The goblin, quickly gives up the the local information, yes this is an island, this group of goblins raids merchants that arrive on the shore. There is plenty game to be had by hunters. He quickly sketches a map of another cave 10 miles from this cave that has another goblin. That goblin and his two friends frightens him, he says that they might have a map or know more on how to get off from the island.
Loki silently considers the first piece of information, remaining purposefully silent and giving absolutely no feedback that he is even hearing the words, which is an extremely awkward proposition for social creatures that are trained to seek out the non-verbal cues from their listeners. Such a proposition is very successful in extracting more information.
There is always the voice wondering if he can trust the words of course, for he was raised among a race of liars.
Sense Motive:
"Please complete the map so it shows all you know of the island. I would know where these merchants land."
Ideas, concepts, strategies and other assorted cerebral gymnastics run like quicksilver through the Teir'dal's agile mind, but a question remained.
"Your name please sir goblin. I would also like to know what brings merchants to an island in the first place."
Merchants meant that there was a way off this island.
"Why do these other three goblins not live in this cave? What makes you frightened of them?"
Zaruksis wakes sluggishly in the cold. A hunt sounds like just the thing to get his blood moving again. "Very well, Ker'Plugh. I would go after this game. Hopefully I can finish my sling and a club before this afternoon... just in case." Swords and daggers and bows are all very nice, but you can use all of your strength with a sling, and nothing bashes skeletons like a club (except for a bigger or harder smashy thing). Loki quizzes the goblin slave, but such inquisitions are too normal for the jaded iksar to pay it much mind.
Cakkarak looks up at the mention of going out hunting. He had listened with a degree of interest. The dark elf had gotten the goblin to spill his guts with a few words.
"I will aid my limited ability to hunting as well," the monk offers. "It will gives us a better idea of our surroundings as well. We've been a little focused on the cave and checking on the frozen boat." The monk glances out the entrance to the cave. "Besides, I should make a staff to add a bit of range to my attacks."
Looking over at Loki and his goblin, Cakkarak's right eyeridge arches.
"Are you three staying in?" the Iksar ask looking at Loki, his undead pet, and his goblin toy.
"Getting the lay of the land would be good after the storm clears... And I'd like to try out this bow," says Piter.
Loki: As far as you can tell the goblin isn't lying to you, it draws another map, on where the merchants like to go to shore, he tells you that his name is Sajeck. He doesn't know where the merchants go to trade, but it seems like there might be an outpost on the island, he isn't sure as Sajeck is only a pawn in game of life. Sajeck tells you that the goblin and his two friends don't play nice, and like to kill and eat the 'weaker' types of creatures.
Those of you that are leaving the cave, now that it is no longer storming are able to split up to go forging for supplies, or sticking within eye sight of each other. Those of you with wilderness lore make a DC 15 check, unless you are aiding the person with the highest skill.
The weather is warming up and for once you can see the sun, as some of you might curse it slightly, it is a welcome change from the last few days. Going north will take you to the shore, going east will take you away from your shelter for a change, which leads off into cliffs. South leads farther into the island, and West will take you into the forest where, game might be found and perhaps something else.
Loki orders his pet to guard the goblin.
"You will remain here while we determine the truth of your words. Should you try to escape my skeletal minion will rend your flesh and sup upon your blood. Stay still and we will talk again."
The necromancer stands and joins the others, relaying all that he had learned and showing the map.
"Okay. So we should be very wary of the dangerous goblin and his friends, though they might know how to get off of this island. West for now, to get some game and eat better?"
Loki consults his map to determine which direction the goblin's cave is from their current location.
"There may be benefit in doing an initial reconnaissance of the other goblins before we run into them accidentally."
Bundled up in his blooded longcoat, Cakkarak thinks over Loki's suggestion. It had a great deal of merit. Running into a group of goblins in the open might not go as well for them. The group had surprise the goblins in the cave. They had been lucky, the storm had covered their entrance. Out in the open, the Goblin would more then likely have advantage of knowledge of the terrain.
"That's not a bad idea, if just to get a better idea of nearby area. And Pieter is eager to try out his new bow," says the monk. "If we decide to scout out the area around the other cave, we should do that first."
