June 1st, 2003:
Shadowdale which is in the Northern Dale Lands near the to Myth Drannor, which is 1/2 days journey NE of here.
We all came to stay here at the Inn of Skull whose Innkeeper is Jeseral. We have all come here in search of Klaive. Once there we also start poking around and find out there have been some abductions in the recent months and we (being hero's) take to the task of researching them.
June 15th, 2003:
So we headed into the complex below the Keep and fought 4 drunk guards, then an Ogre came in as well as some Off duty guards. Glinhelm killed Ogre and then the last few guards barricaded themselves in a room. We kept an eye to them and explored. We found a prison with numerous cells on the other side of Ogre's lair. There were signs that there had been prisoners, but none were there at this point. Then unexpectedly a cook showed up with lunch for the gaurds, we chased him, but he was able to get away and spread the alarm. At this point a fairly big battle took place, 2 more escaped, including the boss. We took some more prisoners which we put in the cells. We found a room full of bulky loot. We found a burial chamber, which we decided not to mess with.
We interrogated a prisoner and then let that one go. From him we learned that he was a member of a mercenary group called �The Fist of Five�, and that they were led by a man referred to as Captain Michael. He was in charge of the fist and was one of the two who escaped the last battle. The person who hired them and was in charge of the expedition was Temmi Darven. There was to be a rendezvous in Dagger Falls at the Teshford Arms Inn.
Burned giant spider lair. Spiders retreated (still have not fought them). Other side of spider lair was bridge and then door, then goblin sentry. Small battle with goblins. Kobold Captive. Big battle with goblins. We were almost overwhelmed, but finally they retreated. Small fight with undead (ghoulish heads). Stayed night in guard room.
June 29th, 2003:
In morning battle we had to fight our way through or out. So we decided to head out and yet another battle ensued. There was something huge coming through the door that led further into the Underground Chambers as well as more goblins. When we went to go up through the trap door, it was initially heavy to move. Someone burst through and there were a horde of Goblins above as well. In the battle above we killed 1 Goblin war leader, plus 6 Goblins. One of Goblins escaped. We got away from a big hairy giant thing. Only saw it�s arm.
So we were able to retreat above ground and with the prisoners we had taken, all 11 of them. We made our way back to the main road where we talked to some merchants. We asked them to warn the authorities that we were coming into town with 11 slaver prisoners. Instead of just telling the local constable, the Merchant Men got the townspeople all worked up, and we were met at the edge of town by a mob that wanted to lynch the slavers. We tried to calm the mood down ourselves, but they were already pretty worked up by the time we arrived. A Beautiful Bard by the name of Storm calmed and dispersed the crowd. After the mob left, the authorities finally showed up and relieved us of our burden.
We spent several days training and finally talked to Klaive. He told us about harping and that we have been watched for some time and that is the reason we are here. He asked each of us what we thought it meant to be a Harper and whether we thought this was a path that we wanted to undertake. Each of us in our own expressed our beliefs and interest and we were told that we would continue to be watched and considered as we went forward. We saw his Harper badge, a Badge of a Silver Moon & Silver Harp.
On the 2nd day we met with the ruler of Shadowdale at the Twisted Tower. His name was Lord Mourngrym and his cohort was Rowanmantle Amcathra. They bore the colors of Blue and Red. We also met his Captain, Therbal, who is captain of arms and warder of the Prison.
We were given a reward of 35 Silver and a horse or pony each as reward for the job we had done and the prisoners we had brought to them. Additionally:
The Sanguine Sentinels was awarded an official adventuring charter.
Castle Grimstead has been renamed to Sentinel Keep. We will be given the deed to Sentinel Keep and 85 acres around it, if we build a road, repair the keep and, develop the lands within 10 years.
Our 11 prisoners will remain in the dungeon for 2 years. If at the end of that time all Shadowdale residents that they sold into slavery have been returned their sentence will be commuted to servitude. Otherwise they will be executed for their crimes.
He then asked us to look further into the Zhentarim situation.
After training we decided to go to Dagger Falls.
Zhentarim took DaggerDale and Dagger Falls a generation ago.
Lord Randall Morn is the true heir and leader to Dagger Falls and it is rumored he leads a resistance to the Zhents somewhere in the woods of Daggerdale.
We traveled there and set up a camp outside of town. Went into town, looked around to get an idea of the state of Dagger Falls and identified the Teshford Arms Inn.
Talked to candle maker leaving Dagger Falls. From him we find out that the Temple of Lathander was burned in the night 7 months ago and it is suspected that the Temple of Cyric and certainly the Zhents are suspect though no one would ever say so publicly.
Master Blaine (mentioned in papers as placing special orders for the girls) is a rich man who lives in Zhentil keep.
July 12th, 2003:
Once we had come to Dagger Falls we decided to split party. 1/2 of the party stayed in woods just South of the Keep and the other 1/2 stayed at the Inn at the Teshford Arms.
In middle of night the party in woods found party of 10 goblins who had killed a ranger. They attacked the Goblins and Killed 8 Goblins and unfortunately the 2 on watch got away. The dead ranger had had a number of Valuable items which we kept not knowing where he had come from.
Yorick and El'Bryon snuck around the caravans outside of the City Gates trying to see if any slaves were being held there. Unfortunately the caravans were Well protected with a fair size mercenary gaurd that was well organized with it's watch.
There was a surprise visit from some soldiers who told party members staying at the Inn to be ready to meet the ruler of Dagger Falls the next morning. They told the people camping in the woods to meet them at 8am. Unfortunately, an escort came for them at dawn, and those camping missed the meeting.
The leader of Dagger Falls knew us as a mercenary band of adventurers and wanted to hire the group to do a job and maybe several more depending on our performance. The first task was to clear out the under levels of the old Temple of Lathander. The Priest Merran gave Governor Tren Newonfor less than the usual respect and was thus sentenced to receive 20 lashes in the town square for his lack of respect. Merran took that lashings with strength and grace even though it was a painful experience.
We found out that Mericat is in charge of much stuff in town. He is the Orcish leader who had come to the party members at the Inn and told them they would meet with Governor Newonfor. He is an Orc weasel.
At the Town Square just after the public lashing we were befriended by a Red Haired woman who told us,
�Whenever you need it, you have friends at the Red Rock Tavern�.
We were now left with several potential courses of action.
July 26th, 2003:
Short handed by one, we were missing Gardow. We had Yallahh, Thex, Yorick, El'Bryon, and our new companion Hasheem.
We started this day at the Teshford Arms Inn which is run by Jonathan and his son.
There are two captains of the Fist of Five. Kain: the blood hand, and Captain Michael, who we saw in Shadowdale, but has not been seen here lately.
Meriket and 4 armed guards told us to see the governor tonight.
We figure out the dagger found upon the Ranger that had fallen to the Goblins was an Adamantine weapon of magical nature and perfectly balanced, easy to wield and cuts sharp. (Effectively a +1 Adamantine Dagger)
Yorick and El'Bryon shared a room. While El'Bryon was on watch and not in the room, two of the little Thorn men phased through wooden floor and wooden shutter to Yoricks's room. One fought while 1/2 in floor. Yorick cut one down and barely evaded a net with Golden Balls that was thrown at him by the other. El'Bryon came in and had seemed capture one, but was no use, the thing disappeared through the wood of the Inn and was gone. The net of Shimmering Silk gossamer and 20 gold weights, has a very spider web like appearance. It weighs 5 pounds and we know it is strongly magically Enchanted, but what it does we are not able to glean. We decide to keep it until we can discover more about it's nature! But we also know the creatures are still alive despite out previous days attempt to rid the lower chambers of them.
