The Journal of Elrohir Surion
Now with an added sense of urgency we stepped up the speed of our investigations. A quick reconnoitre through a side door of the large temple led to an anteroom where an ancient tome lay open on a pedestal, lit by candles set into the wall above it. It was written in a strange tongue, possibly Duergar, and only Dinike with his bardic magic was able to understand it. He discovered it was an unholy book dedicated to the Grey Lady, whose statue dominated the main temple. With the rest of us unaware of the true nature of the tome Dinike was obviously feeling rather anarchic and he convinced Stormglass that it was actually a spellbook and it was gratefully stuffed into the halfling’s backpack.
Trying the final exit from the temple led us through a training complex, first a room filled to the brim with weapons and armour of duergar origin, then a large circular training area. The floor of this room appeared to be made up of movable sections on wheels, each with various degrees of rocky terrain to enable warriors to train on a variety of dungeon surfaces. Ingenious indeed.
Finally we arrived at a set of double doors and threw them open. On the other side a wide corridor opened into a large room full of light and heat, the distinctive coppery smell of blood and burning washing over us. Dominating the centre of the room was a great forge, surrounded by figures pumping bellows and tending to the searing fire of the furnace. Upon a huge anvil was an equally huge sword more than 8ft long with a pommel thicker than most men’s arms, it’s blade still glowing red-hot. More duergar smiths appeared to be quenching the blade with thick red liquid from a cauldron to the side – the blood of the innocent villagers. Standing with the duergar were the distinctive slim figures of a quartet of drow, the foremost figure chanting arcane words in ceremony. On the other side of the forge stood a fire giant clad in blackened steel armour, looking longingly at the weapon being enchanted. Around the sides of the room were a number of cages containing the remaining kidnapped villagers, huddling together in fear. As we opened the door, all activity paused for a second as they turned to look at us.
The drow caster immediately stopped her enchantment and grabbed her staff; the other three drew close and they were all surrounded by energy before vanishing, presumably teleporting back to the underdark where they belong. What cowards they are. Seeing this the giant bellowed in disgust, grabbed a huge greatsword and headed straight for us. Seeing the giant approach Shaniqua started a Prayer to Pelor to aid the party and Dinike conjured Pyrotechnics from the furnace, creating a blinding surge of light throughout the room. This was followed by a lightning bolt from Stormglass which crackled through the giant and left some of the duergar smiths charred on the floor, missing the caged villagers by a whisker. Grot gulped down a potion and started growing until he was a match in size to the fire giant itself while the attacks of Garrick and I kept getting deflected off it’s chainmail armour. With a mighty roar it attacked Grot, leaving him teetering on the brink of unconsciousness, but with Shaniqua’s aid Grot was right back in the fray again. Only a few of our attacks were getting through to it until a volley of arrows from Garrick all buried themselves into the giant’s neck. As blood started to bubble from it’s lips it had just enough energy to raise the greatsword in one final mighty blow, smiting Grot with a force that would have killed many a lesser man (or half-orc).
With the giant lying on the floor in front of us it was little work to find and dispatch the smiths who had been crafting the evil weapon. The sword itself we lifted up and plunged deep back into the furnace, then racked up the heat until it’s evil heart was melted and no more. The villagers were freed, fed and healed, then over the course of the next few days we helped them back out of the Devil’s Forge, through the forest and back to Raftport, where we were rightly hailed as heroes of the town. All in a week’s work for the Order of the Squabbling Dullards!
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After the last large encounter we rested up and then continued deeper into the cave system. It seemed we had reached the start of a whole complex belonging to the Duergar, for they attacked us multiple times as we progressed room by room, eventually reaching what appeared to be their barracks and slaughtering the last large group of them. From the look of the rooms there were more than a hundred Duergar living here, I can only guess that the majority of them were elsewhere in the cave system or raiding in the outside world. We just had to hope nobody came back any time soon.
Between the barracks was a set of large double doors which opened into a huge temple chamber. Eight Duergar statues carved out of black marble held up the ceiling high above us, and at the far wall was a raised dais with a throne. Standing astride the dais was another statue of a grim lady; in one hand she held a figure writhing in agony, in the other she held some kind of hammer. All along the walls either side of us were large, intricate carvings depicting the history of the "Grey Domain", and the split of the Duergar from the Dwarves.
Investigating the throne, Garrick noted a hidden button in one of the arms which opened a secret door in the back wall with a quiet click. As he gestured us over, a cloaked figure suddenly became visible behind him and stabbed him twice viciously in the back. Grot and I ran to Garrick's aid as he staggered away, bleeding heavily, and we forced the assassin back against the wall. He called out to his lord for backup, but before any had time to arrive Garrick nocked a trio of arrows and pinned him to the wall with a deadly salvo.
Thinking on his feet, Dinike gave a remarkable impersonation of the Duergar's voice and called to the people behind the secret door that we'd been dispatched, requesting help to clear up. We lined up either side of the door and as it opened we sprang our ambush, moving in quickly and dispatching one of the two advancing guards with the help of Shaniqua's divine favour. The room had an unexpected splendour to it, with a fireplace, bookshelves, table and sleeping area. In front of the fire stood two important looking Duergar in smart looking heavy armour, looking rather surprised to see us - the Lord and his priest/advisor it seemed.
As Garrick and I combined to take out the second guard the Duergar lord doubled in size and charged Grot and Dinike, only to come to a stumbling stop when he ran into Stormglass who was trying to hide, invisible, at the side of the room. Grot took advantage of this to try and counter-charge and strike the first blow, but such was the large creature's reach he managed to wound Grot on the way in with his axe. Realising these were dangerous enemies Dinike started a rousing tune on his kazoo to inspire us but seconds later a magical silence fell over the area, stopping his song and by unfortunate coincidence disrupting Stormglass in mid-spell.
I left the main fighters tackling the lord and stepped past, invisible, to engage the enemy cleric. As I attacked him with precision stab after precision stab he tried to back off, heal and create a safe sanctuary in which to continue casting. I managed to shrug aside the barrier and eventually, without being able to see me to target his spells, the scale of my assault was too much and he fell, mortally wounded.
While this was going on the Duergar lord was attacking Grot with a vengeance and after exchanging blows Grot was forced to retreat to Shaniqua for healing, taking a near fatal strike as he went. This left the lord free to charge Garrick, carving a gash straight through Garrick's collarbone, deep into his chest. Garrick also backed off, firing arrows as he went, but the hulking figure refused to drop. Finally Stormglass' spell completed and a summoned Dire Wolf appeared on the other side of the lord, taking a bite out of his leg and causing him to stagger and fall. As he struggled to regain his feet Grot returned to the fray refreshed, and with a mighty swing cleaved the prone Duergar's head clean off.
