Thout walks up to Rabalar and D'ogryn, the bearing in his approach unconciously revealing his military training. "Traps all clear? If so, we should take a look at those caves that you mentioned in the report. Of course, we need to be ready for the goblins in case they are holed up there. What is your advice? I'm thinking carefully move south along the western cliff until we get to where you encountered them."
"I think the Eastern edge is a better choice, as that seems to be the direction they started to run once we broke their morale. But the trail suggests that we got all of them. Nothing as big as a kobold has been on this trail since we last came through. None of the traps have been reset. We need to keep sharp regardless, but I'm seriously doubting we'll find anymore kobolds out here."
Beneath his tanned skin, Thout's face imperceptibly reddens with embarrassment as Rabalar contradicts his suggestion. He places his hands behind his back, assumes an at ease position and nods his head before stoicly looking ahead trying not to betray any emotion, but he can't resist a quick glance at Naia before continuing, "You're the expert. The theory is that the surviving goblins ran east, towards the house. There was a cave on both sides, right? Thought we could investigate the western cave, cross to the eastern, and proceed from there."
Soros Soll
He walks up to the group as he looks down at the Glen and water and then back towards the edges on both sides.
If memory serves the two caves sit across from each other. Although at slightly different heights but the eastern cave I believe is slightly higher than the western cave. I think we can get away with going to the eastern side and we will at least be able to see down into the far western cave. I am not absolutely sure but I do seem to recall that is the case, my friends. He pats the broad shoulder of the half dwarf. You are not in our service Thout. Speak freely if you have something to say; advice is needed from all corners at the end of the day we will make the right decision or learn from the bad ones. Soros looks down the path and shakes his head. I was on the verge of throwing up my breakfast as we went down into that glen. Now it doesn't seem so imposing...although this could be just as dangerous.
Naia shrgus her shoulders back tot Thout, with a quizzical look on her face. She listens to the back and forth, and waits for a decision to be made. She nods at each suggestion from Thout, and Rabalar, and more vigorously when Soros speaks.
"Pretty sure I lost my breakfast when those tree trunks crushed me. Bastards. Anyway, Thout, keep piping up. If anything, these lads need a shake up, right Rab?" Naia finishes with an impish grin. She looks again deeper into the glen.
"I got the feelign they were camped out, what with the smoked frogs or whatever they were cooking, and I also got the feeling they might still have been holed up upon our return. But maybe we scared the rest good when we killed their cronies. Time will tell."
When they head out, Naia asks D'ogryn
"D'og, you cook frog? Whats'it taste like?"
Thout looks at Soros and Naia, pulls his hands from behind his back and holds them palms facing outward. "Let's go east, then. We can look in the western cave from there and see if it's worth crossing over."
He nods his head at Soros' and Naia's encouragements, "We're a team. At least, we should be, so I'll speak my mind. Let's go search these caves."
maybe we should remove all the traps and search the caves to see what we find. I might be able to retreive my daggers.? If we can find no tracks or trails perhaps we might be able to follow the goblin that fled from us up on the ridge?
D'ogryn listens and notices how thout was quick to take offense from rabalar's words. He notices how they other try to reasure him and decides that his voice is not needed at the moment. He does however respond to Naia's question.
Frog...? Is good but to make a meal, you need quite a bit of them. Grill them with a simple garlic, butter and some lemon would do fine. Sauteed with onions and some bacon grease would be better. A touch of garlic...and maybe a pinch of fresh chopped basil leaves. They taste like a combination of chicken and a mild white fish with a texture similar to chicken wings.
The olf looks confused at the half-dwarf, and then drops his head when D'Ogryn speaks. "Yeah, if we're going to look for your blades, we'll need to be on the Western edge. That's where you stood when you were using them. Reason enough."
So, he leads the group along that side . . ..
As far as the frog conversation goes . . .. "You might be surprised what looks like good eating after you've been patrolling the marsh for a couple of weeks."
Naia listens, noting that she is familiar with each of the individual ingredients and the techniques. She follows Rabalar's lead, shortbow in hand.
Nodding again she adds:
"Yup, "ship's biscuit" tastes nothing like fish or chicken, but it will keep you alive if stuck far from port without a line or harpoon..."
As we get underway again, Thout stops and pulls his shield and a throwing axe. "Going to be ready if we run into a straggler." He secures his shield, strikes it a couple times with the flat of his axe and smiles. "There. I'm ready."
as the conversation continues onto the topic of food, D'ogryn looks around for the bodies of the Goblins.
