Charles Plemons' Blog

Game summary for December 1, 2011, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Nicholae Dragos (cleric priest) and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf swordmaster).

Once back at the castellan’s keep, the team hired on a new retainer, Thyra Delvewalker (dwarf).  So, the retainers now also included Archibald Baker (halfling), Ma’Kala (cleric), and Wuldric Mineshield (dwarf).  The party asked to speak with Castellan Horvath, but he would not grant them audience for several days.  However, they ran into Captain Miklos who told them of some missing caravans from the south.  They started asking around at the keep and went to the pickle merchant, Vasile Goral, whom they had rescued from the Caves of Chaos.  He told them he was missing an entire shipment of cucumbers from the south.  The group went and hired a guide, a logger and woodsman named Vlad Bodnar, a talkative but ugly man with a single large united eyebrow.

The group bought supplies, as directed by Vlad, and set off to the south.  They crossed over a bridge and down into the swamp.  The found evidence of the trade skiff route and started following it.  As darkness fell, they encamped on a hill of dry ground.  In the middle of the night, sentries Thyra and Theobald noticed eyes approaching erratically.  As the creatures entered the ring of firelight, the dwarves realized they were under attack from giant toads!  One of the amphibians snatched Thyra with its tongue and began gnawing on her.  In moments, the entire team was up and rushing to battle.  In seconds one toad was driven off into the swamp while the other was slain.

The following morning, Vlad led the team deeper into the bogs until he found where a skiff had veered off course.  Tracking this new trail, they came upon skiff wreckage and crates.  Within, they discovered some textiles and others filled with cucumbers!  The team made note of several reptilian tracks heading further off alongside a set of humanoid prints.  Seeking survivors, the party dashed through the swamp.

After a bit, they tracked the footprints to a gruesome scene.  Half a dozen lizard men held a stripped and bound female elf in a metal cage over a growing fire.  Seeing the woman still alive, Nicholae charged forward as quickly as he could in the muck and attempted to bargain with the creatures.  The lizard men seemed uncertain what he was saying but decided the party would make a nice addition to the cooking cage.  Battle ensued as the elf worked herself out of the gag and began to scream.

The brawl was fierce and violent, with the fast moving lizard men falling upon the party in a mad dash.  Theobald tried setting his spear against the charge but was unsuccessful.  Ma’Kala and Archibald set up a barrage of arrows and sling stones while the three dwarves created a wall of stubborn resistance.  Nicholae waded in hammer first and held his ground as well.  Both sides scored telling blows, but Ma’Kala and Nicholae used their divine magic to keep their team strong.  Before long, the lizard men were all dead.

Nicholae, desperate to save the lovely naked elven female from a fiery death, plunged through the muck, mud flying.  He burst the lock and dragged the woman from a gruesome fate.  The elven maid, Elasha, had been one of the caravan guards on the doomed skiff.  In appreciation for saving her life, she agreed to travel with the party as a retainer free of charge for a period of one month.

With the rescued elf in tow, the lizard men slain, and an answer to the fate of the lost trade goods, the party returned to the keep to seek additional adventures.

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Game summary for November 22, 2011, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Nicholae Dragos (cleric priest), Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf swordmaster), and Weland Ironboot (dwarf warrior).

With several allies dead, the team pressed on with retainers Archibald Baker (halfling), Decimus Kozani (cleric), Germanus Andros (fighter), Ma’Kala (cleric), and Wuldric Mineshield (dwarf) as well as newcomer Weland Ironboot (dwarf).  The team carefully weighed their options of going down the hallway to the left or to the right.  Eventually, they picked one at random and went down it.  At the end, they discovered a prison room with numerous chained hobgoblins and bugbears along with a tall massively-muscled human male.  The team found the man alive and gave him water.  Once set free, they learned this is Uthgar from the far north.  He agreed to help them fight and killed bugbears, and they gave him the two-handed sword once used by Edgard.  The team then fell upon the hobgoblins and bugbears, knowing them to be too dangerous to set free.  They then discovered a moldy cheese wheel, which they fed to Uthgar.

