Session 19 5/10/15

After hiring 8 unskilled stoneworkers and 2 grooms, purchasing 4 more mules (that gives them 5 mules, 1 sable, 3 riding horses and one light warhorse) and a lot of gear and supplies, they returned to Caer Mawr castle. On their return journey, they stopped and spent 3 days building a sturdy bridge across the one bad spot in in their route from Phandelin to Caer Mawr - a steep-sided and 40' deep gorge. They chopped down a number of large trees, and built a 60' long bridge across the gorge, using Doodle's immovable rods to make the job much easier than it would otherwise have been. Alzardel's ability to make rock transmute into dirt and back into rock also made creating stable, level footings for their bridge a whole lot easier. The bridge may only be 2 logs wide, but it is sturdy and effective. 

While they built the bridge, they were attacked by two giant wolf spiders, who tried to grab one of their workers, but they were able to rescue him and slay the monsters. Upon reacing the castle, they found their two guards busily clearing rubble and working on making the castle more defensible. They also discovered that the guards had found (and NOT opened) a trapdoor buried in the crushed rock. The PCs promptly decided to investigate, and found themselves descending into the old Caer Mawr prison dungeon. On the stairs they were chilled by a haunt - Doodle broke, and Alzardel also panicked, but Theron went down in the lead, with Madsen close behind. They found a largish chamber with what seemed to be a partial wizard's laboratory, a small side-chamber that had been some sort of office, and several doors. One door led to a long hallway, guarded by a flesh golem! A knock-down drag-out fight left both Madsen and Theron badly injured, but the flesh golem destroyed. The hallway contained a host of small prison cells, all empty, and one larger cell at the far end, where the ground was split open by tree-roots. A nest of stirges, at least 20 of them, lairs there. The PCs backed off, deciding that they would prefer to burn the creatures out than fight them face-to-probiscus. 

The second door off the main lab-room led to another, shorter hallway. Several more prison cells were empty, but one cell was oddly different. The door was triple-locked, and inside a magical rune-studded ring in the floor surrounded a human figure. The man is an emaciated but living prisoner; he explains that he was a prisoner of the wizard of Caer Mawr and his wife - a cleric who supported the Emperor Herudiband. The EVIL emperor, as Theron pointed out. But the prisoner swears that he was not a supporter of the emperor, but was rather a rebel. He also says that the wizard and his wife were apparently at odds over her support of the Emperor, and the prisoner was being kept because SHE wanted to turn him over to the emperor, while the wizard wanted to ally with him, or something... The prisoner says that right now all he wants to do is be set free, so he can go live out the rest of his life in peace and quiet. Alzardel is of the belief that part of the purpose of the runes in the magic ring is to force the captive to speak only the truth. 

Session 20 5/23/15

After questioning the prisoner, taking a two week break to race to Candlekeep to research his background, and hiring both a cleric and a wizard of higher level than them to cast some spells (zone of truth and detect thoughts), the party finally determined that Sir Thomas, the prisoner in the dungeon, is actually a vampire, and (he claims) an archmage! They decided it was FAR too dangerous to let him free, and instead have bricked over his cell, filled most of the room he's in with rubble, and built another wall, then very carefully plastered over everything to make it impossible (or nearly so) to even find the original door into the room (and they put a plaque on the wall they built that informs anyone who digs back that far that the being inside is a vampire-wizard. They then spent half an hour laughing over the fact that they've now trapped TWO major foes and are holding them in magical prisons. Hmmmm...

While investigating the origins of Sir Thomas, the party (Alzardel in particular) was attacked by what they finally determined was an invisible stalker. Who sent it, and why, they could not determine, but they are wondering who they managed to make an enemy of...Also a delegation of woodsfolk arrived, and eventually Alzardel made a sort of treaty with them. They agreed not to injure or harass any settlers or domesticated animals that arrive to live in or around the castle, while the castle-folk agree that the woodsfolk may continue to hunt, gather, and travel through, all the lands around the castle without restriction. It isn't a perfect agreement, but it should hold for a number of years. Later, the woodsfolk came back with a request: there's a barrow-mound a day's travel away from here, and recently some group (the woodsfolk called them "witch-men") have opened one of the mounds and are doing some disturbing things there. They've even kidnapped some woodsfolk. If the PCs would rescue them and clear up the problem, they'd be very grateful...

So the PCs, scenting possible treasure, said yes. A day later, they're out at the mound, spying on the intruders. They see orcs, which gets Gia going - she hates them from her years in the War. One ambush later, they invade the opened mound. Inside they meet some very odd gibbering zombies, and later rescue two sets of prisoners. They finally meet up with a sort of priestly type who is about to convert a live prisoner into another gibbering zombie. A somewhat dangerous fight later, the priest and two more zombies are dead, but sadly so is the prisoner. The other prisoners inform the party that this man is NOT Abraxes - he's still deeper in the barrow, in the actual burial chamber. And he's calling himself the "King of the Barrow Mound". 

