More goblins arrive to fill in the ranks of the ones killed before. The adventurers continue to fight, but they are starting to grow tired from the constant onslaught. With each one that’s cut down, Lilvari yells out to the others, “Was that the last one?”

Finally, after almost a dozen goblins had been slaughtered, Mystic yells back, “Yes. I think so.”

They take a few minutes to search the goblins for loot and catch their breath. A plan is starting to be made about how to search the rest of Cragmaw Castle. Lilvari seems to want to continue on towards the East. Mercarri heads into the area where the goblins were all dining. Dare doesn’t seem to care which way they go. He’s just glad that strange feeling of fear has abated. Mystic watches all this from the hallway which is now puddled with goblin blood. She gets the urge to go her own direction. She passes Lilvari and heads into the room to the North West, the room where several goblins have come from just a few minutes earlier. This room looks like it could be part of a chapel. An ornately carved stone brazier stands near the center of the room, its coals cold and unlit. Intricate designs of Angelic forms are carved into the upper reaches, looking down on the floor below. They aren’t the only thing looking down at Mystic.

“What are you doing?” Lilvari calls into the room.

“Adventuring,” Mystic replies. The word barely leaves her mouth before she feels incredible plain shoot through her back. Something large and powerful spins her around, and then she has just enough time to see a beaked face ringed by four clawed, suckered tentacles coming at her. It buries it’s beak into her chest, and she lets out a scream. Lilvari sees it first, through the doorway. A 5 to 8 foot monstrosity hangs from the ceiling, it’s gray, wormlike body holding on tightly while trying to eat Mystic alive. Mystic struggles free and hurries from the room towards the others. Her blood spatters on the floor, leaving a trail behind her.

She runs past Dare. He doesn’t hesitate. He hurries inside and sees the creature on the ceiling. He has to jump to reach the beast with Talon, but he does reach it. He gives it a nasty gash on its neck. Green liquid oozes from the wound and drips onto the floor. Meanwhile, Mercarri touches Mystic and mutters a healing spell. Mystic returns the favor in kind just before Mercarri rushes in to assist Dare. She calls upon Sacred Flame, aiming at the creature on the ceiling. It finds its mark, and the beast shrieks.

Dare quickly tells her to raise her hand up in the air. She looks at him, confused. “Just do it,” he says. As soon as she does, he slaps it with his own. “High Five!” he yells. Mercarri’s stares quizzically at her hand for a moment and then back at Dare. In that short break of concentration, the creature makes its move. Mercarri feels white hot pain shoot through her shoulders as the creature impales her with its tentacles. It lifts her off the ground and lunges at her with its beak. She manages to break free before it can reach her.  With a loud thud, the creature drops from the ceiling to the floor right in front of them and roars. So preoccupied with the two of them, it doesn’t see Lilvari rush in from the side. Using Curse Bringer, Lilvari manages to sever several tentacles from its face. Before it can respond, Dare lops off it’s head.

“You guys okay in there?” Mystic yells from outside. “Did you get it?”

Mercarri yells back that yeah, they got it. Mystic starts towards the room, a little more cautious this time. Dare, meanwhile, is already checking out the next room. A stone altar stands in the middle of this room, covered with bloodstained black cloth. Golden ritual implements—a chalice, a knife, and a censer—are carefully arranged on top of the altar. As Dare’s looking at the altar from afar, he notices feathers moving behind it. Standing on his toes, he sees three goblins dressed in robes, hunkering down behind it.

“What are you guys doing back there?” he asks. 

The goblins spring up. The one in the middle is dressed differently, wearing a feathered head dress and carrying a long staff donned with the skull of a goat.  “Praying to our God Maglubiyet!” it says. “Maglubiyet says to kill you where you stand!”

Dare’s quick reflexes allow him to raise his shield and block two arrows shot in quick succession from the two goblins on either side of the goblin shaman. Lilvari, hearing the commotion rushes in. She’s picturing Dare standing in front of fifty goblins, asking them next where he can take a shit. She’s surprised to see only three. She charges at the closest one with Curse Bringer and nearly cleaves the goblin’s head from its neck.

