Session 07 Summary – 10/08/2014 - *UPDATE*

Participants: Bardu (Guest Appearance), Endelthil, Nulara, Thorin

Characters Met:

Vyerith– Stealthy Drow in the service of the Black Spider who has taken Gundren from Cragmaw Castle to an unknown location.

New and Unfinished Quests:

<Hollia> - (1) Find and kill Glasstaff. Find any correspondence in his possession [Partially Complete].

(2 - Endelthil Only) Search Thundertree for Dragon Cult activity and information, as well as any signs of a dragon.

<Sister Graele> - Get spellbook from the Banshee Queen, Agatha. It is recommended that the party appeal to her vanity by presenting her with a jeweled silver comb.

<Sildar> - Find Gundren Rockseeker

<Elmar Barthen> - Find the Rockseeker brothers and the entrance to Wave Echo Cave.

<Lenine> - (1) Investigate the Redbrand gang at the Sleeping Giant Tavern

(2) Recover Lion Shield Coster rations from the goblin hideout in which Sildar was found.

<Quelline Alderleaf> - Find the Druid, Reidoth in Thundertree [Complete].

<Murna Dendrar> - Acquire the emerald Necklace from the Herb and Alchemy Shop in Thundertree. It is the party's reward for rescuing her [Complete].

<Daran Edermath> - Explore Old Owlwell to the NE. Daran indicates that there is a Watchtower there. The party is to protect any miners there from any undead or orcs that may be wandering about.

Events Summary:  Having made their way into Cragmaw Castle the party unexpectedly splits. Why? Well, you see, the party found themselves in the castle kitchen with two goblins sleeping in boiling soup (thanks to Mullyn), many strewn about the floor dead, and two running out of the room in fear to gather reinforcements. Granted, the wise course of action would be for our five heroes to gather themselves in a united front for the impending reinforcements. But, unfortunately, this did not happen. For reasons unknown, Dain and Mullyn decide it best to quickly head to the rear entrance of the castle to guard against any stragglers. Good idea? As we shall see, it was not.

We now find only three of our heroes, Endelthil, Nulara, and Thorin as potential defenders against the inevitable swarm of reinforcements. But the regrettable events do not end there. No they do not. For further reasons unknown, whilst Nulara and Endelthil create a makeshift barrier of tables to block the doorway,Thorin decides to attempt to revive one of the boiling goblins in order to interrogate him. Maybe our dwarven friend was thinking the little green critter would alert us to the fact that reinforcements were coming? Some mysteries will die with their originator – as was the case with poor Thorin, for he did die; surrounded by a swarm of hobgoblins and goblins that had suddenly charged through the makeshift baracade. In his last moments, he looked up in confusion from his efforts to revive and question the half-boiled goblin, to see a horde of evil descend upon him – and then he was no more.

Surely, things could not get any worse for our dwindling party? Oh, but things did get worse. Enraged, by the death of their fallen comrade, Nulara and Endelthil unleash a flurry of arrows and punches at nearly a dozen oncoming goblin-kind. Unfortunately, only moments into the battle – Nulara falls, and only Endelthil alone remains. Now, even the ever-confident Endelthil knew he could not last in a battle versus nine enemies. Blocked in a corner, he killed only the needed adversaries to make his escape possible. He bolted out of the castle kitchen and into the hallway pursued by at least three assailants. Thorin was gone, Nulara was gone, and now - only moments later – Endelthil, too – was gone. TPK.

Oh, I suppose I should have mentioned that when I said Endelthil was “gone”, I only meant that he went invisible as he drank his sole invisibility potion. Wouldn't you if you had a group of goblins pursuing you and you were on the precipice of death? What? TPK? No, not “total party kill”, it means “that's pretty keen.” Keen of Endelthil to slip away from the visible world, that is. Now that we have all that business cleared up let's move forward with the story.

So much happened after this, so we will move quickly. Endelthil fought off and killed the enemies in pursuit as he fled from the castle into the surrounding woods. He looked around for Dain and Mullyn, but found only signs that they had been chased away by a mob of goblins. Alone in the woods without hope and without ally, all seemed lost to Endelthil. But all was not lost, for who came strolling by in his clanking armor on his own personal errand to check out Cragmaw Castle? None other than our favorite cleric, Bardu! What fortune! Surely, the had of providence was indeed with our elven friend!

Endelthil quickly signals Bardu and brings him up to speed. The duo heal up, leave the woods and infiltrate the castle once again in an attempt to locate the bodies of their fallen comrades – and possibly find Gundren. Once inside they find their friends Thorin and Nulara only unconscious, but guarded by enemy hobgoblins. The hobgoblins had spared the fallen heroes for interrogation purposes! But, their captors would not be afforded the same luxury. For, with all the vengeance the two could muster, Bardu and Endelthil obliterate the two guards and revive their senseless comrades. Finally, things were looking up. Well, for the time being at least. Okay, actually things started to spiral downwards from here.

As the four of them ventured further into the castle, they opened a door only to greeted by the following sight: Iarno, the missing wizard, standing beside a large bugbear who is holding a knife to an unconscious Gundren's throat. Oh, and beside the bugbear is his pet wolf. And did I mention that at that very moment Thorin was stabbed from behind by a stealthy Drow named Vyerith.

Well, the details of this wonderful little encounter are a bit hazy, as all who participated in it, do not like to discuss the horrific and shameful events that took place that day. Suffice it to say that “negotiations” to acquire Gundren did not go as intended. Thorin fell in battle (well, actually he fell before he could swing his axe) as did Nulara. And poor Endelthil missed the only shot that mattered – a shot at the bugbear's head. Overwhelmed, the elf surrendered all the party's money, his bow, and his pride in exchange for the lives of the now unconscious Thorin and Nulara.

The four heroes, broken and battered, walk away from the castle knowing that Gundren will be taken away by Vyerith to the Black Spider who dwells in an inscrutable location. They had failed their friend. All they could do was silently retreat to the woods and spend a night in somber silence to recoup.

As soon as they could, with their wounds healed, but their spirits still low, our little band of failed rescuers drudged back into the castle only to find Iarno, Vyerith, and their poor Gundren missing. The only one to be found was the poor bugbear – or what was left of him – as he lie on the ground bloodied and lifeless. Evidently, the wizard and the Drow chose to have their own “negotiations” with the bugbear who had attempted to sell Gundren to them. Vyerith had simply taken Gundren from the greedy little bugbear by force. Poor bugbear.

With no leads to the whereabouts of Gundren, the party explores the rest of the castle. They find (and kill) a giant octopus creature, a golden elf statuette that can be used as an augur, Sildar's old armor, and a barred-room that houses an enormous beast. Should the party enter the beastly room? The golden elf statue of augury tells of both weal and woe should they enter. With the party having such luck lately, why not give it a shot? Well, we shall see what happens. Let us hope that our heroes have learned from their mistakes!

Notable Items Acquired:  3 Morningstars, 4 Longswords, 2 Greatswords, Fine Quarterstaff, Golden Sun Elf Statue (enchanted with augery spell), Chalice (150 gp), Ceremonial Knife (60 gp), Censor (120 gp), Neverwinter Sword, Chain Mail, Crossbow

XP Acquired Per Party Member: 337 XP

Information Learned:

1. Vyerith, the Drow in service of the Black Spider has taken Gundren to an unknown location. That is, if she did not kill Gundren . . .

2. Iarno, the Wizard, is again at large.

3. Thorin refuses to use Shield of Faith :-)
4.  Endelthil negotiates almost as well as Han Solo did in the Death Star control room. “Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?”