"Did you guys all hear that? Did you dearies? I don't think we need these any longer do we?" Wren fluffs and preens proudly.
Barring any objection, Wren shoos the goblins up the stairs and outside.
"Shoo! Shoo shoo! Go on now! Be free! Like the little birdies you are!"
When the goblins are gone, she will look to Kevin.
"Shall we continue on, dearie? I remember this one time I met this giant man! He was made of flesh and stitches, would you believe!? I called him 'Stitches'...blahblah blah...blah blahblah blah...definitely had a weird fetish for...blahblah blah...blah blahblah blah...I looked to see if they had stitched on a...blahblah blah...blah blahblah blah...14" tbone steak...blahblah blah...blah blahblah blah..."
"She is not referring to the dog, but to the flesh-stitched man that once lived in the castle."
Galadan attempts to explain.
Andrea gives Kevin a wry look as Wren goes into her normal wittering routine.
'Aldous' shakes his head in a mildly bemused fashion, as Wren interacts with the Goblins.
I doubt we will get anything useful out of them, but at least it keeps her occupied/happy.
He shrugs, and then begins to carefully search the building.
"Where do we exit, little birdies? What do you mean by that?"
Wren dances and prances as she tries to communicate her question.
"I believe they intend us to use the gate. Another of those flesh hounds is out there, though."
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"Does Stiched man also eat goblins? Goblins want this way" he points towards the gate to the outside "Last Greenhide and ugly dog that way" he points in the opposite direction. You notice in this direction that the door is barred by a makeshift barrier that can be easily enough removed from the inside.
"Going over bridge is no good, no good. Stiched dog eats people walking across the bridge." You hear the three goblins laughing "Leave door to bridge closed and Greenhide nowhere to go but be eaten or fall down."
You notice a amulet with the depiction of a hagged skull around the neck of the goblin who is doing the talking.
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There are a few other interesting belongings of the trolls that you discover
Hunks of dubious meat hang from meat hooks attached to an old staff among piles of timber. The trolls have also collected several sacks of plunder, including a pair of bellows, a shovel, a sledge, a battered tankard, several pretty stones, 208 gp and 345 sp.
The goblins - spotting you making an inventory suddenly seem very friendly
"Hungry goblins
'Aldous' shrugs.
"Knock yourselves out."
I would rather not eat meat prepared by Trolls...
He then tosses the Goblins the hunks of meat, before gesturing towards the rest of the trolls' 'hoard'.
"Does anyone want any of the rest of this stuff? I could probably fix the tankard, for example, " he says, nodding towards Kevin.
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There seems to be a lot of magic around you - no wonder - looking at all the magic items that the group carries around. Sifting through them you suddenly get a suprise.
The staff which was unceremonously carrying the meat hooks radiates a magical aura.
The goblins gorge on the meat - smiles on their faces. It seems suprising how quick they manage to down that much meat.
Casting Detect Magic, 'Aldous' scans the items collected by the trolls, nodding as he confirms they are strictly non-magical 'treasures'.
He looks rather bemused for a moment, however, when something else catches his eye...
"Huh. I have never heard a magical meat-hook rack before..."
He moves over to the rack the meat the Goblins have now polished off was hanging from, and concentrates, not really willing to touch it.
After the feeding of the goblins, sorting of the loot, and the Mr. Hastur's magical investigations (to Wren's tapping foot), Wren will explore both exits.
"Kevin, dearie, maybe you would like to help me clear this entrance?" Wren points at the gate barricaded with furniture.
"I think this is our way in."
Wren offers help by telling Kevin where to move stuff and reminding him to lift with his back, not with his precious knees.
"A moment, Wren; perhaps we should check it for traps, first?"
Galadan also checks for traps.
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The gnarled and twisted piece of wood pointed out by Hastur looks more interesting on closer scrutiny. What looks like random knots in the wood has a strange resemblance to insects once grease and grime is removed from the wood. And the insects seem to move occasionally. The dark colour is not dirt but rather dark wood.
It turns out that actually this is a Staff of Swarming Insects.
The staff allows the use of the following spells
Summon swarm (1 charge)
Insect plague (3 charges)
There even seem some charges left on the staff.
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Buried under the junk piled up is a grey tunic with a blue trim.
This looks like a guard uniform. Unfortunately it is in bad shape and needs some mending / cleaning.
You notice that the gagged skull medallion around the neck of one of the goblins seems to have a close resemblance to the emblem of the Whispering Way.
The goblins seem to be unhappy seeing you to work on the pile of junk. One tries to reach up to remove the bar still blocking the other gate but doesn't manage to open it.
"Way out here, way out here !"
'Aldous' gingerly nudges the staff with a thumb and forefinger, before rolling it in Andrea's direction.
"I think this has your name on it. You may want to clean it before using it, though..."
At the Goblins' distress, 'Aldous' sighs, and takes a moment to stop clearing the gate to take down the bar blocking the Goblins from escaping.
"Shoo."
"A moment, please, goblinkin. That medallion." Galadan points to the gagged skull one of the goblins is wearing.
"May I see it?"
