Meet 24, Adv 2, 2/23/13

Two pieces of thought in this pre-posting musing.

The blogosphere had a back and forth on "empty rooms" in a dungeon and whether it adds or detracts from the game. I want to rebut and say there is no such thing as an empty room. There is always something in there: old furnishings, discarded whatever, even just a difference in the air pressure or what might be on the floor or walls. Not every room is an encounter, not every room is a fight/puzzle/trip/trap/treasure.

When designing Candlewick Keep, I made sure that there were rooms that would be empty. It's not a zoo, its a place. I also hid a few caches of goodies about and gave thought as to what might be left behind by the former inhabitants (and unfound by the newer ones). In typical DM/PC relations, my group has already stumbled on 2 of them and claimed them on the 2nd day of being in the place so maybe they weren't as "hidden" as I suspected, but as for the 1st part of the statement, there are plenty of empty rooms in the Keep as broadly defined by the blogosphere, but in realty, not empty at all.

The other thought/rumination is that this was a different adventure/crawl than most of my group had been used to as of late. It's not a buzz-saw adventure (where you run forward, get chewed up, relax heal, run forward and combat the next section, ad nauseum), and if you try it, you will get steamrolled. There would have to be some sort of "siding" with one of the factions in the keep, and the group chose the goblins. It wasn't planned, could have been the lizardmen.

I look forward to seeing how this plays out as the meetings go on.

Write up follows:

There was a divided conversation on whether we should go to the Chapel next or the Ferrier. The group was discussing the matter when Sanford (the fox) began making yipping noises and getting agitated. Flimflam used his powers to talk to the fox and learned that it heard something coming, smelled like bad blood, and was closing in. It indicated up and the group looked.

 

About half a dozen flying creatures about the size of a beagle with bat like wings and long narrow beaklike faces were diving at the party from the Southwest tower. Marcus whirled and immediately hit the door to the ferriers with his should, bursting it off the hinges with a crunching thump. “Inside, now!” he ordered, the hirelings and some of the group hastening to make their way in. Ben, Fergus, Tempi and Fist’al stayed outside, weapons at the ready as the flying beasts hit the group.

 

Ben was able to impale one of the flying creatures on his spear while a second one plunged its beak through a joint in his armor. One his Fergus up in the shoulder, another was stopped by his shield. Another actually managed to strike Fist’al. And each one that hit the party wrapped their eight legs and feet around whatever part of their victims that they could and proceeded to “suck” – drinking their blood with gleeful abandon.

 

Tempi swung his greatsword at the one closest to Fergus, not actually drinking from the paladin, cleaving it in two with a clashing blow. He then dropped his sword and wrapped his arms around the one with its beak IN Fergus’ shoulder and chest. In his fervor and excitement, the burly half-orc squeezed the stirge hard, actually causing a fountain of blood and stomach contents to flow into the paladin and then rain about the battlefield. It was vomitous to say the least.

 

Marcus tore off some of the bins in the smithy and taking a large hunk of iron ore, shattered one of the few windows open and then took up position there with his bow at the ready. Meanwhile Link and Urthar were drawing pairs of torches from the supply bins at the elven fighter’s order s and lighting them in order to try and burn the stirges off.

 

Fist’al had gotten close enough to grab a torch and beat one of the flying beasts from his chest where he stomped it to death. Ben was next in line. Fergus was trying to get the stirge off of him, feeling ill from the mix of blood and guts pouring into his open wound. He grabbed a belt knife and tried to stab at the stirge but Tempi was whipping the three of them around in his efforts to dislodge the beast that the paladin inadvertently stabbed himself. Snarling in fury, the half-orc redoubled his grip on the stirge and tore it free, the monster squirming about.

 

Marcus called out that 2 more were coming, these two diving out of the sky and aiming for Tempi. He drew aim and fired, dropping one of them from the sky, but his 2^nd shot failed. The last stirge was dive bombing Tempi who at the last moment whirled around, using the stirge he was holding as a shield! Impact! The flying monster impaled the held one and the two of them hit the ground with a crunch. At this point it was just mopping up the last of the flying creatures and the battle was done. There was a mess everywhere and we no longer felt safe in the open. Keeping a ready eye on the SW tower, we did note other stirges up there but they were not inspired to attack the group at this time.

 

While bandages were being passed about, the group looked around the smith’s and decided to take the couple hundred pounds of iron ore and tin that was still here, walking it to the cart in the stables to pass the time. Eventually we closed the stables doors and crossed the courtyard to the chapel and adjoining priest’s domicile. Both appeared to have suffered some damage in the past but were in fairly decent condition. Ever mindful of the stirges on the SW tower the party decided to check out the priest’s house first.

 

20’x10’, effectively one large room with a small eating area and private shrine to Zeus, there had been conflict in here some time ago. There was a passage from the north west corner of the room to what we guessed would be the Chapel itself. While Fergus was fixing up the shrine Flimflam and Fist’al were checking out the bed and wall. While the rest of the group was watching and paying attention to the distant stirges.

 

We did find written on the wall by the bed, in blood, the words, “Sisspak is free Bewa”. Who is Sisspak? Did not know and hoped we didn’t need to find out any time soon.

 

The door did lead to the Chapel and the group entered with care. The Chapel to Zeus was sizeable, maybe 50’ deep and twenty across, pew seating for 80, a confessional, altar, even the remains of a holy water font. What was odd though was the feathers. There were a variety of plucked feathers scattered about the room, with most of them being located by the front door nave. As far as the front door was concerned, there was a bracing bar that could be slid in place, making this building a secure point should the party need it.

 

There was nothing else to be found and the party broke for lunch before making their way to the main door of the keep at sometime after 12.

 

The door was well traveled and used and we entered with exaggerated care. There was a foyer, a great hall running down the center and into the gloom of the keep. Two sets of stairs spiraled up from both ends of the foyer to the 2^nd floor. On the right side was a battered doorway and on the left was a corridor that was choked with piles and piles of furnishings filling the entire opening. Looking at the map we had, we decided that we wanted to go to the 2^nd floor to the den.

 

As we approached the left stairs though, we did hear voices on the other side of the barrier and coupled with the stink of sweat socks and ripe bananas, we suspected that goblins were nearby.

 

We got into a conversation with them behind the barrier. They were curious about us, had been here for years, and wondered if we were going to be an aid to the Two-horn tribe (lizard men we eventually deduced). When we told them about statues and Zeus and going upstairs, we were then told that Sisspak was up there and it was NOT a good idea, and maybe the Trader Tindorag could help, and finally their own leader, Funtarig of the Duuk Garthik tribe had a statue they could look at and we should talk with him. This was mostly facilitated by Flimflam telling the goblins that he was the Doglord and expected a modicum of respect when the greenskins were talking to him.

 

The barrier was moved aside (it was actually build on a cart, allowing the goblins to roll it back far enough to get it. They were VERY concerned during the moving and hastened us in without any waste of time. We were led past many apartments and former offices that the goblins had repurposed for their own uses. There were also lizard man skin shields, some scale mail, and many spears that were made with lizard man claws and teeth. We learned the goblins captured by the enemy were often gutted and their intestines made into ropes, twines, and bow strings.

 

After passing many goblins (who were not bothered by us, and we discovered very much outnumbered us) we made it to Funtarig, the leader of the goblins. He was huge and muscular (for a greenskin) and had a 6 count of half naked goblin women at his side as personal guards. There was a broken lizardman figure hanging from the ceiling in a cage, fingers snipped off and teeth broken out. We treated with Funtarig fairly and honestly, learning that he did have a statue in the garden we could look at (right size, wrong material) where were expressly told NOT to touch to oak tree (a bad 20’ specimen in very poor condition). They were growing lots of cucumbers and other vegetables here, and there was a mass of leather and rope on the left side of the open air garden that we were told was a goblin balloon, floating in here some 8 years ago.

 

Which brought us to the question of why there were so many different diverse groups here and there was something called the Crimson Sanctuary in place that made sure they could not leave. This was in line with was Kahr Konig had told us that the mage and spymaster were doing before they had left Candlewick. We left, thanking Funtarig and agreeing to be back at some point after we visited the Trader (Tindorag) and to steer clear of Sisspak. There was an ogre on the 2^nd floor as well, named Kronik, but he was no friend of the Sisspak OR of the goblins.

 

We made our way back to the Grand Foyer where the goblins let us out and sealed up their bolt hole again. We did note that the other side of the hall seemed more menacing now that we knew what was in there (Two Horn tribe, lizard men, and the leader named Korlok, the Devil’s Fang) and made our way north down the great hall. We assumed the Trader would be in the Throne Room and made our way there; passing the Reeve, Castellan, Spymaster, and Mage’s offices respectively, as well as another larger hall that went to the kitchens and dining room.

