SR's - Great Southern Isles (PbP) (Inactive)

Game Master stormraven

OK, I know this is against the standard rules but here's how it goes when drinking potions (this one is based on Isolde's bonuses):
Full swig - 1d8+9 Heal
Half swig - 1d4+4 Heal
1/4 swig - 1d2+2 Heal

Strae used a Half swig. Jayse, can use a 1/4 swig which will max his HP and still leave a 1/4 swig in that bottle for either Fin or Ushari and another full bottle.

Ushari - Y-2 is a wall square. All grey squares are walls. I'm putting you at Y-4 since you'll need to be there to fire on the goblin.

Jayse takes the potion bottle from Strae and swallows a small mouthful to heal his wounds.

Ushari, encouraged by Fin's assessment of the opposition, steps into the open. She sees a single goblin lit by firelight at the far end of a long cavern. Her arrow flies true, driving into the creature's shoulder. It is wounded but doesn't drop.

ORDER: Ushari, Straehan, Goblins, Fin, Jayse

ROUND 7

Straehan whispers to Jayse, "I hate leaving those half-wounded goblins behind us but, yeah, we should probably press forward. If the goblin outside wasn't lying to us, we've killed at least half of their number and wounded a few more." He takes the potion back from Jayse, moves up behind Fin and Ushari, and offers either of the ladies the remaining amount in the bottle. 1/4 swig

The remaining goblin in the cavern returns fire on Ushari and then sprints out of sight at the far end. His arrow catches her in the thigh, repaying her for the blow that felled his friend.

U's HP: 3/9

ORDER: Ushari, Straehan, Goblins, Fin, Jayse
BATTLE MAP: Goblin Cave

So, stay in or switch out of combat time? Search the bodies and then move into the cavern? Something else?

I'd suggest that Fin quaff the 1/4 potion - it should max her out, and let Ushari start the second potion.

Fin drinks the remainder of the potion when it is offered to her and recovers her sword, checking to see if she fouled the blade when it struck the floor earlier. She looks to Straehan and Jayse to see if they are able to press on, or if they need to rest and regroup.

Regardless, having no great urge to go touching the smell goblins, she keeps a look-out while the others make up their mind, although Ushari fussing over her injured leg seems to be distracting her.

Perception 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10

Ushari winces as she pulls the arrow embedded in her legs out, and staunches the flow of blood. She reaches into her pouch and pulls out another of Isoldes potion bottles, still sealed, and cracks it. She quaffs half of it, mindful of its potency.

She notices Fin staring at her, and gives the elf girl a half-smile, followed by a thumbs up signal. Once done, she stores the potion bottle, and waits for the signal from Jayse to move out, whispering to him, "We should try to capture their shaman, if we can."

Potion half swig 1d4 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
Current HP: 9/9

Jayse indicates that he'll go first carrying the torch, and that everyone else should follow with ranged weapons at the ready. He picks up the torch - dropped when he had grappled the one goblin earlier - and moves out into the next chamber, feet quiet, eyes and ears open, body ready to move in any direction.

I'm not sure if we're still in rounds, but if we are, that's a move action to pick up the torch, then a move action to move out into the room, only able to get to W-4 this round. If we're not still in rounds, then my intention is to stay just off the left-most wall, giving the other folks room to hug the wall behind me and use me as a meat shield if necessary. If I can do this while going defensive, I will… i just don't have the actions to do so if we're still in combat rounds.

Jayse leading the way, the companions move cautiously into the large cavern. After carefully searching every dark corner (and there are quite a few of them), they determine that all the goblins have fled the room.

The room is centered around two fires which are used for warmth and cooking judging by the spit near one and the pile of dead animals near both. It appears the goblins have been dining on small mammals - cats, raccoons, possums, squirrels, skunk, mountain goats, etc. There are also baskets of root vegetables and plants. In one corner, broken crockery sits below a crack in the stone that drips water steadily, catching the minerally drops.

There are a couple of empty weapon racks as well as a chest - none of which holds anything of interest. Littered around the room are more of the oddly mounded piles of plant detritus and bits of cloth. The odd piles draw Straehan's interest. He pokes through them carefully, clearly not liking what he smells there. He speaks with his compatriots.

"Gah! These piles smell like a goblin's armpit."