Next, the team traveled back down the hallway and followed the other branch.  The soon discovered a second prison full of goblinoid captives.  Uthgar barged in and slashed them all to death before he could be stopped.  Thinking they had a strong and eager to brawl young ally, the group moved out.  As they moved back the way they came, they stumbled upon a pair of ghouls who tore into the group.  With three allies paralyzed in moments, the team was in trouble.  Fortunately, Nicholae invoked the power of the church of Traladara and turned the two creatures back into the darkness.

The party then moved back down the sloping corridor leading to a room they had previous discovered filled with bugbears.  This time, not as many of the creatures were within, but enough were to be very dangerous.  As a fight broke out, Uthgar entered a blind rage and bloodlust.  He spun about and chopped Germanus into two halves!  Bewildered, the party fell back as the berserker engaged both sides.  The bugbears spilled out of the room and past the madman to fight the withdrawing team.

Soon, a battle raged in several places down the main hallway.  Uthgar steadily dropped bugbears, but they landed blow after blow.  The team battered away and dropped several as well but suffered many hits.  Then, from the darkness behind them emerged the two ghouls from earlier!  They paralyzed and killed Decimus in seconds before Nicholae could again drive them back into the dark.

In short order, the male bugbears were dead, but the females killed Uthgar and advanced.  They then killed Weland in a spray of blood.  The team closed in on their flanks and killed the bugbears after several hard minutes of battle.

With all the bugbears in the immediate area slain, the team recovered several dozen coins and a silver urn.  They then retreated outside to nurse their injuries and flee back to civilization.  Will the team hire new retainers?  Will anyone work for them now?  What, other than gnolls, remains hidden in the caves?

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Game summary for November 17, 2011, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Nicholae Dragos (cleric priest) and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf warrior).

With a mighty team assembled to face the bugbears, the group only had one remaining order of business: the use of the mysterious cold cube they had found in the caves.  They had traded a wand of paralyzation to Ursula Botsaris in exchange for her research into the item.  She revealed that it combined the powers of a mystical ice cube and a cube of abilities.  Known for his clumsiness, Nicholae decided to risk the power of the cube of abilities and found himself gifted with far above average manual dexterity for his efforts!  Encouraged by his good fortune the team, including retainers Archibald Baker (halfling), Decimus Kozani (cleric), Edgard Zeklos (fighter), Germanus Andros (fighter), Ma’Kala (cleric), Rusalka (elf), Ursula Botsaris (magic user), and Wuldric Mineshield (dwarf), set off to the bugbear caves.

Again, the team found the welcoming sign outside the cave giving directions.  This time, the team went to the left instead of right.  They found a single bugbear in a room with a glowing brazier.  The bugbear tried to run up some stairs as the party filed in around him, but they cut him down quickly.  They then continued up the same stairs and found a locked door.  Unable to enter, they went to the second closed door.  Within, they discovered a disheveled bedroom occupied by the massive bugbear chieftain and his favored mate.  The two engaged the party in a vicious melee, both darting around the room to the consternation of the team.  The goblinoids proved deadly, slaying Edgard with a crushing mace blow to the skull and a lethal stabbing of Rusalka the elf.  Archibald found himself terribly injured, and Wuldric bled a bit as well.  However, the team fought on and took down the two brawlers.

The group searched the room and found a chest atop a wall niche.  Inside they discovered several pounds of silver and ivory as well as potions of healing.  Theobald discovered a magical hand axe also.  While searching, they found a secret door leading into the caves of the minotaur they had explored the previous day.  Noting such on their map in case of emergency, the group then took the chieftain’s keys and entered the other locked room.  Within they discovered heaps of food and drink along with a platter filed with catnip.  Wuldric noticed some kind of leather strap sticking out of the catnip, and the group learned it was actually a shield +1!

With several new magical trinkets, the group collected their dead and moved further along.  They encountered a guard room filled with spear-toting bugbears!  Ursula slipped through the ranks and blasted out a cone of her wand of paralyzation to freeze two of the bugbears in place while Germanus cut down a third.  The two unfrozen bugbears surrounded the magic user and impaled her on a spear, killing her instantly.  The team moved in and dispatched the two rather quickly but too late to save Ursula’s life.

With three dead retainers, the team regroups.  What further horrors and treasures await in the caves of the bugbears?