After breakfast, we went into town again headed for the Temple of Lathander to complete the job we had started. Just prior to the gate 6 men plus Captain Kain confront us. There are also 3 archers who flank us from the cover of a building and behind some crates. We dropped 5 men at arms and in a viscious final confrontation El'Bryon with all of his comrades fallen about him and Yallah having fled the scene goes toe to toe with Captain Kain. When all is said and done he has cut down the Captain. Our losses were also great, among the dead was our new acquaintance Hasheem and the beloved Yorick. Thex unconscious on the ground, but not dead. Yallah had fled the scene when his magic was tapped and his death was iminent. El'Bryon managed to kill Kain, and the archers and the remaining men at arms left. Once their leader was gone it seems that the men at arms thought it better to leave the scene. From the fallen we gathered that of value.
Long Sword +1 (2,300 SP) "from Kain", 1/2 plate armor "from Kain", Kite shield "from Kain", Ring of Water Walking (15K) "from Yorick", Ring of feather falling (3,300 SP) "from Kain", 274 SP, 300 CP, 5 spears, 5 studded leather armors, 5 longswords, 6 daggers, 1 longbow.
At this point we were again forced to rest and recouperate at the Teshford Arms where we met more adventurers passing through Dagger Falls. They had been witness to the ambush in the street and were impressed by El'Bryon. After asking around about this crew and finding out little they chose to approach the Sentinels and after some discussion were enlisted to lend an arm to the party. The new members of the party are Gnaut the fighter (Marco), Weyoun of Wildwood (Chris).
After some rest we again headed to the Temple of Lathander. When we come upon the pool in the initial large chamber we see a blue light. Once there we discover through sneaking a Lady in the water. She is a Nerid named Merra - �You are ones who drove fey from cave.� �Lead by evil undead of your (human) race�. She gave party 2 potions of raise dead in beautiful crystal vials that look as if they are small stars. We are told to anoint your fallen with elixir and they will walk again.
We come to the Farie Ring of Briars and toadstools, it has burned itself out and is a stinking pile of compost. There is a long side passage that goes a quite a ways down, then comes upon a wide non-traversable river. We decide not to head that way.
We head back to the Farie Ring chamber and there is a huge wall of a Thorned Hedge. We very slowly start to cut at the very dense hedge and are attacked by the Thorn Creatures who seem to attack through the Hedge as if it were air. After several attacks and getting nowhere with our excavation we decide to burn it! So we set it ablaze! What happens next is not exactly what we had expected once again. From the deep thick hedge comes a thick noxscious billowing smoke and as the fire spreads so does the smoke and we are forced to retreat all the way out of the Underground area. We set up to rest and watch at the wine celler as we watch the smoke pour out of the tunnels below. For 18 hours we wait and finally when it seems safe to return and the smoke is gone, we again descend.
We are dismayed when we go back down. Everything is covered witha layer of thick black soot from the smoke of the burning hedge, including the pool of the Nerid and there is no sign of her. Beyond where the Hedge had stood is a "man made" passage. We venture on. We come across a side passage and a pit with some sort of Jelly or Ooze in bottom and choose to ignore it.
We then come to a door. Beyond the door is a trap that we trigger and it sprays blood all over the first few party members. Moments later we hear a door opening and we are rushed by 3 starving canine "Death-hounds". We retreat back to the doorway and with organization, of a "real" mercenary band of skilled warriors, are able to quickly dispatch the vile beasts.
Moving forward again we find a secret door. It leads into a room with small arrow slits. With a door on the other side of the room which is locked. Thinking it a trap that when the party is in the small chmber it gets ambushed through the arrow slits, Gnaut moves quickly to the room beyond! Well, he was wrong! As he enters the room beyond, he is quickly surrounded by a horde of a Dozen Skeletons or more. He is fighting completely surrounded but amazingly holding his own for a time and the rest of the party is having difficulty getting to him and backing him up. Finally after bringin down many, the skeletons drop Gnaut and start to drag him off down the passage beyond the room, this also gives the rest of the party more opportunity to attack the remaining skeletons. They fight their way through the Undead and finally to Gnaut who is quite dead at this point! Gardow and El'Bryon administer one of the potions from the Nerid to him and he is again filled with the Breath of Life and he seems as if he had not been dead at all and just in time. For out of the darkness of the passage beyond comes a mage who seems half-dead if not entirely so and quite upset that we have killed all of his minions.
This Mage, whom we assume was undead, but was apparently alive is angered by us having killed his minions and attacks us with powerful magic. We are hammered by magical missiles that fly from him, we are caught and paralyzed by his magic and just again as it seems hopeless, Gnaut fights through his magical effects and lands a truly mighty blow upon him leaving him dead upon the floor. On him we find a staff of knarled oak, a 13� tapered wand, a Signet ring, a ring that looks like a thicket of thorns, a Scroll case and scroll and 5 potions
Just beyond where we beat this vile creature is a room filled with slabs upon which lay the corpses of people. One though is alive. After much discussion and Gnaut saying we should dispatch the Robed Woman it is decided that would be wrong and Healing magic is laid upon her. She wakes up and almost immediately demands to know where she is, who we are and what has occurred. She states that she is Lady Adnadnen and that she is not from around here, but is actually from the Moon Sea area. She was apparently at a party given by Governor Noemfor, when she saw a flash and the next thing she knows is she is being awoken here. She demands that we escort her out. We wanted to open last few doors and look around before leaving the depths now that we had apparently fallen the mage that controlled the area, but she is insistent.
She whispered something in Gnaut's ear and it is suspected that she cast a charm upon him. He suddenly seems hell bent on getting this woman out of the depths and to safety before anything else is done. He makes a good arguement and also states that if the others keep him from it he will make his own way with the lady. We decided to escort her out as a group. It was late, so we went back to the inn. A few hours later some priests of Cyric appear with a Chest filled with 4000 Silver as a reward for rescuing the High Priestess of Cyric. Rumors around town of In-fighting within the temple upon her return. Apparently somebody had betrayed her, and she was cleaning house. Unfortunately, the people of the town are also looking at us as if we were working for the temple which is not something that we had intended at all!
In morning El'Bryon tries to talk to innkeeper Jonathan and his son about Lord Randall Morn and the resistance. They did not feel comfortable talking to him and tried to avoid the subject. They outright told him to shut up. Gnaut even stepped in and insisted he leave them be and that he was barking up the wrong tree. El'Bryon even went to the point of saying out loud with witnesses that, "I know you know something about the resistance and we need your help." At this Jonathan with fear in his eyes flat out denies any knowledge of what he is talking about and tells us it is time to leave his Inn. Many of us were already making ready. We had also been told by the town watch to get out of town. We rode out of town with all of our loot.
Silver dispersed, 556 each. + 871 to group. + 191 group. Group bought 5
healing. Thex debt is 409 SP.
740 xp awarded today. Total xp for those who attended all sessions, 4892.
Group +150 consumable.
August 23rd, 2003:
We are intoduced upon arrival in Shadowdale to Father Corvin, (John F) a Priest of Tumpus who Wears chainmail and wields a battle-axe. He hails from Hillfar.
Everybody showed up. We had Thex, Gardow, El'Bryon, Yallah, Weyoun, Gnaut and Father Corvin.
Riding South on the Northride from Dagger Falls to Shadowdale. It is a 6 hour journey.
It is now the planting season and people can be seen in the fields. It is a very wet day and rain is coming down in sheets.
After 2 hours of travel somewhere toward the Northern tip of the Spider Haunt woods we see a massive bull moose. It was startled, and ran. As is had almost disappeared into the trees, it was caught in milky opaque webbing and then swarmed by a creature or creatures that move with great speed. We think these may be Ettercap and decide not to avoid a fight with these monsters.
The first thing we do once we arrive in Shadowdale was go to Temple of Lathander and return the Alter set and make a report as to what has befallen the Temple in Daggerdale and what we discovered and were able to do.
Back at the Old Skull Inn (Jeserail - proprietor, Bardag - stablemaster, Turko - cook (short rotund), Derman Hillestar - Carpenter and bouncer).
