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| | {{Rise of the Runelords}} | | {{Rise of the Runelords}} |
| − | {{tocright|limit=2}}
| + | __NOTOC__ |
| | <!-- Content --> | | <!-- Content --> |
| | + | This is a diary as written by [[Nell]]. She started writing it as an exercise when learning to read and write. |
| | | | |
| − | This is the diary as written by Nell.
| + | == Entries == |
| − | She is writing it as an exercise in learning to read and write.
| |
| | | | |
| − | [[#end|To End]] | + | # '''[[First Entry]]:''' Nell gives a short introduction |
| | + | # '''[[The Big Feast]]:''' goblins attack [[Sandpoint]] during a feast held to celebrate the completion of the new cathedral |
| | + | # '''[[The Boneyard]]:''' the heroes prevent the goblins from carrying off a corpse from the graveyard, but the head is missing |
| | + | # '''[[The White Deer]]:''' the heroes fight the goblin leader of the attack |
| | + | # '''[[The Day After]]:''' the heroes recuperate and start looking for clues |
| | + | # '''[[The Hunt]]:''' the heroes are invited by [[Characters (Runelords)#Aldern Foxglove|Aldern Foxglove]] to go hunting |
| | + | # '''[[The Glassworks]]:''' [[Characters (Runelords)#Ameiko Kaijitsu|Ameiko]] disappears and the heroes investigate |
| | + | # '''[[The Cellar]]:''' the fight against the goblins continues downstairs |
| | + | # '''[[The Tunnel]]:''' the heroes head down an old tunnel found in the cellar to se where it leads |
| | + | # '''[[Old Rooms Beneath the Town]]:''' ancient rooms is found beneath Sandpoint |
| | + | # '''[[The Temple]]:''' an evil temple is found and the heroes fight its inhabitants |
| | + | # '''[[A Few Untroubled Days]]:''' the heroes take a well deserved rest for a few days |
| | + | # '''[[Reaching Thistletop]]:''' the heroes goes to scout out the goblins hideout |
| | + | # '''[[Thistletop's Defenses]]:''' deciding [[Thistletop]] wasn't that well defended, the heroes attack |
| | + | # '''[[Ripnugget]]:''' the heroes face the goblin warchief |
| | + | # '''[[Faltering Loyalties]]:''' the heroes continue to search through Thistletop and face new obstacles |
| | + | # '''[[Bruthazmus]]:''' Ripnugget wasn't the only warchief, so now they face Bruthazmus |
| | + | # '''[[Nell Meets Grell]]:''' Nell tries to scout ahead but gets into trouble |
| | + | # '''[[Nualia]]:''' the heroes continue through the dangers of Thistletop and finally face Nualia |
| | + | # '''[[Saviour in Time of Need]]:''' a few ancient rooms are looted, but they were not lightly guarded |
| | + | # '''[[The Dark Goal of Greed]]:''' the heroes at last find the demon and some information about the old runelords |
| | + | # '''[[The Sweetness of Victory]]:''' returning to Sandpoint the heroes are greeted as heroes |
| | + | # '''[[Return to Thistletop]]:''' the heroes return to Thistletop one last time to kill the demon |
| | + | # '''[[The lumber mill]]:''' the sheriff asks the heroes to investigate a double murder at the lumber mill |
| | + | # '''[[The fortune telling]]:''' the heroes get invited to the mysterious [[Characters (Runelords)#Madame Niska Mvashti|Madame Mvashti]] |
| | + | # '''[[The Sanatorium]]:''' the heroes ride to the [[Habe's_Sanatorium|sanatorium]] to question Sevilla |
| | + | # '''[[The Countryside]]:''' the heroes ride out towards the Foxglove Manor, but face undead horrors on the way |
| | + | # '''[[The Foxglove Manor]]:''' the heroes again ride out to the Foxglove Manor, but this time they get there |
| | + | # '''[[In My Room]]:''' the second floor of the Foxglove manor are looked through by the heroes |
| | + | # '''[[Meeting Mrs. Foxglove]]:''' the heroes search the top floor and encounter Aldern's wife |
| | + | # '''[[Aldern Foxglove]]:''' the heroes meet Aldern Foxglove again, but he has changed |
| | + | # '''[[Alderns's Cave]]:''' the heroes search through Alderns things to find the reasons behind the murders |
| | + | # '''[[Searching the Caverns]]:''' the caverns below the Foxglove manor are searched |
| | + | # '''[[Foxglove's Secrets]]:''' the heroes search through the manor and find the dark past of the Foxglove family |
| | + | # '''[[Vorel Has Left the Building]]:''' the heroes exorcise the spirit of Vorel Foxglove |
| | + | # '''[[Return to Magnimar]]:''' the leads take the heroes to [[Magnimar]] |
| | + | # '''[[The Foxglove Townhouse]]:''' after finding the Foxglove townhouse the heroes encounter someone they never expected |
| | + | # '''[[The City Guards Arrive]]:''' the city guards come to investigate the fighting, but all isn't well |
| | + | # '''[[Seven's Sawmill]]:''' the heroes ask around town to try to locate Seven's Sawmill |
| | + | # '''[[Father Skinsaw]]:''' the heroes stealthily approach the sawmill to attack the cult |
| | + | # '''[[The Old Clocktower]]:''' the heroes race through the streets of Magnimar to an old tower in the Shadow district |
| | + | # '''[[Xanesha]]:''' in the tower the heroes face the creature controlling the skinsaw cult |
| | + | # '''[[A New Friend]]:''' the heroes get a lot of attention, go to a lot of parties and take a well deserved rest |
| | + | # '''[[On Our Way]]:''' the mayor of Magnimar sends the heroes out on a mission |
| | + | # '''[[Half-ogres]]:''' the heroes rescue a bear and fight its hunters |
| | + | # '''[[The Farm]]:''' the heroes make a detour to a farm and see the results of inbreeding |
| | + | # '''[[Trapped]]:''' entering the house the heroes find more half-ogres and lots of humanoid remains |
| | + | # '''[[The Barn]]:''' the heroes look through the barn in search of the bear's master |
| | + | # '''[[Paradise's Gates]]:''' returning to [[Turtleback Ferry]] the heroes find the barge, Paradise's Gates, burning |
| | + | # '''[[Silent Lips, Talking Eyes]]:''' the heroes investigate the cause of the fire |
| | + | # '''[[Attacking Fort Rannick]]:''' the heroes travel to [[Fort Rannick]] to scout but attack the fort |
| | + | # '''[[Lucretia]]:''' the heroes tight their way up through the fort |
| | + | # '''[[Kaven's Fate]]:''' the heroes discuss what to do with [[Characters_(Runelords)#Kaven_Windstrike|Kaven Windstrike]] and return to Turtleback Ferry |
| | + | # '''[[The Flood]]:''' a big wave strike Turtleback Ferry and monsters follow in its wake |
| | + | # '''[[Skulls' Crossing]]:''' the heroes travel to [[Skulls_Crossing|Skulls' Crossing]] and find it in a bad state and ogres at work |
| | + | # '''[[Wet Papa Grazuul]]:''' the skull shaped control structure of the dam is explored and its guardian encountered |
| | + | # '''[[A Plea for Help]]:''' upon their return the heroes are celebrated and get a few days rest |
| | + | # '''[[Shimmerglens]]:''' the heroes are led by a pixie through the marshlands [[Whitewillow_(Greyhawk)|Shimmerglens]] to find Whitewillow |
| | + | # '''[[Whitewillow]]:''' the heroes reach Whitewillow and find out what troubles the fey in the area |
| | + | # '''[[Ambushed]]:''' the heroes set out to the Hook Mountain Clanhold but are ambushed on the way |
| | + | # '''[[Hook Mountain Clanhold]]:''' reaching Hook Mountain Clanhold, the heroes sneak in and look for the body of Lamatar |
| | + | # '''[[Winter Quarters]]:''' having finished their mission the heroes settle for the winter |
| | + | # '''[[Kaer Maga]]:''' the heroes are contracted to find an artifact which takes them to [[Kaer_Maga_(Greyhawk_4E)|Kaer Maga]] |
| | + | # '''[[Below Tarheel]]:''' being guided through the lower regions of the city the heroes find the Split Street gang |
| | + | # '''[[Return of Ironbriar]]:''' continuing through the underground complex the heroes encounter an old enemy |
| | + | # '''[[Tricking a Dragon]]:''' the heroes encounter a dragon and cultists |
| | + | # '''[[Tirana]]:''' the heroes finally face the villain |
| | + | # '''[[Building a Life]]:''' time goes by and the heroes find a place in life |
| | + | # '''[[The Big Goblin Feast]]:''' a feast is held in Sandpoint to celebrate the defeat of the goblins a year ago |
