We set out from the inn in Neverwinter with the wagonload of
things we were hired to deliver and follow a path through the woods towards
Phandalin. A couple kilometres into the forest we encounter two dead horses
full of goblin arrows across the road through a small gully, which we realised
would be a perfect ambush site. While the two fighters and the rogue are arguing
over who should be the one to move the corpses, the bard goes over to them and
gets shot at.
Nicolas, the male fighter, ran over and dragged the bard
away, while the rogue shot in the direction the arrow came from, missing. The
other fighter yells for the ambushers to show themselves.
A goblin tries to sneak up behind us, but is not very
successful and Merielle the rogue tries to shoot it, but misses again. Nicolas
yells at it to get out of his sight, and the goblin, terrified, turns and runs.
The other ambushers give up as Arthan, the bard, uses magic on the fleeing
goblin while mocking it.
Firenze, the female fighter, intimidates the remaining goblins
into giving up completely for the day, and we investigate the area. On the dead
horses Merielle and Arthan find an insignia, which the bard recognises as being
that of our employer, and in the hide that the goblins had made, Firenze finds
a pair of drag marks leading along a narrow path through the forest. Anxious to
deliver our cargo, however, we elect to forgo investigation to take the wagon to
Phandalin as we were supposed to.
Upon arrival at the tiny old mining town, the party divides
into two; Nicolas and Merielle go to attempt delivery of the wagonload while
Arthan and Firenze try to entertain the villagers. Arthan and his lute are a
roaring success, while Firenze’s ‘singing’ is studiously ignored.
Meanwhile, Nic and Meri are learning that their patron never
arrived in Phandalin, and the storekeeper is refusing delivery because of that.
They return to the small inn where the other two have retired, Arthan earning
their room by playing for the customers. The news of their employer’s disappearance
is shared, and investigation of the ambush site is decided upon for the next
day.
The next morning, the storekeeper having finally bought the
supplies for 10g total, the party takes the now empty wagon back to the ambush
site, to discover a pair of sleeping goblins, bows in hand. The bard and rogue
sneak up behind them and scare them awake while a pair of their compatriots
attempt to shoot at us, successfully hitting the bard in the shoulder. Firenze,
seeing an opportunity for heroics, charges in with her halberd and rapidly
bisects one of the surrendering snoozers, terrifying the other into fleeing.
The other two, one of whom had been at the last ambush
attempt, try to avenge their friend, but are scared into submission by the bard;
one flees and the other, quickly named Punky by the noble fighter due to his
many piercings, is coerced into leading us to his clan’s cave, where the
prisoners were taken.
Upon arrival at the cave, a quick plan was formed for
scouting the cave, and Merielle was given the appearance of a goblin by the
bard with a cantrip. Having reached the mouth of the cave, and spotting a trio
of goblins hiding behind a thick bush at the entrance, the plan was swiftly
forgotten as the elf drove her daggers into the backs of two of them, and the
male fighter sped in to finish the third.
Any annoyance at the plan’s dismissal by the rogue was delayed
until later, as Punky led them deeper in. One tunnel was a small challenge,
being a slope with very worn steps, but was swiftly scaled with the aid of a crossbow
bolt fired by Nic, the rogue’s piton on one end and her rope tied to the other.
A swift investigation of a small cavern being used as sleeping quarters
revealed nought, and they sneaked towards the area the goblin tribe was using
as a jail, where they discovered the goblin chief and four bodyguards.
Combat swiftly ensues, Punky hiding inside a crate nearby,
and soon descends into bloody madness as Meri’s arrows fly past, the goblin chief
yells something in a strange language and Arthan successfully skewers not one
but two goblins so thoroughly as to drench his arm in blood and goblin. Firenze
is shot, and in her anger and pain she lashes out at the goblin chief, driving
her rapier through him head to tail. The remaining pair of goblins flee.
The fighting over, we discover that the peril is not over as the water from a stream running through the cave system is starting to rise…
