[IC] Goblin Slayer: Newblood (CANCELLED)

[Xaltwind]

As they passed by the fields of golden stalks of grain, the wagon eventually reached the point where it passed through an open, spacious fence-gate. Rolling slowly to a stop, the farmer stretched his arms into the air, let out a groaning sigh and then smacked his lips - as if he had been doing some kind of streineous chore or excersise all this time. The place they'd stopped at was a farm, no doubt about it. There was a barn, a silo, a farmhouse and even a chicken coup, with some brown and white chickens bumbling about carefreely, picking at the soil for seeds and worms.

"Well, here we be, youngsters. Welcome to my farm." The old fellow said, climbing down from his seat and onto the ground. Moving to undo the straps and reins to his poor old work-horse, the fellow didn't exactly seem to be in a rush to cough up the coins he was due, nor to usher his bodyguards away. Perhaps he was just being hospitable? Or perhaps he was trying to squeeze as many minutes out of their R time as he could. Regardless, once he was done with his mare and led the poor critter back to a hobbled-together stable, he returned to the adventurers.

At this point, Druid Girl had climbed out of the cart as well, busying herself with looking arond at the fields and farmlands around them, as well as raising an eyebrow at the questionable state of some of the structures here. It was clear this man was no carpenter, and that he took greater care of his crops and livestock than his own infrastructure. But, hey, as long as the ceiling didn't come crashing down on him in his sleep, who was she to judge?

"Well then, I reckon ya'll be wantin' your pay now, huh?" The farmer said as he walked up to them, one hand digging around in the pocket of his trousers and the other one being used to rub himself just under th nose... Druid Girl made extra sure to remember which hand and arm had been used for which task, as the last thing she wanted was to shake hands with a snot-covered hand.

Fishing out a small sack from his pants, the farmer opened it up, took a look inside it, then re-sealed it with a piece of string and tossed it over to the group. Druid Girl managed to catch the soaring money-bag with both hands, and let out a huff - couldn't he just have handed it over to them instead? She took it upon herself to open the bag and give the amount of a once-over, which seemed to annoy the farmer.

"Ain't trustin' I be payin' my dues?"
"No, it's not that, sir. I just want to make that you're paying the correct amount, not too little or too much."
"Hah! As if I'd be affordin' to give ya'll more than what was promised to be the price." The man said, spitting a globule of snot-fleghm onto the ground next to him. "In any case, lil' missy, that there be the right 'mount, down to the last copper."

Druid Girl didn't disbelieve or distrust the man, but she made sure to count the coins regardless. Once that was done, she attached the pouch to her little belt and nodded in confirmation to her allies.

"Well, despite things, it seems you got back home safe and sound." She then said to the farmer, who proceed to scratch his chin absentmindedly.
"Yup. Fine job ya'll did, protectin' me from all nothin' that which showed up." He replied, snarkily.
"Nothing showed up this time? What about that poor woman and her ruined wagon? If you'd been on the road ysterday like her, you migh-"
"But I wasn't." He said, eyes half-closed and a stoney, cold expression on his face. "Whoever that lady was, she musta been travellin' close to dusk or dawn, which any farmer worht his salt knows ain't the time to be on the roads. She took a gamble on gettin' home, she paid the price."
"How can you brush it off like that?" Druid Girl asked, obviously frustrated.
"Look, missy, out here, people dyin' ain't something new. Farmers, town watchmen, travllers and heck, even adventurers like yourselves. People wind up dead almost every day. You stop to weep for every last poor soul who bit the dust, ya ain't gonna be doin' nothing but crying all the time. What happened to that woman was a shame, but there ain't nothin' that can be done about it now."
"... You're wrong on that point."
".. Hm, whassat?"
"Because we're also here to kill the goblins in this area."
"Oh, so you thinkin' tehms were goblins that di her in? Well, even if they weren't the varmints who choked her to croak, gettin' rid of those pesky lil' gremlins sure would make the area a lot safer, no doubt."

The farmer then turned around on his heel, obviusly no longer interested in trading words. He waved them off as he walked away, a half-assed casual wave, telling them they were welcome to stay as long as they needed in order to prepare for their 'goblin hunt'. Druid Girl followed the old codger with her gaze as he walked away, until he disappeared into the barn on the far end of the farm. Letting out a sigh, she turned to Big Red and Steppe Archer.

"So... Do either of you need to prepare anything? According to what the farmer, as well as the Guild said, the goblin nest should be north-west from here. Somewhere in the woodlands just beyond here, if I recall." The caramel-skinned girl asked and said, waiting to see if her comrades were ready or not to depart.

She also turned to look at the chickens clucking as they perused around the grounds. Her eyes started to sparkle slightly, and a single drop of saliva tried to escape and drop from the corner of her mouth...

"... Roast chicken..." She said to herself, hungrily.

[The Irish Tree]

...Well...that was certainly the worst send-off that the Steppe Archer could have expected for their work. Aside from just outright not paying them and possibly threatening them, of course. ...Maybe it was just because of the callous disregard that the old farmer had for the woman's corpse, but part of the nomad wanted to chew him out. ...But, she knew that was just the way of the world. She was used to a close-knit tribe that looked out for one another and avenged the injuries of one another, whereas out in this "civilized" world, it wasn't your problem if someone else died if they weren't close. It disgusted her to a degree, but so did the man in general. Sure, weeping over every corpse wasn't productive, but the man's pacifism was less than productive. It was harmful to him and everyone else, since they could very well be the next roadside accident.

