Entry XIII

[This entry is a recap of the 13th gaming session, which took place on February 13th, 2011. The characters had just defeated the last villain from Into the Shadowhaunt, a 4th Edition Game Day module from 2008 that I adapted so that I could make it part of the town of Fallcrest.]

We took a few minutes to recuperate, and then we searched the necromancer's body. Aside from his amber-tipped staff, we found a foul-looking ritual book

and an evil-looking sacrificial dagger.

When the two boys saw the dagger, they told us he had shown it to them a few times, saying it would be the last thing that they saw before they died.

They were pretty eager to get out of this place, so we all headed for the surface.

Reaching the outside world, we were greeted by the two guards who seemed amazed by the fact that we were coming back out, alive, with the two lost boys! They asked us a few questions, mentioned that part of Tombwood (the small wooded area situated in the middle of town) had collapsed a few hours ago, which corresponded to the time when we had (unintentionally) activated the magical trap which had triggered an underground collapse.

We talk with the guards all the way to Lord Farkelhay's manor.

Upon reaching it, we were greeted by Lord Farkelhay himself, along with Farmer Quinn, who was overjoyed to see his two sons alive. He thanked us profusely, giving us the 300 gold pieces he had promised us, telling us that although poor we would be forever welcome in his home. This being said, he and his two boys hurried off to get back home.

As for us, we were once more greeted by Lord Farkelhay and his staff. For the next few days, we rested and we trained.

(We also destroyed both the ritual book and the dagger.  How?  We went outside, put the two objects on some rocks, and then Trax blew his acid breath on them, reducing both things to a shapeless blob of melted matter.)

[The characters had by now gained enough XP to go up to level 3. We chose our new level 3 encounter power, then resumed the session.]

Eventually, Lord Farkhelhay mentioned that if we wanted to, a dwarf by the name of Traevus would have a job for us. We agreed, and met him the next morning in Farkhelhay's study.

The dwarf explained to us that he needed to bring a box to Sunderpeak Temple, located in the Thunder Peaks (or the Cairngorn Peaks, as he called it). He said that he would make it our while. We accepted his task, and agreed that we would be leaving the next morning.

Traevus left, but not us, as Farkelhay told us to stay some more. "I have a surprise for you, Gilthos," he said with a smile.

"Come in, Immarel," he then said.

A tall, regal looking Eladrin came in, and he and Gilthos immediately embraced. It turns out it was Gilthos' brother.

I then learned how their father had deemed it a good time to send Immarel out in the world, giving him the task of finding Gilthos to make sure he was okay. After having used magic to figure out Gilthos' general location, he had then arranged a teleportation ritual which took him directly to the wizard's tower here in Fallcrest.

It was heart-warming to see them together, and I retired early so that they would have some time alone to catch up.

The next morning, we met with Traevus and left Fallcrest on the old King's Road. We were sitting in the back of the wagon, and the going was slow.

The wagon rattled and creaked as it rolls along the old trade road. Traevus was guiding his team of mules with a steady hand, more interested in the road ahead than in our attempts at conversation, but I guess that's part of dwarven nature.

The sun was low in the sky, and we were expecting nightfall soon.

To our left, the Moon Hills stretched off southward and reached up toward the darkening sky. The fall air was growing cooler with night's approach.

Suddenly, a noise shook us out of our reverie—the twang of a bowstring, coming from the shadows beside the road. Traevus cried out as an arrow sank into his shoulder. With a shrill cry, a pack of goblins ― short, ugly creatures with green skin and fang-filled mouths -- ran toward the wagon, brandishing weapons.

I could see another goblin pulling an arrow from a quiver on its back. It was clear these creatures meant to steal the wagon—and that probably meant eliminating both us and the merchant first!

We got out of the goblin and sprang to action. Gilthos was shooting arrows, Trax and Immarel fighting with their swords, and I was shooting bolts of magic at them.

Soon, they scattered, and we were left with the bodies of dead or dying goblins.

The whinny of a horse caught our ear, and as we looked around for the source of the sound, we saw a rider at the crest of a low hill, a few hundred yards away. The rider seemed to be human, but as the goblins fled he shook his fist in frustration. His jet-black horse reared and whinnied again, and the rider's red cloak billowed behind him in the wind. Then the horse galloped off toward the southwest, into the Moon Hills.

Traevus was not seriously injured, but as the goblins ran away he glances into the back of the wagon and swore vigorously. "They stole it!" he shouted. Then he turned to us. "You… you were incredible in that fight. You probably saved my life. But I need your help again. The goblins stole the box from the back of my wagon ― something precious. I need to get it back."

Traevus promised us a reward of 30 gold pieces, on top of what he was already going to give us, if we returned the stolen item. He asked you not to look in the box if we foundd it, though, blushing slightly as he explained that the contents were personal.

Making a wide circle around the site of the goblin attack, we looked for tracks that might indicate where they came from, and where they ran off to. Though they scattered after our display of strength, they had likely regrouped somewhere nearby and made their way back to their lair together.

Trax decided to question one of the goblins, being gentle but firm with the dying creature. He managed to convince the goblin, with its last breath, to tell us where the goblins' lair was.

It was getting darker and darker, but we decided to pursue them right away.

Trampled grass here, footprints in the dust there ― Gilthos was pretty sure he had identified the goblins' path away from the scene of the attack. Following the tracks led us through some rough terrain. Either the goblins were trying to throw off any pursuit, or they clambered up cliffs and through ravines without much thought. We thought we could follow, but it was going to take some work.

It turned out the goblins' treacherous path barely slowed us down as we scrambled along after them. We soon find ourselves looking at three cave entrances that were almost certainly the goblins' lair, and so far we didn't think we'd alerted the goblins to our presence.

As quiet as possible, we neared the cave. Trax examined the body of a dead kobold nearby, and then we headed for the middle entrance.

Inside, we could see two goblins sitting by their fires. Slowly, one of them noticed our presence. Trax tried to bluff his way in but they saw past the ruse, got up, and a fight ensued.

Two more goblins joined the fray, but we had little trouble in disposing of them.

The area secured, we inspected the cave, found a tunnel going deeper in, but decided to camp for the night before going further.