…continues from Book #01, Chapter #01, Scene #05

Synopsis

The 10th Day of Ches in the Year of the Sudden Journey

After accepting Blackengorge Town Council’s request to find their two missing sons the party headed to the mausoleum on a hill to the north of town, where they found the entrance to an old crypt being used for some form of ritual by an elf and his guardians.

Tested to their limits in power the group prevailed and now return to Blackengorge as victorious heroes with the two missing children in tow. But, on the road they are way laid by a band of kobold and goblin brigands!

Scene Length

This scene starts on Thursday 21st October 2010 and is expected to be completed by the end of Friday 29th October 2010.

Players are expected to be able to post at least twice a day.

The small reptilian creatures rushed forwards with a shrill warcry and hurled sharp javelins at the party.

Only one of the javelins hit home, scratching Tradden’s shoulder.

The reptiles were followed closely by a wave of goblins, bellowing a war cry as they charged!

Tradden bore the brunt of the attack, with a spear cutting across his leg.

As the party looked on a whole host of the kobolds and goblins fell to the floor, scratching and wailing.

And then they were still.

The kobold slinger poked its head out from behind the rocks and twirled its sling around its head. The shot flew out straight towards Khalin.

The shot rebounded off one of the slinger’s comrades and bounced harmlessly onto the grass, igniting and burning a mark as it did so.

The kobold then shifted back behind the boulder.

The goblin warriors moved forward, keeping a low profile behind the boulders for cover.

The goblin hexer moved out from behind the foliage and pointed his rod straight at Tradden.

The goblin hit the rod against his palm repeatedly, cursing as he did so!

Celestia cleaved through the goblin’s skull and looked up for her next target.

Zero hissed to himself as the bolt went wide and dived for cover behind the nearest bushes whilst he reloaded.

The sword cleanly cut the two creatures in half, leaving a sparking white icy residue in mock cauterisation of the wounds.

Two kobolds, who had been hiding behind foliage, watching the battle intensely now charged out from their position, screaming as they ran with swords held out in front of them.

Both kobolds hit home, challenging their opponents to face them!

Both Offa and Bailey let fly at the goblin with the malfunctioning rod.

Both boys’ arrows flew wildly wide of their target.

The ball slammed into the hexer’s chest, its energy crashing outwards accross him.

The kobold behind the rocks stepped out slightly and twirled its sling around his head. At the right moment it let fly with an odd looking projectile towards Tradden.

The little reptilian snarled as the pot flew wide of its target and exploded into a small ball of flame harmlessly on the road. It shifted back behind the rocks.

Two goblins, better armed and protected than the others, burst out from behind the trees and charged at Celestia and Kireth.

The first goblin missed with his swipe of a spear against Kireth, but the second connected forcefully with Celestia.

The goblin with the rod repeatably banged it against its palm.

The goblin snarled and then pointed the rod at Tradden.

The goblin danced in a circle on its toes, squealing with delight.

She took opportunity of the goblin being unsure of which combatant to keep it’s eyes on to strike a good blow.

The goblin whirled around in confusion and stuck its spear into its comrade.

But only succeeded in clashing against the other’s spear.

He was rewarded with a yelp of pain from the foul thing. However, despite hitting home, his lack of vision meant that the blow actually caused minimal damage.

The kobold dragonshields continued the assault on the party’s warriors.

But both of the reptilian creatures couldn’t make contact with their targets - Tradden, although blinded, kept skipping out of reach, ducking and diving, and Khalin just raised his shield against any blows.

Both Offa and Bailey let fly at the goblin nearest them - the one attacking Kireth.

Both boys’ arrows flew wide of their target.

Pointing the tip of his staff at the first warrior he uttered ‘Rauko Rutha!’, flames immediately rushing forward to engulf their target.

Flames engulfed the goblin warrior and its tortured screams could be heard echoing around the hollow.

Khalin’s impatience worked against him, as his hurried strike missed the kobold.

The kobold behind the rocks stepped out once more and twirled its sling around his head.

At the right moment is let fly with another odd looking projectile towards Tradden.

The little reptilian screamed with glee as the pot struck Tradden on the shoulder and a viscous goo spread across his upper body and dripped down to his legs. It shifted back behind the rocks.

The first goblin warrior snarled viciously at Kireth, the flames slowly dying over its green skin, and launched into a ferocious attack against the wizard.

The goblin’s strike went past the lithe half-elf.

The second goblin warrior circled the elf maiden, its pointed tongue licking its sharp, crooked teeth. As it circled it drew back its spear, feinting this way and that, and then driving the point home.

