Session 33 - Scene 3 (of 7)

By the time Krolec and Challa get back to the room, Tiberius has woken up.  He is surprised to see them then notices Silas is missing.  

When he asks about the absent avenger, Challa replies that Silas is back with the baggage train.  Tiberius believes she means he is helping the men unload.  Challa tells him that's not exactly the case.  She goes on to explain they were attacked by goblins and Silas "gave all he had".  Still not catching the euphamisms, Tiberius assumes Silas is resting.

Challa finally has to explicitly state that Silas is dead.  Tiberius offers his regrets for their fallen comrade.  Then, remembering the dead man's attractive new wife, proclaims he shall go to Lady Abigail and comfort her as a matter of duty.  Challa is suspicious of his motives.

Durmindin expresses surprise at the news of Challa's group being under attack.  She quickly explains about a force of goblins commanded by an orc attacked them under the direction of Rufus the Red.

Switching the topic back to the matter at hand, Challa explains they found a hat outside they'd like Leigh to look at.  Tiberius finds the concept odd, forcing Challa to bluntly point out the hat is potentially magical.  

At the discussion of a magical item, Leigh's interests perk up.  She wonders if the hat was found below the same window that Tiberius knocked Rufus out of.  Tiberius doesn't remember the assassin wearing a hat, but admits he might not have noticed in the heat of battle.

With her nerves on edge from lack of rest, Challa grumpily suggests Tiberius didn't notice because he was sleeping too much.  Tiberius fires back a snide comment about how he required a long rest after fighting a difficult battle while saving all his allies.  Challa starts to get upset, and Tiberius backs down.  He successfully turns the conversation back to going to look at the hat.

Session 33 - Scene 4 (of 7)

Everyone heads outside.  They can see the hat is, indeed, below the window where Tiberius shoved Rufus out of the window.  It must have fallen off when he fell.

Leigh easily determines the hat is magical and identifies it as a hat of disguise.  She explains the wearer can use it to change his general appearance (though not impersonate anyone specifically), including clothing.  She also notes the illusion does not disguise the wearer's voice nor will the illusion provide any tactile effect so it won't hold up to being touched.

Challa finds the description of the hat interesting.  She believes the hat is the reason Rufus has been impossible to identify as well as providing him a way to easily infiltrate his targets.

Durmindin is even more interested in the hat, as it will give him a way to go around town without being conspicuous.  He tries it on, taking on the appearance of a human after thinking about it for a minute.  Tiberius reminds him that next time he needs to remember to imagine himself as a human with clothes on.

Tiberius does not, however, want Durmindin to wear the hat for now.  Instead, he has the baron wear it; though not everyone is certain the baron is in much of a state mentally to use it.

Session 33 - Scene 5 (of 7)

After gathering the horses and the servants with the food, everyone heads out.  Krolec elects to stay behind with the servants as the rear guard.  Tiberius chuckles to himself that the position seems appropriate.

For a large part of the day, the trip is uneventful.  The group heads north up to the path through the Thunderspire mountains, noting that the pass will soon be closed due to winter coming.  Towards the late part of the afternoon, they exit the pass and begin heading back on the Trade Road towards Fallcrest.

A short time later, Tiberius spots someone traveling on the road in the opposite direction.  He rides out to get a better look.  As he gets closer, he sees it appears to be a man and a shorter humanoid walking along the road.

Once he gets close enough, the warlord can see the man wears strange, exotic clothing similar to that worn by Salazar (causing Tiberius to guess they are of the same ethnicity).  And his companion is not a halfling or other smaller humanoid, but a goblin.

The man watches Tiberius approach, trying to identify if he is one of the people he is searching for.  The goblin beside him, calling him master, asks who approaches.  The man responds he is not sure and instructs his companion to drop behind him.  He begins heading towards the horseman.

Tiberius gets close enough to talk to the man.  He unslings his axe, but keeps it down to his side.  He can see the man wears no armor and appears to have only a dagger in his belt (which causes Tiberius to chuckle to himself).  He also sees the goblin appears to be unarmed and is being used like a pack mule.

