Chapter 13: Against the Goblins
13.1 Ironbeard Hall
Ironbeard Hall consisted of a high-ceilinged rectangular chamber about 200' wide and 400' feet long. Stone buildings lined a central path from the gates at one end to a temple of Moradin at the other end. Tunnel-streets dotted the sides of the main chamber. Ironbeard Hall was much smaller and less bustling with activity than Stonehome.
Gavin had warned the party that his people (the Ironbeard clan) were a little distrustful of "outsiders", and that they should take no offense to brusque behavior. It was an understatement. The party got suspicious looks everywhere they went, even Morgrim (but especially Daergel, and Hork). Gavin settled a tab for them at the local inn and told them to hold tight while he reported to his supervisors.
Daergel got drunk on one large tankard of the strong (even by dwarven standards) local "mead", Magnus took a nap, and Hork scared off several of the locals. Eventually Gavin returned and took Morgrim with him to talk with the clan elders about the mission.
13.2 The Mission(s)
Morgrim was led into a meeting hall in the temple of Moradin at the far end of the main chamber of Ironbeard Hall. In a large war-planning room, he was introduced to the five elders of the clan, who were all bent over a set of maps on the granite table. The oldest and most vocal of the elders explained to Morgrim the situation: the goblins had come from the west and driven the dwarves out of the mithril mining complex in the middle of a large system of natural caverns to the south of Ironbeard Hall. The dwarves had tried their best to dislodge the goblins, and reclaim their mine, but the cavern complex surrounding the mine ideally suited the goblins' hit-and-run tactics. The combination of the goblins sneaky tactics and use of strength-sapping poison making it very difficult for the dwarves to win much ground. Not only that, it seemed the goblins were receiving reinforcements somehow, as for every goblin struck down, two more seemed to take its place. Most recently, the goblins had developed a strong fortified defense at a natural stone bridge crossing a huge underground chasm. This bridge is the only easily-traversed passage from the northern caverns near Ironbeard Hall to the larger cavern complex near the mine. The dwarves had launched several frontal attacks on that position, but the goblins outnumbered them, and their defensive position was too strong.
It seemed clear that in order to have any chance of defeating the goblin menace, first the Ironbeards would have to cut off their reinforcements. Doing so would require stealth and speed, qualities the dwarves sorely lacked. As much as they disliked the idea of needing help from 'outsiders', the elders had agreed to send Gavin to Stonehome to find some assistance.
The original plan had been to send the party with an ample supply of gnomish blasting powder to collapse whatever tunnel the reinforcements were using, while the Ironbeards drew their attention to the front lines with another frontal assault. However, given the recent doubts raised by Hork's outburst on the train, Daergel's personality, and Magnus's drinking problem, the elders were not willing to commit their resources to this plan without some assurance that the party could pull off the mission.
So, first, they were sending the party on a less imperative mission to test their mettle. They were to make their way to another set of caverns to the southeast from which the manticore-riders were launching their raids on the highways to the south. The party was to kill the remaining manticores and wipe out as many goblins as possible, then return to Ironbeard Hall. Only then would they be trusted with the true mission.
Morgrim returned to the inn and convinced the rest of the party to stop drinking so they'd be sober enough to embark on their mission the next morning. The party experienced fine Ironbeard cuisine (large slabs of slimy mushrooms in brown sauce) and met Cedric Ironbeard, the famous armorsmith who would be enchanting Morgrim's armor upon their return to Stonehome.
13.3 The Death of Magnus
The next morning Gavin introduced the party to Garek Ironbeard, a surly, quiet dwarf with a bat perched on his shoulder who would be their guide in the caverns leading towards the manticore lair.
Garek led the party about a mile through twisting caverns before arriving at a deep, wide chasm. There the party would have to fly across the chasm and forge ahead alone, so Garek carved a crude map on the wall to show them the way. With that, he silently turned and headed back to Ironbeard Hall.
As the party flew across the chasm under the power of Magnus's magic, Daergel spotted a flicker of movement on a ledge on the other side. When the party arrived there, there were no signs of movement, but Daergel did notice what looked like goblin footprints on the ground. It seemed they had been spotted.
