IC

[Pulpatoon]

Aldus doesn't speak goblin, but in case they speak Common, he calls to those remaining in the camp, "Lay down your weapons and surrender!"

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

The mage stays at the periphery of the action. EDIT: He casts Sleep on the remaining goblins.

"Casfrea, stay close and cut down any who approach."

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

"Couldn't save the poor man..." His frown speaks volumes on how he feels about this particular. He rides forward at a brisk pace, keeping Goshawk in line next to him. "Toward the big one! Watch my back and join in if you can."

Feargus tries to keep his eyes on the chief and will run him down and engage.

Goshawk will likely be wielding his secondary weapon (long sword) while mounted since a polearm would be difficult

[shaidar]

Newton switches to bow and takes a shot at the chief.

If he doesn't have a good shot on the chief then he'll go for one if the chief's lieutenants, failing that any goblin.

[thirdkingdom]

Round Three

It takes but a few minutes once the mercenaries arrive. They spread out through the trees, putting to the sword every goblin they can find in retribution for the losses they suffered but ten minutes previous. Through a careful use of the Sleep spell the chieftain and his bodyguards are sent slumbering; they are caught and bound by the warriors in the party. Some goblins, however, manage to escape, worming their way through thickets and under fallen logs, disappearing from view.

Initiative: PCs, mercs, goblins, goblin chief and bodyguards:: 4#1d6 2 1 4 5
Okay, so the goblins win initiative and are still scattering. According to OSE, fleeing creatures have a 50% chance of escape, even if the pursuers are slightly faster. I'm going to use that flat rate. There are more of you guys than there are goblins, but they also have the advantage of being familiar with the terrain and the fact that any mounted characters can't move their fastest.

I'm just going to adjudicate that half the normal goblins are able to flee. That means you guys are able to kill 10 goblins. Are you able to capture the chieftain and his mooks? Capture on a roll of 1-50:: 4#1d100 11 11 40 13 Damn, you guys capture them all. Again, it's not really worth rolling out, since the chieftain has 3 HD and his flunkies 2 each.

[Pulpatoon]

Aldus goes to examine the the dead man.

[thirdkingdom]

Aldus goes to examine the the dead man.

The man is middle-aged, dressed in simple cloths. Aldus does not recognize him, although he notes the man dresses as many of the men and women who fish the river. He does not look as though he has been a capture for long; the gut binding his wrists and legs is fresh, as if newly tied.

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

The mage asks Casfrea to grab one of the flunkies and slap him awake. They drag him away from the other ones.

In Goblin, which Telemachus speaks, he asks, "What are you doing so close to a human settlement? Before you answer, note that there are three more of your kind back there, so if you lie to me, I can just kill you and start over with the next one."

[thirdkingdom]

Telemachus

The mage asks Casfrea to grab one of the flunkies and slap him awake. They drag him away from the other ones.

In Goblin, which Telemachus speaks, he asks, "What are you doing so close to a human settlement? Before you answer, note that there are three more of your kind back there, so if you lie to me, I can just kill you and start over with the next one."

The goblin looks in fear as the warrioress towers over him: "we were driven from our tribe, oh great one, and the Chief said he knew of a town where Men have grown soft and plump! We have not been here long, maybe thirty of your days."

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"Where is the rest of your former tribe? And why were you driven out?"

[thirdkingdom]

Telemachus

"Where is the rest of your former tribe? And why were you driven out?"

Goblin

The goblin points somewhere to the south. Or maybe the southwest. Telemachus gets the impression he's not exactly sure. "The chief wanted one of Gorblad's wives. Gorblad didn't want to give her up. We had to flee." The goblin looks mournful.

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"This warband of yours, were all of them here at the battle, or are there more elsewhere?"

[thirdkingdom]

Telemachus

"This warband of yours, were all of them here at the battle, or are there more elsewhere?"

Goblin

The goblin looks around sadly with its enormous, almost luminous eyes. "A scouting party was headed to the river, but I suppose you've already met them."

