The Party is:
Linton Male Halfling Ranger 1/Rogue 2
Larissa Female Human Ranger 1/Cleric (Healing & Luck) 2
Thaleles Male Elf Ranger 1/Fighter 2
Moltar Male Half-elf Rogue 1/(MC)Ranger 2
Background: The rangers have found a local village destroyed and over run by Goblins. they rid the area of the Goblins, Mourn the loss of one of their friends, and move to exact vengence.
The Rangers spend the next couple of days stalking the dispersed Goblin clans. The dead Goblins are piled in a heap that is then set alight. Tully is given a proper funeral, as are the bodies of the Nom Stotters that are recovered.
During the cleanup, a rune carved Longsword is found. It may have once belonged to someone in Nom Stot, but became Goblin plunder. Thaleles takes up the blade and swears that it will taste Goblin blood and that the people of Nom Stot will be avenged.
Some of the fleeing Goblins are tracked to a narrow side valley. There the Rangers find evidence of a more primitive tribe of Goblins, the Cracked Skull tribe, that seems to have not been included in the Goblin hoard that swept through the valley.
Finding their more advanced cousins absent from the more prime areas of the Goblin warrens. Seeing their more advanced cousins arriving/returning in a weakened state of disarray, the primitive Goblins fell upon their brethren defending their newly claimed territory, killing the Goblins from the other tribes and taking prisoners for sacrifice. Following a brief skirmish, the victorious Cracked Skull tribe then retreated back into the safety of their caves.
The following Rangers join the party:
Nyther Male Half-Elf Ranger 2/ Cleric (Healing & Animal) 1
Dedric Gallows Male Half-Elf Barbarian 2/Ranger 1
Ghorn Male Half-Orc Ranger 3
Depths of Rage (DUNGEON Magazine #83)
The Rangers track some of the fleeing Goblins to a side valley near the great lake that occupies the far end of the valley. There they come upon a scene of a recent skirmish between rival Goblin tribes. Up on a rock-covered hillside lies a cave mouth. Around the area are strewn the decapitated members of several Goblin tribes. Additionally the totems of these tribes, The Bloody Boot, The Black Face, and the Golden Arm, which were once displayed around the cave have been torn down or defaced, and replaced with a single totem, that of a Cracked Skull.
The entrance to the Goblin’s lair appears to be a fairly large cavern mouth, perhaps 20 feet across and 6 feet high. The rangers cautiously approach the cave mouth and peer inside.
Four natural pillars of rock support the back of this cavern, which is 20 feet high. The pillars also surround an open area with an uneven floor. A wildly painted Goblin carrying a bucket moves out of the shadows at the back of the cave and disappears among some rocks to one side. Linton squeezes around the right side of the cave while Moltar and Thaleles move in around the left side heading toward the rocks where the Goblin was last seen.
As Linton clears the first pillar he spots another Goblin sitting on a stool with his back toward the Halfling. Linton fires an arrow into the Goblin’s back and the creature drops without a sound. Just then the Goblin with the bucket re enters the cave and is met by Thaleles’ axe and sword and Moltar’s blade. The result is a pile of thinly sliced Goblin lunchmeat on the cavern floor.
While the other Rangers scout the cavern Ghorn loots the bodies. All he finds though are a couple of old copper coins. The cavern has two back exits. One is fronted with a crude wicker gate behind which are several mountain goats who are pushing and shoving to get at the contents of the bucket the Goblin had just emptied over the gate. The second tunnel lies through a natural clef in the rock at the back of the cave. Dedric stands guard at the mouth of the cave watching for the arrival of more Goblins from out of the valley. Larissa casts ‘Light’, then she and Thaleles step over the gate and wade back through the mountain goats. The both receive a few bruises from the butting goats as they pass, but finally emerge from the tunnel in an unremarkable 10-foot high cavern that is used as a corral for livestock. There are a few small tunnels leading from the cavern. There is some evidence on the cavern floor that a goat was recently slaughtered and the carcass dragged into one of the tunnels, but the two Rangers decide not to investigate and return through the flock back to the main cave.
Linton Lights a torch while Ghorn uses his darkvision to scout down the cleft tunnel. About 30 feet down the tunnel Ghorn sees that there is another cavern. The cavern is lit by a small fire, and smells of burning flesh and hair. Sneaking a little closer, Ghorn sees a dozen Goblins in the cavern roasting a goat on the fire and fighting over the choice bites. Ghorn moves back to the main cave noting a slightly wider portion of the tunnel where it is bisected by a cleft. He tells the Rangers about the Goblins and Nyther, Moltar and Thaleles move down the tunnel to the wide spot. From here Nyther can just make out one of the Goblins sitting by the fire. He nocks and arrow and lets it fly. It loges firmly into the Goblin’s back and the creature falls forward dead. The sight of their clan-mate with an arrow sprouting from his back sends the remaining Goblins into a rage (They are Barbarians, so they ‘Rage’). As they come pouring up the tunnel Nyther puts an arrow between the leading Goblin’s eyes. Moltar and Thaleles strike out of the darkness and cut down the next Goblins to approach. Nyther drops his bow and draws his sword.
