The "B" team has been whittling away at the kobold forces and upsetting the tenuous stability the kobolds have there so much so that there are less than 15 kobolds left. 15 mature ones that is.
There are hundreds and hundreds of immature kobolds currently growing and maturing in the keep that if they are not dealt with in the next 6-7 weeks, will mature enough to be a major problem for the party, this area, and House Illytch's efforts in this area. They will be the part of a tribe whose shaman has proven himself unwilling to work with the local races, is bloodthirsty and duplicitous, untrustworthy and unwilling to compromise. And he can then expand his tribe in 6-9 months AGAIN by another 4-6 fold. Meaning 1,600 or so kobolds at his command in under a year.
The party is doing great so far in upsetting the applecart - but the snag hit was another wandering monster check at night and the dice showed vampires again. Brutal! So Lysil came back and Dizzy was now the target but he fought back so the vampire had him taken down and spirited away.
The group is now on a timed rescue mission to save their friend and then get the hell out of Dodge.
Write up follows:
We watched Shassismyr as he ran across the dining room and then to the main hall. He hit the double doors leading out to the Bailey and roared out a challenge in the night air to the mutated razorback that lived in the area. His stomping and cry did not go unnoticed by the K’Morat who inhabited the keep and many of them began awaking and gathering themselves to see what was going on as well as possibly coming to check on the kitchen where the troll lord had been.
The group had spread out, taking up places across the length of the dining room, weapons at the ready and watching the hall through the open archways. And when there was a batch of 4 of the K’Morat warriors running through the area, a well placed sleep spell knocked them all off their feet. Hjalgrim, Sybil, and Einar took up space near the front, Thalin running to help, while Merica, Dizzy, and Percy were closer to the kitchen, missile weapons at the front.
The group managed to kill one of the sleeping kobolds when they were spotted and other K’Morat started running across the chamber to assault the group, one of them letting the leash of a wolfhound slip free and the canine taking the lead as the battle grew closer. The wolfhound turned and bolted into the chamber, hitting Sybil and driving the Halfling back, tearing into her. Missile weapons fired and most of them bounced around the hound, not enough to kill it.
Then from the gallery came a staggering and ill 9’ tall ogre. Sloped forehead, sweating badly, sporting a long spear and obviously struggling to stay alert, it threatened Merica who had the ogre stand down, the two of them hissing to one another. Said he was Kornog and had been here a few days. Wanted to kill K’Morat and was suffering from whatever their shaman had done to him. Merica helped it to its feel and Dizzy hit the ogre with a cure minor, adding some color to the ogre’s face.
If we could help it get free, Kornog would help us against the kobolds who according to him, struck him, fucked him over, and left him to die in the last room of the gallery.
The rest of the group was facing off against the kobolds pushing their way into the room as more were coming down the hall. A burly necked one stood toe to toe with Hjalgrim, stone axe flailing about while Sybil went down and the wolfhound was killed before it could finish the Halfling off. Einar and Hjalgrim were hit with a fairie fire spell, the two of them outlined in red, blue, and green fires. More blows were struck back and forth and hit points ticked down slowly.
Merica did the helm thing again and could tell one of the kobolds was sneaking in our direction from the Gallery. Kornog and he went around and the kobold tried to trigger a trap but Kornog took the blow, the spears bouncing uselessly around the ogre. Then the two of them staggered towards the kobold and struck at it repeatedly.
Another sleep spell went off, catching the now swelling number of kobolds at the archway again, dropping some more. A few that were in the area scattered and the group spilled in the main hall and killed one while one ran down the northeast and the long hall there. Hjalgrim tried throwing a spear but the missile missed and the kobold could be heard running away.
We reconvened and could hear Shassismyr and the boar fighting outside. The Ogre was still standing and wobbling. Getting more from him, he was charged with getting the “lent” dryad back for the Ogres who had leased it to the kobolds and the former shaman some months ago for a short period of time. When the dryad and its basin hadn’t been returned Kornog had been dispatched with a bag of copper coins to pay off the kobolds if need be and get the damned planter and tree back.
The new shaman fucked the ogre over, stabbed and poisoned him, and the tribe chased him to the corner gallery room and left him there to die where they would then eat him at their leisure. So we agreed to let him take the dryad pot and Cashandra out in exchange for the bag of coins and guarded the hall as he went out to the Inner Courtyard, picked up the pot, came back into the main hall with the scraggly 15’ ash tree and planter, with the scarred up green skinned Cashandra walking behind him, hand on the ogre’s back, imploring him to be careful and watch it.
Then he and the dryad made it to the front door, checked to see the Troll lord and the razorback were not fighting nearby (seemed to be to the east) and then walked across the broken Bailey and out he barbican into the night and gone.
We wanted to get Hjalgrim’s spear and the dwarf carefully walked into the long hall with the worn out carpet, staying on the newer path and avoiding what he assumed was a trapped area. Getting his spear he returned and we all talked about options. On the east side of the hall we looked down the main hall and to the dark activated infravision, we could see rapid footprints running from the entrance of the chapel and to the east, eventually up the stairs at the end of the hall. This led to Merica and Hjalgrim each activating their helms. Merica was able to faintly hear but surely detect 8, 10, 11 kobolds one floor up and to the east of where the group was standing. And Hjalgrim was able to hear and detect…70, 84, 97, 110 or so birds – also in roughly the same area.
Ambush, waiting for us upstairs.
The group did not want to face it now and we figured that we had done enough wreckage for now so we made our way to the front door, checked to make sure we weren’t being watched from above or that the troll lord and/or the boar battle were going to impact us (it wasn’t, somewhere to the east now from what we could hear), and then made our way out of the keep and Einar obscuring our prints, took a circuitous path back to the north and east to the cave we had been using as refuge.
It was after 2:30 in the morning and the group was delirious with joy and exhaustion at our efforts so far against the K’Morat. We took stock of the night, wrapped everything up, and then went to sleep, leaving Dizzy on watch for the first round.
And perhaps an hour into his watch, two vampires wandered by the cave, and tried to coax Dizzy on letting them in. The thief/cleric to Sif did all he could to keep them out. Blankets held up, stuffing his ears to muffle their words, ignoring their entreaties and pushing to have him come in. When an orcish zombie tried to rip the tent blocking the cave entrance down a lucky turning sent the zombie reeling back. It took dozens of mice, rats, and bats swarming under and through the cave entrance to drop Dizzy and have the dwarven priest knocked out and taken away by Lysil the Orcish vampire and one of his minions.
Many hours later, the party woke up thanks to Thalin noticing he had not been awakened for his turn on watch. We looked around, some blood, Dizzy’s backpack here, torn up tent and blanket near the front, LOTS of rat droppings. And outside, a 6’ 9”, 300# orcish zombie standing there with a rolled up note. We recognized the undead as Centius, the onetime minion of Avulstein who reported it had been forcibly taken by an orcish vampire named Lysil many weeks ago when the vampire and 3 of his minions came upon the sleeping party and assaulted Barb at that time and then stole the enhanced zombie.
There was some back and forth and the zombie gave us the note, waited for a decent tip, then mounted on a black steed and rode away from the party and to the south and west.
The note mentioned that Lysil was taking Dizzy, “Just for the night” and would return him tomorrow, not to worry. The group was not happy about this, Hjalgrim to most vociferous in this case. The cavalier was talking about going to get Dizzy back and this had his man, Percy, getting in the cavalier’s face and trying to show his that bravery and foolhardiness were not the same thing.
Voices grew loud and angry and everyone eventually woke up and joined in. Hjalgrim was angry but the party did all break camp and tired, we walked out with Einar and the party decided to follow the tracks and eventually find Dizzy and spring him.
The trail went for some time to the south and west and south again, skirting near a lake and then staying in a ravine and valley area. The area we were travelling in showed little sign of life until after 7 hours of walking, we could see a crumbling castle on a raised hill overlooking the north and west areas of the valley. The trail led there and the party bolstered their courage and approached the entrance. We knocked and waited, eventually getting an audience with a raspy sounding orc named Ticrus.
He said his lord, Lysil, was not around and should be about after sunset. We can come in but only because we were fairly pathetic and had the group perform some embarrassing feats to show their ineptitude. Once inside the hooded and cowled orc led us through the bailey and to the castle itself where at the tired grandeur within had a frank conversation with the group.
Dizzy was in the west wing past the dining room and was there recovering from his encounter with Lysil. The lord was somewhere else in the castle, crypts? Sleeping and well guarded. We should not eat the food in the dining room (tainted) and had a limited time to find Dizzy and make our way out of the castle. Once outside we should run for our lives and find a place to hold up for the night as Lysil would be wroth at the party’s incursion and removal of the dwarven cleric/thief.
Why…why was Ticrus helping us or telling us anything?!?! Ticrus had died during the Gorokian/Randari war over 100 years earlier and he and the dwarf that had been killing one another both died in combat and went to Valhalla. He spent 3 days there and then was forcibly ripped from his reward and thrust back in his dead and mummified body by Lysil who needed the orcish commander and tactician for his own needs.
Over the centuries, Ticrus had found his bonds of loyalty and obedience to the vampire had weakened to the point that he was more than capable of perverting most orders when Lysil was resting and having a modicum amount of free will. So this was another way to thwart his lord and that was reward enough for Ticrus.
We were led to the dining room with the table heaped high with breads and cheeses and a roast quail even, reminded not to eat anything, reminded we had 1 hour 33 minutes remaining until sunset, and then Ticrus left, locked the dining room behind him and we were on our own in a vampire’s castle with one other door out of here we could use to find our friend and then make our escape.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Youth Meet 8, Adv 1, 2/16/18
The group decided on their own to head BACK to Saltmarsh before attempting to enter the lower level. This is interesting to me for 2 reasons: 1) it throws in a wrinkle in the time line for the adventure. Whatever is at the bottom level is “expecting” them to come through soon thanks to the intelligence gathered by Ned but when the don’t materialize, will they pull up tent pegs of double down on staying? And 2) It allows them to refill their dwindling stores and come back again fully rested and with an entire roster of spells and prayers. This will make their adventure in the basement level actually easier for them, even if the sundry down there are expecting the party’s presence.
