At the back of the caves, our (*ahem*) heroes found another group of goblins guarding another chest. After a pitched battle, the group defeated the goblins and discovered the object they had come for - a statue of Amara. Aristaire took it for safekeeping (and insurance), and the party made their way out of the caves and away into the woods.

After a night of quiet and cold camping, the group found their way back to Hothlow without incident. Aristaire returned the statue to Mim, who promptly took his leave.

Goblins were hiding deeper in the tunnel, just beyond the firelight. What they weren't counting on was not being the only race in town with low-light vision. Adele, Aristaire, and Mim got the drop on them, and quickly sent them running back into the cave.

Fearing reinforcements, Aristaire blasted the ceiling of the cave with magic, causing a partial cave-in. The party then followed the cliff wall until they spotted another cave entrance, this one 10' up the face of the cliff. After scaling the wall, the party met a fierce contingent of goblin guards, whom they managed to dispatch after a tough fight.

Guessing that this was a remote guard post and infrequently visited, the adventurers hazarded a rest period here. Once they felt up to continuing on, they pushed deeper into the caves. They shortly came to a large cavern, and were greeted by arrows from the darkness. A fight with more goblins ensued. The goblins were firing from the far side of a chasm, where they were guarding a chest containing some coins and a potion. There was no sign of the statue Mim was looking for, so they pushed on, deeper into the caves.

Newly arrived in the city of Hothlow, Adele and Aristaire had barely checked in at the Elven Longbow Inn when a band of kobolds managed to raid the town. Since the fight was right outside their door, they fought the kobolds, aided by another patron; a gnome named Mim.

Impressed by their fighting, Mim had a proposition for Adele and Aristaire. Mim wanted a statue of the goddess Amara - sacred to many gnomes who still worshipped the deity in secret. Unfortunately, this statue had been stolen in a recent goblin raid of a nearby gnomish village. In exchange for their help, Adele and Aristaire were entitled to all other treasure found in the goblins' warren.

Adele and Aristaire agreed, and they arranged to leave the next morning. Before they left town, however, they encountered Aurus Novius, Lord Governor of Hothlow. Lord Aurus had heard of their fight with the kobolds, and asked several pointed questions about the pair's magical abilities, inquiring about where they had received their training. Adele and Aristaire managed to fast talk their way out of the situation, but Aurus' suspicions appear to have been aroused.

Knowing a good time to be out of town when they saw one, our heroes* met up with Mim and headed southwest into Hothlow Forest. A day's travel brought them to a clearing around a high cliff, with a cave entrance flanked by two smallish braziers...