Waiting for everyone to check in.
Ark and Jer you guys set?
I am all set, although will be a little slow due to holidays.
Let me know what you plan to do with the loot or anything else.
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Arkus follows the rest as they explore the remaining rooms, picking up items as instructed. He was growing bored but for the entertainment of the zombies they found. He found that the Ranseur they have found despite it being of some historial value, had kept its edge very well. It performed admirably against the trapped zombies.
The man the found, this Hallard.
"A Hero indeed. Unfortunate for him then he found out what a hero really is destined for." speaking to no one else but himself.
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Zol sells the majority of the loot that evening including the +1 longsword to the smithy and Evvil book to Father Zantus hoping he will safeguard it in the church's vaults. He unwinds by himself in his room sampling the new found bottle of wine and ponders its qualities while writing every recent detail down in his journal. He drifts asleep face down at the desk holding a goblet in one hand and quill in the other.
Zolarus wakes up in bed from a feverish dream and finds the bottle empty. His bedclothes are soaked with sweat and his bed sheet is covered in ink bloats.
"I'll never sleep with a quill again. I wish I could have unseen the terrors witnessed yesterday."
He balls up the bed sheet for the maid and discovers the ink blots are actually forming coherent sentences.
Mutated goblins come for us
They flay flesh and dice our guts
The queen of monsters whispers to their souls
To butcher innocent lives untold
Zol drops it and spreads them on the ground. He reopens his journal recording every word until the inkwell runs dry.
"I better tell someone, but who?"
A question he considers during a hot bath and followed by a cold ale during his morning prayers to Cayden Cailean that refreshes his senses. Once his companions join him for breakfast, he breaks the news.
"Friends, I found something interesting when I awoke."
Zol unfolds the bed sheet and shows them his own handwriting...
You all enjoy a goodnight's sleep at the inn. It was a well deserved rest and you have become even more popular by the heroics clearing out the dungeon under the glassworks.
Before resting you have talked with the sheriff and told him your entire encounter as well as the fate of Hallard. He was very upset to here of Hallard's fate, he held back tears as he told you to meet him the next morning.
After a good breakfast you meet again with the sheriff. He looks like he has not slept and has hit the bottle all night (he looks like crap).
Tsuto talked. There is something going on at Thistle Top, bunch of goblins. That is all I could get out of him. Would you be so kind to check it out for us? I know we asked so much of you; but losing Hallard the town is very exposed and I could not send any other men.
He points across the desk toward a chest on the floor near you. The town has been taking a collection to reward you. It is not much but it is honest folk's hard earned coin.
Thank you. You lot have been a true blessing. I also apologize about your painted pony master gnome.
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The sheriff has been up all night grieving Hallard, and seems tired from acquiring the info from the captive. He has a good reputation about how he keeps prisoners and is quick to call a judge for severe cases. You do suspect he may of slapped Tsuto around a little; but more suspect he would use a switch to force the info from him without endangering Tsuto. (Switch, the thing that your daddy hits you around with when you've been a prick. Sometimes a belt, or a thin stick with bend like a Cane in Singapore.) While that may be an uncomfortable thought of the sheriff smacking the prisoner about with his belt, the alternative could of been much worse. If someone else tried to get the info out they may of used harsh torture with lethal damage. In a weird way the sheriff may of protected Tsuto from other interigations by beating him.
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Jerrick agrees to go to Thistletop to maybe set more goblins on fire.
Please let me know when you are set to go to Thistle Top. It is a 2 hour walk, 6 miles.
-Posted with Wayfinder
How would you like to approach?
The directions you were given were very vanilla.
"Go up the road a bit. There will be some woods on your left. There will be a mile marker, #6. Go into the woods until you see the coast. Look for a huge rock in the water opposite a coastal cliff wall. That huge rock is Thistle Top."
Would you like to follow the basic directions or do something else?
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Having known where the money is from, Arkus looks at the sheriff. A Glare at the sheriff from him reveals his anger.
"You look bad. You Smell Bad. I know you're sad that a man lost his life but look at yourself. You do him Disrepect and Dishonor him. I'll go to thistletop and destroy the goblins. You go clean yourself up. A fly could take over this town if you're still like this."
Crossing his arms, the orc having said his piece leans back and continues his glare.
@Ark, The Sheriff seems well aware of his status, he may be emotional but he pulled the all nighter to get the info about Thistletop from Tsuto. He looks like his is going to pass out on the cot in the back as soon as you leave.
