Escape from the Border Tower
19 Mirtul, The Year of Twelve Warnings (1494 DR)
The Border Tower, The Sword Coast
The door leading into the prison room opened.
Glunk, the hobgoblin, entered followed by two other goblins with light crossbows trained on both Caradoc and Errich. A third goblin stood just outside the room, its crossbow held at the ready.
Glunk wore a suit of chainmail armor. He also carried his shield. A longsword was sheathed at his side. The hobgoblin stood a few inches taller than Caradoc but the half-orc figured he could outmatch the hobgoblin in a contest of strength any day. Considering how filthy the goblins kept themselves and their gear, Caradoc was surprised at how clean Glunk maintained his equipment.
“Missed us already?” Errich asked as he sat on his bedding. He kept the unlocked manacles loosely fastened to his wrists.
Caradoc, on the other hand, had hung his manacles’ chain above the ring attached to the wall. If no one looked close enough, one might have thought the chain was still looped through the ring.
Glunk walked towards the halfling. “Grog wants me to kill you,” he said.
“And lose two valuable prisoners for Silverclaw?” the halfling asked.
“Killing Bloodtooth was personal,” Glunk said. “He loved that wolf. He figured we could capture more travelers along the road and make up for the loss.” Glunk slowly began to reach for his longsword.
“Why not pick on someone your own size?” Caradoc said challenging the hobgoblin.
Glunk regarded the half-orc for a moment. “Don’t worry. I’ll be gutting you next. But first we’re going to cut your halfling friend here to pieces and cook him for our next meal. You, we will beat up for sport. Then maybe we’ll kill you when we grow tired of your squealing.”
“I figured you were afraid of me,” Caradoc said, trying to intimidate the hobgoblin.
It worked.
Glunk stopped, turned, and walked towards Caradoc instead. He drew his longsword. “Perhaps hearing you squeal will make cutting up the halfling alive even more fun.”
Glunk thrust the longsword directly towards Caradoc’s stomach only to have his blade slammed into the ground by Caradoc’s freed manacles. Glunk couldn’t hide his surprise at how the half-orc could have escaped his bonds.
Errich, taking advantage of the captors’ initial shock, stood up and rushed the nearest goblin. The sharpened piece of bone he held in his hand wouldn’t do much to hurt the goblin, but he had no other choice.
Unfortunately, the goblin saw his attack coming in time and deflected it with his crossbow, easily breaking the piece of makeshift weapon.
Caradoc, meanwhile, whipped the length of chain around Glunk’s held sword and pulled as hard as he could. The hobgoblin’s grip loosened. Caradoc pulled the freed sword and grabbed it with his right hand. He then moved past the hobgoblin, who struck Caradoc with the edge of its shield. Ignoring the pain in his left arm, Caradoc positioned himself between the two goblins, one of which Errich was flanking.
The goblins deftly moved away from both Errich and Caradoc before the two could react. They moved far enough away and fired their crossbows. One shot Caradoc in the leg. The other only grazed Errich’s right arm. The goblin outside the room aimed its crossbow at Caradoc but only managed to hit the open door.
Caradoc looked at the door. “The door locks from the outside!” he told Errich.
Glunk, who was weaponless, moved to the nearest goblin and drew a rusty scimitar from the small humanoid’s sheath. He hated how goblin weapons were always unkept. He often wondered how his kind could possibly be related to goblins. He hated following orders from Grog, the goblin Silverclaw placed in charge of the Border Tower. Grog may be better than him at fighting, especially since the goblin was a champion among his kind, but Glunk couldn’t wait for the day Grog met his match. With Grog out of the way, Glunk could take command of the tower and the goblins in it.
Errich, taking Caradoc’s hint, rushed out of the prison room. He tried to knock down the goblin standing just outside the door, but the goblin dodge to the side.
Caradoc, still inside the room, turned to the now armed Glunk…and winked at him. He then rushed towards the door leading out of the room.
Glunk suddenly realized what was about to happen. “Stop him, you idiots!”
But it was too late. Caradoc reached the other room, slammed the door shut, and quickly slid the locking bolt into place.
Glunk and two of the goblins were now prisoners in their own prison.
Caradoc and Errich found themselves in a room with a large wooden table dominating most of the room’s space. A lit fireplace offered the only source of light. A reinforced wooden door, which led outside, stood on the southern wall. A wooden staircase along the west wall led to the second floor.
Caradoc heard Glunk slam into the prison’s door on the other side. The hobgoblin was trying to break the door off its hinges. It would take some time, but Caradoc didn’t doubt the hobgoblin would eventually break the door down.
The lone goblin, the two recognized as Pludd whom Caradoc didn’t kill while trying to free the prisoners the day before, deftly moved away and shot at Errich. The bolt struck the halfling in the left arm, just below the shoulder. Errich yelled in pain. He looked around, spotted a knife on the table and went for it. He moved towards Pludd and tried to stab the goblin. Pludd dodged the attack.
Caradoc, armed with Glunk’s longsword and the manacles, spotted a small bottle on the table. It was labeled with words written in common: “for healing”. He snatched it off the table and stuffed it inside his cuirass. He then moved next to Pludd who was fighting Errich.
Pludd once again disengaged from the fight; this time the goblin rushed up to the top of the stairs. He then yelled, “Bree-yark” and proceeded to reload his crossbow.
The sound of Glunk’s body once again slamming against the prison door reminded Caradoc and Errich that the fight was far from over. Errich quickly moved towards the door leading outside the tower and unbolted it. “Let’s go,” Errich said. “We’re free.”
Caradoc struggled whether to remain and kill every single one of the vile humanoids in the tower, or flee for his life. He weighed the odds. He sorely wanted to run upstairs and keep on fighting. Grog would likely be upstairs, he knew. There were probably other goblins upstairs too. And if Glunk broke the prison door down, he and Errich would be surrounded, with any possible escape route blocked. He had nearly died twice since he left Phandalin days before. How long would it be before his luck would run out?
Caradoc turned and rushed to the door, pulling the unlocked door wide open. He stepped outside into the cool night air, relishing in his hard-fought freedom. His darkvision allowed him to see in the dark, albeit only in black and white. The tree line wasn’t far. If he and Errich could make it, any chance of being pursued would be difficult.
Without a word, Errich ran past him and kept going. Caradoc noticed a crossbow bolt sticking out from behind Errich’s right shoulder. Pludd must have gotten one last shot in, he thought.
Caradoc took one look back at the tower and quickly followed the halfling down the moonlit hill.
He was free, and alive. But Caradoc vowed to return someday and slay every single humanoid inside the Border Tower.
Comments