Session 149: The Saviors of Orlane (Again)

The battle continues...

Feno slays a black skeleton while Kyro slays the necromancer Patrik. Gnorcia vaults onto the back of a zombie and absolutely shreds it with Vengeance. Unfortunately, this leaves her in a vulnerable position to be hit back to back (in the back) by powerful skeletons. Before she can drink a healing potion, she is struck again which knocks her unconscious and her precious vial is smashed. Feno kills another zombie, but finds himself beginning to be surrounded by undead. Kyro continues to fire deadly arrows from his perch in a tree. Arnd and Armatzi continue to flee in terror while Niki keeps her lightning spell brewing in the background until she can cast another strike. She steps up beside Feno to engage in melee using Mr. Paws.

On the other side of the lake, Lhoss has met up with the elves Dorian and Llywillian and a band of Gran March knights. She is exhausted and out of breath having sprinted at top speed, but is able to indicate with Thieves Cant that there are reinforcements on the other front. Niki rushes up to Gnorcia and binds her wounds to keep her from bleeding out. The heroes then do something they don't often do: they drink some potions that aren't just for healing! Feno downs a vial containing a potion of super-heroism and Lhoss hands Dorian a potion of hill giant strength. She then digs in the bag of holding and gives a magic long bow to Llywillian for the fight. Llywillian immediately fires a shot and takes down a zombie from the small group of villains who have broken off the main group to engage with the eastern front. Dorian moves forward to form the point of a defensive arc, flanked by knights, behind which Lhoss stands. Lhoss casts a sleep spell on the necromancer Tovio and is simultaneously hit by a magic missile cast by the same. She takes a small hit, but he takes a nap. Lhoss then lobs a vial of oil onto a zombie (and for once is a pretty good shot). Llywillian attacks and slays a steel skeleton which causes something strange to happen... the skeleton crumbles and all of the remaining undead creatures vanish like a mirage. The fallen necromancers also disappear; it seems some illusory magic had been at play. Even the damage each of the heroes had taken in the fight was illusory and Gnorcia stood up, well and whole.

With the enemies dispelled, the town was surveyed. Nearly every building to the west of the lake had taken some level of damage, up to and including being totally demolished. The buildings to the east had been fortified and were somewhat spared. Everyone gathered at the temple and learned the sad news that Ramne, the mayor, and the chief priest had been killed. The reunited saviors were pleased to see their entire party had survived. Some other villagers had been slain, some fled, women and children had been evacuated to the east. The jeweler and shopkeeper were among the missing. Priestess Misha had taken upon herself the mantle of leadership. She begged the Saviors of Orlane to find Nanor, Derik, and the cultists and defeat them for good. The group vowed to do so but first to help with the extensive job of cleaning up Orlane and making it a hospitable village once again

Session 148: The Battle for Orlane Has Begun

From Gnorcia's notes:

Feno began charging toward the bridge at the same time as some skeletons on the other side. Lhoss took off toward the east, attempting to find others to help us, or discover where the rest of the townsfolk are. Armatzi followed Feno, and Arnd also moved forward toward the bridge. Kyro slunk down to some trees on the east side of the path, near the river’s edge.

Seeing the others take their positions, and knowing I was the smallest and had fewer arms, I cast mirror image to make 5 of me, then moved to hide behind the trees on the west side of the path. As I reached the trees, Niki raised her hands to the sky and called down lightning, spotting and targeting the dastardly Naynor, who immediately fell dead. We all cheered his demise but this also seemed to enrage the necromancers.

On the battlefront, Feno was soon met by two skeletons at the bridge and managed to destroy them fairly quickly. Kyro shot a couple of magic arrows at one of the necromancers who was out for a walk too close to the river's edge (and whose name was apparently Sampo), taking him down. Arnd threw his hammer a couple of times across the river to the west side of the bridge and managed to hit another necromancer called Walterri (or Terri for short), taking him down as well.

Her lightning bolt spent, Niki began running toward the group at the bridge as I summoned a phantasmal force in the form of a vile displacer beast. I directed the beast to run down and leap across the river, attacking a black skeleton and damaging it. That skeleton and another black skeleton then attacked it and both released a horrible scream that terrified Arnd and Armatzi, who started to run in the opposite direction.

