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[Tomcost]

Answering 4: the suicide mission was to send a lone gobbo with the Fellaxe to kill the tree, probably causing him to be improsoned and killed. That alternative was suggested and I do not support it. I admit that all depends on probabilities, but, still, I don't like the idea of getting our villagers under very risky situations.

Remind me, why was that supposed to be a good idea?

I don't really know, it has just been mentioned and as the expendability of the villagers was being discussed, I felt the need to say that our villagers should not be expendable.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Ah.

Well, my general idea is "If it's needed for a good enough cause." In this case, while the latter is arguable, the former is clearly untrue.

[Ashsaber]

1. Just like people don't hoard alleged bits of the Cross IRL, if those bits also had great practical and magical value.
True, true, but I don't think the hoarders willingly bring those pieces into battle (beyond a decorative value, anyways)
...I'm now imagining bishops going into battle with massive iron crosses and bludgeoning heathens to death.

2. I'm not sure they'd be that dense. Or that they wouldn't just destroy the Fellaxe.
Probably not that dense; in effect I'm counting on life beings being more...understanding, when it comes to individuality.
If they destroy the Fellaxe then we can diplomatically express regret at losing an artifact and move on.
Point of this is to reduce our attachment to the potential martyr and avoid getting everyone killed for an axe and a tree. A holy tree, but still a tree.

3. If we have to refill the pit after each birth, it would at the least be annoying to keep making new goblins.
In the event war starts (and honestly, we will at some point) this will have to happen anyways.

====

====
The ultimate goal behind the whole "send one guy to die with the axe" is to avoid "we lose 4 goblins, the supplies they have, the information they have (although since we metagame this doesn't matter) and the fellaxe".

I'm pretty sure we sent the four goblins under the belief that they will be at risk, otherwise the mission would be "scout out the tree and then come back".

Can we send in the four as pilgrims, seeking the teachings of the spirit of life or whatever it is? Yeah. Can we explain the axe away? Don't need to if we bury it.
How long do pilgrimages/seeking knowledge last (irl) anyways? Because if we have a team there seeking knowledge and then leave after not even a night it's going to look suspicious.
Of course there's the danger of the four -actually- converting and forgetting their mission entirely; evil seems to like heel-face-turns like that. (Are we evil: We are actively embarking on a mission that could destroy the livelihood of many, many beings. Regardless of cause, we are doing evil.)

TL:DR : One goblin Leeroy Jenkins. It's the safest way, especially if our goal is to deal damage, not to kill outright. Hell if the goblin's a fast runner we can tell him to leg it after he's pierced the bark.

OHWAITSHIT.
A tree that size probably has bark thicker than the axe.
If all we have to do is chip the tree, we're fine.
If we have to actually -pierce- the bark and get to the soft delicious center...

[GreatWyrmGold]

1. The cross-bits aren't magical weapons. And we're not here for battle.

2. I'm not remembering what I was doubting they would do, so I'm not going to respond to this until I remember or someone reminds me.
This is why proper quotes are helpful!

3. Yes, but it would still be a reason not to arbitrarily waste goblin lives.

===

Anyways, I'm not sure what the benefit of having one goblin Jenkins in is, aside from possibly allowing the other three to blend in.

[cheesemcmuffin88]

Burn the fields

[GreatWyrmGold]

Burn the fields

-1

[kopout]

Burn the fields

Have you considered getting profesional help?

[RAM]

I would rather the attackers work as a team, with look-outs, a second pair of eyes with the axe, and maybe someone ready to start a distraction, which could potentially involve starting some sort of fire, but only if the need arises...

Seems to me that there are multiple issues.

To burn or not to burn?

Meet and greet or sleep and sneak.

Attack alone or attack as one.

Or you know, just check them out and then leave, one assumes that the tree will still be there in a month's time...

[Evil Lincoln]

I'm getting pretty busy so I might not update for the next week or so. I might if I have time and I feel like it but don't hold your breath.

[RAM]

And I was just about to bump the adventures of Gurdy the grouge...

