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Hello everyone. My apologies: I had a metric ton of Life Stuff post-holidays that sort of caught me flat-footed (no one's sick or dead or injured or anything, so no worries there!). I'm still very much invested in the game, but I know we had a long duration fall-off there while the room was being investigated, so I just wanted to check in with all of you and do a quick roll-call to see that we're all still here before proceeding.
Hi everyone! Just wanted to check in and see who's gonna be less available over the holidays. Having just moved, my wife and I aren't doing much but we are driving down to her parents' place for Xmas day. Just looking to get an idea of who will have diminished posting ability and for how long. Happy holidays!
Silvash swifly maneuvers around the tables, his rapier dancing in feints to throw off the agitated goblin. The nimble elf easily overcomes the defenses of his opponent, landing a strike directly in the goblin's throat - silencing him for good.
As the final goblin falls, the party is able to better assess their current surroundings. The benches and tables are of decent make, but lack of upkeep and the abuse endured by goblin use has rendered them to only-just-functional shambles. Decaying food of indescribable nature is scattered across the the two tables. Directly across from the western door you entered is another door leading east.
Liedae's chakram sails over the head of one of the embattled goblins. "Wuh?", the creature ceases it's struggle and ponders as it clatters to the ground on the far end of the room. Turning it's head back towards the source of the flying object, the goblin opens it's mouth to say something to it's compatriot but is cut off by a sickening *thwunk* as Silvash's dagger buries itself deep in the goblin's left eye socket. It immediately slumps to the ground, thoroughly dead. The second goblin screeches in alarm, drawing it's dogslicer and slashing at the air in the direction of the intruders. Initiative:
Liedae emerges in what appears to be the goblins' shoddy approximation of a mess hall. As in the "barracks", filth is strewn everywhere and the two dining tables are covered with an array of rancid food stuffs. Towards the center of the room, between the two tables, two goblins battling over the rotted hindquarters of some sort of dog or coyote. So engrossed in their battle that they do not seem to have noticed Liedae enter.
As the party approaches the door, they can easily hear shouting - in goblin, likely an argument - several feet before the door. Once at the door, Silvash is able to confirm that in addition to the shouting there appears to be something of a light scuffle occurring on the other side of the door. He can hear furniture being bumped into and objects being knocked onto the floor. The door is devoid of traps, and is unlocked.
Khathi's mace successfully delivers Asmodeus' judgement, collapsing the remaining goblin's skull and catching it's hair and clothing alight with divine fire. The goblin slumps to the ground, dead and slowly burning.
The room quiets, and the party's attention is drawn to the wall of glowing green stone that the room and descending stairs wrap around - a spire within a spire. Just a few feet above the landing, the glowing spire is marked with a complex sigil roughly the size of a human hand. K.Arcana or Linguistics DC15: While the specifics of the mark's function are beyond you, it is clearly an identifying rune similar to an arane mark.
That party falls into smooth tactical cooperation as Aekon's advice about the best ways to overcome goblins disseminates amongst them. Channeling the primal magic of nature itself, Eko conjures a bright light that engulfs the goblins, ensuring they cannot use the poor lighting for cover.
Waiting on Aekon and Eko.
Seeing a bit of blood flow as Khathi got stabbed, a growl escaped from the tiefling's throat. However... she literally COULDN'T get into the fight. They'd blocked her path in to attack. Letting out a quiet groan, she considered trying to lob a chakram over their heads to hit a goblin. Instead, she just waited for one of them to get out of the damn way.
Stepping into the room, Silvash executes a deft thrust with his rapier that cleanly enters the goblin's right eye with a squelch. The goblin drops dead a fraction of a moment after. The second goblin manages to evade the blow from Khathi's mace, but the unmistakable glint of fear dances across his face as his comrade falls to the ground. It passes quickly, however, as the goblin steels himself and lashes out at Khathi with a thrust of his dogslicer.
The attack strikes true, the goblin's diminutive stature allowing him to move under Khathi's shield and stab her just above the left knee.
Liedae flings the double doors open, a bold act to be sure, though not bold enough to startle the readied goblins on the other side. Fortunately for the brave ranger, she is not greeted with arrow fire. The room is small, and the goblins a scant ten feet from the door with dogslicers drawn. Stairs wind downward to the right, circling around a glowing wall of semi-translucent green stone. Initiative:
Hi everyone! Sorry I went quiet the last week. Father in law had a moderate medical emergency. He's fine and everything is good now, but it I spent most of my free time that week as an extra pair of hands/gofer to take some of the pressure off the family. Back now!
Howdy folks! I know we've been a bit slow to ramp the game back up since I got back, so I wanted to do another quick check-in with everyone. We've had recent posts from Liedae, Silvash, and Khathi, so if Aekon and Eko could sound off for roll call I'll get things moving in earnest.
Leaning against the door and focusing her sharp ears, Liedae hears unmistakable evidence that the room beyond is occupied. The tiefling can make out slight scraping and shuffling, and even whispered comments in goblin. It would seem that the goblins on the other side of the door are aware of the intruders and bracing themselves for combat.
