So we had a long break and it took a while to get back into the game but we had a fun time.

Back in the chamber of eyes you had a bunch of dead slavers and a bear carcass. Before leaving Splug and Ket carve up the bear meat. You get a nice fur and more bear than the group could eat before it spoils. You head back to the Seven Pillard hall and Splug takes the fur to a tanner and the meat to a butcher to be made into sausage and cured. In the Inn you get dinner and a pint of Ale. Madam Halfmoon is tending the Inn and lets you know Rendil is doing some chores for the Inn but she will send him over when he’s free. Rendil looks at your letter from Murkelmor of Clan Grimmerzhul and tells you that the Dueger have some sort of mine in the labyrinth and also have a trading post in the Seven Pillard hall. Unfortunately the trading post is closed so you stop by in the morning.

The plan you go with is trading your gems for some of the wares the trading post has. While examining the gems the Dueger attack! They realized the gems were those they paid for the slaves with. You defeat the Duegar and take two captive. You search the trading post and find that there is a rough map to the “Horned Hold” a fortress in the labyrinth that the Duegar inhabit. You also examine the books and find the Duegar have been cheating on their taxes to the Mages of Saruun. After leaving the trading post you run into Brugg. He stops you asking for a fee for entering the Seven Pillard hall that you neglected to pay. You tell Brugg about the trading post and the back taxes to which he is very interested. He brings Orontor (a Mage of Sarunn) in. Orontor agrees to take the items in the Trading Post for the debts owed. He just doesn’t want prisoners or dead bodies. You go back to the trading post and clean it up just in time for the appraiser to stop by. Orontor also tells you that any information you might find out about the missing Mage Paldemar might be worth a large reward. You still make off with the gold, magic item and academical supplies from the hold.

After clearing that all up you head out to the Horned Hold with your prisoners in the lead. When you get there you find a garrison of Orcs guarding the entrance. After negotiating for the release of the Winterhavcen slaves the Dueger decline and attack. You all respond by filling them with arrows, torching them and using the captives as a road block. Then Corwin asks them to surrender at which the Orcs say they aren’t paid enough to die and all agree to quit.  You kill the Dueger and the Orcs run away. We leave our adventuress just after they have taken the entrance to the Horned Hold.

You earn 2 XP putting you at 39 XP. One more encounter for the next level!

Duergar Lore
A character knows the following information with a successful
Dungeoneering check.
A long association with infernal powers has given duergar a strong resistance to poison and fire. These qualities have so thoroughly infused their bodies that most duergar have poisonous quills that grow alongside their hair.

Long ago, duergar were a great clan of dwarves who delved deep into the Underdark and fell under the influence of the mind flayers. They endured uncounted years as thralls before rebelling and fighting their way to freedom. Duergar now often inhabit volcanic areas of the Underdark.

The duergar came to believe that Moradin had abandoned them in their long captivity, so they turned to infernal deities to grant them power. They ruthlessly strengthened their stock by breeding with devils, and most now take Asmodeus for their favored deity.

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.