A Mysterious Theft, Part 2 - Group 1

After camping for a day in the glade near the leprechaun's lair, the Endrin statue suddenly began to move - first twitching fingers, but soon enough, Endrin was free of the petrification effect of the cockatrice attack. The next morning, the party neaded to the gremlin lair, directed by Harley.

They entered the lair cautiously, led by the Halfling Barbarian Hestia, who was holding the Everburning Torch in one hand; her other hand empty. Raelin the Dwarf warpriest followed, and then came Osric the human fighter and Ahrondelle the Elven rogue. Since neither of these two had the abiliity to see in the blackness of the cave, Ahronelle carried a pebble on which Endrin had cast a Light cantrip. Last to enter the cave were the Dwarven Sorcerer Endrin and the Goblin Alchemists "Dave".

As soon as Hestia reached the cavern entranve, she was accosted from both sides by Mitflits stabbing at her with their short-swords. After taking a few minor hits, her anger welled up and her Rage began. She repositioned herself by circling around one of the assailants, thus clearing the cavern entrance and evading the blade of at least one assailant, and then struck out to punch the one next to her; delivering a mighty, but not killing blow. Raelin entered the cavern and cast a Bane spell to weaken the attacks of the nearby gremlins. Osric and Ahronelle crawled into the cavern and stood up, getting ready to join the fight. Endrin also followed in, but not before firing a burst of Magic Missiles into the one Mitflt he could see while he was still in the tunnel.

The battle continued with Mitflits and Jinkins leaping out from behind the cover of the rubbish piles, delivering a stab attack, and returning to the safe cover of the rubbish. Hestia dropped the Everburning Torch so as to unsheath her Greatsword; this caused one of the Mitflits to scamper up the wall and onto the ceiling, where he was just out of reach of the furious Greatsword-wielding Halfling. It also gave one of the Jinkins the opportunity to leap out and, instead of stabbing, grab the abandoned torch and disappear with it behind a rubbish pile.

On the opposite side of the cavern, Osric and Ahrondelle were pursuing their assailants around another pile of debris. Raelin kept his position in the center of the cavern, radiating his Bane effect ever further outward. Endrin fired another round of magic missiles at a Jinkin that didn't quite make it to cover.

With three Mitflits down, it became obvious how this fight would ultimately end, so one Jinkin took the opportunity of an opening by the cavern mouth - he fled the cavern and disappeared into the forest. In the meantime, Endrin decided to flush out a few remaining assailants by using his Produce Flame cantrip to set one of the rubbish piles on fire. This had the desired effect; the remaining gremlins were tracked down and quickly dispatched.

As three party members worked to first put out the raging fire in the rubbish pile, and then sift through it looking for farm tools, Osric and Ahrondelle starting rooting through the two intact piles. In the meantime, Endrin simply strode out of the cave. He claimed later that he was looking for the escaped Jinkin, but the party seemed leery at best.

In the meantime, Osric and Ahrondelle discovered two sealed vials of liquid and a number of gold, silver, and copper coins buried amid the debris piles they were searching. Raelin, Hestia (who had quelled her rage), and Dave discovered that amid the badly burnt debris pile there were the components of a suit of Splint Mail Armor. They surmised it would have been a complete, useful set except that the fire had essentially destroyed all of the leather strappings. They decided to bring back the damaged armor in the hopes it was salvageable. Raelin also noticed a spot where the ground had been disturbed beneath the pile, and after digging down, the farmer's tools were discovered.

The party returned to the farmstead and delivered the stolen tools to Farmer Jennings. He was grateful, and in keeping with his word, offered the party a 10gp reward -- "All I have, but it's worth it to have my tools back". The party, not wanting to leave the farmer penniless, took only half the reward. The farmer also informed the party that after a few long talks with his wife while they were gone, she was beginning to realize that not all fey are bad, and that there could even be advantages to having a Dryad looking out for the area near the home - and even to having a couple of Brownies around to keep an eye on the kids.

The party then headed back to the Bugbear's Head Inn, satisfied that they had completed their mission, and looking forward to sleeping in a decent bed after having a nice meal and a few ales. Along the way, they remembered to pick up the bugbear's bastard sword, which they had buried alongside the road on their way out to the farmer's homestead. Once back, Tugreth informed them that he would be able to repair the Splint Mail for 5gp. He also offered them 3gp for the Bastard Sword. They learned that the vials contained lesser Darkvision Elixirs.