“Wait … we’re attacking? I thought we were scouting!?”

Clara’s mischievous taunt toward the goblin folk had caught the orc quite off guard. 

“Nine Hells.”  He grumbled, grinning despite the situation, throwing a dagger before he too fell back.
[13 + 4 bardic inspiration = 17 to hit, 6 piercing]

Magnus’ nose crinkles as he grunts to himself. “I think our scouting party may have run into some trouble…”

Clara unleashes a bolt of fire at the unsuspecting goblins, but unfortunately it misses, crashing into a bush behind the goblins and setting it on fire. Then she retreats back toward the others. Throg throws a dagger before doing the same. It finds its target, deep in the chest of one of the goblins, almost dropping it in one hit! It just barely manages to stay standing, and it screeches in pain. 

(Note: The goblins have half-cover behind the thickets, but they can shoot through them.)

Round 1 Initiative
15 - Throg
13 - Magnus
12 - Goblins
12 - Clara
11 - Ellora
10 - Herron
9 - Chretien

Throg and Magnus are up!

Movement: Diagonally up and to the right one, then straight ahead into the thicket to get at Goblin B.

Action: Attack with my longsword! Nat 20 for 9 points of slashing damage. Rolls are present in campaign log.

Magnus rushes forward with his shield hiding most of his torso, crashing through the thicket like a lumbering ox before leaping out from behind cover with a savage slash from his longsword! 

Throg moves north along the stream and throws another dagger, hoping to silence these guards before they can raise the alarm!

Move: north 3 squares, east 1 square
Action: thrown dagger vs goblin A (23 to hit, 4 piercing)

Throg moves back into sight range of the goblins and throws another dagger. It pierces the goblin right through the eye, dropping it instantly. Magnus barges through the thickets and takes the head clean off the second goblin! 

The goblins are dead and no alarm seems to have been raised. If you'd like to try a sneaky approach into the cave, everyone should make a Stealth check!

Combat is over!

"Just marvellous!" Clara claps, giddy with glee as Magnus and Throg make short work of the sentinels hidden behind the briar. "The finesse, the poise, the sheer virtuosity of it all! Honestly, one might think you choreographed the entire skirmish for an audience."

She laughs merrily, though the moment her gaze is caught by the slain goblins, she pinches her nose and steps away from the messy aftermath. "I don't care for killing... but really... they did cross us first."

The entrance to the cave awaits a short distance away, and she frowns into the foreboding gloom. "Ah, I'd be happy to take point and quietly scout it out... but evidently goblins don't understand the value of good lighting in creating a tasteful ambience."

Herron is amazed that the goblins at the front were disposed of so quickly. He takes the time to cast magical armor for himself, (Mage Armor), trying not to draw attention to himself. "Well an old trick I learned many moons ago when trying to light the way without lighting a whole room..." He bend down and grab a small rock off the ground and cast Light on it. Then he takes the now glowing rock and put it inside the scroll case he found d on the horses. "Consontrates the light to a single beem and easily covered or dumped depending on the situation. " He offers the light source towards Clara.

Chretien looks at Herron's light, impressed, "The goblins may have no sense of good lighting, but I think you, my friend, have a career in the arts should you ever desire one." He moves to Clara's side as he speaks and leans behind her, tapping her on the opposite shoulder and giving her Guidance, then pretending innocence for a moment before saying, "Just a little extra help if you're going to be scouting alone."

"Herron, you are a genius!" Clara says, taking the improvised torchlight off the wizard's hands and pondering the possibilities. "Just think what you could do with items like this if the spell were permanent!"

The actress peeks into the scroll case, checking the glowing rock sits securely within, and is thus distracted when Chretien conducts a piece of playful misdirection. Her long silvery hair whips in the wrong direction, before turning back to find the half-elf's face on the second attempt. Clara bursts into a grin at the little light-hearted prank, and inwardly vows to up the game at the next available opportunity. "Ah, a blessing from the gods. Thank you, dearest." She squeezes the cleric's hand fondly. "I fear I shall need it to stomach the stench of a goblin home."

With a deep breath and a few quick twirls of the torch like a baton, she ventures into the yawning gulf of the cave mouth. Her footwork strives to be light, and she hugs the nooks and crannies of the stone where possible, striving to travel unseen. Her palm hovers near the mouth of the scroll case, ready to smother the illumination in an instant, should circumstances demand it. 

Stealth: 7
Perception: 8 (with Guidance)

Magnus sheathes his blade with a sigh. “Thank you, I suppose. It’s bloody work, and I don’t enjoy it, but I doubt they would show any mercy if the situation was reversed. I’m going to be a bit too noisy with my chain mail; perhaps it’s better if I wait here for all of you to scout ahead, then follow up once it’s clear or you need assistance.” 

