The wagon rattles and creaks as it rolls along the old trade road. Traevus, the dwarf merchant sitting at the front of the wagon, guides a team of mules with a steady hand, more interested in the road ahead than in your attempts at conversation, but that's part of dwarven nature. Though the sun is low in the sky, you should reach the town of Fallcrest before nightfall. To your left, the Moon Hills stretch off southward and reach up toward the darkening sky. The fall air grows colder with night's approach.

Suddenly, a noise shakes you from your reverie--the twang of a bowstring, coming from the shadows beside the road. Traevus cries out as an arrow sinks into his shoulder. With a shrill cry, a pack of goblins--short, ugly creatures with green skin and fang-filled mouths--run toward the wagon, brandishing weapons. You see another goblin pulling an arrow from a quiver on its back. It's clear these creatures mean to steal the wagon--and that probably means eliminating your group and the merchant first!

The four adventurers spring into action and begin to fight off the pack of small, green, creatures. Blade, bow, and magics quickly put down several of the foul creatures, and many of them litter the ground either dead or dying and its not too long until your combat skills have convinced the goblins that capturing this wagon isn't going to be as easy as they thought. They run away, scattering in all directions.

The whinny of a horse catches your ear, and as you look around for the source of the sound, you see a rider at the crest of a low hill, a few hundred yards away. The rider seems to be human, but as the goblins flee, he shakes his fist in frustration. His jet black horse rears and whinnies again, and the rider's red cloak billows behind him in the wind. Then the horse gallops off toward the southwest, into the Moon Hills.

The merchant is not seriously injured, but as the goblins run away he glances into the back of the wagon and swears vigorously. "They stole it!" he shouts. Then he turns to you. "You... you were incredible in that fight. You probably saved my life. But I need your help again. The goblins stole something from the back of my wagon--something precious. I need to get it back."

The four adventurers agree to assist Traevus in the return of his belongings, and slay a few goblins along the way which will hopefully make the roads safer. The merchant looks at you admiringly and promises you a reward of 30 gold pieces each if you return the stolen item to him in Fallcrest. "It's a small wooden box with a lock," he explains. "Aye, but I ask you not to look in the box if you find it, though" blushing slightly, the dwarf explains that the contents are personal and very important to him.

The four of you grab your belongings from the cart, heft the heavy adventuring packs to your backs, and begin to head off in the direction that the goblins and riders had disappeared. After a few hours you begin to near a crossroads between the road you followed and a smaller road which appears to be less used as grass has began to attempt to reclaim the path. At the point where the two roads cross there is the ruins of what looks like an old stone guard tower, nothing more than a pile of rubble and a single corner still standing; the low wall looks to be about 8 feet high. Several large boulders dot the country side around you and the forest stands a ways off from the road, trees swaying in the evening breeze.



Map : The Crossroads

Please pick a starting point on the map in the tan squares at the eastern edge.

~SE++

Valthos Dhuram

Valthos studies the crossroads ahead, doing his best to keep up with the large stride of the goliath ahead of him. The sun, what remained of it as it sank in the sky, glinted off the polished bits of the warforged's metallic plates that weren't covered by his dark red robes. "How dangerous have things become in The Vale that goblins readily attack a wagon with armed escort?" he asks aloud to no one in particular.

Cinnamon walks a few steps towards the crossroad. She looks down the paths wondering which one they will take.

Valthos Dhuram

Keeping pace beside the human ranger, Valthos nears the crossroads and scans the area for any signs of trouble. He looks around for some sort of sign that would elude to which direction the choices of roads each lead before turning to Cinnamon and asking: "Check the roads, see if your keener senses can pick up any signs of which way the goblins might have went. Surely we're not far from whatever hole they crawled out of..."

Cinnamon nods to Valthos and crouches on the ground. She scans the area for goblin footprints.

"Attacks happen all too frequently for my tastes," comments Fandyr. "Too much bloodshed, and though I'll stand and protect, I don't like the end results. We're all children of the same sun, even if we pretend not to be." He moves out into the middle of the crossroads and scans the horizons, treelines and around the ruined tower for trouble. "Valthos, have I told you about the clergy of Pelor lately? We stand under the sun today, and another of his names is Sol. It's yet another word for sun, something we all share and bask in. I could lead you in prayer if you'd like, child." He motions at the sun in a wide arch with his warhammer and holds his shield out to the other side in a wide open gesture. Basking in the sun, his craggy grin grows wide at the rest of the party.



