Ro-Mahn circled around the bugbear and stabbed quickly with
his rapier. The blade found its mark and sunk deeply into the monster’s chest
dealing 10 damage. With a look of mixed rage and surprise, the bugbear slumped
to the ground.
Wahesh attacked the goblin rider. His longsword struck home
and inflicted a 11 damage. The blow vanquished the foe. The fighter turned his
short sword on the goblin dog. The blade successfully slashed the monster for 3
damage. With damage dealt, Wahesh stepped back to make room for his fellow
adventurers. With a roar and laughter, Cando dashed forward and targeted the
remaining goblin with his double-axe but missed his target with the swing.
The goblin dog stepped after Wahesh but missed with its
bite. Barnacleez activated his wand, Missy, again and plugged the goblin dog
for 4 damage with the Magic Missile. The wounded Nixa rushed from the cage,
grabbed the fallen bugbear’s falchion and moved to engage the goblin dog. The
swing of the blade connected with a satisfying crunch, sinking deeply into the
monster and dealing 10 damage which killed it.
The last goblin turned to attack Cando. The monster swung
its short sword at the half-orc but missed. Stabem stepped to the right and
flanked the goblin with Cando. The rogue lashed out with his rapier and dealt 5
damage.
Lady Emyralda moved up to Nixa and healed 8 damage from the
fighter by spontaneously casting Cure Light Wounds.
Ro-Mahn moved to engage the goblin and finished it off with
a lick from his rapier.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other than a potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, a search of the
dead goblins and bugbear does not yield anything noteworthy.
The rescued woman is Nixa Volsetti, cousin to Nolaria
Wintren of Saringallow. She was captured by Gellion at the same time as Nolaria
but was later dragged off and given over to the goblins. “The goblins dragged
me from the woods and brought me here. They questioned me about Saringallow
and its defenses. They had some sort of heinous plan to turn me against the
townsfolk. The bugbear, Mezodarath, planned to feed me something call Demon
Bile. He explained that I would be sent into town to recruit allies and infect
people. I am not sure how this would work because I would never willing serve
these monsters. They kept me in the cage for the entirety of my captivity.”
Nixa thanks you for your part in saving her. “Your entrance
was just what I needed to break that monster’s grasp. If I had my weapons, he
would not have man-handled me quite so successfully.”
“During my time here, I overheard the bugbear jabbering on about
something named Wormgnash, and he often mentioned that name when talking about
the old Sarini Estate. The bugbear seemed to be either praying to this
Wormgnash or beseeching its favor. I fear this bodes ill and that a potentially
serious danger may now lurk in or near the estate.”
A search of the rest of Highfort yields the following:
Southeastern-most structure
(Mezodarath’s Quarters) -
This wooden shack is built more soundly than the others. It contains
a large bed stained purplish-black with sludge, and a short wooden table piled
high with maps and papers.
The papers on the table include maps of Isger, particularly
of the areas around Saringallow, all of which are annotated with invasion plans.
The remaining papers on the table constitute a journal of Mezodarath’s
increasingly disjointed thoughts.
The gist of the journal:
After the Goblinblood Wars, Mezodarath’s mother retreated
into the peaks west of Saringallow, she raised her son on a steady diet of
bitterness against humans and wishes for glorious redemption for all
goblinkind. Throughout Mezodarath’s early life, the bugbears moved from
underground lair to underground lair, avoiding the human patrols that
periodically swept through the area. Mezodarath grew more deranged daily, eventually
obsessing over the obeisance his mother paid to a being she called the Mother
of Monsters, the supposed agent of the goblinoids’ second rising.
Eventually, Mezodarath became convinced that he would lead
the goblinoids’ next glorious uprising, destroying of all humans in his path.
He left his mother and emerged on the surface, moving east toward Saringallow.
Along the way, he conquered a disparate band of goblins—the scattered
descendants of a few Goblinblood Wars survivors who quickly came to see the
powerful young bugbear as a savior. Mezodarath marched the goblins further
east, where he fortuitously discovered the remains of a destroyed fort. There,
the goblinoids trained and recruited other wandering goblins for their eventual
attack on the unsuspecting residents of Sarringallow.
Just a few weeks before Mezodarath planned to attack, though,
a strange creature approached the goblin scouts that skulked outside of
Saringallow. The creature convinced the goblins to introduce him to Mezodarath.
The creature named Wormgnash offered to teach Mezodarath further in the ways of
Lamashtu. Wormgnash mixed a substance from his body with the mud and bade
Mezodarath and his goblin followers to bathe in the pool but warned them not to
eat the mixture. He claimed that the disease carried by the mixture would kill camp
in short order. The goblinoid grew strong and powerful as a result of this
command.
Before the Wormgnash left the goblins’ fort for a better
lair, he coached them on their upcoming assault on Saringallow. He described
the town and the surrounding area to the goblins, and told them to keep an eye
on the residents’ comings and goings. Wormgnash instructed the goblinoids to
attack when the townsfolk seem the weakest, cause as many casualties as
possible, and force-feed Demon’s Bile to anyone they did not outright kill.
Eastern-most structure
(Leeza’s Workshop) -
Crudely fashioned tools hang from hooks along the eastern wall.
Drawings of questionable skill cover the remaining walls, depicting humans
being crushed, dismembered, or otherwise mutilated by elaborate and impractical
traps.
You find diagrams of the trap located upon the stair, and a
variety of other death traps, many of which incorporate brown mold. The tools
on the wall are a set of Masterwork artisan tools for Craft (traps).
The
northeastern-most structure is a storehouse. It mostly contained filthy
goblin supplies. You do however find a set of pearl and silver earrings worth
50 gp.
The center-most structure (Shrine to Lamashtu)-
The exterior: In the center of the yard, a stubby
rectangular building sits upon a roughly hewn stone foundation. A crude depiction
of a three-eyed face decorates its door.
The interior: The floor of this small building is recessed
into the ground about a foot and filled with viscous purplish ooze. A crudely carved
image of a three-eyed face decorates the far wall.
You recognize this ooze as Demon’s Bile. It may be destroyed
as you have previously done.
Each of the carving’s three eyes is set with a faceted
peridot; the gems are worth 50 gp each.
The remaining
three structures are goblin bunkhouses. These foul-smelling buildings
are filled with filthy piles of rags and straw.
Upon returning to Saringallow, the you can collect any
bounties owed by providing proof of the goblins’ death, describing the scene at
Highfort, and generally explaining the situation to Mayor Sandra Trinelli. Nixa
Volsetti also provides testimony.
[This concludes the adventure Gallows of Madness: What Lurks in the Woods]
