Ner crouched over the prone unconscious goblin.
He raise his sap and hit the creature again.
Oksana goes over to Petronia and heals the worst burns on the warrior.
Cure Moderate Wounds:
Matheus frowned sadly as he considered Koyuki's well-made point and nodded. He didn't like it, but it wasn't the first time he'd have had to take part in something... unsavory in pursuit of the greater good. To distract himself from what would undoubtably follow, he busied himself with healing the would they had sustained, using his healing wand to touch the most obvious wounds on himself, Ner and Koyuki while Oksana saw to Petronia’s needs.
Seeing Ner continue to beat his half-dead companion, the goblin pushed himself up to his hands and knees and scrambled over towards his friend. "Hey! Stop! Him hurt!" Eyes glaring at the "bigguns" standing over him, the goblin said, "You go now! Go, let Glorfan eat you."
Ner looked up at the approaching goblin and then over to Petronia. His eyes were glassy and he had an expression on his face like he was coming out of a dream. He walked over to the table near where he had dropped his bow and collected it, then he went to Petronia's side like nothing strange was happening. His breathing was shallow and quiet and there was no sign of his grin.
Petronia was so focused on the goblins that she didn't notice Oksana move up beside her. It was only when she felt relief from her burning and stinging skin that she noticed Oksana's cooling touch. She allowed herself a moment to let out a sigh of relief and she inclined her head, "Many thanks, mistress."
The brawler took a couple of menacing steps towards the goblin when it scrambled towards Ner. "He's only defending himself. How about you leave him alone."
"You go now! Go, let Glorfan eat you."
Petronia took a few more steps making sure she blocked the exit with her body, "I have a better idea. How about we throw you and your friend down the stairs and let Glorfan eat you. It would probably be a better fate than what awaits you when he realizes that his upstairs guards failed."
Which door is Petronia blocking?
Can everybody put their icon in place on the map? The purple dot goblin is the one talking, yellow dot is unconscious and near death.
Ner waited for a bit at Petronia's side but was looking to the little storage room. He moved to the doorway and started checking it for wires, or pins, or loose stone tiles.
'Glorfan, eh`?' Matheus thought as he finished his medical duties. That didn't sound like no Pathfinder he had heard of, but since it were rogues they were after, there was no telling what sort fo company they'd have ended up keeping. Perhaps he was merely one of the group they were looking for, and the only one who had made contact with this group of goblins.
Ner moved to the open door of the old keg storage room. Inside, the kegs in this room are almost all cracked or broken in some way, and all are empty. Trash stands piled in the northwest corner of the room in front of a crumbling fireplace. From where he stands, he can see an open door in the east wall gives ingress to a landing of downward leading stairs. He doesn't find any traps on the storage room door.
The goblin cowered at Petronia's words. "No, not go downstairs! Big trouble!"
Petronia grinned ferally at the goblin, "What big trouble could you possibly be worried about? I think we all go down and have a chat with Glorfan." Her eyes narrowed and she pointed in the direction the goblin had said was the way down, "Lead the way, goblin."
Seeing the fear bordering on panic in the goblin's eyes she offered, "Or...you could help us find someone and not have to bother Glorfan at all."
Koyuki frowns at the mention of the creature downstairs.
"This complicates things. Are we sure this is the right place?"
She glanced at Matheus but he wouldn't meet her eyes after her mention of the goblin's fate.
About to open her mouth she abruptly shut it gain as Petronia asked the question she had thought of. She nodded approvingly instead and waited for the goblin;s reply.
Ner wasn't paying attention to the globlin. He seemed very focused on the doorway at the top of the stairs. He paused there for a while and listened for noises coming from below.
Ner inched towards the open door, his ears straining for any sound coming from below. So intent was he on listening that he forgot to see if there were any traps on this door.
The halfling's foot didn't step exactly in the right place, and Ner heard a sharp crack. Suddenly, a precarious stack of empty kegs was falling towards him, and he wasn't able to throw himself out of the way in time. The kegs thundered down over him and into the wall behind, obliterating the half-open door to the storeroom completely.
The goblin, who Petronia had been herding towards the western door, had been waiting for this chance. The crash from the storeroom was so loud and so unexpected, the Pathfinders instinctively looked up. The goblin sprinted for the western door, threw back the bolt, and pulled the door open. Beyond lay the streets of Irrisen, and he bolted out into the street.
So many things happened at once. The brawler's concern is roused by the ruckus coming from the storage room where she knew Ner had gone which caused Petronia to hesitate too long so that she was unable to do anything about the escaping goblin. She growled when it became obvious that the goblin had lied about what lay beyond the western door.
