He poked his head back through the hedge wall to the others like some strange forest ghost.
"They have... or had a blonde horse here earlier. Poor thing. Hole in the ground goes a long way down to the ocean,. this weird maze is probably natural growth too. How passingly strange."
He slid back out leaving them to slowly and carefully make their way around while he continued to quietly scout.
"A blonde horse .... that is pretty weird."
Yeda whispers up to Corrin What do you think, should we follow that track instead?
There was a moment of a awkward silence as Yeda whispered out to the young elf whom had disapeared back into the hedges moments ago seemingly unheard or ignored. Until he slid though the hedge again about ten feet further ahead half crouched down to the ground.
"We may as well follow the track and see where it goes, i'll keep an eye on either side of the path for trouble."
He added before disapearing into the other side now looking for any sign of goblins to murder.
Three thistle tunnels open into a large cavelike chamber. above, the thorny canopy grows thin enough that 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...
Yeda looks back, gives a curling "come" motion with her hand and turns back to begin following Corrin.
Yeda walks into the center of the opening and scans around.
Left, or right? Do the tracks continue, Corrin?
He paused and crouched looking at the strange dragging tracks for a long moment quietly.
"Right I think, for now."
He offered pointing to the path. He paused and made sure to Dewdrop was able to follow along well enough before he moved forward still scouting their path.
Tamm casts Mage Armor on himself.
Then he follows along, trying to be quiet.
Zeldana followed Tamm's example and placed mage armor upon herself as well. Then she followed the others, letting Corrin and Yeda lead their way.
Southeast direction
5mph steady blow
...nope! lol
Corrin easily pushes through the low underbrush, not a hair disturbed unnecessarily upon his head. The thickness of the brush is momentary, as within three steps he is able to push through the overhangs. A heavy smell of must emits from a similar opening just to his left. His gaze quickly takes in the sights of well gnawed bones, and large wooden stakes driven into the ground. Long strands of goblin rope, made of sinew and hair, is tied to the stakes, and tracks off a short distance from the stakes. Most of the stakes and said ropes, lay upon the ground, unused. But four(4) of them are tied to similar goblin rope collars around the necks of four large, equally hideous goblin dogs that lay upon the ground, sleeping. A heartbeat later, the subtle sound of someone pushing through the brush, a subtle branch break, a tug of fabric, a grunt in quiet exasperation, is heard from behind him.
As Corrin turns his head to say something, a heavy, full throated growl sounds from his right, just of out sight beyond the thick brush. He snaps his head back to the dogs, who, hearing the growl, twitch only their ears, but otherwise maintain their tasks...for the moment.
Noting Corrin's quick, snapping movings and falling utterly silent Yeda stops in her tracks. She stands completely still, her gaze fixed on the elf awaiting an indication of what may be the matter.
Loxley waited with the others as Corrin pushed ahead to scout. She was a little nervous but did her best not to show it. When they finally began to move deeper into the maze of thorny passages she ideally wondered about the hole to keep her mind occupied. "Probably for trash disposal." She thought as they began to follow the tracks.
The arcanist did her best to be quiet as the group proceeded through the short tunnels, when their progress stopped again. She could barely make out Corrin as he turned back to the group. The growl carried through the confined space, slipping through the brambles from an unseen source. A chill ran across Lowley's skin as she reflexively gripped the hilt of her dueling sword. She spared a glance behind her nervously, just to be careful... and certainly not out of fear of being trapped in the tunnel fight where she would assuredly have the disadvantage in. Certainly not.
Not knowing what is going on, Tamm stays quiet.
He checks to make sure his dagger is loose in its sheath at his side.
The suspense is killing him.
He froze for a moment letting his eyes and ears adjust to exactly what he was seeing and hearing. Something was coming off to the right, and he didnt think it was the beautiful Shalelu. He crept back torwards his friends, just enough they could see him and he held up four fingers before placing his hands up to his cheek and mimicking being asleep. The he pointed towards the spot he left the goblin dogs.
He next held up one finger shrugged then held up two fingers and motioned towards the noise he had heard to the right. He then pointed to them, then made a throat slashing moment across his throat and pointed to the sleeping dogs.
He pointed to himself and pointed to the right where he heard the noises. this is going so smoothly. He thought to himself as he turned to head to the right leaving behind the sleeping goblin dogs for the others to slay in their sleep.
