Eclipsed Faith

Game Master bigrig107

"Their aim isn't very good - let's take them!" encourages Sasha as she hops down on the other side of the table and takes aim at the goblin across the room from her.

With the barman having dispatched the goblin she wounded, Ari zips back around the table to sandwich the goblin in Kiley's face between herself and the woman's enormous sword. Flicking a blade into her hand, she plunges her dagger between the goblin's unguarded shoulderblades.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 4 + 2 = 26
Damage: 1d4 + 1d8 ⇒ (2) + (3) = 5
Confirm crit: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 4 + 2 = 10

Move, swift action dagger from wrist sheath, attack orange (flanking for sneak attack). No crit this time.

I'll give Lisyil cover under the table, sounds good to me.

Shaggar surprises the goblin on the table near him, and does in fact halve it as he intended. The two halfs drop across the table, making an unfortunate mess that someone will be upset by.

Kiley misses, and Lisyil cackles to extend her influence over the goblin next to them. Ari stabs the goblin but doesn't finish it off.

The goblin Ari stabbed turns to her and tries to return the favor, seeming a bit panicked by being surrounded. It scores a single small scratch, not very deep at all.
Attack, Ari: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23 Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1

The last goblin that came from the front door panics as well, and jumps down off the table before heading through the open door into the rain, abandoning the last one to his fate.

Init order: party is up!

Attack(Greatsword, Flank) vs. Orange Goblin: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 4 + 2 = 11 Sigh...

Kiley shifts her grip to hold the sword by the pommel and the ricasso, but changing up her attack does little good as she almost trips over the retched little goblin and into Ari. The young woman is clearly embarrassed and frustrated as her cheeks burn a dull crimson and she clenches her teeth.

"Stupid little beast doesn't know when to just die already," she grumbles under her breath.

I think I'm going to have Lysil ready a daze spell for when teh goblin tries to attack again. She'll cackle as a move action to keep up the misfortune, which it looks like you forgot to roll for GM.

Ah, thank you!

Attack, reroll: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6

The misfortune once again pushes the goblins' blade aside, saving Ari from any harm.

Shaggar chases the fleeing goblin into the night, trying to bring an end to the creature. But it appears that luck is on the goblin’s side as his axe falls short.

MOVE: on Map
STAND: Axe @ PURPLE

The goblin outside is actually about 30 feet past the door off the map, looks like he's running towards the Temple of Wisdom that acts as the center of faith in the hamlet. Shaggar can see it running that way, still want to chase it outside? Not dissuading you, just letting you know the full situation.

Yeah, I’ll go after him.

Sasha makes her way to the door and takes aim at the fleeing goblin, trying to drop it before Shagger enters melee.

Yeah, the goblin is 30 feet past the threshold of the open door.

Sasha's bolt misses the fleeing goblin, shooting off into the darkness of the night and the storm. Lisyil uses daze on the goblin,

Will DC 14: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (6) - 1 = 5

I'm going to bot Ari's attack rolls for now, hope you don't mind. I assume she'll be busy for a while.

Ari attack on goblin: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 4 + 2 = 25
Crit Confirm: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 4 + 2 = 7
Damage: 1d4 + 1d8 ⇒ (1) + (1) = 2

Ari stabs the goblin in the tavern in the back, finishing it off even with the unlucky spot she landed the hit in. It falls to the ground with a quiet moan, dead.

The last goblin in the group that attacked the tavern tries to move away from Shaggar as fast as it can, but provokes his wrath and the gnoll quickly buries his axe in its back. It slides into the mud of the courtyard, dead instantly.

AoO, Shaggar: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22 Damage: 1d12 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15

Combat over!

A quick look around the courtyard once you've all gathered back together outside is enough to show off numerous bodies laying in the mud alongside the relatively new corpse of the goblin you just killed. The storm has only gotten worse over the short time you've been at the Inn, and seems to be getting more impressively strong.

A few moments after the last goblin hits the floor, you see a familiar face emerge out of the temple ahead of you. Helga, looking very bruised and bloodied, limps out between the large doors of the Temple of Wisdom.

"Ah, how did I know it would be you?" she says, laughing. She seems to snap out of whatever shock she might be in suddenly, her eyes widening in horror. "They took Elara! We were making our nightly offering to Waukeen when they burst out of the ground: I have no idea where they came from but in the surprise they killed so many...Elara was grabbed and dragged down back below before I could get to her."

She takes a step towards the group before falling to one knee, resting on her axe/
"Can you save her? Please?" she finishes, obviously out of breath.

Kiley looks around and sighs. She'd been enjoying herself, and goblins had to ruin it. Not only that, she feels incompetent after failing to down a badly wounded goblin, even with Ari's help.

No, there isn't time for that now. Others are hurt, you're not, see to them.