She roughly scooped up the unconscious goblin and rushed towards the noise. She poked her head into the storage room and hissed, "Ner! You okay?". She scanned the room quickly for the halfling and any other threats.
Petronia sees Ner struggling under the heap of broken kegs, which are still settling. Otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary. There is another door here, with a staircase leading down.
Sorry, no, it's too late.
Sorry, no, it's too late. Anybody want to chase him?
Petronia gripped the goblin in one hand while lifting empty kegs off of Ner with the other. "Quick Ner, wiggle out of there and get back on your feet. That noise may have alerted whoever is downstairs."
The brawler looked at the others, "Would the Shadow Lodge employ goblins or have one as a boss? Or is Glorfan just the goblins' boss and they still report to someone else? I have a hard time believing that goblins would be organized enough to kidnap Skagni."
Oksana rushes to the door and opens the portal to see where the goblin has gone. If it is still visible, and within range, she tosses a sleep hex at the fleeing creature.
The brawler looked at the others, "Would the Shadow Lodge employ goblins or have one as a boss? Or is Glorfan just the goblins' boss and they still report to someone else? I have a hard time believing that goblins would be organized enough to kidnap Skagni."
"They are renegades, so they can't count on the Society's resources anymore. Means they have to find their own allies," Matheus said as he saw to Ner's latest set of injuries. "If there were enough like-minded people in the Pathfinders to provide groups like these all the manpower they'd want, we'd have had a proper civil war by now, I think. So this might just be the case of them using the tools they have available. Besides, we don't know what kind of arrangement they have with the local powers, if any. In the case they are pariahs here like us, might be this nasty goblin boss is their local in-between."
Petronia gripped the goblin in one hand while lifting empty kegs off of Ner with the other. "Quick Ner, wiggle out of there and get back on your feet. That noise may have alerted whoever is downstairs."
Ner pushed his was out of the rubble with wild splinters and deep red contusions all over his face and hands. His eyes were unfocused as he shook his head like a wet dog. Looking at Petronia as she told him to come-to he seemed to get his bearings and his customary grin came back. Though quite rattle he appeared to think it was a fun little ride he went on.
He turned with his arms outstretched as Matheus administered to him like he was in some sort of bath - the good kind where there are no scrub brushes.Then he tried to help sort out barrels so that the path was clear.
I'm not going to give Oksana the opportunity to see the goblin after he escapes. Even if she reacts immediately, she was in the other room, and still has to run across the brewery to get to the door. He's definitely out of line of sight by then.
Getting to the door, she opens it and looks out onto an empty street.
"Damn it! It got away!"
She moves back into the room and looks over the poor halfling as he is helped out of the pile of barrels.
"Are you ok small one? Do you need more healing?"
"Are you ok small one? Do you need more healing?"
Ner shook his head 'no', his grin a silly bent line.
Petronia pushed Ner gently towards Matheus so that he could get healing but said nothing.
"Damn it! It got away!"
The brawler held up the goblin she was carrying around, "That one did but this one didn't." She glanced at Ner, "Feel free to use it to disarm anymore traps...or as a shield against anything down those stairs. I doubt it'll be able to tell us anything informative but it can still be useful."
Koyuki swore as the goblin vanished.
"We have two options, and limited time before our escapee tells either the law or others that we're here. We can either head down right now and see if this place really is as Petronia's contact advised, or we can vanish now and regroup, try and make contact somewhere else safer."
She glanced around to make sure everyone could hear, that Ner was conscious enough to understand.
"Given we're in unknown territory with limited safe havens and we're being looked for already, I'd advocate blitzing downstairs here as fast as possible as it's our easiest and only known lead. If we're quick enough hopefully there won;t be a chance for reinforcements to arrive..."
She moved towards the stairs, ready to move down.
Petronia glanced at the stairs leading down then back at the door the goblin disappeared through. "I doubt it'll bring the authorities back but it may bring reinforcements. I vote with going downstairs and seeing if we can pick up Skagni's trail. If we leave then we may never find him."
"Ok then, let's go down and see if we can find this contact of yours!"
Oksana heads to the stairs with the others but keeps an eye out behind them...just in case.
Ner checks the stairs but doesn't find any more traps. They head down the narrow staircase, into the dark. At the bottom they found a closed wooden door, with a little bit of light peeping out from under it.