It is still very early in the morning when you depart from Sandpoint on the Lost Coast Road that leads East to Thistletop. Some of the early risers of the town wave or tip their hats to you while you walk by. The baker notices you pass from her window and runs out to greet you with a pile of warm rolls piled high in her plump forearms; she complains that the lot of you are too skinny before letting you continue.
As you exit the town you can look back and see the sun bathing the harbor and rooftops of Sandpoint and it is really a beautiful sight. The dew on some of the open meadows glistens at you like tiny diamonds. Today the weather looks to be wonderful, not a cloud in the sky and with a cool breeze coming off the coast it will not be too hot.
The Lost Coast Road is not traveled often and wildflowers, moss, and ferns seem to be reclaiming it more and more each year. There are many hummingbirds and bees attacking the oversized blue and purple irises. A family of deer cross your path and jet into the forest; a twelve point buck bragging as the leader. You yield and let the oversized skunk have the right of way as it walks into a crop of various wild berries.
The six mile marker finds you without any issue as the previous five before it. The marker is a neatly stacked brick structure, four bricks around that is about waist height for a human. The center is full of dirt and like all the others before it someone has planted red asters to help it stand out from the natural greenery about it.
From the mile marker you follow the sheriff's directions and enter the woods to cut through to the coast. The woods are heavily tangled with Nettlewood making navigation very difficult. After several hours Ark is able to push through the tangled woods and safely bring everyone earshot of the ocean waves.
The briars and thistles that grow so rampantly in Nettlewood are even more dense and tangled here, close to the shore. Although not quite dense enough to block the sound of waves crashing on the unseen shores to the west, the undergrowth is certainly thick enough to block sight and access to the coast. Few trees grow this close to the edge of the sea, but the briars themselves often reach heights to rival them; here, the patch is nearly twenty feet high and quite damp.
Everyone except Zol is able to spot an odd weaving of briars. It is best described as a woven mat of thorns about four feet by four feet, it seems to hide an entrance into the briars.
What would you like to do?
The thorn mat can be moved aside carefully as a full round action that requires no check or threat of damage. It looks like it goes to a tunnel through the thorn wall.
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"Aye" the slightest of movement from Arkus as he steps back and readies his own weapon.
Prof Easily pulls back the thorny net to reveal a four-foot-high tunnel that winds through the dense briars and nettles. The floor is hard-packed earth, with patches of wiry plants growing stubbornly here and there.
Large creatures must crawl to navigate the thistle
tunnels. Bipedal Medium creatures can navigate them by
stooping over and hunkering down, effectively squeezing
to move, and thus taking a –4 penalty on attack rolls
and a –4 penalty to AC; such characters must spend 2
squares of movement for each square traveled. Small and
smaller creatures can move about normally, as can most
quadrupedal Medium creatures (including goblin dogs).
What would you like to do?
Jerrick whistles a little tune as he casually strolls into the tunnel.
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Utnapishtim will draw his Wand of Magic Missile and keep it at the ready as we move carefully through the thorns.
With his other hand, he will periodically mark the path that the party travels using Arcane Mark--to help avoid getting lost or going in circles.
Nice use of Arcane Mark
Map updated
Which way do you want to go
”I could leave the marks on the walls,“ Jerrick whispers to Prof, waggling a flask of alchemists fire.
Will try and update tomorrow (double then a turn around).
However those with knowledge nature may roll.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Arkus growls silently as the thorns attempt to tear him up but his tough skin repels them. They however itches as the burrs aren't easily removed.
Knowledge Nature DC 12. The thorns are very wet, lighting them on fire would cause much smoke and most likely alert everyone, also it would take a very long time to burn one 5x5 square.
By continuing to follow the left you come to another thorn door. After listening for sometime you open the door and find a little look out post that overlooks the coast. There is much goblin refuge but no goblins.
Continue going left?
Area C8 is another lookout area behind a thorn map, with a quick search has nothing of interest.
Area C4
This thirty-foot-diameter, low-ceilinged chamber
stinks of smoke. A shallow fire pit smolders in the
center of the floor, while nine tangled reed-and leaf
nests line the walls.
There are ten goblins in this low hanging ceiling that have not noticed the group yet. The party has a surprise round then into initiative, it would be fair to say they will most likely notice you next turn.
The goblins appear to be bored but still on guard even though you are catching them off guard.
Prof
Jer
Goblins
Zol
Ark
Prof and Jer may post two actions, the surprise round and for round two.
Small and smaller creatures can move about normally, as can most
quadrupedal Medium creatures (including goblin dogs).
The larger chambers within all have higher ceilings,
wherein these penalties do not apply to Medium creatures.
@ Jer, you would know that your splash damage from your bombs would ignite the ceiling causing the smoke signal so throw carefully if you must.