Tablet hunting on Wrecker's Point
After our "death of a thousand cuts" victory against the undead, with Eldur playing such a pivotal role with his powerful fire magics (...), we decide to camp in the tomb itself. A far cry from the soft beds of Altdorf it may be, the alternative - sleeping on the goblin-infested and Shallyah knows what else - plains seemed even worse.
What a great plan! At least until brother dearest roughly shakes me awake, claiming he heard something outside. He is a bit of a scaredy pants in the dark (though I'd never say so to his face...too often), but apparently he's feeling bad things through his sight as well. I sneak towards the (only!) exit, and my heart nearly stops when I see a huge...thing moving towards us. It's as if the swamp itself has come alive, in all the worst ways. It slithers, staggers and gurgles its way forwards, clearly moving towards the tomb. I rush back inside and yell for everyone else to wake up RIGHT NOW, and we get ready for battle.
The beast is absolutely massive, and the battle is very different from the one against the undead. Johanna fires her pistol, caving in part of its chest before the wound starts closing. Thalian nearly sweeps of one its legs after ducking, weaving and dancing his way to an opening. Eldur pew pews it with one of his darts (doesn't do much). And then...it nearly smashes Thalian flat before stomping on Johanna, and side swiping Torgil with a huge arm. Johanna manages to climb to her feet and score a deep hit with her sword, before I find an opening with a sling stone that caves in its chest, and this time the magic fades and it doesn't get up. Instead, the tomb is filled with fetid, ill-stinking swamp waste, and its time to get back on the trail, sleep or no sleep.We (meaning not me and brother dearest) carry/drag the massive tablet back to the ship, managing to avoid any further encounters.
Tablet #2 - ain't no party like a crab party
Exhausted and still badly injured, we decide to take the ship to the next location for the tablet. A good idea, since it was a couple of days at sea before the compass started going a bit more active, pointing towards the very tip of Wrecker's point. I remember going her with my dad as youngling, carefully maneuvering between the rocks to get a catch of the absolutely delicious crabs that only had young on this shore!
Now, however, there are signs of the goblins everywhere. 3 simple rowboats are dragged onto the shore, and we spot several watchtowers guarding the approach up some stairs. Through some goblin...ingenuinity, they've used the carapaces of the crabs for armor!
We decide that stealth is the better part of valor, and take a dinghy onto a small strip of shore next to the sheer cliffs bordering the goblin shore. Using a bit of time, patience and rope, we all manage to climb safely up.
I find myself strangely exhilarated climbing up, the cold sea crashing against the rocks below us, the wind whistling in our ears. Coming back to a place I visited as a child has awoken something primal in me...far from the courts of Altdorf or even Salzenmund, from the soft beds, wine and endless arrays of bumbling suitors trying to grab at a piece of my body like it's so much meat..this makes me feel like I'm alive in a very different way! For all that is wrong with Norsca, our people (are they our people?) still get something right - we live hard, brutally and at one with nature...that old shaman in Salzenmund must have seen something in me...
I'm torn from my musings by brother dearest roughly grabbing my elbow, looking at me with concern. I brush him away, mumbling that I'm fine.
At the top of the rocks, we get a better overview of what we're facing. There are five guard towers spread out towards the edge of the plateau, with what looks like 2-3 gobbos in each. We don't really see a settlement of any kind up top, so we assume it might be underground near their shore. Fits well with the compass pointing in that direction.
The combat guys decide that a "prod the porcupine" tactic is best to see how they respond. So me and Torgil sneak towards the edge of the forest and let loose with arrow and stone, with Eldur bringing his massive firepower to bear as well. We manage to kill the little fuckers and then retreat, and not soon thereafter a whole bunch of greenskins come up the ladder and from elsewhere, wolves and all. A little band of 5 wolf riders fan out and come towards the forest, and we retreat to a defensible position to set up an ambush. Sure enough, we manage to get the drop on them and kill the leader and his wolf in short order. The rest immediately turn tail.
Thalian follows them, and returns not long after, indicating that we should get the warp out of Dodge (a ruined city near Altdorf, infamous for its undead infestation that springs to life after sundown) - the whole clan is coming for us! This time, we decide that running away is the better part of valor, so we rush back, climb up the cliffs and down to our dinghy. One of us (probably me) has the great idea to take advantage of the confusion and row directly for the goblin shore, where the compass is clearly pointing.
We manage to drop the two gobbos in the tower before they can sound the alarm, then make for the cave entrance in the cliff face! As usual, Thalian scouts ahead (being sliiiightly stealthier and sliiiightly deadlier than me), a job he usually does well - but not this time. Apparently one of the goblin guards in the barracks heard him, so we do not get the advantage of surprise. The combat is fairly short and brutal. We sustain a few wounds, but nothing serious. There's only one way forwards. My heart is beating in my chest, partly from fear, partly from the thrill of just being alive in a way I've never experienced in the big cities.
The way forwards is across a small bridge suspended above the roaring sea coming in below us, sending up sprays of salty water five meters high, as if Stromfelds himself is eager for revenge. We carefully make our way across the slick, rickety bridge. At the far end, we spy a bigger party of goblin guards, 8 in number this time. The battle is harder fought this time, and several among us sustain injuries [noterte ingen detaljer fra kampen].
Beyond the guard post, there's a much larger cave, clearly containing the settlement of the Reavaz up here. There's no one around except a few rotund, small beings that Thalian describe as "squigs", apparently non-aggressive. In what clearly must be the shaman's tent according to Eldur (he complained about a very stinky Dhar smell emanating from the tent), we locate the second tablet! Sensing that we're running out of time, we run back to the opening, only to find way more goblins milling about on the shore...curses!
I quickly tell Eldur to get to the boat and meet me where we first set ashore, he's too thick (as usual) to comprehend what I'm doing, and I rush outside. I start screaming and taunting the goblins, who all take the bait and come running after me! I sprint up, getting peppered by arrows while running but luckily getting only scratches beneath my shield. Approaching the forest, I hear that there's still quite a few of them in there - and realize that I might have been just a liiiiittle too careless this time around...
But Ranald's inspiration strikes me! I frantically look around and see that the cliffs near the forest aren't that steep - only about 45 degrees or so? I kiss Ranald's sign three times (no more, no less), cradle my dice in the left (not right) shirt pocket and start sliding and sort-of-but-not-entirely falling down the cliffside.
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