Difference between revisions of "Aftermath Goblin Camp"

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'''Marcule:''' "I'm not proficient with a staff either". I look over the staff.
 
'''Marcule:''' "I'm not proficient with a staff either". I look over the staff.
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'''The DM:''' Please assume Vafrandir is back and you have all the tools you need, if you brought them along with you.

Revision as of 11:27, 10 February 2021

The DM: Looking around, noting the tents, rifling the bodies, and before you go look inside any of the tents, it catches your eye that there's the burnt out chest in the firepit, apparently of human make. Additionally, the staff in the hands of the shaman WAS glowing. Point in fact.

I'll calculate the experience; look for it on this page. Please let me know if you took or caused any damage not highlighted in red.

Vafrandir: Was glowing - not IS glowing?

The DM: correct. Was.

The DM: There's no way around it, Pandred's constant thumping is an asset that will help her go up faster in levels. Vafrandir managed to get through a fight taking no actual damage. That's a first, isn't it? Here are the totals, assuming I've got all the damages.

Embla: 445
Marcule: 425
Pandred: 919
Vafrandir: 270

Vafrandir: Considering I've spent most fights in single digit HP, I'll take it!

The DM: I assume you rifle the bodies.

The DM: Okay. Getting late. See you on monday. Out.

Vafrandir: Plenty of time to rifle and inspect on Monday. Out.

The DM: In/Out. Slept in. Give me 45 min.

The DM: Okay. In. Where do we start?

Vafrandir: In.

Vafrandir: We'll check the bodies quickly, but I'm more interested in the shaman's tent and if there's anything left of the chest. I'll check the chest first in case there's something nasty hiding in the tent.

The DM: The bodies are wearing clothes that are, on inspection, ragged. There seems to be nothing they're wearing that's new, and in places their boots are worn right through, with holes in the soles. No goblin has a belt pouch or any valuables, apparently, except that each is wearing a heavy bronze medallion on a chain, with links that are unexpectedly heavy; each of these weighs about 12 lbs. For 60 lb. goblins, they'd be onerous to wear; the medallions have the same geometric pattern, a woven pattern; nothing distinctive that you recognize and very much a common Norse style.

These medallions are worth 32 x.p. apiece.

The DM: The chest seems to have been put in the fire that morning. It is hollowed out, so that only the burnt remains of the chest remain; but there is a name-plate on the chest, about an inch in diameter, in etched iron: it says the name of the owner: Anders Hagen. That's the name of the fellow building your house.

I'll wait for you to say you're entering any of the tents.

Vafrandir: Had we seen Anders about before leaving Treborg? I'll enter one of the goblin's tents - still waiting on someone else to be here for the shaman's.

The DM: You would have seen Anders the day you left. He practically lives at the building site, so he probably hadn't been to his own home in several days. Since you haven't said which tent, I'll start with the one on the furthest right. There are simple pallets inside, but it looks like they've had just one blanket apiece; and old, dirty blankets at best. You see grubby sacks, which have food in them, but the goblins appear to have been eating naught more than lichen and roots. As they are traditionally meat-eaters, this is foraged food at best; Embla can attest that it isn't the best foraged food, either. Apparently, the goblins have been starving.

Vafrandir: If the nameplate is cool, I'll fish it out of the ashes and put it in my pack. Then I'll check the middle tent.

The DM: This appears to be more of the same. There are five other pallets; that's nine altogether. Apparently, the shaman hasn't been living separately from the others or any better.

Vafrandir: So we are missing a handful of goblins. I'll check the last tent for completeness sake.

The DM: Before you enter the last tent, you notice something very different about the exterior. To begin with, there is a deathly smell surrounding it; the ground in front of the tent entrance is mucky, with recent hoofprints in it; and the exposed rocks amid the mud have been scuffed with what Pandred's experience will say are hooves, as though animals have to be fought over this ground. The flaps of the tent are tied closed (the others weren't) and they're very dirty, not just with mud, but with cow feces as well. The smell, however, is not the cow feces, nor even the urine, which Pandred can smell from her experience as a teamster. There is a different smell altogether.

