Location: Cloven Hoof Cave

Rumors

  • Cloven Hoof Cave is an old burial site tied to Crohl Ba’an.
  • Goblins live there now.
  • There is a strange sparkly liquid within the cave.
  • Secret doors and old ogre-made features still remain.
  • Red Palm Goblins range to the east.

What is Known

  • Cloven Hoof Cave is the burial site or tomb of Crohl Ba’an.
  • Goblins currently live in and around the cave.
  • The earliest surviving notes identify the goblins there as the Red Palm Goblins. Session 01
  • The Red Palm sign is described as a black backdrop marked with a red goblin handprint. Session 01
  • The cave has two known entrances, one of which is badly broken. Session 01
  • Large statues stand above the cave approach, though at least one is broken. Session 01
  • The surviving entrance is marked with a cloven hoof. Session 01
  • Two goblins circle outside the cave.
  • The earliest surviving notes indicate pairs of goblins made patrol passes roughly every fifteen minutes. Session 01
  • A goblin boss there has a wolf he took into the cave.
  • The earliest surviving notes describe that larger goblin as better armored than the others. Session 01
  • Inside is a small pool of sparkly liquid.
  • The earliest surviving expedition notes place that liquid in a room to the far right within the cave. Session 02
  • A sample of the liquid was taken from the cave in the earliest surviving expedition notes. Session 02
  • There are secret doors within the cave.
  • One old statue there bears a cloven hoof.
  • Rubble lies throughout the site.
  • Crohl Ba’an was once a two-headed ogre mage.
  • He tried to overtake his own people and join a band of orcs.
  • His people fought back, but they were unable to kill him.
  • Instead, they put him to sleep.
  • A cure to wake him was entombed with him in the cave.
  • The liquid in the cave can be used to resurrect Crohl Ba’an.

History

  • Cloven Hoof Cave was once a tomb for the ogre mage Crohl Ba’an.
  • After he turned against his own people and sought alliance with orcs, they rose against him.
  • Unable to kill him, they placed him into enchanted sleep.
  • Crohl Ba’an warned that a great catastrophe would one day come and that only he could prevent it.
  • Because of that warning, his people entombed him with the means to wake him if such a disaster came to pass.
  • The earliest surviving expedition notes describe scouts watching the cave from hiding, observing Red Palm patrols and a larger goblin with a wolf returning inside. Session 01
  • Session 02 adds that infiltrators in goblin disguise reached the inner chambers, found many sleeping goblins, took a sample of the sparkly liquid, and escaped after waking the cave inhabitants. Session 02
  • Those same early notes record that the liquid’s purpose was still unknown at the time and that the sample was later left with John Harrison. Session 02

People

Crohl Ba’an

  • Two-headed ogre mage
  • Buried or entombed in Cloven Hoof Cave

Red Palm Goblins

  • Goblin clan known to occupy and patrol the cave in the earliest surviving notes. Session 01

Loose Threads

  • What catastrophe did Crohl Ba’an claim he alone could prevent?
  • Should Crohl Ba’an ever be awakened?
  • What is the true nature of the sparkly liquid in the cave?
  • What role do the Red Palm Goblins play in the wider region?
  • What lies beyond the secret doors deeper in the cave?