Nicat makes his way back to the party and relates what he's seen. "What do you think, gang? Should we try to take them by surprise or explore somewhere else? I could try to sneak back in there and make some noise, have 'em chase me this way and we could ambush them!"
He looks around at his friends for their ideas on what to do.
"I'm not sure. How much room will we have in there? the ceilings looked low, but how low? I'd rather face them in a place we can stand up than foes in the tunnels with us hunched over."
"There's no way I'm getting there without them hearing me. Nicat, if you try to get them to chase you, one might go for help. How many ways out of the chamber were there? We might be able to trap them."
"I didn't see any other exits from the chamber," Nicat responds, "so we might be able to trap them in there, though I'm not sure how. And the ceiling was higher than here in the tunnels, about as tall as Conner."
He considers a moment, then says, "Unless we can come up with a way to really trap them, our best bet is probably to have Ekan and Conner step into the room and block the door. Only a couple of goblins at a time could fight them that way, and the rest of us can help from the back." He pats his sling at his hip as he suggests this, then asks, "Anyone got other ideas?"
Eostre gapes at Nicat for a moment before her face returns to the annoyed surliness Nicat more often sees on it.
"That's...that's tactically sound. Here I thought you were going to just dive in and take them on your own like with that mutant goblin under the Old Light."
Evelyn shakes her head, too panicky to realize Nicat won't see her do it from where he's standing. She makes sure she's mentally linked to the guys in the party, and tries to calm down as best as she can.
"ស្ងប់... ស្ងប់... ស្ងប់..." Evelyn quietly mumbles.
Shalelu looks over at Evelyn, and noticing how unnerved she is, rests one hand on her shoulder.
"Of course it's tactically sound, Eostre," Nicat says, rolling his eyes slightly. "What do you expect from a seasoned deputy like me?"
"Okay," he continues, "Conner and Ekan step into the doorway, the goblins come charging at us, I pelt 'em with slingstones and keep everyone focused on the fight, maybe put a few goblins to sleep. Evelyn keeps our fighters from getting killed, and Eostre, um...tells everyone what to do. Sound like a plan?"
"Sounds like a plan to me," Ekan says, "Let me know when to step forward."
Conner gets his shield ready and draws his sword.
With a plan made, the party gets ready to ambush the goblins. Shalelu waves the party forward, her bow readied and an arrow nocked. She keeps her head on a swivel, looking for any stragglers waiting in ambush.
As Conner and Ekan get into position, the armour-clad warrior's *CLANKING* causes the goblins to look up in surprise!
Conner steps into the open area, grateful to be able to stand up again, and holds his shield in front of him. "So you think you're hard? Come get some then!"
Ekan is also grateful for some room, and while he's tempted to rush forward and attack, he tries to remember the plan. To encourage them to charge, he moves to the side so others can go and shoot through if they need to.
Then he fires his crossbow at the nearest goblin to encourage them to charge.
Ekan's bolt flies over the goblin's shoulder and sticks in the earthen wall behind it.
In unison, several goblins charge forward brandishing dogslicers. The rest hang back, howling battle cries and raising a ruckus.
"Zabijte Dlouhán!"
"Pro náčelník Ripnugget!"
"For warchief Ripnugget!"
The first goblin runs smack into Conner's shield wall and stands there, dazed and bewildered. The second leaps at Ekan, its dogslicer swinging.
The goblin scores a lucky blow across Ekan's face, thanks to the low ceiling the monk is pressed against.
Not to be outdone, another goblin squeezes next to the lucky one, roughly shoving him aside as he swings his weapon!
Unfortunately, the goblin promptly learns a lesson in waiting her turn as her dogslicer nearly takes her companion's head off.
Shalelu winces, but holds her ground and nocks an arrow in preparation for reinforcements.
"Uh, guys?" Nicat says, a tone of some concern in his voice. "I hear the brambles rustling, like there's something coming, fast, from that direction," he continues, pointing to the east.
He shakes off his worry and says, "It's a darn good thing Desna smile right on me and my friends, and any who fight us have to deal with the bad luck you get from going against her! Poor goblins, they'll never know what hit 'em!"
As he says this, he slips his sling off his belt and readies to fight.
Sadly, the damage dealt to Conner is too low for Evelyn to redirect it to herself with her ability.
Evelyn turns around when Nicat mentions sounds from the east. She quickly casts shield of faith to increase her own defenses, and draws the party's wand of cure light wounds.
"សូមអរគុណសម្រាប់ក្បាលឡើង Nicat!"
Eostre casts her armor spell, preparing for the fight.
The sounds of branches *snapping* echoes throughout the dirt tunnels, followed by the sound of a growling animal.
Eostre hugs her glaive close to her.
"THAT doesn't sound pleasant!
Conner swings his magic longsword at one of the goblins attacking Ekan...
...but unfortunately, the blade gets caught on a root sticking out of the ceiling.
Ekan drops his crossbow, draws his kama, and swings it at one of the squeezed goblins.