Vafrandir: I'll not enter entirely, I'll untie the flaps and then carefully lift a flap open with my sword to peer in.

The DM: Inside, you'll find an open hole, surrounded on three sides by a low stone wall, about three feet high. Judging from the hoofprints, which are smaller than a cow's and are therefore the rothe's, the animals fought their way up to the hole. Goblin footprints are right next to them, showing the animals were wrestled. There's a heavy mallet with an iron head next to the hole, with fresh blood on it — perhaps four or five hours old.

The DM: As you look, you see there are rungs leading down into the hole ...

Vafrandir: Quite clear that Grond is down there... I feel as though I need more information about Grond, but not sure who'd be able to provide it.

The DM: I guess we'll wait for others; point in fact, I notice that if you do rush into a combat, everyone seems to get on board. Heh heh.

Vafrandir: Yes, ha: but waking up a subterranean goblin demon is one of those things that requires a vote.

The DM: Out.

Decisions to be Made

The DM: In.

Vafrandir: In. Hoping for some input from the others. I'll back out of the tent and relay the situation.

The DM: well, not twiddling my thumbs. I'm writing a post.

Well, that's done. I want to dig into the poster, but that's mind-consuming, so I'll play a game instead. I'm still right here.

Vafrandir: Same. I understand everyone has things to do but the online one-on-one doesn't feel right - and can be quite dangerous to boot.

The DM: Marcule has sent a message saying he'll be here at 1pm.

Marcule: Sorry Vaf i will be with you the rest of this week, i think we should go down the hole. but maybe we should give panderd today to throw in an opinion.

The DM: Additional news: Embla has been compelled to withdraw from the campaign. She won't be back.

Vafrandir: A shame!

Vafrandir: Down the hole? We may wait for Grond to come out onto our turf (or draw it out). Losing a player may change our calculus further.

Marcule: I agree that might change our thinking.

Pandred: In. Marcule, you got any more spells to make this easier? I'll apply my bottle to myself for 2 hp, and I'm willing to make a quick foray to see what's down there. Have we checked all the tents?

The DM: All the tents were seen.

Pandred: Alright then. I retrieve my handaxe. Do either of you have a torch? I'll request a light as well.

Vafrandir: I point out the medallions. "Nothing special at first glance but they all had them. Grond will probably be wondering where the next rothe is soon, or we can just drop a torch down the hole and buckle up. We should probably take the tent down as well." I believe I have several torches in my pack, let me check. I know I have my tinderbox.

The DM: I've asked on my blog for another joiner. Don't know if I'll get one.

Vafrandir: I have no torches on me. But there are nearly a dozen on the cart. If Marcule doesn't have one I will go back and get one. Is Embla just poof?

The DM: She's standing by for the present; she'll take two of the amulets, explain that she's been hurt somehow in the abdomen and that she needs to retire to the cart.

Pandred: With my salve that puts me at 12 hp. If Grond is sitting at the base of the ladder that's not gonna cut it, so do we have anything else? I'm going down either way, but any buffer I can put between me and and dying in a dark hole is welcome.

The DM: Might I make an observation? There is still one thing on the surface that's been completely ignored.

Vafrandir: Has anyone checked the staff or the shaman in general?

Pandred: Well, I smashed the shaman, but Marcule, you want to give his staff a look?

Vafrandir: While they do that, I accompany Embla back to the cart and return with 3 torches. Not sure how long that will take.

The DM: Okay; we'll start there tomorrow. Out.

The DM: In.

Pandred: In. What's up with this staff?

The DM: Well. You have no detect magic, no identify spell; let's just say it's safe to pick up, and that when you do you feel a definite thrumming from it, as though the wood is alive. It feels tremendously comfortable and powerful in your hand - but you're not proficient with a staff.

Pandred: Yeah. That sounds about right. I'll pass it off to Marcule and wait for Vafrandir to return with the torches as he mentioned yesterday.

Marcule: In

Marcule: "I'm not proficient with a staff either". I look over the staff.

The DM: Please assume Vafrandir is back and you have all the tools you need, if you brought them along with you.