While the three Rangers bottleneck the Goblins in the tunnel, Dedric continues to guard the mouth of the cave, Larissa stands by to provide healing if necessary, Linton hangs out by the goat pen, and Ghorn ventures amidst the goats to the back of their pen cavern and begins to crawl through one of the small tunnels leading from that chamber. Ghorn finds the small tunnel very tight and cramped and gets several scrapes and bruises transversing the tunnel.
Ghorn emerges into the fire-lit room that his fellow Rangers are working on entering. Emerging on a ledge, Ghorn finds himself within striking distance of a Goblin archer who is firing arrows into the melee in the tunnel. Ghorn stabs the Goblin archer just as the Rangers in the hall slay the last Goblin blocking their path into the room. Ghorn spots three more Goblin archers in the room and moves to engage the next nearest one. Hearing their clan-mate’s body fall to the floor the Goblin archers focus their attacks on Ghorn. Fortunately they are not very good shots and all miss the Half-Orc.
Moltar, Thaleles and Nyther rush into the room followed by Larissa. The five Rangers make quick work of the remaining Goblins. Linton and Dedric, seeing their allies moving further into the cave complex follow the others into the cavern. Several small tunnels are found to exit this cave and since the party knows which tunnel Ghorn emerged from they decide to go through the other small tunnel.
Linton is ushered to the fore since he can easily fit through the narrow tunnel. Linton discovers that the tunnel is only cramped for about ten feet and then opens up enough that the other Rangers will be able to walk. The tunnel does seem to descend rather steeply at the point that it opens up, and Linton hears the faint trickle of water ahead.
Ghorn is next through the tunnel. As he emerges and begins to descend the steep slope he slips and tumbles down the rocky slope. Linton is able to jump out of the falling Half-Orc’s way as Ghorn passes. Ghorn finally comes to a stop about 20 feet down the slope in the foot deep muddy floor of a small chamber.
Moltar comes through the tunnel next. With him he brings a rope, which is tied off to aid in the descent of the steep tunnel. The other Rangers follow, all received some scrapes and bruises in their navigation of the narrow section of the passage. Dedric is the last to pass, while the others are proceeding he ransacks the goblins corpses, mutilating them and spreading them around the room. He reasons that since he is last in the marching order, he will be the first attacked if something approaches the party from the rear. He hopes the grizzly scene he is creating will deter any pursuit. With his task finished, and several silver pieces richer, since he loots as he hacked, Dedric follows through the tunnel.
As the rangers congregate at the foot of the steep slope their lights illuminate the room. The muddy floor of this chamber is crisscrossed with plenty of Goblin footprints attesting to its frequent use. Additionally the see the outline in the mud that looks like some man-sized humanoid had been trying to make mud angels. A very dirty Ghorn quickly rubs out the latter marks while trying to draw the party’s attention to several small tunnels leading from this room.
Dedric makes an attempt to convince the other Rangers that they should all turn back and that the mess he left in the last cave will be enough to keep any Goblins from coming back out of the cave complex. The other Rangers remind Dedric that he arrived after the battle with the Goblins in the steading and after the clean up and burial of the Nom Stotters. The Rangers tell him of the Goblin atrocities that were committed against the people of Nom Stot. After retching in the corner, Dedric agrees that the Goblins must be hunted down and eliminated once and for all.
Once again Linton is hoisted to the nearest opening. Larissa lights a torch, her ‘Light’ spell having ended. Linton reports back that the tunnel is a dead end and tries a second opening. He finds this tunnel forks ant then on the route he took opens up. He explores further and finds a narrow rift crossed by a plank-and-rope bridge. Figuring he is on the right track Linton goes back and ushers the other Rangers forward. In the shuffle Nyther and Ghorn get left in the rear and with out a light. Ghorn with his darkvision can see well enough, but Nyther ends up with a bloody nose as he prangs face first into a wall in the dark. Ghorn is able to lead Nyther through the narrow tunnel to the other Rangers, but not without Nyther getting banged around a bit.
At the rift, Linton easily scurries across the 15-foot long bridge. Moltar follows and then Dedric crosses. Halfway across Dedric slips and falls fortunately he is able to catch himself and pull his way back up onto the bridge and crawl the rest of the way across. The rest of the larger Rangers tie a rope around their wastes in case they fall. Larissa and Thaleles have a harder time crossing. Both stumble from the bridge and plunge into the depth of the chasm. Only the sudden tug of the rope prevents them from splattering on the rocks below. Their relief is short lived though. As the rope tightens they are swung face first against the far wall of the chasm. They are each then hoisted out of the chasm by Moltar and Dedric. Nyther and Ghorn arrive on the scene and both opt to crawl across the bridge.
Once all seven Rangers are across they proceed further down the tunnel. This tunnel also begins to descend steeply and Ghorn uses his rope to tie to the bridge then throw down the slope. With the rope in place our heroes all safely reach the bottom of the slope. They find them selves in a pillar and bolder filled chamber. They opt to follow the first tunnel they find leading from the chamber.
The tunnel widens into a great chasm. The ceiling is lost in darkness, and the floor drops out of sight below. Firelight glimmers here and there from cave mouths at various levels on both sides of the chasm, and the sound of tittering Goblin laughter echoes through the darkness. A simple rope-and-plank bridge crosses the expanse.
