We Go Spelunking

Despite his inability to carry on a reasonable conversation, Grue bluffed his way out of the keep without implicating his companions. Upon rejoining them, the party inadvertently revealed to the guards that the drawbridge to the city was down.

Somewhat concerned, they sent someone to raise the bridge, and our adventurers curiously followed. As the bridge was being raised, Kella’s companions charged across, being pursued by a horde of orcs.

Initial contact with this new group proves rocky, but then what do you expect from a Dwarven Hermit and a Half-Orc Barbarian? Undaunted, when Cade arrives he gives it another try and they immediately take to him.

Meanwhile, the rest of the party is extremely concerned about the Orcs. Grue is also convinced this Human party is more than just hapless victims, a suspicion bolstered by Cade’s discovery that they’re in the “Real Estate” business.

Unbeknownst to our heroes, a few of the Orcs forded the river and engaged in combat with the suspicious band of travelers. Not particularly interested in the outcome of this fight, our heroes “persuade” the guard to lower the drawbridge enough that they can leap across the river on their horses.

Cade and Luukha escape successfully, but Gruebound and Malxiris weren’t so lucky. Although the two of them were blurred, the horse was perfectly visible, and that’s where one of the Orcs aimed. Flung to the ground, the mob descended on the two of them, beating them to within an inch of their lives.

If it weren’t for the elves suddenly appearing from the forest, they surely would have perished. Fortunately, distracted by this new foe, they barely noticed Cade and Luukha return to assist in the party’s escape.

Retreating towards the caves, the adventurers make camp to lick their wounds. After a good nights rest, everybody was in much better spirits, and they set out to investigate the caves.

Loudly entering through the front entrance, they quickly draw the attention of an Ogre, Nob, and several Goblins. Undaunted by its size, Grue approaches and begins proselytizing about The Arrangement. To his credit, Nob is enthralled, and remains so until Cade sneaks around and attacks from behind.

Malxiris uses her connection to magic to put two of the Goblins to sleep. While the rest of the party kept the waking foes busy, she took measures to ensure they would never wake again.

Luukha was the front line, tough enough to go toe to toe with Nob, as well as a second Ogre named Thog who was awoken by the racket. While defeating such powerful foes was certainly a team effort, she dealt the finishing blows.

After recovering from their fight, they set out to explore the cave. The first couple of tunnels proved uninteresting, although their inability to decipher the bubbling goo in one cavern probably belied this observation. Grue carefully obtains a mushroom near that goo to examine later, but the area seemed largely uninteresting.

In the third cavern, though, they discovered the villagers that had been imprisoned by the Goblins. Their egress was hindered by a swarm of bats that attacked upon any noise. The adventurers heroically led the villagers to safety, suffering only a few minor cuts and scrapes.

In the safety of the outdoors, they broke the news of Lady Nandar’s death to them. Morak Ur’Grey, the Innkeeper, realizes the Bard he hired ended up being his savior, and we learn that a few commoners had been herded deeper into the cave.