The Old Forest

A goblin is creeping quickly along the high crop of the wood pile, up and over behind Damanadros below.

This beastman wears a frightful horned-skull helmet and brandishes a wicked curved knife even as he balances up to the precarious height of the unstable debris pile.



Damanadros cannot yet see the skulking knifer from the low angle vantage point below.

What happens next??!?!

Damanandros looks up to see a light shine out in the darkness.

High on the crest of the ditch wall - the light casts wild shadows, but he sees them.

Gennadius holds the lantern. Syrena, Xenophon, and Gundus there alongside.

Damanadros’s companions are arrived.

Damanandros grits his teeth as he pulls himself up from the tangle of confusion and wood, every movement sending waves of pain through his body.

His mind races, and his only thought is to reach his companions and find safety. With each pull, he forces himself to keep climbing, his will to live growing stronger. "I AM YOURS, I AM YOURS," he mutters to himself, the words a repeating reminder of his shame, a puzzle of pain and desire. But he cannot dwell on that now.

Survival is the only thing that matters.

Syrena's arrow traverses over the pit and embeds into the side of the horned goblin standing on the pinnacle of the wood pile tower. He is hit just as he was bending down to pick something up.

Hit

At the edges of the light, the goblin tumbles off of the high perch and crashes down into the log clutter pit below - surprisingly close to Damanandros.

Damanandros is trying to move, but it becomes clear to the recently arrived companions that he is barely ambulatory. He struggles with every step.

Someone is going to have to go down there and get Damanandros to help him cross the cluttered ditch flood zone and climb the steep ridge wall to safety.

Damanandros tries to move, but the pain is crippling. Every step is a strain on his two low joint injuries, one on either leg.

He is startled by the thud of a goblin falling from the high perch above - notably the perch upon which she sat when she was tormenting him. The goblin is thankfully dead with an arrow lodged in its side, thanks to Syrena's expert aim.

Just as the goblin falls, so too a familiar item tumbles down nearby: Damanadros's spellbook!

The rugged tome splats on top of a muddy log, some 15' away from Damanandros - painfully though, in the opposite direction, away from the ridge line wall to a safe escape.

To make matters worse, Damanandros sees a goblin step out from the shadows, on the opposite side of the spellbook.

The goblin is wearing a ragged mask and is staring intently at the rare treasure item it sees in the mud. It draws a knife and starts stalking forward towards the book.

A bulky and ugly goblin steps out from the shadows in the low ground of the ditch field and takes a shot at Gennadius with a crossbow!

Ranged Attack!



This rugged brute with a deformed face seems to be a leader. It shouts out savage commands to the other goblins in the vicinity. A few of them come out tentatively, seeing which way the tide of battle will turn.

Open Action Free-for-All

Opponent Details:
2 Active goblins presenting threat, both down in the low ground of the ditch flood and clutter zone:

1 goblin is the masked creeper, moving in to steal Damanandros's spellbook at least, maybe to shank Damanandros.
40' from Damanandros / 30' from the spellbook / 100' from the search party
AC +2 with knife

1 is the deformed meathead with an old clunky crossbow, shouting out commands and savage threats.
off to the side (to the right, from vantage point of search party on high ridge). 60' from Damanandros / 60' from the search party
AC +0 with crossbow

A few other goblins glimpsed off in the periphery, but haven't yet presented as threats.

Noteworthy circumstance:
*Damanandros is down in the danger zone with extremely reduced movement capability, both from injury and because of difficult surrounding terrain. Seems likely he will need help getting out to safety.
*Gennadius's lantern provides the only light source in the entire dangerous scene.


Required Action, all PCs: declare and take Action/Movement at will.
No need for Initiative

Potential Adjustments, Ad-hoc: Missile fire made from the high ridge firing into the low ground gets +1 to Attack Throws for being on higher ground

With his polished armor and helm gleaming in the reflected light of the lantern, Gundus is like a ray of hope and life descending into the darkened pit.

The war-priest uses the momentum of his downward slide to carry him through several steps along the difficult terrain in the low ground. He makes it out to the partially flooded central area of the wide depression.

Splashing through water up to his shins, with soggy mud beneath his feet, Gundus sets his icon emblazoned shield up at guard and slogs towards Damanandros with steady resolve.

He keeps his main attention on the highest known threat: the hefty goblin working to reload its crossbow.

Distance, Gundus to Damanandros: 30'
Distance, Gundus to crossbow goblin: 50'

With Gundus's inspiring rush to rescue, Damanandros finds his difficult decision amplified.

