⚽2. goblin ball

session 2 • 01/11/2022 • 1,153 words

『 📜 』 adventure log

🌞 DAY 1 • 📅 ELEINT 22

Leaving Neverwinter

Our adventure continues at the bar of the Bad Piano, where our heroes decides to begin the quest by heading to the South Gate to retrieve the cart. Though Lera still wants to go to a bookstore, we decide to go to one in Phandalin due to the late opening time.

The group exchanges ages -- Sorennar 184y, Lera 25y, Hugh 87y, Colt 160y. All within the range of young adults for their respective races. A small conflict begins to brew when a guard refers to Hugh as "it" when he starts showing his bellybutton to them; Lera takes great offence and is dragged away by Sorennar.

A young woman at the stalls near the South Gate waves them down in an attempt to peddel her wares: stale bread and suspicious potions. The group buys two loaves of very hard bread to feed Hugh. We consider the potions, but when Sorennar intimidates her with a thinly veiled threats if the potions are fake, she packs them up and shooes us away.

We come across across the stables and chat with Mr. Grundle, the halfling stableskeeper. He offers instructions on how to feed and avoid spooking the Rothe, and ask that the adventurers inform Gundren and Sildar of late fees if they don't bring the horses back within two weeks. Before the adventurers depart, Grundle asks Lera to promise that we release the Rothe if we come into unescapable danger -- "they deserve better than to die as sitting ducks". She does.

On the High Road

The group engages in idle chatter as we travel. Lera asks what everyone will do after the delivery.

We learn that Colt is looking for his parents, and will continue the search after the adventure ends. His parents, Adro and Fana, used to deliver cargo as we're doing -- it's been a few decades since Colt has seen them. Hugh suggests that Colt "run around screaming his parents' names" to find them.

Sorennar says he'll probably return to the Underdark. He says he was adopted by a "very generous Drow noble family" who raised and educated him. He has three brothers: Nadhiir (280y), Rizoyn (140y) and the son of said noble family, so a "step brother" of sorts.

As the sun starts to rise, Sorennar begins to get more and more irritated by the light due to his Drow sunlight sensitivity, eventually wrapping himself in a blanket like a burrito. Hugh offers to set up his tent for him, which Sorennar gratefully accepts. The group piles various fabrics onto Sorennar and leave him alone to whine.

Sorennar recalls Lera's indignance at the guard's racism, questioning why she feels like she can make a difference in such a vast world. Lera delivers a touching speech about how unique everyone is, likening them to a beautiful tapestry. She implies that by demanding respect for each of them, she can make a difference, no matter how small the action.

Unfortunately, Sorennar, already annoyed at the light, dismisses her, stating that her attitude sounds exhausting. Lera puts her bedroll on his face to help with the light. 🥺

Goblin Arrows

The group comes across a pair of dead horses on the road, speckled with arrows. Lera and Colt move forward to investigate, finding humanoid drag marks heading North as well as that the blood is still fresh. They make the connection that these were Gundren and Sildar's horses after finding Grundle's saddles on the corpses.

Sorennar manages to emerge from the mountain of blankets and bedrolls to realize that the terrain makes for a perfect ambush spot, calling for everyone to return to the cart just as goblin arrows begin to rain.

Four goblins emerge to attack us. Hugh kills one by using his charger feat to continually knock one of the goblins (Squore) off of cliffs, then jumping off and landing on him until his,.. body exploded... Two of the four ambush Sorennar and Lera in the backline. Colt kills one (Mork), and the other (Flork) flees into the woods, where Sorennar gives chase after Lera heals him. After several failed rapier attacks, Sorennar kills it with Vicious Mockery. Colt hunts down the last goblin (Joe) and knocks it unconscious.

Lera and Sorennar interrogate Joe, who offers the following information:

• Their goblin hideout is 45 minutes North from the road. There are around 10-15 goblins there.

• There is one trap on the way.

• The goblins were under instruction from a bugbear named Klaarg, who abused many of the goblins, using them as meatshields and starving them.

• The goblins kidnapped Sildar and Gundren, and are interrogating Sildar while Gundren was taken away somewhere else unknown to Joe.

• All of Gundren and Sildar's items were taken with Gundren.

Sorennar offers Joe food in reward for his cooperation, which Joe accepts hungrily. The group rests briefly as Sorennar plays music to calm the group down from the rough battle. He also groups everyone together to discuss strategy / analyze the shortcomings of the last fight, and is surprised that "overworlders" don't typically do so.

Joe eventually lets it slip that there are more traps than he let on, which Sorennar takes badly and nicks Joe's ear for. Sorennar presents this lie to Lera as evidence that true nature cannot be changed and that goblins will remain treacherous no matter what. The group hides the cart and heads north, forcing Joe to walk in front in case of any unknown traps.

Trail to Cragmaw

Lera tries to make conversation with Joe, learning that he enjoys cooking and wants to be able to make food for himself one day. She encourages this, but gets upset upon learning he is only 9 years old and was essentially born into slavery.

Sorennar comments that it would not have been better if he had tasted freedom before being enslaved, though Lera thinks that perhaps it would have helped if Joe had been able to form his own goals. Sorennar, Hugh and Colt remind Lera that the goblins attacked them and would have killed them / fed them to the wolves if the tables were turned.

While Lera is sad, Hugh pipes up with an anecdote about his sister pranking him with mud spike pits. Lera becomes concerned, while Sorennar questions the efficiency of a spike pit with mud in it.

The group circumvents two traps, while Sorennar gets more and more agitated by the talk of enslavement and goblins. This agitation culminates when Lera tries to pat him on the back and he violently recoils. Shortly after, he takes out a pipe of herbs and smokes heavily, seemingly calming down.

Upon exiting the forest, the group finds a clearing with a stream/river, where they hear a goblin complain about how Klaarg cut off one of her ears. Joe calls out to this goblin by name: Dorrie.