The warlord greets the stranger.  The man appears to recognize him, asking if his name is Tiberius.  Tiberius confirms his identity, though finds it unsettling the man knows who he is.

The man announces himself as Sa'lid Dra'lah, and his companion as Snarg.  He identifies Snarg as his servant.  When Tiberius asks how that came to be, Sa'lid explains Snarg was born a runt and he saved him from being killed by his clan for being too weak.

Tiberius cautions Sa'lid that his group has recently lost a member to an attack by goblins, so the servant's presence may cause some friction.  Sa'lid expressed his condolences.

The man goes on to explain that he has suffered a somewhat recent loss of his own.  His brother, Omar, was killed and a valuable family heirloom, an amulet, was stolen.

Tiberius notes that the man wears strange clothing and asks him where he is from.  As the warlord suspected, Sa'lid explains he is from a land far to the east, across the Dawnforge Mountains and beyond the Sind Desert.

Feeling the man seems trustworthy, or at least not dangerous, Tiberius leads him back to the others and introductions are made.  Sa'lid, however, seems to already know their names, explaining he has been looking for their group.

Sa'lid goes on to inquire about Silas and Krolec.  Tiberius makes a joke at Krolec's expense, but Challa reminds him the proper phrase is "Krolec is taking up the rear".  She then tells the man that Silas is dead.

The man offers his condolences for the death of Silas, mentioning he will have to inform the avenger's wife.  Tiberius expresses surprise that Sa'lid knows Lady Abigail.  Sa'lid remarks that he has "ran into her" once or twice, though from the way he talks about her the others form suspicions that perhaps he knows her on a more intimate level.  Tiberius is not happy about a potential romantic rival.

Sa'lid goes on to explain his story.  He and his brother Omar were powerful sorcerers in their lands and rivals of Salazar.  A year ago, Salazar murdered his brother and stole their family heirloom amulet.  He goes on to explain that he tracked Salazar to Fallcrest, but discovered the man was already killed by the group.  Tiberius responds that it was his axe that did the killing, though others remember Leigh's magic missile being the deciding factor.

When Sa'lid explains he has been looking for the group because he believes they have his family's amulet, Challa puts two and two together and realizes he is talking about the amulet that the new Lord Ruddiger gave them after finding in Salazar's room.

She asks the man to describe the amulet, which he does clearly.  Leigh produces the amulet from the bag of holding.  Sa'lid examines it and determines it is the heirloom he has been looking for.  Tiberius makes a joke about falling a lot in the desert, but Sa'lid explains the desert lands can be very mountainous in spots.

Everyone is happy to give the amulet back to Sa'lid, especially Tiberius who proclaims his strong support for "family values".  Challa telepathically expresses her surprise to him at his sentimentality.  He gives a curt response back saying it is the result of getting a good night's sleep.

Tiberius offers to let Sa'lid and Snarg accompany them back to Fallcrest.  Sa'lid agrees, saying he'd be happy to help the group in their current endeavor, whatever that may be, as thanks for returning his amulet to him.

As they resume heading out on their way, Tiberius wonders about using the hat of disguise on Snarg to make him appear as a beautiful woman to Krolec as part of a practical joke.  But after chuckling to himself at the idea for a moment, he thinks better of it as Krolec does not share his sense of humor.

Session 33 - Scene 6 (of 7)

With a long day of travel over, Tiberius arranges for the group to make camp.  He spots a somewhat hilly area off to the north a little ways off the road where the main group will stay while Krolec stays with the servants at the next hill over.  Challa is happy at the idea of finally getting a good night's rest.

The first watch passes uneventfully.  But during the second watch of the night, Durmindin notices something strange; he catches a faint whiff of smoke.  He wakes up Leigh and explains he will go out to look for the smoke while she wakes the others.

