Sandbox Rock Stars!

[aje8]

"Agreed..... we Whisper Gnomes are experts at hiding. I won't let my enthusiasm for the job casue me to be less effective. I won't be seen." The Gnome then sneaks off behind a tree to listen, watch and wait.

Rolls:

Spoiler

Show

Hide Check: (1d20+15)[17] +4 Racial modifier for the win!
Move Silently: (1d20+11)[30]

If needed:
Spot: (1d20+6)[23]
Listen: (1d20+6)[26]

[Darth_Malevo]

Way to make readied actions, guys.

The goblins foraged ahead, eventually reaching the duo within a minute. The goblins were all dressed the same: A tattered burlap sack with stained handkerchiefs around their mouths. They looked as though some green-ish substance had been thrown onto the plethora of abandoned cloths, the goblins looking around for their prey with twitchy movements. Knives, once stored against their hips with a rope belt, were held at the ready as they carved through the muck. One of the little cretins slipped in the muck, landing flat on its face as the others turned to give it a solid booting out of sheer spite. Another jumped on top of it, tearing its ear off in an act of cruelty.

They could very well kill themselves out this far, but the two criminals were too close for safety's sake. They had to act before the creatures got bored of abusing one another.
___________________________
Ain't this a pleasant bunch?

There were about six men in total, not counting the one working on the wheel, all dressed in chainmail shirts and armed like mercenaries. Smelling filthy, the men all carried weapons ranging from a pair of throwing axes on Wheel Fixer to a large bow carried by what appeared to be an elf with one ear. They were all, to the last, openly displaying their weapons. The windows on the carriage doors had been shuttered over, and the interior revealed no sound.

The carriage itself was an exotic design: It looked like somebody had taken the idea 'armored' and applied it to everything. There was so much metal riveted on the vehicle that it looked like a rolling fortress. The only thing that disguised this fact was that there was a cheap layer of gaudy wood-colored paint attached, making the carriage simply appear to be gaudy. As the man approached on horseback, the guards out front turned to him in an "about face" gesture.

"You wanna help, does ya?" Asked Wheel Fixer, "You know how to fix a carriage wheel? I've been trying to get the blasted thing rammed in place for well o'er an hour."

[Gorgondantess]

Hawk silently and deftly leaps forward into the group of goblins, launching spores from his hide and hacking at them, eviscerating the little guys.

Spoiler

Show

So, trying to get as many of them as possible.
Spore damage:(1d6)[3]
Dealing (1d4)[3] damage next round.
Aaand, attacks:
claw1:(1d20+8)[28]
claw2:(1d20+8)[22]
Bite:(1d20+6)[16]
claw1:(1d6+6)[12]
claw2:(1d6+6)[9]
bite:(1d6+6)[9]

[Schism]

Darren Vo'ryn

In the brief period of time it took Hawk to release his horrible spores and tear into three of the goblins, Darren studied another intently. The moment there was a space free of spores, Darren leaped forward and, with a look of deadly determination, drove his sword toward the gut of one of the still-living goblins.

Spoiler

Show

Wouldn't still be doing this if it wasn't my readied action, but oh well.

Concentration: (1d20+7)[12] vs. goblin's AC.

If the check was successful, then:

Attack: (1d20+4)[14] vs flat-footed AC. Damage: (1d6)[6] + (1d6)[1]

If unsuccessful on concentration check, ignore bonus damage and subtract 4 from the attack roll.

[Darth_Malevo]

Way to butcher them

Exploding from the mire, spores exploded outward in every direction. Horrible little motes bored into the cretins as his claws and hooked maw tore into them. One lost its head, literally, as a claw tore out its neck. The creature's lifeless body wobbled for several seconds before collapsing, its companions able to give a basic bladder reflex before one claw clenched around the head of a second. With a single twist, its neck snapped and it died soundlessly. The third was only able to muster the beginnings of a whimper before the mighty maw of teeth took out its skull. The taste of goblin brains wasn't pleasant: They were exactly like lawyer brains. Yuck.

Darren's own sword tore through his target's diaphragm, the goblin letting out a wheeze before submerging in the mud. The watery soil was quickly turning red, the sole survivor whimpering as it threw itself as Hawk's feet, prostrating itself like a loyal servant. It begged in primitive common, "Spare...Shmee! Not kill! Please let live...am loyal! Good work! Not bad goblin!"

