Starting your custom DnD campaign – goblin encounters

For DM’s who wish for a smooth start to a new campaign

There’s nothing quite like starting up a new D&D campaign, getting together with new or old friends. But especially for new DM’s setting the balance for the difficulty of the first encounters, can be a bit tricky.

The classic starting foe, is to many campaigns, the regular Goblin. Please note that there’s nothing wrong with using the classic monsters, but to more experienced players, this choice might be a bit boring. As a DM, you are the one telling the story, whether that is an official Wizards of the Coast story, that have been told thousand of times before, or if it’s a custom campaign, where you’ve meticulously written down why birds fly and how grass is green. If a monster makes sense in regards to the story, then you can be pretty sure you won’t get many complaints.

But let’s take a closer look at why Goblins are a preferred foe to start with. First off, we’re looking at their Hit-Points (HP). Here the standard Goblin clocks in with 7 (as per standard Monster Manual). 7 HP is enough to survive a hit from most one-handed melee weapons and ranged weapons, and usually it’s enough to survive the starting cantrips as well. Already here, the Goblin is a good choice. Because while the players can see their attacks hit and do damage, the Goblin still provides enough of a challenge, that all enemies aren’t just one-shot-kills which would ruin most of the idea about an encounter.

Goblins are versatile in their standard choice of weaponry; a scimitar and shield for melee and a short-bow for ranged. Seeing as both of these weapons rely on the DEX modifier, Goblins have a +4 to hit. This is where Goblins are a bit of a handful, especially if the party is small, or doesn’t have more than one semi-tank character. While their damage output isn’t amazing, they more often than not, hit the target they are fighting.

When looking at a Goblin’s armor, it have a leather armor and a shield, totaling up to an AC of 15. Most magic users, bards and rogues are usually below this, at level 1. Here it’s important to notice that the Goblins, just like anyone else, requires two hands to use a short-bow. If the general rule is to be followed, this means that they cannot be using a shield effectively, while shooting or rather between shooting. As such a good balanced encounter with Goblins can go as following:

4 player characters (PCs)

4 Goblins

“Three Goblins have their scimitars at hand, two up front, ready to engage, one slightly behind, looking how the fight is turning. The fourth Goblin is even further back with it’s short-bow loaded.”

If the two in front engages, the third will likely have time to decide (through you as the DM) if he wants to get in close or begin to change weapons into a ranged. The ranged Goblins might have their shield on their backs, or right beside them, but they are not using it, so remember to remove 2 from their total AC, bringing them down to 13.

While the ranged Goblins might seem the bigger threat, because the party’s melee-focused characters can’t get to them straight away, the biggest threat to the players is actually in the Goblins that you decide go for melee. With the combination of an AC 15 and a +4 to hit, not even a Fighter in Chain-mail and a shield (for an effective 18 AC) can feel at ease. Whereto the lower AC of the ranged Goblins means that they can be taken down fairly quickly.

If you want to make a Goblin encounter harder, you can make use of the Goblins’ ability “Nimble Escape”, which allows them to not only disengage, but also to dash or hide, just the like the Rogue of the party would at level 2. This makes the ranged Goblins even more dangerous, as they can use the Hide action to essentially, unless in fully open terrain, vanish and make themselves a lot harder to hit.

Character backstory: Val’Kiroth Amblarex

As the second-born of a family of prospectors, owning a mine in which Val’s great-great-great-grandfather and -grandmother met and worked. Living a long life, making an honest pay from the work in the rich mine, when they finally retired, his great-great-great-grandfather was a supervisor in the mine, overseeing the training of new workers. A position that their children took upon them in time.

When Val’s father, Wrakull Amblarex, was young, he was already in charge of organizing the ore-hauls going to merchants, and the purchasing of supplies for the miners. From that position, it didn’t take long for Wrakull to eventually own the mine, essentially being the most important figure in the settlement, that over the years had risen around the mine.

