"Sounds incredible, though I am very content with normal boots."
The sky has darkened, and the only light you can see is that of your campfire. The pleasant aroma of cooked boar is drifting through the hills.
And that's how we come across Chief Firebiter, the greatest (and only) Firebiter Goblin for miles. She hasn't eaten in days and her Goblin stomach is in danger of eating itself. As she breathes in for a haggard sigh, she detects a mouth-watering scent.
She begins to stumble in its direction, and as she gets closer she can make out a light in the distance, and she can barely hear voices drifting in the wind.
What do you do?
Chief Firebiter moves towards the light stooped over and trying not to be seen.
Perhaps not very well.
Garhan is defenitely going to tell Woden something about why boar booties would be such a good idea when he hears something.
"Hmm?"
Garhan turns his head into our new friend's direction. There is something there, a small figure? Despite his darkvision, Garhan's not quite sure who... Or what this thing is.
"Is someone ther?"
Chief Firebiter hears someone call out asking if someone is there. Panicking, she backs further into the shadows and prays to fire that she will not be seen.
Stealth Check:
"Hmm? Is something the matter Garhan?"
Woden starts to get concerned over the slight rustling he hears.
Gird mumbles incoherently in her sleep, then attempts to roll over. This act causes her pain, and as such she wakes up, not really bothering to move. Hearing Woden's comment and deciding that she should probably be awake now, she pulls herself into a sitting position, and looks at the witch.
"I think I heard something... And saw something, but I'm not sure what."
Garhan said, trying to make something out of the shapes in the darkness, but it seemed like whatever was going around in the bushes was moving.
Oomlowt pulled up his bedroll in an attempt to hide himself under the covers. It worked about as well as you would expect.
Chief Firebiter curses her lack of stealth, and realizes that the group of people have detected her. She decides to study the group from the shadows to see if it is worth going out to take some food or to see if it would be in her best interest to run away.
She believes that they are the greatest adventurers of all time. She believes that if she so much as thinks of attacking them and stealing their food they will strike her down in seconds like, like a boar or something. She thinks there might be the slight possibility that she can get away without them catching her.
Gird, groans, feeling tired and stiff. "Right then, let's make some noise. Anyone or thing can already see our fire, so it's not like we're going to lose the element of surprise. At worst we'll scare of some of the animals around."
Awkwardly standing up, Gird clears her throat, then shouts out into the darkness.
"We can see you! Get where we can see you better or go the f*** away!" She remains facing the darkness, attempting to see any movement.
Perception check:
Garhan is getting a bit frustrated because he can't quite see what it is that's hiding in the bushes. The whole group is still so badly beaten up from the fight earlier he really hopes it's nothing horrible...
Whatever it is, it seems kinda small. Maybe. It could just be hunched over.
Garhan tries yelling in the dark again.
"Is someone there? Yoohoo..?"
Chief Firebiter's stomach growls and she curses under her breath in Goblin. The Great Adventurers are calling out. She thinks she might be able to sneak around to the other side of the clearing through the trees and escape in that direction.
Did whatever it was that was hiding in the bushes moving again?
...Yes it was! And now that it moved out of it's hiding place behind the bushes, Garhan could actually see what it was.
Looked like a small bipedal thing in a potato sack.
Or a wedding dress.
That was a bit unclear.
But still, something small. Maybe a Goblin? At least it had a large head.
Moderately convinced it is a Goblin, Garhan decides to take a shot. His Goblin might be a bit rusty but... Hey, if it wasn't a Goblin, then it just seemed like he would be talking gibberish.
...Like that would be the good option.
"Hey! You! I can see you there!"
Hearing Garhan speak some bizarre, guttural language, Gird groaned. "Couldn't it be, I dunno, a halfling of pixie or nymph? But no, or course it has to be a troll or a bugbear or goblin. She sighs, then looks briefly at Woden before returning her gaze to the dark.
"Pretty Boy, where's the meat?"
Chief Firebiter halts realizing that she was spotted. She slowly walks out into the open. She quickly takes in her surroundings trying to plan an escape route, preferably one that goes past the food so she can swipe some. She also looks at the group more carefully trying to find any weaknesses she can use if this does turn into a fight.
She does not have much success. She still thinks she is up against the Greatest Adventurers ever and so they have no weaknesses.
