Scales of War part 5: The Castellan and the Cook

After barely surviving their encounter with the Magma Claws, the heroes decided to keep on the path suggested by Adronsius and make their way east, where they rounded a corner and headed up some stairs. Remembering that this was the place that Adronsius has said has a sticky floor, they were not entirely surprised to encounter some Ettercaps in the chamber beyond. Lucian in particular was not pleased to see them accompanied by the Gnome who had fled from them moments ago, and allowed himself a smile of grim satisfaction when the force of Sayer’s arrow splattered the creature against the far wall. The webs from the Ettercaps limited the heroes’ mobility, but with Grambur quite able to deal with the one who was directly attacking them, and Oro and the others pounding the other with ranged attacks, they did not put up much of a fight. When the Webspinner tried to flee, Grambur was having none of it; he charged the Ettercap and cut it down with one fell swoop.

Sadly, the group found a body in the corner of the room, wrapped in web and with its face contorted in fear and pain. From the description, Sayer and Oro guessed that it was Kartenix, the captain of the guard, who had apparently been trying to escape. He had in a bag next to him a pair of boots, the Boots of Spider Climbing which would help the wearer scale tall surfaces more quickly, and reasoning that the fallen captain would have no further use for them, Sayer took them.

The group decided to head back to the Von Urstadt crypt and investigate the room off the side. There they found a pair of jail cells, one of which contained Sertanian, Castellan of the Hall of Great Valour. Lucian picked the lock and released the old man. He explained that Kartenix had been the prisoner in the next cell, and he had devised a daring plan to escape with his son, Tharuun, who was somewhere in the dungeon, and get help from Brindol. Sertanian was saddened, but not surprised, to hear that Kartenix had died. He said that the captain of the guard was a brave man, if not a very clever one, and that he ought to have known he’d never have stood a chance against the sheer numbers of villains that infested the castle. He also was able to tell them that the cook, Mirtala, was being held in a room south of the Rivenroar Family Crypt. Remembering the way, the group set off towards the crypt, and Sertanian followed them.

On arriving in the Fresco chamber off the crypt, the heroes found the place infested with dire rats, and the poor cook tied to an altar at the far end of the room. There were also statues of Displacer Beasts running up the aisle, and Sayer lost no time in teleporting to the top of one of them and taking pot shots at the rats. Lucian entered the fray but was bitten by one of the rats and contracted Filth Fever. Grambur marched straight into the fray and began cutting limbs off each of the rats and Oro pelted them with magic. Even Sertanian had a go with a hand crossbow given to him by the heroes; he was confident in his ability being a veteran of the previous war, though his accuracy suggested to the heroes that he would be more dangerous as an ally than a foe. A couple of Gnomes made the mistake of appearing out of nowhere to try and disrupt the heroes’ efforts, but Sayer and Lucian were not for a moment fooled by their trickery and dispatched them very quickly.

After the fight, the group went over to the altar, which they noticed was dedicated to the Raven Queen, to help Mirtala. She also had filth fever, and was catatonic with terror. She seemed as much afraid of the heroes as her captors, though the presence of Sertanian prevented her from lashing out in fear. As she was clearly ill, the heroes decided that the best course of action would be to take her, Sertanian and Zerriska to the room currently occupied by Adronsius, which had a clean supply of water if nothing else. Lucian and Sayer tried to convince the cook that they were not a threat and wanted to help, and when that failed, Grambur employed the far more straightforward tactic of picking her up, putting her over his shoulder, and carrying her to the cistern. After some convincing, Zerriska came up to the room as well, and with three other people from the town in the room, Mirtala started to calm down. She knew nothing about the locations of the other prisoners that the heroes had not already discovered, but she was able to employ her skills as a cook to make a mostly edible meal from the roots and herbs that Zerriska had been collecting; no bad thing since the prisoners had not eaten properly for a while and were running short of food. The heroes decided to use this relatively secure area of the dungeon as a base, and took a rest here. Zerriska tended to the illness, and both Lucian and Mirtala made a full recovery. After sharing some of their trail rations, the heroes moved on…

