The Necromancer's Legacy - part 34

Very carefully Charon, Horacio and Thriatos back away from the sleeping giant bats and head for a tunnel. Thriatos sets off a simple trap and they realize they have reached parts of the caves inhabitet by the goblins. As the trap seems to have alerted them the mages send their imp forward to negotiate and to their surprise it manages to arrange a meeting with the goblin king.

Wandering deeper into the caves, with an increasing number of goblins following them, the mages have second thoughts about whether or not this was a good idea. But they reach the Hall of the King (a slightly larger cave) unmolested and instruct the imp to suggest an alliance with the aim of driving off the humans outside the mountain. After giving it some thought the king agrees, provided that all spoils of war goes to the goblins. The mages find this acceptable but now face the problem of formulating a plan of attack. Eventually they decide that Charon and Horacio will lead a group of goblins each and attack the camp from two directions. Thriatos will return to create havoc from its center.

To not make Esteria and her followers suspicious they return to camp to sleep during the day under the pretence of preparing for a second day of exploration. Victor wakes his masters during the night and Charon and Horacio attempt to sneak out. Charon is helped to climb down by Thriatos using the Staff of Telekinesis while Horacio manage to talk his way past a guard without him suspecting anything is afoot. However, Horacio is not prepared for the two guards keeping an eye on the goblins and they do not buy his hasty excuse for being there. Luckily, the goblins show up and slit the throats of the guards before they are able to resist or give a warning.

Charon encounters a similar situation where a guard is watching the gates of the tomb. He dominates him in time for a second guard to show up, asking what is going on. Using his minion to slay this threat, the battle causes the camp guards to ask what is going on. Again Charon uses his minion to ensure them everything is fine and then the two open the gates for the goblins waiting inside.

The goblins start to position themselves for the attack, but the soldiers of the camp suspect something is going on and have awoken the mages. With a few summoned fire elementals they unleash death on the surprised goblins, but Charon at least manage to have them running towards the enemies rather than flee the battle.

As the action starts Thriatos finds Esteria outside of his tent together with two guards. She asks them to capture him but he backs away and send Victor and Jamal to deal with them - which they do quickly after one of the guards run Victor through only to discover this had little effect. Esteria flee the scene while Thriatos sets about banishing the summoned elementals and throwing pyromantic spells at the guards battling Charon and his goblins.

From further up the mountain side Horacio sees what's going on and commands his force to attack. The soldiers spot the horde as it approaches and tries to set up a defensive line together with the camp miners, but the goblins push through and Horacio wins a stand-off with a defending mage.

Charon's forces take serious casualties and he himself is wounded by two arrows. With an evocation spell he causes one of the guards armor to explode, temporarily opening a gap in the defending line and allowing the goblins to get through while Thriatos, Jamal and Victor start attacking the defenders from behind. Soon the camp followers are running for their lives or loosing them and the smart ones run for the camels while the others die. Thriatos spots Esteria who is fleeing on a camel but fails to stop her before she gets out of range.

As the battle is over the goblins start to pile their loot. Charon aims to give a good impression by healing the wounded goblins that he can find. Thriatos and Horacio are forced to realize their missing amulet is nowhere to be found.