Spoiler Alert! Don’t read this report if you haven’t played Temple of the Nightbringers!

Session 1: Bugbears and Sleeping Goblins (7/26/18)

The party — Caelynn Amastacia the Elven Sorcerer, Ermenir Kahilda the Elven Wizard, H.H. Horns the Minotaur Barbarian, Mavthos the Tiefling Warlock, and Torner Fireforge the Dwarf Fighter — meet on the road from Triboar on their way to the tiny village of Melton. They’ve heard rumors of many goblin attacks in the past few months, all of them near Melton, and this band of old friends decide to gather forces and become adventurers.

But Frida Greatheart, the constable of Melton, blocks their way into town, and won’t let them through the  gates. Mavthos tries using his Charisma, while the others try to get Frida to let them in, though she seems strangely determined to deny the possibility of any kind of goblin attacks in or near her village. At last the party convince her to let them in, and they head right for the one and only tavern in town, The Weary Knight.

When H.H. Horns bursts into the tavern and offers to buy everyone inside a round of drinks, people start talking. The dwarven blacksmith tells the team to find the elven hunter Dawn Mistwalker, who’s found clues about the goblin attacks and might know where their hideout might be. Frida comes in and tries to shut down all talk of goblin marauders, but the team ignores her and head off to bed in the rooms upstairs.

The next morning, the team meets Dawn Mistwalker, and she leads them east of Melton, onto a trail that only a hunter like her could find. She offers the team three potions of healing for helping, and promises more treasures from town when the quest is complete.

Just outside the woods later that day, the party encounters a bugbear named Wuzig, who won’t let them cross the fallen tree that forms a bridge over a deep ravine. The short-tempered H.H. Horns leaps into battle, swinging his axe and then his horns against the bugbear, and he nearly falls off the bridge along with the bugbear. The team of skinny-armed magic users, along with Tornera’s buffness, pull Horns free of the falling bugbear (his horns got wedged around the creature’s side), and they hurry to the entrance of the goblin hideout, just as night starts to fall.

Caelynn tries her luck at stealth, but ends up tripping outside the steps leading down into the lair. She does hear soft goblin snoring inside, and the party sneaks down and ties up the goblin, who begins talking about “the boss,” whom he refers to as “she” and her black mask. Tornera leaves a rope trap just outside the entrance, but when Pox the goblin slips free, he runs up the steps and narrowly avoids getting caught in the trap. The party investigates the two statues, and Caelynn identifies the phrase (“Love is a lie. Only hate endures.”) on both statues as belonging to Shar. The team takes a short rest so H.H. Horns can heal from his run-in with the bugbear at the bridge, and Mavthos casts False Life on himself to bump up his temp hit points by 7 after the rest.

Session 2: Obsidian Statues and Masks (7/27/18)

The team investigates the passageways north of the entrance and decide to follow the northernmost passage, which is the most worn. They enter the Sanctuary but can’t get close to the statue, which they identify as Shar the evil goddess herself. H.H. Horns demands that they go back and find the obsidian disk in the Store Room, which gives them access to the statue, and Erminere finds 200 GP in a secret hatch on the statue.

From there, H.H. Horns charges into the goblin Dining Hall, and retreats when he sees eight goblins inside. The team battles in the narrow hallway, and H.H. throws a pair of dead goblins at the other goblins, knocking them down like bowling pins so the rest of the team can defeat them all. As the team searches the dining hall for loot, including a bag of rubies with the word Melton written on paper inside it, Mavthos heads down the eastern corridor and wakes an imp from a pool of green water, barely surviving.

The party leaves the Dining Hall and go into the Kitchen, where they find 2 human prisoners (Stink and Retch!) along with three armored hobgoblins guarding them and the meal the prisoners are cooking over a fire. H.H. Horns once more leaps into action, but wants to sacrifice Stink when a hobgoblin grabs the unarmed human. Mavthos casts Sleep on half the room, putting Stink, a hobgoblin, and Retch to sleep. They dispatch the bad guys, and Retch tells them that their families will reward the team with gold if they are returned home to Melton.

At last, the party arrives at the High Priest’s Chamber, where they find the goblin boss chanting in her mask, accompanied by her three worgs. Battle ensues, and just as half the party suspected, the goblin boss is none other than Friday Greatheart (“And I would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for you meddling adventurers!”). They barely defeat Frida and her worgs, and then Mavthos is poisoned by the needle trap on the strongbox in the room. Mavthos survives, barely, thanks to his False Life spell, and he downs the last of the healing potions. The team divides up the gold and silver, and H.H. Horns keeps the Mask of the Nightbringers for himself…

They grab Stink and Retch and return to Melton victorious, and ready to level up to Level Two!!!

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