Gaming

So the Bloodreavers don’t seem that tough.

That is until you run into some that were just gambling and ill tempered. It doesn’t help that they have a pet snake the size of a person!!! So after some nasty bites and some swashbuckling over tables you finally defeat this group. Unfortunately the captives aren’t here but there are only so many doors left and you must be getting close. Before moving on Splug helps you skin the snake for future belts and he also cuts up some of the meat for a special non-rat meal. He insists the snake will taste like chicken after he cooks it.

In the next area you see a pair of doors. Behind one set you hear some loud snoring. While peaking in you see that a bear is just behind the door. At the same time Shawna peaks into the other room and see’s a couple dwarves that have just placed a chest down. Shawna and Corwin charge the Dwarves while everyone else attacks the bear (Fluffy) that is now nuzzling through the other door. Behind the bear is a group of goblin archers that precede to cause your group some great damage. The bear while large is a big softy and the group defeats him after using some attacks to move him around. That’s about when the Krand the Hobgoblin Chief and the Hobgoblin Warcaster wake up and enter on the side of the battle of the dwarves… which are really Duergar… man those poison spines hurt. This is about when the battle starts to really heat up. The Duerger make tough roadblocks as the goblin archers rain down arrows any time someone stops in their line of sight. After a very tough fight you defeat everyone.

In this room you find some chests of treasure that was there in payment for the villagers. You also find a letter. The letter is written in Common and is a contract to purchase the Winterhaven slaves for 1,000 gp; it’s signed by Murkelmor of Clan Grimmerzhul. Of the villagers you see no sign.

Which brings you to 37 XP. You will likely achieve level 5 after the next game.

Game Session 12

Well the village wasn’t able to get more than one horse for each of you. They wore the horses into the ground defending the village from the undead. They gave you the best they could find and that was good enough to take off at a fast rate to the ruined watch tower that the Bloodreavers used as a local base. In this journey you were joined by Sir Corwin Madglass. He was a member of the village as a child and left with a mentor to be trained as a Knight. He has passed in an out of the village in his training so you all know him.

You wore your horses into the ground and made it to the tower in record time. Once at the tower you entered stealthily in but found that chickens had been cooped on the bottom floor and they acted as an alarm. On the second floor you found a warm welcoming from the Bloodreavers and a couple giant spiders. After defeating the Bloodreavers you found that the villagers here did not have any of the missing siblings. The other villagers did tell you that another group of Bloodreavers traded horses and took off towards Thunderspire Mountain (which is beyond the city of Fallcrest). You leave the villagers a tired horse, some chickens and weapons. In the morning the group departs with your previous mounts and the tired horses the Bloodreavers had left behind.

You ride your horses hard to Fallcrest and several of the Bloodreavers mounts die. They make a nice meal to have while traveling. Upon entering Fallcrest you find the Bloodreavers have already arrived and left after trading horses. You purchase some horses of your own and head out early in the morning. The party makes excellent time to Thunderspire Mountain and can see the dust trail of horses as they near it.

Game Session 13

The group leaves the horses in Splugs care and enter a cave the group finds. In the cave the group hears some hobgoblins talking to a halfling they have captured. The group decides to help the halfling and hope the other captives are there. After defeating the hobgoblins our adventurers find that the halflings name is Rendil and he is a member of a family that owns an Inn under the mountain. Yes… under the mountain… there is a whole secret city under the mountain. Rendil takes you back to the Inn and you find out who some of the major players in the area are.

Brug – An ogre that leads the enforcers that work for the Mages of Saruun.
Charrack – Kobold beggar that’s good for information.
Harwin – Human merchant that sometimes hires adventurers.
The Ordinator Arcanis – Magistrate for the Mages of Saruun.
Bennik the Wanderer – Minstrel the performs at Inns and spins tales.
Orontor – Mage of Saruun that is the easiest to contact at the time the adventurers arrive (if they want to contact him).
Paldemar – Mage of Saruun that has recently gone missing.
Surina – Dragonborn Warlock that is a fanatic about fighting Gnolls and their demonic allies.
Terrlen Darkseeker – Middle-Aged man that is the best guide into the Labyrinth.
Vadriar the Sage – Human Wizard that is considered the wizest person in the hall but he has seen a little eccentric lately.

