Rise of the Runelords: Chosen of Sandpoint (Inactive)

Game Master polyfrequencies

With the second Goblin, you'd likely run into Lia snapping it's neck, and only find the third one broken on the floor as well. Lia is pretty convinced that the Goblins will neither get a chance to redeem themselves by the authorities, nor have the will or personality to act on such a chance. As such, she would use the time of their unconsciousness to do them a mercy that is also beneficial to all she knows, and kill them fast, possibly weeping for the foul creatures for not having had a chance in their lives to escape their ultimate fate.

Lia still needs to roll Perception. If she goes before Ro and Karina, e have 3 dead Goblins... otherwise we may have a moral dilemma between players :-)

Oh, I thought I learned it automatically after hitting them, and had a headstart...it's flavorful the color spray lit up the whole fog but I figured I still had a better reaction time, there...apologies...i guess that was goblin #1, then...
Perception: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (10) + 2 = 12
Initiative: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13
It would also be hypocritical to only do this if I'm alone with unconscious goblins. The presence of others would not stop me from proceeding. Ro could see me sobbingly put my hands around the goblins oversized head, but she'd have to actively stop me. They may wake again at any moment, so there's no time to discuss.

As Matrim's spell lifts, Windsight rushes in and steps on the neck of one of the Gobline, the crack signifies that that small creature won't be terrorizing any villagers again, ever.

Karina is right behind him as he completes the deed.

Two more Goblins lie stunned from Lia's spell.

Karina then Lia may act/speak.
As we have members who wish to take prisoners and members who do not, I want you all to roleplay that tension, it may well be an issue that arises again in a similar circumstance!

Ro finds someone cowering behind one of the water barrels though she is not sure who it is...

Windsight's first goblin would have been the one on 'his turn' at the end of the round - him, Lia, and Marcelano, which action I didn't get a chance to execute before you declared combat over and everyone started moving in 'he who posts first' time. :P :) The second would have been the one on the 'PER initiative'. I don't know if this alters how you want things to fall out; I'm ... okay, at least, with having there be an issue.

No worries, it's slightly altered for roleplay reasons anyway. Couping a goblin is a full-round, so on "your turn" you could only have double moved to the fog anyway. Same as I may have needed a move action to get there, despite having a significant headstart(even if you guys saw the color spray, you would likely not rush in blind, risking to be cornered by 3 goblins after running into the fog). GM decides it's more fun if we deliberate and act out on the tension, so let's roll with it. I thought I was the first to actually get a goblin, but it seems my innocence is to be protected. *shrug*

Ah, true. (Though yeah, he would have, in order to prevent it happening to Lia. He ain't all discipline.)[/b] So one down, two more to go. Die, goblin, die!!

Hey, she learns. She rushed in once. Now she was all sneaky...so you would not need to worry!(Yeah, I know she was missing in action and you'd still worry...but to her it was obviously something completely different she did this time around)

I thought I was the first to actually get a goblin, but it seems my innocence is to be protected. *shrug*

Let's not tarnish your purity yet at least not without some RP :-)

As long as the someone behind the barrel isn't a goblin, she says to them Are you alright back there?

A moment later the mist dissipates. Rojava turns to look and sees three goblins on the ground and Lia nearby. Started, she exclaims Lia! What are you doing all the way up here?

She then turns back to the barrel. Looks like it's all clear now. You can come on out.

Did a goblin survive so we could question it? If they each move to take one out, Matrim will try to stave one of their hands.

Did a goblin survive so we could question it? If they each move to take one out, Matrim will try to stave one of their hands.

IIRC we already have one captive from the last fight.

As Karina approaches the fog, it vanishes. Seeing Windsight finish one and Lia about to do the same to another, she calls out. "They should live to be tried. This behavior is out of the ordinary for goblins. Someone, or something, put them up to it and I want to know who and why. We need prisoners to put to the question."

Given the timing, I don't think Karina could make it there to physically stop Lia in time. In heavy armor she's just too slow."

There is one goblin prisoner from the previous combat who should be bound up securely enough that he won't get away. Plus he's guarded.

Matrim sees the one get finished off by Windsight, he also sees that Lia is about to do the same to the finale one. He moves up to her and says. "Stay your hand. Do you want to be a monster worse then them?"

