May 30, 2015

Introducing the New New Crew

Aoki - Halfling Thief
Delphine - Gnome Illusionist
Sir Gyles - Human Paladin
The Harper of the North - Human Cleric
Jandove - Gnome Ranger
Kurtis - Elven Ranger
Wileu - Elven Ranger

New Beginnings

Jandove and Delphine are traveling through a wooded area in the Disputed Territory when a goblin steps out from behind a tree.

Goblin: Two little gnomes far from home
Give me your gems, or I'll break your bones.

Delphine's hawk Tala immediately dives at the goblin, missing and crashing into the ground. While the goblin is busy dodging Tala, Delphine shoots flames from her hands, burning the goblin to a crisp. Her triumph is short-lived, however, as three more goblins enter the clearing.

Jandove shoots off a couple of arrows, dropping two of the goblins. Tala regroups and finishes the last one.

Voice: You killed my minions!

Turning, Jandove and Delphine see a hobgoblin grabbing spears from a pile on the ground, preparing to skewer them. Just then, an elf appears behind the hobgoblin, swinging his sword. Sadly, none of those strikes connect. Taking advantage of the elf's distraction, Jandove pincushions the hobgoblin.

Jandove: Hello. We're Jandove and Delphine.

Delphine: Thank you for your assistance.

Kurtis: Oh ho! You two are not small children!

Jandove: (indignant) We're gnomes.

Kurtis: *laughs uproariously* Gnomes!

Delphine looks out of the corner of her eye at Jandove, not sure what to make of their new companion. Before more can be said, the three hear sounds of fighting and run to investigate.

Through the trees, they see a female elf fighting a yellow ogre.

Kurtis: We outnumber you, friend. Lay down your arms and leave. In the meantime, I'm going to shoot you.
Kurtis' arrows bounce harmlessly off of the ogre's chest plate.
He's immune to arrows!

Ogre: I am outnumbered? All of you together are not worth one of my legs.

A bloody battle ensues where the elf Wileu is injured badly. Delphine points a wand at the ogre. Lightning flies out of the tip, striking the ogre (or does it?). The ogre drops his shield, shaking from the electricity he believes hit him. Kurtis kills the ogre with a well-placed arrow.

While the elves and gnomes assess their injuries and make the necessary introductions, they discover they are all headed towards Gelfini. Seeing as the journey could prove dangerous, they decide to travel as a group.

Voice: Hey, are you guys going to Gelfini? Can I tag along?

Turning towards the voice, they see a halfling emerge from behind some trees. Hearing the fighting, Aoki had cautiously made her way over, arriving just before Kurtis killed the ogre. Wary, she had stayed hidden until she was sure the group was friendly.

Do It For the Children

The party arrives in Gelfini without any further encounters. Kurtis is surprised by the town's appearance. He remembers a very small port town with few buildings. What they arrive to is an average-sized city complete with a castle.

Kurtis: Hmm...it looks different than I remember. Did I get shunted to another dimension again?

Jandove: When were you last here?

Kurtis: Just a few days ago...I think...I did eat some mushrooms...

Aoki notes that unlike most cities, everything in Gelfini looks clean and new, as if it was all just built. Following Kurtis, they find Vashti in a heated argument with an armored human.

Vashti: Sir, the Motley Crew have been gone for months. We don't even know if they're still alive. You're welcome to wait for them to return, but I really must excuse myself. We're dealing with a crisis right now. Several children have been kidnapped.

The Harper of the North: The missing children are irrelevant. The Motley Crew has only been here for three or four weeks. They cannot be missing for "months". I demand to speak with them now.

Vashti spots Kurtis, recognizing him as one of the Crew's companions. He eagerly greets the elf, but is disappointed that Kurtis can give him no information on the Crew's whereabouts. Vashti tells Kurtis of the two very tall and very strange people named Macros the Black and Regan the Explorer who were left in charge of Gelfini during the Crew's absence. At the moment, both are away with the town's guards investigating some reports of unrest in the Disputed Territory. This is most unfortunate because, as he had been explaining to The Harper, several children had been abducted by fish people called "mudglups".

Kurtis volunteers himself and his new companions to save the kidnapped children. Seeing as he would get no audience with the legendary Motley Crew, The Harper offers to accompany them, apologizing for his earlier insensitive remarks regarding the children.

The group sets off for the mudglup cave in a rowboat. Just as they reach their destination, something strange happens. The sky suddenly goes dark. Looking up, they see a pair of hands wrapped around the sky. For a moment, logic and reason dominate their thinking. Whatever is happening above (what's happening!!??) is beyond their control and therefore not worth worrying over. They continue rowing.

Arriving at the entrance to the mudglup's domain they know they will have to locate and rescue the children quickly or risk drowning. The tide will rise in an hour, submerging the mudglup cave entirely.

Wileu notices a sentry just inside the grotto, standing on a giant hermit crab shell. Kurtis attempts to decieve the sentry into thinking they are a group of hobgoblins looking to trade. As the two are arguing, the sentry suddenly stops in mid-sentence, falling down dead, revealing Aoki standing behind him with a bloody dagger in her hand.

Aoki: C'mon!

The water in the flooded caverns reach about calf-height on a human. Wileu warns the group to beware of wire traps in the water. Hearing voices on the other side of a door, Kurtis bursts through and stops in surprise before he is overcome with laughter.

Kurtis: Stupid shrimps!

