Keeya slowly begins to cross the narrow plank bridge, doing her best not to recoil from the smell.
Talon does his best to stay quiet, though his armor makes it very hard for him to do so. He'll wait for everyone else to cross the plank first before going himself - it would be best to take this one at at time. In the meanwhile, he made sure to check around for any goblins, sweeping around with his bow carefully.
Keeya cringed as she heard Talon moving behind her. Wow Talon is loud. Maybe I can teach him a few things when this is done... Taize though... wow she's quiet. She glances around the room as she continues to edge her way to the end of the plank that formed a makeshift bridge.
As K'nyaz began to move she could hear him too.
I think hes mad at me... they all are probably. I killed that man. I just reacted how I was taught, I didn't mean to... no that's not right, I always mean to I think. That was the training. she sighed softly as she continued on.
The entire party makes it across the plank to the far door, with no indication that anything noticed. Keeya's sensitive hearing picks up, amongst the bubbling and oozing sludge sounds, low mumbled talking coming from beyond the sewer pipes. The owners don't seem to have noticed the party.
Keeya taps her ears slowly so the party can see her, and then points down to the sewer pipes. Then she tries the door slowly.
She opens it very quietly (presumably!) and peaks in. If empty she will creep forward.
When you open the door quietly, you see the next room. The floor of this room has fallen away, leaving a narrow, charred ledge along the south and east walls. To the northwest, a ledge heaped with crates and barrels sits, while above the rafters of the attic lay bare to view. The ledge is safe to walk on, but is sloped dangerously at places .
Keeya scurries along the narrow ledge, her eyes wide as she stares at the curious boxes and barrels, pondering if she should go take a look at them.
Somehow they managed to all make it across the planks without alerting any of the goblins. Talon was thankful for that. He stayed at the back of the group for now, looking at others, letting them all move along the edge - they could probably easily do it just by taking their time, but as for himself, he probably wasn't going to make it across without his armor's weight causing him to fall - unless he tested his luck.
He didn't want to crowd the others, so he just pointed silently to the door, looking at Keeya. Hopefully she'd understand to check the door first before they tried investigating the barrels - not that he'd get anywhere right now. He really, really wished he'd brought some damn rope and a grappling hook now. More than that, he wish he had less heavy and more agile armor without losing protection.
Taize continues to follow, quietly and cautiously, as she observes the area.
It seems she's following Talon a bit to closely...and not nearly as cautiously as needed.
K'nyaz tries to harness the crossbow better before they continue, feeling odd having Talon behind him. It seems the man is concerned about his mass causing undue damage to the path before others could cross. He finds that he ends up being right behind Keeya, with Talon in the back. He stays focused on the treacherous path, barely taking his eyes from it, but is surprised by both of those behind him spilling down the ledge.
Keeya continues slowly for the door as she hears two people slip and fall.
's%+@..." she says under her breath. She looks back to see if everyone is alright.
Keeya makes it to the other door and turns to look at the party's progress, noting with some frustration Talon and Taize balancing precariously a couple of feet onto the ledge.
Just as K'nyaz joins her, a sewer goblin pops up from behind the boxes with a heavy crossbow, yells something in goblin, shoots at Keeya, and begins to duck back down behind the boxes.
Heavy crossbow vs AC: 12 (FF)
potential critical
Confirm vs AC: 12
confirmed
Damage:
The bolt hits Keeya right in her exposed abdomen and she crumples to the floor without a sound, the look of shock and surprise still on her face as her blood begins to pool on the floor.
Round 1
Goblin #1:
Goblin #2:
K'nyaz:
Taize:
Talon:
Keeya:
Order of action:
K'nyaz
Keeya
Goblin #1
Talon
Goblin #2
Taize
So that is what thats like... should of checked the boxes... she thinks as she collapses and her eyes shut.
