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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Milo Windby" data-source="post: 1718" data-attributes="member: 202">Temple of Elemental Evil - part 3 (session 7)------------------------------------The next morning Milo and his friends prepared their mounts and supplies. They left the city under the watchful eye of the city guard. Apparently they were still under some amount of scrutiny. They made it to the gates unmolested and started on the road to Luln.Their nights were uneventful, oft times Milo would wile away his watch stargazing or practicing with his handaxes. Their mounts performed beautifully. Jeremiah's war horse and Mazithra's mount would often trot side by side when given their heads. Brigit and Milo's smaller mounts followed behind. The dusty road gave way to rolling hills covered in tall deep-green grass. The miles rolled by as they traveled. They discussed trivial matters, the weather, the local political climate, and what they would do once they reached Luln.After three days and two nights on the road they spied the town in the distance. It wasn't large by Specularum standards, but it was a fair sized village. They arrived at the outskirts before dusk and headed into the town proper. Milo noticed that it was a mixed populace, humans, a few elves here and there, a dwarf or two, and not a few halflings. He guessed that Luln's proximity to the northern shires had something to do with that. They found the single inn and checked for a room at the bar. The gruff barkeep gave them a room and a wildly overpriced charge. Milo whittled him down to a decent fee, but he could tell the innkeeper wasn't too happy about it. They stowed their belongings in the room and headed out to gather some information before seeking dinner. The town was under the control of The Black Eagle Baron, Duke Stefan's cousin. He was known for his especially cruel nature and a despot-style rule. Those under his control would never speak such a thing aloud though. They each found those of their own persuasion or race, depending on the person, and tried to find out as much about current affairs in Luln as possible.Three hours later, after the sun had set and a swollen full moon had risen to hang above the town like a baleful eye, the adventurers met in the common room of the inn. Over a high priced meal of vegetables and mysterious meat they discussed what they found."Tha other dwarves here told me about an ole dwarf that took his daughter out ta visit tha forest garrison last month. They ain't been seen since." Brigit told the others, "What you wanna bet that be tha bugger that's got me sister? If he ain't, then he'll know where she is!""Could be Brigit, could be." Milo agreed. "I found out that there are some old ruins out in the forest that have been there for as long as anyone can remember. I wonder if that's where that garrison is?""Well I found an elven shopkeeper that's none too fond of the Baron." Mazi shared, "I don't think she recognized me, but she did tell me that the Baron has been hiring lots of mercenaries lately.""I found out that the Baron has some slaves out there building a new fortress in the forest." Jeremiah told them before falling silent again."Okay, that's too much. After that note about the army and the odd goings on in the forest, we have got to check it out tomorrow." Milo suggested."Aye, if nuthin else than ta see if that bugger O a baron be usin dwarves as his slaves!" Brigit was getting a little worked up."Calm down Brigit," Mazi soothed, "We'll find out the truth tomorrow. There's nothing you can do about it tonight but rouse suspicion from the townspeople." She gestured back to the bar and the surly innkeeper. Brigit settled down and they spent the rest of their meal planning the foray into the forest in the following morning. That night Milo slept well, comfortable in the bunk upstairs in the room. Dawn came too soon as the first rays of light peeked through their window. He yawned and stretched as he rose from his cot. Mazi was already awake, needing only a few hours of meditation through the night. They roused Brigit and Jeremiah and prepared to leave. Before they went out into the forest they found arrangements for their mounts. There was a stable in town with a trustworthy staff that was willing to accommodate their mounts, even Milo's riding dog. After paying for a few days in advance they obtained directions to the Baron's garrison/earthworks. They found that they were one day's travel from Luln by foot. Not wanting to waste any daylight, the party set out at once.A few miles down the road they entered into a light forest. Trees grew all over, but none too close together. A few more miles later they noticed the growth starting to twist and gnarl. It reminded Milo of the cursed gorge they had so recently purged. Not again, thought Milo. They came upon a large clearing, full of ruins. There was a low wall that had once been twice as tall as a human as evidence in some sections that were still intact. Within the wall rose a crumbling stone structure. A temple of sorts by Milo's reckoning. Beyond the wall were a dilapidated tower to the south end of the clearing and a ruined shack to the north.They decided to leave the temple grounds and investigate the surroundings first. Milo led them north to the ruined shack. There was no door to the slumped building and they could see stairs leading down inside. Thinking the stairs to lead into a lower portion of the temple, perhaps catacombs, the group decides unanimously to hold off on