Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
4e Tallow's Deep
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4783448" data-attributes="member: 31465"><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Adventure #7: No Escape</span></p><p></p><p><strong>PART TWO</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>They don’t advance any further. Douvan and Jolen recall Boss Fatty’s warning about a formidable goblin named GRISHOG somewhere in the depths of this warren, and the party doesn’t want to blunder across him in the state they’re in. They need to find a place to rest and recuperate, and after some discussion, they decide that holing up in the old Gate Room near the cells might be the best place. It only has one entrance and will be easily defendable. In theory, anyway. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/gateroom.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>However, upon arriving they find that in the three or four hours since leaving the cell block, the prisoners, including Boss Fatty, have all been released and removed. The group now has no goblin captives at all for Balthazar, and they’re back to square one. They congregate in the spacious gate room that operates the river trap. They dutifully check for goblin doors again, just to make sure they don’t get ambushed, and then rig the only entrance with a rope and bell for an early warning system. With that done, they spread their bedrolls and try to catch some sleep.</p><p></p><p>This works fine for about two hours, until they hear the howl.</p><p></p><p>The sound echoes eerily through the complex, reverberating through the walls and sending chills down their spine. And it sounded close too, and then they hear it again, and determine that it is rising from the centipede trap doors in the room north of them. Douvan and Raven know the howl; they’ve heard it before out in the wild. It’s a worg, and a big one. </p><p></p><p>The goblins are hunting them, or maybe just making periodic sweeps of the complex. Regardless, the group hasn’t had time to sufficiently rest and is still horribly wounded. Merric enters the hall and takes up a position by the goblin door. This is the only way in. The others stand near the entrance of the Gate Room, brandishing their weapons and waiting with bated breath. It won’t take long for the scouts to reach them. Merric keeps an ear pressed to the door and soon hears movement on the other side, scuffling and muttering, and then the snuffling of a large hairy beast. Merric readies an attack as soon as the door is opened, and within seconds that happens…and his dagger is buried to the hilt in the shoulder of a very shocked goblin.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no9.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>“AAEEEiiii!” It squeals in agony, rocked back by the blow, but is unfortunately not slain or incapacitated. Merric skitters away from the warrior, but he caught a glimpse of four of them and a large hairy gray wolf crammed into the tunnel. </p><p></p><p>“Attack them! Kill them!” shouts one of the goblins, and the injured warrior bustles after the halfing, hefting a vicious axe in his hands. </p><p></p><p>Merric devastates the goblin with a series of brutal slashes, and flings him further down the passage. Douvan takes aim with an arrow, wondering if he can somehow disable the goblin without killing it, but his arrow thoroughly punctures the thing’s neck in a geyser of blood, ending any hope of subduing that one for Balthazar’s baleful brew. </p><p></p><p>Merric is quick on his feet, and being the only member of the party who can really navigate the goblin tunnel freely, he serves as the first line of defense. The second warrior pushes in, and this time Blackjack tries to take the brunt of its assault. The little monster becomes enraged though, and inflicts so much damage against Blackjack in a single hit he probably would have been slain if not for the cleric’s magical intervention<span style="color: red"> (thank you, temporary hit points!).</span></p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no11.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>These goblins are tough, much tougher than any they have fought before. They can soak up multiple blows, seeming to fight their way through the pain and keep coming. They must be an elitist guard. The others do what they can from their position in the Gate room and the jail hallway, and the goblins are quickly whittled down. Raven drops Faerie Fire on an enemy furthest away, infusing it with a shimmering aura of pain that slows its movement, and will ultimately unleash terrible damage upon it. Even the final green goblin in the tunnel is hit by the Faerie Fire. (That is a pretty badass spell!)</p><p></p><p>But then a cloud of noxious green gas springs up around their feet, and the vile goblin cackles with wicked glee. Merric sees that tattoos cover its entire body, and it is wearing minimal clothing, unlike the armored warriors. All evidence points to this guy as being a dark spellcaster. The gas is extremely hard to see through, further hampering PC attacks and bringing all those in the tunnel down to a -7 penalty to hit. The goblins are unaffected by this zone.