Chase's words echo deep into the cave. Goblin L scrambles to its feet and runs east across the bridge in a panic.
About thirty seconds later, Big Sneeze creeps around the corner of the main passage. Eyes wide with dread, her jaw drops when she sees you have returned with Klarg in chains. She is alone, unarmed, standing about 25 ft. from Klarg. She has half cover because she is cowering behind the cave wall.
She says in Common, "Here I am. Parley we will, yes!" She speaks in wavering bursts with elongated pauses. She stares intently at Klarg for a couple seconds and continues, "Showed you the cave I did, and your human friend is safe, yes? All was well. Deal's a deal. But now return you do, for treasures. Treasures, hmm? We have none—too bad! Taken it was by, um, by a drow lady. Yes! That was it, very sad for us, very sad indeed. And just after we lost so many brothers and sisters. You killed my comrades, yet alive Klarg is; 'taken care of' that is not! You kill Klarg first, then talk we will. Tell you all about Redbrands, yes, tell you anything you want, I will. Very cooperative, very trustworthy, never led you astray did I."
"Traitorous worm!" Klarg shouts. He looks back at you all. "Release Klarg! Klarg will tear her limb from limb!" Klarg tries ineffectually to break free from his chains again. Big Sneeze flinches when he does.
A DC 4 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals*:
Big Sneeze is trying to stall you just as much as she is trying to make a deal. Y'all can interrupt her at any point. She is 100% lying about the treasure and 90% lying about knowing the Redbrands. The drow lady taking something and Big Sneeze's wanting Klarg dead are half-truths. The rest is pretty much honest. Ultimately, she'll agree to any offer that ensures her (and ideally her three remaining goblin followers') safety.
OOC:
If you want to deceive, intimidate, or persuade Big Sneeze, her Insight roll is a 1, so if you have a positive modifier on those charisma checks you don't even need to roll (but please still specify which skill you're using if it's not clear from the post alone). She'll see things your way without much resistance.
*Doldek has already revealed that there is treasure deeper in the cave, so you don't need to roll to know Big Sneeze is lying about that much at least.
“Klarg will answer for his crimes. If you don’t cooperate you will come and answer for yours. Give us the stolen property or I’ll tie you up too.” Intimidate 20
As the goblin speaks, Vasha’s expression darkens, his head slowly shaking in disbelief. The lies are painfully obvious, and he doesn’t have the patience for their games anymore. His jaw tightens as Klarg begins to croak out a response.
Without warning, Vasha’s fist shoots forward, aimed squarely at Klarg’s face. The hit lands with a thud dropping the bugbear in a heap, one less thing to worry about, but the tension in the air spikes instantly. Vasha wastes no time. He draws his greatsword with a cold, deliberate motion, the blade gleaming ominously in the dim light.
“Hard way it is, then,” Vasha mutters, his voice flat, as he steps closer, his gaze locked on Big-Sneeze, daring them to make the next move.
OOC:
I assume advantage against Klarg due to restrained and no shield bonus. I can revise if necessary.
As the goblin unsuccessfully bluffs, Dunkin pulls out his sling and stopping to pick up a stone, begins to casually spin it. Following behind Vasha the halfling tries to persuade the goblin to let them pass.
"Look Big Sneeze. We're offering you a chance here. Klarg is going to Phandalin to face justice and you shan't worry about him again. The loot is ours, but see'in as to the losses you've taken, we can leave you enough to buy food or supplies. Or we might be willing to trade if'n there's something you need, but lead on now and tell your kin to lay down their arms."
He pauses.
"Can't you see the fire awaiting you?" as he glances at Vasha.
As Kalag collapses to the floor John shifts his hunters mark to Big Sneeze. Hating goblins he says nothing and waits hoping for a chance to pin cushion. Big sneeze
"I have retained enough arcane energy to likely incapacitate all who refuse to cooperate. At the very least we can capture the leadership without violence."
Klarg falls to the ground, unconscious again. He blocks most of the path beside the stream. Big Sneeze watches and listens.
Fighting y'all once was enough for Big Sneeze. Knowing that she couldn't win even under ideal circumstances informs her decision: She shouts deeper into the cave, "Stop what you're doing! I'm bringing them back." Switching to Common she says, "Don't hurt me! Show you, I will, where the treasure is." She approaches you, arms raised high (but keeps her distance from Vasha).
