Fern is a sight to see; gone are her flowery and ostentatious coloured robes, replaced now with a tight fitting, simple outfit made of wool and leather. Dressed in earth tones, she does her best to fit in with the colour spectrum of the forest around her.
With a crossbow in her hand, and her hair pulled tight to her head, she looks a little menacing. Or rather, she would, if she wasn't so little.
"I'm ready to be off, if you all are."
Fern is a sight to see; gone are her flowery and ostentatious coloured robes, replaced now with a tight fitting, simple outfit made of wool and leather. Dressed in earth tones, she does her best to fit in with the colour spectrum of the forest around her.
With a crossbow in her hand, and her hair pulled tight to her head, she looks a little menacing. Or rather, she would, if she wasn't so little.
"I'm ready to be off, if you all are."
Kyran is dressed in a black tunic, matching black pants, boots, his well-oiled (but not particularly polished) chain shirt, and a dark brown tabard. The hood of his dark brown cloak is pulled up, and his features are lost in the darkness of the deep hood. He has a quiver of arrows (black fletching), a bow, and a shield on his back, a sword at his side, a handaxe in a belt loop, and a bandoleer with several throwing knives across his chest. A pair of heavy black leather gloves is tucked into his belt. He tosses his hood back, and the other PCs can see that he has painted diagonal black stripes across his face. Any trace of the kindly farmer has vanished for the moment. This is a fearsome slayer of a man.
Then he starts talking.
He reaches down and tosses a coil of rope to each other party member. (Kyran now has 45 gp left from Aldern Foxglove's purse)"I imagine we'll have some prisoners, or at the very least, we may have some climbing to do." The then tosses a small, warm, delicious-smelling cloth-wrapped bundle to each party member. "Roasted chicken, the densest bread I could bake on short notice, and some roasted asparagus. (Anyone biting in realizes that there's also got to be some fresh herbs in there, too.) You'll want some food if we're going to be fighting. I suggest you eat on the way." He shrugs off and opens his backpack(it contains oil flasks, a full waterskin, his own coil of rope, and not much else). "Any of you have either alchemist's fire or access to fire magic? My father showed me some tricks..."
"Aye, thanks for the meal Kyran" Umlo inspects the new looks for both Fern and Kyran, "I see you both are ready for buisness, I hope your wits are as sharp as your outfits cause we will be needing every sense to battle a whole tribe of goblins!"
Devrin thanks Kyran for the meal as well, "I'll always make it a point to stop by here in the future Kyran, your food and hospitality are great. I can carry some of that rope too if you like." Devrin is dressed in his travelling clothes as he was even during the festival. As a cleric of Desna he is always ready for the road.
Fern nibbles lightly on the food as the group moves.
|
Devrin thanks Kyran for the meal as well, "I'll always make it a point to stop by here in the future Kyran, your food and hospitality are great. I can carry some of that rope too if you like." Devrin is dressed in his travelling clothes as he was even during the festival. As a cleric of Desna he is always ready for the road.
Umlo finshes the food without ceremony and licks his fingers clean "Ah it is good to be on the road again with a purpose, how far til thistletop again?" Umlo askes
Grond's appearance is no different from his usual practical garb, but he nods in approval at the change in his companions' apparel. Nor is their guide any different. Although looking a bit disgruntled at being up so early in the morning, the food soon cheers him up, disappearing down his gullet with typical speed. Thistletop, Korpi reassures them, is not far. They'll be there by lunch, even with the stumpies' short legs.
Setting out, the group remain on the old coast road for most of the distance. A simple road of hard-packed dirt, it takes them past the farmlands surrounding Sandpoint, winding along the coast before plunging into the woods. Despite this, there is a decent interval of cleared land to either side, which would give ample warning of any ambush, so little extra vigilance is required.
It is as they are approaching the end of this wooded stretch that they find their fist signs of trouble. A fallen tree trunk spans the road, though this barricade is unmanned. Even as the group begins to investigate, the silence is broken by the rising scream of a horse in pain from off to the left, and to those turning to look can see a veritable trail of broken greenery leading into the woods.
"A horse! It sounds like it's being torn apart! If goblins are doing it, there must be a bunch of them."
Fern closes her eyes for a moment, and concentrates on the words and gestures that will bring magical protection to her body.
"If we move quietly, we should be able to see what the commotion is. With all that screaming going on, we definitely have the advantage of stealth. Come on!"
