Warning: Spoilers below for the adventure, Rescue at Rivenroar (albeit a modified version).
This entry is from Tyrande’s perspective.
I certainly don’t know much about magic but when Roxy’s magic torch went out, I knew that couldn’t be good. Not to mention the drop in temperature and whooshing sound.
There was nothing to do but prepare. I openly suggest we backtrack the last lit room, despite knowing whatever was with us would here us. With a slight roar and a giant fire burst, Rawr blasts a brief moment of light into the room giving us the opportunity to see our foe, a dire bat hovering in the middle of the room. The light quickly dissipates however. Deornoth rummages around in his pack and pulls out a sunrod and when lit, easily lights the entire room.
Not one, but two bats now. Wait… a third flies in. Where did the twang come from that I heard in the dark? By the door is a small emaciated humanoid looking guy. Learning from our last fight, we decide we need to close the door to keep his arrows out. After a lot of flying about and opening and closing of the door, we killed the bats and made the small little guy poof away somewhere. These battles are definitely taking a toll on us but we have to keep pushing forward to find the hostages. Luckily the belt we found might help some. It seems to be infused with a resistance to poison.
Despite my wandering mind during the catechism classes, no true follower of Selune could mistake the Black Sun of Shar. Not surprisingly, a fresco on the wall depicts humans bowing to it with an inscription reading “Hail Urstots! Death and Glory!” For some reason, all the unconsciousness from being dead seems to have muddled up my memory but the charge from the Spirit that blessed us in the tomb and the Fey Queen that we are beholden to, it seems to be all tangled up I believe. I should probably speak with Roxy or Reuban to help tangle this mess out in my mind, but chances are my mind will drift off like back in the day.
Down the doors we see jail cells and luckily find a living survivor. He is Bertanian, Caretaker of the Hall of Great Valor. Amidst his ramblings of eternal loyalty to the legacy of Henry (the hero from times before), we learn that he was with another prisoner (the cook) but they were separated. Unfortunately for Berran who was already pretty beaten up, the little invisible guard got a few cheap shots before we were able to dispatch him.
Having no where to keep Bertanian safe, he had travel with us. We back track a bit to the fresco room and head up some stairs to a webbed area. Hoping to find the rest of the prisoners and get them home safe with as little bloodshed as possible, we were disappointed to come across some strange half-spider/human creatures that of course, used sticky webbing to their best. With some quick focus fire, we put these poor creatures out of their misery but find another prisoner already expired; Captain of the Guard Kartonex completely webbed and drained of life. Bertanian said he was talking about fighting his way out which obviously ended poorly, not to mention Rawr’s blunt comments concerning Kartonex’s attempt to save his son. We might need to get a muzzle for him…
We investigated a bit but found only empty rooms and a long staircase. We needed to clear the Urstot wing before heading to the other two so we head downstairs. Knowing that whatever was behind the two doors heard us, Rawr and I just bust the door open. Behind a wall of menial hobgoblins, a rather large and heavily armored Hobgoblin is holding Kartonex’s son. “Drop your weapons or I snap his neck.” Knowing there was no way to negotiate this but hoping to buy time to save the child, I responded with “If you need us to not use weapons in order to make the fight fair, sure.” Calling the bluff, “Do it.” My sword is not the only tool I can use to kill these maniacs. Gratefully, the others drop their weapons as well. Using the power Moradin grants him, Deornoth pulls the big boy closer to us. Unfortunately that only incites him to run back and smash the poor kids head in. At least now both father and son with be together in Selune’s open sky.
The heavy armored hobby, which turned out to be Sinruth (who was mentioned in the letter to Biarwin), put up quite a battle. He was also pretty deadly with that flail. I know after all the fighting to get to him, he hit me a few times and I blacked out only to be woken up by the inspiring words of Berran. After a surprising show of deft sword use and uncommon resiliency, Rawr puts an end to Sinruth, all of us still breathing. Even Bertanian felt the call to battle. This fortress has run us dry. We are all feeling the draw to rest. But where are the remaining hostages. Are they alive? Can we save any if we can’t keep ourselves alive? What evil are they raising with the relics they stole?
