The goblins halt in the already mentioned squares. There's considerable argument among them about "who's going to check out the meat?" before four of the smallest ones are pushed forward by a bigger one. The four small ones let out chilling goblinoid war cries, wave their clubs in front of them and charge straight towards Jaques, reaching him at the end of the round. They'll all be within melee range of Jacques unless he throws his dagger before they reach him, at which point they'll stop in that square and we'll roll initiative from there.
If you haven't rolled initiative yet, please do so. You all get a surprise round to act.
Now or never.
"Knurl! Kill the gits!", Thaddeus shouts, and begins casting of his sleep spell.
Initiative at the ambush! (1d20+7=12)
Jaques acrobatically stands up, hurling his dagger at the closest goblin , so he will be standing if attacked. That dagger went in up to the hilt! He's standing, empty handed, slightly smiling.
"By Moradin's Beard!" Belric swings 1d20+4=20, 1d10+3=4 "Die ye gobber scum!"
Upon hearing Thaddeus’ shout, Agathon bursts forth from his hiding place and sets an immediate course for the Worg and rider.
[ooc]His Move Action will start in I-5 (TL). He will move 10 through rough terrain into I-6 (BL), 5 in diagonal to I-6 (TR), then 5 each into I-7 (BL to BR to TR) ending in the square adjacent to the Worg and rider in 30 feet of total movement. If this course causes an attack of opportunity from any Goblins I pass, then so be it (My AC is 18). Although from the DM’s descriptions, the main-body of Goblins is clustered next to (and not in front of) the Worg rider with only a few little ones headed for Jacques… My surprise hit (reposted below) is intended for the Worg.
However, if my command of English has failed me and there are enough Goblins blocking the way that would keep me from getting to the leader and his ride (I would judge this to be at least 4 in my immediate path), then my hit will go to one of them (who will then become a cloud of reddish mist with this hit…)
Here is a reposting of my earlier rolled hit:
A Hit with Ole Blue: (1d20+7=23, 2d6+6=11)
After the surprise round, my initiative is:
An initiative Roll: (1d20+7=8)
Surprise actions:
Jacques skewers one of the goblins with his dagger. Plunged deep into his chest, the goblin dies with foamy red froth bubbling from his lips. Jacques ends his move where he started, in square G-6, with two goblins within melee range still.
Belric kills another goblin by crushing his skull with his dwarven waraxe.
Belric is in H6, but can reach one of the goblins with his axe.
Thaddeus gets halfway through his sleep spell, remaining in E5.
Agathon moves into the square adjacent to the worg rider. Both are in J-8.
Goblins in G8 to K8 as mentioned before.
Initiative order:
Jacques-Belric-Goblins-Thaddeus-Agathon
Belric bellows " Die ye gobber scum!" chopping into the nearest goblin,1d20+4=14, 1d10+3=8
"Aha, me first battle!, glad these lads don't know it!" Belric thinks to himself as goblin blood splashes over him
Thaddeus will complete casting his sleep spell and drop it in the left rear of the goblin 'formation' near G-8, G-9, or H-9, or wherever there is a concentration of targets in the left rear after they move.
The intention is to get the ones farthest away from the leader (so he will be less likely to go over and kick them to wake them up), and the ones in the back (so there won't be anyone behind them to kick them and wake them up). Possible downside is that the ones in front will take a while to realize that their numbers are depleted.
For my remaining move action, Thaddeus will fish out a flask of alchemists' fire from one of his belt pouches.
A Hit with Ole Blue: (1d20+7=23, 2d6+6=11)
Jacques smacks and stuns one of the goblins. He hears the satisfying crunching of goblin ribs, but the goblin does not yet drop.
Belric hits a 2nd goblin and drops him with his waraxe, thus bringing the original meat carving party down to only the goblin with broken ribs.
