Unfortunately this tunnel seems lifeless and no animals have been encountered within it thus far.
Dur’dan shuffles off down the tunnel and around the corner as it twists. The soft tinkling of his armor can be heard for a few moments longer until it too has faded.
For Dur’dan the color of the world seems to bleed away as he leaves the warm light of Brenley’s torch. Eventually he is viewing the tunnel in stark grayscale. Despite the risks, he feels perfectly at ease. Centuries have jaded him to danger and he is more than comfortable underground. The Greenskin chatter grows louder as he continues along- its harsh, chittering nature makes it impossible for him to differentiate between a pleasant dialog and a heated argument, but there are at least three individuals conversing that his ears can make out.
After another two hundred yards or so of walking he reaches a large, worked corridor about three yards tall, ten yards wide and extending about seventy yards deeper into the mountain. There are two rows of thick stone pillars lining the walls of the hall, each with a six-foot tall dwarf depicted in relief. At the end of the hall is a massive set of stone double doors flanked by large stone braziers, their fires long-dead.
The chamber has been taken over by goblins. Dur’dan spies at least ten of them. Roughly half are piled in a corner near the entrance to the ruin, sleeping. Two are at the great doors themselves, doing what, the dwarf cannot tell. Three more are sitting at the pillar nearest him, on his left, loudly discussing something in their filthy language. None of them seem to have heard his approach, so consumed are they with their present distractions.
Dur’dan makes the best of this time to take in all he can see to tell the others and then will name his way back and let them know everything he has discovered.
To clarify: What he is mostly interested in is armament. What kind of weapons do they have? How well protected they are in terms of armor. And last but not least is there a leader of some sort that he can make out? However any intel is good intel
Goblins are small green humanoids about the size of halflings. They are covered in wiry, compact muscle with little-to-no body fat and arms that hang down to their sharp knees. A goblin’s face resembles an orc’s: A snarling, ape-like skull with sharp teeth and flat, upturned noses beneath a layer of taut skin. They are vicious, evil-spirited cowards that think of little beyond survival and the torment of those they happen to outnumber or outsize (the latter occurs only very rarely).
The goblins here are completely nude and inconsistently armed. Two have spears that were once longer, now broken in half (possibly the weapons of the murdered Shelic men), the rest have clubs, daggers or short swords. As for a leader, it’s impossible to say. If they do have a leader he may be indistinguishable from the others or he may be in the sleep pile on the far side of the chamber.
Dur’dan notices little else and heads back to the group, where he informs them of what he’s found.
“I’m assuming negotiation is out of the question,” offers Brenley, largely ignorant of the ways of greenskins.
“You out of yer bleedin’ mind, surfacer?” Oshro shakes his head. “The little bastards are monsters. You wouldn’t negotiate with a bear, would you?” Then, glancing at Karikhan, “uh, well, you know what I mean.”
At the news of goblins, Hob’s face turns despondent, and he sits himself down on the ground. To add insult to injury, his stomach growls audibly. It’s been a few hours since his last meal, and his thoughts start to wander off to food, perhaps a brace of coneys in a pot over a roaring fire.
Suddenly, Hin bolts up. “I’ve got it! Why don’t we smoke them out?” Here Hob waits a beat to let his idea sink in, “Do you get me? So, assuming this is a cave and not a tunnel, we light a big fire a bit ways past the entrance. Then we stoke it up real good, fan it their way, and choke those blasted goblins to high heaven. At the very least, it should give us a good angle to ambush 'em from, doncha think?”
John says, “Now, Oshro, you just might be on to something! In most circumstances, one wouldn’t negotiate with a bear. But if you happen to have a shaman who can speak with animals with you…” He pauses. “Of course, these greenskins appear to be murderers and cannibals. I say we treat this as a war… While the honorable thing to do would be to walk into the cave and challenge the goblins to a fair fight, I’d hate for one of you fine people to be killed, or for our mission to be compromised.” He pauses again and thinks for a moment. “I say we should send those of us who can see in the dark first, alert for ambushes or traps. Then, when they give the signal, the rest of us light torches and charge.”
“I don’t know… For all we know, this cave could be far too large to smoke out. Or, there could be natural vents. And if we fail to rout the goblins, they will be aware of our presence and may attack in a coordinated fashion.”
Simul-post, but I interpret the sequence of posts as Hob daydreaming about food during John’s quick reply, and then interrupting him about right as he finishes :D.
“I suppose that may all be true, but, at least we’d have a nice warm fire to grill over. I can’t be the only one starting to get hungry again after that rock climb.”
“I don’t think I can eat anything within a mile of THAT” says John, gesturing towards the half-eaten corpses. “I’ve seen some pretty bad things in my day, but half-eaten humans still make me queasy.”
“Why don’t we wait for them to sleep and have Kitz and the dwarves sneak in and attack them while they still slumber, and the rest of the group wait in the tunnel and if we heard a battle we light our torches and jump in?” Suggested Arrow
Dur’dan tries to contain himself but cannot help but let out a hearty laugh at the hin’s idea.
“I do however like your idea” he motions to John “those of us that are not hindered by the darkness should pick a fight. Ten ill equipped greenfolk won’t do us much harm. What we need to worry about are the friends that they may have that we don’t know about deeper into the delve. If we need the reinforcements then we show our entire hand.”
He looks around the group to wait for a consensus.
Karikhan holds his long spear in his left hand, and draws a javelin in his right.
“They defile this place with their presence. Neither beasts nor men, but a plague that must be cured.”
Khan will cooperate with any plan, but prefers a direct attack. If combat starts, he will throw his javelin at the closest goblin, and then take a defensive stance with his spear.
“Well, might as well go now!” says John, lighting a torch and drawing his sword. Then he remembers his place, and looks to his assigned knight for approval.
Hob pipes up again, this time from a bit further away. “I don’t know… It sounds a bit hasty to me. Surely we have time for at least a little break first?”