Session 8 (Part 2): Into the Catacombs

[Read Part 1 first]

The second room off of the secret corridor was even more interesting. It was a simple stone-walled room, but a five-foot wide worked stone passage was visible in the far wall. It looked like the opening of a mine shaft, with wood beams reinforcing the walls and ceiling every thirty feet or so, and went to the northeast. It seemed to slope slightly downward. Halfred could feel cooler air waft from the opening, and he saw what looked like a lot of goblin tracks come out of the tunnel into the room. Any tracks going back into the tunnel were obscured by the rest of he tracks.

The group guessed that the two escaping goblins must have run out through this passage, which was most likely the "smuggling tunnel" that Ameiko had mentioned. Lighting torches and lanterns, the group decided to pursue the goblins via the tunnel. Halfred led the way. The tunnel itself was expertly constructed, fairly old (at least 20 years old, thought Ted), and very straight. After following the tunnel for about 400 feet, the party found a side tunnel leading west. That tunnel had been bricked up at some point in the past, but now the wall had been knocked in, from the side of the main tunnel. Broken bricks and mortar were scattered on the floor of the side tunnel. given the amount of dust on the fallen bricks, MacGreggor estimated that the brick wall had been down for at least a few years. Painted on the wall of the side tunnel in Varisian was the message, "Do not enter. Danger." The party decided to investigate this side passage.

The side passage went west for a few hundred feet, the bent northward. The tunnel continued northward for several hundred more feet, whn the party saw another side passage to the east. As Halfred moved to investigate this new chamber, he was suddenly attacked by two hideous creatures! The creatures were roughly humanoid, hairless, and stood on two back-bent doglike legs. Their skin was a sallow flesh tone. Their two arms seemed to have two elbows, and their hands were three-fingered talons. Their mouths were filled with canine teeth, and were flanked by tiny arms, each with a three-fingered hand. It also looked like their lower jaws could also open sidewise. Their eyes glowed red with malevolence and anger. They wore ancient-looking chain shirts and wielded ranseurs. They shouted with eerie deep resonant voices in an unknown but chillingly evil-sounding language.

A fierce fight was joined by the rest of the party. At one point, one of the creatures bit Halfred, and his head was suddenly filled with feelings of anger and hatred, but he managed to collect his thoughts. The creatures proved to be fierce combatants, but the party outnumbered them three-to-one and prevailed with minimal damage. The victorious heroes took the creatures' weapons and armor, on the chance that they might regenerate.

The cavern that the creatures had been in was apparently a natural cave that the worked passage broke into by happenstance. There was nothing of else in the cave other than interesting rock formations. Following the tunnel again, the party found another side-tunnel heading east about thirty feet ahead. Like the entrance of the original side-tunnel they had followed, the entrance to this passage seemed to have been bricked up once long ago, but the wall had been taken down some time in the past few years. They decided to follow the main tunnel this time, but found that it dead-ended in about sixty feet. Ted, who had knowledge of stoneworking, noticed that the workmanship of the passage seemed to indicate that the excavators seem to have abandoned the tunnel and simply stopped digging. They returned to the eastern side-passage.

That passage went about thirty feet and then seemed to break into the western wall of an existing chamber: the floor of the chamber was about a foot below the floor of the tunnel. The chamber was of very different construction than the tunnel: the walls and ceiling were lined with ceramic tiles, and the floor was marble. The floor was littered with lots of rubble-- some of it seemed to be debris from the side tunnel punching into the wall, and the rest seemed to be broken pottery. MacGreggor thought that the architecture had a late-period Thassilonian feel to it. There was a stone door to the north.

Larissa checked the door for traps and listened at it, and found nothing. The door opened up into a dusty hallway. Following the hallway, the group passed one side-passage, and entered into a moderately-sized room with a vaulted ceiling. In the center of the room was a finely-carved statue of a wild-eyed female warrior-mage, holding a ranseur in a threatening pose. The statue bore an inscription in ancient Thassilonian, "Alaznist: Runelord of Righteousness." Examining the statue, it was apparent that the ranseur held by the statue was not carved of marble, but was a separate item that could be fairly easily removed. The ranseur itself was a work of art.

The statue room had open passageways leading north and east, and they saw that the eastern passage ended in a staircase going upward. They went north, following the passage to another closed stone door. Larissa found no traps or heard anything through the door, and Halfred opened it. The door opened up into a much larger chamber, with a wooden platform just beyond the door. The stone floor of the chamber was ten feet below the platform, and the ceiling was 20 feet above. The room appeared to be a prison-- small cells with iron bars lined all of the walls. Two wooden staircases led down to the stone floor, and a the platform extended as a catwalk into the middle of the room, then turned right into another stone passage. Halfred went down the stairs to examine the room, and a three-clawed hand grabbed his foot from below and tried to pull him off the stairs!