Heading around the hill, Durmindin spots a large grass fire burning.  He can tell it was not started naturally.  It seems to be in a long line and headed towards their camp.

Durmindin heads back and alerts the others.  As they get ready, Sa'lid sends Snarg off to look around more.

Leigh can tell the fire is not magical.  Snarg returns, proclaiming to his master that another row of flames is headed their way from the opposite direction.  Challa notes they are being herded.

Everyone quickly mounts up and tries to head around the flames and back to the road as quickly as possible.  They make a diamond formation, with Tiberius in the lead, the baron and the spell casters in the middle, and Challa at the rear.

Galloping ahead, Tiberius fails to spot an unnatural looking section of ground.  His horse heads straight into a covered ditch, causing his horse to collapse and Tiberius to be thrown off.  Challa, the baron, and Sa'lid all fail to notice as well, causing them and their horses to fall victim to the same trap; though Sa'lid's amulet keeps him on his feet.  The others, however, manage to notice in time and quickly stop.  They dismount and ready their weapons.

Just then, men with spears emerge from the ground directly behind the ditch.  Apparently, they were lying in wait under camouflage.  The rush in and stab at Challa and the baron, but are unable to hit them.

Behind them, a row of crossbowmen emerge.  They fire at Leigh and Sa'lid, hitting them each twice.

Durmindin calls out to the baron urging him to fall back.  He attempts to attack the spearmen with his call of the howling storm, but fails.

Sa'lid quickly casts his own spells, causing himself to be obscured.  He then calls forth the power of the moon and stars, blasting one of the spearmen with radiant light.

Finding their attackers in an almost perfect position, Leigh casts her fireball spell, blasting all four spearmen and three of the archers.  One of the spearmen is reduced to a charred corpse.

Tiberius moves up to assist the others.  Using his knight's move maneuver, he gets Challa up on her feet.

Challa then issues a diving challenge and attacks a spearman with astral thunder.  The blast kills the man.

The baron then stands up, getting ready to fall back.  Out of the darkness behind the men attacking them, a crossbow bolt fires out, striking the baron through the neck.  Durmindin, acting quickly, uses his powers to absorb some of the damage, but the baron still collapses in a pool of blood.

One of the spearmen then stabs Challa while the crossbowmen fire three more bolts into her.

Although the wizard is badly injured, Durmindin is focused on the baron.  He uses his healing spirit to stop the baron's bleeding and moves over to get in a position to assist the man.

Sa'lid keeps up his dark shroud spell and moves over to the baron so he will be obscured as well.  He tries to blast one of the spearmen with his pyre of fire spell, but the man avoids it.

Leigh, meanwhile, is upset at her precarious position.  She blasts back at the crossbowmen with her fire burst spell, hitting three of them.  She is dismayed when they don't die as a result.

Tiberius maneuvers himself around one of the spearmen then strikes the man with his guarding attack.  He then points out an attack opening on the spearman to Challa, and she finishes him off with her axe.

The crossbowmen fire again, hitting Leigh and Tiberius.  Overcome with injuries, Leigh collapses.  The remaining spearman tries to follow up with an attack against Challa, but can't penetrate her armor.

Durmindin uses his healing spirit to stabilize Leigh while Sa'lid casts a spell that allows him and Tiberius to fly over to the crossbowmen.  Sa'lid tries to blast the crossbowmen with his arcing fire, but misses.  One of the crossbowmen tries to attack him back, using his crossbow as a club, but fails to hit.  Tiberius has no better luck, failing with his bastion of defense maneuver.

Recovered somewhat by Durmindin's spell, Leigh stands herself up and blasts at the other two crossbowmen with a shock sphere, killing them both.  Inspired by the attack, Challa issues a divine challenge on the remaining spearman then strikes him down with a righteous smite.

The two remaining crossbowmen drop their crossbows and pull out scimitars.  They cut into Sa'lid and Tiberius, knocking Sa'lid to the ground.

