Session 4 — The Goblin King

Thaddeus led Calcryx alone while carrying Meepo to a room with a cage after saying to the rest of the group, “Don’t wait up for me; I’ve got this.” Before they could follow, they were ambushed by goblins and were ultimately forced to take a long rest before continuing their pursuit. By that time, they found only Meepo’s remains and no sign of Thaddeus or the dragon.

Hoping that Thaddeus safely led the dragon out the way they came, the party backtracked toward the kobold stronghold to find him. Before they got all the way back, they found the dragon feasting on dead kobolds and blocking the hall. Again, there was no sign of Thaddeus. Since they didn’t dare confront the dragon, the group turned around to continue advancing through the citadel.

After a few more fights involving smashing a goblin to death with a door and nearly getting trampled by a mob of goblin women and children, the party stumbled into a throne room with elite hobgoblin warriors and the hobgoblin chief Durnn. The room also contained a human sorcerer with draconic ancestry named Hugo A’Darling. Hugo was there to make deals with the goblins in exchange for the fruit.

Durnn was hostile, but Zin convinced him to have his strongest warrior fight the party’s in single combat, rather than have a total melee. Kavagal was selected, and with the aid of some discreet magical assistance from a goblin who was convinced by Hugo to betray Durnn (and who didn’t survive the ensuing battle), Kavagal killed their champion. The party then started an all-out fight anyway and eventually killed Durnn, with Blumf getting the killing blow using his Epic Flail. The few remaining goblin warriors scampered off. The party collected Durnn’s head for Yusdrayl.

In the center of the goblin throne room was a wide shaft that descended about 100 feet. Qeew flew down and saw the entrance to a cavern, which they surmised lead to the Twilight Grove and the magic fruit-bearing tree.

Before proceeding, they decided to take a shortcut back to the kobold throne room to trade the goblin chief’s head for a reward and to look for Thaddeus once more. Near the throne room, the party found many dead kobold and saw from a distance Calcryx fighting Yusdrayl and a few of her bodyguards. They debated among themselves about whether to intervene, and which side they would support if they did…