Session #11.6 - Bagging some birds
The group assembled in the courtyard with Captain Tanavue Silverleaf and two more of his riders, both elven. Introductions were made all around and the group set off. Once they were through the North Gate and heading toward Vineyard Pass, Tanavue explained the basic tactics employed in attaining griffon eggs. They had an extra horse with them - an old, decrepit one - that would be used as bait for the nesting pair. Once the griffons came down on the horse, Nigel and anyone else skilled in bow use would hit the griffons with drugged arrows to knock them unconscious. While the arrows were pulled out to prevent permanent injury, the others would be responsible for fetching some, but not all, of the eggs from the nest - which was usually perched upon a tall spire of rock common along the cliffs to the north of town. Zalman volunteered his spellcasting abilities, suggesting that he could quickly fly up to the nest. The Captain seemed satisfied with the plan.
They reached the Countess Lohna's estate shortly before sunset. Linnea had been expecting guests (Tannavue had sent riders ahead to announce his arrival and intent to stay the night), but was surprised when most of the egg-hunting party was comprised of Lohna's guests from the previous night. She led them to their rooms, though most were different ones from the previous night as the repairs to the outside wall were far from complete.
An hour later, the Captain and the rest of the company were summoned to dinner with Lohna. No other unexpected, or extraplanar, guests arrived this evening. Lohna expressed her delight in seeing everyone again, particularly Nigel. The group, in return, expressed their gratitude for her hospitality and promised to try not to cause any further damage to her house. Captain Silverleaf insisted on getting the story of the previous night's events.
Dinner was a pleasant affair and the conversation was varied. Silverleaf seemed a charming enough sort, though a bit stiff. When he learned that Nigel was a budding young Arcane Archer, his respect for the elf and his friends grew considerably. The captain begged off early to get some rest in preparation for a hard day to follow. Everyone else aside from Nigel followed suit, sleeping as best they could. Nigel was invited to spend some more intimate time with Lohna in her private chamber.
(The players who believe Lohna is a vampire, which is most of them, figure Nigel has been dominated and was off for a quick feeding. Nigel insists it was nothing of the sort.)
Everyone assembled, loaded their horses with supplies and gear, and were off just before dawn. They rode up the coastline, moving quickly but cautiously. Captain Silverleaf informed them that this was very wild and dangerous country. Several ogre tribes lived in the area and other unpleasant creatures were known to roam freely.
Shortly after noon, while pausing to eat and rest the horses, the distant echo of steel on steel carried over the crashing of ocean waves on the base of the cliffs below them. Leaving the horses behind, the group slipped quietly up a hill and found a small skirmish raging in the distance. The elves' sharp eyes made out about a dozen ogres squaring off against a trio of minotaurs. There appeared to be a couple minotaurs already on the ground. These minotaurs, they noted, had reddish-brown fur as opposed to the unusual gray fur sported by the Duke's guards. The group watched for another minute and then decided to fetch the horses and continue on their journey, doing their best to avoid the ogre band.
By mid afternoon, the Captain led them further inland and into a narrow canyon in the broken hills. He told them that this was where they had left their horses the last few years while fetching griffon eggs. Riding horses all the way to the nest, with the griffons' reputed taste for horseflesh, would be a liability. They led the sacrificial horse and continued up the coast on foot.
Kisty, who had been keeping up the ruse of aging gnome servant, approached Zalman about an hour later. "Zalman," she said in a hushed tone. "What do you make of this?" She pointed up in the air, just above and behind her shoulder.
Zalman was perplexed until he finally noticed a slight shimmering in the air above her, a localized pocket of irregularity that was scarcely noticable. While his magic training had glossed over the divination arts, he was fairly certain that this was a scrying sensor. He motioned for her to keep quiet and the rest of the party started to take note of something going on between the wizard and the halfling. Zalman quietly and calmly explained that someone was likely scrying on them and that they should keep quiet. After a few minutes, the sensor winked out.
