About about half an hour of poking, prodding, "Hmmm"-ing and "Ahhh"-ing, Vance seems to be done with the goblin, and Mok seems quite pleased by this. The other gnomes have their small campsite well prepared for the evening, and some chicken and vegetables are roasting over the fire for dinner.

"Wellllll... Murni Wicklenack, that goblin of yours is about as bog-standard as they come." Vance advises you as he nibbles on his fingernails. "Maybe a touch smarter than most, not that's saying much. The mark on his hand is undeniably magic - both the ink and the pattern. Its a variant of a sigil or Wizard's Mark. Basically it binds him to a person or objects similarly marked. Explains the swords, I suppose. Also means that for all we know, every move we make is being scry'd upon..."

Vance gazes at you from beneath a lowered brow. He smiles, a disturbing sight. You get the distinct impression he might not be all here, as it were.

Murni nods knowingly at Vance's pronouncement about scrying.

Poor fellow, Murni thinks to himself as he comes to realize that Vance may be slightly off compared to others.

Murni waits until everyone has eaten their fill of evening meal, and then goes over to the spit and makes a plate of scraps for Mok.  He walks over to Mok and puts the plate down in front of him.  

Murni walks around behind Mok and says in Goblin, "I'm going to untie your hands so you can eat.  Please don't make me kill you over some stupid move, eh?"

He unties the binds holding Mok's hands behind his back, and walks back in front of Mok and sits down opposite the goblin cross-legged.  He rests his hookhammer across his knees and then motions for Mok to start eating with a nod and movement of his hand.

After Mok starts eating, Murni asks him in the Goblin tongue, "Mok, what type of creature is the new Boss?  Is he human, orc, elf, or something else?  How many warriors are in your warrens at any one time?"

Mok does as he's told, both surprised and pleased at the treatment. You feel several pairs of eyes boring into your back (not literally of course, eww) as you treat Mok like something more than a vermin, but nobody says anything.

"Mm, yes... wow, chicken? You cook it? Hmm..." Its a somewhat disturbing sight, between the savoring and the wolfing down. Goblins have quite a lot of teeth.

"Well the new Boss, he was wearing a hood and robes and whatnot, ya see, all magic-like, but his hands were sorta, boney-like and purplish and leathery. And I think I saw some tentacles where his face oughtta be, but I didn't look too close, yeah? Favor me health and whatnot..."

*smack, gulp*

"Now, see, about our warrens ... heh, well, sir, I don't know if you've been in the deeps of these mountains, yeah, but we've got a lot of warrens an' tunnels an' whatnot. Veritable city, like what humans have, yeah? But, now, my folks, well.. we've been out of favor of late, yeah? So we tends ta keep to ourselves, and like it. Of course, that was until HE showed up."

*gobble, slurp*

"Not countin' the boys you took out the other day, we's got about ... ooh, I dunno?" He seems to be counting in his head. "Way more'n fifty? Not sure, boss, countin' was never my strong suit, yeah? An' then there's the hobbos - prolly 15 of them, and Garr, their boss-man. He's one ta watch out for."

Murni waits patiently for Mok to finish eating, and then says, "good, Mok, you did good again."

He then ties Mok hands back up behind his back.  He doubles checks the bindings to make sure that they're sturdy and tight.  He then walks back over to where the others were sitting around the campfire and sits down.

===========================

OOC: Can Murni make a Knowledge (Dungeoneering) check to know what creature Mok described as the Boss?

((Yes, that's fine on the Dungeoneering check))

Grimrock furrows his brow as Mok speaks, but otherwise continues gnawing on jerky and sipping water.

Murni sighs heavily as he looks over to Farel and the others and says in Gnomish, "it's much worse than I had originally thought.  Mok says that there are least fifty goblin warrior with about a dozen hobgoblins as the new Boss' elite guard.  I asked Mok to describe what the new Boss looks like, and I've heard of the creature he described before.  It's a horror from deep in the underworld.  I believe that he described a mind flayer, a creature that enslaves and dominates others with the power of its mind."

He pauses for a moment to let that sink in a bit, and then continues, "given this new information, I think that you all should go back home to your families and farms.  Prepare yourselves and organize a militia to watch for further slave raids."

===================================

OOC: Murni's Knowledge (dungeoneering) check = 20.

Farel considers you for a moment. Vance starts nervously twiddling with his hair, and the twins go a bit pale but say nothing. Maggen and Gabe glance at each other, then look back at you. Farel clears his through.

"Young Mr. Nacklewick, there's nothing in those tunnels we're not ready to face, especially when it comes to protecting our own - and that includes the Longfurrow boys. Now, believe it or not, we've not been farmers our whole life (a couple of chuckles) but if you feel there is a theat out here, then you'd be right - we must prepare a defense for the homesteads."