The party flew as fast as they could along the way, but were forced to slow down once the spell wore off, as Daergel was intent on searching for traps along the way. Soon enough, they spotted a flicker of movement in a tunnel ahead as a goblin disappeared around the corner. Daergel and Hork gave chase and walked into an ambush. They had walked into a small cavern with a steep slope near the entrance. At the top of the slope were three goblin archers, two crossbowmen, and one of the dangerous wand-wielders. Fortunately, upon their opening volley, three of the bowstrings snapped, so our heroes avoided the brunt of the initial attack. The goblins retreated, and after a quick skirmish, escaped having lost four of their number. They had severely injured Hork, and she had been poisoned by one of the goblin blades. Magnus used one his last powerful spells to ward her against further poison and return some of Hork's lost strength.
As the party continued towards the manticore lair, they were harried a few more times by the goblins. Daergel was stricken by a poisoned bolt, but the effects were fortunately minimal. This time the goblins were careful not to engage, and avoided further casualties.
Finally the party arrived at the end of the path. As they neared a bend in the tunnel, they spotted dim, reflected light shining on the walls ahead. They were nearing the manticore lair and the opening to the aboveground, outside world. The party marched around the corner and into the cavern that lay beyond. About thirty feet ahead, there was a steel cliff face leading about 20' up to another cavern. Beyond, light spilled in from an opening to the outside world.
As the party marched to the bottom of the cliff, they were struck by another ambush. The goblins had been waiting for them. This time two goblins stepped from the shadows, where they had been hiding behind stalagmites, to stab Morgrim and Magnus with the deadly accuracy of accomplished assassins. Morgrim suffered a serious wound and felt some tingling in his limbs. Magnus didn't fare so well. His attacked had aimed true, and the poisoned blade pierced his heart, stopping it. Magnus's body shuddered and toppled to the ground.
Meanwhile, several archers and crossbowmen appeared at the cliff top and began raining down bolts and arrows on the party. Another hit-and-run battle with the goblins ensued, but eventually two were slain, and the rest driven off. A brief exploration of the area on top of the cliff revealed two dead-end tunnels each leading to two manticore nests, and another tunnel that quickly branched out. The party retrieved Magnus' corpse and retreated to the manticores' nests to figure out what to do next.
13.4 Ambushing the Raiders
The party quickly explored the nearby tunnels, finding the goblin living quarters. The took what gold they found and poisoned the goblin water supply. They also found a large bounty of silver, but left it behind because it would weight them down. Daergel applied poison to a number of crossbow bolts, but stopped after accidentally poisoning himself. Fortunately, his body fought off the poison and he didn't get any weaker.
When they checked out the ledge leading to the outside world, to guage the distance to the valley below, Morgrim spotted a goblin hiding around a corner on the far edge of the ledge. He tried to make a run for it, but the party brought him down (the final blow coming from a spiritual battlehammer summoned by Morgrim). The party figured he had been waiting to warn the returning manticores and their riders of the ambush awaiting inside.
The party then tested Magnus' wands to determine if any would be useful. One was a wand of daylight, which would later prove useful. And of course, there was Magnus' wand of cure moderate wounds.
The party waited, and finally the manticores and their riders arrived back in the lair. Daergel fired his crossbow a little prematurely (by Morgrim's reckoning) and the battle was joined. The party quickly finished off one of the dangerous wand-wielding goblins, but the other got out of melee range and began sending magic missiles at the party. The six goblin archers proceeded to launch volley after volley at Hork and Morgrim while they killed the first manticore and drove off the second one. Daergel finished off the fleeing manticore with an explosive crossbow bolt.
Finally the party began chasing down the archers. The killed two before the rest scattered. One had fled into a dead-end, and the party captured him. Unfortunately, he made a run for it and managed to escape, although grievously wounded.
13.5 Escape to Ironbeard Hall
The party then spent a long time arguing amongst themselves about how to get back to safety. The first plan was to scale the cliff outside and travel overland back to Stonehome. However, the danger of falling the 700+ feet to the rocky ground below discouraged that plan. Then there was debate over whether to backtrack to the chasm and attempt to find a way across, or blaze a new trail through the cavern complex and hope to find an alternate route back to Ironbeard Hall.
