Scales of War - PR

Goblins and archers and ogres, oh my!

Wherein our heroes get their first taste of combat and heroics, and a goblin is questioned.

Our brave band of heroes was enjoying a quiet night out at a local tavern in the small town of Brindol, when the evening’s silence was shattered by the harsh cries of goblins and the screams of innocent villagers. Wave after wave of goblins, some armed with fiery explosives, poured into the tavern, attacking the villagers and setting fire to the bar (and, much to everyone’s dismay, the bartender, Harry, who persihed in the attack). Our heroes rose to the task handily, though, and as they poured through the door, the goblins were met with magic and steel. The warforged fighter stood before them, a solid, impassable wall of living steel, while the tiefling rogue and the genasi spellsword slashed and stabbed at their flanks, preventing them fro causing even more damage. The eladrin wizard and the human cleric battered the goblin horde with spells both arcane and divine until the threat was ended.. or so they thought. For, no sooner had they ended one battle and begun to lick their wounds, that another scream from outside signaled the arrival of another group of monstrous invaders!

Rushing out of the tavern, our brave heroes were confronted with a terrifying sight: a massive ogre, easily 12’ tall or higher, pulling a cart of flammable barrels behind it. A pair of goblin archers in the cart would light each barrel before handing it to the ogre, who would then throw each deadly projectile into nearby buildings to burn them down. Without hesitation, our heroes rushed to meet this new threat. The warforged fighter and the cleric made a formidable team, with the fighter’s solid attacks and sheer stubbornness a match for the massive ogre’s vicious club and raw strength. With the cleric backing him up, the fighter got up blow after blow, halting the beast’s progress and hacking away at its flesh. The rest of the party took full advantage of the ogre’s distraction, with the rogue and the wizard unleashing a barrage of distance attacks that covered the genasi spellsword’s approach. Instead of engaging the goblin archers directly, the spellsword went right for the flammable barrels, his fiery blade igniting them handily. The party then rushed to a safe distance while the conflagration consumed the ogre and cart. While the rogue managed to take down one of the fleeing goblins, the other one escaped from the battlefield, the party prevented from pursuing the cowardly monster due to the flaming wreckage blocking the street.

The party then retired to a nearby in to rest and heal their wounds, only to be woken up early by a summons from the Councilmember Troyas. Troyas, a half-elf, has been pushing the rest of the town council to hire adventurers to help with the recent rach of goblin raids on the city, and he saw this group as an opportunity to both help the city and further his political career. However, he’d need to meet the heroes first and make sure they were on the up and up. Thankfully, the heroes easily maanged to impress Councilmember Troyas with their skill and obvious knowledge of local history, and so they were shown the true scope of the previous evening’s attacks: goblins invaded several areas of town, and while the town guard was able to repel most of them, several citizens died in the attack, and 7 are missing, presumed taken by the goblins. In addition, a series of historical artifacts, relics of the previous war, were stolen from the Hall of History. Troyas offered the heroes substantial rewards for bringing back the captured citizens or at least determining their ultimate fates, as well as recovering the stolen historical artifacts.

Before the heroes headed out, they were given the opportunity to interrogate a captured goblin known as Morrik, who initially proved resistant to their attempts to bully and intimidate him, but eventually started talking when the heroes mentioned the Red Hand army that had attacked the Vale over a decade ago. From the goblin, they learned that the attacks were being masterminded by a powerful hobgoblin warchief known as Sinruth, who intends to revive the Red Hand army and crush the entire Vale under his rule. After further questioning, the heroes managed to get the location of Sinruth’s base from Morrik: the sprawling underground complex known as Rivenroar, about 2 days walk from Brindol. Even more chilling was the discovery of what the missing villagers were taken for: they’re to be used as offerings and payment to the undead horrors that share Sinruth’s lair!

Armed with this knowledge and the fact that 7 more lives haang on the balance our heroes now prepare to assault Rivenroar and rescue the kidnapped villagers!


