"I said nothing about setting camp I said to draw them near to turn the hunt against them," Wolfsong responds to Eli's question. "These are not your peaceful villages elf these are the wilds where danger can come at any moment, or need I remind you of the dragon that came down and killed three people before you could even move. Let this be a lesson for them, if they wish to deliver a message in the future they should do so openly and not skulking in the bush stalking travelers. As for traveling with them, they stay their blades I will stay my hand, simple as that."
"I grew up in Helm's hold proper. Not some mythic elf druid village in the trees."
"Those goblins had no weapons drawn. Two of the four over there have no weapons. Dud either that you slaughtered? If these had been humans, halflings, elves or dwarf would you have reacted the same? Perhaps, you would. Daraktan cousins indeed. Notwithstanding if these had not been goblinkin, you'd be branded murderer. Blaire just told those survivors her cousin, the lot of us for that matter, aren't completely insane! There is nothing simple about your choice of action. Is this truly honorable in your eyes?!", Eli is currently very loud and very red, from the tips of his ears to the base of his neck as far as is seen before it is covered by his armor and gear.
"We don't even know if they would have approached us openly.", Eli adds through gritted teeth.
"Do you have law or honor? Am I even using words you have meaning for?"
Eli stops. His voice and mannerisms have spooked the horse up again.
He tries to calm it.
Wolfsong: Do you have any reaction to this full on rant? Either way, what do you do or say?
Robwin, TT, Ikki, Blaire: You see the goblins getting more nervous in response to Rinn and the volume of the argument (or roaring lectures) coming from the trail.
TT will approach the goblins and ask "I can heal this one if you'll allow me to touch him" If they allow she will cast cure wounds for 9 points of healing
TT: The "lead" goblin nods her consent and while the other female does nothing to stop you, she doesn't release the unconscious goblin either.
As you heal the third goblin. You notice he has what is left of a wooden shield strapped to his back and a machete style blade still in its sheath also on his back.
The goblin holding him doesn't appear armed and her leathers would barely qualify as "light" armor by the few armorer and smithy you know in Neverwinter.
The goblins are clearly shocked by the intense flow of magic which flows quickly into their companion. His eyes fly open as he gasps in shock. Bones, sinew, and muscles realign and regrow. The experience is jarring and fantastically complete.
The lead says a few words. The male nods. The female holding him buries her face in his hair.
Thinking hard about what he was told, Robwin tells the goblins, “It was about five days ago, or so... The wagon attack was on the road between Neverwinter and Phandalin on the... what did they say?... the ‘Triboar Trail’!“, he recalls... “..at least a day and a half west of the crossroads......”.
He thinks, then asks, “Whose territory is that road??.. Who would be ambushing people there?... ...And where would they take the stuff they looted there back to?”.
(( OOC: The DM missed this one. ))
Robwin: As TT heals the goblin you previously crushed and released, you ask your questions. The lead goblin blinks at you then shakes her head.
"King Grol rule goblinkin. Road is pale skin. If kin attacking road, stupid, King eat or not stupid, king order. Don't know."
"West; Trail; to road; Klarg is lasher; he maybe want be king; maybe follow king;"
"Go Klarg; Ask. Go King; Ask. Not killing stonehill hunters for Gragmaw lashers."
History/Survival/Insight check (pick the higher) to pull together whatever she's trying to tell you.
Eli does a terrible job dealing with the horse, Wolfsong or his reactions to any of this situation and marches off down the road a bit (unless Wolfsong interjects).
Wolfsong: You notice Blaire walking toward you, signaling for you to join her. She's only about five feet from the goblins and the party at the moment.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
((Thanks @Sasquatch. No worries! We had a bunch of posts recently. This bit is pretty epic and fast moving. Thanks)).
Robwin tries to follow the goblin’s train of thought, and rapid speech pattern. He pauses and screws up his face a bit as he tries to work out what they’re getting at...
While you are vaguely familiar with Goblinoids who work odd jobs in Neverwinter and their distaste for "wild cousins", you have a better grasp on history and bestiary of the library.
Goblinoids. Often called Goblinkin among themselves refer to a family of creatures including the goblins. Their larger cousins, hobgoblins and bugbears, like to bully goblins into submission. Goblins are often stereotyped as lazy and undisciplined, making them poor servants, laborers, and guards. Goblins, according to your studies, tended to break themselves into clans and families into casts within a clan. Lashers, Hunters, Gatherers, Pariahs are the casts you are aware of from highest to lowest.
A leader of a clan was usually designated as a Boss and a rare leader of many clans was designated a King.
