Bacon Liberation Team

Player DM: Xenarchy

Party

Mogrinaar - Orc - Fighter 2

Katari - Human - Wizard 2

Rik - Hobgoblin - Barbarian/Rogue 2

Selia - Halfling - Rogue 4

Seanait - Egalrin - Monk 2

Cyrin - Sith-makar - Fighter 2

Enemies

2 Pigs (Boars with young template) CR 2

2 Wereboars CR 4

Purchases

Mogrinaar

Potion, Cure Light Wounds 50 gp

The Scene Begins

It's a lightly clouded afternoon by the time you reach the farm. The request posted to the adventurers' guild was one of frothing fury and hatred for bestial terrors visited upon this humble farm. You could almost feel the anger burning off the page. The farm itself is quiet. The house is rickety and homely, and on the porch sits a weathered rocking chair. On the chair sits an even more weathered old man, smoking a pipe.

He squints at the party as they arrive and licks his mostly toothless gums. "Ehh, you dun look like heroes to me. D'you reckon you're up to this task, young'uns?" The farmer sneers.

Mogrinaar looks down at the farmer and grimaces slightly behind his faceplate. Crimson orbs burning into the old codger for a moment before settling down. "Well you get what you pay for. I know my blade is keen enough. What is the problem so we can get to work?"

Selia yawns absently, hopping down off her ride and stretching a moment as she peers around befoer turing her attention towards the farmer. "Iffen I didn't, would nay 'ave bothered ta make da trip." she drawls back in her own thick Charnish accent.

Cyrin makes his way with the others to the farm. He needed something to do and was getting frustrated at being too idle. The blue scaled sith'makar does blink his eyes for a moment, "Lookss can be deceiving." he hisses a little though it isn't an angry hiss or anything. He shifts his chainmail and the large metal shield on his back a bit, "I am sure we can handle what needss you have for the request."

Katari doesn't react at once to the sneer or the condescension. It takes a moment for her to translate, but there's dry humor aplenty in her own accented tradespeak when she answers. "Am finding out answer to that question, yes? If we are failing, is others to be hired, and you will not be having to pay us."

Rik keeps position towards the middle of the group, looking left and right as we approach, with the advantage of the height of his mount. Apart from that, it seems only the halfling is smaller than he is, and so he's going to have to go the extra mile to prove himself. He glowers as the old man questions their asskicking credentials, biting back the first response that occurs to him, just giving a nod, "I'm ready, come what may."

Seanait nods slightly, "Indeed. What is the specific problem? The message was long on rhetoric and short on facts." The egalrin doesn't sound annoyed at the questioning look from the old man, a faint shrugging of her wings as she looks at the others gathered.

"Name's Giles. This here's my land and I've got a problem. Me legs ain't what they used to be, and them dastardly neighbours boys are stealing my pigs! I'm darn sure it's them!" He glowers, pure hatred filling his aged eyes "Dennis and Chad. The nastiest rapscallions I've ever known. They need a good hard slap to teach them some manners!" Giles froths and rants for several minutes about those no-good neighbours and their horrible offspring and eventually realises the party is still there. "Go on! Get! Those pigs aren't going to rescue themselves!"

That's right. Adventurers have been hired by a curmudgeony old man to save some pigs.

Selia shrugs lightly, and takes an idle look around the place. "Well, reckon we find a place ta 'ide, wait fer night, see wot's ta be seen and deal wit' it as it comes, nay?"

Rik sighs. This really wasn't his idea of a heroic task, but when he went to the Explorers' Guild, he secretly knew that he wasn't going to be asked to save the world. But the old man's pigs? He glowers. "Can you describe these pigs, Master Giles? Do they have any identifying features that we can use to tell them from the neighbor's pigs?"

Mogrinaar looks at the man and then the others. "So you think its this Dennis and Chad? Well why don't we go over there and ask em?" he offers. "Get to the source and see if they tell us the truth or at least give us an idea about whats going on."

