Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 1629514" data-attributes="member: 5808">Sorry to all that we've run a bit late on this update.  Elven sidebar and more adventures coming next!***********Part the Forty-SeventhIn which: a goblin dead at your feet is worth four still caught in your entangle.Lira, out of magic missiles switches to her crossbow.  Her bolt goes wide and she calls out to Reyu, “What do you mean, you can’t dismiss it?”“I mean—” (Reyu pauses to skewer a goblin) “that the trees will become still in their own time.”Anvil grunts.  One of the goblins lands a blow to his neck, but either the weapon is so badly made or the strength behind the strike is so puny, the Justicar is barely scratched.  “That is most inconvenient,” he informs Reyu.Hue pokes his head up from behind one of the horses and color sprays a goblin.  “We could set the trees on fire,” Hue suggests.  Blinded, the target of his spell runs off in a random direction into the woods.  “Umm… Let’s not,” Thatch replies.However, in the time that it has taken the party to come to grips with the fact that they have trapped their own allies, the tide of the battle has turned.  Goblins are still thick on the ground, but mostly in the sense that there are dead ones lying all over the place.  A few might have managed to slip by in the confusion, but eventually the remaining fighters decide that this is not a battle worth continuing.  They are slaughtered as they flee.The party begins looting the goblin corpses—not that they seem to have much worth looting—but Reyu locates a few small water-skins filled with a noxious liquid she tentatively identifies as healing potions.  A few minutes later, the enchanted trees cease writhing, and a few seconds after that, eight dwarves come running into the clearing.“Where’d they—?” the dwarf in the lead looks down at the remains of the goblin he nearly stepped in.  “Oh, that’s where they went.”“You are… hunting… these creatures?” Reyu asks.“Well, we were.” The dwarf, Zrod Cavebreaker, shakes his head, and gestures back to the trees.  “We didn’t think they had that kind of magic on them. Saw some got caught in their own trap… serves ‘em right.”Reyu almost blushes.  “Certainly.”Anvil clears his throat.  “Can you tell us why you were in pursuit of these beings?  Have they committed unlawful acts?”“Unlawful?  They were goblins.” Zrod says this as though it is explanation enough.  Anvil merely blinks.    The dwarf sighs, scratches his beard and continues.  “It was a raiding party…  Bold one too.  They struck from their territory, barreled through the caves, and took off into the woods.”  He sighs.  “I ah… don’t suppose you found any gems on them.  Would have been about 1,500 gold worth?”Suddenly, from the other side of the clearing, Thatch shouts, “Oh wow!”  Everyone turns to see the young fighter holding up a sack taken from one of the goblins.  Beside him, also looting the bodies, Eva swats him on the arm.  “What?” he asks.Lira turns back to Zrod.  “I think that’s a ‘yes.’”**********The dwarves, eager to thank the party for the recovery of their treasure, invite the adventurers back to their cave for the evening to celebrate their victory and sleep in a more defensible location.  The party, especially the dwarven ale drinking members, quickly accepts.For those who can stomach such things, the local brew is quite good, and the dwarves prove to be convivial companions.  Lira is a bit disappointed that their ale is kept quite cool already, thanks to the nearing winter and natural features of the caves.Zrod explains: “These caves are part of a whole network of caverns and tunnels.  The deep ones stay cold, even through midsummer.”  “How deep do they go?”  Lira asks.“Oh, they’re all through these foothills, even into the Ketkath Mountains they say.  Don’t know that anyone ever got that far though.”“Do you know anything of a… strange force… among the Miyen elves?” Reyu wants to know.Zrod shakes his head.  “Always something strange going on among those folks…” He glances back at Reyu, “If you’ll pardon my saying so.”Reyu replies in perfect dwarven.  “Of course.”The party learns there are a few wizards among the dwarves, but no one of particularly remarkable power.  Eventually, everyone settles down to sleep, and the rest of the night passes uneventfully.   The following day, Anvil drafts a note thanking their hosts, and then the party departs, continuing their trek towards Miyen lands…</blockquote>

Verification