Mogmurch sneaks closer, waiting for the signal to strike!
The three subchieftains creep towards the sleeping dog under the chicken coop. The foul beast continues to snore, unaware of the doom approaching it. Glancing around the creature's lair Reta and Chuffy spot what appears to be a rotten half chewed goblin foot, seemingly the remains of the dog's most recent meal.
Reta takes aim with her magic dogslicer and and tries to behead the hideous dog...
Both Chuffy and Reta descend on their foe with murderous intent. Chuffy is the quicker of the two, drawing his dogslicer across the creature's throat and severing a number of key structures important for continued life. The foul beast awakens, but to late... It attempts to bark, but all it manages is a week spluttering death rattle form the wicked gash in its neck. It slumps back to the ground dead, spraying the assembled goblins with a fountain of canine blood...
Unfazed by the literal bloodbath, Chuffy wipes his finger on his blood-soaked chest to get more dog blood on it.
The goblin rogue tastes the blood on his finger.
"Mmm."
"Dog's dead. Let's kill the owner next", Chuffy suggests, looking up at the house for any movement, despite their stealth successes.
Chuffy turns his attention to the 'house' at the centre of the farm. It is a rickety two story construction, the main body of which sits atop numerous thick log stilts forming the cage live structure below it. The whole thing has a distinct lean to it and is braced against a couple of hefty buttresses to the north and east. On the roof of the main house sits a small cupola, which looks to be the home of two vultures who have been lazily watching the goblin's antics.
During their progress through the farm the party have spotted a number of possible entrances to the house. First there was the crude door leading into the cage like structure below the house. Secondly, there appeared to be a hole in the wall on the top floor of the house, which may provide some access. Lastly there is the ramp leading from the chicken coops, over the stream, to a closed door in the side of the house.
Chuffy detects no sign of movement from the building other than the vultures on the roof.
Mogmurch nervously drinks his mutagen, expecting even more trouble than the big scary dog!
Chuffy examines his options.
If I goes into the roof, I might be able to get in. The rogue thought to himself. But for all I know, that holes a home for those stupid vultures. I don't like it, but the cage door might be the best way in. But Chuffy will see..
Chuffy quietly goes forward to examine the cage-like entry, looking for obvious traps and ambush points.
Chuffy creeps around the house to inspect the cage like structure. Looking through the gaps between the log stilts from which it is formed, Chuffy sees a large open area in the space under the building. It has been filled with straw, branches, and uprooted underbrush and something big seams to have created a nest of it. Glancing up he spots a trap door is set in the ceiling above which looks like it gives access to the house from below. The 'nest' takes up most of the room in the area with only about a foot of clear space between it and the bottom of the house. Examining the door of the structure it does not appear to be locked.
On first inspection there is no sign of the nest's inhabitant, however as he listens Chuffy's keen ears pick up the faint sound of something large moving inside.
Chuffy will attempt to return to the others to tell of what the rogue found.
Reta is not amused about the repeated kill stealing - no, not at all. Fortunately, she remembers that Stealth is still necessary before cursing the rogue out, so she does it with a low (but still very angry) voice:
"CHUFFY!!! Which part of 'Reta is the Subchieftain of Dog Killing', don't you understand?! There will be consequences, oh yes..."
Chuffy is not quite as sneaky as he'd hoped as he moves away from the structure below the house, stepping on an errant twig. While it is unlikely that anyone in the house will have heard it, he's sure he spots a large birdlike face watching him from the shadows of the 'nest' as he retreats.
"SHUT YOUR HOLE!" Chuffy hissed quietly. "I was not alone in the darkness. A large birdface saw me, but did not attack!"
"SHUT YOUR HOLE!" Chuffy hissed quietly. "I was not alone in the darkness. A large birdface saw me, but did not attack!"
"Hm is it the kind of bird Poog can talk to? Maybe make friends with it like he did the pig? Or at least get it to follow him out here where we can smack it?"
Poog will try to talk to the creature. "Hello. We are nice goblins and will leave you alone and maybe even give you food if you are quiet."
Poog walks over to the area containing the 'nest' and tries to talk with the creature inside. He is met by a pair of menacing eye's which glare out from the cover of the structure, along with a low threatening growl.
"Hmmm... Zarongel not translating this for me."
"Hmmm... Zarongel not translating this for me."
"Mean bird like those eagles in the soup? What should we do Chief?"
It looks like the creature in the 'nest' may not be as open to negotiation as the goblins had hoped. Interestingly, the gaps between the logs which form the cage-like structure are relatively large, a goblin could easily fit between them, while even a large creature could get past them if it squeezed. Despite clearly being aware of the goblins, the creature has made no attempt yet to leave it's nest and engage in any hostile actions, however the threatening growl would indicate that it may be less restrained should the goblins attempt to enter it's lair.
"Maybe we can smoke it out later with fire? But right now we should focus on the house... I'll check the main door for traps."
Reta moves as silent as possible towards the main door of the building.
She takes her time to check for traps.
Reta stealthily work her way up the steep ramp which leads to the front door of the house. Carefully inspecting the entranceway, she is very sure it is neither trapped or locked. It has however absorbed a fair degree of moisture from the damp surroundings and as such appears to be stuck shut due to the resultant swelling.
By Reta's assessment the door could likely be opened with a good shove, however, this would likely cause the door to go flying open, so it would definitely not be the most stealthy of entrances.
Poog will cast shield of faith on himself while the subchieftains open the door.
After a minute or so of concerted shoving by the goblins, the front door of the house finally gives way and our hero's burst into the room beyond.
