The Mud Pit

As I mentioned before, I wanted to keep a few of the rooms from the original White Plume Mountain adventure. The one I especially wanted to keep was the Boiling Mud pit room and last week the players got to experience it. I did not run it exactly as written in the original module. One character fell into the boiling mud and was not instantly killed. Because I rolled low on the dice - the players had 1 round to rescue the hapless adventurer who fell.

Session 92: Perilous Pits

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human fighter), Flora (elven thief), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Aashdoshan (necromancer NPC).

The heroes take a moment while Flora and Fenris empty the small chest they found in the Manticore nest. With four tunnels leading from the large cavern, they search the rock floor for tracks. Manticore tracks lead back and forth down one tunnel so they decide to follow them. The tracks lead past a cavern where thick spider webbing drapes from the ceiling and stretches between pillars and stalagmites. They decide to go around the spider cave.

Fenris takes the lead following the tracks. The tracks lead into a maze of passages but they ignore side tunnels and follow the tracks up a gradual rise. Soon they can smell fresh, cool air and then the sound of the wind. The tunnel emerges into the sunshine on a narrow ledge on the side of the mountain. A sheer cliff drops 100 feet down from the ledge. Alrix decides to take flight and launches himself off of the ledge. He flies about near the ledge looking for more entrances into the mountain. He finds none but he does see a flying reptilian shape well above him circling the mountain. Alrix decides to return to the ledge where the others are waiting.

Alrix suggests that they climb down and look for more cave entrances but the rest of the group looks warily at the sheer drop and counters that they return and explore the tunnels more. The group returns and descends back into the mountain. They are soon back into the maze of tunnels. After a short period of time, they realize that they have no idea where they are. Lakima takes out a charcoal stick and some parchment and starts drawing a map of the area.

A tribe of trolls is alerted by the light from the continual light spell Lakima is holding (cast on a silver coin by Domago) and three trolls ambush the party as they pass a side tunnel. One troll attacks Lakima and another attacks Aashdoshan. Eathwund, Lantosh, and Domago quickly move in to allow the mages to retreat. Eathwund draws his mace and uses his ring to light it on fire. One of the trolls is killed but soon regenerates and attacks again. Lakima yells for Eathwund and Alrix to stand back and he casts Lightning Bolt striking the three trolls and two more further down the tunnel. None of the trolls are killed but all of them are gravely injured.

While they are fighting, three trolls appear at the front of the party of adventurers and attack Domago and Aashdoshan. Domago blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla and four berserk warriors are summoned behind the trolls. They immediately begin slashing away at the trolls. Alrix bites and poisons one of the trolls and the creature collapses. Lakima tells Alrix to go help Domago and he casts Aztazibar’s Acrid Finger to begin burning up the dead trolls to keep them from regenerating. Two more trolls attack from another side tunnel, this time surprising Flora and Fenris. Alrix slithers over to help them and poisons another troll. After an extended fight, all of the trolls have been dealt with. One tries to flee but is hacked down by the berserkers. With the battle over, the berserkers vanish back to where they came from. Fenris and Aashdoshan light torches and use them to burn up the corpses of the trolls to prevent them from regenerating.

The group forms back up. Lakima drinks a Potion of Extra Healing to cure the wounds he received when he was struck by a Troll. They head out and soon find a trail of old, dried blood leading to the dead body of an armored warrior wearing the surcoat of a Lawbringer of St. Cuthbert. Eathwund uses the detect magic ability of his sword to discover that the mace and helm of the warrior are magical. Domago claims the items.

While Lakima tries to make sense of his map, the group encounters a malformed giant. The creature tries to crush Eathwund with a large club but Eathwund manages to dodge. Eathwund and Alrix are able to kill the giant. Eathwund searches the body and finds some gems. He also discovers that the giant has an eye embedded in the back of its head. It is some sort of aberrant creature. Lakima suggests the group rest in the giant's cave. The cave is fairly clean but the furniture is far too large for the adventurers. The group makes themselves as comfortable as they can manage on the hard rock floor. Domago prays and heals some of the more seriously injured adventurers.

During the rest, while Lakima and Fenris are on watch, the group is attacked by two stone gargoyles, possibly attracted by the dead body of the giant which still rests just outside the cave where they have taken shelter. All of the adventurers are quickly up and fighting and the gargoyles are smashed into piles of rocks.