 

At the Throne room we knocked and then entered, finding only garbage (in abundance!) and many rates, some of them the size of large cats! It was when one of them dared to take a nip of Fergus that we shut the door and rethought our direction. The Trader should be down here (maybe the kitchen?) but we opted to look over the offices first.

 

The mage’s office was somewhat wrecked. There were also two goblins and one lizard man body here, dead for a while, with their heads seemingly sunken in. scattered books abounded. A top shelf had a few knickknacks on it. We were going to leave but Flimflam decided to detect magic, and we found a wizard mark on the wall. Marcus looked it over with care and opted to try and open it, suspecting that it needed to be traced perfectly. He took his time and did so, and the back wall opened up! We found the wizard’s private sanctum with 8 spell scrolls, 2 empty spell books, about a dozen magical theory tomes, a half dozen potions, a wizard’s hat, and a plethora of inks and scrolls. We took everything and felt really good about it. As for the wizard’s hat, Marcus took it and learned that it improved his reading ability as well as gave him the ability to read other languages he did not know (not magical ones).

 

From there we went to the Spymaster’s office and it was a bit different. There were 6 dead bodies in here (again gobs and lizardmen – as well as 1 rattlesnake!) and the desk was pristine and clean. Yeah, didn’t want to chance it. Fist’al said he could do it. Examined the room and suspected poison gas (eventually corroborated by vent holes in the ceiling). Would have to go to the desk, chair was permanently mounted to the floor, some sort of roller lock on the front.

 

He took the new potion we found that would raise his Fortitude save and entered. As he closed on the desk, he noted the lizardman had a note in his grasp, he took it, could not read it, tossed it to the door. Marcus was able to make out some of the words, identifying the numbers “452” on the page, but couldn’t decipher the rest of the note.

 

Fist’al looked over the rest of the bodies and one of the goblins had a note that read, “No one” and “starts with a 6”.

 

He went to the roller lock and looked – 5 digits long, numbered 1-6. In order to open the 4 drawers, he would have to operate the lock. In order to operate the lock, would have to sit in the chair to release the pressure plate holding the locks in place. He sat. The chair sunk slightly and he felt a prick at the base of his thigh but the roller locks moved. Fist’al thought and spun the dials to read “63452” and then pulled the lever…

 

And the desk unlocked. We found a Vortex Cloak (absorbs direct spells if worn), a ring of poison resistance, a ring of enhanced healing, and many vials of anti-poison (needs to be administered within 4 rounds of being poisoned). We took the items and were feeling really good. It was almost quarter to 3 and we were discussing where to head next.

Meet 23, Adv 2, 2/2/13

For this adventure, our 2nd with the newer characters, we had some bookkeepeing to do for the level increase, and then it was "let's go to that keep that we agreed to go to some months ago". This led us to a hexcrawling situation where we had some opportunity to get a down and dirty feel for the area at the fringe of the Endless Forest.

The Endless Forest is a place that in time I'd love for the party to dive into and do their damndest to plumb to the center. I've seriously enjoyed the place the last 2 or 3 times I've had parties try to plumb its depths and expect in time the group will make the same foray.

They also had the pleasure of meeting a local druid, Kahr Konig. I find druids, especially the older ones (8th circle or better) to be fucking odd. Seriously, they are outside the flow of time, more at home away from civilization, have no real need for money/riches, and and after awhile unable to relate to normal people.

Write up follows:

Over the next 2 weeks the party healed, trained, and reequipped themselves with whatever gear had worn out or gotten destroyed. The spring weather grew warmer, planting and spring harvesting were proceeding apace, and there was a good feeling amongst the townsfolk and populace around Shakun. We had even heard from travelers from Timberton and Ferron about the better road conditions since the banditry that had been rife earlier had been cleaned up.

 

Eventually as the weeks progressed we talked about our contract to go visit Candlewick Keep to the north and west of Shakun, along the former borders of the Endless Forest. We had commissioned to bring back a 4’ tall marble statue of Zeus with blue eyes for the price of 900 crowns. Our factor had assured us that the statue was still there and supposedly that the goblin assault had not overrun the keep during its active and manned time.

 

We then approached Zarik and spoke the Consul about the possibility or hiring some people to come with us. We went over our lists and needs for a bit and settled on a porter, a linkboy (or torch bearer), and a shieldbearer. As for the porter, Urthar who we had used earlier was very happy to come with us and signed on. For the linkboy, a local merchant’s 13 year old son, Etterig (that the group quickly dubbed as “Link”) was chosen. And finally Zarik was able to get us aligned with a sturdy and stalwart warrior and shieldbearer of some skill who we had shortened his mouthy name to “Ben”.

 

Equipped, ready, and anxious to get going, the group set off from Shakun on Birthmonth the 18^th and travelled west toward the Roaring Treant Inn. We spent the night in some comfort and was off again the following morning where we took our troupe as well as two horses, a pony, and a cart northward into the wilderness. The land rose and fell in slow hills, old battle signs and shattered copses of trees made travel less than optimal. The weather held fair, with only some rain to mar the trip.

 

We had some knowledge as to where Candlewick Keep actually was and decided that on the morn, we would take the time to search as diligently as possible the trees and plains for the elusive structure. The dawning of Birthmonth the 20^th was warm and rainy and we arrived at the green tree-line of the Endless Forest without any issue.

 

From here we took many hours covering the miles. One of the first things we discovered was an older goblin battle wagon rusting away in the forest. There was numerous goblin fetish markings and from what we could tell by the marks, the battle wagon was some sort of way point for the local travelling greenskin tribes in the area. As for the battle wagon itself, it was some 20’ long and maybe 12’ wide, perhaps 9’ tall at the top and there was a blunted lance that stuck out perhaps 7’ from the upper third of it. And instead of a series of 4 or 8 wheels, there was a complex set of 16 wheels, 8 on each side piled on top of each other, with a metallic belt that ran over and under all of them.

 

At one point Fist’al went to climb on top of the battle wagon and see if there was anything of interest inside but upon getting on top of the wheel array he grew tired and weary, as if he could feel the weight of his 100+ years on his shoulders. Unnerved he climbed down and a few minutes later the sensation passed. We left the battle wagon behind and pressed on.

 

We did find a hunter’s cottage at one point, unused for some 3-6 months; various stuffed and mounted trophies inside (including what seemed to be 2 of the largest damned rabbits we had ever seen). During our travel we also came upon a squirrel, but not any normal sized one – perhaps 4 lbs and it looked at us briefly from the tree above before scampering away. We wondered at the larger than normal sized animals in the area and so far we had found no sign of the keep.

 

It was here that Flimflam called out to Demeter and asked her to allow him to speak to animals. Immediately he attracted the attention of two finches who came down to him, one very wary, the other almost ridiculous in its fawning. He plied the bird with berries one after the other while he asked it about any structures or piles of stone nearby. We did get something about a pile that sticks out of the trees; 3 hours flight north of here, but it was during that time that Flimflam heard another voice talking. It was speaking of the tasty finch, and getting closer, and don’t fly away, and I’m going to eat you.

 

And then a red fox burst from the underbrush and tried to get the finch which flew easily away. Flimflam turned to the fox and hit it with a Charm Animal spell, calming it down and getting it to stay nearby. We learned its name was Sanford and the gnomish druid spoke to it of stone structures, which it answered the finch was nuts and wrong.

 

By this time it was late in the day and we headed back to the hunter’s cottage where we set up some snare traps around the area and bedded down for the night, switching off for watch every two hours, and rested the night away with no issue. The next day we awoke and wandered the snares, finding one of them had a large spider in it! (maybe 3’ tall!!). We shot it from a distance and Flimflam and Fist’al tried to get the poison from the arachnid’s glands, but succeeded in only cutting the foul arachnid up.

 

It was then that we saw the large squirrel again, and this time we followed it. It was some time later that we came upon a tree that had fallen over and someone had carved a home into the side of it. And then other animals came out of the forest, an even larger squirrel, a tremendous wolf, a jaguar, and even an eagle sized falcon. And then came a naked 70 year old looking hair gnarled man who addressed the group in a raspy voice and called himself Kahr Konig.

 

We spoke to Kahr for a while, learning he was a druid of some skill but very little renown, keeping to the forest and removing himself from the doings of cities and people for many decades. He did tell us of the Candlewick Keep and where it would be, as well as rough estimations of the other nearby keeps. He also told us that the original knights of Candlewick had dealings with him and he even supplied us with a rough map.

