THE GOBLIN CAVERNS

Looking down into the fissure, Tee saw that it opened out into a natural – and very narrow – chain of caves. But there was definitely room enough for all of them to pass through and see where those caves might lead.

Tor volunteered to stay behind and stand guard in the chamber with the blood-stained pit. The rest of the group agreed to explore the caves for about ten minutes – if they didn’t find anything interesting, they’d turn back.

After climbing twenty feet down the steeply angled fissure, the caves beyond it proved remarkably easy to navigate. Although they were narrow enough that Agnarr’s shoulders occasionally scraped the walls, the floor was almost entirely free of obstruction. They made good time, and after five minutes they had already covered several hundred feet at a brisk walking pace. The cave floor had begun to descend at a shallow, but noticeable, angle.

About seven minutes after they had left Tor, the rest of the group came to an area where the narrow cave tunnel suddenly opened out onto a large side-cavern choked full of stalagtites and stalagmites.

Tee was in the lead, and as she emerged into this side-cavern a deep, guttural voice spoke loudly in Goblin: “Come no farther!” A large, broad-shouldered goblin stood up from behind some of the stalagmites. “These are the caverns of my people. What is your purpose here?”

Tee was surprised to discover that she understood what he was saying… the words just seemed to fall into place in her mind. But she had never spoken the Goblin tongue before.

The others couldn’t understand a word as Tee said, “We’re explorers.”

“Wanderers? From the surface world?”

“Yes.”

The goblin shook his head. “Go back. We do not want you here.”

Tee quickly translated the situation back to her compansion.

“There are more of you here?” the goblin demanded.

Tee confirmed it.

“Go now!” Tee wasn’t sure if the goblin was angry or if it was just the guttural tones of the language.

“All right,” Tee said. “We’ll go.”

But as she turned, another goblin – this one shorter and runtier – suddenly jumped up from behind another patch of stalagmites and fired a crude arrow at her. It went wide, but Tee’s reaction was immediate: She drew her dragon pistol and fired.

Then everything seemed to happen at once: Agnarr, seeing the arrow nearly strike Tee, drew his greatsword and raced forward. Three more of the runty goblins stood up and two of them fired in a panic at the enraged barbarian racing towards them. Meanwhile, the larger goblin – who had first spoken to them – whirled to his companions and screamed, “What are you doing?!”

Tee fired again, this time aiming at one of the goblins who had fired at Agnarr. The shot took him in the eye, blowing his body back.

“Stop!” shouted the first goblin. “Stop!” Then he leaped from his own stalagmite outcropping to the outcropping where the other goblins were standing. “What are you doing?!”

“We were told to fire!”

“Listen with your ears and not with your eyes!”

One of the goblins had leapt down and drawn a sword to attack Agnarr. Tee shot him and Agnarr skewered him.

The first goblin shoved his way past the first runt and grabbed the goblin who had fired first, “What are you doing?!” Then his eyes widened. “They’re here! Traitors amidst us!”

Agnarr, seeing the goblins fighting each other, came to a stop. He wasn’t sure what was being said, but if the goblins were going to fight each other then he’d let it happen…

Tee, too, held her fire and watched as the first goblin threw the runt off the outcropping of stalagmites. The goblin drew his sword and leapt down, skewering the runt to the cavern floor. Panting he looked up at Tee, “I am sorry. You should leave now.”

“What is going on?” Tee demanded.

The goblin shook his head. “He was not of our clan. He was traitor. Come. Look.” Holding the runty goblin’s corpse by the head like a rag doll, he bent it forward to present the neck.

Puzzled, Tee came closer. On the back of the goblin’s neck she saw four small tendrils of greenish ooze – they were still wriggling and writhing.

“What is that?” Tee asked.

“We do not know. They come from the far caves. They control us. They kill us.” He paused. “You should go.”

Tee looked up and saw that the others had come forward. She quickly explained what the goblin had told her. Then she noticed that Dominic was missing. “Where’s Dominic?”

“He started running back towards Tor,” Ranthir said.