Unfazed by the screams, Kyro shot an arrow at another necromancer, Janne, and took him down as Feno moved across the bridge and smashed a zombie. My phantasmal force damaged the black skeleton some more, but was quickly overpowered by the combined force of three black skeletons, which destroyed the imaginary and vile-appearing but apparently somewhat-wimpy beast. Niki took aim and shot an arrow, hitting one of the skeletons in revenge for my faded phantasmal creature.

In the meantime, Lhoss had made her way down the path to the east and peeked into Vilma’s house, finding a mess but no Vilma. She then moved farther southeast and discovered a group of what appeared to be six knights with Dorian and Llywillan!

Allies had been found and back to the west we had done some damage to the necromancers' force, but the evil undead were advancing and we were weakened as Arnd and Armatzi were still running away in undead-induced terror.

Session 147: When Dark Clouds of Trouble Hang Over Us

Day 8 of Patchwall:

As Feno and Lhoss nursed the still weak Jack back to health, Niki cast Speak with Animals, in order to understand the meows of her weak feline friend. While still weak, Kyro, having some sympathy towards him, offered a chunk of the displacer meat, which he gobbled up in eager haste. While the rest of the party heard just meows between Niki and Jack, the normally feisty feline relayed to Niki what had recently befallen him. While on a patrol near the borders of the Dim Forest, he was attacked and ambushed by a large horde of undead. He retreated to warn the people of Orlane of this growing threat. Once he warned them, he went back on an exhibition to fight the undead horde but was instead ambushed by a group of necromancers. They attacked him and cut off his paw, (which incidentally was the same paw that had the ring of Jack that allowed him to talk without use of Speak with Animals) and leaving him for dead. Upon finding Niki and the rest of the group he implored them to head towards the town of Orlane, because it was in grave danger. Following his tale, a healing spell, and a full stomach, he promptly falls asleep in company of the party. The group rests for the evening and discuss/digest this new information. They decide to ride to town in a hurry. 

Day 9 of Patchwall:

The group awakens to heavy rain and mist, that continues throughout the day. The rain slows the group down quite a bit, as they and their horses have to slog through the mud and muck of the trail. The group enters the Dim Forest, which has become quiet due to the rain. 

The rain has made the forest cold, as the group ends their day, finding the good resting spot they used on the start of their journey. They cook and eat more displacer beast stew and settle down for the evening. As they prepare themselves for the evening, each member of the group is hit with a sense of uneasiness at the edge of their senses. Not knowing how to describe it to each other, they brush it off and rest for the evening before starting their hurried journey back to Orlane. 

Day 10 of Patchwall:

The skies clear up a bit for the party, but the trail is still muddy and hard to traverse. They arrive near the outskirts of Orlane in the early afternoon and quickly see an unsettling sight. As they travel closer to the familiar city, they see signs of a struggle: what appears to be crimson blood stains along the trail, patches of torn leather and cloth, along with broken metal, seemingly from a weapon or two. Feno kneels down to examine the cloth and leather and discovers that it bears a close resemblance to the clothing worn by the Grey Hawk Knights. The knights were quietly observed heading in this direction while the party was near the town of Wood's Edge a few days ago. Seeing the signs of this recent battle, Lhoss and the group ready themselves for potential conflict. As they march forward, both Lhoss and Feno notice smoke and haze billowing from a nearby farmland. As they continue marching closer, they see piles of bones from some undead, the corpses of slaughtered livestock, with nearby farms and houses found gutted and burned to the ground. As they near the actual town of Orlane, both Lhoss and Feno pick up on the sounds of battle occurring. Whatever happened in the farmlands is occurring in Orlane right this moment. They move quickly and arrive in town, only to see a clash between undead and their friend Alan Clayborne. Alan, along with his wife and a few knights from Grey Hawk are battling against, ghouls, zombies and skeletons. The group ties up their horses (as they are not cavalry fighters), they head and attack the undead horde, saving both Alan and his wife, but some knights fell in the battle. They then move towards Rayne's forest house and are intercepted by foul creatures known as shades. Niki using her Call Lightning spell last battle with great success, moves the thunderous cloud overhead and blasts two of the creatures out of existence.  Lhoss destroys one herself, using her spell Continual Light, but not before the creature does damage both Feno and Arnd. The group examines the dead body of Rayne and his familiar, Whiskers. After paying their briefest of respects, they move south near the bridge. As they get near the bridge, their collective anxiety reaches a fever pitch. Just past the bridge is the largest collection of undead that the heroes have ever seen. 

