Session 23 Report

General Summary

Pyzar Zim was the first to rush the creature, wounding it with a vicious swipe of his greatsword. But the carrion crawler retaliated with its tentacles, their slap stinging him in the arm, causing sudden paralysis to overcome him. Despite this, the party made short work of the monster. After several moments, the paralysis wore off and they continued to the secret door leading to the hobgoblin lair. The bodies they had left just inside the hidden corridor had been removed. Haymin’s Heroes cautiously entered and reached an intersection, but Pyzar noticed the two hobgoblins hiding just to either side of the opening. Avoiding the ambush, the party defeated the hobgoblins with ease. To the right was a storage room full of foodstuff. To the left a set of stairs rose higher into the complex. As the party began moving to the storage room, Mogi Delvin heard sounds coming from beyond the stairs. His warning aided Titta Morco in avoiding a hurled javelin from above. The party rushed up the stairs and engaged more hobgoblins. Two met them at the landing, while two others were banging on doors on either side of the room and calling out for reinforcements. From both doors more hobgoblins came, including the chieftain. After the first two fell, Titta rushed the door to the chieftain’s room and ended up surrounded. Multiple sword swipes brought her down, but Ladigo Farthon used his Healer’s Amulet to revive her. She continued to fight from the ground bringing down some of the hobgoblins around her and severely wounding the chieftain. But with his final attacking thrust, he stabbed Titta, and once again she lay dying on the floor. Ladigo was on hand to heal her once again and the rest of the party defeated the remaining hobgoblins, suffering only minor injuries. After the battle, they examined the area and noticed no other exits. There was the chieftain’s quarters, two other rooms, and a short adjoining corridor in the center. They took time to search the chieftain’s room and found a hidden chest containing some treasure. In addition, his sword and studded leather armor identified as magical when Mogi cast Detect Magic. Selia Roselyn Maxwell took some time to experiment with a wand they found in the chest, while some of the others searched the walls of all the rooms for a secret exit. Eventually, Auren Sylynn found the hidden door in one of the corners. It opened to a short corridor that seemingly ended. At the end of the corridor, they found another secret door. This one led to an equipment room storing weapons and armor. Three hobgoblins stood watch in this room, and were caught by surprise when Haymin’s Heroes entered, instead of the comrades they expected. After they dealt with these three, the party restocked on ammunition and continued on. As they progressed through the hobgoblin cave, they began to hear the sounds of a whip crack accompanied by screams of pain. These screams soon became sobbing. Haymin’s Heroes quickly found the source in a torture room where there were six prisoners chained to the wall, four humans, an orc, and a gnoll, while two hobgoblins were whipping a portly man in tears. The party quickly killed the hobgoblins and proceeded to free the human prisoners. Ladigo then healed the whipped man. The prisoners thanked the party and answered any questions they had. After confirming that these prisoners were the ones from the merchant wagon they had found sacked on the road, Titta promised to bring them to Rowadin. Before leaving the torture room, however, the party engaged in a debate over the fate of the orc and gnoll. At first, Titta and the majority of the party seemed to be in favor of killing them, fearing the creatures would warn their respective tribes as to the party’s presence. But Sinjin Fairchild argued against this, stating that this would be a dishonorable act. Pyzar agreed with him and ultimately it was agreed they would set the orc and the gnoll free, but not until after the rest of the hobgoblin lair was cleared and Haymin’s Heroes were ready to head back to Rowadin. Pyzar gave the orc and gnoll some food and the rest of the party began sharing food with the other prisoners. Alrick Finn was the man who was being whipped. His wife Vinara was the only female prisoner. Eddard and Paultar were two of the guards hired to protect the wagon. The orc’s name was Ishrak. Paultar, speaking orc, spoke with him and served as an interpreter while Titta asked the orc questions. Eventually, they took Alrick and the others to the armory and had them wait there. They gave them the key so they could lock the door and closed the secret doors on the other side. Eddard and Paultar armed themselves with the gear the hobgoblins took from them, and claimed some extra weapons for themselves. They stayed to guard the Finns at the party’s request, though they had offered to help them with the rest of the hobgoblins. Haymin’s Heroes proceeded to search out the rest of the lair. They went up another set of stairs from which they heard noises. Down a long corridor they came to a large room lined with tables. There was a fireplace at the far end with a low fire burning. Six hobgoblins were preparing the room for a feast to be held later that day. But the presence of Haymin’s Heroes interrupted their plans.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists