Fernriddle Grumblefork's page

"Cowardly creature! We want nothing to do with you. We are looking for Tsuto."

Fern will move up ahead, behind Grond, and peer toward and through the exit.

"Maybe it was built up to separate this part of Sandpoint with these caves? Maybe whatever was in these caves broke out? I think if we're serious about continuing our search, we need to press on, into the caves."

Fern will return and share what she has seen to the others.

"Friends, I think this tunnel continues into a larger cave system. I can use my magic to illuminate the way, if you will follow me."

Did Fern see anything when she scouted ahead of the group? Does the tunnel continue for more than a few minutes?

"Must be the work of Goblins. Look how rough these walls are. It's like...like they just hacked at the thing. No sense of grace at all in this carving..." Fern runs her hand along the wall, feeling every rough edge and bump with the tips of her fingers.

"I'm going to go up ahead, and see what I can find out. You guys stay here, I'll be back in a minute or two."

Fern heads down the corridor, creeping as quietly as she can amongst the rubble/

Fern will also thoroughly search the room for tracks and clues.

Fern, taking an unexpected leadership role, moves to the front of the group and marches right up to Sheriff Hemlock, keeping her posture as firm and resolute as possible. "We killed the Goblin Chief Ripnugget, of Thistletop, Sheriff. We staged a..", she searches for the words, the nature of the event something she is still not used to, "..a frontal assault! And we won! And there was a swinging bridge that almost killed us all, and there was a big lizard!"

Her voice has all the excitement of a young child.

"But, we think there's something else. Something worse. You mentioned yesterday that there were some other people involved. We're pretty sure they're in town, and we were wondering if you had any more leads for us."

I think that makes everyone, then. I assumed Devrin assented IC.

"I'm fine. Really.", Fern insists. "Don't worry about me. I've been through worse, and I'm still here."

Is Korpi with us? What's he up to?

"It certainly sounds plausible. Do you think Hemlock will have found out anything by now? Either way, I think that we should endeavour to meet with the Sheriff tomorrow morning, first thing. Well, first thing after breakfast.", Fern adds, making clear eye-contact with the dwarves. "He'll likely be very interested to know that we took care of Ripnugget."

Fern will busy herself, dividing her time with helping the Dwarves start the brewing process, and helping Kyran with dinner. She takes the oppurtunity of working with the vegetables to surreptitiously place some herbs from her pouch into her mouth, chewing as she works.

Fern is ready to skip ahead to the next day, as soon as the rest of you are. No rush, by any means, just don't worry about her.

Fern returns to the others, a small gathering of herbs bundled up in her cloak. She manages to catch the last bit of Grond's concern. "If not at Thistletop, then where? Where else are there goblins closer?"

I adapted it from a funeral hymn, actually. I imagine I'll be doing a bit more of that, as she has actually taken a level in bard.

Fern stammered a little at Umlo's outstretched hand. "I...I can find those things, I think." She places her tiny paw in his big mitt, and shakes it a little before grabbing her cloak and running out the door toward Kyran's farm.

"A stew would be fine. I can help you prepare it." Fern offers as she immediately makes herself at home in Kyran's house. Dragging a chair across the kitchen, she hops up to the washbasin, and begins furiously scrubbing her arms and face; the bar of soap looks ridiculous in her tiny hands.

Hopping down, she drags the chair over to the counter and, adjusting her hair into a taut ponytail, she'll begin fussing over the vegetables in preparation for the dinner.

Fern begins to hum while she's preparing, but it soon turns into a full blown song;

Her tone is mournful, and tiny tears begin to stream down her little face. "Praise Pharasma, for though the final say is hers, we sent Ripnugget to his judgement. His actions, his war, his passions, and his crimes are his alone to bear. Except that we were his executioners. We judged his actions, and took his life for them. We are inextricably linked to him, and to every life we took in the process. Let us not forget what we did today."

"I...I could certainly use something to eat. I don't really sleep all that much though. I'll gladly come with you. We have a lot of things to plan for, if we're coming back here."

Fern is ready to get the hell out of here. The day before this she was a simple sculptor. She's had enough raiding for one day.

My own levelling musings are over in the OOC thread, if you guys want to give any feedback.

"I think that more foes than we can imagine currently wait for us in there. Even if Ripnugget is dealt with, his 'longshank' allies are probably not so easily swayed. None of us have the energy to battle them. We should return to Sandpoint, and come back more prepared. Who's going to convince Korpi of that, however?"

