On returning to Daggers
Falls, the party were invited to dinner with Randall Morn who had a favour to
ask them. An old friend of his Lord Nanther of Melvaunt wished to hire some
adventurers, he didn't want to use any local talent who might be compromised by
the cut-throat politics between the Great Houses in Melvaunt. The party agreed
to help and next day set out for Hillsfar, where after selling the furniture
from the Mysterious Tower, they took passage for Melvaunt.
Melvaunt
On arrival they presented themselves before Lord Nanther who advised then he
would pay 1000 pp for the return of his son Oreal, who had gone missing a
couple of weeks ago along with four other scions of the Great Houses. The party
then headed off into the city and took rooms at the Crow's Nest. They spent the
next few days investigating the disappearances and managed to discover that the
youngsters had been hanging out with Dorn Crownshield, a grizzled dwarven
adventurer. They also found out that one of the missing scions had been
bragging about a treasure map he'd obtained. Further investigation revealed
that on the night of the last day any of them were seen a party of six cloaked
adventurers left the north gate heading for the orc kingdoms of Thar.
Deciding to follow this lead up, the party were on their way to purchase
supplies for the trip to the treacherous moorlands of Thar, when they were
jumped by a bunch of thugs. They were sorely pressed for a time with Nym and
Seladrin both being badly injured, not to mention Ramas taking himself out with
a sleep spell! However eventually the thugs were disposed off and once
Nystrae's healing magic had been called on again, two passing dwarf mercenaries
working for house Bruil identified the thugs as bravos working for House
Leiygraghon, mortal enemies of House Nanther. The dwarves also advised them
that if they'd drawn the attention of House Leiyraghon, best get out of town
quickly.
After purchasing supplies, this is exactly what the party did, heading through
the North gate along the road to Glister. A couple of days later they turned
off the Glister road following a track that headed north into the
foreboding moorlands of Thar. Some tow days crossing the moorland later they
came across signs of a battle. After an owlbear that had been feeding on the
remains had been disposed off, they found among the orc slain the body of a
grizzled dwarf ! After scouting around,
Seladrin found a trail or orcs leading captives heading deeper into Thar.
Thar
Following the trail of the
captives the party continued footslogging across the wintry moorlands of Thar.
As they settled down for another cold camp, and the full moon peeped
occasionally from behind the heavy snow-swollen clouds, Nym took the
first watch accompanied by the faint howling of wolves in the background.
Suddenly out of the darkness two large wolves bounded and attacked her. Calling
out to her sleeping friend for aid, she desperately defended herself as one of
the wolves teeth raked her. Roused from sleep her comrades rushed to her
aid, finding to their horror that their weapons seemed strangely ineffective
against the ferocious beasts, save for Senella, whose might axe carved it's
usual path of destruction, but not before Seladrin too was bitten by the
beasts. As the wolves were finally slain, the second by Nystrae's Turn
Lycanthrope ability, her worst fears were realised as they slain wolves
transformed into human form. They had been attacked by werewolves and two of
her comrades had been bitten! Calling on the power of her moon-goddess Nystrae
quickly ascertained that although Seladrin was clear of the creatures taint,
Nym had been infected. As Ramas headed back to sleep , and Randall and Senella
secured the perimeter, Seladrin and Nystrae pondered what to do to help Nym.
Belladonna might help, but the chance of finding any on time on this remote
moorland in the deep of winter was remote. Briefly they considered returning to
Melvaunt to find a cleric powerful enough to "Remove Disease" or cast
"Heal" to remove the affliction, however Nystrae recalled a ritual
that she might be able to use to remove the curse, however it must be
undertaken the following night on the last phase of the full moon. After
an uneventful day's march, they rested and prepared to attempt to remove the
curse of lycanthropy from Nym. Nym, boosted by what magics the party could
provide to boost her will power stood by as Nystrae attempted to remove the
curse - fortunately successfully!
Moving on next day, the came across a small orc encampment, and after combating
the orcs and their dire-boar pet ( which nearly managed to gore Seladrin to
death, after which he took great delight in butchering it for additional
supplies) they again rested, and Nym again volunteered to take first watch.
This time however as just as she settled into her guard routine, two shambling
ogre zombies attacked Shouting to rouse her comrades, Nym attacked. Nystrae,
roused from sleep, managed to turn one of the foul creatures, whilst her
comrades swiftly disposed of the other.
After another day's uneventful travel, as they settled that evening
their campfire was approached by Haravak,
a suspicious half-orc ranger, who told them he'd been hunting a couple
of werewolves. After the party told him they'd slain the unfortunates, he
relaxed and volunteered information that if orcs had taken hum an captives
they'd be taking them to Xul Jarik a ruined citadel that an up-an-coming orc
warlord was refurbishing, he even pointed them in the right direction and
offered a possible way it, through a hole in the west wall! A couple of
days later, the party arrived at the forbidding fortress of Xul Jarik, noticing
as the did the huge orc army camped a couple of miles to the north-east of the
fortress.
