The Wildemount Irregulars (2020)

You hit the road.  The weather is chilly, and a little misty in the early morning though visibility is okay.

Someone give me a Survival check to follow the trail, and someone else a Perception check to keep an eye out for danger.

Alton will keep an eye out for any danger. 

Perception: 8

Since Silent had good luck tracking previously, he is eager to try to keep the streak going. 

Survival 19 

It's not a bad day, as days go.  Silent keeps you on track, and though Alton doesn't seem as vigilant as on other days, nothing hostile comes near that you are aware of.  Wash is still hanging at the back of the group, engrossed in his thoughts, but Trogdor takes to the sky and keeps a watch too.

Before midday, Silent begins to notice the odd track that indicates goblins, and perhaps something a little larger, has been through, and though there's not enough to follow, as you keep heading in the direction you planned, the tracks become more frequent; you get the sense that goblins have been passing by here for a few days, and fairly frequently.  You pass by a ridge of rock, and as the lightest of very cold drizzle begins to fall, you see up ahead the mouth of a cave, and seemingly the destination of the goblin tracks.

At pretty much the same time, Balassar,  it occurs to you that although you have been continuing on your path today as though you had found nothing last night, you did in fact find something.  You found something - or someone - that spoke to you and that for some reason you obeyed.  The Suggestion spell ends, and you have a full memory of what happened.  The spell description doesn't specify that you know someone cast a spell on you, so it's up to you whether Balassar knows enough about magic to know that, and of course it's up to you how he reacts.

Balassar just blinks looking at the group members as the spoken words come back into his mind. He just freezes for a moment as the suggestion wears off clearly confused by the moment "I think I had a bush tell me to leave and act like I found nothing last night...pretty weird if you ask me. Don't know why I didn't say anything until now." he says looking around confused as his gaze moves to the way they are coming from.

Silent furrows his brow in confusion. Do bushes, uhhh... talk often in the Empire? Maybe we should head back after dealin' with the goblins up ahead. 

"Not in my area, but maybe in this area they do." Balassar says looking at Silent and then Alton and Wash "Have you two ever heard of a bush talking?"

"I don't know about in the Empire, but I have heard a story about a talking bush." Alton pipes up. "The story is about how a how an almost forgotten god managed to come back. In the story, a man was fleeing from the law because he pushed a taskmaster off of some scaffolding to save an old man from being whipped and beaten. The guy fleeing ended up lost in a canyon and as he wandered around a voice called out to him. Following the voice he found a lone bush that was on fire, but the bush didn't burn and the fire wasn't hot either. So, after some talking the guy became like some powerful cleric, saved the people being enslaved, and lead them off to a new land."

Wash shakes his head.  No talking bushes that I know of.  You want to go back?

"Just weird. Definitely worth checking out, but don't know if we should go all the way back just to see. Though maybe the talking bush can lead us to the goblins." he says looking at them all.

Silent scratches his beard pensively and finally says, I vote for checking out this cave first, those tracks don't lie. We'll have to head back thataways to report back to the giants anyway, we can find this bush on the way back.

I agree, Wash adds distractedly, and he waits for one of the others to take the lead.

Balassar just nods "Sounds like we have a plan. Let's keep moving." he says starting to pick the journey to the caves back up.

Silent will draw his greatsword and take point with Balassar in case any goblins are waiting to ambush the party in the cave entrance. 

You walk forward towards the mouth of the cave; the ground is rocky and the trail narrow but you're able to travel in rows of two, Balassar and Silent up front, Alton and Wash behind, with Trogdor perched upon Wash's shoulder.

You see now clear signs of tracks outside the cave; Balassar and/or Silent can make a Survival check if you want to identify the creatures who made these particular tracks.  And as you approach what appears to be a cave mouth, you are forty feet away when a goblin head pokes out, sees you, their eyes widen in surprise, and the head disappears back into the cave.  There's no cry of alarm that you can hear, but there's also no doubt that you were seen.

Survival 9   

He calls back to the two bringing up the rear: We got company, fellas - goblins up ahead. 

Several goblins, and at least one larger goblinoid creature, but far more tracks belong to giants like those you just met; there's no doubt this is the right place, and that up to recently this was the giants' home.

Balassar just draws his shield and scimitar looking at Silent and then Alton and Wash "So what's the plan?"

Alton gets his crossbow ready, "Well, if they know we are here I think going just right in might be a challenge. We kind of got lucky last time we just walked right into a cave." Alton looks around the area to see if maybe a plan to bring them out is possible.

To Alton and Wash, Silent asks: Either  of you spellslingers have any magic for... I dunno, makin' a big ruckus or something? Some type o' loud noise or illusion gets them to come out, meanwhile we're waiting on the sidelines ready to strike?