It was just past midday when it happened. Oddly, that was typically the time that the guards were most at ease. With the sun high in the sky, most of the intelligent threats out there knew that any defenders would be sharper-eyed and more alert at that time. Even less intelligent threats, like trolls understood the concept.

We had just arrived at a narrow part of the pass, where the trail disappeared behind an outcropping of rock. The road, such as it was, could easily hold two wagons side by side, but the walls rose sharply on either side, meaning that there was little room for the horse-drawn wagons to maneuver. The sun ducked in and out of the clouds crossing the sky, causing the mountain pass to alternate between light and shadow.

Melinda’s Spot check: 1d20+2 = 7

The first warning was a rumbling from around the corner, just as the first wagon was making the turn. Shouts of alarm sounded out, before they were drowned out by the roar of rocks tumbling down the mountainside, and the crash of stone against stone, as they came smashing down upon the road. I could hear the sound of horses and men screaming in pain.

One of the guards, a human male named Grimtooth, who was stationed to the rear of the caravan cursed loudly, working through the shock of what had just happened quicker than the rest of us. “Damn it all. Looks like we’ve got a rockslide to deal with. Hagrun, you keep watch on the rear, just in case it weren’t natural. The rest of you, with me, and we’ll see what the damage is.”

Unfortunately, Grimtooth’s taking charge of the rearguard singled him out as someone of importance. Two black-feathered arrow sang through the air from above, on the right-hand side of the little valley, and sank deeply into his flesh, not far from where his shoulder met his neck. As he fell from his horse, we heard a shout from the right, but joined and echoed both sides of the valley. It was a goblin war cry.

On both sides of the pass, goblins appeared by the dozen! There had to be at least thirty of the green-skinned monsters! That was no mere landslide, clearly. It was an ambush! And, given how the annoying bard and his men who had gone before us weren’t coming back to defend the wagons, it was likely that at least some of them had been caught in the slide. All we had left were the seven guards (well, six now, thanks to Grimtooth being pulled out of the fight) who were acting as the rearguard, and myself. None of the others in the caravan had any combat experience, not even as much as I did.

The guards were shocked into inaction by the change, and the sudden way their commander was brought down. I took a deep breath, and then roared out, as loud as I could manage, “Everyone to arms! Defend the wagons! Kill the greenskins!”

Initiatives:

Melinda

Goblin Fighters x15

Goblin Ranger x2

Goblin Warriors x20

Guards x6

Goblin Shaman

The goblins were above us, with crossbows, ready to fire down into the valley. The surviving guards all likely had more levels on the goblins, but even if they charged to melee, quantity could be a real game changer. And one of them looked like he was dressed like a shaman? Damn, with this many of them, there must be a whole band in this pass. Probably just moved in, since the caravan master obviously hadn’t known about their presence.

Melinda’s Attack: 1d20+10 = 21 (Hit)

Damage: 3d6 = 12 Cold (2/14)

Goblin Shaman’s Fort Save: 1d20+4 = 17 (Fail)

No, no time to think about that just yet. Gathering up the powers that I’d been granted by the prestige class I took, I unleashed a Hellrime Blast at the shaman, or whatever the spellcaster was. My normally purple blasts became an icy blue, as the energy shifted from pure magic to cold-typed. It ripped into the Shaman, hitting him square in the chest. That had to hurt him.

Goblin Fighter Group 1 Attack: 1d20+5 = 14 (Miss)

Goblin Fighter Group 2 Attack: 1d20+5 = 18 (Hit)

Guard 2 Damage: 3d6 = 11 (31/42)

Goblin Fighter Group 3 Attack: 1d20+5 = 22 (Hit)

Guard 3 Damage: 3d6 = 8 (36/42)

Goblin Fighter Group 4 Attack: 1d20+5 = 21 (Hit)

Guard 4 Damage: 3d6 = 11 (31/42)

Goblin Fighter Group 5 Attack: 1d20+5 = 19 (Hit)

Guard 5 Damage: 3d6 = 10 (32/42)

Five groups of three goblins, better armed and armored than some of the others, charged down the slope with great fervor. They were no great warriors of legend, but someone had clearly been teaching these goblins tactics, as they used flanking and pack maneuvers to try and take on a single foe with three of their own, using numbers to make up for their weakness compared to the guards. And it worked, as their morningstars smashed into four of the flat-footed guardsmen, battering them badly before they had even readied their shields.

Goblin Ranger 1 Attack: 1d20+6 = 15 (Miss)

Goblin Ranger 2 Attack: 1d20+6 = 26 (Crit Threat)

Entropic Warding 20% Miss: 1d100 = 64

Confirmation: 1d20+6 = 7 (Normal Hit)

Damage: 1d6 = 3 (Iron)

Bonus: 1d6 = 3

Damage Reduction 5/Cold Iron applies

The two goblins who were dressed in leathers that looked just a bit better than the rest of the tribe, and carried longbows sized for their small stature, obviously decided that the person flinging magic around was a great target. So, naturally, they decided to shoot at me. One actually managed to make it through my defenses, and strike me, but my body’s resilience meant that it was only a scratch.

Goblin Warrior Group 1 Attack: 1d20+3 = 23 (Crit Threat)

Confirm: 1d20+2 (Confirmed Crit)

Guard 5 Damage: 8d4 = 19 (13/42)

Goblin Warrior Group 2 Attack: 1d20+3 = 9 (Miss)

Goblin Warrior Group 3 Attack: 1d20+3 = 13 (Miss)

Goblin Warrior Group 4 Attack: 1d20+3 = 11 (Miss)

Goblin Warrior Group 5 Attack: 1d20+3 = 16 (Miss)

The other Goblins were not idle, either. Javelins rained down upon the guards, attempting to keep them pinned down, and unable to aid each other. One, Hagrun, ended up with no less than four of the crude javelins sticking into him. Given the placement, he would have been dead if he were a less sturdy and leveled man. Even so, he would be nursing those wounds for some time without magical healing.

