Clay Weatherwax
Clay offers his condolences to Mr. Farrow and, despite any urges, to leave the body where it lay for the time being. He then politely declines Roxy's offer to sharpen what would amount to a boar-spear. I agree with staying out of sight. but we do not know how far the goblins have traveled from this location, or if the girls are with them. I suggest Maurice scout for us after we find a place to rest and eat lunch. Clay will begin scouting for a likely place to lay low where they might keep an eye over the body. Once found, he will send Maurice out to scout the area, looking for more humans (the other farm hands or the girls) or a pack of wolves and goblins.
I am away from the computer for the weekend. I will have my phone, but access to the site will be limited until Sunday night/Monday morning.
@ Stirling: good idea to head West!
@Marullus: how fresh does the blood look? Did th is happen a few moments ago? a day?
The blood is dried and the body bloated. You suspect it has been lying there about a day. There are signs of scavengers having found it, but they likely scattered before your approach.
You retreat over the hill, finding an overhang where you secure the donkey, who gratefully grazes, and stow your gear. Clay speaks to the owl, asking him to scout the area. Clay and Foxy take turns atop the hill, looking down about 100 yards to where the body lays.
Three hours pass and the last sliver before the new moon sets. Soon after, dusk arrives, the light pulling out of the vales and then across the hilltops. The owl returns and reports that he found no younglings, goblins, or unusual folks. Clay retires to the campsite and Foxy takes the overlook. Darkness falls.
With only starlight to illuminate, it is difficult to make anything out at this distance. About an hour passes as Foxy crouches in the tall grasses, the earth cooling quickly, the temperature dropping. She discerns some movement, but can tell more by listening. Figures have emerged from the cleft. Orders are barked in a sharp, sneering tone in the goblin tongue. You hear snippets of pleading in a human baritone voice, "....torch ...injured ... please...". She hears a sharp cry of human pain and heavy sobbing, along with goblin laughter. You hear stumbling, crashing movement westward along the slope as they begin to move.
(Foxy can react first, as she is on watch. Clay and Mr. Farrow are in camp behind her.)
(You were given enough food for today with a hearty breakfast and send off. No need to deduct a ration here. The rabbit provides four owl-rations for Clay, or two dog-rations. He should mark those on his sheet and will need them tomorrow. I will usually deduct the days rations with breakfast.)
Day: 02 May 2021
Time: 10:00pm
Light source: none (-4 penalty in darkness)
Temp: 50 F
Wind: 6 mph
Distance traveled: ~7 miles, 16 miles total
Foxy creeps closer for a better view, trying to count silhouettes against the horizon and listening for younger, 'girlie' voices. After a few moments, she watches the gang lead off westwards out of sight, like a giant caterpillar weaving through the grass.
Hurrying back to the small camp, Foxy relays the news to Clay and Mr Farrow.
"We need to move in now. There is a small window of opportunity as a gang of goblin raiders lead off up the westward hills a few moments ago. No girls were amongst them, so by Eruannas' grace, they are safe inside. If you are a prayerful man Mr Farrow, I would do so now. Okay, let's go."
Foxy will fill her satchel with the flasks of oil that she put in the saddle bags, giving Mr Farrow some unlit torches to carry. "We might need to scare away the wolves or cause a distraction. Asala should be safe here, old faithful donkey can carry the girls back no doubt. Clay, you are a young man of many tongues, can you speak the rough dialect of goblin?"
Foxy, bow drawn will lead the way to the cleft entrance, pausing at the side in the shadows to allow a few moments for Clay to listen in on any guard chatter.
sorry for the delay. I am home now but still getting ready for the week. Before I post I want to be sure I understand the plan. We are leaving the farmhand and his captors alone, heading into the cleft to see if there are any girls to be found?
By golly, you are correct. I missed that major detail!
Clay Weatherwax
Clay shook his head in the increasing darkness, I learned how to speak to birds by spending time with them and studying with the priests and priestesses of Beith. I've never met a goblin before. And I don't feel comfortable leaving Asala out here alone. He scratched the donkey behind the ears and rubbed her neck to comfort her. She will come with us and I will do what I can to protect her. Clay then squatted by Morr and did his best to let the dog know he should stay nearby and stay silent - no growling or barking. And knowing he looked silly talking to so many animals, he then asked Maurice - if he would be so kind - to scout ahead and report back if anything was amiss on the way to the cleft.
missing the bit about the farmhand was just Foxy demonstrating her ruthless CN streak. A pragmatic choice, we could liberate the man and kill all the goblins or it goes tits up, we get injured and chased off of worse, and we lose surprise to free any girls still captive inside.
