Lisri sent fliers to towns throughout the Shield Lands, asking for comrades to join him in glorious adventure, and then on the appointed date, threw a pig roast at the small inn named Soldier’s Joy, in the small group of buildings outside Castle Mukos. He was rewarded by the arrival of five experienced adventurers, whom he quickly recruited.
- Havic Hammerbell, a 3rd level dwarvish fighter and 4th level thief from the hills of Grimford in the Principality of Redhand. He wore +1 Leather armor and brought a potion of Speed.
- Griffin, a 4th level Flannish fighter from Axeport. He wields a +1 Bastard Sword and carries a potion of Extrahealing.
- Raylene Mavrini, a 4th level Flannish ranger from Eastfork. She carries a +1 Longsword and also a potion of Extrahealing.
- Kragsheer of the Whitestone Clan, a 4th level Dwarvish fighter from Stubstaff in the Griff Mountains. He wields a +1 Battleaxe, and again had a potion of Extrahealing.
- Barrish Lowbrenn, a 5th level Oeridian cleric of Pholtus from Critwall. He wears Boots of Elvenkind, and has a potion of Invisibility.
After an evening of celebration, the party headed out on the trail, guided by Lisri. Griffin rode the horse Target, which had survived its master in the last adventure. Barrish’s steed was Neighdeen and Raylene’s mount was named Stella. Three mules had survived the previous party’s demise, namely Eddie, Lucky, and Fran. Havic rode Eddie, Kragsheer rode Fran, and Lisri led Lucky.
The first night was spent in Lastwater, a ghost town beyond the pale of the Shield Lands. Kragsheer tasted from the well and pronounced the water good, whereupon Griffin drank his fill and regretted it instantly. He lacked a Dwarven constitution, and only a Slow Poison from Barrish saved him from the worst effects. His night was… unpleasant.
Beyond Lastwater, the land turned barren and blasted. Trees seemed blasted by fire, or worse. As they continued on, the terrain became rockier and more desolate.
On the second night, Barrish cast a Continual Light on the firepit, the glare of which attracted a giant snowy owl that carried Lucky away to the north. Kragsheer managed to hit the owl with his crossbow, and the next day, Raylene tracked the creature east and then north. When the owl’s trail departed from the trail to the mine, the party gave up their pursuit.
On the third night, Barrish refrained from casting Continual Light, but insisted on a roaring fire. This time it attracted a swarm of Stirges (14 of them) that sucked Fran dry and badly injured Eddie. Lisri put them to sleep and the party killed them while Barrish healed Eddie. The fires were small thereafter.
On the fifth night, a roaring was heard from the forest. Lisri and Havic were on watch, so Lisri kicked the others and then fled up a tree, while Havic enacted a rearguard action to protect the remaining pack animals. Griffin and Kragsheer drove off the Black Bear by making loud noises.
On the seventh day, the party turned north, and Lisri once more discovered the Lost Mithral Mines. After a great deal of discussion, the party entered and descended to the first level. Lisri sorely wanted to recover the equipment of the last party, which meant killing the Goblin King. This included:
- +1 mace
- +1 longsword
- A suit of plate mail
- A golden ladle worth 100 gp
- 7 cp
- 48 sp
- 424 gp
Kragsheer came up with a plan to lure out the goblins, and Havic went in as the lure. He discovered the defenses had been strengthened. He avoided the first trap, which apparently would drop a large section of the roof, but then triggered a scything blade that was only barely turned by his magic armor. He then yelled out insults in the Goblin tongue, and fled back to the party’s barricade, enraging two goblins (No-Luck and Bumsnert) who were slaughtered after leaving the security of their base. The rest of the goblins could not be lured out, and Havic could not disarm the traps, so the party nailed the doors shut and explored other avenues.
In their exploration, Lisri annoyed the mountain Dwarf by finding the secret door first. Inside, he repeated his performance by finding the hidden treasure, namely a battleaxe (+2) and seven bottles of liquids.
The party then went west and discovered a series of Dwarvish shrines, including a mithral bar on the anvil of a statue of Moradin. Lisri showed an interest in the bar, but left it alone. Havic explored ahead and found a number of goblin corpses in a Dwarvish crypt. Dwarvish ghosts appeared prepared to beat him to death as they had done to the goblins, but refrained when his Dwarvish nature was revealed. Together, Havic and Kragsheer removed the goblin bodies from the holy place, and then lowered again the portcullis that protected it.
The party determined to tunnel into the Goblin King’s refuge, and sought pickaxes in the mines. They went deeper and deeper, until they were assaulted by 13 Goblins and 3 Rust Riders (Goblins riding on Rust Monsters). The fighters were understandably dismayed as Kragsheer lost his shield and magic axe and Havic lost his hammer. Barrish used Sanctuary and Talk to Animals to slow one of the Rust Monsters, but ultimately he was forced to flee. Lisri began casting Sleep again, which seemed to be working until goblin reinforcements came and slapped most of the sleeping awake. He continued his Sleeps, gave his staff to Barrish, and cast Haste on the warriors. Havic killed several with a flaming oil, and Barrish killed another two after his throw went badly off target. Through it all, Quinn fought on the front ranks and was missed time after time by the Rust Monsters, so his sword and plate armor survived the encounter. He picked up on one of the clubs of the dead goblins and used that to attack. Raylene poured in arrows and Kragsheer used his crossbow. The goblins died long before the Rust Monsters, but in the end, those monstrosities fell as well, with Havic delivering the coup de grace to the last one with a final punch. On the dead, the party found 3 diamonds, a banded agate, an eye agate, a moss agate, and one potion bottle. Havic gave the battleaxe they had found earlier to Kragsheer, who was delighted to find it was +2.
And there we ended for the evening.
Here is the mini for the Rust Riders…
