...more hobgoblins!  Angry ones. 

Our stalwart heroes realize the flaw in their plan when the big bad chief and his pet dire wolf bottleneck the door and prevent anyone from getting to the shaman and archers behind.  Gaald gets knocked on his ass a few times before the big guy goes down at last, and the fight can be taken into the room itself.  The dire wolf gets its ass chopped off - twice! - and finally the archers are mopped up in a throwdown near the fireplace.  The last one, staggering and nearly dead, kicks at a fur rug on the floor, revealing a magic circle.  Clutching an amulet, the coward jumps in and vanishes. 

Gaald is keen to follow, especially after matching amulets are discovered on the bodies of the fallen, but reason prevails, and they gather up the slavers' ill gotten gains and get the kids out.  As they leave the fort, the amulets dissolve into dust. 

Back in town, everyone is ecstatic to see their lost kith and kin once more, and our Goodgers are feted as the heroes they are.  Alcohol is drunk.  Food is eaten.  Gaald rolls a natural 20 on a "seduction" skill check and winds up in bed with two towngirls.  We'll just draw the veil of delicacy and disgust over the rest of the night, shall we?

Laden with praise, an Amulet of Health and Xenthir's new Ritual of Mend Item, they go on their merry way.  A quick stop at the old fort reveals that the magic circle has gone dull and blurred - a sure sign that the reciprocal circle on the other side has been broken.  Gaald mutters a bit about lost opportunities, and the rest remind him that there could have been anything on the other side - a hundred more kobolds, a pissed off wizard, anything.  He concedes the point, reluctantly.  They get back on the road.

A few weeks journey brings them at last to Amaranth, Mok's old hometown and the largest of the allied cities of the north.  Amaranth is a coastal city, with a ruling Prince and several powerful guilds.  Mok quickly reestablishes contact with his old networks, starting with Mevid, proprietor of the Red Slipper, a house of ill repute negotiable affection ok they're whores.  She lets him know about a coming sweep of the sewer/cavern systems beneath the city, spurred by a gang war in the south docks, the worst neighborhood in the city.  The denizens of the deep, destitutes and criminals, are fleeing the place in droves, a more heavy exodus than perhaps the coming purges can account for...  They banter a bit, and then she directs them to a local inn, run by a dwarf who really didn't think when he kept the place's previous name: the Brass Stud. 

After making the undead body parts secure in the inn's strongroom (dwarven locks! can't beat 'em!) they head over to Government Hill, where the Royal Library is, and the head librarian, too - Mok's old friend Gregor, a wizard with an interest in maps.  Here they receive a very nice city map, obsessively detailed, and a lead on someone with better knowledge of the sewers than can usually be found - Berton, a dwarf in the sewer maintenance department.  Apparently he makes a hobby of exploring and mapping not only the sewers, but the connecting cavern system as well. 

Their conversation doesn't go well.  Some diplomacy failures lead to Silent overdoing it a bit on the intimidation, and Berton faints.  They splash water in his face to bring him round, and he looks up at Silent's reptilian features and starts screaming.  Silent, Mok, and Xenthir bolt, but Gaald remains, trying to calm the dwarf down.  A clerk glances in and then runs for the guards.  Gaald stays put, hoping to explain, but the guards, when they arrive, promptly arrest him and march him down the hill to the gaol.  The sergeant on duty comes by to ask him a few questions, and listens to Gaald's explanation that there is an artifact of evil power in the sewers, one of a kind that's destroyed whole cities, and it's imperative that he and his friends get to it before the guards.  This is - less than convincing to the sergeant, and he's left to cool his heels for the night.

Meanwhile, Mok, Silent, and Xenthir head back to the inn to regroup.  Mok sets up a meet with Brienne, one of his old contacts in "acquisitions" and they meet her after dark in one of the shadier taverns by the docks.  She rolls her eyes at their dilemma and advises that they just go down to the guard station, pay their fine and get it over with.  The guards won't be likely to want to make too big a deal over Berton kicking up a fuss again, since he's had their attention before over similar incidents, mostly unwarranted.  Also, with the sewer sweep coming up, they are stretched thin and not keen to  make more work for themselves.

Back to the inn they go, grumbling.  As they pass the Slipper, Mevid calls from the door and lets Mok know that a guard captain, in charge of one of the sewer sweep teams, will be at her establishment tomorrow night, somewhat drunk and possibly willing to talk about his job.

And so we leave them, Rob sleeping on straw, the rest in their beds at the Brass Stud, contemplating the next day's tasks.  Will the guards be as accommodating as Brienne thinks, having heard Rob's interest in the sewers?  Will the guard captain have anything to say?  Will the next session have some asskicking finally? 

Tune in next time to find out!