"I had really hoped we could be friends.", Kari said regretfully. "Please don't make me shoot you. Hrolf, forward!", she commanded, pointing to the space inside the door on the right. She stepped forward and raised her hand, ready to shoot a torrent of water at the goblin by the window.
Hrolf moved forward and growled at the sitting goblin.
The little monkey goblins chitter and spring into action. Their tails whip daggers into their hands. They shriek and curse at you in the most bizarre goblin dialect.
Hrolf is ready to bite the (red) goblin, but is driven away by the knife. The (red) monkey goblin stands and moves away, climbing into the top corner of the building, 10' feet above the ground.
The (green) monkey goblin sleeping near the forge leaps to his feet, and climbs up the post holding the canvas above the forge. He leaps to the post closer to Fenna, a dagger of his own in his hand.
The (blue) monkey goblin advances, his spear already in hand. KarI's readied water blast strikes him square in the face. He thrusts his spear at the gnome in retaliation.
Round 2
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Round 2
Kari & Hrolf <- UP NEXT
Monkey Goblins
Fenna
"Hrolf, attack!", Kari barked, pointing at the goblin with the spear. She stepped back, turned, and shot a blast of water at the goblin that had jumped up into the rafters.
Hrolf lunged forward at the goblin with the spear.
Fenna holds her position and aims at the goblin up on the canvas, loosing an arrow.
Fenn *whizzez* an arrow at the (green) goblin perched on the awning, barely missing the bugger as he lifts his shield just in time.
Kari and Hrolf expertly switch positions. Kari’s blast goes off target toward the (red) goblin hanging from the ceiling.
The (blue) monkey goblin facing Hrolf is not so lucky: the wolf bites his leg, drawing blood, but failing to send the him to the floor.
---
(red) Goblin in the corner of the storeroom, whips a dagger at Kari. His tail eagerly drops another into his waiting hand.
The (green) monkey goblin throws his dagger at Fenn
Facing down Hrolf, the (blue) goblin withdraws, scrabling up the wall and out the window to the roof. He perches on the outside corner of the building, screeching.
”Shaalch maar, mech maar! Daan agaan khruur aklal!”
---
[b]Round 2
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Round 3
Kari & Hrolf <- UP NEXT
Monkey Goblins
Fenna
Kari sent another water blast at the goblin in the goblin hanging from the ceiling. She called out after the retreating goblin, mocking it.
Hrolf ran over to the window and tried to figure out how to reach the fleeing monkey goblin.
Fenna continues her duel with the monkey up on the canvas, shooting another arrow.
Fenna’s next arrow goes wide again.
Round 3
Kari’s water blast strikes the (red) monkey goblin square in the face, his head slamming into the wall.
Hrolf props up on the window, and hears the monkey goblin running across the roof, back outside. OUTSIDE!
---
The (red) goblin flings another dagger at Kari, before taking up his spear and dropping from the ceiling to meet the gnome’s challenge.
The (green and blue) goblins on the roof launch fling their sharp knives at Fenn in the yard.
----
[b]Round 3
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Round 4
Kari & Hrolf <- UP NEXT
Monkey Goblins
Fenna
Kari stepped back and fired yet another water blast at the advancing monkey goblin.
Hrolf ran outside, looking around excitedly to see where his quarry had gone.
Fenna calls into the building "How's it going in there? Don't go too far in and get surrounded!"
She then looses another arrow at the same goblin.
Red goblin 19 damage dealt, downed
Blue goblin 11 damage dealt, bloodied
Green goblin 6 damage dealt
----------------
Fenna fires at the (green) monkey goblin above perched in the post, striking it the leg. It squeals in pain.
Round 4
Kari blasts the (red) goblin in the storeroom as he advances. His wails fall silent and he falls to the ground.
Hrolf runs outside, excited to find a monkey. He spots the bloody (blue) goblin, barking at the filthy thing as it taunts him
----------------
The goblins on the roof pull out another knife each, (green) one chucks his at Fenna, the other (blue) one throws his at the barking wolf.
”Tuul khruun dhaar! Dhec duun daan draar!”
------
[b]Round 4
Fenna <- UP NEXT
Round 5
Kari & Hrolf <- UP NEXT
Monkey Goblins
Fenna
Fenna sends another arrow off toward the goblin she just wounded, hoping to cut the odds against Kari and herself.
Following the sound of Hrolf's barking, Kari rushed outside. Locating his quarry, she launched another high-pressure torrent of water at it.
Hrolf jumped at his prey, in a futile attempt to reach it.
