Imagination is everything…
ingram_pilot
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Chronicles of Netheril – July 23th, 2010
Jul 24th
With most of the goblin melee fighters dead, we were able to end the fight fairly quickly. We did our best to stay out of the sharpshooter’s range, and Garnik was able to take advantage of his longbow’s excellent range to attack with impunity from a safe location further to the north.
Unfortunately, Artrius was fatally wounded. As he lay dying, his life force returning to its original plane of existence, he was able to foresee our future, and he left us with the cryptic words: “seek the pig”.
As we continued on our towards the tower, we encountered a dwarf druid who was hunting goblins. His name was dirty “pig”, and he was also heading to the tower. We decided to join forces.
When we arrived at the tower, we saw a very ominous sight. The path leading to the main entrance was lined with many many statues; a good 30 of them.
Now, there is nothing that will mess with an adventurer’s mind more than a bunch of statues, because it’s usually an indication that things are going to take a turn for the worse.
- there could be a Medusa nearby
- the area might be imbued with some strange petrifying magic
- when you walk past the statues, you could trigger an “Indiana Jones” style arrow trap
- if you’re lucky it will be an arrow trap; chances are you’ll trigger a searing burst of flames or a spray of highly corrosive acid
- you could walk past them and have them animate and come after you later on when you trigger some unknown event
- or even worse they could animate and attack you while you’re stuck among them.
After some careful examination, we determined that it was safe to proceed. The door was encased in ice. Garnik fired a flaming burst at it, using the bow he’d bought from Garwan, and melted most of the ice. Ilikan charged in and hit the remaining ice so hard that he smashed the door open.
And then … some of the statues came to life. (What did I tell you)
The most powerful of the statues was trapped in the tower’s vestibule, where Ilikan and Garnik made short work of it, and the rest were some weak homunculi. The battle was over very quickly.
Ash and Garnik entered the tower stealthily to perform some reconnaissance.
The ground floor being unoccupied, the rest of the team entered. The rooms were mostly mundane: dinning hall, kitchen, larder; but the sitting room was interesting. The were two bookshelves filled with tome of arcane (both the ‘ancient’ and ‘magical’ meanings apply) knowledge. There was also a small and fragile crystal statue of Asmodeus. Each room had a fireplace (2 in dinning hall) with a strange frozen blue ‘fire’ in it.
When Ash and Garnik continued their reconnoitre into the second floor, they were immediately attack by ice creatures. This combat encounter difficult, tactically, because there was no way of getting the whole party up the staircase, and onto the second floor. The fight was proceeding in our favor, when small ice critters started coming out of the first floor’s side rooms and attacking us.
Voulge, theorizing that they were coming from the frozen fires, went to the nearest one and started smashing it. After those of us on the 2ndfloor had killed all the creatures up there, we returned to the ground floor to help the rest of the team deal with the ice critters. Taking his cue from Voulge, Dirty Pig tried reading the arcane energy emanating from the frozen fires and determined that they were portals to the elemental chaos. Apparently they could be sealed using arcane magic, or for those with no knowledge of such things, smashing the ice portals would work just as well.
Now, with the portals sealed we need to return to the second floor and examine it thoroughly.
Chronicles of Netheril – July 17th, 2010
Jul 24th
Warning: This post is going to contain a lot more meta-gaming than usual. I do my best to avoid using it in these posts; but for this post in particular I won’t be able to explain the events of the gaming session to my satisfaction without using it.
Day 2 – Afternoon
Once we reach the ruins of the Temple of Tyr, it doesn’t take long for the bandits to surround us. They’re mostly just rank and file thugs; but deeper into the ruins, there’s Zark and the bandit leader, as well as a lizard-man {greenscale marsh mystic}.
After a few moment’s fighting, the bandits have managed to maneuver Eramus {our defender→Paladin} away from the front of our formation. Voulge, who’s pretty well armored himself, steps forward to act as temporary blocker until Eramus can get back into position. The bandits decide to concentrate all their attacks on Voulge who gets knocked out {HP≤0}.
