Griot scowls at the noisy rat and calls upon St. Helba's arcane aid to shut it up. A trio of magic missiles burst from his claws to strike the rat.
"Surrender or die!" he shouts as he ducks aside to let the others pass.
You killed Tony! What did he ever do to you"?
The fat goblin looks at his recently deceased pet, and a look of anger grows on his face. He looks at Griot, and with speed beyond what his corpulence would suggest closes with the Kobold murderer.
Move, Dash, and Attack.
Handaxe
Handaxe (Backswing)
Edge 1
Edge 2
Grio shreiks as the goblin bolts to him and cleaves him with the murderous ax. He barely gets his shield up to protect himself from the following death blow. He crouches, bleeding behind the shield. "kill it! Kill it!" he orders his companions.
Khanol stands firm and tries to position himself between the fat goblin and Griot. He slashes with his handaxe and stabs with his shortsword.
Nik'olo follows in Khanol's wake and lunges at the Goblin.
Satisfied with his strike, he clarifies: "There's still time to surrender!"
As the others descend upon the lone, chubby goblin, Croaker steps back and taps his chin in thought. "I wonder if he had any information he could share about the kidnapping or Brik's stolen dagger?"
But then he shrugs and looks around for any other goblins who might be lurking among the dark passages and hidden nooks.
Lord Griot (The fat Goblin) is confident in how this combat will end, and that he will have revenge on the murder of Tony... that is until Khanol's strike draws blood and Nik'olo's strike deeply penetrates under his arm.
"No! You will die"!. He turns his attention to the Elf that almost ended him.
Handaxe 1
Axe blade
Handaxe 2
Axe Blade
He then disengages from the combat, and moves 30' back towards his throne, and the poor bleeding body of Tony.
@Croaker>> This room is not as cluttered as the previous one, and you see no signs of other individuals.
Snorri stays back from the main melee, and lobs another spiked ball of Eldritch energy at the retreating Goblin Lord.
Eldritch Blast
Force holes
But the wiley Goblin is able to juke aside at the last minute.
Bearing in mind Croaker's question, Griot calms himself and lifting his shield with the shackles wreathed in blue flames painted on it, Griot loudly prays, "St. Helba, I pray you heal the wound given me by this angry goblin and if he should refrain from further attack, may you restore his companion Tony, that was smitten!"
As he heals, Griot holds his empty hand up peacefully. "Parlay?" he asks.
"There is no Parlay with murders... only death".
Lord Grot then moves back beside his throne, quaffs a potion, and partially hides behind a tapestry.
DM Rolls
Potion of Healing
Surprised that the chunky goblin is still breathing. And seeing Griot's attempt to bargain with the creature slam into a fierce sandstorm of denial, Croaker steps up. Spotting a bit of goblin flesh poking out from behind the throne and tapestry he aims a blast of arcane power directly for that point.
Khanol saunters closer to the throne. He stops such that he is not blocking his ranged support behind him. And he readies to attack the fat goblin if exits the tapestry to melee with him.
Snorri is about to launch another ray, but he sees Croaker sending the poor devil to hell with one of his. He stays ready, though, just in case, while some of the closer guys go and check the corpse.
Nik'olo is bleeding profusely. He looks at the healed rat with some jealousy, but itherwise slide back to a bit of safety. Then he sheathes his rapier to get his bow.
Croaker sends out another blast of ethereal black sand to blast the Goblin lord, which sends him reeling back against his makeshift throne. The fat goblin grimaces in pain, and as he wipes the disappearing sand from his eyes is greeted by the bloodstained visage of a raging halfling who ends his existence with a vicious stab of his shortsword.
As the party takes a deep breath to recover, Brik walks around excitedly appraising the fat rats in the cages, and the bigger creature killed by the group.
"Yes. Uncle Skirtal will be very happy with this haul. Perhaps it is a better method to let others capture the rats... then just take them from them".
In the spoils of Lord Grot's throne room you find the following:
* Lord Grot had a small sized chain shirt, shield, two handaxes, and a shortbow with 22 arrows.
