GM Silbeg's Slayers: #3-01 The Frostfur Captives. (Inactive)

Game Master Silbeg

That's blue-skins, since they are Frostfor goblins! And, yes, you stepped through the tapestry into Irrisen.

Sverrir replies to the Slayers, "I suppose that you could call what they are doing behaving... at least in goblin terms. We've had to keep a 24/7 watch on them, to keep them from causing mischief, or running off. I would be nice to get a full night's sleep again.

"They all do speak common, at least a little. The Shadow Lodge traitors they were working with made sure of that. There are six of them, " she indicates the goblins, naming them off, one by one.

They are not named by the scenario, so I'll just use convenient names we all know and love
"This is Poog, Chuffy, Mogmurch, Reta, Rita, and Ice Melts Quietly in Sunlight. That last one is a quiet one, but I am pretty sure he's been the instigator of most of the mischief. They are all yours, now. Get them to Trollheim safely.

"I would cross the Rimeflow River at Harvest's End... they have a ferry there, probably the safest place to cross. I have a map for you, and four days's rations for you and the goblins. You have four and a half days to get to Trollheim before the extraction team has to leave... and it is a three and a half day walk. Good luck!" She gives you the paperwork and maps for the mission.

Looking at the tall Ulfen, "Which goblin was the hardest to control? I would like to become his mentor, and teach him all about how wonderful it is to help people and stand in front of tables filled with strange flasks, and get burnt almost to death. Then I will teach him how to behave like a mighty duck, and to not wear women's clothes. If that all works out, he and I will become lifelong friends and write him letters as I kill dead things that live again and need to be killed before they go invisible and make animals wild."

"Well, as I said, the quiet one with the long name is probably the primary instigator. He's quite the observer. Poog seems to be the most vocal of the group. Morgmurch, well, he's not quite right in the head... takes to eating anything and everything. Chuffy, we'll he's been a really slippery one... caught him stealing several time. The two sisters, Reta and Rita? Well, they never start anything, but the two of them tend to act quickly once a raucous has started."

That's blue-skins, since they are Frostfor goblins! And, yes, you stepped through the tapestry into Irrisen.

Deliberate snafu on my behalf, since we haven't seen them with our own eyes yet.

"Trollheim?" Arturo says, open-mouthed, "Please, oh please, tell me it is named for its former inhabitants!"

Puffing himself up, Arturo approaches the goblins, "Hello friends. We have exciting news for you! When we arrive in Trollheim, we will have a fireworks display for you. I won't say how or why at this point, but if we get there without incident, you will see something spectacular. If you step out of line, Jaender here (called the 'Little Man Who Breaths Fire') will bring you back under control.

"So, play well and behave: fireworks display. Misbehave, run off or eat all or food: burned blue skins. Do you understand?"

Unless there seems to be anything of interest other than the goblins here, Arturo is happy to head off in the direction of... gulp... 'Trollheim'.

The brute looks at Arturo confusedly, "You don't remember, the goblin woman came up to you, and you unlaced..." He trails off...the memory was probably a bad one. He shrugs, listening to the ranger's final instructions.

He walks behind Arturo, wearing a menacing look. They didn't look so bad, but perhaps if they were fearful they would behave, in addition to wanting a fireworks display.

Arturo attempts to endear the goblins by offering fireworks.
Arturo: Diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 9 + 2 = 15

As one they say (in common), "Oooh! Fireworks!" and big grins appear on their faces, and they appear ready to go to Trollheim!

Note: The goblins have only the clothes on their backs.

Jaender smiles with a flourish when Arturo introduces him, and to accentuate the point, leans forward, exaggerating the movement, breaths a gout of flame into the air.

"There is more where that came from, and a spectacular fireworks display when we arrive. As Arturo said, the display is only for the most well behaved fire-lovers"

-Posted with Wayfinder

The goblins are all suitably impressed, and are ready to head out with the party. Reta, or is it Rita, comes up to Einhardt. "Me like pretty wolf. Me pet pretty!" Unless Einhardt doesn't allow it, the goblin starts petting the she-wolf rather roughly.