Having explored the lower floor of the dungeon, the heroes returned to the room with the Ettercaps and ascended the stairs to another crypt, this time belonging to the family of Von Adrez-Kauthin. It looked like the Hobgoblins were using it as a guard post, with a Spitting Drake there to supplement their power. A Goblin Hexhurler was waiting on standby in the next room, but unfortunately for him he arrived far too late to aid the Hobgoblins, many of which had fallen straight away to Oro’s magic and Grambur’s ruthless efficiency. He tried to flee, but after being party to so much unrest and destruction in the town, the heroes were not letting him go anywhere…

Exploring the crypt and making some rather out-of-proportion efforts to open the sarcophagi set into the floor, the heroes found two healing potions and 170 gold pieces. Quite why healing potions had been buried with a member of a prominent trading family the heroes couldn’t quite fathom, but they were thankful that they might still be alive to spend all this gold they were acquiring when they got out of this Godsforsaken place. However, there were two more prisoners still unaccounted for, and nobody was leaving the dungeon until they were found…

Experience: 483 each

Treasure:

• 170 gp
• 2 Healing Potions
• Boots of Spider Climbing (lvl. 5)

Scales of War part 4: The Von Urstadt Crypt

Lucian rejoined the heroes in the Rivenroar Family Crypt after waking and being given a healing potion concocted by Zerriska. After such a brutal fight, they decided to exercise some caution. They explored the corridor at the top of the staircase, and considered the door to the South of the crypt, but as they had already taken a heavy battering, they decided to return to the entrance all to consider their next move. The only door they hadn’t taken yet was the Eastern passage to the Von Jallach crypt, so they decided to go up there to see what they could find…

They found an odd-looking crypt with some runes lit up on the floor. Oro recognised the enchantment and warned the rest that while all the runes said was ‘Von Jallach,’ if one were to step on them it would cause some serious harm. This fact was something the heroes kept in mind as Needlefang Drakes started to swarm towards them. For a time it looked like they might overcome some of the Elven heroes, but the Drakes underestimated the resilience of Dwarves and Grambur stood firm against their onslaught. He drove several of them back onto the runes, which true to Oro’s word cause some harm to them. A Gnome then appeared out of apparently nowhere and tried to ambush the party. Lucian fared reasonably well against him until he took a war pick to the knee. Lucian lashed out in anger, causing the Gnome some hurt and also causing him to disappear. However, the heroes weren’t fooled, and aimed their projectiles at the place where the Gnome had been. The savage beating took its toll and the gnome went down. Lucian looted the body for the war pick and anything of financial value, while muttering his doggerel:

"I kill two gnomes in the morning, I kill two gnomes at night.
I kill two gnomes in the afternoon, and then I feel all right.
I kill two gnomes in time of peace and two in time of war.
I kill two gnomes before I kill two gnomes, and then I kill two more."

Once the laughter and strange looks ceased, the heroes found a key on the Gnome’s body and used it to open the door into the next room. Inside, they found a fountain of pure water, and more intriguingly a beaten and battered Dwarf named Adronsius. After freeing him, they found that Adronsius was unable to give them any direct help because of the brutal beating and also because his alchemical equipment was not present, however he was able to provide directions – at least, such directions as he could remember from being dragged around blindfolded – to where the Hobgoblins might have taken Jelissa, the Acolyte of Ioun. The Elven heroes found it hard to follow, but Grambur had an innate sense of direction while underground and was confident he could remember what he was saying.

After taking a rest, the heroes decided to press on. Following Adronsius’ directions, they turned left in the Goblin warren and ended in a triangular shaped room with a crackling image of a castle on the other side of the wall. Oro didn’t know what castle it was but suspected that it must have an alliance with Rivenroar, however there was no time to investigate further as some ooze glooped through the portal. Undaunted and content to stand their ground, the heroes unleashed their ranged attacks forcing it to split into two separate pieces. Not a moment too soon, Sayer made the decision to move up towards the portal in time to see two Spectres appear behind the rest of the party. Their psychic attacks took their toll on the heroes, but the Spectres were unable to sustain their form for long and went down quite quickly.

