Temple of the Goblin Sorceress

[hcobb]

Temple of the Goblin Sorceress
A low level adventure.
By Henry J. Cobb

Edquark saw a mention of a ruined goblin temple that his grandfather had written about, but had never had a chance to investigate. Wanting to be a great explorer himself he gathered together a modest crew and set out from the goblin valley to the great wilderness.

Edquark Ebbins III: (unlikely) Goblin Hero
ST 7 DX 11 IQ 15 MA 10 (18 total skill points)
Weapon: "meter stick"(2h club) 1d
Languages: Goblin, Old Goblin, Common
Talents: Area Knowledge (1; The general area of his grandfather's expeditions, but this was fifty years ago so is a bit dated.), Horsemanship (1; spider rider), Literacy(1), Archaeology(3 point mundane talent), Animal Handler(2; Goblin associated critters only), Recognize Value(1; specializing in Goblin relics), Naturalist(2), Physicker(2; His father insisted he go to med school), Writing(1), Scholar(3).
His club is about a yard long and marked off as a hundred units of a strange Goblin measurement called the cm.

During a typical day Edquark will be in the underground area of the ruin measuring with his meter stick and taking notes in his journal.

Silky: (smarter than the average) Giant Jumping Spider
ST 18 DX 12 IQ 7 MA 8 or Jump. (IQ is 2 higher than normal for the species.)
Bite: 1d+2, if this penetrates armor roll 4/ST or take another die of damage.
Spell like abilities:
Jump costs 1 fatigue and launches Silky at any target within ST hexes at missile weapon range adjustments. Treat as a shield rush, but if the target falls down Silky enters into HTH combat.
Darkness adjusted vision: Silky is at -2DX in full sunlight, -1DX in partial sunlight and suffers 2 less DX adjustment from shadows and darkness. Blur and invisibility have full effect against him.
Talents: Alertness, Climbing, Silent Movement.
Despite his name Giant Jumping Spiders do not weave webs. Raised from the egg he is loyal to Edquark and will attack to defend his master or himself. Otherwise only attacks at twilight to pick off what seems like easy prey and take the prey (and occasional shiny objects) back to his current lair on what remains of the upper level of the ruined temple.

The first person Edquark recruited for his party was Gwendolyn. Not because he trusted her, but because of her influence over Krook and his gang.

Gwendolyn ran off at a young age from her very poor Goblin family and used her charms to convince a human wizard (with strange tastes) to take her in as his apprentice. She returned to the Goblin valley a decade later to settle some old scores. Scorned by the Goblin wizard community (partially for adopting a human name to try to obscure her background) she hung around a hobgoblin gang. On a typical day at the site she will be found near Edquark nagging him to translate Old Goblin inscriptions in the ruins so that she can discover the secrets of lost spells.

Gwendolyn: (aspiring) Goblin Sorceress
ST 6 DX 11 IQ 16 MA 10 (19 total skill points)
Weapon: Fine silver dagger staff(1d) with Mana 12
Languages: Goblin, Common
Talents: Literacy(1), Knife(2), Sex Appeal(2).
Spells: Detect Magic(1), Light(1), Aid(1), Look Your Best(1), Summon Scout(1/min), Dispel Missiles(1/1), Lock/Knock(2), Persuasiveness(2/1 min), Reveal/Conceal(2+), Analyze Magic(4), Drain Strength(S), Mage Sight(2/1 min), Staff IV(1).
She also carries three other identical daggers hidden on her person for backups, but it would take a week of her solo dedicated effort to staff one and fill it up.

Krook: (minor) Hobgoblin bandit chief
ST 12 DX 13(11) IQ 10 MA 8 (13 total skill points)
Gear: War Ax(2d), Light Crossbow(2d, with 20 Quarrels), Small Shield(1), Leather Armor(2)
Languages: Goblin
Talents: Brawling(1), Carousing(1), Ax/Mace(2), Crossbow(1), Shield(1), Acute Hearing(2), Missile Weapons(1), Streetwise(1), Toughness(2), Tracking(1)

Krook's gang is a half dozen average Hobgoblins. Edquark and Gwendolyn insisted that the hobgoblins camp outside the ruins (in the rain, but at least in their tents) so as to not disturb anything inside and hinted that there still might be traps when Krook complained.

Krook brought his gang along on this little expedition for the looting of human travelers. If one of his gang goes missing he'll bother Gwendolyn until she uses Summon Scout to track the idiot down.