Labyrinths of the Lost - Session 1

Four prisoners break out of a smithy cell on the grounds of Perdoli Manor, kill two groups of goblin guards, capture Folcan, and learn about Grimstone, the leader of the kidnapping ring.

Timeline

• Oct 17, 1748 DR: Four prisoners break out of their smithy cell, kill two goblin groups, capture the goblin leader Folcan, and learn of tunnel routes into the manor.

Cast of Characters

• Morky: drunk goblin guard.
• Norrica: drunk goblin guard.
• Skelver: drunk goblin guard.
• Folcan (he/him, goblin): goblin boss with a staff.
• Ulgna (she/her, goblin): goblin superior blamed by the guards.
• Grimstone (he/him, human): mysterious master taking prisoners.

Places

• Perdoli Manor (pehr-DOH-lee; ruined manor estate in Western Cymea, Cymea): ruined manor estate where goblins hold prisoners and guard routes toward the main house.

Combat

• Drunk Guards in the Forge: Morky, Norrica, and Skelver. The party’s first escape attempt becomes a room-to-room brawl in the guard chamber, and all three drunken jailers are killed before the wider manor reacts.
• Fog Fight on the Barracks Path: Folcan and three barracks goblins. Folcan breaks the prisoner-transfer ruse, but Loria’s fog cloud lets the party isolate the path fight, kill the exposed guards, and drag Folcan back alive.

Narrative

Acescale, Gaudin, Loria, and Dilion awaken stripped of their gear in a crude wooden cell built inside an abandoned smithy, on the grounds of Perdoli Manor in Western Cymea. After taking stock of one another, they discover that one prison wall has rotted through, tear their way into the adjacent workshop, and gather tools, improvised weapons, and better clothing.

While they search, Loria listens at the next door, hearing the laughter, arguing, and gambling of drunk goblins:

“Stuck here for a stinking week! Damn that Ulgna! Why does Folcan listen to her in the first place, she doesn’t even like working for Grimstone!”

“Ha, yeah, its the easiest raiding in a while. One prisoner a week and all the brandy we can drink? Even worth putting up with that filthy krekka. Glad we have Ulgna and her buddies to draw his ire!”

“Which one of the latest batch should we give to Grimstone when he down in two days? I vote the lizardfolk, he probably eats the most anyway and I don’t like the look of him. I bet we can keep that scrawny halfling alive for weeks on stale bread and rotting meat, ha ha.”

A neatly arranged side room full of scavenged clothes and armor, including one magically preserved formal outfit, confirms that many victims have passed through this place. Discussing what to do, the party decides to ambush the goblins from two sides, using both doors into the guard room.

The party’s plan to hit the drunk goblins fails the moment one of the doors proves barred from the far side, turning the planned ambush into a messy brawl. Even so, the guards are slow, drunk, and badly positioned, and the fight tilts steadily toward the prisoners despite darkness, confusion, and a few ugly moments. Loria is especially vicious in close quarters, while the others pile on with spells, steel, and missiles until Morky, Norrica, and Skelver are all dead in the forge-side room. The fight is over quickly, without alerting the rest of the manor, and the party has survived its first real test together.

Once the immediate danger has passed, the party searches the goblin room thoroughly and starts piecing themselves back together. Loria recovers her short swords, Acescale gets his playing cards back, Gaudin reclaims a silver ring set with a weathered pearl, and the room’s stolen rations and cheap brandy make it clear that many prisoners have passed through this place before them. After a brief rest and meal in the smithy, they scout the surrounding grounds and realize they are on the edge of sprawling Perdoli Manor, with overgrown gardens, hedges, a nearby barracks or servants’ quarters, and the larger villa farther off across the estate. Rather than simply flee or march blindly toward the manor, they discuss using the next goblin contact as a source of information, whether by waiting for someone to bring food, following them, or questioning them.

Dilion scouts the path outside, and finds two goblins sitting near the intact building. A complicated plan is hatched: Loria, who understands goblin, will pretend to be bound, and Gaudin, who can disguise himself as a goblin, will bring her out. That way, Loria can telepathically translate for Gaudin, and tell him what to say with her silent speech. As Goblin-Gaudin and fake-tied-up Loria lurch forward, Loria silently translates and feeds Gaudin words he can only repeat phonetically. The plan is awkward from the start, but it is almost good enough to fool the first two guards, and it draws out the goblin leader Folcan. Things fall apart when one goblin spots Loria’s hidden sword and Folcan, sharper than the first drunk guards, sends a warning, blasts Gaudin with his toxic staff, and orders Loria seized.

The moment the goblins move to grab Loria, she panics and throws a Fog Cloud across the path and hedgerow, triggering a vicious fight. Fighting through the mist, Loria cuts down the goblin grappling her, Gaudin slips clear and starts firing from range, Dilion and his steel defender press forward from behind the hedge, and Acescale drops another guard with his crossbow. The last path goblin is knocked unconscious, Folcan is battered and taken alive, and the party retreats to the smithy to question him.

Back in the forge, the party interrogates Folcan. Folcan threatens that his pack of 10 loyal goblins will come save him if they aren’t careful, and rants about Ulgna being too cowardly and useless. Acescale’s attempts at intimidation don’t go too well, until Gaudin blasts him with an eldritch blast, and then Acescale revives him with a cure wounds. This shakes Folcan to the core, and terrified, he talks. He explains about Grimstone, who appears each week in black robes and a white marble mask, and takes one prisoner into the manor. He lets the goblins keep loot, though he takes the best treasure for himself. The manor, though, is guarded by hobgoblins, who also guard the road. The best way in, he says, is tunnels: from the barracks and kitchen, and maybe the chapel, tunnels lead toward the wine cellar. He then promises to return to the goblin barracks and tell everyone he has dealt with the situation. If Folcan is true to his word, no one will be coming to bother the party for at least a day. No goblins, at least.