If you let her, Big Sneeze would lead you into "Klarg's Cave" where you find the other three goblins. Doldek would notice that the cave floor is even messier than it was a couple minutes ago. The three goblins have apparently been hastily shoveling the "treasure" into several cloth sacks marked with a blue lion, which are currently piled near the garbage chute. Everything not in a sack is scattered across the floor. Indeed, there is little space to walk without stepping on something.
The sacks contain mostly food and shiny (worthless) rocks. They and some of the crates bear the emblem of the Lionshield Coster of Phandalin. Their missing shipment is largely what's scattered across the floor: several sets of swords, shields, armor, and other goods, plus flour, alcohol, dried meats, vegetables, etc. Anyone who actually collects all the coins that are mixed in would find a total of 600 Cp and 110 Sp. Anyone who pokes around a bit further would find in a back corner a small wooden box latched shut. Inside are:
Vasha towers over one of the smaller goblins, fixing it with a hard stare as he nods to the scattered coins on the ground. “Pick up every single one,” he growls, crossing his arms as the goblin scrambles to obey. Watching the creature, Vasha eventually grunts in frustration and stoops to help, unwilling to leave so much as a coin behind.
Once satisfied, he gestures to the goblins to start loading the sacks and crates onto the wagon, his eyes narrowing anytime one of them so much as pauses. Finally, when the task is complete, Vasha grabs the unconscious Klarg by the scruff and wordlessly turns to lead the way back to the wagon, a faint sense of satisfaction settling over him.
Klarg is about 275 pounds, too heavy for Chase to carry on his own, but not too heavy to for Chase to drag, even with the incline inside the cave.
Chase drags Klarg along trying not to hurt him as he goes. 'There better be some good information coming out of this... here I am dragging two score stones!'
Nyli watches for a moment, but once it's clear the goblins aren't going to fight she sheaths her blades and begins looking through the debris, keeping one eye on the goblins. When she finds the small box she looks inside, then makes her way over to Doldek. Speaking in gnomish she says "There's some interesting items in here, although I'm not sure what most of them are. Once we're somewhere safer, can you identify them, and then we can share them out?" She then passes the box to Chase and says quietly in common "can you keep this safe until Doldek can look at it?"
Finally she glares at Big Sneeze and says in goblin "Well, worthless one, you get to live another day. I suggest you leave this area in case we change our minds."
With that she turns and follows the others out of the caves.
Chase gives Nyli guidance while taking the box in case she wants a last look over the cave while everything is being loaded to the wagon. "Big Sneeze is there anything else you could tell us about the Redbrands or the drow called Spider or the Cragmaw castle?"
"Oh certainly! We can estimate that I will be able to divine all of their qualities before we return to Phandalin...assuming our travel is uninterrupted."
At the sight of the treasure, and the subdued goblins, Dunkin lets out a sigh. “Phew! Let’s get out of this foul place and get this stuff and Klarg to Phandalin.” He pauses. “Lets leave the food for this sorry band.”
He turns and follows the others out.
OOC:
Perception check 4 for traps or tricks by the goblins as they leave
Driven hard by Vasha, the goblins work hard at collecting all the stolen goods. Without specific instructions, they haphazardly toss everything into crates. It takes about an hour, but the "treasure" is once again contained except a small stack of cabbages set aside on Dunkin's instruction. The goblins tearfully load the crates and sacks onto the wagon.
Finally she glares at Big Sneeze and says in goblin "Well, worthless one, you get to live another day. I suggest you leave this area in case we change our minds."
Chase gives Nyli guidance while taking the box in case she wants a last look over the cave while everything is being loaded to the wagon. "Big Sneeze is there anything else you could tell us about the Redbrands or the drow called Spider or the Cragmaw castle?"
Big Sneeze takes your speaking with her as tacit permission to stop working. She replies to Nyli in Goblin, "This cave is my home; there is nowhere else to go. We goblins are unwanted everywhere, except Neverwinter Wood, which has bears and worse things that eat goblins. I promise our bandit days are behind us."
