Something moving in the sand? Moving?
Squeeze starts jumping around. He sees Glom-Glom while doing so and smiles, but still keeps going around trying to be alert - and clearly making a lot of noise.
Glom-Glom marks the tree with seemingly little to no impact.
Meanwhile the sand does appear to be getting closer to Squeeze Bits
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Squeeze moves back towards the group, almost hiding behind the hobgoblin - but, instead, adopting a "bravado" attitude towards the moving sand.
Bah! Squeeze hero! Come, sand, come!
Shattertooth harumphs. He is entirely displeased that the goblin's bits are still attached. Squeeze Bits provides enough of a racket about moving sand that he finally takes a serious look.
I thought goblins ate anything? Moving sand is probably tasty, so what are you waiting for? He tells the bragging runt.
Narissth looks about for anything to make a weapon out of. Are there any sticks or branches about that could be used as an improvised weapon or club?
Perception:
Glom-Glom kicks up some sand as he finishes marking and grins widely, clearly pleased with himself at the claiming of the tree.
As the others react to the sand shifting suspicously, the feral goblin's eyes narrow and his lip pulls back from needle fangs;
"What that? WHAT THAT!? Sand? Sand come for Glom-Glom's tree!? Maybe stole Glom-Glom's hat!!!"
Assuming a defensive posture between the distant sand and his pee-marked tree, Glom-Glom stands growling and gnashing;
Whatever it was, it wanted to be close. Shattertooth doesn't like that. He reaches into the world and pulls the substance of the universe around him. The universe obliges, of course, and a barely visible barrier of force formes around him.
Narissth glances at the sand before noticing the new pedestal.
Glom-Glom, your had and clothes are over there. Pointing at the pedestal as he says this.
There are sticks and rocks for weapons over by the trees. But nothing on the sand as though the sand monster ate or moved everything except this tree. I'm getting a stick to use as a club.
Saying that, and not waiting for the others to respond, Narissth takes off as fast as his short ratfolk legs will take him toward the trees and the debris strewn area near the trees. He will use his intelligence and take a path that moves him as far from the sand monster, while still taking him toward the tree line.
Action: RUN (80' as I think that ratfolk have a 20' speed).
Glom-Glom pauses in his gnashing and high pitched yap, turning toward the pedestal.
Recognising what sits upon, the feral goblin yowls in delight and rushes toward his belongings;
"Glom-Glom's stuff! Glom-Glom's hat!"
He casts a cautiously beady eye toward the others when he reaches them, wary of what might be occurring;
"How you know they here ratty? No tricks!? No tricking Glom-Glom... Dog hat no laughing matter!"
Squeeze tries to bite as readied.
Currently at 17+3 = 20
Bring Squeeze something to hit too! Anything to poke sand moving sandy thing! - he yells to whoever is close to the debris.
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The sand explodes as a horse sized iguana with mottled brown skin erupts from below. It attempts to snap up Squeeze but clearly does not expect the attempt from the small creature to bite it back eliciting a confusing scene of jaws snapping at one another and neither creature doing anything worthwhile.
As soon as Narissth runs off the sand he then promptly disappears.
Glom-Glom hastily sccops up "his" belongings in his arms while Shattertooth uses his abilities to prepare himself. Zika seems stunned by the events and stands by simply watching...
Squeeze enters in total defense mode as a standard action, then tries to move towards the group.
Will:
The strangeness hits Narissth like, like a bad dream, like a slap from the dicebot. It slows him so that he ends up shaking and confused as he looks back to the others.
He will then shout to the horde of goblins.
Run for the trees. It is safe, but strange.
Seeing the ratfolk run away and then vanish, Zika spits into the sand. "Cowardice." She seethes. Despite having no weapons, Zika wants to help, thinking that she may need the other goblins alive. She runs over to stand next to Squeeze, thinking that their growing size might confuse the large lizard - or at the very least, leaving it open to attack when it lunges for one of them.
