Konrad grimaces as he eyes Vera's pile of bile and says, "Now that's gross.  And that's gonna leave a mark," pointing out Falis' wound. He then grabs the nearest crab and starts prying the treasure off its shell, "But maybe this will make it a little better," as he holds out a handful of treasure to his companions."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:16, Thu 11 Feb 2021.

"Not bad, not bad," Zorbon says as he thinks about all the party has collected thus far. "Shall we press on? That is, when Vera is feeling up to it. I do have one curing spell left, and Arrador said he has some healing magic, too."

The witch wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Sorry I seem to have reached my limit for spells today..."

 Falis observes Konrad prying the shell off of the crab, and follows suit, smashing the flat of her axe onto the nearest crab.  Then, she begins to poke... prod... gouge at its mortal shell with the butt of the weapon.  "That ought to loosen things up a bit."

After a bit of work, the party has collected 7 gold coins, 18 silver coins, a few bits of glass and a ruby worth 10gp.

-----------------------
       F  A  V
        K  Z
-----------------------

Konrad pipes up, "perhaps we should head back to town to spend some of our hard-earned coins?  I think we could all do with a good night's rest and the mine certainly isn't going to go anywhere while we're gone."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:09, Wed 17 Feb 2021.

"I'd agree to that.... I want to return this young man to his family."

The group makes their way back to the pit, and with a little effort, and help from ~Nick and ~Rameriz, climb back onto the stairs.  They spiral back to the upper level, and find the door closed, and barred from the other side.

          __________
          |  >/     \
          |  |       |
          |  |       |
          |P |       |
         _|x _\_____/
        |     |
        |     |
        |     |
        %_____|

 Falis groans.  "Son of a [REDACTED]...!  Let me see what I can do, here." She takes a few preparatory breaths, and then works on forcing the bars open with her mailed hands.

17:56, Today: Falis rolled 3 using 1d6+2 ((1)).
Opening Doors.

"Well if we camp out here to rest and regain our spells, we would definitely hear someone opening that door," says Zorbon with a wry smile. "And we would hear someone climbing the stairs, too."

Falis manages to force the door.  The dead goblins bodies left in the barracks have been riffled through, and their weapons are missing.

The party makes their way back up the spiral stairs uneventfully.  From the top of the stairs they can see:

The shaft in the ceiling has a rope hanging motionless down from it.

The rope bridge has been cut from the other side and it hangs down into the chasm.

Across the chasm, the elf, ~Valaric lies dead with a couple goblin arrows in him.  The mule is missing.

            _____
           |  P %|
           |     |
           |  o  |
           |     |
           |     |
           |     |
        ~~~~~~v~~~~~~
              v
        ~~~~~~v~~~~~~
           |     |
           |  V  |
           |     |
          _|_  x_|_
          |       |
          |       |
      ____|       |
       <up        |
      ____________|

This message was last edited by the GM at 00:57, Sat 27 Feb 2021.

Konrad approaches the chasm edge, anger rising in him at the sight of his dead companion. "Damned goblins!" He shouts; and angrily kicks the nearest rock he sees into the ravine.

"What! Is wrong?" Vera made her way to check out the scene.

 Falis cries out.  "Bastards!"  She does not trust the scene at all, and readies her bow.  "Mule's missing... and Valaric's dead."

"Oh my.. from now on we better stick together. Or be fodder of these goblins." Vera shook her head.

The party find a few drops of blood on the floor on their side of the chasm.

The moments tick by with no sign of goblin activity.

            _____
           |    %|
           |     |
           |  o  |
           |     |
           |   P |
           |     |
        ~~~~~~v~~~~~~

        ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
           |     |
           |  V  |
           |     |
          _|_  x_|_
          |       |
          |       |
      ____|       |
       <up        |
      ____________|

Konrad gives a grim nod in agreement with Vera but says nothing.  Noticing the fresh blood on the ground, Konrad leans down to take a look.  "Looks like the fight might not have been so one-sided, perhaps Valaric stuck one of them with an arrow," he says.

OOC: Is it just a pool of blood, or does it look like it leads somewhere? Perhaps towards that rope to the ceiling?
This message was last edited by the player at 00:26, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

The blood trail leads towards (what's left of) the rope bridge.

 Falis sucks air through her teeth, frowning, and shakes her fingers.  "This is... I think the word I'm looking for is 'precarious'." She sighs.  She can be heard sucking her teeth, and asking as if to herself, "What are we going to do... Need rope.  Grapples.  Magic.  Something."

"I can climb down and to the other side." he offers.  "A bit of rope, and perhaps the bridge can be mended enough to cross.  Unless you think the gobs are still here?"

"Sounds like a plan. Well, folks, let's help Nick down," remembering his own climb to the bottom of the crevice.

"How are we to offer aid if he's attacked?

ooc: forgive the shove.  The goblins are long gone.

Nick makes his way down the chasm and back up the other side.  A little rope work has the bridge secured back up and the party crosses without incident.

The trip back to Helmsbreach is uneventful.  They meet with the mayor for a bit in the morning.  ~Nick, ~Arrador & ~Rameriz say their goodbyes.

Treasure
150 GP balance of the 200 gold coins promised by the Mayor.
67 GP. 218 SP, 27 CP
A 20 GP gem and an 10 GP ruby


XP - Each character receives 10x post count
Falis     910 XP
Konrad  770XP
Vera     360XP
Zorbon  760XP + 50XP for recovering Timin, the baker's son

 Falis frowns.  "Well... I've got my bow, and there are some smaller weapons I have on myself that can be thrown, but that's about it." She looks at the fallen elf, who was also capable with bows.  She, bow and arrow in hand, keeps a look-out for danger.

 = = = = = = = = = = = =

 During the meeting with the mayor, Falis makes it a point to mention the goblin barracks, and their armaments.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:56, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

Ärchönia wandered through Helmsbreach. It was a bit disappointing. Certainly, this was the outer limit, but it is the outer limit of civilization. Surely they could have had a mage tower or two, or at least a theater. But at least it was new. And the mountains were enough to bring a wistful sadness. And people came and went, so there was always the chance to find interesting sorts. Perhaps there were interesting sorts here?

As she wandered, she looked at the populace. If she saw any of the magic-users or elves, she would certainly approach for an introduction. That is how it is done, after all.