Katari mutters something in a gutteral tongue, probably nothing pleasant. "Is good question," she says, nodding to Rik. "Must be knowing which are which, otherwise we may not be returning right animals."

Giles glares. He doesn't like all this talk and pondering. "The pens are that way. The neighbours live up across the way," he points in the different directions. "But their mum won't let you accuse her boys. She scares even me! She must be a dragon under that skin." The man shivers. "You gotta catch 'em in the act!"

"And the neighbours don't keep pigs. They just steal 'em!" the farmer adds.

Cyrin nods, "Catch in act, so that meanss we watch." he says and glances in the direction that the pens are pointed. He raises a brow at the dragon comment but then looks back at the others, "Shall we go look, find good place to watch from?"

Rik furrows his brows. "If they've already stolen them, how can we catch them in the act?" he wonders aloud, but if the neighbors don't own pigs and they have some now, then that'd be a good case for them being Giles's. "I guess our next stop is the neighbors' farm?"

Selia nods, moving a short distance away before speaking softly to the others. "I reckon da boys ain't got nuthin ta do wit da pigs. But, ain't got na proof yet. So, lurk, find wot did take da pigs, and den 'ave proof."

Seanait nods slightly, "Precisely. We shall see what we can uncover by examining the pens. And perhaps watching for the culprits."

Mogrinaar says, "I still dont see why we dont just ask his neighbors. Maybe they saw something if they didnt steal em"

The pens are not more than a few minutes walk from the house. There are several large pens, fenced haphazardly but with solid wood. There are quite a few pigs around, looking disinterested in everything except mucking about. They do start shooing away from the party when the pens are approached.

GAME: Rik rolls perception: (20)+6: 26
GAME: Katari rolls Perception: (10)+0: 10
GAME: Selia rolls perception: (15)+6: 21
GAME: Seanait rolls Perception: (11)+11: 22
GAME: Cyrin rolls perception: (16)+0: 16
GAME: Mogrinaar rolls perception: (3)+1: 4

Selia begins to circle the pens at a slight distance, having little intrest in pigs, less in frightening them, and even less in getting any muck on herself. Peering about, the halfer looks to see if anything appeas out of place.

Seanait leaps up nimbly onto the fence, perching lightly there as she spreads her wings for balance, watching things from a slightly different perspective than most.

Rik takes a long look around the pens. If pigs are in mud, maybe muddy footprints leading away? Or Non-pig footprints in the mud? It could be a lot of things, and ... well, we're here, and promised coin if we can resolve it, so he's going to be thorough. He looks around for ... what do you look for at times like this? Incriminating notes fallen out of pockets? A to-do list that reads: Steal Pigs? He paces around the pen, looks left and right, peers inside. "Hrm."

Cyrin does look around as well but seems almost to be focusing more on the pigs themselves, and the way the pens are constructed.

It's soon obvious to the keen eyes of the party that there are bare-footed footprints around the back of the pens, and the signs of weight in the ground where someone must have lifted pigs over the fence. The footprints lead off over the hills and... there! Rik's eyes catch movement in the distance, near the tree line beyond the hill.

Mogrinaar looks about still not really sure why they are here instead of questioning the neighbors. Thusly, his efforts to search the muckety muck is lacking. He yawns a bit.

Katari whispers quiet words to herself, watching the sky and the clouds overhead more than anything closer to home. She frowns, shaking her head a little.

Rik hrms as we find the footprints and signs of burglary. He's no tracker, but he's pretty sure those are footprints. "Look! Over there by the treeline! There's something there." He rushes off to investigate, sprinting as fast as he can.

Seanait leaps off the fence and moves quickly after Rik, glancing over in that direction he's running to try and see the movement that he spotted as well.

Selia blinks, peering a moment where Rik indicates before taking off herself, moving slightly to the side of a direct path in case the whatever-it-is tries to run.