He pulls out his pipe, loads and lights it, then looks back at his companions.

"We'll send the boys back to warn those who remain, and see about setting up some surprises should any more goblins poke about. I suppose I'll need to go as well, to make sure they make it in one piece. I think Maggen and Gabe here are more suited to taking the fight to the enemy. And you'll no doubt find Vance useful - somehow." More chuckles at Vance's indignant posture.

"Now, of course, if you insist, then I'm sure we can find some use for them back home, but I'm not sure that reducing your numbers would improve your odds, unless you know something we don't, Mr. Nacklewick."

Murni puts up his hands in front of himself with the palms outward as he says, "now, Farel, I meant no disrespect to any gnome, or dwarf, here, especially you.  You've all come at a moments notice to your neighbors defense, and you've all got sand a plenty as far as I am concerned.  I would be proud to stand tall with any of you."

He trails off slightly for a moment before continuing in a somber tone, "it's just that, well you see, as I told you before Farel, I've survived the horrors we're about to enter.  I wouldn't be right with myself if I didn't give anyone fair warning as to what might be ahead of us.  That's all.  Honestly, I'll take any help I can get."

Murni shrugs his shoulders at the end of it and looks into the fire, watching the embers escape into the night air and dance before they wink out of existence.

More quiet contemplation ensues, broken only by an occasional whimper from Vance. A quick huddle of Farel, Maggan, and Gabe ensues, which lasts for several moments. At one point, Maggan takes Vance by the hand and drags him into the circle as well. Some type of agreement is reached, apparently. As Vance begins searching the ground for... something... and Maggan and Gabe have a heated, but whispered discussion, Farel returns to you.

"Ok, Mr. Nacklewick, since you'll be going into some fairly confined spaces, and with who knos how many goblins in the way, a larger group would be more conspicuous. It may well be better for you and Mr. Grimrock to try to keep it low-key, at least for now. Vance here is going to craft a sigli-stone for you by morning. All you'll need to do is hold it and concentrate on any one of us, mentally, and it'll call to us. We'll come running, and do what we can. In the meantime, you two will be on your own, and we'll be prayin' for ya."

Murni nods solemnly at Farel and says, "it's fer the best for your community."

Looking down he says in a soft tone, "save yer prayers for those boyos, don't be wastin' em on me."

He goes over to his bedroll and lays down to get some sleep before his watch.

Grimrock pokes at a blade of grass and says, "You hush." He then settles down with his water and chuckles softly.

The next morning dawns bright and clear - being out from under the worst of the tree canopy makes for a brighter tomorrow, as it were. What little packing that needs to be done is done quickly and without much chatter. Vance comes over and hands you a small, smooth stone with a sigil etched on it.

"Yes, well..."

Then he joins the others on the far side of the ashy remains of the campfire. Farel comes around and slaps you on the shoulder.

"Good luck, Mr. Nacklewick. And you, dwarf - don't talk his ear off!"

A few chuckles at that, then the group files past and gives their farewells. Soon, they are gone the way they came. You turn to face the quickly steepening front of the mountain range. Greenish-brown scrub and trees quickly turn to jagged grey rocks, leading up to snowy peaks that tower a few thousand feet above. Barely discernable, at the peaks, you see what must be huge creatures flying to and fro. Those would be griffons, most likely, but you know from stories and some personal experience that they usually keep to themselves.

So, what now, brave adventurers?

Murni smiles and chuckles at Farel's friendly jab at Grimrock.  He looks Farel in the eyes and nods, and then waves good-bye to the others.  He watches them disappear from view.  A few moments after they are no longer in sight, he turns and walks over to Mok.

He helps the goblin stand up as he says, "you're going to need your balance from here on out.  Don't make me have to kill you, Mok.  Take us to your tribe's lair and you're free, as I promised."

He unties the rope binds on Mok's hands and hands Mok his water skin as he says, "here some water.  Go ahead and eat the breakfast leftovers."

As Mok eats his breakfast, Murni turns to Grimlock and says in Dwarven, "is there anything you need or want to do before we move out?"

Taking a moment to survey the rising vista before you, packs are slung and the ascent begins. Mok guides you towards the lowest of the passes above, a steep cleft cut by the fast-running stream you camped near the night before. Fortunately, over the millenia, the water has smoothed the passage somewhat. Animal trails (deer, most likely) are easy to find and follow, and you make good time until around middle-afternoon. You had been noticing for the last few hours that there were an increasing number of shuffled tracks in the dirt of the trails. Mok stops you just short of a sharp bend in the stream, which disappears behind a steep rock face.

"This here, ya see, this is where sometimes we has a patrol. Well, not we, not my clan, but the bigger ones. They've been lettin' us pass lately, see, without much fuss. So, yeah, behind this curve, there might be a few waiting. Bows and such up in the rocks, see."