The rest of the party fights valiantly and manages to kill a few of the bandits; but there’s too many of them and we won’t be able to keep them at bay for very long. After a little while {3 rounds} Eramus is able to rejoin the formation, and he hits Voulge’s reset button {uses Lay on Hands power} (The idea of Voulge having a reset button came up as a bit of a joke. As a Warforged, Voulge is a living construct/machine; therefore he doesn’t have any flesh for the Lay on Hands power to heal. Fyrewind came up with the idea of a reset button as a way to cause Voulge to reboot.)
Voulge wakes up somewhat revitalized {¼ HP from the Lay on Hands power} and springs into action. Without standing up, he starts channelling his energy to heal himself further {Warforged Resolve racial power | minor action}. Ilikan is close enough to Voulge that he gets caught in the healing aura and benefits from it as well {Warforged Faith feat}. He then proceeds to cast his Rune of Mending {minor action | burst 5}, healing Eramus {1 healing surge} and temporarily boosting the strength of his allies {allies in burst get +2 bonus to damage for 1 turn}. Having healed himself and his team, Voulge then unleashed his wrath. While still lying down he smashes his warhammer into the ground, releasing the Rune of the Undeniable Dawn, and creating a consecrated space that protects his allies {standard action | allies in burst 3 gain +2 to all defenses}. The bandits had sustained quite a bit of damage at the hands of the party, and 3 of them (maybe 4) were killed in the burst of energy released by the rune. Still enraged, Voulge struck the ground again with his warhammer {action point} and divine flames issued forth, killing two more bandits. Eramus was also caught up in the blast, but the purifying fire actually healed him further.
While all this was happening, Garnik was attacking the bandit leader from far away, causing him to move in closer. When the leader came within range of Artrius’ powers, Garnik switched over to the lizard-man who had been slowly advancing on the party and causing them a whole bunch of trouble.
After Voulge was done reaping his revenge, the bandit attack force was essentially smashed and the fight was now a mop up operation. When the bandit leader also died, Zark and the lizard-man decided to run away. Garnik and Ash gave chase, but were unable to catch up.
With all the Zelbross Bandits dead or run off, it was now safe to free the children. We also looted the bandits treasure room. It was now time to head back to Loudwater.
Day 2 – Evening
Upon our return, we went straight to the City Watch Headquarters and handed over the children to Captain Harrowleaf. There was still a bit of time before the shops closed up for the night, so we headed over to Garwan’s Curiosities so Garnik could buy that enchanted longbow he had his eye on.
We then retired for a well deserved night’s rest.
Day 3 – Morning
We get up late and decide to relax in the Green Tankard Tavern until it’s time to head to the ball.
Day 3 – Early Evening
At the masked ball, we mingle with the guests and have a very nice time. Garnik and Ash discover Curuvar and talk with him for a while. We learn more about the Endless Caverns and Dragonspear Castle (two locations whose maps we bought at Garwan’s), as well the Dire Wood. He also mentions that farmlands to the north of Loudwater have been plagued by odd weather; snow in the middle of summer, and that we should go talk to Lady Moonfire.
When we find Lady Moonfire, we have a nice chat before moving on to business. She wishes to visit the High Forest and wants our party to escort her; but before we do that she wants us to investigate and deal with the odd weather patterns to the north of town, as it could seriously affect the harvest. She believes we should focus our investigation on Draigdurroch Tower. Curuvar has more information on the subject. Many years ago a warlock named Draigdurroch built the tower near the Dire Wood in order to study it; but somehow, it became encased in a sheet of ice, and no one has seen the warlock since.
Eramus asks Lady Moonfire to dance, and she will spend the rest of the evening dancing with him.
