Stars by Day (IC)

[Douglas]

You feel disoriented and confused. It is difficult to think. There is a lingering feeling of weightlessness, quickly fading. It feels as if you are slowly waking up from a deep sleep.

Thinking back, your last memory is a vague and hazy one of going to sleep the night before. Try as you might, you cannot recall any more details - and you realize you can't remember anything before that either, not even childhood memories.

Opening your eyes, you do not recognize your surroundings. Most of your vision is obscured by fog, but what you can see is not familiar. You do not know where you are or how you got here. You are fully dressed, carrying your equipment, and standing upright. You are not in any pain, no lingering headaches as from a drug hangover or knockout blow. Everything appears to be in place.

The fog has faded somewhat. There is wet grass beneath your feet, and you can see twelve enormous stones in a circle around you 30 feet across, great megaliths of rock that tower over you. One of the giant rocks is right next to you. Moss grows in many patches across the surface of the stones. The light is dim, but you are not sure how much of that is because of the fog. You suspect it is early morning.

There is something oddly comforting about this place. You have never seen it before, but you get a feeling of safety and restfulness from standing here.

Looking around, you notice there are three other people here, each of them doing much the same as you. Something tickles at the back of your mind, like a memory of close companionship and comradery, but details refuse to surface. You feel certain these people are your friends and allies, but you cannot recall who they are.

Ok, everybody, you're all here. It's just the party, all of you together in a stone circle with lots of fog, grass, and moss. Describe your characters, introduce yourselves, and start talking and looking around. Where you are and why you're here are mysteries. The gnome and his familiar do know each other due to one being a class feature of the other, but that's it.

[Talbain]

At least one of the people in the circle appears to be a gnome with a confused looking crow on his shoulder. While the diminutive figure before you is not possessed of the comically swollen features afflicting most of his gnomish brethren, his countenance amuses for slightly different reasons. His face looks like it was sculpted from a cartoonist’s rendition of a cavalier aristocrat; his impeccably clean bowler hat does nothing to dispel this image! His dark, forest green hair is barely visible under the brim; it couldn’t complement the earthy tan of his skin better if he’d dyed it that way. The thin beard lining his chin is decidedly eccentric – closely cropped, but carefully shaven away in places that are surrounded by hairs which appear to have been singed grey. His eyebrows have certainly seen better days; the left one seems to have been burnt half off! Despite this, he literally redefines the term “ridiculously” good looking. The unsuppressed fascination in his eyes and entirely unrepressed enthusiasm bursting out of every visible pore do NOT help. The strange circumstances of your meeting do not seem to have phased him in the slightest.

He seems ludicrously over prepared for adventure. With his expensive looking, tailor-made adventurer’s ensemble and comparatively enormous, bulging backpack (complete with tent and bedroll) he might as well have leapt straight from the cover of Adventurer’s Monthly.

For his part, the gnome appears to ignore all of you completely.

Now what was I doing again? Oh!

He suddenly notices his surroundings, and begins to look around with keen interest.

Most peculiar. Fascinating indeed.

He mutters something under his breath to his avian companion in Sylvan, "Find me a landmark."who immediately takes flight and disappears into the fog.

The gnome approaches one of the stone megaliths, running his hand along the base. He stops for a moment, concentrating intently, and quietly speaks a brief incantation, making a sign in the air.He casts Detect Magic on the stone.

[Douglas]

The raven flies off into the fog, and the gnome mutters a bit while focusing intently on the stone towering above him.

Spell result:The stone is definitely magical - strongly so. You detect a "strong" magic aura on it (as defined in Detect Magic spell description). You can't decipher what kind of magic, though.

A few minutes later the raven returns to perch on the gnome's shoulder and starts speaking in Sylvan. He pauses and ***** his head at the stone megalith before commenting again.
Fog. Fog and water. Sea shore. Fog thicker away from here, get lost easy.

Is that an etched symbol? He seems to be looking at a particular spot on the stone.

[Talbain]

The little man continues his investigation of the stone, nearly transfixed in fascination. He continues mumbling to his pet crow distractedly.

In Sylvan:"Hmm... strong, yes. She never ceases to amaze, does she Bartandalus?"

He steps back for a moment, lost in contemplation.

In Sylvan:"A symbol, you say? Where?"

He follows the crow's gaze to the relevant spot on the stone, not hesitating to feel it with his fingertips like a child that has just discovered a new and interesting trinket.

[Douglas]

The symbol is about six feet off the ground, beyond the short man's reach, but once the raven flies up to tear off a piece or two of moss and scrape dirt out of it the tracing is easily visible. Narrow grooves dug into the stone form the shape, about six inches across, of a unicorn in classic heraldic rampant pose, forehooves high and extended forward while rearing on its hind legs. Several thin lines, reminiscent of rays of light from a star, radiate from the tip of its horn.

[Delphon]

Crouching in the middle of the meadow, Albrecht slowly takes in the surrounding environs. An older fellow who would seem to be the graven image of a long suffering, put-upon patrician if not for his attire. His frame is tall and imposing, a healthy weight of a man his height, he has a natural charisma that makes him look at ease in all but the most dire situations. Possessing the look of nobility, the rough and calloused look of his sinewy arms and hands gives him away as a hardworking servant of the land. Dark and short auburn hair curls around his head although significant portions around his temples are going grey. High cheekbones frame his face and a strong angular jaw is prominent, he sports a grizzled stubble that seems to give him a roguish look.
Clad in a faded green linen tunic that bears the weight of many days of hard work and sun along with a hooded, grey surplice that seems much more new and recent addition. His scale mail looks to be of a previous generation, incorporating the designs and motifs of yesteryear in addition to his well worn kite shield. The front emblem possesses a rendition of a crenelated tower. Whether a family crest or symbol of quality craft, it is unsure from first inspection.

"Aye, good fellow, happen to know where this is or how I came to this spot?"

Albrecht slowly rises as his warhammer hangs ready in his right hand, holding his shield by his side as he chances a glance around the clearing. Looking at the raven and the gnome as though gauging what they are up to.

[Talbain]

A deep frown passes across his face as the gnome studies the image on the stone. The CROW on his shoulder slowly turns its head to fix the aging, oh-so-recently seated "land-servant" with a beady stare. The gnome speaks as he begins to stroke one of the intact portions of his beard thoughtfully.

In Sylvan, loudly:
"Bartandalus, check the other stones. Are they likewise engraved?"

For his part, the gnome begins to turn, audibly counting the number of megaliths in the circle. Once he gets about half way however, having turned 180 degrees to face the grizzled patrician, he stops as if remembering something. He rapidly approaches the green one, halting scant inches away to appraise him more closely. For once, he speaks in common.

"I say. Were you talking to me? More importantly, have we met? You seem familiar... no matter. My name is Alistair P. Wimpleton! Hmm. That title feels like its missing something, but I cannot put my finger on it..."

He trails off. Rather than extend his hand in greeting, he seems rather absorbed with the craftsmanship of your scale mail.

[roll0]

"As for your question, I'm afraid I don't know. My esteemed crow-ney informs me that we're near a beach, but this abominable fog makes navigation difficult."

He pauses for a moment to strike a thoughtful pose before continuing.

All I can remember is going to sleep last night. You know, it's the damndest thing! I can't even remember getting dressed this morning! I can assure you, I didn't go to sleep like this... wait. Did I? I wouldn't. But I could have..."

Exasperation and befuddlement contest for position on Alistair's face. It is a fierce battle, an unsubtle testament to the intense and furious storm of internal inquisition obviously taking place within. He momentarily forgets his conversation, making halting gestures in the air as he dedicates every oiunce of intellect at his disposal to the conundrum. Finally, he returns to face Albrecht, the expression upon his face serious enough to make a grown man quail.

"Definitively disturbing. WHO PUT MY PANTS ON THIS MORNING!?"

[Douglas]

Bartandalus (the crow) flits from stone to stone, pecking and clawing at pieces of moss and dirt until they fall off (none are very firmly attached), and in fairly short order more symbols are revealed. Each is at the same height, six feet above ground, centered on the inward face of the stone, and about six inches across.

The symbols, in clockwise order:

The unicorn as already described.
A man digging in the ground with a shovel. A star glints on the tip of the shovel blade.
An ocean wave cresting on the shore, a star gleaming from its crest.
A man-shaped creature with hooves instead of feet, furry legs, and curly horns. Alistair and Albrecht recognize it as a Satyr. A star is at the tip of one horn.
A rose in full bloom, a star at its center.
A winged and legged snake-like creature breathing fire, a star glowing in the fiery breath.
A tall thin man holding a scythe. The tip of the scythe blade sports a star.
A flail in mid swing, with a star on the weighted ball.
A spider, with stars in its eight tightly clustered eyes.
A ghostly man in tattered clothing with a mortal wound, a star on his heart.
Sixteen stars outlining the shape of a man holding a lantern. A brighter star than the rest shines from the lantern's center.
A great shaggy wolf, with a star gleaming from his eye.


Alistair can tell that the scale mail is well made but not exceptional.

((When are the other two players going to post? Come on, I want to get this game moving.))

[Daemon1313]

Rhys sits up and mumbles about maybe taking a vow against drinking. As he sits up he lays his longsword across lap and stares at each of the others in the circle for a moment (detect evil) and then begins doing his prayers. Rhys is a massive muscled human with very short dark hair. He wears a breast plate emblazoned with the symbol of Aranu over a simple outfit.

[Gorgondantess]

"Then it appears we are in the same boat, then, to use an unfortunate expression." A man approaches the group. He's obviously not human, though he has the proportions of one; it's mainly the color scheme that's off. His skin is an ashen grey, with a mane of hair that seems a mess of all sorts of bright reds and oranges. Pointed ears and teeth complete the image of some sort of fiery, demonic entity.
His clothes are for the most part rather flamboyant; he wears moccasins on his feet, practically slippers, and above that a complex system of loose, dark silks, as if a lazy but highly talented and artistic clothier simply took a bolt of silk cloth and decided to make a whole outfit out of it without any cutting or sewing, simply wrapping it around his body. Still, it looks very, very comfortable.
He withdraws a pipe, fills it, and instantly and extravagantly its contents burst into flames. No matter where he holds it, his eyes seem to reflect the glowing embers within.
"I, too, have no memory of the night before. And I don't think any of us assembled here could provide answers to the contrary."

[Douglas]

The conversation, and Rhys' prayers, are suddenly interrupted as an ear-shatteringly loud shriek erupts from directly behind Rhys with no apparent source. The wailing ghostly scream goes on for a few seconds with volume louder than any merely human set of lungs could possibly produce, then fades to nothing.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys grumbles and stands. As he stands he points over his shoulder with his thumb and says,
"well obviously none of us here had anything to do with getting us into our current position, but something tells me we should look into what is making that horrid moaning."

As he slips on his shield he turns to look out for the source of the wailing.

[Talbain]

"No need, my exceptionally dour fellow. It's illusory. Simply the wailing of the un-manifest. Mostly harmless, I assure you."

Alistair taps his temple.

"Gnome ears don't lie. The noise is quite harmless, yes. Frankly sir, I'm much more interested in you."

The gnome strides purposefully over to the stranger, jabbing an accusatory finger at his massively armored frame.

"You're the last one to speak. You've been grumbling over here by yourself, and frankly, I'm not sure I like the look you gave me earlier. Now you've gone and upset the spirits of this place, and what's more, that racket sounded like it came from you, very nearly deafened ME, and you didn't even wince!"

Alistair P. Wimpleton crosses his arms in front of his chest, glaring indignantly at the big man. It appears his feathers have been ruffled, a state nearly as comical as it is confusing given the suddenly disheveled state of his dazed avian companion. The gnome, however, is not laughing.

