Session 9-15-07

 

    Maia 8: The company of twelve Lions of Brindol – rangers and woodsmen one and all – arrive in Drellin’s Ferry first thing in the morning, while Altaer is still awake.  After a spirited debate about their next strategic moves, the party decides to spend the day harrying Red Hand forces as the tip of the horde begins to move through the Witchwood towards the banks of the Ferry.

 

                The Lions of Brindol, the seven forest giants, Captain Soranna, and her ten brave militiafolk spread out in bands of five or six individuals to form additional harassment and scouting parties.  All agree to return to the Ferry at night to compare notes and regroup for whatever is to come.

Klar leads the adventurers into the wood and under the cool canopy of oaks and maples fresh with spring growth.  Not long afterward they come upon an advance scouting force of three goblin worg riders, 4 hobgoblin regulars, three hobgoblin archers and war adept of the Kulkor Zhul.  The goblinoids engage them and close quickly on Altaer, who turns the tide of the battle by centering a fireball upon himself.  The blast destroys the goblins, worgs, and several of the regulars, and the rout is on.  None of the Red Hand troops escape the party’s assault.

 

                The foray into the Witchwood continues throughout the day, and Klar turns the party southward back to Drellin’s Ferry an hour before nightfall.  As the sun sets, they come into a field strewn with the wreckage of a barn and farmhouse.  A massive voice bellows forth a challenge, and a stone giant covered in necromantic runes emerges from cover, carrying the severed head of one of Warklegnaw’s forest giants.  At the same time, a fierce chimera with a white dragon’s head swoops down from the skies to join the battle.  Ayotunde dispels the magical auras around the stone giant, ending a false life and protection from good effect which had been active.  Further, her spell causes the severed head of the allied giant to burst!  A swarm of negative energy-charged beetles and centipedes swarms out of the head and begins to crawl over the stone giant before he can throw his projectile at the party.

 

                As Klar advances to face down the giant, the three-headed chimera flies towards the vulnerable Altaer, grabbing the sorcerer in its lion-head jaws and crushing the life from his body.  Though not dead, Altaer is at death’s door and completely helpless.  The beast triumphantly screeches its defiance as it flies away westward with Altaer’s broken form.  Though the chimera is severely wounded, the party is unable to prevent it from escaping with their friend’s body.  Meanwhile, Klar hamstrings the stone giant with his ancestral double-axe, dropping the foe to its mighty knees and exposing its vulnerable neck.  A moment later, the raging Eye of Ijruk ends the giant’s life with a sudden slice clean through the jugular.

 

                No further Red Hand forces bother the group on its return to Drellin’s Ferry.  The heroes take stock of their forces with Captain Soranna’s help, and discover that their only casualty of the day was the unfortunate forest giant – one of Warklegnaw’s younger sons – who was killed quietly as he wandered off into the woods away from his scouting squad to “water the trees.”  The Lions and their giant allies skirmished with several goblin scouting parties, but neither side inflicted significant casualties on the other.  Soranna’s best guess is that the harrying may have delayed the Red Hand by an additional day or so.

 

                The party seems somewhat at a loss to prevent the onrushing storm of the Red Hand horde that they now know is inevitably marching on Drellin’s Ferry, and from there into the eastern lands of the Elsir Vale.  Without their sorcerer, even taking on special missions to slow the horde’s advance seems like an impossible prospect.  Worried and demoralized, they anxiously throw dice and sip at drinks left by the halflings of the Old Bridge Inn.  However, by the dark early morning hours their luck begins to change.

 

Maia 9: About three hours before dawn, a group of crusading adventurers from the Luminous Order of Bahamut ride into the Ferry, led by a handsome brown haired knight named Del Werner.  The brave Werner informs Kaelin (who was on watch outside when they arrived) that Luminous Champion Layna Jaran of the Shining Citadel sent them to help with the defense of the Vale.  Werner’s expertise, along with that of his seven companions, will allow the party to leave the final defense and evacuation of Drellin’s Ferry to the newcomers.

 

                Furthermore, Werner brings news of a possible mission to the north.  The Tiri Kitor, a group of wild elf tribes in the Blackfens south of the sunken ruins of Rhest, has requested immediate aid against “strange, hybrid draconic creatures” which have started to hunt aggressively in their territory.  According to Del, the elves believe there may be a hatchery or some other kind of spawning experiment taking place near Rhest. 

 

                Eager to strike against the Red Hand, the party agrees to travel to the Blackfens despite the absence of their sorcerer.  With purposeful though heavy hearts, they gather their gear and depart on horseback across the trade road east towards Terrelton and Nimon Gap.  As they prepare to leave, their allies report that the Red Hand is advancing rapidly on Drellin’s Ferry, and the party can see the first columns of troops pouring out of the Witchwood and preparing to ford the river.  Azarr Kul’s army numbers well into the thousands, and includes goblinoids (the bulk of the army), orcs, giants, wyverns, manticores, dragons, and undead.  After surveying the approaching force, the group wisely decides to abandon the little township, but only after ensuring that the remaining defenders will head towards Brindol with all haste.

