"Lwrathp! Krorwin! I'b oba hea! Herlp! Tesha! Oorick! Widell?"
Waiting on Tessa.
Ridel attempts to disengage from the goblin, drawing out his longsword in the process. He keeps his crystal orb in his other hand, however, and fires another ray.
and reduce speed to 10 feet for one turn.
Tasting the metallic pang of her own blood, Tessa keeps shouting and hacking, trying to turn back the tides of war. She waves her dagger menacingly, using its armored cup to deflect cuts while stabbing with the long, sharp blade of her rapier.
For the children fallen
For the dreams stolen
For the smiles of women
For love and for glory
My blade shall strike true
Your heart run through
Deep in blood black
We shall press the attack!
Kemek's head swivels in the dirt to face the combat, his eyes still bright.
"Well done Tessa!" it speaks as Tessa strikes. His dismembered body spasms, as if the cortex were still connected, then falls limp again.
"Die foul creatures! Rue the day we found you!"
Tessa's blades work a deadly duet, and one of the Goblin's engaged in the melee falls, Tessa's rapier skewering the pathetic creatures heart with one clean thrust!
As that Goblin falls, a man walks into view, behind the line of Goblin Archers at the bottom of the tunnel. He is tall for a human, but lean of frame, with a long face and fading widow peak. He is adorned in black robes, with a breastplate strapped on. He bears a mace and shield. His every glance seems infused with malice and hatred, and he sneers mockingly in your direction as he stands behind the Goblins.
How convenient...rather than track you down myself, you come running, willingly throwing yourself upon my blades. Its a shame a fool like Gorion could not teach you any sense, but alas, I shall not squander the opportunity. Take the disfigured Human and the Half-Orc alive! Slay the others!
With that being said, he begins a dark incantation, and touches one of the Goblin Archers beside him. The Goblin begins to emit a deep crimson glow, and glares directly at Qorin, blood leaking from its eyes.
-----------------------------------------------
Ridel lashes out with a icy ray that freezes the Goblin on the ledge in place, clearly snuffing out its life force.
Ridel places an arrow squarely between the eyes of the other Goblin involved in the Melee, leaving the front line clear!
Kemek's head gasps as he recognises the dire human that slew Gorion.
Seems he has forgotten about me, or not noticed me yet... Kemek's head realises.
Perhaps playing dead is the wisest course here. he thinks without a trace of irony.
Kemek, your staff is directly next to you, still clutched in the cold hands of your body.
My apologies, Uruk places an arrow!
Of the 4 Goblins left, the one in Melee attempts to take down Qorin, but themighty warrior easily wards him off! One of the archers charges in buy Rasp deftly ducks under its crude swings! The last two Goblins continue firing with their shortbows, but both shots go wild.
And finally, the Hobgoblin rushed Ridel, who was able to just barely beat back its assault...for now.
We have 4 Goblins, two of which are in Melee with one glowing. Un harmed.
Hobgoblin engaged with Ridel. Winded
Human behind the Archers. Unharmes.
6 threats total.
Tessa, Rasp, Qorin, your up!
Using the distraction of the melee, Rasp ignored the moron with a bow, and attacked one of the idiots being harassed by Qorin.
Rasp felt satisfaction as his blade sank deep, right between a rib.
EVERYTHING maxes on a crit!
In a blindingly flash blur of motions, Rasp pierces the goblins heart, and it slumps over!
Kemek's head attempts to roll toward his body with little effect. It sighs, before trying again.
Seeing Rasp stab the goblin clean through, Kemek's head almost shouts out something congratulatory to the scarred valiant, then quickly looks at the dread enemy and thinks better of it.
Well done, brave Rasp! Kemek thinks to himself.
Evaluating his position and apparent vulnerability, Kemek's head attempts to hide, by…staying still and acting like a.. quite still decapitated head. He closes his eyes to aid this "moast excellent" subterfuge.
Qorin takes a swipe at the glowing handed goblin.
Will DMPC Tessa if she has not posted by tomorrow. Also, I will provide an updated Status at that time.
Gazing around the bloody fray, Tessa realizes this fight won't be easily won. Hell, we might be lucky to even survive!
Racing through her mind for the right words, she manages to unearth some early morning classes with Gorion.
Ridel, quickly, get back! Take Kemek and prepare for a retreat! I'll cover you!
Roaring in rage, Qorin smashes the Glowing Goblin into a meaty pulp!
Tessa rushes between Ridel and his Hobgoblin adversary, and with a quick feint plunges both blades into the foul creatures throat! It chokes on its own blood and quickly dies.