What'd I'd like to know is, just who. are. you? And what are you doing over here? What foul utterance of yours has so offended the spirits of this sacred place that they vent their torment upon us!?

The little man taps his foot impatiently, awaiting a response.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys glares down at Alistair and states,
"Well lets put your keen senses to use and find this upset spirit or the source of the illusion so I can put it to rest."
Rhys then grabs Alistair by the collar and begins to guide/drag him in the direction of the howling.
"The name is Rhys by the way."

[Talbain]

For once, Alistair is very nearly at a loss for words.

What are you- excu- the blazes... I say! Unhand me this instant, cretinous wretch, or you shall soon live to regret it! How dare you!?

The gnome's face has transformed into a grotesque visage of furious outrage and righteous indignation. The crow Bartandalus, aroused from his momentary stupor, becomes instantly agitated as well - flapping, cawing, and generally carrying on so loudly he nearly drowns out Alistair himself! He eyes Rhys's hand as if it is the last thing in the entire world that has any business being on his master's collar, and may act accordingly at any moment.

Just because you're big, you think you can manhandle a Wimpleton, do you!? The very idea! Unhand me I say, or feel my wrath!

[Delphon]

"Put the gnome down friend, I'd listen to his words before going off half-cawked, you could say"

Albrecht's lips twitch into a wry grin for a moment as he winks at Alistair then shifts his gaze to the stranger walking into their midst.

"What manner of fellow are you friend?"

Albrecht does not relax as he looks over the strange newcomer, taking in his garish garb and noting the lack of a name given in greeting.

"My name is Albrecht, I would know each of yours in turn. Although O have no reason to trust any of you at the moment, let us be cautious and work on figuring out what is going on. I believe we should gather up and stay tight, we'll move as one and work our way towards the noise, if it is nothing more than an illusion we have nothing to fear, but might as well investigate in case it happens to be an illusion of an illusion, one can never be too careful after all."

Albrecht nods sagely at Alistair again. Looking around, Albrecht begins searching for the quickest route to where the noise came from.

"If there is a beach like the gnome says then perhaps there is a port or civilization nearby."

[Douglas]

There is no real need to "work your way" towards the noise, as it originated a mere 5 feet behind Rhys.

The stones around you begin to hum faintly, a low droning sound, and a disembodied voice seems to come from everywhere at once. The voice sounds old and tired, but distinctly matronly and kind, like an old grandmother addressing beloved children.

"The time of the Equinox is come. My children... I am sorry. I have done what must be done. You deserve answers. I am far... too far from you. You must learn who you are. The land is yours. The people are yours."

The voice is very strained, as if speaking at all is a great difficulty.

"This place is sacred to you. Sacred to the stars that you are. There are other places like this. From the time when people remembered. Heed me now. If any of you should fall, then bear him to the stones, and the soul will be able to enter the flesh once again. But make haste, for flesh that is spoiled can never be made whole."

The quiet hum continues for a few seconds with no more words, making you wonder if the speech is done, but then the voice resumes speaking, though more quietly.

"Know this. There is a force against you. Already it gathers, already it senses your return. Seek the sword of Starkweather John... it lies near, waiting to be claimed... when that is found, you may begin to understand, to remember."

With that, the voice stops and the stones cease humming.

About 10 seconds later, Albrecht and Bartandalus notice something odd in the fog - four dark smoky clouds seem to be condensing out of it just outside the stone circle. Moments later, they solidify into four small forms, green-skinned creatures with large pointed ears, leather armor, shields, swords, and bows. They have weapons already in hand, and they don't look happy to see you.

Party initiative order:
Albrecht 22
Fiery guy 20
Rhys 17
Alistair 17

http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/5664/attackk.png

The black circles are the giant stones. The green circles are the enemies. The squares are you guys, orange = Albrecht, yellow = pyro, red = Rhys, green = Alistair.

Albrecht won initiative.

Everyone post your actions in whichever order you happen to get online, and I'll periodically resolve everything up to the first not-yet-declared action.

[Talbain]

After the voice is finished speaking, Alistair perfunctorily breaks free of Rhys' slackened, distracted grip. All trace of anger has vanished from his face, replaced by an expression of fascinated wonder. He is about to speak, but Bartandalus, ever alert, whispers into his ear of the shapes materializing out of the fog. It is only then that the absent-minded gnome notices the actions of his other, quicker companions.

Seeing the menacing green skinned creature closest to him, Alistair begins to reach for his crossbow but thinks better of it. Instead, he simply steps back, glaring at the figure with a look of intense concentration.

Alistair takes a 5' step backwards and casts Hex: Slumber on the closest goblin.

[Delphon]

"To arms friends, battle is joined!"

Albrecht raises his hammer and rushes the goblin approaching from the north west, moving between the stones with deadly speed. Bringing his warhammer in a deadly arc, he strikes:

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Douglas]

Round 1:22:
"To arms friends, battle is joined!"

Albrecht rushes a goblin with warhammer held high, and nearly caves in the creature's rib cage with a devastating blow, dealing 9 damage. It's still standing, but only barely.

Round 1:22.2:
The goblin to the north raises its small shortbow and shoots at Alistair. It proves a poor shot as the arrow goes wide, zipping through the air above his head. (attack roll: 8)

Round 1:21:
The goblin facing Albrecht reels from the blow to its ribs, but recovers and gamely tries a return strike with its short sword. Off balance, it only manages to skip the sword off Albrecht's scale armor. (attack 16)

Next up: pyro.

To possibly clarify things, Delphon can now post another action for Albrecht and I'll resolve it when things wrap around to next round. Any time you do not have a stated-but-not-yet-resolved action in combat, you can specify your next action, and I'll resolve it when initiative gets to you.
As an incidental note, I'm giving everything max hp, not just the PCs.

[Gorgondantess]

The "fiery guy" raises his hand, and shoots a ray of fire at the goblin to the south.
Attack:[roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Douglas]

Round 1:20:

The sorcerer raises one hand and a thin line of fire springs forth to sear an impressive burn across the southern goblin's face for 7 damage. He can't take another hit like that.

Round 1:19:

The goblin to the northeast steps forward to swing at Rhys, but almost trips over its own feet (natural 1).

Rhys' turn, followed by Alistair's sleep.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys grins and says, "at last..." Then assaults the goblin before him.

longsword 1d20+5
damage 1d8+4

shield bash 1d20+5
damage 1d4+2 ...and I'm obviously doing something wrong since this isn't working. oh well there you go.

[Douglas]

Round 1:17:

Rhys grins and says, "at last...", then assaults the goblin before him. His sword swing goes wide, but the spikes on his shield drive solidly into the goblin's torso, dealing 3 damage. (see OOC thread for rolls)

Round 1:17.2:

Alistair begins to reach for his crossbow but thinks better of it. Instead, he simply steps back, glaring at the figure with a look of intense concentration. The goblin that shot at him collapses to the ground, unconscious.

Round 1:10

The southern goblin, with a nasty burn scar on his face, tries to return the favor with an arrow. Its aim turns out to be laughable, as the fire-throwing man doesn't even have to move to dodge it (attack roll 7).

End Round

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/1601/goblins2.png

Goblin 1 has taken 9 damage, 2 is asleep, 3 has 3 damage, 4 has 7 damage.
Orange = Albrecht, Yellow = pyro, Red = Rhys, Green = Alistair

Albrecht's turn is next.

All PCs have no actions currently specified, so everyone take a turn.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys continues to slash at the goblin in front of him.

longsword [roll0]
damage [roll1]

shield bash [roll2]
damage [roll3]

[Daemon1313]

Rhys lets out a guttural roar as he buries his longsword into the goblin.

crit confirm for longsword [roll0]
damage [roll1]

[Gorgondantess]

The Fiery Man recites an incantation and launches a salvo of fire at the southern goblin, hopefully finishing it off.
Kelgore's Fire Bolt:
[roll0]

[Delphon]

"Fall beast!"

Albrecht reverses the swing of his hammer, bringing it back around, attempting to finish off the wounded goblin.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Douglas]

Round 2:22:

"Fall beast!"

Albrecht reverses the swing of his hammer, bringing it back around, attempting to finish off the wounded goblin. The goblin proves a nimble critter, however, ducking the blow (even with the Weapon Focus bonus you're forgetting, 11 is a miss).

Round 2:22.2:

The goblin to the north snores loudly.

Round 2:21:

Albrecht's goblin growls and stabs at him with its sword, but only hits Albrecht's shield. (attack roll 14)

Round 2:20:

Fire engulfs the southern goblin, roasting it for another 4 damage. With a pop, the goblin turns back into smoke and quickly dissipates.

Round 2:19:

The goblin facing Rhys still seems to be having trouble with its footwork, as its sword comes nowhere near the mark. (attack roll 8)

Round 2:17:

Rhys roars as he plunges his sword directly into the goblin's heart for 19 damage, killing it instantly. Popping like a pricked balloon, the goblin turns into smoke and fades away.

Round 2:17.2:

The goblin to the north stirs, no longer asleep.

Alistair's turn.

All outstanding actions resolved, so everyone post new ones.

[Delphon]

Albrecht lunges again, hoping to finish the winded bastard before he regains his footing, letting out a growl Albrecht again smashes at the goblin.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Talbain]

Judging himself to have sufficiently delayed the advance of the goblinoid creature, Alistair decides to take a pot-shot with his crossbow after all. He steadily retreats, moving as far from harm's way as possible while maintaining his concentration.

Alistair takes another 5' step back.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Douglas]

Round 2:17.2:

Alistair steps a little further back and levels his crossbow at the downed goblin, but its small and low profile on the ground proves a hard target and the bolt hits the grass.

Round 3:22:

Albrecht lunges again, but can't seem to regain the momentum of his first blow as the hammer goes wide.

Round 3:22.2:

With a yelp of anger, the goblin to the north grabs its dropped bow and springs to its feet.

Round 3:21:

Albrecht's armor saves him yet again as the goblin's sword bounces off. (attack 15)

Sorcerer's turn next, followed by the entire party before the remaining two goblins go again.

[Delphon]

Albrecht takes a moment to regroup, his eyes narrowing as he focuses and launches a well timed strike after fending off the goblin's feeble attempt at striking back

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Talbain]

The gnome swiftly reloads and tries again, aiming more carefully this time in an attempt to at least wing the creature before it can close to melee range... either with himself, or with Albrecht.

Another 5' step back, another crossbow shot.
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Daemon1313]

Rhys charges the northern goblin, slashing at him with his longsword.

longsword [roll0]
damage [roll1]

[Gorgondantess]

The pyro guy moves over and shoots a ray of fire at the last goblin if he can reasonably do so, otherwise he sits back and smokes his pipe, letting the big beefy guys finish the job.

Schrodinger's Fire Ray:
[roll0]
[roll1]

[Douglas]

Round 3:20:

The sorcerer steps forward a bit to get in range and sends a ray of fire towards the bow-wielding goblin, but the ray streaks by a foot above the creature's head.

Round 3:17:

Rhys is prevented from charging by the unicorn-marked giant stone in the way, but he has no trouble moving fast enough to get an attack in anyway. His attack is a little hasty, however, and misses.

Round 3:17.2:

Alistair steps back, loading his crossbow again, and shoots, but only succeeds in hitting another patch of grass.

Round 4:22:

Albrecht takes a moment to regroup before striking again, but he is again frustrated by the goblin's nimbleness.

Round 4:22.2:

The northernmost goblin, now in melee with Rhys, drops its bow and draws its sword, swinging feebly at the armored man. (attack 12)

Round 4:21:

The goblin fighting Albrecht doesn't even manage to make contact this time. (attack 10)

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5800/round4n.png

Two goblins are still up, goblin 1 with 9 damage, and goblin 2 with none.