Wrakull was known as a strict, conservative man, though he managed to create the image among the workers, that he himself had worked his way up from the same position as they were in. But this was in part because Wrakull, through an agent at the local tavern, had heard some of the workers speaking of revolting and taking over the mine. Wrakull also set out to increase the safety of the mine-shaft, reinforcing the supports, replacing the damaged ones and having back-up digging teams on standby, in case of a cave-in.

Wrakull had hoped to birth a son first, so when his firstborn instead turned out to be a girl, he immediately set out, with his wife Hasiras, to birth another child. This child would become Val’kiroth.

Val’s upbringing was easy, along with his one-year-older sister, his father’s wealth were able to help overcome most difficulties, that children in a rough and tumble mining town normally would face. Including hiring a well-renowned Elf to teach Val and his sister Earrys a more refined etiquette, as well as the Elvish language.

Were Earrys took an interest in food, both eating and cooking, Val’s interests were more in accounting and wealth, to his father’s joy.

When Val was old enough, and with Earrys about to be married to another wealthy Dragonborn family, his father asked Val to go out and expand his and his sister’s new family’s trading network.

A Herbalist’s Notes, part four

The jungle continues to wear on our numbers and strength, and our morale isn’t much to write home about either. While the faction against Don Kelprys is the vast majority, the Don is quick to remind everyone that he is the one paying. All of the guards and the Tabaxi trackers have all received payment in advance, and the Don even promised to pay for the University to hold a funeral to Pieros. This kept most people in check, but it was obvious that it was just a question of when the desperation and the situation, would turn against the Don.

Meanwhile my effort into making anti-venom have proved fruitful in terms of keeping almost anyone friendly with me. I’m no healer, but one of the guards came up to me the other day, on his own accord, to show me a scar on his wrist, that he got while scavenging for herbs and food. While nothing in the scar tissue indicated infections or poisons, I cleaned it with sterile water and a piece of cloth. I then applied a salve on and around the scar, and told the guard to avoid covering the scar until it had healed. The young man offered me a bottle of De Cabaniro wine, that he and another of the guards had smuggled along. Captain Merra had been strict against alcoholic beverages, even before we began losing people, but a real De Cabaniro wine would cost a fortune under normal circumstances. I told him to come again around midnight, under the excuse of letting me see how the scar was healing.

The two guards opened the bottle as quiet as a mouse, originally, they had intended for me to get the entire bottle for myself. But when I offered that we’d share it, for the sake of friendship, it didn’t take them long to comply. The crimson liquid that flowed into my cup had an enticing and enchanting scent. I took a gentle sip, and the rich savoury flavour poured into my mouth, embracing my throat on it’s way down. Despite the jungle’s humid and hot climate, the warmth that I felt inside from that bottle, was incredible.

The next day, Don Kelprys got a reason to keep the expedition going; while scavenging for food, Captain Merra came across a small stone totem, it looked like a snake, but with four heads. Each head had three gemstones lodged as “eyes”. On Don Kelprys demand, the totem was carefully examined and studied, as much as we scholars could gather, this was a real artifact, perhaps from one of the ancient Dragonborn cities, that was said to dwell in the depth of this jungle. A guard, the friend of the one I had applied salve to, asked if he should dislodge the gemstones with his dagger. Don Kelprys slapped the guard with the back of his hand. “You fool, items like these are the most valuable, if they remain intact.”

Now and then we came across remains of other expeditions, mostly skeletal remains, halfway covered by the wild undergrowth. It made me wonder on how many failed expeditions the jungle was hiding. It was impossible, apart from a single skull, probably Human, to tell how most of the skeletons perished. The skull in question had a very large fracture on the top, suggesting a blunt instrument was used with considerable force. Here and there, rusted and broken equipment could be found among the vines. If there was an ancient civilization here, their roads and paths had long since been swallowed by the growth of the forest.

A Herbalist’s Notes, part three

We lost two guards over night, both of them had small blow-darts sticking out of their throats. When the remaining guards went to move the corpses, it was as if their bones had melted inside of their body, and only flesh and organs were holding their limbs together. Captain Merra took a single glance at the gruesome sight, carefully removing one of the darts for inspection. “We have entered Troglodyte territory, I need every guard to stay alert, ready your shields.”

