Dru joins the remainder of the group, moving forward but still staying well out of melee.
A door to the northwest crashes open...
"I'm here...this be goblin's place...have you come for the feast?", another mounted goblin, barely in control of his mount, announces his arrival...
Continuing with his trademark "Cut you with my sword until you die" fighting style, Marian swings his blade at the goblin due north of his position, snarling like a rabid mongoose.
Marian's swing at the visible goblin catches naught but air, the diminutive creature ducking under the barbarian's sword. In return, it slashes at Marian but, in it's enthusiasm, misses..."Drats....Stand Still Longshanks!!!"
Out if the darkness, a set of slavering jaws snap at Marian but he is able to jump out of harm's way...
"I'm going to stick you...", a rusty blade tethered to the end of a pole is stabbed forwards, past Marian, at Conner...it catches the human and, when the blade is drawn back, it is clear that the wound is nasty...
An arrow, shot from the darkness, catches Marian...not much more than a light graze but enough that the barbarian knows that something / someone else has joined the fight...
" Damn!"
Dropping the glowing blade at his feet, Conner takes a step back and pulls a sunrod and his other shortsword out.
Luther grabs his holy symbol and issues a command to the goblin commando in the best shape.
"Approach!" Once again the command has a divine force of Abadar behind it.
"I hope someone gets in there and takes the pressure off Marian or he will not last long!!"
Entering the darkness within the fortress, Symon melds into the shadows and strikes the mounted goblin (C1).
Stealth:
Attack-Ranged:
Damage:
Sneak Attack Damage:
Drusellia closes the gap a little between herself and the combat, but remains out of the way of immediate attack.
From the shadows, Symon targets the mounted goblin...but realising that the Goblin is very much aware of his position, the Fetchling changes his mind at the last moment and fires at the green skinned horror's mount...
Seeing the bolt fired at its mount, the goblin attempts to manoeuvre such that Symon's attack misses...but it's too late and the bolt slams into the creatures neck, severing a vital artery. It crashes to the ground stone dead with the Goblin tumbling off and yelping in shock...
Marian can target the commando with favored enemy human.
He is the bigger threat.
Providing that he can see it, Marian swings his greatsword at the most threatening target, snarling as he tactically retreats towards the entrance of the cavern.
"If y'all aren't ! I can't see my own sword!"
Marian's blade slices through the goblin he can see as he attempts to retreat back towards the entrance...
Standing on the corpse of his mount, the goblin angrily swings his weapon at Marian...but the attack is wild and misses..."Oi...Pugnose...go and tell Grulk we've got Longshankses here..."
The other remaining goblin, presumably called Pugnose, fires an arrow towards Symon before, slapping his mount on the haunches, riding into the ruins and out of sight.
Luther advances and channels healing energy excluding the evil creatures.
All wounds inflicted so far are healed!!!
" Screw this!"
Conner ignites the sunrod and tosses it into the area in front of Marian.
He then grips his sword and moves up next to Marian.
" Let them come through the light to get to us."
Symon once again fires at the goblin (C1)
Attack-ranged:
Damage:
As he is bathed in the warmth of the healing light Marian smirks, taking a deep breath. Raising his sword the barbarian falls into a defensive position.
Aye, let the bastards come to us...
Staying outside of the ruins, the sorceress points her finger and channels a flurry of ice towards the last remaining goblin...but the goblin sees her and ducks out of the way.
"What are you all waiting for!?!?!", the goblin, showing some consternation at your refusal to attack, lunges with it's weapon...
Grinning as it strikes Conner, a glint of recognition lights up in the goblin's eyes, "Hello again Longshanks... come to get your shinies back?"
Luther vents his frustration.
"Attack them. They are still attacking us."
Luther moves up and attacks himself swinging his Morningstar.
His swing is awkward, but he hopes he inspires others.
" hugh... Damn that hurt.
Dropping his second shortsword Conner hefts the Greatsword off his back and takes a step forward.
"Your gonna pay for that ! You bastard runt!"
He yells as he brings the massive weapon down on the goblin.
Conner's sword comes down hard upon the goblin and, with a sickening crunch, embeds itself in the goblin's skull. It twitches once or twice and then crumples to the floor...dead.
As Conner's blade bisects the goblin, Marian bursts out laughing. Sheathing his own blade he gives the magus a rough pat on the shoulder, wrapping his arm around him before fetching his horrbily tacky gilded dagger from the outside of the spire.
"Well gods be damned, that's what I call the warrior's spirit! Well done, new chum.
He takes a deep breath, clutching his arrow wound tightly before lighting a torch. Strolling over to the dead goblin he begins a quick once-over for any loot.
Conner will gather his swords and clean them off. Sheathing all but the cold iron shortsword, he grabs the sunrod, casts light on the sword again and prepares to continue.
" Uhh.. Thanks?" Conner says wincing as the pat aggravates his injury. He will then help Marian with 'looting' the goblin bodies.
" If you would like to use a smaller weapon than that claymore, you can borrow my silver short sword til you find something. Just don't lose it."
"Let's head on--Conner can stay back and I'll heal everyone as soon as we take more damage."
Luther prepares to move out after searching the goblins.
Symon lurks to the rear of the brightly illuminated group, keeping his eyes roaming over the area, and his bow ready.
