Once the group escaped Clarg’s cave, thanks to help of a very persuasive Captain Mazin, Camilla and Lenny were given the healing potions and the five of them lead the goblins back to the wagon. The Bow and Captain walked in front, the goblins in the middle, and Camilla and Lenny in back. Lenny tried talking to one goblin about the bunnies, failing to remember that he had killed the one goblin that knew Common. The Bow and Captain quietly plotted their attack. Corlove stayed silent, fearing anything would trigger her to get knocked out again. By the time the group got closer to their wagon, Captain attacked, killing the first of the four goblins. Lenny used his “sleep spell” to kill the second. The Bow luckily killed the third with a direct strike. Camilla finished off the last goblin with acid splash, her personal favorite.
Though the goblins were dead, they were not in the clear just yet. They had to still deal with Clarg. The group returned to the grave, dropping the goblins in the field of pitfalls on the way (“Bad bunnies go night night” per Lenny). Captain and Lenny emptied a large crate they took from the wagon. Camilla helped fill it with rocks, figuring the group could Trojan Horse Clarg out of the cave. The Bow went into the cave, scanning the area for an all-clear.
In the cave, The Bow reaches the second level. He heard some chatter between a goblin and what sounded like a human. From what he could tell, the human was in distress, most likely a captive. The Bow attacks the goblin, but unfortunately takes damage. Using that as his motivation, The Bow cuts the goblin’s hand off, sweeps its leg, and causes it to land on his head and, as Lenny puts it, “falls asleep forever”. The Bow charges to the prison cell and finds the human, a fighter, chained up to the wall. They have a small chat, though not very detailed as the captive only said, “I want to get back to town.”
Lenny, falling under his usual ADD mindset, wanders into the cave. He finds the chimney guard dogs and gives them jerky as treats as he believed he could teach the dogs some tricks. The barking wakes Clarg up. The Bow also hears the dogs and Lenny. He gives the minimum amount of supplies to the unnamed captive before racing back to the cave opening. Captain, who heard the dogs from the wagon, goes in, calling for Clarg to come out.
Clarg sends his goblin minions down the chimney. The goblins are unsure how to react to the Captain’s appearance. The Captain calmed them down when he recounted the adventurous tale of obtaining the crate of treasure (aka the Trojan Crate). As the Captain talked (and talked…and talked), The Bow dragged Lenny out of the cave and updated Camilla on what was happening. Camilla, certain this plan was doomed to fail, decided to stay as far away as possible. Lenny hid around the corner from the cave opening. The Bow stayed near the crate, with his bow and arrow ready.
The goblins, having heard enough of the Captain talk (and talk…and talk), go back up to Clarg to provide updates. Clarg didn’t fully believe the Captain and called for his backup. Captain, who was standing at the mouth of the cave, assured Clarg his minions were by the crate of treasure. All he needed to do was come out and see for himself. Clarg still fails to believe in Captain Mazin. His patience was up and now he was angry.
Clarg and Ripper, his prized wolf pet and best friend, ventured out of the cave. The Bow took aim at Ripper, injuring him in the leg. Ripper, rather take revenge on The Bow, took his aim at Lenny, who was sort of hiding/sort of out in the open around the corner. Ripper then nearly knocks out Captain, happy to hear the Captain shut up for once. Lenny, rather upset the Ripper hurt him, takes his maul and finished off Ripper. Clarg, who saw his best friend (and only friend) perish before his eyes, retreats to the field in mourning. Lenny aims at Clarg, but misses. Fortunately, Clarg didn’t take notice. Camilla, who was far from the field, sees Clarg attempting to flee. She blasted acid splash, hitting Clarg in the eyes. Clarg failed to notice due to his incessant bawling. One of the goblins mount the guard dog. They race past Lenny, placing their aim at Captain. Lenny hits the wolf, severely damaging its hind leg. The wolf limped and took a swipe at Captain. Captain luckily dodged the hit. The wolf/goblin duo attacked Lenny. Lenny received minor injuries. Captain, hanging by a thread, killed the wolf with his sword. Lenny punches the goblin off the wolf. The goblin landed on its head and died instantly.
