Westmist Session #16 - Fugitives no More

Having now learned more about the smugglers and the hobgoblins from the charmed Alia, the party (Erijay, Riley, Darnorth, Turrick, and Kern) had to decide how that information could be best put to their advantage i.e. get the arrest warrant lifted. Alia in tow, the head back upriver to Westmist, using the cover of darkness to make their way to the woods east of town. The next morning, Kern made his way to the Commons to meet Rikar. The beggar, true to his word, was there at the crack of dawn with Sweet Jenny in tow. From him, Kern learned that they were still being hunted and the March Baron had the town in an uproar. Kern then passed a note for delivery to Bazzrel the Flying Mage, in which the group asked the mage to meet them at the old prison pens east of town. This apparently piqued Bazzrel's curiosity, as he did indeed met the party. He first informed the party that Lord Merdwyn had seemingly come to his senses that morning. It would appear he had been under the influence of a charm spell from the Lady Glendril/Alia, who had weaved lies and turned him against the party. That said, Bazzrel then  listened to what the party and the charmed Alia had to say. He indicated he was inclined to believe the story, but warned that the March Baron may not, being especially suspicious after the events of the last few days. Just the same, Bazzrel agreed to try arranging a quiet meeting between the party and the March Baron on the next day.

Next day at the agreed time, the party observed a mass of riders leaving town and heading towards them. It was made up of the March Baron and several squadrons  of his men,  Liphanes of the Highest Virtue and his own clerical retinue, all lead by the Flying Mage.  Confronting the party and the still charmed Alia, the March Baron demanded they tell their story one more time. This they did, at which point the  corpulent Highest Virtue rode forward and raised a peon to the god Velas, asking if the story was true and if all were speaking in good faith. To the party's relief, a resounding YES was heard. Now exonerated (and having both house and hench-elf returned), they discussed with the March Baron the next course of action.  He would have to focus on preparing his defenses and sending east for reinforcements and aid from the King, but asked that the party try to find more information on the hobgoblins. Particularly how many there were, and when the attack was expected. Discussing options, they chose to start back in Stonehell, where Alia had told them one wing of the attack was being marshaled.  Leaving the redhead magician at the March Baron's mercy, Kern gave her a quick shove as they party moved out, breaking the charm and earning a look of pure evil and hatred in return.

Back in Stonehell (with Sweet Jenny and three new war dogs in tow) , the party first encountered a group of kobold caretakers, whom they questioned about the hobgoblins. From the little dogmen, they learned the hobgoblins were found on the second level, below the kobold market. They also learned that apart from the main entrance near the market, the next access closest to the hobgoblin lair was found in the crypts to the east.  In the hopes of sneaking up on the hobgoblins, the party chose to brave the crypts again, but not before searching out Korag and his Wolf Gang goblins to try enticing them to help. While Korag was pleased to see them, he was not willing to risk his tribe against the hobgoblins, especially since he didn't quite trust the party.

Rebuffed, the party head back to the undead halls, turning south in their search for the stairs going down. Along the way, they pillaged a number of crypts, and battled the rats and zombies they disturbed. Turrick was bitten by one particularly vicious rat, and began to feel a little ill as a result.  In another spot, a mass of zombies burst from the crypts to confront the party. The zombie hoard was dealt with using a combination of flaming oil and arrows, while their advance was blocked the sword and axe (and dogs) of Turrick and Erijay. In yet another crypt, a strange creature, formed of a swirling asymmetric collection of human bones, animated and attacked with a flurry of fists before falling to the party's blades.  Here, they recovered a trove of silver coins and jewelry. At this point, they elected to return to town rather than push forward, particularly since Turrick was beginning to feel the effects of his earlier rat bite.  

Back in town, Turrick visited Duran the Physician to have his rat fever treated. After a week of bed rest, he joined Kern for a night on the town, during which they both tried hitting on the same mysterious and androgynous stranger who had been the object of Erijay's advances some weeks earlier. And again, both were lucky to escape still clad in their own skin. Were that not enough, Kern on the rebound somehow ended up at the altar with a different young woman, only to leave her jilted when he sobered up enough to realize what he was doing. Needless to say, the lady was not impressed. 

On a final note, the loyal Rikar was hired to guard and look after party's house in their absence, and generally serve as 'man about the house'.

