Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 2021

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Rusty Tincanne
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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#741 Post by Rusty Tincanne »

I "did" one good thing for Foxy! Hooray!

So we don't have much for treasure, but we have a flaming sword, a dragon's tooth, Halfpint's treasure and the reward for killing the goblin king. Do we need to go after the coffers? If so, Clay will stay with Grizzly, helping as he can. Money will definitely help cover the costs of hirelings for Beith's Watch and for hiring retainers for upcoming endeavors.

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#742 Post by Marullus »

The group decides to split up for the day, prioritizing both getting Foxy to safety and reclaiming the two hundred pounds of coins left in the coffers when they fled the dragon. Clay chirps to the owl, who hoots in concurrence and flaps up to watch the clearing for the group. Clay's badger claws quickly widen an alcove in the side of the mountain under an outcropping held up by a tree base; he soon has a decent concealment where both he and Grizzly can get some rest.

Halfpint and Baxtaw finish making a stretcher out of two saplings and their bedrolls. They heft Foxy's slumbering form upon it (sword still in its scabbard) and begin back along the way north away from the goblin's mountain to find the place where they left their mounts and the retainers watching them. Shortbread goes with them to help see Foxy to safety, his demeanor somber and silent after both the death of all his clansmen and then the brave sacrifice of the strange dwarven prisoner.

Eight hours passes without incident, Grizzly Woman and Clay waking, feeling better. It is about 7:00pm and Maurice reports that the dragon has not emerged and nothing else has disturbed the coffers. There are goblins about, but they're skulking until dark falls.

Clay takes the time to pray for Beith's power to assist them. (Post chosen spells in private forum, please.) He invokes a fog, which obscures the mountain and covers their movements. Grizzly Woman takes the sledge that she has lashed together and retrieves the coffers in the fog, dragging them northward down the mountain slope. Clay, Morrs, Grizzly Woman, Huckleberry, and Maurice trod along, their pace slow as the large woman hauls the heavy coffers, reaching the retainer's cave about an hour after sunset (11:00pm). (Since your gambit turned out okay, I'm putting you two on hold until the game clock catches up to 11:00pm for the other PCs.)

At the Retainer's cave....

Baxtaw, Halfpint, and Shortbread arrive at the cavern with Foxy born on the litter. It is cozy, a water-carved limestone chamber about forty feet across with a high ceiling. A narrow passage stretches out the back with a thin stream flowing down it. It has been about two days since you sent your retainers to wait here with Bluebelle the Riding Horse, Peck the Pony, and Asala the Donkey. There is a bit of a draft near the front entrance and scorches on the stone showing a fire had been lit there successfully in the past. You see the bedrolls of Kelso, Garvan, and Cardan, the three brave lads who took this mission, and next to them a plentiful supply of firewood to last a few days. Their packs and their gear rest there, still as they left them, the fire cold and unlit for over a day.

As your eyes adjust, you see further into the cave. You see the bodies of the three boys, torn apart by claws, blood splattered on the stone of the cavern around them. There is barely sign of struggle... they didn't last long and their deaths were quick. There is no sign of the mounts - but upon examining the cavern floor, you find hoof prints leading towards the stream-carved passage trickling downward at the back of the cave. Tufts of Bluebelle's fur cling to the stone where her larger form was forced through the smaller passage, all three sizes of hoofprints in the mud.

You're alone. The retainers are dead. The mounts are gone down the passage. You're exhausted and Foxy won't wake for four more hours.

Date: 12:15pm, 06 June 2021
Light: Sunlight
Effects: -2 to hit from exhaustion
Injuries: C'ang (Dead and eaten), Foxy (mortal injury), Huckleberry (mortal injury), Halfpint (grevious injury), Grizzly Woman (grevious injury), Baxtaw (grevious injury), Mors (mild injury)

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#743 Post by Rusty Tincanne »

Ouch. I totally forgot about that stream in the back of the cave. :( This is getting more and more awesome! (Only a bit tongue in cheek...)

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#744 Post by Dram »

Baxtaw Movees cautiously into the cave. Weapons drawn listening and looking for any signs of danger. Shall we wait for the others to see if we can find any of the mounts left alive?
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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#745 Post by Marullus »

Half-pint?

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#746 Post by onlyme »

Halfpint worries about Peck
She grabs her sword and heads quietly down the pathway their hooves went.
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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#747 Post by Marullus »

I assume Baxtaw goes with Half-pint and you leave Shortbread at the campsite with Foxy? Or do you let Half-pint scout ahead alone?

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#748 Post by Dram »

Baxtaw will follow Half-pint. Slowly my friend we do not know what waits for us on the other side. Baxtaw turns to ShortBread. If you can barricade yourself in the cave do so.
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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#749 Post by Starbeard »

Be careful in there. It would be a shame if Clay and Grizzly were the only ones to come back from this trip!

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#750 Post by Stirling »

Clay and Foxy explore the narrow passage at the rear of the cave. It is carved by natural water over the ages and fluctuates in its width and height somewhat painfully. At points you need to turn sideways, or hunch sharply, or crawl when both are true. There is definitely no room to swing a weapon, here. About 80 feet in, you are too big a creature to continue without crawling on your hands and knees. You can hear the trickling of water continue deeper in.
this was the cave description, as detailed in Foxy's diary. Who would lead a horse and donkey inside not outside unless to hide them away around the first bend? or eat in private?

