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Story Hour
5e - Into the Mouths of Madness
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<blockquote data-quote="howandwhy99" data-source="post: 5967268" data-attributes="member: 3192"><p>It was after midnight when Spike, Andro, Jozan, Niddler, and Bob Johnson climbed aboard the riverboat. They were fairly beaten up and even though they had woken but an hour or so ago, it felt like they had put in a full day’s work. Still, this was the first night since their arrival at midday and they had already accomplished quite a bit. </p><p></p><p>Frederique, the riverboat captain, was on deck and immediately began inquiring about her and her crew’s share of the loot. You see, upon a previously arranged agreement she and her all woman crew were to escort our intrepid band of treasure hunters to the accursed Castle Greyhawk and then return them back to the Free City after they had amassed their fortune. As of yet though, no one had been paid. After a bit of back and forth the two groups arrived at equitable terms: Jozan gave her a golden ring with a bright red ruby found during the party’s looting. The captain slipped it on her finger.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>“And that is only a payment, you understand? There are no other strings attached with me giving you a ring!” </strong></em></p><p></p><p>Spike, the other dwarf, explained the terms of how the ring was a down payment to Frederique and her crew for the previous week’s travel and now for sticking around in such a dangerous area. Besides, they needed a safe spot to withdraw to as so far the group had only managed to run in to trouble. In the end it was agreed the trip would last a month and a fortnight and that Frederique would be paid again within the next three days. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: Sienna"><em><strong>“But what happened to the third dwarf who went with you?”</strong></em></span> asked the captain. <span style="color: Sienna"><em><strong>“There were six of you.”</strong></em></span></p><p><strong><em>“Oh yeah, Tordek’s dead”</em></strong> replied Niddler.</p><p></p><p>After learning the original rowboat disappearing shortly after sundown, the party made plans for their next excursion into <strong>The Mouths of Madness[sup]TM[/sup]</strong> and the bowels of <strong>Castle Zagyg[sup]TM[/sup]</strong>. In other words, they decided to stay away and chill for thirty-six hours with the all-female crew. </p><p></p><p>Time passed slowly with half the party below deck and the other half hanging out with two of the sailors on night’s watch. Other than a discussion about deities between our two clerics, Bob and Jo-, there was no action aboard boat. The rest of the crew was already asleep for the night. Things went slowly for Spike too who wasn’t getting any action either after his propositions were denied. Next thing you know, out of the corner of his eye, Bob Johnson spotted a shadowy figure hanging onto the gunwale of the boat. Running over to investigate he came upon two large hairy humanoids with faces like hyenas. [Yeah, they were that ugly.] They were armed with handaxes and shortbows and wore leather armor with fur sticking out from every gap. Bob also noticed a rather familiar flat-bottom rowboat floating behind them. </p><p></p><p><em><strong><span style="color: Red">“Uhh… Permission to come aboard?”</span></strong></em> one said in the common tongue. </p><p></p><p>Bob thought about the question for a second, shrugged, and asked the two women on watch. The first one screamed hell and bloody murder and a battle broke out. The two fired their shortbows at the intruders and while both arrows missed one woman went ran astern to the captain’s house, while the other drew a cutlass and advanced on the monsters. It was a relatively quick battle as Spike, Jozan, and Bob Johnson also squared off in melee. One of the hyena-men clambered atop the deck, while the other fended for his life from the gunwale. Niddler, Anthro, and the rest of the crew came up from the hold to see what was happening and the captain arrived shortly after dressed in leather armor. Already having taken some damage the extra numbers spelled <em>Bad News</em> to these two cutthroats and they turned to run. The defenders reacted and the hanger-on was stabbed through and fell into the water. His ally dove over the side into the river disappearing from view. With no enemy in sight everyone on deck halted. The moment stretched as bowstrings were pulled taught and spells readied. Sharp eyes scanned the river shining in the moonlight, waiting anxiously for their enemy to emerge. Spike and one of the women on watch were the first to spot it. The hairy beast crawled out to shore near the castle bluff. Spike’s arrow missed, but hers didn’t.</p><p></p><p>It was later learned from one of the crew that these creatures were called Gnolls.</p><p></p><p><em><strong><span style="color: Sienna">“They hire them to do horrible stuff, stuff people would never do.”</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong>“Ahh…”</strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="color: Sienna">“Like swim through muck and manure.”</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong>“Oh…well, that’s different.”</strong></em></p><p><em><strong><span style="color: Sienna">“…or even kill people.”</span></strong></em></p><p><em><strong>“Right.”</strong></em></p><p></p><p>The gnoll nearest the boat was searched and then a pole was used to push it away. 14 silver, a shortbow, and 20 arrows – all claimed by Spike. [Life is cheap they say] </p><p></p><p>Night dragged on and soon silence reigned once more. In the early hours of the morning a loud snarling screech pierced the air. Was it some massive beast? A wildcat perhaps? It came from the direction of the castle, but no other answers were found.</p><p></p><p>Morning came and Spike received some pleasant news. The woman on watch who had shot the second gnoll was off her shift. Apparently she had changed her mind. She introduced herself as “Jewel” and Spike showed her why he’s called Spike. [Apparently dwarves and humans can be amiable when the mood strikes.]</p><p></p><p>Daytime was less eventful and by mid afternoon the party took another Extended Rest[sup]TM[/sup]. When they finally awoke in the middle of the night they learned that activity began again shortly before dark. A group of six goblins wandered about the grounds near the castle just before sundown. They had inspected the other gnoll at the shoreline, something everyone else had neglected to do the night before. Then when nightfall came so did a halfling prowler. One of the crew on watch spotted the figure snooping around in the shadows beside the bluff until it finally slipped into the ravine. No one saw the halfling come out. Later still a band of five “pig-faces” – later clarified to be “Orcs” – roamed around the desolate grounds beside the river. The party listened to the news stoically and chose to stay on deck for the rest of the night. Though watch was kept, no further activity was noted the rest of the night. </p><p></p><p><em>Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared…</em> it was 7 am and time to go kill something. Cptn. Frederique pointed out a partially submerged pier projecting from the shoreline near the castle. Potentially she could steer the riverboat alongside, but it would not be easy. However it would save the party from taking a rowboat or being rowed back and forth. In the end they declined and elected to be rowed. On the other hand, they did accept a newly drawn map of the castle grounds, one even more illustrative than before. [Included later in this entry]</p><p></p><p><span style="color: Sienna"><em><strong>“The signal is the same then?”</strong></em></span><em><strong></strong></em></p><p><em><strong>“Nope, this time it’s Bob Johnson doing the Bob Johnson,”</strong></em> and Bob, who demonstrated by letting loose a <em>radiant lance </em>into the sky.</p><p><strong><em>“Actually, that will be the first signal,”</em></strong> said Jozan. <em><strong>“The backup will still be ‘Oh! Oh God!’”