Had either of them cared, he was the one with one ear. A curious enough trait, but the wound was still fresh: Killing him wouldn't even be an effort.

[Schism]

Darren Vo'ryn

"When I said you'd need replacement lackeys if you kill the militia, I wasn't thinking of goblins," Darren noted dispassionately.

[Gorgondantess]

Hawk grabs the lil' guy by the arm, lifting him into the air so that they are at eye level and stuffing his loincloth in his mouth as a gag. "Shut up and answer my questions truthfully and you might live through the day, and get something to benefit from it. Cause me any problems and you lose your other ear. Got it?"

[Darth_Malevo]

Ick! It tastes like goblin!

The creature attempts to speak through the gag, but begins retching at the taste of goblin. Eventually it gives in and simply nods, eyes dilated with terror as Shmee began to experience all of the terror that goblins were so prone to when their buddies were taken away. Unfortunately, with a gag, it might be unable to speak accurately. Or at all, unless the goblin had some latent skills in telepathy.

Behind the goblin, there were no signs of any real disturbance. The entire encounter had only taken a few minutes, and- goblins being the minuscule folk they are- the creatures had yet to be considered missing to any real degree.

[Gorgondantess]

Spoiler

Show

Hey, I just remembered I gained telepathy at 20' this level. Cool beans!

To the goblin:
Now. I can read your mind, and speak into it. Get used to it, I'm going to be doing this for a while. Tell me: how good are you at sneaking around? If it's not very, I won't do anything to you, but if you lie- either you're good at it and say no, or you're bad at it and say yes- I'll take more than your ear. Also, how well do you know this place?
To the human:
I'll interrogate him. Do try to entertain yourself, in the meantime, unless you have some questions you'd like me to ask him.

[Schism]

Darren Vo'ryn

Darren's mind flashed with a quick series of surface thoughts: surprise at the mental touch, followed almost immediately by anger at the patronizing words and the continued assumption that he was a human. He nodded, however, and set to cleaning the goblin blood off his sword before taking up a lookout.

Spoiler

Show

Spot: (1d20-2)[10]

[Gorgondantess]

Well, human, I thought you were the wise one. Do you have anything to add to my enlightening altercation here, or are you just going to sulk?

[Schism]

Darren Vo'ryn

Darren glanced at the goblin briefly, then shrugged.

Nothing of importance, no. If he's useful to you for some reason, then keep him. If it were up to me, though, we'd already be at the lighthouse.

[Darth_Malevo]

I am the Mind Freak! This statement is not copyright infringement!

As Darren made sure that everything kept on being peaceful outside, the Vrock began to mentally interrogate his prey, the Goblin able to think slightly more clearly via telepathy.

Do not kill me! I am...harmless! I am not very sneaky, but I think...good for other things! I know stuff seen before! Weak, but smart! There was a small goblin curse as it gagged on its own clothing again, Please spare me! Good worker! Loyal! Not act up like others!

As Darren looked over the lighthouse, the goblins torturing their comrade in the water began to climb aboard the docks, milling about as the wagon guards continued to look over the various crates. The broken one was left where it had dropped, yet none of the creatures dared to even look at it.

[Gorgondantess]

To the goblin:
Fine, fine. Tell me what you know, and make it quick. If you prove to be useful, you may just be in the cohort business.
To the human:
Awww, it's okay, talking is a free action. Ummm... do you know what a free action is?

[Schism]

Darren Vo'ryn


I do not, confessed Darren. However, I do note that there is a slight crack in the fourth wall brace of the lighthouse. Did you bring any explosives?

[Gorgondantess]

Yes, I put them right next to my steam-powered gauntlets. Where the hell am I supposed to get explosives?

[Darth_Malevo]

Hey! The fourth wall is /mine/!

Were the fourth wall broken any harder, the goblin might very well have a piano background to its pitiful begging for its life. Really, that was quite a nasty fissure that just erupted. But the damage was done, and the gods were ever-busy creatures in repairing said wall.

I know that the others are stupid! They follow lash-man! Lasher is nasty! Lasher is only strong because of his lash! He didn't have it once. He was very scared until he found it again. I know he is very scared. We all smell his fear...

The goblin's thoughts became momentarily consumed with the kill they had made earlier: A pair of humans that had apparently lost favor with their "chieftan". It was a gruesome sight, but the Vrock was still able to enjoy the entirety of it.

I also know what the boxy-boxes contain! We break them from time to time...they have stinky stuff inside! Smells terrible! Tastes terrible! Lash-man takes what we break with himself. In his special room. Nobody ever leaves his special room.