Xul Jarik
Moving cautiously up the
slope to the collapsed wall , the party made their way into the fortress under
cover of the ubiquitous fog. Skirting around the sleeping wyvern in the
courtyard, they swiftly made their way into the west wing of the fortress,
which turned out to be the diplomatic quarters. After slaughtering their way
through the various emissaries and bodyguards there, they eventually barged
into the ruined splendour of the Hall of the Orc King - currently the domain of
Vhazror the Orc Warlord’s Champion. Vhazror and his honour guards, including an
ogre immediately engaged the intruders, who fanned out in the room. As they did
so cleaving through his honour guards, Vhazror uttered an eerie cry, summoning
his wyvern from the front courtyard. A brutal combat ensued, fairly even at
first until the wyvern joined the fray as first Nystrae and then Nym fell to
it’s poisoned stinger, eventually hover the scaly beast was destroyed after
which it did not take long for the surviving comrades to despatch its master.
After surveying the wreckage of their first foray into Xul Jarik, the party decided
they had taken too great a loss to continue onwards, and after a brief debate
decided to return to Melvaunt and use the treasure looted from the emissaries
to have their comrades raised.
Once Nym and Nystrae had
been raised, the party decided to return with all haste to Xul Jarik. A day
from the dread fortress they again ran into Haravak who told them of the furore
they’d caused and congratulated them on slaying Vhazror. Arriving at the
fortress, they had a brief meeting with
Esselios, Kara’s raven familiar who told them his mistress (and
presumably the other) was in a cave beneath the fortress. Shortly thereafter,
they discovered the orcs had placed guards on the broken wall and erected a
crude barricade, however this proved little impediment to Randall and Senella,
and once again the party were within the confines of the foreboding Xul Jarik.
Moving through the complex, disposing of orc guards as they went, Nym
discovered a secret door in the kitchen that led downwards.
They descended cautiously to
the level below and after despatching the orc guards there, discovered a
stairway leading further down and the huge double doors of what was apparently
the tomb of an orc king. Ignoring the tomb they descended the second staircase,
discovering on this level, two underground rivers that met and fell into a huge
sinkhole – this level contained dozens of niches, in each was a sarcophagus
containing the remains of an orc warrior. Senella discovered a secret door
behind a statue.
Deciding to forego investigation
of the secret door (for the simple reason no-one could find a way to open it!).
The party decided to return to re-investigate the keep. As they moved up
through the tomb level they paused to re-examine the doors of the tomb, but Nym
could find no means of opening them - there did not appear to be a lock yet
they were fast shut. In the ruined Hall of the Orc Kings above, they came
across a group of orc guards
puzzling over where their
fellow guards they'd come to relieve were, a brief assault by Senella and
Randall soon ensured that they joined their missing colleagues - buried under
the piles of rubble !!!
After sorting out a proper
order of march - Ramas being a stickler for protocol (learned at the court of
the pharaoh) and assuming the regulation 4th position as befits a cleric/mage
of Anhur. Heading up to the upper level of the keep, they found themselves in a
hallway two doors, fitted with heavy bolts led out to the ramparts while a third
door led into the keep. Seladrin crept forward, and listening at the doors,
determined there were large numbers of orcs out on the ramparts - Ramas,
calling on his long military experience (having a general for a daddy's got to
come in useful sometime! ) advised that the bulk of the orc guards were
probably on the ramparts or in the gate-towers. Heeding this advice, Nym crept
forward and oiling the bolts carefully with some lamp oil the guards on the
ramparts were locked out! Moving to the inner door the party reverted to their
normal "kick and rush" approach as Nystrae and Senella charged in to
find two orc spearfighters and warriors, who did not survive long against their
onslaught. Beyond, in what was once Vhrazor's bedroom, they found a locked
chest, which when opened still contained some of Vhrazor's treasure which was
swiftly looted !
While Nym and Ramas looted
the treasure and the other warily watched through the hole in the floor for4
signs of activity below, Seladrin moved forward into the next room,
unfortunately causing a section of weakened floor to collapse, pitching her
onto the jagged rubble below. As the ranger cleaned herself off an downed a
potion, Nym and Randall engaged two orc archers, who'd come to investigate the
noise, exchanging arrows. After the archers had been disposed off, the party
quickly ascertained that the rest of the keep was empty, and locking and
bolting the remaining doors to the ramparts, re-descended to the lower
dungeons, where Senella swiftly broke through the secret door.
Descending the staircase
Randall moved swiftly forward to only to fall foul of an 4 orc brutes and a
worg which managed to force him to the
ground. As his colleagues rallied around engaging the orcs. Randall finally
managed to get to his feet a deliver a killing blow to the enraged worg after
which Nystrae called on the power of Elistraee to heal his wounds. Having
dispatched the orc guards, Seladrin and Nystrae spread out rapidly to secure
the hallway on this level. While Ramas watched on, Nym moved to check the three
sets of double doors (discovering that two were locked with no obvious locking
mechanism) while Senella searched for any other secret doors, but found none.
