After getting a translation from Cleo, Aggah says "Goblin wolf, yes."
Okay, big question, how do we go in? If it a tight squeeze, we'll be in big trouble if we get swarmed.
The goblin goes up to the thorns, and pushes aside a smaller, thorny branch. Beyond lies a tunnel into the thorns, roughly 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide. "This door. Lotsa doors. Some trap. Quiet us be, or Gogmurt finds us before us finds him."
I can go first, since I'm small Cleo offers Just far enough to see if it gets any bigger for the rest of you.
Maybee take Grunyar with you as backup
"Oi! I see 'ow it is. Feelin a bit cramped, are ye? Are ye fraid of tight spaces?"
As Grunyar passes Cleo, he puts a hand on her shoulder. Unfortunately, he reeks. "Don't feel right sendin the halfling lass in first. Sides, tunnel fightin be a Dwarf kinda thing."
And so, Grunyar hefts out his heavy crossbow. He beckons to one of his wolves to follow, while the other stays put. Then, he creeps into the thorn tunnel and out of sight.
After a couple minutes, he returns. "It breaks into three tunnels. One to the west, one to the north, an one to the east. Doesn't look to get any bigger, but it ain't smaller neither. I haven't scouted much though, so who knows what's ahead."
All we've heard about it longshanks leading the goblins into this, correct? So it has to get bigger sometime. Maybe... Cleo herself isn't certain [/b]Is it better taking our chances here or trying to storm in from the front?[/b]
Shalelu says "Sorry Cleo, I'm not sure I catch what you're saying. The only other way there would be to climb up the cliff from a boat. Or, I suppose we could try cutting our way through these thorns."
That would take a looong time and every goblin in the fort will know we are here.
oh... she looks embarrassed. So this is the only way then... shall we go? she squeezes Aggah's shoulder Good job she whispers to her.
Might as well.
Aggah smiles a deep toothy grin.
"If yer sure. Holler if ye need anythin."
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After narrowly avoiding the same exactly tangle of vines that led to his itchy predicament earlier, Vandra looked at the large wall of briars with trepidation. As the smaller members of the party scouted the tunnels through the wall, Vandra looked up and Helgarr and Furnok. "I really hope we get through this without a fight, I don't really think either of you would have a lot of room to swing your weapons."
I can still stab with my sword.
Maria ducks down to enter the tunnel and slowly makes her way through looking for traps.
Cleo will follow behind Maria, at a respectable distance to help the young woman out with her spells if need be.
Aggah will follow behind Cleo, since staying with Grunyar and the wolves are the last thing Aggah wants to deal with.
The four foot high tunnel winds through the dense briars and nettles. The floor is hard packed earth, with patches of wiry plants growing stubbornly here and there. Behold is a small clearing, with the ceiling raising to five feet, and opening up to about 20 feet in diameter. The clearing has the remnants of a campfire in the middle, and there are a patch of mushrooms growing. On the other side of the clearing is a continuation of the tunnel. Shrinking back to the usual four foot height.
Maybe we should get the others? Let them stay here. If we run into a problem we run back here
Cleo will head back and convey the plan to the others.
Furnok keeps waiting
Cleo will come jugging back. We found a bigger room further in, come on. she drags on Furnok's sleeve until the big man stops waiting.
Furnok gets pulled along
Maria doesn't spot any traps in the area. The only weird thing around are the mushrooms. They don't look like regular mushrooms people eat, and are relatively large. The biggest annoyance is that they span a 10 foot area right in front of the secondary tunnel.
It's a bit cramped, but not horrible as the group enters the larger clearing. The campfire remains can be rekindled with some new wood to burn, and the ceiling itself is so thick that it would probably keep the rain out. Mostly, anyways.
Furnok tries to see if those are real nasty mushrooms
Furnok isn't completely sure, but he knows that they aren't good for eating. They are likely poisonous. Shalelu and Grunyar also take a look.
Grunyar: "Erm. Can't say I seen em before, which means I wouldn't eat it if I were you."
Shalelu: "I think they may be worse than that. See the way the heads are so large and puffy? They're inflated with spores."
So we'll no doubt set them off and get mushrooms growing from our ears. Let's stay away.
Could be, let's go east.
Cleo waits on Maria and then will follow her.
Ali and Azeri keep to the back of the group, the Summoner being incredibly mopey and the Eidolon watching the boy worriedly.
"I don't like this at all..."
Eastwards Maria, Cleo, and Aggah scout. Three thistle tunnels open into a large cavelike chamber. Above, the thorny canopy grows thin enough that tiny slivers of the sky above can be seen, while below, the ground consists of trampled dirt. To the west, the distant sound of sloshing waves echoes up from a hole.
Aggah points to the hole and says "The Howling Hole"
That sounds... ominous. Um... what do they do with this hole?
As if on cue, a powerful and eerie wail emanates from the hole so loudly that you instinctively cover your ears. Aggah hides behind Cleo and screams in terror.
"It want sacrifice!!"
Cleo grasped Aggah's shoulders trying to catch her eyes, It is okay, Aggah. We will not sacrifice you to anything! I promise. Nor will we let anyone else be sacrificed. she looks to Maria Any ideas?
Furnok ponders
As the echos of the call die down, Aggah finally regains her composure, but her breathing is clearly stressed.
As a follower of Erastil, Cleo has read and heard stories of various creatures that roam the wilds. One such tail is that of the bunyip, a terrifying magical aquatic creature who's roar has the potential to enchant listeners with a magical fear effect. The creature itself is depicted as a combination of shark and eel, coated in brown fur.
Cleo will pass it on to the others, Hopefully it will just stay down there? thinking they have enough to deal with that bunyips should just be left alone.
Well if it is some kind of shark, then as long as we stay out of the water we should be okay.
Cleo patently ignores the twitch, where to now?
Northeast