In the end the party decided to backtrack to the chasm. They used the wand of daylight several times to gain better visibility, but could not figure out an easy way across. Due to Daergel's reduced strength, a climb across the ceiling seemed unwise.
The party backtracked to the nearest side tunnel, hoping to find a way around the chasm. As they left the main tunnel, Daergel heard the sound of armored figures approaching from the south. The party ended up at a ledge facing another, narrower chasm, and after some use of the daylight wand and some deliberation, decided to climb to the bottom and up the other side to another tunnel there. As they descended, the goblins drew near, alerted by the light from the wand. The party managed to make it to the bottom peppered with arrows but still alive, and after some healing, began the ascent on the other side. As each party member neared the top, they were again assailed by the goblin archers, but again, each survived the onslaught, and the party limped away to the north... only to arrive at another chasm.
This one was a mere 40 feet across, with a ledge and tunnel on the other side around 30 feet below. Hork tied a rope around herself and attempted several times to jump across. Three times she fell short and came crashing against the rocky cliff below Daergel and Morgrim, and was pulled back up. The fourth time, she managed to grab the opposing ledge with her fingertips, and after much struggling, pulled herself up. After that, it was a simple matter to tie down the rope, creating a zip-line. Daergel, Morgrim, and their bundled equipment made it across safely.
Several more hours of wandering the tunnels ensued, and finally the party exited a side tunnel into a broader tunnel with wagon tracks on the ground. They followed the tracks south until they arrived at a guard station manned by Ironbeard dwarves. From there, they were escorted back to Ironbeard Hall, where they collapsed in exhaustion at the inn.
13.6 A Visit to Battlehammer Hall
The party spent the evening after their return discussing possible ways to have Magnus raised from the dead with Gavin and Cedric Ironbeard. Cedric suggested that he could pull some political strings in Stonehome to have Magnus raised, but in return he would require Morgrim to enlist the aid of the Battlehammer military in vanquishing the goblin threat, and he would require the party to return to finish their mission against the goblins. The plan would also require that Magnus be posthumously inducted into Clan Battlehammer, since the clerics of Moradin in Stonehome would never raise a clanless one.
Morgrim decided they would have to go with another option (traveling to a temple of Fharlanghn beyond the mountains to the north, and convincing a cleric there to raise Magnus), since if Magnus was inducted into Clan Battlehammer, he would doubtlessly be pressured to join the church of Moradin. However, the party did agree to go enlist the help of the Battlehammer Clan, and to return and complete their mission without Magnus, before leaving on the long journey.
So, the next morning the party made the long, slow trek back to Gordarim Station. They stayed at the inn there, then the next morning took a hand-pumped trolley to Battlehammer Hall. Due to Hork and Morgrim's great strength, they were soon hurtling down the tunnel at tremendous speed, and before long arrived at the first settlement in Battlehammer lands. They switched to another trolley and soon thereafter arrived at Battlehammer Hall.
Morgrim visited his Father, Urgoth Battlehammer, a member of the elder council, to explain the situation and seek his help in convincing the council to send troops to help the Ironbeards. His father promised to do his best, and invited Morgrim and his companions to stay at the family home.
Hork took the opportunity to challenge Urgoth to an arm-wrestling match. She went into a rage when Urgoth showed surprising strength for his age, and accidentally snapped his the bones in his forearm. Morgrim did his best to heal the wound. Fortunately, Urgoth didn't take it personally.
That evening at dinner she was less lucky. She arm-wrestled Baramus, Morgrim's eldest brother, and a sub-general of the Battlehammer army. She defeated him handily. Baramus turned red in the face with embarrasement, and his wife immediately began attacking Hork. Mogrim eventually defused the situation.
13.7 Morgrim and Olga
The next day after the council meeting, Urgoth had some bad news: the council was deadlocked on the issue of assisting the Ironbeards. There was a decades-old fued between some families in the Battlehammer Clan and the leaders of the Ironbeard Clan, and as a result, many of the elders were reluctant to send troops.
