Rel's Faded Glory - The Early Days

[Rel]

As the initial shock of seeing the collected orcish army wore off, the party noticed something else that was unexpected. At the end of the giant burned clearing, opposite of the fortified hill, stood a fortress of ice. It was not nearly as large as the barbarian fortifications but, considering that there was no such ice fortress present ten days ago, it was still a rather noteworthy edifice.

It was clear that the party couldn’t launch an attack at the orc army. But they didn’t want to return to the hill fort without some further information about exactly what was going on inside that ice fortress. The party decided to do one last scouting mission before returning to report to Kyndalyn and Hrongar.

They withdrew a mile back into the woods and circled to the north. As they went, they were forced to venture back onto the plains. They did the best they could to rapidly move from one small cluster of trees to another. But as they traveled, above them appeared one of the ravens that had dogged their recent journeys. They hurried to the next copse of trees and waited. The raven circled overhead, presumably keeping track of their exact location.

“I’ve had enough of this!”, said Speaks with Stone. He stepped a few paces away from his companions and a look of concentration came over his face. As the others stared in astonishment, Speaks’ features elongated and sharpened and he seemed to shrink in on himself. A few seconds later, a large eagle stood where Speaks had been only a moment before. Then it rather clumsily took to the air.

The eagle quickly got up to speed and began winging its way toward the raven. The raven suddenly realized that it was in peril and began flying southward as fast as it could go. But eagles are much faster flyers than ravens and Speaks soon caught the raven.

He began slashing at the carrion bird with his claws and beak but, never having been in eagle form before, he had a difficult time using these new attack forms (the player rolled an atrocious series of dice rolls, none higher than about a 7). He finally began to get the hang of his new form and his beak was starting to send black feathers drifting to the ground below.

Then, the pair of avians flew over the clearing where the orc army was amassed. Looking down at the ice fortress, Speaks could see a handful of orcs, dressed in the garb of the shamans, pointing up at the aerial battle taking place a hundred feet above them. Speaks knew that he would have only one more chance at the raven before he was within bowshot of the orcs.

But before he could dive in for this attack, a large snake-like creature emerged from the top of the ice fortress and a small, red, glowing projectile surged skyward and suddenly burst into a huge sphere of flame. Speaks was engulfed in this explosion and was severely hurt. He banked hard and flew back over the forest towards the plains to the north. He hadn’t been able to kill the raven but perhaps it would think twice before spying on them again. Either way, his first trip to the ice fortress had been educational.

Speaks returned to the copse of trees where the rest of the party waited. He carefully landed his slightly charred new form and then transformed back to normal, again to the collective astonishment of the rest of the party.

“When the heck did you learn to do that?!”, said Krase.

“It’s just a new trick I’ve been working on. But nevermind that right now.”

By this time it was nearly dark. They moved to a different copse of trees in which to take shelter for the night and settled in for some rest. Speaks decided to send Arc on a scouting mission to determine if large numbers of orcs guarded the northern approach to the ice fortress. He used his ability to Speak with Animals and asked the wolf to approach the clearing and report back. Arc departed.

When Speaks was awakened for his turn at watch, he was concerned to find out that Arc still hadn’t returned. It had been several hours and they were only a mile or so from the orcish camp. He kept a vigil for the wolf for the rest of the night but Arc did not return.

As the others woke in the pre-dawn darkness, Speaks informed them that at first light, he would be going to go and find Arc. The others looked at one another skeptically. They knew that this meant going right up to the edge of the whole orcish army. But the look of determination on Speaks’ face was enough to quell any arguments they might have. And after all, Arc had fought beside them every step of the way.

A team member was missing and they intended to find him.

NEXT: Icecapades

 

[Rel]

Icecapades

The party girded themselves for battle, knowing that before the day was out they may well find themselves under attack by a substantial portion of the orcish army. All of them were grim at the prospect and especially Speaks with Stone. He knew that going into the midst of the orcs could well be a fatal mistake and that a large part of the reason the party was doing this was because of him. But nobody considered backing out.

Speaks handed Krase his Amulet of Communication and transformed himself into a wolf. Krase then placed the amulet back around the neck of the lupine and Speaks took the lead, following the tracks that Arc had left the night before. The rest of the party fell into line.

A short while later, the party could see that the woods were thinning ahead and could smell the smell of wood smoke. The reasoned that they must be at the northern edge of the clearing. They proceeded with caution.

Up front, Speaks in wolf form spotted a pair of orcish pickets standing a short way inside the treeline from the clearing. At almost the same moment, one of the orcs also spotted him. The orc was heard to yell, “It is another of the wolves! We must tell the shamans!” He turned and ran into the clearing, followed closely by his compatriot. With the rest of the party well behind him, Speaks figure that they had little chance of killing the fleeing pickets before they reached the ice fortress. Instead, the group approached the edge of the clearing where they would enjoy a good vantage point for observing any approaching orcs while still having the cover of the forest.

As they came closer, they began to notice an eerie quiet that they would not expect from an encampment of nearly a thousand orcs. Speaks had made his way to the edge of the clearing already and the rest of the party took up a position some 80 feet west of him. Once they could see into the clearing, they understood the reason for the quiet: There were no orcs anywhere to be seen. Then they realized that, listening intently, they could hear yelling in the distance. There were sounds of battle to the south. The ice fortress blocked their view but it was obvious that the orcs must have been assaulting the hill fort at that very moment!

They had little time to contemplate the implications of this however, as a half dozen orcs emerged from the ice fortress and headed in their direction. Speaks transformed back into his human form and the party readied their missile weapons and waited for the orcs to come within range. But before the party fired a single shot, the orcs stopped and their shamans cast spells.

Suddenly, the area around Krase and Rhys was thoroughly entangled in sticky webs like those of a spider. An instant later, Speaks was in the middle of a similar situation. Ilrath, just a few feet from where Rhys was entangled had escaped the sticky strands. He looked up to find the orcs charging in the direction of his helpless companions.

Without a second thought, Ilrath charged from cover and into the midst of the orcs, swinging Slashbane with abandon. Two of the orcs fell before they could react. Two others moved around to flank Ilrath while one of the shamans stepped forward and touched the barbarian, sending a shocking jolt through him.

As the rest of the party struggled in vain to escape the webs, Ilrath yelled a war cry and sliced the offending shaman in twain with Slashbane. The force of the blow carried through into one of the warriors next to him, severely wounding him. Both warriors hacked at the mighty barbarian but their blows slid harmlessly off of his dwarven forged, mithral, breastplate.

Seeing that he was unlikely to survive the next few seconds unless he took drastic measures, the shaman conjured a globe of darkness around himself, Ilrath and both of the remaining orcish warriors. Still, Ilrath had seen both orcs only a moment before. He swung his axe and felt it sink into orcish flesh before him. He continued his swing around and again found his mark.

Rhys had never actually been entangled in the webs conjured by the shamans but it had taken him some time to pick his way through the strands to get outside of the ball of sticky strands. Now he was clear and looking up, he saw a large ball of darkness. Beyond it, he could see one of the orcs fleeing back to the ice fortress. Those were all the observations he had time for as he heard Speaks calling for him.

Ilrath was unsure of whether he had slain the last of the orcs inside the darkness. He also wasn’t sure if the orcs could see through the inky blackness or not. He spent the next few seconds flailing around wildly with Slashbane as he stumbled forwards to escape the darkness.

Meanwhile, Speaks had cast a spell upon himself to protect him from fire. He then entreated Rhys to use his wand of Burning Hands to burn through the webs. Rhys did as he bade and in moments, the druid was free of the webs. They then turned their attentions to where Krase was stuck.

Ilrath had since made his way out of the darkness. He saw the one remaining shaman climbing a set of stairs that wound up the outside of ice fortress. Glancing back to see that his companions were all right, he gave chase to the fortress.

Rhys was considering freeing Krase from the webs the same way he had freed Speaks. Krase wouldn’t have the benefit of the Protection from Fire spell of course. But the flames weren’t that hot. Ultimately he decided against that course of action, not out of any concern for Krase but because Tavis, his familiar, was also trapped inside the same cluster of webs.

Krase, never the strongest member of the party, continued to struggle against the firm hold of the webs. He was confident that he would get out eventually (as soon as he rolled a 19 or better) but for the moment was still stuck.

Ilrath raced across the trampled snow and began his way up the stairs chiseled into the side of the fortress. The stairs were naturally slippery but the Boots of the Winterlands he wore gave him good footing regardless. He continued his way to the top of the fortress where the shaman awaited him. Seeing that their barbarian friend may have been getting in over his head, Speaks and Rhys ran after him to lend their aid.

Ilrath mounted the last few steps and found himself atop the fortress, face to face with the shaman. In a last desperate attempt to ward off the mighty warrior, the shaman raised his hands and let fly with a jet of flames that engulfed Ilrath. But Ilrath shrugged off the searing pain and brought Slashbane down in a tremendous blow that split the shaman’s skull in two.

For the moment, Ilrath was without a foe facing him and he turned around to survey things from the top of the ice fortress. He stared to the south to see that smoke surrounded the top of the hill fort. Several sections of the palisade were on fire and he could tell that fierce fighting was taking place where it had been breached. And surging forward, pushing and jostling their way toward the gaps in the palisade were far, far too many orcs for his people to hold against. Ilrath unconsciously swung Slashbane through the air in a gesture of frustration. Then he spoke aloud to those who could not hear, “Fight well my brothers and I will do what I can at this end!” He descended the ice stairs to seek a way inside the ice fortress to slay whatever enemies it held.

