After morning preparations, the Company breaks camp and resumes their journey. The travel is again uneventful and they stop for a mid-day meal at highsun.
While eating her rations, Elessaria said, "We should, if the map is accurate and my estimations correct, leave the Dagger Hills in nine hours."
Routunious responded, "Better we press on then, I don't wish to press our luck. I don't imagine we would be so fortunate as to spend two peaceful nights camping in these rocks."
4:00 pm
The Company's march is interrupted by high pitched squeaking and movement on all sides.
Stago whispers, "If we're surrounded...then let them think they've surrounded an army." The gnome draws the Wand of Perfect Illusion and generates a vision of an armed host around the Company. All around them are heard the startled cries of goblins suddenly uncertain what they should do.
The crafty gnome shouts, "Goblins! In the spirit of fairness, the hallmark of all good peoples of these fair lands, we have asked our invisible army to reveal themselves so that you need not meet your deaths in ignorance should you foolishly decide to attack us!"
Elessaria whispers to him, "Will this work?"
"They're goblins...and this is a wand of perfect illusion."
The elven ranger considers this while looking around her. Even though she knows the soldiers are not real, she can hear them speaking to each other in preparation for battle, smell their sweaty scent, and if she chose to reach out and touch them she knows that her fingers would believe they were touching hard steel and leather. If it could fool her so perfectly, the gnome was right, goblins would not doubt their eyes, ears, and noses.
As these thoughts pass through her mind, the goblin leader steps out from behind a pile of stones and approaches them. Behind him at least seven other goblins block the road.
The goblin leader is taller by a head than the others behind him. He has bright yellow skin and wields a nasty looking double bladed battle axe. In broken common mixed with the goblinoid language, he says, "You pass, toll you must pay." The visible goblins behind him laugh and bark encouragement to their leader.
Elessaria looks at her companions and motion to the illusory captain of her imaginary guard detail to hold their place. She pulls out her coin purse and moves toward the leader of the goblin band--to the yipping and gleeful delight of the hunched, pointy eared members of his band. The elven ranger steps forward and the goblin leader smiles a victorious grin as he holds his hand out to receive the coins.
Instead of viewing shiny gold in his palm, the creature's smile turns to confused anguish as he sees a flash of steel and then his own hand opening and closing in a puddle of blood at his feet. The goblins behind him howl in betrayed rage as the goblin leader realizes he's been attacked.
Stago orders the illusory soldiers to rush the goblins in the road and the wretched creatures stand frozen in fear.
Selina attacks the goblin nearest her, who manages to return the assault with a deep wound of his own. She finishes him off with the jeweled dagger. As Lifedrinker slices deeply through the goblin's throat and blood pours out over the blade, Selina feels infused with a wondrous flood of energy and health, her wounds immediately healing as the goblin dies in front of her.
Merle, in a blindingly fast display of unarmed martial combat engages a goblin. Stago is hit by a crossbow bolt, and he nearly swoons to unconsciousness from the loss of blood.
As the illusory guard engages the goblins, at least one breaks ranks and flees. The goblin with the crossbow fires at Routunious, who makes an excellent target in his bright yellow robes. The bolt sinks deeply into his chest and has dealt a critical wound. He knows that if this wound isn't treated immediately he will be dead in a matter of days.
Two more goblins flee from the illusory soldiers.
Routunious casts a cure light wounds spell on himself, which affords only slight improvement in his condition.
Stago, grimacing through the pain and forcing himself to concentrate, casts magic
missile that strikes and stuns the goblin which had hit him with the crossbow bolt.
Tick-a-Tick moves forward and more goblins flee.
Merle attacks thrice, her hands and feet striking her adversary with such force that the goblin's skull is crushed and it falls dead in front of her.
The goblin leader struggles to lift the battle axe with its only remaining hand and with terror in its eyes, Elessaria dispatches him with a mighty swing of her sword.
Stago fires another magic missile at the goblin with the crossbow, felling him with a smoking hole in his chest. "That Ring of Spell Storing is really handy," the gnome said as fatigue and blood loss started causing his vision to blur.
Another goblin stops its attack and flees, leaving Routunious free to fumble for his healing potions. As Selina kills the last remaining goblin, transferring its life essence to her own, Routunious drinks a healing potion and is fully restored.
Stago drinks one portion of his extra healing potion and is also fully restored to health.
"Soldiers! Guard our perimeter!" Stago shouts to the illusory guard, who take up a defensive position around the Company as they check the bodies of the fallen goblins. Elessaria stands over the body of the goblin leader as the gnome approaches her.
"That was an impressive act...you know, it's very likely that if we'd paid him a few coins we could have gotten past this encounter without it costing us any blood, spells, or charges off my wand here. Oh, and the healing potions would still be full too."
"We don't know that."
"No, we don't, but I wouldn't have expected that kind of initiative from such a goody goody."
"What do you mean? It was an evil creature."
"Which you tricked into an easily dispatched foe. Kudos!"
"You think what I did was...evil?"
"Well, that isn't my place to judge...but what I can say is that what you did took everyone by surprise...especially the goblins!"
Elessaria stands silently contemplating what she's done, not even hearing the chuckles of the gnome as he bends down to examine the body of her victim.
All the goblins are searched, but only the leader has anything of value. He has a bag of 800 gp and a snake armband made of gold. Stago shakes the coin purse at Elessaria and says, "I guess we're in charge of the toll road now!" The jibe breaks her from her darkening thoughts and she takes the armband from the gnome, handing it to Selina.
She asks the thief, "What is this worth, do you think?"
After careful examination, Selina says, "I'd guess 100 gold pieces. Not much more."
They hear Stago let out a slow whistle as he pulls a scroll from the bag of the goblin leader. The gnome whispers, "Well, well, well....what would you be doing with this, I wonder?"
"What is it?" Elessaria asks, still perturbed by her growing feelings of guilt at how she had engaged the goblin.
"I won't know exactly what it is until I can use an Identify spell on it, but it is clearly a spell scroll of some kind."
"Can't you just read it to find out what it is?"
"I could, but if I did, it would trigger the spell. That would not only be wasteful, but potentially dangerous. Not as dangerous as you offering money, but dangerous."
The gnome laughs at his own joke, but no one else doe. They can tell that Elessaria isn't likely to find any humor in his jabs. She says curtly, "Sever their heads, dismiss these guards and let's get moving."
"Don't you think having them around might make us safer?"
"Your illusion is too noisy, they will attract more trouble than they frighten off, and in numbers sufficient to take them on. We don't need to face off against that kind of force. Besides, I don't like the way they're looking at me."
"Done and done, fearless leader!" Stago says, and with a wave of the wand, they are gone.
9:00 pm
As Elessaria had predicted, within nine hours of highsun they stood at the edge of the Dagger Hills and saw the smoothly rolling grasslands of Daggerdale. The company sets up camp.
11:00 pm
The company's rest is disturbed by the sounds of scurrying paws and low, guttural growls. Merle moves to nearby rock pile to prepare for an attack. It doesn't take her long to discern the danger when she catches a glimpse of large shaggy shapes moving through the grass...A pack of wolves!
Routunious casts a continual light spell and Tick-a-Tick now glows with a very bright light.
Stago uses his sling to hit a wolf and it yelps in pain but doesn't seem very badly damaged. Still, the wolves seem not to have any fight in them, because the gnome's bullet and the bright light of the automaton drive them off in search of easier prey.
Merle attempts to follow the wolves, but Selina throws her lasso in the direction of the monk. The rope misses her, but she gets the point and returns to camp.
The party settles down and goes back to sleep....after Routunious removes the light from Tick-a-Tick.
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