[Pulpatoon]

Aldus comments to Newton: "I didn't know Telemachus spoke the goblin's language! The he must know if 'orc' is a separate species, or just the goblin's own word for themselves, right? Remind me to ask him about that.

"In any case, it doesn't look like their poor victim was anything other an unfortunate fisherman, nor taken for any purpose other than sport. How intolerably cruel. Do you think the Baron would like us to drag the survivors back to town? Or would be be just as happy with a summary of how many we put down?"

[The_Wanderer]

Feargus

Aldus comments to Newton: "I didn't know Telemachus spoke the goblin's language! The he must know if 'orc' is a separate species, or just the goblin's own word for themselves, right? Remind me to ask him about that.

"In any case, it doesn't look like their poor victim was anything other an unfortunate fisherman, nor taken for any purpose other than sport. How intolerably cruel. Do you think the Baron would like us to drag the survivors back to town? Or would be be just as happy with a summary of how many we put down?"

"Is that what he was saying? I thought for a second he had something in the back of his throat..." Feargus then walks over and looks again at the body of the fisherman. He shakes his head, walks back to the nearest goblin and kicks him in the teeth.

"Damned Chaos won't get away with this." He then sighs and begins sifting through the goblin's belongings for anything of value.

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"What was the point of torturing that man, other than your amusement? And if you came here because you expected no resistance, where is all of the loot you've gathered? And in the interests of saving time, tell me about all of the interesting features and monster lairs in this six mile area we arbitrarily call a 'hex'."

[VonAlric]

"Do you think the Baron would like us to drag the survivors back to town? Or would be be just as happy with a summary of how many we put down?"

Gardo

"The mining companies were offering bounties on heads but they are north of us, I think."

[shaidar]

Newton joins the others at the man's body, and he doesn't look happy.

"What were you doing, crashing in like that? I heard you coming a mile off, and so did the goblins. They butchered this poor bastard and scattered. Half of them got away" he looks at the bloody body and sighs "We should take him back for a decent burial, it's the least he deserves." he kicks a goblin corpse "These only deserve to be left in the sun to rot, but we might to want to take at least one back as proof"

[thirdkingdom]

Telemachus

"What was the point of torturing that man, other than your amusement? And if you came here because you expected no resistance, where is all of the loot you've gathered? And in the interests of saving time, tell me about all of the interesting features and monster lairs in this six mile area we arbitrarily call a 'hex'."

Goblin

The goblin shrugs. "It was funny. He screamed so when we poked him. What little treasure we have is in that hut over there," he says, pointing to the largest of the crudely erected lean-tos. "The chief lived there. As to the surroundings, I know there's a fearsome dragon that lives north of here, swift as lightning. That way," he points away from the river, "is a herd of brown four-legged animals with white tails. They're good meat, when we can get them. There's also some sort of giant ferret, or weasel, lives that way," he points to the southwest. "It's foul-tempered, and none of us has been able to get close to it, although the chief wanted to try and tame it and use it as a mount. There are these giant stinging insects that way," he points to the north, "killed three of my cousins quick as anything. The giant weasel lairs in this strange, stone land bridge that's crumbling with age."

While Telemachus is interrogating the captive the rest of the adventurers loot the camp. They find:

*4000 copper coins strewn across the floor of the lean-to
*a chunk of amber, worth about 100 gold coins
*The chief wears a strange circlet around one bicep. It looks like it is made from snake's fangs, strung together to form a chain of sorts. The adventurers are not sure if it has any value, but it looks interesting.

[sulldawga]

Telemachus

"I'm going to spare your life, whereas every other member of your tribe will be hunted down and killed. In return, you are going to do something for me. You have a new job. Your job is now Herald of Man. Your job is to tell every goblin and every other beastman in this area that Men will not tolerate their intrusion. You can tell them we wiped out your warband. We already killed that dragon. We wiped out those stinging insects. And once I'm done with you, we're going to kill that ferret. This land is ours. If you return, you will die.

Tell your friends. Got it?"