.png "English"){kind=small}
The Ruined Tower
Click to expand previous episode recap
Thaddeus identified their recovered treasure as a Potion of Elven Swiftness. Niles then made a flawless, silent descent down the dark stairwell, discovering flickering torchlight and the low murmur of voices echoing just around a subterranean basement corner.
Gliding back up the moisture-slick stairs like an insubstantial ghost, Niles returns to the party waiting at the top threshold. In a hurried, tense whisper, he details the flickering amber glow and the rhythmic grunt of guttural speech below. Armed with this critical reconnaissance, the party quickly orchestrates a cunning ambush. Creeping back down to the dark landing, Elanna and Darkblade stack themselves tightly against the cold granite walls, their heavy weapons drawn and ready. Niles slips a few steps backward into the stairwell darkness, pulls a jagged piece of loose masonry from his pocket, and launches it over the corner into the passage.
The heavy stone strikes the floorboards with a loud, sudden clatter, its sharp echoes reverberating directly up the stone corridor. The misdirection works flawlessly. The guttural speech ceases instantly, replaced by the heavy, uneven scraping of leather boots. Duped entirely by Niles's clever ruse, a lone, hulking goblin warrior cautiously steps into the middle of the hallway intersection to investigate the disturbance. Carrying a rusted scimitar and a sputtering torch, the sentry peers into the gloom, leaving his blind flank completely exposed to the pitch-black alcove where the party waits in breathless, lethal silence.
• Niles: Charisma (Deception) Check with Advantage. Rolls: 15, 17 + 3 modifier = 20 vs. Goblin Wisdom 10 (Success!).
• Tactical Situation: Lone Goblin Sentry lured away from his post. Surprise round achieved for the party!
