AtD 013: Fire & Blood

The party briefly discussed their next move. Some wanted to pursue the fleeing hobgoblins, while others wanted to rest. Discretion and prudence won out, and the party retreated to the mausoleum's roof. Although some of the party—notably Bodrum—expressed disquiet at the party's choice of campsite, the night was essentially peaceful. (The only distractions the party faced during the night were the howls of hunting wolves and—more worryingly—the screeches of hunting ghouls in the woods).

The next morning, the heroes enjoyed a cold breakfast, completed their preparations for a day of high adventure and plotted their next move. Eventually, they decided to try and set fire to the tangled mass of the monastery's old garden in the hopes of smoking out the goblins lairing within.

Making their way via a circuitous route to the wall bounding the garden, the party gathered dry deadfall and the like to begin their mighty conflagration. Thonn scaled the wall and cautiously tried to lower himself into the park, but the great mass of entangled vegetation stymied any meaningful progress.

As the party discussed the best way of setting the garden aflame, they were surprised by a small band of goblins returning to the monastery. A swift, running battle broke out. Ozloc slept half the goblins with his powerful celestial magic while the rest of the party slaughtered the other goblins.

A single survivor screaming something in Goblin broke away and fled into the monastery's ruined and overgrown grounds. Worryingly, its screams were answered with high-pitched battle cries from within the tangled garden. As Harald led most of the party around the garden, a half-dozen goblins scurried forth from the garden to slay the intruders...