Duty Session 187: Goblins in Mac Anu

The sightings of Goblins have raised significantly within Mac Anu. Nobody has figured out the source of the Goblins yet, but the Hunters Guild is sending teams down into its sewers to lower its monster numbers and get an idea where the movements are coming from.

Difficulty:    Easy
Rec. Party:    3+
Rewards:       1
World Rewards: Reduce Goblin Presence in Mac Anu and unlock a plot project.

Setsuna
Mac Anu - The City of Canals


    The Hunter's guild had put out a call for adventurers to help deal with a dirty job. It seems slimes weren't the only things living in the sewers. Reports had come in that goblins had begun to be spotted in the sewers as well, and the amount of Goblins had led the guild to become concerned. They had mentioned that their best goblin hunter was unavailable for this right now so it was left up to others.  So here Setsuna was standing outside the sewer waiting as he paces back and forth for people to show. In someways he felt a bit awkward as here he was just standing outside of the sewers of Mac Anu.
Shiruba
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

Shiruba has more experience dealing with Goblins thanks to their presence around Shibuya that she would ever want. But experience is useful, and for helping get trade routes established to NWA's attempted settlement she owes a few favors to people that would rather the pests not be infesting the lower levels of their city. So here she is. At least she can also cash in on the Hunter's Guild bounty while fullfilling those favors.
Merek
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

    Merek walks along and to the sewers of Mac Anu, nodding a bit to Setsuna as well as Shiruba, then to Prophylaxis when he comes about. "Well, it looks like another mission from the Guild," he notes, taking the time to shift his twin blades forward a bit, then will follow along into the sewers.
Prophylaxis
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

Goblins. Goblins need to be eradicated to the last. This Prophylaxis knows far too well now, after the last couple of engagements with the Goblin Slayer. If there are goblins appearing in such vast numbers in close proximity to a Root Town of all things, that could only mean that there's probably some kind of Monster Nest lurking somewhere in or under Mac Anu's sewers.

Letting newbies come charging down in here, thinking that goblins can't possibly pose a significant challenge... Is just patently unacceptable.

"I'm ready when you are," Prophylaxis says as he approaches the massive storm sewer. "Keep your eyes open, watch for any side passages and don't let the things get the drop on you if you can help it."
Mikage
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

Since strange events revolving around goblins had begun in Eastal, Mikage and her small party had followed rumors wherever they had lead. With whispers of goblins showing up beneath Mac Anu, it seemed a good thing to investigate. If nothing else, to see if it was somehow related to any of the other strange events.

Rama is the first one to arrive, the lynx running up and then seating himself next to Shiruba, his nub tail wiggling. Mikage jogs up a moment later. "Damn. It took me forever to find the start for this quest." She pants, trying to catch her breath.

"I'm ready. Just... running." She laughs, not having the highest endurance stat.
Setsuna
Mac Anu - The City of Canals


    Setsuna's pacing is rewarded with the appearance of a party. It was a good party full with those that are sane and well the questionably sane. Looking at Mikage he smiles, " No worries, I started looking for this place an hour ago and truthfully really only been waiting for like fifteen minutes." As the doctor gives the advice he opens the sewer doors, "You heard him people, be on guard for ambushes. Trust me the worst thing that could happen in here is you get hurt. As the doctor will try to fix you."
    As the gathered adventures proceed into the sewers they find their way to the last sighting of goblins. There are very few signs of any form goblins, or well anything at the moment, that is until a crossbow bolt flies through the air and it is unclear if it barely missed the good doctor's hat, or if the mushroom was now holey. It appears a small squad of goblins has snuck up on the adventurers and the party would need to quickly push them back or get away. Either way there was little time to decide, not even enough time to cast magic.
Mikage
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

The idea that the worst thing that could happen, would be dealing with the doctor, has Mikage give Prophylaxis a long, curious look. "Well, I have my own healer if needs call for it." Though, something in her tone of voice suggests a measure of confusion.

"Rama, stay close to me, okay?" The lynx looks back at her, tilting his head, and then falls into place next to her. When the goblins begin to show themselves, though, she's quick to duck, pulling the little cat along with her. "One ranged, two melee." She reports, trying to stay out of the archer's line of fire.
Shiruba
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

Shiruba reachs over to pat Mikage on the back lightly. "Take a moment to catch your breath.... Since we're going into a sewer, you might not want to breathe too deeply later." Sewers never smell good. It's part of their atmosphere.. and their atmosphere, hah.

