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Nebulous's Keep on the Shadowfell (FR)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4574979" data-attributes="member: 31465"><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Adventure #5: Shadowfell Keep</span></p><p></p><p><strong>PART FOUR</strong></p><p></p><p>“Fall back!” the warlord bellows, and everyone tries making their way to the junction corridor…</p><p></p><p>…and that’s when they see ten zombies shambling toward them from the darkness. They’re being attacked from both sides now, and the enemies in the sarcophagi room have no end in sight. The implications of this are horrifying; they’ll be torn to shreds down here and no one in Winterhaven will ever see them again.</p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/flanked.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>They don’t know what they did to trigger the skeleton trap, but fortification in the hallway is a decent tactic to avoid waves of arrows hurling toward them. Skeleton archers without good line sight put their bows away and advance with rusted longswords, and for every few undead they cut down, ten more leap forth from iron coffins the next round!</p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/skeletons.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Fortunately, most are minions so they drop easily, and their attacks don’t inflict terrible damage. Helga and Kerric take the brunt of the assault, using their high AC to deflect blows, or their hefty hit points to absorb damage while the weaker character defend the zombie flank. </p><p></p><p>Irann curses anything she can see (both magically and literally) and lobs gouts of eldritch fire. Erevan conjures a globe of flame and rolls it into the midst of the zombies, incinerating any that get too close. </p><p></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: I think it was around now that someone said that we were really playing Diablo and not D&D].</span></p><p></p><p>The group is wavering between fighting and fleeing, and the hesitation weakens their tactics. If the skeletons keep spawning endlessly there will be no point to keep fighting…unless there is a way to stop them on the other side. If they can chop a path through the zombies they’ll have a clear run back to the surface, at least to catch their breath and decide on another strategy. </p><p></p><p>Arrows continue raining down on them, mostly pinging off armor or shields but occasionally sinking into flesh. The zombies are picked off relatively quickly, but for five rounds in a row the ranks of skeleton warriors grows thicker and thicker, crowding almost every available square. Row upon row of clacking dead warriors fall beneath the PCs blades and flame.</p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/skeletons2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The zombies are finally all destroyed, giving Brandis and Irann a chance to run back upstairs to where they first found the Goblin Trap…to retrieve the barrel of lantern oil.</p><p></p><p>They’re going to burn the bastards to a second death down there. </p><p></p><p>It will take five rounds to retrieve it, and in the meantime Helga, Erevan and Kerric do what they can to hold back the enemy. Erevan continues scorching the warriors, and then rolls his flaming sphere into their midst, igniting a few others. But the skeletons have no fear and march relentlessly into obliteration, trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers. </p><p></p><p>When the barrel of oil is finally rolled down to the group (and fortunately Brandis and Irann met no resistance alone) Kerric shoves it to the middle of the hallway. They’re very curious to know what triggers the trap; is it their presence, some magical signal, or something else? The barrel stops in the middle of the floor and does not seem to begin another wave. They don’t hear scratching yet either. Helga braves the arrows that will fly at her once she enters the room and charges in, screaming at the top of her lungs. </p><p> </p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/mob.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>A few barbs sink into her, but most bounce off. Kerric is hot on her heels, his shield raised and his bastard sword swinging arcs through their enemies. Rusted blades shatter against their armor, and then Erevan’s flaming sphere is bobbing through, igniting their ancient dry bones into crackling conflagrations. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/progress.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Irann runs in too, teleporting short distances as cursed skeletons are obliterated by the warriors ahead of her. Soon, the group of five adventurers has pressed the enemy to the rear of the chamber where the ceiling rises.</p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: There is actually quite a bit of descriptive detail about this end of the room I glossed over; I’ll get to that next time].</span></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p>After a long, brutal, exhausting battle against a seemingly endless horde of magically animated undead, the flow has ceased, and the last two skeletal warriors hack and chop at Helga as she advances on them with murder in her eyes. The end comes soon after that, and the group heaves in great sucking breaths, listening to the stillness around them and the pounding of their hearts.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/last two.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>They’re alive, not too badly hurt, and standing in the middle of what looks like a holy shrine. Or unholy, depending on who you ask. There is a wooden altar to the north and south, a vaulted ceiling shimmering with dull starlight, and a large set of double doors to the west. </p><p></p><p>Kerric suspects something in this room has to do with the plague of skeletons, and he’s also worried that they could continue pouring out again. Behind them, the long hallways is littered with dozens of shattered bones, weapons and tattered chainmail, the remnants of a long battle that could have gone very poorly for the heroes.</p><p></p><p>They begin to search…</p><p></p><p>And that’s where we stopped.