Season 1 - Episode 4: The Goblin Caves

[JoeCarr28]

Whilst Karl retrieves his sergeant from the tree outside, and Nivek keeps watch in the corridor, the others search the shamen's room.

[Rolls].

The room is barely furnished, as if the goblin hasn't long been resident. There's an untidy bedroll in one corner; searching through the grimy blankets Hiker finds a small leather pouch containing what looks like a collection of animal bones. On one wall, the shaman has 'painted' his clan symbol using some sort of dark red/brown substance (you'd rather not speculate). Other than that, you find nothing unusal - no hidden treasure, no secret doors.

Now fully bound and gagged, the goblin has stopped wriggling. It glares at Hiker as he conducts his search with an expression of utter contempt.

[Nivek - cross-off the rope that you used to bind the goblin from your inventory].

[Torch-bearers - your first torches will have run out by now; cross them off your inventory and light another].


Nivek: HP 4/7. No ‘0’ level spells remaining today
Tannen: HP 5/9.
4 pm, 27th day of Harvestide

[SmootRK]

Quietly Nivek remarks, "OK boys, we ought regroup. We are much too weak divided like this."

[Birthright]

Tannen takes a quick sip of water from his wineskin before gathering his gear and his wits together. Lighting another torch and readying his sword, he then fixes his gaze on Hiker. "Let's go.".

Tannen then strides back into the cave... Once he enters the caverns, Tannen slows his stride and cautiously retraces his steps as he searches for the rest of his companions.

[Hywaywolf]

Coming out of the woods near the cave, Doughbert sees Hiker talking to a tree and wondered what that was all about. When Tannen climbed down from the tree and began collect his widely scattered gear, Doughbert called out, "Hey wait up! Don't leave me again." If they wait for him, Doughbert will trot up to them, "What the heck, I go behind a bush to empty my bowels and when I come back everyone's gone? whats been happening and where is everyone else?"

[JoeCarr28]

So the party regroups in the shaman's room - Tannen with his rediscovered resolve, Nivek and Hiker with their trophy goblin, and Doughbert with his freshly emptied bowels. Karl and Paladin watch on.

What's the plan?

[Eevans]

Hiker thinks REALLY hard but sadly comes up empty, instead he kicks the bound goblin, mostly because of his noxious glares, and also cuz there ain't much else doing 'til the better thinkers think up the next move.

"Best not be throwin them eyeballs at me like that you swine sucking runt," Hiker says delivering another blow to the goblin, "If'n Miss Alma is hurt, it'll be more than ma' foot yer feeling."

[Birthright]

Tannen to Dougbert outside the caves-
"Glad to have you back. We got a bit beaten up, but we killed a half-dozen goblins and captured one that put the enchantment on Alma - and me just now it would seem. We're heading back inside to find out more."

Assuming the party exchanges news on recent events...

Tannen looks around at the assembled group, then speaks in a whisper so as not to be heard beyond the shaman's cave.

"We seem to have two options. Take this one" (Tannen points his sword at the bound goblin) "out of here and try and wring Alma's whereabouts from it. Or we press on and see if there is evidence of Alma's wherabouts deeper within the cave. Of course, the second option is more dangerous - there is that horned helmed goblin to be worried about...

...and what do we do with the bound up one if we press on? Dispatch it here and now so it doesn't break free and raise the alarm or leave it alive and collect it on the way back, perhaps for interrogation by the old man we met in the woods who may perhaps have an enchantment to loosen its foul tongue?

My feeling is to leave it tightly bound after double checking the ropes and then we should press on. Alma's abductors could do it again.... right Hiker? Someone should make sure they don't get a chance."

[Hywaywolf]

"This is a dangerous one, he is," says Doughbert. "He don't look like much but he's a caster and he scared Tannen plumb near out of his skin. Tie him up tight and cut out his tongue if you like. It don't matter either way to me."

Doughbert will then look around the room for secret doors or hidden stashes while he waits for the others to decide what to do with their captive.

[actingkeith]

"We kill it and move on," Karl whispers. "That's what you do with goblins. Then we move on. Leave that one alive and no tellin' how many good folk gets hurt."

[SmootRK]

"Let us not be hasty. This vile creature may have valuable information... much easier to get such details while alive than from its corpse." Nivek continues, "Lets assume he at least knows about the remainder of these caves and the numbers of foes we are likely to encounter."