Safe for the moment, we stopped to regain our breath and search the room. Scattered on the table were a series of plans for a magical item of apparently considerable power, a sword with the name of Man-Bane. Reading the notes this appeared to be a joint venture - the Duergar were providing the physical components and the magic was being enchanted into the blade by foul Drow. Their insidious evil tendrils seem to reach everywhere. It seemed the sword was nearly finished, needing a large quantity of human blood to finish the arcane rituals - were we going to be too late to save the kidnapped villagers?
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Who's who?
Scouting ahead of the party, I discovered a medium sized cavern with a large river running across it. There was no obvious way out, so I called the others in to look around. Upon entering we suddenly realised there was in fact a stone bridge over the river and it had been hidden from us by an illusion. Stumbling across the bridge were a party of four dwarves, looking fatigued and wounded from battle.
We cautiously approached to see if they needed assistance, and they told us they were the last of a large expedition here to rescue children and treasure stolen from them by the Grey Ones aka Duergar, evil underground dwarves. Before we could find out any more a cacophony of noise and blinding lights engulfed the room and when my head cleared, things had changed. Though Grot, Stormglass, Shaniqua and Garrick still appeared to be there, Dinike had vanished and in place of the four dwarves, five Duergar stood in front of us, poised to attack.
Bellowing something about an imposter, the first Duergar attacked Grot and amazingly cut him down in two huge hits. As I tried to attack a second Duergar it stepped back and unleashed a volley of arrows at Stormglass cutting him down as well. As if this wasn’t worrying or confusing enough, to the side of me Garrick suddenly blinked out as if he had gone invisible, then reappeared and helped me in melee against the second Duergar. Shaniqua followed suit and readily stepped into melee with a third. This close range melee combat was most out of character for both of them, but still more strangeness followed when the two remaining Duergar appeared to start a magical battle between themselves. The Duergar who had killed Grot looked as confused as me, and retreated backwards with a look of bewilderment on it’s face as one of the pair of battling Duergar cast a huge lightning bolt at the other, sending it running for cover under the stone bridge.
It finally started to become clear that people were not necessarily who they seemed when the dead bodies of Grot and Stormglass morphed into two small, armoured grey figures. This made the shouts of “imposter” from the first Duergar make more sense – maybe it was actually Grot, covered by some form of illusion? I called out for my comrades in Elven, and received a reply not from Garrick next to me, but from the Duergar we were both fighting - the Duergar that had seemed highly proficient with a bow as it cut down Stormglass. I realised I was probably fighting the wrong person, and with some trepidation turned round and joined with the ‘Duergar’ against the one who looked like Garrick. As he fell the body morphed until it also resembled a twisted grey dwarven corpse.
With the knowledge of these strange illusory effects and a little care, we were able to distinguish friend from foe and slowly cut down the remaining enemy. It emerged that not only had I been attacking Garrick, but he fired at the fake Stormglass with the knowledge that he had a 50-50 chance choosing the real one (an acceptable risk in his opinion), and that the real Stormglass had in fact been exchanging spells with Dinike, almost killing him.
Dinike, of course, was still under the bridge, but as Garrick and I approached him a huge amphibious creature burst up from the river close to his last location, an almost intangible fish-like beast with amorphous tentacles. Reacting quickly Stormglass pointed his staff and unleashed a fireball at the creature, but the explosion appeared to pass through it without effect. Garrick realised it was another illusion, and to prove it walked across the bridge next to it with no response from the creature. Just as the rest of us approached the illusion faded and a second creature erupted from the water in its place, almost identical bar that it seemed a whole lot more solid. Rearing above us, it demanded in guttural speech that we leave it at once and never return. Not ones to give up that easily, we questioned it about the missing villagers and it told us that the villagers were all dead in the river, inviting us to check. Garrick dived in and found bodies as the Aboleth (for that was what it was) had said, however they were yet another illusion and with us now close to it and awkwardly placed half-in, half-out of the water, it attacked!
While I pulled Dinike out of the water for Shaniqua to heal and Garrick swam for safety to the far riverbank it was left to Grot and Stormglass to hold it off. This they did admirably, with a cone of flame and a leaping charge to its flank. In fact, they hurt it so badly that after it failed to grab any of us with its flailing, slimy tentacles a few more magic and physical missiles proved too much for it to take and it slowly slipped beneath the water, this time for good.
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A complicated fight
After a good night’s sleep we regained the track and continued through the mountain, with Stormglass joining me to scout up front. Everything went fine until suddenly Grot doubled over in pain, and a large scorpion’s barb materialised, embedded in his side. The barbed tail belonged to a Bone Devil, a large humanoid with thin, dry skin tightly stretched over its skeletal frame, sharp claws and vicious bite adding to its armoury of natural weapons. The sight of this monstrosity appearing next to him was too much and Grot fled back down the tunnel in a blind panic.
As Stormglass prepared to go after Grot I interposed myself between the devil and the spellcasters while they backed off, but an initial volley of missiles and a column of holy fire seemed not to cause the devil any real concern. In fact, it seemed to grin and with a wave of its claw a solid sheet of ice formed in the gap between them and me, leaving me alone with it. As Garrick hacked at the wall from the far side and I dodged and parried attack after attack I decided discretion was the better part of valour, grabbed Grot’s sword from where he’d dropped it and dived through the hole Garrick’s sword had created. Quickly a black bear was pulled from Garrick's bag of tricks and thrown through the gap to slow the Devil's chase after us.
As this was happening Stormglass and Shaniqua blinked through a Dimension Door to Grot, erased his fear and blinked back again. Not hearing the expected sounds of tooth to tooth combat a swift glance through the hole in the wall of ice showed that the devil had disappeared. Knowing it had previously been invisible Shaniqua cast an Invisibility Purge, only for us to see it shimmer back into view just behind her, on our side of the wall! Conquering our fears we stood our ground and Dinike conjured an illusory wall of iron to block it from us. Unfortunately we never got to see if the Devil would be fooled because shortly after it appeared Stormglass’ summoned Archon fired two light rays straight through the “solid” barrier at it, rather ruining the effect.
In the end we did get enough time to buff Grot in nearly every way, and with arcane, divine, bardic and physical aid he cut the creature down in a flurry of carving blows. Sometimes seemingly simple things can become so very complicated...
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Slow progress through the volcano
After dispatching the troglodytes with little bother we finally found the end of the huge cavern we’d been traversing and returned to narrower tunnels. When one of these bulged out into a small cave we decided to stop and rest. After eating, and just as the spellcasters were deciding what would be needed for tomorrow, I heard growling from the dim boundary of our firelight and saw two hellhounds, hackles raised, preparing to charge. I swiftly let fly with my hand crossbow and saw the bolt embed itself in the neck of one of them, a wound made more or less redundant when Grot took a running leap and cut it clean in half with a huge cleave of his sword.
