Looks good.  We will get you in soon.

“Now That I Have Your Undivided Attention … “ Doc allowed his voice to trail off with a menacing grin as he brandished his green-stained knife by slowly pointing the knife in a slow arc beneath each of the right ears of the captive living Goblins … for added effect as he glared at his hated enemies.

Dok momentarily turned to his companions and asked no one in particular, “Any of You Have Any Burning Questions You Would Like Me to Ask Our Captives?”

The goblins didn’t look pleased with the cleric’s ministrations.  Still, they didn’t look terrified either.  One of them spat in Dok’s direction. 

Hornet shouted over, “Why have they started raiding recently?  Has something changed that forced them to raid?  Why the red hats?”

Dok listened to his companion and then carefully lifted the goblin’s spittle off of his boot with the dagger and wiped it on the goblins long nose.  Smiling, he translated Hornet’s first question.  The goblin grinned a wicked grin back at the dwarf and said, “We were hungry.  Gottsta have food!”  He seemed to think his words amusing and he chuckled a bit despite his biting bindings. 

Dok looked them both in the eye and started measuring their ears while he followed up with the second question.  “Food!  Good food!  Caravans and fat farmers!”  The goblin smiled slyly, “We could share some in you wish . . .”

Before he could finish Dok threw the third and final question at the other goblin which had remained quiet until this point.  “Hats?  Hats?  We are the Red Caps.  That is our crew.  Many more then us here.  If you were wise you would not threaten us.  But run.  If you release us, we will give you a head start before the rest of the caps come after you.  Everyone in the South knows of the Red Caps.  I saw your companion – the elf over there.  Hah!  Dwarves and elves desperate enough to be together!  That elf knew the Cap.  I saw the fear in his eyes.  We are the Red Caps.”  Dok could hear the capitalization of Red Caps as the goblin spoke.  Clearly he was proud of his tribe and hoped it would be a potent enough threat to earn their release.

At this point Steel leaned in with his blade and added another threat to the mix.  It was hard to tell if the goblins were further intimidated by the blade or not – it was hard to imagine one more dagger making their situation worse.   It seemed the mechanical man itself was more confusing than the blade.  His question about the one who left got a response.

“Course he ran!  Not afraid of metal man and friends.  Just went for more Caps.  The Red Caps will be back.  They will track you all over Ridge or back into Woods.  Think ‘Burg safe?  Not safe.  Poke head out and Caps will get.  Only if we speak for you have chance.  Caps will return.”  The second goblin gave an evil grin and the first goblin spat again, this time on the feet of Steel. 

At this point Thaoran joined the conversation.   'I, too, have a question I would like to pose to our little friend,' he said to Dok. 'If I may. What significance, if any, do these red caps of yours have? And did a group of you venture close to Tharündil, the elves' homeland in the South? What business did you have there?”

The goblins eyed the dirty cap and the second one spoke up again.  “Caps.  Caps point of pride.  I am Red Cap.  All should know it.  You beat a few of us, but nobody beats all Caps.  They warn and they brag, the Caps.  They let you know you are foolish if you try to threaten one who wears a Red Cap!”  Again, all could hear as the goblin spoke the capitalization of Red Caps.  He sneered at Thaoran.  “Tharundil.  Few hear of it.  Only if study those less than Caps.  Someday we take it down.  Stupid elves.  But it not near Capland.  So stupid elves escape so far.  No business there.”  He paused and glanced at Thaoran.  “No business for Red Caps there.”  He paused again and grinned.  “Yet.  Maybe you let us go I keep Caps from elvish barrow.  Maybe. If grovel and pay.”

Dok translated the words where needed as he toyed with his knife and the collected ears. 

The Druid looks pretty good.  Love druids.

HP - Max at first level and then you can roll or I would suggest take the auto 5 on the roll. 

Money - Max for first level +50.  Assume you can get just about any basic gear. 

I'll PM you with some questions about fitting you into the campaign.

The elves homeland is South of here - not right near where the redcaps are from.  It is just that most things are South of here.  This isn't the "far north" or anything, but it is northerly.  I don't have an exact name for it off the top of my head and need to find my maps.  Go ahead and make up a name if you want to, or I will try and get back to you on that.  But it is South. 

Go ahead and ask questions, I may even be able to provide answers before the next main post to keep things moving.

Fixer hated rush hour traffic.  It was not just slow, but disjointed.  Fast, slow, fast, slow. 

And then the pickup several vehicles ahead pulled a crazy swerving movement.  Coming to a complete stop a couple of thugs emerged from the back and aimed submachine guns at the driver of a coupe.  Quickly glancing over at Ghlahn, Fixer was glad and not surprised to note that the cee-metal had also spotted the incident. 