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Game summary for November 10, 2011, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Nicholae Dragos (cleric adept) and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf warrior).

The team introduced themselves to Captain Timotei Miklos of the watch as he trained some new recruits.  The team discovered he had heard of their exploits with the goblins and owlbear.  They spent some time teaching the recruits a few pointers.  He agreed to speak to Captain Maximinus Polymeru of the guard about potential opportunities for employment.  They decided to meet up later in the bar.

The Captains came and told the characters about a missing knight, Sir Valentinus Mardas.  They provided a map where he was expected to have entered a cave and disappeared approximately two weeks earlier.  They described him and his ornate plate armor as well as how the knight’s family is offering a 500 gp reward for his rescue or proof of his final fate.  The team set out at once.

The team returned to the Caves of Chaos and stopped to speak with the Bloody Fist orcs.  They talked with one of the guards and were able to locate what they believed to be the correct cave.  The team asked if he knew what was within, and he replied that he thought it very close to the bugbears and too far from the gnolls.  He had seen cattle enter on several occasions but had not been inside.

The team then approached the cave and did find hoof-prints in the mud leading to the opening, including some around the entrance.  Ma’Kala ignited a torch, and the group advanced.  Within the walls began to waver and move, a sense of vertigo sweeping over the party.  In moments they were hopelessly lost in a maze of corridors.  They discovered the partially consumed carcasses of some stirges down one branch.  Wuldric then had the idea of taking the paint they found the day before and marking an “X” on the wall.  The group was quickly disappointed to wander about and find the “X” several times.

As they moved about, they noticed a red light down the hallway approaching quickly.  Along with the light came numerous click-clack noises.  Nicholae urged them to hide in ambush, but Ma’Kala’s torch proved the undoing of that plan.  Seconds later, three fire beetles ran down the corridor to attack!  Nicholae moved into the hallway to engage backed up by Wuldric and Germanus.  Nicholae cracked the carapace of one beetle, and Germanus finished it off with his glaive.  Theobald used his spear, enchanted against bugs, to blast a hole through another.  The third beetle clamped its vise-like mandibles on Nicholae’s armor but could not penetrate.  In moments the third insect lay dead as well.  The group decided to then extract the glowing red glands from the bugs to use as a light source.

After some more wandering, the group stumbled into a wider section of caverns.  From the shadows charged a massive bovine form, a chainmail-clad minotaur!  The horned monstrosity impaled Arathorn the elf and hurled his lifeless, broken body against a wall.  Undaunted, the team engaged to land blow after blow.  Despite scoring many hits, the minotaur kept swinging, injuring the party greatly.  Finally, the hammer of Nicholae slammed into the creature’s spine from behind, breaking its back and killing the horror.

The party then ransacked the caves, no longer afflicted by disorientation, and left with a wealth of coins and jewels.  More importantly, they discovered the ornate armor of Sir Valentinus Mardas.  The group took the horns of the minotaur as a trophy as well and delivered the carcass to the orcs for a roasting.  They then returned to the keep.  Once there, they were able to speak with Castellan Horvath who rewarded them with 500 gp as well as the knight’s magical armor!  In addition, and more importantly to Theobald the dwarf, he decreed that there first drink every night in the tavern be on the house!

Wasting no time in taking advantage, the party went to the tavern.  Within they talked with all the mercenaries gathered and hired every one of them for a single mission: eradicate the bugbears!

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Game summary for November 3, 2011, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Nicholae Dragos (cleric adept) and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf warrior).

The party, along with retainers Arathorn, Germanus, Quintinus, and Wuldric, proceeded into the caves.  They sifted through the debris uncovering a single copper coin along with a rusty cargo hook.  Theobald searched for traps and made enough noise to draw the attention of a cave denizen—an owlbear!  The creature attacked, mauling Theobald in moments.  The team tore into the ferocious beast, which only made it attack more violently!  Theobald fell back, and Nicholae stepped up only to be mauled as well.  Quintinus sank arrow after arrow into the beast while the twin glaives of Arathorn and Germanus worked it over.  Wuldric battled on with his mighty axe, holding the line.  It was the mighty arm of Theobald, however, who brought down the beast with a savagely hurled spear!  The team skinned the conquered beast and took its talons and beak as trophies.

