Moat House Mayhem: A Close Call
It was day 20 of Ready'reat and the afternoon found us still buzzing from our previous encounter at the moat house. We were riding high on our victory against some of the moat house forces, but were very aware there could still be more waiting for us.
After a quick strategy session, it was clear that we needed to decide whether to push further into the moat house or head back to town with what we'd already accomplished. We decided against retreating because we knew that time was of the essence and the situation might change if we left. We also had reinforcements with us this time, and we were determined to put them to good use.
Our strategy was to use the enemy’s own tactics against them. Contristo, with his disguise skills, would don one of the enemy uniforms (thankfully, we found some that weren't too bloody) and lure the rest of them towards us by pretending that they were under attack. We set up a marching order for our group, much like we have in the past.
The plan was for Contristo to run up and call for reinforcements and then lead them back to our fortified position. We were concerned about a potential trap or ambush, so we decided to have a fail-safe in case Contristo's disguise failed. We organized our team so that some would be in a second rank and others a third, fourth and fifth rank.
We made sure Contristo had a crossbow and long sword to help with the disguise. One of our concerns was that there might be someone hidden at another entrance to the building. We discussed how to best handle the enemies once they arrived, considering whether to create a bottleneck or to surround them.
After a lot of discussion, we settled on a plan: We would lure them into the room and then ambush them, hopefully with some missile fire and oil. We had a bow, crossbows, and daggers for missile attacks. We were also considering using oil to turn them around and trap them.
It was then that we heard a shout from the west, calling for the "black wolf". This caused some confusion as to which direction was being referred to (east or west), but we quickly decided that meant they were coming from the east. Contristo yelled for help, using the code name. Zorla began banging her sword on her shield to create the sound of a fight, while Morwenna screamed as if she had been stabbed. A low hooting sound grew louder as our enemies approached.
We scrambled to get into position and Morwenna cast a bless spell to increase our chances of hitting our enemies. Suddenly, one of the enemy appeared at the entrance, shouted something about a pale moon, and then retreated. Contristo threw daggers at him as he retreated, hitting him a couple of times, and then finally killing him with the third throw. Zorla was going to drag the body back into the room, but was persuaded otherwise.
We then made the decision to secure the door behind us with a dagger, and Contristo wanted to retrieve the ones that were thrown. We were wary of another door and we tried to secure that as well. We lit torches to be able to see. After attempting to set some bedding on fire, we decided against it and then Zorla provided torches.
Contristo went to retrieve his daggers and was shot with a crossbow for some light damage. We now knew their location, but we also knew that advancing on them was going to be difficult. Suddenly a mass of enemies charged through the hallway at us. We had to move to form some kind of defense.
The fight was long and intense. We took down several of their guardsmen, and a couple of bugbears, but not without losses. Our hawk companion, Echo, fell in the fight, and Azra was knocked unconscious. We made use of the oil to burn the guardsmen, and Azra made use of the grease spell to cause more havoc for our opponents before she fell. We were able to take down a number of our opponents but the gnolls with battle axes changed the tide against us. We managed to hold our position, but we were in a very precarious situation, facing the reality that we could be defeated at any moment.
Unfortunately, we were running out of time, but hopefully Farro will reappear to help us turn the battle back against our foes. This battle was one of our most challenging yet, and we were lucky to have come out of it as well as we did. We’ll regroup and prepare for the next round.
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