Karadin lifts the trap door open. "Lead on, Stonebrother!"

The opening beneath the trapdoor is much the same as that through which you entered; a hole cut straight down into the earth with wooden pegs to serve as aids to climbing.

No sooner is the trapdoor lifted, than you hear from below a cry of 'Akzt!' and two arrows fly through the opening. The first heads straight upwards and embeds itself in the ceiling of the tunnel. The second flies directly at Harbek, but ricochets harmlessly off his shield.
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:27, Wed 28 Aug 2019.

OOC:

DM,

As I recall, the previous down-shaft with hand- and foot-pegs for climbing was fairly shallow. Given that he has Darkvision, HH should be able to get a pretty good idea of the depth of the shaft.

If it looks like a short climb down, I anticipate that HH will move down and then go into melee (or, perhaps fling a javelin).

If it is a longer climb down (long enough as to prevent HH from getting his feet on the ground and then going into melee or flinging a javelin this round), I anticipate that he will move normally and while employing the Dodge action (essentially, using his shield defensively) to make himself harder to hit with arrows or bolts  on the way down.

Can you give me some guidance?

Thanks.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:28, Wed 28 Aug 2019.

(You hadn't gotten a good view of the depth yet on account of the arrows, but if you want to take a peek...)

Keeping his shield up while he looks down into the opening, Harbek meets the eye of a goblin looking back up from what can't be much more than about 15 feet below. The goblin lets out a cry of panic and hops backwards while fumbling with the quiver strapped to its side.

"Going in hot," Harbek muttered, as he raised his shield against the incoming arrows.

"It's only about 15 feet down before we can get to the Goblins," he added, for the benefit of his companions.

With that, Harbek moved down the Goblin-ladder, traveling perhaps a bit faster than was prudent. Once at the bottom he moved away from the spot directly below the ladder so that his companions would not be landing on his head as they climbed down.

Drawing his warhammer once he was down on the lower level, he quickly closed to melee with the Goblin that had been looking up the shaft at him. "Oorah!!" he thundered, shouting an ancient Dwarven battle-cry.

---

OOC:

Free Actions: Speak, ready Warhammer.

Move: Harbek will move down the shaft and try to move sufficiently far away to give his companions a landing-spot at the bottom of the ladder, closing to melee with a Goblin as he does so. (25 feet).

Action: 11:45, Today: Harbek Hardstone rolled 22 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 17.  Melee Attack v. Goblin.

11:46, Today: Harbek Hardstone rolled 8 using 1d8+5 with rolls of 3.  Damage (Warhammer).

Notes: Harbek employs the "Dueling" Fighting Style, which adds a +2 bonus to his Damage when he is wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:12, Wed 28 Aug 2019.

Seeing Harbek quickly descend, the goblin drops the quiver in a panic and quickly draws a battered and rusty sword, wildly swinging in panic. With the practiced motions of experience Harbek easily evades the goblin's attack and brings his hammer slamming into the side of its head. It collapses to the floor in a heap, dead.

(To Harbek) You're in a tunnel not so different from those above, stretching away in both directions. Only one other goblin is in sight, stood a few feet behind you clutching it's bow and momentarily frozen with a look of terror on its face. From ahead, though, you can hear the sounds of goblin cries and running feet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:49, Mon 02 Dec 2019.

Mari blushed at Harbek's and Karadin's thanks but nodded gracefully at them. "Ellantha provides."

She stayed a bit back when the dwar opened the trapdoor and was quietly grateful for it when the arrows started to fly. When Harbek made his descent and it became clear he wasn't being shot at Mari braced herself and walked to the pit starting to descend.

At the bottom she took out her own crossbow readying it for use.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:19, Wed 28 Aug 2019.

"Down we go then?" Maiya asked, but with everyone else on their way down...

Hmm, maybe a rope wouldn't be a bad idea?

Well, problems for later, she was sure they'd be able to improvise, the drop didn't seem too far anyway.  She dropped below and assessed the situation as best as she could at the bottom.

The bottom of the shaft down finds Mari in a passage not too dissimilar to the one above; though here there are a few additional wooden planks bracing the walls and ceilings. The ceiling is still uncomfortably low, and the passage stretches off into the blackness in both directions.

Other than Harbek, only one slightly panicked looking goblin is in view, clutching a bow  directly in front of the opening; but from the passage to the left you can hear the sounds of goblin cries and running feet.

Eschewing the handholds, Maiya leaps straight down after Mari. Her knees buckle as she hits the ground and her face hits the dirt with an unceremonious thump.

The goblin frantically tries to get of a shot, but the arrow simply whizzes through the space where Maiya was seconds before. The creature lets out a yelp of panic and turns to its left to flee.


(Map updated - the grey square just shows where you arrived. Karadin is missing as he's still up top. The tunnel fades to black at the edge of your vision. Let me know if the format is unclear.

