[D&D] The Lost Mines of Phandelver

[Don't panic]

> Huh? I was playing the bad dwarf?! But fair enough. I am torn between my blood driving me to free my kin as soon as possible and the insight that our party eventually wasn't fully prepared for this adventure hence possibly continuing our voyage to Phandalin (as fast as possible) first, maybe look out for another helping hand - I could invest the coin I found looting Belaver as a necessary payment...and also do as you said re- authorities. I want my rope back after all!

keeping the conversation in dwarvish
>let's see what else Syllin can learn from the goblin. he must be privy with the workings of the hideout.
then we can decide on the best course of action: going to phandalin, search for the hideout, or camp here now and make our move tomorrow morning
I assume you shall need some time to commune with your god soon enough?

 

[twietee]

in dwarvish > I forgot to mention that I'd go back onto our search for the hide-out / goblin king after resting a night in Phandalin asap. What else is there to do anyway than to rescue my cousin Gundren? There was a map mentioned by the Goblin..I'd like to take a peek on that as well..

 

[Don't panic]

note: remember that the goblin understands common, and Syllin has agreed to translate the answers.
if anyone wants to ask specific questions about the hideout, go ahead, than the DM can wrap up the answers

 

[twietee]

> I want to know where the secret back-door entrance to the hideout is. Ever hideout has a hidden entrance! Also how many goblins there possibly are. Orcs?

I think we can find out specifics about the goblin king once we found the hide-out.

Also, are there any additional checks on how trustworthy that little bugger is?

 

[Plutonius]

You should probably search up north from here specifically.

@twietee , do you say that to me ? If so I'll look north.

Also, I hope you didn't mention that you pocketed the coin . Looting for yourself is generally considered a no-no in the game since players will start worrying about grabbing stuff for themselves rather than working together. This even applies to rogues (@Moyank24) who realize that they can gain more by working with the party (except maybe if they find a large gem ).

> Master Fletcher! do you not have any curiosity about what this sap might know? he appears to be in a loquacious disposition. Anything interesting to be learned from Gundren's horses?

To Bart from the woods: I want nothing to do with that. I'll finish searching here and then I will check Gundren's horses.

All (@Moyank24, @Scepticalscribe, @Huntn, @Don't panic, @twietee): Alignment discussion.
For those who haven't played role playing games,I thought I would explain my actions. Twietee was earlier commenting that he thought he was being railroaded into a limited choice of options. In truth, the only aspect of the game which can constrain your actions is if you role play your alignment correctly.

As a player, I can appreciate (and 100% agree with) DP's actions. His ideas are excellent and they even follow his Lawful Neutral alignment (100%). As a character though, I'm of Lawful Good alignment. My character does not believe in torture or slaying helpless creatures. Veit and Syllin are also of good alignment so it will be interesting to see what they do to the goblin after they are done questioning it. I didn't mention Portia (neutral) since she would probably gladly slit the goblin's throat after questioning it .

 

[Don't panic]

@twietee , do you say that to me ? If so I'll look north.

Also, I hope you didn't mention that you pocketed the coin . Looting for yourself is generally considered a no-no in the game since players will start worrying about grabbing stuff for themselves rather than working together. This even applies to rogues (@Moyank24) who realize that they can gain more by working with the party (except maybe if they find a large gem ).



To Bart from the woods: I want nothing to do with that. I'll finish searching here and then I will check Gundren's horses.

All (@Moyank24, @Scepticalscribe, @Huntn, @Don't panic, @twietee): Alignment discussion.
For those who haven't played role playing games,I thought I would explain my actions. Twietee was earlier commenting that he thought he was being railroaded into a limited choice of options. In truth, the only aspect of the game which can constrain your actions is if you role play your alignment correctly is your alignment.

As a player, I can appreciate (and 100% agree with) DP's actions. His ideas are excellent and they even follow his Lawful Neutral alignment (100%). As a character though, I'm of Lawful Good alignment. My character does not believe in torture or slaying helpless creatures. Veit and Syllin are also of good alignment so it will be interesting to see what they do to the goblin after they are done questioning it. I didn't mention Portia (neutral) since she would probably gladly slit the goblin's throat after questioning it .

OCC: don't worry plutonius, i appreciate you are playing the goody-two-shoes guy.
however i want to point out that we are not in fact torturing the goblin at all, nor we have done anything remotely evil, so I am not sure Claus' disgust with the current proceedings would be totally warranted, until we cross some sort of line.
in fact, considering that he just tried to kill all of us, murdered an unharmed man, possibly kidnapped/murdered two other men and is wholesomely unlawful, i think a certain degree of animosity is more than warranted on the goblin even from characters who are good, especially considering that we are in a medieval-like society.
also, Syllin is Chaotic good and an elf, so her own moral compass of 'goodness' might or might not include an ecumenic attitude toward murderous goblins.
Portia's neutral alignment is exactly why I thought she would be the best in conducting the interrogation, since she can 'stretch' more than Veit
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> I want to know where the secret back-door entrance to the hideout is. Ever hideout has a hidden entrance! Also how many goblins there possibly are. Orcs?

