Session 14: Exploring the fort's cellar

in which the group encounters a strange old guy and take control of the Stag Lord's fort

Once in the cellar, the group spread to search it but they were soon attacked by several summoned animals (a giant ant and a bat swarm). Cardot was isolated a short moment in one of the cellar's rooms and a feral wolvering fell on him.

Only luck, a well-placed crumbling barrel which Cardot positioned between him and the animal, and the timely realization that the group had discovered some animal bane arrows in their previous adventures saved the cleric from death. As in other combats, Am made the last moves with two accurate shots using the bane arrows.

Once dead, the wolverine changed shape into an old man dressed in rags. Kii immediately recognized the man as Nugrah, the strange mendicant druid of Gozreh who was travelling with a teenage boy of 17, and that was described in Davik Bettle's diary.

Nugrah the Decrepit

The group used the rest of the day to rest, recover from fatigue and finish exploring the fort. It was obvious that the bandits had been storing most of their stolen goods in the cellar, and so the group dedicated some time to account the objects found.

 XP:
- 1200 (Nugrah)

Total this session: 1,200XP
Total campaign: 28,525XP

Loot:
- trade goods, miscellaneous adventuring gear and tools worth approximately 8,000 gp (2 Building Points).
- A chest with 1,500gp in assorted coins (approx. 1,000gp, 2,000sp, 5,000cp and 20 pp).
- A large bag with several pieces of jewelry (various silver candle supports, silver and golden rings, an alabaster statuette of a nymph (inscription in the base: "Florint, keep this as token of our secret love..."), a silver necklace with shiny green stones, several Stag Lord's silver amulets,...) (Stolen Lands 53).


Time Passed:
- 12 hours.
The time now is 23rd Gozran (April), at noon. The group is in the former Stag Lord's fort.

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.

Session 12: Preparing the assault on the Stag Lord's fort

in which the group prepares a plan to assault the Stag Lord's fort


Back at Oleg's
Back at Oleg's, the adventurers gave back the wedding ring to Svetlana. She was very happy and, in return for the ring, Oleg offered them 1000 gp in trade credit.

They also talked with Kesten Garess about their alliance with the Kobolds, and the soldier promised them he would soon have their reward (800gp).

Finally, they bought rations and mining equipment from Oleg, who also lent them some horses to carry all the materials to the Sootscale kobolds.

After having prepared as well as they could, they started their journey towards the Stag Lord's fort... would they be able to survive the dangers ahead?

Visiting Bokken
They found Bokken's hut surrounded by several visitors, who were buying some of his potions. Thanks to the characters' good job in ridding the area of bandits, many trappers, merchants and hunters were now flocking the northern Greenbelt. This had caused a boom in the potion business, but Bokken was a bit grumpy, as he had built his hut away from civilization so as not to be disturbed.

Nevertheless, Bokken received the adventurers warmly, specially since they had brought him the fangberries he needed. He offered them a 25% discount on all his potions for a month, and the showed them his stash. The adventurers chose the ones they thought would be more useful in their coming encounter with the Stag Lord.

The Fey Friends
They proceeded south and gave back his luck coin to the leprechaun. The creature changed humor instantly and started hugging the adventurers and dancing around them. He said he would go on exploring the region, and that he would love to meet them again in the future. He wished them good luck and the characters felt a strange warmth as part of the creature's luck rubbed on them.

The following day the adventurers met Perlivash and Tyg-Titter-Tut in the outskirts of the forest and proceeded towards the Kobolds' lair.

The Kobold Braves
Chief Sootscale was impressed by the equipment brought by the adventurers, and relieved to see them fulfilling their side of the bargain. He assigned Mikmek and 6 Kobold warriors to go with them and help them in the assault of the Stag Lord's fort (the adventurers thought most of them seemed to be the old followers of Tartuk).

They spent the night in the Sootscale lair and followed the Shrike river to the Stag Lord's fort.

