Session 13: Battle by the Tuskwater

in which the group storms the Stag Lord's fort, a ruined fortress near the Tuskwater lake


Once the feys had laced the alcohol barrel the bandits were using with poison, the group waited a tense hour before asking the feys to open the door to the owlbear's cage, then pandemonium started... the adventurers opened the trapdoor that led from the secret tunnel to the fort and listened to the sounds chaos and shouts of fear from the bandits as they tried to escape from the owlbear, while trying to decide when to jump in.

Their decision was suddenly easier when they came face to face with a group of 3 bandits rushing from the tower closest to the stairs under which the trapdoor had opened. One of the bandits was a gigantic man of at least 2 meters high, but he was destabilized by a hail of stones from the kobolds' slings and Am used the opportunity to score a lucky shot that pierced the right eye of the poor wretch, leaving him dead on the spot. The other bandits tried to retaliate, but their firepower was no match to the combined efforts of Am and Cardot.

Auchs, one of the Stag Lord's lieutenants

In the meantime, Kii and another group of kobolds surrounded the inner walls of the fort by the east and came head to head with a sinister looking character holding a rapier and some daggers. He attacked Kii with one of his daggers, then disappeared from view. Soon afterwards, the owlbear "Beaky" charged Kii, who had to retreat some steps but decided to stay calm and prevent the beast from reaching his companions. He danced around the beast, a whirlwind of steel and magic, dodging every single blow from the owlbear and dispatching it with several strokes from his scimitar, together with some Magic Missile wand shots.

Dovan, one of the Stag Lord's lieutenants

Gam'el'gar and Am started surrounding the inner walls from the south. As they neared a door, it suddenly opened and a man wearing a stag mask, the Stag Lord, made his appearance. Even though by the way he stumbled and talked the bandit was obviously drunk, he still managed to severely injure both Am and Gam'el'gar. To make matters worse, the sinister bandit (a man called Dovan) backstabbed Am as he was stepping out of the Stag Lord's reach...

the Stag Lord

The situation seemed dire, and they decided to retreat to show a tougher front to the bandits... Cardot used his miracles to the fullest, healing the party from their grievous wounds, but all seemed lost when the Stag Lord shot an arrow that seemed aimed at Am's heart; the arrow would have pierced his heart if not for an amulet from the temple where he had trained to become a monk.

At that moment, Kii dispatched the owlbear and was able to help the rest of the group. Dovan fell to the ground from several wounds caused by the group, though the Stag Lord looked menacingly enough still... It was at that moment that a new bandit came into view. He was wearing a symbol of Erastil and seemed lost in his thoughts. The Stag Lord shouted and ordered him to attack the adventurers but Akiros, that was the name of the odd-looking bandit, threw his silver Stag Lord amulet to the ground and charged his former boss... The bandit lord was still very dangerous, and he managed to injure Gam'el'gar and Akiros several more times before, tired by the attacks from so many people, two last shots from Am caught him in the chest and in the mouth, felling the dangerous bandit lord once and for all...

Akiros, one of the Stag Lord's lieutenants

 The group fell silent. After so many dangers in the past two months, they stood victorious over the bandit lord! When they took off his mask, they saw that the Stag Lord's face had been severely burnt and had so many scars as to make his visage that of a monster...

Akiros surrendered himself to the adventurers, but they were happy enough with his help to allow him to keep his weapons... They explored with him the fort and found the grisly remains of the owlbear's attacks... All in all, 6 bandits and the Stag Lord were dead on the ground, Dovan was dying but Cardot stabilized him and 1 bandit (who luckily turned out to be Falgrim Sneeg, the bandit for whose capture a reward had been offered) was sleeping from the sleep poison; only 1 bandit managed to escape the fort unharmed.

As they explored the fort and made an inventory of the loot found in it, Akiros told them that there was also a cellar (accessed by a half hidden trap in an abandoned courtyard of the fort) which was inhabited by a strange old creepy guy. He told them that the man healed the bandits when they were injured, but he was so frightening that many bandits preferred to endure the pain of their wounds better than visiting the old creep.

The group started descending the stairs into the darkness, with Cardot calling out to the old guy to announce themselves as friendly...

(to be continued)


XP:
- 945 (bandits in the fort)
- 2000 (the Stag Lord's lieutenants: Auchs, Akiros and Dovan)
- 1200 (Beaky the Owlbear) 
- 2400 (the Stag Lord)

Total this session: 6,545XP
Total campaign: 27,325XP

Loot:
a. from Auchs: 2 potions of Cure Moderate Wounds, 2 potion of Lesser Restoration, knight and dragon toys of very good craftsmanship, silver Stag Lord amulet.
b. from Dovan: +1 rapier, silver Stag Lord amulet, turquoise earrings (StolenLands50)
c. from Akiros: silver Stag Lord amulet.
d. from the Stag Lord: 1 potion of Cure Moderate Wounds, +1 leather armor, masterwork longsword, +1 composite longbow (+2 Str), amulet of natural armor +1, stag's helm (special magical item), several crudely stitched leather masks, a silver locket with a tress of silky green hair (obviously from a fey).
e. from the bandits' stash: 250gp, several gemstones and pieces of jewelry (a polished azurite crystal, a carnelian, a piece of hematite, a shard of obsidian, a red garnet, a pewter belt buckle depicting a pair of entwined succubi (inscription in the buckle: "Q.T.") and a silver charm bracelet; StolenLands51)

f. enough weapons to arm a group of 10 soldiers.


Spent:
- Am: 2 hero points, Leprechaun Luck, 1 potion of Cure Light Wounds, 1 potion of Natural Armor, 1 potion of Shield of Faith
- Cardot: 1 hero point, 1 potion of Shield of Faith.
- Gam'el'gar: 1 potion of Cure Light Wounds, 1 potion of Shield of Faith.
- Kii: 1 hero point, Leprechaun Luck, 1 potion of Shield of Faith.
Remaining charges of Color Spray wand: 31
Remaining charges of Burning Hands wand: 3
Remaining charges of Magic Missile wand: 22


Time Passed:
- 2 hours.
The time now is 22nd Gozran (April), in the evening. The group is near the Stag Lord's lair.