The party finds each other in the town of Sandpoint. All gathered for personal reasons and pursuits. Aioda came to Sandpoint to participate in the annual festival as a fortune teller and mystic. Rotar arrived in search of the Skinsaw Man. Modo and Grendel came to Sandpoint from the north, slightly unaware of the grand festival they have walked into. Lastly, Gill came to town for what seemed to be personal enjoyment of the festival.
While the party slowly got to talking about the festival and introducing each other, the mayor of Sandpoint, Deferin got started on a speech about the roots of the feast. It wasn’t long before the party started to engage in festival ground ‘games’. Grendel had bested Gill in a contest to grab a pig in a muddy pit, but Gill managed to beat Grendel at a small lizard race, while neither became 1rst mind you.
Throughout the day the party got shallowly introduced to Sandpoint; its bars, glass work industry and the large cathedral in the heart of the town. Near the end of the day the party found itself admiring the cathedral. To everyone’s surprise, Goblins had found their way into town in alarming numbers. Taking swift action, the party was able to subdue the Goblins near the cathedral and ensure the safety of a notable noble; Marcus Foxglove. Taking haste himself, Foxglove thanked the party, but expressed his concern about the town gates.
As the party rushed to the south gate, they found the town Sherriff, Baalor Hemlock, fending off goblins. Using some quick tact the party managed not only to close the gate door on the goblins but also render one unconscious for investigating purposes for Hemlock. The party was thanked and was invited to a boar hunt by Foxglove himself.
We returned to Sherriff Hemlock later that day to check up on the state of the assumed Goblin raid and possibly a reward for the day before. Hemlock had few words to spare about the Goblin attack, but did mentioned the Gravedigger had encountered something unsettling. A corpse had been stolen from the graveyard, leaving 2 skeletons in his stead. As the party rushed to investigate, they found a small set of clue’s; A necromancer robe that had been used to raise the 2 skeletons the party faced and tracks on the ground. The tracks were composed of roughly 5 Goblins and a single human. Following the trail to the edge of town, we discovered that the ‘party’ they were tracking had taken a cart to escape, making tracking pretty much impossible when they reached the main road. With some insight, but ultimately at a halt in the investigation, they returned to the cathedral to inquire more about the stolen corpse.
Back at the cathedral they were informed that the body that was stolen belonged to a priest. A priest who was burned alive/in his sleep in the old cathedral, roughly 3 years ago. We learned he had a daughter who left town sometime after his death. Figuring that more knowledge about these figures would give us some more insight in the recent happenings, we chose to speak to the Mayor and an Inn owner, Ameiko of the Rusty Dragon Inn.
It seemed apparent now that the Goblin attacks were a distraction for more than just grave robbery. As we continued on, we discovered Ameiko unconscious in the cellar of the Glass works. We had heard another person run from us in the cellars, but we decided Ameiko’s safety came first. Aioda and Rotar took her to the church as Modo and Gill made haste to Baalor Hemlock.
At the guard barracks, Gill and Modo received news that Baalor was out of a town for some time. Taking a chance, Modo wanted to write a letter informing Baalor and have it sent by carrier pigeon. The party regrouped at the cathedral and went with Ameiko to the mayor. While we were told to keep our finding hush-hush, it seemed that time had passed. The mayor instructed us to head back into the Glasswork cellars and put a stop to whatever is happening. We received a scroll of Send Message to contact him if needed.
As they ventured on, they encountered more Spawns and an elaborate cell block. Aioda recognized some writing on a Spawn’s armor in particular. It seemed to be written in Thessalonian. The party ventured on through small hallways and caves. They came across a spiral staircase leading up, but not before they were attacked by a vargouille.
Upon closer examination the spiral staircase was blocked off by collapsed pillars and rubble. The party opted to venture on. Heading back to the cellblock to get a bigger overview of their location. The party stumbled upon a mutated goblin in a dark under passage. After a fierce battle which almost costs Gill his life, another problem arose. Rotar’s beard had begun to fall out. In this moment, the party’s wellbeing outweighed the towns safety, one could almost say. In a rush the party ventured back into the tunnels that lead them here. Finding a split in the road unseen from when they entered, the party came across an odd wall. In his hurry and with his uncanny sense for stonework, Rotar slammed his weapon into the wall and discovered the outside again. Finding themselves at the edge of town on a cliff, Rotar wasted no time to find a cure for his beard troubles.