He hated seeing crap like this happen.  Thugs and guns abounded and the world went to hell.  Welcome to Thunderdome.  A part of him wanted to play the vigilante and put a stop to this sort of crap.  But it was a very small part that didn't get to come out and play anywhere beyond dream land.  Right now they had their own problems.  Vegas and a locked down compound were still miles in front of him. That was the battle they needed to get to, not this mess on the highway; whoever the poor victim might be. 

Fixer locked his eyes on the traffic in front of him - he wanted to make sure nothing else went crazy here.  The biggest risk was likely to be rubberneckers gawking at the crime scene, but it wasn't impossible that there was some larger action going on.  Knowing there were likely targets on their backs, Fixer wasn't taking anything for granted.  "Keep your eyes peeled everyone, nothing says there is only one."  He drove on, wanting to gun it but limited by the traffic. 

Hornet dashed forward and saw a bloody scene.  Multiple goblins lay dead on the road while others snored away, dreaming grim dreams from which they would never awake.  The elf called to his teammates as he moved quickly forward, “Kill the others, I have two here as prisoners.”  Before binding his chosen two he slid his knife blade across the throat of one already sprouting an arrow, finishing the task Thaoran had earlier begun.  Binding two of the goblins proved easy as they snored away.  One of them awoke by the time he was finished, but was already safely bound. 

Thaoran responded to Hornets call and moved forward to dispatch the rest.  Looking into the bushes on the uphill side of the road he saw 2 goblins snoozing away – the bushes had hidden them from the group’s arrows, but not from the effects of Soledad’s hex.  A moment after their discovery their spirits had left this world curtesy of the elf’s blade.  Very quickly the rest of those napping followed suit.  All that remained were two bound goblins and some green blood (sure, why not?) needing to be cleaned off of blades. 

As Thaoran wiped his blade and Hornet watched his prisoners, Soledad moved forward to search the bodies.  She cast the spell as a ritual since no threats appeared to remain.  There wasn’t a lot to be found.  For coins the total came to 5 gp. 25 Sp and 40 CP.  Whatever else they had been, they hadn’t been rich.  Beyond that there were several foul smelling wine skins and a collection of short swords and bows.  The most interesting item was probably a lone battle axe – overall it seemed like a very normal weapon, but for an engraving of a tree on the blade and the fact that it was clearly not of goblin make. 

As Dok, Hornet and Steel stood guard while the bodies were searched, Thaoran reached down and picked up a red cap that had come off the head of one of the goblins.  Glancing around he realized that all of the goblins had been wearing the red caps.  One could never be sure what passed for fashion amongst goblins, but red hats were a new one.  Except that they tickled a memory.  Twirling the hat slowly on his finger he could almost hear his father talking about a group of goblins called “red caps.”  He didn’t know much about them because they weren’t from anywhere where he had been.  His momentary excitement quelled as he realized that any link between these goblins and his father’s disappearance was unlikely.  They were from nowhere near his homeland.  But it still raised a question.  He was sure his father had described the red caps as being based far to the south of the Blacktooth Ridge.  If that was true, what were they doing here?  Or were red caps now just a general goblin fashion statement? 

General Notes:

Thaoran made a very nice role on history.

9 goblins are dead, 2 are awake and bound and one disappeared down-slope.  The fight is over. 

Posts are really slow - I can handle that if you let me know.

I will be posting on Sunday 10/4 with or without you.  Be prepared to stand around slack-jawed. 

Druids do exist and they can be quite good.  This campaign also has an outdoor component with no similar skill set.  A great choice. 

I believe we started at third level.  Stats come from a point buy system at the front of the Players Handbook.  Do you have access to it?  You can find a pdf of it online.  Or access to the site D&D Beyond?  Not needed, but it is quite useful. 

There is also some information on the first page of this thread.

Welcome back, Dragon!  Hope the trip was awesome. 

You haven't missed a lot - one post.

Speaking of posts - 10 days since I updated and there are only 2 posts.  Come on, lets get some action going.

I don't care, I just need to know these sorts of details. 

Keeper - if you want to run up and kill the sleeping, are you leaving the one that was injured alive or is that one of the dead?

Mark, It is good to see someone who has been active on the site come back.  You would be welcome in the game.  I do the rolls also, so that makes it all easier.  I think the first thing to do would be to read the thread here and then the first couple of posts in the Blacktooth Ridge thread.  It will tell you what the game is doing.  We aren't that far in.  Right now we have a well rounded party which would allow you to do whatever you want.  I think we just added a paladin, assuming that works out we have two big fighter types plus a ranger.  But that doesn't mean you can't do that if you want. If you look down a couple posts on this thread I show who is in the game - plus add the paladin.  That's the group. 

Most people have set up their characters on D&D Beyond - I can send an invite to the game if you want to do that.  But that isn't necessary.  The game is run here.  What do you need from me?

