Maiya was--on the whole--attempting to keep up an aggressive pace, but with things starting to get sidetracked...

"All things considered, this is all a distraction, and the children must be recovered.  Now, I understand that you...  Seem to be a tracker?"  She asked the one who ran ahead.  "Apologies if we were loud, but haste is important in this circumstance as well--stealth is not particularly an option in light of the party we have available at this very moment.  I'm unsure of your intent at this time, but I will presume that you're friendly, despite your refusal thus far to cooperate.  You say they've gone downwards?  Then downwards we shall go.  If you wish to join us, you're free to do so, but either way, we cannot expect to conceal a group of this size from any realistic sentries, and if they are going to slay the children on principle the moment we make contact, we cannot expect them to be any more restrained if we simply give them the time to do what they please--so I am willing to gamble on them caring for their own skins over slaying the weak and throwing themselves upon our vengeance.  Foul as they are, such vermin would not be a problem if they were prone to self destruction--and the risks of them eating the children should we simply take our time to try and move 'Quietly' seems to me to be greater than otherwise."

Really, the Goddess instructs to protect when possible--but to act too slowly might as well be the same as not acting at all--either the trail would go cold or they'd get hungry.

In reply to Maiya Greenfield (msg # 58):

Daniel rolls his eyes Maiya, "'Not cooperate'? I've no idea what you're going on about. A woman ran into town crying that her children had been taken by goblins. I went immediately to where she said it happened. The rest of you stayed in town for a bit. Eventually you finally left town searching for them and ... did your best to warn their captors you were coming, and I still hadn't met any of you and couldn't have been uncooperative. As to time....you're only now realizing it matters? The time lost NOT warning them we are coming is small. And yes, I CAN expect a group this size to be quiet. I'm quite used to it, in fact. Now, if you're DONE blaming me for your staying in town, and your rather extreme noise making, could someone help me move these rocks, possibly? For the children? Remember them?" Daniel point at the outcroppings. "There should be a passage underneath one of them. Either that or the goblins can fly, and flying wouldn't have damaged the laurel bushes, so..."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:01, Tue 20 Aug 2019.

Maiya stopped, stared at the man for a moment, and then shook her head dismissively, this wasn't the time to get in an argument with a hermit.

What she did instead was something constructive, move up to help move the rocks out of the way.

After the brown haired man ignored her question and instead just started berating them , Mari decided that he was someone that thought he would be on the right no matter what the facts were and chose to ignore him completely. He must be embarrassed of losing the track and projecting the frustration on others.

Stepping around the man and leaving him to talk with the holy warrior Mari started to search for entrance tunnels in the bushes and the surrounding rock outcrops. One thing he had got right was that they didn't have time to lose.

OOC
Please DM, make an appropriate roll for me for looking where the goblins went, whether investigation, survival or perception or whatnot.

It takes little time that realise that moving heavy rocks will not be necessary. The bush which had originally caught Daniel's attention is not attached at the roots, and moving it aside reveals that it was placed so as to conceal a narrow opening in the rock face, leading directly in to the hillside. The ground in front of the opening, which had been concealed by the relocated bush, is heavily scuffed with drag marks.

The opening is about 5 foot wide, but very low. You'd need to crawl on your bellies to fit.

No roll necessary. It's pretty self-evident once you know where to look.

Karadin shook his head as the conversation escalated and muttered "[Language unknown: Ussepl]." He looked at the man that had scouted ahead "You worry about the noise, yet the light from the torch you're inevitably going to ask for down there is going to give away your approach even more so. Let's just find that entrance and get moving." The strong dwarf started moving smaller rocks and looking for sings of the entrance.

Harbek moved up to where he could see the Goblin-hole, which had apparently been concealed by a low bush of some sort. "Well done," he said, nodding to the Human male who had led the rest of the group straight to this spot. "Your tracking skills are impressive."

He glanced at the Goblin-hole, and was pleased to see that it was bigger-around than he feared it might be. When Karadin made his comment about torchlight, Harbek nodded. "You make a good point, Stonebrother."

"Given our ability to see in the dark, mayhap you should take the lead in the gloom of the Goblin-tunnels," he suggested. He tapped his own chain-mail armor and added "I would be happy to join you in the lead, but my armor tends to clink and clank, and as you know, sounds can carry quite far in the quietness of the under-ground."

