Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Eleven

This is part eleven of a continuing series documenting the deeds (sometimes heroic) of the adventurers (sometimes worthy) that I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last session. See all previous entries here.

After a considerable hiatus our heroes were back to take on the 2nd level of the Keep. Having reached the hobgoblin guard room they failed to provide the correct passphrase and instantly betrayed that a) They had killed Ninarin, Kalarel's ally, and b) They were the enemy and should be summarily attacked. The attacking did ensue summarily!

No less than 8 hobgoblin grunts and soldiers descended upon Searos, Marroar, Giovana, Scrindrel and Malachi, while one sneaky hobgoblin went to the north to uncage a giant Deathjump Spider. Our adventurers made light work of the hobgoblins, with a combination of sneak attacks, divine lights, warhammers, arrows and thunderous waves. Even the physics-defying spider eventually lost a leg and succumbed to a holy incineration.

Journeying further eastward into the Keep, and then south, Searos triggered a trick flagstone and a portcullis slammed down in front of the party blocking their way. They instead decided to try their luck to the north, where they encountered further hobgoblin resistance in the form of more grunts and soldiers, who this time had an archer and a warcaster amongst them. For a change of pace, Searos decided to hang his warhammer up and unsheath the mighty sword that Sir Keegan had given to him. Upon wiedling it, he felt a strange sensation move through his hands and around the rest of his body. He immediately put the blade to good use slaying hobgoblins.

At first it seemed like a normal encounter, until the warcaster sent forth a magical blast that knocked everyone on their backs and caused them severe damage. Another evil burst came from the warcaster, and Giovana was knocked out and dying. Searos, the only other healer in the group, neglected to tend to her however, and was more distracted with defeating a hobgoblin soldier he had taken a personal dislike to. The fight descended into a punching, spitting, pommelling brawl, with Searos only able to see red as he grew more aggressive and irrational.

Finally, with Giovana close to death, and Marroar and Malachi having taken heavy damage, the warcaster and the remaining hobgoblin soldier were slain. The decision was made to return to Winterhaven again for more supplies and to recuperate.

With more delays in defeating Kalarel, will his evil powers grow ever stronger? What is happening to Searos? Will Scrindrel grab any bargains in Winterhaven? Stay tuned to find out!

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Ten

This is part ten of a continuing series documenting the deeds (sometimes heroic) of the adventurers (sometimes worthy) that I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last session. See all previous entries here.

At the end of the last (basically undocumented) session, our heroes had returned to Winterhaven to find the local graveyard had turned into some sort of recruiting ground for a Zombie army, led my Ninnarin, a mysterious elf who had appeared in the town at the start of the campaign, and was now revealed to be an agent of Kalarel. Long story short - 1 dead elf and a bunch of dead zombies.

The party finally had a chance to rest and recuperate, to explore the town some more and stock up on supplies. Much bartering was done, with Marroar upgrading to a +2 staff of Dubious Suggestibility and Scrindrel failing to bargain his way to a +2 longbow. Searos prayed to Avandra, and Malachi became very interested in exactly how many guardsmen there were protecting the town.

A small fight broke out in Bearwin's shop, forcing him to close early, but oddly Malachi seemed to emerge from the shop's front door some time after it had been locked, looking significantly better off in terms of potions and alchemist's fire. The team set off again, to continue their exploration of the Keep.

Returning to the maze of caves that had previously outwitted them, the party felt fully revitalised and able to dispatch the Kruthiks with ease. Later however, in the chamber of the mysterious pool, the party could still not be drawn to battle the magical ooze, despite the obvious treasure residing in the central island. An ill-thought out mage hand was summoned by Marroar to try to carry some gold back across the acidic water, but it clumsily dropped most of the coins, which instantly dissolved.

Finally, the stairs to the second level were reached. Below, in a large lit chamber, a hobgoblin issued a challenge phrase: "Shadow seeks shadow!" Recalling a note that had been found on Ninnarin and addressed to Kalarel, the party replied: "From the ground, some magic was found!"

