Thistletop, part 5 (Friday, Lamashan 12, 4707 AR)

The heroes continued their exploration of Thistletop.

Trophy Hall. The floor of this room was hard-packed soil, as if the builders ran out of lumber after building the walls and roof, or as if they simply never thought about building a floor. A number of poorly prepared horse and dog heads were mounted along the eastern wall, while along the southern wall hung a pair of large black-feathered wings tacked to the wall with daggers.

The feathered wings once belonged to a harpy. One of the daggers used to display the harpy's wings had a pearl handle, and was worth 50 gp according to Tsela. The other six daggers were mundane.

The alarm had been raised, so six goblins were found here, ready to defend the room from any intruders. The heroes killed them all.

Throne Room. The alarm had been raised, so the door into this room was closed tightly and locked. Urtrigor picked the door.

This large throne room was decorated with hanging furs along its walls, mostly black-and-red striped firepelt skins, various dog pelts, and in some cases, what look like horse hides. Four square timbers supported the ceiling, their faces studded with dozens of iron spikes, with the lower reaches decorated with dozens of impaled and severed hands in various stages of decay. To the northeast, a wooden platform supported a throne heaped with dog pelts and horse hides. Dog skulls adorned the armrests and a horse skull leered over the throne's back. The spikes made it relatively easy to climb the pillars.

Even after the alarm had been raised, the heroes found Warchief Ripnugget, lord of the Thistletop goblins, here. His goblins though clambered up the three pillars closest to the throne and hid, while the warchanter and the druid the heroes barely survived outside of Thistletop ducked behind the throne. His pet gecko Stickfoot waited loyally at his side.

The heroes didn't immediately attack when they entered the room, so Warchief Ripnugget was willing to parley. He certainly recognized them from their heroic stand at Sandpoint - although he wasn't present at the assault, he'd heard plenty of stories about the longshanks who proved so key to the town's defense. He knew the heroes were formidable foes, especially since they'd reached his throne room alive. He refused to let the heroes step far into his throne room, informing them that they had not yet earned the right to approach him.

When the heroes agreed to talk, he picked Tsela, complimented him on being someone who looked like he understood the value of the spoken word over battle, and was willing to allow him to approach. The heroes though decided against making a deal with the goblins and attacked.

The druid cast a spell on Tsela's animal minion without success. Following that, he fought with his flaming blade in one hand. When he was surrounded, his resolve broke and he sobbed for mercy. Urtrigor showed him none.

Ripnugget mounted up on Stickfoot the first chance he got, so he could take advantage of his mount in battle. He used a combination of charging and ride-by attacks. Ripnugget, Stickfoot and the Thistletop commandos fought to the death.

The warchanter inspired courage in all of her allies when combat started. She then cast a spell on Thurden without success. She wasn't involved in the rest of the battle, as Bruthien put her into a magical slumber.

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