DM Cobalt's Unshackled City
Game Master Craig Mercer

"Snotgobble, mesa is Snotgobble," the goblin says in a sniviling tone. "Goblin villages just up 'round that bend." He indicates a curve in the path a short distance away.

"Ugh...well Snotgoble, I'm going to call you 'gobble.' So long as you help us, we can be friends. But if you try to screw us over, I'll not be a very good friend," Tara points to the other goblins' remains in the area.

"S-Snot...Gobble?" Terra Raises an eyebrow and shakes her head. "Goblin names..."

We follow the Path that Snotgobble pointed out. Terra will prefer not to take the lead though...

I agree. I don't mind taking the lead, but Darian (or whoever) can if he wants.

I got it. I'm more expendable and more durable than you are.

Emyralda will be in the middle, where she can cover everyone with Inspire Courage if need be.

Tara and her new goblin friend can be where ever necessary in the marching order.

Snotgobble has pointed out the path you are currently on. As you reach the bend in the path, the meaning of the goblin's words becomes clearer, at large box canyon is revealed. A waterfall pours over the lip of the canyon's near end, creating the roaring sound and the stream by your right side.
In front of the canyon is a grassy knoll with a standing stone at the top (which seems to be avoided by the goblins).
Just beyond the knoll is the entrance to the canyon, waterfall crashing down the right cliff to a pool below. A cave entrance (perhaps worked) is next to the waterfall and pool, while higher up another opening in the cliff provides a balcony of sorts 30' above the ground.
Deeper into the canyon, the ramshackle huts and stink of goblin villages sprout like an unwanted fungus. The canyon looks to widen out farther in. And at the back wall of the canyon, you can see a trickle of water falling, a meager flow compared to the power of the waterfall at the front.
"There home," Sntgobble says, pointing into the canyon.

"Gobble, are there any traps getting to the village," Tara asks, pointing to the standing stone in particular.

"No-no!" the goblin answers. "But we no like the stink of the stone, so go around." He points to the path that makes a loop around the knoll.

"Why don't they like the 'stink of the stone'?" Emyralda wonders to herself, focusing her attention on the grassy knoll and standing stone.

Perception check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

"He has brought us To the village, so I say we leave Gobbles up here. No reason to expose him to fighting, as he seems to be keeping up his end of the deal. After we deal with the others, we can collect him and go from there."

"...W-won't it just run away if we do that? N-not that I am complaining, I'd rather not have it around..."

"You want to leave it behind us? Just let it go?" Darian says in disbelief.

"He has proven his worth by leading us here. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. We could always tie him to a tree or something to make sure he doesn't scurry away, if you would feel better about it."

Darian just shakes his head in frustration and walks forward, slapping his leg to bring Gopher to heel. He doesn't say anything about the goblin, but he's clearly not happy.

"If that's what you want to do Taravel... Terra says as she follows behind the group.

"If he causes a problem, I'll take responsibility for it, but I'm sure he'll be on his best behavior, or else HE MIGHT GET HIS NAME IN THE BOOK," Tara whispers the last part very loudly, making sure the gobbie catches her drift.

"Fine. Lets go." Darian says, making his way down the path.

Just to reset the scene...
A large box canyon is revealed. A waterfall pours over the lip of the canyon's near end, creating the roaring sound and the stream by your right side.
In front of the canyon is a grassy knoll with a standing stone at the top (which seems to be avoided by the goblins).
Just beyond the knoll is the entrance to the canyon, waterfall crashing down the right cliff to a pool below. A cave entrance (perhaps worked) is next to the waterfall and pool, while higher up another opening in the cliff provides a balcony of sorts 30' above the ground.
Deeper into the canyon, the ramshackle huts and stink of goblin villages sprout like an unwanted fungus. Badly made pens hold goblin dogs. A few damaged carts and wagons litter the village, obviously taken in the goblin's raids.
No goblins seem to be visible yet, maybe they are inside their huts or at the other end of the village?