</strong></em></p><p></p><p>Safely on shore the party set a marching order and went over to inspect the carcass of the gnoll they killed. Unfortunately it smelled of goblin urine, so they thought better of it. Moving inland they approached the southern face of the castle bluff. Zigzagging up the eastern half was a crumbled stair with a collapsed tower at its base and a gate tower built into the castle wall at least sixty feet above. <strong><span style="color: Olive">“A long switchback stair is carved into the cliff side, large portions of which have been devastated and reduced to rubble. As such, ascending will require careful negotiation. At the ground level, at the bottom of the stairs you note the ruins of an old watchtower.”</span></strong></p><p></p><p>The party judged the difficulty of climbing the partially collapsed stairs. Stone and rubble had cascaded down to cover some portions while other parts had fallen away to the ground below. They decided to splice their ropes together into two lengths, [I guess rope is a staple for pre-gens] one 150-footer and one 100-foot. Bob Johnson tied the longer around his waist and took went first. The first stretch gradually progressed upwards only about 30’ or so in height, but at a length of 130’. A relatively safe looking middle landing was tied off to once Bob reached it with only one, rather painful fall. Spike followed next with Niddler on his back [apparently 10x one’s STR score without impairment means some things are easier than they used to be.] Spike had worse luck climbing than Bob, but with the rope to hang on to no falls occurred. Spike, still with Niddler on his back, then took lead up the second length of the switchback with the 100’ rope in hand. Tragedy struck when halfway up he set off a tripwire causing a cascade of stones to fall from above. Spike barely hung on to the stone steps with Niddler barely hanging on to him. Neither fell, but each took a significant amount of damage from the rockslide.</p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“TURN BACK, OR ELSE!”</span></em></strong> shouted a human voice from above.</p><p></p><p>It didn’t sound like any of the voices they had heard the day before, but still the party proceeded with caution. Jozan and Andro climbed up to the first landing surreptitiously while a prostrate Spike sprawled out on the crumbling steps conversed with the voice. He learned that it belonged to a Sgt Louis and the group above did claim to be affiliates of the men in the front gatehouse. Apparently the men above had heard of our adventuring party too. </p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“WHY DON’T YOU BUY THAT DWARF OF YOURS BACK? THE CAPTAIN SAYS HE’LL SELL ‘IM TO YA FOR ONLY TEN GOLD.”</span></em></strong></p><p></p><p>That little tidbit of fresh & juicy rumor went into the brain bag of holding. Spike or Nidder [I don’t recall which as both are being played by the same player and when they occupy nearly the same position it’s even harder to tell who’s who.] Anyways, Spike [or Niddler] successfully negotiated for a safe climb up the last, and most dangerous, portion of the stairs from the voice above. After a great bit of climbing the two reached the top and the cobbled pathway to the postern gate. <strong><span style="color: Olive">“Projecting from the south curtain wall, you observe a 35-foot-tall stone fortification with battlemented roof. Its rounded towers encase a passage sealed by an iron portcullis behind which lies an oaken gate of 6-foot width by 12-foot height. The gate is spiked and iron-bound.”</span></strong> [Oddly, the text is wrong here. The gate is a pair of oaken doors each at the width listed, but it doesn’t matter much.]</p><p></p><p>[And now a word on the wonder of machicolations: ]</p><p>[sblock]Machicolations are (according to the OED people): <em>(in medieval fortifications) an opening between the supporting corbels of a projecting parapet or the vault of a gate, through which stones or burning objects could be dropped on attackers.</em> Yeah, so basically in this case they’re gaps in the floor around the circumference of the flat castle and tower rooftops through which people could shoot straight down on those below. </p><p></p><p>Needless to say the postern gate rooftop includes such machicolations, not to mention corbels, projecting parapet walls with battlement merlons, and a tower full of loopholes. No, not “This rule’s broken!” loopholes. The word actually used to mean just: arrow slit. But now I feel compelled to explain it. So needless to say, if you want to know what a loophole is in the text to follow, it’s an arrow slit (unless I really mean loophole).</p><p></p><p>Also, it should be noted that the barbican (big, nasty, medieval fortification in front of the ravine and part of the castle’s main gate) also had machicolations, a whole lot of ‘em. In fact, contrary to the previous entry, that’s really what the bandits’ (oops, I mean Cptn. Cooper’s stalwart men-at-arms) were shooting through to hit our adventuring heroes. It is also what Tordek climbed through before he was shot at by four archers and fell to certain NPC death. Or in PCs terms (and Tordek’s case): a Mandatory Extended Rest[sup]TM[/sup]) </p><p></p><p>Now back to the show… [/sblock]Spike and Niddler tied off the 100’ rope near the top of the ruined stair and kept on negotiating with the serjeant… stalling, cajoling, and generally wasting time so his allies could close in from behind. It was working. Spike moved up to the portcullis and waited for Serjeant Louis to open the door. Niddler could see only three archers, but when the Sgt. opened the large, iron-bound doors two more men stood behind him. </p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“Now give me the coins and I will arrange for your dwarven ally to be returned.” </span></em></strong></p><p><strong><em>“The bag’s too big to push though the bars. I guess you’ll have to come out,”</em></strong> Spike responded.</p><p></p><p>No deal, but it didn’t matter much as the rest of the crew had finally arrived. Andro moved forward and started yet another battle begun with an attempt to surprise attack while in full view. The elf whispered a spell under his breath and pushed his hands through the portcullis. With thumbs touching and fingers spread, a thin sheet of flame shot forth from his outstretched fingertips. The serjeant, being more highly trained than his subordinates, was enflamed, but dispersed the heat of the flame before too much damage was done. Sadly, the other two men died with a look of surprise on their burning faces. Spells and crossbow bolts flew fast and furious after that with the three archers raining down arrows from above.</p><p></p><p>Bob “Bob Johnson’d” (<em>radiant lanced</em>) back up at them, but missed. Before the serjeant could close the door Andro hit him with a magical missile and laid him low. Andro ducked close to the portcullis. The archers above moved behind the merlons, hiding from Bob’s attacks. They began exclusively firing down through the machicolations now. Running footsteps were heard down the tunnel from behind the open doorway. Bob ran forward to gain an angle on the archers when it was discovered that anyone could, by simply pressing against the portcullis, gain full cover from those above. Quickly everyone did so. There was a loud “Bang” as the large, iron-spiked doors slammed shut and heavy metal could be heard falling into place behind.</p><p></p><p>Combat became a game of <em>Peek-A-Boo</em>. One ranged attacker would have initiative, peek out taking only ¾ cover and then move back for full cover. Then the next, and the next, and so on until one character decided to move out and wait to react to the next foe showing himself. That worked nicely, but I wanted to determine if a second, partial move could be included as part of a set reaction. </p><p></p><p>Anyways, during this time the two dwarves, Spike and Jozan, heaved upon the portcullis lifting it about two feet from the niches it rested in between the cobblestones. Niddler the halfling propped Jozan’s warhammer underneath and slid himself through the gap. There was a 2’ wide layer of space between the partially lowered portcullis and the closed, iron-spiked double doors. Niddler searched for a lock, a handle, and even tried using his halfling-sized crowbar on the monstrosity before giving in. In the meantime a few others members slid inside the space with him.