Outpost Survey

Frustrated until noticing his gnome companion taking detailed notes "Mr Fizziwik, how good are your notes? It would be nice if we did not have to send experts back after our survey is completed." "If you are willing to share them"

Actions: Survival - 12 Knowledge - 2 Perception - 10

Lets get some more survival and perception checks for this next sector .. I will wait to post until then.  So far it looks as if you are going to get lost A bit about linguistics.  You are NOT trained in a skill until you have ranks in it including a class skill. You cannot use certain skills you are untrained in. Linguistics cannot be used untrained according to this  chart If a skill cannot be used untrained you can still roll it but your maximum success can be a 10 (even if you roll higher)  This might be like trying to pick a lock but you have never done it .. if the lock DC is 10 or less you might have a chance. You probably know basic knowledge about very common things by rolling a 10 or less .. like that looks undead but i'm not sure

Actions: Survival - 19 Perception - 4 Knowdlege Geography - 3

//Survival 14, perception 13, K(geo)3

Why yes sir dwarf, I see you have a discerning eye, my sketches are quiet marvelous and I would be more than happy to share them with anyone who wants to see.   Fizziwik makes several sketches of the formation and takes rubbings of several of the individual letters, trying to capture a full word. Fizziwik flips idly through the sketchbook while they travel to the next sector, trying to make heads or tails of the odd language and doesn't pay attention to anything.  Where it not for the fact that Gerty was able to follow the others, Fizziwik would surely have gotten himself lost. Actions: Craft Art - 20 Survival - 6 Perception - 7 Knowledge G - 10

moving onward you pass through two more sections.. the first is fields of grasses and fertile soil .. it looks like more good farming area to the west and nw as far as the eye can see.  continuing into sector 8, the party comes to a small oxbow lake (geology 12) and a dry riverbed and then a winding stream.  The riverbed has a rocky outcopping (maybe once an island - geology 14) and there are golden flecks in the riverbed. // this is the area that harold and viggo and others first went to when they found the bear to rescue the kids.

Fizziwik is enjoying his time traveling around the area.  It is nice to get a sense of what is near-by in his home.  As the group stops by the small lake to refresh, Fizziwik stares out at the water and for a time his mouth stops moving as he takes in the simple beauty of the moment.  He has traveled much at the whim of his Goddess, but this was truly one of the more stunning places that she had sent him.   Actions: Know Geo: 10 Perception: 13 Survival: 10

Are these... Is this gold? Prytania picks up a pebble or two to ask around the settlement, then moves on Actions: Survival - 17 Perception - 16 Knowdelge Geology - 7

     Ren was no stranger to traveling and such, but exploring and nature were not his forte. I guess I'm just here to make sure everyone else it just a little safer. Ren scanned his surrounding out of habit. Zordlon, Prytania, Azariah..... and the dwarf and gnome. Wait... who are they again? Ren felt like she should know who the dwarf was but the gnome was a new face to him. Well, I'll find time to figure that out. Ren went back to his book.  Actions: Survival - 15 Knowledge - 4 Perception - 16

// I assume it is  panning for gold .

Moving along the grassland started to become full of vegetation leading to groups of trees and eventually the edge of a forest.  Although thin, the forest covered a large number of miles to the north.  The ground would be harder to farm here but the soil from a deciduous (knowledge nature 12) forest would make for good farming as well and the timber would provide a valuable asset to the growth of the kingdom.  The stream headed north into the forest, winding its way northward for quite a bit.  (although they find no signs of kobolds or stumble upon the trap)   Continuing along they come to where the landscape returns to a vast plains with tall grasses and shrubs.  They survey the land carefully making note of what they find.  A path has already been carved in this direction up to the treeline where lumberjacks have begun chopping down trees for the outpost (unaware that wolves watch their work)  A lumberjack waves as the party approaches. Hey there folks .. you must be the new crew!  What appears to be an angelic man calls to them with a drawl.  A blue-grey bison feeds on the grass nearby.  

(I'm not even gonna bother. i never rolled more than a 7. though the seven was my perception which has a +12 survival 6 know geo 6 perception 19 EDIT: sense motive 17)

"Hello, I am Viggo. What do you mean?" //Survival 14 Perception 13  Sense motive -1 Zordlon have you tried the  take 10 or 20 rules?

(the what what rules?)

