Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, Session 14, Part 3- Return to the Southern Bridge Complex (or “Fight to Death scene, Take 2…and ACTION!”)
The night outside the Temple was restless. The Band of the Rising Sun constantly heard ear-splitting howling from the surrounding hills that disturbed their sleep. Even so, by the morning they were fully healed and had their spells prepared. They ventured back in to finish off the Southern Bridge Complex.
Deep into the Mines the Band crossed the threshold into the Southern Complex, where they had originally faced the armored troll. Stacy scouted ahead, looking for any signs of movement, while the rest slowly and carefully searched. The area was eerily, deathly silent. Listening behind doors and looking down hallways, all the group found was piles of ash of creatures they had incinerated. The raptor cage was empty except for old droppings and some bits of torn meat. Stacy moved down one hallway and found an empty armory and a maze of other hallways as of yet unexplored.
The main body of the party happened upon a large, plush bedroom with two doors on each side. The room was filled with sweet smelling incense, and brightly colored glyphs decorated the walls. As the Band examined the place, Stacy was some ways beyond, moving down the long, brightly lit hallway. He found a bridge over water, but that wasn’t what surprised him. Lying in wait were a group of gnolls, the half-orc spellcaster, and a hulking Giant with a huge club! Stacy took one look and turned to run, but found himself facing the Ogre Mage, which materialized before him with a grin on his face. With a yelp, Stacy sprinted away, ending up in the hallway beyond the room where the party was still poking around.
Gholoth went out the door the party had come into the room and found some gnolls gathering there (the enemies were surrounding the group). He took off down the hallway and arrived just in time to see a batch of gnolls closing on poor Stacy in the passage beyond. Hearing Gholoth’s warnings echoing through the walkways, Aramek opened the far door to the bedroom and found a Giant and some growling gnolls beyond.
A flurry of events quickly followed. Lathander summoned another Lantern archon to help the group. The Giant pummeled Aramek with its enormous club, eliciting some strained grunts from the hardy dwarf. One group of gnolls surrounded Gholoth and Stacy outside and tore into Stacy, but were unable to make a mark on the psionic monk. Half a dozen other gnolls poured into the Band’s room but didn’t disrupt the group with their opening attacks. Two gnolls around the Giant fired on Aramek from afar, but his black dragon scale armor fended off their arrows. Sentien methodically went to work on the gnolls in the room, dispatching one quickly and wounding another, making such attacks look easy. Bandar was less successful neutralizing gnolls with a Stomp, but Stacy did quite well with his magic. The diminutive halfling tumbled away from the wicked flails the gnolls carried and rapidly let loose his Color Spray, which left most of his opponents unconscious, but stunned Gholoth unintentionally.
Aramek, as the party’s front-line fighter, went toe-to-toe with a Giant twenty times his size. He gave the monster a reason to howl with some wallops from his hammer. Yet he had new adversity to deal with when the half-orc appeared and fired off a spell, which failed because the dumb Giant was in the way (thank goodness). As Lathander’s lantern archon arrived it brought magical protections and boosts for the adventurers and restrictions for their opponents within the small confines of the strange room.
Meanwhile, outside in the hallway, Gholoth suddenly returned to the fight with the pain brought about from a gnoll’s swinging flail and saw his helpless, stunned opponents. With a rapid flurry of kicks and punches he pummeled two of the stunned enemies before him, ignoring the gnoll that had brought him out of is magically-induced reverie. Aramek dodged the Giant’s terrible club and smashed into its side with his weapon, but didn’t emerge unscathed – the spells the half-orc cast had begun to take their toll on the sturdy dwarf. While Lathander’s archon killed a gnoll with its magical rays, the priest took a daring chance and cast Shield Other on Aramek. Now, if either Aramek or Sentien, the group’s frontline warriors, suffered any wounds, Lathander would absorb half the damage! Very selfless, but very dangerous (Lathander soon had to drop his connection with Sentien because he was suffering too much through his connection with Aramek). Among the remaining gnolls one ripped into Bandar and another into Gholoth, but Sentien reduced their numbers further with more impressive swordplay. In the hallway, Stacy did the same with a coup de grace against a stunned opponent. Continuing to wipe out the gnolls, Bandar knocked another over with Stomp.
It was not a good time to be a fanatic gnoll footsoldier. Sentien continued his steady pace of killing one gnoll every few seconds while Gholoth killed two of the stunned creatures outside, continuing to ignore the ones that could defend themselves. The archon finished a wounded one off with its rays, and Stacy stabbed a still standing opponent with his dagger. Whatever footsoldiers were left did nothing to the Band. Aramek suffered yet another smashing blow from the Giant and didn’t get past its thick hide to return the pain. The half-orc aimed beyond sturdy Aramek and hit Lathander with its magical missiles. Bandar responded to the pesky half-orc with a bruising wave of Concussion that sent it a few steps back.
