Essa almost feels sorry for the remaining goblin as the group closes in around it, its determination to fight on against overwhelming odds. She whirls her huge flaming club about her and at the goblin.
Roguk next to her leaps on the small creature attempting to rend it limb from limb, his savage claws and huge canines tearing at the goblin.
Neither Selene nor Takeshi manage to land a solid blow on the goblin, even if they nearly hit it.
Enev and Ah Mera watch the two other goblins running away, and the warrior from Aroden asks
Should we pursue them, Enev? Or do you think it's a trap?
Rogurk's claws are enough to bring the goblin's down, sending blood flying on the poor Takeshi.
Ah Mera picks up her chakram, annoyed she wasn't more helpful in the fight.
At least I hit one goblin... I'm sure you will get your chance to show your martial prowess soon, Enev.I hope none of our comrades is too badly hurt?
I'm not hurt thankfully. Let's get back the finding our run always. Selene says as she searches the defeated for anything that might be useful.
Selene found a few things carried by the defeated goblins: a small jar containing an eye,one live beetle, a tinderbox, one portion of half-rotten "food", one bag of sling stones.
Of course, you could use the badly shaped sickles too
Selene finds a few used coins too, not really much, but they should be handy when you come back to Kassen, who knows?
"Right.." Takeshi says as the last of the goblins are fleeing or dead.
"Let's continu back?"
Essa stands for a moment, the adrenaline of the fight still keeping her on edge. She moves to Roguk and settles him down, and moves him away from the limp goblin as the others search the bodies. She wipes her club off on the some leaves to remove the goblin brain matter. After a bit, she hears Takeshi. Essa gathers with the group and makes sure everyone is ok. "Crazy goblins! Is everyone ok?" and then, "But yes, lets get back to the matters at hand."
Ah Mera looks at Essa with a newfound respect, it seems
Whatever you did with your club against that goblin... That was truly impressive, Essa. Aroden would welcome powerful and wise warriors like you...
"Yeah, someday I will..." he answers to Ah Mera,
"Is everyone ok? Are we still going after them or shall we go to the crypt?" Enev sheathes his sword.
I know it's been awhile but they sent us out here to return these upstarts back to town and pass our trial of lighting the torch. Had they not murdered Steve, I would gladly wave them off since they are clearly capable of taking care of themselves, but they killed Steve and left his body in a ditch. Steve, that bastard, had one thing coming but he didn't deserve to be killed and left there like that.
Selene stands taking the jar, tinderbox, coins, sling stone bag, and gem and stows them away. I'll let slide the bringing them back to town, but they have to answer for what they've done. Mayla's brother is still with them too, he's either in trouble or has Mayla to answer to as well. As bearer of the lantern, I say we track them down.
Essa looks at Ah Mera, "Thank you, it was nothing special, just my club here and a little druidic magic. I, umm, yes, I will get back to tracking." Still shaking from the fight which was over in seconds, Essa tries to focus on the trail, and finding the other group.
Taking a deep breath she scours the ground for signs.
+ scent
"Let's get this done" Enev smiles and goes to help Essa
He seems distracted with something and it's not much of a help.
Mayla listens to everyone and she felt relief and worry fill her all at once. Relief, because they were following her brother and she could determine if he was alright and the part he played in it. But worried, because this was taking them away from their first goal.
"Thank you." She would say to everyone.
Essa pick up the tracks again, after some hesitations: there is more footprints, mostly goblin sized, and she has to be cautious to pick the right set of tracks.
Getting deeper in the forest and in what seems to be goblin territory, you sometimes feel observed, even if no one manage to detect anyone spying on you.
Maybe it's just nervousness.
You walk at a slower pace for what seems to be an hour or so, when Rogurk suddenly stops. He lifts a small stone on the side of the trail, takes something, and brings it shily to Essa. The druidess realise soon it's some parchment again (held upside down by Rogurk).
The writing is sometimes shaky, and the sentences are sometimes uncoherent.
My name is Nabu Nerimar, and this is my last will: GET OFF! Whoever you are!
It is now official: I hate trees. Too bad I'm lost in a forest. I should have stayed at Kassen. I guess I'll never see the lovely Hami now. She is a sweet girl, and she has a decent sense of humor.
Now I'm stuck in that damn forest, with people I hate and despise nearly half as much as I hate and despise myself.
Listening to Groyshna boasting over his prowess as a woodcutter was awful. Asking why, if he was so good, there were still trees in that damn forest was a bad decision. My jaw still hurts, he carries a nasty punch. All this bloody day was a damn, bad, stupid decision. Poor Steve. He was even a bigger loudmouth than I am, and I don't want to end like him. And Fadj is a loser, a whiner and a crymommy. The only good thing about him was his pretty sister. But she will fade from my memory, unlike Hami, if only I survive. Goblins are everywhere, so I doubt it. Fadj is already hurt, as is Groyshna, but the half orc carries on, and he killed three goblins with that big axe of his. No tree was cut, unfortunatly.I've never been a sentimentalist, but I want to write these words once, if they are the last I'll ever write: Hami, I loved you. And you'll never know.What a cruel joke life is...
