Elisile makes a sort of hissing sound, pressing her tongue against the inside of her teeth. “Thylor cestal!” *
“Fighting amongst ourselves here and now is worse than foolish! Priest’s brother, there will be no killing here. You are outvoted. Go. You are a warrior, face your equals, do not slaughter children. Larken, put up your blade. There will be time later for account if we survive what is to come.”
Elvish:
The wolf comes over Hudak's face, and then the sublime.
"And where is your mercy for the true victims of your blindness? The sword is also the lifegiving hand."
"You're all fools."
"I hope neither human," he looks at Elisile "nor elf," at Dravite, "or dwarven children do not pay the price for your folly this day."
As Hudak leaves, Larken puts up his sword.
"So do I," he says quietly, suddenly sounding like an unsure 15-year-old again.
He looks at Illes, "Tell the females to get their pups and get out of here. Try to explain to them that this is the only mercy they'll get from us, and they should use it to get as far from Sandpoint as possible."
Then he stalks out.
Elisile nods, silently agreeing with Larken’s words. As she also knows the goblin tongue, she relays this information, and makes very certain that the goblins and their pups leave the chamber via the ladder.
I'll check out the cells.
"I'll look at the bedchambers." Itching to smash something or someone, Alwyn opens the middle southern door and stalks down the corridor (?) behind it.
To the north, a short flight of steps leads up to another door. A faint scratching and snuffling noise can be heard coming from this door.
Cells
On seeing the prisoner, Illes quietly swears, "By all the gods above! Right now I'd heal Ripnugget just enough so we could kill him again." To the woman in the cell he adds, "Listen to me. Ripnugget is dead. Your nightmare is over. We're going to get you out of there, heal you and get you back to civilization."
3+1 = 4
6+1 = 7
7+1 = 8
Up to 19hp healed. We'll see what she need from there.
I am teaching all week, so go ahead and NPC me as needed
For a short while at least, Elisile remains in the central chamber, overseeing the goblin exodus. Once they are gone, and assuming no alarms have been raised from those in the cells or the bedchambers, she will gather at least one of the others (say Lo’j) and investigate the room with the “dead monster” (east).
Another passage heads west. Branching north from it is what looks like the creature’s former lair. It contains a series of odd-looking carcasses – mostly seabirds, but including the odd goblin – which have been reduced to dried sacks of skin, as if their innards have been sucked out. The passage continues until it reaches a door to the west. This opens on to another corridor running north-south. Opposite is a large set of wooden double doors, currently closed, while there is a door at each of the north and south ends of the corridor too. The voices of the rest of the party can be heard from the door to the south.
Head south, presumable back to the central chamber through the north door (?) and wait for the others.
Illes turns to Hudak while he unfastens his cloak, "I think we'll have to come back for her after we finish with Nualia. Maybe the priest in Sandpoint can do more, but the rest of this," he shudders, "is more than I can manage with a wand or the few spells I know."
Illes pulls off the vest he wears over his chain shirt and guides the woman's arms into it, then unfolds his Desnan scarf and wraps it around her as a makeshift skirt. While he wraps the cloak around her he explains softly, "If I'm right you traveled with a man named Davos. A priest of Sarenrae. He's here with us. He is alive and well. The goblins who captured you are dead, but we still have to deal with the bugbear and the woman who led them. We can leave you here and come back when we have finished with them. I would take you above now, but there may be stragglers who hid as we passed through. Nod if you are understanding me..."
"Let's check the cell at the end of the hall."
After poking around the bedrooms, Alwyn and Larken return to L'oj and Elisile in the central hub. "Knicknack and curios, nothing substantive. One longshank is untidy, one likes being comfortable, one seems to be interested in research and archeology. The bugbear likes snacking on gulls. None of it really matters anymore, as I intend to split all of them like cords of firewood before leaving their bodies to rot in the sun. Where's Illes and Hudak?"
"Yeah," he smiles, "let's check it out! I'm with ya."
Illes:
Hudak and Illes return to the central hall, both looking shaken and angry.
"We found the girl, I'd think.....Davos,....I'm sorry. Maybe it's not her.
(Hudak is angry crying now, trying to be quiet..sniffing a lot)
Maybe it's not her,....
uh, uh, there's a door back there, there's some....thing....in there, sniffing and snuffling, scratching around behind that door.
We've got some work to do."
"I realise what I'm about to say might not have the best timing, but charging into the temple is the worst thing we could do right now. They're expecting us, and they have at least two spellcasters, so they'll be loaded with magical augmentation." Alwyn's face splits in a nasty grin; its unpleasantness being further augmented by his singed beard and facial burns. "Our arcanists' ongoing effects last for hours, while magicks that make you stronger, faster or more resilient last for minutes only."
He sits down. "Give them half an hour or so. Their spells will be gone, while ours will still be in effect. They'll get nervous and bored. Hell, with a little luck, they'll come looking for us and leave their carefully designed defensive position. And then... Then we hit them like a pack of wolverines. There will be no more mercy shown on this day."
