I do not own Dungeons & Dragons. I love the game and love to write my own content for it, but being someone who actually shapes the game is a distant dream from me.
D&D Guild: Lost Mine of Phendelver
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 1: Goblin Arrows
The adventuring party of four moved through the trees as they followed the trail of the goblins which had ambushed them. They left their cargo of supplies and their goblin prisoner behind near the ambush site. They knew one of the ones who hired their characters to undertake the job was in the questionable hospitality of the goblins.
Dorn took the lead, being the one whose favored terrain was the forest, allowing him advantages in the forest. He also had the highest passive Perception of the group, at 15. It did allow him to determine the number of goblins to an extent. He could guess there weren't a large army, but it wasn't a band of four or five either.
Kathra took the second position in their line going up the trail. She was the second line of defence and a frontline fighter. The only reason Dorn was in the lead was because he had the skills of survival in the forests. Her swords were drawn and her eyes were looking out for a threat. After the sudden appearance of the first goblins, she didn't want to risk being caught by surprise again.
Medea took the third position, being the glass cannon of the group as the resident Wizard-class. She was protected on both ends by Rael and Kathra. It offered her the protection and clarity of mind to keep another eye on their surroundings. With any luck, if another fight happened then she would get some cover and blast some of the enemies away before they could get close enough to make it a fight.
Rael took up the rear. As the tank of the group, being a Paladin, he was able to take more hits than any of the others. If they did get jumped from behind, Rael would be able to take the attack before retaliating with a stronger attack. Also, he would be able to make a good shield for Medea who was again the glass cannon of the group.
Dorn kept his eyes out for traps and other things. He knew from old games that goblins liked to be tricky and leave traps. He'd burned his friends and gotten burned by them during several traps. It was funny when it happened on paper, but he didn't think it would be as funny if it happened in real life…and he had dreamed up some very nasty goblin traps in the past. It was an image he didn't want to think about but couldn't help it.
His thoughts almost distracted him, but he still managed to see something hidden by some grass and hidden in the branches of the trees, "Stop."
"What? What is it?" asked Kathra, peeing around Dorn's form.
"A trap," Dorn replied. Stepping forward, he kneeled to the ground before he pulled away the grass before he revealed a snare trap. It was crude, but the grass did its work and hid it from sight. Only Dorn's high Perception allowed him to see the ropes leading to a bent sapling tree.
"Little rat didn't even warn us about that," Medea frowned.
"And he may not have warned us about more," Dorn frowned. Taking one of his swords, he cut the tether to the trap and let it fling around harmlessly. "Keep your eyes out. We don't need to be ambushed again so soon."
Mutterings of agreement came from the others as they kept going onward. They travelled for another 10 minutes, looking for any kind of possible trap or ambush. Despite the travels and their own insecurities, being teenagers in the bodies of adults, they kept their courage up. Perhaps knowing that they had the skills and abilities to fight back and even thrive in the battles ahead helped keep them from freaking out.
Skills which came in handy again as Dorn held up his arm to stop the group. Kathra groaned, "Again?"
"Again," Dorn nodded, seeing a perfect carpet of leaves and twigs. His background with forests allowed him to immediately see that the collection of twigs and leaves was not natural. Looking around, he found a somewhat heavy rock and tossed it into the small clearing in the path. Once it hit, the ground sank with a crash, revealing a pit trap. Fortunately, it was just a pit and no spikes.
"Son of a bitch," Rael blinked.
"Yeah," Medea grimaced. "Isn't this supposed to be a first-tier adventure?"
"I picked it for that," Dorn admitted. "But I guess living it is a bit different from the paper and pencil we're all used to."
The four continued onward and came out of the path, coming to trees in front of a wall of rock with a stream coming out of a cavern. Coming out of the trail, the four members of the party stopped as a pair of white d10 dice appeared in the air, rolling to a stop in front of Dorn's feet. One had a single digit while the other had double digits in multiples of 10. All four members of the party blinked as the dice came to read 20 and 5. The dice then flashed, dissolving into white lights which spread around the four party members.
"Um…okay," Kathra blinked, looking down at herself as the light vanished against her body. "XP?"
"A bonus for missing those traps I guess," Rael shrugged.
"Pleasant, but now we're at the mouth of the goblin base here," Medea pointed to where the opening of the cavern opened several feet away. "And unless this is an adventure for extreme rookies, I think there is going to be some guards somewhere."
"No bet," Dorn shook his head. "Alright, which of us have the best Stealth?"
"+2" Medea answered, recalling her scores perfectly.
"+2, and I'm wearing chain mail. It gives me disadvantage on stealth," Rael replied.
"I've got +3 for it," Kathra answered. "You?"
"+3," Dorn noded. "Okay, Kathra, you and I do some sneaking and see if we don't spot patrols or guards."
Kathra nodded and the dwarf and human pair began heading towards the opening of the cave, stepping lightly as they approached. They stopped at the mouth of the cave, peering inside. Kathra had darkvision, the ability to see in the dark, so she could see deeper into the cave than Dorn could.
Kathra gave a thumbs up, indicating that she didn't see any kind of threats. Dorn nodded back, glancing around, he saw a trail leading into a small clearing hidden by trees and thickets. The Ranger quickly gestured in that direction and Kathra nodded as they slowly began to cross the shallow stream.
As they tried to keep quiet as they passed through the water, the pair's d20s appeared, landing softly in the grass. Dorn's landed on a 7 turned 10 which had him glide through the stream. Kathra's came to a 4 turned 7. Dorn's dice flashed, but Kathra's darkened.
As her dice vanished, Kathra stumbled on a slippery rock, biting her lips to keep from cursing out loud. Dorn sighed, looking to his dwarven friend who had red cheeks from both embarrassment and frustration.
"Hey, whazzat?" a goblin-like voice grunted.
"Shit!" Dorn hissed.
