Episode 3: Jailbreak!
While the heroes rested, recovered, and ate chicken feed and roast bat, they had plenty of time to explore their meager surroundings. Starq discovered a rather pleasant goblin voice drifting through a tiny hole in the wall of the bat tunnel. It recited “Oak, Oar, Oat, Oath, …” in Common, apparently to a pile of carpets on the floor. Starq warned everyone to be quiet.
Further down the bat tunnel, Erannar found a fairly large hole about three feet off the ground, shabbily boarded up as the upper entrance had been. Through a crack in the boards he could make out a beautiful small throwing axe, a block of cells containing one Halfling on the fourth floor, and two goblin voices. Dreneil translated that they were yelling about whether it was supper time or not. Another goblin voice asked for his supper too. Only one of the goblins was visible, looking down from the far side of the room, four stories up and by a thin plank bridge.
After some debate, the adventurers decided to rush into the room and kill the goblins before they could raise any alarm. Dreneil took the axe, which was of a well-known goblin make, cold to the touch, and made a sound like a breeze. She shoved the boards aside and leapt into the room to the great surprise of the goblins. Erannar focused on the Upper guard, while Dreneil took out the Lower guard with her frosty throwing axe. Starq contributed to the demise of both. Eltana stood in front of the bell to prevent anyone from ringing the alarm. The Upper guard almost got away, but Starq finished him off with a magic missile.
Eltana began to converse with the third goblin, who was in a first floor cell. He threatened the adventurers that he would raise the alarm and thus win his way back to favor in the goblin stronghold unless they made him a good deal. Meanwhile, Starq climbed the ladder to the fourth floor and unlocked Condros’s cell with the keys Dreneil had retrieved from the Lower guard. Varen the raven had already picked away his gag, and Starq unlocked the manacles. Condros started to explain why he had been locked up, but the goblin below announced that he was going to sound the alarm if they didn’t make him a good offer soon.
The adventurers offered freedom, but Chrupus (that was the goblin’s name) claimed he wasn’t going anywhere unless they gave him a better job than the one he already had. He was the steward to the goblin chief, and had only fallen out of favor because he refused to juggle the accounts to give the chief some of Coalburn’s tribute. At this point, Starq took Condros’s gag and put it on Chrupus. Condros mentioned that he could probably get him a good job, but the adventurers tried offering him gold. He motioned that he would want a lot of gold. Eltana offered him the magical throwing axe, and he nodded eagerly until he realized that she meant to use it on him, not give it to him. After that he became quite compliant and went with the heroes back to their bat cave.
Here, the group ungagged Chrupus, while keeping their daggers close to him. Condros and Chrupus explained the situation to the heroes.
Condros had been captured by the goblins several weeks ago, along with the latest shipment of flying carpets to the Flight Division of Culdin’s militia. Condros, as steward of the flying carpets, was one of the few people who knew the carpets’ command words. He had been kept prisoner by the goblins, but refused to give them the passwords. He requested the adventurers to get the carpets back for the city of Culdin. Not only would it be a good deed, but it should be well rewarded. He had also gleaned that the carpets were to be used against a good dragon.
Chrupus knew that the goblins had stolen the carpets because they wanted to break free of the dragon Coalburn’s tyranny (which seemed mainly to consist of a yearly tribute). Flying on the carpets would help a lot in a dragon fight; plus, they would look like part of the tribute until the right moment. The only problem was that the goblins didn’t know the command words and Condros wouldn’t tell them. They had their bard going through all the words he knew in all the languages he knew, but so far none of them had worked.
The heroes asked whether Chrupus could get them to the treasure room, but he said that that would mean going past a lot of guards and going through the throne room. They decided to wait instead for the goblins to leave for Coalburn’s with their tribute on the morrow, and try to recapture the carpets out in the open. Eltana was most pleased with the prospect of getting back to the woods.