Amongst their ranks, is Nanor, and Derek, both villains who have troubled the party for many months, if not years. Nanor and his minions mock the party. The battle between good and evil draws near...

Session 146: The Journey Back to Orlane and Jack Brought Low

Feno, Arnd, Gnorcia, Niki, Lhoss, and Kyro spent the evening of Day 3 through Day 5 of Patchwall trekking back from the volcano with the meat and hides of three displacer beasts. The trip back to Woods Edge was smooth and uneventful. It was evening when they reached the gates of the city and were greeted by the city guards. The men asked the heroes how their adventure had gone and Lhoss excitedly declared that they had killed five displacer beasts and took no harm. This did not have the desired effect, as the guards seemed rather unimpressed. The tax man sidled up and declared that the cost to enter the city was one gold piece each. While this had been a successful mission to claim the hides of the displacer beasts, there has been precious little influx of cash as of late and quite a bit of spending! Gnorcia, full of cheek, decided to pick the pocket of the tax man. Unfortunately, a tax man is always aware of his gold and discovered the little gnome and raised a ruckus. Gnorcia slipped off into the night and climbed a tree to escape and make her bed for the night. Meanwhile, the rest of the group was treated with hostility and suspicion. Lhoss stepped forward to smooth over the situation, pointing out the impish and playful nature of gnomes. Her silver tongue won over both the guards and the tax man, but they were all still expected to pay the gold piece. The group called out for Gnorcia to come and join them in town, but she stayed outside, spending a miserable night in the rain.

Everyone else booked fine rooms in the Two Cups Inn and rose early to a delicious breakfast. Feno ordered a double breakfast in order to bring a share out to Gnorcia. Lhoss inquired of the innkeeper, Gretchen, whether she would be willing to buy the displacer beast meat. She made a face and said that displacer beast meat is bitter and not favored, though she would buy some at a low cost to feed to her dogs. The party sold the bulk of the meat, but kept 10 pounds for their journey back to Orlane. Surely fresh meat would be better than rations on the road! Gretchen also directed them to a horse trader (honest, by her opinion) named Bill Ferney where they could outfit themselves for a quick return. 

Bill Ferney was an honest and industrious salesman. He informed the group of all the kit they would need beyond riding horses (and a pony for Gnorcia). With saddles, bridles, feed, and all the rest (along with some basic horsemanship instructions) the mounted Saviors of Orlane hit the road. Taking care to rest the horses often, the group still made good time. Kyro put his cooking skills (and a few magical seasoning skills from Gnorcia and Lhoss) to work to make the displacer beast meat palatable. It was... okay but not great. A little better than dry rations, though!

In the evening, the group heard the sound of approaching horses. They party hunkered down while Gnorcia and Lhoss snuck silently up to the road to spy the advancing group. They saw 12 horsemen in chain mail with the heraldry and livery of the Gran March. Not wanting to engage with the soldiers, the pair silently watched the procession move down the road in the same direction they were headed. It was a foreboding sight. Were they on the march toward Orlane? Or some other conflict?

The next morning, the group were all saddle sore, Kyro least of all, but the effects of a day of riding were evident. Lhoss led the weary travelers in some Zuoken stretches. A few were somewhat reluctant of engaging in a ritual of a deity not their own, but Lhoss and Gnorcia reassured them that there was no need for prayers or worship of Zuoken, it was just good physical exercise. To the surprise of all but Gnorcia and Lhoss, it was helpful in alleviating their soreness.

On the evening of Day 8 of Patchwall, the group was nearing Orlane when Feno and Lhoss spotted something on the trail ahead. It was a small creature... was that Jack? Lhoss and Feno dismounted and ran up to see it was indeed Jack, but he was lying, unmoving, on the trail. In a sickening discovery, the elves saw that Jack's paw had been severed and the Greater Ring of Jack was gone. Lhoss immediately bandaged the paw and Feno poured water into the cat's mouth. Feno then scooped Jack up and ran him back to Niki. Niki cast a healing spell on the animal which revived him somewhat. The poor beast looked up at his master and tried to speak, but all that came out was a plaintive "meow!"

