Wednesday, August 23rd, 2017
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Behind the firepelt cougar, a grinning goblin glides through the underbrush, animating the vines and thorns beneath our heroes’ feet. Silas and Krask avoid becoming entangled, but Avu and Niko are hampered by the writhing brambles constricting around their ankles. While the goblin hurls fireballs from cover, the cougar takes advantage of the terrain to begin biting and clawing with a ferocious vigor. Krask gets pinned against the nettles before Silas bites down on the cougar and rips out a raw chunk of flesh, killing the beast in unorthodox fashion.
Meanwhile, the goblin continues moving through the brambles with ease, until he sees his cougar companion slump over, lifeless. He gives out a howl and charges at Silas with his flaming blade raised in anger. The fight moves into the thick brush, and after another devastating attack by Silas, the goblin yells out for a ceasefire. A brief conversation ensues.
The goblin, adamant that the Thistletop tribe will be successful in their mission to rid the world of its longshank menace, isn’t afraid of retribution from his goblin brethren were he to defect. He is much more afraid of several others – the human man covered in tin, a woman wreathed in flames, and an elf who is constantly smiling. Most of all, he is fearful of the “angry woman with the white hair and weird eyes and a torn-up belly.” The party, pleased with this newfound information, resumes their attack until the goblin is no more.
Looting the body, they find: a wand of tree shape, +1 leather armor, a cloak of resistance +1, a wand of produce flame, and two potions of cure light wounds. Niko heals up the party with a couple hits from his wand, and the party continues to the stockade.
Wary of anything that appears architecturally unsound (especially structures precariously hanging above a steep cliff), Krask notices that the bridge is rigged to collapse beyond a certain weight threshold. After disarming the trap, he cautiously makes his way to the front door of the stockade, which is hanging slightly ajar. The entire building appears to have been built from the wood of scavenged ships. Everything is quiet.
Unfortunately, as Silas begins to cross the bridge, his heavy armor clangs against his sword which creates a significant racket. Up in the eastern watchtower, a goblin head peeks over the edge. He lets out a shriek as he sees the barbarian, and his head ducks back down.
Next up – pandemonium.
In a matter of seconds, the rest of the party runs up to the gate while Krask keeps his eyes peeled for any signs of movement. An object sails from the western watchtower and lands in the nettles with the sharp sound of breaking glass. CRASH! Feeling vulnerable, the party heads into the vestibule of Thistletop and steels themselves for the inevitable battle. Dogs are barking to the north as the party hears one of the doors open and two goblins come rushing down the hallway towards them. On the other end of the room, another set of doors swing forward revealing more goblins who join in the fray. The bodies pile up as the party expertly dispatch their foes – Krask strikes true with his crossbow, Silas happily hacks away with his longsword, and Avu’s feral form slashes away with glee. The sounds of battle wake up an entire room of groggy goblins, some of which become engulfed in alchemical fire. Back to bed they go.
With the immediate threat eliminated, the party listens for additional activity. The dogs continue snarling and barking off to the northwest, echoing throughout the wooden walls. And then, from the northern doors, they hear something. “Shhhhh!! Quiet! Soon it will be our time!”
Besides the goblins, who else is living at Thistletop? Who lies in wait behind the central doors? Will Silas share his recipe for ceviche cougar?