Chapter 4 - The High and the low

[Jessi+]

Amaranth looks at the arrivals, getting ready to act. She had to keep the area safe, and these goblins are just way too close to the farms! She wasn't about to just rush forward leaving her new friends behind, however. She positions herself and gets ready for the action.


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Initiative [1d20+3]=8+3=11

Move: 20 ft closer to the nearest goblin
Action: Dodge

EDIT: If the goblins go before her and one of them is within her move of 35 feet, she will move toward them and attack. If one of them dies from the first hit, she'll do the offhand if there's another goblin close by, otherwise she'll focus.
Attack with main hand unarmed [1d20+5]=13+5=18 damage [1d4+3]=4+3=7
Attack with off-hand unarmed [1d20+5]=14+5=19 damage [1d4]=4

[Chris1234]

Harmony's quick off the mark, clutches her holy icon and points at the wolf. There's is deep "Boonng!" sound and the wolf flinches [4 necrotic damage from Toll the Dead] before it charges Harmony, reaching her but no more. The goblins also close the distance, waving their rusty swords, one running up to Harmony and the other pair just failing to engage with Amaranth by some five foot.

The halfling steps forwards, chops one goblin in the larynx, permanently ending it's interest in Faerun, [#1, dead]and she then kicks her second would-be assailant in the side. [4 crush] The fellow grunts and stares venomously at her.

The young noble reluctantly draws her sword and steps up to Amaranth's opponent. She vaguely waves her sword at it whilst calling, "That's it; we're winning!" [Rallying Cry, grants ally* an additional attack]

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*Amaranth has an additional attack at the end of round 1

[Jessi+]

Bolstered by her party cohesion, Amaranth gladly takes advantage of the opening and backhands the creature.

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Attack with main hand unarmed [1d20+5]=11+5=16 damage [1d4+3]=3+3=6

[Chris1234]

Amaranth's rallied blow cracks bones in her remaining attacker's skull. The goblin dies.

Round 2
The wolf resists Harmony's cantrip and then bites her in the leg. [7 pierce] She stays on her feet. The remaining goblin turns to confront Amaranth and its curved blade bites. [Pack tactics, advantage, AC18, 4 slash]

What next?

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Just realized I've missed a bit from Lena: (minor retcon): just after leaving the city Lena talked about matters of import for a while (10 minutes) which inspired the whole group. (Everyone starts this combat with 4 temporary HP.)

***
Lena again uses her action to Rally her allies: Amaranth gains an additional attack this round.

[Jessi+]

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How many enemies are on the field? Is it just the wolf now, or are there more goblins around?

[Chris1234]

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One wolf, one goblin.
(Two goblins are dead. Those remaining have succeeded on a morale check.)

[Jessi+]

Amaranth is lost in her movements, her body taking over after long months of training. Her fists connect, first with the wolf to get its attention, then toward the remaining goblin.

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First attack on wolf
Attack with main hand unarmed [1d20+5]=9+5=14 damage [1d4+3]=3+3=6
Off-hand and extra attack on goblin
Attack with off-hand unarmed [1d20+5]=2+5=7 damage [1d4]=3
Attack with main hand unarmed [1d20+5]=13+5=18 damage [1d4+3]=1+3=4

[Chris1234]

There's a yelp and a whine as Amaranth knuckles the wolf's soft parts below its ribs. The goblin leans heavily to lit left to avoid the halfling's offhand attack only to be perfectly lined up for her leading arm which leaves a red imprint on the side of her foe's head.

Lena continues her Rallying Cry.

Round 3
With both goblin and wolf focused on Amaranth, Harmony sounds a divine bell which tolls the goblin into the afterlife as its chest implodes. [Toll the Dead, fail, 11 necrotic]

With all the goblins dead the wolf scarpers. (Free attack of opportunity if Amaranth wishes.)

Already a pair of crows circle overhead.


[b]End of Combat[/b]

What next?

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Amaranth gains +134xp
Lena and Harmony each gain +73xp

[Jessi+]

Seeing the wolf start to back away, Amaranth notices a moment and brings her fist down, she intends to put it out of its misery - letting such an animal limp off into the distance and suffer and fester and die by itself somewhere didn't sit well with the little halfling. Better to be dead than to suffer before certain death.

Once the animal is either dead or gone, Amaranth will start searching the goblins. She doesn't say anything while she does this, her usual chipper banter stifled by the memories of her last goblin fight and worries of the implications fight for room in her thoughts. She is being thorough in her search of their bodies, she wants to find it all.

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Amaranth will take that attack.
Attack with main hand unarmed [1d20+5]=15+5=20 damage [1d4+3]=1+3=4

[Chris1234]

"Poor old wolfie. Those greenies are, were, goblins, right?" Harmony rubs her leg and grimaces. "That's sore. Anyone else wounded?" she asks as she gets out her healer's kit.