Round 1
Seeing the lizard burst forth and stymied by the snapping Squeeze gets Glom-Glom's dander up.
The feral goblin forgoes other garments and firmly plants his dog scalp hat upon wee noggin before tearing toward the other grouped goblins, howling as he goes;
"Eat the sand dragon! WE BITE! WE EAT! WE TAKE ITS POWER!"
Shattertooth hoping to not reveal this ability so soon, but the appears to be no real option. He summons the world to his aid. One of the sticks pointed out earlier explodes out of the sand!
Shattertooth casts out with his energy and as he has many times before attempts to fling a nearby object at his foe. Unlike his previous attempts however the object does not move in any way as though his effort is being impeded by some psychic force.
A strange rippling shimmer follows the distinct break between the trees and the sand and the large iguana for its part seems terrified by the effect and moves to burrow back into the sand and escape.
The lizard burrows back into the sand...
As the lizard burrows and runs, Squeeze stands up with his chest wide open.
Yes, run, scaly! Captain Squeeze scary! Pure intimidation in greenie pants!
He looks at the others, especially Zika and Glom-Glom, and speaks in Goblin.
Gdje je hodanje rat? Fancy riječi rat? Da li je još pijesak ljuskave crv jesti rat-rat?
Where's walking rat? Fancy words rat? Did another sand scaly worm eat rat-rat?
Round 2
Not knowing what to do, Narissth looks around for any rocks or something he can throw at the iguana thing attacking the goblins.
If he can find anything to throw:
Attack-thrown thing: <-- PBS and Precise Shot if necessary
Damage: <-- no clue if that is right, but sounds close
He also shouts out to the goblins again, unsure whether they heard, or just didn't care about, the first shout.
Zika cheers as the lizard turns to flee. She turns to Squeeze and gives a shrug.
"Pobjegao. Nestao. Misliš da bi trebalo da ga jurimo? Može biti magija"
Zika does not see the rat.
Glom-Glom nods sagely at the other goblin's words, his dog scalp cap shifting in his vigour;
"Ne može biti zamka. Mi uplašiti pijesak zmaj! Povratak na stablo Glom-Glom tvrdio. To označene ... ništa se neće usuditi doći u blizini. Gradimo gnijezdo! Tvrde pijesak. Onda drži. Onda mora i neba ...!"
"No might be trap. We scare sand dragon! Back to tree Glom-Glom claimed. It marked... nothing will dare come near. We build nest! Claim sand. Then sticks. Then sea... and sky!"
The feral goblin grins his trap-snap of a mouth and beckons back toward the pee marked tree.
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Shattertooth scoffs at the feral runt's assumptions.
Učinite ono što želite , slabašan lopovi . Ja ću ići pronaći taj rat čovjeka .
He then promptly stalks off and follows the Rat-man's tracks off the beach.
Seeing the hobgoblin start to walk toward him, Narissth cups his hands around his rat-like mouth and shouts as loudly as he can:
Shattertooth follows the ratfolk's trail and promptly disappears as he crosses into the forest.
Narissth smiles, in his rattish way:
Something strange. Magic?
As he says this, he points to the shimmering.
Didn't want to go back. Why did you and the goblins not follow or respond when I yelled?
Shattertooth pushes though the barriers without difficulty to find the rat standing there.
I did not run because I do not run from battle unless ordered to do so. And I don't see any of my superiors near by. As for the goblins... well, you should know that goblins cannot be controlled. Only Directed. As for the barrier, it is of the same power that I summon to control the World. It is not magic, as it would normally be called, but it is close.
Not magic? It is strange. Not something I understand.
What do we do with the goblins? Leave them playing with their tree on the sand?
As Shattertooth turns stalks off, Glom-Glom bears his teeth at the hobgoblin and makes several obscene gestures before padding back toward the tree and where his clothes are and quickly dons them.
Being able to smell the tree from several feet away, Zika shakes her head at Glom-Glom's suggestion, watching the Hobgoblin walk away. As he promptly vanishes, she narrows her eyes for a second before turning back to the Goblins. "Magicks at work. Gods smile on Zika. Maybe find book. Maybe find ship."