Mari - you can make an opportunity attack on the goblin as it runs if you'd like.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:32, Thu 29 Aug 2019.

In reply to The Voice of Fate (msg # 50):

OOC:

<HH's player raises hand>. Me . . . I'm a little unclear. :)

Where is the Goblin that is attempting to run away? I'm befuddled about that.

Are the noises that can be heard coming from the corridor to the east of Harbek's icon (assuming that the top of the map corresponds to "north")?

Thanks.

The goblin is the small green icon - I've labelled it for clarity. It's about to run to the left of the map.

The noises you hear are coming from the right as you're looking at the map.

Thanks to your Dwarven experience in orienting yourself underground, you'd know that up is East on this map. In case that's relevant.

Mari was much happier holding her crossbow than wielding a shield and another weapon. After landing she noticed the retreating goblin and was just able to loose a bolt after it.

OOC
Attack of opportunity.
19:02, Today: Mari Taysley rolled 10,3 using 1d20+4,1d8+2.  light crossbow attack, damage.

The goblin moves quickly and ducks low, the bolt sailing over its head to thud harmlessly into the wall of the tunnel. It ducks around a corner and vanishes out of sight.

Map updated - green arrow to show direction of flight.

What are you doing, Karadin?

Karadin held the trap door as the rest of the party descended after the goblin. When the last of them reached the bottom, he took one last look around and then hopped over the edge. Quickly descended using the crude hand holds, he realized it was quite crowded at the bottom, so he continued moving toward the sounds of the goblins.

---

Movement: Climb down 12.5'
Action: Dash (Climb remaining 2.5' then move 20' toward the sound of the goblins.)

Running towards the sounds of the high-pitched shouts, you see a long passage heading off to the right. Two 'doors', if the name applies to a couple of wooden planks attached to the side of the tunnel by a hinge, stand wide open on either side; while further down a third is visible, still closed. Even Dwarven vision can't see how far back the tunnel goes.

Much more pressing to your attention than the scenery, however, are the goblins dashing about the tunnel, mostly in various states of undress. Two duck out of your sight heading right (green arrow), and two more, unarmed and naked as they day they were spawned, are running away from you.

One goblin, however, is fully armed with sword and bow, clad in dirty leather armour, and running directly towards you. On the sudden appearance of a Dwarf in his path brandishing a mighty axe, it skids to a halt and tries to quickly cock an arrow; succeeding only in dropping it on the floor.

In reply to The Voice of Fate (msg # 56):

"Well, dammit!" Harbek muttered under his breath as the Goblin who had been within striking range scurried away in a different direction than the one that Karadin had rushed off in. The Dwar had to remind himself that exterminating the vermin that lived in this burrow was of secondary import -- first and foremost, they needed to rescue the bnarrs who had been carried off.

Harbek turned to follow Karadin. He could hear Goblin-cries and hubub coming from that direction, so he hoped that heading that way would eventually lead them to the bnarrs. Plus, it sounded like there would be plenty of Goblins to kill if he went that way -- clearly, a win-win situation!

Cutting in front of Karadin, Harbek was rewarded by coming face-to-face with a Goblin in dirty leather armor, holding a bow, who was blocking the way down a side-tunnel.

"Oorah!!" he shouted again, letting all the Goblins in the side-tunnel know that the Dwar were amongst them, and had come to end their miserable lives.

He swung his warhammer at the Goblin, but the heavy head of the weapon struck only a glancing blow that was deflected by the creature's armor.

"Clangeddin's hairy balls!" Harbek swore.

"Look, Stonebrother! I left one for you!"

---

OOC:

Free Action: Speak.

Move: Harbek will move directly in front of the Goblin that is blocking the side-tunnel (15 feet of movement, by my count).

Action: 11:32, Today: Harbek Hardstone rolled 8 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 3.  Melee Attack v. Goblin.

Notes: Well, I suppose that HH's roll was better than the Goblin's Natural 1 -- but not by much.

Maiya sputtered--she wasn't the most nimble at the best of times and she should know this, but the fall wasn't the longest one and given the whistling sound she heard over her head, maybe this was a kind of providence too?

Questions for later.

"Which way are we advancing then?" She asks quickly, as she moves to rejoin the frontline.

OOC: Free Action to speak

Move action to get back up, and a second action to get ready to advance into the tunnel I guess?

Karadin watched as Harbek moved up and swung his hammer toward the startled goblin. The goblin dodged out of the way, only to take an arrow to the throat from Mari. As it collapsed to the ground, Karadin saw more goblins running toward them so he rushed forward to intercept the closest one with his greataxe.

---

Move: 15' to engage spear-weilding goblin
Action: Melee attack
13:39, Today: Karadin Axebeard rolled 17 using 1d20+5.  Melee Attack (Greataxe) vs Goblin.
13:39, Today: Karadin Axebeard rolled 6 using 1d12+3.  Damage (Greataxe).

