Thorfinn rouses himself after a night spent being shoved by the other party members every time he started to snore. He stretches, belches, scratches himself unselfconsciously, and chews on some hardtack and sausage from his pack. "Let's go."
Heading back to where you had met the goblin and spared his life, you are unable to locate him.
"Damn his eyes! I knew we should've just killed him!" The belligerent dwarf stops then, struck by a thought. "Though he didn't set the rest of those rateaters on us while we slept...maybe his chief or the longshanks caught wind of what he planned, and killed him themselves?"
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"He didn't seem to think much of our chances of convincing the chief and just walking back out again. Perhaps he's waiting to see who gains the upper hand, then move in and take what's left - of his tribe, of us? We should be careful on our way back, once we're done here."
"If we can find a bit of rope, next time we should bind anyone who's just yielded to us." Ioxeia's unspoken thoughts at the goblin's easy escape, and her negligence, are unprintable.
Dan shakes his head. "He couldn't go tell his little friends to leave us alone if we left him tied up here. We trusted him enough to let him live, we'll have to trust him to be smart enough to not want to run into us again."
Tracing your steps back through the thistle tunnels you go the only other route left to you where you come to a rope bridge that spans the gulf between the cliff and a roundish, flat-topped island sixty-some feet to the north. Thick patches of nettles and briars grow here and there atop the island, but its most impressive feature is a wooden one-story stockade. Two thirty-foot-tall watchtowers guard the stockade’s southern facade. The rope bridge itself is made of hairy rope and thick wooden planks; the whole thing creaks and sways in the wind above the churning surf eighty feet below.
-Posted with Wayfinder
You look across the way at the fort. At first glance it seems quiet but looking closer you spot some goblins, trying to keep low in the watch towers, obviously watching your approach.
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Ioxeia peers across at the fort, nervous anticipation fluttering within her as she eyes her destination. "It looks quiet enough," she says, "but I'm not sure what surprises our guide might have left for us."
Considering the others' tactical preferences, she adds, "Any suggestions for the order we'd care to cross in? It's a long shot with this bow, but I should be able to make it, if there is treachery at work, and Chimaeryus has his magic missiles."
Thorfinn peers intently at the fort, shading his eyes with one calloused hand. "They're in there...and they know we're here."
Dan shakes his head. "They wouldn't be hiding up there watching us if this wasn't a trap. Unless that one we talked to convinced them to just let us in? This... is too complicated for goblins. It'd be easier if we knew we just had to bash them all in the head and be done with it."
"Bah! I can feel the moss growing under my feet. Let's go!" Thorfinn readies axe and shield and, unless someone stops him, begins to advance across the bridge.
Dan quickly calls on Cayden to protect them from harm, then follows Thorfinn across the bridge with his shield and morningstar raised.
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As her gaze travels along the length of the bridge, Ioxeia gradually realizes that something is amiss. She cries out urgently, “Keep going, everyone, fast as you can! The bridge should hold our weight, but it’s designed to be cut out from under attackers!”
She continues more calmly, half to herself, “If we can a couple of us to the other side, we should be able to defend it until all of us cross over…”
“Go, go, GO!” she exhorts, hand ready to dip into her quiver as she keep one eye on the fort.
Thorfinn speeds up to a trot.
Thorfinn gets half way across the bridge while Dan finishes casting his spell and Ioxeia shouts out about the danger causing Dorick to start running across as well. Thorfinn makes it almost to the other side before starts to come loose on one side as Dorick gets closer to Thorfinn. All of the sudden the bridge flops sideways.
Thorfinn, feeling the bridge slip out from under him jumps toward the ledge and grabs hold as the bridge comes loose. Dorick on the other hand tries grabbing onto the side of the bridge but as it goes sideways he gets flung off into the surf below. He screams as he falls but once he hits the surface he stops moving and begins to sink below the waves. The rope bridge is left now with only one side connecting the island to the mainland.
"I'm all right! See to Dorick--I'm about to have company!" Thorfinn begins to drum his axe on his shield, teeth bared in a grimace of rage. If possible, he'll try to get out of the line of fire of the towers.
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As Thorfinn’s voice carries over the sound of the heartless breakers below, Ioxeia scarcely hesitates. Throwing down her bow and quiver, she shrugs off her pack, snatches only the spear from the looped straps on its side, and tightens the baldric of her shield, to hold it and the spear snug against her back. As she checks that sword and dagger are secure on her hips, brisk instructions tumble from her lips. Nodding at her pack, Ioxeia explains her plan, “I’ll be needing those later. But first, we need to help Thorfinn. We’ll cross the hard way, secure the other end of the bridge, and see if we can clear enough breathing room to get the bridge back in shape. Chim, you’ll work from this end, but until things are quiet, blast anything that causes trouble from those towers. Good?”
