[Completed] - Quirin/Exploration - 3 March, 1 VC

[OGRE MAGE]

Wendall

Giving the Elf a confused look, Wendall simply says Its a goblin! What do you think they eat?

Wendall pulls out his writing materials and parchment and begins to draw out on the map all of the places the little cannibal is telling us about. (dens, other goblin outposts, warrens, and any other landmarks that he is aware of) He notes everything the goblin tells him and even makes him point to the places on the map with his finger to pinpoint the places to the best of his knowledge. He speaks again to the goblin I suppose that you are probably thirsty as well then yes Grakkar? Would you like some water?

[sulldawga]

Once the goblin is up from the hole, Quirin will head down there, pick up the torch, and have a look around. He'll have put his bow over his shoulder and drawn his longsword.

[Keehnelf]

He has only a fuzzy notion of maps, but he immediately identifies the Finger of Doom as what he had earlier called Barad-Ithgar, where his warren is located.

Quirin takes a look around downstairs and, apart from Grakkar's filth and his folded-up armor, it looks like a long-emptied storage area about a dozen feet square with finely-worked but unadorned stone walls on all sided. There is a single tarnished and empty iron sconce for a torch on the wall opposite the stairway.

[Keehnelf]

He would be more than happy to accept some water, as the blood in the corpses has either flowed out and dried up or just congealed in the veins and isn't very thirst-quenching.

[sulldawga]

Quirin will take a closer look at the walls and floors, putting his Elven keen senses to good use. He'll also tug, push, and rotate the torch sconce to see if it triggers any secret doors.

If he finds nothing, he'll take a quick look at the goblin's possessions before he returns to the surface.

[Keehnelf]

March 4, 12:50pm

Elf Spot Hidden Doors [1d6] = 5

Quirin finds nothing of interest. Seems like a run-of-the-mill storage area for whoever built and used this signal tower.

[AleBelly]

"Let's find out more about the wolves. How many travel together, how many are in their packs, how big/dangerous are they (they must be somewhat dangerous since they killed three goblins and I saw no dead wolves)" suggests Varas.

In common, he asks "What are we going to do with this rotter? If we let him go, we should feed him some misinformation, like there's a well-enforced garrison at Vaul."

[OGRE MAGE]

Wendall

In common I say we bleed him for any information we can and then knock him out, cut off his disgusting ear, and throw him out in the woods.

In goblin Here ya go little buddy, here's a nice cup of water for you. Have you seen any other travelers or adventures in the areas you've been to lately?
He gives up a little water.

[Keehnelf]

He drinks the water down quickly. "No, no travelers, just more goblins. Other travelers don't come to this land--too dangerous for them."

[OGRE MAGE]

Wendall

What do you mean by too dangerous? We're travelers and we haven't seen any danger. Tell us what you know of these wolf packs. How big they are......how many......

[Keehnelf]

"Oh, they vary a lot in size. Sometimes just a couple of the normal wolves will travel together, anywhere from two to six or seven. However, the King and his henchmen often travel along with wolves in the wild and that's where you get trouble. His minions are dire wolves, huge and vicious things that will kill pretty much anything that they think they can handle. And the King himself--well, the King is like nothing you can imagine. I only saw him once, from a distance, big as a boulder and black as night, with glowing red eyes like knives carving up your soul...and I think he was with the wolves who attacked here. I could hear the sound of his breath on the hatch and the floor a forge-bellows, and when I touched the hatch after the noise had died down I could still feel the heat from his breath where it had warmed the metal even under the rock..."

His voice trails off and he lets the cup tilt over in his grip until water dribbles out as he returns to the bloody events of his patrol's massacre. He gives a shudder and hunches up his shoulders, handing the cup back with a slightly surly "Thanks." After a moment, he composes himself somewhat and stands. "So, can I go now? I've got nothing else to offer you."

[OGRE MAGE]

This is by far the most articulate goblin that I have ever talked to.

Wendall

To Grakkar One moment please, my friends may have further questions.

Wendall translates what was just said. Well? Now what?

[Keehnelf]

He's articulate in Goblin! It probably takes him twenty minutes to convey what I've typed there

[sulldawga]

Quirin says, Let's let him go and follow him back to his tribe. Then we can get a better idea of what we're dealing with on the goblin side.

[Scott308]

Dorvar responds to Quirin, That sounds like a decent plan. If there really is that big a goblin warren out here, we need to find its exact location. On t'other hand, he may be greatly inflating the size to scare us off, or because he doesn't really know how to count. He is a goblin after all. Before I forget, did you find anything of interest down the stairs?

[sulldawga]

Quirin says I found nothing below, although the lighting leaves something to be desired. We could build a fire down there and give it another try but it's quite wet and I'm not sure the effort is worth the potential reward.

[AleBelly]

"Do you really think it's a good idea to follow the goblin back to his warren? We'll be much more likely to run into patrols that may be too much for us to handle. I'd prefer to look for the wolves' dens in this area" says Varas.

"if I get outvoted, we should at least find out how many days' journey it is to his warren to make sure we have enough provisions."

[sulldawga]

Quirin shrugs. Evidence here suggests that patrols have about four goblins each. If the four of us can't handle four goblins, we shouldn't be out here at all. And with two of us capable of casting Sleep, we ought to be able to survive one mismatch before we head back to town.

[OGRE MAGE]

Wendall

I think we could take a few goblins, but I don't think we should mess with a whole warren of them. Im ok with searching for the wolves dens as well. I think the more area we cover the more information we will recover.

He speaks to the goblin again. Grakkar, when you leave here, where exactly will you go? Are there other goblin patrols nearby? We have no quarrels with your kind, we just want to learn more about the surrounding areas. Do your leaders need help with eliminating these wolves?

[Keehnelf]

Grakkar points to the peak looming on the horizon to the east. "Back to Barad-Ithgar. The Masters have the wolf problem in hand. Slowly we get stronger and the wolves weaker--we breed much faster!" He looks briefly, fiercely proud. "Just a matter of time."