Dounil casts Floating Disc and says they will stash the treasure later. He and Celest race forth to the fort, to eliminate the leaders and remaining quarry guards.
At 3 times speed for passing through known terrain with no
foes, they almost reach the junction with the secret door by turn 5 [18:50] and
must rest, 2/6 [19:00].
Their next turn takes them back to the ground level of the
quarry to the junction with the south gallery 3/6, the turn after is pacing
themselves almost to the entrance of the underground 4/6.
With outdoor movement across the quarry, they can either
reach the lower pit-floor doors to the guard tower or in two turns, get around
to the front door. Either way they won’t be welcome. They run for the lower
doors, which will allow them to stash their loot before circling around if
there is no way up.
They are watched by the guards, hiding being the parapets in
the dim light, already afraid of the swarm of leaving workers with slaves among
them. The back of the module says the villains fear retribution from the Slaver
Lords too much to run, so perhaps the speed Dounil and Celest have is a bit
hasty.
To Dounil and Celests’ annoyance, the doors are locked. Not
being thieves or possessing the Knock spell (very tempting to seek it out). The
try to Open Doors with force. Dounil rolls a 5 out of 5 and pops the metal
latch, using his plate armour to absorb the shock, this is unfortunately when
his spell runs out, leaving the pile of treasure all in front of the doors.
Celest wants to retrieve it, but Dounil says they can get it after killing
everyone. Celest is not amused as it’s her promised treasure 4/6 turns and
[19:40].
Entering into Room 24, the Stables, the pair are stopped by
a hulking figure yet still not that tall. He demands to know who they are and
why they came in. Dounil replies they are acolytes from the temple underground
and must raise the alarm about a slave revolt. The brute considers this and
tells them to head up the back stairs. As they move past, they see many thin
but cringing humans backing into the stalls. When the pair are about 4 of the 7
stalls along, almost to the smoking dais in Room (area) 27, Uzgrod the half-orc
launches his ambush, as there are no stairs there and he didn’t trust some
unaccompanied strangers anyway. He bellows for the worthless slaves to assist
him.
Round 1, Uzgrod has the initiative from sheer cunning. His
thrown dagger misses Celest. The 6 slaves split to attack each character
equally with their improvised weapons. None hit.
Dounil slays Uzgrod with a dashing slice HD 1-> 0 but chooses
not to attack the slaves, Celest holds her action until the slaves go.
Round 2, the slaves throw down their weapons and surrender.
Celest demands the slaves tell the pair what they know and they
point to the smithy further up in fear.
Dounil and Celest advance 20 feet at their encounter speed,
and the forge workers attempt an ambush. None succeed, but they force an Initiative
roll. The heroes beat them by 1.
Round 1, Dounil’s Fray only takes 1 HD off Wartslag, but
Celest’s Fray kills a Goblin and the swords and a 20-foot advance does in the
remainder [19:44]. Dounil searches the bodies while Celest talks to the slaves about
what they know. The slaves tell her that there is a secret door in the northeast
corner where many cruel goblins and their pet wolves live. And there is a
staircase up there. There is also a ladder beyond the door to the west that
leads through a spring. They don’t know what is above. Dounil finds nothing,
they must rest [20:00].
The pair decide to clear the level and then go up either vertical
entrance based on the likelihood it is guarded. They promise the slaves all the
non-gold and gem treasure they can carry if they take their treasure from
outside and keep it safe. Celest rolls a modified 10 on the reaction roll,
which means the newly freed are indifferent and may negotiate, but the offer of
treasure persuades them. The pair advance to the secret door and search. They
find it with some searching and prying 1/6 [20:10].
I am unable to decide if the goblins and worg hear the
violence through the door so random Initiative, the goblins are on guard and
the heroes are aware, so random surprise. The heroes surprise.
Surprise Round, Dounil’s Fray spell does 1 damage to the
worg as he is too far away to slice, HD 3->2. Celest kills a goblin with her
spell.
Round 1, The heroes beat the Initiative by 1 and so charge
forth, the last goblin dies. All other foes in Room 29 to 32 are alerted by the
fighting, but as per the text just think it is an outburst as it was less than
3 rounds.
Advancing at encounter speed, they enter Room 29, see
nothing but the pool and sticking to the west wall, advance at exploration
speed to the boundary of Room 30 3/6 [20:32].
They surprise and get the Initiative. They fight 4 goblins,
though one will run to Room 32 if the battle lasts more than 1 round. I decide
the 8 other goblins from Room 31 will join on round 2 and the 2 worgs on round
4.
Surprise round, sword and spells kill all 4.
Round 1, they advance 20 feet to the entrance to Room 31.
Round 2, the 8 Goblins go first and engage at range, though
one flees to the worg den. Dounil takes 1 damage from a sling bullet, HP
18->17.