Kyran nods at Fern's statement and then moves in the direction of the noise, readying his shield and drawing his sword as he does.
Devrin readies his starknife and nods to Fern and the others. He looks to the dwarves as he starts stalking off quickly towards the sound of the horse.
Thinking "The starknives are out, something is about to die," Kyran moves along next to Devrin, keeping pace with his old friend and signaling him that if possible, he'll try a pincer maneuver to catch who or whatever they're stalking between them.
Umlo runs as fast as his stubby legs will carry him, blowing his beard out of his face, he has a throwing axe and sheild out. He follows close behind and to the left of Kyran so he has a clear shot at any intruders
The headlong rush into the woods carries the group along the trail of broken foliage. Clearly something large came though here, and it doesn't take long for the group to determine what. Wedged into the gap between two trees is a wagon, its contents scattered across the surrounding landscape, not due to the crash, but to the goblins still apparently joyfully ransacking the wagon. There are a good half dozen of the creatures capering about, one of which is lording it over the rest, dressed in human finery much too big for him. Another is clinging to the back of a horse still thrashing and screaming in its traces, attempting to drive its crude weapon home again.
Perhaps more troubling than the goblins themselves is the bugbear who leans up against a tree off to one side, laughing at the antics of his smaller kin. Two armoured humans lie where they have fallen, while a third, unarmoured man lies near to the bugbear, clearly wounded but alive.
Fern moves within sight to the creatures and casts a little spell. She creates Ghost Sounds on the opposite side of the terrible creatures from where they are, conjuring up the sounds of a handful of noisy people running and shouting through the woods, away from the goblins. She waits for their response, crossbow in hand.
Devrin takes Kyran's queue and keeps pace with the paladin moving out a few feet to allow them to circle a foe. Spotting the bugbear he points silently towards it and charges in that direction.
Umlo's hatred for goblins causes him to head off in the leaders direction when in range he hurls his throwing axe at him.
Umlo lets out a grunt as the axe flies through the air arcing end over end in a wobble, "For my wife and Ravenroost, for the town of Sandpoint, and for this poor caravan"
Kyran charges the bugbear with his longsword, moving so that he'll wind up flanking with Devrin like they'd planned.
The goblins are situated in a rough ring around the horse, and the bugbear is off to one side, out of immediate charge range.
Kyran charges the bugbear with his longsword, moving so that he'll wind up flanking with Devrin like they'd planned.
Umlo's axe embeds itself in the side of the hobgoblin even as he turns to snarl at the newly revealed protagonists. While the others focus on what seems to be the main threat, Korpi has picked out one of the goblins as an old enemy, or at least as somebody who laughed at his misfortune. It's safe to say the poor unfortunate won't be laughing at anybody else in future. Grond isn't quite so effective at backing him up, leaving a goblin frantically backpedaling.
The overall effect upon the goblins is mayhem. Distracted by the sudden attack, the one riding the horse loses his grip and is sent flying. Another scurries for the nearest tree, intent upon escaping. The remaining three have their attention divided between the attackers in front and the noises behind, and look about one more casualty away from breaking altogether. The hobgoblin, however, pulls a flail from his belt and stands ready for the assault.
As Umlo closes the gap to the hobgoblin he pulls out his War axe With a hefty swing Umlo attempts to end the Hobgoblin's misery.
With a strength gained from the memory of the attack on Ravenroost so many years ago, Umlo takes his pain and anger out on this hobgoblin in front of him, "For my wife!" Umlo exclaims
Devrin moves forward in concert with Kyran as they advance on the bugbear. He holds his attack for a moment until Kyran is in place. His star knife slides in under the goblinoid's defence, inflicting a stinging wound.
Fern lets a crossbow bolt fly straight at one of the unsuspecting goblins. She lets it clatter to the ground after she takes a shot, and frees her hands to allow her to begin working her magic.
The bugbear goes down unceremoniously, with multiple weapons embedded in him. This is more than sufficient to break the nerve of his followers, who run screaming. At least, those not cut down by Grond or Korpi do. The tree-climber frantically goes even higher, hoping to escape notice.
With the goblins dealt with, the group are free to pursue or to try and help the lone survivor as they see fit. Grond makes his way over to try and calm the thrashing horse before it injures itself, while Korpi pursues the goblins for a short distance, hurling insults after them.
Devrin walks quickly over to the survivor to see what he can do to help.
Umlo collects his throwing axe from the chest of the hobgoblin, he then searches the hobgoblins body for any indication of what they are doing in the area.
