[WFRP] The Bloody Crown XIV

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"A cow?" Sieghard repeated, sure he had misheard. He looked down at the print. Though he couldn't tell one animal's track from another, the mark had clearly been from some sort of hoof. "Must've been something they took recently. Can't imagine they'd wait long before eating it."

[rax]

"Good spot for an ambush, and deep shadows as well. The sort of place goblins might set a watch even in daylight," Bardhyl said.

"On the other hand, it should be easier to spot tracks from a cow than goblins, eh?" he chuckled knowingly at Afrim.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo inspected the ravine with caution. "Reckon we could get someone up along the top edge? That's where they'd be in ambush, right? Could try and capture a sentry from there."

[rax]

"An ambush could probably be set from above, but that would expose the goblins to the sun, which seems less likely," Bardhyl answered.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo thought for a moment and then nodded. "Makes sense. Maybe we could do some ambushing of our own, then."

[LCP]

Following Ludo's lead, they cut around the side of the ravine and followed its edge up the hillside. It was hard going, clambering over rock and through spiny furze. Light-footed as always, Ludo found himself pulling ahead while the others laboured behind. Alert to the possibility of greenskin sentries lurking among the bushes, he checked his pace. They had climbed quite a way from the mouth of the gully, and with the warm spring sunshine beating down on his back, even he was sweating a little.

It was a smell other than sweat that first alerted him that they might have found their quarry - for those who had helped rescue Tatiana from the caves under the crags, a smell that was all too familiar. Ripe and musty, like mildew and manure, now it wafted on the open air. Following his nose, Ludo crept up to the edge and peeked over.

Below him, the ravine widened out into a bowl-shaped hollow, where it looked like in rainier times a waterfall had plunged from the higher ground above. Around its steep, rocky sides, ramshackle shelters had been rigged from scavenged timber and mouldy, patchwork canvas. There were goblins down there, lurking underneath their tatty awnings. Exactly how many was hard to say - fewer than Ludo remembered in the great cavern beneath the hills, but scores at least. Many of them seemed to be sleeping, but that still left plenty who were awake and watchful, chattering among themselves or sharpening crooked knives. All of them huddled close to the walls of the hollow, keeping out of the sunlight.

The greatest concentration of them was under a rocky overhang at the back, behind where the falls would once have run. The greenskins had screened it with a curtain of ragged black cloth, stitched with the image of a crescent moon grinning through a mouth full of jagged teeth. Two goblins stood guard outside this entrance with hoods pulled down over their faces, hunched behind wooden shields almost as big as they were.

In front of them, in the middle of the hollow, a dead tree stood in the centre of an island of loose rock. The goblins had been hard at work decorating it. Rags of leather hung from its two longest branches gave the impression of outstretched wings, while the wooden effigy of a snaggle-toothed wyvern’s head had been nailed to the end of its topmost branch. Tied to the base of its trunk were two human shapes, so wound round with rope that it was hard to make out any distinguishing features. A lean brown cow also stood there, its neck leashed to the tree and its rear legs hobbled together. A few gnawed bones lay scattered around it - Ludo thought he made out the skull of a goat.

There was no sign of any ‘wild man’, unless one of the figures lashed to the tree was him. Searching the scene for any other clue it might give, Ludo thought he saw one of the hooded guards before the crescent moon curtain raise its head, and quickly ducked back down out of sight.

OOC:

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Here’s a sketch to help make the scene clear:



You can assume everyone’s got up close enough to get a first look at what’s going on, but there’s a lot of goblins down there - if you want to try to gather more information, I’m going to assume that your heads are poking up above the edge, and there’s some chance of being seen.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa glanced down the hollow, drew in a sharp breath, and lowered her damnably visible, red-haired head. Even with impeccable tactical use of her wall of flame in choke points, it was doubtful they could fight so many goblins, and that was assuming there weren't a lot more of them out of sight in the shelters or behind the black curtain. Any potential attempt at diplomacy had better succeed on the first try.

They have human prisoners.

Only two of them, but still. Were they offerings to the wyvern, along with the cow? Now Elsa wished they had the horses with them after all, to use as currency for the lives of the prisoners.

"We've nothing to bargain with, do we?" she whispered. "Nothing they'd be interested in."