The other let out a loud howl and called it’s brethren to the attack, more appearing to attack Grot while Garrick was forced to duck under two cones of fire that shot from the mouths of another pair. With buffing from the spellcasters we were able to take down enough of the hounds to make the last two turn and flee, though in trying to target the pack leader Garrick did also manage to catch Grot with a nasty shoulder wound. As the hellhounds ran, a large, fiendish looking wolf suddenly appeared from behind a pillar – not another enemy, just a monster summoned by Stormglass. Desperate for the spell not be wasted he tried to cajole Grot into fighting it “for practise”, but to no avail.
Our second attempt at resting was as successful as the first; little more than an hour passed before we were woken by Grot and Stormglass who had heard the clanking of metal approaching down the tunnel. Two humanoid figures emerged, lengths of spiked chain wrapped around their bodies and limbs, and the two hellhounds that escaped earlier were ahead of them. No pity was given to the canines and they proved little more than a temporary nuisance. Garrick stepped forward to protect the spellcasters from these Chain Devils and sent a single arrow screaming through the air to hit one in the chest with deadly precision. With my ninja abilities I then ghosted right up to it and dropped it with a clinical stab to the head. As it hit the floor the chains continued to writhe around and Shaniqua remembered that only a truly Good or silvered weapon would prevent them from rising again. The remaining active devil was engaged by Grot, shortly joined by a summoned celestial bison and myself, while Garrick (the only one among us with a silver weapon) finished off the one on the floor before it could regenerate. With the rest of the party firing spells or otherwise attacking it the final chain devil fell and it’s chains silenced for good by the silver tip of Garrick’s arrows.
Finally, third time lucky, we slept.
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Into the Devil's Forge
We followed the Ogre’s map up the Devil’s Forge until we reached a cave system in the side of the volcano. Stepping in, we saw that it went further back, and started exploring forwards. The first few chambers appeared to have some kind of religious significance; in one chamber four skeletons animated from the wall to attack me, and in another sits a statue to a goddess of fire.
Continuing, we started to enter what appeared to be a huge network of caves, pathways and passages. Large caverns disappear into darkness above our torchlight, sending shadows leaping and bounding across the rough walls, picking out dark nooks and crevices. Dirt and sand cover much of the floor, which enabled us to pick out the prints of medium sized booted feet following what appeared to be a commonly used track. Rather than risk getting lost in these catacombs we decided to follow the tracks deep into the warm, dry heart of the dormant volcano. After many hours of walking with no sign of an end to the monotony we called a halt and rested for the night.
The next morning arrived without sign of hostile forces, but that didn’t last long. First we passed a Gargoyle’s nest – luckily I was able to spot them hiding as we passed and we were able to flank them. They were dispatched them without much trouble, despite Stormglass’ best efforts to stun me by casting a Colour-Spray more or less centred around my head.
A few hours later, while crossing a huge cavern at least a mile long, a Troglodyte clan ambushed us from the darkness, their foul stench wafting towards us as they attacked. The first to react was Stormglass who bravely went invisible after a hidden shaman failed to paralyse him were he stood. With a few arcane words Dinike flung out a handful of tiny tarts and one of the troglodytes was overcome with huge bouts of manic laughter, falling to the floor. Despite gagging on the fumes Grot was still capable enough to cleave into the head of the nearest creature, and Garrick dropped another with a shaft embedded in its neck. This still left three surrounding me, but after I dodged and weaved under their spears I dispatched two with precise repartees. Dinike flourished his rapier and stepped up to join me and our twin blades cut down the remaining individual. Meanwhile, Stormglass had wandered away in search of the troglodyte shaman and in a fight between his magic and its long spear there was only ever going to be one winner [yes, I do mean Stormglass - Ed]. It’s a reasonable guess that most of the inhabitants of this place will give us a sterner challenge as we continue downwards.
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Returning to Raftport
Sleeping overnight in the ogres camp, Garrick and I took middle watch. In the very early morning I heard what sounded like voices so while Garrick woke the others I pulled a wolverine out of my Bag-of-Tricks and sent it to investigate. The loud shouts that followed we recognised as the same language spoken by the ogres earlier, so with the knowledge that they would definitely be hostile we prepared to defend the camp.
Three tall, thin figures became visible through the undergrowth; not ogres but trolls! Stormglass informed us that these creatures regenerated most wounds, and with that in mind pointed his staff at the middle creature and unleashed a fireball into their midst. Now they were aware of our presence we didn’t have to worry about noise and Dinike started a rousing, inspiring tune on his kazoo [yes, a kazoo, obviously a little-known specialty instrument for half-elves – Ed]. Filled with courage Grot and I charged the first troll, cutting it down, but even as it fell we could see the wounds start to close up. As it’s companions try to retaliate a flurry of arrows and spells left them injured and blinded; so disabled we finished them off quickly enough not to worry about their regeneration. Lantern oil was hastily poured over them and they were thrown to the campfire. Let’s see them regenerate from ashes!
Come the morning we returned to Raftport and handed over the recovered trade goods to the River Merchant’s Guild. We tried to find out about the map held by the ogres – a retired ranger in the town recognised the trails as old hunting paths but had no knowledge of the phases of the moon apparently associated with. With the feeling that we were heading into something bigger we set off back to the forest.
Back to the Devil's Forge
Following the trail proved to be easy and without incident, but upon emerging the other side of the forest we were greeted by a large statue gazing up at the forbidding peak that loomed every closer to us. A circle of bones surrounded the statue, and Stormglass detected magical auras on both the circle and the statue itself. Ever cautious, I utilised my Bag-of-Tricks once more, this time summoning a black bear. As it obediently ran to me it passed through the circle and the statue spun to face it with sudden speed and smashed it to the floor with a hefty fist. Some in the party suggested this was a rather cruel way to check for traps but better it than me is what I say.
It quickly became clear that the golem was immune to most of our physical and magical damage, so I simply tried and aid Grot’s attacks while Stormglass summoned a huge centipede to distract it’s attention from the two of us. Despite my aid, the help of Dinike’s inspiring song, and magical haste, Grot seemed to be inexplicably missing most of the time and was getting quite badly hurt. To make matters worse his injuries appeared to have some kind of resistance to healing as Shaniqua’s curing attempts failed to have any effect. Though Garrick slowly chipped away at it with powerful arrows his damage was negated to some extent when Stormglass somehow contrived to heal the construct with a recurring acid missile which moulded together some of the cracks formed by our blows. As Grot backed off I stepped in to take it’s raging attacks, happy to simply stand there and defend myself. Finally Stormglass redeemed himself a little as he hit the golem with an orb of pure sonic energy, shattering it’s chest and leaving it nothing but a lump of hardened clay.
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Madradur - The Completion of our Quest
After returning the townsfolk safely, prompting much celebration and joy, we spent a week or two enjoying all the rewards that come with such a success in Madradur. The events seemed to have had more of a profound effect than we thought on Lenwë and he took leave of us to return to a monastery and seek enlightenment in a calmer environment.