Lia, having sat down behind the Goblin and struggling to get a good grip on it's head, looks up at Matrim and Karima, with tears welling up in her eyes.
"No, I don't want to be a monster. Thats why...this..."
Coup de grâce: 2d3 - 2 ⇒ (3, 3) - 2 = 4 damage...Rolled max....DC 14 Fortitude Save...Lia simply does not have the strenght to break the necks supporting these oversized heads unless she is lucky in guessing where to apply the little strenght she has
Sobbing, she continues:"They all die, no matter what. For their crimes, or their failure. They are forsaken. They came in unity, and now die alone. I want to show them kindness and let them pass over at the apex of their sad little lives, not have them wait for death in the shattered fragments that remain of their existance after now."
Regardless of her success, Lia would hold on to the Goblin, handling it like an oversized doll, dragging it up on her lap, while trying to screw the dolls head off with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Interestingly(or not), a Coup de grâce IS a mercy-killing by it's original meaning(or translation: Blow of Mercy)...so using it in this context is not even wrong ^_^

Rojava looks back in Lia's direction and sees her sitting on the ground with a goblin. She seems to be crying over it as Matrim stands beside her. Karina is walking their way.

What the... Ro walks over to them to find out what's going on.

Lia ends the life of the stunned Goblin and it breathes its last to the dismay of some and the support of others.

----------------

The man cowering behind the barrel stands up, "I am Aldern Foxglove. You and your friends have saved my life!" He looks down to the ground where his dog's limp body lay in the grass. "My poor boy". He picks up the dog's lifeless body, "I a staying at the Rusty Dragon Inn, please come by when you have a moment so that I may repay you properly".

He heads back into town.

In the distance you hear the fading sounds of Goblins running screaming and the sounds of pursuit from the towns guardians.

I will let you all RP heading back to Kira and your Goblin prisoner.

Ro's gives Lia a wide-eyed look when she finds out what's up, but she doesn't say anything. This is all a little too weird, and what's the point now anyway?

Instead she digs into her backpack and pulls out a bottle of applejack. She uncorks it and takes a swig. Then she offers the bottle around to anyone who wants some.

"Looks like it's over. What a very strange day. I wish Francesca had stayed for the festival. She would have been handy, and she's just not going to believe me when I tell her about this."

Getting the bottle back for one more good swig she says "Alright, I have to go see a girl about a goblin. Keep the bottle."

And, actually, there were two still alive that were stunned; I coup'd #1, Lia was doing the same to #2.

Windsight moves around Lia and the goblin she's killed, to put his heel on the windpipe of the third and (should nobody stop him) finish it as well. Looking at Karina for a long moment, he then shifts his gaze to Matrim. "The survival of your enemy is the death of your kin."

Gwyd follows Rojava over to where Lia is sitting on the ground and takes the offered bottle and drinks down a small swig.

Thanks Ro. It seemed like the unpleasantness was starting again. Shaking his head and handing the bottle back to Ro before turning to the rest of the group.

I don't like needless killing. But I think, in this case, Lia may have the painful right of it. I can't imagine the people here would let them live too long after taking them into custody.

Kira! She's still there with the other goblin! Gwyd thinks suddenly when Ro heads away. I'm going with Ro, no sense in us splitting up right now. Hopefully we can find something out about where these evil little things came from.

Karina sighs as she steps up to the others. She gently sets a hand on Lia's shoulder. "Lia dear, I think you may have a clearer vision of the truth of this matter. We already have one captive. Perhaps we don't need more. It is better that we do this with remorse and respect than that others do it with vengeance."

She leaves Lia and approaches another of the fallen goblins. "May you find peace in the afterlife. We forgive you for your actions today, if you can forgive us for ours." And she slashes her scimitar at its throat.

Coup-de-grâce: 2d6 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (3, 6) + 4 + 2 = 15 DC 25, or 23 Fort Save. 2 points of fire damage from Flame of the Dawnflower. Not sure if it should apply to a Coup-de-grâce.

Rojava walks away from the others at a brisk pace. After the goblin murders she would like to put some distance between herself and them for a little while. As she walks she starts humming and then adds in some words as they come to her.