Something in Straehan's turn of phrase reminds Ushari that she knows facts about all sorts of humanoid creatures. She looks at the mounds closely. "These could be the goblins' beds. They don't need much in the way of comforts."

Jayse and Fin look more carefully. After some pantomime discussion, they determine that each 'pile bed' probably serves two or three goblins. Some of the pile beds are very old and unused - ironically being far less stinky - but the vast majority show recent use.

I've situated the characters on the map so that you can see the majority of the room with Fin and Strae watching the front and rear exits, just in case. Feel free to RP any further discussion or tell me if you want to move on.

ROOM MAP: Goblin Cave

Jayse lifts the torch and his eyes from the pile of smelly rags, "So the hobgoblins slept back there. The little guys sleep in here. Neither of those facts tells us why they're getting all uppity now."

Should we be heeding any of the little icons on the map? It looks like there's a barrel or somehting in one area… are those just for ambience, or should we be trying to search them out?

He continues, "It makes me nervous that we haven't seen this 'shaman', but I suppose we need to keep going." He points with his torch (to that Northeast corridor we can see top-right), "So we go that way?"

Do Jayse's ears pick up anything in that direction? 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (9) + 8 = 17

Ushari nods at Jayse, "Yes, we need to keep moving here, I believe they are probably going to set an ambush for us, so we need to be careful."

Seeing Jayse motion towards the far tunnel, Fin moves in position to see if she can see/hear anything as well.

Perception 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20 feel free to do this as an AA

Jayse lifts the torch and his eyes from the pile of smelly rags, "So the hobgoblins slept back there. The little guys sleep in here. Neither of those facts tells us why they're getting all uppity now."

"True enough. But this is good reconnaissance information. At two or three goblins to a bed..." He casts his glance around the cave meaningfully, "... minus the maybe two dozen we killed or the trees ate... plus the three beds in the hobgob room... we are talking about a sizable tribe here." Straehan starts noting down the number of 'fresh' beds you find so an accurate guesstimate of goblin numbers can be determined.

Should we be heeding any of the little icons on the map? It looks like there's a barrel or something in one area... are those just for ambience, or should we be trying to search them out?

I rarely put things in just for ambiance and they are usually the easy to dismiss stuff - like the spit and animal bodies. The barrel thing is the chest I mentioned up-thread, it is empty. My basic assumption is you search the obvious chests and stuff. I try to include comments to make sure I cover that when it happens. However, any possible secret locations, or unusual searches are up to you to mention specifically or say "we search this place thoroughly, turning over everything". For instance, there was a carpet on the floor in the hobgob room. No one paid it any attention so you didn't search beneath it. NOTE: There is nothing beneath it - so you don't need to bother going back. I'm just giving you an example.

So, yeah, if I were you, I'd look at the maps with a bit of care and don't assume things are just eye-candy. The one thing I really like about this kind of map tool is that, as the DM, I don't need to verbally mention things that are present and maybe relevant - that is always a give-away about the DM's intent. With maps, it comes down to whether you, as the players, choose to ask questions based on what you see.

He continues, "It makes me nervous that we haven't seen this 'shaman', but I suppose we need to keep going." He points with his torch (to that Northeast corridor we can see top-right), "So we go that way?"

Do Jayse's ears pick up anything in that direction? 1d20 + 8

Jayse hears nothing out of the ordinary down the proposed path as Straehan responds, "I'd be happier if we knew where the shaman was as well. I think Ushari made a good point earlier. The shaman may have the answers we are looking for. Hopefully, we can bag him without too much trouble. So, since the gobs know we are here - shall we move out as a group or do our Elf/Gnome sneak ahead method?"

Good to know about the maps. Some DM's seem to use the map without really looking at what populates it. I'll try to keep my eyes open on them.

"I see no reason to change our tactics. Findelgwing's sharp eyes and ears will help immensely in this darkness, with you helping us keep track of her. Especially since Ushari and I are going to be useless in this dark."

So, same strat as before? Fin 30 feet or so out front, with the three of us coming up in a group, me holding the torch while Ushari is ready with her bow. Sound good everyone?

Ushari draws her bow and nocks an arrow, in her left hand, while handing the torch over to Jayse. "Let's get moving then."

In Elvish, she adds, "Fin, watch for any traps."

