Bloom returned ten minutes later, and they apprized her of the situation.
"Are you telling me I missed all the fun?" she laughed.
"If you can call it that," Twix said. "Although it was kind of fun, running from those smelly old ghouls. They must have been so mad that they couldn't get me and gobble me down!"
"What are we up against out there?" Ganth grimly asked the thief.
Bloom smirked. "Not much. A couple of old crumbling buildings. I didn't see any hobs about. If there are any guards, they're well-hidden."
The dwarf nodded. "Let us continue on, then, as quietly as we can. Keep alert. Be ready for trouble at any second. We shall scout the place out from a safe distance, and decide what to do from there."
They crept quietly down the path, reaching their destination within a few minutes. The monastery grounds had once been surrounded by a square wall, but now it was almost entirely destroyed. What remained was so covered with fungus, moss, and vines that it was difficult for the party to guess what kind of stone the wall had been fashioned from.
They moved to a hole in the wall and crouched down, peering into the courtyard. The area was overgrown with trees and bushes, but not as extensively as the surrounding forest. The compound consisted of a large main building set in the corner of the northern and eastern walls. Slightly to the south of this building sat a small, square building with a double row of columns marching out westward from its double doors The westernmost row of columns had fallen over into rubble.
Slightly southwest of this small building lay an oval pool, filled with an expanse of dark green water. East of the pool stood a jumbled mass of stone that looked to have once been some kind of building. It stood roofless, and the walls had crumbled to a height of three or four feet.
Nestled in the corner of the western and southern walls sat a third building, the smallest in the compound, with a long wing jutting off the eastern side.
The only other noteworthy sights were a tangled garden set in the northwestern corner, opposite the monastery proper, and a wide crevasse in the ground, due east, fifty paces or so from the beginning of the ruined row of columns.
The party sat quietly for ten long minutes, watching and listening. They heard no noises other than the warbling of the birds, the cough of a squirrel in the trees overhead, and the occasional dull hammering of a woodpecker in the distance. Nothing at all moved within the compound.
"It looks deserted," Deft whispered. "Maybe the hobs abandoned it?"
"Doubtful," said Ganth. "Why would the garrison be down at the lake, then? No, I am sure these hobs are here. These buildings are probably absolutely crawling with them. There are guards around, too. There must be. We just cannot see them."
"So, what's our move?" Twix asked.
The dwarf fixed him with a grim smile. "We shall bring the guards out to us. No more hiding. Come on."
The cleric stood up, firmly gripping his shield and mace. The others got to their feet behind him, weapons held at the ready. In a tight formation, they walked out from behind the protective cover of the wall and worked their way through the trees of the courtyard towards the crevasse in the ground. Their eyes swept over the buildings in the compound, and their ears strained for any hint of sound. There was nothing.
They reached the edge of the crevasse, and the dwarf frowned down into it. It was so deep, they couldn't see the bottom. Greenish mold and fungus grew thickly along the lip of the opening.
Bloom peered down into the unfathomable depths. "What is this?"
The dwarf shrugged. "Probably a geyser vent. The Hill is volcanically active, apparently. It is always shooting up gouts of steam that we can see from Fort Gaston. We should not stand near this. If it goes off, it is going to shoot out a massive amount of boiling water. I, for one, do not feel like getting parboiled on this expedition."
"Me neither," said Twix. "That doesn't sound fun at all. I can imagine it would be quite painful."
"The guards are here," Bloom said softly, with a firm warning in her voice.
The placid silence was shattered by enraged shrieks. Whirling, with weapons already at hand, the group saw a squad of nine yellow-skinned goblins charging towards them from the eastern edge of the tangled garden. The goblins looked much like their larger cousins, the hobgoblins, except they were half the size, and didn't have blue noses or any hair on their heads. Clad in leather cuirasses, they waved their short swords and braced their wooden shields for the attack. Their captain, a larger goblin with more reddish colored skin, bore a metal shield. He beat his blade against it and shrieked as he rallied his troops from the rear ranks.
"Hold!" Ganth cried, raising his shield and mace. "Let them come to us!"
They braced themselves for the attack. The shrieking goblins crashed into them, and a pitched battle began. The party hacked and slashed, chopping into goblin flesh like they were chopping wood. Three goblins fell in the first few seconds, and two more in the next few. Bloom, Ganth, and Twix each took minor wounds, but Deft and Runt were unscathed. The last goblin fell to Ganth's mace, the entire battle having lasted less than half a minute. Bloom, Ganth, and Twix had each taken minor wounds. The dwarf had killed four, Bloom one, and Twix and Deft had each slain two.
But one goblin still lived, even though he lay on his back, drenched in blood, moaning and groaning.
They checked each other's injuries. None were severe, but Ganth had a slash across his forehead that was pouring blood into his eyes.