*(3) 35-gallon barrels, and (2) 18-gallon casks most of which are empty.
*One cask with enough common wine to fill (18) pitchers, and one with a dozen large chunks for some sort of dried meat.
There is also a mildewed backpack he had been using as a pillow with the following:
* A cracked Crystal Ball
* (3) Signet rings
* A purse with 32 bloodstained GP.
The party makes their way back towards the surface after a short rest dragging the cages of the three live rats (Unless you want to dispatch them first with a coup-de-gras.), and Brik dragging the largest dead one in a empty burlap sack.
Skirtal is ecstatic at the haul, and immediately begins to draw up a sign for tonight's special BBQ Rodent Delight with Couscous.
Plans???
"Uhm... Could it be that the goblins caused all that mayhem? We should seek proof of that..."
So the party stores their loot in one of the empty barrels, and prepares to spend the night. Suddenly just before the Rampant Roach opens there is a sound of breaking glass from the front of the restaurant. A mob has gathered outside the front of the building led by Heston Straic and Viktus Turnyr... Rozalyn's husband. They wield torches and clubs and are agitated to violence.
"Come out, you scaly mutt! We know you're in there"! Shouts Heston from the front of the crowd, followed by cheers from the dozen or so people gathered here. A Raven Pie which had been sit out on the table to cool now has a fist sized rock, and slivers of broken glass added to it's ingredients.
Perception DC 12
Heston has a very fancy dagger strapped at his waist.
"Mmm... what shall we do? We could take them down, easily I guess, but that's not what we want..."
Croaker helps haul the cages back to the Rampant Roach, all the while muttering under his breath about being turned into ox. Yet the purely manual labor allows him to ponder some of the recent successes and failures in his arcane relationship with Calipha.
Wind still whirls around the ravenfolk stirring up garbage, dust, and whatever smells lurk within the dim and dank cartways of Zobeck. But after being struck by a goblin arrow, no one can convince the unstable warlock to drop the protective wind.
"Eh? What's that?" Croaker says, his internal reverie broken by Snorri's question. "Could be. Goblins are certainly known to be troublemakers. Yet, if they kidnapped the young woman, where did they send her? And the others who've disappeared?" He cuffs the bottom of his chin lightly in thought.
"Having just killed the only ones who could answer such questions, we may be in a pickle if they were the culprits." He continues pulling the rope of the cart with the rats and offers a sweaty shrug. "But Calipha and St. Helba will show us the way I'm sure." He grunts as the cart hits yet another pothole. "Although it would be helpful if they could find a path with fewer missing cobblestones."
Once back at the Roach, the huginn spends the evening furiously working in his small book and meditating up on the roof late into the night. When he comes down the next morning, he has set aside his ratty, set of leathers and only wears his travel worn robes. Robes that now rustle like the sound of sand blowing in the wind and constantly smell of desert dust. A noticeable improvement over the grave scent they carried before.
Eagerly grabbing a roll from the counter he starts breaking off bits and popping them into his mouth. "So what's the task for today?" He asks their employer and young Brik.
While looting, Khanol holds up the three signet rings. "I wonder if these rings belong to any of the missing?"
Holding up the chain shirt, he says, "Brik, this shirt should fit you. Wear it. At least until we don't need to protect you, right? And, I can teach you how to use that shield, too."
Khanol sneaks a look at the mob from a corner of a window. Then, he comes back to everyone. "What are we going to about that mob? Wait for the guards?"
That fancy dagger is probably Brik's. No sense creating a worse situation in here. He concludes to himself.
"There's nothing here to incriminate the goblins and they're obviously too stupid to plant the dagger." Griot replies. "I think tis was a dead end. We still have a mob coming to the Roach tonight so let's get this stuff back and prepare."
Once back at the Roach, Griot takes a closer look at the signet rings to see if they bear any recognizable engraving.
"Skirtal, don't you remember the mob is coming? We must be prepared. Do you have anything particularly rotted or pungent that might disperse unwanted pests?" Griot glance at Croaker. "What are you doing, old crow? We can take a short rest, but we must get ready to defend the Rampant Roach."
