GM WhtKnt's Saltmarsh and Beyond (Inactive)

Game Master WhtKnt

Tasius is marked as having 2hp on the map but I think he actually has 0 hp. He has 11 hp max, took 15 hp damage then was healed for 5 hp.

The light suddenly vanishes and with a gasp, Tasius finds himself on the floor in a pool of his own blood. He blinks and a wave of pain washed over him and with his last dying strength he tried to attack the goblin to the west of him, but the movement ripped something and he fell unconscious once more.

Standard attack: 1d20 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 3 + 1 = 7Scimitar: 1d6 + 3 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 3 + 1 = 9

Okay. Like I said, my accounting may have been off.

Unable to strike their targets, both Eristinian and Tasius miss (with Tasius slipping back into blissful oblivion after his effort). The remaining guard strikes Eristinian with a strong blow (Eristinian takes 5 points of damage), but the friar releases another warm wave of healing and the pain dulls (everyone heals 6 points). Greatshanks slashes into Friar O'Grady and the priest goes down, bleeding profusely. Greatshanks hoots loudly!

The PCs are up!

I show Tasius at 6 hp and prone, Friar O'Grady at -3 and prone, and Eristinian, Galfon and Caelryl at full.

Galfon grits his teeth when the Friar falls, both because he failed to protect him, and because their sole source of succor was no longer standing.

"Come on, let's wrap this up!" he calls out to everyone, changing targets again and firing another arrow at Greatshanks.

Longbow vs. Greatshanks (Point-Blank Shot, Smite Evil): 1d20 + 5 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (14) + 5 + 1 + 2 = 22
Damage (Point-Blank Shot, Smite Evil): 1d6 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 1 = 3

I believe your initial accounting for Tasius' hp was correct. He was healed for 2 hp right after going down and then another 5 hp the next rd.

Having finally taken out a guard, Caelryl tries to take out the other one.

Attack (ranged): 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 1 + 2 = 27
Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 2 = 4

Confirm crit(ranged): 1d20 + 4 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 4 + 1 + 2 = 17 please hit we need this _/\_
Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 2 = 7
Damage: 1d6 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 1 + 2 = 6

Was going to take a break today because I went to see Star Wars and I've spent the day feeling like a kid again, but I saw Caelryl's post and just couldn't resist.

Caelryl's arrow penetrates the throat of the guard and he sinks to his knees before falling backward, bleeding heavily. In almost the same instant, Galfon puts an arrow into the goblin leader, who now looks less confident about his odds of success.

Waiting on Eristinian and Tasius.

Tasius tries to strike, but being on the floor makes that terribly difficult and his weapon gets tangled up with his clothing.
Rapier: 1d20 + 3 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (1) + 3 + 1 - 4 = 1

Waiting on Eristinian.

Sorry!

Racing around the battlefield to distract Greatshanks, Eristinian thrusts his blade at the goblin leader's midsection.

Move into flank and attack!

Attack, flank: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 2 + 2 = 17
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Eristinian strikes at Greatshanks, but his attack is repelled by the goblin's armor. Tasius is unable to disentangle himself enough to be effective. The goblin leader, realizing that he is outnumbered, breaks ranks and flees the battlefield!

Eristinian and Tasius get attacks of opportunity!

Combat over, unless you folks wish to pursue!

Tasius was still trying to disentangle his rapier when the chieftain turned and fled.
AOO: 1d20 + 3 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (2) + 3 + 1 - 4 = 2Dice bot says no.

Seeing him retreat, Tasius shouted, "He'll likely raise raise the other goblins. We should follow?"

Attack, flank: 1d20 + 2 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 2 + 2 = 21
Damage: 1d6 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Galfon grits his teeth, eager to finish Greatshanks off... but he then looks down at the Friar, who was still in rather dire straits. Even worse, since he could hardly heal the rest of them in his current state.

"If he's retreating, then perhaps we should take this chance to do the same," Galfon suggests, moving his bowstring back into resting position. "We could return to Saltmarsh so that we can rest and resupply."

Tasius glances at the poor Friar and down to his own wounds, "Point taken."

OK so anyone want to stay? We know where this place is now, so presumable it will be possible to heal up and come back.

"Agreed, let's get moving, before he brings the rest of his horde down upon us."

A moment of relief comes over the elf when he sees the goblin chieftan flee. However, he quickly realizes that they may be met by reinforcements and he runs across the room.