He attempts to shoot them, but is shaking so hard from laughter that he drops his bow instead, resting both hands on his thighs while tears fall down his cheeks. Luckily, the two mudglups are drunk and are easily killed.

Moving quickly to the nearest door, they choose the least flooded path and continue on. They encounter a pirate who seems to have escaped the mudglups. He points them in the direction of the missing children before making his way out.

Jandove takes over leading them when Kurtis triggers a trap and gets covered in a sticky tar. Her knowledge of underground construction allows her to spot traps more easily.

Fighting their way past several more mudglups and their dog-sized fish with legs, the party comes to a hallway where the water level is much higher. They attempt to wade through it, but blood-sucking lampreys immediately attack them. Jandove is particularly affected.

The Harper: I can help you. But you won't like it.

Jandove agrees to the healing, but she has a moment of doubt when The Harper raises his dagger.

The Harper: Maiden, abandon this woman.

Jandove feels a burst of pain. When it passes, her wounds are healed.

Finding a supply room with large shells hanging on the walls, Jandove, Delphine, Wileu, and Aoki sit on a shell while The Harper and Kurtis, protected by their hard boots, push them through the lamprey-infested corridors.

The corridor opens to a room with two doors, one plain and one ornate. The ornate door is locked. There is also a lever on the wall. Kurtis impulsively reaches over and pulls it. A drain in the center of the floor opens, drawing the water down and pulling the group towards it. Luckily, The Harper is able to hold onto the shell and keep his footing. Kurtis is not so lucky, slipping under the water momentarily and getting bitten by lampreys.

The Harper flips the lever and the drain closes. The water level in the room has dropped enough that they are safe from lampreys so everyone hops off the shell. Since ornate door is locked, they try the plain one first.

This door leads to the dungeon. The children are locked in a cage with a clutch of mudglup eggs. Guarding them are more mudglups and walking fish plus a lobster man.

Lifting his knife and facing the lobster man, The Harper mutters something under his breath. The lobster man's shell begins to blister and scab. The Harper walks past the creature to stab a mudglup.

The Harper: Don't touch him!

Once the remaining mudglups and walking fish are killed, the group releases the children from the cage. During the fight, the water level in the room had been steadily rising as the tide begins to come in.

Pulling another large shell off the wall, the children are placed onto one as Jandove, Delphine, Wileu, and Aoki pile onto the other. Kurtis and The Harper maneuver the shells back towards the cave entrance.

By the time they get to the room where they first encountered the drunk mudglups, the water has reached The Harper's shoulders. Swimming in the water are four mudglups and a large, barracuda-like fish.

Delphine pulls out her wand again. This time, instead of lightning, an even larger fish appears out of nowhere and seems to swallow the barracuda. The larger predator disappears, but the barracuda's lifeless body floats to the surface.

The Harper holds up his knife.

The Harper: Dry.

The mudglups dessicate and die. Even the water in the waterskins the group is carrying evaporates.

This being the last mudglup attack, the party is able to return the children to their relieved parents in Gelfini.

All New Team. Same Old Trogo Goblins

In the morning, Kurtis and the others are awoken to sounds of cheering. Looking out of their windows, they see 2 very tall people leading a bedraggled group of the town's guards into the city. Finding Vashti, the party is introduced to Regan the Explorer and Macros the Black. The Harper once again makes demands to speak with the Motley Crew, but his request is deflected by Regan. Instead, Regan asks them to investigate a problem the merchants have reported about goblin attacks. Since they haven't got anything else to do while they wait for the Motley Crew's return, the group agrees.

Delphine suggests they disguise themselves as merchants in order to lure the goblins out. Acquiring a horse and cart and some clothing, they set out for the woods, Kurtis loudly exclaiming how they have so much "stuff" to sell. Delphine rides in the cart while Aoki stays hidden in the woods.

Sure enough, their clever ruse does indeed attract the goblins, eight of them stepping out from behind the trees accompanied by two hobgoblins.

Kurtis: Oh, if only we'd listened to the warnings.

Jandove's aim is perfect. She easily kills several goblins with a quick succession of arrows. The Harper knifes one of the hobgoblins and again yells for no one to touch him. Aoki suddenly appears behind the goblins, killing them before they even realize she's there.

Goblin: Boss! Boss!!

Voice: Stupid goblins. Worst minions ever.

A troll walks into view and starts attacking the group. Delphine hops off the wagon and runs up to the troll, shooting a stream of fire from her hands. Standing so close to the troll, she sees that the wounds inflicted by her companions have started to heal, but the ones from her fire spell have not. Before she can do anything with this discovery, the troll claws at the gnome and she falls down unconscious.

The Harper runs forward and touches the troll. Large wounds suddenly appear on the troll's skin. The troll collapses, seemingly dead, but to The Harper's horror, the wounds begin to seal. Meanwhile, the rest of the party dispatches the remaining goblins and hobgoblin.

Wileu bandages Delphine and she regains consciousness. Seeing the troll on the ground, its wounds shrinking, she tells them that those she inflicted with fire appear to be permanent. Using that knowledge, Aoki drops a flask of oil on the troll and lights it on fire.

Walking over to the hobgoblin he had ordered the group to not touch, The Harper interrogates him. The hobgoblin tells them he is part of the Trogo Goblin clan. Their den is in a place called "Nilbog". The Harper compels the hobgoblin to draw a map of Nilbog and note any defenses the goblins may have. Once the hobgoblin has done this, The Harper releases him.

The Harper: Time heals all wounds.

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