[brightening] "How... very useful! How delightful! How long do we have before sunrise? Perhaps some of his answers might lead us to arrest someone else and hurry him in here, too."

Assuming there's lots of time, I ask questions in the following order-- reserving the right to add follow-ups or to diverge a bit based on answers. If we here news of anyone else in camp doing anything naughty, I signal to Kray and Kevlor that I think they should be brought into the Interrogration Room of Truth. If sunrise begins to approach tell me (i.e. have Kevlor tell me) so I can hurry to the most important questions. Also: I skip any questions that are rendered seriously redundant by previous answers with lots of information. I don't skip questions that he seems to have already answered quickly or negatively; maybe I didn't ask the question just right.

And I am still hoping for more questions after these, based on his answers.

I also ask for maps, so that Grum can point to things.
--

"Did anyone besides you and Grok know about your thieving? Did you have any confederates in it? If so, who? Did anyone order you here or send you here to steal? If so, who?

"Does the man Barrs know anything of your illegal activities? Is he engaged in any illegal activities? Does he plan to harm anyone in the caravan or to betray the Duke?"

"The other man you played cards with tonight, the mercenary. What is his name?" [then, same questions as about Barrs]

"Where are the rest of the stolen goods?"

"Were you, or Grok, or both, in the caravan for any secret reason besides thieving? What was it? Did you plan, or do you know of any plan, to harm the Duke or any member of his family or entourage? Did you plan, or do you know of any plan, to betray the caravan to the orcs who are harrying the mines and trade routes? Did you plan, or do you know of any plan, to make any contact with those orcs? [if so] How was contact to be made?

"Have you had any contact with those orcs? Tell us what you know of their plans and locations. Were you sent here by them? How and why have they become such a threat to the trade routes and the mines? Who leads them? Who do you report to? What was your mission here? What was Grok's mission here?

"Have you had any contact with any agents of Nashkel? Are you in the employ of Nashkel? Are you in anyone's employ? Who do you take orders from? Is there anyone you give orders to?

"Do you know of anyone else in the caravan, in the town, or in the Duke's entourage who is in league with the orcs, who plans to betray the Duke or the caravan or the mines?

"Who was the half-orc we fought tonight? Why did he want us to turn you over to him? How did he know you? What did he want with you? What did he want with us? What was his mission? Where did he come from? Where was he going? Do you know any codes or ciphers that he and the other orcs would use to communicate by message? Can you decode such a message?

"What other knowledge do you have that you were forbidden to reveal? What knowledge do you have that would aid us in fighting off the orcs or finding the half-orc's master or your master or in protecting the mines and the trade routes?"
posted by Jacob T. Levy at 10/11/2003 09:21:00 AM

I've said what I have to say privately to Grell; I ain't saying more until he speaks up.
posted by Jacob T. Levy at 10/10/2003 05:22:00 PM

Quietly to Grell: "I am by your side in your quest."
posted by Jacob T. Levy at 10/10/2003 02:47:00 PM

[Bob's thought bubble] I have visions of Barik running after this orc, turning a corner, and then coming back around the corner with a vast army charging after him. But hopefully my fine dwarf won't find himself a victim of humorous cliché...

[Barik's thought bubble] Ulfgar is a Stone Dragon, and has dropped two orcs already. I have no worries for him. Well, almost no worries...nevertheless, we need to silence this coward before the whole of orcdom knows we're here. Perhaps a fleet-footed greymaned friend of mine will convince him to stick around awhile...

I summon a wolf, as close to the running orc as I can. I will continue to pursue him after the summoning, right after saying...
"Spade! To Ulfgar! Show that pig-that-walks-on-two-legs that the beasts of the earth are on the side of the Brothers of the Stone Dragon!"
posted by Scholeologist at 10/10/2003 01:32:00 PM

First, some out-of-character comments:

I am NOT surprised by three giant rats. :)

And, seeing as one of the energy forms one can resist is "sonic" and a high priest might have some variant of Holy Word on hand, I figure his voice might literally explode. Don't quibble with the DM's phrasing unless you're prepared for the consequences!

Having said that...not to make more trouble for myself, but if there were 5 orcs to start with, and we downed the leader and one other, shouldn't there be 3 more to deal with? Has one of them snuck out of sight?

And with that, we slide back to my character...

"Flark! A horn! Ulfgar, silence him with your axe! And watch out, there may be another one lurking around!"

I shoot at the fleeing one, then pursue. If he's clearly faster than me, I'll spend a round to summon a wolf (to appear at maximum range in the direction of the fleeing orc) to chase him down, and I'll follow along behind.
posted by Scholeologist at 10/10/2003 07:28:00 AM

I suppose we could just wait and see if they shove off to the West, but that's no fun. "All right Ulfgar, here's the plan. You head towards them to the left of the path, and I'll head up to the right. We don't want to be firing on each other, so we'll try to keep less than 50' apart, converging to about 30' apart when we're 150' away from them. With any luck, they'll still be chomping away. If they spot one of us before we're in position and go for their crossbows, we both fire on the leader (in the chain shirt). If they charge the spotted one, the other one will hold back until he can get some shots at their flank or sneak attack them from behind, whichever is easier. If we get to cover 150' away without incident, we'll both fire on the leader. If we can get rid of him, the others are bound to make some bad decisions. Hopefully they'll charge us and we can shoot some more, then flank whoever's left.

"It might be that the leader sends one of them down the western path. If that happens, since I'm closest, I'll take some shots at the runner. You keep on the leader until he's down or they're in axe range.

"Spade, you stay out of sight. I don't want them thinking you're dessert! Stay as close to us as you safely can -- we may need you to give them a nasty surprise."

With my stout bow at hand and my rimefrost arrows at the ready, I advance on the orcs, who hopefully will never have time to realize that this is their last meal.
posted by Scholeologist at 10/09/2003 02:52:00 PM

if and when we get the loot, dru, i would like the calligraphy set for myself, in return ill alow you to copy any spells i have that you dont into your spellbook, and i could really use that nonmagical black cloak...
posted by Anonymous at 10/07/2003 06:56:00 PM