Gorgondantess, your turn again. And please come up with a name soon, this is getting a little annoying.

[Talbain]

Cursing mildly in frustration, Alistair glances around the battlefield. Seeing Albrecht still locked in combat with an extremely tenacious adversary, the gnome focuses his will once more.

Hex: Slumber on goblin 1.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys continues his assault on the goblin before him.

longsword [roll0]
damage [roll1]

shield bash [roll2]
damage [roll3]

[Gorgondantess]

Once again, the heretofore unknown gentleman shoots a ray of fire at the goblin.

Attack:[roll0]
Damage:[roll1]
I HAVE decided on a name.:smalltongue:

[Douglas]

Round 4:20:

Another ray of fire zaps through the air, missing. (It's a miss either way this time, but you forgot the shooting into melee penalty.)

Round 4:17:

Rhys can't seem to land a solid blow.

Round 4:17.2:

Cursing mildly in frustration, Alistair glances around the battlefield. Seeing Albrecht still locked in combat with an extremely tenacious adversary, the gnome focuses his will once more. The goblin succumbs, collapsing to the ground.

Albrecht's turn. The goblin he is fighting is unconscious for 1 round, vulnerable to a coup de grace.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys screams in frustration as he continues to swing at the goblin.

longsword [roll0]
damage [roll1]

shield bash [roll2]
damage [roll3]

[Douglas]

Ok, that's long enough waiting for the player to post.

Round 5:22:

Albrecht carefully lines up his warhammer on the goblin's unmoving head and crushes it into the ground for 18 damage. The goblin reverts back to smoke and dissipates.

Round 5:22.2:

The final goblin stubbornly fights on, refusing to admit defeat even though clearly outmatched, but can't even hit Rhys' armor. (attack 6)

Round 5:20:

Seeing the situation well in hand, the sorcerer sits back and smokes his pipe.

Round 5:17:

With a scream of frustration, Rhys lands a quick pair of blows, first cutting the goblin viciously across the chest for 9 damage and then slamming his shield spikes into the exposed ribs for 5 more. With a quiet popping sound, the final goblin turns into rapidly fading smoke.

End Combat

****************

The fog fades rapidly in the morning sun, and in a few more minutes visibility is clear enough that you can see the entirety of the small island you are on. In the roughly quarter-mile diameter circle of land, the stone circle seems to be the only feature worthy of note.

To the south, there is a narrow stone causeway that crosses the water to a much larger land mass. What you can see of the mainland consists primarily of a lot of barren-looking hills, with a number of low crumbling walls dividing up meager fields where starved-looking sheep graze. Along the coast to the west, you can see a small town in the distance. On a more straight-line south direction, on one of the higher hills you can see a small cluster of wooden structures. Even from this distance, they look decrepit and rotting, likely abandoned. A little further to the east, a lone windmill stands at the crest of a hill, its sails motionless in the still air. You can't tell if it is still in use.

[Delphon]

"Hmm...what manner of beast did we truly encounter there? They were not mere goblins, I am curious as to how they were conjured from such vapors."

Turning to Alistair with a nod for the sleeping hex

"Do you know what sort of illusion or summon we fought? You seem to know your way around such magic."

[Gorgondantess]

"Good show, gents."
The fireslinger speaks with his pipe in his mouth, adding an almost gruff tone to his voice.
He steps forward, clapping dryly. He casts about where the goblins puffed, and sniffs the air.
"Summons, I'd say. Strange ones- not sure what would summon goblins- but still, I'd say we're in the clear. The persons-or-phenomena who sent them has either exhausted their summonings or was stupid enough not to send all of what they had at us at once. Either way, I'd say they're not a threat and hardly worth further thought."

[Talbain]

"Indeed."
the gnome solemnly intones. He slowly turns his head to regard the smoking fireman standing next to him. Alistair strokes his chin thoughtfully for a moment.

"Those were certainly no illusions, though it seems they might as well have been. The voice mentioned an opposing force. Perhaps its power is weak here, on this sacred ground?"

Mr. Wimpleton moves to gather up his spent bolts from the ground around where the goblin used to be. After a few moments of this, he calls back over his shoulder.

"What are you called, flaming one?"

[Daemon1313]

Rhys stares at the stone that he ran past to attack the final goblin. Tapping the stone he mumbles,
"It's odd. I have a birth mark that is strikingly similar to this."

Turning back to his compatriots on the island he says,
"The question is where did the goblins come from? I mean someone, or something, summoned them or created the illusion of them. "

[Douglas]

Alistair recovers one bolt, but finds the other is now too bent from the impact to fly true.

There is no sign of what might have produced the goblins. The small island contains only the stone circle, grass, a shoreline, and at the south end a narrow stone causeway that crosses a few hundred feet of water to a large landmass as previously described.

[Delphon]

"We'd best find our whereabouts at least, hopefully something of civilization is nearby. From there perhaps we can discern more of what that voice was speaking of."

Albrecht begins heading towards the stone causeway at the southern end of the island, slinging his hammer over his shoulder.

[Talbain]

Alistair scowls at the wizard's rude silence for a moment, but a mischievous grin begins to wind its way across his face in short order.

"Hmm. No name eh? Well, we've got to call you something... I nominate Smokey! No! Sir Puffsalot! We can call him "Puffy" for short. What say you fellows?"

He hurries to catch up with Albrecht, eager for adventure (or eager to get off the tiny island, at any rate. It's difficult to tell the difference).

"I've got one of those birthmarks too, by the way. Want to see?"

[Daemon1313]

Rhys follows along and points to the west to the town in the distance and says,
"We are probably best off heading for the town. None of the other landmarks look very promising."

Looking over at Allistair, he raises an eyebrow and asks,
"What do you mean you have one of those birthmarks?"

[Douglas]

See OOC thread for an important new post.

The party heads off to the town in search of civilization.

As you approach the town, it quickly becomes apparent that this is not a prosperous place. Dust and mud cover the streets, and many of the wooden buildings are in disrepair; some have even partly collapsed. From the size of the place there can't be more than a few hundred people living here, and the number you can see walking around seems low even for the village's size.

Entering town, you find that the town square is little more than an open muddy space, cut with the ruts of wagon wheels, with a squat stone well in the middle. Off to one side is an inn, the largest building in the vicinity, whose sign proclaims it to be the Golden Nugget. Opposite the inn is an open shop with baskets of dry goods set out front.

An aged woman sitting by the baskets is mending a net and looks up as you approach. She looks you up and down briefly from her seated position, looking surprised and a bit impressed. "Now what brings a group of such fine folks as yourselves to Bronce? You know the gold mine's dried up, right? That news has had a generation to spread. No fortunes to be made here any more."

[Talbain]

(On the way to town) "Yes, I had my suspicions before, but you've confirmed it. I never would have spotted this myself, if my mum hadn't told me about it."

And with that, the gnome abruptly turns around and drops his pants. Sure enough, in the middle of his right buttock is a dark brown, rampant unicorn, just like on one of the stones. Alistair peers back at you from between his legs, grinning like the devil himself. He looks like he is about to say something but unfortunately, he fails to compensate for the weight of his overburdened backpack and tumbles ass over teakettle into an undignified heap on the road, testicles akimbo. He looks shocked, then irritated, but suddenly bursts out laughing uproariously! Shaking his head, he collects himself and returns his pants to their rightful position. If Alistair remembers what he was about to say, he gives no sign. He chuckles off and on to himself for most of the trip to town.

(In town)Alistair looks the woman up and down before speaking.
"We've no use for gold woman, there are more important things afoot! Tell me, have you heard of a fellow by the name of Starkweather John? We're looking for his sword you see, and this dingy sti- erm... yes. This is lovely midden, as we gnomes say, is the first sign of civilization we've seen so far. Can you help us?"

[Douglas]

The old woman raises an eyebrow. "No use for gold? That's a new one. Why don't you hand over any you've got, then, Ma Bailey's (that's me) general store could certainly use it." She cackles for a second, amused at her own joke.

"Can't help you much if you're chasing that old legend. Starkweather John's been dead and buried a thousand years. Was a great hero way back when, folks around here still take some pride in it, but that much time don't leave much. His tomb's out a mile or two west of town if you care to look, but that area's dangerous - monstrous savages live out there. I suppose somebody in town might know more, you'll find the most folks in the inn over there."

"Where'd you come from, anyway? Main road's in t'other direction, not much but sea the way you came from. Don't look shabby enough for a shipwreck, and coming here for Starkweather's sword ain't accident enough either, but there's no port. Seems right odd, it does."

[Delphon]

"Our business is our own marm Bailey, thank you for your help, we shall be on our way."

Albrecht speaks politely but sternly as he nods and continues on towards the local inn, hoping to learn more about the local area and Starkweather John. Looking around town, Albrecht gauges his surroundings and takes in the townsfolk of this once prosperous place.

[Talbain]

As the party bids the woman farewell, Alistair begins to frown. Upon seeing Albrecht headed for the inn, the gnome quickly catches up to him, tugging lightly on the edge of his surplice. He speaks in hushed tones.

"Hey. D'you think they'll be any help to us? I'd rather just go. We already know where the tomb is. I suddenly have a bad feeling about this place... I fear we'd invite more trouble than help from these folk. Some of them might not take kindly to our plans to plunder the tomb of their ancient hero, and well... look around you!"

Alistair gestures broadly to the dilapidated structures surrounding them.

"That lady was friendly enough, and she still wanted our gold. Some could be desperate, and I doubt they'll be good humored about it."

[Delphon]

"Indeed a good point Alistair, but the inn is merely a formality, it would set people's minds at ease to show up at an inn first. An adventuring formality or perhaps cliche. We might honestly attract more attention by passing straight through town off into the wilderness. We'll stop by, make our presence known, sift about for any 'rumors', get a glass of ale and be on our way. I would also have the added benefit of aiding the local..." Albrecht clears his throat "economy... and would perhaps garner a bit of goodwill."

Albrecht ticks off on his fingers the typical steps of any tried and true treasure hunting campaign as he continues into the inn

[Talbain]

"I would very much prefer to stay "out of sight and out of mind," but if you think making an appearance at the inn will set people's minds at ease, so be it. This all feels new to me anyway. Who knows, maybe we'll find a cheap guide or something... but I'll be standing behind you if any trouble starts. On my way out the door, you understand. You humans can be a little slow on the uptake sometimes, but at least you make good cover!"

[Daemon1313]

Rhys nods in agreement.

"If they are protective of the Tomb. It's not going to look very good if run off in its direction as soon as we know its location. I also would like to know more about Starkweather before we trust a mysterious voice about what we should be doing here. Besides I need a drink."

When Rhys gets into the inn he orders a drink and asks the server about Starkweather.

And if this was a Gygax module this would be the point we make a roll on the rumor table
[roll0]

[Delphon]

Albrecht enters the inn and looks around, checking out his surroundings before choosing a seat at the bar and orders whatever is on the house.

"I'll take a mug of your finest good man. My friends and I are new in town, what exactly has been going on around these parts?"

Preparing his mouth for a foul assault if the situation of the town is anything to go by, Albrecht keeps his ears open for any major goings on in or around the town.

[Talbain]

Alistair simply follows the group into the inn after instructing Bartandalus to make himself scarce somewhere, preferably on a trouble free roof top. He sticks close to his close companion, "Walking Tower Shield" Albrecht. He keeps an especial eye out for suspicious, desperate glances, appearing generally nervous about his surroundings and failing valiantly in the attempt to play it off.

Alistair picks a stool next to Albrecht, brightly informing the barkeep "I'll have what he's having!" and proceeding to drum his fingers on the bar as he takes things in.

