The Goblin King

...What they saw when they opened the door came as a small shock to them. Small because they knew that there were goblins waiting for them and one of them must be the king, but the layout of the room was strange and....as they looked around - they did not see the humans they were supposed to find.

Instead, they found two large barricades set up and what looked like a large hole in the center of the room. Standing behind the barricades were about 5 hobgoblins, 6 regular goblins and what looked like the Goblin king and another large goblin, which was (as Kasas pointed out) probably they goblin queen.

They did not look happy.

But Ropin, being as diplomatic as ever, did not shoot first and decided to talk to them. He mentioned that they were only looking for the humans that had come this way and he did not want to fight anymore. The goblin king looked at the humans hiding in the doorway and started to talk to them, which was remarkable.

However, he was upset that the adventurers had killed most of his front soldiers, who were trying to stop the kobolds and that we must be helping the kobolds. Ropin did not say anything at that point and the King continued to say that if they wanted to see those other humans - which were down with Belak - the goblins would agree to let them go down without fighting only if they returned to the kobolds, killed the kobold queen and returned with her head.

Ropin and the others actually started talking about their options and were about to make a decision when Relord mentioned that it was probably better to deal with things now - here - and to fight the goblins. Unfortunately, he said this in a loud voice and the king overheard.....

...so a fight broke out.

Basically, it was difficult to hit the goblins over the barricades that they had prepared so for awhile, the fight consisted of arrows and javelins shooting back and forth without much progress. Then the queen seemed to cast a spell and Relord, Ropin, Kasas and Erky all felt much weaker and vuneralble. What did she do to them!? They did not know, but it seemed from that point on they were easier to hit.

However, Kasas's eagle - Steropes - flew inside the room to discharge a spell at the king but failed. However, he did see the hole in the ground and told Kasas that it was very deep with vines growing up from below. Basically, if you fell in, you were in trouble.

After a few goblins were killed and Ropin and Relord were hit a few times with arrows, they decided to go into the room to finish them off. Ropin was first and he rushed into the room to then get cover behind the door. However, as he looked in the corner, there was another of those strange walking tree blights in a pot that he had to deal with.

At this point, the goblin king wanted to jump over the barricade himself to fight head on, but somehow he slipped and fell into the hole (making him look silly). However, he luckily caught onto one of the vines and tried to climb back up. The queen also rushed over to help him but then Relord, Kasas, and Masiry all tried to push her into the pit as well, and after a big push, finally they succeeded! Now, both the king and queen were dangling in the vines in the pit and were trying to climb up.

The rest of the goblins were taken care off quickly and it was pretty easy to shoot at the king and queen as they tried to climb up. It looked like they were starting to climb down when one of the vines snapped and the king fell into the darkness. And with a few well placed shots, the queen soon followed. However, they did not know if they were really dead or not and wanted to go check.

Ropin reminded them that perhaps they should rest now and regain their spells and health so that if they 'were' still alive, it would be easier to deal with them. So they decided to rest and watch the hole for anyone coming up.

Only a little bit into their rest, Masiry heard some sounds coming from the room they had entered before the throne room and went to go see. He saw the young and elderly goblins being lead away through the long corridor. He called the others to look and they went to confront them, but the goblins were scared and did not want to cause trouble and then Ropin decided not to kill them.

They then went back to rest, but before doing so, they also looked around the room to see what kind of treasure there was. They were not disappointed since most of the hobgoblins and goblins (that had not fallen into the hole) all carried money and they found a chest near the king's chair. Relord went to open it, but Ropin immediately stood back a few feet saying "Be......"

But it was too late. "...careful!"

As Relord opened the chest, 2 tiny darts hit him in the shoulders and while it did not hurt much, he knew immediately that he was poisoned with strong poison! He was about to heal himself when Erky, who had been looking over his shoulders, noticed two bottles in the chest as well and mentioned it to Relord. Relord grabbed one and opened the cork and smelled. It did not smell like a regular potion he was used to and started to logically think: the chest has poison, goblins are not smart and may forget, these bottles may contain anti-toxin or poison remover!

He was right and drank one quickly.

Then it was time to rest before they headed down into the hole!

The Long Corridor

After a good night's rest, the Adventurers headed back to the long narrow dark room that (they guessed) eventually brought them to the main monsters and the 3 people they were looking for. When they got there, they opened the door and it was still long, narrow and dark.

They decided on a plan that involved waiting and trying to see the golbins down there, but as they were deciding on the particulars, 2 arrows and 2 javelins came hurtling past and almost hit Ropin, who was the one who opened the door.

Relord used his Alchemist's Fire and threw it in front of the party down the hall and it exploded into a little flame.

That helped a little bit, but since the corridor was filled with heavy smoke, they could only see a little bit further.

