Meet 68, Adv 4.2, 11/17/18

I run a low magic game and typically higher level spells aren't seen. The party had a chance to shoot off a Wall of Fire and it performed exactly as you would expect a circular conflagration of 20' tall destruction to perform.

Write up follows:

Avulstein cracked the grimoire and began reading directly from the spellbook – the words turned to fire and ash, coalescing around the wizard as he intoned the spell, the temperature in the room growing warmer, and then with a final flourish, the last word burned away and a 20’ tall curtain of flame sprung up about 10’ from the wizard. It hit the ceiling and then swarmed around the party, encircling them in a column of fire. The flames were colorful and warm on our side- but the opposite side was an inferno as we could hear the superheated air consume the grasses and fungi about.

We walked slowly, the wall of fire moving with us, as we hugged the right hand wall, Shimlagesh used the wand of water to put of the flaming grasses that were in front of us as we walked, turning the ground to a sodden mess of dirt and char. Occasionally a stick flew through the wall but it had no effect on us as we walked along.

At one point the column roared to the right as we passed the side passage and we espied a burning kobold with a flatbow on the ground, dead from the inferno as it waved over him. As the minutes passed on and we crossed the entirety of the room, Avulstein let us know the spell was fading and the group shuffled positions as we anticipated facing a number of kobolds.

And we were correct. As the fire fell away we were at the base of the shaft out of the room where three kobolds were here, two with flatbows, one with a spear. From the main room were a half dozen of the Matron Brood guards and one in a purple tabard, as well as two rat dogs, a giant lynx, and a wolverine.

Combat ensued with the group giving and returning fire, Negan and Einar taking one side of the combat while Percy and Hjalgrim were front line on the opposite side. Bolts were fired, spears tossed, Thalin wanted everyone to stay back as he volleyed a sleep spell at the tabard wearing kobold – dropping his animals but not him. Magic missiles shot out and the group held their own pretty well.

By the next round it all fell apart as the enemy kobolds pushed their way into our times and Darius found himself with nowhere to retreat to to sling stones. Shim was caught in melee and the only one of the flatbowers was down, Hjalgrim running into the fight to take the next one – getting shot for his efforts. Sybil was facing an enemy too close and a lucky bullet from Darius while he could still sling took him out. Negan was losing hit points and the enemy Shaman summoned some aid to fight against the group, allowing us to do the same and call our own conjured creature – a battle axe wielding bugbear.

A Dawn spell woke up the animals and the Wolverine charged the group, a rat dog biting and gnawing on the Halfling who was struggling to keep it off of her. Our undead kobold collapsed and a group of 4 more brood mothers finally came into the room from the western side and send more javelins tearing into Negan who was hemorrhaging hit points. Hjalgrim was pretty hurt and the party took down the last of the rear guard, Percy healing the cavalier who ran to help the party on the other side of the fight.

We brought the fight closer to the Shaman (Untar for sure) who was taking shot after shot and Negan picked up one of the kobolds, held him over head, and charged the 4 who were using the furnishings as cover, smashing two of them down and then barreling through the mess to engage them one on one. Avulstein tore into one of the group and Darius was able to sling once again as we poured on the last of our attacks. Untar went down in a spray of smoke and ash – tabard was missing!

And with her death, the last of the kobolds went to run but Negan hacked them to bits. We rested briefly, counted what spells and potions were remaining, and then healed what we could – hoarding our diminishing number of spells with care. Skita was with us as we were once again mostly healed and made our way to the slope up.

There was a chain on the walls with a candle lit about half way up in three places towards the top of the slope, balanced an “O” ring turned sideways. The floor was clean and shiny and the group wanted to avoid walking on it assuming fire.

We then heard Untar above – seemed on her death she “bamfed” up to the next room where she informed us that we needed to leave. We wanted our friends. We were monsters. Not going without our group.

Back and forth we went and then we decided we were going to have to have a calmer rapport with Untar and hopefully the High Shaman. We eventually made a deal where we would go with him to the Keep, leaving Skita and two of ours behind, and arrange a deal with the High Shaman to get our group and go. Not good, not at all – but we know there are other kobold Brood Mothers up there and according to Skita, a big assed Dire Bear – plus how would we navigate the city at night and not get caught?

Einar volunteered to stay behind – best bet since he had died recently and was functioning poorly. Sybil offered to stay with him as the fight took a lot out of her and she was feeling more worn out that expected. The rest of us agreed to go and we entered the upper cavern with care. Lots of fungi here, huge loaves of it. Some drying racks and stretched leather. And to the north the sound of “making love”, kobold style from the amorous caves. There was indeed Untar up here, over a dozen and a half kobolds (only about 5 were brood wardens), and a 10’ tall spiked shoulder bear. Like ridiculous bear.