 

 The horde has not yet advanced into the eastern Elsir Vale, so the journey on horseback towards Nimon Gap is fast and uneventful.  The party spends the night at a small hostel in the Gap, though the village is already in the midst of evacuation towards Brindol.

 

Maia 10: The day is cool and clear, and the roads are kind to the heroes as they make good progress north-northeast towards Rhest and the Blackfens.  They spend the night at the druidic stopover called Witchcross, where Jack makes an impromptu fey altar near the ancient spruce tree called “Eth.”

 

That evening, an attractive redheaded human approaches their camp and informs the group that the Red Hand wishes to bargain for their friend Altaer’s life, and that their contact for this negotiation can be found at a roadblock less than a day’s journey north.  She introduces herself as Miha Serani, and despite her arrogant demeanor, the party feels they have no choice but to accept her superiors’ offer of parley for Altaer.  They prepare to leave in the morning.

 

Meanwhile, Altaer is largely unaware of his surroundings as he is beaten and tortured by Red Hand interrogators.  Finally, weakened and bleeding, he is bound to a stock and whipped mercilessly into unconsciousness.  A red-skinned orc with rippling muscles and obvious draconic heritage approaches him, accompanied by a cackling night hag.  The awful hag holds a syringe filled with bubbling greenish-gray fluid, roughly injecting the burning mixture into Altaer’s neck.  Though the sorcerer’s vision swims and his heart races, he is somehow aware that he had resisted the poison concocted for him.

 

The interrogation continues in earnest, but Altaer manages to fight through a haze of pain to give a credible – but completely inaccurate – account of the party’s capabilities, their strategies, and their intelligence.  His performance is so convincing that the huge red orc leans in ever closer, asking more and more questions about Klar.  After a time, the orc seems satisfied enough to taunt Altaer that his friends are walking into a trap.  As he leaves, the hag whispers to Altaer, “Now he’s shown his hand… pay attention to what happens next, and remember what I’ve told you.  That’s a good boy…”  Altaer drifts back to unconsciousness after his ordeal, and his memory fades to black, but he yet lives.

 

Maia 11: After a tense, quiet morning meal the party mounts up their horses and heads north along the road toward Rhest.  According to Miha’s information they will arrive at the roadblock by early afternoon.

 

As they approach their destination, Jack takes out the spyglass to see the nature of the roadblock.  The Red Hand has constructed a stockade all the way across the road north out of the Elsir towards the Valley of Obelisks (though the mountain passes to the northern Valley are still two days’ ride from here).  The main stockade is 40’ high and flanked by two shorter 20’ tall wings; the structure blocks the entirety of the road.  Red Hand worg riders and hobgoblin archers can be seen on the battlements and on the ground near the stockade, and the archers hail the party with signs of truce as the group advances.

 

A red-skinned orc carrying a falchion and clad in red dragonscale armor emerges from the stockade.  He bears a familial resemblance to Klar and has obvious draconic heritage (red).  His eyes burn with intelligence and ambition, and he introduces himself in a calm voice as “Wyrmlord Hravek Kharn, General of the Red Hand.”  Kharn approaches Klar, calling him “my son,” and offering a revelation about Klar’s past: the orc chieftan whom Klar refused to usurp leadership from was not his father… Kharn left Klar’s pregnant mother in the care of another tribe of Bloodflayers, assuming that his son would one day rise to power due to his ancestry.  Klar’s mother, loyal to Kharn, encourage this usurpation, but was surprised and shocked when Klar refused to take up the mantle, abandoning his homeland in the Wyrmsmoke Mountains and spiriting away his ancestral weapon rather than murdering his “father” the chieftain.

 

Kharn offers his son secrets of the prophecies he has heard, and shares his belief that Klar is destined for great things.  The orc general has had a vision of Klar defeating Azarr Kul, and he wishes for Klar to join him in taking control of the Red Hand horde and betraying his master.  He offers Altaer in exchange for Klar’s loyalty.  “My son, there will be a moment, when the horde attacks Brindol, and you will know it.  Wait for me there, and wait for the right moment.”

 

Neither side can establish any real trust or rapport, given the events of the past weeks and the Red Hand’s connection to the conspiracy to re-open the gates of Slaughtergarde to the north.  Kharn makes a gesture towards the stockade and bellows an attack order, retreating inside.  A moment later, two enraged hill giant barbarians charge out of the fort.  Battle is joined.