Morgrim asked if there was anything he could do to influence the situation, and it turned out there was. There was one elder who's vote could be swayed. His oldest daughter, Olga, was getting quite long in the tooth, and had been unable to find a suitor. She had a reputation for having a "fiery spirit", and was not kind to the eyes, having been mauled by a cave troll as a young girl. To avoid embarrassment to the family, Olga would have to find a suitable husband soon. Urgoth was certain that a union between their two families would convince Olga's father to change his vote.
A few nights later, there was a grand ball, at which it was arranged for Morgrim and Olga to meet. She was an outspoken, bold woman, and a very successful businesswoman. It was clear she was too intimidating for most dwarven men. Although she was scarred, ugly, and heavyset, she wasn't as abrasive as her reputation would indicate. She talked to Morgrim about her business (running the family brewing operation), and asked about his travels. In the end, they left the ball together to "get to know each other better".
The next day Morgrim talked the situation over with Urgoth, and agreed to marry Olga. A dowry of 10,000 gp was deposited in Morgrim's account at the Battlehammer Vault, and at the next council meeting a motion was passed to send troops to support the Ironbeard Clan.
Relieved, Morgrim and his companions returned to Ironbeard Hall.
13.8 Back to the Mines
The party made sure to be a little better prepared this time around. Cedric had acquired six antivenom potions for them, and had reinforced Morgrim's armor to better protect his vital areas from the goblins' sneak attacks. Morgrim had convinced one of his brothers, Gideon, to accompany them to provide additional clerical support. They also asked Garek, the local expert on the cave systems to the south, to draw a map and suggest a route unlikely to be guarded by the goblins.
The quickly arranged a plan with Cedric, Gavin, and Garek: they would cross the chasms the way they had come back from the manticore lair, and sneak around the long way to the mirthril mines. Garek's pet bat would accompany them, and they would send it back to alert the Ironbeards once they were in position. The Ironbeards would then launch a frontal assault on the goblin's main defensive position (at the natural stone bridge crossing the chasm) to draw as many goblins as possible from the mithril mines. The party would then sneak in and find the source of the goblin reinforcements and collapse it.
The party made it into position near the mithril mines without incident, then sent the bat back to Ironbeard Hall, and continued forward. As they cautiously approached a guard outpost, they heard two goblin scouts come running from the direction of the front lines to alert the guards at the outpost that reinforcements were needed. At around that point, the party tried to "sneak" forward. Unfortunately, that didn't work with two dwarves in full plate armor. Daergel tried to convince the goblins that he was a goblin, but it soon became clear the ruse wouldn't work, so he fired a crossbow bolt from the darkness at the nearest goblin, almost killing it, and battle was joined. It didn't take long for the party to overwhelm the two heavily-armored goblin guards, but the two scouts got away, retreating back in the direction of the mithril mines.
The party gave chase, with a captive goblin guard in tow. Daergel scouted ahead and was ambushed by the two scouts. By the time he had returned to the party, they were nowhere to be seen. At this point the party had another look at the map, and between the two of them, Daergel and Morgrim figured out another route into the mithral mines... one without ambushers laying in wait, hopefully.
13.9 Infiltrating the Mines
The party quickly made their way through the tunnels until they arrived at another entrance to the mines. As they travelled, Morgrim gave a few pointers about tactical combat to his companions, stressing the importance of Hork (with her quick running speed) chasing down any escaping goblins before they could get reinforcements.
They emerged from a passage to find themselves on the top of a cliff face leading down to a large natural cavern. On the other side of the cavern sat a small gatehouse next to an iron gate. Daergel snuck ahead but tripped and gave himself away. Two goblin guards fired at the party from arrow slits in the gatehouse walls, but didn't do significant damage. Soon, Hork had made it across the cavern, and managed to force open the gatehouse door with her trusty crowbar. Daergel surprised the goblins as they attempted to barricade the door with furniture. The goblins were soon finished off, but not before one had managed to sound an alarm. Meanwhile, Gideon had hung back, keeping their goblin prisoner under guard.
Daergel soon realized that the goblin prisoner had a funny look on his face, and got out of him that the alarm should have brought reinforcements by now. The party realized the dwarven assault must be drawing the goblin defenders away from the mines, and decided to forge ahead with renewed confidence. At some point around then, the goblin made a break for it, and was killed.