If it weren’t for the Giant and the party being split in half, they were doing quite well so far. The half orc had felt enough pain (again) and turned tail and ran. Gholoth killed the last stunned gnoll and kicked another so hard it was reeling. Aramek snarled and rushed between the Giant’s legs, nearly taking off a kneecap with his mighty hammer swings.
Just when things looked good, the Ogre Mage appeared in the rear door and immediately unleashed a Cone of Cold on the unsuspecting room, which sent ice shards all over. The last gnoll in the room died instantly, and the archon was so battered it returned to its plane. Lathander, Sentien, and Bandar managed to avoid the worst of the effects, but that still left them torn by sharp ice and chilled to the bone. Lathander yet again thought of others first and cast Shield of Faith on Aramek to continue his fight with the massive Giant. Yet despite the dwarf’s size, thick armor, and spell defenses, the tremendous monster let out a howl and bashed Aramek another terrifying blow that would have killed another stout hero. Thanks to Lathander, Aramek didn’t feel the full force of that Olympic swing. Outside the room, Stacy fell under the vicious assault of one of the remaining gnolls, leaving only Gholoth to face of the rest and to defend his fallen party member.
But the news turned good again almost immediately. Sentien shook of the terrible cold and charged the Ogre Mage head on, his sword held high. Avoiding the monster’s skilled defenses, the paladin cut deeply into the beast with his shining blade bright with power. Bandar helped return the onslaught with a tremendous release of his mental power, which caught the Ogre off guard and tore through it like a storm.
While outside Gholoth finished off one of two remaining gnolls around him, Aramek roared and blasted into the now weakening Giant. The dwarven warrior was aided by some powerful healing from Lathander. The Giant repeated its mighty swings at Aramek, but the dwarf deftly dodged and the hulking monster bashed in the doorway as it missed. The Ogre Mage was again bested, turned to vapor and disappeared, much to Sentien and Bandar’s disappointment. Bandar turned his attention on the two gnolls next to the Giant that he could glimpse, and slammed one with a Concussion. Sentien swiped at the air where the Ogre had been as he charged out of the room and around to the hallway where Gholoth was fending off his opponent. The paladin passed that side battle and approached the Giant from its flank, to help Aramek in his key contest.
Gholoth was tired, fighting with yet another footsoldier after a vicious battle with a large group of gnolls that now lay dead at his feet, next to Stacy’s unconscious form. He was nearly done and felt close to a break, when suddenly a hulking wolverine charged into view and rushed at the psionic monk. Only Gholoth’s quick reflexes saved him from the wolverine’s bite. Aramek, now utterly enraged, had chased the wounded Giant out into the hallway, ripping into it and accepting the brute’s powerful blows. Lathander followed, healing Aramek, though he had to concentrate through a hefty blow from the Giant and a strike from a nearby gnoll. After absorbing so much damage on Aramek’s behalf, Lathander was tottering with overwhelming pain.
Yet the group continued to concentrate on the Giant, sensing that victory was near. Bandar ignored the gnoll to his side as he too stepped into the hallway and assaulted the Giant with a powerful Concussion, weakening it further. [DM note: I could almost see the words “DIE, DIE!” being chanted inside my PCs heads…] Sentien carved into it with his shining blade, bringing the beast to one knee. Gholoth finished off his gnoll opponent with a kick to the head that snapped its neck. Aramek pulled the tottering Giant’s legs out from under it and bashed in its face with a move now known as the ‘Aramek special.’
Unfortunately, the battle was far from over. The wolverine was still tearing into Gholoth, two gnolls were pestering Bandar, and the Ogre Mage was still alive. Far, far worse, a thunderous roar filled the hallways, and a new opponent rushed into view and would soon be in the fray – another massive hill Giant! The party’s hopes of surviving the desperate fight intact began to sink – they were already battered, and killing the first Giant had been a feat when they were still fresh to the fight. Now they were all hurting and not ready to feel the monster’s huge club. Lathander kept himself conscious with a light healing spell while Sentien stepped in to help Gholoth and chopped into the wolverine. The gnolls missed Bandar, but required his attention enough so that he felt it necessary to knock one over with Stomp.
Gholoth summoned the last of his energy and battered the wolverine with his fists and powerful kick. The wolverine responded by taking the psionic monk down with its raking claws and powerful bite, then it clawed into Sentien for good measure. Gholoth had bravely protected Stacy against half a dozen gnolls and then a large wolverine, and now fell where Stacy was motionlessly lying. Aramek put the last two gnolls facing Bandar out of their misery with some idle swings of his mighty hammer.