The floor of this filthy chamber is made of rough floorboards. Numerous gaps between them show the dark space below the building. A large pile of furs and straw is heaped to the south, and a huge trap door sits in the very center of the room. To the west, a single ill-fitting door hangs askew on a single hinge.
Stood near the centre of the room is a large angry looking animal which hisses threateningly at the goblins, before moving to attack...
ROUND 1:
Poog
Creature
Chuffy
Reta
Mogmurch
Poog has been gifted the ability to talk to animals by Zarongel, but not how to tell what they were. This looks like something that should be in the "talky" category, but doesn't want to get surprised. He moves into the corner and prepares a fire bolt if it attacks first.
Reta tries to remember what kind of animal it is.
"Hm... what is this?"
The parties new foe (a long creature, with glossy fur, short legs and a vicious looking set of claws and teeth) issues a final barking warning, before charging towards the nearest goblin (Reta), its eyes gleaming with a hate filled glint.
Poog responds with a blast of fire which slams into the creature but does not check its advance and it attempts to sink it's teeth into the party's fighter...
Luckily for Reta it's attack is not accurate, although she thinks she knows what it might be... a giant ferret.
ROUND 1/2:
Poog
Giant Ferret -3
Chuffy
Reta
Mogmurch
"It's a giant ferret! If it bites you, the wound will bleed badly!"
Reta carefully steps to the ferret's side, offering Chuffy a flanking position. She holds her attack for now...
Round 1/2
Chuffy slides into flank with the giant ferret.
Round 1/2
Chuffy slides into flank with the giant ferret.
[dice=MW Dogslicer, Flanking]1d20 + 8 + 2
[dice=Confirming]1d20 + 8 + 2
[dice=Dmg.]1d4 - 1 + 2d6 + 1d4 - 1 + 2d6
Reta and Chuffy move to flank their assailant, both landing solid blows. The ferret lets out a high pitched scream and falls to the floor unconscious. From behind the door to the west a gruff voice can be heard "Wut you shoutin bout Spike?"...
The door flys open to reveal a large woman with grey skin and a distended mouth filled with sharp teeth. "Gobluns!" she says in supprise, before fixing her gaze on Reta "Oh... Big head goblun! You give me yr head Big Head Goblun, Guffy need yr head for project."
She then spots the unconscious ferret. "Why you lying on the floor Spike? Why you not killin gobluns? Wut you done to Spike?" she raises her morningstar and looks ready to hit the first goblin to come into range...
ROUND 2:
Giant Ferret -27 (unconscious)
Guffy
Mogmurch
Poog
Chuffy
Reta
Poog tosses more fire at the newcomer.
"No, you have a big head!"
Right after Poog shoots fire at the woman, Reta steps forward - again offering Chuffy a flanking position.
She swings her blade at the woman.
At the sight of the big, ugly, scary looking thing Mogmurch resorts to old habits and bombs it!
Mogmurch's bomb and Poog's bolt of fire both hit the woman who has just appeared through the door, covering her in a bust of flame...
...and setting her on fire.
Reta then advances on the new foe, who had been ready to swing at the first goblin which she was able to reach...
...but misses, with a blow clearly targeted to avoid damaging Reta's head.
"Stop movin Big Head Goblun... Guffy wunts yr head... U give yr head to Guffy... stop movin!"
Reta's retaliatory blow is brutal, fatally wounding her opponent who collapses to the ground in a pool of blood (and on fire).
With both of their foes defeated the goblins are now also able to see into the adjoining room... A huge, bloodstained table sits in the center of this filthy kitchen, and to the south lies a heap of furs arranged in the rough approximation of a mattress. The place reeks of rotten meat from numerous poorly executed taxidermy projects that lie scattered around the room, including partially stuffed pigs, birds, bobcats, and even a goblin body with a mass of bloody straw and sticks protruding from its neck instead of a head. The dead goblin appears to still be wearing a rather nice suit of studded leather armour.
"No, you have a big head!"
"...and now you're dead! Haha, burn!"
Reta laughs about her own crude rhyme.
Chuffy dances around the fire, luckily not getting burned this time.
The rogue shows great interest in the studded leather armor.
Other than the armour (which detects as magical), a search of the dead woman turns up another gourd, along with a medium sized chain shirt and masterwork morningstar. Thinking back to the celebrations at the Birdcruncher cave, the goblins are sure that someone mentioned that Chief Gnawsparrow had a nice suit of magic leather armour which he wore when he headed out to deal with Pa Munchmeat.
Other than the doors which the goblins have already been through, the only other entrance to this area seems to be the trapdoor in the floor, which looks like it leads down to the area under the house where the 'nest' was. There does not look to be any way of getting up to the top floor of the house from here.
"Zarongel let you hunt all the dogs you want in the beyond," Poog intones gravely. He then looks for a way forward.
Poog is fairly sure that the only exit from this bit of the house other than the front door is the trapdoor in the floor.
The only entrance to the top floor of the house which the goblins have found, would seem to be the hole in the wall. Accessing the hole would require the goblins to climb up the wall of the house to the roof of the 'kitchen', from where they could clamber through the hole.
Chuffy quickly takes the nice studded armor off the taxidermy goblin. The goblin rogue not sure if it's as good as his armor, but it looks good, so it's Chuffy's.
Poog is fairly sure that the only exit from this bit of the house other than the front door is the trapdoor in the floor.
The only entrance to the top floor of the house which the goblins have found, would seem to be the hole in the wall. Accessing the hole would require the goblins to climb up the wall of the house to the roof of the 'kitchen', from where they could clamber through the hole.