Session 21 5/30/15 (short session)

Plunging swiftly deeper into the mound, the PCs fight a trio of ghouls in a blood-soaked chamber, handily dispensing them, but taking a few wounds in the process. Gia hangs back at the rear, guarding the seven rescued woodsfolk from any approaching danger (her player was absent). The final hallway leads down to another round chamber, this time sporting an altar to Aragh, the god of war and death. Four worshippers here turn to attack the PCs as they disrupt their prayers. One fireball takes care of three of them, and the fourth, badly wounded, fails to cast a spell on Theron. He dies moments later. A careful search of the room turns up a false wall, which leads to another cave-tunnel and a large cavern. Within, a heavily-armored man sports with two red-eyed black dogs. When Doodle spies on him, the dogs scent her almost immediately, and he sets them "to hunt". Alzardel had cast invisibility on her, so one dog misses, and goes on by up the tunnel, but the second finds and bites her savagely. Battle ensues, while the man screams that he is the Barrow King and they shall kneel before him or die. Alzardel casts his last fireball, which hurts the man, but does not injure the dog at all. Theron and Marion battle the dogs, while Doodle dodges in and out of melee. Then the first, wounded dog breathes a cone of fire, catching Doodle, Theron and Marion. and a round later, the second dog does the same, barely missing Doodle because she is beside him, battleing the man. Finally one dog falls, and then Theron fully engages the "barrow king". A round later, he goes down as well, and the second, almost uninjured, dog vanishes back from whatever hellish place her came.

There was a second altar in this chamber; before it two chests of offerings sit. They consist of twelve potions (8 healing and 4 vitality), and 7,000 silver pennies! 

After retrieving the treasure, and taking a short rest, the PCs and their rescued Woodsmen retreat from the barrow, avoiding contact with any further cultists; they're sure that with the priest and the barrow king slain, the others will soon disperse. The woodsfolk are full of gratitude, and promise to bring the PCs word of any other strange activity in the area. They do inform the party that there is one place they should visit soon - a group of reclusive wizards who live in a place called "Storm Keep", a day's travel northeast of Cragmaw castle, and rarely interact with outsiders. They might be interested in their new neighbors...

Session 22 6/7/15

After returning to their homebase at Cragmaw, the PCs spent a couple of leisurely days setting a few traps and such around their castle for defense, and enjoying a few home-cooked meals. One day, as they were eating lunch, their guard alerted them to visitors arriving... a half-elf cleric of Mikol, and a wood-elf ranger. These adventurers were out hunting for goblins, and had been past Cragmaw in the past, knowing it was a lair for goblins. They were surprised and pleased to discover that there were no goblins, and accepted an invitation to lunch. They introduced themselves as Varis, a wood-elf hermit ranger and survivor of the Dragonwars, and Malcos, half-elven acolyte priest of Mikol (both lvl 5). They found that they had considerable in common with the rest of the PCs, being war veterans and fellow adventurers. A sort of friendship formed almost at once.

While they were there, the party noticed an interesting occurrence - a ways away, a small thunderstorm had formed, creating thunder but no rain. As they watched it over the course of the day, the storm-cloud grew bigger, but never moved, appearing to be fixed over one spot some 25-30 miles away. By the next morning, it had nearly doubled in size, and was producing some fairly large bolts of lightning, but was not moving. Eventually, after considerable bickering about whether it was wise to walk into a tornado, they decided to investigate. it took a full day of travel to reach the site of the storm, which turned out to be a small keep, of an age similar to their own, much less intact home. This, however, was in excellent condition. Leaving their horses at the stable, which was nearby and appeared to have been tended within the last day or so, they approached the keep. Doodle was able to pick the lock on the front doors, while Varis snooped around the side of the building and climbed up to the 2nd level, where he was able to pry open an window and peer in. To his consternation, the building was filled with purple smoke, rendering him unable to see clearly. Eventually he retreated, and returned to the others at  the front. They had also met with the purple fog - it filled what turned out to be an entry hall, complete with cloak pegs and outerwear. They found a set of inner doors, but were completely unable to force the lock here; being unwilling to bash down the doors, they decided to retreat and climb in Varis' open window. 

After a quick use of Alzardel's spider climb and Doodle's climbing skill, everyone entered the narrow window. They found themselves stumbling around a large, empty bedchamber. However, after a few minutes, the room began to fill with moisture, and almost before their eyes a water elemental swooped out of the mist and attacked. A couple firebolts, a fiery sphere, and some hasty sword-blows vanquished the creature, but left them a bit stunned. At this time, Doodle heard something scrabbling under the bed, and thePCs flung the mattress over; under the bed they found a strange little copper "man", muttering as he scraped mud-dust off the floor. He announced that his name was Gearloose, and he served the Master Beorthere. He also said that Erroc "and the others" were downstairs. Because Gearloose said he was not allowed upstairs, they decided to look for Erroc downstairs first, hoping that whoever he or she was, they could end the effects of the Guards and Wards, dismissing the purple fog. 