Edited for clarity, as Jayse makes sense, he he.

I think it makes more sense for Jayse to hold the torch since he doesn't need his hands to fight. I'm going to mostly rely on you guys for ranged combat, using my shuriken when i do need to help out. And since none of those require 2 hands to use, unlike your shortbow...

Fin gives a small sigh at Ushari's warning. She nods her head and resumes her role in the lead, sword in one hand, bow in the other.

The comrades wind through the passageway trying to provide Fin and Straehan with just enough light to scout. Fin signals you all forward into a small cavern with a small central fire, two obvious exits, and several more 'bed piles'. Straehan notes their number and relative freshness.

You all pause for a minute, listening for anything unusual. Jayse and Ushari are particularly attentive, clearly roaming the dark passages grates on them. You hear absolutely nothing - not the creak of a silenced ballista, nor the stealthy footfalls of blade-wielding goblins bent on revenge, nor the quiet casting of an evil goblin shaman, nor your HPs slowly being whittled away. :)

After a moment, Straehan shrugs. "The southern way would seem to lead us back to the entrance. North?"

The first link shows your overall map - every space you've visited in the cave. The second is the standard 'where you are now' map.

Cave OVERVIEW
ROOM MAP: Goblin Cave

Jayse watches the the north route, then turns to look back at the southern one, "At least one goblin got away from us in that fight back there, and it headed that way." He indicates the southern direction with the torch. "I hate to think we're leaving some to come at us from behind when another fight starts, but I'm not sure what to do about it. Unless someone has a way to make sure they don't ruin our progress north if we go back for the stragglers, then i say we continue on."

Ushari pipes up, "If I were these goblins, I would probably regroup somewhere to make a final ambush...err...stand. Therefore I don't think they would split up their forces here."

Since Jayse and Straehan appear to have picked North, Findelgwing nods and begins heading that way.

You enter another large cavern lit by only one of two fires. Aside from a broken spear, the two weapon racks are empty. The boxes in the alcove at the south end contain nothing of particular value, mostly strips of cloth, stolen rations, and the like. There are several more bed piles as well.

Looking out the western exit, Fin sees a long dark corridor stretching off and bending away.

ROOM MAP: Goblin Cave

Ushari talks softly, almost to herself, "So, this chamber held a couple dozen goblins at one point. Where did they go?"

She strains to hear any signs of noise from the south...but the only sound she hears is the yammering of her heartbeat.

Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10

"Good question."

Move on? Head back?

"Straehan, you sure know how to cheer someone up." Ushari says wryly.

My vote is to press on.

"It's a gift."

Fin frowns at all the empty goblin beds, not liking now many she is seeing. With a "hmm" she raises her sword and runs it thru the bed beside her and Straehan to ensure that nothing is hiding inside the mess.

Whoosh 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
dmg 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 = 7 one-handed

Sadly, all Fin kills are some fleas in the 'bedding'.

"As much as I feel the trap springing already, I say we press on. We have good information now, but I'm incredibly curious about this shaman."

The heroes press on into the winding, serpentine passageway with a growing, almost palpable, sense of apprehension. Something is very not right here. It takes another bend or two in the passage to finally put a finger on it...

The previous caverns were entirely natural and it appears that the goblins had widened the existing connections between the caverns to create corridors. It was the most efficient course, working with the natural weaknesses within the rock. Their routes were relatively straight and direct.

This corridor is anything but straight and direct. It started as the other goblin-modified corridors did but it has changed. It shows signs of goblin work, true enough. But behind those, peeking through some of the rough goblin works, are signs of another hand, a more refined one. There are points near each of the bends in the corridor where spots on the walls show smooth curves.

As you sneak along the passage, you examine these spots. Not only are they finely crafted, but you feel subtle patterns etched into the walls. It feels like fish or snake scales. It is almost as if the corridor is shaped to emulate the inside of a snake's body - with scales, oddly enough, on the inside.

It seems that the goblins, whether by luck or fate, mined into this buried corridor and mirrored its construction only widening their works enough to see the previous works in some spots. Given the spordic appearance of the older construction, the goblins clearly made no effort to dig out the original passageway. It makes you wonder if they even realised it was there. And if they didn't know it was there, how did they follow the route so exactly? No more than a foot or two on either side should have revealed the old tunnel walls. You would think mining would be easier by following the old wall and clearing the debris away.