Regardless of my instruction to Bartandalus, crows love shiny things. This trait has long been encouraged by Alistair to include nabbing any unsupervised valuables that are small enough for him to carry. This has gotten the gnome into trouble more than once, though he obviously remembers nothing of this, much less his crow's habitual larceny.

[Douglas]

A friendly hubbub of conversation emanates from the inn's common room as you approach, but silence quickly descends as everyone turns to stare at you when you enter. A few heartbeats pass, then conversation resumes, though more quietly than before. The inn is inordinately crowded; it seems like half the village is here.

Like other buildings in town, the inn looks like it is steadily falling apart. The villagers seem to have a glum attitude of resignation, drowning their sorrows in cheap ale. There is little to be happy about, it seems, and less to be done about it. The inn's name, the Golden Nugget, may have once been a proud reference to booming prosperity, but now it seems an ironic joke; the only golden thing in the two-story building is the smoke-stained ceiling, permanently infused with the smell of the fish that seems to be the common meal.

A woman walks up and introduces herself as Jinnie, the inn's hostess, guides you to seats near the bar, and yells for Bernik (the bartender) to get you some drinks - after getting payment. The ale served is of middling quality, drinkable but nothing to get excited about. On hearing the name of Starkweather John, Bernik's eyes light up. "Ah, that's one of my favorite stories. Things were different back then, yes sir; Bronce mattered. Y'see, Starkweather John was a hero of legend, a fighter so skilled it had to be seen to be believed. As the story goes, he was special, part of a group of heroes who come to earth when the time is right, to protect the world from evil. Well, the time was right and some kind o' dark army was trying to take over the world, and there Starkweather John and his allies stood, determined to stop them. The war was long and hard, but victory was finally within reach. The enemy was crushed, all but a few dead or fleeing, though the rest of Starkweather John's group had all fallen to buy the victory."

"But one of the enemy leaders refused to give up. A mighty wizard, he fled the battle but he fled with purpose. He knew of the stone circle up north of here, on the tiny island called the Tump, and he believed he could use its power somehow to turn the tide, snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Starkweather John, the lone surviving hero, pursued him there and interrupted him in the middle of some kind of ritual. The two fought, spell against sword, in a duel of legendary proportions. Fire roasted the ground, creatures of nightmare sought to devour souls, lightning struck from clear skies, the earth split and came together again, and through it all Starkweather John's sword held firm. When it was finally over, the wizard's head went one way and his body the other. But the wizard had poisoned Starkweather John before he fell, and it was a truly deadly poison. The villagers tried to care for him, but it was beyond their ability and the poison killed him. At his request, he was buried in the hills to the west of town, where he lies to this day."

Over the course of the following two hours, you pick up the following additional pieces of information (I rolled Diplomacy's gather information use for you):

The town's name is Bronce, and it is at the northernmost end of the island nation of Chillhame. Chillhame's capital, Saragost, is around 100 miles to the south and a little east, following the main road out of town.
The village headman is Murphy Goodchild, and he lives in a large stone house at the west end of the village.
The local priest is Father Bronson and he uses his own house for religious services, since the church collapsed and the village cannot afford to build a new one. The town worships the gods of the Avillon Pantheon, with particular reverence for Blediwesse.
A number of monstrous humanoids such as goblins and orcs live in the surrounding area, and they have occasionally attacked other nearby towns, but Bronce has always been left alone.
The town was prosperous until the mine ran out of gold 20 years ago, then it was left to rot. Most people here get by on fishing now, but it's barely adequate.
The mines are not safe; they were dug too quickly and without proper planning. A hundred years or so ago, a major rainstorm completely flooded the lower levels.
The ghosts of dead miners now haunt the old mines. Nobody ever goes up there any more. (Albrecht believes the person saying this isn't being entirely honest, but he won't say more.)
They say that the mines were closed because they were exhausted but there is still more digging that could be done. There was some other reason for stopping. It has to do with the strange voices that the miners used to hear.
Starkweather John’s sword is not with his body. He said that his successor will come for it one day but until then, the village will be safe so long as it stays here.
The stone circle on the Tump is old and very powerful. Nobody is quite sure what it is for but they think that the elves put the circle there, long ago, to watch the stars. The townspeople leave it alone, because Starkweather John told them to.
The wizard Starkweather John fought had dark skin.
The windmill down the way belongs to Jim Oakenbough. He's a nasty sort, probably a criminal, but nobody knows for certain and is willing to risk his wrath. The Golden Nugget's barkeep and owner, Bernik Oakenbough, is his brother but there is no love lost between them.

[Talbain]

"So erm... Bernik, was it? Yes. I gather that the sword of Starkweather John is not interred with his remains. However, I find your story simply fascinating! I have something of an eye for artifacts myself, and I'm certain my companions will agree, we'd love to have a look the weapon... if that's ok, of course."

[Douglas]

"What, you think I have a weapon of legend hung on my back wall or something? Sure, the story says it's still around here somewhere, but I ain't ever seen it, and I don't know anyone who has. Hidden, y'see. That kind o' thing, treasure hunters from all over might want it and try to steal it, take what don't belong to 'em. Old John himself said a proper successor would come and take it some day, but there's no shortage of greedy gluttons in the world who don't care what's proper, and it wouldn't do to have one waltz off with it before the proper owner comes along. Now, I ain't sayin' that's what you are, but even if I knew where it is - which I don't - I couldn't pull it out to show just any stranger who shows up."

[Daemon1313]

Rhys asks Bernik,
"Is there anyone in town that could tell us more about the legend of Starkweather?"

[Douglas]

"I suppose you could try Father Bronson, he's whatchamacallit... edumucated! Yeah. He's not from around here, though, didn't grow up with it. If you feel like bravin' the savages in that area, you could go read his tombstone too. I remember something about it saying more than just a name and date."

Bernik looks over your shoulders towards the entrance. "Crap, it's Jim!" He suddenly shuts up, shifts to another part of the bar, and begins studiously ignoring you.

A group of four men swagger into the inn, contempt for everyone else there practically radiating from them in waves. Their clothing looks in significantly better shape than most of the villagers', and all four of them have weapons and armor and look like they know how to use them. The leader walks towards the bar, but stops about 15 feet away from you. The table between him and you promptly vacates.

The man in front is muscular and well tanned, wears impeccably tailored studded leather, and has a bow on his back and a longsword hanging from his belt. He doesn't bother to introduce himself. "Well, well, visitors to Bronce. Such well armed visitors, too. You'd think they were expecting trouble. Jacko, what do you think?"

One of the men beside him, tall and scrawny with long hair, takes the pipe out of his mouth and breathes a puff of smoke toward the ceiling. His studded leather doesn't fit quite so well, but the heavy crossbow on his back looks well cared for and he has a shortsword at his side. "I don't know, boss. Maybe they're here to purge the goblins from the hills. Fancy armor like that, just might make four men enough for the job." He laughs.

The third man, a bit chubby around the middle, takes the chicken leg he'd been chewing on (grabbed from the newly vacated table) out of his mouth. He also wears studded leather, and has a longsword and shield. "Or two men, a gnome, and a whatever that guy is."

"Yes, I'm a bit curious about that too, Tom. Hal?"

The fourth, a weasely-looking man with a near permanent scowl on his face, just shrugs. His leather armor lacks the studs of the other three, and his weapons are shortbow and rapier.

The man who is presumably Jim Oakenbough continues. "Folks as prosperous as you four look don't come to a backwater like Bronce on a whim. So why are you here?" His smile takes on a bit of a sly cast. "I hear rumors the local savages got a lot of loot from hitting other towns recently. Might make you a pretty profit to relieve them of it."

[Delphon]

Albrecht does not shift his body to greet them as he merely turns his head "We are merely passing through these parts, always good to meet fellow adventurers of course, what say I buy us all a round of ale?" Albrecht orders up a fresh mug for the four ruffians and his own companions
[roll0] diplomacy check

[Douglas]

"Who am I to say no to free drinks?" He takes a seat while Bernik serves the ale, casually leaning back and propping his feet up on the table. "But I don't buy the 'passing through' story. Bronce isn't a place anyone 'passes through'. It's the end of the road, nowhere to pass through TO. What are you really here for?"

Your greeting and offer has gotten him to relax a bit, but he still seems deeply suspicious about your motives.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys eyes each of the men suspiciously.

Detect evil on each of the new patrons

[Talbain]

Alistair hops down from his bar stool to stand in front of the table, making sure he is in clear view of the four new arrivals. He gives a broad wink to his companions.

"Gentlemen, we may not look the part, but we are actually pilgrims. Of sorts. You see, my friend here..."

Alistair gestures vaguely towards Albrecht.

"My friend here has an interest in holy sites; I have an interest in legends. I make a study of tales and the places that surround them. I have an especial interest in heroic exploits and, as I'm sure you good fellows are aware, perhaps the greatest legend of all is deeply rooted to this very town!"

As he continues, Alistair begins to fade off into a mumble, gesturing hypnotically.

"We've already visited the standing stones you see... most fascinating... signs and portents..."

Alistair casts Hypnotize on the suspicious group.
[roll0]
[roll1] rounds
[roll2]

"You see, we are just pilgrims. Nothing more. Please pay us no mind. We are simply passing through."

[Douglas]

Hal shakes his head, throwing off the spell, but he doesn't seem to have realized what Alistair did and just sits back and scowls harder. The other three all stare blankly, ensnared by the gnome's magic.

"Pilgrims. I see. That makes sense, I suppose. You'll be wanting to talk with Father Bronson then, I expect. Meh, nothing to do with me."

"Hey Bernik, you call this swill 'ale'!? I thought you knew better. Where's the good stuff?"

"You drank it already, ya daft loon. Told you last night when I brought out the last bottle. Were you so drunk already you don't remember?"

"Well get some more, then!"

"That was imported stock. Can't get more 'til the next merchant comes through."

"Whattayamean, 'can't'? Send somebody. What else do I pay you for, anyway?"

"Damn little, that's what."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

Bernik and Jim continue bickering in the same vein for some time, mostly ignoring you. Jinnie silently serves Jim's group a morning meal in the middle of it, acting like she's trying to avoid notice, and doesn't even ask for payment for it.

[Delphon]

Albrecht finishes his ale and gets up, straightening his tunic and heads out the exit, having heard all he needs to know.
He slips Jinnie two gold coins after paying for the beer, preparing to head towards Father Bronson's place of residence while the the surely band of bullies is preoccupied. He nods at Alister and Rhys as he heads out.

[Talbain]

His work complete, Alistair follows Albrecht out the door towards Father Bronson's wearing a sly grin on his face. Upon exiting the building he summons Bartandalus to his side once more.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys joins his travel partners to look for father Bronson.

[Douglas]

Bartandalus voices a complaint as he lands on Alistair's shoulder.
"Boring town. No shinies."

You find Father Bronson's house easily with directions from the villagers. It is well maintained, in substantially better shape than most buildings in Bronce, but aside from a few clearly religious decorations it is plain and a bit sparsely furnished. A small wooden statue of a maiden wearing flowing robes and a crown of flowers stands in each window, with an eight-petaled blue flower symbol (also made of wood) hanging on a string above it. Rhys and Albrecht instantly recognize these as a depiction of Blediwesse and her holy symbol.

The door is open, and a man is sitting in a meditative pose inside, wearing simple robes with a holy symbol hanging around his neck. He has a thick mustache and a perpetually serious but friendly expression. He looks up as you enter and greets you with a deep strong voice. "Welcome, travelers, to my humble abode. 'Tis far short of the inspiring glory a proper house of worship should provide, but I fear it will have to do until I can get the old church repaired. I am Father Tobias Bronson, priest of Blediwesse and minister to the poor folk of Bronce. What can I do for you this fine day?"