| | + | # '''[[The Giant Attack]]:''' giants and a dragon attack Sandpoint early morning after the feast |
| | + | # '''[[Aftermath]]:''' the heroes set out to follow the giants |
| | + | # '''[[The Rescue]]:''' the heroes continue on to save Das Korvut from the giants |
| | + | # '''[[Storval Stairs]]:''' the giants guarding the top of Storval Stairs are defeated [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''[[Reaching Jorgenfist]]:''' reaching Jorgenfist the heroes try to get in without alerting the army outside [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''[[Enga Keckvia]]:''' continuing through tunnels the heroes meet kobolds standing guard in the way |
| | + | # '''[[In Need of Fire]]:''' the heroes surprise a showy giant and continue through troll-infested corridors |
| | + | # '''[[Undead Giants]]:''' the heroes continue to search through the complex and find undead giants |
| | + | # '''[[Puppets]]:''' trying to get home to recover, the heroes trick controlled rune slaves |
| | + | # '''[[Mokmurian]]:''' finally, the heroes meet Mokmurian and defeat him |
| | + | # '''[[The Library]]:''' the heroes find a very old library |
| | + | # '''[[Below Sandpoint]]:''' returning to Sandpoint the heroes find more thassalonian structures |
| | + | # '''[[The End of Xalista]]:''' continuing through the complex they defeat Xalista and his monsters |
| | + | # '''[[The Riddle]]:''' the heroes solve the riddle and try to open the way to Runeforge |
| | + | # '''[[Arkrhyst]]:''' the heroes fight a big white dragon |
| | + | # '''[[The Gate to Runeforge]]:''' the heroes find the gate to Runeforge |
| | + | # '''[[The Ruin of Envy]]:''' arriving at Runeforge the heroes look through their first part |
| | + | # '''[[The Illusion of Pride]]:''' the heroes enter the pride part and encounter illusions and wizards |
| | + | # '''[[The Gates of Wrath]]:''' continuing through the sins the heroes enter the halls of wrath |
| | + | # '''[[Lackeys of Lust]]:''' the heroes enter the cages of lust and meet demons living there |
| | + | # '''[[Leave in Silence]]:''' the heroes find and steal Delvahine's equipment without alerting anyone |
| | + | # '''[[Crypts of Gluttony]]:''' the heroes enters the ravenous crypt of gluttony and encounter undead monsters |
| | + | # '''[[Vaults of Greed]]:''' the heroes enters the Vaults of Greed |
| | + | # '''[[Leaving Runeforge]]:''' when preparing to leave Runeforge the heroes encounter unexpected trouble |
| | + | # '''[[The World Outside]]:''' after leaving Runeforge the heroes get reacquainted with the world outside |
| | + | # '''[[All the World's a Stage]]:''' the heroes set up Nell's play and investigate Cyrdak Drokkus past encountering Kassiel Iylmrain |
| | + | # '''[[The Storm]]:''' the heroes set out to find Xin-Shalast and find an old dwarven building |
| | + | # '''[[Haunted by Dwarfs]]:''' investigating the building the heroes encounter ghosts of dwarfs |
| | + | # '''[[Diamonds]]:''' the heroes reunite the remains of the dwarven brothers and fight a wendigo |
| | + | # '''[[The Ascent]]:''' continuing uphill the heroes encounter an ice palace and visit the ice queens court |
| | + | # '''[[Reaching Xin-Shalast]]:''' the heroes encounter a guard post before arriving at the city of greed, Xin-Shalast |
| | + | # '''[[Xin-Shalast 101]]:''' the heroes start exploring Xin-Shalast by stealth, cunning and disguise |
| | + | # '''[[Rendez-vous in Xin-Shalast]]:''' while the heroes seek out and attack the hidden beast, they meet an old friend [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''[[Ice Ice Baby]]:''' finding out that they need magic rings the heroes seek one from an Ice Devil [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''[[The Art of War]]:''' suspecting another ring might be in the keep the heroes attack the giant guard [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''[[Ghlorofaex]]:''' looking for the last ring the heroes seek out and fight the dragon Ghlorofaex [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''[[Entering the Spires]]:''' the heroes pass through the field and through a tunnel and enter the Spires of Xin-Shalast [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''[[Meeting Karzoug]]:''' the heroes encounter Karzoug himself but he is too easily defeated [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''[[End of Ironbriar]]:''' defeat the harridans and meet Ironbriar [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''Unnamed:''' fight rune giants and the head harridan [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | + | # '''Unnamed:''' the heroes finally face the true Karzoug [[Image:Notepad.png|20px]] |
| | | | |
| − | == First entry == | + | == See also == |
| | | | |
| − | Hello diary.
| + | * [[Draft (Runelords)|Draft]] Before the title of an episode has been decided it is written here. |
| | + | * Nell is writing plays of her adventures. Thoughts of their format is gathered here [[Family Secrets]] |
| | | | |
| − | I am to write here to learn how to write. Velicia will help me write,
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| − | when needed.
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| − |
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| − | == The big feast ==
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| − |
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| − | Today a lot happened.
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| − |
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| − | I was at the big feast that the whole town have been preparing for for a
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| − | long time. I went there with Velicia. There were lots of food. There were
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| − | three tables filled with the best from each of the inns. I liked the Rusty
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| − | Dragon best, even though it was quite spicy. Loads of butterflies were
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| − | released, flying around everywhere. I was eating when mayor Kendra Deverin
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| − | stood up and talked about something. Then the sheriff Belor Hemlock said
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| − | boring stuff and Cyrdak Drokkus talked about his new play. He's nice. He
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| − | has been flirting with a lot of us girls. I like him as he enjoy the company
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| − | but don't try to grope me as some others do. It's almost suspicious how he
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| − | don't. I will try to make sure I get invited to see that play. Then Father
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| − | Abstalar Zantus was just about to speak even more, when Velicia had had
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| − | enough of food and wanted to go look at the bonfire, or rather the pile
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| − | that would become the big fire. I grabbed some more salmon and followed
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| − | her. The salmon was really good. I wonder how its done. I've never been
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| − | a good cook. Velicia said something was stirring somewhere towards the
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| − | gate and we were just going that way when lots and lots of goblins
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| − | poured in towards the central square where the feast was held and we were.
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| − |
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| − | [[Image:Goblin attack.png|left|thumb|Goblin attack!]]