Westmist Session #15 - I Love it When a Plan Comes Together

Turning their backs on Stonehell, the next order of business for the party was to deal again with the smugglers running arms downriver. In the week leading up to the next new moon, the six (Kern, Turrick, Eazam, Darnorth, Riley and Erijay) started to pull together the pieces of their plan. An audience with the Lord Merdwyn was arranged to get both his OK to go ahead with an attack from the bridge, and to negotiate some assistance. The smooth talking Darnorth received both permission and the promise of a half dozen men-at-arms. The party also touched base with the Masked Council to secure their support, and negotiated to hire Gundar should they need help crewing and manning a boat. Finally, Erijay was sent off to get red hair dye so she could, if necessary, disguise herself as the magician Alia.

Alas, their plans were thrown into disarray when a few days before the new moon, a fleet of boats flying the royal banner of Kellowai arrived in town. These anchored in midstream, and landed a noblewomen to speak with the March Baron. The party starting digging for rumors, finding out that such a visit was unusual, as was the stated purpose (to resupply the Citadel of Amrath).Their investigation was interrupted when the beggar Rikar, previously befriended by Turrick, arrived to breathlessly tell them that the March Baron had ordered the party’s arrest and his men were spreading out across town to find them all. The group quickly decided the best place for them in the circumstances was out of town, so Rikar led them to an area where several buildings were built against the town walls. As Darnorth with his magic boots helped the party clamber over the wall, the guards in an adjacent tower challenged them and opened fire. They were quickly silenced by Erijay’s sleep spell. Kern left a handful of coin and Sweet Jenny in the beggars care, and arranged to meet him on the Commons outside the town walls the next day to get more news.

The group hid in the marsh, and watched as parties of the March Baron’s horsemen fanned out to the north and east searching for them. They also noted a party of riders heading up the old Stonehell road towards the dungeon, a party that did not return before dark as did the others. Next day Kern made his way to the Commons to meet Rikar.  He learned from the beggar that King’s envoy, Lady Glendril, had convinced the March Baron that the party had fabricated the whole hobgoblin story to discredit him,  so they could usurp his baronial seat and replace him with the axe wielding Erijay.   He also learned that the Baron’s men had ransacked their new house, and hauled away the bedridden hench-elf Elineel to the dungeons beneath his keep. Obviously unable to return to Westmist right now, they decided to head downriver to intercept the smugglers, a modification of their original plan. Stopping at the old smugglers camp, they found it still deserted and unused since their last visit. The party set an ambush around it, while Kern hid by the river to watch for boats. No smugglers appeared, but late in the evening, the royal flotilla passed by and disappeared into the evening mist.

The party continued their watch overnight with no result, before boarding their boat and heading downriver through the morning mist. Before too long, however, they emerged from the mist only to find the royal flotilla at anchor just 60 yards ahead. Quickly back paddling, they tried to evade, but were spotted and one of the vessels pulled anchor to pursue. With more rowers, the royal ship caught up and the men-at-arms aboard opened fire once the party came within visual range. They were supported by a great warrior plate mail and what appeared to be Lady Glendril, casting spells. While half the party continued to pull for shore, Erijay dropped a sleep spell on their pursuers, knocking out many of the men at arms and several rowers. Eazam used his rope of climbing, and Turrick his net, to try ensnaring the Lady, but to no avail. In the meantime, she spoke the magic word ‘tella’, dumping the party into waist deep water as their boat turned back to a box, and proving they in fact faced the magician Alia. While Kern tried to grab the box, one of the rowers ensnared it in a net and began to pull it towards his own boat. The rest of the party traded missile fire with the enemy, except Riley who successfully cast silence on Alia, neutralizing that threat. The fight turned in the parties favor when Eazam was finally successful in ensnaring Alia in his rope.  Kern, meanwhile, waited until their magic box/boat was almost onboard the enemy vessel before speaking the work ‘spaz’, returning the boat to full size and in the process crushing the enemy boat and dumping everyone onboard into the water. While Eazam pulled the bound magician to shore, the rest of the party use missile fire to pick off those crew who had not yet been pulled under by the weight of their armor. 