Durmindin responds by blasting away one of the men with his wrath of winter while Sa'lid picks himself up and blasts the other with his swirling stars spell.

With only one opponent left, Leigh blasts the man with her magic missile.  Tiberius tries to use a surround the foe maneuver to follow up her attack, but the tactic fails.

Challa charges ahead at the man, with Tiberius guiding her.  However, the man manages to step out of the way.

The soldier then strikes out at Tiberius with his scimitar, but Tiberius fends him off.  A clash of swords erupts as the man blocks Tiberius' war cry assault.

Durmindin and Sa'lid have no better luck, missing the man with their spells.  In the end, Challa manages to strike the killing blow with her axe.

Session 33 - Scene 7 (of 7)

Everyone immediately makes sure the baron is ok and looks around for the unseen assailant.  Tiberius remarks that it was obviously Rufus, and they managed to land right into another of his traps.  He yells out into the darkness, taunting Rufus.  Challa joins in as well, but they get no response.

Tiberius suggests they move out as quickly as possible and not to stop until they hit Fallcrest.  With the fires advancing dangerously towards them, they discover the three horses felled by the trap have broken their legs.  Tiberius puts them down quickly with his axe.

Everyone doubles up on the remaining horses and heads out around the fire.  Eventually they meet back up with Krolec, who gives them his groups' horses so they can get back to town faster while he and the servants walk back.

After another long night of travel, they eventually make it back to Fallcrest.  Everyone sleeps for the next two days, especially the exhausted Challa.

Session 33 - Session Notes

This session started off badly, but recovered quickly.  I had arrived a half hour late because I got held up by an appointment that went long.  It also meant I didn't have time to pick up the pizza I said I was going to bring so I had to order it once I arrived and it was going to be a 45 minute wait and people were already hungry.  Then, the Tiberius player way delayed even more (he didn't show up until the part where his PC is awake, which was just after the pizza arrived).

But, once we got going everything went smooth.  The introduction of the new PC worked out well, and there was a lot of inter-group interaction before leading up to the inevitable final gambit of Rufus.  I had a lot of fun planning that battle - I could complete visualize the ambush and how it would completely negate the horse advantage.  I like switching up the fights a bit to keep things interesting.

The assassination plots are a lot of fun because it yet again gave the group a chance to defeat a villain without really harming him or facing him directly.  And while they have survived the plots, they certainly respect him and are both nervous about facing him again and yet want revenge on him.  Plus, the poor baron's constant brushes with death provide both suspense and humor.

But with the baron delivered, the Rufus plot will now fade into the background a bit as the game becomes more focused on other things going on around town.

The magical hat was the second time where I awarded treasure long after the battle (the first being the amulet that Salazar had).  I kind of like this technique, but don't want to overuse it.  The magical hat was perfect when I was looking for treasure, since it completely tied in to what was going on and explained how Rufus had been so successful in the past.  Plus, it eliminated a roadblock for the Durmindin character.

The Sa'lid character was sort of a cooperative effort between myself and the (former) Silas player.  He originally created a sorcerer, but gave him the joke name of "Salis Drallab" (Silas Ballard backwards) and his only background was that he was the secret lover of Lady Abigail.  I guess since Lady Abigail was named after his wife, he wanted to keep her NPC counterpart attached to his, lol.

Anyhow, I suggested making the name something less jokey but saw potential by adding some accents and changing a couple of letters around.  It was first transformed to Sa'lis Dra'lab, but then I took it a step further to make Sa'lid Dra'lah, influenced in no small part by the character Sayid Jarrah from Lost (including the brother named Omar).

Since he had a middle-easterny sounding name (though obviously not a real Arabic name), I suggested he be from the same region as Salazar, who was previously established as being from a middle easterny land from the east.  This explained how he became Lady Abigail's lover (the "exotic foreigner" syndrome, combined with the lonely newlywed) as well as giving him a hook into the group (the amulet, which no one particularly cared about when they found out its power).