"Intruders! Get 'em!" another voice shouted.
"Initiative! Initiative!" Kathra grit her teeth as she drew her swords.
Their d20's appeared and rolled to show their turns in the battle. At the same time, Medea and Rael both noticed their own dice appearing, tensing as they realized that they were now into a fight. A red d20 likewise appeared for the unseen goblins.
Dorn felt the rush of adrenaline signalling that he was able to move first. Unsure of what to do but forge ahead, he moved the remaining way across the stream and around the small line of trees and thickets. On the other side was a clearing, offering a view which guards could use for intruders. In the middle of it all were a pair of goblins scrambling to pick up their gear, apparently having been lazing about before being roused by Kathra's splashing.
"Dammit," Dorn frowned, but he quickly drew an arrow and took aim at the closer of the goblins. Pulling the arrow back, he let it fly at the goblin as his attack dice flew. Clattering to the ground, it revealed a 19 turned 24. A flash of green announced the arrow striking the first goblin in the chest, making it screech in pain. A d6 rolled as the arrow struck, landing on a 5 which turned to an 8.
The goblin's screech turned into a gurgle as it fell back. It's body flashed green an exploded into motes of light, leaving only one goblin left.
The second goblin suddenly lost some of its swagger. It fumbled with its shortbow before notching an arrow and firing it off at Dorn. It's red d20 rolled to reveal and 8 which became a 12. Dorn's eyes trailed the arrow as it began to fly and he ducked under the arrow, letting it hit the rock wall of the rock formation behind him.
"Better luck next time!" Dorn hissed.
Medea felt her turn come around and she dashed for the thicket, aiming to cut through the forest and get at the goblin from behind. Crossing the river, she came into the thickets, but feeling her movement become hindered by the brambles and hidden underbrush.
"Difficult Terrain sucks," Medea grimaced. She chided herself for not thinking of it, but the adrenaline and the surge of battle got to her.
Difficult Terrain was a mechanic which reduced the movement of characters in the games. Terrain like rubble, ice, deep swamps, or dense thickets all qualified. In terms of gameplay, it cost characters double their movement to move the same space. So for every 1 foot of movement Medea gained through the thicket, it cost her 2 feet of her actual movement.
Still, she soldiered through, her skirt catching on the branches as her shins were almost wrapped up by the branches. She huffed and cursed mentally as she managed to reach the far side of the thicket, but the remaining branches proved too much and her legs began to feel like lead, indicating she could not move any further. Grimacing, she looked up and found a clear view of the goblin which had frantically tried to shoot Dorn.
Lifting up her hand, causing her crystal to glow, she unleashed her spell with a cry, "Ray of Frost!"
Her ice rolled as the beam fired. Sadly, the dice came down to a 1. The goblin heard Medea crashing through the thicket and it ducked with a yelp. The beam of arcane cold missed the goblin, fizzling out into nothing but a few snowflakes in the air.
"Damn!" Medea grit her teeth, even as a sense of lady-like conduct made her regret saying it at the same time.
Kathra grunted and she ran to follow Dorn and managed to catch up with him to see the beam of cold power vanish. Huffing, she saw the last goblin fumbling for another arrow, looking back and forth, trying to find an avenue of escape.
"Oh no you don't!" Kathra sheathed her swords and pulled out her longbow and notched an arrow of her own. A quick moment to aim and she fired off at the goblin. Her dice flew with the arrow, landing on an 11 turned 16. The blue dice flashed and the arrow struck the goblin with a cry of pain. Another d6 rolled as the arrow hit, rolled to a 2 turned 5. The goblin stumbled back with a cry of pain, red light glowing from the wound.
Rael finally got his turn and he began running to follow Medea, crashing through the thicket as he tried to keep up with his lady Wizard friend. Coming to a stop next to her, he saw the goblin reeling in pain from the arrow it took to the torso. Quickly, he drew his own bow and notched one arrow of his own. Raising the weapon, hearing the wood of the bow groan slightly, he aimed at the writhing goblin and fired.
A d20 flew, landing just outside of the thicket, coming up to a 1 which had the arrow completely miss as the goblin stumbled out of the way as it struggled to get the arrow out of its body.
"Oh come on!" Rael groaned.
Dorn frowned and drew another arrow. Notching it, he aimed at the goblin before he fired it, launching his dice once again. The dice landed as the arrow flew, coming to a stop on a 12 turned 17, letting the arrow strike the goblin. It let off a screech before vanishing in a blast of many colors which separated to each character.
"So much for stealth," Kathra grumbled. "My bad."
"Bad dice rolls," Dorn shrugged. He gazed over to the edge of the thicket, "Is that you guys?"
"It's us," Rael announced as he and Medea came out of the thicket. "For all the good I did."
"It happens," Dorn shrugged.
"Right," Medea nodded. "Okay, let's get this done and save Sildar."
The party approached the mouth of the cave and peered inside. Dorn could only see a few feet ahead. The others could see the insides of the cave easily thanks to their darkvision abilities. A fact that Dorn was cursing over as he had to let his friends take the lead.
"Next time don't be so generic," Kathra snickered, leading Dorn by the hand as they entered the cave.
"I wasn't even supposed to be using this character!" Dorn grumbled. "I was the DM!"
"Shh!" Rael shushed the two, he in the lead with Medea behind him.
As they passed the final bits of light at the mouth of the cave, Rael noticed a set of uneven stone steps leading up to a small chamber on the east side of the stream. It didn't take long for the stench of animals and the sounds of savage snarls and yips to fill the air.
"What's that?" asked Dorn.
"Three very pissed off wolves," Rael frowned as he eyed the three animals that Dorn could not see.
The wolves were obviously not very well-thought of. All three animals looked very savage and were almost frothing at the mouth as they continued to snarl and bark at the four adventurers. Obviously, the goblins were using them were training them as guard dogs and it made the animals more savage than they normally were.