Linton nears the edge and drops a lit rag into the chasm. Just before it is extinguished the party sees the rag’s fire reflected off water far below. Linton quickly scurried across the bridge to scout the far side. Once there he signals to the party that the far side is clear. Thaleles, having fallen off of a much shorter bridge, decides that he will crawl the 75-foot length of this bridge with a rope tied to him. Linton meets him halfway and secures another rope to him so that if he should fall he’ll be suspended from both sides of the bridge. Once on the other side Thaleles takes the rope and holds it tight so that Larissa may cross. Larissa crawls across as well, looping the rope through her belt. Nyther follows, as does Dedric. Moltar comes next. He finds the crawling more difficult since he is doing it with a torch in hand.
The bridge suddenly shivers, and a low grinding noise reverberates through out the chasm. From somewhere below comes a single loud splash, and the bridge begins to sway alarmingly. Dust trickles down from the ceiling creating a hazy scene. Momentarily all Goblin noises stop, then comes a wild chattering of Goblin voices.
Moltar breathes a sigh of relief as he finds himself still clinging to the bridge. This turns to panic when he realizes that his torch has set fire to the bridge. He begins crawling at a furious pace. Ghorn notices Moltar’s increased pace…IN THE LIGHT OF THE BURNING BRIDGE! Ghorn ties his end of the rope around his waste and begins to run across the bridge. Moltar feels a slack in the rope from behind him and the increased bouncing of the bridge. Peering over his shoulder Moltar sees Ghorn bounding over the ignited bridge. Moltar tries to pick increase his pace, but suddenly feels a gut-wrenching tug on the rope around his waste. Ghorn has fallen from the bridge.
Moltar is barely able to maintain his hold as Ghorn reaches the end of the rope and is jerked to a halt 30 feet below Moltar. Moltar is now forced to crawl at an agonizing slow pace pulling the suspended Ghorn with him. The rest of the party watches the entrances of several caves along the chasm for signs that they’ve been discovered. Fortunately it seems that the Goblins are more concerned with the stability of the caves they are currently in than they are in investigating the rest of the cave system.
Inch by inch Moltar crawls. Behind him portions of the bridge begin to burn through. The bridge lists heavily to one side as several it the support ropes snap. Closer and closer Moltar gets to the safety of the chasm edge. Finally he makes it to the landing and is helped up by the Rangers that are already there. Just thin the bridge collapses. The burning ends swing toward the opposite sides of the chasm in graceful arcs that collide with the chasm sides is a brilliant shower of sparks.
Ghorn is just able to get a good hold on the chasm wall right before the bridge burns through and crashes into the wall next to him. He is drug to safety by the other Rangers. Once he is safe Ghorn scouts the tunnel for the party using his darkvision. The tunnel takes several turns through the rocky earth. Ahead the sound of Goblin voices are heard. Ghorn peeked around a turn and sees a couple dozen Goblins in the chamber ahead. The Goblins are still gazing at the small trails of dust and pebbles that are trickling down from cracks that have appeared in the ceiling of the chamber. Several Goblins scurry across a low shelf at the back of the cavern amidst what appears to be their personal belongings.
Once again a wide spot is found in the passageway. The Rangers quickly move into position. Thaleles, Nyther and Moltar took up the front positions, backed up by Larissa and Ghorn. Dedric and Linton remained in the rear. Initially, Larissa, Nyther and Moltar attempted to set up a staggered archery line. The managed to pick off a couple of Goblins inciting the others to ‘Rage’ and rush up the tunnel to engage the Rangers in melee. This staggered firing sequence soon degraded into confusion as the Rangers hampered by the narrow confines of the tunnel and their companions between them and the Goblins began to bump into each other, get their bows and arrows tangled and find that their shots were blocked by allies.
Thaleles and Moltar are able to hold back the Goblins even though several try to group grapple Thaleles and drag him down. Thaleles slices the head off the leading goblin and then deftly dodges out of the way of the others. Nyther is having a harder time in the fight. Whether is was the exertion, or the view of the pure gore that the goblins were being reduced to none may know, but something turned Nyther’s stomach causing him to vomit all over the wall of the niche he had squeezed into. Moltar and Thaleles managed to continue to bottleneck the Goblins, but things just got worse for Nyther. Slipping on the vomit slick rocks he stumbled, wedged his foot in a crack and broke his ankle. Slowly regaining his footing and so stoked with fury Nyther swung his sword at the nearest Goblin…and nearly severed Thaleles’ neck. Only by leaping back into Larissa was Thaleles able to save his head. This knocked Larissa off balance and she too stumbled back. Fortunately Ghorn caught and steadied her.
Not one to be shown up by the ferocity of another’s attack, Thaleles takes a mighty swing with his newly acquired sword and hits himself in the crotch. Had it not been for Larissa stepping over his writhing form on the floor the Goblins surely would have pushed into the Rangers ranks and flanked Moltar. Fortunately the Ranger’s line holds long enough for Thaleles to regain his position in the formation.
Linton tried to throw his torch over his allies and into the midst of the Goblins, but just barely missed hitting Moltar in the back of the head. The Goblins once again pushed their attack and managed to wound Moltar, Thaleles and Nyther. A few Goblins remained on the ledge at the back of the room and fired arrows into the melee. Mostly they missed, but they managed to kill a few of their brethren and even hit Larissa once.
