Einar digs around in his pack for a large piece of parchment and a piece of drawing charcoal, he wasn't the best of this but he may as well try since he had the stuff to do it. "Anyone any good at drawing before I make an attempt at this?"

As the group made there way up, Hope couldn’t help but smile. Though she was quiet, her journey up was slow, and when they arrived she had been there only moments. She frowned as she looked down. “That’s quite the force - well over 100 of the kobolds at least. The big pavilion towards the back, I’m betting is the leader’s tent. The others I’m betting our half dragon friend and his cohort. Even then, those towers have a good vantage of the whole bowl.”

She bit her lip as was normal when she was deep in thought. “If we had something like alchemist fire to burn the ladders and sealed them in with fire, we could box them in…..and a few fireballs could take out some of the kobolds…..my worry is what’s in that cave.”

"I am no cartographer, Einar, but I have drawn a lot of diagrams and I will try to sketch out the camp, too. Between the two of us, we should hopefully get it right."

As Korym scans the camp, slowly sketching it onto parchment, he says to Hope, without looking up from his work, "Remember, our goal is to provide information to the Governor for him to muster troops strong enough to deal with a force this large.

A full-on attack, no matter how much surprise we could create, would seem foolhardy, given our number."

Looking up, he adds "However, I would be in favour of trying to help those poor souls over there." The elf points across the canyon to where the cages and crosses are located.

The half elf looked at Korym and nodded. "Taking on these guys alone is a deatn sentence, i agree, and as much as i'd like to help them, we are beyond helping them now. My thoughts are just advice for the governor when we return."

She looks at him. "And rest assured, i'm coming back here."

Oraphina squinted her eyes as she counted the troops below, counting under her breath.  "One, two, three... too many.  Just waaaay too many."  She sighed.  "Hope's right.  We need to get this information back to the governor as soon as possible so he can get the troops ready.  Now, whether we go WITH the troops is another question, but just running in there now is suicide."

Grune nods once although his jaw clenches with tension.

Hope smiled as she looked at the camp. “Oh, we’re coming back short stuff….like the hells I’m gonna miss out on taking a few of these bastards down.”

She smiled at the group. “Besides, the governor’s forces attack, provide a distraction, we can get a look at their plans and what’s in that big tent - maybe even take the head of that bastard of a half dragon while we’re at it.”

Korym adds the last of his notes to his sketch.

"I understand if we don't deal with those prisoners at the moment...but looking at the watch towers, we could probably get to the other side of the horseshoe, unseen.

If we wait until dark, we might be able to get down there.

And, even if that is foolish, it may be useful to keep watch for a few hours. We might see who or what comes out of the cave and the main tent."

Hope couldn’t help but smile - she was beginning to like Korym more and more. She looked at him. “Sounds like a good idea to me….if we circle around we may find a shaft down into the cave, and then get closer to the prisoners. Under dark, I think I could get closer.”

"Under dark this.  In the dead of night that."  The paladin clenches a tiny fist and shakes it at the sky.  "Why did Yondalla have to bless us halflings with stunning charm and not the ability to see in the dark?"

Her pint-sized tantrum complete, Fina looked back at the others.  "No arguments here.  If we're going to be reporting information back to the governor, then we need the important stuff like "what's in the tent" and "is something living in the cave that could eat everyone".  You know, the little things soldiers like to know before they go into a fight."

"Don't forget stunning beauty as well, Oraphina." Korym adds while he applies sand to his parchment to dry the ink.

"Shadow, I have a little job for you. [Language unknown: Unhi esssomthu k to en pl miei icaingthu. Nd derle ne ulmeth oreet ul. It ressticom pares u osesre, utof stomev er usant leut saat one yinareted tedcomard rom. Thsom ionerswer."]

Once the little bat is on her way, Korym says, "Perhaps we can get some idea of what is in that cave."

---

At least I think what the sand is for!

Oraphina throws her arms wide.  "SEE?  HE GETS IT."

The half elf smiled as she looked in the basin. “He overlooked a few things….nauseatingly optimistic, cheerful and a constant pain in my ass.”

She watched as the wizards bat flew off to the cave, and looked at him with a smile. “Handy friend.” She muttered

Shadow flies down into the canyon and makes her way toward the cave, but returns only moments later.

She informs Korym: [Language unknown: "Es nd iouwiloreine inerhoat m. Ulart il seecpl. We wh a omome."]

------

o.o.c. Wow 5e familiars are way weaker when compared to previous editions and pathfinder. I looked the spell up and was shocked at how weak they were now.

Einar chuckles as he goes over making the markings of the camp to scale as best he can since it could be usefull later. "Well I didn't request a kiss from a stunning beauty for no reason." He laughs a bit before laying out his worked up map, with a light nod of his head he sttays seated looking out over the camp.

"Well it's the best I could do, I'll grab some proper stuff and maybe if something like this comes up again I'll be able to give one hell of a breakdown of a camp."



10:46, Today: Einar rolled 17 using 1d20+2.  watch me fail cause I'm a smart ass.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:51, Wed 06 Oct 2021.

Korym feeds Shadow some dried fruit. "Well done, little one.

A lot of guards inside the cave, so probably not a good idea to sneak in and look around.