"Let's go, then! A long trip ahead of us!" Roudantaimi gathers the goblins into a loose formation, and starts marching onwards... Only to return a moment later. "Uh... which way?" he whispers to Vox.

As the wolf feels the knobby fingers of the goblin pressing up against her flank, roughly petting in quick prodding pokes. As the pungent, familiar (and upsetting) smell of goblin fills her nostrils, the wolf snorts once, then looks up to the youth with a pleading look.

The animal's face quite plainly begs, pleading with Vox, "Can I eat it?"

Looking back to the wolf, the youth holds his hand out to the animal, palm down. "Down," he says, almost begging the wolf in replay, as if it seems he might not be able to control the beast. "... easy now, girl."

Turning to his friend, the youth looks at the halfling, concerned etched on his face. "She won't attack the goblins..." he says in a daze, almost to himself. "... I'm pretty sure."

"Umm, as for our path," Vox snaps out of his daze and looks around. "I think we should go..."

Should I roll knowledge(geography)? If you will roll for Vox, his bonus is +6

"Agreed, let us be off. I, Arturo Hairy-Lip, will walk amongst the goblins," In case they decide to hatch a plan and speak only in goblin... "And I think Vox Path-Finder and Einhardt Wolf-Who-Eats-All should lead with our very own Strong Brute Reaper-of-Souls and Ophiuchus Duck-Bringer. Roudantaimi Boom-Maker and Jaender Fire-Brand should be at the rear." Hopefully these more goblin-esque titles will help the little freaks accept us more.

With that, Arturo prepares to head off for the long journey. Just before they leave, he adds, "We should split out the supplies evenly amongst ourselves, and make relatively frequent stops to hand out small amounts to everyone. No long stretches of exercise without food for these little things. At night time, we'll need to set a fire and stop for twelve hours, taking watch in pairs - one of us to watch the food, the other to watch the goblins."

"Large man that sings, are you going to lead us in a marching song? One about stepping high through the snow, or walking even when we are tired. I am tired, Is anyone else tired? How far do we have until we are they?"

All these small new friends. I hope they treat the pretty wolf nicely. I would hate to have to kill them so soon.

The large man furrows his brow as Arturo starts rattling off titles after each name. He shares a glance with Vox, then just shrugs. The rest of the comments make much sense, so he nods agreeably, eager to get started.

"This one knows plenty of songs about working when tired. Not a one about stepping high through snow. How does anyone live in this blasted land?"

"Careful..." Jaender says to the female goblin who is petting the wolf.

"She ate the last 4 goblins who did that..."

Jaender begins moving forward without a second thought to his comment.

"Sounds like an ideal plan Arturo. Lets be off. The sooner we deliver our charges, the sooner we get back to a warmer climate."

The team heads out; they can see the obvious relief on the faces of the team they are leaving.

Jaender snaps the Morningstar back from the blue skinned goblin and immediately belches a line of fire on the little thief without hesitating.

fire spit, ranged touch: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22 for fire damage: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

"if you put your hands on my stuff again I will turn your insides out and feed your guts to the crows." he snaps angrily

"what else have you taken from me already?" jaender begins to search the goblin for any of his other possessions.

-Posted with Wayfinder

The youth jumps with a startled turn at the sounds behind him, seeing the shadow-clad wayang releasing a torrent of fire from his mouth. As the flames rain down on the little goblin, Vox cringes and hopes perhaps the creature has been missed by the searing heat and fire.

"That... escalated quickly..." he says, with an exasperated sidelong glance at Strong Brute.

"At this rate, we'll burn through our supply of prisoners in no time flat," he sighs again, shaking his head.

The large man, startled at the rather brutal display by Jaender, can only nod agreement to Vox. "Maybe Jaender should walk up here. This one will take his place closer to our goblin prisoners." The brute is careful to keep reproach out of his voice, though it is rather useless to try and disguise why he is offering a different placement.

"Small man that burps fire, you really burped that time. Do the goblins what something to play with. I have a toy." At that Ophiuchus whips out his greatsword, swinging it over the head of Reta, or is it Rita, and thrusts it into the ground. "Next little goblin that tries that will get a taste of my duck steel. When I swing it, you better duck if you want your head."