Write up follows:
We looked over the upper floor, calling his name, but Ned Shakeshaft was nowhere to be seen. After poking into a few rooms, the group made their way to the 2nd floor landing where they could see the front door was partially ajar. They took the stairs down rapidly and then tore the door open – it was early afternoon outside but as for Ned? Nowhere to be seen.
Talion went outside and looked around; pursing his lips as he could not see any tracks that Ned would have left in the soft earth. He looked back inside and did see regular scuffmarks from Ned’s shoes had trod upon the main hall and headed north towards the kitchen. We approached the door expectantly; Valerie and Talion had just been in there not 7 minutes earlier. The party leader peered in – the room looked the same with no Ned…except, the door on the right that led to the scullery and eventually the basement was partially ajar.
Aha!
The group then spent the better part of 7 minutes discussing going down into the basement where besides Ned and whatever is going on here at the mansion is, but Veldryn DID detect at least 5 or 6 skeletons yesterday; or heading back to Saltmarsh and coming back tomorrow after a full night’s rest. The decision was made to head back to town for now.
We knew it was almost 4 hours walk back and with Valerie leading the way, the half-orcish druid was keeping a weather eye out for us of any hazards along the way and what was the easiest and safest path back. The afternoon waned and it was almost 6 when we arrived at the fishing town of Saltmarsh once again.
The group picked their way through the smaller Demesne until they arrived at the town proper. Keeping to the raised walkways they made their way back to the Salty Winter Wench and went in to reserve another room from Pettis. There was some surprise at seeing Valerie, Half-orcs are visited with some distrust, and then more concern at the large rat she was holding on her shoulder. She had to prove she was a druid before they would allow the rental to go through but a bath was ordered and the party made their way upstairs to room 4 again.
While the majority of the party stripped off their gear and took turns in the tub, Veldryn left the group and the inn, getting direction to the cemetery west of town and trudged her way up the shallow hill to the gated locale. There was a small temple to Hel near the entrance where the local Speaker for the Dead lived and maintained the cemetery, but the gates were closed. So she stuck her hand through the bars and took a scoop of dirt which attracted an angry wolfhound guard to come out of the shadows and bark and menace the elven necromancer.
The noise attracted the Speaker with opened the door, drunk, and addressed Veldryn to come in and stop pissing off his dog. Hjarlod was his name and the two of them got into a long theological discussion about Hel and Necromancy, the afterlife and Nifleheim, Valhalla and Loki and Valkyries and whatnot. It was a few hours later when Veldryn left, head spinning but thankful for her time with the bitter but wiser Speaker.
As for the party, at one point Marcus asked Valerie to see the Bifrost crystal and the paladin spent some time just holding it, praying over it. Time passed and after an hour, he felt surely and deeply, the presence of his god, Tyr, coming through the crystal.
The voice asked him to ask a single yes or no question and Marcus was humbled to think he was talking to his god. The disappearance of Ned was weighing on the young paladin so he asked of Ned was a good person or not. And his god surely answered him saying that No, Ned was NOT good.
The Bifrost crystal grew inert after that, exhausted for today. Marcus returned it to Valerie with much thanks and let the group know what he learned about the crystal and what Tyr had told him. Veldryn was back for all this by now and realizing that we were going to need every resource at our disposal, Deja went to Veldryn and gave her the wallet she had found in the mansion. There were two clerical scrolls within: Hold Person and Cure Moderate Wounds. She was thanked and the group was happy about it.
Then all that was left was to further explore the ring that Deja was wearing and after some research, testing, and trial and error, deduced it was a ring of protection and the Halfling thief was thrilled to be wearing it. The group then turned in and rested, waking up the next morning on Earthmonth the 16th bright eyed and bushy tailed. We broke our fast, prayed and readied our equipment, checked out of the Saucy Winter Wench and made our way along the Street of Docks to Rosensteel’s Equipment.
We spent our coin and bought sundry items, food, new shields, and other items we thoughts we’d need. Bolstered now and ready to face the Mansion and what its secrets might still be hidden in the lower level, we cleared out of the supply store by 9:30 and got ready for the trip across the Eider Downs back south.
Write up follows:
We looked over the upper floor, calling his name, but Ned Shakeshaft was nowhere to be seen. After poking into a few rooms, the group made their way to the 2nd floor landing where they could see the front door was partially ajar. They took the stairs down rapidly and then tore the door open – it was early afternoon outside but as for Ned? Nowhere to be seen.
Talion went outside and looked around; pursing his lips as he could not see any tracks that Ned would have left in the soft earth. He looked back inside and did see regular scuffmarks from Ned’s shoes had trod upon the main hall and headed north towards the kitchen. We approached the door expectantly; Valerie and Talion had just been in there not 7 minutes earlier. The party leader peered in – the room looked the same with no Ned…except, the door on the right that led to the scullery and eventually the basement was partially ajar.
Aha!
The group then spent the better part of 7 minutes discussing going down into the basement where besides Ned and whatever is going on here at the mansion is, but Veldryn DID detect at least 5 or 6 skeletons yesterday; or heading back to Saltmarsh and coming back tomorrow after a full night’s rest. The decision was made to head back to town for now.
We knew it was almost 4 hours walk back and with Valerie leading the way, the half-orcish druid was keeping a weather eye out for us of any hazards along the way and what was the easiest and safest path back. The afternoon waned and it was almost 6 when we arrived at the fishing town of Saltmarsh once again.
The group picked their way through the smaller Demesne until they arrived at the town proper. Keeping to the raised walkways they made their way back to the Salty Winter Wench and went in to reserve another room from Pettis. There was some surprise at seeing Valerie, Half-orcs are visited with some distrust, and then more concern at the large rat she was holding on her shoulder. She had to prove she was a druid before they would allow the rental to go through but a bath was ordered and the party made their way upstairs to room 4 again.
While the majority of the party stripped off their gear and took turns in the tub, Veldryn left the group and the inn, getting direction to the cemetery west of town and trudged her way up the shallow hill to the gated locale. There was a small temple to Hel near the entrance where the local Speaker for the Dead lived and maintained the cemetery, but the gates were closed. So she stuck her hand through the bars and took a scoop of dirt which attracted an angry wolfhound guard to come out of the shadows and bark and menace the elven necromancer.
The noise attracted the Speaker with opened the door, drunk, and addressed Veldryn to come in and stop pissing off his dog. Hjarlod was his name and the two of them got into a long theological discussion about Hel and Necromancy, the afterlife and Nifleheim, Valhalla and Loki and Valkyries and whatnot. It was a few hours later when Veldryn left, head spinning but thankful for her time with the bitter but wiser Speaker.
The voice asked him to ask a single yes or no question and Marcus was humbled to think he was talking to his god. The disappearance of Ned was weighing on the young paladin so he asked of Ned was a good person or not. And his god surely answered him saying that No, Ned was NOT good.
The Bifrost crystal grew inert after that, exhausted for today. Marcus returned it to Valerie with much thanks and let the group know what he learned about the crystal and what Tyr had told him. Veldryn was back for all this by now and realizing that we were going to need every resource at our disposal, Deja went to Veldryn and gave her the wallet she had found in the mansion. There were two clerical scrolls within: Hold Person and Cure Moderate Wounds. She was thanked and the group was happy about it.
Then all that was left was to further explore the ring that Deja was wearing and after some research, testing, and trial and error, deduced it was a ring of protection and the Halfling thief was thrilled to be wearing it. The group then turned in and rested, waking up the next morning on Earthmonth the 16th bright eyed and bushy tailed. We broke our fast, prayed and readied our equipment, checked out of the Saucy Winter Wench and made our way along the Street of Docks to Rosensteel’s Equipment.
We spent our coin and bought sundry items, food, new shields, and other items we thoughts we’d need. Bolstered now and ready to face the Mansion and what its secrets might still be hidden in the lower level, we cleared out of the supply store by 9:30 and got ready for the trip across the Eider Downs back south.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Meet 39, Adv 4.1, 2/10/18
The group had made their way into the Keep and found 2 of the 3 bits of help I had dropped in there. The Dryad is not a combat piece and gives the group the heads up the shaman uses parts of her to bolster his own powers. The Troll Lord if freed wants to tackle the original shaman's boar a second time, itching for a rematch and now knowing what the pig is capable of. There is a third possible help but as of this time, the party hasn't found it.
With only 26 total kobolds in the keep, 24 now that the party had killed two of them by the pit with Joan, there is a finite number I can hurl at the group and given the time of night they are launching their assault and the fact the kobolds are most likely spread out, it should go pretty well for them until the kobolds manage to gather their forces in one spot.
Write up follows:
The group took their time covering the pit up, coaxing Joan to her feet, and then taking a circuitous route back to the cave we were using to sleep in, Einar making sure to obscure as much of our tracks as possible. It was a bit after 5 when we arrived, still feeling pretty excited about our efforts today. There was talk about taking a day or two off and then going after the K’Morat again, but it was discarded as we talked for a more direct break in tonight.
We wanted to make sure to use Joan as a central point since the kobolds still do not know of us and we wanted to keep it that way for now. There were some convoluted ideas of light spells and fairie fires and timing, but we discarded most of the difficult portions of the plan and instead, hightailed it out of the cave after eating a fast dinner and made our way back to the keep.
We waited until the kobold torch bearer began his trip around the parapet, lighting the torch nests and hoisting them aloft. It was some half hour or so before he finished but when it was done, we cast a light spell on Joan and then ran off to the west side of the keep – the kobold’s attention firmly on the undead deer who was honking wildly.
With no one watching us, the group climbed the North West tower and once up top, pulled ourselves over and fastened some grappling hooks in place to allow the rest of the party the chance to climb without much issue. As for the inside, the stairs circled the inner wall of the tower to the distant floor below. We looked over the edge to the east and took in a layout of the keep. Most of the bailey was overgrown and collapsed trees and vines, the quarter end of a big pig sticking up through the wood. The central keep was connected to the parapet by a walkway leading to the solarium. The inner courtyard near the back was a gardened area blocked off from the rest of the Bailey by a mass of punji stakes, spears, barbed wire, and some stone blocks.
As the rest of the group made their way up and over, we were able to see from our vantage point at least 20 kobolds near the barbican hurling spears and rocks at Joan who stood there and took the abuse until she fell over, too many of her bones broken. But the noise and light had attracted a passing rock drake who dove down and snatched up Joan, taking her off into the dark and scaring the kobolds to retreat back to their keep and abandon the walls.
