Bilbo, Mossmullet, Orsek, Red Shpee, and Wilfred Fizzlebang set off into the heavy forest in pursuit of the fleeing goblinoids. They used their many skills and abilities to chase down first one group of goblins & spiders, and then another. There was also evidence (in the form of deceased corpses) that the woods are alive with goat men, who are attacking the goblins on multiple occasions.
The first group of refugee goblinoids consisted of 4 goblins, a bugbear, and 2 giant spiders. Bilbo and Orsek launched into destruction mode, slaying all 4 goblins and grievously wounding the bugbear in fairly short order. A group effort was required to finish off the spiders, while the bugbear continued on the fight for multiple rounds, the last goblinoid standing. Eventually, Fizzlebang Chilled him right into the grave, ending his life despite the fact he still had so much to live for. In a rather grizzly but ultimately fortunate turn of events, Orsek took the goblin captain's head as a memento of the encounter. (This came in useful later, when the group happened upon a couple of the goat people who live in this strange forest. Presenting the decapitated goblin head, the party was able to charm their way out of any violent encounter with the restless natives.)
The heroes were briefly confused when investigation revealed no continuing path to follow. But a little back-tracking and successful tracking revealed that another group had split away (with the heavy object the group was dragging). So the intrepid party of five continued on, avoiding spider web traps and walking into a rear-guard of 2 goblins armed with shortbows. The battle began, with goblins shooting Bilbo, and then stabbing Fizzlebang to (near) death before being taken down by arrows and chilling spells.
After a quick regroup and healing of Fizzlebang, the group then set off after the final grouping of goblin folk. They were eventually located, as the group came upon them in a clearing. However, the long-anticipated final showdown with the big goblin boss did not play out as the group had anticipated; even as the group surged into the clearing to take on their goblin foes, all concerned were confronted with...a green dragon! Before any member of the group could so much as sneeze, the dragon breathed a cone of poison gas upon their erstwhile prey, immediately killing the lesser goblins and damaging the bugbear bossman to the point of driving him into a killing fury. The bugbear then charged the dragon, and the group was treated to these two deadly enemies waging war upon each other!
While these mighty monsters made mutual melee, the heroes had the luxury of picking which target to punish first. They wisely chose to attack the dragon, while letting the bugbear serve as a proxy victim for the dragon’s deadly attentions. Arrows, spells and even some desperate unarmed grappling by Orsek ensued. "I will lose (g)no(me) more, I’ve already lost too many!" Orsek yelled at the dragon, in an inspired fit of (unintentional?) punning. Gnome Fizzlebang smartly skirted the skirmish, and instead turned his attentions to recovering and safeguarding the bug-boss’s discarded treasure chest. As Orsek grappled and choked the young wyrmling, many spells and weapons proved ineffective against its draconic defenses. The bugbear, possibly coming to his senses and smelling certain defeat in the air, took to his heals and surrendered the battlefield to the others present, taking his pet spider with him. The embattled dragon took to the air, first shaking Orsek off and throwing him for a fall, and then turning his deadly-bad breath against the Ungart cousins. Thankfully, the dwarven resilience allowed them to survive the deadly oral attentions, and a further round of moderately painful attacks convinced the young dragon to turn and run. Well, more "fly" than actually "run". As the beast attempted to flee, and gust of Varga’s windy will proved effective in preventing the flying fiend’s untimely departure. With a final heroic effort, the party managed to slay the slippery serpent. Which actually exposed a potentially fatal flaw in the group’s plan: the dragon nearly fell upon Mossmullet (shout out to Orsek for a dashing flying tackle/save!), and did fall upon Fizzlebang. Crushing him to (again near) death. The surviving party members pulled Fizzlebang from under the downed dragon, and Sparing the Dying and Cure Wounds brought the wizard back to the world of the living.
Taking only the time for some quick victory discussion, and to scoop up the treasure from the goblins' chest, the intrepid adventurers set out after their fled bugbear foe. Although tired, injured and dangerously short on ammunition, the heroes caught and killed the hapless bugbear, who’d stumbled into yet another encounter with the indigenous goat-men of the forest. The goat folk appreciated the groups spirited sacking of their mortal goblinoid enemies, and allowed the party to recover the fabled Treasure Map from the deceased bugbear’s corpse, and to dismember the dragon for trinkets and trophies, before (somewhat pointedly) escorting them out of their woodland retreat.
And so the party returned once more to the tunnels of Quasqueton, where they settled in once more for a long and well-earned rest. They examined their booty, and discovered good value in the gems and gold from the chest, as well as a glowing ruby with unknown magical properties (which they can hopefully suss out with sufficient examination).
Thus ended the immediate quests which had brought the heroes so far from their comfortable homes and civilized surrounds, and out into the dangerous forests and caverns. But with Nuno's Map in hand, and a half-explored dungeon still awaiting their explorations, it seems clear that the group’s adventures are far from complete...
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