Sighing after he left, Steppe Archer fiddled with her bow, checking to make sure the string was taut and that her arrows were accounted for. Adjusting the sword at her hip, the nomad girl would smile, saying: "I'm all ready. Be careful in there though; Goblins come out at night. So they can probably see really well in dark places," she said, putting on her smile once more. ...Bravery be damned, she was going to do SOMETHING about what happened to that woman on the roadside.

[Kazemitsu]

They finally got to the farm, a ramshackle set up the farmer had here. Hell his people built better than this and they lived in a bloody swamp! Wasn't his problem unless the farmer made it a job later on. Still, it was surprising that they got paid at the job. They had been paid at the guild before on the previous two jobs. Was it because they were out of town and not within spitting distance of it? He'd have to ask, he was still so ignorant of the guild ways.

While he observed their surroundings the man started putting the mare away in the poorly built stable...barn...thing. He came back snarky as ever about payment. Which he fished out of his pants and tossed to Druid Girl. Words passed, no he honestly didn't really expect the man to undercut them on their money. Especially since...he was a farmer. An older one at that. Whereas the group was youthful, and probably much stronger than him.

It seemed the man had things to say, but he was right about something. If you cried for every person who died you'd be crying all day. Which would lead to nothing getting done.

Druid Girl spoke up again, but this time to the group and it was about prep. "I'm fully prepared...but we should get more information out of him. Like which direction they approach his farm from and if they've taken anything. They're roughly northwest, but it never hurts to have information...and we might be able to get a rough count of them from their footprints." He said as he started going towards the barn.

As he walked Archer Girl spoke about goblins most likely having good night vision. This got a nod from him, that was very good information to have. It was day time, and if they had good night vision that'd mean they were more nocturnal. He entered the barn, taking a second to glance around.

"I have some questions about the goblins. What direction do they come from to get to your farm? And what exactly have they taken?" Lizard Fighter asked, his voice carrying through the barn easily. He wanted to know what they took so he could be prepared for it. A sickle can be a weapon, same with a hoe. Even a shovel could bash someones face in if you were trying.

[Xaltwind]

"I don't feel like spending any more time on that man." Druid Girl said in response to Big Red's comment about getting more info out of the farmer. "I'll look around for signs of these goblins."

With that, she took her oak staff and began to slowly move her way over to the fence-line. It was clear that the usually bright girl was not inclined to waaste her time on people that she didn't like, even if they potentially held useful information. It might be considered foolish, or even childish, but the caramel-skinned girl didn't really mind. Someone who lacked empathy for others wasn't worth her time. She began inspecting the fence once she stood next to it, looking at the shoddy wooden posts and planks that made up the wasit-high perimeter.

Meanwhile...

The barn was as unimpressive on the inside as it was on the outside. Hay in dire need of changing littered the floor and there were plenty of small holes and gaps in the walls. The faarmer was busy brushing off the old nag, with a brush that looked more like it was made from porcupine spines than anything else. At the lizardman's intrusion and comment, the old leathery-skinned man looked up from his work.

"What they stole? Damn near anything they can get their grubby lil' green hands on, that's what!" The man spat. "My well-bucket, length of rope, some o' my chicks, sacks o' wheat, empty sacks, horse shoes! Them lil' varmints don't care what it is, so long as it aint nailed down, they'll swipe it!" He grumbled, putting more force into his brushing, which caused the mare to neigh in discomfort. This caught the farmer's attention and he calmed down a bit, muttering something under his breath. "As for where the things keep comin' from, it's to the north, northwest. Always shows up at dusk too when they come. Reckon they cain't too keen on daylight, ain't never seen one around during sun-hours." He stated bluntly.

Mean-meanwhile...

"Hm... Strange." Druid Girl said as she inspected the ground around a certain portion of the fence. "That man made it sound like there were many goblins stealing things, but I can only find traces that maybe two or three have been here recently... Unless they're smart enough to walk in a long line, with perfect footwork to step in each others' tracks... Which I kind of doubt." The young druid said, a sardonic smirk on her lips as she brushed some grass aside with her hand. "Maybe it's the same goblins who keep coming back to steal things?" She asked, aloud, to nobody in particular.

It was afternoon now, but the sun would still be out for hours yet. Though being said, finding the goblins hideout could take who-knows-how long. Honestly though, Druid Girl just wanted to get off the farm. Places like this always rubbed her the wrong way. Seeing animals penned in and subjugated to confined spaces made her skin itch and teeth gnash. She understood the usefulness of husbanry and domestication, but that didn't mean she liked or approved of it. Shaking her head, she turned to Steppe Archer and waved the lion-maned girl over.

"I found some signs and tracks over here! But I bet you're better at following them than me, I don't really specialize in bipeds after all." She laughed a bit at her own stupid joke.

[The Irish Tree]

Steppe Archer had preoccupied her time by walking about the farm, generally taking in the squalor of it all. ...Naturally, she had to assume that this was due to some mix of the farmer's bad luck and bad times, but still. It looked like it had been through so many "bad years" that it was having a bad decade. It was a little frightening, to be honest, since she was used to seeing land that was...well...not exactly "maintained", but at least cared for. She was astonished this man had a crop at all to sell in town. Then again...maybe this is just how it looked after a harvest.