The gossamer net we captured from the thorn men is very evil. It is empowered to Steal peoples spirits out of their body. We gave it to Klaive for the Harpers to store. He gives us a Great Axe of Masterwork make and magically enchanted (+1) in exchange. We decide this great weapon should be wielded by Thex.
The Gold band of thorns is a ring with several powers. It is a charged item. The first power is to create (or summon) a thick wall of thorns, but we leave it with Lhaeo to glean further what it can do. The wand we find is a Wand of Melfs acid arrow which we sell. We also sell several other items of value and disburse the funds to party members to use as they will as well as adding to the groups treasure pool.
We then decide to rest and do some training and for 1 day shy of the ten-day we do just that.
Additionally during this time we hired a Mercenary force:
Mergo's Men
Led by Captain Mergo (Warrior II) and 5 men at arms (Warrior I) who are Simbian mercenaries.
For the unit they want 18 copper per day plus signing and danger bonuses.
We are wanting to ensure their ability and loyalty so we offered 2 Silver per day for unit (soldier's daily pay is doubled for any day he fights), plus a horse and saddle each for signing bonus, and 25 Silver each after 90 days. All except Slick have Weapon focus scimitar.
Duties of mercenaries:
It is anticipated that the Sanguine Sentinels will be the combined groups main fighting force. The mercenaries primary duties are support and backup.
September 6th, 2003:
Everybody showed up except John F (Father Corvin). We had Thex, Gardow, El'Bryon, Yallahh, Weyoun , and Gnaut.
We converted switched to silver standard. So now the monetary standard is based on silver. There are still Platinum which are equal to 10 Gold. One Gold is equal to 10 Silver. A Silver is equal to 10 Copper and finally a Copper is equal to 10 Bronze.
Gm set up a rule to help everybody try harder to speak in character. There will be a 100xp penalty/award that is to be transferred every time somebody fails to refer to somebody by their characters name to the person who calls them on it. Also if the GM does so, he then awards the player who called him on it a 100xp award.
After passing through the arch, we were apparently in the ethereal plane. We are in the same room, but in pale black and white with much floating mist. The walls were solid, but the doors and just about everything else were intangible. The only thing that was not was the statue of Tymora which appeared almost exactly as it did from whence we came. The complex was identical, except the room with the gate did not have a ceiling. While on this plain we took the opportunity to recheck the entire complex for secret doors and stuff. We did discover that behind each of the eight secret doors we had already found was a closet with a skeleton. We all went outside to look around, and Gnaut looked up into the sky and started to float away. Thex grabbed hold of him and began to lift up as well. Then Gnaut returned his gaze to the ground and seemed to find gravity again. We were all able to return back through the arch and returned to the normal world.
We decided to open the coffin and get the sword and note within. Gardow and Yallah opened the coffin while everybody else stood next to each of the secret doors on the South side of the room. When the coffin was opened, the eight secret doors opened, and the 8 skeletons animated with fiery bones and swords. The Gnaut with his Heavy Flail seemed to crush their bones with ease, while those fighting with swords had a little harder time bringing down their opponents. Gnaut brought down the one he faced then the one behind him. He the rushed to the Coffin where the two Spellcasters were facing four of the creatures with not a whole lot of success. He shattered three of their animated forms while Gardow and Yallah brought down the 4th. By that time the other tow had been splintered by El'Bryon and Thex. We believe the sword in coffin appears to be �The Sword of the Dales�. It has a faint green glow. Crafted of mirror bright steel, Gold, and precious gems. The note says �Seek me lord inthe Spiderhaunt. Send word to his sister Silver Morn�. There is one known (rumored?) settlement in Spiderhaunt. It is named ArachGnome village. A gnomish settlement which is rarely heard from. There is supposed to be a path that leads to it although it is rarely if ever travelled in the past few decades called the Arachnid pathway. It is said this is the old Road that Merchants used to use to access the village. Why would there still be a settlement there we wondered? Spent night in camp our mercenaries setup. Then traveled out of valley the next morning.
On the way out we saw some ape-faced creatures, but there was no fight.
Once we were on the road heading south toward Shadowdale once more we saw some smoke and followed to see what was going on. We came upon 2 wagons, of which one was burnt to a point of uselessness. There were also the 7 bodies people, 4 seemed to be guards, 2 were clearly merchants and the last that of an old human woman. There were 2 dead horses and signs of 2 more drug away. Most of goods of the small merchant caravan were scattered around the area. We followed trail to where we came upon 2 ogres who were roasting the dead horses on huge spits over a crude fire made from several smaller fallen trees. We tried to plan an ambush and use tactics but as often happens with the Sentinels, the plan did not work, but battle was a success none-the-less. We were to with relative haste dispatch both of the hulking creatures with little problem. We gathered loot that they carried, which was mostly that of value fromt he caravan. It included several bolts of cloth, 2 masterwork weapons, 5 steel flasks of potions. From looking things over it appears that the old woman was cloth merchant. We hitched the wagon that was not damaged to some of our riding horses and loaded the bodies of the fallen as well as the goods and brought them to Shadowdale. While on the way, Gardow repaired the damaged clothing with magics. We took the lot to the Temple of Lathander in hopes that they could see to the burial of the bodies and having the items of value returned to the familie(s) of those that had met
end.
We now started to research Spiderhaunt Wood and what to expect once we would venture into it's darkenss.
+ 300 xp for previous session
150 xp awarded. Total xp for those who attended all sessions, 5742. Group +500 consumable.
September 20th, 2003:
We were again short the presence of Father Corvin as well as that of Yallah. We had Thex, Gardow, El'Bryon, Weyoun and Gnaut.
First we dealt again with group business. In an attempt the GM has made it amndatory for everyone to role-play more. This means to stay in character at all times once the door is closed and we are in session. He has asked that props are used and he will reward those who put time and effort into bringing them and using them in session. He also requests that all players find and/or bring a miniature for their character for use in more complex battles.
We started by going to the Temple of Chantee. The keeper of the records was busy and they asked us to come back in the morning.
We went to Old Skull Inn where we found Storm was singing.
El-Bryon got a letter from Klaive.
A group came in with a man dressed in dark gray and light gray with black and silver trim. He said his name was Tresk, from Ulash. He said his benefactor was interested in the Swprd of the Dales and he was prepared to offer us 15,000 silver in trade bars (15K silver coin) to be paid in 2 days, for Sword of the Dales. We wonder how he knew we had it only a few short days after attaining it.
He and his band of followers were thrown out to inn after somebody spotted a medallion of Cyric under his cloak.
Rumor:
Storm told us that somebody is tending the grove North of her farm. His name is Lycaster, and he is old and scary.
When we return to the Temple of Chantee library it is a honeycomb of cubbyholes. We speak with a young scribe with sandy hair and the brown robes of Chantee. We asked for a map of spiderhaunt woods. We are able to see a document in Thoras (ancient tongue). It is a manifest of a few caravans to the village long ago. The path through the forest that we are looking for runs East\West. It has branches North\South but at what point there is no specific details. The village within the forest is named Storpenhouder and if we follow the East/West path in, it will apparently bring us to it. The village is there because it produces anti-venoms, and anti-toxins to the many venomous spiders Ettercap. It also creates something using spider silk but we are uncertain exactly what.
Using party funds we buy 22 anti-venoms, 4 lessor restorations, 2 neutralize poisons and 2 slow poisons. We disburse these among the party as well as some to Mergo and his men.
A Gold dwarf delivered El'Bryon's new boots of elvenkind to the Inn.
So we head out and to the Spiderhaunt and the area where it is believed the road in is supposed to be. After some searching we find an ancient overgrown trail which has clearly not been used in years. On the outskirts of forest it looks very nice, like any other old growth forest of the Dales. Not much further in we come across a disturbing sight, a dead Elk in cocoon hanging in tree.