After that speech, most of the party dispersed back to the tents. But Captain Merra signaled to me, that she wanted to talk. “You dabble in plants and potions, yes?” I merely nodded; now was not the right time to lecture her about what a herbalist was and wasn’t. “I need you to make some basic anti-venom potions, preferably enough for every man or woman to have at least two potions at hand.” I could sense the desperation in her voice, and with the knowledge of her having survived three expeditions like this into the jungle before, made me realise that our situation was dire.

I put aside my studies and began, with the basic potion kit to make antidote potions. The guards were more than happy to help with gathering ingredients. The Tabaxi trackers spotted the Troglodytes from time to time, but the reptiles kept their distance for now. Tensions were getting higher, as Captain Merra and the guards seemed to become less and less fond of our expedition’s fund-raiser, Don Kelprys, who insisted that we kept going deeper into the jungle. I don’t believe anyone, except him, knew what we hoping to find.

A Herbalist’s Notes, part two

We had our first casualty yesterday. I had expected it to be one of the guards or maybe one of our guides, but in fact it was Pieros. The man that had called himself one of the most promising scholars on wildlife and creatures, had been wandering out on his own, as some tracks had led him away from the campsite. His agonizing cries startled us all deeply. As the guards carried him back, he was rambling, his eyes wide open in terror, the makeshift stretcher held him steady, but he was already talking in tongues, flailing his arms about.

We had no healer or priest with us, the guards had some bandages and splints for treating common weapon-induced. It took two of the biggest guards to keep Pieros down, while Captain Merra examined Pieros’ body. Merra’s face turned sour, when she found two small puncture wounds, near Pieros’ ankle; the area of skin around them swollen and purple, the veins black and twitching from the wound. Sha’duush shook his head, “It’s over, he doesn’t live another day, the Fokal Mamba is deadly.” The guards took off their helmets, and bowed their heads. Merra turned to me, “I trust you can handle his documents and the sad news. We won’t be able to get his body back out of the forest, I need all the guards to protect this expedition.” I had thought it a little rude to talk about Pieros like that, when he was still flailing.

About an hour later, his veils had grown weaker, foaming at the mouth, his pupils darted side to side in his head. We had all tried to ignore it, but it was clear that some of the guards wasn’t taking it very well. When his veiling suddenly stopped, everyone sighed in relief. But seeing Mithrik pull a curved dagger out of Pieros’ chest, it almost caused the guards to draw blades at the Tabaxi. Luckily, Captain Merra stood up before things got out of hand. Our morale had taken a beating, but our expedition funder, a merchant and noble that I had heard referred to as “Don Kelprys”, insisted that we continued.

A Herbalist’s Notes, part one

Our expedition hired two Tabaxi guides in Doleks; Sha’duush and Mithrik, they seem to bicker a bit when it comes to path-finding, but seem to have a game of their own, to decide between them while staying friendly. We were advised to not get more than one guide from the same house. As soon as we strike up our first camp, I’ll try and speak with one of them to hear if they know about the plants and herbs here.

The humidity of Fokal’s dense trees and undergrowth, caught me by surprise at first. Our expedition leader, Captain Merra, suggested more thick clothing than loose. At first I was surprised, surely the temperature and heat, similar to the Trelland Desert, would be unbearable. But I came to discover, along with my other fellow scholars, that the thick and sturdy cloth made for a great idea, as several thorns and prickly plants would have torn our garments to shreds. With the canopy closing off for the sunlight, the temperature here in the forest, was actually kind of nice. I worry that the humidity is bad for my parchment and writing utensils.

I have already collected multiple samples, I shall write a full report once I have examined them back at home. Sha’duush seems more talkative than Mithrik, I’ve gathered that a large variety of ferns, or as Sha’duush calls them “Curled-grass”, grows on the dirt here. Some are poisonous, and some of them even have tiny needles affixed with various toxins along their leaves. I spoke to Captain Merra regarding this, as I felt it may benefit the expedition to be cautious around, she confirmed that she had heard of such plants.