</p><p></p><p>Sufficiently out of the line of fire from above or any loopholes, the party reconsidered their options. They remembered from past explorations that the castle was in ruins and pulled out their new map to look for any openings in the walls. There was one right nearby! A plan was pieced together to attack the gatehouse from its rear side within the castle.</p><p></p><p>Jozan ran out back onto the entrance path doing his patented “Dodge Dance” in order to collect the 100’ rope back at the stairs. Even with his horrible dexterity, he had donned chainmail, a heavy shield, and was dodging all of which made him a near impossible target. [Natural 20s still hit every time again. Plus they always do critical damage] Four volleys of arrows were fired at him, but no lucky shots were had. The rest of the party then joined in the conga line and dodge danced out from under the machicolations, eastwards across the grassy berm, and onto a collapsed portion of the castle wall. <span style="color: Olive"><strong>“Between the postern gate and a round wall tower you note substantial damage to the curtain wall. It has suffered a devastating blast, perhaps by multiple trebuchet hits. Mortar and stone lie in rubble, a gap space some 30 feet in width created thus. The detritus from this breach forms an 8-foot-high pile within the gap, from which not a few hardy weeds bristle.”</strong></span></p><p></p><p>Jozan took lead in the marching order with the rope tied around his waist. He inspected the crumbling stonework of the wall around him believing it to be Dwarven-Made[sup]TM[/sup] and his suspicions were confirmed. Another bonus from his searching was spotting a small pathway that had been formed through the rubble. Niddler bound forward and began to look for traps. Low and behold, he came upon a 2½-foot diameter iron jawed animal trap lightly covered by dirt and dust, right in the middle of the path, right at its crest. “SNAP!” He set it off and the party began their first journey into the <strong>Upper Works of Castle [-]Greyhawk[/-] Zagyg[sup]TM[/sup]</strong>. </p><p></p><p>[Here’s that map I mentioned before: ]</p><p>[sblock]The castle interior is bisected by two walls each with a main gatehouse for entrance and exit. These separate the interior courtyards into three portions, a lower, a middle, and an upper within which the main fortress stands. As the party has just barely entered the middle courtyard that is the only portion I have detailed on the map below.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg837/scaled.php?server=837&filename=precinctssession2.jpg&res=landing" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p>(The picture is about two-thirds smaller than full size)</p><p> [/sblock]<strong><span style="color: Olive">“This courtyard is choked with enormous milkweeds, mutant dandelions, dense thistle, wild daisies, and patches of coarse, saw-toothed grass. Bushes, shrubs, and a few trees grow here as well, while broad-leafed vines creep across the cobbled walkway that snakes between the pylon gate west and the pagoda gate east, the latter of which (and the wall it bisects) stands atop a grassy slope of some 15 feet in height. Between the rank grass and shrubs you also note an adjunct cobbled path that branches from the main one. It leads to a fortified postern gate that joins curtain wall south.”</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Olive"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Olive">“Bisecting the inner wall west looms a pylon tower carved of red sandstone. The structure is some 40 feet high, a tapering structure of 50 by 30 feet at its base, 40 by 20 feet deep at its top. The structure is etched with bas-relief carvings: hieroglyphs, symbols, and creatures’ grotesque…”</span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Olive"></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="color: Olive">“Bisecting the east inner wall rises an impressive, Hepagoda gate of 55-foot height. It is constructed of patterned russet brickwork, each storey proportionately diminished in area so that the wall that bisects it appears to arch in to meet it. Each storey of the pagoda also has its own progressively smaller, projecting, citrine-hued, tile roof: the lines of which curve upwards at the edges. Wooden beams of thick oak support each such projection. The crowning roof is four-sided and of similar slope, the center from which extends a 15-foot mast that pierces three round discs.”</span></strong></p><p></p><p>Strong scents of flora and fauna filled the party’s nostrils as they descended into the middle courtyard. Out of sight of the gatehouse they decided to take a Short Rest[sup]TM[/sup] while Bob Johnson looked around for material to create another healer’s kit. Some used an application from his current kit and stim-patched their way to better health. During this time Bob Johnson noticed a number of highly unusual species of plants either mutant to what he had seen before like the shade giving sunflowers, giant in size like the puss-filled milkweeds, or the just plain never-before-seen variety. After some searching he took an hour to craft a healing kit from one of the enormous milkweeds.</p><p></p><p>Once everyone felt a bit better they moved closer to the pathway leading away from the postern gate. Staying hidden under cover of foliage was the easy part. When they managed a clear sightline on the tower they saw the rear side had only two windows, both on the upper level, and two ground level doors – one to each side the tunnel passage, which was completely unblocked. Moreover, the rear sides of the curtain walls and the gatehouse roof wall were unbroken and allowed no apparent sightlines for those residing on the far side to see the courtyard. Taking their time the party looked around for any hidden guards or lookouts. They finally noticed one intermittently peering out of the high, slit-divided window to their right-hand-side. Niddler decided some covert action was called for and went ahead alone.</p><p></p><p>Sneaking up to the small, wooden door left of the tunnel the halfling gave a pull on the handle. It was locked, so Niddler did what Niddler does best and picked it open. He opened the door a crack and peered inside. Within was a long, empty room 30’ by 10’ with a couple loopholes to his right and three more in the far, bowed out front potion of the tower. He entered and softly closed the door behind. Then he noticed a small spiral staircase had been built into the back corner of the room to his left. It would be a tight squeeze for any ol’ human, but small and nimble Niddler had no problems as he cautiously crept upstairs with ears perked wide. An argument! Two human voices were heard arguing over what sounded like who should rightly be the next serjeant in command. Then all of a sudden the conversation stopped. Niddler could hear footsteps now, so he began creeping backwards down the stairs. The footsteps grew louder, Niddler moved faster. Once below he pulled opened the outside door slipped between it and the stone wall. He started pretending as hard as he could that he was invisible.</p><p></p><p><em><strong><span style="color: DarkOrange">“That door wasn’t open before! Did you see anything?”</span></strong></em></p><p></p><p>Seeing his chance Niddler stabbed the guardsman closest to the door right in the back with his magical poniard. The man was dead before he hit the floor. The second man spun around and slashed at the halfling with a shortsword, but Niddler deftly knocked the blow away. A second thrust with the poniard and a second man lay dead beside the first. Niddler was alone. He quickly rooted through the corpses finding little before waving the rest of the party to join him. When they arrived he divvyed up the meager findings: 2 silvers for everyone, then he filled them in on what had happened. Andro remarked how both of the dead wore a red armband over their leather armor. How peculiar.