ADVENTURES IN THE NORTHERN REACHES #4

Session #4:(4-15-2012): Oh Crap!!! Hobgoblins

The group spent a week in Threshold resting up and enjoying the fine brandy they found in the Ogre's lair and purchased new supplies. They re connect with the dwarf Golar once again and made preparations to go back to the Caves of Chaos. 

On their second day of travel back to the caves they were set upon by a band of brigands hiding in the bushes and trees. A very buxom dark haired lady stepped out in front of them accompanied by a rather mean looking fighter. " Hello my lovelies, I'm Reva the Robber. Lay down your weapons and gold and I'll let you go with your lives". To which Brother Cadfael stepped forward and said " Why yes, we have a message here we are to deliver to you from Threshold". And with that, Cadfael pulled out the scroll of Hold Person he had readied at his belt  and read it ( they found it in the Ogre's lair) and Reva and her lieutenant and both of the bowmen in the trees were held fast before they could get a shot in. Myra quick with her sleep spell took out the remaining brigands.

 The group then set to squabbling about weather to return her for her ransom or kill her or find their camp/lair and if they should kill the remaining bandits or not. Cadfael was all for killing the "evil men", but Golar the lawful dwarf was against killing them. In the end it was decided to tie the bandits up, then made one of them lead the group to the bandits camp site with Riva and her lieutenant bound, gagged and blindfolded.

They found the camp but didn't find much there. The group interrogated  their prisoners, but only the one who led them in was willing to talk. He informed them that Riva had hidden the treasure in the bole of a tree somewhere but no one knew where. Frustrated with their search efforts, the group decided to head back to Threshold and collect their reward. 

They decided to let the one bandit guide go into the wilderness with only a dagger to protect himself, and left the other bandits tied to a tree to fend for themselves.

Once back in Threshold, they presented Rita to Captain Borath, head of the watch and he took the group to see Castellan Velarys. He was very pleased that they had apprehended the menacing bandit leader,  and took her into custody and gave the group a handsome 1500 gp reward. Wo Hooo- now some real gold to buy real stuff. So, the next morning they went off shopping.

On a visit to see Mikko at The Broken Buckler, Myra and Golar were met with unpleasant stares. Golar overheard one of the dwarves hanging out there speaking to Mikko in Dwarven. Something about the group being responsible for the death of their friend Malg ( a dwarven hireling the party took on their first time into the caves weeks ago) and some business about how the group not only did not return the dwarf's body for a proper burial and left it to rot in those goblin infested caves, but they had also stolen his chain mail and sold it. Myra's request for a cross bow was met with an unreasonably high cost of $300 gold. 

Once Golar explained what just transpired, Myra agreed that they had not returned Malg's body and had sold his property and took the money they got to fund their next adventure. Myra assumed like the rest of the party, that they had full claim to their hirelings possessions upon  death and had no duty to return their bodies either. Golar made profuse apologies on the behalf of the group for not understanding or respecting  proper dwarven custom and said he would make things right.

Golar didn't think it fair that Guild master Olsen did not make any such agreements with the group regarding their hirelings and their possessions and was very upset ( in truth Olsen had inquired as to the fate of the hirelings, but all he was told is that they fell in battle at the caves and were left there while the party fled). 

The group made its way to the market area in Downtown in the hopes of repurchasing the dwarven chain from Turgen's Trade Goods. It just so happened that the armor was yet to be sold, but Turgen wanted a nice sum of 100gp for it. The party made agreements to purchase back the armor at standard rate but also offered a bunch of other weapons they had on hand as well. Once Malg's chain mail was returned to the Broken Buckler, the group also paid a handsome sum of gold to fund a memorial service for the Malg ( since they could not recover the body for decent burial/cremation). This pleased the Dwarves enough that they were willing to once again do proper business with the group so they could get Brother Cadfael into some plate mail (the group also made sure from now on to see that their hirelings had no existing wills and testament or next of kin for their possessions before hocking them for their own).

Once again properly equipped, the party set off for the Caves of Chaos.  Cadfael came up with the idea to go back to the bandits camp and use Detect Magic as a possible means to locate Riva's treasure. So the group made their way back to the bandits camp (which they found now empty) and Myra used her Detect Magic spell and circled about the camp until she detected a faint glow from a tree. When they searched they found some potions, some coins and a gold ingot. Nice haul. Cadfael tested the potions and discovered one of them was poison- luckily he made his save. He discovered the second was a healing potion. Once finished at the camp, the group continued on to the Caves. The journey went by uneventfully and they were able to reach the caves in three days ( slowed down now not only by Golar the dwarf but Cadfael's plate mail). 

They decided to try and re enter the goblin caves via the secret passage in the ogre cave from last visit. They spent some time exploring the ogre cave but couldn't figure out how to open the secret door. It was either locked in some way or blocked or perhaps only worked in one direction. So the group moved on back over to the main entrance to the goblin caves.

As on previous visits, the group readied weapons, torches and set in with Golar and the elven hireling Galdreel in the lead. Once in, they took the right passage once again in the hopes of continuing to clear out the rest of the goblin lair left from their last visit. As they rounded the corner, at the end of the passage was a barricade made up of crates and barrels. Behind them were standing a group of large nasty reddish goblin like creatures "HOBGOBLINS" yelled Galdreel. One of the creatures stood up on a crate and growled back " Goblin home under new management....ATAAAAACK!!!!!!....."  and blew a horn. 

The hobgoblins lobbed spears from behind the barricade and from behind the party a group of more hobgoblins came charging upon the group followed by a bunch of goblins. The party was surrounded. Myra was able to get a sleep spell off, but not before the hobgoblins slew Yar (poor Yar never saw his dreams of becoming a true adventurer and joined his friend Guy in the afterlife). The sleep spell took out many of the monsters, but no sooner had they fallen when a new group of the creatures moved into the corridor and took up their place. Brother Cadfael tried to lob a burning flask of oil at one of the hobgoblins on the crate but didn't do enough to take it out. He took a few solid hits on his new plate mail and went down and Myra was knocked unconscious by a goblin as well. Wargrim moved in to defend her fallen body and smacked his flaming torch on a goblin head and killed it. 

Orien laid into the hobgoblins with arrows and Galdreel charged into the barricade ( with 1 hit point) intent on taking out as many hobgoblins and he could before he died, while Golar cleaved with his battle axe right through the head of another  hobgoblin.  Orien downed the potion of invisibility ( which he got in the Ogre's cave) and worked on moving Brother Cadfael out of the cave with Bryrig's help. Wargrim defended Myra's fallen body. The remaining hobgoblins and goblins fled, but there was fear that more would return. The rest of the group withdrew from the lair as they heard the sound of more of the creatures returning further down the passage.

The group fled the tree line at the entrance to the canyon and did their best to bandage up. Brother Cadfael miraculously survived (having made two of his save or die rolls) and Myra was soon up and and on her feet as well so the group could flee into the night and find a good safe place to rest. Taking their time to scout ahead and avoid any further confrontation with the bandits, they made it back to Threshold safely.