Friday, August 24, 2018

Master of Strings Ch50: Careful how you Hide

Maldrek, Sparky, and May navigate their way down the caverns for a few more minutes. Maldrek stops, having finally formed his lies.

"May, do you recall Zilo's plan for when we killed the royalty of the Storm State?"

"The poison in the punch? Yeah, but I heard that you-"

"No not that, the infiltration. Zilo pretending to be a famous traveling performer?"

Meanwhile in the other world, a rather large bald man with glasses controlling Sparky speaks up.

"Wait a second, why won't Maldrek tell us?"

The spiky haired man with tattoos and Maldrek's sheet shrugs and he says, "Maldrek is going through a lot right now. On top losing the closet thing he has to a friend, he's trying to organize your assault without coming off as a jerk. He's got a thing about that now."

The woman who is controlling May leans back and puts her hands on her face frustrated, and says, "Oh my god guys, May is itching to kill this Artay.. Artoo."

"Artak," Responds the man known as Jones.

"Him."

Suddenly at the table, the man with the hat, and Zilo's sheet begins playing a video out loud for the table. The man known as Jones stares the man in the hat down and scolds him.

"I told you only play songs when you perform or are playing for a fight. Also find some new songs man, that one doesn't even have a violin."

"You try and find good battle theme instrumentals with only violins, There's only like 12 on all of YouTube"

The spiky haired man smirks and says, "You picked a violin man."

"Can we focus!?" Says the woman. The spiky haired man flinches from her outburst before leaning in and saying, "So yeah Maldrek tries to tell them both that he's having Zilo, and Aria sneak into the mayor goblin's house as performers, I'll make the Bluff Check."

And with the sound of a die rolling along a table Maldrek expertly weaves a fantastic fallacy for his two friends.

"You really think the two of them can pull it off? They don't even speak goblin."

"I lent them a scroll of Comprehend Language. They should be fine, I trust Zilo."

Maldrek turns as May and Sparky raise their eyebrows at that, until Maldrek waves them along. He breaths out a sigh of success for now. After the three of them trek forward for another few minutes they finally come to an opening.

The cavern opens up to torches and campfires letting smoke rise up into more tunnels higher up. The rocks on the ground of the huge hollow cavern are similarly shaped like the tunnel ways leading here, only they look to form small benches and tall 6 foot high walls. The walls look to separate out larger rooms that seem made to be war rooms, and other pseudo military outpost rooms.

Scampering around the giant cavern are what seem like hundreds of small green and grey goblins running errands, scraping in little brawls, or cackling in small groups. Marching along the rock decor are some hobgoblins either in single file or  alone, but still structured. The last of the roving goblinoids are the hulking bugbears meandering around or hopping around pushing rocks away for the watching hobgoblin commanders nearby.

The macro view of the cavern is inspiring for evil beings such as goblinoids. They are coordinated, but uncoordinated, lumbering, but agile. Sparky looked to the home he might have had, May looks to the targets of her malice, and Maldrek looks to the next obstacle for him to out think. The wizard motions for the two of them to retreat back and he puts down a blank scroll to begin laying out a plan.

After a minute or two the scroll has a mock drawing of the cavern layout and Maldrek has summed up his battle plan. Sparky looks at May and with wide eyes and says, "We gon win?"

May looks at the little firebug then back at the map and says, " Spark, I've been with Maldrek way longer than you, this plan looks okay, but the end might look like a gamble. that's only cause Maldrek has an ace in the hole he's yet to go over."

May looks to Maldrek, who looks focused down on the scroll. She smiles and says, "It's Zilo, you told him to do his thing at the last second and give us the opening we need." Maldrek's body doesn't move, frozen. May snaps him out of it by dropping her hand to the tiefling's shoulder and rising.

"Yuppies, good good plan." Says Sparky, nodding enthusiastically. Maldrek rises as Sparky and May move to get some rest before they attack in the morning. Maldrek reaches to his hip and takes out Zilo's whip.

"What is wrong? My plan is... flawed? Damnit... We should go, we should strike when we have more people, or we might end up losing anoth..." Maldrek stifles his mouth as he lifts his head to the cavern.