</p><p></p><p>Forming a marching order they moved up the staircase one level and discovered the main living quarters of the bandits. <strong><em><span style="color: Olive">“This 15-foot-high chamber of about 275 square feet contains 2 kegs (30-gallon), 3 wooden crates, and a wooden box. Four cots are within: one at the east end, three at the west. There is a stone fireplace before which an old and dented copper kettle rests. Beside the fireplace you note a small pile of stones and some firewood. Loopholes provide a glimpse to the south, while two mullioned windows overlook the grassy middle courtyard of Castle Zagyg. Spiral stairs built into the northwest and northeast corners ascend and descend."</span></em></strong> Lying near the fireplace were three more corpses, two horribly burned and another that looked like Sgt. Louis. No living soul remained within. The bodies were quickly looted, their coin divvyed up and a small iron key was given to Spike for safe keeping.</p><p></p><p>Believing the three archers to still be on the roof, the group planned their next attack in hushed whispers. They would split up and take both staircases upwards in order to surround whoever remained above. Spike and Niddler each grabbed a hand axe, light crossbow, and quarrel from the room supplies and everyone moved out.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>“Throw down your weapons and put your hands in the air!”</em></strong> shouted Jozan.</p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“Y-y-yes sir”</span></em></strong> said the three archers and their bows clattered to the flagstones. </p><p><strong><em>“Now, give us two gold and we’ll let you walk out of here alive.”</em></strong></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“Umm… How about less?”</span></em></strong></p><p></p><p>In the end they paid for their lives with 1 silver apiece, but also swore to lead the party to Captain Cooper, the head man in charge of the barbican. However, the three clearly didn’t wish to do travel there claiming it was too dangerous to sol without some means of defending oneself. At this point the party allowed the captives their melee weapons just to shut them up. Further discussion also revealed that the men’s supplies came from <span style="color: DarkOrange"><strong><em>“the swamp rats”</em></strong></span>. Andro wasn’t sure how literal to take the name. </p><p></p><p>With the three prisoners in front, the group descended to the main room, cranked up the portcullis, descended out into the grassy courtyard, then back into the tunnel, up to the main gate - which had been double barred and double bolted - and then turned right traversing along the grassy berm beside the curtain wall. Another collapsed portion of the wall further on revealed the interior of na old wooden building. When they finally reached the far southwest corner of the castle wall they found a pentagonal five-sided tower barring their path. Its top had been blown to jagged pieces, but its solid base still splayed over the bluff’s edge. There looked to be no way of easily maneuvering around it. Fortunately, the drop to the ground below here was considerably less, only about 35’. So Spike tied off one end of the rope around his waist and ordered one of the archers to go first. Which one? They could decide for themselves. </p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“Me first! I know what to do.”</span></em></strong></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“No! Get outta my way!”</span></em></strong></p><p></p><p>Soon all three were scrambling to descend the rope, pushing and kicking, until eventually two drew out hand axes and attacked each other, while the third backed away from the fray. Shouted orders to stop went unheeded as a couple axe chops landed home. With a gash through his guts one of the men fell over the side to the ground below. [Splat!]</p><p></p><p><strong><em>“I said stop!”</em></strong> shouted Spike. </p><p></p><p>The third man was already in a full run heading back they way they had come. With his patented over-the-shoulder crossbow maneuver Spike shot a bolt through the man’s midsection. Now two were dead.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>“You go first,”</em></strong> said Jozan to the last as he threw him the rope.</p><p></p><p>The bandit smiled wide. Grabbing the rope he jumped over the edge and nearly pulled Spike over with him. As the Jozan descended the would-be prisoner began shuffling away backwards with a nervous grin on his face. However, Jozan slid down the rest of the rope and forced the man to march back to the bluff side. As he did so though, a familiar sound called out from the ravine to his left:</p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: Red">“KREE-ARK!”</span></em></strong></p><p></p><p>A goblin was seen running away back down into the ravine. The rest of the party quickly climbed down with Spike coming last and without the aid of a rope. The bandit was told to lead the way and fast. He headed diagonally to the opening of a shrub-enclosed second ravine. This one was aimed southwest, back into the high ground. [Refer to the map for details.] Behind the foliage the party found the crevasse gradually ascended to the level of the land around it. After a hundred feet or so in, a dirt trail was found cutting into the ravine wall and up to what had become a lush, green forest. Taking the shortcut, the group backtracked northwards along the top edge of the ravine until finally reaching open ground. There they saw a large expanse of grassland laid out to the west of the castle. It was about a quarter mile across north to south and tapered to a point far to the west. From that point a rutted, old road was seen leading from the surrounding forest to meet the fearsome looking barbican near the edge of castle.</p><p></p><p>As the group moved forward Andro spotted a man hiding in one of the many bushy furrows dotted across the open space. He pointed him out to the others, but they decided to keep heading on to the main gatehouse. Upon its’ rooftop they could now see a row of figures within the battlements. When they figured they were within shouting distance the group stopped.</p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“I TAKE IT YOU’VE COME FOR YOUR DWARF? 10 GOLD!”</span></em></strong> The familiar voice of the captain rang out.</p><p><em><strong>“WE CAME TO GIVE YOU YOUR SERJEANT IN TRADE FOR HIM!”</strong></em> shouted back Jozan.</p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"><strong><em>“Wait a minute. Do you mean me?”</em></strong></span> said the last living archer. He jumped into the air, <span style="color: DarkOrange"><em><strong>“Yes! I’m the new serjeant of the Wyvern’s Gate! Woohoo!”</strong></em></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"><em><strong> “YOU CAN KEEP HIM! 10 GOLD OR NO DEAL”</strong></em></span></p><p></p><p>They party searched through their equipment. [I accidently brought up that Bob Johnson was listed as carrying the pouch with 50 gold from the dead shaman cleric. Bad DMing on my part that.] Jozan noticed his pack just happened to have exactly 10 gold pieces. [These are all pre-gens too. Just lucky I guess.] Anyways, the deal was set. Tordek was called to be brought out. All but four figures left the battlements and a loud clanking could be heard as the large portcullis slowly raised open. Five bandits came out dragging the short, stout figure of a dwarf. </p><p></p><p>[sblock]Here’s a nice illustration included in the box set. It’s sort of appropriate, looking eastwards down the Old Castle Track towards the barbican and the rest of the castle. (The barbican is halfway accurate too, though the castle’s not.)</p><p></p><p><img src="http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg29/scaled.php?server=29&filename=pic9session2.jpg&res=landing" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />[/sblock]As the bandits approached the party gradually made out red armbands on these five as well. The man leading them was recognized as the second-in-command. He was the one who yelled halt when about thirty yards away. Tordek was then propped onto his feet. Bound, gagged, and blindfolded, he was still clad in his own armor. </p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“It’s you again!”</span></em></strong> said the lieutenant with a snarl. <strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“Where’s our gold?”