Cerebral Paladin
First Post
Session 17 (cont'd):
As the door opens, arrows streak down towards the visible members of the group from arrow slits in the boards covering the second story windows. Lhovrik and Melania are both wounded, but the archer aiming at Aurora misses. The group must have been spotted while sneaking around the building, but the attackers waited until they were sure it was a raid. Invisible figures unlocking the back door are hard to interpret as friendly.
Vannser reacts first, slipping through the backdoor and rushing through a large but poorly kept-up kitchen into a dining room. Two men in leather armor play cards at a small table, while a half-dozen other people simply stand about. The standing people where heavy cloaks and have veils or masks concealing their faces, leading Vannser to assume that they are undead. Vannser notes a door leading to a staircase into the basement, where he assumes Desi is being kept as a prisoner. The two men at the table, unable to see any foes but knowing that something is going on, ready their swords and begin looking for someone to fight. Aurora rushes forward into the doorway from the kitchen to the dining room and brandishes her holy symbol, crying "May the rays of Luirta drive you back to the places from which you came!" Rays of light shine forth from her sun disc and most of the figures in robes collapse into small piles of rags. Two of the robed forms recoil from her, but do not collapse, apparently the stronger undead that she detected.
The archers fire again, wounding Melania further, but she hurries into the kitchen where they cannot fire on her. Ginara tumbles past the guards and begins hurrying down the stairs into the basement. The basement is a largely open area, but it has a large prison or cage in each corner. Two ogres, each towering nearly ten feet tall and armed with a giant club, stand in the open area between the cages. The ogres are not secured at all, but Ginara notices that they have heavy iron collars around their necks and can see a large, badly healing wound on each right shoulder under the heavy cured hide armor. More importantly, Desi lies on a bunk in one of the cages, looking up at the noise of combat with a mixture of hope and fear on her face. She appears largely unharmed, although very dirty and unhappy. Sturdy chains secure her to the walls of her cell but give her a reasonable freedom of movement within the cell.
Lhovrik rushes into the kitchen and casts a Sleep spell at the only remaining targets. Fortunately, he positions the area of effect so that it does not include the invisible Vannser, and the two guards collapse into unconsciousness. The remaining robed figures move, shambling out of the dining room at the same time as another robed form shambles in. Dove trades blows with the presumed undead, but without much effect, while Vannser follows Ginara into the basement.
Ginara quietly creeps up to Desi's cage and scrawls out a note saying that Vannser and Desi's sisters have come to rescue her. Desi looks up in surprise and relief as the note appears before her and carefully tries to cover her reaction so the ogres will not realize that something is happening. The ogres grunt and yammer at each other, aware that something is happening upstairs but unable to do anything about it. Unfortunately, Ginara does not speak whatever language they are using and cannot understand them. As Vannser follows Ginara down, one of the ogres hears his armor clanking, but the dumb brute is unable to figure out what that could mean and does not try to attack its invisible foe.
Aurora finishes off the fight upstairs, turning the remaining undead. Lhovrik casts Sleep at the ogre he can see, but it resists his spell, while Melania fires her crossbow at it. The ogre begins attacking the staircase, apparently hoping to clear it out of the way so it can attack the foes who are pestering it from above. Its first blow shakes the staircase, but does not do much damage. The second ogre hears Vannser again, and finally realizes that there must be an invisible person present. It follows its usual plan of "kill first and eat the bodies later," but guesses incorrectly and swings its mighty club a good fifteen feet from where Vannser is actually.
Vannser concludes that the time has come to engage the foe and charges the ogre by the staircase, wounding it lightly. Sister Aurora casts a Hold Person, only to see the ogre shrug it off, not truly a person. Lhovrik casts his last Sleep spell and topples Vannser's target. Ginara charges the other ogre. With the advantage of her invisibility, she is able to badly wound it with her rapier, and it roars in pain and dismay. Dove rushes down the stairs to come to Ginara's aid, but the ogre slams its club into her as she approaches her, knocking her unconscious. The rest of the group hurries down the stairs, with Melania seeking to heal Dove. Sister Aurora tries another spell, commanding the ogre to "Fall!" But the ogre seems unable to understand her and is unaffected. Its mighty club crashes down near Ginara, but she nimbly steps aside. Lhovrik tries to Sleep the ogre again, this time with a scroll, but its will is too strong for the weaker magic in a scroll. Finally, Ginara tumbles behind the ogre, flanking it with Vannser, and finishes the brute off with a precise thrust of her rapier.
