Mara reaches over and extinguishes the magical light emanating from Lukuth's axe. As she does so, the darkness closes in.
"No need to let them know we're coming." Only Aeran can see her smile, though the tightness around her eyes perhaps betrays some trepidation.
As Aeran leads the way to the branch tunnel, your keen elven senses pick out the shadowy shape of a bridge suspended over the stream further upstream. There don't appear to be any goblins lurking up that way.
Entering the branch tunnel, Aeran can pick out its roughly-worked walls in shades of grey as there is almost no light reaching here. The others can barely make out the silhouette of the elven warrior's back. Reaching the junction that Mara mentioned, Aeran can see now the orange light of the torch flickering in the cavern to your left. Bathed in this light are the two singed goblins, both with their backs to you. They still appear to be remonstrating with another just out of sight.
As you reach this position, the passage behind you fills with a mighty roar as a huge surge of rushing water pours from upstream, barreling its way towards the cave mouth. Mayres has barely cleared the passageway when the deluge roars past, and would quite likely have been swept away had it been a moment earlier. The wave exits the cave mouth and the stream returns to its normal height in a moment, as if the whole thing had never happened.
The sound of this flood causes the two goblins in the cavern to turn and look in your direction. Their eyes widen in panic as they see Aeran lurking, sword drawn.
We are now back in initiative order:
Alden: 22
Aeran: 20
Willow: 19
Mara: 18
Goblin 1: 15
Lukuth: 10
Goblin 2: 10
Mayres: 4
It makes sense for Aeran to go before Alden for this round, as he is the only one that's seen the goblins. So I will swap you two for this round only, then return to the correct order after that.
Aeran nods as Mara removes her light spell, even though he is not particularly sure she can see his reaction. It takes him a moment for his eyes to re-adjust to the darkness, before he continues advancing forward, his steps careful and as quiet as they can possibly be, considering his heavy mail armour.
He notes the bridge a bit more upstream, and makes a mental note to keep in mind that there might be other goblins coming in from that direction. At the sound of the water crashing, he turns to check on the group, feeling relief that nobody has been washed away by the torrent.
Despite only being in this part of the cave perhaps for a few minutes only, it seems like forever to him until the soft glow of the torch finally sheds some light ahead. Just as his eyes find their targets, currently standing with their backs on him, the goblins turn and look directly at him, preventing any further attempts at surprise attack.
Since they have already seen him, Aeran goes straight into charging mode, shortening the distance between himself and the two creatures with a few long strides. Once he gets in reach, he swings with the sword at the one closer.
Attack: 16 Damage: 6
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Aeran slices into the shocked creature, ending its life with one swift blow. Its lifeless body drops to the ground.
Looking up from your attack, you see the ledge that Mara described, and on it another goblin in chain mail, wielding a scimitar like the one that died in the stream earlier. The ledge is 10ft above the cave floor on which you stand. There are rough steps up to it on the far side of the cavern.
In front of this goblin is the human man, bound and bloody. He is perched on the edge of the ledge and the goblin has its foot on his back ready to shove him off, potentially to his death. The man's head hangs down on his chest. It looks as though there isn't much life left in him. Though you can't see his face, you are almost certain that this is Sildar Hallwinter, the associate of Gundrun's who accompanied him on the road to Phandalin.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Alden's arrow flies wide of the mark and clatters against the far wall. Almost simultaneously, Mara peers out from behind Lukuth, muttering an incantation and levelling her staff in the direction of the furthest part of the cave in an attempt not to include Aeran in the effects of her spell.
Unfortunately she does not quite imbue the spell with sufficient power to knock out the boss goblin, but the one in front of Aeran and Sildar both slump to the floor in a magical slumber. The goblin on the ledge looks somewhat startled as its captive slumps to the side away from its outstretched foot and begins snoring gently atop the rocky outcrop.