We visited Dr. Kink and after some unpleasant introductions we sparked his interest in Thessalonian, leading him to suddenly excitingly reveal some of his research to us. While Aioda and Gill were mostly enthralled by his finding, Modo and Rotar examined a book styling many dwarven haircuts and beard types. He also aided us in giving us a method to destroy the Thessalonian altars we had encountered before. While by the end of the conversations with Dr. Kink we realized that the Thessalonian structures under the city may pose a grave threat, the more visible and more-known Goblin problem needed their attention.
Then we got drunk.
The party awakes in the morning deciding to head to the guard barracks to bring their findings to Baalor Hemlock. There we were met by some ‘freelancers’ working for the Mayor and Hemlock to aid in the Goblin incidents. They explained that the Goblin tribes in the areas around Sandpoint were mobilizing. One scout said she would check out the different tribes and return in a few days with more information.
We decided to return to Ameiko to keep her up to date with our investigation, only to find her gone and a note nearby. The note was left for Ameiko and details on where she had to meet the writer of this note. Finding our way to the Glass works we investigated the area.
Wasting little time getting to the outskirts of the island, they did stumble on themselves about how to go about the assault. While the party all had various ways of reaching the island and getting the rest on, they opted for the scouts plan to simply scale a side of the island and sneak in to the undergrowth of the island.
once inside, the party sneaked their way to a watch tower. Taking out a few targets from range proved useful before they attempted to sneak up on a bigger group. As they attempted to stealth approach a small group of Goblin, Gill opted to simply rush in. In a short flurry of bombs, arrows, magic and bolts, the Goblins quickly found themselves with their maker, or simply dead.
As the party progressed across the bridge, we found ourselves at the mercy of a trap. Gill and Modo were halfway across the bridge before the trap activated. While Modo was able to hang on, Gill fell 80 feet down into a body of water. As Aioda used a rope given by Shalelu, 2 Goblins were watching from a distance laughing at us. While Gill climbed his way up, Shalelu dispatched the Goblins with 2 quick arrows.
Soon when in undiscovered territory, the party found their way into a large room filled with Goblins. Dogs, one on a large lizard and an array of chanting greenskins. Knowing to be overwhelmed in the room, the party moved back to get into a defensive position. The Goblin assemble quickly pushed the party back and incapacitated Modo. While Modo was able to halt his bleeding from fatal levels, he quickly found himself taken away while Aioda and Gill were fighting their own assailants. Aioda and Gill chose to retreat under the cover fire of Shalelu.
During their rest, Gill headed into Sandpoint for some quick supplies. Aioda devised a plan to infiltrate the ruins as a Goblin and get Modo out. Using her spells, she managed to enter the ruins almost un-harassed and made a quick ally out of a charmed goblin, finding some of Modo’s gear along the way. Modo himself awoke in a dark room, the goblins prison. While looking around the room he heard another person close by. It turned out to be another captive, one who referred to himself as ‘The Wanderer’. They exchanged words and on how they were captured. As the mysterious, but seemingly kind Traveller told of some his exploits, Modo heard the door previously keeping him locked up, open to reveal Aioda in Goblin form. As Aioda hushly explained that they were getting out, Modo told her of the Wanderer in the next ‘cell’ and how he wished for him to be freed as well.
Once our current level was clear, we also found our way to a small armoury and Modo was able to retrieve the rest of his gear along with that of the Wanderer and some Goblin sized weapons.
We ventured down into the ruins, only to come across more tables with unfinished scraps of food. Beyond the regular signs of life reflected in dirty plates and cutlery, the party found an ever-burning torch, solidifying their idea that there are still plenty of horrors below, be it Goblin or Longshanks.
Looking into long dark hallways, the party opted to let Modo scout ahead, for, as he said himself, he’s rather hard to find in the shadows. In a split hallway he found a locked large door to an altar of Lamashtu, a barricades door and one that was notably ‘smelly as all hell and beyond’.
In perhaps an opportunistic moment or a religious one, we decided to take the Diamond eyes from the statue to ‘defile’ the unholy place it was housed in. After taking what we could to diminish Lamashtu’s presence, we continued on to the previous doors Modo has scouted out.
The Wanderer commented on how he saw a figured dart by the room entrance while we fought the beastly dogs. Proceeding with a slight hint of caution, we found ourselves in a room detailing Goblin plans. In true Goblin fashion, their story, plan or perhaps even their prophecy was draw on the walls. We deduced that the Goblins were planning a 2nd raid on Sandpoint, but this one was to have more clans and tribes of Goblin involved than the 5 surrounding the city.
