Tag: Update

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TSM Update: Grand Opening

IN OUR LAST SESSION…

… our heroes met, somewhat unexpectedly, with Lord Segur. He wanted to know if the militia intended to pursue the path they had previously discussed, back into the underground depths of Dol Seguria; the lost dwarven stronghold. He had brought with him a human ranger-type named Attickus who he proposed as a guide for the PCs.

Tovlakov showed Segur a remnant of baby clothing he’d diligently carried around with him since the first run-in with Dementia, the sight of which caused the count to break down in tears. He apparently had lost a son, Lukas, in child birth, approximately 18 years ago.

In preparation of heading out to the underground complex, a few things had to be wrapped up. Tim-Tom was left at the Warden’s Office, protected by the newly-restored defenses. Arrangements were made via Carly for food to be delivered to Tim-Tom daily.

Also, in an attempt to aid Seamus Finney and his men’s efforts to decipher the messages coming out of the War Wizards tower, Tia prepared a “message” to her superior for Kazuo to send out, via “secure means.” That same, unmodified message was to be brought via courier to the old farmhouse where the heroes had met Finney.

The gifted, then borrowed, then re-used draft horse that had been rescued from Dementia was returned.

Upon returning to Rankford proper, the heroes discovered that a new building had been constructed on the site of the former house of ill repute that Rekar had been given as the location to build his Wizard’s Tower. Instead, they found a local franchise of the Waterdeep stores Balthor’s Rare and Wonderous Treasurers. Apparently Rekar had been just an agent/advance scout who was paid to secure a location with appropriate rights for the franchise to be constructed.

While investigating the Balthor’s , the heroes were able to trade their mithril bars for some goods. Norm was able to purchase a Robe of Protection. As an afterthought, they purchased a Scroll of Resurrection, which included a bonus Scroll of Detect Magic. The Resurrection scroll was used to return life to the scattered remains of Dain.

Thus prepared, the heroes were to set out towards Dol Seguria, once again.

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TSM Update: Some new friends, and one old one

IN OUR LAST SESSION…

… Our heroes “fell” into the brigands’ trap, striding forthrightly into the old farmhouse to confront these highwaymen. Only to discover that they were waiting for the heroes, yes, but with the intention of making an arrangement. They met with Seamus Finney and his merry band. Seamus invited them to drinks and to discuss their proposal.

Finney suggested that he and his men would leave Rankford completely alone (his men would not enter the Warden’s jurisdiction) if they would likewise leave the north-south road (Calantar’s Way) to the brigands. Finney said that they required that rich merchants who travel on that road to pay a “tax” which he claimed that they then shared with the underrepresented people of his community.

Finney also said that he had information of interest to the heroes: the current whereabouts of Dementia Lancaster, the notorious Midwife. In return, he wanted help from the militia in that the new sage, Kazuo, was sending a number of official messages via courier, but they were somehow written in a script that the brigands could not decode. Could the heroes help? They agreed to try.

The evening proceeded with good food and a good deal of wine. The heroes were put up in a room in the old farmhouse for the night. In the morning there was coffee and bread and bacon, then they met up with their guide, the elf Eskin who had “warned” them at the Flailing Chicken of the dangers of the highwaymen ahead.

After traveling some 5 hours north of the farmhouse, the group came to the predicted intersection of a logging road and the Way. Eskin told the party to continue up the road and he would travel a ways north to see if anyone was following them. As the heroes turned west onto the logging road, they quickly ran into a horse-drawn wagon bearing down on them, driven by the dwarf Midwife herself.

The heroes scattered and attempted to attack Lancaster as she rushed past. Only Norm had any real success — his Sleep spell affected one of the horses, causing the wagon to careen out of control and smash into the trees lining the road, fully overturning.

The battle then ensued between the heroes and Lancaster, who immediately emerged from the dust roiled into a cloud around the site of the crash in the form of a stone giant. With one great plow of her massive club, she killed Dain, sending him (or at least some of his parts) thudding into a tree trunk 30 feet away.

