NORVIK: SESSION ELEVEN

Tarsakh 28

Chapter One: Ambush at Falcon’s Peak

After the final battle with the undead and the escape of Millard, the party was left in control of the fortress, all of the bandits now dead or escaped. Angles busied himself freeing and tending to the dozen or so slaves, while the rest of the party released the captives that were being held for ransom. They consisted of a Norvik merchant’s daughter (Nartan, of Nartan’s Foods), four traveling merchants, a elf from the dark forest named Bowrun, and a curious scruffy gnomish type named Carsra who claimed to be a fighter, yet suspiciously knew quite a bit about setting traps and such as he and Ephros boobytrapped the illusionary shaft from the roof (in case Millard still lived and tried to return by that route).
While getting the keep ready to ambush Kervis, Galgadayle had an interesting conversation with Bowrun, who was an escaped slave living in S'Ardeep within the Dark Forest (Galgadayle's birthplace). He told Galadayle he knew his parents, having escaped slavery from pirates with them, and asked if Galgadayle had talked to them recently....Galgadayle seemed reluctant to talk of his parents and his life before being apprenticed to the druid who raised him and was then destroyed by the "Dark Druid" that rampaged through the Dark Forest. Mentally, Galgadayle made a note he had to contact them at some point to let them know what had happened to his mentor and to himself in the months since the attack.
The party conferred, and decided to search the keep top to bottom, then prepare to ambush the returning Kervis and his bandit group. Arcus found some notes on the desk of Millard which seemed to indicate Kervis was seeking out a priest of Mallorn to help bypass the wards on the lower level to search for treasure (as the tomb was a holy temple consecrated to Mallorn, any priest of the God of Death would probably help them for free if they found one). As the fate of Millard was also uncertain, Galgadayle sent his owl and wolf out to search nearby , but when they returned they said they had found no sign of any humans. Traps were set by Ephros and Carsra, and guards were posted, but no one came that evening…although the morning came and Carsra had disappeared. Again Galgadayle sent his wolf out, and Carsra was found in a tree about half a mile away, a perfect perch for observing Falcon’s Peak. The gnome’s motives were a mystery, one the party vowed to follow up on later, after the planned ambush of Kervis.
The party divided up, with Argois, Korgaard, Arcus and Angles on top the roof manning the ballistas, and the rest of the party below. Disconcertingly, sounds from the lower level could be heard through the floor, and belatedly the party realized they had placed on guards or traps on the tomb level or cave entrance! Galgadayle and his animals snuck down to the cave entrance, only to find the returning orc hunting party butched, cut to pieces with sharp weapons. Galgadayle did not wish to go any further, and reported this to everyone up above. Speculation went nowhere; either Kervis and his followers had snuck into the lower level, or something else had come upon and slaughtered their orc foes!
Meanwhile, on the roof, a speck in the sky appeared and began slowly lowering itself over the roof. Manning the ballista, the rooftop warriors were happy to see it was the flaming, floating skull Chester, who had gotten bored in town and decided to try and find his friends to help them out. He had flown as high as he could until he finally made out the keep on the cliff, and was happy to see them. He related that back in the village, the bandits had been hung on the morning; unfortunately, the bard Reppar had escaped with ANOTHER village wench he had cajoled and charmed into freeing him….both had ridden off after the wench distracted Chester with her large “funbags” (he added, quite embarrassed) and slipped a spare key to Reppar. Dismissing any further trouble from Reppar, Korgaard said his shitty bard skills would undoubtedly serve him ill in the future, and if they ran into him again he would be no problem to dispatch.
Later that day, it began to lightly rain, and with no sun showing through the clouds the gloomy setting began to get on the party’s nerves, along with the unexplained noises from below. Ephros set a trap atop the opening to the lower levels with a cask of oil that was located in the storeroom…any lifting of the opening would cause a spark to set the cask aflame, resulting in a very nasty firebomb. Anyone coming up from below would be in for quite a surprise!
Soon, figures appeared on the path leading up to the front door of the keep. It was as group of what appeared to be men…but they move oddly. As they got closer, they realized that the 18 figures were zombies, possibly sent by the priest of Mallorn to assault the keep. However, there appeared to be no way in for the undead, and soon they shambled up to the front door and stood there, beating ineffectually on the wooden gate. Casting a Detect Evil spell from the roof, Angles examined the group and noted several spots of very intense evil….unusual for common undead such as zombies. Ephros and Vaerlon were in the small entry hall when suddenly it went black…Continual Darkness had been cast! A scraping sound was heard and something opened up, a cue for Ephros and Vaerlon to abandon the room and go into the keep proper, barring the door and awaiting any foes.
Above, the party noted the magical darkness, and Arcus sent a Fireball down into the zombies midst. A magical fog had also sprunt up making vision difficult, but after the Fireball had disapated the fog, only a few zombie bodies were visible. Suddenly it became obvious, Kervis and his minions had disguised themselves as zombies to get them close, then entered a previous undiscovered secret door to get inside the keep! At that realization, the entrance to the roof flew open and a bandit dressed in zombie rags attempted to come up. A quick thinking Arcus cast Grease on the opening, causing the fighter to fall down the shaft with a scream. Moments later, Argois was struck repeatedly by a until-then invisible, levitating fighter…Kervis! Now visible, powerful looking, and armed with a glowing scimitar, he called out death to the ones who had killed his brother. Chester tried to breathe on him, but all this did was show Kervis’ immunity to fire as he batted the floating skull away. Korgaard cast Mirror Image as Argois advanced to face off against the evil fighter.

