This session began with Kujira and Kellin searching for new recruits. We missed a group in the tavern but ran into a group of five that just came into town. With some inspirational speaking Kujira recruited two young warriors and Kellin recruited the other three. With the mystic monk Ino and the Elf swordsman Greenleaf in tow, the party set out again to the caves of chaos.
The party made their way back to the hazy badlands without event and decided to venture into a third cave for the first time. The cave entrance was decorated with the skulls of many humanoids. A sign posted on the sliding door at the back of the entrance indicated that the residents eat humanoids. The party was not intimidated and decided to continue along despite the warning. Several party members searched around the door. Finally, frustrated with impatience, Kellin attempted to kick in the door while flanked by two spear-wielding hirelings. The did not budge but made a tremendous racket. The party tactically withdrew to daylight and assumed a concave formation so that everyone could take a shot or swing at anything that rushed from the cave. We waited. We waited some more. Then out of nowhere a giant desiccated humming bird slammed into Kellin's plate armor from behind for no effect. The foul creature was quickly dispatched. The party rallied its confidence and proceeded into the cave after figuring out the door slid to the side. Kellin thinks that door is way too clever for goblins. Faced with a four-way intersection Kellin decided to direct the group left. For some reason it's his default decision. "Left is right. If you need to get out in a hurry, take the right turn and you'll find your way back out of anything!"
After following a winding passageway the party came upon another door. Behind this door was a large room that was some sort of family/living space for some of the hobgoblins dwelling here. There were five armored warriors and a dozen or so females and young. The five were wearing horned hide helmets and laminate armor and fought with spear and scimitar. We dispatched the five while loosing one of Kellin's hirelings Harold. Kujira was seriously injured. A female was subdued while the rest of the non-combatants fled the chamber. We put her to the question then knocked her out, leaving her in a side passage that connects back to the goblin caves. By questioning her we discovered that there are prisoners in the hobgoblin cave, that this cave structure interconnects with the goblin caves, and she revealed the location of the chieftan's lair within the caves.
The party decided it was time to leave. We carried our dead back to the entrance, encountering two more hobgoblin warriors on the way. We made short work of them. Once back to civilization Kellin paid for a proper burial for the fallen Harold. The heroes nursed their wounds and went out for one more foray. This time the group plunged into the goblin caves which we had barley entered before. Again, we went left (after the Monk Ino sent us straight and it was a dead end). Kellin shook his head because left is always right. Some twists and turns of the caves opened up into a larger open space. As the torch light began to reveal this larger space, javelins began to hurtle towards us from the darkness. With a cry of command from Kellin, "Onward to Victory!", the party surged forward. We did bloody battle with six goblins, killing them to the (little green) man. A few of us took minor wounds. Kujira received a savage blow yet again. We lost one of Kujira's hirelings, and Shaymus died from friendly fire. The damn elf lost half his ear earlier, and now he's shot Shaymus. We pressed on a little further and discovered this cave connects back to the hobgoblin lair. We collected our (still to be described) treasure and carried our dead back out of the cave.
There were three stirge practically waiting for us as we exited the cave. Damn things must have been attracted to the collective smell of all our wounds. We dispatched them easily. We searched their corpses for anything of use and made our way back to the fort. We lost three out of five hirelings in two outings. We have little to show for it. I'm concerned this will strongly affect our reputation to the point where we won't have extra help in the future. Hopefully our next outing will yield something worth the loss of life.
Enemies Vanquished, Treasure, Experience
Week 5
1 Stirge 10 XP
7 Hobgoblin Guards 105 XP
1 Hobgoblin Sister 10 XP
XP from monsters slain = 125 XP
Total divided between 12 shares (Ino, Kujira, Greenleaf, Kelin = 8 shares, 4 surviving hirelings = 4 shares)
20 XP to PCs & NPC, 9 XP to Hirelings.
Silver coins from hobgoblins = 40 sp
Hobgoblin scimitar & dagger = sold by Kirin
**Total treasure = 40 sp
Total divided between 4 shares (Ino, Kujira, Greenleaf, Kelin)
1gp & 1 xp to PCs & NPC
Week 6
6 Goblin Guards 30 XP
3 Stirges 30 XP
XP from monsters slain = 60 XP
Total divided between 10 shares (Ino, Kujira, Greenleaf, Kelin = 8 shares, 2 surviving hirelings = 2 shares)
12 XP to PCs & NPC, 6 XP to Hirelings.
150 copper peices and 18 silver peices from the goblins
Total divided between 4 shares (Ino, Kujira, Greenleaf, Kelin)
8sp, 3cp & 1 xp to PCs & NPC
Session Totals
33 XP to PCs & NPC; 1gp, 8sp, 3cp to PCs & NPC
15 XP to hirelings