 

He did ask for some of our blood, which we gave, and eventually after much conversation was willing to shorten our journey there via some teleporting involving the local trees. His parting words were that the keep was under some sort of either curse or spell, something cooked up by the Keep’s Hexmaster and the Keep’s Spymaster – as they were the last two left behind and they were setting up a nasty surprise for the goblins (this story goes back some 15 years or so at the start of the goblinwar).

 

We stepped through the nearest oak and found ourselves just outside the environs of Candlewick. The keep was sound and whole from what we could see, the encroaching trees came up to a moat around the locale and in a few places hung to the wall. There was an outer wall 30’ high, 4 towers (one at each corner), a set of guard houses and a barbican guarded the front entrance where the drawbridge was in the down position. The actual keep itself behind the bailey walls was closed off and according to the map we had gotten from Kahr, there would be a sizable courtyard just inside.

 

We had Ben, Link (my name is Etterig!!), and Urthar stay behind with the horses and cart while the party crept upon Candlewick. The moat was perhaps 15’ across, sloped earthen sides, and the base of it was filled with a miasmic orange and green sludgy mix that seemed to be a breeding ground for clouds of gnats and mosquitoes. A sort of reddish dust or flakey material was loosely scattered about the ground. We peered through the entrance and saw the rusted remains of a battering ram’s carriage and some chunks of stone work like shattered statuary but nothing else. It was quiet.

 

We entered with care, taking in the raised portcullis and the fact that they were very rusted in place. If there was anyone in the barbican they would have seen us and been able to raise either an alarm or an easy assault on us. Neither issue happened.

 

The courtyard was open, easily 30 paces across and over 60 paces running wide. A chapel and priest’s house was on the right and on the left was a stables and farrier. The doors to the keep itself were closed and from where we were we could see sets of stairs going up to the walls and parapet above as well as other doors that would lead into the guardhouses and local towers.

 

We waved our hirelings in and even with the rumbling the cart made across the drawbridge, nothing came out and nothing seemed to notice our presence. The party made their way to the stables and decided it would be the best place to house the horses and cart for now. The door was hanging on its track, three of the wooden guide wheels had fallen apart due to age and neglect. And when the group made to open the door, they had to bodily lift it and shuffle it open as it did not roll properly and the track itself was in poor repair.

 

Inside the stables were six stalls with very old and dusty scraps of hay on the bottom. The thatched and shingled roof was in seemingly good repair and there seemed to be a large number of bees along the 6^th stall by the back of the stables. We moved the horses in and shuffled the cart around so it took up part of the left side of the entrance way and then took a look at Kahr’s map to best decide where we should look for the statue of Zeus next.

Meet 22, Adv 1, 1/26/13

I remember vividly many years (MANY!) while crawling through B2 with Kevin, Jerry, Jason, and Dan that at one point we had left the caves of chaos, went back to the inn and sold the unbelievable pile of swords and armor we had gathered off the dead, before returning to the caves again to continue clearing out. Imagine my horror when we went into a room that we had scoured clean and we found ourselves attacked by some kobolds that had moved into it!

Shenanigans! How could the DM change the map? I had memorized B2 and the layout and monsters before this and thought the DM was being unfair. It was then that Dan informed us that we had been out of the caves for a week and the monsters were not going to leave the uninhabited room completely empty and abandoned. It was "natural" that they would migrate into the areas we had cleared and maybe new monsters would come into the cave system from outside (or even under the ground).

To my 13 year old self this was surprisingly novel, grand, and amazing. Why would a dungeon remain static?

Here it is, almost 30 years later, and I'm still "updating" a dungeon after the party has come in and played Ginsu-warrior with the residents within.

Write up follows:

It was 2 in the afternoon on Birthmonth the 6^th and the party had gathered outside the hill on which Malven’s cavern was underneath. The outside appeared to be undisturbed, no different to the way it looked when we were here a few days earlier. With some care we approached the actual entrance and peered in. Again, no difference. We attempted to enter when 4 steps down we felt something strange underfoot. We looked and noted that 3 of the stairs had been painted with glistening layer of animal fat, making it terribly slippery.

 

No wanting to risk falling and breaking our neck, we burned it off (it took some time and smelled terrible) and continued down. Tempi was first at the step’s base when his hard soled boots and careful walking encountered our 2^nd issue, caltrops – lots of them. He cleared a path with his sword and then the party using torch light and some care gathered up almost 6 pounds of the metal spikes and put them in the half-orc fighter’s purse (yes, don’t ask.).

 

The original rolling supplies cart doors were not here anymore so we were forced to travel down the sloping corridor. As before, we had come to an area where there were a number of rocks set up to cascade down and warn those below, but this time the goblins had used animal fat just before the rocks, which would have meant anyone not paying attention would have slipped down slope and into the stones. We used some bedrolls and baladranas to make a pathway for us to cross the hazard and continued on.

 

A bit further we found three dead goblins. They had been killed maybe 2 days earlier (by us!) and left here. We noticed some chalk symbols beneath them and Fergus advised us NOT to touch them as they might animate. We tried a variety of tests but nothing had the goblins arise. Eventually it was established that we could move them, so we dragged them to the wall and using a hunk of the paladin’s rope, began binding them together. It was here that Hagan, one of our hirelings, decided that we should remove the goblins’ arms and proceeded to butcher one of them for two solid minutes until he was able to remove one at the shoulder.

 

This had the party wondering what the hell he was doing and ordered him to stop it and to put the arm back in the goblin pile. Fergus finished binding their arms and legs to one another and we continued down. Eventually we arrived at the first room and noted that most of the barricade had been taken down, leaving only a small token piece across the hallway. We pushed it aside and there was a brief flash as we broke the chalk line below the timbers and back up the sloping corridor, the three goblins became animate.

 

We trekked back up there and proceeded to beat them to hamburger meat, ensuring they were very dead (again) and no threat. From there we returned to the first room and moved on, watching every step with exaggerated concern. Malven had to know we were nearby and we didn’t want to tip him off that we were here now.

 

We gross the chamber to the other side and continued along until we came upon the room that had the undead chickens. There were now small mounds of corpse fungus covering the floor. We were going to enter but it was thought to toss some rocks in first, in case the fungus was poisonous. Instead, we set off two shriekers around the corner we did not see. The 3’ tall purple and pale yellow mushrooms were bellowing out the wailing shriek that they were named for and we raced in to silence them.

 

However it was already too late as coming around the corner were three goblin zombies. Fergus and Tempi confronted the walking dead while Thrish and Codron hacked at the shriekers (which were tougher to wipe out than we expected!). Swords hacked and arrows flew and Tempi was badly wounded by one of the zombies. Flimflam and Whoesa raced into the fight and Marcus came up as well as the number of goblin zombies increased to 5.

 

At this point one of the shriekers fell silent followed by the second. When the battle was over Fergus and Tempi were sporting aching muscles and new bruises that even a few goodberries was not going to make go away. We shouldered our gear and plodded on, further into the goblin warren.

 

We eventually came to the area where the corridor had a 4-way divide, and this time we suspected that there were not only zombie goblins nearby, but live ones as well. The corridor had a painted layer of slick fat upon it and no one wanted to risk walking on it. Were there zombies in the dining room? We wanted to flush them out. We sent Thrish back into the shrieker room where he dragged a goblin body over. We lifted it and tossed it across the hall and into the entrance of the dining room.

 

Sure enough 2 zombies emerged, beat the unmoving body a few times and then went back around the corner. Could we lure them out? We got a 2^nd body and repeated it. We noted that the zombies seemed to stop and stare, head tilted like they were listening to something, and then returned. This time we tried it with a third body and the zombies didn’t take the bait. Instead they wandered to the entrance of the room, looked at us, and went back into the dining room.

 

When they came back a few moments later, they were sporting one of the dining room tables like a tower shield as they came towards us. We held our ground as the zombies came at us but come not stop them from getting any closer. And then we heard coming down the hall more goblins, these were the “living” kind. Deciding not to get caught we turned and ran, leaving the zombies and goblins there.

 

We regrouped at the shrieker room and waited. We heard nothing. Flimflam dared to go back down the corridor, the gnome sneaking to the corner. He saw nothing, no wavering heat sources. He tossed a stone, then a second, then a third. A few moments passed and it was returned. Feeling brave he hurled a handful of them and then ducked back. Something heavy scraped upon the floor and hurled down towards him. He ran back to the group and they all waited, a new torch lit.

 

Eventually they went back and looked. The table had been tossed down the corridor at them, lying on its front. We debated on using it and had Codron and Thrish pick it up. Holding it in front of them he marched back towards the 4 way intersection when three fire arrows flew out of the other room, two of them hitting the table front. The table that had been liberally soaked in oil. It flared huge, causing the two men to drop it and cover their scalded faces. Thrish actually broke and ran while Codron held his ground.

