"Everyone alright?" Avreene looked around visually checking everyone for any signs of injury.

Bloodhowl takes a few seconds looking at the area, before her rage leaves her.  Nodding to Avreene and Alban.  “Thank you Aveerne for your magics, only was I able to stand.”

"Anytime. Glad we were able to fend them off so easily. And you," she turned her attention to Alban, "You dealt quite a bit of damage. Well done."

"It would be bad form to lose both of my companions on the first foray into forest." Alban replies to Avreene with a gentle smile.  "We should work on better combat tactics in future encounters though.  If I had been a little quicker it might have ended quicker and less painfully."

He turned his attention towards the half-orc woman and said, "Your god may have approved of your actions today, but you would be of use to them not dying as a martyr.  We both must do better at controlling the battlefield better instead of just rushing in a hoping for the best. Are you fully healed or will you need to rest and recover your strength for a while?"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:43, Sat 19 Mar 2022.

Bloodhowl grabs the corpses of the wolves and brings them into the camp they are investigating and proceeds to skin them for there pelts.  Listening to the gnome, Bloodhowl growls a little as he speaks. "I will consider what you say Alban, you are indeed powerful striking the targets from afar, my work is done at the edge of my weapon.  Perhaps some caution is advisable, I may not always have someone to care for me as Avreene.  I am able to go on also."
[Private to The Narrator: 20:55, Today: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 16 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 13.  Survival(skinning).]

Seeing the warrior tear into her work of skinning the dogs for their pelts  and listening to her response Alban is not surprised by it. He had many warriors with the same outlook on life.  He chuckles and smirks a little as he lands to the ground and dismounts off the flying broom. “I guess I will have to keep you alive long enough for you to start trusting me as well then.” Casting an eye to the sky for Whisper Alban reaches out to the owl familiar as a magic shape of glowing eye symbol appears in the palm of his hand.  He says under his voice and with his mind to the owl, May Mystra give you guidance, Whisper.  Scout the immediate area for any other threats. Make sure we are alone.

Alban then starts walking over to the warrior and offers, “Would you like some help with that or not? Not sure how much meat are on their bones, but it may make dinner more appealing. What do you think?” Reaching out a hand he lightly touches her shoulder and a same amount of magical energy flows in the young warrior. Withdrawing his hand he looks around the abandoned camp again looking for any clues.  “Any ideas on who camped here and if they are still in the area?”


Alban will cast a guidance cantrip on Whisper and Bloodhowl and himself  to help with their skill checks.


13:28, Today: Alban rolled 15 using 2d20+6, dropping the lowest dice only with rolls of 9,4.  Perception check with advantage and guidance cantrip.

13:22, Today: Alban rolled 3 using 1d4 with rolls of 3.  Guidance cantrip .
13:22, Today: Alban rolled 3 using 1d4 with rolls of 3.  Guidance cantrip .
13:21, Today: Alban rolled 3 using 1d4 with rolls of 3.  Guidance cantrip.



This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Sat 19 Mar 2022.

As her knife cut into the animals belly as she prepped to skin all four, Alban's small hand touched her.  A minuscule flinch at the man's touch as she continued into her work.  The camp should definitely be investigated but leaving an animal was waste.  "Help in a task such as this will make it go faster.  Do not worry spell caster, I will keep things from you also so your spells of power may land."  Grinning at him, her full mouth of Orcish teeth bright white.

Pausing mid work Bloodhowl looks to the camp and scans it looking for any signs that the fires if there are any may have been lit the previous night.

"The man Avreene, myself and the other's in the party brought back yesterday said they were just bandits taking advantage of the assault that is happening some where else.  I had inquired if there were other's and he said there were not."


23:03, Today: Secret Roll: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 62 using 5d20+6 with rolls of 7,23,26,17,13. Survival(skinning).Pelt, Teeth, Claws, Meat, Bones

23:03, Today: Secret Roll: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 48 using 5d20+6 with rolls of 11,10,11,25,15.  Survival(skinning).Pelt, Teeth, Claws, Meat, Bones

23:02, Today: Secret Roll: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 67 using 5d20+6 with rolls of 16,20,9,21,25. Survival(skinning).Pelt, Teeth, Claws, Meat, Bones

23:01, Today: Secret Roll: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 59 using 5d20+6 with rolls of 24,15,9,14,21. Survival(skinning).Pelt, Teeth, Claws, Meat, Bones

23:01, Today: Secret Roll: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 69 using 5d20+6 with rolls of 19,14,23,18,19.  Survival(skinning).Pelt, Teeth, Claws, Meat, Bones

23:20, Today: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 19 using 1d20+3 with rolls of 16.  perception. In regards to if the camp was used roughly after the engagement from the previous day

In an effort to save time and because it's taken me so long to get back to this I rolled guidance for each extra time it would have been used in regards to the checks for harvesting the animals. The 3 Alban rolled guidance will go towards Bloodhowl's perception roll making it a 22.

