It was time for the party to escape and I don't like to hand wave it. Think about it, you break into someone's home and get hurt in the process and then decide to leave. Is the inhabitant just going to sit back and say, "Whew, they are going, let's relax and clean up?" Most likely they will give chase, not only to punish those breaking in, but also to redress the feeling of violation they received by the original break-in as it was.
This meant that the group had to decide to push on and flee, and if they didn't they would risk combat again and eventual capture/death. And this where the Constitution drain occurs. I don't like to do it, but the truth is if you did DIE in the combat, a few cure light wounds and a handful of goodberries is not the stuff of legends - and you will bleed out and become permanently hurt due to it.
So they made it back to town, used the hospice for a few days, and then readied themselves for a final visit to not only save Fist'al, but free the other elves there and put Malven's operation out of commission.
Write up follows:
While Enthir was running for his life, the rest of the party was trying to get the unconscious Tempi out of the goblin chamber. Marcus and Fergus were supporting the massive half-orc, the two of them spilling caltrops into the water just at the head of the winding, narrow corridor. Meanwhile Flimflam was guiding Whosea through the twisting gloom, coming into the watery chamber where he came face to face with the lone goblin. He had his war dog JUMP, still under the auspices of the enchanted potion, knocking the goblin down in the pass and threatening it to leave. The goblin then turned and ran back to the corridor, the same corridor that Fergus and Marcus, both with their hands filled, were unable to offer any resistance to any goblin threat.
So Flimflam had Whosea JUMP a last time, this time the dog and the druid’s cudgel brought the greenskin low. Meanwhile, Fergus was able to hear the goblins on the other side of the door that Chase and Fist’al had been brought through start to chant and rile themselves up and the two of them redoubled their efforts. The paladin was bleeding profusely through his clothes, the many wounds he had taken oozing as he forced himself to drag the staggering half-orc faster than his depleted body had the ability to function.
Once in the water room they splashed and tripped and ran to Flimflam and Enthir, breathing raggedly, as the cheer of chasing goblin voices broke in the distance. Tempi was revived, barely, with a few goodberries, and everyone ran towards the exit, Flimflam going first on his speeding dog.
The party raced through the gloomy dark, fluttering torch and flame poorly lighting the way while goblin chants echoed behind them as the greenskins sang about the “darkness and goblins..goblins all around them!” And for all their effort and draining reserves and Tempi and Fergus literally burning themselves out to make any sort of headway, the goblins behind them were slowly and inexorably closing the distance. A double flask of oil and lit torch was used to provide some breathing room as the beleaguered group stumbled on.
In the corridor where the zombie-goats were ,Flimflam slid off Whosea’s back and called upon Demeter to bless another handful of berries, making another batch of precious goodberries in the process. When the party was catching up to him (with Fergus, Tempi, and Marcus suddenly suffering from a Bane spell and the odd arrow from the trailing goblins) he handed a few more berries out and the group then charged for the exit. Another bag of caltrops was dumped and the group then raced up the long slope towards the surface.
Fergus was the most wounded and suffering, his armor tight on his chest, bags and sack heavy from his frame. He was burning out like a candle. And he was also the slowest and therefore the last in the racing run. Sucking in hot lungfuls of air he was crying as he scrambled upwards and cloth yard goblin arrows began raining around him. Whirling he took the last shield he had purloined from a dead goblin spearman earlier and braved the fusillade of arrows, hurling the broken shield aside after it had been peppered and holed too many times to count. He then mustered his strength and continued his run out of the dark hell below.
At the top of the slope Enthir had coated the last goblin cart with oil, readied his torch, and as the last of his team came into view, set it ablaze and then hurling down the slope towards the chasing goblin pack the burning bouncing rolling barrier. The party made it to the surface, took the maltreated pony the goblin suppliers had left up here, and left Malven’s cave (as well as Fist’al and Chase), heading back towards Shakun.
It took the entire night before they made it to the walled city, showing up just shy of midnight. From there we went to the Hospice at the temple grounds and Marcus, Tempi, and Fergus were seen by the apothecist and master healers. They were told they would need to stay and bandages, poultices, and unguents were liberally applied before the three exhausted men fell asleep.