 

A sleep spell was fired off into the next chamber and we heard a variety of figures drop. Charging in, expecting to see zombies as well, we were surprised to only find 5 goblins here (none of them undead). One was a cleric, another had a battered claymore. We killed 4 of them, leaving the cleric for last. As he woke up, Marcus hit him with a Charm spell and we had some answer sessions with him.

 

There were not many goblins left. In the temple was Malven and his 3 subordinates as well as a goblin zombie or two, as well as the Subaltern (a goblin fighter mage) and 2 or three guards. As for others, there was a sleeping chamber outside the “elf” room where 2 goblins, 4 camp dogs, and maybe half a dozen goblin zombies waited. Outside in the guard chamber where the party had their big fight 4 days ago were 2 goblins whose job it was to wait for the group to arrive where they would bang the doors and shout out how many of us they saw. And in the elf room was most likely a cleric and guard.

 

Were there any other zombies? Yes, 3 hidden in the kitchen in the stove. They will sneak out and cut us off when we get to the narrow corridor. Malven had some way of seeing and hearing through the zombies he created. And finally how to get in the elf room there was a 2^nd secret way that can be found with infravision (wall is a degree or two warmer that the surrounding area) but it was tight, 4’ tall and a foot and a half wide.

 

We gathered the information and then dispatched the goblin cleric. First we went to the kitchen where we dragged the heavy counter to the over door and blocked it, then lit the firebox underneath and waited until the wood was burning. Eventually we smelled some cooking meat and considered our job here done.

 

Then it was to the water chamber where Fergus informed us we crossed a marked line under the water and would have woken up the zombies in the oven – but they were neutralized as a threat for now. We continued on until we arrived at the narrow corridor and then our mage snuck through, followed by Flimflam on his dog. A sleep spell was fired off and it dropped one of the goblin guards. The 2^nd was unsure what was going on and stepped forward when Flimflam and Whosea took him out swiftly and silently.

 

The group filtered in and we located the secret door. Our goal was to rescue Fist’al and the other captured elves. Our secondary goal and ONLY to be done is we had a terrific chance of success was to assault Malven, but truly we felt a bit overmatched attempting to take on the goblin cleric in his place of power.

 

As for entering the room, that was going to be Marcus and Flimflam, it was too narrow, small, and risky for anyone else. Marcus put on the cleric’s Hades headdress and we got the two of them into the secret chamber while we stayed quiet and guarded the doors.

 

Marcus and Flimflam/Whosea crawled down the 20’ to the opposite end where the door was opened and our elven fighter/mage was able to look in. The room was very sizeable and for a moment, Marcus couldn’t see clearly past 10’, and then like a fog clearing, was able to see and hear the entire chamber. There were 6 elves chained to the walls by ankles and necks, one of them Fist’al. A single goblin cleric was tending to a series of tables and changing stations in the center of the room, and along the south wall near an alcove was a single guard.

 

Gripping his sword firmly Marcus took in the sight of the goblin cleric and charged across the room, allowing Flimflam and Whosea to come in next. To the gnome, the room was not visible beyond 10’, apparently the veil was lifted by the wearing of the Hades headdress.

 

Marcus hit the goblin full on and the two of them struggled, upsetting the tables and the elf hacked into the goblin with wild abandon. Eventually the goblin was able to pull out a mace to better defend himself and the two of them traded blows back and forth. Meanwhile Flimflam and Whosea crossed the room slowly, unable to see beyond 10’, until they eventually came in sight of the guard. The lunged at him as he turned to assault the gnome and guard dog and was laid low at roughly the same time Marcus buried the length of his sword in the goblin’s gut.

 

The two of them freed the elves and equipped them with what weaponry they could find. There was a rod that manipulated the chains and a few knives the elves had pointed out the goblins used for getting the heart’s blood. A couple of potion gourds and they all left the “elf” chamber and returned to the rest of the party.

 

It was almost 5 PM and we had heard from the cleric that had been charmed earlier that at that time the portal to Duuk Tsarith would open and some goblin women and supplies would come through. We had to be gone before that. We raced out of the cave, through the water, past the intersection, the shrieker chamber, guard room, up the slope and out into the evening air. From there we gathered our horses and fled the goblin’s cave making the long 5 hour trip back to Shakun where we met with Baron Taugis and told the lord of our successes.

 

The bounty was paid and we went back to the Hall of Heroes where the group as one just collapsed in exhaustion, while the 6 elves were taken to the Hospice where they would receive a few days of much needed care.

Meet 21, Adv 1, 1/5/13

It was time for the party to escape and I don't like to hand wave it. Think about it, you break into someone's home and get hurt in the process and then decide to leave. Is the inhabitant just going to sit back and say, "Whew, they are going, let's relax and clean up?" Most likely they will give chase, not only to punish those breaking in, but also to redress the feeling of violation they received by the original break-in as it was.

This meant that the group had to decide to push on and flee, and if they didn't they would risk combat again and eventual capture/death. And this where the Constitution drain occurs. I don't like to do it, but the truth is if you did DIE in the combat, a few cure light wounds and a handful of goodberries is not the stuff of legends - and you will bleed out and become permanently hurt due to it.

So they made it back to town, used the hospice for a few days, and then readied themselves for a final visit to not only save Fist'al, but free the other elves there and put Malven's operation out of commission.

Write up follows:

While Enthir was running for his life, the rest of the party was trying to get the unconscious Tempi out of the goblin chamber. Marcus and Fergus were supporting the massive half-orc, the two of them spilling caltrops into the water just at the head of the winding, narrow corridor. Meanwhile Flimflam was guiding Whosea through the twisting gloom, coming into the watery chamber where he came face to face with the lone goblin. He had his war dog JUMP, still under the auspices of the enchanted potion, knocking the goblin down in the pass and threatening it to leave. The goblin then turned and ran back to the corridor, the same corridor that Fergus and Marcus, both with their hands filled, were unable to offer any resistance to any goblin threat.

So Flimflam had Whosea JUMP a last time, this time the dog and the druid’s cudgel brought the greenskin low. Meanwhile, Fergus was able to hear the goblins on the other side of the door that Chase and Fist’al had been brought through start to chant and rile themselves up and the two of them redoubled their efforts. The paladin was bleeding profusely through his clothes, the many wounds he had taken oozing as he forced himself to drag the staggering half-orc faster than his depleted body had the ability to function.

Once in the water room they splashed and tripped and ran to Flimflam and Enthir, breathing raggedly, as the cheer of chasing goblin voices broke in the distance. Tempi was revived, barely, with a few goodberries, and everyone ran towards the exit, Flimflam going first on his speeding dog.

The party raced through the gloomy dark, fluttering torch and flame poorly lighting the way while goblin chants echoed behind them as the greenskins sang about the “darkness and goblins..goblins all around them!” And for all their effort and draining reserves and Tempi and Fergus literally burning themselves out to make any sort of headway, the goblins behind them were slowly and inexorably closing the distance. A double flask of oil and lit torch was used to provide some breathing room as the beleaguered group stumbled on.

In the corridor where the zombie-goats were ,Flimflam slid off Whosea’s back and called upon Demeter to bless another handful of berries, making another batch of precious goodberries in the process. When the party was catching up to him (with Fergus, Tempi, and Marcus suddenly suffering from a Bane spell and the odd arrow from the trailing goblins) he handed a few more berries out and the group then charged for the exit. Another bag of caltrops was dumped and the group then raced up the long slope towards the surface.

Fergus was the most wounded and suffering, his armor tight on his chest, bags and sack heavy from his frame. He was burning out like a candle. And he was also the slowest and therefore the last in the racing run. Sucking in hot lungfuls of air he was crying as he scrambled upwards and cloth yard goblin arrows began raining around him. Whirling he took the last shield he had purloined from a dead goblin spearman earlier and braved the fusillade of arrows, hurling the broken shield aside after it had been peppered and holed too many times to count. He then mustered his strength and continued his run out of the dark hell below.

At the top of the slope Enthir had coated the last goblin cart with oil, readied his torch, and as the last of his team came into view, set it ablaze and then hurling down the slope towards the chasing goblin pack the burning bouncing rolling barrier. The party made it to the surface, took the maltreated pony the goblin suppliers had left up here, and left Malven’s cave (as well as Fist’al and Chase), heading back towards Shakun.

It took the entire night before they made it to the walled city, showing up just shy of midnight. From there we went to the Hospice at the temple grounds and Marcus, Tempi, and Fergus were seen by the apothecist and master healers. They were told they would need to stay and bandages, poultices, and unguents were liberally applied before the three exhausted men fell asleep.

Enthir and Flimflam went back to the Hall of Heroes where they divested their gear and then crawled into their respective beds, bone weary and done.