The worg rider charges at Agathon, his lance inflicting 6 points of damage. The worg bites Agathon as he passes, tearing a huge chunk out of his shoulder (he was going for the throat) for 10 points of damage, bringing Agathon up to 16 points. The worg rider yells a command ("Ambush, Retreat!") to the goblins, who high tail it out of there.
Jacques attack of opportunity kills the lone goblin left facing him and Belric.
The goblins are now out of range of Thaddeus' spell, so he redirects it at the dire wolf and his rider. The rider makes the DC13 will save, and apparently so does the wolf. Thaddeus' spellcraft helps him realize that the worg is too powerful to be affected by the sleep spell.
Agathon, though standing in a huge puddle of his own blood, manages to connect with the worg as the worg gallops by, wounding the worg, but not very seriously, apparently, as the worg doesn't even yelp or break stride.
By the end of the round, the sixteen surviving goblins are in squares N13-N12 and N11 running on the trail. The worg rider is at L9, following the goblins while the rider looks back at Agathon, his facial expression undeterminable due to the full face covering helmet.
Surprised by the ferocity of their attack, Agathon reels from the hit of the lance and the bite of the beast! As they storm by, he grunts with satisfaction as Ole Blue connects with the back of the beast only to feel the jarring impact on a hide far tougher than Agathon thought it to be.
An Arrow Shot: (1d20+5=23, 1d8=7)
His vision grays for a moment as Agathon tries to stand fast against the waves of pain screaming from his shoulder. Knowing that running after the animal would be folly, and hearing Belric stomping in his direction, he will stand in place and fight to keep a quiver from his suddenly tired legs. Agathon can not conceal the wince as he forces himself to reload his bow and strain to take a second bead on the rider leader…
Lucky that thing didn't tear his head off, Thaddeus thinks to himself. Should have gone for the rider instead.
Thaddeus closes his eyes for a moment, forcing down the rising anger at the near mortal wound dealt to his friend.
If the worg and rider are within 120':
DC10 spellcraft roll. (1d20+9=11)
2 magic missile shots. (1d4+1=2, 1d4+1=3)
Thaddeus' vision grays out for a moment and snaps back into focus as two bolts jar the rider sideways in his saddle. Thaddeus blows on his smoking fingers to cool them.
If the worg and rider are outside 120':
"Moradin's will be done, ye gobber basterds" Belric screams, as he quickly scans the area of the events. Seeing Agathon bleeding like the proverbial lance stuck human, he moves over to him, thinking "Jaques can take care of the last gobber, it was pretty banged up by him anyhow". " Earth, stone and by the heat of Moradin's smithy" he touches Agathon with his waraxe "Let ye pain begone!"1d8+1=8”
Jacques sling bullet hits a fleeing goblin in the back of the head, dropping him on the trail.
Belric provides his healing to Agathon.
The goblins continue to flee, running full speed and disappearing from sight by the end of the round. The worg rider trots about 30-40 feet behind the fleeing pack.
Thaddeus' crossbow shot goes wide. Agathon's arrow shot seems to connect, but when the worg rider disappears from view as well, he's still in the saddle.
1st level character gets 120 xp, 2nd level characters get 80 xp
While standing near Belric, as the party surveys their handywork, Jaques will say quietly, "Three".
Thaddeus will run up to Agathon's position to join the others, reloading his crossbow and stowing the alchemists' fire.
He tries to remember if there's a good ambush site up the trail: Knowledge/local for a good ambush site. (1d20+9=10)
He tries to think of a shortcut to get ahead of the goblins:
Knowledge/local for a shortcut. (1d20+9=28)
"I think we should at least get off the trail. Doubtless they will regroup and come after us. If we can get ahead of them we might be able to prepare another ambush, hopefully with better results this time. I heard about an old prospectors' path off the main trail that might serve our needs."
"Aye lad, that be some good advice!" Belric replies to Thadeous's suggestion, as he loads his crossbow, he looks about 1d20+3=22 " lead off ye long legged freaks!"
