Sindri will walk up to the Silas and Lucius, wiping his hands clean of stone dust, 'It was nice to work with stone again, his clan would be proud. Would be...' lingering on that thought the gnome, glancing at the signet ring on his finger, the last memento of his people before he was captured by Duergar.
Trying to brush it off, there were more important issues at hand.
"The trap should be dealt with, although it troubles me that Goblins are using stone and pressure plates, something isn't right here."
Looking over to the group of men and then back to the rest of party." I'm not ordinarily this generous but considering the circumstances, do you think we should give them some of the coin we found on the Goblins? At least for the dead or their families?"
"I don't care ... we haven't recovered much and the reward for saving the cows should be more."
Taejin shrugs as he makes his way to the stairs. "If you feel like it, then I'm not opposed. So long as we get paid for finishing our job, whatever else we find isn't of much consequence."
Sindri will eye towards Lyra signalling an okay," we signed onto this job for 3000gp split, we should be good. Not to mention the spoils of war."
Looking up the stairs, into the unknown."So will I be lead this expedition or will someone else?"
"You seem to know what you're doing on point. Anyway the rest of us are all cooped up in most of the tunnels. "
[b]"Happily: More pay and prestige is perfectly acceptable parameters. I shall follow your lead Sindri, and perform the duties befitting a war titan to keep you protected,"[b] the automaton piped in, raising his sword high above his head as he had seen in many books of heroes like Sigfried. He figured it a sign of glory and was prepared to venture forth, despite damages, to earn more reward and glory for his name. This group had indeed proven more capable than what he had seen back into town. He would be sure to stick close to these ones.
"Apologies, Sindri. I'd lead, but I can't see in the dark. I'm rather handy with mechanisms myself, but I'd rather someone who can actually see them lead. If we're not trying to surprise anyone, we can make a little light and I'll go ahead anyway."
The three men thank you for freeing them, and with Lyra leading, head out of the cavern, a few coins in their pockets to see them on their way.
Sindri takes the lead again, and heads up the stairs and through a winding passage. Fortunately, this part of the passage is wider and higher than the previous parts, and the others are able to follow more easily.
It runs east a short distance, then loops back to the west, and then veers south. Ahead Sindri can see that it opens into a larger cavern.
A faint shaft of light from outside shines down in the middle of the cavern, upon some kind of altar. A dead man is strewn across the alter, and a medium sized humanoid, covered in course fur stands behind it, blood on the creatures face and hands.
The creature wears a chain shirt, and has a morning star hanging at its side, along with several javelins peeking over its shoulder. A cloak hangs from a small clasp at its neck.
The creature has its hands raised in the air, and it is chanting quietly in a language Sindri does not recognize.
This creature is a bugbear. One of the goblinoid races, they tend to be cruel, delighting in torture and fear. They often feed on the flesh of other humanoids.
Surrounding the altar on all but the north sides is a shallow pool of water with steam rising from it. Only a foot down in the water can be seen the faint red glow of hot rocks.
Sindri will report back to the group with the new found information, moving stealthily but at full pace.
" Guys, we've got some sort of bugbear priest, he has some corpse on an altar. I think it's time we crash his little sermon."
"Yeah, I'm no big fan of human sacrifice. "
"Well bugbears delight in the pain and suffer of others, at least his pain is over now."
Sindri will hold his bow in one hand before taking off," let's paint these caves red."
"Assumption: Such a brute could be the leader of this group, perhaps having bullied the goblins into line. I shall provide our group the blessings of my diety, and move into position, the construct promised his group, casting his spell of Bless to protect them from fear and giving them the moral for combat. After which, he would move up into position, prepared to face the creature in mortal combat and give the others the chance to catch the ugly savage by surprise.
Sig's spell fills the parties hearts with courage, then he moves forward towards the cavern. Upon reaching the opening he can see half a dozen goblins pressed close against the walls with bows ready.