After a thorough search around the rest of the party failed to reveal any further sensors, Zalman explained his suspicions. Given how badly Misty and the Shadow seemed to want to get their hands on Kisty, no one was particularly surprised that a wizard or cleric might be brought in to help find her. They agreed to avoid speaking openly about anything that could give pursuers any additional hints as to their location. Kisty and the others continued to keep a close watch for the subtle shimmer in the air around them.
Another hour or two later, with a few hours of daylight left, Nigel spotted a pair of giant winged creatures moving quickly in their direction. It was clear from their approach that the group had already been spotted. Everyone took what cover they could in the rocky terrain, behind boulders and under scrub bushes. As the creatures closed, Captain Silverleaf identified them as wyverns.
The two dragon-kin swept in low and fast and the collective group unleashed every ranged attack they could muster. Nigel plunked arrow after arrow with deadly accuracy and brutal results. The rest of the elves used their crossbows and shortbows and even Amblin borrowed a light crossbow and launched a couple bolts. Zalman used his newly acquired wand and unleashed a pair of lightning bolts. The lead wyvern crumpled under the assault just before it reached their position. The second one had zeroed in on one of the younger griffon riders and plucked him from behind his meager cover. The elf shrieked as the wyvern's claws sank through his armor and the poisoned tail hit him repeatedly. As the wyvern continued past the group, prize in hand, the hail of arrows and spells finally proved too much and the beast crashed into the ground. Rurik hurried to the fallen elf with the other griffon riders, but it was clear that he was too far-gone for healing magic to save. Dejected, the group hastily constructed a cairn from the abundant rocks in the area and then hastened to complete their mission before night fell.
With the sun poised to set, they finally spotted a griffon wheeling about over the ocean. A number of rocky spires rose up from both the ground and the water in this area. Moving with the contour of the land to get closer without being spotted, they finally identified the griffons' nest on the edge of the cliff. Zalman cast Fly on himself and moved further up the coast with Rurik and Kisty in tow. Captain Silverleaf distributed the drugged arrows and bolts - specially designed to deliver a strong dosage without causing much physical harm. They then chose a suitable clearing and set the bait horse out while taking up concealed positions around it.
Only one of the griffons had been spotted so far, circling about the nest. They hoped that the other was sufficiently out of the way so as not to interfere with Zalman fetching the eggs. Finally, the circling griffon spotted the old horse. With a shrill cry, it dove toward the clearing. Zalman took this opportunity to slip over the edge of the cliff so he could approach from below the nest. As he flew closer, he realized that the other griffon had been circling around just above the surface of the water. When the first griffon cried out, however, the second quickly rose to see what had aroused it. It failed to notice the flying human who hugged the side of the cliff.
As the first griffon tore into the horse, Nigel and the riders let fly with several drugged arrows. All hit their mark and the griffon was unconscious within moments. The horse, injured in the first attack, was finished off when the second griffon dove in recklessly. Again, peppered with arrows, it was soon unconscious. The elves hastily pulled the arrows from the griffons and then hurried back south along the coast. Zalman flew quickly over to the nest and was surprised to find five large eggs in the nest. The Captain had told him to expect two to four, and to leave at least one egg behind. Given the size of the clutch, he chose to slip three into the straw-filled bag provided by the riders and leave two behind. Prize in hand, he returned to the waiting Rurik and Kisty, and together they hurried south.
The group put a couple miles between themselves and the griffons before they finally called a halt for the night. The sun had already set and it was another couple hours hike back to the horses. In the rugged terrain, hiking in the dark would be unnecessarily risky. Zalman summoned a Leomund's Secure Shelter and they fixed up a warm dinner. Captain Silverleaf expressed his gratitude for their assistance and his joy at finding such a large clutch of eggs. The overall mood was dour, however, for the loss of one of the riders in the endeavor.
Due to the dangerous nature of the region and the fear of encountering whoever was behind the scrying on Kisty, double watches were posted. The first half of the night passed quietly. An hour or two past midnight, while Nigel was on watch with one of the riders, a figure approached from out of the darkness. Nigel had taken up a perch on the roof and was startled when Lohna climbed up over the side and joined him.
"Uh, hi," he said. "What are you doing here?" The other question he wanted answered - how she found them - went unasked.
