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Raiders of the Overreach
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<blockquote data-quote="Richards" data-source="post: 7961834" data-attributes="member: 508"><p><strong>ADVENTURE 16: TRIALS OF THE ELDERWOOD</strong></p><p></p><p>PC Roster: </p><p style="margin-left: 20px">Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 6</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Jhasspok, lizardman 3/barbarian 2/fighter 1</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 6</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 6</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"> Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 6</p><p></p><p>Game Session Date: 8 April 2020</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>With a horse and wagon loaded down with provisions provided to them by the city of Greenvale, the five "secret double slaves" headed through the city's gates and down the road, headed toward the Elderwood. They'd jointly decided the elven nation would be the first group they'd try to get to join the alliance against the impending drow surface invasion from Overreach; as such, all five <em>slave-light cloaks</em> were stashed away with the supplies. No need flaunting in the faces of the Elderwood elves that twice now the slaves had already killed some of their members: first the disguised assassins in Overreach (where they gained the magic cloaks) and then on their first excursion to the surface, where they slew a cleric and several warriors who had been hunting them down for having slain a group of merchants and stolen their goods. If they were hoping to enter into negotiations with these elves, it would be best not to go in with the odds already stacked against them.</p><p></p><p>"How long until we get there?" asked Jhasspok from the back of the wagon. It was a much bigger wagon than the one they'd stolen on their own; this one was large enough to comfortably fit all five slaves and their gear. Cramer and Marlo were up in the front of the wagon, the gnome holding the reins to the draft horse.</p><p></p><p>"It should be a two-day journey to the Crossroad Keep, which is garrisoned by the Elderwood," Cramer explained. "Hopefully, we should be able to make arrangements with those in authority there to get us an audience with their leaders in their main city, deep in the forest. Why? Are you already tired of traveling?"</p><p></p><p>"No," replied Jhasspok honestly. It would be a long time before the lizardfolk got tired of looking out at this strange surface world. Utred, however, was already getting tired of explaining to Jhasspok what every new thing he saw was called. "That's a chipmunk." "That's a dandelion." "That's a hummingbird." "That's a fox." Finally, to ward off the incessant line of questioning, the burly dwarven barbarian pretended to fall asleep, and it wasn't long before the rocking of the wagon had him nodding off for real.</p><p></p><p>But that just meant Khari was now the recipient of Jhasspok's further questions. "That's a mosquito," the dwarf said. "That's an owl." "That's a squirrel...."</p><p></p><p>The first day of travel was uneventful. It wasn't until mid-morning on the second day that the slaves ran into a bit of excitement.</p><p></p><p>"What's that?" Jhasspok wanted to know again, looking ahead through the trees as the horse-drawn wagon made a turn around a bend in the road.</p><p></p><p>Cramer, at the reins, looked to where the lizardfolk was pointing and said, "That's a--that's a dire bear!" Sure enough, as the wagon followed the curve of the road, the slaves could all see a massive bruin sending an elven figure falling to the ground, unmoving, with a swipe of one massive, blood-stained paw. The elf fell beside two other bodies there in the road, each wearing chain armor. There were two other elven figures fleeing from the beast, a man and a woman.</p><p></p><p>Khari didn't hesitate a moment; grabbing up his dwarven warhammer, he raced at the dire bear, approaching it from behind as it turned to face the fleeing elves. Cramer handed the reins to Marlo, stood on the driver's bench at the front of the wagon, and fired a <em>sound burst</em> spell in front of the dire bear, stunning it into temporary immobility. Marlo steered the wagon off the road and between a group of trees, not wanting their only horse to get slain in the fight with the massive bruin. She then pulled up on the reins to bring the horse to a stop, turned to face the dire bear, and shot a <em>magic missile</em> into its flank.</p><p></p><p>Utred hadn't waited for the wagon to stop moving before he'd leaped off and charged the monster, using his <em>Elderwood flaming longsword</em> out of force of habit and not worrying about being seen by a pair of Elderwood elves while wielding it. The flaming sword cut deep into the still form of the dire bear, spilling blood and singeing fur. Jhasspok was there at the dwarven barbarian's side, bringing his battleaxe down onto the bruin's broad back. And then an arrow sunk deep into the dire bear's shoulder; looking across the road to the clearing on the other side, the slaves saw one of the fleeing elves was an archer and had merely been trying to keep his distance from the monster so he could still get in a good shot.</p><p></p><p>The female elf approached Marlo in the wagon and gave her thanks for the newcomers' much-needed assistance, just as Khari was slamming the still-stunned beast with a crushing blow from his warhammer. Cramer hopped down from the wagon and raced over to the fallen bodies of the three elves, seeing if any of them had survived the attack. Sadly, there was nothing he could do for them; they were already quite dead, one of them having had his throat ripped out, the other two torn open by the bear's sharp claws.</p><p></p><p>But by then the <em>sound burst</em>'s stunning effect had worn off and the dire bear reared up on his hind legs, spun about, and slashed out with a massive forepaw at Khari - he'd apparently not appreciated being beaten down with the fighter's heavy hammer. Khari went stumbling off to the side from the force of the blow, staggering to stay on his feet. But with the bear's attention focused upon his fellow dwarf, Utred had the opportunity to get in a sword-strike at the monster's underbelly, slashing a red line of pain across his less-protected pelt. The dire bear dropped back down to all fours and turned to face the dwarf - and Jhasspok finished him off with a combination of an axe-blow to the skull and a bite to the throat, filling the lizardfolk's mouth with steaming, warm blood. As the bear crashed to the ground, dead, the lizardfolk provided his opinion (to anyone who might have been wondering) that dire bear tasted more like horse than it did fish.