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| − |
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| − | There were one big goblin riding a strange dog and a few others singing
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| − | a silly song. Velicia rushed ahead and threw some of her magic, powerful
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| − | great magic, at them and several fell to the ground. I loaded my sling
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| − | with several stones and hit many with my barrage of stones, blinding one
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| − | temporary. I ran up to a goblin and made a move I've often used when in
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| − | trouble. I showed plenty of thigh and stabbed with the dagger. Even if it
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| − | worked I was a little put off as the goblin rather looked hungry when
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| − | looking at my thigh. Not the usual response. There followed a big melee
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| − | where I felled goblin after goblin saving many of the villagers. Some of
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| − | the people living here also fought with us. There was Nathaniel Deverin
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| − | who I have met before. He is a nobleman from one of the four noble families
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| − | here, but after today I think he's nice anyway. Actually it's the same
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| − | family as the Mayor. Also there was a strange looking rhenne with pale skin,
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| − | white hair and red eyes called Dorothea Caiphon who used scary magic and a
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| − | female satyr called Honeypot who helped us fighting the goblins while
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| − | playing the flute. We killed most of the goblins and a few fled.
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| − |
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| − | == The boneyard ==
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| − |
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| − | We were very proud when the sheriff told us that he had seen how good we
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| − | were and asked us to check the gate. When we got there, there was some
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| − | commotion in the boneyard. I tried to sneak in but they noticed me, so
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| − | I threw a bullet at a big goblin with my sling. Velicia waved her fan
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| − | at a group of goblins and almost all flew away. I hit mine again with
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| − | another sling stone and then stabbed it with my dagger. The rest of us
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| − | ran up to a group of goblins trying to protect some others next to a
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| − | ladder raised to the wall. Several goblins suddenly surrounded me.
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| − | They hit me from all over and I just barely got out before I got really
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| − | hurt. Honeypot played some really refreshing tune and I attacked again.
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| − | Soon most of the goblins were dead.
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| − |
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| − | The goblins were dragging a sack from the cemetery and Velicia used her
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| − | magic to suddenly appear on top of the wall where the goblins were trying
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| − | to climb ladders to get away with the sack. She stopped them, blowing and
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| − | burning them with her mighty magic. Then Nathaniel really showed what he
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| − | could do. He ran up to the ladder and killed the big awful goblin dog that
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| − | were chewing on Honeypot and continued up the ladder and skewered the goblin
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| − | leader with his sword helping Velicia. Then he climbed down and retrieved
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| − | the sack that were on the outside and back up to the wall. He dumped it
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| − | down the ladder right in front of me, and pulled up the ladder on the
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| − | outside of the wall. I peeked in the sack and it contained the remains of
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| − | some yucky old dead body.
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| − |
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| − | From the wall the others said that there came lots and lots of more goblins
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| − | demanding to get the sack. Honeypot faked another sack and threw it to them.
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| − | I went looking for an open grave the body could've come from and found one.
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| − | It was marked cleric Ezakien Tobyn. Nathaniel went to talk to the guards by
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| − | the gate and I ran back to the square and told the sheriff. He was busy but
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| − | said they were handling most of the goblins now that we had broken their
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| − | attack. I went back and saw them throwing a live goblin over the wall.
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| − | Strange. That fall would probably not even kill it.
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| − |
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| − | == The white deer ==
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| − |
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| − | [[Image:Goblin dogrider.png|thumb|right|Goblin dogrider.]]
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| − |
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| − | I told them how things were and we brought the ladders and the remains of
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| − | the body to the guards at the gate and went back to town to help cleaning up
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| − | the last goblins. When we were approaching The White Deer, there were a
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| − | really, really big goblin riding the biggest, meanest goblin dog so far,
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| − | attacking an ordinary dog while a man was trying to fend for himself a few
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| − | yards further away. I put a bullet straight in the chest of another goblin
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| − | skulking nearby. Nathaniel charged it and split it in two in a mighty blow.
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| − | Velicia ran up to the mounted goblin leader and used her incredible magic.
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| − | Nathaniel joined in too. Dorothea and Honeypot used their magic on other
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| − | smaller but still very tough goblins. Those threw javelins at us hitting
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| − | with most. Nathaniel was hit several times and one pierced him and he fell
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| − | to the ground bleeding.
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| − |
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| − | Honeypot ran up to him reviving him and killed the leader goblin. I moved up
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| − | to the awful, monstrous dog sure to kill the poor man trying desperately to
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| − | defend himself, and hit it well with my dagger and tripping it making it
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| − | stumble into Velicias impressive magic swarm of dancing daggers, slicing it
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| − | to shreds, thus surely saving the mans life. It turned out to be Aldern
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| − | Foxglove who is a nobleman passing through town. I've seen him partying at
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| − | an inn earlier. You can never trust noblemen, perhaps except Nathaniel who
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| − | seems to be nice.
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| − |
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| − | Now I will go to bed. It's already late. Good night.
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| − |
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| − | == The day after ==
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| − |
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| − | I hurt a little all over this morning when I woke up after the big fight.
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| − | We who fought together met up and hung out. We took it easy talking all
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| − | morning. Aldern Foxglove who's life I saved yesterday by killing that
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| − | monstrous giant dog, showed up and invited all us girls to go hunting the
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| − | next day. Then there was some commotion, and when we checked what it was it
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| − | turned out that some elf scout called Shalelu Andosana had come back from
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| − | running around in the woods keeping an eye on the goblins. She went to the
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| − | sheriff and we followed her in. The Sheriff greeted us and said that it was
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| − | good we already were there so he didn't have to send for us. He sent for
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| − | the Mayor though. The elf told us a lot about all the goblin tribes
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| − | around here.
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| − |
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| − | There are five of them.
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| − | * The first is led by someone called Bruthazmus. I think that one was a bugbear.
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| − | * Second is led by Big Gutmut. I didn't really pay attention to all she said about them.
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| − | * Then there's Ripnugget who's tribe had a lair called Thistletop.
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| − | * Korovus led a tribe called seven teeth or something.
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| − | * The last one licked toads in a swamp where a cannibal goblin called Vorka tried to eat them.
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| − | I'm guessing the last ones are losers.
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| − |
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| − | The one we killed yesterday was called Gortmurt. Not that that makes much
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| − | difference.
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| − |
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| − | I juggled a bit with some apples that where in a bowl in that room. The
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| − | sheriff told us he was going to Magnimar tomorrow to ask for more guards
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| − | until the goblin problem is solved. He asked us, as the big heroes we are,
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| − | to help keep an eye open for trouble. We told him we would and that we
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| − | would especially keep an eye on a suspect we have that might be the human
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| − | helping the goblins from within the village. The meeting was over and I
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| − | put back an apple in the bowl and kept the others as lunch.
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| − |
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| − | We thought that we should start looking for traitors right away so we went
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| − | to the Rusty Dragon to see if any one had heard anything. They greeted us
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| − | as the big heroes we are, that saved the entire village from being overrun
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| − | by all the goblins. I told them the story once again of how we realized
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| − | that there were goblins in the boneyard that no one else had noticed and
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| − | how we saved most of the remains of Ezakien Tobyn. As Nathaniel wasn't
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| − | there I took both his and my place in the story and told it climbing the
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| − | chairs as ladders up onto the table posing as the wall where I and Velicia
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| − | fought imaginary goblins.
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| − |
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| − | It was easy to get food and drinks after that show. Dorothea really likes
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| − | beer. Then we asked the others at the inn for stories but those were
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| − | mostly of how stupid the goblins were, like when some goblins crept into
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| − | the bonfire while others set it on fire. Someone heard about how several
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| − | mills had burned down and suspected the Scarnettis to be involved. But
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| − | there were no strange humans lurking in shadows helping the goblins.
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| − | It was late at night before we turned in.
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| − |
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| − | == The hunt ==
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| − |
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| − | I woke early, but not early enough to be up when Alden came. He though
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| − | hunts should start very early. Some of us had had more to drink than me
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| − | and were less than happy about the time. As we were a little late he had
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| − | a second breakfast together with us talking about the hunt. When we got
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| − | out he had several horses waiting and presented us with them as a gift.
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| − | A GIFT! Horses are really expensive and he just gave them to us. He must
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| − | be loaded. I acted unimpressed as usual when I get men to give me gifts.
