February 5, 2020 - Search for the Moonblade

To start off the adventure, Bradak was informed by Dovrhal of the potential whereabouts of an artifact called the Moonblade.  The location seemed to be within an abandoned mine a couple days travel from the town.  With the dangers unknown, Bradak was advised to gather a sizable party.  His previous allies, Sienna and Saki joined him once again along with the addition of three new faces: Tristan the bard, Lordran the warforged paladin and Horus the ranger.  With no one else around, they set off towards the mine.

Day 1:  Near the beginning of the exploration, the party hears a faint sobbing in the distance.  Saki and Horus scout on to find a lone goblin in a hollowed tree trunk.  The goblin known as Guts appears to have fled from another group and hidden away.  Saki talks Guts into following the party in a chance to find his friends.  The next obstacle along the way appeared to be a wide and deep river that did not exist before.  The party asks Guts the best way to cross, but he didn't have a solid solution since the catapults they previously used were destroyed.  Bradak and Lordran decided to take the time to cut down a very large pine tree, which fell right over the river for the party to cross.  Bradak went across first with a rope tied around him to secure himself as well as assist the party in crossing by tying the rope off on the other side.  Most of the party crossed over without much trouble, however, Tristan and Lordran fell victim to the water.  Tristan was capable of swimming the rest of the way, but Lordran was not buoyant enough to stay afloat, being a heavy warforged.  With party seeing this as a loss, they prepare a small mound to commemorate their fallen adventurer, until they see him walk straight out of the water.  Moving on before setting up camp, the party happen across a small group.  Two elven and a large creature resembling a gorilla, covered in moss and vegetation.  Not wanting to talk, they attack the party.  Defeating them all and capturing one of the elves, the party questions him with no success.  Night falls and the party makes camp.  Lordran keeping constant watch with Saki and Sienna helping during the first couple hours, they see a Dryad curious to their actions.  Not leading to hostile intent, the Dryad leaves peacefully and helps the party pack up in the morning.

Day 2:  The party navigates towards a hilly area.  Splitting up the party to find the mine takes no time at all.  Saki and Sienna decide to scout the entrance, finding eight large bats.  Sienna speaks to them and shares some rations in order to find some information about what is further in the mine.  The bat reveals that huge, blue scaly monsters live further down the mine.  The path splits to find a cavity with mining supplies: coal, pickaxes, rope, pitons.  The party constructs a web like trap around the path to hinder any huge creatures from following the party outside.  Next, the party sees a stone bridge and a staircase leading down.  Across the bridge, the party sees two people and fires arrows to take them down.  Moving on down, the party sees another split in the path with screaming down the left side.  Exploring opposite of where the huge monsters are, the party happens upon more of the same people like the day before.  Four gorilla-like beasts and two elves.  Unfortunately, Tristan falls to one of the beasts, but is picked up with the help of Lordran.  Ending all of their lives, Guts leads the party down the path to find two of his friends, Rux and Gleego, that seem to have been tortured.  Bradak finds their equipment and gives it to them and sends them towards outside.  Looking around, the party finds a portcullis with a keyhole the shape of a small duck.

Saki manages to successfully open the gate to find a room stashed with valuable items: some moon ingots, a 10-point star, crossbow bolts and a caged mechanical bird.  Moving back to the main path, the mine opens to another bridge and staircase.  Unlike the other bridge, the blue monsters are curled around it while flickering arcs of lightning to warn off the party.  Taking the hint, the party leaves, not wanting to bite off more than they can chew.  They return to the village with their new adopted goblins, learning that they cannot see the entrance to the village.  They inform Dorvhal of what they found and decide to explore the mine another day.