We go for some time without any incidence. After about a half days travel, we stop at a small clearing near a tree. We rest and have some light food before going on. Once we start to move what we thought was a large rock just beyond the stream suddenly moves and comes up on all eight's. It is actually a giant wolf spider whcih Springs upon El'Bryon and his horse. We fight the immense creature defeating it but it caused damage, and weakens with it's poion. It successfully struck and Poisoned Weyoun and El'Bryon's horse. We administer the Neutralize Poisons to both and they are returned to normal health much to our relief.
Once we start moving again we come across a large conical depression which we think might be some sort of giant spider lair and we choose to circumvent it.
A short time later we come to a huge canopy of thick webs in the trees above which continue for quite some distance. In the darness above we can hear skittering sounds and just a short ways ahead a few see a shape climbing down a tree. Gnaut with a lighted arrow shoots the tree next to the creature revealing an Ettercap. Then we are suddenly attacked by 4 ettercaps.
They used web attacks to hamper us. It was a hard fight, but we won.
We used 2 neutralize poison potions on the mercenaries and continued on. After several more hours we detected more ettercaps and one drops down in the distance a ways. Ganut let loose with a quick shot tagging the creature and sending it back up into the trees. They did not attack any furhter.
Shortly thereafter the canopy thinned and the forest returned to normal. Immediately thereafter we encountered Gnome sentries who were very well hidden and clearly very competent. They had crossbows tipped with poison, leather armor and very well camoflouged.
We are led under gaurd to the the head of a trail where we are met by a small force of Gnomes led by two special ones. First was the clear Elder, had fetishes. His name is Talemis, the dream-weaver and clearly a Spellcaster who casts a detect lie upon us to make certian we are true to our word. He says he has been expecting us the he has prophesized it in his dreams. We also meet Madarn, the village champion, Spider hunter (ranger), with a halberd.
We are told that the Village is cut off and surrounded completely by the Canopy that we came through and that none have fought through in years.
Stormpenhauder has 120 - 150 gnomes. They are all of a solemn bent, even children never laugh or smile. They welcomed us and gave us healing and food, but will not discuss the situation until morning. Talemis tells us only that there is a center to the evil and he believes it is tied to house of Morn.
We are given healing droughts in thes pure and beautiful quartz crystals vials. The fluid is Green, there is also given several lesser restoration as well as sow poisons and anti-toxins. The gnomes, being so isolated, don�t have access to metals and other materials that are common elsewhere. They are experts in using woods, spider parts, and the crystals.
There is a feast and go to bed each in a separate Gnomish abode.
During the night an alarm goes up. We all appear from our temporary beds and into the darkenss of night. The village is being attacked by an unknown and barely seen foe. As we head out we are all engaged by various undead beasts, giant spiders and ettercap. They seem to be focusing their attention on the party members and not the gnomes. There is little light if any and the fray seems as if it is happening everywhere. Gnaut engages one immediately and is able to strike it down and run to assist Weyoun who has two on him and is dodging and weaving about. Thex similarly has several he has engaged. El'Bryon had run to the end of the village and was attacked by surprise by a Spider and after heavy hits by he and his opponent fall the creature and muster people to him. We were hit heavily and fought to the point of near death, but none fell. There were in the mix a Bear Skeleton, a Gaint Spider Skeleton, Giant Wolf Spiders, skeleton of wolf, plus live ettercaps and wolf spiders.
Each player that participated has earned 2,070 xp! (Running total = 7812). John +150xp for MVP.
The captain earned 520 xp, and each mercenary earned 230 xp! The loyalty base of the Mercenary band is now at the �helpful� rank, and in addition you now have a +1 modifier on all future loyalty checks with this group due to your willingness to expend party resources to aid our troops. The parties reputation has gone from +4 to +6, applicable in the Dalelands only. Word eventually spreads about the great deeds of the Sanguine Sentinels, even when those deeds are done in the black forest of the Spiderhaunt� eventually people learn of your deeds.
October 18th, 2003:
After the battle the gnomes setup a first aid station in an empty warehouse of sorts.The attackers had completely bypassed the defenders and sought out the Sentinels and the village elder. There were 4 wounded gnomes, but nobody died in the attack. The gnomes gave us healing aid. We were tended to with healing, food and drink. Talemis came to us shortly after.
Talemis is high level druid and Dream Seer and had foreseen our arrival. He says there there is an ancient evil that was once defeated but allowed to live and that it is now allied with other evil of which he has no idea who or what it is. There is a place in the woods that is the Heart of this Evil and Madarn will guide us, by secret ways, to the location of the heart of evil in the forest. We should not take servants or beasts. Finally he has a warning of to, "Beware the black hand of the North."
Madarn changed from scale mail to mithril studded leather. He is now wielding a shield with a white spear. Our destination is a 2 day journey to SW via game trails to a ruined tower.
The gnomes give (loan) us �Eldren - flame of the wood� which is wass given to gnomes by elves to protect against humans. It is a ligth crossbow from which the bolts that are shot from it explode into flame. It is effectively a +2 crossbow - flame burst. (extra D6 damage of flame. Additionally on a critical hit it does another d10 of damage.)
The ettercap webs start 50 yards from the village and extend 100 yards on this side.
There were no birds, squirrels, or arboreal life of any kind except spiders. As we pass through the woods on old game and hunting trails We saw movement, but no ettercaps or giant spiders.
During the day, Gardow felt that he detected somebody scrying us but was unable to verify.
At the end of the first days travel, we arrived at a large lake, following along it�s marshy shore we arrived at natures inn, a jut of land extends out into the lake. The approach is marshy, but the ground firms into a small island upon which is a small hut also known as Natures Inn.
During the midnight watch, a Hill Giant attacked us. Weyoun heard it approaching and the awoke everybody. The hill giant stood far away down the spit of land, but apparently had good night vision for it threw boulders with a huge force and accuracy. Several of us were hit and just one hit was enough to knock down most. If anyone had been hit twice it would have killed any of us. In the dark it was hard for many to spot the giant, but we finally managed to close with the giant and engage him in close quarters combat and bring him to death. It had 4000 Cormerian copper pieces and a 10 inch high Ivory Idol of Tempus encrusted with gems.
At dawn we were attacked again. As we came out of the Inn we discovered a Zhentarim force taking up positions along the shore. They demanded the Sword of the Dales from us. Gardow cast Invisibility on El'Bryon, who scouted the situation. There were all told 6 Zhent warriors with bows and swords, 3 on either side of the spit along the lake. They were being led by 2 mages on horse back. We decided to attempt to infiltrate their position and surprise attack the two mages. Weyoun drank his invisibility potion. Unfortunately, El'Bryon�s invisibility spell expired halfway between our lines and the Zhents.
One of the mages used a magic wand to throw several lightning bolts at El'Bryon.
Gnaut took the Sword of the Dales and entered the lake. His movement in the water was extremely slow but he was completely concealed below the waterline.
Gardow cast some spells, including Fly, upon himself and started throwing Alchemists fire at the mages.
Various members of the party started the long charge across the open ground through the soggy marsh which made closing the distance slow going.
Shortly after Gardow first pelted the main mage with Alchemists fire, Weyoun launched a surprise attack. He achieved surprise, but did not do a significant enough wounds to diable the spellcaster. The warriors immediately ganged up on him, and he fell dying. However, while mobbing Weyoun, they grouped nicely for a color spray spell from Gardow and many were rendered helpless. This also gave those who were charging the battle some time to engage the combat and back-up their fallen friend Weyoun and Gardow. Gnaut also extrcated himself from the waters and engaged.
Gardows actions kept the mages from casting more spells or using wands against the rest of the party. As the rest of the Sentinels freed themselves into the melee one by one, it became a hard and ugly melee. The major mage fell fairly early and his cohort mage eventually ran.
