Squeeb Dies At The End

Summary
Once Baldrick, Carter, and Firali wake up they head down to check on Squeeb, the goblin refugee they had agreed to help by taking down the leader that deposed him. Firali was filled in on the events from the night before and being the only goblish speaking party member, decided to get more information from Squeeb, who gave them detailed explanations of where his hideout would be.

At this point, the party split up to prepare for the upcoming assault. Firali had decided to go visit the Blackbell Traders caravansary with the purchase of arrows in mind. The guard, once seeing Firali return immediately froze but was relieved when he realized Firali was there for business. Firali was let into Blackbell's and was met with a Half Elf tirelessly scribbling into a ledger book and taking inventory. Firali stated that he wanted to purchase arrows but at the price of 20 gold for 10 arrows, he decided to try to intimidate the half elf with his blades. To Firali's surprise the Half Elf took out a loaded crossbow from behind the counter and aimed it at his chest, showing no fear from both Firali's attempts to scare him, and the idea of putting a bolt through someone's chest. Firali weighed his options, and decided to flee with his tail between his legs.

Meanwhile, having heard the locals speak of the upcoming Sapphire Festival, Baldrick decided to get some information from Lippa, the inn keeper. After a brief shouting match from a hungover and betrayed Baldrick against a stressed out Lippa he finally got his information and was told that to join the festival, he would have to either get a letter of recommendation from a respected community member or pay a large entrance fee. Feeling a bit helpless and cheap Baldrick decided to put the festival entrance in the back of his mind as he sought out an apothecary to purchase some potions. Baldrick was greeted by a young boy who seemed to be an apprentice and was led to the Half Elf owner in the middle or mixing some ingredients and storing them in various vials. The shop owner told Baldrick that no potions were available at the time as many hopefuls bought them in preparation for the festival, Baldrick, feeling slightly annoyed by the fact, decided to try to lash out at the shop keeper and scare him into brewing some potions for him. The shopkeeper, showing the same calm as the Blackbell trader Firali ran from, cocked an eyebrow and cooly told Baldrick that he would be making a mistake in threatening him. Baldrick, taking the hint, decided to concede and asked for any alternatives. The shopkeeper sold Baldrick some leftover herbs for a handful of gold and Baldrick head off back in the direction of the inn.

Carter, who was also looking to acquire some weapons decided to try a less legal approach. After asking some passer-by he learnt of 2 shops, one belonging to a dwarf they threatened a day ago and the other being a shop catering exclusively to the town guards. Carter decided to try his luck with the latter and scouted out the military compound. Once Carter realized he would not be able to take all of the guards alone, he decided to create a diversion by setting fire to a nearby stable. Once the guards sounded the alarm Carter scaled the compound walls and decided to try unlocking some doors in order to find the weapon storage. The first 1 story building was unlocked successfully and appeared to be some sort of office, Carter spied a large map of the surrounding area with some markings and decided to pocket it. When Carter left to try the next building, his lockpick broke and he decided to see if he could enter the mayor's tower. Hearing noise on the other side of the door and realizing the other guards were beginning to wake up for their morning routine, Carter decided to stealthily escape the way he came, but due to a slip a brick slab was dropped and attracted the attention of a guard, as Carter scrambled over the wall, he heard the sounds of a confused guard and the sounds of the guards who went to the burning stable, returning. He decided to sneak back to the inn when he saw Firali running from another direction.

Firali recounted his tale of his near death experience, and Carter learning of a new source of goods decided to try for himself. Carter was told that no weapons were available and just as the Half Elf was about to go back to his work Carter asked him about a hat. The Half Elf was caught off guard but ended up displaying various hats to which Carter found one to his liking and paid a few gold for it. As he returned he saw Firali lying on the bench outside the inn, panting and regaining his breath and he decided to sneak up to Firali's room, where John the dog was. Carter snuck in and put the hat on the dog, calling him "Ace" and petting him. Firali was alerted to this as Ace was feeling a bit excited and started barking happily. Firali ran up to his room and opened the door just as Carter jumped out the window. Confused by the hat and noticing the open window, Firali rushed to see who was in his room and saw Carter looking up. Firali demanded to know what Carter did to his dog, to which Carter shrugged and walked to the entrance. In the corner, Baldrick was returning from his purchase and had a chuckle as he heard the exchange between the two.

After everyone had their breakfast, the group decided to head out. Knowing that Goblins were despised in Arpeon, Carter took out his disguise kit, put some glasses, makeup, and a fake moustache on Squeeb. He then gave Squeeb a fake newspaper and told him to follow. As the group reached the gates, the guards stopped to check them, but recognizing Firali as the strange elf they were convinced that they were a bunch of crazies and searching them would be more trouble than it's worth. One of the guard said something along the lines of "You people get out of here" to which Baldrick exploded and threatened a stammering guard who insisted he wasn't being racist. Squeeb walked into a couple doorways but found his way to the cart and the group went on ahead.

In the middle of their travels, Carter heard the sounds of fighting, deciding to scout ahead he saw some guards fighting some strange humanoid frog like creatures. Returning to tell the party, Carter and Baldrick decided to run ahead while Firali hung back. As the group got closer they saw 3 guards fighting 2-3 frog creatures with their blades while dodging another group of frogs' javelins. Baldrick and Carter made short work of the javelin throwing frogs and suffered a few bites as a result. Carter seeing a downed guard about to be stabbed, threw his dagger and felled the creature, who landed next to the caravan. The guard began to offer thanks but Carter interrupted him asking for payment or some of their weapons. The guard looked at Carter with confusion but shrugged, saying he wasn't paid enough to do so. Just as Carter was about to respond, the caravan door swung open and out stepped a large built man. Surveying the area, the man barked some orders to which the rest of the guards debriefed him. The large man introduced himself as Hugh Redford, an officer of the Azure Armada and judge of the Sapphire Festival. He berated his men for being weak while praising Carter and Baldrick (who was hacking up and gathering the frog creature legs). Hugh stated he could use men like Carter and Baldrick in his ranks and told them to try for the Sapphire Festival. Carter showed no interest but Baldrick heard this in the distance and told him he would be willing to try, so Hugh drafted a letter of recommendation and barked at his guards to give Carter and Baldrick 5 gold each.