Enthir and Flimflam went back to the Hall of Heroes where they divested their gear and then crawled into their respective beds, bone weary and done.
The next day was bright and boded better tidings. The druid and mage prepared their spells with care, checked their hurts and bandages, and then went off to the Hospice to see their companions. Conversation ensued and it was decided that we would be attempting to go back to Malven’s cave on the morrow as long as the Hospice gave Tempi and Fergus clearance they could go. We would need supplies and luckily today was Marketday. We knew that Sern’s general store would be restocked today but more importantly, various traders, travelers, locals, and peddlers would be coming to sell off wares and we hoped to find whatever adventuring gear we could find.
With a list in hand, pockets full of coin, and a desire to get this done, Enthir, Marcus, and Flimflam scoured the market. They found swords and breastplates, torches, oil, clothes, shields, and other gear they might need. They also spent time hitting up everyone they could find to hire people to help out and hired 4 such persons: Codron and Thrish (the 2 fighters we had with up before), Hagan (a young warrior who had placed in the top 3 at the last two archery competitions), and Urthar (a 30-odd year old porter who was more than willing to come with us to haul gear). Costs were established and shares were discussed. We tried to find a scout or thief to come with us but Pelis was unable to vouch for anyone in town now.
We rested well and on the morn of the next day made a donation to the Hospice , gathered gear, weapons, and goods, and then set off to go back to Malven’s cave to find the fate of our companions, as well as rescue the 5 elves that we know are in their being killed daily for their precious heart’s blood. It was around 2 in the afternoon that we crept upon the goblin hill again and the group was getting themselves ready to once more reenter the greenskins’ lair.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Meet 20, Adv 1, 12/22/12
Enemy clerics.
This was the first time the group (in either this batch or for the most part, from the other incarnation) had run into enemy clerics and it was eye opening for them. It was only a single one, and it was Command spells (never got to use any other ones) and the party was dismayed to see what had typically been their bailiwick be used against them, and to such devastating effectiveness.
The big battle ended up with one member dead, another captured (and dead), and two others at 0 and under and then back to positive again. However, unlike other times the party had faced such difficult foes, the decision was made to run - and flee they did.
Write up follows:
Chase plunged onward across the slippery stone (oil) and took the fight to the next chamber, a dining hall of some sort. A few goblins were there and some shot bows. Meanwhile both Tempi and Fergus followed after a brief pause, adding their weight to the struggle. From down the hall a few goblins shot bows at us, with flint heads that rang off the ground and attempted to light the oil ablaze. We returned fire but it was blind shooting into the darkness, hitting nothing except what sounded like water.
Eventually the fire did go out and the battle in the dining room was resolved. One of the goblins had been knocked out for questioning and a then left for dead. We took stock of the situation, heard nothing new from the “wet” area north of here, and after binding wounds set off once again. We passed a side corridor that smells like grease and cooked meat (kitchen?) and then came to a place where the ground sloped down slightly. There was a sizable long chamber with maybe 6 inches of scummy water on the ground. The far end of the room was a narrow corridor, barely 2’ wide. We decided to NOT go there as of yet and to instead explore the kitchen area.
It was a decent sized room and from what it appeared like the goblins had been in the process of preparing meal when the call to arms came and we assaulted them. There was a pantry here as well, fairly well stocked. We were dismayed to notice that some of the barrels and boxes had the stamping of Ferron, Orland, and Shakun on them – leading us to believe that there were some goblin sympathizers operating in the towns or on the trade routes.
Finding no other way to go we went back to the water room and the group was split up: Chase, Enthir and Fist’al were waiting here by the narrow passage and the rest of the group was in the “dining room” while Fergus and Flimflam were taking care of bandages.
It was when the first goblin tried to sneak through the opening that we hit it and dragged it into the water room where we dispatched it swiftly. A second followed and Enthir went off to let Flimflam know that we were being probed and should respond swiftly. The party entered the watery room and we prepared to follow the curving corridor and enter the deeper portion of the goblin lair. Fist’al scouted ahead, the elf relying on his stealth as well as his ability to blend in. We watched him go until some time had passed and we heard nothing from him anymore. Something had happened and we needed to come to his aid (and possibly rescue).