Wren continues to watch the progress as its made on the gateways.
Galadan retrieves a handful of gold pieces from his pouch.
"I will purchase it from you, for 5 gold pieces."
Andrea shrugs as 'Aldous' hands her the staff.."I've dealt with worse things..You should help a woman deliver twins if you really want to see a Mess"
"It strikes me that we could fort up in here whilst we get ready for the next challenge. I have little left in the way off offensive Magics"
'Aldous' shrugs.
"From what the Goblins said, it sounds like there is one more troll left on the other side of that barricade; we may want to deal with it, before bedding down for the night.
Having said that, I am still perfectly happy to continue if others wish to."
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Galadan retrieves a handful of gold pieces from his pouch.
"I will purchase it from you, for 5 gold pieces."
The goblin looks at the gold
"Me not need gold. Human have skull, goblins have meat."
There must have been several mountain goats that got slaughtered by the trolls. Despite the voracious appetite - the goblins haven't managed to eat even half of it yet as the amount would have fed 3 peasant families a whole winter.
Wren pulls out her whistle and gives it a blow, looking at the goblin while she does.
"Would you rather have this magic monster scarer or that skull? We could trade," Wren tries to communi-pantomime that offer to the goblin, trying to help Galadan out.
"Master Aldous, do you have anything the goblins might trade for?"
"..."
"I think the Goblin is calling you human, and saying that it wants the meat we have left?"
But Galadan is an elf...a lot like me but not as pretty. These goblins sure are confusing.
Wren sees if Mr. Hastur's hunch is correct.
"Sure. Give me the skull, you take the meat with you."
Wren holds out her hand.
"Oh yes, of course. You may have the meat in exchange for the pendant."
Wren smiles an unhealthy yellow toothed smile at the goblins.
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When you hand over the meat you will notice that indeed this is goats meat. Some more searching might find some gnawed upon bones.
The following needs two checks together aka you need to know the info from the first to be able to get the info from the second
Human meat is a delicatesy for trolls and goblins. Human meat therefore will be eaten first and seldom gets smoked or preserved for later. It is even known that fights can break out for the heart or other choice pieces of meat. The first bite tends to go to the monster that killed the human - but sometimes there is a debate who this was.
+3 to identify monster abilities
+3 to identify monster abilities
Watching them depart, presumably after trading the pendant for the whistle, Galadan turns to Aldous.
"It is indeed goat's meat. I doubt that any human or humanoid meat will be found here. Goblinoids eat that first."
The last few notes of his explanation detect a hint of disgust.
'Aldous' nods, and wrinkles his nose.
"How utterly charming. I just hope that the man we came here to see did not end up as lunch..."
He then moves back to unblocking the other door, throwing a comment over his shoulder.
"By the way, why the interest in that medallion the Goblin had?"
"Mistress Wren."
"May I see it please? I recognized the iconography immediately. It is the gagged skull, a symbol of the Whispering Way."
Wren, still smiling toothily, hands the medallion to Galadan.
"What do you think it is, dearie?"
"Hard to say." Galadan mutters, clearly speaking more to himself than to Wren. He does not touch the medallion himself, but allows Wren to hold it up for him to examine carefully.
He casts acute senses, sharpening his vision even further to take in every nick and hammer-mark on the medallion's surface.
He also uses his detect alignment ability to determine if the medallion has an alignment.
And finally casts detect magic.
After he has done all that, then he will take the Medallion and look it over again, inspecting it for secret compartments or the like. Same perception roll above.
"This medallion is fully and wholly evil. As one might exect for an item crafted for the Whispering Way. The chain is damaged, likely how it fell from its previous owner, which was not too far ago."
He hands the medallion back to Wren.
"It bears no magic, however, and only serves as a reminder that the agents of the enemy of life and death are everywhere."
"Great. I was wondering when we would be able to make a run at them. We still owe them for what they did to the proffesor. After we deal with this place and Stitches, it will be time to collect that debt."
Wren nods to Galadan with concern.
"Perhaps we will find them this way," Wren says pointing at the once blocked gateway. "After you."
Andrea nods her face taking on a grim determination.."Aye , they must pay..they will pay for all the suffering they have caused for all the unquiet souls they have condemmed to unlife.She grips the symbol of Pharasma thant hangs around her neck.
"That which is dead should stay Dead"
Wren scratches her armpit and sniffs her fingers.
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You finally open the gate. A last troll and his faithful sidekick are waiting for you. Saliva drools from the maw of the dog. Both seem eager to fight - likely that they haven't seen what happened to their comrades as they might have seen a better chance in just jumping down.
Initiative:
Troll Dogs
Troll
Wren
Aldous
Galadan
Kevin
Andrea
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The troll hound seems to have waited for just this opportunity. He takes a step forward and lashed out at
Galadan 1, Hastur 2 and Kevin 3
Attack
The hound seems to realize too late that he might have chosen the wrong target as his nose sniffs fire and death. His attack fails miserably as he isn't able to redirect it to an easier target.
Andrea places her ward back on Kevin and readies herself to heal him or Galadan.