The Unwelcoming Committee

Once again, the journey passes in silence, only broken by Heimlin's constant praying to Kamen for protection. The levity of the previous evening with Burl seems long gone, as every step brings him closer to finding out whether or not his family has come to harm.

The morning's journey is fairly heavy going, as it is mostly uphill, following winding paths through the hilly land which is not far from the border with Polsko. They thank the gods for providing them with sturdy mounts to take the burden of the journey.

It is mid-afternoon when Heimlin tells them all to stop.

'You see that copse of trees about 'alf a mile ahead?' he asks 'Well, there's a rise just the other side of it which looks onto my 'ome. We need to move quietly now, in case there's someone waitin' for us.'

Slowly and silently, they ride towards the copse of trees, arriving there without spotting a soul. They bring the horses, Giselle and cart into the trees and then dismount.

Jihan suggests that he scouts out the area to see if there is anyone around.

'Best do it' Heimlin says. 'When you reach the brow of the 'ill, you should see another small rise just ahead of yer. It's a pretty non-descript rise, the only interestin' thing about it is a large sandstone boulder imbedded into the side. Well, that's what it looks like, but in fact it's just an illusion, 'idin' the entrance to me boy's place. I 'ope to Kamen that that's all yer sees.'

Jihan checks his bow and long knife and sets off in the direction of the hill. The rest of them crouch in the protection of the copse in order to see him scale the low rise of the hill in front of them. They see Jihan keeping a low profile as he ascends, then crawling on his stomach as he reaches the hill's low peak. He spends a couple of minutes viewing from the peak, and then stealthily descends.

As Jihan comes back towards them, their hearts sink. They can tell from Jihan's expression that it is not good news. Heimlin's face has become bleached of all color. He looks petrified.

They all crowd around Jihan in order to get his verdict.

Jihan shakes his head sadly.

'It appears that are worst fears have been justified. It's goblins. There's a small group of them on the brow of Heimlin's home hill.'

Heimlin sinks to his knees and starts to weep, trying to control himself, but failing.

Maire' puts a comforting hand upon his shoulder while Jihan tries to console him.

'Heimlin, I know that it doesn't look good, but I didn't see any of the goblins moving through the entrance. Perhaps they have not discovered the illusion and are simply waiting to see if we show up. Remember, it is us that they are after, not your son and daughter-in-law.'

Heimlin tries not to think of the worst, but they can all tell that he is going crazy with remorse.

'Why did I tell the halfling where they lived.' The gnome sobs. 'It's all my fault. I have betrayed my own kin'

Jihan speaks to the rest of the party.

'It's probably best if you come up to the brow of the hill and see the situation for yourself. From what I saw, the goblins weren't being very conscientious about keeping watch. Heimlin, although my heart bleeds for you, we need your help in ensuring the safety of your family. Please, stay here and watch over Giselle and the horses while we plan our course of actions.'

Heimlin nods between his tears and sinks to his knees once more next to where the animals are tied and busies himself with more devotions to Kamen.

Slowly and carefully, they all stoop and make their way up the slope of the hill. As they are almost at the top, they sink to your knees and inch towards the summit on their bellies. They duck down as the sight before them comes into view, and then peek up again in order to get a better view.

Jihan was correct, there is indeed a platoon of goblins on the top of the hill opposite some 100 yards away from your present position. They count ten of them in total, all clad in leather armor with shortswords at their sides and spears laying on the grass in front of them, or standing upright through being dug into the earth. They appear not to have any missile weapons, unless they have slings in their pouches.

One is dressed slightly differently from the others in that he has a wolfskin on his back in the form of a hooded cloak. In one hand he holds a large bronze gong on a pole, decorated at the top with the skull of a wolf. Attached to his belt is a large yellowing bone hanging from a leather thong.

The goblins do not look as if they are prepared for battle. Some are simply lazing in the late summer sun. Others are wrestling with each other, to the amusement of their colleagues. Another group are playing a game of knucklebones. They are situated around 10 yards away from the illusion that masks the entry to Heimlin's family burrow.

Seeing all that they need to see, they duck below the crest of the hill and start to make their plans.

 Although no one is particularly keen to bring Heimlin up to the brow of the hill to see the tragedy for himself, it is decided that his knowledge is essential to ensure that the attack does not end in disaster.

Maire' is dispatched in order to bring the gnome up the brow of the hill. Although Heimlin is still very upset, he is sufficiently in control of his senses in order for Maire' to risk bringing him up.

After a very careful ascent, Maire' and Heimlin arrive at the brow of the hill. Seeing the goblins for himself, Heimlin ducks down behind the brow again and starts to weep once again, as he sees the true extent of the situation with his own eyes.