@Khanol>>: Brik steps into the next room to don the chain shirt... and of course has it on backwards. You help him don it correctly, and hope that he doesn't have to do anything while wearing it, as he's clearly not comfortable in it.
The signet rings seem to be rather mundane, and not unique to any house or group. Looking at them you think they're probably worth about 5-gp each. The cracked Crystal ball is still pretty as a decoration and worth a couple of GP.
Skirtal shows Griot to the area where he had been planning tonight's special. "Here are some Vulture guts, and spoiled eggs I was going to use for tonight's Guts & Grits Casserole. I like them but the pleasant odor sometimes is offensive to big-uns".
Griot smiles. "Those will do nicely. Any bigguns looking for trouble will get a to-go-order. Let's set up a couple stink flingers on the roof. Anyone else have any ideas?"
"What?! That is tonight?" Croaker exclaims when Griot points out the need to prepare. "Well why didn't you say so man? Indeed I shall help."
The ravenfolk then wanders around the building poking at windows, doors, bottles of ale, barrels of...something...and otherwise makes himself look busy. While one's first instinct might be to think the odd warlock was just loafing, he actually does come back with a few ideas.
"How about keeping a few barrels of the old kitchen grease near the door? If we keep it warm it could be dumped into the area outside to make it more difficult for anyone to get inside. We could also keep some on the roof and just pour it on potential attackers." He offers. He then points out a bunch of empty bottles and broken crockery. "Break these up a little more and spread the shards out in the back alley. It'll make it tough for anyone without good boots and the noise will help alert us to attempts to sneak in. A few well placed trip wires tied to all those empty tins might help as well."
He pauses for a moment and then looks around at the others. "Did anyone inform the Watch of potential trouble?"
Griot nods in approval at Croaker's additions. "Anyone want to be up top with me? I didn't see the Watch, anyone else talk to them?"
Croaker nods back at Griot and proceeds to get to work. He teams up with the Brik and the kobold sisters to gather the materials and get things set up just right before joining Griot up on the roof to wait for the crowd.
Once all the preparations are made, Griot finds a secure spot on the roof to wait with his stink sacks.
Snorri knows if he enters the fight, his force would be lethal. He stays close to Brik, trying to only intervene in an extreme case of need. He hopes the mob will disperse when they taste all that's ready for them. Actually, he would run away himself like the devil on wheels if he had to taste anything at this tavern.
Khanol stays in the restaurant in case there's a melee. He wonders how long the guard will take to arrive.
Cities. He preferred wide open spaces of green. Like being underground in a city.
As dusk nears the intrepid adventurers begin to prepare for the suspected onslaught of angry citizens.
Griot works on the roof with some good ideas from Skik, and they are able to make a couple of efficient if ugly contraptions for sending forth offending matter. Khanol helps by bringing up a couple of pales of hot grease at Croakers suggestion.
@Croaker>>: . Croaker after sending Khanol to the roof with some fresh hot grease works on rigging a couple of larger barrels of semi liquid grease so that they can easily be dumped over in the area out front by pulling on ropes.
When asked about the watch being informed Skirtal shakes his head in disappointment. "Watch doesn't have much interest in preventing crimes against our people. Oh sure they'll investigate enough and do their jobs if a crime has been committed, but unfortunately... and I might say justifiably they don't do much to prevent things like this from happening. Still I guess it wouldn't hurt to let them know. Skak... go find someone from the watch, and tell them to be a little vigilant for a change".
From the roof Griot sees a mob of a dozen people or so approach from an alley just NE of the Roach.
"I suggest that barricade the door until they leave. Otherwise, it will get bloody and make the situation worse. Help me move the tables and chairs, yeah?" Khanol says after returning from hauling gear to the roof.
Snorri nods to Khanol's suggestion and starts stacking liquor boxes and flipped tables with the Halfling.
Griot peers over at the curdled crowman. "You got any more of that Doom Preaching ready. Might give them a scare."