On going downstairs, Gearloose was able to lead them to Erroc and the other apprentices who were hiding in their bedchamber. Erroc was able to dismiss the wards, and they were warned about Gargoyles in the dining hall. They also found out that Beorthere had only recently become "master" of the Keep, on the death of the previous master, Evoric (of natural causes).  Beorthere soon after decided that he wanted to bind a fire elemental into the "storm crystal" in the attic of the Keep.  Varis used his pass without trace spell to enable the PCs to all get back upstairs, with Erroc along, to find out what had happened to Beorthere; all the apprentices had refused to help him with his ritual, when Erroc decided it was too dangerous. Since yesterday mid-day, they've seen no sign of him. 

The PCs and Erroc went upstairs to the third floor. There, they were attacked by flying books and some pillars, all seemingly controlled by something scrying on them. Since there was nothing alive on this floor, and no sign of Beorthere, they advanced up the spiral stairs to the "attic" fourth floor. There, they found what almost looked to be some sort of djinn entrapped in a summoning circle, and able to cast spells at them. He was absolutely malevolent, and made no attempt to communicate before launching an attack. But the seven PCs (including a new friend of Varis's named Byden - a half-orc druid) were not overmatched by the elemental, and in three rounds, with the judicious use of a protection circle, a couple of cold attacks by the wizard, and a mighty magical arrow shot by Varis, they put him down. With the elemental was a large magical crystal, which Erroc informed them is the Keep's Storm Crystal. The PCs were instantly convinced that leaving this thing with Erroc, who seems to be a very junior wizard, was a mistake. They thought about stealing it, but instead Theron drop-kicked it, and smashed it to smithereens as Erroc screamed in impotent outrage. 

Episode 23 6/14/15

PCs now present:

Gia (Eldritch Knight, human folk-hero, sister of a baron)

Theron (High Elf Battlemaster, soldier, nothing but a treasure-hunter)

Doodlebug (Wood Elf rogue, arcane-trickster, street-urchin raised by humans, adventures to be loyal to her friends)

Alzardel (Dwarf Wizard, Transmuter, folk-hero, wants to be a ruler and believes only he can rule properly)

Varis (Half-elf ranger hermit, hates goblins with a passion)

Malcor (Elf cleric of Mikol, god of the sun, Light domain, acolyte; wants to find ancient texts of his god)

Byden (half-orc druid, circle of birds and beasts, outlander; a woodsfolk whose clan was slain, he seeks to destroy the goblins who killed them)

While returning from Storm Keep to Cragmaw Castle, the PCs keep an eye out for the ettin they saw a few days ago, but do not spot him. Instead, Varis is ambushed by some hobgoblins as he scouts ahead of the group. Fortunately, he is able to handle the pair, and needs no rescuing. Two days later, as Varis and Byden go out their separate ways from Cragmaw, Byden is ambushed by FOUR more hobgoblins; this time, one is a war-leader. Fortunately he has two men-at-arms nearby, and his wolf companion, but the fight is a very near thing, and only the last-minute arrival of Varis prevents a possible loss of druid life.  

Episode 24-25 (at least) were not recorded. Much travel, a mission for the Crown, etc... and a magical trip to the moon. By the end, a month or more were gone without knowing what had happened. It is now mid-autumn, and the weather is turning chill. As the PCs traveled back to Cragmaw, they took the opportunity to investigate a map they had liberated from its previoius owner; this led them to the manor house of an elf bard from 2nd Empire days, known as Tyrtwillig. His house was markedly well-preserved, and located only a few hundred yards from the odd tunnel the PCs had found some months earlier. At the entrance to the house, a quartet of harpies attacked; they were driven off without much harm, though Gia was momentarily enthralled by their singing. However, when Alzardel investigated the large hollow opening in a tree that was growing up almost blocking the front door, he roused a swarm of vicious wasps, which stung him several times and nearly caused him to pass out from the venom of their stings. Once they were defeated, the PCs explored the upper floors of the house, finding only a pair of fine musical instruments, a harp and a pianoforte that were the only signs of the previous resident. However, they also found a wide, open staircase leading down into a maze of tunnels below the house; in their explorations there, they found a trapped door, a collapsed passage leading somewhere down into the depths of the earth, and finally a chamber with two zombie ogres in it. While fighting these ogres, a third zombie came up to them from behind. This was quite a massive fight; while the PCs could hardly miss, the ogre zombies were brutal in their return blows; eventually Gia collapsed under the assault, and between them Theron and Alzardel had to finish off the last zombie. This was all made much harder by the absence of Malcor, Byden and Varis. Once the zombie ogres were slain, the PCs decided to take at least a short rest in their chamber, and barricaded themselves inside once they were fairly certain there were no secret exits.

Note: this campaign went on for a long while, well into 2016. The PCs ended up in the north, and then coming back to the south. Alzardel became the baron of his own Barony, based in Cragmaw Castle, with Gia as his most loyal companion.  Eventually, Alzardel returned to his dwarven homeland, and Gia became baroness in her own right. At the same general time, Prince Starbow finally died of grief and wounds sustained in the war.  His son Prince Taran became the new ruler of Greenvale. The next campaign in Greenvale will take up shortly after Taran's assumption of the throne.