 The other vessels were now approaching, so the party ran into the mists to hide from the search parties. These gave up by nightfall, and when they checked in the morning, all sign of the rest of the fleet was gone, with just the debris and bodies from the previous day’s battle remaining. Kern dove into the water to recover the body of the drowned plate mailed warrior, dragging it back to camp. They stripped both the body and Alia of valuables, and cast Detect Magic to discover three magical potion vials. Then, Erijay successfully cast Charm Person on Alia, and the party proceeded to learn all she knew about the smuggling operation. As a river smuggler, she had been hired in the city of Kingsford to run arms and supplies down the rivers to the hobgoblins at the ruins of Narmor. She didn’t know who was doing the hiring, having dealt only with middlemen, but it was obviously someone of influence and wealth. She also knew there was someone in Westmist involved, but again did not know his/her identity. She had lead about 7-8 runs downriver, filling several warehouses below the ruined castle (serving as the hobgoblins headquarters) on the island portion of Narmor. After each run, she and her men would row the Folding Boat back to the east bank of the Great River, then proceed overland to Kingsford to arrange another trip.  As far as she knew, the hobgoblins were planning an invasion of the Kingdom of Kellowai, starting with Westmist. She had no idea when the attack was coming, but did say this was her last trip downriver. The party was left to ponder these revelations and plan their next course of action. 

Westmist Session #14 - Once More into the Depths

Back to Stonehell, the party's (consisting of Turrick, Erijay, Darnorth, Riley, Eazam and Kern) first task was to convince Kern's new mule, Sweet Jenny II, to go down the stairs. It was discovered that carrots worked, but sweet talking by the dwarf did not. Heading back to the second level, they first encountered  a lone berserker wandering the corridors. Riley boldly waved his companions aside and dealt with the deranged fellow alone, thereby fulfilling his quest and regaining Habuu's favor.

Exploring new rooms. the party encounter one door with an ominous sign: "Do Not Disturb the Slumber of It".  They of course entered the room, to find a coffin, nailed shut and draped with dried garlic cloves. While Turrick made a  necklace of the cloves, the other argued over the pros and cons of opening the coffin. In the end, they elected to heed the sign and explore elsewhere. They continued to encounter odd sites, including ball of brightly coloured string sitting in front of one door, which Darnorth claimed for his own.

Entering a room where faint, ghostly whispers could be heard, Kern listened carefully and received great insight from the voices, determining their best bet for treasure lay to the south. Heading that way, they entered a vast pillared hall. While cautiously moving around the perimeter of the room, they were attacked by 3 giant spiders, which were soon dispatched. Encountering a pile of rubble from which a skeletal hand protruded, they decided to dig to see who or what lay beneath. They discovered the crushed body of a dwarf, of which  the most notable feature were a pair of pink boots on her feet. These were claimed by Darnorth. At this point, the party was interrupted by a band of ghouls entering the far side of the room. While at first dismayed by the presence of the foul undead (due to their previous, deadly encounters), the ghouls  were dealt with rather easily a combination of missiles and burning oil. All the same, both Kern and Turrick were paralyzed by their diseased touch.  Unsure of how long the paralysis would last, the party threw Kern and Turick over Sweet Jenny's back and headed north to a secure location to res. However, they were pleasantly surprised to find the two had recovered before camp was made.

Heading south again, they entered a room with eight white circles painted on the floor, each with six dead rats tied together by their tails. Being careful to not disturb  the circles, they next found a band of small human like figures, with vaguely simian features. These were unfazed by the party's presence,  and uncommunicative, but instead were intent on painting the walls with a strange, repeating whorled pattern.  Leaving these creatures behind, the party entered an old lounge full of rotted furniture (from which Riley recovered a handful of coins), old cloaks and a smashed harpsichord.  And two large bats, who descended on poor Sweet Jenny as the torch had been placed on her harness. The bats were slain, but not before Jenny suffered a number of bites.

In the next room the party found a shaft, hidden under a threadbare carpet, leading down to the next level. Turrick was lowered down to find the smashed remains of some sort of lift, as well as a corridor covered in a foot of dirt, overgrown with plant life, all lit by a strange dim light. Not willing to risk a lower level right now, the halfling was pulled back up to continue exploring the second level.  Pushing on, Kern luckily heard sounds ahead. Gliding forward, he found a room that looked like an abattoir, occupied by three ghoulish shapes having a meal. Sneaking back to tell the others, a plan was formulated that involved lots of oil and missile weapons. However, the party was too quick to light the oil. For when they got the ghouls attention, the foul creatures were clever enough to not go through it, but instead left by a another corridor to try taking the party from the rear. One stayed behind and did rush the party when the flames died down,  but fell quickly to the combined efforts of the party. The majority of the party then entered the abattoir to muck around in the offal and look for treasure, for which efforts they were rewarded with many coins and gems. However, the other two ghouls now appeared and fell on those left to guard the corridor. A furious melee ensued, in which Riley was paralyzed and the two ghouls attempted to carry him away. Eazam used his magic rope of climbing to latch onto the cleric, and with help for Kern , pulled Riley from the creatures grasp. The ghouls then turned on Eazam, paralyzing both he and Turrick, who happened to be standing in front of the fighter. A fusillade of blows, however, ended the undead threat before further harm came to the helpless trio, Waiting for the three to recover, the rest of the party loaded Sweet Jenny with the treasure , and then once again emerged from the depths of Stonehell.

