Session 6 – Choices and Chances

Written by KoshcheiBessmertnyi

General Summary

Bester, already well inebriated, serves brandy to the party. He seems happy to see them, and is quite accommodating, agreeing to free Mrax in order to placate the goblins and learn more about their plans. Like Elst, he warns the party against giving the goblins large amounts of nails, and confirms that crates delivered to the Coster a month earlier have already gone missing. But he wants more information, and offers each party member an additional 20 guilders to return to the goblin encampment. He knows nothing about the Underdark, but suggests they speak to Anandas Wurf – owner of the Wyrm’s Staff Tavern and the Sword and Satchel Inn, who apparently does. Bester also offers to expedite the process of payment and the release of Mrax, and also draws up an expense account for purchasing spelunking and adventuring supplies at the Redshield Coster, saying Meerlinda would approve.
With preparations now underway, the party proceeds to the Wyrm’s Staff. Wurf – a veteran of the Goblin War, is playing host to a small noontime dining party, but quickly gets rid of them after the party states its interest in the Underdark. He chased goblins who fled a battle there, and would be willing to share information about where to enter it, and what to expect in exchange for a goblin servant (possibly Mrax), convincing Kasmyr to sell out his furrier’s business to him, or retrieving a dragon tooth necklace – an item with sentimental value – from the Underdark. The party quickly rejects all offers, after learning that Wurf considers the treatment of servants entirely subject to the whim of their masters, and after the apparently inappropriate and patronizing attitude he displays toward Glitterstem. In response, Glitterstem uses minor magic to create a malodorous scent emanating from the host, and the meeting abruptly breaks up.
After a quick visit with Elst, who displays an aversion toward Wurf and relates that no order to free the prisoner has yet been received, the party returns to the Company headquarters to meet with Meerlinda. The documents are all in order, requiring only quick signatures, and with an expense account in hand, the party proceeds to the Coster. The Coster has no weapons, but the party acquires most of the provisions and equipment they need for a possible expedition into the Underdark, including an empty backpack. While trying to stuff the new supplies into their packs, Miletus and Enkidu discover that a few of their camping cups are apparently missing, presumed to have been taken by the goblins. From the Coster, they proceed to visit the laconic Gror Ironfoot – the town smith, who has little time for niceties associated with customer relations. He does, however, sell Miletus some arrowheads, and Enkidu a longsword that unexpectedly reveals a talent for gnome ballads. Feeling fatigued, the party then proceeds to take a rest in Kasmyr’s apartment above his store.
The party awakens after nightfall to some victuals and wine courtesy of Glitterstem’s cousin. Then, the night’s work begins. A return to the arsenal yields Mrax, outfitted with manacles, and a backpack filled with nails, which, being smaller than a crate, elicits Elst’s approval. Now ready to continue the mission, the party and its prisoner leave town. More vigilant now, Theobald spots a crow circling them once overhead, and then flying off in the direction they are traveling. The party proceeds on its way, questioning Mrax as to goblin plans regarding the nails, and the location of the “monsters” to which they feed them. Mrax considers he doesn’t owe the party anything given their dubious claim to the nails and the physical and psychological torture he received at their hands and the hands of the town officials, but he does warm up somewhat when told that he will be released, and that everything possible is being done to get the goblins at least some of the nails. En route to Neverwinter Wood, he appears to warn the party against entering a small clump of woods, where some kind of danger lurks.
As the party arrives at the goblin encampment, they call out, and goblins emerge to escort them past the traps, which have apparently been reset. Theobald excuses himself to answer nature’s call, and casts a spell once again allowing him to understand the goblins’ private conversations. Mrax is presented to Nugast and the other goblins as a product of the party’s successful diplomacy and is freed from his bonds forthwith. Through Brood – the goblin’s Common-speaking negotiator, Theobald also informs Nugast that the party has been able to requisition some nails, but the promised shipment is difficult to procure, and will have to be delivered later. Through Brood, Nugast immediately asks whether the goblins can take control of the nails, but Theobald insists that the goblins need to reveal their plans in exchange. A lengthy discussion ensues, in which Brood apparently voices some sort of disagreement with the shaman. In the end, the goblins state that they will share this information only in exchange for the promised full shipment of nails, offering only that they would like to sneak “something” into the town arsenal. When Theobald suggests that any effort on the goblins’ part to challenge the settlement of the Goblin War and to engage in offensive actions against Claymore is misguided, and likely represents some third party’s misleading council, the goblins respond that they are fully aware of what they are doing, that their actions are not destructive, but geared to simply level the playing field, that it is the humans who habitually violate the terms of the treaty, and that renewed efforts to simply “negotiate” for access to iron weapons will yield nothing, as they have produced no results in twenty years. In response to the party’s pressing regarding a possible enemy in the Underdark, Nugast indicates that his main concern at present are the humans, since nothing has changed between the goblins and the mysterious Underdark denizens, kidnappers though they may be, in recent times. Nugast does offer that the goblins will agree to reveal to the party what they are doing in exchange for all their weapons. He also ups the stakes by offering to exchange Enkidu’s brother, or information about Glitterstem’s vision for the promised nail consignment. In the end, Brood presses the party to stand by their words, and to renew their promise to deliver the rest of the nails, and, with some prompting by Enkidu, they appear to reluctantly agree, needing to discuss the matter further amonst themselves. The backpack of nails is given to Nugast, who immediately sends out four goblins to bring it somewhere. While leaving, Miletus overhears goblins inside the sweat lodge, apparently trying to move heavy objects.
After the party moves out of earshot, Theobald shares what he overheard the goblins speaking about. Apparently, the raven sighted earlier informed Nugast that the party mean to string the goblins along without ever fulfilling their promise until they learn the secret information. The disagreement between Nugast and Brood apparently centered on their different take on the party’s value to the goblin’s cause. Brood believes that the party means to trick the goblins, and thinks the foursome should be attacked, or at least taken prisoner, whereas Nugast appears convinced, on the basis of information he learned from spirits, that the party will help the goblins willy-nilly, and that their delivery of Mrax and at least some nails stands as proof of his rightness. Nugast also believes that their visions will cause the party members to help the goblins, despite, or perhaps, because, they are fundamentally misinterpreting what they saw. In the end, the goblins apparently rushed off to “feed the monsters”, talking about having to “move the rocks”, and worrying about all the monsters getting their share.

Report Date

10 Apr 2015