As the adventure opened, our Vikings found themselves in a room freshly cleared of guard-goblins. Some quick dungeoneering told them that the goblins had been guarding the opposite side of the room from which they entered; out this unexplored door was a rope bridge extending over a subterranean cavern. Bartix had the idea of chucking the corpses into the chasm... short, sweet, and didn't involve any defilement! Secure in the knowledge that they were successfully working this dungeon backwards, the party retreated to a safe place and slept the night. I shuffled some things around meanwhile to reflect the goblin's awareness of eight missing soldiers.
The next day, Gudrun the fighter shuffled off to "watch the boat," because Todd has a new job and can't play anymore. In his place came Oddny, the 1st level human paladin played by Rebecca. She was good enough to replace a Defender with another Defender, and we're all grateful. The five adventures forged back into the dungeon, retracing their steps without seeing signs of monster activity. They found themselves back on the rope bridge, and Mendas the Rogue volunteered to scout ahead.
A poor Perception role made Mendas miss the guidewire on the bridge, and above him two ranks of spears descended from the stalactites! But I rolled a 1. The traps, we decided, were only engineered against a proper fording of the bridge, and were designed to take out the vulnerable invaders in back of the leader tripping the wire. Since they were crossing it backwards, the spears passed feet in front of him, coming to a rest harmlessly hanging above the bridge. Also, I don't think I gave out experience for this encounter, so there will be a little extra in everyone's envelope.
Continuing on, Mendas peaked into the room at the edge of the rope bridge. There he saw a studious goblin sitting at a desk, scratching at paper. At his feet sat an enormous crocodile. If the goblin was not alert, the crocodile certainly was... bringing the news to the party, they decided to storm the room and see what might happen. Bartix prepared a "Comprehend Languages" spell, and everyone aided him in the hope that he might get a good enough role to speak goblin as well as understand it. We did get maximum aid, but he didn't get enough to gain the speaking ability. Still, there was a chance they could bargain.
The party snuck across the bridge, then moved into the room. The crocodile rushed forward, and the goblin called for help! So no bargaining... The party descended on the crocodile and started whomping on it, getting it bloodied in only two rounds. Still, it was biting and grabbing with equal ferocity, and the small room made it hard to avoid. The goblin stayed at his desk and began to throw spells... This was an elite feyblooded Goblin Warcaster I had made from the DMG, and he ended up working pretty well in this fight.
Since things were more or less under control, Mendas snuck out the other door to the room to see what could be responding to the Warcaster's call. He was immediately seen by three goblins, two of which charged him. This began my night of Tremendous Goblin Luck... I rolled a 20 and an 18, and just like that, the rogue was near-death. He had to tumble away, back into the comparative safety of the crocodile jaws, and leave the stouter Rurik guarding the door.
Varin and Rurik forced the crocodile back a ways, and Oddny charged the Warcaster, leaving him backed up against a desk and generally screwed. So we thought! He unexpectedly teleported (fey-blooded, see) across the room to the rope bridge entrance and popped the party again with a Scintillating Blast. Bartix had previosuly crossed to the other door and used his Thunderwave spell to push back the goblins at the door. Bartix now got his trademark evil grin and turned Thunderwave on the Warcaster. He hit, sent the dude back, and into the chasm! Having a minor action left, Bartix cast Light on his falling form so he'd be easy to find and finish off. Which was awesome...
Paladin swords and warlord greataxes finished the crocodile (I think Rurik had a greataxe critical hit in there, which is always something to behold). Bartix went to the ledge and began his other trademark, "Magic Missile the fuck out of him." Everyone else, meanwhile, formed a cone of death around the doorway, waiting for those two goblins. First one, then a second goblin came charging in, and were quickly dispatched. The party fell silent, but they distinctly heard voices coming from throughout the dungeon. "Wait until you see the whites of their eyes," Bartix could hear. They waited, then heard something else from the other side of the dungeon, which they couldn't locate. Finally the group decided they had to charge these goblins.
Mendas scouted ahead again, and crept slowly into the empty hallway. He stuck his head carefully around a wide doorway, facing missile fire under the protection of total concealment. The way I was rolling, though, it didn't matter: he was immediately pegged by two javelins from the nine goblins in the room, taking some 18 damage. Now that they were committed, the party charged into the room. To lead off the assault, Bartix and Mendas broke out their Daily Powers on tightly grouped foes. First Bartix hit five of them with an Acid Arrow, causing some 40 total damage by the time everyone made their saves (and bloodying three of them straight off). Next Mendas did a Blinding Storm and threw knives in the eyes of four more. That covered the goblins pretty well, and the rest of the group got stuck in.
At this point in the night, most everyone had used their daily and their encounter powers... but they still had action points! The goblins hung on for a while and did some damage, but were rapidly taken out. Whew! The two rooms together netted over 300 experience points apiece, putting Varin and Oddny up to Second Level.
Now that there was time for looting, the group uncovered some 400 gold spread between various bedrolls, strong boxes, and the desk. Also found was a Potion of Healing to partially replenish the four that the party burned on this fight. Varin and Bartix descended into the chasm to find the dead Warcaster, who wore magic Bloodthread +1 cloth armor. This went to the wizard.
We left things there. Another corner of the island cleared!
Casualties:
1 Elite Feyblood Goblin Warcaster
1 Crocodile
4 Goblin Backblades
7 Goblin Warriors
1 large bottle of fancy beer
6 beers
Kind of a sober night... we miss you, Matt!
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