[dice=Con Save vs Poison]1d2) + 7
The swarm rushes into Harg space, suffering their bites and poison.
Gritting his teeth, harg steps 5 feet out of the swarm and attempts another swing at the Derro
[dice=Black Blade]1d20 + 10
But misses as the poison takes effect.
Harg takes the poison from the creatures like a champ...
Braden moves and prays to Erastil to slow down the swarm and the derro. A burst of glitter coats both of them!
The earth elemental continues to pursue the derro!
;
;
Vraxis hopped off of Fang, gave the wolf a quite pat on the rear as he summoned magic to shield the wolf, and ordered him to attack.
"Alright Fang, time to make up for being a sissy earlier. Sick'em."
Fang crept forward, past Ighiz, and tried to bite into the derro's leg, but the wolf's own fear of wasps was too much and his teeth snapped at empty air.
Vraxis's hand found his own forehead with a loud smacking sound as he stepped forward, interposing himself between Ighiz and the derro.
"I SWEAR I'M GOING TO GET ME A NEW WOLF!" he shouted.
With one final assault everyone is able to push the derro into an unfavorable position and kill it.
Ighiz collapses backwards, only barely caught by the two other troglodytes. Her breathing is labored and she is clearly on the verge of panic, "They succeeded, they took it all away..." Her mutterings sound broken, and even those holding her look uncomfortable.
Braden is not exactly sure how to comfort a troglodyte. If she were a human, maybe a hug would work, but that doesn't quite seem to fit here. Instead, he tries to be positive.
"They didn't succeed. I know there were terrible losses, but the derro are defeated."
Govrina shakes her head.
"The destruction. This was their sacred site. Their home. We've failed as far as they are concerned. Come on, let's give them a minute. Let's see if we can find anyone still alive we can save."
Looking down at the strange Darrow, then up at the distraught Ighiz.. Harg backs up to Govrina.
"This is not good.. Battle is just not good! We did what we could, but what are the odds this will make them turn on us. Side with the Hobgoblins. This feels too similar to our own history."
Looking around "Lets see what we can do, without causing more harm"
Harg goes to attempt to clean up and find survivors. Leaving Ighiz to its feelings.
Govrina nods and starts moving boulders and open closed passages with her Aether, hoping to find survivors.
The cavern system is more extensive than you've been shown by Ighiz. Fighting and fire have touched every portion without fail. It seems the derro provided plenty of alchemist's fire in addition to the poisoned crossbow bolts scattered everywhere. The troglodytes took a terrible toll, every one seemingly trading their life for 3 or more derro. It doesn't matter now, where only two additional survivors are found. Your quick thinking and healing magic are able to save them, but the Children of Stone tribe has been virtually annihilated.
Braden is utterly stunned by the scale of destruction. "It's horrible, so much death, and for what?" He offers what healing he has to the two survivors they find.
Neither of them respond well to the magics. It's as if they've lost the will to live. "Ighiz is still alive," he says in Draconic, trying to instill some hope. "Come, we'll take you to her."
'By the gods! Why did this happen! Why weren't we enough! If we'd brought everyone down here...would it have been? Or would our people be just as devastated too?'
Govrina shudders at the destruction, for once not having to fight her demonic side for a change.
"We failed them. They were supposed to be OUR protectors, and we let them down!"
Turning back, she approaches Ighiz with tears running down her face and waits for him to awaken or be cognizant of his surroundings.
"Tell us! What would you have us do? Revenge? We could try and hunt these monsters to their home..."
"Would you suck it up you daisies. We won. What did you think would happen? This is war. An army came for them the same way an army came for us. And don't go thinkin' the gobbo's woulda helped them. They wouldn'ta. They woulda offered the derro the same deal after they wiped out these troglodytes and we and them woulda been worse off then we is now. Yeah, people died. It sucks. They won't be the last, and we can't just hide down here hoping to not be noticed. It didn't work for them and it won't work for us. And we didn't fail nothin'. We did everything we could. Sometimes that ain't enough, but right now we gotta get outta here and get on the move. Ighiz and the survivors need to come with us. We can stills help each others. Gather whatevers they need head out. We still have a lot of people waitin' on us and another army to deal with. And Fang so's help me if you runs off again..." The halfing turned and began to walk away.
The four troglodytes gather around Ighiz, looking to her for leadership as they always have. Ighiz brings herself back from the brink of despair when she realizes there are other survivors of the assault. She speaks to them in Draconic, Braden translating for the rest of you.
"It appears our great destiny was not to spread across the surface. We must trust the stone. It still speaks of a great woman coming, standing atop the land like a queen and birthing vast armies from the earth. It is clear I am not that woman. We must leave the surface, head back to our roots and find our destiny once more."
"I'm so sorry Ighiz. I know it does not help much, but we understand how you feel. Is there anything we can aid you with? Gather supplies at least?"