Gardow chased him and got the drop on him. With the assistance of Lucky, Yallah's wolf, who was summoned by Yallah at the exact opportune moment and the perfect spot to assist Gardow in taking down the fleeing mage who surrendered to Gardow. When Gardow brought the captive mage back, the two surviving warriors also surrendered.
What followed was one of the most difficult things the Sentinels had to face and will forever be in the backs of the minds of all Sentinels who were a part of the incident. In short the prisoners were questioned. The mage was a vile man and threatened in some way the others while Gnaut was questioning them. Gnaut in a deft stroke pulled his blade and dispatched the Mage, then was brought to do it to one of the warriors as well. The last warrior gave up information on their coming here and the fact that they were but a small part of a much larger force searching the woods for the Sentinels and the Sword of the Dales. We kept our word to him, gave him a blade and food and set him free with a warning to never lift a blade against us again or he would not be so lucky. We instructed him to flee the wood and return to his home.
We looted from the group:
3 scrolls of Darken Beast.
Magic Bracers: Carried by Gardow.
Wand of Lightning Bolts: Codeword �Kazdoom�. Carried by Gardow.
Magic Quarterstaff: Magic weapon. Carried by Weyoun.
2 magic daggers, carried by Weyoun.
Magic Ring, Ring of Wizardry III.
Magic Ring, unidentified.
13 potions of Cure Light Wounds. We used them all.
6 composite showtbows, 6 long swords, 6 large shields, 2 light riding horses (trained to not spook with lightning bolts).
300 silver, 400 copper, 400 bronze coins.
In addition to other powers, Sword of the Dales is a +3 longsword.
The interrogation of the 3 prisoners. We also find out the spell books are hidden in a an alternate dimension that we can never access. Mage refused to talk and threatened the other two. We ended up killing the Mage, and one of the warriors. The other talked.
He is Zhentari Army. The 2 wizards and 6 warriors were part of a group of 7 mages and 30 warriors, on a mission to capture Randall Morn and the Sword of the Dales.
We let the warrior who talked go, we gave him a sword and 2 days rations and let the (wounded) horses go.
We drank all of the much needed healing potions we captured and hiked the rest of the day. At dark we camped about 2 hours from the ruin.
We left early the next morning and arrived at ruin a few hours after sunrise.
The Ruin Keep lies in a meadow that slants up. The ruin of the tower with keep behind it. Tower is half fallen down. There are no windows whatsoever, but keep has holes in roof. The walls 30� high with two wings beside the main keep. The only door is the one in the tower.
On the door is a silver etched rune of a skeleton wielding a long sword. Weyoun did not like the look of the etching, so climbed the tower to see if he could get down from there. The way was blocked. Nobody else wanted to even consider going in the roof. As soon Weyoun touched the door-ring, the glyph started to change. It grew to 18� height and stepped out of the wall. It was the same size as a fire giant, and the sword was 9� long. A fire grew inside it�s rib cage. It reached inside it�s rib cage and threw a ball of fire at the party. Gardow fell badly wounded having been unable to avoid the effects of the Fireball and the other party members attacked. The skeleton next threw a fireball into the woods. Much to our relief and dismay there was the Zhentarim force of warriors and mages that had been hiding there. We moved into the tower, and the left the skeleton fighting the Zhents.
+1933 XP for everybody (running base total = 9745). Prop XP: 1200 Marco, 600 John S, 300 everybody else except John F. Group 500 XP.
Weekend at Seaside: October 24th-26th, 2003:
Present: Thex, Gardow, El�Bryon, Yallah, Weyoun, Gnaut and Madarn, the Gnome ranger (NPC controlled by Scott). Not present: Father Corvin, played by John F. After the fall of Yallah and Thex we are then introduced to Ian McClairen a priest of Lathander and Ulfgar a Dwarf of clan Brightblade. He is a Dwarven warmain from the Deserts Mouth Mountains.
Business: PCs are no longer buying magic items from the party, such magic items will be assigned and voted on by the group. 1/10th of all cash treasure will be given to each PC whose player attends that session the remaining will go to the party pool.
True name ritual from Arcana Unearthed. �El�Bryon Silent Stalker - master of two swords�, �Gardow Golden eyes�, �The axe that hews blood�, �Thunderspear�, �Weyoun Shadow chain - born to the moon in the night�, �Gnaut Twiceborn�, �Warchild�.
Having entered the tower while a battle raged outside between the Fire Giant Skeleton and the Zhentarim force, we looked around and found ourselves in a giant hollow shell. The tower was not high, but was large. It opened directly into the keep, which was open to the roof. There was much rubble on the floor of both the tower and the keep, and numerous holes in the roof. Despite the holes in the roof, there were no leaves or other debris on the floor, or even water from the previous days rains. All the rubble seemed to be structural debris. The keep had 40� high walls of a marblelike stone, but melted and bubbled. The only light that entered was through holes in the roof. The atmosphere was full of and unnatural dark foreboding.
We found a line of ruins and Weyoun picked out in silver on the floor, we could not get to the far end of the keep without crossing the line of ruins which were of Spiders. We found some secret doors, that opened up into the wings of the keep. We found glyphs on one of the secret doors, and suspected the other door had glyphs as well. Both doors had an electricity trap which Weyoun was hit by with the first after when he went to open the door.
Within one secret room were 12 zombies. As we opened the door we were able to step out as they rushed us. We set up on both sides of and in front of the door nad attacked them as they came streaming through. With the speed of our blades and the slow moving Zombies, we were able to cut most of them down before they could get to us.
The other room had 2 ghasts which caused much choking and gagging. Thex unfortunately had attempted to see into the room and one fell upon him pulling him into the chamber. We ran to his iad, finally dispatching the vile Undead, but Thex died in the fighting. We used the potion of life the we had received from the Nerid on Thex.
The line of glyphs on the floor of the Spiders did not do anything when we crossed them. As we prepared to go down into the tunnel of darkness beyond. Weyoun went back to see what was happening with the battle outside. He witnessed the Fire Giant Skeleton disjointedly coming up the hill, then falling to pieces. In the woods beyond were numerous fires and he saw some Zhents taking up positions in the trees, apparently to wait until we came out.
At the end of the Chamber we found an arch 8� high by 5� wide with a curtain of inky darkness. We went through, and found ourselves stepping out of a blank wall into a corridor. Within the walls were Weird ghostly shadows that danced and moved to our hands as we came close or touched the stone. Advancing along the corridor, our scout almost fell into a trench concealed by an illusion. When the illusion was dispelled, we saw that up ahead in the passage was a cave-in. In the trench was a carved out tunnel leading down.
The tunnel ended in a huge room. The 40� by 40� section of the room we appeared in was a huge iron cage. It was very old, all of the huge metal bars that extended from the floor to the ceiling in the darkness above were corroded. We had no problems bending the bars.
The room beyond truly immense, each wall being about 150 yards long. The floor was littered with rubble from places where the ceiling had fallen in over time. Some very gentle air currents moved unpredictably in the space. There were frequent loud whails of wind. We followed the walls of the room around. On the far side from where we had entered the room through the corroded prison, we found several doors. We also saw a light in the center of the chamber. It was a large globe of amber 10� diameter, floating 3� above the floor, lit internally, and dimly visible within the globe was a humanoid figure.
We all gathered to the center of the room and the Globe. We suspected this was Lord morn and wondered whether he was alive or dead and how to remove him from his Spherical Prison. Then El'Bryon poked the globe and it collapsed with warm fluid pouring out and the body falling to the floor.
At the moment this occured we heard the 7 doors opening from the side of the chamber we had just come from. Gnaut removed his Sunrods and activated each throwing into the chamber between the doors and our group. There came 7 Wights wearing extremely old style armor. Six of them were in a line advancing across the chamber to us and there was one in the center, a female who wore an iron crown.
It was indeed Lord Morn who had been in the amber sphere and was now lying unconscious upon the floor.