The group ventures inside and the lupin Cait Sith is already on edge. Just knowing that their quarry was down here somewhere is enough to get the huntress twitching in equal parts anticipation and wariness. But it looks like the goblins found them as well! She reacts more on instinct and reflex than anything else, dodge rolling to the side as soon as she hears a bolt fire. She doesn't even bother looking to see who was shot at before bringing up her bow and returning fire.
Merek
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

    Merek begins evading away from the goblins to permit him to counterattack while he swings along into them with the twin blades. There's a nod to the party while he works with them to take care of the enemies.
Prophylaxis
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

"Fufufu, don't worry. I'll take very good care of any wounds you might suffer," Prophylaxis chuckles darkly, his heavy eyebags making the glimmer of insomnia-induced madness in his gaze just a little more ominous than it should be. "I guarantee that most of my techniques and medicines are very well-tested, and the ones that aren't will probably work fine regardless!"

Though there /is/ always some element of risk involved with such things.

The sewer-stink is even more intense than the odor under Alne, but the way these things work, you... You get used to it. It's among the worst kinds of thing to get used to, right next to war and death and being trapped inside your favorite video game. But it still makes Prophylaxis' skin crawl. The scent of rot and refuse and disease...

It's a critical distraction. A crossbow bolt goes *fwoop* right into his... hat! His poor hat! It's torn from his head and pinned to the nearby wall. Prophylaxis looks aghast and turns to fire a barrage of arcane bolts in the direction of the ambush, then goes to tenderly retrieve his injured headwear. "Don't worry," he says to the hat as it disappears into his inventory, "I'll get you repaired soon..."
Setsuna
Mac Anu - The City of Canals


    Setsuna hears the bolt first and turns to see the goblin ambushers as the archer readies an arrow. So Setsuna begins to enact the 5 D's of evasion, dodge , duck , dip, dive and then finally dodge, which allows him to duck out of the way of the follow up arrow. While Setsuna goes through the effort of taking cover it appears the return fire of Shiruba puts the archer out of commission. The two melee users rush in though Merek seems to handle them well enough thanks to Mikage's warning that they aren't all range users.
    For a moment it appears the party is safe before a hob-goblin walks up to them and begins to chant magic. The flame users of the party would recognize the spell, as the hob-goblin holds his sword in the air and makes some noises in goblin, and the words "Ragnork's Wiz Dom" It appears the hob-goblin screws up the spell for some reason as it lights itself on fire and all the screaming and flailing that comes with it. Setsuna winces at the screaming, " I know we just want to leave him but we should put him out of his misery."
Merek
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

    Merek looks to the goblin while he nods to Setsuna, "You're right." He then draws the twin blades while he begins to bring about sigils that shimmer into existence. His blades shine with water while he strikes them into the goblin, water freezing along that form while it covers flame, then lightning begins to shimmer in along that.
Mikage
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

Belatedly, Mikage offers a nod to Shiruba and a gentle sort of smile, seeming to appreciate the support. Setting Rama back down onto his feet, the Ranger lightly pats his head as they push past the initial guards and stumble on a very toasty looking Hobgoblin. "You know, other than the horrific sounds, I'm not sure I have a problem with this."

She looks at the others, then back at the monster, "But, might as well try to shut him up." Mikage waves a hand in the air, summoning up a ball of water which hovers in front of her. Pressing her palm forward, she launches it at the creature, hoping to help extinguish the flames there.
Shiruba
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

"Normally, yes, but that screaming is going to draw attention." Ears splay back as Shiruba nocks an arrow, which turns shimmering cyan colors as she takes aim and fires. It bursts into a spray of frost and foam, dousing the goblin-on-fire in the opposing element... and also turning his defenses super brittle. So he's going to be kaput from any attacks either way.

But at least that shrieking will stop trying to murder her ears.
Prophylaxis
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

That goblin just lit himself on fire...!

Prophylaxis stares at the flailing, screaming, goblin-shaped torch and looks just a little downcast. "You know, we could just let him burn out. Save MP. No? Mm." Well, roasting goblin does smell kind of awful. Awful enough to use a spell to put out the flames...?

