Session 7: Assault on Hollowmyne (2)

General Summary

1. As the party sought shelter for the day, night fell upon the ruined Hollowmyne.
2. The party still had no idea what was going on in the village square, apart from distant screams and shouting.
3. Rather than head directly to there, where it was very much believed to be filled with Goblinoids, it was decided that a distraction was required - blowing up the bakery ought to do it (turns out flour is incredibly flammable).
4. As stealth and cunning were critical, the party decided to leave Onyx back at the safehouse.
5. Soon enough, the party together with the agents of Caboose made their way to the bakery (both the spies and Nephea knew the way).
6. An encounter with a squad of Goblinoids near the baker, although just a delay, added precious minutes to the time they didn't have.
7. The party through diligent investigation discovered the name of their potential leader - Kriknuic - a Goblin name. Thorin noted how most unusual it was for a Goblin of all things to be assuming a leadership position.
8. The party turned the entire bakery into a combustible winter wonderland, as a mere spark and crumb of gunpowder lit the entire building up like an infernal Christmas tree.
9. With that done, and distant Goblinoids rightly pissed (as much as the party heard in the distance), they ventured to the village square.
10. They bumped into a squad of Bugbears as they zipped through the alleyways, however these fell to the deadly combination of a bomb and ball bearings.
11. Sensing the immense battle to come, Zazelle and the Elven agent decided to head back to the safehouse to retrieve Onyx.
12. The rest of the party ventured directly to the village square.
13. Upon arrival, they witnessed the remaining citizens of Hollowmyne trapped in cramped cages, piles upon piles of corpses, and by far the largest congregation of Goblinoids that they had ever seen (even after their numbers had been thinned by the party's combined exploits).
14. They also saw them manhandling what appeared to be an Elven caster (with blonde hair and dark hooded robes) - they were in the process of tying her to a pole to burn her alive.
15. After both Thorin and Zuuri failing miserably to approach the Goblins without being seen, Thorin called for the attention of Kriknuic (where it was confirmed that this was infact the same Goblin Shaman that they encountered at the Temple of Derdian).
16. While Kriknuic was arguably engaging in an act of ego-enduced hubris mocking Thorin, that dwarf casually ignited two bombs and threw them towards the Goblinoid crowd before they had a chance to even react (surprise actions are a bitch).
17. Carnage ensued as the Goblinoid ranks were utterly thrown off (some parts wiped out altogether).
18. Amidst all the commotion, Zuuri charged axe-first into the disgruntled crowd, ceasing the opportunity.
19. Meanwhile, Nephea, Jericho and the gnomish agent sought to release the civilians from their cages.
20. Nephea joined the fight soonafter - turns out the death-obsessed monk is better at bringing death than preventing it - imagine that.
21. Many civilians ran off into the night, however a good number sought cover in the square.
22. The guards that were in the cages were rallied to battle through the combined efforts of Thorin and the guard captain that was released by Jericho.
23. Within mere seconds, the tide of the battle was completely shifted in favour of our heroes.
24. Sensing the battle was lost, Kriknuic made another humiliating retreat, leaving the Bugbear Chief behind, however not before dealing a devastating magical blow to Thorin.
25. Thus, Kriknuic ran off into the night while the Bugbear Chief battled against Zuuri.
26. The guards led by the captain knocked out the extremely weakened Bugbear Chief and ordered them to tie him up.
27. The Elf caster lay on the cobblestone ground unconscious.

Report Date

31 Dec 2019