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Surprisingly, the Town Isn't On Fire (Yet)

Last week, the party continued interrogating1 Kaler, the leader of the hobgoblins they defeated. He told them that a group of hobgoblin scouts would arrive in two hours, and that he could question them on behalf of the party. They agreed, and when the scouting party arrived, Kaler told them not to approach the town and asked what they had found. The scouts said that Torvid, the bandit chief, had sent a larger force to take the town than expected. Unusually, the force featured three ankhegs - huge insect-like creatures known for their digging abilities and ambush tactics, dragging their foes down into the depths and eating them. In addition, the force was arriving ahead of schedule, and would arrive at the town in just two hours.

After this revelation, the scouting party insisted on knowing what was going on with Kaler, and whether they should attack the town. Balrox took the lead by summoning a cloud of fiendish darkness at the entrance and walking boldly out to face the hobgoblins. He was soon backed up other members from the party2, and the hobgoblins decided that attacking was not their best option. With the conflict averted and the information acquired, the party bid Kaler farewell. He indicated they would be on friendly terms if they met again.

The party then decided to focus on fortifying the town to prepare for the assault. They mapped out the town's structure and cobbled together a series of gangplanks connecting many of the rooftops, allowing them to avoid attacks from the ankegs. A search of the town revealed three kegs of alcohol which could serve as impromptu explosives3. Attempts were also made to construct a number of creative traps from various household items4.

Before long, however, the enemy forces arrived outside of town: five hobgoblin warriors, three hobgoblin clerics, ten kobolds, and three ankhegs. The party took cover on the rooftops to observe. Seeing the town empty, the hobgoblins were suspicious and sent in the kobolds first. As soon as the kobolds entered the town, they promptly exploded5.

The hobgoblins took a somewhat more cautious approach after the fiery demise of half of their forces. They released the krakens ankhegs, who all burrowed underground to parts unknown, and fashioned a ten-foot pole from the town wall to probe the ground for more kegs. As the party watched quietly, they found another explosive trap at the entrance from a safe distance, and were able to avoid it. Meanwhile, Amanita sensed one of the ankhegs burrowing towards the final keg. When the ankheg grabbed the keg, Balrox shot another flaming arrow, causing the keg to explode in the creature's mouth.

This explosion provoked the hobgoblins to charge into the town, and things became chaotic. The nearly incinerated ankheg retreated underground, never to be seen again, but his place was soon filled by the remaining monsters. The hobgoblin warriors charged into the building the party occupied, trying to reach one of the roofs, while the clerics remained on the ground and blasted the party with magic. Barbie and Maxwell jumped off of a roof and charged into combat with one of the ankhegs on the ground floor of the building. Traps impeded the warriors' progress to the roof, but they still made quick time and were soon engaged in melee with Pabst, Lorelai, and Amanita. Meanwhile, Balrox, Elodie, and Crumbum snuck towards the clerics to attack them - but retreated when an ankheg came out of the ground to support the clerics.

On the main roof, the hobgoblin warriors fared poorly against Pabst's axe and Lorelai's tendency to get hit repeatedly by attacks. However, Barbie was grabbed by an ankheg and dragged underground. Amanita jumped off the roof to rush to her aid, and together they killed the ankheg. Balrox, Elodie, and Crumbum held their own against the clerics and ankheg long enough for the party to wipe out most of the opposition and provoke three surviving hobgoblins into surrendering. Before the party could join together to annihilate the remaining ankheg, it burrowed away, ending the fight. Two of the hobgoblin prisoners died fairly quickly6, leaving just one alive to interrogate.

Join us this week to light the signal fire in town and declare victory!

  1. Admittedly, it was more akin to a friendly conversation.
  2. Lorelai had a particularly menacing aura of barely contained arcane power.
  3. Especially if aggressively fermented by Amanita.
  4. The scrawled sign saying "We're all out scouting, come on in!" wasn't really a trap, but it was creative.
  5. To be more precise, Balrox shot a flaming arrow at a highly flammable keg of alcohol that the party had hidden underground.
  6. By using the passive voice, we can avoid explicitly blaming anyone for the untimely demise of the hobgoblins.

Stupid Awards

Barbie Pabst Lorelai Maxwell Balrox Amanita Elodie Everyone
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