We worked our way down the stairs to the bottom of the tower where the last few steps had been smashed off. The door had been forced open and the hinges twisted a bit, and there were porcine hairs caught on most surfaces. We wanted to close the door and Hjalgrim was there to make sure the door closed without issue or noise, avoiding attracting the boar from the courtyard. What we had seen of the razorback had it standing 6’ at the shoulder and had to mass ¾ of a ton – nothing anyone wanted to mess with.
The door could not be shut without some serious lifting and struggling, but even so, there was nothing to lock it anymore. However, Sybil did spot lots of fallen logs outside that could be used to brace the door. So between Hjalgrim, Sybil, and Dizzy, they managed to drag one of them in after trimming the vines free and brace the door closed.
We talked about options and the group wanted to go to the Inner courtyard it was close to here. It seemed there might be a back door to the place and we should take a look. So we all made our way quietly through the bailey, moved some of the punji stakes aside, lifted the wire a bit, and crawled in. Once there we took stock of the place. A garden, well-tended and weeded. Potatoes, squash, tubers, a few nut trees. As we closed to the main door there was a 15’ tall ash tree in a large stone planter that had seen better days – the tree was pretty beat up and missing a few limbs. As we were looking it over though a green skinned scarred up elven looking woman stepped out of the dark and laid a hand on Hjalgrim wondering what the group was doing here?
She said she was Cashandra and was a prisoner of the kobolds. She wanted to be free and wanted us to take her planter out of here. Charmed Hjalgrim and the dwarf agreed it was a good idea to help her out. Then Thalin asked if she was a dryad and maybe we should think this through. So she charmed him and he agreed it needed to be done and that the magic was making him act this way, but sure – we’ll help. Dizzy was adamant no we were not going to get roped into this as we had a mission and Cashandra said we needed only 4 hours of the two men’s time and then Sybil tried to intervene and she too was charmed and agreed to help Cashandra out in “servicing” the men if it would speed things along. And then Einar was like, hey, if it’ll help, I’ll go with you too if you need more men.
So Cashandra portaled Hjalgrim, Thalin, Sybil, and Einar into her tree where they shed their clothes and started getting it on and to keep Dizzy from opening the back door and causing a problem, the dryad wrapped him in vines and pulled the dwarf to the ground, half burying him in the garden soil “just for now”. This left Percy, Merica, and Dizzy out for now while the other 4 party members and Cashandra got to know one another in an unfettered carnal sense for 4 hours.
It was after 1 and between the small nap and the dryad’s rejuvenating efforts, she gave us a brief sketch of the interior, let us know the new shaman is a dick, there are young kobolds hatched maybe a month ago most likely in the basement, and that for now, most of the K’Morat are probably sleeping.
We went to the back door, opened it and looked in. The entrance hall was here, 15’ tall, two main halls on the east and west wings, two other arches leading north east and North West to a gallery and long hall. There was a chandelier in here with some candles in it and 4 rugs on the floor each a bit over 10’ x 12’.
Sybil and Dizzy scouted about. The rugs covered pits and there were bells on the bottom of the rugs to attract attention. Merica did the helmet thing and got a hit some 40 or so to the south east for 4 kobolds (no bird in range according to Hjalgrim). The two thieves went to look to the east wing hall. Long hall, stairs going up at the end and some other doors and corridors left and right. Right by the entrance of the wing to the north was a chapel to Odin that had been repurposed to Frey as well, a thick necked burly kobold was here and another one who was pacing and had a wolfhound sitting with him. To the south was a library in poor condition but still standing.
The north hall on the east side was a long hall that was lit from the windows outside and the floor was worn out carpet running down the center except for a part that detoured closer to the window as a new wear in the carpet was occurring – a new trap?
The north on the west side then showed a gallery, a group of 20’ square rooms connected by doors with nice paneled walls and older but still in good condition paintings on the wall. Finally to the west wing showed a corridor going down and then to the left, door on the south closed and to the north a dining room with about half the tables and chairs shoved against the east wall. Finally we all reconvened back at the entrance, shared what we had learned, and discussed options.
We wanted to find the troll lord that is supposed to be in here and if they were using him as a food source, the dining room would be the best bet to lead us to the kitchen. So we all entered, avoided the rugs, and made our way to the west wing and then into the dining room. There was an arch leading from the dining room to the gallery but on the west wall was a swinging Dutch door that led to the kitchen. Inside was a crow’s cage with the troll lord within. The stumps of his legs were sticking through the bottom of the cage and his arms were tied in place along the front. He was missing an eye and was thin and scarred up.
We talked to it, Dizzy doing most of the talking as he spoke troll. Shassismyr was its name and he had been slowly dying as his regeneration was practically at nil since the kobolds weren’t feeding him. He was starving and we had a convoluted back and forth with him and deal making until there was an agreement that he wanted another crack at the fucking pig and that the shaman came in in the evening and morning to cut him up and take bites out of him. It was after 1 AM and the place was dead quiet – and Shassismyr if we could feed him and get his regeneration working again would be one hell of a distraction.
So we fed him, lots, days of food. And we watched as his legs regrew and then his limbs filled out and the missing eye popped back into place. Eventually he stood up tall and fierce, over 8’ and about 400 lbs. There was a majesty about him and for a moment we weren’t sure if we made a mistake but Shassismyr took the door off the oven to use as a shield, grabbed one of the stout oaken chairs to use as a club, offered the party the blessing of Odin, Thrym, and Sutur and then started his way across the dining room to the front door and beyond.
With only 26 total kobolds in the keep, 24 now that the party had killed two of them by the pit with Joan, there is a finite number I can hurl at the group and given the time of night they are launching their assault and the fact the kobolds are most likely spread out, it should go pretty well for them until the kobolds manage to gather their forces in one spot.
Write up follows:
The group took their time covering the pit up, coaxing Joan to her feet, and then taking a circuitous route back to the cave we were using to sleep in, Einar making sure to obscure as much of our tracks as possible. It was a bit after 5 when we arrived, still feeling pretty excited about our efforts today. There was talk about taking a day or two off and then going after the K’Morat again, but it was discarded as we talked for a more direct break in tonight.
We wanted to make sure to use Joan as a central point since the kobolds still do not know of us and we wanted to keep it that way for now. There were some convoluted ideas of light spells and fairie fires and timing, but we discarded most of the difficult portions of the plan and instead, hightailed it out of the cave after eating a fast dinner and made our way back to the keep.
We waited until the kobold torch bearer began his trip around the parapet, lighting the torch nests and hoisting them aloft. It was some half hour or so before he finished but when it was done, we cast a light spell on Joan and then ran off to the west side of the keep – the kobold’s attention firmly on the undead deer who was honking wildly.
With no one watching us, the group climbed the North West tower and once up top, pulled ourselves over and fastened some grappling hooks in place to allow the rest of the party the chance to climb without much issue. As for the inside, the stairs circled the inner wall of the tower to the distant floor below. We looked over the edge to the east and took in a layout of the keep. Most of the bailey was overgrown and collapsed trees and vines, the quarter end of a big pig sticking up through the wood. The central keep was connected to the parapet by a walkway leading to the solarium. The inner courtyard near the back was a gardened area blocked off from the rest of the Bailey by a mass of punji stakes, spears, barbed wire, and some stone blocks.
As the rest of the group made their way up and over, we were able to see from our vantage point at least 20 kobolds near the barbican hurling spears and rocks at Joan who stood there and took the abuse until she fell over, too many of her bones broken. But the noise and light had attracted a passing rock drake who dove down and snatched up Joan, taking her off into the dark and scaring the kobolds to retreat back to their keep and abandon the walls.
We worked our way down the stairs to the bottom of the tower where the last few steps had been smashed off. The door had been forced open and the hinges twisted a bit, and there were porcine hairs caught on most surfaces. We wanted to close the door and Hjalgrim was there to make sure the door closed without issue or noise, avoiding attracting the boar from the courtyard. What we had seen of the razorback had it standing 6’ at the shoulder and had to mass ¾ of a ton – nothing anyone wanted to mess with.
The door could not be shut without some serious lifting and struggling, but even so, there was nothing to lock it anymore. However, Sybil did spot lots of fallen logs outside that could be used to brace the door. So between Hjalgrim, Sybil, and Dizzy, they managed to drag one of them in after trimming the vines free and brace the door closed.
We talked about options and the group wanted to go to the Inner courtyard it was close to here. It seemed there might be a back door to the place and we should take a look. So we all made our way quietly through the bailey, moved some of the punji stakes aside, lifted the wire a bit, and crawled in. Once there we took stock of the place. A garden, well-tended and weeded. Potatoes, squash, tubers, a few nut trees. As we closed to the main door there was a 15’ tall ash tree in a large stone planter that had seen better days – the tree was pretty beat up and missing a few limbs. As we were looking it over though a green skinned scarred up elven looking woman stepped out of the dark and laid a hand on Hjalgrim wondering what the group was doing here?
She said she was Cashandra and was a prisoner of the kobolds. She wanted to be free and wanted us to take her planter out of here. Charmed Hjalgrim and the dwarf agreed it was a good idea to help her out. Then Thalin asked if she was a dryad and maybe we should think this through. So she charmed him and he agreed it needed to be done and that the magic was making him act this way, but sure – we’ll help. Dizzy was adamant no we were not going to get roped into this as we had a mission and Cashandra said we needed only 4 hours of the two men’s time and then Sybil tried to intervene and she too was charmed and agreed to help Cashandra out in “servicing” the men if it would speed things along. And then Einar was like, hey, if it’ll help, I’ll go with you too if you need more men.
So Cashandra portaled Hjalgrim, Thalin, Sybil, and Einar into her tree where they shed their clothes and started getting it on and to keep Dizzy from opening the back door and causing a problem, the dryad wrapped him in vines and pulled the dwarf to the ground, half burying him in the garden soil “just for now”. This left Percy, Merica, and Dizzy out for now while the other 4 party members and Cashandra got to know one another in an unfettered carnal sense for 4 hours.
It was after 1 and between the small nap and the dryad’s rejuvenating efforts, she gave us a brief sketch of the interior, let us know the new shaman is a dick, there are young kobolds hatched maybe a month ago most likely in the basement, and that for now, most of the K’Morat are probably sleeping.
