Events+of+Zarantyr+8-________________

There were two pitched battles against the Goblinoids who have apparently set up shop underneath the little thorp. Late on the morning of the 8th we investigated the well at the center of the cluster of buildings, and found an opening to the side, about 40-45 feet down. A series of wooden rungs driven into the hard-packed earth and clay along the side of the well provided access. Leaving Plow to guard Lord Veldar's porter, the five of us -- Veldar, Corwin, Colden, Draco and Faye -- entered the first of a series of narrow earthen tunnels. All dark, mostly no more than five feet wide and just over six feet in height. Wooden trusses were set up periodically to support the tunnels, but the wood was old and dry, as were the tunnels themselves, except by the well shaft, where the opening (connecting well to tunnels) looked to have been dug through about ten feet of mud.

As we cracked sunrods for illumination, Veldar tried to determine the extent of the tunnels with a ghost sound -- something about echoes. This managed to alert a squad of Goblin sentries, who attacked with crossbows as we came around a blind corner. There were four of them, supported by a spellcaster, who briefly put Colden to sleep and later shot fire from his fingertips. The soldiers fought hard, but three fell in short order. I refer to them as "soldiers" because of their matching leather armors and use of light crossbows aith bayonet attachments (the all lacked insignia, which was odd). The last soldier and the caster escaped down another tunnel to the south. Faye called for him to stop, but Draco surged after the two, entering a large dark room with four separate exits: Two blocked with flimsy doors and two open (the one Draco came through amd one to the west that Colden entered through a scant moment later). A side tunnel circled around the larger room and met up with it again at the door the two Goblins fled through. The other door appears to lead to the east, towards the ruins at the top of the hill, but we never had the chance to test it.

The two Goblins went through the south entrance and closed the door. Draco, heedless of the danger, charged the door and bashed it in, taking most of the frame with it. The soldier fired his crossbow and nicked the Shifter, and the caster finished the spell he'd started, and a Horrid Rat appeared in front of Draco, attacking with its caustic saliva-dripping fangs.

Faye told Corwin and Colden that she heard more Goblins approaching from the rear -- that is, from the well shaft -- and both believed her, although Colden soon went to aid Draco. Veldar took an inordinate interest in an alcove leading nowhere. The danger increased greatly at this point. Draco dispatched the summoned rat, and then the Goblin soldier (who had tried to surrender), while the Adept fled down the circling side tunnel -- running into Colden coming the other way. He cast Burning Hands again, setting a wooden support on fire but barely hurting the Aundairian. Even as he and Draco took down the caster, more trouble emerged from the east door: Two hulking redskinned Goblinoids with horns and claws, led by a blueskinned Goblin Draco recognized as a Blue, reputed to have mind powers. Behind them came three more soldiers, led by a larger (but still small) Goblin with two swords and an attitude.

The fight was brutal in the confined corridors, with the only light provided by a couple of sunrods. The two-sword Goblin leered at Faye and threatened her, but a quick thinking Faye doused him in Alchemist's Fire. The Blue used mind thrusts to hurt Draco and Colden, and the Reds proved difficult to kill. Eventually the party prevailed, althgouh Draco, Colden and Corwin were all injured. Two of the Goblins (the Blue and one warrior) escaped through the door leading east, closing it behind them. Draco tried to smash it as he had the other, but it held firm and he was then told in no uncertain terms to stop pursuing them. The burning timbers casued a partial tunnel collapse, and as the party retreated to the well shaft they intentionally collapsed more side tunnels, so that only one way to the eastern door remained.

Back on the surface they agreed to spend the night in one of the cottages, then return to New Cyre with their clues and evidence. The well was covered with boards from the unfinished cottage, then weighed down with stones. In preparing the cottage for the night, something was found in the woodpile (//which, in case you're wondering, is not neatly-cut logs but rather bundles of branches from trees in the area, so this nearly-four-foot-long piece of wood actually blends in well//). A long stick, like a gnarled branch, broken off at one end long enough ago that the jagged, pointy ends had been blunted. It appeared to be made of Aerenal Bronzewood, and though it registered as nonmagical, faint runes in Goblinoid script could be found along its length. After much puzzling Faye and Veldar and Draco guessed the runes sttod for "ruler," madness," "horde" and "fight."

A long, tense night passed...and just as the sun was about to break the horizon the Goblinoids made their move. They had infiltrated right up to the edge of the cottages -- Hobgoblin archers, Goblin crossbowmen, a female Hobgoblin Draco identifed as a //duur'kala//, or dirgesinger, and two beefy Hobgoblins clad in **ill-fitting Karrnathi** platemail with shields and heavy picks. At the same time rhythmic pounding noises started coming from the well, as if something heavy was trying to bust out. The fight was again pitched and desperate, and Corwin and Draco both fell. One of the Hobgoblin impalers proved especially resilient (the bard having cast Heroism and Beastlands Ferocity on him), and before he died he landed a brutal critical hit on Plow the Warforged, rendering him inert and almost dead. But in the end the //duur'kala// and at most two others fled the field, running east through the snow towards the low hill with the ruins atop it -- ruins from which the Murnies had taken the heavy stones used for their cottages. The pounding noises from the well proved to be a ghost sound illusion.

Now, everyone's hurt, there are two captives and a bunch of corpses, and the party is still more than 30 miles from New Cyre and safety.