Obviously in this case we didn't need the extra damage, but for next time, remember I can only use Howling Strike in place of a MBA when I charge, so I wouldn't have gotten that extra d6 damage- and don't forget to check the box to reroll ones on the 2d6b1! :)

Ignatz roars as Greyband's expertly timed maneuver, and the wide blade of the half-orc's heavy weapon, leaves their assailant wide open.

Ignatz gains 6 temp hp

Enemy	Location	HP	AC	F	R	W	Current conditions:	Effects/ongoing:
Hobgoblin Soldiers	F2	10/47	20/22	18	16	16	+2 bonus to AC, if adj. to another soldier.	Immobilized & Cursed, marked by Dral
Hobgoblin Soldiers	G2	23/47	20/22	18	16	16	+2 bonus to AC, if adj. to another soldier.	Marked by Dral
Dral	G1	51/51	18	18	16	16	-
Greyband	F11	37/37	22	15	18	20	-
Warfryn	E4	48/56	20	18	15	18	-	Slowed
Ignatz	D9	45+6/47	20	19	17	14	-

MAP:
https://docs.google.com/drawin...Y6wdaYoFbJU6VCQ/edit </orange>
</quote>

The two remaining hobgoblins show their true colors; Cowards working for hire and to earn their keep. With the leaders dead and both wounded, they raise their hands and beg for mercy.
"Let us go! Please, we will not speak of this! We are just hirelings!!!"
Their puny faces express concern and dismay and that they truly can not act without leadership.
The Gnome, Rendil laughs at them, while still tied.
"So, will anyone free me? I will make it worthwhile!"

---

Enemy	Location	HP	AC	F	R	W	Current conditions:	Effects/ongoing:
Hobgoblin Soldiers	F2	10/47	20/22	18	16	16	+2 bonus to AC, if adj. to another soldier.	Immobilized & Cursed, marked by Dral
Hobgoblin Soldiers	G2	23/47	20/22	18	16	16	+2 bonus to AC, if adj. to another soldier.	Marked by Dral
Dral	G1	51/51	18	18	16	16	-
Greyband	F11	37/37	22	15	18	20	-
Warfryn	E4	48/56	20	18	15	18	-	Slowed
Ignatz	D9	45+6/47	20	19	17	14	-

MAP:
https://docs.google.com/drawin...Y6wdaYoFbJU6VCQ/edit

OOC: No action from them; They surrender.

Greyband nods to Ignatz. "Ignatz, would you please tie these hobgoblins up. If they do anything that you don't like, kill them." He gives the hobgoblins one more steely gaze before heading over to the gnome and cutting the gnome's bonds with his blade. "Well-met, fellow. I am Greyband. How did you come to be in this predicament?"

Warfryn looked over to Dral.

"And you, sir, how did you come to be captured by these brutes?"

As he spoke he walked over to the body of the warcaster and started to search the body.

In reply to Warfryn (msg # 33):

"I had heard tell of slaves operating in this area. My people were once slaves and we consider it an honorable profession to confront slavers wherever they may be found.

"But, I took on more than I could handle on my own and was captured. Thank you for freeing me. If you're going to be in this area, perhaps I could travel with you. Perhaps your work intersects with mine and I can be of help to you."

"I am sure that my companions would have no problems with that" said Warfryn.  "But before we continue I for one would like a few moments to regain my breath and bandage this wound."

Rendil nods at Dral, then the group.
"He is alright. Fought well, but we got outnumbered. Not on him.
As for me, I’m Rendil Halfmoon, and I live here.
Well, not here, but in the Seven-Pillared Hall. Thanks so much for helping me. Come with me to the Halfmoon and I’ll buy you an ale or four. It’s the best inn—well, the only inn—this side of the Labyrinth. You see, these hobgoblins grabbed me a few hours ago. I was tailing them ’cause they were hanging around my family’s inn yesterday. I wanted to figure out what they were up to, but they caught me.”
It becomes apparent that the gnome could speak the ears of anyone.
"You know..We’re not too far from the Seven-Pillared Hall. Adventurers such as yourselves can easily find employment in the Hall, if that’s what you’re looking for. Just stay on Brugg’s good side—you don’t want him or the Mages of Saruun to pay too much attention to you, if you know what I mean.”
He winks and smiles at Warfryn, before stating.
"I am not bad with bandages, need a hand? Anywho, ask, I know this place well!"