A few of the team members meet a strange woman named Heyana Dhorwiz. She asks them many questions, almost as if she is interrogating them. She has a pin on her lapel depicting a harp over a crescent moon. The impression is that she might be a Harper; but then again, they don’t actually exist, they’re only a fairy tale.
Ilikan bumps into Megana Nistral who makes some very provocative advances towards him. He turns her down because he doesn’t feel like playing cards. [Ilikan was about 10-12 years old when he became trapped in the stepping disc's pocket dimension. As such he is very naïve and he didn't understand that "playing card" was a euphemism for something entirely different.]
Ash and Garnik end up talking to Starra, and the conversation turns to the subject of knives, as it invariably does when one talks to Starra. It’s mentioned that she has some nice enchanted knives in her shop, but that we can’t afford her prices. We may have defeated and looted a great many of Loudwater’s enemies; but none of them were exactly swimming in the lucre. So she makes us a deal. If we do her a favour, we can have any one knife of our choice from her shop for free. We gladly accepted before finding out that the favor was to get Ilikan to bed her friend Megana.
Around this time, Lady Moonfire invites Eramus up to her private rooms.
We enlist Artrius’ aide, because his telepathic abilities might make it easier to explain things to Ilikan. Little did we know that we were about to unleash a ravening sex monster. After Artrius’ telepathic peep show was over, Ilikan grabbed both Megana and Starra in his arms and carried them to one of the guest rooms upstairs; renegotiating the deal to 2 knives along the way.
Next day - Morning
(Note: I’m dropping numbered day notation. That was just to keep track of the time left before the ball.)
The next morning, after everyone was recovered the previous night’s debauchery, we headed over to Starra’s Knives to claim our payment. Rather than take two of her magical knives {daggers}, she asked if we would take an enchanted fullblade instead. Turns out Garwan owed her some money and remembering Ash had a fullblade himself, she figured he’d prefer that to some daggers, so she had Garwan give her the fullblade he’d acquired as payment. Ash gladly took the fullblade and the party headed of to Draigdurroch tower.
Before we could reach the tower, we were caught in a powerful blizzard. But through a mix of strength and cunning {skill challenge} were able to make our way through it. We found ourselves on the eastern end [E] of a snow covered valley, with some hills[H] to the west, south and southwest of us. We could see some hostile looking creatures attempting to hide in the hills in order to ambush us. (The DM told us that if we had failed the skill challenge, we would have found ourselves in the south end[S] of the valley where we would have been quickly surrounded by the enemy.)
/¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\
| |
| H1 | E
| |
\_______/
/¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\ /¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\
| ≈ ≈ |
| H2 | | H3 |
| ≈ ≈ |
\_______/ S \_______/When the enemy revealed themselves we discovered they were blue skinned “frost” goblins. They might be involved with the changing weather patterns.
We decided to use a different strategy than in the previous battle and held our ground rather than rush in. The goblins had only slightly more melee fighters than ranged fighters. Because of our location[E], we were safe from the goblin ranged fighters at [H2] and there was no easy way for their melee fighters on [H1]to get down the hill (the other two hills had ramps). This meant that the goblin melee fighters would come in waves. Their leader, a hexer, unknowingly helped us by casting a spell that turned a large area of ground into ice {difficult terrain}. It would slow down the approaching goblins as much as it would us. While we waited for the melee fighters to reach us, Garnik and Artrius moved slightly to the NW and started eliminating the goblin ranged fighters on [H1]and Voulge and Ilikan moved slightly S and started throwing javelins at the goblin snipers on [H3]. The goblin melee fighters on [H3] were the first to reach us.
When the SE hill [H3] was cleared of enemies we moved our entire group there in order to get out of range of the goblin ranged fighters on [H1].
Chronicles of Netheril – June 12th, 2010
Jun 19th
Day 1 - Morning
While at Calla’s general store, a messenger comes in and hands us some papers. We each receive a personal invitation from Lady Moonfire to attend her Grand Ball two days hence (Day 3 – Evening). There’s also a job advertisement from Zark. He needs three strong men to help him unload barrels of cider from a ship called the Pale Minnow, that arrives in port that night. He will pay each volunteer 5 GP.
