Arc 1- Goblin Arrows

**Goblin Arrows** is the first arc in the MOP campaign, and follows the Mines of Phandelver questline with some editing.

## Introduction

*In the city of Neverwinter, a dwarf named Gundren Rockseeker asked you to bring a wagon load of provisions to the rough-and-tumble settlement of Phandalin, a couple of days' travel southeast of the city.*

*Gundren was excited and more than a little secretive about his reasons for the trip, saying only that he and his brothers had found "something big," and that he'd pay you ten gold pieces each for escorting his supplies safely to Barthen's Provisions, a trading post in Phandalin. He then set out ahead of you on a horse, along with a warrior escort named Sylvia Schnee, claiming he needed to arrive early to "take care of business."*

*You've spent the last few days following the High Road south from Neverwinter, and you've just recently veered east along the Triboar Trail. You've encountered no trouble so far, but this territory can be dangerous. Bandits and outlaws have been known to lurk along the trail.*

### Session 1- Most Humble Beginnings

The party sits in a wagon heading down the Triboar Trail. Obiri, a white Dragonborn cleric walks along the side of the cart, keeping her eyes on the road. On the inside sits two warlocks; Saffron, a suave fey-touched tiefling, and Mariam, an on-edge pirate marked by the great old one. They sit across from each other, Saffron propping up his feet next to the pirate while Mariam tries to explode them with his mind. Klaus, the stoic owlin barbarian, drives the cart while completely ignoring the insanity behind him.

As the two warlocks bicker in the back, Obiri and Klaus notice an obstruction in the road; a tipped-over cart with no signs of life. Klaus however sees crow feather-tipped arrows sticking into the wooden sides. Knowing something is amiss, the Owlin veers the cart to the side of the road and stalks the surrounding area in search of any attackers. The other members begin to pile out, seeing what's going on just as Klaus notices two goblins hiding in the trees armed with crossbows. The Barbarian rushes into action, grabbing one of the Goblins from the trees and slamming them into the ground. Combat began as three more goblins poured from the bushes. All but one were killed, the final goblin being spared by Saffron with a sleep spell. While the fight ensued, Mariam searched the tipped-over cart, secretly snatching an expensive-looking map case that certainly belonged to Gundren. Suddenly, he begins hearing a low whistling in the woods. As the party discusses what to do, he runs into the forest in search of the sound. Saffron, who was injured in the fight, gets told off by Klaus for running into combat and almost getting himself killed. The tiefling of course responds with heckling which nearly lands him unconscious as Klaus starts swinging. Obiri, however steps between them pushing them apart not wanting to waste a spell slot on healing right now. During this fight they also hear the whistling, looking to the forest to find a small elven farmer with a lantern who asks them if they’re ok. Apparently, they live around here and had witnessed these things happening to other travelers. While Mariam tries to threaten her, they simply brush it off leaving a shell of a man in pirates' place. She invites them into their home, willing to provide tea and shelter for the night.

Klaus stays behind for a moment to investigate the cart, finding what Mariam found minus the loot. Finding nothing he brings the horses to the barn. The elf introduces himself as Ida (EE-Dah) and talks about how the nearby goblin outpost lets her live in their territory as long as they give a few of their eggs to them. However for the past few months or so they’ve been getting a bit aggressive and pushy with it. Just recently they killed all her chickens and stole her prized rooster. Maple, her yellow chicken is the only one she has left. Through information, Ida gathered and a brief interrogation with the previously-living goblin, Klaus begins to deduce that the goblins had kidnapped Gundren and Sylvia. Angry by this news he runs into the woods cursing in sylvan. He’s followed by Saffron who tries to level with him, telling him it’s not his fault. Klaus leaves, going out to hunt for some dinner. Meanwhile, Obiri kindly asks Mariam to be reasonable and to at least try and work with the group. Mariam immediately assumes she’s trying to undermine him and ignores her advice. After she leaves he calls his boyfriend asking for help. He essentially tells him the same thing that his current crew genuinely does not respect him and that they’re functioning quite fine without him. Unbeknownst to Mariam, Saffron had heard the whole thing and confronted them about some of the things he said. While this goes on, Obiri asks for her goddess her opinions on the party, and somehow they pass. Klaus goes and contemplates humanity and why he feels such bloodlust before heading home for dinner.

Dinner is a wonderful rabbit stew with thick herb bread. Once everyone goes to bed, Saffron goes to commune with Titania, to which Mariam attempts to follow behind and eavesdrop. Saffron and Titania essentially catch up, talking about how hard it was to explain his leaving. However, she encourages Saffron to continue working with this group. While Mariam listens in, he gets a direct order from his patron, “Learn.” The two sneakily head to bed, ready for the new day ahead of them.

