Vidar's hurled dagger bounces off of the doorframe and doesn't even make it to the chamber.
"Ah, that would explain it. Many of the things too."
Denialan steps up, silently counts the goblins, then quickly draws his bow and fires a shot at the goblin just behind the one that was slain.
,
The elf's arrow takes the goblin in the throat, and it collapses on the floor.
Round 2 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-moved
Ilryan
Garrick
Denialan
Vidar
The six remaining goblins draw weapons and rush forwards, waiting for the party to advance into range.
Ilryan moves up and attacks the grey goblin.
for
Round 2 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-moved
Ilryan-acted
Garrick
Denialan
Vidar
As Ilryan closes with the goblin, it slices at him with its crude weapon. Its attack does not come close to the priest, though. His blow is far more effective, laying the goblin out.
Taking a step back, just to keep some distance between him and the goblins, Vidar draws his second dagger and throws it at one of the little blighters.
Denialan moves to the better lit area, mostly so his new party member isn't in line for a shot, and fires an arrow at the goblin.
,
Garrick rushes forward, his strength and hatred carrying him into the next line of goblins, striking at the goblin behind Denlian's target.
Vidar's second dagger is only marginally more accurate than his first. Denialan wounds a goblin with his second arrow, and Garrick cuts one in half the long way. As the dwarf approached, the wounded goblin and the now-deceased goblin attempted to hit him with tongs holding globs of molten glass, but the two were unable to effectively use their improvised weapons.
Round 3 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-acted
Ilryan-acted
Garrick
Denialan
Vidar
Two of the goblins in the rear hurl bottles at Denialan; one misses, but one hits the elf solidly in the head . The other two rush Garrick, and one even hits the dwarf .
Garrick smiles as the goblins rush him, taunting them with his unnatural voice, "Aye, that's right, come to me axe, you vermin." He winces slightly as the goblin strikes him, then smiles again as the strange power flowing through him begins to knit the wound. Aye, that won't even be a scratch in a few seconds.. That's got to be almost as demoralizing as... this..., he thinks as he hews down another goblin.
for
"Wretched creatures! What are you doing here?"
Ilryan will attack the goblin in front of him.
for
Making sure to remain behind, Vidar draws his remaining dagger and gets ready to step in if needed.
Hopefully it won't be...
Round 3 (ongoing):
Initiative order
Goblins-acted
Ilryan-acted
Garrick-acted
Denialan
Vidar-delaying
Garrick cuts down yet another goblin, though not in the same decisive fashion as the last one. Ilryan slashes at his target, but the goblin is too quick for him. Vidar advances in support.
"Goblins obscured by you," Denialan says to his teammates as he struggles to aim a shot between Garrick and Ilryan. He prepares to fire a shot at one of the goblins in the back should his allies clear the way, but doesn't risk accidentally hitting them.
,
Round 4 (ongoing):
When Garrick cuts down yet another goblin, the closest suddenly blanches to a rather sickly shade of pale greenish-yellow. It exclaims in Goblin....
All three disengage. As they get out of close quarters with the front line, Denialan takes advantage of the high ceiling to arc a shot over Garrick's head. It hits the goblin he'd already wounded and drops it.
"You won't get away from us that easily!"
Ilryan double moves to follow the goblins.
Tsk, I do not speak Goblin...
Vidar takes a couple of steps forward and hurls his dagger at one of the fleeing goblins, confident he can grab one of the two he hurled before if he needs a weapon.
Vidar is sure that if he was closer he would have hit, but a thrown dagger at that range is a stretch. His dagger falls short.
"Us they recognized for those who stopped their raid," Denialan translates for Vidar. "Scared of us."
The elf lowers his bow and starts walking down the hallway.
"As for goblins, why here, where Ameiko Kaijitsu went? Working with brother-Kaijitsu, or ambushing?"
"Hmmph, more likely than not it is both of those things. If Ameiko came here to meet her brother and we find goblins connected with the raid...
It stands to reason to suspect Kaijitsu of being connected to it."
Garrick says, "A supply wagon would be one way to get goblins into town without calling attention..."