Chase went first, the narrow walls making it difficult for the group to move at any speed. It was when we rounded a corner and could see in the faint glow of the large chamber that he was told, “Surrender, human!” given a 5 count, and then fired upon until he dropped to the ground @ -5. The party raced to follow, Tempi forced last as his bulk was too large to run along the narrow walls. There were 10 goblins here, a mix of bows and spears.
As we tried to enter the room, Fergus was shot at by a number of bows, his shield shattering from a brutal impact. One of the greenskins in the back called out to Hades and command the paladin to “Die!” where he fell over and was stabbed by the nearest goblin and dragged into the room. There was a side door that they were bucket brigading the bodies (Fist’al was already at the door), while the goblin in the back was calling out, “Elves! Get the elves!”
Marcus hurled a handful of rose petals into the room and 3 of the goblins fell over asleep. This spurred the rest of us on to hit them harder and faster. Enthir and Marcus fired what arrows they could but to little affect while Flimflam jammed a potion of jump into Whosea’s mouth, the war dog getting hyper from the enchanted water. Tempi was trying to get further along but there were too many of us and the hall was tight. As Fergus was being dragged away, Enthir cast sleep on the mass of goblin putting another couple of them to sleep. Fist’al was shoved through the doorway at this point while Chase’s heavy body was brought to the portal.
At this point Flimflam climbed on his dog, pointed at the goblin cleric at the back of the pack (who was debilitating the party with the command spells) and JUMPED at her. The mass of gnome, war dog, teeth, fur, claws, and the cudgel all brought the cleric to the ground and stunned the goblin assault briefly. The local goblins around Flimflam and Whosea try to regroup and assault the deadly pair while the rest of the party is going toe-to-toe with what appears to be the goblin champion.
The battle is a chaotic mix of arrows, spears, sleeping and unconscious friends, dogs barking and goblins shouting. Enthir casts shield on himself, Marcus fires an ensorcelled arrow into the melee, but the shaft still fails to hit anyone of note. Spears are flying. The Champion hits Marcus with a flurry of blows and the elven archer hits the ground with a thud. Tempi tries to get into the fight, finally able to shove past Enthir and takes his anger out on the goblin Champion. The struggle is terrible and the half-orc gets his shield shattered from a powerful blow from the Champion.
Whosea takes down another goblin while Flimflam finally gets to Fergus’ side and using his goodberries, manages to get the paladin back up. As soon as he regains consciousness, a feeling of might washed over the group as the protection of evil aura he exudes gets reestablished. Enthir plugs a sleeping goblin, killing it while Tempi’s assault on the Champion does NOT drop the goblin stalwart! Whosea continues to take out goblins (and goblin dogs!) around him, Flimflam is braining sleeping goblins, and Marcus manages to suck a healing draught down, pretending to be asleep. Fergus snatches up another shield and prepared to rejoin the fray.
The battle is all over the place and we hear Tempi howl and fall over, the Champion bringing our mighty fighter low. Flimflam hands Tempi his last goodberries and healing and begs the paladin to get Tempi back up. Fergus surges across the battlefield while Marcus attempt to energy sap the Champion, failing. This makes Enthir fire off a distracting spell, the Champion sneezing, and gives a window of opportunity for the paladin to bring Tempi back to “0” and then back to positive.
There are precious few goblins left at this point, and a few of the sleeping ones that hadn’t killed are back up and in the fray. Tempi, Fergus, and Marcus and taking a terrible toll on the Champion who returns the struggle by shattering another of Fergus’ stolen shields as well as dropping Tempi AGAIN. Chase and Fist’al are long gone, there are TWO doors into this room (currently closed), and Whosea/Flimflam are mopping up the last of the stubborn goblins. We are beyond out of time and need to go now, the noises behind the closed doors are getting louder and we have almost nothing left, most of the party is at 4 or fewer hit points.