Soon however the urge to get back on the road took hold of the rest of us. We started to hear of opportunities in nearby Freehold, a large city always in need of fearless adventurers like ourselves. While we were discussing this and the gap Lenwë left in the party, our attention was caught by a half-elven bard whose fascinating performance described our exploits from a strangely detailed, if slightly skewed viewpoint. We beckoned him over once he was finished and he introduced himself as Dinike Rioe. After chatting for a while we found he was travelling in the same direction as us so we invited him to join our party for the trip.
Raftport - A New Challenge
A few days later en-route, we stopped for the night at the busy town of Raftport, a hub of trading activity by both road and river. Still feeling flush we headed straight for the finest inn in town, The Master’s Tent, and prepared to settle down for the evening. It soon became clear to our adventurers instincts that something was wrong, and it turned out that people had been disappearing. Once the townsfolk realised we may be able to help them they started throwing various rumours and advice our way, the more salient of which I noted here:
- The disappearances started about 3 months ago.
- Some think the victims have been taken to The Devil’s Forge, an extinct volcano in a mountain range to the north.
- The Devil’s Forge was once home to Grey Devils which were driven out a long time past, now it is inhabited by Ogres.
- Most of the people who have disappeared are farmers or hunters and many disappeared near the woods to the north. These woods lie between here and the mountains.
- Trade on the river has also been heavily disrupted of late with whole cargos taken and crews butchered.
- There have been strange noises and lights seen after dark.
- The Town Council are offering a reward for the return of the people, while the River Merchants Guild are offering a reward for the return of the stolen cargo and the stopping of any further piracy.
Feeling unable to leave the town without trying to help, we set off north, towards the forest and forbidding peaks of the Devil’s Forge. As we neared the trees our keen hearing picked up guttural voices and I, Stormglass and Dinike sneaked forward to investigate. A half-dozen Ogres were standing around a pile of supplies, a deer roasting over the open fire at the centre of their camp. Dinike immediately showed his worth as with a few magical gestures he was able to understand the Ogres’ guttural tongue and overhear their tale of attacking a river barge and slaughtering the crew. Signalling our companions we launch into a surprise assault with a deadly mixture of magic, missile and melee attacks, two of the creatures falling before our ambush.
Though wounded, they others were able to withstand our initial assault and their leader led a counter-attack, his spiked chain allowing him to remain safely out of range of our own melee weapons. Grot was forced to retreat as they doubled up on him, and Stormglass summoned a Celestial Bison to occupy them while he was healed. Meanwhile the multiple attacks of Garrick and myself took their toll on the other side of the fire as the Ogres slowly fell one by one. By the time the Bison was felled by a crushing blow it was too late for their leader and we were able to surround him and cut him down.
A search of their bodies revealed a particularly interesting map in addition to their standard items; it shows a number of paths through the forest, marked with phases of the moon, as well as a route up the mountain upon exiting the forest. Dinike’s magical language skills allowed him to decipher the Giant script on the map, which suggests great wealth is to be had at the end of the trail. We resolved to sleep here overnight and then return to Raftport with the recovered trade goods and the heads of this evil group of bandits.
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An Unfortunate Mishap
The Drow lookouts had been guarding a large number of caves worn into the side of the mountain. Most of them turned out to be shallow dead-ends, but two contained strange cords hanging down from the ceiling. After some deliberation we tried pulling them both, to no obvious effect. Further investigation showed only one entrance of any otherinterest and we slowly advanced inside.
Grot and I scouted ahead into the murky darkness and by the light radiating from his sword we discovered a strange lizard chained to the wall with many stumnpy legs and a single hord on it's head. It's glance sent momentary freezing paralysis through both of us and fearful of some magical effect we tried to avoid it's gaze as we attacked. Unfortunately Stormglass, the only one with any knowledge of this kind of beast, was cowering near the back as usual and by the time he peered around the corner and identified it as a Basilisk it was too late. After a number of failed attempts it caught my eye for a split second and I felt myself growing rigid until I was nothing but a stone statue. Darkness fell over my eyes.
An undefinable time later light suddenly blazed into my vision and my body was wracked with a wrenching agony as waves of coruscating mystic energy unpetrified my limbs and returned me to life. I staggered to my feet, seeing all my comrades alive and well, if looking a little singed. It seems a mage had been throwing a few fireballs around. We were still in the mountain, and they had just managed to slay the sinister villain and were in the process of freeing the captured townsfolk from their prisons. The hobgoblins had kept a supply of stone salve handy, presumably in case of accidents with their basilisk guard. To cut the story short, it appeared our quest was complete, so we returned to the surface and to civilisation.
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Under Madradur (continued III)
A narrow passage led us to a pair of rooms which appeared to have been used as some kind of alchemical laboratory. The Drow are obviously not the cleverest of creatures, as the rooms were scorched and blackened, full of charred furniture and a couple of burnt corpses, no doubt the foolhardy chemists. Stormglass was unnerved by the lingering sense of magic emanating from all over the room, as it suggested that the explosion that caused this must have been overwhelming in it’s arcane power. So unnerved in fact that it was Grot who had to recover what was left of the two wizard’s spell-books for him.
Carrying on around the perimeter of the complex I heard movement behind a hefty iron-bound door and we charged in. Two Drow quickly tried to raise the alarm but once they realised they were outnumbered and alone the pathetic creatures quickly started grovelling for mercy. Once they were restrained we realised they were guarding a prison block, and quickly discovered a half-dozen prisoners in the foul smelling, rat infested cells.
As Shaniqua tended to the ragged bunch one stood out from the crowd, a Wood Elf who introduced himself as Garrick. Thanking us for freeing him he explained that he was an archer by trade, sent to parlay with the Duke of Madradur, but was captured before he even got to the city. Discovering his equipment in a small store room we invite him to join us and he readily agrees.
While this is going on Lenwë was interrogating the guards, and one tells us about the strange city we found modelled in an earlier room – it is Moragtovin, the home city of the Drow, built with the aid of Aboleths and Beholders. He also revealed that at the back of the outpost is a large gateway into the caverns that stretch under Madradur and all the nearby lands. This was quickly found and barred to prevent anything else creeping into the city by this route, then we gathered the prisoners and headed back to the outside world, emerging with the dawn.
Duke Ellgrym seems genuinely thankful for our aid, and is delighted when we offer to try and find Uzthril (the Drow city) and rescue any other victims we can. After a few days rest for Stormglass to read through his new spell-books we headed off for the mountains. It was an uneventful few days past tilled field that slowly turned to rough foothills and then even rockier paths. Just as the trail appeared to have petered out for good we saw, over a rise, a dozen or so cave entrances scattered about the hill.
