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Cautiously heading further east, the party finds themselves in another room.
From this curving room, doors lead east and west, and a passage leads south. A small table with four rickety chairs sits in the middle of the room. A pair of dice lies on the table amid cups and plates.
Two goblins are present in this chamber - one is collapsed over the table, snoring loudly, whilst the other appears to be so engrossed with stuffing small pieces of what could be (loosely) called food into her mate's ears, that she oblivious to anything else that might be happening around her..
Surprise Round: Constantin, Krudenk, Mathos, Braggett
Round 1: Constantin, Goblins, Krudenk, Mathos, Braggett
Sir Kibble growls at the scent of the Goblins and follows Mathos into the room.
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Surprise Round:
Constantin creates a puddle of Grease beneath the goblins...
...causing both to fall prone.
Mathos, Braggat, and Mr Kibble then move into the room.
Krudenk then takes a swing with his lucerne hammer, knocking the female goblin out cold.
Constantin exhorts his colleagues to fight, inspiring them to greater acts of heroism!
Incredibly, neither the fall, nor the oration by Constantin, is enough to wake up the sleeping goblin, who continues to snore loudly.
Round 1/2: Goblins, Krudenk, Mathos, Braggett, Constantin
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Lord Braggett follows the melodic tones of the sleeping Goblin and once it comes into view his shoulders sag "Well that takes the fun out of it!" he says, disappointed that there was no grand fight to be had. "Do we tie them up, try to get information about their numbers and the locations of traps? It seems entirely un-knightly to finish them off if they don't fight back..."
Braggett pokes the Goblin with the point of his fiery sword until it finally wakes up "You there! You are surrounded by heavily armed, highly trained individuals... Make any sudden moves and you will be fed to this wolf! Now, answer me this... How many Goblins infest this tower, what traps have you set, and for the love of all things good in this world, what is the source of this infuriating darkness!"
Braggett sighs and tries to clonk the Goblin on the head with the hilt of his sword, thoroughly unimpressed with the Goblin defences.
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Mathos shouts "Objection!", and clobbers the sleeping goblin into a deeper level of unconsciousness.
Now that the party has time to take stock, they discover the table is covered in about 2/3 of two different decks of cards, some pretty rocks, feathers, and gobbets of miscellaneous rotten foodstuffs, that appear to have been used as poker chips.
Beyond the door to the East, the party clearly hears two goblins engaged in a shouting match over who gets to eat something, whilst the short corridor to the South contains a single door to the West (locked), and a pair of double doors to the East. It then ends in a room, which once had an exit to the West (now blocked by a jury-rigged barricade), which presumably leads back to the entrance, and a single door to the East.
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Two tables with benches lie scattered around this mess hall. Decaying food of an indescribable nature sits on the tables. At the southern end of the chamber, doors exit to the east and the west.
Braggett spots two goblins in a frantic tug-of-war over the hindquarters of a mangy coyote...
...and they are thoroughly surprised by the party's appearance.
Surprise: Mathos, Braggett, Constantin, Krudenk, Goblins
Round 1: Mathos, Braggett, Constantin, Krudenk, Goblins
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Mathos strides into the room, and tries to brain another goblin with his tome... but this one finally wins its tug of war over the coyote haunch, staggering backwards at just the wrong moment, and is missed.
Braggett, however, has better luck, cutting down his chosen target with a swift slash of his longsword.
Constantin starts inspiring his colleagues.
Krudenk then moves into the room, and does what barbarians do so well, chopping the head clean off the other goblin.
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This curving room is a good-sized kitchen, complete with decaying tables, cupboards, and bins. One newer table has what seems like a child’s laboratory set up, with broken cups standing in for beakers.
Of more immediate concern, however, is the strange construct that stands in the doorway; it appears to have once been quite intimidating, but was broken long ago, and subsequently repaired (rather badly) by very inexpert hands.
The glaive it is wielding, however, is definitely distressingly functional.
Standing next to an open doorway through to an ajoining room, is a goblin wielding a falchion, with an unholy symbol around his neck.
He grins as he spots the party, speaking in broken Common:
"Challenge for Clanky! Good, good!"
Round 1: Mathos, Braggett, Krudenk, Clanky, Skizzertz, Constantin
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Mathos identifies the holy symbol around the goblin's neck, then withdraws, hoping to get the construct to follow him.