Chapter Two: Battles Above and Below

Inside, the party could hear the fake-zombies banging against the outside of the barred interior door, giving them a few minutes to prepare. At that moment, a huge explosion shook the room (and the lower floor of the keep!) as something from below had set off the trap! Ephros, Galgadayle and the elf Bowrun grabbed their weapons and ran into the storeroom, where stinging smoke and flame greeted them. The saw the trapdoor to below blown open, and a few pieces of humanoid type limbs strewn around. Venturing a glance below, their eyes were met by several eyeless, pale humanoid creatures wielding blades….Grimlocks, Bowrun called out, being familiar with the underground evil beings! They began advancing one by one up the metal ladder bolted to the side of the shaft, as Ephros and Bowun got ready to repel their advance. Galgadayle cast a Heat Metal on the ladder hoping to slow or kill them, as a crash from outside indicated the bandits had finally broke through the inner door.
Inside, bandits began to enter the central room, and engaged in combat. One was charmed and sent to the door to block the entrance. But he fell to the ground, stone dead with blood spurting from his mouth, as the words “Die!” came from the darkness soon followed by a priest of Mallorn, who had cast a Slay Living. Covered with the skinned flesh of a victim still dripping blood and gore, the evil priest that had been hired by Kervis to investigate the tombs below was only too happy to attack and kill the violaters of the Mallorn holy grounds. Whispering words of evil, death and pain, the priest cast a successful Hold Person on Galgadayle who had re-entered the room, leaving only Vaerlon and Waqsted to battle the emerging bandits and the priest, as well as a fully healed Millard who also entered from the Continual Darkness of the entry room.
On the roof, the battle became dire as Kervis held off both Korgaard and Argois, showing great expertise with his glowing scimitar. Bonebats flew up the shaft, obviously sent by the Mallorn priest, but Angles managed to turn them. The Grease spell on the entrance managed to keep all but one of the bandits from climbing up, and the one that did get up was harried by Chester as he breathed fire on him again and again, causing him into defensive actions. Angles attempted a Hold Person on Kervis only to find he was also immune to them, leaving only Korgaard and Argois’s weapons and a few of Arcus’ spells against the skilled fighter. The battle raged for quite awhile, Kervis slowly wearing down Argois and Korgaard, and slowly getting worn down himself as he was struck by their swords. Angles took Korgaard’s place as the bard had to cure himself at one point, and Angles took quite a few nasty blows but managed to strike the fighter several times himself. Finally, Argois struck the killing blow on Kervis as both he and Angles were gravely injured, just as Chester set the other bandit aflame and he fell to his death off the side to his doom. The roof was secure!
Inside the storeroom, Ephros and Bowrun managed to hold off the Grimlocks as Galgadayle’s Heat Metal caused many to drop screaming off the metal ladder. Ephros abandoned the battle to come out a side door and strike the Mallorn priest from behind, helping out Waqsted who was engaging the cleric in battle. The priest counter attacked with a dagger that glowed a sickly black color, a “shadowblade” which many Mallorn priests carry that is inhabited by a trapped Shadow. He struck Ephros with it which sapped his strength, but soon Ephros and Waqsted had finished off the priest as Vaerlon killed the other bandits and joined the combat.
However, Millard used a Hold Person spell to great effect, zapping both Waqsted and Vaerlon, leaving they plus Galgadayle held in place. At that point, with only Ephros there to combat him, Galgadayle’s animal companions entered the fray! Galgdayle’s wolf began savaging the mage’s arm, ruining a spell he was casting at Ephros, as the wolverine went for Millard’s privates. Screaming in pain and surprise, Millard managed to paralyze the wolverine with his Wand of Paralyzation, but the animals had given Ephros an opening and he quickly stabbed the mage to death from behind.
At this, the battle was over, except for the grimlocks who still swarmed below, trying to get up the now-cooling ladder. Arcus made it down in time to place a well-aimed blast from his Wand of Steam down the shaft, killing about a dozen and causing the rest to flee. After venturing down cautiously, the party found only dead Grimlocks and a earlier undiscovered hole into a underdark tunnel, which had been covered by a now-moved bier. The adventurers speculated that by killing the undead in the level below the earlier day, they had taken away the guardians that had obviously kept the sightless vermin from swarming up their hole on earlier occasions. Again covering the hole, the party blocked the door to the room and hoped to be long gone before any repeat attack from the Grimlock’s materialized!
After healing up and searching the bodies of the dead evil trio and the bandits, the party gathered up what treasure they could, along with Millard’s books and papers and spellbook, and along with the rescued slaves and hostages, left the evil of Falcon’s Peak behind as they resolved to spend the night in the woods rather than another evening in the keep. With a few hours marching, they could make it to Hap by the time dusk fell and with any luck be enjoying a few “on the house” ales while bandaging their wounds and dividing the bounty of treasure and magic they had aquired!