The kama slices through the goblin's arm, severing it. The goblin screams and falls down, bleeding out into the dirt.
Shalelu keeps her bow readied...
...and the goblins press the attack!
The goblins in the back put their dogslicers away and start drawing bows while the others in the front start swinging at Ekan!
One manages to nick Ekan's chest, but the other misses wildly.
Eostre whirls her glaive around and thunks it on the ground once, causing the tunnel ceiling above the goblins to shake and dirt and rocks to pour down onto the wretches.
The rocks pelt down on the goblins' heads, causing them to squawk in pain.
"OW! OW! OW!"
"Mám kámen do očí!"
"Nefér! Žádné fér pomocí magie!"
"No fair! No fair using magic!"
Their complaints go unheard as a loud *ROAR!* echoes through the tunnels to the southeast. A red & black-striped cougar races through the tunnels, coming from the east and leaping into action!
Shalelu's nocked arrow flies from her bow and strikes the cougar in its flank, provoking its wrath. It bears down on her, its fangs bared!
Shalelu manages to throw her arm up in time to take the brunt of the cougar's attack, but the force of a heavy wild animal biting into her armour nearly knocks her off her feet! She cries out, more in surprise than pain.
Nicat sees Shalelu take a shot at the weird striped cat and joins in, flinging a stone at it! At the same time, he cheers on his companions, "Lucky us! A stripey cat to join the party!" More quietly, he says to himself, "What the heck is that thing?"
Nicat's sling bullet strikes where Shalelu's arrow hit, driving the arrow even deeper into the cougar's hide. It yowls in pain!
"That, Longshanks..." A shrill voice speaks up, before cackling. "...is Tangletooth!"
Stepping out of the brambled walls of the goblin tunnels is a goblin clad in dirty blue leathers decorated with rat skulls on the shoulders. In his hand is a sword made of fire, its pommel engulfing his hand without even so much as singeing it. The goblin cackles once more, and glares at the party. "The Huntress won't be able to help you now. Perhaps, in your NEXT life, you'll learn not to trespass into a goblin's lair!"
The goblin flexes his free hand, and speaks an incantation...
"Ať příroda sama pomoci mne!"
Immediately, the brambles and roots in the tunnels come to life, trying to grab the party and hold them fast!
Conner, Evelyn & Shalelu manage to evade the grasping reach of the roots and thorns. Unfortunately, Ekan, Eostre & Nicat all get tangled up in them. Tangletooth continues its assault on Shalelu undeterred, but the goblins in the other room all start gibbering and thrashing as the brambles entwine them.
Evelyn moves up to Shalelu and taps her with the healing wand.
The wand doesn't do much, but at least some of Shalelu's wound heals.
"Come on, everyone! We can do this!"
Shalelu's scratches heal slightly.
Conner turns and advances on Tangletooth, using both hands to bring his enchanted longsword to bear against the lithe opponent!
The blade rakes across Tangletooth's back, causing a gout of blood to become mixed with the beast's fur. It roars in pain and rage!
Ekan attempts to slip free from the Entangle
If one should be foolish enough to stray close, he slashes at it
Ekan's kama severs a goblin's head from its shoulders, despite the brambles trying to restrain him. Its corpse falls over after a second of grasping where its head once was.
Shalelu nods at Evelyn before dropping her bow to the ground and yanking a knife from a sheath in her boot. She then swings at the firepelt cougar menacing her...
...unfortunately, due to the cramped quarters, her knife is easily evaded.
The goblins in the other room start shrieking some more as they try to cut themselves free of the grasping roots!
All but two of them manage to escape their bonds. They then turn their arrows and blades on Ekan--at least Conner's tower shield gives him cover from some of them.
The goblin in melee makes a lucky cut into Ekan's shin, and three arrows manage to hit him.
"Longshanks? Me? Well, that's a first - ah!" Nicat comments, though his remark is cut short by the vines suddenly wrapping about his legs! He manages to slip free of them, calling out as he does, "Oh, now I see, it's just a firepelt cougar! Too bad it's got the bad luck to face us, huh, gang?"
Ignoring the writhing vines around him, Nicat points at the strangely-garbed goblin and makes an outlandish, wild face at him!
The goblin doesn't appear to be impressed. "You look like my grandmother, Longshanks."
"Well, before I accidentally lit her on fire."
Eostre starts cursing angrily as the vines wrap around her.
"Ouch! Damned spine! Ow, I say!"
She looks at Ekan.
"Are we just going to ignore the fact that Ekan's making a last stand here?"
She yanks on her glaive to try and tear it out of the vines, and only succeeds in getting more thorns stuck in her tender flesh.
"BLAST IT! If I can't get my glaive loose, I can't cast!"
Eostre struggles again and pries her glaive loose.
"Ekan, get out of the way!"
She starts casting a spell, letting a blast of color shoot from her glaive's blade.
The three goblins in front get blasted by Eostre's colours and fall down, spasming. Unfortunately, Ekan gets blasted as well, but not as strongly.