"I agree with Alwyn. A bit of waiting might help us clear our thoughts as well," he glanced at Hudak. "And I can get some research done."
The mage found a relatively clear spot on the floor and sat down, opening his spellbook and began making notations and writing formulae.
Alwyn pulls Hudak aside for a second.
In Shoanti:
He shakes his head ruefully. "I shouldn't tell you what to do. You're as old as I, and just as accomplished. We've climbed mountains, hunted moose, walked across glaciers and sailed the blue seas together - we shouldn't let this little spat get between us. I'm sorry." He bows his head and holds out his hand.
Alwin:
You know that city of the orcs? (in Pathfinder #*)? Grandfather told me it was once a Shoanti city. We had a city, man! Maybe even cities! Now orcs rut in them, breeding nations of baby orcs to kill the few Shoanti that are left. What's the point?
With a somewhat relieved smile, Alwyn sits back down. "Good, good. Now, they have a wizard who's carrying 'lots of wands', according to those goblin crones. She's gotta go down first. You saw what Vethran did to the goblins upstaris; we don't want the same thing to happen to us. Those of you with missiles" - he looks at Illes, Elisile and Vethran - "have to make her your top priority."
"The other ones will be hard as nails - probably tougher than Ripnugget. There's a reason the bugbear can wander from tribe to tribe, bedding their women and eating their food - he's too tough to stand up to. That bunch of freaks upstairs preferred not to fight him. Think about that for a minute. If Nualia can keep demons, undead and goblin warlords in line, she's got to be tough like old horse jerky. That leaves the guy in armour with the big sword, but he's probably no slouch either. This will be the fight of our lives; huge risks and huge rewards. Approach it like that - this is our shot at immortality. Any ideas of what the sniffing and scratching could be? A big dog or something like that?"
"We gotta have one of the healers right on Vethran, as well as one of the sluggers to run interference. Put OUR wands at her. Get her defending her DAMN self instead of sitting back and picking our people off.
Take her out first, then we can let Veth sit back and blast THEM.
And anybody gets a clear shot at her elsewise, take it. Those wizards always got a glass jaw."
Elisile looks enquiringly at Hudak and Illes. She seems about to ask exactly what state the girl is in (Dead? Alive? Injured?) and if anything can be done about it, but realising that no one else is asking the question she falls silent and grim. No doubt it is something bad, and perhaps taboo in human society.
“The passage west leads to a sea cave,” she reports. “There are the remains of some creature within, greatly decayed. I could not identify it, some type of large cephalopod perhaps. It is dead and should pose no threat. Another passage heads north and then west, reconnecting to this chamber via the north door.
“Beyond the north door is a passage that hosts a set of double doors to the west and another door further north. We did not investigate them, but I would surmise that the double doors may lead to the temple, and the single door to the level below.
“I think it more likely that the claw-armed one and her allies are below, but the temple may not be unguarded. Do any have knowledge of the deity that this one follows?”
“As for strategy, yes, I will focus on the arcanist. But what of the scratching sound from the cell block? Should we investigate it?”
"Down below, eh? Sure - in that case we should take the smaller door. Give them a little time first, though. Whatever's in the temple doesn't seem to be able to get out, so we can get back there later."
"Let's go for it then. I'm with the single door Elly described."
"There's a flight of steps, in the cell block room, leads up to a door on the north. I think that's the temple, way the goblin dams described it. Something's in there, something scratching."
"If there's something here on this level that may be a threat to us, I would be inclined to take care of it here and now, before we head downstairs. Perchance it is not as restrained as you think, and it ambushes us when we are on the way back, bruised and bloodied?"
Elisile shakes her head. "I would say to investigate the doors I found, supposing they lead to the same place."
"Saddle up. It's time."
Hudak'll head toward that door Elly's talking about.
"Larken? Wanna look this over?"
Upon hearing that the group is going to let the bad guys cool their heels, Larken begins examining the door.
Davos looks up as his new companions lead the woman from the cells. "Dear goddess, Aylmora, my love," he says as he moves to embrace her. "It's me, Davos."
"Uh, Davos; I.....gods, man." Hudak takes one big breath in, blows it out. He's crying, or fighting it back...(man up, Shoanti, damn you!!!)
"I, I...I don't even know who she was. Illes healed her best he could. We, we left her there. I don't know where to keep her safe here. But, but but I but....they did things to her. She can't say anything."
"F&++ f##$ f+%# f*~* f#$%!"
*Dravite went with Hudak to check the cells.*
I dinnae care if'n the Gobbo God hisself be down here, I will be killin' 'im all personal-like after what been done to dat poor lass in de cell. I am fer goin' anywhere ye be thinkin' be good to start, but I be goin' fer vengence and me hook be hungry fer justice. Lead on.
"I'm sorry! Oh, no! Oh, no! Should we? Should we bring her with us? She'll be safer there, right? I don't know what to do."
“It was likely not any goblin god who did these things, but the claw-armed woman,” says Elisile grimly. “And we shall face her soon enough.”