DnD 5e: They took my little girl!

[chkflip]

Party Members:

Jodove Ostoroth - High Elf Wizard I
Bhreh Sharpdrifter - Kobold Monk I
Elloria Fullbright - Half-Orc Ranger I
Bori Nurakas - Mtn Dwarf Fighter I

Quest:

They took my little girl!

Spoiler: information

It was a night like any other. The working hands were gathered at The Rotten Crop, a local inn/bar, just drinking their hard work away until the morrow. Just then the town's blacksmith, a hardy Dwarf that goes by Jem Hammerfell, bursts through the door in a huff. Something happened to his daughter... and he needs your help!

[chkflip]

The evening waxed like most before it. A fickle breeze found it's way through the establishment, the Rotten Crop, just at it sent the small wooden wind chime cluttering into itself. The inn-slash-bar sits at roughly 30'x30' with the entrance -- a saloon style set of doors -- greeting all that pass by the southeastern wall of the building that points directly out to the main (and only) road of the village. A few farm hands sit among the stools at the bar affixed nearest the southern wall, grumbling to themselves while Gimmi D'Alebringer (the gruff Dwarven sole proprietor) wipes one of the tankards that'd been used throughout the day. A lone, slightly wealthier looking farmer sits in the corner table alone staring almost through his glass in a complete daze as the barmaiden, the lovely Human woman known by most simply a 'Dee', places another glass on the table before him. Even this didn't break wherever his mind was. Not until another Dwarf bursts through the doors in anguish.

"They took 'er, Gimmi! They fookin' took 'er! My Kilna!"

The grumbling stopped as all eyes befell the current situation. A downright exasperated Dwarf approached the bar and nearly cracked his noggin on it had he not caught himself. Something is clearly paining him on his left side, but you wouldn't even think about that given the state of his crimson-covered face. Gimmi tosses the man a clean rag and reaches over with concern.

"Slow yourself, Jem. What happ--"

"I CANNO' SLOW MYSELF, GIM! MY... my... little girl. Goddamn monsters. I canno' lose 'er, Gim. Somebody... somebody gots'ta help me less I go after 'er meself."

Gimmi gives a nod, allowing the obvious exasperation of his fellow Dwarf to pass. Jem, who appears as exhausted as he is distraught, scans the room with glassy eyes for somebody -- anybody -- to help him save his little girl.

What do you do?

[chkflip]

The worried Dwarf startles at first, the words of a small dragon-like creature approaching him puts his guard up. Then he processes the words spoken. Just before he can answer, however, another monstrous being approaches. A big green-skinned woman with tusks prodruding behind her bottom lip asking more of the same as the little one. He looks from one to the other if briefly before letting out a long sigh. The desperation in his voice is palpable.

"Aye,"

he replies.

"My little Kilna was outside playin' pretend when they outta the woods to the north. Buncha danged Goblins. Too many for me to fight off proper. Musta been a'least half a dozen of 'em. Please. Ya gotsta help me. Do ya 'ave any companions with you? Or is there anybody else here that could help? Don't think I'd be of much service but I'll be damned if my baby becomes dinner or what haves ya. The look on her face... please, adventurers. I can't let that be the last time I see my Kilna."

The clean-handed Human from the corner, having had his concentration and heart simultaneously broken, rises from his chair and gives a concerned pat on the Dwarf's back before leaving the establishment in a hurry. The farmhands look to one another, then around the room, obviously way over their head in the situation. They both look to the Elf sitting next to them. One chimes in with a hushed whisper as he leans toward the cloaked stranger.

"Hey there, fella. You look a smart worldly type. You know anything 'bout Goblins? You think we could take 'em? I reckon ol' Jem'd be willin' to fork somethin' over for rescuin' his little girl."

His breath, much like his demeanor, is disgusting.

[chkflip]

A fear washes over the farm hand's faces as their wide-eyed gazes meet one another. Jem nods as a fourth brave soul approaches him.

"Follow me,"

Jem says as he continues wiping his face.

