Episode 5

**On Episode 5 of There Will Be Dungeons...**

As Vorel begins to violently wrench the desiccated bones from the sarcophagus, a violet mist begins to fill the room...and from the mist emanates a voice..."Fools! What have you done!"

The mist coalesces into the form of a man, that identifies itself as Peter - the first Hillmaster. It goes on to tell them that he was responsible for the founding of Dusthill, and the creation of the well that feeds water to the town.

It also asks the party if they are responsible for the destruction of Quizquoz, as it no longer can sense the presence of the demon. Stanley informs Peter that the demon has been destroyed, but also imparts the sad news that the last Hillmaster has been killed and the lineage of the Hillmasters has come to an end. The ghost replies to Stanley that his line ended long ago - and that the Hillmasters that have "guarded" Dusthill were but impostors.

The ghost goes on to explain that the well is powered by the Dragon Engine - which is powered by blood; specifically the blood of living beings with a soul. And now it is the responsibility of the adventurers to ensure the safety of the Dragon Engine. It points out a large piece of machinery in the room which is used to grind corpses and extract the blood to fuel the engine, and explains that they must chose either willing or unwilling beings to provide fuel for the machine.

As the ghost's power begins to fade, it imparts one last warning to the adventurers; the Dragon Engine must never be removed from this room. Any attempt to do so would trigger a trap, bringing to life the hundreds of skulls mounted the walls of the room, bringing death to the thieves.

Once the spirit has departed, the party debates amongst themselves how to proceed - and ultimately decide to feed the corpses of Thomas, D'harma, and Holga to the machine to provide fuel to keep water flowing to the town. Vorel, continuing to mourn his friend, takes D'harmas ax, vowing to avenge the dwarf's murder.

While attempting to retrieve the corpse of Billy from the spike outside the room, Vorel discovers that the bridge crossing the deep well shaft has been damaged and will not support his weight. He attempts to throw the body across the bridge, but in doing so nearly falls into the shaft himself - and in the process, the body of Billy falls into gaping chasm.

Before the adventurers can return to the surface, they must repair the bridge. Hope attempts to repair the ropes suspending the bridge, but nearly cuts the ropes and narrowly avoids also falling into the chasm. After regrouping, she is able to successfully repair the bridge, and they are able to continue on.

Stopping briefly at the first trap they encountered, a huge swinging ax, Hope attempts to use her new magical wrench to remove the ax from the mechanism. Focusing on the wrench, she is able to adjust it to the proper size, but as she attempts to unfasten the bolts holding the ax in place, she begins to hear voices speaking a strange language in her head! Attempting to discover what is happening, she gives the wrench to Nash to determine if he also hears the voices - but to their dismay, he hears nothing. Nash attempts to delve deeper into the magical nature of the wrench, and senses that it contains the transformed essence of a living being, but is unable to determine more.

Deciding to leave the ax behind, they to return to the surface, arriving in the Hillmaster's tent. From within the tent, very little activity can be heard in what should be a bustling town. With an abundance of caution, Stanley shadowy interior of the tent. Looking out upon the very quiet town of Dusthill, he attempts to determine why it would be so quiet during the middle of the day. First, he notices a small child, barely a toddler, wandering through the dust. But then he notices something else...a body! And next to the body is a small brown humanoid creature that appears to be eating the corpse!

Following Stanley's lead, Vorel also peeks under the side of the tent and sees the creature - recognizing it as a goblin, Vorel quickly rushes out of the tent with a shout, racing towards the creature. Before Vorel can reach melee range, the goblin pulls a large revolver from its belt and fires at *Vorel*, scoring a direct hit directly in the head! Vorel quickly recovers and closes the distance to the creature, and with a might swing, impales the creature's body on D'harma's ax.

The rest of the party quickly rushes from the tent as goblins begin to pour out of the town towards the open space in front of the Hillmaster's tent. Stanley rushes to Vorel's aid, casting a healing spell to cure his head injury.

As the battle commences, Hope quickly dispatches two of the creatures with quick shotgun blasts. Stanley, turning from his task of healing Vorel, is able to drop another with Dissonant Whispers. Nash unleashes a sleep spell, but the goblins keep pouring out from the town. Strangely, as they race towards the party, they stop and begin to encircle the party and not attack.

Confused as to why the creatures would stop their attack, a chant begins among the goblins. Rising slowly among a few, it quickly spreads through the crowd until all of the goblins are shouting as part of the chant. Rasvertu! Rasvertu! Rasvertu!

Vorel senses that this is not a goblin word...but seems to have its origins in the lizard folk tongue. But even then it is not a word...but perhaps a name? Vorel dispatches the last goblin attacking him as the chant reaches a its crescendo...Rasvertu! Rasvertu! Rasvertu!

The chant suddenly stops...and a gap appears in the goblins. A hugely fat goblin, carried on a litter by four other goblins, is carried into the impromptu arena. The goblin, clearly the "king" of these creatures, points a finger at Vorel and asks in the goblin tongue "Are you mighty warrior of this village"?

Vorel responds with a roar, prompting the goblin to repeat his question. Vorel responds yet again with an intimidating roar! He is ready for battle and will do all within his power to protect the town of Dusthill!

Responding to Vorel's challenge, the goblin king tells him that he will face the goblin champion for control of the town in one-on-one combat, and the crowd again takes up the chant...Rasvertu! Rasvertu! Rasvertu!