</span></em></strong></p><p></p><p>Jozan threw ten gold coins onto the ground at the man’s feet. In return the bandits kicked Tordek into a stumble forward. Each collected their bounty and cautiously moved back the way they had come.</p><p></p><p><strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“Hey! What about me?”</span></em></strong> asked the archer standing all alone. Bob Johnson shrugged and the man took off running after his bandit allies. <strong><em><span style="color: DarkOrange">“Hey you guys! Wait for me!”</span></em></strong></p><p></p><p>Tordek was exhausted and asked to be taken back to the ship to rest. When the party reached the riverside Bob Johnson launched a radiant lance into the sky and the ship sent two rowboats out to collect them. The dwarf had to go back with them alone though. The rest of the party had decided it would be nice idea to take lunch at their new outpost, the Wyvern’s Gate.</p><p></p><p>[The recent playtest commentary can be found in the old thread: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/new-horizons-upcoming-edition-d-d/324377-questions-our-session-updated-7-6-session-3.html#post5964380" target="_blank">here</a>]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="howandwhy99, post: 5967268, member: 3192"] It was after midnight when Spike, Andro, Jozan, Niddler, and Bob Johnson climbed aboard the riverboat. They were fairly beaten up and even though they had woken but an hour or so ago, it felt like they had put in a full day’s work. Still, this was the first night since their arrival at midday and they had already accomplished quite a bit. Frederique, the riverboat captain, was on deck and immediately began inquiring about her and her crew’s share of the loot. You see, upon a previously arranged agreement she and her all woman crew were to escort our intrepid band of treasure hunters to the accursed Castle Greyhawk and then return them back to the Free City after they had amassed their fortune. As of yet though, no one had been paid. After a bit of back and forth the two groups arrived at equitable terms: Jozan gave her a golden ring with a bright red ruby found during the party’s looting. The captain slipped it on her finger. [I][B]“And that is only a payment, you understand? There are no other strings attached with me giving you a ring!” [/B][/I] Spike, the other dwarf, explained the terms of how the ring was a down payment to Frederique and her crew for the previous week’s travel and now for sticking around in such a dangerous area. Besides, they needed a safe spot to withdraw to as so far the group had only managed to run in to trouble. In the end it was agreed the trip would last a month and a fortnight and that Frederique would be paid again within the next three days. [COLOR="Sienna"][I][B]“But what happened to the third dwarf who went with you?”[/B][/I][/COLOR] asked the captain. [COLOR="Sienna"][I][B]“There were six of you.”[/B][/I][/COLOR] [B][I]“Oh yeah, Tordek’s dead”[/I][/B] replied Niddler. After learning the original rowboat disappearing shortly after sundown, the party made plans for their next excursion into [B]The Mouths of Madness[sup]TM[/sup][/B] and the bowels of [B]Castle Zagyg[sup]TM[/sup][/B]. In other words, they decided to stay away and chill for thirty-six hours with the all-female crew. Time passed slowly with half the party below deck and the other half hanging out with two of the sailors on night’s watch. Other than a discussion about deities between our two clerics, Bob and Jo-, there was no action aboard boat. The rest of the crew was already asleep for the night. Things went slowly for Spike too who wasn’t getting any action either after his propositions were denied. Next thing you know, out of the corner of his eye, Bob Johnson spotted a shadowy figure hanging onto the gunwale of the boat. Running over to investigate he came upon two large hairy humanoids with faces like hyenas. [Yeah, they were that ugly.] They were armed with handaxes and shortbows and wore leather armor with fur sticking out from every gap. Bob also noticed a rather familiar flat-bottom rowboat floating behind them. [I][B][COLOR="Red"]“Uhh… Permission to come aboard?”[/COLOR][/B][/I] one said in the common tongue. Bob thought about the question for a second, shrugged, and asked the two women on watch. The first one screamed hell and bloody murder and a battle broke out. The two fired their shortbows at the intruders and while both arrows missed one woman went ran astern to the captain’s house, while the other drew a cutlass and advanced on the monsters. It was a relatively quick battle as Spike, Jozan, and Bob Johnson also squared off in melee. One of the hyena-men clambered atop the deck, while the other fended for his life from the gunwale. Niddler, Anthro, and the rest of the crew came up from the hold to see what was happening and the captain arrived shortly after dressed in leather armor. Already having taken some damage the extra numbers spelled [I]Bad News[/I] to these two cutthroats and they turned to run. The defenders reacted and the hanger-on was stabbed through and fell into the water. His ally dove over the side into the river disappearing from view. With no enemy in sight everyone on deck halted. The moment stretched as bowstrings were pulled taught and spells readied. Sharp eyes scanned the river shining in the moonlight, waiting anxiously for their enemy to emerge. Spike and one of the women on watch were the first to spot it. The hairy beast crawled out to shore near the castle bluff. Spike’s arrow missed, but hers didn’t. It was later learned from one of the crew that these creatures were called Gnolls. [I][B][COLOR="Sienna"]“They hire them to do horrible stuff, stuff people would never do.”[/COLOR] “Ahh…” [COLOR="Sienna"]“Like swim through muck and manure.”[/COLOR] “Oh…well, that’s different.” [COLOR="Sienna"]“…or even kill people.”[/COLOR] “Right.”[/B][/I] The gnoll nearest the boat was searched and then a pole was used to push it away. 14 silver, a shortbow, and 20 arrows – all claimed by Spike. [Life is cheap they say] Night dragged on and soon silence reigned once more. In the early hours of the morning a loud snarling screech pierced the air. Was it some massive beast? A wildcat perhaps? It came from the direction of the castle, but no other answers were found. Morning came and Spike received some pleasant news. The woman on watch who had shot the second gnoll was off her shift. Apparently she had changed her mind. She introduced herself as “Jewel” and Spike showed her why he’s called Spike. [Apparently dwarves and humans can be amiable when the mood strikes.] Daytime was less eventful and by mid afternoon the party took another Extended Rest[sup]TM[/sup]. When they finally awoke in the middle of the night they learned that activity began again shortly before dark. A group of six goblins wandered about the grounds near the castle just before sundown. They had inspected the other gnoll at the shoreline, something everyone else had neglected to do the night before. Then when nightfall came so did a halfling prowler. One of the crew on watch spotted the figure snooping around in the shadows beside the bluff until it finally slipped into the ravine. No one saw the halfling come out. Later still a band of five “pig-faces” – later clarified to be “Orcs” – roamed around the desolate grounds beside the river. The party listened to the news stoically and chose to stay on deck for the rest of the night. Though watch was kept, no further activity was noted the rest of the night. [I]Then, when the child of morning, rosy-fingered Dawn, appeared…[/I] it was 7 am and time to go kill something. Cptn. Frederique pointed out a partially submerged pier projecting from the shoreline near the castle. Potentially she could steer the riverboat alongside, but it would not be easy. However it would save the party from taking a rowboat or being rowed back and forth. In the end they declined and elected to be rowed. On the other hand, they did accept a newly drawn map of the castle grounds, one even more illustrative than before. [Included later in this entry] [COLOR="Sienna"][I][B]“The signal is the same then?”