Groups of note:
Mages of Saruun – The largest power in the Seven-Pillared Hall
Bloodreavers Clan – An organized gang of slavers and thugs for hire.
Clan Grimmerzhul duergar dwarves – They have a trading post and presence in the hall.

After some questioning you figure out where to look for the Bloodreavers main living area, You decide to head there to rescue the villagers. You have entered into the Bloodreavers hide out and just finished kicking the crap out of two groups. Ahead you see more closed doors and you have not found the other villagers yet.

Experience Game 12: 2
Experience Game 13: 3
Total experience: 35

You are now half way to level 5.

Fallcrest stands amid the Moon Hills at the falls of the Nentir River. Here travelers and traders using the old King’s Road that runs north and south, the dwarven Trade Road from the east, and the river all meet. The surrounding ridges shelter several small valleys where farmers and woodsfolk live; few are more than six or seven miles from the town. In general the people outside Fallcrest’s walls earn their living by farming or keeping livestock, and the people inside the walls are artisans, laborers, or merchants. People with no other prospects can make a hard living as porters, carrying cargo from the Lower Quays to the Upper Quays (or vice versa).

Fallcrest imports finished goods from the larger cities downriver and ironwork from the dwarf town of Hammerfast, and exports timber, leather, fruit, and grain. It also trades with the nearby town of Winterhaven.

The surrounding hills hold several marble quarries that once produced a good deal of stone, but the area has little demand for ornamental stone these days, and only a few stonecutters still practice their trade.

A small town built from the ruins of a larger city, Fallcrest is the crossroads of the Nentir Vale.

Population: 1,350; another 900 or so live in the countryside within a few miles of the town. The people of Fallcrest are mostly humans, halflings, and dwarves. No dragonborn or eladrin are permanent residents, but travelers of all races pass through on occasion.

Government: The human noble Faren Markelhay is the Lord Warden (hereditary lord) of the town. He is in charge of the town’s justice, defense, and laws. The Lord Warden appoints a town council to look after routine commerce and public projects.

Defense: The Fallcrest Guard numbers sixty warriors (see the accompanying statistics block), who also serve as constables. Moonstone Keep is their barracks. The Lord Warden can call up 350 militia at need.

Inns: Nentir Inn; Silver Unicorn. The Silver Unicorn is pricier and offers better service; the Nentir Inn sees a more interesting clientele.

Taverns: Blue Moon Alehouse; Lucky Gnome Taphouse; Nentir Inn taproom.

Supplies: Halfmoon Trading House; Sandercot Provisioners.

Temples: Temple of Erathis; Moonsong Temple (Sehanine); House of the Sun (Pelor).

Fallcrest’s Story
Up until four centuries or so ago, the Moon Hills and the surrounding Nentir Vale were thinly settled borderlands, home to quarrelsome human hill-chieftains and remote realms of nonhumans such as dwarves and elves. Giants, minotaurs, orcs, ogres, and goblins plagued the area. Ruins such as those on the Gray Downs or the ring-forts atop the Old Hills date back to these days, as do stories of the hero Vendar and the dragon of the Nentir.

With the rise of the empire of Nerath to the south, human settlers began to move up the Nentir, establishing towns such as Fastormel, Harkenwold, and Winterhaven. A Nerathan hero named Aranda Markelhay obtained a charter to build a keep at the portage of the Nentir Falls. She raised a simple tower at the site of Moonstone Keep three hundred ten years ago, and under its protection the town of Fallcrest began to grow.

Over the next two centuries, Fallcrest grew into a small and prosperous city. It was a natural crossroads for trade, and the Markelhays ruled it well. When the empire of Nerath began to crumble about a century ago, Fallcrest continued to flourish—for a time.

