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Nebulous's Keep on the Shadowfell (FR)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4598513" data-attributes="member: 31465"><p><span style="font-size: 15px">Adventure #7: Lord of the Maw & Boss of the Fat</span></p><p></p><p><strong>PART FOUR</strong></p><p></p><p>The rest of the night passes uneventfully, and since only Kerric the Paladin burned a daily power in the battle against the inquisitor, they decide to press on that very morning and return to Shadowfell Keep, without even talking to Padraig first. Time is of the essence, and if the confiscated note from Ninaran is any indication, Kalarel will soon complete his ritual and open the rift to the Shadowfell, an unhappy event that the heroes are sure will spell doom for everyone--and possibly themselves too. If Lord Maw is a precursor to what sort of creature will roam the countryside under the Shadowfell, they definitely don’t want to see that happen.</p><p></p><p></p><p>RETURN to SHADOWFELL KEEP</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/keep.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>They arrive the following morning, the 7th of Mirtul. The sky is clear and blue, a light breeze ruffling their clothes and hair. Less than 24 hours have passed since they were here, and it remains to be seen if they successfully trapped the goblins and Boss Fatty in their chamber. Splug is with them again, humming and mumbling, eager to please his new masters who have emphatically promised that NO…they won’t eat him…so long as he obeys their wishes. Miraculously enough he did not try to escape while they were fighting in the graveyard. Splug must be intimidated past any thought of self- preservation or betrayal. </p><p></p><p>Atop the rocky knoll they see evidence of activity. Multiple footprints, both small and large, have disturbed the grass and dirt. Sunlight illuminates the stairs, so brandishing his longsword, Kerric descends as quietly as a clumsy warrior in plate armor can manage. But the paladin nearly stumbles over a hidden tripwire! He sees it in time and gingerly lifts his boot over the string. It is nearly invisible, stretching down the stairwell and around the corner, hugging the junction of floor and wall. This was not here before.</p><p></p><p>Using her meager rogue skills, the half-elf warlock Irann inspects the string, searching for traps. It doesn’t seem rigged to collapse the ceiling or anything so treacherous, so perhaps it is an early warning system. Everyone carefully steps over the string and they descend back into the pillared rat pit trap room.</p><p></p><p>The fake canvas floor has been replaced over the rodents. Beyond where they fought the goblin guards, all bodies have been removed and blood mopped up. Down the eastern stairwell toward the excavation site is only seething darkness and no sound. Peeking around the corner toward the torture chamber, Brandis sees the two double doors cracked open, the iron chains removed. Yes, somehow the goblins escaped, and not only that, they set traps in case the heroes returned to finish the fight. </p><p></p><p>Well, as luck would have it, the heroes are back and the goblins are none the wiser. As far as they know…</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/sk1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>They move up, shuffling down the hall as quietly as possible. The torture room is shut and the storage room is shut. They discuss their options, wavering between a full frontal assault or trying to lure the enemy out again. They even discuss some Prestidigitation illusions, but ultimately, Erevan uses mage hand on the torture room door and quietly opens it; there is no one visible inside. They don’t want to walk in front of the cracked double doors because someone watching would immediately spot them. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk3.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Still, Erevan takes a risk and peeks around the corner. He sees a wooden table at the end of a long corridor. One goblin has his back to the door; a second goblin is facing Erevan, but was looking down at some dice on the table. Hanging over their heads is a brass bell attached to the string. </p><p></p><p>Well, this is it, the guard station. The heroes still have the element of surprise, and Erevan opens the fight with a SCORCHING BURST!</p><p></p><p>Flames explode over the table, blackening the dice, burning the chairs, snapping the string…and missing both goblins. They leap up, screeching, and immediately turn toward the doors. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk4.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk5.