Lucien and Albrecht remain in the Patchwork Hills to keep an eye on the blue-faced goblins while Antia and Lathan make the two-day trek back to Milborne.

As soon as Anita and Lathan depart, Lucien begins to cast around the area for a good place where he and Albrecht can watch the cave in relative safety while remaining hidden. "We should find a place where we can watch the entrance to the cave. Normally I'd choose the building across the street, but well..." He casts around at the barren landscape.

As he looks, another thought occurs to the elf. "After we find a good spot, we should also look for back exits to the cave. It wouldnt do to let the goblins sneak out unnoticed."

Al will ask many questions about what is needed for a 'good' spot and help pick out a naturally decent hollow to make camp and keep an eye on the entrance. Then will go back to the cave mouth and stomp deep tracks in the mud leading in the other direction before circling back. "Good idea, mate. I'm worried about back exits meself. I'd never set in a surface cave without one, but it's gobbos. I'm hopin the didn't think that far aheads."
He studies the ground and river for a long while. "Whelp, we know the cave goes in yonder, and it continued inwards thems ways. Followin the earthways, I'd suppose over Yeahwise be the most likeliest of exitries. Want me to goes a scoutin? or should I just set for the moment while you do the quiety sort of thing?"

Lucien is reasonably pleased with the spot Albrecht finds and impressed with his idea to leave deliberate tracks in the other direction. It is his personal opinion that the goblins are probably not clever enough to search for tracks, but he's also an advocate of taking every precaution. "That's good thinking."

Lucien considers Albrecht's proposal and the presumed direction of the cave he described. "Well no offense intended Albrecht, but you make less noise if you don't move. I think I'll do a quick scout around the area, while you watch the entrance. If the goblins come out, just try to avoid drawing any attention." He gives a weak smile.

The area around the cave is quiet for most of the day. Lucien and Albrecht are unable to locate a back exit to the cave.

A couple hours after Antia and Lathan leave, Lucien and Albrecht notice from their vantage point two farmers traveling through the Mire along the foot of the Patchwork Hills. The two men move along slowly and eventually disappear from sight.

Shortly before sunset, a party of eight blue-faced goblins emerges from the cave. The goblins are armed but also carry foraging baskets and burlap sacks.

Al passes the day quietly chewing on hard hard rations. He knows it's quiet time, so basically doesn't speak unless spoken to. He tries he best to keep down when the goblins come out of the cave. He points at Lucien then the goblins and makes a walking gesture with 2 fingers with an exaggerated inquisitive look on his face.

For the hiding spot, Lucien observes the goblins as they exit the cave. He acknowledges Albrecht's motions and addresses him in the lowest whisper he can manage. "One of us could follow them. They look like they're just going out to gather food though so it might not be worthwhile. This could be a prime opportunity to sneak inside and have a better look around than last time..." He trails off suggestively.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:33, Thu 13 Apr 2017.

Al looks at Lucien and nods sagely in agreement with his suggestion. He then points to himself, shakes his head, then wobbles side to side with oustretched arms like a lumbering monster.
When the goblins are out of sight for a while, he'll hazard a whisper _{"Me concern was fer them locals a'gallavantin. They might be on their ways back home n get gobbo snatched. I'll give them a follow from a goodly ways afield, I would no get anywhere nears unless they endanger an innocent. "}

Lucien and Albrecht are able to watch the goblin party from a distance as they forage for food, mostly berries, fungi, and small animals from various traps stationed around the area. Once their bags and baskets are full, the goblins return to their cave.

The rest of the day passes without incident.

Periodically, Lucien gets up to stretch and sneaks out of the hiding spot for a short time. As darkness begins to fall, he gets Albrecht's attention. "We should try and get as comfortable as possible. I don't need much sleep so it's up to you if you'd rather be woken up four hours before dawn or go to sleep four hours after dark."

Al will stay put in camp after his little adventure. Clearly not understanding rules of a 'stake out', he still keeps down in camp and whispers the best he can _{"I'll stay up lad, you get some rest."}

Lucien gives something between a shrug and a nod in response. Finding a relatively comfortable place to sit, he folds himself into his meditative pose and closes his eyes. To the world, he could be sleeping except for the somewhat unnatural posture.

Going to try for my 4 hours trance while Albrecht keeps up the watch.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:18, Sat 22 Apr 2017.

The night passes without incident.

By the next morning Lucien is already beginning to get anxious, he is well aware that Anita and Lathan will still not return for sometime, but the inaction is clearly getting to him. Once Albrecht is fully awake, Lucien posses a question. "What would you say to a little snooping? We'd be careful and we wouldn't take anything or pick any fights, but a little more information never hurt."

Al wakes up, stretched and nods. "Mornin!" Then looks aghast and surreptitiously looks about. _"Mornin." he whispers. <sub>"Um, sorry."

"Snoopin what? wherebouts? I'm not a very good snoppin snoo, but I'll give it a good wazza if'n ye know what I meanins."</sub> He winks conspiratorially.

Lucien is not, in fact, sure he knows what Albrecht means at all. "Do you mean you'd rather keep a lookout? I was planning to venture inside the cave and just have a look around. Maybe head a little ways up both of those passages in the room where we met their leader."

Are there still guards posted at the entrance?

Al looks confused. _{"A lookout? I guess I could do tha. I'll go in as much is safe. No snoo, as I sayin. But I got you."}

There are no guards visible at the entrance of the cave. The guards they had encountered earlier were well within the cave.

Lucien checks to make sure that the coast is clear before standing and leaving the safety of the hiding spot. "Alright, let's just have a little look then. We'll do our best to avoid trouble." He flashes a mischievous smile as he approaches the entrance of the cave. Once there, he pauses and gives a good listen to make sure he thinks it's safe before entering.

Lucien Nailo rolled 20 using 1d20+6.  Perception.

Al stays a ways behind so as not to interfere with Lucien's sneaking. He'll do his best to keep him in sight while staying low and quiet.

As before, about 150 feet into the cave, Lucien spots two armed goblins standing guard at the opening to the larger chambers. They are about 30 feet away and do not appear to see him yet.

Lucien takes a ball bearing out of one of his pockets and rolls it as hard as he can into the chamber behind the goblins. If they turn to investigate, he uses the opportunity to dart into the chamber and find a hiding place until they return to their posts.

Lucien Nailo rolled 21 using 1d20+7.  Stealth.

Al creeps up to the cave entrance. He uproots a small patch of plant life and makes his scratches. He'll clean his hands by rubbing some mud onto his face and hair. Putting small patches of mud and plant matter on his shoulders.
He creeps into the cave slowly and as quietly as he can, far behind Lucien, but trying to keep him in sight. When Lucien makes his attempt to slip past the guards, he stops and stays low at the spot he crept to. Watching their reactions and attempting to hide.

Believing he has none of the skill required to slip past easily, he'll look for the best irregularity in the cave walls to cram himself into and stay there, out of the way. He'll hide and be ready, listening intently for any signs of a plan gone awry.

Lucien's ploy works; the goblins are distracted enough that he is able to sneak into the cave and find a hiding spot without being noticed. The goblins return to their post, walking right past the well-hidden elf.

Ahead of Lucien, the cave continues for about 25 feet before forking. When they had been in the cave the day before, the party had traveled down the pathway to the right.

As carefully as possible, Lucien proceeds down the tunnel to the fork. He remembers that goblins came from both directions when the party was in the cave before ans so makes a snap decision to head down the tunnel to the left instead of the partially explored tunnel to the right.

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.