The group rushes to Desi's cage, promising that they will have her free in moments, as Ginara sets to work on the locks. Lhovrik encourages a newly healed Dove to finish off the sleeping ogre, and she happily lops its head off. After a minute or two of work, Ginara frees Desi from all of her chains, and she joyfully embraces her sisters and Vannser. She assures them that she's fine, although she was very scared. They ask about Marna, and Desi confirms that Marna was held in one of the other cells for the first day or so, but was then taken away. Sister Aurora sadly informs her sister that Marna was probably sold into slavery, but that they will strive to free her.
Sister Aurora and Dove head to the second floor, to deal with the archers. One of the archers is no longer there; apparently, that archer was a human who fled out of the windows when it was clear that his side was outmatched. Dove quickly smashes the other two archers, both animated skeletons.
The group searches the building quickly. Sister Aurora examines the wounds on the ogres' shoulders. They do not appear to be combat wounds, but are large areas where a quarter-inch or so of skin and flesh was cut away. An ugly mass of scar tissue was still forming at the time of their deaths. Sister Aurora and Ginara speculate that there may have been tattoos or brands there, although Lhovrik opines that the wounds are deeper than would be necessary to eliminate a tattoo.
With everything wrapped up, Vannser and the Skyrnath sisters take Desi back to her parents' house, where her parents are overjoyed to see her. Sister Aurora, hoping for another clue to trace back to Feldmar, asks Desi whether the kidnappers took her necklace. Desi is unable to remember for sure, but thinks they probably did. Unfortunately, she cannot provide any other helpful information, because she was struck from behind and knocked unconscious without ever seeing her attackers. Vannser quickly arranges for guards to watch Desi to prevent any further problems. Meanwhile, Lhovrik hires a coach, pays the driver a substantial bribe to not worry about why a young noble needs to transport some unconscious bodies from a building in the Docks to a house in the Noble Quarter, and takes the two thugs, along with Ginara, Melania, and a reluctant Olin, back to his house.
As the door opens, arrows streak down towards the visible members of the group from arrow slits in the boards covering the second story windows. Lhovrik and Melania are both wounded, but the archer aiming at Aurora misses. The group must have been spotted while sneaking around the building, but the attackers waited until they were sure it was a raid. Invisible figures unlocking the back door are hard to interpret as friendly.
Vannser reacts first, slipping through the backdoor and rushing through a large but poorly kept-up kitchen into a dining room. Two men in leather armor play cards at a small table, while a half-dozen other people simply stand about. The standing people where heavy cloaks and have veils or masks concealing their faces, leading Vannser to assume that they are undead. Vannser notes a door leading to a staircase into the basement, where he assumes Desi is being kept as a prisoner. The two men at the table, unable to see any foes but knowing that something is going on, ready their swords and begin looking for someone to fight. Aurora rushes forward into the doorway from the kitchen to the dining room and brandishes her holy symbol, crying "May the rays of Luirta drive you back to the places from which you came!" Rays of light shine forth from her sun disc and most of the figures in robes collapse into small piles of rags. Two of the robed forms recoil from her, but do not collapse, apparently the stronger undead that she detected.
The archers fire again, wounding Melania further, but she hurries into the kitchen where they cannot fire on her. Ginara tumbles past the guards and begins hurrying down the stairs into the basement. The basement is a largely open area, but it has a large prison or cage in each corner. Two ogres, each towering nearly ten feet tall and armed with a giant club, stand in the open area between the cages. The ogres are not secured at all, but Ginara notices that they have heavy iron collars around their necks and can see a large, badly healing wound on each right shoulder under the heavy cured hide armor. More importantly, Desi lies on a bunk in one of the cages, looking up at the noise of combat with a mixture of hope and fear on her face. She appears largely unharmed, although very dirty and unhappy. Sturdy chains secure her to the walls of her cell but give her a reasonable freedom of movement within the cell.
Lhovrik rushes into the kitchen and casts a Sleep spell at the only remaining targets. Fortunately, he positions the area of effect so that it does not include the invisible Vannser, and the two guards collapse into unconsciousness. The remaining robed figures move, shambling out of the dining room at the same time as another robed form shambles in. Dove trades blows with the presumed undead, but without much effect, while Vannser follows Ginara into the basement.