Tovlakov, Norm and Tia then went toe-to-huge-toe with Dementia. Well, Norm never got that close, actually. Dementia rained a surprising number of those devastating club attacks on the heroes, dropping Tovlakov before long. After a bit, Eskin arrived, firing at Dementia with his longbow. Eventually, the significant damage that the Midwife incurred resulting from the crash, as well as blow and blast raining down on her from the heroes terminated her life.

Next session:

What’s in the wagon? What awaits our heroes in Dementia’s Hideout?

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TSM Update: Polite Conversations

IN OUR LAST SESSION…

…our heroes decided to split up.  Tia and Dain headed east to meet the rumored “new” sage at the War Wizards tower.  Tovlakov and Norm remained in Rankford Mitte to keep an eye on things.
Tia and Dain, passing the newly-erected Wolf Fence at the Collective decided to drop by.  Making their way through the gate, the met up with Carly.  She is still walking with the assistance of a cane, but otherwise seemed to have emerged from her exploits with Greater Apparatus of Kwalish and Marver’s forces intact.  She shared that there had been reports of a band of individuals (adventurers?  brigands?) seemingly encamped further east, past the tower.

Norm received a cagey invitation from Marg that Captain Teena and a never-specifically-identified guest wanted to speak to the militia.  Tovlakov was located by Norm and the two proceed to the Grey Wolf Inn to meet with these two worthies.

Arriving at the War Wizards Tower, Dain and Tia were greeted by a mephit, who allowed them to enter.  They were introduced to the new Sage, a young human man named Kashuo.  Kashuo seemed inexperienced, but polite.  He seemed to know some of what had occurred with the old Warden and Sheriff, and knew that his predecessor had been “reassigned” to Immersea.  He revealed that portals all over the kingdom had failed, perhaps due to sabotage.  He agreed to take on some research on behalf of the heroes.  He also revealed that the Tower, the Warden’s Office, and the Watchtower all contained magical communication devices that allowed any location to locate with any location.  Also, each location, by triggering a “button” visibile only to the duly appointed individual(s), could listen in to ambient noise from the other locations.  Once they had the opportunity, Dain and Tia made for the Warden’s Office and tried this technology out for themselves.  They also searched the Map Room for incriminating information related to Marver/Eeger/Lord Segur’s activities, but did not find anything of import.
While speaking with Kashuo, Dain felt that the new Sage was generally sincere in his pronouncements, but seemed to be carefully tracking what the heroes said for future inclusion in reports to… someone.

At the Grey Wolf, the heroes were lead to the Fireside Room where the Purple Dragons Captain and… Lord Segur waited.  Clearly, the Count had set up this meeting.  He refused to state clearly whether his satyr minion was nearby.

Segur claimed that he was interested in having the heroes assist with an issue related to the lost dwarven mine and village of Dol Seguria.  He claimed that Marver, with Eeger’s assistance, had been kidnapping individuals, mostly innocents passing through Rankford, and enslaved them in the recently-discovered lost mine. Segur said that his interest was in seeing these slaves freed. If the heroes would commit to this task, he said that he would provide a map that might be of assistance. Norm an Tovlakov seemed dubious but said they would consider it.

Dain and Tia returned to Mitte and shared what they had learned. Tia showed Norm how the communication between the three key sites worked and they tested it out. There was discussion about what to do next. Investigate the brigands? Commit, at least in word, to Lord Segur’s request?

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TSM Update: Goblins, Hobgoblins, Orcs and a little Sage

IN OUR LAST SESSION…

…Our heroes continued their march into the long-unexplored (?) depths of Dol Seguria. The defenses at the first, great intersection of passages were determined to be stout, indeed. As the heroes took out a second hobgoblin guard, he was able to send a general alarm. More alarms and organizing horn calls rained down on the militia.