Arrival at the Fort
The whole trip took them longer than expected, as they got lost a couple of times and were delayed some hours because of the bad weather, but all in all their trip to the fort from Oleg's Trading Post was uneventful (except for a pack horse that got lost and eaten by bears) and they arrived without any major trouble to the camp they had used in their previous approach to the fort.

They spent the next few days gathering information about the fort, their inhabitants and the bandit patrols of the hills surrounding the fort:
 - The adventurers left Mikmek and the kobolds spy on the trail leading to the fort. One day they spotted a group of 6 bandits approaching the fort with a wagon full of loot. The adventurers overheard their conversation with the bandits at the fort's gate and learned the master phrase the bandits used. Nevertheless, they decided it was too dangerous to infiltrate the fort using the main entrance, even knowing the master phrase.
- They had the feys infiltrate the fort while invisible. Thanks to their telepathic bond with Cardot, the adventurers learned about the distribution of bandits inside the fort (and that they were approximately a dozen), that the bandits had a captured owlbear in a cage. As they were leaving back to the camp, they also learned that there was some kind of secret tunnel leading into the fort from the outside, almost opposite from the main entrance, and in an area that the bandits on lookout did not monitor much.
- One of the nights, during a violent thunderstorm, Kii and Gam'el'Gar explored the outside area of the fort's palisade to find the secret entrance the feys spoke of. As they were climbing the hill towards the palisade, the earth erupted and four zombies lurched to attack them (this was one obvious reason why the bandits only monitored the main entrance). The adventurers took cover in the line of trees surrounding the hill and came back later with Cardot, who used the power of Cayden Cailean to sever the undead link to the Negative Plane. After dealing with the zombies, the adventurers explored the secret tunnel during the stormy night. Gam'el'gar predicted that the weather would still be stormy the following night...

Zombies erupted from the earth to attack the adventurers

 
- All in all, the adventurer's spent 5 days to reach the fort from Oleg's trading post, and another 4 days scouting possible ways to attack the fort. At the end, they decided that Kii would craft a debilitating poison that the feys would add to the bandits' alcoholic reserves, then open the owlbear's cage to cause a distraction that the adventurers would use to infiltrate the fort using the secret tunnel to attack the remaining bandits.

On the night of the 22nd Gozra, the adventurers, using the cover of the night and a noisy thunderstorm, approached the fort from the side opposite to the main entrance. They formed three small groups and approached the secret entrance. At some point during their approach, lightning illuminated the field just as Am was crossing between several boulders, but the Gods smiled on the Monk and the bandit on the closest lookout tower was at the time being called by some companions to join the alcohol drinking binge.

The kobolds, directed by Kii and Cardot, dug the entrance to the tunnel, and they all saw that it had not been used in a long time, though it was still in good condition. The tunnel was only 50 feet long, although enough to allow them entry to the fort... the moment was tense, and as Cardot told the feys to open the owlbear's cage, all of them held their breath for a moment... would their plan survive the clash with reality?

XP:
- 400 (completing the Svetlana's Ring quest)
- 400 (completing the Kobolds in the Hills quest)
- 400 (completing the Gathering Fangberries quest)
- 400 (completing the Leprechaun's Luck Coin quest)
- 800 (defeating 4 Zombies protecting the fort's hill)
Total this session: 2400XP
Total campaign: 20,780XP

Loot:
- 1000gp in trade credit from Oleg.
- 800gp (Kobolds in the Hills reward)
- 25% discount in Oleg's potions for a month.
- Leprechaun's Luck (may reroll a d20 once)


Spent:
- 1 pack horse, lost during the trip to the Stag Lord's fort (to be paid to Oleg).

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

Objects inventory and group treasure

Session 11: Befriending the Feys

in which the group explores the southern reaches marked in their exploration charter and befriend the prankster feys


Scouting the Stag Lord's fort
The adventurers set out early at a good pace with their kobold guide. It was easy following the Shrike River towards the Tuskwater Lake, and although their path was blocked from time to time by gullies and small canyons, the kobold was able to choose the correct path to overcome those obstacles without losing much time. In the evening they saw in the distance the Stag Lord's fort.