Harg stands back, watching what is happening.
"Does this leave this cave system empty? Safe?"
Aside to Govrina "They wanted to take over the surface. We should just let them go. I think that would be the best thing for everyone"
"We've seen our share of vast armies from these hobgoblins. Whatever your destiny may be, you should stay clear of them. I wish we could've done more to help."
"Your people fought bravely to protect their home and are blessed in the eyes of my god Erastil."
Govrina shakes her head.
"I'm sorry, but that is only a possible future and not our problem Harg. These people helped us when no one else would. We owe them our lives possibly! I won't just abandon them in their hour of need. I'm half-demon. Your half-orc. Don't you think if people judged us on our looks then we would be alive today at all? I believe we judge people by their actions. These troglodytes were there for us when we needed it. I will pay respect to that decision. If you cannot stand to help now, then go back to the camp to make sure it is safe and send some of the adepts with any medicine and supplies we can spare."
As Harg looks down a bit, the sword chimes in {I think she is right. You don't look like a good guy. Arn't you a good guy? I thought i was a good sword.."
Harg says "Yes, you are right, of course. I will go check top side and send down some adepts. We need to decided if we need to pack up and find a new home, or if having our back open to Derro is fine. Please confirm how safe this location is. If its not, we need to move on. You are right, we should be able to to support the few remaining Trogs if needed."
Without waiting for a response, he walks out. {This is all just too familiar. We have an army out there waiting to kill us. I am just worried about the safety of our people, and that includes from the Trogs. Who want to go back underground anyway. If they leave, maybe we can use these tunnels. I just don't know if that is safe!}
The sword chimes in, {You need to tell them that. Just be nice about it.}
Harg turns around.. and relays a bit of his worry and uncertainty to Braden, then heads up to check on the camp.
Ighiz stands, leaning on her staff. "No. Perhaps this is the stone's way of telling us to rely on ourselves once more. It is time the Children of Stone return to its cool embrace." She makes her way to each of the stone visages, touching them tenderly before turning back to what remains of her tribe.
"Let us eat once more in this cave where our ancestors stood."
The other four troglodytes all move out quickly, gathering supplies from other chambers. Wood, mushrooms, tools, all come back with them. Ighiz uses some flint and steel to light the fire pit, sprinkling in powders from pouches on her person. The fire starts brave and warm, turns a vivid blue, dances wildly into an acidic green, and finalizes on a deep purple flame.
She speaks in a language none of you know, but feel in your bones. It is the language of rocks settling in place, tumbling down a mountainside, crushing others underneath. A ceremonial dagger is pulled from her sleeves and used to hack off the remaining arm of the derro leader. It is roasted in the fire, sending acrid black smoke swirling into the stalactites on the ceiling. The other four troglodytes use the tools they have gathered to smash chips off the cavern walls and gather them together. When the arm is completely burned Ighiz pulls it off the fire, ripping chunks out of it.
Each troglodyte takes a handful of stone chips and chunks of the arm and quickly swallow them down.
Ighiz speaks more in that rumbling language, then sends the others off to gather belongings.
"This is where we part ways," she says, turning back to you. "Take this, it shows you and the Children of Stone are allies." She pulls the aquamarine necklace from around her neck and hands it to you. "You gave us a chance at life, a chance to head back to our roots and survive. Take what remains of the caverns, we need them no longer." She leads her tribe to the choke point out of the caverns and into the Darklands. "This is where we part ways. Good luck, surviving the woman's reign. Her armies will be vast and terrible, and the stone says she will reign complete."
The five troglodytes begin their descent, into the darkness and into the future.
Stunned by Ighiz and her strength of purpose, Govrina makes a double take at her words.
"She? A woman rules the hobgoblins? That's...interesting."
After teary goodbyes, Govrina seals the exit with a boulder or two. She then turns to the others.
"Search the area. We cannot waste anything of real value that could be still here and...we can see if we can clean out the smell. This area is much more fortified than outside, but I don't want to just give up our outside camp just yet either. Its a good place to keep the animals. They don't like caves much in the end. We have some serious decisions to make here."
"Yes, interesting. I wonder who it is that leads the Hobgoblins."
Harg goes about exploring this cave system for anything of value, or anything left behind. Trying to catalog it all in his record keeping book.
"Wouldn't travel these caves alone, no telling what we might run across." Braden goes with Harg as he explores the cave system.
The search through the caverns is somber, the marks left by the derro and troglodyte massacre nearly indelibly staining the stones. Bringing some of the members of the refugees brings shock and horror from most of them.
Kining is the only one both not horrified and actively smiling. "The trogs don't know what they were sitting on. Look at these walls, look at that gem!" she points out the large amethyst in the ceiling. "If I had some mining equipment the camp would be set with gems for as long as we need to ride out the hobs taking over."