The Queen Wight started casting spells. Yallah had great success counterspelling the Queens spells with his ability to Brandisn Magical Might. Gardow had cast his ability to move with great speed and with this moved to the end of the line of advancing Wights did much good with his wand of lightning bolts, dropping one of the warrior wights immediately. At this point a great melee ensued in which one or two of us were drained by the wights, but our great fortitude kept it from being very much worse. Having fallen all of the warriors we all turned our energy toward the Queen. Eventually she cast a spell and disappeared. We figured out that the wailing wind meant the queen was in the building and we were able to prepare ourselves to see her. With Gardow's great knowledge we were instructed to wait for her to make an action to cast a spell or such, and then to strik at her. With this we were able to keep her unbalanced, running and unalbe to cast many of her spells.
Lord Randall Morn was weak, and had no memory of anything after his fight in Shravens Tomb. He is amiable, charismatic, and grateful to us. Ganut went to him and presented the to him the Sword of the Dales and explained we are here for him to bring him his rightful weapon and return him to his people. We also give him his family signet ring. He was tired, shocked and thankful.
A search of the building turned up a crystal ball from the chamber where the Queen normally resided. There was nothing else that we could find including no exits. We spent three days and two nights trying to figure out how to get out. We checked thoroughly for secret doors. We tried digging out where the cave-in had occurred. We discussed digging a new tunnel. The morning of the third day Yallah memorized nothing but detect magic to attempt to find something magically hidden that we were not seeing. Aditionally he focused on his soften dirt and stone forabilities since we thought this would help us find exits and dig. However on the morning of the third day Gnaut said suddenly, "it's not real", with this he walked to the wall and right into it. Damn that hurt, he was sure it was not real, but could not get his mind to go with him. With this thought though, others were able to and as each did, the veil of illusion was dis-believed and finally completely pierced. We all exited the Tunnel into the chamber able again. The archway we left behind was still an inky curtain of blackness, but we knew now what it was.
There was another major incident while there. With being trapped Gardow attempted to Scry upon a number of people in hopes they would somehow figure out it ws us and send aid. One of the people he tried was Lhaeo. This was actually the last person it turns out. For as he looked into the ball there was a brialliant flash of light that only he could see and he came away blinded. We realized only after the fact the he may have been in Elminsters Castle, being his scribe. Well chances are that the Castle is heavily gaurded by Scrying Magic as well as many other magics.So it seems that he may have been blinded by some heavy anti-scrying magic upon it. Much to our chagrin, the blindness appeared to be permanent and not a temporary affect as well.
+4123 xp per player.
Party treasure: crystal ball, carried by Gnaut, used by Gardow.
Weyoun approached the front door to peek out and a magic mouth at the door raised a loud alarm. He tried a hole in the roof, and the same thing happened. A mage called on us to surrender the sword and Lord Morn or be killed. We chose not to respond. We took stalk of our sitution and made a plan to set up a defense that we could continue to fall back on. We would start with setting up archer positions and eventually fall back to the inky tunnel, then further as they advance.
Our plan was to set-up in the main hall, and to engage in a fighting retreat down to the middle level of the complex. We felt that the constricted terrain in the middle level would help us greatly against a superior force of warriors, however we were worried that the constricted terrain would be dangerous against mages. We hoped to do some damage to the mages on the upper level, and maybe kill a few without being bunched up where spell effects would get many of us at the same time, then retreat to the middle level for the major fight. If the fight turned very bad, we could have retreated still farther to the huge room in the lower level, and wage a guerrilla battle, hiding and attacking from the darkness now that we know the lay of the chamber somewhat.
We setup with Weyoun hiding in the tower, our warriors spread out in the midpart of the hall to cover our retreat, and our ranged fighters spread out more toward the rear. The first small wrinkle in our plan happened when the first thing through the door was a small orb which was scrying upon us. It spotted Weyoun hiding in the tower and he was forced to relocate to the main hall with the others. We took it out with a bowshot, but it was too late since they now knew what we were doing and where we were. Next a small phalanx of 9 men came through the door. The first rank had tower shields which provided cover for all 9 from our bowfire.
Our plan took another serious hit when we heard the moan and wail of winds from the tunnel leading below. The Wight Queen was approaching from behind us and Gnaut moved to engage her and help keep her from the defenseless Gardow. It did not take long before the Wight Queen once again cast a spell to flee. Between Gardow casting his Lightning blindly down the corridor where she approached and Gnaut hammering her she thought it better to disengage.
Our plans really fell to pieces when Lord Morn moved forward to engage the enemy phalanx in melee, and Madarn and Thex moved up to support him. Behind the phalanx were 6 ogres. The warriors in front moved the tower shields allowing the 6 mages behind to cast magic missiles. Then the shields were moved back into covering positions. The warriors and one Ogre moved up to engage Lord Morn and Thex and the 6 low level mages cast Agnazhars Scorcher, targeting Madarn the first round. After the first round Madarn ran out of range and they turned their focus and targeted Thex the next round.
Things really fell apart when the main mage, who had followed the phalanx while completely invisible cast a spell and the Sword of the Dales flew from Randall Morns hands to the main mages. Lord Morn was disarmed, Thex was knocked out. Madarn was gravely wounded, and unfit to return to the front line. The ogres charged and Lord Morn got trapped in one of the side rooms. Yallah turned into a Panther, but was killed by an ogre before he could make his escape. Two of the enemy mages were killed by Weyouns arrows. Lord Morn, even disarmed managed to knock out one of the warriors. However he was overwhelmed and taken prisoner. The surviving Sentinels were the ones who managed to retreat down to the middle level. Weyoun snuck up through the darkness cover of the inky passage and watched the Zhents take out the body of Morn and their fallen men. They told the Ogres they could do what they wanted with our fallen comrades Thex and Yallah. They could come after us if they wanted, but a short time later all left the keep. Fearing an ambush we waited w while before exiting our place of cover.
The exception was El'Bryon, who drank a potion of spider climb early in the assault, and climbed out the roof in an effort to get behind the line of warriors to attack the major mage. The battle was over before he got into position. He tracked the Zhents when they left. The Zhents left the Ogres to loot the fallen, took their own dead and Lord Morn with them and went back to their camp and immediately packed up. The ogres loaded up, and left a few minutes later, carrying the bodies of Yallah and Thex with them. Those of us down underground waited a quarter of an hour, before cautiously scouting the entrance. We met up with El'Bryon and discussed the situation and made a plan to catch up with the Zhents and fight them again, without the Ogres, and before the mages have a chance to refresh their Spellcasting powers.
That plan lasted about 3 minutes, which is the amount of time it took us to find that the Wight Queen was waiting for us in the tower. As we entered the tower a Shadowy Inky Mist was there waiting for us. She is a past master at playing two sides off against each other. She pointed out that we both want the Zhents stopped, and offered us help in stopping them or at least slowing their progress. She said that she wanted something that Randall Morn was carrying, but never told us what it was. She might have had a deal (or maybe just an understanding) with the Zhents, but if she did, they were not honoring it. She offered to have all her minions speed our way through the forest, while hindering the theirs. She also offered us several potions, which would allow our dead companions �to walk again�. It was pointed out that phrase from an undead queen was not as comforting as the same phrase from a respected cleric, but after very little discussion, we decided to accept the deal. We formally stated the deal, and it was specifically understood that we were only cooperating for as long as it was mutually beneficial. We would fight again, but at a later time.
+1050xp per player
We quickly trailed the Ogres to their lair (this took about 1 hour). It was a mess. There was one Ogre near the front door and the others were all deeper in cave. Weyoun went around to look for another entrance but there was none. Most of us positioned ourselves near the entrance to the lair, then El'Bryon snuck in and hit the guard and ran out. The plan was great in that the Ogre near the door ran out after El'Bryon, and we had a perfect ambush. The problem was that the other Ogres were big and strong enough to bull rush our lines, and scatter us.