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The little buggers are armed with spears and javelins, and they immediately hurl projectiles at the intruders. Kerric is brutally injured, and the goblin cackles in wicked glee. But Brandis and Helga surge down the hall, forcing the goblins to retreat toward a black curtain. One is already bloodied and limping, but the other makes it to the curtain and rips it down, screaming for help in his guttural goblin tongue. </p><p></p><p>A door opens and more goblins pour out of a room.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk8.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>The defenders are at the forefront of the battle, pressing the advantage. The warlock continues cursing anyone in sight, and more often than not, eldritch purple flames explode from the eyes and mouths of unsuspecting minions. </p><p></p><p>Kerric advances to a second door where he sees a goblin peeking through. Not giving the monster another chance, Kerric kicks the door open and strikes! His blade hews the goblin in half, but it had four more friends waiting just beyond, and all of their blades stab toward the paladin. He deflects two, weathers the sting of a third, and the fourth bounces off his armor. And then the paladin quickly shuts the door! </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk10.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>“There’s a lot of these guys!” shouts Helga the dwarf, who has opened a door to another room bristling with gobber warriors. She tears into the middle of them, hacking viciously left and right. Brandis advances to a wide set of wooden double doors, wondering what might be behind them…but he goes to help Kerric instead on his side of the battle.</p><p></p><p>But seconds after he has stepped away, the double doors swing open and a new voice shouts out from within:</p><p></p><p>“KILL THEM!” It’s shouted in goblin tongue though, so everyone except Brandis just hears, “MOR GRASKA!”</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/bal.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/fatty.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>A fat, ugly goblin is wielding a crossbow, and he’s standing well back from the doors that an ally has opened. This is Balgron the Fat, known as Boss Fatty to Splug, and he’s a fiend with a crossbow. A projectile whistles out, embeds in Irann’s thigh and hampers her movement.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk13.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the dwarf is dancing with gobs to the south, while Kerric is managing the north room. Fighting in close, confined spaces is preventing anyone from getting surrounded, although the battle has now reached three fronts. Kerric and Brandis cut down another foe, and for the second time Kerric quickly shuts the door, winking at a goblin, promising that they’ll be seeing each other again soon.</p><p></p><p>The goblin looks terrified. </p><p></p><p>Confident that the paladin can handle the enemy, Brandis rushes to the big double doors, slams them shut, and pushes his halberd through the handles to lock them in. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk14.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>For Kerric the paladin, it’s still a standoff at the sleeping quarters. Irann rushes up to assist him, just as Kerric flings the door open and stabs a goblin to death, and then shuts the door yet again, leaving a final quivering foe inside. Kerric soon hears a shriek of pain though through the closed door and finds that the goblin has impaled himself on his own spear rather than confront the enemy.</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk16.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Erevan and Helga pick off the last stragglers in their room, which is awash with red blood by now, and reconvene with their comrades. It has been 3 or 4 rounds since Brandis shut Boss Fatty away, and they’re getting worried that they might have left the bastard alone for too long. What if he’s setting a trap for them?</p><p></p><p>Like a cabbage cannon?</p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/fatty2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>No, that just won’t do at all, so Helga and Brandis charge into the bedchamber, determined to squash him once and for all…but there’s no sign of Fatty. </p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk17.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>Curtains have been ripped down that offered privacy around a simple sleeping cot, but a small hatchway hangs open. Peering down the hole, Helga can’t see anything until Erevan casts a light spell into the depths. They can barely see a section of flagstone tunnel at the end.</p><p></p><p>“Where does it go?” asks the dwarf, preparing to scramble down into the hole to follow the goblin boss.</p><p></p><p>“Wait,” says Brandis, a hand to her shoulder. The warlord pulls out their scribbled map of the keep, noting where they are and where they have been. “That tunnel probably leads down to the excavation site.”</p><p></p><p>“There’s no way out.”</p><p></p><p>“Not quite,” says Brandis. He taps a small unmarked tunnel. “Natural caves here. Where Splug was attacked. By…something.”