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Labyrinths of the Lost - Session 1

_in Taelgar: October 17th, 1748
on Earth: November 12th, 2023
Western Cymea

Summary

  • Four trapped prisoners escape their cell, defeat some drunk goblins
  • Find themselves on the extensive grounds of a ruined and abandoned manor house
  • Said former prisoners pretend to be the drunk goblins
  • Deception goes predictably wrong and the party is forced to fight more goblins
  • Manage to capture Folcan, one of the leaders, and interrogate him
  • Intimidate Folcan into leaving them alone for a while; we end as Folcan flees back to the barracks with a promise to tell everyone else that the situation is sorted

The Protagonists

  • Asescale, a Lizardfolk alchemist and gambler
  • Dilion, a human tinkerer and battlesmith
  • Gadin, a human warlock with a hint of the Fey about him
  • Loria Underbough, a halfling wanderer and ranger

The Goblins

  • Morky, Norrica, and Skelver, three drunk goblin guards, all dead
  • Folcan, a self-proclaimed leader of the goblins, interrogated and released
  • Ulgna, another goblin leader, perhaps the real leader. Not yet encountered

Others

  • Grimstone, a rumored humanoid, species unknown, who appears in a white stone mask once a week to take prisoners into the ruined manor, who never return

Plot Developments

  • Goblin raiders are capturing people to give to the mysterious Grimstone. The goblins keep the silver and non-magical treasure, Grimstone takes the prisoners, the gold, and the magic. Some goblins think this is a great gig. No one knows what Grimstone does with the prisoners.
  • Grimstone’s base of operations is the ruined manor house. The front door is guarded by several hobgoblins, as is the road back to town.
  • Folcan tells the party about tunnels that lead to the wine cellar in the manor. The tunnels can be accessed from the goblin lair in the old barracks, from the kitchen outbuildings, or possibly from the ruined chapel.
  • Folcan promises to convince the rest of the goblins that the prisoner situation is dealt with. He seems genuinely scared, but it is never clear how far you can trust a scared goblin.

Narrative

In a dimly lit room, trapped in a crudely constructed cell, four travelers meet. They have been all been separately ambushed on the roads of Western Cymea, and brought here, stripped of their equipment, for unclear reasons.

Part 1: The Escape

The first goal is escaping, which turns out not to be difficult. One side of the prison is constructed from wood planks, the bottom third of which is slightly rotted. With a solid push, Dilion is able shove his hand right through the rotted wood, opening a hole to crawl out.

The room the prison is constructed in appears to be an abandoned workshop or forge of some kind. Dilion and Asecale scrounge tools of various kinds, and everyone finds improvised weapons, as Loria listens at the 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.”

Meanwhile, the party investigates the next room, finding cloaks, armor, pouches, and backpacks, all neatly organized and folded, as well as another door into the room with the drunk goblins.

Part 2: The Drunk Goblins

With nothing left to do but face the drunk goblins, the party decides to split up, half the group entering from each door. As they prepare to rush in, at the last moment, Loria asks Acescale to test the lock on the door, and they discover it is barred. Revising the plans, the party attempts to ambush the goblins with a distraction, knocking loudly on the barred door. This goes worse than one might expect given the state of the goblins. However, an anger Loria kneecaps a goblin with slashes from her two daggers, and Acescale sends a blast of acid that burns two of them, and soon the drunk goblins are defeated.

Loria recovers her short swords, and the rest of the party scavenges weapons and shields from among the goblin gear, while Dilion purifies some of the goblin food with his magic to make sure the pawed through rations are safe to eat. During the short breather, everyone is refreshed with their first real adventure, and feels stronger, ready to face whatever dangers arise.

Part 3: The Disguised Goblins

After a rest, the party steps outside to investigate, finding they are on the grounds of an extensive, abandoned manor. After some brief exploration, they realize that there are more goblins in the next building over, a few hundred feet away. 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.

Goblin-Gaudin and fake-tied-up Loria proceed down the path. The two goblin guards sense something is up, and one goes to get help while the other approaches. Goblin-Gaudin tries to sell the drunk slurred speech as best he can, but the telephone translation makes things very difficult. He is kicked and then blasted by a toxic blast of poisonous magic, taking the hits to keep the illusion alive. And, perhaps, after a rough start, it might be working! Except, when one of the goblins goes to kick Loria, she panics, and suddenly a massive cloud of fog appears, obscuring everything.

With that, the fight is on, and over quickly, as Acescale and Dilion engage from behind the cover of the hedge row, Loria is a terror with her twin short swods, and Gaudin uses his eldritch blast. As the combat ends before anyone is the barracks notices anything, Folcan, the supposed leader, is taken captive, and everyone retreats to the prison/forge.

Part 4: The Interrogation

Back in the forge, the party interrogates Folcan, and learns some [[#Plot Developments|important details]]. 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 tells the party about the tunnels under the manor grounds, and 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.

We end as the party plots there next steps as the sun begins to set.