As Ilrath was coming down, Rhys was going up. The agile youth had experienced little trouble negotiating the icy steps and, finding that Ilrath needed no help as of yet, ascended to get a better view. Below a grim realization was occurring.

Speaks was afraid that at any moment, a flood of orcs would appear from the relatively small opening at the base of the fortress. He sprinted there to plug that exit until Ilrath or Krase (who was just now making his way clear of the last of the web strands) could assist him. When he got there, it was not orcs he found. It was Arc.

Or, rather, what had once been Arc. What stood before Speaks now was the animated, stinking, charred corpse of his faithful companion. Speaks desperately sought Arc’s eyes for any sign of recognition but he found only a pale blue malevolent glow. The Arc-Thing lunged for Speaks.

The druid easily dodged the slow clumsy movements of the undead wolf. He tried to believe that the wolf moved so slowly because somewhere deep down, Arc was still there, fighting the evil presence within his flesh. But he had seen firsthand the re-animated forms of the wolves the orcs rode and knew that there was no vestige of the natural remaining in the creature before him. Speaks stabbed the thing that wore the flesh of his friend. He stabbed it again and again until it lay still, whatever evil force that had inhabited the wolf body, driven away by the violence done to it by the druid.

And then, he bent and picked up the tortured and abused body of the wolf and carried it a short distance away, placing it on a rare patch of untrodden snow. Speaks shook his head with anger and grief and turned back on the ice fortress. Whatever was within would pay for the way it which it had defiled one of Nature’s creatures. For what it had done to his friend.

Krase arrived at the druid’s side just then. Looking down at the body of the wolf, he needed no explanation for what had happened or of what would happen next. The pair of them entered the ice fortress.

NEXT: No Laughing Matter

 

[Rel]

No Laughing Matter

Ilrath had entered the top of the ice fortress from a large balcony that occupied nearly half of the upper level. He found himself inside a single, large room with benches hacked into the walls. There were no orcs in sight. In the dim light that made its way through the thick, translucent, ice walls, he could see a sizable hole in the floor across the room. He cautiously approached the hole.

Meanwhile, Krase and Speaks had found themselves in a narrow, rounded hallway that seemed to wind its way around the perimeter of the lower level of the ice fortress. It abruptly ended in a large single room. The room had few notable features. Among them was a small alcove chipped into the ice in which rested a metal bottle. Also, in the center of the floor was an area where the faint outline of something rectangular was buried under a foot or more of ice. Lastly, in the far corner of the room was a hole in the ceiling, roughly five feet across.

Krase made his way across the room cautiously, avoiding stepping on the rectangular area. He paused to look at the metal bottle when he heard a noise coming from the hole in the ceiling. He drew his other sword and crept near the hole. As he furtively peered up into the hole, he found himself looking into the face of Ilrath.

“This place is empty and we are missing the war!”, said Ilrath.

“Looks that way, huh.”, replied Krase.

Doubtlessly, a fascinating and insightful conversation was about to take place but it was interrupted by the sounds of gales of laughter coming from above. Ilrath and Krase looked quizzically at each other and then realized that it sounded like Rhys. Ilrath offered his hand to Krase and said, “Let’s go see what he’s on about.” Krase easily scrambled up through the hole. Ilrath preceded him out the door and onto the balcony…

Where he immediately came under brutal attack by the giant, snake-thing that had shot fire at Speaks when he was an eagle. The snake was moving at blindingly fast speed and it struck Ilrath with its powerful bite. Then, before Ilrath could recover from the first strike, he heard the human-like mouth of the thing mutter some words and energy crackled from the tendrils that hung like a beard from the face of the beast. It lunged at him and he was jolted with the electrical discharge. As it lunged in, Ilrath could see that it wore some kind of circlet that bore the same symbol as on the Amulets of Communication the party had been finding. Additionally, a small, pinkish crystal of some sort orbited its head.

(*Note: For those of you who haven’t figured it out yet, this thing is a Banelar. It comes from Monsters of Faerun and it is extremely nasty. It has the spellcasting capabilities of a 6th level Wizard AND Cleric and it gets to cast one spell every round as a FREE action. It also has a poisonous bite that does 2d4 Con damage as a primary and secondary effect. It has 10 foot reach, a huge Strength and Con, is extremely smart and is generally hell on wheels. It is listed as CR5.

I hadn’t really intended for the party to encounter the thing under these circumstances. I was hoping that it might not come into direct contact with the group until a couple sessions later when they were all 5th level. These things are obviously not always in my control.

In order to tone down the astounding capabilities of this beast, I had already nerfed the 10 foot reach. But I had left all the other abilities as they were in the book. At this point, I considered fudging the creature because I was sure it would kill the whole group otherwise [it had already incapacitated Rhys with a Hideous Laughter]. But I decided to just roll with it and let the chips fall where they may since that has been the theme for the campaign so far. In retrospect, I am extremely glad I made that decision.

The party had precisely two things going for them: They have really become good at sculpting the battlefield to their advantage. And the Banelar had already used up several of his better spells against the barbarian stronghold before the party arrived on the scene. Here’s what happened…)

Ilrath swung his axe for the first time and his heart sank when it glanced off of some kind of mystical force that protected the Banelar. He came close to flying into a rage but he felt he needed to keep his wits about him and try to hold this creature off so his friends could escape.

Then Krase flew into the opposite flank of the creature, stabbing with Heartneedle. His attack was also thwarted by the defenses of the beast. Speaks looked up from where he stood on the ground below and saw the fight taking place on the balcony. Having been on the receiving end of some of the creatures magic, he knew that Krase and Ilrath were outmatched and they needed to regroup. “Get out of there!” he yelled.

But before his companions could move, the Banelar flew into another series of attacks (it was Hasted, Mage Armored and Entropic Shielded). First, with a wave of its tentacles and some unintelligible words, Krase was struck with absolute panic. He did well to keep his bowels from emptying on the spot and there was no question that he was going to flee at his very first opportunity.

Then, the Banelar wheeled on Ilrath and delivered a pair of vicious bites, one of which penetrated the armor of the barbarian. As the blow struck home, Ilrath could feel his vigor draining and he felt sick.

He summoned his strength and swung Slashbane with all his might. This time the axe struck true and left a bloody gash on the flank of the snake-beast. For his part, Krase kept true to his earlier conviction and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. As he did so, the Banelar bit him deeply and Krase could feel poison creep into his veins. But at least he made it free of the clutches of this terrible enemy (and he didn’t even slip going down the stairs).

The Banelar now only had one foe to worry about and focused the full fury of his jaws on the barbarian. Ilrath again fended off one of the blows but was wounded by the second and again, the poison poured into his body. Then, to add injury to injury, the Banelar sent three magical bolts slamming into the barbarian with unerring accuracy. Ilrath knew that another such attack would kill him. Krase had gotten away and he had no idea where Rhys was (although he suspected that he was dead).

Ilrath hurled himself off the balcony onto the ice and snow below. He landed ungracefully, injuring himself further but still conscious and out of the grasp of the Banelar. Krase continued his frantic flight towards the perceived safety of the woods.

Speaks with Stone, standing alone in the trampled snow, spear clutched defiantly in hand, called out to the Banelar, “Foul Beast, if you are so powerful, come and face me!” (This character stinks at Bluff – and of course rolls a 20). The Banelar, normally a coldly calculating creature of brutal reason, was taken utterly off guard by the challenge issued from the druid (Rolled a 1 for Sense Motive). Somewhere in his cold, reptilian brain, a spark of fury grew into a conflagration of rage. Seeing the reaction that he had provoked, it was all Speaks with Stone could do to maintain his concentration as he cast Spike Growth on the ground in front of the ice fortress.

The Banelar slithered down the ice stairs at top speed and turned to close with the druid. As he did so, he flung a Melf’s Acid Arrow at Speaks, striking him with the acidic missile. But just then, the Banelar encountered the spikes of plant growth as they punctured his scaly belly. Heedless of the damage being inflicted (which wasn’t much), it continued through the field of spines and pursued the object of its hate.

About this time, Ilrath had downed all of the healing potions he had so carefully held on to through their raids against the orcs. He picked himself up and prepared to dive back into the fray.

Some distance off in the woods, Krase was suddenly free of the terror that had gripped him only moments before. He turned and began to run back along his tracks toward the clearing again.

Speaks was contending with the aftereffects of the bolt of acid the Banelar had shot him with. The pain lingered on and it took all of his concentration to cast one of his Entangle spells. This one was roughly centered on the Banelar and Speaks hoped to trap him in the area with the spikes.

But the Banelar was extremely strong and broke through the bits of vine and root that attempted to grasp him. The entanglement did slow him down enough to keep him from catching up with Speaks for the moment. In fact, the Banelar made for the closest edge of the entangled area, which put him a considerable distance from the druid.

Ilrath was running to aid Speaks and so was Krase but it was very much in question whether either would arrive in time.

As the Banelar bore down on him, Speaks once again marshaled his willpower and cast a spell through the pain of the acid. This time, he softened the earth between himself and the Banelar into a muddy mush that would be difficult to cross. Then he retreated and leveled his spear, waiting for the inevitable.

As it turned out, he was again safe for the moment. The length of the battle seemed to be taking a toll on the speed of the Banelar (his Haste had worn off). After having to cross the mud, the snake-beast was still not within striking range of the druid.

