All bolded enemies are deceased, all Italicized enemies have surrendered, or are fleeing.
Dogslicer Goblin
Dogslicer Goblin
Dogslicer Goblin
Longspear Goblin
Longbow Goblin
Longbow Goblin
Bugbear
Facepaint Goblin
Jogging up to a tree near the positions of the longbow-wielding goblins, but outside of their range of vision. He stands behind a tree, muttering to cast another spell. Around him, and also behind trees, appear the images of three gray-armor-clad soldiers carrying longspears. Saru invokes his ghost sound spell to mimick the sounds of the soldiers' armor creaking and the branches cracking underneath their feet, and then he shouts, "Now, men! Rout those lawless vermin!"
He compels the images of the soldiers to charge at the goblins, spears upraised.
Turning on his heel, Rova wastes no time in cleaving the goblin to his right into two pieces, scissoring it between his blades in a glorious frenzy. The 2 goblins in response to the sudden appearance of more men and more noise, as well as their recent fatality, flee at full speed.
Combat Over
Aviz stares at the bugbear but wants to chase after the goblin.
Saru sees Aviz' predicament and shouts to the man, "Stay there, will you?" and stops concentrating on the illusion, though he directs the soldiers to stand menacingly over the bugbear for the remaining duration.
Then, he transforms into a fox. He's still invisible, but his form shrinks down to a miniscule size and grows ginger fur. Then he takes off after the little goblin.
Aviz balks; where did all of these soldiers suddenly come from? Apparently they're on his side so he goes to find the goblin.
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Despite the group effort to hunt down the goblin, the search turns up little, but the Bugbear fortunately succumbs to the illusion of the guards as well, if only due to his combined lack of morale and fear of what might happen if he attempts to flee. After all, he wasn't as capable of hiding as the goblin that fled.
In the distance, laying prone, the bugbear merely waits on the party to come and get him, though the fear is more than apparent in his eyes.
the half orc let out a bestial roar from amid goblin viscera. He sprinted across the field to the bugbear come up a few feet from it and keeping his weapons bared.
*Huff*Huff* Rova breathed heavily, the monster leaving his eyes and a light of intelligence returning.
Aviz flies back to the bugbear, planting a foot on his shoulder. "Talk."
The images surrounding the bugbear disperse, and he looks around, shocked with a raised eyebrow. He grumbles for a moment, placing a finger on his right nostril and forcing a gob of snot and blood from his left onto the ground. "Hrr..." he looks at you for a moment, then back to rova, and the others as they arrive closer. "I can tell much... in exchange for life." he says, looking down at you but not moving much. He holds the wound in his chest closely, but the bleeding seems to have stopped.
"If the information is good I don't see a problem in letting you live. Bigger fish and all that." He glances at the party to make sure that's alright with them.
"We'd expect, of course, never to see you again." adds Saru, appearing from invisibility next to Aviz, having given up his hunt for the remaining goblin. "Once you've said your piece, you flee, you lick your wounds, but you don't bother us or ours again."
The Bugbear laughs heartily. "Herher! Gladly. I'll leave alone, yes..." he says, looking at the sudden arrival. Grimacing, he snorts. "You no find Galzee?" he asks, tossing down an ear.
Deylar is about to start blasting at the fleeing goblins when he realizes his companions are letting them go. As the group gathers around the bugbear he gives each a quick look over to assess their wounds. He can definitely see the need for Nethys's healing touch. As the interrogation starts it is clear that now is not the time so he stands ready to mend wounds.
Since he is distracted by checking the group's wounds it takes Deylar a moment to realize that so far the 'interrogation' is nothing more than glaring looks and flexing of muscles. He lowers his head and pinches the bridge of his nose. Oh, by the All-seeing Eye.......
He shoulders past the others to get a clear view of the prone bugbear. He locks gazes, letting it stare into his pupilless eyes a few seconds before speaking. "Asking us a question and throwing an ear at us isn't 'telling us much', is it? If you want your miserable life then start doing better."
