Rise of the Runelords IC

[Spore]

Ladies? Adalbert inquires and does a short bow that does not expose his neck or any other vital organs. Can I just ask what you are doing here? he asks in broad common.

Spoiler: Goblin

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Do not mistake me for one of your brood. These 'big ones' are highly skilled and heavily armed. They even wield the dangerous fire magic you so fear and respect. If you cooperate and help us find any others that need purging. do not resist. We killed your precious demon hounds, your hired mercenaries, and we will come after your commander. You may yet live if you comply and aid us.

I just told them to guide us or you will remove their sorry hides from existence. Adalbert says. Rather than crossing his arms to wait for an answer, he draws the crossbow string of his weapon slowly while not loosing eye contact.

[u-b]

"Don't kill us. We will do whatever you ask." ..."or kill you at the slightest opportunity" seems to be left unsaid. Now, did you expect any better reaction?

[CasualViking]

Lizuga moves close to Adalbert, alert for treachery from the "guides".

[DrK]

Justin

Justin shudders in horror at the sight of the goblin ladies. He looks at the others, "strange beasts, truly disturbing. Do we just shut the door and let them be?" tHen looking at the halfling he motions back to them, "Could they tell us more of this place?"

[Spore]

Adalbert makes a very serious face. I do not think we should let them live. I am not one for corporal punishment but you have seen what their kind does.

Adalbert looks for a rope in his backpack then hands it to the strongest person in the group, probably Lizuga. Make sure they're properly bound before I decide otherwise.

Spoiler

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knots on creatures key of CMB, so the guy with the best BAB plus strength I assume

[CasualViking]

Lizuga lays down her arms to tie up the goblins. She is not averse to a little strong-arming as necessary. "I hold no regrets for the goblins we have killed so far, or the mercenaries. But I can not in good faith say that it is necessary to kill these".

[Spore]

You have seen what they did to Justin's uncle. I do support Shelyn's teachings of giving creatures a chance to redeem itself. But I feel so powerless. We need our hands free to deal with the bigger threats at hand.

[CasualViking]

Lizuga looks over her handiwork with the ropes.

"Tell you what. We keep them here as hostages, in case we need to trade them. If that doesn't pan out, we set them free. If they get loose, they are unarmored, lightly armed at best. They don't seem to have much fight in them. "

She turns on Adelbert and looks him straight in the eyes. "Or you can choke each oh them to death with your own bare hands".

[Ghostfoot]

Iris

Iris takes some comfort from the goblins and their aspirational garb. Impressive that they could take the effort to appear somewhat civilised given the environment. "No, murder in cold blood does not sit well with me at all. There were some cells back there. If they're secure let's lock them up for now."

[Spore]

After a moment of staring into Lizuga's eyes, Adalbert averts his eyes in shame. Of course you are right. But let us at least ask them before we release them. Ladies, can you help us find your tribe?

[u-b]

"So that you kill those you have not already killed? You want us to help you kill our kin?"

[Spore]

Adalbert sighs deeply. He would be surprised by such - reasonable - goblins but he had seen much in the last days. Your people are being exploited by someone who wants Sandpoint to fall. But as far as we understand it, you are meant to die like cannon fodder. No matter what they promised you in the end, you will not get it. Unless you're smart about it and betray them. Help us and not only will you be free, you will get a small share of the loot we have acquired.

Adalbert takes out the horsechopper, dog slicer and short bow they have been lugging around. I assume that is sufficient? Is everyone on board with this?

Spoiler

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The stuff is worth about 450 gold but we get half for it plus whatever appraise/diplomacy would give us for it.

[u-b]

The goblin "ladies" don't seem particularly intersted in material incentives Adalbert is offering, but do agree to point at the location of longshanks leadership. They say it's north, then west. They can lead you. Looking at the weapons, they ask whether they would be expected to fight alongside you or what.

Spoiler

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Please describe how you go about it.

[CasualViking]

Not speaking Goblin, Lizuga merely scowls at the goblins and continues to back up Adalbert with her presence.

[Spore]

Lady Lizuga, I will now arm these "women". They will show us their hideout to warn their kin. They may yet be able to work with us stopping the hobgoblins from using their kin as meat shields and distractions. They should still think the goblins aid them, and when the defense of Sandpoint is mounted, the goblins give way and surround the hobgoblin army. Is that a sound plan?