Thus, Ilrath and Krase reached the Banelar before it reached Speaks. The barbarian slashed into one flank as the warrior from Glynden attacked the other. Both attacks found their way through the defenses of the snake but neither inflicted much damage.

With his friends engaged against the creature and the last effects of the acid bolt gone, Speaks stepped forward and thrust his spear at the beast. It was deflected by the same force that had stopped the warriors’ blows earlier. Still, Speaks was glad to be doing something that wasn’t a delaying tactic.

Nearly surrounded now, having used nearly all his spells and with none of his orcish allies anywhere close, the Banelar began to sense that although he still held the upper hand, it had been rash to charge into the midst of the humans. At this point, he needed to put one of them down and withdraw while its friends tried to save it from his deadly poison. Having already inflicted terrible damage upon the barbarian with bites and spells, he was the obvious choice. The Banelar bit savagely at the barbarian, inflicting another nasty wound. But this time, Ilrath threw off the effects of the poison. Simultaneously, the Banelar cast a spell at Speaks.

Speaks was preparing to lunge again at the Banelar when he felt his muscles begin to tense and freeze into place. He focused his willpower, much as he had in overcoming the pain of the acid and managed to fend off the spell. Then he struck a retaliatory blow with his spear, but missed again. Seeing that Ilrath had just suffered another wound, Speaks maneuvered toward the barbarian to offer assistance.

At the same time, Ilrath felt the fury rise up inside him and this time he did nothing to staunch the flow. It filled him with righteous rage and restored some of the vigor the poison had robbed him of. Irath swung Slashbane again and this time his axe bit deep into the side of the snake.

Krase attacked again with Heartneedle and pierced the defenses of the snake. But the effects of the poison took much of the power from his blow. It was merely a scratch.

Having seen the druid ignore his Hold Person spell, and with the barbarian still cheating death, the Banelar was becoming more concerned. He struck once again at Ilrath and landed another powerful bite. The barbarian crumpled to the ground, the poison taking root in his body.

Krase grimly gripped Heartneedle in one hand and his grandfather’s sword in the other and prepared to defend against the next attack that would surely come his way now that Ilrath was down. He made a pair of feeble slashes at the snake-beast but neither penetrated its defenses.

Speaks knew that Krase could likely defend against the Banelar for a long time. The youth was a master of defensive combat and could dodge and parry for some time. But time was not a luxury they possessed. Ilrath lay dying at their feet and somewhere up on the ice fortress Rhys was unaccounted for but probably dead or dying. Speaks knew that he was not even close to the warrior that Ilrath was. So he shouldered his spear and used the last of their healing magic: A scroll recovered from a dead orcish shaman. Ilrath stirred and stood.

Having bought himself enough time to escape, the Banelar took the opportunity. The attack that Krase had been expecting never came and his defensive posture left him unable to effectively attack the Banelar as it retreated. The Banelar breathed a sigh of relief and made for the entangled area. He knew that the weak vines and roots stood little chance of causing him problems. But it would prevent the puny humans from following him. He slithered into the edge of the entanglement.

But just as he did so, a cluster of thick roots erupted from the snow and ensnared the snake-beast. They held him tight, leaving his back half exposed outside the entangled area. Looking back at the humans, he saw them coming toward him with weapons drawn and murder in their eyes.

Ilrath’s barbarian-bred speed brought him to the Banelar first and with a mighty overhead swing, he sliced through scale, muscle and spine, Slashbane coming to rest with four inches of blade buried in the cold-hardened earth. Blood gushed from the wound and the Banelar fell dead on the ground.

Panting with exhaustion, the three companions looked at each other in amazement. They had slain another dragon. But with the condition of Rhys still in question, there was little time for celebration. Krase made his way into the entanglement to retrieve the items the Banelar wore and Speaks and Ilrath limped toward the ice fortress to search for Rhys.

They found him easily enough. He lay unconscious and near death at the topmost balcony where Ilrath had last seen him. Speaks cast a handful of minor healing spells that brought the sorcerer barely to consciousness. He was still as white as a bone and it was obvious that the poison of the Banelar had taken a terrible toll on the lad. Ilrath and Speaks helped him to his feet.

As they did so, their gaze wandered to the south in the direction of the battle. Their jaws dropped when they found that the orcs were no longer attacking the hill fort.

Half a thousand orcs were five hundred yards away, running in the direction of the ice fortress.

NEXT: Escape and Return

 

[Rel]

Escape and Return

Ilrath's first thoughts were of battle. He asked Speaks to heal him so that he might attempt to hold off the orcs from retaking the ice fortress. Speaks looked at him as though he were crazy and informed him that, sadly, he had used the last of his healing magic on Rhys. Rhys and Krase glanced again at the oncoming orcs. They both immediately reached a decision on their only possible course of action. They brooked no argument when they looked at Ilrath and Speaks and yelled in unison:

"RUN AWAY!" (For those who despise such things, I can assure you that this is the only Monty Python quote that will appear in this post. Furthermore, those responsible for this quote have been sacked.)

The party quickly descended the slippery stairs of the ice fortress and beat a hasty retreat to the edge of the woods. There, they were forced to pause for nearly a minute while Ilrath bulled his way into one of the webs to retrieve Rhys' familiar, Tavis. Poor Tavis lost a good deal of her winter coat to the sticky strands of web that held her fast. Ilrath ripped her out of her bonds with a brief squeak of pain (the weasel squeaked, not the barbarian).

Once she was free, the group retreated further into the forest and angled off to the west. They intended to skirt the burned clearing and make their way back to the hill fort to report to the leaders of the joint barbarian/Glynden army. As they began making their way south with the clearing some distance off to their left, they heard a cry in the tongue of the barbarians. Ilrath made his way quickly and quietly toward the clearing with the rest of the party in tow.

From just beyond the clearing, they could make out four barbarian warriors accompanied by a pair of large brown bears, charging into the flank of the retreating orcish stragglers. In moments, the orcs had recovered from their initial surprise and began to encircle the group. The barbarians slashed out with axes and claws felling dozens of orcs in the initial moments of battle.

Ilrath gripped his axe grimly, wanting nothing more than to charge into battle to aid his fellows. But he was barely standing with fatigue and wounds and poison. Speaks laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "They are already dead. You cannot aid them and we will need you to fight tomorrow." Ilrath knew that the wise druid spoke the truth and muttered a quiet oath as he backed away. As the group retreated back into the obscurity of the woods, they saw that two of the barbarians had fought their way clear of the orcs and were fleeing back toward the hill fort. A few orcs gave chase but were quickly outdistanced by the fleet footed Fodorans.

The party continued to make their way quietly south and within half an hour they were approaching the hill fort. They gave out a shout so that they wouldn't be mistaken for orcs in the confusion and shot.

As they approached the palisade, they could see that it was in bad shape. Almost the entire northern side of the outer palisade had been torn down and now lay in a quagmire of mud from the hillside. Other sections of the wall were on fire. Dead and wounded were everywhere but were quickly being dealt with (barbarians being helped inside the intact inner wall and orcs being put to the sword).

Speaks quickly broke off from the party to try and aid the wounded where he could. Krase and Rhys went to speak to Kyndalyn and Ilrath reported to Hrongar.

Kyndalyn seemed pleased to see the boys from Glynden alive but he had little time to speak to them at first. He was busily giving orders to repair sections of the palisade where possible, douse fires and police up weapons in the case of another attack by the orcs. After several more minutes of directing the troops, he came over and sat heavily on a log near Rhys and Krase. "It has been one hell of a morning."

Looking around, the boys from Glynden could tell that it had indeed been one hell of a morning. In addition to the hundreds of dead orcs and barbarians, a huge swath of the hillside appeared burnt along with a majority of the tents on the hilltop. Kyndalyn explained the events of the last several days:

The orcs had arrived near the hill fort three nights ago. They could be heard moving off in the woods but they didn't approach close enough to be spotted. Then, they set the woods on fire and burned the huge clearing that now existed. When the smoke cleared, the ice fortress stood at the far end of the field, seemingly having sprung up overnight.

The orcish army seemed in no particular hurry to attack and spent some time settling into camp. Kyndalyn was not surprised by this as he expected that the orcs would attack at nighttime when they would be at their greatest advantage. He was surprised when they began forming up for battle in the mid-afternoon of yesterday and came charging at the barbarian fortress.

This was the event that the combined forces had been waiting for and they were prepared. Uncle Claudius and the elven Wizard/Merchant let fly with a volley of fireballs that staggered the front lines of the approaching orcs. The pair of wizards had been vigorously preparing scrolls so that they would be able to continue pounding the advancing orcs and inflicting huge casualties on them.

As the orcs drew closer, the fireballs relented and the barbarian shamans had their turn at the orcs. They had all been practicing the spell that Speaks had taught them and now they put that practice into effect. Vines and tree roots sprang from under the trampled snow and began to envelop the legs and arms of the advancing orcs. This further broke up their formations and the large number of orcs were now advancing as a huge, unorganized mass.

The barbarian and Glynden archers then began sending volley after volley of arrows among the entangled orcs, killing another couple score. The lead elements of the orcs came crashing into the palisade. The orcs hacked at the timbers with their axes as the barbarians manning the wall hacked at the orcs. Ropes were thrown by the orcs across the weakened sections of palisade and in a few places it was pulled down. But many an orc paid for this offense with his life.