To begin our quest to expose the Lady of Shadows and her extortion ring, we decide to talk to the various shop keepers in town to see if they can help us find Narrows. Since Narrows is the front man for this operation, he’s our best lead. We start with Brosha Manx, owner of the Loudwater Apothecary, since he also is not paying any protection money. Brosha says he doesn’t pay because he’s not afraid of the Lady of Shadows. It could be that his large stock of exotic and explosive chemicals (alchemist’s fire acid) make him confident he can defend himself; but something in his demeanor seems very suspicious. Unfortunately we can’t get anything else out of him, so we move on.
Next we go to Garwan’s Curiosities. Since Eramus saved Garwan’s life during the goblin attack, maybe he’ll be more open with us. Actually, Garwan wouldn’t tell us anything; he was too afraid of reprisals. So we bought a couple of maps of local dungeons so that anyone who was looking would think we were haggling with Garwan instead of questioning him.
Day 1 – Late Afternoon
It was obvious that our methods weren’t working, so we decided to change strategies. Rather than try and find Narrows ourselves, let’s try to get him to come to us.
We go to the Fisher’s Friend Pub, a seedy tavern in the docks sector of town. While the rest of the group take a table, Voulge and Artrius go order the drinks. Voulge asks the barkeep about Narrows and the Lady of Shadows, but the man insists he doesn’t know anything. While they are talking, Artrius reads the barkeeps mind, who happens to be thinking of two patrons: Karzon Kul, a dwarf ruffian and Kyos, a man with an eye patch and a hook for a hand. Voulge and Artrius return to the table, and we come up with a plan.
We decide to leave the pub, but on our way out we make sure to pass by both Kyos and Karzon. As we pass each of them, we pretend not to notice them and talk amongst ourselves about how we can’t find any information about Narrows. We make sure to speak loudly enough that they can hear us. If either of them work with Narrows, it should get back to him that a group of strangers are asking questions about. Hopefully he’ll come looking for us.
Day 1 – Evening
We linger around outside for a bit, and are approached by Kyos. He asks us why we are looking for Narrows. We play it cool, not wanting to reveal too much, so he decides to put us at ease by telling us a bit about himself. He was a pickpocket, a good one in fact, but the Lady of Shadows took his eye and hand when he refused to join her gang. Since he’s obviously not one of her allies, we tell him about our mission. In turn he tells us were to find the entrance to her lair, an abandoned tenement in the north-west residential district.
As it is now the evening, we decide to go and find Zark at the docks. Along the way we discuss the situation, and agree that it is suspicious. Any ship arriving with cargo to unload would unload it during the day, when the dock workers are on duty. A ship only unloads its cargo at night if it doesn’t want people to see the cargo.
We devise a contingency plan in case things go wrong. Being the strongest of the group, Eramus, Ilikan and Voulge will unload the cargo while the others hide and prepare to lend assistance if necessary. Garnik climbs onto the roof of a warehouse, while Ash and Artrius hide on the shore beneath the pier.
Once the last batch of barrels is being unloaded, Eramus accidentally drops his. It bursts open revealing a small child. Zark panics and runs off attempting to get off the pier. To get off the pier and get back onto solid ground, he has to pass by Ilikan, who decides the best way to stop Zark is to tackle him. He falls off the pier onto the beach, and before he can get up Ash pins him down using his immense sword. While this is happening, the Pale Minnowquickly sets sail and leaves Loudwater.
We tie up Zark, break all the other barrels, and free the kids. We interrogate Zark. He was going to bring the children to the Zelbross bandits, so named because they operated in the former temple of Tyr in the abandoned city of Zelbross. He says he had no choice, because on some time ago while on the road to Zelbross, he was attacked by the bandits, and they forced him to be their agent in Loudwater.
