As Rak rushes past him, Akuleh performs the necessary gestures to call flames to his fingertips and summons the spirits of his ancestors to push the flames down the hall ahead of him.
Rak and Akuleh quickly down two of the goblins.
Hey, go away. You're not the GM!
sneezy does it - Round 2Rak (-2)
Goblin (blue) (-6, dying)
Goblin (red) (-8, dying)Kadrian
Goblin (pink)
Goblin (green)Akuleh
Goblin (bronze)
Goblin (silver)Shalelu (delaying still)
The swashbuckler takes aim at one of the goblin's down the hall and fires his crossbow.
Missing the target, Kadrian reloads for the next round.
A goblin charges forward over its dead comrades, yelling maniacally, and swings at Akuleh.
Landing a blow which cuts Akuleh's arm and draws a line of blood, the goblin looks at him expectantly, as if waiting for Akuleh to surrender or run away.
sneezy does it - Round 2Rak (-2)
Goblin (blue) (-6, dying)
Goblin (red) (-8, dying)Kadrian
Goblin (pink)
Goblin (green)Akuleh (-1)
Goblin (bronze)
Goblin (silver)Shalelu
Akuleh looms menacingly over the small goblin, a look like death itself written across his face. He give s furious battle cry and leaps back from the goblin, then thrusts his spear through the open doorway toward the creature.
The goblin suddenly sneezes and the contortion of its body avoids Akuleh's spear-thrust.
It also leaves the head of his spear glistening with bright-green goblin snot.
Then the goblin with the bronze helmet steps past the one in pink slippers and swings at Akuleh.
Shalelu continues to delay as she searches for an opening.
sneezy does it - Round 3Rak (-2)
Goblin (blue) (-6, dying)
Goblin (red) (-8, dying)Kadrian
Goblin (pink)
Goblin (green)Akuleh (-1)
Goblin (bronze)
Goblin (silver)Shalelu
Stepping up beside Akuleh, Rak doesn't bother trying to strike the goblin from around the corner. He catches Kadrian's eye, lifts a brow in an unspoken plan, then nods at Akuleh. "Step back, my man; let's draw them in!"
sneezy does it - Round 3Rak (-2)
Goblin (blue) (-6, stable)
Goblin (red) (-8, stable)Kadrian
Goblin (pink)
Goblin (green)Akuleh (-1)
Goblin (bronze)
Goblin (silver)Shalelu
Kadrian, upon seeing the goblins advance within melee range, drops his crossbow and draws his rapier and strikes at the nearest goblin .
Akuleh thrusts his spear as the helmeted goblin steps past Sneezy-gob.
The bronze-helmeted goblin rushes onto Akuleh's spear and is transfixed.
The goblin's body soon slumping to the floor.
sneezy does it - Round 3Rak (-2)
Goblin (blue) (-6, stable)
Goblin (red) (-8, stable)Kadrian
Goblin (pink)
Goblin (green)Akuleh (-1)
Goblin (bronze) (-6, dying)
Goblin (silver)Shalelu
The swashbuckler will hold his attack until a goblin makes it into melee.
Suddenly, the door behind Kadrian is yanked open and a dogslicer swipes toward the young swashbuckler.
Meanwhile, the goblin with the pink slippers steps forward and swings for Akuleh.
Both blows seem to strike true on the surprised humans.
sneezy does it - Round 3Rak (-2)
Goblin (blue) (-6, stable)
Goblin (red) (-8, stable)
Goblin (pink)
Goblin (green)Kadrian (-3?)
Akuleh (-4)Goblin (bronze) (-6, dying)
Goblin (silver)Shalelu
Akuleh takes another step back to open up space for his allies to more effectively fight. He feints with his spear as if stabbing at the goblin that had just struck him, before drawing back and changing direction to attack the goblin that had just burst through the door and attacked Kadrian.
sneezy does it - Round 3Rak (-2)
Goblin (blue) (-6, stable)
Goblin (red) (-8, stable)Goblin (pink)
Goblin (green)Kadrian
Akuleh (-4)Goblin (bronze) (-6, dying)
Goblin (silver)Shalelu
The swashbuckler spin to attack the goblin behind him.
sneezy does it - Round 3Rak (-2)
Goblin (blue) (-6, stable)
Goblin (red) (-8, stable)Goblin (pink)
Goblin (green)Kadrian
Akuleh (-4)Goblin (bronze) (-7, dying)
Goblin (silver)Shalelu
Lelu fire off two arrows at the gobos, not liking the fact that enemies were coming from both doors. She focuses on silver first, and if it falls, she turns her remaining arrow towards green.