However, this phrase had been placed with Ninnarin as a trap, and the hobgoblins knew straight away that their comrade was dead, and these folk were the culprits!

DM Notes: 1. Malachi is the only member of the party who is not Good or Lawful Good, which makes his character lots of fun to DM. I can't give away too much (because my other players are supposed to read this!) but some other gameplay occurred that only Malachi's player is aware of, and to achieve this we used Roll20's whisper functionality. Give it a try. 2. The pool of magical acid is completely different to the one in the published Keep on the Shadowfell adventure, which is a sort of large blob that occupies a 2x2 square and moves around a pool of actual water. A few weeks ago when the players first reached this area, I was underprepared and over-tired (which is pretty much every game) and went with my first recollection of what the pool was supposed to be. It's made it a much harder enemy, that they are yet to defeat, but it's also generated some funny roleplaying moments, and that's more important than accurate combat situations. How many of your players have a prosthetic wooden toe? 3. This session was sponsored (or at least, lubricated) by Potholder, a lovely Cheddar Golden Ale.

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Nine (sort of)

This is part nine of a continuing series documenting the deeds (sometimes heroic) of the adventurers (sometimes worthy) that I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last session. After a 3 week hiatus I have failed spectacularly to document the session, and instead I present here the only surviving record of the evening: the Notes of Searos.

(Note: Tim tired + little drunk)

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Eight

This is part eight of a continuing series documenting the deeds (sometimes heroic) of the adventurers (sometimes worthy) that I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last session. I knew last time was too good to be true (when I wrote it up within 24 hours). It's been nearly 2 weeks now so parts of this are likely to be mixtures of what I can remember, what I wrote down, and what I've watched on YouTube recently. See all previous entries here.

When we last left our heroes they had just been awarded an enchanted sword by the dead yet curiously talkative Sir Keegan. Concluding their conversation, they were distracted by a sound and realised that their occasional ally Splug had followed them!

Malachi, who was particularly interested in reuniting Splug with some of his finer locksmith's tools, led the party as they gave chase to Splug, who seemed to be leading them back towards the excavation site.  When they arrived, they discovered that Splug had disappeared through a previously unknown door to the south. Proceeding through they found a maze of caves, dotted with massive stalagmites and stalactites*. As they attempted to negotiate their way through they were repeatedly beset upon by giant rats.

Finally reaching the end chamber, they were attached by a massive Ochre Jelly, which at one point split into 2 medium size Ochre Jellies, and took repeated poundings before it eventually exploded in a sticky mess. Um... yeah. Okay. Moving on.

Hiding in the corner of the chamber, Splug was detected. and ruthlessly interrogated. Could he offer any more useful information to the group to prove his loyalty? Only that there was a pool of magical healing water to the west. Again he tried to run. "Stop him!" the group cried, and as Splug ran past Scrindrel, the good Elf let loose an arrow, hoping it might skim Splug's calf and slow him down. Unfortunately, Scrindrel was such a good shot that it entered the back of Splug's head and came out through his eye socket.

Splug immediately crumpled to the ground, letting out blood-curdling cries. "Nobody panic!" shouted Malachi, "I'm a locksmith!", and he ran over to provide assistance. Malachi, confused about what constituted sensible medical procedure at the time, wiggled the arrow but to no avail. Splug let out horrific cries of agony, and blacked out. Unable to see over Malachi's back in the cramped conditions, the rest of the group did their best to help by casting magical healing spells towards Splug, and he was revived once more. Malachi seized the opportunity to wiggle the arrow some more, in a clockwise motion, and Splug let out yet more screams that would haunt the nightmares of someone who watched a lot of horror movies and was really quite de-sensitized to that sort of thing.

"It's no good," Malachi sighed, "I can't save him." Having previously picked up Splug's body in a last attempt at medical intervention, he dropped it unceremoniously on the floor, skull first.