The party opened the gate and continued into the mine. They were attacked by several bloodhulks and a dozen skeletal dwarven warriors, but Gideon turned the skeletons to dust easily, and Hork and Morgrim made quick work of the bloodhulks. They continued deeper into the mine, with Daergel scouting ahead.
Daergel could hear a strange buzzing, humming, crackling sound ahead, and as the party drew nearer to the center of the mines, so could everyone else. When they got pretty close to the source of the noise, Daergel went forward to investigate. He saw two pairs of goblin guards, each guarding a passage forward, but managed to get past one of the pairs unseen. He did make a small noise, and the guards came to investigate, but they seemed to think it was a giant rat crawling through a pile of rubble. While they looked for the rat, Daergel circled around them to scout further ahead. Around the next bend, he discovered the source of the strange noise: a large circle of mithril, around 15' in diameter, mounted in a natural stone archway. The circle was engraved with mystical runes and crackled with magical energy. Within the ring was a view of some strange landscape, burning and smoky, torn by war. Dark clouds hung low in an orange-red sky.
Tending the device were a strange, blue-skinned goblin, and two of the wand-wielding goblins. A large, looming beast stood idly nearby. It was gray-skinned and muscular, with a large toothy maw and eight beady eyes. It stood about 9' tall.
As Daergel watched from the shadows, the spellcasters began an incantation of some sort, and the crackling noise grew louder. The window to the other land grew brighter, and suddenly a manticore flew out of the ring and landed awkwardly on the ground. It was sent north quickly, presumably to join the battle against the dwarves. Soon after, the spellcasters performed the incantation again. This time, four armored soldiers stumbled out of the ring.
13.10 The Final Battle
Daergel snuck back past the guards and rejoined the party. Theyquickly discussed tactics, and came up with a plan. Daergel would hide in a small alcove in the rock face ahead. Morgrim and Hork, enhanced with strength-boosting spells, would draw the goblin guardsmen, and Daergel would surprise and flank them. Before the battle started, Gideon cast a spell that doubled Morgrim's size and reach.
The battle went according to plan initially, with Morgrim, Hork, and Daergel quickly beating down the goblin defenders. When the gray monstrosity arrived however, things went downhill. It continually picked Hork up in it's powerful jaws, shaking her like a rag-doll, rending her flesh terribly. She initially tried to escape, but eventually settled on punching it on the inside of the mouth with her armored gauntlet while Daergel attacked it from behind. Eventually they brought the thing down.
In the meantime, Morgrim fought off the goblin guards while Gideon did his best to keep everyone alive with the party's two healing wands. Unfortunately, the two wand-wielding goblins joined the fight. They stayed cautiously back, blasting Morgrim with magic missiles. Luckily, his shield had been coated in a magic-missile-resistant metal, allowing Morgrim to deflect enough of the missiles to stay alive.
Before long, the goblin guards were fleeing, which also prompted the wand-wielders to flee. The party moved forward to discover the blue-skinned leader of the goblins was also gone. They quickly rigged the portal with gnomish blasting powder, took cover, and set off the explosives. The mithril ring was blasted into hundreds of pieces of scrap, and part of the tunnels collapsed. The party collected some samples of the mithril, and beat a hasty retreat out of the mines. They hustled back the way they had come until arriving safely back at Ironbeard Hall.
13.11 Just Rewards
By the time the party returned, the Ironbeards were already celebrating their victory. When they got news that the party's mission had also been a success, the celebrations intensified.
The next day the party endured a long boring ceremony thanking them for their help. The Battlehammers returned to Battlehammer Hall, and after collecting their reward, the party returned to Stonehome with Cedric.
Cedric began working on Morgrim's armor, while the party relaxed, trained, and restocked in important gear over the course of the next couple weeks. Hork spent her savings on a Bag of Holding, which seemed like it would prove handy in carrying around a dead dwarf, as well as any heavy loot the party came across in their future journeys.
Eventually, they decided it was time to hit the road and make their way to the famous temple of Fharlangh they had heard about, to get Magnus resurrected. They would have to return later to retrieve Morgrim's armor. In the meantime, Cedric loaned him a suit of banged-up full plate to wear in the meantime.
With that, they were ready to go...