Within the lair of the owlbear, they discovered a partially eaten gnoll and a bone scroll case containing a scroll of protection from undead.  The team then moved down a side hallway into a chamber wherein they found a corner radiating frigid cold.  After shifting the accumulated debris about, they found three geometric shapes carved into the wall:  a circle, a square, and a triangle.  After fiddling with it a bit, they discovered the triangle turned.  Soon thereafter, they succeeded in pushing the square.  Thinking for a moment, they pulled on the circle, which opened a secret compartment!  Within lay a stone cube radiating unearthly cold.  The team placed the cube in the owlbear skin for storage.

The team then moved into another chamber to discover an orc corpse slain by a goblin javelin.  Nicholae, drawing on what he had learned with their recent alliance with the orcs, performed an acceptable funeral rite over the maggot-infested body.  As they turned to leave the area, they found a gray ooze slithering down the corridor.  The horror surged forward to engulf Quintinus, stripping the flesh from his bones and killing him in seconds!

The party scattered, and Germanus landed a telling blow on the ooze.  It succeeded in touching other party members with a pseudo pod but failed to inflict the damage it had on Quintinus.  Theobald threw the cold-emanating cube at it, which it did not seem to like.  Nicholae rushed forward and pounded the ooze into inanimate slime with his warhammer.

With this monstrosity dealt with, the team moved north and found a room with a murky pool of water with something metallic shimmering on the far side.  The group got into an argument with Arathorn, who refused to go in after the golden item.  Finally, a disgusted Nicholae waded into the pool to find a jewel-encrusted goblet.  Unfortunately, two more gray oozes floated up and attacked.  The party started to flee, with Wuldric and Arathorn holding the line of retreat.  They dispatched one ooze and bolstered their confidence.  The group stayed and fought with the other until it too was slain.

The team then took the owlbear carcass to the orcs who cooked and ate it at a great feast while the party told tales of the encounter in the cave.  Later the team walked back to the castellan’s keep to sell the chalice and owlbear skin.  They patched up their relationship with Arathorn as well as hired on a mysterious dark-skinned young woman named Ma’Kala.  She was brought on due to her clerical training and knowledge of mysticism, religious ceremony, and healing.

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Game summary for October 11, 2011, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Nicholae Dragos (cleric acolyte) and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf veteran).

In the castellan’s keep, the team reunited with Germanus, and Illithor departed for other opportunities.  They returned to the Hearth and Road tavern to recruit new retainers and re-hired Wuldric Mineshield and Arathorn.  Additionally, they hired archer Quintinus Metelko.

Re-equipped, the team returned to the lair of the Bloody Fist orc tribe and began working on preparations for the upcoming battle with the Finger Gnawers goblins and Blades of Doom hobgoblins.  They provided the orcs with the maps they had made of the goblin and hobgoblin lairs.  Nicholae gave a stirring speech to rally the orcs, and Arathorn encouraged their bravery.  Theobald led the orcs through a number of exercises to limber up for the fight and taught them several ways to improve their preparations.  Quintinus and Theobald conferred on military strategy for a while and determined that was better left to the rapier minds of the violent orcish brutes.  Nicholae visited the Get the Gruumsh orc tribe in a nearby cave and tried to talk them into joining the fight.  After failing to appeal to their altruistic nature, he paid them gold.  With a several dozen orcs now ready for war, Nicholae conducted a religious ceremony to bless the battle.

The orcs and hobgoblins met blade-to-blade in the valley of the caves of chaos, and blood ran deep.  The preparations by the party paid off, and the orcs proved extremely deadly.  The battle raged for half an hour as the orcs drove the goblinoids into the caves.  Using the knowledge scouted by the party, the orcs were able to negotiate the terrain readily and slaughter even more goblin scum.  Meanwhile, Nicholae and Theobald worked to treat the wounded orcs and keep them in the battle.  After an hour of battle, most of the goblinoids had fled into the night or lay dead or dying.  The marauding orcs stripped the bodies of valuables while Nicholae collected left ears to prove to the keep the number of goblinoids eliminated.  The orcs then claimed the bodies as dinner and returned to their caves.  As agreed, they left the inner goblin caves to the party.

