Muckmuck starts throwing around orders and gets the supplies hauled into camp. He helps translate and communicate what and where you want built thanks mostly to Vardarel and Bella's directions. Fran and Nicole take the lead on engineering and constructing the new guard/observation tower being erected just outside the command center. The two women's skill in construction is critically important to the strength and stability to the tower. So much so they make extra efficient use of their materials, leaving enough wood for two extra fence panels! The goblin bridge engineers spend the evening marveling at the construction techniques. In the evening Zig tours the fortifications and tower, equally impressed with your ideas. "I'm pretty sure I can almost see my father's house from up here.." He points off in the distance to the north. You're pretty sure its not, but it makes for a good story. Vardarel sets a magical alarm at the command post with signage up so the goblins avoid it. Zig tests the password out repeatedly as he goes in and out. "BOSS!" He struts in like a Boss would. "Excellent." You all get a brief cat nap in before night watches if you choose to.
"All reasonable questions, I'll do what I can to answer them. Let me show you around camp." He steps down out of the spotlight and gives you all a walking tour of the encampment. Responding to Bella "The supplies you brought in on the wagons can be spared to construct fortifications placed where ever you deem best. I'll leave those decisions to you all."
Responding to Nicole "Goblin meat I'm sure is the finest of all the humanoids, certainly the most well cooked!" He jests. Responding to Vardarel "They seem to come into camp from any direction but I'll show you the more recent." Once the tour has concluded Vardarel tries to speak with a number of goblin workers only to find the don't speak common, and many are too busy to engage in much discourse. Searching around the obvious entry points Zig mentions in the encampment yield no fruit, the tracks are far too trampled and confused to find any sort of trail. Responding to Fran "Traps that don't involve fire? A novel idea.. but we haven't tried traps really, just the fire." His eyes drift off, staring at that beautiful bonfire in his mind. "We're counting on you to handle these blood thirsty, goblin murdering 'kitty cats' otherwise this project goes down the drain." He shakes that thought from his head, striding around the encampment. "Here's the infirmary, chief surgeon on duty is Pearlybones. Pay him a visit if you need treatment." He points to a small building before striding past a mass of tents. "Workers sleep here, and here." He offers, pointing at another cluster of tents nearby. "You can find me and Muckmuck in this impressive structure, our command center. Please come and report to me each morning. You'll need to be on guard duty patrolling the grounds or perimeter to keep the rest of us safe til morning. You can sleep in a spare tent or two during the day."
Busy week sorry for the delay but I'll have the time and energy to move us ahead tomorrow!
While many of the goblins at the work camp are covered in dirt and sweat, Zig stands tall and straight among them. He pours over maps of the surrounding area before speaking. “It is good to see you. They call me Zig. I’m glad my father asked you to come here to help. We have been building a very important bridge. But every night, the big cats attack our camp. We leave out meat for them and they saunter right past it. Instead, they seem bent on filling their bellies with goblin flesh. If we move camp across the river; they cross over it overnight. If we light fires around the camp to scare them away, the goblins workers burn themselves in the flames. It’s a lose-lose situation." “Every few nights, the cats come back to hunt us. Everyone is terrified and that’s bad for business. With all this talk of some saber-toothed whatever coming for us in the night, they’re all too scared to finish the work. If someone doesn’t take these furballs out, I suspect the bridge isn’t ever gonna get built." He points over towards the river at the partially completed bridge. Its clearly going to take more than a few more days to finish. “These kitties aren’t natural. Whatever you need, you got it. I can give you workers to build fences. But fences alone
Fran and Roark snuff the heck out of the raging fire on wagon three leaving Vardarel to head up to extinguish the small blaze on wagon 4. The purple wolf races off following blue to the east, leaving the group to put the last smoldering flames out. Soon after the goblin crew comes out of hiding and cheers "We won! And there was cool fire!" A round of applause makes its away around the caravan, at least until Muckmuck crawls out from under his wagon. "Ok back to work. Check on them spitters and get all that sand outta the wagons. We leave soon!" He heads into wagon 1 to check for damage.
Nicole (41/44)
That's how I was assuming they were based on other games. Noncombatants to be dealt with if we survive.
Jadran starts to grin at the irony of thunder followed by lightning but the grin quickly turns into a gagging fit. "That didn't help the smell."
"So! You want a good, strong stick or a piece of wood and some snappy bands..." "And that's how you make a slingshot!" Fran teaches the mischievous goblins the art of crafting the trusty slingshot. The little green guys and gals almost lose interest as he lesson plan needed adjustments, but once she connected she connected critically! By morning it was obvious though some sort of warning should have been included: Careful or you'll shoot your eye out! "Um, you know, I'm pretty sure you can eat those big grubby bugs you find under the rocks out here," she remarks. "Good to keep in mind if you're short on food...or just want a snack. They're slimy yet satisfying...or so I've been told." The next morning, goblins lurch awake and look ravenous, especially with the eyepatches.. a bunch of fast twitch zombo pirates almost. With some new ID skills the goblins fill their bellies. Full bellies are good for morale.
