THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS - A FIFTH EDITION DND CAMPAIGN

 Episode 3

The heroes woke to a steaming pile of eggs and coffee waiting for them downstairs. Duxa had spent the night with the Glowkindles trying various remedies for his swollen tongue, and was filled in on the action he’d missed. The heroes decided to proceed with the plan of finding Myrtle Brownbark at her cottage and bringing her back to the village for safety. Hamish provided an ox-drawn cart and promised once the livestock were returned from Odo’s smallholding they would have more steeds and faster means of transport.

Malty Glowkindle’s two sons Yeasty and Hoppy were still fired up from the singing and bravery from the night before, and were keen to accompany the heroes to Myrtle’s cottage. Abedan had a frank word with the both of them, outlining the potential danger that waited for them, and hinted that the village needed them for protection. Launril ignited the spirits of the two young men, encouraging them to sing and chant, much to their glee. They also had a chance to catch up with Pepik, who was looking rather worse for wear, sweating, pale and ill-looking. Pepik suggested that they needed all the help they could get with the coming fight, and that if he was going to die anyway he’d rather choose battle. On this, he asked the heroes to get some Tears of the Virgin Spring from Myrtle, small blue flowers that could cure what ailed him.

The journey was long but uneventful, the heroes passing the odd farm and smallholding but otherwise seeing nothing but grass, fields, and forest to their left. Myrtle was happy to see all the heroes and welcomed them in for tea and light conversation. On hearing what was happening, Myrtle set to emptying her home of everything valuable, and asked Hamish to load the cart with her things, including books and a number of potions. Not knowing whether she would see anything again, she offered the heroes some of her concoctions free of charge.

Myrtle did not have any Tears of the Virgin Spring around, so advised the heroes to head into the forest and look for a running stream. They did so, and found plenty of flowers to pick. However the forest played tricks on them, as is the way with the Feywild, and what felt like only fifteen minutes to the band was actually several hours, and it became dark before they got back to the cottage. On their return Myrtle and Hamish were both merrily drinking wine, and suddenly in no hurry to return. Impatient, the heroes encouraged both of them to drink some coffee and sort themselves out.

Their efforts to leave were interrupted by light knocking on the window. A small, clawed hand was seen through the window, and figures were seen to be moving outside. Abedan tried to telepathically read the mind of one of the figures, but it could not stand the strain and seemed to collapse on the floor. Fixed to confront the strange figures outside Duxa and Abedan opened the door, finding three goblins stood by the entrance. A stand off ensued, which was de-escalated by Ustaroc, who had learned some goblinese on his travels. The large goblin in front of them was a cheiftan and, despite the goblins' nature and feelings on the matter, needed some help immediately. Expecting an ambush the heroes head to the back of the cottage to find a small platoon of goblins soldiers in the herb garden squabbling and arguing.

The goblin’s enclave had been attacked by some form of dark force, and Ragget, the goblin chieftan, explained they were the last survivors, and they were heading to Geb, a goblin stronghold in the Sword Mountains, to warn the high war chiefs of coming conflict and destruction. Unfortunately their ogre companion Grugg was injured and they could not continue without her.

Grugg was the first ogre any of the heroes had seen, and she was huge and truly terrifying. She snorted air in and out like a bull, and rocked back and forth as she nursed a badly fractured ankle, which she appeared to have caught in a thick tree root while running. Ustaroc summoned all his bravery and stepped forward to heal the ankle, and with the support of Launril and some goblins who pulled on the ankle, Ustaroc was able to use healing magic to fuse the bone back into the right position. Grugg stood up and dusted herself off, towering above Ustaroc and nearly knocked him out when she patted him on the head fondly. She handed him a small grey sack (a grey bag of tricks) and sprinted off into the night.

Ragget was also hugely grateful for the heroes help, especially in consideration of the races being sworn enemies. He handed his weapon over as a gesture of thanks, a foul looking black club (teeth smasher) with actual teeth and fangs pushed into the wood grain. The heroes bemused looked on as the warband of goblins disappeared into the forest.

The journey home was again uneventful, though the trip had taken much longer than anyone had planned for. There was an emotional reunion between Myrtle and Pepik, who seemed to have known each other for some time. Pepik was drunk again, but said he would fix himself ‘tomorrow'.’ Myrtle was keen to point out that the cleansing ritual Pepik was planning was quite extreme.

The heroes rested in The Goblin’s Hole, planning to visit Gnomengard in the morning to try and acquire some dragon killing weapons.