"Yes, do not move forward until the line is formed."
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:34, Tue 15 Feb 2022.

~~That one can think on her feet, it seems,~~ Alleycat thought to himself when Sora did her part to add to the clever ruse that Hargrin had devised. ~~Good for her.~~

And it looked as if the head Kobold had bought into it -- at least for the time being.

For his part, Mekkar was uncertain whether Hargrin's intent was to ride the coat-tails of his ploy all the way into a spot inside the captors' night camp, or whether the Dwarf was merely looking for a more advantageous situation from which the rescuers could launch an attack against their ambushers.

To the Waterdhavian's way of thinking, if they could keep the wool pulled over the kobolds' eyes, they should take advantage of the opportunity to gain a position inside the captors' camp. Being able to deceive one's foes -- or marks -- and hopefully catch them by surprise was almost always a good idea, in Mekkar's experience. Once in place, surely other opportunities would present themselves. Probably. Maybe.

For the moment, however, Alleycat held his position and waited to see how things would play out . . .
This message was last edited by the player at 01:43, Tue 15 Feb 2022.

Sora move dup towards Antru and Hargrin, but no further.   She could hear the Kobold but not see it. "Please do not attack, i am seeing to my cousin." She heads over to Antru and guides him over to Hargrin, speaking loud enough for the kobolds to hear. "Please see to his wounds Brother....can i get some light here please?" She then whispered to them both.

"We need to see what we are up against here."

Amorette moves to Hargrin's side, slowly and casually, as if to make room for Sora and Antru. Her eyes drift to the road before them, trying to peer through the mist. She couldn't agree more with the half-elf- She would rather not submit herself to the kobalds again, especially blind.

"Friends, gather! Patch your wounds, and we will finally be brought to serve to the Queen!"

Antru guides his horse as best he can with one hand. His other clutching at the bolt in his shoulder. He didn't look to happy with having yet another bolt stuck in him. He slowly gets down off the horse once up closer to Hargrin. [Language unknown: "Ne mihi ntsale. Ee k O? U insahe?"] Antru mutters to his self. "How far you want to go with this ruse?" He asks, keeping his vice as low as possible, while letting Hargrin look at his wound.

The kobald stands, waiting quietly, in the raging storm.  He is at the limits of your dark vision, if you have it, and look for for him, while standing near Hargrin.

Sora smiled at her elven friend. [Language unknown: "All sietpr'ieth....K ha ncwas k men iven po si."] She loomed at Hargrin. "What can you do for my cousin brother Hargrin?" she said this loudly enough for the kobd to hear them...just, then whispered.

"If we can get some light up and see what we are against, we may have a chance. The element of surprise is gone - let's see if we can push this"

Speaking loudly, Amorette peers over at Antru. "That's quite a wound! Could take a bit of time to heal it." She looks up at Sora and whispers, "I cannot cast any light myself. Do we line up?"

She pushes down around the shaft of the bolt in her leg, hoping that keeping some pressure on her injury would help in the long run.

Hargrin carefully got out his supplies and set about pulling arrows and binding wounds. It wasn't such healing as his Lady could supply, but it should at least help keep them from bleeding out further. "I've no light." He murmurs, holding up a bandage for Sora to ostensibly assist with. "I've no need of it, especially if I am to head the line." He could probably take the leader, or down him enough for the others to pile on.

The dwarf reached for something else in his supplies as went from Antru to Catrina to Amorette, surreptitiously keeping an eye on the kobold's doings. "I say line up, and if anyone catches sight of the other bastards, let them lead the attack. Take the leader before we hit their camp if we don't, and scatter before they can shoot back."

Taria looks down and grimaces. Her face mostly hidden by a cloak that has been pulled well over her head to protect from the weather. She wondered if this duplicitous artifice would prove successful, such ploys were well outside her expertise. She had to place her trust in others, those that are masters of spinning tales and bending others to their will. She never expected that from the holyman, but perhaps the veil over her eyes as a child were enough to blind her to his talents.

Antru rolls his eyes at Sora, but has a slight smile about it. At least until Hargrin starts poking about the wound. Turning his head to look at the Kobold, Antru speaks in their harsh language. [Language unknown: Isno iemoit mo icaounven wered ri? Us Ortereome icstpr thi ngome elacpaie int hervorrom santedoer weter. Lo of evthon ad la on at es ere? Fi hasicante esthissan osvor is p peerng miset K elinhe ntur ac ore it ent iche ieland lin n."]

The kobald stares at the group. The rain falls in buckets. The wind howls.

"Recruits call me sir. Recruits get in line. Recruits do not ask questions."

Sora looked at the kobold, feeling anger bubbling up inside. She looked at him for a moment, then to teh otehrs as she was at Antru's side. "We need light here....Faim, if you could be so kind. I don't want my cousin to fall because his wound is infected. He's one of the best trackers we have."

She looked at Hargrin and Antru, whispering. "When the lights come on, we move. Seperate and take out the archers. I will focus on the kobold."

