In the interest of staying quiet, Tex tosses his pistol to his off hand, draws his handaxe and aims up a shot. A second after Aren whispers "Bang." Tex throws for the other Goblin.
The moment both Aren and Tex took actions, Eberac tooks off like a angry bear waken up and rushes with mad sprint towards goblins, bringing his axe high up to slash it down towards one of the goblins, as his eyes scream murder
Text tightens his grip and lines up his shot before throwing, just before Eberrac goes streaking past him like a dwarf-sized grizzly.
As the goblins pass by the party's hiding spot, the trap is sprung. Aren whispers and points his pistol at one goblin, and it clutches at its head and lets out a shout before collapsing to the ground. As its partner turns and grabs at an arrow from its quiver, Tex's axe spins through the air and catches it along one shoulder, spinning it sideways with a cry of pain. It has just enough time to grab the wound and look up to see Eberac bearing down. At least its death is quick.
The posse gathers about the stream and looks again to the cave mouth, beckoning them inside. The only apparent guards are dead, and now it looks clear and open to proceed.
Tex grimaces, stumping over, planting a boot on what remains of the bisected goblin and sliding the axe out of the guts. He inspects it for a second before cleaning it off with a handkerchief. Once he's finished he holsters his axe and offers Eberrac the stained handkerchief. Goblin Wallaby gets a fist bump, and Aren a tip of the hat (and a discrete and non-magical finger gun--Tex is gonna have to ask about that one).
"Ready lads?" He asks finally, waiting up at the cave entrance, one foot already inside.
"I am." says Aren as he also moves into the cave.
"You bet mate. Just all of you are in the know, our dead friends mentioned a surly bug bear was there boss. Best be careful. "
"Ay, its be hunting time for some goblins." Eberac nods as he swipes the fresh goblin blood out of his greataxe
"Same thing I suppose, eh? Our friendly, um, goblin here goes by first and rest of us behind? Could maybe net surprise for use on the others"
"That story might not play as well as we get further in. I think we got lucky with these two. The rest of the cave may be on alert. They mentioned one of their buddies came back from the road a bit ago in a hurry. He is sure to have alarmed some of them. I can still go first but I'm thinkin mainly as a scout. If I get spotted hopefully I can distract em long enough for you fellas to get the drop on em. "
With that being said Jack takes point and leads the others into the cave.
The party regathers after the successful ambush, and make their way into the cave, quietly passing through the stream to the path on the far side. As they start in, it becomes apparent that the light from outside doesn't reach very far inside the mouth, although only Aren is really bothered by the darkness. About ten feet into the cave is the first split in paths, with the stream and the main tunnel continuing further on, while a room on the right-hand side opens up with some stairs leading up.
The dank stench of beasts comes from this chamber, which narrows to a steep fissure at the far end. Equally strong to the smell is the rattle of chains and the sound of growling, with an obvious source. Three wolves are chained here, their iron tethers leading to spikes pounded into the base of stalagmites within the cave. The wolves are already standing and eyeing the party, growling with a predatory look in their eyes, although they aren't moving yet--and, in fact, their chains don't look long enough to let them reach these steps. Still, they've noticed the presence of outsiders, and don't seem too happy about that.
As the darkness draws in, Aren will use his talent to allow him to see in the dark.
Looking down the passage past the alcove Jack tries to get an idea how far the tunnel may go. Assuming the wolves to be some of security alarm he steps back to confer with the others. "There is a small cave up ahead with some dingos inside. We can try and sneak by them or we can remove them from being a problem. What do you guys think?"
"I say that we be killing them before someone or somehow they be released and they be biting our rears"
"We should clear out things as we go."
"Put 'em down," says Tex, nodding to Eberrac. "I'll stick to m' axe until we get further in and try to keep quiet."
Jack steps back from the chamber, and the party quickly reaches the decision to put down the wolves. They step back into view of the beasts, where it's apparent that they're straining against their chains, snarling and snapping in attempts to get at the party. One in particular has yanked the pole tethering it almost free of the stalagmite, and it stands closer than the other two, frothing at the mouth as it pulls ever more at the chain holding it.
Initiative
Aren will again hoist his pistol at the dog straining at it's chains and say "Bang."
Round 1
Watching others moving faster than him, Eberac relaxes his bisceps as he moves closer and raises greataxe, only to let it fall down towards the body of wolf
Jack launches a sphere of green acid at one of the wolves that is close to a second wolf in order to best utilize the spells splash effect.
to target and additional target w/in 5ft
"Aw'right," mutters Tex to himself, spinning his axe in his hand before swinging. "Good doggie."
Aren brings up his gun and speaks instead of firing again, aiming for the closest wolf. Its eyes go wide for a moment, and then it drops down and lets out a yelp of pain. Jack creates an orb of acid and launches it at the wolves in the back, which are close enough that it splashes over each of them. Tex murmurs and spins his axe, then sends it end over end, but it misses the wolf and skitters across the ground.
The lead wolf redoubles its efforts and with a final pull, it yanks the spoke from the stalagmite, leaving it free to lunge forward at Aren. It slams against him and clamps its jaws down on his arm, but perhaps the youth's clothing is thick enough to ward off the worst of the attack.
