"Oh wow. Look at all these twings he was holding on too."
After being told the twigs are wands and what they do, Seal cries out in joy once again.
"Oh, wow. I've always wanted to turn into a tree! Just think how fun that would be. Out in the woods... with the other trees...just standing there...for hours. I mean you can just sit and watch. Animals would come by to say hi. Then maybe pee on you or borrow into your bark. Eck! Actually, that's a pretty horrible spell. What is the point in becoming a tree?"
He then looks over at the cat, then at the charm animal wand.
"Hey, is the battle cat dead? If we heal it and then charm it, it could help us clear out these goblins. That would be a hoot!"
"I guess I could use the wands, since I'm quite gifted at using all kinds of magical items. I'm especially interested in the one that creates flames."
That being said, Lucian will heal whoever needs it with the newly bought wand.
"Ugh.. I don't know if that is *shhh* wise" Rissi squeaks nervously.
"Oh come on! Can we keep him, can we keep him, can we keep him?!? I will charm him while he is knocked out, then we can feed him a potion to wake him up. Please, Rissi? What do you have against cats?"
"The cat can still be saved. Miana, could you lay on hands or use this wand on him, please? I'll make sure to be ready and use the wand as soon as it wakes up."
"Nothing. Nothing at all, Sealman. *squeak*"
Seal holds on to the wand tightly against his chest, scrunching up his face with pouting lips.
"No my battle cat. Besides, you cast it on him while he is asleep. Then when he wakes up, he'll be our friend. If you wake him up, then cast it on him, he might not be our friend."
If pressured, Seal will give up the wand for Lucian to cast on the cat.
The (firepelt) cougar purrs graciously as it is healed.
Basic stats:
AC 19 T 16 FF 13 (+5 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 natural)
HP 26
Fort +6 Ref +9 Will +2
Speed 50'; sprint
Melee: bite +6 (1d6 + 3 plus trip), 2 claws +6 (1d3 + 3)
Str 17, Dex 20, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
BAB +3; CMB +6; CMD 22 (26 vs trip)
Feats: Dodge, Skill Focus (Stealth)
Skills: Acrobatics +9 (+17 when jumping), Climb +7, Perception +5, Stealth +12
Kufieno shakes his head in amazement as the cougar is tamed. "Er, I'm a little banged up, Lucian, I'll take some healing from the wand."
"Nice cat... good cat... *chhh* please keep it away from me, Sealman. I would be most gracious if you could do me that favor."
"That's amazing Sealman! Can it do tricks?"
"Yah! You are going to be a good kitty, aren't you Tangletooth? You are going to chew up the gobos and spit them out. He still looks hurt. Should we use the wand or fed him the potions?"
Seal digs into his rations and pulls out some dried meat.
"I don't know Lucian. Let's see."
Sealman holds the jerky up and dangles it over Tangletooth.
"Sit up. Sit up now. Don't grab the meat. Don't you do it! Come on Rissi. Give him a pet. What are you, a fraidy cat?"
"Hmm, the marks head toward the coast line. Let's go check out the rest of the thicket before going into the keep."
"Yes that's exactly what I am. A "fraidy"... thing."
Rissi pulls a scroll of mage armor and applies the spell to Miana, to better shield her from the assaults of their foes.
The party goes to check out the rest of the thicket, finding little else other than the giant hole in the ground which echoes splashing sounds up from above until the party comes across a large low-ceilinged chamber that stinks of smoke from the shallow fire pit smoldering in the center. In the chamber are ten goblins who look quite beat up and pathetic, as if they had been rejected by the other goblins in the area.
Rissi moves forward and speaks quickly.
-
Beholding Rissi's catastrophic showdown, Lucian immediately intervenes.
"Peace, goblins. My longshanks friend only wishes to offer you fire if you'd agree to prove your real worth to Ripnugget by defying him and his men. If you are worthy, you will be chiefs replacing Ripnugget! What say you?"
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Miana is first uneasy about Lucian and Rissi's attempt to get the goblins as allies. But still, if they are intelligent and might have some redeemable qualities worthy of redemption....
"Ripnugget's demise will be your freedom! And with your freedom, you can choose to do good, be better for you and your lot!"
Rissi quickly translates the words of the others for those who don't speak common.
Seal will silently hold in his rage as his friends try to parley with the goblins.
One of the goblins responds in some length to Rissi and the others. He tries in Common at first but it is difficult so he reverts to Goblin.
Rissi explains to the others.
