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Message: <blockquote data-quote="carpedavid" data-source="post: 433827" data-attributes="member: 6971">9.28.2002 - Session 1, Part 5After much discussion, the party decides that they are too weak to assault the forge in their current condition, so they return to their quarters to nurse their wounds for the night. As the light of Dominus breaks over the eastern horizon, Wrayce and Danklar call upon the spirits and the gods to help heal their companions. Shoji, Scarlet, and Wrayce all have much of the damage done to their musculature by the spider poison restored.After the whole of the party is up on deck, Wrayce directs the pilot toward the abandoned forge. The pilot keeps the ship low, coming within a few feet of the treetops as they sail along, until they come within view of the forge. A wooden wall, about twenty feet high, encircles the grounds of the forge, which forms a rectangle about eighty feet long by sixty feet wide. Four watchtowers stand at the cardinal points along the wall, and inside the wall are two small wooden buildings and a set of smokestacks, from which billow black clouds. I wonder if we can use the ballista to take out those buildings, Taminnyd thinks to himself, but is disappointed to find that the way in which they are mounted prevents them from firing at a steep enough angle.Erendil directs the pilot to bring the ship in low, just above the northern wall. As the ship gracefully descends, he, Shoji, and Wrayce all prepare to rappel down onto a narrow walkway that runs along the interior of the wooden wall. As soon as the ship pulls into position, the archer, the monk, and the druid/sorcerer jump off the side, their fall only slowed by a slender rope. Laurel, Dew, and Danklar are next to disembark, though they elect to use rope ladders instead. Scarlet and Taminnyd leave Nym on board, and climb down to meet their companions.As the party surveys the scene, they are surprised as two large ogres poke their heads out of trap doors on the walkway. At the same time, the doors on the two wooden buildings open and four kobolds run out into the open yard. Great, Danklar thinks to himself, we get caught unprepared again.One of the kobolds that exited the western building unravels a scroll, and begins to chant in a high-pitched, squeaky language that sounds like dogs barking. She finishes quickly and a ball of hellfire erupts in the middle of the ledge where all of the party members happen to be clustered. Laurel manages to dodge most of the blast, though everyone else takes the full brunt of the kobold sorcerer's fireball.Erendil eyes the ogre closest to him, and becomes very worried when he begins shaking his battleaxe in a furious rage. The ogre's eyes dilate, and spittle flies from his mouth, then he plants his axe blade in Erendil's chest. Laurel is faced with the other raging ogre, but unlike her companion, manages to dodge its blade.Shoji, Laurel, and Wrayce climb down from the wall to face the oncoming kobolds as Danklar calls upon the power of Dominus to silence the one that loosed the fireball. Scarlet pushes past Erendil as thoughts of blood and battle fill her head. Feeling herself gloriously loose control, she slashes at the ogre with her bastard sword, cutting deep into its mottled flesh.Erendil climbs down from the wall, pulls out his bow, and sends an arrow into the other kobold from the western building, hitting it just below the bronze symbol of Creos Rex emblazoned on its chest. Dew takes on the other ogre, slashing and cutting it, sending ochre blood everywhere. Still smoking from the fireball, Taminnyd climbs down and sends golden bolts from his wand into the kobold sorceress.The sorceress begins squeaking in her high-pitched dog language, but is frustrated when she realizes that no sound in being made, and throws up her hands in frustration. The two kobolds from the east building close on Shoji, Laurel, and Wrayce. The first one, wearing plate mail emblazoned with the silver moon and stars of the Church of Nox, and carrying a short sword, attacks Shoji but misses dramatically. The other, wearing studded leather and carrying a hand axe, chops at Laurel, just managing to damage her.The ogres continue their assault on Scarlet and Dew. Both women are hurt badly, but manage to return the blows. Dew fells the ogre attacking her, and she drops off the ledge to engage the kobolds. Erendil moves to find a better position than directly under a combatant ogre, but misses his shot at the kobold cleric. Taminnyd hits the kobold that Erendil missed with three bolts of energy from his wand, as the kobold sorceress moves out of the silenced area.Laurel, Shoji, and Wrayce exchange blows with the kobold fighter and paladin, and all end up the worse for wear. Scarlet and the ogre continue their battle, but, in a lucky strike, Scarlet manages to disembowel her foe, ending the exchange once and for all. She climbs down from the wall, and Taminnyd dashes behind her. Erendil unleashes two arrows from his bow: the first misses, but the second strikes the kobold cleric right in the neck, felling him on the spot.From his hiding place behind Scarlet, Taminnyd targets the kobold sorceress with a fireball of his own. After the blast, all that is left of the spellcaster is a charred and steaming carcass, and Taminnyd grins from ear to ear. Dew steps into the battle with the two remaining kobolds, and she, Shoji, and Laurel finish them off with minimal injury to themselves.Feeling pleased with his initial fireball, Taminnyd sends one into the eastern outbuilding, blasting it to pieces. He reveals a ten-foot wide staircase that descends into the underground forge, though Laurel and Erendil shake their heads in irritation. Danklar, badly hurt from the fireball, climbs down off of the wall and joins the party in searching the bodies."Let's go back to the ship and rest for a few days," Taminnyd suggests as he sifts through the ashes of the dead sorceress."I'd rather push on," Erendil replies."Yeah," chimes in Shoji, "if we leave and come back, they'll just end up reinforcing themselves.""I'm all for moving on," Laurel interjects."I'm going to need to go back to the ship," Danklar says, wincing as his charred skin crackles as he moves."I'll take care of him," Wrayce replies, and he and Dew carry Danklar back to the ship.Taminnyd watches the only members of the party with access to healing magic walk back toward the ship, and replies bitterly, "All right, let's go."Next session: more kobolds, an unexpected foe, character death, and stealing an Avengardan general's airship...</blockquote>

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