The next day was bright and boded better tidings. The druid and mage prepared their spells with care, checked their hurts and bandages, and then went off to the Hospice to see their companions. Conversation ensued and it was decided that we would be attempting to go back to Malven’s cave on the morrow as long as the Hospice gave Tempi and Fergus clearance they could go. We would need supplies and luckily today was Marketday. We knew that Sern’s general store would be restocked today but more importantly, various traders, travelers, locals, and peddlers would be coming to sell off wares and we hoped to find whatever adventuring gear we could find.

With a list in hand, pockets full of coin, and a desire to get this done, Enthir, Marcus, and Flimflam scoured the market. They found swords and breastplates, torches, oil, clothes, shields, and other gear they might need. They also spent time hitting up everyone they could find to hire people to help out and hired 4 such persons: Codron and Thrish (the 2 fighters we had with up before), Hagan (a young warrior who had placed in the top 3 at the last two archery competitions), and Urthar (a 30-odd year old porter who was more than willing to come with us to haul gear). Costs were established and shares were discussed. We tried to find a scout or thief to come with us but Pelis was unable to vouch for anyone in town now.

We rested well and on the morn of the next day made a donation to the Hospice , gathered gear, weapons, and goods, and then set off to go back to Malven’s cave to find the fate of our companions, as well as rescue the 5 elves that we know are in their being killed daily for their precious heart’s blood. It was around 2 in the afternoon that we crept upon the goblin hill again and the group was getting themselves ready to once more reenter the greenskins’ lair.

Meet 20, Adv 1, 12/22/12

Enemy clerics.

This was the first time the group (in either this batch or for the most part, from the other incarnation) had run into enemy clerics and it was eye opening for them. It was only a single one, and it was Command spells (never got to use any other ones) and the party was dismayed to see what had typically been their bailiwick be used against them, and to such devastating effectiveness.

The big battle ended up with one member dead, another captured (and dead), and two others at 0 and under and then back to positive again. However, unlike other times the party had faced such difficult foes, the decision was made to run - and flee they did.

Write up follows:

Chase plunged onward across the slippery stone (oil) and took the fight to the next chamber, a dining hall of some sort. A few goblins were there and some shot bows. Meanwhile both Tempi and Fergus followed after a brief pause, adding their weight to the struggle. From down the hall a few goblins shot bows at us, with flint heads that rang off the ground and attempted to light the oil ablaze. We returned fire but it was blind shooting into the darkness, hitting nothing except what sounded like water.

Eventually the fire did go out and the battle in the dining room was resolved. One of the goblins had been knocked out for questioning and a then left for dead. We took stock of the situation, heard nothing new from the “wet” area north of here, and after binding wounds set off once again. We passed a side corridor that smells like grease and cooked meat (kitchen?) and then came to a place where the ground sloped down slightly. There was a sizable long chamber with maybe 6 inches of scummy water on the ground. The far end of the room was a narrow corridor, barely 2’ wide. We decided to NOT go there as of yet and to instead explore the kitchen area.

It was a decent sized room and from what it appeared like the goblins had been in the process of preparing meal when the call to arms came and we assaulted them. There was a pantry here as well, fairly well stocked. We were dismayed to notice that some of the barrels and boxes had the stamping of Ferron, Orland, and Shakun on them – leading us to believe that there were some goblin sympathizers operating in the towns or on the trade routes.

Finding no other way to go we went back to the water room and the group was split up: Chase, Enthir and Fist’al were waiting here by the narrow passage and the rest of the group was in the “dining room” while Fergus and Flimflam were taking care of bandages.

It was when the first goblin tried to sneak through the opening that we hit it and dragged it into the water room where we dispatched it swiftly. A second followed and Enthir went off to let Flimflam know that we were being probed and should respond swiftly. The party entered the watery room and we prepared to follow the curving corridor and enter the deeper portion of the goblin lair. Fist’al scouted ahead, the elf relying on his stealth as well as his ability to blend in. We watched him go until some time had passed and we heard nothing from him anymore. Something had happened and we needed to come to his aid (and possibly rescue).

Chase went first, the narrow walls making it difficult for the group to move at any speed. It was when we rounded a corner and could see in the faint glow of the large chamber that he was told, “Surrender, human!” given a 5 count, and then fired upon until he dropped to the ground @ -5. The party raced to follow, Tempi forced last as his bulk was too large to run along the narrow walls. There were 10 goblins here, a mix of bows and spears.

As we tried to enter the room, Fergus was shot at by a number of bows, his shield shattering from a brutal impact. One of the greenskins in the back called out to Hades and command the paladin to “Die!” where he fell over and was stabbed by the nearest goblin and dragged into the room. There was a side door that they were bucket brigading the bodies (Fist’al was already at the door), while the goblin in the back was calling out, “Elves! Get the elves!”

Marcus hurled a handful of rose petals into the room and 3 of the goblins fell over asleep. This spurred the rest of us on to hit them harder and faster. Enthir and Marcus fired what arrows they could but to little affect while Flimflam jammed a potion of jump into Whosea’s mouth, the war dog getting hyper from the enchanted water. Tempi was trying to get further along but there were too many of us and the hall was tight. As Fergus was being dragged away, Enthir cast sleep on the mass of goblin putting another couple of them to sleep. Fist’al was shoved through the doorway at this point while Chase’s heavy body was brought to the portal.

At this point Flimflam climbed on his dog, pointed at the goblin cleric at the back of the pack (who was debilitating the party with the command spells) and JUMPED at her. The mass of gnome, war dog, teeth, fur, claws, and the cudgel all brought the cleric to the ground and stunned the goblin assault briefly. The local goblins around Flimflam and Whosea try to regroup and assault the deadly pair while the rest of the party is going toe-to-toe with what appears to be the goblin champion.

The battle is a chaotic mix of arrows, spears, sleeping and unconscious friends, dogs barking and goblins shouting. Enthir casts shield on himself, Marcus fires an ensorcelled arrow into the melee, but the shaft still fails to hit anyone of note. Spears are flying. The Champion hits Marcus with a flurry of blows and the elven archer hits the ground with a thud. Tempi tries to get into the fight, finally able to shove past Enthir and takes his anger out on the goblin Champion. The struggle is terrible and the half-orc gets his shield shattered from a powerful blow from the Champion.

Whosea takes down another goblin while Flimflam finally gets to Fergus’ side and using his goodberries, manages to get the paladin back up. As soon as he regains consciousness, a feeling of might washed over the group as the protection of evil aura he exudes gets reestablished. Enthir plugs a sleeping goblin, killing it while Tempi’s assault on the Champion does NOT drop the goblin stalwart! Whosea continues to take out goblins (and goblin dogs!) around him, Flimflam is braining sleeping goblins, and Marcus manages to suck a healing draught down, pretending to be asleep. Fergus snatches up another shield and prepared to rejoin the fray.

The battle is all over the place and we hear Tempi howl and fall over, the Champion bringing our mighty fighter low. Flimflam hands Tempi his last goodberries and healing and begs the paladin to get Tempi back up. Fergus surges across the battlefield while Marcus attempt to energy sap the Champion, failing. This makes Enthir fire off a distracting spell, the Champion sneezing, and gives a window of opportunity for the paladin to bring Tempi back to “0” and then back to positive.

There are precious few goblins left at this point, and a few of the sleeping ones that hadn’t killed are back up and in the fray. Tempi, Fergus, and Marcus and taking a terrible toll on the Champion who returns the struggle by shattering another of Fergus’ stolen shields as well as dropping Tempi AGAIN. Chase and Fist’al are long gone, there are TWO doors into this room (currently closed), and Whosea/Flimflam are mopping up the last of the stubborn goblins. We are beyond out of time and need to go now, the noises behind the closed doors are getting louder and we have almost nothing left, most of the party is at 4 or fewer hit points.

Enthir breaks first, the elven mage high-tailing it out of the narrow corridor first, the rest of the party struggling to drag the barely conscious Tempi along, knowing the goblin forces on the other side of the door will be coming through any moment. On making it to the water filled chamber though, the goblin that Tempi had brained a while ago and had disappeared was now here, trying to bar the mage’s way. Enthir barreled into him, his shield spell sending up a mass of phosphorous bursts, as he scuttled past the goblin and continued on towards the exit.

Meet 19, Adv 1, 12/15/12

Every gaming group has tropes, something that is unique to them and often gets repeated over time. We've had "Hwa'cha" and the 500 lb gorilla as well as getting "Pucked" and at least half a dozen others. This meeting saw the introduction of "Supplies!" - the battle cry of the party upon attacking the goblin forces with a dubious amount of surprise. Adopted from the poor goblin suppliers who were bringing said goods down to their cavernous brothers we started using it around every corner and through every patch of darkness, like a bad parody of Weird Al's UHF.