Artist's Impression

"I just meant to stop him - I, I..." Scrindrel tailed off, aghast at his terrible actions. "What have I done?" He was immediately sick all up one of the walls.

Recovering from their loss, the group re-grouped (groups tend to do that) and went to investigate the rest of the cavern. Scrindrel took some encouragement to move as he was still horrified by his actions. He continued to protest that the party should abandon their quest, now that he was beginning to question everything they had done.

Towards the west they found a tunnel covered by large bronze doors, into which had been scratched the words: "Stay Out. Really." Venturing in, they beheld a shimmering blue pool, in the centre of which was a small island and an assortment of interesting objects. Assuming this was the healing pool that Splug had described, Marroar dipped his toe into the water. Unfortunately his toe did not return with the rest of his foot, as it was immediately disintegrated by the magical acid of the evil pool.

"Ow my fucking foot!" he exclaimed, hopping away, and a smile spread across Scrindrel's face - Splug truly had been a bastard, so it was okay that he shot him through the face.

Following the subsequent discovery of a lair of Kruthiks, the group decided that maybe they had had enough adventuring for the time being, and decided to limp back to Winterhaven to rest and restock their provisions. However, returning to the town, they found that dead had risen in the local graveyard and some zombie dispatching was therefore required. Can't they catch a break?

* During the writing of this update, I originally mistyped "stalactites" as "stalactittties". However, several Google image searches have been unsuccessful in shedding any light on what these may look like.

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Seven

This is part seven of a continuing series documenting the deeds (sometimes heroic) of the adventurers (sometimes worthy) that I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last session, and holy shit here I am writing it up less than 24 hours after the session, as opposed to 8 or 9 days! See all previous entries here.

Searos, Marroar, Scrindrel, Giovana and Malachi were deep inside the first level of Shadowfell Keep. When we last left them, they had defeated numerous zombies in some sort of Hall of Runes. They had a final room full of them to get through before they would be able to approach a mysterious hazy light in a passageway to the east. The zombies at first seemed troublesome, grabbing Marroar and immobilising him, but he quickly freed himself and with a thunderous magical wave the weaker zombies crumbled to dust. Malachi, the rogue locksmith, was able to deliver some sneaky backstabbing action, and the room was soon cleared.

Two racks of decrepit armour hung on the north and south walls, and when approached, a magical thundering voice boomed forth with a riddle, which cannot be repeated here due to copyright issues. The group's first answer to the riddle was incorrect, and the magical voice expressed its disappointment, again with a phrase owned by Wizards of the Coast. On their second attempt, the group guessed the correct word and were rewarded with magical iron scale armour and a mysterious black cube.

The cube (which I can tell you about, because it's an addition to this published adventure) had 4 red recessed tiles around its middle, and on the top on the bottom displayed the abyssal runes for Time and Death. Marroar depressed two of the sides, one after the other and found that around him, time had stopped! Sadly the sides remained in place; the object had a finite number of uses.

Searos donned his newly acquired magical armour, and handed down his chain-mail to Giovana. Bravely, our adventurers then entered the next chamber, a long crypt intersected with a wider chamber at the end, making the shape of a crucifix. Its walls were lined with upright sarcophagi. A shimmering light beckoned the party forwards but as they reached the centre of the room, skeletal warriors were dispensed from each sarcophagus. A fierce battle ensued (they usually do) before Scrindrel found two alters at the north and south end of the larger chamber, under a giant domed ceiling which bore the likeness of Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon God. Scrindrel guessed correctly that a prayer must be offered to end the onslaught, but was unable to read the draconic inscription on the altars* and had to wait for Malachi to fight his way through the continually spawning skeletons before he could finally read the prayer aloud. Having done so, all of the skeletons returned to their tombs and a giant door to Sir Keegan's reseting place was unlocked.

Entering the small chamber where the knight's coffin lay, Searos attempted to disturb its lid, and it blew open, the terrifying remains of Sir Keegan himself leaping out and drawing his sword. He proceeded to question the adventurers as to their true intentions, as he suspected that they were here to profit from the evil of the rift. Finally they convinced him they were here to seal it once and for all, and he offered them his enchanted sword to help them achieve the great task.