~SE++

The Crossroads

Valthos
Searching the area for any sign of trouble you notice no immediate threats; no one appears to be on any of the roads for as far as you can see save for the other members of your small party. In the distance to the north you hear a wolf howl cry out. The sound was definitely too close for comfort but you don't yet actually see the animal. The wall of the ruined tower blocks your view from anything on the other side.

Cinnamon
Your keen eyes pick out a pair of fresh hoof prints in the road that turn south and head off towards the Moon Hills, most likely left by the rider you saw at the ambush. Several sets of footprints are also left in the dusty road; You immediately recognize the bare feet and sharp toes to be the tracks of goblins and while most of the tracks head south it appears that two sets lead west from the crossing. In the distance to the north you hear a wolf howl cry out. The sound was definitely too close for comfort but you don't yet actually see the animal. The wall of the ruined tower blocks your view from anything on the other side.

Fandyr
Searching the area for any sign of trouble you notice no immediate threats; no one appears to be on any of the roads for as far as you can see save for the other members of your small party. In the distance to the north you hear a wolf howl cry out. The sound was definitely too close for comfort but you don't yet actually see the animal. The wall of the ruined tower blocks your view from anything on the other side.

Cinnamon stands up at the sound of the wolf howl and looks towards her companions. "Two goblins have been here. They seem to be heading in that direction", she says while pointing westward. "And there are horse tracks going south. It might be that rider from the ambush".

"Ahh wolves," muses Fandyr. "Remarkable creatures. They're strong, fast and deadly, but they're also soft and caring." Turning to Cinnamon he says, "Did you know wolves mate for life? Much like the followers of Moradin, the God of Family and Community, those majestic creatures find mates and keep only that mate for life. Some say that the Lycanthropes share that quality with their brethren, though I've never gotten to see it first hand." Looking back around, he gives the crossroads an appraising look again. "But still, Little One, if you say this is recently traveled by goblins, we had best be on the look out. I have heard stories from a young mage in an Inn of kobold attacks on such roads in regions not too far from here. He insisted he was the lone survivor of such an encounter, though he seemed too small for hardened battle."



~SE++

Valthos Dhuram

"A single mate for life? That sounds a bit dull..." Valthos remarks casually as he turns his eyes to the south, studying the narrow path that wound its way through the Moon Hills. The warforged had never had a 'mate' but an entire lifetime with a single partner did seem a bit dull and not something he exactly lauded. Valthos had become an adventurer to get out and see the world, meet new people and do new things, and the two ideas seemed quite conflicting. Pushing those thoughts aside though he focuses on Fandyr's comment about the goblins: "Of course the road has been traveled by goblins recently... Has your musing of canine mating habits distracted your from the fact that we're hunting down goblins...?"

Encounter One : Goblin Ambush

Unseen by the adventurers two pairs of eyes watch the road through small cracks in the ruined tower wall. As the party pauses at the crossroads and discusses the direction of their quarry (as well as the social life of certain woodland creatures) the ambush lying in wait sees a chance for it to strike. With a shrill cry two goblins emerge from behind the tower and charge at the group of adventurers, their armor and weaponry suggesting that they are of the same band that attacked the dwarven merchant. Their pale green skin is contrasted by the dark brown and ragged armor they wear, and each of them wield a worn short sword.

Everyone Roll Initiative

Valthos Dhuram

"Speaking of which..." The warlock grumbles as he raises a metallic hand to point at the creatures emerging from the tower ruins.

~SE++

Enemy Initiative

Goblin Cutthroats : (1d20+3)[23]

Grey Wolves : (1d20+5)[10]

Combat Round 1

The Crossroads



It is now the Goblin Cuthroat turn.

The Crossroads

The Goblin Cuthroat Turn
The first goblin rounds the northwestern corner of the ruined tower and takes up a stance in the middle of the western road. With a flick of it's arm it slings a small iron dagger at Fandyr The second goblin runs from south of the tower and sprints towards the huge goliath slashing it's blade horizontally at the towering figure.



Goblin Cuthroat 2 hits Fandyr : 8 Damage

It is now Cinnamon's turn.