Attack, but not recklessly

You WILL NOT allow this to continue! These foul creatures will pay for what they have done and for what they are doing to this poor woman! You will see to that!

With your mind made up you start thinking about how best to attack. If you just rush in recklessly you might endanger the captives, and it might end badly, since there are four goblins. You need a plan.

You take another look at the goblin camp and notice that the goblins’ weapons are on the ground, seemingly dropped at random. Apparently these creatures feel confident that they have nothing to worry about. You intend to show them how wrong they are.

Next you take a look around. You find no trace of the last goblin, but you do notice a first-sized stone and get an idea. It is a simple plan – one that would surely fail if you were dealing with more intelligent creatures. But goblins are not known for being smart…

You start moving quietly just outside the range of the firelight and head towards the fat goblin. You have no way to be sure, but you suspect that he is the leader as he is the biggest and likely strongest member of the group. But even if he is not, taking him out will make things easier for you. On the way you pick up the stone you noticed earlier. You quickly reach your goal without problem, the goblins too focused on their captives.

You take a deep breath to prepare yourself for what you are about to do, make a quick prayer to the Burning Rose, and then throw the stone with all your strength. With an audible thud it lands on the other side of the camp and the goblins instinctively look towards the sound – away from you, just as you hoped. Not wasting any time you rush towards the fat goblin and pierce his head from behind with your sword.

A moment later the rest of the goblins, after having seen nothing, look towards the fat one, and yelp in surprise as they see you pull your sword out of the creature’s skull. The dead goblin falls on his left side as you charge towards your next target.

The two goblins that were amusing themselves with Tessa push the poor woman down and start looking for their weapons while the one that was eating the roasted rat grabs a bone spear from the ground and rushes towards you… but with the very first step he slips and falls down on his face. You do not waste any time and with a mighty swing split his skull in two.

With the second goblin dead you face the last two right on time to see one of them trying to tackle you. He’s still unarmed – apparently he gave up on looking for a weapon. You calmly step to the side, avoiding his attack, and stab him in the back. He falls down on his side, though you cannot be sure if he is dead.

You turn towards the last of the four goblins that were in the camp and see him holding a bow and arrow. It seems like he plans to shoot you, but never gets the chance. Focused on you he fails to notice that Tessa has gotten up and is now behind him. The woman is holding a large piece of rock in her hands and uses it to hit the goblin’s head as hard as she can. The creature stumbles forward, momentarily stunned from the blow. This is all the time you need – you charge at him and stab him in the face.

Just as the body of the last goblin hits the ground you hear something moving behind you. You turn around sharply and see a shadow running away. You figure it must be the last goblin, trying to get away after seeing what happened to the rest of his kin.

As you watch the lone goblin disappear into the night you realize that you have won and saved the two women. You begin to wonder what you should do next…