Liedae quickly moves into the room in order to assess any threats. Scanning the room, it is most certainly empty of life. Rows of wooden racks on the walls of this room hold a ramshackle collection of rusty blades, scraps of armor, and warped arrows. Liedae recognizes this as the goblins' sad approximation of an armory.
Silvash's sharp Elven eyes quickly ascertain that the door is safe and un-trapped. Then, he procures his thieves' tools and with deft motion almost too swift for an eye to track he unlocks the door without a sound.
Feeling refreshed after their fortuitous discover, the group elects to press on. Khathi hears nothing on the other side of the door, though a careful check of the handle leads to the discover that the door is locked.
I have returned! Apologies for not managing even sporadic updates - This was my first "big vacation with the immediate family" and it turns out my clan are something of... over-schedulers. Look out for a new post today!
Aekon:
Should you attempt to ID the potion, you do so easily: it is a Potion of Cure Light Wounds (caster level 3rd).
Hi everyone! I'm leaving for a vacation trip to Hawaii tomorrow, and will be gone through November 3rd. I will update from my phone sporadically, but it will be infrequent at best. I will get a post up tomorrow morning to help move things along, but expect things to be a bit slow for the next week and a half.
We sort of slowed for a couple days there, so I'll see if Aekon pops up tomorrow. If he does not, I will PM him.
As the party collects themselves and licks their wounds, casual scouting reveals the hallway opens up into a room of symmetrical shape to the previous, though without the partition. In the room, there is a crude table and set of four chairs: apparently, the goblins' approximation of a mess hall. Piles of refuse and unfinished meals lie scattered on the table and along the ground. Party Perception:
Plain as day to just about the whole group, one of the piles of rotting food in the corner has the top half of a vial protruding from it, stopper in place and seemingly in tact. A blueish liquid rests within the container.
*pokes* Everybody still here? You're in the middle of post-battle cleanup/convo. Did we loose anyone(s)?
Unfortunately, other than random bits of junk and rancid food in their pockets, the goblins only have their immediately apparent gear. In total: two dogslicers, two small shortbows, two sets of leather armor, and thirteen arrows.
With a single, flawless strike of her katana, Liedae ends the goblin in front of her. There is a single, tense moment where it appears she may have missed the murderous creature, but that suspicion is shattered when the top half of the goblins head slowly slides away form the bottom half. Immediately afterwards, the rest of the corpse slumps to the ground.
Khathi's spell instantly superheats the doglsicer wielded by the other goblin. It shrieks in pain as the flesh of its hand chars and burns away, at some parts even revealing bone. The gutteral scream ends as the goblin's heart stops. It collapses to the rubble-strewn floor, quite dead.
The hall falls eerily quiet.
The tone of the battle shifts, the tense back-and-forth descending into something closer to pure savagery as the goblins give themselves completely to reckless abandon - to bloody effect. Despite being on the precipice of death, the goblin engaged with Silvash lets loose a bone-chilling scream as he slashes wildly - and hits home, leaving a long gash across Silvash's right forearm as the elf attempts to defend himself.
Meanwhile, the goblin engaging Khathi and Liedae hones his growing bloodlust on Khathi; slashing low and landing a cut along her right shin, penetrating lamellar greave and striking flesh beneath.
Also, I'll number enemies when facing multiples going forward. Sorry for the laziness on my part there. The party unleashes an offensive flurry on their goblinoid opponents to mixed results. The first goblin manages to avoid the attacks from Liedae and Khathi, but is struck by the crossbow bolt loosed by Eko. The goblin hisses in pain as the bolt lodges itself in his shoulder, but does not fall. Meanwhile Silvash darts forward like a striking viper, so fast the goblin doesn't even realize he's been struck until the blade of the rapier is buried halfway into his gut. As Silvash withdraws the blade the goblin shrieks in pain, hacking up blood. He manages to remain standing, but doesn't look long for this world.
Suddenly being surrounded, the goblins panic and start attacking wildly at the nearest enemy. One swings at Silvash...
...but the elf nimbly sidesteps the blade. The second stabs at Khathi...
...and finds the proverbial - wait, no - finds the literal chink in her armor, piercing her left hip with the point of his blade.
Khathi and Silvash's strikes both go wide, failing connect with the diminutive terrors. However, having seen many more opponents emerge from both the shadows and the room beyond, the goblin's faces melt from bloodlust to worry quite quickly.
Frustrated shouting in goblin echoes down the halls.
Goblin Talk:
"I feel like we've been standing here for a month!" A string of curses follows, followed by the quick pattering of tiny, evil feet as the two goblins charge aimlessly into the party's sight. Stopping abruptly when they spot only Khathi. Thinking they've lucked out and pressed an advantage in numbers, they begin waving their dogslicers menacingly and prepare to close in on the Asmodean battle-priest.
That's great! I am thrilled to hear back from all of you and again, thank you greatly for your patience. Will get a post up shortly to continue the action.
Deepest apologies everyone. The move just ended up taking much longer and being much more overwhelming than I had estimated. We'd never done a huge move on that level - out of state - before and we sort of underestimated everything. Fortunately, we've gotten to a point where we have something resembling free time in the evenings and I can get back to regular posting. I hope hope hope you are all still around and eager to play. And I appreciate your patience during the long lull we ended up having. I'm gonna take a check-in with everyone. I'll send out PMs as well.
