Everyone was present tonight and a fun frolic was expected. The party has set-up an ambush in the Chamber of Eyes for the GP toting Duergar but instead a band of Bloodreaver hoodlums has appeared. Some are at the door and one is getting ready to climb up to the balcony.
Acting quickly Bogar quaffed Miave's Potion of Mimicry so he could mimic a goblin. Once goblinized Bogar waddled up to the door and unlocked it and opened it a crack, demanding to know who was making such a racket. Two Goblin Warriors demanded to know if Krand was in and if he had received the gold yet. They continued to argue even after Bogar told them that Krand had the gold in his quarters, but two Hobgoblin Archers muscled their way past and started down the hallway.
As they approached the halfway point in the hall Akta, Krstic, Miave, and Eldred all pounced, pounding the two Archers repeatedly. The ambush now having been revealed, the two soldiers at the door went after Bogar, while the Hobgoblin Subcommander at the rear moved passed them and into the hallway.
A Human Mercenary gave the Halfling Thief a lift up to the balcony just as the uproar kicked off, and the Halfling was immediately greeted by a crouching Oester, hidden Jenneth, both doing big damage. The mercenary had run back to join the rest of the party in the guard room, leaving the bloodied Halfling no choice but to try and jump off the balcony as his only chance of escape - it didn't end well for him.
The initial two archers were quickly cut down, and the four ambushers moved up to support Bogar. From the rear the mercenary could see how the fight was likely to end so as soon as the subcommander went down he made a break for the exit. Oester and Jenneth had come down from the balcony and moved to head him off, but they were soon joined by the two Goblin Warriors who also had decided to run for it, with the rest of the party in tow.
Jenneth and Oester managed to hold up the Bloodreaver remnants long enough to let the party catch up, and even though some of them made it out the door, they didn't get far beyond that. The bodies were quickly drug back inside and everything made to look otherwise undisturbed. But what to do? Were the Duergar - and the gold - still coming? These Bloodreavers weren't talking. As the party looked around they saw:
1 Hobgoblin Subcommander, wearing scale armor, carrying a shield, and wielding a spear
Acting quickly Bogar quaffed Miave's Potion of Mimicry so he could mimic a goblin. Once goblinized Bogar waddled up to the door and unlocked it and opened it a crack, demanding to know who was making such a racket. Two Goblin Warriors demanded to know if Krand was in and if he had received the gold yet. They continued to argue even after Bogar told them that Krand had the gold in his quarters, but two Hobgoblin Archers muscled their way past and started down the hallway.
As they approached the halfway point in the hall Akta, Krstic, Miave, and Eldred all pounced, pounding the two Archers repeatedly. The ambush now having been revealed, the two soldiers at the door went after Bogar, while the Hobgoblin Subcommander at the rear moved passed them and into the hallway.
A Human Mercenary gave the Halfling Thief a lift up to the balcony just as the uproar kicked off, and the Halfling was immediately greeted by a crouching Oester, hidden Jenneth, both doing big damage. The mercenary had run back to join the rest of the party in the guard room, leaving the bloodied Halfling no choice but to try and jump off the balcony as his only chance of escape - it didn't end well for him.
The initial two archers were quickly cut down, and the four ambushers moved up to support Bogar. From the rear the mercenary could see how the fight was likely to end so as soon as the subcommander went down he made a break for the exit. Oester and Jenneth had come down from the balcony and moved to head him off, but they were soon joined by the two Goblin Warriors who also had decided to run for it, with the rest of the party in tow.
Jenneth and Oester managed to hold up the Bloodreaver remnants long enough to let the party catch up, and even though some of them made it out the door, they didn't get far beyond that. The bodies were quickly drug back inside and everything made to look otherwise undisturbed. But what to do? Were the Duergar - and the gold - still coming? These Bloodreavers weren't talking. As the party looked around they saw:
1 Hobgoblin Subcommander, wearing scale armor, carrying a shield, and wielding a spear
1 Human Mercenary, wearing chain mail, wielding a cross bow and a long sword, and carrying 20 bolts
1 Halfling Thief, wearing leather armor and carrying 4 daggers and a set of thieves tools
2 Hobgoblin Archers, wearing leather armor, wielding a long bow and a long sword, and carrying 30 arrows
2 Goblin Warriors, wearing leather armor, carrying five javelins, and wielding a spear
They carried no magic or gems, but a total of 35 GP was collected from the bodies. Each member of the party earned 150 XP for the encounter.