With no real cover in this rocky landscape we had no choice but to advance in the open ground and once we were near the cave entrances a volley of crossbow bolts flew out from them, flying all around us. As the Drow emerged to defend their front line we were shocked to see Stormglass, normally so reticent at the rear of the party, step up and conjure a magical web across one of the openings, entangling three Drow in it’s sticky tendrils. Grot let out a war cry and charged another, slipping and sliding over the gravelly surface, but just staying upright long enough to decapitate his opponent with a single mighty slash. Unfortunately his clumsy attempts to stay balanced left him exposed and a poison-coated crossbow bolt sent him crashing into unconsciousness. Eager to prove his worth, Garrick retaliated and sent a flurry of arrows flying at the enemy, one shaft embedding itself in the Drow’s throat from fully 60ft away, and it toppled over with a look of surprise on it’s face. The remaining few look-outs were also cut down without much difficulty.
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Under Madradur (continued II)
Guest diary entry from Stormglass:
The adventure resumed with Elrohir and Grot face-to-face with a slavering Orc Barbarian and his Drow master. The ninja was first to react, nimbly ghost-stepping into the Orc and slicing it with both weapons to great effect. Not to be outdone, the creature lumbered over to the still flat-footed Grot and smacked him hard with his Greataxe, savagely wounding him. Realising that the Orc could take down any member of the party with a single blow, Shaniqua produced her Hold Person scroll and paralysed the foul brute! With his bodyguard disabled, the Drow was no match for Grot and Lenwë, whilst Elrohir deftly applied a coup-de-grace to the Orc.
Whilst all this was going on, the invisible Stormglass had been bravely scouting the room from whence the enemies had come [An inventive way of admitting he hid, invisible, in a corner until the Bad Men went away – Ed]. Fortunately it was empty of reinforcements, but did contain a large map of the kingdom with some interesting places named, including the location of the Drow city mentioned in the hobgoblins letter. Whilst the party was examining the map, a door opened suddenly, and we were surprised by a hideous humanoid creature with tentacles coming from its face! Before we had any chance to beg for mercy [surely "before we could negotiate it's surrender"? - Ed] the creature tentatively identified as a Mind Flayer teleported away, leaving us to ponder its motives...
Examining the Mind-Flayer’s room, we found a very detailed scale model of a strange alien city, inhabited by all manner of flying, swimming and walking creatures. We determined to come back later and make detailed maps of its strange non-Euclidean geometry.
Moving on, we searched more of the Drow complex including a combat practice arena which proved to be uninhabited. We then progressed to an unusual stone door with a spider carving. Elrohir opened it and found himself in the boudoir of a very attractive female Drow priestess, who (instead of attacking), invited the party in for a chat. The weak-willed members of the party swiftly accepted, whilst Stormglass and Shaniqua remained in the corridor. This proved to be a wise decision, as four spiders dropped dowm behind the fighters and attacked! Battle was joined, with Stormglass colour-spraying one of the arachnids [and two of his companions – Ed]. Elrohir and Grot moved to engage the Priestess whilst the others dealt with the spiders. The Drow unleashed her magic, causing Grot to run away in fear. Fortunately, Shaniqua was on hand to counter the effect and Grot was back in the fight, helping Lenwë to splatter the remaining spiders in the room. One spider had ventured out to attack the spellcasters, but was swiftly dispatched by a Magic Missile from Stormglass and a well-placed blow from Shaniqua’s mace. Meanwhile, the Ninja yet again proved his worth in a fight by single-handedly disposing of the priestess.
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Under Madradur (continued)
The place we found ourselves in was so wide it disappeared into the darkness left and right of us, while a narrow corridor led off the far wall not 15 feet away. Six archways led off the corridor, evenly spaced, and looking into the first it appeared they were all billets, rough living quarters. This was given credence by the two Drow we surprised trying to put on their armour in the first room, who looked up and bellowed for support. That was all they had time to do before they slumped dead to the floor, no match for my guile and Grot’s power.
As their support appeared from the barracks further up the corridor, Stormglass realised the normal cover afforded him by the melee combatants was noticeably absent. A point hammered home as 2 crossbow bolts ricocheted off the wall next to him. As Stormglass tried to make himself as small as possible Lenwë moved past him and floored the nearest enemy with a vicious chop to the neck, and another fell to the keen eye of Shaniqua with a bolt in it’s chest. We advanced up the corridor step by step, leaving the Drow guards lifeless on the floor. So eager was Lenwë to get to the foe he attempted to leap over the combat in front of him and so flank the enemy. Unfortunately his High Elven dexterity was a little lacking and he tripped in his run-up, bundling over behind me. Not to be discouraged, and with Grot realising his intent, he tried again and vaulted off Grot’s shoulders, landing on the last Drow and grappling it to the floor, giving me time to find an artery and dispatch it with a clean blow.
We spend a while searching the bodies, the corridor and the barracks rooms, netting a tidy amount of treasure. I also discovered a secret door at the end of the corridor. Before we got a chance to look at it further, a warning from Stormglass alerted us to another enemy patrol and we engaged yet again with a group of Orcs, Grimlocks and Drow. Our efforts were hampered as one of the cursed elves shrouded the area in magical darkness, but they were then distracted by a pair of summoned celestial riding dogs who ripped out the throat of one and turned to harry the second. The rest of the melee was a close fought, concentrated battle but eventually we prevailed, just not without me and Lenwë having taken some crunching blows from their axes. A moment with Shaniqua’s healing powers however and we were ready to continue.
We returned to the secret door and I found a hidden trap. My efforts to disarm it wereinitially unsuccessful and a scythed blade span out from the wall, cutting into my side, leaving a foul green ichor on the wound and then resetting into the wall. Seeing the trap in operation reminded of a previous contraption I’d seen in training, and with my second attempt I located the trigger and temporarily bypassed the mechanism, allowing us to pass through while still keeping the trap active. The door led into a spacious, well furnished bedroom, with bed, wardrobe, chest, practise dummy and weapons rack. I asked Grot to move the weapons rack over to block the only other exit from the room, but just as we get there the door was flung wide open by a very large, nasty looking Orc and his Drow companion. They look like they mean business...
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Under Madradur
With the giant spider dead, the altar room lay quiet. Examining the altar and the intricate red hourglass mosaic on the floor yielded no further information, so I checked what appeared to be a ritual preparation chamber. All four walls and floor were covered in tiny embossings of spiders, and a selection of robes, whips and manacles hung near the entrance. My searching awoke the spirit guardian of the room, an ethereal shadowy creature with glowing pinpoint eyes which rose up through the floor behind me. The weapons of Grot and I seemed to pass straight through it’s gaseous form without effect, but when Shaniqua raised her holy symbol it could not stand against the righteous holiness of Pelor and it was vaporised in an instant.
Two more exits led off from the room, the first emerging into a large dining chamber complete with long tables, benches, and a group of Orcs sitting down to eat. Using a Silence spell to isolate the room and prevent any backup hearing the coming struggle, we surprised them and they barely had time to reach for their weapons before they were cut down by my and Grot’s deadly missile assault.
