Chapter 2A - A Jaunt Into The Country

[Squirrellord]

You asked for a couple so here are 2 athletic check rolls
Athletics(3): [1d20+3] = 8+3 = 11, [1d20+3] = 5+3 = 8
While he is moving debris, Unbar will ask Grimlin "Yer leg, old or new injury?"

[Chris1234]

Vic is first off the mark to work with the gnarlly dwarf and the pair wrestle out a pair of boulders.
Meanwhile Unbar and Val can't quite get it together and only manage to roll out a single, albeit larger, piece of masonary.

"Val. Vic. Unbar. Fine," replies Grimlin. "Had the leg all me life. The bad knee about a century. I was still in me middlin' years. Big rock from a stone giant knocked me right up in th' air. Spinnin' over an' over, I was!"

A pair of collapsed, unmoving legs come into view in the bottom of the broken gatehouse.

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Two more sets of Athletics skill checks, please. (Guidance can be used).
And ask five more questions, if you wish.

[Nocturno]

Vic works with the dwarf again.

Athletics(0) (Dis)Advantage: [1d20] = 9 [1d20] = 6
Guidance: [1d4] = 4

Athletics(0) (Dis)Advantage: [1d20] = 4 [1d20] = 1
Guidance: [1d4] = 4

When you roll better on a d4 than a d20, you know you are in trouble.
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"How long ago did they fly by? Could you tell what kind of monsters they were? Any idea where the townsfolk fled to?"

[counterkid]

Here are some athletics checks for Val.

[1d20+5] = 11+5 = 16
[1d20+5] = 12+5 = 17

[Chris1234]

Vic and Grimlin, Guided by Unbar, manage to roll out some small boulders. "They flew by a day since. Pale-skinned giants, they were. Four o' 'em came down from the sky an' uprooted out blackstone in the village square then took it back to them's cloud castle an' drifted orf later. Eastish."
In the same time, Val impressively walks out twice that number of medium size masonry.
"Before that, townsfolk, cut ofrf from the keep, fled north. Probably hid in some caves to the north. Guards in the town went too."

The legs belong to a human guard in leathers. Very crushed and very dead.
With some more effort the group manage to uncover two more human guards.
Not so flattened but still just as dead."That's the lot o' 'em. My thanks."

======
Another couple of question if you wish.
And what does the group intend to do after that?

[Nocturno]

"Know if any in the town had dealing with Zhents? Those folk have been helpful. But typically they are out for profit of some kind."

Vic will suggest helping to bury the dead then head to the caves.

[Squirrellord]

Unbar will offer his services as a cleric of Moradin regarding the burial of the dead.
He does have a couple questions as well
"You've mentioned blackstone twice now, it would seem the giants came specifically for it. What exactly is blackstone?" and "Are there any others left in the fort with you beyond these three?"

[Chris1234]

"Zhents? Pah! Them bum-biters? Sugar-coated themselves these days!" spits Grimlin. "I remember them from afores. Bullies at best. Slavers an' murderers the most. Baneites the worst. Be not fooled." He seems remarkably emphatic, and fumbles for something in a pouch. "I got this off the coolin' body o' a priest o' Bane what tried t' cart me off as a slave. Couldn't enspell while 'e was bein' strangled." It's an enamelled disk on a mithril chain.

Black Hand of Bane.png (64.16 KiB) Viewed 5671 times

Looking at Unbar he nods, "Aye, fellow o' Moradin, II'll take ye up on that. Come back at sun up an we can take care o' th' lads."

With the continued questioning the ancient warrior looks up vacantly as he recalls, "Th' Balckstone, aye. Black as Shar's heart! When I were a lad, me beard barely enough t' justify th' name, I remembers it before they built this village round it. A druid, 'nother o' me kin, old even then, was watching over it. Charged me, on 'is deathbed, in th' name o' Moradin, to do the same. Never said how it got t' be there." He pauses for breath, recognising his audience once more. "It were shiny, mirrorlike, but only reflected th' land, th'` buildings an' animlas. Not folks. Only showed folks at th' wane o' th' moon an' then only to them as sees in th' dark. Hard too. Th' best o' chisels couldn't mark it."

"Three left, two lads an' a lass, all clueless an' in shock. All barely out o' their cradles. Sleepin' now. So, now, tell me, why are you here? Not hunters, clearly. Not loggers. So what's yer real business here?"

[Nocturno]

"The elves of the area sent a representative to Waterdeep. We were sent back with him to settle the logging disputes."

[Chris1234]

"Good thing, that'd be," nods Grimlin.

[Nocturno]

"So it was literally a black stone, nigh indestructible?"

[Chris1234]

"Unless yore a mage or a giant, I s'pose," grunts Grimlin.

[counterkid]

"Grimlin, what do you know of the logging dispute?"

[Chris1234]

“When I were a lad, this were a abandoned huntin’ lodge,” replies the gnarly dwarf, stamping his reinforced boot to show that they’re standing inside ‘the lodge’. “Nandars’ lodge, mind, but th’ Ardeep Elves forced ’em out.

"Now all were quiet ’til ten year ago, when Lord Drezlin Nandar and ’is Lady Velrosa came ’ere. Built a new motte-’n’-bailey, they did,” he gestures to the village. “That’s their business, see, th’ Nandars, buildin’ an’ roads an’ bridges an’ loggin’. Began making forays into th’ wood, they did. Deeper they went, lookin’ for som’it or other. Anyway, more elves it seems ‘ad come back an’ pushed back at th’ Nandars, rough, like.

“Last year some o’ ’em attacked Blackstone an’ Drezlin, ’e were one o’ th’ many slain. ‘E were standin’ on th’ roof o’ this keep ’n’ a arrow took ’m in th’ eye. End o’ ’im. Lady Velrosa told ’em she wuz gonna make peace with th’ Ardeeps. Them th’ rocks came. An’ that were the end o’ that. Rock took ’er.”

***
It's now late in the day and Unbar's motley crew have been on the go for maybe sixteen hours*.

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*GM theatrically dusts off the fatigue rules.

[Squirrellord]

Not sure where we used up 16 hours, but if that is case then Unbar bids Grimlin a fair night and suggests the group head back over to the inn to rest and to check up on the Zhents, the lady and the elf.