There are half-a-dozen goblins snoring in here, and they don't stand a chance. Gob, Albrecht and Thanadros kill the first three in their sleep. Though not unalert, the remainder can raise no more than a few squeaks of desperation before they are all cut down.
Gob has a grim demeanor after such grisly work, but maintains his composure, wiping off his dagger.
Gob whispers, "Should we search this room before moving onward, or keep going while we're ahead?"
"Hmmm, I say we take advantage of surprise while we have it... We can all prepare our bows and magic and shoot the goblins making ruckus in that other room. Have one of the goblins open the door for us..." Thanadros says as he position's himself a good angle in front of the door with his bow drawn.
"Okay, sounds good to me."
Gornak stands 5' away from the door so that he will be unseen by the goblins when the door opens.
The door opens into a broad space some twenty feet square, with a stairway leading up and around one corner to a balcony some ten feet off the ground that - you can see from here - acts as a walkway around the top of a low tower in the palisade, leaving the central ten foot by ten foot square of the room open to the sky. The argument seems to be coming from up there ...
Doing the dirty work with a look of pity on his face, Albrecht cleans his blade on a clean rag once done with it. Peeking into the newly revealed room, he turns to his allies waiting, and with a whispered, "No time like the present..." as encouragement, he gives a quick glance around the room for traps and the like, and then (assuming he finds none) he gestures for one of the goblins to go first.
Thanadros sheathes his sword and draws his bow. Seeing as Albrecht has gestured for one of the goblins to go first, Thanadros waits to see what Albrecht has in mind.
Gob manifests force screen.
Gob motions Snovli and Tudmunch forward, telling them to stay about 20 feet apart.
Gob whispers, "I'll be right behind you; be silent and alert," and he follows closely , crossbow at the ready.
Stealth:
Vaclav closes with the rest of the party but remains focused on watching the other doors into the entry hall.
"Oh, looks like we're going in then."
Since the party seems to be heading inside to do battle, Gornak follows the rest of them as quietly as possible (i.e., not very).
Whoever is arguing up there is clearly engrossed in what they are doing. No other sounds are audible. Gob and his cohorts move in silently, Tudmunch covers the other door, Snovli pauses at the foot of the stairs and looks askance at Gob.
Gob slowly counts fingers in a goblin manner, and makes an inquisitive expression, attempting to convey that he wants to know about how many voices Snovli can hear ahead.
If the number is less than 6, Gob whispers to Tudmunch to quietly tell the others to follow, and creeps slowly forward and motions for Snovli to stay there. If the number is higher (7+), Gob creeps back to the party himself, after motioning for Snovli to stay there, and tells the party the odds.
Snovli motions that there are two goblins up there.
Vaclav glances back over his shoulder at the others. What are they doing in there? Then he turns his attention back to the entry hall. Sometimes you just got to trust the rest of the squad to handle their end.
Thanadros patiently waits.
Aylmora keeps watch on the entry hall with Vaclav, crossbow loaded and ready.
Gornak also hangs back, expected a horde of goblins to come pouring out at any moment!
Gob creeps up the steps, and can see two goblins at a crude table at the top of the steps, with playing cards scattered about. They are still arguing.
Tudmunch creeps back to the others.
"Chief Gob says follow," he grunts in passable common.
Gob manifests swarm of crystals in the surprise round, hoping to kill them quickly.
slashing damage
Initiative
Thanadros knocks his bow and follows the goblins. If he sees any enemy goblins, he takes a shot.
Staying to the side and slightly ahead of Thanadros, sword at the ready, Albrecht climbs the stairs, following the goblins and trying to remain silent, ready to leap at any foe's at a moment's notice.
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Gob mounts the steps to close with the two and they glance his way.
"Hey, who are -?" begins one, before a hail of glittering shards rake both goblins and their table to shreds. Both slump down in a welter of blood, and the table collapses. A deck of playing cards assembled from several different decks cascades to the floor of the tower.
Tudmunch and Snovli are suitably impressed. After a moment of silence they start dancing and laughing at the demise of the hated Thistletop goblins. A sharp word from Gob silences them both.
As the others ascend the stairs, Vaclav backs into the room. While he continues to watch the entry hall, he listens to Gob's progress and smiles. We've got some high ground now.
