Garrok looks back and gives everyone a nod. Then he quietly puts his weight against the door and steps through to the next room.
You open the doors and move quietly into a room that appears to be just a hallway adjoining another room to the North and a pair of double doors to the West. You notice that the northern door has been nailed shut with many rusty nails that have been hammered in haphazardly then bent over to make it even more difficult to open from this side.
Looking at the door, he says quietly "Hopefully there's another way in there..."
He then goes to the west door and carefully and quietly opens it a bit and listens before stepping through.
Garrok listens at the door but hears nothing.
He opens the door to see an open flight of wooden stairs winds up to a trap door in the ceiling, thirty feet above. You realize that you're below the western watchtower. Another set of doors leads to the North.
"We don't want anyone coming down from there and sneaking up behind us..."
Garrokmal climbs the stairs of the watchtower, shield held high.
Waiting for the outcome of Garrok's exploratory ascent (or his turn to climb), Zafzalurg moves toward the North door cautiously, checking for traps along the way, and (if he's successful in reaching the door without triggering something nasty) listens at the door without actually touching it.
And hears nothing over his own ragged breathing. Also, he's distracted by a shiny pebble on the floor.
Zaf hears very little as he listens at the door.
Garrokmal very gently lets the trap door fall closed, then descends to the room below. With a sharp whisper, he waves at Zafzalurg. "Hey! Leave the pebble where it is."
He nods his head toward the top of the stairs. "Two goblins - sleeping. If we attack them the whole keep will hear it, but if we leave them, they could surprise us from behind. I wonder if we can trap them up there... Any ideas?"
A dagger or some other bit of long thin metal would be easy to wedge in and bar the door.
Hieronymous looks at the door and then takes his normal dagger and wedges it in to bar the door. He then shoves the dagger he pulled out of the wall into the sheath he took his normal dagger from. "Everything in it's right place," he mumbles, mostly to himself.
"Excellent, that will do..."
Garrok then turns his attention to the north pair of doors, once again very carefully trying to test it, open a crack and listen to what's on the other side.
You hear nothing coming from the door to the North.
Upon entering you find that it's just another adjoining room where dirt and filth litter the bare floors. Another pair of doors opens to the North. From between the slats you see sunlight stream through.
"Hm - back outside already?" says Garrokmal as he gently unlatches the door...
You hear the yapping and braying of several more dogs beyond the door. You distinctly make out four different dogs and it sounds as if they are running all around some enclosure within the compound.
"Those damnable not-dogs again. Nasty things. Maybe we should see if there's another way around before we sound the alarm..."
Unless there are objections, Garrok leads the group back to the first room they entered and tries the far east-facing door at the end of the little corridor.
[ooc]I'm gonna want these rolls back when we enter combat, lol...[/b]
You hear nothing as you listen at the door.
Garrokmal steps through into the room to the east.
An open flight of wooden stairs winds up to a trap door in the ceiling, thirty feet above. It looks very similar to the other guard tower that you were just in.
There is another door to the North.
Ascending to the top of the stairs, Garrokmal listens carefully at the trap door for signs of activity above.
Hearing nothing, he gently lifts the door and looks around to see what's there.
Hearing activity, he returns to the floor below. Indicates to the others that there are goblins (or something) above, and looks for something with which to jam the door shut.
You hear goblin voices engaged in what you would consider the sound of typical goblin carousing.
"I don't suppose you have another dagger you don't need floating around in your dress there, Hieronymous?"
Garrok looks around the room for something else that might be used to secure the trap door.
Hieronymous looks down at his chainmail and thinks, Dress? "Well, I have the silver one and the really nice one we just found, probably don't want to lose either of them."
"What about an arrow or two? They should perform as well as a dagger for this." Zafzalurg whispers up the line, offering two four-fletched arrows to the half-orc.
"That's a good idea, Zafzalurg..." Taking the two arrows offered, Garrokmal gently walks back up the stairs and forces the arrowheads into the crack of the trap door. He presses it gently, considers for a moment, then pulls a third arrow from his own quiver and lodges it in place as well. Testing it again, he nods, satisfied.
"Alright - let's hope they only have the one pen of dogs." He says, approaching the north door. He listens.
Did Ithrinniel just sneeze?
"Now that the towers are secure," the bard begins in a whisper, "perhaps it's time we went deeper into the keep."
Hearing nothing, you open the door into a small hallway, two other doors exit to the North and west at the far end.
"Deeper, it is, then..." Garrokmal says as he gently tests the door to the north.