Enthir breaks first, the elven mage high-tailing it out of the narrow corridor first, the rest of the party struggling to drag the barely conscious Tempi along, knowing the goblin forces on the other side of the door will be coming through any moment. On making it to the water filled chamber though, the goblin that Tempi had brained a while ago and had disappeared was now here, trying to bar the mage’s way. Enthir barreled into him, his shield spell sending up a mass of phosphorous bursts, as he scuttled past the goblin and continued on towards the exit.
This was the first time the group (in either this batch or for the most part, from the other incarnation) had run into enemy clerics and it was eye opening for them. It was only a single one, and it was Command spells (never got to use any other ones) and the party was dismayed to see what had typically been their bailiwick be used against them, and to such devastating effectiveness.
The big battle ended up with one member dead, another captured (and dead), and two others at 0 and under and then back to positive again. However, unlike other times the party had faced such difficult foes, the decision was made to run - and flee they did.
Write up follows:
Chase plunged onward across the slippery stone (oil) and took the fight to the next chamber, a dining hall of some sort. A few goblins were there and some shot bows. Meanwhile both Tempi and Fergus followed after a brief pause, adding their weight to the struggle. From down the hall a few goblins shot bows at us, with flint heads that rang off the ground and attempted to light the oil ablaze. We returned fire but it was blind shooting into the darkness, hitting nothing except what sounded like water.
Eventually the fire did go out and the battle in the dining room was resolved. One of the goblins had been knocked out for questioning and a then left for dead. We took stock of the situation, heard nothing new from the “wet” area north of here, and after binding wounds set off once again. We passed a side corridor that smells like grease and cooked meat (kitchen?) and then came to a place where the ground sloped down slightly. There was a sizable long chamber with maybe 6 inches of scummy water on the ground. The far end of the room was a narrow corridor, barely 2’ wide. We decided to NOT go there as of yet and to instead explore the kitchen area.
It was a decent sized room and from what it appeared like the goblins had been in the process of preparing meal when the call to arms came and we assaulted them. There was a pantry here as well, fairly well stocked. We were dismayed to notice that some of the barrels and boxes had the stamping of Ferron, Orland, and Shakun on them – leading us to believe that there were some goblin sympathizers operating in the towns or on the trade routes.
Finding no other way to go we went back to the water room and the group was split up: Chase, Enthir and Fist’al were waiting here by the narrow passage and the rest of the group was in the “dining room” while Fergus and Flimflam were taking care of bandages.
It was when the first goblin tried to sneak through the opening that we hit it and dragged it into the water room where we dispatched it swiftly. A second followed and Enthir went off to let Flimflam know that we were being probed and should respond swiftly. The party entered the watery room and we prepared to follow the curving corridor and enter the deeper portion of the goblin lair. Fist’al scouted ahead, the elf relying on his stealth as well as his ability to blend in. We watched him go until some time had passed and we heard nothing from him anymore. Something had happened and we needed to come to his aid (and possibly rescue).
Chase went first, the narrow walls making it difficult for the group to move at any speed. It was when we rounded a corner and could see in the faint glow of the large chamber that he was told, “Surrender, human!” given a 5 count, and then fired upon until he dropped to the ground @ -5. The party raced to follow, Tempi forced last as his bulk was too large to run along the narrow walls. There were 10 goblins here, a mix of bows and spears.
As we tried to enter the room, Fergus was shot at by a number of bows, his shield shattering from a brutal impact. One of the greenskins in the back called out to Hades and command the paladin to “Die!” where he fell over and was stabbed by the nearest goblin and dragged into the room. There was a side door that they were bucket brigading the bodies (Fist’al was already at the door), while the goblin in the back was calling out, “Elves! Get the elves!”
Marcus hurled a handful of rose petals into the room and 3 of the goblins fell over asleep. This spurred the rest of us on to hit them harder and faster. Enthir and Marcus fired what arrows they could but to little affect while Flimflam jammed a potion of jump into Whosea’s mouth, the war dog getting hyper from the enchanted water. Tempi was trying to get further along but there were too many of us and the hall was tight. As Fergus was being dragged away, Enthir cast sleep on the mass of goblin putting another couple of them to sleep. Fist’al was shoved through the doorway at this point while Chase’s heavy body was brought to the portal.