Deciding not to risk the stairs down, eventually Senella went through the
single unlocked door, Beyond was a hellish scene as orcs toiled at forges in
heat and smoke forging weapons for the army above. Before she could react
further, the orog overseer spotted her and, flying into a berserk rage,
attacked with his double-axe. As Senella and the orog went toe-to-to the orc
smiths grabbed up their falchions and moved to assist the orog, just as
Senella's comrades moved to aid her. As Nystrae and Randall moved forward to
engage, Nym and Seladrin started peppering the orcs with arrows and
Ramas unleashed the fury of his powerful magicks - putting two of the orcs to
sleep! Unseen by the party however one warrior moved through a curtain at the
back of the room- apparently fleeing the combat.
Before such an onslaught the orog and his orc compatriots could do little save
die one by one, and it was not long before the part were stripping the
corpses of the fallen of useful items, while Ramas "secured" the
unconscious prisoners, thoughtfully leaving them a short note in orcish
advising them of the best course for their future well-being.
Finally moving through the curtained area beyond they found a storage area
where raw iron ore and finished weapons were stored, leading off this area was
a passageway leading downwards, which the party immediately made a bee-line
for. At the end of the passageway an unpleasant surprise waited them! The orc
who'd "fled" the forge-room had roused the guards on this level and
they were waiting for the party in serried ranks. As Senella reached the end of
the passageway she was attacked by fearsome tanarukks, backed up by archers. As
someone barked out orders in orcish it rapidly became apparent that there orcs
were well drilled and disciplined troops, and at first the orc forces seemed to
be prevailing, Senella falling to multiple blows from tanarukk greataxes. As
Randal stepped forward to stand over the body of his fallen colleague, Nystrae
stepped forwards to heal her. While Senella tried to get herself into a
tactically better position, Nym again rained death by arrow on the assembled
orc forces as Ramas unleashed his "pyramids of doom". Eventually,
however the party started to gain the
upper-hand and started carving their way through the orc forces, despite the
best efforts of the orc adept's healing and the orc sergeant feeding his
tanarukk heading potions. Last to fall was the adept and her two barbarian
bodyguards.
Moving deeper into the
lowest level of the dungeons beneath Xul Jarik the sound of drumming and
orcish chanting was heard in the distance. Splitting up, Ramas discovered the
area where the missing scions had been held, Nystrae found the orc shaman's
quarters and Senella almost stumbled straight into the Temple of Gruumsh, where
she discovered the Bloodspear Ritual in full swing, the human captives
bound to pillars. The entire ritual being overseen by an orog in glowing full
plate, as a cleric chanted.
Ramas, Nystrae and Seladrin cast their buffing spells, both Ramas and Seladrin
casting "enlarge person" while Senella downed some potions before
launching into battle. The Tanarukk guards were targeted first. As Seladrin and
Senella worked through the guards who fell swiftly as Nystrae and Ramas moved
to intercept the orc shaman before he could slaughter the prisoners. As his
guards and cleric fell, the orog warlord downed a potion of haste and moved to
the fray, swinging his great maul ferociously.
The enlarged Seladrin was first to fell the orog's wrath as the warlord landed
a series of mighty blows, as the wood elf fell, Nystrae moved to heal him and
Ramas and Senella engaged. Furious blows were traded Ramas until eventually as
Senella fell, the warlord withdrew through the curtain to an antechamber. As
Nystrae moved to heal her fallen comrade, Ramas and Seladrin followed the orog,
discovering him attempting to consume a potion of cure critical wounds - an
arrow from Seladrin rudely interrupting him.
With the orog warlord slain, Nystrae and Senella moved to free the
captives who were pathetically grateful, having been minutes from a gruesome
end. Ramas and Seladrin began searching the antechamber, discovering to their
horror, the orog's pet basilisk - both cried for assistance, but a fraction of
a second later both were tuned to stone! As Nystrae and Senella rushed to their
comrades aid, Nystrae too fell victim to the basilisk's green gaze, however
before the onslaught of Senella's axe the aged creature was soon dealt with.
With the help of the rescued scions the surviving party members managed to drag
their unfortunate colleagues out of the dungeons, and miraculously out of the
citadel, without drawing the attention of the guards still blissfully unaware
they'd been locked out on the battlements.
The long trek back to Melvaunt was complicated somewhat by having to lug three
statues around, but eventually the city was reached. House Nanther paid the
1000 pp for the safe return of Olgar, and the other great Houses also offered
gifts for the return of their members. A local wizard was contracted to reverse
the effects of the basilisk's state and a week of partying and shopping ensued
before the time came to return to Daggers Falls.