Two more of the same kind of creatures encountered earlier attacked. Again, they each wore chain shirts and were armed with ranseurs. However, these fought with even more skill and ferocity than the earlier ones. Charrone and Halfred both fought one of the creatures, while the other attacked Larissa and Declan. Ted and MacGreggor were out of spells, and were throwing knives, to little effect. One of the creatures knocked Larissa's bow from her hand and closed in for the kill. In a desperate move, Larissa drew the blow-tube she'd taken from Tsuto earlier that day and blew the contents into the creature's face. The effect matched what Tsuto had done to Halfred, and the creature broke off the attack, unable to see. Larissa and Declan were able to finish off the blinded creature, then assist Halfred and Charrone. While very bloodied, the combined forces of the party managed to drop the other creature.

While looting the creatures' weapons and armor, the group decided that a retreat was prudent, and they went back through the complex to the entrance tunnel. Passing the statue of the Runelord, Larissa announced her intention to liberate the ranseur. MacGreggor did not sense any magic, Charrone did not sense any more evil than the rest of the pace, and Larissa did not find any traps, so Larissa carefully pulled the weapon from the statue. Nothing else happened, and the group left the complex, and followed the tunnels back to the Glassworks.

In the daylight, the ranseur's quality, craftsmanship, and value became apparent. The blade was made of mithril, and the haft made of darkwood, and both blade and haft were decorated with exquisite markings.

Ted instructed the guardsmen to lock the Glassworks cellar doors, and to place a double guard on them. The party was surprised to find both Mayor Deverin and Father Zantus at the Glassworks, who said that they were discussing a discreet means of burying old Lonjiku without causing undue alarm with the townsfolk. Ted mentioned the double sets of books and said that when the catacombs were cleaned out, someone could go down and retrieve them safely.

The group went to check on Ameiko, and persuaded her not to leave the safety of the town without an escort. After that, everyone went to their rooms for a well-deserved rest.

Session 8 (Part 1): The Rescue of Ameiko

Session Date: 27 July 2011

Game Date: Sunday 11 Sept 4711

[We picked up immediately following the events of Session 7]

After sending Tsuto off with the guards, the group decided to find out where the two goblins had fled, and proceeded downstairs to the Glassworks cellar. The cellar appeared to comprise of a single 10-foot wide corridor with two right-angle turns, as if it were three sides of a rectangle. There were storerooms on the outside wall, all of which were empty save for the one farthest from the staircase-- in it they found a bound and badly-beaten Ameiko lying on the stone floor. She was alive, but semiconscious. They untied her, and Declan cast a curing spell, and she seemed to improve greatly.

Ameiko said, "Thank Desna that you came! I don't know what my brother would have done with me-- I think he's gone completely insane! He's working with the goblins, and I think it's pretty clear that he had something to do with the attack during the Swallowtail Festival last week!

"Anyway, he called me here to tell me that Father is a crook-- that he'd been working with Sczarni smugglers for years to buy and sell contraband using the Glassworks as a front: mostly poisons and drugs, things you put in bottles. Apparently, there's some kind of smuggling tunnel here in the cellar somewhere. Tsuto used that tunnel to bring in some of the goblins during the raid, and he brought the goblins in that way last night.

"He also said that the first goblin raid was just the beginning, and that I was the only thing in Sandpoint that he thought was worth saving. He gave me the opportunity to join him and his little group of cutthroats. I slapped him for even contemplating committing such a heinous crime. At that, he sucker-punched me, then set his goblins on me. While they were beating me, he said that Nualia is their leader-- and his girlfriend. I managed to say that she had died along with her father Curate Tobyn, but he chuckled and said that she had set the fire, killed her father, and faked her own death, and was glad she'd done it! I cursed him. At that, he back-handed me across the face, and I must have passed out.

"We've got to alert the Sheriff and the Mayor, and also tell Father what's going on here. Let's go!" Charrone broke the news of Lonjiku's death, and Ameiko became quiet and solemn. "In that case, I think I just want to go home and be alone for a while." Ted and MacGreggor saw her upstairs to the guardsmen, and Jubal brought her home.

While Ameiko was telling her story, Larissa and Halfred began looking for the smuggling tunnels that Ameiko mentioned. Larissa found a secret door which opened to a corridor linking the north and south passages. She found two rooms off of this corridor-- one was an office which contined a desk and a bunch of filing cabinets. The cabinets contained records of Lonjiku's dealings with the smugglers and other illegal activity. Also on the desk was a small leatherbound journal, with Tsuto's name on the inside cover.

The journal had about two dozen pages of vellum. About half of the pages contained charcoal-ink-and-chalk drawings of the same beautiful woman, most often nude, in various erotic poses. The woman's hair was always colored with white chalk. Interspersed with the erotic drawings were several maps of Sandpoint, each of which detailed a different attack plan with about 50 goblins. Four of these plans were crossed out, and a fifth was circled. The party recognized this plan as the actual plan used by the goblins for the attack at the Swallowtail Festival. After more erotic drawings were a second set of attack plans, these using about 300 goblins and included siege engines. A few of these plans were scratched out, and none were circled.

After the circled attack plan was written:

The raid went about as planned. Few Thistletop goblins perished, and we were able to secure Tobyn's casket with ease while the stupid rubes were distracted by the diversion. I can't wait until the real raid. This town deserves another good burning, and this time it won't just be the north end!