The Goblin assault finally wavered as exhaustion began to overcome the Goblins. Those in melee with the party began to retreat to the relative safety of the ledge while the archers on the ledge continued to shower the Rangers with arrows. The Rangers advance into the room cutting down the fleeing Goblins when they can. Linton, Dedric and Ghorn return fire picking off several Goblins. Thaleles leads the advance up the slope leading to the ledge. However, once there his size becomes an issue and he is forced to fight crouched over since the ledge is only 3 feet from the ceiling. The Goblins on the ledge try to counter attack, but are repulsed by a rain of arrows from the Rangers in the room. Soon the battle is over and as the dust clears the bodies of two-dozen Goblins lay on the cavern floor illuminated by the dying light of their cook fires.
While Linton covers a tunnel at the back of the Ledge and Ghorn watches a side passage off the front of the room, the other Rangers receive healing from Larissa and Nyther, who heals his broken foot. The bodies of the Goblins are searched. Amidst the gathering of stray coins and other Goblin possessions is found a stick with fiery markings painted on it. Larissa casts ‘Detect Magic’ and the stick glows with the light of Evocation.
The party is just about to move on when the earth again begins to shake.
THE STORY CONTINUES
In the words of one of the participants...
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A page from the Journal of Dedric Gallows:
Ah well today’s events were rather interesting. We tracked those damned goblins back to this series of caves. Did I mention I’m stuck in a cave right now? Well I am, but I’ll get to that. So we were tracking these goblins back to this cave when we noticed that apparently someone else had moved in. Not only did they mark the place as their territory, but apparently the killed some of the goblins we had been tracking as well.
Well of course we decided to explore these caves. As we went in using only sunlight to light the way, we spotted a goblin emptying what later turned out to be a feed bucket for some goats. We rushed him and in the quick moment of surprise I was able to send an arrow right into the bastard dropping him without a sound. I looked around for more enemies, but someone had already taken care of another goblin, which was apparently stringing his bow. I don’t think he had a chance.
Now that we were at the back of this cave, it was already starting to get dark. The Linton produced a torch, and Larissa cast some kind of spell that made her shield glow. Now that we could all properly see, we sent out a recon party. Ghorn, the half-orc, Thaleles and Larissa went down through the goats to see if there was anything leading off that way. Much to my amusement I saw Larissa get butted by a goat. Surprisingly she didn’t kill it. I know I would have killed every one of those flea bitten animals after that. Then again I’m not nearly as animal conscious as most. Apparently there wasn’t anything that way because after a few minutes they came back. Then the halfling set off down the other hallway. Once again I stayed behind. I figured if I’m needed the time will present itself. Apparently they did find something this time, because most of them rushed off down the hall. When I turned around to see down the cave, they pretty much had it filled up, so I just waited for them to filter on through. When they stopped and then I heard the crash of battle, well I couldn’t do anything about it could I. I mean they were blocking the hall. Then I realized, hey these are goblin caves. They could come from anywhere and boy would they be in a mess if they got attacked from behind. So of course I defended their backside. I don’t think they ever realized I was helping them, because later on I got some comments about…” oh now your helping”. But that comes later.
Anyhow after a little while the din of battle receded and everyone left the tunnel to go further on. I figured the battle was over, so I went ahead to see what had happened. It was dark, but I figured they couldn’t have gone too far right? Well I was right. I about tripped over some goblin corpses though. Apparently they had decided to bottleneck the goblins in the tunnel so it was a three on one advantage for our side. I was having doubts as to whether they were really dumb or not now. They were looting the bodies when I finally got into the main chamber, where apparently they had killed more goblins, which had been eating a bloody goat.
Once they were done looting and looking around in this room, they decided to send Linton on up ahead again. This is about the time I regretted being in a party of rangers that had a halfling with them. This little bastard didn’t realize that most of us just don’t fit through the smaller caves. Then to make matters worse the others just plunged in behind him. I mean what were they thinking. We could get stuck, or better yet lost. I don’t know about them, but I’d rather be outside in the woods and stuff than lost wandering around in a cave. I didn’t like the idea of staying behind though. I have no delusion that I’m invincible or anything, and I could be overtaken by a horde of goblins. So while I was waiting for everyone else to get through the tight squeeze ahead, I started to mutilate the goblin corpses. I figured it would deter any goblins that decided to come up behind us. Since I was in the rear, that’s good for me. So I busily began hacking and throwing pieces around until the room looked like a charnel house. Now it was my time to wriggle on through. I banged my head a few times, but didn’t get close to getting stuck. Thank the gods. After I made it through the wriggle spot apparently the ground got steep. I had no trouble getting down, but after I got down I saw that a couple of the others apparently had. Then I noticed what I had stepped in. It was the foulest type of mud, a sticky sucking type. I even saw a goblin boot stuck in the mud. Now not only do I have a little bit of a headache from being banged around, but I’m in this muck. So things are looking really grim. I mean ok its one thing to come into a cave and kill the goblins, but it’s a totally different thing to go crawling around in the goblin warrens where a man just wasn’t meant to fit. I mean I could just imagine getting stuck and then there’s this goblin that comes up and starts poking me. Shudder. Anyhow I tried to talk the others out of going, but apparently I have no influence. They just looked at me, and I got this impression they though I wasn’t too bright or something. Anyhow I couldn’t go back without someone with a light going back, so I had to go on.
