Aspiring Heroes of Faerûn

Chrys wonders if the depiction on the painting seems in any way familiar, since they're in a temple - even if it's a twisted one.

Religion: 18
History: 5

Lumen does not find anything peculiar or hidden in the alcove, but as Chrys studies the mosaic and looks at the two figures depicted in the scene, and after remembering the information that Kess had shared earlier, she nods in understanding. She recognizes that it’s a portrayal of Selûne, goddess of the moon, and Shar, the Mistress of the Night, locked in battle. 

Anyone who is even slightly informed about the Faerun pantheon knows that Selûne the Moonmaiden is in constant conflict with her sister Shar, the goddess of darkness. Their eternal war, which is constantly played out in the eternal drama of the sky, is vital to the balance of nature: the dark of the night devouring the light of the moon, before the moon was renewed and the cycle repeated. In their never-ending struggle across the sky, Selûne was slain by Shar at every new moon. They fight incessantly to undercut the other.

As you’re standing their looking at the mosaic, you suddenly hear some noises coming from further down the hallway. They’re muffled enough to sound like their coming from behind the door that lies at the end of the hallway about 60 feet away, but they’re recognizable as  goblinoid yells and screams, as if there’s some kind of raucous activity going on.

"Guys get ready, there's goblins coming from up ahead."

"Huh... Selûne and Sune.  Weird, how they're enemies, but both represented in this temple-"  she quiets down instantly as the noise of goblins reaches their ears.  Then she turns to the others.  "I'm done givin' these here goblins second chances... an' I don't like bein' taken by surprise.  If the rest o' you are gon' hide, better do it now.  I think I'm gonna face 'em head-on, though."

Chrys knows Krackle tried his hardest to teach her how to be stealthy, but she's also aware of just how far out of her comfort zone that goes.  Instead, she pulls out her hammer and begins to advance down the hallway, trying to close the distance between herself and the door before the approaching goblins can open it.

(DM:  Does it sound like the goblins are approaching the door to open it, or just like they're having a party behind the door and we heard it?  If they are "approaching" as in getting closer to open the door, Chrys will also throw down the caltrops.  If it's just banquet sounds leaking out of the room, she won't...)

Krackle would look around nervously as he clutches his sling in his hands. He would try to duck just around the corner so that his snout was visible from the door that Chrys was approaching.

 "It's okay, Krackle, we can do this together," Lumen says to the kobold, giving him inspiration (can add a d6 to any attack roll, saving throw, or skill check for the next ten minutes).

He readies his voice to call out at the first goblin he sees with some vicious mockery. 

The quivering kobold would relax a tiny bit as the half-orc inspires him. "Thanks..." He would reply nervously as he keeps his eyes focused on the door.

With hammer in hand, Chrys advances down the hallway towards the door, with Kess following close behind. (In the spirit of not letting her companion wade into the unknown goblin pool all by herself, I will assume that Kess accompanies Chrys down the hallway with her own weapons at the ready.)

They count the distance to be about 50 feet away from the edge of the alcove where Lumen, Krackle and Vesper are currently positioned, and as the two party members move closer, everyone can hear the muffled commotion echoing down the hallway from behind the door. It does not seem as if anyone is approaching, and in fact, the high pitched squealing, cackling and yelling that's clearly being made by goblinoid voices sound much more like some kind of wild, rowdy gathering that's happening on the other side of the heavy oak door.

Chrys beckons silently for the others to come forward, putting a finger to her lips and then pointing at the door.

When the others get there, she holds out an oil flask in her hand, makes a tossing motion with it, and then with palms up, spreads her fingers wide apart as if to symbolize an explosion.  She raises a questioning eyebrow while thumbing at the closed door.

Vesper walks up slowly towards Chrys as she beckons and raises a thumbs up when she suggests tossing the flask in there and blowing things up. The goblins in here seem pretty evil, so she doesn't feel bad about doing so.

Preparing the flask, Chrys reaches for the door and waits for a sign that the others are ready for an assault.

Vesper readies a Fire Bolt in her hands.

Krackle would try to stay steady with his sling in his hands.... his tail still shaking a bit as he pokes his head around the corner. 

Lumen's got his vicious mockery ready as well, looking to target a goblin with a ranged weapon, if any.

Chrys grabs the handle of the door and tugs.

If it flies open easily, as she expects, and if there are goblins inside who are within reach of her throwing arm, Chys would fling the oil onto the ground and quickly take a step back, so that Vesper would have the room to light it up.

(Chrynitiative: 15)

With Kess right beside Chrys, and the rest of you lining up right behind them, the hammer wielding paladin grabs the handle and yanks the door open with a forceful swing. A quick glance reveals that the room behind is fairly large, probably a dining hall, given the size and decor, and the fact that it smells like stale beer. 

You can see that there are a number of smashed chairs and tables that have been pushed up against the walls. In the middle of the room, you see a large number of improvised beds that are made from straw, leaves and scraps of torn cloth. You also detect the warm glow of a fire off to the right, although from your vantage point, you can't see the source. 

And you see the goblins; at least five or six of them, if not more, drinking and partying, and engaged in raucous shenanigans. They're jumping around, yelling and cackling in wicked, high-pitched laughter as they swig and spill their mugs and apparently cheer on some kind of wicked contest.

Your eyes catch movement, and you suddenly see the source of the entertainment. Two more goblins are mounted on naked, filthy humans, and they're racing them up and down across the middle of the hall, while slapping and whipping the men with sticks.

At this moment, the main group of cheering goblins are spread out in small clumps, about thirty to forty feet away from you, which is ten feet behind your throwing range. The goblin jockeys are about twenty feet off to the right, currently about forty feet from your position, but moving towards the rest of the group, as they race across the room from right to left. 

(Need initiative and actions from the rest of you)

Vesper will move back and toss a fire bolt at the goblins.

Initiative: 12

Attack: 10 Damage: 10

(Since Chrys goes before Vesper, in theory this should still work, as they planned:)

Chrys will cover the 10 feet that she needs to in order to toss the oil at one of the clusters of human-free goblins, and then allow Vesper to fire bolt them - figuring that even if Vesper misses, the oil will be ignited by the flames and at least make life a bit difficult for their targets.  She then uses the rest of her movement to close in on the nearest cluster of goblins with a menacing bellow (being sure to stand clear of any flaming ground).

Lumen initiative: 10

He steps behind the group, keyed up to see a party of some kind that he's about to ruin, and his grin never materializes, and his expression falls. "Reminds me of home. Didn't like home. It was boring and the company lacked engaging conversation. And you're even uglier than Cousin Dak!"

He lets off some vicious mockery at one of the goblins riding one of the goblin riders for 4 psychic damage on a failed WIS 14 save, and disadvantage on their next attack.

Krackle initiative! 9

Krackle would stand in shock at first when he sees the number of goblins they are about to face. He would tremble as he twirls the stone in his sling before sending a stone sailing towards one of the goblins near Chrys.

Attack: 22 Damage: 7