"But how," she asks herself. She's no healer, nor has she been blessed with any magic or spells that can mend wounds. She cleans off her sword and heads off to the kitchen.

"Can someone go out the front and see if anyone needs help that way," she asks before disappearing and doing what she can.

Kiley's going to find out who's hurt and how badly. She's got no skills in healing, and a -1 to WIS, so she's pretty much going to be useless in actual treatment.

Shaggar looks over the wounded dwarf and doesn't hesitate, "I can only promise we will try." He strides back across the courtyard in the direction of the tavern, "CITIZENS, COME OUT! THERE ARE MANY WOUNDED AND DEAD!" As he stalks into the tavern, he growls in an urgent tone, "Kiley! Ari! Sasha! Lysil! We must rescue a friend! Get your gear and come to the temple!"

He grabs his backpack, jogs back to the temple, and looks for the goblin's entry points.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

Kiley turns and grabs her bow and swordbelt on her way out of the tavern.

"This wasn't the only place they attacked," she asks, more stunned that so many managed to get past the guards. "How did they get past the walls and the guards?"

Sasha glares angrily at the fleeing goblin before noting the mess of bodies and the cries for additional help. With a silent prayer she rushes to the gate of the keep, whistling shrilly for Pheniks. As he approaches she explains to any guards that he's with her before taking him with her to the temple.

"Where did they enter?" she asks as they burst into the holy building, intent on beginning the effort to track before all scents have been erased by the downpour of rain.

As soon as you enter into the main worship area of the Temple of Wisdom, the scene inside reveals itself to be as gruesome as the one outside and in the tavern. Several bodies, both patron and goblin, are spread around the floor of the entryway, with patterns of fresh blood splattered across the marble tile.

It doesn't take long before you can see where the goblins came from. Right in front of the altar to Garl Glittergold (the main god to which the temple is dedicated), parts of the floor have descended deep into the depths below to form a staircase of sorts. A clear trail of scuffed blood can be followed from the middle of the room towards the stairs, leading down into the darkness.

A single custodian of the temple has gathered the remaining injured off in a side room designed originally for quiet prayers, and is working on mending as many wounds as he can manage.

"Oh, that's how," Kiley says as she sees the hole. She looks to Shaggar then the others. "I'm going first, Then Shaggar, Ari, Lysil, and Sasha."

Without waiting for an answer, she hops down into the hole and starts moving as fast as she can down the tunnel while keeping mostly quiet. Her great sword is out with her bow at her back and her swordbelt around her waist.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14

Shaggar doesn’t count the dead that he recently knew. Anger was something he tried to avoid. He follows Kiley into the tunnel.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24

Sasha nods and says, "Take Pheliks with you - he's got a good nose, good eyes for the dark, and will help you in an ambush." She then follows the others as quietly as she can manage.

"Thanks Sasha," Kiley says and reminds herself to try keeping a hand on the tiger. It wouldn't do to reveal just how good her eyes were in the dark.

The staircase surprisingly descends for about a hundred feet below the chapel above; the first ten feet are intricately carved marble stairs and walls, but beyond that it quickly devolves into unworked stone and earth. A quick examination of the marble sections displays a concentrated skull motif, with a handful of red gems in the bigger pieces.

Once the staircase ends, the path opens into a one way tunnel heading what you think is south that extends past what vision you have. You can see fresh tracks in the earth beneath your feet, heading from the stairs down towards the other end of the tunnel. The tracks clearly comprise of many overlapping small tracks and at least two larger ones, though it's hard to tell.

It wasn't surprising that there was worked stone beneath the temple... but the skull theme seemed very strange based on what little Shaggar knew of Garl Glittergold. Gnomes and death fetishes just didn't seem related. The gnoll made a mental note to look into the history of Friendly Arm. It seemed possible that Glittergold's priests built upon an older temple.

Shaggar chuffed the air and looked to Kiley. She was on point so the call to continue on was hers.

Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

"Well, tracking them should be easy until we hit a branch," Kiley says as she pats Pheliks on the shoulder. "Don't worry handsome, I'm sure there'll be plenty for you to do soon."

She heads deeper into the tunnel, and tries not to let the skulls under the temple worry her too much. There's people to be saved, after all.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (16) + 5 = 21
Perception (Keeping an eye out for traps): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 5

Following Shaggar's command, Ari is happy to move along as requested. Her eyes adjust to see in the dark, staying behind the gnoll, weapon ready and keeping a wary eye out for signs of passage - or trouble.

Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11
Perception: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

The tunnel, and tracks, head on together for another 70 feet past the edge of the stairs, at which point a large stone door stands ajar in the west wall of the tunnel. The tunnel continues on out past the door, again ending in darkness at the edge of your vision.

