We reach the end of the stairs and enter a large well-lit chamber decorated with numerous flags bearing the symbol of Orcus, with exits left, right, and front. In the middle of the room is a cage containing a huge spider, bigger than a horse. All around the room there are several Hobgoblins poised to strike, though not immediately agressive. One of the closest one yells out to us: "Shadow seeks shadow". They were obviously testing us to see if we were friend or foe, expecting us to give a specific response. We hesitate for a while, as we hadn't found anything that was clearly meant to be used for such purpose. Ceteribus however, induced by the stone, responded with "in Heaven there is also darkness and light". Well, that didn't work out so well... It was clearly the wrong answer, as the Hobgoblin screams "Intruders!" and most of them assume offensive positions, as another one releases the giant spider, which we recognize as a Deathjump Spider.
Battle is joined, and Kralho gets first move. In what proved a tactical mistake, we decide to enter the room and engage them head on. Eager to use his First Strike ability and Sneak Attack the closest Hobgoblin, Kralho engages and dishes out some pain. He paid for it dearly though, as the Deathjump Spider leaps on him, hitting a critical spot, poisoning and knocking him prone. Also, he is immediately swarmed by the Hobgoblins and gets hit very hard and into critical condition. With no space to easily maneuver, Sora and Chuck engage the Hobgoblins swarming Kralho, trying to come between them and our wounded comrade. Ceteribus heals him and i start focusing on the Spider, which seemed the tougher opponent. Meanwhile, from one of the rooms adjacent to this one, a female Elf shows up sniping at us with a longbow and giving orders to the Hobgoblins.
The Hobgoblin forces were composed of mostly Hobgoblin Grunts, an easy prey, but there were also four Hobgoblin Soldiers, who proved much harder. Kralho manages to get up and strike back at his attackers, as we realize that the Soldiers were not only hard to hit, but could also dish out some major damage with their heavy flails and squad tactics. Sora and Chuck manage to cleave a path placing them besides Kralho and in melee with the Spider, which is getting most of our attention. The Soldiers keep attacking in formation causing us great difficulties, though. Our focused fire on the Spider manages to put it on the run, towards the passage to the right. Concentrating our attacks on the Soldiers, we manage to take two of them out. At this point, the female Elf seems scared by foreseeable result of the battle, and flees towards the same direction as the Spider. The Hobgoblins however fight fiercely to the death, being finally overwhelmed by our superior numbers and firepower.
In retrospect, this could have been a much easier battle, if we hadn't rushed inside. We greatly underestimated the Hobgoblins strength and overestimated our own ability to take them down quickly. The escape of the Spider and the Elf probably meant that the remainder of the forces on this level would soon be alerted and embolden with increased numbers. Anyway, we quickly check the surrounding rooms and find nothing more than a barracks and an old office, filled with records of the Keep, before it's downfall into abandonment and ruin. The only way to proceed was to the right passage, following the Spider and the Elf's example.
We proceed cautiosly, wary of a possible ambush, and reach a large chamber with a tall unmarked altar near to the passage we were coming from. The room had three exits: a closed door to the left, a corridor to the front and another corridor to the right. Kralho investigates the altar and the door, finding nothing onf note. We check the door first, finding only a small room with two beds behind it. At this point we hesitate a bit, because we dind't know which way was best to follow. Depending on the layout of this area, we were at a definite risk of being surrounded, no matter which path we took. We end up deciding on the front corridor and proceed that way.
The corridor ended in a corner turning right. At this point there was also a sturdy door to our left, from where we could hear some noise. Kralho checks it and finds that it isn't locked but that it seemed heavily barricated. We try to open the door by force, but can't open it no matter what. Whatever was inside wasn't intent on letting us in. Keeping an eye on this door we proceed further down the corridor, into a large room with a large table in the center. There were two closed doors in this room. As soon as the first of us enters the room, we start hearing lots of angry voices coming from both doors. Also, the sound of large objects being moved starts coming from behind us, from the barricated door we couldn't get open. Damn, they had definitly planned a trap and were in the process of springing it. I immediately react and order the party to retreat to the room with the large altar, where we could use the cover it provided as a tactical advantage. If we blocked both sides of the altar with our meleers, we could force the enemy into a bottleneck. Also, we would be fighting with our back towards the exit, allowing us to make a combative retreat if overwhelmed.
We retreated as fast as we could, always followed by the angry snarls of Hobgoblins, and took up positions around the altar. Much to our surprise, moments later we see a small Hobgoblin force coming from the path we hadn't tried yet. At the sight of us, they seemed unsure what to do. Probably this particular group hadn't yet heard of our intrusion, as they just stood there watching us. That wouldn't last long though, since we were expecting other Hobgoblin forces to arrive soon and they would surely join the fray. Not giving them any time to think, i immediately blast the closest one, starting the battle. At least we could try and kill as much as we could from this group, before the main force arrived.
Enraged by my assault, they move towards us and engage our right flank, protected by Chuck and Kralho. Moments later, a veritable army shows up from the other path, with multiple Grunts, several Soldiers and a couple of Archers, leaded by a Hobgoblin Warcaster and a Warchief. A fearsome battle ensues, and at first our flanks were holding fine against the Grunts, who were bottlenecking around the altar, as we predicted. However, the sheer numbers of the enemy force and the attacks from their ranged members were harassing us greatly. I was blasting Grunts left and right, while our fighters held their ground admirably. But as they ran out of Grunts to throw at us the Soldiers charged and began using their highly efficient battle tactics to great effect, forcing us to shift positions. Running away was now a definite choice for us and we began retreating into the corridor, beginning to despair at the massive numbers and firepower arrayed against us.
However, when things were most desperate, the tide of battle seemed to turn as we slay the first Hobgoblin Soldier. Enraged by our resistance, the Hobgoblin Warcaster approaches the frontlines and unleashes a massive Force Pulse, hitting a large area around him, including his own companions. The burst of force hits almost everyone in it's radius, knocking them prone and killing one of the Hobgoblin Archers and a couple of Grunts. Still unable to reach the Warcaster, we focus on the remaining Soldiers, managing to get another kill. At this point the Warchief finally engages into melee and Chuck keeps him at bay, while we try to kill the pesky Soldiers. Chuck and the Warchief fight a fierce battle, with attacks going back and forth. Finally, as we start to run out of heals the Soldiers are down, and the Warchief falls soon after to Chuck's Cleave. All that was left were the Warcaster and a single Archer. We mob the Warcaster, who in desperation, unleashes another Force Pulse, killing the other Archer, before finally falling himself.
We collect all the loot we could find and check the area where they had come from as well. In the Warchief's bedroom we find a magical Vicious Short Sword, a nice reward for our efforts. We still had one path left to explore, but after this incredibly hard battle we were very low on resources, especially healing sources. Some of our meleers were severely wounded, and needed rest, so we decide to head back to town to stock up on potions and get a well-deserved break.
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