Episode 1: The Salvaged Job

The party follows the road southward, sharing the benefits of riding and walking evenly. It takes some time, but the inexperienced among you become novice riders and manage to keep your horses healthy and capable.

The tall trees of the Dreaming Forest grow thick and close, almost as if forming a barrier of dense wood and brush. You keep the forest to your west and make progress for another week, before the road begins to turn back northward. You cross the plain and soon come to the Tenby Woods, another swath of dense forest that lies on the eastern side of the path. Here, too, the Trackless Barren struggles to find purchase amidst the woodland, fingers of parched and dry earth encroaching onto the lush plain.

After traveling for another week, you are close to the rendezvous point. By your calculations, you are perhaps a day late from the expected meet-up, but this delay should not pose much concern given the nature of overland travel. Admittedly, the time spent detouring around the obstacles along the Giyne Veldt set you back, but you've made up much of that time thanks to expedient travel and obtaining horses.

The rendezvous should take place over the next rise.

As you crest the rise, you find yourselves overlooking a wide swath of grassland splitting the dense forest of the Tenby Woods and the drier reaches of the Trackless Barren. The road seems to abut against the Barren more than it skirts the Woods, but the ground is flat and free of obstruction.

You notice, far off on the horizon, a flock of large dark shapes circling above an area beyond your current sight. Their flight pattern indicates a lazy glide upon thermals, and there are at least a dozen of them. You estimate they are about a three-hour ride away at normal speed.

You also notice that the rendezvous point below you is devoid of anyone; the merchant caravan is not there.

Spurring your horses forward, while others on foot increase their pace to keep up, you hasten along the road. As you descend into the flats, you keep your eyes on the flock, watching as at times a number of them descend and disappear beneath the rise in the distance. After a while, they return to the sky, perhaps driven from their landing. As you approach closer, you can tell that the creatures in the sky are ravens, and you can hear their cawing.

You crest the rise, and behold a scene of destructive ruin. 200 feet away, four broken wagons lie smashed in a brief semi-circle convex towards the forest. In front of two of the wagons you can see some oxen, slain by arrows, bloated and covered with ravens and larger scavenger birds. Scattered both around and away from the wagons are several humanoid bodies, some dressed in robes or traveling clothes, while others appear clad in common attire. Ravens cluster around these, too.

Aside from the birds, there is activity amidst the wreckage. A dozen small shapes can be seen picking through the wood and canvas, scattering the birds as they work, hefting pieces of splintered wood for inspection or poking in the dirt with sticks. Each individual wears a mish-mash of rags and animal hides. They are humanoid and walk upright, but some appear hunched with pronounced lumps upon their backs. All are short and lean, and have long and pointed ears, with squashed and hooked noses set between red eyes.

Goblins.

The blindfolded Daniel is unable to tell if the party has been spotted by the goblins, but the others can see that, for now, the goblins are too preoccupied with their work.

While the damaged and destroyed wagons are 200 feet away, there are a few bodies that are closer, perhaps 120 feet at the nearest. These bodies are covered in ravens and other birds, and seem to be ignored by the goblins who are all poking around the wreckage.