"They're going to give us away!" Kathra snapped over the sounds the animals were making.
"I can calm them down," Dorn offered. "I've got a +5 in Animal Handling!"
"But you can't even see!" Rael retorted. If they had to spark a torch to calm the animals down, it would just give them away through a different means.
"Then light a torch and keep it shielded so the light doesn't get too far away," Dorn retorted. "Sound goes farther than light!"
Rael looked to the growling animals, whose hackles were rising as they spoke, and realised Dorn was right. Quickly reaching into his pack, he used some provided flint and lit up the torch, letting light spill into the area, letting Dorn see the room they were in.
The human Ranger immediately saw the three mangy and barking wolves. His heart immediately went out to them. He hated seeing animals mistreated and it was plain to see that the wolves were being mistreated in some of the worst ways.
"Okay boys, okay," Dorn spoke softly as he approached the snarling wolves. He quickly retrieved from his pack some of his rations, one for each wolf. Unwrapping them, he passed each portion to the wolves, "Here. Calm down boys. We're not going to hurt you."
His calm words and the passing of food had the wolves start snapping up the rations, obviously hungry. As they ate, Dorn drew closer in a calming manner, soothing and relaxed to help the wolves calm down. In the process, his dice appeared and clattered to the stone floor. The dice landed on a 10 turned 15 before vanishing in a small pop of green.
The wolves seemed to calm down, allowing Dorn to approach and begin petting them. They chewed contentedly on the rations, happy for the sustenance. Dorn smiled, petting the coarse fur, but he wasn't pleased to see that the three wolves were obviously suffering mistreatment. Looking around, he saw that the wolves were chained to a spike driven into the floor. It was likely the only reason that they weren't attacked.
"We're getting you out of here too," Dorn muttered. Gripping the spike, he gave a grunt before he pulled the spike up from the ground.
"Dorn!" Medea gasped. "You-!"
The wolves immediately noticed they were free and bolted, chains dangling as they ran. They didn't move to attack the party but ran past them. They turned towards the mouth of the cave and vanished into the darkness before racing out of the mouth of the cave.
"There. One hazard down," Dorn grinned, dusting his hands off.
"That…could have backfired in so many ways," Rael sighed as the torch was doused, covering everything in darkness.
"Yeah. But it didn't. So we can move on," Dorn shrugged.
Rael and Kathra shook their heads, but they didn't disagree. Medea took Dorn's hand and they took to the rocky path next to the stream again. The party soon came to a bend which turned deeper in the caverns, but stopped when Rael abruptly did the same and pressed himself to the wall.
"What?" asked Kathra, almost bumping into the elf's back.
"A bridge is up ahead. If we didn't have darkvision we wouldn't see it," Rael answered. "Hold on. Let me try to see if there's a guard."
Dorn peeked his head out from the turn and peered at the bridge, trying to spot movement. To help him, he quietly asked for a Perception Check. His dice reacted and a d20 appeared, clattering to the ground. Oddly, an enemy d20 rolled next to it although Rael didn't notice this. The enemy dice totaled a 14, but Rael's landed on a natural 20, meaning an automatic success.
Rael noticed movement just coming from where his vision was obscured by some of the natural terrain. A goblin stepped out onto the bridge, looking rather surly about his duties or some other thing goblins took offense over. Occasionally it would glance on either side, meaning it was a lookout.
"Great," Rael frowned, drawing back. "There's a guard on the bridge. We keep going, he'll see us for sure."
"So which way do we go?" asked Medea.
"That way," Kathra replied, pointing to the west where a steep incline headed up to the higher level. "We can climb up that and keep going."
"Hello? I'm still blind in here," Dorn hissed. "Can't someone just snipe the guard and we can keep going?"
"All we'd have is one shot and if we blew it, we'd get swarmed," Rael retorted. "But you aside, Kathra, do you think you could hit him?"
"Hm," Kathra rubbed her chin. Range wasn't the problem since she was sure of that much. She had a +5 to longbow attacks and they did 1d8+3 damage when they struck. With a lucky roll, one shot could wipe out a goblin. The problem was the dice roll itself. Goblins had enough hit points if her roll was too low, it would survive and still be able to call the alarm. Added to that, the railings on the bridge, primitive as it was, could actually qualify as cover, adding to the goblin's AC.
"I wanna say yes, but I see some things which might make it more likely I'd miss," Kathra frowned, not liking to admit it. "If we want to keep going in stealth, I say we take the climb."
"Ditto," Medea agreed. "Remember, Sildar's here and we need to save him. Getting all the goblins riled up might just get him killed if they haven't already."
"Right," Rael nodded, a little disappointed they couldn't just go in guns blazing. Unlike the paper and pencil version where they could do some tomfoolery for the hell of it, this time there would be real consequences if they fooled around too much.
They group took care to carefully cross the river before they reached the other side. Kathra noticed as she touched the incline that it had a lot of loose rubble in it. Anything too heavy would have whoever was below them get peppered with the rubble.
With that in mind, the group took turns climbing up. Rael went first, since he was the tank of the group and could take any instant attacks at the top. Stones clattered down, but the echoes from the water helped muffle it as he got to the top. Kathra followed, easily scrambled her way up. Medea was third, although she was wary of trying since she was wearing a skirt despite the darkness. Dorn had some difficulty when his turn came, but he felt his way around and without rubble pelting him, he also got to the top, although he was sure it was a close thing.
"About time," Kathra yawned. "I could have taken a nap from how slow you were going."
"Next time we're in a forest, revenge will be mine," Dorn grunted, flipping Kathra the bird.
"Enough," Medea frowned. "We don't have time for this. I see some light in the distance."
The party collected themselves and moved down the passage. It stopped at a t-shaped intersection with a path going left and one to the right. The path on the left ha the light and a faint smell of smoke in the air. Following it, they came to an open cavern which was bright with firelight made by a campfire cooking meat.