[rax]

"Hmm, no clear sign of Wadim, so no reason for us to stick our necks out at this particular time and place. A shame about the prisoners, but our little warband is not going to be able to defeat all those goblins. We should consider a retreat," Bardhyl whispered.

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo shook his head. "Something important's behind that curtain, and it has to come out at some point."

He looked to Bardhyl. "Does it seem likely there's a second camp round here?"

[rax]

"I'm not familiar with the housing arrangements of greenskins, but this looks like a place of worship to me, and likely they're waiting for their wyvern god to come and collect their sacrifices. Could be their chieftain or priest is staying put behind the curtain until it's time to put on a show. That still doesn't make this a fight we want to get into unless there's no other way of finding Wadim," Bardhyl whispered back.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"If Wadim is here, why would you assume he'd be out in the open?" Sieghard asked. "How do you know he's not one of the ones bundled up in rope?"

[LeSwordfish]

Ludo shook his head. "I'm not suggesting a fight, I'm suggesting a stakeout. Stay here until dark, maybe we'll see whoever comes out. Mybe enough of them will go off hunting we can sneak in when the camp empties."

[RossN]

Jarla

"If we are proposing a stakeout we'll have to be hidden from the air too - as much as I'd like to see a real live wyvern I'm not anxious to be gobbled up by one," Jarla whispered.

[-Sentinel-]

"I'm not suggesting a fight, I'm suggesting a stakeout. Stay here until dark, maybe we'll see whoever comes out. Maybe enough of them will go off hunting we can sneak in when the camp empties."

Elsa shook her head. "I suppose we can do a stakeout to see if Wadim is even here, but forget about sneaking in. No how, no way. Far too many eyes, and too much open space on the way down. Even when you wore a goblin hood, Ludo, you didn't manage to fool them very long. And you're by far the sneakiest of us."

She mulled things over. "I do still think we can bargain, if it comes to that. There's... precedent for bargaining with greenskins. But it'd be nice to know if they even have who we're looking for."

[LCP]

Keeping low to the rocks, Ludo and Bardhyl settled in to watch. The others fell back to what they felt was a safe distance, Jarla keeping one eye on the sky.

The day was passing into the afternoon, and as the sun dipped towards the peaks, more and more of the hollow fell into shadow. The goblins seemed to grow more active as it did, creeping out from under their makeshift shelters to squint with beady eyes at where the sunlight still fell. The sound of their voices grew louder and more numerous, a current of excitement seeming to run through the camp as the shadows crept up to the base of the tree.

As its bare roots fell into shadow, their excitement bubbled over. Their human captives were awake, and struggled in vain against the ropes that bound them as the goblins crowded closer. Still keeping to the shade, the green mob formed a crescent around the tree, babbling and bickering. Some of the bolder ones threw pebbles or clods of dung to torment their prisoners, cackling with laughter when they flinched.

Ludo estimated there were around fifty goblins in the crowd. Making signs with his fingers, he communicated this to Bardhyl, who nodded agreement with his own count.

There was a sudden commotion as the big curtain rustled, and three goblins in long, dangly hoods appeared from behind it. They were carrying instruments - a tin cowbell, a pair of hand cymbals, and a set of bagpipes made from the skin of some strange red beast. The cymbal-player crashed his cymbals together, and the mob fell briefly quiet.

Strutting out from behind the musicians came a familiar figure - to Ludo at least. Festooned with knives, and wearing his crown made from an upside-down pot, it was the chief from the cave under the hills. Down there, with only the flickering light of the goblins’ fires to see him by, he had seemed fiendish and fierce. Up here in the light of day, he looked small and foolish. Ludo could see the patches in his ragged black robe, and the rust on his cooking-pot crown. He looked like a child playing dress-up - albeit a very green and vicious child.

He shouted something in the goblin tongue, and goblin musicians began to play. The piper set up a squealing drone, the cymbal-player clashed his cymbals, and the goblin with the cowbell started hitting it with what looked like a sheep’s thigh-bone, while screaming in what it probably thought was a tuneful way and hopping rhythmically from foot to foot. The result could hardly be called music, but it was certainly loud. Echoing off the rocky walls of the ravine and drifting up over the hillside, Bardhyl thought it would be a wonder if they couldn't hear it down on the plain.