Now that you've gotten a little further into the furnace room, you can see clearly the source of the unpleasant odor. The dismembered bodies of several humans fill the central area of the room, and it appears that the goblins have been amusing themselves by pouring glass onto the body parts. They may have been inspired by a horrific display on one of the glassworking tables: a single body is tied down with a stalagmite of glass through the abdomen. It appears that the victim was secured while still alive, and had molten glass poured onto them. The glass burned through the body before solidifying. Although most of the clothing has burned away and the face is twisted in agony and swollen with blood, you recognize it as Lonjiku Kaijitsu.
Seeing the twisted parody of an artwork, Vidar's inner being struggles against itself.
On the one hand, the arrogant old ass certainly was a bastard deserving of a harsh fate, on the other hand, Vidar, for all his misanthropy, truly doesn't wish such a fate on anyone.
Denialan inspects the gruesome display without a hint of disgust on his face. He stops near Lonjiku's body, having recognized it.
"What treachery these goblins have! As for father-Kaijitsu, likely it is brother-Kaijitsu orchestrated this terrible demise. Hated each other, if memory serves."
With it becoming abundantly clear that Tsuto is cooperating with the goblins who raided Sandpoint, the elf urges his allies to quickly delve deeper into the Glassworks - Ameiko could be in as much danger as her late father was.
Garrick winces, "That... is terrible. I mean, I didn't care for the man, but I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Or a goblin, even."
"Yes, clearly whoever did this is twisted."
Vidar, blunt and straightforward as he is quickly schools his feature into careful neutrality once again.
Though there is a tightness in his face, as if holding back great anger.
"Not to be cruel, but forget about him. We cannot help him now, but Ameiko MIGHT still be alive."
Since Ilryan can't catch up to the pests, the goblins escape through the double doors.
Vidar is able to retrieve his daggers while Garrick catches his breath.
"I think the goblins are heading for the exit. Let's see if we can find Ameiko and get to the bottom of this."
Ilryan will head to the end of the room and open the door on the left.
Vidar pauses momentarily before scribbling a quick note on a scrap of paper, hands it to Enok and instructs him to fly to the barracks and give it to a guard.
The note itself is fairly simple, merely saying Goblins in the glassworks, signed the "heroes of Sandpoint".
"Go on the you drunken bird!"
Ilryan hears nothing at the door and opens it, revealing an empty hallway.
To the left, the hallway turns left. There are no signs of movement out here, and when you follow the corridor to the left you can see that it turns back and runs almost the length of the building. There are only a few doors off of the hall.
Ilryan tries the door to the circular room that is at this end of the hallway.
The door is unlocked, and on the other side is a display room/shop. There are cases holding examples of the Glassworks' products--bottles, dishes, windowpanes, and glass art. The room is otherwise empty, but you can see a couple of (human) faces at the windows to the outside, peering in.
Though he is initially fascinated by the various works of glass, Denialan concludes that not much in this room can help the group find and save Ameiko so he leaves it (completely ignoring the human faces peering in) and goes to listen behind the door in the middle of the hallway.
Garrick mutters, "If we don't find the little coward that got away when we get to Ameiko, I'll track him down." before following Denialan to the doors, axe ready.
"Yes, we SHOULD be joined by any members of the guards that can be spared soon enough, but we cannot loose to much time."
Denialan hears nothing at the door and opens it, revealing a dining room in considerable disarray. The party finds nothing of interest after a cursory search.
You hurriedly search the rest of the rooms on the main floor, finding nothing but the occasional sign that goblins have been there...the pantry has been thoroughly ransacked, and from the state of the sleeping quarters it looks like the goblins took the workers unawares.
In the middle of the search, there's a tapping at an outside window. A pair of guards have arrived.
Ilryan shouts to the guards:"It looks like there have been several murders here, including Lonjiku Kaijitsu, and there are more goblins on the loose! Only come in if you have a strong stomach."
Both guards blanch. One leans closer to the window and murmurs, "Are you investigating? I'm going for reinforcements, and--" She turns to the other. "--you stay here and keep people away."
"Yes, we're trying to get to the bottom of this. See if you can't apprehend anyone who tries to flee. We want whoever did this brought to justice."
The guard nods sharply, though there's a hint of nervousness in her bearing. "We'll do it."
"Hmmph, the goblins seems disorganized, I would say ignoring them for now and letting the guards handle that might be best.
Shall we continue downstairs?"