Round 8 (complete)
The thin trail of smoke rising from the northern tower is growing much more visible, likely some kind of signal fire.
Goblin #3 shrieks and tries vainly to break free of Rha'ziz's grip.
Rha'ziz tries to pull the goblin off the top of the tower. The slippery goblin manages to wriggle free, and Rha'ziz climbs up the ladder into the space created.
Erynidr moves into the southern tower to aid Rha'ziz.
Kella, Big Mouth and Chompt climb the ladder in the northern tower.
Sochi heads back onto the path.
Kyras heads to the southern tower.
Kroog leaps at the goblin shaman with fury in his eyes. He grabs the shaman around her waist and starts squeezing and biting her furiously.
Beromir pulls out his greataxe and starts climbing the ladder.
The Goblin shaman shrieks in terror and tries to break free of her attacker, but fails.
Skaar climbs to the top of the northern tower and sees Kroog wrsstling with the goblin shaman. Along the eastern edge of the tower, a small cauldron of foul-smelling oil is burning, releasing a growing plume of black smoke.
Goblin #4 tries once more to slash at Rha'ziz in his precarious position on the ladder.
Round 9 (partial)
Goblin #3 renews his attacks on Rha'ziz.
The Goblin Shaman drops her dagger and screams, "Give up! Give up!" in crude but understandable Common.
Round 9 (complete)
Goblin #3 renews his attacks on Rha'ziz. Dogslicer: 1d20 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 + 1 = 21Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 3Rha'ziz - Climb check DC 5 to avoid falling: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22
The Goblin Shaman drops her dagger and screams, "Give up! Give up!" in crude but understandable Common.
Rha'ziz smashes the goblin full in the chest with his flail, and it crumples to the ground.
Eryndir climbs the ladder.
Kella, Big Mouth and Chompt climb to the top of the tower, and immediately start grabbing any loose items they can find.
Sochi runs for the tower.
Kyras climbs the ladder as well.
Kroog pins the goblin shaman to the floor and starts muttering to her in Goblin.
Beromir follows the goblins up the ladder.
Skaar knocks the flaming cauldron over the edge of the tower, and it plummets to the ground, releasing a small cloud of steam as it hits the deep snow.
Goblin #4 takes one look at his dead comrade and drops to his knees, dropping his dogslicer and surrendering.
Status report:
Beromir - used 3 arrows; took 1 point of fire damage
Eryndir - used 10 arrows
Kyras - used 3 arrows
Rha'ziz - gave dagger to Kella; took 4+1+1+1+3=10 points of damage
Skaar - all damaged healed by infernal healing
Sochi - used 5 arrows
Goblins:
Kella - has Rha'ziz's dagger and a dogslicer, and a small glass bottle scavenged from the pinned shaman
Durp - is badly wounded by an arrow, whimpering in the snow
Chompt - has a short bow and a quiver with a few arrows in it
Big Mouth - has a quiver with a few arrows in it, a dagger taken from the shaman, and has swallowed a flask of alchemist's fire
Kroog - has a light crossbow and bolts taken from the Shaman he pinned, as well as her last flask of alchemist's fire
Grabble - lying unconscious in a pool of blood on the floor of the northern tower
You search the two towers, and discover a small cache of valuables in the northern tower, hidden under the general refuse that is a goblin's home. A small glass vial proves upon inspection to be a potion of bull's strength, and you also find two usable tanglefoot bags.
Beromir heals the wounded, and manages to bring Grabble back from the brink of death. Grabble is upset and being the only goblin left out of looting, so Kella gives him the dagger she was given from Rha'ziz. "It magic knife, make you immortal goblin hero!" she intones solemnly, glancing sideways at you sternly as if daring you to contradict her.
After cleaning up the area surrounding the towers, you leave the captives in the tower and resume your journey. The rest of the day passes uneventfully, and you start looking for a place to camp.
You easily find a good campsite and spend the night in relative comfort. The goblins try to eat their entire rations for the trip in one evening in a celebratory feast after their victory at the tower, but you manage to keep them mostly under control.
The next morning dawns brightly, and you continue your journey. The hilly terrain starts to smooth out, and by midday you enter a region of rolling plains with much less snow cover. Although the sky has clouded over, the temperature has increased and the day feels almost warm as you travel. Ahead, you see the vast expanse of the plains interrupted only by the occasional fir tree towering above the landscape.
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Rhaz searches the other goblin for weapons, takes out his dagger and places its tip in the small of its back, prodding it down the ladder. On the way, he gathers up the weapons of the enemy goblins.
Move it. He gives the hesitant goblin a shove.