A quick listen at the door rewards you with the sounds of revel and screams of pain, and the tracks you've been following go through this door: this must be where the goblins took Elara and any other prisoners they took from the Inn above during their raid. There doesn't seem to be any interruption in the sounds beyond the door whatsoever at your approach, and there weren't any guards: they clearly didn't expect to be followed back to whatever serves as their hideout.

Opening the door leads you to a short staircase down to what looks like an entry parlor, complete with desk and all. A near-skeletal corpse sits in the chair behind the desk, an arrow shaft through its ribcage. Small strips of rotting flesh are still stuck to the skeleton's bones, indicating it wasn't killed years ago as one might expect of a hidden place like this.

More in depth info about the corpse would require a Heal check and an inspection.

Hearing screams, Shaggar ignores the corpse and pushes forward, trying to get to the victims before the screaming stops forever.

If Kiley posts that she’s in front, that is fine with me.

2xMOVE: on Map

Stealth: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (16) + 4 = 20 Hoping to catch the baddies by surprise.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9

Kiley follows Shaggar as he approaches the door, but as she passes the desk, her cloak catches an old inkpot and sends it clattering to the floor.

"Sorry, I think I just took sneaky off the table," she whispers to her friend in apology.

If it's clear that they heard us, she'll open the door and charge in, hoping to substitute ferocity for stealth in generating some surprise.

Pheliks doesn't react to Kiley much, so intent is the big cat on following the tunnel into the darkness. Sasha follows behind with the others, her crossbow loaded and held at the ready (bolt aimed upwards to avoid any chance of errant friendly fire).

Upon hearing the screams of pain Sasha winces as she starts to shuffle forward more urgently...

Double move to get up to the other two PCs. Pheliks would be right behind either Shagger or Kiley.

The door opens onto a scene of chaos: four goblins are standing in a loose grouping around a large wolf that's currently engaged in combat with a man that is obviously from the tavern. He is holding a club, not much more than a stick really, and trying to stop the wolf from eating him.

The goblins are cheering on the wolf and leering at the man, obviously enjoying the sport they have set up. Much of his blood is on the ground, but there's more fresh blood than can possibly come from one body.

To the south you can see through an opening, with what looks like a raised altar area. Older dried blood covers the floor there, darker than the fresh in the common room.

Init order: Party, goblins and wolf, man. Party is up!

Kiley charges in, fury burning bright in her eyes as she goes for the goblin between her and the wolf.

Charge (Greatsword) vs. Orange Goblin: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 4 + 2 = 25
Confirm?: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 4 + 2 = 17 I think that confirms
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (1, 4) + 4 = 9
Damage if Crit: 2d6 + 4 + 9 ⇒ (6, 6) + 4 + 9 = 25

And the first goblin explodes upon contact with Kiley's greatsword, painting the floor with even more blood.

One down!

Shaggar chuffs, approving of his small companion’s moment of bloodthirstiness. Not to waste the advantage Kiley has given them, he charges three steps behind her, leaps over the spreading remains of the goblin, and brings his axe down on the wolf.

STAND: Charge Wolf!

Ari sighs - the bloody carnage of the room is unappealing - but she follows Kiley and Shaggar into the room. Unable to charge in with full aggression, she picks a more careful path towards a goblin. Her impact, however, is significantly less than either of her companions' mighty swings. She curses the baggy sleeves of her top - the excess material is fine for serving drinks as Aamina but considerably less practical for close-quarter fighting.

Attack red: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8
Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1

Move: Get into the room and step out of the way of the door so Pheliks can come charging in.
Standard: Cast Daze on Green, DC 14 Will save to negate.

Lysil glides into the room and utters a brief arcane phrase before blowing on a bit of fleece in one of the goblin's direction. A mental fog would begin filling its mind, but everyone knows that goblins lack them, so it starts filling the space a mind would go.

Will save, goblin: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

The goblin targeted by Lisyil's magic has his eyes glaze over, distracted by whatever spell she cast.

Waiting on you Sasha, then goblins go.

Moving past Sasha, can just post whenever and then the party can go after goblins.

A goblin blue moves into position to flank with the wolf, striking in concert at Shaggar.

Attack, Dagger: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (14) + 4 = 18 Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 1
Attack, Bite: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16 Damage: 1d6 + 4 ⇒ (2) + 4 = 6
CMB, trip: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (1) + 7 = 8

The wolf bites into Shaggar, drawing blood but failing to topple him like it tried. The goblin manages to scratch him lightly with the tip of its blade, but not much more than that.

The last goblin red able to act (poor dazed green) stabs out at Ari with its shortsword, and lands a glancing slash as well.
Attack: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17 Damage: 1d4 ⇒ 2

Sasha has an action from last turn, and the party is up again!

Shaggar shakes off the light-headedness caused by blood loss. Instead, he moves nearer the wounded man and brings his axe down… he blacks out for a moment… and sees his axe is buried in the floor not the wolf’s skull.

