"Avoid webs, attack at range, run away screaming if any bugs big enough to be saddled and mounted show up. Gotcha." Dawn moved to regroup with the rest of the group. "Should probably stick together. Your average flycatcher's gonna want to target the loaners, after all." And they could cut anyone who got stuck in a web down.
Alasayn follows along at a leisurely pace. Unless prompted, he's got no reason to hurry.
Cautious, Kaliban advances looking up and arrive corners.
Look alive, stay alive... we'll take our time, no rush.
Shifting her grip on her bill, to have it readied in both hands instead of carrying it in one, Hildeborg just nods at Kaliban and starts going the other way around the tower, looking more at it than for these spiders.
They'll be along soon enough, I imagine. Won't need to look for them.
Though Kaliban searches and searches the whole way around the watchtower, he finds no sign of any spiders outside. At one point though, he's almost certain he heard voices, though they were far too muffled to make out. Hildeborg likewise finds no trouble, and estimates that while the tower probably only has another twenty years before a major collapse, it should be stable enough to explore without worry. Without the constant wind and rain to erode the stonework, structures within Ulnswhere tend to survive a lot longer even when abandoned.
Eventually, everyone meets up again in front of the tower's only real entrance after making a full circle around it's base. Your careful searching so far has been perhaps ten minutes in total.
Prepared for melee, Mary enters the building. Celeste will follow. "Those of you who want to attack from a distance, cover me."
"Tower should hold." Her evaluation is concise, if not exacting.
With some preliminary scouting done, Alasayn looks over to Kaliban and says, "Shall we? There seems to be a whole tower waiting for us. Perhaps we shall encounter a situation where I need protecting. On the other hand, we may well find a problem that requires a civilized touch."
Kaliban looks to Alasayn and smiles genuinely. Civilized would be refreshing, we're gonna get along just fine. You can take a joke and dish it out. I like that.
Let's wait for her to scream, then we'll know where the crawlers are. He chuckles.
Turning to Emma. Your sister is a bit impulsive. I don't care if she gets herself killed. But, I don't want to see you getting hurt.
About-facing, Kaliban follows the fool pooh-rat. His eyes quickly adjusting to any darkness, within.
At some point in the distant past the watchtower's door must've been kept locked tight, but for Mary who barges through without a second thought it provides no resistance. Instead it creaks on long rusted hinges, a sound which echoes throughout the open room before you. Light filters in through boarded windows and directly behind you, bathing it in the oranges and reds of an approaching sunset. The air is thick and dusty, enough to make one sneeze with a poorly timed breath.
Amidst the rubble and debris you spy two rotted tables and their benches, bookshelves with their contents spilled onto the ground, shattered and empty crates, and a long faded and dusty standard that bares a symbol likely dedicated to one of Ulnswhere's military branches.
There is a door on the western wall closed shut, as well as one on the norther. To the west, the wall of the tower is a shattered and crumbling mess. It's door has been long torn off it's hinges, and you can see glimpses of it through amidst stone and rubble through the cracked archway.
Kaliban stays alert, looking every which way and up...
Alasayn gives the area a look around before walking over to the bookshelves to take a look at them. If there was pertinent information in them, he wanted to see what it was.
Kaliban, alert as he is, thinks he starts to make out a few sounds from within the structure. The first he notices is a quite faint, yet rhythmic rating. If he had to describe, like something passing a stick over a metal fence. It seems to be coming from somewhere within the tower itself, though it's hard to pinpoint where.
The other sounds are too his left, and at first they're too indistinct to make out. Moving to press an ear against the wall however, he slowly starts to identify voices. Three of them, though they seem oddly high pitched and squeaky.
"Did you get a good look at them?"
"Just shadows, they moved too quick."
"Ugh, see Gricky? I told you she was just some useless skank."
"Excuse me-?!"
"Girls, please! Now is not the time for this again! We have to, have to hide or something."
"After these bounty hunters are gone, we're going to make time for it. I seriously can't believe you were-"
"Shhhhhhhhh! Quick, just find somewhere to hide! We don't have time for this!"
He listens for a moment longer, but the voices seemed to have quieted down.
