Session 45: Doppelgangers and Goblins

The party sells loot, investigates the murder of some elves and meets a goblin king.

This write up is based on our Sunday, September 1, 2024 session and was written by our scribe Carl with a few additions from myself. Thanks to our mapper Jimmy for the screen shot.  Since we are scattered around the country, we use Discord for voice communications and the Roll20 online tabletop to connect with each other.

Continued from: Rosienna Rump, Ghouls and Elves

Location: Inside Tegel Manor

1:10 PM
Fresh off a battle with scissors and tape... how did the three Elves we met get their butts kicked by a pair of scissors?

We were outside and on the way to our palace away from the palace and we could hear a dog barking, maybe in combat....With the possibility it is Reebo's dog we ran toward the sound. We split to go around the cottage as we approached.

The mastiff had taken a skeleton down and was gnawing on its leg. The skeleton had long and delicate fingers but was not an effective dog kicker.

Reebo got a really good bow shot in, and the skeleton shattered into scattered bone shards. He won't  need to feed the mutt for a while now...

It was still only early afternoon, so we had Arkelm identify some of the stuff we picked up from Raucous Rump:

    +3 Plate armor
    +2 Shield
    +1 Long sword

They look like Rump family armor, all quite nice.

Needing at least one day to rest, Steadfast asked for one more day so he could cast some location spells, we split the party.  Most of us went to town, either to sell some of the whole lot of stuff we found or for armor resizing.  Aefir will be wearing the +3 plate and his +1 plate would be resized for Natalie.  Shadow went to make a report to our distinguished Rump employer, Sir Runic.

Steadfast and our new friends would be staying behind at the cottage.

While we were on our way, the three 'friends' turned out to be dopplegangers....they attacked Steadfast, and a fight for his life ensued.

Steadfast did all he could but wound up having to run like a rabbit...a slow, fat rabbit.

Or maybe a slow, fat lemming... he ran and jumped off the cliff, and went into a near death experience (death saves)  as the dopplegangers watched from above. Lucky halfling, he made it and woke up a couple hours later... severely hurt and in the dark on a ledge halfway down the cliff.  He chose to stay there and wait for morning.

The status of the doppelgangers was unknown.

Back in town, we did our tasks and had a good dinner and a good night's sleep.

May 11th
Steadfast woke up really sore, and wild-shaped into a monkey. Safely climbing back up the cliff, there was no sign of the trio of terror. The house door was still open and he carefully approached. He climbed to the roof and just listened for awhile, it seemed empty. Yep, all alone. 

He went inside, closed and locked up.  He ate and tried to recover from his fall.

Checking the basement, it had been cleaned out except for some books and junk items.

Back in town we had Aefir's old plate resized for Natalie. It should be ready on the 18th. 

Talking to folks got us a few more rumors about the area and the people. A rumor that the time-flow in and around the manor may be different... we have not (as far as we know) experienced that.

We headed back up to the manor. 

On the way back we met Baladar the ranger again. Short talk and well wishing. Old ruins north of the river and swamp might be worth checking out if we were hunting the dragon hoard and nest. We didn't know about them before, but now they are on the get to someday list of things.

We mentioned our three new friends and he said he had found three dead elves on the road to the south.  Descriptions were unclear, so we pressed on back to our hangout.  Steadfast had barred the door, and we learned his story.

We discussed tracking the dopplegangers - Steadfast can shape into a bloodhound, so that is practical.  But we should also check out the three elves Baladar talked of. One probably is Aefir's wartime friend.

Steadfast cast his locate object, near the manor, looking for the Cauldron of Keridwen.  He got several lines on it, and it is likely to be found on the ground floor in an area we may have already cleared.

No bloodhound til tomorrow, so we went off to check on the dead elves and deal with them whether or not they were Aefir's friend and others.

As we passed near the Ranger's cabin, we saw a group of about 10 goblins sneaking toward the rear of the manor... they were not wearing Rump colors.


We ignored them for now, but made a note for later.

When we got to the elf remains we found the bodies were only recognizable as elves, all gear and clothing were gone and the bodies were as bodies will be after several days out in the wild. We had no way to identify them. Perhaps hair would help sometime, Aefir took a sample. We buried them respectfully.

