Session 4: Hostiles Aplenty

General Summary

As morning broke, the party prepared to put their well-thought-out plan into motion. The plan put forth by Frances was to lure the guarding ogre and goblin into the woods where they could be dealt with silently, in order not to alert any potential other foes inside the cave. Everything didn't exactly go to plan.    Kazagal sent his mechanical allies Timmy and Ron to give the guards a message. There was, however, a miscalculation since none of them spoke common. But nonetheless, they followed the mechanicals. The goblin stopping halfway along and let the ogre go first.    When the ogre reached the hiding spot of Kazagal, Frances signaled the group to attack. Nakor decided to make a quick attempt to distract the goblin with his magic "tricks". He casted an illusion in the shape of a goblin. This did not fool the guard who started to become frightened of the situation that was arising. He ran back into the cave and goblin screams could be heard from inside.    The rest of the party managed to quickly slay the ogre. Dormaruk and Kazagal started to collect trophies. Nakor tried to stay hidden in the forest. As Frances began to advance into the clearing, the cave entrance was filled with ogres, bugbears, and goblins. But before they could see anything, Nakor casted another illusion. Using his keen knowledge of goblin anatomy, he made an illusion of what he thought to be an attractive goblin female. The goblins immediately tried to show themselves to be the strongest. Fights turned into killings and murders, something that the bugbears quickly joined.    When the sole survivor of the fight tried to kiss his bride, he simply fell through the illusion. The scared goblin ran back into the cave, leaving the ogres and a pile of dead bodies in his wake. Shortly thereafter more bugbears and goblins arrived, along with their boss. A female Bugbear clad in red robes. She spoke common and addressed the party.    After some intimidation, introductions, and discussions, where the party observed the leader of the goblins display some strange behaviors, they came to the realization that they had no chance in a head-on battle. In a desperate attempt to save the tailor with minimal conflict Frances proposed the duel between a champion from each company. The so-called Mistress, still somewhat intimidated by Dormaruk and his display with the severed head of the slain ogre, decided to accept as she didn't know what the party was actually capable of. She then called her champion. A troll. But there was something strange about it.   The Troll made no sound, much like the bugbear back in Amarley. It wandered soundlessly into the middle of the clearing, awaiting its opponent. Somewhat taken aback, but Frances still stepped up and entered the circle. The fight began. Claws struck flesh. Halberd struck skin but barely made a scratch. Nakor, in an attempt to help, casted a silent suggestion spell to make one of the ogres attack the troll. But before it could make contact, the Mistress cast a spell of her own. A firey blast that left the ogre headless.    The match continued and actually began to shift. The human fighter actually broke through the troll's skin. Inside she found a black, powdered mess. It seemed that the troll was only held together by the skin. She managed to cut both of its arms of, and then finish the match by cleaving its stomach open. Upon realizing that she had lost, the Mistress struggled by sent for the girl. But when they managed to pick her up, the struggling bugbear sent her minions to retrieve the girl once more.   The party fled. With some clever tricks and with the help of Kazagal's mechanical creations they managed to escape the clearing. Along the way, they managed to trick Trongdong into heading towards the clearing and kill every ogre in sight. They then cut down the bridge to slow down their pursuers even further. Their attempts were successful and they managed to escape back to their camp.    In their hidden camp the party attempted to nurse the elven tailor back to conciousness, to no avial. At the very least they managed to stay undetected from when their pursuers fianlly caught up to them. The following day when the party left the forest they once again found a sign written in a strange language. This time they brought the sign with them back to the village.    When they returned to Amarley the guard captain and the party concluded their buisness. The tailor was taken in by the local herbalist. The party was then lead to report to the ealdorman who helped them understand the writing on the sign they brought, as well as asking them to travel east to capital. Thus the party learned that the forest had been claimed by a group known as the Aldoillithid. A word Dormaruk recognized as a kind of mind-controlling monster.    Now they just have to wait for the elven tailor Deorgria to awake before they can question her for the information Dormaruk came for. In the meantime they went to the Raging Bull tavern to drink their worries away.