Kyran casually wipes his bloody sword off on the bugbear's tunic and sheathes it, then crouches down and starts going through the slain bugbear's gear, also looking for clues.
Unfortunately, there's little evidence to be found in amongst the bugbear's possessions. There's his combat gear, a potion and a pouch full of coins. Alas for the lack of any incriminating notes. Nor is he in much condition to tell them anything himself.
The survivor, on the other hand, might be able to tell them a few things, once he's been fixed up a bit. He has an arrow lodged in his side, and it looks like a leg has been broken, just to be sure he couldn't run.
"Guys, I can do a little harmless spell....some lights, some sound, nothing too exciting, but it might be enough to weird the horrible creature out. If that doesn't work, I'm pretty sure I can inject some serious terror into the little guy's head. Let me know if you need my help with any of the....negotiations."
Unfortunately, there's little evidence to be found in amongst the bugbear's possessions. There's his combat gear, a potion and a pouch full of coins. Alas for the lack of any incriminating notes. Nor is he in much condition to tell them anything himself.
The survivor, on the other hand, might be able to tell them a few things, once he's been fixed up a bit. He has an arrow lodged in his side, and it looks like a leg has been broken, just to be sure he couldn't run.
Kyran grabs the bugbear's weapons and tosses them a few feet into the clearaning (much like you've probably seen police officers do on Cops with weapons held by downed suspects) and then heads over to help Devrin with the survivor. He doesn't have any healing magic yet, but he's not awful with bandages. Once he's sure the survivor is okay, he'll pick up the bow from the bugbear, nock an arrow and tell the tree climber "Come down, or I'll shoot you down."(not a bluff!) and then if the creature shows any hesitation, he'll glance over at Fern and say "Go for it." if someone else doesn't do anything to get him out of the tree.
Devrin offers a little healing to the wounded survivor bathing the area in the radiance of Desna.
"Not my fault!" the goblin shrieks, "'S'all his idea!" a frantically waving arm points in the direction of the bugbear, who is no longer able to speak against these vile assertions.
"Set an ambush, he says! Kill longshanks! Take their stuff! Not my fault!"
Devrin, meanwhile, is able to fix the merchant up quite nicely. He's got a couple of faint scars now in place of his wounds, though it's still probably best he not put too much strain on that leg for a while.
"Thank you, sir," he murmurs faintly.
Kyran, unperturbed by the shrieking of the goblin, pulls the bowstring back. "Out. Of. The. Tree. I am a follower of Erastil, I know how to use this."
His face reflecting deep reluctance, the goblin complies, inching his way down the trunk of the tree. He reaches the ground soon enough and stands there trembling.
His face reflecting deep reluctance, the goblin complies, inching his way down the trunk of the tree. He reaches the ground soon enough and stands there trembling.
Kyran keeps the arrow trained on the goblin. "Throw your weapons over there [He glances off to the left briefly], and then I want you to lie flat on the ground and put your hands on the back of your head. If you comply, we won't hurt you." He waits for the goblin to follow the orders.
The offending weapons are hurled away, thankfully into an empty space rather than at somebody, and the goblin lies down, sniveling piteously.
Meanwhile, the merchant has apparently recovered sufficiently to give an account of his ordeal, "Thank you, friends," he says, "I didn't think I was getting out of that one. Had we known something had stirred the gobbos up, we would have tried to go around. As it was, by the time the elf found us, we were too deep into their territory to turn around. She offered to draw them off, and it seemed to have worked, but as you can see, others were waiting ahead."
"The elf? Do you mean...uh...Shalaylee? Shalalu? Do you know where she is? We've been looking for her...kind of. Do you think there are more goblins? Will they be waiting to ambush us? Do you need us to escort you somewhere?"
Fern's stammering reveals much of her nervousness; she's really in the thick of it now. People are legitimately getting hurt, and they could be ambushed at any moment in these woods. The reality of the event is a lot to process, for this humble sculptor.
Umlo's eyes widden "More Gobbos!, where!" He immediatly tries to pick up the tracks of a female elf, he assumes she would try to make them easy to follow since she wanted to lead the Gobbos off
"Shalelu, yes, that was her name. We came across her miles back," the merchant says, "We were following the road and only beginning to get an idea of the trouble we were in."
He looks about sadly at his dead guards and the ruin of his wares, "I would appreciate an escort. I doubt I could fight off a stray dog just now."