The heroes began to descend the stairs. Norm threw a Sleep spell towards the gathered force of goblins and hobgoblins at the lower level, just as a hail of javelins came from that unit. A force of orcs (?) stomped forward, and in perfect unison slammed their interconnected shield to the stones; forming an impassable wall before the heroes.

Far more quickly than the militia could account, additional hobgoblin and goblin foes swarmed like blackbirds to the scene. Determining that a frontal assault on this joint force would not be successful, the heroes retreated. A gauntlet of zombies awaited them as they made for the great door. Dain attempted to scatter them, backed by the power of Ilmater, but the zombies seemed unaffected. The heroes, however, still managed to escape.

Upon arriving back in Rankford (escorted safely out of the King’s Wood to the Old Mill by the rangers of Azan), the heroes were told that the elves watching the town in their absence had been a bit… strict.

After a night’s rest, it was reported that a new sage had arrived at the War Wizards tower. Dain and Tia started off to meet this new individual while Tovlakov and Norm remained on duty.

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TSM Update: Feed My Dog!

IN OUR LAST SESSION…

… Our heroes delved further into the lost dwarven kingdom of Dol Seguria. Tovlakov sought to confirm that the elven ranger Jacoba “Jake” Marius was still waiting outside the entrance to the dwarven site. He was. After informing Jake that the fugitive (“Diedrich”) that Azan and his rangers had chased into the dwarven underground was dead, he agreed to leave the body somewhere that they could fetch it. Tovlakov returned to the inner sanctum of the dwarven complex, and the heroes searched the fugitive Diedrich. On him, they discovered that he had, among his weapons, a shiny metal ring and a leather item on a chain around his neck that Norm was able to determine had a faint Evocation magic about it. The heroes dragged Diedrich’s body through the entrance to the dwarven complex and closed the door.

The heroes then moved forward, deeper into the dwarven complex. The already wide, high-ceilinged passage widened further and the ceiling stretched even higher away. Stairs carved into the bare rock led up. The heroes climbed the stairs. They searched the first “apartment.” Dain smashed the door open. Inside he heard a weeping sound. He moved further in, down a short hallway to a front room, leading to a hallway which continued into a bedroom. Two balconies extended into the main hallway. Dain followed the sound of the weeping into the hallway leading to the bedroom.

A dwarven woman, glowing like an apparition, sat in a wooden chair, weeping about her “Baby,” her “pet.” When Dain approached, she complained that there was nothing to feed her dog. The dwarven woman looked up at Dain and he could see that half of her face had been gnawed away. A rumbling growl had been growing in the back room. Now the creature, an enormous, horse-sized dog with two heads charged. It was emaciated. Some of its flesh was missing from its limbs and belly. The dwarven ghost faded and disappeared.

The heroes fought the giant “dog.” Dain was able to block the hallway and absorb bite after slavering bite, while the rest of the party was able to attack with missile weapons and spells. Eventually, the party wore the creature down, and with one final blow from his war hammer, Dain dispatched the beast. It began to quickly decompose.

Searching the house, the party found a few items. Most interesting were mithril coins.

The heroes decided to rest in the house. During the rest, Tovlakov noticed a small mob of undead of various races shambling down the main corridor in the direction of the entrance used by the party.

After some recovery time, the heroes decided to continue to climb the stairs. Two more tiers of homes perched above the home they had stayed in. Above the third tier, a 10 foot wide catwalk hugged the wall, the ceiling still high above; painted to resemble some long lost night sky.

The heroes proceeded along the catwalk. After a few hundred feet, the long corridor emerged into an even wider space. The catwalk seemed to end at the point that, it seemed, a perpendicular corridor interjected the passage the heroes had so-far pursued. Stairs led down to the corridor, stairs guarded by a human-like beast — a hobgoblin. The hobgoblin fired at Tovlakov as he approached. As the heroes rushed up to engage the guardian, he continued to fire his bow. The party was able to take down the hobgoblin before he could alert others: Tia’s arrow entered the bell of the guardian’s signal horn and emerged from the back side of the hobgoblin’s skull. Perhaps he could now play a nice tune in Hell.

