magic barrier up, Griswold still felt the force behind the monstrous creature's swing.

"Uff," he exclaimed, stumbling slightly from the impact before raising his rapier defensively.  "If you, hng, want us to stop hurting you, stop fighting already and put your weapon down!  We're the good guys here, let us help you..."

OOC:
Action: Persuasion: 18*
Bonus Action: <None>
Reaction: Cast <Shield> if hit.

*13:52, Today: Griswold Ortmann rolled 18 using 1d20+4.  Persuasion - anti-hostile negotiations.

Wow - a half-decent persuasion roll!
This message was last edited by the player at 12:38, Fri 25 May 2018.

The hulking thing let out another roar as blood began to seep from its ears. Placing its hands on its ears and shaking to clear them, Grunt began to back away from the fight slowly. Eri made her move and the spear punctured another hole in the thick hide. Grunt made another howl of pain that quickly turned into more of a whimper as Griswold spoke. "No! You hurt Grunt! No believe you! No small thing good. Small things only hurt Grunt," it said and looked to defend itself.

OOC: Skill test 1/5 Successes and 0/3 Failures. Persuasion has been used, so you will need other skills to recruit Grunt.

Continuing to try an defend himself against this creature's (apparently called Grunt), bone-breaking swings, Griswold remained otherwise passive.

"Shh...Grunt.  Its okay," he said trying to placate the giant, much as he might Jacoby. "No one's going to hurt you if you don't try to hurt us. Quite the opposite - we have food.  You can have some.  Are you hungry?  Would you like that?"

OOC
19:29, Today: Griswold Ortmann rolled 15 using 1d20+1.  Animal Handling - for better or worse.

Wrenn follows Griswold's lead and looks around for signs of...anything, that he can use to convince the large fellow that he should change his allegiance.

12:04, Today: Wrenn Muernig rolled 20 using 1d20+6.  Investigations.

The behemoth looked unsure as Griswold spoke. Bringing his hand to his mouth, Grunt dragged on his lip longingly. He sounded hesitant as he responded, “Grunt no eat. Grunt not earn it. Grunt only eat when small things done.”

As Grunt nervously figets, Wrenn begins to notice the signs that Grunt might not have been a volunteer in the raiding party. A thick iron collar is hiding under the filth and rags and his wrists bear the telltale signs of bondage.

Piss! Eri thinks to herself irritably. Why can nothing ever be simple?! Her instinct had always been to rush in spear first. Action was her creed, but then she remembered her master's favorite scolding whenever she became impatient. "Before you can learn to still your mind you must use it first!" A fitting reprimand now considering she'd been so eager to kill the beast before them without hesitation. It still might come to it, if he couldn't be convinced, but now she'd feel bad about it.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:40, Thu 07 June 2018.

Griswold takes hope from the fact that he had still to become a red stain on the floor and gingerly steps back.  He points back to the hill they had just run down.  "See that horse up there Grunt?  That's Jacoby.  He's a bit grumpy, but a good friend.   He carries all of my food and might come if we whistle.  Can you whistle Grunt?  If not, try humming or clapping along with me."

Griswold then proceeds to whistle parts of a gentle melody interspersed with attempts at encouraging Grunt to follow along.  Adding more and more until the whole tune comes together.  Hoping both to direct the mountain of muscle's attention away from a murderous rampage and that Jacoby will actually deign to listen for once...

00:24, Today: Griswold Ortmann rolled 17 using 1d20+4.  Performance - Whistler.

The big brute looks unsure at first, but as soon as Griswold starts to whistle, he claps his hands and smiles as a small child might. He tries mightily to make the noise with his lips but it proves difficult. Frustrated, Grunt begins to show signs of his agitation until he sees Jacoby wandering closer and takes a keen interest.

OOC: 4/5 Successes. Last one needs to come from Arizima or Eri.

With an inward sigh, she felt stupid for what she was about to do, she takes out a coin from her coin pouch and addresses Grunt. Do you like tricks Grunt? Want to see? she proceeds to flick the coin around her knuckles, making it disappear and reappear in her other hand, and all manner of sleight of hand that someone with Grunt's mentality might find impressive. Jun had taught her all of that of course, but she'd never imagined she'd be using it like this. Hopefully it was enough to calm the creature.

08:21, Today: Secret Roll: Eri Sato rolled 21 using 1d20+5.  attempt at sleight of hand.

Grunt resumes smiling as Eri demonstrates some simple, yet entertaining, feats of mundane illusion. The big creature wears a wide grin and claps his hands again, rocking back and forth in his excitement. His posture seems to have relaxed and he no longer has an interest in fighting. Grunt then squats down and sits heavily on the ground, causing a slight tremor as what you guess to be close to 500 pounds of muscle mass hits it. The cause of the fight forgotten for now, Grunt looks at Griswold. “Why you nice to Grunt? Why no fight?”

Griswold's grin mirrors Grunts as he joins in with the brute, clapping for Eri's performance.  As it comes to an end, he nods at her, then turns to Jacoby.  "Good horse!" He praises and pats the animal on its head, much to its annoyance.  He proceeds to search though the saddle bags and withdraws a couple of pouches, then removes his loot from the side and approaches Grunt.

Sitting down in front of the now placated creature, he places the places the packs down.  "They're rations, Grunt.  Food.  As promised.  A bit dry and tasteless, but its all I have at the moment.  We'll get you something better later."