Gill was surprised by a Magic Missile attack from within. We were told by a angered, female voice to leave and stop breaking everything. We soon realized we would have no way in without having to combat what we deduced to be a slightly less then sane wizard. We left the room, leaving parting words that we may return, did not wish for conflict and were here merely to solve the Goblin problem and the rising threat of Lamashtu.
tracking our steps back we came across a room Modo has earlier identified as being barricaded. With some snappy footwork by Gill we opened it and found ourselves in what seemed to be a cave system. Our puzzlement did not have much time to wonder as Roper-like creatures had noticed us and began attacking us from the ceiling. While Gill slew one with a strong attack, he was covered in its innards. Taking a small moment to take off his armor and have Aioda splash water on him, another Roper began to attack us. The Roper had managed to grab Gill and attempted to lift him up to the monsters maw. With fire, sword strikes and a small flying dagger, the party was able to get Gill lose and slay the monster.
As all present started to discuss the finer points of baby killing, even of vague humanoid children, Gill was able to shake of some of the Goblins and also crushing one under his boot. As Modo indecisively juggled a bomb at the entrance and the Wanderer attempted to drag Gill out Aoida had taken irritating notice of the screeching. Aoida was quickly able to hypnotize the babies and Gill using a spell. While Gill walked out, Aoida tended to the Goblins and stuck them back in their ´beds´.
While the party discussed how they certainly should not kill the small ones, seeing they will need a tribe to stay to ´keep other beings at bay´ they were being watched by a mysterious onlooker. The onlooker introduced himself as Saati, an Elf Druid. After brief introductions Modo continued to search the doors in the room. After finding what was only described as a ‘Love room’ the party continued down a hallway. The hallway lead past some small rooms with beds and some storage. Feeling confident, the party moved on to another floor on the ruined stronghold.
In 1 bright moment, Aoida was able to cast a spell to relocate Gill. As he found himself out of the trap, we saw the floor between the statues drop and the fences lift. With some small jumps, the party was able to cross the hallway.
As they moved on, they came to a split. Modo and Gill identified a Yeth hound on one side and the rest of the party came across a strange statue on the other end. Aoida was the first to examine the statue and the first to find her way through some sort of portal by putting coins on the eyes. While Aoida was on the other side Modo, Gill and the Wanderer examined the statue. Only gold coins worked, and only 2 of them would be enough. The Wanderer first held up Modo to try and see through the portal he had opened using some of his coins. He exclaimed to see Aoida vaguely and seemingly unharmed.
In panic and disbelieve of what he had just done, Modo adamantly repeated he ‘did not think it would do anything to add a copper coin, as the statue only responded to gold.’ After understandable anger from the rest of the party, Modo was to go through the portal first and under careful watch of the Wanderer as Saati comforted Gill. On the other side Modo and the Wanderer found Aoida intensely examining the room they found. Aoida explained that some of the relics placed here were from Lamashtu along with a strange, almost holographic image of someone giving a speech. Modo and the Wanderer quickly explained the incident with Gill and his arm, understandably, Aoida did not think it was a very becoming action of Modo to mess with something obviously magical in nature.
Also located on this side of the statue portal was a room. A sealed room that whispered deep seethed thoughts into the party. While most had the sense that a door calling you to open it would never hold good fortune, Modo felt differently. Slowly and with small weapons, Modo attempted to open the door before the Wanderer and Aoida told him not to. Before more time could be spend, they moved back out of the portal, back to Saati and Gill.
The party quickly got out of the chamber and was able to lock the shadows behind them. Some drained of their energy, had to rest. After a while the party was rested enough to continue down the previous hallway, towards the room they had spotted a Yethhound before. Aoida had the idea for 1 person to boot open the door as a surprise, while she would teleport someone else behind the beast.
Our plan seemed better on the outside of the room it seemed, as we forced our way in we came face to face with more Yethhounds, Lyrie the Archeologist and a slight demonic Nuallia. In a quick succession of strikes, The Wanderer was able to finish Nuallia by slicing her in 3 pieces. Despite Modo’s crooked throwing arm playing up again, the party was able to rid the room of beasts and beings.
After some searching the party found a large stack of scrolls and some books detailing more info on Tessalonian. Feeling drained by being underground for what seemed like days on end, theparty moved back to the whispering door. After a quick rest they braced themselves for whatever beast may have been behind the sealed door.
Worn, torn and weary from drudging through underground tunnels, the party traveled back topside. On their way they considered taking some of the Goblin babies as a ‘bargaining’ chip if they were to encounter more Goblins. Towards the end of the stronghold they found the Goblin Shaman and quickly discussed the state of the fortress and the Goblin clans. Shalelu was also encountered at the exit, quickly swapping notes about what lied below and something about more Goblins attempting to enter the ruins.
In a slow, but determined pace, they headed back to Sandpoint. It was time for some real rest and celebrations.