Cyrin sighs and shakes his head a bit, people should never run off. He pulls his shield from his back and draws his scimitar, just to be on the safe side and charges after, his tail swishing back and forth behind him, his frills rustling with his annoyance.

Mogrinaar moves along after the others. He tries to search for the movement and such as he readies a hand on his falchion.

Katari didn't catch sight of whatever it was, but that doesn't stop her from taking to her heels after the others. She's careful not to get ahead of them, though, even the ones in armor, even if she *could* outdistance them.

There at the edge of the woods, there's the last glimpse of the pink posterior of a pig disappearing between the trees.

Rik is in a footrace with a pig. This is one of those proud takes he'll be telling his grandchildren one day. Well, maybe not. But he does have a good turn of speed, his coarse upbringing may lack refinement, but he can sure run. One of his few good points. He dashes off after the pig, no weapon drawn just yet, the farmer probably won't be happy if all we come back with is bacon.

Mogrinaar plods along briskly, but there is no way he is chasing a pig down with full plate on.

Seanait spreads her wings for additional balance, but doesn't catch up that easily with Rik, though she moves rather rapidly after the barbarian.

Selia isn't the fastest of runners, short little legs and all, but does what she can, muttering darkly to herself. "Iffen dis turns out some sorta weird thing where da pigs steal themselves, I'ma gonna be mad...."

Cyrin moves after the others, he too isn't going to be going too fast in his chainmail but he works to keep up, weapons still drawn.

Initiative

"GARM'S TEETH WILL TEAR YOUR THROAT!" A guttural roar sounds from the woods. There stands a short, broad humanoid with patchy, bristly hair, a porcine face and protruding tusks. He has a large, heavy and simple axe wielded in both hands. The pigs are to either side of him, looking as menacing as pigs can.

Next to them, there's a broad-shouldered young man with a similar fuzzy and partial beard and upturned nose. He's rather ugly, and has a blunderbuss in his hands and a similar axe slung over his back. "Bloody hell, Chad! Look! It's heroes and you've gone and made them think we're monsters!"

GAME: Rik rolls 1d20+6: (1)+6: 7

Rik isn't afraid of any creature, and he charges his pair with a roar of his own. About halfway there, he catches the one's comment, and just before he attacks, he realizes what it means, changing his attempt at slaughter to an attempt to subdue, and nearly falling, himself, in the confusion, embarassing himself worse than really anyone else could probably do.

GAME: Seanait rolls 1d20+7: (20)+7: 27
GAME: Seanait rolls 1d20+7: (2)+7: 9
GAME: Seanait rolls 1d6+1: (2)+1: 3
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+7: (2)+7: 9

Seanait moves quickly at the one with the blunderbuss, darting rapidly as she feints a swing with her fist. As the blunderbuss-wielding man reacts to it, she whips out a wing as her true attack. The wing catches him right across the eyes, making him yelp in shock more than pain as he drops his blunderbuss, blinking rapidly to try and pull himself together.

GAME: Cyrin rolls intimidate: (11)+6: 17

Cyrin moves up in his chainmail and stretches up to his full height his tail swishing back and forth, his frills rustle as he raises his shield and points his sword at the one with the axe, "Surrender and go easy on you we will, explain why steal pigsss." he hisses putting anger into voice as he tries to seem bigger than he is.

GAME: Selia rolls intimidate: (9)+11: 20

Selia draws a small ball from her pouch. It's round and colorful, and looks something like a children's toy. And then Selia throws it. *crack!* *crack!* The iron-core ball snaps off a pair of tree branches not far from the boys, shattering wood before flying back to the halfer. Eyeing the one meaning-fully, she drawls quietly. "Maybe ya bes jus drop wot yer doin an' explain wot's goin' on 'round 'ere."

GAME: Katari casts Animate Rope.