</p><p></p><p>They all peer down the small tunnel, knowing that if they’re going to catch Boss Fatty, they’ll have to follow him into whatever dank hole he crawls…</p><p></p><p>And there we stopped.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: red"></span></p><p><span style="color: red">[GM Note: Lord Maw’s stats]</span></p><p><img src="http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/LORD MAW1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nebulous, post: 4598513, member: 31465"] [SIZE=4]Adventure #7: Lord of the Maw & Boss of the Fat[/SIZE] [B]PART FOUR[/B] The rest of the night passes uneventfully, and since only Kerric the Paladin burned a daily power in the battle against the inquisitor, they decide to press on that very morning and return to Shadowfell Keep, without even talking to Padraig first. Time is of the essence, and if the confiscated note from Ninaran is any indication, Kalarel will soon complete his ritual and open the rift to the Shadowfell, an unhappy event that the heroes are sure will spell doom for everyone--and possibly themselves too. If Lord Maw is a precursor to what sort of creature will roam the countryside under the Shadowfell, they definitely don’t want to see that happen. RETURN to SHADOWFELL KEEP [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/keep.jpg[/img] They arrive the following morning, the 7th of Mirtul. The sky is clear and blue, a light breeze ruffling their clothes and hair. Less than 24 hours have passed since they were here, and it remains to be seen if they successfully trapped the goblins and Boss Fatty in their chamber. Splug is with them again, humming and mumbling, eager to please his new masters who have emphatically promised that NO…they won’t eat him…so long as he obeys their wishes. Miraculously enough he did not try to escape while they were fighting in the graveyard. Splug must be intimidated past any thought of self- preservation or betrayal. Atop the rocky knoll they see evidence of activity. Multiple footprints, both small and large, have disturbed the grass and dirt. Sunlight illuminates the stairs, so brandishing his longsword, Kerric descends as quietly as a clumsy warrior in plate armor can manage. But the paladin nearly stumbles over a hidden tripwire! He sees it in time and gingerly lifts his boot over the string. It is nearly invisible, stretching down the stairwell and around the corner, hugging the junction of floor and wall. This was not here before. Using her meager rogue skills, the half-elf warlock Irann inspects the string, searching for traps. It doesn’t seem rigged to collapse the ceiling or anything so treacherous, so perhaps it is an early warning system. Everyone carefully steps over the string and they descend back into the pillared rat pit trap room. The fake canvas floor has been replaced over the rodents. Beyond where they fought the goblin guards, all bodies have been removed and blood mopped up. Down the eastern stairwell toward the excavation site is only seething darkness and no sound. Peeking around the corner toward the torture chamber, Brandis sees the two double doors cracked open, the iron chains removed. Yes, somehow the goblins escaped, and not only that, they set traps in case the heroes returned to finish the fight. Well, as luck would have it, the heroes are back and the goblins are none the wiser. As far as they know… [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/sk1.jpg[/img] They move up, shuffling down the hall as quietly as possible. The torture room is shut and the storage room is shut. They discuss their options, wavering between a full frontal assault or trying to lure the enemy out again. They even discuss some Prestidigitation illusions, but ultimately, Erevan uses mage hand on the torture room door and quietly opens it; there is no one visible inside. They don’t want to walk in front of the cracked double doors because someone watching would immediately spot them. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk2.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk3.jpg[/img] Still, Erevan takes a risk and peeks around the corner. He sees a wooden table at the end of a long corridor. One goblin has his back to the door; a second goblin is facing Erevan, but was looking down at some dice on the table. Hanging over their heads is a brass bell attached to the string. Well, this is it, the guard station. The heroes still have the element of surprise, and Erevan opens the fight with a SCORCHING BURST! Flames explode over the table, blackening the dice, burning the chairs, snapping the string…and missing both goblins. They leap up, screeching, and immediately turn toward the doors. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk4.