Gerund scrambles back into his clothes and grabs for his long sword. He drops into a fighting crouch and menaces a stack of dry goods, Shayliss mock cowering behind him just as her father throws open the door and storms downstairs. "Shayliss Vinder! What in the name of Desna is going on down here?! If you've . . . oh, . . . what?" Vin's tirade comes to a stumbling halt as he takes in the strange scene before him.
Gerund seizes upon the man's confusion. "Stay back Mister Vinder, these goblins are vicious when they're cornered. Hah!" With that Gerund lunges forward and runs through an innocent sack of flour. He then relaxes and turns to the shopkeeper, a look of relief on his face. "Good job you showed up when you did sir, looks like you scared them off. I'm not sure I could have handled them all by myself. Now," Gerund starts to maneuver towards the exit, nonchalantly gathering up his discarded armor as he goes, "I must rendezvous with my companions and pursue these vile beasts to their lair."
Just then the cellar door bursts open a second time and Sasha jumps into the room, rapier drawn. "Okay you thieves back away from my friend here and no one gets hurt!"
"Thieves?" asks a stunned Vin.
"No, goblins." whispers Gerund, dropping a gauntlet.
"Goblins?! Where?" shouts Sasha.
"Actually it was rats," Shayliss chimes helpfully.
"Rats!?" exclaims Vin, "Not in my cellar!"
"Uh, yes," Gerund tries to regain control of the situation, not easy while hopping on one foot and trying to pull on a boot. "Well, thank you again for your timely assistance. This town owns you and your family a debt." He grabs a thoroughly confused Sasha by the collar and shoves her up the stairs. "Farewell sir, and farewell brave maiden."
Out in the street Gerund sits down to pull on his other boot, and Sasha pulls a wry smile. "Brave maiden. Really? Ugh." Gerund opens his mouth to retort but is suddenly hit from behind and sent sprawling into the dusty road. When the stars clear he looks up to see Poot staring him in the face.
"Now Gerund lad, I know we saw some frightful things down in that tomb that have clearly unhinged your frail mind, but snap out of it!" He slaps Gerund across the face for effect. "We don't slay damsels." Slap. "We're the good guys!" Slap.
* * *
After a lengthy round of explanations, apologies, ribbings and repeated assurances that there were no dead damsels in basement cellars. The party gathers their gear and heads east towards Thistletop. You reach the point where Poot and Yola met Shalelu, and from here the elven scout leads you north through the tangled branches of Nettlewood. Shalelu manages to stick to she calls goblin trails through the undergrowth. Yola, accustomed to living off the land, and Poot, due to his small stature have little trouble navigating the overgrown track, but the rest of the party have a tough time of it, and by the time you break out into a clearing where the Thistle river meets the sea, Gerund, Sasha and Seoni are sweaty, frustrated, and covered in scratches.
Shalelu gestures out into the water, "Behold Thistletop." about 60 feet off shore is a curiously round island, connected to the mainland by a rope bridge. The rays of the setting sun reflect off the island, and it almost looks like a colossal face is carved into its side. Perched precariously atop the island is a wooden palisade and fort.
Between you and the rope bridge however are about 150 feet of thick, sharp tangled briers. Shalelu gestures for quiet as you approach, and with a few minutes of searching you uncover a cleverly woven thistle door of sorts that can be lifted to reveal a four foot wide, four foot high tunnel into the Brier patch. Shalelu whispers to the party as you all gather around the tunnel opening. "This is the goblins first line of defence, a maze of thorns, and as close as I've ever come to Thistletop. How shall we proceed?"
The next move is yours. I suggest you discuss amongst yourselves how you want to approach this. Ask questions in thread and I will respond. It is about 5pm, and the sun is just starting to get low on the horizon. Shalelu tells you that this region is known for its morning and evening fogs. See the map below for a better idea of the surroundings"
17 comments:
Poot scrunches up his face in thought and lights his thinking pipe, specifically used for thinking.
(uses Knowledge:History-local lore and Knowledge:Arcana-ancient mysteries, to sift his memory of information pertaining to labyrinths in general and specifically this maze.)
"If it's gonna be dark soon, and this area, correct me if I'm wrong Shalelu, tends to blanket in fog, I suggest we make camp and attack this riddle in the light of morn'"
Poot looks around the area and kicks a rock with a hairy foot,
"'course I don't liken to campin' out here surrounded by fog and Desna knows what else."