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no10.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Merric engages the last warrior, exchanging vicious blows and parries with him, and is finally able to slam his dagger’s pommel against his head. The goblin slumps unconscious to the ground. Their only prisoner! Meanwhile, the goblin door has been shut, and Merric opens it with mage hand, revealing an empty corridor. No spellcaster and no worg. They have retreated, most likely to fetch reinforcements and return, and there’s almost no chance the party can survive a concentrated assault.</p><p></p><p>They have to escape while they can.</p><p></p><p>Balthazar won’t be pleased with their single paltry goblin, but it’s as good as he’s going to get. They hastily gather their gear, truss up the captive, and brusquely push him into the hallway. They rush down the steps to the river trap, clamber up the steps on the far side, reversing their course from when they first entered Tallow’s Deep in what seems like weeks ago. Soon they’re hunkering through more cramped goblin tunnels, and then they pop out in the main mining area, replete with mine tracks and ancient, rusted carts. They clamber into the exit hole, knowing that the entrance to Tallow’s Deep is not far at all now…</p><p></p><p>…when they encounter a terrible problem.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no escape.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>When the party originally came this way, Merric noticed six curious slots in the tunnel walls. He thought it was a spear trap at first, like the one in the spiked water room. Now, he sees that it was an entirely different ruse. Three heavy iron bars have been pushed across the tunnel, effectively blocking their exit. There are only a few scant inches of space between them, and Merric hears goblins on the other side. There’s another entire squad waiting for trespassers. </p><p></p><p>“They won’t let us leave,” whispers Nari-lana, the fear evident in her voice.</p><p></p><p>Merric inspects the bars closer, noting that he could perhaps sabotage them, but the goblins would be able to repair the damage easily. They back out of the tunnel down to the mining area. Snarling, Douvan grabs their goblin captive and slams him against the wall.</p><p></p><p>“How do we open those bars?” With a forearm to its throat, the little goblin chokes out that it can only be opened from the other side. A secret room contains the mechanism holding the bars in place. The only other exit outside the warren is through the worg den, but when asked exactly where that is, the captive sputters something about, “Near Grishog.” </p><p></p><p>And then the DRUMS begin anew. Pounding rhythmically deep within the bowels of the mine, it is the war beat of the goblin tribe, the Skull Cleavers, rousing them to action and bloodshed. They’ll come again, and again and again and again, and inevitable tide of destruction until the PCs are finally torn limb from bloody limb. </p><p></p><p>Desperation soars through them all. They can’t survive another fight, and there’s practically nowhere they can hide where the goblins won’t ruthlessly hunt them down, unless…unless…</p><p></p><p>….the aboleth cave.</p><p></p><p>The goblins are terrified of what lives down there. It’s the only chance the party has, so dragging their newest captive, they haul ass back to the river trap corridor. That’s when they see torchlight and hear the marching of boots from the other side. A huge squad is coming to intercept them. They won’t be able to reach the limestone stair, but there’s one option left:</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/basin.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>They’re going to jump down. Douvan leaps first, steeling himself for the plunge into icy water fifty feet below. The goblin captive is pushed in next, squealing like a stuck pig the whole way until his screams are cut off by the impact. Blackjack, Nari-lana, Jolen and Merric all take the dive, suffering some damage from the shock of the experience. But they know the layout of cavern by now and know exactly where they have to go. Slogging through the deep water, they finally climb to high ground and enter the shallows. </p><p></p><p>They are all bitterly cold, exhausted and mostly extremely discouraged. What originally started as a simple snatch and grab is turning out to be a complicated mess that might end in their deaths. They navigate back to where the dragon turtle corpse lies and set up camp on the small stony island. A fire is quickly built and they all huddle around it, warming their hands and bodies in the ruddy glow. They don’t know for sure if the goblins will follow them this far, but it is unlikely. For now, they take turns keeping watch, listening to the crackle of flames as exhaustion tugs at their eyelids.