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)

Dungeons and Dragons: In Search of the Unknown #1

Narrator (DM): Matt
The Forsaken (Revenant Cleric): Dave

The tower stood on the rise of a hill beyond the Winterbole Forest. Far from the dubios protection of the Nentir Vale, along way from any of his former allies and with no reason to still be alive, the Revenant known only as The Forsaken stood in contemplation of the events that lead him to seek out the fabled stronghold...

Hitherto he had metered out a a pitiful existence in the town of Fallcrest, hiding by day and moving by night, visiting ferocious retribution on those who sought to take what was not theirs. Until one evening, he was approached by Carton from the irreputable band of miscreants, the River Rats. Carton told him of a tower, North of the Vale. Carton said that the tower, and the stronghold beneath, once belonged to great heroes of legend, Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown. He said that some years ago, the two heroes set off into the barbaric Northen lands to fight the bandits that roamed the area, and never returned. In their abandoned fortress lies riches, treasure and equipment of stupendous quality that was there for the taking. Carton demanded 20% of the total of whatever The Forsaken managed to get from there. The Revenant agreed and began his journey, knowing that a promise made did not have to be the same as a promise kept.

Nonetheless, the idea that a fortress full of gold and riches that was abandoned by heroes troubled The Forsaken. Such wealth and Fame was not given up lightly, and it was all too possible that Roghan and Zelligar were still there, waiting for someone to try to take their gold...

The Twisting Halls

Still, he had not come this far to back out now. The Forsaken found the entrance to the stronghold set in the South side of a stony hill, and made his way into the tunnel to find a wooden door. The door appeared closed, but the chips on the wood suggested someone had recently tried to make a forced entry. Undaunted, The Forsaken stepped over the threshold to find a long corridor of substantial masonry, with alcoves set into the walls at regular intervals. The Forsaken could not detect the presence of anything there, but he still moved through the hall with considerable caution. When he drew level with the alcoves, awful voices surrounded him, filling the corridors and echoing sounds of loathing and dread:

"WHO DARES ENTER THIS PLACE AND INTRUDE UPON THE SANCTITY OF ITS INHABITANTS? ONLY A FOOLHARDY EXPLORER, DOOMED TO CERTAIN DEATH! WOE TO ANYONE WHO PASS THIS PLACE - THE WRATH OF ZELLIGAR AND ROGAHN WILL BE UPON THEM!"


After recovering from this very nasty surprise, The Forsaken ventured towards the first cross section where he was met with a grisly sight - the aftermath of a battle, where at least five people died. Three of them looked like adventurers; a fighter, a wizard and a Dwarf. The other three looked like Barbarians. The Forsaken examined their bodies for any sign of life, but their essence of life had long since slipped away...

With the feeling that this meant nothing good, and perhaps a little out of his depth, The Forsaken took some time in choosing the right hand path. When he came upon another crossroads, he carried straight on to the end of the corridor where he saw two doors. Trying the first, he found it had little to offer but another corridor. Opening the second, he found himself in what appeared to be a bedroom.

The Mistress' Chamber


The Forsaken examined this room with some suspicion. Rather than the formulaic stone masonry that had done little to capture his imagination so far, this room was ornately decorated with a four-post bed, a mirror and a tapestry depicting what appeared to be the rescue of a beautiful maiden from a burning village, by a handsome and robust warrior. Embroidered in gold on the top read "Melissa, the most dearly won and greatest of all my treasures." However, the room was dusty and had obviously not been used for some time. The Forsaken tried some of the draws and closets; some were locked and he chose not to disturb the locks. Far more interesting to him was a difference in the colour of the stone on the far wall...

Proved too big a match for The Forsaken...

He decided to investigate, and found a secret door leading into a dark tunnel. It was narrow, and not long, but The Forsaken never saw what was on the other side. Running at him with a determination to defend its lair was a Stormclaw Scorpion, which lost no time in securing a grip on The Forsaken. The Revenant managed to shake him off and landed a blow on the Scorpion, using his considerable power to heal his wound. However the Scorpion's tough carapace proved too much to do any significant damage. The Scorpion made another grab, and this time The Forsaken was unable to shake it off. The Scorpion lashed out with its tail, stinging The Forsaken twice and injecting him with poison. Realising that there was no way he would survive another round with the Scorpion, The Forsaken made the wise decision to cut his losses and get away. While in the bedroom, he locked himself in and slipped into an uneasy rest, in order to get the poison out of his system...

The Wizard's Workroom


Feeling somewhat refreshed, The Revenant re-investigated the left-hand path from the original scene of the bloodbath, and found himself down a long, twisting corridor. After nearly breaking his foot trying to force open a locked door, he happened upon a junction that had a possibility of three directions. He chose to head South, and immediately noticed that there was a couple of concealed doors. After taking the left hand door, he found himself in what looked like a workroom, in some disorder. There was a mess of glass containers of chemical compounds on a desk in the middle of the room, a stone table with a lid and a table that had been kicked over.

Investigating, he found the items rather mundane; some were empty, some had crushed charcoal, and some had obsidian, but nothing of use. However, from the table that had been kicked over sprang the Workroom's current occupant - a mischievous, rude and very angry Gnome...

Small, mean and fiercely territorial...

The Gnome scurried towards The Forsaken and made an immediate attack with his War Pick. However The Forsaken was not going to be intimidated by such a ridiculous-looking creature, and called upon the power of darkness to inflict several lacerations on the Gnome. Sensing what kind of danger he was in, the Gnome faded into the shadows and scuttled away, however The Forsaken knew enough about gnomes to know that the fight was far from over. He went over to the stone table to heal his wounds, whereupon the Gnome attacked him again, this time inflicting a savage blow. The Forsaken called upon the aid of his deity, The Raven Queen, who obliged by lifting the lid from the Stone table and smashing it into the Gnome. Having already taken a ferocious slap from The Forsaken's Bastard Sword, the Gnome was exhausted but not quite out of the fight. Both sides stepped away, and The Forsaken used his reserves of strength to move out of the Gnome's range. The Gnome, not to be outdone, skipped onto the table, smashing most of the glass containers, and took a pot-shot at the Revenant with his crossbow. The shot found its mark, and The Forsaken knew he would not win the fight through inaction. He ploughed forward and lunged at the Gnome with his sword, driving it into the creatures chest. He watched, satisfied, as the life of the creature ebbed away.

There will be a price to pay...


On searching the room, The Forsaken looked inside the table with the lid now off. Inside, pinned to a bronze statuette of The Raven Queen lined with silver and copper, was a note. There was, according to the note, hidden somewhere in the stronghold the Bag of Devouring. The Forsaken was to obtain that bag, and see that it gets to Kelson in Fallcrest. And not to be too long about it either; The Raven Queen does directly control the minions of the dungeon, but she knows they were there... and that some of them had once been alive...

Join us next time for more Dungeon-Crawling Goodness!

matt