[Delphon]

"Greetings Father" Albrecht steps into the holyman's house, nodding his head in respect as he approaches the man. "We are searching for information regarding the legend of Starkweather John, we believe it may be of great importance." We planned to go to his tomb but thought we would see what you knew. Albrecht gets down to brass tacks as he speaks with gravity regarding the situation.

[Douglas]

"Ah, yes, Starkweather John. You know, I've long since lost count of how many times I've been regaled with that legend in the three years since I came here. The locals seem inordinately proud of it; in Saragost, you'd have difficulty finding anyone but scholars who would even recognize the name, and even in Lichgate just 30 miles down the road few can tell the tale rather than just recognize it. A thousand years dulls the importance of any legend, but here his tomb seems to have kept it alive."

"I must confess I am at something of a loss as to why such an ancient legend might be of great importance in the present day, but still, I will tell you what I can. Starkweather John was a supremely skilled swordsman, and one of several great heroes who worked together to defeat a great evil army. The main battle was over, the army defeated but the other heroes slain, when the enemy's greatest wizard came here, to the Tump, intending to perform some kind of magic to harness the power of the stone circle. Starkweather John slew him before he could complete the ritual, but was fatally poisoned in the battle. Before he died, he requested to be buried outside the town, I'm not sure why. His tomb is right outside the edge of the forest west of town. I've never seen it myself - never saw the need to gather enough armed men to ensure safety from the more monstrous denizens of the area - but I understand the people of the time did what they could to give him a grand burial."

[Delphon]

"Ahh, I see. Well thank you for your help Father Bronson, I appreciate your assistance. We'll be on our way." Albrecht bows to Father Bronson and heads towards the exit, once outside, he checks the sky for how many hours of daylight remain, deciding that there is time for a short expedition to the tomb.
"I say we take a look at the tomb and see if any more information can be gleaned from the location itself."

[Talbain]

Alistair joins the grizzled grey-mane outside. During the conversation within, he had worn a look of severe disinterest and boredom; it is entirely outside of his nature, it seems, to feign the least bit of attention, even for politeness' sake. His yawns were loud and nearly frequent enough to present a serious obstacle to conversation. Though the conversation was extremely brief, the little man had almost begun to nod off towards the end!

"Thank the goddess. Let us finally be on our way! If you humans are quite satisfied with your ceaseless blathering amongst yourselves, let us be on our way! Like we could have done before, you know. I say we learned nothing here we could not have learned in more entertaining fashion from the tomb and its environs, and what's more... that Jim fellow could have been trouble. You're all lucky to have an esteemed and obviously veteran adventurer such as myself along! Perhaps next time you'll pay more attention to your elders!"

He jerks a thumb at himself with a wry grin. If Alistair really is your elder, he certainly doesn't look it... but you never can tell with gnomes. Or can you?

At any rate, Alistair P. Wimpleton strides off in the direction of the tomb without so much as a backwards glance at the tiresome human shanty-town. He mumbles enthusiastically to Bartandelus, who alights onto his arm. The gnome plays with his avian companion fondly as he sets a surprisingly brisk pace for one with such tiny legs. The tomb awaits!

[Douglas]

It is about midday as you leave Father Bronson. Jim Oakenbough and his thugs are probably enjoying a free lunch at the Golden Nugget right now, bought with intimidation.

The tomb is about 2 miles west of town, and with your armor on it takes an hour to walk there.

The journey is uneventful, and you find the tomb just outside the forest that covers most of the terrain further west. Sparse trees and underbrush start some 50 feet or so away from it and rapidly get thicker to the west.

For the tomb itself, sturdy stone blocks mortared together stick out from the earth to form a rectangle four feet wide and eight long, reaching three feet above the ground. You aren't sure how far down the bottom goes underground. Four stone slabs, carefully cut to match, cover the top. A fairly lengthy passage of words has been chiseled into the top in a fancy flowing script. Moss covers much of it, and clings a lot more strongly than the more precariously perched moss on the stone circle (you could remove it, but not in a trivial minute or two), but you can make out about half the words even despite the moss.

The inscription says (underscores are words obscured by moss):
Stranger, trouble not _________
______________ beneath these stones
_________ one of mortal ____
___ held ______ within his _____

______________ come that came before
___ Stars shall fall to ______________
________ against Her might _____
_________________________________

________ conspirators assail
__________ then these _____________
__ cast from his ____________
___________ bears a dead king_____

[Delphon]

"Hmm...well might as well clear this moss off if this is going to be of any use to us." Albrecht begins scratching away at the moss, pulling out a small chisel to begin dislodging the tenacious moss, stopping for a moment and tossing a glance at the pyromancer. "Perhaps your skills will be of more use here than mine. Although I would recommend having Alistair check for any enchantments against such magic."

[Douglas]

Since Gorgondantess never did get around to telling me a name before his absence, I'm going to go ahead and give one myself. He can change it when he gets back, but until then "the pyromancer" shall be known as Ignatius.

"I can manage that task myself, thank you." Ignatius casts Detect Magic and in short order announces that the tomb has no lingering magic he can detect.

"Sadly, I don't think I can produce enough magical fire to make a worthwhile dent in the moss just yet. Scorch it, yes; burn it away completely, no."

It takes another half hour to clear off the moss enough to read the entire inscription, which reads:
Stranger, trouble not the bones
Resting here beneath these stones
Here lies one of mortal part
Who held a star within his heart

And when They come that came before
The Stars shall fall to earth once more
To stand against Her might again
Who rises from Her sleep profane

And when conspirators assail
The throne, then these may yet avail
To cast from his exalted place
The foe that bears a dead king's face

[Talbain]

Alistair scratches his chin thoughtfully, apparently too absorbed in the rhyme even to make a dig about the pyromancer's impotency.

"And so the plot thickens. An evil woman wearing the face of a dead king!? Disturbing indeed. If I understand this correctly, our birthmarks correspond with the zodiac, as did old Starkweather's here. I wonder if he had one too? Nothing about a sword though... hmm. The voice said it was nearby."

He briefly begins to pace back and forth before the entrance of the tomb. Suddenly with a snap of his fingers he turns to face the party.

"Well, at any rate we're no strangers! Let's go trouble some bones, men! Perhaps we'll find some more clues."

Bartandalus caws enthusiastically, and with that the pair turn towards the entrance to begin their descent.

[Douglas]

There is no "entrance" as such. Think more "stone box big enough to hold a coffin with some room to spare", not "resting place of an Egyptian pharaoh". True, the bottom is sunk into the ground and you can't see how far it goes, but what you can see gives no indication of being more than the "stone box" style of tomb.

The sides are quite solid and have no openings. Getting through any side would require at least partially demolishing it. The four slabs on top appear to be held in place only by their weight, however, and could be lifted off with sufficient effort. Alistair is not strong enough to do so by himself. What does Albrecht (and Rhys if we wait long enough) think of this course of action?

[Delphon]

"Might as well give it a shot, we'll put the lid back on after we check just to avoid any unnecessary recriminations."

Albrecht prepares to help lift the heavy stone slab

[Douglas]

You carefully lift the stone slabs off and look in. Inside, you find:
On the bottom is a layer of dirt - far less than you'd expect from an attempt to cover a body, but too much to be accidental. The dirt is unevenly distributed; you can see the stone bottom in a few places.
A jawbone rests on top of the dirt, along with a skeletal hand. A femur is partially covered by the dirt.
An ancient shovel blade, long since rusted into uselessness, lies in one corner.

[Talbain]

Alistair scowls, but after a moment his expression softens into a sort of fatalistic resignation.

"Well, we've come this far. Shall we ensure there are no further clues on the corpse? There may be a reason this grave is so unusually shallow. I daresay I'm running out of other ideas... I was so certain this tomb would have more answers. Precious few clues in town, and now this pathetic nonsense... "

Alistair gestures flippantly at the stones.

"I'm beginning to wonder if the legend of Starkweather is really all it's cracked up to be. If this voice of ours really thinks the sword is so important, it could be a bit more specific, anyhow. Maybe we could return to the standing stones and ask directions?"

Alistair instructs Bartandelus to keep an eye out for observers. It won't do to be caught so thoroughly desecrating the tomb of a local hero after all. The gnome attempts to climb into the burial chamber. If successful, he brightens visibly, and will use any means at his disposal (including Prestidigitation) to uncover the bones and make certain there are no more clues to be had here.

"Yes indeed, I believe it's time for a little archaeology. You never know what you'll find!"

[Douglas]

Alistair finds the 3 foot barrier only slightly more difficult to pass than a taller person would, and quickly begins digging around in the dirt, hoping to uncover something more. After perhaps five or ten minutes of shifting dirt around, he is disappointingly certain that the tomb really does contain only three bones, a rusted shovel blade, and some dirt, though there is room within the stone container for a lot more.

[Talbain]

"Hmph. Indeed."

The gnome grunts as he hefts himself up and out of the enclosure, his adventures in the tiny tomb completed.

"Well my friends, it appears that we are not the first people to have this idea. I can't be certain why, but I am quite certain that this tomb has been robbed! Of bones, of all things. This shovel blade simply isn't old enough to have been used in the original burial. It's old, yes... but a millennium is a very long time. A very long time indeed!"

Alistair frowns once more and rubs his chin, smearing dirt on his face. He doesn't seem to notice.

"I can only speculate as to what use the robbers could have had for bones. Some sort of mage-craft perhaps? In any event, this trail is long gone cold. What are your thoughts, gentlemen?"

[Douglas]

Ignatius taps his chin, thinking. "Hmm, there are some spells that can use body parts... Generally it's a body part of someone still alive, though, and Starkweather John was already dead."

"In any case, it's good that the sword wasn't buried with him - surely the robbers would have taken it, and who knows how far it might have traveled from here by now if they had!"

[Delphon]

Albrecht stands up and dusts himself off.
"Well perhaps we just don't have enough information to go on yet. We should search the surrounding areafor clues. I noticed signs of a battle here earlier when we first arrived. I suggest we check and see if they yield any hints"
Albrecht heads to where he found the earlier signs of conflict and attempts to see where the attackers or defenders may have gone.

[roll0] knowledge local

[Douglas]

The appropriate skill for this is actually survival, but since that's wisdom based it just makes your result higher.

Albrecht determines that approximately 30 creatures fought in two groups in the area at the forest edge a few days ago. They were roughly human-sized and did not wear boots. After examining several footprints, he concludes they were probably hobgoblins. None of the footprint trails approach the tomb.

There are two trails leaving the area. The smaller group, about a dozen individuals, headed a little south of due east, but Albrecht lacks the training to follow the tracks very far over the relatively firm ground in that direction. There are few obstructions to line of sight other than the hills themselves, so heading in the general direction and hoping to spot something or guess the destination might work if you were so inclined, but it would be largely dependent on luck. The larger group marched west, further into the forest, where the leaves and soft soil hold tracks better.

[Delphon]

Albrecht explains the situation to the group and suggests heading west to follow the larger group

[Talbain]

Alistair stops short, his jaw momentarily left dangling.

"Sir, are you daft? There are whole tribes of these creatures in this area, and you want to follow one of their war parties back to camp!? If we find them, we shall surely die! Take it from a gnome, hobgoblins are not a pleasant folk! Furthermore, these tracks are fresh - unless your tracking ability extends back several hundred years, these are not the creatures who raided the tomb."

The little man gestures animatedly as he speaks.

"While I agree that the hobgoblins may have much to tell us, walking up to them and simply asking is tantamount to suicide! If you want to throw your life away, you can do it by yourself!"

Alistair crosses his arms in front of his chest in a gesture of adamant refusal.