As a background reward, I suggested the goblin companion.  I didn't use the official companion rules - I didn't want another combatant.  Instead, his companion would be a goblin delver (inspired by the mini) who pretty much just hauls shit around.  I came up with the name Snarg as a play off of "Snarf" from Thundercats.  To give him some usefulness, and make up for a current hole in the party's skills, I had Snarg skilled in thievery, which fit in with his goblin background.

Interlude - Cast of Characters

Berend - Dwarf Cleric
Goldar the Mighty - Goliath Barbarian
Saxton - Dwarf Fighter
Vector - Human Wizard

Interlude - Scene 1 (of 6)

Six weeks ago...

Holed up inside the hall of the duergar fortress, Berend and his men rest for the night.  Despite their expectations, they manage to make it through the night.  It is decided that Brandis and Madresh will stay back and guard the rear while Berend, Vector, Goldar, and Saxton advance on.

The door to the south of the hall leads into a kitchen area, where a female slave is found hiding.  She explains she has been forced to work in the kitchen while most of the others work in the mines in the section of the fortress across the chasm.

Attention then focuses on the door north of the hall.  Berened carefully listens at the door; hearing nothing, he cracks it open a little then opens it after making sure the room is empty.

Moving inside, the room appears to be the duergar barracks.  Berend notices a chest in the room.  Opening it, he finds an iron key and a pair of greaves.

Vector examines the greaves and determines they are magical dwarven greaves.  Saxton decides it makes the most sense if he takes them.  The others don't want to argue the point with him.

While the others are deciding what to do, Saxton decides to head into the next room.  He finds a large ruined hall that appears to have once been some kind of trophy room back when the minotaurs controlled the fortress.  

Vector decides to examine the trophies closer.  On one side of the northern door stands the stuffed and mounted form of an octopus-headed humanoid in black robes.  On the other is a large, lizard-like creature with gold-colored eyes.  Several other more mundane trophies, all showing signs of decay, lie in piles around the room.  Vector decides to take the black robes off of the octopus-headed creature and wear them for his own.

There are two doors out of this room, one to the north and a set of double-doors to the east.  Berend heads over to the northern door while Goldar moves to the double doors.  While Goldar detects nothing behind his doors, Berend hears some noise and echoing behind his door.

Vector decides to open the door from off to the side while Saxton stands ready for whatever lies beyond.  Once Vector opens it, Saxton discovers it leads to the bridge across the chasm; and that a force of duergar and magical arbalesters are waiting on the far side.

Interlude - Scene 2 (of 6)

The arbalesters fire at Saxton, hitting him twice.  He immediately moves back out of the way.  From off to the side, Vector closes the door and steps back.

Berend and Goldar focus on making sure no one is coming from the other direction as the arbalester's fire again, with the large bolts crashing into the door.  Saxton points out they need to decide whether to retreat or charge across the bridge, as the arbalesters are just going to keep firing.

After a brief debate, the group decides to continue on.  Vector moves back up and opens the door.  He then fires off a fireball spell, blasting into the duergar but unable to damage the arbalesters.

Saxton charges ahead, bringing him up to the duergar.  The duergar respond by hitting him twice with their warhammers.  Goldar follows him by running then making a tremendous leap that brings him right to them.

Following behind, Berend moves up to the middle of the bridge and hits one of the duergar with his daunting light.

The arbalesters fire another series of shots, hitting Goldar once and Saxton twice.  Unable to use any of his area effect spells because of the narrow bridge, Vector uses his magic missile to blast one of the duergar.

Saxton takes a moment to catch his breath then issues a combat challenge to the duergar in front of Goldar.  He then chops into the duergar in front of him with a recovery attack, killing it.  The remaining duergar guard attacks back at the dwarf, but Saxton fends him off.

Berend uses a healing word to help Saxton recover then moves up behind him.  He tries to attack one of the arbalesters with a flame strike, but misses.

