Round 5 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-acted
Ronah-acted
Zelladania-
Denialan-
Garrick-
Irisa-acted
Goblin leader-
Vidar-holding from last round
Irisa channels heiratic power with considerable authority. The goblin is unable to resist the Kellid's imperative, and it throws itself to the ground. She and Ronah then move to surround the standing goblin. Ronah bloodies another claw on it; it clings to life by a thread, and seems to be reconsidering the whole "invade Sandpoint and burn stuff down" thing.
Vidar looked at the goblin corpses, but had no intention of picking up a strange weapon he had no training in how to use, nor did he intend to enter close combat with the little monsters.
Instead he began to drift closer to the dwarf, intending to boost him again if given a chance.
Mumbling something about targets impolitely being non-stationary, Denialan moves some more and fires an arrow from his shortbow at the goblin leader.
,
Round 5 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-acted
Ronah-acted
Zelladania-holding
Denialan-acted
Garrick-
Irisa-acted
Vidar-acted
Goblin leader-
Denialan's arrow misses, while Vidar moves to support Garrick.
Garrick gets to his feet looking for a goblin to destroy. He locks his eyes on the warchanter, then snarls, Aye, let's get close enough to stop any future spellcasting... He rushes forward, spinning the Waraxe in his hand as he closes.
Continuing its chant, the goblin leader stabs its crude little shortsword at Garrick...who, uncaring of his defense in his bloodrage, stands still just long enough for the goblin to tag him
Round 6 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-acted
Ronah-
Zelladania-
Denialan-
Garrick-
Irisa-
Vidar
Goblin leader-
The prone goblin stands up, and is sufficiently distracted that Ronah tags it, leaving it in similar condition to the other one. It angrily stabs the rogue . The other one attacks Irisa, but misses.
"Step away from the goblin so we can fire at it without risking hitting you! Attack the one that's down instead. " Irisa shouts at Ronah through the clangour of the battle. She steps back, loads up and trains her crossbow on the standing goblin. Once Ronah makes a move, she lets the bolt fly.
Garrick turns to show the goblin the wound the little beast inflicted, a cruel smile rising as he feels the power of life itself surging through him and closing the wound. "Not terribly effective, are you?", he mocks, his voice resonating with the power flowing through him. "Let me show you how it's done," he offers, raising his axe to strike.
"And a little boost..."
The prone goblin does not try to stand up, but instead stabs at Ronah from the ground. The brine may just manages to step aside in time.
for
Round 6 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-acted
Ronah-
Zelladania-
Denialan-
Garrick-acted
Irisa-acted
Vidar-acted
Garrick once again shows the folly of crossing a dwarf with a big axe. Irisa brings down the standing goblin, and the one on the ground does not look happy at the turn of events.
Electing not to waste any more arrows, Denialan instead cries to the goblin in his language.
"You're already dead, whelp! Give up your fight, or get an axe up your brain!"
The goblin blanches at the elf's threat, turning a paler shade of sickly yellow-green and shuddering.
Ronah misses with her second claw attack, but when the goblin tries to stand she kills it.
"Hmmph, that would appear to be the end of these little pests...
Or perhaps not, there could still be more of them about, use your ears people!"
"Oh no! You're deeply wounded!" Irisa says and rushes over to Ronah. She gently lays her hands on the brine may while praying. "I call upon thy healing power Desna, the song of spheres. May you grant this brave warrior a swift recovery so she can continue her good journey inhibited by painful wounds."
Once she's sure her magic has started working, she looks around at the others. "Great work everyone. We've managed to win this battle. I've met some of you before, but not all. I'm Irisa."
Tre beautiful young girl starts looking around the battlefield, trying to somewhat replenish her stock of bolts while the others respond. "I'm not well enough prepared for a battle like this today. I'm almost out of bolts..."
After she's done she turns to Vidar. "About being prepared... May I humbly suggest that you might want to consider carrying a crossbow master pathfinder? It's quite easy to use, you just load in a bolt, point it at the enemy and click here." She shows off the trigger mechanism. "I could teach you if you do manage to pick up one. As you've seen, I'm a spellcaster as well. But my prayers can only do so much, it's nice to have a weapon as well when the magic is not sufficient. It's so foul that the goblins attacked today during the festival when people weren't prepared."
The sounds of battle in the Square die away, leaving the moans of the wounded and the anguished cries of those who weep over the fallen. Father Zantus and his acolytes set out to address pains of body and soul alike.
In the distance, though, you can still hear the clash of weapons, screams, and the tittering of goblin song. Although it's difficult to judge it sounds like the town guard may be getting the upper hand. There are no guards nearby, though, when the sound of a scream and frantic barking are heard close by and to the north.
Being told what to do did NOT sit well with the already irritated Vidar, but through a superhuman effort of will, he somehow managed to avoid snapping back at Irisa.
Instead he turned towards the sound of combat, wondering if it would be worth the effort to seek it out.
Well, certainly not as the point man...
Instead he turned towards Garrick and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
In the end, he resolved to join the dwarf, should he go towards the battle, as it might be a worthwhile outlet for his current frustration with all the noise and people he previously had to endure.
