Between Annie and Sven, the hole in the door is now large enough to shoot through or reach through to unbar the door. The goblins are now outside and have vanished into the bright light.
(2=recovery)
Gulver gave up his search and walked over to the door to check on Annie's progress. "Do you see the goblins? No? I agree with Zander. We should kill them before they alert the rest of the tribe. Shall we open the door and give chase or try to shoot them from the clifftop above us?"
Annie shoulders the mallet and redraws her bow. She squints as her eyes adjust to the glare above ground. She heads through the door, but stops at the edge of the bridge. She pokes the ropes with her foot. "Hey Gulver, is this thing safe to cross?"
(approach bridge)
(examine bridge)
(look for goblins)
"I will let you know in a jiffy." Gulver tiptoed from shadow to shadow toward the bridge and searched this end of it thoroughly for traps.
Zander waits for the gnome to verify the safety of the bridge and prepares to move out wit the rest of the team.
Gulver examines the bridge which extends about 40' across the gully. The anchors that hold the bridge to the walls are ancient and well-forged, but the bridge is clearly a recent goblin construction. It seems sturdy, but probably slow going for larger users as the handholds are low.
You can't see anything on the other side of the gully because the goblins have disappeared into another dark doorway, made opaque by the sunlight.
(for use on other side)
"It seems safe enough. Let's go!" said Gulver. With his bow slung over one shoulder he was able to place his hands on the support ropes on either side of him. He hastened across the bridge. Once across, Gulver would make a feeble attempt to hide in the shadows of the dark doorway of doom.
Annie draws an arrow and covers Gulver's traversal. Once the gnome is safely on the other side, she shoulders it once again and follows him across.
Stowing his axe Sven swallows nervously, looking out over the gully. The handholds seemed infinitely far away from his grasp, and the entire structure made him nervous. Stepping out onto the rickety bridge he stooped down, his mail rattling as he plodded across.
Upon reaching the other side Sven falls against the wall outside the doorway, readying his axe once again.
"I've been told that some magicians can create light from magic alone, are any of you capable of this feat?"
Zander nervously makes his way across the bridge, holding his breath the entire way. Once on the other side he pauses to adjust his gear and peers into the darkened doorway, looking for some indication of what lies within.
"I did not ask Desna to gift me with that spell today. However, I do have some torches and candles should we need them."
"Why don't you use that torch I gave you a few minutes ago?" suggested Gulver. "The one that's in your hand."
Lucky crosses the bridge, the wee bird perched on top of his head.
The room at the end of the bridge is uncannily quiet, and, as your eyes adjust to the darkness, you see that the room is, in fact, empty of goblins. This room is long and narrow, extending only 5' to the left and right, but 40' to the opposite end from the bridge. In the far, right corner is the top of a spiral staircase leading down.
(Search for murder holes, etc.)
Empty? thought Gulver. This could be a trap. The gnome drew his bow and nocked an arrow. He walked warily through the narrow room toward the spiral staircase, keeping his expert eyes open for traps.
Once across the bridge, Annie draws her bow and follows whomever wishes to lead down the staircase.
Following Gulver's lead across the desolate room Sven prepares to take the lead once the party is ready to descend the stairs, hurrying along with a wary haste. If the way becomes too dark he will light a torch, resolving to wielding his axe with one hand.
"No doubt the archers have warned the remainder of their nest..
Gulver notices, in the center of the room, there is a chute leading up through the ceiling. There is no ladder or other way to reach the chute. It's nearly 10' off the ground and appears completely smooth from your point of view.
There does not appear to be any light source further in, so before you descend the stairs, a torch will likely be necessary.
Gulver said, "Thanks for lighting a new torch, Sven. I see much better now. There is a chute in the ceiling. We cannot easily use it as an entrance, but the goblins may be able to exit through it. Should we leave a guard here or descend the staircase together? What do you think?"
"Anybody bring a grapnel?" asks Annie "If not, then it's down, down to goblin town for us"
Gulver replied, "A grapnel? I couldn't even afford rope. Sven, would you be kind enough to lead the way? I will cover you with my trusty bow."
"I have rope but, alas, no grapnel. I don't see anything up there for a grapnel to catch on at any rate. I think I agree with Annie in that we are going to have to go down."
"...I'm not even quite sure what a grapnel is." Sven whispered under his breath
"Who? What what? Lead the way? Very good then, come friends, keep close and vigilant"
Torch in hand Sven leads the party down, down into the darkness, marching with a haste
Gulver followed Sven, allowing Annie to walk ahead of him if she wanted.
Annie follows as well, on the lookout for trouble.
Sven mutters as they hurry down the stairwell No doubt we're walking into an ambush, the whole Warren must be on high alert..
"No doubt," agreed Gulver. "That is why you are in the lead."
"If there is a need," says Zander, "I believe I can even up the odds a bit with a timely Summons."
You proceed about 2 floors down the spiral stairs and find yourselves in the center of 30' square floor, walled in on the north, south, and west. To the east, the floor drops off abruptly and continues another 15' or so. You can't see the bottom of the lower area, so you can't tell how deep it is.
However, you can immediately see that this room once served as some sort of laboratory, as there are tables, instruments, broken flasks, and various oddities laying about. There are also several sets of rusted, old manacles attached to the walls and tables, suggesting that the participants in these experiments were not all consensual.
There are goblin footprints all over the dusty floor, but they are so mixed up that you can't tell which are fresh. You can tell, though, that most of them lead towards the drop-off.
"Far beyond goblin artifice I think. Let's see if there is anything of use to us." Annie searches the room for any intact vials or other useful gear. Afterwards she lights a torch of her own and tosses it over the cliff on the East side.
After the party gives the lab a good once over Sven shoulders his axe and passes his torch on to whoever will take it. Knocking an arrow in his shortbow he peers over the cliff, hugging the north wall.
Gulver helped Annie search the laboratory and tried to identify the choicest bits.
Zander stands watch while the others search the room, wary for goblin ambushes.
Sven can see that, after the drop-off, the room continues for another 20' or so. The drop appears to be about 10' down, and there are more manacles down below.
Also found are the goblins you were chasing. And some friends. 4 friends.
As soon as Sven see the goblins down below, they spring into action, rushing towards two ladders leading up to the top level where the party is.
The little beasts get a head start in the dim light. They rush to the ladders on either side of the ledge, and one lets out a wretched wail and hurls a glass bottle up onto the higher floor. When the bottle hits the ground, it shatter, and the liquid inside bursts into flames.
The fire lands in the dead-center of the room, covering the bottom of the stairs in fiery liquid.
>>
Gulver drew his bow as he forced himself to walk, not run, toward Zander. Then he nocked, drew, and fired an arrow at the goblin at the top of the northmost ladder.
"Shove off the ladders!" Shouts Annie as she tries to pick off the Southern Goblin foolish enough to climb up first.
Sheathing his bow Sven redraws his axe, bringing it down upon the Northern most Goblin's mug.
"To arms! Our exit is blocked!"
Zander moves to the ladder in front of Annie, placing himself to the side and back a bit, so as not to spoil her shots, not to be next to the ledge and still have a free shot with the reach of his lobgspear as each goblin comes up.
As he gets into position, he makes a powerful thrust at the goblin who just reached the top.