As the bombs flames wash over him, Ansgar feels a slight warming, but ignores it and rushes into the room as the bugbear falls.
"I doubt we will get them out. More like they'll give up or be put down." Ansgar says as he swings his blade at the goblin in front of him.
Between Zelinda's bombs, Ansgar's and Caeldren's swords and Cliff's claws and bites, you manage to knock the bugbear and the remaining goblins down before they can put much much of a fight back.
As you look again into the corner, you can see Shalelu starting to wake up due to the battle sounds and struggling againt the ropes.
Zelinda makes her way over to the bodies to Shalelu. "Let me help you with that. Looks like you've had a bit of a rough day." She smiles lightly at the elven woman, hoping to ease her anxiety some. "You gave us a bit of a scare, lady."
Cael begins cleaning his rapier on the bugbear's tunic. "are you ok Shelilu? We've had a hard time finding you."
Norm walks up to Cliff that is cleaning the blood of his paws and scratches him behind the ear
[/b]"So, what happened? Did they surprise you? how did you end up here?"[b]
During the conversation, Norm will also tell her about the battle plans with another attack on Sandpoint that we found.
Quiary pulls out a dagger, silently walking up to Shalelu and cutting her bonds. Nodding to the full elven woman, Quiary slides the dagger away making a quick scan of the smaller room to see if there is anything of interest.
"Do you know what they did with your gear? We will need your bow I am going to assume." Quiary says still holding his own bow.
Shalelu shakes her head.
"That was...Embarassing. Thank you for saving me.", she looks around. "I don't know where my things are, either."
Quiary scans the room while Normornigan tells her of the battle plans.
Quiary finds four expertly crafted arrows, a potion of some kind, a masterwork composite longbow which seems to require a lot of strength to use and 4 platinum pieces on the bugbear's body, alongside some more mundane equipment like 20 common arrows, a leather armor and his heavy flail.
After taking some time to catch her breath, she says.
"From what I've saw, some of the goblins want to leave this alliance now that their warchief is dead, but Bruthazmus over there.", she points at the bugbear. "Was chasing and killing the deserters. This might mean they won't have as many goblin tribes helping in case of an attack."
"Which is good, then we can kill just the leaders and they will dispurse back to the wilds. There are some items here you can use Shalelu in the mean time till we find your gear." Quiary says
Quiary steps out of the small room checking the door to the west for any traps.
"Any chance this Bruthazmus was the ringleader?" Zelinda asks, hopefully as she helps Shalelu to her feet. "That would make things so much easier if that were the case." She gives the elf woman a smile to ease any tension, showing that she's not really expecting the answer to be positive.
”Ansgar, didn’t you mention this Bruthazmus once? Wasn’t he mentioned in some journal you found? If I remember it correctly, he’s just one of many warchiefs in this alliance.”
”Anyone got an idea if those arrows are magical or what kind of potion it is?”
Cael finished cleaning his rapier sheathed is and steps over. Taking the arrows he mumbles a bit and waves a hand.
"Yes, we read about him among some further plans to attack Sandpoint." Ansgar thinks for a bit as though he just realized something. "Even if we clear everyone out here, something of that size would likely have needed more goblins from else where. There definitely don't seem to have been enough of them here to try attacking the town."
While talking, Ansgar walks over to the door to the right and tries to open it. If it won't open he will Quiary to try picking the lock on it.
Shalelu answers to Quiary.
"Sadly this bow's draw weight is above what I could use, and the goblin's shortbows are too small and frail, I'll just have to stay out of the way until I find something I can shoot with..."
Then to Shalelu.
"I doubt it, despite being smart for a bugbear we was never the kind to plan attacks of this scale, more of a paid mercenary who enjoys killing."
Caeldren quickly identifies the four arrows as +1 elf-bane arrows and the potion as a potion of cure moderate wounds.
"I'm glad you're safe, Shalelu.", Zantus says, muttering a prayer to channel energy.
Ansgar moves into the next door and opens it.
The door leads to a L-shaped corridor with another five doors.
Quiary shrugs putting the bow with the other times they found. "Could just sell it once we are back in town."
Quiary scouts a head down the tunnel.