"It seems to me that, unless we are missing a clue somewhere, we have two viable options. First, we can return to the circle of stones and attempt to make further contact with "the voice." Second, we can return to town (loathe as I am to do so) and attempt to acquire a map or guide of some sort. Presumably we are adventurers - and there can't be too many landmarks in the area to explore. I doubt the sword would be cast off in the woods somewhere, so either it is located nearby at some place of significance, or we may find more clues. And of course, the third option is to give all this nonsense a miss and return to civilization, but so long as I'm not asked to march to my death..."

He pauses to give Albrecht a significant glance.

"I'm still game to try my hand at this. The hard way, if need be. I'll search under every rock in this goddess forsaken area... until I get bored anyway!"

A wry grin crosses the gnome's face, and he gives a wink.

"In any event, nightfall fast approacheth, and we need to consider whether we'd like to spend the evening out here with them,

Alistair gestures broadly to the surrounding area, indicating the footprints and their corresponding goblinoids,

or on lice-ridden pallets in "town." Unsatisfactory to be sure, but probably better than a night on the ground in the open."

[Douglas]

"Come now, dear fellow, surely it's not that dire. These are mere hobgoblins, after all, and we have a pair of quite sturdy and well armored warriors with us they can bounce their weapons off of."

"Still, you have a point about the timing. We could pursue hobgoblin tribes and attempt to wipe them out, and I'm sure the locals would be happy to see us do it, but we would not find Starkweather John's sword with them. Bernik said it was hidden to protect it from treasure hunters; it would be a poor hiding place indeed that failed to foil such pathetic creatures as hobgoblins, especially ones that likely don't know the sword exists."

"Before we go marching off, let's get our motivations straight: if we seek to rid the area of a dangerous nuisance, possibly acquiring some modest loot from their ill-gotten gains, we should pursue the hobgoblins; if we seek the Sword of Starkweather John above all else, we should likely do something else."

Speaking of maps, to help with visualization, here's roughly what your characters might produce if asked to draw a map of the area in character from what they already know:
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/9845/broncef.png
There is a defunct gold mine somewhere near Bronce, there are a number of small farms scattered about, and most of the region is hilly.

It is only mid afternoon, around 2 or 3 pm.

[Talbain]

Alistair pointedly rounds on the pyromancer, a sizable frown creasing his diminutive face.

"I think you underestimate hobgoblins. If you recall, our "sturdy warriors" had considerable difficulty landing blows on 4 normal goblins. Hobbed goblins would be worse! And the odds would be three to one at best. We have no idea how many would be encamped; we only know that there were around a dozen of them here. Personally, I prefer to avoid combat where possible. There's no need to go looking for trouble - trouble hasn't been shy about seeking us out all on its own. I say we pursue the sword first, and the sword only. Let these people deal with their own hobgoblins."

[Daemon1313]

"I agree that we shouldn't going looking for trouble and that we should be looking for the sword. The problem is we don't have any information to go on. I suggest we seek more information in the town or we go investigate some of the other areas around the town."

[Delphon]

Albrecht ponders for a moment. "hmm...the abandoned mine sounds promising honestly, I felt something didn't add up when I was talking to the various townsfolk earlier, I think its worth checking out."

[Talbain]

"Now that is a capital idea. I wholeheartedly agree. Let us explore the mine! Now... does anybody remember where the mine is supposed to be, exactly?"

[Douglas]

You know the mine is near Bronce, probably nearer than the tomb is, and you got a few tidbits about it, but the closest you heard to a precise location of it is "up in the hills".

You could go directly to searching for it, in which case about where on that rough map do you look?

Or you could go back to town and get directions, in which case who do you ask and what, if anything, do you say about why you're asking? Anyone you ask is going to be curious, after all.

[Delphon]

"I suggest we ask father Bronson, he seems like a more quiet person than the usual folk around these parts, I figure he'll know more than most as well" Albrecht begins heading back towards the priests home.

[Talbain]

"Agreed. Though I've witnessed more interesting growth in grass than speech from that man's mouth."

The gnome follows Albrecht.

[Douglas]

After an hour of walking, you arrive back at Bronce under an overcast sky and find Father Bronson's house again. He is standing at the door when you find him, waving at a woman who has apparently just left and is walking away with a determinedly cheerful expression on her face, as if she's trying to force herself to feel better about something than she really does.

Father Bronson sees you approaching and turns to greet you warmly. "Ah, I see you've returned. I hope your expedition to the tomb bore fruit, of some kind at least. From all I've heard the sword itself was never there, though I think you already knew that. Would you mind telling me how it went?"

After you fill him in on however much you decide to tell (please type something up for that, even though it won't make much immediate difference in his response unless you wildly fabricate something) and ask about the mine, he grows more somber.

"That mine is a dangerous place nowadays, prone to caveins and flooding and who knows what else. I've even heard rumors of it being haunted. Not that you four seem perturbed much by danger. I very much doubt you'll find any legendary swords there, but there may be other items of interest."

"Before I tell you where it is, I have a small favor to ask. The woman you likely saw leaving just before you came here - her two sons, Jed and Callum, went to forage for mushrooms along the south road at noon and they are late returning. They may have simply gotten distracted by something that struck their imagination, as young boys are prone to, but she is worried nonetheless. If they do not return by sundown - you can see there are only perhaps two or three hours of daylight left - I fear something may have happened to them. I told her I would pray for them, and I sincerely hope it is nothing more than boys being adventurous, but I would be much happier about it if the four of you would keep an eye out for them. Will you do that for me?"

He waits for your reply, then continues.

"The abandoned gold mine is about a mile southeast of Bronce. The entrance is near the cluster of decrepit wooden buildings you may have spotted; once upon a time, those buildings housed the mine's administration, records, and some of the extraction and refinement equipment for the gold ore."

[Talbain]

"I'm afraid we found little of value, "father."

Alistair uses the title with a tone lingering somewhere between amusement and idle disdain.

"Just a confusing limerick and a desecrated tomb. The capstone was slightly askew, as if it had been moved. Upon further investigation, we found that nearly all of the bones had been dug up and stolen! All that remained was an old shovel head. We saw signs of a scuffle nearby... your hobgoblins, no doubt. It's not clear as to what role, if any, they played in this travesty. Either way, someone robbed that tomb a long, long time ago... or else, they wanted it to look that way."

Alistair repeats the limerick for Father Bronson.

"Does any of that make sense to you? Actually, so long as we're here, we were hoping you could answer a few more questions. First, do you have any records of other strange incidents surrounding the "Tump," as you call it? Second, why is it called the "Tump?" And third, do you have a map of the area that includes nearby landmarks, or can you help us obtain one? This mystery has intrigued us, and we plan to launch an extensive investigation into the area. We wish to examine any sites old enough to have been connected with the incident."

The gnome pauses for a moment before resuming.

"And, now that I think on it... how long has that mine been haunted? What is it supposed to be haunted by, and when was the last time anyone went down there?"

[Douglas]

"If you don't like the 'Father' title, you can simply call me Tobias. Ceremony has its place, but it is not needed here. That reminds me, I don't think I ever caught your names the first time."

"I'm not sure why anyone would want to steal his bones, all the magic I know that might use such things is all spells to use against a living Starkweather John. Seems more likely to me they were just dug out and tossed aside while looking for real valuables - magic rings, and the like."

Tobias (or 'Father') Bronson ponders the three verses for a bit, writing them down to study if you hadn't already done so. "The part about not disturbing the bones seems obvious and mundane, simply a request for respect for the dead. I don't know what to make of the talk of stars, though, or who 'Her' might be. From the portentous phrasing and talk of thrones and kings and such, this female entity is likely some powerful force of evil, rising from a period of dormancy. Beyond that, I couldn't guess who or what it is. That last verse, with a dead king and someone wearing his face... an impostor on the throne? Someone different from the second verse, the gender doesn't match; less important, too, no capitalized 'h' - a servant of the greater evil, maybe?"

Who or what are the 'these' that may avail against him, and how are stars (or Stars) involved? When is all this supposed to happen? It seems prophetic, but bears no indication of time. And where? Chillhame has a ruling council in Saragost, not a king, so it's not talking about this country. And how does this all relate to Starkweather John, surely it was on his tombstone, of all places, for a reason? I don't know if I can even guess at these things. Some of the scholars in Saragost might be of more help in that regard, if they are convinced it's worth their time."

"Strange incidents surround the Tump? Hmm. I can't recall anything since Starkweather John's fateful duel. The people of Bronce leave it alone, supposedly on his instructions. Everyone knows it has powerful magic, but no one knows what that magic is. It's called the 'Tump' because, well, that's its name. It's a word for a small mound, hill, that sort of thing*, and someone in ancient history decided it fit."
*Seriously, look it up. It's a real word.

"I don't have a map of the Bronce area myself. Constable Gaskell probably has one, but I doubt he'd give it to you. Ma Bailey might have one in a forgotten bin in her shop. Not much need for maps here, not many visitors and all the locals can navigate by heart. As for landmarks, there's Bronce, the Tump, Starkweather John's tomb, the gold mine, Jim's windmill, the road, and that's pretty much everything of greater note than the occasional farm before you get to either completely untamed forest or whole other towns."

"For the mine being haunted, all I've heard are rumors, no definite reports. Some stories say it's the ghosts of dead miners, guarding the last of the gold, and them scaring people off is part of why the mine shut down, but it could be no more than a tale made up for some dark night's session of telling scary stories. If anyone's gone there since, they haven't told me."

[Talbain]

Alistair is momentarily taken aback by Father Bronson's sudden utility. After a moment he shrugs, deciding to tell the man the rest of the tale.

"Well Tobias, you seem trustworthy enough. I think I can shed a bit more light on the verse, if you can keep a secret. Either way, I believe you've earned our names - I am Alistair P. Wimpleton, and these are my traveling companions: Albrecht, and Rhys."

He gestures to each in turn. Finally, jerking a thumb towards the pyromancer, he says

"That guy is so quiet I keep forgetting his name. We just met recently, and he kind of follows us around. We let him stay because we never need kindling! Ha!"

The gnome allows himself a brief chuckle before fixing Tobias with a serious gaze.

"Anyway, I need to know. If I tell you our tale, will you give me your word of honor that you will tell no one else?"

[Douglas]

"Oh, surely I'm useful for more than that. How would you ever use goblins as kindling without me, for instance? And the name is" (until Gorgondantess returns and decides whether to keep or change/retcon it) "Ignatius."

"Well, Alistair, I dislike giving promises without knowing what I'm promising, but you seem an earnest sort. So long as keeping it does not endanger my charges, you have my word."

[Talbain]

"Positively spectacular. Well, the story is not long - basically, each of the standing stones on the tump corresponds to a constellation in the heavens. Each of us appears to have a birthmark corresponding to one of the standing stones. We all came to at the tump. Personally, I lack any memory of my past. Presumably my companions do as well, for they seem just as clueless as I am. We were contacted by a voice, which said (insert gnomish recollection here), and after being attacked by goblins which disappeared in poofs of dark mist, have proceeded to search for the sword of Starkweather John as instructed. Does this shed any light on things? Your interpretation of the poem up until now has proven most insightful. If you wish, I can show you my birthmark as proof..."

[Douglas]

If Alistair gives any indication of where his birthmark is before dropping his trousers, Father Bronson hastily assures him "That will not be necessary."

"Intriguing. If what you say is true, then it appears you yourselves have some connection to the stars, and may be part of this prophecy. This is worrisome, as it means the time it speaks of is coming soon, or may even have already started. It is still far too vague for me to take any sort of positive action on, unfortunately."

"If I knew the Sword's location myself, I would ask for as much proof as you can offer and then likely give it to you straight away and wish you luck. As it is, I must content myself with wishing you luck."