After the second batch of attack plans:

Ripnugget seems to favor the overwhelming land approach, but I don't think it's the best plan. We should get the quasit's aid. Have her send up her freaks from below via the smuggling tunnel in Father's factory, and then invade from the river and from the Glassworks in smaller but more focused strikes. The rest except Bruthazmus agree, and I'm pretty sure the bugbear is just being contrary to annoy me. My love is too distracted with the lower chambers to make a decision. She says that once Malfeshnekor has been released and is under her command, we won't have to worry about subtlety in our attack. I hope she's right.

The second-to-last erotic drawing of the woman depicts her with a bestial right hand with three talons. The final drawing in the journal shows her with two such clawed hands, elongated canine teeth, horns, bat wings, cloven feet, and a forked tail. On the page between these drawings is the following passage:

My love seems hell-bent on going through with it–nothing I can say will convince her of her beauty. She remains obsessed with removing what she calls her "celestial taint" and replacing it with her Mother's grace. Burning her father's remains at the Thistletop shrine seems to have started the transformation, but I cannot say that her new hand is pleasing to me. Hopefully, when she offers all of Sandpoint as a burnt offering to Lamashtu, her new body won't be as hideous as that talon. Maybe I'll still luck out. A succubus is a kind of demon, right?

Larissa compared the handwriting of the journal with the letter to Ameiko, and thought that they matched.

[To be continued...]

Session 7: Goblins in the Glassworks!

Session date: 19 Jul 2011

Game date: Thu 08 Sept 4711 A.R.

Early Thursday morning, Sheriff Hemlock dropped by the Rusty Dragon to tell the Sandpoint Heroes that he and three men would be leaving for Magnimar within the hour, and would probably be gone for several days. He again asked the adventurers to stay in town and to make their presence known, as the townsfolk had mostly taken a liking to them, and their presence would likely make residents feel less uneasy with the sheriff away. Shalelu also wished Hemlock a good journey, and said that she would be leaving for her homeland in the Mierani Forest that morning as well, as she wanted to get there before the winter set in.

The next three days passed without any major incidents. The adventurers conducted some personal business, and otherwise acted like de facto town guardsmen.

Game date: Sun 11 Sept 4711 A.R.

That ended early Sunday morning. Over breakfast at the Rusty Dragon, the heroes were approached by a visibly upset Bethany, the Dragon's chief of staff. Bethany reported that Ameiko Kaijitsu, the owner and proprietor of the inn, failed to show up to work. That was strange: Ameiko never took a day off without telling anyone first. Bethany said that she went to Ameiko's apartment, and she wasn't there either. She said that she let herself into Ameiko's apartment, and found that her bed hadn't been slept in. She said that she briefly searched the room and found a crumpled-up letter in the wastebasket, which she had smoothed back out. She handed the letter to Ted:

Hello, Sis!

I hope this letter finds you well, and with some free time on your hands, because we’ve got something of a problem. It’s to do with Father.

Seems that he might have had something to do with Sandpoint’s recent troubles with the goblins, and I didn’t want to bring the matter to authorities because we both know he’d just manage to weasel his way out of it as usual. I know you’ve got some pull here in town. If you can meet me at the Glassworks at midnight tonight, maybe we can figure out how to make sure he faces the punishment he deserves. Knock twice, then three times more at the delivery entrance, and I’ll let you in.

In any case, I don’t have to impress upon you the delicate nature of this request. If news gets out, you know that these local rubes would assume that you and I were in on the whole thing too, don’t you? They’ve got no honor at all around here. I still don’t understand how you can stand to live in this stupid little backwater. It’s so much better in Magnimar, or even Riddleport!

Anyway, don’t tell anyone about this. There are other complications as well, and I’d rather talk to you in person about those later tonight. Don’t be late!

— Tsuto

Charrone asked Bethany about Tsuto, she made an unpleasant face. "Ameiko is the eldest of the Kaijitsu children, but old Lonjiku wasn't too thrilled about that-- he wanted his firstborn to be a son. While his second child Tsuto was a boy, he was even less pleased. You see, Tsuto is of part-Elven blood, but he looks for all the world like his mother. Neither old Lonjiku nor the late Lady Kajitsu were of Elven descent, if you catch my drift. While everyone pretended that the old man was the boy's father, Lonjiku never warmed to the child, obviously not his. When Tsuto was very young, he sent him to Turandarok Academy to study with the waifs and orphans. He also forbade his wife from visiting. Only Ameiko ever visited.

"Tsuto was trouble. He frequently fought with the other children, and only old Lonjiku's money and influence kept him enrolled. The day he graduated, Tsuto left town, and the rumor was he went straight to Riddleport. Ameiko had a big argument with her father over this, and she joined a band of adventurers not too long after that. She was gone for two years, and made enough money adventuring to buy the inn! She says she only returned when she learned of her mother's death five years ago.