Braggett then pulls back, mounting Sir Kibble.
Krudenk, detesting poorly-built machines, simply takes a mighty swing, dealing a significant amount of damage to the construct (although still slightly less than he had expected), causing electricity to start crackling across its body, but not dropping it.
Clanky responds by stepping forward, and taking a swing at Krudenk...
...but its aim is off (probably due to its inadequate repairs).
The Goblin, now looking quite concerned, retreats through the opposite doorway, screaming at the top of its lungs.
Round 1/2: Constantin, Mathos, Braggett, Krudenk, Clanky(-18)
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"Charge, Sir Kibble!" Lord Braggett yells as he points his sword forward. Kibble sniffs at the air and tentatively makes his way forward "No, Kibble, you need to go faster than th- woah!" Clanky suddenly comes into view, looking a lot more banged up than it seemed just moments ago. However, it still looks menacing enough for Braggett "Take that!" He swings his sword at the sparking construct as Sir Kibble attempts to take it's legs from under it.
Lord Braggett: Swift to challenge, Standard to attack
Sir Kibble: Move 10', standard to attack
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Constantin aids Krudenk's defenses.
Mathos tosses his book at the construct, sending it rocking back on its feet.
Braggett charges forward on Sir Kibble. His attack goes wide, by his trusty hound's attack has more effect, even if it does not manage to trip its target.
Krudenk, meanwhile, takes a swing, but the construct steps out of the way at the last moment.
Clanky takes a swing at Krudenk...
...and then explodes!
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Lord Braggett screams in surprise and pain as the large construct explodes, but thanks to Kibble's quick reactions they both manage to avoid the worst of it. "What was that!" He yells, ears ringing and hair standing on end "Is everyone alright?" He hastily searches the room in an attempt find his comrades and stumbles upon a wand "Well what do you know... Hey, I think I found something useful!"
"That Goblin was screaming something fierce earlier. I suggest we pursue it, lest it comes back with more of those infernal contraptions." Still on the back of his trusty steed, Lord Braggett stands ready to advance.
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Once the party has healed-up, they decide to move on to the south...
This curving hall has been badly damaged, but there are intact doors to the north, east, and south, as well as a large double-door leading west to the core of the tower. The southeast corner of the room has collapsed in a mound of green glass rubble, but a tunnel runs through the debris, shored up with rough timbers.
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"Blast! Which way did he go?" Lord Braggett exclaims in frustration. After searching the room for any tracks he confidently points to the southeast corner "My money is on that tunnel there... Not that I would gamble, of course! Most unknightly behaviour." He moves up to the tunnel and inspects the rough timber frame "Of course, it could be a trap..." He pokes at it with the tip of his sword, hoping the whole thing doesn't collapse.
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A plush, human-sized bed stands in this chamber, along with a table holding a bone scroll tube and jars filled with eyeballs, claws, and teeth. Various automaton parts lie scattered around.
The scroll tube on the table contains a sheet of parchment on which is drawn a complicated magical sigil in iridescent green ink.
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This room is full to bursting with a motley collection of cots and other furniture cobbled from scraps of wood and cloth. The stench of rotting food is overpowering. Doors lead to the west and the north.
Of more immediate concern, however, is that the room is full to bursting with Goblins, as well!
Round 1: Constantin, Krudenk, Mathos, Braggett, Goblins.
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"Hmm, perhaps the little coward fled the spire after all?" Lord Braggett says as they search the room "I have no idea what this sigil is, but I suggest we take it, along with a few of these knickknacks to show our employer." He stuffs the things into his saddle bags, but not before showing them to Constantin and Mathos, just in case.
The smell hits Lord Braggett like a ton of bricks "Good grief! What is that stentch?" Sir Kibble starts growling as they enter the room, but Braggett fails to notice the goblin through the darkness until he is right on top of it "Haha, we've found you now! There is no escape this time, we have you outnumbered!" He swings his sword in tandem with Kibbles bite.
Braggetts attack
Kibbles attacks
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It is Azlanti for the number six. Constantin says smugly.
Though why that number holds importance I
know not. Perhaps that myst'ry will reveal itself.
Upon hearing the reports of the goblin's numbers, Constantin swiftly pontificates and moves into Krudenk's shadow!
Fear not - Their numbers hold no peril if
we turn to meet them valiantly and true