Adalbert hands over the dogslicer first, the horse chopper second and the bow third. He tells the "archer" to find some arrows and gives 'her' his dagger.

[u-b]

Two goblin ladies arm themselves all right. The one with the bow is certainly having problems finding the arrows in the room. The fourth, and oldest, goblin "lady" is left without a weapon. Other then being only partially armed, they are ready to lead. Or whatever. Not that they'll be happy either way.

Spoiler

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Do you want to let the goblin lady wander around and look for arrows?

[Spore]

Adalbert follows the archer, leaving the others in his friends' care.

[u-b]

The goblin lady with a bow takes a somewhat strange route - first she goes east to junk storage cave and does some half-hearted search there, then she heads horth through the Tentamort cave and west to the temple doors where she turns north.

A small square room there is covered in drawings up to four feet from the floor. The drawings are all rather crude and made variably in mud, blood, and paint. Most of the drawings show goblins engaged in some sort of violence against humans, horses, or dogs. One picture on the north wall is at least three times the size and complexity of the other scrawlings. This image shows Thistletop from the side, the goblin stockade perched atop it like a crown. A cave has been drawn into the center of the image, and looming inside is what appears to be an immense, muscular goblin with snakelike eyes and a dogslicer in each taloned hand. If the scale compared to the rest of the drawing is to be believed, this goblin must be at least thirty feet tall. Adalbert does not have much time to examine the drawings as the goblin lady passes the room nonstop.

She heads through a door leading west and then through a short corridor into a room willed with with a large table surrounded by chairs. A slate board to the north is covered with scribblings in chalk, but the map of Sandpoint that has been carefully inscribed on it leaves no doubt as to the purpose of this room-this is doubtless where the recent raid was planned. She passes this room nonstop also, exiting through the norhern door leading east and up the stairs.

The stairs lead to the ground floor near the privy. The goblin lady, followed by Adalbert, heads out from the dimness below into the sun-lit courtyard, where she is promptly shot in the chest by Shalelu standing in the double doors near the rope bridge. This happens well before Adalbert could do something to prevent it and all he can do now is observe two bodies on the ground of the courtyard - the bleeding one of the goblin lady and another apparently dead one of a goblin that has not been looted and has weapons on him, including a bow and arrows. As Adalbert enters the courtyard Shalelu waves a hand at him. "Everything all right with you people? I've heard some horrible barks and your dog is on the beach over there!" She points south-west.

Spoiler

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Shalelu longbow: (1d20+13)[29] for (1d8+3)[9]

Adalbert is on the ground level, which is not shown.

[Erloas]

"I guess we also need to get the children we found, I think having the goblin women carrying the babies would probably be safer for everyone than giving them weapons. Have we checked everywhere and think we're ready to go?"

[Ghostfoot]

Iris

"There doesn't seem to be much down here - by way of leadership anyway. Maybe they're hiding upstairs, in that eastern wing? Or maybe there's a hidden area."

[Spore]

Adalbert looks at the fresh corpse and shrugs slightly. We took some hostages, but I think you disagree with that notion. he adds coldly. Adalbert picks up the shortbow and checks the other goblin superficially for anything worth his while.

Why didn't you keep him back, Shalelu? Want to follow me? Adalbert adds as he takes any melee weapon he can find.

[CasualViking]

Lizuga

"I.... I don't think she knew, Adalbert. She just saw an armed goblin and reacted".

[u-b]

"Sorry. Did not expect you to organize armed goblins. I'd go with you, but then we risk being literally cut out on this island if they retake control of the bridge. There might be hunting parties out in the woods or what not, even if we chase those two on the other side of the stockade. Also the woman that ran away. Your choice of what kind of risk you prefer."

Spoiler: Loot

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The dead goblin has:
shortbow with 20 arrows
dogslicer
leather armor

[DrK]

Justin

Justen looks around at the others, trying to not stare at the strange goblin woman. "THere must be something more here?" He looks about more, waving to Lizuga and Lebwen. "Shall we explore around down here again? There must be something down here or something else. We have not seen anyone here who would be a leader to that bugbear or that wizard who escaped."