"Tell me what, tell me what, tell me what you want.
I don't know why, don't know why, don't know why you raid.
Tell me what, tell me what, tell me what you say.
I don't know why, don't know why, too late, it's too late."

When she hears someone coming up rapidly behind her, Ro tenses up. She didn't really want any company right then. But when she looks back and sees it's Gwyd catching up to her, she relaxes and slows down for him. Gwyd is always good to have around.

"Hey Gwyd, you coming with?" After walking in silence for a minute Rojava says without looking at him "What happened back there isn't sitting well with me. I know goblins are vicious and they had their reasons, but I think they're taking things too far."

"Windsight's saying is easy to remember and straight forward I'll give it that. But it's vicious and there are no limits. If killing an enemy is the only solution, but killing an enemy makes you another enemy, when does it end? How big a massacre is too big to make sure no enemies survive? Is any mercy too much mercy to protect your family? And who counts as family anyway? Kin? The town? Humans?"

"In a way though Lia worries me even more. She's really certain she was doing them a favor. But her sureness is sitting on top of a big pile of probablies and maybes. Is it not possible to change a goblin? Maybe. Would Hemlock have them killed if he had them? Maybe. Would the people in town want them dead? Probably. I guess Lia does see things the rest of us don't, but she can't be certain. We all know that prophecies haven't worked in over a hundred years. That's basic history. Lia ought to know that, but I think sometimes she's inside her own head too much to see the simple things. Yeah, the goblins were probably dead anyway, but now they have no choices to change or not, Hemlock doesn't choose what to do, the people in town can't have an opinion. It's very tidy to clean all those hard, messy problems up for everyone, but it's chilling.

"I think if the goblins had been asked 'Would you rather have a quick, clean death right now, or know you will almost certainly die very soon?' they would choose later. And I don't see how doing something to someone who doesn't want it is any kind of favor at all. When I hear 'Trust me, I know what's best for you.' it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up."

I'm not saying they were wrong. But I think we've come very close to territory we don't want to wander into.

Rojava sighs. "Anyway, thanks for listening Gwyd. I suppose I should have said something back there, but I've had all the fighting of any type I can stomach today. It's on me that I didn't.

Ro reaches over for Gwyd's hand and holds it while they walk.

Marcelano dusts himself off and clears his throat.

"Let's head back to Kira and our prisoner".

-------------------

As you all gather in front of the Cathedral Kira is still there with the Goblin around her are the townsfolk who were injured but treated by you all assisting Kira in making sure that Goblin is not going anywhere. They hold make shift weapons and the relief on their faces is clear when your group returns.

They as one thank you for saving their lives and head back home to check on their own families or rest from shaken nerves. One of them you know, Risa Magravi, "Not sure where Father Zantus got off to but if I see him I 'll send him back this way and the Sheriff too!"

The Goblin is conscious and humming a tune as you all approach him menacingly.

"You let Mibop go now, fight over!"

1-minute ninja by GM...asked him to move post down so this makes more sense...if not, assume it happens before above post
Still sitting cradling the dead Goblin, Lia also thinks of Kira...but when Ro quickly mentions her and rushes off, she feels that she should not accompany her.
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (11) + 10 = 21
Letting go of the Goblin, she slides slightly back, to stand up again, looking at the others still there in turn:"I am sorry, Karina and Windy. I resolved myself to help all of them but I depended on you to help me. And I am sorry, Matrim, if you don't understand. It is one of these things again, right? Where I saw a clear path for the future involving them but nobody else did? It was all clear like a dream, really-"
Lia, still standing, picks up the Goblin at it's head, then drags it over to the side of the street, moving them out of the way.(She'd proceed with Gobbo 2 and 3 the same way unless helped)

I'm assuming Ro and Gwyd arrive a little bit before the others.

"Thanks Kira, I'll deal with him now" says Rojava as she takes her dagger back and slides it into her boot.

"Hi Risa! I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been? Thanks, it would really help to have the sheriff or at least a guard come."

