Episode 1 (Part 5) - Goblins

The sounds of crashing and screams cut through the already quietened tavern bar. Oz leapt to her feet, running on instinct alone and grabbed her equipment. The warning of the oncoming Goblin attack came seconds too late but there was still time to work on mitigating the damage. Oz ordered everyone in the tavern to remain where they were and not to risk leaving the relative safety of the tavern and made her way to the exit. She was followed silently by Rana.

Olara turned to Zamzidar who, in the sudden change in atmosphere, had become quite distracted. Perhaps he was not used to conflict.

“I’m going to go with her to help. Are you coming?” Olara asked.
“Oh… Er, no. I have another engagement. You go on ahead though, I’m sure I’ll see you later.” Zamzidar responded with a brief smile before promptly getting up from his chair and heading up the small flight of stairs to the bedrooms.

Olara was surprised at his response. Surely any engagement Zamzidar had arranged would be interrupted by rampaging Goblins, but she was in no position to argue. Collecting her personal effects, she got up and addressed Oz.

“I want to help. Let me come with you.” Olara stated confidently. Oz saw her bow and arrow and nodded for her to follow. Oz, Rana and Olara left the tavern and headed towards the guard’s quarters.

Zamzidar had a very different mission in mind. He knew the chaos of a Goblin attack would leave the Guard’s quarters undefended and taking Rodin’s treasure that much easier. He went to his room and donned a dark cloak, climbing out of his bedroom window and down to street level so as not to arouse suspicion. Once in the alley way, he stealthily made his way down the street towards the guard’s quarters.

The guard’s quarters were roughly ten minutes down the road towards the centre of town. As they arrived, Oz saw several guards running to investigate the disturbances. She entered the courtyard and knocked on the door to the barracks bunks. After a few seconds of waiting, a world-weary dwarf named Garth opened the door. He was captain of the guard and was part way through donning his armour.

“Oz, what’s going on?” Asked Garth.
“Goblins, sir. More than usual.” Replied Oz.

Garth took a second to roll his eyes and sigh but quickly regained his stoic calm.

“I’ve sent the men to deal with whatever was going on but if it’s Goblins, we’ll need to secure the gates and stem the flow. Can you three handle the east gate?” Garth asked looking at the three people at the door.
“Yes, I’m sure we can. Though... who are you?” Replied Oz, turning to address her new companions and realising she had no clue who they were.
“I’m Rana.” Replied Rana, raising her crossbow as evidence of her combat effectiveness. Though her tattered armour did leave something to be desired.
“And I’m Olara.” Replied Olara, shrugging one shoulder to brandish her bow.

With that, the three of them left the barracks and began running back up the road towards the east gate. As they passed through the inner walls out of the town centre, they failed to see a hidden Zamzidar who was using the darkness to his advantage. He didn’t know how long he would have to complete his task, but he knew with Oz safely out of the way, things would be considerably simpler. He waited for a few more guards to slip out into the streets before making his way through the gates and into the guard’s courtyard. Once inside, he saw Rodin’s stagecoach sitting there begging to be rifled through. He found that there were two doors into the cabin. One at the rear which looked much sturdier, and one at the front where the driver would sit which appeared to be less fortified.

As he was making his way around the coach, his cloak caught a small stack of buckets knocking one over with a clatter. He winced and held himself against the wall, fearing he had alerted the guards. When none came, he breathed a sigh of relief and clambered onto the seat and began to pick the lock to the coach’s cabin.

As Oz, Olara and Rana were approaching the east gate, they saw four Goblins harassing innocent bystanders in the street. The bystanders appeared to be carrying a small collection of boxes, which the Goblins were attempting to seize. Oz ran over to engage them directly, raising her shield and rapier. The Goblins saw Oz approach and abandoned their quarry, allowing the townsfolk to make their escape. The Goblins quickly surrounded Oz and attempted to strike. Oz was a battled hardened war veteran and could easily handle one or two foes at a time, but four fast moving opponents were pushing the limits of her abilities. She deftly managed to use her shield to defend some strikes but could not find an opening to counterattack. Two Goblins managed to land strikes, dealing some damage.

With Oz keeping the Goblins’ attention centred on her, Rana saw the opportunity to leap onto the outer walls she had previously bounded over with ease earlier that night. She removed a crossbow bolt from her quiver and applied some of the natural poisonous oils from her skin onto the tip. She loaded the crossbow, raised it, and shot at one of the Goblins. The bolt flew true and struck one square in the chest. At first, the Goblin seemed to weather the attack, but it soon doubled over in pain as it gave in to the poison which was now coursing through its veins. It collapsed onto the ground, unmoving and deceased.