"Well, I caught wind of some strange folk passing through town earlier today and figured I should check it out," she said. "It's almost unheard of for people to travel north of Vineyard Pass. This group was large, perhaps a dozen in total, and well armed and equipped. Sounded kinda funny. And with the number of people interested in you and your friends these days, I thought I'd investigate."
"That was thoughtful of you," was all Nigel could manage in his flustered state.
"Anyway," she continued. "I tracked the group back to that little draw where you left your horses. Looks like they decided to camp there for the night. Aside from some guards, they were sleeping and I couldn't pick up anything of who they were or what they wanted. It did look like they might be planning on ambushing you guys there, though. You might want to be careful or avoid them altogether."
"Hmmm, yeah, sounds like a good idea," Nigel said. "I'll bring it up to the others in the morning."
"Hope they don't give you too much trouble," Lohna said. "I should get going. I'm going to have to hurry to make it back before dawn. Take care." She gave him a quick kiss and slipped silently back over the edge of the roof. Moments later, she was gone.
Nigel finished his watch and the rest of the night passed uneventfully. Wary of scrying, he quietly told the others of Lohna's visit and what she'd told him of the other group possibly waiting in ambush. They told the two griffon riders of their concerns about returning to fetch their horses at this time, though they couldn't elaborate on who this other group might be because they honestly didn't know. The Captain had come to trust them enough on this trip to take them at their word, though. After discussing options, they settled on a plan. Zalman would summon mounts for the two riders to take back to town with the eggs. They would cut inland a bit so as to avoid any possible confrontation. The others would move down the coast as quickly as they could, hopefully evading the other party. While they packed up their gear, Kisty spotted the scrying sensor again. She pointed it out casually to the others and everyone was careful to avoid giving up useful information until it disappeared again.
As soon as the sensor disappeared, the griffon riders mounted their summoned steeds and hurried off east and then south. The rest gathered up their gear and moved hastily south along the cliffs over the ocean. For several hours, things were uneventful. They pushed themselves hard, taking advantage of the relative coolness of the summer morning. Shortly after a brief pause for lunch, they spotted a large eagle of some sort circling high overhead. Something in its nature, however, tipped them off that this was probably not a natural bird. It seemed to be following them. Zalman suspected that it was a wizard's familiar, spying on them much in the same manner that he often used Hooty to scout ahead.
While the others continued to hold course south, Zalman volunteered to cast Fly on himself and go chase off the eagle. The eagle was a good half-mile up and nearly that far inland from their current position. With the speed of his Fly spell, however, Zalman was able to close the distance quickly. The eagle, it turned out, was actually a giant eagle. As he approached, however, it transformed before his eyes into a gargoyle, which promptly began to cast a spell. It was at this moment that Zalman realized he'd gotten himself into more than he'd bargained for - he was up against an unknown polymorphed wizard, all alone, some three thousand feet above the rocky ground.
The gargoyled wizard conjured a Minor Globe of Invulnerability. "Uh oh," Zalman thought to himself. That pretty much negated most everything he could hope to cast against the other wizard, and told him that the opposition was likely more skilled in magic than he was.
A few other things went through Zalman's mind at this point. First, this guy was likely part of the group hunting them down, and therefore he was not to be trusted. Second, there was a decent chance he was affiliated with the halfling wizard who'd tried to kill them a couple nights previously - also a reason to fear him. Third, he really wanted to discourage this guy from following them down the coast and leading the rest of the thugs into a fight with his friends. So, in an unusually risky move, Zalman decided to try to wait out the wizard's Globe.
The wizard, hovering within his magic haven, decided to make the first move and hit Zalman with a Dispell Magic, knocking out his Fly spell. Zalman went into free fall. With nerves of steel (and a hugely beneficial Concentration skill), he managed to cast polymorph on himself and followed the other wizard's lead in selecting the form of a gargoyle. Seriously annoyed, Zalman started circling back up but intended to keep a bit more distance.