One of the other wolves succeeds in pulling its chain partly free, but the third is still secured tight, not able to pull loose. Eberac reacts quickly the wolf pouncing on Aren, bringing his axe down on the beast's flank, and with a final shrill bark, the wolf falls still on the ground, a bloody gash deep in its side.
2+2=4
4+2=6
Jack steps back when he sees the chains giving away to make sure his sturdier companions where between him and the K9s before launching anoth blast of acid.
D.C. 14 reflex for no damage.
Round 2
Seeing that the wolf died before it could harm Aran seriously, Eberac turned toward other wolves and grinned at them "Here puppies, smuppies, I got a treat for you all.... hard cold steel is what ya get" grunting the last words as Eberac raised his axe and slashed towards another wolf
Whiffing his first swing, Tex mutters a curse under his breath, takes a half step back, letting the wolf yank on its chain for a second before swinging again. "This time fer sure."
From the ground, Aren will once again point his pistol at one of the chained dogs and say "Bang."
As the wolves continue to bark and strain, Aren lifts a hand from under the corpse of the wolf as he clambers out from it. His gun points at the nearest beast, and once more, it lets out a short yelp as its mind is assaulted. Jack sends forth another orb of acid, but this time the wolf he aimed for dodges out of the way. The liquid splashes across the stone, sending up a spray of smoke with a hiss. Tex steps up then, though, and with a measured swing, he puts the closest creature down, his axe biting deep into its neck.
The final wolf seems to be securely chained to the stalagmite, as it remains tethered there despite its yanking. Eberac steps forward to strike it with his axe, but the creature ducks back at the last moment, and sparks fly instead of blood.
Aren will stand up and "fire" his gun at the creature.
"These beasties hop around more than a pack of wallabies. Keep it up boys, only one more to go. "
Jack let's fly another shot of acidic fluid at the last of the dogs.
D.C. 14
"two down, third to go~~, that is critcal blow~~ when a dwarf gets in a flow~~ signing in a rhythm as Eberac approaches with a small jumps towards last wolf and swings his greataxe, grinning and red hue on his eye reflecting the slaughter
Aren once more assaults the beast with an attack on the mind, and it whimpers for a moment before growling anew and dropping down low; Jack's orb of acid only singes some hairs off its tail, and it lets out a snarl.
"Yer the last one, buddy," he says low to the wolf. "Let us do it fast and quick, Fido."
With one last swing of his hatchet, Tex puts down the final wolf, and Eberac makes sure it's down with a slash of his own. There's one more whine and then the chamber is quiet, only the sounds of breathing after battle echoing against the walls. The party is now free to explore this cave or press onwards down the tunnel.
"We should probably check this place out before moving further in." say Aren as he takes a look around.
"See anything, lads?" Tex asks, wiping his axe on the least bloodied patch of wolf fur before standing up and giving it a kick. "Poor pups. Being on a leash ain't no way to die."
Nodding at the words of Ted "Ay, thes' beasties be formidable opponent outside in the wild, able to move as they will and be working together like we do. Might have been more challenging then than now. Be better this way I suppose if they had managed to get out of those leashes somehow." Eberac speaks out as he watches at the wolves and sighes.
His heart aches as he is now looking at these beasts lying on the floor "Thes' beasties should da be outside, not here shackled inside of cave. They be no pets" muttering to himself with a still audible voice as he slowly moves forward, letting others to look around as Eberac leans against the wall
The party begins poking around the cave, and while most of it is of no note, there is a discovery to be made in the rear, where it narrows into the fissure. At the bottom of the crevasse is a pile of what looks to be rubbish, a mix of dirty cloth scraps and bones gnawed free of meat along with other such garbage. Looking up the fissure, Jack and Aren make out what looks like flickering firelight some thirty feet up.
Jack looks at Aren and grins. Looking back to the others he whispers "They'd never spect anyone to come in the trash chute. " As he says this he thumbs up the trash hole.
Aren will whisper back "What's weird is that there is an upper level. This might be a bigger place than we thought."
Tex gives Eberrac an uncharacteristically solemn nod. Aside from when he was plugged full of arrows earlier, it's probably the least smile you've ever seen on his face. "Ain't right." He says, giving one last nod down to the beasts before turning his glance up to where Jack and Aren are looking.
"You're fulla crafty ideas, ain'tcha Jack?" Asks Tex, the smile coming back to his face. "It's not a bad plan, but how in tarnation are y' gonna get up there?"
On his own thoughs Eberac looks at the other members of party and sees them gathering on the rear of cave. Curiosity poking him to move, Eberac approaches others and looking at what the others are staring.
Noticing the crevasse and giving a glance at others Eberac mutters a bit as he flexes his fingers as he approaches the wall and starts climbing up "I be going first. Something appearing, I be having best chance to keep alive or at least it away as rest of ya keep climbing after me, ay?"
Aren will watch Eberac climb, then try to follow behind him.
Tex gives a queasy smile up at the trash chute. He takes the lightning bolt badge pinned to his collar and pins it on the inside of his coat instead. "Welp, ain't no time like the present," he says, before putting his hands forward and climbing.
"Well I hope they don't fall on me. " Jack mumbles under his breath