I think we can find out specifics about the goblin king once we found the hide-out.

Also, are there any additional checks on how trustworthy that little bugger is?

you can do an insight check to try to see if he is lying or not. if you pass, you know either way, if you fail, you have no idea if he can be trusted. just ask ravenvii to run it.
however in this case, since he was persuaded to talk, and with an extremely high difficulty check, i think it would be inconsistent that he was lying

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Out of earshot from our captive and still in dwarvish: I suggest that we agree on the further questions that we wish to pose to this miscreant, and that the questions be actually put by some of my more persuasive comrades in arms.

I recommend a few questions on matters such as possible numbers (of goblins), the location and nature of the aforementioned hideout, the nature of this map, and whether we were deliberately targeted, or whether this was an opportunistic ambush.

I, of course, shall translate both the questions, and the responses that I have cause to believe our captive may wish to subsequently vouchsafe us.

 

[Don't panic]

in common, slowly, to the goblin

>very well, it seems you can understand me!
what a bright little goblin we have here! one who knows what is best for him!
Do you have a name?

Now, my friends here would like to know a bit more about this Hideout you babble about.
How do we get there? is it well defended? walls, palisades or the like?
Is there a secret entrance to the place? a secret password?
How many of your kind are there? is the goblin king there? what about other creatures? Orcs perchance?
In which condition are the dwarf who was riding that horse, and his knight companion?
and what about this misterious map?
and why did you attack us? did anyone ordered you to?

Talk, goblin, talk!​

 

[Scepticalscribe]

in common, slowly, to the goblin

>very well, it seems you can understand me!
what a bright little goblin we have here! one who knows what is best for him!

Now, my friends here would like to know a bit more about this Hideout you babble about.
How do we get there? is it well defended? walls, palisades or the like?
Is there a secret entrance to the place? a secret password?
How many of your kind are there? is the goblin king there? what about other creatures? Orcs perchance?
In which condition are the dwarf who was riding that horse, and his knight companion?
and what about this misterious map?

Talk, goblin, talk!​

I willingly translate, but before I do so, in dwarvish, I remark to Bartolomeus that it would be interesting for us to also ascertain whether this was an accidental. opportunistic ambush, or, whether it was planned - or ordered - in advance, and if so, by whom.

 

[Plutonius]

however i want to point out that we are not in fact torturing the goblin at all, nor we have done anything remotely evil, so I am not sure Claus' disgust with the current proceedings would be totally warranted, until we cross some sort of line.

Agreed. It's the line I'm worried about . Claus is all for killing the goblin in battle but will have nothing to do with killing a helpless enemy. That is the decision the party will have to make after you're finished with the goblin.

In terms of my alignment
- I do not want the goblin let go.
- I do not want the goblin killed while helpless.

The only options as I see it if I'm present are
- Give the goblin his sword and have fight me in one on one combat to the death.
- Turn the goblin into the authorities who can Lawfully determine it's outcome.

As you can see, it's better that I'm out searching in the woods. I'm waiting to see how @twietee and @Scepticalscribe justify their actions when the decision on the goblin needs to be made .

 

[Don't panic]

I willingly translate, but before I do so, in dwarvish, I remark to Bartolomeus that it would be interesting for us to also ascertain whether this was an accidental. opportunistic ambush, or, whether it was planned - or ordered - in advance, and if so, by whom.

yes, i have already added that bit as an edit.
also, you can ask questions directly, in goblin or common, and so can the others. there is not need for the continuous back and forth.
and dwarvish is a good lingua franca, which the goblin likely does not comprehend, but neither do Claus and Portia, i think

 

[ravenvii]

@twietee
To Bart from the woods: I want nothing to do with that. I'll finish searching here and then I will check Gundren's horses.

You fruitlessly search the woods. Giving up, you return to the group around the captured goblin and search the horses. You know that they belonged to Gundren Rockseeker and Salidar Hallwinter, but that's not new information. You can ascertain nothing else.

in common, slowly, to the goblin

>very well, it seems you can understand me!
what a bright little goblin we have here! one who knows what is best for him!

Now, my friends here would like to know a bit more about this Hideout you babble about.
How do we get there? is it well defended? walls, palisades or the like?
Is there a secret entrance to the place? a secret password?
How many of your kind are there? is the goblin king there? what about other creatures? Orcs perchance?
In which condition are the dwarf who was riding that horse, and his knight companion?
and what about this misterious map?
and why did you attack us? did anyone ordered you to?