</p><p></p><p>With the threat taken down, the two parties introduced themselves. "I'm <strong>Elinna</strong>," said the elven cleric. "This is <strong>Maloric</strong>. We were patrolling the road to ensure it was safe for <strong>Councilor Liadon</strong>. There have been rogue elements from our kingdom tarnishing the name of the Elderwood soldiers by practicing banditry in the Councilor's province. During our patrol we were attacked by the dire bear - that shouldn't have been possible, as they live deeper in the woods and should have been warded off by our druids, who keep them contained."</p><p></p><p>"Maybe something attacked your druids," suggested Utred, taking care to sheathe his <em>Elderwood flaming longsword</em> before either of the remaining elven patrol members got a good look at it.</p><p></p><p>"It is a possibility," agreed Elinna. "We must report this attack to Councilor Liadon; he's currently visiting the Crossroad Keep."</p><p></p><p>"We're heading there ourselves," offered up Cramer as he cast a healing spell over Khari's wounds. "We'll be happy to travel with you. We can load the bodies of your slain troops on the wagon, if you like."</p><p></p><p>"Thank you," replied Elinna as Maloric, Jhasspok, and the two dwarves started carrying the bodies of the slain elves over to the wagon.</p><p></p><p>Conversing along the way, the slaves learned that Councilor Liadon was one of only two councilors who advised <strong>King Omadan</strong> to remain on good terms with Greenvale, the other being <strong>Archmage Xiandria</strong>. Unfortunately, the other three councilors currently held greater sway, leading to the current situation: an embargo on Greenvale and poor relations with those who would have dealings with the city suspected of having ties to the accursed drow. Cramer kept his silence, opting to save his arguments for someone higher up the elven chain of command than the leader of a foot patrol.</p><p></p><p>As the group approached the Crossroad Keep they couldn't help but notice its odd design. A large, 30-foot-tall stone tower of apparent human architecture stood as one corner of the structure, the rest of it being of elven design: a smooth, white stone wall 10 feet tall with 5-foot-high crenelations running between the towers in each corner. The other three towers were rounded and as smooth as the walls, all seeming to be one blended structure carved in one piece, although that would have been nearly impossible to construct in that fashion - there must have been some sort of elven magic at work. Further evidence of magic were the four emerald-green crystal "teardrops" floating above each of the four towers; these were each five feet tall and floated a foot or so above the top of their assigned tower. Their purpose was not immediately obvious.</p><p></p><p>Driving the wagon through an open gate, the group saw a pair of elves arguing in their own language in the middle of the courtyard of the keep. Of the five slaves, Cramer was the only one who understood the Elven tongue and even though he came into the middle of the discussion he was able to pick up the general gist of it: a robed figure (who, the group learned later was Councilor Liadon) was upset at the garrison commander, <strong>Mevior</strong>, for having sent Liadon's son on a mission of some sort to Greenvale; Liadon seemed to believe Mevior didn't have the authority to do so. But their heated conversation broke up at the group's sudden approach. Cramer brought the wagon to a halt in the middle of the courtyard, beside the pair of elves.</p><p></p><p>Mevior took the opportunity of the sudden distraction to storm off, while Liadon turned and warmly greeted the newcomers. After introductions were made - and the border patrol elves extolled the virtues of the visitors in helping slay the dire bear responsible for the deaths of the three patrol members - the councilor began talking things over with the group of slaves.</p><p></p><p>Things were going along rather well when Liadon looked down at the hilt of Utred's sword and commented, rather nonchalantly, "By the way, I should let you know I am aware you are the ones who killed my son."</p><p></p><p>That brought all conversation to a sudden halt as the slaves thought frantically how best to explain the situation. But before anyone could get a word in, the councilor held up his hands as if warding off any arguments and said, "My son's impulsive nature and beliefs were a dark stain upon our family name and his actions were bound to get him killed sooner or later. I bear no grudge against you for his death."</p><p></p><p>"That is...very generous of you," began Marlo. "We were only coming to the aid of a woman he was threatening...." But Liadon cut her off. "No need for explanations," he said.</p><p></p><p>"If I may," added Cramer, "how did you learn we had slain your son?"</p><p></p><p>"Upon learning of his death, I naturally looked into the circumstances involved. However, when attempting a divination spell to find my son's killers, I received an image of a most disturbing nature: the five of you, standing before a massive, wormlike creature - and with a mass of writhing, black tentacles rising up behind you. Not at all what I had expected to see, I must admit."</p><p></p><p>"We saw a similar image, captured as a mural on the wall of a duergar tomb," admitted Utred. "Apparently that's still in our future, somewheres - us fightin' that worm."</p><p></p><p>"A duergar tomb," mused Liadon. "That could not have been from anywhere nearby," he reasoned.</p><p></p><p>"Not really," admitted Cramer. "We're from a significant distance away, but we've come to warn you of an impending drow attack. They intend to destroy the city of Greenvale."</p><p></p><p>"Greenvale?" repeated Liadon. "That makes no sense: Greenvale is rumored to be in league with the drow."</p><p></p><p>"It's a bit complicated," admitted the gnome. But then he began explaining, in detail, the background of the sunborn drow of Greenvale, the Lolth-worshiping drow of the Overreach, and their own status as slaves of one drow Noble House while secretly allied with another Noble House who were themselves secret allies of the sunborn drow of Greenvale.