There should be about a half dozen bodies in this area.
"Most of them were in the water. Probably sank by now. They should bloat and start floating in another day or so."
The Party - 3rd Day of Readying, Moonday
Rabalar leads the party along the western ledge of the glen after clearing and destroying the traps. To get to the goblin encampment it only took about half an hour but traversing the ledge is far more difficult and time-consuming due to the broken ground, underbrush, and the need to slow down and check for tracks and ambushes. Again there was no sign of anything other than animals going through the western side. Rabalar found several fresh deer tracks, wolverine, racoon, and possum tracks along with rabbit and squirrels.
After hours of pushing through the underbrush and going up and down hills the party comes to the willow tree that D'ogryn tied his rope to and threw down to the party.
Perception rolls
D'ogryan
Edan
Naia
Rabalar
Soros
Thout
As the party takes the time to search out the area they find two dead goblins lying in the area that Rabalar, Edan and D'ogryn engaged on that fateful day. A hoard of crows where making all sorts of noises around the two bodies and it was obvious from the smell what they were doing bunched up in that area. Bugs, flies, and such have also begun to feast on the two bodies.
D'ogryn found one of his daggers and Rabalar found another shortly after he started scouting southward with Thout towards the caves.
One body was wedged on some rocks at the south end but it was apparent the rest of the bodies must have washed downstream to the ocean.
As Rabalar and Thout approach the cave, it becomes apparent, in Thout's judgment at least, that the goblins have deserted their camp. He whispers an "All clear?" to Rabalar and waits for his nod before he sheathes his axe and removes his shield. He then pulls out rope and ties it to a tree. "I'm going to take a look in that cave. See what clues they left behind. Maybe we can see if they have been to that house already." He cautiously lowers himself to the left-hand side of the cave mouth such that he can move horizontally and take a peek in. "Cover me," he whispers to Rabalar.
The olf takes an overwatch position, reassured by the waterway having cleared itself, and the path beginning to overgrow again, that there's little to watch for. Maybe lunch might present itself on the far side?
Soros Soll
As Thout investigates the near cave on the western ledge Soros skirts up towards the ledge near a long fallen oak that is covered in moss and wild grass. He finds the far cave and ledges and scans them first for activity and then more closely.
Soros
He turns back to Edan and Naia and keeps his voice low. That far gave is empty from what I can tell. It also appears to be a very shallow cave, just a overhead really and maybe four or five feet of depth. Might be a turn on either side...hard to tell from this angle. Doesn't look occupied.
What Thout sees.
Thout is unable to get his footing or any sort of leverage at first. The ledge is damp in many spots and slick with overhanging moss and grass.
He gives it a try again taking his time to set his feet and clear out some of the slick weeds and moss.
He makes his way down to the ledge and while holding onto the rope bounces over to the side so he can peer into the cave.
He sees a shallow cave about that is maybe eight to ten feet wide, four feet high at its highest point and it sets back in about six feet. There is a old burnt out fire, a few clay pots, some dried shriveled up frogs hanging by several things of homemade twine, a basket (human-made from what you can tell) holding some gardening tools and brooms. There are also several heaps of grass and beds of leaves that look like old beds...maybe four to five of them.
Thout notices several arrows stacked up in a opened faced clay pot and there is a small ledge (maybe six inches) above it with a small box sitting on it.
Naia chews her lip nervously, feeling terribly exposed. Though she gets the feeling no-one is home as it were, she still feels like the party is being watched, even if only by the gods.
Edan Crosier (BOT)
Edan drops down and moves over to Soros to see what he is seeing on the far side. He looks at the two hanging logs and the barricade trap that the group got caught by. He winces when he looks back at Naia and that falling log trap.
"You are lucky to be alive Naia. That would have killed a lesser man." He looks back at the logs and back at Naia. "Or women..." Smiling as he realizes his mistake.
What do you think? Should we further investigate the caves?
Relieved to be back on the ground, Thout wipes his brow. He looks in the cave and calls to those above, "Nobody's home! I'll take a look inside." Thout crouches as he moves around the cave so his head won't hit the ceiling. Being amongst the tallest in his dwarven community has given him some experience this, and he laughs as he finds himself doing it again.
When he comes across the arrows and the box, he slows his movements and gives extra care. Aware of the goblin's penchant for traps, he studies the setup.
He carefully picks up the box, turns it around, and lifts the lid with the opening facing away.