Intimidate: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

Arturo curses in Varisian and his wand of healing springs out of its sheath. He holds his hand over the goblin, please work before they get mad or flee!

Use magic device: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24
Wand CLW: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 1 = 8 --HA! Exactly what I needed.

"Please, please be calm," Arturo says to everyone as the tensions rise, the burned skin of Chuffy already healing from black to its regular blue hue, pimples and all.

Then in goblin, he adds, "Vážime si miesto, ktoré je v tú s tieň dom a všetko, ale nebudeme potoka krádež. Viem, že si sa len snaží, aby sa na to pozrieť, ale najlepšie, k hnevu malého muža, ktorý chrlí oheň znovu, áno?*"

Diplomacy, if allowed: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

Jaender, upon catching Chuffy pickpocketing him, lets forth a blast of fire. The goblin falls to the ground, smouldering and unconscious. Arturo acts quickly to heal the goblin before he dies.

Chuffy looks up, surprised that he's still alive. "Je mi ľúto, veľký šéf. Ja len chcel zbraň, aby pomohol brániť nálezcovi z cesty."

I am putting a marching order in the info pages... please confirm this is what you want.

The goblins quickly get back into their order, and the group marches on. After a couple of hours, the goblins seem to be slowing down... sometime holding their stomachs. They don't say much, but look very worried at Jaender and Strong Brute, off and on.

Sorry, missed the earlier post. Arturo is fine, but I think Jaender and Strong Brute need to be swapped.

Sorry, missed the earlier post. Arturo is fine, but I think Jaender and Strong Brute need to be swapped.

Due to the almost fatality, Strong Brute wanted to switch places with Jaender, to put space between him and the wayang hothead.

"This one thinks that a short meal break is in order." The brute has been around the ravenous little creatures enough to know they are likely starving, and begins to herd them into a small circle before they can be offered some trail rations.

"I hope it's just hunger, and not sickness." Roudantaimi looks worried over their charges. While is examining their physical well-being, the gnome uses the gifts of Shelyn to also take a look into the colour of their souls.

Detect Evil

Sorry guys, yesterday was impossible... Almost. Today should be easier

Jaender accepts the position swap with the large man without a word. Like a person who has seen a spider and is now convinced they are crawling all over him, Jaender constantly checks his pockets and gear for missing items.

I'll happily take that wand charge Arturo, that couldn't have worked out any better :)

Jaender nods at the Strong Brute's suggestion, and grabs some rations out of his pack to share with the little blue skinned pests.

-Posted with Wayfinder

None of the goblins detect as evil. However, Roudantaimi realizes that they are probably not evil enough to be detectable.

See Detect Evil spell for details. Note that a creature of 4HD or less will not have an aura.

Strong Brute halts the column, gathering the goblins around to eat. He passes out trail rations to everyone, giving them a half-day's ration. The goblins quickly gulp theirs down, and look up at him as if they are still hungry.

I have added a "trail rations" section to my tagline. This does not include any rations that individuals have purchased.

"Come here small goblin. Sit next to Uncle Ophiuchus. Here is some delicious food." He breaks off a portion of a ration. Handing the hard tack to the goblin, while he munches on the other half. "So tell me, Mogmurch. Is that right? Did I say your name right. Tell me about your goblin self."

The goblin, sniffing the ration, looks at it suspiciously. He then rubs it in his armpit, sniffs it again, pulls out some ear wax, smears it on the biscuit, then takes a nibble. "Mogmurch hate Chuffy. Gonna shove a bomb up his ass, make him go BOOOOMMMMS!. You think Rita or Reta pretty more. Which one play giggle pokes with."

Ophiuchus looks at the little goblin, "What has this Chubby done to anger you so? Did he run off with your mate? Did he fail to guard your back as you defended your village from dead dogs that live again? Does he dislike ducks?"

Mogmurch looks at the large nagaji, "We me have reason. You talk to Chuffy, see for self. Him a$~%$&&." Mogmurch begins to sob gently.

