Chapter 1 - Nooblins Attack!

Party returns to town, finds everything in a panic. They split to find the Captain. G and J ended up back at the tavern after an unsuccessful attempt to find him in the guard house. A and L succeed in finding the captain although he's too busy preparing for attack to deal with them. They head towards the tavern to meet their party only to be attacked when the gate is breached. Three goblins attack, and while they vanquish their foes, they are left injured. Leron, in particular, is barely hanging on.

At the end of the major attack, Captain Bridley ran out to check the damage. J, in a rage, reaches out and throws the captain towards the tavern where their trophy/proof lays in a corner. Accusations flew about how they risked their lives and he'd better believe them, only to be met with annoyance from the captain. He was reeling from the attacks and how many lives have been lost, and to be accused of failing in his duties was more than insulting. Still, he needed their help because something very strange was going on and he and his troops were tied up defending the city. Ignoring their attitudes, he asked for help and ultimately the party agreed.

The next morning, after resting and healing, the party headed just outside of town. A had noticed fires out in the distance, much like the one the found outside of Ardven's farm. As they left town, however, they caught a party of refugees entering the city. When questioned, a husband told them they were running from the monsters. The party asked when the monsters had appeared and they responded "a little bit after that loud knocking noise." G and L recalled hearing the loud noise down toward the southeast. Gaining no additional information, the party continued with their plan.

Once they arrived, L snuck ahead to observe the campfire. She found the area abandoned, but as she turned, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she saw a nooblin had appeared out of nowhere. She quickly returned to the party and tried to explain what she had seen. Ultimately, J returned to the camp with her to see what they could find. On return, they noticed a second nooblin had appeared, and as they debated what they should do, 4 more showed up. Ultimately they chose retreat.

After conferring, the party decided to head east in hopes of learning where the noise came from.

As they travel, the notice that Arell was not the only place suffering from the destruction of these creatures. In fact, the destruction got worse and worse as they approached the source of the loud knock. At one point, J and L ventured into the forest to find a faster path to Causham, only to find a camp crawling with nooblins. They debated fighting but chose to flee and continue their initial quest. With that, they continued eastward along the roads.

As they reached the crossroad to turn to Causham, they discovered a small "town." It could hardly be called that, as it seemed to be little more than a few families with their farmland. Still, they were weary and concerned about the safety of the residents, so they approached the nearest home. They were met by a young teenager, Voortham, and ushered into the house.  When the heroes tried desperately to warn Voortham of the danger and convince him to leave, he started to worry about their health. They described a creature that seemed really familiar, but not at the same time. After all, his friend wasn't a monster! In an effort to prove as much, he led the heroes out to the stables where they met Gim.

There was a lot of confusion and shouting after that. One of the monsters they were trying to defeat stood in front of them, looking as goofy and harmless as one could with sharp claws, long ears, and a pair of oversized trousers tied desperately in place with far too much rope.

Eventually Voortham ushered the party inside where they could eat, bathe, and get answers to their questions. Once things had settled a little, the party learned that Voortham was unaware of the destruction outside and only knew of Gim. He also mentioned a book he found while exploring and when pressed, he explained that it was where he learned "knock", the source of the loud noise heard across the area. He also mentioned it was where he learned some of Gim's language.

When asked about how he met Gim he only said "I don't know. I was exploring and he found me. He's really nice!"

The party insisted he show them the book, and when he couldn't translate any of it "I just know. I don't know how to say it.", they demanded he take them to where he'd found this book.