Her eyes would spot her druidic companion beckoning her over from afar, and her legs would carry her on over with a light jog. Taking a look at the footprints, Steppe Archer's expression soured a bit as she puffed a cheek out, bending over to examine the tracks. "...I'm no man-hunter either. But, I can probably follow these. Tracing the tracks with a hand, Steppe Archer would do her thing, examining their size, spacing, and depth to try and piece together exactly how many individuals there had been, and their general sizes. After all, she had to assume goblin feet were smaller than that of a human's, so if they were shallow prints that weren't especially wide, they had to be goblins. ...Unless some very brave children were in the business of stealing from a farmer.

[Kazemitsu]

Big Red shook his head, why were the humanoid females such troublesome beings? Still at least she'd scout around with Archer Girl. Still the farmer was brushing the old mare, taking off the dirt and dust of the road possibly? The brush didn't look particularly pleasing, even to him and his tough hide. But what did he know of domesticated animals anyway? His people didn't practice husbandry and domestication, the swamps were too deadly for normal livestock.

Apparently they stole literally everything they could. Some of it made sense, a bucket could be turned into very basic crappy armor. Rope has so many uses there's no point listing them all. Sacks of food and empty could be turned into clothing. He had heard they weren't much smarter than children, but even kids desired clothes and to be warm. Of course talking about the goblins agitated the man and made him brush the horse to roughly.

He then went on to say the direction they always came from, north northwest. So they didn't circle around to confuse anyone, good. Made things more simple. The final tidbit interested him most, they always came at dusk or night time. Nocturnal?"Thanks for the information." He said before turning and leaving with a brisk pace.

It took him seconds to spot the girls at the fence perimeter and he sped on over. They were looking at the ground, looking at tracks? Well they could follow those if they were the goblins foot prints. "So, the goblins are most likely nocturnal. He hasn't ever seen them in the day, only dusk and night." He said before reiterating the information he got. How the goblins stole anything they that wasn't fully secured and the direction they always came from.

"So should we get going...? He questioned, the farmer probably had no more useful knowledge and it'd probably take them a bit to locate the goblins hidy hole.

[Xaltwind]

"I'll do what I can to help you out." Druid Girl said in reply to her archer-ally. "Some of the local animals might've seen the goblins too, so I could always ask them." She added.

Soon enough though, Big Red rejoined the two girls, and Druid Girl welcomed him back in a friendly manner. After hearing what the lizardman had gathered in terms of information though, the caramel-skinned girl wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it. If goblins were active during dusk and night, that meant that right now - during the middle of the day - they were most likely asleep, or at the very least resting. This meant that they were probably holed up in their nest or whatever home such creatures made... Which was both good and bad for the trio.

It was good, because all the goblins would likely be in the same general area. The bad news was that all the goblins would be in the same local area.... She'd heard tales and rumors about the little creatures before, like how they were weak and stupid and most adventurers didn't even bother dealing with them, because they were filthy and not worth the effort to bring down. Still, if they stole from farmsteads, and if they were indeed responsible for that woman over by the road, then wasn't it just as plain as day that they were a threat and danger to people? Sometimes tthe girl had a hard time understanding her senior fellow adventurers and their unique way of weighing what quests to take...

Still, the lizard had asked a question about being ready to go, and Druid Girl for one was more than willing to get off this decripit farm as soon as possible.

"I'm all set, we can leave whenever." She said, a bit of energy back in her voice when copared to the sour mood she had been in earlier.

~ Later ~

Once all was said and done at the farm, the three would set off and march their butts first north, then north-west, following the shallow tracks made by tiny feet. Throughg the combined efforts of the druid and the hunter, they were able to - not too often - lose their way and keep on point with their hunt. A few stops for asking the local wildlife, like crows and squirrels, if they had seen any goblins, along with a mandatory potty-break for all of them, were all the interuptions afforded.

Still, even with their skills at tracking and their ability to inquire animals, the group did not locate the goblins' hideout until mid-afternoon. Not yet dusk, but not far or many hours away from it. The sun was lower in the sky, noticeably, and the tinge of the sky had begun to change slightly far off in the east. Still, theyh had found what they were looking for - and fortunately, they had encountered no sentries or guards to warn the residents inside of the approaching trio of would-be-threats.

The goblins hidey-hole was, in all fairness, nothing more than a mossy mound and cave, with a crack roughly the size - slightly bigger - than your average doorway to a human house. Bushes and trees stood around the cave, and if the group hadn't been approaching from the south-east, they might not have spotted the opening at all. From any other side, it just looked like a small knell or hill. Even if they weren't clever, they still seemed to know how to pick their lair, those crafty goblins.

A quick survey around the immediate outskirts revealed no traps or alarms. It seemed this group of goblins were confident enough in their natural camoflaughe that setting up any sort of perimeter defense or security wasn't needed... That, or they simply didn't know how to do such things. One thing was for certain though, somewhere not too far off was the source of a foul, piercing, eye-watering stench. A mix of amonia and rot and what could only be feces caused a foul-wafting aroma to permiate this otherwise pitoresque area of woodlands. Druid Girl wrinkled her nose and grimaced slightly.

"I'm not one to be all fussy about the smell of dung, animals leave that sorta thing behind all the time... But, this is a bit much, even for me." She said while trying to get into a position that was up-wind from the stank. "Still, what do you two think we should do now? It's getting close to dusk, and they'll probably be scurrying out of the cave soon-ish... We could wait to ambush them... But if there's too many, we might be better off sneaking in and dealing witht hem while they're sleeping or resting, right?" She proposed the two most basic options.