Once everyone has rested they set off again. Flora tells Lakima that she is sure they have been this way before. Soon they find they are outside one of the entrances to the spider cave encountered earlier. Domago and Eathwund suggest avoiding the cave again but Lakima tells them he wants to deal with the spiders. They move up to the cave and see some enormous man-sized spiders moving about in the webs. Lakima tells Alrix to ready his Fireball. Lakima casts fireball followed a short time later by Alrix. The explosion of flame kills a half dozen spiders in the cave and burns away all of the webbings.

They soon find that they have made their way back to the cave where they fought the manticores earlier in the day. The group decides to take the one tunnel from the chamber that they have not previously taken. They soon end up in familiar-looking tunnels. Alrix spots the passage that leads to the lava river they found the day before. Lakima suggests they go that way. He has a new spell he wants to try. He also asks Aashdoshan if he memorized Clairvoyance which he confirms he has. The tunnel leads to a ledge overlooking a chasm. At the bottom of the chasm is a river of lava. On the other side of the chasm, there is a stone platform and wall made of large stone blocks. The statue of a mage glares down at them. Lakima asks Alrix if he could fly Aashdoshan over the chasm. Alrix tells them that he has no way to hold a passenger. But he does let Aashdoshan grab hold of his body as he slithers over the chasm. Once on the other side, Aashdoshan tells everyone that there is a passage on the other side of the stone wall. He still does not see any way to pass through it. Lakima casts Luminous Bridge across the chasm and everyone walks over the chasm to stand by the statue of the mage. Laima casts his Passwall spell and an opening appears in the stone wall revealing the passage beyond. The group passes through the wall.

The tunnel goes a short distance and ends on a ledge looking out over a long cavern filled with boiling mud. A series of wooden platforms hang from the cavern's ceiling. As they look out over the scene, a geyser of boiling mud erupts and sprays the ceiling and walls of the cavern.

Lakima casts Levitate and takes a fifty-foot rope with him as he floats out into the cavern. He soon comes to the end of the rope but Eathwund ties another rope to the end he is holding. Lakima continues on and finds another ledge 100 feet from the entrance. A tunnel leads off into the darkness. Lakima tugs on the rope to let the other adventurers know to follow him. Another geyser erupts, this time closer to the far end of the cave. Alrix takes flight and tells the group that he will fly nearby in case someone falls. Lantosh is the first to start leaping from platform to platform using the rope to keep himself steady. Behind him comes Flora, Fenris, and Eathwund. Aashdoshan, his two remaining zombie servitors, and the captive hobgoblin remain behind. A mud geyser eruption sprays Fenris with boiling mud, but he is able to take some cover on a wooden platform. As the group nears the far side of the cavern, they find the platforms veer away from the rope. Now they will just have to use their skill to try and jump to each platform one person at a time. Lantosh mistimes a jump and falls 30 feet down into the boiling mud. He starts to sink into the mud, screaming in pain. Alrix flies down and wraps his tail around Lantosh pulling the badly burnt and unconscious fighter from the mud. Alrix flies Lantosh over to the ledge where Lakima awaits. The rest of the group makes it okay. Finally, it is Aashdoshan's turn - the weakest of the adventurers. he draws his dagger and looks at the captive hobgoblin but then decides to let the creature live. Aashdoshan slowly begins jumping his way across the chamber from platform to platform. Too slowly, a geyser erupts and sprays him with boiling mud burning him. Lakima asks Alrix to go back and help Aashdoshan. Alrix flies over constricts about Aashdoshan. He then picks up the frail necromancer and flies back to the ledge.

The adventurers turn their backs on the boiling mud pit and head off. They travel down the tunnel for a long time before arriving in another large cavern. The extent of the cavern is far outside the light from their torches and magical lights. The cavern has a pool of boiling water about 30 feet below the level of the tunnel. At the edge of the ledge is a stone obelisk with a crystal globe set atop it. The heroes pause to try and figure out a way across.

