Squad 1 was tasked with clearing out an inn (the Lonesome Tankard) from the goblins that held it, so it could be used for barracks. The goblins had barricaded the building, but with some creativity, we managed to gain entry to the ground floor, engaging the five goblins (sharpshooters [level 2 artillery] and cutters [level 1 minion]). Three were killed, two fled upstairs, where a hexer [level 3 controller (leader)] leading more soldiers provided cover, making assaulting the first floor difficult.
While half the squad kept the goblins busy, Caeron and Rohar scaled the outside wall of the inn, and gained entry to the first floor via a window. The goblins were surprised by the assault in their flanks, and withdrew from the staircase to meet the threat, allowing Brad and Percil to charge up the stairs and join in the fight. The goblin hexer fled to the second floor, leaving sharpshooters, cutters, and blackblades [level 1 lurker] to die under the weapons of the party.
After clearing the first floor -- and finding some human slaves in the process -- the party followed the hexer up to the second floor, where the trail led to a ladder leading down to the kitchen on the ground floor (which had been blocked with rubble, so could not be accessed from the ground floor). Lurking in the kitchen were two shadowhunter bats [level 3 lurker], which were dispatched relatively easily. Stairs led down to a cellar, and we found the goblins had tunnelled out from it, joining it to a network they had built underneath Threshold.
Entering the tunnels, we found bodies of some humans, and another two live slaves being menaced by a cave bear [level 6 elite brute]. A fierce battle raged, and it was only with superior (if belated) tactics, that the bear was finally brought low, although Caeron and Brad were close to death.
After resting back at the inn, the party was ordered to clear out a specified section of the tunnel network. Going back down to where we fought the cave bear (the pelt of which was being made into a trophy), we encountered another group of goblin cutters and blackblades. The greenskins were defeated, and amongst the loot were bracers of healing (though someone got tongue-tied, so we refer to them as the healers of bracing).
At this point, an earthquake rocked the tunnel network, and there was the sound of an explosion.
Continuing on, we came across another squad that had been caught by a cave-in, and were being attacked by goblins from an elevated position. Swinging to the rescue, we easily dispatched the goblins, and lowered a rope to get the trapped squad out. After brief introductions, the other squad (known as Havernard's Handful, sort of a one-third size "dirty dozen") returned to the barracks, while we continued on.
We came across two more bodies -- a human male and a warforged warrior -- where the explosion appears to have occured. The warforged's chest had been ripped open, and the bodies appear to have been searched prior to the explosion. On one of the bodies, we found a note:
Claiming the Heart of Osgiliath has doomed us all. We must inform the Council and take responsibility for ...
After meeting another three humans who were guarding an entry point into the network, we continued on, finally arriving in another cavern, where the hexer we had been chasing was holed up with more blackblades, sharpshooters, and cutters. After a huge fight, we finally cleared the last of the goblins from our section, and returned to the inn.
In the meantime...
While squad 1 was spelunking, squad 2 was defending the inn from a goblin counter-attack involving cutters and warriors [level 1 skirmisher], who had decided to fire the city. We beat them back, and a messenger -- Horin Milnar, Speaker of the Mage Council -- arrived with mission for us (of the "utmost urgency", of course). We were tasked with recovering the Orb of Annata from the tower of the wizard Gutannis (a wizard who studied the Planes and the summoning of small creatures), which was about 15 miles northeast of Threshold. Annata was apparently a powerful seer who lived two centuries ago, and her Orb was a powerful farseeing item. We were also warned that another squad had been sent two days before the invasion, but had not been heard from. Our mission: recover the Orb, and find out what happened to the others if possible.
The next morning, we set off. After a few hours, we were ambushed by goblin cutters and warriors, which were easily defeated. We later came across goblin bodies, which looked like they had been torn apart (and possibly chewed on). Who had perpetrated this soon became clear, as we were confronted by four grey wolves [level 2 skirmisher], which were defeated after a difficult battle.
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