From what she and Steppe Archer could tell of the tracks, there had only been maybe two or three goblins that made those prints, and neither of them seemed to have been lugging anything around. Still, there was no telling what was waiting for them down there in the dark, musty depths of the mossy cave...

[The Irish Tree]

"Welcome back, Big Red," Steppe Archer would say in greeting at his return. She hoped that talking to that old man hadn't worn his ears out. With his newfound information and the combined efforts of the archer and druid, it seemed that finding the den would be time-consuming, but not especially difficult. The stench however would be difficult to stand as the nomad's nose crinkled, her eyes watering a tinge from the raw stank present in the area. It made her want to vomit, but...she supposed she'd dealt with similar enough stenches that such a reaction would have made her father think less of her. As such, she swallowed the rising bile in her throat and shook her head with a shudder. Nasty.

The Druid Girl gave their options of laying an ambush or to storm in while they're asleep, and, being a huntress, Steppe Archer thought that laying a trap and forcing the goblins into an unfavorable situation for them sounded good. "I'm for an ambush. I can trap the entrance, so that maybe two or three goblins would be caught trying to exit. Then, we could simply wait and pick them off. If these goblins are cowardly enough to steal in the night, then we can expect that going in and killing them in their sleep won't as simple as we think, she said, giving her stance and reasoning. Before they even had a plan settled upon however, Steppe Archer would begin finding twigs and grasses to construct her trap with.

They'd already wasted a lot of time trying to track the goblins down, so waiting until a decision was made would mean they might risk being in the middle of setting up the trap before goblins would attack them. At worst, she'd just drop her gathered materials and head inside, but at best, she'd have ample time to make her goblin snare.

[Kazemitsu]

Lizard Fighter gave Archer Girl a slight nod at her greeting to his return. Druid Girl was friendly as always which got a nod to her as well while the two talked about tracking along the footprints of the unknown creature prints. He leaned down and gave the prints a whiff before his snout wrinkled. That was a bit of a stink, it was probably worse if the tracks were fresh. The group didn't waste anymore time and set out, following the footprints while the nature mage talked to animals along the way.

They eventually arrived at the potential lair of the goblins. He looked up at the sky, giving the sun a brief look. It was past noon, heading towards evening. Which if the goblins truly were nocturnal it'd be getting towards morning to them. The issue with the opening ahead of them was that they have no idea just how far the tunnel went. It also didn't help that the goblins had a refuse pile...somewhere nearby judging by the smell.

Archer Girl immediately began to make traps for the entrance. "We should investigate the area as well. Their latrine, see if there's another exit for them. We should also discuss formation if we stick with traps." He said as he thought about the goblins. As tall as a child, as strong and intelligent as one as well. Big noses from the pictures he has seen, odd shaped pupils much like a goats. Barely any hair which was strange for a mammal. Or were they demonic? Whatever. The nose made him think they might have a better sense of smell than normal.

[Xaltwind]

Steppe Archer made a good point, at least in Druid Girls' earw and mind. They had no idea what the cave was like, and even if she herself was at home in any natural enviroment, there was no telling what these greenlittle thieves had done to the place. There might be traps, given that they'd stolen rope, or they could have set up unnatural barriers or fake walls. It was certainly possible.

Big Red also made a valid suggestion. Assuming this was athe only way in and out was a bit native. Most larger caves had multiple entrances and exits, and if the cave was home to multiple creatures, it would stand to reason that the place was no mere bear's cave, but something bigger. As for discussing formation though... That seemed a bit redundant to the nature mage... Their lizard friend was obviously the frontline, their foreign huntress was obviously fire-support and she herself had the role of support. But if the big, red and scaley one wanted to mix things up, she'd at least humor him.

"Fine then, let's look around and see what we can discover. We can talk about where to set up and how to go about things once we've surveyed the area, right?" She half-stated, half-asked, half-assumed.

The raven-haired young lady wasted no time. She at once walked over to a nearby tree and managed to call down a small, blue bird. After a bit of talking, it flew off, apparently doing some kind of favor for the druid. Next, she called up a family of squirrels, but she didn't have them do anything, instead she merely asked about the lay of the lands and then thanked them by giving them a bit of trail-mix she had left over in her bag.

Next, she moved on to the main event... The source of the foul stink. Honestly, she'd prefer to stay away from any sort of festering, unsanitary cesspool at all times if possible, but they needed to make sure there wasn't a hidden hole or emergency escape route at it. OTherwise, they might be the ones getting ambushed.

Clearing her way through some tiny bushes, Druid Girl came upon the source of the stink with relative ease - it wasn't hard to follow the increasingly unpleasant odor after all. However, both she and Lizard Fighter had been wrong in their assumption. It wasn't a latrine, more than anything, it looked like a garbage-dump. It was a medium-sized hole, cruedly dug, filled with all manners of foulness. Rotten meat, urine, feces, bones, mangled carcasses of small creatures, broken objects, rotting wood, regurgitated bile, a shoe and other things of no worth or value. There was no apparent chutes or holes, no doorways or small crevaces, just a shallow pit filled to the brim with crap. Figuratively and litteraly.

Druid Girl made a discontent face as she circled the area for a bit, looking behind trees and stones, in stumps and under large tree roots, but eventually she returned to small clearing with the mossy cave. She hadn't found anything, and the squirrels from before had told her that there wasn't any other nearby caverns or openings into the ground.