The cavern itself was split in two by a ten-foot high escarpment, likely a living space for the goblins. They could tell it was a living space since filthy mats were randomly spaced on the ground and five goblins were sitting around the fire, waiting for their meal to be done.
"Great. So now what?" asked Kathra, fingering her swords.
"A little too numerous for my liking as a Level 1 player," Rael frowned.
"Let me make a snipe. One shot, hopefully one kill to even the numbers," Dorn offered. "We'll get them by surprise and maybe get a chance to bring down a few more of them before they can really fight back."
"I like that plan!" Medea nodded.
"Then let's get to it," Dorn grinned, drawing an arrow. Coming to the mouth of the cave, he eyed the five goblins and picked his target. Drawing it back, he looked to his friends who had their own weapons out, "Ready?"
"Ready," they nodded.
"Here goes nothing," Dorn frowned before he fired his shot. As he did so, his d20 rolled for his attack. The dice came to the ground, rolling to a 6 which turned to an 11. A miss.
The arrow flew, but the goblin it was aimed for leaned over to grab something and it flew by, clattering against the far wall. The goblins all yelped and began shouting, turning to see the group at the entryway into the room. They began shouting and pulling out their weapons, looking ready for a fight.
"Shit. Initiative!" Dorn cursed his luck as he let the battle sequence begin.
Medea was able to go first. Pooling her magic, she conjured up another spell. Knowing she might be at risk if she blew it, stopping when she was 15 feet away, she knew she at least had to try with so many of the goblins collected around the fire. Both hands raise, she invoked her spell, "Burning Hands!"
Light came up from her fingertips before a blaze ignited from them, stretching in a 15 foot cone and spreading over the 5 goblins in a flash. The five goblins yelped and dove to try and get out of the way. A red d20 rolled from each of them, rolling for a Dexterity Saving Throw. A dice check to avoid the worst effects of a trap or spell.
Three of the goblins shrieked as they were caught in the flames. Their sounds were drowned out before they vanished in blasts of purple lights. The remaining two goblins managed to duck, but they were still badly burned, although they were still breathing.
Kathra and Rael both saw their chances and charged for the remaining goblins. Their weapons raised, they came upon the remaining two goblins. Rael gripped his longsword in both hands before he swung down hard at one of the charred goblins. His dice rolled up a 15 turned 20, cutting the goblin in twain in a flash of yellow and purple.
Kathra used both her swords in a flourish of metal. However, the goblin was still in control of himself and managed to dodge the blows through his pained stumblings. Kathra grit her teeth in frustration from the misses.
Dorn quickly pulled up the rear, stepping out slightly and slightly to the side for a better view before he drew another arrow and fired at the wounded goblin. The arrow slipped by Kathra and impacted against the goblin's torso, eliciting a gurgle. It fell over before vanishing in a flash of green and purple.
"Enough!" a shrill voice shouted, making the party halt and turn. On top of the escarpment was another goblin. This one was perhaps slightly bigger than the others, but what gave the party a sense of horror was the human laying at the goblin's feet with a sword at his throat. The gray-haired form of Sildar Hallwinter.
"Sildar!" Rael called out, the man weakly shuffling in the goblin's grip.
"Truce, or I kill this human!" the goblin shouted, shaking Sildar's head.
"You kill the human, then we kill you!" Kathra snapped, her teeth clenched as she looked up at the goblin.
"But human still dies," the goblin smirked back. "I'll give him back though. If you do a job for me."
"What job?" Medea frowned, smoke still coming from her fingertips.
"The Cragmaw Tribe is run by a bugbear named Klarg," the goblin answered. "A goblin should run the Cragmaw Tribe! You kill Klarg for me, I'll give the human back to you if you promise to leave after!"
"And let you go on raiding?" asked Rael, holing his sword.
"Ha! Of course! Goblins are best raiders!" the goblin laughed.
As the goblin crowed and Rael kept him talking. Dorn slowly hugged the wall as he drew closer to the meeting. When the goblin started talking, the restrictions to combat ended, at least for the moment. Seeing an opportunity, he moved to snipe the goblin. He drew an arrow and carefully notched it. The goblin didn't seem to notice him, or even yelled about him coming out from hiding. Perhaps he thought the last arrow had come from one of the others or didn't notice it at all.
Unbeknownst to him, as he snuck closer to the edge and preparing to fire, Dorn's d20 rolled once again. It rolled to a stop, coming up to a 14. The dice glowed and vanished, leaving Dorn to move without drawing the attention of the goblin threatening Sildar.
Nocking the arrow, Dorn controlled his breathing and prepared for his shot. The goblin seemed to be winding down, demanding the party go and kill whoever Klarg was or else he'd kill Sildar. The arrow fully notched, Dorn spun around, coming into open view and aimed at the goblin up above and fired. His dice rolled to a 15, just enough for the arrow to sink straight into the arrow's chest. His d8 appeared to roll an 8 turned 11.
"GAAAAHHHH!" the goblin cried, stumbling around, dropping Sildar. Dorn felt the heavy restrictions of the combat come back around. The goblin shrieked, grabbing the arrow which was sticking out of his chest, forgetting to deal with the attacker. The surprise of the attack kept the goblin from retaliating against Sildar for the assault.
"Medea!" Rael shouted to the party's wizard.
"Ray of Frost!" Medea called out, pointing her palm at the goblin, firing a beam of cold magic. The dice rolled, but rolled to a 4 turned 10, letting the magic fly wide. Medea wanted to groan at the sight of the attack failing at such a crucial moment.
Rael huffed and charged for the natural stairs leading up to Sildar and the goblin. He charged to the top, coming upon the shrieking goblin and swung hard at the goblin's neck. A roll of 9 turned 14 again missed, the goblin ducking underneath the swipe.