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| − |
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| − | When we left for the hunt and he helped us up on the horses he groped my
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| − | behind. When I shot him an angry look he didn't see it at all as he was
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| − | looking up my skirt. I bit my lip and got the horse moving. He then did
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| − | the same to the others. Then we were off to where we were to hunt. It was
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| − | called Tickwood. I hate ticks. They are disgusting little bugs. On the
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| − | way out of town we met up with Nathaniel who was out riding early and
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| − | to Alderns dismay Velicia immediately invited him to the trip too.
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| − | Honeypot kept Aldern company. That was fortunate as Nathaniel and Aldern
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| − | didn't seem to get along that well. During the hunt Honeypot and Aldern
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| − | got separated from us others, but we found them again after a little
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| − | while. The hunt was a success and Aldern and Dorothea were the sharpest
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| − | with the crossbows with Nathaniel close behind. Honeypot was really happy
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| − | about the competition and cheered when anyone had a clear shot. She
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| − | celebrated Alderns hunting success with a lot of hugging. During all the
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| − | time in the woods I kept a sharp lookout for ticks and not much else.
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| − |
| |
| − | When we got back I took the two boars we had shot to the Rusty Dragon to
| |
| − | get them done. Ameiko promised to make a great feast out of them and in
| |
| − | return could keep the rest of them that we didn't eat.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I and Dorothea saw Nathaniel being approached by Shayliss who asked for
| |
| − | his help to get rid of a rat problem. Apparently it was in the cellar
| |
| − | and she led him down there. As we knew of her reputation as "loose", we
| |
| − | decided to see what would happen. Stealthily we followed and watched.
| |
| − | When Nathaniel was half undressed and Shayliss mostly undressed her
| |
| − | father appeared. The two of them didn't notice until he shouted at them
| |
| − | waving a club about. Nathaniel answered by saying:
| |
| − | "What I have done to your daughter, many has done before me."
| |
| − | I could not believe my ears. It was hard to not laugh, but he continued
| |
| − | "None the less, I know what I have done and will take what punishment you
| |
| − | think would be just, as I respect you as her father."
| |
| − | Her father beat him, but his anger was apparently soothed by Nathaniel's
| |
| − | willingness to take the punishment. Dorothea and I made sure to leave
| |
| − | before we were noticed.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We all met again at the Rusty Dragon later for dinner. Velicia asked
| |
| − | Nathaniel what had happened to him as she noticed his bruises and was
| |
| − | very impressed at how he respected Shayliss' father. I think she is a
| |
| − | little smitten by him. Honeypot showed up a little late together with
| |
| − | Aldern. He gave a big sack of coins to us as a payment for saving his
| |
| − | life the other day. It was a thousand gold coins! He must surely be
| |
| − | very rich. Then the boar arrived and it was delicious.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I have earlier hinted at being good at sneaking around and keeping an
| |
| − | eye on things to Velicia so she used one of her magic tricks and
| |
| − | whispered in my ear that now that Aldern was here someone should check
| |
| − | out his room. I asked Dorothea to come with me. Before I left I filled
| |
| − | my bag with bread, cookies, some vegetables and filled a small plate with
| |
| − | boar to eat while walking to the other side of the whole village. When at
| |
| − | the White Deer we saw his servant eating in the first floor dining room
| |
| − | and went up the stairs to his room. I picked the lock while Dorothea
| |
| − | kept watch. We got in and looked around. He didn't have that much stuff,
| |
| − | as if he isn't really that rich. I mostly found a lot of papers. I asked
| |
| − | Dorothea to read them but she said they were too boring. She was right.
| |
| − | The papers were hard to read and very boring. I only got that it was
| |
| − | about estate and there were the Foxglove house, the Foxglove manor,
| |
| − | Foxglove estate and the Foxglove farm, or something like that.
| |
| − | As we left I locked the door.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | When we returned I was thrilled to get back to the dinner that I had
| |
| − | been promised would be refilled all night, but it was mostly finished
| |
| − | when we got back. I asked the servant girl for more but there were some
| |
| − | problems in the kitchen. We went there to investigate and found lots
| |
| − | of food. Most of it wasn't cooked, but there were some pastries, bread,
| |
| − | butter, cheese, apples, pears, cookies, cakes and other cold dishes ready
| |
| − | to eat. The others said something about the halfling cook and some strange
| |
| − | letter, but I mostly looked for the best cold dishes. I always get hungry
| |
| − | after acrobatics, and I love cartwheeling, jumping fences and such things,
| |
| − | so I do it all the time. But anyway we found out that Ameikos brother
| |
| − | that we had heard about earlier, and planned to ask Ameiko about, but
| |
| − | never got around to, wanted to meet with her at the glassworks at midnight.
| |
| − | It was already after midnight so we hurried over there.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == The glassworks ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | On the way there Honeypot prepared a ritual and we took the time to get
| |
| − | it done. It made sure that we could whisper to each other even if we
| |
| − | were at the other end of the glassworks. To test this Velicia,
| |
| − | Nathaniel and Honeypot went to the exhibition end of the glassworks
| |
| − | to peek in through glass dome on the roof, while I and Dorothea went
| |
| − | to the service entrance at the other end, where Ameiko were supposed
| |
| − | to meet with her brother. The doors were locked but after some work we
| |
| − | got them open. The others told us that the glass in the exhibition was
| |
| − | smashed. We entered into an empty hall. There was an awful smell of
| |
| − | goblin. You could hear goblins making noises through some double doors.
| |
| − | The others got down from the roof and ran over to us. I listened to the
| |
| − | other door and heard goblins making noises there too, but not as loud.
| |
| − | I thought I heard a human voice in pain through that door so I
| |
| − | suggested we storm through there. As we did we saw lots of goblins
| |
| − | and a glassworker being treated badly as entertainment by the goblins.
| |
| − | We took them by surprise and there was a big fight. I did my part and
| |
| − | showed all the others my formidable skill. Honeypot did it too when she
| |
| − | jumped over a goblin into another room. That was a nice move. I have to
| |
| − | try it myself sometime. After a while we had killed all goblins and
| |
| − | freed several workers, but we were too late to save all of them. There
| |
| − | was at least one that had been hacked up as if butchered for meat.
| |
| − | I felt sick but tried to look the other way. I don't think the others
| |
| − | noticed.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We took a short rest while Honeypot tried to heal us and the workers.
| |
| − | We told them to leave as we would make sure the all goblins doing this
| |
| − | would be killed. They were quite taken by the experience and asked for
| |
| − | protection. We helped them out of the glassworks and sent them on their
| |
| − | way to the Mayor before we headed for the other room, which turned out
| |
| − | to be where all the glass were made. I charged right up to a big goblin
| |
| − | boss standing next to a big oven-looking fireplace in the wall. I tricked
| |
| − | it to get right in front of the open doors to the fire pit and skewered
| |
| − | it so it fell right into the fire. With a scream it died a fiery death.
| |
| − | Dorothea also had time to get in and use some of her scary magic before
| |
| − | a goblin made an awful cloud of disgusting goblin vapors that filled the
| |
| − | room. It didn't quite fill the entire room, but the whole part we were in.
| |
| − | It made my eyes tear up and all goblins very hard to hit. A goblin charged
| |
| − | me with a glass blower pipe. It was like a spear with a melted glass tip.
| |
| − | I easily jumped out of the way. Nathaniel sliced a goblin in half with
| |
| − | the mightiest blow I've ever seen done with a sword, or anything else
| |
| − | for that matter. Velicia improved on my idea of throwing the goblins into
| |
| − | the ovens by doing it to three at a time with thundering magic that blew
| |
| − | them like leaves in the wind into the fire.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | After some more hard fighting we succeeded in striking down most of the
| |
| − | goblins. The magic using goblin and another one tried to flee but Velicia
| |
| − | put her ball of whirling daggers in front of the door and I and Nathaniel
| |
| − | both charged the mage goblin. I jumped up on a long table, running along
| |
| − | it and springing forward with feline agility I lashed out, cut deep into
| |
| − | the mage with my new magic dagger and rolled on to box it in. It didn't
| |
| − | last long when we all surrounding it cut it to pieces.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == The cellar ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We took a short rest and Honeypot played her soothing music again.