Lost in the Dungeon

I have been running this Swords & Wizardry Campaign for 2 years and 92 sessions. We play exclusively on Roll 20. Because of the limitations of online play (as I see it) I have been purposely running a lot of smaller maps. But for this latest adventure, I decided to create a really large map. The dungeon area is a maze of lava tubes under White Plume Mountain. Because we use smaller maps online, the players have never had to actually map the dungeon. But now they are managing to get completely lost. It was amusing listening to players state that they could not possibly have circled back around onto their own path.

Session 91: Giant Lizards

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human fighter), Flora (elven thief), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Aashdoshan (necromancer NPC).

The hobgoblin chief is tied up and Lakima suggests they take him with them. Before they leave the cave, Aashdoshan waves his bone staff and raises seven of the dead hobgoblins as zombies. Two of the zombies grab hold of the hobgoblin chief.

Flora takes the lead scouting ahead in the caves and tunnels. Almost immediately the party is ambushed by cave eels which erupt from the tunnel walls and attack. The eels manage to bite Lakima and Lantosh. The group kills all ten of the eels that attacked them. One of the seven zombies is also destroyed.

Flora again takes the lead. The adventurers push ever deeper into the depths of the mountain. The tunnels begin to look all alike. Flora questions if they have doubled back on their trail. After an hour of clambering through tunnels (or slithering in the case of Alrix) Flora tells everyone that she can see a suspicious heap of gold and silver coins lying on the floor of a cave. The other adventurers move up to take a look and everyone is suspicious. Fenris is sent ahead to check the pile. He reaches out to touch a few gold coins and finds they are covered in sticky slime. As he is about to tell everyone when a pseudopod coated in coins lashes out from the pile and smashes into Fenris. He is launched through the air away from the pile of coins and lands hard on the rock floor. Lakima asks Aashdoshan to send in some zombies and two are sent toward the pile of coins. Both are struck and destroyed by pseudopods.

Eathwund runs toward the pile of coins and strikes at it with his sword. The sword bounces off of the coins as if they were armor. Alrix casts magic missile badly injuring it. Eathwund then finishes it off with a sword thrust into a wounded area. The mound of coins slowly flattens out and brown liquid seeps out in a puddle from it. Fenris tries to collect some of the coins but he finds they are still securely stuck to the pile.

A short distance from this cave they find a number of collapsed tunnels and hear the sound of rock striking rock. Flora checks a cave ahead and spots an enormous, strange creature with three legs, three arms ending in claws, scaly skin, and a huge mouth on top of its body. The creature appears to be eating rocks. Unfortunately, it hears or smells Eathwund and Flora and slowly moves toward them. Lakima tries greeting it in common and elvish without success. The creature reaches out and grabs Eathwund’s shield and tries to take it. This causes Eathwund to attack, driving it off with his sword. Its skin is scaly and tough but not impenetrable. Lakima casts magic missile at it and then directs his charmed cave bear to attack it with claws and teeth. Soon the enormous creature is killed. The group searches but finds that this chamber is a dead end.

Flora leads the way taking the large group of adventurers, zombies, a captive hobgoblin, and a charmed cave bear back the way they came. It takes another hour before they come to unexplored tunnels. Eathwund notices tracks on the cave floor made by hobgoblins and the group decide to follow them. They end up entering a cave piled high with garbage. They spot a large ogre sleeping amongst the garbage. The adventurers decide to back quietly out of the cave. They continue on and come to an area of many tunnels crisscrossing. Alrix spots a red glow coming from a side cave and he calls everyone over.

The group enters a large, high cavern with a chasm passing through the center. At the bottom of the chasm is a river of lava. On the opposite side of the chasm, they see a wall of fitted stone blocks. The stone does not match the natural stone of the caverns. It appears to have been brought here. In front of the stone wall are a pair of pillars and a 15-foot-tall stone statue of a man in long robes. Alrix enters the chamber, flaps his wings, and flies across the chasm. He notices a symbol carved into the stone behind the statue. He flies back over and tells everyone what he found. Lakima gives the wand of secret door detection and Alrix gingerly takes it in his mouth and uses it on the stone wall. He does not find anything. Lakima casts levitate and floats across the chamber and examines the wall and the statue. Behind the statue is a symbol carved into the stone showing a “K” intertwined with snakes. He finds he cannot move or depress the symbol.