What the goblin didn't see was Kathra coming up from behind the wood elf. Rael turned aside and Kathra followed up with slashes from her shortswords. The first sword cut the goblin across the chest in a flash of red. The goblin screamed and vanished in a swarm of lights representing each party member that struck it.
The party members each looked around for more goblins, but they were all alone save for Sildar. The lights given off by the goblins' deaths swirled around them, adding more XP to their scores. It went ignored as the group move to secure Sildar.
"Are you alright?" asked Rael,s heathing his sword.
"As well as could be," Sildar groaned. It looked like he wasn't very well off at all. Rael offered a hand, which the older man accepted and was pulled to his feet. "By the gods it's good to see all of you. How in the world did you get here?"
"The goblins tried to ambush us when we found your horses in the middle of the road," Kathra explained. "We took one prisoner and it squealed about where you were. They said they took Gundren somewhere else but we had to come and save you too."
"Personally, I'm glad you did," Sildar nodded, rubbing some bumps on his head. The goblins had taken to beating him when they got bored, enjoying his cries of pain. "And they did move Gundren. They took his map and Gundren himself under the command of the Black Spider. I don't know where this other base of theirs is."
"Don't worry. We do," Dorn reassured him. "Now we should get you out of here."
"No, not yet," Sildar shook his head. "The Black Spider is a real threat and with an extensive network. The Cragmaw are just a part of it. We need to find more information if we can. Plus, we have a duty to the realm to eliminate such thugs where we find them."
"Aye," Rael nodded.
"No arguments here," Dorn nodded.
"Are you going to be okay Sildar?" asked Medea, seeing the man was beaten.
"Once I get my hands on a weapon," Silder nodded. Looking around, he found the belongings of the goblin left behind from his body disappearing. Oddly, he didn't ask what magic or ability made the goblin vanish in death. Instead, he picked up the goblin's scimitar.
"Better," Sildar nodded before he looked to the party, "Shall we then?"
"Let's," Rael nodded, earning grins from his friends.
Dorn only took a moment to retrieve the leather pouch. To his pleasant and somewhat morbid surprise, the pouch had within it 15 silver pieces and three gold teeth. He happily told his friends, who were quick to divide it between them, even as Sildar watched with bemusement. He'd seen many adventurers do the same in his life.
All the members got a share of the 15 silver, although it left 3 up in the air along with who would get a gold tooth. Kathra was quick to just roll a d4. Each member would be assigned a number and whoever's number came up wouldn't get a gold tooth, but they would get the extra silver. Dorn found his d4 and let it roll, showing Kathra's number 1.
"I must say, your means of dividing spoils is much fairer than some groups I've seen," Sildar commented as the spoils were divvied up.
"Well, it's a method we devised as fair after some trial and error," Medea nodded, tucking her money pouch away. "Now, let's get a move on, shall we?"
Loot secured, the group moved to the edge of the room and back into the darkened tunnel. Sildar and Dorn took the back, trusting in their friends' darkvision to see them through the black tunnels. They passed the passage leading down below. They instead headed onward, heading for what Rael and Kathra in the lead assumed to be the bridge they saw from below.
Their movement slowed down as they reached the mouth of the tunnel, finding the bridge they saw from below as expected. On it near the far end was a goblin looking out to the entrance of the cave. The goblin looked incredibly bored, obviously not paying too much attention to anything else.
Rael frowned slightly, but leaned against the wall, not daring to move too much and risk his armor giving him away. He looked back t his friends and motion for Kathra to step forward. Taking his bow from his shoulder, he gestured to the bored goblin as he drew an arrow. Fortunately, Kathra got the message and got her own bow and arrow ready.
As the two moved, Rael tried his hardest to keep his armor from making noise, chainmail giving disadvantage to Stealth checks. Dice appeared at their feet, rolling totals which the lowest was 9. As they vanished, Rael's chain mail rustled slightly, but the two of them were able to keep out of the goblin's attention span.
Pulling back on their bows, both took aim at the goblin. The plan being that if one of them missed, the other might be able to bring the goblin down and keep him from warning any more of his comrades. Taking careful aim, they fired off their arrows as their dice rolled their fates.
The arrows flew, but the dice read totals of 19 and 13. One of the arrows had missed. It flew by the goblin's head, making him blink and turn to see the source. His eyes widened before another arrow struck him in the side, making his shriek in pain. However, it was not enough to end him, dealing only 4 damage. Yelling in pain, he turned and began running for the other end of the bridge, limping as he went, "Intruders! Intruders!"
"Shit!" Kathra hissed. "So much for the subtle way!"
"Right. Let's go. Get a torch ready so everyone can see," Rael nodded. "Let's move!"
The group pulled their weapons as a torch sparked to life, any pretense at stealth now impossible. They dashed across the bridge, running for the entrance to the next chamber as the yells of the wounded goblin could be heard just above the sound of the rushing water.
Sildar took the torch, allowing the other members of the party to see and wield their weapons at the same time. They passed through a short tunnel and came into the next cavern. Although the cavern itself was 35 feet at its widest, more than half of it was taken up by two dammed pools of water made with fieldstone. On the west side of the room was a passage leading someplace out and three goblins were shouting, pulling out their weapons.
"Fuck. Initiative!" Kathra hissed, causing the dice of the four adventurers to appear with more dice from the goblins and Sildar to join them. Dorn and Medea quickly got behind a pair of stalagmites while Rael took the lead between them with Kathra behind them. Sildar took the back, torch and scimitar in hand.
"I'll hold back unless they get closer," Sildar admitted, somehow not seeing the dice but joined the count just the same.
"I'll cover you. Get them!" Medea shouted to Rael. Since they both got the same score for initiative, they had to decide which of them had to go first.