Garrick takes a breath, releasing both it and the strange power that fills him, feeling it take some of his own strength add it goes. Guess the wounds didn't finish knitting before I released the power.
He nods at the Kellid's assessment, "Aye, we felled that lot fairly well... Wasn't terribly fond of that goblin's spell, though. Still, it's not like the little cowards to attack a town... at least not without larger numbers. Name's Garrick, by the way. "
He turns his head at the sound of combat, "Aye, like that... If you'll excuse me, the more goblins that need killing... "
"Ah yes, it's not over yet, we should save those we can. I'll join you Garrick." Irisa abandons her quest to pick up more bolts, though she does slot one into the crossbow as they head for the sound of battle .
"Dwarf-master is right. Direct assault on a town is very uncharacteristic of the goblins. Of raids on farms and such I have heard, but not of this. Intriguing, is it not?"
"Interesting is not the word I would use. Unsettling perhaps, maybe even frightening. What have made the goblins behave like this? Have something or someone act out of character? Do we have to be worried at all times that something like this can happen." Irisa glance worried about, looking to see if there's something else to worry about besides the battle they hear.
"Questions can wait, because answers will not come without action.
Lead the way master dwarf, we shall follow and provide what aid we can."
While you were still recovering from the aftermath of the first fight, Zelladania looks around concernedly. "There's someone I have to find, to make sure that he is all right. If I can, I will look for you later. If I cannot, well, may you always have a road." She hurries off to the southwest.
The five of you hurry off in the opposite direction at the shouts. You round a corner and see a fight near the White Deer, not far inside one of the town gates. A goblin wielding a horsechopper and riding a hideous ratlike creature is fighting a dog (hence the barking). A human in fine clothes, presumably the dog's owner, cowers behind a rain barrel. Four other goblins are keeping their distance from the fight and cheering on the rider. As you watch, the riding goblin lands a mighty blow on the dog and lays it out on the ground. At this, the rest of the goblins begin to rush towards the man.
It does not appear that they've noticed you yet.
Surprise Round:
Initiative order
Irisa
Denialan
Ronah
Garrick
Vidar
"We got to save him!" Irisa exclaims and trains her crossbow at the foul creatures rushing for the man.
"Hmmph, what a bother..."
Well, drawing their attention towards us would possibly save the man. The best way to anger them would most likely be to attack the beast of burden.
Vidar expends his last spell of the day and sends a magic missile soaring towards the beast.
While the party recovers, the Desnan acolytes stabilize the fallen. Then Father Zantus gathers all of the wounded together and channels to heal.
Using the strength granted to him by Irisa's blessing, Denialan aims yet another arrow at the mounted goblin.
"Harass that human no more!"
,
Garrick snarls at the sight of goblins trying to kill the defenseless, and rushes forward, tightening both hands on his axe and raising it to strike.
for
Irisa calls on divine aid for the party. Denialan coolly puts an arrow into the apparent leader, while Vidar leaves its mangy mount with a significant wound. Garrick charges up the road and cuts down a goblin with a mighty swing.
The brine may advances behind Garrick, guarding the bloodrager's back.
Round 1 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-acted
Irisa
Denialan
Ronah
Garrick
Vidar
The three remaining goblins originally hiding from the dog rush up to engage Garrick, while the mounted goblin shoots an arrow at the bloodrager and scoots back. All of them miss, shrieking and gabbling in frustration.
Wow, he's so far away. I doubt I can even hit him from here. And Garrick is surrounded. I should go to help. Irisa skips forward nervously. She's worried that the goblins might hurt her, but she gets in there regardless, because she knows that it might throw the enemies of if they're forced to watch their back. "Hey!" She shouts out to throw off the goblin and to alert Garrick to her presence.
Garrick nods at the sudden show of support from his new companions, then calls out, "Get the leader. This lot can break their little dogslicers on dwarf-made armour...at least until I introduce them to a dwarf-made made axe."
With that he reaches into himself and releases the power he finds there, feeling it fill him with strength and his flesh change. "Goodbye, Goblin," he says, his voice once again resonating with the power flowing through him.
for
Irisa steps up behind one of the goblins, distracting it just long enough for Garrick to cut it down.
The man behind the rain barrel cheers you on.
Vidar begins to move towards the man, if they can't break the goblins quickly, he can at least try to get the damned fool out of there.
"Come on man, move over here! Get behind me and I'll get you away from the combat."
The man edges around the back of the barrel, keeping it between him and the bulk of the goblins.
Denialan advances, but seeing that the goblin dog is too quick for him to catch up, he turns to the flanked goblin instead.
"You leader is retreating," he says in goblin. "Not looking too good for you, yes?"
Like its ill-fated comrade in the Square, the goblin blanches and shudders. Ronah steps around to flank it, then draws blood with a claw.
Round 2 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-acted
Irisa
Denialan
Ronah
Garrick
Vidar
The two goblins in melee swing at Ronah and Garrick, but neither one hits. The rider, though, hits Irisa with an arrow .