Katari looks from one of the two combatants to the other, doubtful. These two are the problem? Well, maybe they are. She takes a coil of rope from its place at her hip and whispers to it: "Zoruu. Gjezuukjo!" In the next moment the end of the rope begins to twitch, moving like a snake seeking a mouse.

GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+5: (20)+5: 25
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+5: (8)+5: 13
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+5: (16)+5: 21
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d6+2: (2)+2: 4
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d6+2: (2)+2: 4
GAME: Xenarchy damaged Seanait for 8 points. 10 remaining.

Squeeeee! The two pigs erupt with rage at the assault on their two-legged bretheren. They dash forward to surround the egalrin and bite and gore with far more bloodlust and severity than one might expect from farm animals.

Mogrinaar moves closer to the group as he was bringing up the rear and shakes his head. With his hands on his falchion he comments, "Well like I said in the beginning, why dont we ask the fellas in question. I didn't say lets punch em in the face for good measure. Seems they have some kinda pig problem and the piggies actually like em." looking at the two he wrinkles his nose, "That just aint right." He continues, "The way I see it, you pigmen have two choices...fess up and just shoot us straight, or continue this melee and things get outta hand and you guys hit the turf along with yer piggie girlfriends."

 GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+8-2: (15)+8+-2: 21
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 2d6+6: (11)+6: 17
GAME: Xenarchy damaged Seanait for 17 points. -7 remaining.

"We are the BACON LIBERATION TEAM!" roars the wereboar, lunging forward and sinking his axe into Seanait, bloodying her feathers and ripping flesh. "No pig will suffer under the oppression of man!" He's actually not looking too sure about this, uncertainty pulling his blows.

GAME: Seanait rolls Constitution-7: (3)+2+-7: -2

Rik delays.

GAME: Seanait rolls 1d8+1: (8)+1: 9
GAME: Xenarchy damaged Seanait for -9 points. 1 remaining.
GAME: Seanait used a Potion of Cure Light Wounds.

Cyrin helps Seanait by pouring a potion down her throat, restoring her to the brink of consciousness. (posed for player as he'd gone AFK)

GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+4: (10)+4: 14
GAME: Katari casts Cause Fear.

Katari's raising her hand to throw the coil of rope, but she pauses, seeing Seanait struck down, and lets the rope slip from her hand. She raps the staff sharply against the ground and then points it at the axe-wielding boar man. Her voice sounds like the rattle of bones in a cold wind. "Nukap Llakisqa Katari sutiymi!" Ghostly horrifying shapes seem to circle around him, and then swoop in, their faces rictuses of deathly pallor!

GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+3: (18)+3: 21
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+3: (20)+3: 23
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+3: (9)+3: 12
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d6+2: (1)+2: 3
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d6+2: (1)+2: 3
GAME: Xenarchy damaged Rik for 3 points. 20 remaining.
GAME: Xenarchy damaged Mogrinaar for 3 points. 18 remaining.

Still frothing at their master's will, the pigs lunge forward after Rik and Mogrinaar, biting and gnawing on their legs. Those are some very angry pigs.

"Uh. Bro. What are they doing to us?" Dennis stares at Chad, who has suddenly gone wide eyed and blank with supernatural fear. This piggy fellow is terrified and backs up a step, getting out of reach of weapons and things.

GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+3: (16)+3: 19

GAME: Mogrinaar rolls 1d20+8+2-1: (3)+8+2+-1: 12
GAME: Mogrinaar rolls 2d4+6 + 3: (8)+6+3: 17

Mogrinaar gets attacked by the piglets and grunts. He kicks a foot out and shoves the pigs snout away from him with a boot to keep it from attacking as he charges forward after Dennis. "I tried to be sensible and you had to sick the bacon on me. I am a reasonable Orc, but you have crossed the line." With his falchion in hand he uses the power of his charge to land a swift strike on Dennis, placing the maximum effort into it. Only thing better would have been if he could have hit a vital area. Dennis remains standing, but barely. "Finish em off Rik"