"Sounds fine to me. I just want to get out and look around more than anything. Knowledge is advantage. Let's stick together, within sight of each other, at least until we think it's safe. Once we get they lay of the land near the cave, we can decide our next step."
Piter gets his new gear ready and looks out the cave. The storm has died down, so he steps out of the cave and looks around, turning full circle to see if there's anything to see.
Wilderness Lore:
He makes sure Loki has the key to the manacles, and then climbs a rock to look a bit farther while he waits for the rest to emerge. The sun pours through his shaggy but long blond hair, and even his beard looks brighter and cleaner out here. With his chain shirt, longsword and bow, he is beginning to look more like the knight he believes himself to be.
Kur'Plugh would much rather be anywhere then here, starts to follow the two Iskar while slinging his new large club, which in fact is a small tree over his shoulder. Smelling the breeze, he starts to give aid to the others for Wilderness lore, hoping to smash some more goblins' skulls he gives a grunt, giving a few pointers when needed.
An hour passes and the group is able to find some game to add to the rations for the day, an elk is found in the forest and the party stalks it close enough to be within 60 ft. Sneak rolls and an action in the next post, the weather is clearing up, and the party is down wind from the elk.
The necromancer uses as many of the discarded shackles as he has at hand to securely tie the goblin to the strongest part of the wagon he can find.
Wilderness Lore (Untrained):
Loki walks with the others and attempts to be of some service in foraging/hunting for sustenance (aid another).
Once he gets near he moves off towards the second goblin's cave instead.
Goblins were nocturnal creatures, so this was the time to gather information, or at least that is his thought behind wanting to pull in information now.
Hide:
Stealth:
While game animals were tasty they were not much of a threat, so they were given less of a priority than this potential threat.
Thinking that the sight of the elk was a boon to their rather meager supplies, Cakkarak gets Pieter's attention. He was the one with the bow after all. The monk didn't think that they were too close to the cave occupied by the three goblins that had a nasty reputation.
Getting the humans attention, Cakkarak points at the elk with his claws. He mimes out drawing back the bow and firing. Pointing at Zaruksis, the monk makes a walking motion with his clawed fingers. Hopefully the Shaowknight's aim with a sling was deadly. Cakkarak motions towards the elk and draws a slash across his throat.
The monk begins to stalk the elk as well. Fresh meat would be a great boon to the iksar. Cooked and dried meat was tolerable, but not prefered. The elk was here, right know.
Piter sees the motions of the monk and nods. He draws back the arrow in his bow, aiming at the heart of the elk, and waits for Cakkarak to get closer. If the beast bolts, the arrow will immediately fly (readied action).
He quickly glances to see what the others are doing.
Sneak:
(Plus modifiers for distance)
Holding his newly-cured sling of goblin flesh that is loaded with a found stone, Zaruksis tilts his head as he puzzles over Cakkarak's sign language. Zaru realizes that his fellow iksar is suggesting that he get closer and kill the walking food outright (if possible). The impossibly-strong shadow knight tromps forward and whips his improvised missile around before releasing it at the elk's brains; though utterly failing to be at all stealthy, the strike is unerringly accurate.
Seeing Zaruksis attack before Cakkarak can get really close, Piter releases his arrow. Unfortunately, it's not a great shot.
Attack with bow and arrow
He will try to get another shot before the elk runs away, if he can.
Kur'Plugh starts to chant, bringing the mana as quick as he can, he hits the elk with a spell, as a flash hits in right in the eyes hoping to blind the elk before it can get too far away as it starts to move it's legs to charge at the closest person. The elk hopes to gore Zarukis as that is the only one that it can see.
Flash of light fort save for elk
Elk Charge attack if not blinded (Zarukis)
Elk Charge attack damage with horns on (Zarukis)
The Elk tries to Gore Zarukis and misses in it's attempt, it is now in Melee range as a male Elk and large horns it looks like it will be a bit of challenge, it's 7. point horns will make a for a nice trophy over someone's mantle. The Elk shakes off Kur'Plugh's spell with a snort, and get's ready to lay into the Iksar this round.
Next round
The elk has apparently never fought an iksar before, since it completely misjudges Zaruksis's body language and charges slightly to his right while he slides to his left. Dropping the primitive sling and drawing his finely-crafted sword, the foreign reptile chops at the native mammal's neck.
