Armand, Seeing Dirk's maneuver and understanding what he's going for, shifts his stance so he's directly opposite Dirk, causing the Hobgoblin Leader to be surrounded.
"You can't win, save your own skin, surrender to us and tell us what we want to know, perhaps you'll get to live another day."
Combatants
------------------
Dirk (C4->C6) (Attack HG-L - Miss)
Thantos (F3->G4) (Attack HGU1 - Hit, Crit, 4 Dmg)
Selena (E3) (First Aid on O5, Success)
Lash (G3) (Bluff HGU1 - Success)
Armand (E4) (Attack HG-L - Hit, 3 NL Dmg)
Mird (H2) (Attack HG2 - Hit, 7 Dmg)
Non-Combatants
------------------
O1 (E2)
O2 (E1)
O3 (C3)
O4 (D3)
Enemy
------------------
HG-L (D5) Attacks Armand and Misses
HGU-1 (H4) Attacks Lash and Misses
HG-2 (I1) Attacks Mird and Misses
Expecting a fast and easy swat, Dirk lifts his great elven blade over his head and whistles it through the air with a blow a the Hobgoblin Leader's head, turning the blade sideways at the last second to try to smack him with the flat of the blade. The Hobgoblin Leader, however, is better than he looks. With a fast poke at Armand to keep him off balance, the Hobgoblin Leader ducks Dirk's overhand swipe, and turns toward his thrust at Armand.
In the northern portion of the courtyard, the hobgoblin sees Mird approaching with his big hammer at the ready and sets himself to receive Mird's first swing. Springing into motion as Mird moves up to him the Hobgoblin tries to get a fast, crippling strike in at Mird, shoving his sword toward Mird's exposed thigh. A quick spin, however, allows Mird to all but ignore the off center strike, and provides more momentum for his already swinging weapon.
Which clips the hobgoblin in the left shoulder, spinning him momentarily as both of you regain your footing. (7 Damage to HG2)
Back with the Hobgoblin Leader, a shriek of metal on metal tells the Hob that he made a mistake. Instead of trying to dodge the Hobgoblin Leader's thrust, Armand steps into it, allowing the blade to screech along his chest plate, doing nothing more than cutting a small gouge in the many pitted armor. Pulling his strike up short and leaving the head faced outwards, he extends his arm, smacking the Hobgoblin with the butt of his heavy mace. (3 Non-Lethal Damage)
The butt of the mace catches the Hobgoblin leader upside the head, snapping it's head back slightly. Trying to recover, the Hobgoblin leader takes a short swipe at Armand, but the long two-handed sword is actually a hindrance for the hobgoblin. The limited space between him and Armand doesn't allow a full swing and Armand's shield barely rings as he lifts it to block the ineffectual strike out wide.
Watching the final Lieutenant's actions and stance, Lash gets an idea to break the deadlock between the two of them. Lunging forward, Lash pretends to catch her foot on a mid-sized rock in the courtyard and stumble to the right. The hobgoblin's impatience gets the better of it and with a whoop of joy the creature swings a killing blow right at Lash with all it's strength...
Except when the strike connects with where Lash should be, she isn't there. Balanced perfectly on the balls of her feet, rapier readied and clear of any counter attack, Lash prepares to strike.
Seeing the Orc go down and Mird step up to take it's place, Selena disengages from combat and hurries over toward the falling and bleeding Orc, seeing it still breathing she pulls a first aid kit from her belt pouch and, with a skill she's practiced many times before, starts to treat the wounded orc. (He'll be stabilized at the end of this round. He's at 0 HP at this point but this will not put him back in the fight...it will, however, keep him from dying.)
Back with Lash, Thantos gasps as he watches the blade descend toward Lash...and swish through thin air. How Lash pulled out from her stumble, Thantos couldn't even see, but he wastes no time in capitalizing on the Hobgoblin's ineptitude, seeing a wide opening Thantos steps in and takes it, stabbing his dagger straight into the Hobgoblin's side and angling up toward the heart. The Hobgoblin screams in agony (a little raspingly, the dagger likely caught it in a lung) and twists to the side, ripping the knife out of the wound and causing even more damage to it's body (The hobgoblin takes 4 damage from the crit.)
Seeing Lash still wounded from an earlier strike , Selena conjures heavenly fire to her hand once again and releases it in a gleaming ray of light.