Talk, goblin, talk!​

The goblin thrashed around and shouted a few obscenities, then took ahold of itself. Looking up at Bartolomeo, it spoke; and Syllin translated: "It's up north, I told you. It's along a small trail off this one. It has one entrance. You be blind not to see it. Defended? Goblins never defend hideout, no fool went in! About twenty goblins inside. All others are in Cragmaw Castle. The king in the hideout?! You stupid donkeys! The king is in Cragmaw Castle! Well-defended it is, you puny bones will decorate -- " the goblin caught himself, thinking better of threatening his captors -- " -- goblins don't go along with orcs, you stupid donkeys! Hideout is for Cragmaw tribe only! I don't know about the dwarf, orders say bring him and that map to the king. You stupid donkeys are not special, we kill you and take loot to hideout. That human, ha! He's in the 'eating' cave, he will be dinner for hungry goblins!" the goblin forgot himself and laughed out loud at the image of the human being cooked and eaten.

Syllin shifted uncomfortably -- she translated the obscenities the best she can, but knew she toned it down quite a bit from their original meanings.

 

[Don't panic]

> You better watch your tongue, goblin.
our patience is not inexhaustible.

How far is this Cragmaw Castle? how do we get there?​

 

[ravenvii]

> You better watch your tongue, goblin.
our patience is not inexhaustible.

How far is this Cragmaw Castle? how do we get there?​

"In Neverwinter Wood, around twenty miles northeast of the hideout. Please ignore stupid little hideout! Go to castle stupid donkeys, goblins be happy for big dinner!"

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Hm. (In Dwarvish, musing aloud). Is that Goblin "King" entirely independent, or, is he in league with, or answerable to other forces, or individuals, such as the Black Spider who is known to have cultivated relationships with outlaw goblin bands?

And, this 'castle'? Is this not an attempt by a petty lordling thug to make himself sound more important than he actually is by describing himself as a 'king' with a castle?

And, the opportune capture of those who had set us this task: Is this something on the lines of an unfortunate accident, or was it deliberate? More relevantly, when were our two dwarven colleagues captured - and how far ahead of us are the goblins with their captives?

Before we proceed any further, - not least to a castle that this miscreant would love to see us attempt to visit, - I would like to see how the goblin answers these questions, also.

 

[Huntn]

What about a slightly customized stonyc's table? Extremely basic but we could put in easily our current HPs, spells or what else might come in handy. That way we don't clutter the thread more than necessary. I could do that on the week-end earliest though. I could put a linky in my sig or so too so that there is not a lot of searching involved whenever DP decides to keep us waiting again (btw., how was the snow? This winter is extremely on the light side) .

I also like DP's round by round update idea during combat.

 

[Plutonius]

You fruitlessly search the woods. Giving up, you return to the group around the captured goblin and search the horses. You know that they belonged to Gundren Rockseeker and Salidar Hallwinter, but that's not new information. You can ascertain nothing else.

@ravenvii, I gather what arrows I can recover, replenish the two in my quiver, and load all the extra arrows and equipment (including the dead horses tack) into the wagon. I then start digging a hole in the woods in case we want to bury the driver here.

 

[ravenvii]

@ravenvii, I gather what arrows I can recover, replenish the two in my quiver, and load all the extra arrows and equipment (including the dead horses tack) into the wagon. I then start digging a hole in the woods in case we want to bury the driver here.

Leaving the interrogators to their task, you wordlessly gather the equipment off the bodies of the two dead goblins on the trail -- the one you killed in the woods is more difficult to find -- and load them into the wagon. You get weird looks when taking the tacks, but you paid them no mind.

In total, there are two shields, one scimitar and one longbow (not counting the equipment Bartolomeo took for himself), and five arrows in total. You take two and toss three into the wagon.

 

[twietee]

> Alright, I know all that I need to know. You may continue with the interrogation of course. After you're done with the goblin I suggest we tie his hands with a part of the rope, put some cloth into his mouth and let him run into the southern direction once we know what we'll do.

in dwarvish to the Count > I also suggest we talk aloud in common language about going after the goblin hideout at night fall for the riches and revenge - which we won't do but that's another story the goblin doesn't need to know. Also, I'll take a nap now in the wagon while you guys decide what we gonna do. Knowing you guys this will probably take a while. And here, that's for you since you helped finding the trail of my cousin Gundren.

*hands a fairly small - but not the smallest possible - portion of his precious tobacco to the Count
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Also, I hope you didn't mention that you pocketed the coin . Looting for yourself is generally considered a no-no in the game since players will start worrying about grabbing stuff for themselves rather than working together.