We went to the back door, opened it and looked in. The entrance hall was here, 15’ tall, two main halls on the east and west wings, two other arches leading north east and North West to a gallery and long hall. There was a chandelier in here with some candles in it and 4 rugs on the floor each a bit over 10’ x 12’.
Sybil and Dizzy scouted about. The rugs covered pits and there were bells on the bottom of the rugs to attract attention. Merica did the helmet thing and got a hit some 40 or so to the south east for 4 kobolds (no bird in range according to Hjalgrim). The two thieves went to look to the east wing hall. Long hall, stairs going up at the end and some other doors and corridors left and right. Right by the entrance of the wing to the north was a chapel to Odin that had been repurposed to Frey as well, a thick necked burly kobold was here and another one who was pacing and had a wolfhound sitting with him. To the south was a library in poor condition but still standing.
The north hall on the east side was a long hall that was lit from the windows outside and the floor was worn out carpet running down the center except for a part that detoured closer to the window as a new wear in the carpet was occurring – a new trap?
The north on the west side then showed a gallery, a group of 20’ square rooms connected by doors with nice paneled walls and older but still in good condition paintings on the wall. Finally to the west wing showed a corridor going down and then to the left, door on the south closed and to the north a dining room with about half the tables and chairs shoved against the east wall. Finally we all reconvened back at the entrance, shared what we had learned, and discussed options.
We wanted to find the troll lord that is supposed to be in here and if they were using him as a food source, the dining room would be the best bet to lead us to the kitchen. So we all entered, avoided the rugs, and made our way to the west wing and then into the dining room. There was an arch leading from the dining room to the gallery but on the west wall was a swinging Dutch door that led to the kitchen. Inside was a crow’s cage with the troll lord within. The stumps of his legs were sticking through the bottom of the cage and his arms were tied in place along the front. He was missing an eye and was thin and scarred up.
We talked to it, Dizzy doing most of the talking as he spoke troll. Shassismyr was its name and he had been slowly dying as his regeneration was practically at nil since the kobolds weren’t feeding him. He was starving and we had a convoluted back and forth with him and deal making until there was an agreement that he wanted another crack at the fucking pig and that the shaman came in in the evening and morning to cut him up and take bites out of him. It was after 1 AM and the place was dead quiet – and Shassismyr if we could feed him and get his regeneration working again would be one hell of a distraction.
So we fed him, lots, days of food. And we watched as his legs regrew and then his limbs filled out and the missing eye popped back into place. Eventually he stood up tall and fierce, over 8’ and about 400 lbs. There was a majesty about him and for a moment we weren’t sure if we made a mistake but Shassismyr took the door off the oven to use as a shield, grabbed one of the stout oaken chairs to use as a club, offered the party the blessing of Odin, Thrym, and Sutur and then started his way across the dining room to the front door and beyond.
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Meet 38, Adv 4.1, 2/3/18
The group had decided on trying to lure some kobolds out and whittle the numbers down before attempting to hit the Warren as is. Even if the estimated number is under 30, that is against 6 active party members, 1 henchman, a giant bat and (now) and undead deer. Outside our ability with the "B" team of 1st and 1.5th level adventurers.
The party's strength continues to be the ability to come up with a plan and then revise it again and again and again until they have it honed down to the needed parts and everything else cut away. It's that sort of 1st level in depth layered thinking that makes playing a lower level party shine as opposed to the mid and upper level party whose more apt to "nuke the site from orbit" in resolving a problem.
Write up follows:
After awakening and getting our morning situated, we discussed possibilities for scouting out the keep or perhaps finding a second way in. This led the party (4 dwarves!) to discuss tunnels and logical directions for them to run and what not. Eventually the party came upon the idea that they should look over the ridge line in the direction of the river and see if there was an exit tunnel there. It’s 1 plus miles along but Dizzy had some good arguments as to why it made some feasible sense so we decided it was better than no plan at all.
We opted to take the longer way around, going around the 4,500’ tall peaks and coming around the lake with the reed boats before heading north and coming to the other side. The trip for the first 45 minutes plus was without issue as we stayed to the low slopes and heavy tree cover but it was while we had come around near the east side of the slope and were heading north that we heard the raucous call of crows, lots of them.
We watched as they flew in a cloud of 80, 90, maybe 100 of them around the side of the same mountain that we had come from. They flew towards the lake and boats, circled the area overhead a bit and then flew back the way they had come – the entire trip being 10, 12 minutes tops. While we thought it was odd and pertinent, it wasn’t until a single MUCH larger crow came around the same mountain and flew also to the lake. While it was searching around, the same swarm of original crows came back, joined the larger one, and then the entire group flew back the way they had come from.
Ok, now we were sure it was the newer shaman at the Warren. Since they had gone to the lake and back, party suspected they hadn’t been found or discovered, but actually the crows were scouting the fishing area the kobolds use normally. We didn’t want to be in the area for this so stayed to the trees and made our way north around the mountain.
We tried our best to line us due north of the opposite side of the mountain from the keep and once here, split up into two groups while Einar went hunting. We searched for almost 2 hours, finding no back entrance or tunnel, but we did discover an ogre skeleton that had been here in the mud and undergrowth for 2-3 years. He had some spears in his back and a leather bag under him that he had fallen upon. Thought was it was a lone ogre who had been killed by kobolds and then was left here to die/lost sight of by his pursuers.
The bag had some stolen treasures, almost 50 ornamental stones, a large hunk of glass, an iron cudgel that looked like it was gripping a hunk of metal, and two dwarven made small helms one with a series of snake designs, one with a series of bird designs. Some detecting followed and most everything had a faint glow. Nice!
We then spent some time deciphering what properties we could. The cudgel we wiped clean and a few mending spells on the handle sharpened the scratches there so they eventually spelled out the name “Smiter” on the item. A test of saying the name had it hum and the iron ball was crackling red – but nothing happened. Didn’t want to waste it by saying the name but didn’t know how to turn it off. The bottom of the pommel had the dwarvish rune for the number “12” there now visible and the same red as the glow. So we dropped the weapon instead and the glow ended without wasting its powers.
The 2 helms were taken by Hjalgrim and Merica who did note that wearing them had the helms buckle immediately AND if the animal or animal type on the helm was said, the wearer heard a crackle and got a boost in his hearing for that animal type, knowledge of where they were in relation to the wearer, and a bit of intuition as to what the animals next intention was.
The glass like substance we talked about and Norris suspected that it was a piece of the Bifrost Bridge, especially when it was held up to the sunlight and prismatic lights were flaring around it. Thalin tried to tap an arrow against it and the rainbow light flew into the arrow, the gem no longer glowed. BUT a subsequent detect magic showed the gem was still magical and now the arrow was magical as well. Very nice!
By this time Einar had returned with a fat doe and 3 grouse he had hunted, giving thanks to Frey for the bounty. We then took it all back to our cave and dressed the deer. We set up a simple smoking pit to smoke the meat, cooked some for now, and talked. Thalin was reviewing his spells and wanted the bones from the deer once we had stripped all the meat off of them. So we did so, hooves and all, and included the head which had NOT been stripped, left whole, and put it all together.
He then worked some arcanic energy, pouring it into the skeletal pieces and the deer was slowly stitching itself together, one bone at a time to the next one until it ended at the head which fused to the body and the mostly skeletal deer stood up, looked around, and then tongue lolling, stopped in front of the elven wizard and made a single Gronking-honk noise. Nice.
Opting to call the undead deer “Joan”, he was able to put it through some paces and figure out how responsive the creature was to his commands and what its capabilities were. We then set up watches and the group went to sleep, taking turns during the night.
The next morning we were up by 6, ate, prayed, studied, and got ready for the day. Dizzy cast Sacred Guardian on Sybil and the party wanted to head back to the lake before 10 and see if the kobolds came out and if possible, waylay a few. So we were back at the tree line again and waited. 10, 10:30, almost 11 – no crows and no kobolds. This wasn’t going to work today. Sybil did take out the Bifrost gem and holding it up to the sun it absorbed a large swath of it and again rainbow light came out. A follow up detect magic showed the arrow from yesterday was no longer magical. So we touched Hjalgrim’s spear to it today and let the light flow into it.
We discussed plans and decided we would dig a pit to catch the kobolds in, lining it with sharpened sticks. The thought was to go 1,000 yards southwest of the reed boats and dig it there, and then bait the trap so the kobolds would come and fall into it. Seemed a bit weak for now but the party was going to further think it as time went on.
We found a spot, broke out the 2 shovels we had, and then set to digging a 5’x5’ pit in the hard somewhat rooty earth. Einar was working on a woven pit cover and those who weren’t digging were gathering sticks and sharpening them. The pit went fast at first but after 3’ progress slowed and it wasn’t until 4:30 that we hit 6’. We sunk over 20 punji stakes in the bottom and Einar dragged his cover over the pit and dressed the area. So well that even though the group KNEW the pit was there, they were hard pressed to find it without some guidance and a marker.
The new plan was to get up early and have the undead deer dressed in its own former skin walk around the kobold keep, then walk to the lake, then walk to the pit and act as bait while we went with it, obscuring our prints, and then hiding nearby to ambush the kobolds who we hoped would come and investigate. Seemed like a good plan and we were back at our cave by quarter to 6 where we ate, settled in for the night, and rested.
We awoke the next morning early and then set off to do as we discussed, Thalin and Einar taking Joan around the keep in the woods and then we all followed nearby on the path we discussed to the lake and then the pit. We coaxed Joan to lie down on one side of the pit where the kobolds would have to cross it and fall in and then set ourselves up behind some trees as cover about 60’ away from the pit and waited, talking low amongst ourselves as to our plan and what we anticipated would happen and soon.
It was a bit of a wait; almost 10:30 before we saw a distant murder of crows fly west from the trees near the keep, head towards the lake, and then followed the trail towards the pit and Joan lying on her side. The came low, 30’ or so, cawing and flying chaotically around before heading back the way they came. And sure enough, the larger crow then came next, flying very slowly and landing some 50’ away from Joan.
Now that we could see it up close (so to speak) it was fucking huge. Its head was a bit over 3’ tall and it had to have an 11’ wingspan. It also was wickedly intelligent, not getting close to the deer and instead picking up small stones with its beak and whipping them at the deer who just lied there – looking sort of real with its head and wrapped in its own skin. Eventually the larger crow took off and headed back where it came and the group waited, knowing the kobolds would be coming next and soon.
