Borderlands 3 - This is the game thread

[orelalaith]

The young child on the fence seems deeply in thought. Anyone doing triage before might recall she had dragged a young man (who unfortunately had died) under a wagon and was hiding under there. A decision made, she lightly hops off the fence and makes her way towards the caravans.

For the record, OOG will be in green

[Jenara]

Moving slightly to intecept the Young Girl, Navi raises a hand, not standing in the Girls way, but enough to slow her, just to get a better look, curious where her parents were..

[Skopa]

Seeing Navi has dismounted the mule, Justinian sets his jaw and leads Homer around the crowd to follow after the two companions of the bandaged man, popping the snap on the scabbard of his greatsword. Time to Operate.

[Stik]

The two dwarves shuffle a bit on the fence they are leaning against to make room for Ferric. Immediately upon arriving Ferric recognizes a fellow smith by the scorched hair on his beard. The two introduce themselves as Ulti and Deto, siblings. Deto, the smith, is the more talkative and quietly fills Ferric in on some details.
Legion scouts had been spotted well over a week ago, and the village headman had sent a pair of his own scouts to confirm the imperial presence. He then sent a pair of messengers to report the incursion to their baron and request aid. The cavalry had arrived too late, or just in time, depending on how one looked at it. Both Ulti and Deto agree that the village is vulnerable in its current condition, but it has been some time since imperial troops have been seen in the area. Ulti points out from time to time a few deserters have passed through, some stopping to steal crops or horses, or anything else they could get their hands on; others merely stopping to get a meal or to beg or buy supplies. There hasn’t been an actual attack in decades.
The village is generally friendly to demi-humans, although not many live here. As to a mule or draft horse, the village probably doesn’t have any for sale. In fact, they lost a few in the battle.

The two men who have left the market square make their way through the village in no particular hurry. Rook is forced to keep a good distance from them, to avoid giving away his presence from the rattle and creak of his kit. The men enter an undamaged house and leave a moment later, each carrying something, although the distance and the dark make it difficult for Rook to see exactly what. One man might be carrying weapons, and the other is carrying what appears to be a small cask on his shoulder. They are accompanied by two boys, one of whom is carrying a hooded lantern.

[Skopa]

The Rook has no problem keeping his distance. But he keeps tailing these men and boys, curious to see who they're meeting, curious also what they will do when they inevitably discover him following them. As of now he trails them and waits for his moment. It'll come.

[orelalaith]

Moving slightly to intercept the Young Girl, Navi raises a hand, not standing in the Girls way, but enough to slow her, just to get a better look, curious where her parents were..

"Hello. Are you with that caravan which just came through?" The girl's voice is light, but she speaks with an assurance of an adult. "Would you please point me to the master of the caravan?"

[Jenara]

"Perhaps, fancing joining us? We could do with another Pair of Eyes." The Young Girl grins, "She's over there." Pointing to Manda she makes no effort to move with her, "This place looks like a great place to find an Ironmongers shop." And with that she leads her towards Manda.

[Stik]

Jen and Orelalaith - I've opened a private thread for your conversation. You can pick it up there until you're done and then rejoin the main thread.

[Stik]

Skopa - Ferric is in the village, as are Navi and Ava (who have their own thread which will rejoin this one as soon as they resolve their conversation). Rook is on his own out here, so you'll be the only one posting in this thread right now. Also, my apologies, I thought I had posted this earlier this week. (I type my posts in MS Word then copy/paste them here because if I try to type them from scratch here, I usually get timed out.)

The quartet reaches the edge of the village, looking out at the broad meadow that separates the buildings from the croplands. They stand looking across the clearing, which is broken here and there by the bodies of fallen legionnaires, and more closely by the wagons of the caravan. There are few lights at this end of the village, and the moon has not yet risen. The only artificial light comes from a few candle lamps on the wagons.

They stare out for a moment then set to their work, doing something with the cask and the contents of the bag one of the men had slung across his body. After about two minutes, the two men move out of the cover of the building, creeping toward the last wagon in the line.

[Skopa]

Rook casually pulls his greatsword, follows them until they're too committed to turn back, then bellows,

"TO ARMS! TO ARMS! THIEVES!! THE CARAVAN IS UNDER ATTACK!!"

And very calmly cuts off their escape. "I knew you'd be here. Eventually."

[orelalaith]

not likely to be noticed by most people, but Ava, the child, jumps a little at the shout of thieves, and reaches under her cloak...

[Garbick]

"Damn fools" Ferric makes haste to Rook's location getting ready to bash heads

if action ensues:
Initiative: [1d10+6] = 2+6 = 8, To hit: Battle Axe: [1d20+4] = 20+4 = 24, Damage: Battle Axe: [1d8+7] = 7+7 = 14

Critical hit:
To hit: Battle Axe: [1d20+4] = 17+4 = 21, Damage: Battle Axe: [1d8+7] = 2+7 = 9

"Oh Yea, that's gonna hurt!!"

[Stik]

OOC - It took me a while to figure out what to do here, because the last thing I want to do is stifle anyone's enthusiasm, but Rook is some distance from the goings-on at the village square. He is on the outskirts of the village, far enough that his cry of alarm might or might not be heard by the folks in the square, depending on how loud the conversation is the moment.
I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the rest of the party in the interest of keeping things moving, but closing the distance to the where the caravan is parked will take a few rounds. Rook is on his own for the moment. The rest can catch up soon.

The two men freeze in place, staring at the big soldier and his drawn sword. One of them starts speaking quietly: “We were…we…we just…” then he turns and runs off away from the village and towards the fields. As he runs, his companion heaves the cask he is carrying in Rook’s direction and likewise runs off, but in a different direction.

As nimble as he may be, Rook can't intercept them both, or pursue them both since they are heading in different directions, although he might have a chance of catching one or the other, if he can keep up the pace while wearing armor.

The cask misses Rook by a few feet, and lands heavily, sloshing as it rolls and spilling its some of its contents on the ground through an open bung. It smells like lamp oil.

Those of the caravan crew that are with the wagons (as opposed to those standing sentry), eight in total, come swarming out a moment later, bearing a variety of weapons and looking for a target.

Skopa - Actions?

[Garbick]

OOC: Though its seems a waste of awesome hit/damage rolls, discard unless the perp runs toward me.

Ferric still heads for the caravan (worried about his wagon). yelling "Take Prisoners!"

[Stik]

OOC @Garbick - I did say the following, in a bright blue letters in the post immediately before Skopa's post:

Skopa - Ferric is in the village, as are Navi and Ava (who have their own thread which will rejoin this one as soon as they resolve their conversation). Rook is on his own out here, so you'll be the only one posting in this thread right now....