Session 7, 2007-09-01: An expedition to Lonely Sparrow goes south

Session 7: wherein organized goblins bring about chaos

Players (Characters)
Scott (Filthy Ike)
Jeremy (Flynn Flamm)
Tony (Brother Jakob)
Rachel (Lotus)
Tom (Nathaniel Graythorne)
DM: Catherine

The party met together to discuss what name they might take. Having spent a lot of time sneakily killing snakes with the help of a bard, the name "Ninja Mongoose Rockstars" seemed appropriate. The Ninja Mongoose Rockstars then met with Mary, who wanted them to deliver some scrolls to the Lonely Sparrow monestary, as well as providing Jakob with escort since he wanted to make a donation there. NMR spent some time buying or upgrading equipment and then set out to the south.

Three hours outside of Waecleft, the party came upon a pair of slain messengers who had been returning to Waecleft. Lotus took up Eagle form and located a nearby goblin camp. As the party headed that direction, the ground trembled and a Land Shark popped up. Tara bit at it, and Flynn started singing an inspiring song. Ike fired a series of arrows and Jakob crushed its skull, killing it.

Lotus cast mass camoflage to allow the party to approach the goblin camp more stealthily. Most of the party set up to the northeast, with Ike on a hill to the south. Lotus cast entangle to block off the western exit. Nathaniel's phantasmal killer destroyed one goblin, while Jakob and Tara took another one down with claws and fists. Flynn's song provided everyone some inspiration. Lotus cast vortex of teeth, and the force-pirahnas shredded the camp. Ike, Tara, and Jakob continued dropping goblins as a pair turned themselves invisible. Flynn's glitterdust revealed one of the invisible goblins, who Nathaniel killed with a phantasm. Ike disabled the hobgoblin boss while Lotus and Tara searched for the remaining invisible goblin. The hobgoblin tried to hide using a smokestick, but Jakob grabbed him and threatened him. Nathaniel tried to fool the hobgoblin using various illusions and enchantments, claiming Selenshe had sent the party. The deception was ineffective, so Jakob knocked the hobgoblin out and killed him painlessly. Ike tracked down the remaining invisible goblin, and the party grabbed a "wanted" poster with crude drawings of themselves from the camp.

The party headed back on the road. During the early afternoon, a tree started moving. This wooden druid spoke of recognizing the party from a vision. In this vision, there was a black sand blighting a forest, a city being cleaned out, and people chasing the party away due to Ike. She spoke a riddle: "the thirsty blight knows of life but apart. His greatest foe lies in the woods heart." She then handed the party a gift -- a Raptor Arrow -- and departed.

That night, during the third watch, Lotus noticed the sound of crickets stopped suddenly to one side of camp. She shouted out a warning as four silenced goblin spellcasters became visible. Three tried to cast Hold Person on Lotus while the fourth swarmed her with centipedes. Ike fired off his bow while Lotus blinded several casters with murderous mist. The now-blinded goblins tried to flee, but Jakob and Ike finished three of them off, and a flaming sphere from Lotus cooked the centipedes to a crisp, with some help from Nate's grease spell. Jakob grabbed the remaining goblin and dragged him back to camp, where he offered up little information except to say that a goblin druid had helped him.

In the morning, the party sent word to Mary, who warned that other groups of Kingsmen had been attacked. As the party moved along the road, with Lotus in eagle form, a pack of invisible goblin archers peppered Nathaniel with dexterity-draining poisoned arrows. Ike fired back, but not in time to keep Nathaniel ffrom being incapacitated. Lotus spotted several more and quickly returned to her normal form. Flynn took cover and began singing while Jakob swung just over one goblin's head. The archers turned on Lotus, also paralyzing her. Jakob, Tara, and Ike each brought an archer down, and Flynn wounded one with his new Raptor Arrow. The archers now turned on Ike, but he proved far more resistant to their poison. Tara, Jakob, and Ike finished off the goblins while Flynn tried to heal Nathaniel. Jakob sent word to Mary about the paralysis, and she told the party that help was on the way.

Soon, Baern, one of the champion giants of Waecleft, rode up on the back of a triceratops. With him was Aaron and three other paladins from the Order of the Narrow Way. Using potions and spells of lesser restoration, they brought Nathaniel and Lotus back to their feet. Aaron explained that the goblins had grown powerful and targeted several groups of Kingsmen in the area, and that Waecleft's king was unwilling to send out the military to deal with the goblin threat. Only Waecleft's paladins were willing to help, but they were not numerous enough to completely destroy the goblin menace. The party rested in a cave with Baern blocking the entrance.