Croaker nods and steps up next to the doorway. Seeing the bulk of the group still much too far away, the ravenfolk decides to add a little thunder and fire to the show.
He pulls the diamond amulet from beneath his robes and makes a few gestures with feathery fingers. Suddenly over the heads of the crowd a great rumbling of thunder erupts as he slips past the barrier and through the doorway.
"What is the meaning of this angry gathering?!" The ravenfolk shouts in his best fire and brimstone preaching voice. "Who endangers their very soul by seeking false justice at the end of blade?! Who thinks they know the will of the gods?" He waves his arms in the air. "Return to your homes before blood is shed and your eyes feed the worms of your graves."
@Snorri & Khanol>>: The two stalwart companions work together to move heavier pieces of furniture to block the door, and are in the process of doing so when the rock comes hurtling through the window.
@Croaker>>: Croaker makes his presence known stepping to the edge of the roof, and calling forth thunder and fire to luminate his impassioned speech.
@Griot>>" The Kobold stands ready to fire his stink-bombs, and indeed eager to do so, as he waits for Croaker to finish his speech.
General: Sense Motive Roll...
As the flaming, thundering Mancrow preaches forth his sermon, most of the crowd turns and either runs in terror, or slinks away in shame with glances at the Blacksmith and the Husband. The blacksmith shakes his fist at the resturant.
"Bring out the kidnapper and nobody needs to get harmed". He screams... then looks up at the visage on the roof, and gulps looking at his son in law for support. They both then look around and realize they are alone... but the last straw is when Griot in his eagerness to try out his contraption, sends forth a mass of unidentifiable, and highly stinky matter that lands a few feet short of the two, but splashes them with remnants of the goo. The two men with one last angry glance at the Rampant Roach and it's protectors, turn tail and at first slowly, then quickly, then at a dead run take off into the night.
Just as Heralds start to celebrate however a group of five watch come around the corner... "Say what's going on here? We heard a loud peal of thunder, and lights flashing in the sky. Is you group responsible? People are trying to get a nights rest from a long hard day, and don't need to be scared out of their boots. And what's this mess of smelly stuff on the ground here. I'm going to have to insist that you clean up this mess immediately. In addition, Skirtal, I'm going to have to fine you for disturbing the peace and littering". The man pulls out a small piece of parchment, and prepares to hand it to whomever will accept it.
Skirtal asks Khanol and Snorri to make an opening for him, and he walks outside to accept the fine. "I'm sorry sir. Just a little celebration got out of hand. I'll gladly pay the fine".
Croaker slips back downstairs to help put the restaurant back in order.
"Sorry about the fine." He says to Skirtal. "But a small fine to pay is much better than a torn up or burnt down establishment and perhaps the loss of a life or even several" He adds helping right one of the tables blocking the door.
Once things are back in place the feathered warlock takes up his usual position in a corner and begins jotting down notes in his book.
"Fear of the gods and their unknowable power is mightier than the sword." He writes noting the number sixty-five next to the line. He looks up, ponders the room for several minutes and the earlier encounters with goblins and lurking alley bandits. "....but it's always good to keep a steel blade handy for those thoughtless fools who forget to run." He adds.
Griot looks agitated as he rushes down to join Skirtal at the entrance. He raises his voice at the watch's approach, "Now you show up! Right after we managed to fend off a mob. A bunch of vigilantes led by that n'er-do-well, Heston Straic, decided to scapegoat us for his missing daughter. He brought at least a dozen ruffians to attack the Rampant Roach, but they couldn't handle the stinkflinger. We'll clean up the mess, but we weren't disturbing the peace, that was Heston and his mob. Fine them!"
Khanol moves enough of the furniture to open the doors for the guard. He moves to Skirtal's side, ready to follow his employer's lead. Then, the halfling's jaw drops open as he cannot believe Griot's statement.
Snorri nods at Griot's words and, to back them up, he shows the Watchmen the rock and the broken window.