We had our first run in with the wildlife of Fokal today, a horse-sized reptillian tried to grab a bite off of one of the guards, whose face was visibly white in shock. The guards managed to scare the thing off, by waving torches at it’s face, I’ll keep a note to myself about that creatures here do not like fire. My fellow scholar, the venerable Pieros, was saddened that we did not manage to kill the creature, for him to study, but he still got to spend a good deal of time scribbling things down.

A Tale of Catacrach – A Dungeons & Dragons 5E Adventure – Part 2

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.

Food, Drink and D&D – Etiquette

For all who have played Dungeons and Dragons, or a similar game, we all know that getting through the, often, more than three hours on just air alone, can be rough.

Especially because D&D is a game where you can be expected to do silly voices, and talk a relative lot. It’s completely natural to become thirsty or hungry during that time, and it might even make for a great bonding experience to eat together. But not all food items make for a good D&D time, so here’s a little piece on what you can stuff into your face without worry. Notice that I’m not saying you can’t eat or drink certain things, this is merely a mixture of my experiences and advice based upon this experience.

Pizza

Pizza is a classic food item for D&D, as it is easy to order almost anywhere in the world, and with most pizza places offering a wide range of items to put on, it is hard to find someone who doesn’t like pizza. Most pizza that you order is cut into slices, which means that you can eat some of it at your own pace. If the locale you’re playing at have options for re-heating, it can last a lot longer still.

However pizza can be a delicious pitfall for your D&D session, so consider it carefully when ordering food.

The first and perhaps most notable thing about pizza, is grease. In particular on pizzas with pepperoni or bacon. These types of meat may be the most tastiest, but they also contain natural fats, which, when heated up, turns into an oily grease.

Grease can somehow manage to get into the weirdest of places, but more notably, it gets on paper and pens. To avoid this, eat any meal at a different table, if possible, than the one where you are playing. With greasy foods such as pizza, it can also be a good idea to have everyone wash and dry their hands after eating.

Another thing about pizza is that it is often a fairly salty meal. The thing about salty meals and snacks, is that they make you thirsty, but I’ll get to drinks later on in this post.

Chinese/Vietnamese/Thai

The south-eastern Asian cuisines are also a popular choice, as there usually is a very short waiting time and, just like pizza, there’s a large variety. Unfortunately most of these dishes are not of the “dry” variety, so you should having it anywhere near your character sheets. This type of food is also fairly salty, which should warrant a slight warning of it’s own.

Barbecue

Various bbq foods can be very tasty and can fill your stomach with it’s rich meats and sugary flavours. It should go without saying that bbq makes you thirsty, as it is both a fairly fat and a fairly salty type of dishes.

Rice, bulgur and quinoa (and pasta)

This is actually some of the best food for D&D. All of these are not only healthy (which isn’t really a focus point of this post, but hey, positives sell), but also very good at filling your stomach for a long time. Excellent for those grueling six hours or more, if you’re pulling an all-nighter. These food items have very little fat, that can turn into grease, and usually they aren’t all that salty either.

Pasta can work a bit of the same qualities as rice, bulgur and quinoa. However it seems the more popular pasta dishes are Mac n’ Cheese and Spaghetti Bolognese, these are unfortunate as they tend to be rather greasy.

Bread

Sandwiches are a great way to get a large variety of easily eaten foods in. But bread might not be the best idea. Crumbs and other parts can fall off/out of the sandwich, so keep it away from character sheets and other paper.

Drinks

While deep in a delving quest, the players can get thirsty, making them do less voice acting. Even more so if you’re the DM. A lot of drinks can work, but there are also things to be aware of.

Coffee is a great pick-me up drink, when you’re low on energy, and most people become in a better mood after even just a sip. Coffee does have downsides too though, as coffee is diuretic. This means that you’ll likely need to head to the bathroom a little more than usual, but if you don’t mind that, there shouldn’t be an issue.

Tea is great for the DM in particular, especially if your D&D have a lot of NPCs, and as such, a lot of different voices that the DM needs to make. Tea can be soothing, help you take care of your vocal chords, to keep them (and you) from getting hoarse.