"Lady Kaijitsu? Oh, it was a tragic loss. She was the Chopper's first victim. She went suddenly missing one day about five years ago-- Old Lonjiku got the sheriff and the guards to look for her, they checked ship manifests, everything. But then other bodies started to show up, and the town became terrified of a killer we called the Chopper. No, they never found her body, but we all figured she must have been Chopper's first victim and after killing the second, he stopped trying to hide the bodies. Anyway, when Tsuto found out his mother died, he returned for the funeral. At the funeral, he publicly accused his father of pushing her off the balcony of their manor, and old Lonjiku slapped him, then struck him with his cane. Tsuto cursed his father and left, for good he said. I haven't seen or heard of him since! And good riddance, I say!"

The party decided to check out the Glassworks to see if anyone there had seen Ameiko or Tsuto. On the way over, they stopped by the Academy to find out if their recollection of Tsuto matched Bethany's assessment. The headmaster was engaged, but they spoke with one of the teachers, who gave pretty much the same story as Bethany.

When they got to the Glassworks, it was about half past nine on a Sunday morning. The sign on the door indicated that the shop should have opened half an hour earlier, but the door was locked and nobody answered the door. Larissa checked the back door, the delivery entrance, and the service doors-- all locked. However, smoke still came out of the chimneys, indicating that someone was still stoking the furnace used for fusing glass.

Looking in the windows, Larissa made a horrific discovery: the main workshop was overrun by goblins, who appeared to be amusing themselves by smashing glassware, burning and/or melting things in the furnace—and mutilating the bodies of the dead glassworkers! One sight was particularly ghastly-- a man, obviously dead, was seated in a chair and completely encased in glass. Fortunately, the goblins seemed to be having too much "fun" to notice the rogue peering through the window. Larissa returned to the main group, and informed them what she saw.

Larissa picked the lock at the back door, near the workshop, and the party entered. They burst into the workshop, and immediately began exterminating the goblins. There were about ten goblins in the place, and they attacked the party with tongs dripping with molten glass, hurled glassware, whips, and dogslicers. A pitched battle ensued: the party was outnumbered, but better-armed and better-disciplined, and quickly began a goblin body count.

At one point in the battle, Halfred found himself attacked from behind. He wheeled to find a young half-elven man in leather armor had jut hit him in the back with an arrow. Enraged, Halfred leapt at the man, assumed to be Tsuto, and struck him before he could escape. While the blow was mighty, Tsuto didn't fall. Instead, Tsuto produced a heavy paper tube, put it to his mouth, and blew into it. A cloud of black dust shot out of the other end, catching Halfred in the face. Halfred felt a severe burning sensation in his eyes, which became so irritated and teary that he was effectively blinded. Tsuto tried to move past the blinded Halfred, but Halfred's reflexes were too good, and he caught Tsuto before he could make his escape. With a blow to the head from Charrone, he went down, unconscious but not dead. Larissa removed his weapons and tied him up securely.

The rest of the party slew all but two of the goblins. These two managed to make it to a back door of the workshop, and eluded Ted and Declan, who went searching for them. The party found a stairway into the Glassworks cellar, and assumed that the goblins must be holed up down there.

Ted sent for the town guard, and the adventurers made a quick search of the rest of the Glassworks main floor. The body of one of the eight glassworkers was found in the worker's dormitory, but there was enough blood and signs of a struggle to indicate that the goblins most likely attacked the workmen while they slept. One other body was found butchered like a hog in the factory's dining room, with a good amount of its flesh unaccounted for. Declan suggested that the goblins must have eaten it.

In the workshop, the party found the mutilated bodies of six more glassworkers, plus the glass-encased body in the chair. That body was older, with Tian features. MacGreggor recognized him as Lonjiku Kaijitsu from the brief address he'd given early in the day at the Swallowtail Festival.

Turning their attention to Tsuto, they found a set of lockpicks, a potion, a finely-crafted rapier and shortbow, a potion, and another one of the blow-tubes full of blinding powder. Larissa claimed many of these items, as they fit her style. He also wore enchanted leather armor.

Jubal and Sandi of the Sandpoint Guard arrived. They woke Tsuto and attempted to interrogate him. Aside from a smug grin that even a few back-hands couldn't remove, he said next to nothing. The guards took him to the garrison for further questioning.

Session 6: Lair of the Toadstool Goblins

Session date: 12 July 2011

Game date: Wed 07 Sep 4711 A.R.
[continuing immediately following previous session]

With the destruction of the Toadstool Goblins, the group first examined the black metal scimitar that had been Chieftain Kneecrusher's. MacGreggor determined that it was made of the mystical metal called cold iron, a metal particularly effective against fey creatures. The scimitar was finely crafted, and the black metal blade was etched with unfamiliar runes. Aside from the runes, the blade completely lacked any decorative touches. It was finely crafted and perfectly balanced, but was not a piece of beauty-- indeed the weapon seemed built for one purpose: brutal efficiency. Shalelu said that the blade appeared to be of Orcish manufacture, and that the runes could be Orcish writing, although she did not know how to read them. Declan claimed the blade.

