Daerthe will move closer so that she can see the goblins within her attack ranger, holding her action to attack any of them that make an aggressive move.

Hark remains on the ground, hands up, and says, “Fine. I surrender. What do you want from me?” The two goblins on the east side of the chamber watch the interaction nervously , ready to continue the fight if necessary. Zukluk, the goblin who Snigbat attacked and then tried to convince, steps toward Boss Hark, leaning over the small rock wall. “Right now, I think it matters more what I want. Which is the end of a miserable, greedy, foolish leader.” And she slashes down at him with her scimitar. Attack: 10 Damage: 5

Hark just manages to roll away from Zukluk’s blade and she curses him. Seeing this, Snigbat says, “Agreed!” and rushes over next to her for her own attack. Attack: 6 Damage: 8

Apparently Hark is a survivor, because he avoids Snigbat’s scimitar as well.

(Combat is mostly resolved other than this fight between goblins. The two remaining giant rats are asleep for another minute or so, the two goblins on the east side are waiting to see what happens with Hark, and Snigbat and Zukluk are focused on Hark. What would any of you like to do?)

Helena sighs and waits to see how the goblin internal fighting resolves itself. She is not going to step into the middle of that, as it is between them to figure out.

Sphyboe will attempt to examine the current conditions of the giant rats when she moves closer to Bearamble and questions him, "Do you want to proceed and grant them the mercy? I don't know whether they're going to survive or not after receiving this type of fatal injury. But I certainly know that a massacre is bound to happen if they cease to being unconscious." She nudges the nose of the stuffed animal that has been strapped to the side of her backpack then adds, "Mr. Teddy has agreed to help you out if you want assistance."

As Snigbat moves away, Hark growls at the two attacking goblins, “You think you stronger than me? You pay for your treachery!” He picks up his scimitar and slashes first at Snigbat and then Zukluk. Attack: 16 Damage: 4 and Attack: 11 Damage: 3

His first attack cuts into Snigbat’s arm, but Zukluk blocks the second with her shield. Zukluk desperately swings at Hark again. Attack: 8 Damage: 4 The wily goblin boss dodges. Snigbat strikes at him. Attack: 23 Damage: 6 She manages to land her blow. Hark is badly wounded but still standing.

(Anything you all want to do?)

Bearamble will grumble in understanding Sphyboe but not being able to communicate otherwise.

As soon as he sees Hark rise, he will attempt to end the remaining rat infestation. He will not wake both unless he finishes the first.

Bite Attack: 12 Damage: 7 Auto crit: 4

Claw Attack: 21 Damage: 14 Auto crit: 6

With his movement he will spin to stare down the two goblins on the eastern wall.

Bearamble bites at one giant rat, tearing out its throat. He turns on the second and slashes at it with a deadly claw. The giant rats are dead. When Bearamble turns toward the goblins with a blood-soaked face, they cower against the wall with their hands up.

(Anyone else want to take an action before the three goblins in the southwest corner keep fighting?)

Daerthe sighs at the fighting and forms two more of the energy daggers in her hand, taking aim towards Hark and throwing both at him, simply want this done and over with.

Attack: 15 Damage: 10

Sneak Attack: 6

Bonus Action: Attack: 24 Damage: 6

Helena turns away as the goblins fight, but glances back as one of her companions throws weapons at the boss, likely ending the fight. She smiles in approval at the act, hopeful that the threat here is finally ended.

Both of Daerthe’s daggers strike the goblin boss, though he may have been dead before the second one hit. His body falls limply to the floor. “Ha ha!” crows Snigbat jubilantly. “You pay for your stupidity! Making too many mad at you.” She turns to Zukluk and the other goblins. “Time for new life for our clan. We respect dangerous neighbors in Nightstone, not anger them. I will be smart leader. Fight done now. You follow me, yes?” The other goblins nod. Zukluk says, “Snigbat good leader. If she becomes foolish, I take her down. But now, we have lost too many.” 

