Wednesday, August 9th, 2017
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A velvet curtain rises up to reveal our heroes standing outside a swathing expanse of brambles blocking their way to Thistletop. Avu discovers a natural thistle door leading into a rough network of tunnels carved into the nettles. Hesitant, they continue along the worn forest path until they arrive at another dead end, blocked again by thistles. Krask briefly hears a voice in the thicket, but it suddenly stops when the party calls out.
Silas breaks out his sword and cuts through a small section of nettles. It is slow work. Dissuaded from the idea of hacking through the brush, the party squeezes into the compact tunnel opening and begins to explore.
With Krask stealthily leading the way, the party continues until they see a pair of figures ahead, wrapped in dirty wool blankets. As they inch closer for a better vantage point, they see a total of ten creatures huddled together. One of them screams out and whips off its blanket. Goblins! The battle begins.
A trio of well-placed bombs from Avu successfully burn several goblins to a crisp. Krask hangs back, firing off lethal crossbow bolts into the fray. Although ineffective with his mace, Niko provides healing support to the party while watching the flank for reinforcements. Silas awkwardly swings his blade with mixed results, constrained by the thick nettle ceiling. Near the end of the encounter, Avu thrusts his dagger straight through a goblin’s midsection and injures another greenskin behind it. The rage of the carnage was clearly having an effect on Avu’s psyche.
While wiping the blood off his sword, Silas concludes that these were Birdcruncher goblins, evidenced by the crude nests they had been sitting on. It didn’t make sense that these particular goblins would be all the way over by Thistletop – typically they congregated closer to the west side of the Devil’s Platter. Curious, indeed.
Around another corner, the party cautiously avoids a wide hole on the forest floor. Niko drops an illuminated coin down the 80-foot chasm where it lands with a quiet plunk! Within seconds, the light vanishes. They continue on and find four goblin dogs tied up on fraying ropes. Niko and Krask take pot-shots and Silas lays against a tree to enjoy an apple. That’s when he hears it, a voice whispering, “A tasty treat for a tasty boy.”
The rest of the party finish with the dogs and head south to investigate the voice which has turned into a quiet cackle. They pass a mound of matted fur and look further to see a sleek black cougar in a small clearing. Its red stripes gleam like fire, even in the darkness. It paces back and forth, glaring at our motley band of heroes. But he’s not alone.
A grinning goblin glides out from the brambles, holding a pillar of writhing flame.
Who was interrupting Silas’ snack? What are the Birdcruncher goblins doing at Thistletop? Is the American Kennel Association going to call us about these canine crimes?
We Done Gone Goofed! – Rules Clarifications
- When shooting a ranged weapon through multiple allied squares, the target has cover, regardless of how many allies block line of sight. This effect (+4 to AC) stacks with the -4 penalty of shooting at a creature engaged in melee.