The others wait for several minutes to see whether he calms down. Eventually, he does.

Yaz asks the first question:

"Heimlin, did the map you gave to Felibarr show the exact location of this burrow? Or just your own?

'From the day we left Mnyesto' Heimlin says sadly 'me boy's 'ome is my 'ome. My 'ome used to be in Mnyesto, but I 'ad to give it up after I realized that I couldn't pay the Nyemetz off no more. So all the time I've been referrin' to my 'ome, I've been referrin' to me lad's place. I'm sorry if I didn't make meself clear….An' I told that sneaky 'alflin' exactly where it was.'

Heimlin holds his head in his hands and starts weeping again.

Winnacer asks Heimlin whether it was his son who created the illusion disguising the entrance to the burrow.

'No, me lad's a gem trader like 'is Dad. Bloody good un an' all. No, it was Granny that made the illusion for the burrow, made 'em for everyone's burrows. No one's as good as makin' illusions as Granny is. Most of us from the village can count Granny as an ancestor. She's been around forever, I reckon.'

Winnacer asks whether the goblins could be an illusion as well.

'I doubt it very much.' replies Heimlin 'But it's easy to tell. Look at the goblins and the rock for a few seconds. Then close yer eyes an' tell yerself that they're not real. I bet the rock will 'ave gone, an' the goblins will still be there.'

Curious, they all try the experiment. They see that the goblins are still there, but instead of the rock, there is simply a hole in the side of the hill.

Winnacer mentions that he is worried about employing the use of illusions in the assault upon the goblins, seeing as how Corrow's recent attempts have been less than successful of late. Corrow looks a little upset at Winnacer's words. Heimlin leaps to Corrow's defense.

'Don't be knockin' illusions now, Sir Winnacer. While it's true that they 'aven't been perfect in the last couple of encounters, yer gotta remember that the witchfinders 'ad the special staff to check for magick, an' the bandits at the ford knew very well that they were waitin' on an illusionist and so were prob'ly ready for 'em. P'raps the goblins are ready for us too, but they just look like a rabble to me. Don't knock illusions. They've saved our kind's hides many a-time.'

Winnacer says that he is surprised to see that the goblins are not hiding from the sun and seem to actually be enjoying it. Darius explains that it is partly a myth.

'Darius is right. Centuries ago, goblins an' orcs made their 'omes underground. But the bastards breed so fast that they soon ran out of room down there, so the only solution was to come out into the light. They didn't like it at first but, over a number of generations, they learned to accept it, becomin' less nocturnal each time. Of course, there were disadvantages to 'em. Their infravision ain't nothin' like their underground cousins, but they can still see in the dark a lot better than we can.'

After Heimlin answers all of the questions, talk resumes to tactics. It is decided that it would be wise to check out the immediate area in order to check that there are not any more platoons in the immediate area. Jihan volunteers for this duty.

The others watch as Jihan slowly moves down the hill and in a 360-degree sweep in order to ensure that there are no other threats in the immediate area.

Jihan is gone for almost half an hour, and the rest of them start to worry that he may have been captured. However, with great relief, they see him slowly and stealthily making his way back to their position.

Jihan reports his findings:

'Looks like those ten are the only ones that we have to deal with. Another good piece of news is that I had no problem in moving around while keeping out of sight of them. It's going to be possible for us to approach them from any direction, at least until we have to break from cover to make our attack.'

Winnacer asks Heimlin whether there are any other entrances to his son's grotto.

'No' replies Heimlin 'the more entrances there are, the more chances there are that one of 'em could be discovered. The one 'idden by the illusion is the only way in, an' the only way out.'

They all peer once more into the entrance to see if anything is visible, but all they can see is darkness.

Corrow, who has remained silent during all of the tactical planning, speaks:

'It seems as if you have come up with a pretty good plan with just the six of you involved. Through a combination of Maire's sleeping magick and Yaz's ability to make the vegetation do his biding, I feel that, even if a few do manage to escape the magick, then they should easily be dealt with by the warriors' missile fire or cold steel.'

'I memorized two spells this morning, either of which can be used if needs be. One is the ability to cast illusions, as you have seen me perform on many occasions, while the other is a sleeping spell, the same as Maire' is intending to use. I feel that it is better were I to keep the use of this magick in reserve in case something occurs which we have not foreseen. As many of you have mentioned, we do not know whether more enemies may remain inside the grotto.'

Yaz asks Heimlin whether he could give you all information regarding the layout of the grotto. Heimlin says that he thinks that he can remember the layout and scratches a simple map into the dirt.