"All right ALL RIGHT! Stop shooting me with those things and get ready to go. We have half a day more til we get to camp, water the camels and be ready." Muckmuck gives the order and before too long the goblins cheer and whistle as they head off to the south, completely forgetting about the incoming inevitable doom.
Vardarel has a hard time showing off his feats of strength and athleticism, luckily he doesn't dip anyone's morale. Bella however pulls out a fabulous story about teaching a mean nasty dog a lesson, the goblins cheer and soon start slapping each other across the face. It spreads like dominoes across the campsite. "Bad dog! Ouch!" "Bad dog! Ouch!" "Bad dog! Ouch!" "Bad dog! Ouch!"
Been boiling sap all day in the rain, I'll update tonight when I get home from a collection run!
Bella the professional whistler.. I just saw that movie a couple weeks ago, just to see that scene.
Perfect, thank you.
"Maybe you have someone you're in conflict with, or perhaps you have a competitor in the bidding who lost and is sabotaging your project now. What do you think?" Nicole shares her thoughts about the case. "Ya, like I said, I've made plenty of enemies out of competitors, all possible options that I'll continue to dig into here, but in the short term I need you all to secure the bridge and my family before more disappear." Responding to Fran "But I'm, um, worried a little about the goblins that have gone missing. It's one thing for someone to just sabotage the work or maybe rig 'accidents' but actually dragging workers away in the middle of the night? That sounds extreme...even for someone with a business grudge..." At this point Yigrig's eyes shift slightly awkwardly from side to side "Your a cute one kid, this is Katapesh, prolly not the same as where you're from. If you catch my drift."
Right on cue the all goblin crew bursts into song with the mate starting off with the rest of the crew calling back. "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"
"Absorbent and yellow and porous is he"
"If nautical nonsense be something you wish"
"Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish!"
Then everyone heads back to work, securing the ropes and preparing to set sail.
The team reconvenes after a solid 8 days of downtime, rested, recuperated, re-energized, or maybe just broke and bored. A small tabby cat with a torn ear slides up next to Mr Midnight meowing, a small tube with a note inside tucked under its collar. When opened it reads as the following: Head to Katapesh, speak with Yigrig in the city of Katapesh. Leave Stitch behind but don't tell him the real reason, be convincing. This message will explode in T-5 seconds. . . . .
Jadran feels satisfied they'd asked all the questions necessary, waiting for the others to finish up anything else.
Where are you in that time zone? I spend almost all of my time in Asia. I'd love to find in-person games, but haven't had much luck except in SG. Enjoy your vacation!
Stitch avoids carrying anything that looks breakable, its in the group's best interest. He does however partake in all the free food and drink, keeping his distance from anyone with any power or giant fire breathing mouths... just in case. --- On the trip back to the Hwanggot Lantern Lodge, Vardarel says “I am surprised at how disorganized Purepurin is as an assistant.” "I haven't been around too many kobolds for too long, the family used to just vaporize them on sight, but always been told they run around a lot yipping like dogs and trying to lead you into some crazy trap. Times they have a changed." Stories of vaporizing goblins and kobolds in the mines with the blast furnaces just seemed normal back then!
Meat Wagon simply rolls back and forth over the megalictis' corpse, its mower blade pulsing off and on menacingly while Stitch reloads his pistol.
"My nose, my beautiful stuffy nose!" Cries Stitch as its nearly bitten off. Lucky for him he's made some new friends that cast healing spells. He gently pats at it, feeling mostly fixed he grins. "Follow Bella and Nicky in there and kick some ass!" He follows this up by bravely raising his shield to protect what's left of his nose.
Stitch's pistol goes off with a "BANG!" once the white creature comes into view to bite Bella. Just as the smoke clears Stitch sees the black one nearly bite his nose off "Not the face!" He works to reload his pistol, then raises his shield up before ordering Meat Wagon. "Next time one of them comes back you ram it!"
Sneakerz steps inside the home and briefly looks around. He seems not surprised, but disappointed no one is there to take the body.
Not remembering exactly what the proper way is to deposit the dead, he does what looks most comfortable. This is how I would have preferred to rest. He finds the bedroom and lays the body out on a bed, however looks most comfortable. He pulls a clean sheet or blanket over the body. Afterwards he looks around for a flower, be it real or a drawing, laying it over the man's chest. If he can't find one he draws one himself: a rose.
"I am done. Next home."