Without waiting for an answer, Ioxeia grabs the rope that serves as handrail and swings herself up under it, slowly advancing hand over hand as she hangs over the waves below. She indulges the snippets of tactical manuals that come into her head to avoid imagining the space below her. Establish a beachhead. Keep a line of retreat open. Act decisively. Expect to need to modify your plans…
Ioxeia starts to work her way across the bridge as Chim keeps look out for threats. She makes it about 2/3 of the way across before the doors of the fort open and goblins spill out mounted on goblin dogs.
In the two towers you see goblins pop up and take aim at Ioxeia.
The mounted goblins rush forward toward Thorfinn.
A rain of arrows comes down on Ioxeia and even though she held on to the bridge mostly helpless only two of the arrows hit, cutting through her. The mounted goblins rush out surrounding Thorfinn with one in the back not able to reach him. None of the goblins have any luck with their attacks as they work to stay mounted but one of the goblin dogs takes a bite of Thorfinn.
Chim heeding Ioxeia's instructions launches his magic at one of the goblins in the towers, droppping him as the balls of force slam into the goblin.
The dwarf grins and attempts to make the dog that bit him pay.
Dan shakes his head at the mess that had happened so quickly. "That escalated quickly." Waiting for Ioxeia to clear the bridge, he takes out his sling and fires at one of the goblin archers.
Ioxria, hanging onto the bridge tries to continue moving across but with arrows flying she almost losses her grip, only catching herself to stay where she was. Thorfinn swings at one of the goblin dogs, just barely connecting before having to defend himself.
Dan tosses a pebble at the goblins with his sling but it just falls into the waters not even getting over to the island. The goblins in the towers unleash another volley of arrows at the elf.
As the arrows come flying down, Ioxeia is able to avoid two but two others stick into her as she starts to look a little like a pin cushion.
The goblins and dogs on the island go in at Thorfinn once again.
Even with the overwhelming number of attacks Thorfinn holds his own as he blocks some attacks and others glance off his armor. Chim unleashes more balls of force at the goblin archers.
The balls of force slam into one of the goblins, but unlike last time the goblin remains standing.
Dodging and weaving in the thick of the melee, the dwarf's bloody axe rises and falls again, biting into one of the goblin dogs.
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As the next volley of arrows finds its mark, Ioxeia lets out a sharp cry. I can’t take much more of this, she thinks, realizing that Chimaeryus won’t be able to thin out the archers quickly enough. Craning her neck to spot Thorfinn from her topsy-turvy perspective, Ioxeia realizes with grim satisfaction that she’s close enough, and calls out.
“Thorfinn, we need to get out of here, NOW! I can’t hang around much longer – get clear, and if we jump together, I can handle this!”
She waits while Thorfinn makes a vicious swing at the nearest goblin dog, then, as he steps back, lets go of the handrail and drops down the face of the cliff, shouting a word of power to slow their fall.
As the sea rushes up, she angles herself to start swimming for shore as soon as she hits the water…
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Seeing that Thorfinn isn't ready to jump, Ioxeia inwardly curses his stubbornness and her volatility, and strains to get to the edge of the cliff.
Adrenaline carries her the rest of the way, and she swings down beside Thorfinn with an embarrassed grin. "Sorry I'm so jumpy - I don't like being shot at!"
Even as she speaks, her hand dips to her spell component pouch, and she hurries through the motions of her spell, trying to avoid the snarling goblin dog and its rider before her.
Ducking under the snapping jaws, Ioxeia completes her hurried incantation and a rainbow spray of colours bursts from her hand to blast the cavalry.
The vibrant colors wash over the pack of dogs and goblins. All of the goblin dogs and all put one goblin pass out and drop to the floor.
I'm going to hate myself for this.... Hoping the words will taste better if he says them quickly, Thorfinn blurts out, "We're here for the bugbear and the longshanks! Let us by and you live!"
There is no response from the remaing standing goblin, but from inside you hear what sounds like foul words being spat in your direction.
Thorfinn gives Ioxeia a quick shrug and grin, as if to say Well, I tried.
Once Ioxeia is across, Dan starts climbing across the half-bridge.
Dan begins climbing across the ropes now that Ioxeia is across. The goblins in the tower continue their efforts to shot down at Ioxeia while the one remaining standing goblin starts to run back toward the fort and disappears down a hallway you can barely make out. As he is running toward the fort another group of goblins starts to spill out from inside.
One gets close enough to attack Thorfinn.
Half tripping over the unconcious bodies of his kin he can't manage to hit Thorfinn.
Chim lobs more of his balls of force. This time splitting them one headed for the remaining goblin in the eastern tower, the other headed for a goblin in the western tower.
Each ball of force hits their targets. The goblin in the eastern tower drops to the ground while the goblin in the western tower stay upright.
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Ioxeia lunges at the goblin left standing as he runs off, but the motion opens up her defences and a goblin arrow shears through the front of her armour. Still standing, she hears another one of the goblins in the watchtowers drop from Chimaeryus' missiles, but sees in dismay another group fill the entrance to the fort. She casts her eyes quickly about her to see what she can do.