Red goblin 19 damage dealt, downed
Blue goblin 11 damage dealt, bloodied
Green goblin 12 damage dealt, bloodied
----------------
Fenna fires at the again at the (green) monkey goblin. Her arrow flies true again, further injuring him.
Round 4
Kari steps outside to let loose a water blast, but the jet of water shoots high over the wretched (blue) goblin on the roof.
Hrolf sprints back and forth, leaping high in the air, but not enough to land on the roof.
----------------
The two remaining goblins regard each other, and bound off through the incomplete fence behind the smithy. Screeching as they run on all fours, they avoiding the tents and farmland to disappearing into the jungle.
A few pieces of equipment of exceptional craftsmanship can be found among the mess the monkey goblins have created. Among them are two masterwork machetes, a masterwork chain shirt, and a +1 darkwood buckler, which appears to have had a new arm strap affixed recently. Unfortunately for Kari, everything is sized for big-folk.
You also discover 40 metal arrowheads from the debris. While these are not useful in their current state, someone with skill at crafting bows could make complete arrows from these at no additional material cost.
"Hrolf, heel!", Kari shouted. "Let them go. They might lead you into an ambush." She went back inside and got Hrolf to stand over the unconscious monkey goblin, while she cast a spell to heal it's wounds. "Fen, can you give me a hand?", she called out. "I think this one is still alive. Surely it must know something about the fate of the colonists."
Fenna follows Kari into the smithy. "Four arrows used, that climbing was annoying. I hope they're not coming back with friends."
When their search turns up the chain shirt and buckler, she's quite happy to switch out her stuff for the new finds. She also straps one of the machetes to her backpack. She also hangs on to the arrowheads, just in case they are not able to return to the building in the future for some reason.
She is consigned to waiting as Kari deals with the goblin captive since Fenna doesn't speak goblin. "Hopefully it will have something to tell us that's useful. I sort of sort they're the ones responsible for the missing people here though. From the looks of this place, they're not ones to clean up after themselves so I doubt they'd go to the trouble of moving bodies."
Hrolf gets a few strides away before Kari's call. He obeys, but gives a brief look of sadness returning to Kari's side.
As the positive energy flows into the monkey goblin, and the dark blue of his bruises from water blasts subsides a bit. He blinks a few times, before his eyes widen with panic.
"Kaar ghaan huun, o dhel'dec dec!" he squirms as he shouts at you in goblin. He doesn't seem to offer any information right away. His head darts back and forth, fighting his urge to flee.
"Let me go, you filthy things!"
Keri cast her mind back to the avian flight patterns that she had studied earlier in the day. After a moment, she said replied, "Khruul, khruul. Ghec or kakorlaan! A al del'dec duun kaar o huun ar o shac akaar tuulkaan vorec duun ghec takheralec. Shac o haaraan daach ghaan dar makhaakaal duun daan haakhaan duun kegaal ac den taakhaalkaac?"
Again, Fenna tries to use body language and expression to appear as friendly and non-threatening as possible. She tries to mimic the way she'd display herself if she were asking someone over for dinner.
Slowly, the litte monkey goblin's breathing slows. His eyes continue to dart between the three of you. He hesitates a bit as he starts to stand, testing his boundries. He doesn't release his glare, despite your matching smiles.
"Dhekaan! A daach o ac o kaar Shuuluukor huun." he answers.
"Molkac't rhoch rhol'dec, Huurokaar tuul ac lhokaan. Daan agaan khruur aklal, rhor molkac agaan duun ghakec. Daac daan kaagaan, rhagaan Huurokaar shuulkaan duun rhol'dec. Dalaan dhuul. Dhec khruun molkac. Druuc'd muul daagaan molkac huun. Huurokaar druuc'd shagaan."
He looks ready to spring away at the slightest sign of acceptance.
"Fine! I tell you and you let Coconut go."
"Human's build buildings, Ghosthunters stay in jungle. We are not afraid, but humans are too many. When they leave, bravest Ghosthunters come to buildings. Take food. Find no humans. Don't know where humans go. Ghosthunters don't care."
"He says that his tribe, the Ghosthunters, live in the jungle," Kari told Fenna. "At some point some of them came to the colony, and found the settlers gone. He says they don't know where they went."
She turned back to the monkey goblin. "Muul kuuc arluun drel daan Huurokaar khruukhelaan dar daan molkac mal huukaan? Al'duun, druun o muul or akec okhaar shaakhogaan ac daan rhol'dec, okhaar dac daan Huurokaar?"
He appears determined, almost hostile. He's seems to be acting angry to cover the embarrassment of his capture. If he were lying, he's a better actor than any Kari has seen.
He consider's your question for a minute, before responding.
