Search Posts
Swarmed by the party (well, as swarmed as you can get by two people), Gutwad's hampered defenses leave him vulnerable. Both Masamune and Alara take the ultimate advantage of it and strike him down before he is even able to lift his spear. William, following behind, steps in to smash the goblin with the active firework. The wily goblin, however, manages to duck swiftly enough to survive for now.
Sharrd skewers the goblin and his delight at having avoided being KOed by the spell dies with him. Chief Gutwad rubs his eyes, shakes his head, and then blinks kind of dumbly at Sharrd. He is clearly at least somewhat still stricken by the effects of the color spray.
The goblin by the door initially disregards the opening portal and responds to Gutwad's shouts. He touches an ember to something he's holding in his hand. It almost immediately spits forth a bright spark in Sharrd's direction with a pop and a fizz.
The spark hits the side of the hut with a sizzle and sputters out.
The first room Alara and Piper entered is nearly empty, devoid of most debris that litters the other goblin living spaces. What is in it is a single, red-colored chest. It may have once been quite handsome though it bears a fair amount of dirt and grime now. Its facade is carved with scenes that, at a quick glance, appear to involve cranes and frogs. The second room that Alara is now in is a bit more cluttered. There's a single, large and nasty smelling pile of blankets, moss, and furs that appears to be a bed of sorts. A variety of debris of goblin life is scattered about, bits of junk and food refuse. On the walls are a number of poorly preserved hunting trophies - mainly dogs and even a mounted horse head.
Alara catches a glimpse of the throne room as she pushes the concealed door open. It is dominated by a bunch of shadowy projections on the walls, possibly heads of animals killed in a hunt, and a tall chair near the back of the room with a corpulent goblin sitting atop it. A trio of other goblins are scattered about. None of the goblins react to Alara's actions, but as Piper tries to sneak to the side room and Sharrd gets into position, Gutwad hears and turns his head. "Co je to? Vetřelci?!?"
Goblin translation:
"What's this? Intruders?!?"
Sharrd fills most of the room with brilliant color. Only the goblin right next to the front door is out of the spell's fan.
Goblinoid screams erupt as goblin 2 (in the middle of the room) is rendered unconscious. Goblin 1 (straight north of Sharrd) apparently buries his face in time to avoid the flash of color and is unaffected. And Gutwad is blinded and stunned (costing him his partial action). All he can manage to do is yell, "Zabte je! Zabte je!"
Goblin translation:
"Kill them! Kill them!"
Zupog gets up and leads you along the walkways and through a couple of huts to the edge of the walk. It ends at a burned out hut (the burning old enough to no longer be smoldering) and points to the largest hut of the community. "Chief Gutwad. Throne there." he says in heavily accented common.
Zupog's expression turns skeptical.
Goblin:
"I will show you where Chief Gutwad is, but I don't know where the ships are or the cave. If the bone men are there, I am not going." He then shrugs. "Šéf Gutwad nás chová jako šéf zachází nás. Je to těžké. Dělá nám tvrdší. To je způsob, jak věci." Goblin: "Chief Gutwad treats us like a chief treats us. He's tough. Makes us tougher. That is the way of things."
Zupog continues to spill his guts.
Alara: "Chief Gutwad might have the map. I don't know."
"Everyone loves Squeally Nord! He is a mighty boar. I danced with him once. He had to buck me twice to throw me."
Zupog launches into his tale, with a bit of gusto.
Pak kostí muži přicházejí a nám Licktoads ne tak šťastný. Chodí přes rybník a rybník je hluboký. Warband dělá bojovat. Zabíjejí armádu. Oni odtrhnout Chuffy hlavu. To byla sranda. Chuffy hlava. Heh, heh. Zabíjejí Slorb taky. Licktoads běží všude. Squeally Nord utíkat taky. Ale šéf Gutwad, že na to přišel. Chtěli kořist. Takže šéf Gutwad hodil ji zpátky k nim. Vzali ji a nechte Licktoads sám." Alara:
"This is Scribbleface’s fault! He wrote words so we chased him out. But in hut, he had flying bangs so Chief Gutwad sent warband to find where Scribbleface got them. They came back with more from old ship. They came with map of swamp too. Treasure map! So Chief Gutwad send warband to find treasure on map. They find another old ship and cave and come back with more flying bangs and a chest and us Licktoads happy."
"Then bone men come and us Licktoads not so happy. They walk through pond and that pond be deep. Warband does to fight. They kill warband. They tear off Chuffy’s head. That was funny. Chuffy’s head. Heh, heh. They kill Slorb too. Licktoads running everywhere. Squeally Nord run away too. But Chief Gutwad, he figured it out. They wanted loot. So Chief Gutwad threw it back to them. They took it and leave Licktoads alone." He reacts to the magical sound of pigs in the village.
Alara: "Hey, is that Squeally Nord? Is he back?"
Zupog seems a bit taken aback by Alara's suggestion. "Ne! Ne! Jeho Mighty Girthness je silný. A on je chytrý. Dal poklad zpět do bonemen a oni nás nechají na pokoji. Zachránil se Licktoads i když Squeally Nord běžel." Alara:
No! No! His Mighty Girthness is strong. And he's smart. He gave the treasure back to the bonemen and they leave us alone. He saved the Licktoads even though Squeally Nord ran." Sharrd is able to retrieve his weapons and collect ears without incident.
The goblin settles down a little more though he still seems to hold Alara in some contempt. "Nezáleží na tom, jak se jmenujete. Budete stejně mrtvý. Šéf Gutwad je lstivý. Více lstivý než Zupog."