Suddenly, their discussion was interrupted by the reappearance of Splug, the goblin who had double crossed them! Cliffhanger!

* DM Notes: In the published adventure, any sort of prayer or offering to Bahamut would have been enough to make the skeletons retire and end the encounter, but at the time this felt like it would have ended the combat too soon and not been enough of a challenge, so I decided that someone who spoke Draconic had to read out the inscription of the altar first. I quite like adapting the material to the players and their actions as I go, and improvising new stuff to help the story progress. While I'm on the subject, the cube is not in the original adventure either, but I'm conscious that Shadowfell can be a bit turn/combat heavy so I like to introduce more roleplaying elements here and there. I'm sure you guessed that Marvin Padraig was invented on the fly to move things in the right direction as well!

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Six

This is part six of a continuing series documenting the deeds (sometimes heroic) of the adventurers (sometimes worthy) that I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last session, although usually I've forgotten most of it by the time I come to write it up. See all previous entries here.

Disclaimer: Details are getting really sketchy. I really, really, really have to do this closer to the actual date of play next time. Also, this was a combat-heavy session, which was due in part to me forgetting to include a puzzle room at one stage. I'll work it into the next session. I'm very tired.

Having previously discovered a secret passageway, our noble adventurers followed it to discover the sleeping quarters of the goblin leader. And there he was, in all his obesity, fast asleep in his bunk. As our party are fair and honourable, but ultimately self-serving folk, a sword was stuck into Balgron (for it was he) as quickly as possible. Unfortunately this was not enough to finish him off, and he leapt from his bed and gathered a small handheld crossbow. A short, tense, cramped and comical battle ensued, at the end of which Balgron lay dead with various bolts and arrows protruding from his head and neck. Keys were found about his person and thus his treasure was verily robbed.

Having entered the stronghold through the secret passageway, our adventurers then exited via the main entrance, encountering armed goblin warriors along the way. It's the usual routine - swords, warhammers, arrows, spells and powers = dead goblins. You know the drill.

Having now started three paragraphs with the word "having" (including this one), Searos, Marroar, Scrindrel, Giovana and Malachi discovered that the keys they had acquired from the big fat dead goblin would allow them to unlock one of the doors in the original main chamber, and permit them further travel into the keep.

They entered a pitch-black chamber. Lighting their torches, they were presented with a maze of corridors. Terrible groans could be heard in the distance. Strange runes were found on the floor which had to be crossed in order to proceed further; in turn, each member of the party attempted to jump them. Those who failed and landed on the runes were suddenly filled with an overwhelming terror and attempted to flee the area, before finally coming to their senses a few moments later.

Suddenly, zombies attacked! It's not all goblins you know! Thankfully they were no match for the thunderous waves of a certain wizard. The zombies attempted to grab and hold on to our adventurers, but why? To save them for a snack for later? Or to attempt to rekindle some kind of human compassion through a simple act of affection? In any case, they were all eventually beheaded.

Our adventurers now approach Sir Keegan's final resting place, but not before they have to do that thing that I forgot about last time!

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Five

This is part five of a continuing series documenting the deeds (sometimes heroic) of the adventurers (sometimes worthy) that I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last session, although usually I've forgotten most of it by the time I come to write it up. See all previous entries here.

Having defeated the first batch of goblins in their guard room at the entrance to the Keep, our party were left with various exits to consider. Passageways and locked doors led to the west and south respectively, and as they were examining their surroundings, Scrindrel the Ranger heard faint screams from the north-west.