Talon should have expected it - there's nothing a smaller creature enjoys more than a damn ambush, after all. Seeing Keeya go down, he's quick to address Taize. "Get to her and stop the the bleeding!" He hisses, drawing his bow and firing a shot at the crossbow wielding Goblin.
K'nyaz is surprised to see the bolt come from nowhere and strike Keeya down. With the so far across the gap, he needs to buy some time. He begins casting a spell that he thinks should help.
Taize takes advantage of range and Channels Energy to cure Keeya.
K'nyaz begins chanting and summoning an eagle. Keeya bleeds, the puddle growing larger and larger. As the first goblin begins to duck down behind the boxes, Talon's arrow hits it in the shoulder and it cries out. You hear a crossbow mechanism being cranked to load it. The second goblin pops up, also with a heavy crossbow, looks at the targets, sees the bowyer preparing to fire another arrow and it fires at Talon.
AC 19:
But in its haste and momentary indecision, it fires wildly. It utters something in Goblin, presumably a curse, and starts to duck down behind the boxes. Everyone feels a sense of well being wash over them as Taize channels energy. Keeya moans, her hands still clutching at the bolt, as she regains consciousness.
Round 2
K'nyaz
Keeya (1 hp, prone, able to take normal actions)
Goblin #1
Talon
Goblin #2
Taize
Talon feels the energy coming off of Taize, grateful for that - also grateful that he presented a target. His armor would be far more effective against those crossbows than the others. "Ranged attacks! Wait for them to pop out of cover!" He hisses to the others - where the heck did that eagle come from? He didn't concern himself too much with that, firing his arrow at the first goblin he could see looking out of cover.
Keeya quickly begins her winds that always seem to follow her, they go from a light breeze to a dense wall of force to help protect her from ranged attacks.
She peaks her head up slightly and considers taking a shot, but is far to injured to risk fighting further. Can't even use my bow like this, damn, what I wouldn't give for K's crossbow right about now...
Keeya begins to speak but realizes she's far to scared to get the words out.
Taize will lower herself onto the plank straddling it as she moves forward. If there is a goblin visible when her turn coms, she wil lighting arc it.
If not she'll Channel to heal again.
As K'nyaz finishes his long slow chant, a small animal appears just above the goblin's heads. An eagle, with golden-brown plumage, and silver highlights appears right above the goblin's hiding place. As soon as it arrives, Voroan squawks out something in the language he shares with K'nyaz, and the eagle attacks the nearest goblin. The bird flaps, kicks, and pecks frantically, but doesn't seem to find purchase. It does allow, however, some sort of defense against them firing again.
K'nyaz prepares himself for the next one to pop up. He begins to work his hands, as if casting, but instead creates a small missle of acid.
The eagle appears above the head of the goblin that just shot, surprising it, and causing it to curse. It puts the crossbow up between it and the eagle, trying to shield itself from the glowing, metallic talons and beak of the eagle. Flapping and hovering, the eagle can't make contact with the goblin. Keeya wisely keeps her head down for the moment, as dust and debris swirl around her.
The first goblin pops back up to take it's shot, Talon's arrow wound still bleeding. K'nyaz, ready for it, motions his hands forward and the dart of acid streaks towards the goblin before it can act, piercing it. It cries out, drops the crossbow, and falls dead to the ground.
Talon takes his shot at the flailing goblin missing the very lucky little beast as it ducks back down behind the boxes.
Taize, not able to take a shot, chants and everyone again feels a very warm sense of well-being, while Keeya's wound visibly shrinks.
Round 3
K'nyaz
Keeya (5 hp, prone, +2 AC vs ranged from swirling wind)
Goblin #1
Talon
Goblin #2
Taize
Talon hated ranged combat - he needed some better weapon for fighting at range, because the shortbow just wasn't cutting it. At least K'Nyaz had taken out one of the vicious little bastards. He notched his arrow, pulling the string taut and waiting for the creature to pop his head out of cover so he could take another shot - the element of stealth seemed pretty much moot at this point.
The eagle continues to harry the remaining little bugger, all talon and beak. The first claw pulling the defensive crossbow aside, as the second claw and the beak slash and peck at the goblin. As just like that, the bird vanishes.
K'nyaz once again waits until he sees the little creature pop up before blasting a chilling ray of winter's frost at the remaining goblin.
Taize attacks the nearest goblin with her lightning arc ability.
Keeya sits up kneeling, and with her second move action she will draw and notch her bow. Before she could fire she watched K'nyaz's summoned creature tear into the goblin. "Wow..."
The eagle, it's claws and beak no longer shining so brightly, stoops down behind the boxes, following the goblin as it ducks out of sight. You hear flesh rending and goblin screams. Then, everything goes quiet, except for the slow popping and oozing sounds of the sewage below.
Everyone prepares to fire upon the goblin if it shows itself again. You wait for a short while, but it doesn't pop up again.
Talon waits a moment, but it seems that eagle of their wizard's summoning had defeated the creature. Good. Now they could get on with getting through this place. What he wouldn't give for some rope and a grappling hook right now.
His first attempt, he nearly slips in again, but Talon perseveres.
This time, he doesn't nearly fall in. He slips and falls into the muck - he's glad that the ring cushions his fall so he doesn't take damage, but now...yuck. "...I hate this place. Why in Varisia would anyone in their right mind make their base in such a nasty place?" He grumbles, looking for a way to climb out of the pit.
Keeya stows her bow and leaps down into the muck, and begins to walk over to where the goblins were to inspect their equipment, and see if any there else valuable is around.
She will take a 10 on an acrobatics jump to (17 total) to avoid fall damage.
She doesn't speak but instead looks over the goblin to make sure they are dead. She reaches a hand out and helps Talon up.
Taize watches as keeya goes to rescue Talon. "Need help?" she whispers, though she suspects any surprise is already gone.
Keeya shakes her head no then once Talon is on his feet she will help Taize down and hug her tight. "Thank you." she says softly.
Talon splashes down in the muck, Keeya hops down to help him up and to climb up onto the ledge on the other side of the room where the boxes were.
Stuffed in a dried and half-eaten dire rat carcass are 13 cp and a small topaz worth 15 gp.
You also find 4 small burlap bags, tied tightly closed. On closer inspection they appear to be filled with poo and broken glass - evidently they're some form of thrown weapon that the goblins use.
Behind the boxes and the goblins is a small hold in the wall, leading in the same direction as the door Keeya was standing in front of. Medium size creatures can wriggle and squeeze through.
Well, if anything, Keeya wasn't squeamish about getting herself dirty. Talon made a mental note to pay for her next bath if he had to do so. He grabbed the crossbows from the goblins, along with whatever bolts they had with them - those were worth a bit of cash, after all. "You should probably drink that potion you got," He suggested to her. They should have all had a healing potion on them from Heidmarch (Talon had an extra one saved from his Serpent's Run days), unless somehow hers had broken when she had gotten hit.
He was also pleased to see the little crawlspace - granted, it was going to be a little cramped, but they could definitely use it. "Keeya, think you could try scouting out through there?" He asked her - hopefully they could get a good idea of what they were facing. He looked at the others across the pit, gesturing them over - he hoped they weren't squeamish about wading through the muck. Definitely a trip to the public bathhouse for everyone after all this.
Keeya looks at the tiny crawl space and looks back at the group, she has a very hesitant look on her face.
K'nyaz balks a little at the decision, before offering his opinion, "Historically speakinG, two-pronG approach, vere army are able to surround enemy, can crush dem in middle. Dey are maybe expect us at dis door, and ven entered, surround dem from behind? Tunnel will most likely lead to close range vit dem, vile myself and other can enter here for stayinG at distance?"
As the only one left on the ledge, he continues to slowly make his way toward the door.