-------------------
Screaming out a curse, the Robed Human turns and runs, obviously having expected his Hobgoblin led assault to finish you off!
-------------------
Uruk and Ridel, you are up!
-------------------
STATUS
Qorin-Wounded, 15 feet from Archers
Rasp-Unharmed, 15 feet from Archers
Tessa-Grievously Wounded, 30 feet from Archers and around corner
Kemek-Metal Gear Stealthing Head
Ridel-Wounded, 30 feet from Archers and around corner
Uruk-Unharmed, 20 feet from Archers
*
Goblin 1-Unharmed, 15 feet from closest PC
Goblin 2-Unharmed, 15 feet from closest PC
Robed Human-Unharmed, ??? feet from closest PC, not visible, run back into the cave system.
Uruk and Ridel, Go Go GO!
Ridel does what he can to use the corner to his advantage from the archers.
Uruk will try to grab Kemek's head and then dash for cover.
Uruk and Ridel both move for cover, Uruk grabbing up Kemek as he does so!
Glancing behind them and seeing the Robed Human fleeing, both Goblins promptly throw aside their bows, fall to their knees, and begin to display an uncanny aptitude at groveling and begging for their pitiful lives.
Tessa, Rasp, Qorin, your up!
Seeing the groveling goblins, and paying no attention to the fleeing human, Kemek's head rattles in Uruk's hand.
"Rip their heads off!" screams the severed head in an almost incoherent and uncharacteristically bloodthirsty manner. Then it looks up at Uruk, almost ashamed.
"Sorry. Ahem. Right. Any chance you can locate my staff? I'm sure I left it lying around here somewhere."
It looks at it's own body disconcertingly.
" Or… at least, my betraying lump of a body did."
Ridel finally looks around the corner, and moves toward the cave entrance. Seeing the goblins surrender, he feels a strong surge of pity for them.
He lifts his crystal orb to fire another ray at the fleeing human, provided he is in range.
Seeing the robed figure run away, Tessa's first reaction is to take the first step into a chase. Her legs almost buckle under the effort, her body suddenly aware of the many cuts and stabs of goblin blades.
Wanting to chase the culprit obviously guilty of spurring the goblins into action, Tessa walks quickly towards him, hobbling a bit to the left. She takes a few steps, enough to get a clear vision of the man and a target for her thrown dagger.
Stop or face a coward's death
Run and take your last breath
Justice's reach is long and true
Its blade shall be coming FOR YOU
Uruk cocks an eyebrow at the head and grunts, Yeah, I'll look around for it all.
Qorin sees the bard hobbling after the robed man and growls his fury. He plunges into the cave, racing to catch the robed figure.
Rasp spares a moment to glare at the blubbering goblins.
"Run," he tells them simply. "Before we change our minds."
He then picked up his shortbow, notched an arrow and went to follow the others.
Gritting her teeth, Tessa moves down the incline, and spots the Robed Man further in, obviously attempting to flee down another tunnel with sunlight streaming in. Drawing and throwing in one smooth motion, she catches the man in the back of the knee, dropping him and drawing a startled curse from his lips!
Charging forward, Qorin stands over the man, starting grimly down as he looks up at you.
None of this matters!!! You don't matter!!! He will find you, and take what he wants!!! Your soul is---!!!
His speech is cut suddenly off and Qorin brings his massive maul straight down upon the man, crushing him in a fountain of blood and ruptured organs.
The Goblins look up at Rasp, look at each other, then begin fleeing in different directions as quickly as they can!
The area at the bottom of the incline appears to be a rough living quarters for the man, as it appears more civilized than what one would expect from a Goblin. A desk and bed are the only nods to ornamentation, and filthy straw in one corner obviously show where the Goblins used to bed down.
What do you do? Combat is Over, and everyone please take level 2!
A fresh spume of ichor dribbles out of Kemek's head's neck. It seems to be fading from consciousness...
"Jlubst put me drown on the bred a moment. Ornh, and schlumbody bring me my straff."
Rasp distracts himself from Kemek's wounds by inspecting the living quarters and searching the robed man's body.
Rasp, you find some decent foodstuffs, such as a human might enjoy, as well as some tomes and papers written in a strange language. Upon the man, you find a Mace and Steel Shield, both of good craftsmanship. His clothing is simple, though the Breastplate he wears looks to have seen combat. Around his neck hangs an obsidian holy symbol, bearing the skull and blood drop symbol of Bhaal.
Other than the tomes and papers, the only other thing of value is scattered coinage amountingto 147 gold and 38 silver.
Ridel follows behind the shadowy figure, intrigued by just about everything that Rasp had discovered.
