Echoes of the Past

Anton was excited for the first three days, but now as the chafing set in, his feet ached, and he hadn't really slept very well for the last 5 days his mood was souring. "Darius, maybe you should let one of us look at that map?"

"I know where I’m going!" Darius sounds a bit annoyed, though maybe not at Anton. He doesn’t give you a chance to respond before he turns sharply and begins walking again, but after only a few moments, he halts, and without a word, pivots on his heel and starts heading in the opposite direction.

"It’s been over a thousand years since the battle between King Halav and the Beastmen" he mutters, speaking more to himself than anyone else. "Forest grown all over it. Its difficult to track though it, that's all. But I know what I'm doing!"

His voice grows fainter as he continues to walk and curse under his breath

Boudica barely finishes her prayer when they all hear the distinct croak of a raven, coming from somewhere further up the stream.

"I meant no offense Darius, but we may be able to help if we can see what you are seeing" Anton looked out to in the distance for a Raven cawing distinctly.

Boudica perks up at the sound of the raven and says to her friends, "I hear one of Zirchev’s messengers! It could be an answer to my prayer! I saw we follow the sound." She begins to move in that direction.

"It's a bird!" Dairus, who was already impatient, called out to her as she started walking up along the stream "There are ravens everywhere. You can't just go off because you heard one just after you prayed!"
With a huff, he shakes his head and starts to walk off again, muttering something under his breath about 'wasting time'.

But Boudica barely walks for a minute when she senses the faint scent carried on the air. It is barely detectable, a vague sour, maybe rancid, smell? As she walks forward the scent grows stronger and stronger, until she recognized the unmistakable stench of excrement and rotting meat. Goblins...

Dairus, you should recognize…Boudica’s faith and fervor helped take back Castle Mistamere. So you do you, but when she speaks, I listen.
Will readies his magical ice sword, and follows a few steps just behind his clerical friend.

"I am normally a man of reason Darius, but I have personally seen a helpful Raven, if nothing else they may be drawn to strange circumstances" Anton falls in line behind Will!

Sensing the change in Boudica's demeanor, Miyana tenses and puts an arrow to her bow.

"Helped? By a Raven???" Darius wasn't buying any of it, but what could he do? All the adventurers were off one way, and he couldn't just stand behind, alone in the woods. With a sigh, he started following the rest up the stream. It didn't take too long for him, and the rest of you, to pick up on the same scent, which grew more and more pronounced as you continued to advance
"What is that foul odor?" he drew his own sword when he noticed the rest of them preparing themselves "Smells like something died in there!"

"I believe we have smelled this before" Anton looked to the others

Boudica nods grimly and says, "Goblins."

You press on along the stream, but the further you go, the worse the stench becomes. What had once been the fresh, earthy scent of the forest is now overshadowed by a growing odor of decay.

"Hold on!" Darius halts in his tracks "This is it! We found it!! Right there - next to the rotting head on a stick!"

He points toward a moss-covered rocky mound ahead. Its weathered surface is barren of trees, an unusual sight in the midst of such thick woodland. At the base of the mound, propped up on a crude wooden spike, is the rotting head of a boar. A couple of ravens are busy pecking at it, amidst a cloud of buzzing flies.

"The mound? Is it a barrow? Well, regardless, we likely have more pressing issues —whoever put that boar’s head on a stick will want to do the same to us…"

She stands still and begins to scan the area for movement, signs of goblins, and so on. Might they be within the mound? Do we see an entrance?

Will similarly offers wary alert to the grizzly scene. Our fightery fellow approaches the boar’s head, and looks around for signs of goblin incursion!

Miyana scowls and keeps her bow pulled.

The air grows heavier as you approach the mound, an unpleasant stench that makes it hard to breath. The source of the smell becomes clear once you arrive at the base of the mount. Besides the decaying boar's head on a pike (the ravens hop around it, pecking at the rotting remains), are tracks crisscrossing the forest floor, and an obvious nearby area that served as some sort of a crude latrine for the goblins. It's clear there must be a whole lot of them nearby.

The entrance to the barrow is a dark, gaping tunnel, barely visible beneath the tangled undergrowth.

"This is it!" Darius was conflicted between stepping forward, and staying behind Will "That is a burrow. There MUST be something important hidden inside" his face scrunches as he considers "Maybe...it's better if I stay here though while you investigate. You know. Watch your backs?"

It wasn't cowardice on Darius's end. He simply didn't want to crawl down into what smelled like open sewage.

What do you do?

Boudica laughs ruefully and shakes her head in disbelief. "We have traveled for days through the wilderness to discover what may be the final battleground of the gods of my faith, only to find it is being used as a toilet by goblins. I would very much like to slaughter them all as an offering to Halav, Petra, and Zichrev."

She turns to Darius and says, "Yes, go back to the forest's edge, where we first spied the mound, and hide. There are goblins about." Turning to her fellows, she says, "Shall we?" She lights a torch, lifts her shield, and prepares to head into the darkness of the barrow mound, hoping to find something of value for her faith.