Switching to Common, she tells Chase, "Cragmaw Castle is where the big boss, King Grol, lives. Never have I been there, but Klarg has. Every once in a while, send a messenger here King Grol would, with orders of what to do, what not to do, like 'raid caravans on Triboar Trail,' 'stay away from Thundertree,' and 'don't hurt the people with red capes.' The last messenger came with a drow lady—real drow lady—who called herself Black Spider. 'Catch the dwarf Rockseeker' she said, and catch him we did, but it was the map she really wanted. Murdered Cousin Worm-mouth for reading it, she did, and Klarg let her!" Big Sneeze spits on Klarg's unconscious body. She adds, "What's a Redbrand?" before she is spurred into motion again by John.
A DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check (which you may make with advantage) reveals:
Big Sneeze fully intends to give up banditry (for now) seeing as it has a 10% survival rate ever since you've come to town.
She has been to Cragmaw Castle. She's lying less out of loyalty and more because she never wants to see any of you ever again. She would give you directions to it if asked directly, which would tell you it's about 20 miles northeast of this cave or 25 miles directly north of Phandalin.
Under Chase's care, Klarg wakes up just as the goblins finish loading everything onto the wagon. He seems confused about why he's not being let go. "You brought Klarg to cave, why do you take Klarg away again?"
Making a last sweep of the cave, Nyli discovers buried under a pile of animal (and humanoid) bones a tiny jade statuette of a frog with golden eyes. (Worth 40 Gp at least.) The bones were arranged in such a way as to conceal the statuette completely (and likely deliberately).
OOC:
The pearl or the potions of healing require no special identification. Doldek has enough time while the goblins work to cast Identify five times, even as a ritual, and learn about the five magic items.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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Chase's words echo deep into the cave. Goblin L scrambles to its feet and runs east across the bridge in a panic.
About thirty seconds later, Big Sneeze creeps around the corner of the main passage. Eyes wide with dread, her jaw drops when she sees you have returned with Klarg in chains. She is alone, unarmed, standing about 25 ft. from Klarg. She has half cover because she is cowering behind the cave wall.
She says in Common, "Here I am. Parley we will, yes!" She speaks in wavering bursts with elongated pauses. She stares intently at Klarg for a couple seconds and continues, "Showed you the cave I did, and your human friend is safe, yes? All was well. Deal's a deal. But now return you do, for treasures. Treasures, hmm? We have none—too bad! Taken it was by, um, by a drow lady. Yes! That was it, very sad for us, very sad indeed. And just after we lost so many brothers and sisters. You killed my comrades, yet alive Klarg is; 'taken care of' that is not! You kill Klarg first, then talk we will. Tell you all about Redbrands, yes, tell you anything you want, I will. Very cooperative, very trustworthy, never led you astray did I."
"Traitorous worm!" Klarg shouts. He looks back at you all. "Release Klarg! Klarg will tear her limb from limb!" Klarg tries ineffectually to break free from his chains again. Big Sneeze flinches when he does.
A DC 4 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals*:
Big Sneeze is trying to stall you just as much as she is trying to make a deal. Y'all can interrupt her at any point.
She is 100% lying about the treasure and 90% lying about knowing the Redbrands. The drow lady taking something and Big Sneeze's wanting Klarg dead are half-truths. The rest is pretty much honest.
Ultimately, she'll agree to any offer that ensures her (and ideally her three remaining goblin followers') safety.
OOC:
If you want to deceive, intimidate, or persuade Big Sneeze, her Insight roll is a 1, so if you have a positive modifier on those charisma checks you don't even need to roll (but please still specify which skill you're using if it's not clear from the post alone). She'll see things your way without much resistance.
*Doldek has already revealed that there is treasure deeper in the cave, so you don't need to roll to know Big Sneeze is lying about that much at least.
Monsters:
“Klarg will answer for his crimes. If you don’t cooperate you will come and answer for yours. Give us the stolen property or I’ll tie you up too.” Intimidate 20
Nyli draws her knife and starts slowly sharpening the blade with her whet stone "Saa'atcha, taat. Brank nusz taght?" *
She continues in common "We know you're lying, would you like to try answering again?"
Insight 10
*"Greetings worthless one. Do you remember me?"