It was almost an hour later when the party spied a group of 5 kobolds loping through the tall grasses by the reed boats. They turned south southwest and jogged towards the party, Joan, and the pit following the tracks. At 100 yards they slowed down and then at 30 yards they stopped. The five of them chattered briefly in their language and then 4 of them dropped to their bellies and started to move about, getting lost to sight while the last one started getting closer, angling around to the west to see the deer by the front. No longer lined up with the pit.
Still pretty far away, Thalin ordered Joan to speak and it gave a gronkinghonk-like bleating sound that scattered the kobolds back again some couple hundred feet until they regrouped and talked again. After some delay the spear wielding chalk wearing kobold crawled forward again, inching with care to Joan. Who was ordered to honk again. Which again had them spasmodically run back and gather their courage for a third approach.
The lead guy got closer and hurled his spear at Joan, and it punched through the skin and struck some bones inside before stopping. The kobold appeared proud of himself, drew a flint knife, and then ran for the undead deer before jumping on its side and slashing down hard. He crowed with glee at his stroke and then plunged his scaly hand in the hole to draw out some entrails but when he encountered nothing beneath the skin he staggered back and cried out to his friends that “it was empty! Spirit deer!” in their kilcking language (according to Sybil).
At this point Thalin called on Joan to “kick the kobold hard” and the deer’s undead limbs ratcheted back and then stamped out – slamming into the kobold’s chest and knocking him back till he fell to his sound and was choking on his blood filling lungs. The other 4 more distant kobolds broke cover and ran as long and as fast as they could back in the direction of the kobold Warren. We went to the dying kobold, slit his throat, and then pocketed his ears.
We then redragged Joan into a different position to the side of the pit now and then positioned the kobold so he arm was by her mouth, Thalin instructing the deer to “chew”. Satisfied with the new positioning, we went back to the copse of trees some 60’ from the pit and hit down again to watch. Within 20 minutes the crows returned, this time with the big one. They circled the deer and the big one flew in real low and then landed; this time it had a rawhide thong on its neck sporting a dangling tourmaline crystal. It stayed there looking at the deer and kobold for 30, 40 seconds and then took wing and headed back to the keep, the murder of normal sized crows flying off with him.
We suspected that after this reconnaissance that more kobolds would come so we waited and after a few hours our patience was rewarded. 4 kobolds were approaching across the plains now, moving with exaggerated care as they came once again near Joan and her well gnawed dinner. One of them broke away from the other three and took out a small wrapped bag with some berries. According to Sybil he was bragging to the other three that we was going to be the next shaman as soon as he showed his skill in taking this spirit deer.
So he crept closer, smiling, hand extended towards Joan’s mouth offering benedictions and some berries, wishing to show his friendliness and…
He stepped on the well disguised pit, the cover snapped, and to everyone it appeared the ground swallowed him hole as he dropped on the sticks below and screamed his guts out. The 3 remaining kobolds dropped their weapons to lighten their load and ran even faster back towards the warren while the party laughed at their 2 successes and proceeded to once more dispatch the next kobold and take his ears. As it was already 4 PM there was talk on packing this all in and heading back to the cave to rest for the night.
The party's strength continues to be the ability to come up with a plan and then revise it again and again and again until they have it honed down to the needed parts and everything else cut away. It's that sort of 1st level in depth layered thinking that makes playing a lower level party shine as opposed to the mid and upper level party whose more apt to "nuke the site from orbit" in resolving a problem.
Write up follows:
After awakening and getting our morning situated, we discussed possibilities for scouting out the keep or perhaps finding a second way in. This led the party (4 dwarves!) to discuss tunnels and logical directions for them to run and what not. Eventually the party came upon the idea that they should look over the ridge line in the direction of the river and see if there was an exit tunnel there. It’s 1 plus miles along but Dizzy had some good arguments as to why it made some feasible sense so we decided it was better than no plan at all.
We opted to take the longer way around, going around the 4,500’ tall peaks and coming around the lake with the reed boats before heading north and coming to the other side. The trip for the first 45 minutes plus was without issue as we stayed to the low slopes and heavy tree cover but it was while we had come around near the east side of the slope and were heading north that we heard the raucous call of crows, lots of them.
We watched as they flew in a cloud of 80, 90, maybe 100 of them around the side of the same mountain that we had come from. They flew towards the lake and boats, circled the area overhead a bit and then flew back the way they had come – the entire trip being 10, 12 minutes tops. While we thought it was odd and pertinent, it wasn’t until a single MUCH larger crow came around the same mountain and flew also to the lake. While it was searching around, the same swarm of original crows came back, joined the larger one, and then the entire group flew back the way they had come from.
Ok, now we were sure it was the newer shaman at the Warren. Since they had gone to the lake and back, party suspected they hadn’t been found or discovered, but actually the crows were scouting the fishing area the kobolds use normally. We didn’t want to be in the area for this so stayed to the trees and made our way north around the mountain.
We tried our best to line us due north of the opposite side of the mountain from the keep and once here, split up into two groups while Einar went hunting. We searched for almost 2 hours, finding no back entrance or tunnel, but we did discover an ogre skeleton that had been here in the mud and undergrowth for 2-3 years. He had some spears in his back and a leather bag under him that he had fallen upon. Thought was it was a lone ogre who had been killed by kobolds and then was left here to die/lost sight of by his pursuers.
The bag had some stolen treasures, almost 50 ornamental stones, a large hunk of glass, an iron cudgel that looked like it was gripping a hunk of metal, and two dwarven made small helms one with a series of snake designs, one with a series of bird designs. Some detecting followed and most everything had a faint glow. Nice!
We then spent some time deciphering what properties we could. The cudgel we wiped clean and a few mending spells on the handle sharpened the scratches there so they eventually spelled out the name “Smiter” on the item. A test of saying the name had it hum and the iron ball was crackling red – but nothing happened. Didn’t want to waste it by saying the name but didn’t know how to turn it off. The bottom of the pommel had the dwarvish rune for the number “12” there now visible and the same red as the glow. So we dropped the weapon instead and the glow ended without wasting its powers.
The 2 helms were taken by Hjalgrim and Merica who did note that wearing them had the helms buckle immediately AND if the animal or animal type on the helm was said, the wearer heard a crackle and got a boost in his hearing for that animal type, knowledge of where they were in relation to the wearer, and a bit of intuition as to what the animals next intention was.
The glass like substance we talked about and Norris suspected that it was a piece of the Bifrost Bridge, especially when it was held up to the sunlight and prismatic lights were flaring around it. Thalin tried to tap an arrow against it and the rainbow light flew into the arrow, the gem no longer glowed. BUT a subsequent detect magic showed the gem was still magical and now the arrow was magical as well. Very nice!
By this time Einar had returned with a fat doe and 3 grouse he had hunted, giving thanks to Frey for the bounty. We then took it all back to our cave and dressed the deer. We set up a simple smoking pit to smoke the meat, cooked some for now, and talked. Thalin was reviewing his spells and wanted the bones from the deer once we had stripped all the meat off of them. So we did so, hooves and all, and included the head which had NOT been stripped, left whole, and put it all together.
He then worked some arcanic energy, pouring it into the skeletal pieces and the deer was slowly stitching itself together, one bone at a time to the next one until it ended at the head which fused to the body and the mostly skeletal deer stood up, looked around, and then tongue lolling, stopped in front of the elven wizard and made a single Gronking-honk noise. Nice.Opting to call the undead deer “Joan”, he was able to put it through some paces and figure out how responsive the creature was to his commands and what its capabilities were. We then set up watches and the group went to sleep, taking turns during the night.
The next morning we were up by 6, ate, prayed, studied, and got ready for the day. Dizzy cast Sacred Guardian on Sybil and the party wanted to head back to the lake before 10 and see if the kobolds came out and if possible, waylay a few. So we were back at the tree line again and waited. 10, 10:30, almost 11 – no crows and no kobolds. This wasn’t going to work today. Sybil did take out the Bifrost gem and holding it up to the sun it absorbed a large swath of it and again rainbow light came out. A follow up detect magic showed the arrow from yesterday was no longer magical. So we touched Hjalgrim’s spear to it today and let the light flow into it.
We discussed plans and decided we would dig a pit to catch the kobolds in, lining it with sharpened sticks. The thought was to go 1,000 yards southwest of the reed boats and dig it there, and then bait the trap so the kobolds would come and fall into it. Seemed a bit weak for now but the party was going to further think it as time went on.
We found a spot, broke out the 2 shovels we had, and then set to digging a 5’x5’ pit in the hard somewhat rooty earth. Einar was working on a woven pit cover and those who weren’t digging were gathering sticks and sharpening them. The pit went fast at first but after 3’ progress slowed and it wasn’t until 4:30 that we hit 6’. We sunk over 20 punji stakes in the bottom and Einar dragged his cover over the pit and dressed the area. So well that even though the group KNEW the pit was there, they were hard pressed to find it without some guidance and a marker.
The new plan was to get up early and have the undead deer dressed in its own former skin walk around the kobold keep, then walk to the lake, then walk to the pit and act as bait while we went with it, obscuring our prints, and then hiding nearby to ambush the kobolds who we hoped would come and investigate. Seemed like a good plan and we were back at our cave by quarter to 6 where we ate, settled in for the night, and rested.
We awoke the next morning early and then set off to do as we discussed, Thalin and Einar taking Joan around the keep in the woods and then we all followed nearby on the path we discussed to the lake and then the pit. We coaxed Joan to lie down on one side of the pit where the kobolds would have to cross it and fall in and then set ourselves up behind some trees as cover about 60’ away from the pit and waited, talking low amongst ourselves as to our plan and what we anticipated would happen and soon.
It was a bit of a wait; almost 10:30 before we saw a distant murder of crows fly west from the trees near the keep, head towards the lake, and then followed the trail towards the pit and Joan lying on her side. The came low, 30’ or so, cawing and flying chaotically around before heading back the way they came. And sure enough, the larger crow then came next, flying very slowly and landing some 50’ away from Joan.
Now that we could see it up close (so to speak) it was fucking huge. Its head was a bit over 3’ tall and it had to have an 11’ wingspan. It also was wickedly intelligent, not getting close to the deer and instead picking up small stones with its beak and whipping them at the deer who just lied there – looking sort of real with its head and wrapped in its own skin. Eventually the larger crow took off and headed back where it came and the group waited, knowing the kobolds would be coming next and soon.