The goblin shaman sees this then closes his eyes. It looks as if he’s muttering a prayer. Suddenly there’s a loud clanking noise of armor hitting the ground coming from the room Mercarri and Mystic are in. Mercarri, suddenly exhausted, drops to the ground at Mystic’s feet. Mystic readies herself for battle and turns into her Starry Form.

“Now the odds are better,” the shaman says, grinning. Dare is already lunging at the other goblin with Talon. He strikes it across the chest, doing a lot of damage but not enough to bring the goblin down.

Mystic bats aside the curtain and enters the room. She sees what’s going on and aims her hands towards the goblin shaman, casting Guiding Bolt. The goblin shaman lifts his staff, causing Mystic’s spell to sail wide. She immediately conjures a bow made of stars and fires a luminous arrow at the shaman. Just before it can make contact, the goblin shaman turns into a blur. The goblin next to him blurs as well. For a split second they blend together then just as suddenly the goblin and the goblin shaman have swapped spaces. The movement happened so quickly that Mystic’s arrow, when it reaches them, hits the other goblin instead. It shrieks in pain. The goblin shaman doesn’t seem to care.

Lilvari sees this and slices at the shaman with Curse Bringer. The shaman, however, isn’t yet fully formed. Her swing swipes harmlessly through the goblin shaman like it’s cutting through air. As soon as the shaman materializes, it faces Lilvari and lifts its staff. Red embers glow from the goat skull’s empty sockets. The shaman thrusts the staff at Lilvari, who feels not just incredible pain but incredible coldness course through her body. The room grows dark around the edges, but she fights it off. Before the goblin shaman can strike again, Dare slashes at it with Talon. Mystic tries both Guiding Bolt and the Luminous Arrow, but the goblin shaman composes himself enough to raise the staff, deflecting both spells. 

While its attention is focused on deflecting Mystic’s magic, Lilvari uses the last bit of her strength to strike with CurseBringer. She mutters a prayer herself, this one to her patron, asking for the power to slay the creature. CurseBringer slams into the shaman’s chest. It lets out a howl as blood courses from its wounds. Maybe its from the sight of the damage she’s done or maybe it’s the prayer, but Lilvari gains a second wind, and quickly lands cut after cut until the shaman’s chest is a ruined mash of blood.

The adventurers are battle worn and bloody. They know they need to rest before continuing on. Quickly they gather the expensive looking treasures in the room. Mystic takes the goat skulled staff from the dead shaman. It feels cold and ‘wrong’ to her somehow. They head back out through the curtain and into the room from which they came. Lying dead is the creature they had slain earlier. Not too far from it is Mercarri, still dead asleep. Dare gives her a kick to rouse her. She slowly stirs. “What happened?” She asked. The others fill her in on the battle. They then settle in for a rest, but it’s not long before they hear a commotion coming from the room to the North. 

Two hobgoblins rush in, weapons drawn. One shoots an arrow at Lilvari but misses. The other heads towards Mercarri with its Longsword. It slashes at her, catching her in the side. Lilvari does some quick calculations in her head. She has something that can help help, but if she doesn’t do it right, it could be deadly to everyone, including her party. There’s no more time to waste. She closes her eyes and focuses her attention to an area not far behind the closest hobgoblin. A thunderous roar explodes through the room. The hobgoblins hold their ears. The one in front screams, but it can’t be heard over the noise. Its head explodes, covering the walls (and Dare who stands nearby) with blood and bits of brain matter. One hobgoblin still stands, but blood leaks from its eyes. Injured as it is, the hobgoblin still hurries towards them. Mystic tries spraying it with acid but misses. The Luminous arrow she follows up with is a different story. It catches the hobgoblin in the jugular. Since the bolt immediately disappears, there’s nothing there to staunch the flow of blood. Blood arcs out as the hobgoblin falls, covering Dare in more blood. Once the hobgoblin is dead, Dare turns around to face the others. “How cool do I look?” he says, grinning.

Finally, the party can rest. From the way things are going so far, it seems more than likely they’ll need it in order to search the rest of the castle for Gundren Rockseeker and his map to the Lost Mine of Phandelver.