Ned stoops to peer down the thorny passage, "I don't much fancy crawling through here but I don't suppose we have much choice do we. We can scout around for another path but I doubt they'd fortify this one if we could just walk around it."
"I wonder how dry these brambles are, do you think we could just burn them out?"
The tracks lead into the tunnel. There are no tracks leading elsewhere within the Nettlewood. Moreover, you can tell that something heavy was recently dragged into the north-east tunnel. It's impossible to tell exactly what this thing was, however.
The leaves and branches of the wood here drip with moisture, most likely from the daily fogs rolling in off the ocean each morning.
Lets not signal our arrival with smoke.
Lleidr will draw the Fang of Erylium and move into the tunnel.
"At least there's plenty of head room!"
Unless Ned directs him otherwise, Lleidr will set off following the drag marks into the northeast tunnel.
[Morning, Thistletop, 6th Day After Goblin Raid]
The dragging-of-the-heavy-thing track continues directly east through a darkened tunnel of nettles, while there’s also a branching out of another tunnel in the north wall, which winds some distance away from you.
Lleidr will just keep an eye out for likely spots to set traps.
That makes sense to me!
Which of the 3 paths looks the most beaten.
I'm not sure if I would need a perception check for this so just in case here it is.
[dice=Perception check]1d20+5
Definitely the eastern one, which is also the track showing something heavy that was dragged.
Unless someone's interested in going another way, Lleidr will continue following the drag marks along the more traveled eastern path, still looking out for areas likely to be trapped.
Lleidr will pause long enough so he can speak quietly to Ned. (Not like secret quiet; more like don't-get-heard-by-goblins quiet.) "How old do these marks look to you, Ned? I wonder if this is the way the raiding goblins brought Father Tobin's body?"
Since Ned's prior Survival roll is more than adequate to know these things, you learn that the dragging marks are only a few days old and are from something of Large size.
[Morning, Thistletop, 6th Day After Goblin Raid]
Three thistle tunnels converge 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.
Do the drag marks continue?
Sorry, yes, they continue through the NE tunnel.
I don't like this. These tunnels are only made of thistles so I imagine it'd be little trouble for goblins to simply spring out of the walls as we walk past.
Still keeping an eye out for pit traps or trip wires, Lleidr will move to the west to examine the hole from which the sound of waves is coming.
Little bastards, the priest mutters.
[Morning, Thistletop, 6th Day After Goblin Raid]
The walls of a naturally occurring shaft sink down, evidently to seawater given your proximity to the ocean, but the depth is greater than even Hakak’s darkvision. The sound of waves below has an echo quality to them, suggesting that the shaft gives way to a larger cave opening below.
Can I get Stealth and PER checks all around please?
"Well I don't imagine they're hiding down there, do you?" Ned mutters peering down the shaft.
[Morning, Thistletop, 6th Day After Goblin Raid]
A menacing hiss is whispered from the south-east corner, near to Ned. A wrinkled goblin face pokes out from the brambles, twisted into a grimace full of crooked teeth. “Adventurers! I knew it!” In a flash, the face disappears into the wall of nettles leaving no trace of its passage.
It happens so fast, only NIcholae and Hakak see or hear it. The critter appeared two squares east of Ned and one square down.
For those of you focused on the hole, there is nothing else noteworthy you can see about it.
Gods! We've been spotted - Move fast lest we be burned out!
Gods! We've been spotted - Move fast lest we be burned out!
The surrounding nettlewood is pretty wet from daily fogs from the ocean, so i wouldn't worry about a literal fire sweeping through these tunnels. Maybe you were referring to combat more generally? I can't tell, but just wanted to reinforce that trying to catch the walls around on fire isn't doable. They're too wet.
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Hakak rushes to where the goblin popped out in an attempt to grab him, but he swipes with no such luck. He turns to the rest of the group "I agree with Nicholae, if we don't move now we will be over run with goblins in a matter of moments. I mean I could take every last one of them on my own, but I don't know about this rest of you."
Lleidr will look about, trying to see what the bigguns are worked up over. With nothing visible or audible to him, and no immediate target, he will stay on the defensive, keeping an eye out for opponents from the front while Arg watches their backs.
"Which way should we go?"
Just get us out of here and into their camp... fast.
Jubrayl nods vigorously, his metallic features are difficult to read, but the concern is still visible if you look closely.
Agreed. There's no point in stealth anymore, our best option is to find the leadership and crush it before the entire army comes down on us.
I don't think I can give you an update, since I don't know exactly what you're all doing. It sounds like you want to move quickly, but I don't know which direction you're going.
You could continue to follow the heavy-object-dragged tracks which now wind northward, you could go towards the north-west passage, or you could go back through the south tunnel, from whence you came.
Ned's tracking shows that either way shows recent passage of goblins, with a decent number of tracks only a day old. The dragging tracks here are still a few days old, as previously mentioned.
Ned shrugs, "We may as well follow the drag marks. It's as good a directiona as any."
[Morning, Thistletop, 6th Day After Goblin Raid]
The floor and walls of this musty-smelling chamber are covered with matted, wiry fur. Well-gnawed bones lie scattered about the floor, and a dozen wooden stakes have been driven into the ground near the walls. Like the prior opening, the ceiling in this room also increases to a more comfortable height.
Four goblin dogs, caught napping, rise up on their haunches at your approach, and immediately begin growling and yapping, straining frayed ropes which tie their necks to the wooden stakes. Their hairless faces have the same flat nose, beady eyes, and protruding teeth as rats grown grotesquely large.
The drag marks continue through an eastward opening in the nettles before turning north once more. From the 4 squares east and then south, there’s the unmistakable sound of a loud, threatening growl.
So what does a goblin dog look like?
"I'll try to quiet those beasts," Lleidr says. He produces a handful of sand and begin muttering mystical phrases over it.
Casting sleep
CT: 1 round, so I guess right before his next action, Lleidr will fling the sand towards the goblin dogs
AoE: 10' radius burst. Unsure if I need to declare the targeted area before the casting is complete; if so, I want to center it on the group of dogs (about 5 squares NW of my current location)
Spell failure (leather armor): 10%
DC: 14 (10+1+1+2)
Nicholae brings up his shield and sword, prepared to guard from a threat from the south.
Jubrayl slips into a stance as he pulls out his axe, moving to place himself between the group and the source of the unknown growling.
I think we have bigger problems than tied up dogs.
waiting on Hakak and Ned ...
Ned will ready an action to shoot anything that attacks us.
[Morning, Thistletop, 6th Day After Goblin Raid]
Three of the goblin dogs crash to the ground, deep in slumber. However, one dog is unaffected and he continues to assault your ears with his loud barking.
Rounding the corner, you see a wizened goblin wielding a blade of writhing fire. He stops in front of you along with a firepelt cougar. He snarls out a warning, “I told Ripnugget there would be consequences for the raid, but he wouldn’t listen. But, he’ll listen to me after I show him your corpses.”
There are shouts, goblin voices, approaching from the west, around the corner from Nicholae.
NOTE – Lleidr is really about 2 squares south of where it shows on the map, but I moved his token up so that all the goblin dogs would be visible on the map. Two were dropping due to the fog of war.
Initiative?
Nicholae casts shield of faith.
Good question ... let's treat your upcoming actions like it's going to be round 1 (if you're assuming this goblin is hostile).
(if you're assuming this goblin is hostile).
I am.