With direction from Orchid, the group moves through the opening in the palisade, stepping carefully over the fallen gate. Just inside the wooden walls to the right is the long hut she'd indicated.
As the group moves past the central pit area, it becomes clearer that up until recently, it was probably a pen for animals of some sort, but now all it contains are what appears to be the burned corpses of goblins.
Approaching the ramshackle hut, Orchid climbs the short ladder before pushing open the flimsy door.
Inside are the living arrangements for what could be a dozen goblins, but currently only contains four of the diminutive terrors.
One cackles with glee as he presses a smoldering torch against the end of a wooden and paper tube.
Combat Begins
-------------------------
Round 1
Egged on by his companions, the goblin holding the wooden tube points the device at Orchid and laughs evilly. With a flash of fire, a sparkling projectile sails across the room, slamming into the shifter's chest and exploding with a loud BANG!. The display is cheered on rudely by the other goblins.
Shunsen blinks at the loud bang, half expecting Orchid to be in pieces, but shrugs when she doesn't seem to be affected too much.
She clambers up the ladder, taking position just to the left of the door. Seeing , right in front of her, the goblin that fired the fireworks, she hacks at him with her falchion...
Orchid leaps forward and does her level best to impale the goblin on her spear. Unfortunately she's still dazzled by the firework and the noise is making her sensitive ears ring.
Cailyn cannot see all the crackling little fire freaks, and doesn't seem to love the idea of rushing into the small house with who knows how many of them in there. Though she does commend the two women that did so without hesitation. A song should sung about them. Right now though, Cailyn yells "Is everyone still alive?" hoping that Flori's sister is not a splattering of burned chunks.
After yelling, she lines up the shot on the goblin she can see and fires with precision (thankfully), and then quickly reloads her massive weapon.
Vigny probably wouldn't have been so quick to rush into a noisy fight, but they're in one now regardless. She hurries up the ladder and draws her longsword as she moves into the hut. Her quick option is to her right, so she pivots that way and brings her weapon down on the goblin next to her.
As Flori rushes to the door, she something about to hit her sister - Flori yells out in warning - too late.
They're just goblins. They're just goblins. They're just goblins. Flori repeats to herself, desperately hoping for reassurance.
The goblin wielding the fireworks ducks under Shunsen's falchion and steps aside from Orchid's spear, waving the sparking device around manically, laughing all the while. That is, at least, until Cailyn's crossbow bolt slams into his shoulder.
Vigny takes one goblin out with a single slash with her longsword and Flori splashes another with acid, causing him to screech in pain.
-------------------------
Round 2
The other goblin next to Vigny seems to take offense at her killing his companion and slashes viciously with his notched blade, she manages to turn it aside, only getting nicked in the exchange.
The goblin to the southwest moves up swings widely, missing Shunsen, hampered by her own laughter.
The goblin with the still-burning Desnan candle issues a stream of no-doubt invectives in goblin as the lit firework sends another sizzling ball over Orchid's head to bounce off the ceiling, raining sparks down upon everyone.
Orchid creates a new delicacy - goblin kebab!
Shunsen ignores the Goblin's levity, using the momentum from her own missed attack to lend energy to her next!
Vigny figures Orchid has her goblin handled since it's backed into a corner. Besides, she's less sure how Orchid would react to having her prey poached than she is confident the goblin isn't going anywhere.
Vigny withdraws, sliding past Shunsen to get at the goblin farthest back in the building. As she goes, she takes a look around for any signs that the fireworks shot by the goblin might be catching and starting the hut on fire.
As soon as she's within reach, Vigny swings her sword aiming for a horizontal slice across its midsection.
More fire, more explosions, more eerie laughter, and now a spray of blood!!!
"Orchid isn't answering" Cailyn whispers (why is she whispering!!) to Flori.
The entire scene is unsettling, making her shot go wide. She quickly reloads incase a horde of flaming laughing goblins rush out carrying their friend's heads.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Cailyn is certainly not helping, Flori furrows her brows and tries to help Orchid in any way she can.
She is so distracted that she misses and the wall behind the goblin's head is now dripping in some nasty looking substance.
Kebab, indeed. In fact, Orchid's spear plunges all the way through and embeds into the wooden slat of the wall behind the goblin. It takes her a moment to tug it free and she stumbles back into Shunsen, throwing the half-orc's strike wide.
Vigny glances around and doesn't note any immediate flames. Focusing on the goblin in front of her, she quickly dispatches him, leaving just the goblin waving the Desnan candle.
The sputtering tube fires off another sparkler past Shunsen before the goblin flings the tube itself at the half-orc. He then turns and leaps towards the window behind him, scrambling out of the building, into the marsh, and out of the combat.
Combat Over
Vigny swipes at the goblin, trying to stop him from making it out the window.
"Why....won't....they....stand....still!" Shunsen growls through her teeth in frustration as her attacks go for naught. She takes a stab at the fleeing goblin...
She looks down at her hands gripping the falchion with disgust as the goblin escapes out the window. Then looking up, notices she can still see it, drops her falchion and grabs her bow, knocking and firing.