Without warning, a cry went out among the orcs and they began to retreat. As quickly as it had begun, the attack was over. The barbarians had suffered only a handful of dead and maybe a score of wounded. At least two hundred orcs lay dead in front of the fortifications. All in all, a resounding victory that surpassed Kyndalyn's wildest hopes.

The sections of palisade that had been toppled were quickly repaired and the wounded were tended to by the shamans. As darkness fell, a great deal of celebration took place and the combined forces of Glynden and the Fodor were anxious to have another go at the orcs.

During the night, several small groups of orcish archers made small feints against the fortress. They inflicted little damage but each time they attacked, the defenders were forced to cast some sort of light in the area they were attacking from (mostly by using a supply of Sunrods that Tadius had made available for a very reasonable price). Then the Glynden archers with their superior long bows would shoot at the orcs until they were driven back into the darkness.

Only a few behind the palisade wall were wounded by the archers although one unfortunate guardsman from Glynden was struck and killed in his sleep. But by morning, Kyndalyn was looking with some consternation at how low their supply of arrows was getting.

After the devastating loss they'd been handed yesterday, Kyndalyn was astounded when the orcs formed up again to attack this morning. Uncle Claudius was roused and prepared to unleash more of his fireballs. Tadius was completing his spell preparation but would soon report atop the hill to aid in the continued roasting of the orcish army.

Just as the orcs were getting into the maximum range of the fireballs, the side of the hill exploded in flames. Uncle Claudius was killed instantly and several of the leaders including Hrongar and Urdrax were wounded. Shamans rushed to their aid but just as they arrived, the hillside was shrouded in silence and their chants of healing could not be uttered.

In the confusion, the Wyrm was spotted above. Kyndalyn rushed out of the Silenced area and gave orders to his archers to start firing at it. They did so but the thing was surrounded by a chaotic, swirling mass of colors that made it difficult to hit. It had also climbed high enough to stay out of range of most of their attacks.

Returning his attention to the field of battle, Kyndalyn saw that the orcs were still approaching unmolested. The hillside was in chaos as many of the barbarians were trying to put out the fires that burned on the inner palisade and among the tents. Kyndalyn looked desperately for the shamans who were being counted on to break up the orcish charge with their spells. He saw that Urdrax, chieftain of the Brigantes was bodily hurling the confused shamans out of the area where the silence lingered. They began to realize the situation and by ones and twos they started to turn the approach to the fortress into a tangle of grasping roots and vines.

Kyndalyn told his archers to forget about the Wyrm and to start putting arrows into the orcish ranks.

That was the last order he gave to any group of more than a few men. He ran down to fight on the front lines with the barbarian warriors. After that, he rather lost sight of the big picture but he could tell that, although the barbarians were dealing out casualties faster than they were taking them, there were a lot more orcs. The outer palisade was falling in large chunks and a fighting retreat up the hill to the inner palisade was going to cost a lot of lives. Things looked very grim.

And then, just as before, the orcs began calling a retreat. Instead of an orderly backing off supported by their superior numbers, they just turned and ran. Without the palisade to contain them this time, many of the barbarians pursued the fleeing orcs a short distance and many an orc was cut down from behind. Why exactly the orcs began to flee when they still outnumbered the barbarians by more than two to one was a mystery or a miracle or both.

Rhys offered that he may have the answer to the mystery. He described how they had assaulted the ice fortress which was practically unguarded during the battle. He detailed the battle with the Banelar, who seemed to be the same creature as the Wyrm that Kyndalyn had referred to. Rhys surmised that the Wyrm must have been the leader of the orcish army. Knowing that many, if not all, of the orcish shamans possessed the Amulets of Communication and that the Banelar seemed to have a similar device, he supposed that when the Banelar was hard pressed by the party, he had called for aid from his shamans and they had sounded the retreat to the rest of the army.

Kyndalyn responded that if that was indeed what happened, the party had undoubtedly saved a great many lives inside the remains of the hill fort and may well have prevented the utter defeat of the allied forces. Knowing that they had fought a desperate battle that morning and seeing that both Rhys and Krase looked pale and wan from the poison of the Banelar, Kyndalyn told them to get some rest because if the orcs attacked again, it would take every man they could muster to resist them.

The pair walked up hill to where Kyndalyn's command tent stood, one of the few tents that still stood atop the hill. They found a dry corner and collapsed. After a bit of rest, Rhys pulled out the magical Candle of Identification and proceeded to unlock the secrets of the three magical items they had recovered from the ice fortress and the Banelar.

By the late afternoon, he was happy to report his findings: The small stone that had been orbiting the head of the Banelar was known as an Ioun Stone and this particular one gave the bearer a natural increase in his defenses. The headband had the ability to boost the intelligence of the wearer and also incorporated the abilities of one of the Amulets of Communication at a somewhat increased capacity. By far the most curious of the items was the metal flask. It had three words engraved on it in Draconic. When unstoppered and one of these words spoken, water would pour forth from the bottle in either a "Stream", "Fountain" or "Geyser".

Eager to test this newfound item, Rhys went to the collection of barrels encircling a fire that served as the camp water supply. Several of the barrels were almost empty, having been used to douse fires along the palisade. Rhys quickly filled them using the bottle. Much pleased with this, he reported his find to Kyndalyn and told him that he was exhausted and needed sleep but that Kyndalyn was welcome to make whatever use he could of the bottle, during the night. Kyndalyn thanked him and set about trying to find a use for the bottle.

Krase, Rhys and Speaks awoke in the morning, feeling slightly better but still weak from the Banelar's poison. They emerged from the command tent and saw that a vast sheet of ice extended from the base of the hill off to the north. Several large portions of the outer palisade had been patched with walls of ice.

The party slowly made their way down slope and encountered a smiling Kyndalyn.

"I think I know where they got that ice fortress," he said.

He handed the bottle back to Rhys and explained that they had run the water all night. The frigid air of the northlands had quickly turned it into a sheet of ice, which Kyndalyn figured would be very difficult for the orcs to cross. As dawn had risen, he discovered that he had little reason to worry. It appeared that the orcs had left the field of battle. The siege was ended for now.

Krase was immediately worried at the prospect of having half a thousand orcs roaming the countryside, whereabouts unknown. He, Rhys and Speaks made their way carefully across the ice (where many a fallen orc was entombed) and across the open battlefield. As they went, they were able to piece together some details of the battle from where the bodies lay.

A bit over halfway across, they came to where the Brigantes and the Totem Warriors (the were-bears) had fought. There was a big ring of dead orcs around where they had fought. The bodies of the fallen warriors were not in evidence and neither were the orc-slaying weapons they had been carrying.

In the vicinity of the ice fortress, they found evidence of another battle having taken place and discovered the bodies of nearly a hundred orcs. Leading away to the north and northwest respectively were two sets of tracks. The group heading to the northwest (the direction from which the orcs had initially approached) was clearly the larger of the two groups. The party concluded that there must have been some kind of rift between the orcs that had occurred in absence of their leader. This had ultimately led to a fight that left a hundred orcs dead before the two groups departed the scene.

Speaks transformed himself into an eagle and took to wing to locate the remaining orcs. He first flew north and soon found a group of about a hundred orcs moving steadily northwards under the cover of the forest. Their destination was unknown but they seemed to be in no shape to turn around and resume their attack on the hill fort anytime soon.

Speaks then veered off to the west and located the other group of orcs. They seemed to number around three hundred and were moving back along the trail that they had followed from their headquarters at the foot of the mountains. They too seemed beaten and bloody. Speaks turned around and made his way back to the hill fort.

In the meantime Krase and Rhys went inside the ice fortress again and discovered that a big hole had been dug in the floor where they had earlier had spotted the rectangular object under the ice. Rhys cursed aloud at this. Whatever treasure the orcs had brought with them had been carried off before he could loot it. He spent the remainder of the afternoon using his ability to Detect Magic to scan the battlefield for any treasure buried under the ice. He managed to turn up a few shamanic scrolls among the orcish dead, none of which he could use.

Reports began to come in from the Allmani scouts who were monitoring the retreat of the larger group of orcs. They seemed to be making best speed back to wherever they had come from and showed no signs of turning around. Scouts also searched for the other group but they had already moved at least as far north as the Nervii lands. It seemed that the orcish army was, for the moment at least, shattered and no longer a threat.

The war was over and it was time to lick wounds and count the dead.

NEXT: Aftermath

 

[Rel]

Aftermath

Uncle Claudius had been killed in the first instant of the Banelar's fireball attack. Tadius Silvanus had, fortunately, just begun heading for the slope of the hill and wasn't caught in the blast. He was later able to send a couple of fireballs into a group of orcs working their way around to the undefended rear of the fort.

Hrongar was standing very near to Uncle Claudius when the fireball hit. He was badly burned and unconscious by the time the shamans arrived to aid him. When they were struck by the silence, they tried to drag him free and heal him. Urdrax realized that if the shamans didn't start entangling the battlefield that the orcs were going to arrive uncontested at the palisade and the battle would be over before it had begun. He carried Hrongar out of the flames himself and sent the shamans to cast their entanglements. By the time they got back to Hrongar, he was dead. The fortress would henceforth be known as Hrongar's Hill.