If what you heard from this goblin matches with your academic knowledge, the Gragmaw clan has a Boss of a Lasher family that might be going against the regional king. She and presumably those with her are Hunters cast from Stonehill clan and follow the regional king.
Her double back speech seems to suggest she wouldn't be surprised if the king had ordered the attacks but she would believe treason from the Gragmaw first.
From the comment between her and the younger female, you gather, she isn't as taken by royal trappings as her counterpart is.
You wonder if this lead female might not be older than the other two.
Robwin stands staring for a second or two, his eyes flitting from the ground to the sky, to a bush... left, right, up down, as he tries to calculate all this. As some of that starts to click into place, he doesn’t know quite where to start. “You think the Cragmaw Clan is probably ordering the attacks on the Triboar Trail??!...” ... he thinks again, “Five days,... wagon.. survivors......”.
Robwin kneels down in front of the lead female. “Where? Where will we find the Cragmaw Clan?....”. And then to the party, “We have to head there... There may still be survivors. At the very least, we’ve been asked to retrieve the shipment...”.
The lead goblin says, "I Glufs. She Gralk. He Gaatbort.", pointing at herself and each of them.
She continues, pointing, this time to the west by northwest, "King half day in wood."
She points west along the trail, "pale skin town road day on trail... Gragmaw half day again... big pale skin road half day again... can go long... see well by sun or moon... sleep less than big kin... you know what we say?"
Wolfsong gives a single chuckle at Eli’s anger, “Do I know the meaning of law or honor?”
Wolfsong’s voice never raises it stays as cold as steel as he takes steps towards Eli, “I know law, I live by it. The law of the Wilds, where the strong survive and the weak or foolish fall. I know honor, I give it to every kill, for they make me who I am, and I know that one day it will be me to falls during a hunt.”
Wolfsong continues to his steps towards Eli until finally stopping right in front of him, their toes touching, Wolfsong’s cold stare meeting Eli’s fiery glare, “Tell me where was your law, your honor, when the dragon came down and kill three people before you? Yours was not there by the laws I follow were.”
Wolfsong holds his gaze with Eli for a moment before stepping past before Eli attempt to calm the horse. Wolfsong glances over his shoulder with one final word, “I do truly hope the goblins learned from their mistakes they made today. When a mistake was found fatal during a hunt, the other hunters of my tribe would learn from that mistake for the next hunt, I hope the goblins are the same.”
Wolfsong just shakes his head as Eli marches off then moves to Blaire, and in a tired voice before Blaire can speak says, “If you are to chastise me, do not bother, your friend has already done so.”
Rinn scratches his chin and he considers what the goblin is saying. "So your king is half a day into the woods. Whereas this Gragmaw who rebels against your king is about a day and a half west along the trail from here. You're most helpful, Glufs."
Robwin replies to the lead female, “Well, Glufs... Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.... And, we can check with the rest, but personally, I’d be glad if you could accompany us”.
”I think we’ll probably catch up with your King later, but for now, we have to drop off this horse-and-cargo in Phandalin and then check out this Cragmaw Clan”.
((From what Robwin knows of Phandalin and the surrounding area, does it sound like this ‘pale-skin town’ on the way to the Cragmaw goblins is, in fact, Phandalin? If so, we maybe we could drop off the cargo and then head on to the Cragmaw tribe)).
Assuming that’s the case, he’ll turn to his nearest companions and suggest that cause of action: stay with these goblins and head to Phandalin, drop off the stuff, then head onwards to find the Cragmaw goblins. If need be we can camp outside town and someone can just nip in with the stuff if we don’t all want to traipse in with goblins.
(( Robwin and Rinn have it right. They also recall it's a half day journey from the crossroads to Phandalin. ))
Wolfsong: Blaire says in Illuskan, the Northlander native tongue, in a calm though slightly exasperated voice, "I heard most of what he said." She shakes her head slightly and continues, "I can imagine your response. I would like to know your exact words later. For now, know that in Waterdeep, Neverwinter and Helm's hold, our great city (no small amount of sarcasm), their large city about three north of here on the coast and his city, Daraktan and Goblinkin live and work alongside their elf, dwarf, human, seafolk and other kinder never seen in the Northlands. No excuse, just know your pray and your hunting grounds, yeah? Also, these look like cubs and one den mother. You may have acted too quickly. Now, do you know of Gragmaw or Stonehill clans among the Goblinkin? Maybe these are pushed from the north like those Daraktan at the ranch? Though it doesn't feel true."
