Abigail manages not to cry out in surprise. It would totally blow the 'tough girl' act she had going for Kreech's benefit.
"Yes." she says smoothly to the ninja woman. "Kreech, are there any shamans or wielders of magic in the camp? and, if there's only one way in, are there chages in the guards that watch it so we can possibly slip in with less chance of being seen?"
After making sure the goblins were securely swinging from a tree with a note pinned, Lan would leave the others to their intense innuendo contest. She Joins Kiara and Abigail for the briefing on their foes.
Jarrak sighs, and places a hand on Jack's shoulder.
"Two things. Just remember we might actually need them alive depending on how things go," He says quietly, "They might be the only people left who can tell us what we need to know if this rescue goes wrong."
"And two? We both know I'm too pretty for you," Jarrak says with a smile, patting him on the shoulder as he turns and head back to the others.
Based on the information Kreech gave to Abigail this is the layout of where his clan is living.
Room 1: no traps here.
Room 2: Chief’s room, not much else known as he never allows anyone in it.
Room 3: “dinning room”. Broken wood benches are scattered against the walls, with a few useable benches set up in between the columns.
Room 4: Practice room (goblins hone fighting skills – small archery range &
Room 5: Kitchen (star marks “stove”), very old and worn plates and eating utensils are kept here along with equally worn cooking pots.
Room 6: Cold storage for food.
7: Long, connecting hallway. Has a pit trap at the dead end, and a trip wire that releases poison darts at bottom of right staircase.
Room 8: Prize room. Anything taken that has been deemed “for the clan” is kept here. Mostly coins (gold, copper & silver), gems (run the gamut of variety), small items such as silver & gold made drinking cups, small statutes of various levels of craftmanship made of various materials.
Room 9: Trapped room – there is are 2 sets of crossbows that are triggered by pressure plates that are walked on. Nothing of value here.
10: Another long hallway, about ready to collapse halfway through.
Room 11: Clan sleeping space.
Room 12: Slave sleeping space.
There are no magic users in the clan, and the chief prefers to lead from behind his people. He is only the chief because he is the biggest and meanest of the clan. There are another 15 members of the clan, who are armed the way Kreech and his group was, plus the chief who has better weapons (masterwork level compared to what Kreech and the others were using).
Jabroniville wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 11:45 pm LOl- "The Tattooed Man"? What kind of ABSOLUTE DILDO would refer to himself as "The Tattooed Man" !?!
"If we're going to do this today we should take an hour to regroup. I could use the refocus and Lord Tully, Lorist Bright, Gentleman Jack, and Wizard Anne still bear wounds; maybe others I did not note. I don't know how you are all situated for higher magics and if all were depleted I'd argue a reason for delaying a night, but if not, we should probably not let the captives languish." Lan suggests.
"The numbers are not in our favor. But I've an idea," she looks to the group, "The timing could work that, after a short rest, we could still make it there by supper. Jarrak and I seem to know our way around cook pots, so we know what we shouldn't add; maybe we can forage those ingredients along the way. If our new companion, Kreech here were willing, we could send him in to lace their evening meal. It wouldn't be lethal, just sicken them. The rest of us could wait until the debilitation was in effect before raiding the caves to rescue the prisoners."
"I'd hate to send our Kreech here all alone," her tone may be casual but she wasn't convinced they could trust the goblin, "but I've an idea for that too. Kreech can carry with him, my owl manifestation, Kai. Either concealed under clothing or under the ruse that he caught the animal and was bringing it for the cook pots. Kai and my thoughts can be as one and while I won't know the words being said, I can narrate what we hear and see if there's trouble. That way we know if the ruse has failed and can raid immediately or otherwise regroup."
Jack reaches up to brush over his chin, "Gentleman Jack, eh? I like the sounds of that."
He flashes a grin down to Lan, "I like that almost as I like the plan. But I have two, well, lets call them inquiries. Things that might not have been considered in the otherwise flawless plan."
He raises his hand, counting off on manicured fingertips.
"The first, is it a majestic owl or a scruffy looking flying feather duster that young Kreech is likely to have captured? And which is the more appetizing to the goblin palate? It may also be more comforting to the young lad to have a link more directly to his Missus Bright?"
"The second, well, its a harder question. Why is Kreech returning, with yummy dinner, while the rest of his band is elsewhere? And can Kreech pull off that lie?"
He shrugs, "Questions, nothing more. I do believe that its a strong plan."
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.
With a nod Jarrak says, "Lan is right. Bind your wounds, sit, get some rest, and something to eat. After this we're not sure how long it will before we can take another break."
He looks at the map, considering it.
"The numbers are certainly not in our favor, but if these tunnels are tight enough we might be able to mitigate the advantage that numbers will provide them. We will have to see once we get closer. It might be possible that we can pick off some of them if they send out a patrol," He strokes his beard, looking to the others, "Are there any spells anyone has that might be of help while fighting underground?"
At Lan's suggestion Jarrak nods, "It's worth consideration. I'm not sure how easy it would be to pull it off, but there's no hurt in trying to prep for it should the opportunity arise. We'll probably need to be careful, if they share their food with the prisoners we might be causing ourselves some problems."
He lowers his voice, making sure the goblin can't hear him, "And I'm not sure I want to risk a plan on the good will of our newest companion."
"The other issue is that there's no way to the prisoners without going through the goblins, we may wind up with a hostage situation," He frowns at the map again, "A shame we can't reliably block some of these doors. And I'm left to wonder if taking out their leader might make them more likely to surrender rather than fight."
In the end there would always be more questions than answers, but having some ideas to work with would always work better than simply charging in. The challenge was not letting yourself get hung in the planning.
"Decent questions, Jack. Kai can dirty up as if Kreech caught him in a briar thicket, and stay still as if on his last breaths. Kreech could have hid in said patch when the rest of his ambush party was killed. He thought fresh bird meat might make amends." Lan suggests.
Lann nods at the suggestion of rest and the sanction against over planning until they got closer.
A twinkle comes to his eye, "My boy, we may not need to actually block any doors, but merely make them think that they're blocked. Or simply not where they though they used to be."
Am I dead? Am I alive? The answer may surprise you!
------------
"What a week, huh?" "Doc, it's only Wednesday."
While she wasn't as filled with Iuz's power as she was after a night's rest, she would find other ways to be useful.
As they rest, Abigail will address Kreech, "Is there a chimney that the stove smoke escapes through?"
Jack nods to Kreech in appreciation, a warm smile for the helpful gob.
A moments pause, reaching up rub over his eyes. "Once upon a time, I was enjoying the company of a young woman, most delightful eyes, even more luscious .." he pauses, looking about, "Well, she was a very lovely young woman. That lived with her mother, or so I thought.. but it turned out that the older lady was her wife." a heartbeat, two pause, "Well, the old woman would appear with a different animal each time, always going with the trends. A small orange poof ball of a dog, a sleek golden mink, always something different. But often, too often, the animal would manage to find and watch the two of us in the act, always far far too interested in us. And it always had the same eyes as the old woman."
He thinks a moment more, "I found out much later that it was a familiar. Do you think that something like that could work? I don't really know the details of the bonding."
We rise from the ashes so that new legends can be born.