Straehan nods and fires off more goblin-talk. He receives a moderately long answer.
"OK. He is expecting you first Jayse and the rest of us to follow. He requests that we stay along that northern wall, he doesn't want us scattered about the room. Apparently trying to cover four people with one bow is challenging."
You follow the plan and enter the room...
As Straehan mentioned you see a goblin-sized pallet bed, a couple of decent looking carpets, a circle with characters, pictographs, and squiggles that appears to have been chalked upon the stone floor. Along the walls, you also note a whole series of chalked pictographs. There is also a healthy fire and a large (10' tall) statue of a roughly anthropoidal figure with something resembling a goblin's head. The figure appears to be wearing a hooded robe which shrouds its features. It is a very crude work.
Straehan eyes the statue and quotes a passage that flits through his mind, more to himself than anyone else, "'Man cannot make a worm, yet he will make gods by the dozen'. " He seems surprised to realise it was his own voice speaking the words.
There is a tense moment as you all eye each other from across the narrow room. The goblin holds his bow at the ready but it is not specifically aimed at anyone. He watches you all with extreme wariness, sidling up to the statue as if it were a teammate.
Deciding to fill the growing silence, Straehan speaks up in both Goblin and Common, "So, we have come. Our weapons are sheathed, as you asked. We are here to talk but we are prepared to kill at the first sign of betrayal. What now?"
The goblin growls, "Now, we see if we can trust. If long-legs can be trusted to make deal and not bring steel out at end. Many times many have long-legs promises been lies. We will talk a bit and watch closely. We have many words to trade. First trade - why are you here at our cave? You answer and ask your trade. Question for Question. If need to do private talk-talk to figure out your questions, that is OK. I wait."
ROOM MAP: Goblin Cave
Ushari looks at the goblin, then back at her friends. Many questions raced in her mind, but she resists the urge to blurt out some inane answer to the request. She says quietly, ”I see no reason to lie to him here. We came here to discover why the goblins have started their raids against the town of Forestal, and to put an end to the raids.”
Jayse whispers back to the group, "I'm fine telling him why we're here, too. To seek the reason for the aggressive actions of the goblins. With that in mind, that should be our first question, I think. Why have the goblins become aggressive with the people of Forestal and their neighbors recently?"
The goblin tilts his head curiously at the answer to his question. He is on the verge of asking a follow-up question when Straehan inserts your question: "Why is your tribe attacking Forestal now?"
The goblin struggles to answer the question, shifting from foot to foot. His answer, when it comes, is subdued. "Not my tribe. Not now. Their spirits grabbed by the Laughing One. They do what he says now. First, one by one then two by two... then more by more. Tell them to dig. Tell them to gather. Tell them to kill."
Who is the Laughing One is the question on all their lips when they hear a light, sepulchral laugh float down the corridor. It raises the hair on their necks... including the goblin's.
Ushari feels the hairs standing up on the back of her neck, while goose bumps travel up and down her arms. She tenses, and starts to reach for her bow, but Straehan holds his hand up in a stopping gesture.
She pauses, and looks at the gnome, saying quietly, "We should ask who the Laughing One is..." she glances at the corridor, "if we have the time, that is."
"Agreed. But it is the goblin's turn to ask a question... and I don't think we'd be having this conversation here if that" indicating the laughter, "was likely to make an appearance."
After the laughter has faded, the goblin poses his next question: "Why do you help the watertown people?"
As above +2
Jayse scowls, "Again, honesty should suffice here. The people of Forestal helped us when we needed help, and when they were doing that, goblins attacked us without provocation…. which leads us to now... with us coming to find out why. Also, I think we should warn him that deception will nullify our agreement. If this room is a trap, or if the other goblin or goblins in this room try anything suspicious, he will be the first to die. Who is this Laughing One and why does he attack Forestal?"
Ushari nods at Jayse, "Yes, I agree. Our bargain holds true still." Again she resists the urge to draw her bow.