Shalelu's second arrow drops the pink goblin.
sneezy does it - Round 4Rak (-2)
Goblin (blue) (-6, stable)
Goblin (red) (-8, stable)Goblin (pink) (-6)
Goblin (green)Kadrian
Akuleh (-4)Goblin (bronze) (-6, dying)
Goblin (silver)Shalelu
Rak rushes in front of Akuleh, driving his rapier forward at the green goblin as he goes.
The final goblins fall to the heroes' skilled weaponplay.
The air is still, the room silent except for the dying gasps of wounded goblins. Two seem to be merely unconscious, despite severe wounds, and those to the north are dead.
Kadrian steps forward to coup de gras the dying goblins, lest they call out with their final breaths.
You are alone in this strange goblin fort.
"We should head east," Akuleh advises his companions, "Clear the gate so we know we have a way out in case we need it."
Rak gathers up what goods and coin he can find on the goblins' bodies, then nods at Akuleh's suggestion.
He begins making his way down that passage, stepping over the bloodied bodies that litter the hall as he keeps an eye out for danger.
The goblins have little beside their weapons, armour and clothes. One has the gnawed arm of a wooden doll, another a bag of pebbles, a third a selection of manky feathers.
You do amass 4 gold pieces worth of copper and silver coins, mostly stamped with marks of Magnimar or Riddleport.
Heading west into the chamber you find that it does indeed lead to the double doors to the entrance.
The doors, as with everything else, are of salvage and driftwood. Two heavy wooden bars rest on a pair of metal hooks fixed into the walls. It is these that bar the way out.
To the north, the double doors which the goblins opened remain ajar. The short passage they lead to is dark and ends in a pair of closed double doors. These further doors are a matched set, perhaps ripped from the wreck of a grand sailing vessel.
Kolris approaches the doors, examining the bars and hooks. "You know, if we remove these hooks, the bars will be worthless; it wouldn't be hard." He looks at the others. "Should we ensure an open escape route, just in case?"
Kadrian examines the bars and hooks. "If you think it can be done quickly, Rak. By all mean."
"Indeed. Giving ourselves a way out seems wisest to me. How can we help, Rak?"
With a little huffing a puffing, the group pull, twist and pry the hooks from the door frame and toss them into the sea. They disappear with a satisfying splash.
Thistletop's doors stand open, it's guards defeated. The rest is silence.
"There is something in the water!" Akuleh whispers to his allies with alarm. "I do not think we want to fall in there, my friends."
I wouldn't want to fall in there if there wasn't something there quite frankly. Let us press onward, the quicker we are, the less time there is for something to go wrong. she nods towards the closed double doors.
The doors to the north seem solid. You can see that they are also locked.
Rak looks the doors over, trying to see if they're safe. He shifts the weight of the weapons on his shoulder, pointing to the battle axe. "I've got no way to open those doors the way they're meant to be opened..." he says, leaving the obvious alternate method through unspoken.
Rak detects no trips of traps across the door.
I may be able to help with that problem... she puts her tools to work to see if she can't shimmy open the lock.
Shalelu deftly opens the lock. It springs open with a feint click but the doors still need to be opened.
Akuleh nods his gratitude to Shalelu, "Good. Now, should we try to move in quietly, or do you think the time for subtlety has passed?" He hefts his spear and clicks the shaft on the hard floor beneath his feet. "As for me, I am well past trying to do this cleanly. These goblins must be destroyed."
"We should at least try to make out way with some stealth", Kadrian offers. "No need to let every goblin know exactly where we are unless absolutely necessary."
Rak looks at the bloody mess down the hall. "Sure feels like we've met every goblin here... but that's thinkin' for civilized folk. Goblins ain't civilized; you never know how many of these rats might be in here." He shakes his head and tightens the straps on his gear, slightly reducing the rattles and clanks when he moves.
"Yeah, let's be quiet until we know for sure we don't need to be." He pushes the door open and moves through.
"You make good points," Akuleh admits. "Alright then, let us move on as quietly as we can." The Shoanti crouches down behind his dwarf friend and tries to move forward as quietly as he is able.
lelu is about to reprimand someone for thinking about giving up their chance at a surprise, but just slowly smiles when the others talk sense. She carefully opens the door and slinks in like a shadow.... in a well lit room.
The swashbuckler follows the others into the shadows.