The message came from Gumlat. A plea for help against marauding goblins. A small village, if one could even call it that, lying at the east end of a large expanse of forest, and nestled in the foothills of the Chaggath Spine mountains.
The residents of Gumlat carved themselves a nook within the forest from which to farm and hunt and worship Erastil away from the city of Coran to the east.
Mercenaries and would be adventurers have flocked to the call for help. Not because many actually care about this speck of nothing at the edge of civilization, but rather because of the size of the promised reward for the group that eliminated the goblin threat and returned whatever may be left of the livestock that have been taken - 3000 gold coins.
Several dozen rough and rowdy characters now loaf about the town and surrounding area, seeking riches, fame, glory, or for those more sensitive to it, power. For there is a feeling of power, a lingering aura of it where the goblins raided.
As more and more mercenaries and others of their ilk arrive in Gumlat, it doesn't take long to realize that if those looking for rewards want a part of it, they'd better move quickly. Three small bands have already followed the plain trail leading northward. Its hard to hide the passage of over a hundred live stock, and even the unskilled have had no trouble seeing where the goblin thieves went.
So far though, none of the three bands have returned or sent any word back. There probably simply hasn't been enough time for them to do so yet... but those still in town are suddenly looking for additional friends and allies before setting forth. Better to share the gold a bit rather than hope someone will take pity and provide proper burial for a corpse found in the wilderness.
The tension in Gumlat can be felt, and there have also been several fights in town, more than the city watch, what few there are, have been able to deal with. Sticking around town long one might find themselves subject to pick pocketing, a mugging, or maybe worse.
"I know little of livestock, but I'm more than willing to help eliminate the blight of goblinkind from the countryside."
As the tension built and people seemed to grow unsteady, a strange being watched the chaos rise with odd curiosity. A lone pinkish eye watched to and fro, its moss green colored armor cleaning slightly against its wooden body. It appeared almost as a sculpture, but moved and watched others. The being was a wyrwood, here much like all the others for the purpose of reward, a falcata even at its hip and a buckler on its arm. It knew it would need to find a group as well to join, its chances better if he were with other than alone. Most of these mortal creatures though seemed a little too chaotic and disorderly for his liking, so for now he watched and waited.
Taejin, of the Hideaki clan, moved through the throngs of rough-and-tumble characters with the practiced ease of one who has trained to gain precise control over one's body, as well as the experience of a shorter man who has had to grow used to heedless crowds. He seemed, if not singular, in the minority, as he was one of the handful of those who went through this crowd unarmed, scouting the men and women around him for those who he thought could work well with him. A large being, crafted of wood rather than flesh, attracted his attention in particular, and the martial artist slipped through the crowd towards the wooden entity.
"Can't say I've met one such as you before. Are you here for the job as well? We could travel together. Safety in numbers and all that jazz. If nobody's come back yet, it means that this isn't a solo job." He cast his eyes about warily, looking for a sign of the Glyph of the Open Road among the crowd. If someone didn't take care of this soon, they'd have a couple Society retrieval teams on site to pick up the bodies of the initiates he'd spotted a couple days prior, and Taejin didn't fancy dealing with that kind of mess. They were still upset with him about selling information to the Aspis Consortium instead of them.
The strange automaton turned its head to face the voice talking so close, it's lone eye peering at the human appearing to be talking to him. It seemed to concentrate on the words for a moment, expressionless by design until finally it spoke, its voice having an echoing like reverberation as the arcane spark of life helped it speak without a mouth.
"Query: I apologize, but was that directed at me?" it asked, it's voice slightly monotone, but distinctly male. "Answer: If so, then, yes. I am here looking to take part in the hunting down of the goblins that have plagued this hamlet, much like the others here. I would agree that for this task, numbers would be wise."
Lucuis sees the near riot of mercs around town and thinks to hismelf Oh great, this will surely go well. A bunch of professional thugs milling about looking for an easy score. Even if someone gets the reward, they'll probably get their throat cut on the way out of town.
The townsfolk of Gumlat make a wide path around the wyrwood, and even many of the rough transitive crowd in town take care to not get to close to the odd looking creature. Some pointedly ignore Sig, while others look on with menacing eyes.
There almost seems to be a collective gasp from the loitering men in the street when Hideaki approaches Sig and engages him in conversation.
The Small grey Gnome will be watching the interaction while slump on the side of a building smoking his favoured tea out of his pipe.
'Just when I thought this town wasn't going anymore interesting.'
Slipping his pipe into his loose fitting robe, Sindri decided to make himself known, a rare trait for himself.
Sliding under the gaps in legs of the tall folk, the small grey skinned Gnome just shy of 4 foot stature. cladded in little more than blackened-grey robes, some exotic swords and a bow which was nearly larger than himself. The Grey Gnome spoke.