We take Zark and the children to the City Patrol Headquaters where Zark is arrested.
Day 1 - Night
Since it is still early in the night, we decide to investigate the abandoned tenement. The house is unoccupied and filled with trash and junk. We stealthily proceed down some stairs that lead to a small underground room with a strong door. The door is unlocked, so we go through. On the other side is a corridor, with a set of double doors leading out. Part of the way in Voulge sets off a pit trap and falls into some acid. He manages to climb out and clean himself off.
While everyone searches for a switch to deactivate the trap Ash gets impatient and throws one of the torches into the acid pit, hoping to set it on fire and burn it all away. Garnik jumps across the pit and Ash throws him one end of his rope. Garnik takes the grappling hook on the rope and jams it into an outcropping in the stonework. He then notices that the double door open outward, so he ties one end of his own rope the the door handle and throws the other end across the pit. Ash ties his end of both ropes on the door handle on his side of the pit. We now have a rope bridge to cross the pit.
There isn’t enough room for all of us on the other side of the pit, and with the fire still burning, the ropes will catch on fire soon. Those of us on the other side open the door that isn’t tied down, and proceed into the lair where we encounter Narrows, the Lady of Shadows and the rest of her gang. After a short fight we slay them all and look around the lair.
There’s a water source, some beds and a study with some books and strange rune inscribed tiles on the floor. There is also a cage for prisonners and a staircase leading down into some catacombs where a narrow tunnel opens onto a cave half a mile outside of town. We decide that this lair would make an excellent base of operations for us. To secure the secret exit, we place the stepping disks we obtained earlier in the narrow tunnel; one at each end. We return to the lair and manage to find the control panels for the pit trap. We reset the trap, which puts out the acid fire. Since there is a control panel on each side, whenever we wish to enter or leave the lair by the main entrance, we can deactivate the trap, walk across the pit and then reactivate the trap behind us.
It has been a long day and we are very tired, so we decide to turn in and get a good night’s sleep.
Day 2 - Morning
The next morning, we head to the City Patrol Headquarters and find that Zark has been exiled. We talk to Curavar in the Green Tankard Tavern and show him our maps. He gives us a general idea of where we can find those dungeons. The Endless Caverns can be found in the High Forest and Dragonspear Castle can be found in the High Moor. Sunsteen offers to buy us another round of drinks, but we don’t have the time, as we want to get to Zelbross as soon a possible. He is very insistant, so we make him a deal. Next time we’re in the tavern, he can buy us a double round.
Before we head off, we stop by the general store to buy some masks for the Grand Ball, since no one will be admitted at the party without one. We are pleased to find that since we eliminated the Lady of Shadows and her gang, all the shopkeepers, with the exception of Brosha Manx are offering us a permanent 10% discount on their wares.
We set off for Zelbross and get there late in the morning.
Day 2 - Afternoon
As we reach the ruins of the Temple of Tyr, we are immediately spotted by the bandits who come out to engage us. They are quite numerous, and we notice that Zark is now with them.
We are in for quite a fight.
Chronicles of Netheril – May 29th, 2010
May 30th
During our first gaming session Fyrewind and myself were playing two characters and Mavic, our third player, only one (Garnik). Despite being a veteran Dungeons and Dragons player, this was his first time playing under the 4E rules. After that first session, he decided he also wanted to play two characters. Luckily, it was easy to bring him in to the adventure. An item from the very same dungeon we were in would be the key.
***
After resting for a bit we looked around the room and found a stepping disk, a portal to a pocket dimension, lying on the floor. When Artrius picked it up, its magic was dissipated and a Goliath Barbarian appeared in our midst. His name is Ilikan, and he told us he’d been trapped in a white void for many years. Based on the year he said it was when he was first trapped we were able to determine that he had been imprisoned for about 15 years. He decided to join our party and help us in our quest, both as thanks for freeing him and because he’d been out of the world for so long that he didn’t know was going on anymore.
