Session 9-1-07 

    Arinna’s glittering golden sun slips slowly below the horizon as the heroes move into formation and over the last hill towards Skull Gorge Bridge.  When they approach, their hearts sink as the forces before them are revealed: four tall watchtowers house a pair of hobgoblin veterans each, while hell hounds guard both sides of the bridge on the ground.  On the far (north) side, a platoon of hobgoblins camps in five tents, but their precise numbers can’t be seen even through Jack’s spyglass.  Worst of all, a large green dragon is perched atop the northwestern tower, lazily scanning the area as it warms itself in the fading sunlight. 

Klar turns to the others.  “There’s no chance… we can’t destroy the bridge with that dragon up there.”  The others concur and fade back into the woods to plan their next move.  The forces arrayed against them seem overwhelming, but after a second viewing through the spyglass, Jack spots a flaw in the bridge: a crack in the foundation of the southeast tower might just give way if enough damage was done!

 

Hope floods back into the companions and they hastily formulate a plan to destroy the bridge: from the edge of the hill Altaer will cast area spells like fireball at the weak point, hopefully forcing the hobgoblins and dragon to come to them.  The adventurers form up ranks and Altaer sends a sizzling empowered fireball at the bridge.  The blast shakes the foundation, but it does not fall. 

 

The green dragon immediately takes flight and dives towards Altaer’s position while the hobgoblin archers on the towers pepper the party with arrows.  Another plate-clad hobgoblin marshal emerges from a tent on the north side of the bridge, barking angry orders at his soldiers.  The hobgoblins move efficiently to arm themselves, but their efforts still take precious time.

 

Altaer sends another fireball toward bridge’s southeast foundation just as the green dragon breathes forth a cone of acidic vapor.  Again the foundations shake but they hold fast.  Altaer, Klar and Jack are all within the cone, and they grit their teeth as the acid burns their flesh, leaving pock marks in their skin as it scalds them.  The dragon lands in front of Altaer as he sweeps  Klar aside with a claw attack,.  “Ah scion of Azra, it falls to Ozzyrandion to end your life here and now.   I shall present your broken bodies to Azarr Kul himself, and win the favor of Tiamat!” 

 

Kaelin rushes towards the bridge to draw arrow fire away from Ayotunde, who absorbs several hard shots through his full plate armor.  It seems these hobgoblins have been briefed on the party’s tactics and professions beforehand.  Kaelin’s bold rush puts him in the path of nine angry hobgoblins, and she immediately begins laying about with his new longsword, holding them at bay quite effectively.

 

The dragon Ozzyrandion ignore Klar’s and Jack’s slashing at his flanks, singlemindedly determined to end the threat Altaer poses to Skull Gorge Bridge.  Hissing in triumph, he claws Altaer twice, then bites, and finally buffets the sorcerer to the ground with his wings.  Though Altaer lies motionless, Ayotunde rushes over and activates her healing ward, praying that he was not killed outright by the dragon’s attack.

 

As Kaelin single-handedly holds the south end of the bridge against two waves of hobgoblins, Klar and Jack cut deeply into the hide of Ozzyrandion.  The dragon surges backwards, badly wounded, and tosses a potion down its maw to heal its wounds.  Klar and Jack press their advantage, providing Altaer just enough cover to get off an acid ball (fireball with energy substitution) aimed at the bridge.  This time, the acid eats deeply into the stone foundations, and with a solid crack and a deep rumble, the southeast tower goes tumbling into the gorge, taking tons of rock and mud with it and starting a massive landslide.  “Nooooooo!” screams Ozzyrandion, and the dragon has just enough time to see his failure before Klar ends his life with a brutal cut from the double axe.

 

Skull Gorge Bridge crumbles and collapses completely, sending its three remaining watchtowers hurtling down into the canyons below.  Kaelin cuts down two more veterans and faces down their marshal warleader, and Ayotunde moves up to skewer another hobgoblin with her longspear.  Joined a moment later by Jack, Klar and Altaer, Kaelin makes quick work of the marshal, and the party stands back from the carnage to admire their handiwork.  The Red Hand will indeed have to find another way around Skull Gorge, for the bridge has been totally destroyed.

 

Though the threat is now delayed, the group wastes no time in returning to Drellin’s Ferry.  Klar leads them on a forced march throughout the night, and they return to Vraath Keep to rest and replenish spells.

 

Maia 5: The party is not ready to move out until just after noon, having marched all night previously.  However, once rested they make good time back to the Ferry crossing and enjoy a pleasant dinner at the Old Bridge Inn.  During the meal, Captain Soranna arrives to share drinks with them.  Jorr has already returned with the three hobgoblin captives from Vraath Keep, and Soranna has confirmed that an army of at least several thousand is massing near the Wyrmsmokes.  The map recovered from Koth adds to her concern, since the army seems to have a very solid battle plan for conquest of the Elsir Vale.  She arranges a meeting with Speaker Wiston in the morning to decide how to prepare the Ferry’s defenses.

 

That evening, Soranna accepts Jack’s kind offer to share drinks privately.  The two humans spend an enjoyable evening sipping brandy in the Old Bridge’s bar.  Ayo and Kaelin also have a private conversation in Kaelin’s room, regarding the fact that certain monsters (particularly those with good scent abilities) have thought he was a woman.  Whatever the results of their conversation, the two friends agree to keep it to themselves.