Gornak dashes up the stairs as well, clanking and thudding. Seeing the carnage at the top, he gives a low whistle. "I guess you didn't need my help!"
"It was a calculated expenditure, friend Gornak," Gob whispers, a vein throbbing near his temple, "your mighty thews will have time yet to save the day."
Gob scans the fallen for useful items, keys, and the like, and looks to his comrades.
He whispers again, "This seems like a good point to stage an offensive from, scouting as we go, and may be a wise choice to fall back to should our exit be barred at any point."
"Where to now, friends?"
The roof of the stockade is crude but solidly made of split overlapping logs and fragments of ships' planking.
To the north-west is what appears to be a courtyard or other open space.
"I say we go to southwest room first."
What are they doing up there? Homesteading? Vaclav eases the slight tension on his bow and holds the arrow to the bow by wrapping a finger over the top of the arrow. Then he scratches the back of his neck. That taken care of he resumes a two handed grip, ready to draw at any sign of goblins.
Looking out at the terrain, Albrecht nods his head in agreement with Thanadros, before quickly darting downstairs to let Vaclav know where the group will likely be moving to.
"Fine by me." Gornak heads down as well, and listens for any suspicious noises.
Perception:
Looking out at the terrain, Albrecht nods his head in agreement with Thanadros, before quickly darting downstairs to let Vaclav know where the group will likely be moving to.
"Right."
Vaclav moves back out into the center of the entry hall. (C11) Once there he watches the doors in turn while he waits for the assault team to gather around the SW door.
Thanadros places himself in the room with Vaclav, ready to shoot anything behind the door when one of the others open it.
Aylmora silently joins Vaclav in the center of the entry hall, keeping an eye on the doors to the north as her companions investigate the double doors to the southwest.
Stealth:
Gob sneaks ahead, leaving the goblins with the party, near the middle, and waits to sneak in when the door is opened.
One hand on the door and the other grasping his blade, Albrecht slowly opens the door, just far enough for Gob to sneak into the room, scouting it out.
The door opens to a short passageway some fifteen feet long and ten wide, ending in another set of double doors. A single door to in the north wall is nailed and boarded shut. Following the same routine, Aylmora can hear the feint sound of snoring and smell the smell of strong pickles beyond the west doors.
Opening the doors reveals another low tower like it's eastern counterpart, only this time the two goblins are fast asleep beneath the steps, snoring loudly.
Stealth
Melee Mwk Longsword Coupe de grace ( | DC: 32
Thanadros sneaks up the stairs to sneak a peek if anyone is around up there, and if not, he will go atop and take a look, taking note of anything different or new from this angle (assuming it looks outside like before)
Once we are done searching the room and the top of the stairs Thanadros is ready to go through the double doors to the north. He recommends that the boarded up door can wait for later.
"Let us move through like a silent breeze of death. We can worry about noisy tasks later, when the goblins and others are finished."
Two dead goblins later, you have double doors to the north and a boarded up door in the north wall of the passageway.
Perception:
New Stealth, if needed:
The smell of pickse is stronger inside this small 10'x 10' passageway, leading to a large set of double doors, these ones crudely bared from the this side.
Vaclav looks at the boarded up door curiously, but thinks his friends wise to ignore it.
He follows the others and positions himself to shoot through the new double doors when they are opened.
Gob's and the other two goblins' mouths salivate at the smell of pickles, but they stay to task. Gob tells Tudmunch and Snovli to stay to either side of the door, out of sight, and to aid the party by flanking and distracting foes (aid another, defensive fighting, flanking) if a fight should break out.
Gob hides to the right side of the door, and has his crossbow ready.
Stealth:
While still quieter than most, his heavy nose-breathing from the lingering scent of pickles may give him away...
Gornak stands to the side of the double doors and gets his hammer ready.
Standing at the front (near Gornak) the whole way, Albrecht waits, his sword at the ready.
The door opens slowly to reveal clear sky and bright light in an open courtyard. Tenacious clumps of partially trampled grass grow fitfully here and there in the hard-packed earth, in places stained with blood or scratched with furrows. To the north, what looks to be two dead goblins lie slumped at the entrance to an outbuilding.
Interesting.
"Hey Gob -- do you want to try sneaking up on those guys, or should we just go charging in?"
Gob creeps forward, having Snovli and Tudmunch wait for the signal before they come in.
Perception:
Stealth (if needed again):