The team worked through the caves scaring off the occasional goblinoid straggler and stripped the caves of any valuables.  They recovered a small fortune in silver, pewter, and gemstones along with assorted coins and a well-stocked armory.  All told, they recovered several thousand gold coins in value.

After a several trips to the keep to unload spoils, make bank deposits, and restock, the team set out to explore the furthest cave on the lowest level of the ravine.  They discovered an entryway filled with leaves, branches, bones, and decaying corpses.  Sifting through the reeking mess, they discovered a number of loose coins.  However, the rattling of the leaves attracted a swarm of giant rats!  The vermin swept into the party like a tide of chittering teeth.  Several of the retainers were injured, but the party made short work of the rodents.  Afterward, they resumed their search through the garbage and had to fight off another trio of rats.

With the second set of rats defeated, the party stood ready to proceed deeper into the caves in search of glory, riches, and enemies of humanity.

Game summary for October 6, 2011, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Illithor (elf veteran-medium), Nicholae Dragos (cleric acolyte), Stanislav Dmitros (fighter veteran), and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf veteran).

The group returned to the caves and met with the Bloody Fist tribe, including the chieftain, Right Fist, whose hand was coated in dried blood.  The orcs agreed to team with the party to wage war against the goblins and hobgoblins in two days’ time.  Meanwhile, they suggested the party cause disruption and chaos, as they had been, among other tribes.

The party asked about some of the other caves, and Right Fist pointed out where to find kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, gnolls, and bugbears.  Stanislav informed the party that bugbears were some of the largest and more violent goblinoids, and the group decided to visit them.  Outside the cave, they discovered a sign written in kobold, goblin, and orcish stating, “Safety, security, and repose for all humanoids who enter—WELCOME!  (Come in and report to the first guard on the left for a hot meal and bed assignment.)”  The promptly entered and went to the right.

The team’s light alerted the guards to the left who called out to them in the guttural language of the goblins.  Ignoring it, they pressed on down a slope and opened a door to find a room filled with bugbear men and women who snatched up axes and swords.  Meanwhile, the bugbear guards from down the hallway closed in on the other side, catching the party between a dozen armed and violent goblinoids!

The team fought valiantly but quickly found themselves nursing grievous injuries.  Several bugbears went down, but the party could not hold the line.  Germanus found well with his glaive, and Stefan stepped up to swing his hammer, but even the two warrior retainers were not enough to turn the tide.  The team opened a way through toward the exit and fled at full speed.  The bugbears cut off the escape route of Germanus and Stefan while others ran after the fleeing party.

Stefan fled deeper into the caves, Stanislav was cut down in his tracks, and Germanus fled another direction.  Nicholae was surrounded and beaten into unconsciousness.  The bugbears then bargained with the survivors and ransomed Nicholae for 25 platinum coins.

With Nicholae recovered along with the corpse of Stanislav, the team ran back to the keep to lick their wounds and learn from what went wrong.

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Game summary for September 22, 2011, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Illithor (elf veteran-medium), Ralsk Lightbringer (cleric acolyte) and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf veteran).

With Wuldric Mineshield and Arathorn now hired on, and Ralsk Lightbringer now in the party, the team returned to the goblin caves.  Not far within, they discovered a guard post stationed with six spear-toting goblins.  The team dug in the hallway and waited for the goblins to approach.  Instead, the goblins hurled spear after spear at the party driving them back with numerous injuries.  The team ran away back to the keep to nurse their injuries after learning that Ralsk had no training or skill in healing.

Once recovered, the team returned to find the goblin guard post and tore through them.  They looted the room and pushed on through to find a stairwell leading to a well-made, barred wooden door.  The sign upon it said “Come in—we’d love to have you for dinner!” in Thyatian.  Theobald knocked on the door and demanded all their money.  Shuffling and scraping sounds were heard, and Ralsk poured oil all over the door and floor.  The team fell back and ignited the oil.

The rolling smoke soon drove the party out of the caves, but they saw a trace of smoke from a cave higher up the ravine.  The team moved in and followed the smoke into the other side of the caves.  They discovered a hastily abandoned room with smoke billowing under a door.  They backtracked and went down another corridor to discover a torture chamber with two armed hobgoblins and a room full of prisoners.  A fierce battle broke out, with one hobgoblin cutting down Ralsk with his sword.  Illithor finished the hobgoblin off with a magic missile.