(( Wolfsong: You have not heard of these clans in hunts or trades. Blaire's Illuskan has a distinct accent to your ear that you can guess is Moonshaes Isles. ))
Rinn's Persuasion: 8
"I said nothing about setting camp I said to draw them near to turn the hunt against them," Wolfsong responds to Eli's question. "These are not your peaceful villages elf these are the wilds where danger can come at any moment, or need I remind you of the dragon that came down and killed three people before you could even move. Let this be a lesson for them, if they wish to deliver a message in the future they should do so openly and not skulking in the bush stalking travelers. As for traveling with them, they stay their blades I will stay my hand, simple as that."
"I grew up in Helm's hold proper. Not some mythic elf druid village in the trees."
"Those goblins had no weapons drawn. Two of the four over there have no weapons. Dud either that you slaughtered? If these had been humans, halflings, elves or dwarf would you have reacted the same? Perhaps, you would. Daraktan cousins indeed. Notwithstanding if these had not been goblinkin, you'd be branded murderer. Blaire just told those survivors her cousin, the lot of us for that matter, aren't completely insane! There is nothing simple about your choice of action. Is this truly honorable in your eyes?!", Eli is currently very loud and very red, from the tips of his ears to the base of his neck as far as is seen before it is covered by his armor and gear.
"We don't even know if they would have approached us openly.", Eli adds through gritted teeth.
"Do you have law or honor? Am I even using words you have meaning for?"
Eli stops. His voice and mannerisms have spooked the horse up again.
He tries to calm it.
Wolfsong: Do you have any reaction to this full on rant? Either way, what do you do or say?
Eli: Animal Handling (disadvantage): 9
Robwin, TT, Ikki, Blaire: You see the goblins getting more nervous in response to Rinn and the volume of the argument (or roaring lectures) coming from the trail.
Of course, one goblin is still unconscious.
TT will approach the goblins and ask "I can heal this one if you'll allow me to touch him" If they allow she will cast cure wounds for 9 points of healing
TT: The "lead" goblin nods her consent and while the other female does nothing to stop you, she doesn't release the unconscious goblin either.
As you heal the third goblin. You notice he has what is left of a wooden shield strapped to his back and a machete style blade still in its sheath also on his back.
The goblin holding him doesn't appear armed and her leathers would barely qualify as "light" armor by the few armorer and smithy you know in Neverwinter.
The goblins are clearly shocked by the intense flow of magic which flows quickly into their companion. His eyes fly open as he gasps in shock. Bones, sinew, and muscles realign and regrow. The experience is jarring and fantastically complete.
The lead says a few words. The male nods. The female holding him buries her face in his hair.
((OOC: Is Robwin still waiting for a response to his questions in post #755? I’m not sure if I missed it. Or does he need to ask again? Thanks))
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
(( OOC: The DM missed this one. ))
Robwin: As TT heals the goblin you previously crushed and released, you ask your questions. The lead goblin blinks at you then shakes her head.
"King Grol rule goblinkin. Road is pale skin. If kin attacking road, stupid, King eat or not stupid, king order. Don't know."
"West; Trail; to road; Klarg is lasher; he maybe want be king; maybe follow king;"
"Go Klarg; Ask. Go King; Ask. Not killing stonehill hunters for Gragmaw lashers."
History/Survival/Insight check (pick the higher) to pull together whatever she's trying to tell you.
Eli does a terrible job dealing with the horse, Wolfsong or his reactions to any of this situation and marches off down the road a bit (unless Wolfsong interjects).
Wolfsong: You notice Blaire walking toward you, signaling for you to join her. She's only about five feet from the goblins and the party at the moment.
((Thanks @Sasquatch. No worries! We had a bunch of posts recently. This bit is pretty epic and fast moving. Thanks)).
Robwin tries to follow the goblin’s train of thought, and rapid speech pattern. He pauses and screws up his face a bit as he tries to work out what they’re getting at...
History check: 18
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
Robwin
While you are vaguely familiar with Goblinoids who work odd jobs in Neverwinter and their distaste for "wild cousins", you have a better grasp on history and bestiary of the library.
Goblinoids. Often called Goblinkin among themselves refer to a family of creatures including the goblins. Their larger cousins, hobgoblins and bugbears, like to bully goblins into submission. Goblins are often stereotyped as lazy and undisciplined, making them poor servants, laborers, and guards. Goblins, according to your studies, tended to break themselves into clans and families into casts within a clan. Lashers, Hunters, Gatherers, Pariahs are the casts you are aware of from highest to lowest.
A leader of a clan was usually designated as a Boss and a rare leader of many clans was designated a King.
If what you heard from this goblin matches with your academic knowledge, the Gragmaw clan has a Boss of a Lasher family that might be going against the regional king. She and presumably those with her are Hunters cast from Stonehill clan and follow the regional king.
