Eustoma shakes her head as the confusion wears off. She goes to Sia and heals her twice with her wand of Cure Light Wounds. Then she examines the maenad, and the feast for interesting items.
"Is the mine outside of town? I'd like to avoid taking on entrenched Hobgoblins if we can avoid it."
"It's near the town, but the town itself ain't much to write home about," J.W. says. "A dozen buildings, if that. Doubt the hobs would need many soldiers to hold it."
"If ye need a trench, ah can elp ye, Eus'oma. Ah've been workin' on this fer a while, bu' ah finally go' i a few days ago." Rogar says with a wink, fully aware of the pun, and drops down five feet, the ground beneath him falling away and sinking down.
"Sounds like we should visit the mine, then," Wulfram said.
Wulfram healed Niko, and any one else who needed it.
"Trenches sound amazing. We can sneak around or create a moat around the town and make the hobs fall into it." She giggles
Wulfram made sure the Dwarves were healed and properly equipped to continue on to Fort Trevalay. "You will be welcomed at Fort Trevalay. We will go on to Radya's Hollow and collect all the survivors we can."
The dwarves thank you for your help and begin to journey to Fort Trevalay. You continue on your way, emerging from the Fangwood in the late afternoon and into the Hollow Hills. After spending several months in the woods, being out under the open sky and seeing the rolling hills stretch to the horizon is quite the change of pace.
You travel for a few more hours before setting up camp, still about six miles from Radya's Hollow. After enjoying a meal, you settle down to rest for the night.
Karla is on watch just after midnight, when the ground begins to rumble. The sound is loud enough to awaken the rest of you, and you have just enough time to stand up and grab your gear before two fin-like dorsal plates emerge from the ground, churning the earth as they head towards your camp!
Wulfram hurriedly emerged from his tent and grabbed his spear. He stepped forward, cast a spell to infuse himself with spiritual energy, and readied himself for battle.
Wulfram steps forward and infuses himself with divine power, but this seems to mark him as a target. Stone sprays from the hillside as two enormous armor-plated beasts burst forth. They leap into the air as they pounce on the shaman, bringing all four of their claws to bear. Wulfram's armor protects him from a few hits, but most of the monsters' claws tear into his flesh, severely wounding him!
Wulfram's aegis flares with healing energy before crumbling to dust. The big shaman falls to the ground in a bloody heap, though the amulet saved him from death!
"Wolfram!" Rogar calls out as his friend goes down. Knowing there's not a lot he can do with the land-swimming... things still on the hunt, he summons a mass of metal from the ground around him and sends a massive spike of metal, at both of them
Wulfram lay unconscious and bleeding on the ground.
Pele stood over Wulfram's unconscious form, barking, *Wake up, master! Wake up!*
Eustoma comes flying out of her tent just in time to see Wulfram fall. She quickly casts Stabilize on him. "Wulfram you are not dying tonight. We can deal with this. Then instructs Sia to attack.
Sia bounds up to one of the creatures and bites at it.
Rogar rushes to line up the two hulking bulettes before hurling a metal spike at them. The spike pierces through both of their hides, wounding them badly. They roar in pain and anger!
Before they can retaliate, Karla coats them with glitterdust, blinding both! Sia pounces on the nearest one, her teeth tearing into the soft flesh of its neck. Blood pours from the critical strike!
Eustoma stabilizes Wulfram and sends Sia in to finish off the wounded bulette. The wolf's jaws clamp around the wound Sia dealt, tearing open its throat and dropping the massive beast!
The remaining bulette turns towards Rogar, using its tremorsense to pinpoint his location even while blind. The monster rushes forward and leaps into the air again, clawing at the dwarf, though his stony skin protects him from most of the damage. The ground shudders as the bulette lands in front of the kineticist.
Pele rushed back into Wulfram's tent, searching for one of the bottles of liquid. Must find healing drink!
Rogar grits his teeth in pain, but turns and blasts the creature with a ribbon of slicing metal, hoping to lacerate the bulette.
Nik'o moves up to the next Burkett and bites its leg. As it roars and thrashes, Rogar lacerated it with a metallic blast. Blood showers the dwarf as the mighty beast collapses!
