After traveling out of the Troll Gates and up the coastal road a ways in the morning you came to the village of Greenfork. The damage from the Goblin attack was still evident in the burned buildings, damaged fences, and so on. The men of the village and some Waterdeep soldiers patrolled the streets and area around the village when you arrived. Since you were not small goblins they did not harass you, and since the Miller accompanied you back to his village they let you in.

The Mayor met with you briefly, thanking you for going to hunt the goblins and offering to pay a gold piece per goblin ear you brought back with you. He explained the men they had were just enough to defend the town from another attack and they didn't have enough people to mount a hunt themselves. He seemed skeptical of rescuing the Miller's daughter but didn't bash the idea in front of the man either.

The Miller himself showed you to where he knew the goblins had entered the greenwood, the thin but ancient forest that blanketed the hills up to the mountains. The troop of goblins had indeed made a trail that was easy to follow through the trees and brush. They were anything but subtle.

Birds flutter from branches as you pass and even the occasional deer or rabbit dashes off at your passage. It has been a couple hours now since you left the miller and the sun is reaching it's noon height.  Some game trails have begun to criss cross the goblins path though...

OOC: Make a Survival Skill check to stay on the right trail! You may also make either an Gather Information/Intelligence check or Diplomacy/Charisma check to have picked up more on the goblins from the people in the village or research the night before.

In reply to An Uncaring Universe (msg # 1):

"It's beautiful out here." Cody says, amazed. "Where are we going, again?" He waits for a response...

In reply to Cody Panther (msg # 2):

Cody has in fact become completely lost in the woods. In fact he thinks he has seen the same stump twice now despite the fact that the others don't seem to be worried about it.

In reply to An Uncaring Universe (msg # 3):

In an effort to placate Cody, Kayleigh draws out a piece of chalk and draws faces on the stump, one on each side.  That way, any direction they come from, if they cross it again, they'll know.  Further, she numbers them one through four as well, so if they come from a different direction, they'll be able to figure out the changes and possibly correct.  To continue and simplify, she also starts marking a tree each time they take a forked path to denote the direction they took.

Ged walks along, watching Kayleigh mark the trees, helping now and then. He also keeps an eye out for anything alchemically interesting. "Everything seems to be going great so far, since we have him to guide us." Ged says sarcastically

In reply to Ged Poomjer (msg # 5):

Ged spots a leafy reddish blue shrub growing to around 6 feet tall next to the stump as Kayleigh moves to draw on it. It grows several small blue berries he recognizes as tasting overly sweet but providing some alchemical protection from extreme temperature.


Kayleigh meanwhile draws the faces on the stump...but discovers something odd as she does. There is a hinge at the top! This stump is a door!

In reply to An Uncaring Universe (msg # 6):

Kayleigh pauses mid-face to study the hinge for a moment.  "Uh, guys, I think I foundsomething," she exclaims happily, making the first discovery on the mission.  Perhaps they were near success already and would be getting back to civilization soon?!  "Is anyone able to search for traps?  I might have a spell for it, but if you can without magic?"  She looks to the alchemist, the only one she vaguely recalls having the roguish skills.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:49, Sun 18 July 2021.

"I can take a look, but I can't promise anything" Ged remarks.  He checks the door for traps.

In reply to Ged Poomjer (msg # 8):

The door does not appear to be booby trapped after a thorough inspection by Ged. But he does find some debris around the edge stump that makes it seem like the entrance was frequented or possibly inhabited. Things that look like strange spherical cracked nut shells litter the grass as well a couple of polished sticks that looked like they were once part of something now broken.

In reply to An Uncaring Universe (msg # 9):

"Hm.  Even so, maybe we should be extra careful?  We can use these sticks to open it from a distance, right?  Better safe than sorry, especially as I'm not looking to bandage you too again so soon."  Said like a true mom-friend.  She grabs a stick, one of the polished ones, and passes it to Ged.  She takes one herself, pokes at the side of the stump ...lid? ... opposite the hinges, to see if she can open it a bit.

"Ah yes, the tried and true method of checking for traps, the good ol' "poke it with a stick" strategy" Ged says, making a sarcastic fencing stance. He joins Kayleigh in poking at the door, moving to the side of the door and poking at the opposite side from Kayleigh. "Now this is a genius strategy"
This message was last edited by the player at 04:14, Wed 08 Dec 2021.

In reply to Ged Poomjer (msg # 11):

Oddly enough the poke it with a stick method does not result in a fireball of mushroom cloud proportions for your impertinence. It does result in music... spurts of lively tunes blast out of the crack every time the sticks manage to knock the hatch ajar. Multicolored lights also flicker gayly out of the gap in a rainbow aurora.

The only blast going on here is apparently some kind of party....in a stump...in the middle of nowhere...

"hmm, this is honestly a new one for me. who would've thought of an underground goblin rave, with a kidnapped girl inside?" Ged says matter-of-factly. <Green>Well I guess there's not much else to do, so here we go!<Green> Ged says, as he lines up with the door and pushes though, into the party.

In reply to Ged Poomjer (msg # 13):

"Oh, I am absolutely going to regret this.  Come on, Cody. Let's go save Ged from himself."  With a sigh, Kayleigh also enters after the midget.

In reply to Kayleigh (msg # 14):

There was a ladder on the inside revealed when the door was flipped open the rest of the way. Music and dancing colored splashes of light come up out of the entrance to what ever this was.

As the trio climbs down into it they find themselves in some kind of bar? tavern? Ballroom? One thing was for sure, there were no goblins in here. Dwarves sat at a bar on stools drinking beer from pitchers and mugs. More dwarves danced to the music around some kind of automaton band playing strange looking guitars and drums. Lights flicked on and off, a globe of mirrors hung from the ceiling.

A few more dwarves played mechanical games that pinged and rang as they rattled control levers back and forth in a nook to the other side while still more dwarves were rolling smooth gemstones the size of human heads down wooden lanes at painted gnome statues with red pointy hats on. The balls shattering the statues which just reassembled them selves after each toss and points were marked down by the one's playing.

On the wall above the bowling alleys was a big magical sign in glowing neon..."Gnomemash-O-Rama Lanes"

No sooner had the group set foot off the ladder and been spotted than a wave of stillness passes through the patrons. They all stop talking and playing to turn and stare at the strangers...

"hmm, well this is awkward.. Ged says, motioning to the other two that it was safe. He walks over to the bar, gets the bartender's attention "Hey there big guy, can I get something to drink?" Ged asks.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 02:41, Tue 28 Dec 2021.

In reply to Ged Poomjer (msg # 16):

Kayleigh looks at Ged as if he'd lost his ever-loving mind and grown a second head at the same time.  She isn't sure which is worse, two elves in a dwarven hold, or a gnome in a gnome-bash party... Oh God, that little man either has a death wish or some ungodly lack of survival instinct.

"Gentlemen," Kayleigh states, forcing a smile as she moves to join Ged, keeping Cody behind her.  More than anything, she wants to get to Ged so they can make a break for it.  For the first time in recent memory, she is smart enough to not start cleaning everything near her or move to immediately, if unintentionally, insult the dwarves.