I also had the chance to throw some zombie animals at the party. Zombies are an old staple, but zombie animals are just fricking disturbing to me. We had goats and chickens and although they were not "deadly" to the group, I know I was skeeved out by them.

Write up follows:

The goblins came riding down the slope on the door carts and hit our left bedrolls almost immediately, causing the three of them to crash and bang together. We raced up there to look the wreckage over and dispatched 5 of the goblins swiftly. The last three were stunned and captured; Chase convinced it was a trick of some sort. We took our bedrolls and pushed one of the carts back up the slope, eventually leading the goblins out as well. As for Goelarid, the charmed greenskin was sent back to talk to Malven and tell him about the elves – hoping to lure them out.

 

When outside we pressed the goblins for information and eventually dispatched two of them, keeping one for possible ransom or ease of passage later. As time went on we deduced the goblins were not going to come out and face us. Also Chase and Fist’al took a walk around to see if there was a possible back way into the place – finding nothing serious except for what seemed to be chimney or air fissures. Nothing we could block up or poison, but confident that we were not going to find ourselves surrounded on both sides by the goblins within.

 

The party reentered the cavern and started our walk back down the slope. About half way down we heard the same tapping from below. Do we answer? We did, same. A voice called out, “Who is it?” Without pause, the party replied, “Supplies!” and then trundled down the slope in attack formation.

 

A barrier had been erected at the bottom of the slope, braced from the other side by moved barrels and boxes. Two goblins were there, spears at the ready and set to receive charges. Chase vaulted over the barrier and tried to take out the first goblin but failed as he was skewered by the greenskin’s spear. The other goblin was hit by our party’s arrows and then Fergus and Tempi clambered over the barrier. There were 3 other goblins here with spears and shields and one just outside the room with a bow. He fired upon us as Chase fell to the ground at 0 and fading out. Tempi hit the group on the left with a fury, splintering one of the goblin’s shields and leaving the greenskin surprised.

 

Fist’al tried to get in backstabbing position and Enthir got hung up on the barrier, unable to fully cross. Whosea joined the fight near Tempi while Flimflam dropped a cure light on Chase, waking the ranger up who charged the archer’s position.

 

The battle raged shortly and then ended with most everyone with greenskin dead and down. We purloined some more shields and spears and then came to the barrier hall where Chase was facing off against 3 goats. Typical goats, but they had been partially eaten and their carcasses raised from the dead. They were…hard to say for sure, butting the ranger was a definite but for the most part were more of an inconvenience to the party than an actual major threat. Be that as it may it did take a serious amount of time to actually finally drop the zombie goats – made more difficult due to the fact that we were forced to use what bludgeoning weapons we had.

 

The hall beyond the zombie goats ended at a decent sized chamber filled with scattered chicken bodies, 12 or so of them. There were also 5 candles and a lots of chalk lines about the floor. The entrance was blocked by another barrier about 3’ tall. We debated what to do and were assured by Fergus that if we disturbed the chalk lines, some sense of evil would occur. Confident that it would be the awakening of zombie chickens, we decided how we were to proceed.

 

The chalk line was disturbed and the chickens woke up, milling about the room and bouncing. When they got too close to the barrier we hit them. We also were sure that goblins were at the other end of the room and most likely had a bead on us with bows and arrows. We goosed an arrow from them by faking our crossing with a dead goblin body and then Chase vaulted over and ran across the room, out of the view of the other hall. Eventually Fergus and Tempi joined him and they charged the goblins yelling, “Supplies!”. There were 4 of them and the party hit them hard while the rest of the group brought up the rear. In no time we broke their line and one of them tried to flee.

 

Chase followed, closing the gap and then hacking the goblin down. He fell forward and slid across some wet patch of stone, the ranger just able to make himself stop at the wet area. And he heard the giggling sound of goblins laughing in the nearby gloom.

Meet 18, Adv 1, 12/1/12

At one point the group had decided to send the 1st level paladin to ride alone across the country side in the dark to a cave and throw in the bag of Hadesnium. It seemed like a good idea at first until I started rolling for wandering monsters. I use the 1st ed DMG for my resolutions, and this was in the back where I encountered two monsters: 1st was 5 large spiders - which our erstwhile paladin fled from and the 2nd was a single troll.

The spiders he could outrun on the horse but by the time the troll was resolved, his horse was tired and could do nothing more than trot (barely) - which meant the troll could/should be able to eat and devour him. With the interest in Hobbit running strong as it was coming out in a few weeks, I decided to play a single game of "riddle" with him. Something I hadn't done in a very long time.

Long and short I would have killed the character if he did not answer the riddle correctly. Really - chomp chomp gulp. Instead I did have the troll give him a "magic sword" with dubious ability and usefulness. This is a lynch pin item that will come up as time goes on, and the paladin will be both happy and frustrated as hell with the "sword".

Write up follows:

It was Birthmonth the 3^rd around 4 PM when we had mounted up, gathered our charges and belongings, and headed back to Shakun. For the most part the trip was without issue; however there was a single instance where the horses had been on edge and our ranger, Chase, informed us that wolves were shadowing our party. However as we were 10 in number and imposing, the pack (small) kept their distance and we left them behind without issue.

 

It was around 7 when we returned to Shakun and our first visit (after taking care of Johan, Codron, and Thrish) was to go to the Herbalist and immediately talk to her about the Hadesnium and what we had learned. Sure enough, the iridescent ground up mineral was the poisonous substance and we needed to get rid of it quickly. Where? How?

 

Fergus stepped up to the plate and offered to ride it out to one of the nearest caves and throw the bag of Hadesnium in it. It was not the best situation, but it would have to do. Before he left, we did some tests on the mineral and verified that it was NOT magical and the detection of poison did not identify it either (although strangely enough, both Enthir and the Herbalist did show themselves to be slightly poisoned). Lastly, the herbalist kept a small portion of the mineral in a thin lead container and would be keeping it sealed and away – but available should the group need it for any reason in the future.

 

Fergus then took his deadly bundle and ran out into the twilight, on the back of his steed and travelling with as much haste as possible. The cave he was looking for was over 2 miles from town and off the western road somewhere to the south. He had scouted it with Chase earlier in the week and had a fairly good idea on where to find it.

 

During his ride off the road though he ran afoul of some rather large spiders. Closer to 3’ tall they chased him and his mount for a while until he outdistanced them, pushing his steed to maintain a full gallop longer than expected. Winded and lathered, they arrived at the cavern – a cleft in the earth that went down at least 40’ with no signs of inhabitants. He tossed the bag in and then continued his ride, this time not back the way he came but more circuitous to avoid the spiders.

 

The horse could not keep a pace faster than a slow trot so Fergus let it have its head, a torch lit and held high in his hands. It was then he heard a voice in the gloom call out, “Traveler? Where are you going?” A feeling washed over him as he detected evil and it was a slick greenish miasma in his mind. Damn it – alone in the darkness on a tired horse and something was pacing him.

 

He bandied back and forth with whatever it was and it wanted to eat either him (juicy sweet!) or his horse – either one was ok. As Fergus tried to ride on and avoid conversation it grew wroth and hurled rocks and insults – some of the stones were VERY large, maybe 9 or 10 inches across. It said its name was Forthan and wanted to riddle with Fergus. If he guessed it– he would be allowed to ride on without issue. If he did not, Forthan would eat him OR his horse!

 

Fergus could not risk riding the horse any faster and the stones would lame the beast if he tried to run. So he stopped and agreed but only if Forthan would sweeten the deal. So the figure said he would throw in a magic sword as well. Really? It stepped closer into the light and brandished a blade shouting “Magic sword” and the sword burst into bright blue fiery light. The figure Forthan was a 9’ tall rangy and green skinned troll! The paladin swallowed with worry, knowing that the troll could devour him should it get close enough.

 

The riddle went, “Made of stone or wood or brass, iron, copper, gold or glass. A little man or beast or tree. Frozen for eternity.”Fergus was nervous for a while but within the 5 minute time frame he said, “Statue?” – and Forthan sighed and tossed him the sword – warning him he should go and go now while the troll could still remember his promise.

 

Fergus rode off and eventually reached the road and returned to Shakun, alive but terrified over his solo ordeal.

 

Meanwhile the rest of the group had gone to Castle Canastal and met with Baron Taugis, filling the nobleman in on the situation to date as well as the threat of Hadesnium. We talked for a while and came away with some resolutions: 1) no one was to go back to the “dragon cave” and upset either the goblins within or the dragon that was there. 2) The party should go the cavern where Malven was and rescue the elves within. A reward of 100 crowns would be paid for the saving of the elves there. Finally a missive would be sent to Woodhelven, detailing the situation and asking them for aid or the possible use of any dragon slayers that might be in the area.