While Amaranth searches the goblins Lena keeps lookout, seemingly deep in thought as if somehow far distant. Harmony fixes her leg wound with the healer's kit.

The search turns up three rusty scimitars, a dagger, a ten inch long bone and some coins: eighteen copper and a pair of silver. Half a dozen fat crows circle overhead.

[Chris1234]

When Amaranth ponts out that this is the third group of goblins she's encoutered and the only group without Black Network coinage, Lena replies, "Perhaps they're being paid by a single paymaster who's west of the city?"

Harmony pipes in, "I've not been out of the city much. Well, noty before now. But I have heard that the Black Network don't appreciate Our Smiling Lady."

***
On the way to the farm, perhaps three quarters of the way there, amongst many observations about the fields, the breezes, crops, night sky and the city walls, Harmony says, "I don't expect you'll know much about Rosebloom?" For once she pauses, glancing between her two companions.

[Jessi+]

"Rosebloom? Not something I'm overly familiar with, no." Amaranth glances over at her, "Why?"

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Does Amaranth know anything about Rosebloom?

[Chris1234]

"Well, it people like I was, you know, young, had no home, no family," says the young teen. "We've got our own cellar now," she says proudly. "Twenty seven of us. We get two meals a day and a roof! Preacher from Our Smiling Lady sermonises to us during the meals. We clean stuff, keep look outs, run errands and messages for local folks. No nicking, though. They give us bread, carrots, that sort of thing. I'm the first to be chosen by Our Smiling Lady to recieve her power.

"Want to know how it happened? Well, twelve of us, all scroungers around East Gate, were given a golden dragon each by someone. My friend, Charlie, she's from South Ward, had borrowed money from a coinshark for some tonic for her little friend Bertie. Had a hacky-mucky chest he did. Porrly kid. Ill most winders. The coinshark wanted his money; like hundreds of dragons! The interest had reached twenty gold coins a day! Said he'd cut her bad!" Harmony shakes her head.

"Anyway, Charlie was my friend, not from Eastgate though, but we both loved Our Smiling Lady, and she came to me for help. Had no one else and couldnt stay in South Ward. So, we helped. All twelve of us chipped in our dragons, most coin we'd ever had really, and I went to a house of chance and gambled it all on the wheel of fortune. My age; I bet on my age! A black cat basking in the sun looked at me through the window, although I don't think it could see me. Without realising I let the bet ride and won coin beyond imagining. When I looked back through the window that cat had gone. So I left too. Hann, an East Gate guard, was there and he recognised me. Said someone was offering deeds to a cellar for quick coin. And that's how we got Charlie out of trouble, got us our roof, and three dragons each too. Hann made sure I wasn't robbed.

"Hann's a Tymoran. His brother's a priest of Our Smiling Lady too. He's the one that ordained me after lots of talks and questions and lessons. And, well, here we are at the farm.." Harmony trails off.

======
Amaranth doesn't.

[Jessi+]

Amaranth is amazed at this story. She is swept up in the telling of it and by the time the story is over she is smiling at her new friend. "Wow! That's incredible! Well done, indeed."

Looking around the farmland she remembers where the workers were earlier and the directions that they gave her as to where the best place to watch while guarding would be. She suggests that the three of them split up, but stay relatively close. They could see each other but not speak without drawing attention. They would hold watch to keep as much land as possible guarded during the night, and if there was a disturbance they would softly make some sort of animal noise to alert the other two.

[Chris1234]

A red squirrel dashes out from the rough grass as the trio approach the farm. It stops in front of Lena and chitters, skirts arounf Harmony and the stops on the far side of Amaranth, chitters again before running off into the rough grass on the other side of the path.

The farm reveals no immediate surpises. Name-dropping 'Jack' as instructed garners the brave adventurers a bowl of porridge, some big chunks of bread and thick slices of cheese. After a short rest* the trio enter the fields and split up but stay fairly close.

Moonlight bathes the landsape making it both eerie and mysterious. An owl hoots somewhere in the direction of the barn. Time passes. Clouds move across the sky and out of sight. The stars move altogether more slowly.
[DC6 Constitution saving throw from everybody, please. Success avoids gaining one level of fatigue. Failure by 5 or more means intermittantly nodding off.]

A little while later that's a strangle scream, "AArrgghh!" from off to Amaranth's left. It sounds like Lena. Harmony is off somewhere to Amaranth's right**.

Initiatives and statement of intent please.

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*This counts as a a Short Rest for the purposes of refreshing abilities, spending HG and so forth.
**Disadvantaged DC7 Perception check, please, to see Lena. Success by 5 or more gains additional information.

[1d12]=9
Alphabetical order [1d3]=3