Chapter 1 > Road to Adventure

[hedgeknight]

Once Baer doles out some much-needed healing, the group is ready to search the brambles...and it takes only a few minutes to find the fifth goblin...sound asleep from Ioriston's spell.
The goblin bodies turn up an assortment of crude, rusty weapons > scimitars, shortbows with black-fletched arrows, and rough leather armor. None have any coin or other such treasure that you can find.

Need a Wisdom check for those searching the thicket and bushes...

Stats:
Aslaan > down 3 hp
Kelton > down 4 hp
Stitches > down 3 hp
4 Goblins dead
1 Goblin captured

[wordoftheoracle]

Ioriston:

"Maybe we can find some clues surrounding their preparatory area. If they were lying in wait for as long as I believe those horses were deceased, they may have left some ideas as per their agenda."

Wisdom Check: [1d20+5] = 17+5 = 22

"They also seem to have uniform arrows. That would indicate some level of organization... or at least as much organization as goblins are capable of. Needless to say, we may or may not get anything out of our somniforic friend here. Speaking of which, do any of you fine gentlemen have the accoutrements needed for a thorough interrogation, such as rope to secure our currently, but temporarily, sleeping prisoner? I would hate to have gone through all the trouble of giving him an impromptu siesta only to have him attempt an escape and force us into the untoward and unfortunate position of having to kill him unnecessarily."

[hedgeknight]

Ioriston easily finds a trail hidden behind thickets on the north side of the road leading northwest. It appears the goblins have been using this area to stage ambushes for some time. It looks like about a dozen goblins have come and gone along the trail, as well as signs of two human-sized bodies being hauled away from the ambush site.

Aslaan checks out the horses and the dead...and he realizes the horses look like the same ones ridden by Gundren Rockseeker and Sildar Hallwinter! The saddlebags appear to have been looted, but nearby lies an empty leather map case.

[wordoftheoracle]

Ioriston:

"We now know the captives, but we need to find out their new whereabouts and the motives for the abduction. We may be able to glean that through the interrogation. Alternatively, but not exclusively, we can also follow their trail. Are any of you gentlemen proficient in such a vocation?"

[Belkregos]

stitches is still upset about not getting any healing but tries to suck it up
digs through his back pack and comes up with a tight roll of rope and throws it on top of the sleeping goblin
its a trail, not a secret....lets just tie the Gobo and sent it in front

he crosses his arms with a stern look, after a few seconds his attitude changes and starts to prepare to follow the trail, gets his bow and some of the arrows from the goblins

the says to Ioriston
ok sweet cheeks, ready?

if ready he'll sneak (stealth) next to the trail (won't be walking on the trail itself) with the bow at the ready

[wordoftheoracle]

Ioriston to Stitches:

"No, I am not ready, you impulsive thief! You would have us charge headlong into a trap! The goblin may be of use as a guide, but he may also be leading us directly where he was instructed to! We need to know what we are going to find prior to charging headlong into the brush following a trail that may, for all we know, have dozens of goblins! The only assumption I would like to make here is that you received your wayfaring education from a lopsided and half-blind dire rhinoceros, but I would think even he would've informed you better! Your adventuring logic is about as good as your acting, you hasty ne'er-do-well!!!"

Ioriston turns to the party:

"I would rather have one of us run point than a captured enemy! I believe Chuckles the Merry Halfling strongly believes that this goblin will steer us correctly when, not if but when, the goblins ambush us. I think Stitch's auntie goblin cannot be trusted to take point for us! We can question him and then dispose of him as we see fit. I cannot abide leashing the wee beastie... or the goblin!"

[Belkregos]

stitches is smiling but hearing his auntie mention his eyes open wide

hey, hey...leave my auntie out of this

at least i knew enough to bring a rope....
pauses for a bit trying to come up with something
nneopyte

puffs out his chest as he starts to roll some tobbacco and steps to a side to wait for the group to decide

[scbeachbum]

Kelton chuckles at the back and forth between Stitches and Loriston. "I believe we can try and get some info out of the Gobblin, but if we don't receive what we want, then slit his throat! Whatever we do, we need to do it fast, before some more of his friends show up." Kelton will start looking around for a place to stash the supplies. "if we are going after them, we need to find a place to hide the supplies, but if our two employers are caught, then the supplies are of little help to them." Kelton looks at the group, "any of you speak gobbling? I don't."

[wordoftheoracle]

Ioriston to Kelton:

"Ah! A voice of reason!" Glares at Stitches... "We are lucky. Goblin is among the numerous languages I speak. While you were unconscious, I had mentioned that their literature is incoherent at best, but their language will allow me to discern whether or not he is a random brigand or part of a bigger syndicate. We do not have all the facts and we need to investigate this matter further."

Ioriston turns the Kelton and narrows his eyes:

"We need to be very cautious about granting freedom to this captive. Goblins are infamous for their treachery. On the contrapositive of the issue, if the goblin's fate is clearly negatively deterministic in a fatal sense, then we will get no intelligence from our guest."

Ioriston then turns on Stitches:

"It's neophyte, you uneducated ignoramus! I have been called many things by plebeians like you. Arrogant. Overconfident. Neophyte has never been one of them! Let's hope that you can abuse our foes as easily and effectively as you abuse your probably only colloquial language."

[scbeachbum]

Kelton glares right back, "all I was trying to say was if we get nothing then we don't need to leave a body alive that can hurt us later. Oh, and as you can see, he doesn't know what I said, one I don't speak goblin and two he is unconscious." Kelton will walk over, "ask him your questions so we can be on our way to find our employer."

[hedgeknight]

Kelton kicks the goblin and the creature wakes suddenly, cowering, gibbering in the goblin tongue.