Shalelu stayed behind to guard the prisoners, and the rest of the group went to the open gate. It was easy to see inside the goblin compound, as the rail fence surrounding the ruined temple did not impede vision. Inside were about a dozen goblin tents and several unattended campfires. An inner fence formed an animal pen to the east of the temple ruins. The ruins were quite overgrown by bushes and vines, but still stood about twelve feet above the ground. The roof had collapsed, but still remained more-or-less in one piece, held up now by broken columns.

The main staircase of the temple was passable, and led to an opening in the rubble that formed the outer walls of the temple. Larissa entered the passage, and found it to be a small 10-foot round chamber, with no visible means of exit other than the entryway. The stench of carrion was overwhelming, and flies buzzed everywhere. She saw what looked to be an animal ribcage in the corner. That part of the room was also covered with sickly-looking purple-capped mushrooms with white stems. While examining the walls for a possible hidden door, Larissa suddenly realized that several much-taller mushrooms had seemingly appeared between her and the exit. When she turned toward these fungi, one of them shot a fist-sized glob at her, striking her squarely in the chest! The liquid burned like acid, and she felt momentarily weaker, but shook off that effect. She ran out of the room, and the mass of fungi oozed after her, firing a second glob, which missed. Back in the sunlight, the rest of the group shot, chopped, and burned the mass of fungi, eventually destroying it.

Halfred found a goblin path through the bushes on the northern wall of the temple, and saw that the path entered the ruins through a gap in the wall. The group entered the ruins through that opening, finding the interior to be mostly goblin-sized, with a ceiling barely five feet tall. The temple ruins had apparently been turned into the goblin command center: the party found the chieftain's room, two storage areas, and the shaman's alchemy lab. One of the storage rooms was covered in green slime, but McGreggor recognized it for what it was and successfully destroyed it before it could affect anyone. They discovered a wooden chest containing valuable spices; two stone coffers, one full of silver and gold coins, the other full of gems and jewelry; a cache of mostly useless goblin weapons; an alchemical silver dagger; two magic potions; and several alchemical items.

After looting the ruins of the temple, the party gathered the goblin corpses, the remains of the fungus creature, and just about all of the goblin gear and burned it all in a large bonfire.

Turning their attention to the prisoners, they were able to piece together the following story: Several weeks ago, Ripnugget, the leader of the Thistletop Goblins, paid a visit to Gugmurt, the leader of the Mosswood Goblins. Ripnugget offered an alliance to gather all of the local tribes under his banner to attack Sandpoint-- he said that the humans who lived there were not warriors, and that most would run away from an attack, leaving the goblins to loot what they wanted after the hmans left. After a while, Gugmurt agreed, but his rival Kneecrusher warned against the plan, saying that Ripnugget just wanted the Mosswood goblins out of the way so he could take over their hunting grounds. Kneecrusher, Firewind (the shaman) and about a dozen goblins who supported them eventually lost the argument, and were kicked out of the Mosswood tribe. Cut off from their hunting grounds, the new Toadstool goblins were forced to raid the human farms.

The prisoners were brought back to Sandpoint, after a brief stop in Ulmsford to let the farmers know that the goblins had been defeated. The party returned to Sandpoint early that evening, depositing their prisoners with the town guardsmen to be locked up at the garrison.

Session 5: Raid on Toadstool Goblins

Play date: 5 Jul 2011

Game date: Wed 7 Sept 4711 A.R.

The party met Shalelu at the south bridge at dawn as arranged. It was the third rainy day in a row, and the first chill of autum could be felt in the air. Larissa brought along Lorenzo, a trained guard dog she purchased the previous day, and Charrone rode her light riding horse.

Shalelu brought the party along the Tickwood Road, the same road that Aldern had led the party to the ill-fated boar hunt. At about 8 AM, the party passed the place where they had been ambushed a few days earlier. Shalelu took about half an hour scouting the place, and concluded that the goblins had come from the east—toward Mosswood. This meshed with what the goblin prisoner had told them.

The road led along the north bank of the Turandarok River, with Tickwood to the north. Tickwood Road is less a road and more a path, and the going got a bit slow—the rain from the past two days had made the road very muddy. After two miles, the road followed the river and took a sharp turn south for a bit less than a mile, then turned eastward again. The woods thinned out to reveal a jagged hilly terrain, and the vegetation became much more scrubby. By about noon, the land to the south opened up to farmland, and they could see another dense forest ahead: Mosswood.

The road forked, and Shalelu took the group south toward the river, crossing at Ulm’s Ford. The land was mostly barley fields here, and a quarter mile ahead lay the thorpe of Ulmsford. It wasn’t much of a settlement—just six farm houses fairly close together, with three larger outbuildings (a meetinghouse, a granary, and a large animal barn). The elf led the group to one of the farmhouses, and on the way she told the party that they would be meeting Jed Craditt, who was the one that alerted Shalelu to the goblin presence in this area.

Craditt explained that the goblins had been stealing both vegetables (mostly squash) and livestock—primarily chickens, but three of his dairy goats as well. These thefts indicated a serious financial hardship for the Craditt family. He showed the group where he had seen the goblins.

