Tracking in the briar tunnels is near impossible, there are just too many goblin and goblin dog tracks going in all directions. It is obvious this leads to a lair or holdout of some kind. Belril steps into the tunnel and sees three directions to choose from. Left ahead, right ahead, or right. The tunnel to the far left ends in a wall of briars.
MAP (please ignore the dotted white line)
"Could whoever-it-is have carried Ameiko through such a small tunnel?" Sophy wonders as she watches the others stoop to enter. She tries to picture a man strong enough to carry Ameiko such a long way through the forest crouching down with his struggling burden ... unless she wasn't struggling any more? Caught in a new bout of worry, she sees Belril pausing at the intersection ahead and tries studiously not to think about which way to go. Every time she's had a hunch so far, it's led to dire danger and not to Ameiko. Struck by a sudden thought, she slips her hand into her pocket to touch the edge of her folded paper. "I feel like we should go left," she calls ahead softly. "Which probably means we should take one of the other paths."
Belril leads you to the right and in a short distance the tunnel turns tightly to the north. You enter a large space that two other tunnels open into,its a large cave-like chamber. Above, the thorny canopy grows thin enough that tiny slivers of the sky above can be seen, while below, the ground consists of trampled dirt. To the west, the distant sound of sloshing waves echoes up from a hole. The ceiling, such as it is, is high enough in this thicket cavern to allow the humans to stand.
Sophy brushes her fingers against the paper in her pocket. Left, she thinks. "Right," she says.
"Alright. Space. You cannot beat standing room, no sir." As Sophy mentions another direction, "Man I hope there is standing room there as well. All this crouching is not so good on my back. It is still a bit sore." He mentions as he stretches his back.
"I'm sure we'll find standing room eventually," Kern assures Victor. "If not, we'll just have to rely on Belril's expertise, which I'm sure is more than adequate."
He follows along, helping out where he can.
The ground here is kept dry from the thickets and has been trod upon by many goblins that the hard earth no longer holds any tracks. The only thing unusual is the large hole that emits sounds of crashing waves from below.
"You ... you don't think they dropped her down there, do you?" Sophy asks timidly, nodding at the hole which reminds her uncomfortably of the zombies in the holes under Sandpoint. Perhaps they hadn't been dead yet when they were thrown in....
I don't think they would have gone through all the trouble to bring her out here just to drop her in that hole. Still... Kern, do you have that rope still? We can lower my light amulet down to make sure there is nothing important down there.
Eponine smiles at Belril's suggestion and casts Light on the bullet, then leans over the hole to follow its descent.
Intrigued, Wren peers into the hole was well, wondering how deep it stretched, trying to keep her mind off her aching back.
The bullet falls down a shaft and splashes into dark water and begins to sink slowly. The glow fades as it sinks but you can tell that it fell into a water filled sea cave about sixty five to seventy five feet below.
In the glow of the sinking bullet you think you see a dark shape swing past, probably a large seal.
Perception
Perception
Gah! Eponine exclaims as she casts the light spell too close to her eyes. As the bullet drops, she sees nothing but the residual spots from the close glare of the enchantment.
"Well? Were any of you able to see anything?" He asks as he moves to look down the hole after they step away, seeing nothing but darkness.
"There's a hole down there Victor. There's water at the bottom. Don't know what else there is to see down there."
Victor shrugs as he turns away, his back to the deep dark hole, and returns to following the others to the right.
Belril leads you out the exit to the right, once again forcing the taller folk to hunch over in the cramped briar tunnel. You go a short distance and the passage splits, to the right is a T-intersection but to the left you see the tunnel opening up. The floor and walls of this musty-smelling chamber are covered with matted, wiry fur. Well-gnawed bones lie scattered about the floor, and a dozen wooden stakes have been driven into the ground near the walls. Attached to four of the stakes, by frayed ropes, are four goblin dogs that immediately leap up pulling at their short tethers, growling and barking loudly.
Initiative
Reacting quickly, Wren fires off a Magic Missle from the tip of her wand, rocketing towards the same creature that Belril attacked with his bullets.
Damage
Victor moves in a few steps while drawing his bow, and takes a shot at one of the mangy dogs.
As usual, Sophy is one of the first to react but has nothing useful to contribute to the fight. As Victor shoves past her to fire his bow, she quickly withdraws to get out of the others' way, fumbling a bolt into her glowing crossbow in case it is needed.