Perception:
With the heat of battle dissipated, you finally have an opportunity to take in your surroundings. Within the dark, half-melted blocks of green glass lie thick on the floor. A crumbling archway to the east leads into another chamber, while an open door to the west leads into the round tower at the northwest corner of the building (where the second mounted goblin came from). To the south, a barricade of rubble and wooden stakes blocks a passage...on the other side of the building, a heavy pair of double doors bars the way south...
Examining the bodies, you turn up some crude weaponry (including the Horsechopper that Marian is interested in and a small shortbow) and a stoppered vial of viscous liquid.
You don't have long to think before a voice shouts out..."Over here Longshanks...catch me if you can!!!!", those who can see far enough observe the mounted goblin, having taunted you, slide behind a wall mounted canvas in the north eastern tower of the ruins.
Drusellia sighs at the increased lighting, but says nothing, recognizing it as a necessity. "We should be cautious," she suggests. "Goblins are foolish, but cunning, and we may be being led into a trap."
"Why don't we scout the perimeter and look for another entrance? I don't like this one bit."
"I agree with Drusellia! Maybe I could scout out the area first to see if it is a trap. "
Scouting around within the entrance area...tentatively following where the goblin escaped...Symon sees a poorly disguised trap set to catch anyone chasing after the goblin. Directly above the entrance to the north east tower, the ceiling is barely held together with planks...and a rope, running into the tower and behind the canvas, is obviously set up to pull the ceiling support down...crushing anyone beneath.
Disabling the trap would take nothing more than severing the rope...
"OK. Let us send our scout ahead, but not more than fifty feet."
Sending someone stealthy ahead.
Ignoring the taunting goblin, Conner will go ahead and cast light on Marian's sword, spreading the light sources around.
" Just be careful Symon. Some of us have difficulty seeing in here, and it would be hard to come to your aid if something happened...I am not willing to just walk into whatever trap that one has planned. What say we head south and make him come to us?"
Symon carefully looks over the trap again, making sure he has not missed anything in his initial inspection. Satisfied that he has discovered the weak spot in the trap, he carefully cuts the rope.
"I have disabled a very crude trap ahead. Be careful as you pass by", he quietly calls back to the others.
He continues forward, staying hidden even in the darkness as he knows the goblin eyes can pierce the gloom.
The goblin, clearly realising that the trap had been discovered, has disappeared from the north east tower. Exploring further, it seems that you have three options for heading southwards into the ruins...
- To the west, through the barricade of rubble and destroyed furniture...there are small gaps which would enable a small creature (such as a goblin!!!) to squeeze through but anything larger will have to either squeeze through or attempt to shove it out of the way.
- To the east, a sturdy set of double doors block the way...there is a smattering of rubble, dust and cobwebs around this doorway.
- Examining the north-east Tower, there is a very poorly disguised entrance to the small tunnel into which the goblin fled...it is hidden behind a vaguely green curtain. The tunnel curves such that, without entering, you are unable to see much farther than ten feet in...the tunnel is narrow and no more than four feet high at the entrance.
From beyond the barricade, you can hear a voice idly singing to itself...
"Bazzle Stinkears is always snoring...
...goblins do as we please...
...keeping watch is boring...
...so I building tower out of cheese"
" So it seems we have three choices. Crawl through the tunnel by he trap, crawl through the barricade or go through the doors. Crawling leaves us vulnerable. Doors might be locked and trapped. I still vote for the doors though. Any other ideas?"
I can check the door to see if they are locked and if we can open them, if that will help", Simon says as he arrives back from his short scouting trip.
"Doors! Be careful."
Symon will examine the doors.
Perception:
The doors, originally a grand pair of ornate doors...now little more than charred planks, are not locked. Although, a gentle push against them suggests that either they are barred from within or that there is a blockage in the way.
Listening closely, it appears that the 'singing' originated from behind these doors...
Symon updates the rest of the group on the status of the doors and the sounds he can hear.
Tunnel for Symon
" As much as I'd rather not go crawling anywhere, I would hate to split up the group even more. Luther? Dru? what say you? I vote doors , while Symon here votes fro the crawl through the tunnel."
"I'm not liking the idea of crawling through a tunnel to possibly be attacked by something small and agile. Doors."
"We take the doors."
As Symon had discovered, the doors are barred from within..."Let me...", Marian pushes to the front and, with his shoulder pushes once against the doors...they creak ajar slightly with the sound of wood splintering and shearing...
"Bazzle....Bazzle....Wake Up...something at the doors Bazzle...think it's Ogres again"
And then a second voice, "What, Hey...What's in my Ears?!?!.... Ogres? Not Again!!!"
Marian curses under his breath, "So much for the element of surprise...", and with another shove, pushes the doors wide open.
The doors open into a moderately sized curved room with a passage leading west. A door to the south lies beyond a small table with four rickety chairs sits in the middle of the room. A pair of dice lies on the table amid cups and plates.
...you have little time to take this in before two arrows are fired from behind the table and a corner near the double doors...giggling...Goblins!!!
One of the arrows slams into the door whilst the other merely grazes Marian...
"Not Ogres...Longshanks..."
Seeing nothing but darkness, Conner is shocked as two arrows come zipping out, one scratching the barbarian.
" Crud more No-See-Ums."
Holding the sunrod in one hand and his short sword in the other, he advances into the dark, until he can see his foe.
"Damn." He curses as he hits the table instead of the goblin.
" Run you little freak. I'm in a bad mood."