3 Scimitars and Sylvan

No time is wasted in taking out the 3
goblins. The whole party moved with cut throat efficiency. Aramil
shrouds the valiantly charging dwarf with a powerful defensive spell
as Olaf crushes his foe his bellow “I shall be remembered for this”
is heard ringing through the cave and Celdor, as if his arrow, fated
to slay that particular goblin, cuts through the air and finds the
heart of the gangly beast and the Dragonborn, leaping over rock and
dead goblin swinging her sword cuts the goblin from waist to torso.
It falls dead in a heap of it's own viscera. “Ha, you should have
taken my gifts.”

Arianna, smiling looks around and
chuckles “That was easy, wasn't it?” Perhaps she jinxed it,
perhaps it was just bad luck but before she'd finished muttering her
hubris an a short and stubby arrow came flying through the darkness
and found it's way into a chink in Arianna's armour and embedded
itself harshly in her stomach.

Olaf scrambles to Arianna before she
can hit the floor but not before she slips from consciousness, while
the others try to find the source of the arrow. It was Aramil who
spotted the small round hole in the wall and instinctively calls upon
his magical arts to put a halt to the assailants. He mutters an
incantation and as he extends his hands they turn from a pale white
to a frozen blue, specks of ice crisping and falling from his icy
hands. He fires rays of frost from his hands and lovely flowing hair
glides on the blast but whips round and hits him in the face... he
misses and hits the wall.

Lejandra unperturbed by everything
around her glides across the floor, beaming with her hands
outstretched, “Don't shoot, I have a lovely pot! Would you like
it?” but as she tries to stuff the pot through the tiny hole she
hears the clinking sound of blade being struck against the pot.

Once Olaf had healed Arianna enough he
looked around to find the source of the varnish scent Arianna had
described. It didn't take long. In the centre of the room (surprised
no one had spotted it) Olaf saw clearly a large wooden box. It
looked old but it good condition. He picked it up and examined it
before opening it. There was no writing or runes on it but it was
rather heavy and long, perhaps as long as he was tall. He placed it
on the floor and with a creak and a little resistance he pushed the
heavy lid open. Inside were some gold coins, a bright golden handled
scimitar and a shortbow that seemed wholly out of place in the dark,
twisted cave of the goblins. He surreptitiously pilfered the gold,
then called out to the others.

The others were too busy pleading with
Lejandra to stop making vain attempts at befriending the goblins
(though Manny was too busy drawing a male member on the wall with a
sharp rock to care) to notice Olaf and the box, save Celdor who
noticed the clinking on the pot had stopped and was watching to make
sure no goblins got the jump on them.

Olaf and Aramil give the weapons a
quick once over which though not a thorough check, is enough to
determine they are fine weapons. Screeched cackles bounce of the
walls of the caves and reminds everyone where they are. They fall
into a new formation the armoured warriors and the Dragonborn leading
the way back to the split in the paths.

With the fear of Goblins dropping in on
them at any moment, the party is no longer moving cautiously, the
move with haste, desperate to rid them selves of cave, goblin and the
putrid smell of blood. Thankfully for our party, Olaf was not so
preoccupied he'd forgotten about the traps and warned “Everyone
freeze!” (Manny choose this point to perform an elaborate belly
dance routine he'd picked up on the boat) when he saw the arrow trap
from earlier. Lejandra, using her pot again, blocked the arrows while
everyone passed.

Soon they reach the split in passages
and as they do so there's a whisper from Olaf, “Contacts in front.”
Sure enough, at the end of the stretch they could see what seemed
like the silhouette of goblin features protruding from the cave wall.

Manny stepped forward, beaming for he,
had a plan. He burst into animated speech about flying pots filled
with Gnomish bards and some kind of thunderous force. Celdor,
assuming this was a joke began to laugh to himself until those around
him fervently began adding to this plan and within no time madness
had been devised. Was it madness though, or genius?

The gnome, looking more pleased with
himself than he had yet (more pleased even than when scribbling crude
doodles on cave walls) clambered into the pot as Aramil sent a ray of
frost across the floor, creating a 'slip n' slide' of sorts. Olaf,
covered the gnome and pot in some kind of protection spell and
Lejandra bent her knees and sent the pot skidding across the ice. If
this alone was not madness itself, it was sure pushed that why when
the squirrel biscuit ran in front of the pot, brushing the ice with
it's tail as it went.