He finishes out of earsight as Ignatz guards the remaining hobgoblins who follow his every whim.
“Those hobgoblins you just beat up are some of the Bloodreavers. A lot more of them are around, but you won’t see them up here. They hide out down in the Chamber of Eyes. Filthy muck eaters, all of ’em. They’re thieves and slavers, and not necessarily in that order.
So if you’ve got a score to settle with the Bloodreavers, I can help you out. I can tell you how to find the Chamber of Eyes. I’d like to see someone teach those slavers a lesson.”

OOC:
Rendil has the heal skill, with a mod of +10, so you can use his aid if needed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:57, Fri 31 Aug 2018.

Greyband smiles and bows to Rendil. "Your offer of assistance with healing skills is kind, but unnecessary. I am something of an expert in that area. However, your offer regarding leading us to safe haven and to the Chamber of Eyes is most welcome. We, too, have scores to settle with the Blooodreavers and with any who would enslave. Let us take a few minutes to search the bodies of these fallen, then rest here for five minutes or so before we head to the Seven-Pillared Hall."

He looks at his companions. "Dral, Ignatz, Warfryn, does this sound agreeable to you?"

Heal skill +11 and pacifist cleric hybrid. We're covered :-)

"Indeed ideal" said Warfryn.  "But what should we do with these slavers?"  He gestured towards the two prisoners.

"Despite what they are I am reluctant to just kill them out of hand."

He turned back to Rendle.  "Is there perhaps a place they can be confined in this place we are to go to?"

---

1. The Road of Lanterns
2. The Customhouse
3. The Deepgem Company
4. Bersk the Wainwright
5. Temple of Hidden Light
6. Residences
7. House Azaer
8. The Pigeonholes
9. The Deep Stair
10. The Halfmoon Inn
11. Waterfall
12. Bridges
13. Chute
14. Minotaur Statue
15. Gendar’s Curios and Relics
16. Dreskin the Provisioner
17. Rothar’s Taproom
18. The Road of Shadows
19. Grimmerzhul Trading Post
20. The Dragon Door
21. The Tower of Saruun
22. The Shining Road

---

As Rendil stated, adventures like yourself could find work here easy.
As you walk down a narrow street, you hear him speak of the area while taking in the sights.
In the distance(just past the #1), you see a large ogre patrolling, giving you a steel eyed glance to determine if you are trouble or not.

Rendil details:
The Seven-Pillared Hall, a mighty chamber, was once the market square and meeting place of the ancient undermountain city of Saruun Khel. In some ways, it still serves as a market and meeting place of sorts, but for a different kind of inhabitant.
Today, the Mages of Saruun provide order and safety within the Hall, chiefly so that
they can trade with the intelligent monster races that live within the Labyrinth and the Underdark beyond. While the mages seek to acquire goods and items important to their arcane experiments from creatures that normally don’t conduct trade with the surface dwellers, the relative safety of the place has given rise to an underground market—both figuratively and literally.

Dral can't help but feel enclosed here. There is something about this place that makes him uneasy and reminds him of something that for the moment, is gone.

Unless pausing or stopping other places, Rendil takes the group to the The Halfmoon Inn.
You notice this large building sits against the side of the Hall and serves as a trading post, taproom, and inn.
Inside you see Rendil embrace a fairly robust halfling woman, whom could be mistaken for a different race and welcome you inside warmly.

Warfryn craned his neck back as he stared up into the upper reaches of the cavern.

"It's big, isn't it" he enthused.

"Oh!  Look!  An ogre.  Should we attack him or is he some kind of guard.

"What's that over there?  The big statue of a man with a bull's head?"

He continued prattling along as they headed for the inn.

Dral follows the adventurers - the other adventurers, as he seems to be one now as well - and tries to take in the whole of the cavern environment. He appears calm, but the tapping of his staff on the ground has changed noticeably reflecting a nervousness the githzerai probably wouldn't want to admit.