As the beast falls, Rogar quickly fumbles around, and pulls out a potion of healing, runs over to Wulfram, and pours it down his throat.
Wulfram regained consciousness; he looked around wildly, then relaxed when he realized the massive beasts were dead. "Thanks, Rogar!" When Pele emerged from the tent with a potion, he gratefully drank it. "Thank you Pele!"
He to his feet and healed himself and Rogar.
He sat down with Pele and meditated for more healing spells.
After he finished, he healed the rest of his wounds.
"Good job. Those were awful." She gives Wulfram a big smile. I'm glad you are up and about.[/b] She examines the creatures for things that can be harvested items.
"I'm going to have to get some mithril pajamas!", Wulfram replied to Eustoma.
Eustoma laughs. "Not a bad idea. We should all get those."
The bulettes' teeth are razor-sharp, and would make ideal weapons if crafted into various blades. Their armored hides would make for some cool-looking armor, too.
You move your camp away from the corpses of the hulking beasts in order to avoid the inevitable scavengers that will arrive to pick at their remains. Fortunately, the rest of the night is uneventful, and you are able to recover from the harrowing assault.
You travel through the hills for a few more miles and reach the town of Radya's Hollow. The community is small: a dozen homes as well as a general store and an assayer's office. A mineshaft leads into the nearby hillside. The place looks abandoned, but a search of the ground reveals that about two dozen hobgoblins, a large wolf, and two or three dozen humans camped here recently. You also spot a few tracks from clawed humanoid feet.
Following Solba's directions to her family's home, Rogar is able to move the earth to quickly uncovered an oiled leather sack holding the treasure she hid--33 gold nuggets (worth 75 gp each), an unusually clear fist-sized quartz (worth 50 gp), a sustaining spoon, and a rope of climbing.
The town has apparently been stripped of valuables, but in the assayer's office, you find a journal. Most of it is written in Goblin and details in very brusque terms troop movements, battles, losses, and slaves taken. The last few entries are written in Common:
Campaign Day 52: Seized Radya's Hollow near the Fangwood border. Acquired a fastidious new slave to take dictation and provide grooming. Existing mines seem to produce low-quality iron ore, but Zanathura's little pets report gold deposits in the older mine complex. New slaves insist this mine is "dangerous and collapsed," but upon initial inspection it seems secure. Ore samples very promising. Suspect these new slaves simply don't like the smell
of their own sweat.
Campaign Day 54: Radya's Hollow mine producing reasonable gold and quartz turnout. Morlocks insist they smell potent vein somewhere in the mine. Protestations from new slaves have ended. At Kosseruk's suggestion, I ordered two of them to flog their previous mayor to death. It seems to have broken their spirits admirably while giving the troops a good laugh. Look forward to employing same tactic again soon.
Campaign Day 57: Collapse has killed my lieutenant, six slaves, and all four morlocks. Zanathura will have my hide for losing her little pets. Soldiers report strange sounds from the tunnels afterward and refuse orders to reclaim potential survivors. Relocating to original ridgeline camp 8 miles southeast to await discipline from Kosseruk for this costly error.
1st lvl: Bless x2, Cure Light Wounds, Liberating Command, open slot
2nd lvl: Barkskin x3, open slot
3rd lvl: Magic Circle against Evil, Stinking Cloud, open slot
4th lvl: Divine Power, Greater Magic Weapon
Wandering Spirit: Battle
Wandering Hex: Battle Master (one extra AoO, weapon specialization longspear)
Casting Greater Magic Weapon on his longspear when the party breaks camp.
Where have the Ironfang soldiers gone?, Wulfram wondered as they walked through the deserted town. His questions were answered when he read the journal, although why that had been left behind was not revealed. "Sounds like the exploration of the mine won't be dull!", he commented.
"We're already 'ere. We may as well investigate tha mines firs'. Ah can 'elp clear some o' tha stone, an with a bit o' luck, we might find some survivors trapped in tha mines. Plus, it'll be nice ta have stone over mah head again."
When you had over to the entrance to the old mine, you see a rough-hewn tunnel that slopes northeast into the hillside. A slide of rock debris has crushed a bulky, pale-skinned humanoid, who lies alongside three dead hobgoblins.
