Gostragine 19th, 951, around noon
After having made their way into the main hall of the bandit cave, the party began to fight Kreegal, the goblin "wizard".
In the beginning of the battle, three clones of Kreegal burst forth from a totem near the center of the room, identical in nature to the ones the party fought on the ship. The party began to space themselves out, tackling different problems - Eugene, Journey, and Grognock focused on the only bandit in the room, as Wander slinked around the side of the hall. Seamus and Leadbelly sought to engage the goblin clones, as Phaelnah hung back, casting a blessing upon Seamus, Leadbelly, and Grognock, then deciding to hide behind a pillar to preserve her concentration.
As Journey's power faltered for a moment, Eugene, in a fit of bravery, began to climb all over the bandit, attempting to shove a bucket over his head. Grognock used this distraction to attack the bandit, hitting him with a flurry of blows. As the bandit threw Eugene to the wall, Journey regained her composure, freezing him to his core. Eugene attempted to recover and cut at the bandit with his actual iron dagger, but failed miserably, ineffectively slashing at the air. Grognock was then able to punch off the bandit's frozen arm, and then his heart, using a moment of pure dexterity to throw a dart at the flying Kreegal at the same time.
During this period, Kreegal began his attack, arcing a violent string of lightning across the room. Most of the party were able to anticipate this and dodge out of harm's way, but Journey was lashed by the lightning as she focused on the bandit. Grognock's dart flew true, striking Kreegal and sending him to the ground.
Seamus, Leadbelly and Wander began to engage the goblin clones; Leadbelly obliterated one with his warhammer while another clone managed to deftly dodge both Seamus's longsword and Wander's arrow. The goblin could not celebrate his dexterity long, as he then slipped while attempting to attack Seamus, after which the latter beheaded the former in a swift execution. Leadbelly dispatched of the final clone, but was covered in the slime, making him feel somewhat ill. He headed towards the totem, where Eugene was already inspecting it.
During this time, Phaelnah had taken up residence behind the pillar. She attempted to make herself hidden, but stumbled over herself, creating a lot of noise.
As Grognock did battle with Kreegal, who had begun to blast fire and send waves of thunder across the room, three new goblins appeared from the totem. Wander immediately loosed an arrow into one, disrupting its form and exploding it. Journey blasted the totem with ice, turning the other two goblins into half-ice creatures, covered in pointly icicles. Eugene then dipped his dagger into the ooze of the totem, which in turn covered the goblins in sharp blades. One attempted to slam himself into Seamus, but bounced harmlessly off of his armor. The other focused on Eugene, trying to roll into a ball and attack him, but his spikes and blades became lodged between the stone tiling, leaving him stuck on his back. Leadbelly began bashing at the totem as Seamus destroyed another goblin. Journey sent out a magic missile towards the totem and Kreegal, with all missiles hitting their marks. As Eugene poured his bag of peas into the totem, turning the final goblin into a frozen pea sludge, Leadbelly brought his hammer down a final time on the it, destroying it. Leadbelly turned to assist Grognock with Kreegal, who began to ride a tornado into the air.
Seamus went over to Kradva Ospen, and attempted to jump up and cut him down, but aimed a bit too low and cut through Kradva's leg, also failing to catch him as he fell towards the ground.After being knocked to the ground again, Kreegal began to shriek, and flew to the center of the room, beginning a series of somatic gestures as his body was overtaken by a strange corruption. As the rest of the party rushed to cover, Kreegal began to spin wildly, sending out beams of physical light like a goblin disco ball. Phaelnah was hit by these, forcing her to lose her concentration. Wander sniped the goblin out of the air, sending him crashing to the ground. Leadbelly and Grognock rushed in to attack the goblin, who put his staff up to the sky, as Journey stuck him with a ray of frost, and Phaelnah assaulted him with the wrath of her god's light. The goblin ignored these assaults, as a ridiculous amount of heat an energy began to build in the staff, and the goblin screamed. Through his screams, a primal, chaotic voice pierced the minds of the party. Finally, Phaelnah was able to cut through to the goblin's mind and give him a command to drop the staff; after which, the goblin faded into dust.
During this period, Kradva was being dragged around by Seamus, complaining the whole time.
The white-hot staff screamed as the heat clashed against the cool stone. The party wandered around the area, pocketing some loot and eventually stumbling upon a room where Merin Lavelle was held. Eugene picked the lock on the door, and she came out. After some brief discussions with the party, she hoisted the unconscious William onto her back. Grognock was apparently taken by Merin's display of strength. The party investigated a side room that Wander was able to open, where they found a variety of items and gold, as well as various documents scattered around the floor. The party voiced their desire to leave the hideout.