 

Maia 6: The meeting with Wiston is frustrating at first.  The Speaker insists that destroying the Skull Gorge Bridge was unnecessary and that it will hurt trade revenue, but his whining is quieted once Soranna confirms what the companions have said about the size of the Red Hand horde.  Swayed by the party’s eloquent arguments, Wiston is convinced to turn over the defense of the Ferry to Soranna.  He also informs the heroes that they now legally hold the rights to settle Vraath Keep, should they wish to.  The town will be fully evacuated with the exception of the heroes and a few brave volunteers.  The residents of the Ferry will head east towards Brindol, and Wiston uses the local sending stone to warn Captain Lars Ulverth and the Lions of Brindol of the impending invasion.

 

Further, their friend Kain Ulverth agrees to send a caravan to the Hammerfist Holds to secure mercenary support from the dwarves there.  Finally, he agrees to deploy a company of twelve Lion rangers to Drellin’s Ferry to assist in its defense.  The party offers Soranna a spare +1 large steel shield and +1 longsword from their collection, for which the raven-haired captain is most grateful.

 

Later in the afternoon as the party is helping the Ferry’s citizens with the evacuation, Warklegnaw and six smaller forest giants tromp out of the woods and set up camp outside town.  Jack heads out to negotiate with them, accompanied by Soranna and Speaker Wiston.  He convinces Warklegnaw and Wiston to put their differences aside by offering the chieftan 2,000 gold pieces and the deed to Vraath Keep.  Warklegnaw’s eyes light up at the mention of the Keep. His daughter Grundalla has coveted the place as a getaway for years, and was displeased at Koth’s takeover of her favorite flop.  With this stroke of diplomacy, Jack gains the services of the seven giants for the defense of both the Ferry and, perhaps, of Brindol when the time comes.

 

The day passes quickly into night as the hurried evacuation proceeds.  Thankfully, the weather remains clear and by nightfall many of the Ferry’s citizens are headed down the road east.  Soranna drills her remaining militia volunteers into the night – these ten brave souls agreed to stay behind as long as required.  Kaelin assists with these drills, doing his best to lift the spirits of the nervous partisans.  The others rest in the nearly empty Old Bridge, cooking themselves a fine meal from the halflings’ pantry.  Ayotunde finds Brother Derny after dinner.  The Arinnite is preparing to leave town, but he hesitates when he sees the look in Ayo’s eyes.  The priestess of Shandae is not shy about trading her charms for services, and she bargains with Derny – a night of delight, if only he will stay and support Soranna and the brave militia with his healing for another two or three days… Derny is helpless to resist her charms, and the two spend the night together in bliss.

 

Maia 7: Kaelin wakes early and dons his armor for a dawn patrol on the western outskirts of town near the ferry crossing.  Led by his intuition, Kaelin finds a small travelers’ shrine to Gwardo tucked into some tree branches on the outskirts of town.  He leaves a few coins and a gem in the shrine, and a cool breeze blows through his hair, rippling the feather in his helm.  Just then a familiar clank-clank-clank echoes in Kaelin’s ears, and he turns to see the traveling merchant Besha coming up the road.  The fuzzy-bearded man leads a mule, who in turn drags his multi-paneled cart behind him.  “Well well, didn’t expect to meet the likes of you out here, or maybe I did,” says Besha.  “Mayhap I came at a fortunate moment.”  He grins and taps the feather on his own cap, and then leads Kaelin back into town while humming and whistling an old traveling tune.

 

The others are pleased to see Besha, but his fortuitously timed arrival makes them suspicious.  In any case, Besha opens his cart for their perusal and a few transactions are completed.  The odd man also offers a new “special order service,” where many rare items can be acquired with just a few weeks’ short notice.  Despite their attempts to glean information on Besha’s origins, the merchant remains closed-mouthed. 

 

As the day rolls on the Ferry grows quiet and empty, its transformation from bustling trading post to virtual ghost town complete.  The last citizens reluctantly depart eastward along with Speaker Wiston and the other remaining town luminaries.  Soranna, Brother Derny and the ten militia members remain, and the Twistusks outside town maintain their camp near the river.  Aside from these stalwarts, Drellin’s Ferry now stands empty. 

 

Besha does join the heroes and Soranna for dinner that evening.   He gets Jack a bit drunk on his fiery whiskey, and then Kaelin joins in the revelry.  The three tipsy humans throw open the Old Bridge’s pantry and cook an enormous meal for the others.  Ayo and Altaer invite the militia inside to join them at Soranna’s request when Jack starts ladling out pork stew with corn dumplings.  Kaelin bakes several loaves of fluffy wheat bread, served steaming hot with melted butter.  Besha makes a huge rum cake soaked with drunken cherries and a vegetable curry to go with the pork stew.  Everyone eats their fill in the cozy dining room of the Old Bridge and spirits are as high as they can be, considering the circumstances.   Altaer is unable to sleep well, so he stays up to greet the dawn, looking eastward for the anticipated arrival of reinforcements from Brindol.  The night air is cool and calm, as if before a deadly storm.

 

Azarr Kul's Ambition