"I canno' tell ya exactly whereabouts they went, unfortunately."

The concern in his voice seems to taper slightly as he exits the inn. Four brave souls stepping forward to his call appears to bring him a calmness if only for a moment. He limps onward toward his humble abode. Before you is a small but acceptably sized smithy given the meek nature of your surroundings, it's walls showing no disrepair even given their obvious age. The sign, a simple hammer and anvil, creaks against the push of the wind. Jem raises his free hand and points ahead.

"They came and left that way. I saw more eyes in the shadows of the trees than I did from the ones that snatched my Kilna from me. I canno' beg any harder, adventurers. I need 'er back. Dunno what I'd do without the little shit, aye."

A pain brings him pause, slumping against the side of his business and home. He motions toward the obvious signs of the scuffle that happened here. Several sets of footprints, blood splatter, and clear drag marks litter the ground before you. Jem reaches to a coinpurse on his side, pulling away at the drawstrings and procuring a small bottle of red-colored liquid and hands it to the fellow Dwarf next to him.

"I was gonna drink this if it had ta be me goin' into those Gods forsaken trees. It's a healing potion. Just... save my Kilna. Please."

Jem utters a muffled pain, attempted to be held back as he slid against the wall to sit on the ground. His wince and gritted teeth show more pain than he'd like to while his hand now clutches and pressures his side as best he can.

[chkflip]

The injured man's slight chuckle turns into a cough as the pain he's in is simply overtaking. His eyes dart momentarily to the Elf as the Dwarf words spill out into the open, taken aback a bit like he hasn't seen a non-Dwarf speak their tongue before.

"I was workin' the forge like any other day, lass, and Kilna was outside messin' about like little boys and girls do. Not many children in this place so her constant companion is her imagination. But the important part being no, of course I 'ave not seen little green monsters 'round here before. Not so damn close at least. It's known to avoid the wood at night but their attack is no somethin' that is a regular occurrence here. A missing farm animal every now and again, maybe, but to outright take a person from right outside their home is unheard of. I'm gonna ask the guard to send word East... hopefully the baroness sends a more abundant amount of 'em round here so this never happens again. God's damned filthy things. They were right on top of her before either of us realized they were even there. They... they didn't hurt 'er, though, now that I think about it. Just me. Not sure what that could mean, but, I'll be curt. The longer you spend here talkin' the more time they 'ave ta do whatever they're plannin'."

As if on cue, a local guard and a man of the cloth both rush over to Jem. He fusses about being helped up but they lift him anyway. You notice the farmer that'd rushed out of the inn with a couple passerby townsfolk standing not too far away. The Human, a holy symbol dangling from his neck, gets a little snippy with his Dwarf neighbor.

"Jem, the less you resist the faster I can get to tending these wounds of yours. How you're still breathing just goes to prove the Dwarf's stubbornness to show pain, surely, but you can't keep fighting me."

The clergyman, a slender Human man with greying hair and eyes, nods in all of your general direction with an appreciative half smirk. Jem stops him for a moment to look toward you.

"Thank you,"

Jem says, the appreciation of your bravery clear in his words before turning specifically to the Elf and Dwarf to say something in the tongue of his people.

"Moradin guide you all."

The guard ushers a couple of the looky-loos over to help the small man with the injured fella. They dutifully oblige him. Before you stands a gruff but portly bearded Human with a completely bald head. The beard tufts out in as unkempt a manner as his general disposition.

"Vincent told me what's going on. Goblins... damn shame. But if you lot think you can get Kilna back then my service is obviously more required here in case they, y'know, come back or something. If there's anything I can do to, uhhh... help... you do let me know. Otherwise I'll get back to making sure Jem is taken care of and the fine people of Thode are kept safe in their homes. Oh, right. Names Bobert. Haven't seen you folks 'round here before but I'm sure glad you're here."

Bobert is notably uncomfortable, nervous, and in over his head.

[chkflip]

"Well, I... uh... well... no."

