Prologue: The Road to Hornpipe

[ehiker133]

Quick as he can, Dougal the Black slips into the tall grasses just north and west of their position and remains silent and still, blending into the surrounding nature as best he can

[acodispo]

Willie, who's been lying on top of the turnips, dreamily smoking & listening to the songs & rhymes, leaps to his feet at the note of distress in the farmer's voice.

He sets his wooden shield & hand axe atop the turnips ready to hand, then grabs his sling & fits a stone.

He looks to the north.

[mushgnome]

A friendly reminder that Tet needs to choose some type of minor injury from over-exerting himself while stacking turnips.

[Ebon Hearted Soul]

Cheg startles to alertness, grabs his shield & warhammer from beside him then hops over the side of the cart to the ground taking a slow circuit around the cart and the scared animals. "Come on buck'os we need to be ready whatever may come. Can anyone see anything yet?, asks Chegs, He then takes a few practice swings to help loosen up after the ride and earlier workout loading the cart.

~hold it together Chegs, you got this~ thinks Chegs to himself as he does this.

[Tonneau]

"Oh dear" says Potty, noting the anguish of the oxen more than that of the driver, "whats all this then?"

He clambers down the side of the cart and lands awkwardly on the road. Pausing only briefly to dust some remnant of turnip from his coats, he hobbles around to the beasts and begins cooing to them in series of rather unhobbetlike whistles and grunts.

Potty Speaks With Animals to the oxen and asks them if they can identify the problem

[waysoftheearth]

Oooh! gasps Tet sharply as he tries to get up, and immediately falls flat on his fleshy haunches. Oi've done me back! he cringes, his chubby arms flailing helplessly.

[mushgnome]

Let's switch to encounter time scale and call this Turn Zero.

To recap:

Willie is on top of the wagon with his sling and has the best view.

Chegs is on the ground with his warhammer and shield.

Tet picks himself up and is ready for battle. (His turnip-related injury is annoying, but not crippling.)

Dougal rolls 1d6=5 (he needed a 4) and successfully uses his thief class ability for additional stealth above and beyond his racial ability. He's well-hidden in the undergrowth northwest of the cart.

Potty and the Farmer are with the oxen. Potty casts Speak with Animals. It takes him the full turn to cast the spell. According to the Player's Handbook, the spell affects "one animal type" with a duration of 2 rounds/level. I rule that Potty will be able to Speak with Ungulates starting at the very end of Turn Zero and continuing throughout Turns 1-2.

As the spell takes effect, Potty hears the oxen Burr and Dock repeating over and over: PALE FOREST-OXEN! PALE FOREST-OXEN!

Willie catches a glimpse of pure white, the color of fresh snow or bleached bones. It appears to be a large solitary beast, but it's difficult to make out its exact form through the thick forest. Willie sees that it is a 4-legged creature, standing 8 to 10 feet tall. Despite its immense size, the animal does not lumber noisily through the forest, but rather picks its way through the trees with delicate grace. Lucky thing it didn't sneak up on our Heroes completely unawares! At its current speed and trajectory, the Pale Forest-Oxen will approach within sling range, revealing its true form, on Turn 1.

What now, Hobbetses?

[Ebon Hearted Soul]

Chegs moves to stand between the white beast & the oxen-cart but within ten feet of the cart. He readies himself to defend his fellows.

[waysoftheearth]

Who goes there? hollers Tet, pulling his sling from his belt and loading the small, but rather pointy turnip that had been niggling at his back these past couple hours...

I daresay a bunch of hobbets could fire a deadly hail of turnips if they focussed fire

[acodispo]

"It's a great beast, a dozen feet may be! And white as bone!" Willie reports with a gasp. "It's coming this way, very sneak-like!"

Then he notices Potty doing magic-like things & seeming to have a conversation with the oxen.

"Potty, can you talk to it? Ask it what it wants!"

Willie has a stone ready in his sling, but he doesn't assume the creature is hostile.