I suggest that we set up a camp based on Shalelu knowledge of the area here and then we take watches.
Besides Poot sleeping under the stars is what life's all about.
yola
Sasha bites her lower lip and the digs her nail into the grip of her father's whip.
"Poot's got the right idea. Sometimes prudence is the better side of valor and cards."
Sasha examines the area.
"Is there anything we should be concerned out in this neck of the woods? I'm more of a city girl."
A couple of fireballs and this whole problem goes away, thinks Seoni. Unfortunately, I don't know how to do that yet.
"We will be at a disadvantage at night, so morning seems to be our best option. But what exactly is our plan for morning? Once we get to Thistletop, then what?"
"We could always try reasoning with them." Sasha says with a hint of sarcasm as she takes another scan of the campsite.
"Either way someone is going to have to take first watch? Any takers?"
"I'd like to give them a reason to run! But somehow, I think we'd be better off with something more subtle. In any case, I'll take first watch. It will give me time to study."
@Poot: Not much lore on the maze itself. The large brier patch is typical of the Nettlewood. The constant fog and moisture from the sea keeps the vegetation here damp and difficult to burn. Thistletop has long been considered the strongest of he half dozen or so goblin tribes in the area mostly due to its defensible position. It is suggested by some scholars that the island itself is all that remains of a colossal statue, a remnant of a mighty empire that fell into ruin ages ago.
"Is there anything we should be concerned out in this neck of the woods? I'm more of a city girl," asks Sasha.
Shalelu cocks her head and answers, "Um yes, goblins. We are literally standing at the front door of the strongest tribe in the area. There might be a few roaming around."
Elves have excellent nightvision, and Shalelu, who is used to working alone is clearly put off by the idea of waiting until morning. "If you insist on waiting until daybreak, then we should move a mile or so down the coast, or at least back to the river crossing to avoid detection."
Sasha ponders this. "If the tales of Elves and being able to see in the dark are true what are our chances that you could guide us through this mess? The other question is what happens if the goblins decide to attack us when it's black as pitch out here?"
Looks like our options are 1) camp here or somewhere about, till morning then go in or 2) go in now and see what destuction we can do in the dark.
The dark might be to our advantage but most of us can only see with the torches, gobo's can see in the dark as well
Shalelu - are the gobo's more active at night or the day? If they aren't as active at night might be better to get them now even if we have to use torches.
Yola
"Yola, I think you're reading your cards right. There's advantages to both. I don't like the idea of waiting then again I don't like the idea being ambushed and chewed apart before we can see what's doing it."
Sasha coils her whip again and holsters it at her side.
"Torches will be seen for miles away. But if we sit her and wait the snots might decide to get brave and cause more chaos that we will have to deal with in advance."
"Actually,"
Poot puffs on his pipe,
"The fog might be to our advantage. Light actually bounces back against fog, deadening it's effectiveness...while this means we'll only be able to see immediately ahead of us it also means that the goblins will not be able to see our light spells from a distance."
Poot scratches at his chin, "My vote is we go through the maze tonight."
Yola: well I'm all good with going through it tonight.
Mich
"Okay, and what will we be doing once we get through the maze, exactly? Once we pass through the 'front door of the strongest tribe in the area? I am rather enjoying being alive so far, and I think I'd like to continue for a while longer,'" Seoni says.
I vote we continue also.
Sasha listens to Seoni and agrees with her. "I'm partial to this whole living thing too. Though if Poot is right and the fog mask us then we might have an a small advantage. If we can get on their doorsteps without mishap before the sun rises then we have a chance to catch them off guard. OR they could have a cunning ambush already laid out for would be heroes or bizarre monsters roaming around waiting for adventurers to come stumbling around. I hate the snots but I doubt they are stupid enough to not plan that we would come after them eventually. Sometimes it's not about the best choice but taking the least worst choice."
Sasha says that she will go with majority vote. She will stick as close to Seoni as much as she can as she trusts her new friend completely.
"Least worse choice!" Seoni echoes. "That certainly sums things up, doesn't it? Okay, I agree that running the maze gauntlet tonight and hitting the village at fog time seems like the best plan. Or, at least the start of a plan.
If we plan to just destroy as much of the place as possible, then we can do that with an all-out frontal assault and a batch of torches...and a bit of sorcery. However, if the plan is more intelligence-gathering, then sneaking under cover of fog when the goblin's night vision is worst will work. Perhaps Poot and I can create a distraction while some of the more stealthy people can search the town?"
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