“Well, that’s all right.” Tee said. “We’ll catch up with him there.”

“Actually, um… I think we should help these goblins.”

“What?”

“I think we should help them, too.” Agnarr said.

“If an entire clan of goblins can’t deal with this, what are we supposed to do?” Tee asked.

A brief argument broke out, but Ranthir and Agnarr eventually convinced the others that the goblins were in need and they were in a position to help. Tee still wasn’t sure, but she at least felt that they should learn what the actual situation was before reaching a decision. And Tor and Dominic should be a part of that decision, too.

Agnarr went back up through the caves. He quickly caught up to Dominic – who was laboring and breathing heavily – and sent him back down. It didn’t take him much longer to reach Tor, who shrugged and accompanied him back down towards the side-cavern.

Tee, meanwhile, turned back to the goblin.

“Why have you not gone?” he asked.

“We would like to help.”

“My clan needs no help. Go.”

“Then why have you not killed the traitors?”

The goblin looked surly. “This is not my choice. I will take you to our Queen. She will decide.”

Tee laughed. “You expect us to just walk into the middle of your caves?”

“You were going there anyway. And I give oath of safety.”

Tee was not convinced, but the others seemed satisfied. And when the others got back, there was a firm majority in favor of trying to help the goblins.

The goblin leader turned to his runt companion: “Cairn their bodies. Stand guard. I will return.”

BEFORE THE GOBLIN CHIEFTESS

The goblin led them farther down the narrow, natural tunnel they had been following. But now the caves opening off of it were significantly larger. And gradually the tunnel itself widened. It was clear now that it had been regularly traversed for a long time.

They reached a T-intersection of sorts. Written in bright red paint upon the wall was a message in goblin: “These caves belong to the Clan of the Torn Ear.” Tee laughed and translated. “These are your people, Agnarr!”

The goblin took them to the left. In this direction the tunnel rose steeply and quickly widened as it took a sweeping turn to the right and then ended in a thick wall of wooden timber.

The goblin approached the wall and knocked loudly upon it in a very specific pattern. More than halfway up its height a wooden panel slid open and a pair of goblin eyes looked out.

The goblin who had led them here called out, “Itarek returns for audience with the Queen.”

The panel slid shut and several moments passed. Then, with a creaking groan, the entire wall began to swing up towards them, revealing it to be a massive gate of wooden timbers.

When the gate had opened, the goblin led them through it and into an enormous cavern at least a hundred feet long. Several tunnels led away from the far end of this cavern, but the eyes of the party were immediately arrested by the crude throne of bone that had been lashed together upon a raised platform of stone at the far end of the chamber and the goblin woman who sat upon it. Behind her two large goblins stood as guards, while off to one side there was a goblin clothed in a crimson robe and flanked by two lean goblins wearing gray rags.

Their guide led them forward past more than a dozen goblin guards. Behind them the great wooden gate crashed shut. Two huge wooden beams were carefully levered back into place, bracing the door shut from either direction.

“Do goblins usually have clothing?” Elestra whispered.

Tee nodded sharply, keeping her eyes warily on the goblins moving skittishly around them. The air of tension in the room was palpable.

Midway along the chamber’s length their guard came to a stop.

The goblin woman upon the throne spoke. “What have you brought before me, Itarek?”

“Dwellers of the surface. They offer to help us against the ones of ooze.”

Tee, who was translating this for the others, frowned at this. The ones of ooze…?

The goblin in the crimson robes stepped forward and barked a harsh, goblin laugh. “We have no need of help from outsiders.”

The goblin woman pondered. “No. We are goblins of the Torn Ear. We do not beg. Leave us.”

“Well, that settles it.” Tee said. “They don’t want our help. Let’s go.”

“No, my queen!” the crimson-robed goblin said. “You must not let them leave!”

The goblin queen frowned. “What do you mean, Ursaal?”

“They are outsiders! They are tricksters! No doubt they are to blame for the traitors!”

Itarek spoke up. “My queen, they have already helped me. A traitor attacked my post!”

