The Dark

23 March, 103 CY

The party awoke bruised and bound on a stone floor. Judging from the noise of the waterfall they were still in the cave, and two spear wielding kobolds stood silent guard about twenty feet away. The adventurers were each bound hand and foot behind their backs with some kind of coarse rope that chafed at their wrists and ankles. Additionally, Balasar had rope wrapped multiple times around his snout and tied tightly, and Etholin had been blindfolded. Though most of their possessions seemed to have been taken, the kobolds appeared to have left them in their armor. When the kobolds saw the party stirring, one looked to the other, which nodded and walked out of view. Balasar started to struggle against his bindings before the remaining guard moved over and smacked him hard in the nose. Syler started spouting off to the creature, but it just rolled its eyes at the bound halfling and walked away, shaking its head.

Morthos and Etholin began to talk quietly about what they should do, while Tolis-Va decided to be more proactive. He attempted to disguise the fact that he was trying to wiggle free from the ropes binding him. The adventurers stilled as the two kobold dragonshields came around the corner with the returning guard. One of them approached the group, stopping a few feet away before speaking, “You’re probably wondering why you’re ssstill alive. It is because you are to be sssold as ssslaves. That is… unlesss you can convince me that you can be of sssome ussse to usss.”

Morthos looked at the others briefly before speaking up, “I am certain that we can come to some sort of agreement on how we might be of service to you, if only you would let us know what it is we could help you with.”
The dragonshield nodded and said, “We are not from thisss area. We are here under duresss, forced to harry travelersss on the road becaussse the accursssed goblinsss have taken our clutchesss… what you would call ‘familiesss.’”
Tolis-Va, leaving the speaking to those with the inclination, began to work at his bindings as subtly as he could.
Balasar, thinking he could impress the kobold with intimidating words to make the group seem more impressive, made a bold claim, “We can kill goblins. Killed enough of you before you took us down.” Though his words were full of the appropriate amount of bravado, the situation was not ripe for intimidation.
The kobold looked askance at the bound dragonborn and said, “Yesss. You are very ssscary bound on the floor and helplesss before usss.”
Etholin, to take the attention off of Balasar, said, “We have learn from this loss and can use the experience to better prepare against the goblins.”
“True…” The dragonshield considered the wizard’s words, before he was distracted as Syler tried to move into a position similar to that of Tolis-Va, so that he, too could hide his attempts to wriggle free of the bindings. The kobold narrowed his eyes, seemingly becoming distracted from the conversation at hand.

Morthos spoke up again, “Aside from which, we wouldn’t make good slaves. We’d continue to fight to be free.”
The dragonshield inclined his head, smirking slightly, “Of that, I have no doubt, but I am not really the one you would need to convince. That would be the wyrmpriessst, a vile ssservant of Orcusss, demon god of the undead. He only craves destruction. We only want our clutchesss back so that we may return to our own homes.”
Balasar, seeing the halfling having trouble hiding, took a deep breath and flexed his muscles, making himself as large as possible, so that Syler could more easily hide his actions. Unfortunately, it was still not enough, and the dragonshield was once more distracted by the halfling’s movements.
Etholin once more intervened, “Well, surely our assault on the servants of Orcus can only serve you. We could, perhaps, destroy the cultists and liberate your families… your clutches at the same time.”

The dragonshield again seemed to seriously consider the eladrin’s words. Then, Tolis-Va successfully slipped his bindings and simply stood up before the kobolds. Every kobold but the speaking dragonshield gasped, tensed, and put hands to weapons. The speaker simply considered the elf and gestured with his hand for his allies to hold. “Perhapsss we have underessstimated you after all. Thisss, then is the agreement. You will go to the keep, where the goblinsss dwell and dessstroy them. When you find the captive koboldsss, you will ssset them free. Then we will leave thisss region and not return.” The dragonshield gestured to the other kobolds to leave, as it tossed a knife to Tolis-Va who caught it easily. “Your possessionsss are there, in Irontooth’sss treasure room. His corpssse rotsss outside, near a masss grave for our brothersss, lossst in thisss sssenssselesss charade. Kill the goblinsss. Free our clutchesss. Then, we will have peace.” With this, it turned and left.