Griot looks agitated as he rushes down to join Skirtal at the entrance. He raises his voice at the watch's approach, "Now you show up! Right after we managed to fend off a mob. A bunch of vigilantes led by that n'er-do-well, Heston Straic, decided to scapegoat us for his missing daughter. He brought at least a dozen ruffians to attack the Rampant Roach, but they couldn't handle the stinkflinger. We'll clean up the mess, but we weren't disturbing the peace, that was Heston and his mob. Fine them!"
The watch leader looks at Griot, then looks to his squad with a look of bemusement on his face.
"Ah I see Captain... is it? So what you're reporting is that a fine outstanding taxpayer with no criminal record, but who is indeed the victim of a crime came down here to burn down this establishment, and injure or kill all within... and somehow they managed to bring down fire and thunder... and all you innocent nobodies came to the rescue of all of Zobeck". He then turns to his squad who are trying to hide laughter. "I'm sure that... what is your name again?... will be called forth before the city council and rewarded with a ribbon for your heroic actions".
He then turns to Snorri... "And what does that prove? It's a rock that might have broken the window... but as far as who started this supposed fracas, and what the actions were... I see only circumstantial evidence at best".
He then addresses the group. "So we've got two options here. You pay the fine, and we walk away, or you protest the fine and we begin a complete and through investigation... which will involve securing the crime scene for a while until all possible evidence can be gathered, and all witnesses interviewed... shouldn't take more than a week or two. Your call".
Skirtal then implores you... "Please, Please I appreciate you standing up for me, but rebuking the city watch, and infecting more ill will is not the way forward. Shutting my place down for any length of time is much more costly to me than paying a fine... and I'm sure the fine city guards will be open to added patrols just in case"?
Persuasion (To guards) from Skirtal
Skirtal's intervention and cooling of tempers seems to have worked as the guards take the fine and begin to disperse. Before leaving the Captain addresses the group. "I'm sure your intentions are good... but this is the kind of thing that happens when you try to take the law into your own hands". He then walks away with his squad making sure to dodge the stinky area in front of the resturant.
Griot scowls, but says no more.
"And they call me the crazy one." Croaker mumbles to himself when Griot confronts the Watch Captain. Doing his best to stay out of sight and out of mind of the local constabulary, the ravenfolk buries his head in his book and thanks Calipha that Skirtal shows an excellent aptitude for dealing with petty officious officials.
Khanol slowly closes his open mouth and shakes his head. Then, he goes about unstacking the furniture and getting the room ready for customers.
With the watch gone, Griot asks Skirtal for a shovel to clean up the mess. He gets the gunk into the garbage can, muttering the whole time.
Skirtal and the roaches join in on the cleanup, and it is quickly done, though you're not sure if what was picked up is going to be the "Special of the Day" tomorrow or disposed of.
After a bit Skirtal asks you to meet with him for a bit. Over a surprisingly good cup of tea he shares the latest.
"I'm not sure this situation can be settled the normal way. I don't think it's just going to 'go away'. Perhaps my King might be able to help us out. He's been kept abreast of what is happening, and has real concern for what has been happening to Kobolds in the city in general".
He then pauses thinking for a moment. "Yes that is the best plan. I will have Brik escort you deep into the Kobold Ghetto tomorrow to meet with King Koto Crag-Claw. He is a great hero and leader, and will know the best path forward. Are you in agreement"?
Griot smiles broadly displaying little kobold fangs. "Well, it is obvious that the "Worthless Watch" has no interest in protecting us. That is certainly a great idea. Kobolds must look out for each other. We are stronger together!"
Khanol enjoys the tea and nods with Skirtal. "Yes. That's a good idea."
In the back of his mind, the halfling cannot imagine how the kobold's can accept the persecution from the tall ones. His clan fought giants to avoid this persecution, so he wonders what's the tipping point for these kobolds.
Croaker simply nods and smiles. A distant look is his eyes as he ponders the idea of a kobold king and the possibilities. Convert the king, and how many of his people will follow? Many. Many new followers for Calipha and young St. Helba. He thinks to himself tapping his charcoal stick lightly upon the table and his mind considers the possibilities.