Untar was happy to see Skita in good shape and we left Einar and Sybil here to rest and with good faith, the druid giving the rod of resurrection to Negan for safe keeping, and the group headed east. It was a walk through the sloped corridor to a set of stairs that took us to the back of a temple to Freya – where tow kobolds and a kobold GHOUL on a FUCKING CHAIN leash were waiting for us! Crap, glad we didn’t have to face that!

We then went through the temple to the main prayer room where there was a saying written in Orcish on the wall over the entrance about “disabling” these wards – with the word “enabling” set off and to the bottom. Avulstein, Thalin, and Shim were able to read it, and when they did, the words shifted a bit and the two words, enable and disables swapped positions – meaning whatever wards were in place were NOW disabled! And the kobolds have no written language and the words were in orcish – so chances are whatever wards were in place were the same ones the kobolds had in place over 123 years ago when this was an orcish city – and we just ended them!

Unsure what we did and wanting to give nothing away, the three magic users clammed up and we followed Untar and the escorts through the city until we arrived at the Central Keep where we were on our way to meet the High Shaman and eventually get our party members back.

Meet 67, Adv 4.2, 11/10/18

The party had to deal with prisoner kobold women, many of who were pregnant. They were terrified of the group, referring to them as monsters often, and in some cases would rather take their own life than face the group.

Some of the party members were "they are vermin, exterminate them" and other had the opposite mind set. It's a subject that comes up now and again in mature gaming groups: Are we Murder-hobos or not? And sometimes the discussions are pretty eye opening. Especially when I can see the "person" at the table having a hard time behaving in way that their character might, but they are ill betide to behave as.

Write up follows:

We wanted to secure where we were for now. The first thing we did was shut the door from the Nave to the private rooms on the south wall while a few of the party members went about properly securing Skita with ropes to keep her hands bound and hobbled. Then a three count of us went to the Narthax and spent a long time moving the heavy stone pews in front of the door frame to confound anyone who might try to come in that way.

While the rest of us were policing the bodies, Darius, Hjalgrim, and Sybil wanted to check the place over to make sure no one was hiding about waiting to sneak out on us. There were three doors on both of the far sides of the Nave, the eastern center which one was cracked open where Skita had emerged from. On the western wall there was a set of steps that went up to a landing where a statue of Odin and Frigga in an embrace was situated and then continued to the 2nd floor. During the combat at least 1 pregnant kobold had run that way.

Not sure what we were going to face, the threesome drew up together and then proceeded up the stairs with care. After the landing were another 5 steps and then the second floor. There were three doors up here, one ahead of us, one a bit to the right, and a 3rd on the other side of the weak overhang around the railing.

We could hear whimpering from the door ahead of us and we made to enter, Hjalgrim calling out that those inside had a chance to give up and no harm would come to them (Darius’ looked on unbelieving) and then assured them that if they did not surrender, it would go poorly. Then it was door opening time and as the door was shoved open, there was the sound of falling furniture and a heavy dresser dropped down in front of the door, preventing it from opening more than 30% and giving us a narrow view of the room.

There were kobolds in here, some of them crying, bedroom of some sort. Kobold near the entrance with a broken chair leg, another with a shaft of busted wood, a third beyond with a rock held overhead. All of them looked pregnant. There were others, towards the side and out of view but they were screaming and crying and we heard the sound of wood twisting. Based upon this room, it was on the 2nd floor overlooking the front of the Temple. And we knew there were shuttered windows on the outside. Some were trying to escape.

The combat was …short and brutal. Sling stones flew, breaking ribs and shattering hands. The dwarven knight pushed his way further in and as two of the very gravid kobolds in here got the shuttered open, he strode past them all and pushed them aside, dragging the window closed. One of the kobold women was so terrified she slashed her own throat in response to seeing these “monsters” and died at our feet. Another had a length of broken glass and was looking for a place to stab Hjalgrim with it but she dropped it in despair.

Shim was called and the gnomish sorcerer ran up the steps in order to help, unrolling his whip and slapping the chair leg wielding kobold in the side of the face, laying her check open and driving her back to the ground. The remaining 5 kobold women, sobbing and miserable, dropped their makeshift weapons and surrendered, falling in line to Hjalgrim’s gesturing.

