Targor Bloodsword – the leader of the hobgoblin war band – is defeated and at the party’s mercy.
The group, bruised, decides that enough blood has been spilled.
Brannus releases the bound captain, and they leave.
Heading gingerly towards the exit pointed by Bloodsword – the very same they broke open to charge in – they hear noises of movement all around them, but there is no direct contact with any more foes.
They reach the outside without incident.
Not wishing to linger, they gather themselves and head to the path that veers towards the northeast.
The believe that they march towards another encounter with Iarno Albrek and his monstrous creations.
With Dwolf leading the way, they follow the trail.
It’s rugged, but easy enough to follow with obvious marks of recent wagon travel.
As they move further and further into the forest, the canopy above closes around them blocking the sun’s light.
After about an hour they reach an area in which the path gently bends and opens next to a creek that passes under a finely-carved stone bridge – no doubt very old.
The scene would be serene were it not for the complete lack of any forest sounds.
No birds singing, no creatures running among the trees… nothing.
Suddenly the surrounding thicket explodes with movement.
Brannus is caught completely unaware by this.
The rest of the party, however, braces themselves as a group of gruesome goblin creatures emerge!
A large mutated goblin, flanked by two smaller ones, move on the party and a fight ensues.
As is his usual, Sigmar charges in.
Dwolf tries to flank the group from the side.
Kiara stays behind to attack at range.
Brannus fumbles about, still surprised.
With Dwolf flanking, two of the creatures – the large brute included – are dispatched.
However the still bruised Sigmar is knocked unconscious.
Furthermore, the group forgets initially that these creatures have the unfortunate habit of exploding in a cloud of necrotic fumes upon death.
The final beast is defeated at range, and when it melts in a cloud of green, it affects no one.
Fully in the fight by now, Brannus helps stabilize Sigmar.
The skirmish is over almost as quick as it started.
Not long after, sounds of nature return to the area.
With the sun hanging low near the tree-blocked horizon, tired, and weary of further attacks, the party decides it is time to rest.
Brannus investigates the nearby area in search of a suitable place to set up camp.
Dwolf investigates the stone bridge, worried that it might be unstable, but doesn’t really find anything.
He joins Brannus in the task of establishing a camp for the night.
They decide the order of their night watch, and rest.
Fortunately, the night passes without incident.
Come morning, after refreshing themselves in the creek, they set forward.
Dwolf takes point, and after stepping carefully on the old bridge – all crossing safely – they pick up their pace.
They walk for about another hour, and as they do the scenery changes around them.
The path narrows further.
The forest closes more and more around them blocking more natural light.
The sounds of nature before fainter and more sparse.
Eventually, the forest path leads them to the edge of what looks like a small mountain.
Or rather, a chunk of rock and earth that unbelievably seems to have been dropped unceremoniously into the middle of a forest glen.
At their current distance they see what seems like a cave opening going upwards.
By that entrance, two large crystal formations on each side shine an ominous shade of green.
Suspicious, the party does not approach yet.
Dwolf shoots a volley of arrows towards the one of the crystals.
One hits, and bounces off harmlessly but makes a wet sound as if it fell on a puddle.
They decide to approach the entrance carefully.
The group notices that the crystal formations seem to be leaking some sort of viscous green liquid.
Puddles of it are all around.
Investigating it gingerly, they recognize it as not being natural and steer clear of it.
Dwolf peers towards the inside of the cavern, and can tell that it does not seem to be a cavern at all.
It’s more like a destroyed hallway of some massive structure.
The stonework is unknown to him, but it is clearly not dwarven – and definitely not natural.
The walls seem rich with crystal veins, some leaking more fluid.
The way in is surprisingly well lit, in shades of green.
They carefully walk in, just a bit further in, and stop once the rough corridor opens to a large chamber.
Kiara turns invisible and scouts ahead.
She moves in carefully and finds pools of the same green liquid – which, in here, bubbles slowly – scattered around the room.
Further in, thick iron chains hang from the ceiling – some just dangling, while others are set in an arch holding at both ends.
The sound of angry shouted orders can be heard, after the noise of glass breaking.
Past an slope to the east, she sees the wizard accompanied by three of the medium-sized goblin creatures.
With this information, she devises a plan to take them by surprise.
While invisible, Kiara will try to infiltrate in their midst and strike them all at once.
Nori will go back and warm the party to follow her.
Carefully, she moves closer to the human wizard – clearly Iarno Albrek – which is distracted by a mess possibly created by his inhuman helpers.
Meanwhile Nori reaches the sight of rest of the party, and moves around a bit before starting to walk back to where Kiara is – slowly, and looking at the group at regular intervals.
They surmise she wants them to follow.
Suddenly, Kiara reappears as she calls forth powers from the beyond and tendrils of dark energy erupt from around her and batter the wizard and nearby creatures.
Iarno is surprised, but still manages to grab her by the wrist channeling electric energy to her, causing damage.
She moves away before the mutated goblins nearby can reach her.
All the while, the rest of the party rushes in to the chamber.
A fight begins!
Two of the goblins jump over the ledge and charge Sigmar and Dwolf.
Only able to see Kiara and Brannus, Iarno peppers them with magic missiles.
The dwarves do their best to fend off the goblins.
Hurt, Kiara retreats to a safe distance and drinks a healing potion.
As if answering a call from its master, the surrounding area reacts to the invaders.
Cloud of noxious fumes filter in from the ground around Brannus.
The chains on the ceiling begin to wave, and some animate in a failed attempt to constrict Sigmar.
Aware of the explosive nature of the goblin creatures, the party fights more intelligently this time.
They knock them out, instead of killing them out right, to avoid damage.
Noxious fumes in the chamber seem to heal one of the unconscious creatures, but the dwarves deal with it.
It’s a brutal assault, and two of the three goblins are defeated quickly.
Seeing the battle not going his way, the wizard employs a familiar strategy.
With a measured movement, and spoken arcane words, he vanishes.
Brannus and Sigmar move up the slope, towards the working area, believing the invisible wizard is still there.
Brannus had invoked his spiritual weapon and was now using it to sweep empty space in hopes for a lucky shot.
Sigmar deals with the third goblin.
They both notice what looks like a arcane circle carved on the stone floor, and nearby there are two small cages filled with scrawny goblins – regular ones – that are going crazy by this point.
Brannus willing steps on the circle and is almost unable to resist an arcane attack on his very being.
He was expecting to find Iarno there, but this was not the case.
The goblins defeated, and the wizard nowhere in sight, the chamber continues to react to the party for a few more seconds, but after that it calms down.
The clouds of fumes dissipate.
The chains stop moving.
Iarno seems to have escape – again.
And there would be silence, if not for the terrified goblin prisoners.
Sigmar approaches the cages and notices that, in one, the noise now has a rhythm to it.
The packed goblins are moving in more-or-less unison to try and break the lock.
Brannus approaches the other cage and looks at the creatures who cower at the sight of him.
Reacting to the cacophony, Dwolf walks to the cage where Sigmar is standing by.
With his sword he pierces one of the goblins.
The weakened creature does not resist and falls limp almost immediately.
The Draconus Dictum