Hunched over, and grumbling at the lack of space, Kern pushes forward, pulling out his flail.
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. Although the ceilings and walls of these tunnels consist of tangled, thorny vines, a character that brushes against them need not worry about damage. A character pushed into a wall must make a DC 15 Reflex save to avoid taking a point of damage (characters in heavy armor automatically make this save).
Initiative
Eponine will step to AT35 and ready an action to strike any dog that may break free and move adjacent/past her.
To hit
Damage
Victor steps to the front and tries to take a shot at one of the goblin dogs, but the thicket canopy makes using the long bow difficult. Sophy retreats back from the dogs by moving forward into undiscovered territory. The light from her crossbow reveals a passage to the north and a passage to the south. To the south a musky scented lair covered with tufts of red and black hair contains a firepelt similar to the one the goblins had in the Glassworks. It growls and eyes her hungrily. Belril fires of two bullets at the leading dog, one of which strikes it in the head. Kern advances and pulls out his flail, the tethered dog snapping at him as he gets close. The firepelt leaps forward at Sophy gnashing at her with its big pointy teeth, chomping down hard on her arm and refusing to let go. Wren blasts her magic at the lead dog, it yelps in pain and falls over dead. The other three goblin dogs tug an pull at their ropes easily snapping the old frayed tethers freeing themselves from their stakes. Eponine holds her ground, since Victor already moved into the vantage point she was thinking about.
Hearing a growl from behind him, Victor turns and notices another one of those cats from the glassworks aiming for Sophy. "NO!" He yells, realizing he can do nothing to help Sophy. "Belril, please help Sophy!" He says as he turns back around and fires.
Sophy's eyes go wide as the radius of light she is carrying reveals the glowing eyes of the firepelt. Instinctively, her hand, about to grab a bolt, dives for her dagger and holds it in front of her as she releases her crossbow. The haunting spirits that surround her seize the weapon before it hits the ground and toss it spitefully into the thorns to the north, where it hangs on the briars, still helpfully illuminating the area. She has no leisure to pay attention to where it ends up, however, as she is quickly hit with a lapful of biting, clawing wildcat.
Screaming in fright and pain, Sophy tries to protect her face from the animal's sharp claws and teeth without getting her hair and clothing caught in the briars overhead. Remembering how the firepelt in the Glassworks had savaged Eponine, she desperately tries to pull away from its dangerous embrace.
Victor compensates for the briars and lowers his arms as he lets another arrow fly, this one striking true. The goblin dog yelps in pain as blood starts to pour from the puncture wound. Sophy twists and turns as she screams in fear, but she is unable to pull free of the cats mighty jaws.
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You don't give me orders numbskull! Belril screeches at Victor, before appraising the situation with an expert eye. Coming to a (his own, carefully weighed up) decision he spins, swiftly reloading and sending two sling bullets at the firepelt.
(-4 firing into melee included, the creature's AC should be 2 lower from grapple's -4 dexterity)
(-4 firing into melee included, the creature's AC should be 2 lower from grapple's -4 dexterity)
Belril appears to do exactly what Victor commands and spins firing twice at the great cat. The first bullet skims past, just missing the creatures haunches. The second smacks firmly into the cats side leaving a bloody mark.
As the goblin dog in front of him falls from Wren's magic, Kern moves towards the next one and attacks it.
Wren laughs at Belril's outburst. [i]I like the little one![/]. She can't well let Sophy get burned alive no matter how annoying she was, so the Mage fires another magic missle from her wand, this one st the fire pelt wrestling the annoying girl.
Damage
Kern moves and bashes the goblin dog dead with his flail, blood and brains splattering across the dried earth. The large cat keeps a tight grip on Sophy's arm dragging her back towards it's lair. As the firepelt disappears around the hedge wall Wren loses sight of it forcing her to move east to keep Sophy and her attacker in sight. Pointing her wand she unleashes a bolt of magic that lights up the thicket cavern and blasts the cat. A smell of singed fur fills the air. The goblin dog on the left fixes it's beady eyes on Victory and charges across the cavern towards the warrior. Kern is ready for it, and swats this flail down heard upon the goblin dog's back, snapping it's spine before it can get close to the archer. It falls and twitches for a moment and then dies. The last of the living goblin dogs leaps at Kern while his back is turned killing it's twin, but it's teeth only find the steel links of his armor.
Updated Map after Goblin Dogs Move; Mid round