Goldar, to Saxton's annoyance, decides to focus on the remaining duergar rather than maneuver over to the arbalester.  Gold unleashes a pressing strike, hitting the duergar and knocking it off the side of the bridge.  It screams in horror as it falls hundreds of feet and crashes to its death at the bottom of the chasm.

In response to Goldar's awesome attack, the arbalests fire at him, hitting him four times.  Vector tries to attack back with a magic missile, but misses.

Saxton moves up and slams into one of the arbalesters with a brash strike.  Berend follows it up with a flame strike after healing Goldar, who also chops into the arbalester in front of him using his foe to foe maneuver.

From the back Vector hits one of the arbalesters with a magic missile as Saxton misses with another attack, along with Berend's flame strike.  Goldar finishes both of the arbalesters off with a powerful sweep from his blade.

Interlude - Scene 3 (of 6)

Just then, the doors at the end of the bridge crash open and a large, angry ogre emerges.  Vector immediately tries to blast the creature, but misses with his magic missile.

Saxton has better luck, scoring a hit on the creature with his brute strike.  The ogre attacks back with his massive club, but Saxton quickly dodges out of the way.

Berend counters with his sacred flame, blasting into the creature with divine fire.  Goldar prefers a more direct approach; using his strength of stone, he slams into the ogre with a powerful avalanche strike.

From the back, Vector blasts the ogre with a magic missile as the ogre and Saxton exchange attacks, each unable to penetrate the other's defenses.

Berend uses his healer's mercy prayer to help Saxton.  Nearby, Goldar strikes into the ogre with his sword as Vector blasts it with another magic missile.

Saxton strikes out again, slamming into the creature with a brash strike.  The ogre collapses to the ground, dead.

Interlude - Scene 4 (of 6)

Overcome with the adrenaline from the battle, Saxton steps around the dead ogre and heads into the doors beyond.  He is immediately confronted by a force of four orcs, another duergar guard, and a duergar theurge.

The orcs rush the dwarf, attacking with their axes.  Two of them manage to hit the fighter.

Hearing the battle inside, Goldar rushes in to help.  He strikes into one of the orcs with his sword.

Vector stays back towards the doorway and unleashes his rolling thunder spell.  The blast knocks one of the orcs back.

Saxton maneuvers into an advantageous position against one of the orcs and strikes into it with his crack the shell attack while issuing a combat challenge to another.

Berend then advances into the room.  Using one of his prayers, he heals Saxton's axe wounds.  He then blasts one of the orcs with his sacred flame.

The duergar theurge blasts Saxton with a firebolt.  Berend issues a quick prayer to mitigate the damage Saxton takes.  The orcs attack Saxton as well, but only manage to hit him once.

Wanting to end the battle quickly, Goldar decides to use his thunder hooves rage.  His massive sword attack splits one of the orcs down the middle.

Vector focuses on trying to help Saxton using his magic missile spell, but misses his target.  Berend likewise misses with his lance of faith.  Saxton himself, however, manages to hit the orc with his axe.

The theurge fires off another firebolt, but Saxton manages to get out of the way.  He is not, however, able to avoid the orcs; they again score two hits on him with their attacks.

Goldar moves up and attacks another of the orcs with his foe to foe maneuver.  Vector tries to follow it up with a magic missile blast, but misses.

Saxton finishes off one of the orcs, chopping deep into its chest.  Berend heals the blood-soaked fighter with another of his healing prayers, as Saxton manages to avoid another firebolt attack.

The orcs press their attack again, but Saxton fends them off.  He cuts down another in battle as Goldar finishes off the last one.  The barbarian then charges at the theurge.

Following Goldar's lead, Vector blasts the theurge with a magic missile while Berend blasts it with his sacred flame.

Saxton elects to focus on the duergar guard, scoring a hit with his brash strike.  The guard responds by hitting him back with its warhammer.

The theurge then unleashes a powerful wave of despair, blasting everyone, and retreats to the far side of the room.