Taking some time for a quick rest, and establishing there was nothing more of interest in the room, the heroes guessed that the portal remained open and other things could make their way through. This being the case, they elected to move on, and after a few turns found themselves in the Von Urstadt Crypt. Here, they found themselves ambushed by a couple of Gnomes. Posing ‘little’ threat on their own, they opened one of the doors to the crypt and unleashed their defenders: The Magma Claws. The fiery beasts fought ferociously, using their magma-based attacks to hold their prey in place, however they had not bargained on the particular magic of Eladrin and Sayer, having been set ablaze and immobilised, managed to disappear into the near corner of the room. Sayer’s talents apparently did not extend to being able to put the fire out very quickly, but at least he was out of trouble. Grambur was also stuck where he was, but as he also managed to use his fighting skills to keep one of the Magma Claws where it was, this was less of a hindrance than one might expect. Oro used his magic to try to slow the beasts down, with some success, but as it was not a large room there were not many places where safety could be guaranteed. Lucian used his knowledge that creatures of Magma can sometimes be baited with food, and he tried to make the Magma Claw go after one of the Gnomes. It worked, but after taking severe injuries from this and with no one to stop him, the Gnome escaped into the next room. The Magma Claw, meanwhile, unleashed its fury on Lucian, and the elf fell to the floor. Conscious of their friend’s peril, but recognising that there was not much they could do with so much danger in the room, the heroes tried to finish off the monsters. Oro and Sayer took out the remaining Gnome and Magma Claws, much to the dismay of Grambur who felt the Elven heroes were ‘spoiling his fun.’ In the nick of time, Sayer remembered the healing potion that Lucian had. He ran over to his fallen companion and dug it out of his pockets. Oro ran over to them, took the bottle from Sayer and poured the contents down Lucian’s throat just in time. He awoke, bruised, battered, but alive.

Grambur finished off the remaining Magma Claw, and the heroes relaxed, exhausted. After taking some time to patch up their wounds they decided to search the room and the tombs. They found a Cloak of Resistance buried in one of the coffins, and having been mere seconds away from death, Lucian felt the need to take the artefact for himself. The group gazed at the East wall, where an inscription dominated the area above the door: 

“Hail Von Urstadt! Ascend with Glory!” 

Experience: 412 each

 

Treasure:

• Cloak of Resistance (lv.2)

Scales of War part 3: The Rivenroar Family Crypt 21/10/2012

From the other side of the door out of the Mushroom Pit came a cry for help. The heroes went to investigate, however Lucian trod on a Slumberspore and fell asleep. The cry came from an old woman, who turned out to be Zerriska the Crone, one of the seven people the heroes were commissioned to rescue. They freed her from the magic circle in which she was trapped, and put up with her ravings about her having ‘Dark Powers’ long enough to know that, far from being a witch, she is a skilled herbalist. The heroes suggested that she might make up a healing potion for them, and after being given the tools and materials to do it, she grudgingly agreed, though it would be some time before it was ready.

The heroes proceeded back into the Mushroom Pit and decided to see what was at the top of the holes in the ceiling. Sayer went up first to find two goblins bearing down on him. Sayer took advantage of his mobility to deal with the goblins, killing one and fooling the other into taking a fall into the Mushroom Pit. This kept Grambur busy for a little while, as it was all he could do to prevent the Goblin from escaping. Meanwhile, the fight had drawn the attention of some of the Hobgoblins who were resting in the room to the South of the corridor Sayer had found himself in. They stormed over the hole hoping to take out the Eladrin Ranger, however Oro appeared from the hole and used the Acid Arrow to burn two of the vile creatures to death. The remaining hobgoblin turned his attention to Oro, causing him some severe damage, and Oro retreated back down the hole, but this gave Sayer the opportunity to finish the fight with a well-placed arrow to the neck.

Heading North up the corridor and taking a turn to the right, the heroes found themselves in a crypt. The sarcophagi in the middle of the room looked interesting but there was no time to investigate, as some Hobgoblins were waiting there and one of them had a bow. The heroes lost no time in launching the attack; Grambur positioned himself in range of as many of the creatures as possible. Most of the hobgoblins went down rather easily but the one with the bow proved a tough opponent to beat down. It hadn’t helped that another hobgoblin had descended the wrought iron stairs at the top of the room. Oro used his cold magic to slow the hobgoblin down and deny him the use of his already limited mobility, which meant Sayer had an easier time positioning himself for the attack. Ultimately the cowardly nature of hobgoblins won the day for the heroes; when the villains tried to run, the heroes took advantage and cut them down.