She just stares at the one who spoke to her in her native tongue.
As Chief Firebiter walks out into the open, it becomes apparent this mysterious lurking thing indeed was a Goblin... In a potato sack or a wedding dress.
Somehow which it would be still wasn't clear to Garhan.
Realising that the Goblin is staring at him, Garhan quickly tries to think of something smart to say.
"Uh..."
"Who are you? What are you doing here? And why are you sneaking around?"
Well, maybe that was smart?
Trying to take his mind of the possible danger(?) at hand, Woden turns to Gird handing her a fresh boar leg.
"Here you are, enjoy."
Chief Firebiter looks at him for a couple of seconds before her eyes once again dart around trying to find a escape route.
With once again no success she decides she might as well answer the questions asked. Maybe they will let her go?
Oomlowt peeked out from his covers at the sound of the Chief's voice. He was immediately relieved to see a small goblin instead of any of the numerous horrible monsters he had imagined the noise to be. "Oh, it's only a goblin," he said. "Thank Lamashtu! I thought we were going to get attacked again."
Gird grunts and accepts the leg. Cool.
Seeing the goblin emerge from the shadows, Gird makes a big show of tearing into the boar leg with as much orc ferocity as she can. She also mutters something about "dumbstupidpeoplecan'tspeakcommonlikeanormalhumaniodwhat'swrongwiththemimea nreally".
What, great adventurers? Chief?
Is this goblin's name Chief or is she actually a chief of some clan? This is a bit confusing, but at least the Goblin is talking.
"We... Are not going to attack you."
Garhan seems to be trying to think of something to say. ...But the first question that came to his mind seems to bother him too much.
"Uh... Is your name Chief, or are you the leader of a clan?"
Chief Firebiter does not trust the Tiefling but relaxes slightly. She notices the Orc eating a boar leg. She discretely looks for the rest of the food and tries to see if there is a escape route in that direction hoping that she might finally be able to actually concentrate and see it.
She finally sees the dead boars (how did she miss them in the first place?) and an escape route. However, she also finally realizes that these people are not the Great Adventurers she thought, in fact they look half-dead and she feels that if necessary she could take them. She relaxes visibly at the thought.
"I speak common you know. As for your question, I am the Chief of the Firebiter clan."
"Uh... Yes, sorry, I didn't mean I'd think you couldn't speak in Common."
Garhan clears his throat.
"I just... Wanted to catch your attention."
Gosh, he hoped nobody had been offended.
"Great, she speaks." Gird eyes the goblin warily, then moves slowly to her bedroll, where her armor and weapons are. She continues to rip into the boar leg throughout this.
"Greetings chief," Oomlowt said, trying to be diplomatic as always. "Where's the rest of your clan?"
Chief Firebiter watches the Tiefling with amusement before glaring at the Orc. She then turns her attention to the Kobold who just spoke.
"Greetings to you too, though I don't seem to know any of your names," here she looks at every person in turn before continuing. "There is no rest of my clan, it's just me."
Ah, good. A goblin without a clan wouldn't pose much of a threat. Oomlowt liked having the higher ground. "Excuse my poor manners," Oomlowt said in an attempt to show his educated background. "I am Oomlowt Schwaa, gentleman scholar and professional explorer. These are my companions. Please, sit down for a spell."
Garhan's face turns into a worrying expression as Chief Firebiter talks about her clan.
"Oh no..! Did... Did something happen to your clan, chief?"
Garhan leans forward in interest.
"Oh, and my name is Garhan Ghaidos. Sorry about the late introduction."
Standing near her weapons makes Gird feel better, so she lowers the boar leg and speaks.
I'm Gird, paladin to Erastil. Gird had noticed in the past that people seemed to be more... fearful in the presence of paladins. Which was bulls***, as Erastil would lift a single divine pinky to help her out.
Woden stays by the fire, continues to cook the boars on their pikes.
"I am Woden Cernnos, a pleasure to meet you."
Chief Firebiter nods to each as they introduce themselves. She finds Garhan most amusing, and decides to take Oomlowt up on his offer to sit down. She then turns to Garhan to answer his question.
"Nothing happened to my clan. I have always been a clan of one, therefore, I am Chief."
"Well, that's a lot better than losing a whole clan!"