"It seems unlikely that the Sword would be in the mine, but I can think of no better leads. You have already asked around town about it, or so I have heard from any number of passing gossip mongers; if anyone has any information to give you, asking again would merely reinforce their assumption that you are most likely treasure hunters who don't deserve it - that is the current leading guess."

"For lack of any better ideas, I would suggest you go ahead and investigate the mine on the off chance it might hold a clue. And see if you can find Jed and Callum while you're about it, would you please?"

[Talbain]

"Are you saying that Jed and Callum were headed in that direction? Or else, does anyone know which way they might have gone? If not, I can only say that we will keep our eyes peeled."

[Delphon]

"Well, I suppose we should make a stop by the South Road and see if any sign of those boys comes up, after that, a trip to the mine would be in order. Perhaps the ghosts themselves would know of something, seeing as they have been around a bit longer than us. I'm sure we could "convince" them with the proper techniques." Albrecht looks pointedly at the group's spellcaster "Do you have anything that could communicate or summon the undead, at least for questioning?"

Albrecht thanks Father Tobias Bronson again for his assistance as he begins heading towards the South Road, hoping there might be enough time to find the boys and perhaps head towards the mine.

[Douglas]

"The boys are supposed to be somewhere along the south road. The mine is southeast, I suppose it's possible they wandered east towards it. They should know better, but boys will be boys. Honestly, I'm more worried that they might have crossed paths with something hostile than any likely mischief at an abandoned mine."

At Albrecht's question, Ignatius says "Er, I've never tried burning a ghost before. It might work, I have no idea. I doubt one would be disposed to answer questions after I try, though, either way."

Posting rates may slow down for the holidays, but I intend to continue checking at least once a day and I encourage the rest of you to at least attempt the same.

[Talbain]

Alistair waves goodbye to Tobias much more enthusiastically this time as he follows Albrecht towards the south road.

Once the party is a little ways away from the house, he speaks.

"I'm not entirely certain the mine is haunted. Useful as "father" turned out to be in the end, a small village like this will never be populated by scholars. Neither are miners known for their intelligence or aptitude for the paranormal! Time also has a way of distorting tales. It's not impossible that the mine is haunted, but you could color me a very surprised gnome indeed if it was! Whatever spooked those men is probably long gone... nevertheless. I know little of ghosts. I may have a trick or two under the old wizard hat just in case... Alistair thumbs his bowler hat briefly. "But if we've any luck at all, it won't be necessary!"

The party's foremost spell-caster rubs his hands together excitedly as he walks.

"I do confess, I am most eagerly anticipating some progress in this adventure. We've had too many dead ends already... an inauspicious start for a seasoned explorer like myself. Are all expeditions like this? I hope not, but I can't remember! Oh, what a wealth of insight must be locked away between these perfectly pointed ears!"

Alistair tugs at his ears for dramatic emphasis, pausing to pantomime a scene of utter woe. After a moment, he beings to laugh, and rejoins the group in their trek mine-wards.

[Delphon]

Albrecht begins scanning around the area after following the general directions along the South Road, keeping his eyes peeled for any sort of hint of wrong doing or signs of trouble.

[Douglas]

The party sets out for the mine by way of the south road. You find the area the children were supposed to be in easily enough, but there are no children there. The firm ground holds tracks poorly, and the situation is soon made worse by the beginning of a downpour. Albrecht finds a few childish footprints indicating Jed and Callum spent a considerable while here and crisscrossed the area repeatedly, but he proves unable to determine which direction they went when they left, or if they left alone.

Continuing on to the mine, you arrive at a cluster of buildings that are little more than wooden shells. They may have contained valuables once, but not now. One building has a number of shattered glass bottles littering the floor. Nearby, there is a patch of ground devoid of grass, scorched and holding a few pieces of old burnt timber. A few dented iron anvils lie on the ground a dozen or two feet away.

East of the buildings, the mine entrance looms in the side of a hill, large and cave-like. The tunnel slopes downward moderately steeply (about a 30 degree incline), varying between about 5 and 10 feet wide, and continues farther than you can see in the failing daylight. Rails lead into the darkness, and an old mine cart lies on its side beside them, covered with rust. Rainwater is pouring in, trickling down the tunnel floor. You can hear a low rattling sound, almost a roar, in the distance.

Aaaand we're back.

[Talbain]

"Hmm. It seems someone has been here quite recently."

Alistair points out the tracks near the mine entrance for the party to see.

"I wonder who made them?"

[Daemon1313]

Rhys stares down at the trail of water and says, "Given that the good father Bronson has warned us that the mine is prone to flooding and cave-ins I would take the bad weather as a sign and advise we wait to explore the mine until after the rain has let up. Unless one of you has grown gills or see a reason for us go immediately."

[Talbain]

"And if these footprints belong to the children? They may have taken shelter here, or become trapped. If the tracks belong to something else, it stands to reason that they would be having trouble with the flooding too, giving us, with our backs to the exit, the advantage. Which is to say, I'm tired of tramping around! I want excitement! I crave adventure! So far we've clubbed some gas goblins and pushed a pile of rocks around. You can't tell me you're not eager to make some progress! Damn the consequences, I say! Let us spelunk!"

[Delphon]

I have ascertained that the children's tracks do indeed lead into the mine, I agree with Alister and we should not waste any more time, quickly. Albrecht heads into the mine, doing is best to watch his footing and navigate with all possible haste into the abandoned mine.

[Douglas]

The mine has no light sources that you can see, and what little daylight remains is weakened by the rain and doesn't reach very far into the mine. Albrecht quickly finds he can't see where he's going and (in the interest of saving time I'll just assume you do this since it's free and so obvious) casts a quick Light spell to remedy the situation.

After following the rails for about 40 feet, the tunnel splits off two side passages. To the right, a short (10') passageway ends in a heavy iron door with two stout sliding bars across it; the door is slightly ajar. To the left, a narrow opening leads into a small open room; the sound of snoring is coming from somewhere in the room. The main tunnel takes a slight bend to the right, and the rails and most of the water streams continue along it.

There is also a mine cart upright and on the rails here (at the "5" marker in the image), held in place by wooden blocks placed under the wheels. It has no brake, and would likely zoom off uncontrolled if the blocks were removed.

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/5168/minexyh.png

"A" is the bare patch of scorched ground, and "B" is where the dented anvils are, btw.

[Delphon]

Albrecht creeps as quietly as he can into the small room with the snoring, weapon ready as he uses his light to bathe the room in its glow.

[Douglas]

The room is roughly circular, and about 20 feet across. Moldy straw is scattered around the floor and the smell of old leather pervades the room. Some frayed and tattered sacks are stacked against the wall.

The snoring comes from a hobgoblin sprawled on the floor, very soundly asleep. He's wearing studded leather and has a longsword on his belt. A small shield and two javelins are piled next to him.

[Talbain]

Alistair peeks in behind the inquisitor. Upon spying the hobgoblin lying prone on the floor the gnome quietly readies his crossbow, preparing to assist Albrecht in case he accidentally wakes the creature, or somehow fails to strike it dead in a single blow.

[Delphon]

Albrecht motions for his companions to surround the creature while it slumbers. He positions himself in maxium striking distance of the creature and proceedsto crumple its skull in with a mighty strike

[Douglas]

Albrecht winds up and brings his weapon down like a sledgehammer on the hobgoblin's head, smashing it for 28 damage and instantly killing the creature. Hobgoblin brains splatter from the shattered skull, and the snoring stops. For the first time in your brief remembrance, a slain foe leaves a corpse, and his weapons and armor also remain.

There are no other exits from this room, and everything in the room has already been described.

Where to now?

[Delphon]

Albrecht quietly leaves the room the way he came and heads back into the main path of the tunnel, going to the heavy door and attempting to open it.

[Douglas]

The door's hinges groan a bit as it swings further open, revealing the room behind it. In contrast to the sleeping hobgoblin's room, which was irregularly shaped and likely the result of some combination of a natural cave and digging wherever the gold led, this room is a sharp and precise rectangle with smooth and straight walls. With the heavy door, bars, and what looks like convenient attachment points for padlocks, this was probably a vault.

The room is currently empty, any gold it might once have contained long gone, but looking around you spot a candle stub and some scratch marks on one wall. Looking closer, the scratches spell out a message: "Help hobgoblins took us J + C".

[Delphon]

"Welp, least we know what happened to the kids... Hmm..." Albrecht leaves this room and heads to the main passage and begins to head deeper into the cave complex itself.

[Douglas]

You pass a few short dead ends, then reach a point where the rail line splits. One set of tracks continues straight ahead and down a relatively steep incline, while the other splits off at an angle to the left on a gentler slope down a different passage. An iron lever looks like it controls which track carts go on from here. The lever is covered with many cobwebs and obviously hasn't been moved in a long time. It is currently set for straight ahead.

[Talbain]

Alistair gives the corpse of the slain hobgoblin a cursory search before rejoining the party and following the tracks down into the mine.

The gnome is oddly quiet as the group investigates the system of abandoned caverns.

At the lever junction, he inspects the tracks in an attempt to determine if the line down the steep slope is as disused as the other.

[Delphon]

Albrecht takes the more gentle sloping passage, hoping to explore the higher levels before descending into the greater depths.

[Talbain]

Noticing something on the central rail line, Alistair begins following the trail down the steeper slope, lost in thought and seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. He is mumbling (whether to himself or Bartandalus is impossible to say) as he wanders off, eyes fixated on the floor of the shaft.

[Delphon]

Albrecht notices the normally garrulous gnome has gone quiet as he turns to find him, seeing him going down the other way, Albrecht calls "Alistair, where are you going? Did you find something?"

[Daemon1313]

Rhys shakes his head and says, "We need to try and coordinate our actions or we are going to get separated and picked off by the hobgoblins that appear to inhabit this place."

[Talbain]

Absorbed in his wanderings and entirely oblivious to all that is going on down the other branch of the mine shaft Or is Rhys just further back? This has become unclear.Alistair continues onward, subconsciously relying on the keen eyes of Bartandalus to warn him of danger.

It takes him some minutes to lose interest in the tracks, at which point he finally stops to take stock of his surroundings. Finally noticing that he is alone, the gnome simply shrugs and continues more cautiously, attempting to be more alert and stealthy.

[Douglas]

Absorbed in his wanderings and entirely oblivious to all that is going on down the other branch of the mine shaft Or is Rhys just further back? This has become unclear.
I think the point of both previous posts was both of those characters specifically calling out to your character after noticing where he was going. Yes, they got that you're going down the other branch. That's why they're addressing you and saying something, and doing it before you get very far. Please adjust your post to account for this.

[Talbain]

New post. Undo all that. Did not understand about retroactive actions.

Lost in thought, Alistair continues many paces down the mine tracks before it dawns on him that someone is calling after him. He snaps back into the real world, grinning sheepishly as he saunters back over to the rest of the party. He jerks a thumb back down towards the steeper of the two inclines.

"The switch is unused, but the tracks are covered in broken cobwebs down here. It seems someone has been using the mine carts recently, but only in this direction. I imagine, sirs, that we will find our quarry that-a-way."

[Delphon]

I believe our primary objective should be the retrieval of the children before pursuing the hobgoblins. The children most likely are not using the mining carts, so I believe a methodical search of the levels would be more prudent before venturing deeper.

[Talbain]

The gnome shakes his head in disbelief and mild exasperation. For once, his expression turns stone cold as he explains his logic:

"If the hobgoblins haven't discovered the children, then they're safe for now. If they have, then they likely brought them down here. In that case, the children are in mortal peril and it is imperative that we investigate as soon as possible. The other route is a gamble that the hobgoblins haven't discovered two scared children in their midst; my route is the safer choice. Now, do you still think we ought to ignore the hobgoblins?"

Alistair is all business. He regards the party with a gaze so serious it could melt ice.

