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Post by silentblade on Jan 25, 2006 21:25:16 GMT -5
Kesson believing the matter to be settled turns his mount around and returns to the fallen goblins. The elf quickly dismounts the horse and returns to his task of finding the goblins trail with Liad.
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Post by lawfather on Jan 25, 2006 21:28:05 GMT -5
As things have settled, Serol too turns his horse around not sure at all what has transpired or why. A lot of talk about dead bodies and movement. He didn't understand why it would be an issue. If the gnome wanted to pick the nose of the corpses and scratch some notes on his paper. He saw no harm in it. Jack could search the bodies and Jervis could research and mutilate them. Neither would offend Kossuth.
Instead he heeled his horse closer to the elf and says, "Some day Kessen, you'll have to explain to me what just happened."
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Post by silentblade on Jan 25, 2006 21:30:42 GMT -5
Kesson looks up at the cleric as he sits on his steed and winks, "When I figure it for myself I will be sure to share my friend."
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Post by silentblade on Jan 25, 2006 21:34:49 GMT -5
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Post by DM Cyphus on Jan 26, 2006 9:56:31 GMT -5
It seemed a bit tedious, but Kesson and Liad still tracked the Goblins back anyway. After an hour of tracking, it was obvious where the Goblins had come from...the Featherale Ruins. Off in the distance, the shadowy keep could be seen. It was hard to make out details, even for Kesson and Jervis. The whole area was dark, save the moonlight. A mile away from the keep, it seemed apparent to Kesson that there were no light sources active in the keep. If it was as he'd remembered it being when he passed it so many years ago, one would be able to spot something like that through the cracks. Though it wasn't possible to be entirely certain that there wasn't a light source somewhere closer to the interior where more solid remnants of walls did remain. The Goblins had clearly been walking from the keep, though as Kesson drew closer it seemed that their pace would quicken here and there, only stopping to rest occasionally and then picking the pace up again for a time. (((The Ruins are a mile away. The layout of the keep isn't hard to figure out. A lot of folks have gone through the Ruins and investigated them...a lot of average folks as well, your less-adventurous types. Essentially it's a cheap keep surrounded by a freestanding wall about 10 feet high. The wall is pretty battered. In some areas the wall is completely gone except for some rubble. In front of the keep, there is an entrance that corresponds with the entrance to the keep itself. There's about 100 feet between the wall and the keep. Old campsites, trash and rubble litter the ground all throughout. If you're curious about the layout of the keep, grab a Stronghold Builder's Guide and look at the example keep [The Cheap Keep] toward the back. Essentially that's what this is, and the layout is practically identical. Rubble makes it hard to move very well in some areas, but those are mostly in areas near the exterior walls of the keep. Likely, Kesson has come across this keep before, so I took the liberty of saying so. It's also likely that Arelian has seen it and possible that Jervis has seen it too. He's at least heard of it. Serol would be the only one that really has a slimmer chance of not having passed the keep. If his preaching didn't take him to Sundrah [most of the Braziers haven't been that far North...] he wouldn't have passed it, since the road doesn't lead to anywhere but Sundrah and Elven areas. The Elves are a bit picky about their religions, and tend to favor the Elven pantheon or the gods with ties to the arcane, the Art and the Weave. Citizens also tend to be higher class, and in truth more converts to Kossuth come from the lower class. Anyhow...that's the situation. The tracks were obviously on the road the entire time.)))
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Post by delkar on Jan 26, 2006 10:13:18 GMT -5
"It seems this is were they came from..." Arelian said taking stock of the situation. "The goblins have the advantage over us during the night with their keener sight...though we could light a torch or use a sunrod while we investigate we would advertise our presence."
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Post by lawfather on Jan 26, 2006 16:38:44 GMT -5
Serol dismounted his horse once again, the keep was just a darker shadow on the black sky for his human eyes. Still he trusted the ranger. He said instead, "We had best camp for the night. Fighting the goblins at night would not be well advised." He looked around near the trail they had been on for a suitable and defensible camp. One that might provide them some protection from casual looks. "I don't like being this close if we are to camp, but riding back on the road will only invite more chances for discovery. I suggest we make camp off of the road. We will build no fire tonight," this alone was enough to make the cleric's heart heavy. "if we did, we might as well light a beacon to us. I would ask that either Jervis or Kessen take the first two watches when the hour is darkest. I myself can take the third when the sun begins to lighten, I expect to be up during this time anyway."