The battle-lust upon him, Lukuth sprints across the room, clears the sleeping goblin with ease, and takes the steps three at a time. Before the goblin leader has time to react, Lukuth's axe bites deep into its flesh, splitting its mail shirt and scattering broken links across the stone ledge.
Its captive forgotten as the terrifying goliath bears down, the goblin cries out in pain, ineffectually trying to raise its shield. It's too late, the damage is done. Glancing wildly about the room as it realises its outnumbered and has nowhere to run, it backs away, holding its shield up as best it can with an injured arm, and holding its scimitar out to try and keep Lukuth at a distance.
"Stop!" Its says, in heavily accented Common. There is panic in its voice. "You no need to kill me! Here, you here for it," it jabs the scimitar towards the sleeping Sildar, "you take it!" It pauses for a moment, it's eyes continuing to flick from side to side. It seems to have a thought. A thought that its quite pleased with.
"You like treasure? Big piles of gold? Big, shiny jewels?" The creature starts nodding enthusiastically, as if to affirm that you do, indeed, love treasure. "Klarg has much treasure. You kill Klarg, all treasure is yours. I help you." Its voice becomes pleading at the end of its sentence, as it tries to persuade you not to kill it with this offer.
The battle-lust upon him, Lukuth sprints across the room, clears the sleeping goblin with ease, and takes the steps three at a time. Before the goblin leader has time to react, Lukuth's axe bites deep into its flesh, splitting its mail shirt and scattering broken links across the stone ledge.
Its captive forgotten as the terrifying goliath bears down, the goblin cries out in pain, ineffectually trying to raise its shield. It's too late, the damage is done. Glancing wildly about the room as it realises its outnumbered and has nowhere to run, it backs away, holding its shield up as best it can with an injured arm, and holding its scimitar out to try and keep Lukuth at a distance.
"Stop!" Its says, in heavily accented Common. There is panic in its voice. "You no need to kill me! Here, you here for it," it jabs the scimitar towards the sleeping Sildar, "you take it!" It pauses for a moment, it's eyes continuing to flick from side to side. It seems to have a thought. A thought that its quite pleased with.
"You like treasure? Big piles of gold? Big, shiny jewels?" The creature starts nodding enthusiastically, as if to affirm that you do, indeed, love treasure. "Klarg has much treasure. You kill Klarg, all treasure is yours. I help you." Its voice becomes pleading at the end of its sentence, as it tries to persuade you not to kill it with this offer.
Mayres, your turn.
Mayres peered closer at the creature trying to see if its words were truthful. (Insight Check: 10) "If we don't have to kill it, I don't see any reason too. And I do love treasure," he said in an almost wistful tone, "It's useful."
As Mayres and Lukuth speak, the goblin is much encouraged. It grins a grotesque grin, exposing teeth filed to a point, and nods enthusiastically.
"Yes, yes, much treasure! Shiny treasure! You kill Klarg, I help. You have gold and jewels!"
Mayres searches the creatures face and body language for signs of its true intentions. It seems desperate. You feel that it would say just about anything right now to save its skin. The way that it seemed to settle on a plan and looked pleased with itself suggests to you that it might be telling at least half a truth about treasure, but whatever it's proposing, there is almost certainly something else in it for the goblin beyond simply not getting killed.
Mara speaks up, "Didn't you say you had two friends who had been taken? I assume this poor chap is one of them?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Seeing that Lukuth and Mayres are dealing with the boss goblin in a different manner, Aeran quickly tries to reach Stilgar and examine him to deduce his current state.
Medicine. 13
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Aeran approaches the prone form of Sildar Hallwinter and crouches to examine him. He seems pretty beaten up, there are bruises and scrapes on his face and blood crusted under his nose. Mara’s magic has put him to sleep, but the rise and fall of his breathing is clear and strong.
He wakes as Aeran examines him, looking groggy and somewhat confused. He lifts his head slightly and motions with his bound hands for help in sitting up.