The creature hissed, as Celestia knocked away the spear thrust with the edge of her morningstar.

The goblin with the rod, still dancing and squealing on its toes, banged the rod against its palm once more.

The goblin sprinted towards the cover of the bushes still squealing with delight.

It then pointed the rod at the dwarf, and a ray shot from the end towards Khalin.

Khalin felt an enormous itching over his body and thought it ill-advised to move.

Once more the goblin pointed its rod towards the dwarf and a billowing vapour appeared over the area.

Tradden found his vision clearing a little, although obscured by clouds.

Celestia also found the energy within Melora to assist Khalin.

The bolt fizzed past the goblin to the annoyance of the rogue, who then tried move into the shadows, finding that just as difficult.

The sword cut straight into the kobold’s scaly skin and left a deep slash. Blood had started to pour out, but became crystallised as ice as the kobold let out a howl of pain.

The first of the dragonshields, still reeling from Tradden’s icy blow, cut back at Tradden with its short sword.

It flicked out a sliver of a tongue as the blade cut across Tradden’s thigh.

The second dragonshield, bouyed by the sound of kobold sword finding man-flesh, kept his attack going on Khalin.

But its strike was not as sure as his partner’s, Khalin easily brushing it off with his shield.

Offa and Bailey were positioned just behind Kireth, and the disgusting goblin nearest them looked bloodied and frail. They felt confident stood behind the wizard - he had single-handedly blasted the evil elf from the mausoleum into oblivion, caused goblins and kobolds to clutch their own faces in despair as they perished, and thrown fire and more around the battlefield. They were in the presence of a truly great wizard that would protect them.

Offa let fly at the nearest goblin.

His friend also aimed at the nearest greenskin.

But neither of the two boys could connect. They were, however, sure that the wizard would continue to protect them, and easily dispatch the vile creature when he next acted.

As the arrows sped past the goblin, however, it ducked and shifted out of the way, getting closer to its ally.

The goblin took the full energy of the force bolt in his chest and the impact dropped him to floor, instantly dead.

The kobold slinger stepped out from behind his boulder once more and let fly at Tradden with its sling shot.

After the attack the kobold shifted back behind the boulder.

The remaining goblin warrior shifted into the billowing cloud and became a blur to the rest of the party.

It then thrust its spear at Celestia.

The spear bit home, opening a small cut on Celestia’s arm.

The goblin hexer appeared to be enjoying itself, dancing on the spot and continuing to screech with glee. It waved its rod in the air in a figure of eight and the cloud moved to the southwest.

The rod sparked and fizzed.

The goblin hissed and pointed its rod at the dwarf within the cloud.

The goblin stamped its feet and snarled at the sky.

Flames and shadow from the symbol spluttered and fizzed.

The curse came again!

The kobold slumped to the floor after Tradden’s strike with a thin film of frost covering the body.

The remaining Dragonshield shifted away from its fallen companion, a look of fear on its scaly face.

As it rounded the other side of the hesitant dwarf it struck out with its sword.

However, despite his uncertainty about moving from his spot, Khalin was vigilant enough to raise his shield.

Offa and Bailey both tried to peer into the murk of the magical cloud, and seeing smaller shadowy forms they loosed their arrows.

Bailey’s arrow shot wide, but Offa sealed another great hit.

The magical force bolt left a vapour trail through the swirling cloud and slammed into the torso of the goblin hexer. The goblin peered through the mists with a snarl!

The kobold took the full force of Khalin’s hammer on its side, knocking the wind out of it. Clutching its side, the kobold grimaced and snarled at the dwarf, flicking out a thin tongue in mockery.

The kobold slinger stepped out from behind his boulder once more and let fly at Tradden with its sling shot.

After the attack the kobold shifted back behind the boulder.

The remaining goblin warrior shifted round the side of Celestia, getting closer to Kireth, but still staying within the cloud.

It then thrust its spear at Celestia.

The spear bit home, further opening the cut on Celestia’s arm.

The goblin hexer hissed over towards Kireth, as it rubbed the area where the force bolt had hit. With a snarl it waved its rod in the air in a single stroke and the clouds billowed once more.

The rod sparked and fizzed.

The goblin chuckled through smiling teeth and pointed its rod at the dwarf within the cloud.

Once again the goblin wheeled about on its heels, dancing and singing to the sky. It focused itself and pointed the sparking rod at the warrior behind the dwarf.

The goblin hissed and crouched down.

As she struck a terrible thunderclap smote the goblin, leaving it reeling.

Whilst the goblin’s head swam, Celestia slightly withdrew.