Straehan nods and conveys the message. The visible goblin looks startled by the 'other goblins' reference. He glances quickly behind the statue. His bow remains un-aimed. Even without knowing a word of his language, you can tell he tries several times to say something - each time he stops in frustration and restarts, only to stop again.
In one of the pauses, Straehan says quietly to the others, "He's trying to explain how the hidden goblin isn't a trap or a trick. I think he's trying to pitch this as a security precaution against treachery from us. He hasn't even mentioned the Laughing One yet."
After yet another abortive attempt to speak, the voice of the unseen goblin silences her visible compatriot. Her voice is more measured, more commanding, and the visible goblin immediately defers. She speaks in an oddly musical voice, its pitch rising and falling from soprano to bass notes. She speaks for several minutes, with the male goblin periodically nodding and repeating her words.
It reminds Fin of the rhythmic singing she enjoyed with her elven friends in Forestal... and the singing of her family circle. She can almost see the faces of her mother and siblings for a moment.
It reminds Jayse of the sonorous ritual antiphony of the monks at the monastery where he trained. He flashes on a memory of a dark hall with 30 or 40 monks, of all ages, sitting in seiza, doing call and responses.
It reminds Straehan of something far less pleasant - mobs, Inquisitors, the auto-da-fé, and a sense of being trapped. As she speaks, Straehan starts looking at the pictographs on the wall with keen attention. When she finally lapses into silence, Straehan exhales, says something brief in the goblin's crooked tongue and turns to his compatriots.
"Well, that was a mouthful, without a doubt. Let me sum up:
We've been treated to an excerpted version of the oral history of the tribe from their skald cum historian cum spiritual leader. Unless these two are consummate actors, I think it is true - as far as it goes. Apparently, a 'long time ago' their tribe was somewhere else on the island. They had a trade relation and peace with the local villagers. After some years, the villagers attacked them, wiping out..." he looks to the statue and asks a clarifying question. Receiving an answer, he continues, "over half of their tribe - including women and children. They fled the area and moved here, splitting into two groups. The women, children, disabled, and a group of guards have a warren hidden somewhere far from any village to keep them safe. This group are the gatherers who keep the whole tribe fed."
"She was offering this as the reason for her being behind the statue. They expect betrayal from all 'villagers' - including us. I think this is their way of trying to protect their shaman and even the odds. Shall I remind her about the Laughing One now? She seems to have left that bit out."
Jayse listens to the words, trying to rely on his gut determine if he should trust the little creature's sincerity.
"That may change a few things if it proves true, but you're right, it doesn't answer our question about the Laughing One."
Jayse feels, against common logic, that the shaman is speaking the truth and dealing as honestly as is possible for a goblin. Looking at the pictographs more closely, certain elements of her story seem represented there. While it clearly doesn't negate the fact that the goblins have fought with the villagers of Forestal previously, before this Laughing One appeared, you do strangely think that she is trying to broker an honest deal here despite having a gut-level believe that all 'villagers' can't be trusted to follow through. You get the feeling there is way more at stake here than their few goblin lives.
"Who is this Laughing One and why does he attack Forestal?"
Straehan politely repeats Jayse's questions.
The answer from the shaman is quick in coming. "If I tell you answers to these questions and other ones - will you help us? Kill or drive Laughing One from our cave?"
Ushari looks over to her newfound companions, fighting back a feeling of despair. Was this all it was, a ploy to drive off another goblin rival leader? She imagines a slamming of a door, or perhaps a prison cell. That thought echoes in her mind, before fading away.
Her shoulders slump in defeat, her eyes downcast. "It seems we have no choice." she murmers quietly to Jayse and Straehan. "Though it means our deaths, we need answers."
Straehan is taken aback by her fatalism. "Sister, I have NO intention of dying... and we can always say 'no' or negotiate at the very least. We didn't put our necks into a noose with Isolde and I'm not going to do it here, either. Jayse, what do you say?"