" Hi, yea well,some of us are... I don't recall having seen you around, but you seem to know this place, have you seen something interesting in the forest? " Actions: Survival - 12 Knowdlege Geography - 14 Perception - 12 Sense motive - 21

//Basically out of combat you can roll OR assume you roll a 10. This may not be ideal for knowledge checks because you cannot retry, but is generally good.  For example you want to search for traps before opening a door. You take 10, see nothing, next turn you roll for it see nothing, then the 3rd turn you take 20 (1 min for this). To make sure it is safe to proceed. I will link it again  HERE

Actions: Survival - 15 Knowledge - 1 Perception - 17 Sense Motive - 18

LB seems like an honest enough lumberjack .. some of you have seen him in town.  He leads the operations team.   Lots of interesting things in the forest.  If you know where to be lookin'  I heard some howling so there's bound to be wolves in there somewhere .. I ain't worried about em .. I leave em alone and they will do the same.  Bunyan over there wouldn't let em get near me nohow.  LB points to the blue-grey bison in the field.   Y'all lumberjacks?  Maybe not from the looks of it .. but that don't mean you might not do well in a friendly competition .. since i'm out here all bored waiting for the crew to show up .. unless you are the crew .. well course yer not .. you don't even have axes .. but I've got plenty.  Care to help me out while we have a little friendly competition as well.  I'll bet this bag of stuff you can't come close to winnin!

Fizziwik is intrigued, and likes games.   I'll play.

" Hm... I'm not the best at chopping wood, but I guess it won't hurt if I try... "

Alrighty then .. grab some axes .. LB points to some axes stuck in a stump.   The goal will be the first to chop down 10 trees .. Me .. or your team .. I'll even give you a head start!   LB calls to Bunyan who snorts and heads over to him.   To play Roll an attack on the tree (AC 5) 0-4 you missed the tree and should probably give up now 5-10 you got a hit on the tree but the angle is bad.  1/2 damage  then apply hardness  11-20 you got a solid hit and the tree takes full damage then apply hardness 21+  you hit the tree in a vital spot ignoring its hardness A tree may be pushed over when it has taken 1/2 its hp in damage.  with a strength check [15] Trees are 1-10 and you can select the tree and report your damage here.   A tree has 10 hp and 2 hardness. Axes are MW Handaxe Martial 1d6 dmg (-4 if you lack the proficiency) FIRST PHASE OF TREE CHOPPING  (3 rounds)

Prytania didn't even know how to grab an axe, but she tried her best shot... The tree was still standing there. " Wow, this is... phew... harder than it looks like " (OOC: 4 damage  after 3 chops to Tree #2)

Fizzy grabs an axe, and gets to work, 3 solid swings later and Tree #1 goes tumbling down.   TIMBER!!!!   (OOC: 13 damage on 3 chops on Tree #1)

Zordlon helps Prytania hack down her tree but seeing it still standing Zordlon is frustrated. Especially after hitting it and the watching it...... um...... bounce off. "Move on Prytania. I got this." (2 hits 1 miss. dealt 3 damage. tree #2)

Viggo, attacks the tree and fells it quickly.... " Timber!"  //3 swings but 1 tree down

" Got it " - Prytania said as she unlocked her axe from the trunk and walked to the next tree

    Well, cutting trees isn't usually my strong suit but let give this a shot anyway! Ren walks over and large motioned swing starting from his waist he makes 3 cuts, bringing down the tree. (4) Actions: Moves to Tree 4 Chops 4 times for a total of 14 damage. 

LB lines up at 3 trees and swings .. the first one .. a solid hit .. the second one .. as well .. the third one .. crack .. Bunyan moves in to push them over .. the first one bends and almost falls .. the second and third hit the ground with a great crash.  LB looks over .. Wow .. you guys aren't half bad when workin' as a team!  Keep it up .. but it ain't over yet! Team LB - 2 trees Team Viggo- 3 trees

Fizzy stands in front of his next tree (Tree #5) and three solid strikes later.   TIMBER!!! ((3 chops for 12 damage))

Prytania approaches a weaker looking tree (#6). After a round of bashing, it still stands... Although it seems weakened. (OOC 3 chops for 6 damage )

Zordlonn yet again goes at the tree barely making a dent the first 2 times before swinging and knocking it over. "timber." (3 hits 1:1 damage 2: 1 3: 4)