Shalelu and Halfred checked the area for tracks and determined that there were four riders—two on goblin dogs and two on large wolves. “Probably worgs,” said Shalelu, “I hate worgs.” The tracks came from the north and went away to the northeast. The group followed the tracks, which circled back toward Ulm’s Ford. Crossing the ford, Halfred picked up the trail on the north bank of the river, and saw that they led east along the riverbank. They followed.

The tracks led east about half a mile along a game path through the heavy brush along the riverbank. Shalelu noticed that the tracks then veered north along a different game path. The path led into the southern reaches of Mosswood, and they followed the path for about a quarter-mile. The light began to dim as they entered the forest, and the forest floor was dominated by massive tree trunks with a few smaller trees trying to make their way to the light. In the forest proper, there was little underbrush, and the goblin trail was relatively easy to follow. It turned eastward for about another mile, then sharply southward again.

As the party followed the southern track, two flasks were lobbed at them from the trees next to the path. The flasks broke open and burst into flames, catching Shalelu, Ted, and Halfred! Goblins could be seen in the trees, and from a short distance away, the sound of a signal horn blasted through the forest. Larissa and Shalelu shot the visible goblins out of the trees, and the party then hurried down the path.

About two hundred feet later, the path opened out into a large clearing. At the center of the clearing stood the ruins of a white marble open-air shrine or temple. The columns that had held up the triangular stone roof had long since collapsed, and the roof came down in more-or-less one piece, supported now by the broken remains of the columns. A 6-foot tall wooden rail fence surrounded the temple, forming a rough courtyard around the temple, and the smoke from several campfires rose into the drizzle. Two large tree trunks stood on end, each about eight feet tall, the tops of which were carved to form crude parapets. A goblin archer was visible in each of the parapets. A gate stood between these wooden towers, decorated with a human skull. Behind the fence, the party could see at least a dozen goblins.

“Damn,” said Shalelu, “they know we’re here. It looks like a frontal assault is our only option. We’re outnumbered, but I think we can take ‘em! Let’s go!” She took out her longbow.

A this, arrows from two trees within the clearing shot by party members, and Larissa spotted goblin archers. Ted cast enlarge person on Halfred, who grew to ten feet tall. Halfred then charged one of the archers, and cleaved the goblin’s head with his greataxe. More arrows whizzed by the party from the lair, and a few party members were hit. Larissa and Shalelu returned fire, and the party advanced toward the goblin stronghold.

Suddenly, an area of the knee-high grass and vines that surrounded our heroes animated and grasped at the feet and legs of anyone who was in it! McGreggor, Declan, and Shalelu found themselves greatly hampered by the effect, but everyone else was able to break free. Arrows pelted the party like rain, and the gate swung open. Two riders on goblin dogs rode out. Charrone attempted to charge them, but her horse would not cooperate. The goblin riders then charged her: the riders attacked her with their horsechoppers, and their mounts tore at her horse with their oversized incisors. Charrone fought back, striking one rider out of its saddle, but she and her horse were wounded. She unseated the other rider as well, as the goblin dogs took down her mount. McGreggor and Ted blasted two goblins with magic, and Shalelu continued to fire. A magical orb of fire appeared and rolled toward Shalelu, singeing her slightly. Then two more riders, these on worgs, charged the enlarged Halfred, and six goblin warriors on foot followed. Lorenzo the dog lunged at three of the warriors, but got slashed badly. Outnumbered, the party was pressed back toward the area of the entangle.

Then out strode a much taller goblin, which wore an iron helm and wielded a black metal scimitar that was sized for a human. He laughed, and said in broken Common, “Heh! You longshanks cowards! Me Kneecrusher! We beat you! You no fight, we let you live.” He barked some orders in Goblin, and the goblins stopped their attack, but kept their weapons pointed at the party. The party did the same. Larissa tried to call off Lorenzo, but the dog ignored her, and attacked another goblin, as the goblin dogs continued to fight Charrone. A moment later, Lorenzo was slashed and both goblin dogs were dead. Kneecrusher smiled more broadly, and said, “Give us all your gold, and we back off. You go, we no kill.”

Charrone, no longer under attack, said, “You want our gold? OK. Here’s some gold!” she emptied her coin purse into her hand, and threw a handful of gold and silver coins at a group of six goblins. The goblins dropped their weapons to gather up the coins. At this, Shalelu shouted, “That’s our chance! Go!” In a swift motion, she drew her Elven curveblade and slew one of the goblins distracted by the commotion. Most of the other goblins resumed the attack, and Kneecrusher growled in anger and charged Halfred. Halfred sidestepped the blow and brought his greataxe down on Kneecrusher’s head, splitting it open.

At the sight of their leader slain, the goblins lost courage and attempted to flee, but the party didn’t intended to let them go. In the end, two escaped, two were captured, and the rest of the Toadstool goblins were dead.

Charrone’s horse could not be revived, but Lorenzo the dog was still alive. Summoning the power of Sarenrae, Declan healed the party, including Lorenzo, who regained consciousness, and returned to Larissa’s side.

The group gathered the goblin bodies for burning, and also collected the meager treasure on them. Of most interest was Kneecrusher’s black metal scimitar, and three magical potions found on the shaman.