Nah. Probably not. The others have it covered, right? Right!!
Setsuna
Mac Anu - The City of Canals


    Fortunately they are in a sewer so water is nearby and Setsuna gathers some , magically of course, and splashes ithe hob-goblin , followed by Mikage's much more practical orb of water. Then both Merek and Shiruba hit the hob-goblin with ice based moves and well, the flaming goblin has been put on ice as he stands there silently frozen mid scream. The lightning strike from Merek shatters the hob-cicle and they are able to move on
    The adventurers move on into the darkest part of the sewers and they end up , well in the dark. Small torches or light spells would be likely broken out now to add enough torch light to see the ground under them. However it is quiet obvious they are not alone, and as if to emphasize that point a clawed arm tries to reach out and grabs Setsuna but he moves back tighter into the group. " I have a map, if someone can read it. Otherwise I guess shields up, red alert"
Prophylaxis
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

Shields up he says. Prophylaxis mutters softly and attempts to erect a barrier of pure arcane force... But! As it turns out, there are a lot of goblins down here. A lot of goblins with a lot of crossbows and a lot of crossbow bolts. Little by little, the magus' shield spells are consumed and set onto cooldown, until eventually he needs to settle for hiding behind his comrades' likewise wavering defenses.

"Next time," he says with a huff, "We're going to need to bring more light."
Shiruba
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

Shiruba reachs over to grab the map from Setsuna. "That's convenient, but I'll take it." She unrolls the sheet to take a look.

And then a crossbow bolt punches right through the paper. It fortunately stops short of Shiruba's face, but the middle of the map is ruined now. "OH THAT'S JUST RUDE!" the wolfgirl barks in annoyance. Hopefully there's still enough left of the map to at least partially find their way. "Just get down one of the side passages so they don't have so much open space to shoot at us!"
Merek
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

    Merek looks to the creatures that swing into the party and doesn't even manage to shield from them when a few strike him. He tries to follow along, "Well, whatever we are thinking about, let's just find a way!"
Mikage
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

It isn't uncommon to get turned around in underground areas, but even Rama's nose seems to get overwhelmed by the stench of goblins. He even begins to paw at his nose as if trying to get rid of it. "No such luck, Rama isn't going to be able to help us track our way out, and these tunnels are looking awefully similar."

She raises up a defensive aura, though it doesn't take long for that to be overwhelmed, causing her to take a bit of damage as they try to make their way through. Mikage winces, not wanting to test Setsuna's comments about Prophylaxis' healing by giving away any injuries.
Setsuna
Mac Anu - The City of Canals


    Setsuna throws up a barrier around the group as it flickers and barely is able to contain everyone. At the suggestion and the crossbow bolt. " I agree." He begins to push forward quickly as the monsters in the shadows seem to push and maneuver their party where the goblins want them to go.
     They come out standing on a bridge over a large body of water with a party of goblins on a boat in the water. Very accurate party of goblins as the crossbow bolts from the boat miss by mere centimeters. It would appear that they would have to sink the boat quickly before they become pin cushions.
Shiruba
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

"I can't decide if it's extremely clever or extremely rediculous that they got a -boat- down here!" Shiruba finds some rubble to dive behind for cover, popping up on occasion and firing arrows back at the boat. But she doesn't have long enough to fully aim and charge a shot, so she doesn't succeed in doing much as her shots ever fly over the goblins' heads or splunk in the water beneath the hull.
Merek
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

    Merek looks to the boat, then he nods a bit while he takes a look and begins to backflip so that he can enter it through the shimmering arrows, then he begins to swing his fist into the boat itself, then along into the goblins, while he walks from it, then takes off along into the water, beginning to maneuver along up into the main path.
Mikage
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

"A ... boat?" Mikage stares for a moment, before a crossbow bolt comes just a little too close for comfort and she has to step back out of the way. With all these ranged enemies, Rama is of little use, so the little feline ends up staying behind the others.

Drawing out her own bow, Mikage nocks an arrow, focusing magical energy along it. Unfortunately, in this deep underground, it is easy to misjudge distances, and rather than impacting the boat... it makes a resounding 'plunk' noise as the arrow goes right into the drink.

"Uh... right. I need to adjust for the /lack/ of wind down here." Her brows draw down slightly.
Prophylaxis
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

"They probably just built it down here out of the detritus that's fallen down from up top," Prophylaxis supposes as he ducks underneath another barrage of arrows. This time he doesn't have a hat on-- which is good! Because otherwise those shots would have gone right through it.

And that would have just been terrible.

Prophylaxis is honestly getting a little tired of all these damn goblins running rampant through Mac Anu's waterways. But this time, he has just the spell for the job. The boat is rickety enough-- little better than a raft, honestly. And it's made of so many very flammable materials.

Hence, there is now a fireball sailing directly for it and the goblins upon it.

