Exploring new sections of Migdhal Yar, those of the party inside encountered the giant centipede that had been seen previously. The heroes were able to get a semblance of revenge for Dru in when they killed what was likely the “leader” of the centipede swarms that had killed and largely butchered their fallen companion. We pick up things this session after the conclusion of that battle.
Craig was missing this session and so Todd played Dench. This recap is from Thomas. My GM comments, as usual, are in [brackets and italics].
After having killed the giant centipede, Dench, Adran, Meri, and Rory continue their explorations of the first floor (or entrance floor). Mapping out a complete section, partitioned by several portcullises, the group found two small rooms with four portcullis wheels. Raising them one at a time, they are able to determine which wheel raises which portcullis within the city gatehouse. Unfortunately, they are only able to turn three of the four wheels, the last one being stuck in place. After seeking Berguk’s counsel, he informs Adran that they would be able to fix it but they would need pulleys and other supplies from above to be able to do anything.
Rory sneaks through the main lobby (the lobby where Dench had been attacked by a skull wreathed in green flame from behind some portcullises) back out front and informs Verrak and Skarr of their progress. They decide to go back to Cagair Keep with the remaining dworc and gather the supplies needed by Berguk. After a few hours, the adventurers searching for hidden doors while waiting, Verrak and Skarr return with half a dozen other dworcs and loads of supplies, including chains, pulleys, and some tripods. Verrak and Skarr decide to escort the dworcs back to Cagair Keep and stay the night up top, to return in the morning to further wait entrance into the gatehouse of Migdhal Yar.
[Total props to Thomas as Verrak has been stuck outside for yet another session. Come on guys…get that damn main gate opened! Or find another way to bypass it like…]
In the meantime, the remaining four adventurers and three dworcs continue working on opening the portcullises. Using the new supplies, Berguk and his crew are able to turn the last wheel, opening one more portcullis on the inside of the gatehouse. This left the group, once again, walled inside a section with no apparent route to take due to closed portcullises. Given this, Adran ordered Berguk and his crew to tunneling around a central portcullis that protects some double doors. This took most of the night and some of the morning to complete.
As this is happening, the party encounters the green flame skull (once again sitting in relative safety behind a portcullis). As it fires off its Magic Missiles, Meri demands to know who it is, “Who are you foul demon?!” It’s answer is merely another attack and a retreat from the party.
Above, in Cagair Keep, Skarr decided he wanted to see Ugak’s child (presumably fathered by Skarr himself), but inquiries to her whereabouts are rebuffed: “She’s away.” Perhaps Skarr is feeling a fatherly impulse arise?
[Didn’t Verrak also explain to Skarr at some point that he really has no paternal rights in regards to “his” child?]
Once Berguk and his crew were able to tunnel around one of the portcullises, Adran and his party continue exploring. Past the double doors, they find what appears to be a great hall and throne room, along with a kitchen and some storerooms. In one of the adjacent rooms, they find a staircase heading down with three small rooms, one of which contains two more portcullis wheels! They turn both and head back upstairs to see which portcullises they raised.
As they investigate, the find that all the portcullises that they know about are unchanged, despite having turned both of the wheels downstairs. Rory decides to sneak back out front to check on Verrak and Skarr (who had returned that morning) and the front portcullis. On her way out, she tripped and made a loud noise among the bones and armor scattered across the floor. Unfortunately, this portcullis also remains down.
[Yeah…you try walking through a field of skeleton warriors without making noise. It didn’t help that Rachel rolled a natural 1 on her check. 😉 ]
Hearing the noise, Dench, Meri, and Adran worried about her well-being, knowing that the green skull could attack her in that room and decided to sneak into the lobby to check on her. Sneaking along the top wall, they inch forward to investigate. At the moment they are able to see the far portcullis across the lobby, the green skull directs a fireball in their direction, exploding amidst all three, forcing them to retreat back out.
Rory comes back into the lobby and attempts to attack the green skull through the portcullis but it proves very difficult to hit it through the bars, forcing Rory to retreat back out. However, as she is making her way back through the lobby, she is taken down by the continued magical onslaught from the skull. After some work, Rory is brought back to consciousness and is able to escape back to a safe portion of the gatehouse.
It was at this moment that a wave of inspiration struck the party. Adran had been using his Enlarge/Reduce spell to reduce the size of the party. Why not try to reduce the portcullises?! The outside portcullis is much too large to try but the inside portcullises would potentially be susceptible.
[Aha! Why didn’t Adran think of this sooner?!?]
Rory, the fastest member of the party, distracted the green skull on one side of the gatehouse while the rest of the party snuck through a shrunken portcullis in the lobby. Sprinting back around, Rory is able to make it under the portcullis before the spell wears off, just in time to engage the green skull and his undead battalion on the other side. Having only seen the green-flamed skull, the other undead came as a bit of a surprise. Four skeletons (Dwarven, Elven, and Kua-Toan) fought alongside the green skull.
After putting down a few of the skeletons, another undead creature arrives to reinforce, however this former Elf is not quite a skeleton. He appears much quicker and drains energy from the party when he attacks. The party is finally able to dispatch them, while Verrak and Skarr sit in uselessness outside.
After the fight, Meri notices that the undead Elf’s blade seems familiar. Upon further inspection, she realizes he was carrying the [Morgil which translates as] “Black Star,” an elven relic commonly known as the “Questing Blade” used throughout history by many elven heroes. What a find!
[That’s almost where we ended the session. As the party caught their breath from the battle, a shuffling sound could be heard coming down a nearby hallway…or, I suppose, I should say numerous shuffling sounds!
I feel pretty bad that it has taken so long and the party still hasn’t found the way to open the main portcullis to get Verrak and Skarr inside. Todd has missed most of these sessions but Thomas hasn’t. He’s been a good sport about it but I’m hoping (and guessing) that the party will be reunified in this next session.
Oh, and yeah, another relic! An elven relic, a dwarven relic, and whatever that tattoo thing is on Rory might seem like a lot but if you think about it, no one has really been down here in a really long time. So there hasn’t been anyone to retrieve these little treasures until the PCs came along. I wonder what else they might find down here in Migdhal Yar.
Beer Log: Using our hit, miss, crit, and fumble rating scale, below is what we sampled this session. I was sad to hear that Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project was closing down so this session was devoted to their beers.
- East Kent Saison: A nice earthy and musty saison…a solid hit.
- Field Mouse’s Farewell: Another saison that was a solid hit but I liked the East Kent better.
- Saint Botolph’s Town: A solid hit of a brown ale…not my favorite style…but this was good.
- Babayaga: I’m not sure what a sylvan stout is but it was good. I bit smoky but in a very pleasant way. Another solid hit.
- Barbapapa: Another solid hit of a stout…a russian imperial stout this time.