"HuurAKhAaR!" he looks angry. "Huurakhaar khruun shagaan dhuur molkac. Daan taan molkac agaan huukaan. Toc huun druul." he holds his hands out in front of him, and begins tapping them in turn with his tail curved over his shoulder. At six, he holds up his hands. "Den ghakec toc."
"Rhec rhol'dec khraash druur," he points toward the chapel to the south. "Rhagaan Huurakhaar huun ac. Huun ac daagaan duul dec ar Huurakhaar. Arac huun druun'd mor an. Daan tuul khruun dhaar. Rhol'dec huun mor. Daan shuulkaan maagaan akaal. Daan dhec dhuul, daan tuul." He points a torn sack of grain in the corner of the storeroom.
"GhostHATER," he corrects. "Ghosthaters no care for humans. We see humans are gone. Sun go down," he counts on his fingers with his tail, finally holding up six fingers between both his hands. "This many suns.
"Big building next door," he points toward the chapel to the south. "Brave Ghosthaters go in. Ghost in there throw things at Ghoshaters. Island ghost doesn't hurt us. We show no fear. Building ghost hurt. We come here instead. We find food, we stay." He points a torn sack of grain in the corner of the storeroom.
Kari interpreted for Fen. "I think he's saying that they noticed the settlers were gone six days ago. He also says that there is a ghost in the chapel, which threw things at the goblins. He says something about an island ghost, which doesn't hurt the goblins; I don't know what that means."
She turned to the goblin again, saying, "Ot on, ghec gheralaan, Huurakhaar. A dec Shuuluukor ghon rhaan okaan or daan rhagaan or daan Huurakhaar; maan dhuuc dhaagaarec duurthuul. Okaan kan dec, dar an daan Arac huun dar o taash or?"
Fenna nods at Kari's explanation and remains quiet, letting her carry on with the goblin.
While she waits, Fenna begins running through possibilities for the Ghosthaters in her head.
I wonder if they could be neutralized through some kind of "alliance"? We give them some gifts, well honestly pay them off a bit, to leave the colony alone? Or even better, maybe give us information, serve as scouts of sorts, on what's out there? Of course we couldn't exactly trust them, but it would be a way to keep eyes on them, avoid surprises perhaps...
Six days seems a little inaccurate to Fenna. The tracks she found up the hill from the dock were at least a few days older. Maybe the goblins only found the town abandoned six days ago? Maybe they were bad at counting?
Taken aback, the goblin gives a quizzical look, as though he’d never heard a compliment in his life. Shaking his head, his expression turned back to a glare.
”Arac huun an ghac der tel'daar dhalaan. Rhec kelaan maar,” the goblin yammers, inching away from Kari as he speaks. He points and Fenna, then holds his hands out in front if his chest, waving them slightly. ”Maan daar rhan. Ach Huurakhaar ghon ghogaar huun. Tuul khruun dhaar,” he spins around holding his empty fist out, swinging at air.
”Vorec ogaar! Shuuluukor huun khruul!” he shouts some more before making a leaping run for the door.
”Questions over! Coconut go now!” with the distance he edged out as he spoke, he leaps onto the wall, climbs across the ceiling and out the door.
His goblin dialect is strange, but his words seem to refer to his tribe’s ritual passage to adulthood.
"Dac o, Shuuluukor. On, o ghuul huun khruul," Kari said to the monkey goblin as he departed, giving the impression of being satisfied with his answers. She made no move to stop him.
"Hmm, that's strange," she said to Fenna. "He seemed to be talking about some sort of coming of age ritual. Something about a creature, about human size, dressed in black. He called it a man with a silver face. I think the ritual somehow involves attacking this creature to show that they have no fear. Perhaps it's some sort of undead that isn't aware of them?"
Kari paced back and forth, thinking out loud. "This place is full of mysteries. Hopefully we'll find one of the previous settler's journals, with more information."
She turned to Fenna. "Well, it sounds like there's some sort of spirit in the chapel, perhaps a poltergeist. And I wouldn't be surprised if a jungle animal or two had made it's way into the other buildings. We'll have to look through them all to make sure they're safe for the colonists to move into. Do you want to explore the chapel first, or leave it for later?"
"Too bad he ran off so quickly. I was going to offer him the sack they'd tore into as a parting gift. You know, try to create a little goodwill. Besides who'd want to eat after them anyway?"
Fenna watches the little creep run off.
"Maybe undead. The colony's only a few months old and it's already collecting ghosts, great. Or maybe they're crazy. Or maybe some sort of programmed illusion? There must have been casters among them first group. Maybe they were set up to scare off whoever came creeping around?"