Next week: Exploring the Goblin Lair

Session 4 (part 3): Grim News From Mosswood

[Read parts 1 and 2 first]

Game date: Tue 06 Sept 4711 A.R., 10:00 AM

Shalelu and the party met at Sheriff Hemlock's office at the appointed time. Mayor Deverin was also there, and introductions were made all around. Hemlock again complimented the party's work against the goblins, and referred to them alternatively as "unofficial town guardsmen" and "Sandpoint's latest crop of heroes." He said that the townsfolk had mostly taken a liking to them, and that he felt that the presence of the party in town was having a calming effect on the populace.

"Thankfully," he said, "most of the tales of 'Goblin Day' I'm hearing now are now leaning toward the comic and are emphasizing the bizarre antics of the little runts, rather than the horror they could have caused. Of course, that's a good thing, as I'm planning to take three men with me and take a fast ship to Magnimar. I want to ask the Lord Mayor if he can spare a couple of squadrons of the City Watch to help us out here. It would really ease my mind if you people would stick around town at least until I return with more men."

Shalelu replied, "Hmmm... Actually, I was hoping that I could ask you for a squadron of guardsmen. But we can discuss that in a moment. The five goblin tribes are definitely working together right now, and I believe that a contingent from each of the tribes were involved in Friday's raid. This is bad. The tribes are usually too busy fighting among themselves to pull off anything like this on their own-- some outside force is organizing them. But I'm not sure who or what that is, or why. Regardless, it can't be good."

She continued, "As you know, there are five tribes of goblins around here. The smallest and least aggressive tribe is the Birdcruncher goblins. They are located about half a mile from here along the western slopes of the Devil's Plateau, and they keep to themselves for the most part.

"Next are the Licktoad goblins of the Brinestump Marsh. They tend not to be animal riders, but are excellent swimmers. They are apparently still all afraid of the goblin cannibal Vorka, who reportedly stalks the marsh looking for more goblins to eat and steal their "essence."

"The Seven Tooth goblins aren't particularly aggressive either-- they tend to be the suppliers of weapons and armor to the other tribes, and they mostly use Sandpoint's trash to make them." She turned to the mayor, "I have asked you to stop that half-orc Gorvi from dumping the town's trash over the cliff, right?" Deverin shrugged. An annoyed look crossed the elf's face. "Anyway," she resumed, "they live in Shank's Wood. From what the Seven Tooth goblins have told me, they haven't seen their strongest warrior Koruvus in a while-- the goblin I questioned said that that Koruvus showed up with a human-sized glowing sword about a year ago, and that he told the chief that he found a secret treasure trove and would be coming back with more magic to become the new chief soon. But he never came back.

"The second-largest tribe is the Thistletop goblins, and all the goblins agree that they have the best hideout. They're located on a gigantic rock about twenty yards off the Nettlewood coast. They say that this island looks a lot like a giant skull when viewed from the sea. Ripnugget is their leader, and he's pretty aggressive.

"The largest tribe is the Mosswood goblins. They're led by a chieftain called Big Gugmurt, who stands head and shoulders above the rest of the goblins. He's rumored to have a hobgoblin father and a wild boar for a mother-- a picture I don't want to think much about. However, the Mosswood goblins have always been hampered by their size: there are at least four factions within the tribe, and they're always at each others' throats to the point that they usually aren't much of a threat to non-goblins.

"Right now, the Mosswood goblins are in a bit of disarray. For one thing, a lot of them seem to have been beaten up recently-- I think these were goblins that survived last Friday's raid on Sandpoint. They are also saying that the bugbear assassin Bruthazmus was now working with the raiders. I've also heard that there was a recent power struggle in Mosswood and that one of their warriors, Kneebreaker didn't want to attack the town proper, and instead took about two dozen warriors to raid the countryside instead. I guess this It's this splinter of the Mosswood tribe that I am currently worried about-- they're getting bolder too, and have been raiding near Ulmsford and the nearby thorpe of the same name. I'm afraid that it's only a matter of time before they stop hunting livestock exclusively and start attacking the farmers themselves. Belor, do you have some men you could spare? I'd like to nip this splinter tribe before they entrench themselves or kill anybody."

Hemlock said that he didn't have any men to spare, especially as he was about to go to Magnimar to get more men. Charrone volunteered the party to play whatever role the Mayor thought would be best. Deverin said that the goblins near Ulmsford seemed the most immediate threat, and Charrone volunteered to help Shalelu fight them. The rest of the party followed suit. Hemlock said that he could delay his trip to Magnimar for another couple of days, after this group was dealt with.

After the Mayor Deverin took her leave, Sheriff Hemlock let Shalelu and the party sit in on the interrogation of the goblin prisoner from the previous day. Unfortunately, the goblin had a lot to say, but not much to offer. After about two and a half hours of questioning, the only salient points revealed were:

• “We not Mosswood goblins—we Toadstool goblins!"
• “Gugmurt kick us out of Mosswood when we not want to attack big longshanks village. Kneecrusher our boss now."
• "We take food from small longshanks village. Just take stuff we need. Or is pretty. Or we want”
• “We not have good hunting ground. We wait for travelers on road, fight them and take stuff.”