Darius led them downstairs with Sybil while Hjalgrim and Shim continued to check the upstairs. One of the three that was gravid suddenly spasmed and her water broke, indicating her eggs were coming soon. Sybil helped her down the steps and when the group arrived at the Nave, she was already dropping eggs. Skita was aghast and wanted to take her immediately to the birthing chambers but we vetoed that. Darius was considering them vermin and we should just lock them in a closet and move on. The two upstairs had found two rooms filled with kobold nesting and an old plaque from the temple wall but little else and they came down. Thalin and Avulstein were studying a fast spell each (sleep and animate dead respectively).

The party was split about the treatment of the kobold women who were tearing up and Sybil was helping the birthing one by putting her eggs carefully in a small sack. Darius checked out the closest room and it was the original confessional that was being used a drying area for lengths of leather and then a closet that one or more of the lynx’s had been using as a lair at one point. Negan was herding them into the closet and it was upsetting to everyone involved when we had a different idea. What if we brought all the kobold women with us and when we were to trade Skita to the next shaman for their help, we can trade the kobold women as well?

It was the best of a shitty situation and Sybil took to shredding old sheets into ties and leads for the kobold women so they didn’t risk running away. As for the rest of the rooms here, Darius found the meeting room and then a lesser priest’s chamber where a wood carver had been making small wooden representations of Odin, but the All-father had a koboldian cast on him. Seeing little else, Darius swept the carvings to the floor with a sneer, muttering disgustedly, “That is NOT was Odin looks like” as he moved on. Inside one of the dresser drawers he did find some older female orcish sized underwear that he took with him, shoving into his backpack and avoiding making eye contact with the rest of the group.

The next chamber was the one Skita had come out of and the furnishings were in better repair. An older orcish shirt with a blood stain in the chest and a short sword busted in half took up part of the armoire. Some armorsmithing tools and a couple of racks of colorful stones on a string necklace. He did find what he assumed was Skita’s wedding veil and garland of flowers (dried and preserved) but left them where they were and looked on. Skita saw him emerge without any “booty” and she seemed to be more at ease.

The last chamber was another priest’s room with some javelins in various states of repair. There were also a long string in the corner with dried dwarven beards strung up on it, and after Sybil came to verify the find, the two of them left and said nothing about it to the rest of the group.

We waited for the 2 mages to finish their studying and then after Avulstein raised the last dead lynx, we all decided to make our way through the rest of the temple and then to the Birthing Caves beyond and under the Plateau. Hjalgrim took lead and we opened the door. A wavering older continual light torch gave off an orange glow here, illuminating a set of stairs going down to a dining area. To the right were a series of 10’ square cells or apartments and to the left was the remains of the kitchen but was now being used as a meat locker.

The dining area was a mass of three large tables with folded blankets and towels all over every surface. As we were checking them out we also looked at the apartments – used as kobold nests but about 5 of them had shredded washed white cloth mounded in the corners and the other two had big wooden tubs with a soupy mixture of water and the soaking shreds of rags.

Looking further about we found some presses under the table, four of them, crude but functioning paper presses for making sheets of paper. That’s what was going on here. Which was interested because kobolds do not have a written language and make no writing that we knew of. So they were making paper? Sure enough, under the blankets were sheets of drying paper. Most were still wet, but at least a dozen were usable. We took them and when Darius went to make to destroy the presses, it agitated the 6 kobold women with us and the group decided to leave the presses and not engage in needless wanton destruction.

The door on the south wall led to the outside and a narrow path through the cleft between plateau and slope of the mountain. We traveled along, almost 200 paces to the cave entrance. Symbols of a beatific orcish woman was looking down on other women who were pregnant was here on the sides of the wall, and a bin was below the image, filled with colorful stones and the ground below was littered with scores of pale yellowy rocks scattered about.

As we were going to pass on through, Skita mimed making an offering to the bin but no one had any stones of color. A burnt out mana crystal was tossed in, but the group continued on, dragging the uncomfortable kobolds with them. The stink of kobolds and ammonia was strong as we entered and the dwarves all reported feeling a faint slope to the ground as we continued. After some dozen plus paces in the gloom we lit a lantern, gave it to Percy to hold, and went on to where the cave sloped up at about 30 degrees.

There was no rope or chain on the side wall to help the party climb, but there were eye-hooks still pressed into the rock. We took our time, pulling our way up the slope hand over hand until the ground leveled out and we could continue on. The corridor continued a few extra paces and then opened into a sizable chamber, with almost 20’ tall ceilings. The entrance was blocked off by a set of saw horses with wood and branches fastened to one side.