Other creatures seemed to be on duty at the intersection of passages. Where to go from here?

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TSM Update: New Foes, Old Threats

IN OUR LAST SESSION…

… our heroes, pursuing a clue from a crude map taken from Mons Millmaster, prior to his trial and execution, had arrived at an old abandoned farmstead, thinking that perhaps the runaway midwife Damentia Lancaster was holed up inside. The house and detached barn most recently belonged to the Albarado family, who once raised wheat and corn and ran a small distillery. The structures have fallen into significant disrepair. However, the heroes found that a twist of smoke rose from the chimney of the supposedly deserted house.

Having left Dain to stand watch, Norm, Tia and Tovlakov had arrived via horse. They dismounted and surrounded the house. Tia took the direct approach and pounded on the front door. There was the sound of movement inside, but not response. She shouldered the door open and found the dwarven midwife inside a room of decay and squalor. Dementia wore a long leather apron, splashed with fresh blood. Blood covered much of the floor. With a shriek, Dementia fled down the hallway, away from Tia, and, presumably towards Norm and Tovlakov perched outside the rear door.

However, the midwife turned right at the end of the hallway, eschewing the door. When Tia rounded the same corner in hot pursuit, she was met by a blow from an almost comically oversized wooden club wielded by Dementia. The fight, then was on.

Tovlakov battered down the back door. He and Tia faced the midwife head-on, while Norm kept a careful distance.

The midwife let out a great roar and grew until her head scraped the shabby ceiling. She had transformed into a giantess. The once oversized club was now wielded with great power. She moved nimbly as to be able to reach all three combatants. Dementia took repeated blows from Tia, from Tovlakov and enchanted missile attacks from Norm, but kept up the fight. Her great power was too much for Tovlakov, and even eventually took down Tia.

Faced with this seemingly unstoppable foe, Norm deployed his kruthik familiar, Fluffy, to try to draw her away while he used invisibility to avoid detection. Norm was able to drag his allies to safety and, meeting up with Fluffy on the road, they made their way back to Rankford Mitte.

Dain was able to restore the fallen camerades. The heroes discovered that they had returned with a somewhat cryptic log from the midwife’s lair. It listed familiar surnames, with dates, some followed by “boy”, some by “girl”, some by both words. Some of these were crossed out. Over drinks at Hugo Brewer’s place, they deduced that perhaps these were dates of baby deliveries, which indicated that some of the children, perhaps, had not survived. But maybe some of those declared dead… lived still?

A representative of Azan’s rangers arrived and reported that Azan hoped to meet with the heroes at the Old Mill in the Heartland. They assented.

Traveling to the Old Mill the following day, the heroes reflected on how relatively safe the roads around Rankford had become.

At the Old Mill, Azan informed the heroes that in their efforts to hunt down any surviving elven allies of Marver and Eeger, they had chased their quarry into an underground passage that led to what Azan believed to be an ancient entrance to the fabled lost dwarven kingdom

Azan agreed to provide some security in Rankford if the heroes would hunt down this escaped elven traitor. He asked that the elf be brought back alive.

The heroes were led to the wood’s edge and given instructions on how to proceed. They eventually met up with Azan’s sentry at the site of the recently discovered tunnel. A door was concealed in the earth behind a huge boulder.

The heroes made their way down the passage, beyond the disarmed traps about which they had been warned. And at the end of it, they discovered a seemingly ancient, ornate dwarven door. It contained runes of an ancient dwarven script, but the phrase “Dol Segur” was prominent.

Beyond the door, which opened easily with the Warden’s key in Tia’s possession, were a group of a half dozen shambling undead. The heroes were able to make fairly quick work of the zombies. In the dimness beyond the great door, they discovered the partially consumed body of an elf. Likely Azan’s quarry.

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TSM Update: Hey, let’s leave town, what say?