I'm still not sure what to do with Fern's level.

If I take another level of sorcerer, i learn another 0-level spell, and I get to use Cause Fear once more each day. Hardly the best bang for my buck, so I thought about Multiclassing. A number of possibilities present themselves.

Cleric is a good choice; I was thinking after her brief attempt at desperately trying to save Korpi's life, she may have a vision/visitation from Pharasma. I would giver her the death and healing domains, and it would further round out her 'touch people and control their life force' thing that she already had going. Plus I would get a handful of 0 level spells and some weapon/armour training. Her WIS is too low to cast first level spells, so that's a little tricky. Her high CHA would grant her a nice daily allotment of Channel Energy, however.

Fighter is another choice; I would take Weapon Finesse (as with a STR of 6, she definitely needs it) and focus more on her touch attack powers, while bolstering her fighting abilities (and HP!)

Of course, with a CHA of 20, Bard is also a good choice. I was thinking of making her a dirgesinger; a singer of funerary hymns. Maybe I could focus on the offensive qualities of bardic music. Just a thought!

What do the rest of you think?

"Yes! You killed him!" she cries, through tears forming in her face.

Seeing as most of Ripnugget's items are goblin sized, and Korpi will most likely be taking his place, I would suggest those things go to him. If anyone can identify either of Ripnugget's potions as healing potions, they should be used on the poor little goblin. Her checks are 4 and 15. As for levelling up: I never thought Fern would see the day. I'll have to sleep on it. I don't know whether to continue with Sorcerer, or multiclass into something else.

"It's true. He practically held Ripnugget off that whole time. His whole reason for being was to take Ripnugget down, and step up as the true leader of the Thistletop tribe. He's done that. If he bleeds to death, it will all be for naught!"

Fern fights back tears as she yells at the healers, and desperately tries to hold Korpi's wounds together, although she has no skill at it.

I think he's just abandoned the game. I can't speak for him though. He's a great player in one of my other games.

"I'm with you there. Returning to Sandpoint is a fine idea. I can't believe we killed Ripnugget, though. It's almost as if--"

Fern's eyes go wide as she remembers her fallen goblin ally. She rushes over to the body.

"KORPI! Korpi! Someone, check if he's still alive!"

Fern will continue to shoot at any and all targets during this time. Attack rolls, 15, 11, 23, 7, 8. Damage 3, 5, 1, 4, 1, respectively. With a possible critical for an extra 1 damage.

"Now! Finish them off!"

Fern hopes to make her next shot count as she levels her crossbow and points it at Ripnugget. Letting the bolt fly toward her, she barely has time to see it's result before she's dodging another attack from the goblin in front of her.

"Get them away from Korpi!"

5 foot stepping to save her life. Attack 20, Damage 4. If Ripnugget comes within 30' of her, she'll use her last Cause Fear.

Fern will keep 5' stepping away from the goblins as they approach. She'll continue firing bolts into them until they die or run away. If necessary, she'll slap them around for cold damage. Once the goblins are off her, she'll use Kyran's rope-arrow and try to affix it to the bridge. Making some small cuts in it, looping it into itself, and using her Mending spell, she should be able to fuse it quite solidly with the bridge support.

How does the goblin react to being shot? Are they both still chasing her? Are we in initiative, or just posting randomly?

We could certainly use the help! There's a wand for you if you want it.

What is the distance from Fern to the goblins? From Fern to Kyran?

Fern lets fly another bolt toward her new assailants. The shot hits hard into the chest of one of the goblins. For 4 damage. No crit confirmation.

Seeing Kyran's bold attempts, Fern decides to try her luck as well. Taking aim as best as she can, she lets loose a bolt from her crossbow. Her shot goes wide, however.

Shaking in fear, she crawls around on the ground, trying to edge around the little island, looking for a way back.

Fern, equally paralyzed by the thought of drowning, and the thought of being chopped to bits by a big mounted goblin, keep her where she is for the time being.

Yes.

Well, it was nice knowing you!

Fern dashes across the rest of the bridge, hurling herself with faith toward solid ground.

Reflex 10

"Do we follow?", Fern asks, almost as an afterthought, as she moves toward the bridge.