The goblin shaman whistles at Tangletooth. "Tangletooth! Come back here!" The cougar whirls and withdraws from the fight, returning to its master's side...
...and manages to slip out of a knot of roots that were enclosing around its paws. The goblin mumbles something about "Stupid animals constantly getting themselves in trouble when they should just stay out of it..." before resting a glowing golden hand on the beast's flank.
Some of the bleeding stops, but the cougar still looks badly wounded.
Ekan hears the warning, and tries to leap clear in time
but fails as he's engulfed in multi hued light
Evelyn heads over to Ekan and touches him with her buckler hand. A green glow emits from her hand when she sends healing energy into the monk's wounds.
"នៅទីនេះអ្នកចូលទៅ, Ekan!"
Ekan's wounds close somewhat, pushing out stray arrowheads from his flesh.
The roots finally start tangling Conner up as he advances on the wounded cougar before it can attack again. "Yeah, yeah, nice trick. It's not going to help." He growls as he brings his longsword to bear against Tangletooth...
...but unfortunately, the cougar proves to be too quick and the roots too thick.
Ekan wobbles about, dazed from Eostre's blinding lights.
Shalelu manages to duck under several grasping roots to grab her bow from the dirt floor. She then aims at Tangletooth and takes a shot...
...and manages to wing the beast, but it's still standing.
The roots grasp at the goblins in the fire pit...
...managing to entangle three of them. The goblins who are still free start slogging through the rocks and roots to get at the stunned monk, while their compatriots try to break free!
"I still don't get why I'm a longshanks to you," Nicat mutters as he slips clear of the tangling vines once again, "but I get that we're about to clobber you!" He spins up his sling and takes another shot at the firepelt cougar.
Nicat's sling bullet misses the cougar, hitting the earthen wall behind it.
Eostre's eyes dart between the two battles happening at once, biting her lip as she watches her color spray throw Ekan off-balance along with the goblins.
Soddit! I don't want to call the stones again, we might need that for another large battle...I didn't even bother prepping those fire spells because I was worried about utility, soddit! Soddit! Ekan'll be fine. The sooner we deal with the caster and his pet the sooner the others can help him!
Eostre shifts around the vines and jerks her glaive awkwardly around to perform the necessary somatic components. Then she takes a deep breath and unleashes a silent scream at the goblin behind the cougar. Unfortunately, puffing out her expansive chest like that to shout causes the prickly vines to poke her rather sensitive skin.
"OW! OW OW OW OW DAMMIT!"
The cornered cougar lashes out several times at the armour-clad Conner...
The cougar latches its jaw around Conner's ankle and yanks him to the ground before laying into him with its paws!
One of the cougar's claws scratches across Conner's mail, and the other hits him in the face.
The goblin druid behind him raises his flaming sword and runs at Nicat, swinging madly. The roots don't discriminate, and grab at him...
...and promptly tangle him up. The mad goblin starts yanking and tugging at the roots, trying to get free!
To no avail!
As Evelyn's Life Link activates, Ekan and Conner both feel their wounds heal a bit.
Evelyn feels blood well up in her mouth, but she quickly swallows it so the others don't see it. She then gives herself a quick tap with the wand of cure light wounds.
Ekan's vision clears, but the grogginess still lingers.
Not liking his current situation at all, Conner heaves himself to his feet, despite the weight of his gear, and tries to skewer the troublesome cat.
Shalelu moves back, barely out of the roots' reach... but not without the goblin shaman swinging at her with his flaming blade.
Perhaps 'swinging' was too charitable a word for his spastic flailing.
Shalelu aims an arrow at the druid and fires!
The arrow sticks in the goblin's leg, drawing a hiss of pain!
The goblins in the other room start moving again, but the roots keep grabbing at them! Eostre's summoned gravel dissipates...
...and the roots seize an opportunity to tangle up five of the six free ones! The last one moves forward and tries to cut the stunned monk!
In his excitement, he forgets to actually aim his dogslicer and it gets stuck on a root. The remaining goblins try to cut themselves free of the roots!
Only one of them manages to get loose.
Nicat slips free of the entangling vines once again, calling out to the druid, ”Ha! Your stupid vines are only tangling up your buddies, not us! Desna smiles on me and my friends, and wants you to lose!”
He then sets his sling to spinning and releases it, narrowly missing braining himself with a stone!
"SPEAK FOR YOURSELF, NICAT!" Eostre shouts as she struggles to break free, and only succeeds in getting more scratched up.
"I'm running out of spells and that stupid wand only works if I can touch someone with it! Can't someone cut these stupid vines or something?!"
The goblin druid is expressing an identical level of frustration with his entangling roots as Eostre...
...as they keep grasping at his flailing limbs.
"Oh, Hells with it! This is a stupid spell anyway!" He grumbles as he waves a root-entangled hand. Immediately, the vines retract into the earth, freeing everyone.
Tangletooth presses the assault on Conner...
The cougar manages to bite down on Conner's shin and tug, but he keeps his feet, even with the cougar slapping him with its claws once more.