[/B][/I][/COLOR][I][B] “Nope, this time it’s Bob Johnson doing the Bob Johnson,”[/B][/I] and Bob, who demonstrated by letting loose a [I]radiant lance [/I]into the sky. [B][I]“Actually, that will be the first signal,”[/I][/B] said Jozan. [I][B]“The backup will still be ‘Oh! Oh God!’”[/B][/I] Safely on shore the party set a marching order and went over to inspect the carcass of the gnoll they killed. Unfortunately it smelled of goblin urine, so they thought better of it. Moving inland they approached the southern face of the castle bluff. Zigzagging up the eastern half was a crumbled stair with a collapsed tower at its base and a gate tower built into the castle wall at least sixty feet above. [B][COLOR="Olive"]“A long switchback stair is carved into the cliff side, large portions of which have been devastated and reduced to rubble. As such, ascending will require careful negotiation. At the ground level, at the bottom of the stairs you note the ruins of an old watchtower.”[/COLOR][/B] The party judged the difficulty of climbing the partially collapsed stairs. Stone and rubble had cascaded down to cover some portions while other parts had fallen away to the ground below. They decided to splice their ropes together into two lengths, [I guess rope is a staple for pre-gens] one 150-footer and one 100-foot. Bob Johnson tied the longer around his waist and took went first. The first stretch gradually progressed upwards only about 30’ or so in height, but at a length of 130’. A relatively safe looking middle landing was tied off to once Bob reached it with only one, rather painful fall. Spike followed next with Niddler on his back [apparently 10x one’s STR score without impairment means some things are easier than they used to be.] Spike had worse luck climbing than Bob, but with the rope to hang on to no falls occurred. Spike, still with Niddler on his back, then took lead up the second length of the switchback with the 100’ rope in hand. Tragedy struck when halfway up he set off a tripwire causing a cascade of stones to fall from above. Spike barely hung on to the stone steps with Niddler barely hanging on to him. Neither fell, but each took a significant amount of damage from the rockslide. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“TURN BACK, OR ELSE!”[/COLOR][/I][/B] shouted a human voice from above. It didn’t sound like any of the voices they had heard the day before, but still the party proceeded with caution. Jozan and Andro climbed up to the first landing surreptitiously while a prostrate Spike sprawled out on the crumbling steps conversed with the voice. He learned that it belonged to a Sgt Louis and the group above did claim to be affiliates of the men in the front gatehouse. Apparently the men above had heard of our adventuring party too. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“WHY DON’T YOU BUY THAT DWARF OF YOURS BACK? THE CAPTAIN SAYS HE’LL SELL ‘IM TO YA FOR ONLY TEN GOLD.”[/COLOR][/I][/B] That little tidbit of fresh & juicy rumor went into the brain bag of holding. Spike or Nidder [I don’t recall which as both are being played by the same player and when they occupy nearly the same position it’s even harder to tell who’s who.] Anyways, Spike [or Niddler] successfully negotiated for a safe climb up the last, and most dangerous, portion of the stairs from the voice above. After a great bit of climbing the two reached the top and the cobbled pathway to the postern gate. [B][COLOR="Olive"]“Projecting from the south curtain wall, you observe a 35-foot-tall stone fortification with battlemented roof. Its rounded towers encase a passage sealed by an iron portcullis behind which lies an oaken gate of 6-foot width by 12-foot height. The gate is spiked and iron-bound.”[/COLOR][/B] [Oddly, the text is wrong here. The gate is a pair of oaken doors each at the width listed, but it doesn’t matter much.] [And now a word on the wonder of machicolations: ] [sblock]Machicolations are (according to the OED people): [I](in medieval fortifications) an opening between the supporting corbels of a projecting parapet or the vault of a gate, through which stones or burning objects could be dropped on attackers.[/I] Yeah, so basically in this case they’re gaps in the floor around the circumference of the flat castle and tower rooftops through which people could shoot straight down on those below. Needless to say the postern gate rooftop includes such machicolations, not to mention corbels, projecting parapet walls with battlement merlons, and a tower full of loopholes. No, not “This rule’s broken!” loopholes. The word actually used to mean just: arrow slit. But now I feel compelled to explain it. So needless to say, if you want to know what a loophole is in the text to follow, it’s an arrow slit (unless I really mean loophole). Also, it should be noted that the barbican (big, nasty, medieval fortification in front of the ravine and part of the castle’s main gate) also had machicolations, a whole lot of ‘em. In fact, contrary to the previous entry, that’s really what the bandits’ (oops, I mean Cptn. Cooper’s stalwart men-at-arms) were shooting through to hit our adventuring heroes. It is also what Tordek climbed through before he was shot at by four archers and fell to certain NPC death. Or in PCs terms (and Tordek’s case): a Mandatory Extended Rest[sup]TM[/sup]) Now back to the show… [/sblock]Spike and Niddler tied off the 100’ rope near the top of the ruined stair and kept on negotiating with the serjeant… stalling, cajoling, and generally wasting time so his allies could close in from behind. It was working. Spike moved up to the portcullis and waited for Serjeant Louis to open the door. Niddler could see only three archers, but when the Sgt. opened the large, iron-bound doors two more men stood behind him. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Now give me the coins and I will arrange for your dwarven ally to be returned.” [/COLOR] “The bag’s too big to push though the bars. I guess you’ll have to come out,”[/I][/B] Spike responded. No deal, but it didn’t matter much as the rest of the crew had finally arrived. Andro moved forward and started yet another battle begun with an attempt to surprise attack while in full view. The elf whispered a spell under his breath and pushed his hands through the portcullis. With thumbs touching and fingers spread, a thin sheet of flame shot forth from his outstretched fingertips. The serjeant, being more highly trained than his subordinates, was enflamed, but dispersed the heat of the flame before too much damage was done. Sadly, the other two men died with a look of surprise on their burning faces. Spells and crossbow bolts flew fast and furious after that with the three archers raining down arrows from above. Bob “Bob Johnson’d” ([I]radiant lanced[/I]) back up at them, but missed. Before the serjeant could close the door Andro hit him with a magical missile and laid him low. Andro ducked close to the portcullis. The archers above moved behind the merlons, hiding from Bob’s attacks. They began exclusively firing down through the machicolations now. Running footsteps were heard down the tunnel from behind the open doorway. Bob ran forward to gain an angle on the archers when it was discovered that anyone could, by simply pressing against the portcullis, gain full cover from those above. Quickly everyone did so. There was a loud “Bang” as the large, iron-spiked doors slammed shut and heavy metal could be heard falling into place behind. Combat became a game of [I]Peek-A-Boo[/I]. One ranged attacker would have initiative, peek out taking only ¾ cover and then move back for full cover. Then the next, and the next, and so on until one character decided to move out and wait to react to the next foe showing himself. That worked nicely, but I wanted to determine if a second, partial move could be included as part of a set reaction. Anyways, during this time the two dwarves, Spike and Jozan, heaved upon the portcullis lifting it about two feet from the niches it rested in between the cobblestones. Niddler the halfling propped Jozan’s warhammer underneath and slid himself through the gap. There was a 2’ wide layer of space between the partially lowered portcullis and the closed, iron-spiked double doors. Niddler searched for a lock, a handle, and even tried using his halfling-sized