Seeing Yellow drop, Lalandar will try to sneak through the bushes behind Blue to flank him.
Lalandar jumps out and takes a swing with the blade
Following the sound of Frenhir's growl, Jaonos dashed forwarded lowering his bow to his side and drawing his dagger from it's sheath he lashes out to stab the orange Goblin.
Frenhir rolls to his fear after his attempt to trip the Goblin and lunges in for another bite.
Bose will respond to blue's clumsy attempt.
You should really sneak up on someone who doesn't sneak for a living
The enlarged half-orc manages to take his frustration out on his tiny foe once more.
With an unexpected lunge, Ferrum catches the goblin between his clawed hands and, well, we've heard the last of his giggles unless some powerful magic is involved to bring him back from the dead.
Round Four
- Frenhir attempts to bite the goblin when it shoots at Jaonos, but misses.
- Lalandar attempts to sneak up on the goblin that snuck up on Bose. His attack fails, but the distraction he provides is telling.
- Bose once again uses his ally's presence to his advantage, making sure the goblin shall not be sneaking up on anyone else.
- Jaonos steps toward the nearest goblin, drawing his dagger, and stabs to no avail.
- Frenhir once more lunges and growls, missing.
- Ferrum finally catches the goblin's with both hands and virtually snaps it in two.
- Blue bleeds thanks to Bose' surgical precision. No stabilization forthcoming thanks to bleeding attack.
- Yellow bleeds thanks to Bose' surgical precision. No stabilization forthcoming thanks to bleeding attack.
- Orange flees. As he turns to run, he provokes an attack of opportunity from both Jaonos and Frenhir.
- Red needs a DC 20 stabilization roll or continue bleeding out.
- Green needs a DC 12 stabilization roll or continue bleeding out.
- Pink needs a DC 15 stabilitation roll or continue bleeding out.
Yellow -6 Bleed effect
Green -2 Stable
Pink -5 Stable
Red -11 Dead
Blue -2 Bleed effect
Where are we in the init order?
Lalandar turns with a look of of pure determination and casts Magic Missile
That one will warn any others. We need to be prepared. Quickly, turns to the body and looks for anything of value on the corpses
It seemed that running away may prevent him from knowing that a weapon is heading his way, but I wasn't sure if that would allow sneak attack but he is within range for a ranged sneak attack, unless he covers
Frenhir dives for the goblins legs for another bite
Jaonos resets his feet and lunges with a not more care to drive his dagger into the Goblin
Jaonos relieved
We we're lucky. Ferrum you are hurt. May I try to heal you?
Jaonos rushed but calm. A hint of shame in his voice for letting the Goblin get away
The Goblins will take personal pride in hunting us down for their pleasure. Bose, Lalandar I will trust your judgment, but before we do anything, we must attend to Ferrum and Frenhir's wounds.
Post Round Four Attacks of Opportunity
- Frenhir's lunge at the fleeing goblin draws blood as his teeth tear at the creature's calf, but it's not enough to stop the creature's escape.
- Jaonos' stab etches a line across the goblin's leather armor, but doesn't get through.
Surprisingly, the goblin flees across the road toward Ferrum, screaming and diving into the underbrush when it sees the enormous half-orc scowling at him.
- Bose, unwilling to let the goblin get away so easily, runs across the clearing. As he does, he flips the dagger in his hand into a throwing grip. As he prepares to fling the blade...
- Lalandar says an arcane phrase and two shimmering missiles streak from his outstretched hand unerringly toward the fleeing goblin, moving around Bose as they go. There is the distinct sound of two solid blows. The goblin is thrown to the ground by the force of the twin impacts where he lays, unmoving.
- Jaonos looks at his allies and their wounds and focuses on getting everyone back to full health before more goblins show up.
- Frenhir growls at the departing goblin and licks at his wounds before looking up at his favorite elf. A goblin arrow still juts from his side.
- Ferrum, with a mighty exhalation, comes down from his bloodrage, visibly shrinking as he does so. He stomps into the underbrush and drags the goblin out into the open.
