Vhaezil plods on, in the wake of the pathfinding ranger who leads them.
Wearing his familiar stoic expression, the warlock mulls the journey thus far and the qualities of those around him;
When I speak in words unholy, none of them react. Infernal is an unknown tongue to them... It is profitable to know such things.
A faint smile flickers across his handsome face, then it is gone; fleeting and somewhat out of place.
"Fine then, lets us keep watch on the foul beasts until we have determined if they have the girl or not. I can stand first watch if you two wish to rest a little back from this place."
Over the next while not much happens. The cooking goblin finishes whatever it was doing and moves out of sight. Apparently, there is some entrance into the hill that is outside of your view. After a while, another goblin appears and goes to relieve itself over by a tree in the glade.
About two hours later, a pair of goblins riding wolves pad down the path and approach the hill. They are hailed by the goblin guards and greeted enthusiastically by the other pair of wolves. The goblins dismount and move out of sight. The wolves play for a bit, before they settle down. A short while later, another pair of goblins appear and mount wolves, before loping away along the path.
As of yet there has been no sign of the missing girl.
Leaving the abandoned camp, you continue along the path for several hours before it crosses an ancient and overgrown road. The trail turns to follow this new road and so do you. You follow this path for several hours as the sun passes its zenith and begins its long descent to the horizon.
Following along as Cole expertly navigates through the terrain Zask feels a bit guilty of his inability to help,
"Cole how old might these tracks be? Are we any nearer our quarry or perhaps our companions from town? I have not the expert eye as you for finding them but perhaps they have left us some hints as to their direction?"
Zask keeps his eyes peeled for any herbs that may be useful in crafting a
Cole continues on, but addresses Lichen's question in a voice that all can hear.
I can tell a few things. First, we're gainin' on the gobbies and our new friends who lost the trail many o'times while tracking through the night. More importantly, I've seen no sign of the girl's tracks since we left the abandonned camp and the gobbies tracks have deepened like they're weighed down with somethin'. Can't say fer sure, but maybe the captive was sold and they're weighed with gold? Or, maybe they're carrying her?
Vhaezil's mulls the ranger's words impassively, before offering his thoughts in his soft, flat voice;
"The Coboli... "gobbies" do not strike me as savvy traders, even if dealing in chattel and thralls."
He casts his dark-circled eyes downward before continuing;
"However if it is gold then we can relieve them of their gilded burden and coerce the location of the childe."
Daryl is content to wait for the others unless something causes them to act sooner. He takes his rest as he can, and unless there is danger of alerting the Goblin camp, takes his turn watching as well.
At this point Lichen is content to wait as well. He continues to rest, hoping to undo some of the fatigue that gnaws at him.
Cole catches sight of movement up ahead and few heartbeats later, Zask sees it as well. It's hard to tell at this distance, but it appears like a pair of animals is running down the road towards you. The outline is odd, as if something was on their backs, but it's hard to tell at this distance.
Cole says to everyone.
Take cover, now.
With that, moves quickly into the underbrush while drawing his battleaxe.
Vhaezil shifts towards the undergrowth with a calm indifference to Cole's growled command;
:
He hunkers down and draws his blackened scroll...
Zask settles into the underbrush beside his companions, "If these be goblins I'm making a move."
The party scrambles into the brambles at the edge of the path. From cover, they listen for the sound of the approaching creatures. Eventually, you hear the soft thuds near and then slow. As you watch, two goblins mounted on wolves pad into view. The wolves slow to a stop and begin snuffling the ground where you left the road. The goblins exchange some words in an unfamiliar language and peer into the woods to either side,
but don't see anything of interest. One dismounts and goes over to the opposite of the road to take a piss.
Seeing his moment of opportunity Zask quickly moves on the roaming pack; the world moves in a blur as the agile hafling assaults the mounted goblin. "Strike fast, strike true! Echoes a distant voice.