Guard 1 Attack: 1d20+9 = 15 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+3 = 10 (2/12)

Guard 2 Attack: 1d20+9 = 18 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+3 = 8 (4/12)

Guard 3 Attack: 1d20+9 = 10 (Miss)

Guard 4 Attack: 1d20+9 = 23 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+3 = 10 (2/12)

Guard 5 Attack: 1d20+9 = 21 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+3 = 8 (4/12)

Guard 6 Attack: 1d20+9 = 21 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+3 = 5 (7/12)

The Guards, though vastly outnumbered, and some of them already sporting heavy wounds from the ambush, did not simply lay down and accept death. Steel shone in the air as their longswords, simple weapons, but well made, cut and cleaved through the goblins. None of the goblins, hardier than their normal ilk, fell, but several were gravely wounded, and it showed.

Goblin Shaman heals: 1d8+2 = 6 (8/14)

The Shaman proved that he was, indeed, a spellcaster of some kind, as I’d feared. I did not know the exact spell he cast, but when the light of the casting faded, his blood was not spilling on the ground so freely any more. I doubted he was fully healed, but he had healed some. Unfortunately, he decided discretion was the better part of valor, and scurried back, out of sight from my vantage down below. No doubt hoping to hide until his bowmen and fighters could deal with me.

Melinda’s Attack: 1d20+10 = 21 (Hit)

Damage: 3d6 = 9 Cold (Dead)

Well, that simply could not be allowed. I didn’t know what kind of mischief a goblin shaman could get into, but I knew that allowing spellcasters to do as they pleased would inevitably end in personal tragedy. And, frankly, I wasn’t really prepared for that. So, I spread my wings, and flew up, into the air. The goblin that had been hiding from me shrieked as he saw my face rise up to where I could see him, landing mere feet from him, and his bowmen. Another blast of icy cold finished the Shaman quite nicely.

Goblin Fighter Group 1 Attack: 1d20+5 = 23 (Hit)

Guard 1 Damage: 3d6 = 7 (35/42)

Goblin Fighter Group 2 Attack: 1d20+5 = 21 (Hit)

Guard 2 Damage: 3d6 = 10 (21/42)

Goblin Fighter Group 3 Attack: 1d20+5 = 24 (Hit)

Guard 3 Damage: 3d6 = 9 (27/42)

Goblin Fighter Group 4 Attack: 1d20+5 = 15 (Miss)

Goblin Fighter Group 5 Attack: 1d20+5 = 7 (Miss)

The goblin fighters, while several sported vicious wounds that would be a long time healing now that their shaman was dead, did not give up their prey so easily. They viciously turned their morningstars on the guards, and battered several of them quite badly. More than one of the guards were looking like they would be far the worse for wear.

Goblin Ranger 1 Attack: 1d20+6 = 9 (Miss)

Goblin Ranger 2 Attack: 1d20+6 = 25 (Hit)

Entropic Warding 20% Miss: 1d100 = 27

Damage: 1d6 = 2 (Iron)

Bonus: 1d6 = 3

Damage Reduction 5/Cold Iron applies

The Rangers, now closer at hand, each shot another arrow at me from their bows. This did even less than the first round had done, as their arrows just did not have enough force behind them to properly injure me. Seeing that, the two goblins looked at each other for a moment, and then one said a word to the other in their foul tongue. That one dropped his bow and drew twin blades that looked like they were daggers to my eyes, but were short swords to him, and advanced, no doubt hoping to draw my attention, as the other goblin turned, and ran.

Self-sacrifice is not a typical goblin trait, from what I’ve been told, so my eyes naturally followed the fleeing goblin. That’s when I noticed that the goblins had prepared more than one rolling stone trap. While it was cleverly disguised from the road, from this vantage I could clearly see the crude levers waiting to be pushed, each of which would set off another rockslide, including one that looked to be right on top of the remaining guards.

Goblin Warrior Group 1 Attack: 1d20+3 = 15 (Miss)

Goblin Warrior Group 2 Attack: 1d20+3 = 9 (Miss)

Goblin Warrior Group 3 Attack: 1d20+3 = 4 (Miss)

Goblin Warrior Group 4 Attack: 1d20+3 = 11 (Miss)

Goblin Warrior Group 5 Attack: 1d20+3 = 18 (Miss)

The Goblins Warriors saw what was going on, and yelled warnings down to their brethren below, even as they launched a fresh volley of javelins down at the guardsmen. None of the javelins hit, of course, and, indeed, a couple were so badly aimed that they almost hit fellow goblins. But they did keep the defenders off balance. Not that they understood the goblin tongue to begin with.

Guard 1 Attack: 1d20+9 = 12 (Miss)

Guard 2 Attack: 1d20+9 = 12 (Miss)

Guard 3 Attack: 1d20+9 = 11 (Miss)

Guard 4 Attack: 1d20+9 = 12 (Miss)

Guard 5 Attack: 1d20+9 = 24 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+3 = 7 (Dead)

Guard 6 Attack: 1d20+9 = 14 (Miss)

The cries and javelins thrown from above were enough to distract most of the guardsmen, causing their blows to meet only empty air where goblins formerly were. And yet Hagrun, covered in wounds, was too focused on the foe in front of him to care about such things. All he saw was the goblin he’d struck last time, and once more his blade struck true, felling one of the goblin fighters.

But there were still a great many more to slay before this was over with.