</p><p></p><p>"Then the stories are true!" thundered Liadon. "There are rumors of a mythical, upside-down city of drow called the Overreach - the fact that this place actually exists is a cause of great concern to me."</p><p></p><p>"We can attest to the fact that Overreach exists," Marlo stated. "And in three months' time, their armies will spill out onto the surface world, not only to destroy Greenvale but likely to enslave those from the neighboring areas. We five were each taken in such a manner, but this will be on a much larger scale. We're trying to warn all of the surrounding kingdoms of the danger and get them together in an alliance to help defeat the Lolth-worshiping drow."</p><p></p><p>Liadon came to a decision. "You must accompany me to the capital city of the Elderwood to meet with the king."</p><p></p><p>"Gladly," agreed Cramer - for that had been their goal all along.</p><p></p><p>"Then we will leave in the morning," Liadon decided. "You can stay overnight here in the keep. I'll take you to the martial barracks." Liadon would be staying in the mage barracks. Marlo had no problems with staying in the martial barracks; she preferred being surrounded by her companions, especially in a keep otherwise filled with unknown strangers.</p><p></p><p>The night passed without event, with the five Overreach slaves taking a group of bunks in the corner. (Even though the elves didn't actually sleep, they entered a nightly reverie and these elves apparently appreciated a comfortable bed to lie in while doing so.) The next morning the group ate breakfast in the combined mess hall/tavern. As they ate, there was some sort of a commotion outside.</p><p></p><p>Khari opened the door and looked out into the courtyard. There was now a mass of tangled vines covering the building directly across from the mess hall - the mage barracks, as the dwarf recalled. There had been a few decorative vines here and there the day before when the group had been given a quick tour, but nothing like the mass covering the building now - this had the distinctive whiff of magic about it, the dwarven fighter decided. "Think we might have a problem," he called back to the others, grabbing up his warhammer and stepping outside.</p><p></p><p>Cramer cast a <em>longstrider</em> spell upon himself and followed the dwarven fighter outside into the courtyard. He noticed the four archers manning their stations at the top of the walls were not looking outside of the keep, worried about intruders approaching, but had their longbows pointed down their way. The garrison commander, Mevior, approached from the human-built tower, a longsword sheathed in familiar-looking emerald flames in his hand. Behind him strode an elven woman in leaf-adorned leather armor.</p><p></p><p>"What's going on?" demanded Cramer, addressing the commander of the keep. He spoke in the Elven tongue, the only language he'd heard Mevior speak, to be sure his question was understood.</p><p></p><p>"What's happening?" sneered the garrison commander in the same language. "Why, I'm about to valiantly avenge the death of Councilor Liadon at the hands of Greenvale's assassins!"</p><p></p><p>"The elves are trying to kill us!" Cramer called out in the Dwarven tongue, which got Utred barreling out of the mess hall. Despite having a number of weapons strapped to his hips and back to choose from, the Butterflinger dwarf instead plucked a bead from a necklace he wore and tossed it at Mevior and the elven woman. Although they both dodged the explosion of flames erupting all about them as best they could, they both seemed shocked that this rough-looking barbarian had somehow mastered the <em>fireball</em> spell.</p><p></p><p><strong>Lia</strong>, the woman in leathers, cast a <em>barkskin</em> spell upon herself and backed away from the <em>fireball</em>-chucker. Mevior, for his part, charged the dwarven barbarian with an <em>Elderwood flaming longsword</em> that looked sneakily similar to his own. In fact, when Utred unsheathed his own blade to counter the garrison commander's, Mevior's eyes lit up in instant recognition.</p><p></p><p>Marlo wasn't sure what all was going on but cast a <em>mage armor</em> spell on Jhasspok - who spoke no language but Common, the "slave language" of Overreach - and sent him out to help the others. He immediately saw Utred in a sword fight with the garrison commander, doing so while also catching arrows on his shield - for the archers above had joined in the attack.</p><p></p><p>There were only two enemies in the courtyard to overcome, Jhasspok noted, but four archers shooting down from the battlements. Trusting the dwarves could easily take out the ground-based foes, the lizardfolk opted to devote his own efforts against the archers. But to do that he'd need to get up to the battlements with them. That was no real problem, though; the lizardfolk tossed his battleaxe up onto the roof of the mage barracks and then leaped up against the vine-covered wall, scrambling to pull himself up to the roof level before any of the twisting vines could think to get a hold on him. Then, grabbing up his weapon on the way, he sprinted toward the nearest elven archer.</p><p></p><p>Khari ran up to aid Utred in fighting off Mevior, adding his warhammer to the melee. Cramer, meanwhile, cast a <em>sound burst</em> spell at Lia, not trusting her in the least - with no weapon at hand, she was likely a spellcaster and the cleric knew it was generally a good idea to take them out as soon as possible. His spell had the desired effect, he could tell, by the stunned expression that overcame the elf's delicate features - good!</p><p></p><p>Utred's blade slid past Mevior's defenses, drawing blood. The commander retaliated in a rather impressive display of swordsmanship against both dwarves - a display that would have been even more impressive had any of his blade-strikes gotten past the dwarves' heavy armor and dealt them even a smidgen of actual damage. Marlo followed Jhasspok's reasoning and ran to the middle of the courtyard, where she could see the pair of archers on the battlements the lizardfolk was fast approaching. She <em>empowered</em> a <em>magic missile</em> spell and flung it at the furthermost elf, knocking him instantly unconscious from the magical attack.