Her words are a bit prophetic, as behind a secret door in the old ruins you find an ancient smith's tomb with a forge and mining equipment inside. Kining warns of dangerous gas leaks in the area before explaining that everything can be fixed up given enough time.
Somber, Govrina tries a weak smile.
"Excellent news Kining. I'm glad our lot has improved, but...let's get this place cleaned up and usable. I'm sure we will need a forge working sooner than later. I want to move any elderly and wounded here immediately too as soon as we can find a way to remove some of the smell. Mining gems sounds good, but we don't have a lot of places to spend them right now."
"The devastation here is horrible, but we need to be practical. These caves are an opportunity for us to have shelter and even find allies to trade with." Braden mentions how they traded with an underdark merchant who had warned about the coming derro attack. "Those of you who are fit, let's move these bodies." Braden steps up first as an example and beckons another able-bodied man to help as they begin the grim task of dealing with the bodies.
Yeah, cuz who doesn't want to sleep in a tomb of corpses, huh boy" Vraxis whispered to Fang
The wolves head tilted as he looked at the halfling.
Oh shaddup" Vraxis said aloud, rolling his eyes.
Braden surmises that one of the things defending the old Derro ruins was an ooze of some sort, likely a gelatinous cube based on the acid stains around the stone. It looks like the last thing it ate was a crusader of some sort based on the equipment scattered around it.
The move into the caverns take less than a day, and the stench from the troglodytes is washed away and smoked out with the blood. Aubrin takes charge of moving the gear, Rhyna moving the elderly and sick, and Kining moving the equipment. Kining says it'll take about 10 days of work to get the forge working, but it'll be worth it.
Excited to see the progress of the cave. Harg helps out where he can.
Up top we start discussing the plans...
"Have we had any other scouting of the Forest around here? I assume their main camp is back in Phaendar. They took it over, correct? Should our first corse of action be to head back to Phaendar? See what we find?"
"Last I checked they had fortified Phaendar. We blew up the bridge when we left but they had put a rope bridge up in place. They can't get units of soldiers through it but a few scouts at a time would be easy enough. They had also set up a camp near a ravine, less than 2 days from here if memory serves. No guarantees on that one."
"Fang and I can check it out again. We need to stretch our legs again anyway."
He nodded towards Fang. "He gets claustrophobic and I don't like tight spaces."
"While we're gone though, see if you can get Kinning to make some better studded leather armor or studded leather barding for Fang."
After cleaning up the caves, Braden spends some time in their new home setting up a sacred space for Erastil. He does so outside of the caves, viewing the forest as a much more natural place to have a shrine. After it is done, he kneels before the shrine and prays.
"Thank you, Father Erastil for protecting us through this terrible ordeal. We'd be dead five times over without your help, and yet even though we owe you so much, you give us more, sending a majestic elk, your spirit creature to us. We've been on the run for so long, but now we have something like a home, at least until we reclaim our true home of Phaendar. Please give us the strength to defend this place."
* * *
As the group discusses next steps, Braden chimes in. "We ought to go together to the nearby camp. We've been on the run for so long, I think it's high time we take the fight to them, do some damage of our own!"
Once things are settled with the partial move, and Vraxis verifies the enemy camp nearby is still where he left it with no real change, then Govrina will call a group meeting of all the most knowledgeable people (named people) among the survivors.
"We are now safer than we have ever been, but we have also been given an opportunity here: The enemy has not found us and we have a chance to strike back against our oppressors nearby. Do we agree on this? Should we risk it? It could lead to retaliation. Even our complete annihilation if they trace us back to here. Thoughts?"
"I agree, that offense is going to keep us more safe than just sitting here waiting. I don't think any big army is going to come save us. I think it is worth the risk. Not just from a revenge point of view, but from a survival."
Looking around at everyone, "I would suggest we try to mask our trail as much as possible. If we do attack, attack from a different direction, as to not lead them straight to our home. We should also prepare to stay out and not come back here if we need to make this a multi day attack."
Harg grips his blade tight. "Lets take the fight to them."
The Hemlock banner is proudly displayed in the front of the caverns, just behind the vines shrouding the entrance from the outside. Talk of getting back at the hobs starts in earnest now that a safe space has been established away from the dangers of the hunters searching for your group.
"I think we should set out first thing tomorrow. We've been threatened by these hobgoblins for long enough!"
Two weeks into your flight from Phaendar and you already have a shelter, food stockpiles to last for some time, and a warning system in case the hobgoblins begin marching on you. The more militant ready members of the refugees take up arms and prepare to defend themselves as you get ready to begin observing the enemy camp.
Braden and Arrow move slowly through the forest. Neither of them were particularly stealthy, but hopefully the hobgoblins wouldn't be expecting an assault against their base.