Maiden’s Head Games Games, Powered by the Imagination

Sterngate and Beyond

3rd of Eyre, 998 YK

With the baby hobgoblin wrapped in swaddling cloth, the party continues on after the slavers.  Following the winding gully, the party eventually spots an abandoned wagon in the dried riverbed ahead.  The party approaches cautiously, sending in young Nebin ahead to explore the wagon.  Upon approaching, Nebin sees that the rear wheel has fallen off, and that the guavitx (ox-like creatures) are still harnessed to the wagon.  As he approaches, Nedin hears the deep breathing and snoring of several people.  He quickly realizes that the sound is coming from the inside of the wagon.  Nebin quickly calls the remainder of the party over to the wagon.  With some effort, they pry open the lock from the door, and release the slaves in the wagon.

The party does a quick headcount and realize that they have an additional 30 bodies to their group, 10 humans and 20 goblins.  The slavers had obviously been very busy in collecting wares across the face of Darguun.  The party holds a quick conference, while quickly dispersing their remaining food amongst the malnourished and sick.  As they discuss their options, our brave adventurers are asked what will become of those they have freed?  Will they be left to their own devices in Darguun?  Only to be left in the wilds to fall back into the hands of slavers, or worse yet, die from exposure to the elements?  Or will the brave adventurers assist them and accompany them to some place of better opportunities?  Our adventurers decide to split the party.  Bharash and Aramil continue after the slavers in the hopes to free the other slaves and Nebin and Hildrak continue with the wagon and the recently freed slaves.

Notable amongst the freed slaves, the old goblin woman Ogma takes the forefront as the newly freed slaves voice.  She continues to ask the adventurers to guarantee the newly freed slaves safety.  She is wories about the possibility that her compatriots could fall back into slavery so shortly after being freed. She claims that she sold herself into slavery along the Torlaac River and was previously an apothecry for a small village.

Hildrak and Nebin approach the slavers, as dawn begins to take hold of the world.  The slavers have managed to make good time and leave the gully for the relative safety of a broad open plain.  The slavers set up camp some 200 yards from the edge of the trade road and end of the dried gully.  This leaves our brash adventurers with a very difficult situation.  Our adventurers had hoped to sneak up and ambush the slavers, but the slavers have the obvious advantage of numbers and terrain.  An attack on their camp would come with grievious bodily harm to both Hildrak and Nebin.  With little opportunity to free the other slaves, the adventurers decide to head back towards the trade route to Rhukaan Draal and meet up with the others.

Aramil and Bharash have quickly set about to mend the damaged wagon wheel, and get their newly increased group to Rhukaan Draal and points beyond.  As the wagon sets back out on the trade road, the obvious concern of the newly freed slaves hovering in their minds.  Bharash and Aramil discuss several plans, but most are shot down by Ogma, the speaker for the recently freed slaves.  She insists that the adventurers should take their newly found travel companions to the city of Rhukaan Draal, where the goblins can find a new opportunity and the humans can journey back with the adventurers to Sterngate.  Once in Sterngate, the plan is to assist the humans with returning to their homes across the face of Khorvaire.

The party makes it's way towards the town of XXXXXXXX in order to rest and take on supplies before reaching Rhukaan Draal first.  As the end the first day's travel from the gully, they find themselves setting themselves up outside of town, and quickly send a party in to town to find some food for the weary and hungry among them.  The brave among them find several decent offerings, but all with a definite goblin tinge to the flavor.  Preserved fish, onions and pungent blood sausage make up the majority of their meal, as well as a very startchy bread used to sop up the remnants.  They also manage to find a very odorful green cheese for purchase from the villagers and take some of that as well.  All told, the foray into town nets the adventurers enough food for the freed slaves and themselves for more than the evening's meal.  They prepare the leftovers for breakfast in the morning and turn in for a well deserved rest.  Just as Aramil and Bharash settle in for the eveing, they find that Nebin and Hildrak are making their way into the town.  Nebin and Hildrak recount their story of the slavers and how they were unable to manuever into an advantagous position to free the other slaves.  They would have to be content with freeing the slaves that were with them now.

After an uneventful night at the edge of the town, the party sets about to pick up camp at first light and continue to trek towards Rhukaan Draal.  Upon taking head count in the morning, they find that several of the goblins had asconded during the course of the evening, and only 15 of the 20 goblins continue with the adventurers on the trek.  After a quick breaking of the morning fast, the party clears out of town and continues along the trade road to Rhukaan Draal.  As the day passes them by and the evening draws closer, they come to a a large crossroads.  It seems a popular waypoint for those coming to, or leaving Rhukaan Draal and traveling through the south of Darguun.  The location is so popular, it even sees a regular set of merchants and buildings set up to house a small contingent of guards and merchants.  The party sets up camp along the fringes of the bustling mercantile camp.  They don't want to draw any more undue attention and look forward to another potential evening of quiet in the wilds of Darguun.

After setting up camp and setting about to the needs of the less fortunate amongst them, our adventurers turn their eye on the market to see if there are any deals to be had from the local merchants, especially those dealing in potions and magical items.  After a brisk walk around the camp, they find an old dwarf by the name of XXXXXXXX.  The old dwarf deals in potions and alchemical reagents and mentions that he may have some potions available if the adventurers are looking to be separated from some of their coins.  After a quick session of bartering, the old dwarf agrees to a price for several of his potions.

Upon acquiring the potions, the party gives the market another cursory look before settling in for the evening.  They set a standard watch, not content to let the goblins and hobgoblins of the Llesh's Watch provide for their security and settle in for the evening.  Another night in which Olladra's fortune blesses them and they are uninteruppted over the course of the evening.  In the early morning hours they prepare to break their morning's fast, and after a quick meal of the remnants of the previous day's purchases from the village of XXXXX they continue on to the city of Rhukaan Draal.  They can see the city on the horizon for most of the journey and make good time to a House Ghalladra inn near the outskirts of the city.  Here they encounter a member of Nebin's family.  Cousin XXXXXXX is a second-cousin, once removed from Nebin's family and is overjoyed to see his cousin in such a strange and faraway land from their homes in the Talentia Plains.  Nebin recounts his tale of adventure to his cousin and XXXX seems genuinely impressed with the tale presented.  Nebin mentions the weary and homeless goblins that have been traveling with them and his cousin says that there may be an opporunity for them here at the inn.  After a quick word with the innmaster, Cousin XXXXX returns with word of jobs for all those who wish to stay and a salary of 2 silver crowns per month per goblin.