DM Voomer's Age of Ashes

Game Master Voomer

"Oren, I believe you," says Lisitsei, nodding his head somberly. "I haven't had dreams, or visions...but I've had some sort of sense, when in the forest, and when in town. Of course, it's not unusual for an Isgeri to worry about fire. I worry about it, and I value controlled fires, natural fires started by lightning. But while Sulee has it correctly--Omens don't work right any more--this wasn't some random dream spawned by worries of local fires. A jungle means some place far to the south, in the Expanse, perhaps."

He arches an eyebrow at Joran.

Yasamina loses her smile when she sees the mood. "What happened here?", she seems confused, and looks around the group. "What dreams?"

When she is brought up to speed, she looks at Oren symathetically. "Uh. You want to stop by the high priest at the Great Dreamhouse for an intepretation sometime? I know people think it's bogus, but ... he is a High Priest to Desna."

"That is not a bad idea Yasami. A professional opinion might be very useful."

Not trying to rush things. I'm more than happy to chronomancy conversation that happened before this. I am just indicating that I have nothing else planned for this evening.

"I am ready for some sleep. I propose that we meet here tomorrow morning for breakfast and then we return to the Citadel. We can stop by the Warg again too if people are still interested in investigating that. It is on the way, so we won't lose much time."

Caiten and Sulee leave the Wizard's Grace and sleep for the night.

"I agree. I will get some beauty sleep for the night, and we'll meet here in the morning? Then we go back to Altaerein? I have a new map of the place. And some other new information. I'll let you know first thing in the morning, alright?", she considers the information bomb she just dropped. "Ah, you know what, I will give it to you if you want to take a look, and we'll talk in the morning."

She takes the scrollcase from her belt, and puts it on the table. "Be discreet, lads.", she gives the guys a wink, and heads for her room in the temple.

"Although I would love a few moments of 'discreet' I think tonight my time is best spent being devout. You all are a tough bunch to keep healthy, and I don't want K10 to use those scrolls unless he really needs to. Goodnight."

Not that I couldn't "sleep with the people" but best not to tonight

"Begging your pardon Lady Uskwold, I meant to ask earlier, is there a room that I could take for tonight? I need to pray this evening, and I do need some rest as well."

"I don't want K10 to use those scrolls unless he really needs to."

"Emergency use is their intended purpose, yes. Though their existence does free up some flexibility for us to prepare different spells."

Eventually level 1 Heal won't restore enough to be worth the action cost to cast, and the 4gp will be a trivial amount of money. So to an extent, they are use-it-or-lose-it.

Yasamina loses her smile when she sees the mood. "What happened here?", she seems confused, and looks around the group. "What dreams?"

When she is brought up to speed, she looks at Oren symathetically. "Uh. You want to stop by the high priest at the Great Dreamhouse for an intepretation sometime? I know people think it's bogus, but ... he is a High Priest to Desna."

Small bit of Chronomancy, my apologies

"Yes, when we have a moment. I think that would be helpful."

Cevendyll wrote:

"I don't want K10 to use those scrolls unless he really needs to."

"Emergency use is their intended purpose, yes. Though their existence does free up some flexibility for us to prepare different spells."

Eventually level 1 Heal won't restore enough to be worth the action cost to cast, and the 4gp will be a trivial amount of money. So to an extent, they are use-it-or-lose-it.

Hence the reason that Cev invested in some cool clothes ;)

He really will have 6 Heals when we depart though. He has a really good amount of cantrip firepower now that he is learning Sorcery.

Yasami wrote:

Yasamina loses her smile when she sees the mood. "What happened here?", she seems confused, and looks around the group. "What dreams?"

When she is brought up to speed, she looks at Oren symathetically. "Uh. You want to stop by the high priest at the Great Dreamhouse for an intepretation sometime? I know people think it's bogus, but ... he is a High Priest to Desna."

Small bit of Chronomancy, my apologies

"Yes, when we have a moment. I think that would be helpful."

"Oren, if you and 'Chuck' will be going to the Temple, let me know? I have only been once and I would like to praise all of the gods who are watching over Breachill. I should like to be in touch with the Head Priest as well."