Ro sits down with the goblin. Mibop you said? Hello Mibop. That's a catchy tune you were humming. Did you make it up yourself? I'm afraid it's not going to work that way. I'm not letting you go. Do you see all these very unhappy people here? The only the that's keeping you alive right no is that you're tied up. Besides you're too much of a menace to let go anyway

What we're going to do is stay right here until someone comes to help me take you to the jail. I'd just go ahead and take you myself, but if I untied your legs to walk you there you'd just try to run away. If I tried to carry you I'm sure you'd bite me. So we'll wait.

Besides, there's something I just have to ask you. Why would you do something really stupid like try to raid a whole town? Did you really think this was going to work out for you? I should tell you that you're the only one left. All the others are dead. I'm the person who captured you actually. I'm very fierce, but I can also be merciful. So, why did you do it?"

Here's a roll if needed. Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8 Haha, derp!

Since the goblins are already pretty much out of the way, well ... Windsight (NOT 'Windy', really!! How many times have I told you ... ) will help Lia move the goblins over against the house, but away from the rain-barrel. In his case, he rolls it - kind of a half-kick, really - with his feet, two arrows still in his hands. On his way back, he checks the nasty-looking goblin dog and its rider for signs of life, giving them the coup as well (though this time with an arrow almost point-blank to the head). Walking back, his eyes remain restless, searching for other rampaging goblins - or targets, which at this moment is the same thing.

Once back by the goblin captive, he mounts the stage corner where he'd been standing when he'd heard the commotion with the dog, his eyes moving, resting, then moving again, on a search for problems in need of solutions. One ear remains cocked for renewed screams, while the other listens to the 'interrogation' of the captive.

Gwyd watches on as Ro tries talking to the bound goblin. Nervously, he quickly speaks an incantation and looks over the goblin and the surrounding area, searching for any magical auras that seem out of the ordinary.

Casting Detect Magic. My assumption is that Gwyd would have been taught how to do this in this area, so he'd be familiar with areas that already have any magical auras. If he notices any, he'll focus on that to get as much information as possible before telling the others what he finds.

Matrim will stand over the dead goblin bodies, and shake his head. Muttering to himself, senseless death. He is ready to move and defend the city again, but doesn't want to.

"Yes," Windsight agrees with Matrim. "They should have known death awaited them here."

Karina assists Lia and Windsight in moving the goblin bodies out of the way. She puts an arm around Lia and guides her away from the carnage. "It's ok, it had to be done. Now Gorvi and his boys will see to them. Let's go see how Kira's doing, and see if we can find Father Zantus."

Lia smiles at Karina:"Thank you...and yes...lets go and make sure Kira is fine!"
She can handle a bound goblin, easily. Kira can fight for herself. She can do lots of things. Certainly she's fine. Also, it is her turn to fetch sweets...last time it was her turn she brought wine, too, which is probably why she got in trouble with Zantus - she stole it from his personal reserve didn't she? it was good wine but I still had a headache next morning. Not used to it. Kira didn't even get tipsy did she?...
With her thoughts trailing off towards happier topics when she realises that the inmediate danger is gone and all that needed to be done was, Lia allows Karina to guide her back to the others, daydreaming.

Mibop's Interrogation

Mibop seems confused by Ro's line of questioning. "You longshanks telled me to come here burn down village kill people!"

Gwydd, no magic detected on the Goblin.

Frowning, Rojava returns Mibop's confusion with her own.

Why would anyone here tell you to come burn down the town and kill people? Who told you to do this?

Mibop's Interrogation

Longshanks says so! Goblins telled to burn Goblins burn, Goblins loves fires.

Longshanks say it a dis... distr... something, I no remember the word".

"So if a Goblin tells us to go kill Goblins, we should do that? Burn your whole tribe because you love fire? Does it work that way?", Lia ponders, utterly distracted from whats the real question here.

"Which longshanks told you to do so?", Flutter is a bit more focused...

Mibop's Interrogation

"You want Mibop go kill Goblins and burn longshanks?" he asks Lia.

He considers the offer for a moment, then grins, "You untie me I go burn Goblins! Great fun!!!"

Flutter's question throws him off balance, "Longshanks, all longshanks same. Long legs, longer than Goblin legs!"

Ro shakes her head, trying to make some sense of what the goblin is saying.