01:24, Today: The Narrator, on behalf of Bloodhowl Ragebinder, rolled 56 using 25d4 ((3,2,2,1,2,1,4,4,2,4,1,2,2,2,2,1,1,1,3,2,2,3,2,3,4)).

Dog Alpha:
Rolls w/Guidance	Part	Value Obtained
22	Pelt	4gp
16	Teeth	4gp
25	Claws	8gp
19	Meat	4gp
21	Bones	6gp

Dog 1:
Rolls w/Guidance	Part	Value Obtained
25	Pelt	15sp
19	Teeth	10sp
13	Claws	5sp
16	Meat	10sp
25	Bones	20sp

Dog 2:
Rolls w/Guidance	Part	Value Obtained
17	Pelt	5sp
22	Teeth	15sp
11	Claws	5sp
23	Meat	15sp
27	Bones	20sp

Dog 3:
Rolls w/Guidance	Part	Value Obtained
12	Pelt	0
11	Teeth	5sp
12	Claws	5sp
28	Meat	20sp
17	Bones	10sp

Dog 4:
Rolls w/Guidance	Part	Value Obtained
9	Pelt	0
26	Teeth	20sp
28	Claws	20sp
20	Meat	15sp
17	Bones	10sp

Total Value
Pelt	6gp
Teeth	9gp
Claws	11gp 5sp
Meat	8gp 5sp
Bones	12gp

You each notice that, by the look of the campfire, no one has made use of this campsite for a couple of days.
[Private to Alban: Whisper does a parameter check and sees that the surrounding area seems to be clear, for now.]
[Private to Bloodhowl Ragebinder: While the campfire looks untouched you notice that the snow where the bigger dog had originally been standing looks dug up(most likely by that very dog). Apparently it was digging for something.]

With blood cover hands, she wipes the sweat from her brow leaving the blood of the canines across her forehead nodding to Avreene and Alban as the process took some time.  With the dagger still in her hands she points to the disturbed snow which.

"No one has been here for awhile by the looks of the fire area, for some reason though the larger dog was digging over there."

With Alban's words still in the back of her head Bloodhowl moves forward with care to where the animal was digging.

21:15, Today: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 20 using 1d20.  Investigation of the digging area.

After approaching cautiously, Bloodhowl finds no traps being set off nor does she see any so, with care, she begins digging in the snow where the ground had been disturbed. It doesn't take long before she finds that digging paid off though. Under the snow in that very spot Bloodhowl pulled up a small wooden chest. After carefully checking it for traps she opens it to find it containing 1800cp, 1200sp, 30gp, 6 x 10 gp gems (Lapis lazuli, Rhodochrosite, Lapis lazuli, Eye agate, Moss agate, Rhodochrosite), a Potion of superior healing, and 3 rations.

"Alban, Avreene, I am not familiar with the practices of city people.  Do you both also bury your precious metals and belongings in the soil.  It seems strange to me but so do most of your ways, like beds are in the air."

Bloodhowl moves the chest from out of the ground and places it on something.

OCC What does the camp look like?

After butchering the dogs and gathering all they could of value from the corpses Alban uses a little magic to clean up himself, companions, and the pelts. Alban offers, "If you like, I have several bags of holding we can use to store the pelts and meat, so they wont slow us down. What say you about that idea?  We will split the gains equally once we return to the settlement."


Seeing Bloodhowl investigate the hole being dug by the Alpha dog Alban wanders over to help out.  Once the warrior opens the chest lid and examines the contents Alban whistles under his breathe as he too looks inside the chest over the warrior's shoulder.  "Looks like those bandits were very busy as of late.  The scent of the rations would have attracted the dogs to the chest's hiding place. That much coin alone is probably worth 2-3 villages in this region their total net worth." Alban says grimly; understanding where this blood money probably came from.  "But that much coin is bound to attract attention and will be missed. Someone will come looking for it eventually."

As he straightens up he looks around there immediate area again. "My owl has checked the perimeter and has not detected any threats so far. Did any of the bandits survive your attack on them? It appears no one has been around here for 2-3 days and why bother burying the chest in the first place?  Why not take it with them?"


Can you give us some dimensions of the chest? Is it easily portable or would it be difficult to carry around?"

If it weren't for the abandoned remains of the campfire the camp would have been easy to miss. No bedrolls nor tents. Either the bandits had been sleeping in the snow or they had hid their gear elsewhere.

The dimensions of the chest are a foot and a half, by foot, by foot.

"There is no issue with sharing Alban, it makes us all stronger.  It is something that my kin struggle with, the Den Mother has sent me to learn these ways."

Standing tall Bloodhowl looked again at the area to see if there was a storage area of sorts, or a trail of some kind.  Paths that men would make and snow left in dented even if there was anything but a heavy snowfall.

"I can carry the tiny chest on my back it will be no problem, if it is Avreene and myself can use two sturdy poles to lash to it. As for other bandits, Avreene, myself and two others killed them yesterday after they attacked us.  We captured one and I interrogated and so did the towns guard I believe which is how we know of this place.  It is unlikely that one got away.  Anything is possible though."



21:09, Today: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  perception to see for other possible equipment storage.

