Chapter 1-14: The Gang Guts Droop

General Summary

After their little extraplanar adventure, the party found itself back in the throne room of Cragmaw Castle. After taking a moment to regain their bearings, Aetilius started to look for the disappeared Drow. As he made his way up the steps to the dias, a dwarf staggered around the pillars at the back, "My friends, I am so glad to see you" Gundren booms. Aetilius eyed him warily, and Ramas immediately distrusted him "How much did you pay us for this job?" he asked. Gundren stammered for a moment, "Erm… 200 gold pieces" he said uncertainly. That was the final straw for Miaug, who grabbed an arrow out of her quiver, loosing it just over the dwarf's shoulder in one swift motion. Instinctively the dwarf dove out of the way, hiding behind the pillar. As he moved, his skin appeared to ripple and he warped into the shape of female dark elf. The elf disappeared into ribbons of silvery light and reappeared beside Clootie, swiping at her with a dagger. Clootie managed to dodge out of the way, and the drow darted over toward Miaug. The party descended on the elf, surrounding it and attacking on all sides. Meanwhile, Aetilius found the real Gundren chained up and unconscious behind the other pillar on the dias. He laid hands on the dwarf and repaired some of the damage from his imprisonment and torture. The elf teleported out of the middle of the party, and launched a fire bolt at Ryoko. An instant before the streaking flame reaches her, Ryoko disappeared in a burst of purple light, reappearing 20ft away, looking surprised. The elf's skin shimmered again, and it returned to it's own base form - that of a tall, dark skinned humanoid with a blank featureless skull. Miaug spun on her heel and loosed another arrow into the doppelganger's skull - pinning it to the pillar.
Aetilius tried to yank Gundren's shackles out of the pillar, but his hand slipped and he punched Gundren in the jaw. The dwarf looks up at him angrily "What the fuck!?" Ramas tried to pick the lock, but his pick broke. Miaug searched the corpse of King Grol, and found a rusty iron key on his belt. She threw this over to Aetilius, who unlocked the manacles and helped Gundren to his feet. Gundren thanked the group, and asked them to escort him to Phandalin to meet up with his brothers. The group agreed - as soon as they'd dealt with Droop. Ramas spent some time with his twin daggers sawing off Grol's head, "Eh, it might be useful"
The party made their way up the stairs after Droop, leaving Gundren in the Dining Room to recover. The staircase wound upwards, opening into a small landing area. To the left a narrow corridor ends in a wooden door. Clootie kicked open the door, yelling a challenge to Droop and lobbing Grol's decapitated head into the room. The room was a large hall, evidently used by the goblins as a form of barracks or sleeping quarters. However, Droop had time to raise the alarm, and the goblins within had knocked over two stone pillars on either side of the doorway, creating an extended funnel and choke point to slow down the party. They had also knocked over the beds in the room and formed them into barricades. Wo goblins manned the forward barricade, while two Hobgoblins and two further goblins (including Droop) crouched behind the rear barricade. Clootie crouched and Aetilius leapt over her - running at the forward barricade and attempting to shoulder barge it. The goblins loosed arrows at the charging tiefling, but these either missed of bounced off his armour. He smacked into the barricade, but it held firm. One of the goblins climbed onto the barricade and attempted to stab at Aetilius, but again it was deflected by his armour. Ramas darted forward, striking at the goblin with his rapier. As he did so, there was a bellow behind him, and out of the corner of the room charged a bugbear. Ryoko, in tiger form, leapt forward into the fray. Clootie darted past the forward barricade and threw herself into cover against the rear barrier, yelling to Droop again. Ramas threw a smoke bomb over into the area between the barricades, providing cover for his allies against the arrows of the hobgoblins, followed by a handful of ball bearings.
During the ensuing battle, Droop was forced into combat, where he promptly fell over on the bearings and was subsequently picked to his feet by Clootie, and hit with a vengeful Shining Wizard. As she struck at him again, he lifted the staff and deflected the blow with a mystical shield, but the staff splintered and disintegrated in his hands. He stood up to try and flee, but Clootie knocked him on the back of the head, leaving him unconscious. Miaug nimbly danced up onto the top of the collapsed pillars and leapt onto the bugbear's shoulders, firing an arrow straight down through his skull. Aetilius darted through the defences, and struck one of the hobgoblins with a Thunderous Smite. The Hobgoblin's limp body struck the wall with a sickening crunch. Clootie then struck and killed the final hobgoblin.
The party then gathered round the unconscious Droop - slapping him to consciousness. Clootie demanded he explain himself. As he whimpered his apologies, Clootie's resolve faltered and she started to soften again. Before her friend could completely turn into a pussy, Ryoko grabbed the little goblin's throat in her jaws and crushed it. Ramas recovered the goblin king's head as a trophy.
Revenge finally complete, the party staggered back down to the Dining Room and reunited with Gundren. They decided to rest up in the entrance courtyard for a bit, and then either head back to Phandalin, or try to explore the blocked off northern corridor.