further investigation. That left the tower to search.The top of the tower had collapsed in on itself but much of the structure remained intact. Milo examined the chains barring the door from the outside. The lock was old and rusty, it obviously hadn't been moved for some time. Two slits opened to either side of the door. Brigit and Mazi peered into them, being the only two that could see into the dark of the tower. They couldn't make out anything, it appeared pitch black inside.With no other way to get into the tower, Brigit pulled out the warhammer she purchased in Specularum. The shiny head of the hammer swung down at the brown rusty metal of the lock. Its impact seemed to trigger a reaction, as soon as the hammer hit the lock arrows shot out of the slits to the side of the door. Four of the missiles flew, each aimed at one of the adventurers. Sensing that this was an ambush rather than a trap, they worked harder at breaking through the door. Jeremiah struck the lock with his enchanted sword after Brigit withdrew her hammer. The lock shattered and Brigit kicked in the door.The sight that greeted them certainly wasn't a pitch black tower floor. The whole garrison was arrayed against them. On first glance Milo counted over a half dozen swordsmen, four archers and four crossbowmen, and nearly a half dozen officers in the back. The captain in the rear commanded his forces to attack. The adventurers wasted no time.Jeremiah charged in swinging. He missed the first swordsman before him but drove the point in on his return thrust. The blade impaled the soldier's shoulder right before Milo's crossbow bolt sunk into his chest. The soldier fell to the ground, the first dead body to litter the floor of that battle.Brigit and Jeremiah stood side by side while Mazi slipped in through the doorway. Three of the swordsmen attacked Jeremiah and Brigit each. Jer sustained a light wound from one attack that slipped past his sword. He growled at the warrior that inflicted the blow. Brigit received a shoulder wound as well. She batted the sword aside with her shield and hacked back with her waraxe. The magic edge sliced through the soldier that wounded her, severing his link with life. Brigit continued her attack, cutting short the life of another mercenary that attacked her. Her fierce display caused the others to pause.All of the bowmen and crossbowmen loosed their missiles on a command from the captain. The shifting battle prevented any from taking precise aim. Not one arrow or bolt pierced the heroes. One of the arrows ricocheted off Brigit's armor and another bounced from Jeremiah's plate mail.Seeing the formidable force arrayed against them, Mazithra took a more tactical stance to the battle. She chanted a spell and cast her splayed fingers towards the warriors. Strange goo materialized from her fingertips and spewed out over the combatants. In seconds over half of the garrison was covered in sticky strands of webbing. Mazi grinned and brushed her hands against each other.Jeremiah took advantage of the struggling warriors, being free of the web himself. He swiveled himself around, almost facing backwards before sweeping back in an impressive and massive swing of his greatsword. The blade sliced clean through all three mercenaries, their struggling ceased immediately. Milo gaped for a moment at the incredible maneuver.He regained his composure and concentrated on a spell that would compliment Mazithra's web perfectly. He chanted the words as they came to him, conjuring up images of hard spikes flying through the ether. The very air around his outstretched hand coalesced into tiny sharp daggers before spraying outwards towards the enemy. The small knives of hardened air stabbed into nine of the garrison, wounding them badly. It was Milo's turn to brush his hands against one another.Mazi grinned at the halfling before wielding her sword at the closest warrior. She took careful aim and stabbed the mercenary straight through the heart, killing him instantly. She turned and shouted to the others, "The webbing is flammable, can any of you torch it?""Oh aye, that I can!" replied Brigit. She drew out a flask of alchemist's fire and tossed it towards the magic webbing. The effects were spectacular. The flask exploded on impact and the bottled fire within blossomed to the sticky strands. A huge flash of fire lit the room as if the sun had descended to ground level. When the smoke cleared there were only seven warriors remaining, the crossbowmen, the two lieutenants, and the captain.Jeremiah moved towards the crossbowmen right away. His sword flashed as it sliced through first one, then the other mercenary. The second blow was stronger than the first, chopping the hapless crossbowman neatly in two. He barely missed the third but realigned himself to try again.The captain roared his frustration at the adventurers. His forces had been cut by more than half in a matter of seconds. He charged forward to join the fray. He came up behind Jeremiah and stabbed through a chink in his armor, wounding the barbarian before he had a chance to react. As swift as he attacked Jeremiah, he turned and slashed at Milo, inflicting a nasty wound across his shoulder. Milo moved to the side, bracketing the captain and plying his handaxes. He was unable to make contact on the nimble warrior. The captain was certainly an experienced fighter.The two remaining crossbowmen took heart at their captain's success and dropped their crossbows to draw their swords. Jeremiah looked to be in a dangerous situation. The two lieutenants moved in from the rear of