I'm for getting to the other side of the canyon and watching from there. It will give us another perspective on the camp and the terrain, and perhaps we will come up with a way to help those prisoners.

Good job on your sketch, Einar. Between us, Nighthill should be able to come up with a plan."

Fina beamed at Hope.  "Correction: Your favorite constant pain in the ass."  That said, she sidled up alongside her friend, and motioned for her to lean down so she could whisper to her.

"They think I'm pretty."

Hope smiled at the halfling, the sister she never had or even knew she wanted. She looked at her. “You are pretty Fina….but you repeat that and I’ll deny it.” She whispered. She spoke up again. “…and you’ll always be my favourite pain in my ass, no matter what.”

She looked back at the camp. “If there’s guards in there, they’re guarding something…but that will need to wait. Those prisoners are the priority….if we can get them out.”

O.O.C Since there is no cover on the other side of the mesa  by the prisoner area, to conceal the characters while up against the inside cliff face of the canyon on that side a (DEX) Stealth check will be required to remain unseen while there, unless the group waits until nightfall to maneuver into that position.

The activity at the camp seems fairly relaxed throughout the day, as if they are not particularly worried about any kind of attack.

Observing for several hours reveals something interesting however; it appears that the majority of the force in the canyon is likely not a part of the cult, as the easily identifiable members of the cult, by their black outfits, tend toward the back of the canyon by the cave while the majority of the forces consist of the kobolds toward the front of the canyon and apparently mercenaries or likely soldiers of fortune toward the center.

----------

The prisoners that are not crucified, seem to be forced into one kind of manual labor or another, some seem to be making weapons at forges, others seem to be burning wood in furnaces to make charcoal, and still others are simply carrying large payloads across the camp, acting as beasts of burden for the carts, instead of oxen.

Just before six o'clock p.m. a large group begins to form around one of the unused crucifixes, what appears to be a half black dragon makes it's way toward the location followed by Cyanwrath and some other female cultist, and behind them a long train of cultists; as the group makes their way to the crucifixion site, the people before them part and raise their right arm up and hand out as some kind of salute.

The half-black dragon begins pacing about the circle of onlookers and appears to give some sort of speech as one male prisoner with bound wrists is brought forward by the train of cultists, at this point indecipherable chants and boos can be heard even as far away as the group is.

The male prisoner is kicked and spit on by the throng of onlookers as he marches forward until he reaches the cross, where five cultists spend the next fifteen minutes beating him terribly until he lays prone on the ground motionless. The half-black dragon makes another shorter speech, and the man is then hoisted up and tied to the cross with ropes.

Another twenty minutes after that the cultists and half-dragons make their way back to the cave at the end of the canyon and things begin to go back to normal around the camp as the crowed disperses.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:20, Mon 11 Oct 2021.

Night falls on the canyon around eight p.m. and nothing much changes in the canyon, with one exception, many torches are lit throughout the camp.

Visibility atop the mesa is pitch black and so far it seems like it will be a moonless night.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:17, Mon 11 Oct 2021.

Oraphina clenched her jaw as she witnessed the brutality below.  "Gotta be patient," she muttered, her knuckles turning white around the hilt of her sword as the cultists kicked the prisoner.  "We're coming back with an army," she said softly, as tears ran down her cheeks when the victim was crucified.

She turned to the others as night finally fell.  "We're killing all of them, right?  No prisoners, no "this would make us as bad as them", no "let one go to let the others know what's coming for them".  When it comes down to it, we're PURGING the world of this madness.  Please?"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:02, Mon 11 Oct 2021.

Hope had the skill to sneak in, but knew that in tbe daylight it was too risky, even for her. So, with the others, she waited.

When the exhibition occurred, hope's knuckles were white with how hard she clenched them, her face grim as she looked on. "I can't believe I almost..." she muttered as she watched the man get brutalised.

When Oraphina spoke, her tone was low and serious. "Oh, we're coming back here, even if I'm on my own, and rest assured, none of those bastards are walking away....NOT ONE."

It was bad, but he expected it to be bad. Slaves and cults were about as hand and hand as it got never anything good came from either. "Even at night we won't be able to get them out in this state. And Freeing them to try and riot will only get them killed." He says through clenched teeth really what could they do those below were in not state to climb the wall or even fight their way out.

Korym is lying on his stomach, peering over the edge of the mesa taking in the activity in the camp.

"We have one cultist robe, and most of the mercenaries are not in uniform at all...logically, I know you are all likely right...but it is sickening to not do anything..."

Korym's voice drifts off as he continues to stare down, thankful that his tears are not visible in the dark.

"The sooner we get back to Greenest, the sooner we can return."

The group watches for a short time longer, but nothing much changes in that time.

o.o.c. If a consensus to leave and return later has been reached scaling the cliff at night will be a difficult task, much more so than during the day, as it is pitch black on the outer facing canyon walls. (STR) Athletics DC 15, disadvantage for any character with less than Darkvision.

If the group decides to descend into the canyon the meager torch light of the camp offers enough illumination that climbing down could be done without a check as the climb up had been.

This message was last edited by the GM at 21:03, Tue 12 Oct 2021.