The barbarians had suffered nearly a third of their warriors killed, mostly in bitter fighting along the collapsing outer palisade. Also lost were most of the Brigantes warriors that had comprised the other harrying force sent out to parallel the party, including three of their Totem Warriors. When the orcs had retreated to aid their Banelar master, the Brigantes group was lurking in the woods looking for an opportunity to attack. They saw that the entire northern side of the outer palisade was down and that nearly a hundred barbarian dead and wounded were staggering in this gap. Fearing that the orcs may have decided to turn around for another go at the hill fort, the warriors had charged the retreating flank. In the end, the six of them left another three score dead orcs on the field and solidified the orcish rout.

The forces of Glynden fared somewhat better. Serving in the capacity of archers and combat engineers, the guardsmen were out of the worst of the fighting. They lost slightly less than a fifth of their number. The dwarves who had accompanied them had been right up front among the barbarians but their heavy armor and natural skill at fighting orcs had served them well. They lost only a handful of their number.

In their absence from the fortress, word had gotten around about the party having discovered the Halls of Durgeddin within the Stone Tooth. A group of dwarves approached the party to confirm these stories. The dwarves indicated that as soon as they could summon their cousins from the Novantae Highlands, they would be going to take back the Stone Tooth from the "damned, accursed, sons of Orcs - The Duergar".

Also killed in the fighting was Wamic, underchief of the Nervii. He had thrust himself into the fighting on the first day and was wounded. He had been among the leaders caught in the fireball but lived to return to the fighting and had died a warrior's death holding one of the many gaps in the palisade.

Seshmarl, the young chieftain of the Allmani had distinguished himself in battle by proving to be a great leader of men. He seemed to have an intuitive grasp of tactics and know precisely where the next orcish thrust would come from. In the aftermath of the battle, the scouting by the Allmani to insure that the orcs were truly retreating all the way back into the Blackpeaks further elevated the status of Seshmarl. He is one of the rising stars among the tribes of the Fodor.

Relmar of the Suevi could not say the same. He had made a rather fateful decision never to sign the pact the other tribes had made with Glynden. He also didn't approve of the fortress being constructed in the lands of the Brigantes and had pulled many of his warriors from the site to construct fortifications of his own within the lands of the Suevi. The fact that he had left more than half of his men to help defend the hill fort was largely overshadowed by his earlier decision to remain firmly outside the alliance on a personal level. Although the warriors of the Suevi who were present at Hrongar's Hill fought bravely, the Suevi have suffered a stain on their honor at the hands of their rash young chief. (As a side note, Relmar has wed himself to the Suevi shaman, Orthula. She is now with child and Speaks With Stone is not sure whether he is the father.)

Two days following the battle, Speaks adopted his eagle form and flew east across the Fodor to where the non-combatants were encamped. Theirs was a sorry lot. They had suffered a few attacks from the Gnolls that still roamed the Western Wilds and there were a few wounded. But their main problem was a lack of shelter. They had hastily constructed a large cluster of hide tents and primitive lean-tos to shelter the children and aged. Otherwise, they were forced to keep large bonfires burning at all times to stave off the northlands winter.

Speaks informed them of the victory against the orcs and proceeded to stay for a few more days to heal the sick and wounded and provide some assistance in getting them moving toward the Fodor so that they could begin to move back into their villages. He provided some relief from the worst of their hunger using his Goodberries spell.

Before the warriors from the various tribes dispersed from Hrongar's Hill to return to their homes, a celebration was in order. In the absence of the unifying figure of Hrongar, Urdrax was the obvious leader of the ceremonies. Never one for pretty speeches, he confined his words to a short but inspirational memorial to the fallen and the exhortation to the living to drink deeply of the ale stores. It would save some weight on their return home.

Of course, no celebration would have been complete without the honoring of those who had played such a pivotal role in the acquisition of the Orc-Slaying weapons, the scouting and harrying of the orcish army and the ultimate slaying of the Wyrm-leader of the horde (whose skull now adorned the standard of the Corritani). Many accolades were heaped upon the party members including Ilrath. Their cooperation was held up as an example of the prosperity that could be achieved through the new peace with the people of Glynden. Ilrath was hailed as the champion of the Corritani. Gifts were commissioned for Rhys, Krase and Speaks.

Speaks was given a spear, hand made by Wulfrax of the Brigantes. It was made in honor of his fallen friend and given the name The Fang of Arc (masterwork longspear). Privately, the tribal shamans gave him some more potion ingredients. Krase was also gifted with a finely crafted weapon: A magnificent bow dubbed Hawk's Wrath fashioned by a boyer of the Allmani (masterwork mighty composite short bow +1). Somewhat at a loss for what to give the sorcerer who has everything, Rhys was awarded with an item that was purchased from Tadius Silvanus. It was a magical scroll case imbued with the power to instantly bring forth any scroll stored inside with but a word. According to the elf, it was know as Salrokk's Splendid Scrollcase, after it's creator.

With the end of the celebrations, the various tribesmen departed to rejoin their friends and families and to rebuild from the damage left in the wake of the orcish horde. Their stores of food were lower than they would like and it would take a lot of hunting to feed the tribes through the rest of the winter, but they would make it. They had survived an enormous army who had threatened to consume (literally) their whole way of life. For now, that was enough.

Speaks settled in to spend the majority of his winter among the tribes of the Fodor. He had to make good on his promise to teach more of his ways to the tribal shamans and he also wanted to spend some time studying the languages of some of the creatures he could summon. The ability to Comprehend Languages that the shamans had taught him, only worked within the lands of the Fodor. He also needed some private time to mourn the loss of Arc.

The lads from Glynden were loathe to depart from their friend, Speaks. But they had been long away from their homes and families. They promised to reunite with the druid when he returned to Glynden before spring. They also said a fond farewell to their friend Ilrath. Although they had been distrustful of one another at the start, they had come to rely on the strong arm and stout constitution of the steadfast barbarian. He told them as they left that he had been advised of the need to form an expedition to the Blackpeaks. As the champion of the Corritani, he would lead a group to determine if the orcs were massing for another attack and to locate the City of Endless Summer from whence they originated. He would be happy to have his old friends by his side.

Krase and Rhys both said that they would be back to aid the expedition if they could get matters settled at home (Krase had been chomping at the bit to smite some Gnolls - They are his favored enemy and it pained him mightily to abandon the fight against them in favor of dealing with the orcs, especially with the coin of the Iron Auxilia still in their posession). With smiles, they parted ways and made the journey back to Glynden.

At home, they were celebrated at least as much as they were in the lands across the Fodor. They were also gifted with an unexpected prize: In recognition for their efforts during the war and for getting the agreements from the barbarians to stay on their side of the river, each of them (including Speaks, but not Ilrath) would receive one percent of the annual profits from the mines of Aquae Sulis as soon as they could be reopened. The future looked prosperous indeed.

NEXT: Old Enemies, New Challenges

 

[Rel]

Old Enemies, New Challenges

The following is cut directly from the e-mail sent to the players to set the stage for the next chapter of the campaign. This is based on the activities the characters indicated they wished to pursue during the remaining winter months as well as some conjecture on my part to fill in the gaps.

A further note, the party ultimately kept the Ioun Stone (+1 natural armor) and gave it to Rhys. They also kept the Everflowing Bottle. They traded the Headband of Intellect/Communication to the elven wizard, Tadius Silvanus in exchange for some cash and lots of "store credit" all of which they promptly spent on other things.

Among them were a wide variety of scrolls to fatten Rhys' scrollcase, a partially charged wand of Knock (Rhys' lock picking skills have atrophied in favor of his sorcerous abilities), a masterwork short sword for Krase and a pair of wands of Cure Light Wounds that Speaks and Tadius collaborated on (now that they have so much healing magic available, I can really unleash the damage on them).

The decision was made to deal with the Gnolls once and for all. Then, they hope to make it back to the lands of the Fodor in time to catch up with Ilrath's expedition to the City of Endless Summer. Part of their reasoning for going after the Gnolls first was that they wanted to see how the party stood without the muscle that Ilrath (the NPC) afforded them.

The hints of spring are returning to the northlands after what is easily the most memorable winter in your lifetimes. The last few months have been a wonderful break from the intense days of the fall and early winter.

Once back in Glynden, you were welcomed as heroes and your tongues have almost grown weary with having to tell and retell the tales of your journey to the barbarian lands, your perilous delve into the Stone Tooth, the slaying of Nightscale, the hit and run battles against the orcish patrols and the glorious defeat of the wyrmlike leader of the orcs which ultimately spelled their defeat. Fortunately, there have been ample mugs of ale bought for you at Nan's Tavern to soak your weary tongues in. Another question very frequently asked of you is, "What is next in store for the heroes of Glynden?"

Your answer that you intend to deal a blow to the Gnolls that will make them reconsider interfering with the affairs of men is universally met with approval. Such talk invariably brings on another round of drinks and you begin to wonder whether you'll be sober enough to fight the Gnolls come springtime.

The winter also saw the eventual departure of the elven wizard, Tadius Silvanus who has crafted so many scrolls to fill Rhys' new scrollcase. He promised to return to Glynden come spring and bring with him a new bounty of magical oddities to be purchased with the wealth that would soon be flowing from the silver mines.

Recruitment for the town guard is at an all time high with the other guardsmen returning from across the Fodor with tales of glory against the orcs. A few of the men that made the westward journey didn't come home. They lay buried in the ice hardened earth at the foot of Hrongar's Hill, alongside the barbarian warriors who fought next to them. But these casualties are overlooked in favor of the bounty they have brought the town. Krase has aided Kyndalyn in training some of the new recruits. Although unwilling to settle down to become a guard captain yet, Krase found this a good way to stay in practice and work off some of the "ale-belly" he had been acquiring at Nan's.