Vigny shrugs a 'why not' shrug and pulls at the knot holding what looks like a leather corded bracket wrapped around her wrist several times. As it comes loose, it falls away to reveal it's actually a sling. She drops a bullet into the sling and takes a shot at the fleeing goblin.
The bullet doesn't even make it out the window, burying into the wood beside it.
Vigny grimaces and reties the sling around her wrist while grumbling "I've never been any good with this thing."
"I think one is getting away." Cailyn whispers to Flori. She moves to the steps and sighs in relief "Everyone okay? Well other than the goblins?" she looks at the small bodies.
Shunsen puts away her bow, the escaped goblin out of her mind, and picks up her falchion. Fitting through the strap at her waist, she looks as Vigny and smiles, "It's well that you're excellent with your blade, then...I count two you felled! " she says, then frowning, "My efforts were not effective....perhaps at some point you might spar with me, I obviously need the practice!"
Shunshe looks around at everyone, then at Orchid's scorch marks, "I believe Orchid was the only one injured."
She then sets about the task of gathering goblin ears for the bounty...
"Am fine." Orchid says over her shoulder. Indeed, when she turns around again, there's a large black mark on her thick tunic and a red looking patch on her neck but no real damage.
After proving her fitness the stablehand crouches once more and begins detaching the goblin's ears with confident strikes.
"Money, good. Right?" The shifter says with a grin and a handful of ears once her bloody work is done. Her hands are surprisingly small, or maybe the goblin ears are just that big!
Cailyn seems content to let the other's do the butchering. "Should we harvest the ears from the corpses in the center of two. The Sherriff did not specify that We had to be the ones to kill the goblins, just that they were killed and we bring their ears." a true merchant speaks.
At the actually butchering by Orchid and Shunshe, curiosity flares in the bright blue of Cailyn's eyes. To Orchid, "Yes, Money good, and um, if you don't mind me asking, where did you... I mean if it is proper to ask ... about your claw there?" she asks, setting down her crossbow against the wall to pull out a fine handkerchief to wrap the bloody ears into.
"Am wolf." Orchid says with a shrug. "Always have claws. You don't?" One of her hands morphs smoothly into a wolf's paw, complete with sharp looking claws.
"One day will be whole wolf again!" Orchid adds proudly.
Flori stays away from the ears, blood and guts. That is certainly not her kind of fun but Shunsen seems to have it all in hand and seems pretty cool - at least looks cooler than Flori feels about the whole thing. Orchid proclaiming to be a wolf is nothing new to her she just hope noone starts judging her again, like the last time she said it to others.
"Picking up the extra ears seems like it would harm nobody." She adds with a shrug."I'm ,mainly concerned the goblin will have gone to warn his leader. Or do we think that they are not that organised? If so, we have got to be going quickly so that they don't get too long to prepare."
If there is any judgement in Caiyln, it is being drowned in curiosity. "I have SO many questions..." she sighs and looks at Flori "... but I imagine you are right, we should go after the runaway. We can always come back and harvest the additional bounties."
In reply to Shunsen's observation that Vigny had taken down two of the goblins, Vigny says "I was lucky". She doesn't state it in a way that suggests she's being modest or deflecting a compliment. Instead it sounds more like an explanation, in the way a person might say 'I was blessed'.
Vigny doesn't love the 'ears' aspect of the job; it really skeeves her out. While Orchid goes about collecting them, she goes back to the doorway and gets very busy watching the rest of the compound for movement or other signs of the goblins being aware of their presence and preparing to deal with them.
The idea of collecting more ears seems to suit Orchid and she heads outside to do just that. Once she has the valuable extremities she looks around carefully for signs of where the goblin has fled.
She sees nothing!
There are three goblin bodies in the hut with intact ears and about eight or ten in the pen (it's really hard to tell) with about a half-dozen burned ears recoverable.
The compound itself is filled only with the sounds drifting in of the various birds and beasts of the marsh. The wailing of the single goblin that fled into the marsh has faded to silence. You might be able to track him, but if there's a threat, it's probably here in the village.
Flori shakes her head and grimaces. "Cailyn, I fear we lost our chance to track down the goblin that run away. What I am more fearful of is that he has a boss or many other companions somewhere in this village and he has now managed to let them know that we're coming."
"I need to move quickly as my protective spell will wear off sooner rather than later. Gives them less chance to prepare if there are more of them as well. Are we all ready to keep goblin hunting? Any ideas which way is best?"
"This way!" Orchid declares, hopping back up into the room where they fought and heading down the passageway that extends off it. Now that everyone knows about her claws she keeps her spear on her back and leads the way bare-clawed.
After watching the portions of the village she can see for a while and noticing nothing goblin happening, Vigny is confused. Surely the fight made enough noise to be detected. Then there is the question of the surplus dead goblins.
There are a few possible explanations that come to her mind.
"Do you think there's a whole pack of those faceless things and there're taking over the marsh? Or maybe the goblins are fighting among themselves? Like one of them decided it was time for a new chief and this is a tiny civil war?"
Regardless of why, until they've know a little more Vigny suggests relative caution.