We took a different path back to the manor, maybe we could see where the goblins went and find out what they were up to.

We went where they were headed earlier and found bent twigs and grass to indicate their passage. It looked like they were headed to the graveyard. Definitely, south of the fence behind the graveyard the grass was similarly trampled. We kept looking for a while and it seemed they went down the cliff behind the graveyard.

Approaching the cliff area, we found a trail that, if we were careful, we might follow. It was several hours until sunset, so we went down the cliff to take one more look-see as to where they were going (hope springs eternal).

We could see a small beach below us, and Aefir (in the lead) thought he saw perhaps a treasure chest half buried in the sand. Someone said, "That's a trap if I ever saw one."

Then he saw a dead goblin on the path, then two more.  Eventually we came to a tunnel going into the hill... WOWZA!

We were under the graveyard a few days ago, so a tunnel was no big deal. In we went, to hear running feet coming toward us... goblins?

Aefir stepped to the side to allow them to progress. A really beat up goblin came around the corner and Shadow put him out of his misery. Another came around the corner, grabbed a rock and threw it at Aefir.  Not its best move....  Shadow moved up and knocked the goblin out, then manacled it.

Remembering that they were probably fleeing something, we stayed alert.

The tunnel was in pretty good shape, probably well traveled. It seemed to be heading in the general direction of the manor, so we proceeded slowly to check it out.

There were blood stains on the floor of the tunnel as we advanced. We came up to a steel door. It looked strong and was reinforced, with writing on it. No one could read it, but it seemed familiar to Natalie.  Steadfast listened and thought he could hear goblins talking on the other side.

The door was locked.

When Steadfast joined us at the graveyard, he was with a group of goblins that worked for the Rump household, and we speculated that this is their headquarters.

Reebo tried to pick the lock, and it opened onto his failed efforts. Three unhappy looking goblins, all wearing Rump tabards. They all seemed well groomed for goblins.

The nearest said, in common, "What are you doing?  Are you with those other goblins?"

Steadfast spoke to them, in goblin, saying we were tracking other goblins who came to attack. The goblins confirmed that this is their home, under the manor.  He told them we were clearing the manor, and asked for a look around.

Garstang was their boss, and we were escorted to meet him.  A raised platform with fire pits around it held 60+ goblins. Something seemed familiar to Natalie, but it wasn't popping up to the frontal lobe.

Then she remembered the map.

Before heading north to Tegel the first time, Natalie acquired a copy of an old map depicting the tomb of Prince Choaxtl, warlord and conqueror in the last days of the Orichalan Dragon Kings.



She has never been able to find anyone who could translate the text, which she assumes is in Orichalan. She has come to believe that Tegel Manor was built upon the ruins of an old Orichalan temple and that this tomb was under it. The funeral barge in the center would be piled with treasure and supplies for use by Prince Choaxtl in the afterlife.

This could be that tomb, but there was no sign of the funeral barge. The platform was covered with smoky campfires, sleeping pads and a throne with a very large and fat goblin sitting in it, Garstang no doubt.

We chatted with Garstang and found that they had a job was to do odd jobs for Ridwick of the Relic, the supposed master of the manor.

Might be a slight conflict with our tasking someday, but that day would not be today.

We asked about elves and he spoke of an elf prisoner in a jail in the dungeon... oh my... They offered to lead us to the jail for remuneration. Steadfast played his bagpipes...What could go wrong?

Not melodious at first but it was interesting. A goblin shaman came onto the platform and eyed us suspiciously while Steadfast tuned up and hit a home run musically.

Pleased with the performance, Garstang agreed to have one of his henchmen lead us to the jail with the elf prisoner.

The map Natalie had showed an exit to the northwest, but the wall there was old stone.  Or maybe a secret door.  Maybe we could check on that later, but for now no reason to talk about it. If they know, they know...but they won't learn it from us.

They led us up a passage to the north. As we moved along we had a pretty good idea that the stairs we passed went up next to the great hall. It was good to be at least a little bit oriented.

Continued in Session 46: Doppelgangers and the Old Temple Ruins