Elion glances at the skulls, "Someone is sending a message I guess." He'll move over to the door, check for traps and listen.
Drawing her starknife, and with an expression that's more serious than usual, Val whispers, "I'm still a little uneasy leaving Teral with the kobolds, but it was his choice to make. Just to be sure we're all on the same page here: Our primary objective is information about the rogue druid Belak; secondary objectives are: A, information about the missing Hucrele twins; B, information about Sir Grachius; C, information about the strange fruit; and D, recovering Meepo's dragon. I have no qualms with killing goblins if we have to, but we won't exterminate them all unless we have to. Does this sound right to you?"
Elion doesn't notice any traps on the door, but he does hear some frantic whispering and shuffling in the next room, as if several small creatures have quickly moved around.
Elion whispers, "Sounds like there's a welcoming committee waiting for us. I'll open the door as soon as you're all ready."
Valeria turns to Leynus and whispers, "Would you prefer to use magical music to bolster our courage, or shall I?"
Leynus nods when Valeria breaks down the scenario. "Sounds right on the mark."
At Elion's mention of a group beyond the door, Leynus readies his sword and buckler. The elf grins easily at Val. "If we need it, I can use my music to harden our hearts and guard our minds. Yours is of a more hopeful sort, so save it for when times seem perilous."
He winks. "I doubt goblins will force such a moment upon us. But it's best I don't jinx the fight before it even begins."
If everyone indicates they're ready, Elion will open the door.
"Everyone ready?" Val raises her starknife and nods at Elion.
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As the others slept under the watchful eyes of the kobolds, Akshara stirred restlessly in wait of fatigue kicking in. It was these night-time hours she was more accustomed to being awake at, and sleeping with these other "two-leggers" cycle of activity was disorienting. Thankfully for her, the kobolds seemed to be largely on a cycle more like her own, and while she had little in common and even less to say to them, their presence as active, scuttling bodies kept her entertained.
While examining the kobold's lair, poking around ancient stone and crumbling woodwork, Akshara finds herself crouched down by an etched stone wall displaying artwork once important to the residents of this structure long before its collapse. A bas relief of landscapes and a dragon-like creature with wings spread, head back and jaws open. The art bores her, though, the tiny branch and leafy green vegetation sprouting up through a crack is more interesting.
Pawing at one of the leaves, Akshara absent-mindedly twists off a sprig and twirls it around in her fingers before discarding it to the floor. It's the scrabbling sound of a tiny rodent that gets her full attention, one ear pivoting this way and then that. Her head cranes to the side, and Akshara lays down on the floor, staring into the crack in the wall as a tiny pair of beady mouse eyes watch her from within.
Wrinkling her nose, Akshara picks up the twig she'd broken off earlier and wiggles it around in front of the opening. Both furry ears perk forward, eyes widen, and she watches the mouse's movement in the dark of the crevasse with catlike entrancement. The tiefling's lizard-like tail swishes left and right behind her as she watches, eventually slowing as the mouse refuses to be drawn out by the twig.
"Boring," Akshara muses to the hole in the wall as she sits up, and with a jerk of her head she looks back to the mouse hole, ears twitching.
She could've sworn she'd heard the mouse say something back to her...
Furrowing her brows, Akshara stares for a moment, then grunts in disinterest and lopes away on all fours, certain that she'd heard nothing at all.
Mice don't talk.
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There's a clattering noise from the back of the room as a mountain of skulls comes toppling over, rolling across the floor with disconnected jawbones and all of the startling excitment that tumbling skulls brings. Standing guiltily right by where the pile of skulls was neatly stacked, Akshara holds a kobold skull in both hands, eyes saucer-wide and ears folded back atop her head, reptilian tail straight down behind her and shoulders slouched.
"Oops," the tiefling mutters, trying to inch away slowly with the skull in hand, only to clatter and crunch over a few more on her way back, crouching down and trying to make herself smaller with each awkward step. "Sorry!"
Val snaps out of her reverie by the door when the pile of skulls comes tumbling down with a clatter. She shoots a look at Akshara that's one part quizzical and two parts annoyed, but her expression quickly changes to amusement. She pantomimes saying SHHH! by pressing an extended finger across her lips, as she tries her best to suppress laughing out loud. She then gestures for the strange feral devil-wolf-cat-girl to join them by the door.
She whispers into Akshara's ear, "There are goblins through there. I think we're going to have to fight them. Get ready."