The Party - 3rd Day of Readying, Moonday
Thout walks over to the small ledge and crosses over the fire pit. He assumes there are no traps and moves closer. The box is small, maybe 8 inches by 6 inches at most, and human made and stained with some sort of varnish to blacken the wood. It is old and is not in good shape. The arrows are smaller versions of normal arrows and goblin made with bone or flint arrow heads. They are not remarkable in any way and about two dozen in total.
When Thout moves the box around he can hear something rattling inside. When he turns it around and opens it nothing happens. He turns it around looks inside and sees three pieces of bone that have been marked in goblin and the tops are covered with a piece of oiled hide and tied up with twine. They don't smell good... There is also several shiny river rocks in the box (half dozen small rocks), flint and steel (old/very used).
Thout turns and looks inside the cave and it is shallow and there appear to be no hidden turns. It is basically an upright bowl that goes no deeper than six maybe seven feet back. There are several bedding spots with leaves, grass, and blankets that have been stolen (human made possibly). A total of seven now that you can see the entire cave. One sits back and is farther away and up a little higher. It also has a few more ragged blankets on it.
There are two unused torches and two flasks of oil in the back corner along with a wooden open box (crate) that is beat up and has a lot of nicks in it but they are using it for a trash can. Lots of old bones and refuse in it.
As Thout moves into the cave D'ogryn keeps his eyes open for trouble.
Thout crouch-walks to the front of the cave, "Give me a minute. Found a box of rocks and bones. Bringing it out. Gonnna take a quick look through their bedding and I'll be up." He returns and without any care for keeping things orderly he quickly digs through the bedding for anything interesting. He kicks the trash crate over just to see if there was anything interesting in it, but only gives it a quick look. He does take a little more time on the raised bunk with the blankets as he assumes it was the leader's. He grabs the torches and oil, puts them in his pack along with the box and climbs back up.
He presents his findings to the group, "This is all there was of interest. One bunk was a little nicer than the others, the leader I presume." He turns to Rabalar, "Found this box near some teensy-weensy arrows. Does it mean anything?"
The olf helps the half-dwurf back up onto the side.
"Well, they attached small vials of pollen or something to their arrows. This could be their tools or supplies for that. Did you open it?" He glances at the box checking for a latch before trying to lift the lid.
"Aye. Had rocks and bones in it. The bones were marked. Thought you might know why or what it meant."
Thout's search
As Thout searched the beds he got to the deepest bed and as he dug into it he found a small flat rock and under it he found a ragged old pouch. Inside the pouch there are three river opals. He also found a total of 18 copper pieces in the rest of the beds all Keolandish and 4 silver pieces from a city called Highport.
One walnut size river opal is worth 6gp
2 are acorn size river opals and are worth 3gp
There is also 15 Keolandish coppers and 1 Hold of Sea Prince sp.
The olf helps the half-dwurf back up onto the side.
"Well, they attached small vials of pollen or something to their arrows. This could be their tools or supplies for that. Did you open it?" He glances at the box checking for a latch before trying to lift the lid.
Naia watches the trees.
Soros Soll
As Edan and Soros walk up to Thout, Rabalar, and D'ogryn they wait for Naia to fall in as well.
Soros looks at the contents and at the rest of the party and pauses for a moment. "Those are the same packages that were on the arrows. I would assume like Rabalar that you have two of those sneezeweed grenades. Those might come in handy but I would be careful with them. Sneezeweed is nasty to breath in. Should we make our way across the stream over to the other side?
Naia watches the trees.
[dice=Perception]1d20 + 6
As Naia walks towards the group she sees several squirrels chasing each other across the branches of several trees. They pause, chatter at the group, and continue to move on with their chase.
She recalls it wasn't so peaceful here the last time they were in the Glen. She recalls and even winces for a moment at the pain and agony having to walk back after being caught between those two damn logs...a lesson she will not soon forget.
As she walks back to towards the party she can see they have several items from the caves they are discussing.
"Yeah. Let's get over to the other side and see if we can figure out where the goblins were trying to go. Using Thout's rope to go down here, or want to go back up stream a bit?"
Naia looks to see what has been found.
Naia looks to see what has been found.
Thout looks at Naia as she approaches and smiles, "Not much down there, but found a couple things worth keeping our hands on." He lets her take his spot with those looking over the items.
Once the group has reviewed the items from the cave, he speaks up, "Check for tracks o'er here? Or cross and check the other cave?"
Thout looks at Naia as she approaches and smiles, "Not much down there, but found a couple things worth keeping our hands on." He lets her take his spot with those looking over the items.
Once the group has reviewed the items from the cave, he speaks up, "Check for tracks o'er here? Or cross and check the other cave?"
