Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-wait...Adventure?
Session 10, The Hill
We got started very, very, very late. Very late. But hey, we had a lot of laughs! Caasi's player was forced to drop at the last minute due to illness, but Kane's player, who had earlier cancelled due to a flight, got in early enough to join us. Kane had heard a recent rumour of a master bowyer in the town of Helix, near the Moor...
Gathered around the table in the Lion’s Den were Caasi, Endithas Wolfram, Kalasandr, and Kane. They were studying the small carved area of the table that represented the layout of the dungeon under the Ruined Monastery on the The Hill.
“I say we head back past here… see if that’s where the King is hiding!” Kalasandr pointed at an area beyond where they had explored.
“I want a bow.”
Kalasandr looked up at Kane, frowning. The laconic elf rarely spoke, and the remark had caught Kalasandr off guard. Had he heard that right?
“Uhhh…pardon?” he asked, waiting for Kane to clarify as everyone stared at the elf, expectantly.
Kane’s eyes narrowed, “A bow of masterful construction,” he said, as if that explained his earlier interjection.
“But…” Endithas began, a look of deep confusion on his face as he looked at his companions, “…but, what does that have to do with where the King is?” he finished, turning back to the elf. Kane was gone.
“How does he do that?!” Endithas said, whirling ’round to scan the room. Kane was nowhere to be found.
“I feel unwell.” Caasi said.
Kalasandr and Endithas turned to the cleric as she continued, “I hear the voices of the Immortals. I must rest, and meditate on this!” she said, before turning on her heel and marching out of the public house.
“Well…” Kalasandr said, sounding dejected, “…now what?”
“We head here.” Kalasandr and Endithas started, turning back to the carved table to see Kane pointing at the table.
“How do you DO that?!” Endithas nearly shouted.
“Right, let’s get going. Before anyone else disappears!” Kalasandr finished, turning and heading towards the door.
24th of Felmont, AC 999
Characters: Endithas Wolfram (Fighter 2), Erasmus (Endithas’ Henchman), Kalasandr (Thief 3), Solla & Waevryn (Kalasandr’s Henchmen), Kane (Elven Ranger 2), Gareth Ironhand (Kane’s Henchman), and 3 hunting dogs and 1 wardog belonging to Kane.
Mortal Wounds: None
Deaths: None
Leveled: None
The party made the uneventful trip back to the Monastery, climbing over the courtyard wall to spend the night, uninterrupted. With the light of morning, they passed into the dark, only to discover a group of Goblins holed up behind barricades in the guardroom. A brief fusillade of ineffective missile fire was exchanged before the Goblins fled down the stairs to the dungeon below, with the party in pursuit.
The Goblins quickly lost the party, and as the group searched for the humanoids, they spotted light from the torture chamber they had previously cleared. A glance past the door revealed a group of Goblins tending to the fire and various other implements of pain. Unfortunately, the Goblins spotted the party, and Endithas Wolfram charged the room, the massive man cutting down three Goblins before they even swung their weapons! As they fell like wheat before the scythe, Kane dropped three more, feathered shafts sprouting from their bodies. In the span of a few heartbeats, they had cut through seemingly all the Goblins, and silence descended on the room.
A quick search led to Kane discovering a lone Goblin, hiding beneath a bunk in one of the holding cells at the back of the torture chamber. In one fluid motion Kane drew, knocked, and fired an arrow at the Goblin’s head. And missed.
The elf’s eyes widened in shock, before he blustered, “Um… tell us..ahhh…where… the King is. Or… umm…the next one! …won’t miss? Ahem.”
Rough questioning followed, as the Goblin attempted to save its own skin, pointing to an area directly south of where the party currently was. For its trouble, they put it out of its misery. They now knew where to find the King!
Deciding to cut through the maze of secret rooms connected to the shrine to He Who Shall Not Be Named, the party cautiously listened at each secret door, wary of their surroundings. Their caution meant that they heard many humanoid voices in the shrine itself before entering, but they unfortunately decided to crack the secret door without masking their light sources. Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Bugbears are well suited to living in total darkness, and the monsters in the evil shrine immediately noticed the light from party’s torches and lantern. The party drew back into the room, but could soon hear the sound of the secret door they had opened being barricaded from the other side.
Realising they were being cornered, the group immediately withdrew through the secret rooms and passages, back to the main corridor. There they set a clever ambush, spreading military oil before the secret entrance that the humanoids would most likely try to attack them from, and then waiting with hooded light sources down a side passage, listening intently for the sound of the monsters opening the secret door in their attempt to ambush the party.
Their patience was soon rewarded, and they caught the humanoids entirely by surprise, a single flaming arrow igniting the oil before spread before the door. Several Hobgoblins died shrieking, immolated in the conflagration before they knew what had happened. Endithas and Gareth then led the charge, slamming into the remaining Hobgoblins from their flank. Their morale held as the Bugbear in their midst motivated them with threats and curses, until it, too, was cut down by the party’s assault. The last of the Hobgoblins tried to flee, and were cut down in the attempt.
Standing victorious over the corpses of their ambushers, the party decided the withdraw from the dungeon to hunt the King another day.
With the time already quite late, we left it there, with the party returning to Guido’s Fort without incident.