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/map1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: A whole lot of this session ventured into unexpected territory, but that’s fine. The battle in the skele-crypt was not as deadly as it seemed at first, but man, I was surprised when I read over that section. I hadn’t planned on them going there and had not prepped it at all, nor did I recall what the trap entailed. Fortunately I had a co-DM helping this session! It went much smoother than it would have otherwise; i didn't have any miniatures prepared]. </span></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nebulous, post: 4574979, member: 31465"] [SIZE=4]Adventure #5: Shadowfell Keep[/SIZE] [B]PART FOUR[/B] “Fall back!” the warlord bellows, and everyone tries making their way to the junction corridor… …and that’s when they see ten zombies shambling toward them from the darkness. They’re being attacked from both sides now, and the enemies in the sarcophagi room have no end in sight. The implications of this are horrifying; they’ll be torn to shreds down here and no one in Winterhaven will ever see them again. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/flanked.jpg[/img] They don’t know what they did to trigger the skeleton trap, but fortification in the hallway is a decent tactic to avoid waves of arrows hurling toward them. Skeleton archers without good line sight put their bows away and advance with rusted longswords, and for every few undead they cut down, ten more leap forth from iron coffins the next round! [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/skeletons.jpg[/img] Fortunately, most are minions so they drop easily, and their attacks don’t inflict terrible damage. Helga and Kerric take the brunt of the assault, using their high AC to deflect blows, or their hefty hit points to absorb damage while the weaker character defend the zombie flank. Irann curses anything she can see (both magically and literally) and lobs gouts of eldritch fire. Erevan conjures a globe of flame and rolls it into the midst of the zombies, incinerating any that get too close. [color=red][GM Note: I think it was around now that someone said that we were really playing Diablo and not D&D].[/color] The group is wavering between fighting and fleeing, and the hesitation weakens their tactics. If the skeletons keep spawning endlessly there will be no point to keep fighting…unless there is a way to stop them on the other side. If they can chop a path through the zombies they’ll have a clear run back to the surface, at least to catch their breath and decide on another strategy. Arrows continue raining down on them, mostly pinging off armor or shields but occasionally sinking into flesh. The zombies are picked off relatively quickly, but for five rounds in a row the ranks of skeleton warriors grows thicker and thicker, crowding almost every available square. Row upon row of clacking dead warriors fall beneath the PCs blades and flame. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/skeletons2.jpg[/img] The zombies are finally all destroyed, giving Brandis and Irann a chance to run back upstairs to where they first found the Goblin Trap…to retrieve the barrel of lantern oil. They’re going to burn the bastards to a second death down there. It will take five rounds to retrieve it, and in the meantime Helga, Erevan and Kerric do what they can to hold back the enemy. Erevan continues scorching the warriors, and then rolls his flaming sphere into their midst, igniting a few others. But the skeletons have no fear and march relentlessly into obliteration, trying to overwhelm them with sheer numbers. When the barrel of oil is finally rolled down to the group (and fortunately Brandis and Irann met no resistance alone) Kerric shoves it to the middle of the hallway. They’re very curious to know what triggers the trap; is it their presence, some magical signal, or something else? The barrel stops in the middle of the floor and does not seem to begin another wave. They don’t hear scratching yet either. Helga braves the arrows that will fly at her once she enters the room and charges in, screaming at the top of her lungs. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/mob.jpg[/img] A few barbs sink into her, but most bounce off. Kerric is hot on her heels, his shield raised and his bastard sword swinging arcs through their enemies. Rusted blades shatter against their armor, and then Erevan’s flaming sphere is bobbing through, igniting their ancient dry bones into crackling conflagrations. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/progress.jpg[/img] Irann runs in too, teleporting short distances as cursed skeletons are obliterated by the warriors ahead of her. Soon, the group of five adventurers has pressed the enemy to the rear of the chamber where the ceiling rises. [color=red] [GM Note: There is actually quite a bit of descriptive detail about this end of the room I glossed over; I’ll get to that next time]. [/color] After a long, brutal, exhausting battle against a seemingly endless horde of magically animated undead, the flow has ceased, and the last two skeletal warriors hack and chop at Helga as she advances on them with murder in her eyes. The end comes soon after that, and the group heaves in great sucking breaths, listening to the stillness around them and the pounding of their hearts. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/last two.jpg[/img] They’re alive, not too badly hurt, and standing in the middle of what looks like a holy shrine. Or unholy, depending on who you ask. There is a wooden altar to the north and south, a vaulted ceiling shimmering with dull starlight, and a large set of double doors to the west. Kerric suspects something in this room has to do with the plague of skeletons, and he’s also worried that they could continue pouring out again. Behind them, the long hallways is littered with dozens of shattered bones, weapons and tattered chainmail, the remnants of a long battle that could have gone very poorly for the heroes. They begin to search… And that’s where we stopped. [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/map1.jpg[/img] [color=red] [GM Note: A whole lot of this session ventured into unexpected territory, but that’s fine. The battle in the skele-crypt was not as deadly as it seemed at first, but man, I was surprised when I read over that section. I hadn’t planned on them going there and had not prepped it at all, nor did I recall what the trap entailed. Fortunately I had a co-DM helping this session! It went much smoother than it would have otherwise; i didn't have any miniatures prepared]. [/color] [/QUOTE]
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