A motley crew st Dingradur to explore the forests of Galendor. Trevillion has come up on a river trader delivering staples to the Dwarf hold and has brought along Stumpy the Loki Priest and Jezza. They are joined by an elf called Melian who has come to Dingradur seeking magic weapons but has found little to suit her pocket. Yspadadden suggests she join them as a scout – perhaps they will find enough loot that she can afford one of Yspadadden’s swords. Ranulf joins the party, riding his war-bear.
Their journey through the glorious dappled sunshine of the woods is accompanied by a constant descant of whining from Jezza. It soon becomes apparent that he has never been out of the city in his life. He moans about the insects, bewails the branches and thorns that frequently, whip his face and the tree roots he stumbles over, due to his utter lack of woodcraft. Above all he deprecates the lack of inns. He frequently invokes the wit and wisdom of his mother, who had apparently warned him never to go for walks in the wilderness. Fairly soon everyone wishes he’d taken her advice.
A wyvern swoops down upon the party as they cross a clearing. It is filled with enough arrows to spoil its day. It crashes to the earth and is swiftly dispatched. There is no loot upon it and they have no way of discovering its nest. However, there would be some value to be had from its skin, teeth and claws.
The elf, scouting ahead, spots a band of hobgoblins who have plainly been out hunting and are carrying their kill home. They follow them back to a deep pool at the foot of a bluff with a waterfall cascading into it. The hobgoblins skirt the pool and disappear behind the curtain of water. They make to follow, but Trevillion spots some troll tracks on the bank of the pool. This would not be the first time they had encountered trolls and goblins living in symbiosis.
Yspadadden has a Ring of the Argonian that lends him the abilities of the Argonian – an amphibious race said to live in the Sunless Seas. With it he can breathe under water and swim swiftly. Donning the ring he slips into the water and soon locates a set of steps running upwards into a dark hall. He returns and reports.
Yspadadden casts Airy Water so that they can all breathe under water and guides them to the steps. They emerge from the water into a complex of rooms and passages in which they encounter several forest trolls, one of which, a female casts black magic curses at them. However, they slay them all and no-one is slain or badly wounded. Much of the loot in the hall, as in so much of Galendor, has a distinctly elvish flavour to it.
They find a secret door that leads them up to the cave complex where the hobgobins live. After they slay the leader the survivors surrender. The party leave them with their lives but little of their gold. They return to Dingradur to count their loot.
G-36
OE Date: Summer 696
Characters: Yspadadden, Ranulf, Trevillion, Stumpy, Jezza NPCs: Melian
Real World: Spring 2015; Where: Bristol