He holds up his hand and small sparks of electricity dance between his fingers as he points to his holy symbol.
"This little ambush of yours, shows me your crew is smarter than we we were expecting, so think about this. While my friends are ready to kill you, I am a healer....if you believe they can only kill you once you are quite mistaken."
The tiefling pauses. He has never done anything like this before and is not at all sure where to take the conversation from here. He decides to keep it simple and see where that takes him.
"So tell us about this Galzee. Who is he, and where can we find him? And tell us more about your operation and your friends at the fort. The more you cooperate and faster, the more likely you are to be spared with all your parts intact."
Gods, that's probably too much, what in the hells am I doing?
The bugbear's face turns grim, and visibly smirks. "Galzee is facepaint. Ranger, who flee." he says with a grin. "Sounded horn, did he not? Goblins aware of trouble. You in trouble." he says, grumbling coarsely. "Other goblins in rock castle know coming now." he points towards the north. "Is system goblins never use. Chief of tribe instate it week ago. First time using. Not sure why chief got so smart." he claims.
Again Deylar regrets not sending missiles after the fleeing creatures. Leaving witnesses to report back probably did not matter though, not if the Horn was the signal to the fort. This was going extremely badly: many resources already spent is NOT the way to walk into an enemy's stronghold ever, but when they are on alert it is a recipe for pure disaster.
"So the chief got smart a week ago? You expect us to believe that nonsense? Is he a goblin like them, or a bugbear like you? Tell us about the defenses that will be waiting for us now."
Didn't our quarry disappear a week ago? Was he captured or is he controlling tribe?
"Or is there a way to sound the 'all clear', tell them the trouble's all gone?"
He shakes his head. "Got smart when the fancy lady showed up! He is goblin, but not big, and strong like self... No, but formidable. Rules by strength, and now smart!" he points out, obviously upset by the ordeal. "Self not part of tribe. Hunt in forest, usually, and traded meat for weapons, but forced to help goblins. Prefer old ways." he says, obviously bothered but then chuckles. "But goblins... they never use alert before. Perhaps wait? Goblins smart, but not focused, like self. " he points out.
'Fancy lady'? So not our missing guildmate. Deylar swings his gaze over to the shape-shifting Saru. At least I do not think so.....
"Tell me how they forced someone as big, strong, and focused as you to help them? Clearly you are better than them, you probably know much more about them and the fort than they give you credit for, right? Like the fort's defenses and other ambushes they've got set up along the way. A back door to the fort hidden in the forest maybe?"
"If we defeat them, they won't be strong enough to force you to do anything again."
He pauses, turning his head to take in the rest of his companions. "If you don't tell us more, Im not sure its enough to earn your life and stop my friends here from killing you. Surely you know something we can use to defeat them. And if we defeat them you will be free to go back to the old ways."
In the middle of Deylar's heated interrogation, Saru has a question to ask. "Would they let you into the fort? Like, to move around freely? "
He waves his hand a moment, "We're not going to ask you to go anywhere but far, far away from here, very quickly. I am just wondering...if you wanted to, could you walk up to the gates, ask them to let you in, and they would?"
Saru's question is a good one. The man has already demonstrated his skill in mimicking others, a skill that could definitely get him past the fort's defenses.
A wry smile crosses the tiefling's face as he comes up with an idea to get the rest of them inside as well. He remembers sneaking in to one of Westcrown's famous theaters as a child to watch a play. Dramas in Westcrown were known for their violence and the show they saw was no different. In it, a trio of warriors snuck into a nigh impregnable castle by having two of their number disguise themselves as guards claiming to have captured the third. Once they got their 'prisoner' inside they threw off their false bonds and disguises and began razing the place from the inside.
Cruel but undeniably effective. They would need a lot more information to pull off such a ruse so Deylar waits to see how the bugbear responds before asking his next question.
The Bugbear snarls again at the barrage of questions. "They convincing. Pay well for food. Need plenty... Many goblins in tribe now. Too many to feed! Haha!" and after his gufaw, he smirks. "But they have goblin that better tracker than Barthol! Find self. Find self often. Can't leave forest, and can't escape Goblin... Self kept on leash, and hates it." he explains.