The bugbear looks towards Sig with savage grin, "More sacrifices so soon?" it asks in a rhetorical manner, not at all surprised by the intrusion. The creature uncovers a holy symbol from within the folds of its cloak and chants a spell. A roiling circle of blackness forms in front of the bugbear.
The bugbear has cast shield of faith. Though the spell seems to contain more substance and power than expected.
The symbol is that of Zarongel, one of the four goblin heroes - a demigod serving under Lamashtu. Zarongel has dominion over animals, evil, fire, and travel.
The bugbear lumbers forward along the walkway between the steaming water to either side, drawing its morning star as it does.
The goblins step away from the walls and let loose their arrows at the wyrwood, most of which are ineffectual.
Lucius move sup behind Sig and launches a rock via telekinesis at the bugbear
miss
"The bugbear is calling on protection from whatever foul god it worships!"
Silas moves up next to Sig (H13) and chants out the phrases for a quick spell, casting grease on the bugbear's holy symbol. (DC15 reflex save or drop)
Despite Silas spell, the bugbear manages to keep a firm grip on the holy symbol.
Sindri will hustle over to the right of Sig, the moment his feet stop moving his fingers will soon be at work. Grabbing a fresh arrow from his quiver, he will fire it at the first goblin 20ft beside him.
Moving up behind Sigfried before the wyrwood engages, Taejin will rush the goblins opposite the gnome's archery target, aiming to menace them into dropping their bows while focusing his efforts on defense for the moment.
Sigfried would be quick to follow the lead of the others, moving in to thin the London goblins. Moving in on the group of ugly creatures, he'd swing his falcata down, his eye glowing with fury as his body worked against the small arrows once again embedded in his body. With less of these little minions aiding his power, their leader would be easy to take down.
Sindri seriously wounds one goblin, leaving it barely standing on its feet, while Hideaki moves to the opposite side of the cavern to engage the 3 goblins there.
Sig moves forward and cuts one goblin down in a single vicious attack.
The bugbear shouts at the goblins, "Budėjimo savo žemės lervos, ar jums bus sudeginti Zarongels rūstybės." Then strides forward chanting. The holy symbol begins to glow red, and stretching forth a hand a spray of fire erupts from its fingertips, the flames catching Sindri, Silas, and Sig.
The bugbear cast burning hands, though the flames of the spell had greater reach and burned hotter than expected.
The goblin closest to Sig drops its bow, and pulls out a short sword. After making that single attack though it collapses to the ground unconscious. Blood pouring from the wound left by Sindri's arrow.
The other two continue to work their bows.
On the other side of the cavern, one goblin takes a step back from Hideaki and lets loose an arrow, scoring a grazing wound.
The other two drop their bows to draw their swords and attack. One nicks the human on the arm.
Sindri will hope out of the way of the gout of fiery magic, despite his fleet feet he will catch some mild burns.
Sindri will fire two arrows, one at the bugbear and the other arrow at the goblin standing far away from Sig.
Sindri's first arrow strikes the swirling blackness before the bugbear and is deflected away. The second arrow veers unexpectedly, missing its mark completely.
Lucius will move forward (to H, -15) and engage the bugbear with his cutlass. He's not been really effective with the rocks.
"Damn! Silas cries out as he shields himself from the bugbear's flames with his cloak.
Attack action on bugbear.
"Eat steel fuzzball!!!"
The swirling blackness again deflects the attacks aimed at the bugbear.
As the construct focuses on the enemies before him, he fails to notice the encroaching flames in time, having to bare the brunt of the against body. While pain is not something he would feel, he is still able to recognize the havoc the reap on his body, quickly trying to move to shake off any longer flame and cause further damage. Moving in himself now on the bugbear, Sigfried would do his best to aid in the battle to bring the brute down.
Taejin will curse as the large goblinoid sends a wave of fire at his comrades. The lesser goblins are annoying, but spellcasting is a threat of another magnitude entirely. The brawler will disengage from the goblins, weaving to avoid taking blows if possible, and take up position behind the spellcaster, aiming a punch at the small of the creature's back.