"His retreat has given us a short reprieve but he will probably return soon with reinforcements. I don't think we can outrun them with the Friar unconscious. Perhaps one of the pools from the large room can heal us and there was one that may turn us invisible which could help us get away," he says, frustrated that the leader got away.

"Oh my you are correct Caelryl!" replies Tasius who was flustered at forgetting the pools, "There was one that had the power to regenerate flesh... Lets take the poor Friar back there?"

Tasius moves to grab one shoulder hoping somebody will help him carry the friar back to the pools...

An excellent idea!

With all four of you working in unison, you can get the friar to the healing pool. If each of you drinks from the pool first, you can get 2d8+3 each, then immerse the friar to cure his wounds. The healing effect is once per day, and the immersion of the friar will use all healing power for 24 hours. Technically, there is no way for you to know this other than by experimentation, but in the interest of keeping things moving (and keeping you alive), I'll allow it. The regeneration of the friar will require 2d10 ⇒ (2, 2) = 4 rounds, and he must remain in the pool for this duration.

With Galfon's wounds already fully healed by the good friar, he takes it upon himself to guard the entryway as the others heal up.

"So we're all in one piece. Good. Now, do any of you remember how we got into this place?"

Not needing healing either, Caelryl helps the halfling guard the door.

"I think I vaguely remember how to get out. However, they may be out looking for us now. If we get caught out in the forest, they could easily surround us. We might want to consider finding a spot in here to hide. There's the secret room here off of this room. Hopefully they don't know about it. Spending the night would allow the spell casters to get their spells back to give us a better chance at surviving an attack."

Sounds like a reasonable plan to me. I'll assume that there are no objections?

Your small band spends the night in the relative safety of the secret room, which you feel relatively certain is unknown to the goblins (since it was untouched when you originally entered). Ten hours later, you are rested and refreshed and ready to face the danger anew.

One question: What did you do with Kell? Kill her, bring her with you, ignore her?

It's probably a terrible idea, but I'd be good with bringing her with us, assuming she wants to go.

Killing her is far too cold blooded for Tasius. I'd either tie her up or get her to come with us. I'm sure that's an awful idea, but the results could be amusing.

I'd rather she not know about our hiding spot should she escape. I say just tie her up in the room we found her.

Yeah, Galfon wouldn't condone mercilessly killing a defenseless individual, but taking her with us would be a liability. Just leaving her tied up is fine.

Uncertain of how safe the hidden room is, Galfon has difficulty falling asleep. Nonetheless, he wakes up feeling refreshed - but no less paranoid.

"All right, so what's plan?" he asks after everyone finishes their morning preparations. "I doubt that they'd expect us to still be here, but you never know..."

Works for me.

"Sneak out as best we can," Eristinian says, preparing his extracts for the battle out and back to town. "Hopefully, we can avoid a fight, but if not, we fight to escape first. We almost died because we got trapped in that room."

Tasius adds, "Yes avoiding a fight seems wise. I'm afraid we're going to have to tie Kell up, we can't reasonably expect her not to tell the others where we are."

Can we assume we do that? I'd suggest we put her somewhere she'll get found within a few hours by which time we should be well away.

Yes, you can assume that you tie Kell up and leave her behind where she will be found.

You quickly make your way back through the complex, heading for the secret door behind one of the alcoves. In hardly any time at all, you are safely in the wilderness and headed back to town. You arrive as evening falls.

Evening finds you back in town at the tavern, where you meet up with Severus Tollis and Siggrun, both of whom are in the common room (at separate tables).

Are we all here?
Tasius tells the others, "I suppose we'd better let the authorities know what we found..." He walks over to Siggrun's table and says "Good (whatever time of day it is) Captain! We managed to find a rather strange old tower, which the goblins are using as a lair. We killed some of them, although there's plenty more. Strange thing is I get the feeling the tower belongs to somebody else... I'm really not sure what they're doing there."

"Goblins, eh?" Siggrun responds. "Can't say that I'm real surprised that they would infest someone else's home. Do you lot still feel up ta clearing them out? Our militia is capable enough, but ta send them would leave the town defenseless, so I'd rather hire you ta do it. In addition to the posted bounty, I'll give you 50 gp for the head of the leader."

Galfon scratches his stubble, having forgotten about the bounty entirely. Not that it was the reason he decided to help out in the first place.

"Yeah, we'll definitely be going after him again," he says assuredly. "Just need to rest and resupply... I'm going to need more arrows."

Quietly sitting out of the way, a fiery-haired halfling sits slowing drinking a pint of some liquid. She wears a tabard with the symbol of the halfling goddess Chaldira Zuzaristan. A well-used pack sits at her feet and she seems to be trying not to listen in on your conservation.