"Oren, I believe you," says Lisitsei, nodding his head somberly. "I haven't had dreams, or visions...but I've had some sort of sense, when in the forest, and when in town. Of course, it's not unusual for an Isgeri to worry about fire. I worry about it, and I value controlled fires, natural fires started by lightning. But while Sulee has it correctly--Omens don't work right any more--this wasn't some random dream spawned by worries of local fires. A jungle means some place far to the south, in the Expanse, perhaps."

He arches an eyebrow at Joran.

Joran looks over at the druid and listens in. Shrugging in defense, "What? Hey, I'm for that. I willing to buy that over Breachill burning."

Joran hangs around until the last patron leaves and the REST OF HIS TEAM HAS ALSO LEFT or turned in...

At the Grace, folks begin to settle in for the night. Trinil provides rooms for the heroes of Breachill free of charge, at least those that do not have other arrangements or options lined up. It's late enough that a trip to the Dreamhouse will likely wait until morning.

Feel free to sneak in last bits of RP from the evening, but I'm going to move the day ahead.

Starday, Arodus 3, 4719 AR

The new day dawned, a touch warmer than yesterday had been, but still an autumn day. A light breeze stirs the leaves.

Oren doesn't go to the temple that night. Instead, he stays a night at the inn and hopes no more dreams come. The next morning, he rejoins his team so that they can go to the Citadel.

Chronomancy: right after finally deciphering the scroll.
Caiten takes the scroll and tucks it in with his others. Making sure to have a different crease in the corner of each type so that he can tell them apart by touch.

The next morning
"Well, Sulee. Let's get you configured for the day. We should still have time to get to the Wizard's Grace before preparing spells. Perhaps we can discuss spell selection with Cevendyll and Lisi. But as for you, I am thinking that since we are heading into a lower level of the citadel that there will be even less light than on the upper level. Having you carry the light around was quite useful, so I will go with that again. Any other requests?"

"I want better clothes. These boy clothes make me look silly. Also, can I get a sword too?"

"I will see what I can do."

Caiten rummages around in his doll clothes and accessories and finds a sturdy denim skirt and a plain blouse with no lace. He also finds a wooden saber and scabbard that he pilfers from a toy soldier doll.

As he steps out of his small apartment, Caiten is somewhat relieved to find that the town is not currently burning. Sulee's description of Oren's premonitions were a bit concerning.

Before going to the Wizard's Grace, he stops by the city entrance to speak to one of the town guard. "Anything out of the ordinary happen last night? Anything noticed on the road to the Citadel?"

At the Wizard's Grace
Caiten walk in to the Wizard's Grace again, remembering the morning two days ago when he first walked in here.

After a few moments, he breaks his reverie and sees Oren already sitting at one of the tables. He goes over and sits down with him. "Good morning. How did you sleep?"

Caiten also sets Sulee on the table and starts working with her to prepare his spell slots for the day.

The guard Caiten speaks to shakes his head. "No, sir. A boring night, as usual."

The guard Caiten speaks to shakes his head. "No, sir. A boring night, as usual."

"Excellent. Glad to hear that. Carry on, I will leave you to your duties."

I won't bother you with the morning routine here.

Yasamina opens the door to the Wizard's Grace expecting that everyone is already assembled. But it seems she did wake up a bit earlier than others. She does not wear the same clothes she did for the last two days. Instead, she chose something more fitting the occasion. Simple armor of hardened leather, looking almost like a uniform of sorts. Her hair was free flowing for the last two days, but she has it in a tight braid today, falling between her shoulder blades. She still has some of her jewelerry, especially the jewel on her forehead. While yesterday, she was in the clothes in which she arrived to the Call for Heroes, today she seems battle-ready.

She takes a seat at table with any of the 'heroes' already in the main hall. "Good morning, everyone! Ready to head for the citadel? Who has my map? Except Caiten, that is."

"Yasami! Check it out. I have a sword now too."

Sulee pulls her wooden saber out and starts swinging it around. To anyone who is familiar with sword combat you can tell that what she is doing is much closer to a theatrical performance than an effective attack routine. Too much overextending lunges, elaborate swings, posing for too long after a stroke, even a couple of flamboyant spinning attacks. But she is very enthusiastic about it.

