Yes 50% book value to sale the look of common gear. Yes they were very well equipped. As Rachel and Ghost move about they find some horses that are picketed a bit away from the orcs camp and hidden in a small grove of trees. There are 21 horses. Two of the horses are bigger than the others.
Once Rachel reports back "Well, that solves that problem. Now we just have to feed our pack train. Are we going to head back home in the morning, or continue our scouting, Jason?"
Out of Character: - Are these bigger horses warhorses or are any of the horses equipped with more than a saddle and bridle? Any supplies on them?
I nod to Rachel, "I know, we have got to be more careful. But I don't know how much more prepared we could have been for this. Oh it would've been better if we'd gotten in position for the ambush before being noticed, or if I'd spent a bit more time beforehand making spell scrolls, but we can't count on being quieter next time. If you have any ideas, please let me know."
To Grant, I'll say, "I'm completely spent at the moment, lets leave the gear piled up for now. Tomorrow, I'll check for magic, and pick anything of that sort out. Same goes for the chest, If I don't spot any magic traps, we'll open it then. If we miss a mundane trap we'll have healing on hand at that point."
"The stronghold could certainly use those horses, they are running shy on unclaimed mounts, partly thanks to us coming in with new people. We're still only a day's ride out from the stronghold, and this will be difficult to manage over the long haul, lets rest up for tonight, and bring everything in to the stronghold on the morrow. They'll want to hear our report on the matter soon I think. Did anyone find a sigil, clan markings, anything that could tell us about this bunch?"
Once sure this campsite has nothing else to offer, we'll burden the extra horses with the gear and head east a bit, looking for another place to camp, with extra eyes on watch through the night.
The place the horses were kept is a good place to camp but it is down hill in a depression with higher ground all around it. They camped on the higher ground in the area. If you go east a hour you can find another place on top of a small hill.
I look around the small hill, "I think this will do, agreed?"
As people start to dismount, I'll say, "Well done people, it didn't quite go as planned, but we kept it together and got things done. Still though, lets try to do better next time."
We'll post a careful watch as we rest off the tough fight.
If the night goes without disturbance, I'll infuse and cast Detect Magic, using it to rapidly sort through the loot obtained. I'll spend a few minutes studying any magic items with the artificer's Monocle to identify their properties. If there do not appear to be any magical traps on the chest, I'll hand it to Grant and give him the go ahead to try his hand.
Edited: daishain on 21st Jul, 2018 - 10:40pm