" If you want your livestock, you're going to need me. Goblins are craven little vermin that litter tight areas, I just happen to be small enough to fit. I can take off their heads from a clean 100ft away, they will never see me coming."
The Small grey Gnome smirk as he brandished his bow and played with arrow dancing through his fingers.
Taejin nods in response to the wyrwood's query. He holds out a hand to the mechanical being, introducing himself smoothly; "Pleasure to meet you. My name is Taejin; Hideaki Taejin." His reasons for approaching the imposing construct were simple; anyone whose aura commanded that level of personal space... well, they obviously knew their way around a brawl, if people were giving them that kind of space instinctively rather than swarming curiously about the new kind of being.
The smug satisfaction the short human gets from messing with the crowd is a secondary benefit.
Looking over at the loud... gnome, of some kind, he supposed, Taejin raised his voice. "Take off someone's head with an arrow? That sounds like something to see. Care to join our little adventuring party?"
Sindri will observe the man named Taejin.
" You're a man of the east aren't you? yes yes, you must be. Just like my old leader and our master we served." The Gnome trails off into his own thoughts.
finished with his thoughts, the gnome has come to a conclusion.
"If I can serve well and get paid. My bow and blades will finally see some use as well as my other talents. The name is Sindri Quarrysson, glad to be of service."
Spying one of his few acquaintances from this world, standing near a rather motley crew "Hideaki! What are you doing here! Looking for the big score?" and he ambles over.
A tall elf in the crowd seems to be having an animated discussion with a pair of young human sell-swords. The elf seems well equipped, wearing a long leather coat and carrying a fine, curved blade jutting from his hip; but the humans seem to be little more than farm boys with castoff equipment and makeshift weapons.
At least the humans seem animated, the elf seems calm and even tempered. The elf turns and walks away from the confused looking duo.
”We told you about this job. I thought we were partners.” one of the humans calls to the elf.
The elf replies over his shoulder:
Apparently not understanding Elvish, the humans only seem confused.
Again at first, the wyrwood seemed to mull over the words spoken to him, this time though surprised this one was being so friendly. In the end though, he accepted the gesture at face value, seeing no reason to doubt the man, if he could have smiled, he would have.
"Introduction: A pleasure indeed. I am WT-516. Though I have taken on a love of the name Sigfried, Sig for short in some cases," he responded, shaking the man introduced as Hideaki's hand. His lone eye would end up doing sudden shift at first to the odd, dark skinned gnome that had been addressed, and later another human that had addressed his newest acquaintance. It seemed his luck would have a party coming together for him after all, with significantly less chaotic brawls involved.
Taejin attempted to commit the wyrwood's actual name to memory, before abandoning the meaningless, at least to him, letters and numbers in favor of his chosen appellation of Sigfried. Returning his attention to the strange grey gnome, he nodded. "That I am, a roaming martial artist in search of greater challenges."
Taejin's attention was then commandeered by an old acquaintence, Lucius Coriarum. "Coriarum! What a coincidence. As a matter of fact, yes, even after splitting the pay this will still pay more than I make in a month of working with the Consortium. Not to mention it's been a while since I've had to fight something shorter than me, and I don't want my kicks to get rusty. That'd be inconvenient if ever I ran into a goblin inside a ruin."
Looking over the assembled party, Hideaki counted himself, a front-line fighter, the Pathfinder telekinetic, and the gnome seemed to be some kind of archer. All they needed for a full team was some kind of magician. The martial artist scanned the crowd, or rather, the torsos of the nearest members of the crowd. Mentally cursing his height once again, he turned to the wyrwood next to him. "Sigfried, you're taller than me. Can you spot anyone who looks like they might be a competent spellcaster in the crowd? With all these people to pick from, splitting the payday five ways leaves us with six hundred each, and I'd prefer to have some sort of arcanist at my back going into the unknown." The look he turned on the Pathfinder spoke volumes; not one height joke out of you, not in the field.
Taking the question asked of him, the automaton took his time to glance around, its cyclopic pink eye now darting through the crowd of human sellswords. While not immediately spotting any that seemed to be strongly dressed as an arcane master, he did however spot the tall leather coated elf. "Observation: While I do not see any who fit the book description of magi, I do however see an elf among the crowd. Elves are typically well versed in the arcane and even if he is not one, could perhaps point our new group in the direction of one," he stated after his brief search, making his own assumtions based off what he could see.
With several others joining up with the wyrwood, the small groups of mercenaries disperse, leaving this part of the street nearly deserted save the elven magus Silas.