Piter swears as his arrow flies wide of his target. He sees one of the Zaruksis evade its attack and then attack it again. Instead of closing, Piter tries another shot at the elk, but the arrow follows the first into the forest.
"It seems my archery skills need work, ha ha."
Attack with bow (includes -4 for shooting into melee)
Kur'Plugh curses, the moves forward with his great club in both hands, takes a swing with his new weapon hoping to end this battle with the animal. " Just a little bit of work will be needed with your archery skills Piter. " Kur'Plugh says to the human.
to hit elk
damage if hit
If Crit threat
crit confirm damage
The elk's neck breaks from the Kur'Plugh's blow, just as Zaruksis's sword cuts into the elk's throat killing it before it's next heartbeat.
Cakkarak had been moving closer to get into a better range when the Shadowknights begin their attack. Joined quickly by the ogre, the monk had about enough time to blink before the elk fell with a crack of bone. The sound of the elk's blood hissing from the wound in it's neck from the other Iksar's blade caresses his earslits.
"Well, that takes care of that," the monk says to no one in particular. "I'm glad it didn't have the chance to run on us. I believe we are close to the cave your pet mentioned, Loki. Is that correct?" Cakkarak asks the dark elf.
"If it is, after we dress the kill, which shouldn't take too long, we should go scout it out." the iksar monk looks over at the dark elf. "Much like you had sugguested eariler."
Getting the elk ready for dressing will not take long, one person or all you could remain behind to take care of this process. The cave the goblin slave sketched for Loki appears to be another three miles away, even with the sunlight that is remaining, the party could reach the new cave before nightfall. That is of course if the information you had recived is correct. The goblin slave could have withheld some information, or could have told you the only other cave that he knew about.
Zaruksis volunteers to dress the elk, slicing it up with his dagger with loving care. Perhaps a little too much enthusiasm. It's bloody work that the iksar finishes cheerfully, cutting the large mammal into manageable parts.
Loki: Your goblin slave was telling the truth about the location of the cave, how ever there is evidence that more then just a goblin lives in this new cave. The entrance to this cave is 10x 10, unlike the first cave, this one has no boulders to hide behind, a crude chimney has been cut into the roof of this cave. You can see smoke billowing out from the chimney, and the smell of meat being cooked expertly over a fire tickles your nostrils. Your stomach rumbles slightly, even though you had eaten a few hours to go.
Loki you notice that a set of larger then goblin tracks going into and out from the cave, sadly it is difficult to tell what type of creature made them (DC 17 monster lore). Also you notice a large number of drag marks in the snow, along with frozen blood. Make stealth checks each if you are trying approach without alerting the inhabitants of the cave, 1 per hour that you spend here. Make hide checks if you want an attempt at looking into the cave, the cave it self is 1000 ft away from frozen forest. While it is close to the shore, it appears as if all of the normal rocks and boulders have been cleared away, you also notice that behind the cave to the east a large outcrop of where the boulders were cleared away too.
The boulders are aligned into a circle, you notice that the snow and ice are completely devoid, the ground itself in between the boulders has a slightly hazy effect to it. What you can only think of is that this circle has magic tied to it, even from a distance you see bones of all shapes and sizes lining the circle it self.
From the time that you had spent, you think that there is at least two ways to approach the cave, unless you squeeze yourself into the chimney, or find a move through the earth itself.
Plucking one of the elk's eyes from the socket, Cakkarak pops the bloody treat into his muzzle. He bites down gently, relishing the warm eyeball jelly that oozes out of the orb. The monk allows himself to enjoy the treat. Sighing happily, he plucks a ribbon of muscle and tugs.
Getting a nice, thick ribbon of the elk's muscle, the monk takes a large bite and chews. The still warm meat is tough, but falls to the onslaught of the iksar's plentiful teeth. It takes but a few moments, but Cakkarak devours his chuck of fresh meat.
Gracefully licking blood from his claws, Cakkarak looks around. The monk's eyes narrow as his cold green eyes scan the surround area.
"Where is the dark elf?"
Cold cyan eyes lazily drift about the goblin's area from the remote vantage of the edge of the frozen forest. Day or night mattered not to the perfect vision of the Teir'dal; he could see for miles.
