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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 4640145" data-attributes="member: 386">Played on Wednesday.The PCs started out in the Horned Hold on top of one of the battlements, having gotten there using their rope.  They knew the layout:Two bridges, linking up the back portion with the front gatehouseGuards on one bridge, generally ignoring the otherSlaves in the back, tended by devils and a powerful TheurgeAn old chapel with undead (Armok identifies them as wights) that the dwarves locked in and avoid, though sometimes Murkelmor would use them as a punishment or method of executionOrcs, the master smith, and Rundarr the duergar Champion in the front gatehouseMalchior came up with a plan:Bren would open the door to the wight's chamber, letting them free, then he would beat feet and head back to the rest of the group.  The others would jam one bridge door the old-fashioned way, then use their new Nail of Sealing which Armok created to shut the other door, pinning the bad guys between the PCs and the wights.The plan got off to a bad start.  Bren had to unlock the door to the wight's chamber and this ruined any chance of surprise.  When he opened the door, we rolled Init, and the wights went first.Thanks to their hit + shift ability, all 5 of them were able to get in and make attacks.  3 hits meant that he had taken 28 damage and 3 healing surges in the first round of combat!He tumbled out of there and blew his AP to get back to the rest of the PCs, with the wights hot on his trail.The other PCs pushed into the bridge guard area, surprising the duergar, Sealing the bridge door shut and making it to the back entrance.  The duergar and their animated "crossbows on wheels" were now pinned.Combat starts.  I'm rolling very hot.  Jace is getting blown away by the construct arbalests and the duergar are laying out some Infernally-inspired angry blows on Wexley.Bren makes it back to the group and opens the bridge guard barracks door.  Wights chase after him, but most head for the barracks.  Shouts of anger can be heard from inside as the Theurge in there gets mauled pretty badly.(House Rule: Since wights drain healing surges, and NPCs don't really have any, I said that the first hit does normal damage - 1d6+4 - and drains their healing surge.  Once that's gone, it does 1d6+8 damage.)The PCs started pushing the duergar back into the wights.  One duergar was able to pry open the traditionally-sealed bridge door, trying to make a break for the front gatehouse, but was jumped by a wight, immobilized by Armok's Icy Rays (for two rounds!) and then slowed.Once the dwarves fell, the PCs busted out their area of effect fire powers on the wights and cleaned them up.This fight was okay.  It was tougher on the PCs than I thought it would be and took a long time to run (because the wights).  Since there were 5 wights and 5 players, I had each player run a wight until they turned their attention on to the PCs.  This worked out okay, but I wonder if I shouldn't have just handwaved the NPC-NPC conflict (or rolled a 1d20+level for each; higher roll means one guy is Bloodied; if he's hit again, he's out, or something like that).That done, they explore the bridge area.  They check out more barracks and see two arrow slits covered with iron slats.  They open them, peer through, and see two orc guards fearfully watching the back door.Armok tries to get them to fight each other - he uses Mage Hand to have one spill its drink on the other - but they are so nervous now that this fails (i.e. failed Bluff check, even with a +2 synergy bonus from Arcana); one of them heads out to warn his boss about some strange stuff going on.That's when the PCs jump him.  Most of the doors are opened so they can see a devil tormenting some slaves in a pit with a pitchfork (so typical! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ), but the room where Framarth, the master Theurge, has moved into has its door shut.The orcs die.  Framarth and the devils come out to fight.  Bren uses Blinding Barrage on them to blind them all.  Blinded, the devils launch some spikes but can't seem to hit.  Framarth gets grabbed in an icy fist thanks to Armok.  He throws out his "blinding fart" and nails some of the PCs, then uses an AP to follow up with an attack that Dazes and Slows them, but it's not good enough and he runs through his Elite HP way to fast.One devil is destroyed, and the other flees back to the slave pits.  The PCs intimidate it into surrender: When they threaten it with death, it laughs at them: "I'm immortal; my soul will live on."  Jace threatens it where it hurts.  "If I kill you, I will send your soul to my patron, Azrael."  It gives up and offers to serve - "We just need to write up a contract and make the proper human sacrifice; let me get my pen..."  Too bad for the poor Spinagon, he is the sacrifice; Jace lets the evil rope out of the bag and it strangles the devil to death.Then it starts slithering to the slave pits, but Jace quickly gathers it up and puts it away.The PCs rescue the slaves, who are cowering with fear.  