It's time to move out. Winnacer checks that every one is ready. The others indicate to him that they are.

Heimlin heads back towards the animals to check that they are safe.

Slowly and carefully, the first five head out from their positions, keeping a low profile to ensure that they are not spotted during their maneuvering. They each occasionally glance up at the goblins whenever they gain line of sight to them, but the goblins are still up to their same antics, paying little attention to their surroundings.

Jihan is the first to get into position, hiding amongst the undergrowth on the hillock to the south of the objective. From this position, he is able to observe the others as they arrive at their destinations.

Yaz is the next to reach his allotted position. As carefully as he can, he ascends the north face of the objective, crawling on all fours as he nears the top. He eventually reaches the safety of the bush. He is panting hard through nerves, very much aware of the fact that the goblins are only ten yards away from his position and that he would certainly be doomed were they to realize his presence.

Corrow manages to reach his position. He has chosen the bushes to the west of the hill which offers him total camouflage from the goblins on the hill, although he would be easily able to assist if called for.

Winnacer and Xavier have the most dangerous tasks, having no cover to hide their positions. Xavier approaches from the north west, crawling up the hill, while Winnacer takes a south west approach. They crawl on their stomachs until they are just able to spot the goblins on the brow of the hill. They duck down out of sight again and ready their bows for when the time is right.

Jihan also readies his bow. Seeing that everyone is now in position, the elf puts his fingers to his mouth and gives the cry of a robin.

Panting deeply, Maire' puts her hand into her pouch and takes out a handful of sand. She checks that Darius is right behind her. Darius nods.

Taking a deep breath, Maire' leaves the safety of her position by the side of the hill and starts running as fast as she can. Darius waits until Maire' is some 10 yards ahead of him and then dashes after her in hot pursuit.

Such is the disorganization of the goblins that they do not notice the running lass at first. It is only when Darius also emerges, and starts screaming in his native tongue that they stop what they are doing and look in their direction.

The goblins start to laugh heartily at the sight emerging before them. The goblins playing at knucklebones stop their game and point at either Maire' or Darius, tossing down copper coins in front of them.

The goblins seem not to be interested in joining in the pursuit until it becomes obvious to them that Darius is losing ground on Maire'. Darius does not need to act in order to start losing Maire', as his short legs and heavy chainmail mean that he cannot keep up with the unencumbered Maire'. As soon as they see that their fellow goblin is losing the chase, the goblins start to react.

The wolfskin clad goblin with the gong starts to shout at the others. He sticks the gong on the pole into the ground so as not to encumber him and dashes after Maire' with another three goblins in pursuit.

Glancing over her shoulder, Maire' sees the goblins gaining on her and starts her arcane uttering and gesturing. As she comes to the end of her uttering, she stops on the spot, turns and tosses the sand in the direction of her pursuers. To her great relief, she sees all four of them fall to the floor.

With Maire' in full view of him, Yaz immediately starts his own spellcasting routine. Clutching his holy symbol, he starts his sayings and gestures towards the remaining goblins, who are looking at their sleeping comrades with confused expressions on their faces.

Yaz gives thanks to Prirodna as he sees that all of the remaining goblins are bunched up closely enough so that they are all affected by his spell. He watches on with some satisfaction as the grass starts to raise up as if they are so many thousands of small green flatworms and bind the goblins by their feet.

The goblins start to scream and gibber in confusion and terror as they feel the grass come to life around them. They try to run away, but find that they are all bound tight to the ground.

All except one.

One of the goblins is managing to slowly move away from the area of the spell, albeit slowly.

Xavier and Winnacer rise from their position and take aim towards the moving goblin, as does Jihan.

Then, an arrow flies from seemingly nowhere, passing within just a few yards of where Winnacer is standing. The arrow continues its journey and hits the panic stricken moving goblin in the stomach, piercing its leather armor. The goblin falls to the ground, dead, and is held tight by the grass.

Realizing that none of the party were in that position, they all look round to see who the mystery archer is. As they turn round, they see a halfling dressed in leather armor with a composite short bow in his hands.

'Felibarr!' they all exclaim to themselves.

He is observing them all, seemingly aware of all of their locations. He is wearing the same pained expression on his face that they saw him wearing just before he made his escape from the ford ambush.

They each take in their situation. From their position, Maire' and Darius have a good view of the entrance to Heimlin's son's grotto. They can see no activity here.

The four goblins close to their position are sleeping soundly, and will continue to do so for just under five minutes. The five remaining live goblins caught in the entanglement spell are gibbering in panic. They don't seem to have any missile weapons, otherwise they would probably have used them by now.