NORVIK: SESSION TEN

Tarsakh Day 27

Chapter One: The Assault Below

Early the next day the party brough back Reppar and the other bandits to Hap to meet justice, and got a pleasant surprise: Ephros and Argois were at the village, they had left Norvik soon after their obligations were finished, and managed to catch the party’s trail up until Hap, where they met Chester out of town holed up in a empty tree trunk. Chester appraised them of the situation and they were awaiting the party’s return, where they could then hook up. Being briefed on the current situation, they joined the party (minus Chester, who stayed behind to chase field mice) and headed for the location of Falcon’s Peak.

Led by Shrops and another charmed bandit, the adventurers worked their way through the woods to the cliffs where Falcon’s Peak lay. Coming upon it, they noticed a dilapidated old keep atop a steep cliffside, with one small track leading up to it. Having learned from the captured and charmed bandits of a “cave system” that the orcish bandits lived in, they resolved to find their way there, kill or capture the orcs, and see if they could find a way into the keep through some sort of lower level. Assaulting the keep was suicide, as they noticed three large ballista atop the keep well-manned by bandits, not to mention the huge locked wooden gates leading into the keep. A possibility of trickery gaining entrance was likewise discarded, in regard for all the things that could go wrong.
The party very slowly made their way to the cave complex, where they saw a large entrance with several large boulders rolled in front. Orcs with bows sat atop several of the boulders, and no other guards were seen. A plan was made…Shrops, the other bandit, and Waqsted would assault the boulders, while the rest of the party used spells and missile weapons to pick off the exposed archers. The attack was made, and the archers were quickly disposed off, and the party reached the boulders. A counter attack, however, awaited them as many more orcs were inside the cave. Plus, the orcish chief appeared at a formerly hidden cave entrance about 20 ft up the side of the cliff to pepper Arcus with poisoned arrows, fortunately missing him until he was entangled with a spell from Galgadayle that left him imprisoned in the vines covering the cave entrance.
Soon the orcs were killed, and a number of orcish women and children were taken prisoner inside. The charmed bandit began mistreating one orcish lady attempting to rape her, which caused them all to pull hidden knives and clubs and beat the offender to death, after which they attacked the party. The orcs fought to the death, as the party reluctantly slayed them all, but not before learning that an orcish hunting party was still out and was due back on the morrow.
Searching the back of the cave complex, the party found a large boulder which had been rolled into place, blocking a small cavern entrance. Moving the boulder out of the way, the party speculated what could be in the cavern behind the boulder…enough to scare the orcs so that they blocked it off! Proceeding cautiously, Korgaard was injured as a piercer fell from the ceiling to scrape his arm, and the creature was quickly finished off. Travelling across the cavern, the party discovered a sheer 15 foot drop leading into a wet murky chamber with several large boulders strewn about. As Korgaard and Vaerlon lowered themselves, suddenly movement was seen coming towards them…and both the adventurers found themselves on the ground retching at the sudden stench…five ghasts!