Two of the humans, Vasile and Veleslava Goral, were merchants relieved to be rescued and removed from the menu.  Two men-at-arms, Germanus Andros and Stefan Dodrescu, agreed to hire on with the party for a year without pay.  Another prisoner, an orc named Bronak Brokenteeth, indicated a desire to kill many hobgoblins and asked the team and come back to speak with the Bloody Fists tribe.  The last prisoner was a massive mangy gnoll that Illithor named ‘Carl’ and tried to befriend.  He fed Carl the face of one of the hobgoblins, and Carl then fled off into the caves.

Back at the keep, the team buried Ralsk and released Arathorn and Wuldric from services and outfitted Germanus and Stefan.

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.

Game summary for September 15, 2011, In Search of Adventure campaign, Keep on the Borderlands adventure; present characters included Grey Mouser (thief apprentice), Illithor (elf veteran-medium), Nicholae Dragos (cleric acolyte) and Theobald Goblinbane (dwarf veteran).

Joined by Illithor and Nicholae, who had been bringing up the rear, the party attacked the goblin and ogre.  The brawl was brutal, with the goblin going down quickly.  The ogre fell back into a narrow hallway to limit the foes who could engage him.  He delivered a clobbering shot to Wuldric Mineshield, cracking several ribs and driving him into the ground.  The battered dwarf had to fall back from the fight.  Grey Mouser ran about the back ranks launching arrow after arrow at the ogre and missing.  Theobald planted his spear in the ogre’s gut while Nicholae hammered its knee.  Howling in pain, the ogre fell back further and vainly swung away at the armored and nimble Illithor who had just hit it with a magic missile.  As the party closed in, Grey Mouser finally found his range and sank an arrow in the ogre’s throat, dropping it dead to the ground.

After ransacking the ogre lair, the team found a side corridor.  At the end four burned and blackened bodies lay in a heap.  The team decided they must have triggered a trap and fell back for the time being.

Advancing slowly, the team came upon a lair filled with dozens of goblins.  The women and young fled out the back while the males advanced.  The party tried to convince the goblins to pay tribute; however, the goblins, fearful and trying to protect their young, were soon provoked to fight.  With reckless abandon, the goblins filled the hallway and fought.  The party parried spear thrust after spear thrust and traded blows with the humanoids.  Minor wounds were accumulated, and a couple of goblins went down.  Things were starting to turn in favor of the party when a well-aimed spear penetrated Katarzina’s armor and skewered her.  The retainer was dead before she hit the floor, her torch falling from her limp fingers.  A sneaky goblin then stomped out the light source.

Plunged into darkness, the fighting got intense.  Quick-thinking Grey Mouser pulled out a tinder box and torches and illuminated the passageway.  Out of arrows, he also drew forth hand axes.  He hurled one into the melee as the team began to fatigue.  More goblins died, but the party lines were softening.  Illithor’s blade ran red with blood, and Nicholae had bound his wounds and moved back to the front.  Stout Theobald suffered several spear thrusts and had to fall back.  Grey Mouser moved in to fill the ranks and found himself impaled upon a goblin spear.  The cackling fiend ripped the haft from his chest as he toppled over into death.

Injured Wuldric advanced back into the fray, and the party drove the goblins back on their heels.  One after another fell, but fighting for the lives of their families, the goblins did not retreat.  They stood to a “man” and traded their lives dearly in blood and agony.  With the foul creatures slain, they had a moment to catch their breath.  Illithor picked up a goblin body and investigated the side chamber once again.  He hurled the body down the hall trying to trigger the suspected fire trap that burned the other four bodies within.  The floppy goblin hurtled through the air, splatted against the far wall, and landed in a heap with no effect.

Unsure about the hall, the team grabbed the bodies of Katarzina and Grey Mouser and fled back to the keep.  Once there, Nicholae conducted two beautiful funeral services.  They then proceeded to negotiate the hiring of Arathorn, an elven mercenary.

The above summary is for a game session of Dungeons & Dragons BECMI / RC edition played by the Phoenix Gaming Club.