IN OUR LAST SESSION…

… our heroes headed to the Warden’s Office, presumably so that the recently-minted Warden, Tia Berenger could examine her holdings. The trip out of town was uneventful. When the heroes arrived at the Warden’s building, a tall, single-story structure with exterior doors, north and south and south-facing windows, hewed from the native pine, they first established that there were no obvious traps within.

Having tied the horses up at the bridge just 100′ away, they ventured inside. The large brass key that they had taken from Marver, in fact opened the door (and every other locked door that they encountered), but clearly operated in a magical way. These locks, and the key, are not simply mechanical devices.

The ground floor contained Marver’s office space, a small waiting room, a kitchen, a map (?) room and stairs leading down. It seemed clear that the space had been recently ransacked, but presumably by someone or someones who knew where to look and what to grab. It did not appear that the place had been randomly sacked, more likely it had been carefully separated from its most valuable contents.

The basement contained the Warden’s bedroom, a privy, a stoutly-fortified armory, and stairs leading further down. After having searched these rooms and mostly discovered that the likely most valuable items had already been removed, including identifying the residue of magical items (weapons?) that had been, until recently, housed in the armory, the party considered the stairs leading down. Two things served to dissuade them from further investigation: Norm began to seem unfit in some way, and an odd skritching sound seemed to emerge from below. The party felt that the noise perhaps indicated that kruthiks might be found there. Norm was experiencing a splitting headache, and one eye turned red with blood.

Also on the basement level was a moldering pile of clothing and odd items. They seemed to be decaying clothes and artifacts of children, including those of very young children.

Returning to the first floor, the heroes effected a more thorough search, which turned up several letters between Cormyrean officials and Marver over recent months and years. Marver was, it seems, not held in high regard, and the area around Rankford (County Seguria, apparently) seemed notable mostly for suspicious happenings: high rates of infant death, disappearances of those on the Starwater Road and reports of burglary.

While combing through the disarray of the Warden’s Office, Norm wavered then collapsed. His head split open and an…. armored slug emerged. It slithered under his clothes, and when the heroes sought to capture or kill it, it pushed back into Norm via his navel.

Combining the pile of children’s belongings and the notes about infant mortality seemed to indicate that… something bad had been happening in the Rankford area for some years.

Avoiding the noises from the sub-basement, our heroes felt it was perhaps time to head back to town. As they approached, a concerning pillar of smoke was discovered to be emerging from the Mitte.

Arriving in town, the heroes found near-panic. Mons Millmaster and his minions had, it seems, waited for the heroes to leave town, then had started a fire at the Grey Wolf Inn, perhaps as a distraction, then emerged from within the Watchtower. The fought and killed Pearl and Stem, hanging their bodies, by way of threat, from the upper windows of the Watchtower. Lex Walters was injured but not killed. The Temple of Gond was burned down its bare structure. No hint of what may have happened to Fatbeak.

The fires were extinguished. Eventually, the heroes secured the entrances to the subterranean passes they were aware of in Mitte, at the Watchtower and at the Taledo’s.

Asking around, Carly was aware that there had been a number of infant deaths. She seemed to think that was normal. That the frontier was a dangerous place, and there had always been a high percentage of infant deaths. She named a half-dozen or so families who had lost infant children over the past 24 months.

Norm, after a full rest awakened. He reported that he understood that there was this creature inside him, and that was just fine. The creature was a hatchling kruthik, and would serve as his new familiar. And that, perhaps, he now might be able to communicate with other kruthiks, based on his bond with this one, which had presumably been implanted in him by the large adult kruthik that had confronted the party at Fort Midway.

The heroes seemed angered by the actions of Millmaster, and wanted revenge. However, they sought to shore up local defenses, and realized that there had been traditionally a method for the northern reaches of the Rankford environs, the Commune and Mitte all to communicate: via signal towers. They helped to refurbish the tower atop the Grey Wolf Inn. Two party members were sent to the Collective, to check-in and to re-establish the signal tower there. A protocol of watching and responding to “keep alive” messages was determined; at sunup, midday and sundown an “All OK” message would be sent. A few basic types of messages were agreed upon, including “Are you OK?”, “We need help,” “All OK,” and “Stay Away.”