Following their previous misfortune with traps, the adventurers approached cautiously and, after passing a storeroom, found a what appeared to be a torture chamber, complete with assorted blood stains, iron maiden*, rack, tables of various implements of torture, and a terrifying hobgoblin eager to use them. Flanked by further goblin warriors, the hobgoblin attempted to bullrush Searos into the iron maiden but was unsuccessful. One of the goblin warriors tried to lure Marroar into a cage in the corner, but just made a fool of himself over a prolonged period of time. Malachi made some critical back stab sneak attacks, Scrindrel showered the enemies with arrows, and Giovana was at hand with divine healing and/or killing rays (depending on your allegiance to Giovana). Again, I'm paraphrasing. I should really write these the next day or something.

Shortly before the end of the battle, Scrindrel and Malachi found a naked beaten goblin in a cell by the name of Splug, who promised to help the adventurers in return for his freedom. Scrindrel was prepared to make such a deal, and Malachi offered Splug interesting new bone configurations to consider should he try to double-cross them. In the meantime however, their alliance was cemented through the process of Malachi using Splug as a human goblin shield.

Once the goblins were defeated along with their hobgoblin leader, Splug dressed himself in the armour of his former torturers, and relayed all the useful information he could about the surrounding environs. He was familiar with various rooms used by the goblins, including an excavation to the east. He also knew that their leader was Balgron the Fat, and that there was a secret passage that led directly to his quarters. He was unable to provide any further useful information, despite encouraging threats of bodily violence from Malachi.

The party decided to investigate the excavation to the east next, and in the approaching corridor found a secret passageway that they assumed led to Balgron's quarters. However, they failed in stealth and, alerted to their presence, the goblins in the excavation attacked, flanked by two guard drakes.

Another fierce battle commenced. The excavation site made it very difficult - the large chamber contained patches of the original floor dotted around like islands between massive trenches where the goblins had dugs to depths of up to 10ft in search of something. Rickety planks connected these ladders, and it was Searos who found out the hard way that these planks simply weren't designed for dwarves who wore heavy armour and had a penchant for carbohydrates.

Finally the battle was won, and the party could regroup before taking Balgron's quarters. Stay tuned! Next time: An increase in story accuracy guaranteed!

* As it was pointed out to me during the game, Iron Maiden's were never actually a real-life middle-ages torture device. Did you know that Dragons aren't real either?

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Four

This is part four of a continuing series documenting the heroic deeds of the worthy adventurers I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last game. Read parts: one, two and three.

Kobolds, kobolds and more kobolds. That's all our adventurers had seen for days it seemed. But finally they were all slain, and it was time to return to Winterhaven to claim their reward. At Wrafton's Inn they were proclaimed the heroes of Winterhaven, and Lord Padraig handed over their promised reward of 250 gold pieces.

While enjoying a hearty breakfast, Marroar, Searos, Scrindrel and Giovana were approached by an entrepreneurial tiefling named Malachi, who, on seeing their reward of gold, fancied that the party had good luck with their adventures and wished to join them. They agreed.

The townspeople were acting strangely. Though they were certainly grateful for the absence of Kobolds, they could tell there was some new evil afoot, something even more sinister than before. The party sought Valthrun the Prescient and told him of their recent encounters. As the town's scholar, he immediately linked the strange activity to the legends of the nearby ruined Keep, suspecting the Kobolds were part of a plot to reopen the rift. The stories told that the rift led to no less than the unholy sanctuary of Orcus, the demon lord of the undead, and that if it were opened, terrible monsters would be unleashed on the world and would devour Winterhaven, just for starters.

Valthrun also told the party of Sir Keegan, last commander of the keep garrison, who eighty years ago appeared to go mad and murder everyone under his command, and then his own wife and children. His ghost is rumoured to still haunt the keep. Valthrun urged our adventurers to seal the rift, before Orcus' minions of the undead were released again.

Sounds like fun, everyone thought.

And so, they made preparations for the daunting task ahead. After some careful bartering at Bairwin's Grand Shoppe, Marroar was able to trade an antique mirror for a +1 magical staff. Healing potions and alchemist's fire were purchased. In addition, much upgrading of armour occurred. Searos did lots of interesting and important stuff that I seem to have largely forgotten, due to a particularly nasty cold I had on the weekend. Sorry.