Ninety years ago, a fierce horde of orcs known as the Bloodspears descended from the Stonemarch and swept over the vale. Fallcrest’s army was defeated in a rash attempt to halt the Bloodspears out on Gardbury Downs. The Bloodspears burned and pillaged Fallcrest and went on to wreak havoc all across the Nentir Vale.

In the decades since the Bloodspear War, Fallcrest has struggled to reestablish itself. The town is a shadow of the former city; little trade passes up and down the river these days. The countryside for scores of miles around is dotted with abandoned homesteads and manors from the days of Nerath. Once again the Nentir Vale is a thinly settled borderland where few folk live. This is a place in need of a few heroes.

In the previous game session the young villagers of Winterhaven had just defeated the Underpriest of Orcus. The blood is no longer flowing but the ritual was continuing below.

In this game session the players descend together using chains around the pit and some of the rope from your packs. Kitsune saves Quinn from a nasty fall by casting feather fall on him when he slips from one of the slick chains. As you make it to the bottom your eyes adjust to the nightmarish scene in front of you. Pools of blood are on several areas of the room. At one end stands a Deathlock Wight preparing to wreck some havoc and on the other end of the room stands Kalarel, Scion of Orcus. In between you and Kalarel are two Skeleton Warriors.The group starts attacking in multiple directions and defeat the Wight and Skeletons. By that time Kalarel has moved towards a wall containing a portal of ink like darkness. The group attacks Kalarel but the dark attacks those who get too close. Mathos falls to the ground overcome by injuries and Lavender has her dog pull him to safety while Splug jumps in with a healing potion. Kalarel is tough but the group defeats him and stop the opening of the rift.

After exiting the Keep Will informs you that he questioned a goblin that he captured and apparently a mercenary group from a slaving group called the Bloodreavers is in the area and decided to keep some of the captured villagers. Mathos needs rest so you wait for him to sleep off some of his injuries before heading out. After resting, you catch up to the Bloodreavers and find they were trying to get away with some villagers as slaves. After defeating the Hobgoblins and Human Bloodreaver group you free a merchant and two of his guards/workers. They were captured off guard by the Bloodreavers. The merchant tells you some of the Bloodreavers already left with some captured villagers before last night. The Bloodreavers normally come from some where East of Fallcrest but they have been operating out of a ruined watch tower east of Winterhaven while they have been working on contract for Kalarel. You decide to march back to Winterhaven to report in since it’s along the way and you might get support.

In Winterhaven you bring in your prisoners and report in and learn the news of what has happened there. Of the list of the dead are: Will’s Dad, Ninaran’s Wife, Ben Potter (Shawna’s Uncle), Thurgan and Stragan Redbeard (Dwarf residents of Winterhaven), Nina Littlefoot (a halfling farmer) and Jeremy Wolhed (a shepherd). The list of wounded is larger. While people in Winterhaven are happy for your success, the mood of the village is very somber with the losses. Even worse there are a few people still missing: Sage (Lavender’s Brother), Rena (Ket’s Sister), Dotty (Quinn’s older sister) and [insert name here of a sibling of Rodney’s character]. You piece together that the missing villagers with the slavers are those still missing. The village mobilizes to get supplies and mounts for your journey.

While waiting for the mounts you have an opportunity to make some purchases from Marcus and Ket’s shop before departing and to get a meal. In the shop you discover Splug had a bag of holding and a hoarding issue. It seems he picked up every common weapon left behind in the Keep and trades them to Marcus for supplies. Splug gets some herbs, spices, a bedroll and tent, Broy (a foul liquor he likes), 2 candles, chalk, a disguise kit (heavy cloak, wig, beard, spectacles and makeup), an everburning torch, drum, soap, oil, bacon, flour, cornmeal, pots/pans and nice outfit with a bow-tie.

While preparing to leave Will approaches Shawna and says that life is too short and asks her to marry him before you all depart on the rescue mission. Ket is given a diary by Marcus and told to read it after leaving the village.