Session 145: The Best-laid Plans Never Work

 Afternoon of Day 3 of Patchwall

From Gnorcia's notes:

Armatzi cast three Wyvern Watch spells at the entrance of the cave. I cast Mirror Image so there would be three of me if they did spot me hiding on the mountainside beside the entrance. I then cast Footfall, making it sound as if someone were running past the cave and down the path. Almost immediately, two displacer beasts appeared to ooze out of the entrance. They were great black beasts with waving tentacles that appeared to phase and they walked right through the Wyvern Watch spells. They begin to stalk toward the party—specifically toward Feno. We were prepared with a plan of attack and immediately Lhoss cast Sleep. It did nothing. Niki then cast Hold Animal and it did nothing because displacer beasts aren’t animals. Feno also swung and missed.

Suddenly worried about how this might go for the group, Armatzi then cast Continual Darkness, engulfing me and the cave entrance in it, but narrowly missing the beasts. Niki began to cast Lightning as Kyro ran up and swung at the beast closest to the cliff edge, seriously damaging it and making it howl in pain and anger. Feno attacked the other again and did enormous damage to it. From my hiding spot, unable to see anything in the darkness, I cast Hypnotic Pattern but it was too far away to affect them. Frustrated and unable to do anything effective, I just stood on the hillside, quietly waving my incense. Niki’s lightning then hit and completely fried them both, destroying their hides.

Feno probably would have started to cry at that but the noise instantly brought three more displacer beasts out of the cave. Armatzi dropped the Continual Darkness as two of them were affected by the Wyvern Watch and a third was affected by my Hypnotic Pattern. Arnd and Kyro then attacked from a distance, finishing off all three. We could then see they were panther-like creatures with six legs and two tentacles with horny barbs on them.

Looking around at each other in wonder, we realized that somehow none of us even took a hit from the beasts. Feno ran up, grabbed two of the bodies, and started dragging them away from the entrance. Kyro and Lhoss grabbed the third and carried it between them. We all followed Feno until we were about a quarter mile from the camp, where Kyro slaughtered the creatures, first harvesting the tentacles, teeth, and claws, then the meat and the hides. The rest of us dug a pit where we buried the remaining parts of the creatures. We returned to our camp and prepared to return to the village the next day.

Session 144: The Game is Afoot

 Upon finding the entrance of the cave, the group decides upon the next course of action on pursuing their goal. Lhoss and Gnorcia decide to quietly sneak into the cave and see what the party might be walking into. Upon entering the cave, they see cavern branches going in different directions, and the floor covered with dried blood and crushed bones. They carefully and quietly move to one of the openings, where they observe several displacer beasts roaming around. They see a blurs of motion, and lots of tentacles, with the beasts devouring the remnants of their kills of the day. Lhoss and Gnorcia quietly backtrack and retrace their steps in order to relay this information to the rest of the group near the cave entrance. Upon hearing the news, the normally fearless Feno is suddenly struck with apprehension. The group discuss different tactics to draw the beasts out as they hear faint moans nearby. They move away from the entrance as they talk tactics. Armatzi states he has a spell called Wyvern Watch that allows him to create a Wyvern shaped mist that would paralyze anything that enters it. The group also talks about the spell Hold Animal. The group finalizes their tactics. Armatzi will cast his spell. Feno, with shield in hand, positions himself in a defensive position. Lhoss prefers her sleep spell in case there are multiple beasts coming out of the cave entrance. Niki prepares to cast Hold Animal.  Arnd prepares his axe near Feno. Kyro semi-panics, but still prepares for battle, in a position behind Arnd and Feno. And group is ready for battle...

