Running Away (on Both Sides) [session 11]

Bilbo, Mossmullet, Orsek, Red Shpee, SMASH, Robin Hood, Wolfy, and Wilfred Fizzlebang went down the corridor indicated by the Sleezestacks lizard-folk.  They went almost directly into (what turned into) something of a trap.  Coming upon an intersection with paths leading onward and to both sides, they paused a moment to think over which way to go.  Before any decision was reached, a barrage of arrows came flying from either side passage, as 4 goblins made good their surprise attack.

Things went reasonably well for the goblins for a brief time, with Mossmullet fumbling and dropping his mace in a bumbling attack, and many of the party's spells and arrows going awry.  While the group thereafter recovered and managed to slay those four, they were immediately replaced by 6 more goblins sneaking in from the rear.  While the party attempted to deal with this new threat, things went downhill.  Some of the tactics employed by the party proved a bit ineffective.  After multiple attempts to grapple and subdue one of the goblins, Robin Hood had to be rescued from death on two separate occasions.  Fizzlebang apparently experienced a psychotic break, and took the opportunity to thrash the grappling fighter within an inch of his life.  As things devolved into a general melee, the goblins received a serious reinforcement, 5 more goblins accompanied by a bugbear and 2 giant spiders.  Things looked a bit dire, when the goblin hordes proceeded to put up a pretty good fight.  The fight was a reasonably matched one, although the party was probably the more powerful group.  But Wolfy went down in combat, and multiple requests to the two-headed hamster god went unanswered with any type of aid.  And requests for assistance from the cave bats met with no greater success.

And so began ... the running away.  A motion carried to abandon the intersection, in favor of safer ground.  Unfortunately, with multiple members of the party unconscious and defenseless on the ground, some party members refused to retreat and leave them to their fates.  As first two, then another, then another, and then yet another of the party fled from the increasingly lopsided battle for the intersection cavern, things began looking a bit grim.  Also, those who fled may well have gone just a bit too far, for they soon found themselves face to face with ... another cavern holding 5 more goblins, all danced out and ready for a feast on dwarf stew.  The initial confrontation with Bilbo and Red Shpee went not-so-well for the rogue-runners.  Bilbo was bleeding and unconscious post-haste, and only Red Shpee quick-witted quick talking kept the encounter from becoming a total disaster.  Stalling the gnoshing goblins with tales of tasty-fresh dwarf down the hallway, Red managed to avoid imminent death until help could arrive.

And the help which did arrive was an acrobatically gifted hobbit healer!  Springing spritely over the goblins' noggins, Wolfy Spared the ailing Bilbo, sacrificing his own health to ensure his fellow hobbit's survival.  The goblins attacked, but were surprised to find that Red the elven backstabber was NOT their friend!  Murdering two of the distracted humanoids, then withdrawing silently to Sneak Attack two more into the afterlife, Red managed to contain the brewing disaster and save the imperiled hobbits.

Meanwhile, back at the intersection, Orsek and Mossmullet battered the spiders, bugbear, and remaining goblins down, with the help of the sometimes conscious, sometimes unconscious Robin Hood.  Loot was hard to come by, but Mossmullet did find a few gold on the bugbear.  He magnaminously shared it among the party, giving a double share to Red Shpee for his battle prowess.  He then gave his own share to Orsek because "a kinsman who stays and fights with you is worth more than gold."

With the melees finally concluded, the party rested and recovered in the goblins mess hall.  A mostly grisly and unsavory stew of Nuno Rockhead was sadly discovered in the goblin stew-pot.  Well, sadly to most...SMASH decided that cannibalism wasn't so bad ... and neither was Nuno (Ick!).

After the clerics healed themselves and the party, they re-focused their quest.  Saving Nuno no longer an option (except as left-overs), the party set out for the less-noble task of saving his treasure map.  Unfortunately, all they found (thanks to the one-armed goblin they Spared from Dying) was that the big boss-man goblin had fled the destruction and slaughter in the caverns, taking everything of value with him.

The party raced to locate the disappearing dastards, and managed to catch a glimpse of goblins making good their escape in the forests below the secret-exit cliff.  It remains to be seen if rappelling down the cliff and pursuing the goblinoids is within the party's powers, or if they've come up short in their secondary quest (for treasure) as well.

February 29th [session 10]

Bilbo, Mossmullet, Orsek, Red Shpee, and Smash awoke from their slumbers, to find that they'd be (re)joined by Robin Hood, Wolfy, and a gnome Wizard named Wilfred Fizzlebang.  Fresh from their (for some rather troubled) dreams, they picked up where they'd left off the day before, and began exploring and mapping.  They met with a small mischief of large rats, whom they quickly dispatched without difficulty, other than Bilbo almost being gnawed to death by them.  Then it was on to a quick pratfall in a pit-trap, leading only to a fake door.  Then some more exploring, retreading old ground where previous battles were fought days before.  Remains of pies and orcs were found, but nothing else of interest or value.  The party did find another pack of giant rats, but remembering Bilbo's prior near-death experience, they wisely decided that this time parley and interpretive dance were the best paths to take past the rodent-ious roadblock.  Finding little more of interest (other than grabbing that superior mace from the day before), they descended down to the natural caverns below the dungeon proper.

Once descended, our heroes found things a bit more exciting.  Pits and bats and doors without traps led them to...a dimly lit cavern containing denizens of the dead!  Undead, that is.  A quick melee with a ghoul was immediately followed by a massed charge of 8 skeletons.  The group being in rather shaky shape after losing initiative and having three members with 2 HP or less, the clerics of the group did their thing:  6 of the undead were sent packing, Bilbo was spared from dying, and a powerful second level Prayer of Healing powered up the battered heroes to previously unheard-of levels of health.  Fully restored and re-armed for battle with blunt-damage weapons, the party quickly dispatched the 2 braver skeletons, then pursued their scaredy-bones brothers.  A flask of oil was splashed upon them by a resourceful and vengeful Bilbo, and then flash-fried by a powerful blast of Burning Hands!  The only skeleton not immediately charred into powder was quickly blasted with Sacred Flame, as Smash picked up the Spare.

The heroes pressed on into an extra-large cavern, where they met and squished two unpleasantly large (150 lbs) spiders.  Despite being bitten by one, Bilbo continued his rampage by dispatching the first.  The other Nast-rachnid quickly joined his mate in death.  A quick trip down a side passage revealed two goblins playing cards.  After a brief and unproductive discussion, things turned ugly, and the heroes resorted to violence.  The goblins fell quickly.  The door they guarded proved to be a hidden spy-perch, opening into the outdoors, and a narrow ledge 40' in the air.  Confirming that the ledge led nowhere, the party went back inside and discussed their options.

The decision was made to back-track to see if the rope still hung down from the first level of the dungeon (which it did), and the group then made the acquaintance of three unhappy lizard-men.  These sssneaky fellows were less than cordial, but proved willing to set aside their dislike of us, to express their even greater dislike of the colony of bug men (bugbears?) which were invading their living areas and causing them havoc.  Upon our solemn word that we'd help them out with their "bug" problem, they spilled some of the details of where we should go next, to locate these mutual foes.  They also (maybe) decided to give us free passage to that area, no doubt so that two of their enemies could meet, clash, and end at least one of their problems for them.  What happens when these various forces connect and clash...is the story for another day!