Jayse tries not to let his concern alter his features, but he watches Ushari as warily as he does the goblins. "Straehann is right. We have more leverage than that. Plus, I'm not agreeing to anything before we have more information." His eyes shift to the small gnome, "And I want you to tell them that. We came here searching for information. She's been forthcoming so far, and I'll take her at her word. But I won't commit to something this dangerous without knowing what I'm getting into."
He stops to think, and his eyes drift over to rest on Findelgwing. Well, I have at least learned to look past the external. Now's as good a time as any to put that lesson into practice.
"Tell her this. I'm willing to help out, but I won't agree to anything until I know what it is you face. Furthermore, IF we decide to help you, she will agree to provide what assistance she can, and she will agree not to act aggressively towards us after this Laughing One is taken care of. There's one last thing. If we decide to help and succeed in ridding her of the Laughing One, she will work to halt the raids, attacks, and general aggression towards the village people and their neighbors... at least until we can get back there and report on what's transpired here."
He regards the rest of you, "Is there anything I've forgotten?"
Ushari hears the admonishments from both Straehan and Jayse, and feels ashamed. Her companions deserved better than what she has given them so far. When did she lose all of her nerve, her confidence? She recalls a time when she ran along the rooftops in the city of Crux. Ohhh, how alive she felt, how she laughed in the face of danger, of imminent peril of falling to her death with the slightest misstep. She wonders what happened to her, why she has lost her confidence in herself. The only conclusion she can see is when she had lost her past, she lost the daredevil in her soul.
She looks up at Jayse, and Straehan, 'I am sorry. I...I still need to discover the part of me I lost. I need to find that, but I won't let you down." She sighs, and offers a smile, "One thing I would like to know is how she knew of the four of us and our journey here."
Fin looks a bit confused particularly since Ushari doesn't seem to have offered up the same volume of words in elvish as are typically needed to convey what Jayse and Straehan are saying. Why couldn't these people communicate mind-to-mind like her father used to? She wondered for a moment if their words sounded equally odd to the goblins.
At any rate, unable to think of anything that Jayse could be forgetting (how could he when he said so much), Fin simply chews on her lip and shakes her head 'no' in answer to his question.
"That sounds good to me. Let's see what she has to say about it."
He rattles off your terms and conditions in terse words.
The shaman doesn't answer immediately. When she does, she steps out from around the statue. Her guard tenses, clearly agitated. She is a slight thing, almost dainty for goblin. She has a long mane of hair which runs down the length of her back, a simple leather dress, and wears crudely hammered bracelets, anklets, necklaces, and earrings of gold, silver, and platinum.
"I will do what I can but some of what you ask is difficult. We will not attack you now or after the Laughing One is gone. This I can guarantee." She has her guard take his hand off his bowstring and barks an order loudly. In the hallway, very near the door, you hear responses. "Two more of my people are outside. They have put their weapons away as well. You may check if you wish." She sits down at the base of the statue, by the fire. "Now, if treachery is your intent, you have your opportunity." She waits placidly to see if you will try to kill her.
She seems surprised but continues, "I cannot give you more than a little time of peace with the villagers. These few of my people are all that I still command. These and those in our mountain warren. We haven't the strength to attack the villagers. But, understand, I must feed my people and now I have far fewer gatherers and many mouths to feed in our warren. We have attacked the villages in the past from necessity. Every year the villages grow, their people spread. The forest's resources are stretched thin. If I promise to leave the villages alone, my people will starve... not now but soon. Do not ask me to doom my people... please."
"My few people and I will help you. I think your weapons and the weapons of my warriors will be of most help against the Laughing One. He... My powers are not adequate. Do you understand? I have tried to wrench his control, tried to stop him. It is beyond me. I will explain:
I don't know who he is but I know what he is... a thinking unliving creature. He is a 'herald' but would not say for what. He has three other unliving creatures in the room. But they do not talk and I cannot influence them."