Sneakerz looks at Amila as she speaks, feeling the power of her words in his own tired bones. He looks around feeling a bit confused at just what happened, but before long feels the refreshingness of a calmed spirit. "Thank you." He whispers. --- The almost immediate appearance of Skaav gives him pause. "I have seen this one." He nods in agreement with Petal, and again in recognition of Skaav before returning to his first duty: the bodies. He hoists up the corpse and looks down the path, ready to continue.
Stitch hoots and hollers, half nervous and half excited that their stunt worked. "Heh, never a doubt.." He hands the fulu over before taking a seat to calm his old nerves for a minute. --- The ride back out is bumpy but the end is rewarded in free food. "Steeltoe's don't turn down a free meal. Its a family motto." He digs into a chicken skewer. The old Dwarf chews and swallows with gusto "Oh this is good." He takes another bite, then another after a moment's pause. Looking at his face you can see a battle taking place...
Tears and sweat start trickling down Stitch's face, slowly gaining speed. Stubbornly he pecks off the final bites, chewing quickly before swallowing, opening his mouth to show he's no slouch in a food eating contest. But then it hits him. He grabs his stomach and gives a pathetic look to the goblins. It grumbles, it rumbles.. "SQUAWWK!" is the sound that finally emerges.. from somewhere. Followed by the pungent odor of.. chicken s*~+? Stitch awkwardly leaps down off Meat Wagon and struts off to the bushes for a personal moment.
Oh.. OH.. Meat Wagon trembles with excitement as it circles around for a running, gunning start. SQUEEEAALLL! The tires spin and rubber burns! He's off to hit that jump like a real life Monster Meat Wagon/Truck!
Stitch flails with one arm trying to grab the fulu as his mount rockets up into the air...
Seeing as no one else is going to do it, Stitch swears to himself while climbing back up on the buckboard, standing instead of sitting. He grabs the oshytebar with one hand, waving the other hand like a cowboy. "Ok Meaty, get a running start up that pile of coinage and get some air so I can reach that thing there!" He points out the fulu in question.
"But who will change my oil and grease my sprockets? I love a good greased sprocket."
Stitch bids the rodents adieu with a pair of one finger salutes as Meat Wagon rolls ahead. "Potion spills? Evasive maneuvers Meaty!" He calls out from up on the buck board. The oversized wagon lurches left and right, going up on two wheels here and there to avoid the slippy slop while Stitch holds on for dear life. Now we are having fun!
"A box of rats? I think Mr Midnight will know what to do." He thinks on it a minute, personally hating rats, even the cute little ones. He'll try to come up with a plan at least. "Maybe our kitty friend can do a sniff test and help track down the families." Or just eat them while those kobolds aren't looking.
In a blink Junior goes from preparing for a fight, to hearing Safa's words, to an after party of sorts.. not bad! "Well yes, it was quite a day, I'd be happy to enjoy another chilled wine." He does his best to reconstruct the battle in his head, if not to at least get his report straight with the other's.
Erzuuk leads the others, following behind the purple woman and the walking mushroom, down into the vaults. I can not escape these cursed fungus, am I now to take orders from one? He shakes his head in disgust. "I am Erzuuk of Garaguum. This is my first official task, let us make it a memorable one!" He grunts in celebration. He stands slightly stooped over with long limbs and a powerful body. All manner of orcish weapons dangle from his belt, with an oversized sort of axe slung over his shoulders. "Where are these boundless wonders and how would you like them bound? Dead.. or alive?" His tone is clearly more hopefully for the former.
Sneakerz also lays the corpse down next to the other, nodding to himself that he's doing the right thing. He checks out the house for Amila, just in case its haunted, or harboring evil. He nods slowly as she notices the wood pile, he stoops to restack a piece that's toppled off. Delivering wood was not just about helping the town, but he took his time to leave the stack neatly, or sometimes in a fetching design when the mood struck. As she starts to offer food he waves off the offer "No thank you, not hungry." He pats his gaunt stomach, something he's seen others do when food comes up. His jaws reflex audibly with a few clicks out of habit. Mostly he just stares blankly at the different art pieces and pictures throughout her home. You think he enjoys them but its hard to tell. Once and a while he looks around as the smell of food wafts about, almost like he's trying to sort out memories from the foggy air.
Erzuuk looks back at the posing goblin in the nice chest plate "Yes, we are safer with more numbers. Follow me Dibble, we go to the Grand Lodge." He waves, and then, seeing Zahnder waving, waves for him too. This society attracts many small mice to their cause, they will need Gorum's help to survive. He grunts to himself.
Erzuuk shakes Kosh's hand, giving him a look over and grunting with satisfaction, almost a younger version of himself! "The way is always the shortest path through the strongest obstacles, when you arrive you know you've earned it." He grins as he drags out an worn old tusk. "Ancestors, show us the way to the Grand Lodge!" He bellows, throwing the tusk to the ground. It spins and spins, finally pointing through the city to the east. "East, we go east!" He snatches up the heirloom and starts walking east.