Chapter Two: The Evil Temple

Quickly, Ephros jumped down using his Ring of Feather Fall, as Galgadayle and Waqsted joined in. Arcus cast spells from the ledge into the fray, and the battle turned desperate as one by one the adventurers went down from paralysis by the ghast’s filthy claws. Argois fired arrow after arrow from the ledge, cutting down the foes, as Ephros also dodged paralysis. Soon, all the ghasts lay dead, and the rest of the party lowered themselves down to see what was in the chamber.
At the back of the chamber, a broken wall was found that lead into a burial chamber. Obviously, this was a lower level of the keep, one dedicated to the worship of the god of death, Mallorn, as evidenced by all the symbols of scythes. Searching several locked chambers, the party located tombs to Falcon’s head guard, advisor, wife and children, and mistress. Finally, they located the main worship area to Mallorn, which was filled with zombies as well as a pair of giant monstrous ogre zombies. The presence of evil caused even Angles to succumb to a reduced chance of turning the giant creatures, and the battle was on. Korgaard and Ephros managed to fell the monster zombies as the others were turned by Angles. Searching the tomb, a strange key was found around the neck of a idol to Mallorn inside the room. The key was taken as Angles went at the Mallorn image with his hammer, desecrating the image with several blows. Through a secret door sat another chamber with a skeleton atop a slab, holding a unique looking sword. Battling a swarm of Crawling Claws that attacked them, the party retrieved the sword, with Korgaard identified through his bardish lore as one “Falcon’s Claw”, the bandit Falcon’s legendray weapon. As well as being a Sword of Sharpness, the sword was rumored to hold a curse, so the blade was carefully wrapped and placed in Korgaard’s backpack for further study later. Besides a haunt of Falcon’s advisor, who was turned by Angles, the party found no other signs of life or unlife, and discovered a metal ladder built into a shaft leading upwards into what they figured would be the keep itself….Ephros as always was elected to do the sneaky work and climb the shaft to see what lay ahead!