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Post by delkar on Jan 26, 2006 17:07:34 GMT -5
"I agree...I cannot see in the dark as well as the others can..." Arelian said. "We shall make our voyage in the morning..."
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Post by silentblade on Jan 26, 2006 17:38:13 GMT -5
The elf speaks in whispers, "Let us get some rest then." he makes his way off the road looking for a decent place to set up camp. "I will take first watch, if thats alright."
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Post by jamondashwood on Jan 26, 2006 18:14:10 GMT -5
Jervis, who had not said much since the incodent on the road, simply followed the elf off the road and into the wild.
So they would be without fire and he would need to stand another watch. Things were not going well for the little gnome and the series of muffled arguements comeing from within the hood of his cloak might serve to illistrate this little fact.
When they set up, Jervis still needed to read his spellbook, and though his eyes were better adjusted to the darkness that those of Jack and Serol, he still found it difficult to read by.
Instead he pulls his strange lantern and adjusts a dial to that of but a candle light. He adjusts another and the light is focused instead, directly onto the book.
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Post by DM Cyphus on Jan 26, 2006 21:35:05 GMT -5
(((I'm just assuming on watch order here)))
As the sun rises, Serol is already awake. He has been on watch, and is now going about his morning rituals. Jervis is the next to wake up, as usual, with his studies calling to him. Kesson had taken the first watch, though his was longer than the others. He appeared to still be in a meditative state, facing the keep, but it was hard to tell for Jack...who had just started to rise. The keep awaited them, with any luck this day would prove worse for a band of Goblins than it did for the four.
(((If you're ready to make for the keep...feel free to RP the journey there or simply tell me you've left. The roads appear clear, and remain so for the duration of the journey. If you've got any strategy or anything like that to discuss, now'd be the best time for it. Your move, folks.)))
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Post by delkar on Jan 26, 2006 23:34:49 GMT -5
"So...how about Kesson and I take a closer look when we get there...then we can devise a plan of attack." Arelian suggests.
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Post by lawfather on Jan 27, 2006 8:49:44 GMT -5
Serol, who was just now getting his first look at the massive tower in ruin. He didn't have the sharp eye of the elf but he knew just from sheer size it could hold hundreds of goblins. "I don't like the idea of seperating. Who knows how many foes we will face in there. Goblins are creatures of darkness I doubt we will see many outside the halls of the keep during daylight hours. Those we do see will likely be not much more than sentries."
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Post by DM Cyphus on Jan 27, 2006 11:00:42 GMT -5
((((Keep dimensions for all are included in this post so you have an idea of how big it is. The layout, like I said, is very similar to the Cheap Keep in the Stronghold Builder's Guide.)))
The keep is two stories, so 20 feet high. Each story is about 120 feet wide by 120 feet high. There are ten foot walls surrounding the keep, but they lay mostly in ruin themselves, creating quite a bit of rubble about the place. The walls surround the keep, but leave about 100 feet between the keep and the walls of fairly clear space. No other structures exist between the walls and the keep...though rubble does lie about here and there.
The exterior walls of the keep itself are riddled with holes. There are so many holes about it, that you can barely imagine it was able to stay standing, but somehow it has. They are small holes, here and there, and large cracks as well. You can see through almost every area of the keep, though a few locations with interior walls that appear to remain intact can't be seen through. You imagine that, if they tried hard enough and the goal was to remain unseen, the Goblins might be able to house about 100 or so of them in the keep. If they packed tightly and weren't worried about being noticed, they might even be able to house somewhere between 150 and 175 Goblins in total.
As Kesson eyes the keep ahead, it seems apparent to him that they are at the very least attempting to remain unseen from a casual observer passing by. He cannot see them through the walls, but he is certain that the Goblins the group had encountered last night came from the keep. Surely they had not been alone.
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Post by delkar on Jan 27, 2006 14:14:19 GMT -5
"They could have an army laying in wait there..." Arelian said bemused.
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