"So, goblins have refuse piles? I did not know this." She said, jokingly, as the discovery was less than beneficial, and she had put herself at risk of catching some horrible disease just by being in proximity to that bacteria-spewing, unsanitary heap of decay. "Let me help you gather though." The girl said to her fellow female, gignerly jogging up the side of the treeline, bending down and beginning to pick up sticks, twigs, grass of acceptable length and fibre-durability. The only taps she knew how to make herself were pitfalls with sharpened sticks in them - her father used those to help keep vermin and undesirable critters off the farm back in the day.

After a bit of rummaging and foraging, the caramel-skinned lass dropped off her supplies with the arher, and returned to look at Big Red over her shoulder.

"Well then, how do you want to ste things up? There're no big boulders or rocks to hide behind here, at least not near the entrance itself. We could take cover in the treeline, or sit atop the cave and attack them from above when they come out?" She suggested two alternatives. Truth be told, she wasn't exactly a military or tactical genius, her skill-set wasn't focused on efficiently dealing with groups of tiny, ill-tempered humanoids. after all.

Sad as it was, she also couldn't exactly offer any kind of extra support. Had she been more skilled, she might have been able to convince of the stronger forest animals to fight alongside them, but as it was, even if she asked they wouldn't be inclined to help an inexperienced druid like herself. Suddenly, there was a tweet from above, and the girl's head snapped up. The tiny blue bird had returned, flying in a circle overhead, before swooping down and lending in the druid's extended palm.

"Well, how'd it go my little friend?" The bird flaired it's wing, cocked and titled its tiny head and tweeted and chirped a few times. "So, you couldn't find anything like another cave or crevice either? I guess that means this is the only real in and out for this place... At least for any reasonable distance." With that, she gently gave the bird a small peck ontop of its head, and the avian sang in joy, before taking off into the air and flying off - obviously not staying around, possibly due to sensing the imminent struggle about to take place. Druid Girl turned to her allies, smiling. "Seems we don't need to worry about being attacked from the rear or sides though. That little one said there weren't any other locations nearby that looked like exits, so this one here's probably the only way they can come at us." She paused, and tapped her chin. "Unless, of course, some of them are out right now and plan to return later... Then they might come up on us from behind.."

[The Irish Tree]

Steppe Archer would get to investigating the best materials to use for their traps, but it by and large seemed to be limited to grasses and sticks. That was fine enough for simple snares to catch a few goblins, but she was dissapointed that there weren't any really good pieces of land to utilize something better. They didn't seem to have time to dig a pitfall, so the best that the nomad girl could think to do was to line the entrance with snares that would be masked beneath patches of moss that she'd gathered. The grasses and fibers woven together into rope would be hard to spot, but she imagined maybe only two or three goblins could fall for something this simple. At the druid girl's mention of them being attacked from behind, Steppe Archer said: "Then it'd probably be for the best if we have a lookout. I have good eyes, so I can watch our backs. ...Or, maybe one of your little animal friends could help. I imagine the stink these goblins make is troublesome for them too. If that doesn't work though, I can do it just fine. As for a location...I'd say sitting above the cave sounds like a smart move. We can catch them off guard and hopefully kill whatever we trap before it calls for help."

Stretching, Steppe Archer would jostle her quiver a bit to check its contents. A little over a dozen arrows, but that should be more than enough if goblin dens were as small as she'd heard. Proudly looking at the traps they'd set, she said: "I think we're pretty ready. If we wanted to, we could also make a noose and try and catch one by the neck as it comes out. Big Red could probably lift a goblin with one hand."

[Kazemitsu]

Fighter tilted his head when Druid Girl started talking to animals. That was very handy honestly, information without having to scout themselves. He still followed the magical girl to the cesspool, as he moved he tore a decent sized sapling from the ground. Those muscles working quite well given he snapped off the root ball and then the branches. They were too small to be of much use in anything but a pitfall trap.

His cudgel was put away and replaced with that monstrous knife, which was whittling the jagged thick end into a cone. With his knife he split the end into about six points and wedged a stone into it, making a primitive fishing spear. But it'd work just fine on goblins most likely. Why the fishing spear? It's hard to dodge the entire thing. It took him five minutes to do this honestly, it wasn't a difficult project.

The pair reached the cesspool and he wasn't particularly impressed. A big ol' hole in the ground filled with junk. "If I was more adventurous I'd check for anything valuable...but I'm not that adventurous." He rumbled out while D.G chatted with more animals. The girl probably had a better eye for things than he did, so he let her search while he watched. Pretty much acting the bodyguard.

Another sapling lost its life that day as he tore it from the ground. It was a little more slender than the previous one, and he completely cleaned it. No bark, any branches and stubs were sheared off, the root ball tossed away, and the thick end sharpened to a narrow point. A basic javelin to give him one ranged attack on the goblins. This was a longer project, which led to D.G announcing that there were no alternative exits within the local vicinity that the animals knew about.

Nodding he escorted the caramel colored girl back to the clearing that Archer Girl had been trapping. Druid Girl helped Archer Girl gather for traps while he kept his eyes on the cave entrance. "I'm a melee fighter, so I figured you two could hide in the trees off the ground to provide ranged support. Although I do need to know, can you conjure any fire?" He questioned, he had an idea that could potentially be useful in the fight. His own night vision wasn't exactly great but it was good enough to hit a target.

