You all work together like a well oiled machine picking off one dog after another with Chim unleashing some of his arcane energies to finish off the last one that Ioxeia injured.
Thorfinn grins, wiping his axe clean. "That was a good warmup. What's to the south here?"
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Ioxeia circles around the pit and collects her spear, pleased at how well the plan worked. She beams at the others, or rather, lets her voice ring out louder and more clearly than usual as she turns her masked gaze over them friendlily in turn.
"We fight well together. It's a pity more foes don't line up for our convenience." She looks across to the other end of the room and considers the tunnels. It wouldn't last, would it? Back to the crouch, I suppose, and hoping nothing too nasty jumps out at us before we can get clear.
Dan grunts. "It's a pity the gobbos don't feel like fighting us where we can all stand up." He shakes his head and gestures in the direction the dwarves and goblin dogs had come from. "There was nothing else that way?"
"Might be. We didn't stop to look after we saw the dogs."
"Nicely done. Let's go have a look."
Dan nods. "Let's make sure we've seen everything down every passageway. I don't want to leave a barracks full of gobbos behind us because we got distracted by something shiny."
Checking the passage to the south west you find it leads back toward the entrance where you came into the tight maze of brambles.
"Hmph. Let's see where the dogs were, then move on east from there."
"Sounds good." Hefting his earth breaker, Dorik falls in alongside Thorfinn.
Heading to where you saw the dogs, the floor and walls of this musty-smelling chamber are covered with matted, wiry fur. Well-gnawed bones lie scattered about the floor, and a dozen wooden stakes have been driven into the ground near the walls.
"Twelve stakes. Could be more gob dogs somewhere ahead." Dorik says, as he conducts a quick search of the room.
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"Unless they've got more "dogs" for their stables from other tribes, between the ones we just put down and the raid, I don't think there can be many more than half left," Ioxeia says after a moment's reflection. "As to just how many goblins there are, though... I suppose we'll find out once we get to the island itself."
Dan grunts. "Could be hundreds in here. Gonna be a looong day."
Thorfinn nods with a grin. "Plenty to go around, then. Let's go." He leads the party down the path to the north and east of the kennel.
Continuing down the path there the tunnels split to the north and south.
Dorik looks over at Thorfinn. "Left or right?"
"Right." Thorfinn suits action to word.
Heading down the right passageway you come to small room. A cloying musky scent lies heavy in the air here. A matted nest of red and black hair sits to the east.
Thorfinn pokes at the nest, trying to figure out what it might be from.
Dorik joins Thorfinn in looking at the nest.
The dwarf sniffs tentatively at a clump of fur from the nest. "Smells like cat. Nothing here now, though. North?"
"Let's do it."
Thorfinn leads the party further south.
Dan follows along at the back, wary for ambushes.
Dorik moves as quietly as he can, which is to say not very, eyes scanning from side to side, never resting in one place for too long.
Moving south further you start to enter another chamber when a large feline jumps out to attack.
It bites into Dorik trying to pull him to the ground.
With the surprise he manages to knock the dwarf off his feet. At the same time you hear chanting in goblin. All of the sudden the roots and bristles branch out trying to grab hold of everyone.
With an angry snarl, Dorik stands and swings his earth breaker at the cat.
Dan moves forward to engage the cat, nimbly avoiding the entangling vegetation. He swings his morningstar at the animal.
The roots don't appear to hamper Dorrick as he swings at the large feline, though it easily dodges the blow. Ioxeia gets tangled in the vines and roots causing her to jab just to the side of the cat. Dan manages to keep clear of most of the vines himself, moving closer to attack the beast as well. He catches the cat as it bounds back from Dorik's giving it a good smash with his morningstar, but that just seems to turn it's attention toward him.
The cat turns to retaliate bitting and clawing at Dan.
It bites into Dan's leg tearing his leg back causing him to fall to the ground. It then swipes with one claw, digging into his skin. Then the second claw which catches on his armor and doesn't penetrate.
Looking back into the room you also see a goblin with what looks to be a flaming sword in one hand and a wand in the other. He moves up behind the cat, seemingly unhindered by the spell and attacks Dan as well.
The blade sears into Dan burning as it cuts. The smell of burning flesh floats through the air as the goblin withdraws his blade.
Thorfinn evades the grasping vines with undwarvish agility, then brings his axe down onto the cat with a roar. "That meat's not for you, beast!"
Thorfinn brings down the axe on the cat and it is unable to avoide the blow. It catches the feline on the side slicing through its ribs and into it's guts, somehow though it manages to stay standing.
Chim from the rear lobs more of his arcane magics at the feline in hopes of finishing it of.
The balls of energy smack into the cat where Throfinn already sliced it open, opening the wound further causing its guts to spill out on the floor as it falls to the ground unmoving.
Thorfinn continues to keep his feet from being entangled in the impudent ivy.
Despite his best efforts, Dorik is again ensnared.
"Za ka mutu!" he roars at the goblin.
Struggling forward, he swings at the cat again.
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Badly wounded, Dan struggles to his feet behind the protection of Ioxeia's legs and tears his way through the plants to where Dorik had been standing until a moment before.