Storm waits only a brief second, then begins running after the fleeing foes. As he passes the party, he tells "I'll try to get them last buggers. Back in a jiffy. Hehah!" He sprints off into the woods after the hobgoblins.

"Storm! Wai... um, wait?" Edryd sees Storm dash off and has visions of him sneaking his way right into an enormous enclave of hobgoblins! "Come on," he says to Canter and, as he takes off after Storm, looks at Cy, "Make sure those guys don't wake up!" Then he's off. Canter flips his sword in his hand and starts off into the darkened woods after Edryd and Storm.

Feeling the cool night breeze whip past them, Storm, Edryd, and Canter sprint through the woods. Edryd and Catner are a couple of yards behind Storm, straining to keep up with the amazingly agile dwarf as he careers through the trees. Storm cocks his head, listening as well as trying to visually see where the two hobgoblins went.

Left, then right, then left again, Storm changes his direction, with Edryd and Canter in tow. It's not long, though, before he catches up to the slower creatures. Building up speed, Storm leaps on the slower hobgoblin in a pounce. Driving his sword deep into the monster's back, he kills it instantly, dispatching the body. The other hobgoblin, however, attacks Storm as the dwarf kicks the dead weight away. It's short sword slices into Storm's skin (5 hp damage), causing the dwarf to grind his teeth in pain.

But Storm doesn't wait long to retaliate. He swings his two swords swiftly through the night air, and Edryd and Canter arrive just in time to see both blades connect with thier target. The hobgoblin gets in one last attempt to strike, but by now it is too late. Storm ably blocks the attack and finishes off the monster in one quick movement.

"Storm," Canter says with a smirk, "you never cease to amaze me."

Edryd nods, patting the heaving dwarf on the shoulder and looking down at him. "It seems Anhur is with all of us tonight. Let's just hope his blessings remain for the journey ahead. Now let's back to the others and see what they've learned."

Before leaving the bodies, Storm quickly goes through their pockets and belongings. Leaving the shoddy club and rusted short sword behind, he withdraws a couple of coins to add to the loot, saying "we'll give these out later..."

Upon slowly returning to the hobgoblin campsite, Storm, Edryd, and Canter are told what has transpired there:

Crayne moves over to the sleeping Hobgoblin readying his dagger should the goblin make any sudden move. He then looks up around the rest of the group. "Does anybody here speak goblinoid?" Crayne clutches his shoulder and awaits for the hobgoblin to wake so that he can question him.

Guilliam steps up, nodding. "I know a little, learned it a while back. Maybe I can try." Putting away his scourge and taking out his knife, he walks silently to the hobgoblins and looks down upon them. Then, grabbing undamaged sections of their clothing, he cuts a few long swaths away. He uses the rags to bind the hobgoblins wrists and ankles as securly as he can. Then he takes his scourge out again.

Prodding the hobgoblin with the melon sized bruise slowly raising on its now blue and purple cheek, Guilliam nudges the creature until it awakens.

Hitting himself on his chest with both hands, Guilliam grunts aloud. His voice seems different, not so soft and smooth. He gurgles and groans animalistic noises. He hisses and spits as if choking. Taking out his scourge, he wipps it overhead and cracks it for effect. Then he begins babbling rude noises again. If the situation was not so sombre, it would have seemed humorous. The thin blond bard seemed to be possesed as he ranted and raved with sounds like those from a cornered raccoon. More oddly still, the sounds seemed to flow out of his mouth, stretched painfully wide, in a regular meter and in a matter that seemed to rhyme. Soon, Guilliam stopps and scratches at the ground with the heel of his foot like a wolf does after leaving its scent. While his actions and howls are odd, it seemed obvious to those that watched that Guilliam had asked the hobgoblin a number of questions. Now he was waiting for a response.

(Storm, Edryd, and Canter arrive as the hobgoblin responds.)

The first hobgoblin looks slightly confused, wondering how this human could be speaking something that sounds like its own language. But it appears that Guilliam's language is not perfect. Yet as the bard cracks his scourge in the air, the hobgoblin begins to babble in similar rude noises and grunts.

Guilliam turns to the other bound hobgoblin, pinned beneath Crayne. That one, too, seems confused at first, but offers some kind of explanation.

Turning to the group, Guilliam clears his throat. After such a performance, his voice is slightly hoarse, but he manages. "Ok, my hobgoblish is far from perfect. Remind me one day and I'll be happy to tell you the story of how I learned it. Anyway, I asked him some questions about what they were doing here, where their tribe is hiding, and how many they are.

"As best I can tell, he only partially understood the questions. Maybe there are differences in dialects or something, but our conversation was far from perfect. He said something about the mountains, and about his tribe living up there. He also mentioned the Knights, I'm sure about that. What exactly he said about them, though I cannot say for sure..." Guilliam then turns back to their prisoners, repeating some of the grunts and moans. The hobgoblins reply in similar noises, but Guilliam shakes his head. "I don't know all of their words, but I'm pretty sure they said that they were coming from a village near the foot of the mountains. And they want to see their mothers."

Cy and Crayne let out a laugh, but Edryd scratches his chin in thought. Thinking aloud, the paladin says, "they mentioned the Knights. You're sure about that?"

"Yes, Edryd, about the Knight's I'm sure. I just don't know WHAT about the Knights."

"Hmm. I still find it hard to believe that they are raiding villages with the consent of the Knights. There must be another explanation."

"If we stay here," Canter puts in, "more will surely come. We may be able to finish off eight or ten without much trouble but I personally don't want to face an entire tribe. I think we should return to our own camp and depart--carefully--in the morning."

Storm nods to Canter, rubbing his wound. He then spits in the direction of the captives. "Then what do we do with this scum?"

1. XP Receipts for this past encounter will be along shortly. It won't be a significant amount of XP, considering the ease of the battle, but you'll each certainly get some.

2. Of the Loot: An assortment of short swords, clubs, and polearms. None are in particularly good condition. Also, one of the hobgoblins (the one that scared Guilliam) was wearing a small wooden buckler shield. Somebody might be interested in that. A total of 2 gp, 23 sp, and 14 cp was found on the hobgoblins. Divided equally, that comes out to 74 cp (=7 sp, 4 cp) each. Will you divide this small treasure equally?

3. WHAT NOW? What will you do with the two hobgoblins? Will you return to the miner's camp and depart in the morning?

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