We proceeded, through a set of double doors that led out of the sloping room. We found ourselves in the SOUTH end of a short corridor facing another set of double doors to the NORTH. Since we had been noisy coming in, the creatures on the other side of the doors were alerted to our presence and we could hear them shuffling about as they waited for us to enter. On the other side of the doors we again found ourselves at the SOUTH end of a corridor. This one was longer, and past the midpoint, a stairway descended toward the exit in the NORTH end. Halfway down its length, the corridor was flanked by two rooms. On the EAST side, a door led to a shrine with three goblins worshipping at the feet of a large statue. On the WEST side, a portcullis provided access to a crypt where dwarf-like zombies were milling about.
We managed to eliminate all the enemies, but it was a much harder fight than the last one. Our efforts were rewarded when we found gold, gems and a healing potion hidden in the rooms. We took a short break and then proceeded onwards through another corridor, until we arrived on the western side of a large room.
The goblins in this chamger had apparently heard our fight in the corridor because they were ready and waiting for us. Two Hobgoblin Soldiers were in hiding, flanking both sides of the door. They stopped us in our tracks quite easily. In the SOUTH-EAST end of the chamber, were two Hobgoblin Archers who could attack us with no fear of reprisals. Our melee combatants had to remain near the entrance to protect our weaker ranged combatants from the Soldiers; and our ranged combatants were unable to attack the Archers. On the EAST end of the chamber, across from a pit but directly in front of us, the goblin’s commander, a Hexer, used his magic abilities to hex us and make us less effective. Garnik fired many arrows at him, with very minimal success; and Artrius’ attempts to pull the hexer into the pit using his telekinetic powers were equally unsuccessful. When we did eventually manage to enter the room, things only got worse. A Goblin Warrior appeared out of nowhere and flanked us. Turns out this chamber also contained a stepping disk.
We were on the verge of loosing the fight, when Eramus tried a risky gambit. Because the Hobgoblin Soldiers were using a special technique they knew to defend and reinforce each other, it was virtually impossible to hurt them. Eramus decided to charge further into the room and attack the archers. This left our defensive line completely open; usually a very unwise move. But as the saying goes, “fortune favors the bold”. Eramus’ maneuver distracted the Goblin Hexer, who by this point was wounded. Artrius landed a deadly blow and pulled the Hexer’s corpse into the pit; which apparently was bottomless. Without their commander, the goblins’ strategy fell into disarray and we finished them fairly quickly.
To the SOUTH, a door led to the goblins’ sleeping and eating area. Looking around through the trash, we found a few valuable gold and silver items. After the fight we were all wounded and needed to sleep and rest. We returned to the Shrine off the long corridor, propped the statue against the door to block it, and then we went to sleep. When we awoke, we returned to the large chamber and examined the pit. The pit is in fact the entrance to a large vertical shaft that was used as a catacomb by the previous dwarf residents. There is a large spiral stone staircase leading down through the catacomb all the way to the Tomb of the Ogre King.
In the tomb we met the goblin leader, High Shaman Sancossug, who is attempting to revive the Ogre King. We talked to him and he revealed his plans. By observing carefully, we discovered that the Skull Totem, was in fact the skull of the Ogre King mounted on a shaft. It could serve as a makeshift mace. One of the horns was missing from the skull; obviously the Horn Totem. Unfortunately, our efforts to intimidate him into surrendering were unsuccessful and he attacked us.
Despite being alone, he is more than a match for us. His magical abilities, which are quite powerful and debilitating, can also target a large area. After being blinded by one attack, and taking the full force (critical hit) of two fire cloud attacks (3d6+1 damage), Voulge was killed. The rest of the team ganged up on Sancossug, but actually hitting him was quite difficult because of his speed. We slowly chipped away at his health; and a few truly devastating assaults by Ilikan finally brought him down. Along the way Ash was knocked unconscious; but he was eventually revived by Eramus.
