MiPS Lost Mine [IC]

"Ah, the old stories of Death Horses! They can do aught of horse-play despite being dead. They can grapple an-one with a hold called a fet-lock, from which few beings can ever escape!"

Aeiyan rattles on a bit more in the same vein as the duo approaches the carcasses on the trail, while the rest of the party do whatever they do.

You cautiously move up the trail toward the horses, the trees and brush are quite close here with a short, steep embankment on either side. As you cautiously approach closer, within roughly twenty feet, you can see that the three horses are quite dead and have been for about a day.
Each one has been peppered with small, black-fletched arrows. The horses saddlebags lie a short distance away, their contents strewn about the trail.

Vottr:

"Gundren's horses," Vottr mutters to Eddicus quietly and then moves in the direction of the saddlebags, keeping a wary on the the suspicious area previously noted. By Moradin's Forge, I'll grind the bones o' any fool what's harmed me uncle, he swears to himself.

Caelynn Amastacia

"Find anything?" Caelynn asked, approaching curiously. At least, that was what she hoped it looked like.
Her real intent was to ensure that she and the others could reach each other.

Vottr looks over his shoulder at Caelynn and switches briefly to the dwarvish tongue: "<Gundren's horse, full o' arrows. Be ready for trouble.>"*

---

*<translated from dwarvish>

Eddicus does not follow Vottr in the direction of the strewn contents of the saddlebags, but stands within 20 feet of the fallen horses and scrutinizes the arrows in the corpses of the horses to see which direction the majority of the arrows came from: from the elevated North bank or the elevated South bank. He also looks to see the location of any arrows that somehow missed the horses and their riders, and that were damaged as they struck rock or earth, for he thinks that broken ammunition would have been left behind by the ambushing archers.

[OOC: Does Ed need to make a check to see the direction of the arrows?]

He calls out to Caelynn and Vottr in dwarvish, <"What manner of being uses such small, black-fletched arrows?">*

---

*<translated from dwarvish>

Brachnuss looks at the dead horses and sighs.

Always the beasts of burden that get the short end of the stick.

[OOC - Can Brachnuss use a combination of Perception and Animal handling to get an idea of what happened? ie, if the attack happened here or elsewhere, also how long ago it happened?]

Caelynn Amastacia

"<Something small, I suppose,>"* answered Caelynn. She was fluent enough, but she spoke Dwarvish with an accent. "<Goblins, kobolds... probably not gnomes.>"

Whether Gundren had even made it past this point was going to be an important question shortly, but first they had to deal with the likely ambush at hand.

---

*<translated from Dwarvish>

Ambush!

It takes only a moment or two to realize that the arrows are goblin made, likely came from the road itself (as opposed to one side or the other) and that the horses have been dead for about a day, two at most.
While looking about the area, you also find an oilcloth map case that has had the lid torn off.
Suddenly, just as you begin to look around for a possible ambush, you see five previously-hidden, green skinned goblins who launch a hail of arrows!
Two of the arrows thump solidly into Vottr, one in the upper thigh and the other in the lower chest, leaving him reeling in pain.
The third arrow sinks deep into Brachnuss' calf.
The fourth arrow pierces Eddicus' leather, leaving a black shaft protruding from his abdomen.
The final arrow finds its mark in Caelynn, leaving a nasy gash on her upper arm.
Four of the Goblins immediately disappear back into the brush, the fifth draws a ugly-looking short sword and bolts towards Vottr.

* Combat Order *
Garrett 19
Brachnuss 16
Vottr 15
Eddicus 13
Caelynn 8
Goblins 8

[sblock]
Brachnuss 1d20+4=21, 1d20+4=10 5 dmg
Vottr 1d20+4=23, 1d20+4=21 5 dmg
Vottr 1d20+4=16, 1d20+4=17 5 dmg
Eddicus 1d20+4=7, 1d20+4=19 5 dmg
Caelynn 1d20+4=5, 1d20+4=17 5 dmg

Advantage can be NASTY...

Goblin Stealth checks[sblock]
1d20+6=26, 1d20+6=21, 1d20+6=24, 1d20+6=24, 1d20+6=14
[/sblock]

Init checks
Brachnuss 1d20+3=16
Caelynn 1d20+2=8
Eddicus 1d20+2=13
Garrett 1d20+3=19
Vottr 1d20=15
Goblins 1d20+2=8

I realize kind of a lot got covered here, but there ya go.
@PierceSG,, I am presuming you were attempting to be stealthy. The goblins have no idea where you are or, really, that you're there at all.
so, you're up.
[/sblock]

OOC: Are they within range for a thrown handaxe?