Meanwhile, the new Giant entered the fray, bowling into Sentien and nearly knocking him sprawling with a sweep of his tree-sized club. Sentien recovered as best he could from the Giant’s terrible blow and attempted to finish off the wolverine with a series of expert chops from his blade – the beast was certainly hurting, but stubbornly held on, perhaps sensing that the Giant had turned the tide of the desperate battle. Bandar closed with the Giant and put to use some of his dwindling mental energy to try and knock the Giant over with Stomp, but the angry monster easily avoided the psionic effects. Though Aramek was battered from facing down one Giant already almost single-handedly, he steeled himself for another similar fight and all the ensuing pain. Lathander helped by using one of his last spells to heal some of Aramek’s harshest wounds. The old friends exchanged knowing looks – taking on a fresh Giant when the Band was so worn down did not bode well, but they had no choice. Lathander was also badly hurt from all the pain he had shared with his comrades through spells, and knew that he may not survive this fight.
The battle had entered its final and most desperate stage. Aramek charged the huge Giant and somehow avoided its club as he moved in and tore into the creature. Aramek ducked under another one of the Giant’s attacks, but didn’t avoid the club when it came crashing down on him yet again. He and Lathander shuddered with shared pain. The ragged priest used his final spell to heal himself so he could share more blows with Aramek, and wished with all his heart that the amazingly hardy dwarf would somehow finish off the hulking Giant before it killed them all. In another last ditch effort, Bandar closed in with the Giant and used the final surge of his mental reserves to try and knock it down. His heart sank when the trembling ground failed to faze the huge creature.
Sentien fended off the wolverine’s snarling maw and raking claws as it tried to finish him off, but he had the last word. Sentien distracted the wolverine with a grazing blow to its flank, then used that split second window of time to cut through its defenses. The mighty paladin’s sword tore through the beast’s throat and then plunged deep into its body, ending the vicious monster’s life.
Aramek moved as close as he could to being between the Giant’s legs to avoid its worst attacks. The tactic worked as the Giant tried to move and bash the dwarf but Aramek doggedly stayed underneath. The sturdy fighter had to avoid the Giant’s huge feet nearly crushing him, but still managed to bash the monster’s legs repeatedly so it howled in pain. Demonstrating what dire straits they were in, Lathander had only a Cure Minor Wounds to use on himself so he could help absorb Aramek’s damage. Sentien, in one of the smartest moves of the whole battle, laid hands on Gholoth and cured the psionic monk back to consciousness. Gholoth gave the paladin a look of thanks and stepped away from the fray to cure himself using his strange powers.
Bandar was desperate to draw the Giant’s attention away from Aramek by presenting himself as a target. Having no psionic power left, Bandar attacked the huge monster with Tresh’s spear, not really expecting to penetrate the beast’s thick hides. The spear gave him a tremendous surprise. As Bandar struck, the weapon drained some of his energy in a rush, then shone with power a split second before it unleashed the energy in an explosion that tore into the Giant. The psion was pleased at the unexpected power of his new weapon, despite the drain he felt. What perfect timing to discover a new and powerful attack!
With single-minded intensity, Aramek ripped into the Giant again. By now the creature had managed to keep the pesky dwarf out from under its bleeding legs, and it bashed Aramek with its club. Both Aramek and Lathander groaned with pain, both barely holding on. Lathander didn’t even have minor spells to cast any more, and could only load his crossbow and hope to help in a little way. He knew that one more shared blow with Aramek would be the end of him. Sentien gave the group some hope by closing to engage with the Giant. Despite his grievous wounds, he wasn’t as badly off as Aramek! Gholoth continued to heal himself with his inner strength, knowing that the battle might rest on his shoulders when Aramek fell. Bandar continued to try and get the big brute’s attention with his attacks, but failed to hurt it or draw its concentration away.
Aramek took the Giant to one knee by crushing one of its kneecaps with his hammer. The badly wounded monster still managed to slam Aramek, who had already absorbed countless blows from massive clubs during the battle. Miraculously, Aramek stayed standing, mostly because Lathander had helped take the blow. The good priest’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed – it was remarkable that he had lasted so long as is! Sentien repeatedly slashed at the Giant and Bandar attacked from the other side, but neither could hurt the mighty beast. Gholoth came flying into the fray with a powerful kick that broke several of the Giant’s ribs and caused it to gasp for breath.
The last foe’s time was clearly short, and the party sensed it. They closed in and took risked they normally wouldn’t have dreamed of, getting very close to the terrible club to find any sort of opening that might finish the battle. Aramek found the opportunity first and sent his hammer into the beast’s windpipe, snapping its powerful neck. It collapsed with a tremendous thud, leaving the Band gasping from the exertion.
The Band was in no mood to celebrate. They knew that even a small group of enemies might finish them off in this state. Not even stopping to search for any valuables on their fallen foes, they scooped up Lathander and Stacy’s unconscious forms and left the Southern Bridge Complex in a hurry – the second near death battle in the same place! They had fought with every ounce of physical, magical, and mental strength they had, and had barely squeaked by. Later they would remember in stunned amazement how Aramek slew not one but two Giants in back-to-back, toe-to-toe contests! Was there anything this hardy dwarf couldn’t kill?!?
One matter was clear: if the Band had another ‘clean-up’ fight like that, it could very well get wiped out!
I hope you enjoy the read and continue to do so.