Having defeated Sancossug we took the Skull Totem and Voulge’s corpse, left the barrow, and returned to Loudwater.
***
In Loudwater we returned to the Green Tankard tavern to speak with Curuvar. Upon seeing the Skull Totem, he reveals to us that the Ogre King was not an ogre, but an oni: “an ogre-like beast with mystical power”. It wished to learn all it could about the Dire Wood, and used the goblins as servants to help him accomplish his goals. In the end, he lets us keep the Skull Totem. He never wanted it in the first place; he only wanted to see if we could obtain it.
We ask for his help in reviving Voulge and he directs us to Brother Griffon, the head priest at the Temple of Sylvanus. Sunsteen informs us that Brother Griffon is can only be found at the Temple at dusk and dawn. While we wait for dusk, Sunsteen buys us a few rounds of drinks.
At dusk we head to the temple to see Brother Griffon. He can revive Voulge, but the ceremony and prayers required will take all night. As payment, he asks for a small donation to the temple, and that we agree to go to the Loudwater General store the next morning. Its owner, Calla Maran, needs our help with a problem. We return to our rooms at the tavern for a well deserved nights sleep.
The next morning, a Revived Voulge joins us in the tavern’s main room. We head over to the Loudwater Smithy to sell the treasures that we have collected. Its owner, Megana Nistral, is a very tall and brawny human woman. Some describe her as being “broad as a dwarf”. We sell all our treasures at reasonable prices, but during the transaction, her lewd and lascivious statements make it clear that she’s attracted to Ilikan and the other overly tall members of the party.
We then head to the General Store to speak with Calla Maran. Her “problem” is that a gang of criminals is running a protection racket on the shopkeepers and business owners of the town. Since we helped defend the town from the goblins she hopes we will help with this problem as well. She has refused to pay the extortion money and is therefore a target. She also mentions that Brosha Manx, owner of the Loudwater Apothecary has also refused to pay. He is therefore the next person we should speak with, as he will probably want our help as well.
Chronicles of Netheril – May 8th, 2010
May 23rd
At the beginning of our first game session, our DM had us introduce our characters to one another, as well as explain their backgrounds and how they came to join the caravan. The logic was that the characters have been in the caravan for a while now, and have gotten to know each other a bit.
***
As it neared the outskirts of Loudwater, the caravan’s defenders (our characters) spotted what appeared to be a guard station by the side of the road. We decided to go and speak to the guards to find out if there were any bandits and such on the road ahead.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance, because as we approached, we were caught in an ambush. Some human bandits and their kobold henchmen came bursting out of the guard station and the paddock out front, where our group was located . Despite outnumbering us more than 2 to 1, the bandits were clearly outmatched.
Eramus got the attackers to focus on him, and although the kobolds threw their javelins at him and the bandits their daggers, they all went ‘plink’ as they hit his plate armour and fell to the ground. Garnik started picking off the kobolds with well placed shots from his bow. In less than a minute he’d taken out half of them. Ash went after one of the kobolds, and in a single downward swipe of his sword, he cut the kobold in two. While all this was happening, Eramus and Voulge engaged two of the human bandits. Within moments only a few stragglers were left and they tried to run away. Artrius’ telekinetic abilities were very useful in slowing them down so we could catch up with them and kill them.
After dispatching the last of the bandits, we investigated the guard house and found nothing of interest, so we returned to the caravan. The rest of the trip was uneventful; the caravan eventually made it to Loudwater’s West gate and we all went into town.
We headed for the South Square because that was where most of the shops were located; but as we arrived, the south wall of the city exploded and goblins came swarming through the breach. We managed to stop them, but not before they killed some of the locals. During the fight, a small group of goblins broke off from the main fight and headed straight for a shop called “Garwan’s Curiosities”. They ransacked the store, and stole a special dagger that was on display. Eramus was able to stop them and retrieve the dagger.