| |
| − | I felt sore from several cuts from those awful goblins, but it fell
| |
| − | from my mind as I listened. We took a final look around before we
| |
| − | went down to the cellar. Once more I saw the horrible parts of that
| |
| − | poor worker that had been cut up by the goblins.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Don't read this, Velicia. Skip to the next paragraph.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We started down the stair, but I was distracted by my thoughts and
| |
| − | stumbled into more goblins. I had horrible visions of being cut up by
| |
| − | them as that worker in my mind and missed with my sling. The others
| |
| − | stormed right by me while I got back in the stairs and hid. I just
| |
| − | peeked around the corner and flung bullet after bullet at the goblins,
| |
| − | but the shots went wild. I think I need more space to use the sling
| |
| − | properly. Nathaniel took several hits and a particular nasty one made
| |
| − | him stagger and fall. In this dire situation I tried using the dagger
| |
| − | instead and threw it at the goblin around the corner. It flew true and
| |
| − | hit it in it's belly. It was hurt really badly and to my surprise the
| |
| − | dagger appeared in my hand again. I knew it was a magical dagger, but
| |
| − | I didn't know that it could do that. That gave the others enough time
| |
| − | to help Nathaniel. I hid behind the corner again and tried to do the
| |
| − | same again but never got it quite right. At least the dagger didn't
| |
| − | take any damage from hitting walls, floors and doors and it still kept
| |
| − | appearing in my hand right after hitting whatever was behind what I
| |
| − | aimed for. Nathaniel charged right up to a half elf who came around a
| |
| − | corner and started shooting arrows at us. Nathaniel gut him down after
| |
| − | a short fight up close.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | After a long fight we finally killed the last goblins. It was Velica
| |
| − | who felled them with magic. Nathaniel told us that a few got away
| |
| − | through a storage room in the back. There was a tunnel leading away
| |
| − | from it. I though that we'd better search every room before entering
| |
| − | the tunnel so no goblins could sneak up on us from behind. Nathaniel
| |
| − | had showed me how bad that could be, even though it wasn't even from
| |
| − | behind. I looked around and found Ameiko tied up in one of the storage
| |
| − | rooms. I talked to her some as I freed her and suggested that she'd
| |
| − | stay behind as we searched the tunnel. She told me she could take care
| |
| − | of herself and joined us. She was less saddened by her brothers
| |
| − | betrayal and her fathers death than I would have thought she'd be.
| |
| − | When I checked on the half elf it turned out to be her brother and I
| |
| − | told her he was dead. I searched him and found a crossbow, a diary and
| |
| − | <something>. I started reading the diary and thought about comparing
| |
| − | it to my own when Velicia took it. I continued to search through the
| |
| − | place. I found nothing else, but the goblins had gold coins that turned
| |
| − | out to be quite a sum when put together.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We checked the tunnel and found it to be longer than we cared to explore
| |
| − | at the that late hour. Ameiko told us it lead down to the waterside and
| |
| − | that it was an old smugglers tunnel. We barred it from inside and went
| |
| − | back up to the glassworks. There some guards had arrived and the mayor
| |
| − | did as well. We told her our story in short and then we left for bed.
| |
| − | As Ameiko lives in the Rusty Dragon as I do, we walked home together.
| |
| − | I walked close to her. It seemed as the whole experience had been worse
| |
| − | for me than for her even though she lost both her brother and her father.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I slept uneasy and was woken by the others for a late breakfast at the
| |
| − | Rusty Dragon. At breakfast Velicia started talking about taking some of
| |
| − | my money for spells. I didn't like that at all. Then Nathaniel and the
| |
| − | mayor joined us and he also liked that tax idea. I opposed it until the
| |
| − | mayor said that we all should pay 20 gold each to buy magic components
| |
| − | for. I did but still didn't like it and asked who would decide what to buy.
| |
| − | The mayor said that the leader of the group would do that and that it was
| |
| − | Nathaniel. As it was the mayor that said it I can't complain too much.
| |
| − | After all she's some kind of boss here and typically put her nephew
| |
| − | Nathaniel in charge.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | By the time I met up with the others Velicia and Honeypot had been up some hours trying
| |
| − | out magic that recreated the glass art that had been broken in the showroom.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == The tunnel ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | After breakfast me, Nathaniel, Velicia, Dorothea and Honeypot headed
| |
| − | down into the tunnel the goblins had fled through. Quite a long way
| |
| − | into it we found that it had a bricked wall that had been broken down.
| |
| − | It was smashed from the inside and hadn't been used much. We entered
| |
| − | it and soon found our way into a cave. There a hideous monster
| |
| − | suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked poor Nathaniel. It
| |
| − | looked really disgusting with big strange jaws and a long scary tung.
| |
| − | It had awful black claws that teared into Nathaniel and he seethed
| |
| − | with a strange unreasonable anger that distracted him from the fight.
| |
| − | Honeypot ran up to it and distracted it back with her strange combat
| |
| − | dance. Dorothea could use that to kill the monster.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Then a second monster looking just as scary, ran right past us and on
| |
| − | into the tunnel we followed. Velicia and Honeypot ran after it. I hid
| |
| − | in the cave to get in a good position to attack if yet another hiding
| |
| − | monster would run by. Dorothea saw me straight away and asked what I
| |
| − | was doing.
| |
| − | "Just looking for more monsters..." I answered not quite truthfully.
| |
| − | But it was a good idea so I did look through the cave. It was now
| |
| − | empty. I joined Nathaniel instead. He guarded a tunnel heading
| |
| − | straight ahead and said that Velicia and Honeypot had ran down
| |
| − | another tunnel to the right. We continued through the one he had
| |
| − | guarded and met up with the others in a room where a statue stood.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == Old rooms beneath the town ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The room was old and heavily decorated. The statue stood in the middle.
| |
| − | It was of a woman with flowing robes, a book decorated by a star
| |
| − | with seven points under one arm and a big burning ranceur that
| |
| − | illuminated the room in the other. The book was part of the statue
| |
| − | but the ranceur wasn't so Dorothea took it. We continued on.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The next room was strange with a wooden platform overlooking what
| |
| − | seemed to be some kind of prison area with several cells. Nathaniel
| |
| − | suddenly stopped and pointed out that more monsters where hanging
| |
| − | under the wooden walkway. I immediately threw my magical dagger at
| |
| − | one of the monsters wounding it heavily. Then I retreated back out
| |
| − | of the room stealthily. I sneaked out of hiding and surprised another
| |
| − | monster by throwing my magical dagger into it.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Then Honeypot stormed up some stair from the room below, enraged,
| |
| − | charging straight at me, but when she furiously attacked I ducked
| |
| − | behind the corner of the wall I was standing next to and she hit it
| |
| − | instead of me. She seemed to settle down some when realizing she just
| |
| − | tried to attack me. One of the monsters followed her up the stairs and
| |
| − | hit her from behind. Nathaniel ran up to the monster and with a dashing
| |
| − | move hit it and tricked it to leap to where he had stood, but he had
| |
| − | already moved on. Soon we killed all four of them.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | When killed the monsters disappeared. Dorothea said that they were some
| |
| − | kind of avatars of rage. I don't understand what that means, but they
| |
| − | were scary and angry monsters that made you really angry if you got
| |
| − | bitten. Honeypot was really shook up by the experience and Velicia
| |
| − | tried to console her. I found the room to be awful and stayed up on the
| |
| − | wooden platform the whole time. Nathaniel touched a skeleton in one of
| |
| − | the cells and it fell apart. That was really scary and I tried to think
| |
| − | of nicer things so I took out an apple. Before I could finish it there
| |
| − | was an awful smell coming from a corner of the room where Dorothea had
| |
| − | done something. I didn't even want to know what. I just wanted to leave.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Soon Honeypot was returning to her own self and started to sing and
| |
| − | dance again, but perhaps not that cheerfully. I took some comfort in
| |
| − | that and felt a little better. But only until we entered the next room.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | It was a torture chamber. There were lots of pointy things and straps
| |
| − | and spikes that could hurt you in every way. Dorothea didn't look
| |
| − | spooked at all. She just said;
| |
| − | "Look. This rotating rack has seven points. It's made for a creature
| |
| − | with four arms." Velicia joined in her strange discussion. I still
| |
| − | just wanted to continue on.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The next room was small with three doors with each a seven pointed
| |
| − | star on. It was some old study room for magic. Velicia and Honeypot
| |
| − | were really interested but I wasn't. I couldn't decide which room was
| |
| − | the worst, this one with unknown dangerous magic or the torture chamber.
