WEEK 3 (Fairly short, I think):
The goblins that threaten the town of Joytown seem to decrease over the next few days, and the heroes only stumble upon three mobs of goblins, all of whom are disposed of swiftly. Interestingly, staring at one old man’s corpse, it’s heavily implied that he defeated three hobgoblins by himself, despite being unarmed and unarmored. He looks awfully familiar to the baker who decked the goblin in the pastry shop . . .
During this time, the merchants who were forced to leave the merchants’ guild hall repay Leorel and Pestilence, and the town rewards them with the best weapons from the armory, used by town legends, except for Leorel, who is given a set of armor that he finds to be too heavy at the moment.
On one of these ventures outside, the four adventurers notice that a wolf-like creature in the distance is surrounded by five corpses and is preparing to feast on them when it is spotted. It runs, luring the adventurers into the jail at the center of the town. Judging from the contents of the cells, it would appear that this was the hideout of the goblins the whole time. What perplexes the travelers is the fact that it changes shape into a goblinoid form to open the door to the jail.
The first two floors hold nothing that poses a threat except for the narrow walking space, but the third floor is home to three flunky goblins, two hobgoblins, and a criminal who has been armed and bought by the goblins. The fight does not go quite so well, as the hobgoblins hold positions opposite from each other, in the doorways of the cells, making fighting them difficult. Sir Clinton charges in first, only to find the tactics of the hobgoblins overwhelming. He is dealt a gnarly blow to the face and drops limp, at the end of his strength. The other three pick up the slack and win the fight, but Leorel, ever impatient, moves on to fight the barghest in the next room, once again leaving Pestilence and Egreauss to take care of a fallen friend.
The barghest waits for Leorel at a safe distance, but as he moves in it comes at him, failing to get a hold of him with its teeth. He deals a blow that would cleave in half a normal wolf, finding that it is magically warded. Seeing that he is at the end of his stamina as well, he retreats instantly, and the four adventurers can only return a week later, having peace of mind knowing that the barghest is the last monster to be dealt with.
They patrol the town for it and eventually find it in the middle of slaughtering unaware peasants, and as they move in it begins combat by inflicting them with a wave of sadness to hinder. The heroes move into position, with Leorel making the best attacks against it. To the astonishment of the others, their weapons harm it just fine, whereas the katana wielded by Leorel is blocked.
Surrounded and bleeding, the barghest tries to blink out of harm’s way, but a quick, lucky blow from Sir Clinton puts it in its place.
Some boss fight . . .
With that, there are no more goblins, and the travelers return to Erokrost, and Leorel promises to keep in touch with Miss Veralda, and she, in turn, promises to learn how to fight for him. He leaves his family’s wakizashi with her, even though this might offend his master.
The heroes find that the kind Duke Woodworth has started bank accounts for them and given them each a thousand gold pieces. Sir Clinton buys a fighting horse, Pestilence buys better thieving tools, and Leorel gives, or should I say throws, his money at peasants. His master tells him, upon his report, that he can kill himself just as well with a katana, should he fail his missions, and that if he wants to give his money to “street shit”, it’s his money.
Duke Woodworth, now able to receive news from other towns, is informed that lycanthropes have abducted the citizens of Alzaer. He sends the heroes to rescue the town, partly for the sake of holding up an alliance, and partly because he wishes to recover the will of a wealthy old man who has been taken and convince him to give some magical trinkets to Erokrost. Somewhat selfish, but okay.
That concludes this week’s session.
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