Grinning wickedly Lash strikes, slightly off set by Thantos' ruthless strike she aims the blade for the hobgoblin's heart.
As the healing flame strikes her back goosebumps sspead across her body as the healing tingle passes through her.
As her wound begins to close she cannot help but smile, this time one of warmth.
Dirk attempts to take advantage of the situation (while the Hobgoblin leader is distracted by Armand) by swinging his sword around for another non-lethal strike.
Spurred on by his own success at melee combat, Thantos allows himself a smile and while waiting for an opening, remarks to no one in particular "I believe I'm getting the hang of this," before thrusting his dagger toward the hobgoblin again.
Armand, working his attack in coordination with Dirk's, comes in low at the Hobgoblin leader, swinging for another non-lethal strike.
Mird, watching his opponent, consious of the orc laying near him as an example of the lethality of his opponent, steps into his swing with his earthbreaker, hoping to finish this combat quickly.
In a Flurry of action, as if fate itself intervened, all three combatants go down at once.
Not understanding the risks, the Hobgoblin leader fails to maintain the defense at his back, allowing Dirk's overhand chop with the flat of his blade to strike the Hobgoblin cleanly, it's eyes losing focus as the heavy blade knocks most of the sense out of it and spinning the big hobgoblin around toward Dirk.
It's completely inability to protect itself is just the opening Armand needs, and a well placed strike to the back of the head sends the hobgoblin spinning to the ground, alive but out cold.
The leader's other companions aren't so lucky. Too late the last standing lieutenant realizes his mistake in going for Lash as he looks around to find his side completely open for her strike. Two simultaneous jolts of pain wrack this hobgoblin as Thantos's dagger enters it's back, severing it's spine and Lash's rapier pierces up through it's ribcage, piercing it's heart...the Hobgoblin Leutenant falls to the ground and moves no more.
In the northern part of the combat, Mird finally finds the opening he's after...whether tired from the combat or over excited the hobgoblin takes a very poorly aimed strike at Mird, missing cleanly, but Mird's return back swipe catches it cleanly up the left side of it's head, breaking its neck and crushing in the side of it's skull, this hobgoblin, too, goes spinning to the ground, never again to get up.
A silence falls over the courtyard and a bright light springs up around Lash as her wounds visibly start to close over. The 4 orcs in cook's aprons look at each other and stop scrambling out of the way of the combatants, looking worriedly at the webbing still holding to the south. They walk over to their still unconscious but stabilized warrior companion and hoist him up, moving off toward the Orc barracks.
One of them kicks the Hobgoblin leader's unconscious body as they trek off to the east toward another building, one marked for the orcs on your map.
"We take him, you handle this." is all any of the orcs say as they walk off.
Selena steps forward.
"Anyone else injured?"
She glances down at the unconscious hobgoblin. "Tie him up, then we will need to wake him up somehow. Armand, I hate to ask it, but you may need to heal him."
As the glow fades Lash turns to Selena and smiles.
"Thanks."
Shaking his head in disgust at the retreating Orcs, Dirk wipes his sword clean on the shirt of a fallen Hobgoblin, sheaths it, then drops his pack on the ground to fish out a length of rope.
After binding the Hobgoblin Leader's hands and feet, Dirk thoroughly searches his unconscious body for hidden weapons or other items of interest.
"Heal him just enough to get his eyes open. I'll get him talking, then you can ask all the questions you like."
Aware of Selena's disposition, Dirk says, "On my word I won't harm him unless he posses a threat. But I'm going to make him think I'm going to end his miserable life"
"If I can convince him of that, we may be able to coax him to order his troops to stand down."
Then looking up to Armand and gesturing to the prone Hobgoblin, "If you would. We haven't much time."
"As you wish."
Armand steps up over the unconscious hobgoblin and places his hand on it's chest. Muttering words you mostly fail to hear, Armand says a prayer to Saenrae, asking for healing for the creature.
Thanking his Goddess for granting his request, Armand looks up from the now Stirring Hobgoblin Leader and says:
"He'll come around momentarily."
The hobgoblin leader slowly opens his eyes and tries to sit up but finds himself restrained by the bindings.