Soda is actually a counter-active drink, as drinking soda tend to make you more thirsty, so if you combine a soda with a greasy type of food, you’re going to become very thirsty after and during eating your meal.

Energy drinks can work to give you a boost of energy, as the name suggests, but they tend to be even more diuretic than coffee, as the amounts of caffeine is higher and more concentrated in the average energy drink, than in a regular cup of black coffee.

Other substances

It is always important to communicate needs and ideas with your D&D group, to work out what is accepted and what is crossing the line of what is acceptable behaviour.

If you have agreed to consume alcohol, there isn’t a problem. Just be aware that alcohol gets very sticky when spilled, so it might be a good idea to keep an eye out, if someone starts getting shaky hands when pouring a drink or taking a sip.

In general, communication is key. Ask if someone in your group have any allergies, and try to mind them as best you can, when you’re ordering or making food, that way D&D becomes a great experience for all, just as it should.

How NOT to build an MMORPG quest (rant)

So far the worst quest I have come across in The Elder Scrolls series (from playing Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and ESO) has got to be the quest “A Lasting Winter” in the Elder Scrolls Online. In this quest, you are tasked with finding powerful relics for Queen Ayrenn’s ratification ceremony, as a part of the Aldmeri Dominion quest-line in Grahtwood. Upon arriving at the Falinesti Winter Site, you’re met by an NPC who gives a vague description of what’s going on. She asks that you find a different NPC, further in amongst the ruins. This NPC will, conveniently, be able to activate certain Welkynd stones around the area. So you have to guide him around an area with absolutely no enemies whatsoever, to watch projections of an Elf denying a Khajiiti trickster God the chance to sleep with her. Since there are no enemies, it makes you wonder why he couldn’t have gone and seen for himself, and just summarized things for you.

Upon completing this, we’re sent to yet ANOTHER NPC, who basically says “I don’t know what’s going on, but what you’re looking for is in one of the caves near here. Watch out for the Frost Trolls.” So you descend into the dig-site, and where you usually expect a plethora of enemy soldiers, you only get a handful of Frost Trolls and some random Skeevers (which doesn’t really make sense, and isn’t explained).

Here is a massive missed opportunity, as the whole setup is that the “big baddie” of this place, is a highly respected General of the Aldmeri Dominion, the very same Dominion that you’re trying to help. So, if you were expecting Dominion soldiers (who’d normally aid you in other quests) hostile or not, you’re in for a nasty disappointment, as only a couple of soldiers survived when the Frost Trolls “arrived”.

And regarding Trolls in ESO, they are tough, with lots of HP, and some powerful melee attacks (none at range though), but they are fairly tedious to fight, even for a group, as they don’t pose any diversity of threat, and because of their bulkiness, they slow down quest progression. Which you only ever want to do if the story is interesting enough, to make you want to experience more of it. And you’d think dealing with the imagery of a god SHOULD be an interesting concept, but here it feels forced.

You are given three markers, for three caves, and the quest says to “investigate”. In typical MMORPG fashion, this means that you have no idea which cave holds the answer. At least, and this is pretty much the only saving grace about this quest, it doesn’t have the mechanic where it’s ALWAYS the last place you look, that contains the answer. But it still breaks the natural flow of the story and play-through of the quest-line.

You find the vault, which would have been inaccessible until finding the correct cave, and enter, hearing that the Aldmeri General is inside, but all her soldiers would be captured inside. So you, again, expect hostile Dominion soldiers, but no, they have all been encased in ice. In their stead there are skeletons, ok, that makes some sense, I guess, but there are also Gargoyles. Not even more Frost Trolls, which though annoying would at least have been consistent. And the game offers no explanation as to why there are Gargoyles there.