The 6 Ogres would have been tough all by themselves. A single hit by one of them was enough to kill some of us and we were without the arm of Thex or the magic's of Yallah and the blind Gardow. None of us could have withstood more than one. What really messed us up however was the Ogre-hag who appeared as well. She was an Anis and was stronger than the male ogres, and she fought smarter. She grappled Weyoun from above the cave entrance, and ripped him apart in a deft move. She almost did the same to Gnaut, but he was barely able to withstand the massive rending that he took and moved away from the battle momentarily. It was another tough battle, but we were again victorious in the end but with the loss of Weyoun. We looted the lair, and found Yallah's and Thex�s bodies and equipment within.
Now we had three bodies, and only two elixirs from the Wight Queen. The first of the two elixirs was poured over the body of Yallah. Sure enough, they were not normal elixirs of raise dead. It turned Yallah into some sort of Blood Zombies with blood pouring from his body and open sores! Their wounds wept blood, as did his facial orifices. We were repulsed and discussed not doing the same to Thex, but Yallah snatched the other vial and rushed to Thex's body and poured it over him The same thing happened to Thex and we were all turned by the gruesome sight. They were ravenous, and fell upon the dead ogre bodies, and drank deeply of their blood. They still had some measure of their free-will and personality, but for the most part they had a vacant look, and do and think as �their mistress� wants. They have telepathic communication with the Wight Queen who also seemed to have the ability to be in constant telepathic communication with her other creatures. So Thex and Yallah knew at all times where the Zhents were, as long as they were in the forest.
Looting the Ogres lair, we found:
A purse of gems, 2 scrolls, a glaive - beautifully carved, 800 loose SP, 2 potions.
There was also in a pouch One potion was a potion of cure blindness, which we used on Gardow.
Also was one elixir of reincarnation. The elixir of reincarnation was used on Weyoun. His new body formed as a Pixie! His new body is very different, and even though he could not fly at first, the mere presence of wings messed up his balance and coordination a whole lot. He lost a lot of his rogueish abilities, however he gained some Pixie abilities.
Following the directions of Thex and Yallah, who knew where the Zhents were as long as they were in the forest, we moved to intercept the them and Lord Morn with the Sword. The Zhents were attacked by several creatures while we traveled rapidly through the dense dangerous woods. We were not very far behind them when their trail left the forest in early evening. Unfortunately, we immediately lost the trail. We cast around for it a while, then set out in the direction we felt would most likely intercept them. Fortunately we picked up the trail fairly quickly and followed it until after sundown. We REALLY wanted to fight them before the mages had an opportunity to re-learn their spells. But we decided that the troubles and risks of trailing them at night were too great. We looked for a place to camp, and made a resolution to start trailing again before dawn the next morning.
As we were casting about for a place to rest, we saw a campfire not far from our own chosen position. El'Bryon and Weyoun investigated and found Captain Mergo and his mercenary group! They had our horses, and two new recruits who wanted to join the Sentinels. They were Ian McClairen a Priest of Lathander and Ulfgar of Clan Brightblade a Dwarven Warmain from the Deserts Mouth Mountains.
We started early in the morning and found the Zhents campsite after about two hours. They were long gone, but there was a dead horse there (one had also died the day before), showing that they were pushing their mounts too hard. Mounted, we followed fast and had with hope for catching our prey. The Zhents had been pushing their horses the previous day, and the tracks were showing it. We came to the main road by midmorning from here we knew if we rode hard we could be to Dagger Falls well before nightfall. The tracks showed that the party we were chasing split up. Gardow scryed, and found that the main mage and Lord Morn went straight, so we ignored the other tracks that were leading toward the mountains to the West. Around noon we came to a bridge. It looked like a natural ambush point. Weyoun went over invisible, and checked things out, he did not detect any ambushers, so re-appeared and waved everybody else over. With this Gardow and Gnaut moved forward on foot cautiously toward the bridge. When they reached about 40' from the Bridge a large Earth Elemental burst out of the ground and fell upon them.
It was a very tough elemental which did huge amounts of damage, and was extremely resistant to damage itself. Captain Mergo�s men initially engaged the elemental with arrows from a distance, but Gardow informed them that they were ineffective with Mundane Weapons, so they engaged in melee like the Sentinels. They apparently did not realize that the Sentinels all had magic weapons, and that non-magical weapons were totally ineffective against this thing. The elemental killed two of Captain Mergo�s men, Slick and Fritz. We ordered the men to disengage, and we finally managed to beat the Elemental down to rubble. We buried Slick and Fritz in the rubble of the dead elemental there beside the bridge.
As El'Bryon crossed the bridge a gray cloaked woman appeared out of the woods on the downstream side. She introduced herself as Captain Mestin to El'Bryon when he approached her and stated further the she was an officer in Lord Morns resistance. She said we would not catch the people we were chasing before they got to Dagger Falls and she wanted to take us to the resistance (Freedom Riders) camp in Ulith Hung. We agreed and rode for hours through the woods. We passed through two abandoned villages which she told us one had been burnt by the Zhents for non-payment of taxes and the inhabitants of the other had all run away in fear of similar retribution by the Zhentarim forces.
Eventually we arrived at a large armed camp of nearly 500 fighting men and we were lead to a small tent. It covered an entrance to a large cave which we were led into that was the HQ area. This was clearly the central place for leaders to gather with maps to plan. The main leader was a paladin of Lathander named Lord Ariten Durmark, acting commander of the Freedom Riders. We reported to him about Lord Morn, and the Sword of the Dales. He felt that the situation was critical and that it was time for a desperate move. The resistance needed a major victory, before rumors of recent setbacks spread to the troops and crushed morale. Durmark decided that the army would attack Dagger Falls.
We discussed what the Sentinels could do to help. Durmark knew that the Zhents were gathering a large Orc hoard of the Shadow Stone Orcs to the north of Dagger Falls. But he really needed information on current garrison strength in Dagger Falls. He asked us to get that, and pass him a message by way of Dolmar, a leatherworks merchant just outside of Dagger falls, then the same force was needed inside the town to capture one of the gate towers and open one of the gates. Durmark then set to finalizing the assault plans and march to attack on Dagger Falls. Durmark did not want to order his forces to try and take the Garrison and town form outside of the walls of the city. He knew he could do little with Bows from bow range. Instead he wanted to ride his force right in the gates of the city. It is an incredibly risky plan, and will certainly be a disaster if the group tasked with opening the gate fails. The Sanguine Sentinels volunteered to open the gate and hold it open. We discussed in detail how we would get info on the Falls with Gardow flying invisible taking stock of troops and locations. Additionally Weyoun would sneak in invisible to gather info as well. Then once in the gates we would hide, hopefully below the Temple of Lathander, and wait and scry on the Freedom Riders until we knew the time was right to storm the Gate and take and hopefully hold it.
We spent a short time planning and preparing ourslevs before taking a nights rest before heading out. We gifted our magical quarterstaff to the resistance to use. El'Bryon was intrigued by Captain Mestin. Gardow did some scrying and showed that the innkeeper at the Teshford Arms Inn was dead (as was reported to us) and that his son was in chains as a slave somewhere in the desert. Gulave of shattered stones - Orc leader was in wilderness. Trem Gnomfor was sitting in a tower. Various other notables were not doing anything interesting.
A boy guided us into town, but left us as soon as we came to terrain that we recognized. Gardow cast a fly spell, and flew off to scout the garrison from the air. Before he left he cast Invisibility on Weyoun and himself. The visible members of the group paid a large bribe of 20 sp each to get into town. Weyoun walked in the main gate invisible, and took the time to closely examine the defenses that if all went according to plans we would be attacking the next morning. The tower defenses looked formidable, and there were many archers stationed on many roofs. There were 20 Half-Orc soldiers at the gate with chain mail, halberds, and short swords. At the top of the towers were 8 Half-Orc archers with crossbows in a semi-open (gazebo type) top level. The towers were 40� high with 30� bases, and looked like they had 3 internal levels. The city walls did not have any fighting platforms upon them.