After the fight we searched the body of the raiding party’s commander and found a note written in goblin. We also interrogated a goblin that we had captured, but he didn’t tell us anything. So we decided to turn him in to the town guard. We split up into two groups; Eramus and Artrius went to see Garwan while the rest of us brought our prisoner to the guard headquarters. On the way, we were accosted outside the Green Tankard tavern by a man named Sunsteen Urbeth. He is very grateful that we saved him from the goblins. To express his gratitude he wishes to buy drinks at the tavern. He seems quite eager on this point. We tell him that we have business at the guard headquarters but that we will be back later to take him up on his offer.
At the town guard headquarters, we explain to the guard captain about our prisoner, and the goblin is put in a cell so that we may interrogate him further at a later time. We then meet up with Eramus and Artrius at the tavern, and learn that Garwan told them the dagger was called the Horn Totem and that he’d acquired it from Curuvar. He then gave it to them as a reward for saving his life and said it has magical properties.
In the tavern we have a drink with Sunsteen and are then introduced to Curuvar; a man who so accurately fits the description of a wizard that he is practically a cliché. Curuvar was able to translate the goblin note for us. It was a set of orders from the goblin leader, telling his men where the Horn Totem was hidden, and to go and steal it. Curuvar also told us he had obtained the Horn Totem from some ancient ruins in the woods outside of Loudwater. The goblins were using the ruins as a lair but that was not a problem for a wizard of his calibre. Unfortunately, he was actually looking for something called the Skull Totem, but was unable to find it at the time. If we find it for him he will reward us.
We asked him for directions, but he responds that since goblins are very unsubtle creatures, their trail will be easy to follow. Garnik heads back to the breach in the wall to confirm this, and upon his return we take rooms for the night. The next morning, before heading off to find the goblin lair, we go by the town guard headquarters and inform them that the prisonner will no longer be needed for questionning. The guards execute him immediately.
Back at the South Square we went through the hole in the city wall and followed the goblin tracks all the way back to their lair in the forrest ruins.
***
The ruins appeared to be of an old temple, but all that was left was the stone floor and the rubble of the collapsed roof and the collumns that supported it. We approached cautiously, and noticed that the flagstones in the area of central focus were somehow not quite right. Thinking it might be a trap we decided to trigger it from a safe distance by throwing rocks at it. Our suspicions were confirmed when an entire section of the floor collapsed under the weight of the stones we’d thrown on it. We could see some movement in the pit, but it was too dark to make out any details.
A bit of exploration on Garnik’s end, and he found another loose flagstone at the back of the ruins. This one hid a ladder (L) that led to the secret entrance (S) to the goblin lair. Through the door (=), we found ourselves (*) on one side of a long room. The rubble on the floor and the open ceiling told us we were at the bottom of the pit trap. Three large statues (+) separated us from the part of the room where the goblins were waiting; the floor of which sloped upwards away from us.
Ruins
While Garnik kept the goblins busy with a hail of arrows, Eramus and Voulge took up positions at the choke points (e,v) between the statues; blocking the goblins’ access to the back of the room. This allowed Artrius and Garnik (a,g) to attack at range in complete safety, while Ash (A) ventured into the room to thin out the swarm of enemies that was accumulating near Voulge. Artrius used his telekinetic abilities to pull a into Eramus’ range, triggering another hidden pit trap (X) along the way. The goblin fell in and was immediately attacked by the four starving dogs in the pit. Artrius later used the same trick to pull the goblin commander into the pit.
With those two out of our way for the moment, we concentrated on quickly eliminating the rest of the goblins. Once that was done we went to the pit to take care of the last two goblins. We eliminated the commander first and when the other goblin finally managed to climb out after multiple failed attempts, he got hit in the head with a sword and fell to his death. By this time, only one of the dogs in the pit survived, and it was severely wounded; so we put it out of its misery.
Before continuing deeper into the lair, we decided to take a break and catch our breath.
