Eilyne continued to mercilessly slam chunks of wood into the ground around them as she methodically hit every area within thirty feet of her position.  Once she cleared that area she moved enough to start clearing the areas a little further out.

Forward the way the man went or back the way you came? Or a different direction?

The way we came unless someone says differently.

"Just clear a path back the way we came.  Let's get out of this." Drezghl said, backing his horse out of the ambush zone.

-------

OOC: Are the logs coming down on us?

The logs far away came to a complete stop and had no effect on the party

OOC:
Can we get to the logs?

Yes the logs stopped rolling about 40 yards away, so it is possible to traverse the woods over to that area

 Octavia and Jareth rode fast, the priestess struggling to keep up with the obviously more skilled horseman.

 As they reached the woods where the others were playing amateur lumberjacks, she slowed down to assess the situation and carefully pushed her horse down towards the commotion.

  "Hoy!" she called out.
  "What happened here??"

"Stay back! This area is trapped!", shouted Drezghl.

"Turn around and go back. Carefully."

He looked around for more traps that hadn't been sprung by Eilyne and kept backing his horse the way they originally came, never leaving his tracks.

---------------------------

07:15, Today: Drezghl Zuhv rolled 29 using 1d20+9 with rolls of 20.  Percaption - finding traps.

The whole area is trapped ...
Spotting one is a perception DC 16
Eilyne can set them off, easily enough


Octavia and Jerth spot a man crushed beneath the jumble of logs...but do not recognize him
Perception checks for you both as well

Octavia Cassiana rolled 16 using 1d20+6

 "Oh, I see..." Octavia said.

 She doubled back carefully and approached the man, trying to assess his condition.

The man is deceased and you notice that there is a rope that held the logs up has been cut and a very nice handaxe is still stuck in a nearby tree right where the rope was cut.

The axe case is on the man’s belt, but the severed rope is above the trap and the man is under the trap....

 Octavia struggles to understand how everything fits together. She tries to visualise the scene to come to an assumption of what had happened -accident, trap, or something else.

 She noted there was nothing that could be done for the man. She picked up the axe to see if it could help identify the dead man. She then moved closer, very carefully so as not to trigger anything else.

Octavia concludes one option for what happened is this man was running through this area and threw his axe into the rope bringing his own deadfall down upon himself....

 The cleric considers the axe for a moment as she realises what must have happened...
 "A stupid accident..."

 She slides it in her belt, and tries to get close to the man to identify him –a brigand? a chartered explorer? or something more sinister?

You think this is a trapper who brings hides to Oleg’s
From what you recall he is antisocial with a horrible attitude

 Octavia checks the man's belongings to confirm his identity. Like with Bokken, she will make sure that any valuables he may have owned are kept at the trading post until such time when his next of kin can be identified. After a reasonable length of time, it would become Oleg and Svetlana's, for them to use in the effort to improve the fort.

 She walked to Drezghl Zuhv, following strictly his advice in terms of where to walk and where no to.
  "How has it been going here, brother? Have we found the lumber we need?"

Once the area is clear
Or at least pits marked for safety

Esmerelda
“We were bedeviled by fey and then this turd...”
Kicks the body
“Lead me s into a trap!”


“What were you saying dear, oh yes the tree, we are still headed that way, it is not far now.”

“Best take care of that hatchet it’s magic...”

"Hello, Octavia.  Progress has been slow.   This piece of filth led us into his field of traps and  planned to kill us. Loot our bodies later. Told us as much. I suppose he took us for easy prey this deep in the forest. Regardless, he forfeit his life when he tried to kill us and his possessions belong to us now.", Drez said, pointing to the dead trapper.


"He said there was a suitable tree by the river but I think it was a lie to lure us into his traps.
We should have the second log soon. I wanted to just cut one down but our new friend, Eilyne, won't permit it so far. She's fey or something.", Drez said, pointing towards the green clad woman  nearby.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:26, Wed 12 Aug 2020.

Tauron waves at Octavia Cassiana.
It is good to see you Octavia.  Our attempts to get wood as proved difficult on many levels.  The only good thing to have come out of this is new friend who will help us.

The elf looks over to the half-orc.

It also many be a good idea not to send me and Drezghl out together without someone else around.  I think we found out why elves and orc's instincts are to grab a weapon when they see each other.  Not the best idea when your meant to be working together.

  “Well hopefully you can resolve that like men with a few pints and twice as many punches when we’re out of the woods.”

“For now we’ll need to put it aside and focus on bringing back the lumber.”

 She handed the hatchet to Drezghl.
“As if we hadn’t enough enemies as it is... I never liked him anyway, but this is beyond what I expected. It is a shame we cannot put him to the rope. If we can, we should bring him back to the trading post so they all know what happens to this sort of scum. Karma is working with us to rid the land of thugs it seems.”

The priestess believed that divine chaos and chance had a way of righting wrongs, sometimes better than any Law would.

“Could we use the timber from this trap to fix the catapults?” she asked eagerly. She knew little of war machines, but plenty of war itself. And one thing when knew for sure was that it had a way of throwing the unexpected at you. The sooner they would all be at the fort, the better.

Tauron studies the timber as Octavia Suggested.

Eilyne walked over to the corpse of the tricksy woodsman and looked down at him pityingly.  "Never attempt to trick a fey, it never ends well."  After the body had been searched Eilyne focused and began to move her hands gently causing the plants to rise up and surround the body.  When she finished his remains could not be seen any longer, "There," she said softly, "may the Green Mother welcome you."

Eilyn rose and turned to face the newcomer, Octavia, and said, "Oh my, anther new person in the forest.  It seems you should be more trustworthy than the last one," Eilyne gestured vaguely to the traitorous trapper.  "I am Eilyne and I don't see why the logs couldn't be used for your needs.  I don't know anything about these...kitipults you speak of though so I can't be sure," her accent spoke louder than her words that she wasn't a native common speaker.

The logs In the deadfall have been cut too short to use as the arm of the catapult but some could easily fill in for the other components

Tauron nods to Eilyne Groveborn.

Use the land for evil and evil will befall you.
Use the land for good and it will provide for you.
As for the wood.  It will be useful but we need bigger peace for catapults.
Lets move on carefully now.