Infiltrating the Circle of Thunder
Our party deliberated what to do after hiding the goblin sentry bodies. They decided that the best play was to set an ambush around the prisoners and wait for Lhupo to come get them for sacrifice.
Hiding themselves among the trees and foliage, they waited. Not long after hiding, a hulking Ogre with a small structure attached to its back came lumbering from the north, two Worg riders in tow.
The Goblin Boss on the Ogre Howdah took in the situation, and quickly grew dismissive with Rovu. "Go back ta yer castle Stiffback. We doin big work here! Dun need tha likes o' yu." Jeers from other goblins accompanied the Boss's words.
After Rovu began leaving, the goblins realized that something was amiss when only 3 prisoners were in the pit. The skeptical goblin "Nok" from the worg patrol quickly set his worg to sniffing out what went down. In that moment, the party attacked.
The goblin boss and his Ogre put up a hefty fight, and after a solid minute of fighting, all were put down. In the commotion, the Orcs had climbed out of the pit, and were nowhere to be seen.
Deciding that they didn't have much time before the Goblin Boss's absence was noticed, the party retraced the Ogre's steps, hoping to find where Lhupo was quickly.
The Ogre's steps led them in a round about route toward a Hill crested with a ring of Standing Stone Henges encircling a stone altar. Among the Henges, a single robed goblin was inscribing runes in the ground and around the altar. In the side of the hill, a stone doorway could be seen being guarded by a lone goblin.
The party sent Droop to try and get more information from the guard, but something went awry and the other goblin was suspicious. Thinking quickly, Droop managed to order the guard to retreat inside the tunnel.
We left our party under the cover of some thickets at the base of the hill deliberating what they should do next. The wind is still howling at gale force speeds and rain has begun falling. There are ~1.5 hours of daylight left.