Snigbat now turns to you all and says, “Our clan thanks you, Archer, Dagger’s Shadow, Bear, Thunder, Angel, and Sleepcaller. You kill our people under Hark’s lead, but now we are friends, yes? You wait here just a minute. I will get thank you gift.” And Snigbat calls the other goblins to follow her to the southern passage.

Helena frowns after the goblins. "What sort of thank-you gift do you think a goblin is likely to give us?" She asks the others as the goblins file out.

Sphyboe attempts to guess the type of gifts that might be offered by the goblins to the party while blankly staring at Helena, but she finds nothing to suggest. Definitely, she will take the responsibility to split up the rewards again and deprive the party from the possession of the fair share, just for quenching her thirst for impractical amusement.

(While you all are waiting for Snigbat, I’ll mention that when Sphyboe was waking and threatening Hark, she noticed several spears, clubs, and shields stashed in the area where he had been trying to hide. You guess that these are probably ones that were confiscated from the guards and villagers.)

Sphyboe decides to examine the place where Hark has been trying to take shelter from the direct impact of ammunitions and spell damage. When she does so, she makes a mental note to collect the damaged weapons from the first chamber of the cave, then take these weapons for repair in the Nightstone.

Investigation 11

Daerthe moves over to the now dead goblin leader, considering it her kill. She will move to tear through his clothing to look for pockets or anything else hidden, making no effort to hide what she was doing.

Looking through the weapons that Hark had stashed away, Sphyboe finds 9 spears, 5 clubs, 2 daggers, and 5 shields, all in decent condition. The shields and spears have a symbol on them that looks like two capital Ns that overlap slightly. Meanwhile, Daerthe steps past and searches Hark’s body. He wears a somewhat rusty chain shirt. A pitted and banged up scimitar and shield lie nearby. He has a small coin purse with 8 silver pieces. In a pocket, he carries an odd skull from some woodland creature. Any holes in the skull have been stopped up with clay, except one with a cork plug. It smells faintly of oil. If you pull out the cork, it smells strongly of oil. (This skull can be used in combat like a flask of oil.)

A few minutes after Snigbat and the other goblins leave, you all hear the sound of a large boulder being rolled a few feet. A few minutes after that, the goblins return and Snigbat presents a few items. One is a bloodstained leather case that contains a rather nice set of thieves’ tools. The other is a holy symbol: a wooden oak leaf with inlaid gold representing the veins of the leaf. (You all would estimate that these are each worth about 25gp.) She also hands over a vial with a red potion that you presume is a potion of healing. As she offers these to you, she says, “To show thanks and friendship between great fighters and this goblin clan, take these from Hark’s—I mean, our treasure. Now, you go, tell Nightstone that new goblin leader leaves them in peace.”

Ever since the goblins had scampered off, Essie has been peering about the cavern with a look of wide-eyed amazement. Stashing all her weapons away, she moves about the cavern, peering around the stalagmites and into the little crevices. Every so often, she lets out a little hum of joy and keeps moving.

When the goblins return, she rejoins the party. "Thank you kindly," she tells Snigbat with a smile, taking the holy symbol to study a little closer. "We appreciate your aid in this endeavor, and I am glad we could work together. We made a pretty great team, didn't we?"

Helena also gives her thanks to the goblins. "We'll tell the village of your generosity." She informs them. "There is likely going to need to be more done to mend what the old boss goblin did to those villagers, but this is likely a step in the right direction." She will then be more than ready to get out of these caves.

Sphyboe uses her fingertips to tap on the surface of the Shield, then she rubs the engraving on the Spears rigorously with the soft side of her thumbs. She will attempt to recall any information about the initials 'N.N.'. If she doesn't remember anything, she will ask Snigbat about the markings on the Spear and Shields by saying:

"From where did your former Boss Hark collect these fine weapons and shields? Do you need these for your protection?"

Intelligence: 17