 

From there we then returned to the herbalist who had an elixir for Enthir to drink (to help combat the radiation illness) and to ask where we could learn about who locally would grow Yarrow. It was a very specific plant that required care to nurture and the goblins did need it. It was hinted that someone maybe here near Shakun was selling/trading it to the goblins or goblin benefactors and we wanted to know who it was and how to interrupt it. She said there were maybe 4-5 people and would research it for us.

 

The party went back to the Hall of Heroes where the tucked in for the night and made ready to ride off to the last goblin cave tomorrow morn.

 

We awoke early on the 4^th, broke our fast, and left by 9 AM, deciding NOT to take the stable boy or the fighters this time. It was a long walk to the last cavern and we didn’t get there until just after 2 in the afternoon. There were some tribal markings on the hill as well as a standard that Chase assured us was that of a goblin tribe or clan of growing strength. The cave opening was obvious and we noted lots and lots of … chicken feathers. All over the hilltop. In addition, there was scat, which Flimflam told us was most likely goat.

 

Fist’al went in and checked out the entrance – steep steps went down some 20’ into the earth and then opened to a larger area that eventually sloped away. He followed it for a while but disturbed some stones on the ground and in the slope they clattered for a time until stopping and then he heard a tapping sound from below. Tap..tap..tap-tap-tap. Not wanting to make any noise he returned to the surface and filled us in on the situation. We all went in next, this time with light and torches.

 

There were lots of marking on the walls and we guessed over 40 goblins marked the area. There were also some strange goat like symbols on the wall, half a dozen of them. On the wall were 3 large oaken doors, each with a wheel mounted to the 4 corners – making them into a large but crude cart. We left the doors on the wall and travelled down.

 

We arrived at an area where stones had been scattered across the floor, making it a simple method for announcing that intruders were coming. How to get past? We opted for bedrolls laid across the rocks and then walking across the bedrolls. We did hear the tapping eventually from below again, tap..tap..tap-tap-tap. This time we responded the same pattern along the wall and goblin voices called from below (in goblin) that were we the supplies? Flimflam answered, “yes!” and we were invited down.

 

It was on getting closer that the situation became obvious to the goblins and one of them made to run, leaving only a 3 count to face us as well as a goblin camp dog. We hit the goblins swiftly and took them out while Marcus hit another one with a Charm spell and we had another goblin friend and font of information. He was Goelarid and told us that Malven was here. He was a follower of Hades and he had other priests/shamans as well. There was someplace called the “temple” and another place called “the elf room” but both were far inside.

 

It was then that we decided to try and lure the goblins outside and some of the party was heading up the slope to leave when they heard noises of rumbling from above and goblin voices cheering as they came in our direction fast. Goelarid informed us that it was the supplies and the group readied weapons to surprise the slope riding visitors.

Meet 17, Adv 1, 11/17/12

Not sure when I wanted the group to learn about the goblins in the area and their larger over-reaching goals, but it did come up this meeting from a friendly socialist goblin with an eastern European accent and a willingness to talk (after the damned Charm spell hit him). So this filled in some of the gaps in their knowledge of the area - including the biggie - Hadesnium is the equivalent of Plutonium (Hades = Pluto) and the gobbos are mining it here. In an old Blue Dragon Cave.

The same cave that a group of RL friends had adventured in and defeated the original dragon some 18 years ago in the really real world.

I like to tie in my world and how it grows to the history that the players around the table have affected it - it gives it a growing tapestry of history that no amount of pre-writing could ever achieve.

Now they have to figure out how to combat what seems to be radiation sickness in the party's elven wizard. :)

Write up follows:

The party spent the rest of the day outfitting themselves for another trip to the nearest caves: torches, spikes, ropes, even some goodberries prepped for impromptu healing along the way. What was discussed was which cave to hit and we opted to go for the one that ALSO was marked on the dubious map as an old dragon lair with 50 million gold pieces to be found within. The truth was we were not expecting to find anything along that line but figured that this cavern would be the better choice.

 

The herbalist was then consulted and Flimflam spent some time going over the many ingredients we had brought back, selling the bulk of it for a tidy profit.

 

On the morning of the 3^rd of Birthmonth, we noted that Enthir seemed sick – the elven mage was drawn and pale. Blaming it on poor sleep we did what we could to get ready and wanted to bring a stablehand to watch the horses for us while we were in the caves. This led us to hiring Johan to watch the steeds – 15 years old and mostly elbows, the stable master was to be paid 10 commons for the single day or 25 commons for 2 days of taking Johan with us. We agreed and the young man was told to get ready.

 

That led us to the next point – do we need to hire someone to keep the stable boy alive? We went to the guildhall and spoke with Zarik for a bit, eventually him authorizing us the use of two of his students: Codron and Thrish (19 and 17 respectively). We noted what they had for equipment and outfitted most of them with shields and padded armor from our stores as well as a few weapons to augment what they had. And on the 3^rd of Birthmonth at 10 AM we set off.

 

The map was accurate in the distances to get to the caves as well as a number of the landmarks along the way. It was when we arrived at the hilly area to the west of the ancient battleground that we took our time and eventually located to goblin lair. A thick scree of vegetation had been grown over the cave mouth and we would need to spend some time clearing it away before entering.

 

We took Codron, Thrish, and Johan east a few hills and set them up where they would not be easily visible and told them to watch the horses, keep each other safe, and no let themselves be caught by goblins. With that we returned to the cavern and began working our way in, 2:30 in the afternoon. We expected 3 and a half hours of day light and wanted to explore some now and then if need be, leave and come back again tomorrow @ sun up.

 

The entrance was strange , canted roughly 25 degrees into the base of the hill and was oval at 15’ in width and maybe 10’ in height. Also odd gouges ran along the right wall, half a thumb’s depth into the limestone and over 15’ in length. There was some goblin sign in the area, but it was about half what we had seen at the other cave which made the party confident.

 

However the cavern went down over 300’ which was NOT at all expected and we deduced that the cavern although might be goblinoid now, was not originally – lending credence to the fact the original inhabitant might have been draconic in nature.

 

The cavern eventually opened to a decent sized natural chamber with 3 passages out of here that had been outfitted with a frame and door. Fergus let us know that the area had a low aura of evil upon it but nothing distinctive, and there was a metallic smell to the air. We spent time over the three passages and decided that the 1^st one on the southern wall was the proper place to start. It opened to reveal a corridor that T’d to the left and right. The left went maybe 12 paces and turned to the south, while the right went as far as torch and infravision could see with some sort of fading foot prints on the floor. There was a door catty-corner across the hall.

 

We opted to go across the hall and investigate. Goblin voices on the other side. Weapons at the ready we broke in and took them down with spell swiftly. Binding them up we made sure the rest of the doors were locked and them spoke to one of them who identified himself as Umgarth. He spoke goblinish fine and understood Common as well and he was a font of information – especially after Marcus whacked him with a Charm Person spell.

 

The cave here was used for mining, of a mineral called Hadesnium. What did it do? What DIDN’T it do was the way Umgarth explained it. In the dark it glowed faintly purple and greenish and was a primary component in many of the goblin machineries made. Also it was ground up fine and added to the goblinwater. It also had the tendency to make weaker people feel sick, get pale, their hair fall out, and get strange growths across their bodies. The party began to feel ill after hearing this and Enthir was particularly worried.

 

As for the cave, it was the cave of a Blew. Blew? You know, blue dragon. Was an egg, hatched some time ago, been eating Hadesnium and getting bigger. So wait - there was a DRAGON here in this cave right now? Umgarth nodded vigorously and told us where to find the dragon – literally around the corner and through a door.

 

The goblins were using three caves in the area: one for mining Hadesnium – there are other sites of it, but this one (even though VERY close to Shakun) has been a decent source for them for the last few years and the Duuk Sarithian goblin lords did not want to abandon it as of yet. A second cave was where the goblinwater was being actually finished brewing and a goblin alchemist named Bonalak was handling it. Again, close to Shakun because supposedly there were some herbs that needed to be grown under special circumstances and Bonalak was trading with local non-goblin personages to get them. The last cave was a bit away from here and was headed by a goblin priest named Malven.

 

Malven’s claim to fame was the fact that they had roughly 5 elves there and Malven would ritually stab them in the heart, milk their dying blood for the goblinwater ritual, and then have them healed, brought back to health, and then a few days later the process repeated. Needless to say the elves in the party were horrified to hear this.

 

We decided to leave the Blew Cavern and then make our way back to our young men and then march out to the Malven cave and free the elves currently held there.

