Hired by a dwarven jeweler named Norfire Goldbludgeon who owns the caravan, the PCs joined a group of others that also answered the call to help the caravan reach the city, Norfire quickly realized who would stand out amongst the group, pulling them aside before the caravan even left. That group was Quinn, Brawn, Xavors, Jak Steeleye, and Hyne. Norfire discussed strategy along with the group, pointing out locations on the map where ambushes had regularly been discovered during previous trips along the route.

Upon reaching one of the initial ambush point along the road in the Cloak Wood, Norfire sent this group of five brave adventurers ahead to scout out the area and determine if it was safe to pass through along the kings road. An ambush was laying in wait, but the adventurers had noticed the attack coming from a distance. Despite defeating the initial ambush attempt, a group of kobolds still gave the group quite a challenge, but in the end victory belonged to the merchants' escorts.

As the caravan traveled, Norfire continued to tell the adventurers stories of the way things were. He mentioned that there is an abandoned castle that had seen better days and had been abandoned and sat idle for years. Coming upon it though, the adventurers - and Norfire himself - were surprised to see that it was seemingly occupied again. There were many holes with some form of green gas coming out from them and sealing the deal even more was the sight of kobolds actually outside of the site.

The adventurers quickly ended the lives of the kobolds, including a decapitation by Brawn of a lowly unsuspecting kobold tossing a stone to another.

The adventurers discussed what would be best with Norfire, finally deciding that most likely, the kobolds on the outside were not the only ones, especially after one of them retreated inside of the ruins. Leaving the caravans in the hands of other adventurers escorting the caravans and the equipment found on the bodies of the kobolds with the traveling party, the group decided to enter into the ruins to rid the area of the pesky beasts once and for all, leaving this patch of road safe for travelers.

XP Earned for this evening:

Kobold Ambush: 180 XP

Outside the Ruins: 100 XP