The next step would be to reinstate the signal tower that used to exist atop the Old Mill. And perhaps, simultaneously, signal Azan the ranger to see what help he might provide.

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TSM Update: We’ve got to stop meeting like this

IN OUR LAST SESSION….

…. umm, how about a quick recap before we revisit this week’s game?

Our heroes had gone to Fort Midway as a remote spot where Garl Morningmoon could be interrogated, after Eeger had unexpectedly left town, presumably to meet with Marver, the Warden. However, at Fort Midway they were very quickly besieged by two — no three — forces. Mons Millmaster’s mill workers met up with a force of lumberjacks, organized initially by a bald human necromancer, and over the course of several hours assaulted the Fort, intending to capture or kill the heroes.

After the first assault failed, the two groups were joined by a third group of mostly orcs, seemingly led by ogres. The next assault was more coordinated, and grew to include zombies raised by the necromancer. Zombies who had been warriors slain by the heroes in the previous assault.

The heroes fought valiantly, destroying a makeshift siege wagon and slaying an ice dragon, along with many, many foes. Just as the forces of evil began to finally prevail, yet another force arrived on the scene: the dog-to-horse-sized kruthiks, who swept through the battlefield, making short order of those who did not flee.

A tense standoff then took place between the heroes and the kruthiks, who swarmed around the heroes, but seemed, under the mental direction of the largest of them, to be … waiting for something? Trying to communicate something? The standoff seemed poised on a knife’s edge, when someone at the base of the hill began to shout, attracting the kruthik’s attention. As they rushed to eat(?) this new party, the heroes were lured down to an escape hatch in the keep’s kitchen, which led via a muddy tunnel to a ledge halfway between the walls of the Fort and the basin of an old abandoned quarry. Lieber Longshanks, Farley Gleamsilver, Stem Followill and Lex Walters helped the heroes escape via a wagon in the quarry. The distracting figure that had taunted the kruthiks was presumably an illusion created by the sage Dirac, at the insistence of Marg and Lieber.

Our heroes learned, though, that Carly, who had provided them some initial support, had not returned. They were approached by a sullen elven lumberjack who claimed that Marver had Carly, but would free her if “they could work out a deal.” A meeting with Marver and the heroes was scheduled.

IN OUR LAST SESSION…

…. (for real) our heroes met with Marver at the crossroads. Marver was accompanied by Mons Millmaster and two dwarven millmen, two elven lumberjacks and two ogres. They produced Carly, bound, gagged and clearly not well-treated. Marver offered a chest full of thousands of gold that, with the promised release of Carly, was to be given to the heroes if they agreed to leave town and never return. The heroes declined. A fight ensued.

Norm magicked one of the elves, after being hit with a spear. Tia took out the other elf holding Carly. Norm moved in, grabbed Carly and took off, thinking that the plan was focused primarily on freeing her. The other heroes seemed more intent on defeating Marver. Unfortunately, with a mighty blow, one of the ogres took down Tovlakov. Marver, wielding a gleaming scimitar and his allies fell on Tia and Dain in numbers.

Tia used all of her warrior-wise to smash Marver again and again. The foes struggled to penetrate Dain’s armor, but he likewise struggled to make much of an impact on them.

So the fight went. After a few back-and-forth rounds, Norm returned and began to focus his attacks on Marver. Dain eventually fell. Tia and Norm continued to pound on Marver who moved from supremely confident to concerned to frightened to dead.

One of the ogres offered an exchange: “You keep girl, we keep gold!” Mons, realizing that suddenly he and his millmen were now facing the heroes alone, decided to retreat.

The heroes gathered up a wagon and five horses left by Marver, snatched up his corpse and items, and made their way to the Temple of Gond, where Pearl saw to Tovlakov, Dain and Carly.