“You see, Crashekka!” Ursaal screeched. “They bring the traitors with them where they go!”

“Itarek,” Tee hissed. “What is happening? You promised that we would be allowed to leave.”

“My queen!” Itarek said. “I have given them my oath of safety! We must—“

At that moment, Agnarr spotted Ursaal working subtle movements of magic behind his back. “No!” he shouted, beginning to draw his sword.

Tee whirled towards the barbarian. “What is it?”

But it was too late. Ursaal completed his spell and a wave of pure terror swept over the group. Only Agnarr, Ranthir, and Dominic were able to resist the effect. The rest of them turned in their blind, magic-driven terror and rushed for the great gate leading out of the chamber.

And before Agnarr, Ranthir, or Dominic could do anything, the two gray-robed figures who had been standing next to Ursaal raced across the chamber. Their blades struck Ranthir in unison, and hideous, crackling bolts of blue energy ripped through his body. He fell limply unconscious to the floor as Dominic began back-pedaling away from the assault.

“You see!” Ursaal cried. “They attack us!”

Pandemonium broke out through the cavern. The queen’s two bodyguards grabbed her and moved her rapidly away from the sudden outbreak of violence, placing their bodies physically between her and the bulk of the chamber. The host of goblin guards near the door were completely confused, although a few moved to stop the surface-dwellers trying to escape through the doors.

Tor began hacking at one of the beams, trying to chop through it, until Elestra came up beside him and – together – they were able to lift it up and drop it away from the door.

Tee, meanwhile, was screaming at Itarek: “Make them stop! Let us go! MAKE THEM STOP!”

Agnarr’s greatsword was now in his hand. His bellowing battle cry – “FOR THE GLORY!” – echoed through the chamber as he moved to defend Ranthir where had fallen. But he could see the two sword-wielding goblins murmuring arcane words beneath their breath, and where their blows landed his muscles went numb and weak. Only Dominic’s prayers kept the barbarian on his feet.

Itarek ran forward and tried to grab one of the grey-clad goblins attacking Agnarr. “I HAVE GIVEN THEM MY OATH!” The goblin easily evaded his grasp, but as he did Itarek gasped and stepped back. “TRAITORS! TRAITORS IN THE HALL! TO MY SIDE!”

This only added to the confusion. Although a few goblins began moving towards Itarek, others near the door were in full-fledged melee with Tor. Tor was forced to kill several of them as he moved with Elestra towards the second beam holding the gate shut… but as he did so, the unnatural fear began to ebb from his mind.

It was easing from Tee’s, as well. But she saw no good way to extricate them from the disaster unfolding around them.

The goblins who had responded to Itarek’s call to arms helped him to surround one of the gray-clad goblins. The gray-clad goblin fought like a wild beast, but the wounds Agnarr had given it hobbled it and it was quickly overwhelmed.

Ursaal, meanwhile, was still casting spells. Tee was screaming that he was the one to start the entire catastrophe, and Itarek was listening. The goblin bellowed again. “URSAAL IS OF THE OOZE!”

More of the goblins were listening to Itarek. Order was being restored. Ursaal lowered his hand and cast one last spell, inundating the far end of the chamber with a massive web that caught Itarek and all of the party in its grasp. Then he raced from the room.

The goblin chieftess Crashekka rallied her bodyguards and the few goblins who hadn’t been caught by Ursaal’s web. They pursued him out of the cavern.

THE CHAMBER OF THE MAIDEN

The party slowly hacked its way out of the webs. Tor and Tee were furious and wanted to leave immediately, but Ranthir (revived by Dominic’s healing wand) and Agnarr were still adamant in their desire to help the goblins.

Itarek promised to let them go, but first they would have to free his fellow goblins from the web and hack their way to the door.

As they hacked away the last of the webs holding the door in place, a horrible, wailing cry ripped through the caverns. It seemed to come from the direction that Ursaal had fled. Itarek looked up and then bowed his head, “This is a day without end.”