### Session 2: A Grizzly Encounter

Ida sees the party off, warning them of upcoming traps down the road. The party leaves their carts and horses with Ida and begins to head down the path to the goblin hideout. With Klaus in the back following Obiri and Saffron, Mariam runs ahead of the group in an attempt to show how much of a leader he is. Not noticing the rope trap, Mariam trips it and gets pulled ten feet off the ground. Klaus rushes into action, flying up and pinning Mariam to the branch keeping him quiet. The other two dove into the bushes just as two goblins walked down the path. Thankfully they didn’t notice the party and once they left the path, Obiri pulled everyone aside after Klaus attacks Mariam for being a lil shit. She basically tells everyone to get their shit together since they’re going to be working as a team anyway and that we could work together for this once. Everyone reluctantly agrees before moving on. They navigate around a pit trap before finding themselves at the entrance of the cave. They see two goblins who are supposed to be keeping watch asleep, so they sneak around them and enter. They see a small entrance to their left with several growling wolves as they walk in. Saffron manages to put two of them to sleep while the other barks from the corner. In an attempt to befriend it, Saffron offers meats and with the help of his patron, he tames the wolf who he names Puck. They see in the back of the room, there's a large shaft that enters into a room with what looks like a flickering light. The party begins to climb up, with Klaus being the first to fly up.

Klaus sees a large room filled with crates and bags of stolen goods. In the middle is a large fireplace with two creatures around it. One wolf, much larger than the wolves downstairs, and the other a massive bugbear whos covered in blood. Klaus recognizes him as Genera Wojtek (Voy-Teck), and freezes. Mariam sees this and alerts the rest of the group. As they rush up to help, Klaus throws a lantern filled with oil at the fire before the bugbear can react, creating a small explosion. The explosion kills the bugbear’s direwolf. Wojtek taunts Klaus and reveals that ‘the human’ is in the goblin barracks. Half of the party, Mariam and Obiri, run after two fleeing goblins while the other two, Klaus and Saffron, stayed in the room. Klaus and Wojtek begin fighting, trading deadly blows and nearly killing each other, all while Saffron stands ready to help when he’s needed. Klaus has made it perfectly clear earlier that he wanted to fight the bugbear alone. There appeared to be a kind of connection as it revealed the two fought in the past, a fight that Klaus lost. The battle becomes more and more frantic as the two dwindle in HP. Wojtek throws him against the wall and shifts his focus to Saffron. Klaus leaps on his back just as he’s about to surely rip the warlock to shreds. The two descend into an animalistic rage as Wjotek pins the owlin to the ground and rips out his throat, dragging him into unconsciousness.

Saffron screams, doing what he can to defend his new ally. He casts eldritch blast, however in his panic and rage, he begins to pour all of his magic into the cantrip. (On a double nat 20) Vines shoot out from his palms, wrapping around the bugbear's body. Screaming out in pain, Wojtek rapidly begins to turn to marble and in an instant is ripped limb from limb. There's no blood, no guts as a stone body crashes into the cave walls. Flowers and ferns spill from his feet, decorating the once dark and stoney cave with fae wildlife. Meanwhile Obiri and Mariam go apeshit on several goblins, both of them truly wrecking shop as they run through the caves. Eventually they find the barracks, where more goblins are waiting with a tied up Sylvia Schnee. One goblin speaks up talking about how they could make a deal with them. This is of course very quickly silenced by Mariam who shoots him in the head killing him instantly. Then Puck comes in and very quickly kills the last two goblins. After they dispatch the rest of the goblins, they walk over and untie Sylvia however there appears to be no sign of Gundren. The two of them and Sylvia in tow walk back to the room, where Klaus lies dying on the floor. Saffron is knelt over him and above them a large spiraling tree has emerged from the ground. Obiri calms Saffron down and heals him back up to full, however it still leaves a scar. She also finds a tooth in Klaus’s neck, though she believes it to be nothing more than a sharp rock as it’s made of marble. Mariam however knows better and very quickly begins to connect the dots.

They find Idas prized rooster (names Oak) and head back to the barn. Ida greets them and is impressed by what she sees, paying ten gold to the party (most of which gets given to Mariam). Mariam then walks off, going to talk to his boyfriend. He floats 60 feet above the lake and calls him. He asks about Gundren Rockseeker and if Amber knows anyone who goes by that name. Other than knowing him from this job he says no but some guy that goes by Black Spider had been asking about him around the ports a few weeks back. Mariam also hears childish giggling and asks why Carys is on his ship. He says she just came on the ship and Mariam hangs up. He then sinks back down into the lake to stay there for the night.