NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 4294421" data-attributes="member: 9546">“Are you sure you know where you’re going?”  Wesh asked, not for the first time since they’d set out from Sandpoint the following morning.  They’d traveled some two hours along the Lost Coast Road and finally reached the Thistle River ford when Rico had them turn aside from the highway and head straight into the Nettlewood.  Now the druid, crouched in front of a seemingly impenetrable wall of thorns and briars, turned an annoyed look at the wizard.“Perhaps I haven’t quite explained the nature of my profession,” Rico snapped.  “I’m…a…druid!  You stick to your books and scrolls and let me handle the practical stuff, ok?”Wesh rolled his eyes and mopped his brow with his handkerchief as he slapped with his other hand at the stinging insects which seemed intent on draining every ounce of blood from his body.  The briars and thistles that grew so rampantly in the rest of the wood grew even more dense and tangled as the party had neared the coast.  Although not quite dense enough to block the sound of waves crashing on the unseen shores to the west, the undergrowth was certainly thick enough to block sight and access to them.  Few trees grew that close to the edge of the sea, but the briars themselves often reached heights to rival them.  The wall in front of them was nearly twenty feet!  “Aha!”  Rico said triumphantly as he stood up.  He reached both hands into the briars in front of him, not suffering the slightest nick from the inch-ling thorns, and then pulled.  To the shock of his companions, a whole section of the briar wall came free, almost like a hidden door.  Beyond it, a four-foot high tunnel wound through the dense nettles, the floor of which was hard-packed earth with patches of wiry plants growing stubbornly here and there.“Goblin warrens,” the druid explained.  “It’s going to be a tight fit, but it seems we’re on the right path.”Single-file, the seven companions began crab-walking along the low tunnel, cursing and muttering to themselves as clothing or skin snagged on the ubiquitous thorns.  Only Rico and Garm seemed to have no problem navigating the passage.  The druid seemed almost content, humming a tuneless song to himself.  After a couple of dozen yards, the tunnel opened up into a large cave-like chamber.  Above, the thorny canopy grew thin enough that tiny slivers of the sky could be seen, while below, the ground consisted of trampled dirt.  To the west, the distant sound of sloshing waves echoed up from a hole.  Rico immediately went to the hole and knelt beside it, brushing his fingers across the dirt at its lip.“What is it?”  Wesh asked.“I think there’s some sort of sea cave beneath here,” the druid answered, “and I think the goblins use it to execute their own kind.  There are fingernail marks here, small ones, and there’s blood as well.  Some of it’s relatively fresh.”“Well, if they’re killing each other off,” Dex said, “then that just makes our job easier.”“Our job,” Luther interrupted, “is not wholesale slaughter.  We’re here to prevent further loss of life, not perpetuate it.”Dexter shrugged.  “Six of one, half-dozen of another.  If goblins need to die so that humans can live, and I get a steady paycheck to boot, suits us fine, right Skudder?”The half-orc gave his customary grunt of agreement…or indifference…if was difficult to distinguish.“In any case,” Rico continued, standing and dusting off his hands, “there’ve been a lot of goblins through here recently.  Tracks go all different directions.  Whether we choose east,” he gestured to a tunnel exiting the right side of the cave, “or west,” he indicated the opposite side, “we’re bound to run into some.  Both choices have seen equal traffic.  I can’t say which one might lead out of this warren.”“Like my old man used to tell me,” Dex said, “evil always lies to the left.  Lead on Skud!”Skud did indeed take the lead again, Adso and Randall behind him.  Crouching once more, they continued through the maze-like tunnels.  The light was dim, and the constant switchbacks of the passage made it impossible to see what lay ahead.  Thus, when Skud abruptly stood up to his full height and came to a sudden stop, Adso was caught off guard and walked right into the barbarian.“Clumsy oaf!” the monk snapped.  “What are you stopping for?”  He pushed past Skud and found a wide, low-ceilinged chamber that stank of smoke.  A shallow fire pit smoldered in the center of the floor, while tangled reed and leaf nests lined the walls.  However, Adso was sure it was not the décor that had brought his fellow half-breed up short, but rather the twenty pairs of beady eyes that stared back at them out of the gloom.  Goblins…a lot of them.  Before the stunned monk could open his mouth to warn the others, Skud’s sword slid free of its sheath and the burly warrior simply waded in.  Adso curse roundly, then shouted over his shoulder, “We’ve got company!”  He signed himself with Irori’s sigil and followed the barbarian.Chaos exploded like a kicked over ant hill.  One moment the goblins simply stared, seemingly as shocked to see the longshanks as the intruders were to see them.  The next, they swarmed like rats.  