Gaming Notes: AD&D 1e (OSRIC) #3

Our heroes set off to investigate the news that Harold the Hedge Mage's house had been ransacked and he's gone missing. When we arrived, we found the place in shambled but not deserted. There were four orcs and a hobgoblin still sniffing around.

We quickly charged in and defeated the orcs, causing the hobgoblin, Garfang, to surrender. We interrogated him and got what information we could. My paladin felt honor bound to let the unarmed foe flee with his life.

Using the information we got, we found the mines were the orc general, Barlog, was holding Harold. We entered the mines, encountering four firebeetles and killing them quickly. We also defeated eight orc guards with little difficulty.

Along the way, we encountered a Thief/Magic User named Valin. We agreed to let him join our adventuring party and we continued on. Valin's presence quickly placed our group in a moral quandary, however, when we ran into a room full of orcs. Valin cast sleep, effectively ending the combat. My paladin was conflicted - should we kill sleeping foes? Earlier we had left an unarmed opponent escape unmolested. We all agreed that the orcs should be restrained, knocked unconscious once they awake, and disarmed. We then left.

We defeated the orc general, Barlog, and rescued Harold. He was most grateful but implored us to make haste. It seems that there is great trouble brewing at the Caves of Chaos. A new breed of goblins called Shadow Goblins have been seen in that area. Their leader is intent on opening a portal to a realm of chaos found in the caves by using an artifact called the Staff of La.

Harold teleported us onto the road heading to the caves and gave us a small shield to present to the garrison stationed at an outpost near the caves. He bid us to stop the insidious threat to peace and order.