PM
[Private to Bloodhowl Ragebinder: You don't see any type of storage areas anywhere and as for a trail, if there were any, it was long since buried by the snow.]

A furrowed brow as she looked about and could discern nothing she harrumphed.  Lashing the chest with some rope she fashioned a make shift harness to carry it across her back.

"Well I suppose we head back, unless you have somehow managed to glean some information on where they stored their gear."

Alban considers for a moment Bloodhowl's question.  "I might be able to glean the location of their gear using magic.  It's a bit iffy, but it wouldn't hurt to try, I guess. Any ideas on what type of gear the bandits may have left behind?  Were they a rag-tag lot using whatever they could scrounge or were they well equipped?"

Alban then closes his eyes to help focus his mind and memory to think about items the bandits may have left behind. Opening the palm of hand up a spinning arrow of light appears...

Alban casts a locate object spell for items or gear the bandits may have left behind.

In reply to The Narrator (msg # 31):

I will explain to Alban all the gear that was taken the day before when defeating the small group of bandits and how they were dressed and kitted out.  It that will help him with his spell.

After getting the description of what gear the bandits might have had Alban set his mind for searching for a bedroll or a tent, either would have worked in this case. Following the senses he gained from the spell it lead him to one of the thicker trees tucked back a ways from the campsite. Upon first glance the tree looked to be solid, but with further inspection the other side of the tree revealed itself to have a big hallow spot about four feet off the ground. Inside this hidden cubby was found 3 thin tents, 6 worn bedrolls, 6 beat up and rather tattered blankets, and some flint and steel.

As the items from the tree are pulled out and inspected Alban mutters, "Hmmm.... With that much coin you would think the bandits could afford better gear. Let's see if there are more secrets to this tree." He then pulls out two wands, one at a time, and mutters arcane words under his breathe.  The wand currently in his hand then activates with a gentle glow. Alban hopes the wands will divine more information about the immediate area...

Alban will use a wand of secrets to detect any hidden or secret doors and a wand of detect magic to see if the tree and immediate area hold any more clues to the bandits.

Search as he may, even with the help of the wands, there was nothing more to be found. Once the tree was emptied of its possessions it remained just a hallowed out tree left standing in the Rimewood.

Avreene looked over at Alban seeing his spell kick in to find the rest of the bandits' gear. She whistled and said, "Well you're quite the nifty fellow to have around aren't you?" She smiled at him then turned and looked at Bloodhowl, "Between the two of you I believe everything to be found has been. To be honest I'm still in a bit of shock myself over how much the bandits appear to have stolen, but I can't help but wonder where they could have stolen that much from. Possibly passing caravans on their way to or from Smith's Gambit. It would seem as though they had been pretty lucky until they picked a fight with us."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:19, Sun 03 Apr 2022.

Alban was persistent and his magics were helpful, perhaps something that the Den Mother could help her understand, but for now it seemed as if their only course of action was to head back.
Nodding at Avreene's comment about the unfortunate fate of those yesterday and the combat brought a grin to Howl's face.

"Alban, Avreene I believe we should go soon, there is no more to be learned here.  Perhaps in town since you know the people you could find who was waylaid and perhaps return some of the coin, I know I could use some though."

Bloodhowl looks to the surrounding area to keep and eye out for any other assailants.


10:12, Today: Bloodhowl Ragebinder rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Perception.

With his magics not able to divine any more information about the camp Alban shook his head in disappointment.  “I had hoped to divine if anyone else had come through this way or if the bandits were working for someone.  That money could have been a payoff for starting this conflict in this part of the Rimewood. It would have been nice to know who has been pulling the strings lately in this area.”

He shrugged at them and started gather up the gear into a bag of holding for easier transport.  “I suppose we should start heading back to the settlement before something else comes along. ” Turning back to Avreene Alban replies, “I try to be of good use, and my mind, wits, and magics are my best tools to accomplish this.”

Listening to Bloodhowl’s comment Alban smiles at her as he climbs onto his broom of flying and hovers in the air near her. “Don’t be discouraged Bloodhowl.  I remember when I first come to the Rimewood and the settlement with very little on me.  Perhaps when we get back to the settlement we could help each other out and better our fortunes together if you’re up for it.  I agree with you.  You would do better with better gear. I can help you with that if you would like.  In the meantime we should try talking with Erret and others at the settlement to see we can’t figure out the origin of where that money came from.”

Looking towards the sky Alban reaches out with his mind towards Whisper.  Time to go home, old friend.  Lead the way.  The shadow of the owl appeared briefly in the distance and changed direction towards the settlement.  “Shall we go.  Lead the way young warrior. The owl will scout your flanks as we travel.”

With Bloodhowl leading the way, the small group started heading back to Smith's Gambit. With what they could find on their backs and in their packs the journey ahead seemed to be a fairly easy one. All seemed peaceful and quiet save for the ambient sounds of nature. It wasn't long before the party made it back to the Gambit undisturbed by anything further.
Please post your entrance back in the Townhall Thread. Thank you.