“My thanks, friend,” he croaks. His voice is weak, so only Aeran can hear him. “I had hoped help would come.” He winces in pain and touches his ribs.
Sildar looks round at the sound of talking and sees the goblin standing just beyond Lukuth. He draws in a pained breath between gritted teeth.
”Whatever that one is saying to you,” he says, “don’t believe a word of it.”
He holds out his bound hands to Aeran. “A little help?”
At Sildar’s words, the goblin hisses in anger and starts to lunge toward him before realising it’d have to get past Lukuth to get to Sildar.
”Treasure is true,” it says. “All yours. Just kill Klarg.”
Aeran takes out a dagger and begins cutting the ropes. "Can you walk?" the elf asks quietly as he helps to free Stilgar from his bounds. "Where is Gunrun?"
Then he looks behind his shoulder to make sure the goblin boss is not trying anything funny, before looking back to the human, ready to assist him to stand and walk if needed.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Sildar grimaces as he stands stiffly, but he is able to do so unaided. He is a tall man with the build of a warrior. In his late forties, his physique tells of years of combat and training, and his mostly grey hair is cropped close and receding at the front into a widow's peak. He is wearing boots and breeches, and a soiled undershirt that is torn and bloodstained. He has no arms or armour. He rubs his wrists where the rope has reddened the skin.
"Aye, I can walk. I can fight, if needs be." He glares at the goblin, which seems less sure of itself now. Sildar's voice is becoming stronger, but is still strained. It clearly pains him to talk.
"Gundrun is not here," he says. "These bastards took him somewhere else. I overheard something about 'The Spider' wanting the dwarf and his map. I don't know who or what this 'Spider' is. They dragged him off, with the map and all my gear as well. Maybe this little toerag could be persuaded to tell us where we can find him." He gestures at the goblin, still cornered and desperate.
Again the beady goblin eyes betray a thought process. "Yes, I show you. I take you. But first you kill Klarg."
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Mara reaches over and extinguishes the magical light emanating from Lukuth's axe. As she does so, the darkness closes in.
"No need to let them know we're coming." Only Aeran can see her smile, though the tightness around her eyes perhaps betrays some trepidation.
As Aeran leads the way to the branch tunnel, your keen elven senses pick out the shadowy shape of a bridge suspended over the stream further upstream. There don't appear to be any goblins lurking up that way.
Entering the branch tunnel, Aeran can pick out its roughly-worked walls in shades of grey as there is almost no light reaching here. The others can barely make out the silhouette of the elven warrior's back. Reaching the junction that Mara mentioned, Aeran can see now the orange light of the torch flickering in the cavern to your left. Bathed in this light are the two singed goblins, both with their backs to you. They still appear to be remonstrating with another just out of sight.
As you reach this position, the passage behind you fills with a mighty roar as a huge surge of rushing water pours from upstream, barreling its way towards the cave mouth. Mayres has barely cleared the passageway when the deluge roars past, and would quite likely have been swept away had it been a moment earlier. The wave exits the cave mouth and the stream returns to its normal height in a moment, as if the whole thing had never happened.
The sound of this flood causes the two goblins in the cavern to turn and look in your direction. Their eyes widen in panic as they see Aeran lurking, sword drawn.
We are now back in initiative order:
Alden: 22
Aeran: 20
Willow: 19
Mara: 18
Goblin 1: 15
Lukuth: 10
Goblin 2: 10
Mayres: 4
It makes sense for Aeran to go before Alden for this round, as he is the only one that's seen the goblins. So I will swap you two for this round only, then return to the correct order after that.
So, over to Aeran for your action please.
Aeran nods as Mara removes her light spell, even though he is not particularly sure she can see his reaction. It takes him a moment for his eyes to re-adjust to the darkness, before he continues advancing forward, his steps careful and as quiet as they can possibly be, considering his heavy mail armour.