"These goblins are of the Birdcruncher tribe; they are leaderless, their previous leader *chhh* accidently set himself aflame during the attack on Sandpoint. They have been denied entry into the Thistletop tribe by Ripnugget. Apparently a fair number have been sacrificed... I don't think that sort of thing is normal for goblin tribes. Perhaps it is Nualia's influence. Ripnugget apparently *squeak* rides some sort of beast with a 'big tongue."
Rissi turns to the others. "What shall we do with these *chhhh* wretches? They are criminals; their tribe did participate in the raid upon sandpoint."
Seal stares blankly at the goblins. He doesn't turn to face his companions when he gives his reply.
"Wipe them out. All of them."
Rissi looks taken aback at the vehemence of Sealman.
And I thought I had suffered indignities from these creatures. What fires burn in Sealman?
"One moment, please."
In a moment of bizarre theatre, Rissi turns and politely asks the goblins of their crimes.
Several of the goblins proudly raise their hands.
Rissi turns back to the group and explains.
"Those are the goblins that confess to be murder. If you wish to mete *chhh* justice in the form of execution, these are your... volunteers. It is *hisss* unclear to me that the rest deserve such an extreme judgement."
"What if we offer them a choice? Face justice or fight the Thistletop tribe?"
"I agree. I care little for justice, and murdering them in cold blood when they don't oppose us or threaten our loved ones - that is something I cannot do."
"So is compromise reached? We task, if we can, the most *chhh* violent to fight the Thistletop goblins, and let the rest be on their way? We could direct them to join one of the less violent tribes."
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"
Seal charges into the middle of the goblins with his dorn twirling overhead. It then lashes out ready to brain any goblin within its reach.
"Sealman... what are doing...". The ratfolk wizard skitters back from the fracas.
Before Miana can get to Miana, Seal's dorn goes a'flyin'.
After finishing off two of the goblins, Miana is able to disarm the dwarf. Seal looks at the paladin with wide disparate eyes.
"I'm only finishing off what started in Sandpoint! Started by these evil, murderous gobos. Who did it once for fun and will do it again once mended. What other reason are we here? And you want to ally with them?"
Seal will pick up his dorn off the ground and continue cleaving into the other goblins.
Lucian looks distressed as he sees his friends fight against one another.
"But, but... STOP, please! We're working together, not against one another! Miana's right, they're currently not a threat for Sandpoint. We saw the horrors they did in the closet of that poor family, but that isn't a reason to act like monsters ourselves."
"You are such an *chhh* impulsive creature." Rissi whines
The cowled wizard moves further back, apparently not nearly invested in the fate of the goblins as Lucian or Miana.
She settles near Kufieno and speaks to the more level headed Suli. "A lost opportunity; throw away a perfectly *chhhh* good tool and make a mockery of justice all at once. I hope the dwarf doesn't wear himself out before we face the *squeak* prime architects of these crimes"
Kufieno looks at Rissi and shrugs. "Though I don't necessarily agree, "I" don't want to try to stop him....."
Kufieno looks on in mild concern. "Er, Sealman? Might it not be better to let them perish while fighting their kinsman? Let the gods judge them and all that....?"
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Knowing that her prowess isn't enough to stop the dwarf outright, all she can do is delay him long enough to let a few make their escape.
"Run! Run to the south!", Miana cries out, making one last attempt to stall the dwarf's slaughter by trying to pin his arms behind his back.
But trying to avoid the dwarf's swinging weapon, his mass is too much and she can't get her slender arms to hold down his.
Seal is able to kill four of the goblins before they begin to run at Miana's suggestion, leaping around the rest of the party and through the thicket tunnels out into the Nettlewood.
Seal doesn't even appear to notice Miana trying to restrain him as he is able to tag the stragglers fleeing the campsite.
Once the goblins have left his sight, Sealman slings his dorn over his shoulder proudly.
"Four out of ten isn't bad. Those were my marks back in little school. Anyway, we can track them down latter to finish them off. Now let's go find big daddy."
Seal leads the way to Thisletop.
The party works their way back through the thicket towards the lone entryway to Thistletop. A rope bridge spans the gulf between the cliff and a roundish, flat-topped island sixty-some feet to the north. Thick patches of nettles and briars grow here and there atop the island, but its most impressive feature is a wooden one-story stockade. Two thirty-foot-tall watchtowers guard the stockade's southern facade. The rope bridge itself is made of hairy rope and thick wooden planks; the whole things creaks and sways in the wind above the churning surf eighty feet below.