The party went back out of the goblin stronghold the way they had come, using some of the oddments from the poultry room to reach the hole in the ceiling. Condros had his invisible servant return the crates to their proper places. The troop began crossing the mountain to its northeast side, where Chrupus said they could find the back entrance, from which would emerge the goblin caravan.
Further down the bat tunnel, Erannar found a fairly large hole about three feet off the ground, shabbily boarded up as the upper entrance had been. Through a crack in the boards he could make out a beautiful small throwing axe, a block of cells containing one Halfling on the fourth floor, and two goblin voices. Dreneil translated that they were yelling about whether it was supper time or not. Another goblin voice asked for his supper too. Only one of the goblins was visible, looking down from the far side of the room, four stories up and by a thin plank bridge.
After some debate, the adventurers decided to rush into the room and kill the goblins before they could raise any alarm. Dreneil took the axe, which was of a well-known goblin make, cold to the touch, and made a sound like a breeze. She shoved the boards aside and leapt into the room to the great surprise of the goblins. Erannar focused on the Upper guard, while Dreneil took out the Lower guard with her frosty throwing axe. Starq contributed to the demise of both. Eltana stood in front of the bell to prevent anyone from ringing the alarm. The Upper guard almost got away, but Starq finished him off with a magic missile.
Eltana began to converse with the third goblin, who was in a first floor cell. He threatened the adventurers that he would raise the alarm and thus win his way back to favor in the goblin stronghold unless they made him a good deal. Meanwhile, Starq climbed the ladder to the fourth floor and unlocked Condros’s cell with the keys Dreneil had retrieved from the Lower guard. Varen the raven had already picked away his gag, and Starq unlocked the manacles. Condros started to explain why he had been locked up, but the goblin below announced that he was going to sound the alarm if they didn’t make him a good offer soon.
The adventurers offered freedom, but Chrupus (that was the goblin’s name) claimed he wasn’t going anywhere unless they gave him a better job than the one he already had. He was the steward to the goblin chief, and had only fallen out of favor because he refused to juggle the accounts to give the chief some of Coalburn’s tribute. At this point, Starq took Condros’s gag and put it on Chrupus. Condros mentioned that he could probably get him a good job, but the adventurers tried offering him gold. He motioned that he would want a lot of gold. Eltana offered him the magical throwing axe, and he nodded eagerly until he realized that she meant to use it on him, not give it to him. After that he became quite compliant and went with the heroes back to their bat cave.
Here, the group ungagged Chrupus, while keeping their daggers close to him. Condros and Chrupus explained the situation to the heroes.
Condros had been captured by the goblins several weeks ago, along with the latest shipment of flying carpets to the Flight Division of Culdin’s militia. Condros, as steward of the flying carpets, was one of the few people who knew the carpets’ command words. He had been kept prisoner by the goblins, but refused to give them the passwords. He requested the adventurers to get the carpets back for the city of Culdin. Not only would it be a good deed, but it should be well rewarded. He had also gleaned that the carpets were to be used against a good dragon.
Chrupus knew that the goblins had stolen the carpets because they wanted to break free of the dragon Coalburn’s tyranny (which seemed mainly to consist of a yearly tribute). Flying on the carpets would help a lot in a dragon fight; plus, they would look like part of the tribute until the right moment. The only problem was that the goblins didn’t know the command words and Condros wouldn’t tell them. They had their bard going through all the words he knew in all the languages he knew, but so far none of them had worked.
The heroes asked whether Chrupus could get them to the treasure room, but he said that that would mean going past a lot of guards and going through the throne room. They decided to wait instead for the goblins to leave for Coalburn’s with their tribute on the morrow, and try to recapture the carpets out in the open. Eltana was most pleased with the prospect of getting back to the woods.
The party went back out of the goblin stronghold the way they had come, using some of the oddments from the poultry room to reach the hole in the ceiling. Condros had his invisible servant return the crates to their proper places. The troop began crossing the mountain to its northeast side, where Chrupus said they could find the back entrance, from which would emerge the goblin caravan.
posted by Captain Shar | 3:11 PM
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