You then bumble through an ice and snow-covered ruin, until you reach the General, who you try to reason with. That fails and you have to fight her. She then spawns a clone to fight you, and here is where things get a little buggy. Because of the way this fight is set up, you are to kill either the General or the clone, doesn’t matter, because the one you didn’t kill just becomes the real one, and if you’re too slow, will spawn another clone. If you’re too fast at taking them both out, the game doesn’t follow through, as the quest-line is MEANT for you to fight at least one original and one copy. Killing them too fast means that it doesn’t register, and you have to start the fight over and over, until you get the timing right. It also doesn’t explain why the General is able to spawn a fully non-ethereal clone, other than “she’s possessed by a God, so meh, magic or something.”

Never, since starting to play Skyrim in 2011, have a quest ever agitated me as much as this one quest did. And considering how I LOATHE the quest in Skyrim for Clavicus Vile (because of not one, but TWO characters with workbench-grinder voices), that says a lot.

But I am curious, what is the worst quest in a game that you’ve come across, and what makes it so bad?

A Tale from Catacrach – A Dungeons & Dragons 5E Adventure – Part 1

Deep within the dense undergrowth of Hraldon Thicket, a strange sphere was floating through the trees. Two rugged and unlikely companions were walking along the Silver Trade-road, heading west towards Cyndarr, Cyndillian and eventually the city-state of Catacrach. Andrunil the Aasimar and Galdur the Hill Dwarf had been on the road for the better part of a week, without much more than the occasional merchant and traveler going the other way.

The calm late-summer weather was pleasant, a light, morning-breeze rustled through the thinly-veiled canopy of Hraldon Thicket, an area that was kept clean by the mages living in Hraldon Refuge. But after the Abborgardian Empire’s fall, the mages abandoned the fortification, and the area slowly turned into a bramble-covered forest.

Lacking the excitement of adventure, and curious by nature, the two followed the orb into the undergrowth, pushing and slashing plants aside with their weapons. Eventually they came to a clearing, and before them rose the mostly intact remains of Hraldon Refuge. The sandstone and marble walls and pillars, with it’s fine-cut stones, a clear mark of the Abborgardian times. here and there moss and ferns where reaching up, as if trying to reclaim this part back to nature.

When the sphere disappeared into the ruins, the two adventurers followed through, and in their eagerness for action, none of them noticed two figures standing ready with heavy clubs. Around twenty minutes later, the Half-Elf ranger Blellow Wildstride witnessed an odd crimson sphere, floating oddly above the stones of the Silver Road. His natural path-finding ability easily discovering the wide path that the two adventurers before him had taken. Shortly thereafter, he too entered the ruins. As the first club swung towards the back of his skull, he happened to look away, the whiff of the blunt weapon causing him to reach for his bow, but then the second club struck and Blellow’s eyes rolled back into his skull.

Not even ten minutes later, another Half-Elf walked the stretch of the Silver Road, his hooded cape covering his shortbow and shortsword entirely. He longed for dark alleyways, packed market-places, in other words, civilization. The few travelers he had met on the road didn’t seem all too well-endowed in their purses, and among those that did, he had gotten stern looks; one even loosened his rough-looking hand-axe, letting Therion know not to try his luck.

The crimson sphere was a pleasant surprise, a change of pace, and it was nice to get away from the open, flat road. Therion even managed to move close enough to investigate the orb, but as soon as he would reach to touch it, it would fizzle and blink out of existence, only to appear some ten feet ahead of him. When Therion came across the path, he smiled; a path meant people, and people meant civilization, and civilization, usually, meant money to “obtain”. the heavy set of boot-prints in the soft dirt didn’t bother him. He stood for a while gazing the walls of the Refuge over, old ruins sometimes had treasure, plus, there could always be interesting items that could be sold to a fence, with a little sparkle here, some paint there. Therion was counting out the possible gold he stood to earn, as he entered the ruins, unaware of the creatures lurking behind the wall.

Nearly an hour later, Nak’Ral the Tiefling Bard was merrily heading west, he had been looking for the random bird that would normally be active in a forest like this, but when he found none, he didn’t exactly stop to think it over. Particular as a red ball seemed to glow amongst some bushes by the side of road., the ball was giving off a low-humming tune. “Huh, strange melody…” Nak’Ral fetched his flute, trying to mimic the odd sound, as he did the ball danced, and seemed to lure him to follow. When he entered the ruins, he looked up in the last second “Hey, you’re not a red glowing – !” before the club knocked him out cold.