</p><p></p><p>The archers on the far side of the keep's battlements fired down at Utred again, one missing entirely and the other's arrow making it no further than the dwarf's shield. The nearer archer, seeing Jhasspok's approach, grabbed up a longsword and attacked the ferocious-looking lizard about to come at him with a battleaxe. His swing hit only the turtle shell shield Jhasspok wore on his left arm, and then the lizardfolk's follow-on counterattack with his axe knocked the elf down where he stood. He still breathed, Jhasspok saw - but that could be easily fixed.</p><p></p><p>Khari swung his warhammer at Mevior again while Cramer took advantage of Lia's current immobility to cast a <em>silence</em> spell all around her. <em>Let's see her cast any spells now!</em> he thought to himself. By that time, Utred had proven his superior swordsmanship by stabbing Mevior through the stomach with his longsword; the garrison commander gripped the blood-slick blade with incomprehension as he dropped to his knees, then over onto his side as Utred pulled the sword from his gut.</p><p></p><p>With a sudden shudder, Lia snapped out of her immobility and instantly realized she was in a field of magical silence. She ran up a set of stairs leading to the battlements, readying a spell to her lips but not casting it until she could hear the sounds of her boots on the stone beneath her and the sounds of the battle raging all around. Then, spinning in place, she cast a <em>flaming sphere</em> that went bounding down the steps and took up position at the bottom, preventing her enemies from following her.</p><p></p><p>Marlo dropped another archer with a <em>scorching ray</em>; his burning corpse fell to the battlements behind the mess hall. Almost immediately thereafter, the sole remaining archer's longsword and longbow went dropping to the courtyard below as the weapons' owner saw he and Lia were the only remaining members of the assault force and raised his arms in surrender. "I was only doing as directed!" he called down in the Common tongue, wanting to make sure these visitors could understand him perfectly.</p><p></p><p>Jhasspok, angry at having nobody else to attack up here on the ramparts, kicked the body of the fallen archer before him to the courtyard below, then ran along the battlements and did the same with the unconscious elf Marlo had taken down with her <em>empowered magic missile</em> spell earlier. With any luck, they'd break their fool necks when they landed. (Unnoticed until later, Jhasspok actually got his unvoiced wish with one of them; the other survived the fall.)</p><p></p><p>There was now only one of the foes still in the fight: the druid Lia. Cramer cast a <em>fly</em> spell on Khari so he could go take her down. He wasted no time, flying at her in a bee-line and smacking her with his warhammer. Lia rolled with the blow and - amazingly - changed shape in the process, suddenly becoming a hawk and trying to fly away. But Khari could fly just as well as she could and kept pace, swinging his weapon at the now-much-smaller target. In a last-ditch effort, Lia flew back towards the keep and tried to hide behind the last remaining elven archer, failing to notice he had already surrendered. Lia was subsequently taken down by a <em>magic missile</em> spell from Marlo. She fell to the battlements, still in hawk form though now quite unconscious.</p><p></p><p>Dropping back down to the ground, Jhasspok put his axe to good use in chopping away the vegetation and the wooden door to the mage barracks. Inside, the place was likewise covered in entangling vines growing out of the wood of the building's structure, wrapping tightly around several elven figures. The place was also completely silent; once he stepped inside, chopping a way clear as he did so, Jhasspok couldn't hear a thing. Fortunately, Liadon and the mages were still alive and when the <em>entangle</em> spell eventually ran its course the lizardfolk was able to bring them outside where they could speak aloud.</p><p></p><p>"It was a <em>silence stone</em>," Liadon explained. "Mevior opened the door, tossed it inside the room, and then had his wife seal us in with an <em>entangle</em> spell. Even if we could have moved with the vines wrapped around us, there was nowhere we could put the stone that its effects didn't cover us. We were unable to cast any spells that might have allowed us to escape on our own."</p><p></p><p>The subsequent interrogation of the prisoners revealed the archers believed Mevior's story that the party had already killed Liadon. Lia also claimed it was her husband's idea to frame Greenvale for the assassination of one of the Elderwood's five councilors. She also confessed she was the one who had set the dire bear on Liadon's soldiers at her husband's behest.</p><p></p><p>"So what are we going to do with the prisoners?" asked Utred. Personally, he was hoping they'd be executed there on the spot. If so, he was even willing to perform the act himself.</p><p></p><p>But it was not to be. "The members of the garrison who weren't involved in the plot to slay me and blame you will stay behind to continue manning the keep while we escort the prisoners to the capitol," Councilor Liadon decided. That also meant there would be no looting of the corpses of the elves they'd slain, Utred realized with a frown. Bummer! He'd been hoping to add a few of their weapons to his ever-growing arsenal. Lia and the two surviving archers were securely bound and loaded onto the back of the wagon.</p><p></p><p>And then with a crack of the reins, Cramer Appleknocker sent the draft horse through the gates of the Crossroad Keep, pulling a wagon containing Councilor Liadon and a trio of prisoners heading towards the heart of the Elderwood, for a meeting with King Omadan and hopefully another alliance for the sunborn drow of Greenvale. The other arena slaves walked beside the wagon.</p><p></p><p>"What's that?" Jhasspok asked suddenly.</p><p></p><p>Utred sighed in resignation. "That's a daisy," he replied. It was going to be a long day, he could tell.</p><p></p><p> - - -</p><p></p><p>Logan designed the ground level of the Crossroad Keep on the back of a sheet from an old desk calendar, gridded off into one-inch squares with pencil and a yardstick. The human-built tower was one I had made years ago out of cardboard for an earlier adventure in a previous campaign. And then he did something I thought was rather clever: he built the ramparts out of properly-sized sheets of paper he laid over the edges of the ground-level map he'd made, allowing him to show the lower level and the upper level at the same time, removing or replacing the top level sheets as needed.