Gundren's Release
19th of Leaffall: Day of Gundren's Release #
- Held archery contest, games of skill for the first half of the day waiting for Gundren to be released.
Noon Sendinging to Gundren asking location. He didn't know but knew he was headed to the 'trail'.
Gundren, can you make out what your location is? If not and you're with an escort of goblins could you ask them about a location?
With hobs. Blindfolded. Still in the woods. Hobs say they're leaving me on the trail. They're marching double time. Gave me a note for you.
- Saw Emerald Green speck in the sky to the North West
- Saw mass of humanoid figures moving over the hills to the East from the Mountains.
- Saw a caravan moving westward on the Trail to the south.
Afternoon #
- Set up a Sassy Pink Driftglobe on top of the windmill.
Sendinging again, Gundren told he was making camp north of the Triboar Trail, Northeast of town by his reckoning.
We've placed a light atop the old windmill, it is sassy pink, are you no longer blind folded and on the trail?
Hobs left me on the triboar trail. Best I can figure I'm north-east of Phandalin. Going to camp on the north side of the road.
- Set out moving North along the trail, keeping the sassy pink light as identifier.
Nightfall, 19th of Leaffall #
- Moved past some ruined homes to the east.
- Found a campsite with a fire under a rocky shelf, mostly hidden from the road. No creatures around it when Kronk scouted.
- Party moved up, at 100ft, the campfire goes out. Calling out in Common and Goblin made the Campfire reignite. A portion of the rock melted away and revealed a Dwarf sleeping soundly in a hollow. Shadows moved on top of the shelf. Underbrush rustled behind the party.
Hada invoked the Daylight spell from the Sassy-pink Driftglobe and the little campsite flooded with light. The dwarf was revealed to be Gundren, the figure on the rocks was not to be seen. Looking behind though revealed that there were half a dozen or so Orcs creeping behind the party. When they saw the light and realized they were revealed, battle broke out.
A frantic fight by the light of the driftglobe broke out, shadows dancing menacingly in the night. The orcs closed the distance quickly and the party's backline found themselves at the frontline. Droop slipped in and out of consciousness, as did Hada.
Gundren woke to the sounds of fighting, grabbed a makeshift club and charged into the fray. On the fringes of the fight, a shadowy figure darted to and fro through the shadows cast by the figures fighting. The highly mobile figure closed distances seemingly instantly and harassed the Orc Commander while the party dealt with its underlings.
When Gundren had finally closed the gap, his strike against the Orc foe was ineffective. He looked up to realize too late the folly of his ways as the Orc struck with savage accuracy. The shadowy figure leapt between Gundren and the Orc at the last second, catching the axe full in the torso. The figure crumpled, both the Orc and Gundren were surprised by this. As the battle raged around them, the Orc retreived his Axe and once again swung at the dwarf, this time no one was there to intercept and it struck true. Gundren crumpled.
Thorrfig, Kronk, and Droop patched up as many people as they could as quickly as possible during the battle but when the last foe was dead, they realized that the Shadowy Hobgoblin had slipped into the beyond.
Who was this figure? What was his mission? Was he friend, or simply an enemy of my enemy? Questions about the Hobgoblin sprung up in the minds of our adventurers as they put the heads of Orc on Pikes along the road, and did their best to honor the fallen Hobgoblin.
Gundren nursed his newly-healed wounds, and retreated to his fire.