Courageously, Masiry, Ropin and Erky rushed in to try to see how far they could go and saw some torches creating the smoke and disposed of them. However, they had to dodge some arrows and javelins (since Goblins can see in the dark), but they were ok. Finally, they reached what looked like a DIY made wall with 4 goblins behind it and 2 larger hobgoblins trying to fire on them.

After a brief fight, the goblins were killed or ran away as well as the hobgoblins. There were three doors from this point - one leading to a main room, where there was lots of noise coming from, and the other 2 branched off left and right. Masiry and Relord decided to stay back and open the one to the larger room and Ropin, Kasas and Erky went to the right door and went through the hallway.

Finally, they encountered some monsters, fought them, and then proceeded. They all met in the large room and saw another large door. That must be the place! The adventurers geared up and decided on what to do.

Then, when they were ready.......

....they opened the door.....

The Dragon Heroes Get The Key

The adventurers followed Meepo back to the Kobold controlled area after making sure that there were no more goblins foolish enough to follow them.

When they returned, Meepo had told the Kobold leader that they were really great for helping get back the dragon (that the terrible goblins hurt), so that all of the kobolds looked upon the adventurers as heroes. They did not seem to know or care that there was another gnome about them, since they usually hate gnomes more than goblins.

After a celebratory meal of purple lichen, some larvae and some centipedes, Yusdrasl, the Kobold leader said that since they rescued the dragon, they could have one of three gifts: a strange dragon shaped key of some sort that the Kobolds thought was worthless, a few potions of cure light wounds and cat's grace, or a special bow recovered from one of their outings aboveground.

After some thinking, the group decided on the dragon key and suddenly remembered that there was a special door right near the entrance of this place that they needed a special key for! They would indeed look into that after they found those darn humans they needed to find (they only found 1 of them and he was dead).


So they took the key, ate the meal (or tried to) and went to sleep. In doing so, they regained their health and magic spells and were ready to try again in the goblin lair.

Dealing with the Dragon (and more goblins...)

As Kasas was figuring out what to do with the dragon (and not get killed himself), Relord came back ready to use a sap he found on a dead goblin. Now the problem was that they heard other footsteps and loud belches from beyond the dragons' room.

Oh no, more goblins were coming!

They had to deal with the dragon first but he was not following their commands. Quickly Masiry took off to go find Meepo and ask him to help, since he took care of the dragon before them. As Relord and Kasas were trying to calm (and hit) the dragon, 3 hobgoblins (bigger goblins) came out and tried to catch the dragon's tail. However they forgot about the trap on the floor and all 3 of them fell inside! One ef them even died as the other 2 landed on him! Yes, goblins are not known for their IQ!


However, these 3 were only the front and 4 other smaller goblins ran after them (but not into the trap).



Meanwhile, Meepo returned very happy indeed for news of the dragon. He quickly went to where the dragon was and was shocked to see his dragon with many bruises and cuts. Relord and Kasas thought they would get in trouble (since they were the ones who were hitting the dragon - to calm it down) but Meepo just looked at the goblins down the hall and yelled some angry words. Great! Meepo thought the goblins hit the dragon and we saved him! Meepo then quickly started to take the dragon away to the Kobold area and left the goblins for us to mop up.


Kasas took up a position to watch Meepo go with the dragon and to protect the rear...




Also by this time, Ropin and Relord has gotten to the other door and were trying to flank the goblins coming into the dragon holding room. They opened the door that emptied out into another long dark and smoky room that they could not see the end of.

They were able to beat the goblins pretty easily, but then they heard more noises coming from down the long hallway and decided that now would be a good time to regoup and rest a bit since it was a long day!

So Ropin and Relord went back through the other door and jammed it shut as best they could. They then met with Erky, Kasas and Masiry to wait for any other goblins to come through.


They waited a bit longer but no one came. Ah, this was a good time to rest, so they headed back to the Kobold area.

Whew! This was indeed a long day - kobolds, rats, goblins and dragons! All in one day!

What will happen now?

Meeting Erky and Meepo's Friend!

The door that Meepo opened, turned out to be a jail!

Relord and Masiry stayed with the dead goblins to take their weapons and treasure, but Ropin and Kasas rushed down back over the wall to help Meepo. When they got there, they saw Meepo talking to another kobold that was chained up to the wall in a dirty littered cell. They saw 3 other kobolds and - a gnome!



When the gnome saw Ropin, she quickly said: "The goblins! Are they gone or dispatched? Help, quick, free me!" Ropin went over and tried to loosen the chains that held her, but it would take a much stronger person or a key to open the locks. Kasas turned and went back to the wall and said; "Did you find any keys? Quick! We found some prisoners and a Gnome!" Luckily, Relord did find some keys and was about to throw them away, but he quickly handed them over to Kasas, who hurried back to the cell.

