Part 1 - The Witchwood

[BowenSilverclaw]

[spoiler]
Can I roll listen and spot since I haven't been interacting with the planning over the chili?  

What?  Me, neglecting this game?  I swear I haven't!  
[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Go ahead, but I doubt it'll be necessary [/spoiler]

[spoiler]Do you move closer to the cabin or do you stick to the trees? It's about 60ft. from the sides of the cabin to the treeline.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I stick close to the trees.

...Yes, I'm cautious. So what?  
[/spoiler]

As you start moving throught the undergrowth near the clearing you accidentally step on a twig, alerting the dogs to your presence.

Barking loudly, they approach to about 10ft. distance, snapping their mouths at you but not yet attacking.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch cabin:
Hearing his hounds suddenly starting to bark, Jorr jumps up out of his seat, his bowl of chili falling to the ground.
"Must be those damn goblins!" he calls out as he grabs his bow and heads for one of the shuttered windows.

[PhaedrusXY]

Kalal grabs his axe and heads for the door. "No way they could have followed us here..." he mutters.

[Nanshork]

Goldflower finally starts paying attention to things again after having ignored the tactics filled conversation that had gone on.  As she obviously goes out the front door, she says, "Or maybe some poor little dear has gotten themselves lost, I know we almost did."

[Risada]

"Calm down, mateys! You guys won't like the taste of my meat anyway..."

Noticing there's no way out, he decides to introduce himself to whoever is on the cabin - yes, even to the goblinoids.

"Hello! My name is Sckhar, and I'm looking for some criminal hobgoblins! Have seen any around?"

[BowenSilverclaw]

Peering out one of his arrow slits Jorr says "Well, it ain't no stinkin' goblin. Seems to be some kind of dragon-man. Friend of yours, fellas?"

[Nanshork]

Though the newcomer thinks that his is tall, Goldflower is even taller.  The 7'3" half-giantess walks over to him and pats him on the head.  "Aww, you poor little thing.  Did you get lost?  Come inside now and have some chili, it will warm you up.  We can talk about the goblins inside"  She shoos him towards the cabin.

[PhaedrusXY]

Kalal beams at the sound of the name "Ah, Brother Sckhar! Yes, he's a friend of mine, indeed! Good with a lute*, and always has a great tale on his tongue. We were just discussing what to do about this hobgoblin menace. It seems its likely more than mere bandits, my friend." His face turns grim as he says the last.'

[spoiler]*Replace with whatever instrument you actually play, if any. [/spoiler]

[Risada]

"Hm! What is this!? Brother Kalal, it's been a while..." Sckhar extends his scaly hand and shakes Kalal's hand, smiling. "How are you doing? Wait... you know about these hobgoblins? And they're not mere thieves? Please tell me more about it... I guess I will accept your friend's suggestion and join you all..."

[PhaedrusXY]

"Yeah, a party of them tried to ambush us on the Dawn Way. From the things they said, and the holy symbol of the cleric with them, we gather that they're part of some kind of cult devoted to freeing one of the spawn of Khyber, a powerful fiend named Tiamat. Goldy here can tell you all you'd want to know about that... although knowing you, you're probably well versed on that cult already...

Anyway, it seems these kinds of attacks have been going on frequently around these parts, and are only getting worse. So we're trying to decide what to do about it."

[Risada]

"Hmmm... so they're fanatical goblinoids trying to free some ancient fiend? I guess scaring them won't be enough to stop them." Sckhar ponders for a while. "I don't see any other way except stopping the leader of ths group... and talking probably isn't an option."

Suddenly, a huge grin appears on the dragonborn's face. "Are you guys opposed to beating some sense into these goblinoids' heads?"

[PhaedrusXY]

"Bwahaha! If only that were enough...

No, we're afraid there is actually an army of them coming here, and this is only the first group. We were talking about destroying the Skull Gorge Bridge to the North of here to slow the rest of them down, for one. Then maybe harassing them as they try to pass through the Old Forest Road. Although finding and destroying their leaders might be another approach...

We think the bunch here now are holed up in Vraath Keep. So we might be able to find out more about what they're planning there, if we can manage to not get our heads chopped off that is."

[Risada]

"Is this keep close? Might as well stop the goblinoids in there first.... I don't want to get backstabbed while bringing the bridge down... and about heads getting chopped: do you really believe in defeat when both of us are together? What happened to you? You're not allowed to think about that!"

[Agita]

"Heh. Nice name." Stepping out of the shed, the woman in the Karrnathi military uniform introduces herself. "Colonel Harika ir'Brandt. Honestly, I prefer cutting the nonsense out of their heads. Anyway, more importantly, if we go after the hobbos who are already in the vale first, there's the chance that more might come while we're not looking. I'm not worried about getting surprised by a few of those weaklings."

[VennDygrem]

Yamanu, a small biped with the features of a jackal, greets the dragon-man, and continues on with the talk of tactics.
"I believe that perhaps a trap could be set, to begin sowing discord among their ranks. Going after some of their leaders may help, but I think if we can manage to take out a sizable group of them, it might be useful to allow a single one of them to flee. Surely there must be one coward among them, even among a pack of zealots. When we sack their regiment, we can find some way to spread false information that this coward will bring to their next nearest stronghold. We could use this false information to set up the aforementioned trap, perhaps with the aid of some illusory magics depending on the plan.

Of course, this is but one thought out of many possibilities."

[PhaedrusXY]

"Wow... what a devious mind you have, Yamanu. Remind me never to get on your bad side." Kalal chuckles.

[BowenSilverclaw]

"It's not a bad idea in and of itself, kid, but it would help to know how many gobbos we're up against before attempting to set up a trap."

[VennDygrem]

"Ah, but the beauty of it is that it allows us to be in control of the information. Depending on what we feed to the enemy, we can not only set up a trap, but track this hypothetical coward to find a larger or hidden base of operations, or draw out an important leading figure. Depending on how well such a plan is executed, the possibilities are endless."

[BowenSilverclaw]

"Well, I've spotted a couple of patrols lately, but due to only bein' by my lonesome I never engaged them. We could set up a trap for one of those and see where the survivors run of to..."

[VennDygrem]

"Hmm, that's a good start. Smaller scale than my plan, certainly, but it could work to our favor, so long as we don't get spotted while tracking them."

[Risada]

"Hmm, that's a good start. Smaller scale than my plan, certainly, but it could work to our favor, so long as we don't get spotted while tracking them."

"How about we do this on a single troop before tackling Vraath Keep, and then the same after we check it out? Supposing the first troop is originating from the Vraath Keep, that is... otherwise we check whatever place the goblinoid will run to..."