 

As the party fights the two giants, the other goblinoids (apparently loyal to Kharn) fade into the woods on the side of the road.  A moment later, Kharn bursts from the upper tower on the back of a large red dragon, shouting encouragement to his son as he swoops around the battlefield.  The hobgoblin archers take cover inside the stockade while the battle continues. 

 

Altaer, who had been brought to the stockade by Kharn’s forces, awakens as the hobgoblins descend the stockade stairs with murder on their minds.  He finds himself awake but severely weakened (staggered) inside a steel cage with four hobgoblins bearing down on him.  Struggling free of his bonds, the sorcerer lets loose with a desperate fireball which incinerates all four assailants.  He immediately falls unconscious from the effort.  The rest of the adventurers are still unaware of his presence until that moment, when the fireball erupts from the stockade.  They quickly finish off the two hill giants and rush inside to find their friend.  General Kharn flies off to the west and his loyal goblinoids depart with him. 

 

After a joyful reunion, the party agrees to rest here within the confines of the stockade to allow Altaer to regain his strength.  They estimate that the Blackfens are less than a full day’s ride away.  The night passes uneventfully since Kharn’s forces had already abandoned the roadblock, his ruse to exchange Klar for Altaer apparently a failure.

 

Maia 12: Altaer awakens feeling much better, and he and Jack blast the roadblock stockade to pieces with eldritch blasts and fiery bursts.  Within an hour, the Red Hand stockade has been reduced to a burning, smoldering pile of rubble and the road north to the Valley of Obelisks is cleared once again.  Satisfied, the party mounts their horses and makes towards the Blackfens and the ruins of Rhest.

 

The fens are misty and reek of decay, but overall it is the natural smell of decay rather than the cloying scent of corruption.  Klar leads the band through a soupy morass of knee-deep muck and water, and soon they come across a small muddy island in the midst of a bog.  This island is notable because it holds the steaming, still decomposing remains of a giant owl.  Acid hisses quietly as it drips from the poor creature’s carcass.  Suddenly a shrill draconic shriek rings out, and a green scaled horror with bladed vestigial wings emerges from the bog along with two smaller bipedal dragonkin.  It immediately charges, and after a quick battle the beast is dispatched.  The party searches the remains of the giant owl and finds a jade anklet on one leg with the owl’s name carved in Elvish: “Liokio.”  Further, the steaming guts of the green dragon hybrid contain a ring of elvish make – obsidian with a single white pearl.  Nearby, the party discovers a valuable cache of treasure buried by the monster’s lair, with coins, jewelry and a number of magical items.

 

As the battle concludes, five elven hunters circle the island on giant owls, landing near the party in formation.  A brief conversation occurs, and the elves are pleased at the party’s recovery of the two items, though all are saddened by the loss of Lanikar, their tribe mate, to whom the obsidian ring belonged.   The elves agree to take the party back to Starsong Hill once Jack mentions the Luminous Order and their investigation of the dragon-hybrids at Rhest. 

 

At Starsong Hill, they are greeted by Speaker Sellyria Starsinger and Battlehunter Killiar Arrowswift.  Sellyria declares a time of mourning for the dead Lanikar, and the party decides to stay the night and commiserate with the Tiri Kitor out of respect.  The wild elves thank them for their help and provide them two elven skiffs and three potions of water breathing for their journey north up the Rhestwash. Speaker Starsinger warns them that many lizardfolk tribes have taken up worshipping the dark power at Rhest, which she thinks is responsible for spawning the green scaled “harrowblades,” as she calls them.  Ayo and Altaer suspect that these harrowblades may be a new form of weapon: a Spawn of Tiamat, infused with the infernal power of the Nine Hells.  After a light meal, they rest quietly in elven tents in preparation for departure.

 

Maia 13: As dawn breaks, Klar and Kaelin have packed the last of the party’s gear into their new skiffs.  The five friends embark together on their upriver journey, with Klar paddling in one skiff and Jack in the other.  Though the winding streams and waterways of the lower Rhestwash cause them to lose their way, Klar eventually finds the main tributary and the two skiffs make good time, arriving within site of the sunken ruins of Rhest by late afternoon.  A hazy grey-green mist hangs over the lake and ruins, and lizardfolk sentry pickets are visible on the lake shore.

 

Altaer tries to bargain with a great blackscale lizardfolk, but his efforts fail.  Battle breaks out, and the sorcerer launches a searing fireball into the midst of the lizardfolk, burning several to death before they can react.  The remaining lizardfolk briefly engage the party in some distracting melee before diving into the dark water to retreat.

 

Though it is almost certain their foes are now alerter to their presence, the party continues north towards the center of the lake and the sunken ruins.  They note two key structures: a half-sunken tower which has partially collapsed, and a large stone structure near the center of the ruins.  Both buildings seem to have recently been renovated (though by relatively crude hobgoblin engineering techniques) and fresh wooden platforms have been mounted for easy water access.   The main stone building – Rhest’s former town hall – lies about 250 feet northwest of the tower.  The two skiffs glide forward.