Throg stooped byt the goblin corpses to recover the daggers he had thrown.  He slid them back into place at his belt while rough fingers patted down the goblins down for coin, trinkets, or any other clues that might tell them more about who these raiders served. 

When he rose again, the orc glanced toward the others gathering at the cavern mouth, then quietly fell into step beside them. 

[Stealth 24]

(I am so sorry for the long delay! It's been an incredibly busy week for me at work, and I've been doing a lot of wedding prep stuff too.)

Throg and Clara enter the mouth of the dark cave. Throg moves quietly. His footsteps are eerily silent as he moves like a shadow. Clara accidentally kicks a pebble with her foot, sending it skittering ahead of her in the dark. Suddenly, only feet away, howls fill the cave, echoing off the stone walls. The noise is so sudden and unexpected that you almost jump out of your skins. It only takes a moment to find the source of the cacophony. To the right hand side, not far into the cave, there are three huge wolves chained to the stone walls. They are emaciated-looking, and they howl at Throg and Clara, their eyes huge and hungry. Though they are making a big racket and pulling at their chains, they are restrained and can't leap at you as they apparently want to do.

Startled by the sounds of growling, Clara almost drops her makeshift torchlight, but manages to centre it on the source of the howling. Shaken by the sight of the snarling and snapping jaws, she retreats a step or two, heart pounding in her chest. Once the immediate fright has passed, however, the kind-hearted bard takes stock of the chains and poor health of the wolves. 

"You poor wretches! What have they done to you?" Clara frowns in sympathy, and then whispers sharply over her shoulder, a lowered voice but loud enough to be heard by the party behind her. If her antipathy for the goblins hadn't already been roused by Gundren's abduction, the maltreatment of these proud creatures only stoked the anger she felt towards the monsters. 

"Is anyone here good with wild animals? There are wolves here that have been abused by those dreadful goblins. Perhaps we can free them?"

Herron hears the wolves and moves forward "Well everyone and their brother have hear those snarls and crys. Either we should try and quiet them or use their noise to cover our noises. Do we guess the goblins are used to hearing the wolf crystal or are on alert now because of them? Unless you are a charmer, I would suggest we dont release the creatures or we will be in for another fight." Herron is holding his staff defensively expecting these wolves were ment as guard dogs more then a defensive purpose.

Ellora is startled by the sudden burst of howls. Wolves! She thought Probably northern greycoats... Back on the farm, she dealt with wolves when they tried to eat the sheep, and of course, the family had an old hound named Starshine (lovingly named by seven year old Ellora). Wolves could be dangerous, but maybe she could quiet them.

"I've dealt with hounds before. I could calm them so that the goblins might think its just a woodland creature that stumbled into the lair or some other small disturbance. If they keep barking for much longer, the goblins will surely know something is up." She steps forward, sheathing her sword, though her round, wooden shield remains tightly gripped in her hand.

After assessing the poor condition of the wolves, she makes a few calming noises and digs a piece of half-finished jerky (which she had hastily stuck in her pocket when the goblins attacked) and holds it out to one of the wolves, making sure to stay out of the range of its fangs. She waves the jerky around, letting the scent carry through the cavern.

Animal Handling Check: NATURAL TWENTY (+2) for a total of 22. Boom. That's my one crit for the campaign. All my other rolls are gonna be garbage, lol

As Ellora makes soothing noises and shows off the piece of jerky, the wolves do indeed quit howling and instead give all of their attention to her, their eyes huge and rapt. They begin to drool as the scent of the jerky wafts through the air. Then they start to whine, pulling at their chains in an attempt to get at the jerky. If Ellora gets close enough, one of the wolves will snatch the piece of jerky from her hand and devour it in a split second, then stare at her expectantly, as if waiting for more. 

"Magnificent, Ellora!" Clara beams, lowering her voice to a stage-whisper. "If you continue to entrance them with that stinky jerky, perhaps a few of us can scurry around them and liberate them of their chains."

She turns to the others, reaching into her belongings for tools that might expedite the plan of action she has. "We'll need to hold them fast, or these famished little mutts will be all over Ellora in a flash, I suspect. If we're swift about it, Ellora can lure them out into freedom, and we can leave them out in the woods where they belong. And the goblins should be none the wiser..."

If there are no objections, the bard begins circling around the wolves and attempts to loosen their shackles from the walls.

Throg stepped forward, planting himself near Clara and the wolves. His spear angled low, ready to strike if the calm broke once the iron chains were removed. 

"Best be ready if these wolves forget their newfound manners."

Ready a spear attack should one of the wolves attack.