"Right!" Rael nodded. Gripping his longsword, he charged across the space between himself and the goblins, coming up to the first goblin readying a sword to fight with. Reaching it, he reared back with his weapon and swung hard, letting the dice roll. 18 turned 23 was more than enough as the blade came down on the goblin. Using two hands on the weapon made the d10 roll for the damage. 5 turned 8 had the goblin be nearly split in two, flashing red inside before vanishing in a burst of lights.
Medea saw her chance as she stuck her head out from behind her cover. Lifting her arm, she took aim at the goblin next to Rael, "Ray of Frost!"
Her spell attack rolled and totaled 18, sending the beam of cold energy into the goblin's face, making it screech as the painful coating of frost covered it. It was a grazing blow sadly, dealing only 2 damage to the attacking goblin.
"Can't wait to level up," Medea grimaced. Cantrips were not especially good at dealing great amount of damage.
"My turn!" Kathra roared, running into the fray while she raised her swords. Coming up to the frostbitten goblin, she slashed with both of her weapons. The blade sunk in on a roll of 21, dealing 9 damage. A flash of red neatly beheaded the goblin before the body vanished like its comrade.
As the motes of light from the first goblin spread away, the redheaded dwarf turned her attention to the last goblin. Gripping her second sword, she swung hard at the goblin, aiming for his throat. Her dice rolled again, showing a total of 21 once again, dealing damage of 8 which beheaded the second goblin in a flash of light which banished the corpse.
Dorn got up from behind his own cover as the lights moved towards the group, giving them the added XP. As the lights moved, some went to Sildar. XP was always divided equally among the party members, even if some of them were NPCs. It actually helped the division of XP become even, even if only each member got 30 of the 150 XP the three goblins were worth together.
"We need to move. That wounded goblin wasn't here. He probably went to warn more of them!" He announced.
"Goblins are always quick to run when the odds are against them. HE either is looking for help or warning his fellows to run away. We need to move before more of them escape!" Sildar agreed.
"Let's go then!" Kathra called, running for the entrance to the next room.
The group collected and ran up the set of stone stairs into the next chamber. The room itself was very different from the others. Sacks and crates of loot were piled p against the south end of the cave. The west of the room opened into a narrow passage which descended into the darkness. There was another opening from natural stone steps with a burning firepit in the middle of the room.
That was secondary though. Instead, there was at first no one in the room as Kathra and Rael took the lead with Dorn and Medea taking up the rear, their respective weapons at the ready. It was obvious to the four experienced D&D players that they were likely walking into a trap. Stepping into the room, they looked around for anything that might end up being a trap or ambush.
The four gave a moment to breathe as they gazed at everything around them. As they stepped inside, a red d20 landed nearby, showing a 10 which turned to a 16.
"YAAAAHHH!"
The four adventurers flinched as from behind the crates popped up three goblins with their bows nocked with arrows. All three took aim at the party before letting their arrows fly. Rael managed to deflect one of them with his sword, but the other sank into his shoulder, dealing 6 damage in a flash of red. The third arrow simply missed, clattering against the cavern wall.
"Why the paladin?" Rael groaned, yanking the arrow out of his body with a flash of red.
As the adventurers tried to recover from their shock, there was a snarl before from out of hiding came a humanoid covered in orange hair covering its body with a goblin-like face. It was wearing hide armor and even had a shield while it was holding a Morningstar in its hand.
"Oh shit!" Dorn grimaced at the sight. "Bugbear!"
"Your bones will be used to build Klarg's throne!" the bugbear roared, lunging for the nearest combatant, which was Kathra. Hefting up his weapon, he swung down hard at the surprised goblin. Kathra yelped and ducked to the side, letting the weapon smash into the ground with a reverberating klang.
"Grr! Ripper! Sic'em!" the bugbear roared.
A snarl came from where the bugbear had come from and a rather mean-looking wolf swooped out, running for Kathra with its fangs barred. Coming upon the dwarf of the party, it lunged for an attack, making two d20 dice appeared. A wolf had a Pack Tactics ability which gave it advantage on attack rolls if it had an ally within 5 feet. The dice showed a 15 and 19, the latter which became a 23.
The wolf's lunge was true as it bit into Kathra's arm, trying to knock her over. The wolf's bite was deep, dealing 8 damage to Kathra, making her shriek in pain. The wolf's weight was heavy as it tried to push Kathra over so to make her an easier target. Kathra pushed back, trying to stay on her feet. Her struggle made a d20 appear for a roll. Her dice rolled a 19 turned 24, allowing her to punch the wolf in the chest with a yelp before pushing it away.
"Back off!" she roared, gripping her weapons.
The group managed to shrug off her surprise by now, allowing the party to get their act together and put their focus on the battle. Dorn grimaced and looked at the goblins scrambling to reload and try to take another shot at the party.
"Oh no you don't!" he fronted, slipping past Rael before drawing his own arrow. Taking aim, he fired at the first of the goblins. The arrow flew, as did his dice, landing on a 16 turned 21. The arrow flew, piercing the first goblin between the eyes, letting it vanish in a flash of green as a d8 showed an 8 turned 11. "One down!"
Medea frowned, seeing her options were limited for the moment. The area was rather small and difficult to move around. If she tried to squeeze through like Dorn did, she'd leave herself open for the wolf to snap at her. Being the glass cannon of the group, she would likely be put down hard with one good snap from the wolf.
"Fuck it," she muttered. Getting up from her spot, she pushed into the room, coming next to the wolf itself. Lifting her hands, she pointed at the goblins still at the far side of the room, "Ray of Frost!"
The goblins yelped as the beam of cold magic flew at them. The second goblin of the group barely had the time to yelp before the blast struck him. The 8 landed on a perfect 7, shattering the goblin and leaving only one left. Behind her, Sildar kept back, looking for his opening as he passed his action.
"Gyeee!" the last goblin yelped, ducking underneath the cover of the crates in some desperate bid to hide. An action which had the goblin's d20 roll as it attempted to hide from the party. The d20 rolled on an 11 which became a 17. As the dice flashed, the members of the party forgot about the goblin, focusing more on the bugbear and wolf menacing them.