The fireball goes boom, the boat catches fire, the goblins panic. It's a beautiful chain reaction.
Setsuna
Mac Anu - The City of Canals


    "The real question is Shiruba, where the hell did they get the boat from in the first place. " Setsuna questions as he ducks another crossbow bolt and draws a line in air as a flame shaped javelin appears and he throws it at the boat. The fire slowly spreads, however that appears to be taking to long as Merek goes into the water, in the sewer and decides to start manually taking apart the boat. Prophylaxis' fireball lands in the center of the boat and the goblins have to abandon ship.
    Finally after they cross the bridge, retrieve Merek from the water, and go a little deeper they come across the camp. The source of the goblins, or maybe just a small camp. However the party would have to do it without really destroying the place so it would take some strategy and everyone working together to take down the threat of the camp.
Merek
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

    Merek looks to the goblins while he nods a bit to the party, then he takes the time to bring about the shield to protect him. He swings along with the weapon and will assist.
Mikage
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

"Alright, buddy, looks like your time to shine." Mikage whistles towards Rama as they come upon the goblin camp, the little cerature rushing forward to try to distract some of the enemies, making it potentially easier for the others to get into position.

For the time being, Mikage sticks to the outskirts, firing arrow after arrow into the fray. Then, when she thinks she may just have a clear shot, the girl closes her eyes, light energy focusing onto the tip of the arrow like an orb in the darkness. Then, she fires it towards the shaman, the glow lighting the way before it impacts solidly.

"That's more like it." She smirks, seeming glad to have been able to adapt her technique.
Shiruba
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

Shiruba takes one look at the camp... and decides it's time to approach this like Goblin Slayer would. Gratuitous Overkill of Goblins. She pulls one of the really special arrows from her quiver. "I've got this, but I need a little cover! Even as a magic arrow it takes a moment to charge!" She gets down on one knee to brace herself, nocks the arrow, and pulls all the way back on the tension of her bow. Sparks start to crackle up and down the strings while the entire arrow begins to glow. Guess she meant charge in more than just casting the magic. Then she tilts back her aim, and fires. The arrow zooms upward and sticks in the ceiling of the sewer.

"VERMILLION STORM!" It's not often to hear Shiruba use an activation phrase. But she does, and in result an abrupt crash of thunder echos through the sewer, giving the Goblins just long enoguh to look around in confusion before mutliple arcs of lightning leap off the arrow and come crashing to the ground, forking off and chaining across the camp to electrocute multiple targets in rapid fashion!
Prophylaxis
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

Merek is not just retrieved from the water, Merek is subject to a thorough disinfecting, courtesy of a bottle full of concentrated alcohol being liberally applied to... everything.

It's better than the alternative. And it's not like he has the time to do a proper cleanse. They've found the goblin camp!

And it's... Not really the best approach. The bridge they need to cross to even get close makes them essentially sitting ducks for the goblins in camp to take basically free pot shots.

But...

Prophylaxis' shield spells have come off cooldown.

"Go quick," he says, raising his staff as walls of protective magical energy wrap around each and every member of the party. "I can only cast so many more of these before my MP runs dry."
Setsuna
Mac Anu - The City of Canals


    The adventurers have been shot at , screamed at, attacked for the shadows, shot at more, and finally they get to take out their annoyance on something standing infront of them. As Mikage strafes from the outskirts , Setsuna stays back as well raising up the dead goblins Mikage put down Merek dancing in and out of the goblins cutting them down. Prophylaxis shields Shiruba as she prepares her big spell. As loud thunder echos through the halls, it is followed by an eerie quite, then the magic takes effect raining lightning on to the camp. After only a few minutes of combat, no goblin is living. It would appear that the lightning did manage to destroy a map one of the goblins had to , most of it is in pieces but a few pieces are still readable.
Shiruba
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

"What the..." Shiruba hops to her feet and grabs one of the chunks of parchment flitting in the air, shaking it a few times to extinguish an edge that got zorched by the lightning barrage. Mutters under her breath. "... Didn't expect goblins to be hording... hmmm..." She turns the piece to one side and squints an eye, putting her Cartography knowledge to use. "... I can't make anything of one piece, but if there are others to be found a recreation may eventually be possible."
Merek
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

    Merek picks up one of the map pieces, while he nods a bit to everyone, "Well, it will be useful if we want to know where the goblins are," he notes, then he takes a moment to pull the hood up, while maneuvering along and exits the place.
Prophylaxis
Mac Anu - The City of Canals

"This seems like something we should bring to the Slayer's attention," Prophylaxis murmurs as he stows his own fragment of the map away. "At the very least though, we've nipped this particular excursion in the bud. Hopefully that means Mac Anu will be safe for the time being, but it does seem like we're dealing with a Monster Nest of some kind."

And that means... Will they find another one of those shamans with that poison that suspends their Adventurer Damage Resistance...? If so, that could be something of a problem, to say the least.