Agathon looks down at Belric, "Thank you, Brother Belric... May Maradin's Hammer continue to gleam in the light of Pelor's countenance."
Agathon turns and looks up into Thaddeus' face. Giving him a painful shrug of his injured shoulder and half a grin, he will say, "point the way, my friend."
He nods to Thaddeus' plan and begins moving off in the direction Thaddeus indicates. As Jacques moves past to take his position at point, Agathon will say to him, "That was a truly impressive throw, Jacques. Oh, and great work at playing dead... They really fell for it!"
Silently gritting his teeth to mask the pain on his left side, Agathon will finally sheath Ole Blue after wiping the hair of the Worg off it. He will pull out his bow once again and 'buck up' for another bit of overland marching.
The prospector's trail Thaddeus remembers meanders up the hillside, several hundred yards to the east of the main mine trail. It is overgrown and full of brambles, but is negotiable at a slow pace of march.
After about 30 minutes, Thaddeus and Jacques believe that the entrance to the coal mine is a few hundred yards west. The going to the coal mine area will be rough, as the foliage, rocks, trees and old rockslides will make the trek a little treacherous and most certainly pretty noisy.
Two large wolves, not worg sized, but large regular wolves, run across the prospector's trail behind you. One of them was sniffing the ground intently and looked up at you before disappearing back into the shrubbery.
From the area of the coal mine, you hear distant shouts in a deep baritone voice and the distinctive sound of wood snapping loudly. Then some more high pitched voices, then nothing.
Once the message spell is in place, and after a quick review of our hand signals, Jaques will attempt to sneak up to the mine, to see what's going on. His emphasis will be on stealth, so he won't foolishly close. Once the others are closer, for potential backup, he may move closer for a better look.
1d20+4=7
1d20+4=23
Load crossbow, "Anyone like wolf stew?" Belric asks as he scans about for enemies.
Thaddeus will add a little 'oomph' to make the message spell last longer: DC10 spellcraft check for message spell. (1d20+9=18)
Otherwise, Thaddeus will take up a position in cover as best he can, keeping lookout, crossbow at the ready. Waiting for instructions and information from Jacques. He'll relay to the others, sending them forward based on information from Jacques about good places to hide or when the guards aren't looking.
Thaddeus will be the last one to go because he's the only one with a 'radio'.
Nodding silently to Thaddeus as he issues instructions on where to find hiding, Agathon will move to cover and relax in anticipation of a lengthy wait while Jacques sneaks forward.
Agathon strains to hear more from the enemy:
With bow at the ready, Agathon will take a few moments to further tend his wound and to focus on the coming encounter...
Jacques takes about 15 minutes to sneak up the edge of the coal mine bowl. Here's a link to the old map. Ignore the PC position notations. Jacques sneaks up to the southeast corner of the depression.
Sacks of coal are stacked up three high in many areas of the bowl. Jacques sees about a dozen goblins on guard duty at the edge of the bowl, shortbows at the ready. Most have signaling horns.
The coal sacks are being stacked up by teams of kobolds, unarmed. They are supervised by an ogre, who wields a whip and is the source of the baritone voice. A couple of hobgoblins laze about in the bowl, yelling occasional commands to the kobolds and scratching their asses.
A team of six kobolds is building a large wagon and a crane to lift the wagon out of the depression, since the path is too narrow due to erosion and lack of maintenance to lead anything but a narrow ox cart up and down into the bowl. A huge splintered tree is being harvested for wood for that purpose.
After loading his crossbow, Belric listens to the various points of the argument about what is to be done. "Mighty strange it be to watch Thadeous talk to Jaques when he is not around, makes 'em look daft! Arcane tis not natural like the divine might of Moradin" Belric muses.
"Eh, lad" Belric quietly says as he taps Agathon with his shield, "that spot o'er there seems to be a sweet spot to hole up in while we gather ye wind"
"Lad, I've a tad bit of healing left" Belric mumbles to Agathon, " With ye permission are ye willing to take the blessing power o' Moradin for ye hurts?"