The adjoining kitchen was dominated by a large hearth, big enough to roast boar, lamb, or bigger. Some of the carcasses haning from hooks by the wall were distinctly humanoid, an unpleasant reminder of what could happen it us should we not remain vigilant. Hidden among the meat was a Drow cook, and no ordinary one at that. Once he realised he had been seen he let out a barbaric howl and willingly entered combat with Grot, Lenwë and I simultaneously. He fought bravely for such a despicable creature but skilled though he was, our greater numbers told in the end.
Returning to the central altar room we took the final passage out. We managed to hear voices on the other side of this last door, but any chance of maintaining surprise were scuppered by the bar holding the door shut on the other side. Some ingenious use of my tools released the bar from this side, but it was obviously spotted by the occupants who were prepared for us. As Grot charged in the Drow were stood back with hand crossbows aimed straight at the door. The sight of a charging half-Orc has got to be rather intimidating, which could explain why their poisoned bolts flew wide of the mark, and one was rapidly scythed down while he desperately fumbled with his scabbard. The remaining trio of Drow and Grimlocks were no match for our now slick combat machine and we cut through them like a knife through butter. Most satisfying.
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Moving to the big city (continued)
This week I was feeling most peculiar, as if someone else was controlling my actions and I wasn’t really there; strangely I couldn’t remember a thing that had happened. I asked Stormglass if he would provide me a diary entry. Here is what he told me:
It was time to execute Lenwë’s cunning plan. With the Orc prisoner tied and blindfolded, he and Elrohir disguised themselves as Drow and we faked a scuffle. The rest of the party moved away and hid, but not before dishing out a few bruises to the Monk and Ninja (just to make the plan more believable).
The two “Drow” then tried to bluff the Orc into leading them back to his lair/base/outpost... unfortunately it saw through their disguises and did a runner. We quickly caught and subdued it again, and left it trussed up in a dark alley (though since Grot was the one who did it, there is some doubt as to whether it is still alive... you’d think he’d be nicer to his half-kin!).
With plan A dead in the water, we switched to plan B and Elrohir pulled a wolf out of his Bag of Tricks. It quickly picked up the scent of the Drow, and we were off! The trail eventually led to a tanner’s shop (yes, that old cliche). We cautiously investigated and found a secret door to a staircase leading down... deep down.
Stormglass cast Darkvision on Elrohir and we began the descent in darkness, with the Ninja scouting 30’ ahead of the party. Eventually, the stairs ended and some cautious scouting by Elrohir revealed a Drow guard-room with several of the Dark Elves concealed behind a low wall, guarding the door to the rest of the complex. It was time for another of Stormglass’ famous plans! With Grot and Elrohir invisible and silenced, they would move up behind the Drow and attack by surprise, at which point the rest of us would steam in. Of course the plan worked to perfection and the four Drow guards were slaughtered to an Elf within a matter of seconds, with no chance to raise the alarm.
The exit door led to an armoury, where we liberated a nifty suit of Elven Chain. Moving on, we found a larger room with four glowing red pillars, a black alter and a large red hourglass on the floor which Shaniqua identified as a symbol of the Demon Spider Queen Lolth. Giving the hourglass a wide berth, the fighters began to scout the room when they noticed the ceiling was covered with webs... moving webs! Yes, the room was guarded by a huge spider which (rather foolishly) decided to drop down to the floor to attack, rather than staying in its web. This indeed proved to be a bad tactical move, as the fighters laid into it big time, ably assisted by some Magic Missiles from Stormglass. Before it could bite anyone, the foul vermin was splattered to the four walls by another lucky mega-critical hit from Grot and the danger was averted. A quick search of the webs revealed some desiccated bodies, one of which had a potion which Stormglass easily identified as Cure Moderate Wounds. Once we'd cleaned the spider blood from ourselves we were ready to continue the exploration.
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Moving to the big city - Madradur
We rested in Harwynn’s Shoal for a few days, then joined a trade caravan heading up to Madradur. Our plan was to see Duke Ellgrym and talk to him about the letter we found in the Sahuagin cave complex. When we arrived the mere mention of information regarding the attacks on the city gave us an escort directly through the city to Ellgym’s keep and after quite a wait we were ushered in to have an audience with the Duke.
He told us that Madradur has been under constant attack by Orcs and other evil creatures which carry out raids into the city under cover of darkness. The area is in the worst state since the Searing Wind a century or so ago (an event named after the Hobgoblin tribe that swept through the area massacring most of the population and enslaving the rest). The raids have been too random and his guards stretched too thinly to be able to prevent them occurring. If we can stop them, then he is willing to provide a reward of 1500gp each. Ellgyrm is far more abrupt than Mayor Gwynneth of Harwynn’s Shoal, and as soon as we accepted he departed, leaving us in the hands of an Elven High Priestess called Karissa and his Arcane Advisor, Nolrun. Maybe it is a feature of human society that the more important the person becomes the ruder they are?
We questioned the pair to find out as much detail as we could:
- Many people have been killed, and more have vanished, presumably kidnapped by the enemy; in addition many 1000’s of gp worth of goods have been stolen.
- There is little pattern to the attacks bar that they occur only at night, though they also often coincide with the arrival of a new merchant caravan such as we arrived on today.
- Most of the attacks come from Orcs belonging to the Bloody Stump tribe, though other grey skinned humanoids have also been seen in the city. One reliable guard captain was muttering darkly about "the tentacles, the tentacles" before he died of his injuries, but no-one else has encountered anything similar. Of course this could just mean no-one else has ever survived an encounter with the tentacled creatures.
- The enemy apparently seem strangely organised for such chaotic creatures, suggesting some kind of dominating or controlling force behind them. Karissa recognised the name on the letter, Mirizt de'Irdne, to be a Drow name. This was not something I wished to hear. That cursed race is indeed despicable and cunning enough to be behind all this.
Our talks conclude with the decision that it seems tonight would be a good night to patrol. After a short rest in a recommended inn we take to the streets in the hope of drawing the creatures out.
Our plan worked, after a fashion. Despite our watchfulness it appeared that the enemy are too at home in darkness to be caught unawares, and we were charged by 2 of the previously described grey-skinned creatures. Stormglass was able to identify them as Grimlocks - living by supernatural senses rather than sight it was clear that they would not be fooled by my ability to step invisibly around normal creatures to find their weak spot and so a simple combat ensued. Before we could fully react to them we were caught in a classic pincer movement as Lenwë was attacked at one end of the party by two mean-looking Orcs whilst at the other end of the street the fiendish, unmistakable shapes of Drow emerged from the shadows. The battle was keenly fought indeed; before he could even draw his sword Grot collapsed with a poisoned bolt embedded in his chest, one each of the Grimlocks and Orcs were swiftly slain, and then while the Drow were mobbed by a summoned swarm of vampire bats, Lenwë was cut down by the remaining Orc. I am trying to keep an open mind and avoid stereotyping him, but this is the second time he has fallen in combat - I hope he does not become a liability to this party. Luckily for him Shaniqua was able to step forward and paralyze the Orc, holding him immovable while the last of his companions were disposed of. This gave us the added benefit of being able to capture him with ease - alive he may prove far more useful to us than dead. Maybe he will help us to discover how they seem to get in and out of this city with apparent impunity.