Quickly, Kasas unlocked all of the prisoners chains. The kobolds were very happy and Meepo was talking to them. Then he looked at Kasas and said: "Now, we go back to home, home! My friends and I, yes! I come back later, later, yes!" Before Ropin or Kasas could say anything, all 5 of the kobolds rushed off back towards their home ground. They hoped that they would return....

But the Gnome stayed on.

Kasas asked the Gnome her name and she said "I'm Erky. Now Let's get those goblins!" But she had meant later. Suddenly they heard a brief yell of pain from where Masiry and Relord were. Oh, no, more goblins had come through one of the other doors! Now they really would have to get them - much sooner!


Masiry was hit with javelins but still managed to head to the door to try to close it, but there were too many goblins! Kasas, Ropin and Erky rushed to help the monk and cleric and made it over the wall easily this time. Relord got out his crossbow and took up position behind Masiry.

Goblins are quick and there are many of them, but they are usually fairly easy to kill and after only a few scratches and bruises all but one of them were dead (since some of the goblins were using saps, a small mace that only knocks you unconscious if hit hard enough). The other one had ran away and had probably told even MORE goblins that they were coming. Oh, well, keep em coming!


Masiry looked out into the hallway and noticed a door and opened it. That must have been where the goblins rested since there were 5 dirty beds with a table in the middle. However there was no one there now so he motioned the others to keep going down the hall.



Ropin was the first to continue down the hall, but just as he got near the next door, he sensed something wrong and lightly stepped around the area. It was a good thing he did that since there was a trap that opened up into the floor right in front of the door! He gingerly stepped by it and listened at the door. He was expecting more goblins....




...but he had not counted on finding the little dragon that Meepo had wanted us to help him find! Kasas was very interested and went into the room to try to get the dragon (since he is of dragon blood anyway). Relord looked on and was ready for a fight (since he does not trust dragons). Ropin went back to the previous room since Masiry was watching their back for any sign of more goblins (and he thought that Kasas could take care of a little dragon...)



Masiry then asked Ropin to help him barricade the door they thought would bring more goblins later - the one that Erky had tried to lock, while Erky was standing guard, making sure things would be alright....

...and they would have been alright if Kasas had better luck with dragons, since when Kasas called: "Come here, Calcyiax! Good boy, come here!" The dragon hopped over a little, not using its wings, cocked his head and then bit Kasas on the hand! "Ow! Bad Dragon!" he said and was ready to try a spell to knock him out. Relord was shocked at this and went in to try to help Kasas, but Kasas quickly told Relord; "Don't hurt him! We need to bring him back to Meepo alive!" Relord just stood there thinking how to do that when it dawned on him that some of the goblins were using saps and they could knock you out but not hurt you, so he hurried out to find a sap.

Meanwhile, Kasas was trying to calm the dragon with no luck. It even breathed its ice breath on him and Kasas started to shiver and shake. He realized that even though a dragon is small, it can still be dangerous and so he went back out past the trap in the floor to think what to do.

As he did this, the dragon followed him, thinking that it was a game.

What would happen now?

Another Wall, More Goblins and a Surprise!

As Ropin and the others made their way around the winding hallway, they noticed that the room that they were going to be going into was larger than what they were seeing. Ropin was the first to glance around at the room from the safety of the hallway and noticed a few things.

There were many javelins and arrows littering the floor as well as 2 target dummies that were made to look vaguely human, wearing a metal cook pot for a helmet and what looked like rat's skin for armor on their chest. Some of the arrows and javelins were sticking out of the dummies. There was also a door directly ahead of them.

Ropin wanted to know what was further down in the room, and peeked through. Oh no! Not again! He was disappointed to see yet another goblin made wall about 30 feet back, but this time it was larger and stronger looking - and he saw the tops of 4 goblin heads. He also heard them talking in their rough gutteral language.

He darted back in the hallway, where the others were waiting and told them what he saw further down the room. It was clear that as Ropin and the others were waiting for the goblins to come to them, the goblins were waiting for the adventurers to go to them!

Relord was a bit impatient and yelled out "Hey! Goblins, come over here!" He did not think that they would understand, but one goblin answered back, "Heh heh, U cum here......stinky human! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!" Relord was not to be tricked, "Hey, what is your name?" The goblin yelled back, "Uh....name Glorg. I have sumthin for you! Come and get it!" Then he heard Glorg say something in goblin language and all the others laughed.


Finally, Everyone was getting ready to go in, since it was clear that the goblins were waiting for them behind their strong wall. Kasas prepared another Magic Missle, Relord tried his alchemists fire again, Ropin knocked an arrow to his longbow and Masiry started to twirl his sling. What would happen now?