After Tolis-Va had cut the others free, the party recovered their gear while Syler attended to a locked chest. When he was convinced it was not trapped, he pinched a pair of narrow wire tools together, and cunningly picked the lock. The chest contained a bunch of gold coins and a suit of magical dwarven chain mail armor. Balasar donned the chain while Syler counted out even shares of the gold coins. Morthos sighed at Syler’s continued insistence on splitting up loot immediately, clearly finding the practice to be tiresome, but the halfling paid him no mind.

On Irontooth’s corpse, the party found a pouch containing a small silver key (which fit the chest) and a message scroll. The message on the scroll was written in Common. It read:

“Irontooth,
My spy in Winterhaven suggests we keep an eye out for visitors to the area. It probably does not matter; in just a few more days, I’ll completely open the rift. Then Winterhaven’s people will serve as food for all those Lord Orcus sends to do my bidding.
-Kalarel”

Morthos broke off Irontooth’s oversized metal tooth as proof of his demise, and after searching the rest of the cave at Etholin’s insistence (which turned up nothing else) the adventurers discussed what to do next. Syler wanted to return to Winterhaven to collect the reward from Padraig for stopping the kobold menace in the caves and defeating Irontooth. He was hoping to find someone that sold healing potions and the like. Etholin argued that they had not yet stopped the kobold menace, at least until the non-warrior kobolds were freed, and furthermore that they’d seen no evidence that any sort of potion merchant even existed in the village. Morthos, Tolis-Va, and particularly Balasar were not even interested in that conversation and just wanted to head directly to the keep to deal with the goblins. Grumbling, Syler followed the group north.

...

The five arrived at the ruins of the keep a little over an hour later. The short road to Shadowfell Keep was arduous. Since its destruction, few travelers used the road and no one apparently bothered to maintain the path. The road was overgrown with grass, ferns, and small trees. The keep wasn’t really in any better shape. Evidence of its destruction could be seen as the party approached the derelict ruins.

Ahead, the narrow track widened into a clearing. Great piles of shattered stone blocks and scorched timbers dominated the clearing, sprawling out from its center to the edge of the woods. No plants grew among the ruins or within the clearing. The ground was bare dirt, and although the forest had begun to reclaim the path leading here, it had not intruded into the ruins of Shadowfell Keep. Yet clearly someone had tampered with the ruins. In the center of the debris, stone blocks and timbers had been gathered into a pile. Someone had cleared a path through the rubble and pulled aside the wreckage to reveal a stone staircase. The staircase descended into darkness.

Examining the darkened stairway, Etholin cast a light cantrip on Balasar’s armor, who was preparing to lead the way down.
“What are you doing?” asked Syler, slightly alarmed.
“None of us can see in the dark,” responded Etholin, confused by the question.
“So, you’re just gonna turn him into a target? We’ll lose the element of surprise,” reasoned the halfling.
Etholin blinked at his diminutive ally, “Yes… OR we could trip and fall down the stairs in the dark, losing the element of surprise in THAT way. Which do you prefer?”
“Whatever, man. I’m just sayin’” conceded the halfling.

The stairway leading down consisted of finely crafted stone, perhaps the work of dwarves. A breeze chilled the adventurers to the bones as they took each step down. At a landing some thirty feet below, the group noticed the glow of torchlight coming from below. Appeased, the eladrin snuffed the light while Tolis-Va and Syler crept down the dimly lit stairs to take a look around. When they drew near the bottom, they saw a roughly square room supported by four pillars, with hallways leading out in all four cardinal directions, the stairs upon which they stood being the north. In the southern hallway directly ahead of them, a lone goblin leaned against the wall and tapped the butt of his spear against the floor arhythmically. Beyond the goblin, the hallway opened up into a wider chamber. Never the pair to pass up the opportunity to get the drop on a foe, Tolis-Va and Syler readied their ranged weapons and let fly. The elf’s arrow flew true, striking the goblin in the side, but Syler’s bolt flew a little wide.

The creature cried out in surprised pain then ran down the hallway and around a corner into the southern chamber, out of sight to the west. Tolis-Va thought he heard a door open the opposite direction that the fleeing goblin had turned. The party moved into the room, some taking cover behind the columns or to the sides. As Syler began to cross the room, the “floor” collapsed between the pillars and he dropped out of sight. He managed to twist in midair to soften the blow, landing on his hands and knees prone on the floor of the pit ten feet below. Then he saw that he was face to face with a swarm of rats. Thinking quickly, he pulled his dagger and slashed at the mass of squeaking, crawling vermin. Several of the creatures were caught by his initial slash, but there were still many more. He struck out again as they moved to attack him killing a few more before the others’ teeth sank into his arms and legs.