Nyli Bemblade - Gnome Arcane Trickster
Portia Thornleaf - Halfling Rogue
As the goblin speaks, Vasha’s expression darkens, his head slowly shaking in disbelief. The lies are painfully obvious, and he doesn’t have the patience for their games anymore. His jaw tightens as Klarg begins to croak out a response.
Without warning, Vasha’s fist shoots forward, aimed squarely at Klarg’s face. The hit lands with a thud dropping the bugbear in a heap, one less thing to worry about, but the tension in the air spikes instantly. Vasha wastes no time. He draws his greatsword with a cold, deliberate motion, the blade gleaming ominously in the dim light.
“Hard way it is, then,” Vasha mutters, his voice flat, as he steps closer, his gaze locked on Big-Sneeze, daring them to make the next move.
OOC:
I assume advantage against Klarg due to restrained and no shield bonus. I can revise if necessary.
Unarmed Strike (non lethal) 16 to hit, 4 damage
As the goblin unsuccessfully bluffs, Dunkin pulls out his sling and stopping to pick up a stone, begins to casually spin it. Following behind Vasha the halfling tries to persuade the goblin to let them pass.
"Look Big Sneeze. We're offering you a chance here. Klarg is going to Phandalin to face justice and you shan't worry about him again. The loot is ours, but see'in as to the losses you've taken, we can leave you enough to buy food or supplies. Or we might be willing to trade if'n there's something you need, but lead on now and tell your kin to lay down their arms."
He pauses.
"Can't you see the fire awaiting you?" as he glances at Vasha.
OOC:
Charisma check 10
Ready cantrip Magic Stone
As Kalag collapses to the floor John shifts his hunters mark to Big Sneeze. Hating goblins he says nothing and waits hoping for a chance to pin cushion. Big sneeze
"I have retained enough arcane energy to likely incapacitate all who refuse to cooperate. At the very least we can capture the leadership without violence."
Klarg falls to the ground, unconscious again. He blocks most of the path beside the stream. Big Sneeze watches and listens.
Fighting y'all once was enough for Big Sneeze. Knowing that she couldn't win even under ideal circumstances informs her decision: She shouts deeper into the cave, "Stop what you're doing! I'm bringing them back." Switching to Common she says, "Don't hurt me! Show you, I will, where the treasure is." She approaches you, arms raised high (but keeps her distance from Vasha).
If you let her, Big Sneeze would lead you into "Klarg's Cave" where you find the other three goblins. Doldek would notice that the cave floor is even messier than it was a couple minutes ago. The three goblins have apparently been hastily shoveling the "treasure" into several cloth sacks marked with a blue lion, which are currently piled near the garbage chute. Everything not in a sack is scattered across the floor. Indeed, there is little space to walk without stepping on something.
The sacks contain mostly food and shiny (worthless) rocks. They and some of the crates bear the emblem of the Lionshield Coster of Phandalin. Their missing shipment is largely what's scattered across the floor: several sets of swords, shields, armor, and other goods, plus flour, alcohol, dried meats, vegetables, etc. Anyone who actually collects all the coins that are mixed in would find a total of 600 Cp and 110 Sp. Anyone who pokes around a bit further would find in a back corner a small wooden box latched shut. Inside are:
Big Sneeze orders the goblins not to flee. They all freeze and watch you intently.
OOC:
Does one of you carry Klarg, or do you just leave him there?
Chase will try to carry Klarg if not he will stay with him.
Klarg is about 275 pounds, too heavy for Chase to carry on his own, but not too heavy to for Chase to drag, even with the incline inside the cave.
Vasha towers over one of the smaller goblins, fixing it with a hard stare as he nods to the scattered coins on the ground. “Pick up every single one,” he growls, crossing his arms as the goblin scrambles to obey. Watching the creature, Vasha eventually grunts in frustration and stoops to help, unwilling to leave so much as a coin behind.
Once satisfied, he gestures to the goblins to start loading the sacks and crates onto the wagon, his eyes narrowing anytime one of them so much as pauses. Finally, when the task is complete, Vasha grabs the unconscious Klarg by the scruff and wordlessly turns to lead the way back to the wagon, a faint sense of satisfaction settling over him.
Chase drags Klarg along trying not to hurt him as he goes. 'There better be some good information coming out of this... here I am dragging two score stones!'