The fort was an almost ruined structure consisting of one main stone building with half-collapsed ceiling surrounded by three wooden towers, standing atop a hill. A narrow path of hard-packed earth winded up the hillside approaching the fort, a path 30 feet wide, 300 feet long, offering no cover to anyone approaching the fort. The remaining hillside surrounding the fort was a swath of hill devoid of shrubbery save for isolated thorny vines, though periodic large boulders provided better cover for a stealthy approach.

The adventurer's made camp one mile away from the fort and waited for dusk. While Cardot and Am stayed with the horses and the kobold, Kii and Gam'el'Gar approached the fort, their low-light vision helping them navigate the dark landscape without any problem. They stayed in the cover of the vegetation surrounding the fort's hill, approximately 300 feet (100m) from the fort, and started moving around the fortification, keeping always in cover. From that distance, they could hear laughter and the sounds of discussions coming from inside the fort, and they also noticed that each of the wooden towers had one guard, though apparently they only paid attention to the main path approaching the fort, with hardly a glance to the surrounding hillsides.

The Stag Lord's Fort

After two hours spying on the fort, Kii and Gam'el'Gar returned to camp, and the group decided to go back to Oleg's to better prepare for an assault on the fort. They were worried by the letters from Kii's cousin warning them of the impending arrival of some mercenaries... they had to hit early if they wanted to have the upper hand! Still, some extra help would be advisable, so they would try to approach the feys again to try to ally with them.

The Fangberry Thicket

As the area where the kobold had seen the fangberry bushes was not too far from their way back to Oleg, the adventurers explored the area and found the fangberry thicket in a small canyon.

While Am and Gam'el'Gar kept guard with their bows prepared, Kii and Cardot started collecting the berries. The process was very difficult, because they had sharp thorns that pierced their gloves with ease... To make matters worse, a swarm of spiders assaulted Kii and Cardot and soon they were running for their lifes... Am and Gam'el'Gar attacked the swarm with torches, and with the use of the Burning Hands wand of Kii and a couple well-placed torch sweeps, the group managed to defeat the spiders.


The Rickety Bridge

Further to the north, the adventurers found an old wooden bridge that spanned a 20-foot deep gulch through which the river Thorn flowed. Kii crossed the bridge alone to test its strength and, though the bridge resisted, it groaned and cracked, so the adventurers decided not to cross it with the horses. This meant that, in order to cross the Thorn river to the east, they would have to use the fords situated approximately 12 miles upriver (the first bandit camp the adventurers had attacked) or 12 miles downriver (a bit upstream from where the Thorn River met the Shrike).

Because of this, it took them a bit longer to explore the area surrounding the bridge, but they were lucky and did not meet any further obstacle to their exploration, and reached the Thorn River bandit camp in the evening, with enough time to relax and prepare camp, after several nights sleeping on wet and windy ground. During the night, Gam'el'Gar was the target of more of the feys' pranks.


Befriending the feys

In the morning, the adventurers saw very dark storm clouds approaching. Gam'el'Gar estimated that they could hit them a bit before reaching the feys' lair... A short discussion ensued in which they decided to risk the trip and luck smiled on them, because they reached the feys' lair shortly before high winds and heavy rain announced the storm arrival.

Near the lair, the adventurers decided they had to accelerate their contact with the feys and decided to spend one Cure Light Wounds potion each as a gift to the feys. Cardot, who had already befriended them also helped by pulling out the best beer he had ever brewed... he almost could not help consuming it himself!

So the adventurers left the gifts (beer, candies, small trinkets and the magical potions) at the base of the feys' tree, and this time the feys were so pleased by the gifts that they showed themselves to the adventurers: Tyg-Titter-Tut (an excitable grig, with the upper body of a beautiful maiden and the lower body of a cricket)  and Perlivash (a butterfly-winged dragon). They were both the size of a cat and chatted excitedly among themselves and with their new friends.