Shifting through the crowded streets of Gumlat moves a thin elf woman. A scabbard held in a leather belt wrapped tightly around her slim waist. Full green eyes blink and dart around as Lyra Gillar struggles to make her way through the tightly packed throng of adventurers and thugs. Bumping a few times into random strangers before she reaches what seems to be the end of the crowd. Reaching down with her slender hands to brush her layered green blue and black skirts back into place, Lyra looks up ahead of her to see a small group of people gathered around each other. Pulling up the string on her leather backpack a bit, Lyra moves closer, warily looking at the large tree carved like a man. "Vedui' ar' Mae govannen. Amin assume lle naa ilya sinome a' deal yassen i' goblins?"
The split tails of his long leather coat and his long pale hair swinging behind him, Silas advances toward the elf speaking with the group clustered around the Wyrwood.
in Taldan (otherwise known as common) "Sorry don't speak whatever that is. ""
The Svirfneblin, not understanding a single word of the Elves, instead he will merely observe them.
Quickly losing interest, he will take out his whetstone and start sharpening his katana and wakizashi.
'I think these elves are going to bore me to death and here I thought the town would. At least the Drow kept things interesting.'
After a moment of observing the elves, and seeing the confusion of some, Sigfried decided to act as translator and bridge for the group. They were a solid combination and he truthfully trusted in his own abilities just as much as he trusted in the abilities of this gathered group to accomplish the tasks ahead. "Translating: They have come offering us greetings and inquiries on our intentions about the goblin menace," he explained to his group first, slowly turning his head to address the elves next, this time in their own tongue.
Taejin groans, speaking in his native Tien mostly for sarcasm's sake, "我累了不能够理解你的人。" With a wave, he beckons the elves closer. "C'mon, we don't bite. Well, I don't. We're going after the goblins, but, like I was saying earlier, something about this smells fishy. Safety in numbers, and there's more than enough gold to split. I say we all grab any supplies we need and set out immediately, and we can talk on the trail."
Lyra's ear tips flush a soft pink as she steps closer, "My apologies, I didn't mean to slip back into my mother tongue," turning slightly to incline her head towards Sig, "I am an apprentice arcanist, and a student of the sword as well."
Turning towards her fellow elf, she quickly asks if he speaks the human language or not in Elvish before turning back to the group, "I am ready to leave for the trail now if you wish but what makes you think the situation is... fishy?"
Not wanting to wait around in town for any unfortunate circumstances to arise, the group collects a few last minute items for travel, then heads north following the clear tracks.
Two days out the smell of death and decay permeates the forest, and ahead are found the bodies of 7 dead humanoids, stripped of all but their clothing. One time mercenaries who had sought the proffered reward. There is no sign of any dead goblins, or other creatures.
A more careful search reveals several shattered and broken arrows sized for a small creature... and tracks leading to a shallow burial mound some 100 yards distant. Several goblins have been buried here.
Four more days of travel and the forest thins, the terrain starting to slope upward. Ahead can be seen the cliffs of the Chaggath Spine. The time spent travelling gives the company plenty of time to become better acquainted with one another.
Late in the afternoon, topping a rise, the group looks down into a shallow depression next to the cliffs, where the missing livestock are penned in by a crude fence. At the west end of the enclosed area a stream runs out from underneath the cliffs.
Light tree cover allows the group to get a little closer for a better look. Three small humanoids sit in front of a low but wide cave opening. They are armed with short bows and blades, and wear a crude leather armor. The three figures appear to be involved in some kind of game of chance.
These are goblins.
Next to one of them sits what appears to be an overgrown rat.
This is a goblin dog.
The cave opening narrows quickly, veering to the west. The ceiling of the cave is only about 4' tall.
The wind is currently blowing southeast, coming down off the mountain, a slight chill to the wind despite the late summer season.
Silas peers out between the tree branches to get a better view.
There is a small pile of discarded bones next to where the goblins sit. The bones have been picked clean of meat. The goblins appear to be quite distracted by their game, and it may be easy, with a little care, to sneak up closer to them before being spotted - if the goblin dog doesn't take notice.
Goblin dogs are immune to disease, and either touching one, or being bitten by one, often causes an individual to break out in a itching rash.
They also have a good sense of smell, and can be quite stealthy.
Sindri will try to get a better look to see if his arrows could hit one from this distance.
Sigfried would observe in silence fro where he hid with the group, glancing at each as if waiting for them all to agree on a decision what to do. It seemed only to be a few of them, but the wyrwood agreed that there seemed to be more going on the just goblin raiders after what they had seen.
The closest goblin is about 150' away, so within bow range, though not an easy shot. A bit of stealth and repositioning would allow for an easier shot.
Goblins have a particular hate for gnomes. With Sindri's presence it might be expected they will seek to focus on him given the opportunity to do so.
Near the goblins is a small pile of bones, stripped clean of meat.
The fence is out of place for mere goblins. The vermin very rarely build their own structures, much preferring to take over old ruins, caves, or other existing places that provide shelter.
Goblins are usually not particularly brave, and are likely to flee any fight that looks to be against them.
The creatures are also fully capable of seeing in the dark as well as in daylight.
