As we entered the cave, we moved slowly, trying to be a stealthy as possible. We held back at first, giving Scuttle time to scout ahead. As we made our way further into the cave, the light from outside began to fade. I closed my eyes for a moment and then cast Light on my shield. A soft glow lit the space around us and I could once more see where to place my steps.
Suddenly, Scuttle moved back into view and said, “Guard up ahead. There is a bridge that stretches over this tunnel and a goblin is stationed there. I don’t think we’ll be able to get past him without him seeing us.”
“Lead the way”, I said and extinguish my spell.
We moved through the darkness slowly until Scuttle came to a stop and pointed. I saw the bridge that Scuttle had mentioned but I didn’t see the goblin until it moved. A torch was lit at the edge of the bridge and the goblin sat just at the edge of the torchlight.
I whisper to the group, “We need to kill it before it alerts anyone else.” Vaneiros raised his longbow, aimed and let loose. The arrow zipped through the air and struck the goblin in the shoulder. It’s wounded but still has fight left in it. It jumps up from its sitting position and runs for the corridor. Panicking, I raise my light crossbow and let loose a bolt but in my haste, I fail to aim properly and the bolt misses and strikes the rocky ceiling beyond the goblin. The goblin reaches the safety of the corridor and disappears from sight.
“Quick! We have to catch it.” I begin running up the tunnel, closely followed by my companions. Suddenly there’s a loud roar that fills the tunnel and we stumble to a stop. Whatever it is makes that noise is ahead of us and is getting closer. I turn to look at the others. I see fear in their eyes and when I look back, there is a wave of water rushing towards me. “Grab something!” I yell and I take two steps and leap for the wall of the tunnel. I catch hold a rock outcropping but as my weight settles, the rock breaks free and I fall backwards into the rushing water. Cold embraces me as I slip beneath the surging torrent and I find myself propelled backwards, towards the cave entrance. As the water reached the cave opening, it spread out and the water level dropped. I came to a stop on my back, the afternoon sun shining brightly. I staggered to my feet, glancing around to see if anyone else had suffered the same fate as I but I was alone. It seems my companions had all fared better than I had. I glanced down at my soaked leather armor and cloak. At least I got that bath I was wanting, even if it came with a few bumps and bruises.
I re-entered the cave and made my way back to where the others were waiting.
As I came into view, Redium asked, “Are you alright?”
I nodded. “Just a few bumps. I’ll be fine.” I closed my eyes, said a little prayer and cast Cure Wounds on myself. Abruptly, the pain I felt in my body was gone, replaced with a warm, soothing sensation.
We continue up the streambed, a little bit slower this time, knowing that the goblins were most likely aware of our presence.
The injured goblin came running down the tunnel, expecting us to be knocked prone but was surprised to see us standing and ready to fight. Outnumbered, it attacked regardless, the pain in its shoulder making it reckless.
He swung at Vitarri, missed, then Redium hit him with a Ray of Frost, and he fell to the ground, its eyes frozen and wide staring.
We continue making our way forward. We come to a set of stairs that lead upward to the right. There’s flickering torchlight up above. Straight ahead, water flows from a mostly empty lakebed. It appears that the goblins had blocked it up so that it could be released in a flash flood. Another blocked off lake brimmed with water behind the first. We make our way back to the stairs and Scuttles creeps up the stairs. The sound of rushing water now makes communication difficult. Scuttles reaches the top of the stairs and glances in. He sees a large cavern. To the east, the source of the noise reveals itself. A large waterfall tumbles down and is the origin of the stream that runs through and out of the cave. In addition, he spots three goblins. Two stand near the doorway and another stands at the back of the cavern, near the water fall. Scuttles stealthily moves back down to where the rest of us are waiting and reports what he sees. We devise a plan. I move to the cavern entrance and begin shouting obscenities in goblin. When I see them react, I turn and run up the passageway towards the bridge that I know lies behind me. Reaching the bridge, I turn and wait. Two of the goblins chase after me, running past the stairs where the others are waiting. Scuttles and Vaneiros run after them and now we have the two goblins trapped between us. However, one goblin doesn’t react and maintains its position. It is possible that it missed my insults due to the water drowning out my shouts.
I face off against the first goblin and as it reaches me, it swings it’s scimitar but I dodge out of the way. I swing my mace and clip the side of its head and driving down into its body. It falls to the floor, dead. Scuttles attacks the second goblin from behind. It doesn’t see the attack coming and Scuttles stabs it multiple times. The final blow severs the spinal cord and the goblin collapses on its companion, dead.
