"The Mines of Ichor"

Part 1: In the town of Bingley

We join our party as they enter a tavern in the town of Bingley, having just traveled from the Gnome tower. Immediately on entering, they are aware of some sort of commotion. A hysterical woman is wailing to the patrons of the bar, begging them to help her. It seems her husband was captured by goblins while traveling on the road from their home city. She managed to escape, and made her way to Bingley. Sadly, her pleas are falling on deaf ears in the bar. Even the local soldiers cannot be bothered to look up from their drinks. Our adventurers fan out around the room, some of them approaching the woman and attempting to calm her down, while others move to various circles in an effort to gather information.

Breyen manages to calm her down a bit, the party learns that the woman's name is Ling Talresh, and she comes from rather wealthy stock. She offers a string of pearls to the party, the only valuable she has left, in exchange for their assistance. In between hysterics, it is further learned that the ambush occurred on the road between Bingley and Foxton, about 2 weeks ago. As far as she knows, the husband was taken alive, along with several of their guardsmen.

Meanwhile, the shorter members of the party locate their fellow Dwarves and make enquiries of a different kind. The party's reward and loot, acquired in relation to the Tower incident, needs to be exchanged for proper currency. Bingley is too small to accomodate this need, but it seems that the Dwarvish city of Foxton has banking facilities that can exchange gold bars. Foxton is also known for being a city that deals in another unusual commodity: scalps! Bounties are paid for scalps of all kinds of creatures. The more dangerous the creature, the greater the reward.

Fortunately for Ling, no reward is necessary to attract Dwarves to hunt goblins. The decision is made to assist her, and the party makes plans to leave in the morning.

Part 2: Ambush on the Path

Early the next day, our heroes suit up and prepare for the rescue operation. The plan is to have Ling drive the cart along the road, with some of the group on horseback along each side, while the remainder ride in the back concealed under blankets. Ling is determined to go along, and her request is honored. She is armed with armor and weapons from the loot stash, but warned to be careful. Little do they know, she is well trained in combat and will prove to be an asset before the day is through.

They depart early, and drive for quite some time. The road is silent. Too silent. Suddenly, a wicked goblin squeal echoes from the roadside. A tiny goblin runt calls out from the side of the road, shouting to his hidden companions. Without delay, Hazelclaw the owl launches herself from Teuvdar's shoulder and gives chase to the creature. Horrified, the goblin races away into the wilderness, the owl hot on his trail. Believing an attack is imminent, Draven leaps out from under the covers and announces his readiness for battle! He feels rather silly for a moment, however, since nothing seems to be happening. But they know it is coming.

The silence is broken by the sound of arrows whizzing past, and the clank and clamor of goblin armor as they emerge from their roadside hiding spot. And with that, twenty goblins race towards the party! They are large and small, and it is clear that many of these goblins are not 'normal'. Some appear grotesquely deformed, their limbs out of proportion and strangely shaped. The largest goblin is fierce indeed, with a single massive arm that wields an equally enormous mace-like weapon. Thokk faces off against him and is nearly bested, but manages to bring him down. Meanwhile, Shadowfoot wields his newly acquired magical blade, which seems to sing to him in satisfaction each time he takes a life. Teuvdar notes with both approval and concern the way the blade behaves. Even Ling gets into the action, her lust for revenge most apparent with each sweep of her sword. In the end, the ambushing goblins fall, and not a single one survives the onslaught. Torrig takes great pleasure in collecting the scalps, and also fulfills an unspoken favor for the dwarves he met in Bingley.

Silence returns to the road, broken only by the soft whisper of bird's wings as Hazelclaw returns to the scene. Teuvdar senses that the bird failed to get her prey, and warns his friends of the escapee. In the distance, the sound of howling goblins can be heard, revealing their nearby camp. The adventurers stow the wagon well off the path, camouflaging it carefully. There is some discussion of Ling's further participation, but it is short lived. And with that, they head into the woods to finish the job they started...