Session 07 Summary

[David Roomes]

Due to some unavoidable scheduling issues, Session 7 was a very short session. We'll call it a "half session".

The party currently consists of the following people:

The Player Characters  (aka the "Heroes")
Winlock – orc/dwarf barbarian, wearing heavy chainmail armor and wielding a big war hammer
William – the party's wizard, robed and armed with a broad array of spells
Belkor – the human swordsmen wielding twin scimitars
Listig – the elven thief/archer equipped with several different enchanted arrows


Session 7 began with the players back in the small frontier town of Riverfort. They had just concluded a war council with the Duke and his officers to discuss strategy. It was decided that the player characters would sail south with a regiment of soldiers and two ships. The plan was that they would take over one of the towers about half way down the swamp coast and then leave the regiment of soldiers there. The regiment would establish a stronghold on the south coast from which attacks could be launched into the swamp. Meanwhile, the player characters would continue with one ship further down the coast to attack the southern most of the towers. From there, they would go to the Goblin Kingdom to see if an alliance with the goblins was possible. 

The players spent that evening enjoying the town. The Greased Pig tavern threw a party for the heroes that had returned so many of their people. The wine flowed freely and the heroes drank and danced until late into the night.

The following day two ships were prepared for the journey south along with one hundred soldiers and provisions for an extended campaign.

Amidst hangovers and headaches, the heroes met with several people. The elf lord whom they had freed from the witch's charm spell returned and gifted Listig with a magnificent bow, quiver and set of arrows. (Non-magical, but of exquisite craftsmanship and quite valuable).

The wizard Dagginmor came to the party and presented William with a small carved stone talisman. He informed William that this talisman would prevent the witch's scrying magic. It would protect the younger wizard and all who are with him. Its protection spans outward from the talisman the distance of a bowshot. This would, he hoped, allow the heroes to complete their mission without the witch learning of it.

The following morning, the heroes and the soldiers boarded the two ships and they departed. The party took 100 soldiers, 20 craftsmen and 2 ships. The day passed uneventfully and the ship expected to reach the midpoint of the coast by midnight

That evening, the heroes were scattered about the ship. Most everyone was below deck playing cards or drinking. Few were on deck. Listig was at the bow of the ship when he was suddenly attacked by the enchanted whip he carried (the one taken from a dead orc, which had radiated great evil when examined by magic). Moving like a snake, the whip struck, lashing at him and quickly wrapped around his neck.

Winlock was nearby and witnessed the attack and Listig struggling to free himself from the cursed thing. Winlock rushed to help. The two men managed to wrestle the whip free from Listig' neck and hurl the thing overboard into the sea.

Later that night, the ship dropped anchor near the coast (at what they estimated was the closest point to the tower).

The next morning, the long boats (each ship had two long boats) were used to shuttle everyone to land – the one hundred soldiers, the twenty craftsmen and the heroes. William sent the reptilian bird out. Through the eye harness, he got a good aerial view of the swamp. After an hour of searching, they found the tower and were able to deduce the direction they needed to march. They travelled for a full tower which took them almost all the way to the tower. The eye harness allowed them to keep track of their position precisely. They made camp again.

On the morning of the second day, the heroes discussed strategy around the breakfast camp fire. They decided it wouldn't be good to simply march up to the tower with the entire regiment. One hundred and two five people move slowly and noisily. It would be better for the heroes to sneak in stealthily and take out the tower quick and quiet so as to not alert anyone. They assumed that this tower might have some magical means to communicate with the witch. They did not want to alert the witch to the presence of an army in this part of the swamp. If the tower managed to send a message to her, magical or otherwise, it would ruin the whole plan. Better to take this tower out quietly. So, stealth it was. The four heroes went in with seven NPCs. The elven archer, three fighters and three human archers.

The army was given orders to follow them one hour after.

A quick recon using William's raven showed a sentry on top of the tower, but no signal fire and no horn, like the last tower had. This was most likely because this tower was not five miles from a full war camp. No, this tower was a watch tower, near the coast, and completely alone. If they had some means to send an alarm up, it would be something else... a trained raven perhaps or even some magical device. It could be anything.

The NPC archers were arrayed around the tower to provide support fire. Listig used his new invisibility ring to sneak unseen up the outer stair case to the roof to take out a sentry there. Winlock and Belkor charged the front door with William and the three NPC fighters behind.

They managed to make it into the tower's main ground level room before anyone knew they were under attack. The tower was manned by orcs and saurians who were taken by surprise. But these were battled hardened veterans and recovered quickly. The battle filled the lower chamber of the tower.

There was another set of stairs inside leading up to a second level. Two orcs, arrayed in heavy armor, came charging down the stairs to join the fray. These two seemed to be in charge. The battle was quick and fierce. Very quickly, orcs and saurian warriors fell and the tide of battle turned. Seeing this, one of the orcs who had come down stairs, turned to flee back up to the second floor. Belkor managed to crack him on the skull with the flat of his blade, knocking him out.

The heroes suffered a few minor wounds, but nothing serious. However, they lost one of the NPC fighters. It was their only casualty. They defeated a total of eight orcs and saurians. They also managed to capture both of the orc "officers" who had come down from above.

While waiting for the army to arrive, the heroes searched the tower from top to bottom. William used a spell to search for enchanted objects. They found weapons, armor, food and supplies, but nothing else of interest. The only enchanted object that William found was a mirror hanging on the wall of a bed chamber on the second level (presumably the orc captain's room).

William used his magic to study the item and learn what its powers and functions were. After some time, he unraveled its secrets. The mirror was, as he had guessed, a communication device. The witch could also scry the mirror and the area around it. Furthermore, she could cast spells through it. This fact made William nervous. They left the mirror alone.

They woke up both orcs and interrogated them. One was the captain, the other his lieutenant. The party questioned them about the tower, the frequency of resupplying, communications with the witch, everything. They informed the players that they were an outpost, very much on the fringes of the swamp. They had not heard from Doth in some time. They were due to be contacted by the witch any day now and the next resupply run was still over a week away.

Not long later, the regiment of soldiers arrived and began setting up camp. They wasted no time and began working to rebuild the ruin and fortify it as best as they could. The craftsmen set to work and the soldiers began cutting down trees.

The heroes left the two orc hostages with the army. When the witch next contacted them, the orcs would tell her that all was well (or else be butchered). The soldiers were warned to stay away from the mirror otherwise.

The heroes knew that the witch would probably eventually learn what had happened at this tower. The point was to simply prevent her from learning as long as possible. The army needed time to rebuild and fortify. When she does find out, she may send forces to retake this tower, as she did the last one. However, this time, those who come will find a small army in a well-fortified and fully rebuilt tower. This tower will not be retaken easily.

Session 7 ended here, at the tower.

The heroes are planning on marching back to the coast and taking one of the two ships (and probably a few NPCs) further down the coast. The heroes plan on taking out another tower... the southernmost tower.