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CAST OF CHARACTERS:
Vuk Thuul - half-elf serpent oracle 1
Leliana Vess - sylph witch 1
Nahash - lizardman barbarian 1
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It's still raining in the hilly jungles beyond the Barrier.
Last session, the PCs had just agreed to go fight the 'pinks' to the south on behalf of the goblins, who wanted their territory back. Not really trusting any of the sawn-off bastards, the party slept outside the goblin fort and headed south in the morning towards the goblins' old inn. Sgt. Horgh did give them a short-term mercenary contract to sign, which (as it turned out) wasn't much help when they got jumped in the jungle later that day!
Out of the shrubbery came a yellow goblin chugging grain alcohol from a flask, and a sinister black goblin wearing the lumpy ill-fitting skin of its last human victim. Leliana scrambled for the contract to show the goblins they were on the same side, but she took too long! These gobs weren't as lucky as before, and missed Nahash completely. The lizardman skewered the gross and troublesome black goblin with his war-spear and when Leliana hexed the yellow goblin to sleep, the fight was over.
These sessions consisted of my players being pretty methodical and not taking too many chances. When they reached the goblins' lost inn, they waged a gradual guerrilla war against the 'pinks': neanderthals in wolf pelts who kept failing their perception rolls at inopportune moments. The heavy rain hampered visibility and made stealth easy.
They snuck into the inn and started stealthily killing neanderthals, but one ran away when he saw Vuk Thuul's summoned steam-beetle and so the heroes started throwing furniture up against the doors and windows to brace for the inevitable counterattack.
While waiting for more to show up, Nahash and Leliana explored the basement and discovered several inverted mounds of earth on the ceiling. Each had a set of glowing, fluorescent green and blue tendrils reaching out, waving through the air like seaweed. A glance at the two dead neanderthals on the floor confirmed it: poison! Reaching either of basement doors would bring the adventurers too close to these tendrils for comfort.
They tried to destroy one with a molotov cocktail and only succeeded in waking it up. Crawling out of the mound and up the stairs after them, a fluorescent six-armed reptile-creature with a frond of rippling tendrils for a head, squeaking out strange questions: "Is this real? Is it a dream? Where am I?" Almost panicking, they lured it out into the common room where Nahash squashed it with his sledgehammer.
Phew! I was afraid somebody would get stung into the Blue Sleep and very probably die. After that they changed tactics. Cutting up the dead neanderthals, they threw chunks of meat under the other mounds, which distracted the sleeping Anemone Men long enough to slip past.
As it turned out, they were guarding the goblins' treasure hoard! Chests of silver and gold, a strange sword of bone, a pack of carved ivory plates, a whole room of bizarre objects and curios.
A few of these items were carried by some old Land's End PCs, and I think one of my players at least recognized this. Why they are still here in possession of the local goblins is a mystery, but the players may never find out because they decided to grab up every single thing. Their plan is to bury it all, go back to the goblin fort and get paid, then dig it up and bring the hoard back to town. What will the goblins do when they get back to their inn and find it stripped of valuables? I don't know, but I'm excited to find out. I was worried there would be too much cooperation in this game!
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Anyway, next time your PCs are in a small basement with a brand-new terrifying monster with a poisonous sting...
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