Olara drew her bow and loaded an arrow. She fired a shot at the Goblins, catching one in the shoulder, causing it damage but it remained standing. Enraged, the Goblin ran towards Olara in retaliation, raising its rusted sword high above its head. This momentary lapse in judgement gave Oz a momentary opportunity to strike back. She plunged her rapier deep into the Goblin’s side. The Goblin took a few steps in Olara’s direction before collapsing, dead.

With the tide of battle quickly turning in the group’s favour, Oz turned back to the remaining two Goblins. Using her shield as a diversion, she knocked one of the Goblins off their balance and jabbed cleanly with her rapier, killing another enemy. The final Goblin was now alone, and fear crept across its face. It froze and could not attack out of fear.

“Why have you come here?” Asked Oz commandingly, using the moment of tension to her full advantage.
“We was chased.” Responded the Goblin.

This surprised Oz. Her mind raced with thoughts of what could have chased so many Goblins out of the forest, and whether that thing also be descending on the town. Before she could ask another question Olara fired an arrow, not hearing this conversation and believing the Goblin remained a threat. The arrow struck the Goblin in the neck, and it collapsed gurgling onto the ground. The street fell silent, but the group could still hear combat raging across the town.

Zamzidar quietly picked the lock into the stagecoach cabin and began searching for whatever treasures might be in there. At first, his search was only surface level. He quickly scanned the shelves but found nothing that stood out to him except a coin purse which contained a small amount of currency. He pocketed the purse and began to search in greater detail. Despite his best efforts, he could not find the item he was after. He began to worry that he would be discovered but decided to take one last look around. He believed there couldn’t be that many more places to search inside this small cabin. Eventually, he discovered a small, hidden spot in the floor of the cabin, which was covered by a small burlap sack and there it was. Zamzidar discovered a beautifully crafted purpleheart box. There appeared to be no seam where a hinged lid might be, and there were a series of arcane runes carved into its top. He shook it to see if there was anything inside and heard the dull knocking of something heavy in there. He was certain this was the item he was searching for.

Oz began sprinting towards the east gate, worried for a greater foe to appear from the treeline. She could still see Goblins flooding from the forest, but they didn’t seem interested in attacking the town. They were dispersing into the local countryside. Two nearby guards had just finished dispatching a group of Goblins and ran over for orders. Oz instructed one of the guards to climb into one of the watchtowers just outside the walls and to keep an eye on the trees. She sent the other to the guard’s quarters to give a report.

Zamzidar popped his head out of the coach door and noticed the courtyard was empty. Taking his chance to escape undetected, he quickly dropped down from the coach and made his way out into the street, neglecting to close the stagecoach door behind him. He determined the best place to investigate his new acquisition was in his private room at the Foragers. He made his way there stealthily. On his way, he noticed a guard sprinting down the street towards the guard’s quarters. He wondered if he would notice the stagecoach had been infiltrated. With a sly smile, he continued down towards the inn and to safety.

Having secured the eastern section of town and having either killed or chased out the remaining Goblins, Oz, Olara and Rana went back to the guard’s quarters to debrief the evening’s events with Garth. They met in the officer’s quarters, which was a medium sized room with a small seating area, a place for preparing drinks, and a large table which currently had a rudimentary map of the area spread across it. New markings had been made on the map over the course of the evening as they discussed where the Goblins may have gone.

“I’ve never seen the Goblins behave like that.” Mused Garth as he pondered the map.
“Does that mean they’re normally a problem?” Asked Olara.
“Yes, but they’re no more than pests normally. They come and poach livestock from the farms. Annoying but we manage it quite well.” Replied Garth.
“One of them said they were chased out.” Oz mentioned.
“Chased, eh? Well, if there’s something dangerous going on in the Peaks, someone needs to go up there and investigate. The frustrating thing is, I can’t order anyone to go up there as I’d be going against the treaty.” Said Garth.
“What treaty?” Asked Olara.
“The governments of the Portisian Republic, Qey Empire and Ulvarad agreed to make the Peaks of Solem off limits. If any member of the military from those nations are discovered trespassing, the other two ally in opposition to the offending nation. Since they signed the treaty, the Goblins have taken over the tunnels in the mountains.” Explained Garth.
“So, what you’re saying is you can’t order anyone to investigate but it needs investigating?” Asked Oz. Garth gave a knowing nod of confirmation.

Before any further discussions could be made, there was a loud knock at the barracks door. The group could hear the muffled sounds of an argument before a guard announced the arrival of Emmett. Walking in behind Emmett was an irate Rodin.

“Where’s my box!?” Demanded Rodin before Emmett could say anything.
“What?” Responded Oz.
“My box has been stolen. I was told it would be looked after. You need to find it.” Insisted Rodin.