"I'll see to it," Grond says, "Won't need more than the one of us, seein' as there weren't no signs of other gobs along the road."
Umlo's search for elf tracks comes up dry, but the trail of the fleeing goblins is plain to see. 'From' seems to be the main determining factor for the direction of flight just now, but 'to' will no doubt come into play once they've put enough distance between themselves and the murderous longshanks. If Umlo wants to find more goblins, he could do worse than to follow the runners.
"Shalelu, yes, that was her name. We came across her miles back," the merchant says, "We were following the road and only beginning to get an idea of the trouble we were in."
He looks about sadly at his dead guards and the ruin of his wares, "I would appreciate an escort. I doubt I could fight off a stray dog just now."
"I'll see to it," Grond says, "Won't need more than the one of us, seein' as there weren't no signs of other gobs along the road."
Umlo's search for elf tracks comes up dry, but the trail of the fleeing goblins is plain to see. 'From' seems to be the main determining factor for the direction of flight just now, but 'to' will no doubt come into play once they've put enough distance between themselves and the murderous longshanks. If Umlo wants to find more goblins, he could do worse than to follow the runners.
Kyran reluctantly puts the bound goblin in Grond's care. "I need to question this one back in town, so please make sure he gets to sheriff Hemlock unscathed." He leans over next to the dwarf's ear and speaks quietly. "Feel free to lecture, harangue, and insult him; he's earned that, but please, no injuries."
Umlo stands from a croutch and states, "I do not see any elf tracks, but these tracks left by the fleeing goblins should lead us to more trouble"
"Aye," Grond says with a stern look at the goblin, "Long as he behaves, he'll come to no harm."
Getting the wagon out of its present wedged position takes some effort, but it's done in the end, and the bodies are loaded aboard before it's maneouvred back onto the road. With the merchant safely on his way, the others are now free to track down the running goblins.
Umlo doesn't have any trouble following the tracks. They're fresh, and there's been no effort at concealment. Unfortunately, that means all the goblins' energies have gone into running. They're not going to be caught anytime soon.
Still, capturing another couple of goblins isn't the goal here. Following them back to others of their kind is. After an initial mad rush northward, the tracks soon curve in a more easterly direction, much to Korpi's delight.
"Let 'em run!" he proclaims, "Let 'em tell Ripnugget Korpiklanni Horsekiller's coming for him!"
"Aye," Grond says with a stern look at the goblin, "Long as he behaves, he'll come to no harm."
Getting the wagon out of its present wedged position takes some effort, but it's done in the end, and the bodies are loaded aboard before it's maneouvred back onto the road. With the merchant safely on his way, the others are now free to track down the running goblins.
Umlo doesn't have any trouble following the tracks. They're fresh, and there's been no effort at concealment. Unfortunately, that means all the goblins' energies have gone into running. They're not going to be caught anytime soon.
Still, capturing another couple of goblins isn't the goal here. Following them back to others of their kind is. After an initial mad rush northward, the tracks soon curve in a more easterly direction, much to Korpi's delight.
"Let 'em run!" he proclaims, "Let 'em tell Ripnugget Korpiklanni Horsekiller's coming for him!"
Kyran swiftly loots the Bugbear's arrows, potion, and money and keeps its bow, keeping the ranged weapon out and at the ready as he follows Umlo's lead. He stays alert as they travel, vigilant for threats, but not overly jumpy.
The goblins' trail leads them along the coastline, the roar of surf clearly audible through the tangled woods. It seems the goblins are following a trail, allowing easier going for the group and making the tracking the very simplest of things. They are able to quicken their pace considerably.
At length, however, the group run into a dead-end. The nettles here thicken even beyond the norm, forming a veritable wall at the end of the trail. A couple of other trails appear to converge on this location, suggesting that this may be the end of the road.
As if in confirmation of this, goblin voices raise themselves from somewhere beyond the nettles, too muffled to be understood but clearly involved in animated and urgent discussion.
Umlo points in the obvious direction "Looks like they are in here". Umlo crotches down and motions for the party to draw near as if to suggest a team huddle to formulate a plan. "shall we send in a scout?"
Kyran nods, then asks in a similarly hushed tone "Who should we send in? You? Me? Korpi? Fern? Devrin?"
"I am confident I can sneak around a bit, if there are no objections, I will scout around a bit". Umlo croutches low to the ground and stalks towards the goblin noises trying to remain hidden.
Umlo stalks through the overgrowth blending in with his surroundings watching to see if their is an advantage to be gained.