RescueTribe

__Rescuing Sherman's Tribe__
Author's note: This was very close after the incident with Teeps. I don't remember how this started, how we knew what was happening, or whether this was just "on the list". I also don't remember what type of overgrown fire newt Sherman was, but anyhow, we join the party //in situ//:

Sherman's tribe was being kept in a large penned enclosure down near the water while up on the bluff there stood the watch towers and stables. The water was an effective barrier for these fire creatures and though the pen was not very secure, most of them were fitted with collars that would cause intense pain and/or death if they attempted to escape. Add yet another problem to the list.

Still in bird form we spread out; some went to check out the forest as a possible escape route while others checked out the guard house, the road around the rim, and the road to what looked like a small town a few miles to the west. It became clear that the best thing to do was to wait and observe the timings of the guard changes and maybe check out the town.

The town is as we suspected - a support village for the prison with plenty of personnel that we did not want to fight all at once. The guard were changed regularly and it looked good for a timed strike. The escape was looking a little dicy since the woods were quite a ways away and we knew we had females and children to get out safely.

The plan then became to strike the guard house after the first shift early in the morning, taking the guards as quickly as possible, while spiriting the fire newts away under cover of a magically induced fog. The trick was to get the magically enhanced Sherman to find a way to convey what was going on to his tribe! After nearly a week of preparing, the time had come.

After seeing Sherman got into the pen, the rest of the party headed up to the edge of the bluff. We attempted to creep through the tall grass to come up to the house unawares but not everyone has ranks in Move Silently. Once that failed we did the tried and true method: Frontal Assault! Most of the team attacked the doors while Edno, Everrett and Rastik attacked the roof; Endo flying while Everrett and Rastik did their Jump rolls.

The folks in the guardhouse made short work of their foes, while the fight on the roof was a little less successful. Rastik ended up luring his opponent down the stairs, or rather that's how he remembers it. He seems to forget having been nearly killed by one mighty swordcut and running like a little girl! Luckily Raven was at the bottom of the stairs and was able to kill the last of them. In that tower we found the master collar that was used to remove the collars from the newts.

Sherman was able to get the tribe to follow him up towards the forest after doing a little thumping on the usurper alpha-male. Under cover of the fog they made their way to the clearing where the party, after doing some minor scarfing, was able to join them. Moving as fast as possible before the pursuing party from the town we made our way into the woods. We were never sure if we were followed, but no pursuit was seen yet when we finally ported out.

Safely in the woods out of sight, we made our escape with Yuri turning as many as possible into birds while Endo teleported them to Trianna's area near the mithril mine. There the fire newts were given an open range, part of Trianna's territory, where they live and thrive to this day.