Fin signals a halt as she rounds a sharp turn. There is light in the corridor ahead. It shines from what you guess is a fire in a corridor or room off the left-hand side of the passageway. -C -2

ROOM MAP: Goblin Cave

Questions about the walls or scene? Ushari is back to carrying a torch. Given the tight confines, she was too often out of Jayse's light which put her at great risk of getting surprised. And there was precious little space she could take up in front of Jayse and still allow Fin enough light to scout by. The map shows Ushari being the rear-guard while Jayse is giving the scouts enough light to see.

Ushari pauses at one of the curves and runs her hand along the wall, feeling the scaly surface. She peers closer at the surface, trying to pickj up clues as to its origins.

Perception 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (14) + 7 = 21

Doers this trigger any memory of her vision of the Tower, when she was unconscious earlier?

Ushari feels the wall and tries to recall if it matches anything from her 'dream'...

It's not like the room where I saw IT. That was cruder looking. There wasn't anything in the Tower that had a snake-scale pattern... but the curves and the craftsmanship were similarly fine and there was a fair amount of etching as I recall.

Ushari is left with the feeling that the snake corridor is either Shaudran in design or something from a civilization with a similar aesthetic sense.

Jayse eyes the odd corridor walls, "Well, this is decidedly not like the rest of the caves. I'm wondering if all we'll find in here are goblins." He looks around, seeing if anybody else has any good ideas.

"I say we keep going. The more information we can bring back to Thrane, the better, in my mind." He looks towards the source of the light, "But let's do it quietly."

Ushari can only nod in agreement to Jayse, he notices her face is several shades too pale for normal.

Straehan gives good thought to Jayse's comment before responding. "I'll be surprised if all we find are goblins. There has been too much strangeness that, it seems, is best explained by 'outside factors' introduced to a stable, if dangerous, situation." He taps the odd serpent wall with a knuckle. "This is an 'outside factor'. Something compelled these goblins to unbury this odd corridor."

"I agree. Which is why I'm extremely curious to find out more. Though, if we call out 'run', everyone should be prepared to fall back and get out of here. No reason to die in here needlessly."

Straehan tries to muster a smile, "I'd prefer not to die needfully either."

You can see half of Jayse's smile in the torchlight as he responds, "Oh yah… right…. that too."

Based on the extreme narrowing of the passage, it is decided that Straehan should peek into the lighted area instead of Fin. He can quickly make it back through the narrow gap which will certainly be more problematic for the bigger folk, and if something untoward happens, Fin prepares to yank him back through the gap.

Straehan does his (miserable) best to hug the wall clandestinely and peek in. He stares for a second and then ducks back into the shadows and comes through the gap. He looks perplexed.

"OK, well, it's a small room, with a decent bed, a couple of carpets, a roaring fire, some sort of ritual circle on the floor, and some sort of God statue which I couldn't see very well along the south end. I couldn't really see it because there was a goblin standing not 20' away, arrow knocked and aimed at my skull. He didn't fire and I didn't test his patience."

ROOM MAP: Goblin Cave

Ushari stares at Straehan as if he had lost his mind. Wait, the goblin saw a gnome, and did NOT take a killing shot? Something is not right here... She slides next to the gnome, and whispers, "Are you certain it was a goblin?" On Straehan's nod, she furrows her brow. "Either he is trying to lure us into the room, or perhaps maybe it is a spell of some kind, I do not know."

"And you're sure he saw you? That does make me more than a little wary. Though I can't think of any other options but to go in there." He looks around, hoping someone has a brilliant idea.

If they don't, he looks towards the passageway, "Well, if we're gonna go in, then let's try to be smart about it. I can go in first and create a shield of sorts for the rest of you. You all be ready to drop anything that acts aggressively." A thought occurs to him, "I don't suppose the goblin was standing in the diagram on the floor, was he?"

Seeing the look of confusion on Fin's face, Straehan says, "Ushari, would you please tell Fin what's going on." He frowns in thought, pulling at his goatee, trying to recall everything he saw.

Let's assume that Ushari manages to translate everything being said.

"Are you certain it was a goblin?" On Straehan's nod, she furrows her brow. "Either he is trying to lure us into the room, or perhaps maybe it is a spell of some kind, I do not know."