[Delphon]

"Gnome, I do not believe the time spent checking out this branch would cost us anything. Leaving children in a mine may be safer than in the clutches of those creatures but a mine is definitely not a safe place. I would prefer to be sure they are not here. The time spent making sure is unlikely to have a drastic impact upon the survival chances of those boys. If your crow can effectively scout out the other passage then I will agree to continue on the main passage way. Does it possess the ability to see in the dark? ." Albrecht waits for Alistair's response as time is of the essence.

[Daemon1313]

"We are most likely going to find trouble down the right path. That is the primary area of interest but I would rather not leave our backs exposed to gods know what. I say we investigate the left passage at least far enough to ensure that we won't get jumped from behind. Once we have a sense that we won't be jumped, then we go down the other path."

[Talbain]

Alistair's brow furrows deeply. He is clearly considering going it alone on this one. He shifts from foot to foot and glares at the ground while a mental battle is waged within. Presently, as if a switch has been flipped, he ceases all movement and looks up. His expression softens slightly as he glances at Albrecht. "Great idea, but no. Bartandalus' eyes are keen, but he needs at least a little light to see."

He pauses for a moment, but suddenly the gnome's expression hardens right back up again as he rounds on Rhys! If looks could kill, the large man would be gruesomely slain on the spot; the gnome's eyes are little more than slits as he glares less at Rhys than through him, as if attempting to transpose his fury directly onto the man's soul. He crosses his arms over his chest and his voice is harsh, and he leans in to emphasize his louder words as if he could add force by physically flinging them out of his mouth. "I would go down there myself if I thought I had the least chance of rescuing them by myself! You bufoon, you're risking the lives of the children because you're afraid to turn your back on a phantom foe, but in checking out this passage you're turning your back on the enemy you've already found! You think the grade of the slope matters? Trapped is trapped! But FINE. Lead on, oh master of strategies! We have already delayed here far too long."

Alistair is clearly uncharacteristically and extremely agitated. Despite his words, he immediately stomps off down the shallower passages, arms gesticulating wildly as he argues loudly for a moment at a confused Bartandalus. He soon runs out of steam and pipes down as he disappears down the shallower passage.

[Douglas]

"We have already delayed here far too long."
Alistair's final words are proven almost prophetic, as 'far' is punctuated without warning by the sound of an arrow flying out of the darkness down the shallower passage to find a gap in Albrecht's armor, wounding him severely (attack 18, 5 damage). Two more follow barely a second later, but one fails to penetrate (attack 12) and the other zips past to hit the wall behind Rhys (attack 9). After a longer pause but while you are all still too surprised to react, a fourth arrow homes in on the light source and strikes Albrecht again, leaving him barely standing (attack 19, 5 damage).

Ignatius is the first to respond, raising his hand at a target only he can see. A blast of fire streams past the rest of you to briefly immolate (4 damage) and illuminate a bow-wielding hobgoblin just beyond the range of Albrecht's Light spell. In the momentary flash of fire, you catch a glimpse of two others beside the first.

Initiative:
Hobgoblin #1: 19
Ignatius: 18
Rhys: 17
Albrecht: 12
Alistair: 5

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2493/ambushi.png

Same color scheme as before, Red = Rhys, Orange = Albrecht, Green = Alistair, Yellow = Ignatius. The hobgoblins are straddling the tracks off the bottom right edge of the image, out of sight due to lack of light except for the momentary burst of fire. Alistair can see them dimly thanks to his low light vision.

Rhys is next.

[Delphon]

Albrecht staggers under the two bulls eyes as he crumples to the ground, his blood soaking his surplice and tunic as his armor runs red with his crimson lifeblood, gurgling out a surprised gasp as he looks down to see the penetrating wounds.
Attempting to rise, his wounds spurting more blood before his eyes roll back in his head under the mind erasing pain, falling over onto the hard cave floor.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys curses under his breath and tosses his sunrod out to around where he thinks he saw their assailant. Then draws his sword and begins advancing toward the enemy.

[Talbain]

"Albrecht!" The gnome is shocked and horrified to see the old man crumple to the ground. Seeing the Inquisitor possesses healing capabilities of his own however, Alistair quickly turns his attention to the party's assailants.

Worried but not surprised to see Rhys marching into another possible trap, Alistair P. Wimpleton shakes his head to himself. It's too late to worry about consequences now! With a look of grim determination on his face, the diminutive witch directs his familiar Bartandalus to fly ahead of the knight, to scout down the tunnel and see if he is walking into more than he bargained for. Meanwhile, Alistair attempts to cast Sleep on one of the hobgoblins in hopes that Rhys' charge will not result in a heavily armored pin-cushion.

[Douglas]

Round 1:17:

Rhys curses under his breath and pushes past the staggering Albrecht to interpose his better protected and unhurt body between the archers and Albrecht, pulling out a sunrod while marching towards them. He strikes the rod, and it begins glowing brightly. All three hobgoblins are now visible to everyone.

[Delphon]

Albrecht struggles through the pain to cast "cure light wounds upon himself

[roll0]

As well as activating his healing judgment and pushing himself back to his feet

"There is fight left in these old bones yet..."

[Douglas]

Round 1:12:

With a grimace of effort, Albrecht fights through the pain to cast Cure Light Wounds on himself and the blood instantly stops flowing (heal 4 damage). He glares at the hobgoblins revealed by Rhys's sunrod, and the two arrows embedded in him start twitching and sliding back out as his wounds slowly close further (heal 1 from Judgment) while he hefts his warhammer.

"There is fight left in these old bones yet..."

Round 1:10:

The hobgoblin to the first one's left drops his shortbow and pulls out a longsword while advancing on Rhys. He swings, but the blow clangs off Rhys's breastplate (attack 17).

Round 1:7:

The third hobgoblin follows suit, but Rhys dodges the wild swing (attack 11).

Round 1:5:

"Albrecht!" The gnome is shocked and horrified to see the old man so grievously wounded. Seeing the Inquisitor possesses healing capabilities of his own however, Alistair quickly turns his attention to the party's assailants.

Worried but not surprised to see Rhys marching into another possible trap, Alistair P. Wimpleton shakes his head to himself. It's too late to worry about consequences now! With the brighter light and more forward position of Rhys's sunrod, Alistair can see the entire room easily and sees no additional threats. With a look of grim determination on his face, the diminutive witch focuses his will and one of the hobgoblins facing Rhys tips over, his eyes closing and his sword falling from unconscious fingers.

Round 2:19:

The hobgoblin still in the back shoots again, his third arrow flying over his unconscious comrade and just barely missing a gap in Rhys's breastplate (attack 19).

Round 2:18:

Ignatius takes aim and a thin line of fire shoots past Rhys to strike the still standing hobgoblin in the face (crit, for 7 damage).

http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/6649/round2a.png

Hob 1 is still using a bow, 2 is asleep, 3 just got burned.

Rhys, you're up. You have a spiked shield in one hand and a sunrod in the other. You have one sleeping hobgoblin and one armed next to you.

[Daemon1313]

Rhys drops the sunrod to the ground and draws his weapon. Once his weapon is hand he slashes at the hobgoblin that had been burned earlier.

longsword [roll0]
damage [roll1]

[Daemon1313]

Rhys's sword swing finds a weak point in his opponents armor and carves deeply into his flesh.

longsword crit check [roll0]
damage [roll1]

[Douglas]

Round 2:17:

Rhys plunges his sword deep into the chest of the burned hobgoblin, wounding it badly (10 damage). The hobgoblin collapses, bleeding profusely.

The other hobgoblin next to him is still asleep for a few more seconds.

Albrecht is next, then Alistair.

[Talbain]

Alistair marches forward resolutely, his gaze intense as he steps forward towards the hobgoblin with the short bow. He comes to a halt just behind Rhys, and hexes this beast-man with slumber as well.

[Douglas]

Ok, that's enough of waiting for one player, I'm taking his action for him.

Round 2:12:

Albrecht's wounds continue to heal as he walks past Rhys and advances on the bow-wielding hobgoblin (double move, ending next to his target).

Round 2:10:

The unwounded hobgoblin at Rhys's feet snores once.

Round 2:7:

Hobgoblin #3 bleeds.

Round 2:5:

Alistair marches forward resolutely, his gaze intense as he steps forward towards the hobgoblin with the short bow. He has to get beside Rhys to get in range, and hexes this beast-man with slumber as well. Unfortunately, this time the target shows no more than momentary dizziness.

Alistair's first victim wakes up.

Round 3:19:

The hobgoblin in the back drops his bow and pulls out a sword instead, swinging for Albrecht. He connects (attack 22), but the blow is weak (3 damage).

Round 3:18

Ignatius sees Albrecht in trouble and rushes past Rhys and the two downed hobgoblins to send a ray of fire over Albrecht's shoulder, striking the hobgoblin (4 damage).

Rhys, your turn again. There are two hobgoblins on the floor in front of you, one bleeding out, the other prone and unarmed (for the next 2 seconds, at least) but awake and unhurt. The third is 30 feet away, with the prone one and Albrecht between you and him.

[Delphon]

Albrecht swings his warhammer at the bow-wielding goblin, striking as he grunts with the effort

[roll0] to hit
[roll1] warhammer
This is after Rhys goes

[Daemon1313]

Rhys assaults the waking hobgoblin to keep him from reentering the fray.

longsword [roll0]
damage [roll1]

shield bash [roll2]
damage [roll3]

[Talbain]

Blinking in surprise as his Slumber hex fails for the first time, Alistair advances into range before attempting to cast Daze on this peculiarly resistant hobgoblin.

[Douglas]

Round 3:17:

With the hobgoblin's awkward position and dropped shield, Rhys's first strike just barely connects, slicing a long gash in the creature's side (8 damage). The followup shield strike, however, finds only stone floor.

Round 3:12:

Albrecht heals a little more and lands a solid blow to his opponent's chest, smashing a few ribs (7 damage).

Round 3:10:

The hobgoblin in front of Rhys yelps in pain, surprise, and fear, and frantically grabs his sword and scrambles to his feet (Rhys, you get an AoO).

[Talbain]

Alistair takes a 5' step forward to bring himself into range, and casts Daze defensively on his previous target. [roll0]

[Daemon1313]

Rhys takes the opportunity to slash at the hobgoblin.

longsword [roll0]
damage [roll1]

[Douglas]

On the hobgoblin's way up from the floor, Rhys stabs it in the chest (10 damage) and it promptly crumples back down, this time with a bit more finality.

Round 3:5:

Blinking in surprise as his Slumber hex fails for the first time, Alistair advances into range before attempting to cast Daze on this peculiarly resistant hobgoblin. Freed from the distraction of the no-longer-threatening nearer enemy, his spell works perfectly and the hapless hobgoblin gets a confused look on his face.

Round 4:19:

Temporarily unable to sort out what's going on through the mental haze of Alistair's spell, the hobgoblin just shakes his head in an effort to clear it.

Round 4:18:

Ignatius shoots another ray of fire at the last hobgoblin standing, but his aim is off and it shoots past 2 feet to the side.

Rhys's turn. Rhys does not have a clear path to charge, and moving next to the last hobgoblin would take him a double move, too far to also attack.

After that, Abrecht and then Alistair.

[Delphon]

Albrecth once again raises his hammer and strikes at the wounded creature in front of him, hoping to finish it off.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[Douglas]

Round 4:17

Rhys moves to engage the final hobgoblin.

Round 4:12

Albrecht's healing continues, and he attempts to finish his wounded opponent. Unfortunately, even with Rhys to flank with, Albrecht's blow only glances off the hobgoblin's armor.

Alistair?

[Talbain]

Unable to get a clear shot at the hobgoblin, Alistair decides to cast Guidance on Rhys instead.