After a lot of wriggling we came to this narrow shoddy bridge that didn’t seem too long. It was over this nice chasm with water though. But apparently everyone had it under control as we had a rope to break our fall. Good thing. Almost everyone fell off the bridge and banged up against the wall. I figured I’d be ok because I tend to be decently dexterous, but I fell too.
So that bridge behind us and a few downgrades later and a few rope pieces lighter, we came to an even longer bridge. Now I mean this was a bridge. It was about like the other in make and width, but it was long as hell. I think these idiots were going to try to balance across like that damned halfling, but I quickly gave them a better idea. Boy would it have been a bad day if they had tried to balance across this one. Anyhow almost all of us had crawled across, when I turned around and saw that one of the idiots had set the bridge on fire. Now I’m no genius or anything, but I see the fire as being a really big threat. They didn’t seem to think much of it though. Then one of the guys fell off. Luckily he was tied onto someone else who was decently strong. So then one of the other guys grabbed the rope to help them. Finally they made it up to our side, but they kind of cut off our way back with the fire and all.
Anyhow, a short way up the cavern, apparently there was this big cave with a lot of goblins. I didn’t get to see it until a few minutes later. I came up with a plan of how we could shoot in the tight quarters and we had one guy who figured he could keep all of the goblins fended off that came down the cave. It worked ok except for two things. One I wasn’t included, so I just sat and watched the bridge. Second, from all of the cursing I heard, I don’t think they were really hitting anything. Once, or twice, I think I even heard them hit one of the others. Anyhow the bridge collapsed confirming my worst fear. I’m trapped between something that they are fighting and a deep chasm with water in the bottom. I was planning an escape route of into the water hoping that it took me out somewhere, when the battle stopped. I turned around and saw that they were making their way up the tunnel.
Thinking that I had missed out again, I was not very happy. I yelled for people to get out of my way as I was coming through, but that damned halfling got in my way. I think he saw the murderous intent in my eyes as he got out of my way. Next time I’m just going to flatten him. I made my way quickly into the cave saw that there were some archers causing problems for our guys fighting on the lower ground so I ran up behind them. A couple of them turned and tried to attack me but they missed while I chopped one down. I don’t remember much else as I was hacking and chopping, and then when I looked around there weren’t any more goblins left. Anyhow right now we’re searching corpses and hopefully we’re going to take a little bit of a rest here and figure out what we’re going to do if there isn’t another way out from here. So it is in this short reprieve that I pen these words.
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The Conclusion...
The Party is:
Linton Male Halfling Ranger 1/Rogue 2
Larissa Female Human Ranger 1/Cleric (Healing & Luck) 2
Thaleles Male Elf Ranger 1/Fighter 2
Moltar Male Half-elf Rogue 1/(MC)Ranger 2
Nyther Male Half-Elf Ranger 2/ Cleric (Healing & Animal) 1
Dedric Gallows Male Half-Elf Barbarian 2/Ranger 1
Ghorn Male Half-Orc Ranger 3
The Rangers attempt to back down the passage way and rest near the ledge that supports the remains of the collapsed bridge. Unfortunately for them this happens to be a major Goblin thoroughfare and they are constantly interrupted by groups of one to three Goblins who stumble in to the party on their way to other chambers in the cavern complex.
The Rangers finally decide that between the constant Goblin incursions and the increasing frequency of the tremors they had best press further into the complex.
With Ghorn scouting with his dark vision, the party navigates a series of jagged winding tunnels to finally emerge in a large chamber where they are able to ambush four Goblin guards in a fairly stealth and rapid manner. As they are looting the corpses the earth shakes more than it had ever before and their looting is interrupted by a large Half-Orc accompanied by three Wolverines.
The Half-Orc tosses a net over Moltar entangling him. The combat goes rapidly down hill from there for the party While they are able to collectively dispatch one of the Wolverines, the Half-Orc and the remaining Wolverines render Nyther and Thaleles unconscious. It seems then that the Mother Earth herself comes to the party’s aid. A great tremor shakes the cavern and causes one wall to collapse crushing one of the Wolverines. Several large stones fall from the ceiling, one barely missing the unconscious Nyther. A second stone Strikes the Half-Orc knocking him to the ground while a third falls nearly blocking the tunnel by which the party entered the cave. (I numbered all the squares in the room and then rolled a D6 to determine how many stones would fall then a D100 to determine where. Fortunately for the party, luck was on their side and none of them were crushed)
The Half-Orc seeing his escape path nearly cut off calls to his one remaining Wolverine breaks combat with the party and flees out of the chamber. The party, not wishing to suffer further casualties, quickly untangle Moltar and drag Nyther and Thaleles through the opening from which the Half-Orc emerged.
They are forced to crawl over a newly collapsed pile of rubble partially blocking the tunnel, but finally emerge in another chamber. This chamber seems to have weathered the quake fairly well. Bits of gear and personal items scattered around suggest that this cave belongs to someone special – perhaps the Goblin war chief. Flickering light from a single torch sends shadows dancing along the walls. The chamber stinks of animals, but the only sound to be heard is the snap and crackle of the flame. Dust fills the air and small rivulets of it stream from cracks in the ceiling. After a few moments a loud chanting and beating of drums can be heard from an opening on the far side of the cavern.
Linton retrieves the torch to find that it is a magical ‘Ever-Burning Torch’. Larissa begins to treat the wounded while Ghorn cautiously scouts the exit from the room. Beyond the sound of the Goblin drums and chanting grows louder, but the room beyond is empty of foes.
