[WFRP] The Bloody Crown XI

[LCP]

The goblin that had fumbled its jump had just about pushed itself up onto its knees when Ludo's slingstone cracked into its chest, laying it out on the ground once again. With a snarl, the second leapt after Ludo, slashing its knife at his face. Ludo ducked beneath the blow, feeling the wind of the blade's passing ruffle his hair.

Over on his left, an embattled Gustaf was backing away from the two goblins that were doing their best to bring him down, while the third picked itself up and fumbled for its fallen weapon. None of his attackers seemed particularly deadly with a blade - but then again, neither was Gustaf.

"Chief!" he cried out as Sieghard appeared from the cave mouth, sword drawn. "Help!"

OOC:

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Sieghard and Elsa are at the cave mouth, with LOS to the gobbos and freedom to charge them or do whatever else. Urgrim and Adelbert still require a half move to reach the same position.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

Gustaf didn't have to ask twice. Ludo seemed to be doing a good job of holding his own, but even goblins could prove dangerous if they outnumbered you three to one. He rushed forward towards the trio circling Gustaf and and cleaved into them.

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Charge attack, Sieghard will throw himself into contact with all three of the goblins on Gustaf is possible. I'm unclear on how many of the goblins are armed with great weapons, but those are the priority targets. Attack them until out of the fight and then switch to the one(s) with hand weapons.

(1d100)[31] vs 56 WS +10 Charge +5 Best Sword = 71
(1d10+6)[16] Damage

(1d100)[31] vs 71
(1d10+6)[13] Damage

(1d100)[48] vs 71
(1d10+6)[9] Damage

[LeSwordfish]

With Sieghard and Elsa there, Ludo was confident that Gustaf was as safe as he could be. Instead, he darted after Tatiana, moving carefully on the loose rock.

[-Sentinel-]

"Leave some for me, will you?" said Elsa playfully, calling the Winds to her. She remembered the wolf-riding goblins they had fought in the past. Seeing the diminutive creatures again almost made her nostalgic for a simpler time, when their enemies were not ancient immortal beings.


OOC

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Fireball. I know I use it a lot, but it's just in the sweet spot of powerful and not too hard to cast.

Channeling 73: (d100)[98]
Casting 12+/9+: (3d10)[2][8][5](15)

For damage, I will assign one fireball for one goblin, starting with most damaged to least damaged (provided Elsa has line of sight).

Location: (d100)[97]
Damage: (d10+4)[9]

Location: (d100)[59]
Damage: (d10+4)[7]

Location: (d100)[72]
Damage: (d10+4)[8]

[Thragka]

"Khazuk!" Urgrim bellowed as he ran out to the skirmish. He quickly eyed the goblins' positions as he emerged from the cave and dashed to engage the one Ludo was slipping away from.

Spoiler: OOC

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If a second half move isn't enough to reach the remaining one by Ludo, I'll pass that half action and just get ready to charge next round.

[LCP]

Sieghard bowled into the goblins surrounding Gustaf like a rogue bull, braining the one swinging the club and battering another. Before the little greenskins could react, balls of fire blazed through their ranks, setting the one Sieghard had just struck alight. The creature screamed and staggered a few feet down the hillside before it collapsed in a smouldering heap, its ragged robes burning merrily long after it stopped moving.

The appearance of a wizard among their intended victims clearly changed the arithmetic of the situation for the goblins. Squealing in fear, they fled, moving surprisingly fast for creatures with such short legs. Urgrim's axe gave one a nasty slash across the arm as it turned to run, making it drop its knife, but it abandoned the weapon without a backwards look. Practically flying down the slope, the two greenskins sprinted away, leaving four of their comrades behind - two dead, one stunned and drooling, and the fourth bleeding out into the gravel.

Ludo paid them no attention as he scrambled around the edge of the overhang, trying to get a better angle on where he had last seen Tatiana. There was no sign of her behind the boulder. Looking around, he caught sight of movement a little higher up the hillside. Picked out by the moonlight, two short, hooded figures were dragging the goatherd's unconscious body in a net. As he watched, they ducked into a shadowy hole in the rock, pulling the girl after them. It was a narrow opening for Tatiana to fit through - she stuck fast for a moment before disappearing into the dark.

OOC:

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Combat time over, unless you want to pursue the fleeing gobbos. The point where Tatiana was dragged underground is about 40-50 yards from where Ludo is standing.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"You're a madwoman," Sieghard teased. "The only one I've ever met whose idea of fun is being attacked in her sleep."

"Ludo, where are you going?" he called out. "The fighting's over."

[LeSwordfish]

"They've got the girl!" Ludo shouted, darting over to the hole in the rocks and peering in. "They've taken her!"