Good eye Shortstuff, these arrows are magic, that are particularly nasty to catch if you're an elf. Here Quiary, you can probably use these the best. The potion is a healing poition
After handing the arrows off Cael draws his sword and move to follow Ansgar.
"Well, as long as this place is here as a staging point for attacks on Sandpoint, they won't be safe. Let's clean out the rest of this place and then decide what to do with it."
"Are you good to go, Shalelu? If not, you could go wait with Garbund. We left him and a big horse we found just outside"
Zelinda flinches away from the the arrows as they are passed off the Quiary. "Point those things somewhere else, please." She then takes a couple of vials out of her pouch, mixes them together, then swallows the contents in one gulp.
Feeling better, Zelinda draws checks her shield and draws her sword once more before moving down the corridor after Quiary.
Ansgar lets Quiary get out ahead scouting, coming up behind him when he stops at the doors.
"Lets get these open and searched quietly, if you can." Ansgar mutters to him.
Quiary nods to Ansgar.
"I'll just follow you from a distance until we find something I can use to fight.", Shalelu says.
You start opening the doors in clockwise order.
The first door leads to a bedroom with a faint musty odor. The bed is covered with matted gray and black hair, and bloodstains mar the stone floor, while a morbid stack of birds’ feet lies heaped on the floor by the side of the bed.
"This probably was Bruthazmus' bedroom.", Shalelu says. "No sign of my bow..."
The second door opens into another bedroom, while this bedroom is clean and brightly lit by an everburning torch lying on the nightstand, its spartan decor makes it unclear whether it’s actually lived in.
The western door at end of the corridor opens into a much larger bedroom that has a fine bed with silk sheets to the north and a desk and chair under a hanging lantern to the south.
The fourth door goes into a clean and well organized room, a low dresser to the southwest has a stack of papers sitting atop it, weighted down by a large chunk of obsidian, while to the northwest sits a well-made bed.
You open the last door into a one-person bedroom that shows many signs of having been lived in. The bed itself is rumpled and unmade, and a half-eaten meal of bread and smoked salmon sits on the nightstand. A few articles of dirty clothing sit at the foot of the bed.
A man in banded mail carrying a steel shield, a bastard sword, and a longbow on his back, stares at you from the middle of the room.
"You new recruits or something? The quarters here are all taken."
His hand reaches for the the sword in his belt and rests there, but he doesn't draw it.
When the group comes into the clean bedroom Cael comments, well, that should come in handy" pointing at the everburning torch. If no one else moves to grab it he does.
If no one else does, Cael with stop and read the papers and if they look interesting stuff them into his bag.
To the man in banded mail he says while resting his hand on his own sword, "Draw that sword of yours and you're a deadman."
Zelinda focuses on what's ahead while they are searching the room, letting the others loot as desired.
When they open the door and find a human man in the last room, Zelinda lowers her shield only enough to allow proper communication. "Who do you work for? Why is a human working with a bunch of goblinoids?"
Quiary pulls his arrow back to his cheek, letting it fly straight at the man.
"He asked if we were new recruits, we can question him after he is tied up."
"Hey, hey! I'm not dumb enough to fight seven people by myself, relax.", he tells Caeldren. "Unless, of course, you want to take me on my own with that toothpick of yours, in which case feel free to try."
He shrugs at Zelinda's question. "Gold."
As Quiary pulls an arrow, the man tenses up and seems ready to fight.
Caeldren <- Can act
Orik
Quiary, Ansgar, Zelinda, NMormornigan, Zantus
Realizing a fight is about to break out Cael draws his sword and prepares himself to strike.
Seeing the iminent fight, the man draws his sword and charges up, brushing off Caeldren's strike with his shield and swinging at him with his bastard sword.
The swing misses, but the howl as it cuts the air shows how destructive the blow would be if it connected.
Quiary lets an arrow loose and hits man on the armor, he seems more annoyed than hurt.
Caeldren <- Can act
Orik, Quiary
Ansgar, Zelinda, Normornigan, Zantus <- Can act
Norm moves to stand behind Quiary, as that seems to be the only way he can see the man.
"ඩී!"
"Cliff, get in behind him!"
Cliff will run in behind the man.
If daze didn't take effect:
"Dang! You mean business. It may not look like much, but I warn you this 'toothpick' is sharp!" Cael then strikes at the man again and readied himself to party the brute's attack.