Taking his lute in hand, the half-silver then starts plucking out a simple melody, whilst chuckles at Grunt's question.

"Well, having that spear thrown at me was certainly a shock!"  He looks warily at the weapon still firmly lodged in the wall.  "And I suppose most people would fight after having something like that happen to them.  But I don't know - something just felt...off." He shrugs. "I guess you just didn't seem all that malicious - uh, that means nasty if you didn't know - to me."

"Anyway, how do you think people meet, Grunt?"  He pauses his playing for a moment to sweep his arm wide and indicate to is companions.  "All these wonderful people weren't always my companions.  At one point I might even have thought some my enemies." He gives Wrenn a sideways wink. "But look at us now.  Stalwart friends, I tell you!

"So, basically, everyone deserves a chance, Grunt."

There's a little pause whilst Griswold focuses on his playing, before he speaks again.

"My name's Griswold.  I'm a knight.  Pleased to meet you.   The clever lady with the coin is called Eri.  The Gnome with the painful lights is Wrenn and the mysterious lady at the back is Arizima."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:21, Tue 12 June 2018.

The big looked cautiously down at the dried meat and fruits that made up the rations. An entire days worth looked to barely fit in his meaty palm. He slowly chewed on a hunk of beef and as he does, you start to notice the extent of his deformities and injuries. Grunt, whatever his motivations and disposition, has obviously lived a hard life.

Whether it is easiest to notice the smells that radiate off of him or his multitude of lesions and sores is hard to say. Despite the blood oozing from his wounds, you can also see yellow-green fluids leaking from infected sores. Dried crust cakes his body and even that is not enough to cover some of the scars from wounds and pox he previously had. The chains he wore are still present on his neck and wrists, though it looks to be only the bands.

Grunt has a mop of dirty, matted hair and you can’t be sure of it’s true color. His jaw sits in a jutting underbite, giving him the look of a cow chewing cud as he eats. One of his ears is severely cauliflower. The pox are much less on his face and he has a soft smile as he eats. Eagle eyed observers note that he is covered in ticks and fleas. The dirty hides, some not even properly tanned, don’t help him at all and do little more than cover his bulk.

Overall, Grunt looks to be one of the most filthy, disgusting creatures you have ever encountered. His diseased nature and simple mind do not make it hard to see how the goblins might have been able to keep control of him, despite him being close to three meters tall and three hundred kilos. He smiles at Griswold, before looking warily at the others, and speaks in a hushed tone. “You Grunt friend? Grunt no have friend before.”

Eri was both repulsed and saddened by his physical state. Something would have to be done about that. What's more she felt pity for the creature who had been so clearly abused. She nods at his question, even if it was to Griswold. Consider me your friend as well Grunt. She then turns to Griswold. We need to find a healer or something for him. He can't go walking around like that anymore she shakes her head.

"Freedom is the greatest joy of life, Friend Grunt. Welcome to freedom!"

"There's also the question of what to do with him. Griswold, you know this area better than the rest of us. Will he be safe roaming about on his own? Will we be safe if he comes with us? I'm always happy to keep friends close, but we'll need to get him cleaned up and clothed, and we'll have to find someone willing to do both of those things."

"Of course he comes with us!" Griswold laughed at Wrenn's question whilst nodding at both his friends' observations regarding the person's poor condition.

"And he does need treatment.  Is there anything you can do, Wrenn?  At least until we can find a professional.  I might make a layman's attempt, but imagine you would have a better idea than me.   Perhaps together we could do something?  There must be a water source around that we could use to clean him up some.  If only Kharash were here...well we'll try to find someone soon.  But in the meantime, I have a question." Griswold turned his attention back to the bugbear, a sympathetic smile on his face.

"Grunt, we'll try to find you help as soon as we can, but we actually came here hoping to find - and maybe assist - the owners of a recently burnt out farm.  Just over the hill there.  Do you have any idea what happened to them?"

OOC
@Wrenn Griswold is not trained in medicine, but will give you advantage on a test if you want to make one.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:22, Fri 22 June 2018.

Arizima chooses to let the others do the talking deciding that any words of hers are likely to fall on deaf ears after her earlier magic.  Instead she takes up a silent vigil, her eyes searching the surrounding farmland for any hint of danger or the missing family.  Whatever she thinks of Grunt's state or the others ideas she keeps to herself for the moment only a slight frown as she scans the horizon betraying any of her thoughts.

Grunt, upon the mention of water, suddenly stood. His face looks very scared and anxious. “No water! Water burns Grunt!”, he says and looks nervously around.

Wrenn first went about looking at the fellow's wounds to see if there was anything he could do to help him out.

Medicine Check with Adv from Gris: Nat 20
17:07, Today: Wrenn Muernig rolled 20 using 2d20, dropping the lowest dice only.  Medicine.

Afterward, he replied to Grunt's comments concerning water, "Water burns? Friend Grunt, please, allow me to show you that normal water does not burn. I will show you on myself. Do not worry, I will not touch you with it until you tell me I can."

Wrenn pulled out his water skin and removed the cap, upending it so as to pour some out into his hand, "See here, Grunt? Water, and it does not burn me. Here, touch it only with your finger and see that it will not burn you."

I've got a +0 persuasion too, if someone wants to aid, or would rather take the lead on it with assistance from me.