Fixer muttered a few choice curses as he manuevered the vehicle to road's small shoulder.  The way the vehicle reacted as it slowed down and moved to the side made him fairly certain that he knew the issue and that he could likely fix it, but that didn't mean it wasn't frustrating.  It seemed time was always pressing these days.  This mission probably had less time pressure then anything they had done recently with others on the team off at various meetings, but the idea had been to use that time to scout out the dangerous next step.  Be damned if he wanted to go into that compound without a plan.  And a good plan took time and information.  Vegas likely didn't have much time.  Stupid van!

"Seems the van wasn't in as good a shape as advertised.  Time to see if you can live up to you moniker Fixer.  Hopefully it is a simple matter.  If not it is gonna be a long walk."

Fixer looked at the cee-metal and grinned behind his mask. "Hey, I didn't pick this piece of junk.  You just point those blasters of your in another direction.  I'm hopin' I know whats up.  Fixer it is."  He didn't think the big shooter heard the "I hope" he mumbled as he dug in under the vehicles hood. 

But the little mechanic was right.  It wasn't long before he had the vehicle running again.  He waved Ghalan back into the van.  "All fixed-up big guy.  And look!  You kept us safe the whole time too!"  He moved himself into the drivers seat and urged the vehicle back out into traffic and continued towards the pickup.  Glancing at the others he briefly sang, "On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again!  The life I love is making music with my friends!  I just can't wait to get on the road again!"  Taking it down a notch he said, "lets go get those others and see what we can see." 

jury rig roll on Roll 20.  To quote the site:  "Fixer jury rigs the crap out of it!"  22

Guess that van should be rolling again. 

My post will make that assumption, correct me if I'm wrong. 

As the goblins reacted to their comrades falling asleep, Hornet was already sending another crossbow bolt winging towards the group.  This one took a goblin full in the throat just as it was looking up from its fallen comrades.  With barely a gurgle it joined the others on the ground, but this one would certainly never awaken. (dead)

Two of the goblins already had their bows out and sent shots flying towards the location where the crossbow bolt had come from, but with so much cover they were almost firing blind.  Neither shot presented any real danger to Hornet.  After shooting, the two goblins darted to the side of the road and took cover behind trees and bushes.

Dok, seeing another goblin fall, grinned to himself as he prayed to his god and manipulated his spiritual weapon.  In a replay of his first swings, Dok was frustrated when his first attack failed to strike a goblin.  But bringing the weapon up again he swung at one of the other goblins.  Even though the mystical weapon was nearly 80 feet away he imagined that he could feel the solid thunk of contact as the glowing axe struck right through the creature’s bow and into its chest.  Its chest took the blow no better than had the bow and the creature was flung backwards and into the bushes with its chest split open.  (dead)

At this point there were three goblins left standing – two of them in the bushes to the side of the road and one standing alone in the middle.  That one looked around with wide eyes and a sharp squeal.  It reached down to a sleeping goblin at its feet and quickly slapped it a couple of times attempting to wake it – tugging at it and beginning to drag it back up the road.  But it obviously determined the movement too slow and immediately dropped his rousing companion and sprinted away – heading at an angle back and away – quickly moving into the brush and rocks on the downhill slope of the road.  (The other two were on the uphill side of the road.) 

Soledad, smiling cruelly at the crumpling goblins, recast the same hex.  It had been extremely effective the first time, but this time the goblins were more scattered.  Aiming the target close to the uphill side of the road she attempted to get as many goblins as possible within the spells 20’ radius.  It worked – to an extent.  The goblin in the middle of the road that had been partially roused by its companion slumped back to the ground.  On the side of the road it seemed that one of the two had succumbed to the spell as it appeared to crumple to the ground, as evidenced by a booted leg sticking out into the road where it lay – the rest of the body being hidden by the bushes.  The other one on that side was a mystery – Soledad was sure it was within the area of the spells effect, but as it was hidden by the terrain she could not identify with any confidence if it had succumbed to the spell’s effects or not. 

The rest of the party held their positions in case any of the goblins came closer.

Goblin update:

Dead:  4

Asleep:  1 injured – on the road

          4 healthy – on the road

          1 partially visible in the bushes – apparently prone

Unknown:  Hidden on the uphill side of the road, maybe hit by sleep.

Alive:  One running on the downhill side of the road.  No longer visible. 

Post coming either Saturday evening or Sunday morning.  Right now I have three of five.  Get your actions in if you want to do anything besides stand around slack jawed.  Goblins like that look.

FYI, we will be having a paladin joining the group in the near future.

Not really a set date.  But the sooner he is rolled up, the sooner he can join the crew.  We can talk about how to mix you into the group.