To Alasayn's disappointment, most the titles have become long worn, and the pages insect nipped. Very little remains to tell of their contents, but what little he can make out leads him to believe these books were purely for entertainment's sake rather then scholastically interesting.
Kaliban raises a hand.
If you come out now peacefully, we can talk about it. Bloodshed can be avoided. Hiding will not help you, we can see perfectly well in the darkness.
I'd rather make friends than enemies. My name is Kaliban, you have... my word.
Kaliban received no response.
"Cousin. She's my cousin, not my sister. And she's kind of a black sheep of the family. Using it as her first name just makes sense."
I'll try for diplomacy.
"Kaliban is in earnest. If you are not interested in battle, neither are we. Please come out!"
I'll consider that an Aid Another
It's sile t for a momment more, but Kaliban with his ears strained thinks he hears some whispers. Then, there's a click as a door opens somewhere on the ither side and a patter of small feet. The door to the right does not open, but a voice speaks loudly and clearly through it. It's rough and high pitched, with an almost gutteral feel to it. "You being honest, not yanking our chains are you? The girls and I have been burned by you tall-folk before... If you're lying, I will gut you. Won't even hesitate!"
Mary grunts, rather loudly and aggressively.
Could we make one roll for Stealth and use it for both me and my companion according to our respective bonuses? That way if we both suck, we both suck, but otherwise one of us doesn’t ruin it for the other.
Celeste would have 20 total.
”My word, there’s no need for gutting. We were simply hoping to stop by, take a look around.”
"Yeah, tall folks can be silly sometimes. I keep wondering if the air up there is too thin and it's why us right-minded folk never got any bigger," Dawn said with a smile. "This lot seem decent enough, though. They've treated me well enough that I haven't had to break any kneecaps at all! We were just curious about this place. I was betting on ghost wizards. I don't suppose you have any?"
The voice starts to chuckle, "Alright, I like 'er- Uh, don't tell the girls I said that though. I'm in enough trouble as is."
After a period of silence, you hear him letting out a deep breath. "Fine, fine. I'm coming out then. No weapons, no tricks."
With that, the door handle turns, and the door pulls inward. You see a flash of green skin, and for a moment you think it's another Vine Leshy like Dawn. Half a second later the large protruding ears, sharp Needle teeth, and small green eyes reveal what it actually is- A goblin. He's dressed rather Fashionably for a goblin, and two longswords (which look like shortswords from your perspective) strapped to his back within their scabbards. His clawed hands are raised up in pacification as he stands in the open doorway.
"Alright- Here we are then. No violence- and no ghost wizards. Sorry about that one love."
"Greetings. I'm Mary." Celeste bucks and chirps.
"Easy, girl."
Emma Jane barely suppressed a wince. She'd never seen a goblin before, but she'd heard they were mean, violent little creatures. This one seemed almost civilized, if a bit...rustic.
"Emma Jane," she stated her name for the goblin's benefit.
There were at least three of you, please...
...don't make me regret giving you the benefit of the doubt. Tell them to come out. No trickses.
Kaliban send stern, but fair and surprisingly relaxed.
"What, can't a guy act all tough and brave to protect his girl?" He says lightly, before grimacing and adding in lowly, "Uh, don't tell them I said that either. I wanna put off that talk for as long as possible."
He puts a fist to his mouth and clears his throat, before turning his head over his shoulder and shouts loudly at a closed door. "Eval, Prissca, you can come out now! They're not looking for any trouble either, if you get me!"
There's some shuffling behind the door, before it creaks open. Two people walk out, the most notable feature you notice right off the bat is that neither of them are goblins. On the contrary, one of them seems to be a gnome with short-Cut salmon red hair and a dangerous look, the other a halfling woman with brown braids kept behind a diamond patterned headband. You catch sight of a crossbow along over the auburn's shoulder, while the tomboyish woman seems to have a spark of magic in her eyes.
"That one over there is Evelnass, and she's Prissca," He starts, gesturing to the gnome and halfling respectively. You see the halfling frown and being named second, while Evel smirks at her. "My name's Grickly. None of those fancy second names for us, that's all we've got."
So, Prissca and Evelnass... thank you. Everyone stays... he looks over to Alasayn. ... civil, and no one gets hurt. Maybe even we become allies.
So, how may we be of service?
