Mal positions himself in the treeline as close to the cave entrance as possible, his merge with stone spell still breaking up everyone's silhouettes amongst the trees and hiding them in the earthen darkness, when all is ready he raises his morningstar above his head in signal and waits for the scream.
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“Ink, why don’t you cast the illusion of the scream? I’ll be in stand by whether it be music or middle.” Chensica attempts to hide and be stealthy, and has her lute on hand, but also makes sure to have some sling stones at the ready.
He targets the spell for just outside the cave entrance and let's the sound continue for approximately ten seconds. If no goblins respond, then he'll repeat the cantrip, making the same sound but centering it farther from the cave entrance, and thereby give the impression that the injured person is slowly moving away from the cave.
"Curious bait for a curious quarry,"he thinks to himself as he waits for the action to unfold...
As the sounds Ink are creating cry out, there isn't an immediate response. The cave mouth hangs open with its dark passage looming out at you.
After a few moments you hear some rustling in the brush to the east. A pair of goblins come shuffling out from behind some trees and are both dragging their feet as though they had just been asleep. One of them scratches its head and yawns while it looks around, then shrugs. The other one starts to move like it is going to cross the stream.
Ink wrinkles up his nose and shakes his head. "It seems I've done little more than create an alarm clock for a pair of sleepy-eyed guards. Quite disappointing."
As the goblins move close enough Mal springs the trap moving as quietly as possible and surprising them with an attack, wielding the shoddily made morningstar with surprising agility Mal strikes down with one wide swinging motion on the closest goblin,
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Seeing Mal preparing to strike, Crom takes a deep breath and draws back his first arrow. He points its tip at the yawning goblin and then raises the bow a few inches higher and just a notch to the left to account for distance and the wind. As Mal begins to move, Crom exhales slowly and releases the arrow, watching it arc through the air towards its target even as he nocks the next arrow.
Calantha watches as Mal and Crom take out the two sleepy goblins in quick, well-executed attacks. Before she even has a chance to aid either of them, the goblins fall dead to the ground. If their calculations were correct, that still left about six goblins, probably still hiding in the cave.
"What should we do now?" Calantha turns to Mal. "The other goblins are still in the cave. I say it's time to hunt down the little bastards inside their hidey-hole."
Crom walks over to Mal and Calantha and attempts to retrieve his arrow from the limp goblin, but sees the fletching has been ruined and gives up. "I think you're right. Now that there is blood on their doorstep, we can no longer afford to linger. It's time to move. Who's going to need light if things get dark?" He asks, looking around at the others.
As the first goblin crumples under the swing of Mal's morningstar he looks up toward the second in time to see it slump back also dead, he stands up straight for a moment listening and then quickly buckles his Morningstar and shield, instead taking up one leg of each of the goblins in his hands and dragging them into the treeline,
"Again?" He grumbles out his question with bewilderment
Calantha nods. "I have a torch in my pack, but if Ink or Chensica could provide magical illumination that might be easier. It could perhaps blind the goblins temporarily as well when we move in for the attack."
Calantha turns to Mal. The older genasi had grumbled something that sounded like again. She wasn't quite sure what he meant by that.
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To Mal's suggestion, Crom replies, "Either there are none inside the cave within earshot, or they didn't come out because they assume the watch we just dispatched is seeing to the situation. If it's the former, the trick will llikely do nothing, and if it's the latter, then each moment that passes without word from the watch may drive their guard up. I vote we push forward now while they are unprepared, as evidenced by the state of their sentries. That being said, we still need to be smart about it."
Crom makes his way over to the cave entrance and examines the footprints to see if he can get a clearer picture of the goblin's numbers and their movement. He knows he saw around 12 distinct sets back on the trail, but he is worried there may be others who hadn't walked that path.
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Ink leaves his hiding spot and makes his way toward the other members of the group. "A different result than we expected, but a good one nonetheless,"he muses.
The gnome stares into the cave opening and then turns to Calantha. "I'm not able to create any light source, unfortunately. Possibly Chensica can do so?"
Ink then drops Master Po on the ground, and the weasel darts to the mouth of the cave and freezes, straining its ears for any sound of movement within the cave...
Inksnaps out of his trance-like connection to Master Po, looks at his fellow adventurers, and explains what he heard through his familiar's ears. "The cave echoes with the sound of dogs or wolves fighting..."
He then summons Po to himself and tucks the small creature into his robe pocket.
Nodding at the sage thought process Crom lays out, Mal starts to move toward the cave mouth rearming himself as he does and only at this point swinging his morningstar quickliy toward the ground in an attempt to loose the stuck goblin flesh and viscera that has become caught in the ragged spikes.
"we move, Assault team up front, Rag be our eyes until we get to 'em. Wolf fightin' sounds like some kind of underground bettin' ring, could be fun."
The last comment is made more to himself than anyone else as he prepares to step into the darkness of the cave beyond.
Mal positions himself in the treeline as close to the cave entrance as possible, his merge with stone spell still breaking up everyone's silhouettes amongst the trees and hiding them in the earthen darkness, when all is ready he raises his morningstar above his head in signal and waits for the scream.
Stealth; 13 / 14
“Ink, why don’t you cast the illusion of the scream? I’ll be in stand by whether it be music or middle.” Chensica attempts to hide and be stealthy, and has her lute on hand, but also makes sure to have some sling stones at the ready.
: stealth. 7
Ink nods at Chensica and watches the others as they settle into their various hiding places. When all seems quiet and ready, he creates the sound of someone old and frail wailing in pain.