As the goblins slowly pushed the gate open, Tee finally agreed to a vote to see what direction the group would take. Agnarr and Ranthir argued strongly for aiding the goblins, and Elestra joined them. Tee and Tor were strongly against it. Dominic wavered, but finally decided that – if the goblins needed and wanted their help – they should still try to give it. This betrayal seemed to have been caused by the very ooze creatures the goblins were being plagued by. The goblins shouldn’t be blamed for it.

Tee acquiesced to the decision of the group, but Tor had no patience for it. He had been lied to and deceived. He wasn’t sure why it had happened or what, exactly, had happened – but he had been tricked into hurting innocents. Everything about the situation was wrong and he wanted no part of it. As soon as the gate was open wide enough for him to duck under it, he was gone.

Tee chased after him and got him to promise to wait for them back in the chamber outside the blood-stained pit. She knew that this wouldn’t be the end of it, but if they were going to help the goblins then they had to go now – Itarek’s goblins had been freed, and he was adamant. She watched Tor go with a heavy heart, and then turned back.

Following the tunnel that first Ursaal and then the goblin chieftess had run down, the party passed through another webbed area. It had already been hacked through, most likely by the chieftess and her men.

Beyond the web they entered a pair of chambers outfitted with crude mats and the like. More then a dozen goblin women lay dead on the floor, their throats brutally slashed.

Itarek’s voice was heavy. “What has happened?”

Crashekka, the goblin chieftess, turned. “He has slain the maidens. The blood of our clan is on his hands.”

“Heal them,” Agnarr said to Dominic.

Another argument broke out. Half the group was deeply concerned that their resources were being, literally, bled dry on an expedition which didn’t seem to have any kind of reward in it. If they used up all of their healing magic here, they wouldn’t have enough money to buy more.

In the end, Dominic ended the debate by simply pulling out his healing wand. He went from one maiden to the next, and the divine energy flowed into them and healed them.

Crashekka, Itarek, and several other goblins were in conference. Other goblins were entering the chamber and reporting. But as Dominic continued healing the maidens, a hushed silence filled the chamber. When he was finished, Crashekka crossed the cavern to him and stood before him…

And dropped to her knees.

“You have saved the lives of our maidens. You have saved the mothers and the daughters of our clan. We are forever in your debt.”

Tee translated. And all of them felt their hearts lighten. The tension in the room had suddenly passed.

Crashekka was eager to have their help in pursuing Ursaal. After slaying the maidens, he had apparently fled through another corridor – but he had collapsed it behind him. Itarek explained that there was another path through the caves, and that he was assembling a war party to pursue him.

“How many more spellcasters are there?” Tee asked.

“Ursaal and one of the duskblades. I do not know whether the other duskblade is with him or against him.”

Tee translated for the rest of the group, and they agreed to accompany Itarek and his warriors.

INTO THE SICKSTONE CAVERNS

As they went through the caves, Itarek gathered more warriors. He took only the most powerful. Eventually they had six goblin warriors accompanying them (including Itarek himself).

Itarek also told them what little he knew of the threat they faced. During the time of his father’s father, the “far caverns” had been abandoned by the Torn Ears. Those venturing into the caverns became horribly sick. This had been a time of great hardship for the clan, as their greatest fungal gardens lay within the afflicted area. But they had persevered.

More recently, however, the warcaster Morbion had become fascinated by the caves. He journeyed there often, despite the illness. Then he simply disappeared completely. A few months later the first of the “others” – those who had been “claimed by the ooze” – appeared among them. They had been fighting their losing battle ever since.

Ranthir questioned Itarek on the nature of the illness that afflicted those who entered the caves. Based on Iltarek’s description, Ranthir suspected that the caverns were now formed of sickstone. He was aware of them because deposits of sickstone were often found around sites of etheric disturbances, but they were supposed to be natural geologic formations – he had never heard of one spontaneously developing at such a rapid pace before. He also explained that such formations were understood to be imbalances in the natural order – sickstone deposits were almost always accompanied by outcroppings of cindershard crystal. These pale pink crystals would temporarily offset the effects of sickstone.

