Zoom 2021-02-14 20:00

(Note: Wun was on 4 Hps from the healing salve).

On the arrival of the 'Tres Amigos', the party immediately broke camp: The Tres Amigos were asked what they wanted to do with their 2 unconscious 'acquaintances' - they asked to save one and healed him to consciousness. Francis dispatched the goblin prisoner who did not understand F. when he spoke in Orcish. The parties left together for Roubank, with F. scouting ahead on horseback (Brokef was on the Great Horse, and the others horses used by appropriate riders).

Dawn broke about 2 hours from Roubank – there was smoke rising in that direction. 'Big Bird' was currently latent within the Ariel, so Q. user Khurak to scout around. 4 miles back, there were “many 20's” of goblins, plus another group to the Northwest. They appeared to be settling down for the day. Roubank itself had several fires burning, with many dead bodies around.

F. arrived in Roubank ahead of the parties – more of a large hamlet than a village, which had no defences other than a derelict keep (see later description) that was used as an animal shelter. He assisted the surviving villagers in putting out the fires, as did the other party members when they arrived. The highest priority for the villagers was a hut from which the dead body of a very old women dressed in blue was removed – the Blue Witch (BW). The villagers then turned their attentions to the village store house and succeeded in rescuing most of the stores.

The village had been attacked by maybe “40” goblins (though probably more like 20), and they killed about 30 villages with 10 goblins dying in the process – at which point the goblins' morale broke and they retreated. There were 10 villages left alive – 4 men and 6 women. There is no ridable livestock – just sheep.

While the villagers are relieved to see the parties (and their mounts!), they refuse to leave because they must wait until tomorrow when the 'baby' arrives in the tower – apparently the BW reborn. Later on, we discover the body of the man who recovered the BW's body in the base of the tower all 'collapsed in on itself' – presumably his life has been given to reincarnate the BW.

The parties take stock and decide how to defend the village overnight so that the BW is reborn and the villagers can leave. Believing the clans to be to the Southwest of Roubank, Brokef agrees to go in search of them on the Great Horse to bring reinforcements. He is healed to full health by the Ariel (one 8hp cure) and Joshua gives Brokef his healing salve as an extra contingency. Brokef departs.

The party members take a much needed kip so they can recover stamina and relearn spells.

**Village resources:**

J. checks the BW's hut: She was a herbalist with plenty of herbs and potions inside – none of the marked. There is no sign of anything else of value or with the 'primitive language' runic symbols on. There is, however, a large amphora of oil and plenty of flasks, so the parties can stock up on oil for lighting and offence. J. stacks the BW's herbs and other vials alongside the villagers' supplies. We recover about 40-50 darts from the goblins plus a few spears.

The derelict keep is the only option for a defensive position, so the party set to work on making it serviceable: The main gate has gone so Wun is set to work with his woodworking skills on barricading it up as best he can – presumably after we have got everything important inside! The party also sets up torches and a bonfire in the middle. There is a well with buckets inside the walls.

We were reminded about army magic resistance - personal spells and spells against an individual should work against numbers up to 500, but area effect spells could be resisted - see Army\_Magic\_Resistance. However, any goblin group that breaks away from their main army (or inside the walls while the rest of the army are outside) will not benefit from the resistance.

Wun has completed his work on the barricade by about 4:00pm, and the party continue their defensive work...

**Note:** If appears that the goblins are **not** covered by the GSOV.