And, size doesn't matter. I've felled bigger than me. It's what's in here, that truly matters. Kaliban brings his shield fist to his chest.
What's so interesting about this place, let's work together and all come out winning.
"So, you three, where are the spiders?"
"Mm... You talk alot." Grickly mentions, without ay real meaning to it.
"Peh, people of that sort often do." Scowls the halfling, while shooting the gnome a dirty look.
"Excuse me? How about you say that again to my plump round-" The gnome begins, only to be cut off by the goblin waving behind himself rather frantically.
"Girls, please, we can talk about this all again later alright?" He pleads, a look of quiet exasperation on his face. It seems as though this has been happening for awhile today.
They harrumph and turn away from each-other, not saying another word. With a sigh, Grickly turns his attention back to the group. "Look mate, there's really nothing here besides some old cobwebs, newer actual webs, and some spooky noises downstairs. We're just trying to... lay low for a few days. Maybe leave the country for... a longer period of time. That sorta thing. The spiders come out at night, but they can't get through the door either. Otherwise they're up in the tower."
The Half-Orc tried to make out what's being said and the implications.
Who is looking for you and why? If you have the cost of passage, we might have a ship.
But, daylight's burning... and we are off, soon.
"Uh, well," He starts off with a stutter, that he quickly corrects. "Just some people, you know? No need to fret over it, wouldn't want to give you tallfolk any trouble."
"Eh, it's none of our buisness I guess." Dawn looked down. "What do you mean by spooky noises below? Is there a...whatchamacallit...mortal-made cave of stones...basement!"
The Northerner just frowns, looking at the tiny assemblage before them. She won't trust the goblin as far as it might be able to throw her, which means she can't trust it's companions, either.
Given the "agreement", she never actively threatens anyway with the bill, but she keeps it ready.
"Like there's something in a cage downstairs in the- yes, I believe tallfolk tend to call them 'basements'. It's probably just rats or something, but it's really none of our business either." Grickly elaborates, crossing his arms and looking dismissive of the whole thing. "We weren't planning on being here that long anyway. If you want to take a look, be my guest."
But, what about the treasure... you'll have to come help, if you want a cut.
Kaliban shrugs. Could pay for your passage and then some. It'll prove Evelnass isn't a skank and everyone will go their separate ways.
Easy breezy.
Kaliban get's the sense that there's nothing too suspicious about the goblin, really. It's possible that there are other girls in the picture that he'd rather not want anything to do with, which is why he's trying so hard to keep the two with him in a state of calm. Which, with Kaliban's latest comment, seems to be increasingly impossible.
A shouting match to break out, and Grickly turns his attention away from you six in an attempt to placate the woman in however way he can. You're having trouble making out the details- for such tiny woman, they're awfully loud.
"Agh come on mate! Why'd you have to go and to that? Argh whatever, just go bugger off on your own now won't ya?" The Goblin pleads, as he starts trying to lead Evelnass and Prissca back into whatever room they were occupying previously, where they can hopefully work out their troubles in relative peace.
There is too much emotion, let's all calm down. Kaliban tried to be the voice of reason.
We're new to these parts, and I might have a proposition for you, some business... A way to make money. Maybe we can work something out.
But, if you killed someone then that just puts a target in our backs. So, why are you hiding and leaving? It's just a conversation, we are not the authorities. He pauses.
Any of you know anything about this whole Curse thing, he asks simply.
"Where do you go off just accusing people of being killers eh?!" The goblin shouts, half out of honest offense and half to be heard over the two behind him. He dodges a stray elbow as he continues trying to ward you off. "Just bugger off already, we don't have nor want anything to do with any that."
"Kaliban, we have all night." To the trio, "How do we get to the basement?"
The impression given is that Mary remains unheard, as the goblin's full attention seems to have turned to trying to placate the two who were with him. To anyone who's taken more then a cursory look around, they notice that the tower seems to have a second stairwell that leads down.
Kaliban gets impatient.
I'm going to take a look, Cousins... can you watch these three? I'd like the others to accompany me, if they care to.
See, Emma Jane. I listen. And, we'll be sure to call for help if needed.
The half-orc peers down the stairwell, with his darkness piercing vision.
Alasayn accompanies Kaliban. His darkvision and magical skill could prove useful.