Surprisingly, he grins a wide, maniacal grin at you as he opens his eyes. He hisses in pain for a second from the blow that knocked him out then says:
"My Queen knows your here! You cannot escape, you are trapped between an army of my brethren outside and my invincible mistress below in the dungeons. You will die, as she who knows all has foretold. Your puny keep has already fallen to our spies, your cities are unprotected. The wrath of the Queen will fall upon the unbelievers of the region and after we purge the region of your filth, her glory will be known by all!"
Raising his voice to as loud a shriek as he can he shouts:
"It is my duty and my pleasure to die in the Queen's name! Let the Orcish traitors to the keep beware, we will wipe your miserable race from this region along with the humans!"
Continuing to grin evilly, the big Hobgoblin lapses into silence, obviously waiting to see what comes next.
As you watch this goblin preach of the glories of the Queen a bit of trivia strikes you from your knowledge of the region. Hundreds of years past in this region's history there was another self imposed Queen of the realm who raised an army of creatures and took over the region, tossing it into decades of darkness before she herself was defeated and destroyed. It is said in the local legends that this queen carried a sword that could control goblin-kin...who then became incredibly and undyingly loyal to the holder of the blade.
In your studies you have come across many stories of goblins and goblin kin...and you cannot come up with ONE story where they showed anything but cowardice in the face of danger, and certainly not loyalty unto death. Either the hobgoblin is bluffing or something more sinister is at work. Thinking about it a second, even the fact that these Hobgoblins were out "hunting" the orcs of the keep and not hiding in their rooms seems out of place for the goblin-kin as well.
Something weird is going on. While animated, his eyes have a vacant look to them, much like what happens when a person is charmed or possessed. His loyalty seems out of place for goblin-kin, which your studies have always shown to be cowardly and more concerned with their own health than any assumed duty or loyalty they have to someone else.
Something is wrong with this Goblin. His eyes seem unfocused, as if he's watching an entirely different realm of existence that you cannot see. He's obviously aware of what's going on around him and responds properly to stimulus, but does not seem to be "mentally" there. Even his rhetoric seems "preprogrammed".
As the Hobgoblin finishes his exclamation, the first twang of a bow from the walls above resounds over the courtyard and shouts filter over the walls from the forest. The game is obviously up, the army outside is on it's way back to the walls.
"They come. And the keep will be washed in your blood!"
Selena remembers her dreams.
"It is of no use talking to him. This one's will is not his own. His spirit is far from here, perhaps already departed for the afterlife."
She silently ponders the situation for a moment longer.
"This Queen has deadly powers, she usurps their individuality, their natural instincts, with her own will. And to my knowledge, this is not a reversible process without her death. But perhaps one schooled in such matters might answer better."
She pauses as though reluctant to continue, then turns to Dirk.
"If natural order cannot be restored, then let it be restored in death. Perhaps the one place where her power cannot completely reach. Free this creature's soul."
Nodding at Selena, Dirk unsheathes his sword and quickly ends the Hobgoblin Leaders life.
Know. Arcana
Know. Geog.
Perception
"Selena's right, he was either ensorcelled or possessed. That means she probably knows exactly where we are as long as one of them is alive near us."
As Dirk draws his sword the Hobgoblin Leader's grin ever leaves it's face. It makes not a sound as the sword sweeps across it's neck, severing it's head from it's body, the insane grin staying on the face as the head rolls to a stop along the dirt ground.
Checking the bodies of the fallen, you find that the dead and headless orc has little of anything other than the cloths on it's back and the longsword it was using (a rather ill-quality longsword it seems as well, the blade is scratched, dented, and rusting in many places, and the leather wrapping the handle is thin and worn away in several places).
The Hobgoblin leader, other than it's two handed sword (again, not the highest quality weapon you've ever seen), has a small skull on a silver chain (the chain looks to be worth somewhere around 30g). The three leutenants are carrying the same chain (30g each) and each also has a small pouch on them with 17g and 3pp each, along with a green gemstone (a low end emerald worth about 20g you estimate).
The search of the hobgoblin leader also turns up a small silver key in his pocket, your excitement dwindles, however, as the key looks too small to turn in any standard size door lock, and is likely to be a lock on a small chest somewhere in the keep.
Nothing more can be found among the dead hobgoblins.
Selena pauses in moral dilemma.
"Perhaps we should warn the orcs about the army attempting to retake the castle. If it is an overwhelming force, they might best be served by fleeing. However, we may need to use some of them to help us reach the lower parts of the castle."