Chapter Three: Inside the Keep

As Ephros reached the top, he realized he would be unable to move the trapdoor as something heavy rested upon it. Summoning Waqsted and Argois, they both managed to brace themselves at the top of the metal ladder and move the trapdoor open, causing a loud noise…..something had been resting atop it! Opening the door and looking around, through the gloom they could see a large cluttered storeroom filled with many boxes, casks and crates…possibley a storage area for the bandits of the keep. Jumping inside and hiding, Waqsted and Ephros hid among the boxes as a door opened and a bandit investigating the noise came inside. Quickly being killed by an Ephros backstab and dragged into hiding, the party one by one entered the room and hid amongst the supplies, awaiting their chance to look beyond the room.
A plan was formed, and the attack begun. Through one door, Arcus popped out and hit a group of started bandits with his Wand of Steam, causing six to die instantly from burns and antoehr three to fall to the ground in agony, barely alive. Through the other door, Angles held two more bandits, as Waqsted and Korgaard attacked. Galgadayle charmed one bandit and had him block the door so no one else would enter, and then charmed another to prevent his captain from drawing his sword! The charmed bandits added to the confusion of the bandits and soon the room was filled with dead and dying bandits. Korgaard and Angles secured a room full of cells which held hostages from the village of Hap, killing the rotund jailer in combat and telling the party they would return to release them. Another room held what appeared to be chests of treasure along with guard types, who were killed in combat with Waqsted and Ephros. Soon the entire level was secured, except for the mage leader of the group. Splitting into two groups, Argois, Arcus, Ephros and Waqsted went to capture or kill the mage while Korgaard, Galgadayle, Vaerlon and Angles went to the roof to secure it.
Quickly killing a Dire Wolf that guarded the corridor leading to the mage’s room, the party cautiously entered what appeared to be a combination office and bedroom. As everyone but Arcus moved ahead, a 10x10 section of the floor opened up, sending Ephros, Argois and Waqsted down a sliding passage to crash into a pitch black room far below. As they unsteadily got to their feet, they pulled out the Continual Light wand to see a gloomy chamber filled with bones, coffins and undead shadows flitting around. A gravelly voice behind them greated them, and they turned to face what looked like a wight! The undead creature announced he was indeed the bandit Falcon! He told his tale of hiding from the Duke’s forces 80 years earlier, only to become trapped below when the party mage died of a broken neck from the long slide down into the hidden room. Trapped with no escape, Falcon and his men turned to savagery, cannibalism and eventually starvation as they died, cursed by their evil to return as undead. The undead Falcon then welcomed the three to their fate, as he sprang to the attack, along with the almost a dozen shadows!!!
Meanwhile above, Arcus stood in shock as the party disappeared into the hole, but before he could act, a mage arose from behind a desk where he had hidden himself before springing the pit trap….Millard! He tried to cast a spell as Arcus fired a Magic Missile spell, ruining his spell and causing a now wounded Millard to fly straight up into the ceiling, which revealed to be an illusion leading to the roof of the keep! As Millard left the room, Arcus could hear screams from below, and debated what to do…
Meanwhile, on the roof, Korgaard, Vaerlon, Galgadayle and Angles made quick work of the few guards manning the ballista, only to be surprised as the flying Millard appeard out of a corner of the roof! Surprising them by flying through the illusionary section, Millard used a Web spell and shot after shot from a Wand of Paralyzation to hold them off, but was struck by missile weapons from Korgaard and Vaerlon as he hovered about the roof. Soon, injured and bleeding, Millard began flying at full speed away from the Keep, accompanied by arrows, sling bullets and more shot by the roof top party members. After a few strikes, Millard was seen wobbling and then crashing into some distant trees, but it was too far away to see if he had been killed or just injured.

Chapter Four: In the den of Falcon

Meanwhile, a desparate battle was being fought between the heavily outnumbered Argois, Ephros and Waqsted and the army of undead. Abandoning his weapons, Waqsted could only use a magical dagger he had as the undead could only be struck by silver or enchantment. Concentrating on the Falcon-wight over the shadows, the party reasoned they would be better served by taking out the more powerful undead first. Waqsted screamed as the wight struck him again and again, draining power and strength, but the strategy paid off as Ephros struck the killing blow against the draining dead. Unfortunately, at that point the shadows swarmed, sucking strength from the trio through strike after strike.
Above, Arcus waited several moments before committing to also sliding down the trap to help his companions, unfortunately hitting a bump and crashing to the bottom with a force that knocked him stunned for several minutes! Slowly, the adventurers one by one cut down the evil undead shadows, finally helped by Arcus as he unsteadily rose and cast several magic missle spells, and finally the strength draining undead with no more. Searching the chamber, the party came upon a bit of treasure, and as the other members of the party entered Millard’s room through the illusionary shaft, they were able to get their attention and have a rope lowered, so they could re-enter the world of light!
For the next few hours, wounds were bandaged, slaves and hostages were ministered to, and a strange keyhole was found in one corner of Millard’s chamber…one which opened to the touch of the key found in the tomb of Mallorn! Inside the hidden area sat treasure untouched from the days of Falcon, with potions, jewels, scrolls, rings and more….a just reward for the final destruction of the undead bandit, his minions, and the rescuing of the many prisoners!