"Chief? You want see chief? I say no hurt, no hurt! Don't hurt me no more!" the goblin replies, seemingly stuck between a rock and a hard place. He's certain to be hurt should he seek quarrel with you, despite him watching as Festus tied up his friends and So helped stabilize those who have been hurt and were bleeding. Going to see the chief with a bunch of longshanks and a new goblin is a hard favor to ask, but he's seen the prowess of Lar.
Speaking quietly, the goblin says, "You go to chief, me no take. Me leave never come back. Cursed keep and cursed cult. No go south. No go east. Go north to temple. In temple you find chief. More goblins but chief, too. Chief think you dumb longshank and go south because your chief lived there. Chief not know you mighty longshanks who convince me to warn. You go south, trap meet you. Fair deal, right? Me leave now?" the goblin asks, hope and fear in his beady red eyes.
"Sounds like the most efficent way to end this is to kill the chief. And he isn't even here. Lar, So, do you two have any objections to leaving the keep to go after this chief? We could probably come back with his head and convince the rest of this rabble of whatever we want."
"e-thay emple-tay at-thay olds-hay e-thay eif-chay..." Lar begins.
The goblin cuts them off with a harsh whisper, saying, "You no good at sneaky stuff! Chief in temple! Temple behind me. You go way I came, I go way you came, no see no care no do."
"Sure," Forthish says dismissively toward the goblin, adding a dismissive shooing motion with a hand. "Now, we can either go in, swords-a-swingin', or go in a little more peacefully."
"Why we all stand around? Let's do something!"
"Indeed, as much fun as it would be to slaughter them all, we should end this quickly. What did you have in mind Forthish?"
Forthish afixes Maicoh with a grin, "Why diplomacy of course. I'd prefer my original plan of 'surrendering', so that we might get to their leader. Once there and talking, we can judge whether there is any point in trying for more words or just deal with the chief right there."
”You still like that? You not know goblins. You surrender they take your weapons, your armor. You talk to the chief in all tied up in chains. Talk go bad, and it will go bad, you in soup pot.”
Forthish raises an eyebrow at Goma, "And you seem to overestimate their mental capacity. Goblins are easily fooled. Also," he waves a hand in front of himself from top to bottom in a sweeping motion, "I neither carry weapons nor wear armor."
”Surrendering the fort to the goblins was an option when they were dealing with us as visitors and diplomats. A few minor exchanges of force could be forgiven but a trap and massive deception are not the tactics of those with peaceful intentions. I think if Festus, Maicoh, Ragna get prepared, possibly Quinlan too, we should open the temple doors and show them our more aggressive posture.” Lar says, quietly and grimly.
Maicoh takes position opposite Festus, scythe in hand, and nods his readiness.
Froths chuckles at the paladin's response, "You holy warriors are adorable. You would rather spill blood than trick someone. You would murder thousands of basically helpless goblins. But as long as you didn't lie you can sleep at night. You justifications are just as holey as your cause." He then shrugs, "Oh well, you're the bosses." At that he steps out of view of the door.
"Ragna, Quinlan, you seem to be ill at ease with the developments and news. Jericho, Forthish, and Goma, stand back and prepare yourself. Festus, Maicoh, stay close and we'll see how they like surprises." Lar says.
Jericho loads a new bolt in his crossbow and readies himself.
"Indeed, let's clear them out."
You stand before a pair of massive stone doors. Maicoh opens the door on the left and So the door on the right in unison. Inside is a dimly lit grand cathedral. You can barely make out the remnants of banners to a few gods, like Aroden, Erastil and Abadar, many of which appear disturbed, destroyed, if not entirely desecrated. Oddly, the Torag based iconography, etched into the stone, appears undisturbed if not cleaned.
Position is ok
Festus and Lar spot three goblin monkeys, barely sticking their kukri tips out from the cover of the church pews or the corner (to the right) in which they stand.
Lar attempts to demoralize the opponents with a dazzling display of scimitar showmanship.
The goblins are shaken for 4 rounds.
Goma, Goblin, So, Tuk Tuk, Goblin, Goblin, Maicoh, Ninja, Forthish
Jericho is holding.
I'm assuming that the goblin attacked by Festus, who remains alive, is visible to everyone now in case that matters.