Rhys has spent his time unlocking some of his new magical abilities and idling the winter months with Isabeau. She has been offered a place among the serving staff at Castellan Cassuvius now that her parents are deceased. Apparently, she has recieved a good deal of attention from some of the other young men that dwell there, but has carried a torch for Rhys during his long stint away from home. He has much enjoyed her affections when she has journeyed into town from Castellan Cassuvius.
But Rhys' newfound celebrity has also drawn the glances of many of the other young women in town (including some he previously considered out of his league). Of course, most of these young ladies have admirers of their own who are less than pleased by these glances. That, combined with Isabeau's frequent use of the word "marriage" have started to give Rhys itchy feet.

As winter began to release its icy hold on the northlands, a group of dwarves, two score in strength came into the town. They had travelled from Novantae to join the dwarves of Glynden in mounting an expedition to reclaim the Stone Tooth from the loathsome Duergar. Among those who joined this venture was Wakenzaki, Krase's dwarven "Grandfather". Although he has grown old and may not be the warrior he once was, Krase's tales of adventure in the west along with dreams of spending his waning years brewing ale in the Glitterhame proved a powerful pull. This group of dwarves asked for as much information as the party could provide about the interior of the mountain and the denizens therein. They also fattened the town coffers with gold and copper from the east that paid for needed supplies and equipment before they made their way to the west.

All of this activity has left the town bursting with energy. The council wants to send a group to look into reopening the mines of Aquae Sulis as soon as the first crops have been planted. They need an assessment of the area around the mines and town. Considering that the party says they are heading in that direction anyway, they are asked to provide this information.

Much of that task turns out to be quite easy. Speaks has gathered a flock of birds to him that are providing a great deal of information about the area west of Glynden. He is rather shocked to discover that the ruins of Aquae Sulis are presently home to a large group of Gnolls. It is difficult to ascertain their precise numbers (birdbrains and all) but somewhere between 75 and 150 Gnolls including females and cubs presently inhabit the ruins (They still appear to be avoiding the Wizard's Tower). In addition, more groups of Gnolls are presently moving southward out of the Darkwood toward the general direction of the ruins.

This is a cause for much consternation among the council. They obviously cannot send an expedition of non-combatants to reclaim the silver mines if the Gnolls are present. They also cannot send a large body of troops to confront the Gnolls (This is for several reasons, chief among them that any such group must necessarily be composed largely of green recruits or leave the town defended by green recruits.). The idea is floated that the barbarians be asked for help (turnabout being fair play). That idea was quickly discarded for a variety of reasons. The barbarians are short of manpower right now anyway. And inviting a large group of their warriors back across the Fodor when they have only just been persuaded to abandon that area permanently seems a bad idea.

For now, the plans for Glynden to expand back into Aquae Sulis and reopen the silver mines there (which each of you now own a 1% share in) are very much in jeopardy. Perhaps the three heroes of the Winter War could better the chances for the prosperity of the town and themselves.

NEXT: Encamped at the Doorstep of Danger

 

[Rel]

Encamped at the Doorstep of Danger

Based on the aerial reconnaissance provided by Speaks' flock of birds (he has approximately 40-50 small birds as animal friends totaling 10 HD), the party knew that there was a large concentration of Gnolls in the ruins of Aquae Sulis and that they were being joined by more groups trickling in from the north. After some debate on the best course of action, they decided to just launch an attack on the Gnolls to "test their defenses".

They decided that they would need a safe spot to retreat to (their estimate of their own capabilities fell short of being able to slay the whole Gnoll encampment in one try). The obvious choice for this was the abandoned wizard's tower on the eastern outskirts of Aquae Sulis. They knew that the Gnolls avoided it anyway (thanks to the statues just inside that appeared to be Gnolls who had been turned to stone) and it was close enough to easily run to.

To be certain to avoid any Gnolls during their trek to the vicinity, they angled southwest upon leaving Glynden, staying on the southern side of the low ridge in which the mine of Aquae Sulis lay. After three days, they turned north and came over top of the ridge to approach the ruins from the south.

As they crossed over the ridge and began their descent into the valley between the ridge and the Darkwood, they spotted a pair of small faces staring at them from a bush roughly a hundred feet away. A moment later, the faces ducked back behind the bush. The only thing the party could be sure of was that they had sort of dog/lizard look about them. Keeping careful watch, they continued on, watchful for the dog-lizards.

A short while later, they came to a clearing on the hillside. Through the trees, which still hadn't regained their foliage from winter, they could make out the low walls of the town below. They angled off to the east to approach the wizard's tower. As they went, they could hear the sounds of the Gnoll woodcutters in the distance.

Back in Glynden, they had received some information about the tower from an unexpected quarter: Council Member Nacalius. He was no friend to the party as they had left on their journey to the lands across the Fodor in the fall. But given the success of that endeavor and the hero status gained by the party in the interim, he was doing whatever he could to downplay his opposition to aiding the barbarians. As his brother had lived (and died) in Aquae Sulis, he was familiar with the tower and its origins.

It was built many years ago by a wizard named Byrne (For anyone interested, I used the tower map from the 1st Edition Village of Hommlet adventure.) who had come to the northlands seeking solitude to pursue his arcane studies. Glynden was too bustling for his tastes and he settled in Aquae Sulis. He never had much to do with the townsfolk to begin with. After he took on an elven apprentice, he was almost never seen as he sent the elf to do his errands about town.

As with most wizards, he had a reputation for eccentricity. In particular, he had a fascination with dragons. This was convenient as he now lived at the end of the Dragon Tail range in the very shadow of The Dragon. He was constantly sending out his apprentice to the surrounding towns to gather tales about The Dragon. Many a round of drinks was purchased in payment for even the most minor bits of information (many of which were obvious lies) concerning the creature.

Finally, some six or seven years ago, Byrne announced that he was going on an expedition to seek out The Dragon. He made sure that it was known in Aquae Sulis that should he not return, the elf was to inherit the tower. That was the last anyone had seen of him.

A year after that, a series of raids by the barbarians weakened the town's defenses and a group of Gnolls dealt the final blow to Aquae Sulis. The elf never showed up in any of the surrounding towns and it was presumed that he either fled the region entirely or was killed fighting the Gnolls.

They arrived outside the tower and without preamble, ascended the stairs that led to the drawbridge. Things appeared much as they had left them: The three Gnolls-turned-statues stood just beyond the threshold with evidence that they had killed a robed figure as they had become stone.

The party ascended the stairs to the upper floor of the tower and here they found something that they didn't expect. The large painting of a black dragon that had hung on the wall above the stairs was missing. Obviously someone had been here during the winter.

A further search of the bedroom on the same floor revealed that the finely crafted chest that had been left there by Rhys (after he looted the contents) was also missing. There was no other evidence that someone had stayed in the tower for any length of time.

The party cautiously explored the upper levels of the tower and found that the other room on the upper floor was a library. Unfortunately, the shutters inside were open and foul weather over the last half-decade had ruined almost all the books. Two were found that were in relatively good condition: One about dragons and another that was a history of the Slave Wars in Emor.

Above the upper tower level was a narrower turret reached by a ladder. In the bottommost turret level, they found the tiny bedroom and study containing little of interest save a slightly rusty rapier and the apprentice's spellbook. The book contained a number of minor cantrips and a few spells of a basic nature. It was clearly not the tome of an archmage but they held onto it thinking that perhaps Tadius Silvanus would be interested when he returned to Glynden.

Above that, the top turret level was one large room with several tables. This was clearly a laboratory for alchemy of various sorts. The room was dirty and unkempt but the alchemical equipment was mostly intact. Various ingredients were stacked neatly in jars and bottles and from these, Rhys was able to replenish the waning contents of his component pouch.

The lower levels of the tower held little of interest. The first floor beneath the entry level was clearly a kitchen. It featured a rather mundane set of utensils above a simple wood stove and the larder contained nothing that remained edible. There was however a small wine rack that held several bottles of fine wine and two bottles of what turned out to be single malt Novantae scotch.

The bottom level was a single large room that was used for storage. Its only prominent feature was a pair of large bins that contained a small amount of coal and a pile of rotted logs respectively. A short underground passage led to a small spring, obviously used as a water supply and for cold storage. From hooks in the ceiling hung some pots of spoiled mead.

The party spent the remainder of the afternoon with Rhys and Speaks thoroughly searching the library for any more salvageable books and Krase doing a meticulous (took 20) search of the bottom floor of the tower (for some reason, he was absolutely certain that there was an underground passage that led into Aquae Sulis). The library yielded no more legible texts and the only thing that Krase uncovered was a nest of giant centipedes that lived in the rotted log pile. He was able to kill them without being bitten but somehow the sensation was somewhat of a letdown after the epic battles with the orcs and the fighting he anticipated with the Gnolls.

In the evening, the party gathered in the upper level of the turret from where they could barely make out the rooftops of Aquae Sulis some 200-300 yards away. They spent the next couple of hours discussing their plan of attack and then bedded down for the night.

NEXT: Battle Royalle

 

[Rel]

Battle Royalle

The party decided that the fog that hung in the valley in the cool spring mornings would make excellent cover for their approach to Aquae Sulis. They would approach from the southeast toward a largely intact section of wall.

