After we got out of a fight with the cave troll we moved on in the direction of the cave. However as we were making our way through the dark forest we ran into two young lads who were in a spot of bother. One of them was trapped in a snare that was not made by goblins (strange, who could have made this snare and placed it here?. After not quite friendly introduction by our barbarian companion we asked the children to lead us to the village they came from. We did not want to spend the night in this evil forest. The village was not far and we made it there before sunset. The guards of the village having never seen a gnome, an elf and a dragonborn in their lives almost shot us but thankfully their skill with the bow left much to be desired. This is where we met Tarville, a strange cleric priest who seemed to hold some respect in this village of [paste name of the village]. At the sight of him Jon Heron and Dirk Mossflower ran back into the woods and we have not seen them since. Poor bastards. Hope they make it back to Haven. In the village we were able to rest in relative safety. The villagers were surprisingly very little informed of what was going on in the forest they were living next to. They did also freak out when we said that we killed some goblins and started manning the barricades. I did not have time to understand what was happening when a goblin sorceress of some sort came out of the forest. The Mindartis, Shedim and Tarville spoke with the witch while stood back ready to use her skull as target practice. (Goblins! Scum of this earth if you ask me). Fortunately (for her) she was able to give us what we wanted - an end to cattle stealing which we came out here to do. In turn she asked us to find a mysterious person who has been killing goblins. We accepted of course and went back into the village to rest in preparation of a new quest tomorrow. At night Mindartis was screaming in his sleep. Them elves are sure weird. In the morning we set out in the direction of the cave. Now we knew that this cave held answers to the evil things that were happening here. We moved through the forest fast as each of us felt that time was not on our side. We had those feelings confirmed when we ran into a goblin camp that has been massacred last night. A brutal ritualistic bloodbath - the goblins weren't just slain but all the blood was drained out of their bodies and those bodies were nowhere to be seen. The magic users identified great evil that was being summoned by the mysterious culprit. A Drake was being summoned and it was going to happen when the sun set. At this point we stood on a crossroad. We could either follow the culprit or go to the cave and try to put an end to this ritual. The decision was unanimous. We ran towards the cave as fast as possible. The cave was a ancient ground. It was sacred, devoted to a god long forgotten, or maybe not, as we found out. There was a tree with black leaves in the centre. An unnatural sight. The cleric moved to destroy the tree with fire but was thrown back by some magic. At this point a huge snake appeared with two heads. Mindartis stepped forward and try to speak to it in some evil tongue that almost made my ears bleed. (Note to self: keep an eye on him. That elf is shifty to say the least) The snake was having none of it and attacked. After a mighty fight with fire and venom flying left and right I loosed an arrowed that finished off the evil creature. We moved deeper into the cave where at the foot of a statue, on an altar lay five goblin bodies. After some intense displays of willpower and magic my companions stopped the ritual and prevented the evil Drake from being summoned. At this point night fell and we had to look for shelter. In the dark all I managed to spot was a bear trail. Usually a dangerous undertaking but we followed the trail which led to a tiny cavern in the cliff face. The night was not comfortable and we heard many goblins out in the forest. In the morning we headed back towards Haven as it was the direction in which Mindartis was able to sense the mysterious culprit. -- Orryn Treestrider