Val turns to Elion and whispers, "OK, Elion..." she pauses... "NOW!"
Opens the door.
Valeria's starknife is raised and ready.
Several torches mounted on crude wall sconces burn fitfully in this long chamber, filling the air with a haze that stings your eyes and blurs your vision. A double row of marble columns carved with entwining dragons lines the hall. Just as Elion opens the door, six goblins dash behind the pillars for cover. They immediately begin shouting for backup. Through the door to the west you can hear the din of many creatures milling about, then frantically yelling and screeching when the alarm is raised.
The four goblins along the back wall each take out small bows and fire arrows at Elion and Bellicus; they don't have good angles, and most of the arrows bounce off pillars or the wall, but one arrow nicks Elion.
The other two goblins draw their dogslicers and continue to shout for aid.
"Well, so much for negotiation.
Valeria casts a spell. The butterfly-shaped birthmark on her left hand glows with a faint blue light, and a vaguely-shimmering field of energy surrounds her.
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Bellicus raises his shield in time to parry the crude arrows that fly towards him. "To say nothing of the element of surprise," he says to Valeria, but he doesn't stay behind to wait for any response from her. He's already moving into the room. The shouts to the west have drawn his attention, and he's moving into position to prevent any reinforcements from spilling over into the room. When he gets to the door, he thrusts his blade at the goblin in front of him, trying to end its meaningless existence before he can be overwhelmed by their numbers.
Moving in front of the western door will draw an AoO from the most southwesterly goblin. Feel free to bring it!
The goblin is so startled by Bellicus's sudden approach that he doesn't even react in time to get in an attack when the Chelish warrior leaves himself momentarily vulnerable.
Bellicus thrusts his sword at the goblin, who clumsily parries the blade aside just enough so that it stabs him in the shoulder instead of the heart. Shrieking in pain, the goblin begins frantically looking for the nearest exit - only to realize that Bellicus blocks his path!
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Letting out a hiss and a snarl when the goblins begin firing arrows, Akshara moves in just after Bellicus and charges the same goblin, utilizing Bellicus the way she would one of her wolf-kin in taking down an animal by dividing its attention. This pack mentality proves invaluable as it allows the feral woman to pounce on the preoccupied goblin, landing on all fours as she grabs it by the throat and violently shakes her head from side to side.
Bellicus can see her up close, yellow eyes glossed over with an instinctual bloodlust, staring right at him -- through him -- as she savages the goblin in her jaws.
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Elion takes a step into the room and flings a sling stone at the goblin to the north.
He looks at his sling in disgust, "I swear this thing is broken."
The sudden shrieking and the distant noise of many more goblins prompts a sigh from Leynus.
The elf moves forward and peeks his head around the corner, hands splayed flat on his drumheads. The sight of the goblins sends them thrumming against the middle of the taut skins. The pace is quick and the tone low, heralding the beginning of the fight.
Anton enters the room and takes cover behind a pillar, trying to guard the party's flank. Meepo follows him, screaming curses at the goblins.
In the room to the west, the sound of rusty metal hinges opening is followed by the high-pitched yapping of crazed dogs - or maybe great big rats?
Hearing the sound of what can only be imminent reinforcements, the goblins feel encouraged by their numbers and, dropping their bows, rush in to attack with their dogslicers.
The first goblin that runs up to Anton is swiftly cut in half by the druid's scythe.
His yet-living companions manage to land a single decent blow against Akshara; a dogslicer that one of the goblins manages to stab into her leg from the side, causing a minor but painful wound.
Elion will skirt around the perimeter of the room and flank a goblin.
With a heavy sigh, Val moves next to Meepo. And attacks the goblin in front of her with her starknife.
The goblin easily sidesteps her clumsy slash.
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Abandoning his position by the western door for now, Bellicus moves to strike at the goblin harried by both Akshara and Elion. "Kill them quick," he orders. "Lest they overwhelm us." He stumbles over a bit of uneven floor, however, and his blade solidly strikes the stone pillar, sending a few sparks away from the collision.
Attack the goblin in front of me.
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Snarling, Akshara springs between two of the goblins, leaving a trail of blood in her wake. She lands, eyes widening and pupils turning to black slits. The hair on the back of her neck stands up and the ferocious tiefling lets out a low, rumbling growl as her ears flatten to the top of her head. That growl turns into a rasping hiss, and Akshara flies into a feral rage, lunging at the goblin between she and Valeria, snatching it up off of its feet by the throat and shaking it around like a wild animal.
