Dramatis personae:
Anêr, swashbuckler
Mayhem, barbarian
Yémos, cleric
Caleb, wizard
wik
Kúflaug, orc slave
also wik
Likháfrikh, dwarf engineer
Quid occurrit
The battle started (in room #38 for those who own the original adventure and are keeping track at home). Three hobgoblins with greatswords came through the double doors make a wall, and a fourth followed them with a longbow and an axe. The bowman, a hobgoblin with thin lips (if anyone knows how hobgoblin lips look, of course), nocked an arrow. The heroes also made a wall, with the spellcasters behind, and both moved slowly past the trash pile to meet. Yémos cast Shield 3 on Anêr, while Caleb tried to cast Blast Ball, but instead it made a big flash of light.
The two groups moved slowly towards a corner to meet. The hobgoblin bowman let loose an arrow that hit Likháfrikh. Still, all crept forward, and Yémos cast another Shield 3 on Mayhem, while Caleb started to cast Sunbolt. After another second, Caleb lobbed his Sunbolt at the bowman, wounding him. Then the hobgoblins moved to the corner, and the heroes met them there. Another hobgoblin, with a metal tooth and a morningstar, stepped through the door.
In the corner, one hobgoblin with unkempt hair swung at Anêr, who got out of the way. Then another hobgoblin with a circle shaved into his head swung at Likháfrikh, who could not swat away his blow. Likháfrikh staggered while the hobgoblin with the morningstar moved to behind the line and the bowman kept aiming.
Yémos got out his paut, and Caleb cast Blast Ball. Anêr stepped forward and swung his rapier, but could not hit the hobgoblin before him, much as Kúflaug did with his axe. Mayhem planted his axe into the chest of hobgoblin with the shaved pattern in his hair, while Likháfrikh passed out from his wounds.
The hobgoblin having a bad hair day smote Kúflaug, who could not parry his blow, but stayed standing. The guard, another hobgoblin with thin lips, swung his sword at Mayhem, but Mayhem got out of the way. The bowman let his arrow fly at Anêr, who stepped aside, and yet another hobgoblin, this one with an axe and a bad shave (well, maybe he plucked his facial hairs badly) stepped into the room.
Yémos drank his paut and Caleb got off his Blast Ball afore the hobgoblin by the door, singing him, the bowman, and the one with the morningstar. Anêr twitched his rapier past the sword of the hobgoblin with the wild hair and into his side, dropping him to the ground. Kúflaug stepped back but otherwise stood pat, and Mayhem smashed his axe into the side of the thin-lipped guard. However, the guard stayed standing.
The hobgoblin with the wild hair started to stand, while the one with the circle in his hair barely missed Mayhem with his sword. The one with the axe came forward, and the bowman nocked an arrow while the others held their ground.
Yémos stepped forward and cast Major Healing on Kúflaug, and Caleb fired up a Sunbolt, luckily a mighty one. Anêr stuck his rapier in the neck of the hobgoblin on all fours, killing him. Kúflaug heeded the words of Yémos and picked up one of the big swords. Mayhem swung at the thin-lipped guard, landing his blow and killing him.
The hobgoblins slowly took two steps backward, while the bowman aimed his bow. Yémos pulled out an alchemist's fire flask, planning on handing it to Anêr, who put his rapier in his left hand. Caleb took a step and let loose his Sunbolt, which was so nasty that it killed the unwitting bowman. (Aside: Chris rolled a critical success to get the spell off, which I ruled meant automatic maximum damage. Then he rolled a critical success to throw the spell, and got double damage on the critical success table. After DR, it was 18 HP of damage to the bowman. Pretty good for a 1d Sunbolt.) Anêr reached for the flask, while Kúflaug got the big sword. Mayhem rushed forward and swung at the hobgoblin with the odd circle shaved in his hair. He landed his blow, killing the hobgoblin.