Nyli watches for a moment, but once it's clear the goblins aren't going to fight she sheaths her blades and begins looking through the debris, keeping one eye on the goblins. When she finds the small box she looks inside, then makes her way over to Doldek. Speaking in gnomish she says "There's some interesting items in here, although I'm not sure what most of them are. Once we're somewhere safer, can you identify them, and then we can share them out?" She then passes the box to Chase and says quietly in common "can you keep this safe until Doldek can look at it?"
Finally she glares at Big Sneeze and says in goblin "Well, worthless one, you get to live another day. I suggest you leave this area in case we change our minds."
With that she turns and follows the others out of the caves.
Nyli Bemblade - Gnome Arcane Trickster
Portia Thornleaf - Halfling Rogue
Chase gives Nyli guidance while taking the box in case she wants a last look over the cave while everything is being loaded to the wagon. "Big Sneeze is there anything else you could tell us about the Redbrands or the drow called Spider or the Cragmaw castle?"
Nyli makes one last search of the cave.
Perception 14 (10 + 4 guidance)
Nyli Bemblade - Gnome Arcane Trickster
Portia Thornleaf - Halfling Rogue
John makes it clear to Big Sneeze he wants no funny business by never taking his trained crossbow off her.
I've got you marked! You might be the new chief here but I'll promote one of your followers the second you try anything. Understand?
"Oh certainly! We can estimate that I will be able to divine all of their qualities before we return to Phandalin...assuming our travel is uninterrupted."
At the sight of the treasure, and the subdued goblins, Dunkin lets out a sigh. “Phew! Let’s get out of this foul place and get this stuff and Klarg to Phandalin.” He pauses. “Lets leave the food for this sorry band.”
He turns and follows the others out.
OOC:
Perception check 4 for traps or tricks by the goblins as they leave
Chase tries reviving Klarg, not really wanting to drag his carcass around.
Medicine 8+2 Guidance
Driven hard by Vasha, the goblins work hard at collecting all the stolen goods. Without specific instructions, they haphazardly toss everything into crates. It takes about an hour, but the "treasure" is once again contained except a small stack of cabbages set aside on Dunkin's instruction. The goblins tearfully load the crates and sacks onto the wagon.
Big Sneeze takes your speaking with her as tacit permission to stop working. She replies to Nyli in Goblin, "This cave is my home; there is nowhere else to go. We goblins are unwanted everywhere, except Neverwinter Wood, which has bears and worse things that eat goblins. I promise our bandit days are behind us."
Switching to Common, she tells Chase, "Cragmaw Castle is where the big boss, King Grol, lives. Never have I been there, but Klarg has. Every once in a while, send a messenger here King Grol would, with orders of what to do, what not to do, like 'raid caravans on Triboar Trail,' 'stay away from Thundertree,' and 'don't hurt the people with red capes.' The last messenger came with a drow lady—real drow lady—who called herself Black Spider. 'Catch the dwarf Rockseeker' she said, and catch him we did, but it was the map she really wanted. Murdered Cousin Worm-mouth for reading it, she did, and Klarg let her!" Big Sneeze spits on Klarg's unconscious body. She adds, "What's a Redbrand?" before she is spurred into motion again by John.
A DC 14 Wisdom (Insight) check (which you may make with advantage) reveals:
Big Sneeze fully intends to give up banditry (for now) seeing as it has a 10% survival rate ever since you've come to town.
She has been to Cragmaw Castle. She's lying less out of loyalty and more because she never wants to see any of you ever again. She would give you directions to it if asked directly, which would tell you it's about 20 miles northeast of this cave or 25 miles directly north of Phandalin.
Under Chase's care, Klarg wakes up just as the goblins finish loading everything onto the wagon. He seems confused about why he's not being let go. "You brought Klarg to cave, why do you take Klarg away again?"
Making a last sweep of the cave, Nyli discovers buried under a pile of animal (and humanoid) bones a tiny jade statuette of a frog with golden eyes. (Worth 40 Gp at least.) The bones were arranged in such a way as to conceal the statuette completely (and likely deliberately).
OOC:
The pearl or the potions of healing require no special identification. Doldek has enough time while the goblins work to cast Identify five times, even as a ritual, and learn about the five magic items.