After the interrogation was over, an exhausted Shalelu said that she had some other business to attend to, and would meet the party at the South Bridge at dawn tomorrow, and would lead the party to Mosswood to deal with this new tribe.

Session 4 (part 2): Enter Shalelu

[Read Part 1 first]

Game Date: Tue 06 Sept. 4711 A.R.

The next morning was warm and rainy. While ordering breakfast at the Dragon, Ameiko Kaijitsu (the owner) mentioned to the party that Aldern had left just before dawn, and that he didn't leave a message for them. During breakfast, a couple of travelers came into the barroom, and told Ameiko that they had seen the elf Shalelu crossing the South Bridge into town. At this, Ameiko brightened, and the group saw her give a bunch of orders to Bethany, her head of staff.

A few minutes later, a tall Elven woman strode into the bar. She was very beautiful in that otherworldly Elven manner: she stood about six feet tall, with very long pointed ears that stuck through her shoulder-length forest-green hair. Her eyes were the deep blue-black of a clear sky an hour past sunset, and like the eyes of all elves, had no whites. She wore hide armor, had a longbow and quiver on her back, and an Elven curveblade at her side. She also wore a headband which sported brightly-colored feathers.

"Ameiko, it looks like you can't get rid of me just yet," she declared when she entered the room, a wry smile on her face. She strode over to the bar, and gave Ameiko a brief embrace.

"You know you're always welcome here, Shalelu, even if we weren't expecting you back until March." replied Ameiko, "Bethany is getting your regular room ready as we speak. Ale?"

"Of course. And some eggs and bread if you have any, thanks." She sat at the bar, looking around the room. Ameiko poured her an ale then stepped into the kitchen. Shalelu raised he glass toward the party then took a long swig.

Declan stood and approached. "Good morning, m'lady! They seem to know you around here, but I don't believe we've met. My name's Declan." She shook his hand.

"I am Shalelu of Mierani," she replied. Declan introduced the rest of the party.

"You are correct that they do know me around here," Shalelu said, "I've made it my business to patrol the nearby woods for the past several years and to help keep the goblins in check. Nasty creatures, but they mostly keep to themselves. I was on my way back to Mierani for the winter when I heard of the attack on this town, so I decided to check on the various tribes to see what the little terrors were up to. I haven't seen any of you here before-- were you here during the attack?"

The group told Shalelu what they saw during the attack on the Swallowtail Festival and their role in repelling it. She seemed impressed. The party asked her about the goblins.

"Well, I've been working to keep those goblins away from civilized folk for years. It's actually not all that hard-- goblins are clever, but also stupid and lazy. It's usually pretty easy to keep them fighting among themselves to the extent that they don't much bother anyone else. Something has changed recently, though. The five tribes seem to be working together, and they're stirring up trouble all over the region.

"Ten things you need to know about goblins if you plan to tangle with them:

1. Goblins hate horses. While they ride their disgusting rat-like goblin dogs, and will ride a worg if they can convince it to take a rider, their hatred of horses is matched by their fear of them.
2. They hate dogs even more. It's about the only creature they hate more than horses, and in this case, the feeling is mutual-- dogs seem to hate them right back.
   
3. Goblins raid junkyards. To goblins, the trash piles of larger and more civilized creatures are a treasure trove of raw materials to make tools, weapons, and armor.
4. Goblins love to sing. The scary part is how catchy their melodies are, although their lyrics are distasteful at best and horrific at worst.
5. Goblins are sneaky. An angry goblin is a noisy menace, chattering away in its guttural tongue, but any goblin can become silent as a mouse and slip away into the shadows at a moment's notice.
6. Goblins do crazy things. They are extremely clever in coming up with new and interesting ways to be cruel, vicious, and sadistic, but are hard to predict. Goblins seem generally incapable of thinking their actions through to their logical outcomes: like hiding in a lit oven, or stopping to steal valuables (or food) in the middle of a fight.
7. Goblins will eat just about anything, including people, or in a pinch, each other. They are also voracious, and given enough supplies, will eat a dozen full meals a day. Goblin camps rarely have that quantity of supplies on hand, which is one reason they go raiding so often.
8. Goblins like fire. Burning things is one of their favorite forms of entertainment, especially if what they light up is alive and can flail around for a while. Like I said earlier, they're sadistic little creeps.
   
9. Goblins are lazy, and prefer to bully other, weaker creatures into doing their dirty work. Unfortunately for the goblins, they are usually the weakest creatures around. This also means that goblins seldom finish what they start.
10. Goblins believe that writing steals your soul. Really. They think that writing steals the words out of your head, and that you can't get them back. While they don't have a written language, they do draw elaborate narrative pictures of their exploits."

After Shalelu finished the short lecture about goblins, Sheriff Hemlock walked in. "Thanks for coming back, Shalelu. I was hoping that you could tell the mayor and me what you found out. It looks like you found our new town heroes. I came over to ask if you would all please come to a meeting in my office at the garrison in one hour. Would that work for you?"

Everyone agreed, and the sheriff said that he'd see everyone there.

[Continued...]