Yasamina looks at Sulee as she swings her toothpick, and smiles. She puts her head lower to the table to observe the motions. "Sulee, a lot of people underestimate the spirit in swordighting. You have that, for sure. We'll make a dragonslayer out of you one day, don't you worry."

She lets the thought linger in the air for a while, and then quickly picks up a butter knife. "En garde!", she shouts with a wide smile, as she points her 'weapon' at the poppet.

"Wahahaha!" Sulee cries as she eagerly engages with Yasami and her table knife.

Performance: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20

Waking up a bit later than he intended, the big guy rises out of bed and struggles to get dressed. Yawning, Oh man I'm gonna be worthless today. Hopefully I don't get anyone killed. Man that woman makes it difficult to sleep. I'm glad exhaustion kicked in, otherwise, I would've never gotten ANY sleep. That's the first time I've ever lost sleep over a woman. I wonder what that means? I don't know but I know one thing... not complaining, he thinks, grinning wryly. He then ponders that a moment while looking in the mirror and yawns again. "Okay, that's gotta stop. That's really starting to irritate me. Got to wake up Joran! Can't be sleepwalking through the day!" He slaps his cheeks a few times before splashing some water on his face. Shaking his head to get the cobwebs out, "Okay, let's get ready and take on this citadel. Time's a wasting." He then works to get dressed. Putting on his clothes and then donning his newly acquired armor, the barbarian then gathers his gear and moves to head out.

Stepping outside, he breathes deeply and smiles. "Another beautiful day here in Breachill! Oh yeah, today is going to be a good day!" he says to himself, unconcerned at all about 'knocking on wood' as another yawn escapes. Rolling his eyes in frustration, "Crap!" he exclaims as he heads out.

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As he makes his way back to the Wizard's Grace, Joran walks in looking a bit sluggish. "Hey, all. I see a few of you have made it here already." He then catches sight of Trinil and breaks into a beaming smile. "Hey, gorgeous! Sleep okay?" he asks, giving her wink and breaking into another yawn in which he quickly covers with the back of his hand. He then looks over at her sheepishly and shrugs.

** spoiler omitted **

Waking up a bit later than he intended, the big guy rises out of bed and struggles to get dressed. Yawning, Oh man I'm gonna be worthless today. Hopefully I don't get anyone killed. Man that woman makes it difficult to sleep. I'm glad exhaustion kicked in, otherwise, I would've never gotten ANY sleep. That's the first time I've ever lost sleep over a woman. I wonder what that means? I don't know but I know one thing... not complaining, he thinks, grinning wryly. He then ponders that a moment while looking in the mirror and yawns again. "Okay, that's gotta stop. That's really starting to irritate me. Got to wake up Joran! Can't be sleepwalking through the day!" He slaps his cheeks a few times before splashing some water on his face. Shaking his head to get the cobwebs out, "Okay, let's get ready and take on this citadel. Time's a wasting." He then works to get dressed. Putting on his clothes and then donning his newly acquired armor, the barbarian then gathers his gear and moves to head out.

Stepping outside, he breathes deeply and smiles. "Another beautiful day here in Breachill! Oh yeah, today is going to be a good day!" he says to himself, unconcerned at all about 'knocking on wood' as another yawn escapes. Rolling his eyes in frustration, "Crap!" he exclaims as he heads out.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

As he makes his way back to the Wizard's Grace, Joran walks in looking a bit sluggish. "Hey, all. I see a few of you...

"There's a phrase in Elvish ... I'm not sure I will translate it quite right, but similar to: 'there is a recipe for facing the day: with a little sunshine, a little love, and a great deal of coffee, every morning can be perfect' ... I feel like all we need to get you is the coffee."

Cevendyl smiles at his attempt to be witty ...

"I think some mornings the ratios can be changed. Nothing like a little extra sunshine ;)"

Caiten watches with mild amusement as Sulee sparrs with Yasami on the table.

"Well, we should probably get going once everyone has arrived. I am currently prepared for the day and ready to leave."

