The Children Rescued

James as: Rookwood - Male Dwarven Totemist (Magic of Inarcnum)

Matthew as: Zhray – Human Wizard

Jeff as (filling in for Ron as): Durgall - Male Dwarven Cleric

Jeff as: Mothoopal – Male Gnome Sorcerer

John as: Lorash - Male Human Druid

and: Mort - Wolf Animal Companion

One of the Halflings rescued from slavery, a rogue named Mary, draws the party a map of what she knows of the Malachite Fortress. Armed with this information they descend to the Malachite Fortress again.

Surprised by a guard of 8 Hobgoblins behind a makeshift barrier in the wide hall where they had lost Jax, they fight the group, Zhray starting off with an arcane burning hands, setting the barrier aflame, and some of the Hobgoblins as well. However this attracts all the fire of their javelins and Zhray goes down. Shortly after several of the Hobgoblins fall from the flames as well, ones head falling into the burning barrier with a sickly smoke coming from his cooking flesh. In their damaged state, the rest of the party makes quick work of them and heals Zhray, and continues on.

They decide to go after the barracks first. They pass through the forge they had discovered earlier, and out into a hall complex with an intersecting hall and many doors all around.

As they reach the door supposed to house the barracks a pair of Hobgoblins at the end of the crossing hall spots them and shouts a warning “Intruders” and banging on the doors behind them.

Zhray casts a mirror image several of himself appearing around him

Lorash reminds Rookwood that there is supposed to be a pit between them and that area, but Rookwood doesn’t pay attention, and runs over the pit attacking the Hobgoblins, somehow the pit doesn’t open.

Lorash opens the door door to the barracks and rushes in with Mort and Durgall to take care of the Hobgoblin guards there before they can ready themselves.

Zhray unable to get a clear shot anywhere and worried what might be behind the other doors in the hall opens the door opposite the barracks trying to get a look in. He sees a bedroom and two fleshy mounds, which form vaguely humanoid shape and lumber toward him. He closes the door before they get to him.

The Hobgoblins in the barracks and the hall are taken care of while the fleshy mounds pound on the door, too stupid to use the latch. While Zhray covers the door they pound on ready to burn them should they break through.

Two more hobgoblins enter from the way the Heroes came, attacking the two undefended arcanists. Rookwood waits for the door to open on which the two hall guards were pounding, but it doesn’t

Mothoopal takes a bad sword slice from one of the hobgoblins, but Zhray just laughs as the other hobgoblin slices an illusionary duplicate. Durgal comes out and interposes himself with the two hobgoblins and downs the first, as Mort harries the second.

After finishing off the two last hobgoblins Rookwood sets the leavers to disable the pits and runs back to the rest of the party.

They open the door to the room with the fleshy mounds, and a long slow battle ensues as the mounds don’t burn, and are so tough and rubbery that their weapons have little effect. Eventually the mounds are worn down and the party wins. Durgal and Lorash heal the party from what wounds the nasty claws of the mounds inflicted on them.

The head over to the doors beyond the pits that were guarded, and attempt to break in. It takes a good minute of pounding. They come on to the scene of a dwarf with warty green skin with a pet dog the size of a horse with quills finishing the sale of three manacled children to a grey-skinned dwarf with horns.

The warty dwarf demands what the party’s purpose is. Lorash responds with “We’re here to buy the children”. The dwarf says they are already sold. Lorash offers to double whatever their price was. At 150 gp The grey dwarf agrees to take this offer, but the warty one says he hasn’t been paid yet. They get into an argument, and the warty dwarf attacks the grey one.

Mothoopal magic missiles the dog, which attacks him. The party helps the warty dwarf win against the grey dwarf, but turns on him as soon as the other dwarf is down. As his wounds close quickly, they realize he’s part Troll, and very difficult to kill. Eventually they win, but it was a close thing, sure they couldn’t have taken both part dwarves together.

They find a key on the body of the warty dwarf to the children’s manacles, and take them back to the orphanage, when dropping them off, they find that the fourth child was taken by a floating ball of eyes just before they entered the slaver’s chambers, but was dropped off at the orphanage by a veiled woman. They checked the children for any magical signs and find that the one returned by the veiled woman has an invisible sigil on his cheek which looks like an eye with an arrow through it. They are rewarded for the return of the children by the church.

The spellcasters take 2 days to prepare magics to go back down and find the rest of the missing people. During this time they investigate the symbol found on the child’s cheek. Zhray once again meets a half-elf who knows something about it. He won’t tell him much except it’s a symbol of a group he too is investigating called the cagewrights, and that they may be behind the Last Laugh, and the kidnappings. He would have to talk to his employer before revealing more.

When they return to the locksmith’s house/shop they find it in ruin, a hole where it had been. Asking around they find that another group of adventurers, ‘The Stormblades’ had collapsed the tunnels to prevent any more incursions from the underdark.

The party decides to investigate who the Stormblades are, and find that the Stormblades are investigating them as well. Finding them at a local bar, they confront the Stormblades.

The leader of the Stormblades insults the party calling them ‘Smelly’ and deriding them for leaving the other kidnap victims so long. Rookwood retorts, indicating that the stormblades just showed up at the last minute to take credit for all their hard work.

Rookwood and the leader of the Stormblades take it outside, despite the protestations of other party members of both parties. The Stormblade’s leader can’t lay a finger on Rookwood who just dodges him, and doesn’t even attempt to hit him back. Rookwood insults his fighting ability, repeatedly. The Stormblade’s leader runs off humiliated, as the rest of the Stormblades spit up.