[Tomcost]

I'm getting pretty busy so I might not update for the next week or so. I might if I have time and I feel like it but don't hold your breath.

Don't worry, we are still discussing what to do.
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On the way the goblins should approach the killing of the tree:

The alternative where one gobling hides and kills the tree in the night also involves the others staying the whole night to avoid being suspicious, and returning in the morning (preferably feigning that they go in another direction). The main drwback of that course of action is that one goblin would have to come back to the villager alone in the night.

I say this because some people think that the goblins who try to pass as travelers will leave in the night when the tree dies. If that happens, that alternative, in fact would be worse that just hiding and attacking on night, as the lifies would know who planned everything.

[Ashsaber]

1. The cross-bits aren't magical weapons. And we're not here for battle.
Yeah, they're not, and yes, we're not. However, the Fellaxe is our sacred artifact (for now) and is effectively our cross. I was making the point that anyone hording their artifact would not willingly bring it into harm's way.

2. I'm not remembering what I was doubting they would do.
You were doubting they would buy our "Oh he's a traitor that ran away with our stuff" logic.

3. Yes, but it would still be a reason not to arbitrarily waste goblin lives.
See below.
===

I took a look at the setup of the great tree and uh... it doesn't look good.

Actually, it looks pretty good.

1. The tree is massive.
2. There's a large structure built onto the tree that also serves as a lookout. It's also massive, judging by the comparative size of the person inside it.
3. Considering our path of approach our four goblins have already been sighted. Any attempt to not establish direct contact would be questionable and possibly viewed as hostile. (Four guys show up and leaves, not weird at all)
4. The bark is probably thick enough to avoid being pierced via a few hits, given that the structure needs some level of purchase to stay on the tree. (This is assuming the tree is harmed on some magical level when its bark is pierced by nonmagical objects).
        a. This means the bracing structures doesn't pierce the tree's bark and hit its center.
5. The tree doesn't obscure much sunlight despite its size, a non-issue for us.
6. The area is massive with relatively poor lighting.

SO.
I'm not supporting my one guy suicide plan, because it would fail and we would lose the axe.
What we're probably going to need is climbing gear. Trying to cut into a tree that size at the base is probably futile. If we can get to some of the small branches we're good to go, though.

hm...

Well, our first goal should be to get the four goblins acquainted with the local folk, considering there's no way they've avoided notice coming up the road like that.

Judging by some of the path setup there probably is a support village nearby, so anything overt is not recommended.

Optional goals:
1. See what they use for lighting. Fire on wooden structure on a massive tree = hazardous. At the very least we could learn a few things, one of them being how flammable everything is.

2. Find climbing purchase and/or sliding path down to that foliage just below the structure. If the Fellaxe cuts off a branch then, in effect, it would've breached the bark and its magic would do its thing.

3. Scout for local villages in the event the shrine denies our goblins lodging for the night.

4. Find any sort of political problems we can use to our advantage. A bit of a non-issue but chaos would help us a lot.

What we can't do:
1. Set fires. We have some meat, the Fellaxe, a sword and a spear.
2. Open combat. Given the structure of the shrine it's probably safe to say there are archers (hunters) stationed in the structure. Oh, and we only have four guys, three of them untrained.

...why are all my posts textwalls? This habit is terrible.

[cheesemcmuffin88]

Whisper into goblins ear

Burn the fields

Buuuuurnnnn

Burn them

Burn them nice and propper

[Tomcost]

Ashsaber, don't worry about walls of text, as long they provide useful information (like the last one you wrote).

IF all the goblins are already spotted, then all our attempts to kill the tree will get them caught, so there will be no point in trying. I really doubt that lifies will allow the goblins to carry the Fellaxe around, they would probably notice that there is something that is not right there (who makes bone axes? Excluding DF dwarves, for obvious reasons).

But, if they are not, it would not hurt to try to pierce the bark at the bottom anyway. If it can't be pierced, then we try to either hit a branch or a root.

[kopout]

I'm getting pretty busy so I might not update for the next week or so. I might if I have time and I feel like it but don't hold your breath.

we get strange when we talk to long, no update to reset things and conversations get, odd.