Silvio follows Kraz into battle striking at the closest target. "No, we are not here for your gold. We are here for you! It is time to pay for your crimes, so says the great Silvio Callgari Pazzi!"
Dorin and Kraz forge their way into the midst of the rats, whilst Silvio darts in behind them, skirting the battle to strike at two on the edge of the melee.
His first attack also spells death for one and he follows through, wounding another.
Coronei steps into the room. He waves his hand over the goblin chief and his men, blanketing them with a mass of sticky webbing fixed to the wall throne and floor.
Produce Flame
Fire Damage
Rath late to react, tired, and cranky, throws the ball of flame he'd been using for light at the goblin.
Rath's bolt of fire catches the lone goblin square in the chest and he staggers back, collapsing amidst the rats.
Meanwhile, Boss Hark and his bodyguards aim their bows at Kraz when Coronei’s thick, sticky webbing suddenly fills the alcove by the throne. Squawking with alarm, they try to jump free.
Although the guards manage to extricate themselves, the goblin chief finds himself stuck fast!
Following through with their plan, the two guards shoot at Kraz.
;
;
The first misses, however the second strikes Kraz square in the chest.
Stepping up behind his allies, Pik peers through the crowd of bodies blocking the way. The guards. They're the danger here. The half-elf touches his wound, coming away with blood on his fingers. Rubbing them together he whispers a harsh arcane word.
Heavily wounded Kraz contiues to swing his sword, spittle, and blood in all directions..
Dorin moves his mark to another rat.
Coronei concentrates on the webbing and watches while the party goes to work. He loads his bow in case the need arises.
All three of the remaining goblins are afflicted by Pik’s spell, their attacks growing clumsier and weaker as they struggle to remain focussed on you. Hark struggles in the web, still screaming for his minions to attack, although a note of desperation has crept in to his shrill cries.
No matter how he thrashes about, Coronei’s web holds him fast and he is unable to break free.
The rats swarm around Kraz, Dorin and Silvio, doggedly trying to bite the intruders and keep them from further progress into the cavern.
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;
;
Doring fends one off, but Kraz and Silvio each suffer minor wounds.
Sorry.
Dorin and Kraz continue their extermination efforts, Kraz killing another.
"Such nasty vermin", Silvio says as he atempts to fend of the sea of claws and pointy teeth. In a moment of lax focus the wearer of one of those sets of teeth launches into the dashing rake's exposed arm and bites down hard drawing blood. Despite Silvio's atempts to shake it off the creature refuses to release its grip. Instead the rogue bends down to pin the giant rat to the ground with his foot and then thrusts his rapier into the base of its neck, loosening the grip and freeing our hansome hero.
Dorin attacks his marked rat.
If all the rats are dead Kraz will move up 30' and throw a javelin at the right guard.. "RAAAARRHHHGGAAAA" A barely comprehensible war cry echos through the cave as he goes..
Silvio finishes off another enemy, leaving a sole surviving rat fighting the three frontline fighters.
Rath decides to turn his attention to the goblin bodyguards, and directs his Produce Flame to them.
"Here Catch"!
Produce Flame
Flaming baseball
Coronei raises his bow and aims for the boss in the web. All the while he keeps an eye on the boss.
,
Hi everyone. Turns out "free wifi" at this resort is only in the restaurant, so it's not going to be possible for me to post as much as I thought. (I brought my books and everything but don't really want to lug them up there each day...).
I'm afraid I'll need to take an unplanned hiatus until the 4th of January. Really sorry about that - I would have done things differently if I'd known. See you in a week. :/
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Rath’s bolt of flame hits one of the bodyguards square in the chest, although it remains standing. Despite being stuck fast, Boss Hark manages to squirm out of the way of Coronei’s arrow and it sticks in the thick webbing beside the boss.
Struggling to identify which opponent is the most dangerous, the bodyguards choose to focus on the nearer. One shoots at Silvio and the other at Dorin.
less ;
less ;
However the effects of Pik’s spell ensure that neither is able to hit.