"Yeah, you got that Manfred. Wait for it." Cat says to her donkey steed, it yee-hawed in agreement. Cat readies for the light to appear.

Faim nudged his mule to the group clustered around Hargrin. He nodded to Sora but seemed a bit hesitant.

"The light must be cast on something I can touch. We will be illuminated when I cast it."

She looked at him. "Just cast it on a stone - we need it only to check the wounded." As he came forward, she whispered to him. "Something small. Then if need be we can cover it or throw it and light them while we take cover."

Faim casts light on a small stone and hands it to Sora. The group is briefly illuminated as the stone is exchanged.

Alleycat could see very little. Nor could he tell whether his companions intended to follow through with Hargrin's ruse as means of gaining access to the captors' night camp, or whether they intended to gain a more short-term advantage against the group of Kobolds that had ambushed them.

He decided that he was accomplishing nothing at the moment, so he set his crossbow down against the trunk of the tree behind which he had taken cover, with the tip of the bolt pointed upwards. Then he shrugged his pack off of his shoulders, and set it down on the ground.

Next, he opened up the pack and pulled out his two lanterns. He was unsure of the location of the Kobolds -- other than the leader, who had stepped forward -- so he was also unsure which lantern would be most useful if his companions elected to pick a fight here and now.

With the hooded lantern and the bulls-eye lantern placed on the ground before him, he could choose one and light it up when the time came to either fight or move on . . .
This message was last edited by the player at 02:16, Thu 17 Feb 2022.

With everyone's wounds as tended as he could get them without magic, Hargrin nodded tensely to the others and went to find his place in line. Best to get this show on the road and hope the kobolds got comfortable or cocky enough to make a mistake.

Sora felt anger at the kobold, but once the wounds were attended to, she got in line behind Hargrin, a smile on her face. "If you would indulge....sir.  Some of our kind are without the ability to see in the dark. May they keep the light handy?"

The heavy rain continues to fall. The wind howls.

The Kobald replies.

"Recruits may light their way."


Lightning flashes!

It illuminates a group of kobalds scattered along the road in your direction of travel. They are armed with crossbows and shortswords. All have crossbows at the ready.

The group seems larger than your own.

There is a crash of thunder, then all goes black except for those with dark vision and those within the limits of the light spell.

Everyone within the limits of the light spell can be seen from at least a 1/4 mile away even in the storm.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:12, Fri 18 Feb 2022.

Amorette takes the group of kobalds in as they are lit with the glow of the lightening. Her stomach churns a bit- this is a far bigger group than she anticipated. They all appeared to be alert, as well. Trying to surprise a surprise attack here was not likely to be effective. Better to get them to take them closer, or at least walk with them, then attack while they were slightly more off-guard.

She felt the need to move biting at her- Who knows what was happening to the prisoners as they waited here...

"Thank you, Brother Hargrin! This dressing should do nicely. Please, let us go! Let us not delay our guides."

She addresses the kobald then. "Please, sir! Show us the way. Let us be of service!"

Bross simply does his best to uphold the charade, making supportive "Yeah!" noises when the others praise the Queen.

~~Not very good odds,~~ Alleycat thought to himself as the sudden flash of lightning lit up the surrounding vicinity and showed the gaggle of Kobolds down the road a ways -- all of them with their crossbows in hand, looking ready to shoot at a moment's notice.

The Waterdhavian was not a trusting man, even in the best of circumstances. And it struck Mekkar that while this was not the worst situation that he had ever found himself in, it certainly wasn't the best, either.

And to top things off, his gut was telling him to stay hidden, stay out of sight. Actually, not telling -- yelling at him . . . well, if guts could yell. But call it what you like, Alleycat had saved himself lots of trouble -- and maybe even his life, a time or two -- by paying attention whenever his instincts were trying to tell him something.

For one thing, he wasn't sure what the head Kobold meant by "recruits". Did it mean that the adventuring party would be accepted among those who could fight on behalf of this so-called Queen of Dragons? Or was the idea to have them serve in another way -- say, by joining the ranks of those who would be offered up as sacrifices?

For another thing, it seemed pretty clear that the Kobolds held the advantage just now, given the present circumstances. And to make a perfect target of himself by stepping out into the bright light seemed like a really, really bad idea.

And so it was that Alleycat resolved to stay put for the moment, hiding in the shadows behind his tree, where he could watch and listen. He could always join his companions later, if things went well for them. Or try to free them, if things went not so well . . .
This message was last edited by the player at 20:01, Sat 19 Feb 2022.

Cat follows along with the groups ploy, waiting at least for a signal that the group will attack. Though she doesn't really understand the threat,"Hmm, just a bunch of kobolds with crossbows. I can probably kill off the leader from here, they'll either be scared off or fire at me. Good news is crossbows have a reload time meaning everyone has the advantage to killing them all before to start reloading." Cat thought, strategizing a game plan as everyone follows the kobold.