The pot slid across the floor with ease
and stopped just past the passage split and the feet of two utterly
bewildered goblins. Manny, leaping out and laughing maniacally
screamed “Pikachu” and as he was was airborne he shimmered yellow
and from him blasted a thunderous wave of energy that sent the
goblins flying, killing one and knocking the second down the passage.
Before the congratulatory cheers could be showered on these most
brave warriors however, the echoes of Manny's thunder wave rumbled
into an explosion of sound and stone as the cave passage completely
crumbled, covering everyone in dust and chip. Celdor was sure he
could still see Manny's pure elation shine through the powdered rock
and slabs of stone as he beamed a most mischievous smile. With the
rest of the cave now blocked off, the potty party make their way out
towards the forest, something Celdor was only too pleased about.

The sunlight was washing over the
forest now, dancing in brilliant golden rays, it almost looked alive.
The smells soothed Celdor and it was a moment before he thought to
inspect the bow, Aramil had given it to him earlier in the cave. The
others were right, it was definitely of better craft than his bow and
a damn sight better than the crude short bow he picked off a dead
goblin but there was something about this he couldn't put his finger
on. Running his hand along the bowstring, he pulled it far and taught
and released it. It was quiet. Silent in fact. He noticed some
writing he couldn't understand, both he and Aramil thought it elvish
but none they understood. Arianna however, recognised it almost
instantly as Sylvan and translated it without issue. “The Silent
Shot” she said.

Eager to get away from the cave and
perhaps try out his new bow, Celdor was about to suggest leaving when
he noticed fresh tracks, tracks that didn't belong to any Goblin but
to Gnomes. Lejandra sends Biscuits off to search while Celdor
investigated the tracks more. In no time Biscuit had returned and was
raving about something. Manny explained that apparently Biscuit had
come across many squirrels and they seemed to be in the direction of
the gnomes. Celdor lead them along the tracks.

It doesn't take long for the tracks to
lead to a grove in the forest, a clearing of tress with one huge old
oak standing tall in the middle. As they step into the grove, they
can hear the chirp of hundreds of squirrels. The trees are covered in
so many fluffy critters, it seemed their bark was moving even biscuit
was bouncing on the spot.

“Warning. These blasted things are
the doorbell for these gnomes” proclaimed Manny.

Lejandra asks the squirrels to “Take
us to your leader” but before any attempts could be made an arrow
flies from brush and stops just short of Manny and a voice in soft
Gnomish calls out “Who are you?” Manny, coldly replies in his
mother tongue, looking on the party with a wry smile. The gnomes
begin a short back and forth and after the exchange of a few short
phrases, Aramil asks what's being said. “Ah, your slaves speak the
common tongue” said one of the gnomes, somewhat surprised. A blast
of “Slaves?” and “who does he think he is” came from everyone
in the party and Celdor stepped forth to chastise Manny when some
more gnomes stepped out of the trees and surrounded them. “Drow!
Where did you get that bow?!”. The mood had changed, there's was a
thickness to the Gnomes speech and an accusing tone that couldn't be
missed. “Leave this place, no good can come of you being here. You
will no find that which you seek!”. Celdor tried to reply with
questions, hoping to find out more but the gnome just said “We've
seen another with that bow. Leave now.” and he, along with his kin
and the squirrels disappeared into the forest.

Left alone in the middle of the grove,
the party begins to argue at how best to proceed. Lejandra suggests
leaving a tribute in the pot for the gnomes in a bid to convince them
of the party's friendliness. Celdor, agreeing this the best course of
action stepped forward and dropped some gold coins into the pot and
slowly everybody else began to also. That is, except for Olaf. The
dwarf, used to the lavishes of finer life was reluctant to give away
any gold. In fact, he went so far as to protest the leaving of gold
in the forest but reluctantly he was convinced when he felt it was
the right thing to do and the tribute was 11 gold pieces but as they
turned to leave and prepare a camp for the night, Manny, hovering
around the pot attempted to steal the gold for himself but lost in
his greed he fumbled the coins and knocked over the pot. At the sight
of his new friend betraying the party, Celdor flew into a range and
swung his foot back in arch to kick the pilfering prat sky high but
it his anger he slipped and fell on his arse.

It was Lejandra that put the fear into
the gnome though. Towering over his small frame, Lejandra looked the
gnome dead into his eyes and said “If you want to be a friend then
be a friend but steal from us or my pot again and I will kill you.”
This would have scared anyone coming from a Dragonborn but the smile
with which she delivered the last part sent very real chills down
both the Gnome and Celdor's spine. Never the less, the Drow will keep
a much closer eye on the bard.

Still fuming with the Gnome, Celdor
needed time to cool off. He thought perhaps some meat for the camp
might be enough to raise everyone's spirits so he slunk off into the
woods on the trail of a deer while Lejandra organised a fire and with
Olaf's help managed to make a shelter for Celdor's return. A hearty
feast was enjoyed by all while the sat around the camp fire and
regaled each other with tales of adventure and far away lands.