Dirk shakes his head, "I don't think the orcs will flee, they want this keep as their home. They will fight - and we need them to. We need time to find this Queen."
Looking at the webs with concern Dirk says, "I think we should move on. We can't afford to get caught up in further skirmishes that wear us down. The orc guards at the door can handle this group. Hobgoblins are notorious cowards without a battle leader."
Looking at Thantos, "We must decide quickly and be gone."
Thantos, now familiar with the map, indicates to the group that the mercenaries and gnolls are marked in the rooms to the north, in the west and east most doors, respectively.
"Let us dispatch of the mercenaries to find the key and rid the world of their greed," Thantos says with obvious disdain.
Selena looks over Thantos shoulder at the map.
"I think we should continue to the north. The most direct route seems to be the most appealing."
The six of you glance at where Thanto's is pointing on his map, no more than 30 feet from where your standing, and decide there is as good as here, which is as good as anywhere in the castle at this point.
The six of you collect your weapons and gear and move north over the dirt and rock that make up the courtyard you've been fighting in. Now that your adrenaline levels are down, you start to recognize things around you, not the least of which is an ungodly smell coming from the small building no more than 20' to the east of you which has one of the worst smells you've EVER had the displeasure of encountering. Having a pretty good idea of what's behind the door, the six of you make a silent plea to each of your Gods or Goddesses you believe in that whoever it is holding the key right now did NOT decide to hole up in the latrine. The fact that it seems almost impossible for ANYTHING to live within that smell for more then a few heartbeats lends you hope, however, that your prayers just might be answered this time.
The courtyard itself is dry and dusty. The dirt is mixed with plenty of rock and has been trampled and packed into something just this side of stone slabs by all kinds of passage over the hundreds of years of it's existence. Those of you more mentally inclined get a twinge of guilt at having to allow such a historical site such as this to fall into orc hands, but there's nothing you can do about it now.
As the morning gets brighter and the sun rises, the chill fog around the keep has all but evaporated and the sky is turning from the deep black-blue of the early pre-dawn morning to a brilliant azure and cloudless blue.
Picking your way over the fallen hobgoblins into the west running passage, you see a set of stairs, identical to the ones south of you, that lead up to the castle battlements. The emptiness of the courtyard behind you, the silence from all around you other than at the wall to the south which is muffled by the distance and buildings surrounding you, and the abandoned wall allow each of you to imagine how the castle must have looked back in it's better years.
Shaking from your shared moment of peace, you each turn toward the farthest west door into a building that, at first glance, looks like it runs the length of the north wall.
The room beyond the door is marked on your map as a barracks for mercenaries. Most of what exited the castle, from the little you were able to witness, were demi-human and humanoid. Thinking back to your assault preparation there weren't that many humans that you'd seen in the castle anyway, but from what you can tell most of what you did run across is probably still inside the keep somewhere. That said, no sounds are coming from behind the door and you cannot see any light coming from under the door either.
Selena helps Lash look for traps or dangerous locations hidden in the area, though she is not truly skilled at such a practice.
Perception
Lash scans the area, but finds that the peacefulness of the moment has dulled her usual paranoia.
Selena and Lash both step up to the door and while Lash goes through her normal procedure, Selena tries to spot anything out of the ordinary to point out.
Neither of you seem to have much luck with finding traps on the door however, nothing out of the ordinary sticks out at you, and you cannot find any cracks, holes, or indentations that might signal something inset into the door. You both step back concerned, but at least somewhat convinced there's nothing there to find. Meaning either there are no traps, or you just didn't find them.
The twangs of bows from the walls becomes somewhat constant as screams of pain and dying echo up over the walls from those on the killing fields outside.
So far, the orcs on the walls seem to be holding, any counter offensive from inside the keep, however, could cause the whole plan to crumble. Realizing your time is dwindling, the six of you make a fast plan for how to approach the room.
Selena holds back, glancing at the stronger armed men in the group.
"We should get this done quickly I think. Our allies are dying while we decide what to do. I, for one, should like to see this queen die soon so that her power over these creatures is sent back to the hells where it belongs."
Dirk shrugs, lifts his booted foot and kicks the door with all his strength.
The kick to the wood of the door splinters in the area around the lock as the door swings open with force to slam against the left wall, the resounding crack of metal and crumbling stone as the door handle slams into the wall echoing through the room.