If the goblin falls, Karadin will use the remaining 10' of movement to get in front of the bow-wielding goblin.

This message was last edited by the player at 23:36, Tue 10 Sept 2019.

Everyone else followed the main action or engaged the armored goblin, but Mari wanted to see what was happening the other way. Either the goblins were running in panic or they had a reason to go to the direction they were heading in.

Before that she reached for another bolt and sent it flying towards the armored goblin that was blocking the way to the other direction. With a satisfying thunk and nauseating spray of blood the bolt embedded into the neck of the goblin.

She then followed her curiosity and walked to see the other direction.



OOC
Action: Attack with crossbow the armored goblin. 24 to hit (natural 20), 8 piercing damage
Move: to the green arrow (the closest one, not the one down the hallway) to see where the other goblins are running to. (depending if she can see anything during the same turn, she will use rest of the movement to follow after Harbek and Karadin)
Bonus Action: Reload crossbow
21:08, Today: Mari Taysley rolled 4 using 1d8.  critical damage roll.

21:08, Today: Mari Taysley rolled 24,4 using 1d20+4,1d8+2.  crossbow attack, damage.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:18, Fri 30 Aug 2019.

While the goblin she shot gurgles its last breaths in a heap on the floor, Mari follows after the first goblin that fled and finds that the tunnel comes to a sudden dead end. Old, rotting layers of fabric are hung from the walls, and there's another trapdoor at her feet - but this one has had more work put into than the previous one. It's built flush with the earth and, noticeably, lacks any handle.

While Mari investigates, two still mostly naked goblins come charging back from the section of tunnel hidden from the Dwarfs' sight, pushing past their fellows. The front one of the two is brandishing a spear, and gibbering curses in goblinoid. The second is moving slightly more cautiously and readying a bow. Focus in it's eyes, it lets fly at the nearest Dwarf (Harbek); the arrow penetrating directly through his mail.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:01, Fri 30 Aug 2019.

Harbek barely pauses to cut a large hole through the middle of the first goblin before heading to the second. It quakes in terror, but by now it's clear that you've woken up the entire tribe.

While the fleeing goblins vanish round the corner, they are replaced by two more, naked like the rest and both wielding scimitars overhead. Snarling, the lead one lashes out and cuts a gash across Karadin's front.

"There's another trapdoor down here!" Mari calls out as she sees it, then she moves back towards the others, since it would not be a good idea to separate when they really seemed to have poked the hornets nest.

Harbek growled, deep in his throat, as he saw a Goblin wielding a simitar slash Karadin. ~We'll soon put a stop to that!~ he thought to himself.

Resolutely striding forward. Harbek sidled in alongside his Stonebrother. The Goblin that had just wounded Karadin still seemed to be eyeing his foe, and Harbek swung heavily, intending to bash in the creature's head.

Instead, his hammer-stroke went well wide, and 'twas all he could do to keep from falling on his backside as he slipped on some sort of liquid on the floor.

"Goblin-piss, I'll wager!" he muttered in disgust. "Methinks the little gornaks* pissed themselves when they saw that Dwar had come among them."

---

OOC:

Move: Harbek will move forward 20 feet, so that he is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Karadin.

Action: 14:52, Today: Harbek Hardstone rolled 6 using 1d20+5 with rolls of 1.  Melee Attack v. Goblin.

Free Action: Speak.

*bastards.

Notes: There's no two ways about it. I really, really hate the RPoL Dice-Roller. However, I do like Goblin-piss as the explanation for Harbek's clumsy miss. :)
This message was last edited by the player at 19:24, Sat 31 Aug 2019.

Mari was torn between wanting to see where the discovered trapdoor lead to and supporting the dwar. In the end it was not the hardest of choices, since they didn't know where the children had been taken to any direction was good and separation might mean being overwhelmed.

She strode to the entrance of the tunnel that the dwar had entered, bending to grab a bolt from the neck of the goblin she had killed. Maybe I'm becoming used to this, she thought just before she saw the flow of blood from the still warm body of the goblin. No... not really.

Her hands were trembling slightly as she reloaded and aimed, the dwar being on the way didn't make it any easier.

OOC
Move: Just to one square in to the tunnel
Free action: grab a bolt off of the goblin
Bonus action: reload
Action: shoot a goblin, any goblin. they are naked, so maybe 11 hits? :-)
00:46, Today: Mari Taysley rolled 11,7 using 1d20+4,1d8+2.  CB attack, damage.

In taking care not to hit the Dwarfs in the back, Mari's shot goes well wide of the mark.

The goblin armed with the bow looks at the red mist starting to descend into Karadin's eyes; and with a frightened yelp quickly raises his bow. The arrow skims past, but Karadin barely notices it as he feels a rage rise inside him.

09:48, Today: Secret Roll: The Voice of Fate, for the NPC Goblin H, rolled 14,18 using 1d20+4,1d20+4.  Attack with disadvantage.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:51, Sun 01 Sept 2019.