[ooc]Is this game on hold? Should I be doing something else?

No, we are in go mode. I'll ping the others to see what is going on. They may not be aware that you have joined, yet.

"Aye," Eristinian says. "We have foreknowledge of our foe's stronghold now - we can make more preparations."

"He won't escape next time, we know what to expect now!" adds Tasius.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 Unfortunately Tasius was caught up in the moment and had eyes only for his companions.

Galfon stifles a yawn. "Well, I don't know about you all, but I'd rather not stumble through the woods in the dead of night. I'm gonna stop by the trader's and then get some shuteye."

It is as he turns to leave when he finally realizes that he isn't the only halfling in the room. His brows loft slightly when he recognizes the symbol of her patron goddess; hardly the sign of a local in such a small town. Galfon glances back at his companions before approaching her.

"You're not from around here," he observes aloud, gesturing at her rather worn pack. "Not to be rude, but were you listening in on that?"

Looking rather guilty, but not at all regretful, the young halfling smiles, cute little dimples on each cheek.

"I was not meaning to eavesdrop, but yes I was listening. You have the look of adventurers and in my experience adventures are always in the thick of things. My goddess is well known for being...proactive when dealing with evil, and it sounds like you might have found some evil needing dealing with. Am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong - we had a Desnan friar attending us, but his journeys led him elsewhere after our first foray into the caverns. I'd welcome another adventurer with a strong faith, but I admit I do not recognize the goddess you serve. I'm always interested in learning new facts, however."

"Oh!" Tasius sounded quite surprised at the exchange, it had never occurred to him that somebody might want to join them in order to battle evil. Tentatively he asked, "Well I suppose we have been fighting evil although I dare say things aren't entirely black and white. So uh which goddess do you follow?" There where so many Tasius found he couldn't keep up with them all. Still it was no matter, Saranrae taught him to be welcoming to all with a good heart.

"Chaldira," Galfon answers for Amanda, looking to the others. "I'm not surprised you two don't recognize her - she's better known among us halflings."

He turns back to the other halfling with a broad grin.

"If you think you can handle yourself in a fight, then I would consider us lucky to have met you. But before we risk our necks together, we should get introductions out of the way first. I am Galfon Tellow, paladin of Erastil."

Amanda claps her hands and lets out a delightful little squeal of excitement.

"You mean it! I can join you!? You won't regret it, I swear. Chaldira Zuzaristan is a close friend of your Desna and revered as a goddess in our society."

She takes a deep breath after all that talking and starts again.

I am Amanda...Amanda Twig, and as you see I am a priestess of Chaldira Zuzaristan. I am originally from the Kron Hills, but felt the need to travel a bit and see the world..oh and to fight evil wherever I found it!"

Still slightly taken aback, Tasius glaces at Galfon before saying "Uh yes he does mean it, and we'd be most glad to have your aid Ma'am!"

"Eristinian," the elf replies. "The younger. And welcome."

Amanda shakes hands with each party member. Her smile and bubbly personality are somewhat infectious, and she seems happy to answer any questions the group asks.

"So what is the story so far? You look like you just came back from some serious business. Fill me in!"

Galfon eyes Siggrun, before indicating that Amanda and the others should follow him out of earshot.

"I'm sure you already overheard the gist of it," he remarks, grinning slightly. However, it quickly fades as he gets into the thick of things. "We tracked the local goblin menace to an old tower, hidden deep in the woods. The place was like a maze, with strange magical pools and hidden rooms. I thought it abandoned, until we stumbled upon the goblin tribe within. We very nearly eliminated the chieftain, but he managed to elude us. The fight wore us down so much that we were forced to retreat."

The paladin goes quiet as he considers his next words carefully. "Have you heard the tales of old Quasqueton?"

Amanda has a look of rapt attention on her face as Galfon tell the tale.

"No, I have never heard of it. Is it a person..or maybe a place?"

"A bit of both, something out of fairytale, except it's real." explained Tasius although he suspected that wasn't a particularly satisfying answer.

"Quasqueton is a stronghold that was built up north two hundred years ago, by Zelligar the Mighty and Rogahn the Fearless," Galfon explains, trying to remember the story as Severus had told it. "The legends say that it is long abandoned, and haunted by Zelligar's spirit. And the strange thing is, nobody seems to know where it is.

"Well, until now. But we haven't seen any mad, undead wizards yet, so maybe we have the wrong place."