Hmmm, I think you are serious about that...

Of course I pocketed the golden coin!

 

[Don't panic]

Once syllin gets her answers and Portia also has a chance to ask a question or two, if she wants, we can discuss what to do next and the the options at hand
---

*Meanwhile, the Count catches the little parcel Veit tossed him out of the air, and proceeds to light up his pipe.

> Ahhhh! Many thanks Master Frostbeard, this is exceedingly appreciated
​

Puffing out little rings of smoke, he idles to the wagon and picks up a few arrows to go with his newly acquired bow.

Then he moves back to the rock he was sitting on, in front of the tied up prisoner, and -as he keep gazing at him- he starts quietly cleaning up and resharpening with measured strokes his prized battle-stained greataxe, and the scimitar that used to belong to one of the dead goblins.

> yes, i think this will do for now​

[doublepost=1456588648][/doublepost]

>
Of course I pocketed the golden coin!

Nothing wrong with a bit of financial enterprise!

I think only larger treasures should be treated communally, when looting bodies and other minor searches, it is finder-keepers

 

[ravenvii]

Hm. (In Dwarvish, musing aloud). Is that Goblin "King" entirely independent, or, is he in league with, or answerable to other forces, or individuals, such as the Black Spider who is known to have cultivated relationships with outlaw goblin bands?

And, this 'castle'? Is this not an attempt by a petty lordling thug to make himself sound more important than he actually is by describing himself as a 'king' with a castle?

And, the opportune capture of those who had set us this task: Is this something on the lines of an unfortunate accident, or was it deliberate? More relevantly, when were our two dwarven colleagues captured - and how far ahead of us are the goblins with their captives?

Before we proceed any further, - not least to a castle that this miscreant would love to see us attempt to visit, - I would like to see how the goblin answers these questions, also.

The goblin struggled to look behind it as Syllin spoke in common. Giving up, the goblin answered, "the Black Spider. That's who paid us to look out for the dwarf and to bring him and whatever he is carrying back to our king ... the castle -- " the goblin spat on the ground, "-- the castle is a real castle, stupid donkeys, you go and see for yourselves -- the king would love to add your bones to the decorations! ... The dwarf we are bringing to the castle, that human was a bonus, he will be delicious dinner for the goblins at the hideout! ... we captured the dwarf and the human this morning."

 

[Scepticalscribe]

The goblin struggled to look behind it as Syllin spoke in common. Giving up, the goblin answered, "the Black Spider. That's who paid us to look out for the dwarf and to bring him and whatever he is carrying back to our king ... the castle -- " the goblin spat on the ground, "-- the castle is a real castle, stupid donkeys, you go and see for yourselves -- the king would love to add your bones to the decorations! ... The dwarf we are bringing to the castle, that human was a bonus, he will be delicious dinner for the goblins at the hideout! ... we captured the dwarf and the human this morning."

In Dwarvish: Not a common or garden opportunistic robbery, then, but rather, a pre-planned assault. That is worth noting.

Now, this causes me to wonder whether the dwarves who hired us, or persuaded us, to undertake this task were of a loquacious disposition. While I had assumed that dwarves were more usually taciturn in disposition, so it occurs to me to ask Veit whether his cousin is one of those more gregarious dwarves...

Also in Dwarvish: Before we leave this spot, I need to retrieve my saddle bags from my fallen palfrey, and ensure their safe-keeping in the wagon, as they contain my books of magic lore.

On this topic, has anyone any further queries that they may wish to pose to this individual?

 

[Plutonius]

In Dwarvish: Not a common or garden opportunistic robbery, then, but rather, a pre-planned assault. That is worth noting.

Now, this causes me to wonder whether the dwarves who hired us, or persuaded us, to undertake this task were of a loquacious disposition. While I had assumed that dwarves were more usually taciturn in disposition, so it occurs to me to ask Veit whether his cousin is one of those more gregarious dwarves...[/

Also in Dwarvish: Before we leave this spot, I need to retrieve my saddle bags from my fallen palfrey, and ensure their safe-keeping in the wagon, as they contain my books of magic lore.

On this topic, has anyone any further queries that they may wish to pose to this individual?

Claus put all the tack from the dead horses into the wagon already.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Claus put all the tack from the dead horses into the wagon already.

In High Common: How very kind and thoughtful of him.

In Dwarvish: Now, it seems to me that our quest - such as it is - has taken on a somewhat different complexion. It is clear that others may have some knowledge of what our affairs, and that Veit's unfortunate kinsman may have suffered from the consequences of wagging tongues.

 

[Huntn]

FMI, how did the party figure this Goblin does not understand Dwarvish, an assumption or a factual basis?