Expedition: Baxtaw - Seeking Scatha's Lair - 23 July 2021

[Marullus]

Lug and Piers launch their missiles into the darkness, hearing thuds as they hit clothing racks, goblin feet scurrying away. "We're not giving up! It's time for you to surrender!" shouts Piers, but silence is the only reply... it appears the goblins have retreated in their cowardice.

Date: 1:23pm, 26 July 2021
Light: Crowgar's torch (until 1:50pm); Clouson's torch (until 1:50pm).
Effects: None.
Injuries: Bremen (minor wound), Stantz (minor wound), Clouson (minor wound), Baxtaw (minor wound), Lug (superficial wound)

[Dram]

Baxtaw-We have 3 choices. We follow the spiders deeper into their lair, find where the goblins ran off too or turn and go back to large doors.

[Jernau35]

"Well, the spiders won't follow us around and jump us when our backs are turned, whereas the goblins probably will," says Piers. "So maybe they should be the priority. Do we have any way to track them now they've fled?"

"If not, we should go back to the doors and look for the dragon".

[Zhym]

"Are we here to kill a dragon, or a bunch of piddly goblins?" asks Lug.

"I mean, I'm okay with either."

[Rusty Tincanne]

I came for a dragon. Let the Duke deal with the goblins later if it please him.

[Marullus]

Action?

[Jernau35]

"Then let's go in search of the beast" says Piers. "I'd hoped we could avoid those large doors, they seem too...obvious. But if we must, we must".

Apart from the large doors, are there any other directions we can go? (Sorry, my directions are a bit messed up now )

[Zhym]

Lug pauses "Since you put it that way—are we sure there's no other way in?"

[Rusty Tincanne]

We were hoping this chamber would lead that way. Let's scout to the end of it and see if we signs of the dragon. Scorches, melted metal, broken bodies... That sort of thing. Bremen will allow a party member with infravision to take point.

[Dram]

Baxtaw- We were not chasing goblins. We are looking for a way around the dragon and who would know the way better than the goblins. Baxtaw moves ahead slowly looking for the exit the goblins used to escape. Bow at the ready.

[Zhym]

"Makes sense to me," says Lug, following.

[Jernau35]

"Then we should try and take one of them alive," says Piers. "And use him as a guide".

[Marullus]

The party considers their options. Bremen recalls that they could see to the walls of the mercantile room in which you stand when the webs burned and there were no apparent other exits. You can search for secret doors, but it would take at least an hour or two in this space.

Baxtaw looks to the exit which both goblins and spiders escaped through, which is the main double-door to the grand hallway. Crowgar speaks up tentatively, looking at the melted doors down on the other side of the grand hallway, "If'n we are looking for a back door into there... Aren't we on the wrong side of the hall?"

As you watch at the double doors, you hear the whispers and footfalls of goblins up and to your right in the grand hallway... More than fled, and coming closer but so far still far from the reach of your torchlight.

Date: 1:30pm, 26 July 2021
Light: Crowgar's torch (until 1:50pm); Clouson's torch (until 1:50pm).
Effects: None.
Injuries: Bremen (minor wound), Stantz (minor wound), Clouson (minor wound), Baxtaw (minor wound), Lug (superficial wound)

[Dram]

Baxtaw- We need to look for traps. Lets make sure that they cannot sneak around behind us. Baxtaw tries to stay ahead of the torchlight so that he can be on the look for any goblins or movement.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Do any of you magic-type have another sleeping spell prepared? If not, then let's set a trap of our own. He bars one of the doors shut with his iron spikes, then pours oil or on the ground, reading a trap. He also scans the area for a place to hide outside the room; somewhere the party could rush up behind and bar the goblins in.

Let me know how many spikes and how many flasks of oil to deduct, please.

[Marullus]

Baxtaw asks others to search the mercantile chamber for traps and back entrances. (Does anyone do so?)

The doors swing inward into the room - you can hammer in two pitons (loudly) to secure one side of the door in place. One flask of oil would be sufficient to coat the floor in front of the other door, but more would burn hotter. (It is 1d6 per flask)

Bremen surveys the grand hallway outside of the doors: This door is the only one within the torchlight on this side of the hallway and there are no doors on the other side of the hallway. You know that the melted golden doors and the doors to the library are across from each other down the hallway to your left. The goblins are up the hallway on your right. The grand hallway itself has no hiding places, of course, as it is mitered with dwarven precision, proceeding at a slight grade straight and unturning all the way from her down to the goblin king's throne room below at its end.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Deciding the room is too large to check for traps, and that it is unlikely there would be any in a spider's lair, Bremen ignore the recommendation from Baxtaw.

After assessing their suppression further, Bremen recommends the party head for the library or the melted doors, feeling that, the closer they get to the dragon, the less likely the goblins are to follow. Barring that, he suggests that, rather than coat the floor by the door with oil, they prepare a couple clothing racks to be lit in the middle of the hall, with an oil trail to them. Then hide just inside the doors and as the goblins pass through, light the racks, putting both parties on even footing (no difficulty targeting for us), while using that element of surprise to engage the goblins in melee. Or, avoid combat by slipping out into the hallway and bar the goblins into the bazaar.

I hope all that makes sense.

[Marullus]

Not quite. Can you fix typos? You are soaking clothing and racks in our? In the hallway or in the chamber? Where precisely?

[Rusty Tincanne]

Typos fixed and I also added a bit of (what I hope is) clarification to the post:

Rack to be lit inside the merchant area/spider lair to achieve full light.

[Dram]

Baxtaw-Follows Bremens lead. Helps with preparing the trap.

Baxtaw has used both his sleep spells.