     Ren moved on to tree 6, which was already damaged. It was not surprised when Ren swung at it, the tree came down. Dam cutting wood can be tiring. Ren, arriving at tree 8, took a quick double slashing technique, hitting both ends of the tree with quick and burying cuts. They hit better than Ren had expected and the secound cut went straight through the tree.  Actions: Cut down tree's 6 and 7

Seeing LB not quit, Viggo keeps it up....getting tired but enjoying doing it well. "Timber! This tree is almost done, if someone wants to finish it off" hits: 21 (almost fatigued from stamina use): 6 damage 22: 8 damage "Timber!" 16: 7 damage (after DR)

LB sees the trees falling all around him.  Better up his game .. but how ....  He continues chopping .. tree 4, 5, 6 clearing tree 5 in one fell swoop.  Bunyan pushes over two more trees then stalls against the third .. LB groans .. come on ya dumb ox .. push it over! Team LB - 5 trees Team Viggo - 8 trees

Fizziwik steps up to the last tree and fells it in 2 chops, then stepping to the one Viggo was working on, lands a solid chop to finish it off. ((11 damage to Tree #10 and 5 damage to tree #9))

LB shakes his head at the loss .. but then immediately cheers up .. Well played friends .. the bag is yours... if you ever need a job come find me. Checking the contents of the bag they group finds the following items 2 potions of cure light wounds 2 antitoxins 2 minor poultices 1 MW handaxe 1 wand of longstrider (3 charges) 1 loaf of bread 1 lb of cured meat 1 hip flask filled with applejack 200 gp // NOTE treasure is awarded at the end of the mission but you can use them during the mission without fear of losing them at the end. The party continues to the last sector  Rolls for exploration 

Zordlon continues doing what he does best. Being really good at seeing things and little else. (know geo 20 max 10 SIGH survial 4 and perception 27. 28 against traps if needed.)

"It was a pleasure... "  *Feeling her biceps*  " Wow, this is good exercise!" Actions: Perception - 6 Survival - 12 Knowdlege - 10 (untrained)

     "Thank you for the game, I can say it was enjoyable." Actions: Survival - 18 Knowledge (Untrained) - 10 Perception - 13

Rusty takes a knee to rest a moment. "How many opponents do you consider a challenge?" Survival 14 Perception 13 K(geo) 10 [untrained]

Continuing along the party finds themselves exploring familiar landscape .. The plains cover the majority of the ground and return to more of a scrubland .. They feel they must be getting close to the road again.  One more item of note is uncovered while exploring the plains in the final sector.  three mounds of dirt rise slightly above the earth covered in rocks.  Upon investigation, each mound has a larger rock placed atop with markings of names.  Zordlon discovers this and calls the rest of the group over.  The names on the three piles read  Fal Barkley Verita Barkley Shalmone Fandorkin

"Graves...... Do you think these are names of people from the original settlers?" 

Oh, you are not part of the original group?  What happened to the other settlers?

     "We are the second patch. There were a handful of people that came in the first. By the time we got here they were nowhere to be found." 

" Well, they earned their rest... We could see if we can learn something about them, but I'm not too happy about it. On the other hand, if it has to be done, it's best done by us, we have a doctor and a Pharasma cleric... " -Prytania bit her hair- " I'm a bit counfused. What do you say guys? "

It's a bit unorthadox, I'm usually content just letting the dead lie in peace.  But I guess you do have a proper cemetery in town, maybe we could move them to a better resting place and if something might be learned in the process, so much the better.

" No, I'm leaving them here. It's probably what they wanted, plus this doesn't seem rushed... "

The group decided to leave the souls of the parted to their rest and headed back to town .. with the notes they took they had enough information for the mapmakers in town to scribe a proper map.  Happy to be home again the party went their separate ways to meet again for further adventure. Rewards:  2 mp, 1 kp 1  Hex Map (0,0)  Each player gets a +1 circumstance bonus on the crafting of hex maps should they choose to do so in the future 1 MW handaxe Each player should choose 1 of the following (Duplication is fine) A)  2 potions of cure light wounds, 2 antitoxins, 25 gp B)  2 minor poultices, 1 loaf of bread, 1 lb cured meat, 1 hip flask with applejack, 75 gp C)  1 wand of longstrider (3 charges), 100 gp This mission is over.  You may continue to role play and should post the reward you choose below.

"Are you suggesting we loot the bodies?" Zordlon seems genuinly appaled by this I mean even he has standards "We should leave them in peace and not disturb there bodies."