After 20 minutes of trying the group gives up and leaves the cave with the mysterious statue. They head in what they think is a southerly direction. Flora continues to scout ahead and she is the first to spot an enormous serpent, at least 30 feet long resting in a large cavern. The serpent lies on the floor, occasionally moving. Eathwund and Lantosh move up to the front of the group near Flora prepared to fight if needed. Their approach is fairly noisy but the creature does not seem to notice – even when Eathwund stumbles over a small rock. Lakima again asks Aashdoshan to send in a zombie. Aashdoshan directs one zombie to enter the cave and touch the serpent. The serpent moves quickly and swings about and bites the zombie in half. It immediately directs its pale white eyes in their direction. The eyes are covered with a greyish film and it appears to be blind but somehow it discerns their direction and releases a cloud of poisonous gas. Flora, Lakima, Eathwund, and Aashdoshan are caught in the gas and start to choke and gasp. Lakima is able to summon enough strength to cast a fireball on the serpent and a few moments later Aashdoshan does the same. The serpent disappears briefly in a wall of flames. When the smoke clears, they see that the serpent is still alive, but it is badly burned and moving slowly. Alrix flies into the chamber and bites it on the neck and Eathwund delivers the killing blow. A search reveals the corpses of a pair of hobgoblins under the mound of dead flesh. Lakima uses the wand of metal detection and notes that there is metal beneath the creature but there is no way to get to it.

A search of the large cavern turns up only a foot-long petrified rat. Fenris finds the stone rat and hands it to Lakima. Lakima warns everyone to be prepared for a possible medusa or basilisk. Flora leads the group into a warren of tunnels. She finds the stone statue of a knight. The knight is in a running pose and is looking over his shoulder with a look of horror on his face. The adventurers decide to head in the direction of his gaze. A twenty-minute walk later Flora spots a cave, a figure crouches near the entrance to the cave. As she moves closer, she sees that the figure is a petrified human thief. She also sees two large basilisks resting on a nest of leaves and sticks. The adventurers move forward, Lantosh takes cover behind the petrified thief, Eathwund moves forward but shouts that it is too dark, he cannot see the basilisks. Domago casts continual light on a silver coin and throws it into the room over Eathwund’s head. Suddenly, everyone can see the pair of giant lizards and they avert their eyes.

Aashdoshan sends his remaining zombies ahead to attack, Domago blows the Silver Horn of Valhalla and four berserkers appear and move to attack. The cave bear lumbers forward at Lakima’s urging and slashes at the basilisks. Three of the berserkers are turned to stone as they attack without concern for the basilisk’s gaze attack. Alrix manages to constrict the smaller of the two basilisks and hold it to the ground. The rest of the group slashes away at the larger basilisk. One of the zombies is ripped apart and destroyed. Eventually, both basilisks are killed. A search of the nest reveals a large pile of gold coins and gems. These are scooped up into the bag of holding. Lakima even takes the time to drain some basilisk blood into a flask.

There are no exits from this chamber, so the adventurers are forced to retrace their steps. However, they are soon lost in a maze of tunnels. Flora finds a large cave where the floor is covered in bad guano. There are also several pools full of boiling and bubbling water. In a nearby side cave, Fenris discovers five enormous bats that are as big as a short man. The group hastily leaves the cave. They end up back in the cave where they fought the huge serpent. This time they chose a different path from the cave.

It is soon clear that they have walked back over their own path several times. They see their own footprints on the cave floor, coming and going. Once they see a tunnel clear of tracks, they decide to follow it. It leads into another large cave. Enormous stalagmites rise up out of the floor. Lakima, Flora, Fenris, and Eathwund enter the chamber and see a pair of manticores stand up on a ledge. The manticores release a shower of deadly spikes. One strikes Lakima and one strikes Flora. Alrix slithers over to the ledge and bites one manticore poisoning it. The manticore succumbs to the lethal poison. The cave bear reaches up and slashes the other manticore with its claws. Then Eathwund uses one of the powers of his sword and casts confusion on the manticore. It stands dumbly staring off into space. Flora climbs up onto the ledge and kills the manticore.

Fenris also climbs up on the ledge and searches the nest. He finds a locked chest that he is unable to open. Fortunately, Flora is able to unlock the chest. Inside they find jewels and gold coins.

Now after 3 hours of searching and clambering over rocks, Aashdoshan suggests that they could all use a brief rest.