Rendil points at the statue.
On a stone platform in the eastern part of the Hall stands a 10-foot-wide, 30-foot-tall statue of a minotaur. The bronze form has arms outstretched in a ritualistic pose.
On the floor surrounding the statue, a 20-foot-diameter circle is etched with gleaming runes.
"This is a teleportation circle, used by the Mages of Saruun, to enter the secret tower in the North east."
He stops, and shrugs at the Ogre.
"So where to? And don't touch Brugg, he is an enforcer for the Mages of Saruun and illtempered. Keeps unwanted people out thought and drinks like a hole in the ground.."

Greyband stops and looks solemnly at the hall. ”Very impressive,” he says before following Rendil to the Half-moon Inn.



Greyband grins. ”Now, let’s not attack anything without cause. If the ogre or minotaur leaves us alone, we leave him alone, I say.” Still, he kept a half-eye on these creatures, who pose a not insignificant threat to this little group should they become hostile.



He nodded toward the inn. "In there is as good as anywhere.  Let's go."



Greyband bows slightly. "Greetings! My name is Arturus Greyband. These are Dral, Ignatz and Warfryn. We would like a round of a good drink, if you don't mind, or if you could point us to whoever can help us with that."

The flooring is a rustic wooden sort, you have not seen before.
The halflings of the Halfmoon family run the place, stocking a variety of foodstuffs and other goods obtained from Halfmoon posts in neighboring lands.
Rendil steps in as Greyband speaks.
"They eat on the house, drinks on me, I am sure you agree ma'"
The mother nods and hands Grey a key.
You are placed at a table nearby, privately and against a wall in a corner.
Calm, private and with easy access to food and drinks.
Rendil sits next to you, and offers insight if needed.

Greyband smiles and pockets the key, though he's not quite sure what it's for. He'll worry about that in a bit. He takes a seat quickly, waving the others over. "Let's start with less-expensive drinks, so as not to draw too much attention to ourselves," he recommends. He orders an ale for himself.

"I'll have a small glass of wine" said Warfryn.  "Although I really should have something to eat with it.  Do you think I might get some bread and cheese?"

He sat down and almost disappeared from view with just his nose appearing above table level.

"And maybe a cushion, if it is not too much bother?"

As the others notice that Ignatz has fallen behind, they see him hefting the two hireling bugbear slavers, unconscious and bound. He carries them through the Hall straight to Brugg, and grins at the huge ogre. "Hoy beeg boy, my name's Ignatz! Hy got some slavers dot ve didn't kill. Hyu gotz a jail around here?"

Brugg eyes Ignatz with a curious look, almost as if to scold him, before taking a shrug to his head and laughing.
"Hah, didn't put up much of a fight eh? Let me handle 'em.."
He grabs them both in one hand and drag them off to a nearby building and with force drop them onto the doorstep. Knocking and turning away as his deed is done.

At the Inn, they are treated as desired and Rendil smiles as he feels able to return the favors granted. Warfryn gets the cushion, embroider with small flowers even and is quite a sight to behold.

Dral seems distracted, but still takes some food - the slavers apparently hadn't prioritized feeding him.

He keeps touching the back of his neck and wincing with pain. "I find myself unable to recall," he says, "but I believe somewhere in this hall is where I was captured. Could someone tell me the nature of the injury I feel on my neck?"

Greyband nods. "That would be my area of specialty. Let me take a look." He moved into a position to look at the back of Dral's neck.

Heal check of 17, if relevant.
16:01, Today: Greyband rolled 17 using 1d20+11.  Heal check.

Checking the mark, Grey notices a large red mark, almost as if Dral had been branded; It glows as he touches it and he quickly realizes that the mark itself is of a magical means. But he can not make out who and where.

OOC:
Your call on next steps here - there is alot of options for work and Rendil can voice in.
Let me know if you want me to pitch some options here.

Warfryn nibbled on his bread & cheese and sipped daintily of his wine.

"So what is that mark, Grey.  Do you want me to take a look?  It may be more from my tradition than yours."

In reply to Warfryn (msg # 53):

"Whatever it is, I would like it removed. If there are temples in this cavern, I would be willing to perform services for them, in exchange for treatment. Or just pay them, if there's work to be had elsewhere."

When a server comes by again, Dral asks "What work is there to be found nearby? I believe my new allies and I could take on tasks for which it might be difficult to find employees."