Foxy O'Hare
"Listen Clay, you are gifted in many ways, but see some sense here. We cannot take Asala into a cave hideout. Out here, under cover of darkness, she will be safe. We are downwind of the cleft and protected from overhead eyes. Asala can be tied secure and be ready for when we free Clarabelle and Annabelle. In a cave we might need to move stealthy, jump, sneak, go through a door or two. Wolves will sniff her quickly and they'll be on to us. For her sake, ours and the girls, the donkey is safer here."
Foxy entreats Clay to leave the donkey tied to the tree.
It was a good move to leave the farmhand - I had missed that detail when reading these posts on my phone. Clay would likely have likely have done the same thing. He is here for the children.
And sorry about this, but the donkey comes with us. It is my backpack.
Clay Weatherwax
Clay was torn. Surely a donkey was not meant to be underground, but Asala was not a creature of the woods. Domestication had left her ill-suited to survive in the wild, and with a known pack of wolves in the area... Yeah. With wolves in the area she will be noticed, which is why I will not leave her alone out here. Especially if she would be tied to a tree. She comes with us or you go without me, Morr and Maurice.
"well, while the wolves are nibbling your fat ass they ain't nibbling mine!", she slaps the backside of her tight jeans and moves on to the hillside opening.
The group proceeds gingerly to the ridgeline, the owl flying ahead to circle over the cleft and return. It returns after doing a wide loop, reassuring them that it saw no movement. Foxy leads the way down through the dark. They move slowly across the open grass of the pasture, careful to circle wide of the dead farmhand's body. Reaching the cleft without incident, Mr. Farrow bends down and lights the torch, holding it aloft for the group's careful entre.
The group moves in slowly, Foxy's sword held in front and taking the torch from Mr. Farrow at his insistence - he grips his flail with both hands. Clay, the hound, and donkey follow behind, the owl remaining outside to continue to keep an eye out.
Bending low and passing through the narrow cleft, they find themselves in a small limestone cave. It is just tall enough for them to stand upright, stalactites clustered thickly above their heads. Iron pitons hold four sets of chains to the wall on the right side. Smelly rag bedding is clustered in lumps around the cave, a heap of midden at the caves rear. The cave is perhaps 20' by 30' with uneven natural walls, a pool of fetid water collects the drips from above on the left side cavern, the ceiling too low for humans to reach it. It does take long to circle enough for the torchlight to reach all corners - you see no obvious exits and no creatures appear.
Day: 02 May 2021
Time: 10:45 pm
Light source: torch (15' radius)
Temp: 45 F
Wind: None in Cave
Distance traveled: ~7 miles, 16 miles total
"shit, it look a 'fxxking dead end,"Foxy whispers harshly in very un-Eruanna blessed language.
Foxy determines not to be beaten and makes a check on the ground. She is looking for muddy footprints that lead to a wall and stop. Perhaps a hidden door can be revealed. She will smooth her hand across the slick mossy walls looking for any seam or breaking of the stone. She taps the hilt of her sword against some walls hoping to hear a hollow sound and directs Mr Farrow and Clay to do likewise. Anything like ladder rungs spiked into the wall and raising the torch high to see if an internal breeze from an unseen trapdoor is fanning the flame.
The pile of rags, search through, any clothing Mr Farrow might recognise like a hair ribbon, belt buckle. Any wolf shit in the dump? ( no wolves left the cave, but they could be next door?)
"Lead Mors around Clay, let him sniff this cotton from the girls again. He might scent their presence beyond these walls."
We can spend a few turns searching, the worst would be not letting the group of goblins with the captive get away but giving up and missing a well covered door.
Clay Weatherwax
Clay nods and let's Morr sniff at the rags and attempts to communicate with him, any sign of the girls? And what about the wolves, Morr? Any sign of wolves or could these the wrong goblins? He then moves around the area thumping his staff on the wall. Finally, out of ideas, he tosses a stone or two into the fetid water.
Foxy and Mr. Farrow make strict search of the cave. The cave appears to be completely natural, worn by water over ages, several feet of stalactites proof of the undisturbed passage of time. There is no indication found of a hidden door, stair, ladder or passage - in fact, what is surprising is that there is no sign of permanent improvements at all. The rough wads of bedding are on the main floor without so much as an alcove dug into a wall. There isn't even a fire pit to show signs of cooking and domestic activity.
As a bit of a surprise in the midden heap, they find a dead goblin. He has a fetid rot, a horrible laceration gone putrid green on his leg, with dark veins spread up his thigh. His body is still limp, no more than a few hours dead, stripped naked and left with the trash and excrement.