Round 3, Dounil and Celest do 1,2, and 2 HD with Fray and
swords. Magic seems to more of a problem-solving tool for them since they have
a magical Fray. Only 2 goblins remain.
Round 4, the goblins somehow pass morale as the remaining
goblin on a worg with another following, come running down the tunnels. They
all fail to hit. Dounil focuses on the worgs while Celest on the goblins.
Dounil does 1 damage to one worg, HD 3->2. Celest kills one more goblin in a
general flurry. Neither hit with their actual attacks.
Round 5, One worg manages to bite Dounil for 2 damage. HP 17
->15. Dounil kills both worgs, wounding one with sword-swinging Fray, 1 HD.
Finishing it and the ridden one off with a sweep of the sword for 4 HD between
them. and Celest kills the goblin with some more general swordswoman-ship.
Round 6, the last goblin fails morale and runs screaming
into the tunnels. However, he is facing two half-elves who can see him
perfectly clearly for now and blast him dead with two long-range but minor
spell Fray.
Bandaging, rest and searching takes Dounil and Celest till [21:10],
Dounil HP 15->17 1/6.
They take another 10 minutes to dig up the firepit and acquire
the treasure beneath, just like the other goblin camps 2/6 [21:20].
They split up to search Room 32 and 29, this takes 2 turns at exploration speed
and then they return to the Room 24. They rest there with the slaves who are
too scared to leave [22:10].
It has been two hours after a long day of action and violence;
they are sure the garrison knows where they are and they are very tired. Thy
decide fortune favours the bold and rush up the stairs, the time to collect
treasure is later. Death comes first.
But first, Dounil activates his Ring of Invisibility and
Celest pulls her Cloak of Elvenkind tight so the grey blends in with the dark stone.
The almost complete surviving garrison is waiting for them
in Room 8. 6 Human Guards, two at AC 5 since they have readied shortbows and
not shields and broadswords (4 more remain upstairs manning the trapped
staircases) their 8 goblin night relief, both bugbears taskmasters (Snikscab
and Nubgrod), Glyrthiel and Brubgrok. Zodznog has moved to the larder (Room 13)
to ambush people coming up the ladder from the spiring (Room 26).
The guardhouse know the heroes are coming but the heroes are
trying to be stealthy. The heroes don’t know where the garrison is though. The cloak
gives Celest - Near invisibility: The wearer of the cloak is
rendered almost invisible: there is only a 1-in-6 chance of them being spotted.
A roll of two means they don’t see Celest, but they might here them coming up.
I’ll roll surprise just in case.
In a shocking case of dice, both sides surprise but the Bugbears
do not. We move onto Initiative. The garrison wins Initiative. They were going
to throw rocks down the stairwell but only if they had time. So instead, they
attack blindly at the vague sounds and distortions. That -4 to hit is a big effect
here, as it turns a few statistically common natural 20s, I rolled into misses.
Round 1, The rocks thrown by the guards require arbitrarily a
save vs Dragons Breath to avoid them as they are thrown in the area occupied.
Celest dodges one but Dounil is hit twice and her once, so but their
invisibility is not disrupted as the text says only attacking or casting a
spell disrupts it. Celest takes 1 HP of damage, HP 8->7 and Dounil none.
Glyrthiel attacks with her long bow are part of the onslaught as she cannot see
an opportunity to cast Sleep nor is too worried to cast Shield. Brubgrok also
shoots his long bow. One of the Bugbears misses Celest only that’s to the near
invisibility provided by her Cloak. A goblin would have hit each of the pair
had they not been imposing a penalty.
3 goblins die from the combined Fray, Dounil kills 1 bugbear
and another goblin with some more thrusts (the +1 sword is coming in handy).
Celest can’t hit anyone but the goblins and kills the rest.
Round 2, The 2 human guards and Brubgrok fire arrows and the
4 others charge forward, joined by the Sergent and Nubgrod. Glyrthiel casts
Shield and next round will cast Sleep. No arrows or blades hit.
The Fray dice kill the sergeant and two guards. Dounil’s
sword does 2 HD to Brubgrok, HD 3->1. Celest sees Glyrtheil cast a Shield
and casts Light at her eyes (a B/X and OSE specified trick), Shield only stops
physical attacks and Glyrthiel fails her Save vs Spells. She is blinded for 7
turns (70 minutes).
Round 3, both arrows fail to hit, Glyrthiel begins to scream
and casts Sleep. I have been told this is determined at random now. So, the 6
HD of Sleep effects 1 of the bowmen, both guards with swords, Celest with 1
level of HD but not enough to tip over any of the 3 HD remainders. Brubgrok and
Nubgrod fail to hit Dounil, dice have been rolling low all around, but the high
solo character modifiers have been carrying them.
Dounil’s Fray kills Brubgrok, but his sword only wound Nubgrod,
HD 3 ->2.
