"I wonder what they thought to accomplish by hiding out in this house?" Lucrezia keeps her rapier and shield out in case they are attacked again.
"Maybe they were waiting for someone?" Lucius suggests.
"I guess either that or maybe they are starting to move in troops for an assault on the barricade."
"I really hope that you're wrong on that one. The town can't handle an assault from an army, even a goblin one."
Shaking her head, Lucrezia replies; "No, though we do have a bunch of scrolls and papers we raided from a library we found in one of their tunnels. However none of us can read goblin."
Marc packs up what they've found and looks around. If I had to guess, these are scouts of some sort. But we'll learn more if we can find the rest of these goblins, or their leader. Let's drop these things off inside the barricade and move on.
"I know the goblinoids love to raid weaker foes than themselves but this village seems to be a bit low even for their standards. Eh, either way they just need to be put down, like any other infestation." Hafdan sheathes his swords and looks around the rest of the building with the group.
"Agreed. We still have a lot of work to do."
While the group is stashing the loot back in the barricade, Lucrezia shows Zephyr all the scrolls and papers and hands her the book with the abjuration aura on it. "You'll be better at figuring this book out than I. It has a magical aura about it and I haven't yet figured out the purpose of the aura and I wasn't going to open up the book until I did. I didn't want to risk triggering anything bad."
On the walk back she will also comment to Lucius, "It looks like your sword skill is equal to you archery skill."
"Thank you. Anytime you want lesson in either, let me know." Lucius smiles at the compliment.
The spell placed on the book is Book Ward. As for the tracks, you all do notice that there was a fair bit of recent traffic through this part of the town. Those of you with Survival trained can give me survival checks to gain more information.
From the small number of troops and the fact that they did not have any real supplies, it seems unlikely that these three were the start of an attack force. It is more likely that they were either sent to ambush or follow you as you reentered the forest or were sent to scout out the security of the barricade and any activity around it.
Lucius, you notice that it looks like the recent tracks, other than your group and the three humanoids in the house, are another two humanoids and something on four legs, probably a wolf or dog. It looks like those tracks circled around much of the outskirts of the town before heading back towards the forest.
Zephyr, when you open the book, you notice two things at first. One, that it is also written in goblin and two, that the words are much more densely packed than the scrolls due to being written with much finer script. As you start on the scrolls with comprehend languages, it becomes clear that they are a journal of sorts. The writer is never identified, but it seems to be a hobgoblin who resides in the area. From the journals you notice that they were studying under another hobgoblin cleric (who by inference is the one that wrote the book). It is clear that these scrolls are not the entirety of the journal and seem to represent early work of the writer attempt to learn the skill and abilities of the cleric who is clearly deceased. In particular it references the undead and the creation thereof and seems to imply that the local plague is at least in part related to what the now deceased cleric did.
"There were two more here, with a worg probably. They were scouting the perimeter before they went back to the forest."
Raven frowns.
"Curiouser and curiouser. Well then, I think we need more answers, and those are likely to be found back in the forest... Shall we?"
"Do we wish to head to the next marker now or attempt to follow the tracks that Lucius found?'
"If they have indeed headed back into the forest, they have a significant head-start on us; we have no idea how far they traveled before deciding to rest. I would prefer to go to the marker, as we at least know roughly where that is... However, I am open to being convinced otherwise."
"I don't know. While I don't like the idea of letting them get their information back to their forces, I don't know if we can do anything about it."
Lucius - It seems like the tracks were made in the last 24 hours, but it is difficult to tell more than that.
As you all continue into the forest, it is clear that the mapping is going worse than previously once you have gotten back to the place you were the day before. Still, you think that you are heading in the direction of the marker as the forest starts to grow thicker.
Raven and Marc notice that there is clearly movement amongst the trees. You aren't able to tell what exactly is up there and it seems to be at a distance of roughly one hundred yards or more, but something is definitely moving. As you continue a bit more, you both notice a tripwire pulled taught amongst the underbrush but are able to stop the group before anyone crosses it.
MArc speaks over his shoulder, We've got some company in the trees up ahead. About a hundred yards or so. As Raven points out the tripwire he nods to Halfdan. When we get down to disable this they might spring their trap. Do your thing, drop into the woods, and let's turn this back on them if they do.
Marc dismounts and lifts his shield as casually as a man in a goblin infested woods can. He walks forward with Halfdan to cover the man while he disables the trap.
"I bet they think they're safe standing that far away." Lucius says as he dismounts his horse and draws his bow.
but are able to stop the group before anyone crosses it.
Disable Device:
Lucrezia will also dismount and draw her bow.
Hafdan is able to carefully cut the tripwire without triggering any effect. The movement in the trees doesn't seem to change its pattern and no one seems to close to attack. Assuming that you move forward, albeit slowly, it becomes obvious that this territory is even more heavily marked than before. Instead of the trophies of beasts, there are simply far more signs of flags and tribal markings with pikes and spears stuck into the ground. It even seems as though there are parts of defensive barricades and the like that look as if designed to repel much larger forces. Fortunately for the group, they do not appear to be manned at the moment and the movement in the trees continues to move back as you all move forward.
Raven continues to carefully move forward, his greatsword drawn...
"Perhaps this is some sort of relict from the War...?"
Lucrezia also continues to move forward, bow still in hand. "I'm not sure what these barricades were meant to stop or it they are still used at all."
We can certainly try.
The movement in the trees seems to stop and the forest grows quieter as you continue. It is rather obvious, once you pass the first set of barricades, that they have not seen regular use in some time. The backs of them are overgrown, though they still seem to be relatively solid and could be manned should there be soldiers to man them. From the ledges and stands behind them, it seems likely that they were made to be used by both goblins and hobgoblins as necessary, with the goblins standing on the ledges to see over the tops of the structures. As you continue there becomes an obvious path forward, seeming to lead towards the marker, that has been cut out of the dense forest and is obviously where any foot travelers through this area have passed.
Lucrezia walks alongside Lucius, still with her bow out. "It is getting rather creepy out here. I think I preferred knowing that someone was following us to all of this unnatural silence. Forests just shouldn't be this quiet."
Marc proceeds cautiously, keeping an eye out for more movement.
Hafdan draws his swords and eases forward slowly, eyes scanning the area for further traps.
.
"I actually think this is kind of romantic. A nice quiet stroll through the forest." Lucius says as he looks towards her and gives a smile while keeping his bow out, oblivious to anything else, per the status quo.