Remaining stock still the necromancer, entombed in cold weather gear and two blankets, waits for some sign of the occupants of the cave to show themselves.
This scene suggested far more peril than the previous encounter with the goblins. There was magic, a potential ritual circle, blood smears, and unknown larger footfalls that had marred the pristine surface of the snow.
Patience was his only advantage, other than stealth.
Piter watches Cakkarak's magic trick of pretending to pop the elk's eye into his mouth and then savour it fully. He hadn't realized the Iksar was so tricky with his hands. Piter looks for the eyeball, and in a moment realizes it is no trick.
Backing up a step, he laughs and shakes his head. "For a moment there I thought... I thought... Oh never mind." He helps to carve up the elk, thinking this is enough meat for months, but then realizes they had an Ogre in their midst.
An Ogre and an eye-eating Iksar. What an interesting group. To the rest of them Piter must seem soft and squishy. Well, he has his strengths, and he isn't overly worried about keeping his end of things.
Piter looks about to see if he can see the Dark skinned Elf. That book, those books.... There was something interesting; if only they could find a way off this island.
A thought comes to him, and he says, "The goblin mentioned that merchants come to this island. I wonder if there is any central authority, or any authority at all. It might be interesting to consider the possibility of taking the entire island for ourselves, ruling as kings. That is, if it's worth ruling...."
Cakkarak looks back at Pieter, having not spotted Loki. He mulls the humans words over as particualry cold breeze hits the monk. The cold cuts into his scales to find the flesh underneath. Surviving in this cold, brutal place was possible. Cakkarak did not want to stay on this ice covered rock longer then he had to.
"That is a possibilty, I suppose. I personally doubt it. My guess is that the merchants are slavers or pirates," Cakkarak muses as his gaze returns to the woods. "But I could be wrong," the monk says after a few seconds. "As far the possibility of ruling this frozen place, I think the question lies more in it's worth. Well, I think there is a degree of value for my training excercises, but that is just my thoughts," the monk says. Cakkarak looks at the elk being taken care off, his aid wouldn't serve to help speed up the process.
"I'm guessing that Loki went off to scout of the other cave. I will see if I can catch up with him," the Iksar monk says to the others with a nod of his scaled head. "We should plan on meeting a ways from the undiscovered cave. If anything, Zaruksis will see the heat from our bodies, or I will see the heat from your bodies," the monk says as he prepars to leave.
Kur'Plugh snorts saying " More like a trading outpost, I'd think, then again who knows. With no map it makes things tricky knowing where we are at. Now let's start smoking some of the elk meat, that way we can stretch our supplies for a few days." Finishing up the helping carve out the elk, starting to gather some up large logs Kur'Plugh tells the others " I'll start tanning the hide, and if anyone wants fresh meat take it now. I'll put some of the meat on a slow cook and smoke the rest, after that I will start to follow the path that Loki split up from us. Unless they have any objections to that"
Loki: Nothing seems to change for the first hour, at the midpoint of the second hour you spy movement near the entrance, a human is crawling out of the entrance. You can see that one of his legs is broken, despite the pain he is in, he tries to move as quickly as he can away from the cave.
Loki keeps his eyes flitting about the area, not wanting to be snuck up upon, or accidentally tripped over.
Hunkered down 'neath his voluminous clothing and blankets the necromancer seeks to maintain his warmth, but also to block himself from emitting any warmth that could be picked up by infravision. He had distance and weather on his side, and didn't imagine that he would produce more heat than a tree.
Attention fixed on the human, though there is no fixing of pity upon the pathetic human's plight, the Teir'dal perks up and watches closer.
Perhaps this was one of the merchants mentioned earlier.
The human gets 50 ft from the cave, then you see a troll covered in a downy white fur stalk out from the cave, the troll seems to be larger then the one from slave ship. When it gets within reach of the human, it grabs him by his broken leg. His shriek can be heard for miles, the troll quickly tires of this and bashes his head on the ground, until it splits like an overripe melon.
The corpse is dragged into the cave at a leisurely pace, as if the troll could care less about who, or what was watching.
Loki takes the measure of the troll's movements, armour, weaponry, and looks for any weaknesses within the monster.
The area of magic was troublesome if this creature was responsible, for it would mean that it was far beyond their meagre abilities.
