Episode 6

The party finds them in the tunnels beneath a makeshift fortress, where they were sent to investigate goblin attacks on trading caravans. With Bixx and his crew captured and tied up, the party decides to take a rest.

During the rest the Cade moves the goblins into the main tent and attempts to get some information out of Bixx regarding his claim to have been chased out of his village. Bixx provides little information. Cade hears what he thinks is a scream and decides to investigate just to get a feel. He hears a growl and seen some movement over where the party tied the goblin up out side. He heads back down and bars the gate keeping a close eye on it for the rest of his watch. With Cade's watch coming to an end he wakes Taman and tells him about the noise he heard outside and what he suspects. Taman heads up to the surface and to where the goblin was tied up. He found the ropes lying on the ground along with the goblins head, but no body. The body seemed to be torn out. With his suspicions confirmed, Taman heads back down to the tunnels. Taman removes the items they have packed on the goblins and treats the goblins wounds, Bixx insisting that he helps the other goblins before helping him. With Taman's watch coming to an end, he wakes Nok-Nok and shares the information he had gained. Nok-Nok makes a deal with Bixx while the others are asleep. Bixx accepts the deal and produced his hand to seal the deal. Nok-Nok proceeded to draw a dagger which he used to seal the deal in blood. With Nok-Nok's rest coming to an end, he wakes Lilith and explains to her that he has made a deal with Bixx but skips some of the details associated with the deal. Lilith notices that all the goblin ropes have been untied but they are not attempting to escape. She questions Bixx and he assures her that they will honor the deal, but also explains the entire deal to her, including the parts Nok-Nok left out. Lilith lowers her guard, but still keeps a close eye on the goblins, who seem to stick to their word which the party finds surprising.

During the course of the morning, they party packs the goods up again and heads to the surface, they goblins take about two hours to get the goods out of the tunnel and the party decides to see if they can fix the wagon which was used as a fortress. Taman took the time to get his hands on a heavy create and did some morning exercises. Zaren cast a spell on him which completely cleaned him and his armor, leaving him looking and smelling fresh.

While trying to locate the wheels of the wagon, Nok-Nok asked Bixx where they could be found, jokingly Bixx picked up a wheel and rolled it down the hill towards the others in a playful manner to which Nok-Nok responded by slapping him. Bixx, returned the favor and on seeing Nok-Nok's reaction, the other goblins immediately attacked Nok-Nok. Lilith supported Nok-Nok, while Cade and Zaren prepared for a fight, but decided to see what happens first before jumping into the fray. Taman jumped in to attempt to calm the situation down. Bixx muttered a few words to his fellow goblins and they stopped attacking, but readied themselves for a fight should one be required. Bixx intently stared at Nok-Nok allowing him to make the decision to continue the fight or not. Nok-Nok backed down and climbed onto the wagon to calm down.

With the wagon fixed and the goods loaded, Cade led the way to the other caravans they had hid on their way in. Taman covered the remains of the goblin who was tied to the tree to ensure the others don't see it and retrieved the blood stained rope. The goblins pulled the wagon with some aid here and there from Taman where they were struggling. Reaching the other caravans they distributed the goods between them to allow everyone, including the goblins, some space to sit and hitched the horses. They left the woods towards the trade path. Nok-Nok noticed the wolves were watching them as they joined the path. About 200 feet away they stopped and watched the party leave for a short while before returning to the forest.

During the trip, Bixx was sitting with Cade. Cade managed to persuade Bixx to share some information with him. Bixx told Cade that he had been tasked with clearing the village food stores in preparation for a visitor. He questioned his chief and and was beaten. He proceeded to empty the stores and waited, but no one came. When the food started rotting he again questioned his chief, this time he was beaten and thrown into a cage as an example. While in the cage, the goblins with him secretly brought him food and water. While in the cage he saw spiders freely moving in and out of the village. This made no sense since spiders where a food source for them. One day he noticed a tall figure with a black cloak move into the space he was tasked to clear.some spiders followed it in. He is not sure what it was but can say for certain it was not a spider or a goblin. His goblin friends devised a plan to free him in the middle of the night. The plan was to get him out and then a week later when things had calmed down, they would escape along with their families, bringing Bixx's family with them. The plan failed and they were discovered. They managed to free Bixx and ran out of the village with the village guard on their heels. A few fell and some where caught but most of them got away. He told Cade that they attacked the caravans to possibly trade the lives of their families for the goods. He continued to explain that he will hold his end of the deal with Nok-Nok if it meant that they would regain freedom and can get back to figuring out a method of getting their families safely out of the village.

The party noticed some thunder clouds swiftly moving in from the mountains and with a hours daylight left, they decided to camp for the night. Taman made some makeshift shelters for the horses and Bixx and his goblins made space under the wagons. The party used the tents they found in the goblin tunnels as protection. Bixx asked if he could take three goblins with him to hunt some food for the evening. Nok-Nok did not like this idea and the party responded by giving them some rations and water. Bixx accepted and spread the food and water before making bed for the evening.

The rain came down quite heavily during the evenings rest. Cade decided to stay up and shared what he had learnt with everyone during their watches. Bixx woke up early morning and started to check on the goblins one by one. He noticed one shivering and proceeded to cover it with a scrap of cloth. After he was satisfied, Bixx sat down again and continued to eat what was left of his rations.

Nok-Nok had a dream.

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