Preparing for battle, Vorel throws down D'harma's ax into the ring. Nash slips him a knife, which he also throws into the ring to be used during combat.

The goblin king gestures again, and behind him two goblins appear dragging a huge sack, that appears to contain something alive and moving! The goblins approach, and an arm breaks through the cloth of the sack, grasping one of the goblins and tearing it to pieces. Before the second goblin can react, the bag bursts open, and a huge lizard folk appears from within, grabbing the second goblin and biting off its head. It dawns on Vorel...this beast is Rasvertu!

Exchanging intimidating roars, Vorel gains initiative over his opponent, and quickly rushes towards Rasvertu.  The two lizard folk begin to grapple..trading bites and punches, drawing blood, and causing grave injuries.

While engaged in combat with each other, Hope watches in horror as the small toddler they observed earlier from within the Hillmaster's tent enters the ring! The toddler quickly approaches the battling lizard folk, and with a stick it was carrying, smacks Rasvertu in the leg!

Hope quickly rushes into the in an attempt to rescue the child - causing the goblins observing the battle to suddenly start shouting and throwing rocks and other projectiles at Hope and the child. She snatches up the child and rushes back to the outside of the ring before any harm can come to the child, but in doing so takes several hits from flying objects.

Vorel and Rasvertu continue trading blows, with no clear advantage between the two, until Vorel is able to seize Rasvertu's jaws, grasping each on a hand and wrenching mightily. A loud "crack" can be heard as Rasvertu's jaws suddenly break! Rasvertu attempts to respond, but the grievous nature of his wound will not allow it, and he drops to the ground.

Vorel, seizing up on the opportunity, grabs Nash's dagger from where he threw it into the ring, and brings it swiftly down with a roar, killing Rasvertu.

A brief silence descends over the goblins, but it is cut short as the goblin king shouts something unintelligible to the crowd. As quickly as they appeared, the goblins begin to boil out of the impromptu ring and rush off in the same direction. In the same direction, the sound of engines starting can be heard as the goblins race to get away from the town.

After taking stock of their situation, Stanley pulls out his megaphone and announces to the town that the goblins have left, and that everyone should come to the Hillmasters tent. At this announcement, Jimster appears from one of the nearby huts, and informs the party that the goblins had invaded the town and killed many of its citizens, but also kidnapping many as well! The remainder of the town sought refuge in one of the farms, and were able to hold off the invaders from there.

Hope informs Jimster that, sadly, the Hillmaster is dead, explaining their experiences over the past few days as best they can.

During this explanation, a woman appears that Stanley recognizes as Jenjen, the wife of Thomas. Stanley explains that Thomas is dead, and that he died protecting the town of Dusthill. More townsfolk begin to appear, including Wilma and Aaron, two of the townsfolk from the near-riot at the well several days before. They approach Jenjen and attempt to console her, staring daggers at Stanley. Before any violence can ensue, Shun'ti the well master appears and warns Aaron and Wilma away, who leave taking Jenjen with them.

Stanley goes on to explain to Shun'ti that the Hillmaster is dead. Shun'ti is distraught by this news, but recovers and explains to Stanley and the rest of the party that the town will now be looking to the Hillguard to provide guidance and protection for Dusthill. Stanley asks Shun'ti to go out into the town and spread the word to all the townsfolk that there will be a town meeting the next day, where they will determine how to move forward from this tragedy.

The crowd around the party begins to disperse, and Stanley notices a small boy wandering about looking lost. He recognizes the child as Talia's son Bruce, and approaches the child who asks if Stanley has seen his mother. Bruce begins to cry, but before Stanley can begin to console the child, two halflings appear from the town. Stanley recognizes them as Boxto and Lala Rintolile, the proprietors of the general store. The toddler who caused so much trouble in the fighting ring is their son, and they thank Hope and the rest of the party for rescuing their child. Before leaving, they tell Hope and the rest to please stop by the general store as soon as they can, so the Rintolile's can repay their kindness.

Stanley asks Hope if she can watch after Bruce while he goes searching for Talia. Leaving the group, he begins to wander town...finding many injured and dead, and also those trying to recover from the attack. But as he searches he does not find Talia's body amongst the dead, and asking among the townsfolk, none have seen her. With a building sense of dread, Stanley realizes that she has most likely been kidnapped by the goblin invaders, along with several other citizens of Dusthill.

Hope decides to find her way to the trading post with Bruce. Upon entering, Boxto greets her excitedly, and presents Hope with a map of the Wastes surrounding Dusthill! Hope thanks the Rintolile's profusely for their gift and offers to share a drink with them.

As Hope and the Lintorile's are sharing a drink, Stanley ends his search for Talia at the trading post and asks to speak with Hope alone. He informs her that he hasn't been able to find Talia, and believes she has been kidnapped. They discuss options for the care of Bruce, and decide to ask the Rintolile's to care for Bruce while they consider their options to rescue the kidnapped townsfolk, which will likely take them far from the safety of the town. The Rintoliles inform Stanley that they would be glad to care for the boy while the adventurers are away.

Having been left to their own devices, Vorel and Nash assist the rest of the townsfolk in piling the dead, which will be burned upon a funeral pyre.

As the sun sets on the day, the adventurers pause to consider what their next steps will be...