Upon catching up with the rest of the group, Rhaz begrudgingly accepts any healing offered (macho man) and orders the prisoner to sit down.
I say we interrogate him and the others to find out if there are any enemy positions we don't know about - or any other pertinent info.
When Kella offers the dagger back, Rhaz grins widely. Frostfur tribe fight bravely. You keep dagger. He dumps the gathered weapons on the ground in front of her. Give these to your troops. We probably fight again soon.
Kella grins at Rha'ziz and starts yelling orders to her goblins. She distributes the remaining weapons and resolves the frequent disputes that occur. Once you get back no the road, the goblins spend much of their time trading arrows based on the color of the fletching, "sharpening" their weapons on any rock or tree you pass, and generally playing soldier.
As the day progresses, the sky darkens further and soon large snowflakes begin drifting lazily through the sky. The wind picks up, and soon Beromir signals a halt. "Big snow is coming," the druid intones.
You quickly make for the nearest shelter you can find, a slight dip int he ground with a snowdrift already packed against one side. It takes about an hour to set up camp, mostly because the goblins spend their time on target practice and trying to eat their rations. Kella needs reminding that she is the leader every five minutes or so, and this has the effect of bringing the goblins back under control for a brief time.
The night passes relatively uneventfully, but you all awake somewhat tired. The goblins spend most of the night playing tricks on each other, hunting for small animals, trying to steal their rations, and generally behaving like unruly children. While on watch, Kyras comes across a strange sight in the snow - a rare flower called a snowbloom. These flowers only grow in Irrisen during snowfall, and are quite rare and valuable.
After another day's travel, you see faint plumes of smoke ahead, and realize you have reached the village of Harvest's End. It appears to be is a quiet place, with little activity on the street. It is mid-morning, and you can smell the fishmongers' wares on the wind. From this distance you can't see a lot of detail, but among the predominantly human population, you also see the occasional smaller creature, likely a halfling and goblin, running through the streets. There are also the occasional Large-sized humanoid walking about, interacting with the populace in the same way as any other citizen. The village consists of a few dozen houses which all seem to be built from the same plan, surrounded by low picket fences. An open area near the river serves as town square and fish market, and beyond, the icy Rimeflow river rushes past.
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"I would have nothing against a few beers and a good game meat near a fireplace" Beromir answers the elf. "But what are we doing with the goblins ? Do we bring them in town at the risk of someone asking questions ? Or do we let them outside the city just for the night ?"
"Still, I think it would be best to bring them with us" the druid says after a while.
The goblins seem to have fully accepted that they work for you now. Not surprising, since they were working for rogue Shadow Lodge agents, and all longshanks like and smell pretty much the same to them. Trusting them with weapons has made them feel like they're not prisoners, and so they're pretty content right now. Especially if you feed them well!
The town of Harvest's End is rather bleak and colorless. The locals tend to avoid eye contact with strangers, and move about the drab houses quietly. The main sound comes from the grassy area near the river, which serves as both market square and fishmarket. Here, locals buy and sell the day's catch, and the occasional flash of color indicates a merchant from "away" who is passing through selling various sundries.
Your groups garners some attention, being as you are a party of twelve armed warriors. A member of the town guard approaches you and welcomes you to town, asking politely that you keep your weapons sheathed in town and don't cause trouble, but by and large you are left alone.
Off the square is the town's only tavern, the Frozen Fox, a dilapidated two-story building with a taproom and a few rooms for rent. Just down the street you see the sign for the ferry, a large barge connected to a set of ropes which cross the fast-flowing water. Sitting on a crate next to the barge is a large humanoid creature with blue skin, covered with warts and sporting a pair of great tusks protruding from his lower jaw. You notice that the locals seem to avoid passing too closely to him, but also seem to accept his presence as normal.
Make a Fort save... We'll assume you proceed until they are drunk?
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Asatsuyu Sochi sips lightly at her mug of ale and reads something in a small leather-bound tome. As Rha'ziz falls over mid-sentence, Sochi mumbles, "Yes, yes. And then they made you their king," and then turns the page of her book.
Every now and then, she looks up and does a head-count of the goblins.
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Beromir gladly drinks some tankards of ale but without going dead drunk like his Varisian companion. "I thought he would hold better his drink" the druid says thoughtfully. He then looks around the main room of the tavern as if looking for someone.
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Having no interest in drinking, and seeing that Eryndir, Beromir, Skaarr, Asatsuyu, and Ziz go into the tavern, he decided to look around the stalls and chat with the townspeople to try and gather information about the town.
But it looks like noone is interested in telling him anything of importance.