He stands to his feat, crossing his arms, a solid foot above Aviz. "Self know entrances, yes. Barthol too big to enter goblin door, but self know of... other way. Frequently sneak into abandoned whore chamber below fort! Chief too preoccupied with fancy lady to tend to females. Tend for him." he says, obviously pleased with himself. "Self considers it bonus pay" he claims with a snicker.
He kneels down, scratching his claw in the only spot near him with no grass. "Cliff side climbable. Not easy, but is. Winged man have no issue. Water falls from side of fort and into river. Nasty water. Sewer, races call it, but weakness!" he says with a smile. "Sewer comes in under fort and out in long building. Can get to whore chambers from there." he points out, but his ears fall as he realizes something.
"Only issue is.. well... One pipe boarded up. Flighty man still have no problem. Goblin jury rigging poor." he points out.
Looking at Saruwatori, he raises an eyebrow. "They always let Barthol in if have many many pelts. Not allowed in by order of chief otherwise... Got caught with ladies. Also why sewer boarded." he says.
"Do you have many many pelts ready to trade?"
Deylar asks but does not really care what the answer is. A plan is forming. Not necessarily a good plan but certainly much better than a frontal assault, probably even better than mimicking the three heroes from that story and using Barthol's shape to get in the door.
Use the bugbear's entrance to sneak inside the fort, start working upward and through the inner defenses, shapeshifting into the bugbear or a random goblin if needed.....risky, and they would have to fight their way through a lot of goblins to get to the leader and his 'fancy lady', but it just might work.
"And can you show us where your favorite sewer entrance is?"
Saru thinks. It had been a long, long time since he'd had permission to do an infiltration mission like this. He thinks, and then he grins a wide grin. Whatever happened, as long as the plan didn't turn out to be, run in, guns blazing and die, this was going to be fun.
"You say they have a goblin that can always track you? Why don't you just kill him when he comes for you?"
The bugbear raises his ears again. He just might get out of this yet, and with revenge, no less! "Barthol good... at hunting folk. Metal teeth goblin is better at hunting goblin folk... Metal teeth goblin is Chief's Jailer, and torturer." he claims, raising a section of his studded leather to reveal a 3 inch deep hole in his hip. "Punishment for lady time." he points out.
"Jailer goblin like hunting bugbears most. More flesh to play with. Dogs hunt traitors down... mostly bugbear." he claims. Furrowing his brow, he smiles at the same time. "You promise to bring Barthol Metal Teeth, and Barthol make nice distraction..." he points out, despite having no bargaining chips. He seems to really hate this particular metal toothed goblin enough to get on the whole fort's bad side.
Kneeling down, he draws a square. "This, is Fort's Cliff. Fort sit on cliff." he claims, before drawing a bunch of crude triangles beneath the square and all around the north and west side. "Towers watch forest, but not cliff face!" he exclaims. Drawing a wavy line, a river, on the right side he's all smiles, even while he bleeds onto the dirt. "River runs on east side. Sewer entrance 200 feet up, but goblins never watch sewer. Most goblins at entrances while alarm raised! Goblins quickly relax, though. Need goblins relaxed... Goblins have no signal for inner chaos." he says with a hearty laugh.
"A distraction would be very helpful, once we are inside having the hallways a little less crowded will help us find what we're looking for."
Sewer entrance 200 feet up.
The ways Nethys and the Art can overcome this obstacle spring to Deylar's mind: the ability to climb walls, fly through the air, float like a cloud......there are probably dozens of spells out there to achieve this goal.
And even if he rested and prayed, he had access to none of them. He turns to Jahl'ra and Saru, obviously practicers of the arts as well.
"Do either of you know spells that can get us that high into the air?"
"I'll just carry you up, even Rova I can handle."
Listening to the gnoll, Rova nods intently. Then a thought occurs to him.