Her double back speech seems to suggest she wouldn't be surprised if the king had ordered the attacks but she would believe treason from the Gragmaw first.
From the comment between her and the younger female, you gather, she isn't as taken by royal trappings as her counterpart is.
You wonder if this lead female might not be older than the other two.
Robwin stands staring for a second or two, his eyes flitting from the ground to the sky, to a bush... left, right, up down, as he tries to calculate all this. As some of that starts to click into place, he doesn’t know quite where to start. “You think the Cragmaw Clan is probably ordering the attacks on the Triboar Trail??!...” ... he thinks again, “Five days,... wagon.. survivors......”.
Robwin kneels down in front of the lead female. “Where? Where will we find the Cragmaw Clan?....”. And then to the party, “We have to head there... There may still be survivors. At the very least, we’ve been asked to retrieve the shipment...”.
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
The lead goblin says, "I Glufs. She Gralk. He Gaatbort.", pointing at herself and each of them.
She continues, pointing, this time to the west by northwest, "King half day in wood."
She points west along the trail, "pale skin town road day on trail... Gragmaw half day again... big pale skin road half day again... can go long... see well by sun or moon... sleep less than big kin... you know what we say?"
"Are we headed back to town or following them?
Wolfsong gives a single chuckle at Eli’s anger, “Do I know the meaning of law or honor?”
Wolfsong’s voice never raises it stays as cold as steel as he takes steps towards Eli, “I know law, I live by it. The law of the Wilds, where the strong survive and the weak or foolish fall. I know honor, I give it to every kill, for they make me who I am, and I know that one day it will be me to falls during a hunt.”
Wolfsong continues to his steps towards Eli until finally stopping right in front of him, their toes touching, Wolfsong’s cold stare meeting Eli’s fiery glare, “Tell me where was your law, your honor, when the dragon came down and kill three people before you? Yours was not there by the laws I follow were.”
Wolfsong holds his gaze with Eli for a moment before stepping past before Eli attempt to calm the horse. Wolfsong glances over his shoulder with one final word, “I do truly hope the goblins learned from their mistakes they made today. When a mistake was found fatal during a hunt, the other hunters of my tribe would learn from that mistake for the next hunt, I hope the goblins are the same.”
Wolfsong just shakes his head as Eli marches off then moves to Blaire, and in a tired voice before Blaire can speak says, “If you are to chastise me, do not bother, your friend has already done so.”
Rinn scratches his chin and he considers what the goblin is saying. "So your king is half a day into the woods. Whereas this Gragmaw who rebels against your king is about a day and a half west along the trail from here. You're most helpful, Glufs."
Robwin replies to the lead female, “Well, Glufs... Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.... And, we can check with the rest, but personally, I’d be glad if you could accompany us”.
”I think we’ll probably catch up with your King later, but for now, we have to drop off this horse-and-cargo in Phandalin and then check out this Cragmaw Clan”.
((From what Robwin knows of Phandalin and the surrounding area, does it sound like this ‘pale-skin town’ on the way to the Cragmaw goblins is, in fact, Phandalin? If so, we maybe we could drop off the cargo and then head on to the Cragmaw tribe)).
Assuming that’s the case, he’ll turn to his nearest companions and suggest that cause of action: stay with these goblins and head to Phandalin, drop off the stuff, then head onwards to find the Cragmaw goblins. If need be we can camp outside town and someone can just nip in with the stuff if we don’t all want to traipse in with goblins.
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
(( Robwin and Rinn have it right. They also recall it's a half day journey from the crossroads to Phandalin. ))
Wolfsong: Blaire says in Illuskan, the Northlander native tongue, in a calm though slightly exasperated voice, "I heard most of what he said." She shakes her head slightly and continues, "I can imagine your response. I would like to know your exact words later. For now, know that in Waterdeep, Neverwinter and Helm's hold, our great city (no small amount of sarcasm), their large city about three north of here on the coast and his city, Daraktan and Goblinkin live and work alongside their elf, dwarf, human, seafolk and other kinder never seen in the Northlands. No excuse, just know your pray and your hunting grounds, yeah? Also, these look like cubs and one den mother. You may have acted too quickly. Now, do you know of Gragmaw or Stonehill clans among the Goblinkin? Maybe these are pushed from the north like those Daraktan at the ranch? Though it doesn't feel true."
(( Wolfsong: You have not heard of these clans in hunts or trades. Blaire's Illuskan has a distinct accent to your ear that you can guess is Moonshaes Isles. ))
Glufs nods her head says, "We follow. Show Gragmaw Cave. If Gragmaw hunt pale skin, pale skin hunt goblinkin. Stonehill not safe. King not safe."
She then starts speaking goblin to the other two.