After some discussion the party decided to wait. A full day passed - the party got in their extended rest, and there was certainly plenty of food and fresh water with which to share. Unfortunately there were no Duergar's knocking on the front door still, so what to do? Were the Duergar's stiffing Krand? There were the Duergar's present here as collateral, so that didn't seem likely. Renny, the captured human bandit, answered every question he could, but in this case he had no answers. The decision was made - wait another day.
But still, no Duergar, and no gold. Perhaps they had sniffed out the ambush. Maybe they had spies. After some more debate the party reviewed what they knew. Murkelmor was part of the Grimmerzuhl family, and there was a Grimmerzuhl trading post back in the hall. Perhaps Rendil Halfmoon or some of the other contacts back in the hall could help. It was agreed - back to the Seven Pillared Hall.
As the party strapped on their gear in preparation for leaving Eldred made a plea - Renny wanted to join the party, and Eldred would assume responsibility for his behavior. Eldred explained that he was basically a good kid who had fallen in with the wrong crowd. The party agreed he could have his leather armor, mace, and four daggers back. Renny was overjoyed at the decision and promised to do his best, especially since he knew that others besides Eldred likely had it in for him.
The party knew it was but a few hours back to the hall, especially since they had already found the path here. The passageway still had other other smaller passages and crevices leading off from it or crossing through it, and the party occasionally heard strange noises, voices from nowhere, and odd echoing footsteps, just like they had encountered on their original trip to the Chamber of Eyes.
As the party passed through an intersection along the path a pair of snarling hyenas suddenly appeared in the hall in front of them. The two side hallways were also suddenly both filled with a pair and mangy and hungry looking hyenas also. Then from behind a larger looking hyena used his superior speed to run up on Jenneth and attacked, and the battle was underway.
The attack was obviously coordinated by the hyenas and they used their quickness and ferocity to deliver several painful bites to the party. With no avenue for escape and not much room for maneuvering the party fought back well and soon the hyenas were defeated. Even Renny got in a few (albeit insubstantial) licks with his mace, all the while having taken up a position that would protect Eldred. As the party looked around they saw:
6 Hyenas
1 Hyena leader
The hyenas carried no gear or GP obviously, and each member of the party earned 155 XP for the encounter.
After a short rest the party resumed their trek back to the hall, and arrived without further incident. Which is where we will resume in two weeks - the DM will be away on vacation next week.
Scoreboard: The party picked up 35 GP from the two encounters tonight, and red shirt named Renny from Stennett (Mark and I will work up a representative character sheet for him). The party earned 305 XP tonight, 5550 total, enough to promote everyone (except Renny) to 5th level (1950 more required to reach 6th level at 7500).
The party has picked up a Belt of Sacrifice (Eldred), a +2 Delver's Chainmail (unclaimed), a +1 Lifedrinker Scimitar (Akta), two Potions of Healing (Akta and Krstic), and 135 in GP and 2600 in gems over the past few weeks. The Gems and GP divide out to 391 GP per player.
DM Note: I hadn't originally planned on doing it this way, but circumstances being what they are, that's the way it worked out. I did push a little to get these two encounters completed this night so that the leveling up could be done while I was out on vacation. Everyone will get to add a daily power at 5th level, so please e-mail me your change(s) and I will update your character sheet before we convene again in two weeks.
However, the plan for next week is that Leo will run a one night Dungeon Delve for the newly updated fifth level characters. This will get everyone a chance to play their updated character, make a last minute tweak (or two) if desired, and we'll be ready to go the following Sunday. I am looking forward to hearing from our Gencon attendees as well.
DM Note: I hadn't originally planned on doing it this way, but circumstances being what they are, that's the way it worked out. I did push a little to get these two encounters completed this night so that the leveling up could be done while I was out on vacation. Everyone will get to add a daily power at 5th level, so please e-mail me your change(s) and I will update your character sheet before we convene again in two weeks.
However, the plan for next week is that Leo will run a one night Dungeon Delve for the newly updated fifth level characters. This will get everyone a chance to play their updated character, make a last minute tweak (or two) if desired, and we'll be ready to go the following Sunday. I am looking forward to hearing from our Gencon attendees as well.
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