"What has saddened you my small friend? Have I offended your goblin honor? Do you wish to duel to regain you prestige amongst your fellow compatriots?"

Sobbing through his hands, snot, hard tack, running down his face, Mogmurch begins to blubber, "Had wife, Rempty. She die when Licktoad tribe destroyed."

Sadness momentarily clouds the nagaji's face. "I too know the pain of loss. It has been almost two years since my dear Merian has left me. We as strong warriors must move on, protect the wives, and show our valor. Come small friend, I will help you in this quest for vengeance. We will be like the dew on the grass, the seed on the wind, the snail on the cow."

"Not crying 'bout that. Cryin' because I wish I was one do it."

Either Ophiuchus did not hear, or understand, or allow himself to listen to what the goblin said, rises and begins to talk excitedly about all the adventures the two will have.

"Still hungry, fellas?" asks Arturo sympathetically. When whichever goblins are listening to him nod their heads, he adds, "Great! Our next meal is in 6 miles*. Sooner we get there, the sooner we eat. Every time you ask me 'are we there yet?' or anything similar, we add on another quarter mile. Understand? Great."

* Or however long it is between ration breaks.

Diplomacy again, if required: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (3) + 9 = 12

Arturo helps pack everything up. He casts a worried glance at Ophiuchus, who appears to be forming a strange bond with the goblin who likes to bounce disturbingly high using only his buttocks for propulsion. I will never fully understand that nagaji. The swashbuckler shakes his head, checks everything is in order and helps round up the goblins so they can set off.

Jaender keeps a wary eye on the goblins, still paranoid from the recent theiving attempt.

"Would you like me to hang on to the food moving forward? At least they know what will happen to them if they try to steal it from me..."

Roudantaimi is surprised how well Poochie and the goblin get along. But maybe it's good they have someone who has the goblins' trust. On the other hand, he is also worried about his friend, and hopes he doesn't lower his guard at the wrong moment.

The gnome checks his weapons, and gets ready to continue. "Let's go! Long way to go still. Maybe the trip goes faster if we sing a nice song. I'll go first!" And the gnome starts singing a jolly song about a winter wonderland, lyrics obviously written by someone who hasn't actually witnessed a real winter ever.

Untrained perform (sing): 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (3) + 4 = 7

The goblins don't look happy about it, but they set out for the march again. As Roudantaimi starts singing, they gleefully join in (for we all know that goblins LOVE to sing). They quickly take over the song, though, even though their screechy voices are even worse than Roudi's.

Marching, Marching, all day long!
We Goblins sing this travel song,
and if you try to sing along,
We change the words, you get it wrong!"

"Longshanks, Longshanks, so big, so vile!
They make us walk so many miles!
Longshanks say not to worry, will not be harmed,
Stupid Longshanks know all the while
Death stalk us with a crooked smile!"

Marching, Marching, all day long!
We Goblins sing this travel song,
and if you try to sing along,
We change the words, you get it wrong!"

Arturo continues to march along with the goblins, his feet finding step in time to the goblins' tune. Eventually, he finds himself joining in.

"Longshanks march and sing the song,
Goblins ones who get it wrong!
Sing for pleasure, sing all day -
When we fight they join the fray.

"Longhshanks laugh and win the fight,
Blue-skinks cannot do it right.
Gobbos beaten, gobbos dead.
Should have listened, stayed in bed!"

Perform, song: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Arturo laughs off the angry looks he gets from the Frostfurs. The more they are distracted with the song battle, the less they complain about their sore feet, supposedly empty bellies and the biting cold.

"Goblins are the strongest there are,
Fight the dogs near and far,
Pet the wolf and ride the pig,
Eating frogs, small and big,

Words are dumb, words are plain,
Look out before you are all in pain."

All the Pathfinders look at Ophiuchus. "Oh, I guess that is what I heard them singing a while back. Probably should think of new words."

The brute spends most of the walk chuckling at the nonsensical songs coming from the goblins and his companions. He doesn't let the goblins bother him any. They seemed relatively tame, if a bit needing of discipline. He hoped their final destination would prove less hostile than he feared it might be.

hahahah! That was amazing!