The other wizard seemed content to wait out Zalman from his Globe. Zalman wasn't sure if the other simply had nothing useful to cast against him or was just waiting him out. Given the nature of the Globe, Zalman had but one spell that could harm the other wizard, so he cast it. He summoned forth a small air elemental and sent it to harass the other wizard. The elemental proved to be more of a nuisance than a threat, however, and the other wizard countered by summoning a pair of giant bats. The bats made short work of the elemental and then went after Zalman, who had already put a bit more distance between himself and the wizard. Using his new wand of lightning to good effect, the bats were taken out before they could close the distance to him.
Around this time, the Globe finally winked out and the other wizard settled upon a simple lightning bolt to remind Zalman of his presence. Zalman cast a Shield spell to give him some cover and returned fire. Lightning, magic missiles, and other spells flew back and forth for a short while with neither mage gaining a clear advantage and both suffering injury. Nigel, from nearly half a mile away, could just make out the flashes of lightning dancing between the two figures. He and the others were worried for Zalman but pressed on.
Finally, Zalman decided he'd had enough. He was badly injured and didn't feel that sacrificing himself would gain his friends anything, so he flew off back toward the coast. He hoped that if the other wizard followed, his friends would be ready to welcome him. Fortunately, the other wizard decided that he'd had enough as well and flew off in the opposite direction. As Zalman recapped the encounter to his companions, Rurik healed his injuries. Zalman counted himself lucky to have escaped an unexpected duel with a superior wizard - even if it was a draw.
They assumed that the other wizard would go back to his companions, who were undoubtedly on horseback, and inform them of their current location. By any reasonable estimate, there was no way they could make it back to Lohna's without being overtaken. Zalman told the others that he'd be in gargoyle form for a while yet, and with his flying speed he might just be able to make it most of the way back before it wore off. With his magically gifted ability to carry unusually heavy loads, he guessed he could carry another person...aside from possibly Rurik. From the Guild wizards, they'd purchased a potion of Fly. Doing some quick estimates, they still couldn't fly everyone back to Lohna's between the one potion and Zalman's gargoyle form. Amblin, given his incredible speed and endurance, and borrowing Rurik's Boots of Leaping and Springing, volunteered to go by land.
Rurik drank down the potion of Fly and carried Kisty. Zalman carried Nigel. Amblin ran cross-country. In little more than an hour, all five were back at Lohna's. It was mid-afternoon and Linnea was surprised to see them back so soon. She quickly noted that the horses were missing, as were the griffon riders. They gave her a short version of what had transpired. Linnea told them that they were welcome to their guestrooms and that food and drink were available. It would be some time before Lohna rose for the night. In light of the scrying Kisty had endured, Zalman proposed that he erect a Leomund's Secure Shelter around the back of Lohna's property. For both her safety and that of the others, Zalman recommended that Kisty stay there for the rest of the day and night. Anyone scrying on her would simply find her lounging around a simple room and would learn nothing of her true location. Rurik volunteered to keep her company.
Captain Silverleaf and the other griffon rider arrived later in the afternoon and were quite surprised to find that they'd been beaten back. He was distressed to hear of Zalman's encounter but relieved to hear that they'd all made it back. He and his companion had encountered no problems in their ride back. He told them that there was still enough time to make the ride back to Water Break before dark, and if they went now they could make plans to leave by griffon for New Selmar early the next morning. Given the hassles that had been following them around the last couple days, they readily agreed.
Rurik and Kisty were brought back from the Secure Shelter and everyone mounted up on borrowed horses from Lohna's stable. Linnea told them that the Duke's staff could arrange for the horses to be returned tomorrow. She expressed regret that they'd have to leave again before Lohna could wake to see them off, but she promised to relate their tale to the Countess.
By dusk, the group had reached the Duke's keep in Water Break and Captain Silverleaf saw to it that they were given a relatively secure room in a quiet wing of the Keep. While they still feared the reach of the wizard(s) following them and of Misty's Thieves' Guild, it was still somewhat comforting to have thick stone walls and dozens of guards all about them.
A messenger was dispatched to find the trader Trevor Aberdeen and to inform him that the expedition to New Selmar would leave by dawn the next morning. It wasn't much notice, but they felt it couldn't be helped. Everyone felt a driving urge to leave the city as soon as possible.
Next session: Homecoming at long last...