It was almost an hour later when the party spied a group of 5 kobolds loping through the tall grasses by the reed boats. They turned south southwest and jogged towards the party, Joan, and the pit following the tracks. At 100 yards they slowed down and then at 30 yards they stopped. The five of them chattered briefly in their language and then 4 of them dropped to their bellies and started to move about, getting lost to sight while the last one started getting closer, angling around to the west to see the deer by the front. No longer lined up with the pit.
Still pretty far away, Thalin ordered Joan to speak and it gave a gronkinghonk-like bleating sound that scattered the kobolds back again some couple hundred feet until they regrouped and talked again. After some delay the spear wielding chalk wearing kobold crawled forward again, inching with care to Joan. Who was ordered to honk again. Which again had them spasmodically run back and gather their courage for a third approach.
The lead guy got closer and hurled his spear at Joan, and it punched through the skin and struck some bones inside before stopping. The kobold appeared proud of himself, drew a flint knife, and then ran for the undead deer before jumping on its side and slashing down hard. He crowed with glee at his stroke and then plunged his scaly hand in the hole to draw out some entrails but when he encountered nothing beneath the skin he staggered back and cried out to his friends that “it was empty! Spirit deer!” in their kilcking language (according to Sybil).
At this point Thalin called on Joan to “kick the kobold hard” and the deer’s undead limbs ratcheted back and then stamped out – slamming into the kobold’s chest and knocking him back till he fell to his sound and was choking on his blood filling lungs. The other 4 more distant kobolds broke cover and ran as long and as fast as they could back in the direction of the kobold Warren. We went to the dying kobold, slit his throat, and then pocketed his ears.
We then redragged Joan into a different position to the side of the pit now and then positioned the kobold so he arm was by her mouth, Thalin instructing the deer to “chew”. Satisfied with the new positioning, we went back to the copse of trees some 60’ from the pit and hit down again to watch. Within 20 minutes the crows returned, this time with the big one. They circled the deer and the big one flew in real low and then landed; this time it had a rawhide thong on its neck sporting a dangling tourmaline crystal. It stayed there looking at the deer and kobold for 30, 40 seconds and then took wing and headed back to the keep, the murder of normal sized crows flying off with him.
We suspected that after this reconnaissance that more kobolds would come so we waited and after a few hours our patience was rewarded. 4 kobolds were approaching across the plains now, moving with exaggerated care as they came once again near Joan and her well gnawed dinner. One of them broke away from the other three and took out a small wrapped bag with some berries. According to Sybil he was bragging to the other three that we was going to be the next shaman as soon as he showed his skill in taking this spirit deer.
So he crept closer, smiling, hand extended towards Joan’s mouth offering benedictions and some berries, wishing to show his friendliness and…
He stepped on the well disguised pit, the cover snapped, and to everyone it appeared the ground swallowed him hole as he dropped on the sticks below and screamed his guts out. The 3 remaining kobolds dropped their weapons to lighten their load and ran even faster back towards the warren while the party laughed at their 2 successes and proceeded to once more dispatch the next kobold and take his ears. As it was already 4 PM there was talk on packing this all in and heading back to the cave to rest for the night.
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Youth Meet 7, Adv 1, 2/2/18
This meeting for the youth’s finally finished up the house, both main floors. At this point the consensus is to go to the basement and see what’s going on down there. Between the paladin’s sensing of evil and a well placed detect undead spell, the party is aware of some evil and at least 6 skeletons down there. As for anything else, that remains to be seen.
I’ve also liberally sprinkled enough things in the adventure that are going to have the arc drift from the original published plot to one of my own making. That will continue as they adventure on. As of this time I have 1 or 2 people getting close to going up and we’ll see how that plays out as the group could use some extra fire power for the culmination of the house and especially for the 2nd part of the main adventure.
Write up follows:
Deja took Veldryn with her as they entered the chamber, eyes peeled for any issues as they approached the cabinet. The Halfling was dismayed to find the cabinet was not attached to the wall, a gap of a few inches visible behind it. The rest of the group was ready on the outside as Deja stood behind one door and opened it, using the cabinet itself as a shield. All that was inside was a ragged pair of dried boots and a leather cloak hanging on a hook.
Sure that there was nothing else to be worried about, Veldryn went to take the cloak and Deja the boots. But the inside of the cloak had some nasty yellowish fungus growing in the folds and the spores that leaked out got in the elf’s nose and mouth, causing her to choke and fall back. Deja jammed her eyes closed and managed to shove the end of her cloak over her face just in time.
Veldryn was dragged outside where Magnus took his water skin and washed her face liberally until coughing and gasping; the elf was able to catch her breath. We waited until she was able to stand on her own, a bit woozy and tired but not too bad for the ware. As for the boots, we brushed them off and Talion took them for the time being. Shutting the portal we went on to the last room in the wing revealing what was once a nice bedroom complete with a four poster bed and assorted trash about the room.
We gave it a once over, the fireplace resulting in nothing but dust and grit. Valerie was pleased to see rodent droppings but the druid spied no rats at this time. It was when Deja managed to look under the bed that she saw some scratches on the floor. So three of us lifted the 4 poster bed and moved it to get a better view of what was scratched on the floor and it was a circle, Veldryn letting us know it was a glyph circle and at once point was part of a latent spell.
So the former owner of the mansion already an alchemist of some dubious nature and working on an illegal potion of human domination, was also not above some sort of glyph work on those who would stay at home. We moved on from here and after taking stock, the decision was made to check out the north wing.
Looking down the hall we could see 2 doors on the right and eventually the landing area that Veldryn had climbed up the rickety stairs in the kitchen to check out yesterday. At the first door the portal was stuck and the narrow hall didn’t allow Valerie to get much of a run to force it open. Magnus and his crowbar helped our half-orc to open the room and we had a chance to look around. Damp mold wasn’t helping the chamber and assorted broken chairs and filth abounded. A strained and worn chest was locked under the window in the far end of the room.
Deja hurled a couple of knives at the chest, one striking the surface, the 2nd one actually sinking into the lock! Nicely done by the Halfling. She then picked the lock and once sure it wasn’t trap, opened it. There was paperwork inside which had Veldryn happy. The Deathspeaker was able to let us know it was purchase information the original owner of the mansion had with the PRIOR owner, giving us a peek into the man’s attitude as he was rude, abrupt, and unpleasant in his correspondence.
There was a hollow under the chest, a part of the floor that lifted away and when it was pried up, a leather bag was there. Veldryn and Deja got into a brief scuffle over it, the thief rebuffed for her efforts as the thick leather sack was taken away (heavy and lumpy) and the party peered over it, opening the stubborn knot with care. Deja did see at the bottom of the hollow was a thin folded leather wallet that she lifted and placed inside her surcoat for now.
As for the bag…it held a severed head.
Ugh.
Veldryn was able to let us know the head had been roughly hacked from its torso, had been here for 9 months to a year based upon the amount of rot, and besides the fact that the head was elven and male…it also sported slits in its neck like gills. A sea elf.
We didn’t know why it was here or who put it here and why. But it was MUCH less than the 20 years old the mansion was supposedly abandoned and the bag was not only very nice, but inside sported a burned stamp that looked like a squid. The same sigil that Deja had seen on the wrist bracer the attempted robber had back at the inn in Saltmarsh. Connected? Maybe. We’d have to keep an eye out for it and hopefully get to the bottom of this matter when we arrived back at town.
We then went to the last room on the right and it was another ruined bedroom also with a chest near the window. But there was a bundle by the door that Ned was excited to remark was his missing clothes and affects. He got dressed and rejoined the party as they gathered around the latest chest. Ned had grown quiet with our searching, looking around us as we explored, eyes pensive as if he was getting sad. Valerie was given the honors to open it after Deja had picked the locked and declared it safe to do so.
A pale yellow light came out and we shut the chest swiftly. Then we opened it again, more light coming out. The glow was coming from a large mass of glass like crystal sitting on top of a pile of priestly vestments.
While we took out the gem and Valerie held it, the color shifted from yellow to a cool green. She passed it to Magnus and the color went yellow. Then Veldryn took it and the color had a blackish quality to it. Finally Talion took it and Deja touched it as well, the gem taking on a reddish hue.
The feeling was that it was reflecting each person’s divine conduit color closest associated with their god. Magnus suggested it might me a God’s Tear, a piece of the Bifrost Bridge and most likely a holy relic on some level to someone. The thought then went to have Magnus and Talion touch it at the same time, Tyr and Loki. The glass was touched, there was a flash of light and a crackling sound and the glow ended.
Crap.
Magnus was pissed and after thinking about it, realized it was a foolish idea. Veldryn meanwhile was looking in the gemstone and magic book and found the passages on God’s Tears. If it was touched by two competing divine casters, the gem would short out but in the sunlight would be recharged to work again.
As for the rest of the stuff in the box, the belongings were those of a Heimdall priest, vestments, slippers, robes, shawl, beads, symbol. Magnus wanted to take them all and when we got back to Saltmarsh, see if we could find any priests who might have gone missing.
From here we moved on to the second floor landing, a massive hole in the north east ceiling where the attic stairs ended after 6 steps. A few dried leather wing backed chairs were here, the stuffing torn from some of them and the entire place filthy and sporting a thin layer of mold.
Deja and Talion opted to go and check out the Attic. The thief climbed the 6 steps and then using finger and toeholds pulled her way just to the edge of the Attic’s floor. Talion took a different tack, positioning himself at the edge of the steps he jumped, reaching for the floor above. His fingers nicked the edge, tore off a length of wood, upset Deja from her perch; he tumbled forward and rolled to the floor with a crunch, and then slipped over and fell AGAIN, this time DOWN the next flight of steps to the 1st floor and kitchen where he rolled to a stop at the sink. Deja herself did fall as well, but dropped to the Landing floor and twisted her ankle instead.
At the bottom of the steps, Talion had made so much noise that two giant rats, the size of big cats, crawled out from the space under the sink and swarmed at the ranger’s feet, trying to bite him. He was yelling and beating them back trying to hit them with a hastily drawn knife and Valerie from above was yelling at him to “Stop! Don’t hit them!” as the half-orc druid tried to run down the stairs. Talion meanwhile managed to climb up to his feet and ran UP the stairs, the two of them meeting in the middle of the flight.