Crossbow bolts flew down the hallway, one of which struck Balasar, who stood in the open just in front of the open pit. The first goblin and another with similar gear ducked into the hallway and launched javelins at the party, striking Balasar and Morthos before moving back out of sight. Balasar grunted from the wounds, moved around behind a pillar beside the pit, pulled the rope from his pack, and dropped one end down to Syler. Tolis-Va moved up to a position at the corner of the hallway and took a shot at the visible sniper, striking him a solid blow. Etholin tried to follow up with a magic missie but the goblin ducked behind the corner. The force missile impacted the wall and knocked loose a few chips of stone. Morthos moved to the side of the chamber opposite of Tolis-Va and held that flank.

The snipers targeted Etholin next, but fortunately only one of the bolts sank into him. He retorted in kind before moving out of the snipers’ line of sight, his magic missile streaking to its mark and smashing the goblin’s nose, which began to bleed. The goblin warriors then barreled down the hallway, each striking the elf solid blows. Though heavily wounded, he struck back at the nearest and retreated several steps away from their vicious assault. Syler slashed at the rats again, killing a few more and then stood and took hold of the rope. Exasperated, Balasar towed the halfling up with a shrug of his huge shoulders and deposited him on the ledge before leaping across the pit to engage the goblin warriors. His overhand halberd charge came down hard on the skull of the one on his right. Twisting the shaft of his weapon at the last second, he laid it low with the flat of the blade instead of killing it outright, and then he growled at the other. The rats crawled up the side of the pit to the ledge, but Syler had already moved into the corner, protected by Morthos and Balasar. The tiefling’s inspiring words helped Tolis-Va shake off some of his wounds and allowed the elf to return to his position at the other corner.

The snipers continued to take shots at the few enemies they could see, but were thwarted in part by the cover. They kept ducking back out of sight after each shot. Morthos, Balasar, and Syler dealt with the remaining rats and goblin warrior (whom Syler gutted) while Tolis-Va took the eastern hallway around to a southern passage where he discovered a curtain. He pushed it aside to reveal what appeared to be storage chamber, containing a number of boxes and barrels. He proceeded forward and to the west he saw a pair of doors, one of which hung open. Figuring it was the one he’d heard opened earlier, he moved up behind the closed door and waited for an opportunity to sweep in on the snipers. Seizing the momentum, the party surged down the hallway after Etholin slew one of the snipers with his magic. The other was hard pressed and forced to draw a short sword. It had a harder time with the blade than it had with the crossbow, but it managed to score a minor wound on Syler before the party converged on the creature and Balasar made the killing blow.

The halfling moved back down the hallway to the senseless goblin warrior whom Balasar had hit with the flat of his blade earlier. He kept his sword leveled at the unconscious creature while the others quickly looted the other goblins’ corpses and took a quick look around. The dragonborn then came over to the prisoner and lifted it bodily, saying that they should question the creature outside, rather than down in the keep. Balasar ignored the discussion that the others attempted to begin regarding the interrogation and ascended the stairs. The others looked at each other, shrugged, and followed. On the surface again, the dragonborn put the goblin down and took a sentry position beside the stairs, keeping watch against retaliation. After a brief rest, Syler, Etholin, and Morthos took an interest in the interrogation of the goblin, who was just then coming around.

“Can you speak in a civilized tongue?” asked the halfling.
“Screw you!” the goblin retorted in fairly clear Common.
“Right. How many of you are there?” pressed Syler.
“Thousands! And they’ll kill you all!” insisted the goblin, but there was fear behind his eyes. Etholin and Syler both picked up on this and while the eladrin summoned eldritch energy to crackle from his fingertips, the halfling snarled down at the creature.
“We’ve already killed all of you on the first floor. And the rest are next… right after you, if you don’t talk!”

The goblin broke, “There are maybe forty of us! I don’t know! I can’t count good!”
Morthos leaned down and took hold of the front of the goblin’s leather armor. “Who leads you? Is it Kalarel?” he asked simply but firmly.
“I don’t know a Kalarel! We follow Balgron!” sniveled the goblin.
“Is he a goblin?” the tiefling lifted the creature off the ground.
“Yes!” whined the prisoner, as it looked over its shoulder where Syler stood menacingly. “Just please don’t kill me!” tears and snot flowed freely down the goblin’s face.