He points to tattoo on his left pectoral. The Fanged Spider.
"You know what this is? What this means?"
The bugbear looks at it, but seems to have no knowledge of it. What scar mean?" he asks, looking at it gruffly.
"It means I'm blessed by the Rough Beast, The Great Destroyer. It means that I won't be defeated, and that you should do what you can to help us in the name of destruction and keeping your own soul out of the Dead Vault."
EDIT: "What sort of Gnoll doesn't recognized the mark of Rovagug?" Rova exclaims, shocked.
"What's your name?"
"No," Saru says patiently, "We don't need a distraction, least of all from you. If anything, we want you to stay far, far away from the goblin fort for the next...week, or so. That should give us enough time to get in there and make some...aggressive changes. And what I want from you is for you to answer my question:"
Saru leans close, sitting on his haunches. "If the goblin hunter comes to find you, can you kill him?"
The Bugbear seems to know very little of deities and just shakes his head. "My name is Barthol. Barthol. Self is certain... Self cannot defeat Toothy mouthed goblin alone. Goblins likely believe self to be dead, as well. Uncertain, that... Metal teeth will likely come looking for bodies, though. Dead goblins food. Not much, but waste not..." he claims.
Now two different plans were forming........one involved using Barthol as an external distraction to draw the goblins to the entrance while they sneak in the sewer, using that distraction and Saru's abilities to sneak through the fort toward their goal. The other was using Barthol's appearance as a way of tricking the goblins even beyond just gaining entry.
Both had merits and risks, and Deylar finds himself running each scenario through his mind to weigh the factors and choose the best one. Wait, who am I to decide? Talking to prisoners is one thing, but trying to be the leader of this motley band? Not sure I am ready for that.....
Deylar waits patiently for the bugbear's next answer, now trying to determine just how much more usefulness they will be able to eek out of their prisoner.
"So you can't defeat the goblin?" Saru says quietly, shaking his head with disappointment. "That really is too bad. It's too bad." he continues, pushing a dagger into Barthol's exposed throat.
Aviz's hand snaps out and catches the bard's wrist, twisting it away from the bugbear. He stares at him hard, twisting his wrist until he drops the blade. "First you impersonate a high ranking guard and now you try to execute my prisoner. You should remember your place before it becomes six feet under the ground."
"Ouch," murmurs Saru, picking his dagger back up and standing up . He doesn't reach Aviz' height - not by a long shot, so his gold eyes stare up into the dark-skinned strix's face. "Do you trust this bugbear?" he asks, cocking his head a little bit to the side.
"More than I trust you." It's evident that while Aviz found his trick with the guards to be amusing, he's not thrilled to have a com artist on his team.
"Ouch," moans Saru, rubbing his chest, on the left. "That hurt. By all means, then, allow him to be caught and give up our advantage. Or bring him into the caves with you, and let him give you tips on how best to take somebody else's struggling goblin bride." Saru says, waggling his fingers in a dismissive fashion, his face curling derisively. "Perhaps you mistrust me now, but my skills are at the disposal of you and your allies, and if you use them, I can make life...much easier for all of you."
"How can you claim this gnoll to be your prisoner, when I claim it as my slave?" Rova asks with a heartfelt bow, stepping towards the Bugbear in a manner that is both threatening and friendly, like a friend that would accidentally strangle you to death in good fun.
Aviz shakes his head in disbelief.
"Prisoner. And unless you want to fight me for it he stays that way."
“If you wish to control others you must first control yourself." Rova states.
"You have no authority to take prisoners here in the wild, you're no t the law. So if you wish to claim Barthol as your slave, then as the initial victor you have first claim, and I cede my claim to you." Rova shakes his head, confused as to how Aviz doesn't understand slave taking etiquette.
"Do you forget who we're working for? Yes, we are the law you uneducated hypocrite. Stick to hitting things and keeping your mouth shut."