The chamber is long and narrow, and the walls were once lined with objects that might have once been someone’s greatest treasures, but are now nothing more than Goblin junk befouled by the creatures and scattered across the floor by the quake. Rusted weapons, dented armor and broken shields lie where the earth’s movement tossed them. Piles of rotting cloth, tarnished plates, broken goblets and cracked skulls complete the ambience of the chamber. This room too has an exit at the far end and it is from this tunnel exiting the room that the Goblin cacophony echoes. Moltar calls Larissa, the only Ranger to speak Goblin, to come see if she can hear what the Goblins are chanting. A now conscious Thaleles baring the ‘Ever-burning Torch’ accompanies her to Moltar’s side.
“Earth demon, take our offerings”. Then a cheer then Drums and more hooting and hollering followed by the chant again. As Moltar is about to scout the tunnel Thaleles notices a bolder on the wall near the exit seems to be blocking the entrance to another tunnel.
The rest of the party moves into the room and helps Thaleles move the bolder while Moltar keeps watch. Beyond the bolder is a small chamber in which a coffer and a barrel are stashed. The party thinks that this might be a good place to hold up and rest for a while. They all move into the cramped chamber and using a rope drag the bolder back into place. Once the bolder is back in position they untie the rope, douse their torches and place the ‘Ever-burning Torch’ in a sack.
There in the dark the rest and pray and listen to the chanting Goblins.
After a couple of hours the chanting stops and shortly after the sound of several Goblins moving through the outer chamber is heard. Followed by cursing that Larissa translates as ”That Elf born Murkko and his thrice damned fur beasts! He’s taken my gold and run away like a Dwarf! Send some hunters and bring back his head!”
A series of after shocks then ripple through the chamber and a Goblin shouts “Back to the Maw! We must feed the Demon!” Shortly thereafter, the drumming and chanting resume.
As they rest Linton investigates the coffer using the smallest shaft of light he can allow to escape the sack containing the ’Ever-burning Torch’. Linton picks the lock on the coffer and finds a vial of yellow oil (Oil of Slipperiness), sever gems and a pearl inside. Larissa cast ‘Detect Magic’ and sees a glow from the vial and the pearl. Dedric opens the vile and the scent of bananas fills the small chamber. He considers drinking the substance, but is stopped by Larissa who mentions that she doesn’t think drinking oil is a good idea.
Having rest enough to heal and regain spells, the Party emerges from the cave.
The Rangers move to the tunnel from which the sound of the Goblins emanates. Slowly progressing through the winding tunnel the party stumbles upon the remains of a rope-and-plank bridge that has been smashed to kindling when the Chasm it was spanning closed. The party is now able to step over the small remaining gap and proceed toward the din.
Ahead the party spots the flicker of firelight. Ghorn creeps down the passageway and peers into the chamber beyond. Painted howling Goblins fill the mammoth, 20-foot-high cave. The floor consists of several tiers and natural shelves some rising as close to 5 feet from the ceiling. A large rift bisects the floor of the chamber. From it comes an eerie red glow and the smell of sulfur. The air in the chamber is noticeably hotter here. On a platform just below Ghorn stands a huge Goblin painted in vivid red loops and swirls. Above his head he waves a glowing longsword (+2), and at his sides stand two other Goblins painted in equally barbaric designs. Scattered through out the rest of the cavern are just over a score of additional Goblins, shouting and beating on drums.
Another small tremor shakes the cavern and all the Goblins go silent until it subsides. Then they once again break into wild yells and howling. The Goblin with the glowing sword climbs down several tiers and Ghorn moves for a better view. From his new vantage point he is able to see that the lead Goblin has moved town by the smoking rift to where several other Goblins lie bound. On the arm of one of these tied Goblins Ghorn can make out a golden gauntlet.
As Ghorn watches the head Goblin’s aids haul one of the bound Goblins to his knees. The head Goblin then raises the glowing longsword , bellows something that Ghorn can’t understand, and then decapitates the prisoner. The Goblin prisoner’s body is then hurled into the rift after it’s severed head. All the Goblins go wild, and then suddenly another tremor shakes the cavern complex.
Ghorn retreats back to the party and informs them that the Goblins are making sacrifices to something in the smoking rift and that what ever is in the chasm is causing the earthquakes.
The party decides to backtrack and try another tunnel they hadn’t explored back in the room where the Half-Orc had attacked them. They move back through the trophy hall and the chief’s quarters. As they are entering their intended cave another tremor shakes the cavern. A large portion of the ceiling collapses and Linton and Ghorn find them selves separated from the rest of the party by a large portion of mostly collapsed tunnel. Neither part of the party seems particularly interested in trying to cross the very unstable rubble pile.
Ghorn and Linton that they can hear the sound of the Goblin din coming from the tunnel they were planning to explore. They investigate and find that it leads to the same large cave. The party decides that if they don’t stop the Goblin’s ritual it is likely that the entire complex will collapse and kill them all. They decide to make a two-pronged assault with Linton and Ghorn attacking from the rear of the cave as the rest of the party attacks form the point Ghorn had originally scouted.
Linton and Ghorn take up positions and wait for the rest of the party to move back into place.