| |
| − | I waited by the door and tried to listen for any sounds from the next
| |
| − | room. There were some strange noises, but I wasn't sure what made them.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | At last we finally continued on to the next room. We were all prepared
| |
| − | for fighting. It was a large room with several wooden trapdoors on the
| |
| − | stone floor. At the other end was a very strange looking goblin. It had
| |
| − | four arms and small legs sticking out of it's head. We entered and as
| |
| − | the goblin charged us it screamed "Korovus Kill!".
| |
| − | Nathaniel, readying himself to receive the charge, suddenly fell through
| |
| − | one of the rotten trapdoors not able to hold his weight. Korovus sprayed
| |
| − | some awful, disgusting gas at us that hurt my eyes and nose.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In the fifteen feet deep pit that Nathaniel had fallen into he was not
| |
| − | alone. There was a zombie trying to attack him as Nathaniel tried to
| |
| − | climb out. I threw my dagger at it wounding it badly. When Nathaniel
| |
| − | was almost out of the pit Korovus attacked him, making him loose his
| |
| − | grip and fall down again. Honeypot distracted Korovus so Nathaniel could
| |
| − | make a second try and this time he climbed out uninterrupted. I moved up
| |
| − | to the grotesquely deformed goblin and stabbed him making him stumble back
| |
| − | and fall through a trapdoor and down into a another pit. Velicia put a
| |
| − | cloud of dagger in it to keep Korovus, and another zombie, company.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | After a short rest when I got the last of that awful poisonous gas
| |
| − | out of my face and Dorothea killed all the zombies in the pits with
| |
| − | her strange magic, we continue on to a yet another strange room filled
| |
| − | with weird magic. It had dangerous walls shifting in color by magic
| |
| − | and things floating around in mid air. There seemed to be a wand,
| |
| − | a book and a dead raven. Dorothea was strangely interested in the
| |
| − | dead raven. Velicia and Honeypot got very interested in the stuff and
| |
| − | wouldn't leave until we got hold of the things. They started talking
| |
| − | about strange magic that I don't understand and instead I went and got
| |
| − | a piece of wood from the last room and threw it in to see what would
| |
| − | happen. It just floated around with the other things. I then mounted
| |
| − | a piece of cloth at the end of my excellent silk rope. With it I
| |
| − | trapped the wand and hauled it out of the room. Then Nathaniel suggested
| |
| − | that someone should tie a rope around their waist and jump into the room.
| |
| − | That someone should be small and agile, he said looking at me. I ran
| |
| − | out into the zombie room and stayed there until they were finished
| |
| − | fishing for treasure. The book turned out to be about prayers to the
| |
| − | mother of monsters and different awful ways to give birth to more
| |
| − | monsters, one worse than the other. When Dorothea found out that the
| |
| − | raven had been nibbled on it wasn't that interesting any longer.
| |
| − | Someone said that it had been nibbled on by some tiny demon thing.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We went back and searched on through new corridors that led into a
| |
| − | room with an altar in. On top of the altar there was a basin with
| |
| − | murky water. Velicia said that you would turn into a mutated monster
| |
| − | if you drink from it. Probably that's what had changed Korovus.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == The temple ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We continued into a temple hall. I stayed behind in the shadows
| |
| − | ready to strike if something bad happened. The ceiling was high and
| |
| − | at the other end there was a raised part of the room with two stairs
| |
| − | leading up to it. In the middle was a pool with a circle of polished
| |
| − | human skulls in it. Then a strange voice started talking.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | It threatened us and said that we should show respect for the
| |
| − | mother of monsters and leave immediately. We couldn't see anything
| |
| − | but somewhere something talked with that high pitched voice. Velicia
| |
| − | mentioned something called a quasit. It was apparently some tiny
| |
| − | invisible demon hiding in there. I hid outside and the others told
| |
| − | of more of the awful monsters appearing out of some other pool
| |
| − | further in, on the higher part at the other end of the room.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I peeked around the corner and threw my magic dagger into one of
| |
| − | the monsters. It returned as it does and I hid again. Once more I
| |
| − | successfully used the same trick. I saw Nathaniel kill another of
| |
| − | the monsters attacking Honeypot as she struck and blinded yet
| |
| − | another one. I seemingly couldn't miss with my dagger as I threw
| |
| − | it into that monster too. When peeking out for another kill I saw
| |
| − | Nathaniel jump into the air and trying to grab a tiny little winged
| |
| − | demon that had become visible. I threw my dagger at it bloodying it.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Changing hiding place to a small side room to not become to
| |
| − | predictable and closing the doors making sure the little demon
| |
| − | wouldn't get away I was joined by Velicia, who were impressed by
| |
| − | my superior fighting technique and tried to imitate me. She wasn't
| |
| − | as good at it as I am, but I have had a lot of training on the
| |
| − | streets of Magnimar.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | When I peeked out one last time I killed the last monster and
| |
| − | Nathaniel said he had killed the tiny demon.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Honeypot and Velicia did their magic stuff on that bad pool where
| |
| − | the monsters were created, while I looked around for valuables.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == A few untroubled days ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The next day a town meeting was called were we were supposed to attend.
| |
| − | Me, Velicia, Nathaniel and strangely enough Dorothea but not Honeypot
| |
| − | did. There were several others; Niska Mvashti, an old rhenne, Mayor
| |
| − | Kendra Deverin, the Priest Abstalar Zantus, Ameiko, the smith Das
| |
| − | Korvut, as acting sheriff and Brodert Quink. We all sat down and had
| |
| − | a meeting. We told our story of what happened. Korvut complained that
| |
| − | we had gone down into the tunnels without approval by the town.