Vitarri and Redium rush into the large cavern and Vitarri rushes the goblin, swingin his great sword, however, the goblin manages to duck out of the way and the swing goes wild. Redium follows and swings his staff. Again, the goblin manages to duck out of the way.
Having dealt with the first two goblins, Scuttles, Vaneiros and I return where Vitarri and Redium are engaging in combat with the final goblin. As we enter the cavern, I yell, “Don’t kill him! Capture him!” and begin running towards them.
The waterfall drowns out my words and the goblin swings at Redium with its scimitar, nicking his arm, but not causing any real damage. Vitarri raises his great sword again as I scream at them to stop. Glancing over his shoulder, he sees me running towards him and pauses. “We can question him! Don’t kill him!” This time, my words get through to him and Vitarri drops his sword and instead tackles the goblin. They wrestle for a moment but the human fighter’s weight and strength get the better of the small humanoid and the goblin is grappled tightly and cannot escape. I slow down as I see Vitarri get the upper hand. He holds it and I walk up and slap the creature across the face. It glares at me with hatred and in Goblin, I ask it, “How many of you are there?” It just stares at me so I try again. “Tell us, how many are there of your kind in this place?”
It snarls, baring its teeth at me. “Enough to kill you all”, it replies. Vitarri relaxes for a moment and that is all the goblin needs. It slips from his grip, snatches a small dagger from its belt and swings it at me. I dodge back. As I move, Scuttles darts past me and swings at it with his rapier but misses. Vaneiros casts Shillelagh on his quarterstaff, steps forward and swings downward, catching the goblin on the head, crushing its skull. The body falls limply to the floor. We step back and Vitarri starts searching the body, but comes up empty.
While we watch Vitarri’s fruitless search, Vaneiros glances about the room and notices for the first time that, hidden from our view previously, is a large humanoid, bound and gagged laying behind a stalagmite. We cross the room to where the figure lays and as we reach it, we can see that it is a Tiefling. At first, my initial reaction is one of fear, for it has the visage of a demon, curved horns on its forehead and wings that are bound to its back by the ropes holding it. He’s awake and glares up at us. I overcome my initial distrust, reach down, pull him into a sitting position and remove the gag. I ask, “Who are you and how did you get here?”
The tiefling takes a moment to work out the kinks in its neck and then looks up at us. “Thank you. My name is Xarus. I was hired as a guard to escort Gundren Rockseeker and his friend to Phanadlin, but we were ambushed and I was knocked unconscious. When I woke up, I was here, bound and gagged.”
Vitarri, the Aasimar, whispered to us, “A moment, please” and motioned for us to follow him. I stood and we followed as the Aasimar moved far enough away that the Tiefling wouldn’t be able to hear us over the sound of the waterfall.
I looked at Vitarri and asked, “Yes?”
He looked at us, a serious expression on his face. “We can’t trust him. Tieflings are dangerous.”
Scuttles spoke up, “I agree. Let’s kill him and loot the body.”
I glanced at the druid, who had a troubled look on his face. I can see that he doesn’t like the idea of not helping the tiefling. I turned back to Vitarri. “We can’t kill him. He hasn’t done us any harm.”
“His very nature is a threat to all good people. I know of his kind. They can’t be trusted. We don’t have to kill him, just leave him bound. Maybe cut off his arm for good measure. I’m sure the demon spawn won’t mind.”
“That could be any of us in his place. Would you want someone else to leave you bound and gagged in this cave, only to die of hunger and thirst? It’s not in my nature to ignore those in need and I imagine it’s not in his either” as I motioned at Vaneiros, who nodded his agreement.
“Fine. But I shall be watching him and if he does anything against us, I will kill him. You have my word on that.” He stalked off and I turned back to Xarus. “Vaneiros, please cut him loose.”
Redium raised a hand and said, “I’ve got this.” He waved his hand and the ropes fell away. I reached out a hand and steadied the tiefling as he rose to his feet. Though I was six feet tall, the tiefling stood at least a full foot taller.
“Join us”, I said to him. “Get revenge on those who imprisoned you here and we’ll see that you make it to Phanadlin.” He merely nodded and crossed the room to where the dead goblin lay. He knelt, picked up the scimitar from where it had fallen and stood once more. With a sudden violent move, he raised his left foot and drove it down into what remained of the goblin’s face. I winced at the sound, audible to me where I stood, even over the sounds of rushing water.
Xarus returned to where we stood and said in an emotionless voice, “I’m ready now.”