The floor of the chamber had a variety of stuffed and simple toys, a few bowls of a paste like paint, and signs that this was a nursery of some sort. There were two side passages, each blocked off by a lowered portcullis and at the far end of the chamber beyond the odd pots of lit candles was another passage leader further out and more under the city. We could hear the low sussuring noise coming from each passage interspersed with the odd yipping noises of immature kobolds.

With great care, we toted the two barriers out of the way and gave the chamber a once over. It seemed the juveniles and their handlers were most likely behind the portcullis – if we could cross without making noises or attracting attention, we should be alright. Hjalgrim took point as we moved the entire mass of us across the chamber towards the opposite side when we heard a querulous noise from the northern side passage.

A young kobold, maybe a foot shorter than the adults, was standing with his snout against the bars, watching the group and cooing. About 30’ past him was another set of portcullis, these half way up, and in there were many many shadowy figures in there. He chirped again in their yipping language, Avulstein and Sybil letting us know he was asking “Sweets?” We pantomimed him returning and he asked again, louder, for sweets in kobold. As we were all moving on, he started whining and shaking the bars, holding a hand out and demanding sweets.

Fuck.

We back pedaled and ran back to where we entered as we heard other kobolds, obviously adults, call out to the younger kobold. “Davierz?! What are you doing there!?!” “Sweets!” he yelled back at the three approaching matrons, “they won’t give me sweets!!”

Once just out of sight we hunched low and waited as the kobolds gave the chamber a brief look. There were some cuffing of the ear and some reprimanding and he was led back to the inner cave and the portcullis there was lowered with a series of ratcheting clanks.

We waited another few minutes and then crossed fast, getting to the other corridor out of here and the faint slope upward again. There was a stripe of dragged feces down the center of the slope here which Skita mimed was crap from the juveniles and was dragged each day up to the fungus room at the top of the breeding chamber.

We once more travelled along until the passage started to slope up again, 30 degrees. An orcish cast of Freya was on the wall here and we picked out way past it, each priest and druid in the group feeling a bit odd as we move on as if we passed by something important. At the top of the slope the group had a chance to see the next chamber which was larger than the last.

The walls and ceiling were covered in long logs of phosphorous fungi, bathing the chamber in a steady wavering blue-green glow. The middle of the room had a 14’ tall representation of Freya or Frigga looking down lovingly at the ground which was covered in a myriad maze of nesting material, in some places almost a foot tall and giving only limited space to walk between them. Again there were two portcullis blocked passages on the north and south part of the chamber and far across the room, the passage continued along and then up again. Running in a line bisecting most of the room were a string of dressers and bureaus all lined up one on the other and roped together, blocking most of the chamber from one side to the other.

We talked about getting by and Skita was growing agitated. She informed us this was the infants area and there should be a few others in the area, the chamber is never supposed to be empty like this.

And then she dropped to the ground, growled in pain and suddenly stood up – her eyes blazing and her voice different. She spoke in plain Common and demanded to know WHO the FUCK we were and WHAT the FUCK we were DOING with HER SUB-SHAMAN!?!?!

This must be her boss, the Shaman Untar. We sparred with her (him?!) back and forth as she informed us that she (he?!) was going to gouge our friends eyes out and skull fuck them for daring to touch any of her people. Branding us murderers and animals, she (he?!) informed us he was coming and they should prepare to die. And then the presence left and Skita stood up terrified, the other kobold women feeling the same.

From far behind us and echoing in our direction, we could hear the clanking or rising portcullis as someone in the chamber behind and below was making their way along. We talked about charging across and setting everything on fire but the bedding was damp. Skita let us know that the infants had guard animals as well, dogs, lynxes, and even a wolverine!

With another portcullis moving behind us, we suspected even more we were trapped between two foes. We wanted to slow one end of them down and move on and up but didn’t want to bring Skita the other kobolds with us anymore. The decision was to leave them behind in good shape to stop the approaching group and the rest of us run across the chamber and brave any foes we might find.

And then we remembered the spell book we had found earlier. One of the spells, a powerful one, was Wall of Fire – and we could center it around Avulstein and stay inside the 20’ diameter center and WALK the column of fire across the chamber, burn the nesting aside, Shimlagesh could use the water wand to deaden the flames as they appeared, and the fierce flames should force any kobolds in the chamber to give way and allow us to make it across the room and to the other side of the chamber.