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The End of the Caves
Well, what we thought was their final lair turns out to be some kind of nursery pool, full of infant Sahuagin. A debate followed, some of the party unwilling to try and destroy the evil sea-devil spawn for reasons I couldn’t comprehend. This obviously distracted Stormglass for he failed to notice the four Sahuagin creeping up on us from behind, getting impaled on a trident for his mistake. Another spray of violent colour from his wand KO’d the two nearest him and we retreated out of the narrow tunnel to have more room to manoeuvre. Setting up around the doorway we simply ganged up on them as they came through one by one and made short work of them.
Unsure of where these foes could have come from, a search of the previous cavern revealed a hidden trapdoor we missed the first time round. Dropping in to a fully underwater corridor we headed down into the dark and found ourselves at the entrance to a deep but narrow cave like a fissure in the rock. With a flash of silver a shark propelled itself out of the gloom at us and then just as quickly darted away. As we gingerly swam out to face it Grot suddenly became aware of a shadow above him, as a particularly large Sahuagin came to the defence of his animal companion. With some of us finding it hard to swim and fight at the same time the arrival of Stormglass’s ubiquitous celestial porpoises was welcome and further success came as Lenwë successfully disarmed the Sahuagin leader. This however turned out to be a mistake as it then proceeded to claw, bite and rend it’s way through him, leaving his torn body slowly drifting down towards the floor. Realising this creature was not to be messed with Shaniqua uttered a word of command and it froze, paralysed, allowing the porpoises to slam into it and leave it teetering on the brink of death, whereupon it surrendered. I think it best not to dwell on the fact that none of the party had actually managed to inflict the slightest flesh wound on him.
I retrieved Lenwë’s body, stabilised him, and we followed the creature up, breaking the surface to find ourselves in a room of female Sahuagin. In guttural Common he introduced himself as Keshkrath and claimed that they had only been sinking ships in retaliation for the surface-dwellers of Harwynn’s Shoal poisoning the waters of the bay. Production of the letter we found on the dead hobgoblin convinced him that it was not actually the human’s doing after all and he asked us to spare them if they all left immediately. We agreed, on the condition that he left the remainder of the treasure they’d collected and he had no choice but to agree.
With what seemed to be a resolution to this matter we watched the remaining Sahuagin swim off, then returned to the surface and trekked back to Harwynn's Shoal. The human's here know well how to thank someone, for we were given not just our reward but freedom of the town and were plied with food and drink as way of thanks. It was a most welcome end to our trip indeed.
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The Cave (continued III)
Opening a trapdoor in the floor we lowered ourselves into our first completed submerged tunnel, thankful for the potions of water breathing given to us earlier. Grot and Stormglass led the way being able to see clearly in the darkness of the tunnel, the rest of us relied on the glow emanating from Grot’s magical greatsword. Entering a large cavern, the light from Grot’s sword glinted faintly on a trio of treasure chests scattered around the floor - things were looking up.
As I swam cautiously forward to investigate them a large squid propelled itself from a wall crevice into my path, no doubt defending it’s home. Seeing the danger Grot and Lenwë swam out to join me but were joined by three other squid equally as keen for battle. The fighting was awkward as the squid enveloped us in their tentacles and we struggled to hit them with any real force, but slowly we gained the upper hand, killing one and severely injuring the other two.
Back at the entrance to the cavern Stormglass’ reticence was punished as another squid appeared from the wall by him, grabbing him and biting down with it’s beak. He summoned more celestial porpoise to aid him and again they proved their worth, ripping the squid apart. Eager to prove his mettle after a hesitant start, Stormglass then unleashed a vivid cone of clashing colours at the remaining pair of squid and as they reeled back, stunned and blinded, they were summarily dispatched.
As the others led Shaniqa from out of the dark of the tunnel into the cavern I managed to unlock the chests, easily avoiding what was a rather feeble poison dart trigger in one of the locks. Inside was a small bounty; magical gauntlets and armour, gold and an assortment of valuable trinkets. More weighed down but with lighter spirits we continued to investigate other underwater passages, finding and destooying the large cauldron where the Sahaugin had been brewing their malevolent concotions of wood warping. What looks like the last passageway of the cave system turns out to be waist deep in water and leads to another long cavern.
It appears that the Sahuagin were keeping a closer lookout than we were, a fact we’re alerted to by the sound of a huge alarm gong being sounded at the far end of the cavern. We have just enough time to set ourselves inside the room before the first wave of Sahuagin hit us, but they are quickly rebuffed. A combination of melee combat and magic continues to knock aside the second wave and though the final four prove a little harder to repel they soon join their comrades on the cavern floor. With no more imminent danger visible we prepare to advance into what seems to be their final lair...
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The Cave (continued II)
After the filth of the Otyugh den it was nice to continue into cleaner water, the only problem being it's slow, inexorable rise as we started to wade further into the cave system, reaching a large 50ft cavern well over 10ft deep in water. Full of confidence me and Lenwë dove in and swam to the other two exits to investigate while our more heavily armoured friends waited at the pool's edge. Just as it looked clear the ambush was sprung - a shark lunged up at me from the depths and I felt a savage pain in my leg as it tore at my flesh; similar cries from Lenwë revealed the shark's Sahuagin master joining the fray.
Realising we were out of our element I swam to the nearest passageway as the Sahuagin's trident gouged into my back, then before it had a chance to strike again Lenwë's quarterstaff twisted the trident from it's scaly grasp. Frustrated at being out of the action Grot gulped a breath of air and bravely/foolishly leapt into the water, slicing at the shark as he sunk like a stone. Seconds later a pair of Celestial porpoise sprung into being, summoned by Stormglass, and joined the fray. With their aid is was a simple task to finish our adversaries off and after some gratefully received healing we continued.
Down one of the next corridors we found an iron barred door, much like a prison cell door, which is indeed what it turned out to be. While most of us peered through the bars, Lenwë inexplicably crouched to listen through them. I always thought monks were meant to have high Wisdom. Ah well, who understands High Elves anyway?
It wasn’t long before we found something much more interesting, a narrow path leading back out into the daylight. Squeezing through a crevice we emerged in a cave strewn with goblin bodies, slain by the claws of Sahuagin. They appeared to have nothing of value remaining, however a lone hobgoblin aroused our suspicions. He appeared to be from a distinctly different clan than the goblins around him, and a quick search uncovered a curious scroll:
Chief Gruymnosh,
The Masters understand your concern, but any further delay is unacceptable. The soldiers of the human Duke Ellgrym are engaged with our forces in Madradur; your tribe is safe so long as you continue to do as instructed.
