Into the Depths BR11 August 683

Ragnar waited until the sun was well above the mountain tops before he gave the order to shoot. His men had got into position the evening before and had bottled the Goblins inside the cave mouth which was wide enough for three wagons to enter abreast. However a frontal attack was difficult as there were trip wires and traps spread out for about fifty yards in front of the cave mouth, and little cover for a long distance before that. Although the warriors in the frontal assault outnumbered the Goblins by two to one they were fighting the Goblins in their home ground and traps were an ever present danger. Unknown to the Goblins however he had a number of Ballistae at his disposal, some from his tribe and half a dozen more from the Company of the Elk. Soon the Ballistae bolts were sweeping into the cave mouth and, from the sounds inside, were finding their mark. Once half the bolts had gone the archers stepped forward and loosed flight after flight into the cave mouth. This had the effect of keeping the Goblins well back inside the cave mouth, and allowed the warriors from Dragul to approach from either side. Once they were in position the archers fired flame arrows into the cave mouth followed by the rest of the Ballistae bolts and then the assault truly began. In the next valley the main body of the mercenary Company of the Elk had already entered the small cave whose location was foreseen by the Brotherhood of the Wolfs Shaman Berun. The Shaman used a stone that glowed from within that they had named the Light Stone to view the Goblin chief tormenting his prisoners, and had also seen this hidden entrance. Ten paces from the entrance the tunnel was blocked by a fall of stones and the engineers were feverishly removing them one by one. Shefron, their leader, was in the first group. Their task was to locate the captives and protect them in case the Goblins executed them once they realised the battle was lost. It was known that there would be

many passages so they marked the walls as they passed so that they would not get lost. They were well into the tunnels before the frontal assault began. They could hear the noise of it echoing down the tunnels. It appeared that so far all the Goblins had directed their attention to the frontal assault which is what Shefron had hoped for. There had been few branching tunnels from this abandoned entrance and it was not long before Shefron saw the light of burning debris glowing on the tunnel wall ahead. A few strides later and they entered a huge domed cave lit by guttering torches. Across the other side light could be seen coming from the main entrance where there was quite a lot of burning equipment. Off to the left were the racks of cages and numerous other tunnels could be seen leading off the main cave. They had yet to be seen so Shefron sent twenty men to hold each of the tunnel entrances whilst he led the rest to secure the cages. They had not gone half way to their objective when a shout of alarm went up. Still he had almost five hundred men under his command and if the Goblins chose to attack him they would find it nearly impossible to hold the main cave entrance where close to a thousand allied warriors were fighting to get in. About fifty Goblins had headed straight for the Cages and were almost there when Shefrons men caught up with them. The battle was furious but was weighted against the Goblins who fought to the last. Soon Shefron saw Ragnar heading towards him with a smile on his face. The Goblins warriors holding the entrance had routed and now were all dead. It was a time for celebrating. One of Shefrons officers approached him to report that one of the tunnels led to another huge cavern where the sleeping quarters of the Goblins were. Inside were almost two thousand women and children, unarmed but ready to resist. Shefron ordered the cages to be opened and the prisoners released. They were filthy, starved and covered in sores but glad at last to be free. In another tunnel were the stores of the Goblins, a horde of stolen goods taken from the Diplomatic caravan and other travellers. Shefron turned to his men and grinned.