The group of travelers made their way across the river and along the final stretch through the Murks, following the marching path that the previous hobgoblin regiments. After several hours of travel, the Druid spots a small group of surveyors straight ahead, however just when they are about to engage with them, the troupe is distracted and drawn off into the woods. This is welcomed by the group, since they are under-equipped and the Wizard has lost her spell source. After the area is cleared, the Wizard approaches the Paladin. She seems upset...I wonder why. The Paladin convinces her to drop the arrow being held to his neck, and the Wizard collapses onto the ground, sobbing. She eventually pulls herself together and they begin to walk again.
Soon after, the path leads them to a small hill, where two hobgoblins stand watch in front of a rock-face. They decide that they will approach them, since they outnumber them two to one. The Paladin runs in with the Cleric following close behind. The Wizard, wisely, stays in the back while the Druid flew off into the woods south of the hill. Perhaps she was giving chase to the guard that had disappeared in amongst the trees. They managed to knock the guard out and tie him up, when the Druid makes her way back to the group just as the Wizard walks off to explore.
They search the hobgoblin and find a small, black stone under his belt. The Cleric takes this to the wall now unguarded while the Paladin attempts to speak with it's former watcher. When the hobgoblin wakes up, the Paladin tries to get any information out of him though is unsurprisingly unsuccessful; hobgoblins are notoriously stubborn. He is trying to get him to turn against his leader and give up the location of Bloodclaw, though the hobgoblin is speechless. It appears that the Paladin is reaching the end of his rope when he draws the guards own sword and holds it to his neck. This reaction to his inaction only brings a smile to the hobgoblin's face. The Paladin makes a deal, and challenges him to a fight: If he loses then the hobgoblin walks, but if he wins then his enemy tells him Bloodclaw's location. The hobgoblin nodded and raised his bound hands.
The fight ensues and the Paladin immediately grabs hold of his enemy. The hobgoblin manages to break away and swings the gnoll weapon he had been handed and disarmed the Paladin, though was again grappled. Moments later the Paladin tossed the hobgoblin to the ground in an attempt to re-arm himself. Soon after he picked up the sword from the ground, the hobgoblin came charging at him. Though instead of running and attacking him, he ran right into the Paladin, impaling himself on the spikes of his armor. The hobgoblin slumped to the ground and the Paladin let out a muted yell. He was showing signs of frustration, and knelt down in an apparent attempt to pray for guidance. After he stood up, he took the sword from beside him and walked over to his unconscious enemy, though once he drew the sword to plunge the final blow the hobgoblin drew it's final breath.
The Paladin sheathed the sword and walked over to the Cleric and Wizard, who had now rejoined them however in a distracted state. They had found a carved pattern in the rock, and when the black rock had been held up to it, the rock was drawn into the bottom of the four notches. After several hours of investigation and no results, they gathered up what weapons the hobgoblins had on them, which was a sword and several javelins, and began to travel over the hill and onward east. Once they made it to the other side they decided to set up camp and rest for the night. During the night, the Paladin was unknowingly approached by the Drow and he was given a short rest while she escorted the Druid out of the camp.
