Westmist was
getting busy, as peasant levies were starting to muster, and bands of
mercenaries and royal troops were arriving from the east , all preparing for
battle against the hobgoblins. Prices were rising, and the March Baron had
issued a decree banning the private employment of men-at-arms for the duration
of the emergency. He also invoked the March Tax, locking the gates while his
men combed the town to collect a head tax on every soul to help pay the costs
of the war.
With the full
team (less Turrick) assembled again, plans turned to finally dealing with the
hobgoblins in Stonehell. Confirming the
previous deal with Slate, the dwarven engineer, to collapse the hobgoblins secret
tunnel entrance and dig a new secret entrance for the party, they next headed
to see the March Baron once more to ask for help. Lord Merdwyn was reluctant to
lend further assistance, having already lost a number of his men while in the
party’s employ. Darnorth, however, managed to convince him that they just
needed guards to protect Slate and his work crew; they wouldn’t be used as
dungeon fodder. Having agreed to pay the costs associated if any men were lost,
the Baron turned over command of a band of 10 mercenaries to the party.
Leading an
entourage of mercenaries and dwarven miners, the party made their way to the
box canyon with the back entrance to the hobgoblin lair. Kern first scouted the
cave entrance on the canyon wall, and once assured that the coast was clear,
the miners and mercenaries climbed up and started their work. The party,
meanwhile, prepared to enter the dark to scout the area inside for Slate and
ensure there would be no trouble. Passing through the narrow 5’ entrance, their
exploration got off on a bad foot when Riley hit a trip wire, setting off a loud
gong, and obviously alerting anyone in the caves. Cautiously, they explored the
first stalagmite and stalactite studded cave, then passed through another narrowing
before entering the next chamber. As they emerged into the space, a rain of
arrows from the right surprised them, several of which hit hard and deep. Turning,
they observed a low log barricade, behind which a half dozen hobgoblins
crouched, crossbows in hand. Preparing to do battle, the party first suffered
another fusillade of arrows, which dropped Riley to the floor at the edge of
death. Now enraged, Darnorth floated up with his pick boots of
levitation, and Kern gave him a hard push, propelling him towards the
barricade. The dwarf, joined by Erijay on foot, flew over the logs and dropped
right in the middle of the hobgoblins, slaying one with his sword while a second
fell to the elf’s axe. This was all too
much for the remaining hobgoblins, who broke and tried to flee, but were cut
down by Darnorth, Erijay and the now arriving Kern.
Carrying the
fallen cleric, the party stopped the work on the tunnel and headed back to
Westmist. There, they were able to convince the visiting August Virtue, Balinor
of the Three Virtues (in town to preach a crusade against the hobgoblins) to resurrect the brave Riley so he could continue
the church’s work and stomp some more hobgoblins. All, of course, for a
moderate donation to the faith.
With Riley
back among the living, the expedition departed again the next morning to start
once more on the cave. When Darnorth glanced inside this time, he was greeted
by yet more arrows. The dwarf grabbed Riley’s human sized shield and led a
charge into the cave, where the 4 hobgoblin archers were slain before they had
any chance to fight back. While Slate and crew started work for the second
time, the parry ranged deeperinto the caves. They found the previous hobgoblin defenses
deserted, and after exploring a few other caverns and following a small stream,
they found themselves back in the worked stone halls of Stonehell. Heading west,
they immediately encountered a barracks occupied by two large hobgoblin guards,
who again were slain so quickly they had no chance to raise the alarm. Now
heading north along a long corridor, they found several doors. At one, the keen
eared Kern heard hobgoblin voices. Now
abandoning all caution, Darnoth kicked the door open. On the other side they
found three huge hobgoblins clustered around a document covered table. One was
dressed in fine ceremonial armour, a plumbed helmet and rich red cape;
obviously a hobgoblin of some importance. Again the party fell on the
creatures, and while these proved to be much tougher opponents, they too soon lay
motionless on the floor. But not before the leader was able to call out the
alarm. Riley stood watch at the door
while Darnorth severed the commanders head, plumbed helmet and all. Kern
and Erijay ransacked the room, taking papers, a potion, and discovering a great
locked chest. Using a key from the dead hobgoblin commander, Kern opened it to
find a glittering pile of gold and jewelry. Although sorely tempted to load up
on treasure, the party choose to take just the easily portable jewelry and a
few coins for now so they would not be slowed down on their continuing raid on
the hobgoblin fortress.
Relocking
the chest, they continued north along the corridor, discovering an abandoned guard
post. Just as they were about to head east again, another rain of arrows hit
them from that direction and they saw yet another large squad of hobgoblins in
battle formation ready to block their way. Darnorth, yelling “Look at your leader now!”
flung the dead hobgoblin commanders’ head into their midst. This unnerved the
usually iron disciplined hobgoblins, who hesitated just long enough for Erijay
to drop them all with a sleep spell.
After slitting throats and collecting the head, they party decided it was about
time to head back, as Slate should be just about ready to blow the cave
entrance. Stopping to first try forcing
a locked door bypassed earlier, they were against surprised by a hobgoblin
band, this time with a trained mountain lion. There ensued the longest battle
of the raid as it took forever for the party to drop just a handful of hobgoblins
and one cat. By now the day was late,
and they hurried back out of the cave (after first loading up on gold from the
treasure chest in the commander room) and had Slate blow the entrance. Which to
everyone relief actually worked!)
Rather than go
back to town, they decided to stay on site so Slate and his crew could finish off
the secret tunnel over the next two days. The first day nearly ended that job,
as a huge warband of 50 or more orcs was observed advancing up the valley towards
them. Kern first climbed up the rock face over the cave, then used rope to start
helping everyone up in the inaccessible location, while Darnorth tried to charm
the orcs into leaving them alone. That
proved unsuccessful, so Erijay tired her charm
on the orc leader. That was likewise unsuccessful, and instead enraged the
warband , who then proceeded to attack. As
the dwarf miners hid in the rocks, Erijay again dropped many of the attackers with
a sleep spell, while the rest of the
party and the mercenaries returned the orcs’ missile fire. Much of the party’s
fire was aimed at the orc leader, who was slain almost immediately. This was enough
for the warband, obviously looking for easier prey, and so they gathered their
fallen and sleeping comrades and fled the valley.
The
remainder of the day and night were uneventful, but around noon the next day
there was a other close call when a high flying wyvern spotted the activity on
the mountainside and swooped low to investigate. As the monster started to circle
in closer, Darnorth started shouted a string of dwarven profanity at the
monster. This apparently spooked it enough to likewise send it elsewhere looking
for prey.
With the
secret entrance now finished, all head back again to Westmist. There, the
mercenaries and dwarves were released from service, and everyone else headed to
visit Synthini to see what magical treasure they may have found. The helm, which
Darnorth had kept after leaving the hobgoblins commanders head behind, proved
to be a helm of comprehend language. The potion found by Erijay was a potion of giant strength. And then began the planning for the next raid
into the dungeon to recover the rest of that treasure.
No comments:
Post a Comment