The call to arms threw poor Bobert entirely off guard. You can hear another pained chuckle come from Jem as he is aided into the road heading East. Before Bob could continue to make an imbecile out of himself, however, Elloria is already stepping toward the scene of the crime to investigate. She squats down and closely observes the many gouges in the soft earth for a pattern. She seemed near a conclusion when Bori walks right in front of her to look at the spatter of blood against a small collection of rocks.

"Alright, nothing to see here folks! Let these fine people do what they do best in peace,"

Bobert calls out to the few remaining that stood around before just sort of sauntering off himself.

Eureka! The ranger thinks she finds something important: drag marks. Bori nods as if to agree and the four seem to be on the move from there. The thick line of disturbed ground spattered every now and again showing signs of attempted escape; unfortunately, it appears those attempts were halted right into the tree line. Bhreh finds the culprit and shows the group another stone caked in a smattering of ichor.

This pushes you all into a fervor ever forward. Several times over it appears as if you've all reached a halt, a skip in the drag marks, a lack of clues. But the diligence of the group heeds on with a little bit of luck and the keen eyes of each of you. Even Bori's sudden fascination with the tree limbs finds a suspiciously broken one here and there. You come together and push on for what seems like an hour when, suddenly, Bhreh and Jodove hear something loud in the distance. Cackling? Arguing? It's hard to tell until you inch forward still.

There appears to be the outline of a building of some sort about a hundred of so feet in front of you just outside of the tree line ahead. It's hard to tell from this distance if there are two or more figures, but they're definitely short in stature and the drags head that direction.

[chkflip]

Jodove and Elloria position themselves swiftly and quietly at each side of the thick trunk of the nearest tree while Bhreh finds space behind a small thicket, each looking forward at what appears to be a small dispatch of Goblins cackling and cheering at something happening on the ground. Only Bhreh is close enough to see a little movement on the floor beyond a small circle of rocks. It seems they've made a scorpion and a spider fight one another. The Kobold peers back to signal to the others when --

KKKRRRKRRKKK

The sound of the Dwarf's heavy armor scraping against the boulder he'd found and walked a little too close to brings the Goblins to a silence. They look over and see the Dwarf peeking his head out at them. He pulls back behind the boulder... maybe they didn't see him?

"Geshpalaaaa!"

They saw him. They go for their weapons on the ground or leaned up against the front of the old stone building.

[chkflip]

BOOOOM!

The firebolt flies through the sky but misses it's mark by an inch, blasting dust and dirt off the stonework walls of the building behind the Goblin in front of it. They send a gnarled yelp aimlessly before looking at Jodove with angrily gritted teeth and a raised shortbow. The rightmost Goblin rushes to the left, unknowingly the same direction as Elloria, and waits for the Dwarf to pop back out from the rock they'd found cover behind.

The Half-Orc's arrow flies true, piercing the chest of the Goblin Jodove had barely missed. The creature howls in pain and takes aim at the wizard it can see pressed against the thick tree. Our Elf looks just in time to throw up a hand and produce a magical barrier to stop the monster's arrow from hitting him. The injured Goblin nods at the others next to it and rushes toward the boulder.

Bori comes from behind cover with a bow of his own and

narrowly

avoids the arrow from the Goblin thst waited for him. The Dwarf smirks at the Goblin rushing toward him and fires. Direct hit to the head sends the monster into a backflip and a faceplant into the soft dirt.

The third Goblin, not knowing what to do, takes a bolt to the shoulder as Bhreh shows himself and fires. It squeals and... flees! It drops the scimitar in its hand and hops over the rocks before the entryway to the building, rushing down the stairway heading downward.

[chkflip]

Fear overcomes the monster as he is clearly outgunned and alone. It rushes forth to the Dwarf to get itself some cover as it takes a lick from the firebolt and evades the woman's arrow. Swinging wildly, the Goblin carves into the Dwarf with a scimitar only to catch the screeching of metal on metal. All confidence from the creature waned as it looks up to see an arrow in its face. The kobold, however, would get the kill shot with a crossbow bolt between the shoulders. Bori heard the collision and a small pop as the last breath of the Goblin escapes it.