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Leynus continues to drum, inspiring his allies, and attacks with his short sword, but the goblin manages to block with his own misshapen blade.
Anton attacks the nearest goblin, but swings too high.
Akshara tears the goblin between her and Bellicus to pieces, quickly silencing its cries of terror.
The remaining three goblins look somewhat disheartened, but continue the fight, knowing that help is on the way. They lash out at Val, Meepo, and Akshara.
The goblin furthest to the east, who tries to attack Meepo, accidentally throws his dogslicer at the kobold and it shatters against the wall. The goblin between Akshara and Valeria manages get in under her guard and gives her a nasty cut, despite the divine protection of her goddess.
"Oww!" Val clutches the deep gash in her thigh, where the goblin managed to slash her between the seams of her armor. "You little creep!"
She slashes back at it...
...catching its arm, drawing blood. The goblin screeches like a stuck pig but keeps fighting.
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Bellicus spares a glance to make certain the beast that travels with them hasn't entered a blood frenzy. When she seems gathered, he returns his attention to the goblins. He closes on the next closest creature, and thrusts his blade to skewer it, but the nimble creature dances away from him. "Stand still, you wretched..."
Power Attacking!
Elion will move around the column and stab a goblin in the back
"So this thing isn't broken after all."
Valeria wounds a goblin and Elion manages to bring one down with his dagger. Anton swings wide, and Akshara, barely managing to keep control of her rage, chews another goblin to pieces - the one who wounded Valeria. One goblin remains, and it cowers behind the nearest pillar. The shouts in the next room suggest that the goblins will breach the door at any moment.
"Thanks, Akshara!"
I really wanted to say, "Good kitty," but she might not have taken that well...
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"Deal with that one," Bellicus says to the group, leveling the tip of his sword towards the remaining goblin. He returns his attention to the door, and the scrabblings he hears behind it. "Meepo, attend me at the western door. We have more goblins to kill."
Readying an action to stab whoever opens the door, using PA.
"What other goblin... oh hey, there's one left!"
"Um, I don't suppose you want to surrender, do you?"
Moving quickly alongside Elion, Leynus slices at the goblin himself. Oddly, the drums seem as if they continue to beat, though Leynus lays no hand on them during his attack. "I wouldn't try and get any of these to surrender. They're too foolish, too cocky with their numbers, and have ears too full of wax to consider it, I suspect. We'll just have to make do with slaughtering the lot of them."
The elf's speech is light and casual, but is followed by a grim chuckle. If there is a hint of sarcasm present, it's hard to detect.
Val toes the goblin corpse in front of her to make sure it's dead. Hearing the gurgle of another dead goblin to her right, Val steps forward so she has a clear line of sight to the door. She raises her starknife, preparing to hurl it at whatever comes through the door.
Leynus quickly dispatches the remaining goblin in the haze-filled room. A high-pitched chanting, interspersed with the yapping-squealing of some sort of dog-like creature, grows louder in the next room. Suddenly the door bursts open and a grotesquely fat goblin sallies forth on an equally well-gorged goblin dog--a filthy hybrid between dog and rat. The goblin hefts a sword that is far too big for him above his head and bellows a warcry, and the throng of goblin warriors behind him begins to surge forward, ready to explode into the room and wreak havoc.
Then Bellicus cuts off his head.
A hush falls over the goblins as their chieftain's head falls to the ground with a sickening thud. Then the room is suddenly filled with the panicked screams of the goblins as they attempt to flee to the far corners of their great hall, some of them ducking into rooms beyond. Possibly only Meepo's gleeful cackling is higher-pitched than the screams of the goblins. Most of the goblins appear to be non-combatants, though a dangerously large number of them are warriors. This seems not to matter to them now that their leader is dead, and most of the warriors throw down their weapons before running.
The room beyond is a huge vaulted chamber which might once have been a cathedral, though now it is thick with goblin filth. Patches of violet-glowing fungi line the walls and ceiling, illuminating the heaped piles of broken items, spoiling food, rusted weapons, dirty animal (and possibly humanoid) skins, and other goblin trash. Several doors lead into other rooms from this chamber, and most of them are crammed with goblins trampling one another in their attempts to flee and hide.
Val pulls her arm back to hurl her starknife at the beast-riding goblin, and is somewhat dumbstruck as Bellicus easily dispatches him.
But, with her eyes stinging from the smoke and haze, her throw is wild.