In one direction, he sees Gundus approaching to help and protect him, and the route to escape beyond.

In the opposite direction, he sees his spellbook, and an armed and malicious goblin approaching.

To Damanandros, the contents of the book represent everything he has come to know about magic. His notes, the few spells that he knows. This spellbook, his lifeline to magic, is not something he'll give up easily.

It is HIS spellbook.

Even if it were waterlogged and full of ink-degrading mud, it was still rightfully his and it wasn't going to be stolen without some resistance. Not if he could help it.

Damanadros sneers at the goblin as it weighs its options. Just as he weighs his own.

"That is mine!" He puts as much hate and resolve behind his voice as he can summon. He had to remind the goblin that he was no longer just a helpless victim. He had to remind himself.

His grasp of the ancient tongue is considerable, but the books did not teach him the menace that the natural speakers use. He had her to thank for that.

He wants the goblin to understand that he will have to deal with a wizard before the prize can be his, with help on the way. "Is it worth your life?"

Standing as tall and threatening as he can, he pulls his hands together in a crooked and exaggerated pose, he begins to move them as if his fingers were spinnerets and he is weaving a web of death between them.

"Μέσα από την ψυχή σου, σε δένω στο κενό." His tone is spiteful and the words are filled with venom as he spits them in the direction of the goblin.

Just need to buy a little more time…

The masked goblin is almost to reach the prize when Damanadros slogs forth, returning to make his claim over the book.

Whether it is the determination to reclaim his most precious possession or something else, Damanandros feels a surge of strength, even if a slight one. A motivation ekes through the pervasive feeling of pain that hangs on him like heavy chains. His steps grow steadier as he commits to his direction, and he plays his act with as much boldness as he can muster.

The booming "I AM YOURS! I AM YOURS! I AM YOURS!" continues as the constant backdrop of unsettling sound here in the low ground.

The goblin sees the bloody man slogging towards him through the water. He hears and understands the magician's demands, in his own language!

The little creeper halts his approach and his eyes go wide in surprise and fear.

When he hears the cadenced mystery words that follow, he knows that it must be spellcraft. The goblin frantically looks left and right but sees scant hiding places that he could reach quickly.

Judging his situation as best as he can, the goblin drops his blade in surrender and begs for mercy.

In the degenerated Zaharan of the beastmen, he pleads...
previously note to "Leo9sign"]"No, Master! Please don't kill me! Your book. Not mine. This is your book.

Mercy, Dread Yorz! No magic death. Please.

Please, Dread Master Yorz. I am useful! I speak the human language."[/note]

Desperately, he confirms his claim, removing his tattered mask and repeating in Low Auran, "I speak human. Helpful!"



Crudely he tries more, seeking to escape death from the coming spell, "Mercy. Dun kill me. Dun kill me."

Syrena's arrow hits the deformed muscular goblin high on the arm near the shoulder. The beefcake shooter flinches from the pain and drops back to find cover.

Having trouble with the reload on its crossbow, and seeing the additional soldiers moving in to the low ground, the brute things better of it. He retires from the field, tromping back into the darkness outside of the lantern light range.

Damanandros recovers his spellbook once he has Gundus and Xenophon covering him.

The creeper goblin's eyes dart back and forth as he sees soldiers moving in.

When one of them shouts at him he cringes backwards, regaining his readiness.

Seeing that the wizard seems at least momentarily distracted as his soldiers arrive at his side, the goblin makes his break for it.

In a flash he darts to the tall wood pile and leaps behind a log.



He gives a quick look back to smirk at the soldiers from the shadows and then disappears into the clutter of the flooded debris field.

With the low field at least momentarily cleared, Gundus and Xenophon lend help to get Damanandros across the flooded wreckage and eventually back up the steep climb back to the high ridge.

End Bard Song and Luck Adjustments

It is a tough movement. Damanandros is hurt bad. His leg injuries give him great pain in walking, and much more in the rigors of the harsh climb. The injury in his armpit makes it nearly impossible for him to raise his arm up and forward, and he cannot pull any weight with it.

After finally reaching the ridge edge at the narrow thicket trail, the group takes a short moment to catch their breath, for the first time reunited.

They know it cannot be for long though. The risk of goblins in the area seems apparent, and this restrictive terrain gives few options for quick movement.

The good news is, it is close to dawn. When it arrives, it will be a most welcome one.

Required Action, PCs: Provide any description or input for immediate party intent, planning, action, movement, etc.