Mission to the Mountain

This past week we had a full crew of players for once. Just in time for the adventurers to finally decide to start the mission given to them by the Church of Law (an organization to which they are indebted). I have used a lot of the classic D&D adventures in this campaign. The campaign began with B1:In Search of the Unknown so now I wanted to use S2: White Plume Mountain (sort of). I have taken the basic story of the original and incorporated a few dungeon elements.

Instead of recovering 3 magical weapons stolen by a thief, they are trying to recover 3 holy relics for the church which an evil power plans to use to complete an evil ritual. I have turned it into a large dungeon crawl and this is the largest map I have ever loaded into Roll20. At first, the file size was on the large size but I found that if I blacked out the areas the players would never see (solid rock) the map file size became manageable (I cannot post an image as the players might see it).

Session 90: Mission to White Plume Mountain

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human fighter), Flora (elven thief), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Aashdoshan (necromancer NPC).

Lakima remembers that there is still a bronze urn from the tomb beneath the Cairn that he has not checked. He tells his apprentice Brice to reach into the Bag of Holding and withdraw the urn. As soon as the urn leaves the bag in Brice’s grasp an ancient ghost is released. The ghost lets out a wail and then grabs hold of Brice by the throat. Brice manages one choked-off scream before falling dead to the floor. The ghost now turns its attention to Lakima.

Lakima grabs the Soul Cage from out of the Bag of Holding and tries to trap the ghost – but it resists the magic of the cage. The ghost advances toward Lakima arms and hands outstretched.

Downstairs in the main hall of the manor, Domago, Eathwund, Flora, and Lantosh are talking over their latest adventures. They all pause as they hear a ghostly wail from the attic. Then they hear Brice scream in terror. Eathwund is the first to his feet. Grabbing his sword Wormbane, he runs from the stairs to the attic. After a short pause, Lantosh follows him. Domago and Flora look at each other and then they get up and head for the stairs.

Lakima manages to fend off one grab at his throat by the incorporeal hands of the ghost. A moment later Eathwund arrives and sees Brice lying dead in the doorway to the library, nearby he sees the ghost menacing Lakima. He strikes the ghost with Wormbane and using one of its powers he negates the ghost’s resistance to magic. The ghost grabs at Lakima again and misses. Lakima tries using the Soul Cage again and the ghost is drawn into the cage. The cage and the bronze urn are put back in the Bag of Holding.

Domago checks on Brice and finds that the young man is indeed dead. He prays for Brices’ soul to return to his body (raise dead) but it does not work. Domago tells everyone that Brice is gone.

The next day the group starts making plans for a trip to White Plume Mountain to fulfill the mission that the Church of Law has requested of them – to find the three missing holy artifacts. Alayna tells Lakima that she will make them six potions of Extra Healing. Lakima asks Aashdoshan if he will fulfill his promise to come along - he says he is a man of his word. They decide that they will leave on Septem 14. Lakima tells everyone that he has studied the powerful teleport spell to get them to the mountain. But after some discussion, it is agreed that it would be far safer to teleport to the Shrine of Medamellara in the Valley of Heroes. All of the heroes enter the Book in a Tower except Lakima. Lakima takes the Book in hand and casts teleport – arriving safely in the shrine.

At the shrine, they speak briefly with the Priest Toffin. Lakima uses the mana well to recharge his Wand of Lightning Bolts and Aashdoshan uses the same well to recharge his Wand of Magic Missiles. Once they are ready everyone except Lakima gets back into the Book. Lakima releases his Horse in a Bottle and rides to the town of Caster’s Ford on the horse.

In Caster’s Ford most of the adventurers get out of the Book and take rooms at the Blue Dragon Inn. Lakima asks the innkeeper Geflion about local news. The next day they purchase horses from the stables and they ride north into the mountains. On the first day, they are waylaid by three giants demanding a toll. The adventurers confer and agree that the 100 gold coin is worth paying. The giants take the money and allow them to pass. They arrive late in the day at Ethelstan Keep (modeled on the  Keep on the Borderlands). The adventurers stable their horses and take rooms at the local inn. That night they go to the one tavern in the keep and talk to the locals. A traveling priest tells them tales of how dangerous White Plume Mountain is, he claims it is the nesting place of fierce dragons.