Inside one sarcophagus was a substantial pile of gold and silver, and a green gem. Grambur would have quite happily taken the ‘Dwarven Share’ of more than half of it, but he soon forgot about it once he discovered that the other sarcophagus contained a Frost Axe. Grambur eagerly took the axe for his own, naming it ‘Wintersbite.’

The heroes also had a look at the altar in the room, and discovered that the Hobgoblins were using it as an altar to Bane. However, Oro realised that the altar had previously been used as an altar to Vecna, the god of forbidden knowledge. A sense of foreboding filled the heroes as they gazed at the messages written around the walls of the crypt: “Here lie the Rivenroars until the day of the Black Sun. If you seek their monument, look at the lands around you.”

Experience: 197 each

Treasure:

• 26 arrows
• 200 gold pieces
• 200 silver pieces
• A green gem worth 8 gold pieces
• Frost Axe (lv. 3) “Wintersbite”

Scales of War part 2: Descent into Rivenroar 24/10/2012

Session Log 24/10/2012

The heroes met at the Northern Bridge. The battle was long since over, but the heroes guessed there was more to the attack than met the eye and were determined to investigate. At a loss for somewhere to go, they ended up in the Moondust Temple, a small place on the South West corner of Brindol devoted to Sehanine. There they met with a Priestess called Lia, who suggested that they talk to the Town Councillor Eoffram Troyas. Realising there was nothing they could do for the town that night, the heroes found lodgings in the Avandrian Hostel and settled down for the night, at a discounted rate since the battle with the Ogre that afternoon…

A new day dawned and had nearly reached its peak when the heroes met with Councillor Troyas. Troyas explained that 7 of the town’s citizens had gone missing and were suspected to be abducted by the Hobgoblins; he was looking for help to find them. He did not offer the commission lightly, but after Grambur impressed him with his physical prowess and Lucian made some insightful remarks about proving themselves to the town council, Troyas was forced to reconsider. The deal was sealed when Oro told the councillor that the heroes had no intention of letting history repeat itself and was determined to stop the Red Hand. Troyas was satisfied that these were the people he was looking for, explained who was missing and also that some treasure had gone missing as well; certain items of little material value but of huge social value to the township.

After a visit to the Hall of Great Valour to inspect the treasure that had gone missing, the heroes learned of a hobgoblin taken prisoner. They went to investigate, and after some less-than-gentle persuasion found out some useful information: The leader of the Hobgoblins was called Sinruth, a determined young Hobgoblin looking to raise an army and start his own Fiefdom in the Elsir Vale. For now, he was calling the abandoned Castle Rivenroar home, and had most likely taken the prisoners back there to feed to the ‘Undead Horrors’ that shared the catacombs with the goblins…

The heroes headed north, and though the going was hard for the Elves, they made it to the castle surprisingly without incident. All that changed when they marched into the catacombs beneath the castle. They appeared to be in the entrance to a crypt, and two Goblinoids were standing guard. One of them triggered a curious trick; the braziers either side of the room moved along the walls and shot fire at each other; it singed Grambur’s beard. The goblins were quickly and easily dispatched, whereupon the heroes had 3 choices: Do they head for the crypt of Von Urstadt, Von Jallach, or go through the doors that apparently lead to the crypt of the Rivenroar family?