Tamm tries to make some sense out of Corrin's pantomime.
He shrugs to himself .... not really sure.
He decides to follow along quietly and see if he can figure it out for himself.
Have no idea how to understand sign language (of any variety), Yeda frowns and simply follows Tamm and quietly as she can.
He only takes a step or two when she realizes it's not going to work.
Guess I'll wait for them to make the first move then.
Sazzat, yeda, and the rest push forward, following Corrin as he moves silently through the undergrowth. They creep forward, Sazzat as silent as the air slowly passing under a doorframe, and yeda struggling to keep her armor from making too much noise.
Luckily, as the group passes the spot where Corrin signaled, the branch in the low tunnel, spots the 4 goblin dogs that lounge upon the ground, tied up to the large wooden stakes hammered deep into the ground.
He paused staring at the cat like creature with a slight frown to his face. It was tame... well goblin tamed at the least. It wasnt like the goblin dogs at all, the creature from where he was standing was magnificent.
druid maybe experianced ranger.
He thought to himself with a frown. The circle back home taught him to respect all members of the tradition regardless of their heritage or backgrounds. He tilted his head staring at the magnificent beast. He certainly could just sneak up and thrust his spear into its sleeping chest...but that wasnt respecting the circle at all. This was so tactically dumb. He sighed. Might as well get this over with.
"Thig a-mach Bràthair beag a bheireadh mi parlay seach sabaid."
Seeing the dogs now, Yeda lets the others move ahead so she can "drop" to the back in case they wake up.
it leaps lightly into the air, and connects with corrin, it's claws slashing at his arms and body, cutting into his flesh.
Corrin speaks ahead of the group, and a moment later the sound of a cat enraged roars throughout the alcoves and tunnels. The dogs, lounging about, lazily turn their heads in the direction of the sound.
The dogs simply stare off in the direction of the cats noises, tails wagging back and forth in anticipation of a future meal.
He stayed quiet, taking the rake of the claw with only the slightest of hisses from the pain. He thrust his spear at the cougar and leapt over it with a sommersault spinning to reface it shield first spear held back ready to stab again when he had an opening.
"I don't want to kill you boy... but you would make a pretty cloak for Shalelu so stand down."
He growled lowly still keeping his eyes on the cougar. The things were lightning fast. He and sazzat had it flanked now.
The spear thrust misses the feline by mere inches to the left of the creature as Corrin immediately follows up the attack with his somersault. The Animal yowls again and swipes takes a quick swipe at the overhead elf...
missing the chance to claw into the elf as it passes by.
Following the movement of the elf, the cat twists her body in a tight arc, muscles rippling and fur flexing as the cat seems to turn into a liquid to accomodate the tight twisting of its body. It's rear legs underneath it, it launches herself at corrin, this time both front claws and mouth wide open.
The claws slash across the Druids thighs as the mouth connects upon the body.
One of the dogs, wagging its tail, large globs of salvinate just oozing from its mouth as it anticipates fresh meat, turns it's head.
Perhaps it was a shiny glint of a button, or an errant lock of hair, Maybe she moved just enough to reveal herself, but the dog locks its gaze upon the area that yeda stands and leaps to its feet. Tail upright, body rigid, it begins to bay and howl, loud lungfuls of noise erupting from it's body.
Its fellow dogs react at once to this noise. They jerk and scramble to their feet, joining in the chorus of noise, a pathological need to react to the external stimuli.
"This calls for an intervention." Zeldana said as she narrowed in on the cat, golden eye gleaming.
Tamm wheels to face the sudden combat, pulls out his dagger, and stabs the cat.
(flanking, sneak)
Yeda, frustrate with her tight surrounds, scoots forward until she's out of the tunnel and between the dogs and the rest of her team.
Are these guys friendly? Hungry?
She squints carefully at them, readying her blade...
Loxley heard the first growl and realizes they had woken up.
"Damn it."
She didn't want to crowd Yeda in the already tight confines, but she had to try something. Loxley calls on her magic and focuses on the now active dogs.
"Guis ta falcius t sleev." She says in a almost melodic tone as she tries to force the dogs to return to slumber.