"You coward!" Klarg the bugbear roared, apparently noticing his minion's flight of cowardice. Snarling, he hefted up his Morningstar and swung hard at Kathra once again. His dice came up as a 15 turned 19 which had the weapon smash across Kathra's torso. The dwarven woman let out a wheeze of breath while 2d8 said she was dealt 11 damage.
"KATHRA!" the remaining three adventurers cried out as their friend collapsed to the ground in a heap. Her boy bgean slowly blinking red, showing she was downed and out.
"HA! The rest of you shall fall to Klarg's might!" the bugbear gloated, grinning savagely at the group. "Sic the elf Ripper!"
The wolf snarled at the command and lunged for Rael, teeth bared. It's dice appeared, once again at advantage since Klarg. Unlike before, this time the dice came out to 2 and 7, the latter turning to 11. It still wasn't enough as Rael growled and smashed the side of the wolf's head. It yelped and backed away, although it took no damage.
"Out of my way mutt!" Rael roared, gripping his weapon in both hands and swung hard down at the wolf. His dice appeared and rolled, coming to a natural 20. The sword in Rael's hands flashed a blazing yellow before he brought the blade down on the wolf. His d10 appeared, coming to a 4 which turned to and 8 before going further to 11. The blade struck the wolf which yelped before shattering into light.
"Ripper!" Klarg gasped out, his mood do an inversion on seeing his pet get killed.
"You're next pal!" Dorn growled, dashing around the fire to get a clear shot before he fired an arrow at the bugbear. His dice showed 19 turned 22, letting the arrow cut through the air before it sank into Klarg's chest, making him roar in pain. A d8 rolled a 7 which became a 10, meaning it hit a critical point.
"Ray of Frost!" Medea followered up, launching another beam of cold magic at the bugbear. Sadly, a dice roll of 3 had the spell miss an coat a portion of the cavern wall with more frost. Medea gave off a scowl at the sight.
Sildar gripped his weapon, seeing the fight turning in their favor and moved into the fray.
"Sildar, no!" Rael cried, but the veteran was ignoring him as he came at the bugbear. His dice rolled, coming up a 17 turned 20, allowing Sildar's weapon to cut against the bugbear's torso, making him roar in pain from the second blow. However, it was a glancing blow, only dealing 2 damage.
Hearing the battle going on, the last goblin of the group gulped before he glanced over from his cover. Looking about, he saw the chimney passage leading to the lower floor of the cavern. Gulping, he steeled himself before he jumped from his perch and made a mad dash for that exist. In the process, his d20 rolled as he tried to not be noticed by the adventurers.
A 5 turned 11 was not enough as he passed by Dorn. His Passive Perception of 15 allowed him to see the goblin coming. With a reflexive action, he grabbed one of his shortswords and swung hard at what to him looked like a charging goblin. 19 turned 22 had the blade hit true and the goblin was cut down in a flash of green.
Klarg could now see that he was on his own and very much surrounded. His beady eyes gazed at everyone who were looking at him and weren't squeamish in cutting him down. Making an audibly gulp, he spun around and attempted to make a run for the same exit his goblin minion had made a charge for.
"Coward!" Sildar roared, swinging at the suddenly retreating bugbear. His roll of 14 turned 1 was just enough to land another blow on Klarg's back, dealing 6 damage, cutting deep into the bugbear's back as he ran. Stumbling from the wound, he managed to get to the chimney before throwing himself from the ledge, not wanting to make the time to actually climb down.
The group moved to see where the bugbear had gone, but heard smashes and crunches come from the darkened passage. Coming to the edge, they saw Klarg's body tumbling rather ingloriously down the rocky wall. A sick crack came from the bugbear's body before it hit the ground and vanished in a haze of color.
"Ouch," Medea winced.
"Guess he didn't land right," Dorn frowned. "Okay, let's get to Kathra, now!"
Rael ran over to Kathra's form, which was still blinking red. Lifting his hands, he placed them on the dwarf's side and invoking on of his abilities, "Lay on Hands. 5 Points." A glow like a sunset through the trees. KAthra gave off a groan as she opened her eyes and her health points returned.
"Wha 'appened? We win?" Kathra groaned as she sat up.
"Yeah. We won," Rael chuckled. "And you got knocked the eff out, but we won."
"Oh…good," Kathra groaned, standing up. "So we get loot now?"
"Sure can," Dorn chuckled. "Let's go."
The group looked to the boxes and other supplies which Klarg seemed to have been hoarding from the people they had been robbing. A lot of them had a marking which was a ble shield with a lion-shaped mark in the middle of it.
"I know this symbol," Sildar tapped on one of the crates, "It's for the Lionshields, a merchant company from Yatar. I know one of their shops is in Phandalin. These crates must have been from one of their shipments to Phandalin."
"Cool. Maybe we can get a reward then," Kathra grinned.
Dorn found a treasure chest tucked with the crates which didn't have any markings on it. In fact, the chest looked kind of dirty and tarnished compared to the other crates in the room. It wasn't locked, so Dorn helped himself and opened it. When he saw what was inside, he let off a low whistle, "Wow. Score."
"What you find?" asked Medea, coming next to the Ranger before she saw the contents. "Ooh."
Dorn pulled the chest free from the others, alerting them to his find. Rael and Kathra were pleased to see it, especially Kathra as they saw the collection of coins and other items inside. Settling down, the group counted it all out to be 600 copper coins and 110 silver coins. Also, inside were two vials of red fluid while tucked in the side was a frog statuette with golden eyes.
"Nice," Kathra grinned. "Okay, so how do we split it?"
"Five ways," Dorn answered.
"Ah, none for me. I already have a fine wage," Sildar shook his head. "Consider it my reward to you all for rescuing me."