Round 4, The remaining guard passes morale and fights on, Glyrthiel
begins to stumble towards the other staircase to the west (Room 9). Nubgrod
does 2 damage to Dounil, HP 17 -> 15.
Dounil uses his magical Fray to do 1 HD of damage, killing
the awake bowman, his sword does 2 HD of damage, killing the bugbear Nubgrod,
HD 2 -> 0.
Round 5, Glyrthiel calls she is coming up, Dounil wakes Celest.
Round 6, end of combat as Glyrthiel vanishes up the stairs
and Celest and Dounil look at the heaps of the dead and asleep foes. They
discuss if it’s lawful to kill sleeping enemies and they decide it is as the
enemies were aware and would be fighting if they were not incapacitated. They
kill the sleeping lot. They bandage, Celest HP 7 -> 8, Dounil HP 15 -> 17,
the time is [22:41], 3/6.
They advance up the spiral staircase on their side (Room 7),
trying to reach Glyrthiel. Dounil is first and sticks his foot in the trapped
top step. Somehow, he rolls an 18 and withdraws his foot fast enough to enter the
empty hall between rooms. Then the four guards are upon them, with Glyrthiel
trying to hit with her longsword while still blind. The guards do surprise.
Surprise round, they all miss.
Round 1, the heroes win Initiative, the Fray dice kills 3
guards and Dounil’s sword does in the last and wounds Glyrthiel, HD 2 -> 1.
Celest finishes her off with a satisfied thrust. Only after that do they
realise they should have asked her things.
As they pause, the sound of yelling faintly echoes from Room
18, the slave strapped there having heard the fighting. It’s a revolting sight
when the pair open the door and they realise they need to free these people.
One slave said the bugbears had the keys. The pair return to the scene of the
slaughter and Celest searches the bugbears wile Dounil calls down to the people
downstairs to come up as it’s safe. It takes 2 turns at thrice speed to
assemble the multitude in Room 8 to show they have succeeded, taking people
down the already-activated trap staircase. The heroes rest even as the smell of
blood, entrails and body waste begins to permeate the air [23:10]. They realise
they need to feed at least for the night the 24 now ex-slaves, all can describe
how they were taken by ship up the river to a jetty, blindfolded and taken
through caves and quarry, some people have since been taken away from here.
None can confirm if there is food or more foes. Dounil and Celest have no
choice but to search.
They offer the freed people a bargain, the same as the one
they made downstairs, they can have all the non-coin treasure, animals (as the
downstairs people reminded them about the carts and ponies), weapons and food
if they help them find them. With that the pair go through the left door into
Room 2 at Exploration Speed. They check into Room 5 and 3 to find a conference room
and guest room [23:20] 1/6. Splitting up, it takes 1 more turn to open the remaining
doors to Rooms 3 and 4, the guest and dormitory rooms. Returning, they see the
rescued people have found and moved into Room 6, where the bunkbeds provide
relative comfort [23:30] 2/6. Many are too tired to move into the more luxurious
8 rooms to the south except the six who are too sore to climb the ladders from
being chained to the floor while crouching or standing. The heroes are informed
Room 10 is an armoury with a bed (1 rescued person asleep now), and Room 11 is
a hall with dining tables. They didn’t venture beyond as it was dark.
The heroes, being half-elves have no fear of the darkness
and advance through swiftly and without cautious to go through the door on the
left, the bottom-east door. They are accosted by 4 terrified slaves armed with
kitchen implements, sharp and blunt, while a leathery-faced woman shouts and
throws objects. Zodznog having become sure the foes will not escape through the
ladder and breaking the top rungs). The foes fail to surprise by win Initiative.
Round 1, the slaves begin to attack while the half-orc (Zodznog)
throws things. None hit.
A blast of cantrips and other lesser spells kills Zodznog.
The slaves throw down their tools. Quickly, Dounil asks if any more foes are
beyond. The tell the pair of the larder (Room 14) and the buttery (Room 13),
which has a ladder down which goblins come and go from. They take food to the guards
upstairs where there are 4 humans in the day and 8 goblins at night. Dounil replies
that all the goblins have been dealt with. He asks them to join the bargain
made with all the other freed people and provide the food in the larder for
them. They agree as the pair are armed and clearly helpfully dangerous. They
say they can bring the food tomorrow but thy are too tired now, they are
directed to the dormitory rooms [23:40] 3/6.
Satisfied the keep has been made safe for now, the pair each
take one of the guest rooms and collapse into bed.
Dounil and Celest will split XP for 3 bugbears, 2 level 1
half orc, 1 level 3 half orc, 1 level 2 elf, 10 human guards, 1 human sergeant
at level 2, 24 goblins and 3 worgs.
24 x 5 + 10 x 12 + 20 + 25 + 35 + 6 x 50 = 620XP /16 = 38.75
x 1.1 or x1.05 = 42 and 40 for each of their classes.