"The town watch has reported that nothing significant has happened on the outskirts of town towards the Citadel."

Caiten watches with mild amusement as Sulee sparrs with Yasami on the table.

"Well, we should probably get going once everyone has arrived. I am currently prepared for the day and ready to leave."

"The town watch has reported that nothing significant has happened on the outskirts of town towards the Citadel."

"Are we prepared to NOT come back tonight by the way? Even if we were to camp in the courtyard once we've cleared the ground floor, we don't have any other time constraints OR anything else to report to anyone. Just a thought. Also: scrolls cost money, our friend K10 can attest to this. So it's not like our boy Calmont bought that 'parchment' he used for summoning, he stole it - is there any value in speaking to his boss, whoever that might be. A book store or something?"

"Yes, he probably did steal it. But being stolen from is not a crime. So what would we be speaking to Calmont's employer about?"

"I am more concerned about the Elf gate. At least locating it, and preferably either controlling or destroying it. But enough enemies have already come through that gate. Once we have stopped the flow of incoming enemies, then we can deal with the ones that are already here."

Nodding, "Yeah Caiten's got a point. Let's deal with this Elf gate first, then you can deal with Calmont's employer; if he even had one. To be honest, I'm thinking it was all him. But right now I don't really care about that. I just want to put a stop to that gate however we have to," he says as another yawn escapes. "Anyway, we should get going. We're burning daylight sitting around here."

Survival: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Lisi appears in the doorway of the 'Grace, looking refreshed and a little apologetic. As it is in the way of druids, he has no doubt been up since dawn.

"I decided to check with the Bumblebrashers and the warglets. I assume we're leaving them here? I told them to wait in camp. We can pick them up on the way, but with a dangerous Citadel ahead, and something in the woods that's killing wargs..." he shrugs.

He holds up a little satchel. "I got plenty of berries, though. Lots of crowberries and wee little wild strawberries on the slopes, and they'll be there for months. After that there are still lingonberries, and in the bogs, bilberries..."

Oren is pretty silent as he comes into the Grace. He feels slightly better in knowing that his teammates had some sympathy and understanding for his condition and it definitely helps that he didn't have any more dreams last night, but he's still even less talkative than he usually is that morning.

It does put a small smile on his face when he sees Sulee engaging in a play fight with Yasami, however.

Previous Diplo with wargs

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

Shoot.

If this is even 'legal' in any form or fashion, Joran will give it a shot if he actually had any time to do this. If not legal just ignore.

Noticing the druid doesn't seem to be faring too well, Joran moves up beside him and lays a hand on his shoulder. "Let me give it a shot, buddy. Don't worry, my friend, it's me!" He winks, giving him a clap on the shoulder.

He then turns to the warglets. "Hey, pups. Your buddy here Lisi is just here to make sure you're both doing okay. He's concerned about you and he just wants you to make sure you stay safe and be good. And if you are, I'm certain he'll bring you back something good to eat, how's that sound? Huh? Can't wrong with good food. Unless," he looks to the druid, "you're bringing them with us?" he asks him under his voice, trying to keep the wargs from hearing.

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

As the others trickle in, they find a cheerful Trinil making breakfast, humming to herself a bit and in a rather glowing mood. When Joran entered her expression took on a mischievous edge. Last night he waited for his friends to be gone, and he'd been the one to work up the nerve to act. She'd show him.

She set a heaping player of bacon, eggs, cheese, and fresh bread on the table for the others, careful not to interfere with the duel of the century. Then she oh-so-casually walked over to Joran, who was just taking a seat, took his face in both hands, and planted one on him in front of the others, coming up juuust shy of it being awkward for the others to witness. After all, it was Joran she was hoping to embarrass a little. She smiled afterwards. " I'll fetch some butter and jam for the bread.". She strode into the kitchen, out of sight.

Pretty sure Lisi implied the wargs were left with the goblins and aren't here, so we'll skip the bonus diplomacy roll. The wargs spend the day learning bad habits from the goblins that Lisi will have to unteach later, like growling to show dominance and peeing on furniture to mark territory.