In the space between seconds, Adso and Skud were completely surrounded, with more of the vermin surging past them towards their companions still trapped in the cramped tunnel.  Skud began laying about him with his sword, and wherever he struck, a goblin screamed in mortal agony, but he couldn’t swing fast enough to keep the horde back.  Then, as he raised his sword for another blow, several of the little beasts seized his arm and drug it down, wrenching the blade from his grasp.  He stood alone in their midst, unarmed.  Adso struggled to reach him, snapping small, goblin bones with stunning blows from his hands and feet, yet finding only more goblins filled the gaps left by those who fell.Randall was caught totally flat-footed when the goblins came screaming out of the darkness towards him.  He tried to draw his weapon, but his elbow smashed into the low ceiling.  Then they were upon him, hacking and slashing with their dogslicers, shrieking in their high-pitched voices.  He went to one knee, their weight bearing him down.  He knew that if he went prone, it would be all over for him.  Suddenly, bright light pierced the shadows as streaking bolts of fire filled the air.  Goblins went flying as they were struck by the missiles, and Randall found himself momentarily clear.  Pulling his hammer free, he braced himself against the wall of the tunnel and rammed the head of the maul in front of him, crushing in the chest of an oncoming goblin.  He knew he’d owe Wesh big for that one, and he knew as well that the wizard would never let him forget it.Adso watched in horror as Skud sank beneath the mass of goblin bodies.  Snarling in rage, the savagery of his orcish blood barely held in check, the monk seized a goblin by the throat and smashed its head into the briars.  His hands were a blur as he blocked and countered quicker than the eye could follow.  Still, he made no progress.  Then, an ear-splitting roar filled the air, and he saw goblins flung in all directions as Skud heaved himself to his feet, sword once again firmly in hand.  The barbarian was bleeding freely from multiple wounds, but he seemed to feel no pain.  His own blood began to mingle with that of his victims as he cut a swath through the enemies surrounding him.“They can’t hold out up there alone!”  Luther cried.“I’m doing what I can!”  Wesh spat, blue fire sizzling from his outstretched hands.  “Dexter!  Can you get a shot?”The archer cursed.  “No!  Too many bodies up there!  I can’t tell who I’m shooting at!”“There’re too many of them!”  Luther shouted.  “I have to help Skud and Adso!”“Wait!”  Wesh yelled.  “If you’re planning on doing what I think you are, won’t it hit the goblins as well?”“It can’t be helped!”  Luther countered.  “Irori’s will be done!”  The priest clasped the amulet around his neck tightly and golden light spilled thru his fingers.  A wave of power channeled through him, washing over both friends and foes, healing the wounds of all indiscriminately.  Wesh spat and cursed.  “Rico!  If you’ve got any tricks up your sleeve, druid, now would be the time!”When he turned to look for the druid, however, Rico was nowhere in sight.The tide had slowed somewhat, but Adso and Skud still found themselves bogged down in goblin bodies, and Randall still could not free himself from the close confines of the tunnel.  Suddenly, Adso heard a scream from behind him.  When he turned, he saw a goblin get pulled bodily into the wall of thorns, followed a moment layer by a large spray of blood.  Before his disbelieving eyes, Rico simply stepped out of the wall.  He bore no weapon, but his hands had transformed into the savage claws of some sort of beast.  A feral gleam in his eyes, he lashed out at the nearby goblins, ripping out throats or disemboweling seemingly at will.  In that moment, the goblins’ resolve broke.  They began to scatter, but it was too late.  Randall, finally with room to maneuver, fought his way to Skud and stood back-to-back with the half-orc.  With the tunnel clear, Dexter dashed into the chamber as well, his rapier in hand, and with Garm hot on his heels.  It still took several minutes, but the outcome of the battle had already been decided.  When it was done, not a single goblin stood, and the seven companions, though battered and bloodied, where all still among the living.“Is that it then?”  Dex asked, his breath still coming in ragged gasps.  “Was that the whole tribe?  What about this Nualia woman?  Where is she?”“Don’t get your hopes up,” Rico replied.  He knelt beside one of the goblins.  “These are not even Thistletop goblins.  They look like members of various tribes.  Plus, look at this place.  Even for goblins these quarters are cramped and squalid.  No, if I were to hazard a guess, I’d say this group was comprised of refugees.  Goblins don’t tend to be very humanitarian.  I wouldn’t doubt that this group had originally been significantly larger, but several of them probably wound up in that pit we saw.  In any event, the intelligence I’ve received on the Thistletop tribe was that they laired on an island off the coast.  This warren is most likely a defensive measure.  We’ve still got the entire Thistletop band ahead of us.  This was just a welcoming committee.”</blockquote>

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