| |
| − | We told him that the mayor had agreed to it. He still complained and
| |
| − | Velicia started to argue with him until he tried to hit her. She easily
| |
| − | avoided his obvious swing, but after that they all settled down. They
| |
| − | thought we should study the diary we found carefully for clues. They
| |
| − | also said we shouldn't leave town until Sheriff Hemlock got back as they
| |
| − | needed our protection. I argued that if we were guards we should get
| |
| − | paid and they agreed. Nathaniel convinced them that the best way to make
| |
| − | sure that the evil temple below would be destroyed would be to get
| |
| − | Zantus down there, but he wasn't thrilled by that idea. After we had
| |
| − | assured him that not only had we killed all monsters, but could also
| |
| − | escort him down there he reluctantly agreed.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We returned down to the old rooms below the glassworks escorting Zantus
| |
| − | and while he did his thing I examined the walls and looked for anything
| |
| − | hidden. There was nothing.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Velicia helped Ameiko by continuing to use her magical rituals to mend
| |
| − | the broken glass in the glassworks.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Nathaniel renewed his contact with Shayliss. Even though he tried to
| |
| − | keep it hidden, it's still a small town and soon her father had found
| |
| − | out. Nathaniel wasn't welcome in the general store anymore and Ven
| |
| − | Vinder even stares angrily at me and the others of our group. As if I
| |
| − | had anything to do with Shayliss affairs. As long as I still can buy the
| |
| − | homemade pies made by Ven's wife Solsta I can live with it, but sooner
| |
| − | or later Nathaniel has to confront her father.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | After being gone for five days Sheriff Belor Hemlock finally returned
| |
| − | late in the afternoon. He brought with him ten men, which was an obvious
| |
| − | disappointment for him. He had been wanting five times that many to be
| |
| − | able to protect the town from the thought goblin attack. When they were
| |
| − | a couple of miles out from Sandpoint along the road from Magnimar, he
| |
| − | and the men had come upon a horse trader and his son that were being
| |
| − | attacked by goblins. They scared off the goblins but not before the
| |
| − | goblins had managed to grab the horse traders valuable warhorse they had
| |
| − | brought with them. They sang the praise to Shadowmist as it was called.
| |
| − | I'm sure it can't be cuter than my own horse. The one I got from
| |
| − | Foxglove. He's adorable. Creampuff that is, not Aldern. The horse
| |
| − | traders begged us to see if we could make sure that we bring it back.
| |
| − | After some hinting they offered a handsome reward.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I convinced the others that we had to save this poor horse from the
| |
| − | awful fate of being tortured and eaten by goblins. Nathaniel wanted to
| |
| − | leave immediately, but I convinced him the wisdom of waiting until
| |
| − | tomorrow. I can hardly believe that he wanted to sleep out in the woods
| |
| − | with all the insects and bugs. Thankfully I can go to sleep in my
| |
| − | comfortable bed tonight.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == Reaching Thistletop ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We got up all to early today and to not risk our own horses we decided
| |
| − | to walk to Thistletop. It's just a couple of miles and can be walked
| |
| − | in just over an hour, but due to the dense forest and all to many bushes
| |
| − | and other dense vegetation it took several hours.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I told the others that I think we should keep out of the woods.
| |
| − | Velicia said it was very important to know a lot about the nature, but
| |
| − | I disagreed. She asked "Would you walk through there?" pointing towards
| |
| − | high vegetation. "No." I answered. "But you can." she said doing it.
| |
| − | Returning she added "It's nettles and hurt, but it's not dangerous."
| |
| − | while her legs slowly turned a little red. "Or you could wear proper
| |
| − | trousers." Nathaniel added. I muttered "I like my clothes and I want
| |
| − | to stay in civilized areas where you know what to do and not to do
| |
| − | and if you get it wrong it wont kill you. Usually..."
| |
| − |
| |
| − | It was late morning when we exited the forest and overlooked the sea.
| |
| − | Along the coast we could see a strange cliff rising out of the water.
| |
| − | It had strange formations making it look like a head with four eyes,
| |
| − | a nose and a mouth. On top of it we could see a wooden fort and a
| |
| − | hanging bridge made out of ropes and stocks.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We retreated some and discussed the next course of action. The bridge
| |
| − | was short and could be ran across in a moment, but if it was rigged
| |
| − | to collapse it would be hard to not be noticed and dropped down to
| |
| − | certain death. The bridge ended in a close thicket that we would have
| |
| − | to get through without being noticed to even get to the bridge.
| |
| − | Nathaniel though he might climb across hanging below the bridge without
| |
| − | drawing to much attention. In the end we decided that Honeypot and
| |
| − | Shalelu would get to the other side and make a distraction while we
| |
| − | swim out to the cliff and climb the vertical sheer surface.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Honeypot put up a magic connection so we could whisper to each others
| |
| − | to make it easier for the distraction to be well timed. The range of it
| |
| − | was still to short for where we would be but it could still aid some.
| |
| − | We climbed down to a small sand beach. We had to pass over a small
| |
| − | stream before swimming over to Thistletop. Nathaniel swam across
| |
| − | bringing a rope that we others hold on to while crossing. Velicia
| |
| − | splashed some while crossing, but no goblins seemed to notice even
| |
| − | though it was a still day. Sneaking on along the water edge we reached
| |
| − | the point where we would have to swim. As last Nathaniel swam first with
| |
| − | a rope. We others followed and tried as best we could. Velicia splashed
| |
| − | some more but not as much as I did. There were no waves to talk about
| |
| − | but suddenly a small wall of water hit me in my face and I got water
| |
| − | in my nose and mouth. Coughing and snorting I reached the cliff wall
| |
| − | hanging on for dear life.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | [[Image:Thistletop cliffs.png|right|thumb|The cliffs at Thistletop.]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | There were some small rocks just above the water that we could climb up
| |
| − | to rest on with the help of Nathaniel. Velicia looked like a drowned
| |
| − | kitten, and I got a feeling I did too. Looking up at the cliff side
| |
| − | contemplating the task ahead I spotted some cracks that would make
| |
| − | a good path to follow while climbing. I pointed them out to Nathaniel
| |
| − | who climbed first trying to secure the rope as we progressed. There were
| |
| − | several mishaps along the way and we make more noise than I cared for
| |
| − | as we approach the fort.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We barely got over the edge before almost ten goblins greeted us.
| |
| − | I threw my returning magical dagger at one of them and hid around
| |
| − | the corner of the fort. I could barely see Velicia but she was using
| |
| − | her magic and from the sound of it killing half of them and soon
| |
| − | the rest followed as I appeared with deadly precision killed another.
| |
| − | When they were defeated we threw their bodies off the cliff to hide
| |
| − | the traces of battle.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == Thistletop's defenses ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Looking closer at the fort we concluded that it was once built by
| |
| − | humans. The walls were both the walls of houses and a palisade.
| |
| − | Dorothea remarked about the smell of horse. Nathaniel lifted me up
| |
| − | and standing on his shoulders I could peek over the palisade. There
| |
| − | was a grass courtyard inside and just below me inside there was a shed
| |
| − | on which we could climb down. I noted some goblin feet that stuck out
| |
| − | of the slightly open door. I told the others but when I was looking
| |
| − | down I noted that Nathaniel seemed distracted. I told him
| |
| − | "Don't look up my skirt!"
| |
| − | I climbed over the palisade and secured a grappling hook for the others.
| |
| − | From the outside I heard him say "I wasn't. She just said that to get
| |
| − | attention." I didn't say anything. When all had come up we put the rope
| |
| − | on the inside until all but me were down in the courtyard, then I jumped
| |
| − | down with the hook.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I peeked into the shed. There were three dead goblins, beaten to death
| |
| − | perhaps by a horse. It was dark and hard to see but in there somewhere
| |
| − | there was a black horse. Nathaniel said that from its motions and
| |
| − | breathing he could tell it was hurt and tired. We entered slowly,
| |
| − | careful not to scare it. Nathaniel tried to befriend Shadowmist, talking
| |
| − | about how he had been thinking of buying a war horse. I suggested he
| |
| − | should bribe it with an apple. It works on me so why not on a horse.
| |
| − | He started to look around so I had to offer one of mine. Dorothea
| |
| − | offered to calm it down and approached Shadowmist. In a frightening
| |
| − | voice she said
| |
| − | "We're trying to save you from the goblins. Help us or we'll eat you."
| |
| − | Straining to see in the darkness I noted that it had some wounds.