The chief barked more orders, and other goblins ran forward, seizing on ropes that hung from the upper branches of the tree and swinging up and down on them in a way that made the ‘wings’ of their idol appear to flap - at least, sort of. The rest, without such important jobs to do, crowded closer to their captives, jeering and gurning. The two goblins who had been on guard outside the curtain shuffled forwards, jabbing out with their spears to discourage any goblin who got too close...

[rax]

"I don't like the look of this. Either they're going to do those folk some harm themselves or they're letting the wyvern know it's feeding time. If we want to help those folk, then I think we're either going to have to bring the wyvern down right quick if it shows itself, or we stick their chieftain full of arrows. Take out the leadership, burn some more of them, and I reckon there's a chance they'll be too busy running for cover to mass against us if we decide to go get the sacrifices," Bardhyl whispered to Ludo.

[LeSwordfish]

"I can do you one better than an arrow," Ludo said. He drew his rifle from across his back and began loading it as he continued speaking. "but i'm not certain they'll run that easily."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Sieghard noticed Ludo loading the gun and crept closer, still keeping some distance between himself and the ledge. "What are you doing?" he whispered? "Has something happened down there?"

"If we do this, there'll be only one shot," he said after they had explained. "If the chieftain survives, he'll get into cover before you can take another shot. And it'll only be so long before they're swarming out after us."

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa shook her head and followed Sieghard as quietly as she could.

"What the f*** are you doing?" she hissed at Ludo. "If you start shooting, we lose our chance to find Wadim."

She could not understand why the sudden need to attack after they had been waiting here for hours. If anything, this was a worse time to attack than before, now that the sun was dipping and that the chatter of goblins was louder.


OOC

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Remind me, where did Ludo get a rifle?

[rax]

"I can do you one better than an arrow," Ludo said. He drew his rifle from across his back and began loading it as he continued speaking. "but i'm not certain they'll run that easily."

"For sure, one shot at their chief will not accomplish much. As I said - we will need a greater show of force to scare them. In any case, if we take our shot at the chief, it should be with every gun and bow available to make sure he goes down and stays down. Any less and all we'll manage is to stir up a hornet's nest," Bardhyl whispered back.

Sieghard

Sieghard noticed Ludo loading the gun and crept closer, still keeping some distance between himself and the ledge. "What are you doing?" he whispered? "Has something happened down there?"

"From the looks of things, the goblins expect to sacrifice the captives soon. Either they are summoning the wyvern or they are using the effigy as a proxy, so we are preparing in case there is an opportunity to act," Bardhyl answered back, keeping his voice as low as he could while still being heard.

"If we do this, there'll be only one shot," he said after they had explained. "If the chieftain survives, he'll get into cover before you can take another shot. And it'll only be so long before they're swarming out after us."

"Of course. Which is why I was just pointing out to Herr Ludo that we should mass every gun and bow we have if we are to drop him in one go. Even then, we will still need Elsa's fire magic to turn confusion into terror."

Elsa shook her head and followed Sieghard as quietly as she could.

"What the f*** are you doing?" she hissed at Ludo. "If you start shooting, we lose our chance to find Wadim."

She could not understand why the sudden need to attack after they had been waiting here for hours. If anything, this was a worse time to attack than before, now that the sun was dipping and that the chatter of goblins was louder.

"Calm yourself, Elsa!" Bardhyl hissed back. "Herr Ludo is merely preparing in case an opportunity to act presents itself. There is no sign of Wadim down there anyway, unless he's one of the prisoners - in which case he's a dead man unless we are willing to risk our lives to rescue him sooner rather than later."

[LeSwordfish]

"I don't want to just let those people die," Ludo said, but said it in a tone of worried acquiescence very different to the thrust-jawed challenge it would have been for him once. "If we can't see Wadim from here, though, then I think our best bet is to try and take a prisoner in the confusion."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"We can't take them all on. Too many," Sieghard said. "Maybe we could draw enough of them after us for someone to get the people down there free. It'd be a big risk though." He turned his head from side to side, gazing into the sky. "And on top of that, we still don't know where the wyvern is."

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(1d100)[88] vs 51 Perception. Any sign of it?