Ginara quietly creeps up to Desi's cage and scrawls out a note saying that Vannser and Desi's sisters have come to rescue her. Desi looks up in surprise and relief as the note appears before her and carefully tries to cover her reaction so the ogres will not realize that something is happening. The ogres grunt and yammer at each other, aware that something is happening upstairs but unable to do anything about it. Unfortunately, Ginara does not speak whatever language they are using and cannot understand them. As Vannser follows Ginara down, one of the ogres hears his armor clanking, but the dumb brute is unable to figure out what that could mean and does not try to attack its invisible foe.
Aurora finishes off the fight upstairs, turning the remaining undead. Lhovrik casts Sleep at the ogre he can see, but it resists his spell, while Melania fires her crossbow at it. The ogre begins attacking the staircase, apparently hoping to clear it out of the way so it can attack the foes who are pestering it from above. Its first blow shakes the staircase, but does not do much damage. The second ogre hears Vannser again, and finally realizes that there must be an invisible person present. It follows its usual plan of "kill first and eat the bodies later," but guesses incorrectly and swings its mighty club a good fifteen feet from where Vannser is actually.
Vannser concludes that the time has come to engage the foe and charges the ogre by the staircase, wounding it lightly. Sister Aurora casts a Hold Person, only to see the ogre shrug it off, not truly a person. Lhovrik casts his last Sleep spell and topples Vannser's target. Ginara charges the other ogre. With the advantage of her invisibility, she is able to badly wound it with her rapier, and it roars in pain and dismay. Dove rushes down the stairs to come to Ginara's aid, but the ogre slams its club into her as she approaches her, knocking her unconscious. The rest of the group hurries down the stairs, with Melania seeking to heal Dove. Sister Aurora tries another spell, commanding the ogre to "Fall!" But the ogre seems unable to understand her and is unaffected. Its mighty club crashes down near Ginara, but she nimbly steps aside. Lhovrik tries to Sleep the ogre again, this time with a scroll, but its will is too strong for the weaker magic in a scroll. Finally, Ginara tumbles behind the ogre, flanking it with Vannser, and finishes the brute off with a precise thrust of her rapier.
The group rushes to Desi's cage, promising that they will have her free in moments, as Ginara sets to work on the locks. Lhovrik encourages a newly healed Dove to finish off the sleeping ogre, and she happily lops its head off. After a minute or two of work, Ginara frees Desi from all of her chains, and she joyfully embraces her sisters and Vannser. She assures them that she's fine, although she was very scared. They ask about Marna, and Desi confirms that Marna was held in one of the other cells for the first day or so, but was then taken away. Sister Aurora sadly informs her sister that Marna was probably sold into slavery, but that they will strive to free her.
Sister Aurora and Dove head to the second floor, to deal with the archers. One of the archers is no longer there; apparently, that archer was a human who fled out of the windows when it was clear that his side was outmatched. Dove quickly smashes the other two archers, both animated skeletons.
The group searches the building quickly. Sister Aurora examines the wounds on the ogres' shoulders. They do not appear to be combat wounds, but are large areas where a quarter-inch or so of skin and flesh was cut away. An ugly mass of scar tissue was still forming at the time of their deaths. Sister Aurora and Ginara speculate that there may have been tattoos or brands there, although Lhovrik opines that the wounds are deeper than would be necessary to eliminate a tattoo.
With everything wrapped up, Vannser and the Skyrnath sisters take Desi back to her parents' house, where her parents are overjoyed to see her. Sister Aurora, hoping for another clue to trace back to Feldmar, asks Desi whether the kidnappers took her necklace. Desi is unable to remember for sure, but thinks they probably did. Unfortunately, she cannot provide any other helpful information, because she was struck from behind and knocked unconscious without ever seeing her attackers. Vannser quickly arranges for guards to watch Desi to prevent any further problems. Meanwhile, Lhovrik hires a coach, pays the driver a substantial bribe to not worry about why a young noble needs to transport some unconscious bodies from a building in the Docks to a house in the Noble Quarter, and takes the two thugs, along with Ginara, Melania, and a reluctant Olin, back to his house.