“Oh, there’s no chance of that. You’re dead,” the halfling stated coldly.
Morthos frowned at his companion, then looked down at the goblin again, “If we set you free, what will you do?”
“Run away! Never come near Winterhaven again!”
“Where would you go?” the warlord asked.
“Anywhere you want! Just don’t let him kill me!” the goblin pleaded.
Morthos nodded and set the goblin down. “Go, then.” The creature wasted no time, taking off at a sprint away from the group and up the trail leading to the north and away from civilization. Syler started to pull a shuriken, but Morthos laid a restraining hand on his companion. “Let him go. He’s no threat anymore.” Syler glared up at the tiefling and sighed irritably, moving back toward the stairs.

A minute or so later, the party descended the stairs once more. They took a look around the rooms and discovered several paths to choose from. The first door they decided to open was on the west wall of the room from which the snipers had been firing. It appeared to be a bunk room of some sort, with a pair of lice-ridden straw mattresses on the north wall. Syler listened at the cold stone door but heard nothing. Balasar then shoved the door open revealing a stone stair leading down into utter darkness. The adventurers looked at one another and shook their heads. The dragonborn closed the door. “Maybe later,” they all said at once.

Instead, they moved to the door at the end of the eastern hallway, and Tolis-Va opened it up. He and Syler heard several goblin voices coming from the eastern end of the hallway, where torchlight flickered in a larger room that opened up to the north. Not knowing the language, the words were impossible to distinguish, but it sounded like an argument. There was also an opening in the middle of the south wall of the hallway. Leaving their companions at the top of the stairs, the elf and halfling once more crept down the hallway, past the southern entrance (which was a stairway leading down).

When they reached the opening, the found themselves standing in the southwest corner of a large chamber. The room looked like a disaster area. Here and there, remnants of the original floor stood like short towers protruding from a depression. Narrow wooden planks connected the patches of original floor, and a goblin stood on one such “island” leaning on a pickaxe and speaking to someone unseen. The sounds of someone attacking the floor and walls with shovels and picks could be heard as the goblins seemed to argue among themselves. Taking up hidden positions with line of sight on the visible goblin, they each took aim and fired. Both missiles flew truly, and the goblin was dead before it hit the ground. This had, however, interrupted the conversation it had been having, and the unseen goblins cried out in their guttural language.

Syler moved forward to the ledge and spotted another goblin standing near a ladder. He fired on the creature with his hand crossbow, scoring a hit. The creature cursed, fired back wildly, then dashed around the other side of the “island,” out of view. Another crossbow bolt flew up at the halfling from an unseen source in the northwest section of the pit. Neither bolt managed to strike Syler, however. Morthos, Balasar, and Etholin all dashed forward from the far end of the hallway, taking in the apparent combat in progress. Tolis-Va meanwhile ran down the ramp and turned north, trying to get into a position from which he could strike at the goblin snipers. This, of course, was when the drakes came out from behind the “island” pillars and flanked the elf, bringing their vicious teeth to bear. He was, however, able to elude both sets of snapping jaws. “Drakes!” he cried out, to alert the others to his peril.

Knowing the elf was as good as dead without help, Syler deftly somersaulted down into the pit, landing on the balls of his feet, and kept moving until he flanked one of the creatures along with Tolis-Va. Then he brought his blade to bear, hamstringing the overgrown lizard to slow it, should it try to exact pursuit. Balasar and Morthos were next down the ramp, swinging their weapons at the other drake. For his part, the elf swung at each of the drakes, and then planting his foot on the wall of the pit, he pushed off quickly and sliced at the one that he flanked with Syler before dashing past them both. The creature took a clumsy bite at the elf, but it caught only air. The snipers each took a shot at Syler, but they were apparently too rattled by the sudden assault and the bolts again flew wide. Etholin moved to the corner atop the entry platform and sent a ray of enfeeblement which strike at the drake engaged with the halfling, causing the creature to flinch in pain. The reptile managed to sink it’s teeth weakly into Syler’s flesh before the rogue brought it down. Balasar and Morthos dealt with the other drake, while Syler followed Tolis-Va to try to flush out the goblin snipers from their hiding places. They flanked and slew the first with little trouble. Etholin’s magic wounded the other before Balasar and Morthos charged around the other side and put the final goblin to the sword. The party looted the corpses, revealing some gold and silver coins, as well as a magical orb, which Etholin examined curiously.

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