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Chuffy narrows his eyes at Reta as she wins again Chuffy thinks this Reta needs to come down a peg or two... maybe to Poog level... Chuffy smiles and claps Reta on the back "You doing real good, but WE win the next test, not YOU!" He then hangs back a bit, following the group along.
Once the new game starts Chuffy is ready to go! "OOO Chuffy love throwing ROCKS! Me first!"
He slings a rock at the overgrown gull
Never was there a better rock throw at a bigger gull in all the land! .
With his first throw, Chuffy EXPLODES the vulture, until there's just a spray of feathers and a beak hitting the ground a few seconds later. The mob of goblins is silent for a long moment before breaking into raucous cheers!
The prize proves to be a strange fist sized stone! Steadfast Gut-Stone!
Goblins start carrying out elaborate props for the next game: a buzzing wasp's nest, buckets of live rats, a pickled hippogriff's head in a giant jar, a barrel of roofing nails.. When the preparation is broken by loud squeals as Squealy Nord barrels into the clearing and heads straight to Poog!
Mogmurch laughs as the vulture explodes... "Chuffy bestest ugly bird-killer."
Poog turns to the irate pig and listens to him, squealing back at him a few times. He translates Squealy Nord's tale:
"It turns out that something went terribly wrong out on the truffle hunt. Squealy and three goblins went to the Bestest Truffle Field to get the special ingredient for the feast when they discovered a group of Sczarni— traveling criminals found throughout Varisia—camped out by the trail. The goblins tried to sneak by, but the filthy humans noticed them and immediately attacked the truffle-hunting expedition. Squealy Nord only barely managed to escape, but the three goblins were killed."
One of the goblins turns to you with alarm on his face. "But Bestest Truffle Field am BESTEST! We cannot allow filthy longshanks to take over Bestest Truffle Field!"
"Mogmurch ready to go! Must have bestest Truffleses!!"
Following the pig's trail, you head back toward the Bestest Truffle Field. It takes about an hour of avoiding bramble patches and local hazards. After that time you come across a campsite!
Two wagons, their wooden panels exquisitely carved and vibrantly painted, sit in this forest clearing. The first noticeable thing in the small dell is a burning campfire and three goblin heads stuck on narrow poles. Logs for sitting and gear for cooking surround the campfire, and the smell of a greasy stew floats on the gentle summer breeze. Four longshanks sit around the campfire, laughing and talking. Three dogs lounge around, while four horses stand near the wagons.
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Chuffy cheers and cheers at himself when he wins the game "We win! We win!... a rock? a tasty rock? Just like when we were little in cage!" He takes the rock and swallows it down with a burp, squirming a bit until it settles. "Yum!"
Once Squeely gives his story Chuffy agrees with the other Gobs "We best kill Longshanks tonight, in the dark, maybe they be sleeping! Be sneaky!" He smiles and nods at Reta's gift "If you want, but Chuffy already pretty sneaky... you less sneaky."
Chuffy looks at the camp with a sparkle in his eyes and whispers "We should wait til its dark, Longshanks don't like dark!"
You decide to wait until dark. Time passes as you stake out the camp. In time, three of the men head to sleep on bedrolls, while the dogs move closer to the fire for warmth.
Round 1:
Chuffy and Poog
Men
Dogs and Mogmurch
Reta
Mogmurch will start sneaking around through the woods til he's closer for bomb-throwing...
When MOgmurch gets close enough, he takes one step out of the woods and he lobs a bomb into the middle of the group southwest of the fire, Each one taking 5 pts of damage
Mogmurch starts the chaos off with an explosion that rocks the night! Reta follows up with a hustle into the camp! Chuffy's bolt hits the dog with a yelp that ends abruptly! Poog's fire stick explodes in the middle of the camp, waking the humans and the living dogs!
Round 1:
Chuffy and Poog
Men
Dogs and Mogmurch
Reta
In a matter of moments, the longshanks are dead or dying, the dogs are roasted and only the horses remain! Two of the horses break free from their ropes and flee into the woods, but the other two flare their nostrils with fear and stamp their hooves, clearly trying to frighten the goblins off!
MOgmurch walks forward and gleefully throws a bomb at the nearest horse.
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Chuffy turns and blows a snot rocket at Reta "PFFT! Always kill dogs first! They the scariest and have good noses!"
He then moves around and stabs the dogs a few times for good measure before looking to see if any of the Longshanks live. "We bring back Longshank, show Tribe how awesome we are! Ask him many questions then eat him for big feast!"
The nearest horse falls! The other one is burnt and scared!
The horse lets out a whinny of pain and terror! It fights against the rope, but cannot escape!
Not wanting to waste another bomb just yet, MOgmurch exhorts Reta to go kill the remaining horse... "Reta, CHOP!"
Reta slices! Reta dices! Reta purees! The horse screams in terror and tries to break its rope as Reta hacks into it!
Poog slashes at the desperate horse, but misses as the thing rears!
Chuffy insures the death of the dogs!
Round X:
Chuffy and Poog
Horse and Mogmurch
Reta
The horse breaks the rope and takes off!
The horse doesn't get far, as Reta and Poog cut it down!
You can find one of the bandits still clinging to life, though more importantly, you also find a bag of truffles! However, you realize the Bestest Truffle Field is nearby; this is an adjacent field.
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"Not bestest truffle field you say? Maybe more longshanks AND dogs? We gonna looksee in wagons for good stuffs, then sneaky to the next field and look for more stabby fun time?"
Chuffy asks Mogmurch the best poisoner of the tribe to smear his three special fire bolts and his dogslicer with goopy poison "Lots o people to shooty stab maybe! We should be ready!" He then disappears into a wagon and starts rooting around.
Mogmurch will search bandits and wagons both,
Mixed in with the clothing and the food, the PCs can find a bundle of four adamantine arrows, a tin box filled with various bits of jewelry (worth 140 gp total), a well-preserved ham, three jugs of mead (worth 2 gp each), a wooden box filled with 1 pound of cloves (worth 15 gp), a brass prosthetic foot (worth 2 gp), and a lesser strand of prayer beads with only a bead of blessing remaining.
On the bodies you find a total of 4 alchemist's fires, several gold jewelry and studded leather and short swords.
The wagons begin to burn merrily and you head off toward the truffle field! A huge oak stands on the north edge of a narrow clearing. Its trunk is covered in vines, and its tangled roots provide a healthy bed known to be the source of the best truffles in the area. Fallen trees and a few large rocks are spread out through this wide clearing. A ruined silo slumps not far away.
Mogmurch happily acquires an extra alchemist fire and a jug of mead, which he proceeds to drink to down a huge hunk of ham, which he half cuts, half tears off the haunch found. He also takes the brass foot because it's cool, and hangs it on his belt. "Me gots yellow metal longshanks foot... me want to find yellow metal longshanks it came from!"