The only thing you recall about goblin dogs is there immunity to diseases. The creatures thrive in places where others would become sick or ill, much like the rats they resemble.
Sindri with his bow firmly in his hand, he will draw an arrow.
whispering to himself,"May the arrow soar with the four winds and strike like the shadows under the sun, strong as the whip of Duergar."
Looking at his comrades, he will tell them his backup plan.
" If this arrow fails or succeeds, I will sneak closer to them. Goblins aren't too favourable to my kind, that should draw them towards me and be good enough as a distraction. They will never see me coming."
The Svirfneblin will smile with a gold tooth grin.
Taking a deep breath, he will release the arrow.
Silas eye's bulge as the impulsive gnome fires on the goblins.
He quickly mutters an incantation and passes his left hand a mystical sign to cast Mage Armor on himself.
Whispering "Ok, usually we don't announce our presence and then sneak where I come from. as he readies his cutlas and shield for the inevitable charge of the goblins.
Sindri looks to his worried comrades.
"These arrows are of goblin make, with any luck they think it's another goblin tribe. I will sneak ahead to get a better vantage point."
'They don't seem very impressed, maybe the slave masters were right. Perhaps I should of died in those mines.'
Ignoring his thoughts and self-doubt the Svirfneblin, sneaks towards the southern point for another reconnaissance and for another potential shot, hoping to throw the goblins into disarray.
The arrow strikes the closest goblin in the hand as it reaches for the dice. It lets out a howl of pain.
Sindri will smile.
'I knew my arrow would make its mark, it may not of taken a goblin head, but 150ft away with a decent wind, I will take it.'
Since he probably already had his cutlass out and shield on, he can't toss a blast without putting something away. He'll just hold.
Sigfried did not wait for the arrow to strike home. Instead he took to the side, using trees as cover to make his way towards the enemy. While normally war Titans like himself were built for the front line, that did not mean he had lost the art of sneaking and positioning. Tactics were instilled in them from day one and now Sig would use that as best as he could, ready to wallop the goblins where they wouldn't expect it.
Silas apparently either waves or gives the finger to the goblins....
And gets ready to act.
Despite his attempt to insult them, the goblins do not seem to be aware of Silas.
Sig moves forward toward one of the closer trees, keeping it between him and the goblins, moving with a grace and silence that belies his bulky form.
Taejin attempts to move closer to the goblins whilst staying in cover, hoping that Sindri's arrow is a sufficient distraction for the things. If he can close to fisticuffs range without being riddled with arrows, he'll consider it a win.
The goblins quickly stand from their sitting positions, two of them moving forward while drawing their bows. The third, injured goblin, remains by the cave opening.
At a call from one of the goblins, the overgrown rat like creature rushes forward 50', sniffing at the air.
Seeing them pull bows, Lucius sheathes his cutlass, and launches a rock at one.
telekinetic blast
Taejin moves to engage the rat, not willing to let it close with his party members. His speed isn't far greater than normal, but he is noticeably faster than the average adventurer, a fact that might be noticed by the party and enemies both. His leg snaps out in a brutal kick, aimed at the rat's nose.
Sindri will see that Hideaki will go towards the "rat" like creature. Moving his full speed to close the distance between him and the goblins.
Drawing two arrows, Sindri will focus these arrows with improved precision to strike the "rat" and take pressure off of Hideaki.
------------------
As soon as the arrows take wind, Sindri will attempt to hide.
Sigfried would observe from his hiding place and notice his companions attempts to deal with the incoming vermin. Noting the ones remaining behind by the cave, the wyrwood would make his own movements towards the cave mouth. He moved as quickly as he could without breaking stealth, looking to make it within charging distance. From their, he would take on the onlooking guards of the cave, hoping to snuff them out and bring the group total success.
Silas tries to be stealthy as he moves forward to AI52
"There has to be a spell for this...." he mutters as he steps on a branch that cracks and he catches he coat on a thornbush.
Sig and Lyra both move forward, trying to keep quiet while keeping the trees between them and the goblins.
Lucius moves forward a little, then sends a rock hurtling towards the goblins. It misses its mark though.
Hideaki is more brazen, charging across the open distance to close with the "rat", giving it a glancing kick in the snout.
Sindri's arrow catches the wind coming down off the mountain and goes high of its mark.
Silas also moves forward, twigs and branches snapping despite his efforts to avoid making noise.
The lead goblin calls something out to the other two, "Matau du žmones, ir ten turi būti trečia, lankininkas, kažkur medžių."
All three open fire on Hideaki with their bows, none coming anywhere close to hitting him. The two lead goblins move back a bit, perhaps hoping to deal with the threat from range.
The "rat" has more luck, and is able to bite him, leaving a painful wound.
Lucius will continue to advance, and also chuck another rock.
but apparently, he's not very good chucking rocks.