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#751 Post by Marullus »

Shortbread takes his duty stoicly, settling Foxy in comfortably at the campsite that the three other retainers used before their abrupt deaths. He lights a new campfire, and sits, fidgeting with Thundred's axe across his lap, hoping not to die.

Halfpint pads down the passageway on near-silent bare feet, finding the passage quite comfortable for her height. It is carved by natural water over the ages and fluctuates in its width and height somewhat painfully. At points you need to turn sideways, or hunch sharply, or crawl when both are true. There is definitely no room to swing a weapon, here. About 80 feet in, Baxtaw finds he is too big a creature to continue without crawling on his hands and knees. You can only imagine the suffering of Bluebelle, and you indeed see scrapes of blood and horse fur on the stones. You can hear the trickling of water continue deeper in.

Halfpint slides past the narrow point and pads softly down the passageway, following the trickling water as it courses down the decline. Another 80' beyond, just after she passes Baxtaw's infravision, the passage opens up into a large underground natural cavern. The stone flattens here, the water pooling in inch-deep puddles as it eddies its way across the cave floor. Where the water stagnates there is a faintly luminescent scum which allows Halfpint a faint appreciation of the room, but otherwise, she is in darkness this far under the earth. She sees a figure rise and amble over to a puddle, dipping up a few handfuls to drink. As it agitates the scum, it glows a bit more - she sees it is a little larger than a man, with reptilian scales and a bony spine, spikes appearing on its head, down its spine, and and the back of its arms. Halfpint conceals herself and it shows now sign of her presence. The water trickles onward into a narrower passage on the far end of the cave.



Date: 12:40pm, 06 June 2021
Light: bioluminscent water-scum (-3 darkness penalty)
Effects: -2 to hit from exhaustion
Injuries: C'ang (Dead and eaten), Foxy (mortal injury), Huckleberry (mortal injury), Halfpint (grevious injury), Grizzly Woman (grevious injury), Baxtaw (grevious injury), Mors (mild injury)


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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#752 Post by onlyme »

Halfpint sits quietly for a few moments to see if she can determine any other movement in the darkened cavern. She will be listening for sounds from Bluebelle or her own Peck. After a few minutes, she will retreat back to Baxtaw to quietly relay what she has seen.
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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#753 Post by Marullus »

Halfpint waits. The creature finishes its drink and walks a short circuit around the cavern before plopping down unceremoniously, leaning its back against a stalagmite. It is looking your direction, watching your passage. With hopeful ears, you strain in the darkness to hear any sign of your mounts. You think you hear the sound of hooves clopping on the natural limestone, echoing from chambers far beyond, but in this cavern it is just as likely that your ears have invented the illusion of the sound to calm your saddened heart.

You clamber up to the narrow bend and whisper to Baxtaw about what you found.

Date: 1:00pm, 06 June 2021
Light: bioluminscent water-scum (-3 darkness penalty)
Effects: -2 to hit from exhaustion
Injuries: C'ang (Dead and eaten), Foxy (mortal injury), Huckleberry (mortal injury), Halfpint (grevious injury), Grizzly Woman (grevious injury), Baxtaw (grevious injury), Mors (mild injury)

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#754 Post by onlyme »

Marullus wrote: It is looking your direction, watching your passage.
Does passage in this context mean watching her movement/journey or watching the narrow location. Because one means he definitely sees her and one doesnt really mean anything
Also, would Halfpint or Baxtaw have a clue as to what this creature is? I assume most non-rare monsters are at least spoken of in books and lore to where the average pc would know something about them based on general descriptions?
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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#755 Post by Marullus »

It has not seen you, but is watching the tunnel you are in, like a sentry.

You can roll an INT check -- roll [1d20] and get under your intelligence
.

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#756 Post by onlyme »

Marullus wrote:It has not seen you, but is watching the tunnel you are in, like a sentry.

You can roll an INT check -- roll [1d20] and get under your intelligence
.

int check [1d20] = 2
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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#757 Post by Marullus »

It is the distinctive smell which warns you that this is a Troglodyte and not a Lizardman. No warrior has ever fought a Trog and not come back with tales of its disgusting, horrid stench - even the stoutest stomach can be turned to retching and vomiting by close proximity to them. The Troglodytes are renowned and feared in the southlands where they tend to inhabit warm subterranean caverns; they are tougher than their lizardman cousins and far more violent and warlike - seldom has negotiation helped with a Trog.

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#758 Post by Rusty Tincanne »

Clay casts CLW on Hucklberry prior to setting out back to the cave.
Cure Light Wounds [1d6+1] = 1+1 = 2 :roll:

He can cast CLW 2 more times today.

Halfpint and Baxtaw: Have fun, but be safe!

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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#759 Post by onlyme »

Halfpint quietly suggests they move back toward the cave opening, slowly. If they have to fight it, they need to be able to use their weapons.
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Re: Expedition - Foxy: Bounty On The Goblin HQ - 02 June 202

#760 Post by Dram »

Baxtaw Let us move back to Shortbread. We should attempt to set a trap for it or build a fire in front of opening. Wait for the others to return to battle it. I will not survive a battle with that thing.
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