Electing to head for the Rivenroar crypt, the heroes proceeded with a lot more caution. They headed down a long set of stairs, and the only sound was their feet echoing off the flagstones. Just when they were wondering if the stairs would ever end, they came upon a door. Lucian pricked up his Elven ears and heard that… something… was asleep in the next room…

Stealth seemed the best course of action and the heroes slunk through into a room filled with Mushrooms. It came as no surprise to Veteran Treasure Hunter Grambur that the mushrooms could potentially be dangerous if they were tampered with, and Oro knew enough about them to be able to say what they were: A combination of Brown Cloudspore, White Shriekers, Grey Doomspores and Red Slumberspores. The snoring that Lucian heard came from a Rage Drake asleep guarding the only visible way out of the room, and given the Dwarf’s rarely-welcome penchant for noise, the heroes decided matters would be a lot simpler if they took advantage of it’s sleepiness and killed it. Grambur rushed the creature and between them the heroes did a lot of damage before the drake had a chance to react. However, Grambur’s relentless attack pushed the drake into a cluster of mushrooms and he set off a Slumberspore, it had little effect on the Drake but did knock Grambur out cold. Not even a mauling from the Drake could wake him up. Lucian and Oro tried to help their fallen companion by firing shot after shot at the Drake and it seemed to work as with a bloodthirsty roar it charged for the Elves. Little did it realise the path would take him across more mushrooms; whereupon he set off a Shrieker and another Slumberspore. This time, it knocked him straight out, and Lucian finished it off with a knife to the heart.

With shafts leading to the floor above, and a door leading off into another room, the adventure has only just started…

Experience: 575 each.

Scales of War part 1: Batle at the Bar 17/10/2012

Our tale begins in one of Brindol’s Taverns; Ilya’s Cardhouse. Sat around a table near to the hearth, four figures sat, drinking jovially and playing cards. Their motivations for being in a cardhouse in Brindol were kept to themselves, but their instincts allowed for the company of strangers.

Towards the middle of the afternoon, Lucian and Orodrethanthilis, the two elves, happened to look across the room to a table at the back of the card house where three men were sat around, playing cards. Of particular interest to the elves were the thirty golden pieces set on the table, and sensing the opportunity for a profit, challenged the braggarts to a game. Lucian played extremely well and Oro managed to claim some coin. Even Grambur the Dwarf Warrior managed to win a few hands, and they looked very close to cleaning the players out. Just as accusations of cheating were beginning to fly, the door burst open and some Goblinoids entered the room…

The Hobgoblins seemed intent on causing as much havoc as possible, but the elves were quicker to react and cut several of them down quite quickly. Goblin Blackblades, making use of their diminutive size, ran around the tavern setting the place on fire, including the bar and the table on which the card game was brought to such a juddering halt. For his own entertainment as much as anything else, Grambur strode straight into the fray, taking several blows but refusing to go down. Lucian and Sayer, the Eladrin Ranger, took a height advantage of the tables and sniped at the hobgoblins, and those who had the presence of mind to pay attention to Oro would have found it curiously amusing that he was doing far more damage with his quarterstaff and throwing knife than he was with his spells. The battle was over when a goblin, having backed Sayer up against a wall, failed to see Grambur coming up behind him and was subsequently chopped into two pieces, neither side very pretty.

After leaving the Tavern to a bucket line, and berating the town guards for not being much help, the heroes learned that attacks like this were happening all over the town. Sayer and Oro pricked up their elven ears at the sounds of just such another attack, and used the opportunity to tell the others to get into position. Sayer took up a vantage point on top of a Barber’s Shop, to see an Ogre pulling a wagon, carring a lit barrel of pitch and threatening to throw it at any second. Grambur took in the situation at once, attacking the Ogre head on so that he could neither proceed further or run away. Lucien, in a concealed position, took a careful aim and hit the pitch that the Ogre was carrying, causing it to explode. The fire quickly spread, injuring the Hobgoblins and the Ogre. Oro, Sayer and Grambur wore the huge beast down with their relentless attacks, but in the end it was the fire that consumed it. Grambur strode forward to finish off the Hobgoblins, killing one. The other tried to escape, but another careful shot from Lucian put paid to any hope of escape.

Exhausted from their endeavour to stay alive, the heroes learned that the town guard had driven back the Hobgoblin incursion. However, it was not lost on the heroes that many of the fallen Hobgoblins bore the mark of the Red Hand, the army that attacked Brindol 10 years ago. Somehow, they felt they hadn’t seen the last of these Hobgoblins…

Experience: 279 each

Treasure:

• 30 arrows
• 30 Gold Pieces from playing cards.