Foraging deep in his memory, the necromancer seeks out information he might have to explain the purpose of such a circle.
Spellcraft:
Loki gets comfortable. He would like to know if there are more in the cave, and if the goblins were in league with this thing, dead, or prisoners.
If the others caught up with him, then he would need to see if there was a tracker among the party. That human was brought from somewhere, and their escape might depend on backtracking towards that location.
The knowledge of spells tells you that this is a binding circle and a teleport circle in one, the troll didn't have any weapons on him. You imagine that fire works well on a troll, it seems that this type of troll has adapted to the colder climate by growing a lite fur coat.
Cakkaarak, you hear a scream echoing in the woods, coming in the direction that Loki went, make a wilderness lore check DC 10 to get the correct direction.
Loki in your next post please give me a spot roll, listen check.
Piter, are you going after Loki and Cakkarak or following is the ogre? If you are following the Iksar monk, give me a wilderness lore check, DC 10 as the trail is fresh. Loki is currently 3 hours away from your cave with the goblin slave. 2 hours away from the kill site. Cakkarak is currently an hour and away from Loki and should be arriving at Loki's position.
Zurukis the elk is carved up, and is now heading back to your cave with the goblin slave, are you going with the the ogre or going after your fellow Iksar?
Piter decides to stick with the current group. The others, assuming they are okay, will know to meet back at the cave.
He helps the others carry the meat back.
Zaruksis assists with field dressing the elk, gathering wood, and carrying it all back. The self-centered shadow knight is quite happy to let others voluntarily bear the danger of scouting a possible threat of unknown potency and perceptiveness. While they're doing that, he'll be safe and warm, with a fire and fresh meat; and besides, considering how well the short, burly iksar snuck up on the elk, there may have been good reason for the canny Teir'Dal to leave him behind without a word.
The rest of the group vet's back to the cave with no issues' the large elk will at least feed the group tonight even with the ogre sized belly to fill. Kur'Plugh manages to quickly tie the elk hide up using some of the wood that was brought back.
A portion of the elk meet is tied to the spit and a fire is started. Kur'Plugh goes to the shore to gather enough extra rocks for another fire pit and using some of the elk bones and some wet wood makes another fire just outside of the cave.
The fire outside of the cave is more smoke then flames, as he starts the process if drying the meat out for jerky.
The goblin slave watches, as he can't move without Loki's pet chewing his face off. It would seem that this isn't the first time the goblin has been a slave.
Now the rest of the party can stay here in warmth and wait for the scouting party to get back to report. Of course you could spend some time exploring yourselves, and see what else is in the woods.
Loki: you see movement in the woods behind you, as a breeze starts to slowly brush the snow from lower branches onto the forest floor. You also smell fresh meat on a fire tickling your nostrils, it seems that the human just have been added to the fire.
The same troll comes out of the cave quickly he is chased by another goblin. You hear the goblin berating the troll, insulting it's ancestry and it's intelligence at killing his source of information. You hear something about a map that is now incomplete, the goblin is wearing a low cut wolf skin hide, seemly ignoring the cold and the trolls responses.
The goblin starts to move to the circle saying in a raspy voice that she will be back in a few days.
Spot:
Listen:
Keeping low and still the necromancer hopes to not reveal his position, lest it be a friend.
Loki pays special attention to the goblin's movements, especially the activation of the teleportation circle. Perhaps this would be their means to leave the island.
Who knew that human's smelled so tasty. Piter was looking better and better...as a snack.
Cakkarak head snaps up as the scream reaches his ear slits. The monk had been eye the somewhat fresh trail of what he was fairly confident was Loki's. After a few moments on consideration, the Iksar believed that the scream had come from the direction that the tracks where leading him.
While the monk doubted Loki was the direct source of the scream, he reasoned it was a possibility that the dark elf was causing the scream. Cakkarak decided to speed up his pace, his own body would provide more then enough heat for him to see the trail. At the moment there was still a bit of daylight left in the sky.
The Iksar briefly wonders what the dark elf had discovered before refocusing on the task of trying to move quickly without making a great deal of extra noise.
Cakkarak: You see a shape hidden underneath a tree, almost at the same time you notice a goblin starting to chant in the middle of a circle of bones and boulders. Make a spot check with your infravision hoping to locate who the shape under a tree is, also you will suffer from a -2 penalty as the shape is partiality buried by snow.
