A Debt (or Favor) to Teziir’s Redbeard – The Attack of the Goblin Raiders

• Characters: Alrak, Belton Stoutshield, Dimak Cloudchaser Ogolakanu, Domollo Blue, Farthick, Qualen
• NPCs: Sgt. Bartran, Captain Redbeard, Garsys the Merchant
• Synopsis: After defeating the were-rat Vernon Archer, the group collects itself on the docks of Teziir. They are approached by the City Watch headed by Sgt. Bartran. Leading the inquiry Bartran’s attitude shifts from skepticism to reluctant acceptance upon verification of the party’s deeds. He orders the sequestered to the Smelted Horse until the morning when they must explain their activities to the Watch Captain Redbeard. The following morning Bartran’s expectations are met as the adventurers are escorted to the City Watch headquarters and are greeted by Redbeard. He has heard of their exploits and offers up an entirely different escapade to the group. A caravan mercenary survived an ambush from a tribe of goblins that looted the cargo which is desperately needed food stuffs for Teziir citizens. The mercenary produced a map that identifies the revine where the goblins returned to. As the party could earn the City’s good favor, Redbeard suggests that the merchant guild would hold the group in high esteem should they retrieve the goods and slay the trade interlopers. Under escort the group follows the map to the isolated revene and enters one of the several cave entrances. The cave network is only marginally explored before the group intercepts a cluster of six goblins. The bottleneck of the corridors prevents the full group from attacking, but the alarm is raised and another group of goblins attacks from an adjacent corridor. Splitting the party in two, Qualen, Farthick and Alrak challenge the initial goblins while Cloudchaser, Belton and Domollo Blue take on the flanking goblins. The massive battle is soon joined by additional goblins lead by an ogre skull crusher as the sounds of combat and dying goblins has alerted the tribe to an invasion. As Domollo Blue and Alrak are drawn away from Qualen and Farthick, the accompanying light source vanishes as well and the two are left in darkness. Farthick cannot stand against the multitude of goblins and falls to the floor just short of consciousness. The blinded Qualen horribly misses his intended target and lands a fatal blow on his own ally Farthick. Battling back to the others Quallen joins the on-going battle as the combined party forces the goblins to retreat. After a quick assessment and dispersed healing, the party persues their enemy. The encounter turns deadly as the goblins and ogre have been joined by the tribe’s warchief and shaman. Like water the adventurers spread to meet the demand as blades and axes fly. Again the combat shifts to the adventurers’ favor as the warchief is destroyed and the ogre falls. The bereaved shaman is pulled away in yet another retreat, the fallen comrade Alrak is revived and again the party gives chase, hoping to prevent the goblins from regrouping and healing. A locked door is found as Domollo Blue pulls out a rogue trick to give way to a bound and bleeding human. The man is Garsys, the merchant caravan leader, and he pleads for his freedom saying the goblins were planning on using him for ransom. Qualen and Domollo Blue convince the others to persue the goblins so that they cannot regroup. With reluctance the party continues into the chaotic caves on the condition that any additional forces encountered will force a retreat. Rounding a turn in the corridor, they spot the regrouped goblins, but this time reinforced with hobgoblins. It is enough to trigger the condition and the party withdraws from the chase, retrieving Garsys in the process. Returning to near the entrance, they spot the hidden door for the ogre’s personal quarters and loot it. The party hastely retreats from the revene with the saved Garsys and the fallen Farthick and force march back to Teziir. Belton does his best to cover their tracks with his spells but the odds are bad that the goblins know exactly where they are headed.
• Encounters: goblin tribe, ogre skull crusher, goblin war chieftan, goblin shaman, hobgoblin cloister
• Achievements: discover the hidden cave network housing raiding goblins, destroyed a significant portion of the tribe including their primary warriors, retrieved the kidnapped Garsys at the expense of one of their own comrades Farthick.