And with that the two Goblins that stood their ground in guarding the entrance were down, their bodies immobile and bleeding out. Before you is the old building they were parked in front of. It's greyed stonework, masterfully crafted and aged, appears ominously before you in the moonlight. A building no larger than 30x30 feet stands before you with an entryway that was clearly broken into. The door hinges are all that clue you in on the place not simply having a 10x10ish open maw of a doorway. The elements, too, don't appear to have affected the inside of the building as much as the outside.

Before you is a 10' wide stairwell that heads down. Bhreh, being the closest, peeks in to see this. He also takes a look down to notice that the little rock circle that housed an insect fight has a winner. The scorpion defeated the spider and is attempting to free itself from the small hole.

[chkflip]

You all begin moving forward to the entrance, the Dwarf and Kobold cautiously peering down the stairwell. It descends about 10' down into an ornate hallway adorned with etchings of what appear to be warriors in heavy armor battling all sorts of monsters before the hallway disappears to the right. You can faintly here a single Goblin chittering somewhere deeper still. Though the Dwarf couldn't discern what this place used to be, it's perhaps clear to all of you that this isn't of Goblin make. The hinges, where doors clearly once stood, dangle at the edges of the entryway. A broken chain lie dormant at the foot of the bottom of the stairs.

[chkflip]

The four of you advance cautiously. The Elf picks up, mends, and bags the chain he found on the floor along the way. Perhaps it will be useful later. Bhreh clutches his crossbow as he peers around the corner, noting the completely decimated doors crumbled on the floor right beneath him, and looks down the hallway. It opens into a bit of a wider room with columns surrounding a large bowl in the center before continuing on forward and turning again, this time to the left. He can hear Goblins... but it is unclear how close -- or how far away -- they may be. Perhaps both. The chittering of their guttural language echoes through their thick pungent scent covering the hallway and room before the party.

[chkflip]

Jodove and Elloria's collective efforts go off without a hitch. The Elf waves his hands and after a quickly muttered incantation produces a cacophony of Goblin-like yelps with his minor illusion spell while Elloria begins barking loudly in Orc and slamming her feet on the ground and wall nearest to her. It doesn't take long for the chittering of the actual Goblins to silence entirely as they listen in to the horrors before them. This goes on for a moment before you all hear, in clear broken common tongue...

"You hurt Goblinses... we hurt you badder!"

The light pitter patter of footfalls follow as the one that responded yells out to his comrades.

[chkflip]

The Goblins shuffled around in their positions but didn't make their presence known to you by advancing on the party. Instead, out of nowhere comes a green beam that bursts into what appear to be little miniature cackling Goblin faces. You all grab your heads when it flashes in your eyes and feel... overcome, somehow. A voice begins muttering in the back of everyone but Jodove's mind. Jodove looks in horror as the eyes of his companions begin to flash that same hue of green.

Elloria, overtaken by the magic, begins rushing forward through her comrades until she reaches the wall. With a shake of her head... the magic doesn't seem to dissipate. This doesn't make a difference, currently, as she gets pelted in the shoulder and chest with an arrow each. The Half-Orc grunts in pain before falling unconscious to the ground. Goblins jubilate at their success.

"Leave now, maybe you live, longshanks!"

The voice taunts from the other room.

[chkflip]

The Goblin stands tall to the praise before leaping down to point and laugh at the Kobold.

"You saying?"

It called as it begins retreating backward, it's only standing cohort sliding in for another failed shot at its dragon-scaled opponent. Both move back behind pillars, seemingly content to wait out their enemy's fate.

[chkflip]

Spells are a terrible thing sometimes and, unfortunately for our Kobold and Dwarf, that time is now. Both couldn't help but be completely overcome by the strength of the magics currently flowing through them. The Goblins continued to chortle amongst themselves as Jodove began to concoct a plan.

Meanwhile, outside, Bori the Dwarf finally overcame the sorcery and took a look around. It was quiet.