Thout examines the narrow at the north sides and realizes that the vines holding the logs could be reeled in and used to swing over to the other side which is only ten feet away. Each of the narrow is a gradual slope and then a wall of natural stone so essentially two ramps on each side.
While Rabalar checks for tracks , Thout retrieves the rope he used to climb down into the cave. He walks to the edge of the narrow and peers down to the logs. "If we retrieve these vines, we can swing ourselves across. Nothing wrong with a little fun while we work!" He starts to call out, "Na...", but stops himself as he recognizes this is where she got hurt so badly. Quickly, he amends his plan, "Edan, help me with these vines. I'll pull and you cut." Thout shucks his pack and gets to work.
Since people keep asking, the olf takes some time to look around while the others get things prepared for the crossing . . ..
Nice Idea. I like it. It will make getting over there much easier.
Thout grunts his acknowledgment as he works. "Hnngghh, We'll have it ready here in just a bit. We can cross and carry on from there."
Rabalar inspects the eastern area quickly as Naia and D'Ogryn watches his back. After ten minutes of walking the area he doesn't find any fresh goblin tracks or any humanoid tracks for that matter made since the initial fight with the goblins. D'ogryn watches closely has Rabalar conducts his search. Trying to learn his various techniques he has acquired throughout his olven life.
Rabalar walks back to the group with Naia and D'ogryn in tow. Edan turns to him "Find anything my friend?" Rabalar responds to Edan..."Nothing just old tracks nothing fresh or recent. Not a sign of recent activity from them on this side.".
Edan begins to helps Thout with the vines using a broken long thin branch to pull a vine towards himself and Thout. It only takes a few moments to secure the vines and D'ogryn and Rabalar swing over to the other side and swing back the vines to the rest of the group. Edan and Soros swing over next as Rabalar and D'ogryn move up on either side to make sure they are not ambushed while traversing the stream. Moments later Naia and then Thout swing over and the entire group is on the eastern edge of the glen. Rabalar tells them to hold while he and D'ogryn take a look at the area. As he and D'ogryn move to the north Naia, Edan and Thout move up to form a semi-circle facing to the east. Soros turns and watches their backs and keeps an eye on the western edge. The party has learned a great deal sinc their first encounter and Thout notices how swiftly they fall into place to cover their spaces.
Rabalar with D'ogryn in trail moves carefully inspecting the ground from north to north east to south working in a semi-circle to locate any fresh tracks moving away from the glen.
D'ogryan (assistance)
Rabalar (+2 Goblin)
Rabalar finds the tracks were the three or four remaining goblins fleed during the battle. He also sees a set of tracks come from the southeast at some later point...(maybe later in that day or early morning) and then head east. The tracks seem to indicate three to six maybe seven in total but it is hard to tell as they scatter and reform at points and traverse in an almost single file line. They head off away from the Glen.
If Rabalar's count is right three to four scattered and he doesn't see them return in numbers heading to the northeast and east. Another group comes in from the southeast and heads directly east.
Rabalar and D'ogryn circle back to the group and quickly pass along their findings to the rest of the party.
Soros Soll
The young wizard turns around to the party as he concludes the western side is no longer a threat and gives what little advice he has for the party. "Memory serves the House is east of us. If the goblins that broke have meet with the other party coming from the south that means we could be facing anywhere from five to eleven goblins. That nasty bugger that Rabalar and D'ogryn killed must have been the leader but there is no telling what remains in that group. That other group from the south concerns me...seems very organized."
He turns south and points down at the remaining cave. "Do we want to check that one as well?"
"Hmmm. I liked the yield of the last'n. Wouldn't take long tuh spy out this'n." He looks the group over and ties his rope to a tree. "D'ogryn, master climber! Care for the honor?" And he holds out the end of the rope.
D'ogryn Scampers down the rope to explore the cave. Once at the bottom he pulls forth a single dagger. He allows his eyes to adjust to the light conditions before he slowly enters into the small cave.
Thout can see what the rest of the party was talking about in regards to D'ogryn's climbing skills. He goes down the rope and into the cave like a flying squirrel.
D'ogryn lands lets his eyes adjust to the sunlight and mix of shadows. There are six beds of leaves and soft grass with mix of ripped up human clothing and blankets. There are several small fowl cages that have been busted up and there are chicken bones lying everywhere. It seems the goblins had a feast of roasted chicken after their last raid. There is a clay pot with a turtle shell covering the top and a small clay bowl near a blackened fire pit.