He notes the bridge a bit more upstream, and makes a mental note to keep in mind that there might be other goblins coming in from that direction. At the sound of the water crashing, he turns to check on the group, feeling relief that nobody has been washed away by the torrent.
Despite only being in this part of the cave perhaps for a few minutes only, it seems like forever to him until the soft glow of the torch finally sheds some light ahead. Just as his eyes find their targets, currently standing with their backs on him, the goblins turn and look directly at him, preventing any further attempts at surprise attack.
Since they have already seen him, Aeran goes straight into charging mode, shortening the distance between himself and the two creatures with a few long strides. Once he gets in reach, he swings with the sword at the one closer.
Attack: 16 Damage: 6
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Vesna March - L1 Cleric in Etharis
DM The Missing Farmer
Aeran slices into the shocked creature, ending its life with one swift blow. Its lifeless body drops to the ground.
Looking up from your attack, you see the ledge that Mara described, and on it another goblin in chain mail, wielding a scimitar like the one that died in the stream earlier. The ledge is 10ft above the cave floor on which you stand. There are rough steps up to it on the far side of the cavern.
In front of this goblin is the human man, bound and bloody. He is perched on the edge of the ledge and the goblin has its foot on his back ready to shove him off, potentially to his death. The man's head hangs down on his chest. It looks as though there isn't much life left in him. Though you can't see his face, you are almost certain that this is Sildar Hallwinter, the associate of Gundrun's who accompanied him on the road to Phandalin.
Goblin boss initiative: 20
The goblin on the ledge has no time to react before Alden...
Lukuth runs into the cave with a massive smile on his face.
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
On his turn 😁
Alden, it’s your turn.
*Bump*
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
Despite the cramped cave, Alden manages to squeeze past his comrades and reach the cave exit.
From here he has a good view of the fight and the second goblin in front of Aeran.
He can aim at his target in peace. Take a deep breath and fires
12 to hit / 8 damage
Taking immediately cover after the shot in the cave entrance where he came out from
Alden's arrow flies wide of the mark and clatters against the far wall. Almost simultaneously, Mara peers out from behind Lukuth, muttering an incantation and levelling her staff in the direction of the furthest part of the cave in an attempt not to include Aeran in the effects of her spell.
Mara casts Sleep: 18
Unfortunately she does not quite imbue the spell with sufficient power to knock out the boss goblin, but the one in front of Aeran and Sildar both slump to the floor in a magical slumber. The goblin on the ledge looks somewhat startled as its captive slumps to the side away from its outstretched foot and begins snoring gently atop the rocky outcrop.
Lukuth, over to you!
Lukuth runs into the cave with a wide grin on his face. He swings his axe at the closest goblin
23 to hit
11 damage
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
The battle-lust upon him, Lukuth sprints across the room, clears the sleeping goblin with ease, and takes the steps three at a time. Before the goblin leader has time to react, Lukuth's axe bites deep into its flesh, splitting its mail shirt and scattering broken links across the stone ledge.
Its captive forgotten as the terrifying goliath bears down, the goblin cries out in pain, ineffectually trying to raise its shield. It's too late, the damage is done. Glancing wildly about the room as it realises its outnumbered and has nowhere to run, it backs away, holding its shield up as best it can with an injured arm, and holding its scimitar out to try and keep Lukuth at a distance.
"Stop!" Its says, in heavily accented Common. There is panic in its voice. "You no need to kill me! Here, you here for it," it jabs the scimitar towards the sleeping Sildar, "you take it!" It pauses for a moment, it's eyes continuing to flick from side to side. It seems to have a thought. A thought that its quite pleased with.
"You like treasure? Big piles of gold? Big, shiny jewels?" The creature starts nodding enthusiastically, as if to affirm that you do, indeed, love treasure. "Klarg has much treasure. You kill Klarg, all treasure is yours. I help you." Its voice becomes pleading at the end of its sentence, as it tries to persuade you not to kill it with this offer.
