Entry 7

More wandering the passages beneath the monastery. More hobgoblin patrols with at least one escaping to continue the alarm of our presence. And then our stumble upon a mad cleric...Moray (as the dwarf names him), who begins to cast.

Our rush to attack him and pummel him to death. No chance to interrogate, to find out the purpose, plans, and leadership of the goblin army somewhere around here.

Maybe that's the purpose behind Angus' roasting torture of a goblin...a ritual sacrifice for a devining spell?

Entry 6

Finally,3 successful pistol shots by the gnome. Although his silencer was a dud. Luck that we rescued a dwarf who knows a thing-or-two about firearms. But I get ahead of myself...

We've cleared the main floor after dealing with another hobgoblin patrol almost caught off-guard. Our stealthy approach foiled by noisy armor. Geno tried to bluff,calling out orders in goblinese but they were not fooled by the unique sounds of Oleg's armor. Archers trading shots over the dieing bodies of Angus and Kukla. Oleg hesitant to channel healing concerned he's raise some foe too. Only when the last foe retreated to the ogre room, did Oleg channel for his allies gathered away from the battle scene. Which gave the foe the chance to come out and escape to raise the alarm.

We made our way to the stairs to begin exploring the lower area. A hobgoblin nest. But a forge when we rescued the dwarven smithy laboring to craft weapons for a growing army. Of course we had to get past the bugbear first!

Entry 5

Day 4: OK, so they weren't giants. But 10 ft tall and 600 lbs each, two Ogres arguing over knuckbones was menacing. Until Geno's rapid fire arrows dropped one, pissing the other off such that it charged grabbing the elf by his throat and crushing him to the ground. But Oleg killed that one allowing Veocyn to ransack the treasure chest in the corner.

A pushover encounter. Yeah, we're cocky bastards. Until the squad of hobgoblins knocked that shit out of us. Their critical hits answered by our fumbles. Kukla's pistol jams/misfires, Veocyn is down and bleeding, Angus slowed from a pulled muscle, while Geno's leaf armor slips from cut straps, and even Oleg's armor slacks from cut straps.

It's time to regroup in the fountain courtyard and heal for the night. A little craftsmanship repairs to armor and the pistol.

Entry 4

Day 3: Veocyn activates a trap releasing 6 skeletons from the outer rooms that attack. Kukla's pistol shot takes the head clean off one but the sounds reverberate thru the statue room. Geno calls for him to stop shooting before he attracts more, but the gnome is fighting for his life as Veocyn's arrows continue to miss their mark. As the last skeleton falls Geno moves behind the gnome swinging to knock some sense into him. But Kukla mistakes the blade as a deadly swing and takes aim with his pistol...another booming shot that just misses the rogue surprised by such retaliation. Oleg swings to protect his master also trying to stun the gnome. Tense moments in a standoff that simmers for the rest of the day. The gnome reduced to his rapier as he tries to fend off more skeletons, goblins, and hobgoblins.

Entry 3

Day 2: more meandering paths...our map not making sense. A grotesque statue (fat, squatting humanoid) guards a large clearing. More trails before we stumble upon the rumored cemetery. And ghouls. Two waves and a third before we retreat, back to the statue clearing, taking an easterly path.
Ruins hidden by heavy overgrowth. Could this be the rumored monastery? We’ve made our presence known with pistol fire, and a smoking fire as we deal with goblins and more hobgoblins attracted to the noise and smoldering fire. Barely mid-day and we already seek sanctuary to allow our cleric to rest and recover the few spells he knows…Cure Wounds our top priority.

Sunrise to explore the area. Poisonous centipedes to slow us and drain us, before we break into the building decorated with carvings that match the grotesque statue found yesterday.  A more detailed statue inside. Red gems embedded in the eye sockets attract our rogue Veocyn who scales the tall statue to pluck the gems. Trapped! A dozen doors swing open. Crap!

Entry 2

Day 1 Evening: so much for the escort of soldiers scouting the lands. We're on our own and not doing so well. We've claimed the land if wetting it with our blood counts, as we faced LARGE mosquitoes and packs of hobgoblins.

Entry 1

Day 1: seems we're all headed north to the borderland frontier to checkout the realm beyond the fallen barriers. Is it the lure of treasure, adventure facing the unknown, or just escape?

............................................................................................ Kukla gazed at the wanted posted high on the tavern wall, "Sure is a queer looking elf. Wonder what he did to get such a high price on his head?" It never dawned on the gnome, the picture was himself! At least BEFORE he singed off his eyebrows and burnt most of the hair top his head from all his alchemy flareups as he created his gunpower. Which might explain why others didn't see the likeness either.