crowbar on the monstrosity before giving in. In the meantime a few others members slid inside the space with him. Sufficiently out of the line of fire from above or any loopholes, the party reconsidered their options. They remembered from past explorations that the castle was in ruins and pulled out their new map to look for any openings in the walls. There was one right nearby! A plan was pieced together to attack the gatehouse from its rear side within the castle. Jozan ran out back onto the entrance path doing his patented “Dodge Dance” in order to collect the 100’ rope back at the stairs. Even with his horrible dexterity, he had donned chainmail, a heavy shield, and was dodging all of which made him a near impossible target. [Natural 20s still hit every time again. Plus they always do critical damage] Four volleys of arrows were fired at him, but no lucky shots were had. The rest of the party then joined in the conga line and dodge danced out from under the machicolations, eastwards across the grassy berm, and onto a collapsed portion of the castle wall. [COLOR="Olive"][B]“Between the postern gate and a round wall tower you note substantial damage to the curtain wall. It has suffered a devastating blast, perhaps by multiple trebuchet hits. Mortar and stone lie in rubble, a gap space some 30 feet in width created thus. The detritus from this breach forms an 8-foot-high pile within the gap, from which not a few hardy weeds bristle.”[/B][/COLOR] Jozan took lead in the marching order with the rope tied around his waist. He inspected the crumbling stonework of the wall around him believing it to be Dwarven-Made[sup]TM[/sup] and his suspicions were confirmed. Another bonus from his searching was spotting a small pathway that had been formed through the rubble. Niddler bound forward and began to look for traps. Low and behold, he came upon a 2½-foot diameter iron jawed animal trap lightly covered by dirt and dust, right in the middle of the path, right at its crest. “SNAP!” He set it off and the party began their first journey into the [B]Upper Works of Castle [-]Greyhawk[/-] Zagyg[sup]TM[/sup][/B]. [Here’s that map I mentioned before: ] [sblock]The castle interior is bisected by two walls each with a main gatehouse for entrance and exit. These separate the interior courtyards into three portions, a lower, a middle, and an upper within which the main fortress stands. As the party has just barely entered the middle courtyard that is the only portion I have detailed on the map below. [IMG]http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg837/scaled.php?server=837&filename=precinctssession2.jpg&res=landing[/IMG] (The picture is about two-thirds smaller than full size) [/sblock][B][COLOR="Olive"]“This courtyard is choked with enormous milkweeds, mutant dandelions, dense thistle, wild daisies, and patches of coarse, saw-toothed grass. Bushes, shrubs, and a few trees grow here as well, while broad-leafed vines creep across the cobbled walkway that snakes between the pylon gate west and the pagoda gate east, the latter of which (and the wall it bisects) stands atop a grassy slope of some 15 feet in height. Between the rank grass and shrubs you also note an adjunct cobbled path that branches from the main one. It leads to a fortified postern gate that joins curtain wall south.” “Bisecting the inner wall west looms a pylon tower carved of red sandstone. The structure is some 40 feet high, a tapering structure of 50 by 30 feet at its base, 40 by 20 feet deep at its top. The structure is etched with bas-relief carvings: hieroglyphs, symbols, and creatures’ grotesque…” “Bisecting the east inner wall rises an impressive, Hepagoda gate of 55-foot height. It is constructed of patterned russet brickwork, each storey proportionately diminished in area so that the wall that bisects it appears to arch in to meet it. Each storey of the pagoda also has its own progressively smaller, projecting, citrine-hued, tile roof: the lines of which curve upwards at the edges. Wooden beams of thick oak support each such projection. The crowning roof is four-sided and of similar slope, the center from which extends a 15-foot mast that pierces three round discs.”[/COLOR][/B] Strong scents of flora and fauna filled the party’s nostrils as they descended into the middle courtyard. Out of sight of the gatehouse they decided to take a Short Rest[sup]TM[/sup] while Bob Johnson looked around for material to create another healer’s kit. Some used an application from his current kit and stim-patched their way to better health. During this time Bob Johnson noticed a number of highly unusual species of plants either mutant to what he had seen before like the shade giving sunflowers, giant in size like the puss-filled milkweeds, or the just plain never-before-seen variety. After some searching he took an hour to craft a healing kit from one of the enormous milkweeds. Once everyone felt a bit better they moved closer to the pathway leading away from the postern gate. Staying hidden under cover of foliage was the easy part. When they managed a clear sightline on the tower they saw the rear side had only two windows, both on the upper level, and two ground level doors – one to each side the tunnel passage, which was completely unblocked. Moreover, the rear sides of the curtain walls and the gatehouse roof wall were unbroken and allowed no apparent sightlines for those residing on the far side to see the courtyard. Taking their time the party looked around for any hidden guards or lookouts. They finally noticed one intermittently peering out of the high, slit-divided window to their right-hand-side. Niddler decided some covert action was called for and went ahead alone. Sneaking up to the small, wooden door left of the tunnel the halfling gave a pull on the handle. It was locked, so Niddler did what Niddler does best and picked it open. He opened the door a crack and peered inside. Within was a long, empty room 30’ by 10’ with a couple loopholes to his right and three more in the far, bowed out front potion of the tower. He entered and softly closed the door behind. Then he noticed a small spiral staircase had been built into the back corner of the room to his left. It would be a tight squeeze for any ol’ human, but small and nimble Niddler had no problems as he cautiously crept upstairs with ears perked wide. An argument! Two human voices were heard arguing over what sounded like who should rightly be the next serjeant in command. Then all of a sudden the conversation stopped. Niddler could hear footsteps now, so he began creeping backwards down the stairs. The footsteps grew louder, Niddler moved faster. Once below he pulled opened the outside door slipped between it and the stone wall. He started pretending as hard as he could that he was invisible. [I][B][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“That door wasn’t open before! Did you see anything?”[/COLOR][/B][/I] Seeing his chance Niddler stabbed the guardsman closest to the door right in the back with his magical poniard. The man was dead before he hit the floor. The second man spun around and slashed at the halfling with a shortsword, but Niddler deftly knocked the blow away. A second thrust with the poniard and a second man lay dead beside the first. Niddler was alone. He quickly rooted through the corpses finding little before waving the rest of the party to join him. When they arrived he divvyed up the meager findings: 2 silvers for everyone, then he filled them in on what had happened. Andro remarked how both of the dead wore a red armband over their leather armor. How peculiar. Forming a marching order they moved up the staircase one level and discovered the main living quarters of the bandits. [B][I][COLOR="Olive"]“This 15-foot-high chamber of about 275 square feet contains 2 kegs (30-gallon), 3 wooden crates, and a wooden box. Four cots are within: one at the east end, three at the west. There is a stone fireplace before which an old and dented copper kettle rests. Beside the fireplace you note a small pile of stones and some firewood. Loopholes provide a glimpse to the south, while two mullioned windows overlook the grassy middle courtyard of Castle Zagyg. Spiral stairs built into the northwest and northeast corners ascend and descend."