You hear no voices from beyond the door, but the reek of something past its freshness assails your nose.
"Well, avoiding goblin dogs is one thing - avoiding overripe cheese is another. We're facing whatever's in there."
Readying his sword, shield and nose, Garrokmal puts his weight against the door and steps into the stinky room.
Despite the horrible smell issuing from it, Garrok puts his weight against the door but it does not budge. The door is locked.
Momentarily straining against the door, Garrokmal looks at his friends a little sheepishly... "Well, eventually we're facing whatever's in there. Right now, we're going this way."
And with that, he gently tests the door to the west. He tries the latch and listens carefully before stepping through.
Through the door Garrok hears the sound of a drum and raucous goblin laughter, it sounds as if there may be a gathering of goblins within. (5-10)
Not wanting to rush in unprepared, Garrokmal turns to his companions. "Goblins - several, in there. Time we got some answers here. Are you all ready?"
Hieronymous looks at Garrokmal confidently, "Ready"
Hoping the rest of his team hasn't been petrified into silence, Garrokmal quietly opens the door, hoping the goblins inside may be too distracted to notice them for a moment.
This large throne room is decorated with hanging furs along its walls, mostly black-and-red striped firepelt skins, various dog pelts, and in some cases, what look like horse hides. Four square timbers support the ceiling, their faces studded with dozens of iron spikes, with the lower
reaches decorated with dozens of impaled and severed hands in various stages of decay. To the northeast, a wooden platform supports a throne
heaped with dog pelts and horse hides. Dog skulls adorn the armrests and a horse skull leers over the throne’s back.
In the center of the room, you see three goblins re-enacting what looks to be the recent battle of Sandpoint where they are fighting very ugly and crudely fashioned illusions of yourselves. At the rear of the room you make out a goblin warchanter beating the drum and chanting the spell creating the illusions. Sitting atop the throne is a fierce looking goblin urging on his troops with a brutal eye, curled up around the throne and stroked by the goblin chief is a large swamp gecko.
They have yet to notice you.
No time to waste, the others will just have to keep up. Must end this quickly!
Without wanting to make a sound that would give away their arrival, Garrokmal instantly takes action. Knowing the goblin will be unable to react, he rushes like a mad yak and tries to slam it bodily into the spike-covered column behind him.
With the jolt of the impact and the rush of adrenaline, Garrok isn't quite sure what has happened as he looks up...
"The Tarrasque..." Zafzalurg murmurs to himself and prepares to throw in with his camarades, pulling out his new dagger for its first bite of goblin.
Sizing up the situation, Garrok rushes into the room bashing a goblin with his shield and sending it flying against the nearby column where it crashes against the spikes and impaled by a rusty nail.
The remaining goblins' glee changes to looks of horror as they realize what's happening and start preparing to go on the offensive.
Seeing that the goblins appear to be in a state of shock, Hieronumous charges a second goblin.
Zafzalurg steps into the doorway to assess the situation and catching a fleeting glance of a robed figure in the far corner, begins to chant. Magical energies eddy around the bard as he attempts to call forth a creature from across the dimensions to harry the goblin.
Gathering the confidence she needs to be steady, Ithrinniel slides past Zaf with a wink, Nuala gripping her right shoulder tightly. Ithrinniel closes her eyes and begins chanting, generating a steady rise in electricity in the air around her as she performs a summoning to aid in the fight against one of the goblins near a pillar.
Hieronymous, hot on Garrok's heels, charges into the fray and jabs a spear attack at one of the goblins, by instinct the little devil jumps out of the way. Zaf and Ithrinniel make their way into the room and begin chanting the words of arcane power that will call allies to them from the ether.
Initiatives:
The goblins react quickly, already armed and armored for their faux combat they lash back.
On Hieronymous:
The goblin smashed into the column, picks himself up, extricating itself from the rusty nails. It makes a bloody lunge at Garrok with what remains of its energy.
As the goblin works to recover its footing, Garrokmal takes advantage and attacks.
As the goblin removes itself from the clutches of the column, Garrok sends it to the waiting arms of Lamashtu with a thrust from his sword.
HA! We'll just walk right in here and cut out their hearts, is what we'll do...
His sword well bloodied, Garrokmal turns his attention to the Warchief in the corner. He covers the ground between them in an instant and takes a mighty swing as if to fell the goblin in a single blow.
"RRRRRAAAAAAGHGHH!!!"
Can't get sloppy now!