The rags are cast-offs and remains gathered quite randomly. Some are clearly recent - burlap sacks and bloodied clothing from four weeks to two years old, rotting from inattention and damp-rot as much as use. There are other curiosities as well - scraps of rough leathers of questionable origin, scraps of heavy linens that might once have been finery or table draperies, all finer details lost in the passage of what must be centuries, roughly-tanned pelts of recent creatures including easily identifiable wolf, horse, and cow. The rag-nests stink - clearly no attention has ever been paid to clean them - but not as much as you might suspect from a fetid hole. Among the nests are found eight electrum pieces, half-eaten bits of food, and a tiny crystal vial half-full of a reddish liquid (two sips left).
Clay and Mors explore the smells and other intangibles of the space. There were clearly wolves present and they slept nearest the entrance, having easy egress throughout the day. Mors is excited to find two half-eaten hambones, from which Clay can discern that all the wolves have been gone for at least two days. There are several layers of human blood dried near the manacles, most recently fresh to a few hours ago. Mors sniffs the girls' clothes and carefully checks the cave another time but comes up blank. Clay thinks he found something a few times, but then Mors moves on, lost among more recent smells.
He tosses a stone into the water with a splash, concentric circles spreading outward on the otherwise mirror-still water.
Day: 02 May 2021
Time: 11:30 pm
Light source: torch (15' radius)
Temp: 41 F outside (52 F in the cave)
Wind: None in Cave
Distance traveled: ~7 miles, 16 miles total
Clay Weatherwax
It does not take long to pass what he has learned along to his human companions. Some of the blood on the manacles is from a human, some of it on the fresher side. But is no sign or scent of the girls. He adds that the wolves have been gone for two days now, so the group Roxy saw likely won't have any with them.It seems we are at a dead end. Any ideas from you two?
Clay sits down by the pool of water attempting to see the bottom of the pool and/or checking the depth with a stick. He would like to know more about this cave and its many users over time. Perhaps he would have a chance to return.
If Foxy could, she would take Mr Farrows' flail and flagellate a wall in frustration. Marullus sure knows how to disappoint a girl
No sign the girls were here but your farmboys could have been. That goblin group I spyed had a couple of tall captives though their details could not be clearly seen. They will be about 3 miles ahead of us up in the foothills by now. We travel light though so within a couple of hours we could be on to them. Though if the goblins head towards a tribal base, we could run into more than that half dozen."
Foxy goes outside to think, looking at the light of the moon and trail left by the goblins. "If I knew that in a couple of hours we could free these men and find out where your girls are I would trace this renegade party. If we stay the course together we must force march to make up the ground. Or go back east defeated."
Foxy will pocket the E.P and give the vial to Clay, she hopes he might be able to identify its perfume, taste, ingredients. She will also throw a couple of the wolf pelts over Asala to carry. They could come in useful later, especially if we need to hide.
Finally Foxy will torch the bedding piling it on the dead goblin, best not to be contaminated by the mold, spores or disease.
If Mors can lead the way, let's track this party of goblins.
Foxy borrows Mr. Farrow's flail, beginning to beat the wall with it. Several of the fragile stalactites shatter under her onslaught, littering the cave floor with fragments of stone. Mr. Farrow is horrified, wrestling his tool back from her grasp.
Clay takes a moment to reflect, sitting where the cave narrows, looking at the long, flat pool. He plumbs it with his staff and finds it no more than foot or two deep, but spreading wide over that edge of the cave.
Foxy piles up the foul bedding atop the corpse and lights it with the flickering remains of her torch. It smoulders at first - though the cloth is old, the cave is damp. With a little more effort and some blowing, it burns steadily. To the chagrin of the group, the cave quickly fills with caustic smoke, stinging the eyes and forcing them all outside abruptly -- further evidence of no drafts or chimneys within.
"You saw them... and my farmhands? Mr. Farrow asks Foxy, his face going white, then flushing red. "We didn't try to save my boys?"
They can see faintly by the light of the fire within the cave, their torch expended. Another torch or a lantern will be needed to pursue in the darkness, the moonless starlight above only shining dimly, a stiff wind blowing in clouds which do not help. The temperature has dropped since you entered the cave and with the wind chill it feels like it is below freezing. You could pursue in the dark, but with greater risk of getting lost once again, rather than finding your goblin quarry. The goblins have a good two-hour head start. You have just over five hours until dawn. If you go at a force march, you'll move half-again as fast but tomorrow will need to find a place to hide and rest, wherever that may be...
Day: 03 May 2021
Time: 12:01 am
Light source: Cave fire's glow (15' radius)
Temp: 37 F outside (52 F in the cave)
Wind: 8 mph, gusting to 16 mph (None in Cave)
Distance traveled: ~7 miles, 16 miles total
