Saving a Town

We camped for the night at a popular camping spot for adventurers. Another group had already settled nearby. They told us that they had just come from the goblin caves. It turned out this quest was a little different from goblin hunts I had been on before. I was used to small bands that had taken up residence near a cluster of towns and were pestering the locals. Sometimes they were break-off tribes trying to establish their own territory. Sometimes they were gathering supplies and slaves to send back to their tribe. Either way, the goal was to clear them out completely.
 
This time, a group of our blue goblin allies had located the entrance to a cave that contained a full goblin horde of green goblins. There was really no way that one small adventuring group could take them all out. So, the idea was to kill as many as we could and get paid accordingly. It would take months, possibly years, to either kill them all or make staying untenable. The other adventurers told us where to find the blue goblin “camp”. The group was well established in the area, but they didn’t have a word for city or town in their language. So, they simply referred to their land as a very large camp. One with fortified walls, permanent structures, and even a shop for adventurers. If we asked around, there was even a chance of getting some of the blues to come with us. They hate the greens as much as we do.
 
We found the blue goblin “camp” late the next morning. They were excited to see a new group of adventurers come through and showed us around. We weren’t the only adventurers there, either. The blues were handling the payments for the Adventurers’ Guild, so whenever a team would come back, they would present the ears of the goblins they killed and get paid per head. We asked around and found a trio of blues willing to help us fight. They called themselves The Broken Teeth. A goblin adventuring group! The Broken Teeth took us to the shop for any gear we might need.
 
The shop was more like a bizarre, with tables and tents on the ground floor selling various wares, and backstock in crates on the second floor. Most of the gear was well below what we already had, but they had an alchemist with healing potions and cinnabril. We also picked up some goblin slaying arrows for Willow and a Cloudstep ring for me. The ring will allow me to instantly teleport to any place I could see up to six times before needing to recharge it. That will make it easier to get to anyone needing medical attention during a fight. While we shop, we talk to the Teeth about what to expect. They tell us a little about the main cave, but are more concerned with a nearby farming town that has been overrun. The greens are keeping the townsfolk locked up in the church. Desecrating holy ground with their slavery and violence! I want to charge out of the camp to bring down the justice of the Trine on their heads, but the others insist on resting and eating before we go. I can see the logic, so I settle down until we are fortified.
 
The occupied town sits along a river bank and has a bridge leading across directly into the town proper. The goblins had erected spiked wooden fences along the bank to either side of the bridge, forcing any would-be rescuers to come through that single entry point. They had also erected a totem to some unknown deity that blocked all magic and magical items. Literally every member of our group, with the exception of The Broken Teeth, uses some form of magic, so that totem was a problem. While the rest of the party prepared for the fight with enhancement spells, I stood to the side and prayed to the Morrigan for help taking down that totem. She responded by sending a murder of crows to attack it. She also informed me that there was another totem further in. As soon as the first totem was destroyed, the crows flew off to take care of the second. The goblins saw their totem being attacked and charged at us over the bridge.
 
It was a brutal fight that involved two dozen green goblins, a warg, and three lizardkin. One of the lizards was a shaman who hid in the church for most of the battle. Once we got close enough, he summoned the dead goblins, and the dead warg, back to “life” and sent them to attack us. As the others engaged with the undead, I slammed a cinnabril potion to recover my mana, and cast Sanctuary. The ground around me in a twenty-five foot circle suddenly became holy ground. All the undead caught fire and the shaman could not summon more. Lily transformed and attacked the shaman, but he knocked her feet out from under her with his tail. That gave Willow the opportunity to hit him with an arrow, demanding that he surrender. He informed us he had placed runes on the hostages that would allow him to kill them all instantly with a word. Luckily for us, Malachite was busy sneaking into the church while we were fighting on the ground. By the time the shaman threatened the hostages, he had already removed the runes from each of them, freeing the people, but leaving the runes behind. If the shaman triggered the spell, the church would burn down around us. Claudia gave the shaman one chance to surrender to the mercy of the crown. He spat at her. With a shrug, she used polymorph to turn him into a rabbit. It took a few moments to work as his will battled hers. But he was injured and tied from the fight, and she’s Claudia Vonn. He never stood a chance. Claudia casually walked over to pick p the rabbit-shaman and tucked him away in her bag.
 
About that time, another group of adventurers arrived from the other side of town. They had just finished culling the goblins in the cave and were on their way to try to free the townsfolk. They seemed quite happy to have missed the fight when we told them what we had faced. They were able to confirm that the town’s mayor was dead and the town had been pretty thoroughly looted, and that the shaman had been the leader of this particular unit.
 
During the fight, Brie had found a mysterious chest in an alchemy shop near the church. The owner of the shop told us that someone in town had found the thing years ago, but no one had been able to open it. The treasure inside was free to anyone who could. Claudia and Brie tag team it and quickly have it open. In addition to the gems and coins one would expect to find in a treasure chest, there was a silver cloth made of silk wrapped around something snoring. Claudia moved the cloth to reveal a winged cat with two tails. Clearly, the creature was magical to have survived years inside the chest with no food or water. But I sensed no malice from it. It awoke and ignored Claudia completely, instead turning to Brie. The two were immediately lost in some kind of trance-like state. When she came out of it, Brie announced that they had bonded and the cat’s name was Silk. The townsfolk take just enough of the gold an gems to be able to repair the goblin damage to the town and let us take the rest.
 
With that done, we left the town to its recovery and escorted the Broken Teeth back home. They lost one of their group, but the other two got to return in full glory with new names based on their deeds in the battle. We bid Slayer and Spearcatcher goodbye and went to turn in the quest. After receiving the promised gold payment, we were given a chest full of useful potions as a bonus for taking out the shaman. We spent the night in the “camp” ready to head off the next day for our last Adventurers’ Guild mission.