• NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.

The Red Hand of Doom!!

Duroin smiles at the elf lass' coughing, glad that she is alive. At the sound of Kirrg's axe beheading Koth, the dwarf nods grimly. "That is the only way to deal with a goblinoid," he says. "Even if they are the big, furry, spellweaving type."

Standing, Duroin glances around the place. Despite his considerably weakened state, the dwarf is surprised to find that he didn't suffer a single actual wound during the battle with Koth. With a shrug, he sheaths his weapons, sets down his pack, and begins searching the bodies and the chamber

Duroin will search all of the bodies left behind, and then proceed to search each of the rooms in the keep. He will peak into the north and south rooms first, though, to make sure there are no more enemies.
 

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Finding no other foes the Group proceeds to look around a bit and search the bodies.

Each of the Hobgoblins wears banded mail and carries a heavy steel shield. Each carries a well made bow and sword of a craftsmanship you have become familiar with. Each seemed to carry 3 potions. One still has 3. Two have 2 left and the last one seemed to quaff all of his. So 7 potions are recovered and by their effects one can assume they give a moderate amount of healing.

The Minotaur carried little, save for his oversized ax.

Wyrmlord Koth has his wand. The potion he took out and 2 potions similar to the ones on the Hobgoblins. His Morningstar and buckler seem well-made.

In his bag, which seems to carry an extraordinary amount but weigh little there is 1000s of silver and hundreds of gold. He also carries a scroll and 2 stoppered vials of liquid.

To the north they find stables occupied by the Worgriders and their steeds. Besides a foul musk left by the wolf-creatures adding to the scent that can only be made by goblin hygienic practices there is nothing of interest.

In the Hobgoblin Barracks they find little other then filthy covers and dirtier personal belongings of the soldiers. Not even the poorly stuffed owlbear holds any hidden treasures.

The small room to the north of the Barracks holds a large table filling the room, barely leaving enough room for the half dozen chairs arrayed around its edge. Pinned to the tables surface is a massive map of the region.

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Numerous notes in goblin have been scrawled onto the map (which Duroin translates).

Whatever the squat building to the SE once was used for is unclear. All of the furniture has been crushed to a pile of rubble, and a large nest-like mound of tree branches, bones, bits and pieces of foul smelling an9imal parts, and long thin Manticore spikes fills the NE corner of the room. A gaping hole in the roof in the NE corner provides a view of the sky above. Though it is foul work in the nest the group finds a pile of gold coins mixed with a splatter of platinum. A gold necklace and a filthy silk cloak embroidered with silver that might still be worth something if ever properly cleaned.

The lower room of the SW tower is a circular chamber and has been outfitted with a mix of furniture, including a small desk, an overstuffed chair, a massive four poster bed, and a large easel that holds a sizable canvas covered with a sheet. A flight of stairs arcs up the south wall to the upper floor and a fair amount of rubble lies heaped at the base of these stairs.

Duroin instantly recognizes something strange about the stonework on the floor. His dwarven knack for all things earthy tells him there is a hidden trapdoor next to the overstuffed chair, one that hasn’t been opened for a long time.
 

Virashil, Sorcerer 5, Hp: 1/21

Her eyelids flutter slightly -- a vision in her mind has her floating high in the blue, cloudy sky. In the distance she sees a sheen of something silvery. It draws closer, she recognizes the form as something vaguely draconic. She blinks once and it has drawn next to her -- it is Bahamut! The large dragon says to her,"Child, this is not your time - there is still much for you to do... Go, my child."

With that, she returns to the material plane, her eyes open slightly, she hears all sorts of commotion, out of the corner of her eye, she sees the bugbear - HATED BUGBEAR -, reaching for the wand that knocked her out. His last threat against her proving idle, as Kirrgs axe slices through his throat.

The imminent threat nullified, she gathers her senses, and breathes a sigh of relief. "Thanks," she croaks out meekly from the floor.