Deft stared around the compound, relieved to not see any more troops, goblin or otherwise, pouring out of the buildings to assault them.
"It seems we might yet have the element of surprise," Ganth said. "Let us hide these bodies in the garden, and then everyone move to that building to the south. Bloom, you and Deft carry the surviving goblin with you. I have some questions to ask him."
The thief smiled grimly at the dwarf. They all hauled the slain goblins back into the tangled garden, and saw three tunnels dug into the dirt among the weeds and vines that the goblins had been hiding in.
Once the bodies were hidden, they headed for the southern building. Bloom grabbed the wounded goblin's legs while Deft gripped his arms. They lifted him and started walking, carrying their moaning prisoner to the small building.
Twix hung back in the rear, his bow nocked and ready as he scanned the area. His gaze fell on the goblin leader's metal shield. A quick glance revealed the quality of its workmanship. It was no goblin shield. Besides being made of steel, it was painted black, with a device of three trees in full bloom.
The halfling grinned, and picked up the shield. He hastened to the magic-user's side.
"Runt, what do you think of this?"
The goblin stared at the bard in confusion, then nodded curtly. "Ah, I see. It looks to be the shield of a master armorer. And magic-users can only enchant items of the highest quality. I see your reasoning, Master Twix. The shield might be magical. It fits you well."
As they walked, the goblin pulled out his magic wand, chanted a magical phrase, and pointed the birch stick at the shield. The shield glowed with a pale green light.
"It is indeed enchanted."
"What does it do?"
The goblin shook his head sadly. "That I cannot tell. My wand only detects magical auras. This one is from the abjuration, or protection school. It is most likely a minor enchantment, one that will offer a little better protection than a normal shield would."
"Too bad I don't use a shield," the halfling said. "Maybe Sir Ganth will want it!"
The building before them seemed to have withstood the ravages of time fairly well. A new-looking wooden door stood open before them, and there was another one, this one closed, set into the middle of the building's long wing. They stepped through the door into a square room, filled with the remains of rotting tables and benches. Shattered pottery lay over much of the floor.
Deft and Bloom lay the wounded goblin down on the floor, while Twix shut the rotting door the best he could to keep them all safe from any prying eyes. Deft went to an open door in the east wall of the room. He peered into shadowy darkness beyond. Unsheathing his sword, he ignited it and stared down a hallway with four open doors along the south wall. The fighter moved down the hallway and peered into the small chambers. Each was filled with a pair of rotting wooden bed frames, and other pieces of ruin that might have once been wooden furniture in some forgotten age.
Satisfied that the building was secure, he rejoined the others in the main room. Since the building had no windows, the only light came from Deft's flaming sword.
Twix produced the healing berries from his belt pouch, giving two each to the cleric and the thief. He took none for himself, not feeling it necessary. He only had a tiny slash across his left arm. While the other two ate their berries, the bard took a strip of cloth from his backpack and bound the wound. The magic raspberry completely healed the wounds of the thief and the cleric.
Twix proffered the shield to the dwarf. "It's magical, Sir Ganth."
The dwarf scowled. "I have my own shield."
"But your shield isn't magical," Runt said. "This one will afford you better protection."
Ganth scowled at the goblin. "Fine. I shall use it, then."
The dwarf secured his regular shield to his backpack, then hefted the magical shield. It was lighter than his wooden shield. The cleric harrumphed.
Ganth dropped the shield and set to work interrogating the goblin. The creature was terrified, and ready to talk, after the cleric gave his solemn vow to the Mother that he would release the goblin once he told them everything they wanted to know.
The goblin confirmed that Gareth and Cullen had been taken prisoner, and were being held in the lair of the hobgoblins, which was in the cellars beneath the monastery. The lads were slaves, forced to work in the smithy making weapons for the great invasion of Fort Gaston that King Bash was preparing for. When pressed about the number of hobs, the goblin estimated there were about forty, all of them warriors, and about a dozen goblins. Three bugbears also lived below, working for King Bash in the armory.
The goblin told them detailed information about the configuration of the cellars, and what rooms were occupied. The king and most of his guards lived in the southern end of the dungeon, and the forge was located at the northern end, close to the stairs. While the goblin described the layout of the monastery and the dungeon beneath, Runt drew a crude map on a piece of vellum using a charcoal pencil.
"I knew King Bash was behind this!" Twix said. "And I'm happy your nephew and his friend are safe and sound."
"For now," Ganth breathed. "My praises to the Mother. It should not be too hard to rescue them. Eight hobs and a bugbear overseer work in the forge. All the other hobs are clustered down at the southern end, around the king. We should be able to get in and get out pretty quickly."
"But what about King Bash?" Deft said. "Twix is after the bounty on his head. Are we going after the king or not?"
