Vintage

Apparently Gylain had directed Rashida toward a trail that led to a goblin nest in the woods.  The trail was little better than a deer path, but gave us something to follow.

The screaming was our first tip off that we were about to be killed.

They burst upon us, racing loudly through the underbrush.  It was easy to figure out where they were coming at us from but once they burst into view, their appearance was ghastly.

At first I took them to be relatives of Mordas.  They wore pail untanned leather and wielded crude knives and bladed weapons.  They were actually women, human even, who had seemed to have given up on personal care and had adorned themselves with the flesh of their victims.

Fortunately they weren’t terribly well skilled in the use of sharp and pointy and in short order we subdued them.  I suppose they weren’t used to facing a semi-trained and determined foe before.  I guess if you were an average mook who had stumbled into the woods alone, you would have been a goner, but they weren’t up to taking on a team.

The “semi-trained” quip is mostly self directed.  The girl/woman who attacked me was incapacitated.  I also figured that having a captive to question would be helpful.  I didn’t exactly trust the death cult elf.  In fact as I recall, he didn’t exactly stick around for the fight either!

Questioning the girl, it turned out was useless.  She’d gone feral, and not even Shethba’s mind reading spells could tap into an intelligent person.  She’d truly become an animal.  And a dangerous one at that.  For the safety of the county it was decided to put her down.

We were about to move out when Rashida’s little girl Rykina came bursting through the wood.

Apparently the little girl just wanted to be with mama and had left the safety of the castle to follow us into the woods.  Rashida dressed her down good and sent about half the party back to make sure Rykina made it home in one piece.

We continued up the trail as it were for quite some time, and I was beginning to relax just a bit, when Rashida hissed, “Wizard Eye!” while pointing up the trail.

I got a glance of it, while it floated further up the trail where we were heading.  Next we heard quite a bit of rustling through the underbrush on both sides of the trail.  I cinched up my shield (and was bitterly cursing myself for having forgotten to bring along my bow and arrows) readied my spear and then we were ordered to wait.

Nos, Tash, and I were toward the back and focusing on the left side of the trail, while the rest of the crew were ahead of us.

We waited a long time, (it seemed) and I definitely picked up the chatter of goblins in the underbrush.  They goaded us with some arrow volleys, but by ducking and by the virtue of their poor aim, none of us were injured.

Their missiles having failed, they then burst out from the underbrush and charged us.  I was shocked at how close they had gotten as they weren’t more than five yards from us when they attacked!

I heard a horrific roar, and glanced back just long enough to see an ogre burst through the tree line.  I knew Rashida was off in that direction, and I was hoping that she would be able to take that monster out.

I didn’t have time to think much about it as Nos, Tash, and I were soon surrounded by about a dozen goblins coming from the left side of the trail, and it sounded like there was just as many behind us.

Tash started in with his fire bolts but did little more than anger the goblins that he hit, while Nos and I faced down a swarm of goblins.

I couldn’t look back and all I could do was keep my shield between me and about four goblins while jabbing with my spear as best I could.  I’ve had training in line fighting back in Five Oaks, but when you’re the only one in the line, it can get a bit hairy!  Nos was off to my right, similarly swarmed and giving better than he was getting.  At four to one odds, that meant he was still going to lose!

Of some comfort were the sizzling and blast of Shethba’s occasional lightning bolts along with the increasingly frustrated cried and screams of the Ogre.  I couldn’t look back, but I could hear Rashida’s cries as she’d yell every time she swung her staff, along with an accompanying scream from the goblin she’d just beaten down.

That was a problem, as that meant that Shethba was facing that ogre alone, and he sounded like he was getting angrier and closer.

I knew it was over when I heard that ogre bellow and followed by Tash flying through the air.  He was slumped like a rag doll and crashed into two of the goblins taking on Nos.

I heard a violent pop and an even louder scream from the ogre, but I couldn’t thing about it.  Tash’s body had busted up the goblins and I had a sudden opportunity to nail one of the gits in the back.  I decided to get in at least one good blow before the ogre turned my insides into sausage too.

I felt the ogre hit the ground and apparently the goblins decided that with their secret weapon down and with Shethba wielding burning fire in their direction, they melded back into the underbrush from whence they came.

Nos and I had only downed two of the dozen or so goblins that we had fought, and neither had decent spoil.  I grabbed a short sword from one of them, as my biggest edged weapon was a knife, and one of the gobo’s had shaved a sliver of wood off of my spear.

Shethba reported that Tash was still alive and was trying to heal him when Rashida bolted back down the trail from where we had come.

We were ordered to stay there and wait till she returned.

There were two vicious looking dogs just at the bend in the trail and it sounded like a whole pack behind them.

We kept watch as best we could and listened to the sounds of Rashida chastising these vicious hounds.

I didn’t think that she’d ever come back, but about an hour later she strolled back as though, nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and she was carrying a very ornamental spear.

We asked her about it, but she’s not the most talkative person.  I guess if its important, we’ll learn about it later . . .

It was getting late in the afternoon, and Rashida decided that we ought to head back into town.

Upon arrival back at the slowly restored keep of Eiberen, we found all of the crew out in the main courtyard, watching as Delcar and Mordas were fighting in an apparent duel.

Delcar was pitched in vicious concentration as Mordas toyed with our liege.  Some of the knights were being held back by others and it seemed that, given normal circumstances, we’d be looking for a new boss come morning.

As it was I was beat, tired, and hungry.  I nudged Nos and Tash and we headed over to the hall to catch a bite to eat.

By the end of dinner we learned that we wouldn’t need to pack up.  Apparently Mordas and Delcar had grown tired of trying to beat each other and had given up on whatever it was they were arguing about.