But the rickety stairs could not support both their weights and it collapsed beneath them and Talion fell under the steps while Valerie was trapped up to her armpits in the broken steps. The rats grew wroth and one crawled under the steps to claw at Talion while the other ran back beneath the sink. Valerie was still screaming at Talion to not hit it while it clawed and bit at his thigh.
Finally the druid was able to turn around after crawling out of the broken steps and called on Frey to Charm the animal below. The rat’s eyes took a greenish swirl and then it just looked at Talion who was threatening it with a knife. She then called to Frey to allow her to talk to animals and the rat’s squeak became to her the angry voice of a pissed off giant rat.
She managed to talk the rat down from his desire to eat Talion, the rat complaining about his mate who ran away and the three rat kids they have that just never give him a moment’s peace. She offered to take him with her and he went back under the sink where he and his rat wife yelled at each other. Then he came to Valerie and she coaxed it to ride her shoulder, learning his name was Hor’se. Talion was helped out of the hole while the rat was staring at him with its beady eyes and a foul expression on its rat face.
We all went back up the landing to heal up when the group realized Ned Shakeshaft was missing. No one could remember exactly when he disappeared but his absence did have the group on edge and upset.
I’ve also liberally sprinkled enough things in the adventure that are going to have the arc drift from the original published plot to one of my own making. That will continue as they adventure on. As of this time I have 1 or 2 people getting close to going up and we’ll see how that plays out as the group could use some extra fire power for the culmination of the house and especially for the 2nd part of the main adventure.
Write up follows:
Deja took Veldryn with her as they entered the chamber, eyes peeled for any issues as they approached the cabinet. The Halfling was dismayed to find the cabinet was not attached to the wall, a gap of a few inches visible behind it. The rest of the group was ready on the outside as Deja stood behind one door and opened it, using the cabinet itself as a shield. All that was inside was a ragged pair of dried boots and a leather cloak hanging on a hook.
Sure that there was nothing else to be worried about, Veldryn went to take the cloak and Deja the boots. But the inside of the cloak had some nasty yellowish fungus growing in the folds and the spores that leaked out got in the elf’s nose and mouth, causing her to choke and fall back. Deja jammed her eyes closed and managed to shove the end of her cloak over her face just in time.
Veldryn was dragged outside where Magnus took his water skin and washed her face liberally until coughing and gasping; the elf was able to catch her breath. We waited until she was able to stand on her own, a bit woozy and tired but not too bad for the ware. As for the boots, we brushed them off and Talion took them for the time being. Shutting the portal we went on to the last room in the wing revealing what was once a nice bedroom complete with a four poster bed and assorted trash about the room.
We gave it a once over, the fireplace resulting in nothing but dust and grit. Valerie was pleased to see rodent droppings but the druid spied no rats at this time. It was when Deja managed to look under the bed that she saw some scratches on the floor. So three of us lifted the 4 poster bed and moved it to get a better view of what was scratched on the floor and it was a circle, Veldryn letting us know it was a glyph circle and at once point was part of a latent spell.
So the former owner of the mansion already an alchemist of some dubious nature and working on an illegal potion of human domination, was also not above some sort of glyph work on those who would stay at home. We moved on from here and after taking stock, the decision was made to check out the north wing.
Looking down the hall we could see 2 doors on the right and eventually the landing area that Veldryn had climbed up the rickety stairs in the kitchen to check out yesterday. At the first door the portal was stuck and the narrow hall didn’t allow Valerie to get much of a run to force it open. Magnus and his crowbar helped our half-orc to open the room and we had a chance to look around. Damp mold wasn’t helping the chamber and assorted broken chairs and filth abounded. A strained and worn chest was locked under the window in the far end of the room.
Deja hurled a couple of knives at the chest, one striking the surface, the 2nd one actually sinking into the lock! Nicely done by the Halfling. She then picked the lock and once sure it wasn’t trap, opened it. There was paperwork inside which had Veldryn happy. The Deathspeaker was able to let us know it was purchase information the original owner of the mansion had with the PRIOR owner, giving us a peek into the man’s attitude as he was rude, abrupt, and unpleasant in his correspondence.
There was a hollow under the chest, a part of the floor that lifted away and when it was pried up, a leather bag was there. Veldryn and Deja got into a brief scuffle over it, the thief rebuffed for her efforts as the thick leather sack was taken away (heavy and lumpy) and the party peered over it, opening the stubborn knot with care. Deja did see at the bottom of the hollow was a thin folded leather wallet that she lifted and placed inside her surcoat for now.
As for the bag…it held a severed head.
Ugh.
Veldryn was able to let us know the head had been roughly hacked from its torso, had been here for 9 months to a year based upon the amount of rot, and besides the fact that the head was elven and male…it also sported slits in its neck like gills. A sea elf.
We didn’t know why it was here or who put it here and why. But it was MUCH less than the 20 years old the mansion was supposedly abandoned and the bag was not only very nice, but inside sported a burned stamp that looked like a squid. The same sigil that Deja had seen on the wrist bracer the attempted robber had back at the inn in Saltmarsh. Connected? Maybe. We’d have to keep an eye out for it and hopefully get to the bottom of this matter when we arrived back at town.
We then went to the last room on the right and it was another ruined bedroom also with a chest near the window. But there was a bundle by the door that Ned was excited to remark was his missing clothes and affects. He got dressed and rejoined the party as they gathered around the latest chest. Ned had grown quiet with our searching, looking around us as we explored, eyes pensive as if he was getting sad. Valerie was given the honors to open it after Deja had picked the locked and declared it safe to do so.
A pale yellow light came out and we shut the chest swiftly. Then we opened it again, more light coming out. The glow was coming from a large mass of glass like crystal sitting on top of a pile of priestly vestments. While we took out the gem and Valerie held it, the color shifted from yellow to a cool green. She passed it to Magnus and the color went yellow. Then Veldryn took it and the color had a blackish quality to it. Finally Talion took it and Deja touched it as well, the gem taking on a reddish hue.
The feeling was that it was reflecting each person’s divine conduit color closest associated with their god. Magnus suggested it might me a God’s Tear, a piece of the Bifrost Bridge and most likely a holy relic on some level to someone. The thought then went to have Magnus and Talion touch it at the same time, Tyr and Loki. The glass was touched, there was a flash of light and a crackling sound and the glow ended.
Crap.
Magnus was pissed and after thinking about it, realized it was a foolish idea. Veldryn meanwhile was looking in the gemstone and magic book and found the passages on God’s Tears. If it was touched by two competing divine casters, the gem would short out but in the sunlight would be recharged to work again.
As for the rest of the stuff in the box, the belongings were those of a Heimdall priest, vestments, slippers, robes, shawl, beads, symbol. Magnus wanted to take them all and when we got back to Saltmarsh, see if we could find any priests who might have gone missing.
From here we moved on to the second floor landing, a massive hole in the north east ceiling where the attic stairs ended after 6 steps. A few dried leather wing backed chairs were here, the stuffing torn from some of them and the entire place filthy and sporting a thin layer of mold.
Deja and Talion opted to go and check out the Attic. The thief climbed the 6 steps and then using finger and toeholds pulled her way just to the edge of the Attic’s floor. Talion took a different tack, positioning himself at the edge of the steps he jumped, reaching for the floor above. His fingers nicked the edge, tore off a length of wood, upset Deja from her perch; he tumbled forward and rolled to the floor with a crunch, and then slipped over and fell AGAIN, this time DOWN the next flight of steps to the 1st floor and kitchen where he rolled to a stop at the sink. Deja herself did fall as well, but dropped to the Landing floor and twisted her ankle instead.
At the bottom of the steps, Talion had made so much noise that two giant rats, the size of big cats, crawled out from the space under the sink and swarmed at the ranger’s feet, trying to bite him. He was yelling and beating them back trying to hit them with a hastily drawn knife and Valerie from above was yelling at him to “Stop! Don’t hit them!” as the half-orc druid tried to run down the stairs. Talion meanwhile managed to climb up to his feet and ran UP the stairs, the two of them meeting in the middle of the flight.
But the rickety stairs could not support both their weights and it collapsed beneath them and Talion fell under the steps while Valerie was trapped up to her armpits in the broken steps. The rats grew wroth and one crawled under the steps to claw at Talion while the other ran back beneath the sink. Valerie was still screaming at Talion to not hit it while it clawed and bit at his thigh.
Finally the druid was able to turn around after crawling out of the broken steps and called on Frey to Charm the animal below. The rat’s eyes took a greenish swirl and then it just looked at Talion who was threatening it with a knife. She then called to Frey to allow her to talk to animals and the rat’s squeak became to her the angry voice of a pissed off giant rat.
She managed to talk the rat down from his desire to eat Talion, the rat complaining about his mate who ran away and the three rat kids they have that just never give him a moment’s peace. She offered to take him with her and he went back under the sink where he and his rat wife yelled at each other. Then he came to Valerie and she coaxed it to ride her shoulder, learning his name was Hor’se. Talion was helped out of the hole while the rat was staring at him with its beady eyes and a foul expression on its rat face.
We all went back up the landing to heal up when the group realized Ned Shakeshaft was missing. No one could remember exactly when he disappeared but his absence did have the group on edge and upset.
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Meet 37, Adv 4.1, 1/20/18
The party has come upon the 2nd warren now, a one time Randari Keep that had been the victim of a dwarven assault a century ago, repurposed by the enterprising kobolds for their efforts. The deduction is there are 25, 30 kobolds within - too many for the group to face head on but with some forethought and some planning, they should be able to address the problem and resolve it in smaller bites and doses.
Right now, it's problem one - how do we get inside without the kobolds knowing we're there? The longer the party can keep their presence a secret, the more effective they can be in whittling the enemy down.
Write up follows:
We spent the rest of the day with Dinka the Cyclops and it was on the morning of Firemonth the 22nd that we bid our farewell to Narnul and Dinka, Einar accompanied by the carnivorous sheep which we nicknamed “Shog” affectionately. We left the tower and remains of the keep and made our way north and west to the huge tunnel carved into the base of the Long Ridge Mountain. 40’ wide, 30’ tall, vaulted with roughly 15’ height clearance on the sides, emblazoned across the top in orcish script and common were the words “Eskerton Tunnel System, Praise to Kaiser Gruntuush”. The walls were sound and the dwarves in the party gave the tunnel (at least this part of it), thumbs up for safety.