The cat yowls in pain as sazzat's dagger slices deep into her right rear leg, blood spurting out, the muscle cut deep that the meat hangs from the body, bright red and twitching. The cat spins around, a savage growl errupting from her mouth, yet she turns away and flees through the heavy brush, her growls and moans sounding loudly as she runs away.
All the dogs begin to bark and snarl at seeing yeda step forward into the entrance of the alcove, barking loud and yowling, straining hard against the ropes, only to suddenly lay down. their tongues lull out of their mouths, eyes shut, and they breath deep and easily, having fallen asleep.
Raaa!!!! LONGSHANKS!!!! a goblin from behind Corrin shouts loudly. The goblin raises it's right arm, and a blade composed of flame flares to existence in his right hand. it's left hand lifts from his body, open and extended. He closes it quickly, savagely, and the branches, vines, brambles, all begin to close tight and heavy around everyone.
He thrust his spear at the fleeing cat eyes already narrowed and turning as the goblins voice rang out in the clearing. He knew what was coming next, or at least he knew what he would do if he were defending this place. He leapt into the air into a forward somersault rolling ever closer to the goblin druid.
"Leig às do lann lasair agus gèilleadh no bàsachadh."
He thrust once at the Goblin druids legs to emphasize his point.
"Not so fast kitty!"
Missed
Tammy draws back his magic dagger and throws it at the goblin.
Yeda snarls in frustration as the vines take her. She immediately struggles against them.
With the dogs now asleep, she quickly moves behind Corrin to advance on the goblin.
Loxley was glad to see all the dogs succumbed to the spell. Suddenly a new voice, one harsh and high pitched cried out. This cry held magic in it's wake and the greenery around the party responded, rising up to grab at and seize them.
Loxley narrowly avoided the grasping growth as it reached out. She hadn't seen the caster but judging from the positions of the others, she guessed they were around the bend in the path. Taking advantage of her freedom to move Loxley moved as quickly as she could, entering the intersection to join the others engaged with some kind of cat creature.
"Whow."
Loxley was surprised by the feline, but it hadn't cast the spell. Her attention shifted and she spotted the goblin further down the passage.
Zeldana stepped into the path to see the cat, before giving it another evil eye. However this time her focus was the gaps in it's armor.
Seeing the longshanks enter into his realm, and one that lept so effortlessly through the entanglement, the goblin lowers his blade.
tha mi a ’gèilleadh he says with barely supressed fury.
Yeda frowns, and turns to Corrin.
What did it say? Should I run it through?
He almost growled back at the goblin who clearly was angry... but somehow he managed to just stifle it back. He could feel the hunter within him just waiting to be released. He drove the point of his spear into the dirt and held his hands up for all to see.
"He's a druid, I believe we can come to an understanding."
He answered Yeda simply.
"Cuir dheth do chat, agus innis dhuinn dè a tha a ’dol leis an treubh seo."
The goblin turns his head while maintaining eye contact with Corrin and clicks his tongue in the direction of the cat. The cat, growling, hairs raised, ready to pounce, pauses at the sound from the goblins mouth. A couple more clicks emit from his mouth, and the cat turns and limps slowly out of the thick branch cover. A horrendous slash is cut deep into the cat's back thigh, blood pumping out and dripping on the ground. The cat wobbles slightly, and suddenly the back end drops, the affected leg not working.
The goblin steps up and looks at corrin. Am faic mi mo chompanach an toiseach?
He frowned as he looked at the cat, almost ashamed he had thought of it as a cloak. He knew it was a companion animal.
"feuch an dèan thu. tha e na bheathach brèagha."
He glanced back to the others and slightly frowned. This had taken a turn he hadnt expected.
"A bheil thu nad phàirt de bhràthair beag cearcall? No a bheil thu nad aon de na daoine gun eòlas?"
He leaned on the butt end of his spear calmly. If had had more magic he would have helped heal the cat. But he had a feeling there was quite a few fights left to go before they were clear of this mess.
Zeldana looked between Corrin and the golbin as they spoke a language that she herself didn't understand... which was a rarity for her.
"Well... this is new..."
Tammy keeps an eye out for other trouble.
Yeda simply acknowledges Corrin with an Okay...
She waits as they converse, her eyes darting back and forth as each one speaks. Intermittently she blurts out
Well?!
Then seeing the goblin paired with the cat a lantern goes off in her head.
Ooooooooooooooh. Okay but still, are they bad?