[LCP]

Loose stones bounced down the hillside in Ludo's wake as he clambered up to the hole in the rock where he had seen Tatiana disappear. There wasn't much evidence of it being heavily used - just the scrape-marks in the dirt where the goblins had dragged their netted quarry inside. The hole itself seemed like a natural fissure, no more than four feet across at its widest point. It led down into darkness, further than Ludo could see - but he thought he could hear the faint echo of bickering goblin voices, receding under the ground.

[LeSwordfish]

"Down here!" Ludo shouted, and started scrambling down the fissure.

[-Sentinel-]

"Coming!" said Elsa. "Be careful. If they threaten her life, perhaps we can talk it out."

She could scarcely believe she was the one asking that they talk it out, but a cornered enemy was unpredictable, and she wanted Tatiana alive more than she wanted the goblins dead.

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Light spell on Elsa's staff, 3+: (2d10)[10][7](17)

I'm out of town this weekend and I'm not sure I'll have Internet access.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"You want to talk greenskins out of violence?" Sieghard asked, running after her. "You really are a madwoman."

He paused and looked back towards the cave. "Gustaf, slit the goblins' throats. Hanna, grab my shield."

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If it was a narrow fit for Tatiana, I can't imagine Sieghard fitting through in his armor. We probably have a better chance of getting her back alive if we don't wait long for him to put it on anyways.

[Thragka]

"There'll be no talk," Urgrim said, rolling his eyes. Pausing a moment to watch Gustaf begin the extermination, he jogged back into their cave. He pulled on his leathers, leaving the mail shirt aside, and tucked his throwing axes into his waistband. Hand-axe and shield in hand, he jogged back out and followed Ludo into the unknown.

[LCP]

With Urgrim and Hanna bringing up the rear, the party hurried over to where Ludo had disappeared down the hole. Woken by the commotion, Tatiana's goats shook out their shaggy coats and trotted after them, treating the treacherous hillside as if it were a level plain.

The crack in the rock was pitch black. Feeling his way along the rough walls, Ludo had only descended a handful of yards before even his keen eyes couldn't make out his hand at the end of his arm. Slowing to a crawl, he waited until the eerie glimmer of Elsa's light spell began to creep down the tunnel behind him. While Ludo only had to crouch to squeeze through the narrow space, the humans behind him were practically crawling on their hands and knees.

At last, the fissure opened out into a larger space. Dropping down into what he took for a natural cavern, Ludo looked around in the faint light emanating from the tunnel behind him. There was no sign of the goblins - just a shallow puddle of water in the middle of the stony floor, and the black gullet of another tunnel back into the bones of the hills. There was no telling how deep it went.

As Elsa clambered out of the tunnel behind him, Ludo noticed wet footprints on the rock, heading on into the deeper passage. The goblins clearly weren't waiting around.

OOC:

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The passages are cramped and difficult for anyone but Ludo and Urgrim to travel through at speed: as such, it's unlikely you can overtake the gobbos unless something makes them stop. I need to know two things: how deep are you willing to chase them, and since you'll be in single file, what's the marching order?

[LeSwordfish]

"They had her in a net." Ludo said. "Knocked out."

He was by no means happy to be down here, but it was at least no worse than his visits to the Sermena mines, not now Elsa had a light. He lit his own lantern as well.

"If we lose her now, we'll never find her again and she'll end up on the dinner table."

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Ludo has additional stealth bonuses inside tunnels and caves, but I imagine that they'll see us coming from a fair distance if we're carrying lights - but maybe I have enough to see by with Night Vision if i'm a way ahead of the group?

Ludo is willing to go very deep: he's not unfamiliar with these conditions.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa gritted her teeth in anger at the stubbornness of Sieghard and Urgrim. "Listen to me. They took her alive. Means they likely want to sell her as a slave. If they have a knife under her throat, it'll be easier to buy her from them than kill the knife holder before it flicks its wrist. I will never forgive you if you get her killed needlessly."


OOC

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A second light source might be useful. The last time we relied solely on Elsa's Light spell, we wound up regretting it.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"If I wasn't planning on getting her back alive, I wouldn't be in the damn hole," Sieghard replied sharply.

"She's bigger than them. Dragging her along has to be slowing them down." he looked to Ludo. "Did you see how many of them had her? If you and Urgrim went ahead, would you be able to deal with them on your own? Or at least hold out until the rest of us can catch up?"

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Some sort of sounds trick might work, but that's just as likely to draw the entire goblin nest to us. We don't want that. I'm willing to go as deep as we have to to get her back, but the less deep that is, the better. Ideally we want to catch them before they reach the end of the tunnel and are surrounded by the entire tribe.

Would sending Ludo and Urgrim ahead work? Possibly with a blessing of speed from Adelbert... If they're unhindered in the tunnels, maybe they can catch up and buy time for the rest of us.