To the right of the door the light filtering through the doorway illuminates a wall dotted with military trophies, stuffed heads of various small and big game creatures, and one shrunken goblin head, prominently displayed in the center of the wall just about as far back as the light reaches.
To the left, the room falls off into darkness, though it can't be more than 20' to the left hand wall from the doorway. The dimness/blackness of the room isn't helped by the fact that there are no windows and no light at all within the room itself...coming from the bright outside morning it seems almost impossible to see anything beyond the reach of the streaming sunlight through the door.
You barely make out a small table and set of chairs and several straw pallet beds stacked up "bunk bed" style along the back and side walls. The entire room, other than the walls, seem to have been cleared of what little furniture was within it to make room for a fighting ground in the middle.
Six men, three dressed in leather armor, three dressed in chain, stand in military formation at the back of the room.
The front three men in chain armor are kneeling and bracing tower shields, forming a semi-wall in the middle of the room while the three in leather stand behind that wall, crossbows leveled and balanced on the shoulders of the men with the shields, aiming straight at the door.
Besides the crossbows, each of the standing men has access to a spear, cleverly stuck in the dirt next to them, and are obviously wearing another weapon strapped to their backs, likely a longsword.
The group looks coordinated and prepared for the attack, however while the crossbows stay leveled, none of them produce that well known "click/twang" of a released arrow. The men in the room seem to be awaiting your next move.
While Selena is not initiating combat, her actions might be construed as being military in nature, as she casts a defensive spell. (See below).
Selena gets a bare glance of what is in the room, and braces herself against the wall to hopefully take cover from any crossbow fire from the men within.
She summons heavenly fire to her hand once again and with a small shout in celestial releases it upwards as a cascade of blessing energy.
"Or at the very least we don't leave you bleeding out to be eaten by orcs."
Intimidate
Dirk is curious about the lack of attack from the mercenaries. He decides to wait to see how they respond to Mird and Lash's comments.
"We ain't paid high enough for this!"
Several of the Mercenaries with spears nod their heads as the one in the middle continues talking.
"We's gots a problem here ya' see. Nones o' us wants ta' be dead, but nones o' us is gonna live if we's lets you walk out o' here. The Queen'll have our heads she will."
From somewhere in the back of the room another voice says:
"O' Merkul will..."
More nods and a couple of "Aye's".
"So here's whats you's all's gonna do. You's gonna close that door nice and easy likes and pretends you's never been here. Then you's gonna go hunt down Merkul, he's gots the key to the dungeons below he does. You's gonna kill 'im fer us so's as he don' come cut our 'eds off. Then you's gonna go kills Illyara fer us so's as we kin leave here with our skins intact."
"That way, if you's all kills Illyara, we's kin be done with all's this. And if you's all dies nones o' us 'll be killed wit' yas."
"Or, ya's all's kin dies here if you's likes."
Selena shrugs.
"I'd say the plan to kill Merkul is better than killing these poor souls."
Thantos focuses on the words and body language of the speaking mercenary, trying to discern if he could be lying about the location of the key.
At Lash's comment several of the Mercenaries shift their stances, many grip their weapons a bit tighter and not a few of them look more worried than they are currently. The general perception the six of you are getting is that the scum of the earth in this room are being utterly truthful...and it all makes sense to you...they're thieves, murderers, and villains all...but none of them are likely being paid high enough to die for the cause...and even if they were, they wouldn't.
"Gets out o' 'ere before someone sees yas...or we's starts firin'."
The big guy in the middle doing most of the talking points east.
"Next door over, I's thinkin' you's shouldn'ta be knockin'"
Thantos addresses the group,
"I believe he's telling the truth. Let us make haste to find and dispatch this Merkul before the vermin at the wall break through."
Dirk nods at Thantos as he reaches in and pulls the splintered door shut.
Moving one door to the east, Dirk says, "Be on your guard as we open this next door. If Merkul is inside I doubt he'll be as accommodating."
Anxious to move swiftly, as she knows her bless spell will only last a minute, Selena examines the door to see if anything is suspicious to her.
Lash inspects the door with Selena looking at the "broader picture" and finds no obvious traps. This door IS locked from the inside, but does not look like it's barred. The door is wooden and fairly well warped (it doesn't fit within it's door frame properly, and is obviously not well cared for.
A solid kick would likely knock the door in or off it's hinges, one or the other. And the lock looks fairly basic (easy enough to pick without too much trouble).