Ropin was the first to go out and fire, but only hit the wall with his arrow - Relord fared no better and had his firey bolt zoom over the goblins' heads. Masiry got off a good shot with his sling and of course Kasas' Magic Missle never missed. But they were dodging and jumping away from javelins and arrows.



Suddenly Relord had an idea! "Hey, let's use those dummies! We can get in back of them and shoot from behind them to give us cover!" That was a good idea, so he and Kasas went to grab them. One of the dummies was older and less stable and fell down as they tried to get behind it, but the other dummy was all set.

The goblins tried to shoot at them but they only hit the dummies or missed completely (seems like they needed more training!). Meanwhile, Ropin and Masiry thought it might be a good idea to rush up to the wall and try to use that as cover as well, so they tried to run up. Unfortunately, there were more caltrops on the floor and one of them slowed Ropin a bit. But Masiry was ok and got to the wall with no problem.

The fight was a long one but eventually, the 4 goblins lay dead and the adventurers were only slightly wounded. Breathing hard, they climbed over the wall again (Kasas had it easier this time), and started to see what the goblins had on them.



They did not go to the door that was close to the dummies though, but carefully Meepo (who was still with them, but in the back, trying not to get killed), crept to the door and listened. Then, to the horror of the group, he opened it and started to talk in his kobold language! Oh, no! Were there more goblins there?

The Caltrop Hall

They returned to where the other door was before the jail cells and breathed a deep breath before going through it. What would be on the other side?

Ropin carefully searched for traps (he was very aware of traps now) and slowly opened the door. As the door creaked open, he saw a small dark room with a hallway leading down to the right. He crept inside. As he got inside, he noticed something hanging on the back of the door - little bells! He thought it was strange, but then quickly realized that this was a warning signal for something close by! If they had opened the door quickly, the bells would have rang and whatever was waiting for them would know and have time to prepare!

Ropin quietly told the others about it and warned them to walk as softly as they could. As they entered the small room, they peeked down the hallway to the right and had to let their eyes adjust to the darkness. However they saw what looked like a wall stretching across the hallway about 30 feet down. The wall was only waist high so this was strange since it blocked the hallway. Then they started to see small things on the floor that looked like pointy stars - wait a minute - they were caltrops! Caltrops were 4 sided pointy stars that had 3 points on the ground and 1 point up in the air so if you stepped on it, your foot would get hurt. These were used to slow or stop people from coming down here!

As they were looking, Relord made a noise and everyone quickly tried to duck back into the small room. However, they started to hear some noises at the end of the hallway, beyond the wall blocking it and they started to get ready for a fight.

Steropes was flying near Ropin and then suddenly 2 javelins flew out of the hallway and struck the poor bird! It went down and Kasas was shocked and scared that he may die, but Relord gave him a quick Minor Healing to stop the bleeding. The fight was on!

Everyone was getting ready, but still they did not know who threw the javalins. Ropin peeked around into the hallway and saw 2 small ugly heads - goblins! That means they were getting closer! However, the goblins also saw Ropin and shot 2 more javalins at him. Thankfully, they missed and hit the wall.

Relord had an idea: he put Alchemist's Fire on one of his crossbow bolts, peeked out as well and fired. It was a hard shot to hit the goblins since the wall protected them, but SHWAK! Relord's bolt hit the goblin right in the face! The goblin died instantly and was thrown back. The other goblin was shocked to see this and thought about running away, but before he could do so, Kasas cast Magic Missle at him and also popped him to the ground - dead. Wow, that was pretty easy - but they knew that they were lucky the goblins did not call more of their friends!

They now had to deal with the caltrops all through the hall. At least there were no monsters shooting at them. They took their time, making sure not to step on any. And then, when they were about halfway down the hall, they heard a gruff voice that seemed to be calling for someone or something....



...and they knew that they had better hurry. Ropin was in front and just as he was at the wall, he saw another goblin come from around a corner and see the 2 dead goblins. Ropin had his bow already out and knotched, so he stood up more and shot at the goblin. He was off balance so he missed, but the goblin realized there were people coming and he quickly ran away back where he came from. Oh no! More goblins would know!

The adventurers quickly tried to get over the small wall and most did it easily, but Kasas was having problems and could just not gt over the wall, no matter how hard he tried. Ropin and the others were already around the corner when finally Kasas heaved and pulled himself up over the small wall, feeling embarrassed that such a small thing could stop him.

As they were getting ready for a counter attack from the goblins, they made sure that everyone was ready and also tried to hide as well. They slowly creeped through another hall and saw another opening that emptied into another room. What was waiting for them?