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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mikeawmids1" data-source="post: 9633639" data-attributes="member: 7030604">Session 7The Battle for Burly Point is over, and the Broken King's army has been defeated. The dwarves clear the field of goblin corpses and the wreckage of abandoned siege engines. The damage to the town is significant, but Clan Coppertank vow to rebuild bigger and stronger than ever. Leaving them to it, the Runewardens return to Caerfell to recuperate. Rosalind brings Sir Bruno a book detailing the tragic end of House Lionfell.Lord Galthyr Lionfell fought in the Witch Wars and slew so many agents of the Grand Coven that Griselda herself cursed him to never sire a son who could continue his line. Lord Lionfell became despondent as he spent years fruitlessly seeking a way to break the curse. While Galthyr was absent, a hooded stranger visited his keep and promised Lady Lionfell she would become pregnant if she swallowed a magic pebble. Desperate to appease her increasingly unstable husband, she agreed - and soon her belly began to swell. Rather than joy, Lady Lionfell felt only guilt regarding the source of her strange pregnancy, and confessed to her husband the origin of the babe. Lion Lionfell flew into a rage, killing his wife and cutting the unborn child from her womb. The fate of Lord Lionfell following these events is unclear, the author speculates he could not live with his actions and hurled himself from the battlements of his keep - a theory now disproven by his reappearance as the Broken King.The Runewardens don't know how Medusa is tangled up in this tale of woe, but have sworn to deal with the sorceress nevertheless. Hamar purchases a hand mirror because metagaming, whilst Tink compulsively polishes his shield for completely unrelated reasons. Riiiight.The road to the Broken Keep crosses Wersig's Bridge, a monument to the durability of dwarven architecture. The River Wendarin rushes by some hundred feet below. Two trolls; Hoofrot and Flintfang guard the span. Sir Bruno declares the Broken King defeated, and Brother Alistair brandishes Truth Teller to reinforce this point. The trolls rejoice! They are no longer bound by the Broken King's orders NOT to kill and eat travellers crossing the bridge!! Oh happy, happy day!!!<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/mr1sxRhT/TRL-sq1975-s70-sq8011-s61-4-K-RGB-FIN-rgb.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/mr1sxRhT/TRL-sq1975-s70-sq8011-s61-4-K-RGB-FIN-rgb.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>Damn, wrong trolls!The party defeat the trolls, but without landing any fire damage they just keep getting back up - even after being subjected to decapitation and cardiectomy. Sir Bruno boots Flintfang's head off the side of the bridge, and the body blindly follows it into the river. Brother Alistair tries to roll Hoofrot off the other side, but the troll regenerates and grabs the priest just as he goes over the edge! Hamar dives after them, breaking the grapple and activating his Ring of Feather Fall. Hoofrot hits the water and is dragged beneath the foaming rapids. Hamar and Brother Alistair are still falling, just r-e-a-l-l-y s-l-o-w-l-y. Apogee flits down and pushes them toward the wall of the ravine, from where they can climb back up to the bridge.The Runewardens find a load of gold in the troll's lair, and take a Short Rest before resuming their journey. Silent, watchful figures appear among the trees, surrounding the party. The Runewardens soon realise they have wandered into a field of statues, all of them depicting human knights frozen in various poses of surprise and alarm. With a heavy heart, Sir Bruno examines the statues and finds the petrified remains of Captain Olvane One Eye mounted upon his stone warhorse. This macabre garden of sculptures is all that remains of the 100 knights who marched from Caerfell at the start of the season. Sir Bruno and Brother Alistair pause to pray, although nothing short of Greater Restoration will fix this mess.<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/QdHL5sQc/Untitleddesign-2024-01-10-T132754-737-large.png" target="_blank"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/QdHL5sQc/Untitleddesign-2024-01-10-T132754-737-large.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>Three basilisks are attracted by the impromptu sermon, converging on the party from amongst the statues. Sir Bruno meets their gaze and is frozen to the spot, limbs leaden as they begin to petrify. Brother Alistair continues to pray, eyes cleched shut as the battle rages around him. The Runewardens defeat the basilisks and Sir Bruno shakes off the effect of their gaze, although it is some time before he regains full control of his extremities.The party reach the Broken Keep. Goblin scavengers ransack the abandoned war camp, scattering when they spot the Runewardens approaching. An unmanned gatehouse leads to a stone bridge spanning a waterfall, beyond which lies the keep. Six totally inanimate gargoyles perch along the parapets. Psyche! Turns out they are animate after all, and they're getting a surprise round.Stone claws rake Brother Alistair's face - that's gonna' leave a nasty scar. Two gargoyles pick up Tink between them and drop him off the side of the bridge. Apogee grabs the wood elf fighter as he falls. Puffing with exertion, she hauls him back up to the bridge. Hamar swings the enormous maul he took off Flintfang, misses his target and hits the bridge. A crack appears in the stone, quickly widening to a 10ft crevasse. As the bridge shudders underfoot, the Runewardens abandon the fight and race for the keep. The gargoyles are hot on their heels, clawing at their backs. Sir Bruno heroically turns to fight, waving everyone else on as he covers their retreat - even as the bridge crumbles away to ruin (Tom later confessed he had forgotten the bridge was collapsing when he chose to make his stand)! The rest of the party must choose between barring the door to the keep - leaving Sir Bruno alone on the other side, surrounded by enemies, or hold the portal until he can join them - and risk being overwhelmed in the interim! As the stone beneath his feet falls away, Sir Bruno casts Misty Step to teleport to safety, and the rest of the party slam the door closed! ** this scene felt so epic/dramatic at the table that I awarded everyone a Hero Point to cash in next week.The Runewardens find themselves in the throne room of what was once Lionfell Keep. They see an empty thone, a stone sarcophagus and four mirrors framed in gold. Hamar defiles the sarcophagus and finds the skeletal remains of a long-dead woman wearing a silver diadem, and a vial of clear liquid on a chain around her neck. Without missing a beat, Hamar chugs the unknown fluid and immediately disappears! Having necked a concentrated potion of major invisibility, Hamar is now invisible for the next 500 years (or maybe just 50 years, if we account for his hardy Goliath constitution).<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/L68GKR0G/The-Invisible-Man.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/L68GKR0G/The-Invisible-Man.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /></a>One of the four mirrors begins to glow, becoming a portal that only Hamar can cross. The mirror-door leads to Medusa's grotto beneath the keep. Hamar explores and finds a second entrance behind the waterfall. The Runewardens roll their eyes and prepare to head back outside to deal with the remaining gargoyles.TBCXP CalculatorDiscovering the sad story of Lord Lionfell - 100xpMetagaming - minus 100xp2x Bridge Trolls - 3600xpHeroic use of the Feather Fall spell - 100xpDiscovering the fate of Captain Olvane - 100xp3x Basilisks - 2100xpThe one Gargoyle you actually killed - 450xpSir Bruno's last stand - 100xpSurviving the collapsing bridge - 500xpDiscovering (multiple) entrances to Medusa's grotto - 100xp= 7050 / 5 = 1410+ 9486 = 10,896Next level up (6) at 14,000</blockquote>

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