Speaks' scouting had given them a fairly clear picture of the Gnolls' routines. They spent most of their waking hours cutting wood for the palisades that patched the town wall and re-thatching the roofs of the mostly intact buildings. Gnoll guards stood watch at all the entrances to the town at all times.

They departed the tower in the pre-dawn dimness and quietly made their way southwest. They made an intentionally circuitous route to the town in the hopes of disguising where they were camped. Emerging from the cover of the woods, they crept as quietly as possible toward the section of wall they wished to target. They all felt lighter on their feet as they went, thanks to Rhys' new spell.

(The party was very "buffed" for this battle. Rhys had given all three of them Cat's Grace and Spider Climb. Thanks to Speaks, Rhys and Krase both had Barkskin.)

As they made their way across the open field toward the walls, Speaks twice conjured an Obscuring Mist around them to increase the intensity of the fog. Thus, they made their way to the wall undetected.

Peeking over the wall, they saw the Gnoll guards right where they expected them to be. Speaks crept around the end of the wall so that he could see along the eastern wall of the town. Then he conjured a swath of Spike Growth that extended across the eastern entrance to the town and went off into the fog, beyond his sight. Moments later, cries of pain were heard in the foggy distance.

All three members of the party used the Spider Climb ability to easily scale the eight foot high wall. Krase and Rhys began to fire their bows at the closest of the Gnolls while Speaks blanked the area in one of his Entangle spells.

As the Gnolls suddenly became aware that they were under attack, the closest dove into the remains of a nearby building amid a hail of missile fire by Rhys and Krase. As it turned out, this was a classic case of "out of the firing range, into the fire" as Speaks conjured a Flaming Sphere on the rooftop of the building.

With their primary target out of sight for the moment, Rhys and Krase turned their fire on one of the Gnolls caught in the entangled area. The Gnoll cried out for help from his fellows, "They're killing me out here!" Krase kept up his barrage of fire on the hapless Gnoll as Rhys scampered back and forth on the top of the wall, seeking an unobstructed line of fire on some of the other Gnolls. Speaks gleefully drove his ball of fire across the thatch rooftop and then had it leap across to the roof of an adjacent building. Sensing that the Gnolls were beginning to get organized in the interior of the town, he dropped another Entangle beyond the first one. This effectively blocked the majority of access to the southern exit of the town.

The few Gnolls who were inside the building nearest to the section of wall occupied by the party began to fire back with short bows while frantically trying to figure out how to escape from both the burning building and the entangling vines beyond. They had a very difficult time penetrating the defenses of party (thanks to the Cat's Grace and Barkskin).

With a final cry of "And now they've killed me!" the Gnoll who Krase had been shooting fell to the ground. Another nearby, who was also entangled, quickly fell as well. The pair in the burning building had managed to flee while avoiding the grasping vines. Speaks was gleefully sending his Flaming Sphere from rooftop to rooftop, setting fires to the buildings most likely to be inhabited by the Gnolls.

The Gnolls were in full retreat, but sounded like they were regrouping in the center of town. Off in the fog was the sound of a group of them leaving through the southern wall and coming toward the party. They had a long distance to travel in order to avoid the pair of entangled areas (that spell is absolutely huge). Krase dropped off the wall and readied his swords to receive the oncoming Gnolls.

As they came running out of the fog, Speaks allowed the first two to get fairly close. Then he dropped a third Entangle on the remainder of the group and snared several of them. One pair in particular were tantalizingly close to the edge of the vines but couldn't seem to break free (keep an eye on these guys, they turn out to be a lot of fun). This latest Entangle combined with the other two surrounded the party on three sides. The only approach the Gnolls could take to assault the party that would spare them the grasping vines and roots was a narrow alley barely ten feet wide. In this narrow space, Krase went to work with his swords.

Krase and Speaks were both still atop the wall which made them hard for the Gnolls to reach. They easily danced above the axes of the Gnolls and began to rain havoc down among them. Speaks opened up with another Flaming Sphere that sewed fires among the entangled Gnolls. Rhys fired his crossbow at point blank range into the chest of one of their attackers. The Gnoll grunted in pain but pressed on (not a hard decision since his only real avenue of retreat was into the grasping vines).

A short distance away, several gnolls struggled against nature's bonds and a few managed to escape to join the fray (but not either of the pair who were only five feet from the edge of the spell's effect). Another cast a spell at Rhys who briefly felt fear rising in his gut, but the young Sorcerer fought off the effects with ease. Another who wielded a fearsome looking heavy flail also attempted a spell but a root digging into his thigh interrupted his concentration.

Those of the Gnolls who managed to escape the vines and roots found themselves replacing some of their fallen brothers who fought the fearsome Krase. Krase was plunging his gladii into one Gnoll after another, mercilessly. He was finally getting some revenge against his hated enemies who he had last encountered when they sent him fleeing like a scampering doe across the Fodor.

Speaks noted that some of the Gnolls in the entanglement were attempting to cast spells and rammed into one of them with his ball of fire. Rhys scurried along the wall to get into position to use one of his wands on the Gnolls. The Gnolls who attacked them were finding them almost impossible to hit.

Another Gnoll broke loose from the entanglement and went to engage the party. The pair close to the edge could hear the fibers of their woodland bonds straining but still could not free themselves (They needed an 18 on their Str check to get free. This round I rolled 17's for both of them.). Those near Krase had him up against the wall but their weapons could not find a way through his armor.

Then, the Gnoll with the heavy flail barked out words holy to his people and stretched out his hand toward Krase. Suddenly, Krase found himself unable to move.

Speaks and Rhys glanced over to see how their friend fared and were horrified to see him helpless before his attackers. Rhys fired off a Sleep spell to knock out a pair of the Gnolls who threatened him. Speaks sent his ball of fire at one of the Gnoll spellcasters to distract him. Then he positioned himself to start using his sling against the Gnollish clerics.

The Gnolls nearest to Krase took advantage of his helplessness and began to deal him some terrible damage.

To be continued…

 

[Rel]

When we last left our heroes, Krase had been Held by the Gnollish cleric. He was nearly surrounded by Gnoll warriors and Rhys and Speaks were some 15-20 feet away, dealing with threats to themselves…

(Ok. This is where I screwed up. In the midst of this combat, I totally forgot about the coup-de-grace rules. I should have just had the Gnolls CDG Krase and it is very likely that he would have died. I was not trying to pull any punches. All I can say is that the only other time anybody in the campaign has even been close to being CDG'd was in the second session - a long time ago. The rule just hasn't been used that much and I forgot about it. I was also juggling about three other groups of Gnolls that I knew were off the map at that point, as well as the dozen or so that the party was actively engaged with. So, Krase got away with one thanks to my forgetting that rule. I regret that this happened but in light of how much fun we had the rest of the session, I can live with it. I'll just have to kill him later.)

Rhys fired off a Color Spray from his wand and engulfed several of the Gnolls who had penetrated the corridor between the entangles including a pair who threatened the helpless Krase. Unfortunately, only one of the Gnolls succumbed to the effects of the spell, the others merely impressed by the pretty lights. Speaks continued to ram away at one of the Gnoll clerics with his flaming sphere while he fired a sling stone at another one, missing entirely.

In turn, the Gnolls continued to hammer away at Krase, beating the warrior nearly to unconsciousness (Although I flubbed the CDG ruling, I was still having them hit him on anything but a 1). To make matters worse, another small group of Gnolls came around the corner from the east and closed on the nearest target: Krase. Things looked grim indeed for the lad from Glynden.

The Gnolls who remained trapped in the entangled area were now classified in one of two groups. There were the clerics who were attempting (and failing) to cast spells whilst being grappled by the vines and roots and then there were the pair of Gnoll warriors trapped right at the edge of the area who still couldn't pull free. All in all, a fairly ineffective group at the moment.

Rhys dropped another Sleep spell among Krase's attackers and a pair of them slumped to the ground. This bought the warrior a few more seconds of life as only one could attack him now. Speaks' ball of fire finally felled one of the Gnoll clerics before it poofed out of existence. His next sling stone missed the mark, much like the last one.

The remaining Gnoll who faced Krase chopped into the lad from Glynden once more, desperately trying to bring him down. Krase, helplessly receiving the barrage of attacks, saw the edges of his vision begin to go dark. He knew that in just a few moments his life would be over. Then he could suddenly move again.

The other Gnolls who had rounded the corner went past Krase and sought to engage the Druid and Sorcerer. Just a few feet away, the entangled Gnoll warriors struggled in vain against their bonds while more spells were ruined for the clerics.

Also at this point, the roofs of several of the buildings that Speaks had set fire to started to collapse. This offered an unobstructed view of Rhys (who stood atop the wall) to a trio of Gnolls inside the town. They began to send arrows his way but so far, he managed to dodge them easily.
Rhys fired off another of his Sleep spells into the group of Gnolls clustered at the base of the wall but only one succumbed to the spell. He suffered an attack from one of them in the process but it missed by a large margin. Speaks saw that Krase was free from whatever force had previously bound him and was bleeding from half a dozen wounds. He began to make his way toward the wounded warrior, drawing out one of his healing wands in the process.

By this point, most of the Gnoll warriors in the entangle-less corridor had been killed, slept or knocked out with the Color Spray. It looked as though the group might have a few moments to heal up before deciding their next move. But then, the Gnoll cleric with the nasty looking three-balled heavy flail, burst free from the entanglement. They knew that in just a moment, he would be close enough to begin swinging his fearsome weapon.