" That be the extent of me own strength to wield Moradin's grace, now I must rest to regain the strength to harness his blessings!" Belric thinks to himself. [ooc] he settles in resting with crossbow ready, watching for any enemy, spot check
After vigorous discussion, we are decided on the following course of action:
- Belric will fall out and get rest to recover spells
- Agathon will fall out and get rest to recover a couple of HP
- Thaddeus and Jacques maintain an OP on the bowl. If possible they'll site the OP where they can watch over Belric and Agathon while they rest. If not, we'll have Thaddeus back watching the sleepers, and rig a rope to the OP with some simple prearranged signals. Obviously rules of cover, concealment and silence apply.
- wait for dusk to see if any bats exit the cave. Between that and knowledge/local rolls, if a back way into the coal mine exists we should find it.
- if a back way in exists, go in and kill off Arkar (the local chieftain), his entourage, and whoever else we encounter, then bug out.
- if a back way in does not exist, we'll wait for the wagon to be ready, follow it a ways and seize it in the name of Count Dunstan.
Belric is right - there should be a second way in to the cave, for air flow if nothing else. And Agathon had a great idea about the bats. Now what was that old miner at the Gnoll's Head telling me last night...? Knowledge/local to see if there's a second way into the coal mine. (1d20+9=27)
Thaddeus will settle in either at the OP with Jacques or in a hidden position where he can watch the sleepers. If the latter then he and Jacques will run a rope between the two positions with a few simple signals - say one tug for 'are you there', two tugs for 'come here slowly', three tugs for 'enemy approaching'. If Jacques has other ideas I'll certainly accede to them, as he has forgotten more about stealth and surveillance than I am ever likely to know.
"Thank you, Brother Belric... As you well know, I have experienced the healing power of Moradin and I neither doubt that power nor your ability to wield it!"
Agathon stretches out and utters a short prayer to Pelor thenking him for the good fortune of having Belric with our company and will close his eyes and fall fast asleep looking forward to dreams of smashing Ogres and dancing with beautiful Elven rangers...
For a minute there I thought Thaddeus was going to suggest we all charge down there screaming "death to humanoids". Perhaps this was merely a debating tactic, taking a position from which he could then fall back to some reasonable course of action, to forestall suggestions that we not engage at all? He is clever enough to do that Jaques settles in for a nice long watch on the activity in the bowl, after making communication arrangements with Thaddeus. He remains watchful as to the surrounding area as well, in case there are roving gaurds, or the return of the Worg party.
Goblin Bowl:
The wagon construction is complete by nightfall. Thaddeus and Jacques have positively identified the following OPFOR: 22 goblins, 4 hobgoblins, 1 ogre, 26 kobolds. They have a feeling that some more might be inside the mine.
About six goblins remain on guard duty as darkness falls. The wagon is loaded down with dozens of coal sacks. Hundreds of coal sacks remain stacked up in the bowl, hastily covered with crude tarps. From snatches of conversation caught by Thaddeus, it seems the goblins think the humans won't attack at night because the humans think the goblins are most active at night. Goblin reverse psychology?
Thaddeus identifies the precise location of an alternative cave entrance via the bat flight at dusk. How large that entrance is and whether it's accessible remains to the be seen.
Rest Area:
By nightfall, Belric and Agathon have rested their 8 hours.
"There! There are your bats!", Thaddeus whispers to Agathon. "And about where the old prospector told me the other entrance was!"
If he hasn't already, Thaddeus will make sure to eat something and "water the plants". It might be a while before he has the opportunity to do either.
If it's too dark to see well, Thaddeus will invite Belric to lead off towards the second cave entrance, holding a rope that the rest of us humans will hold on to. Otherwise standard marching order applies.
Obviously we'll practice noise and light discipline. Jacques can assist in that regard.
