SESSION NINETEEN-- Sign of the Skull
KELLAN’s NINETEENTH SESSION JOURNAL
To the Radiant Lady Gloriana Taskmettle, greetings -
We have spent some time resting and equipping ourselves after finally defeating the vampire yuan-ti (the name the knowledgeable elders here in this church were able to tell me for this creature). Heading south once again, we returned once more to the defeated stronghold to seek more clues about the creature's alliances and any other clues to the whereabouts of Stirling Dale; both were fruitless. We continued south, but spotted a huge cloud over the eastern horizon - a sign that something large was on fire. We changed course to investigate, and Nikolai flew ahead of us to reconnoiter. Returning with the intelligence that a village-sized burning patch of earth was ahead, and a small keep nearby, we kept slightly south to hopefully remain out of contact with the unknown occupants of the keep, but decided after another fly-over that we should approach and make ourselves known.
The lord of the (recently-built) keep is named Lord Thomist - a veteran of recent wars who has decided to invest his adventurer's wages in a stronghold to protect the surrounding area and provide protection for it. His hospitality was excellent, and he told us of recent events in the area. An armed force of unknown size and composition had entered the area within the past week, and had slain the residents in their beds before burning the neighboring village, as well as another a day's journey down the road towards Hommlett. We agreed to investigate the attacks as best we could; early the next morning, we departed the keep.
Our search of the nearest village turned up nothing; men from the keep had been out already to bury the bodies and clean up as best they could (Lord Thomist had informed us that he had ordered both attacked villages to be cleaned up thus). Heading south to investigate the next village, we detected a possible campsite for the army - a clearing in woods off the path, which turned out to house a dozen and a half goblins in its latrine (discovered by Jaag). We quickly dealt with the goblins, and realizing that since part of the force was still here and thus likely to return, and also knowing at villages down the line were in danger, we spurred ourselves to ride into the evening. (A quick interrogation of a dead goblin told us that the force was composed of "orcs, goblins, and beasts.") As we approached the second destroyed village, it began to rain, further hindering our progress, but we pushed on.
Unfortunately, our valiant steeds got us to the next village too late to help the residents. An unnatural fog surrounded it, and we found burning homes, flayed human heads placed on stakes around the village, and only two survivors - two brothers named Izorn and Fahm. We gave them one of our mounts, and instructed them to ride north without stopping to Lord Thomist's keep - dangerous, but better than keeping them with us as we came to grips with the foe.
We rode on to the next village, and found it yet untouched. After telling the three dozen people of the village of the danger, they were understandably confused and scared. We instructed them to hide in a basement, and defend themselves as best they could from one position - but we hoped to be able to take the battle to the foe before they could endanger yet another peaceful settlement.
The next day, we backtracked north to an area we had previously passed and noted as a possible spot for an encampment. We approached from the woods, hoping to remain undiscovered for as long as possible. We then prepared ourselves with invisibility spells, and Jaag, Nikolai, and I explored the encampment, which was well set up, with a pointed log stockade, neatly organized tents, and a noisome pot of human remains simmering in the center of camp. There was no sign of any life - although one would think that orcs an goblins would rest during the day. We determined to tip our hand a bit - I sloghed off my invisibility spell, and stepped in to the camp - to be greeted by a volley of arrows from the woods (nearly 30, by my count). By the grace of Heironeous, none hit me, but we now knew our foe was nearby. They came at me directly - four ghastly reptilian beasts with heads like a ram, ridden by orcs, as well as a wyvern-like creature ridden by another orc. The battle was fierce, and the opponents very tough; it took all our power to defeat them, and even then, about two dozen orcs and their sorcerer leader had to have escaped into the woods after we had defeated the powerful centerpieces of their force. [Jaag and Kellan had 5 hps between them at the end of the fight - even after lay-on-hands and healing throughout the combat.]
We must track down the rest of the marauders, and perhaps there will be some clues to be found of the whereabouts of our missing comrade.