</p><p></p><p>As for the "teardrop crystals" floating above the towers, those were magic items the elven wizards could <em>scry</em> out of as if they were there in their place, and also cast spells from as needed. It was a clever way for them to be able to aid in the garrison's defense without putting them on the front lines, so to speak. (Of course, they spent the duration of the fight in the keep <em>entangled</em>, so they were of no help to us - but it's still a cool idea.)</p><p></p><p>We're closing in on 7th level, by the way. If we don't level up at the end of the next adventure, we'll almost certainly do so after the adventure after that.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Richards, post: 7961834, member: 508"] [B]ADVENTURE 16: TRIALS OF THE ELDERWOOD[/B] PC Roster: [INDENT]Cramer Appleknocker, gnome cleric 6[/INDENT] [INDENT] Jhasspok, lizardman 3/barbarian 2/fighter 1[/INDENT] [INDENT] Khari Hammerslammer, dwarf fighter 6[/INDENT] [INDENT] Marlo Pendragon, human sorcerer 6[/INDENT] [INDENT] Utred "Buckets" Butterflinger, dwarf barbarian 6[/INDENT] Game Session Date: 8 April 2020 - - - With a horse and wagon loaded down with provisions provided to them by the city of Greenvale, the five "secret double slaves" headed through the city's gates and down the road, headed toward the Elderwood. They'd jointly decided the elven nation would be the first group they'd try to get to join the alliance against the impending drow surface invasion from Overreach; as such, all five [I]slave-light cloaks[/I] were stashed away with the supplies. No need flaunting in the faces of the Elderwood elves that twice now the slaves had already killed some of their members: first the disguised assassins in Overreach (where they gained the magic cloaks) and then on their first excursion to the surface, where they slew a cleric and several warriors who had been hunting them down for having slain a group of merchants and stolen their goods. If they were hoping to enter into negotiations with these elves, it would be best not to go in with the odds already stacked against them. "How long until we get there?" asked Jhasspok from the back of the wagon. It was a much bigger wagon than the one they'd stolen on their own; this one was large enough to comfortably fit all five slaves and their gear. Cramer and Marlo were up in the front of the wagon, the gnome holding the reins to the draft horse. "It should be a two-day journey to the Crossroad Keep, which is garrisoned by the Elderwood," Cramer explained. "Hopefully, we should be able to make arrangements with those in authority there to get us an audience with their leaders in their main city, deep in the forest. Why? Are you already tired of traveling?" "No," replied Jhasspok honestly. It would be a long time before the lizardfolk got tired of looking out at this strange surface world. Utred, however, was already getting tired of explaining to Jhasspok what every new thing he saw was called. "That's a chipmunk." "That's a dandelion." "That's a hummingbird." "That's a fox." Finally, to ward off the incessant line of questioning, the burly dwarven barbarian pretended to fall asleep, and it wasn't long before the rocking of the wagon had him nodding off for real. But that just meant Khari was now the recipient of Jhasspok's further questions. "That's a mosquito," the dwarf said. "That's an owl." "That's a squirrel...." The first day of travel was uneventful. It wasn't until mid-morning on the second day that the slaves ran into a bit of excitement. "What's that?" Jhasspok wanted to know again, looking ahead through the trees as the horse-drawn wagon made a turn around a bend in the road. Cramer, at the reins, looked to where the lizardfolk was pointing and said, "That's a--that's a dire bear!" Sure enough, as the wagon followed the curve of the road, the slaves could all see a massive bruin sending an elven figure falling to the ground, unmoving, with a swipe of one massive, blood-stained paw. The elf fell beside two other bodies there in the road, each wearing chain armor. There were two other elven figures fleeing from the beast, a man and a woman. Khari didn't hesitate a moment; grabbing up his dwarven warhammer, he raced at the dire bear, approaching it from behind as it turned to face the fleeing elves. Cramer handed the reins to Marlo, stood on the driver's bench at the front of the wagon, and fired a [I]sound burst[/I] spell in front of the dire bear, stunning it into temporary immobility. Marlo steered the wagon off the road and between a group of trees, not wanting their only horse to get slain in the fight with the massive bruin. She then pulled up on the reins to bring the horse to a stop, turned to face the dire bear, and shot a [I]magic missile[/I] into its flank. Utred hadn't waited for the wagon to stop moving before he'd leaped off and charged the monster, using his [I]Elderwood flaming longsword[/I] out of force of habit and not worrying about being seen by a pair of Elderwood elves while wielding it. The flaming sword cut deep into the still form of the dire bear, spilling blood and singeing fur. Jhasspok was there at the dwarven barbarian's side, bringing his battleaxe down onto the bruin's broad back. And then an arrow sunk deep into the dire bear's shoulder; looking across the road to the clearing on the other side, the slaves saw one of the fleeing elves was an archer and had merely been trying to keep his distance from the monster so he could still get in a good shot. The female elf approached Marlo in the wagon and gave her thanks for the newcomers' much-needed assistance, just as Khari was slamming the still-stunned beast with a crushing blow from his warhammer. Cramer hopped down from the wagon and raced over to the fallen bodies of the three elves, seeing if any of them had survived the attack. Sadly, there was nothing he could do for them; they were already quite dead, one of them having had his throat ripped out, the other two torn open by the bear's sharp claws. But by then the [I]sound burst[/I]'s stunning effect had worn off and the dire bear reared up on his hind legs, spun about, and slashed out with a massive forepaw at Khari - he'd apparently not appreciated being beaten down with the fighter's heavy hammer. Khari went stumbling off to the side from the force of the blow, staggering to stay on his feet. But with the bear's attention focused upon his fellow dwarf, Utred had the opportunity to get in a sword-strike at the monster's underbelly, slashing a red line of pain across