Sneakerz nods at Puc-Lee, readjusts the corpse over his own shoulder, then starts walking towards Ren's home, his eyes and ears trying to pierce the fog Once they've moved down the way a bit he speaks to the group "Thank you. The spirits of the dead do not like to be forgotten. They can be angry if you do." His voice still a bit raspy from disuse, but its improving in its speed and fluidity. He walks at a slow pace, either from the heavy body or the dense fog.
Sneakerz stands there in front of the group, looking down at the corpses, then back up at the woman, shifting weight nervously back and forth between his white shoes. His mind tries to remember the sayings he's heard but every time he remembers one the little one says it... "Oh! Ghosts don't like to be called ghosts." He croaks, voice cracking like a boy coming into his own. He continues to stand there nervously, doing his best however to keep between the guard and the others.
Sneakerz is a bit surprised but quickly warms up to the assistance. Its pretty clear his crafting skills are not very developed, but his heart is in the right place. "Yes!" He groans as it starts to take some shape.
"Not Good." Groans Sneakerz as he sees the statue gone and the lantern on the ground. He doesn't remember just why its important, but its different, so he tries to help the tiny one fix it. He drops his bundle of wood to try building a steady platform to rest the lantern on. He does his best to make something pleasing to the eye, and hopefully sturdy, as Shelyn would prefer.
She knows he's a work in progress.
As the dragoons say I have returned.
"Yes" Responds Sneakerz, you aren't quite sure if that's an agreement or just an acknowledgement of the statement. Regardless, he starts moving around the immediate area collecting firewood. Once he's got a solid bundle he hands the first off to Puc-Lee "Take this." He pulls out his glaive and starts harvesting dead branches from the trunks of trees far above his normal reach, again, handing a bundle to the next person, and then the next, until everyone has their own bundle to bring back to town. He stows his glaive before hauling up the still sleeping body over his shoulder for the trek back into town. "Ok, we can go now."
She then turns to the woodsman. "Sneakerz, you are called? I'm Amila. I'm sorry I've never gotten to meet you formally, but I do appreciate the bundles of firewood," she says as she gives the gaunt man a deep bow. Now that she's closer to him, she notices his "state," as he calls it. "You are reanimated?" she asks as she gently touches the bones of his hand. Sneakerz pulls back his hand slightly, not used to this sort of reaction to his 'state' "The kind Shelyn has brought me back to help. So help I am." They nod and abruptly break off to check on the last abductee that hasn't awoken. They stoop over, lifting the end of the mat to check on the person inside. Poke Poke "Are you ok? Do not be afraid." Sneakerz starts to pull the rolled up mat off like shaking off a rug, their strength much greater than previously. "Excuse me."
Sneakerz opens his mouth, a bit surprised and a bit nervous at the little Petal "Uhhhh.." A dry, raspy sound crawls out of his mouth, like the sound of metal dragging across stone. Cough He clears his throat to try again "Hi. Petalz, yes, I am called Sneakerz." They wave off the offer of food "Not hungry." They clutch their emaciated stomach and start chuckling at the irony. "Please don't be afraid of my... state." He adds, turning to Puc-Lee and bowing. After some deeper looks you realize Sneakerz isn't just long and lanky, he's kinda like a wolf in sheepz clothing.. but instead a skeleton in a manz clothing. "Were you all stolen too? Last night?"
Salaish remains by the roiling pool, studying it pensively. "My main concern is leaving it for Paravaax to use against us. Does anyone know how to use it, so we can eliminate that threat? I have no clue." "I just toss in a few scraped pelts, fur still on, and lett'em soak. Best to just use a junk fur first to see how strong it is so you don't ruin a good one if its strong stuff. Haul it out and restretch it, scrape off all the fur. Once its dried up and clean you gotta work the leather so it softens up a bit." Scratch goes off on a hide tanning tangent.
A tall thin man, with dark greasy hair tied neatly in a bun stalks through the forest along the edge of town. A long pole with a thick chopping blade tied to his back frees up his hands for carrying bundles of wood. Tirelessly he makes trips in and out of the forest, dropping bundles of firewood at the doorsteps of homes, making brief eye contact with anyone that stops to greet him. "For you." He replies each time, before quickly heading back into the woods for another load, his lanky height boosted by strange looking shoes flash white while moving between the trees. Those along the outskirts of town, both along the north bank and the south bank have seen this man for years. Some see him as a good omen, others as a sign of a harsh winter ahead. A few see his generosity as a threat to their own livelihoods. He works dawn til dusk, every day of the year.. for nothing, how can we compete with that!
Smash the pots, chop the whiskers.. spray the hots, then pass to sisters.. Meat Wagon rumbles oddly before ramming into purple's jar and chopping at the rodent inside.
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