Mayres, your turn.
Mayres peered closer at the creature trying to see if its words were truthful. (Insight Check: 10) "If we don't have to kill it, I don't see any reason too. And I do love treasure," he said in an almost wistful tone, "It's useful."
Luk frowns at the goblin. “Much treasure?” He then turns to the rest of the group, “We can use treasure. We are poor and treasure shiny.”
Characters (Links!):
Faelin Nighthollow - 7th Sojourn
As Mayres and Lukuth speak, the goblin is much encouraged. It grins a grotesque grin, exposing teeth filed to a point, and nods enthusiastically.
"Yes, yes, much treasure! Shiny treasure! You kill Klarg, I help. You have gold and jewels!"
Mayres searches the creatures face and body language for signs of its true intentions. It seems desperate. You feel that it would say just about anything right now to save its skin. The way that it seemed to settle on a plan and looked pleased with itself suggests to you that it might be telling at least half a truth about treasure, but whatever it's proposing, there is almost certainly something else in it for the goblin beyond simply not getting killed.
Mara speaks up, "Didn't you say you had two friends who had been taken? I assume this poor chap is one of them?"
Seeing that Lukuth and Mayres are dealing with the boss goblin in a different manner, Aeran quickly tries to reach Stilgar and examine him to deduce his current state.
Medicine. 13
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Vesna March - L1 Cleric in Etharis
DM The Missing Farmer
Aeran approaches the prone form of Sildar Hallwinter and crouches to examine him. He seems pretty beaten up, there are bruises and scrapes on his face and blood crusted under his nose. Mara’s magic has put him to sleep, but the rise and fall of his breathing is clear and strong.
He wakes as Aeran examines him, looking groggy and somewhat confused. He lifts his head slightly and motions with his bound hands for help in sitting up.
“My thanks, friend,” he croaks. His voice is weak, so only Aeran can hear him. “I had hoped help would come.” He winces in pain and touches his ribs.
Sildar looks round at the sound of talking and sees the goblin standing just beyond Lukuth. He draws in a pained breath between gritted teeth.
”Whatever that one is saying to you,” he says, “don’t believe a word of it.”
He holds out his bound hands to Aeran. “A little help?”
At Sildar’s words, the goblin hisses in anger and starts to lunge toward him before realising it’d have to get past Lukuth to get to Sildar.
”Treasure is true,” it says. “All yours. Just kill Klarg.”
Aeran takes out a dagger and begins cutting the ropes. "Can you walk?" the elf asks quietly as he helps to free Stilgar from his bounds. "Where is Gunrun?"
Then he looks behind his shoulder to make sure the goblin boss is not trying anything funny, before looking back to the human, ready to assist him to stand and walk if needed.
Aeran Dormaris - L2 Paladin on his way to Phandelver
Vesna March - L1 Cleric in Etharis
DM The Missing Farmer
Sildar grimaces as he stands stiffly, but he is able to do so unaided. He is a tall man with the build of a warrior. In his late forties, his physique tells of years of combat and training, and his mostly grey hair is cropped close and receding at the front into a widow's peak. He is wearing boots and breeches, and a soiled undershirt that is torn and bloodstained. He has no arms or armour. He rubs his wrists where the rope has reddened the skin.
"Aye, I can walk. I can fight, if needs be." He glares at the goblin, which seems less sure of itself now. Sildar's voice is becoming stronger, but is still strained. It clearly pains him to talk.
"Gundrun is not here," he says. "These bastards took him somewhere else. I overheard something about 'The Spider' wanting the dwarf and his map. I don't know who or what this 'Spider' is. They dragged him off, with the map and all my gear as well. Maybe this little toerag could be persuaded to tell us where we can find him." He gestures at the goblin, still cornered and desperate.
Again the beady goblin eyes betray a thought process. "Yes, I show you. I take you. But first you kill Klarg."