his less-protected pelt. The dire bear dropped back down to all fours and turned to face the dwarf - and Jhasspok finished him off with a combination of an axe-blow to the skull and a bite to the throat, filling the lizardfolk's mouth with steaming, warm blood. As the bear crashed to the ground, dead, the lizardfolk provided his opinion (to anyone who might have been wondering) that dire bear tasted more like horse than it did fish. With the threat taken down, the two parties introduced themselves. "I'm [B]Elinna[/B]," said the elven cleric. "This is [B]Maloric[/B]. We were patrolling the road to ensure it was safe for [B]Councilor Liadon[/B]. There have been rogue elements from our kingdom tarnishing the name of the Elderwood soldiers by practicing banditry in the Councilor's province. During our patrol we were attacked by the dire bear - that shouldn't have been possible, as they live deeper in the woods and should have been warded off by our druids, who keep them contained." "Maybe something attacked your druids," suggested Utred, taking care to sheathe his [I]Elderwood flaming longsword[/I] before either of the remaining elven patrol members got a good look at it. "It is a possibility," agreed Elinna. "We must report this attack to Councilor Liadon; he's currently visiting the Crossroad Keep." "We're heading there ourselves," offered up Cramer as he cast a healing spell over Khari's wounds. "We'll be happy to travel with you. We can load the bodies of your slain troops on the wagon, if you like." "Thank you," replied Elinna as Maloric, Jhasspok, and the two dwarves started carrying the bodies of the slain elves over to the wagon. Conversing along the way, the slaves learned that Councilor Liadon was one of only two councilors who advised [B]King Omadan[/B] to remain on good terms with Greenvale, the other being [B]Archmage Xiandria[/B]. Unfortunately, the other three councilors currently held greater sway, leading to the current situation: an embargo on Greenvale and poor relations with those who would have dealings with the city suspected of having ties to the accursed drow. Cramer kept his silence, opting to save his arguments for someone higher up the elven chain of command than the leader of a foot patrol. As the group approached the Crossroad Keep they couldn't help but notice its odd design. A large, 30-foot-tall stone tower of apparent human architecture stood as one corner of the structure, the rest of it being of elven design: a smooth, white stone wall 10 feet tall with 5-foot-high crenelations running between the towers in each corner. The other three towers were rounded and as smooth as the walls, all seeming to be one blended structure carved in one piece, although that would have been nearly impossible to construct in that fashion - there must have been some sort of elven magic at work. Further evidence of magic were the four emerald-green crystal "teardrops" floating above each of the four towers; these were each five feet tall and floated a foot or so above the top of their assigned tower. Their purpose was not immediately obvious. Driving the wagon through an open gate, the group saw a pair of elves arguing in their own language in the middle of the courtyard of the keep. Of the five slaves, Cramer was the only one who understood the Elven tongue and even though he came into the middle of the discussion he was able to pick up the general gist of it: a robed figure (who, the group learned later was Councilor Liadon) was upset at the garrison commander, [B]Mevior[/B], for having sent Liadon's son on a mission of some sort to Greenvale; Liadon seemed to believe Mevior didn't have the authority to do so. But their heated conversation broke up at the group's sudden approach. Cramer brought the wagon to a halt in the middle of the courtyard, beside the pair of elves. Mevior took the opportunity of the sudden distraction to storm off, while Liadon turned and warmly greeted the newcomers. After introductions were made - and the border patrol elves extolled the virtues of the visitors in helping slay the dire bear responsible for the deaths of the three patrol members - the councilor began talking things over with the group of slaves. Things were going along rather well when Liadon looked down at the hilt of Utred's sword and commented, rather nonchalantly, "By the way, I should let you know I am aware you are the ones who killed my son." That brought all conversation to a sudden halt as the slaves thought frantically how best to explain the situation. But before anyone could get a word in, the councilor held up his hands as if warding off any arguments and said, "My son's impulsive nature and beliefs were a dark stain upon our family name and his actions were bound to get him killed sooner or later. I bear no grudge against you for his death." "That is...very generous of you," began Marlo. "We were only coming to the aid of a woman he was threatening...." But Liadon cut her off. "No need for explanations," he said. "If I may," added Cramer, "how did you learn we had slain your son?" "Upon learning of his death, I naturally looked into the circumstances involved. However, when attempting a divination spell to find my son's killers, I received an image of a most disturbing nature: the five of you, standing before a massive, wormlike creature - and with a mass of writhing, black tentacles rising up behind you. Not at all what I had expected to see, I must admit." "We saw a similar image, captured as a mural on the wall of a duergar tomb," admitted Utred. "Apparently that's still in our future, somewheres - us fightin' that worm." "A duergar tomb," mused Liadon. "That could not have been from anywhere nearby," he reasoned. "Not really," admitted Cramer. "We're from a significant distance away, but we've come to warn you of an impending drow attack. They intend to destroy the city of Greenvale." "Greenvale?" repeated Liadon. "That makes no sense: Greenvale is rumored to be in league with the drow." "It's a bit complicated," admitted the gnome. But then he began explaining, in detail, the background of the sunborn drow of Greenvale, the Lolth-worshiping drow of the Overreach, and their own status as slaves of one drow Noble House while secretly allied with another Noble House who were themselves secret allies of the sunborn drow of Greenvale. "Then the stories are true!" thundered Liadon. "There are rumors of a mythical, upside-down city of drow called the Overreach - the fact that this place actually exists