Being slaves to hobgoblins, sold to devil-dwarves, and tormented by real, live devils isn't really good for the state of mind.  But they are happy to be freed.The also find the lone goblin who escaped from the Chamber of Eyes in the pit.  He grovels at Armok's feet and offers to serve him.  "All the children I steal will be yours!"  Armok takes him in with the idea to convert him to the faith of the Raven Queen.  (Armok is a multi-classed Cleric/Wizard.)(Armok's player also has some old D&D books, 1E and the Rules Cyclopedia, and we're planning to use the rules within to have him set up a Wizard's Tower.)The slaves also said that some gnolls showed up and bought some slaves off the duergar.  "Where did they take them?"  "The Well of Demons."  "Oh great, sounds like a nice place."Since the first fight and the planning took a long time, I offered them a Quest: kill the rest of the guys in the next real-time hour for extra XP.They sprang into action.  They crossed the bridge leading to the smith's room.  Listening at the door, they heard screams of pain and some hammering.  When they open it, they see the master smith trying to forge a sword into a slave's arm.  "Blood for the blood god!"The PCs gained surprise, and kill him before he has a chance to act.  Which is too bad, he had some cool powers.  C'est la vie.  Or la morte, I guess.  So they are left with two orcs.  Armok is on the other side of the room facing one, alone - "It's okay, I haven't taken a point of damage yet."  A crit from the orcish berserker - "Berserker!" - changes that; he took 24 damage from the one swing.Armok spies a nearby weapon rack and uses Mage Hand to unlock the weapons so that their pointy ends stick out; then he Thunderwaves the orc into it, dealing an extra 1d12 damage.  (Or 3d6+Int, but he chose the latter.)  When Wexley runs up to attack, the orc pulls the weapon rack down on both of them, knocking them both prone and dealing some damage (1d12 + Str, which was the same as his greataxe attack).Then Malchior, using Murkelmor's Flaming Maul, runs up to the weapon rack and slams his maul down on it, over and over again.  We used the low limited damage option (3d6+str), on a miss both the orc and Wexley would take damage.  He hit, so no problem.The orcs from the front gate hear the noise.  "What's going on in there?"  Malchior keeps hammering away at the weapon rack as if he were forging something.Jace uses his Beguiling Tongue to get the orcs to come in.  "Come on in here, we've got beer and cake."  When the orcs show up, there's no beer, just death.  Not that the orcs fear death, but they really wanted some beer.  They are surprised and are demolished without landing a blow.We wrapped up there.  The PCs are within 100 XP of 7th level now.  I think I'm going to offer Wexley a Quest to fight Rundarr, Duergar Champion one-on-one in a pit fight.  That could be interesting.They are also going to quit the dungeon for now, bringing the slaves back to Winterhaven, stopping in Fallcrest to stock up on magical reagents since the Mages of Saruun have banished them from the Seven-Pillared Hall on pain of death.  This should be interesting; things have been happening while the PCs have been in Thunderspire (for about 2-3 weeks I figure).Let's go into the wayback machine.The PCs are working for a mercenary organization called the Knights of Nerath.  This group is trying to reestablish the old Empire of Nerath and bring the "Pax Romana" back to the world.  In truth, the goals of this organization are far less noble (and unestablished just yet).  The PC's mentor, Douven Staul, went missing somewhere around Winterhaven, bringing the PCs there, where they found an active cult of Orcus trying to open a gate to the Shadowfell.When they found Douven, he told the PCs to keep Winterhaven safe while he went for more support from the Knights.  The PCs found out they didn't have any time to waste, though, since Kalarel's ritual would be complete in a few short days.  They sprang into action like all true heroes do and put an end to Kalarel and his cult, sealing up the Shadow Rift.When they came back to Winterhaven, the PCs deposed Paldemar, the local Lord, who had taken a bribe from Kalarel.  Shortly thereafter they left for Thunderspire to rescue the slaves.In the meantime, the reinforcements from the Knights of Nerath finally arrived in Winterhaven, only to find the legitimate Lord deposed and locked up.  Well, that's not right.  They are waiting in Winterhaven for the PCs while they check up on the cult and have sent word to Fallcrest and the other towns that the PCs are wanted for "questioning".I still have to figure out what's going to happen in Fallcrest for next week, but I think it will mostly be foreshadowing the upcoming conflict between the Knights and the soon-to-reach-name-level PCs who want to establish their own little fiefdoms.Hmm, might be cool to run a neat little urban adventure in the town of Fallcrest.  Knives in the Dark.  Maybe I'll boost Kelson from the DMG to provide a challenge for 7th-level PCs.  I also need to have a denouement...</blockquote>

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