<held for more>
JAAGs NINETEENTH SESSION JOURNAL
Our group traveled toward the next village, hoping to find clues and catch those responsible for such a bloody act--human skulls posted around the village on sticks, every villager slain, not even the women or children spared. It could have very well been our own home of Mirromere.
The next village imitated the first. Everyone killed. But the blood was not as old. It was late afternoon now, but we felt it best to move on as time was not on our side. We spotted a trail leading off the road, and decided to walk our horses until we could see something more. There were signs of a camp, and a ditch to the side nearest us. The camp looked abandoned, so being rather curious, I investigated what kind of scraps might lay in their latrine.
As I peered over the edge of the latrine I saw a pair of eyes and a toothy grin looking back at me. More than a dozen goblins lay in the ditch--I was quickly surrounded! One of the goblins got a lucky blow and wounded me deeply with his sword. I had no choice but to dirty my axe with his blood as I called out for my companions. At least a few of them ran away from the fight, but for the most part our group made quick work of them.
In our discussion after the battle, it quickly became clear to us that a handful of goblins could not have been responsible for the devastation of two villages. We pressed on, riding in darkness, hoping to reach the next village before the main force of raiders.
Arriving at the third village, it became clear we arrived too late once again. I called out for survivors, although it meant possibly summoning the raiders if they were still close by. Two brothers appeared from their hiding places, shaken and in shock over what they were just now seeing. They told us of how an unnatural fog approached, and how spirits appeared riding demons. They also told us how there were no sounds of their approach, and that it was the multitude of screams that first alerted them to the danger.
Our horses were well exhausted, and we all needed a good rest, so we pitched camp along with the two boys, and rested. The night proceeded uneventfully as we slept.
At first light, we put the two boys on Nik's horse and instructed them to stay off the roads as they headed for Lord Thomist's keep. It's unfortunate we had no good news for them to report to Lord Thomist, but it gave us more reason to move on.
We continued on toward the next village where, thankfully, the locals were oblivious to what had happened to the other villages. We alerted the local families to the danger and told them to hide as best they could. Our group would investigate another rough trail we spotted in between this village and the previous one, and hopefully, strike them in their lairs where they least expected.
We approached their second camp. This time they had tents posted and spiked poles facing outward. This was it! Rodrigo made the entire group invisible, giving us the advantage of surprise. We scouted the camp looking for inhabitants, but we found only empty tents. Perhaps we hadn't found them after all.
Unsure of where they might be, Kellan decided to approach the camp visibly, to draw out any hidden spies. As luck would have it, Kellan did indeed attract some attention. A large volley of bolts shot out at him from the treeline! Truly he is a blessed servant of Hernious, for though he was in plain view, not a single bolt did touch him!
Out came five orcs, riding beasts with ram's heads. The enemy reveals itself at last! Then came their leader, riding the back of a wyvern, he looked quite fierce. Kellan would need more than Heironeous' blessings if he were to survive this encounter.
The onslaught was fierce. I received many blows from the wyvern's tail, as Rodrigo cast a fireball towards their unseen crossbowmen. Kellan and I concentrated on the beast riders while Nik and Rod prepared their spells.
Rod bought our group some time by using a scroll of Slow on several of their beasts, while Nik successfully held their warlord captive with one of his spells. Combined, it bought Kellan and I enough time to overcome their larger numbers. It was more than once that I thought our group had stepped into something more powerful than ourselves. But, luck was on our side this day.
DM’s NINETEENTH SESSION NOTES
Some of you may recognize this adventure-- it’s one of the little booklet adventures called “Sign of the Skull.” I think it is an FFG title, not an AEG title. Not a great adventure, but I was in a hurry, and it provided me with a chance to wrap up a few loose ends on the adventure and provide hooks into the next one (as you shall see).
By delaying the players for a session or two with this premade adventure, I was able to get my ducks in a row for the next (big) section.
As someone who played and DMed quite a bit of 1st and 2nd edition AD&D, with several years off before joining up with this group last fall (my first 3e experience), it's a hell of a lot of fun to play with guys who are fun to spend time with but who are also at the top of creativity and game knowledge in a game session - on both sides of the screen.