Hide and move silently rolls for approaching the secondary cave entrance. (1d20+3=22, 1d20+3=13)
"Ay lad, I'll take lead" Belric whispers back, "The path leads to the left, then hooks right" as he moves ahead.
Agathon will listen quietly while Belric explains the movement plan for our attempt to investigate the ‘back’ entrance to the mine. He is thankful that his face is hidden in shadow so that the others don’t see what must be a stupid grin on his face because of the success of his bat idea…
“I shall be our rearguard.” Agathon will whisper. “Everyone should take one of these…”
“If we are spotted and have to fight before we get there, we might as well light these up so that we can see the battle we will be in… I suggest that we be careful and not light them unless we encounter a large force.”
Jaques will move as silently as possible, and will attempt to remain hidden as well. He will offer advice to the others to assist their attempts to do the same. He will try to stay really close to Belric, to use his skills with Belric's eyes and achieve maximum stealth.
1d20+8=26 1d20+8=27This darkvision of Belrics is a most useful ability. I must acquire the means to accomplish this feat. I wonder if there is an item or some magic that can grant me this ability? I will discuss this with Thaddeus when we have an opportunity. He may have some ideas.
By the time the party arrives at the area where the bats were seen leaving, it's quite dark. You mostly moved fairly quietly thanks to the dwarf's lead, but he's not very quiet himself.
Upon arrival, you notice a fissure in the ground, well concealed by brambles and short trees. It is large enough for a medium sized creature to squeeze through, but Belric's examination reveals loose rocks and narrow turns that will make entering a potentially deadly or loud affair, unless you make some adjustments or plans to account for that.
No one has engineering? I bet by 3rd level someone will....
"Gentlemen, I have an idea, but you may not like the taste of it. I only thought of it on the walk here; I'm surprised I didn't think of it today."
Thaddeus looks at Agathon and Jacques. "Do you remember that smoldering coal dust yesterday? How we were very nearly overcome by the fumes? And Brother Belric, I'm sure you of all folk is aware of the dangers of improperly ventilated coal fires in a cavern."
"What I'm suggesting is that we stealthily kill the guards in the bowl, spread sacks of coal at the entrance, and set them alight. I can create a breeze for an hour or so to blow all the smoke and noxious fumes into the cave. This should suffocate all the humanoids in the cavern."
"I know that some of you may have misgivings about slaying our enemies in this manner. To my way of thinking, the manner of death is irrelevant so long as there is no needless suffering involved. Someone who dies from smoke inhalation is just as dead as someone with a sword in their belly."
"While we are here, though, I wonder if it would be prudent to explore the fissure, to see how far back it goes before opening up - if it opens up? There may not be an obvious connection to the main cavern. We should also check the direction of air flow and find some likely locations for traps."
"The very fact that it is not externally guarded leads me to hope that the humanoids do not know of the existence of this entrance."
"I like it!" Belric replies softly, but eagerly. "Choking on their own spoils is very poetic" Belric looks at the others being able to read their expressions in the darkness "What?, Don't ye believe dwarves have the souls of poets? Bah, long legged galoots all of ye."
"That be a tight squeeze it be, and knowing gobbers they like em traps, they surely do" Belric quietly utters inspecting the fissure, "I wonder" he thinks to himself. He does an closer inspection
"An inspired and devious plan my friend. I too have no problem in the manner in which we kill our foes here. We have sworn loyalty to a city that is already on a war footing and in preparation for what could be a truly terrible siege."
"Smoking them out is a capital idea. That is, after we investigate this fissure a bit to determine its worth as a direction of assault (or retreat for them)."
"Just in case you are attacked down there..."
Now I know how the worm on the hook feels, "Here, why don't you jump down there and see if there are any fish?" Jaques will accept the Sunrod and climb down into the fissure a bit, to see if there is a light source, and or any opening large enough for either the party to enter, or for the Goblins to escape. He will be very slow, meticulous, and careful, there does not seem to be any rush. He will leave one end of his rope with Agathon, and will not proceed any deeper than his 50' rope will allow.