The main group did some shopping so as to appear that they were in town for a reason, which we stated was to venture into the Deserts. We then headed for the ruined Temple of Lathander, where we had made plans to meet Gardow. As we passed an alley, Gardow (disguised as a beggar) approached us and told us the temple was guarded. He also gave us the written and encoded scouting report of the City and Garrison. We then went back to the market trying not to be in any way obvious.
In the meantime, Weyoun, still invisible, missed the rest of the party, and arrived at the temple site. He saw that the site was guarded, and left without being detected. He spotted the party at the market, and has a whispered conversation with Madarn, who tells him where Gardow is hiding. Weyoun leaves to stay with Gardow in the same ally until a time to move offers itself. We are able to pas back by and gather our comrades before going to the Red Rock Inn.
The party goes to the Red Rock tavern and we all go in. We see the Redhead who spoke with Father Corvin and the party after his public lashing, but when they are halfway across the floor they recognize two of the minor mages and one of the warriors that they fought in the keep just the day before, sitting at a table getting refreshment after their long ride the wilderness. The tavern was almost empty, there was just one other group of 7 Zhent Warriors at a corner table taking their refreshment. The party members tried to inconspicuously reverse course and leave, but Gnaut was recognized. There were a some words between El'Bryon and one of the mages and then as he reached to his robe, we pranced. Gnaut cut down one of the mages before he could respond, then El'Bryon slew the other. A moment later the Warrior with them was lying in a pool of his own blood and we were descending upon the unsuspecting Gaurds in the corner who had drawn blades and overtunred their table. Ulfgar was watching the now closed door and backing us up. By some miracle the commotion was not heard and no alarm raised outside the Inn. All the Zhents in the tavern were slain.
Loot: nice sable cloak - magical. Wand - magical. 30 SP. Silver torc - not magic. Tightly strapped bundles of weapons.
The redhead helped us hide the bodies. She pulled up the floorboards wherer she was storing weapons under the tavern in a well concealed dug out hole. We dumped the bodies down there and were told to clean the mess while being handed water buckets and mops. Gardow said to never mind that and cast his prestidigitation and was able to clean the area without a bllodstain to be noticed, and no red mops or water. We told her the revolution was going to be here the next day and asked if she could not deliver our report to the leather worker. She was unable to leave since the place was about to get busy for the evening. She said we could spend the night at her place and we all casually moseyed out of the Tavern, wandered around for a few minutes, and made our way by ones and twos into her house.
El'Bryon volunteered to deliver the letter to the Leatherworker. He left town shortly before sunset, and made the drop. Unfortunately, he did not have as much silver on him as the guards wanted to let him back in again. They turned him away for what he offered them. He spent the night in the woods. The guards thought he was at the Teshford arms, and a group of 8 went to the Inn that night, probably to mug him. They stayed there for quite a while, and drunk heavily. On their way back, El'Bryon ambushed two stragglers. Their companions heard the fight, and came back to their aid. He killed the two with his sword, then killed the leader and wounded another with arrows. He then retreated to the woods. The gate guards retreated to the gate.
Hiding in the redheads home, we snooped around, and found a very well hidden cellar. We posted a guard under the porch, and he saw a Zhent patrol surrounding the Red Rock. We moved everybody except Weyoun into the hidden cellar. Weyoun (invisible) arranged the furniture over the trap door and then checked out the action in the tavern from a secure position at the homes porch. The tavern had been closed and the customers sent away and the Zhents were interrogating the redhead they were being led by the Mage who had taken The Sword of the Dales and Lord Morn in the Spider Haunt. After a while they surrounded her house and searched it tearing it virtually to bits in the process. They did not find the trap door or the hidden hole that we had crammed oursleves into. The redhead was dragged away under guard and the major mage was heard to say �All I know is she was lying, they are around here somewhere�. We also heard him order the guard on Lord Morn tripled.
This was depressing. The proprietor of the Teshford arms was hung after talking to us. His son was sold into slavery and now the proprietor of the Red Rock has been arrested. At least we should be able to save the Redhead with the revolution. With luck she will have to spend less than 12 hours in the dungeons. It depends on how well our assault on the gate and the pending attack tomorrow turns out.
We scryed through the night, Gardow saw the freedom fighters preparing, and riding out. We wanted to time our assault to as close to when the rebel army arrived as possible. We knew that as soon as we captured the gate tower, the Zhents would throw at us whatever they figured it would take to close the gates. We know we will be unable to hold the tower forever and if we time it right the rebel army will arrive before they can overwhelm us within the tower.
Through scryng, we saw the rebel army march before sunrise and a while later we saw a group of Zhent scouts arriving at a gallop at the city gate. Shortly thereafter the guard at the gate was reinforced with 10 more crossbow men and 20 more soldiers in chainmail. They were lead by a man in platemale and a symbol of Cyric, probably a cleric. We continued to wait until we figured the rebel army was just about to arrive, and then we struck.
First we made a plan. Everybody knew what everybody else was going to do. Gardow cast invisibility and spider climb on Weyoun. Weyoun scouted out both gate towers. Each tower had 10 men with crossbows on the top level, 6-8 men on the 3rd and 2nd levels. He could not see into the ground levels, but did count at least 26 men plus a cleric in one tower, and 22 men plus a mage in the other. Weyoun reported to Ulfgar, who was invisible and had taken up a position at the gate to throw up the bar that held the gates closed. It was higher than he and he had to use his Great Axe to lever under it and throw it up when the time came. As we approached we made a decision to attack the tower with the mage in it.
Weyoun, still invisible, and still with spiderclimb, setup to sneak attack the mage through a 2nd floor arrow slit. Gardow cast fly and prepared to use his wands at the top of the tower. Ulfgar was invisible, and waited next to the gate for the signal to remove the bar. Gnaut and Madarn, with spider climb precast on them, sauntered casually to the base of the tower, then rushed up to the top where they attacked the crossbow men. El'Bryon, still outside of town, had snuck closer to the gate before sunrise and waited for the attack outside. Gnaut, Madarn and Ian got to the top of the tower before any of the guards had a chance to react. Gardow used his wands to cast several lightning bolts and thin out the guards in the open top area of the tower, and spells (color spray and sleep) to knock out most of the guys on the third level. Gnaut, Madarn and Ian made quick work of the gaurds that were not disbabled by Gardows spells on the top level and Gnaut was able to rush right down to the third level, while Madarn and Ian finished clearing out the top. It was important to capture the 3rd level fast, because the gate mechanism was there, and had been engineered to be easy to wreck. We needed to bring the fight to the 3rd level before they could destroy the mechanism. Gardow made a huge impact with his wands and spells upon those in the lower levels as well as the gaurds atop both towers. Weyoun waited until the mage started to cast a spell, and shot him, doing little damage but spoiling his spells. The mage ran downstairs, then out of the tower, where Gardow killed him with a lightning bolt as he fled across the open killing field toward the garrison. The warriors made quick work taking the tower, killing all who stood in their way or thing up those who had been knowcked out by sleep and color spray.
After the team assaulting the gate tower opened the gate, Ulfgar and El'Bryon approached the door at the base of the tower. Some Zhents had just run out of the door bare seconds before, so they tried knocking on it. It opened! In short order we had taken the tower. We took several prisoners.
+1759 xp per player, plus 500 per player for taking the towers.
Weekend total: +4123xp +1050xp + 1759xp +500xp per player. = 7432xp (running base total = 17177).
Group xp total -227 for Gardow = 2473 left in group pool.
Party treasure: crystal ball, carried by Gnaut, used by Gardow.
A purse of gems, 2 scrolls, a glaive - beautifully carved, 800 loose SP
Loot: nice sable cloak - magic. Wand - Magic. 30 SP. Silver torc - not magic.