For those that speak or understand goblin, it says, "No kick again, Klarg! Me awake! Me awake > no sleep on watch!"
For those who do not speak or understand goblin, it sounds like a bunch of nonsense sounds.

Once the goblin realizes it is not dreaming...it shuts up and looks around frantically, trying to understand exactly what happened.

[wordoftheoracle]

Ioriston speaks calmly to Klarg:

(Spoiler text is only for those who can speak Goblin.)

"Stay calm, friend. Your band of brigands have been laid low. You are the last survivor and in the merciful hands of Ioriston Erudleaf. We have a few questions for you. Answer wisely and you will be set free. Treat us falsely, and I will let my companions, especially the short and rude one, brutalize and ultimately kill you in very unpleasant yet creative ways. Do you understand?"

Persuasion Check: [1d20+1] = 13+1 = 14; Intimidation Check: [1d20+1] = 20+1 = 21

Ioriston pauses and waits for confirmation. He then asks these questions in order:

(Spoiler text is still only for those who can speak Goblin. If you couldn't speak Goblin for the first spoiler text, I'm pretty sure that remains true.)

"These are my questions:

• Who did you capture?
• Why did you capture them?
• How many of you are there?
• What is the significance of the black-fletched arrows?
• Who do you work for?
• Where is your camp?

Answer wisely and quickly."

Ioriston turns to the group to summarize and relay the answers.

"I promised him life if his answers are correct, but we need to discuss whether we believe them to be correct. We can render him unconscious prior to our pursuit, but in any case, we need to protect our charge. There are bound to be more brigands in the area."

Ioriston adds:

"We should also acquire those arrows and perhaps the shortbow just in case we need to confuse the goblins by allowing them to think that someone within their ranks is attacking."

[burlyjr]

Aslaan stands to the side as the ones that speak the foul language talks to the goblin. Still not convinced theres not more around he keeps his bow ready.

[Belkregos]

Stitches shrugs his shoulders

[scbeachbum]

Walks over to stitches, "this is going to take him all night speaking to this ungodly piece of horse shit. We just need to slit his throat and go on our way. No way does he give us anything of use." stands beside stitches and watches him roll a big fat doobie.

[hedgeknight]

Triboar Trail > Questions & Answers

The captured goblin is initially frightened, but seems to relax the longer Ioriston talks to it. When the elf asks his questions, the goblin hesitantly answers, Ioriston translates, and here is what you learn:

1/ Less than two score goblins dwell in the lair.
2/ Leader is a bugbear named Klarg. He answers to King Grol, chief of the Cragmaw tribe who dwells in Cragmaw Castle.
3/ Klarg received a message from King Grol a few days ago. Message said someone named the Black Spider was paying the Cragmaw goblins to watch out for Gundren Rockseeker, capture him, and send him and anything he was carrying back to King Grol. Klarg followed his orders and Gundren was ambushed and taken along with his personal effects, including a map.
4/ Gundren and his map were delivered to King Grol; the dwarf's human companion is being held in the "eating cave."

And, the goblin tells Ioriston, his name is Dwimp.

Actions?

[wordoftheoracle]

Ioriston relays the information to the party:

"It seems to me that our employer is in a conundrum. This King Grol has Gundren at, presumably, Cragmaw Castle. That also means that this king has procured a map which, if I recall correctly, may lead to the 'something big' he found in Phandalin. The supplies we are guarding were meant to assist Gundren in his pursuit, but now that pursuit may be King Grol's. Sildar, Gundren's companion, was separated from Gundren and is at the 'eating cave' making it fairly obvious what is to become of him."

Ioriston recommends options to the party:

"It seems fairly obvious to me that we have three real options:

• Pursue the goblin menace to the 'eating cave' and rescue Sildar. This may come at the expense of Gundren's safety and his 'something big'.
• Go to Cragmaw Castle to seek an 'audience' with King Grol in the hopes that the king has not started pursuit of Gundren's mystery prize.
• Head to Phandalin, deliver the goods, and secure Gundren's 'something big' against the inevitable onslaught of King Grol.

I am open to suggestions, but it appears that the situation is a big less clear than we had hoped. With the separation of Gundren and his escort, we need a clear course of action. In any case, I would recommend that we do not kill friend Dwimp. He gave us some excellent and thorough intelligence and has been very cooperative. There is also no doubt that we can follow him to Sildar and Klarg, his bugbear gaoler."

Ioriston puts it up to the party:

"So do we leave Sildar to his fate or pursue a means of freeing him? I am confident that Sildar will join us in our rescue attempt at Cragmaw Castle. In any case, it looks like we may have to abandon the wagon. We should salvage what we can and move on."

[scbeachbum]

Kelton mutters, "we must save the dwarf!"

[Belkregos]

....right...

stitches nods putting out the last puffs of his tobacco as he walks towards the wagon and oxen, and looks at Ioriston as he walks
ok sweet checks, best get your lipstick and powders together as we are getting the dwarf after i secure the wagon

he nods at Kelton

regardless of what ioriston says Stitches will tie the oxen securing the wagon and start to make his way down the trail (staying off and parallel to the trail with his bow ready and using stealth as he moves)

stealth: [1d20+7] = 12+7 = 19

[wordoftheoracle]

Ioriston glares at Stitches and Kelton:

"Do you mean to tell me that you will leave poor Sildar to his fate? Even to one as thick as you, Stitches, you must know what it means to be in the 'eating cave' of a bugbear. On another note, how would you secure the wagon against theft from our illustrious local Cragmaw goblins? We certainly cannot take the wagon with us. Going after the Dwarf without the proper intelligence that Sildar, and perhaps some more information gathering from captives, can provide would be the folly of one whose answer to everything is the blade and a smoke!"