Castle Caldwell Explorers VI - OH MY GOD THEY KILLED MAH GOBLIN

Saturday 10-7-2017 6:30 - 9:30 PM

Ambush!

When last we left our band they had been beset by a green slime which they narrowly escaped. Ældlin and Everaxe had blundered beneath it and each was reduced nearly to death. Additionally Everaxe had lost his armor to the beast!

They exited the hole to head aback to the castle, but found there were the tracks of 40 or more men tromping through the mud in the direction of their travel.

The woodsfolk, Ældlin and Faelin, followed the tracks and found the men making camp near our trail. They were soldiers but we didn’t know their heraldry.

Meanwhile the rest of the party were ambushed by twenty more men and THEY KILLED KING GOBLIN!! The first confirmed death and it was a henchman! Oh well.

The main group were herded together and marched along, and the two woodsmen followed at a good distance as they all walked through the night. Everaxe recognized the heraldry. The men were from the Northern kingdom but he didn’t know their direct liege by territory. The men recognized Everaxe too as a Cleric, and gagged him so he could not cast spells (but allowed Thane the wizard to speak freely.)

In the Eastern wood, there was a clearing with a stockade built for maybe a hundred men. Faelin and Ældlin watched as a wizard came out and Sleeped them all – except the elf, who they clobbered.

Elowen and Shabrich by Patricia Birkholz

The Woodsmen

The rain continued to fall upon Ældlin the druid and Faelin the ranger. The two woodsmen witnessed the wizard sleep the main party and then ride away on a horse to the East, away from the hole the party had tracked erstwhile-princess-to-be Sylvia to. Then another patrol came up behind them! They ran North along the edge of the wood into the light forest between their current position and Castle Clifton. The patrol heard Faelin and pursued! While Ældlin could see in the dim light, Faelin was but a woman and could not see in these conditions. She didn’t have a chance to escape, so Ældlin turned and cast Warp Wood upon the bows of the patrol! That gave her a fighting chance. They would have to pursue her on foot instead of shooting at her.

There were six men, but one turned his ankle on a twig and fell away. Faelin ran another 250 feet and turned to shoot at the approaching men in a final stand.

As she made her stand, Ældlin cast Call Lightning down upon the five remaining men in tight formation, frying every one and knocking Faelin back! The last man who had fallen was able to escape back to the fort so the two woodsmen turned North again.  After making some progress back to Castle Clifton, they climbed a tree to find some rest until morning. They did not have the resources to keep fighting and they had been on their feet for nearly 24 hours.

The Adventuring Party by Tom Wham

The Main Party

The main party, consisting of Ronin and Meira the fighters, Vuvier the thief, Everaxe the cleric and Thane the wizard, awoke in a jail cell and wearing heavy manacles. Their warden was a dim gnoll, but his bosses were a human man and woman.  The party whispered to one another, planning to escape.

When the gnoll brought them their breakfast, Everaxe engaged it in parley while Vuvier picked its keys. They succeeded by one percent – a roll of 49 against a chance of 50! When the gnoll left the cell again, it turned to lock the door and got confused – no keys. So it went looking for them.

In the meantime, Everaxe cast Silence 15’ Radius on the keys, and Vuvier quickly worked his own and Ronin’s manacles open. The two of them overpowered the gnoll and killed him quickly! They grabbed his dagger and mace, and the five adventurers set off quickly and quietly to escape the stockade.

They listened at doors and used the keys, and evaded any patrols. Vuvier found some glass bottles and broke them into crude daggers. They blundered into the store room where their gear was – and Everaxe even found some chain armor!

The next room was a large gymnasium where the men practiced fighting. There were windows a few feet off the ground that were barred, but Ronin and Everaxe used their great strength to bend them! Thane pushed his toad familiar out the window to serve as lookout, and the five adventurers got out of the inner building! Vuvier went over easily! Meira followed easily as well! Then stubby Everaxe couldn’t make it up to the window.

He turned to Ronin. “Throw me,” he said.

“What?”

“Throw me.  AND DO NOT EVER SPEAK OF THIS TO THE DRUID!”

As it turns out, Ronin had to throw him through the window and then twice over the fence!

Vuvier went over! Meira went over! Everaxe went over! Ronin went over and used his long legs to beat Everaxe to the woods! Then wimpy Thane set off the alarms when someone saw him go over!

He was shot by three arrows, falling a mere ten feet from the edge of the wood.  The others bravely fought back the attackers, Everaxe cast Spiritual Hammer on one pursuer and then Cure on Thane, and they made it to safety!

Resolution

The seven remaining fellows met up on the road to the North through the light forest separating the Westwood from the Eastwood.  They compared notes and put together a composite picture of a Northern invading force of 100 or more men, some monsters, and at least one magic user who had set up camp in the South! Lord Clifton and the King needed to know about this immediately!

As the seven companions traveled, Everaxe, a Dwarf of the Northern Range, asked Ældlin of Clifton and of the South. They found much in common in their respect for nature and disdain for Men.

The seven returned and excitedly told Lord Clifton the tale. Well, six were excited. Ældlin was conspicuously quiet during the retelling, stoking the Old Tom in his long wooden pipe and blowing blue smoke rings into the breeze.