So we explained briefly to the kobolds what the plan was, had them back away down the passage and  while Avulstein withdrew the spell book and we gathered close to the wizard, the group grew ready for the first of the flames to appear and make their way across the room.

Meet 66, Adv 4.2, 11/3/18

The group faced off against almost the entire compliment of the Temple grounds of the 3rd Warren this meeting and even though I had done 97 hp of damage to the group as a total, taking two of the party members out - the party did over 230 pts of damage to the kobolds in the same period of combat - thanks to the half-ogre and his great sword/cleave, and two very successful sleep spells that allows many coup de grace to speed things along.

With Skita, the Kobold sub-shaman in their control, their assault against the birthing caves and the K'Morat warriors there is hopefully going to go easier.

Write up follows:

We decided that we were going to go down to the K’Morat Warren just after evening and enter through the Temple off to the side as per the vision. This gave the group many hours to restudy spells, scribe a few, make some fire arrows, refill sling stone pouches, and be prepared. The day moved on and after eating and drinking our fill it was 6:30 when we left the crack of the cave after the last of the winged scouts had returned and made our way down the slope of Whitetop Mountain and keeping to the tree line as long as we possibly could.

Once we were safely on the plains floor we stayed to the tall grasses, the sheer slope of the mountain to our right as we picked our way closer and closer to the temple. As before, it was shaped like an enlarged “+” with a vaulted middle section where the main Nave might be. Two 25’ tall representations of Odin and Frigga stood outside the temple, fronted by 3 more warrior statues 10’ tall with spears pointed out. All of them had an orcish cast to their features.

The ground around the temple was covered in white and off-white stones, raked smooth. And herb garden was to the east of the temple along with a mound of mulch and a battered looking wheelbarrow. We picked our way through the path, skirting the statues until we arrived at the temple’s front door. The main doors had been breached long ago and the kobolds have replaced the top portion with planks of timber and the lower 5’ with a curtain of leather and furs. We could faintly hear voices from within through the broken windows but no one was in the next chamber. The smell of burnt cinnamon and onions were strong, indicative the kobolds were nearby.

We scouted enough to be sure the place was empty and then entered, taking great care to avoid making any real noise. We were in the Narthax, a bit shabby with wooden rails and a four count of pews shoved about. Einar commented he smelled cat but no one had seen any yet. The Narthax was 40’ square and there was an opening on the south wall along with a set of stairs that went down. The passage was blocked by another curtain of leather.

Negan and Hjalgrim took point, verifying there were over a dozen kobolds in the next chamber and none of them were together in a single place. There was a rope hanging from the belfry above and the group was adamant – no one gets near the rope or pulls that bell or we’re all dead. So everyone readied weapons and with a slash at the curtain, we charged into the room.

Negan barreled forward, overran a pregnant kobold female, and using his greatsword hacked the closest armor wearing kobold in twain before stepping one foot on the trailing rope chain and preparing to fight the next bunch that were there. Hjalgrim followed suit, charging along with Negan but slipped at the last moment in front of a kobold, lost his spear, and got stabbed for his efforts! Fumble!

The rest of the group had a look at the room and we drew in the measure of what we were facing. At least half a dozen of the kobolds in here were wearing brigandine armor, were thicker, stronger, and better fed and equipped than most of the other kobolds we had seen. The rest were decidedly female and were either about to give birth based upon the distending bellies they had or very pregnant.

Magic Missiles flew about the chamber followed by 2 sleep spells – especially when we noticed that the kobolds in here also had 2 almost puma sized long eared lynxes in here! Crossbows were shot and the kobolds massed forward, Negan taking the first damages (not counting Hjalgrim’s halted assault). Einar went left while he sent Shog to the right to intercept the lynx there, the carnivorous sheep braying and biting at the feline.

As we were fighting, some of the kobolds were thinking about running but others were kicking the sleeping ones in an effort to wake them up. And the door on the eastern side of the room flew open and three kobolds and ANOTHER lynx came out! Darius killed one with a well slung stone and the group readied themselves to face the adding throng. One of the kobolds on the west side turned and ran upstairs, yelling and screaming as she did so. Avulstein sent Salarahadra up to the belfry with directions for the mephit to burn the rope/chain off the housing in case Negan was unable to hold his ground. She flew up there and fired her flame blast at 3’ from the thick chain, pouring on the fire as much as her small body was able to.

One of the kobolds that came out was wearing a battered purple tabard and when she was bending down as if casting a spell, Shim’s magic missiles arced around the chamber and caught her in mid casting, spoiling her efforts.