At this point Flimflam climbed on his dog, pointed at the goblin cleric at the back of the pack (who was debilitating the party with the command spells) and JUMPED at her. The mass of gnome, war dog, teeth, fur, claws, and the cudgel all brought the cleric to the ground and stunned the goblin assault briefly. The local goblins around Flimflam and Whosea try to regroup and assault the deadly pair while the rest of the party is going toe-to-toe with what appears to be the goblin champion.
The battle is a chaotic mix of arrows, spears, sleeping and unconscious friends, dogs barking and goblins shouting. Enthir casts shield on himself, Marcus fires an ensorcelled arrow into the melee, but the shaft still fails to hit anyone of note. Spears are flying. The Champion hits Marcus with a flurry of blows and the elven archer hits the ground with a thud. Tempi tries to get into the fight, finally able to shove past Enthir and takes his anger out on the goblin Champion. The struggle is terrible and the half-orc gets his shield shattered from a powerful blow from the Champion.
Whosea takes down another goblin while Flimflam finally gets to Fergus’ side and using his goodberries, manages to get the paladin back up. As soon as he regains consciousness, a feeling of might washed over the group as the protection of evil aura he exudes gets reestablished. Enthir plugs a sleeping goblin, killing it while Tempi’s assault on the Champion does NOT drop the goblin stalwart! Whosea continues to take out goblins (and goblin dogs!) around him, Flimflam is braining sleeping goblins, and Marcus manages to suck a healing draught down, pretending to be asleep. Fergus snatches up another shield and prepared to rejoin the fray.
The battle is all over the place and we hear Tempi howl and fall over, the Champion bringing our mighty fighter low. Flimflam hands Tempi his last goodberries and healing and begs the paladin to get Tempi back up. Fergus surges across the battlefield while Marcus attempt to energy sap the Champion, failing. This makes Enthir fire off a distracting spell, the Champion sneezing, and gives a window of opportunity for the paladin to bring Tempi back to “0” and then back to positive.
There are precious few goblins left at this point, and a few of the sleeping ones that hadn’t killed are back up and in the fray. Tempi, Fergus, and Marcus and taking a terrible toll on the Champion who returns the struggle by shattering another of Fergus’ stolen shields as well as dropping Tempi AGAIN. Chase and Fist’al are long gone, there are TWO doors into this room (currently closed), and Whosea/Flimflam are mopping up the last of the stubborn goblins. We are beyond out of time and need to go now, the noises behind the closed doors are getting louder and we have almost nothing left, most of the party is at 4 or fewer hit points.
Enthir breaks first, the elven mage high-tailing it out of the narrow corridor first, the rest of the party struggling to drag the barely conscious Tempi along, knowing the goblin forces on the other side of the door will be coming through any moment. On making it to the water filled chamber though, the goblin that Tempi had brained a while ago and had disappeared was now here, trying to bar the mage’s way. Enthir barreled into him, his shield spell sending up a mass of phosphorous bursts, as he scuttled past the goblin and continued on towards the exit.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Meet 19, Adv 1, 12/15/12
Every gaming group has tropes, something that is unique to them and often gets repeated over time. We've had "Hwa'cha" and the 500 lb gorilla as well as getting "Pucked" and at least half a dozen others. This meeting saw the introduction of "Supplies!" - the battle cry of the party upon attacking the goblin forces with a dubious amount of surprise. Adopted from the poor goblin suppliers who were bringing said goods down to their cavernous brothers we started using it around every corner and through every patch of darkness, like a bad parody of Weird Al's UHF.
I also had the chance to throw some zombie animals at the party. Zombies are an old staple, but zombie animals are just fricking disturbing to me. We had goats and chickens and although they were not "deadly" to the group, I know I was skeeved out by them.