Some hours later, the unlikely group of heroes woke up, heads hurting, but finding themselves otherwise unhurt. Bound by their feet, the scent of stale, dusty air mixed with that of dried blood. Apart from their clothes and armour, the adventurers found themselves trying to escape. Some climbed up the rope, only to find the iron bars from which they where bound, were solidly lodged between layers of stone. And even an artistic attempt at a dagger used as a make-shift pulley failed, with the risk of a self-inflicted stabbing.

Eventually, with the help of gravity and a couple of cuts from daggers, all five adventurers found themselves on the floor of their cell. Andrunil woke up with a strange next to him, as it wasn’t his Dwarvish travel-mate, but instead a taller, slender Half-Elf in Blellow. Quickly finding a common ground in the need to get out of their cell, the two began to push, kick, headbutt and punch through the lower cell-wall, as they found it to be ill-maintained.

In the opposite corner of the prison, Galdur found that his way to the floor was longer than the others. But a Dwarf isn’t easy to pin down, so instead he used the first, the best tool to smash against the nearest wall; himself. At least he made a lot of noise, and the adventurers all began to call back and forth, trying to find one another. To their luck, it seemed none of their capturers were nearby. After dusting himself off, Galdur took a different approach, on a different wall.

On the other side of this wall, Nak’Ral looked at the stones of the wall, then at his less-than-muscular body. And then he decided to pretend to help break down the walls, as Galdur’s chain-mailed covered gauntlet busted through into his cell.

On the other side of the wall Galdur first tried to break, Therion was meticulously working his crowbar into the stone and mixer used to hold the stones in place. The loud noise of Galdur against the stones, decided for him where to start picking away.

Several walls broken down later, the adventurers discovered a grizzly sight in the cell next to Therion’s: a young, female Halfling. Or rather, her corpse. Multiple stab- and slashing wounds, and a relatively fresh pool of blood below her blonde, blood-soaked hair made it clear, that there was no saving her. She had probably died a little while before anyone of them even arrived at the edge of the forest. Cutting her down and searching her body over, Blellow discovered an odd necklace made in iron, bearing the mark of a prancing griffon.

With this discovery done, the group worked together to breaking the outer walls of the cells, and found themselves facing the scent of wet soil. They had entered a cave. A poorly paved path turned south towards some walled-in pillars. To the north an area covered with weathered planks was serving as a make-shift storage area, stacks of battered crates, tools and firewood were randomly stashed away here. Along with a simple chest, that caught the adventurers’ attention. They passed a large, earthy area filled what looked like dead roots and shrubbery, but stuck to the path.

Picking up the leftover tools, they began to look through the crates, while others where attempting to open the chest, that was locked with a simple, yet sturdy iron padlock. Inside the chest was a messenger’s leather bag, containing a sealed letter as well as a small vial with red liquid. The wax seal was identified as the seal of Catacrach.

The adventurers read the letter, leaving the seal unbroken on the envelope, that they cut open with a dagger. The letter contained a report about the movements of a wanted criminal named “Geoffrey the Blade” near the city of Ezolder, and was addressed to a certain “Lady M.”. A post-script was also written in, in Infernal, but only Nak’Ral was able to read that part, and he did not inform the others of the postscript’s wording. The sender of the letter was named Ruso Passwater, and asked for further instructions, regarding tracking and surveying the contacts of Geoffrey the Blade.

As they were about done with their search, they heard three voices coming from the western end of the cave. As the adventurers alerted the voices, one of them took off, told by the others that “the prisoners were escaping”. The two remaining Goblins put down a heavy-looking crate, and went to investigate, only to be scared away, as a the effect of a spell by Nak’Ral (calling himself Francis) hit the one of them, causing the other to flee.

The party then investigated the heavy crate and found that all of their missing equipment, including gold, inside. The only thing missing was Andrunil’s halberd; as it seemingly had been too long to fit in the crate, and had been carried by the first Goblin that ran off.