Camilla, hiding near the shrubs, used Lightning Chromatic Orb against Clarg. Clarg took a direct hit, not caring as he was still mourning. He limps away, slightly charred. The Bow aimed his shot at Clarg. Clarg’s arm collapses and Clarg died from the loss of blood. The Bow immediately dashed to the corpse, validating that Clarg was indeed dead. He looted the corpse.
The second wolf aimed his sight at Camilla, who was hiding in the shrubs. The wolf missed, as the shrubs cut him in uncomfortable places. Captain charged for the wolf near Camilla, killing it off.
The final wolf, which stayed near the mouth of the cave, aimed at Lenny. The final wolf missed. Camilla, annoyed by the fighting, singed the final wolf with acid splash. The Bow, returning from his looting, finished off the final wolf by shooting an arrow at its bum. The final wolf spins around in a dizzy and smashed its head against the cave wall.
Before taking a breath, Lenny raced up the chimney to loot Clarg’s lair. Captain headed to the dungeon to have a few words with the unnamed captive. Captain learned the captive was Sildar. Sildar was traveling from Neverwinter to Fandolen with his friend Gundren (“Gun”). He was attacked by goblins in the forest and brought to the cave to be kept as prisoner. Gun was still missing and Sildar prayed Gundren was still alive. Captain offered his help, but, of course, at a price. Sildar offered gold to the Captain and the group once he got back to town. Captain was hesitant to believe Sildar. Sildar explained his mission was to protect civilization and he was the type to keep his word if the other party kept theirs. Captain, rather shaky as he still hung onto life by a thread, couldn’t picked the lock. He smashed the chain, freeing Sildar.
In the meantime, Lenny searched through the boxes. He opened the biggest one, which wasn’t locked. Lenny found 200 copper pieces, 50 silver pieces, 2 healing potions and a jade frog with golden eyes. Nothing else in the box caught his interest aside from clothes.
The Bow took a morning star and hide armor. He finds a shield with a blue lion crest, which means nothing to Lenny. Captain, who reversed Santa Claus after freeing Sildar, quickly looted the boxes. He found 20 silver in the corner by the chimney. Camilla and Sildar were the last to come up. Unfortunately, they found nothing.
Going back to town, The Bow and Sildar talked on the history of the magical cave. Camilla drove the wagon with Lenny next to her. Captain took one of the healing potions Lenny found and slowly found his strength returning.
Reaching the outskirts of town, the group gives Sildar stuff from the crates, including a soft dress founded by Lenny. Captain reminded Sildar of repayment. Sildar paid 12 gold to the group. The Bow and Captain decided to go to the local merchant to sell off the loot. Camilla, Lenny and Sildar go to the Stonehill Inn to obtain some rooms for some R&R.
At the inn, which was a beautiful manor filled with upscale furniture and the friendliest staff, Lenny was denied entry. He had to get rid of his war trophy and corpses first. Lenny asked if there was someone in town who could skin his wolf and create a fine coat. Lucky for Lenny, there was. Lenny left the inn and ventured to the coat maker. Camilla handled the planning, paying for modest rooms for Lenny, The Bow and herself. Sildar requested a poor room as he didn’t need much space or fancy in his life. Camilla happily paid. Captain, on the other hand, did not receive a room as he wouldn’t stop talking about finding wenches (or widows as there were no wenches in town). Camilla didn’t mind as it saved her money.
A barmaid, Elsa, approached Camilla and Sildar. Elsa answered some basic questions and talked about Darren Ederworth, a retired adventurer who owned a beautiful apple orchard outside of town. Camilla, very interested in Darren, pressed Elsa for information. Elsa, slightly confused, asked Camilla if she wanted anything to drink. Camilla ordered a glass of Noir and dismissed Elsa.