After a short pause, Harbek chuckled and said, "Just be sure to leave a few Goblins for the rest of us, if you are the one who reaches them first."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:53, Tue 20 Aug 2019.

Karadin's grin grew big and wide. "I'll gladly lead the way, Stonebrother. But when I find them, I will pause for a moment to give you a chance to approach. I wouldn't want you claiming I had an advantage when I fell more of the vermin than you," the tattooed dwarf retorted in a traditional dwarven competitive nature.

Harbek chuckled at Karadin's retort. ~What a fine day this is shaping up to be! I shall soon have the opportunity to be Goblin-slaying in the company of a like-minded Stonebrother, and also in the company of a group Humans who, to their credit, seemingly have a goodly measure of courage, themselves.~

He glanced around at the Humans in the party. "Any who have doubts about this course of action should speak quickly, lest they lose the opportunity."

"For my Stonebrother shall not long delay, given his eagerness to bring his axe within striking-range of the foul Goblins."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:41, Tue 20 Aug 2019.

Mari was kneeling next to the hole trying to see how deep it continued before opening out, she spoke with her back to the others, "Based on the tracks there were at least seven goblins in the group that snatched the children, then who knows how many more there is in the cave waiting otherwise. I understand that we humans have not the sharp eyes of the dwar, but I would prefer staying as a group." Mari took her pack off of her shoulders, thinking it would be just a hindrance withing the tight confines of the hole.

She glanced towards the two dwarves, with a small smile playing on her lips,

"I didn't hear your name before, holy warrior, but maybe we should take the second line after the dwar," she commented towards Maiya. Mari patted her scale mail armor and flashed her shield, "With my armor I will be as loud as master dwar there," she nodded towards Harbek.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Tue 20 Aug 2019.

"Reasonable enough, I'll ensure you come to no harm lady priestess"  Maiya agreed.  "Second line it is!"

Harbek smiled at the human female when she spoke to him and Karadin in the Dwar-Tongue, and his smile broadened when she gave a very passable rendition of the Greeting Ritual. He bowed in response to her honoring him with her names, and replied, "Greetings, Mari of the Taysley Family. I am Harbek, of the Hardstone Family, of the Stoneshaft Clan. My Home-Place is Krak Vestri, in the foothills of the Worldtop Mountains."

Harbek paused just long enough to be proper about it, and closed the Greeting Ritual by adding "The pleasure of the meeting is mine."

Admittedly Harbek had to think for a moment in order to recall the Human female holy warrior's name, for he had heard it back at the beginning of the march and there had been no formal Greeting Ritual involved to help the parties remember the details. But at length it came to him -- Maiya Greenfield . . . he felt confident that 'twas the holy warrior's name.

As he listened to Mistress Maiya and Mistress Mari discuss forming up as a second line inside the Goblin-tunnels, he suggested "I would like to join with you, if you have no objection. I need to remain far enough behind Karadin of the Axebeard Family so as to not ruin his efforts at stealthy scouting by reason of the clink-clanking of my armor."

"One benefit to my marching alongside you is that I can keep my Stonebrother in sight, evan if he is a ways ahead of us, and even in the darkest gloom. Thus, I should be able pass along any of his signals to you."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:14, Tue 20 Aug 2019.

"Greetings, Harbek of the Hardstone family." Her cheeks reddened but Mari smiled pleased that she had remembered enough of her lessons that she hadn't made a fool of herself in front of the dwar speaking their language and using their greetings. "I welcome you to join us and your guidance is appreciated. However we will be as blind as newborn kittens if there is no light, so we will have to bring some with us."

"Thank you for your support, warrior of the Sturmbund. I am Mari, please don't call me Mother Mari." It made her feel ancient, even if it was the right form to speak to a priestess.

Mari bent to take a palm sized stone from the ground and considered it seriously, she took hold of her holy symbol and spoke reverently, "Shining Lady, help to illuminate our path." There was a brief shimmer of light on her holy symbol and then the stone flickered alive with bright golden light shining on her upheld palm. "Good Lady provides. I am ready."

Mari pocketed the still shining stone, stuffed her backpack under a bush to hide it a little and unstrapped her shield so she could push it in front of her while crawling to the hole.