She'll take a clear shot if she has one (aka not in melee or cover), Attack 14, Damage 4, otherwise she will take a double move toward the bridge and Korpi.

Fern reloads her crossbow, and takes another shot (Attack, 17, Damage 3) at any goblin she can see.

Great opening performance. Wow. Here's my initiative;21

When Kyran gives the order, Fern will launch a bolt at one of the goblins. It goes wide, however.

Fern will give a potion to Umlo and Kyran, explaining their power. She'll put the cloak on (as I assume it is small-sized) herself. She'll explain the auras of the other things to Devrin and hope that perhaps he can identify the rest of the stuff.

"I made it clear from the very beginning that I signed on with you guys to prevent the goblins from causing any more harm. I'm starting to see that we had different ideas in mind regarding what that meant. I will stick with you guys, but when push comes to shove, you must know that I am not here to parley, or hold their hands. You heard their singing. They would have set the whole town on fire, if we hadn't stopped them. They're not children. Capturing them, spanking them on the butt, and sending them on their way is not a solution that will last for very long."

Fern turns and points to the bridge and the goblins in the watchtower.

"Now, about this bridge. There are some guards posted on the watchtower. I need to know from you right now if you deem them as innocent."

Fern loads a bolt into her crossbow, sliding it into place with an audible click.

If the others allow it, Fern will spend a moment with the items. Casting Detect Magic, she will scour them. There are 11 items in total, and she will make rolls for each of them. The first set of rolls are the Know:Arcana checks to reveal the school of magic associated with them, if any. The second set of rolls are the Appraise checks to try and identify them.

8,14,11,24,16,6,22,24,15,8,19 and 16,13,7,2,7,2,19,19,8,14,18

"Sounds fair to me, Kyran."

Fern has no intention of chasing the poor thing, but it doesn't stop her from counting;"One! Two! Three! Four!..."

Turning now to Kyran; "If this comes back to us, I hope you can see clearly then. Now. Let's shake this place up."

Not trying to make you fall, but Kyran has to see that leaving him be is an action that will put us and others in danger in the future.

"What exactly did you have in mind once we get in there? Are we going to bind and capture all the goblins? And Chief Ripnugget? And whoever else is assisting them? I hope you brought enough rope."

Fern senses Kyran's heavy heart and sighs.

"Let him go. Release him. I'll give him a ten second headstart, even. If being a captive is the only thing that's keeping him alive, then release his bonds."

"I don't like it. Haven't you seen this goblin in action? The forest, the trees, and even the grass move for him to pass. He has them wrapped around his finger. If we leave him alone for a moment, he'll surely escape his bonds. Or, one of the skulking goblins will come and free him."

Fern takes a moment to point all around her.

"You'd have to be crazy to think that we're not being watched right now. With the commotion this guy's been raising, it's a wonder there's not a whole war party on our head right now. And that's because they are waiting for us to move."

Fern wants to kill the guy, and throw him in the pit. Then she wants to go back to town, and get reinforcements.

"Well, if we charge in now, what are we going to do about this goblin? As soon as we get into a battle, you know he's going to be a liability."

Fern has two spells left for the day.

Fern winks at Umlo.

"So, Kyran? Back to town to hand this goblin in to the authorities? On what charges shall he be brought up on? Defending his home from us brutal murderers? Do we have enough information to place him as one of the attackers on Sandpoint? Do you think he'll tell the truth once we've handed him over? Either way, we are not prepared to storm the place on our own. We should get more guards and return later."

Also adding: Fern deals in fear. That's her world, and that's all she was aiming at. All the better if the others think she's a little bloodthirsty. Her edge is all she has.

Fern sighs, and the icy chill surrounding her fades.

"I'm sorry. Of course you know that. It's just....he...almost killed you all. Back there. Goblins lie. Goblins trick. Goblins kill. And I don't want this one to harm anything or anyone else. Ever."

"I'll attribute your short-sightedness to your honour, and not your ignorance. Remember that this creature fought you just moments ago with a blade made of flames, and flames alone. He conjured them out of thin air, and seared Umlo's flesh. He did it once, he can do it again. Do you forget his tricks so soon too, Dwarf? He may be unarmed, but that carries little weight for his magic runs deep."

"I think I've had enough of this. This goblin is trouble. I say we shut him up. Permanently."

Fern's eyes flash with a menace, and a deathly chill begins to emanate from her hands.

"Any objections?"

Sure are!