The Bugbear looks back and forth between the lot of you gruffly as it realizes it's more of a bargaining chip than anything. "Can.. be trusted. Barthol hate goblin chief, Mokky Mok. Barthol hate Metal Teeth goblin as well! Barthol have advice to give, as well, if no want distraction." he says as he draws a square into the ground.
He draws a circle on every corner of the fort, crossing out the north eastern one. "Goblins stole Alchemical Fire from caravans and put them in towers to throw at attackers. Goblins not clever..." he says as he points out the X. "Not Alchemical fire. Tangleburn bags. Good stuff..." he points out. "Responds violently water. Flames can't be quenched when started. Goblins burn down north eastern tower when playing with it, like fools." he says with a snicker, before pointing at south eastern tower. "More fire here. Could easily catch fire..." he claims.
"Do you forget who we're working for? Yes, we are the law you uneducated hypocrite."
Deylar shakes his head in disagreement. "Do you remember Captain Avery's reaction? It is unlikely that anyone else thinks Wyvern Soul has authority. Except Wyvern Soul, of course. But we were attacked and captured him in fair combat so he is ours to deal with as we see fit."
"Within reason. We are not goblins."
He pauses a moment, turning his head to take in the entire team. "So we can sneak in the back or disguise ourselves and walk in the front. Either way it sounds like we can draw the guard's attention to the southeast tower."
"Saru, you can obviously get yourself in but it seems like the sewer entrance might be a better idea for the rest of us. This is obviously your area of expertise, what are your thoughts?"
Saru grins widely, glad to have been asked for his advice. "Well, I've got a small pile of fireworks and a few vials of poison for these very occasions. No doubt I could cause a great distraction, especially if I set fire to those tangleburn bags that Self mentioned."
"So, I can get myself in and cover your entrances. If Self here tells us where the sewer entrance meets up with the inside, then I can gather some info on the goblins before meeting you, too."
Barthol looks back towards the fortress, and seems to think of where it places him. "Self never went above harem. Self not sure where it lead out to, but only entrance and exit is movable grate. Quiet above, though. Me think it place where goblins not allowed. North East tower no have goblins. Maybe there?" he asks, having exhausted his knowledge of the fort.
Rova nods listening, after seriously considering the flippant birds request to fight. Deciding that he wouldn't endanger his place in this new group of wondrous people, no, he would simply amass power and slay the bird at a later time. "Granted the strength of a thousand orcs, to send his soul to the dead vault." he thinks with a smile.
"So we must enact a plan, fire and back door at the same time sound good to me. We could collect more pelts then Barthol ever has and Saru can get into the tower in disguise and set the unguarded one alight while Aviz, Deylar and myself scale the back cliff, waiting in the sewers until the goblins are panicking from the fire."
The tiefling looks over at Rova with an undisguised look of surprise on his face. A whole sentence without the word KILL or DESTROY or FIGHT in it? We are all growing, aren't we?
"Sounds so easy when you say it like that. The gifts of Nethys can allow us to communicate almost silently once we're inside but the distance from the sewer to the entrance sounds too great for such minor magics: coordinating the distraction and sneaking will be a challenge. Then meeting back up with you, Saru, if we go in separately."
Deylar closes his eyes for a moment. "I wish we could rest and recover my spells but I am getting the feeling that waiting until morning may be too long. If our painted goblin friend makes it back to warn the fort they will be on alert. Although not for long if Barthol is correct. Do we think we can be in position by nightfall? Most of us can see in the dark, as well as goblins can, anyway, and having some of them asleep or drunk can certainly help us move around undetected."
Barthol shakes his head. "Going today is no clever. Tomorrow morning. Goblins active through all-night. Barely sleep, really. Raucous, even. Goblins sleep at morning, when tired... Riff raff no be awake. Upper goblins will be." he claims.
The Bugbear's eyebrow then raises to the to of his head as he's hit with a moment of clarity. "Ah!" he exclaims as he kneels back down to the map. "South East! South east tower! Das' where harem was. Only make sense. Goblins not allowed in there because of explosive storage. Mokky mok not stupid chief. Mokky mok know goblins are explosive." he says with a smile.