"Okay, all longshanks are the same, but not all in the same place. Was the longshanks who told you to come burn and kill at this place or at a different place?"

Mibop's Interrogation

"Another place! Why would Longshanks burn own house? I go now and burn some Goblins? Good fun!"

Oh, okay. Where IS the Longshanks who told you to burn and kill here from?

If you don't want your own house to burn, where will you go to burn goblins?

Dotting

"Must have been a remarkable longshanks if he made it into this goblin tribes midst, incited them into action against the village, and got away unscathed. Maybe we should not look at who could have been with the goblins then, and rather thing about who should have been here today? If it was a distraction, they likely where busy doing something else...so - were any people from Sandpoint who could be powerful or influential enough to set this in motion missing at the festival?", Lia turns to the others, away from Mibop.

Flutter KN Local: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

Mibop's Interrogation

Oh, okay. Where IS the Longshanks who told you to burn and kill here from?

If you don't want your own house to burn, where will you go to burn goblins?

"Mibop not know name of Longshanks. Longshanks was at graveyard for attack, maybe dig up graves to fill with bodies?"

He shakes his head, "No, Mibop home secret, can't tell Longshanks".

"Must have been a remarkable longshanks if he made it into this goblin tribes midst, incited them into action against the village, and got away unscathed. Maybe we should not look at who could have been with the goblins then, and rather thing about who should have been here today? If it was a distraction, they likely where busy doing something else...so - were any people from Sandpoint who could be powerful or influential enough to set this in motion missing at the festival?", Lia turns to the others, away from Mibop.[dice=Flutter KN Local]1d20-1

Neither Lia nor Flutter are able to think of who could have plotted with the Goblins, at least no one local at any rate.

A you turn away, you see an unfamiliar face, a dwarven male, approaching the group from the south.

Drasven Hammers

CHAOS! No sooner do you arrive in the town surprised that a festival is taking place when suddenly Goblins pour into the town from seemingly nowhere.

Certainly you have crossed axes with their dangerous kind before but not in so many numbers!

Your focal point, is in arriving at the Cathedral, painstakingly you make your way there, assisting many citizens on the way. Then as soon as it started it ends. The defenders of the town seem to have turned the tide rather quickly as the remnants of the little beasts are chased away.

You head towards the Cathedral as it was your initial destination, as you arrive you see a group of battered combatants, all young folk, surrounding and interrogating a Goblin prisoner.

Seeing the armed dwarf approaching from his stage-corner lookout post, Windsight gives a sharp little whistle to gain the other's attention. He gestures with his head towards the longaxe-equipped dwarf, then eyes the goblin, considering just killing the thing; the idiot isn't going to be of much more use, if any, and one exterminates vermin ... but the others, not to mention the law-abiding (and law-enforcing) Shoanti of the town, might not see it the same way.

With smooth strides, though, he crosses the stage towards the goblin and says as he goes past, "Matrim, Gwyddym - with me. Weapons ready." You know, in case the three of them run into someone doing something they really, really shouldn't be. He heads towards the contemplation path that curves close around the south end of the Cathedral, heading for the graveyard on its east side.

Gwyddym is a pacifist...You'd really prefer having him with weapons drawn trying to be intimidating over Karina with weapons drawn ready to attack in case of Trouble? ;)

Lia, while her idea may be good, fails in learning anything from it stumbling over her minds way of assigning people importance and power...
"Hm, Ameiko was here, selling Food...Talene picked us up and was nearby...Kira was here, too...Father Creed was in the crowd...we shopped at the sweet stands earlier so that Vendor is not it, either...", she continues thinking hard about People that have some inmediate Connection or relation to her, obviously failing to pinpoint a specific culprit.

Flutter, hovering near Lia, watching her think, suddenly seems nervous: "Has anybody seen Father Zantus? Can we rule out something happening to him? I doubt it was an attack on him since they could not have predicted his reaction, but regardless, he's been gone since the attack started!"

Weapons drawn? What weapons? Gwyd thinks to himself as he falls in behind Windsight.

Ro, I'm with Windsight. Good work getting some information out of the goblin. He says, a smile spreading over his face.

Windsight, I've got no weapons to speak of and don't really feel comfortable with them. I will go to try finding out what we can without needless killing, however.