</p><p></p><p>Later, assuming that they can regain their strength, they’ll take stock of the situation and see if there is way, any at all, to escape this hateful den of goblin evil known as Tallow’s Deep…</p><p></p><p></p><p>And there we stopped.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nebulous, post: 4783448, member: 31465"] [SIZE=4]Adventure #7: No Escape[/SIZE] [B]PART TWO[/B] They don’t advance any further. Douvan and Jolen recall Boss Fatty’s warning about a formidable goblin named GRISHOG somewhere in the depths of this warren, and the party doesn’t want to blunder across him in the state they’re in. They need to find a place to rest and recuperate, and after some discussion, they decide that holing up in the old Gate Room near the cells might be the best place. It only has one entrance and will be easily defendable. In theory, anyway. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/gateroom.jpg[/img] However, upon arriving they find that in the three or four hours since leaving the cell block, the prisoners, including Boss Fatty, have all been released and removed. The group now has no goblin captives at all for Balthazar, and they’re back to square one. They congregate in the spacious gate room that operates the river trap. They dutifully check for goblin doors again, just to make sure they don’t get ambushed, and then rig the only entrance with a rope and bell for an early warning system. With that done, they spread their bedrolls and try to catch some sleep. This works fine for about two hours, until they hear the howl. The sound echoes eerily through the complex, reverberating through the walls and sending chills down their spine. And it sounded close too, and then they hear it again, and determine that it is rising from the centipede trap doors in the room north of them. Douvan and Raven know the howl; they’ve heard it before out in the wild. It’s a worg, and a big one. The goblins are hunting them, or maybe just making periodic sweeps of the complex. Regardless, the group hasn’t had time to sufficiently rest and is still horribly wounded. Merric enters the hall and takes up a position by the goblin door. This is the only way in. The others stand near the entrance of the Gate Room, brandishing their weapons and waiting with bated breath. It won’t take long for the scouts to reach them. Merric keeps an ear pressed to the door and soon hears movement on the other side, scuffling and muttering, and then the snuffling of a large hairy beast. Merric readies an attack as soon as the door is opened, and within seconds that happens…and his dagger is buried to the hilt in the shoulder of a very shocked goblin. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no9.jpg[/img] “AAEEEiiii!” It squeals in agony, rocked back by the blow, but is unfortunately not slain or incapacitated. Merric skitters away from the warrior, but he caught a glimpse of four of them and a large hairy gray wolf crammed into the tunnel. “Attack them! Kill them!” shouts one of the goblins, and the injured warrior bustles after the halfing, hefting a vicious axe in his hands. Merric devastates the goblin with a series of brutal slashes, and flings him further down the passage. Douvan takes aim with an arrow, wondering if he can somehow disable the goblin without killing it, but his arrow thoroughly punctures the thing’s neck in a geyser of blood, ending any hope of subduing that one for Balthazar’s baleful brew. Merric is quick on his feet, and being the only member of the party who can really navigate the goblin tunnel freely, he serves as the first line of defense. The second warrior pushes in, and this time Blackjack tries to take the brunt of its assault. The little monster becomes enraged though, and inflicts so much damage against Blackjack in a single hit he probably would have been slain if not for the cleric’s magical intervention[color=red] (thank you, temporary hit points!).[/color] [img]http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no11.jpg[/img] These goblins are tough, much tougher than any they have fought before. They can soak up multiple blows, seeming to fight their way through the pain and keep coming. They must be an elitist guard. The others do what they can from their position in the Gate room and the jail hallway, and the goblins are quickly whittled down. Raven drops Faerie Fire on an enemy furthest away, infusing it with a shimmering aura of pain that slows its movement, and will ultimately unleash terrible damage upon it. Even the final green goblin in the tunnel is hit by the Faerie Fire. (That is a pretty badass spell!) But then a cloud of noxious green gas springs up around their feet, and the vile goblin cackles with wicked glee. Merric sees that tattoos cover its entire body, and it is wearing minimal clothing, unlike the armored warriors. All evidence points to this guy as being a dark spellcaster. The gas is extremely hard to see through, further hampering PC attacks and bringing all those in the tunnel down to a -7 penalty to hit. The goblins are unaffected by this zone. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no10.jpg[/img] Merric engages the last warrior, exchanging vicious blows and parries with him, and is finally able to slam his dagger’s pommel against his head. The goblin slumps unconscious to the ground. Their only prisoner! Meanwhile, the goblin door has been shut, and Merric opens it with mage hand, revealing an empty corridor. No spellcaster and no worg. They have retreated, most likely to fetch reinforcements and return, and there’s almost no chance the party can survive a concentrated assault. They have to escape while they can. Balthazar won’t be pleased with their single paltry goblin, but it’s as good as he’s going to get. They hastily gather their gear, truss up the captive, and brusquely push him into the hallway. They rush down the steps to the river trap, clamber up the steps on the far side, reversing their course from when they first entered Tallow’s Deep in what seems like weeks ago. Soon they’re hunkering through more cramped goblin tunnels, and then they pop out in the main mining area, replete with mine tracks and ancient, rusted carts. They clamber into the exit hole, knowing that the entrance to Tallow’s Deep is not far at all now… …when they encounter a terrible problem. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/no escape.jpg[/img] When the party originally came this way, Merric noticed six curious slots in the tunnel walls. He thought it was a spear trap at first, like the one in the spiked water room. Now, he sees that it was an entirely different ruse. Three heavy iron bars have been pushed across the tunnel, effectively blocking their exit. There are only a few scant inches of space between them, and Merric hears goblins on the other side. There’s another entire squad waiting for trespassers. “They won’t let us leave,” whispers Nari-lana, the fear evident in her voice. Merric inspects the bars closer, noting that he could perhaps sabotage them, but the goblins would be able to repair the damage easily. They back out of the tunnel down to the mining area. Snarling, Douvan grabs their goblin captive and slams him against the wall. “How do we open those bars?” With a forearm to its throat, the little goblin chokes out that it can only be opened from the other side. A secret room contains the mechanism holding the bars in place. The only other exit outside the warren is through the worg den, but when asked exactly where that is, the captive sputters something about, “Near Grishog.” And then the DRUMS begin anew. Pounding rhythmically deep within the bowels of the mine, it is the war beat of the goblin tribe, the Skull Cleavers, rousing them to action and bloodshed. They’ll come again, and again and again and again, and inevitable tide of destruction until the PCs are finally torn limb from bloody limb. Desperation soars through them all. They can’t survive another fight, and there’s practically nowhere they can hide where the goblins won’t ruthlessly hunt them down, unless…unless… ….the aboleth cave. The goblins are terrified of what lives down there. It’s the only chance the party has, so dragging their newest captive, they haul ass back to the river trap corridor. That’s when they see torchlight and hear the marching of boots from the other side. A huge squad is coming to intercept them. They won’t be able to reach the limestone stair, but there’s one option left: [img]http://www.zikadik.com/silverymoon/basin.jpg[/img] They’re going to jump down. Douvan leaps first, steeling himself for the plunge into icy water fifty feet below. The goblin captive is pushed in next, squealing like a stuck pig the whole way until his screams are cut off by the impact. Blackjack, Nari-lana, Jolen and Merric all take the dive, suffering some damage from the shock of the experience. But they know the layout of cavern by now and know exactly where they have to go. Slogging through the deep water, they finally climb to high ground and enter the shallows. They are all bitterly cold, exhausted and mostly extremely discouraged. What originally started as a simple snatch and grab is turning out to be a complicated mess that might end in their deaths. They navigate back to where the dragon turtle corpse lies and set up camp on the small stony island. A fire is quickly built and they all huddle around it, warming their hands and bodies in the ruddy glow. They don’t know for sure if the goblins will follow them this far, but it is unlikely. For now, they take turns keeping watch, listening to the crackle of flames as exhaustion tugs at their eyelids. Later, assuming that they can regain their strength, they’ll take stock of the situation and see if there is way, any at all, to escape this hateful den of goblin evil known as Tallow’s Deep… And there we stopped. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
Playing the Game
Story Hour
4e Tallow's Deep
Top