Setup

The party had just completed killing two Carrion Crawlers hanging from the ceiling of a side cavern. While this occurred, the remaining hobgoblin guards had disappeared deeper into the caves and there was a moment of calm.

Ser Shadow decided that he had so much fun during his last leap into the underground river that he would race down and jump in again. He disappeared into the darkness.

Gronth, meanwhile, perhaps as a result of accidentally ingesting some carrion crawler meat, was feeling a bit of intestinal distress. He was questioning his ability to finish the adventure when a light appeared in the distance from the direction that they had come. It turned out to be Yancey Figbottom with his hireling Radish in tow. Yancey was concerned because the adventure had lasted longer than the two sessions that he had assumed and was checking on the status of the party. Upon realizing that the party was safe, but hearing of Gronth’s poop issues, Yancey suggested that Gronth return to the cave entrance with him while Radish could take on tanking duties.

With a wave of his hand, Yancey dispelled an illusion and the form of Radish shifted from a rugged, older human to an angry looking, half-orc barbarian named Hurodash. The party decided to continue on with Hurodash while Yancey and Gronth returned to the cavern entrance.

Final Battle

The newly reconfigured party quickly made their way to the end of the passage where - in stark contrast to the darkness elsewhere - a well-lit, cavernous pit appeared. The pit was approximately 60 feet across and more than 20 feet deep. It was surrounded by rickety wooden scaffolding. Hanging from the ceiling were dozens of chains and ropes, each holding a lantern, torch or brazier, or ending in a huge hook from which a rotting body was suspended. A pulley system with buckets stretched from the upper level to the floor below. Beneath the scaffolding on one side was a small opening in the cavern wall. The floor of the pit was filled with dirty furs, random detritus, and one large wooden throne covered with copper cups, tin plates and small coins that had been nailed to it.

And, of course, standing in the bottom and peering up into the darkness and awaiting the inevitable attack were the hobgoblin chieftain and his two remaining guards.

The party quickly formed an intricate plan that mostly resembled an all-out frontal attack. In his first action, Hurodash took the lead and with an angry scream made a running leap, hooked the edge of his axe over the pulley rope, and slid down into the pit. At the last moment his foot clipped the edge of one of the buckets and he tumbled but landed unscathed on the floor of the pit on his back in the midst of the hobgoblins. His mission was a success, however, as all attention was turned to him.

Rhagal more elegantly leapt out onto on the suspended ropes and swung quietly into the far end of the pit, landing stealthily behind the hobgoblins. Corliss leapt twenty directly down into the pit, landing in a superhero-worthy three-point stance, but twisting his ankle and taking damage. Dawngreeter Yornan Hawklight followed during the next round, choosing instead to take the stairs.

The fight itself revolved around Hurodash as he seemingly closed his eyes and repeatedly swung his great axe in all directions. The hobgoblins avoided his blows and dealt massive damage, but healing spells from Yornan kept him on his feet. Finally, as the hobgoblins tired from dodging his blows, they slowed just a bit, and finally his axe tasted blood.

In the meantime, Rhagal danced in and out of the fray, each thrust of his rapier and dagger finding vital organs and each of the guards fell to him. The chieftain himself had gone blind due to a spell from Yornan and was facing the wrong direction and swinging wildly. The goblins looked almost defeated when a hobgoblin monk leapt from scaffolding above and into the fray. First, he summoned four mangy, bat-winged, miniature pincher-snouted monkeys from the dark hole in the cavern wall. Then, he blinked behind Hurodash and lashed out with his feet and fists, striking four times, twice with crushing blows to the back of his neck and skull.

It was bit a temporary respite for the hobgoblins as a steady succession of blows and spells felled the creatures. The last of monkeys was killed when Rhagal ran up the makeshift throne, leapt from its back to one of the ropes above, swung across the room, landed with balletic grace and skewered it with an improbable thrust. Hurodash charged up the ladder towards the hobgoblin monk (even though it held the high ground) and with a mighty swipe severed both legs at the ankles.

The Remnants of the Mine

The party summoned Yancey from the mouth of the cave as they explored the most promising site, a small shrine to the goblin god http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Maglubiyet.

However, as the explored the shrine, they found a hidden door to a small cell containing a half-dozen dirty, emaciated humanoid miners chained to the walls. Corliss noted the uncanny resemblance to Gronth and Yancey eventually explained that they were dwarves, a cursed race with dead gods, likely from beyond the Badcrag Mountains. Corliss gave them rations and they went on their way after a quick conversation with Yancey.

After the conversation, Yancey reached behind and beneath the statue of Maglubiyet and pulled out a casket that contained four large, uncut rubies and slid them into his pocket.

Yornan noted the action and confronted Yancey, claiming that the gems were not goblin artifacts and thus were not his to take. The professor began to brush off Yornan’s complaints, claiming that he was seizing the gems as part of his organization’s fight against the Orcs and the Polonians and implying that Yornan did not understand. Yancey then ignited his own hands into large flames in an attempt to intimidate Yornan.

Yornan immediately shifted his logical assault. After Yancey admitted that Martin Shimlock and The Resistance were muscle used by his organization, Yornan lied to Yancey and said that the party had suffered greatly due to the lies and underhanded behavior of Martin. Corliss jumped in with another account where Martin had done the same. Yancey believed the lies and was convinced to tell the party more details.

Yancey worked for a secretive organization that was attempting the thwart both the Polonians and the Orcs. The orcs were attempting to gather these special rubies that served as reserves of magical power, presumably in an attempt to gather enough power to conduct some unknown ritual in the future. Rhagal remembered having seen one of the gems before, used in the Orcish ritual at Pebbledrop Fort, but crushed by Gronth after the battle.

Finally, Yancey confirmed that he did work in the university in Highbridge and would be happy to provide additional information and support in the future.

After this, the party travelled back to Highbridge.

Calamity in Overtown

After returning to Highbridge, the party learned that tax collectors from the Southern Mercantile Company led by Percy du Ramshead had come into Overtown collecting a “bridge tax” to help repair the bridge destroyed by Cirnan Sulo and The Resistance during a previous mission. The citizens of Overtown resisted and examples were made. At some point, Company Security broke down the door to The Rusty Spigot, dragged Grenn the Bartender into the common square in Overtown and hung him next to four other unfortunate Riding folk. The guards also dragged away Kelmen Longbottom, great-nephew of Batilda and nephew of Selma Longbottom of the The Knot.

The party offered to help rescue Kelmen and punish Percy and were quickly led into the backrooms of The Rusty Spigot where Selma and Clyde ran the thieves' guild. Selma promised all of the support that she could, including all the information on the Prison that they had on Highbridge Prison.