After reading the parchment silently, Essa passes it to the group. She gazes for a moment into the trees seeking an answer. Could this have been prevented somehow?
Essa pats Roguk on the head and waits for the others.
The silver lining here is they may still be alive. The bad news is I don't remember there being any goblin corpses other than the ones we made, so it is possible we are lost. We must double our efforts, this is now a rescue mission!
I don't know much about goblins
says Ah Mera
but perhaps they took their wounded and dead back to their own "village". That would explain why we found nothing, Selene. I just hope Nabu and the others are alive, because they have things to explain. I'm sorry to say that, Malya, but even if your brother has been attacked by goblins, he still has to answer for the death of Steve.But Selene is right, we should try to rescue them: they are our folks ,even if they aren't our friends.
Ah Mera face show mixed emotions, anger and sadness mostly
"Let's find them and bring them back, this is now our mission. I wanted to go to the crypt but that will have to wait." He faces the way the goblins went,
"Are we tracking those goblins?"
"I can try to track whoever we need to. Do we think they went with or were captured by goblins?"
Takeshi looks around, thinking, but clueless.. He tries not to say anything that might interfer with others' train of thoughts.
Mayla gently took the parchment and read it carefully. Listening to the discussion she bit her lip. When everyone was done she would tuck it into her spell book and puts that back away.
"I would focus on trying to find their tracks. The goblins will be riled up at this point and will be a threat. We will need to be extra vigilant. I agree also with Selene. We find them and take them back. If my brother is indeed injured, or even the others. I could not stand by and do nothing."
Malya's face showed her concerned but she tried to hide it. The letter worried her but also gave her a smidgen of hope. Just maybe, they were okay. 'Brother when this is over we are going to have a long talk. I want your side of the story.'
Essa, helped by Rogurk, easily picks up the track. You follow the trail again, while clouds are getting heavier in the sky.Sometimes, Rogurk stops and sniff, his hair rising on his back. For Essa, who knows him well, that means danger.
Once, the massive ape stops near a tree, his nose pulsing: he gently tooks Malya by the hand, sniff it a few times, and then drags her to the tree, pointing to some blood, then to the handaxe she carries by her side
Not much time after your own fight, you find two dead goblins on the road. There is much blood on the scene. People have fought here, not long ago.
The corpses aren't cold yet.
You feel you can still hear the last echoes of the battle...
Hey, but there IS a battle! Right now!
Essa says "Shh, listen!" She instinctively hunkers lower and grabs her club.
I hear it. Let's hurry before we're too late. Selene will dash toward the sound of the battle.
"Careful, we don't know who is fighting, we could get in the middle of something that's not for us." He stands besides Essa and he readies his weapons.
That's the point! Selene announces as she moves ahead.
Mayla was torn between running ahead or being cautious but she followed Selene. Her brother was hurt and if this was him fighting up ahead he may need her help. She knew it was foolish but family was family.
Essa takes a deep breath, steels her resolve, wiping a matted curl of hair covered in mud and blood from her face. She pulls a shillelagh scroll from her pack and read the magical words before taking Roguk and joining the others. She moves swiftly, but cautiously.
Takeshi followed Selene with a heavy step, knowing they would once again face a certain death.. He started to use his magic to sing a song, and closed his eyes as the rest of the world vanished for a second. A slow humming sounds starts to rise from his throat.
Soon, you come to a massive, half shattered tower in the forest. You see numerous goblins surrounding it, talking quickly to each other, thrilled and on the hunt, ready for the kill
They seem focused on the tower, and don't pay much attention to you for now. But they are so many in sight- and how much hidden?- that any of them could spot you at any time
From where you are, you can't see yet who may be in the tower
Essa will quietly motion with her hand to the others to hold still and quietly pulls out a scroll of entangle and reads it, centering it 50' (10 squares) straight ahead of her. It has a 40' ( 8 square radius ) so should cover most of the map. It other allies have not seen her or have already moved into that area before Essa can act, she will not use the scroll.
Kaamve'le Ne'amle'j'o, j'okiamka elkifa kasale'kasu sale'ka su'kufale'j'okukole elkifa fasu'elve Selene whispers and everyone feels boldened and more accurate.
Enev signals the others to wait, an nods at Essa.
Do it.
Mayla would look at Essa and nods waiting on her also and would start casting sleep. It takes a full round so she would look to see what groupings get made. She is positioned behind Essa and Roguk.
Magical barely seen petals start to form around her hands.
Essa will cast the entangle when able.
an arrow flies from the tower and buries itself in the ground, far from any goblins. They giggle evilly, and start to approach the tower, bickering among themselves in high pitched voices. They don't seem to have any more ranged weapons, having throw many crude spears toward the tower (or anywhere else, as far as you can tell. One tree seems to have been a favorite target)
As Essa read the final words on the scroll, plants and vegetation grow and wrap quickly around the goblins legs ( ), entangling all those in the area
Meanwhile, Selene cast her own spell, speaking in that strange tongue of her,and you feel your resolve strenghtened and your arms guided by forces of Good
Mayla will continue to cast her sleep spell.
Enev moves closer and tries to attack a surprised goblin...
"Don't step into the entangled area Enev! See all those plants writhing around? They will grab you!"
"Uh oh!"