Too quiet.

[chkflip]

Jodove, completely through with fighting these fickle monsters, reaches out around the corner to fling another firebolt only to burst it into the large bowl in the center of the room. An echoing

'bwooooong'

fills the room and makes the little green menaces shudder.

"Gah! You done! Me kill N-- kehk!"

Right as the magical of the two exposes himself from behind his hiding spot, another arrows thwips through the air and pierces through its throat. The Goblin beside it screams in horror as the gurgling sound escapes it's compatriot in violence. It grabs at its ally, only getting a grasp on the scepter-like club on its allies back before they fall dead to the ground.

FLASH!

Just like that, a torrid plume of brackish smoke exudes from the fallen one's orifices and fills the air surrounding it. Those of you with eyes on the situation think -- nay, you know -- you see a smile in the smoke before it consumes the lone Goblin in the room. A terrible shrill of screaming and gargling overpowers you all as the smoke seems to strike down it's throat. And in that quick moment... this Goblin turns to you all speaking broken common in an all too familiar voice.

"You pay for that! Nilbog have that body for twelve moons. Best personal record!! YOU. WILL. DIE!!!"

It bellows at all of you... then flees the room. The overpowering magic seems to have faded, the killing blow shattering it's clutches on the party. You all look to one another unsure if you could truly believe whatever the hell you just saw.

[chkflip]

You spend some time regrouping as you collect what little you can from the corpses of the Goblins slain thus far. And it's at this point that the room they occupied becomes more clear as to what it's original purpose may have been. The original art in this room echoes the previous hallway of mighty heroes championing against great evils. Down each pillar is a single word written in several different languages: truth, order, law, and justice each exemplified on their own part of this prolific structure. On the southernmost wall you see the following words in what can best be described as a calligraphy-style font.

"I, Sextus Varius, swear the Delian Oath.
To serve law, battle chaos, and keep the Delian lore secret."

Below it is a stalwart figure, helm in arm, with a single foot atop a bested monster you've never seen before. Upon looking throughout the walls, however, you do notice one figure that has been changed by the Goblins. Mud and slash marks surround one particular Goblin on the wall. One that dons a very familiar cap and scepter.

[chkflip]

You all soldier forward in a zig-zag pattern after perhaps learning something from the first assault on these little green menaces. A soft humming hits your ears as you inch closer to the next 90-degree turn in the hallway. More stairs downward make it impossible to see much further than the very beginnings of the next room, but what you can see is telling. A long rug, perhaps colorful if all you could see wasn't shades of grey, is draped along the center of the room between what appears to be two pews. The humming you hear rises and drops in cadence and it's at this point you realize, collectively, that it isn't humming.

It's chanting.

Though unclear, it sounds like it's fairly far away from you, perhaps coming from the Northeast end of this new room.

[chkflip]

The party stops at the corner, Bhreh looking back with a nod before continuing down the set of stairs. What lies before him would in any other circumstance be breathtaking. The room, roughly 50x50 feet in feet and length, stands beautifully to the test of time compared to the rest of the building. Two aisles of five sets of pews sit centrally in the room -- separated only by a long, beautiful rug -- before a massive statue of what appears to be an honor to some long-passed warrior, defender, or deity to whomever built this place.

Silence has long taken this place; however, that is being cut down currently by what happens in the far corner of the huge room. A chained and struggling humanoid seems to be making every failed effort and attempt to free themselves from whatever it is the little goblinoid is doing in front of them. Black smoke and chanting are two very bad signs, however, and this might be the last moment you have to stop whatever it is you're seeing transpire.

[chkflip]

Bori's arrow and Jodove's projectiles may not have aimed true this time, but the backfire from the firebolt licked the chanting enemy's eyes just enough to distract and cause a wince if only momentarily. Still, however, the chanting kept on. The little girl -- if only by age as she appeared rather stout for her age -- cried out and lashed against the makeshift chains that bound her to the overturned wooden table. Just as the Kobold monk processed what they were told, a familiar voice calls out to them.