MAP

You would be just off the right side of the Map, on the path, next to the river and the woods.

Darian looks over the area from his position behind a tree and smiled. "This is good. A lot we can use here."

"If we could put a couple people up on that embankment to provide ranged support from above, the rest of us could move between the structures and keep them from surrounding us."

"I'm much better at the up front duties. Ranged attacks aren't my strength.

"Same here. I was thinking Felix and Terra and maybe Emyralda. Any of you think you could get up there without being spotted?"

I should mention that the canyon goes back much farther than the map shows. If I need to, I will make more maps to show the extent of the canyon.
And the sides are more like cliffs instead of embankments. Climb checks would be needed to get on top of them. Unless you are refering to the small knoll with the standing stone. That's only about 5' at the peak.

"Umm, I'm not a very good climber, but if I can get up there, it would probably be a good idea. I'd have to rely on my bow though, most of my spells cap out around thirty to forty feet."

"Then we'll just bring the fighting toward you." Darian says with a grin.

"That looks like a steep climb, and we don't know if anything might come out of that cave about thirty feet up. I'd be happy to set up with my crossbow on that grassy knoll with the standing stone," Emyralda suggests.

I can't believe I just volunteered to take up a sniper position on a grassy knoll!

"That works. Go ahead. Signal us when you're in position." Darian says handing her a small mirror from his belt pouch.

"Will do," Emyralda replies as she accepts the mirror and carefully heads to her planned position. Stealth check: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Emyralda quickly and quietly slips up the grassy knoll. Nothing seems to be stirring, although her position is overshadowed by the nearby cliff (and the ledge with the cave entrance in it).

DC to climb a knotted rope is 5. Can Emyralda lower a rope for Terra and then pull it up after her?

I climbed to the top of the grassy knoll, which from DM Cobalt's description is only 5 ft high. I didn't climb the cliff-like canyon wall to the ledge and cave entrance. I know Terra is a bit short for an elf, but I don't think she'll need a rope to climb the small hill to my position. ;-)

Terra makes her way up the grassy gnoll into position and draws her bow. "R-ready!"

...unless it requires a climb check.

Climb: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (3) + 0 = 3
...in which case she starts to climb and gets herself stuck in place.

"Um, I uh, how do I..."

Tara nods toward Darian, waiting for the sign to head out and take the fight to the goblins.

Terra: The grassy knoll does not require a climb check.

"We want to hit 'em hard, and then draw the fight back near the knoll so we can have good ranged cover. We're also going to want to stick right next to each other to try to keep them from surrounding us. If we do this right we'll always have our backs to a wall and will be close to each other."

Could Gopher make it up the Gnoll?

"Yes... But it seems possibly unaturally so..."

Terra cast's detect magic to see if the gnoll is generating magic.

[ooc]Darian: Yes, Gopher can make it up the knoll.
Terra: Yes, the knoll (or more preciesly, the stone collumn) detects magic. Will you remain concentrating on it?

Darian, points to Terra and says "Stand to."

His dog quickly trots up the hill to join her and stands obediently at her left.

Gopher is now guarding Terra.

Yeah, Terra studies it for a minute.

Spellcraft 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (6) + 9 = 15

There is a strong conjuration magic associated with the standing stone.

Tara joins in on the focusing on the stone, knowing the look of a Detect Magic spell when she sees one. She uses her own version of the spell to attempt to follow what the wizard is observing.

"Bad-stone-hill only for Big Boss an' pretty lady! Snotgobble protests. "Bad luck to go there!" The goblin cowers on the ground, putting his arms above his head.

Tara, you will get the same information that Terra got, pending a better spellcraft roll.

Spellcraft 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5

"Everything alright?"

Emyralda also casts a spell to reveal magical auras and studies the stone column.

Cast Detect Magic. Spellcraft check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (14) + 5 = 19

"What is it for. What does your boss do with it... um, Snotbobble?" Terra ask's the terrified goblin about the column.