"Oh for the love of Desna!" says an exasperated Zelinda. Raising her shield, she strikes at the mercenary with her longsword
Swift Action: Active Defense - +1 Dodge bonus to Ansgar.
Standard Action: Longsword attack
Of course... man says he's not fool enough to fight all seven of us... so we threaten to assault him and force him to defend himself.
Ansgar continues to impose himself between the man and the party, but simply hunkers down to keep the two groups apart.
Norm tries to daze the man.
Who shrugs off the spell and blocks Cliff's passage into the room. Zelinda's strike is blocked by the man's shield, and Caeldren hits a glancing blow.
Hearing Ansgar, the man hides behind his shield.
"I would listen to the grizzly old man if I were you. I may not be able to beat you all but if this keeps up I'm sure as heck taking one or two of you to Pharasma with me."
Caeldren <- Can act
Orik (-14 hp)
Quiary, Ansgar, Zelinda, Normornigan, Zantus <- Can act
"Cliff, come here!"
Norm calls Cliff over, but keeps ready to send him off again, should the man continue to be hostile.
"Give us the name of the one who hired you, and you are free to go." Zelinda calls out from behind her shield.
Quiary grits his teeth, keeping the arrow nocked in his bow but lowers it to the floor.
"It would be easier to question him once we have subdued him, do not trust him if he is willing to work with goblins for money." Quiary warns Ansgar.
"I can't say that a rough fight sounds like a great idea. Put down your sword and we'll chat. You know you can't win, this way you might save your skin."
Ansgar looks at Quiary, "Trust has little to do with it. There's no point risking injury here is we can avoid it."
Staying firmly in the door way between Orik and his companions, Ansgar looks at the man and says "As my companion said, if you tell us who hired you we will let you leave here alive. I'd also like you to tell us what you can about what exactly is happening here if you know. The more information you can give us, the easier it will be for everyone."
"Her name is Nualia, otherworldly-looking woman who'd be gorgeous if not for that demonic arm, hard not to recognize her when you see her. Hired me as a bodyguard, not that I've had to do much bodyguarding lately. She's looking for something on the chambers below, don't know what, don't care what. There, move aside so I can go."
To Ansgar he seems to be telling the truth.
Quiary just looks at the man, not wanting to let him go but deferring to Ansgar's judgement
"Ansgar, we shouldn't let him leave with his weapons and armor. If he willingly is working for a woman with a demonic arm, I can only imagin what he will use it for. Let him leave with his life, but no more."
"Orik, my companion here has a point. If you could part with your weapon and armor, it would be for the best I think." Angar says to Orik.
I would never part with my weapon or blade, so... this likely won't go well...
The man shakes his head.
"That wasn't part of the deal. I can give you that elf's bow back, and even give you some of my coin if it's a bribe you want. But I'm not going out there unarmed, that would be suicide."
Zelinda shakes her head at Ansgar. "No. He's right. He has the right to leave here with his own weapon. You of all people should know better than to go back on your word. He already knows what will happen if he crosses us again. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt."
Then she turns to the mercenary, "Your own weapon," she says firmly. "You can leave the bow right there. And I swear, if you go back on your word, I'll shove one of my bombs right down your gods-begotten throat."
Norm turns to Zelinda
"We didn't promise anything about his weapons or armor, only that he could leave here alive. He is alive, even if he is naked. No promise is broken."
"Just get gone, now, leave the bow tell us if you know where the rest of Shalelu's equipment is and leave this place." Quiary says bow at the ready
Cael sets his rapier on his shoulder and takes a casual stance. "The man's right, leaving here unarmed would be stupid, Norm's right that he could still be dangerous armed. Well, if you'll swear to pick your employers better in the future then as Stoneface here's said we'll let you go. You said your name was Orik? We won't forget, so you'd better not be found working for the wrong side of things again."
Ansgar sighs, no way to keep everyone in this lot happy at the same time.
"Leave, quickly Orik. I'll hold you to no additional requirements. But as you can see, my companions are of a varied opinion." Ansgar says. "Zelinda, do you have a token or something to write with? Or you Orik? We will need to give Orik some form of proof that we made this agreement with him or Garbund may get into trouble."
"I have a pen..."