"It was definitely a goblin, a rather large one. If it was a lure, it wasn't the most effective one. I wasn't exactly inclined to enter a room with a goblin pointing a clothyard shaft in my face."

"And you're sure he saw you? That does make me more than a little wary. Though I can't think of any other options but to go in there." He looks around, hoping someone has a brilliant idea.

"Oh, he definitely saw me. He tensed when I popped around the corner, and his arrow followed my movements."

If they don't, he looks towards the passageway, "Well, if we're gonna go in, then let's try to be smart about it. I can go in first and create a shield of sorts for the rest of you. You all be ready to drop anything that acts aggressively."

"Let's slow down a bit. This is very strange. I'd like to hear what Fin thinks before we go rushing in."

A thought occurs to him, "I don't suppose the goblin was standing in the diagram on the floor, was he?"

Straehan thinks carefully. "Noooo... he wasn't in the circle. But I don't think the characters were magical, if that is what you were thinking. Some of them just looked like squiggles or pictographs."

Fin scratches the side of her head at the strange news. She frowns deeply for a moment as if in deep concentration and says a single word in Elvish.

She points from Straehan to the other room with a questioning look on her face.

I'm assuming Ushari translates...

Straehan's eyes go wide, "You want me to try talking to him? Well... he didn't fire on me before. I suppose he might not shoot twice."

He looks at Ushari and Jayse to see if they agree with the idea.

Ushari's expression shows a definite lack of enthusiasm for the idea. Still, they needed answers and corpses tell few tales.

"Straehan, I don't like this at all!" She sighs. "But we need some answers, and this may be our best chance to figure out what is going on!"

Straehan looks amused, "So I suppose that is two votes for sending me into the lion's den. Jayse, care to make this a clean sweep?"

Although Fin would not be able to express it, I'm sure that a smart gnome like Straehan realizes sound does not require line-of-sight, right? ;)

He does, indeed. But since the goblin didn't exactly seem chatty before, Strae is thinking that perhaps a show a good faith may be required. It's also a hell of a lot easier to Sense Motive on someone you can see.

Hmmm... but calling out could be done before Jayse weighs in since it doesn't commit anyone.

Straehan calls out in the gutteral goblin language. He struggles to make his tone neutral; it seems like 'neutral' is difficult for the gnome and perhaps impossible in Goblinese. The response he gets is immediate and short. He raises an eyebrow at his comrades as if to say stranger and stranger... He responds again, his tone clearly curious. The goblin fires back a string of measured syllables with one word said in Common - painfully and phonetically "Nag-gosh-yee-ate". Straehan fires off another quick response and turns to the group, looking amazed.

"I told him I had to brief you about what he said before I could agree... so we have a little time. He wants to make a deal. He says that we have a common problem and it is up this corridor. He says that we 'were expected' and he was told that 'the four will come'. He thinks we could use more of the information he has."

"Here's where it gets interesting. He wants to meet with us openly. He stays armed, we come in with weapons sheathed. He wants to exchange his information for us not killing any more goblins and allowing all survivors to leave safely."

Fin listens to Ushari's translation and rolls her eyes at the thought of more people talking their ridiculous words. She leans over, pats Jayse and Straehan on the shoulder and give them the thumbs up as if to say, You go right ahead with that.

Ushari ponders the strange offer of the goblin. At first glance, it seemed completely rediculous. How could they trust this goblin 'shaman'? All of her senses told her this was a trap, and to kill him, thus refusing the offer.

But still, the words spoken by Straehan were hypnotizing, like holding a glass of water to a parched man crawling in the desert. Expected, by whom? What person or thing brought the four of us together?

She looks at Straehan, a mixture of hope and fear in her eyes at what the group might learn. "We should listen to his offer, Straehan. Do you agree, Jayse?"

"I do." Jayse agrees with a nod, "though I'm as suspicious as the rest of you. Everyone put up your weapons, but keep them close at hand. Since I don't need weapons to be dangerous, I'll go in first. If it turns ugly, get behind me." He turns to Straehan after pantomiming to Fin to stow her weapons (doing his best to somehow make the gestures seem a request instead of an order), "I will hear him out, but any whiff of deception or danger, and it will get painful for him… fast."