Loki: Make another spot check, and a listen check, also make another spell craft check to see what spell the female goblin is casting, the spot check is to see what is making the nose behind you. What little heat your body is giving off from a creature with the infravision will have a hard time trying to pick you up.
You two estimate that you will have about two more hours of daylight before the sun will go down, along with the what little heat that the sun gives out. About two a clock in the afternoon when you were finally able to leave your cave for the day, it is now 6 at night, and it promises to be a cold night (0 degrees, with a windchill around -25)
Spot:
Listen:
Spellcraft:
Loki is intent on the scene before him, perhaps too much so, for it leaves him open to possible attack from behind him.
His inexperience in the field comes back to haunt him, for his footfalls lead right up to his position.
Piter, back at the cave, relaxes a little. He gets friendly with the goblin, calling him by name. He was taught that it could be useful for a prisoner to have a "friend", someone he could confide in. Piter would be that friend.
"So, how long have you lived here? You know, we didn't come here by choice. We were enslaved, and our ship was wrecked in a storm, and we almost drowned. Many did drown. So you see, there is hope for those who have been captured or enslaved.
.
I was trained as a knight, back in Freeport. They taught us all about honesty, honor, and integrity. Chivalry, that kind of thing. To be honest, I didn't take to it all that well, but I liked the fighting. And the horses. I liked the camaraderie of my fellow knights. I suspect when I get back, I will have a few stories to tell, and I'll find a nice girl and settle down. Probably join the militia, as a lieutenant or something.
What about you. I imagine your life has been completely different?"
Bluff (stretching the truth about his past)
Cakkarak's eyes narrow as he barely makes out a form huddled in the snow at the end of the what he had assumed where Loki's footprints. 'Perhaps I was mistaken,' the monk thinks briefly. The Iksar's attention shift to the goblin in the center of some kind of circle. Cakkarak's attention shifts to the troll after the goblin vanishes. The monk's narrowed eyes widen, as he considers the trouble that it represented. The troll seemed to be this caves guardian. He hadn't been able to clearly hear what the two had been talking about.
The monk quickly crouches down. The huddled form that the monk was betting on being Loki had heard him. That, he wasn't to concerned about at the moment. However, the troll having had not spotted him was much higher on his lists of things that should concern him greatly. The monk quitly shifts as so that he is laying down in the cold snow. Cakkarak wasn't sure if trolls had a similar type of vision as his people, but he wasn't about to find out now.
Loki had seen a flash of movement in the woods behind him, he was sure of it. All he could do was remain still, for he does not see further evidence.
Perhaps it was nothing more than his mind playing tricks on him.
The spell complete the Teir'dal starts to crawl free of his hide 'neath the tree. The chill had pervaded his very bones, and he was wet where the warmth of his flesh had melted the snow into his clothing. His movements were too quick to be effective in maintaining much of stealth. He had only to hope that the distance, and waiting for them all to re-enter the cave, would work to his favour.
Sneak (-5 for moving):
It was time to rejoin the others. He had seen enough.
With a mental command the necromancer demands his minion run to his side. While it was not a powerful creature it would give him tracks to follow back to the cave.
The troll stops after the goblin leaves, smelling the air he turns towards your location Loki.
Listen and spot check
The troll growls at you Loki, then starts to chase you down ( 15 on the spot check, 19 on the listen check, moving while sneaking)
Loki stops dead in his tracks, absolutely gobsmacked that any creature could detect hear him crawling along the ground 1000' away, but that mattered not for he was now in the thick of things.
Unless buoyed by magic they would run at the same speed, slowed by the snow (hampered movement), and after casting a spell to make himself harder to hit (minor shielding, 19/21 mana) the necromancer starts to run back the way he came.
Spells would be launched if the distance between them was somehow reduced.
Perhaps the others would be found along the way...
While the troll is dumb, he sees fresh food to be had, without his master to tell him other wise or maybe he just wants to give you a special hug. After the hug he might be asking you if he can a rabbit, you notice that this troll is running bipedal in stead of just using it's feet. It will try to close the distance until it catches you, losing sight of you, or is slain. It moves at a full run 80 ft a round due to the terrain.