Each of the hobgoblins carries a masterwork longsword, a set of masterwork manacles, and 25 gp. One also carries a satchel containing four large gold nuggets (worth 75 gp each). The pale creature wears what appears to be a holy symbol—a silver snake encircling a rough emerald (worth 100 gp)—though it corresponds to no known faith.
Wulfram examined the bodies.
"This pale one is a Morlock. They usually live in the Darklands; it's surprising to see one here! There's a trail of hobgoblin blood leading from the mine; one of them was battered and stabbed by a wooden weapon.
"Before we venture into the mine, I'd like to meditate and memorize some appropriate spells."
Eustoma gathers up all of the gear and items the group finds and puts them on Stuck. She then takes the time to cast Magic Fang, Greater on Sia. "Would Niko like that as well Karla?" She draws her bow ready to enter giving herself the aspect of the Bat and darkvision for 90 feet.
When you are ready, you enter the mine. Rubble litters the southern entrance of this large chamber, where the ceiling stretches to nearly thirty feet overhead. Wooden pilings, discarded tools, and neglected carts rest alongside several relatively new picks and shovels. An administrative area fills a nook to the northeast, while rockfall partially obscures the tunnels leading north and east. A tapping sound echoes from the east, and the northern tunnel appears clear enough to pass through.
Wulfram moved up to the rockfall and examined the area. He listened to the taping for a moment, trying to discern a pattern, before calling out towards the eastern tunnel, ""Hello! Can you hear me? We're looking for survivors!" He strained his ears, listening for a reply.
The tapping stops for a moment, then starts up again, more frantically this time. A faint, muffled voice calls out. "Help! We're in here!"
"We're going to get you out!", Wulfram called out. He conferred with his team-mate, "Rogar, what do you reckon is the chance of another collapse? I can clear the rocks given a little time."
"The hobgoblins were making us work in the mines when the shaft collapsed!" comes a second voice. "A mine cart tipped over on me legs! I'm trapped under rocks, and I think me foot is broken!"
"I tried to leave and get help, but a strange creature assaulted me and beat me within an inch of my life until I fled back here," says the first voice. "Please, come and help us! If you can't get through that way, the tunnel to the north will eventually connect to this chamber."
Rogar analyzes the collapse, trying to figure out how stable it is, attuning himself to the earth for a clear picture.
Rogar thinks he'll be able to move the rocks in a way to leave the tunnel sturdy enough to avoid future collapse. It should be safe for you to traverse. His tremorsense reveals only more tunnel beyond the collapse--the room itself is too far away to get a good look at, though he does detect a single creature about thirty feet away.
Rogar furrows his brow,
"How many of ye are back there?" he asks, "Don' worry, we'll get ye out!"
He carefully but quickly moves the rocks out of the way, creating a tunnel large enough to easily pass through but not large enough as to risk a new collapse. He keeps an 'eye' out with tremorsense as he gets closer, trying to figure out just how many creatures are trapped, and if it lines up with what they had said.
Wulfram helped Rogar, as needed, to move the rocks. When the way was clear, he cast a spell and advanced.
"My name's Meslin Mordecai! It's just me and Voldan here!" the voice calls back.
Rogar spends a few minutes clearing the rocks out of the way. Soon, the tunnel is wide enough for you to traverse. A malnourished and dirty man stands at the other end, and he sighs with relief. "Thank the gods! You have no idea how glad I am to see you. This way!"
Long-dead lanterns hang on the walls of this rectangular room, and a large wooden table occupies a corner. A thick layer of dust covers the floor and table, except in several places where objects seemingly once rested but are now absent. A bloodied hobgoblin corpse sits slumped against the wall in the southeast corner of the room, its face a rictus of horror. A natural stone fissure exits the room to the north, while another tunnels leading northeast and has collapsed.
Three carts in this chamber contain various chunks of quartz and gold-veined granite. A fourth cart lies on its side, and hundreds of pound of rock pin the legs of an exhausted-looking dwarf. "Please, get me outta here!" the dwarf pleads.
Rogar quickly moves all of the rocks off of the dwarf's legs, "Le's get ye out of 'ere" he says, and helps them back to the entrance of the tunnels.