Zask leaps toward the mounted goblin striking first with his weathered quarterstaff.
His old teachings whisper again, "Finish your opponent!
As Zask rushes out of cover to attack, Rhys pauses for a moment to ensure the halfling was sufficiently distracting the goblins, raising his bow an letting fly at the mount-less wolf.
Cole shakes his head and bursts from cover to attack the other goblin with his Battleaxe.
Listening in his hidden place Lichen imagines that he hears not too distant combat. Does he really hear that, or is it his imagination?
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Combat Order
20 Vhaezil
14 Rhys
14 Wolves
13 Cole
9 Zask
You burst from the bushes and fall upon the unsuspecting goblins. Zask stuns one with his staff before crushing its throat with his fist.
Rhys' strike fails to connect, but the other goblin, member in still in hand, manages to do little more than look up before Cole splits its skull with his axe.
Taking his cue from his martial companions Vhaezil also breaks from the undergrowth.
The warlock shifts onto the track and as the goblins are felled, grips his scroll and utters an fell incantation;
"Eldritch summa industria, acri carpere potentiam tuam, et gloriam meam!"
"Energy most eldritch, scour my foes with thine power!"
As the diabolist speaks crimson energy flickers from the burnt edge of the clutched scroll then spirals toward one of the wolves;
:
:
With scroll still presented Vhaezil sneers out the same words once again - as more fell energy arcs toward the goblin's steed;
"Eldritch summa industria, acri carpere potentiam tuam, et gloriam meam!"
:
:
Rhys curses under his breath as his first shot goes wide, but refocuses and fires again...
Vhaesil's infernal discharge slams into the beast, but the second volley flies wide. The wounded beast snarls, but is soon silenced, as Rhys stabs it in the throat.
The remaining beast turns its attention to the man who felled his rider and attacks Cole:
The beast flies at the ranger and its jaws clamp on Cole's throat, threatening to drag the man to the ground.
Seeing that Cole is in mortal danger Zask rushes to his aid and hopes to fell the beast before further damage can be done.
Zask brings his now bloodied quarterstaff down in an arc upon the wolf..
...and quickly follows up with a quick strike in the same spot hoping to fell the beast
Cole pulls away from the wolf and disengages from combat as he switches to his longbow.
The blood freezy is upon the wolf! Zask can't find a way to connect with the beast, but his ineffective flailing does provide a distraction allowing Cole to fall back.
Rhys repositions a bit to get a clearer shot at the wolf, then let's another arrow fly...
Vhaezil smirks as his eldritch energies dance across the wolf, but his triumph is short lived as he misses with his second.
As the animal is dispatched, the diabolist eyes the remaining wolf as it savages their pathfinding ranger.
Summoning the fell incantation again he flatly speaks the words as the crimson energy crackles toward the last wolf;
"Eldritch summa industria, acri carpere potentiam tuam, et gloriam meam!"
:
:
Rhys and Vheazil unleash from the sidelines and between arrow and magic, the vicious beast falls to join its packmate in the dust.
Rhys steps out of the brambles and advances to Cole, "Are you alright? That wolf had you dead to rights there!"
Vhaezil remains stoically standing after the last wolf falls.
He stows his scroll, noting the gloved hand that held it looks singed and more worn...
Interesting. Everything the energy touches pays a toll.
The warlock walks slowly toward where the others gather at Cole;
"Luck of the devil indeed."
Vhaezil nods towards there goblin and wolf corpses lie, and in his flat voice suggests a way forward;
"There are writings read that suggest the dead still hold secrets..."
He smiles coldly and continues his exposition;
"I wonder... Should we open their guts to see if the missing child or our companions spill out?"
Anyone have some healin' so we can get back on the trail?
Prodding at a downed goblin with his quarterstaff Zask glances towards Vhaezil, "I think we should explore the more obvious clue first." Pointing towards the direction the rider came from, "That might be a start, but first we should hide these bodies."