"More for us," Medea nodded. "So if my math is right, that comes to…150 copper coins and 27 silver with two left over. Who gets the last two?"
"Like we always decide," Rael answered, producing a d4. "We roll this. One is me, two is Kathra, three is Dorn, and four is Medea. Whoever is rolled, they get the last two coins. Fair?"
"Fair," the four chorused. Rael tossed the d4 and both he and Kathra got those last pieces of silver for their trouble. Medea examined the two vials, but her arcane teaching idn't even require a check since they were so common. They were Potions of Healing, a must have for every kind of adventurer. As the magic-user of the group, Medea was the one to take both of them. For the frog statue, it was again up to the dice method which had Dorn pocket the piece of loot.
"I must say, your division is rather unique," Sildar commented as the group pocketed their spoils. "I've seen some groups pull daggers on each other for less."
"Oh, this method was developed after many trials and arguments between friends," Rael chuckled. He wasn't kidding since the group did pick fights as their characters before one of them had the idea to do dice rolls.
"Okay, so now what? Should we try to get this stuff to the Lionshield place?" asked Kathra, gesturing to the collected crates.
"We do have room on the cart," Medea nodded. "If we go slowly, we can bring it all with us."
"I'm sure there will be a reward for you as well," Sildar added, appealing to one of the main reasons anyone went out on adventures.
"That's all I need to hear," Kathra nodded with a grin.
The group, once they pocketed the spoils from their unexpected venture, began picking up the Lionshield crates and taking them out of the caves. They didn't face any more resistance from the goblins, making they party believe they wiped the group out in their trawl through the cavern. Once the crates were brought out, they retrieved their wagon. Of course, the goblin had slipped out, but other than the knot keeping the oxen tied to the tree getting messier, nothing else was touched.
"Little rat," Rael muttered as he and Sildar sat at the yokes of the wagon.
"Be thankful he left us the oxen," Sildar sighed, "But now the rest of the goblins are probably going to be aware of us now."
"No doubt," Kathra sighed, walking alongside the wagon as it had to go slower due to the increased load. She glanced to Sildar, "Speaking of them, Sildar, they seemed to know to look for you and Gundren. I know mines can be valuable, but this has to be bigger than just some mine."
"Much bigger than just some mine," Sildar answered. "More than five hundred years ago, clans of dwarves and gnomes made an agreement known as the Phandelver's Pact, by which they would share a rich mine in a wondrous cavern known as Wave Echo Cave. In addition to its mineral wealth, the mine contained a great magical power."
"Magical power? Minable magic?" Medea frowned.
"Close, but not quite," Sildas shook his head. "Human spellcasters allied themselves with the dwarves and gnomes to channel and bind that energy into a great forge they called the Forge of Spells where magic items could be crafted."
Medea gasped, "So, wait…the natural magic in the mountain could be harnessed and be able to make magic items like a common forge?!" Crafting magical items was not easy and required several experts. If Sildar had explained things correctly, then the Forge of Spells could enchant items as they were being made, greatly decreasing the time needed to make such items, making it possible to churn such items out at a higher rate.
"Exactly," Sildas nodded. "For a time, things were prosperous for the nearby settlement of Phandalin as well as the residents of the mine. Of course, it did not last as orcs swept through the North and laid waste to everything in their path."
"They have a habit of doing that," Rael frowned.
"Indeed," Sildar sighed. "A powerful force of orcs reinforced by evil mercenary wizards attacked Wave Echo Cave to seize the riches and power there. Humans, dwarves, and gnomes fought to defend their home and the Forge of Spells and most of the complex was destroyed. Very few survived the cave ins and tremors and as a result. Many searched for it but no one has been able to find it."
"And Gundren Rockseer managed it?" asked Dorn.
"He had a map, put together himself as he and his brothers painstakingly surveyed and studied the land and found Wave Echo Cave," Sildar answered. "Still, the fact that we were attacked specifically confirmed my suspicions that perhaps Gundren was not the only one who knew or at least suspected the location."
"Someone else knows?" asked Medea.
"Possibly," the veteran shrugged. "I am a member of the Lords' Alliance, a group of political powers who seek to safeguard the lands and their prosperity. We have heard of the Black Spider operating in this area, likely searching for the Wave Echo Cave and has managed to make a network of bandits and gangs to help him. We sent an agent to Phandalin to establish a constabulary but he hasn't reported in for months. When Gundren asked me to accompany him, I took it as an opportunity to investigate."
"Great, so we have a crime boss to deal with too," Kathra frowned.
(D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D&D)
Miles' House
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," a young man's voice spoke up as he entered the basement games room. He was of average height and build with dirty blonde hair and green eyes. He wore a denim jacket with jeans and a blue shirt. His name was Steve Reyne.
Steve blinked when he saw the table set up for some Dungeons & Dragons but none of his friends were around. Scratching his head, he stepped closer to the table, "Must be on a snack run or something."
Shrugging, Steve sat down at one of the chairs and put out his bronze-coloured polyhedral dice before he looked to the books. Grinning slightly, he pulled the thick leather book to him and looked at the colored sketches of four adventurers. Idly enjoying the art, he flipped the pages before coming to the table of contents.
"Knowing Miles, he'd start us off on the first adventure, Lost Mine of Phandelver," Steve commented before he opened to the pages. Reading the adventure, he read the layouts and adventures which could happen in the first section of the book. "Nice. This looks like fun."
Setting the book down, Steve looked around and spotted the stacks of Miles' books and other materials. .
"Here we go," Steve nodded as he took his seat and began flipping through the pages for the race and class he wanted to be.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Well, the four adventurers are able to pass their first challenge and save one of their contacts. It's opened up a new can of worms though as they discover the existence of the mysterious Black Spider. Meanwhile, the last member of their party seems to have gotten to the game and is about to begin his own character creation. Will he meet with the same fate as his friends?