Meet 16, Adv 1, 11/3/12

This wrapped up the goblin cavern and answered some of the problems the group had come across earlier in the campaign. The issue with this campaign is three fold:

1) There are 8 players around the table. This is 2 more than my upper optimal positioning and because of that (even when people don't show), the momentum is difficult to get going some times.

2) The sandbox format for this group isn't working. Some groups respond well to sandbox, some respond well to rails and guides - this group is not a sandbox group. With no defining direction and too many trailing ends to grab at, the party has floundered everywhere with no direction. I am wrapping up this piece of it (3 goblin caves) and then establishing guides and rails to keep the party grounded.

3) Too much chaos. The party had a few members @ the onset who were having a great time doing the equivalent of running around naked yelling like a firetruck and this had us effectively slide off whatever path we wanted as a party at least 3 times and flounder about.

Not a problem - problems identified, solutions in place. As for this meeting, the group did enjoy some thinking and out thinking of the dwindling goblin forces.

Write up follows:

We burst into the next room, swords up and at the ready. It was some sort of barracks – the back corner of the room had been mounded with wooden pallets and mattresses, 2 goblins positioned behind with spears bristling outward. Two other goblins were charging out of the room to the west, legs pumping as they hastened down the corridor. Sparing the fleeing goblins only a brief glance, Fergus and Tempi hit the barricade with sword and trident. It shifted but held, with the paladin actually striking the goblin behind. The blow felt odd and when he withdrew his trident something spattered against his armor with a hiss.

 

Meanwhile arrows began flying DOWN the corridor towards us, clothyard goblin shafts striking around us and harrying our movements. A few shots were returned but the range was great and we could not see our opponent. Fergus was yelling as he tried to cool his heating armor and Flimflam was racing there with torch in hand, showing that some sort of greenish ooze was eating the paladin’s armor as well as the pallet and mattress barricade that had been set up. Tempi tried to douse the ooze but only succeeded in getting Fergus damp. We had to get his armor off as the slime was spreading.

 

Dagger in hand, he cut the leather straps holding the breastplate in place and hurled it away, vambraces and greaves following. The metal continued to smoke and was eventually eaten by the slime. As for the goblins behind the barrier, torch light revealed them to be dummies.

 

Unable to actually hit the distant goblins in the dark a torch was hurled there, showing the corridor sloping “down” some 15 paces, leveling out, and then sloping “up” on the other side – with 4 goblins there with bows. A few members ran back to the corner to watch for possible back attacks while the rest shot more arrows at the goblins, dropping one and making the rest flee.

 

We did our best to clean ourselves up and lamented the loss of Fergus’ armor – the paladin only wearing the padded underarmor for the time being. We then took two of the padded mattresses to use as impromptu tower shields (for arrows at least – some cover!) and retreated back the way we came to the eating area (we did not want to go down the sloping corridor). No goblins had come this way and Fergus was no longer to feel their evil emanations – either too far or rock/stone in the way.

 

We once again moved the table and buckets of urine and went down the corridor until we came to a room. Fairly sizable, it was some sort of market areas with counters, tables, and display racks – although almost all of it was empty. No goblins anywhere. We cautiously looked around until we spied upon a concealed door along the west wall. We cracked it slightly and a breeze was blowing our way. Fergus “felt” for evil and had a muted result through the narrow crack. This was it.

 

We opened it and saw that it was a cramped corridor, maybe 4 ½ feet tall and 2’ wide. It would not be possible for Tempi to go through easily (if at all) and Fergus would also have an issue or two. The rest of the party should fit. There was some trepidation as we noted there were goblins somewhere down the narrow cleft. We were drawn into a conversation with them and some back and forth followed until someone did something and a sleep spell hit the end of the corridor – and then radiated out amongst us – but due to circumstance, cover, and race – only Flimflam and Whosea were actually put to sleep!

 

Chase ordered us to be quiet and we all froze, weapons out and ready. The door was blocked by the mattresses and we listened to the slapping sounds of goblin feet as they crept closer. Three? Four? Who knew –but when they came within range we fell upon 1^st one with arrows and steel – dropping him and sending the remaining greenskins fleeing back down the passage. With a snarl we gave chase. Fist’al and Marcus were first down the corridor, with Chase right behind. The rest of the party dragged the goblin out of the corridor and beat him to a pulp before trying to follow (only Flimflam and Enthir staying behind – asleep and trying to wake up the enchanted sleeping guy).

 

We charged through the dark, Fist’al’s infravision more than enough for the elf to see but Chase was charging blind, relying on his ranger skills and hearing to guide him. The scout saw 3 goblins running away and as they ran (eventually down a slope in the corridor), they hurled anything they could back at him – one of which was a bola that the elf snagged and whirled himself as he chased.

 

The ranger was running VERY fast, and quickly caught up to Fist’al and then passed him, sword scything back and forth as he charged, the elven scout trying to guide him as he ran. He did catch a goblin with the blade, slowing it down and Fist’al brained him with the bola. They were forced to jump and duck, the sloping corridor leveled out to a pool with a faint glow coming from it. We saw the goblins clearly and Chase barreled another one down as he tried to get the last fleeing one. It was the scout and his handy bola that actually tripped the goblin up, allowing the ranger to make a fast dispatch. Meanwhile, Marcus was making sure the bodies strewn behind were down and dead with fast thrusts as he ran along.

 

We had heard a number of remaining goblins clamoring to“get going!” and we came to an area where the cave opened to a large grotto. Some sort of chime and workshop area filled the left side, but the north end of the cave had a ring of mushrooms there, Bob the goblin carpenter straddling the circle with a pouch in his grasp and hand upraised, and the last few goblins (one of which we assumed was still Bonalak) running for the mushroom ring.

 

A single arrow shot out and hit Bob, making him gasp, and open his clenched fist – which dropped something and the mushroom ring flared briefly to phosphorous light and the goblins in the ring were gone – including half of Bob! The last goblin dropped to his knees and begged forgiveness and the group trussed him up.

 

During this time Tempi and Fergus had thought that there was another way OUT of the cave and had run back to the entrance – but after 10 minutes, decided they were mistaken and came back down. As for Flimflam and Enthir, they too joined the group down the narrow concealed corridor and eventually the grotto.

 

We spent some time looking over the grotto. The area to the left was a work area that had a variety of strange and interesting items on it. Herbs, powders, elixirs – eventually it was deduced that this was various raw ingredients in a series of stages for goblinwater. One of the items that we did discover though was something that was not on the herbalist’s list – and that was blood. Flimflam spent a longer than normal time looking over the blood and assured us it was collected from the heart itself – as evidenced by the coloring of it. There was something else bothering the gnome about it but he kept his council to himself. As for the other ingredient, it was an iridescent dust of some unknown origin – something we’d have to look into at some point.

 

As for the chimes, Fist’al assured us they were trapped. There were not mounted to the ceiling – but instead went INTO the ceiling – most likely onto some counterweight or balance. The chimes were a mass of brass and silver design and rung softly in the unseen breeze that seemed to originate from this chamber.

 

We then went to the pond that was glowing and looked it over. As long as there was a light source in the room, the water was normal and the rocks at the bottom were simple cracked and veiny looking mix of limestone covering basalt. It was when the light was removed that the water took on an eldritch look. There were green and purple faerie light coming from the cracks in the stone – and that was diffusing through the water and making it appear to have that glow. We didn’t know what it was and decided to leave it alone.

 

From here it was -do we screw with the chimes? It was decided on yes – but on Fist’al was going to stay – the rest of the group ran back to the market room at the top of the slope and the elf eventually triggered the chimes. A roaring wind took place and a strange rumbling – water was rushing along and Fist’al charged up the slope until he managed to halt his back slide into the water by aid of a trusty thrown rope. Once out a short time later the water seemed to have disappeared and he chanced going back down – seeing everything as it was (no bodies!) except of the 5 chimes – only 4 were making noise now. Deciding to avoid any possible issues he left and we all grabbed some of the sludgy goblin petroleum oil and then made our way back to Shakun.

 

At the gate we were told that Baron Taugis was interested in meeting with us but we opted to go home and clean up first, eventually going to Castle Canastal @ 4:15 and meeting with the baron and his councilors. We talked about what we had done, the goblinwater, Bonalak, and the disrupted goblin activity barely 3 miles from town. We were given 100 crowns for our efforts and then commissioned to find this Bonalak and bring him in – 300 crown alive, 150 crown if dead. We took the job and then Flim Flam was knighted for the group’s effort in doing what they’ve done as of late and we returned to the Hall of Heroes where we talked about going to one of the other goblin caves (there were 2) next and hit them now while we have momentum and they would not be expecting it.