Ganth sighed. "I did not want to press my luck with these hobs, but if they truly are preparing for an invasion, we need to do something to stop it. Killing this Bash will throw the hobs into confusion, and we can take advantage of that in Fort Gaston. It will give us time to mobilize the militia. We could even send a strike force back over here to take care of the rest of these thugs."
Bloom snorted. "Good luck finding anybody over there willing to cross over to the Hill! Aren't most people in Gaston scared to death of it?"
"They might no longer be," Deft said, "once they learn the truth about what's going on over here. Instead of facing dragons, evil magic-users, and undead, they'll know they're only facing goblins and hobgoblins."
"They will come," Ganth snarled, "even if I have to drag them over here by myself! But even if they do not, we can just sit and wait for an invasion, and deal with the monsters then. The hobs will have to cross the river in boats, and when they do, we can take them out with arrows."
"Then let's get this rescue underway," Deft said.
"Agreed. Let's move out."
"What about the goblin?" Bloom grinned at the dwarf. "Are you truly going to let him go?"
The dwarf scowled at her. "Of course I am! I vowed to my goddess! Do not worry, Bloom, this little fellow will run as fast as he can, for as long as he can, and he will never come back here."
The dwarf scowled down at the goblin. "Will, you, you little rat?"
The goblin shook his head in terror. "No, I swear! I will run away, far away, and never return! I promise!"
"Good! Then get up, and get out of my sight! And if I or anyone else ever catches wind of you around here, we'll slay you on sight, got it?"
The goblin stood up, crouching low, his arms wrapped protectively around his body. He nodded vigorously. Twix opened the door, and with a squeal, the goblin ran out the door.
"I guess you showed him," Bloom laughed. "But we'd better be quick in the catacombs. I don't trust goblins any farther than I can throw them."
She smiled sweetly at the magic-user. "Present company excluded."
Ganth watched the goblin run into the trees, then he waved his party onward.
They left the barracks, and Runt spoke up.
"Master Ganth, I have a plan for getting past the guards."
"Do tell, Master Runt!"
"My plan is to dress up like one of those soldiers out there, and run into the guard room, shouting about enemy forces on the prowl outside the monastery walls. The hobs should fall for it, unless they are smart enough to realize they've never seen me before. But hobgoblins don't take much notice of goblins, seeing them as barely worthy of the gift of existence, so we've got that going for us. At worse, they'll see through the ruse, and we'll end up fighting them. At best, they will run out of the monastery, and we can then slip past them."
"That's fine," Deft said, "but what do we do about the return trip? Your diversion most likely won't keep them away from their post for long."
"True," said Runt, "but by then, our numbers will hopefully be supplemented by two, making it easier for us to battle our way past the guards, if we must. Master Glintspear, do your son and his friend have any military experience?"
The dwarf nodded. "Gareth has martial training, yes. He will be able to wield a weapon. So can Cullen, but his training was never by any means formal."
"It will have to do," the goblin smiled.
"One question," Bloom said. "Where do we hide while you're duping the guards? We obviously can't let them see us."
The magic-user glanced at his map. "The room to the east of the dining hall. You can hide in there, and as soon as the guards leave their post, we'll slip down into the cellars."
They made their way to the tangled garden, and Runt stripped one of the bodies, putting on the dead soldier's garb and leather shirt. He strapped the short sword's baldric across his chest, and picked up the wooden shield.
"You look just like any old stinking goblin," Bloom smiled.
They walked to the southern wall of the monastery, where four evenly-spaced wooden doors stood closed. The prisoner had said that the second door from the right was the way to the stairs that led into the dungeon.
Runt turned to the cleric. "Sir Ganth, the goblin described an old library inside the monastery. Can we take a look inside? Libraries are the perfect place to find magical scrolls and spell books."
"We shall take a look," the cleric grumbled. "Just do not take all day. We have a job to do."
"I completely understand, Master Glintspear. I will take hardly any time at all."
Ganth opened the door. It led into a long chamber with doors leading off on the east and west walls. The room held rows of long tables and benches, ruined and crumbling, covered by a greenish yellow mold.
"You'd think the hobs would have cleaned up this dump," Bloom said, studying the mold.
"They're used to living in filth," the dwarf growled. "It's too bad. The stone looks good in this building. If we can drive out the hobs, I might talk to some of my order about taking over the place. Turn it into a guard post."
Deft unsheathed his sword and ignited it, which gave off enough light for them to see inside the dim interior of the monastery. They left the dining hall through the western door, and entered a rectangular room with another door set next to the one through which they had entered. This was the library. The walls of the chamber were lined with debris-laden shelves. In the center of the floor lay a large pile of garbage.
Bloom dug through the pile of garbage, which seemed to be made up of rotting books. Runt and Twix searched the shelves, which contained more tomes and scrolls in various stages of decomposition. The bard crowed in triumph, and held up a white, ivory scroll tube with a wax stopper. He broke the seal and removed the parchment, which was four feet long in total, and contained four spells.