Current state of play:
Boss Hark remains trapped in Coronei’s web. His two bodyguards stand nearby, each firing crossbows across the room. All three of them are affected by Pik’s bane spell. They are forty feet from Coronei, Rath and Pik.
In the centre of the room, Dorin, Kraz and Silvio are engaged with the sole surviving rat.
.
Pik smirks, We were told to expect a warlord and his two powerful bodyguards. Is that the next room over? I assume you three are the cooks? Or do the laundry? Maybe some knitting?
less
The bodyguard winces under Pik's magical assault, looking left and right at their increasingly hopeless position as it lowers its bow nervously. Meanwhile, Boss Hark strains at his restraints, yelling for his guards to keep firing as he struggles to free himself.
Finally free, he steps forward to join his bodyguards. "Keep firing! Focus on that big one!" the boss orders his minions, indicating Kraz and muttering a short command to the giant rat.
;
Leaping obediently at Kraz, the rat gets under the half-orc's guard and sinks its teeth into his calf.
The three remaining goblins are twenty feet from Dorin, Silvio, Kraz and the rat. The rest of you are a further twenty feet away at the entrance to the chamber.
"Ha, did you think your band of ne'er-do-wells are a match for the great Silvio Callgari Pazzi and his good friends?" Silvio laughs as he launches into a charge for one of the body guards flanking Boss Hark. With a quick thrust he pierces the goblin's armor and then quickly dances back out of reach for any melee weapon.
Sensing that Boss Hark's bullying is all that's keeping the others fighting, Rath turns his wrath on him.
"Caw...caaa...caa".
Produce Flame
Flaming Crow droppings
Dorin attacks his marked rat.
Kraz roars as the rat bites him deeply.. Heavily wounded his frenzy does not allow him to think properly and he charges Boss Hark and swings his greatsword at him..
"DIE GOBO SCUM!!!"
Silvio darts in to engage the bodyguards, skewering one before swiftly withdrawing to the safety of the group. The bodyguard moves to follow, before his strength gives out and it sinks to the ground, dead.
Meanwhile, Dorin smashes the final rat with his hammer, crushing it to death and leaving Boss Hark alone with a single bodyguard.
As Rath releases his ball of fire, the boss grabs his bodyguard by the scruff of the neck, pulling the other goblin into the line of fire instead! However, the flame merely singes the bodyguard's armor and no damage is done.
Charging up to the boss, Kraz attacks savagely and Hark only just manages to fend off the enraged half-orc. Drawing a finely made scimitar as he prepares to return the favor.
Coronei draws another arrow and aims for the chief Hark. He waits for a gap in the fight then lets fly.
,
Then he prepares to use magic on the rats.
Boss Hark is struck by Coronei's arrow and he snarls angrily, apparently undeterred at the hopelessness of the situation.
The same cannot be said for his bodyguard, who casts his bow aside and launches a reluctant assault on Kraz.
less ;
However Pik's latest taunt still preys on his mind and the attack fails miserably.
Pik laughs as he points his rapier at Hark, I knew it! The cook! And I bet you're even bad at that. He kicks part of a dead rat at his feet. I assume this was tonight's meal escaping?
less
Boss Hark struggles to continue the fight, but Pik's magic takes hold. Facing the six of you, Boss Hark finally sees the futility of continuing, dropping his scimitar and shield and thrusting his hands straight up in the air.
"Don't kill me!...I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he cries piteously, almost crying as he cowers back from Kraz's looming form. "You can have all the gold! I'll show you where it is!"
The bodyguard quickly throws its weapon aside also, aping the boss as it too thrusts its arms in the air in furious surrender.
Well now, that's certainly better. Pik lowers his sword and shrugs. Though sorry seems...a bit lacking given the circumstances.
"Where are the other people?"
Pik nods to the body that was being eaten by rats as they entered. I assume that is one of them. And I can only imagine what happened to the others. He frowns as he looks around the room, expecting to find some remains of the other villagers.