When Carter and Baldrick returned to Firali, Baldrick decided to boast about his battle, his earnings, and then insulted Firali by calling him a coward. After a while the group calmed down and decided to get more information out of Squeeb so Baldrick told Firali to ask about traps. Firali took this chance to lord over Baldrick and demanded 5 gold for his services, which sparked a new argument. As Baldrick and Firali argued, Carter took the chance to have some bonding time with Doug/John/Ace. Carter throws a coin in the woods and tells Firali to fetch, which in turn causes Firali to try to take the bone away from John, but fails. Firali ends up angry and this ends up starting a whole new argument which is now known as the infamous JAD: Hausmates Civil War

Baldrick, feeling frustrated by the sheer volume of arguments, yells out that the dog is tearing the team apart, and starts rushing towards it with his axe raised. Firali and Carter spring into action, trying to bring Baldrick down. Carter ends up tripping him and grabs his axe, while Firali had less success but managed to get his boot half off. Put in a compromising situation Baldrick calms down and says that the group should decide a name for the dog together. Firali wants "Johnny" which isn't much of a change, Baldrick responds with "Douglas" which is the same as Firali and before Carter can append a few syllables to Ace, Baldrick suggests a combination of the name, Johnny Ace Douglas or JAD for short.

After the group calms down they decide to get some additional information from Squeeb who tells them about a pit trap with live beasts and a secret entrance. The group then decides to camp and attack during the day, when Goblins are less active.

When the group arrives at the hideout. Carter sneaks on ahead to the sentry goblin tree and sends a signal for Firali to fire when he goes in for the attack. Carter sinks his blade into a sleeping goblin's guy while Firali shoots one right between his eyes. The sleeping goblin wakes up in pain but ends up falling from the tree and snapping his neck, fortunately not alerting any others.

Baldrick, Firali, Squeeb, and JAD end up making their way to the tree, where the group decides to split off and attack from two entrances. As Carter enters from the barracks entrance, he tiptoes past 4 sleeping goblins and ends up engaging a goblin guard mounted on a goat. As the mounted goblin rushes Carter he ends up being taken down in one blow and left to bleed out as Carter makes his way to the other rooms. Carter ends up exploring the kitchen, and leads the goat through other rooms, until he finds a pen to tie it to. Retracing his steps he enters the room the goblin was guarding and finds an incredibly large goblin sitting on a throne, petting a goat with one hand and eating a giant piece of meat, not noticing Carter's entrance.

In the meantime, Baldrick and Firali decided to leave JAD guarding Squeeb and entered through the base of the tree. After avoiding a pit trap, they enter the barracks and Firali, overcome with memories of his past decides to kill the sleeping goblins. As Baldrick and Firali make short work of the sleeping goblins they enter the next room and see Carter's handiwork (the dead mounted goblin). As they are about to investigate other rooms they hear a deafening roar and decide to rush into the next room.

The source of the roar was the result of Carter taking a shot with his crossbow. The bolt ended up hitting Groob's wrist and forcing him to drop the meat onto his head. As he turns around enraged, he lifts his cudgel and stomps towards Carter as Baldrick and Firali rush in. Firali immediately looses an arrow and shoots Groob in the arm. Groob unfazed continues towards Carter, angry about being attacked while eating. As Groob lifts his cudgel, he brings it slamming down on Carter who ends up being knocked unconscious. As Baldrick flies into a rage, he leaps with a sideways swing of his axe, his blow destroying part of Groob's cudgel and causing him to flinch. Firali seeing an opportunity, shoots an arrow which goes right into Groob's brain, killing him instantly.

Baldrick administers some herbs to bring Carter back to consciousness and Firali heads to Squeeb, telling him the coast is clear. As Squeeb enters the barracks, he comments on the lack of goblins, saying that there should be way more. Baldrick tells JAD to bring Carter, and as he is dragged by the dog he ends up being covered in the gore from the various dead goblins. Baldrick and Firali find out the location of the treasure vault and find assorted coins, and a strange box of some kind.

As Carter was laying unconscious, Baldrick decides to try to open the box. Since Baldrick had no lock picking tools he decided to find a weakness in the box instead. He finds a hinge, and pries the box open revealing more gold. Baldrick notices a symbol on the box and recalls that the symbol belongs to the Corsairs, Pirates of the Sunken Sea and such a box is usually given as a gift or payment of some sort.

Once the party is ready to head back, Firali takes it upon himself to slit Squeeb's throat and leaves him bleeding. The rest of the party members are shocked, but Firali states that these Goblins were likely stealing from traders in the area and the death was deserved. The group agrees and heads back with their riches and leaves behind their kills.

Kills
4 Bullywugs, 7 Goblins, 1 Bugbear, 1 Squeeb, 1 Enmity regarding a dog

Loot

 * Letter of Recommendation (For Baldrick)
 * Bag of frog legs
 * 1 Corsair jewel box
 * 40 Gold
 * 1300 Silver
 * 2300 Copper
 * 3 Healing Herbs

Audio