FREE: 5’ (on map)
STAND: Attack Wolf

Seeing Shaggar unsteady on his feet, Kiley charges the wolf and tries to divide in two with an upswing.

Attack (Greatsword, Charge) vs. Wolf: 1d20 + 4 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 4 + 2 = 15 Maaaaybe?
Damage: 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 1) + 4 = 9

Standard: Cast Daze on Blue Goblin. DC 14 Will save negates.
Free: 5-foot step to put the pillar between herself and Green.

Lysil turns her attention to the goblin that flanked Shaggar and repeats the arcane words once more before blowing on the bit of fleece in her hand. This goblin seems to be a bit smarter than his fellow, but hopefully not smart enough to avoid the effects of the spell.

Will save: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

The goblin Lisyil dazes can't shrug off the magic, his eyes glazing over with its distraction. Kiley swoops in and finishes off the wolf that Shaggar couldn't, slaying it with a quick swing of her sword. Sasha doesn't manage to hit the last goblin with either bolt, but Pheliks makes short work of it, tearing it into many small pieces.

There's one goblin left, but it's dazed and will likely die so I'm gonna have it die and not wait for rolls.

The poor man that was so recently being tortured by goblins and forced to fight the wolf falls to his knees in pain and exhaustion, crying gently as he tries to pull himself together.

"Thank you...you saved me..." the man says, his voice weak with the experience of the past couple of hours. A pile of bedrolls and refuse lays under the pair of tables to the north, but would require time to dig through. The sound of more goblins and other voices emanate from the opening to the south, indicating which direction the rest of the tribe is.

Shaggar leans heavily on his axe and nods his profound thanks to Kiley. Wasting no more time he addresses the man. "Yes. You are safe. Where are the others? Where is Elara?" The gnoll tries to rally while waiting for an answer.

Triggering Arisen giving me... 1 extra temp HP! Tremble and be afraid for I AM POWER! :)

"Forgive us for being cold, but we need to know where the others are and how many goblins there are," Kiley tells the man.

Got ninja'd by Shaggar, so did some edits to make Kiley's lines flow a little better.

"I'm sorry, I don't know the name. I know the goblins have 3 or 4 other prisoners around, and there are maybe a dozen goblins left? It's hard to keep track of how many are down here. There's also their leader, a bigger type. Don't know what he is, but they're all down there." the man answers, seemingly gathering himself together, before pointing through the opening to the south.

"I don't know what this place was before the goblins found it, but they're using the cells it already had here to keep their...victims. Quick, hurry! They've already gotten bored of a few of them, hence why I was made to fight that wolf."

"Sasha, can you mend Shaggar's and Ari's wounds," Kiley asks as she turns to the south. "I'm going to see what's ahead."

She moves to the benches, silent as a ghost.

Stealth: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (10) + 3 = 13

Shaggar may not be up for much a face-to-face fight at the moment, he can't let Kiley scout totally alone. He pulls out his inferior bow - judging by his grimace - knocks an arrow, and prepares to shoot the first goblinoid he sees.

READY: Shortbow (crit: 20/3x | P) | Rng Inc: 60’
Mods: none
HIT: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13 | DAM: 1d6 ⇒ 4

Ari shakes her arm and looks distastefully at the goblin now lying dead on the floor. The cut doesn't seem deep and she's still got full movement, but it does sting. She tosses her hair from side to side to get it out of her face and relieve some tension from her neck. Then she signals acknowledgement of Kiley's scouting mission and joins Shaggar in drawing her bow, ready for the first sign of another greenskin.

Ready my bow.

Attack: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24
Damage: 1d6 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1
Confirm crit?: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 = 15
Crit damage: 2d6 - 2 ⇒ (5, 6) - 2 = 9

Sasha nods and moves over the Shagger, invoking her Goddess' grace to heal his wounds...

Cure Light Wounds: 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9

...before recovering her bolts and following the others. "Go back the way we came - tell them to bring more to help with the wounded and recover the lost," she says with authority to the survivor.

The gnoll goes from hunched to standing tall as his wounds entirely heal. ”Much better! You have my thanks.” Shaggar shoulders his bow, grabs his axe and moves to follow Kiley.

The opening leads up to the altar area with four thick pillars holding up the ceiling, two to either side. Cries of pain echo from both left and right, and a quick look either way reveals stairs that lead farther down into what presumably are dungeons or storage areas.

No goblins in sight, but you can clearly hear the distinctive laughs and cruel language coming from both ways. The bloodstains on the altar here are mostly older and dried, compared to the blood splatters in the previous room.

A single fresh blood trail leads from the western stairs to the door in the north wall, which has had the way barred from the outside. Looks like someone (or something) has been locked inside a room not intended to be a prison.