 

A loud clanging bell rings out and suddenly the group comes under longbow fire from the nearby tower.  Four hobgoblin archers perch there behind arrow slits, firing at their leisure.  The party paddles closer to the tower, and most of the arrows go astray or clank off armor and shield.

 

A cackling little goblin armed with a small composite longbow emerges from the town hall’s upper floor, firing a barrage of deadly human bane arrows into the party’s midst.  “You should not have come heeeere, foolish humans!  Now face the wrrrath of Wyrmlord Saarvith!”

 

Saarvith is joined by four ogre javelineers on the docks, who throw their oversized projectiles rather ineffectually in the party’s direction.  After a few seconds his companion, the juvenile black dragon Regiarix, bursts forth from the town hall and dives towards the party’s skiffs.  The dragon is sleek and deadly, dodging attacks as he swoops down and blasts the boat holding Altaer, Jack and Kaelin with his acid breath.  The boat dissolves and the three companions plunge into the dark water, avoiding the worst of the attack.

 

Klar hops off the remaining skiff and charges up the wooden ramps of the small tower to deal with the hobgoblin archers.  He soon stands amidst a pile of four hobgoblin corpses, two of which no longer sport heads.  Altaer swims to the surface and slams the dragon Regiarix directly in the face with an orb of fire, wounding him badly and sending him into retreat.  Afterward, the sorcerer contents himself with blasting the ogres at range with his magic while Kaelin gets out her bow and snipes.  Unfortunately, even when Jack adds his support with eldritch blasts, the horrible shrieking Wyrmlord Saarvith is clearly getting the better of the exchange.  Jack takes a human bane arrow in the neck and drops back into the water, and Altaer is the next victim a few seconds later.

 

Ayotunde scrambles to get her downed companions back on their feet, and thanks to the blessed magic of Shandae they are both soon back in the fight.  Klar and Kaelin finish off the last of the ogres and Altaer picks off a Kulkor Zhul war adept skulking near Saarvith with a well-placed fireball.  Badly wounded by the extended combat, the goblin Wyrmlord retreats into the town hall building as his dragon companion Regiarix dives through a hole in the ceiling.  Neither is seen again…

 

Searching the ruins of Rhest takes several hours, but the party manages to find the source of the greenspawn hybrids.  According to Wyrmlord Saarvith’s hastily abandoned notes and papers, he was here to oversee the spawning operation of “greenspawn razorfiends,” the newest Spawn of Tiamat developed for the Red Hand army.  The heroes locate a disgusting hatchery complex within a converted dockhouse and spend over an hour destroying dozens, if not hundreds, of greenspawn eggs.  Thanks to their efforts, Azarr Kul will be unable to call upon these minions in the coming days.

 

Perhaps equally important, Jack finds a handwritten note among Saarvith’s personal effects which reads:

 

“Saarvith – Take great care with the enclosed phylactery.  I need not explain to you what the Ghostlord would do if he knew where I had sent his little bauble for safekeeping.  Hide it somewhere safe – perhaps it could be trusted to your dragon friend’s keeping?  Keep it hidden until Brindol is taken.  Should it fall into the hands of someone who could return it to its owner, the consequences for our effort could be dire indeed.  We were lucky to secure the Ghostlord’s assistance, given the recent debacle with Gashkarr and Azarr Kul’s little project at Slaughtergarde. – Ulwai.”

 

The phylactery’s location is not immediately apparent, but a thorough search of the two lower levels of the Rhest town hall reveals Regiarix’s hoard.  The dragon kept his treasure buried in the muck on the ground floor.  The phylactery, a carved skull talisman mounted on an adamantine chain with lion’s teeth and claws, rests within a waterproof box amidst the hoard. 

 

Exhausted from the day’s battles, the five companions hole up in a quiet room on the second floor of the town hall for some well-deserved rest.

 

Maia 14: The journey back to Starsong Hill from Rhest takes a bit longer due to Klar having to salvage a spare boat from the dockhouse and a midday rainstorm, but the party is back safely in the elves’ camp by nightfall.  There, they witness the last rites of Lanikar, as the time of mourning ends and the Tiri Kitor send their dead comrade’s spirit on its way to the shining shores of the Beastlands.  After the ceremony, Sellyria Starsinger calls the companions forward.  Before the assembled tribes of the Tiri Kitor, she thanks the party for their assistance and pledges three dozen elvish hunters to the defense of Brindol.  Additionally, she calls forth Illian Snowmantle, the owl handler, who presents the five friends each with a giant owl trained for overland flight.  The owls can fly 56 miles a day, and this seems a great boon given that the Ghostlord’s lair in the Thornwaste is at least 200 miles south.

 

Azarr Kul's Ambition