We'll assume Dario has joined the gathering and we can RP his evening later when he has time to play -- no hurry my friend, we're here when things settle!

"I just want to put a stop to that gate however we have to," he says as another yawn escapes. "Anyway, we should get going. We're burning daylight sitting around here."

Caiten ponders for a brief moment about the concept of 'burning daylight', but understands the general idea.

"Yes, it is time to go. I would like to stop by the Goblin tribe on our way out. We should check in with our guests since we are at least partially responsible for their being here. Also I would like to confirm with Helba on the location of the entrance to the lower levels now that Yasami has made these excellent maps."

Caiten and Sulee leave the Wizard's Grace and head out of town towards the temporary Goblin camp.

As the others trickle in, they find a cheerful Trinil making breakfast, humming to herself a bit and in a rather glowing mood. When Joran entered her expression took on a mischievous edge. Last night he waited for his friends to be gone, and he'd been the one to work up the nerve to act. She'd show him.

She set a heaping player of bacon, eggs, cheese, and fresh bread on the table for the others, careful not to interfere with the duel of the century. Then she oh-so-casually walked over to Joran, who was just taking a seat, took his face in both hands, and planted one on him in front of the others, coming up juuust shy of it being awkward for the others to witness. After all, it was Joran she was hoping to embarrass a little. She smiled afterwards. " I'll fetch some butter and jam for the bread.". She strode into the kitchen, out of sight.

Caught COMPLETELY by surprise, and now looking a bit flushed, the barbarian sits there in utter shock ---------------------------------------------------- before finally remembering to breathe. Calmly cutting his attention to watch her walk away before slowly turning back to the others and the awkward stares, Joran lets out a nervous chuckle before clearing his throat somewhat uncomfortably. Never having being put in such a situation, he finds himself at a complete loss for words(which - for those that know him - no one would believe without witnessing it themselves). "Well... um... I... um...," raising a hand dismissively and shrugging, "I can tell you I'm awake NOW," he quickly decides, breaking into a fantastic grin as he leans back with his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.

My gosh that woman is perfect! DO NOT screw this up, Joran. PLEASE do not screw this up you big oaf! Not like you did with Brynne a few years back. Or was it Tarindlara? Voz? No no! It was definitely Brynne.

The big man then realizes how it all sounds and can be seen shaking his head before leaning forward and resting his elbows upon the table while dragging his hands down his face in what appears to be frustration.

By the gods the more I think about it the worse it sounds! And the worse I FEEL! What the hell has this woman done to me?! Have I ALWAYS been like that? This is crazy. This is crazy! Well, no way, no how am I going to ruin this one. That is NOT happening. I was a lot younger then. A lot more foolish.

He shoots a quick glance over in the direction of the kitchen.

Absolutely no way. I swear I will kill MYSELF if I screw this up. She's like a diamond in a massive pile of garbage. Why is this all so different? And when I say 'different', I mean DIFFERENT. I don't know why it is but it is. I need to figure that out. And I don't understand how after all these years, NOW I see her?! We practically grew up together for crying out loud! What am I, BLIND?! STUPID?! BOTH?! Ugh. He then realizes something else about himself. You know, I think I THINK too much too.

Unable to keep from shaking his head at it all, he forgets about the food in front of him being so preoccupied with his thoughts.

Caiten ponders for a brief moment about the concept of 'burning daylight', but understands the general idea.

"Yes, it is time to go. I would like to stop by the Goblin tribe on our way out. We should check in with our guests since we are at least partially responsible for their being here. Also I would like to confirm with Helba on the location of the entrance to the lower levels now that Yasami has made these excellent maps."

Staring off into the distance as he strokes his chin in deep thought, he hears something but nothing truly registers. "Yeah sure, okay. Stop Helba's bribe. Your responsible. Yasami's excellent nap. Sounds good," he responds robotically, clearly not on the same plane of existence as the others ... at least not mentally.

Performance: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

Yasamina duels Sulee for a short moment. The poppet makes a few good offensive thrusts, and forces Yasamina to quickly turn the butter knife around to use the dull end - just in case. She parries a few attacks, and finally - Sulee hits her finger with her little sabre.