Archer Girl mentioned making a noose to capture one, but what was the point? Could the pair speak goblin? Hell could goblins even actually speak? "I could, but having a free hand wouldn't be a bad thing." Big Red said. The buckler strapped to his arm left his right hand free, his left holding the crude javelin. His tail was coiled about the middle of his fishing spear that might get a couple pokes in before turning blunt and useless.

[Xaltwind]

At the arhcer's inquiry about getting help from the local wildlife, Druid Girl shook her head with a pensive frown.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not able to do that yet. I can ask them for guidance or information, but making them risk their life for me is beyond my current abiliies. B-but, one day, I'll be able to call upon them!" She added the last bit, closing her hands into fists to show her determination to grow stronger.

At the brawny reptile's inquiry about making fire, Druid Girl again shook her head. Didn't look like today was her day of living up to tohers' expectations or needs...

"No, I can't. Well, I could, if we made a campfire... But you can already do taht yourself. The spells I learned from my Master were a basic healing spell and a basic ice spell. Fire-spells aren't typically taught to young druids, because fire's a difficult element to control and can cause a lot of damage if not used correctly or wisely." She paused and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Though I guess that's why wizards and sorcerers learn thoe kind of spells early on... Anyway, I'm sorry."

On the topic of tatics though, it seemed they were split. Their archer wanted to sit atop the cave's entrance and pick off the goblins as they came out, safe in an above advanrage point and surprising ambush-sort-of-way. Their lizardman fighter however, felt they should stick to the treelines and provide him support from afar. Problem was, neither of Druid Girl's major magic spells were particularly suited for long-range use. Sure, her pixie and faerie fire could be used from any distance really, but not her healing or offensive ice-spell.

"I think it'd be better if I stayed close to you, Big Red. I can't heal you if I'm far away, and I can't freeze the goblins if they're far away from me either." She said. "I'll ask some of the birds here to help our friend keep an eye out for any sneaks coming from around or beyond this place though." She added, making sure that they'd have extra eyes and ears to avoid being ambushed themselves.

After a bit of more talking about how to set themselves up, Druid Girl went off a short bit and had a very one-sided conversation with some of the tiny, local birds. It didn't take long for the raven-haired caramel-skinned lass to return though, a chipper smile on her face as she came back to her companions.

"There, I asked some of them to help you keep an eye out for any would-be ambushes." She told Steppe Archer. "If they see anything, they'll start chirping and flapping their little wings to let you know something's coming."

Looking over at their giant red bruiser, Druid Girl noticed the strange, makeshift weapons he had made for himself. She didn't really understand why he needed more tools of murder, when his big ol' sword was well and good enough for cutting things in twain. Still, having extra weaponry gave the girl an idea, and she soon began to pace about the clearing, and slightly through the treeline as well. Occassionally, she'd bend down and pick up stones, roughtly the size of her own palm in size. She'd place a handful into her hip-strapped bag before returning once more.

"Well, I guess we should get into positions then. The wind's blowing from behind the cave right now, so our scents shouldn't be wafting down and into there... Still, if their noses are any indication, we might wanna try and cover up our smell somehow... Rubbing some grass, leaves, dirt or mud could help... Or, if you're feeling up to it, animal droppings or mushrooms could probably work well..." The girl said with a slight, quirky smirk on her face.

Still, regardless if they tried to mask their B.O. or not, the time had come to take up positions, make final adjustments or preperations and then, just wait. Wait for hours and hours until the sun set and the moons rose... That was what we called the quiet before the storm...

[The Irish Tree]

Steppe Archer was thankful for the help in preparing, and especially thankful for the birds that were now helping her keep watch. Her eyes could adjust to the dark, but animals accustomed to such low levels of light would see far better. Big Red was armed to the teeth with improvised weapons, likely so that his sword wasn't at risk of being damaged. After all, who cared about a sharpened stick? There were millions of good sticks and spears to be made.

"That's a great idea!" Steppe Archer said at the Druid Girl's suggestion of masking their scent. It was relatively unpleasant to use animal droppings, so she would instead use mud. She would return caked in mud along her face and arms, keeping her legs relatively clean so that she wouldn't be slowed. Grasses were being held in her pockets, giving her the look (and feel) of a shrubbery. She'd gathered plenty of mud for the others as well if they so chose to disguise their scent. The Archer would lie in wait, seemingly not blinking as she watched for any signs of ambushes, and occasionally looked to the birds that the Druid Girl had called to aid her. Nobody would get close without her knowing.

[Kazemitsu]

Druids could ask animals for combat help? That was interesting to hear and potentially useful for their future adventures. But just how useful was a chipmunk...? Eh food for thought at a later date, it was still prep and rest time until the night came. Druid Girl also let him know that no fire, just basic healing and ice. "It's fine, it was just a thought to give a little boost to our chances." He said with a casual shrug.

The darker skinned girl mentioned she should be closer, healing and apparently her cold spell was close range? That kind of thing bugged him, but he didn't make magic spells. But birds watching the archers back is useful, assuming Druid Girl could talk and fight at the same time. Another shrug, the girl could do what she wanted. He wasn't really the leader of the group.