Einar took down another kobold and Bruce helped drop one as Sybil fired rocks at the wounded kobold, finishing her off. We had a nice wave going as the kobolds were trying to gather enough forces to stand against the group who had split into three or four knots of combat. Negan took another few stabs and wiped out another warrior kobold with a wave of his 5’ long sword. The kobold warriors were splintering shields left and right and a few of them actually knocked the odd crossbow out of the way.

Hjalgrim and Percy ran to Einar’s side as the Half-orc had attracted the attention of the tabard wearing kobold who proved herself to be a very skilled fighter, laying the druid open at one point and easily getting past his defenses. Shog took an almost mortal wound and Bruce dropped out of the sky to attack the lynx, allowing the sheep to withdraw as the group advanced closer to the enemy.

More kobolds boiled down the stairs and entered the fight, spears flying as Avulstein tore one of the kobolds apart with claw and teeth. Another sleep spell was fired by Thalin and the new knot of approaching kobolds fell over asleep – including the lynx! Sybil went to go finish off the sleeping ones while Negan killed off another kobold, leaving just one to face him.

And then the door on the south wall opened up and three more kobolds charged in, hitting the half-ogre again – dropping him to the teens in hit points with over 50% of his health whittling away.

Hjalgrim was supporting Einar who was facing a lynx and the head K’Morat, Percy stabbing in conjunction with the dwarven knight’s attacks, the two of them doing incredible damage. Salarahadra was above screaming as she roasted the chain – the area smoking and sparking, the metal turning dull red under her assault. Negan took a nasty shot in the leg and then it happened – Einar was given a mortal blow and dropped to -6 hit points!

Shog, with a single hit point remaining, screamed his head off and ran back into the fight, ripping into an armored kobold near Einar and biting its arm wide open. Hjalgrim, Percy, and Shim were facing against the lead kobold and Negan was now below 10 hit points. We were killing the sleeping ones as fast as we could while Darius sent sling bullets flying every chance he got to drop another kobold. Negan hacked another kobold in half and the mephit above shouted in glee as the links she had been burning finally separated and fell down to the ground below, buffeting the half-ogre and the nearest kobold with the flailing metal.

The tide of the battle was about done now and with only a few kobolds still standing, the leader looked around sadly, lowered her spear and held up her hands in a sign of surrender.

Negan was at 6 out of 38 hit points, Einar was stabilized at -6, Hjalgrim was hurt bad, Shog was dead, Bruce was wounded – everyone that stood toe to toe with the kobolds was pretty hurt or dying. Healing was dispensed, wounds wrapped, the two shields that hadn’t been splintered were brought over to be shared and Negan went to work on Einar, getting the Druid back to positive hit points and then the druid healed himself more between potions and draughts.

There was a dead lynx and a live one – so Einar charmed the live one while the other was crafted into a zombie. The tabard wearing kobold was spoken to but communication was hard since she did not speak Common but we could understand kobold.

It was about 7:30 and we were going to finish bandaging up, look around, and carry on eventually to the caves beyond.

Meet 65, Adv 4.2, 10/27/18

Effectively a TPK for half the adventuring party (the sneaky half) save the wizard who as a wolverine, managed to trip during the fleeing and was lost under the underbrush for his efforts. Gigantic Spiders are a bitch for the group at 6 HD - and 4 of them made it really hard. But they did well all things considered - should have run away sooner.

So now it's up to the "fighty half" of the group to effect a combination rescue mission.infiltration of the bad guy's lair and do their thing.

Write up follows:

The group took their time making it towards the treeline which appeared as a darker shadow that grew closer as we approached in the faint moonlight. However, some 30-40’ shy of the treeline, the grasses grew sparse and ready cover disappeared. Meaning we would have to risk running across a sizable amount of clear ground and risk being seen by the watch towers on the city.

In addition, we could see many signs of older cuts and harvesting that had gone on here, many older spongy stumps were littering the ground in places, and there was still sign of juniper, sticker bushes, and other trash ground plants that were preventing the grassland from easily claiming this area. We decided to stay to the grasses as cover and make our way further north until the natural curve of the forested area would hide us from the kobold Warren.

Connal and Barb were having the worst of the time, the two tallest members having to alternately crawl as well as crab walk to stay below the tops of the grasses. Barb and Gryg also had the group spaced out to prevent us from leaving a trail in the grasses as much as possible.