Westmist Session #13 - Deeper into the Dungeon

Back again in Stonehell, the party (comprised of Eazam, Turrick [with henchelf Elineel and dogs Hamburger and Barkanater], Kern, Lorek, Riley and Erijay) headed down to the next level voluntarily for the first time. It was quickly obvious that this space was unlike any they had yet encountered.  Overall, it was in much poorer condition than the first level, and it seemed the kobold work crews didn’t visit these rooms and corridors. They also encountered a number of strange sights in several rooms; bizarre and blasphemous writings, a room full of bones neatly arranged in patterns and piles, walls covered in child-like stick figures, and so on.

The odd surroundings were accompanied by odd encounters. First, the party was surprised to find one of Turrick’s dogs under attack by unseen forces, the only sign being bloody wounds appearing on the dogs back. This caused the group to turn back, and look for another avenue of exploration. In one room, Eazam claimed a small round table and proceeded to use it as a shield/ram while opening doors. Alas, this didn’t help him at one door, where a swinging blade swept down onto his head. This was followed by an attack of some sort of primitive or crazy men, who were dispatched without too much fuss. Eazam’s table didn’t help in the next room, a cavernous pillared hall with a strange ring of large mushrooms growing in the center. Eazam proceeded to hack at one of the mushrooms, at which point the party found themselves surrounded by a large band of winged, 1’ tall fairy creatures who appeared seemingly out of thin air. Their leader demanded they cease their destruction and leave, and when he was not immediately obeyed, charmed Eazam into obedience.  They rest of the party tried to negotiate Eazam’s release, but the fairy leader said he would be freed only if the party could ‘place the Unseelie Court on the throne of the fairy realm’. Which they quickly decided was probably an impossible (and probably undesirable) task.

 Leaving Eazam in the hands of the fairies, the party explored another room. Without Eazam to open the door this time, Riley did the duty but then pushed one of Turricks dogs in the room to see what would happen. Immediately, two massive spiders dropped on the dog and tried to tear it to pieces. The rest of the party (except Riley, who held the door) rushed in to deal with the huge arachnids. Alas, this did not go well, as both dogs, Lorek and Elineel fell to the potent venom of the beasts. Elineel at least was able to shake off the poison and survive, weakened but alive. The same could not be said for the others. 

 Carrying the fallen cleric, they returned to Westmist to recover and regroup. After some discussion of the pros and cons, it was decided they would return to Stonehell the face the fairies and try rescuing Eazam (who at this point was bound by a magic rope, being tortured by his twisted captors).  Joined by the charismatic dwarf, Darnorth, they headed into the dungeon once more. First, at Turrick insistence, they visited the Wheel of Fortune to try their luck.  Turrick and Danforth came out feeling healthier and more vigorous than before. Eirjay and Rylee both ended up worst for wear, unable to perform at their usual peak for the rest of the day. And Kern nearly got turned into a squirrel.

Leaving the wheel, the party surprised the fairies and made short work of them. Using paint and flour to make them visible, Erijay then dropped most with a sleep spell, while the rest fell to the blades of the rest of the party in short order. But not before the fairy leader was able to encase Kern and Darnorth in a mass of sticky webs. Their foes defeated, the party release Eazam from his magical bonds (which he then kept). Kern discovered the spell book of the fairy sorcerer, which was given to Erijay. Now reunited, they party returned to Westmist to rest and recover.

Two final notes of interest. First, Kern took a massive ruby he recovered from the spider’s lair and tried it in one of the holes in the mysterious arch in the basement of the hose. When he did, the shimmering haze seemed to become a little less random, and went back to its usual chaotic swirling when the gem was removed.  Second, Riley threw a little wake for the fallen Lorek. In the process, the name of the great Habuu was invoked. And the god heard, hitting Riley with a quest in retribution.