Stealth:
Perception:
"Yes, best keep moving. Whoever awaits below might have missed the sounds of the combat, but I'd guess they rigged those falling kegs to cause an alarm and not only crush an unwary intruder. Unless the next living soul is a hundred yards below us, of course. Still, best be prepared we aren't going to surprise anyone very much."
"A moment, though," he continued, and walked over to touch Petronia on her shoulder, invoking the blessing of nature to protect her from harm
Petronia felt Matheus' magic coursing through her body and her skin felt like it was thickening. She nodded her thanks to the druid and moved to the front of the line. "If something needs subduing then it's best if I go first."
Though feeling much better after being tended to by Matheus Ner's ears still rung. He put his hand lightly on Petronia's belt so she could fell him following close. The two managed the stairs as a single creature and were alike in subtlety. When they reached the bottom, learning his lesson, he checked for wires, strings, and loose boards in the small room and about the wooden door.
Ner checked the landing until he felt confidant there were no more surprises to be had. Then he flattened himself against the wall so that Petronia could get ahead of them, and the shifter opened the door.
This brick-walled room is fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide and the ceiling stands twenty feet tall. Abandoned metal braces, likely once used to hold up shelves of items, are studded along the east and west brick walls. A fresh, new looking wooden door is closed on the east wall. The entire room smells of unwashed flesh and possesses a faint, sickly sweet odor. The room is unbelievably hot, a sharp contrast to the cold brewery above. Makeshift shelves stand on east and west ends of the room, some of them sparsely filled with books. A large, round wooden table sits in the middle of the room, surrounded by chairs. Along the entire length of the north wall are stacked cages, jars, buckets, bottles and various
bits of masonry, all teaming with a wide variety of insects.
Three people are in the room. Two are sitting around the round table, idling playing a card game. They wear studded leather armour, and each have a large warhammer resting against their chair.
The third is an odd looking man. Bald and sickly looking, he is wearing hide armour and is leaning over a glass case filled with insects. Hearing the door open, he says, "I keep telling you, stay upstairs! You've got two more hours before..."
Glancing up, he sees Petronia at the door, with Ner peeking in behind her. Eyes wide in shock, he cries out, "Intruders!"
Petronia stepped into the room to make space for the others. She advanced on the closest person who happens to be baldy. It's not like she's known for her diplomatic prowess. She preferred to let her fists do the talking. However, she hesitated briefly in case one of the others wanted to try talking instead of fighting but it was clear from her stance that she had no interest in talking.
However she did demand, "Where's Skagni?!?"
Initiative:
Anybody who beat a 10...take your turn.
Petronia quicly moved towards the bald man since he was closest and most likely in charge. She snaked her arm around his neck while simultaneously spinning him. She stood behind the man with her arm in an iron-grip around his neck, using him as a human shield against the two who had been playing cards.
She barked at the two, "Move and I break his neck."
With Petronia taking charge of the situation - both asking the all-important question and securing them a hostage to hopefully keep the other two honest, Matheus approached enough to peek into the room and began a chant of summoning. You never knew how reasonable one's opponents would be, rudely interrupted as they had just been.
Ner darted into the room so that he stopped 10' from the bald man. He was tipping his sword but it wasn't yet drawn. He eyed the group, and his posture relaxed, not sure if these were 'bad guys' or not. His mind was on rushing the bald man to the flank of Petronia but she seemed in control here. He knew better than to disturb her good work.
Petronia's decisive entrance took the bald man completely by surprise. He stood rigid, a jar of insects still in his hands, as he struggled to breathe. His eyes glared daggers at the two guards, who had been caught with their metaphorical pants down. "Who's...Skagni?" he managed to croak.
The man and woman, their card game instantly forgotten, leapt to their feet at everybody's arrival, but the quick grapple of their boss had them at a loss. Glancing towards the door, the man muttered, "I'm gonna skin those greenies."
The woman, after a quick glance at the new-looking door in the east wall, raised her hands and said said, "Be smart, southerner. Whatever you think this is, you're wrong. You bust in here, kill the druid? World of hurt comin' to your friends. Including whoever this dude is you're lookin' for."
Petronia never relaxed and her eyes flicked between the guards as she growled, "We just want Skagni and then we leave. This is the Shadow Lodge, is it not? They took Herr Skagni and we want him back." She tightened her grip momentarily on the druid in order to briefly change the colour of his face for emphasis, "We have someone you want and you have someone we want. Seems like a good trade."
Oksana moves into the room and move so she is not in anyone's way, but still has a clear view of all the enemy.