The next morning the goblinoids continue making a base out of the cavern in large groups of goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears. Toward the sectioned off war room in the back stands Artak surrounded by the hobgoblin rogue from the attack on Aria's farm, a bugbear dressed in dirty robes underneath some segmented plate mail with leather joints and a curved blade to his hip, and a goblin without a shirt, but fur on his body and pointed nails that form to small claws.

Artak speaks his native tongue as he motions to the rogue, "Anyway now that you are back we can continue our plan to-." The hairy goblin's nose twitches as he turns to the entrance and says, "Some thing smells... wrong, something like..."

"What is it?" Asks the bugbear.

"Incense perfume... from a heretic priestess."

An explosion of energy blasts from a Channel Energy  from the cavern outside of the war room. the 4 rush out of the to see May standing there, spinning her scythe surrounded by fallen goblinoids. May and Artak's eyes connect. Artak's eyes glow with the spell Detect Magic. He smiles and flips his words over to common in a snap.

"The sneaky Cleric. Do you know how long it took to unite those troops you just wiped out."

"Maybe try casting Haste and round up a few more, shouldn't take as long next time." Shouts May with a smarmy smile.

Artak whistles twice and another large group of goblins round the corner behind the war room and from the walls behind May as well. May looks to be totally surround. Artak begins to walk forward smiling and saying,

"Alright then miss, I think we should have a chat. I'm very curious about how you found... Wait a minute." Artak's face turns panicked as he stares at his troops behind May. May smiles and responds.

"Well looks like you already replaced one of the goblins. NOW SPARK!" Shouts May as she turns and runs at the goblinoids behind her. As soon as she hits her stride the goblinoids explodes in a Fireball. As the smoke settles Sparky stands among the ashes of the troops and he turns in stride with May toward the tunnel.

Artak fumes and points to the tunnel that they are making for, shouting, "After them!" The 4 leaders and the troops give chase into the caves. Artak storms forward after them keeping Detect Magic up to track the mark on May's chest or the blood in Sparky's veins. As they run down the straight tunnel a single figure appears in front of them.

Maldrek stands determined with an aura of the spell Nondetection, a ball of sparking electricity in one hand, and his spell book in the other. Artak's eyes widen as he reaches for his spellbook mumbling, "buh- I- you-"

"I believe the words you're looking for are, 'they have a Maldrek,' LIGHTNING BOLT!"

Artak snaps to the page for Dimension Door just in time to get him and the other 3 leaders out of the tunnel, but the goblinoid soldiers funneled and packed into the narrow straight away were all vaporized.

The three goblin leaders escape back to the large empty cavern and turn back to the tunnel to see a bolt of lightning streak out and fizzle away. The leaders look to Artak who grits his teeth and growls before turning to the rogue and motioning for him to go hide. The three that are left look to the three heroes that exit the cave.

"I don't believe, we've met mister, Maldrek was it? I'm charmed, I am Artak, leader of the Goblin tribe of Tak."

"Oh yeah, just look at them all." Comments May. Making the bugbear and goblin clench their fists and grit their teeth, while Artak stays composed.

"You seem very impressive, I commend you, that was a brilliant plan, but now with that done I don't believe that anyone needs to get hurt. So just leave the cave before I need to end you and your motley band."

Maldrek grips the whip at his side and shouts across the cavern, "At the start of this job I'd have said okay fine, let bygones be bygones, but no. You made this personal for me, and my friend, Z-"

Artak had already made the signal for the rogue to strike as he offered the olive branch, unfortunately for him, timing was not on his side. At that very moment, Zilo, Aria, and the rogue came flying out of a nearby higher outcropping that the rogue was positioned on. Atop the over hang was the exit portal from the spell Shadow Walk.

The three flying figures fell between the two sides of the fight. Aria landed on her butt, rubbing it in pain and said, "Dammit Zilo! Why did we get shoot out!"

"Shadow Walk is a funky spell. You pick one spot to appear and it likes to decide, 'There!? but I like you over there'."

Maldrek is at a loss for words as he sees Zilo standing up and trying to get his bearings.

"Zi... Zilo?"

"Hm? Need something buddy?" Says Zilo as he turns and smiles. A single tear forms in Maldrek's eye before he remembers the situation and throws Zilo his whip shouting, "Behind you!" As the goblinoid elite charge in.

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