Standing over their fallen foe, the party’s thoughts
turned to pressing matters; looting the body. Darnorth claimed the strange
light-sword, Kern stripped the body of its jumpsuit, and Turrick proceeded to
collect all the jeweled chains. And Riley claimed the head itself, as proof for
the March Baron that their mission had been a success. That done, Riley next used the Rod of Narissa
to bring the fallen Bjorn back to the land of the living and from the halls of
his fathers. Then it was time to get out while the going was good. But first a stop was made at the chamber of
the glowing green goo to see if it was still the same now that “He” was dead.
It was, and some further fiddling around with it revealed no more information.
Darnorth did claim the strange metallic cube and cylinder that sat on top of
the brass plate, however. And at this point the sound of braying horns could be
heard very nearby, an indication that perhaps the party had delayed too long
and had best make tracks to get out of the fortress.
Heading out into the foyer on this floor, they ran
right into a squad of hobgoblins coming up the stairs. A flurry of fighting saw
two of the creature’s fall, which panicked the rest into flight. The party
followed, slaying one more hobgoblin on the stairs, before the guards pulled
out of sight. The party continued to race down to the basement and the sewers,
dodging a flurry of crossbow bolts as they passed through the grand hall where
the hobgoblins had been reinforced and rallied.
In the basement, Kern, Darnorth and Turrick, using oil and arrows, set
up a rearguard at the bottom of the stairs. Everyone else dropped one by one
down into the sewer. The last to go was Darnorth, who took out one last
hobgoblin before jumping down into the fetid water. With the sounds of more
horns behind them, the party headed back through the sewers, emerging just a
few hours before dawn back where they entered. There they were relieved to see
the three orkin still waited with Sweet Jenny, who was luckily still standing
and not in the stew pot. After squeezing a reward out of Kern for not eating
his mule, the three melted into the darkness. A tactic which the party copied,
heading back towards the breech, hoping to reach it before dawn. They did make it to the barricaded centre of
the city before the sun rose over the horizon, and then picked up the pace and
to get out before it was too light. Just crossing the old palace grounds, they
were found by a patrol of about 20 hobgoblins, which proceeded to alternate
between chasing the party and firing on them. Amid the hail of bolts, the party made it back
to the breech. The folding boat was
launched and the party and livestock loaded, and they soon pulled out of range
of anything but hobgoblin curses and taunts.
Wisely choosing to not land on the north shore, the
party rowed across the lake to hide in the forest for the day. Setting up camp,
they were interrupted by a group of giant ticks that descended from the trees.
A short battle ended that threat, but not before one of the wolves and poor
Foxy the war dog perished. Excitement over, everyone caught up on sleep, rising
at nightfall. First order of business, Riley called on Habuu to heal the
unfortunate Erijay of her mental affliction, which the mighty god was able to
do. Next, the party loaded up to head
across the lake and recover their buried giant treasure. And spy on the ruins
of Mor. Making it into the hills before sunrise, the treasure was recovered
without incident. Gurruk and Kern crept to a good vantage point, and observed a
huge amount of activity as patrols fanned out from the ruined city. Presumably
to hunt for the party, who chose to sleep again for the day and travel back to
Westmist by night. Several nights of
travel passed without incident, until just as the sky began to brighten on the
3rd morning. Over a low rise in the distance came a hobgoblin patrol
of at least 30 foot soldiers, escorted by another hobgoblin riding a large
bipedal dinosaur. Erijay and Bjorn neutralized the foot soldier threat with a
pair of sleep spells, while everyone
else aimed their missile fire at the dino rider, dropping him from the saddle
with a flurry of arrows and bolts. All that was enough to scare off the rest of
the hobgoblins, who fled dragging as many of their sleeping comrades as
possible, with the dino trotting along behind. The remaining hobgoblins were
put into a permanent sleep by the party, who quickly looted the bodies and then
went in search of a place to spend the night.
Three more nights of travel found the party safely
back under the walls of Westmist. Trying their best to enter without undue
notice, the first day back was spent sorting and appraising all the
treasure. Darnorth experimented with the
light-sword and discovered how it worked. And also discovered (due to a little
altercation with Turrick) that it was a weapon of potent ability. The halfling
then claimed the weapon as his own, in payment for his injuries. Kern meanwhile
experimented with the woven jumpsuit, finding that it was a form of mysterious
armor, vastly superior to his leather. And now all that was left to do was meet with
the March Baron with news of their successful quest and to claim their just
rewards …
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