There was talk of covering their scent which got him to look down at himself. His clothes and armor weren't very clean but he himself was. Shrugging he just rolled about in the dirt at his feet, which dulled his scales coloration. If he stood still he might be mistaken for a broken tree, but it was doubtful. After his rolling though he glanced at the two girls. "Want basic spears as well?" He questioned, having some range between themselves and close range enemies never hurt. Although he doubted anything would get close to the archer without an ambush.

[Xaltwind]

After having followed Steppe Archer's example, and rubbed herself down with grass and nearby flora - that weren't poisonous - Druid Girl returned just in time to be offered a makeshift stick-spear by Big Red.

"Thanks?" She said, blinking a few times before taking one of the sharpened poles.

She already had a staff, and while it wasn't sharp at one end, it was more meant for swinging in wiode arcs and boking fools on the noggin', or sweeping their legs, or thumping their stomach and/or solar plexus. Still, maybe this thing would comein handy? She wasn't exactly used to using spears though, but really, how hard could it be to point and thrust a stick? No harder than using a knife, surely!

After they finished up their position and tactical-talks, each of the adventurers got into their assigned position, with the lizard closest to the cave's entrance, followed by the druid and the archer staying behind in the shrubs close to the tree-line. Time passed, albeit slowly, but bit by bit the sun in the sky slowly descended and in its place the two mooms began to creep upwards towards the heavens instead. As twilight fell upon the little wooded area th trio found themselves in, things and stuff began to happen.

Late Dusk...

Noises came from within the cave. Shrill, shrieky noises, and they weren't being made by the wind. Soon, the pitter-patter of small feet against hard stone and packed dirt could be heard, getting closer and louder with each moment. After that, the distinct sound of exaggerated sniffing followed, before finally, the three heroes finally feasted their eyes upon the first of their adversaries. A goblin. A tiny, ugly, green thing with a long nose, long pointy ears, piss-yellow eyes and nothing more than a foul, dirty loin-cloth for clothing. It held a knife, which was quite readily rusted-over, and was turning its tiny head this way and that, trying to peer into the diminishing light of the approaching night.

Of course, as it stepped out of the cave, the cretin fell victim to the first of SteppE Archer's traps, being snared and rendered completely useless. The creature howled and shrieked in fear, confusion and agitation. Its cry for help prompted further pitter-patter to be heard from further in, and soon a group of four - almopst identical - urchins appeared. One stepped forward towards its captured ally, which result in it joining him. The others, however, seemed to grow wary of the the cave entrance, and began to stare and poke at the ground with their crude, ill-maintained weapons of choice.

The ambush had sort of worked... However, all in all, there were only five goblins currently. Then again, if they'd drawn out the entire nest all at once, who knows how many they would have had to face down? It didn't rightly matter though, as soon, one of the goblins turned its beady eyes towards a suspiscious mound of red muscles, and cawed like an angry crow, poinint its short sword at the semi-concealed lizardman outside their home. Apparently, these creatures had better eyesight than one had expected, especially considering the lighting.... Oh wait, they saw better in the dark...

Druid Girl, hiding behind a fallen log, peered from one end of the fallen trunk, waiting to see what actions her allies would take. Her time to act wasn't now. Big Red didn't need healing and Steppe Archer didn't need help with spotting the little gremlins yet - there was still enough light without her casating Faerie Fire on the blighters.

[The Irish Tree]

"One spear, please," the Steppe Archer would say in a cheerful tone, more than willing to take a disposable weapon that was effective against little green pests. Goblins were small, but their tiny arms were fast...she supposed. Getting into melee range was risky, but a spear like this meant that they couldn't even get close to her without getting impaled first. She would lay hers down behind her and the Druid Girl. She'd need it at some point, but right now a big honkin' stick was a dead give-away for their position.

The twin moons were out tonight as always, and the goblin's blood would shine in the night as the traps were sprung. Two would immediately be taken out of the fight, with a remaining three starting to approach Big Red. Slowly drawing her bow and knocking an arrow, Steppe Archer would send an arrow straight through the neck of one of the goblins furthest from Red, hoping to cause them to look back and create an opening for Big Red. Right now, silence and shadow was the way they needed to deal with this. Thankfully since they were out here while the light was growing low, their vision would slowly adjust. Of course, it would never be as effective as the Goblin's vision, but it was better than stumbling about in the dark.

Looking at her captured quarry, Steppe Archer would knock two arrows that could easily be retrieved, silencing them both once their fighter friend had the encroaching small-fries dealt with. Nine arrows remained, but the goblins' skulls seemed to break easily from the points of her arrows, so she could probably get them back. The Druid Girl could immediately see the intense amount of focus present in her eyes, her concentration almost frightening in its intensity. She hunted for a living, and was accustomed to killing creatures in this manner.

[Kazemitsu]

The confusion in Druid Girls thanks got a shrug from him. "Weapons break, so lead with crappy ones and reserve your better ones for tougher opponents or bad situations." He stated, ever the pragmatic one. Archer Girl requested one as well, which he made handily. There were plenty of hardwood saplings around and the scent of fresh torn up dirt would be gone by evening.

As time passed he periodically rolled in the dirt to keep the shine from his scales. The small bouts of breezes kind of blew the dust away and his coloration didn't exactly make sticking a bunch of plants on to be very effective. So he didn't bother camouflaging himself. Aside the fact he was the front-liner, he needed to be the one drawing the attention of the enemies.