The group continues onward for a while, and then one of the female goblins comes up to Arturo. He thinks it is Rita, but he isn't quite sure. "Ahoj, chlpatý pery. Me, že ste trochu roztomilé. Počuje ma sa vám páči škriatkov ... chcete, aby miešancov?"

Arturo, ever with a polite and soft spot for the ladies does his best to provide an awkward smile.

"Erm... Nie som o zvyku miešancov, ale ďakujem za pochvalu môjho žena," he bows low at this, "Nemôžem myslieť na nič iné, ale zima teraz, obávam sa, ale ja by som sa najviac radi ... preskúmať ... iné cesty, akonáhle sa dostaneme pekné a útulné v... gulp... Trollheim.*"

They never did say whether Trollheim was still occupied by trolls or not... curse me for not pushing the issue.

"Still, we can have conversation, though! I hope you don't mind if I switch back to the common tongue - my companions should hear my tales also. Once, when I was but a street lad, there was this halfling grifter playing a game called the princess and the pea. He had a hard pea, and you were supposed to feel which bit of mattress it was under. Well..."

Arturo continues to regale the group with tales of his youth.

Sorry, things have been crazy at work -- our servers were being very naughty yesterday.

A narrow southern pass winds its way through steep, icy hills, the frigid wind periodically dusting all in its path with a layer of snow. Two ancient stone watchtowers stand on either side of the path between two nearly vertical bluffs rising thirty feet to either side, just as Lightfoot’s map indicated they would. The eighty-foot-wide path narrows to a mere twenty-five feet in width between the two fifty-foot towers.

Everyone but Strong Brute (including the goblins) notices that the snow has been knocked off the battlements on the sides facing the path -- you don't think that the towers are quite unoccupied. The goblins give a yell of "Icetooth bastards! Die!" as they start running forward.

Roudi, Poochie, Arturo, Vox, and Einhardt are up.

"Hold on little friends. Let Uncle Ohpiuchus deal with this. I am good at killing things."

Ophiuchus draws his crossbow, and points it right at Vox.

"Ok he man said that you need to pull a catch before you can fire it. Is it this one, or this one? Hmmmmm."

50/50: 1d2 ⇒ 1

"Ah yes. It was this one. Hold on, here I come."

Move, retrieve crossbow, move load it

Sorry, it is a full-round action to load it.

EDIT: Forgot it was a surprise round as I was posting. Thanks Vox.

Normally you carry crossbows pre-loaded on important adventures...

"Stay here! Get under cover! Let us take care of this!" Arturo yells to the goblins, trying to convince them to stay safe.

Arturo diplomacy: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (16) + 9 = 25

Arturo assesses what to do next.

this is a surprise round, correct?

The youth looks up and jumps, startled to see Ophiuchus pointing a crossbow at him. Shaking his from side to side, Vox tries to concentrate on the battle about to occur around him, and hopes the nagaji doesn't shoot to kill. "Just press the one that doesn't shoot me..."

"How do we approach this situation?" Vox asks out loud, to no one in particular. Then mutters a few words under his breath, while shifting his hands in an odd pattern.

"Einhardt, go. Attack," he says, shifting his gaze to the wolf.

standard action: cast spider climb"
Free Action: talk/ direct Einhardt

@ Arturo +1 for SOH CAH TOA

********** Ophiuchus' revised turn ****************

Drawing his loaded crossbow free he moves north 5 feet (behind the wolf) and fires at the southern goblin in the north tower.

(100 feet away, 50 feet up, 112 feet away)

Heavy Crossbow: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20
damage: 1d10 ⇒ 5

Actually, that should be +1 for PIE-THAG-OR-US. ;-)

Also, drawing a weapon is only a free action while you take a move action (not a 5ft step) provided you have a +1 attack bonus... or if you have the quick draw feat. Sorry. GM Silbeg may say otherwise - he's been punishing me with his extra rules lawyer level lately. ;-)

The wolf hears Vox's call and sprints toward her prey.

move action: move 60-feet towards the enemies *token not yet moved*

I am all sorts of bad today - should have just shot Vox and called it a day