Unable to reach the theurge while afflicted, Goldar attacks the nearby duergar guard instead.  Saxton tries to hit the guard as well, but the duergar fends off his attack.

Vector blasts the theurge with another magic missile while Berend finishes off the guard with his sacred flame.

The theurge responds by unleashing vile fumes that blind Vector and Berend.  Goldar and Saxton, however, are unaffected and advance on the caster.  Goldar misses with his attack, but Saxton is able to finish off the creature.

Interlude - Scene 5 (of 6)

After the large series of fights, everyone takes a moment to rest.  Vector takes a quick look around the room.  Other than a couple of minotaur statues that date back from the days the minotaurs were in control of the fortress, he finds nothing of interest.

No one wants to sit still in the area for long.  Advancing through the double doors, Saxton leads the group on into a small hallway.  There are another set of double doors to the north and a door to the west.

Goldar checks out the door to the west, finding only a large barracks room.  He and Vector search the room, but find nothing of value.

The doors to the north lead into another guard chamber.  The group discovers a set of double doors on the north wall that lead back into the labyrinth passages outside the fortress.  Another set of double doors leads further into the fortress.

Heading deeper into the Horned Hold, the group find themselves in a large foyer.  The walls of the room contain a mural showing a force of minotaurs and demons destroying a dwarven village.  Neither Berend nor Saxton are amused.

Two more sets of double doors lead out of the foyer.  One set contains a bronze relief of minotaur heads.  The group decides to go inside the other one.

Opening the doors, Saxton sees before him a series of pits being mined by slaves.  Watching over them are several duergar and a pair of spined devils.  The devils attack immediately, blasting Saxton with their spines.  

Because of a pit blocking his way to the devils, Goldar focuses on the nearest duergar guard.  He moves in and attacks with his foe to foe maneuver.  Another of the duergar moves over to assist and the two creatures both strike into Goldar with their warhammers.

Saxton moves up to help Goldar.  He cuts into one of the duergar.

Vector decides to stay back and focus on the devils.  He tries to hit them with a scorching burst, but misses.  Berend, meanwhile, uses a spell to hold back one of the duergar.

From the back of the mines, a duergar theurge emerges.  He casts a vile sickness that infects Goldar, Saxton, and Berend.  The spined devils take the opportunity to move in and claw at Berend.

Though blinded, Goldar lashes out wildly at the duergar guard near him.  The creature easily avoids the attack.  

The duergar, meanwhile, move into position and strike at Saxton, easily hitting him.  Saxton decides not to bother to fight back, and instead focuses on regaining his breath and summoning his unstoppable might.

Vector fires off another scorching burst at the devils.  This time he hits both, but his heart sinks as he realizes they are immune to fire.  He follows it up with a shock sphere spell that proves more effective.

Still blinded, Berend takes a moment to recover himself.  But it isn't enough, and a fire bolt from the theurge sends him to the ground, unconscious.

With Berend out of the way, the devils advance on Vector and begin tearing into him.  He tries to hold them off with his magical blades of protection.

Goldar regains his sight and cuts down the duergar guard in front of them.  Full of fury, he charges over to the nearest spined devil and cuts into him as well.  Summoning a savage growl, Goldar slices the devil in half with an avalanche strike then charges back over to cut into the other duergar guard.

The guard decides to focus on the more weakened Saxton.  Saxton decides to withdraw, taking another hit in the process.  Instead, he wants to get the remaining devil off of Vector.  He tries to attack the devil with a covering attack followed by a crushing blow, but the devil avoids both the attacks.

Vector steps back away from the devil and fires off a couple of magic missiles.  One hits, the other misses.  Nearby, Berend slips towards death.

From the back of the room, the theurge casts another spell, bringing down a hail of brimstone on the group.  Both Saxton and the unconscious Berend are injured by the attack.

The spined devil follows up by clawing into Saxton.  No longer able to suffer any more injuries, Saxton collapses.

