Lucien follows the tunnel to the left for about 50 to 60 feet before it opens into a cavern occupied by six male goblins, sitting together and chatting in goblin. Lucien stops before entering the cavern, which appears to be a guard post. The goblins do not notice him. There are no other tunnels visible leading from the cavern.

Deciding that a guard post doesn't contain much of interest for him at the moment, Lucien turns around and heads back with the intention of exploring the right tunnel more thoroughly.

Lucien sneaks back to where the tunnel had forked and proceeds down the other path. He quickly arrives in the cavern where they had encountered the goblin chief, shaman, and most of the clan the day before. There are two tunnels leading out of this cavern. Lucien recalls that the chief and shaman had emerged from the tunnel to the left previously.

Continuing to be as quiet as he can and listening hard for the sounds of goblins, Lucien proceeds down the left tunnel.

The tunnel to the left is wider than the others, about 25 to 30 feet across. After proceeding down the tunnel for about 40 feet, Lucien comes to another fork. He can hear the sounds of young goblins playing and fussing coming from the left tunnel.

Deciding to avoid the complications that come from involving children, Lucien takes the right path.

The tunnel to the right is narrower than the others and continues for more than 100 feet before opening into a very large cavern that appears to the lair of the goblin chieftain, who currently sits in a far corner of the chamber talking with the shaman and four other male goblins. Two female goblins sit nearby, also talking.

No other tunnels are apparent.

Does there appear to be a way to sneak up near the chief's conversation?

The chamber is mostly open and the chief is in a far corner, so it would be quite difficult for Lucien to make it close to him without being noticed. Further, he would have to pass by the two females to do so.

Seeing no easy way to enter the chamber of sneak about, Lucien decides to back out of the chamber. As he returns to the previous intersection, he decides that a quick peek at the room with the goblins younglings can't go amiss. He heads down the other tunnel for a look.

Lucien finds another chamber, this one much noisier than the others. It is filled with about a dozen female goblins and their children. The tribe's food store also appears to be kept in the chamber. There are no other tunnels apparent.

Having satisfied his curiosity and seeing no immediate evidence of anything serious within the goblins' cave, Lucien decides that it is time to leave. He sneaks back through the tunnels to where the two guards are watching and from a hiding spot behind them in the larger chamber, he contemplates how to escape without attracting their attention.

He wishes that he knew enough of the goblin tongue to imitate their speech, but with no other immediate option he decides that another false alarm is the best tactic. He takes a candle out of his pack and places it behind a large rock at the far end of the cavern. He lights the candle and then retreats to his hiding spot behind a rock right next to the exit tunnel. Then he pulls out his crowbar and gives the rock in front of him two hard whacks to create noise to draw the goblins in. He hopes they will see the flickering candle light and go to investigate while he flees through the tunnel.

Lucien's ploy works, and he is able to escape out of the cave without being seen.

On his way out, Lucien spots Albrecht and and waves him to their mutual hiding spot.

Al smiles and nods at Lucien. He'll give him a moment, then follow in his overly cautious manner. Outside, he scratches over his previous markings at the cave entrance and follows amiably to their secluded campsite.
_{"So lad? any hiba jibbery goin on whoseabouts? Did you note any oddly fresh water sources in abouts?"}

Lucien twitches just slightly at being referred to as 'lad', but decides to let it go. Dwarves may show their age more than elves, but they are still long lived and Lucien himself isn't really that old. Once the two of them are secluded, he takes a seat and shakes his head. "I'm afraid I didn't find out much except that it's rather easy to avoid attracting goblins' attention. They have a guard post and about six warriors in addition to the two guarding the entrance. There are about an equal number of female goblins, the chief, and the shaman. They have quite a few infants, but overall the tribe seems quite small. Further I can't find any evidence of the kind of large scale dark magic it would take to affect this whole area. If that ring is the culprit, it is an item of immense power to conceal its nature so."

Al listens and nods. He appreciates Lucien's tactical mind, all Al really noticed was the cave slope and the moss colors.

"Hmm, has me worried, that thing. All of nature suffers and we care for naught but hurt feelings. 'N what if we're wrong bout this? wastin all this time over naught" he shrugs.
"This settin still turns me mind dark, sorry bout that. We'll be fine, I knows."


"Well, sun's up and and our friends don't seem to go near the cave mouth in the light, are we opposed to a nice fire? Warm food'd be nice for a spell.
We're here for a whiles till our friends returns. I'm thinkin it be best to cover the hereabouts for foods n any clues we mighta missed. I don't expect much else while we let time pass, but I'd like to replenish some foodstores and I can't just set."

Lucien considers Albrecht's words, but in the end simply nods. "It is possible that we are wasting our time with these goblins, but we have no other clues. If something were to present itself, I would gladly pursue another avenue."

Looking through the bushes, Lucien considers Albrecht's proposal as he regards the entrance to the cave. "I suppose a fire would do little harm even if it did reveal our location to the goblins. In fact, it might prompt something to happen which might reveal new information. A little foraging probably would not go amiss either." He stands a stretches. "Let us see what we can find and then return here to make a fire." Lucien wanders off in search of something fresh and edible.

Lucien Nailo rolled 16 using 1d20+2. Survival to forage.

Lucien and Albrecht set up a decent campsite for themselves. The rest of the day passes without incident.

The next day, a hawk lands at the campsite. It has a small scroll in its talons. It lays the scroll down near the two adventurers, looks at them, then flies away.

Al looks up at the hawk in surprise. "Oi mate, what a beauty!" He exclaims in hawkish. "Where'd ye hail from, mate? Haven't spied a nest herebouts."

He switches back to common, "Ooo, present!" he points to the scroll, but keeps an eye on the bird. If it circles a bit, he'll throw some meat up to it, assuming it's come a long way and could use a snack. Then he'll snatch up the scroll give it a looky loo.

The hawk takes the food offered, then flies away.

Albrecht opens the scroll, which reads: We are going to Thurmaster to talk to Tauster, so we will be gone longer than expected. We will hurry. Stay safe. - Lathan and Antia

Lucien moves over to read the note over Albrecht's shoulder. He makes a disappointed noise in the back of his throat when he finishes reading. "It sounds like we will be here for awhile longer. I will be very surprised if they convince Tauster to come all the way out here."

Al scratches his head and grumbles to himself "What's a Tauster?"

He sighs, "Where'd they rent a hawk? Is that a thing here? Poor guys, 's a livin I guess. Anyhoo, nothin changes fer us, I guess. Hunt n forage. kep the eyes, stay the course."

Lucien chuckles a little. "Tauster is a wizard that Anita and I have had dealings with." He regards the hawk with a considering expression. "They're rather meticulously trained I believe. They do when there is no magic available." He nods at the dwarf's final statement. "True enough."

After several days of uneventful waiting in the Patchwork Hills, Lucien and Albrecht spot Lathan and Antia approaching the entrance to the goblin cave, accompanied by two unidentified women.

Move to "The Evils of Haranshire" thread.