[LCP]

OOC: While the GitP forums were down, play continued at this thread on Tavern Keeper.

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Throwing the goblin to his right against the wall of the tunnel so hard that it crumpled to the ground in a jelly-limbed daze, Sieghard stepped back to allow Urgrim to finish the second with his axe. The third (and last) goblin looked around at Ludo, then Sieghard, then Urgrim, then turned with a panicked scream to flee back through the wall of fire. This one wasn't as lucky as the last to make the attempt - its filthy robes caught light as it leapt through the hungry flames, and from the other side they heard its screams of fear turn to howls of pain.

Bloodied but not broken, the three defenders stood with piles of dead goblins at their feet, and single stunned goblin slumped against the wall. Beyond the crackling fire, they could still hear the voices of the others - desperate as the fight had been, these few had been only a drop in the bucket of the greenskins' numbers.

[-Sentinel-]

Elsa caused the wall of fire to go out, giving the remaining goblins on the other side a view of the carnage and showing them how not a single human was down for the count yet.

"Who's next?" she barked. "We can do this all day! Or you can let us through and crawl back into your holes."


OOC

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Intimidate vs. (sigh) 20.

(d100)[73]

[LCP]

A sea of red eyes stared back at them, blinking in the sudden darkness.

"Dey're stuck!" came a shout from the back. "Get 'em!"

This time, there was only the clonk of another goblin hitting the shouter's head. The main mass of goblins stayed where they were, moving neither forward nor backward.

"Dey've got tricks," came another shout, this time from a different goblin. "Back to da fork!"

Pointy hoods waggling, the goblins turned en masse and began to scurry back down the tunnel into the dark. It looked more like an organised retreat than a rout - but it was something.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Very scary, Elsa," Sieghard deadpanned once the goblins were out of view. He took the moment to sit down and wipe the blood from his sword off on one of the dead goblins' robes.

[-Sentinel-]

"We need to move quick," said Elsa. "They've got tricks of their own. They might set traps or ambushes if they get too much of a lead."

[RossN]

Adelbert

'That was certainly something ,' Adelbert murmured. The priest moved to Sieghard to patch up the warrior's wounds.

OOC:

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Heal (76): (1d100)[94]
Wounds healed: [roll]1d10

[LeSwordfish]

"I'm really not a fan of heading back down that path while they're attacking us, or trying to find our way back to where we came in while they follow us." Ludo grumbled.

[-Sentinel-]

"So you'd rather take a bet that the wyvern hasn't been awakened by all this noise?" countered Elsa. "No thank you. At least we showed the goblins we aren't to be messed with. The wyvern doesn't know that yet."

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"If we're lucky, it woke when it heard the fighting and flew off," Sieghard said. "We're never that lucky," he added after a pause.

[-Sentinel-]

Tired of all the but's, Elsa began heading down the passageway back the way they had come, stepping over burnt and hacked-apart goblin corpses. There was no time to lose. Any minute wasted debating the merits of goblins versus wyvern was one more minute for the goblins to come up with a plan to bar their way.


OOC

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Remember, OOC hesitation translates into time lost IC. And we can't afford that right now.

Note that while Elsa is taking the lead to put an end to the indecision, she would rather not remain at the front of the line.

[TheSummoner]

Sieghard

"Hold up a moment," Sieghard said, getting to his feet. "Let me take the front. If they try their luck again, we can't afford them getting in your face."

[Thragka]

Urgrim grimaced as he looked back at the fissure, rope still dangling through. He slipped over to Ludo.

"What d'ye think? Can't say I like the look of a fighting retreat all the way back. But it's a tall order for anyone but you to sneak past the wyvern up there." He scratched his beard and nodded to the rope. "I'd best get up front with Sieghard, but if y'wanted to take a reccy ..."

He shrugged. Lifting his hand-axe, he pressed forwards past Adelbert and Elsa, falling into step beside Sieghard.

Spoiler: OOC:

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Edited to add final two sentences.

[LCP]

Tatiana followed close behind the others, while Hanna and Gustaf hung back for a moment, exchanging glances. "I told you," Ludo heard Gustaf mutter. "Cursed."

Following Elsa's light, the party retraced their steps down to the last place the passage had forked. Ahead of them yawned the drop into the great cavern below, the smell of smoke from the goblins' fires still carrying on the rising air. Goblin voices could be heard nearby, muttering furiously - but in the echoing caves, it was difficult to tell whether they were coming from the left or the right.

"...dat's dem! Quick now, give 'im da brew!"

There were the sounds of a brief struggle, which quickly died away. After a few beats of silence, a single goblin began to giggle - a sound that quickly grew in volume until it became a crazed, echoing laugh...

OOC:

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With a Routine (+10) Perception test you can tell which corner the laugh is coming from behind.