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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MarauderX" data-source="post: 1646010" data-attributes="member: 9990">Session 12: Pyotr and Loshad strike a dealThe group barricaded themselves into the goblin king’s throne room, moving the tables to block the two doorways to the room.  Searching the room revealed no other exits and Alex made a stirring discovery.  He slid aside the throne at the top of the dais to reveal a small pit filled with treasure.  Sacks of gold filled the hole, and on top of them rested an ornate lock box with swirling insignias.  Alex made several attempts to open the box, and one of the former prisoners named Yaritza stepped up to take a closer look at it.  After scanning the room thoroughly once again the group brought in the horses from outside and decided to settle in for an extended rest.  Jerrin tended the wounded as the others took turns standing watch during the pitch of night.  Time dragged on, and late into the morning Alex and Yaritza had taken up a watch together.  It was then that they heard something from what they thought was the next room.  Scanning the other rooms with the lantern they saw nothing.  Then Alex scrambled up the make-shift watch tower to the roof level of the goblin stronghold.  He spun the lantern to shine through the doorway and the beam fell on a goblin-like face.  Only it was much bigger, and this face stood much taller, looking eye-to-eye with Alex.  Alex leapt backward and watched the large figure steady a great sword in its hands.  Deciding not to tangle with it, Alex hopped down to the room below and described what he saw to everyone now that they were awake.  Jerrin nodded knowingly, suspecting that this creature was a hobgoblin.  The group spent the rest of the night sleeping lightly, and it was tough to tell when the sun had risen as the darkness only gave way to the gloom of the stone forest.  Quickly the group formed a plan to ride out of the forest, and Cyprian led the way.  All were eager to leave and after several hours they emerged from the shroud of the forest.  Taking a small break at the edge of the stone forest, they noticed several jet-black horses emerge from the lush, living forest.  Thinking it strange the group waited to see what would happen.  The horses stayed their distance, so the party moved on, heading north around the stone forest.  Finding a good location to camp for the night, Cyprian and Thovaas entered the woods to hunt for fresh meat to accompany their dwindling rations.  They spotted a group of dear and Cyprian brought a doe down with a single shot.  As they approached their prey, a large figure loomed over it.  A half-man, half-horse glared at them solemnly, waiting as if for an apology.  Thovaas introduced himself, and the centaur nodded before ignoring him.  Thovaas brought him to the group and some flinched at the horse-man’s tall stature.  The centaur then began questioning the party on the treatment of the four horses in their care after venturing into the stone forest.  The centaur then told, instead of asked, the party would free the remaining pure-white horses that Pyotr had.  It became clear that the centaur valued the lives of the horses over the people he had encountered.  He told the party they would ride the black horses that had been watching them and would let the four they had been riding go free.  Then the group was to bargain or otherwise set the white horses free for safe passage back to the homestead.  The group said that they would arrange for Pyotr to meet him and discuss the matter directly with him.  As part of the deal the party was to release the woman, Fyodorll, they had imprisoned so long ago for ‘buying’ the white horses from the goblins.  The centaur referred to her as a hero for removing the white horses from harm and demanded that she be freed.  In return the centaur would take them to the ruins of Chautauqua.  Finally the centaur and the party agreed and left the party the black horses to carry them the rest of the way to the homestead.  The days passed as they traveled quickly on the backs of the black horses towards the homestead.  At night the horses stood apart from the group, and often the centaur could be seen keeping watch over the area.  As they approached Sukyskin, the black horses grew uncomfortable and eventually unmanageable, forcing the party to stop a quarter mile away.  They fetched Pyotr, and he brought out his own horses and many unfamiliar faces to help the party back to the homestead.  Going back to Sukyskin they saw that it had grown considerably.  Tents and other swiftly made structures now dotted the clearings where they had once saw goblins sprinting in the moonlight, and parts of the forest were cleared and small crops were planted.  People meandered in and out of the gate in the new wooden palisade, and Pyotr nodded and introduced many to the heroes who had helped them survive a night’s terror nearly a month ago.  The group finally let their guard down.  Rollof was aided, and a crutch was prepared for him.  Han claimed the ornate box and Yaritza surrendered it to him and he thanked the others for their aid in recovering what he had been seeking.  Before going he bought several items and explained that he and others had been sent to recover the box after goblins had stolen it by raiding the trade routes between the east and west.  The party explained that the Wolfskull clan had been routed, and that they still had not recovered Stephan, though they felt they were catching up.  They persuaded Rollof to tell of his meeting with Stephan and others from nearby camps.  The goblins and some larger hobgoblins had decided to take them to a place called Chautauqua, and Rollof, with his missing foot, was left behind since they said he would slow them down.  The group told of the centaur and the deal they had made with Pyotr, including the idea that he should meet him.  Pyotr initially balked at the idea, and said that he had no money left, and without the horses he would be bankrupt, and still hoped that Taras could re-establish a deal even though his reputation was tarnished for not delivering the horses after he said he would.  Pyotr agreed to sell the horses to the party at a much lower price, if to only cover the debts he owed to merchants and others in the area for providing food and other provisions.  With the agreed price, the party became the owners of the pure-white horses.  Thovaas then told Pyotr that Fyodorll and her helper they had captured should be freed, and Pyotr agreed willingly, glad to be rid of her silver tongue.  The next day the party, along with Pyotr and Misha, brought the white-horses out to meet the centaur.  Pyotr looked shaken at the centaur’s size and commanding presence, but was greeted by the centaur as if they had known each other for a long time.  The centaur introduced himself as Loshad, a servant of nature and horses.  Loshad instructed that the shoes be taken off of the white horses before they were set free, and asked whether the woman had been set free.  Pyotr simply nodded.  Before parting, the centaur held forth a crude, stained backpack full of platinum coins made before the founding of Correl and several gems.  To Jerrin he asked that the contents be given to the woman for saving the lives of the white horses from the terrible goblins.  With that they agreed to meet the following day to leave for the ruins of Chautauqua.  Going back to Sukyskin, Thovaas found Fyodorll and delivered 500 of the platinum pieces to her.  She looked astonished, not quite understanding why the man who had imprisoned her was now making her rich.  Thovaas told her that if she were smart she would leave soon, and she understood and nodded in agreement.  Relaxing again, the group made several arrangements with people now living there, and told of how they could go back to their lives once again, now that the third and last of the goblin clans had been defeated.  Soon they would venture to the ruins of Chatauqua to see what awaits them there.</blockquote>

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