Alara:
"It does not matter what your name is. You will be dead anyway. Chief Gutwad is wily. More wily than Zupog." Then once Sharrd plays his trick, the goblin sputters out, "Jsem Zupog! Zupog!"
Alara:
"I am Zupog! Zupog!"
A little bandaging keeps one of the goblins alive and a bit of restraining keeps him relatively harmless as well. Upon regaining some consciousness, he struggles a bit until it's pretty clear to him the effort is futile. At that point, he spits out a stream of goblin...
Alara: "You giant bastards aren't so tough. Chief Gutwad will feast on your meat and wear your skins for this."
The goblin turns his attention back toward Sharrd as Piper retreats. He doesn't even really notice the spell the bard casts at him, as he shrugs it off.
William, however, freed to move with the dead goblin no longer blocking his path says, "I'm coming to help you," and drops off the walkway onto the ground to cross the gap to the ladder. His armor slows him enough that he is unable to take an attack at the end of that movement, but he is now within reach of the goblin. The goblin, now facing two opponents, might be well advised to retreat. He does not and instead tries to get at Sharrd again. Again, provoking an AoO from Sharrd for trying to climb the hut.
The goblin is partway up the side of the hut, successfully fending off attacks from the sorcerer above him, when Piper's blade nearly catches him in the throat. As it is, it puts a nasty gash on his jaw. Angered by this, the goblin changes the target of his ire to Piper. He drops off the hut and stabs at the musician. The weapon strikes home for 3 points of damage.
William, a bit annoyed at the goblin's attack but not too badly hurt, switches up his tactics and uses the heavy flail to trip up his goblin foe. The small creature falls unceremoniously at William's feet.
The goblin tries to regain his feet, provoking an AoO from William that flattens him.
The other goblin on the walkway, too stupid to see the writing on the wall (and to illiterate to read it anyway), continues to try to kill Masamune. Failing again to make any progress toward that goal.
William swings his heavy flail head at the burned goblin but the small creature ducks under the trajectory of the weapon.
The goblin below Sharrd tries one more time to get to the young sorcerer. In doing so, he provokes an attack of opportunity from Shardd as he clambers up onto the roof of the hut.
The goblins on the walk way put up a spirited defense of their village. Masamune is missed.
But the goblin faced off against William gets in a lucky blow for 3 points of damage.
The goblin reels under blows from both Piper and Alara, finally staggering up to the door of the hut, pushing the door open, and collapsing in a heap at their feet.
The goblin falls to pieces, literally, in a splatter of gore.
Masamune's target successfully evades his blade and launches her own counter attack. She is no more effective than she was against William.
The goblin with bad burns squints through the pain and takes a stab at William. The blow strikes home causing 2 points of damage.
The other goblin on the central walkway, tries to stab around the corner at William but is unable to find a vulnerability to exploit.
The goblin running along the ground level, clambers up the ladder to get to the walkway, heedless of the danger. That gives both Alara and Piper an opening to strike as she shifts from the ladder to the walk way.
The final goblin tries to clamber up on top of the hut to chase down Sharrd. He starts to gain a purchase on the hut walls, but then his hands slip through the shoddy workmanship and he slips back to the walkway level.
Party's Turn
William steps forward past Masamune to engage the dazed goblin with his heavy flail.
Goblins swarm forward with more pouring out of a couple of huts than had been evident before. Most rush forward toward the two fighters, but a couple range wider. In their headlong rush, only one started close enough to get an attack on William.
From his vantage point, Sharrd sees no other signs of activity in the village other than disturbed and complaining crows.
And now, back to the PCs again.
The lead goblin crumples under Masamune's assault. The one behind him, dazed by Piper's music, blinks in confused incomprehension.
Alara manages to wound the goblin at the back of the line, though it doesn't seem to deter him. The magic Piper weaves into his music, however, is quite sufficient to daze the pint-sized sociopath.
Sharrd, meanwhile, takes the high road and maneuvers to a place near the goblins but from a higher vantage point on the roof of the hut. That position enables him to see activity in a couple of other places in the village. It appears there are other goblins grabbing up weapons to defend their town.
One goblin may have fallen with a javelin in him, but the other two remain undaunted and press into battle. The lead goblin slashes at Masamune with his dogslicer but fails to land a blow through Masamune's defenses.
The trailing goblin gabbles something at his comrade in his native tongue.
Alara:
As the only one, I think, who can speak goblin of the group, you can tell he said, "This one has flesh. If we kill it we can eat it!" And now, back to the PCs.
With a perfectly executed slash, Masamune's blade severs the last goblin's neck (which, incidentally, also stops him from screaming). Even the crows have now fallen silent… But that only gives you a short moment or so of reprieve because the screaming of the three goblins has had an additional effect and the shouts of more goblins can be heard coming across the village.
The middle goblin, still screaming, is undaunted by the difficulties of his peers and unsympathetic to their plights. He steps over his fallen comrade to take goblinoid vengeance on Masamune. He gets lucky as well leaving a substantial injury (4 hit points, substantial for a goblin, anyway).
While Sharrd's spear thrust misses, Masamune's sword slash tears into the goblin, silencing him. The only further sound he makes is his body hitting the boards of the walkway. Alara silences her goblin target as well. The blow to his head leaves him reeling and his eyes unfocused (staggered). With his last burst of energy, he tries one more spiteful stab at the ninja and gets lucky.
He then takes 1 more hit point of damage and passes out.
As the high notes die, the door of the hut flies open to the sounds of shrieks. A trio of wide-eyed goblins bursts forth, armed with dog slicers. Alara, undetected by the goblins, may get a standard action in as a surprise round. After that:
Alara (surprise action)
|