The goblin fell instantly, a bolt straight through its neck.

Zero then cast his cloak around him and headed off around the bushes in shadow and silence.

The kobold looked somewhat surprised, tp say the least, to see Tradden career around the corner of the bushes and stab him!

The remaining kobold dragonshield, seeing his goblin allies fall or pressed under attack, launched what it hoped was a devastating blow against Khalin

The kobold’s stab at Khalin went wide, though, and the kobold retreated with a hiss, backing away a little to force the dwarf into the next move.

Offa, confidence oozing, drew back his bow and let fly at the retreating kobold.

This time his shot went high and wide.

Bailey smiled at him. ‘More for me, then!’ he stated, with a cocky edge, and targeted the same kobold.

The arrow bounced of the kobold’s armour drawing a hiss and a flick of the tongue from the lizard creature.

The goblin staggered back a yard or two, a great red weal blistering on its chest where the force bolt had struck him. It focused its eyes on Kireth and inspected its fizzing wand.

As the creature finally breathed it’s last Khalin gritted his teeth and steeled himself again.

The kobold with the sling, now being sorely pressed by Tradden, panicked somewhat, dropping its sling and pulling out a short blade. With a swift cut, it tried to slash at the young fighter.

The panicky strike went quite wide of its target, though, and the kobold’s eyes grew large with fear.

Keeping its eyes on both the force-wielding wizard and the encroaching dwarf the goblin hexer slapped his fizzing rod against his palm with ever increasing speed.

The goblin looked around, trying to think of a way out of the situation. With all of the combatants before it, if they couldn’t see it, they couldn’t catch it. It smiled, flicking its tongue out between its sharp teeth and waved the rod.

The roiling fog moved towards the goblin.

It then aimed the rod at the dwarf and uttered a command word.

The rod fizzed and spluttered and the goblin screamed with displeasure.

The morningstar slammed into the goblin, sending it reeling.

The bolt flew straight into the back of the neck of the goblin and jutted out through the front, almost surprising Celestia. With a smile and flourish, the fog disappearing as the goblin fell.

He kind of felt sorry for it. Kind of. For a second.

The slinger took the sword thrust in its shoulder and reeled for a moment, tottering on the balls of its heels. However, it did not go down.

Offa and Bailey sprinted forward, victory on their minds, hoping to finish off the kobold where the fighter could not, hoping to write their names in Blackengorge lore.

Offa got his shot off first, catching the slinger in his midriff. The kobold looked down at the black-shafted arrow protuding from its belly, and then fell over silently at Tradden’s feet.

After the clash and fervour of battle and the sounds of Khalin’s mighty bellows the gully now seemed to grow quiet and the sun began to dip over the rise to the west.

The group began to pick through debris of combat. Tradden seemed particularly keen to relieve the goblins and kobolds of their weaponry, maybe so that they couldn’t be found and used by other vermin.

Khalin and Celestia looked carefully at the bodies to see if there were any clues or clan symbols they could find.

Kireth stood to one side, deep in his own thoughts, and somewhat reluctant to join in the manual labour of picking over corpses.

Zero moved quickly, inspecting pouches at belts and checking fingers and necks for anything of value. In a few short moments he seemed to have acculmulated another stack of coins, similar to the silver ones he had gathered before. [34 silver coins]

The majority of weaponry had been thrown into a pile by Tradden, who was now trying to sort them into bundles to carry and instructing the two boys on how best to carry them without picking them up. As he passed them each weapon he would drop into a stance, showing the boys how to thrust and parry with a flourish. By the end the boys were laden with weapons, whilst Tradden merely held a spear, still thrusting, parrying, and twirling it about.

As Khalin investigated some of the goblin bodies he found markings on all of them - a singular stripe of white down their bodies, sometimes coming all the way up to their faces. Of most interest, however, was a small obsidian necklace around the goblin hexer’s neck. Khalin snapped it off to take a closer look, passing it to Celestia when he’d finished.

He also checked for the rod that the goblin had been waving around that had given Khalin so much pain. The rod was below the goblin’s body, cracked in half and inert.

Celestia shook her head - the meaning of the symbol was lost on her - and she passed the figurine back to Khalin.

Zero suggested that the corpses of the goblins and kobolds needed to be buried or at the very least moved from the trail. With the sun setting, there didn’t seem to be enough time, so the bodies were piled behind some of the boulders to the side of the trail - the intention being to alert the guard back in Blackengorge, who could hopefully finish the job.

The heroes then cautiously made their way back along the trail to Blackengorge, the keen senses of Celestia and Khalin searching out before them through the growing gloom.