Who me? Does Goma see anything?
”Goma see one! Goma see one!
Goma will cast acid splash at Festus’ goblin
Goma misses the nimble goblin with his spell due to cover and trying not to hit Festus.
The goblin reels from the blow of Festus but holds for a better opportunity for revenge.
So moves to give Festus flanking, provoking from the goblin he sees.
The goblin badly misses. Center left goblin appears unprepared for the opportunity.
Center left goblin acts and goes after Festus (odd) or So (even)...
Center left takes a five foot step towards So, and prepares to strike.
Center right takes a five foot step towards the wall and strikes.
Far left charges, provoking Lar to trip... (no way to do that subtly)
Far left crawls forward.
Far right tries to attack Festus.
Jericho was holding, Tuk Tuk has tons of options, with Maicoh and Forthish (and our ninja enemy) to worry about remaining.
Froths furrows h is brows as psychic magic palpably begins gathering.
With such a beautiful grouping of enemies, Jericho will hold back no longer. Moving up near Maicoh, Jercoh brings his hands up. Splayed in front of him, his thumbs touching and palms toward the ground, sheets of flame spray from his hands toward the enemies.
Maicoh steps up to assist Festus with his target, swinging his scythe with bloody effect.
The goblins dodge nimbly, taking no damage from the powerful gout of flame that springs forth.
With the bonus for prone, Tuk Tuk bites the goblin who was far left.
Maicoh, I'm assuming you help Tuk Tuk (to avoid AoO).
From above, a goblin drops...
... and fails her Acrobatics check, falling prone after taking...
... damage. She stands up, provoking from Maicoh.
Maicoh, AoO?
Forthish, does that change your action?
End of round once those questions are resolved, and Festus starts round 2.
Prone is powerful. Festus steps to take flanking and then takes the prone goblin Tuk Tuk and Maicoh hit into negatives.
Lar steps forward and uses Lay on Hands on Festus, healing him back to full.
Lar shouts, ”By Sarenrae, if you understand me, lay down your arms. Your blood is far more likely to besmirch these hallowed stones than ours.”
”So let me just say ‘not it’ when it comes to cleaning up after the fight.” So says.
The goblins look to the latest addition to the fight briefly, but hold their weapons and tongues.
Goma goes next.
Maicoh swings at the new target but is caught unprepared for such an opponent.
Casting acid splash
vs touch ac
Initiative:
Festus 23
Lar 18
Goma 17
So 11
Center Left 9
HELD - Center Right 13
HELD - Far Left 23
Far Right 8
HELD - Jericho 23
Maicoh 8
HELD - Tuk Tuk 10
Ninja 7
Forthish 3
So holds to see what the goblins do.
Far Left stabilizes beneath Lar.
Center Left is feeling (even = lucky)...
Center Right is feeling (even = lucky)...
Far Right is feeling (even = lucky)...
Center Left swings and hits
Center Left tries to confirm
Center Left stabs So deftly.
Despite wanting to surrender, the critical stab emboldens Center Right, who tries to duplicate that success...
... badly.
Far Right steps up, feeling cocky, and swings at Lar
Despite his wounds, what seems to affect So most is the miss on his friend, and So's demeanor turns to one of anger, which is surprising given his nature. He steps towards Far Right and says, "So your chance has expired, your actions have shown your nature, and it's time for me to collect what's due."
So's hand turns claw-like, and his jaw appears to thicken, before he bites the goblin.
That leave us with...
Far Left = stable
Center Left = alone and unharmed
Center Right = down 17 from Festus
Far Right = down 18 from So
Initiative:
Festus 23
Lar 18
Goma 17
Center Left 9
HELD - Center Right 13
HELD - Far Left 23
Far Right 8
HELD - So 11
We're here
HELD - Jericho 23
Maicoh 8
HELD - Tuk Tuk 10
Ninja 7
Forthish 3
Maicoh steps over to challenge the unhurt goblin and swings his scythe.
The ninja swings twice at Lar...
The goblin priestess swings at Lar, whom she Is flanking, but misses...
Jericho, Tuk Tuk, Forthish and Festus are up.
With a swift word of power, Jericho sends a small dart of flame at the goblin priestess.
Tuk Tuk will take a 5’ step for flank...
(flank)