Hi everyone! Still here! Still very intent on keeping this going! I am very, very sorry about the amount of downtime. In addition to just having a looooot on my plate, it also seems my Emerald Spire hardcover got packed up by mistake. I had time to go through a few of my tabletop boxes today looking for it, and I'll check the rest of them tomorrow. Once I've got the book back in-hand I can get us moving again (though it will probably still be slow-going until early October). Thank you everyone for your patience!
Would like to reiterate my thanks to everyone for being patient with the game moving slowly for the time being. It'll probably be like this for the duration of September, but we'll be settled in to the new place by start of October and I'll be able to post more consistently.
Scattered, curt conversation in Goblin down the hall indicates the gobbos are certainly aware someone has intruded. Two arrows fired haphazardly down the hallway indicate, however, that they haven't gotten eyes on you yet and seem to be trying to flush you out.
Seeeeeecret rolls!:
As the door opens and Eko's knightly tone carries his voice, you hear one of the goblin voices on the far side continue to babble, but the second stops for a moment. When it speaks again:
"Shut up idiot!" The first, still babbling voice comes to a stop. "Did you hear that!? It don't sound like no goblin. I think we've got some sneakers - longshanks I bet!"
Initiative Check:
You here some shuffling and rustling echoing down the hallway that leads to the other half of the room.
Silvash finds the door to be both un-trapped and unlocked. Additionally, his sharp elven ears detect detect distant whispering on from the other side of the door. As best he can surmise, it would seem that the room is rather large and there appears to be at least two beings talking to each other in curt whispers, likely quite far from the door.
Apologies for the extended delay everyone. Work is in the very last week of wind-down before my time at the job ends, so there is much to get done. Additionally, my wife and I's move out of state has had it's date moved up so I have a lot on my plate outside of work as well. I'll be updating as frequently as possible, but please be patient for the immediate future.
Khathi stows the strange green arm in her pack. After Aekon's healing, Liedae is back on her feet and the party is ready to go.
Which direction will the party be heading? West into the unknown, or back out the North door and into one of the other doors in the previous room?
For the moment, the room appears to be secure and there are no sounds of anyone approaching from either door.
Khathi listens carefully at the door, but nothing. Silvash thoroughly searches the refuse-filled barracks. Under the pillow of one cot he finds... possibly the most rancid hunk of cheese on all of Golarion. It's stench so foul it begins to overpower the stink of garbage already present in the room. Silvash quickly shoves it back under the pillow to spare himself and the rest of the party from any further exposure to the stench. A second, much more interesting discovery is made under the cot Liedae is sitting at while tending to her wound. Wrapped in a tattered and dirty rag is a heavy, metallic object shaped like a humanoid arm. It has articulated joints at the elbow, wrist, and expected locations on the fingers. At the shoulder, where it was removed from whatever it belonged to you can see copper wires protruding from the joint. The majority of the appendage is colored green, and at Silvash's best estimation it appears to be made of iron. Knowledge: Engineering or Craft: Construct DC 15: The arm clearly belongs to a golem of some kind. The make is fairly standard (though the copper wiring is is unusual), though the style is unlike anything you've ever seen or read about. You estimate that as a curio or raw materials, it could fetch 20gp from an interested buyer.
I'll have an update in later this evening. Apologies folks, been a busy++ couple of days.
Aekon dispenses with tactical advice and opts instead for a practical demonstration. Lining up a shot with his crossbow and compensating as best he can for Bubbles' obstructing his line of sight to the goblin, he looses a bolt. The bolt flies true and hits home, catching the goblin directly between the eyes. The small, furious warrior drops to the ground, stone dead. The room goes quiet almost as suddenly as it had erupted into carnage a few minutes earlier. The party stands victorious, if a bit bloodied, over the first opponents of their quest.
Silvash's thrust fails to connect, but in evading the elf's rapier the goblin steps directly into the path of Khathi's flame-engulfed mace. Skull cracks and flesh chars and peels away as the goblin is struck down by Asmodeus' borrowed might.
The goblin that stabbed Liedae only had moments to revel in victory. The ranger set upon her opponent in a whirling, gnashing fury that -while it lasted mere seconds- left the remains of the goblin indistinguishable from the sea of refuse and clutter blanketing the room.
After Eko and Aekon's bolts go wide, the Goblins redouble their efforts in a last-ditch offensive, though they're still quite disorganized. The wounded goblin drops it's shortbow, draws it's dogslicer, and nimbly steps towards Bubbles, swinging it's crude weapon menacingly...
...and managing to land a blow the hippo's think hide is unable to completely repel.
The goblin between Bubbles and Liedae screams an unintelligible obscenity and stabs wildly at Liedae...
The point of the blade finds home and digs deep into Liedae's right flank, leaving a nasty stab wound.
The goblin engaged with Silvash, emboldened by his allies' success, takes a quick slash at the elf's midsection...
...but thankfully Silvash proves quick on his feet, sidestepping away from the blade and sparing himself his comrades' fate.
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