Goblinoid revenge

Page 123 in Volos guide to monsters is the barghest It is a vengeful shapeshift who must kill 17 goblins before going to serve its lord The party encounter a group of goblin mercenaries in the mercenary camp, one of whom is a barghest. This is discovered after the group witness it leaving a tent after murdering an officer of the goblins. The group can then either out the barghest to the group in exchange for lowered service rates, or help the barghest kill 3 influential leaders of the goblin faction, in return for a magical item.

Structure

Exposition

Depending on how the party gain the quest will determine the level of knowledge they have entering the story. Light - a band of goblins has take residence near a stream and are camping. They have not attacked nor threatened any nearby villages and seem to be passing through. Medium - the goblins are isolating after a serious and violent incident. They are running around being subservient and the leadership structure has fallen apart. It seems these goblins will be around for a while. Large - the mage of the goblins was murdered in the dead of night while performing some form on navigational ritual. The goblins suspect that it is one of their own and yet no leader is taking charge, in fact the leaders have given up and demoted themselves. The group is slowly starving as little food is being brought in, and the goblinoids are reaching a critical situation.

The barghest is a creature of revenge created by the leader of a powerful race of aliens who struck a bargain with a goblin god and were subsequently betrayed, being cut short of the deal on almost twenty accounts. The creature is magical in nature, being born of goblin and being goblin in all appearance and manners until adulthood, when it gains the instincts and true monstrous wolf-like form, with the desire to kill powerful goblins as revenge for their overlord's broken treaty.
The creature could be confused with - a werewolf or a monstrous feline, a mutated mountain wolf
The incident took place two nights prior, and the goblins are willing to co-operate to seem as useless as possible, and thus goblinoid secrets are easy to uncover.
The murdered warlock was known as Esmun the Firestoker

Conflict

Bik the Dragger - taller than average male barbarian of exceptionally low intelligence and cunning. Is highly literal and almost completely alien to the concept of jokes, reasoning or consequences. He is a tool to be pointed in the right direction by someone else. His role in the clan is moving heavy objects and dealing damage with his club, towering over most of the others, he is somewhat feared as temperamental and rowdy, thus having few friends. He claims the other night he was heaving a nice log he had found up he hill to the east that he thought would have made a nice bench for him to eat his meals at and possibly to sleep on. The says he had found it when going to urinate in a bush and had become distracted by a shiny thing. He was in fact telling the truth. Bored of listening to others talk about the local politics and how they would offer services in return for coin, he had wandered off. He had in fact seen the shiny reflection of the barghest's eyes, but hadn't recognised any more. This will place him close to the location of the murder but he is innocent. When pressed about the rest of the evening he will say he dragged his log half way back to the camp and have gotten too tired and ended up sleeping. He will show you where this log is, and following an investigation for footprints (12) or nature (12) check, the barghest's foot prints can be found and the trail can be continued. If found later as a part of the trail Bik can be questioned and will give the same story as he is not hiding anything.
Minaf green-tail - a regular female fighter named for her habit of chopping of limbs of dead rivals and attaching them to her belt, looking from a distance like a tail. Her role in the clan is low level, often unwilling to do more than the bare minimum and is only scared when threats of taking away her food are made. She claims the night of the incident she was on lookout duty in a nearby tall tree, where the local boys had made a small treehouse, bridge and perch overlooking the camp and downstream. The claims she had fallen asleep due to being so exhausted with her menial duties - clearly an attempt to make herself seem useless. Therefore, she is unwilling to forgo any details about the incident as she claims to have slept through the whole thing and to have returned in the morning. She is lying, and was in fact spending her evening in the tree with a local lad of a nearby village who was teaching her to read and write common in return for stories about the goblin's adventures. She can be caught in this lie with either waiting near her perch during the evening and catching the boy sneaking in, or when investigating the nearby village and seeing a boy being scaled for having dirty clothes. He will not even try to hide anything, being unaware of the situation and being upset from his scalding. He is in the sun of the village's main merchant, who operates a small caravan business and therefore was taught to read, passing this knowledge to his son. Telling his father will gift a small reward and the kid's disdain. A day later the father will seek you out claiming his son has run away. He will in fact be hiding out in the lookout and can be seen from the camp upon returning. He can be persuaded to return to his father (14 persuasion, 13 intimidation) or apprehended and dragged (10 strength). Returning his son will give the party some 30 GP and occasional supplies from the caravan company. Minaf saw he barghest returning to the area below the camp further downstream, revealing this information when caught out for making her friend. This clue leads to the cleaning area downstream, where the sacred blade of the mage can be found along with a torn note with the name of the barghest, addressed to goblin overseer of the area, located in a nearby town.
Fics, the male goblin scout. Small, nimble and constantly on edge, the scout of the group has eyes that never seem to stay still. His outfit is shabby and well worn, yet his blade is gleaming clean. He claims to have been snooping around a nearby cave looking for a path into the mountains. When pressed on what he was doing he is vague with his details. If comforted he claims to have seen a mountain wolf coming down the mountain several days ago, but that when telling his companions, they feared the worst and suspected a barghest, causing them to enter a state of panic and causing the leadership structure to disintegrate. This meant that the hunters deliberately brought back less food to prove their incompetence, grovelling at others to prove their subservience. Fics is a good source of information about the barghest, although he is convinced that the animal is a mountain wolf, so does not act like the rest of the goblins and continues on foraging in an attempt to save the others. Due to his disregard for the meagre act, the others are highly suspicious of Fics, but somewhat understand due to his sighting of a creature beforehand. If the others are asked about Fics they will ask to speak privately and tell the party of his unusual habits of sneaking off an ahead, living a more solitary life compared to the others.
Pierk the hushed, a mute goblin who acts in a bizarre possessed manor. He is innocent and acts in this way due to being born unable to speak, and being an easy target for other goblins. He will avoid the party after briefly investigating them.
Frigi moon-watcher, female goblin warlock. She was the apprentice of the murdered goblin Esmun. She is the barghest. Introduce her in the midst of the others to avoid suspicion. She will claim to have gone to bed after preparing the ritual with firestoker, but when investigating the ritual sight, it can be seen that the ritual was not fully completed. If asked about this issue, she will claim the ritual must have been destroyed during the attack. She will try hardest to become subservient but she will not feign incompetence. If asked about the barghest she will prove very knowledgeable, claiming it to be have been part of her magical studies, despite warlocks being granted power directly by their hosts. She cannot be fully caught out, as she will choose not to enter her true form due to the high level of suspicion. If a rapport is built with the party and she deems them as uninterested with saving the goblins, she may confide her true nature somewhere secluded.

Rising Action

The party has several options after attempting to discover the truth about the murder and the goblinoid party. Baring in mind the sneaky nature of goblins, it can be assumed they would be plotting some theft against the villages or party if them seem uninterested with hiring their services. Therefore, the goblins may 'accidentally' leave traps around their camp and the surrounding area to catch the party out, hoping to loot the corpse while burying it.
Upon finding clues, the party can make several choices. One - butcher the goblins, knowing if they are all dead then so is the beast, although proper knowledge of the barghest means that their is no immediate threat to the party. Two - falsely accuse one of the goblins. Thus will result in the goblins returning to their tricky and untrustworthy ways if employment is not forthcoming, potentially leading to an ambush later down the line Three  - correctly choosing Frigi, leading to her death, and the same pathway as two Four - joining forces with Frigi and wiping out the goblins, allowing Frigi to move on into the afterlife Five - walking away
If loot is possible, award loot separate to a monetary reward from the quest giver

Plot type

Short Chapter: The form of a goblin