"If you want to check out what's behind that door first, go ahead. I just don't like splitting up the party if I can help it. If you're worried about getting your robes dirty, they can get washed." Talon calls over quietly, looking at Keeya, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I know you're a bit scared after taking a heavy hit like that. But you're so much stealthier when I'm not clanking around right behind you - you just need to take a look, scurry on back, and if there's anything ugly and vicious on the other side, I'll go in first and kill it dead for you, okay?"
She says with a quiet hesitant tone, "okay..."
Keeya pulls out a freshly sharpened knife and placed it between her teeth and very slowly began to crawl into and through the disgusting pipe.
K'nyaz is confused by Talon's response, maybe he didn't hear correctly. "I yam not vant split, any more than you by havinG her scout alone. I yam suggest we come at them from two sides. Vie vould I care about dirty? Is nothinG to do vit surroundinG enemy. Dirty is not problem, simple cantrip can solve." He tries to explain his point, "If door and tunnel lead to same room, ve can attack from both side. Common succesful army tactic."
Taize cautiously moves up to the door, so as to be prepared to act once the signal is given.
"You're assuming too much, Kay. Like that there are enemies behind that door. Or that this tunnel and that door lead into the same place." Talon points out to him, hoping that he understands. "So, before we start thinking about battle strategies, why don't you take a look behind that door and actually see what's on the other side?" Talon wondered why it was that K'Nyaz was offering up suggestions like that - granted, there was nothing wrong with the pincer method, except for the fact that they had no idea what was on the other side here. Talon reminded himself that Kay wasn't exactly a seasoned warrior - the man was a scholar and a wizard first. He shouldn't expect him him to see the errors in his own plans. He just hoped that he'd offer the same corrections if Talon made a mistake.
The fighter knelt by the tunnel, waiting on Keeya - he'd give her about two to three minutes before he figured that something must be wrong - dammit, he should have tied a thread around her ankle for safety.
K'nyaz opens the door and Keeya peers through the small hole in the wall into the next room. The room has no floor, opening directly into the sump of a sewage pit below. Likewise, the charred ceiling has fallen away, revealing the fire-blackened rafters above. Next to a hole cut in the southwest corner of the wall, a crude ladder that has been nailed to the wall provides access to the rafters above. The door in the left wall has no floor in front of it.
Talon listens to the reports of K'Nyaz and Keeya - well, they did both go into the same room, but it seemed that the door on the other side was a feint. "Looks like there's not much choice but to go on this side. At least there's a ladder - we can climb up to the rafters." He suggested, waving both K'Nyaz and Taize over, ready to help them up only the cramped space. "Try and hold your breath for a bit - this muck is nasty."
Once everyone's up on that side, Talon looks over at the group, thinking. "Okay, Keeya, you're probably the lightest, so you're up first for the ladder. I'll go last - I'm the heaviest here, so if it breaks, it'll break on me. Try and find some rope or something up there - and watch out for rotten rafters." He remembered the guardsman's warning about that.
Taize nods and moves to follow Keeya. "Do you want me to go next or do you think a more dedicated fighter might be best to folow her?"
"Okay... I will go have a look"
Keeya slowly and quietly moves up the ladder.
Keeya doesn't examine the ladder well enough to notice its rickety nature and when she puts her full weight on it, it breaks and she tumbles backwards into the muck below.
"ow... I am beginning to hate this place."
Talon will reach down to grab Keeya's hand and help her up. Now there was a bit of a dilemma. The ladder was broken, they couldn't use it, and they didn't have anything they could use to climb up to the rafters - at least, he didn't. "Okay. I don't suppose anyone here has any rope, do they?" He inquired, obviously annoyed that their progress was impeded as such when they were close to their goal.
K'nyaz furrows his brow, before asking "Vat about boxes and barrels goblins vere use for hidinG? Can ve stack them to reach door? Are de valls climbable?" His eyes lighten up, as an idea strikes him, "Der vas ladder in first room, ve can climb it, or brinG here."
"Perhaps we should attempt to climb that ladder instead. This one may have been just a trap."