The Storm in Isger

Game Master Sigil

"Other than once again, I've forgotten what we're doing here in the first place. Was there something about looking for points of power that were marked on a map?"

I think, at the moment, we are investigating by instinct. We were led here, it seems, and have fought hard to get this far. It may just be divine guidance that allowed us to find the man who needed to give his message to our friends. Does this place go deeper? If it does, let's get to it's roots Bryndyn says...and then realizes it's more than he's said in hours.

Abbas nods at the words of the lizardfolk and starts to sweep the area, slowly searching the nooks and crannies of the walls for a means of egress.

He is not good at this but given time even a man like him can get something. He whistles under his breath as he works.

Go on Abbas, do the "I'm a Teapot" song! (http://www.goblinscomic.org/04292015/)

Taedric nods, "There may be more goblins that need killing."

Abbas is careful in his search and at uneven intervals finds something and puts it with the other somethings he has accumulated. A rock with carving or scratching on it. An arrowhead. A spoon. An unlit torch. And so on.

When it seems there is nothing left to see the group explores the doorways. In each direction, left right and ahead, the tunnel yawns blackly but gives no clues.

Perception check and which way would you like to go?

perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

"Left?" Says Elinor, pointing right.

Who's left? Me, Pluchak, Abbas, Taedric, Harlynne, Bryn? Still enough for a volleyball team. And very fighter heavy! Send in the mobs!

"Left is as good as any..." Bryndyn replies.

Perception 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

Sigh, whichever.

perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11

Harlynne is worth two.

Abbas sniffs at the left then lifts his holy staff to light the way ahead. He has shown everyone the collected items but when no one is interested, the warrior picks up the spoon and leaves.

"Hey, don't throw the scratched rock away, it looks lucky to me!"

Where does Abbas go? If left, Bryndyn follows. If not...??

Taedric pulls a coin from his pocket, "Easy way to decide.", then shrugs and follows after Abbas.

"You have a three sideded coin? That could come in handy!"

I'm going to be AFK for a week or so - I'll catch up when I get back :-)

Abbas goes left. He acts like a scout except everyone knows his senses are not so good. The man hugs one wall and then the other a bit like Narnel but the chainmail slightly spoils the effect.

Taedric chuckles, "Just need to throw more coins... or roll some dice."

Though Abbas lacks stealth and perception, even he could not miss what he finds some 80 feet down the tunnel to the left. In the floor, there is a great pit some 20 feet deep and 10 feet across. It appears to have been covered, until very recently, with boards that were painted with the rock pattern of the floor. Like all else here, the painting and the trap design are meticulous and of very high quality.

The floor of the pit is lined with wicked spears, pointing up. Impaled on the spears are 2 goblins. The first is struck through the middle and the head and lays suspended about 8 or so feet in the air. The second one was caught through the upper leg, and curiously is missing a head and an arm. The mystery is quickly solved when you discover a third goblin, untouched by spears, but with a seeming broken leg from his hobble. It appears that the leg and head have served him as food stuffs. Foul.

The goblin picks up rusty serrated sword and yells out.

Bryndyn pauses then lifts his head just a fraction. His nostrils flare once, twice and then he nods. "I can feel a steady current of air from the passage straight ahead. Perhaps a way out?"

He ignores the goblin.

Pluchak followed along quietly for a while, a bit morose that one of them had to leave when he'd just gotten there. But seeing the goblin down in the pit raised his hackles a bit and got him back to his gruff self. He snorted, cleared his throat and spat at the goblin in derision, and responded to the lizardfolk's rhetorical question. "If it is, we'll have to double back and take the other way. There's still something down here that we might need."

Acid Splash: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (1) + 4 = 5
Damage: 1d3 + 1 ⇒ (1) + 1 = 2

The spittle had hit one of the spears on the way down, not even making it to the goblin, but it sizzled on the wood a bit, eating away at the wood a little.

Taedric lowers his lance reflexively as the old hatred burns, then steps foward, ahead of his companions to clear a charge lane... and holds, "Can't help but think it's a trap. It'd hardly be sporting to run him through."

Abbas throws down a rope end and motions for the goblin to come up. "We can talk to him with broken leg? Not dangerous" The holy warrior gives Pluchak and Taedric an honest smile of total confidence.

Bryndyn pauses to look down at the Goblin and then nods toward Abbas.

Narnel draws and arrow to his bow and aims at the goblin

Really, Abbas, we should just put him out of his misery, like a lame horse, no?

"Oy, grab it goblin, grab it."

The goblin is unable to, or unwilling to consider the rope and instead tries to look menacing.

Bryndyn growls "Grab the Rope Goblin and you might live. If you stay there, Death is assured."

"Can you speak goblin words?" Abbas asks around.

Narnel draws back on the arrow.

Abbas, friend, you have a few minutes, and I am shooting this dirt. I do not understand why you think he needs saving.

Taedric snarls again, "That's a few minutes more generous than I'd be."

"I do not speak Goblin" Bryndyn growls again.

"He has words in him to tell us what is happening, I think. Killing this one is bad but I know his kind deserve this."

.. after a few more stubborn moments of the goblin eyeballing Abbas, the warrior starts to retract the rope.

Narnel fires at the goblin, intent on ending him.

LB Att: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15
LB Dam: 1d8 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (2) + 1 + (1) = 4

Given a few moments I might be able to understand him.

linguistics: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (13) + 10 = 23

"If we pull it out, we have to let it go. We should kill it or leave it."

Taedric says, "Not at all. While I wouldn't want to bring a beast like that with us, we could certainly bring it out and then kill it."

Abbas coils the rope as he walks away from the killers, a little sadly. The man puts a hand on the wall and rests there while the execution is finished.

"No Taedric, we couldn't. I'm not giving anything, not even a creature like that, the illusion of hope only to betray it."

Taedric looks up at Elinor and says, somewhat more gently, "As much as creatures such as that deserve far worse, I think providing it a swift death is more a mercy than leaving it to suffer and starve... false hope or no."

He sees the disappointed look on Abbas' face and then sighs, "And, much as it goes against my nature, I'm also willing to let it buy its life with information... though it seems none of us understand the little monster."

Realizing that no one had kept going, comes back to the debate. He looks at the sad Abbas and the rest of crew. This won't do, especially after they lost a couple of other friends recently. He tries one more thing to see if he can cheer up his friend.

Narnel fires at him again.

LB Att: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
LB Dam: 1d8 + 1 + 1d6 ⇒ (1) + 1 + (3) = 5

Did I kill the bugger?

Not with those rolls m'dear. Maybe the dice are telling us we shouldn't kill him?

I was figuring he ought to be easy to hit with his current predicament.

Do you want someone to go down and break his other leg, Narnel? That should help a bit.

I think the cover from the stakes and bodies probably cancels out the benefit of angle...
@Abbas - maybe it would help if we pushed him in.

We should just flay it like the Boltons...

You guys slay me! Narnels arrows finish the creature. It dies quietly.

So much for the diplomatic way.

That was a goblin, right?

Narnel leans over the pit...

Yep...goblin...enemy of all that is good...eater of children, should I go on?

Taedric says, "No need. We've already given it far more thought and breath than it deserved."