Goblin Ambush

"You've been on the Tribor Trail for about half a day. As you come around a bend, you spot two dead horses sprawled about fifty feet ahead of you, blocking the path. Each has several black-feathered arrows sticking out of it. The woods press close to the trail here, with a steep embankment and dense thickets on either side."
When the characters inspect the scene closer, read the following:
"The saddlebags have been looted. Nearby lies an empty leather map case."
Any character who approaches to make a closer investigation can identify the horses as belonging to Gundren Rockseeker and Sildar Halwinter. They've been dead about a day.

Four goblins are hiding in the woods, two on each side of the road. They wait until someone approaches the bodies and then attack.

d20 + Stealth(+6) vs. PP: < = Surprised

Roll a d20, add the goblins' Stealth skill modifier (+6) to the roll, and compare the result to the characters' passive Wisdom (Perception) scores. Any character whose score is lower than the goblins stealth check result is surprised and loses his or her turn during the first round of combat

Two of them rush forward and make melee attacks while two goblins stand 30 feet away from the party and make ranged attacks.

When three goblins are defeated, the last goblin attempts to flee, heading north for the Goblin Trail.

What the Goblins Know

If the characters capture or charm any of the goblins here, the goblins can be persuaded to divulge some useful information:

• Fewer than twenty goblins currently dwell in the lair.

• Their leader is a bugbear named Klarg. He answers to King Grol, chief of the Cragmaw tribe, who dwells in Cragmaw Castle. (The goblins can provide basic directions to Cragmaw Castle. It's about twenty miles northeast of the Cragmaw hideout, in Neverwinter Wood.)

• Klarg received a messenger goblin from King Grol a few days ago. The messenger told him that someone named the The Black Spider was paying the Cragmaws to watch out for the dwarf Gundren Rockseeker, capture him, and send him and anything he was carrying back to King Grol. Klarg followed his orders. Gundren was ambushed and taken along with his personal effects, including a map.

• The dwarf and his map were delivered to King Grol, as instructed. The dwarf's human companion is being held in the "eating cave" (area 6).

Related Locations

• Tribor Trail