"What does Goblins call scaly punchy dragonkin? Dinner! Pahahaha!!"

A foul magic most old sprang from the little cretin's fingers as it told it's awful joke, springing out at the Kobold. It was shrugged off as fast as it fired. The goblinoid scoffed as it found solace atop a nearby pew. Bori, distracted by what could hardly even be considered humor, was caught by surprise when a huge, hairy beast roared right in front of him. It lashed out at him with a maul of some sort and scraped hard... against the Dwarf's armor. Too close for comfort.

Bhreh springs to action, launching himself at the jokester ready to cast his favorite spell: fist. But just as he gets face to face with the sweaty little mob... something overcame him. His aggression, much like Jodove's earlier plight, changed in the moment.

[chkflip]

Unfortunately, in all her courage, the Half-Orc rushes up the steps and misses twice with the swings of her blades. Even more unfortunate, though, was the fact that there wasn't one Goblin up those steps... but two.

Bori turns the tide against the huge beast before him with a well-timed strike with his rapier that sends the bugbear into a pained roar. It looks to him and, though injured, smiles. It would see it's own weapon true with a pounding slam into the stout Dwarf's shoulderblade. Tit for tat, indeed.

Meanwhile, back up the steps, the Goblins cackled at their opponent as one hit and ran away... then the other struck the poor girl down. Elloria drew what may be her last breath after both Goblins ended up getting clean strikes with their blades. The second Goblin rushes down the steps to see what blood it could spew next when --

WHOOSH

-- it gets absolutely incinerated by a firebolt that KFC crispy style barbecues the little green problem child. It squeals as its flesh is charred by the flame. A husk is about all that's left when the fire dies down. In frustration, the magic-weilding Goblin rushes Jodove and whomps him in the chest with a grinning scepter.

Hit points are low... it appears to be a three-versus-three standoff in the echoing cathedral of a room. The chanting has stopped, but the poor young Dwarf girl is still far from being saved by our heroes.

[chkflip]

The final moments of the battle seemed the longest. Fists flew, spells flung, and weaponry sprayed blood across the walls of this once endearing and holy place. When it was all said and done, however, it would see the end of the bugbear... but also the Dwarf. Both lay breathless and bleeding. The large room -- now that you have a moment to collect it all in -- appears to be a shrine of some sort. If the last room was a place of worship and penance, then surely this would be a place where those devout enough followers would come to further their studies. What this Delian order is may forever be a mystery to you; however, more words are found behind the large statue.

If you are to keep it, you must first give it to me.

The statue, almost ambiguously gendered in nature either by time eroding away at the features or by design (it seems very unclear to you which), stands tall in its heavy armor with a massive blade upon it's back. This moment of triumph of yours, though deserved it may be, is cut short by the Dwarf girl who falls on her face out of nowhere.

[chkflip]

Soon, the Dwarf girl would wake and thank her heroes. She would smile as they helped her out, shocked to see another of her kind in the group who had also fallen. The Kobold and the wizard would aid the little girl in her steps home while the Half-Orc one-arm presses Bori over her shoulder. The three would stop every now and then to make sure they licked the proverbial treasure bowl clean by picking off every piece of armor and weaponry worth it's copper in weight when they got back to town.

The blacksmith, probably the happiest most have seen him in some time, came at you full sprint with a joyous smile and a warm (if not tight) hug for his little girl. A small embrace later and he too would see to it that you were well compensated for your efforts. The local clergyman came rushing forth after seeing several townsfolk surrounding you, noticing poor Bori unconscious on Elloria's shoulder.

Jubilation all around for our heroes on this fine day!

And with that, our quest is complete...

COMPLETION:

95% (what did you miss!?)

REWARDS:

- Level up! All adventurers may advance to level 2.
- Gear up! All adventurers may acquire 500gp

or

a +1 weapon, not both
- Notoriety! All adventurers will have advantage on social-based skill checks in future quests against/with the villagers of Thode for saving the Blacksmith's daughter.

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