Dungeons and Dragons: In Search of the Unknown #3

Having found the allies in the Human Fighter Ahlo, and the Elven Rogue Estra, that he so desperately needed, The Forsaken journeyed to the stronghold once more to try to find the ever-elusive Bag of Devouring...

The first thing The Forsaken did on entering the catacombs was to journey to the Library to find out what was in the chest he spied. The addition of allies made short work of the Stormclaw Scorpion he found in there, though privately the hirelings felt that the use of the cleric's Avenging Flame was a little over the top. The chest turned out to contain nothing more than 15 gold pieces, but The Forsaken wasn't complaining. He'd have to pay his hirelings somehow...

The party stopped for a while in the Storeroom to make camp, and The Forsaken took some time to get to know his newfound companions. Ahlo was somewhat incredulous, but nonetheless explained that he had a background in the military, which ended in what he would only describe as 'some unpleasantness. With the commander's wife.' Since then, he's been working in a guard capacity for the River Rats. Estra, however, had only ever known the street life, and joined the River Rats through an offer of protection from the authorities in exchange for a cut of her 'takings.'

With the party fully refreshed and ready to move on, they first investigated the stronghold Kitchens. While there was nothing of particular use in the form of kitchen implements as weapons, The Forsaken nonetheless found a leather pouch containing 35gp, hidden under a pot in one of the cupboards. This day was just getting better and better. They then moved on to the dining room. The Forsaken sent Estra to scout ahead where she found a surprise...

Estra had always thought this sort of thing was just a joke, but it was true: The dining room featured a table 20 feet long with a chair at either end. I mean, why? What was the point? It's not like Roghan and Zelligar entertained much company; did they dislike each other to the degree that they refused to sit together for meals?

Rather less amusing were the two zombies that had caught sight of her, and The Forsaken was not at all pleased when Ahlo refused to go in and fight them. This left the Elf and the Revenant to do battle with the undead minions. The Forsaken took a savage mauling, but Estra came to the rescue and distracted one of the Zombies momentarily. This gave The Forsaken time to finish the one he was fighting and dispatch the other one, though he did make the mistake of invoking his Revenant power of dealing necrotic damage; there's little use in doing that if your victim is already dead! Estra took a beating as well, and although they both survived without serious injury, the Elf did not have much left in her...

In an antechamber just off the Dining Room, the party found a small amount of gold in a box. More interesting was the marble statue of the nude and extremely alluring woman in the centre of the room, though The Forsaken knew that, thinking objectively, they'd never be able to move it. The Forsaken lead his warband through the stronghold until he came upon the Mistresses Bedroom once more; he had not forgotten the Scorpion that nearly killed him and wanted to see what lay at the end of the door it was guarding...

They found what looked like the Master Bedroom, judging by the decor probably used by Roghan. But there was no time to investigate, as the room's current denizens were a pair of Gnolls, and they did not look as though they welcomed the intrusion. The Forsaken lead his party in a formation, and Ahlo did an impressive job of momentarily cowering the more feral of the two Gnolls, causing it to misjudge its actions and fall back, leaving itself open to attack. However, the fight was always going to be a challenge, and the fury of the gnolls was not to be underestimated. Estra, already exhausted from her fight with the Zombies, became seriously injured, and the Gnoll savagely tore into her once he'd smelled the blood. Estra collapsed onto the bed, weak and bleeding. The Forsaken and Ahlo made a fight of it, but the first Gnoll would not fall and the second fired arrows with worrying prescision; it was all The Forasken could do to make sure at least two people left the room alive.

Back in The Mistress's bedroom, The Forsaken and his hirelings licked their wounds, and took their rest. At some point they would have to return. But not yet...