DM: The Thistle Tunnels

The walk is thankfully short, and the rain holds off, for the most part. There is a dampness to the air - a heavy feeling, as if the sky itself is waiting the coming assault.

It would be wrong to say you didn't feel nervous. It was one thing fighting off a small goblin invasion in Sandpoint, quite another to walk into the very heart of goblin territory and attempt to take our the defenders, their leader, and the partly demonic girl that appears to be behind the "troubles" that Sandpoint has been subject to.

Hemlock's instructions are good. It is easy to find your way to the Nettlewood, and then further on to the small bridge that marks the crossing of the Thistle River. You stop here for a while, sitting on the cold stones of the river bank, watch the distant clouds broil. Once your breath is caught, and your courage steadied, you turn left and delve into the dark, tangled mass of the Nettlewood itself, moving north towards the distant shore.

The briars and thistles that grow so rampantly in the Nettlewood grow even more dense and tangled as you approach the shore. Although not quite dense enough to block the sound of waves crashing on the unseen shores to the west and north, the undergrowth is certainly thick enough to block sight and access to the coast. Few trees grow this close to the edge of the sea, but the briars themselves often reach heights to rival them.

You stop in a tiny clearing, around which the briars reach some 20 feet high.

The way ahead appears to be blocked by the thick mesh of thorned briars. You could cut your way through, perhaps, but that would take hours, possibly even days. As you stop to consider what to do next, perhaps even contemplating having to turn back, Lloyd spots something. He moves gingerly to the wall of briars, and begins tugging at a patch. It resists for a second, and then appears to swing open, as if it is a door.



A four-foot tunnel winds through the dense briars and nettles beyond this door. The floor is hard packed earth, with patches of wiry plants growing stubbornly here there. The clear cuts to some of the fresher branches makes it clear that this tunnel has been cut from the briars, and is maintained to stop it over-growing. It appears you have found a goblin tunnel through the impenetrable briar wall. Their lair must be close!

You navigate these short tunnels with some difficulty, snagging your clothes, and on occasion drawing tiny drips of blood from thin scratches. After a few painful minutes you reach a large cave like chamber. Above the thorny canopy grows thin enough that tiny slivers of sky can be seen, while below the ground consists of trampled dirt. To the west, the distant sound of sloshing waves echoes up from a hole.

Other than the hole (which is large enough to jump into, not that you should), there are passages to the north and to the east.