"I think we should keep to the platforms, no point in giving up the height advantage, especially since goblins are short and it matters more to them. Let's just go hut to hut starting the the closest, and then the next closest until we've cleared the place."
Orchid heads out of the room, pushing open the rattling door and moving south along the raised platform to the next building. Pushing open its door, she can see that this was probably a lookout room with window openings all around, but no goblins to be seen. Exiting via a ramshackle door on the other side, she reveals a claustrophobic hallway - one door leading to the hut on her left and a door at the end of the hall.
Out of the doorway a small, green head appears and then vanishes. Frantic goblin voices can be heard through the open door before a different goblin appears in the hallway with a lit Desnan candle in her hands and cackling laughter on her lips.
Combat Begins!
-------------------------
Round 1
Unwilling to have another firework explode around her sensitive ears and nose, Orchid charges!
Shunsen follows Orchid, and is gazing out at the marshland wistfully wishing she'd been able to stick an arrow in that fleeing goblin.
When Orchid charges away, she looks around, "Huh....what?"
A second goblin with a lit firework causes Vigny to lose her sense of humor about goblins' peculiarities. It's just dumb and annoying to be threatened with fireworks.
Vigny barrels forward, passing by Orchid and the goblin. She then turns about and cleaves down at the goblin's head with her sword.
"Sounds like more goblins" Cailyn answers Shunsen "The laughter gives it away. Oh and maybe the sparkling smoke coming from in there. No blood yet though." a wet slicing sound is followed by a spray of crimson into their hallway "Oh, nevermind"
Cailyn decides rushing past her companions is not polite or proper, so she stays in her place, turning toward the door in case hordes of other cackling goblins come rushing behind them.
Orchid's claws and Vigny's blade make quick work of the goblin holding the firework and Cailyn readies herself for an ambush from the rear.
One of the goblins steps out into the hall and slashes at Vigny with his chipped blade, causing a vicious slash along her thigh. Another moves up and tries to engage with Orchid through the open door, but she easily avoids the clumsy attack.
A third goblin exits the hut to the north and Cailyn looses her readied bolt, sinking it into the figure's arm.
"Good shot Cailyn!" Flori calls, flinging a blob of acid in the same direction.
"Thank you." Cailyn beams a little as she quickly reloads. "I must say that the ability to conjure acid out of nothingness is equally if not more impressive. As well as having significant out of combat uses, I'd imagine."
Shunsen's eye widen as more goblins emerge, and she give Cailyn a smirk in response to her sarcastic comment.
Jumping down, she draws her falchion and attacks!
Vigny hisses from the sting of the cut on her leg and strikes back immediately, though not accurately.
Orchid steps forward and starts tearing through goblins.
Flori sends an acidic missile towards the newly appearing goblin and it screams as the acid sizzles on its skin. Shunsen jumps down from the platform and slashes at the dying goblin with her blade as it collapses to the ground, the screams fading.
--------------------
Round 2
Cailyn ensures that the goblin doesn't get back up again by lodging another crossbow bolt into the still body. Inside the hallway, Vigny distracts her opponent allowing Orchid to slash both it and the other remaining goblin with her sharp claws.
Combat Ends!
With an annoyed "dammit", Vigny pauses to check the cut she received. She follows up with a a short phrase and a touch to it, which causes the injury, along with a small earlier one, to disappear.
Orchid meanwhile continues her new past-time of making money (i.e. collecting goblin ears). Once that job is done she casts an uninterested glance through the room and then continues down the corridor, away from the still spluttering firework.
Shunsen once again sheathes her falchion in frustration and gets to cutting ears off, muttering "Seems the only goblin I can get a blade on are the dead ones...."
Cailyn reloads, and frowns at the rapidly declining number of bolts in her quiver. Her blue eyes look to the still body with two of her bolts in it. "Oh bother..." she mutters, then goes over to attempt to tug them out of the dead goblin's flesh without splattering herself with its blood.
"They are dead and we are not, that is all that matters in the end, dear Shunsen." she attempts to make the other woman feel better as she tugs, lifting the poor goblin's body up an inch, then letting it drop with a wet splat, when the bolt gets free. The other one gives her more trouble, caught on a rib.
With the goblin ears (and Cailyn's crossbow bolts) recovered, the group continues its exploration of the goblin hovels. They pass through the southern rooms and another watchroom finding no resistance to their presence, but plenty of evidence of previous goblin inhabitants
As Orchid enters one of the central buildings, the door on the opposite side of the room bursts open revealing a goblin with another firework streaming sparks.
"I told yous that they's not bones!" he shouts back into the room behind him. "They's just long-legs that bleeds and burns same as anyone!"
Combat Begins!
------------------------------
Round 1
Shunsen runs up to stand beside the door, chopping at the talking goblin! However, the door frame is the goblin's best buddy and somehow gets in the way of Shunsen's attack!
Orchid runs forward, pulling her spear as she goes. She levels the weapon and attempts to run the goblin through.
A bit slower off her mark, Vigny arrives behind Shunsen and Orchid. By the time she gets to them, the blade of her longsword is glowing faintly with a yellowish golden light similar to the color of a nice lager.