Meanwhile, Goldar fights the remaining duergar guard.  He misses with one foe to foe attack, but hits with the second, sending the guard to the ground in a pool of blood.  Goldar then charges at the nearby devil, cutting into it with his sword.

Saxton and Berend still cling to life as Vector misses the devil with his magic missile.

From the back, the theurge hits Goldar with a firebolt.  The spined devil follows up with attack with its claws.

Goldar summons his stoneborn endurance to help him stay conscious.  Slashing out with his sword, he kills the devil with a powerful strike.

Vector rushes over and stabilizes Saxton.  But he can't help Berend, who continues to slip towards death.

It doesn't take much longer.  The theurge once again rains down brimstone on the group, killing Berend.  Further injured, Saxton manages to hold on as Vector stabilizes him for a second time.

Enraged, Goldar rushes over and leaps to the theurge.  The theurge tries to fend Goldar off, but misses.  Goldar finishes the evil wizard off with a sword strike that disembowels the creature.

Interlude - Scene 6 (of 6)

With the battle over, everyone rests for a minute and helps get the slaves rescued.  Vector finds the iron key they found earlier can be used to unlock the manacles.

Battered and bloodied, the group decides to rest in the slave pits for the night, requiring the noncombatant slaves to stand watch.  Luckily, the night passes without incident.

The next morning, the group gets what info it can from the slaves.  Apparently, the leader of this clan is a man named Murkelmor, though the slaves mention he never visited the mines personally.  Vector and Saxton are pretty sure he's in the room behind the brass emblazoned doors.

The three surviving members of the group approach the doors cautiously.  Inside, Vector can hear someone talking and the roar of flames.

Saxton decides to simply open the doors.  Inside is a hall with large fireplaces to either side.  At the end of the hall are stairs leading up to a dais, where a bed, bathtub, table and chairs, and some shelves sit.  Two duergar stand next to the bookshelf, filling large sacks they are carrying.

Vector yells for the duergar to stop what they are doing and surrender.  The creatures comply.

Saxton approaches the creatures and asks about Murkelmor.  The duergar respond tersely, saying he has already fled and they are taking his things for themselves.

Without missing a beat, Saxton slits one of the creature's throats.  He tells the other one to talk.

The duergar nervously explains he is just a janitor of the hold.  Murkelmor fled two days ago when the hold was first breeched.  Though he doesn't know for sure where his leader went, Murkelmor is allied with the Blackfang gnolls who live somewhere known as the Well of Demons (though the duergar does not know where that is).

Saxton convinces the duergar to give up the treasure he was taking and be their prisoner.  Vector discovers the treasure includes a valuable statue, many coins, and an amulet of health among other things.

Saxton forces the janitor to haul Berend's body back so they can have him raised from the dead.  He wants to find the Well of Demons and extract vengeance from Murkelmor.  But first, they will head back to civilization, to restore his fallen comrade, return the freed slaves to their homes, and get their just rewards.

Interlude - Session Notes

This was another one of my irregular sessions with the alternate group, finishing up the assault on the duergar stronghold that we left off clear back in January (as part of the Thunderspire Labyrinth module).

Obviously, I had no choice but to let them get through the night because there was no way anyone was going to be able to keep track of where we left off.  We also had to finish it without two of the players that were there last time.

It was a fun session, if a bit too focused on combat.  And even then, I did have to avoid the final "boss fight" but I figured it made more sense for the guy to flee rather than get slaughtered.  Besides, it was getting late and one more fight could have resulted in a TPK at that point.

Next time the adventure will turn to the well of demons, though I might include some other things first.  Now that I can bring the timelines of the two groups back together, I might have some things go on that link the two groups a little again.

The next session for this group probably won't be until late June or later.

Session 34 - Cast of Characters

Dame Challa Kri - Kalashtar Paladin
Sir Durmindin - Wilden Shaman
Dame Leigh - Eladrin Wizard
Sa'lid Dra'lah - Human Sorcerer
Sir Tiberius Enchilada - Human Warlord