Finally once far enough away, we crossed the clear area and hit the forest proper, making our way some two dozen paces in before we felt we were far enough away from the edge to be seen and changed our marching order to single file and plotted our course into the trees. Gryg had the feeling where the “lumbering” encampment and slaves might be, and from our location we were going to have to walk some distance into the trees (900+ feet) and then again south (over 1,000 feet).

The forest was mostly pines and firs, with the occasional oak or elm as a rarity sticking up. Most of the trees were very mature or old and the spacing between them was in some places 5’, and in others barely a foot and a half. The forest was dense. So we linked up, lined up, and made our way through the gloom and dark, Barb walking point and taking us on a curved trail that started veering north before turning south.

It was slow going, the party being as quiet as we can and picking our way through the trees and brush. After some 6 or 7 minutes of walking, it was Merica whose foot stepped on something sticky that lifted up against the forest floor and adhered to his boot. Leaves, dirt, vines, twigs – it was all stuck to his sole and we waited for him to draw his sword and scrape it clean. It then stuck to his sword edge and we had the chilling sense it might have been a cast of bit of fan webbing. Typically the spiders who give off fan webbing don’t give off nearly this much – which only heightened the groups worry. Eventually getting his blade clean on the side of a tree as well as a healthy dosing of oil, we discussed options and looked around.

According to infravision, there was nothing within range…BUT there had been something fairly big and amorphous not too far from here in the recent past in the trees. There was also a sound of a branch snapping in the forest, ahead of us and in the foliage. We discussed options and decided to turn south from here. We continued on, walking with greater care and eyes peeled. Eventually, after some time, we came up a stump of an oak that had been chopped down less than 6 months earlier. A bit further on, we spied another one. It seemed the kobolds had been harvesting oak trees, leaving the pines and firs. This provided us small pockets of clearing where the moonlight and starlight from above illuminated ragged circles of the forest floor.

As we continued on, Barb stopped us. At the edge of her infravision range, she saw an area of a tree where something large had been perched, then climbed down, stayed at the bole of the tree and then moved off. And it had to be only a few minutes ago tops given the sign was still there via heat source. There was some frantic whispering on what to do next and we changed direction almost 45 degrees towards the southwest and moved on. And after a dozen steps, stretched between two trees was a line of uncommonly thick webbing and Barb stepped right into it.

She stopped, pulled back a bit, and the strand separated from her and “twanged” in the silent dark.

We counted to 3…and heard movement on the trees overhead, lots of movement, and it was just outside our infravision range but getting closer.

Time to move and now.

The party made to run, when Barb was snagged around the hair and right arm, and then hoisted in the air by SOMETHING overhead. Connal jumped up and wrapped his arms around the half-orc, arresting her rise. Similar tendrils came down around Dizzy and Merica who were dancing about to avoid getting caught. Grygmiir jumped up and helped Dizzy, knife flashing and cutting the web free.

Our quarry were spiders – gigantic ones. 8’ diameter bodies with large articulated legs, and there were 4 of them above us. Crossbow bolts were fired and magic missiles flew, but our shots seemed ineffective.  The spiders made another bid to snag Barb who at this point raged, wrapped her hand upward and PULLED – dislodging the spider above and dropping it a good 15’ through broken branches.

Meanwhile Dizzy fired off a light spell straight up, illuminating one of the arachnids, and Salarahadra whistled around the battlefield firing off fire bolts at the webbing to drop the party’s friends.

During all of this, we spied a figure higher in the trees, humanoid, grey and brown in coloring, a distended lower jaw, leaning out of the tree and watching it all – working with the spiders. Connal whisked himself up on Barb’s shoulders and used her like a springboard to Jackie Chan himself part of the way up the tree.

Dizzy and Merica were hoisted up again, spinning quickly through the sky. Merica whipped out his sword and tried cutting the webbing, getting his blade tangled up in it, while Dizzy had his knife fouled for his efforts. As he was pulled closer to the arachnid, Dizzy called out a summon monster spell and a skeleton appeared. He had it show up just above him on the web, and then since it came with an axe – HACKED the web up there.

It cut! Who hoo!

And he fell 40’ out of the tree where he landed with a bone jarring crunch and stopped moving – dropped to -5.

Merica tied the free end of the rope around his waist and flung the other side out and around the trunk of the tree, holding it tight and stopping HIS rise up to the arachnid – the middle of a tug of war so to speak.

The spider assailing Barb dropped out of the tree while the humanoid figure charged at Connal down his own tree – and spit some sort of spray at the monk while giggling. Connal lost consciousness and fell – and Barb who was dodging the spider jumped and caught the monk, lowering him to the ground before whipping around and barely holding the spider back.

