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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pacio49" data-source="post: 2082218" data-attributes="member: 28472">Having a BallInside the double doors, the party got a glimpse of the majesty and splendor which once was displayed by House Dorecan, now forgotten and long gone, whose only remaining testimony to their existence at all was the ruined palatial manor house which now housed evil and monstrous races amid the desolation of the magical wasteland caused by the advancing miasma of the Blasted Lands.  Faceless statuary lined the walls, the suggestions of human features smoothed over by the hands and tools of master craftsmen ages dead. Winged figures and caryatid columns lined the sides of the exquisite ballroom, a resplendant and decadent ballroom of luxury, filled with the echoes of slippers of finely dressed ladies on the arms of dashing and debonair gentlemen. Overhanging galleries look on over the balustrades to allow for the elite of society to snicker at their supposed inferiors or political rivals dancing below.  The intricacy of the carvings and the molding that remained on the crumbling ceilings (well above the protective dweomer of the bottom story of the manorhouse) let the wind inside in convoluted sighs that suggested to the party the whispers of conspiring lovers and plotting lordlings engaged in intrigue.  House Dorecan's crown jewel opened before them in the ballroom beyond, cluttered from disuse and home to the defilement of ogres at their own parody of a banquet feast.Slipping in the doors, the party watched as several goblin guards and kobold servants attended to the four ogres sitting behind the only banquet table not yet broken or scarred from misuse or violent behavior.  As the party took stock of their surroundings and noted the elegant glass walls on the western side of the ballroom, the remaining balcony in the southeastern corner borne aloft by winged female statues holding ascending stairs and disappearing into the decrepit ruins of the second floor, one of the ogres and several of the kobolds took notice of the party, standing for a moment in awe at the splendor and faded majesty of the ballroom.Both groups noticed each other noticing the other, and both acted together.  The ogres bellowed out to sound an alarm and tossed over the last table, pinning several kobolds and scattering their food over the floor.  Valar and Skalar began to pepper the ogres with arrows, and Marcus let loose with another magic missile spell. Arien cast barkskin on Yovaire, who advanced with his double sword flashing in a lazy butterfly pattern that quickly dispatched several of the goblins who rushed him.Laeka attempted to get to one of the ogres, but unfortunately a small troop of goblins delayed her. They quickly fell prey to her spiked chain, their deaths adding to the glory of Povra, God of War.  One of the ogres bypassed the threat that Tanin posed, and managed to impale Valar with a javelin the size of a small tree trunk that he threw.Tanin's dog advanced and began to harry some of the goblins at the same time that all of the kobolds, now out from under the watchful eyes of the ogres, turned tail and scurried up the grand staircase to the southeast and disappeared out of sight in the ruined second story.  Tanin himself did credit to his profession by taking out several goblins, and Yovaire managed to close with one of the ogres, nearly decimating him in a single round's attack. By this time Laeka managed to finish off the goblins on her, Marcus was busily manipulating his last flaming sphere,  and Arien was doing her part to cast cure spells on the greatly-diminished Valar.   Once Yovaire was able to polish off the first of the ogres, and Skalar managed to fell a second with his arrows, Laeka and Tanin each managed to deal with the other two.Unfortunately for the party, several of the goblins used the deaths of their ogre commanders to take the opportunity to run out the eastern doors from the ballroom, scattering into the Manor.Spelled out, wounded, and barely victorious, the party prepared to retreat back to their haven when alarm gongs sounded along with the sound of marching feet quickly approaching the ballroom from , north, south, and east entrances.  For a moment, a pallor of fear fell upon them all, since the marching of feet was accompanied by the shouts of several ogres in giantish, which Skalar understood (as his favored enemies were Giants, he could comprehend their language, the better to hunt them and anticipate their moves).  The ranger gave a quick accounting of the numbers of troops he felt were coming, and the fact that the ogres were calling for the mobilization of the outside patrols.The party gave a sigh and prepared for what could well have been their last stand.  One of the doors to the east burst open and ten goblins rushed in.  The party began to marshall their strength to face this, the first of the onslaught's waves, when from above came the sound of running feet.Arien turned just in time to see one of the kobolds in a small black tunic take a flying leap off of the second floor balustrade, landing quite adeptly and firing off a spell into the midst of the goblins, summoning forth the shadows to wreath them in darkness.  Another kobold, an older kobold, came halfway down the stairs and beckoned to the party for them to follow them up the stairs to safety now that the goblins couldn't see them.Another kobold came down the stairs with a small troop of kobolds following him. With a wave of his hands and a few arcane words, the small troop of kobolds looked rather like the party did, just with a few details off and slightly smaller in stature.  As the party advanced up the stairs, the party of kobolds let loose with light crossbows into the darkness and struck several of the goblin troops as they were emerging from the cloud of inky darkness that had enveloped them.  Once the illusion-clad kobolds had been spotted, they turned tail and ran off into the western hallway, out the doors that the party had come into.With a few lucky rolls on the part of the party, and several bad spot checks on the part of the goblins, the ruse was pulled off, and the party found themselves being shuffled off into one of the ruined rooms at the top of the stairs, a place rotting and open to the elements, but safe for the moment.  Other kobolds took up positions at the top of the stairs and just out of sight to provide guards, and three more kobolds in small black tunics came forth with a rather wizened-looking kobold between them.The wizened kobold held up his clawed hand in greeting and said, "I am Tuck, the leader of the kobolds, and the rightful king of Dorecan Manor.  I have been told by the hailstone clanleader, Pook, that you are honorable and keep your word well.  If you will swear to me that you will aid us, I will reveal a place of power to you."Marcus didn't even wait for Tuck to finish, nodding eagerly and asking, "What power? Can we have it? Any spells?"Arien shook her head and clucked her teeth, then said, "If you will abide by our agreement with Pook, we will gladly accept any help you may give us in undermining the powers that control Dorecan Manor."Tuck nodded. "Step this way, and I will show you the mirror of Dorecan Manor. If you can unlock its secrets, you shall earn our allegiance and assistance."</blockquote>

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