the room. One slashing at the air with a wicked rapier while the other carried a sword as big as Jer's. The lieutenant with the rapier stabbed at Milo, the point sunk past his chain shirt, deep into his arm. Milo cried out and withdrew a pace away from the dangerous sword. The greatsword-wielding lieutenant attacked Jeremiah. He had no where to move with enemies on almost every side. The sword skittered across his armor and in-between two of the plates near his waist. Blood flowed from the wound after the lieutenant withdrew.Mazi made to move in to aid her beleaguered comrade but slipped on an unseen bit of gore left from the carnage in the web. Her sword slipped from her grasp as she flailed out to catch her balance. Brigit charged past her with her axe held high, making a beeline for the captain. The waraxe glinted in the torchlight before it was buried deep into the captain's back. The axe head emerged from his breastbone. A trickle of blood escaped his mouth. Brigit grunted as she completed her swing, slicing the captain from chest to groin. The critical slice killed him before he had a chance to feel it.Jeremiah took heart from the captain's fall and rallied against his foes. The soldiers didn't realize the mistake they made surrounding the powerful barbarian too late. Two blindingly fast attacks from his greatsword decimated the lieutenant, toppling him to the floor. His sword blazed on to crash through the defenses of a crossbowman. The hapless mercenary fell before his onslaught. The scene didn't have time to register with the last crossbowman before Jeremiah's wrath claimed his life as well. The only foe that remained standing was the lieutenant with the rapier. Milo risked close range to hack at him with his handaxes. One made contact, wounding the soldier in the leg. He attempted to return the favor before the rest of the adventurers closed in on him. His attack failed and he stepped back pace to escape the advance. Brigit swung her axe, clipping the air directly in front of the slowly retreating lieutenant. Mazi had recovered her balance and her weapon and moved towards the officer. The threat was cut short as Jeremiah spent the remainder of his wrath on the last enemy. He thrust the Windsword straight through the lieutenant's chest. The officer died with a rattling sigh. "Well so much for questioning." Milo said disappointedly. "Still, nice work with the web Mazi! I'm impressed!""You didn't do so bad with that knife spell of your own. That was vicious," Mazi replied. "And that alchemist's fire sure came in handy, Brigit. To think I laughed when you bought all those things from the apothecary."Brigit merely snorted at the remark and turned about to survey the room. The archers had shot past black cloth that was hanging over the slits. No wonder they couldn't see anything through the other side. Torches burned in sconces set about the tower room. The interior of the tower was in much better repair than the exterior. The only damage to the room was the soot marks from the burning web. Two doors led into other rooms on the bottom floor as well as a ruined staircase leading up to the demolished top floor.They searched the bodies first, finding a fair amount of coin on all of the bodies, especially the captain's. They cautiously walked into the first room. No one challenged them. It appeared they had vanquished the entire garrison in the main room. Rows of bunks lined the walls and a large chest squatted at the end of the narrow room. Milo moved to the chest immediately, checking for traps and locks before opening it. Inside were fine silks, a jeweled dagger, a healing draught, and a sack containing more coin, electrum pieces. The others had been searching the room as the chest occupied Milo. No other valuables were discovered. Milo was happy with the contents of his find though. They distributed the loot evenly for weight, choosing to deal with it later.The other door led to nicer quarters, obviously the captain's room. An iron lockbox sat at the foot of the double bed near the corner. There was a wardrobe as well. The wardrobe contained a fine suit and hooded cloak of brown velvet lined with fur. The box proved to be trapped and locked. Milo noticed a needle poised within the lock. Poison, it figures, he thought to himself. He told the others to hang back while he dealt with the tricky lock.He drew out his new masterwork tools that he had picked up in the halfling district in Specularum. He slipped in a pair of tweezers and carefully worked the needle trap. It disarmed with an audible click. Milo breathed a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat off his brow. He pulled out his tumbler tools and easily picked the untrapped lock. The box lid swung up to reveal a treasure trove of coins. They had found the garrison treasury it appeared! In addition to the gold, silver, copper, and platinum Milo found a finely crafted short sword with a topaz set in the pommel. Easily worth another 500 gold pieces if they chose to sell it."I'd say we were well rewarded for cleaning this garrison out of the Black Eagle's scum, wouldn't you?" Milo asked no one in particular. All three of his friends heartily agreed. He noticed Mazi eyeing the topaz on the short sword and grinned at her slight obsession. "Why don't you hang on to the dagger and sword for now, Mazi? I know how much you like the sparklies."Brigit barked out a laugh and Jeremiah grinned. Mazi scowled at Milo and stuck out her tongue. She did take the weapons after all.</blockquote>

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