| |
| − | Nathaniel tried to hold it so he could apply bandages, but couldn't
| |
| − | quite control the big, strong, black horse. To help Nathaniel in his
| |
| − | struggling I used a couple of carrots to trick it to a position where
| |
| − | it could be treated and bandages applied.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Satisfied that Shadowmist was feeling better and could fend for itself
| |
| − | we continued through a door via the courtyard, into a corridor to a
| |
| − | conference room and a toilet. Behind a door, there were stairs leading
| |
| − | down. We noted that the toilet didn't seem to be that much used. We were
| |
| − | kidding around about how we could hide there, but it would be tight when
| |
| − | we noted that the room should be lager and that there was some dead
| |
| − | space. After some convincing I hold on to my plait and put my head down
| |
| − | the seat. There behind barrels of shit I saw a treasure chest. Nathaniel
| |
| − | stepped up and dragged it out. We noted that there might be a trap on it,
| |
| − | but I couldn't bypass it using my practical tools, so Dorothea tried too.
| |
| − | It turned out that the trap was a blade slicing harmlessly through the
| |
| − | air. Dorothea continued to try to open it and concluded that the trap
| |
| − | only worked once.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We broke the chest open and it was filled with coins, mostly copper,
| |
| − | but some silver and a few gold. There were also a holy symbol, a dress
| |
| − | and a magical leather armor. I suggested that Dorothea would put on the
| |
| − | armor immediately and she not only did that, but put on the dress as
| |
| − | well. I thought it a little too much. We didn't want to go down the
| |
| − | stairs while there were goblins that could attack us in the back so we
| |
| − | brought the chest to the shed where Shadowmist were and continued our
| |
| − | exploration of the fort.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We choose the double doors in the courtyard to go through next.
| |
| − | There was a watchtower in the other corner of that house. It had a wide
| |
| − | corridor leading to the base of the tower. We went up the stairs with
| |
| − | Nathaniel in point. We charged up through a manhole as best we could and
| |
| − | killed one of the two goblins that were up there. Then it seemed we were
| |
| − | discovered. There was some kind of alarm and two goblins in the next
| |
| − | tower shot crossbow bolts at us. None hit but we could guess that it
| |
| − | wouldn't be as easy from now on. Velicia put a cloud of daggers on the
| |
| − | last goblin in our tower. I shot a sling stone and Dorothea shot her
| |
| − | crossbow at the goblins in the next tower. Unlike the others I hit my
| |
| − | target, but it didn't do that much damage. The goblins ran over to the
| |
| − | further wall and did something strange. I noticed that they dumped
| |
| − | something over the wall. Dorothea said that it was vinegar. I hid behind
| |
| − | the wall so I could surprise them. Nathaniel went back down and Velicia
| |
| − | followed. Swinging my sling I popped up and threw my bullet, but missed.
| |
| − | I heard noises of dogs and fighting from below.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | When even Dorothea left I went prone next to the manhole, where no one
| |
| − | could see me, and flipped through it throwing my magical dagger and
| |
| − | landing on my feet in one fluid move, killing a dog. There were only
| |
| − | three dogs at the base of the stairs which was a lot fewer than I thought
| |
| − | from the earlier noise. A group of goblins further down the hall threw
| |
| − | a lot of javelins and ran out the entrance being replaced by a another
| |
| − | group doing the same thing. I continued on down the stairs and threw my
| |
| − | dagger again, killing another dog. Nathaniel slowly advanced through the
| |
| − | wide corridor killing the last dogs and goblins as he went, aided by
| |
| − | Velicia and Dorothea. A few goblins turned and ran out the doors closely
| |
| − | followed by Velicia. I heard her thunderous wave of the fan and I guess
| |
| − | those goblins might have had trouble staying on the bridge.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I caught up with the others in the entrance hall and the last of the
| |
| − | goblins were killed. It was an impressing hall but had soil floor which
| |
| − | I found to be strange. It had been "decorated" by the goblins. They had
| |
| − | put up heads of dogs and horses on the wall. A pair of giant bat wings
| |
| − | caught my eye as they were fastened to the wall by daggers. I pulled
| |
| − | them out as you can always use an extra dagger or two. One of them
| |
| − | turned out to have an ivory handle.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == Ripnugget ==
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We took a short rest catching our breath. I and Dorothea searched through
| |
| − | a few storage rooms nearby while Nathaniel and Velicia put bandages on
| |
| − | their wounds. There was nothing of value, but we found a barrel with more
| |
| − | vinegar. Why did they have that? We were gathering to press on through
| |
| − | the double doors when they opened and we charged the surprised big leader
| |
| − | of the whole tribe living here, Ripnugget, riding on a lizard, Stickfoot.
| |
| − | He wore a crown that looked like a mix between a crown and a jesters hat.
| |
| − | Behind him were one of the female cheering goblins we knew from the attack
| |
| − | on Sandpoint and a group of about six more goblins.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | I was standing next to a corner and threw my dagger at him. Velicia used
| |
| − | her magic on both Ripnugget and Stickfoot. Nathaniel slashed at him with
| |
| − | his longsword leaving wounds. I threw my dagger once more leaving a big
| |
| − | bloody gash in it's chest and then I ran back around the corner and hid.
| |
| − | I appeared, threw my dagger and disappeared again. As I turned and ran
| |
| − | back out of sight, I noted that Nathaniel hit Ripnugget particularly
| |
| − | nasty with his sword that burst to flame setting Ripnugget on fire.
| |
| − | I worked hard to not be predictable but how many ways can you deceive them
| |
| − | by throwing a dagger around a corner? It was growing thin and I stayed
| |
| − | in the entrance hall after throwing my dagger. Stickfoot had been slain
| |
| − | and the cheering goblin had backed up further into the rooms beyond, but
| |
| − | still aided her boss. The other goblins used a hide and strike tactic
| |
| − | somewhat similar to mine, but throwing javelins. Nathaniel was heavily
| |
| − | battered by Ripnugget and even though being defensive and drinking
| |
| − | healing potions he was still heavily wounded and the heavy beating
| |
| − | dazed him. I concentrated hard, following the the edge of the dagger with
| |
| − | my left hands fingers and suddenly grabbing it threw it toward Ripnugget.
| |
| − | He dodged it behind the door frame. With a curse I cartwheeled back
| |
| − | behind the corner.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | From my hiding place, gathering strength for my next attack I just
| |
| − | barely saw how Velicia, that had no wounds, in just a moment was hit
| |
| − | by javelin after javelin. She staggered and fell from yet another
| |
| − | javelin. Nathaniel tried to protect Velicia by attacking Ripnugget even
| |
| − | more ferociously. As I jumped out around the corner and threw another
| |
| − | dagger I saw Dorothea pouring a healing potion down Velicias throat.
| |
| − | Coughing she came back to life and got up. Hiding behind my corner I was
| |
| − | joined by Velicia and it got a little crowded. I moved out into the entrance hall and threw my dagger just barely missing him lodging it
| |
| − | deeply into a door frame just before it appearing in my hand again.
| |
| − | I turned and ran out the entrance instead and hid outside.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | This wasn't working. We had to change tactics before any of us got killed.
| |
| − | I decided to run straight into the middle of the fight. As I charged I did
| |
| − | a hand flip passing a goblin who was trying to stab the dazed Nathaniel,
| |
| − | to get to Ripnugget. With an acrobatic move I buried the dagger deep in
| |
| − | the goblin leader, killing it, rolling on to my feet in front of
| |
| − | Nathaniel, giving him cover from the hiding javelin throwers. When
| |
| − | the rest of the goblins realized that Ripnugget was dead they retreated
| |
| − | and with me following them it turned soon into a flight.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | We were in a terrible state, heavily wounded and had used half of all
| |
| − | the healing potions. We were all tired from the hard fighting and with
| |
| − | the fort empty we decided to take a longer rest recovering our strength
| |
| − | before continuing down the stairs. We actually don't have to go down
| |
| − | there but Velicia is insisting, saying that she knows that there will be
| |
| − | magical treasures down there. I just think there will be an insane woman
| |
| − | called Nualia trying to free that evil demon Malfeshnekor as Tsudo wrote
| |
| − | in his diary.
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | <span id="end"></span>
| |
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