is a cause of great concern to me." "We can attest to the fact that Overreach exists," Marlo stated. "And in three months' time, their armies will spill out onto the surface world, not only to destroy Greenvale but likely to enslave those from the neighboring areas. We five were each taken in such a manner, but this will be on a much larger scale. We're trying to warn all of the surrounding kingdoms of the danger and get them together in an alliance to help defeat the Lolth-worshiping drow." Liadon came to a decision. "You must accompany me to the capital city of the Elderwood to meet with the king." "Gladly," agreed Cramer - for that had been their goal all along. "Then we will leave in the morning," Liadon decided. "You can stay overnight here in the keep. I'll take you to the martial barracks." Liadon would be staying in the mage barracks. Marlo had no problems with staying in the martial barracks; she preferred being surrounded by her companions, especially in a keep otherwise filled with unknown strangers. The night passed without event, with the five Overreach slaves taking a group of bunks in the corner. (Even though the elves didn't actually sleep, they entered a nightly reverie and these elves apparently appreciated a comfortable bed to lie in while doing so.) The next morning the group ate breakfast in the combined mess hall/tavern. As they ate, there was some sort of a commotion outside. Khari opened the door and looked out into the courtyard. There was now a mass of tangled vines covering the building directly across from the mess hall - the mage barracks, as the dwarf recalled. There had been a few decorative vines here and there the day before when the group had been given a quick tour, but nothing like the mass covering the building now - this had the distinctive whiff of magic about it, the dwarven fighter decided. "Think we might have a problem," he called back to the others, grabbing up his warhammer and stepping outside. Cramer cast a [I]longstrider[/I] spell upon himself and followed the dwarven fighter outside into the courtyard. He noticed the four archers manning their stations at the top of the walls were not looking outside of the keep, worried about intruders approaching, but had their longbows pointed down their way. The garrison commander, Mevior, approached from the human-built tower, a longsword sheathed in familiar-looking emerald flames in his hand. Behind him strode an elven woman in leaf-adorned leather armor. "What's going on?" demanded Cramer, addressing the commander of the keep. He spoke in the Elven tongue, the only language he'd heard Mevior speak, to be sure his question was understood. "What's happening?" sneered the garrison commander in the same language. "Why, I'm about to valiantly avenge the death of Councilor Liadon at the hands of Greenvale's assassins!" "The elves are trying to kill us!" Cramer called out in the Dwarven tongue, which got Utred barreling out of the mess hall. Despite having a number of weapons strapped to his hips and back to choose from, the Butterflinger dwarf instead plucked a bead from a necklace he wore and tossed it at Mevior and the elven woman. Although they both dodged the explosion of flames erupting all about them as best they could, they both seemed shocked that this rough-looking barbarian had somehow mastered the [I]fireball[/I] spell. [B]Lia[/B], the woman in leathers, cast a [I]barkskin[/I] spell upon herself and backed away from the [I]fireball[/I]-chucker. Mevior, for his part, charged the dwarven barbarian with an [I]Elderwood flaming longsword[/I] that looked sneakily similar to his own. In fact, when Utred unsheathed his own blade to counter the garrison commander's, Mevior's eyes lit up in instant recognition. Marlo wasn't sure what all was going on but cast a [I]mage armor[/I] spell on Jhasspok - who spoke no language but Common, the "slave language" of Overreach - and sent him out to help the others. He immediately saw Utred in a sword fight with the garrison commander, doing so while also catching arrows on his shield - for the archers above had joined in the attack. There were only two enemies in the courtyard to overcome, Jhasspok noted, but four archers shooting down from the battlements. Trusting the dwarves could easily take out the ground-based foes, the lizardfolk opted to devote his own efforts against the archers. But to do that he'd need to get up to the battlements with them. That was no real problem, though; the lizardfolk tossed his battleaxe up onto the roof of the mage barracks and then leaped up against the vine-covered wall, scrambling to pull himself up to the roof level before any of the twisting vines could think to get a hold on him. Then, grabbing up his weapon on the way, he sprinted toward the nearest elven archer. Khari ran up to aid Utred in fighting off Mevior, adding his warhammer to the melee. Cramer, meanwhile, cast a [I]sound burst[/I] spell at Lia, not trusting her in the least - with no weapon at hand, she was likely a spellcaster and the cleric knew it was generally a good idea to take them out as soon as possible. His spell had the desired effect, he could tell, by the stunned expression that overcame the elf's delicate features - good! Utred's blade slid past Mevior's defenses, drawing blood. The commander retaliated in a rather impressive display of swordsmanship against both dwarves - a display that would have been even more impressive had any of his blade-strikes gotten past the dwarves' heavy armor and dealt them even a smidgen of actual damage. Marlo followed Jhasspok's reasoning and ran to the middle of the courtyard, where she could see the pair of archers on the battlements the lizardfolk was fast approaching. She [I]empowered[/I] a [I]magic missile[/I] spell and flung it at the furthermost elf, knocking him instantly unconscious from the magical attack. The archers on the far side of the keep's battlements fired down at Utred again, one missing entirely and the other's arrow making it no further than the dwarf's shield. The nearer archer, seeing Jhasspok's approach, grabbed up a longsword and attacked the ferocious-looking lizard about to come at him with a battleaxe. His swing hit only the turtle shell shield Jhasspok wore on his left arm, and then the lizardfolk's follow-on counterattack with his axe knocked the elf down where he stood. He still breathed, Jhasspok saw - but that could be easily fixed. Khari swung his warhammer at Mevior again while Cramer took advantage of Lia's