The goblin boss doesn't answer Coronei, looking extremely nervous as you search his lair. He shrinks back against the wall, his arms still thrust ludicrously in the air as you examine the chamber. Sure enough, you discover the remains of a few other villagers which appear to have been eaten by the giant rats. One particularly gruesome find shows the body clearly staked out on the floor, as if the poor victim had still been alive when the rats were set loose.
There is also a large stash of weapons, armor, clothing, food and other possessions which appear to have been taken from the villagers and that Boss Hark and his minions seem to have been sorting through when you arrived on the scene.
Kraz looks extremely tired as he ends his rage..
"I say we string em up. Anything willing to be so wicked hasn't any use being alive.."
"Haha, yet another foe to fall before the expertise bladework of Silvio Callgari Pazzi and his good friends!" Silvio exclaims triumphant as the goblin leader throws his arms up in surrender. "When will the forces of evil has such a formidable champion on its side?" he asks rhetorically.
Kraz looks extremely tired as he ends his rage..
"I say we string em up. Anything willing to be so wicked hasn't any use being alive.."
"While Silvio appreciates where you are comming from something within Silvio suggests a more docile approach. Silvio feels that the fate of Boss Hark lies with the people of Elbar’s Bluff. Silvio suggests that we bind and gag this miserable creature and his minion and present them to the good people of Elbar's Bluff to judge."
More important, does he be knowin' anythin' 'bout the giant attack, or its source?
Rath, breathing hard from the excitement of the battle, begins to organize the belongings into piles for transporting back to the people of the village. He perks up when he hears Dorin's question. "Yes that is a good question. Perhaps someone should question this one by inflicting pain till we hear the truth".
"Let me rest as we sort the belongings for transport, and I might be able to draw upon enough energy from the spirits to perform healing once again".
Still panting Kraz takes a seat.. "I agree with the rest.. I am quite wounded. Someone tie up the goons please.."
Perhaps someone should go see if the villagers have left yet. It'll be easier to get their things back to them if they carry them. Pik frowns slightly as he looks around and has a sad look upon his face. They'll probably wish to bury their dead as well. Let's cover these people before they come in though. No sense in letting them see their fellows like that.
You imprison Boss Hark and his remaining bodyguard with the other goblin soldiers. The rest of the goblin tribe remain cloistered in the northern reaches of the dripping caves.
“We didn’t see the giants,” insists Hark as you interrogate him. “Our scouts saw the longshanks wandering through the hills. They didn’t have many soldiers…” he trails off with a guilty shrug.
Besides the villagers’ possessions in the chief’s chamber, the final part of the cavern contains the tribe’s meagre treasure. Boss Hark holds a key to a small, battered chest. Within you find twelve gold pieces and fifty silver pieces plus an assortment of valuable trinkets. A pair of silver salt and pepper shakers, a set of finely made thieves’ tools and a polished wooden holy symbol of Erastil. Finally, you also find a simple, leather scroll tube containing a scroll bearing a single arcane spell.
Having covered the bodies to give the murdered townsfolk some respect, some of the villagers join you to confirm the dead were prisoners only a short day ago. As you return their equipment and belongings to them, the survivors debate what should happen to the goblin chief and his followers. As their brief conference draws to an end, Morak the innkeeper approaches you out of earshot of the rest, his face grim.
“We’ve agreed,” he informs you. “We’ve decided the boss and his guards should be killed for their crimes. Banditry is one thing, but what they did in there was evil. We don’t have the stomach to finish off the rest of the tribe. Just the ones responsible. Hopefully without any warriors the survivors will move on. Or slowly perish…”
“However, I wanted to ask you a further favour. Not a pleasant one, I’m afraid. These people are just simple farmers and miners. Some wear guard uniforms, but it’s really more for show than anything else.” he pauses, his eyes meeting each of you in turn. “We’ll do it ourselves if we must. But would you be prepared to mete out justice on our behalf? Our town has suffered these last few days. I’m not sure I want the young ones to be dwelling on things too much if I ask them to stop playing soldiers and turn to being executioners.”