Unless directed not to, Ferrum intends to take up his sword and finish off each of the still-breathing goblins. He'll let the smart ones figure out what comes next.
He arranges them in a neat row in the clearing after any of their equipment you want to keep has been removed as a warning to any other goblins that come along.
Because of differences in weight distribution, grip size, etc., using a weapon designed for a creature of another size will typically incur a -2 penalty to the attack roll but will deal normal damage for the size of weapon. In this case, Small-sized shortbows and Small-sized shortswords deal 1d4 damage. Any feats or abilities that a character has that would affect a properly-sized weapon of equivalent 'power' will be usable for these wrong-sized weapons. Example: If you have Weapon Focus (dagger) and you are trying to use a Small-sized shortsword (both weapons are light one-handed blades dealing 1d4 points of damage), your Weapon Focus (dagger) feat applies.
Of course, just because you are carrying a weapon doesn't mean you have to use it. These can also serve as trade goods if you come across someone that deals in weapons or in need of weapons themselves. In that case, they would have the standard 50% resale value unless you can negotiate something better.
I assume an equal share of the money for each. I'm not sure I have much use for their miniature weapons..
Jaonos lead Frenhir closer to Ferrum. Gently Jaonos guided Frenhir to lay on his side. Looking his companion in the eye Jaonos placed his left on at the base of the arrow. Understanding what was happening, Frenhir looked away as Jaonos swiftly removed the arrow from his side. Jaonos quickly stood up straight. Focusing on feeling that magic energy flowing through him, Jaonos began to pray softly.
As he finished his short prayer, Jaonos released his energy.
So:
The big half-orc catches his breath following his bloodrage.
The cleric patches up the wounds sustained by the party.
The magus and the rogue search the bodies.
The longer the party remains in the clearing, the more familiar - and yet not - that it feels to Lalandar. As the party has come deeper into the forest, he has paused from time to time, looking back at the way they've come, looking for signs he recalls from last time he was here.
Then he realizes - he saw this clearing as they came out of the trees with the children. It was on his left and their small band turned right, away from the clearing, as they hustled toward the village.
Suddenly Lalandar looks around, and an expression of knowing passes his face. I've been here before. Where that last goblin fell is the beginning, well it was our end when we came through.. but that is the path towards the Keep. We saw more goblins there last time and we should be on the look out. When we left, a wizard was holding them off and no one has seen him return towards the village. Lalandar will then head towards the path and then pause to see if the others are going to continue the journey.
Bose does have +9 stealth.
Following in Lalander's wake with some gap between them and a ware eye on the forest
Ferrum, why don't you get his back since he knows the way. I will cover the rear with my Bow ready (though not in hand). Jaonos, is your friend back to his frisky self?
Frenhir is well. We best hurry. Goblins are never far apart.
As the party moves through the forest, no longer on an established (if long-neglected) road, the going is slower, but this game trail appears to be used as a footpath quite often, so once found, it's easy to follow.
Lalandar focuses on the path, looking for signs to bolster his recollection of their previous flight. Ferrum watches his back, long curved blade in hand. The half-orc squints into the gloom, his sight unaffected by the darker shadows.
At one point, he holds up his blade to stop those behind him and grabs Lalandar's shoulder from behind as he scowls into the shadows. "Something moved. Like person, not like wolf." After a long moment, he shakes his head, "Gone now."
As the party continues forward, the path ahead becomes darker despite the hour of the day. After a negotiating a bend in the trail, the small party comes to the base of a sheer rock wall. The game trail runs along its base to the right for several hundred yards.
Lalandar nods, "Yes, this is it." Taking a dagger, he cuts a rune in the dirt. "Look for a tree near the path with this cut in the trunk and about this high," he indicates the height of his chest, "We marked the base of the path because it was well-hidden and we thought we might want to return. It is along this section of trail near the wall." As the party searches, Ferrum finds several charred skeletons shoved into the underbrush off the trail. Some of them have broken bones.
