Friday, August 24, 2012

Session XLIII: Moontower Assault!

With the death of Morak at the hand of Gnarly Blunderbrush the murder of Arvin Ardmore of the Temple of Mithra had been avenged. However, vengeance came at a price! 

Slick Vinny went head to head with Zenopus the Vampire and was drained of blood and taken away by the alluring undead creature.  It is not known whether he be dead or a blood sucking creature under the influence of Zenopus.

Gnarly, pursued by Morak's guards, leaped off the terrace and into the sea below.  He had lost consciousness and drifted helplessly, watched over by Tuk the owl. The next day he washed up on shore and made his way back to the Moon-tower.

Argh and Swanky, who were locked within the dungeons beneath the old Merchant Guild were soon rescued by Lemunda accompanied by her bewildered father Osric and her servant Oslo.  When they heard about Morak's death she took the opportunity to escape with her father.  She lead the Halfling and Half-orc through the twisting tunnels beneath the castle to a small boat that lead to the ocean.  They paddled out the tunnel and towards the shore near the Moon-tower.

The work of Morak's death traveled fast.  Lord Blackmoore took the opportunity to gain the upper-hand and lead an offensive against Kushanna's troops north of Harrowood.

With the power vacuum left behind, the Stygian Zadir is attempting to take control of the city.  Using his dark magic and Morak's second in command, Utasu, Zadir hopes to strike back quickly against the Moon-tower and bring the city back under his control.

Three days have since past since the fall of Morak.
Zadir has put a king's ransom on the heads of Arvin's Avengers.
The forest around the tower are filled with archers making leaving the tower is a deadly proposition.
Essentially trapped within the tower, Arvin's Avengers realize that a full scale assault is on the horizon.

In their short time available, they try to set up some defenses.  Gnarly's mushroom-men patrol the thicket that surrounds the Moontower.  On the third night, during the first watch, Gnarly patrols Vinny's magical room in the dungeon beneath the tower while one of his mushroom-men patrol the tower itself.

 "SHROOOOOOOOM!!!"

Suddenly the Mushroom-men let out a cry of alarm as flaming arrows ignite the thicket, Tuk the owl spies a number of Zadir's guards along with a Stone Giant beginning the assault.

Meanwhile, in the dungeon below, Gnarly hears scratching at the door when suddenly a handful of ghouls bursts in.  They chase him up the stairs and into the Moontower.   The hatch is barricaded.

Trapped in the tower the party hears a sound of destruction coming from the top floor.  The Stone Giant had thrown a bolder which demolished Televon's newly constructed sanctuary. 

With more boulders flying and the flames of the thicket rising it was decided their best option was to fight their way through the ghouls and find another way out into the country-side through the dungeon.

The priest of Morpheus forced the ghouls back down the stairs but trying to slay the ghouls proved a bit difficult.  But it was Arg, the half-orc, that pulled through and saved the party from what could have been a gruesome fate.

It was debated whether to delve deeper into the dungeon, try to make a break for it through the cave entrance to the sea which was guarded by a tentacled monster but in the end it was decided to sneak out the way they first entered the dungeon and that was through the tunnel that lead beneath the cemetery and into a crypt.

Sneaking out from the crypt into the woods, they saw the giant completing the destruction of their Moon-tower.

Arvin's Avengers then made their way across the Great Coast Road and lead by Gnarly worked their way through Harrowood to the Druid's cave and sanctuary.

Through the denizens of the forest, Gnarly discovers that a great battle took place north of Harrowood and that some of the combatants were taken prisoner by a group of nomads living in the forest.

After a couple days rest at the cave the party trekked through Harrowood and ran into the Oak Ridge tribe, whom Gnarly had met in his explorations of the forest.  At the village they heard the story of a battle between Blackmoor's troops who routed Kushanna's warriors, some of which retreated into Harrowood and were captured and killed by the Oak Ridge Tribe. 

After sharing some of Televon's remaining Moon-milk with the chief and shaman the next day the party left the woods and came upon the remains of a fierce battle.  Kushanna's dead troops lay strewn about in the fields.  Wolf discovers that a group of horsemen pursued the retreating troops south back towards Caladan while a larger group headed back north presumably towards Blackmoor.

The party traveled the rest of the day northwest to the town of Berkenstoke and ended up at the local tavern the Hacky Shack.  Feasting and drinking in the warm comfort of the friendly inn they met up with some of Blackmoor's troops who soon discovered that these adventurers were none other than Arvin's Avengers slayers of Morak!

Next:  Blackmoor (yes, that Blackmoor!)


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