Ches 5 1368 : The Package

[Lurkwood_GM]

The Hideout

The cool winds of the fall, give way to the harsh winds of winter.  Preparations of the hideout takes most of the time, as goblins are settled in, provisions stocked, and the teleporation device activated.  Trips to Nesme are instantaneous now, with the other side of the portal opening up into the familiar non-descript building that the “interviews” were held in.  Some testing shows that the portal is not perfect, only allowing one person to pass through it at a time, and requiring 30 minutes or so to recharge after use.  Still, it’s better than walking.

Winter freezes Nesme, curtailing much of the activity in the city.  The temple, home to many people passing through, empties out as many folk move on to warmer climates.  Caravans come and go still, though less frequently as fruits and vegetables, and other seasonal good, become scarce.

In all this time, your employer has remain quiet, providing essentially all you ask while asking nothing in return. 

Fall to winter, winter to spring, and the cold snow is replaced with cold rain, that soaks the soil and the skin.  It is on such a rainy day that the R.N. makes an appearance through the portal.

“I have a task for you”, he states, when he has the two of you together.  

[Henry]

Poke?

Henry

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[Ed Boyle]

Nymh

"Of course, we are here to hold up our side of the bargain.  What is it that is asked of us?"

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[Henry Lewis]

“There is a caravan leaving from Waterdeep, which contains a package we would like”, he explains.  “It will be in Nesme in two 10-days, following the Long Road until Triboar, at which time it will follow along the river to Nesme.  It will stop over for the night, and then continue on for three more days to Silverymoon, where the package will be delivered, and then to Sundabar.”

“Obviously, I would not want to have the package obtained in Nesme, which would lead to unnecessary questions.  Anywhere else along the path would be fine.  The packet is about five and a half feet long, and three feet wide, and two-feet high.  It weighs about 100 pounds, and the contents are fragile.  An unusual shape, that should make it easy to find, though I would anticipate the caravan to have five or six wagons, and upwards of six riders accompanying it.”

“The box is not to be opened, and should be brought back to here.  You will need to have a way to bring it here once it is obtained.  You are, of course, free to keep any other treasure you find.”

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[Henry Lewis]

[OOC]

Depending on when/where you plan to get the box, you have from 5 to 10 days or more to plan.

Any other questions?

[Greg Rushton]

I was thinking about how to lay an ambush, but I don't like a lot of
the typical goblin options. Thoughts:

1. Raiding the caravan by force is a poor choice.

2. Setting traps is good, but there is a chance of damaging the goods
depending on what kind of traps. One thought is to have a series of
falling log traps set up and trigger them to take out sections of the
caravan. If we set up three or so, that should be enough to take out
half the caravan. First, set them up on the high side of a slope. Just
ahead, set up a tree that is ready to fall across the trail. When the
caravan approaches, trigger the tree fall to slow them down and then
the log-fall to take out a non-essential part of the caravan. We, and
the goblins, skedaddle into the woods and up the trail to the next
log-trap. If they send anyone after us, all the better as we can
whittle them down. This requires good timing and coordination ...
tough to do.

3. We could try to raid them at night. This could be done multiple
times so as to draw them out. First, set up an ambush away from their
campsite ... then lure some away with a feint, and draw them back to
the ambush. It's likely they will not leave the caravan unguarded so
this would require several ambushes to weaken their ranks. If they do
leave it unguarded, we keep a skeleton crew on hand to take it when
they do.

4. Combination of traps and spells. We could add to the traps idea
with some fog. If we can fog up most of the caravan and leave the last
wagon in the clear, then the goblins could pick them off one at a
time. This idea could be enhanced with a well-placed falling tree. The
fog rolls in, a tree falls to cut the last wagon off, others will have
trouble getting to the back of the caravan to help out while the
goblins pick them off. Again, this is a whittle-them-down thing and
we'd have to be quick and fast about hitting and moving on.

Ed, what do you think?

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[Henry Lewis]

OOC

This is a true Sandbox - so other options can be bribery, trickery, blackmail, etc...

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[Ed Boyle]

I like 3 and 4, but I think you are underestimating the effects of a strong soporific or laxative added to the food/water supply.  Perhaps for a day or two beforehand.  I like the idea that they are just experiencing a lot of bad luck before the raid, not enemy action.

Also, I'm thinking we want the goblins raids to seem as authentic (ie dumb) as possible, with you or I (perhaps disguised as goblins) making the actual grab of what we want, leaving them to pillage as their want.

We, or I anywAy, want to give the impression that a lot of this is goblin raiders, not necessarily us.  If we tip our hands too soon, we draw more attention to ourselves. 

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[Greg Rushton]

SInce bribery is on the table, how about this. We find someone on the
caravan (of a flexible moral world-view) to loose the horses one
night. We goblin-raid them and the horses all get away. That will slow
them down tremendously and give us chances to pick them off. That,
along with extra laxatives in the water.

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[Henry Lewis]

OOC

I have no opinion as to this, but Nesme would be the logical place to find such a person, and you'd need to have a plan as to how said person is IDd.

Also, we haven't dealt with this, but assume you have a minor network of folk in the city you can call upon.

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[Ed Boyle]

A capital plan!

We mix in some other annoyances along the way ( a nest of wasps that gets disturbed as the caravan passes, a dead tree that falls across the road) to make sure morale is low.

(I always forget if it is capital, or capitol in that usage)

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[Ed Boyle]

A capital plan!

We mix in some other annoyances along the way ( a nest of wasps that gets disturbed as the caravan passes, a dead tree that falls across the road) to make sure morale is low.

(I always forget if it is capital, or capitol in that usage)

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[Ed Boyle]

I'd also like to take a few months to discuss what type of wasps to have in The nest to be dropped in the road, who will carry our dinner spoons, the color socks worn by my PC, and more importantly, the thread count of my sheets.  These things are vital to the accuracy, and more importantly, the FUN that is derived in role playing.

May God have mercy on their souls...

[Greg Rushton]

Tracker Jackers.

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[Ed Boyle]

Agreed.

It was a tongue poke at Mark's game where 6+ emails were dedicated to taking the fancy clothes from a dead ghast.

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[Greg Rushton]

I have not followed that game for some time now. I'm glad it is
entertaining you :-)

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[Ed Boyle]

More exasperation than entertainment.

The story is good, makes a nice show it just seems to get interrupted by a bad legal jargon commercial or two every scene

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[Henry Lewis]

OOC

Which is why I want to re-emphasize this is not a canned adventure.  No wrong/right way about it.  The current plan will require a little RPing to get where you want.  :)

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[Henry Lewis]

OOC

Based on the plan as I understand it, I will FF to the arrival of the caravan in Nesme.  In the meantime, you can assume you've collected the laxitive/potion you need.