Before Zask begins to clear the road of the aftermath he takes a look at Cole and inspects his wound,
"I don't have the ability to heal but had this bite been a fraction deeper it would have been fatal, and it doesn't seem to me that the wolf carried anything fowl in it's bite to further infect. Perhaps we will come upon our Scaled Friend to lend his ability soon."
Zask begins to drag the bodies off the path and cover them.
Vhaezil shrugs impassively at the dismissal of his notion;
"So be it."
He moves to assist the dragging of the carcasses from the track, but continues to explain his rationale in his flat, soft voice;
"I was reminded of an old folk tale from my childhood: Petros and the Lýkos. It told that greedy wolves would bolt their prey down whole; so if you listened to their bellies you could hear their prey's cries from within..."
The warlock pauses, smiling thinly as he reminisces;
"An old hearth story of course. Yet from acorns of truth these tall tales grow..."
"And my ma' told me I'd grow to be as tall as a human when I grew up." Zask straightens from his work for a moment. "Almost there!"
Eying Cole once more, "We best be on our way before we are telling our young'ins about a brave ranger and a wolf we once knew."
Fine, let's move, but until I get some healing, I will not be much use in a scrap.
Cole continues to lead the group on the trail.
As they finish dragging the goblin dead off the trail, Vhaezil will check the corpses for any items of value.
Once any looting is completed, the diabolist falls into line;
"Alas. I only have means of healing myself through my patron's benedictions..."
Rhys stood on the old road watching back the way the goblins had come from , to avoid any surprises.
He winces a bit at the Diabolist's suggestion of digging through the dead goblin's entrails, knowing there were a number of cultures that practiced such things, all of them particularly unsavoury.
As Cole walks up , Rhys falls in beside him, "Hopefully, the dragonling will be able to use his little trick on you when we catch up."
I was thinking the same.
Streaked with his own blood, Cole takes the lead and continues along the trail. After about an hour, you find it veers off onto a well trod side-path. A short while down this path, Cole finds something a little unusual, he sees the human tracks double back on themselves and head off the side of the path.
Deciding that there must be some reason for the others to leave the trail, you follow their lead into the brambles. The trail makes a wide circle and you follow it for quite a while. Eventually, through the foliage ahead you see the shapes of Lichen, Daryl and Erlmander.
You watch for about another 3 hours (you need a couple more hours for a full rest). Not much happens. There is a changing of the goblin guards and periodically one or another comes out to relieve itself, or make some food. There are never more than 4 goblins outside at a time. One thing of note that does occur is that about an hour after the wolf-riders leave, a goblinoid, twice the size of a common goblin steps out to talk to the guards. He takes a long, slow look around the treeline before heading back inside. (Erlmander recognizes it as a bugbear)
Eventually, you hear the soft crunch of movement in the trees anear your position. You ready yourselves, but soon catch sight of the others approaching.
Erlmander rises from their hiding place and slowly walks towards the others, In a quiet voice he brings them up to date as to what they have found and what has been going on for the last few hours.
I think we have the numbers to assault the camp now, but I need to rest or get some healing, first, or I will be of little use.
Daryl lurches to his feet and looks at Cole's wound. "Aye. That's a nasty scratch. How did you come by that? Keep your voices down... we're keeping an eye on the Gob camp, but haven't seen hide nor hair of the girl yet".
Daryl gestures towards their temporary camp.
"I've got the ability to help a bit, but you might be better off to take a rest, and let's plan our attack. We're all tired, so finding out more about our best tactics might be wise".
Rhys peers out at the goblin camp as Erlmander recounts the other's experiences, "Bugbears, you say? Tough. And no sign of the girl?" he comments,then moves back to discuss the attack plans.
"Wait! I almost forgot". Daryl digs into the pouch hanging at his waist.
"Take this. I believe that Lichen said that it would help a bit. And if I remember right, he gave you one as well".
Daryl hands his wrinkled goodberry to the man.