As the others search the buildings of the keep, she attempts to knock the cobwebs out of her mind, and make sense of the vision of her deity -- was it really him?

They bring the gear of the soldiers into the barracks room,"Pile it up in the middle, lets search the rest of the tower, then I'll see what is magickal"

Upon seeing one of the potions from the hobgoblins, she grabs one and takes a sip, then drinks the vial.

Upon entering the tower proper, and hearing Duroin remark about the trapdoor in the floor, she reaches into her pack for the map that lead them here.

"According to this," holding up the map,"It seems that there should be a 10' x 15' room down there, past a 5' shaft."

Vraath Keep map

[D]---[/D]
OOC:

Drink one of the 'moderate curing potions'
 

Sir Jonathan

Seeing Virashil awaken, Sir Jonathan quickly rushes to her side. "Can you stand my dear?" He helps her to her feet if she is in need. As they search the room, Sir Jonathan begins piling the gear they found into a pile, on the table near the map of the area, as Virashil had suggested. Once Duroin has the map translated, Sir Jonathan examines it with the eye of a trained warrior. He quickly seeks out the others. He finds them in the tower examining a trapdoor in the floor. "The map! It outlines their plan of attack! These aren't the only goblinoids in the area, there are many more, an army of them! They plan to attack Drellin's Ferry! We must warn them if they are not burning already!"
 

Duroin carefully investigates the trapdoor, taking his time to ensure there are no traps waiting to be set off.



Search +8, Take 20. If there is nothing, Duroin will open the trapdoor.
 

Its actually +10 due to your stonecunning. No traps detected.

Virishal gets 12 back and yeah Cure Mod potions now 8 left

Detect Magic shows nothing magic besides bag and potions. You can make spellcraft checks to determine what kinds of magic if you want.
 
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Nodding sagely to himself as he finishes checking the stonework trapdoor, Duroin is content that no trap awaits. Still, he tenses his muscles as he grabs hold of the edge and moves to open the thing.
 

Kirrg grabs the minotaur's axe and compares the weight and tang of it in his hands. He shrugs casually and tosses it aside for the now. Looking over the map, he frowns, "We at least took out this one threat, but it seems pointless looking at all these others. What happens if we destroy this bridge here?" he points to the one labeled Skull Gorge Bridge. "Do you think that could stall them a bit? What's this city here?" Pointing to Brindol, "We need to warn them as well. And it looks like no race is safe, they intend to take this whole region. This is much more than we initially intended, too much for us to handle alone."

He wanders over and takes one of the curative potions Virashil drank earlier and drinks it himself. He smiles at the elf and puts his large hand on her shoulder. "So all it takes is a little electricity and some force missiles to shut you up?" He finishes with a wink.
 
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After looking at the battlemap for several minutes it becomes obvious what the Red Hand has planned for this region.
Namely, a large group of hobgoblins is massing to the North at a location named Cinder Hill. The number and strength are not indicated on the map but hint that the force is large enough that the invaders don't anticipate anyresistance once they march on Drellin's Ferry.

Indeed Kirrg's words ring true as there seems to be a bottleneck in thier approach . Skull Gorge Bridge. From looking at the map if the bridge were taken out of the equation, approach would be much delayed. Perhaps enough time to evacuate a small town?

Duroin opens the trap door. The portal groans in protest but finally relents to the dwarf's insistent tugging. It reveals a 5 foot wide shaft leading perhaps 4 stories down. Rusty iron rungs are mounted on one side of the shaft, your ladder down.

Kirrg heals 13, no more str penalty for everyone BTW.
 
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Virashil, Sorcerer 5+, Hp: 13/21

ethandrew said:
"So all it takes is a little electricity and some force missiles to shut you up?" He finishes with a wink.

"He only had eyes for me, you big oaf." She says with a small grin.

As she takes a peek down the shaft,"Someone throw a sunrod down there. Does it look like this has been used recently to any of you?"
 

Into the Woods

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