[/COLOR][/I][/B] Lying near the fireplace were three more corpses, two horribly burned and another that looked like Sgt. Louis. No living soul remained within. The bodies were quickly looted, their coin divvyed up and a small iron key was given to Spike for safe keeping. Believing the three archers to still be on the roof, the group planned their next attack in hushed whispers. They would split up and take both staircases upwards in order to surround whoever remained above. Spike and Niddler each grabbed a hand axe, light crossbow, and quarrel from the room supplies and everyone moved out. [B][I]“Throw down your weapons and put your hands in the air!”[/I][/B] shouted Jozan. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Y-y-yes sir”[/COLOR][/I][/B] said the three archers and their bows clattered to the flagstones. [B][I]“Now, give us two gold and we’ll let you walk out of here alive.”[/I][/B] [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Umm… How about less?”[/COLOR][/I][/B] In the end they paid for their lives with 1 silver apiece, but also swore to lead the party to Captain Cooper, the head man in charge of the barbican. However, the three clearly didn’t wish to do travel there claiming it was too dangerous to sol without some means of defending oneself. At this point the party allowed the captives their melee weapons just to shut them up. Further discussion also revealed that the men’s supplies came from [COLOR="DarkOrange"][B][I]“the swamp rats”[/I][/B][/COLOR]. Andro wasn’t sure how literal to take the name. With the three prisoners in front, the group descended to the main room, cranked up the portcullis, descended out into the grassy courtyard, then back into the tunnel, up to the main gate - which had been double barred and double bolted - and then turned right traversing along the grassy berm beside the curtain wall. Another collapsed portion of the wall further on revealed the interior of na old wooden building. When they finally reached the far southwest corner of the castle wall they found a pentagonal five-sided tower barring their path. Its top had been blown to jagged pieces, but its solid base still splayed over the bluff’s edge. There looked to be no way of easily maneuvering around it. Fortunately, the drop to the ground below here was considerably less, only about 35’. So Spike tied off one end of the rope around his waist and ordered one of the archers to go first. Which one? They could decide for themselves. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Me first! I know what to do.” “No! Get outta my way!”[/COLOR][/I][/B] Soon all three were scrambling to descend the rope, pushing and kicking, until eventually two drew out hand axes and attacked each other, while the third backed away from the fray. Shouted orders to stop went unheeded as a couple axe chops landed home. With a gash through his guts one of the men fell over the side to the ground below. [Splat!] [B][I]“I said stop!”[/I][/B] shouted Spike. The third man was already in a full run heading back they way they had come. With his patented over-the-shoulder crossbow maneuver Spike shot a bolt through the man’s midsection. Now two were dead. [B][I]“You go first,”[/I][/B] said Jozan to the last as he threw him the rope. The bandit smiled wide. Grabbing the rope he jumped over the edge and nearly pulled Spike over with him. As the Jozan descended the would-be prisoner began shuffling away backwards with a nervous grin on his face. However, Jozan slid down the rest of the rope and forced the man to march back to the bluff side. As he did so though, a familiar sound called out from the ravine to his left: [B][I][COLOR="Red"]“KREE-ARK!”[/COLOR][/I][/B] A goblin was seen running away back down into the ravine. The rest of the party quickly climbed down with Spike coming last and without the aid of a rope. The bandit was told to lead the way and fast. He headed diagonally to the opening of a shrub-enclosed second ravine. This one was aimed southwest, back into the high ground. [Refer to the map for details.] Behind the foliage the party found the crevasse gradually ascended to the level of the land around it. After a hundred feet or so in, a dirt trail was found cutting into the ravine wall and up to what had become a lush, green forest. Taking the shortcut, the group backtracked northwards along the top edge of the ravine until finally reaching open ground. There they saw a large expanse of grassland laid out to the west of the castle. It was about a quarter mile across north to south and tapered to a point far to the west. From that point a rutted, old road was seen leading from the surrounding forest to meet the fearsome looking barbican near the edge of castle. As the group moved forward Andro spotted a man hiding in one of the many bushy furrows dotted across the open space. He pointed him out to the others, but they decided to keep heading on to the main gatehouse. Upon its’ rooftop they could now see a row of figures within the battlements. When they figured they were within shouting distance the group stopped. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“I TAKE IT YOU’VE COME FOR YOUR DWARF? 10 GOLD!”[/COLOR][/I][/B] The familiar voice of the captain rang out. [I][B]“WE CAME TO GIVE YOU YOUR SERJEANT IN TRADE FOR HIM!”[/B][/I] shouted back Jozan. [COLOR="DarkOrange"][B][I]“Wait a minute. Do you mean me?”[/I][/B][/COLOR] said the last living archer. He jumped into the air, [COLOR="DarkOrange"][I][B]“Yes! I’m the new serjeant of the Wyvern’s Gate! Woohoo!”[/B][/I][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][I][B] “YOU CAN KEEP HIM! 10 GOLD OR NO DEAL”[/B][/I][/COLOR] They party searched through their equipment. [I accidently brought up that Bob Johnson was listed as carrying the pouch with 50 gold from the dead shaman cleric. Bad DMing on my part that.] Jozan noticed his pack just happened to have exactly 10 gold pieces. [These are all pre-gens too. Just lucky I guess.] Anyways, the deal was set. Tordek was called to be brought out. All but four figures left the battlements and a loud clanking could be heard as the large portcullis slowly raised open. Five bandits came out dragging the short, stout figure of a dwarf. [sblock]Here’s a nice illustration included in the box set. It’s sort of appropriate, looking eastwards down the Old Castle Track towards the barbican and the rest of the castle. (The barbican is halfway accurate too, though the castle’s not.) [IMG]http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg29/scaled.php?server=29&filename=pic9session2.jpg&res=landing[/IMG][/sblock]As the bandits approached the party gradually made out red armbands on these five as well. The man leading them was recognized as the second-in-command. He was the one who yelled halt when about thirty yards away. Tordek was then propped onto his feet. Bound, gagged, and blindfolded, he was still clad in his own armor. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“It’s you again!”[/COLOR][/I][/B] said the lieutenant with a snarl. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Where’s our gold?”[/COLOR][/I][/B] Jozan threw ten gold coins onto the ground at the man’s feet. In return the bandits kicked Tordek into a stumble forward. Each collected their bounty and cautiously moved back the way they had come. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Hey! What about me?”[/COLOR][/I][/B] asked the archer standing all alone. Bob Johnson shrugged and the man took off running after his bandit allies. [B][I][COLOR="DarkOrange"]“Hey you guys! Wait for me!”[/COLOR][/I][/B] Tordek was exhausted and asked to be taken back to the ship to rest. When the party reached the riverside Bob Johnson launched a radiant lance into the sky and the ship sent two rowboats out to collect them. The dwarf had to go back with them alone though. The rest of the party had decided it would be nice idea to take lunch at their new outpost, the Wyvern’s Gate. [The recent playtest commentary can be found in the old thread: [URL="http://www.enworld.org/forum/new-horizons-upcoming-edition-d-d/324377-questions-our-session-updated-7-6-session-3.html#post5964380"]here[/URL]] [/QUOTE]
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