The sky darkened as the sun sunk below the horizon and the moons became more prominent in view. Red was squatting behind a bush, but his head was still visible and so were his shoulders from certain angles. His ears twitched at the high pitched shrieky noises coming from the opening in the ground dead ahead. Out came a small green biped, big nose, long ears, oddly colored eyes, and a poorly cared for dagger. They really were the size of a young human child, the thing barely reached his waist.

It took a step or so out of the cave and yoink it was caught by one of the snares Archer Girl had laid out. Its yelling drew more of its companions out, another four actually. One approached to attempt to free the strung up one, but fell victim to another snare trap. It was unfortunate the cave was in such an open area, he knew of a couple traps that were pretty effective. The remaining three were wary now, poking at the ground with their rusty weapons.

It didn't take long for them to find him, he was red among brown and green! One pointed its small sword at him and cawed like a lunatic. Which got him to stand up and step out of the bushes in a rather calm and collected manner. He literally towered over these little creatures but he had heard they still just rushed at those larger than them idiotically.

The red behemoths arm drew back as he widened his stance. One foot leading way ahead of the other and he leaned back on the rear leg. That muscular arm bulged suddenly and the javelin he had made was launched with the retained power and forward movement of a hard lunge. The sharpened hardwood stick soared through the air towards the mid-range goblin while the fwip of an arrow went by to the rear goblin. Without wasting his movement his arm went down and grabbed the base of his make-shift spear and he waited for the goblin(s) to charge at him.

[Xaltwind]

Druid Girl's eyes went wide at the sight of the pin-point precision that her ally had with her bow. It was truly impressive that someone could hit a goblin's head, a rather small target, from that kind of distance in this dimming light. She must've been a magnificent and truly gifted huntress indeed! The caramel-skinned nature-mage was very impressed. She was equally impressed when Big Red suddenly rose from his supposed hiding-spot, lurched forward and hucked one of his home-made javelins at the little green gobbos.

Now, unlike a metal-tipped arrow, a fully wooden spear, made from a freshly plucked sapling, didn't exactly have the same piercing-power - no matter how hard you chucked it. However, that didn't stop the sharp stick from striking one of the little green men square in the chest, causing him to let out a 'Gfffuuuuuuh!!'-sound, before flying backwards, tumbling comedically and then laying flat on his back, eyes staring wildly into the cavern ceiling as his mouth hung agape. Now, with two of their kind caught in traps, one lying dead with its head split open like a watermelon and another being knocked out by a stick, the remaining two goblins didn't seem to feel as confident as before.

Stopping their charge against Big Red midway-to-him, they turned and began to flee back towards the cave, shrieking and screaming loudly, making a lot of ruckus. Druid Girl, not wanting to be completely useless, stood up from behind her fallen log, and took a bunch of the small stones from her bag, and began throwing them after the little fiends. However, unlike her allies, she lacked both the precision and skill with ranged weapons, as well as the physical strength and familiarity of using thrown weapons in any capacity. As such, her stones flew, but landed harmless behind the fleeing freaks. She let out a low growl and puffed her cheeks in frustration. It was kind of cute.

Steppe Archer would have had the time and skill to launch another arrow and possibly take one of the retreating duo down before they could both reach the cave interior proper, but alas, taking both of the little gremlins down would have required her to be able to shoot two arrows at the same time. Big Red's javelins wouldn't be able to reach either, as their craftsmanship and unbalanced make-up would make them too inaccurate, even with his impressive strength propelling it forward. It seemed their ambush had both succeeded and failed - they'd taken out all but one of the little creatures, but now that one little runt was likely going to slip back down into the lair and alert all of its brethren... Which either meant a large group was gonna come charging out, or they were going to turtle up and stay safe inside their underground nest... Either result wasn't exactly desirable.

"What do we do now? Chasing after them could be dangerous... But if they come swarming out, the three of us might not be able to take them all on. We don't know how many are in there after all." Druid Girl asked and stated at the same time, concerned for what their next move should be.

Meanwhile, the two goblins dangling from the traps were still making a fuss, and the one lying on the ground after being punted in the solar plexus by a javelin, seemed to have passed out.

[The Irish Tree]

The first strikes were taken, and it seemed that in this small skirmish that victory belonged to the bold adventurers! Well, for the most part. The remaining goblins fled, leaving them with two goblins in snares, and one on the ground bleeding out. Well, only one of those goblins would be escaping today as another arrow flew from the steppe-child, punching through the back of the one that lagged just a step behind, before he fell over racked in pain. The shot wasn't lethal...but she planned to fix that in a moment. Seeing the stones being thrown, Steppe Archer looked at her companion just as she puffed her cheeks out. It was...really cute. Super cute, even. But, right now cute was not a priority. Otherwise, she'd be smooshing those puffed up cheeks like they were marshmallows. Moving out of the cover of the brush, Steppe Archer would grab her knife and approach the hanging goblins. With the efficiency one only gains in killing trapped beasts, she would slit the throats of the two goblins. It wasn't brutal, as the cuts were clean and quick. And, keeping the spear steady on the goblin that had been javelin'd, she would bring her knife to his throat and do the same. The one that had just barely set foot in the cave before falling would be flipped over by her, her knife plunging into his throat as well before he had time to bear his arms against her. Rising up, she would flick her knife clean on some grass before turning to the Druid Girl, then to Big Red.

As for what to do...her hunter instincts told her that going straight into their den was suicidal with how lightly prepared they were. "I think our best option is to use traps to attack them if they come out. They can't survive without food, and we can camp out here all night if we need to."