The rain continues to unload itself on our weary adventurers as they keep making their way northward to Ealinor. Having defeated the Orcs, the four have taken their rest before being rudely urged onward by the Merchant. An hour further though, misfortune crossed their path as the road they travelled became narrowed by thick groves of trees and brush. This put the adventurers on edge and, wisely, they took their time moving forward through this area. It was Naivara, who had happened to trip in the mud whilst trying to be stealthy, who first saw signs of possible trouble when she spied - from her prone position in the mud! - two green legs partially hidden behind a stack of rocks. Bardryn, in her dwarvish fashion, went forward in search of what it might be; however, the owner of the green legs saw her coming and hid further behind the rocks. Meanwhile, Larg, taking up the rear of the party, stopped the caravan and with keen eyes looked around him, scanning the trees and shrubs for any sign of life. His keen sight saw two more green humanoids in the trees; one on either side of the road. Though they watched him, they made no move to attack and remained in the trees. Back at the stack of rocks, the owner of the green legs finally revealed itself, as a Goblin imp appeared at the top of the rocks as Naivara approached the rocks. The Imp seemed to take an interest in the High Elf; watching her every move intently. As the Imp was doing this, Leonithas had to fight his inner urge to attack the Imp and instead made a peace offering with it by dropping some food at its feet; an act that the Imp totally ignored as it was focused on the Elf. Larg, lead the caravan slowly forward through the area, keeping a watch on the humanoids in the trees which he assumed were also Goblins by this stage. However, as the caravan had made its way halfway through the area, a blown horn rang through the trees and the adventurers were ambushed with a volley of arrows. Unfortunately, the stout and somewhat slower moving dwarf was the only one to take any damage as they all made dexterity saves to avoid the arrows. Not fully healed, the last thing the party wanted was to engage in another battle and they came to the idea of attempting to make a run for it and hopefully leave the assailants behind. Luck was not on their side, though, and a Goblin War Leader, larger than any Goblin they had seen before raged as he ran from out of the bushes heading straight for the biggest target he could see; Larg the Goliath and with successful attacks hit the Goliath for 27points of damage. At this time, the party knew they were in danger, but little did they know that they had an ally nearby. Coming out of the shrubbery like an ethereal spirit, Jett the High Elf rogue launched himself into the foray sending arrows into the Goblin War Leader with precision before blending back into the bushes and out of sight. While this happening Larg attempted to Spartan kick the War Leader away from him though without success (crit throw on the War Leader's STR check!); however, the Goliath did evade the War Leader's opportunity attack as he made a move out of the Goblin's space. Throughout the battle the Goblin Imps made mischief with the party, using their Nimble Escape effectively to avoid attacks and being seen. Though, as the battle ensued, the party became used to these tricks and managed to keep an eye on the Imps as they attempted to hide making any chance of success futile. As the rain fell, the land beneath the battle became an issue for both parties and many attacks went askew. In the middle of the road, it was a three-on-three as Bardryn, Naivara, and Leonithas went head-to-head against the Goblin War Leader, the Goblin Sorcerer, and a Goblin Imp. The Goblin Sorcerer successfully cursed Naivara even though his physical attacks failed and Bardryn successfully chopped the War Leader with her handaxes, taking good chunks out of him before, unfortunately, the might of the War Leader saw Bardryn fall at his hands. Jett then joined in this ensemble, giving and taking damage as the battle ensued. Low on health, Jett took an opportunity to hide among the surrounding bushes leaving Leonithas and Naivara continued to turn their efforts on the War Leader, slowly taking him down, when - again, as if out of nowhere - Jett appeared and finished off the War Leader with a precise dagger strike. Unfortunately for him, a Goblin -yes, the same one from earlier! - was again positioned atop the stack of rocks and, with a well placed arrow, saw Jett crumble to the mud unconscious. While this was occurring, Larg spotted a Goblin Imp in a tree near him and successfully threw his spear at the Imp which also knocked the Imp from the tree. Larg then strode over to the Imp and, taking the spear from his chest, drove it once more downward into the Goblin finishing him off. As he did this, another Imp saw what was occurring and ran over to try and take on the Goliath; however, Larg put his spear away, took out his greataxe and slit the Goblin within an inch of his life. It was not hard for Larg to finish off the pathetic creature on his next turn, before running up to the Goblin on the rocks who was firing arrow after arrow toward Leonithas and Naivara. Leonithas turned to help Larg which scared the Imp who quickly jumped down from the rocks and successfully nimbly escaped, leaving Leonithas and Larg to turn their attention on the two Goblins in the trees on the other side of the road. Once the War Leader and the Imp were killed, Naivara turned her attention to the Goblins in the trees; one of which was the Sorcere who had misty-stepped away and climbed back up the tree! With a bit of alternative thinking, Naivara attempted to set the whole tree on fire with her fire bolt cantrip. What she did not take into account, though, was that it had been raining for hours, was still raining, and that the tree was soaked! It took Naivara three attempts before the tree finally caught fire, damaging the Goblins within. The Sorcerer managed to escape without further damage on his turn, using Misty Step again to distance himself from the tree; however, the Imp was not so lucky and took more damage as he tried to find a way out of the tree... And this is where we will pick up the campaign next week!