"There are lots of answers to why he is attacking the village, I think, but I know only a few, those he told me. He sent my people to the beach to kill you. Some other attacks were to draw you here, bring you to him. Some... I don't know. He likes death. He has been waiting for you. He will not tell me any more... He wants to see you. It is important to him. He says we are not worthy of his attention but you four are. Now he never answers me, just laughs."
She sighs and tries to gather some warmth from the fire. "This is what I know. Ask more and I will tell what I can. Is that enough for you to help us?"
Ushari looks hard at the goblin shaman, trying to make sense of her words. She glances at Fin, Straehan, and Jayse, trying to put her thoughts in order. She speaks slowly, trying to make sense of this by putting words to her thoughts, talking through it.
"So, this creature, this Laughing One, seeks to talk to us now? Yet before, you said he sent your tribe to kill us, on the beach. Why? What changed on his part to consider leaving us alive to this point? Has he enlightened you at all?" She pauses, and puts her hand on her hip. "As for the town of Forestal, we were told there was a time when your people and the Forestal village traded for your livelihood, instead of engaging in raids. Perhaps you should consider following this path again". She sighs, "But that would be for later discussion, I think."
"So, this creature, this Laughing One, seeks to talk to us now? Yet before, you said he sent your tribe to kill us, on the beach. Why? What changed on his part to consider leaving us alive to this point? Has he enlightened you at all?"
The shaman's brow furrows, "I don't think he stopped trying to kill you. His thralls could not get to you easily in the village. And only three returned from fighting the hedge-witch. He likes to talk. I think he wants to talk at you, not with you. He is herald, a herald must herald."
Aware of the importance of symbolism, Straehan emulates the shaman and sits down across the fire from her. I wonder if gnomes and goblins have ever met like this?
Jayse sits down beside Straehan. Maybe this is some kind of ritual or something.
"Do you know what he's a herald for? Also, have you seen him use any magic? It would be good to know what we're up against if we go after him. And can you describe him physically as well as his three subordinates?" He turns to the other members of the party, "I'm incredibly intrigued by what this thing knows of us, so I'm going. You all can decide for yourselves, though. It sounds like it could be very dangerous."
Ushari nods at Jayse's words, and takes a seat on the opposite side of Straehan, leaving room for Fin to seat herself next to her Brother, if she wishes.
"He definitely holds some answers for us, I agree, but these answers I fear will come at a price." She shrugs, Still, I see no alternative than to see him, and I also know our paths have become one. We must act as one in order to unravel each of our mysteries."
The shaman is surprised that you sit down but seems a bit more comfortable once you do. She replies, "I can only tell you a little. I have cast my spells and learned all I can. The three that accompany the Laughing One are the weakest of undead... but what type I cannot say. The Laughing One's aura is stronger. We have not seen them; I will explain."
She makes a swishing motion with her hand and arm, "Just up this serpent's passage, there is a broken wall on the left. Just a crack. His diggers uncovered it but we killed them before they could open it fully. We can only see a little bit of the room. It looks like a big circle and there are candles on the walls. They might be magical. One, you can see and it makes no smoke, drops no wax, and never goes out. I have talked with him through the crack. He stays out of sight and I don't think he has moved from a spot near the other end of room. The three barely move but they are closer to the crack, but never have I seen one. We have not risked breaking down the wall further. It is very thin near the crack. I have put my fingers through and felt the other side. It is fine like the serpent's wall. I do not know if they can't leave or won't leave but the wall could be broken easily. With my few people, I have not dared to risk breaking it to find out."
"He will not say what he heralds to me. I think he waits to tell you that. I have seen no magic... but he controls my people and made them thralls. I do not know how this was achieved."
"I'm incredibly intrigued by what this thing knows of us, so I'm going. You all can decide for yourselves, though. It sounds like it could be very dangerous."