A new shipment of the venom will be sent from Uzthril shortly; when it arrives you will continue both the poisoning and the harvests. If you do not, the Masters will grow displeased with you; and make no mistake, Gruymnosh, the wrath of the Masters is far more dangerous than any attention from Duke Ellgrym.
I trust our position is clear?
Mirizt de'Irdne, Voice of the Masters
Discussing this intriguing communiqué, we returned to the watery depths intending to explore the final, underwater corridors of this mysterious cave.
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The Cave (continued)
Continuing through the watery cave we found a small rom that was carved into the rock, the first obviously man-made area we had seen. The whole room glowed with a strange light as if it were underwater, though there were only a few inches of water present. A door in an adjoining wall was decorated like a large shark’s mouth, while in the centre of the room stood a pedestal upon which was a sapphire gem in the shape of a small shark. After careful examination of both pedestal and gem I could see no obvious trap so took the gem and passed it back for appraisal.
Unfortunately, though no trap was triggered this action did activate some form of alarm, for as I led us towards the other door 4 undead Sahuagin (3 Ghouls and a Ghast) threw it open, snarling in hatred. Reacting quickly I stepped in to prevent them running at the High Elf who yet again seemed to be rather sluggish in his reactions (maybe he’s fearful of combat?). Shaniqua then strode forward and unleashed the divine power of Pelor, disintegrating the lesser beings and sending the ghast fleeing in abject terror. We gave chase through a room full of Sahauagin dead, sickeningly putrescent on their stone shelves, and just as the Ghast’s escape seemed inevitable Stormglass the Conjurer was thrown forward by our fighter and he created a wall of web before the unholy creature, trapping it. It was swiftly dispatched.
With the web preventing enemies approaching from that tunnel we returned to a prior junction, emerging out into a large cavern, the water around our ankles feelingly strangely chill. Investigation by the Grot and I showed no imminent threats, uncovering only 2 piles of bodies held in place by netting, obviously the victims from the sunken ships. Nothing could be done for them now, so content we had found a dead end we returned to the webbed passage.
We followed the passage to the biggest chamber we had yet seen. Large enough to have eddies swirling in the water, it was humid with water dripping from the walls and stalactites hanging from the ceiling. It looked like this may have been living quarters for some Sahuagin, now probably abandoned. The lantern light glinted off small objects left on shelving around the wall and we moved in to investigate. As I approached the shelf the floor beneath me disappeared and I plunged into a water filled pit, the sprung trapdoor closing behind me. While the others tried to prise up the trapdoor with brute force I located the lock mechanism and with cool head sprung the lock, emerging from the would-be tomb moments before the fighter’s morning star would have smashed into the wood. A lucky escape indeed. The recovery of a number of semi-precious stones made it feel worthwhile.
Our next stop appeared to be their waste disposal room, full of yet more stinking rubbish, discarded flesh and bones, all of which went flying as an Otyugh burst through the refuse in search of a cleaner meal. In what was fast becoming a well oiled machine, the 3 melee fighters stepped up to it, dodging it’s flailing tentacles and cut it down in a flurry of bloody swings, piercing stabs and bone crunching blows.
We have still to take a single scratch between us. It is a good omen.
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While resting up, we had a look at a notice which had been pinned up in many place around the town in which we were staying. It read:
To all brave and noble denizens of the realm,
The city of Harwynn's Shoal is in desperate straits. Men, women, even entire ships have vanished from the waters off our coast. We have no soldiers or spell-workers capable of investigating, and Duke Ellgrym has to date denied our petitions for aid.
If you believe you can aid us, please travel most swiftly to Harwynn's Shoal in the duchy of Thessalaine, there to meet with me at the City Hall. We offer all we can as reward for your services, should you make our waters and our shores safe once more.
In gratitude, Mayor Gwynneth (Mrs), Harwynn's Shoal
Harwynn’s Shoal
Always willing to help those in trouble, especially those using words such as "We offer all we can as reward for your services", we travelled to Harwynn’s Shoal and settled in The Ebb & Flow, the finest inn in the city, in fact one of the finest in the region. It’s famous for it’s very powerful spirits. Talking to the drinkers yielded many rumours about the disappearances:
- Fishermen and merchant ships have been vanishing.
- A drunk, Old Brak, saw a warship with a black flag near the docks one evening.
- The ships have been dragged underwater by sea creatures attacking the underneath.
- Since the 1st disappearance all the fish have also been vanishing.
- There are dragons in the north who are destroying the boats.
There were also rumours about Duke Ellgrym’s city, Madradur:
- Madradur is beset with problems - being attacked by a foreign power, or by non-humans coming from a place no human should ever go.
After resting overnight we went to see Mayor Gwynneth, who was happy for our help. She told us most ships have been vanishing in The Gulf of Irulkinthe, where the water is deep, but there has been very little wreckage. She suggested we check out the beaches near there, about 2 days journey from Harwyn’s Shoal.
Our payment will be 500gp each, plus any day-to-day expenses while in town. We also each got given a potion of Water Breathing by Priest Agurin, high priest of the temple of the Sea God (Chaotic Neutral). With no reason to lounge around we hiked off to the coast.
The Beach
We found a deserted village overlooking a bay, looked like it had been abandoned. A little further on we climbed down the rocks and found some wreckage, and lots of dead fish - killed by poison or strange disease; some rats & gulls were also dead apparently from eating the fish. A spellcraft check on the wreckage suggested that the wood had been magically warped. After searching we eventually we found the upper half of a decayed reptilian humanoid that we identified as a "Sahaugin" (alignment currently unknown). He was carrying a small clay pot containing the residue of a magical paste that
Gimp Stormglass (our halfling Conjurer) told us can warp wood. One mystery was explained. Looking around the area where we found the body, we stumbled across a cave entrance near the waterline. Since the tide was going out, we deemed it safe to explore.
The Cave
The cave was dark and ankle deep in water - requires a lantern for good visibility. I scouted forward to investigate a small rectangular cave and spotted 3 Sahuagin dropping from the ceiling just in time to raise the alarm. This enabled us to get the jump on the creatures and I ghosted through them, swiftly dispatching a pair with deadly Sudden Strikes, the third soon following after attacks from me and the high elf monk. As the blood dissipated through the water we realised we had finished unscathed.
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The first member of the party is of course Elrohir himself, a Wild Elf Ninja.
His companions are Dinike Rioe, a Half-Elven Bard; "Gimp" Stormglass, a Halfling Conjurer; Shaniqa Arisa, a Human Radiant Servant of Pelor; and Grot Krayfish, Half-Orc Fighter. During our adventures in the city of Madradur we helped Garrick, a Wood Elf Archer, escape from the clutches of the evil Drow and he also joined our party.
One of Elrohir's previous companions, Lenwë Telemnar the High Elf Monk left the party to pursue enlightenment through a less violent path after we conquered the Drow Mountain.
If you wish you can read Dinike's and Lenwë's anecdotes on our adventures.
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