DM Note: The Goblins are making sacrifices to try to stop the earthquakes and are not causing them. All that resides in the rift in the cavern is a flowing stream of lava about 50 feet down.
The party once again backtracks and moves into the mouth of the tunnel overlooking the rift cavern with its teams of Goblins.
The party strikes fast and furiously. Several Goblins are cut down before they know they are being attacked.
Linton and Ghorn add to the confusion by striking out of the darkness at the other end of the cavern. Linton is able to dispatch two Goblins before they notice Ghorn and him. Ghorn moves to engage several Goblins in combat but is slowly repulsed and forces to give ground.
After the shock of the initial assault the Goblins are able to mount a defense and even take on an assault against the party. Several Goblin archers take up positions across the cavern on some of the higher ledges and pepper the main party with arrows. Other Goblins including the chief and his sub chiefs also are able to charge the party and engage them in melee. Thaleles is the first to fall under the Goblin’s vicious onslaught, but he takes sever Goblins with him. Moltar manages to kill the Goblin Chief before he too is struck down. Larissa tends their wounds while Dedric and Nyther hold off the slowly stemming tide of Goblins. Nyther attempts to claim the Goblin chief’s glowing sword, but finds that as soon as he picks it up he becomes the target for every Goblin around, all of whom seem interested in claiming the sword as well.
Ghorn is finally cut down and only Linton’s quick attack on the remaining Goblin on that side of the cave saved Ghorn from being finished off. Linton then dragged Ghorn back into the darkness of the tunnel and out of the cave.
Dedric and Nyther manage to slay the remaining Goblins that are in melee with them, but are still being harasses by several Goblin archers from across the cavern. Additionally, a Goblin that they suspect is a shaman has climbed up and taken a position with the Goblin Archers. Dedric and Nyther retreat back around the corner into the entrance of the tunnel and out of the sight of the archers. There they help Larissa with their fallen comrades.
At this point I distributed the experience for the Goblins that had been defeated
Session 10
Linton Male Halfling Ranger 1/Rogue 3
Larissa Female Human Ranger 1/Cleric (Healing & Luck) 3
Thaleles Male Elf Ranger 1/Fighter 3
Moltar Male Half-Elf Rogue 2/(MC)Ranger 2
Nyther Male Half-Elf Ranger 3/ Cleric (Healing &Animal) 1
Dedric Gallows Male Half-Elf Barbarian 2/Ranger 1/Fighter 1
Ghorn Male Half-Orc Ranger 4
Moltar and Thaleles regained consciousness while Ghorn remained unconscious. An archery battle then began with the few remaining Goblins atop an outcropping on the far side of the cavern. It soon becomes apparent that the Goblins are to well concealed for the party to hit so Moltar and Thaleles, backed up by Nyther begin to advance down the tiers on their side of the cavern and then up the outcropping on the far side. The Goblins continue to pepper the Rangers with arrows but only manage to nick Moltar.
Nyther picks up the glowing sword on the way. As the three approach the outcropping a Goblin dressed in robes emerges from behind the Goblin archers and casts a spell. The Rangers are seemingly able to shrug off the effects, but Nyther finds that he is unable to climb the steep tiers of the outcropping. He promptly blames this on the Goblin’s spell.
Meanwhile Larissa continues to keep the Goblin archers pinned with suppressing fire from her bow. Dedric begins to stealthfully descend the tiers toward the bound Goblins lying by the edge of the fiery chasm. In the glow of the molten lava he slits the throats of the two remaining Goblin prisoners.
Once again the Goblin Shaman casts a spell on the advancing Rangers who once again suffer no adverse effects. Nyther finally manages to scale the first tier of the outcropping but fails repeatedly to ascend the next tier, cursing the vile Goblin “Anti-Climbing spell” all the while.
In the face of the onslaught, the remaining Goblins break cover and flee down the far side of the outcropping. Larissa picks one off, and Thaleles cuts down another who is slower to flee than his brethren. Nyther moves to intercept and slay another of the foul creatures as they descend past him. The three remaining Goblins reach a tier that borders the chasm and is 10 feet higher than the cavern floor on the chasm’s far side. Without breaking stride they jump. The first Goblin makes it across and lands in a heap…right next to Linton who had been sneaking closer to the backside of the outcropping the Goblins had been sniping from. Linton moves to attack the prone beast when the Goblin Shaman leaps the chasm and collides with Linton on the far side. Seeing a halfling emerge from the darkness to break the Goblin Shaman’s fall, the third Goblin is thrown out of stride, stumbles and plunges screaming into the glowing chasm. His demise is highlighted by a flare of flame that bursts from the chasm at his point of entry.
Linton franticly tries to extract himself from the two Goblins as all three attempt to regain their feet. First to his feet, but not first to his weapon, which was knocked away in his collision with the Goblin Shaman, Linton finds himself slowly backing away from both Goblins who have managed to stand and draw wickedly serrated long knives. A bellowing war cry suddenly breaks the silence as Thaleles flings himself across the chasm and into the Goblin Shaman. Thaleles’ landing is cushioned by the splattering Shaman’s head as Thaleles bears his foe to the ground driving the Goblin face first into the stone floor. (jump check natural 20/attack roll natural 20 confirmed with a natural 19…and the Shaman only had 3 hp left). As the remaining Goblin turns to face this new threat Moltar puts an arrow between its eyes from atop the ledge across the chasm.