Justen invites the other members of the team and sweeps the lower level making sure that all the doors have been explored properly -

[Spore]

Yes, we should split up and scan the area quickly. But be cautious. There is no sign of an enemy, but we should go in teams. Lizuga, me and her. He points at a goblin. Lebwen, Justin, Iris and her. He points at the remaining goblin. I would go with the goblins alone if I trusted them.

[u-b]

You split the party* and search the rest of this level. Adalbert and Lizuga take the central door leading south from the big room. They find a corridor illuminated by a lantern hanging from the wall, and then what seems to be a bunch of living quarters. Some of the doors are locked, but that is not a problem for Adalbert.

The first room to the right shows many signs of having been lived in. The bed itself is rumpled and unmade, and a half-eaten meal of bread and smoked salmon sits on the nightstand. A few articles of dirty clothing sit at the foot of the bed. There is a burning torch in a holder on the western wall.

The second room to the right is clean and well organized. A low dresser to the southwest has a stack of papers sitting atop it, weighted down by a large chunk of obsidjan and an unlit lantern, while to the northwest sits a well-made bed.

The first room to the left has a faint musty odor.The bed is covered with matted gray and black hair, and bloodstains mar the stone floor, while a morbid stack of birds' feet lies heaped on the floor by the side of the bed.

The second room to the left is clean and is lit by a torch lying on the nightstand, the room's spartan decor makes it unclear whether it's actually lived in.

The room at the end of the corridor is a bit larger and seems to serve a dual purpose. To the north is a fine bed with silk sheets, while to the south, a desk and chair under a hanging lantern make a comfortable-looking study. The lantern is not currently lit.

Lebwen, Justin and Iris went north trough an art room and west through a table room into another room, where a goblin lady points west at the wall. A large wooden worktable sits in the middle of this room, its surface cluttered with scrolls, books, stone tablets covered with dense, spiky runes, and fragments of carvings that appear to have been chipped off of statues or bas-reliefs. To the north, a floor-to-ceiling set of wooden shelves sags with picks, shovels, brushes, lanterns, and other equipment one might expect to see at an archaeological site. There is a burning torch on the eastern wall of this room. The wall to the west seems quite ordinary, but then Justin notices a path into it trodden on the dusty floor. Also, there is a white cat behind a crate in the corner.

Spoiler

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*Yay, smart move! I played along without waiting for an explicit confirmation because you are not currently endangered by this.

There was a total of 4 goblin "ladies" according to #900. Now there is 3.

Lebwen perception: (1d20+4)[12]
Justin perception: (1d20+8)[22]
Iris perception: (1d20+10)[16]

[Spore]

Adalbert checks the spartan room and the comfy study in depth.

[u-b]

The larger quarter contains some clothing appropriate for a medium-sized female, including a set of dark cleric's westments (which is not much gender-dependent, to be sure, but you expect one person lives in this room). Inside the desk are some books in Common on topics of religion (both specific to Lamashtu and deity-neutral) and lower planes. Nothing more seems to be of particular interest.

The spartan room contains under the bed a backpack with a neatly packed medium-sized female explorer's outfit. The torch shines magical and, upon close examination, does not seem even warm. Adalbert concludes it is another everburner. There is nothing more worth noting.

Spoiler

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Assume 5 books on each topic, 2 pounds each. A set gives +2 to corresponding skill checks if consulted.

Adalbert know arcana: (1d20+7)[11]
Adalbert spellcraft: (1d20+7)[19]

[Ghostfoot]

Iris

"They're searching for something. How fascinating." Iris moves to the worktable and proceeds to shuffle through the papers and the artifacts, paying special attention to the craftsmanship of the carvings. She holds a few up to the goblins accompanying them, unable to communicate but curious to see if they have any reaction.

Spoiler: checks

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If appropriate:
Knowledge (History) (1d20+4)[21]
Knowledge (Religion) (1d20+5)[10]
Craft (1d20+5)[11]

Also: detect magic on the lot.

[Spore]

Adalbert's eyes fill with some sort of childish glee as he finally realizes what he has found. Guys, GUYS. These books may hold important information regarding our current situations. These books here teach the basics about all lower planes, be it the Nine Hells, the Abyss or other. Better yet, the other books give information about Lamashtu and other gods. Including information on more occult parts of their religion. I can't wait to find out more.

Looking into mildly interested to bored face, the halfling clears his throat. Ahem, though I would be really appreciated if someone carried those for me. I am sure these are worth the effort.