Session 143: The end of Brewfest and exploring the side of a volcano

Feno, Arnd, Gnorcia, Niki, Armatzi, Kyro, Lhoss awoke on day 7 of Brewfest in the town of Woods Edge. Determined to find the displacer beasts as quickly as possible and return to Orlane, Lhoss asked the innkeeper if there were any holy temples or shrines in town. She was hoping to track down a druid who had the ability to locate animals the way Hilja had in the past. The innkeeper told Lhoss there was a temple of Wee Jas and a shrine of Fharlanghn. Lhoss got excited that Niki could enlist the help of her fellow worshipers in tracking displacer beasts until she remembered that she was confusing Obad-hai and Fharlanghn again. Arnd and Gnorcia waited at the inn, but the others tracked down the shrine to Fharlanghn. On the way, Lhoss recognized a small shrine to Zuoken. Telling the others to wait, she hurried over to the shrine and spoke in hushed tones with the attendant. She was informed that the lawful orders (Wee Jas, here in Woods Edge) were putting pressure non-lawful orders. Feeling intimidated, followers of Zuoken had been laying low in the city and trying not to draw attention. Lhoss pressed two platinum pieces into the attendant's hand as tribute and vowed to return after nightfall to worship.

The group came upon the Fharlanghn temple, which was a grove of white birch trees. A follower greeted the party and raised an eyebrow at Armatzi, asking if he would be entering. Armatzi questioned whether he would be welcome and was reassured that he would be, so long as he made a donation. Armatzi gave four gold pieces, as did Lhoss and Niki. Feno handed over a platinum as he was short on gold and Kyro produced two gold as he was short on gold and platinum. The man thanked the adventurers and invited them to sit on some boulders arranged in a semi-circle. Lhoss inquired about the possibilities of a druid of the order enlisting to help the group fight displacer beasts. The man paused thoughtfully and then conceded that the displacer beasts had made incursions into the edges of town and that they had become unruly. But he countered that the beasts are native creatures and that nature balances itself. He resolved that the creatures were not troublesome enough for their order to intervene. Although, he said that they could be hired for a price. As the group contemplated this thought, the Fharlanghn follower inquired why our own druid should not be skilled enough to track down the displacer beasts for us. It seems Niki had forgotten some of her old training and was in fact able to use her magic to locate any animal she should choose to find. Contented, the party turned to leave when the man shared that the location of the displacer beasts is on the side of the volcano located in the Dim Forest. At least some valuable intel was acquired for all the gold spent. So the destination is a volcano! Feno, while protected from cold, has no such immunity to fire. He inquired about purchasing fire-resistant clothing and was rebuffed. As promised, Lhoss returned to the Zuoken temple accompanied by Gnorcia before the Brewfest celebration kicked off in earnest.

For the last day of Brewfest, several in the party paid five gold pieces for an all you can eat and drink night of revelry. What a deal! The group partook of the tasty meats, potatoes, gravies, fruits, veggies, stews, breads, pies, and drinks. There was a level of temperance, however, as each member of the adventuring group knew of the daunting task that awaited them. Lhoss alone indulged heavily in drink and as such, it was mid-morning before she was put together enough to venture out with the rest. They might as well have joined in the revel with her!

Everyone they talked to warned of the danger of entering the Dim Forest and fighting displacer beasts. First the innkeeper who gave them directions out of town, then the city watch who instructed them to bushwhack a path toward the volcano. Living up to its name, the forest was dark and chill. They worked in shifts to hack through the hanging branches covered in moss, ever making their way closer to the volcano and the thin trails of smoke emanating from within. The first night, Kyro cooked up a ration donated by each party member with a few of his spices to make a tasty stew. The group took watch in turns and groups of 2-3 until morning. It was an uneventful night. After breakfast and tea, the adventurers made more progress through the forest. Late in the afternoon, the volcano came into full view and Lhoss spotted a cave about halfway up. It would take half a day to climb to it, so the group set up the tent and settled in for an early night. Feno hunted for eggs and Lhoss set up some snare traps. Feno only found one egg, but it had gone bad and Lhoss's traps caught nothing. Again, there were no disturbances during the nights' watches.

The next morning, the group found and followed a trail up the volcano slope. They tracked some paw prints and came upon two creatures in mortal combat. One was large and deep blue with odd tentacles growing from its sides. The other appeared to be a large brown dog. The blue creature moved in a blur and the brown one disappeared and reappeared. Then the dog creature turned somewhat and the group could see that it was actually whitish/yellow with large tufts coming off its tail. There was barking, yipping, snarling, and growling and then suddenly they both ran off and the dog creature disappeared. Gnorcia wanted to lure the big dog back, so she laid out some rations. The animal did not return, so they all continued up the trail. Around a bend in the trail, the adventurers found themselves facing a cave entrance.