Total: 18
Jacques disappears into the crevace. Moving by feel, as he can see almost nothing for the first few feet, he notices that after about 10 feet in, glowing lichen on the walls allow him to see a few feet in a surreal manner. He has to get down on all fours and even crawl a couple of times before, after about 30' in, he enters a fairly large cave, about 20'x20', where the bats apparently roost. Beyond this cave and below it, through the stones and walls of the cave, he can hear the rhythmic crack of pickaxes. The bat cave opposite exit is sealed off by a very old and very dry-rotted net hung over the narrow cave exit.
Jacques is fairly sure that if the party took off their armor and moved slowly, they could make it to the bat cave without being heard beyond.
When Jacques emerges from the fissure, Thaddeus will help the others get ready - helping Agathon out of his chain shirt, wrapping anything that might scrape or clank in fabric, etc. He will also conceal his mule at an out-of-sight location as directed by Belric.
Thaddeus will go in third (after Jacques and Agathon), with Belric as rear guard/lookout since he can see. We'll have a long string or rope strung from the bat cave to the outside - when the lead person emgerges into the bat cave, they yank on the rope as a signal to the next person to come in. That way we're not all trapped in the narrow fissure at the same time.
Thaddeus will take as much time as required to move silently - we're not in a rush at all.
Slowly removing his armor with Thaddeus’ assistance, Agathon will whisper, “Let’s just stuff it into my pack… It will be quiet enough in there.”
Completing the task with very slow deliberate movements, Agathon will follow Jacques into the crevice after he gets the appropriate number of tugs from the little guy already inside. Taking his time and stopping at the beginning of any little rip or clink so as to deaden all sound as much as possible, he will wiggle into the cavern beyond pushing and carrying his pack and gear before him as he goes.
Once there, he will let his eyes adjust to the faint glow of the lichen and smile at the dark shape of Jacques. Agathon will give the ‘all clear’ tugs on the rope and begin to very VERY slowly re-don his armor after carefully setting Ole Blue on the floor away from the hole he just came through.
After Agathon slips away into the fissure, Belric patiently scans about looking for any enemy, feeling very naked without his armor. Feeling the tug from THadeous, he slowly creeps into the fissure hoping that he doesn's stumble.
Jaques moves toward the entrance into the room the others are coming into from the fissure. He takes a concealed but ready position, near the entrance, so that if any goblin wanders into the room, Jaques can pounce on him, and take him out before they get a chance to notice the others putting their gear back on, or clambering down from the fissure. He remains vigilint for any indication of approach.
As the rest of the party gingerly makes their way into the bat cave, Jacques is NOT surprised when a large spider drops down from the ceiling and tries to bite him. Jacques gets an attack of opportunity, adding his deft opportunist bonus, and he crushes the spider's body into pulp with a mighty fist blow. Jacques notices the scuttling of more large spiders (about the size of volleyballs) on the ceiling and in crevices leading into the bat cave from above.....
Belric scans about
"Ach, crawlies" as he starts to don his armor keeping "CAP" ready and never farther away than a quick grab.
The scuttling sound of the spiders causes Belric to look up, while snatching his warax and with a powerful backhanded swipe
Thaddeus inches along the fissure, already missing the fresh outside air as the ammonia from the guano assails his nostrils.
Spot check and initiative in the bat cave. (1d20=9, 1d20+7=23)
If he sees his friends fighting the spiders, or sees any in the ceiling or on the floor, he'll take a shot:
As Agathon emerges from the fissure, he sees Jacques splatter the spider in front of him. Agathon immediately looks about for other spiders seeing several crawling about the ceiling of the chamber…
A Spot Check: (1d20+3=17)
An Initiative Roll: (1d20+7=24)
A Hit with the Heavy Pick: (1d20+6=20, 1d6+4=6)