"Interesting. May I take a look at the documents?"
Uruk looks about as he sets Kemek's head down. The ranger gathers the gondsman's pieces and the staff, and anything else that is easily identifiable as belonging to Kemek...
If we put all your parts together will you start to be put back together? Can we heal you or do we need to ind a scion of Gond?
"Yes, of course, Ridel. By chance do you know a ritual to detect enchantments? I suspect that the mace or shield might be magical."
"What would a servant of Bhaal be doing here with Goblins?" he asked aloud.
"Yes, I suppose I do."
With a few arcane words and a swift gesture of his hands across his eyes, Ridel casts detect magic and examines everything in the cavern that he can see.
He also looks over the tome and the documents.
The gondsman'd head rocks lightly before the eyes flicker open. With vague semi-focused eyes, Kemek peers at Uruk.
"Qorig - ish that you? Ah. Urukh. My thags to you." The eyes focus, and Kemek takes in the ruin of his body, the ichor weeping on the floor, before settling on his staff. He takes a great big sniff, and an unewholesome blop of ooze slides out of his mouth. The head sighs and breathes more clearly.
"I am unsure. I have never disassembled like this before. Did I disgrace myself?"
"Perhaps if you place...me... atop the staff... placing it where my body previously sat I may be able to draw Lathander's divine power through that."
Uruk will do whatever Kemek asks at this point, basically engaged in something so beyond his comprehension he is basically stunned.
Rasp, this is not a dead end, though a few minutes of searching reveals this to be a central hub of sorts. All other tunnels simply lead to either more Goblin resting places, or out into the ravine you climbed down to get in here. Nothing else of note is found.
Ridel, you cannot read the script upon the note, though your training in esoteric matters leads you to believe it may be Abyssal, the language of the Abyss and those foul creatures such as Demons that dwell within. The only thing you can make out for certain is a peculiar rune where you imagine the author of the letter would have signed his name. Beyond that, you cannot fathom any more of it at this time. Perhaps a sage or such could reveal more?
Ridel, you do not discover any magic upon any of the items. They simply appear to be well made, and even more shocking, crafted of fine steel, a rarity in these trying times.
Uruk, you jam Kemek's decapitated head upon his staff, where it seems to rest quite snugly. A faint golden light begins to emanate from Kemek's eyes, nose, mouth, and neck.
Kemek, you are able to turn the light off or on at will, and when on it seems to have the same radius as a burning torch.
What do the rest of you do? And Rasp, Ridel, what else do you do?
"If no one objects, I will carry the book and documents until we can find someone capable of reading them." He looks over to the bardic member of their party. "By any chance do you understand the language of the Abyss?"
Frowning at the druid for a moment and then noting the "completeness" of the transformation, Uruk grunts Apparently your journey to a body will be...slow. Well, for now I guess you are with me gondsman.
Taking a stance with Kemek's staff Uruk cocks an eyebrow at the others. Do any of you have the strength to carry his other pieces? Do we...need them at this point? Uruk turns Kemek to face him, How do you feel?
"My horse should be strong enough to carry the rest of him. I can just as easily walk like the rest of you."
Kemek's head seems to pulse slightly as it "docks" with the staff. His eyes roll up into their sockets and a faint cooing sound emanates. There is a moment of peace, as if Kemek has returned to some sort of soul-home. Then, he awakes, light emitting from his eyes, nose, mouth and neck.
"Gaaaaaaaaah!??!?!?!?" he shouts, before returning to a state of calm. His curious and intelligent eyes remain open, but the holy light has disappeared.
"Whaaa! Oh. Herm, well that is an unusual feeling. I can still feel my… toes. I think. Yes, definitely my toes. Funny. They aren't wiggling. Well, this is different." The gondstaff closes his eyes, then reopens them.
"It seems as though Lathander has seen fit to restore me to some manner of functionality. I can create light. Perhaps in time I may find other uses for this staff. And head. Please do not use me as a maul or other weapon, kind Uruk."
He looks around, seemingly unfazed by his non-locomotive and non-manipulative state.
"So. Goblins about? I do not feel I have the capacity to cast the offensive spells I had formerly. This is somewhat distressing. However, I am not dead. That is…welcome."
"Have care with those books," Qorin says to Ridel, looking at the books as though they might spawn demons at any moment. Hearing Kemek's conversation with Uruk, he holds his maul up and studies it a moment, then looks at Kemek and shakes his head.
"Balance is all wrong," he says. "Nothing to fear."
"We have more questions now than before," he says more generally. "Shall we proceed to the inn?"