Avulstein had another spider drop by him after it made short work of Dizzy’s skeleton, where the beast tried to poison the wolverine who dodge away and turned to face it, his back by Dizzy along with Gryg. A healing draught was administered and Dizzy stopped losing hit points but they were having a rough time. Finally Avulstein fired off a Flaming Sphere spell, and a 6’ tall spinning ball of fire raced forward and caught the spider on its side, causing it to shy away.

Merica was having almost no luck until the spider let its web go and he fell 12’ and bounced on the tree – he then rappelled himself down as the spider dropped down the trunk and hit the dwarf like a piñata, spinning him wildly. He tried to hit the spider on his return but was ineffective. Meanwhile Avulstein spun his burning sphere across the floor again, setting the spider on fire some more. His efforts though were igniting the forest floor and the flames were starting to spread.

Barb was tackled from the side by another spider and then stabbed by the stinger – where she froze up and collapsed – three down.

Merica was then buffeted again and as he fell, was hit by the spider’s stinger and dropped – four down.

Salarahadra doused her flame, grabbed hold of Avulstein’s ruff as Gryg flipped Dizzy onto his back and the two (three..four??) or them RAN in what Gryg swore was the way out!

Crashing behind us were two of the giant spiders and from the trees above, the humanoid figure was leaping from branch to branch, laughing and giggling. This left 2 spiders back with the unconscious Barb, Connal, and Merica – but there was nothing we could do about it.

Avulstein kept pace with Gryg as the 2 of them ran – but the spiders were closing distance behind and getting closer with each labored breath. Just before they got too close, Gryg hoisted his arms up, and flipped Dizzy off his back and into the path of the running arachnid – who flipped end over end and spun about – furious and screaming behind as we ran off with only 1 on our back.

Breathing was getting labored and Gryg was dodging the blows of the arachnid as it tried to bat him about – each attempt momentarily slowed it down and the dwarf ran on. Avulstein was barely ahead but running in the darkness he tripped on a mass of roots and flipped end over end, plowing into the dirt and ending up under a mass of spilled branches and underbrush.

Gryg ran right past him and Salarahadra – and the spider kept pace! Didn’t even notice Avulstein who was digging into the forest floor as fast as he could, leave and needles mounded over him and the doused mephit. They stayed quiet and listened to the running Gryg, spider, and tree leaping humanoid as they got further and further away and then Gryg’s one lone scream and then quiet – followed by a victory cry from the humanoid.

The two of them stayed quiet, falling into an exhausted sleep as the rest of the party was rounded up and injected by the spider’s venom and then wrapped in layers of webbing and dragged away.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group had been positioned on the slope of Whitetop Mountain, waiting to see if any fruit came about from the “sneaky” team and their forays. It was some time later they saw lights in the forest, and then movement. So did the kobolds who issued forth a 40 to 50 group of warriors who emerged from the gates and went down into trees.

We waited, aghast as a half hour or so later – MANY more figures emerged, along with a 6 count of humongous spiders. They were toting bound up figures with care, leading them to the walled city were more kobolds came to meet them, eventually they all went into the city and the group could look on as our friends were now in the K’Morat clutches. Eventually we saw the spiders leave along with 8-20 figures, heading back to the woods.

We returned to the crack cave and thought long and hard on what happened. We needed to rescue our friends as the consensus was they were brought back as if still alive – so that’s what we were going with.

We awoke later the next day, tired and started going through plans and ideas. Thalin, Hjalgrim, Shimlagesh, Darius, Negan, Sybil, Einar, and Percy – could we assault the Warren? It seemed suicidal.

But we did remember the traveler had left us some scrying weed from the Aurora – and Hjalgrim lit it, asking rhetorically to the powers that be – what is the best way to rescue our friends.

He had a disturbing number of views in which each possible way into the Warren ended up with the group slaughtered and lost. The best way in that had any chance was going in through the temple, TAKING a kobold in a purple tabard with us, then going through the birthing caves and NOT killing any juvenile kobolds – and then after something with a bear, emerging into the streets, waiting for nightfall, and getting to the main keep where we fought our way to the High Shaman and either traded a purple tabarded kobold to it for the group or fought the High Kobold for our friends.

When the vision ended and it was shared with the party, we went over plans to attack and rescue and it was then that Avulstein and Salarahadra showed up! Exhausted, filthy, tired, they joined us at the cave and we all shared what we learned together.

The rescue for our friends was going to happen and happen soon.