Soon after they set off on their journey, the party encountered an old man by the roadside. The road was wide, and the little hills were plains that stretched out far.
The old man asked, almost begging them to help him.
His wagon was broken, and he was all alone.
The party inspected their surrounding first, looking
for potential ambushes. It might be a ploy to get their wagon, if the old man
indeed has subordinates waiting. Alas, their perception warns them of no
incoming threat. There was no way to hide if the old man did have subordinates
so as far as they can tell, the old man was no threat.
Rana was the first to get out of the wagon. She asked the old man what the problem was exactly, and the old man pointed to one of the wheels of his wagon. The wheel was broken. Rana’s inspection find nothing else. The old man had no spare wheel and at first it seemed like there was nothing they could do. Then Quin came by and had a brilliant idea of using a hammer to repair the broken wheel. Iuvenis, who was intently listening decided that fixing and mending is her forte, so she would help.
So while the three of them worked on helping out the
old man, Blaze and Minerva waited in the wagon, cautious to care for it in case
anything were to go astray. Finally, the wheel was fixed. The old man gratefully
thanked the party and asked where they were going. They responded quite
honestly, saying they are taking the wagon to its destination, Phandalin. The
old man nodded and warned them of thieves and raids on the Triboar Trail.
The party went on the road, feeling inspired for the
journey ahead after a successful assist.
As half the day passed, they reached to a curving
pathway, with hills on both sides of the path and bushes all around them. They
started to grow cautious but proceeded on until they saw a few distances away,
two dead horses.
Rana pulled the reins stopped the oxen immediately.
As the party debated on how they should proceed,
certain that there is a possibility of an ambush nearby, Iuvenis tried a trick
she’s been meaning to try. She conjured the sound of their wagon moving near
the dead horses.
The bushes then rustled, and out immediately were 4
goblins: 2 on the left hill and 2 on the right. They appeared to be confused
when finding out that there was no one at the vicinity of the dead horses.
In their confusion, the party readied for a fight.
[Narrator’s note: I forgot about the turn order
since I didn’t take notes, so here goes the fight from my memories]
Even though they had the upper hand, the goblins
proved to be nimble.
Quin put on his hood went into hiding albeit not a
very effective hiding place behind the bushes when goblin archers was from a
high ground, but he was small, and hardly noticeable behind the bushes. Minerva
casted firebolt but it missed the goblin. Blaze shot his arrow straight into
one of the goblin’s (on the right) neck as the goblin falls to his death. The
other goblin on the right went into hiding but Iuvenis used firebolt to burn
the bush he was hiding in that he had to jump out of it.
Unfortunately, one of the goblin archer from the left,
aims at the most experienced looking member of the party, takes on a critical
shot at Rana, causing her to fall near death door next to the oxen. Quin tried
to avenge his companion, but at his best only grazed the goblin. Blaze then
struck the goblin down with her arrows, into his eyeballs, after many
alternating tries with Quin.
Iuvenis wanted to join in the battle again, to prove
that she can be part of the glorious triumph, but she couldn’t let Rana fall
and decided the best thing she could do now is stabilise Rana. She simply
cannot lose a comrade if she can help it. She used her healer’s kit and had her
stabilised.
The remaining goblin to the left climbed down the hill
and moved toward Iuvenis. He tried to strike Iuvenis with his scimitar, but he
missed. Minerva stepped forward, next to Iuvenis and used firebolt on the
goblin, but he unfortunately missed. Meanwhile, Quin shot his crossbow towards
the goblin on fire. After many tries, he successfully lands a killing blow.
The final goblin, seeing as his mates falls one by
one, tried to disengage from everyone and ran. But as he ran, the whole party
ran after him. Eventually, as he detours from the trail, Iuvenis, frustrated
that her firebolt weren’t effective, shot her crossbow, and the bolt penetrated
his heart.
Blaze called her a hero, but Iuvenis knows better. She
wasn’t humble enough to reject the compliment, but she knew in her heart the
tabaxi fared better than she did in the combat. She planted a little rivalry in
her heart, hoping the next combat, if will be, she’d do better.
Before she could delve into her monologue any further,
Quin cries for help. They couldn’t just stay there nor can they leave the
unconscious Rana.
Iuvenis knew what she had to do then. She cast cure
wounds on Rana and managed to heal her enough so that she’s fresh and woken.
Rana thanked Iuvenis for her assistance, and they started immediately investigating
the dead horses. Rana and Iuvenis recognise the sigils on the horses almost
immediately. The horses belonged to both Sildar and Gundren, their employers.
They traced footsteps for signs of life and indeed,
there were small footsteps and bigger ones leading to another path away from
the Triboar trails. Debates were held there and then whether to pursue the
trails or to head into town.
Some of them wanted to pursue the footprints while it’s
still relatively fresh. Who knows what could have happened to their employers,
but Rana was vocal about getting to town and rejuvenate as well as get some
help. She was concerned for the party what with the goblin having good critical
shots on them. Despite some small amount of protest, Iuvenis second Rana, though
her motives were not well thought of. Iuvenis simply wanted to finish the job,
to prove that she’s not a failure. After all, if there were to chase after the
goblins and tracks of only maybe belonging to Sildar and Gundren, who was going
to care for the wagon?
After much discussion, the party decided to head to
Phandalin and recruit some help.
To Phandalin they arrived.
Once they were there, it wasn’t too hard to locate Barthen’s
Provisions as it was near the town’s entrance. Intuitively, they all entered
the building. Greeting them was Elmar Barthen’s himself.
Iuvenis, after the exchange in greetings, hurriedly
asked if they could see Elmar, to which the man introduced himself and enquire about
their business. Rana explained about their job and the travel difficulties.
Elmar looked dispirited to hear the news about both Sildar and Gundren and suggested
if the party would like to look for them the next day. It wasn’t a job, but a
mere request.
While the party was considering, Iuvenis nonchalantly
asked for the payment for their current completed job before agreeing to
anything any further. Elmar gave a slight chuckle, amused at the young blood,
also embarrassed that he did not offer the payment for job completion first. He
paid them each 10GP and continue the conversation.
“We want to look for them, but we need all the help we
can get. Is there a guard post somewhere where we can recruit some soldiers to
do a search?” asked Rana.
The look on Elmar’s face darkened.
“That is a… slight problem. Phandalin doesn’t have any
guards exactly,” he said, “we have some scuffles in the past and now all that
are left are the Redbrands. Ruffians that controls the town. They can be
identified by their red coloured outfit. Sildar and Gundren were supposed to
help us deal with them but alas, such fate fallen onto them.”
Iuvenis wondered at this point how can two people solve
a group of ruffian issues but she kept her mouth shut.
“If it pleases you, you may find lodging for the night
in Stonewell Inn. I on the other hand, have matters to attend to, so I’ll be on
my way,” said Elmar as he excused himself.
They party then went on to Stonewell Inn where Rana
generously paid for their dinner. Iuvenis resist the temptation for a better room
to fit in with the group and had modest lodgings instead. Paranoid about the Redbrands,
Iuvenis made sure she locked her door.
As the night closes, they fell deep in their slumber.
No comments:
Post a Comment