The citizens of Rankford once again celebrated the heroes’ success. Dirac was brought forward and, reluctantly, conferred upon Tia the title of Warden, and on Norm the title of Sheriff.

Among Marver’s possessions was the magic scimitar (a weapon that Pearl insisted not be brought into her church), and a quite powerful Spellguard Shield. Also, he possessed a ruby ring of office (now worn by Tia) and a large key, presumably to the Warden’s office. As the session ended, the party, having borrowed a pony to go with the three riding horses they’d liberated from Marver, were traveling east on the Starwater Road toward the former demesne of the Warden.

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TSM Update: The Long Night

IN OUR LAST SESSION…

…our heroes took a few moments to catch their breath, while the enemy outside did the same.  The heroes made some preparations, reinforcing the western door and eastern gate, building a flammable trap using oil, coal and wood at the front passage.

Reinforcements added to the threat facing the heroes.  It seemed to include several large, fierce creatures who, after getting the foes in line, took charge of the operation.  Construction began outside on what proved to be a covered platform on wheels.  Threats began to be issued by one of the new bosses, hurled at the heroes.

An odd bird seemed to grow in the eastern sky and ultimately revealed itself as a flying mechanical shape which landed rather heavily on the aerie at the top of the keep.  Inside was Carly.  She indicated that Rankford knew of the danger that the heroes were in.  They (she mentioned Marg and Gleamsilver) were trying to ascertain how they might help.  Thad mentioned that he knew that Dirac, the Sage was hiding out in the basement of the long-abandoned brothel.  A group, apparently, stormed over, confronted Dirac and demanded that he help out.  Presumably with great reluctance, he provided the vehicle that Carly had just arrived in (a Greater Apparatus of Kwalish) and also an item he called a Wand of Wondrous Might.  Carly turned the Wand over, as well as 4 healing potions provided by Pearl.  She encouraged the heroes to hold out until morning.  That the Purple Dragons were on the way!  She then took off once again in the strange Apparatus, harried almost immediately by a giant bird, similar to the one that Tia had driven off on Pearl’s arrival.

A mysterious low fog slowly swept through the fortress.  As it cleared, the heroes discovered that the bodies of the foes slain in the first wave of attacks had disappeared.

After a brief period of respite, the battle reignited.  Literally!  The front gate burst into a shower of flames and debris.  Whatever force had tried to hammer through the entrance had apparently set off the waiting tinder keg the heroes had put in their way.  Simultaneous with that dramatic show, smaller groups began trying to slip through the side entrances.  An extended running battle then began, with the heroes falling back into the keep, holding the stairs as they had done successfully at the Southeast Tower, and mostly firing from above.  The ballista was employed against the enemy, very successfully at two occasions: first against the wooden platform, destroying it and killing several inside; secondly against a great wingless wyrm the new captains tried to deploy, slaying it as it blasted its cold breath toward the still-flaming gate.

The Wand of Wondrous Might, wielded by Norm was… unpredictable.  It was as likely to impose a negative circumstance on the wielder as it was to turn him invisible or to… fire a stream of gems uselessly.

The mage from the first wave showed up on the rampart.  He held aloft an item on a gold chain and with a gesture and a word, the unliving corpses of those claimed by the creeping fog emerged from the earth and began to assault the keep.  His Magic Missiles also struck grievously at the heroes.

More and more of the enemy swept into the fortress and assaulted the heroes, who were now steadfastly defending the last bastion: the keep.  The ballista proved a great weapon, but of little utility against individuals.  Dain Skullcrusher managed to hold the stairs against many foes, demonstrating over and over again how he came by his surname. Eventually, though, a raging Northman struck Dain a mighty blow and bravely pushed on past him.  His allies, emboldened, did the same.

The fight then moved to the second floor of the Keep, and the greater numbers of the foes began to take a toll.  Dain was able to drive away some of the summoned undead, but the heroes began to fall, one after the other.  Norm’s invisibility, and the arrival of a new force into the melee were the only routes to salvation.