Without waiting for a response, she promptly heads in the direction that the Hobgoblin and Ratfolk went.
Narissth nods in agreement.
Not sure about the other one, or the apparently crazy new one, but I have to agree that she? He looks over at the hobgoblin. It is a she isn't it? Hard to tell with goblins.
That she appears to have more brains than one would expect in goblins.
Squeeze sees Zika moving, but he's mostly curious at first. Or, maybe, just plain coward - the fact, however, is that he quickly assumes a more "bravado" stance.
Captain Squeeze Bits confused, but fought many magic words before. Squeeze is considered big smarts against foul users. Many already trembled against powerful Goblin arms! Squeeze goes. Squeeze will try to save big dumb Fatgoblin Shatterpoop from his deserved destiny. Maybe even ratty ratty can be saved too. Squeeze heroic.
He smiles and follows the female, but not before calling Glom Glom to accompany them.
Clearly torn between his tree and the rest of his new potential "pack", Glom-Glom lets out a plaintive wine.
This is not what he planned... they should be digging out nests in the roots of the trees, then perhaps eating the ratty and maybe the big'un...
"Bahhhhrr!!!"Why Vank-Zar-Zog! Why you test Glom-Glom like this!"
Frustrated and tired of being alone, the feral goblin pads through after Squeeze, Zika, ratty-ratty and the hob.
In short order the goblin parade after Shattertooth and Narissth and end up in the trees. Once on the other side all of you can see the strange rippling effect of the air that seems to mark the transition from sand to dirt.
Now fully enclosed in the tree line all of you hear birds, wind, bugs and all the other activity of life that one might expect from a jungle. Everything that seemed so keenly lacking on the shore. The brush is thick and there are not obvious paths to take you further in.
It is plain, however, that you have been followed as the crow who greeted you all sits amongst the limbs of the trees overhead and stares down at all of you.
It is probably only now that it occur to Glom-Glom that he has a package in addition to the clothes and hat that he has put on.
The crow is silent but it does bob its head back towards the tree on the shore. Distinctly pointing back the way you came with its head.
Blaming it on her open mind for her exposure to magic in the first place, Zika has a hard time getting through the mystical barrier. When she emerges at the treeline, it is with a headache and bad temper.
"Bad magicks." She growls, spitting back towards the beach and the rippling effect in the air. Her bad mood evaporates somewhat as she hears the sounds, and she has a toothy grin when she looks towards the ratfolk and hobgoblin. "Sound back." She announces, her ears moving to open up and take in the various noises. "Place..." she searches for the word. "Protected. Maybe treasure?"
:
Glom-Glom pushes through into the mystical barrier and like Zika, arrives nursing a sore noggin.
The feral goblin eyes the crow hungrily;
"Crowbie telling Glom-Glom to go back to tree... Back to nest. Bad magicks indeed Zika... Hat hurts!"
He looks warily to the package he bears;
"This no mine. Gift from Venk-Zar-Zog perhaps!? We see yes!"
Glom-Glom opens the parcel, bearing his teeth possessively at any of the others who come too close...
In short order Glom-Glom removes the packages layers and is greeted with a skull. Half a skull to be precise. Larger than the goblin's own head the skull appears to have either been cut or broken in half but in away that is especially straight and precise. The bone is unnaturally white and lacking in imperfections except for a dozne or so small divets throughout the cheek, forehead section and jaw that have small diamond flakes embedded within.
Squeeze goes and passes "courageously"...
Don't worry! Captain Squeeze to the rescue!
Finally on the other side, looking at both the ratfolk and the hobgoblin, he seems a little disappointed, and starts scratching his left ear.
This is long legged pointed ears skull! Elf thing.
Narissth looks at the strange object being held by Glom Glom:
Why would there be an elf skull here?
He then looks at the crow:
That bird is not natural. Too smart. It is trying to guide us to something.