Sig's attack gets through the swirling blackness, scoring a hit on the bugbears shoulder.
Hideaki somersaults backward out of reach of the two goblins and comes up standing behind the bugbear. He strikes the bugbear, but its armor protects it from any damage.
The bugbear retreats back towards its altar.
It then casts another spell, targeting Silas, "Flee coward."
The bugbear cast cause fear.
The two goblins on the right fire arrows at Sindri.
The one goblin on the left still holding a bow fires at Hideaki, the other two rush towards him with their swords.
Disregarding the attempts of the three goblins to injure him, Taejin will attempt to strike the bugbear as it moves away, aiming for a pressure point to hinder its movements more.
Using a series of brief hand signals, he will attempt to convey his intent to circle around to the rest of the party.
He will then suit actions to words, disengaging from the two sword-wielding goblins to run in a semicircle around the pool, using his momentum and speed to take a running leap for the ground across the pool filled with hot rocks, aiming to land behind the bugbear. If successful, he would roll to continue his fluid motion, sliding to a stop, fists raised, immediately behind the creature.
Both goblins take advantage of Hideaki's sudden movement to attack him from behind, one of them scoring a minor hit.
Sindri will rub his eyes, the flash of light and heat disrupted his concentration.
When he was finished, both allies and foes have shifted spaces.
Trying to remember if anyone in Gumlat mentioned anything special about how the goblins, something that how they acted or their traditions and tactics.
'Maybe it would be useful, maybe not'
Looking over at Hideaki, it would appear as if he was trying to convey some sort of message.
'You and me both, we have similar skills.'
Now that his mind was clear and the foes is sight, he would send a volley of arrows after one of the two remaining goblins on the eastern side of the cavern.
AOO (forgot the bless last time)
Then he will move to I-17 and engage a goblin (southern one).
"Eeeee!!!!"
Sigfried swings his sword vertically, chopping down the falcata's axe like head down and missing the ugly brute as it flees. He would give chase though on the savage, charging forward to keep up with it. It would cause him to be a little reckless, but he was prepared to parry any attack that came his way with skill rather than hoping for it to miss his body. The other goblins were busy, the head of the snake needed to be dealt with, and its single glowing eye never left his target.
Lucius is the only one to connect with a hit against the bugbear as it falls back. The creature winces as it takes the wound, and a trickle of blood leaks from its arm.
Silas flees in terror, taking with him the only bright source of light.
With a pair of arrows, Sindri drops one of the goblins. Lucius attempts to skewer another goblin, but is unsuccessful.
Sig moves against the bugbear, landing a heavy blow against it. It remains standing, but is suffering from the barrage of attacks against it.
The bugbear responds by taking a step away from Sig and grabbing one edge of its cloak. The cloak stiffens and hardens at the bugbears touch, and the creature holds the cloak before it like a shield. It then rams its shoulder into Hidaeki, pushing him over the edge into the boiling hot water a couple feet below.
The goblin archers fire at Sindri, one scoring a hit.
The other two start positioning themselves to try and flank Lucius and make clumsy attacks against him.
Having lost half their numbers, you'd normally expect the goblins to flee at this point. The presence of the bugbear leader is likely keeping them in check.
Lucius will try to hack down one of the goblins on him.
Sindri will fire a volley of arrows at the goblin that struck him.
"Eeeee!!!!"
Lucius attack is clumsy, and fails to even touch the goblin, let alone damage it.
Sindri has better luck, taking down a second archer.
At home in the shuffle of melee combat, Taejin takes advantage of the opening that the larger goblinoid leaves in its guard, attempting to sweep its legs out from under it, hopefully upsetting the shoulder barge it attempts on his own person.
In a quick exchange, the bugbear swipes at Hideaki with its morning star, but misses as its feet get swept out from under it, leaving it prone on the ground.