A horde of chitinous, spider-like creatures of unusual size swept into the Fort from the north.  They attacked in groups and quickly mowed down the enemy that the heroes could see.  The party, each rejuvenated by healing potions were able to slip away in the midst of chaos to the roof of the keep, and secure the lone hatch.  From above, they watched the route of the forces arrayed against the heroes by these crab-like beings.  Huddling in silence, they witnessed the new creatures feed on the corpses of those who had sought to take the heroes down.  Those survivors outside the gates seemingly fled before this unexpected menace.

The heroes are concealed on the roof of the keep, crossing their fingers and catching their breath, while the crab-things feed and a single persistent crab scratches from below at the hatch.

Dawn is at least an hour away.

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TSM Update: Knock Knock

IN OUR LAST SESSION….

…just as our heroes were settling into the Purple Dragon’s fortress in the forest, albeit after poor Garl had an unfortunate stumble off the roof of a two story building, some new friends showed up.

The fortress is mostly made up of a high stone wall with a “front door” facing the road and a large main gate facing east, anchored by towers in each cardinal corner, and a single large keep in the center of the enclosed court. There’s also a stable, a small office building, an outhouse, a small door in the western wall, and various storage areas. A heavy hoist is mounted to the wall on the northern end. The northern wall overlooks a great pit or something hundreds of feet below. The ground along the western and (especially) the eastern walls has eroded over time and is precarious and unpredictable. There is little to no walkway left outside the northern wall.

The main keep inside the fortifications seems to serve as a garrison, mess hall and defense-of-last-resort for some previous soldiery. Atop the keep’s roof, a great ballista was found, alongside a stack of huge wooden bolts topped with hammered steel bolt heads. As is the case with each of the 4 towers, large barrels of oil stand here, next to an iron cauldron, and small barrels of arrows are deployed across the surface.

A catwalk ties the four towers together at the top of the crenelated fortress wall. Each tower is made up of a 2-story circular staircase, with barrels of spears and arrows at the intermediate landing and a trap door at each level, secured from above. A trap door and staircase inside a bulge in the wall separates the inner and outer doors in the western wall and allows access to the catwalk.

The office building in the northwest corner of the fortress is comprised of a single windowless room featuring a desk scattered with papers and a few books, and a single bed and footlocker.

Along the back (northern wall) are an outhouse privy, the hoist, and a pile of coal and firewood. From atop the northern wall, Tovlakov spotted a ledge a hundred or so feet below, and the remnants of a rope ladder descending from it. There was no obvious way to reach the ledge short of a dismayingly difficult climb. The privy at the back of the fortress is literally just three walls, a door and a large hole in the ground with a great drop beneath it.

As the morning wore on, two groups seemed to be converging on the road. One made mostly of elves, dressed in leathers and carrying axes from the west, another, mostly dwarves with hammers and heavy axes from the east. Here and there were individuals in armor, and the occasional torch-bearing Man. Keeping the peace and seemingly in charge of these two mobs was a human, bald-headed and robed. He brazenly approached the front gate and began to bang on it and call within. He was not welcomed inside. As the two mobs gathered together to form a single fighting force, the bald man revealed himself to be a wizard of some stripe, and caused the front door to be unbarred and opened. The heroes inside set about defending the fortress, mostly working from the battlements, casting spells, firing arrows and holding the southwest tower from those who made it inside and attempted to storm upwards. A ladder was employed, mostly unsuccessfully. Small groups attacked the eastern and western doors, those on the east quite unsuccessfully, given the pit trap uncovered there. Those doors though, were shattered under axe blows. One attacker made it through the western gate and pounded the trap door open leading to the catwalk there.

At one point the rival wizard instantiated a green glowing hound which assaulted Norm, but which eventually disapparated.

By the end of the session, the initial attack had been smashed. The rival wizard had faded back to his mob, which had been diminished by approximately one-third. The enemy was still encamped outside the fortress, seemingly gathering their collective breath and considering the next assault.

Morning is still a few hours away.