The fire at Salt of the Urth burns down, and the residents of the town tentatively shuffle out into the street. The hobgoblins have gone, for now, but the men have not returned. Wicklow and the townspeople alike are horrified by the murder of Freyla.
Wicklow in fact, is in rough shape. His mind is released from the goblin shaman’s spell, but he is distraught with guilt. He is not blameless, for he harbored a gullibility and an eagerness to play the hero that the hobgoblins preyed upon. He already had a need to be seen as brave and competent, which he allowed to steer his actions. He brought the tribe to his town at least in part on his own volition, foolishly trusting that the Impaled Heart tribe would be powerful, if misunderstood, allies in protecting Blasingdell from the gnolls. Having encountered gnolls close up, he regarded them with such terror, that the hobgoblins seemed perhaps not kind, but reasonable in comparison to the savage gnolls. In fact, it was his traveling companions, the prisoners from the hobgoblins stronghold in the Stone Tooth, Geradil and Courana – or rather, their terrible demise, that so swayed his thinking. Traveling through the wilderness back to Blasingdell, they blundered into a hobgoblin scouting party. On the verge of recapture, the unlucky trio found themselves embroiled in a confrontation with a group of gnoll trackers. Wicklow was soon in the unlikely position of fighting alongside those who were once his foes. The gnolls targeted the obvious easy marks, the simple civilian couple, loving the kill more than the honorable victory over a respected opponent. They tore the hapless couple apart, and the hobgoblins, ever the battle tacticians, took this as an opening to counter attack. In this moment, Wicklow, in his fury, found an opening and impaled one of the vicious gnolls with his sword.
In the aftermath, perhaps some of the hobgoblins did harbor some sliver of respect for him. But Chargah saw right through him. She read his thoughts and knew she could manipulate him, through both the force of her captain’s personality, and her own magic. They treated him as an esteemed member of their clan, but what they really did was to inspire him to bring them to his hometown, and to guide them to the mine.
Arriving at Blasingdell, it was Wicklow who convinced the town leadership to accept the presence of the hobgoblins. The mayor, sir Miles Berek was convinced, but others were not, most notably the sheriff, Grendar Kuln, and his constable, Dara Whitewood. The sherrif insisted upon ridding the town of these unwanted visitors, and look at what happened to him… they turned him to stone!
The party gleans this information through conversation with the shellshocked townfolk. They rest through the night, and in the morning they arise with a plan to visit the mine to find out what has befallen the missing men of the town. Before they set out, they loot the bodies of the fallen hobgoblins, finding some modest coin, and plenty of serviceable arrows. The deceased hobgoblins wear “Impaled Heart” military garb while the bodies of the fallen goblin archers are clad in mismatched pieces of makeshift armor, some pieces of which seem to be of Duergar craftsmanship. They find in the possession of the late Captain Skalp a letter from “Scaythe” reporting that scouts have returned with news of nearby gnolls on the move, and advising him to remain vigilant while in transit back to the mine. The adventurers equip as many of the women in the town as they can with bows and arrows taken from the slain.
Dara Whitewood and Wicklow will stay behind to defend the town to the best of their ability should any more trouble arise. Dara warns the departing heroes, that during her time “undercover” as a barmaid, she overheard the hobgoblin bosses speaking of an “ally” who has taken up residence at the mine. She, as well as most of the town, are bitter that the owners of the mine – the Wend Family – have leased the mine to the hobgoblins.