Assuming the group was about ready, Karadin also stashed his pack behind some brush. "No sense having me pots and pans clanging through the tunnels." As he started down the hole, and Mari illuminated the stone he looked at Harbek "I will use hand signals to advise whether to stop or approach, but if you hear the vermin yipping, you come running lest I get too much of a head start." With that he turned and headed down the tunnel as quietly as he could.

---

OOC: 18:18, Today: Karadin Axebeard rolled 10 using 1d20+2.  Stealth Check.

Dorian observed as the group started debating and moving stones. It would be a dark hunt and he felt that he had little to contribute if he couldn't see the the enemy. Though he spend most of his life going in and out the dark deck of the ship, he still didn't have a nightvision. In fact that was the source of several broken little toes and bumps in the forehead. The group was deciding a formation, with the dwarves going first and leading the way, and though that seemed like a good idea, another thing crossed his mind: He used to have..."business" with goblins, an though they were not the smartest kind, they were surely not stupid. It could have a main way in, but if he was the one living inside the cave, he would have some alternative way out, just in case.

He tried to catch the attention of the human tracker, whose bad manners and arguments he started to enjoy, and said "Hey. You can't see in there as well, can you? What if, while these first brave warriors go ahead, you and I try to find another entrance to surprise the scared ones?"

Daniel shrugged "You mean an emergency exit? They probably have one, but they wouldn't use it they have 2 brain cells to run together. No indication topside, if its not used. Still..." He starts looking around for another potential area that might have an entrance down. "The dwarves would probably be better at guessing where the back door would be...."

Karadin's feet are the last thing to vanish into the darkness as he crawls along on his belly through the opening.

(Mari, Maiya and Harbek - are you going in hot on his heels or giving him some head start?)


Those with any familiarity with goblins will know that Dorian is, of course, correct. It would be very unusual for them to build a den with only one way in and out. Daniel's detailed search of the immediate surroundings had uncovered no sign of other entrances, though.

(I overlooked a question about map scale earlier. Unless otherwise indicated, the grid squares on the maps will all be 5' by 5'.)

“Spread out,” Raven said to the others who were remaining above-ground, once it became clear that the backdoor, if it existed at all, wasn’t so easily located. “If they do run, we stand a better chance of catching them if we can watch several locations at once.”

Harbek watched as Karadin's feet disappeared into the Goblin-hole, shrugging his shoulders free of his pack-straps as he looked on. He counted to sixty, then flopped down on his belly and followed his fellow-Dwar into the dark hole.

~Well, this is a very undignified way to start things off,~ he thought to himself. ~But 'twill all be worth it if we can rescue the bnarr and wipe out the Goblins.~

~I assume that the two Humans will be following me into the entrance-hole, so I need to move ahead enough to give them room to deploy. Once we are all inside, we can get ourselves sorted and start exploring this place.~
This message was last edited by the player at 01:20, Thu 22 Aug 2019.

Mari motioned with her arm for Maiya to go first after Harbek. She was taking deep breaths trying to calm herself at the thought of crawling between the pressing earth.

What if I get stuck? I hope the tunnel opens up soon.

When it came to her time to crawl into the embrace of the dirt, she pushed her shield in front.

Daniel watches the various folks go divide up into tunnelers and watchers, shrugs, and pulls out his bow. He steps onto the highest outcropping to get a good view of all directions, and pulls out an arrow.

Karadin moved through the tunnel. When he reached an area with a bit more room, he paused and looked back to ensure the others were indeed following. As soon as he caught the first glimpse of the party moving in behind him, he turned forward and continued on.

A short while later, he again paused and when Harbek came in to view, Karadin made a slicing motion across his neck with his now dirt stained finger and then pointed downward. Then he began climbing downward.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:55, Thu 22 Aug 2019.

”Dorian, takes that clump of trees,” Raven said pointing toward the northwest. (cluster near D-2) ”Zarth, take those other rocks other there,”(rocks at O-20)”I’ve got these trees over here,” she added, running past the main outcropping of rocks to a tree-cluster toward the northeast.

Moving to D-22

Dorian was pleased to be heard and agreed with Raven "Aye, splitting sounds good". He unsheathed his rapier and moved to northeast as Raven pointed. Once in position he started looking for something that could suggest an emergency exit.

Moving to D-2

Taking everything in, looking around the area and heeding the call from Raven he moves quickly and quietly to the rocks she pointed at. He takes up a readied position with a bow of his own and hides his body as best he can.