"Might as well go to the chapel and get it over with. Besides, it's right next door."
Fenna heads that way.
Kari watched as Shuuluukor disappeared into the jungle. "I really can't see those monkey goblins being responsible for the settler's disappearance. We haven't seen any signs yet that the colony was attacked and overrun. If the goblins near where I grew up successfully invaded a village, they whole place would be a charred ruin!"
She looked around at the overgrown grass to see if it seemed to match when Shuuluukor said they noticed that the humans were gone. I could have misunderstood what he meant. Their dialect is definitely different than that of the Varisia goblins.
She listen to Fen and replied, "I got the impression that the 'island ghost' has been around a lot longer than the colony. I suppose it could be some sort of illusion in an ancient Azlanti ruin of some sort; that would explain why it doesn't harm the Ghosthaters."
Kari followed Fenna towards the chapel. "Come on Hrolf, we're going to check out a ghost!"
This large building is durably built in a log cabin–style construction with a thatched pitched roof and three gables. Its several open windows are uncovered, and the sole entrance on the east side of the building is bereft of a door.
A small porch covered by a gable shelters this door, though the porch has not been swept and dirt and dust have started to accumulate, while one end of the gable is starting to sag from neglect.
Kari crept forward and looked around the porch, then advanced and peered into the gloomy interior.
Hrolf followed Kari, sniffing around for animal scents.
Fenna leans in over Kari to look inside as well.
The interior of this building suggests a modest place of worship—not quite a temple but more than a mere shrine. A table near the center of the west wall appears to serve as an altar, draped in a white but dusty cloth. Behind the table, a large wood carving of a humanoid figure with a stag’s head leans against the wall. Two rows of benches face the altar, although some have been knocked over and two piles of ashes are visible in the aisle between them. Scattered throughout the room are assorted objects related to public worship, such as a chalice and a ceremonial rod. An ornately carved longbow hangs on the wall near the altar, as if on display.
Against the north wall is a smaller shrine. Nearby is a wooden statue roughly three feet tall that depicts a male half-human and half-avian creature. One carved wing hangs partially broken from the statue.
-------
Hrolf begins to growl deeply as the three of you peer into the room from the doorway. His fur bristles.
Kari moved cautiously inside, said a prayer, and looked around. "OK, Hrolf, you can stay there for a moment," she said to the reluctant wolf.
The deity represented in the western shire is very obviously Erastil. The ornate longbow on the wall glows with magic. At just a glance, the floor appears dusty and strewn with debris. A putrid smell wafts toward you from the west side of the building.
"Ugh, it stinks in here!", Kari declared, wrinkling her nose in disgust. Trying to breathe though her mouth, and not her nose, she moved towards the other side of the room, trying to determine the source of the stench.
"Yes, very bad. Probably not good news."
Really though, Fenna is having a hard time paying attention to things other than the very nice bow.
"Where would you draw the line between pilfering and borrowing, for the good of the community of course" she asks Kari.
Kari’s magic detection focuses, revealing the bow is enhanced faintly by transmutation AND evocation magics
As you move deeper into the Chapel, the terrible smell grows stronger and more distinct: rotting flesh. Spots of blood decorate the ground the two rows. One either side, on the floor in front of the wooden benches, the contents of the chapel lie broken and ruined. There is a pile of ashes on the floor: burnt books. Toward the bottom of the pile, there are two volumes that escaped the flames.
It is eerily silent as you near the main altar, your quiet footfalls and the low growl of Hrolf are all you hear. The wolf is crouched low at the threshold of the building. You come within reach of the altar, both certain it is the source of the smell.
"I dunno. That's a fine looking weapon; do you think it could be protected by some sort of magic ward?"
Kari crouched down to examine the remains of the books. Anything that could provide some sort of written record of what happened at the colony was of great interest.
"Dunno, maybe warded? But why go to the trouble in a little place like this?
Where would a thief go with it after taking it?...What are the books?" Fenna asks as she walks around to look behind the alter.
"There must be something dead in here, and not very small. Something like a dead rat would smell but not this much I don't think."
Suddenly, the a small piece of wood, flies across the room at Fenna.
vs, flat-footed 1 damage
Hrolf begins barking loudly.
---
Initiative
Round 1
--------------
Kari & Hrolf <- UP NEXT
Fenna <- UP NEXT
???
"What was that?", Kari called out. She stood up and looked around, trying to figure out where the attack came from. "Who are you, and what do you want?" She didn't want to call Hrolf forward yet, until she could see what they were up against.
The cautious search of the chapel as they entered would have revealed anyone in hiding, Kari is sure. Something else was going on here..