Tee translated Ranthir’s explanation to Itarek. As the goblin listened, he grew excited. “You mean we are not alone in this curse?” The idea that this was not some particular doom sentenced upon his people seemed to cheer him.

The party could now hear the sound of rushing water coming from ahead of them, and a few moments later they emerged into a large cave that overlooked a deep crevasse. An underground river raged through the crevasse, and a stone bridge extended from this chamber, across the crevasse, and into another chamber on the far side. Itarek explained that, beyond the bridge, “the caves of sickness begin”.

They proceeded with caution now. Two of Itarek’s warriors preceded them at point and two followed behind as a rear guard. The five of them, along with Itarek and another of the warriors, clumped together in the middle.

The bridge emptied directly into a small cave. Beyond the cave a narrow tunnel descended slightly and then split into three separate passages leading deeper into the rock. As they reached this intersection – and despite their caution – the two warriors in the lead were taken completely by surprise as a lumbering mass of animate ooze undulated rapidly out of a side passage. One of them barely had time to turn in alarm as three thick, viscous, green pseudopods lashed out. One of the pseudopods caught the hapless goblin in the chest, and all of them heard the loud cracking of bone. As the goblin doubled over, the second caught him full in the face and ripped his head from his body. The goblin’s body fell in a lifeless heap to the floor.

Agnarr and Elestra rushed forward to assist the remaining goblin. Agnarr’s flaming greatsword ripped through the creature with ease, but much of the creature’s primeval ooze simply flowed back into its form. Still, he seemed to be doing some damage.

Elestra, on the other hand, found that both her rapier and her python viper were useless against the creature.

The pure bolts of force being hurled from Tee’s dragon pistol were tearing large gouges from the creature’s side, but as Elestra retreated she considered giving her the pistol and switching to her longbow. But when the remaining goblins, under Itarek’s command, loosed their own bows at the creature she quickly took note that the shafts of their arrows seemed to do nothing more than stick uselessly in the creature’s side. Having no desire to close with the creature and test her longsword (or her own bones) against it she decided to keep the pistol for herself.

Itarek, too, had seen the paltry effect of his warrior’s arrow. He drew his sword and closed with the creature, ducking under its outreached pseudopods to draw apace with Agnarr and the other goblin warrior.

The three of them forced the creature back down the tunnel from whence it had come, but it could only be pushed so far. Lashing out, all three of its writhing pseudopods caught the goblin warrior and smashed him against the wall. Bones were pulverized with a thick, pulpy sound and the warrior’s broken body slumped against the wall.

Agnarr went into a rage. His blade seemed to be flying in all directions. Huge gouts of the thick, green ooze splashed the corridor to either side. It seemed, for a moment, as if he would be triumphant.

But then the creature reared back, swept upward in a wave, and crashed down upon Agnarr’s head. The barbarian was completely ungulfed by the ooze and, even as he struggled to find some traction or breath within the slimy embrace, the creature contracted and, with a sickening twist, crushed the life from Agnarr’s body.

Itarek backed up, uncertain of what he should do. Agnarr’s body hung grotesquely within the creature as it lumbered forward again…

…and Tee aimed her dragon pistol straight at Agnarr’s head and pulled the trigger.

It was too much. The ooze, battered by Agnarr’s brutal assault, was blasted apart by the pure bolt of force, losing all cohesion and collapsing into a slimy cascade across the cavern floor.

Dominic, who had at first rushed forward to aid the goblin warrior, immediately focused his attention on Agnarr’s broken body. It sorely taxed the dwindling resources within his healing wand, but with Elestra’s help he was able to heal the grievous wounds. He then turned his attention to the goblin warrior. There he was able to restore breath and life, but the goblin was still badly hurt – including a broken leg which reduced him to a hobbling pace.

Tee stood stoically, unsure of what course lay before them. Agnarr grimaced and began wiping away the slime which coated him. Dominic and Itarek helped the wounded goblin to his feet.

And all of them were beginning to feel the wracking nausea of the sickstone caverns sweep over them.

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