[Schism]

Darren Vo'ryn

There were twelve dwarves on board that ship when I got on it. It seemed a reasonable enough assumption.

[Gorgondantess]

To the human:
I don't deal with dwarves: I just eat them.
Kidding, kidding... they're far too sinewy.

To the goblin:
So... if I took the lash-man's lash, do you think that the other goblins would attack him and join me? What makes them tick? Think before you answer, worm, or your ear is mine, as well as your eyes and your tongue.

[Darth_Malevo]

If you dissect him, you can figure out what makes him tick for about half a second

The goblin whimpered as it felt the Vrock's intimidation seep through, trying to recall what it could and translate it into common. Unfortunately, the results could have been better.

Lash-man scare us too much! He beat us often! Feed us rarely! We are all terrified of him. But death scarier...lash give him power. We too scared to act against him! Take lash, and prove your terrable might! Others fall in line with small deemonst...dala...show of your great mite!

[Gorgondantess]

To the human:
The runt tells me that if I take out the guy with the lash and take it from him, I might be able to inspire a revolt. Any wise ideas to the contrary?
To the goblin:
If this doesn't work out... well, you get the picture by now. If it does... how would you like to hold the lash?

[aje8]

See that the Mercanaries (or whatever they are) are not hostile, Morrel spins out from behind the tree. And I do mean spin literally. When is back is turned completley towards the bandits, he gives Hector a wink, without slowing down, and then finishes facing the bandits.

"Though I'm afraid me and my companion don't anything about fixing a carriage, I'm pretty sure I know where you can get some replacement parts to fix your carriage......interested?"

[Darth_Malevo]

If its heart beats any faster you may just get to watch a goblin explode

The tiny creature, terrified, began to quiver with a mixture of excitement, terror, and glee at the prospect of being in command. The one-eared cretin nodded, its sole ear perking up as a malicious grin came to its cloth-stuffed face. It didn't even seem to care about the taste of loincloth anymore. You let me hold lash-man's lash? You right choice after all, great master! It mentally chirruped, waiting to be let loose and serve.

Up ahead, everything continued to remain quiet. The whole exchange had taken under ten minutes, the wagon guards no doubt taking their sweet, sweet time in getting the shipment checked over. If the mental images of what the goblins had eaten were true, then failing at your job was something the local criminals didn't take very kindly to.
____________________________________
It's actually much simpler.

Wheel Fixer turned to the carriage wheel, shrugging. "It's actually simpler than that, to be honest wit' you. We have the parts, problem is, the guy who was supposed to know how to fix this? He's workin' with some forest bandits up a ways, the buncha whoresons. Rigged the wagon to bust onna snag and his pals were waitin' for us. We drove 'em off, sure, but they'll be back. If you can nab 'em without killing him, Bishop 's his name, we'd appreciate it. Should be wearing clothin' like ours, nothing much fancier than a shortsword on 'im."

The man pointed down the road, "If you head up 'bout a quarter-mile, you should see a dirt path branchin' off from the main road. Ain't well traveled, but those sneaky runts fled down it right quick when we were hailin' them with arrows. I figure they're lickin' their wounds right now."

[Jade_Tarem]

Ursuun...

OOC:

Spoiler

Show

...is back! Band camp is finally over, and I've kinda-sorta caught up on what everyone else is doing. I should be able to post more regularly now.

"Fascinatin'. And it brings ye bad luck? Does it do that when ye carry it, or just when you try to use the trinket?"

[Hecktar]

Hector Graves

---

"Aye, we'd be willing to help you." Hector says fully confident himself and his group can take the rest of the bandits seeing as how they've already been in combat with this fairly fearsome bunch.

Spoiler

Show

If aje is around and posts soon I wait for him to come with me.

If aje isn't but DM you are, I head off beforehand on my horse to scout the situation and tell the other two to catch up. Just see what the land is like, if there's any places we can set up an ambush or if Hector can get close enough, he checks if it would be easier to just rush the bandits at their camp.

[aje8]

Morrel Grins, "Sure we'll do it! Let's proceed, Hector, Izen," Says the Gnome before beginning down the road at a brisk pace.

[Jade_Tarem]

Ursuun

Ursuun frowns, and then pokes his beared face into the still open rift in the fourth wall. "Anyone alive out there?"

[aje8]

Darth, here's a point blank question, is this game dead?