At the general store, The Bow and Captain unloaded the goods. They sell all goods that were in the unmarked boxes. Barton, the shopkeeper, gives The Bow and Captain 10 gold pieces each. The Bow and Captain explained finding Sildar. Barton quickly asked for Gun and the men recounted what Sildar had told them on the way to town. Barton, very concerned, needed to a way to notify Gun’s brothers of the news (Gun’s brothers were camping in the woods). The Bow and Captain left for the specialized shop while Barton retreated to his office to write a letter.
At the specialized shop, The Bow and Captain sold off the blue lion crates. The Bow asked the merchant about the Black Spider. The merchant didn’t know what he meant, but warned of the Red Bands, which was a gang that had recently taken the town as their new headquarters. Captain, noticing more the merchant’s features than her words, changed the subject for his own gain. The merchant, a very business-minded woman, was tough to crack, but asked Captain to stop by after her shift for a potential room. The Bow, finding the moment rather awkward, requested to buy health potions for the group.
The Bow and Captain returned to the inn. The Bow gave Camilla her and Lenny’s portion of gold pieces as well as the health potions. Lenny returned to the inn shortly after, asking his sister for 25 gold pieces to pay for the coat maker. Camilla refused, telling Lenny to ask again tomorrow. Captain left for his date. Everyone else went up to their rooms to sleep.
The next day, the group ate breakfast at the inn. Captain returned rather conflicted. He praised himself for getting lucky and bitterly mumbled how he had to pay 1 gold piece for the luck. The group chuckled under their breath. Sildar changed the subject. He recounted his time with the goblins. They mentioned a King Groll, who was Clarg’s boss. The innkeeper, Toblin, approached the group, asking the general questions an innkeeper would ask: how was the rooms, were you comfortable, do you find the food to your tastes, etc. The Bow asked about the Red Bands and Toblin told them to stay away. He mentioned the group needed to visit the Town Master’s Hall and the orchard. Camilla suggested they go to the orchard first before visit the Hall. The group agreed, finished their breakfast, and headed to the beautiful orchard owned by Darren.
The corridor to the main house were lined with tall apple orchards. Darren’s butler greeted the group and took them to meet Darren in the sun room. Camilla, finding Darren handsome, told Darren of her chromatic orb attack on Clarg. Darren was impressed, but was also impressed by The Bow’s bum strike and Lenny’s maul attack. The Bow asked about the Red Bands and Black Spider. Darren, finally, was able to give a direct answer. The Red Bands hung around at the Sleeping Giant tavern. Camilla redirected the conversation to the history of the orchard. Darren, confused by her, answered her question. He bought the orchard after a life of adventuring. He, like this group, traveled with close friends, finding treasures and perils. Camilla suggested Darren should join their group for a grand adventure. Darren passed for two reasons: 1. He was too old (but not old enough in Camilla’s eyes) and 2. He could not for the life of him figure out whether Camilla was snooty or overly outgoing.
The group left the orchard and headed to the Town Master’s Hall. Arbon, the Town Master, greeted the group with preoccupation. He had heard of Lenny’s mission to find the coat maker and Captain’s mission to find a wench. Arbon discussed an open bounty to stop the orcs that harassed his town folk. He was willing to provide 50 gold for the whole group if they were to stop the orcs. The group decided to think about it at the inn.
At the inn, Sildar told the group about his Lord Alliance brother, Lord Iarno Albeck. Sildar offered compensation to bring back Gun and to find Iarno. Having four choices – the tavern, the orcs, Gun, and Iarno – the group weighed their pros and cons. They decided to first tackle the orcs. This was going to give them the highest amount of compensation while improving the group’s image from slightly bad (thanks a lot dead corpses and impatience) to slightly okay. The next mission was to take on the Red Bands at the tavern. Finally, they were going to find Gun and Iarno. The group said their goodbyes to Sildar and headed out to their new mission.
Zelly & Ol' Hem's 