With their foes defeated, the party investigates the opening atop the outcropping the Goblins had been sniping from and find that it has collapsed. It seems that their only way out is through the nearly completely collapsed passageways.
Larissa, Moltar, Nyther, and Dedric retreat back through the trophy hall and Goblin Leader’s room back to the pile of rubble that separates them from Thaleles, Ghorn , and Linton. Eying the pile they decide that they can push through, but not without suffering some serious injury. Dedric then comes up with the idea to put the Banana scented oil on a cloak and then use the “slickened” cloak to ease each of the party’s trip through the narrow passages. After tying a rope to the cloak so that they don’t lose it Dedric moves through the narrow area and finds that the cloak does indeed make the trip easier. Linton, who because of his size never had a problem navigating the narrow areas, then using the rope pulled the cloak back to the remaining rangers. While time intensive the procedure proved highly effective. Once on the same side as Ghorn, Larissa used her magic to help him regain consciousness.
Using the cloak the party manages to move fairly easily through the partially collapsed passages. Along the way they are suddenly attacked by a wandering Carrion Crawler that managed to paralyze Ghorn and Moltar before the rest of the party defeated the beast.
The party eventually made it back to the ruined bridge that they had burned down. From there they trekked through the chamber where they had previously defeated a large number of Goblins. This chamber was now full of rubble, but a small opening was spotted at its rear. Passing through this cramped chamber the party found themselves in an area of the complex that seemed virtually untouched by the earthquake.
Here the tunnel divided from one direction the sound of Goblin voices could be heard. The party chose the other passage, but soon found that it seemed to lead to Goblins. Rounding a corner, the party found themselves standing on a shelf at the edge of the great rift they had crossed earlier. However, across the chasm they could see several goblins in the firelight of a different ledge that had the remains of a collapsed bridge trailing down the chasm’s wall from where it was anchored to the ledge’s lip. However, about 30 feet further down the far chasm wall was another ledge with an intact bridge leading across the chasm. This bridge apparently terminated on the party’s side of the chasm on a ledge about 30 feet further down the party’s side of the chasm.
The party backtracked and took the tunnel they had avoided earlier. In front of them was a room inhabited by several Goblins, the ruins of a bridge that once spanned the rift at this point lay at the chasm’s edge. The party rushed into the room quickly cutting down the startled Goblins. From across the ravine came a hail of arrow fire to which the party responded in kind. Three of the five Goblins on the far side of the chasm were killed and the remaining two retreated into the darkness.
The intact bridge the party had seen earlier apparently terminated on the party’s side of the chasm just on the other side of a 5ft thick portion of the cavern wall that separated the bridge landing from the ledge the party was on. The party spent some time trying to figure how to get to the bridge, which was only 10 feet across what might well be a bottomless chasm. Linton considered drinking his potion of ‘Jump’ and leaping, but the party finally decided on throwing a grappling hook tied off to their last rope over to snag the bridge then having Linton swing down and climb up the rope to tie it off to the bridge so that the rest of the party could cross. The lose end of the rope was tied off to the remains of the bridge on the party’s landing. Linton threw the hook and missed the bridge, nearly tumbling over the ledge himself. On the second throw the hook caught on the bridge and Linton swung down it. Suddenly a Goblin burst from the darkness on the far side of the chasm and sprinted across the bridge wielding a huge ax and aiming to sever the rope to which Linton was clinging, but not tied to. Linton franticly scrambled up the rope, but knew he wouldn’t make it to the bridge in time. Thaleles fired an arrow at the Goblin and missed. Moltar’s arrow likewise went astray, as did Larissa’s. The Goblin swung his ax, which bit deeply into the planking of the bridge narrowly missing the rope. As he readied a second blow Dedric put an arrow through his head and he tumbled from the bridge into the darkness of the rift. Before the party had a chance to estimate the depth of the chasm by the sound of the Goblin’s descent a second Goblin emerged from the darkness and began hacking at the bridge supports on the far side of the chasm. Dedric, Thaleles, Larissa, Moltar and Nyther all fired as one and the Goblin exploded in a crimson spray as all five arrows struck home.
Linton at last made it onto the bridge and tied the rope more securely. He then moved to the far side of the ravine to watch for more Goblins. The other party members carefully crossed the rope to the bridge, except Dedric who simply scaled the 5ft section of wall separating the two ledges. The party then all crossed the bridge.
Once on the same side of the chasm as the cavern entrance the party made their way through several partially collapsed chambers and new clefts in the rocks to finally emerge in the cavern that still served as a goat pen. They carefully made their way through the panicked animals…um…OK, so they killed all the animals with arrows from a ledge overlooking the cavern and then made their way safely through the corpse strewn chamber to exit the Goblin warrens via the partially collapsed cave mouth.
After emerging from the cave and making their way back through the valley, the rangers are reunited with some of their fellow Rangers who were still in the valley. That night they celebrated their victory with a huge feast of roast goat. During the festivities they learned that the earthquakes had done more than nearly trap the party in the cave. After the quake a large square opening appeared about 50 feet up on a nearby cliff face by the lakeshore. Eminating from the left edge of the opening was an oscillating spectrum of light. From the base of the cliff, only the metal plated ceiling of the Opening can bee seen.
Someone should investigate this new mystery…
ASEO out