Write up follows:
The goblins came riding down the slope on the door carts and hit our left bedrolls almost immediately, causing the three of them to crash and bang together. We raced up there to look the wreckage over and dispatched 5 of the goblins swiftly. The last three were stunned and captured; Chase convinced it was a trick of some sort. We took our bedrolls and pushed one of the carts back up the slope, eventually leading the goblins out as well. As for Goelarid, the charmed greenskin was sent back to talk to Malven and tell him about the elves – hoping to lure them out.
I also had the chance to throw some zombie animals at the party. Zombies are an old staple, but zombie animals are just fricking disturbing to me. We had goats and chickens and although they were not "deadly" to the group, I know I was skeeved out by them.
Write up follows:
The goblins came riding down the slope on the door carts and hit our left bedrolls almost immediately, causing the three of them to crash and bang together. We raced up there to look the wreckage over and dispatched 5 of the goblins swiftly. The last three were stunned and captured; Chase convinced it was a trick of some sort. We took our bedrolls and pushed one of the carts back up the slope, eventually leading the goblins out as well. As for Goelarid, the charmed greenskin was sent back to talk to Malven and tell him about the elves – hoping to lure them out.
When outside we pressed the goblins for information and eventually dispatched two of them, keeping one for possible ransom or ease of passage later. As time went on we deduced the goblins were not going to come out and face us. Also Chase and Fist’al took a walk around to see if there was a possible back way into the place – finding nothing serious except for what seemed to be chimney or air fissures. Nothing we could block up or poison, but confident that we were not going to find ourselves surrounded on both sides by the goblins within.
The party reentered the cavern and started our walk back down the slope. About half way down we heard the same tapping from below. Do we answer? We did, same. A voice called out, “Who is it?” Without pause, the party replied, “Supplies!” and then trundled down the slope in attack formation.
A barrier had been erected at the bottom of the slope, braced from the other side by moved barrels and boxes. Two goblins were there, spears at the ready and set to receive charges. Chase vaulted over the barrier and tried to take out the first goblin but failed as he was skewered by the greenskin’s spear. The other goblin was hit by our party’s arrows and then Fergus and Tempi clambered over the barrier. There were 3 other goblins here with spears and shields and one just outside the room with a bow. He fired upon us as Chase fell to the ground at 0 and fading out. Tempi hit the group on the left with a fury, splintering one of the goblin’s shields and leaving the greenskin surprised.
Fist’al tried to get in backstabbing position and Enthir got hung up on the barrier, unable to fully cross. Whosea joined the fight near Tempi while Flimflam dropped a cure light on Chase, waking the ranger up who charged the archer’s position.
The battle raged shortly and then ended with most everyone with greenskin dead and down. We purloined some more shields and spears and then came to the barrier hall where Chase was facing off against 3 goats. Typical goats, but they had been partially eaten and their carcasses raised from the dead. They were…hard to say for sure, butting the ranger was a definite but for the most part were more of an inconvenience to the party than an actual major threat. Be that as it may it did take a serious amount of time to actually finally drop the zombie goats – made more difficult due to the fact that we were forced to use what bludgeoning weapons we had.
The hall beyond the zombie goats ended at a decent sized chamber filled with scattered chicken bodies, 12 or so of them. There were also 5 candles and a lots of chalk lines about the floor. The entrance was blocked by another barrier about 3’ tall. We debated what to do and were assured by Fergus that if we disturbed the chalk lines, some sense of evil would occur. Confident that it would be the awakening of zombie chickens, we decided how we were to proceed.
The chalk line was disturbed and the chickens woke up, milling about the room and bouncing. When they got too close to the barrier we hit them. We also were sure that goblins were at the other end of the room and most likely had a bead on us with bows and arrows. We goosed an arrow from them by faking our crossing with a dead goblin body and then Chase vaulted over and ran across the room, out of the view of the other hall. Eventually Fergus and Tempi joined him and they charged the goblins yelling, “Supplies!”. There were 4 of them and the party hit them hard while the rest of the group brought up the rear. In no time we broke their line and one of them tried to flee.
Chase followed, closing the gap and then hacking the goblin down. He fell forward and slid across some wet patch of stone, the ranger just able to make himself stop at the wet area. And he heard the giggling sound of goblins laughing in the nearby gloom.
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