"Are you kidding? I'm not passing up a chance to hear the ramblings of a chatty undead buried for Gods know how long. Moreover, you've carried my ass around for miles and miles, it would be just plain rude to leave you to play with the undead all by yourself - so count me in. As I understand it, even undead burn... I've got a couple spells left that should take advantage of that."
Findelgwing stretches and yawns. Poking Ushari in the side she asks:
Ushari jumps a little as Fin's sharp elbow draws her back from her reverie. She responds back,
You are not sure how, but it seems like her pronunciations of the words have gotten slightly better, or perhaps it is just the words she chose to say.
Looking around, seeing the group agree, Jayse turns to the shaman, "So how do we get into the chamber? Will your diggers open up the hole? Or is there another entrance?"
She c0cks her head to one side. "Only entrance we know is the crack." She points to herself, her guard, and then points fingers out in the hall indicating the two other goblins. "We are all. No diggers. We will break wall open. You.... you are agreeing to help us?"
Ushari looks at the goblin shaman, fixing her facial features in her mind. You get the impression she wants to remember her for future reference.
She nods slowly, "Yes, I believe I speak for us when I say we will confront the Laughing One." She stands up, and stretches her legs, "You say these creatures are unliving, do you have any idea on what magic, other than his" She indicates Straehan, "might be effective against them?"
The shaman looks confused. "Are you spellcaster, too? More spells will be better. I cannot say specific weakness of Laughing One or others until I see them."
Ushari sighs, "Sorry, but I have no spellcasting abilities." She fights back that feeling of despair again, Is this why I an Despair's Daughter? and continues, "Well, I am sure we can handle them anyway."
Jayse nods at Ushari's response then asks the group, "So what does anyone know about fighting undead?"
The shaman, having some experience with undead, answers, "Some are better beaten, stabbed, or slashed. It is a matter of how they are constructed. We will have to see the Laughing One to know. Spells to control their minds do not work. That which heals living creatures damages them. That which harms us, heals them. Cold cannot effect them. Fire should work. Holy Water should also harm them. Here..."
She moves her bed, and pulls out a small chest hidden beneath it. She unlocks the chest and disarms a clever trap hidden inside. She gently pulls out three vials. Aside from a small smattering of gold coins, they are all the chest contains. She hands them to Jayse, pointing to each one and naming them.
"This is Holy Water. This will cure wounds. This one will allow you to jump very high." She looks at it awkwardly. "It is a gift. Thank you for helping us."
Ushari notes the gift offered and remembers her manners. "Thank you for these gifts, shaman. We do appreciate them." A thought occurs to her. She takes out one of the half-filled potion bottles provided by Isolde, "Could this be harmful to the Laughing One as well, say if you used it as a grenade?"
Straehan strokes his goatee. "Quite possibly. She didn't say they could only be ingested. If they contain a poison cure as her others do... then they probably work on contact as well. I suppose there is really only one way to find out. Good notion, Ushari."
Standing up, Jayse nods to the shaman goblin, "Then we'll go try to take care of this Laughing One problem for you."
Seeing Jayse stand up, Fin gets to her feet, ready to go knock some skulls together.
You cautiously move up the corridor, trying to remain silent. You needn't have bothered. Before you are even near the crack in the wall from which feeble light springs, you hear a light yet disturbingly liquidy voice say, "So, the heroes have finally come... at long last. Welcome. Welcome. I've waited a long time to greet you." His sentence ends in a phlegmatic, bubbling chuckle.
Straehan, having gotten used to being a walking translator, starts to translate the Laughing One's welcome from Gnome (the language he heard) to Common and Goblin. A look at their enlarged group tells him everyone understood the message... and in the languages they were comfortable with. Who IS this guy?
The sepuchral voice continues pleasantly, "Why don't you come in? You can bring your toothy little friends as well. I'm curious to see how they've evolved."
ROOM MAP: Laughing
Ushari looks at the goblin shaman, and nods quietly, pointing at the wall. She whispers to Jayse, "Keep your holy water ready."