GAME: Rik rolls 1d20+8: (20)+8: 28
GAME: Rik rolls 1d20+8: (13)+8: 21
GAME: Rik rolls 2d3+12: (4)+12: 16
GAME: Rik rolls 1d6: (5): 5

"Bloody hell," Rik groans as one of the party members goes down, and the pigs are attacking, and ... Rik gives up on restraint, screaming a warcry, in Yrch of all things, roaring, "Diediediediediedie!" One of the tradtional ones. With Mogrinnar in a flanking position, Rik throws caution into the wind, following up the man's vicious hit with a mighty blow from his fist that catches the villian in the back of the head, right at the base of the skull, and sends him to the ground hard.

GAME: Seanait rolls 1d20+5: (20)+5: 25
GAME: Seanait rolls 1d20+5: (8)+5: 13
GAME: Seanait rolls 2d6+2: (6)+2: 8
GAME: Xenarchy rolls 1d20+8-2: (15)+8+-2: 21

Seanait gets herself up from the ground, and looks at Chad, eyes burning with a mixture of disgust and rage. She just rears back and punches the young man in the face, his nose cracking as she looks like she is in the mood for bacon. Oh yes, bacon.

The pigs look confused. The lycanthropic influence over them has faded, and they really don't know why they are here or attacking people. They make perplexed grunts.

GAME: Mogrinaar rolls 1d20+8+2-1: (19)+8+2+-1: 28
GAME: Mogrinaar rolls 1d20+8+2-1: (15)+8+2+-1: 24
GAME: Mogrinaar rolls 4d4+18: (9)+18: 27

Mogrinaar looks down at the poor pigs and then looks over to Seanait. "This will just not do." he moves over into position, while the punches are being thrown and waits for just the right moment. The huge Orc slices downward with his falchion to which the wereboar dodges. Then he shifts his weight, spinning on one foot and bringing his weapon around in a spinning motions that slices not once, but twice in an X across the beast's chest. It falls to the ground in a heap. He spits "You should have listened to reason."

Rik is all set to pound the living daylights out of the other fellow, but Mogrinar beats him to it. Since the pigs have stopped attacking, it looks like the fighting's over. But he wants to pound things. Pound them hard. It takes him a moment to pull back from that ragged edge, and by the time he's done, he's winded, slumping with his hands on his knees, chest heaving, though his wound was minor, especially compared to the others. "Gaaaah!" Having said his peace, he looks around to see if everyone's okay, a little of the fire still in his eyes.

Katari leans a little more than necessary on the petrified-wood staff, exhaling. Lightning-like tendrils of black energy crawl across her for a moment, hungrily, and then dissapate. "Is wonder there are pig-farmers left here at all," she says, "if is many brigands of this kind."

Seanait looks at the unconscious wereboars, looking like she's barely on her feet for the moment. Then she looks at the others, "Let's truss them up and get these pigs back to their owner. And perhaps demand some manner of payment in the form of bacon." She nearly screeches out the last, looking quite angry in a cold and controlled manner.

Mogrinaar grunts. "Well we should tie em up and bring em to the authorities or whatnot. Though I haven't dealt much with halfbreeds like this before. Is it catchy?" he states motioning. "Either way Seanait is right, we should be paid well for this." he motions to his backpack. "I got plenty of rope, so lets put it to good use. And be prepared to give em a whallop on the head if they stir. Perhaps the clerics know what to do with such nasty things. I mean what can be worse than a half human half pig." his face says YUK.

After returning the pigs, Giles does reluctantly let you keep them but does take it out of your pay. He grumbles that he always knew those boys were up to some kind of awful thing, trying to make it seem like he always knew they were wereboars. The authorities are not used to taking in such peculiar villains, but a quick run of detection spells shows that they aren't evil. They're just rough and stupid lads with a magical bloodline of... piggishness.

Bacon Liberation Team

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