After obtaining their gear, Andrunil cried out over the lack of his halberd being among the items, announcing that he would walk through fires to get it back. The party steeled themselves, expecting the Goblins to bring back reinforcements, but the ever curious nature of Galdur saw him occupied by something else.
Four pillars encircled an area that was walled off from the rest of the cave. While Andrunil stood in anguish on the poorly paved stone path, the rest of the party slowly moved around the bramble roots, to investigate the clearly constructed part.
When they came around to it, they discovered an altar as used in older sacrificial rituals. Upon it was an unconscious small figure; a Gnome with fiery red hair. At the first glance, he appeared to be sleeping, but after calling out to him with no response, it was clear that something had knocked the Gnome out. Upon further investigation, no wounds were seen on him, but traces of some form of liquid was still on his lips; he had been sedated, presumably to be sacrificed at some other time.
Nak’Ral went in to move the Gnome off of the altar, but despite the Gnome’s lacking size, Nak’Ral’s less than muscled arms just barely managed to lift the Gnome off. As he did, the others, now also joined by Andrunil, investigated the altar, and discovered that it was covered with symbols to the god of conquest, Bane.
Slugging the Gnome over his shoulder with ease, Adrunil spearheaded the others onward in the cave; determined to re-obtain his halberd. They all followed, staying on the paved path. As the party spotted the remains of a small corpse, the skeletal remains laying at the edge of a dirty looking pool of still, greenish water. As the corpse was examined, the Gnome woke up, slightly confused.
Alfyn tried to speak reason with the rowdy bunch, not fully aware of the danger he had been in. Nak’Ral suggested, jokingly, that they should sacrifice him themselves; it might buy them a way out of this prison. Alfyn, to no surprise, was not particular fond of this, but through some talking back and forth, the group venture forward.
At the next bend, the war-cries of multiple Goblins rung through the cave. Out behind a rock, a band of five Goblins in various armour and weaponry appeared, with one hurling a sharp rock from his sling, aimed for the group, hitting Blellow in the side. A series of bright, blue lights caught the other Goblins by surprise, as they tried to fend against the spell, while fighting.
Meanwhile Therion had found another Goblin corpse behind a thick spider-web. Turning it over revealed a nest of spiders, that crawled onto Therion, biting him significantly, until they could pushed off by the flame from a torch. The Goblin had been covering a strange book. The dark-brown leather binding was covered by a strange, black substance, that was identified as Mage Rot, a type of fungi that would grow on surfaces or items that had once been used for magic. However, the Mage Rot made the book impossible to open.
A single, lowly Goblin swung it’s club at Andrunil, only to be smacked unconscious by his quarter-staff; Andrunil wanted his halberd back, and this Goblin would help him obtain it. One way or the other. As the rest of the Goblins were defeated, Galdur shackled the feinted Goblin, and used a rope to bind the Goblin to himself.
Moving into a walled in room, the group found themselves back inside the prison complex. An old, mostly abandoned pantry made for their entry point. Alfyn conjured up an ethereal owl, to search an upstairs area, that turned out to contain nothing but piles of planks and some rope.
Meanwhile Andrunil and Galdur were questioning the now awake Goblin, who through some very scare screeching turned out to be named “Steek”. Under the promise of survival, the group used Steek to lure some of the Goblins waiting for them in an upstairs room, down to meet their demise. The room, scouted out by Alfyn’s owl, had a significant number of Goblins, including some in what appeared to be home-made plate armour.
The party went up, without investigating more of the sub-level, preparing to fight the Goblins, with Steek in tow.
Qa'Rajh Creations 