The Hobgoblin Mines
by Unzhael

To find the hobgoblin mines, one must travel eastward out of Arinock.

You will come to a point in the road, past the checkpoint, where you will see a large grove of trees to the north, and a dirt path to the south. The dirt path is what you want. Head southward, and follow the path to the bend, and then east through the village to the mine entrance. The path will appear to disappear in the undergrowth, but press on and you will reach some mountains with the mine's entrance.

Entering the mine, you will quickly reach a fork, with a small passage leading north. A rather undisturbed and nondescript path, it will eventually take you past a few miners. It is not until the end of this path that you find something worth paying attention to, a gigantic hermit crab, rather defensive of his lair. A quick retreat is due at this point, returning back to the fork in the original tunnel.

To the south, you will follow another tunnel leading to a smelly dungeon. Unless you are learned in the magic or innately can see in the dark, this dim area will be difficult to navigate. Upon very brief exploration, as I did not wish to find myself locked in and unable to leave, I did observe several gnome and human prisoners that the hobgoblins had taken and locked up. The poor beings were living on nothing but straw patches. Heading quickly out of this dismal place, I then returned to the main fork.

Following the main path east of the first fork, you can find two military spaces surrounding you. To the south is a large room containing the hobgoblins' deteriorating and abused armor and weapons. To the north are the living quarters for the soldiers and guards. Entering these quarters, your olfactory senses are assailed by a hell of culinary disasters, rotten meat littering the floors, and a horribly spoiled foodjunks splattered and spewed on the floors and walls. If you have not lost your consciousness by this point, quickly retreat back to the main hallway.

Slightly to the east, you can carefully peek around a corner to the south, and see several guards, not at all seeming as if they desire to allow you passage to the corridor beyond. However, I summoned several trusty survival belts and hog-tied these guards, rendering them unable to halt my progress. Heading south, I did eventually reach a small treasury containing the hobgoblins' loot from their raids and selling their mined goods. A modest stash, I did not wish to deprive these beings of their livelihood, so I returned once again to the main corridor.

Continuing eastward in the mines, you quickly are overtaken by the stark difference in the mine's construction. Much of the dust is gone, swept clean of the passages, and the tunnels are much more spacious and open, relieving what amount of claustrophobia one might have been suffering. The passage veers to the south, and beckons one's curiosity. However, upon continuing my journey, I began to wonder what I was stepping into. Golden pillars and lush carpets adorned the hallway, very uncharacteristic of something expected to be found in what had thus far been a dirty and nondescript mine. At the end of the room, you will reach a throne and be surrounded by the hobgoblins, standing in front of the king himself.

Nothing like a typical king, this hobgoblin looks more like a barbarian or warrior than a king, if you base your expectations on precedent and stereotype. At first, he and his bodyguards were quite rude and unimpressed with my intrusion, until I provided them with a hefty supply of training scrolls and survival belts, utilizing my new and mysterious Dawning powers to dazzle them, calling objects from thin air. They sang their praises of my tremendous magical abilities, and began eating the scrolls ravenously. It was at this point that I felt a quick retreat from the mines were in order.