Troll, Tahmeena, Kraz, Clide, and Dakkar were pulled out of The Pit. King Foldrid warned them to beware the owlbear dreadnought. It had swooped out of the sky, killed Lasryn and Torvald and carried them off towards the mountains. King Foldrid gave the group a choice of either going into the mountains to look for its lair or going to the valley east of Barrierton to find the goblin settlement there. King Foldrid wanted as much information about these two targets as possible.

The group decided to find the goblin settlement. As they traveled on the road north, they encountered an aberrant horror. Dakkar cast a protection spell on Troll who charged the creature and held its attention. The group focused their attacks on it and swiftly defeated it.

The group searched for a cave some of them discovered previously. When they found it, Clide scouted ahead, finding a cave bear inside. It charged out, mauling Clide. The rest of the group rushed to Clide’s aid, killing the bear and healing Clide. Kraz skinned the bear, and then, its remains were given to Troll to eat.

After the group settled down in the cave for the night, Dakkar took first watch. He saw clouds that looked like chains. He watched as chain-like clouds were broken. Afterwards, it seemed like two especially-bright stars were watching Dakkar.

In the morning, the group traveled deeper into the valley. Around midday, they found a group of goblins and hobgoblins trying to catch a wild horse. They were planning to feed it to their wargs. The group tried to ambush the goblinoids, but Clide’s excited shouting revealed the group too soon. The goblins fired on the group and then faded into the rocks and scrub bushes.

Dakkar put two of the hobgoblins to sleep, and Troll charged the other one. Clide advanced to help Troll. Kraz helped Tahmeena with ranged attacks before moving into the melee. When the goblins woke the two hobgoblins, Dakkar put the goblins to sleep instead. The fight went the group’s way. Soon, all that was left was Legs, a goblin with strangely long legs the group mistook for a hobgoblin. He surrendered and gave some information to the group, but in the end, he turned out to be far cleverer than the group expected. With help from Dakkar to make the group smell like goblins to bypass the wargs guarding the outpost, Legs led the group to about 200 feet from the outpost.

• The goblins have a kingdom ruled by a king in the mountains, and the local settlement was only an outpost of that kingdom.
• The goblins want the “walls” the dwarves have taken from the people along the road.
• Legs said there were “50” goblins at the outpost.
• The outpost was a group of burrows the goblins dug at the edge of the mountains.
• The hobgoblin leader of the local goblin outpost was named Klerd.
• The goblins breed wargs.
• The goblins hunt wild horses to keep as live meat to feed their wargs, and they have a pen for them in the center of their outpost.

The group bargained with Legs, agreeing to let him go if he told his people orcs killed his companions. Using the focus for his connection to the Skypiercer and a spell to temporarily heat a rock, Dakkar tried to convince Legs that a great curse would befall him if he betrayed the group.

The group traveled back to the cave to rest for the night. Dakkar took the first watch...

Dakkar collected his possessions, awoke Tahmeena with a spell, and headed up the hill...

Not long after he left, Dakkar used a spell to warn Tahmeena. She woke everyone, and they rushed up the hill. In a chaotic, desperate fight, the group killed two of the bugbears and the hobgoblin. Clide fell during the fight, but Tahmeena revived him and kept everyone else whole while they chased down the last bugbear. Troll carried Dakkar’s body with her. They cornered the last bugbear and killed him.

After Tahmeena healed Dakkar, she demanded an explanation. Dakkar gave little information. Kraz told him the land was too dangerous to go alone. Dakkar acknowledged that he had learned that and other lessons well. He apologized to the group and thanked each of them. He told them later he was lured to the top of the mountain by the hobgoblin who had disguised himself with magic. Dakkar believed that may be Klerd, but he was not sure.

The group tried to rest, but they were disturbed by a saber-toothed snow leopard. They fought it off, capturing it. Troll wanted to train it. The group took it to Barrierton, but the guards there seized the animal and killed it.

When they returned Retreat’s End, the group gave their information about the goblin outpost, and they were returned to The Pit without any reward.