Tyg-Tiiter-Tut

 They told them that they were much nicer than "the nasty bigginses that used to live in the Thorn River camp". Tyg-Titter-Tut even played her little violin while swinging to the rythym... the night went on with plenty of jokes, stories from all the participants and in general a pleasant feeling... even the heavy rain and strong wind seemed to avoid the adventurers' camp.

Perlivash

 Cardot convinced the feys to help the adventurers explore the Stag Lord's fort, even playing some pranks on their occupants. They agreed that they would meet in the nearby radish patch in a few days, after the adventurers had prepared at Oleg's for the days to come.

The following morning, the sky was crisp blue, the smell of the wet forest invigorated the adventurers... they had managed an alliance with two unlikely parties, the feys and the kobolds... would that be enough for their assault on the Stag Lord's fort?



XP:
- 100 (exploring the Fangberry Thicket hex)
- 100 (exploring the Rickety Bridge hex)
- 1000 (befriending the feys Tyg-Titter-Tut and Perlivash)
Total this session: 1200XP
Total campaign: 18,380XP

Loot:
- Fangberries.
- Spent 3 Cure Light Wound potions to befriend the feys.

Time Passed:
- 4 days.
The time now is 14th Gozran (April), in the morning. The group is at the feys' lair.

Extra Buildings

Buildings errata:

Barracks (6 BP):Defense Modifier +2; Unrest –1.
Exotic Craftsman (10 BP):1 minor item, +1 Economy, +1 Stability.


Non-City Buildings
Presented below are additional buildings and improvements that can be build outside of cities. Please note that constructing any of these improvements takes the place of the "build a farm" action in your kingdom turn.
Please also note that Camps, Farms and Mines are mutually exclusive - you can have a farm OR a mine OR a camp in a hex. None of these improvements represent a single building in a 12-mile hex. It's not just one farm, or just one mine, or just one camp. Building means you have devoted the primary physical and human resources of that hex to the activity of farming (farm), mining (mine) or logging (camp).


Lock: (8 BP). A lock allows ships to traverse along height differences in a river. A Lock turns three hexes of unnavigable rivers navigable and provides a +2 Economy bonus.
Terraforming: Instead of building a farm hex, you can convert a forest hex into hills or a swamp into grassland. This takes 6 months and costs 24 BP. You could also plant a forest in a grassland or hills hex for the same cost. You continue to gain the benefits of a camp during terraforming, but at the end of the terraforming it is destroyed.

Hidden wrist sheaths

You can try to draw an item hidden in the wrist sheath as a Move (normal wrist sheath) or Swift (spring-loaded wrist sheath) action during your turn by passing a DC10 Dexterity check.
You'll have a +1 bonus to this check if you have Sleight of Hand trained (i.e. it is a class skill with ranks). You'll also get a +1 bonus for each 2 full ranks you have in Sleight of Hand.

If you fail the check, then you'll need a Standard action (this is normal for a hidden item as mentioned in the Sleight of Hand skill).

If you fumble (you roll first a 1 and then fail the roll in the confirmation check) the item will fall to the ground. In the case of a spring-loaded sheath, after rolling a 1 you also need to pass a DC10 Luck check. If you fail this check, then the spring is broken. Until you repair the spring with a DC15 Crafts(weapons or traps) check (or paying 1/4 of its value to an artisan) it will count as a normal wrist sheath.

Finally, these sheaths give a +2 to your Sleight of Hand check to hide a weapon (this is taken from the item's description).


Masterwork Wrist Sheaths
Remember you can also have a masterwork wrist sheath. They cost an extra 300gp (or 100 gp ? check with JL )but they'll give a +2 to the Dexterity check to draw the hidden weapon.

Wearing wrist sheaths in the open
You can decide to wear the wrist sheath in the open (i.e. not hidden under your sleeves, etc.). In this case, you don't need to roll for a regular wrist sheath, and a failure in the check for a spring-loaded one means you'll need the normal Move action to draw the weapon (instead of the Swift).