Characteres are third level, 5th edition.  Most characters are set up on D&D beyond for the ease of rolling them up, but that isn't required as the game is run entirely on this site. 

The party currently looks like this:

Keeper of Dragons – High Elf Thief Assassin - Hornet

Tann – Warforged Fighter - Steel

Nimu – Elven Wizard - Soledad

Hammer – Hill Dwarf Cleric – Dok

Dragon-Sould92 – Elvish Eldritch Knight - Thaoran

That means that pretty much anything is open.  What are you interested in running?

That's 3 of 5 posted.

The goblins turned the bend a full 120 yards away from the party and headed towards the building in which the group sheltered.  As they came, they passed a couple of skins filled presumably with some foul liquid back and forth and sang.  Those who understood goblin could quickly make out the words, but even those who couldn’t understood the basic idea.

“Crack ‘em!  Splat e’m!  Hang ‘em from a pole!

Smack ‘em!  Cut ‘em!  Bake ‘em in a roll!

Little buggers!  Big buggers!  They all fry!

Young uns!  Sweet uns!  Make their momma cry!”

There were more verses like the first, but none in the party wanted to catch the details. 

When the goblins were about 60’ from the party everyone in the group was eager and launched their attacks from the hidden depths of the hut and surrounding rocks and trees.

Hornet lined up his shot from the shadows of a large pine and took aim at one of the leading goblins.  The horrible creature never knew what hit him as the arrow pierced his eye with the bolt’s point coming out the back of its head.  The goblin didn’t even finish his step but dropped straight to the ground, liquid from the wineskin it held mixing with its blood on the roadway.

Thaoran’s arrow flashed forward at the same time as Hornet’s.  His arrow caught the one that had been kicking a hairy object down the road in the chest.  The creature staggered backwards and went down to one knee but did not die.  The goblin drew its sword and stood up and howled in anger!   It was a sound that made their horrible song sound harmonious. 

Dok held his position behind the rocks as they approached and wished he could close his ears.  Knowing how to speak goblin had proved useful at times but was rarely a pleasant thing.  The cleric called on his god to end this horrible song.  He quietly spoke the words of his spell and just as his companion’s arrows flashed forward he finished – a ghostly axe, nearly a twin to the one at his belt, appeared in the air next to the goblins.  Its first movement was a mighty sweep at a goblin in the second ranks, but the creature had Maglubiyet’s own luck as it turned to pass a wineskin behind it just as the axe appeared.  The spiritual weapon flashed harmlessly through the space its head should have occupying.  It drew a terrified squeal from the creature, but no blood.  The goblin next to it was not so lucky, however.  Missing on its initial swing, the axe swung back in the other direction and took that creature’s head clean off; body and head both falling to the road but rolling in different directions. 

Soledad saw the goblins fall to her companion’s weapons and quickly did her part, stepping forward and scattering a few red petals with a little breath of wind and a few choice words of magic.  As if caught in a magical field of flowers, the foolish and evil creatures collapsed one by one.  First the injured one stopped its screaming and fell.  Then another.  And another.  And another.  And one more.  All told five goblins (4 uninjured and the one hit by Thaoran) succumbed to her spell. 

Steele, the warforged fighter of the group, left the ranged fighting to his comrades.  He stepped out in front of the building to shelter Soledad from any attacks that might come.  Let them come.  He held his weapon in readiness. 

Five goblins out of the original twelve still stood on the roadway in front of the group.  Their song had turned into screams of outrage.  After the sleep spell the screams seemed to falter a bit, but the goblins pulled out their bows and seemed to scan for targets. 

(You got one round free because they had no idea you were there.  Now it will be a regular combat round.)

Fixer heard Ghalan say he was going to the compound and spoke up.

"Unless Charlie wants some accompaniment for the meeting, Ghalan, I'd join you if your up for it.  The best thing I can do is to get a look at the security.  As you said, nothing too close, but as least I can give it a try."  He looked at the rest of the group as he grabbed his stuff to go.  "Could someone let the two new runners know we are coming.  It would make sense to meet up with them."

I'll get a post up soon.

I'm a teacher and kids show up tomorrow.  A bit busy, but the game will move!

*Dok - I didn't have him shout out just yet because they are still 60' away.   Ifwant me to add it in I can do so.

Also, I wasn't really given a specific distance for the attack.  I assumed, always dangerous, that you wanted to coordinate the attack.  The spell with the shortest range was sleep at 60'  Thus the distance for the attack.  In truth they are bit closer then that since you would need most of the group at 60' or closer for the spell to hit more then just the front ranks.

This game recently lost a couple of our player, one of them hopefully only temporarily.  I'm looking for one or two more people to join in to bring the numbers back up to 6 or 7.  We are only a little ways in and it will be easy to jump in.  The party is currently still pretty well balanced, so anything goes.