As the goblins prepare to start chipping away at the wall, she calls out in Common, "So, you are the Laughing One? Were you known by another name prior to being called that?"
"'Laughing One'?" The voice muses from behind the wall, "Goblins have no imagination. That isn't my name, it's a description." He lets out a coughing chuckle. "I am the least Herald for the Dweller in Darkness... and my Master has messages for you. Come in and I shall deliver them upon you, hero."
Jayse turns to his companions before the goblins cam widen the crack, whispering, "Okay, let's do this." His fist tighten enough for the knuckles to pop as he turns to the shaman, "While we appreciate your help, don't get any of your warriors killed. Let's do this fast."
With savage efficiency, the goblins smash picks into the wall very quickly knocking out a ragged 5' hole. The first digger, the shaman's bodyguard, calls out that he can see "Walking Bones!" on the other side of the room. The hole dug, the goblins back against the walls to allow you access, pull their blades, and wait to follow you in.
The shaman hisses to you and her men, "Smashing bones is most effective. Our blades won't help much. We will help you fight the Bones, keep them from hitting you." Her men nod at her orders.
You move quickly through the hole and take up a defensive position. You are assaulted by the musty smell of ages and unspeakable decay. The room is round, black-walled, and domed - about 30' high. The center of the room is taken up with a stylized circular stone staircase burrowing through the roof. winding along the length of the staircase is the etching of a great worm. It appears to be digging its way out of this round, egg-like room.
At the southern end of the room, you see the Laughing One, Herald of the Dweller in Darkness. He was once a man... What he is now is hard to say. He 'sits' upon a stone throne carved from the rock of the room itself. His vaguely human body is tall, well over 6 feet. His flesh rots, bubbles, and drips off his eroding bones - pooling across the chair and beneath it. His head is little more than a half-collapsed skull with gore-filled sockets and a jaw that appears barely connected to the remains of his head. Despite the lack of eyes, you feel him watching you. He doesn't move from the throne, satisfying himself with watching you dispassionately. He looks as if his body has been rotting slowly for thousands of years.
His voice bubbles from the squelching holes in what remains of his ribcage. "Test them. Let us see if they could possibly have awakened me." The skeletons, wielding saw-toothed black blades obey their master without hesitation. They are blindingly quick... but Jayse is quicker.
BATTLE MAP: Herald's Chamber
ORDER:
Lacking any bashing weapons, Fin maintains a guarded stance trying to keep the creepy things at bay so the others can lob their grenades...
Jayse slides into combat, his quick, fluid motions taking the bone-thing before it can react. The strange feel of the bones against his shin a distant revelation in the Calm.
Jayse closes the distance with skeleton and treats it to a series of spinning circle kicks. The first only knocks a few skeletal teeth loose but the second kick solidly connects, splintering the skeletal ribcage and sending debris flying. All that keeps the skeleton together is its swaying spine. It looks like a grisly stick-figure drawing. Jayse almost expects the skeleton to collapse when it swipes its razon-toothed blade across his throat... but Jayse leans back watching the blade pass harmlessly over his head.
The two other skeletons advance. One slashes at Fin but misses the nimble Elf. The other looks indecisive until The Decayed speaks with clear irritation. "Ignore the goblins and find another hero, you dolt!" The skeleton leaps up the stairs and throws its blade at Straehan. The saw-tooth weapon penetrates the field of magic surrounding the gnome and buries itself in his shoulder. He gasps in pain.
The goblins move to close in on the skeleton facing Fin. They yell and poke at it, attempting to draw its attention. Their efforts confuse the skeleton.
Watching the aggression of your group, The Decayed speculates, "So, no chit-chat?" It shakes its head. "Younger races... so impetuous."
BATTLE MAP: Herald's Chamber
ORDER:
SKELETONS
Hit DAM
Hit DAM
1=U, 2=S:
Hit DAM
GOBLINS
Hit
Hit
Hit