Yasamina lifts her hands in a surrendering pose, and fakes a poainful grimace as she shakes her right hand to get rid of the pain. "Point for you, Madame. You most certainly win this round.", she bows to thank Sulee for the duel, and puts down the butter knife. "Told you - you got it in you.", she winks at her opponent.

This taking place during most of the conversation, she misses a few sentences. "Yes, I slept well, thank you. Why do you ask? Why are we discussing me?", she seems lost.

"That was fun. Thanks."

This taking place during most of the conversation, she misses a few sentences. "Yes, I slept well, thank you. Why do you ask? Why are we discussing me?", she seems lost.

Snapping out of his reverie, he looks over at Yasamina with a furrowed brow. "What? Discussing you? Yeah I'm not sure. We need to finish up here and move out. We got ourselves a citadel waiting for us. Clean it out, find this gate, shut it down, everyone's safe. The sooner the better. If we're ready, let's move. Wait, where's Caiten? I swear that guy is always leaving without telling anyone." Joran quickly grabs several quick bites to eat and washes it down with a big drink of water.

Grabbing his pack and rising, "Okay, I guess we first stop buy to see those pups of yours, Lisi, so you can decide if you want to take them or not. After that, we hit the Citadel. If Caiten's not there with the pups then we'll assume he's waiting just outside of town by the gate and meet him there. Sound good?" Assuming there are no objections, "Excellent. Let's get this show on the road." Being the gentleman that he is ;), Joran moves to the door and allows the others to go first.

As soon as they've cleared out, he waits a moment or two before...

Joran then walks at a steady, strong pace to catch up to the others.

Dario's trip to the Pickeled Ear was not a complete waste of time. It seemed that Roxie figured herself quite the scoundrel, a resource that could be useful later the longer they were here in Breachill. He quietly declined the blade, the greatsword not a weapon of his style nor connected to the killing of the puppies' mother. Spending a few more coin to buy rounds for the bar and a bit of food, he left with hopefully a good reputation on his shoulder to get him another meeting with Roxie if he so inclined. Showing up late at the Wizard's Grace, most of the party was already in the midst of preparing themselves for the trip tomorrow. Quietly and unobtrusively, he made his way to his free room and soaked in a bath to get the ache out of tired limbs. Sleeping in a bed was preferential to the hard ground and the rest would be good for the potential day that would come tomorrow.

I'm skipping ahead on the Roxie RP since I'm not thinking it'll be huge for now. Maybe later though!

The next morning, Dario opens his window to let the crisp air flow into the room. He dresses a little warmer for the day and heads downstairs to meet his comrades in preparation of clearing out the citadel properly. He comes downstairs just in time for Trinil's act of affection. Stopping there for a moment, a small smirk spread across his face as he made his way to the table.

"Jame and butter sound delicious. About time you made a man out of him." There is a casual wink to Joran as he sits in his seat, looking at the others. Yasami's playfight with Sulee, the arcanely gifted discussing their battleplans for the day. "They're talking about the maps you got?" Dario explains, his fingers quickly undoing his pistol with a practiced speed before reassembling it after a quick cleaning. The smell of oil flits around him. Once the others were set to head out, the pistol twirled in his grasp before slipping into the holster. "Alright, let us get this started then." Dario said with his trademark drawl, standing up and making his way out onto the streets and back towards the danger of the Citadel.

I'm not entirely sure which characters of the party are also here.

Caiten enters the outskirts of the Goblin camp. He approaches the first Goblin that he sees. "Hello. I am looking for Helba. Do you know where she is?"

The group arrives at the goblin camp. The hillside here had a gentle slope to it, and was a favored sledding spot in the winter, used in other seasons on occasion as picnic seating for musical performances that occasionally came to town.