The next day Domago asks that they visit the local priest Dunwoody. His abbot suggested he could learn more about the local area from the priest. Dunwoody takes them into his confidence once he learns of their mission. He confirms that no one has returned from a trip to the mountain. He also warns them that a flock of wyvern has been seen circling the mountain.

The adventurers set out on foot for the mountain and arrive on the slopes in the later afternoon. They follow the directions that Dunwoody gave them and arrive at a steam vent on the side of the mountain. They have to climb up to a ledge to reach it. Alrix changes into his true form of a feathered serpent and flies up onto the ledge. Fenris and Flora are sent on ahead into the tunnel from which the steam is venting. The tunnel is dark and soon Fenris is forced to stop as he gets further from the entrance. Flora hears voices talking quietly up ahead somewhere but she cannot understand them. She returns to the group and Lakima gives her a packet of the Dust of Disappearance. She doses herself and disappears. Flora goes back into the tunnel and passes Fenris. At a side tunnel, she spots two hobgoblin sentries. She goes back and collects Fenris. The two thieves silently sneak up on the two sentries. Flora kills the one hobgoblin quickly and silently, but Fenris misses and the other hobgoblin turns to run – only to be cut down by Fenris and Flora. They return to the entrance and get the rest of the party.

The adventurers continue through the tunnels, Alrix slithering along at the back of the group the tunnels are only ten feet in diameter but his form fits easily with his wings pulled tightly to his body. A short distance from where they fought the sentries, they spot a half-dozen hobgoblins in a cavern preparing for a war party. Alrix casts the fireball spell and all of the hobgoblins are killed. The spell does make a lot of noise. The group pauses amongst the dead hobgoblins to decide on the best direction to get to the three relics. Lakima pulls out the Arrow of Direction and questions it but the arrow just spins on his fingertip. Alrix suggests that the relics must be shielded from locating spells.

“Okay, let's go north,” Lakima says and points at a dark tunnel heading north.

“Is there a reason for north, or did you just choose randomly?” Alrix asks.

Lakima incorrectly says that going north would lead deeper into the mountain.

The group heads north with Flora leading the way. Her elven dark vision allows her to guide them through the maze of tunnels. Only Lakima carries a light and it is his glowing magical staff. After a half-hour of walking through caves, Flora spots more hobgoblins ahead in a cave. She signals that she can see five or six of the creatures. Lakima suggests that Lantosh and Eathwund charge into the chamber ahead of the group. They should be able to make short work of hobgoblins.

Eathwund and Lantosh agree and they rush as quietly as possible into the cave. Alrix slithers down the tunnel right behind them. They see six hobgoblins conversing with a seventh hobgoblin who appears to be a leader. The leader sits on a rock in front of several banners. Some of the banners appear to be captured human standards. Lantosh heads left and Eathwund heads right. On his right, Eathwund notices a large pile of dirty furs. Just then the pile of furs roars to its feet – it is a 15-foot-tall Cave Bear! Alrix meanwhile had slithered across the chamber to attack the hobgoblin leader.

Lakima, Domago, and Flora also soon join the adventurers in the cave. Alrix constricts about the Hobgoblin leader squeezing him tightly. The Cave bear slashes at Eathwund and misses. A few hobgoblins hack at Alrix’s long body hitting him. Lakima casts the Charm Monster spell on the Cave bear and brings it under his control. He directs it to attack the hobgoblins. Within moments all of the hobgoblins except the leader are dead. The hobgoblin leader cries out that he yields. The Cave bear chases hobgoblins out of the chamber but Lakima calls it back.

Alrix, Lakima, and Lantosh interrogate the hobgoblin. Lantosh acting as translator. They learn that the hobgoblins are mercenaries hired by a group of Black Choke slavers. The slavers reside somewhere deeper in the tunnels. The hobgoblin claims that he does not know where. He asks to ransom himself with a silver elven earring. They do take the earing but continue with the questioning. A search of his belt pouch reveals a number of small trinkets and 8 somewhat rotted human ears. The hobgoblin leader claims that these are used as currency amongst goblins. He did not personally cut the ears off of humans. The hobgoblin also tells them that there are trolls in the caves and a wingless dragon. He claims that there are other more dangerous creatures deeper in the tunnels. Once they are satisfied that he has nothing more to tell, they tie up the hobgoblin.