The cleric easily determines that they were goblins and appear to have been immolated in a very intense fire. The breaks however appear to be post-mortem. Lalandar, recalling the mage that stayed to protect their back trail and considering the terrain, wonders as he looks up the wall, "Would a fireball do the trick?"
Jaonos gazes upward also and nods. "It would indeed. The dead and dying falling from somewhere up the wall would explain the broken bones."
While they consider the bodies, Ferrum keeps watch and suddenly realizes that Bose has disappeared. Before he can raise the alarm, however, the stealthiest member of the party appears next to him. "When you are done with whatever you are doing, I've found the path up the wall. Looks a little exposed for my taste, though."
Lalandar shakes his head, "Only at the very top and bottom. Someone built it with war in mind." As he takes up the lead once more, Bose telling him where to look, they find themselves on a ledge that seems to grow from the very rock. Soon the path retreats into the face of the rock, giving the party shelter from anyone on the wall above and shielding them from inquisitive eyes that might look up from below. The trail has several switchbacks where there is room to sit and rest if the party is so inclined - or even take a longer rest, considering how defensible the position is.
Eventually, they come to the end of the trail at the top of the wall.
Following Bose, Lalandar will peek over the edge also
"There weren't any guards my last time here. That was awhile ago though. That being said, I believe they like people to believe this place abandoned."
Lalandar can easily recall the route from here to the keep. The distance is short, maybe half a mile. The keep does not sit immediately on the edge of the cliff. The fleeing group and their charges rappelled down the ‘back’ of the structure and snuck along the outer wall to get away.
He believes guards are very unlikely, as much from the remote location and reputation of the site as from desire to disguise the presence of activity.
However, patrols and hunters are quite likely and just as much an issue.
Bose and Lalandar do not see anything. The keep is not close enough to be visible among the undergrowth, but another apparent game trail leads in the right general direction.
Lalandar can easily recall the route from here to the keep. The distance is short, maybe half a mile. The keep does not sit immediately on the edge of the cliff. The fleeing group and their charges rappelled down the ‘back’ of the structure and snuck along the outer wall to get away.
He believes guards are very unlikely, as much from the remote location and reputation of the site as from desire to disguise the presence of activity.
However, patrols and hunters are quite likely and just as much an issue.
Bose and Lalandar do not see anything. The keep is not close enough to be visible among the undergrowth, but another apparent game trail leads in the right general direction.
The path is apparent from here. I reccomend we take the same stance as when we began. Be on the lookout, I'm sure more goblins will be about.
On our way then
The party cautiously move forward from the opening, keeping low and listening for signs that an alarm has been raised.
Trail sign is evident, showing that this trail has been used, but it doesn’t appear to have been since the last rain.
Slowly the ruin they have been searching for comes into view, a towering and angular testament to one man’s short-lived grip on the land. Circling around away from the cliff to where Lalandar says the gate can be found, you can make out a pair of rutted tracks that come out of the structure and disappear into the forest in the other direction.
All is still.
Bose will move forward stealthily to examine the track and move towards the gate
As the rest of the party stays back, Bose moves forward. He can see into the neglected keep as whatever gates it may have once had barring the entrance are nowhere to be seen. A large building within fills the far left corner of the keep’s interior. It has an unfinished look to it though the walls all appear to be solid. The building forms an “L” and a closed door can be seen in the corner.
The tracks appear to be very old ruts cut into the forest floor by normal-width wagons. There is no sign that such has passed this way in a very long time, however. What foot traffic might pass through here is hidden by layers of typical forest debris. While no detail leaps to the elf’s eye, he is pretty sure something or someone has passed this way in the last few days.
With the feeling that someone has come that way recently, Bose examines the area for signs of when and who it may have been.
Bose, seeing no immediate threats, studies the 'road' closely. There appear to be two distinct sets of tracks, two or three days old. One set of four are booted and roughly adult-human-sized. They appear to generally follow the road. Another set of six, some booted, some bare, all the size of young children's feet, exit the courtyard and quickly move off the road and into the trees.