Dremlunts: Rhal the Breaker

Diplomatic action

The Sapphire Oath find the orc capable of giving them a direction to the Galeborn, it's just a process to figuire out the best means forward... both with Rhal and how to follow his instructions.

The Sapphire Oath began their trek into rusty and umber lands of Dremlunts While life clung in desperation to this place, it was not the full, rich life of the plants of Anrand Glad. Instead, weeds and reeds grew where the ground would let them with the rolling hills of dried dead earth between.
The adventurers had a destination marked on their map provided to them by the orcish shaman taken alive in the ambush. Between 15 and 20 miles out into feral country was a hermitage of one Rhal the Breaker who would know about the Galeborn. Serving as an informant on the elven border for the bioterrorist organization, the Sapphire Oath would want to get information from him without giving themselves away.
  Despite the trek to his home being easily done in a single day, the companions took their time. Rather than attempting a straight jaunt in that direction, they took a more serpentine path. They stayed to the lowlands of the broken and rolling terrain to try to stay out of sight of any passive onlookers- Rhal was a watchman after all. Opposite of this, Zith would use multiple waves of conjured familiars (magpies, crows, and hawks blending in well) to scout the forward environment. The familiars located the ravine that a small hut and cave homestead was built in. This allowed the party to veer off from their initial course to find their own sheltered ravine to set up camp in and begin to plot.
  The first step would be a few days of general reconnaissance on the homestead. Between Zith's familiars and Ravel's wild-shaping, it didn't take the party long to identify the occupants of the hermitage. From there, they would wait through a few more days to get as much information as possible.
  Rhal was a large and bulky orc that was unorthodoxly hairless. Instead, his skin was a smooth, pale hue with larger blotches of deep blue across shoulders, back, outer arms and the like. His over-sized hands extended down into black claws. In time, the party would witness him work multiple forms of magic from mending possessions, casting stones in a divination ritual, and creating food to supplement his forages.
  Along with Rhal was a young, ordinary orc probably near or in early adolescence. The pair seemed to have a parent-offspring relationship whether biological or not. Joining the pair was also a large shaggy beast kept outside on a tether.
  The monstrous beast reeked and had a neck just as long as it's strong, dinosaur-like tail. The tail ended in a lumpy and bumpy boney growth that seemed to be very cudgel shaped. It's head couldn't very well be seen as it was covered in a tattered bag that drooped. The bag was open on the bottom with torn holes that boar-like tusks would occasionally jab out of. The head stayed near the ground hovering from the extended neck grazing on reedy grass.
  While not a set schedule, Rhal's homestead seemed to follow similar rhythms. The boy would be allowed to go out with a bow to hunt small game on his own during the day but had to stay within a few miles of the homestead always in line of sight. Rhal would go on a much longer foraging trip. During that entire time, the boy would be receded into the cave and out of sight. While some food was saved in the larder, everything the party saw gathered or conjured was cooked in the stew pot outside. After whatever meal they had in the evening was eaten, the remains would be dumped out for the shaggy, bag-headed beast to scarf down.
  The party discussed their plans. The possibilities of attacking while one or the other was away were brought up but the end decision was they didn't want to endanger the child if at all possible. Whether they attacked Rhal was on the line though there were also ideas of approaching him as a possible friend? As things got bandied back and forth, the largest wildcard on the table was that bag-headed beast. The party was not comfortable approaching the camp if they didn't know what it was. It didn't seem to be used for labor. It was on a tether and seemed like a guard dog. The party concocted a plan to get some additional information on the creature while not drawing much suspicion.
  One day while Rhal was off on his hunting trip, Zith sent in his familiar as a spy. Ravel then conjured a pair of giant vultures with instructions to go harass the beast. They would try to draw it's ire to see how strong it was. Additionally, the vultures were told to try to remove the bag covering it's head so the party could ascertain what that might be for and how Rhal would react to it being off.
  As the giant vultures descended on the creature, it lifted it's head to meet them. As the first dropped onto the creature, the beast whipped it's tail around to explode the bird out of the air like a piñata. Then second vulture managed to grab onto the tattered back and tear it away. Underneath, the vulture and Zith-via-familiar could see a very flat boarish face with blackened holes for eyes and a wide, flat grazing mouth. The creature moaned and set wave of gray energy in a focused beam straight at the giant vulture. The summoned creature shriveled in the air into a husk before snapping out of existence.
  Zith described the events in minor terror while waiting for Rhal to return. The scuffle had been so short that the child's attention wasn't even roused. When Rhal did return with rabbits in hand, he paused outside the camp read the situation. He slowly approached the beast circuitously from behind to pick up the bag and pull it back over the head. He took a closer look at the area but found no signs of struggle, not tracks, no bodies, no damage to the beast... nothing. Perhaps the bag got snagged on the post? Either way, he would check on the child and continue on with the day's activities.
  The party would give Rhal time to let any suspicions blow over. They would take another day of no activity just to space things out. Their conversation also solidly focused on conversation over conflict. Remembering back to the list of Dremlunts' dangers they had been informed of Gofinath, “death cattle” were on the list. This seemed to be it.
  The party discussed possible subterfuge of invisible or polymorphed party members on the approach. None of these plans would be used though. Risking their own ingenuity sold by Beatle's tongue, there plan would be as simple of walking up, boldly lying about their purpose, and simply asking for what information they could have.
  Once the decompression time had passed, the party made a round about approach on the camp to come from low ground in plain line of sight. When conversation began, Beatle sold a story of the group being from the continent of Hiskalon. They were seeking out the Galeborn and sought a moment of his time in exchange for a provided meal. Once around the fire, it was shared that the party were founding members of the Liberation Front of Derth seeking to break down the city's skyport operations. The airships dropped waste onto the neighborhoods, were only used by the wealthy with no benefit to the lesser people.
  “We've been probing the skyport, we have a few people on the inside, we want to bring it down, but we need more muscle, and some expertise in explosive magic. The LFD heard about what you pulled of in Argil and wants to partner to bring down the skyport in Derth. We asked around and heard you were in this general area. We ran into some orcs on the way here, couldn't understand them much on account of their accents, we said 'Galeborn' and they said 'Rahl' and pointed us in this direction ”
  Rhal denied direct association with Galeborn. While they bartered, he was not a full member in activity or interest. The party's request to the Galeborn were denied on the grounds that Rhal had never actually been to their camp. They came to him. However, he had been given instructions in how he might be able to find them if help was ever needed. Rhal then recited what he had been told himself:
  Cross muddied fields, follow the wood's border
Press on, don't yield until jumbled disorder
Enter there-in and follow where-in
Grey does brown and brown does bleed
Find the shrine of the Alkaloks dead king
From his mouth does the storm wind sing
Twine like vines through roots and veil
To find the camp where Nature does wail
Through hawthorn leads the battle sworn feeds
Branches staunch with rooted seed
  After receiving their veiled instructions, the companions made an awkward departure from this social interaction. They would beginning their journey south across the Red Meadows that day. The closest portion of the Alkaloks Woods was a three day journey away. From there, they would have nearly 200 miles of forest edge to have to determine where in the world they were supposed to go to find the Galeborn's secret headquarters within the wood.