He targets the spell for just outside the cave entrance and let's the sound continue for approximately ten seconds. If no goblins respond, then he'll repeat the cantrip, making the same sound but centering it farther from the cave entrance, and thereby give the impression that the injured person is slowly moving away from the cave.
"Curious bait for a curious quarry," he thinks to himself as he waits for the action to unfold...
As the sounds Ink are creating cry out, there isn't an immediate response. The cave mouth hangs open with its dark passage looming out at you.
After a few moments you hear some rustling in the brush to the east. A pair of goblins come shuffling out from behind some trees and are both dragging their feet as though they had just been asleep. One of them scratches its head and yawns while it looks around, then shrugs. The other one starts to move like it is going to cross the stream.
Ink wrinkles up his nose and shakes his head. "It seems I've done little more than create an alarm clock for a pair of sleepy-eyed guards. Quite disappointing."
He then waits to see how the others respond...
As the goblins move close enough Mal springs the trap moving as quietly as possible and surprising them with an attack, wielding the shoddily made morningstar with surprising agility Mal strikes down with one wide swinging motion on the closest goblin,
Attack; 8
Damage;10
Seeing Mal preparing to strike, Crom takes a deep breath and draws back his first arrow. He points its tip at the yawning goblin and then raises the bow a few inches higher and just a notch to the left to account for distance and the wind. As Mal begins to move, Crom exhales slowly and releases the arrow, watching it arc through the air towards its target even as he nocks the next arrow.
Attack: 16 Damage: 10
Crom sees his arrow arc right into the goblin's yawning maw and out the back of its neck, dropping it quickly and quietly.
Seeing that Mal simultaneously felled his target, Crom keeps his bow at the ready, in case any other goblins arrive from the treeline or the cave.
"Good work," he says to Ink. "If you hadn't flushed out those two from the woods, we mighta found ourselves surrounded once we got into the cave.
Calantha watches as Mal and Crom take out the two sleepy goblins in quick, well-executed attacks. Before she even has a chance to aid either of them, the goblins fall dead to the ground. If their calculations were correct, that still left about six goblins, probably still hiding in the cave.
"What should we do now?" Calantha turns to Mal. "The other goblins are still in the cave. I say it's time to hunt down the little bastards inside their hidey-hole."
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf (Phandelver and Below) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan (Vecna: Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Gareth Blackwood (Dragon of Icespire Peak) ♦ Karys Velthune (Out of the Abyss) ♦ Surina Xarith (Simple, Heroic Adventure)
DM: Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
Crom walks over to Mal and Calantha and attempts to retrieve his arrow from the limp goblin, but sees the fletching has been ruined and gives up. "I think you're right. Now that there is blood on their doorstep, we can no longer afford to linger. It's time to move. Who's going to need light if things get dark?" He asks, looking around at the others.
As the first goblin crumples under the swing of Mal's morningstar he looks up toward the second in time to see it slump back also dead, he stands up straight for a moment listening and then quickly buckles his Morningstar and shield, instead taking up one leg of each of the goblins in his hands and dragging them into the treeline,
"Again?" He grumbles out his question with bewilderment
Calantha nods. "I have a torch in my pack, but if Ink or Chensica could provide magical illumination that might be easier. It could perhaps blind the goblins temporarily as well when we move in for the attack."
Calantha turns to Mal. The older genasi had grumbled something that sounded like again. She wasn't quite sure what he meant by that.
Extended Signature
Characters: Bryony Alderleaf (Phandelver and Below) ♦ Vesta Trevelyan (Vecna: Eve of Ruin) ♦ Ada Kendrick (Curse of Strahd) ♦ Gareth Blackwood (Dragon of Icespire Peak) ♦ Karys Velthune (Out of the Abyss) ♦ Surina Xarith (Simple, Heroic Adventure)
DM: Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus
To Mal's suggestion, Crom replies, "Either there are none inside the cave within earshot, or they didn't come out because they assume the watch we just dispatched is seeing to the situation. If it's the former, the trick will llikely do nothing, and if it's the latter, then each moment that passes without word from the watch may drive their guard up. I vote we push forward now while they are unprepared, as evidenced by the state of their sentries. That being said, we still need to be smart about it."
Crom makes his way over to the cave entrance and examines the footprints to see if he can get a clearer picture of the goblin's numbers and their movement. He knows he saw around 12 distinct sets back on the trail, but he is worried there may be others who hadn't walked that path.
Survival: 13
Ink leaves his hiding spot and makes his way toward the other members of the group. "A different result than we expected, but a good one nonetheless," he muses.
The gnome stares into the cave opening and then turns to Calantha. "I'm not able to create any light source, unfortunately. Possibly Chensica can do so?"
Ink then drops Master Po on the ground, and the weasel darts to the mouth of the cave and freezes, straining its ears for any sound of movement within the cave...
Perception: 18
Keen Hearing and Smell. The weasel has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing or smell.
...and Ink prepares to tell the others what, if anything, is heard.
Ink snaps out of his trance-like connection to Master Po, looks at his fellow adventurers, and explains what he heard through his familiar's ears. "The cave echoes with the sound of dogs or wolves fighting..."
He then summons Po to himself and tucks the small creature into his robe pocket.
Nodding at the sage thought process Crom lays out, Mal starts to move toward the cave mouth rearming himself as he does and only at this point swinging his morningstar quickliy toward the ground in an attempt to loose the stuck goblin flesh and viscera that has become caught in the ragged spikes.
"we move, Assault team up front, Rag be our eyes until we get to 'em. Wolf fightin' sounds like some kind of underground bettin' ring, could be fun."
The last comment is made more to himself than anyone else as he prepares to step into the darkness of the cave beyond.