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!
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!
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