Thakus sets out eastward, putting Sandpoint behind him barely hours after he arrived. He isn't sure what his god's will is supposed to be or how to work it here in the world, but to him battling a local goblin tribe is a good start.
Azadi manages to make the goblin feint, unconscious. The other two continue swarming him.
Shalelu continues shooting arrows.
Shalelu manages to kill another goblin. Only one is left and he doesn't seem phased by his dead companions.
Thakus quickly figures out there are three land exits from Sandpoint. The southern one from where he entered, an eastern one and a northern one. Exiting by the east, the road quickly turns southeast. On the other hand, he can see from the distance that the northern exit turns east and continues that way.
He doubles back a little annoyed and sets out east. After about 10 minutes walk, he sees a man and an elf holding a bow recovering from a fight. They seem to have won as there are seven dead goblins with arrows sticking out of them. The man, however, seems hurt.
Elan nods to Brand and says "I have one more burning hands or I could hit them with sound burst. What do you think?"
As Azadi and Shalelu finish killing the goblins, the elf says "Well, that was interesting. Are you all right?"
Before Azadi can reply, a half-orc in armor and a two-handed sword approaches from the west. he says "Looks like I missed some action." He stands a little far and continues speaking "I can help with that.", pointing to Azadi's injuries, then "If you want me to, I know some healing magic." Shalelu quickly takes a low stance, but doesn't take an arrow yet.
"Those the goblins who attacked the town back there? Sandridge?"
Brand opens the double door and the rat looking dogs are about to come very aggressively towards him and Mashaka.
Mashaka and Ribitta both ready their weapons for when the dogs arrive. As they come, both of them attack the closest dog.
Mashaka manages to hurt the dog deeply. The dogs, on the other hand bark and attack the dwarf and the changeling.
None of the dogs come close to hurting the changeling. Mashaka and Ribitta attack the dog again to no avail.
Shalelu relaxes some after the half-orc non-aggressively heals Azadi. She says "Who are you then?" before answering about the goblins. However, she just says "These are licktoad goblins, probably going to Thistletop. I think they are amassing there and fear they may be planning a larger raid on Sandpoint. I have no idea why they are doing this, but some things indicate there are more than goblins involved."
Elan aims at the wounded dog and tries to put it out of it's misery.
Elan does indeed manage to put the dog out of its misery. Brand, on the other hand, is rewarded with a loud crack for his swing. The dog whines but continues fighting. The other dogs continue pushing forward.
None of the dogs manage to connect their attacks. Mashaka and Betty, on the other hand, attack the newcoming dog.
All attacks fail comically.
Shalelu says "Yes, there is another group of priests that went to Thistletop. I'm sure help will be appreciated, but I will stay in the road to continue cutting off reinforcements. Still, I can show you the way."
She heads off east and after about a 40 minutes hike, she points to a small forest to the north. After leading the two clerics inside, she takes it a bit slower in the woods. Still, she finds an almost invisible small trail. It is clearly made for small creatures. She notes "This trail will eventually lead you to the fort. Be careful."
Brand's hammer shatters the dog's skull into a barely recognizable goop.
Turning to Thakus he asks, "you look a bit more ready for a fight than I am, would you care to take the lead?"
"I guess maybe I should have looked into things a bit more, but I was away from town when the goblins attacked and when I got back and heard what happened I was so upset I felt like I had to do something, so I just rushed off to get involved."
"What about you?" he asks in return, "what brought you to Sandpoint, and now out to Thistletop?"
Elan shoots the dog that is waiting to engage Brand.
"Not that fending off some goblin raiders is anything better, you know, but this is the most action I've found in over a month. And who knows, finding more priests might help somehow too. Even if you serve pu-- other gods." He stops himself from calling the human's god "punier." It certainly wouldn't help to insult his new ally.
Elan manages to hurt the dog slightly, but it continues going for the dwarf.
Both dogs hit only armor.
Betty manages to kill another one.
The two continue the small trail for a while in silence. Then they come to what seems to be a wall of plants and vines.
Elan again reloads and fires at the dog.
Brand and Elan cannot hurt the dog and they continue attacking.
Mashaka and Betty continue flailing at the dogs.
One of the dogs manages to bite hard into Mashaka, but Betty cuts it down.
Brand kills the last dog. A few dog carcasses are heaped by this room's entrance.
Thakus violently starts slashing the vines and briars. It is not as smooth as he would like given the limited space to swing the sword and the hardness of the vines. However after two slashes he manages to break a good chunk of the vines, and a corridor is revealed beyond.
Embarrassingly, Thakus' first swing doesn't cut through all the way and it takes a second. He ignores the scratches to his hands. "Those are, um, thicker than they look," he says awkwardly. "Can you fit through here?" He squeezes through the new hole, determined not to need a third strike.
Once Thakus has passed through as well, he readies himself and resumes following the deadly Gorumite.
After walking through the thistle door, Azadi and Thakus realize that they could have just lifted the door.
Brand comes in and after studying the room there are two dead goblins next to a door to the west. There is also a door to the north.
Brand realizes that the goblins are pretty dead.
Brand manages to make out a snort coming from this door. There seems to be an animal here who seems to be uncomfortable.
Thakus studies the floor for a few seconds and concludes that a group has recently walked through here. As for direction, it is hard to tell. It seems they have been every which way.
Elan shurugs at Brand and says "I'm better with locks than bodies, but I'll take a look. After looking at the bodies he says "We should probably try that southern door."