We entered with care, our footsteps echoing ahead of us as we walked along. Roughly every 300’ was a small carve out on the right hand side where an alcove had been placed and a simple long stone bench was located. There was a dripping somewhere in the gloom and nothing else but a cool breeze ahead of us. The tunnel was so long that we saw nothing down at the end of it, just a long black expanse.
We walked along in our globe of light until even the light behind us to the entrance grew smaller and then faded away. We had already walked over 3,000 feet and the temperature had cooled to a mid-50’s as we trod along. Food and drink came out and we walked and ate with quiet care.
At around 4,700 feet (according to the 3 dwarves in the group) we could see a seam where the tunnel was canted to the right by an inch or two. It was deduced that the ancient orcs dug from both sides and this is where the two tunnels met. For almost a mile, even the dwarves were grudging in their praise for only being a couple of inches off from perfect.
We continued on and at 6,000 feet we could see a tiny pinprick of light ahead, letting us know the tunnel was open on the other side as well. As for denizens or anyone else in the tunnel? We did come upon a 9’ ogre sleeping off his walk in the tunnel, but doused our light, gave him a wide berth, and continued on our way without waking or disturbing him. It was about 10 AM when we emerged from the tunnel on the other side of the ridge and had a chance to look around.
Before us was the remains of an orcish keep reduced to rubble from the long ago dwarven assault and the passage of time. The ground sloped down to a valley ahead of us some 1,000 down, with a kidney shaped lake about a mile and a half long and half again as wide. From the distance we could see reed boats pulled up to the shore at the northern end. The ground was a thick mass of scrub and small trees interspersed with needle-like tall grasses. The slopes of the nearby mountains were festooned with Douglas fir trees, the ground beneath them thick with pine needles and juniper bushes.
We decided to look for an acceptable base camp on this side of the tunnel, going almost a mile from the entrance and heading partway up the ride to look for a natural cave we could use. The area was promising and with Einar’s guidance and the three..no four dwarves (Merica, Dizzy, Hjalgrim…and Percy!) we came upon a cave that would do for us. We swept it clean of old scat, gathered some branches and fallen timber for a fire tonight and then by 12, were ready to head to the north end of the lake and try to find the K’Morat Warren from there.
The trip overland was without issue, only the difficult terrain slowing us down being the culprit. Eventually we arrived at the north end of the lake and looked over the boats. Half a dozen, thick reeds and low in the water type, bound together with natural woven hemp fibers and the larger reads capped with a sticky tree tar to give them extra buoyancy. We suspected they were kobold boats and for our size we could, if need be put 3 of us in each boat.
From here we did note many kobold tracks and followed them from the lake to the west and northwest, heading into the thick canopy of trees as we did our best to find the kobold Warren. It was almost 4 when we stumbled upon the still standing walls of an Orcish keep. The Outer Bailey walls were 20’ tall, the tops rounded and no longer crenelated. There were three towers, with only the northeast one still fully standing at 45’ in height, the northwest and west towers looked like they had been compromised sometime in the past and stood open at the tops at 35’ and 30’.
Some places in the thick walls showed huge gaps that had been repaired with cut lengths of tree trunks, rubble, and mud. We could see over the wall the inner keep itself and there was a barbican near the front with part of a portcullis hanging down and after a few minutes of watching, at least 2 kobolds hiding up there and looking over into the woods. The trees themselves had been cleared from the walls to a space of 40’, giving anyone watching an unobstructed view of anyone approaching.
We circled the keep, staying to the woods and watched for an hour or so as the afternoon waned on. From the northeast tower we did note that crows were seen entering and exiting, giving up concern as to what the K’Morat Shaman might have at his disposal. We also were able to hear occasional porcine noises within, so a boar or the like within? Finally as the sun was setting, a lone kobold walked the parapet and set up metal nest sconces every 30’, illuminating the wall itself and allowing them see approaches and/or attempted scaling.
Enough. We decided to not head back the 3 hours to the original cave we had chosen for base camp, and instead went up the slope north and east of the keep to the craggy areas where we sussed out another cave, this one 6-7’ high and perhaps 20’ deep, covered by a leaning tree and root ball. We cleaned it, set up bedrolls, ate our meal and discussed our options.
The end result was we’d go back tomorrow (the 23rd) and scout the place out. Perhaps set up a distraction and see how they respond. Count how many leave or come during the day. There was also talk of climbing one of the western towers and entering that way. Was there possibly an underground entrance?
We set up a tent near the entrance of the cave and littered the group with caltrops to deter visitors before the party went to sleep. No one bothered us during the night and when we awoke the next morning we broke our fast, gathered up the caltrops, cleaned the place, broke our fast, prayed and studied and were out of the cave on our way back to the Warren/Keep by 8:30.
Right now, it's problem one - how do we get inside without the kobolds knowing we're there? The longer the party can keep their presence a secret, the more effective they can be in whittling the enemy down.
Write up follows:
We spent the rest of the day with Dinka the Cyclops and it was on the morning of Firemonth the 22nd that we bid our farewell to Narnul and Dinka, Einar accompanied by the carnivorous sheep which we nicknamed “Shog” affectionately. We left the tower and remains of the keep and made our way north and west to the huge tunnel carved into the base of the Long Ridge Mountain. 40’ wide, 30’ tall, vaulted with roughly 15’ height clearance on the sides, emblazoned across the top in orcish script and common were the words “Eskerton Tunnel System, Praise to Kaiser Gruntuush”. The walls were sound and the dwarves in the party gave the tunnel (at least this part of it), thumbs up for safety.
We entered with care, our footsteps echoing ahead of us as we walked along. Roughly every 300’ was a small carve out on the right hand side where an alcove had been placed and a simple long stone bench was located. There was a dripping somewhere in the gloom and nothing else but a cool breeze ahead of us. The tunnel was so long that we saw nothing down at the end of it, just a long black expanse.
We walked along in our globe of light until even the light behind us to the entrance grew smaller and then faded away. We had already walked over 3,000 feet and the temperature had cooled to a mid-50’s as we trod along. Food and drink came out and we walked and ate with quiet care.
At around 4,700 feet (according to the 3 dwarves in the group) we could see a seam where the tunnel was canted to the right by an inch or two. It was deduced that the ancient orcs dug from both sides and this is where the two tunnels met. For almost a mile, even the dwarves were grudging in their praise for only being a couple of inches off from perfect.
We continued on and at 6,000 feet we could see a tiny pinprick of light ahead, letting us know the tunnel was open on the other side as well. As for denizens or anyone else in the tunnel? We did come upon a 9’ ogre sleeping off his walk in the tunnel, but doused our light, gave him a wide berth, and continued on our way without waking or disturbing him. It was about 10 AM when we emerged from the tunnel on the other side of the ridge and had a chance to look around.
Before us was the remains of an orcish keep reduced to rubble from the long ago dwarven assault and the passage of time. The ground sloped down to a valley ahead of us some 1,000 down, with a kidney shaped lake about a mile and a half long and half again as wide. From the distance we could see reed boats pulled up to the shore at the northern end. The ground was a thick mass of scrub and small trees interspersed with needle-like tall grasses. The slopes of the nearby mountains were festooned with Douglas fir trees, the ground beneath them thick with pine needles and juniper bushes.
We decided to look for an acceptable base camp on this side of the tunnel, going almost a mile from the entrance and heading partway up the ride to look for a natural cave we could use. The area was promising and with Einar’s guidance and the three..no four dwarves (Merica, Dizzy, Hjalgrim…and Percy!) we came upon a cave that would do for us. We swept it clean of old scat, gathered some branches and fallen timber for a fire tonight and then by 12, were ready to head to the north end of the lake and try to find the K’Morat Warren from there.
The trip overland was without issue, only the difficult terrain slowing us down being the culprit. Eventually we arrived at the north end of the lake and looked over the boats. Half a dozen, thick reeds and low in the water type, bound together with natural woven hemp fibers and the larger reads capped with a sticky tree tar to give them extra buoyancy. We suspected they were kobold boats and for our size we could, if need be put 3 of us in each boat.
From here we did note many kobold tracks and followed them from the lake to the west and northwest, heading into the thick canopy of trees as we did our best to find the kobold Warren. It was almost 4 when we stumbled upon the still standing walls of an Orcish keep. The Outer Bailey walls were 20’ tall, the tops rounded and no longer crenelated. There were three towers, with only the northeast one still fully standing at 45’ in height, the northwest and west towers looked like they had been compromised sometime in the past and stood open at the tops at 35’ and 30’.
Some places in the thick walls showed huge gaps that had been repaired with cut lengths of tree trunks, rubble, and mud. We could see over the wall the inner keep itself and there was a barbican near the front with part of a portcullis hanging down and after a few minutes of watching, at least 2 kobolds hiding up there and looking over into the woods. The trees themselves had been cleared from the walls to a space of 40’, giving anyone watching an unobstructed view of anyone approaching.
We circled the keep, staying to the woods and watched for an hour or so as the afternoon waned on. From the northeast tower we did note that crows were seen entering and exiting, giving up concern as to what the K’Morat Shaman might have at his disposal. We also were able to hear occasional porcine noises within, so a boar or the like within? Finally as the sun was setting, a lone kobold walked the parapet and set up metal nest sconces every 30’, illuminating the wall itself and allowing them see approaches and/or attempted scaling.
Enough. We decided to not head back the 3 hours to the original cave we had chosen for base camp, and instead went up the slope north and east of the keep to the craggy areas where we sussed out another cave, this one 6-7’ high and perhaps 20’ deep, covered by a leaning tree and root ball. We cleaned it, set up bedrolls, ate our meal and discussed our options.
The end result was we’d go back tomorrow (the 23rd) and scout the place out. Perhaps set up a distraction and see how they respond. Count how many leave or come during the day. There was also talk of climbing one of the western towers and entering that way. Was there possibly an underground entrance?
We set up a tent near the entrance of the cave and littered the group with caltrops to deter visitors before the party went to sleep. No one bothered us during the night and when we awoke the next morning we broke our fast, gathered up the caltrops, cleaned the place, broke our fast, prayed and studied and were out of the cave on our way back to the Warren/Keep by 8:30.
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