[LCP]

The sky was a clear blue, broken by only thin streaks of cloud. A buzzard was circling somewhere up there, so high that it was barely more than a black dot. Sieghard could see no sign of anything bigger.

As they held their fiercely whispered debate, the goblins continued with their noise-making. Some were joining in the 'singing'; others banged sticks against the wooden supports of their lean-to shelters, or the rocks of the gully. The goblins swinging on the ropes were growing more and more enthusiastic. The others chanted in time to each wild bound up and down: Grimsnag! Gargsnag! Gogsnag!

With a wild whoop, one of the chanting crowd jumped up to join one of the others swinging on a rope. The dead bough to which the rope was tied didn't take kindly to this doubling of the weight, and cracked almost in two, giving their idol a broken wing. The rope-swingers fell to the ground in a pile, and vicious recriminations broke out among the crowd. The music stopped, the drone of the pipes dying away with a sad, deflating moan.

Yelling and barking, the chief came elbowing his way through the mob towards the two miscreants. There were quite a lot of goblins in his way.

[rax]

Sieghard

"We can't take them all on. Too many," Sieghard said. "Maybe we could draw enough of them after us for someone to get the people down there free. It'd be a big risk though." He turned his head from side to side, gazing into the sky. "And on top of that, we still don't know where the wyvern is."

"I would never suggest taking them all on - merely causing enough confusion and panic to allow a few of us to race down, free the prisoners and withdraw. I believe the best way to do that is to kill their chieftain and then rain fire and arrows on them from above to keep them running around - that should prevent more than a handful of them from deciding they want to fight us to keep hold of the prisoners. After all, these are goblins, not elite warriors - they ran away from a large dog," Bardhyl suggested quietly. "But of course, if the same can be accomplished without violence, that would be even better."

With that he backed off a bit from the hollow and discreetly waved his men forward to join them.


OOC: Consider the above response to have occurred before our GMs latest IC post. Since we have no agreed upon course of action, I'm interested in hearing everyone else's reactions to the latest events in the hollow before having Bardhyl speak or act again.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa sighed. She would never have expected Bardhyl, of all people, to advocate for near-suicidal heroism on behalf of complete strangers.

"Listen. I hate to be the one to say it, but there's too many goblins to fight and too few lives to save. Sometimes you've got to pick your battles... and this isn't a battle I'd pick."

She shook her head. "Maybe if we had horses we could offer in exchange for the prisoners... but we don't."

[RossN]

Jarla

"Elsa maybe you could creep off somewhere and light a few fires in the distance?" Jarla suggests. "If they think invaders with torches - or even a natural wildfire - is coming they'll defnitely want to investigate."

[-Sentinel-]

"Elsa maybe you could creep off somewhere and light a few fires in the distance?" Jarla suggests. "If they think invaders with torches - or even a natural wildfire - is coming they'll defnitely want to investigate."

Elsa snorted—very softly. "It flatters me that you think I can set fire to stones, Jarla. But even if I could, it has no chance of keeping so many of them distracted for more than a short moment. It certainly won't make them clear us a path."


OOC

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RossN, as I told TheSummoner, this kind of distraction won't work, and will in fact have the opposite effect of the one we intend: it'll make the goblins more alert and prepared to defend themselves, not less. They certainly won't vacate their settlement en masse just to go gawk at distant lights, especially when they're all waiting for the wyvern to arrive like the audience of a rock show five minutes before the band is set to walk on stage. If we cause a distraction, a handful of them might hurry up the slope to see what's going on, but as soon as they reach the top, they'll realize it's some kind of trick.

Only a shadowmancer could create an illusion that would truly get the goblins' attention (the wyvern circling in the distance, for example).

Then again, Jarla doesn't know the extent of Elsa's powers, so it makes sense she'd vastly overestimate them.

[LeSwordfish]

"We're not here to kill goblins or rescue prisoners," Ludo said firmly, "we're here to find Wadim. Let's try to take a goblin alive and ask where he is. Do the same trick with the goat spell we did in the cave."

"Me and Bardhyl and his men can wait here. If Wadim is one of those prisoners and they look likely to kill him, we can start shooting as a last resort."

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa sighed. Goat noises? Really?

"If the mob down there can hear a goat, they can hear the sound of a goblin squealing to be let go."

[LeSwordfish]

"Well, tie it's mouth then."