Now the hobgoblins still alive broke for the door. The spellcasters sat down to rest, while Mayhem and Anêr ran to the door. They peeked through, and saw the hobgoblins pushing a man in tattered clothes to the door, whom they pushed to the other side before shutting the door. Caleb yelled out to the man, who understood nothing. Anêr listened at the door, hearing nothing, before Yémos got up and handed a mallet to him. Anêr started hammering a spike into the door when the man in the tattered clothes started babbling wildly at him. Kúflaug said that the man wanted to be with the hobgoblins—the man was speaking Goblin.
Hearing the pounding, the hobgoblins pushed the door. Anêr and Mayhem tried to hold it shut, while the hobgoblins pushed them aside. They burst through, and both Anêr and Kúflaug missed blows at them. Mayhem smashed the metal-toothed hobgoblin with his axe, knocking him to the ground. The hobgoblin with the axe and the bad shave missed Anêr, while another hobgoblin with a cleft lip missed Mayhem. Caleb's Sunbolt did nothing to the hobgoblin with the bad shave, and Kúflaug missed with his sword, but both Anêr and Mayhem landed blows on the hobgoblins with the bad shave and the cleft lip, killing both. Behind them was another hobgoblin with long earlobes and a big sword, who turned and ran to a door on the other side of the room.
The metal-toothed hobgoblin stood, but Anêr stabbed his weapon hand, making him drop his morningstar. Anêr held the hobgoblin at sword point, and bade Kúflaug to interpret for him.
- "Who is the man?" "He's our bitch! We've had him his whole life." (No, not THAT kind of bitch.)
- "Who is your leader?" "Grotch, the mightiest of warriors!"
- "What do you do down here?" The hobgoblin chatted with Kúflaug, who said something back. Anêr asked Kúflaug what he said, and Kúflaug told him that the hobgoblin asked Kúflaug why he was helping the heroes. Kúflaug said they were better than goblins.
- "What do you do down here?" The hobgoblin laughed.
- "What's on the other side of the door?" "Our mighty leader, Grotch!"
Mayhem checked the bodies for slave brands, and three did have them, as well as the hobgoblin still alive. They looted the bodies for their 33 copper farthings, and then looked at the room the hobgoblins rushed out. There was a bunch of trash on the floor, but not as much as the first room. On the wall to the right, they saw a hole in the wall. They peered through, and saw stairs going down.
Caleb and Yémos waited for their strength to come back. As they waited, they could hear some scuffling, clanking, and shouting behind them—the din of battle. Yémos at last got his strength back, and healed Likháfrikh, whose eyes fluttered open. Anêr killed the last hobgoblin, while the man in the tattered clothes wailed and babbled in Goblin.
Anêr, Kúflaug, and Mayhem moved out to the cavern, and saw the fight between six lizard men and six men, whom Mayhem thought to be warriors of a small hill tribe. As they watched, one of the men stuck his spear through the eye of a lizard man, which led the others to break and run up the stairs. The barbarians ran after them.
The heroes rested in the hallway between the room where they fought the hobgoblins and the cavern. Likháfrikh looked through the trash and found another four farthings, and after about a half hour, they heard the door in the guardroom open. The gang moved around the corner into the cavern, and saw five hobgoblins and two lizard men walk into the room. Four of the hobgoblins had greatswords, while the fifth had a broadsword and shield.
The foes made it into the hallway and spotted the heroes. Anêr lobbed the alchemist's fire before the foes, who had the lizard men in the fore, and the hallway burst into fire. The heroes ran, though Kúflaug didn't want to drag the man. None of the foes followed, and they made it out of the dungeon.
Back at the camp, Péllē offered Kúflaug to the heroes to make up for some of the money she had promised earlier.
Notes
Do hirelings get mightier as they adventure? I haven't chosen if and how. It seems like they should. It makes a difference in whether or not the take a slave as payment.
I gave out 7 character points for the last few sessions. There was some discussion of what skills will help, and whether or not there are secret spots of the dungeon they've missed (well, duh!). Forced Entry was the skill I recommended. Why? On a successful Forced Entry door, I let them open a stuck door without a check for random encounters. Without it or failing the roll, I make the check. The striges came on such a check.
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