current immobility to cast a [I]silence[/I] spell all around her. [I]Let's see her cast any spells now![/I] he thought to himself. By that time, Utred had proven his superior swordsmanship by stabbing Mevior through the stomach with his longsword; the garrison commander gripped the blood-slick blade with incomprehension as he dropped to his knees, then over onto his side as Utred pulled the sword from his gut. With a sudden shudder, Lia snapped out of her immobility and instantly realized she was in a field of magical silence. She ran up a set of stairs leading to the battlements, readying a spell to her lips but not casting it until she could hear the sounds of her boots on the stone beneath her and the sounds of the battle raging all around. Then, spinning in place, she cast a [I]flaming sphere[/I] that went bounding down the steps and took up position at the bottom, preventing her enemies from following her. Marlo dropped another archer with a [I]scorching ray[/I]; his burning corpse fell to the battlements behind the mess hall. Almost immediately thereafter, the sole remaining archer's longsword and longbow went dropping to the courtyard below as the weapons' owner saw he and Lia were the only remaining members of the assault force and raised his arms in surrender. "I was only doing as directed!" he called down in the Common tongue, wanting to make sure these visitors could understand him perfectly. Jhasspok, angry at having nobody else to attack up here on the ramparts, kicked the body of the fallen archer before him to the courtyard below, then ran along the battlements and did the same with the unconscious elf Marlo had taken down with her [I]empowered magic missile[/I] spell earlier. With any luck, they'd break their fool necks when they landed. (Unnoticed until later, Jhasspok actually got his unvoiced wish with one of them; the other survived the fall.) There was now only one of the foes still in the fight: the druid Lia. Cramer cast a [I]fly[/I] spell on Khari so he could go take her down. He wasted no time, flying at her in a bee-line and smacking her with his warhammer. Lia rolled with the blow and - amazingly - changed shape in the process, suddenly becoming a hawk and trying to fly away. But Khari could fly just as well as she could and kept pace, swinging his weapon at the now-much-smaller target. In a last-ditch effort, Lia flew back towards the keep and tried to hide behind the last remaining elven archer, failing to notice he had already surrendered. Lia was subsequently taken down by a [I]magic missile[/I] spell from Marlo. She fell to the battlements, still in hawk form though now quite unconscious. Dropping back down to the ground, Jhasspok put his axe to good use in chopping away the vegetation and the wooden door to the mage barracks. Inside, the place was likewise covered in entangling vines growing out of the wood of the building's structure, wrapping tightly around several elven figures. The place was also completely silent; once he stepped inside, chopping a way clear as he did so, Jhasspok couldn't hear a thing. Fortunately, Liadon and the mages were still alive and when the [I]entangle[/I] spell eventually ran its course the lizardfolk was able to bring them outside where they could speak aloud. "It was a [I]silence stone[/I]," Liadon explained. "Mevior opened the door, tossed it inside the room, and then had his wife seal us in with an [I]entangle[/I] spell. Even if we could have moved with the vines wrapped around us, there was nowhere we could put the stone that its effects didn't cover us. We were unable to cast any spells that might have allowed us to escape on our own." The subsequent interrogation of the prisoners revealed the archers believed Mevior's story that the party had already killed Liadon. Lia also claimed it was her husband's idea to frame Greenvale for the assassination of one of the Elderwood's five councilors. She also confessed she was the one who had set the dire bear on Liadon's soldiers at her husband's behest. "So what are we going to do with the prisoners?" asked Utred. Personally, he was hoping they'd be executed there on the spot. If so, he was even willing to perform the act himself. But it was not to be. "The members of the garrison who weren't involved in the plot to slay me and blame you will stay behind to continue manning the keep while we escort the prisoners to the capitol," Councilor Liadon decided. That also meant there would be no looting of the corpses of the elves they'd slain, Utred realized with a frown. Bummer! He'd been hoping to add a few of their weapons to his ever-growing arsenal. Lia and the two surviving archers were securely bound and loaded onto the back of the wagon. And then with a crack of the reins, Cramer Appleknocker sent the draft horse through the gates of the Crossroad Keep, pulling a wagon containing Councilor Liadon and a trio of prisoners heading towards the heart of the Elderwood, for a meeting with King Omadan and hopefully another alliance for the sunborn drow of Greenvale. The other arena slaves walked beside the wagon. "What's that?" Jhasspok asked suddenly. Utred sighed in resignation. "That's a daisy," he replied. It was going to be a long day, he could tell. - - - Logan designed the ground level of the Crossroad Keep on the back of a sheet from an old desk calendar, gridded off into one-inch squares with pencil and a yardstick. The human-built tower was one I had made years ago out of cardboard for an earlier adventure in a previous campaign. And then he did something I thought was rather clever: he built the ramparts out of properly-sized sheets of paper he laid over the edges of the ground-level map he'd made, allowing him to show the lower level and the upper level at the same time, removing or replacing the top level sheets as needed. As for the "teardrop crystals" floating above the towers, those were magic items the elven wizards could [I]scry[/I] out of as if they were there in their place, and also cast spells from as needed. It was a clever way for them to be able to aid in the garrison's defense without putting them on the front lines, so to speak. (Of course, they spent the duration of the fight in the keep [I]entangled[/I], so they were of no help to us - but it's still a cool idea.) We're closing in on 7th level, by the way. If we don't level up at the end of the next adventure, we'll almost certainly do so after the adventure after that. [/QUOTE]
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