Garhan exclaims, delighted.
"Perhaps," Oomlowt mused, "But then again, sometimes you're better off without a tribe." He stared into the distance for a moment, brooding about his past.
Of course, he was also a silly little lizard man, so this mostly just looked ridiculous.
Chief Firebiter shrugs before looking at Woden.
"Do you mind if I have some of that?" she asks pointing at the boar. "I can't remember the last time I ate something."
...Woden rips off a leg from the boar he just finished cooking and hands it to their new guest.
"I'm not one to deny a lady a fresh meal, here you are."
Gird snorted. Right, and she's a lady. Usually Gird would chase off any freeloaders, but in her and her partner's weakened state Gird wasn't sure that it was such a good idea. In this sort of situation she'd normally bargain, meat for protection, but since this was a goblin Gird doubted that she would stick with any deals. The sooner she left, the better. For now all she could do was not show weakness; goblins had no sense of honor and this one would strike them down if she thought she could.
"Right, happy to offer you the boars we just killed. They didn't put up too much of a fight."
"Technically Woden is the one who slew the boars," Oomlowt wheezed. "The rest of us helped, though."
"...I just finished them off....You guys did most of it..."
Woden looks at his feet sheepishly, ashamed that he could have saved them all, but couldn't...
Momentarily distracted from their new 'guest', Gird turns toward Oomlowt.
"I'm sorry, I guess the one I stabbed through the face didn't count. Or the fact that I threw myself into the fray to save your scaly a**!"
Thankfully, Gird has a wisdom score of 15, so she doesn't say this. Instead, she gestures to the boar with the stabbed face.
"Right, I guess he did slay all of them. With his sword."
"Which he drew after he ran away, leaving us to get gored. To death." Gird also doesn't say this, because while she is sure she's right, fighting with her teammates seems like a bad idea when she is this injured.
Chief Firebiter is silent as she tears into a boar's leg chewing viciously. She studies the group taking in all of their injuries and inwardly yells at herself for ever mistaking them for great adventurers. She thinks that she doesn't have to keep up this polite show for very much longer before she can walk away with all of their things of value, slaying any who get in her way.
"Mmm. This good. Chief Firebiter appreciate very much. Chief Firebiter guessing great battle took place. Great battle against boars."
"It was an awe inspiring melee to behold,"Oomlowt wheezed. "Although, like any great struggle, there was perhaps more than its fair share of horror mixed in with the heroism. Our strongest members, Gird and Woofles, faced the monstrous pigs head on first." The storyteller in Oomlowt wanted to go on, but thinking of his beloved dog's demise was still too hard for him. "...Everyone was quite valiant. The meal we've gained was well deserved."
"Yep. What he said. And the boars were huge. F****** huge boars. And lucky. Incredibly lucky boars." Since none of Gird's teammates seemed to be in the 'let's not get killed by untrustworthy folk' mood, Gird decides she must take matters into her own hands. Surreptitiously trying to lower the bandages on her chest while still looking fierce, Gird once again rips into the boar leg. Like I said, incredibly lucky boars. Incredibly."
Bluff roll:
Sense Motive Check:
To make a long story short the gusto with which Chief Firebiter began eating her boar leg caused her to choke to death, no small feat for a Goblin with such a large maw.
It's probably safe to say that your reactions to this were mixed.
You get 100 XP each, bringing your totals from 476 XP to 576 XP!
Aren't you excited, 'cause I am.
Gird stares at the dead goblin. Welp.
"Right then. I'll go back to sleep. Wake me if anything important happens."
Oomlowt also stared at the dead goblin.
"So... is anyone going to eat that?"
16th of Pharast...
It's been four long days of rest, with the only real event of note being the howls of wolves in the distance a couple of nights.
All of you have regained some semblance of vitality by this point, and your current HPs are listed below.
Oomlowt:
Garhan:
Woden:
Gird:
It's a brand new day, the sun is just rising over the hills, and the wind is blowing a sweet smell from the northwest.
What do you do?
Oh! And all of you roll Perception checks with a +8 circumstance bonus.
You've been at this spot for four days after all.
Perception check -
Garhan is feeling pretty... Perceptive today.
"Ah, today is a good day!"
The witch exclaimed, stretching his joints. It felt like the wounds from the boar encounter had finally healed.