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk5.jpg[/img] The little buggers are armed with spears and javelins, and they immediately hurl projectiles at the intruders. Kerric is brutally injured, and the goblin cackles in wicked glee. But Brandis and Helga surge down the hall, forcing the goblins to retreat toward a black curtain. One is already bloodied and limping, but the other makes it to the curtain and rips it down, screaming for help in his guttural goblin tongue. A door opens and more goblins pour out of a room. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk8.jpg[/img] The defenders are at the forefront of the battle, pressing the advantage. The warlock continues cursing anyone in sight, and more often than not, eldritch purple flames explode from the eyes and mouths of unsuspecting minions. Kerric advances to a second door where he sees a goblin peeking through. Not giving the monster another chance, Kerric kicks the door open and strikes! His blade hews the goblin in half, but it had four more friends waiting just beyond, and all of their blades stab toward the paladin. He deflects two, weathers the sting of a third, and the fourth bounces off his armor. And then the paladin quickly shuts the door! [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk10.jpg[/img] “There’s a lot of these guys!” shouts Helga the dwarf, who has opened a door to another room bristling with gobber warriors. She tears into the middle of them, hacking viciously left and right. Brandis advances to a wide set of wooden double doors, wondering what might be behind them…but he goes to help Kerric instead on his side of the battle. But seconds after he has stepped away, the double doors swing open and a new voice shouts out from within: “KILL THEM!” It’s shouted in goblin tongue though, so everyone except Brandis just hears, “MOR GRASKA!” [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/bal.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/fatty.jpg[/img] A fat, ugly goblin is wielding a crossbow, and he’s standing well back from the doors that an ally has opened. This is Balgron the Fat, known as Boss Fatty to Splug, and he’s a fiend with a crossbow. A projectile whistles out, embeds in Irann’s thigh and hampers her movement. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk13.jpg[/img] Meanwhile, the dwarf is dancing with gobs to the south, while Kerric is managing the north room. Fighting in close, confined spaces is preventing anyone from getting surrounded, although the battle has now reached three fronts. Kerric and Brandis cut down another foe, and for the second time Kerric quickly shuts the door, winking at a goblin, promising that they’ll be seeing each other again soon. The goblin looks terrified. Confident that the paladin can handle the enemy, Brandis rushes to the big double doors, slams them shut, and pushes his halberd through the handles to lock them in. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk14.jpg[/img] For Kerric the paladin, it’s still a standoff at the sleeping quarters. Irann rushes up to assist him, just as Kerric flings the door open and stabs a goblin to death, and then shuts the door yet again, leaving a final quivering foe inside. Kerric soon hears a shriek of pain though through the closed door and finds that the goblin has impaled himself on his own spear rather than confront the enemy. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk16.jpg[/img] Erevan and Helga pick off the last stragglers in their room, which is awash with red blood by now, and reconvene with their comrades. It has been 3 or 4 rounds since Brandis shut Boss Fatty away, and they’re getting worried that they might have left the bastard alone for too long. What if he’s setting a trap for them? Like a cabbage cannon? [img]http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/keep/fatty2.jpg[/img] No, that just won’t do at all, so Helga and Brandis charge into the bedchamber, determined to squash him once and for all…but there’s no sign of Fatty. [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/sk17.jpg[/img] Curtains have been ripped down that offered privacy around a simple sleeping cot, but a small hatchway hangs open. Peering down the hole, Helga can’t see anything until Erevan casts a light spell into the depths. They can barely see a section of flagstone tunnel at the end. “Where does it go?” asks the dwarf, preparing to scramble down into the hole to follow the goblin boss. “Wait,” says Brandis, a hand to her shoulder. The warlord pulls out their scribbled map of the keep, noting where they are and where they have been. “That tunnel probably leads down to the excavation site.” “There’s no way out.” “Not quite,” says Brandis. He taps a small unmarked tunnel. “Natural caves here. Where Splug was attacked. By…something.” They all peer down the small tunnel, knowing that if they’re going to catch Boss Fatty, they’ll have to follow him into whatever dank hole he crawls… And there we stopped. [color=red] [GM Note: Lord Maw’s stats][/color] [img]http://www.zikadik.com/shadowfell/LORD MAW1.jpg[/img] [/QUOTE]
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