Now it was the sight of a new, small goblin settlement. The Bumblebrashers were few in number, and less aggressive than many goblins, to boot, but goblins they still were. One was upside down in a barrel, kicking it's feet frantically as another laughed hysterically at his friend's predicament. Another was trying to fix the large tent Breachill had provided for them, but as she tightened one corner she'd pull another loose, and she was caught in an infinite loop of increasingly angry repairs. The one Caiten approaches turns to look up at him, his finger firmly lodged in his nose. He looks confused for a moment, not fluent in Common, but then nods with realization as he recognizes one word. "Helba." He points with his free hand, the other still engaged in its excavation, to the top of the slope, where Helba is currently playing fetch with the warg pups, only she keeps trying to race the pups to the stick she just threw. All three seem to be having a wonderful time, the traumas of yesterday fading.

Caiten watches the various shenanigans the Goblins are getting into. Interesting. It is like they are perpetually children. Seeing the Goblin in distress with the tent, Caiten stops by to assist, quickly and surreptitiously loosening some slack into one of the stake ropes while the Goblin is on the other side.

Crafting: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26
Stealth: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Dice rolls like this would be a lot better on a character that actually makes attack rolls on a regular basis, lol.

He then quickly walks up the hill towards Helba, calling out, "Helba, may I speak with you a moment." Once he has her attention, he brings out the map that Yasami gave him and shows it to Helba. "Can you point out where the entrance to the lower levels are? We are preparing to go down there to make it stop importing enemies."

Caiten manages to help the poor tent-erecting goblin without her noticing. She circles around, ready to have to repeat what she's clearly been repeating for some time now, only to discover...she's finished! She thrusts her fists into the air and cries out in victory, running in little circles for a minute.

Helba lets the stick fall from her mouth -- she'd been playing tug-of-war with Rocco. The pups notice the rest of the group and race over to Lisi in greeting. Helba joins Caiten and looks at the map. "Oh! Is a drawing of home, but smaller!" She gets distracted for a moment, pinching her fingers to the width of the main entrance, then holding her fingers to her eye at that width, clearly tickled by the concept of a map. Caiten asks again, and Helba focuses. "Here is being front. Which means here is being back...so hidey tunnel is being here!" She points beside the map, a distance from the back wall. "Tree, with big rocks to hide the way. You will see."

"That's perfect. Thanks, Helba, that's what we needed." As he continues to study the map, "Okay, when we get back, I say we clear out those holding cells. That way, all we've left is this half of the citadel left to explore," he says while doing a sweeping motion with his hand over the unexplored portion of the map. "And once we're done with that, we find our 'hidey tunnel' and head down," he says while glancing over at Helba and grinning. "Sound good? Oh!" He turns to Lisi. "You taking the pups or no? Me personally, I'm thinking it might be best we leave them behind. Odds are high this is gonna be dangerous and being as young as they are, it probably wouldn't take much to drop them." He looks over at the pups and continues. "They do seem to be having fun with the goblins. But it's gonna be your call, buddy. Outside of that, if there's anything else, I say we head out and get this show on the road. The day's not getting any younger," he says with a wink.

Ready to roll at any time. I figure if Lisi decides to take the pups or not, that can easily be decided at any point.

Caiten waits with the patience of a computer as Helba investigates the concept of a map. Once she indicates the location of the entrance and describes it, he replies. "Thank you, Helba. This will be fine."

Caiten follows Joran out of the Goblin camp.

The trip back to the citadel is uneventful, and soon, you see those imposing walls towering above you once more. The front door is as you left it, and the bodies of the goblin dogs are undisturbed, too toxic for scavengers larger than insects to bother with them.

Caiten looks in distaste at the bodies of the goblin dogs, but makes no comment. He then looks up at the Citadel walls. "So what plans do we have? Joran, you mentioned clearing out the upper level before going lower. I would agree that this is prudent. I don't like leaving potential enemies behind me. Though currently there is not an easy way for anyone to get from the upper level to the lower level. Still, it makes sense to clear this out first. If nothing else, with the upper level secure the Goblins can move back here if the townsfolk of Breachill tire of their presence."

"Dario and Yasami, you were wanting to take point on this exploration, yes? Would you like to lead us to this section labeled 'Holding Cells' on Yasami's map. Sulee checked that area for movement yesterday, but that was over a day ago. The rest of us will follow fairly closely in case there are any problems."

Awaiting feedback from others. I don't like making team decisions completely alone.