The other Gnoll cleric as well as the pair of warriors remained trapped within the entanglement and could only cheer on their ally.

Rhys turned and fired a crossbow bolt at the archers who were harassing him from inside the walls but the bolt went wide. Krase move the short remaining distance toward his allies and put himself between them and the oncoming Gnoll cleric (this could be seen as heroic in some circumstances but he really had nowhere else to go and besides, that put him adjacent to the Druid so he could receive healing). Speaks used his healing wand for the first time. It almost seemed to sputter as it delivered its recuperative magics (Speaks' player rolled a 1, giving Krase a grand total of 2 additional hit points).

A trio of Gnoll warriors straggled around the southeastern corner of the town wall and ran to the aid of the cleric, filing into the narrow corridor between the grasping roots and tree branches. As the entangled Gnolls gazed on, reduced to little more than a cheerleading section, the Gnoll cleric swung his flail overhead, shouting, "Yeenoghu!" (which Krase recognized as the name of the demon god of the Gnolls). As he did so, all three party members winced as a small jolt of pain shot through them. Rhys noticed the same expression of discomfort on the faces of the two Gnolls right behind the cleric. Then the cleric swung his mighty flail at Krase only to have it bounce harmlessly off his mithral breastplate. The cheering among the entangled Gnolls became a whimper of disappointment.

Krase dug his pair of swords into the Gnoll cleric causing a nasty pair of wounds that would have felled most of the Gnolls he had ever encountered. But not this one. Rhys fired another crossbow bolt down at the cleric, scoring a minor wound. Speaks used his wand to heal Krase again and a feeble wisp of magic issued forth (rolled a 2 this time, giving Krase 3hp).

Undaunted at his previous miss, the Gnoll cleric again swung the flail over his head while crying out the profane name of his deity. Again, each member of the party felt a jolt of pain. Then he brought his weapon around in a forceful blow that hurled Krase to the ground, unconscious. The other Gnolls cheered and those who were in the corridor between the entangles howled with bloodlust, anxious to attack the downed fighter. But there was simply no room to get past the cleric.

Speaks used his wand on Krase once more and this time managed to get some real results. Krase immediately stood up and plunged his magical gladius into the breast of the Gnoll cleric who spat blood back at the warrior. The Gnoll knew that the warrior was barely standing and the next swing of his flail would likely send him to his doom. But then, Rhys leveled his crossbow at the growling cleric and shot him at point blank range. It wasn’t the most spectacular shot he ever made but it was enough. The Gnoll fell to the ground.

The remainder of the Gnolls gazed at this scene with astonishment, then horror. The pile of Gnoll bodies that occupied the unentangled swath of ground, topped with one of their most powerful clerics was more than their morale could handle. They turned and ran, Krase cutting one down from behind as they did so.

The terror of it all actually inspired the remaining Gnoll cleric to break free and run as fast as his canine legs would carry him away from the party, yelling, "Retreat! They're invincible!" as he went. Not so for the pair of Gnoll warriors who had remained entangled within arms reach of the edge of the spell for the entire battle. They still couldn't break their bonds and now that the rest of their compatriots were fleeing, they did the best they could to look like a pair of trees and hide in plain sight.

Fully enraged by such a brutal battle with his hated enemies, Krase paused only long enough for Speaks to give him a couple more doses of healing from the wand before he went tearing off after the retreating Gnolls.

Then Speaks spend a few more moments healing himself and Rhys from the minor wounds they had received during the battle. Meanwhile Rhys set about killing the sleeping Gnolls (At this point in the session, Rhys' player says something about coup-de-grace-ing the sleeping Gnolls and I slap my forehead, realizing my mistake with Krase). Then he cast Detect Magic in the area of the battle to confirm that the flail was magical (he found nothing else of a magical nature in the area).

In the mean time, Krase had run all the way around two of the Entangles (a considerable distance) and charged into the flank of a group of Gnolls that were forming up to defend the south entrance to the town. Initially, the Gnolls were shying away from the warrior, his reputation as being invincible having preceded him. But then, one of the other Gnoll clerics rallied them, crying out, "For Yeenoghu's sake, it's only one warrior! Kill him!"

The Gnolls moved in to attack, swinging their axes as they went. But Krase was nearly impossible to hit with his Cat's Grace enhanced agility and Barkskin to top things off. He did however begin to realize that he was going to have a tough time defeating a dozen gnolls by himself, regardless of how tough he was to hit. The point became entirely moot a moment later when he was targeted by a Cause Fear spell by the cleric.

Speaks was just about to make the lengthy trek around the entangles to aid Krase when they heard him cry out in abject terror and begin to run directly through the entangled area, making a b-line for the safety of the tower (for once during the session, Krase made a saving throw and avoided the roots and vines). He went streaking past Speaks and Rhys, screaming in fear.

The Druid and Sorcerer looked at each other and at the retreating Krase and said, "Well, I guess we're done for the day."

As they turned to leave, Rhys gestured to the pair of entangled Gnoll warriors who had spent the entire battle trapped just feet from freedom. "What about these guys? Should I kill them?"

The Gnolls (who spoke a smattering of Imperial) looked at each other in horror.

"Nah,", replied Speaks.

The Gnolls breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"just kill one.", the Druid continued as he pulled his ceremonial mask down over his face.

The Gnolls faces showed an expression of shock (if you can read their hyena faces that is) and without missing a beat, each pointed at the other and barked, "Kill him!"

Rhys looked back and forth at the pair as he loaded his crossbow and then calmly shot one right in the chest. The Gnoll looked down at the bolt protruding from his midsection and then dropped to the ground. The other Gnoll laughed at him in his distinctive hyena cackle.

Rhys slung his crossbow over his shoulder and turned to leave, following the Druid. As he went, he glanced back at the pair of Gnolls and caught a glimpse of the one he had just shot looking around to see if they had left yet (he was playing possum). Rhys raised his hand and shot forth a Ray of Frost that finally did the Gnoll in. This caused the other Gnoll to laugh even harder.

Rhys jogged a short way to catch up with Speaks. There was no question that the Gnolls knew which direction they went and it wouldn't be long before they figured out that they were camped in the old wizard's tower. They figured they'd better hurry back and prepare for a counter attack.

NEXT: Anybody Else Want To Negotiate?

 

[Rel]

Anybody Else Want To Negotiate?

The trio made their way back to the tower and pulled up the drawbridge (Speaks had fixed the broken chain using a Stone Shape to fashion a replacement link out of a rock). They went inside and wasted no time before celebrating. They went to the kitchen level and grabbed one of the bottles of Novantae scotch. Then they retired to the tower roof and toasted their victory. None of them seemed to have any problems with drinking before noon.

They spent a while patting each other on the back and giving a good-natured ribbing to Krase nearly getting himself killed. After a bit more celebration, Rhys decided to go and rest for a bit, fearing that they would have a long afternoon and night watching out for any Gnollish counterattacks. Speaks also went inside the tower and Krase enjoyed sitting on the tower roof, sipping his scotch, enjoying the cool spring morning. It was a good day to be alive.

Krase was half dozing on the tower roof when a voice called out from below in broken Imperial. "Hello?"

Krase looked down to find a single Gnoll standing some 50 feet from the base of the tower. He told the Gnoll to wait and went inside the tower to fetch Speaks. They let Rhys continue his nap since they knew that sleep was important for him to regain his spells. They returned to the tower roof to address the Gnoll.

"What do you want?" demanded Speaks. As he spoke, he noticed that this was the Gnoll whom Rhys had allowed to live earlier in the morning.

The Gnoll was clearly afraid (tail between the legs and all) but mustered what courage he possessed and said, "You want us to leave the town?"

"I think we made that pretty clear this morning." replied Speaks.

"We must have the Flail before we go." said the Gnoll, wincing at having just made a demand of those who had slain nearly a score of his tribesmen just a few hours ago.

Speaks and Krase regarded one another for a moment and then told the Gnoll to stay where he was. They went back inside the tower and woke Rhys to have a discussion about what to do.

(This conversation ran all over the place. Every option was discussed from giving the flail back and telling the Gnolls to leave to a staunch conviction that the world would not be safe until every Gnoll was exterminated. They talked of ambushing the Gnolls and of trying to strike a peace. This all probably took some 20 minutes of game time and I would periodically holler a tentative "Hello?" from the Gnoll, whom they ignored entirely.)

They finally arrived at the rudiments of a plan. All three stepped out onto the balcony and Rhys addressed the Gnoll (who whimpered in fear at the sight of the cold-blooded human). "We see no reason to discuss this matter with the likes of you. Send someone with some authority to speak with us in the morning."

The Gnoll seemed pleased to be dismissed but knew what would await him back in the ruins of Aquae Sulis if he didn't have some kind of answer to the question he'd been sent to ask. "And, um, then can we have the Flail?"

Rhys regarded him for a moment. "Uh, yeah. We'll see."

The Gnoll scurried out of the clearing and ran off to the west.

"So what exactly are we going to do when they come in the morning?" Speaks asked Rhys.

"Well, let's figure something out!" Rhys replied.

They party spent the rest of the afternoon coming up with various plans and finally settled on one. Then they settled in for a watchful night of guarding against Gnollish treachery.

NEXT: Deceit and Death