Finally, the party set out for the keep.

Approaching the ruins, the forest turned quiet and everyone was filled with an eerie sense of dread. Although the above ground structure had been felled by years of decay, it was clear that there had been a recent disturbance of the rocks, and a path had been cleared to some steps that led downwards.

Entering what appeared to be an underground guard room, a single Goblin Warrior waited at the end of a corridor, eyeing the adventurers cautiously. Malachi, the brave new tiefling, ran forwards to attack, and immediately fell into a cleverly disguised pit trap. Luckily he was able to climb out shortly after, and escape a swarm of poisonous rats. Disturbed by the noise, several more Goblin guards appeared, and a fierce battle ensued.

Again, much of the details have been lost to massive doses of Lemsip I'm afraid. I'll do better next time.

Needless to say, our party was victorious, and now faces a labyrinth of terrifying tunnels and malicious monsters, tempting treasures and terrible traps. Stay tuned!

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Three

This is part three of a continuing series documenting the heroic deeds of the worthy adventurers I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last game. Read parts: one, two.

So it was that our brave group of adventurers, Searos, Marroar, Scrindrel and Giovana, were unable to shake Marvin, son of Lord Padraig, and his irritable tendency to remind them about the whole Kobold thing every 5 minutes. Marvin led them finally to the site of the Kobold hide-out, carved into the rock beneath a waterfall.

Led by Scrindrel the Ranger, the group crept stealthily towards the Kobolds using the trees as cover, completely undetected until Searos, the fat-footed, stood on a massive branch and snapped it in twain. The Kobolds attacked! The battle can only be described as lengthy and complicated, so numerous were the Kobolds, but there was much clashing of swords, loosing of arrows and casting of spells. Before the final Kobold was slain he was able to flee into the caves to warn his comrades that they were under attack.

Thus, when our brave adventurers entered the caves they were immediately presented with interesting new opportunities for death. Larger and more heavily-armed Kobolds awaited, and the battle continued. At several moments our party thought they had met their match, and had to retreat to heal themselves. Giovana the cleric was kept very busy tending to the injuries of those who kept rolling shitty dice.

Upon seeing the leader of the Kobolds, Irontooh, a giant snarling wretch dressed in skulls and mis-matched fabrics, Marvin leapt into a terrible rage! For Irontooth had once brutally murdered Marvin's cat, for no apparent reason! Marvin, unable to realise when he was overpowered, or to take a hint, kept attacking Irontooth, despite being almost killed several times by his dual battleaxe-wielding prowess.

At long last, exhausted and bloodied, Marroar, Scrindrel and the rest of of them (you should know their names by now) defeated Irontooh, and claimed his reasonable hold of treasure, which included some fetching new +1 dwarven chainmail for Searos.

Now our party must return to Winterhaven to rest, to heal their wounds, and to get rid of Marvin, who frankly, is just a fucking liability.

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part Two

This is part two of a continuing series documenting the heroic deeds of the worthy adventurers I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last game. Read part one here.

On the King's Road outside Winterhaven our brave adventurers Searos, Marroar and Scrindrel were recovering after a near-death encounter with some bloodthirsty kobolds. Lacking a healer in the group, the fight had been hard-going. But as luck would have it, a cleric from Winterhaven had heard of their brave plans and decided to join them. Giovana Bruno was her name, and healing spells were her game.

As the newly rejuvinated party were about to set off in search of the dragon's burial site, more good fortune befell them as another brave adventurer joined them. Marvin, son of Lord Padraig, had come at his father's behest to aid the party in defeating the kobolds, who had been a blight on the town of Winterhaven for far too long.

The party alighted on the dragon's burial site, a huge excavation punching a hole in the wilderness. The dig was being manned by several simple looking humanoids, under the direction of a shady looking gnome, and guarded by 2 fearsome drakes.

At first Agrid the gnome tried to convince Marroar and co. that there was nothing of interest in the dig and that they should move along. But as soon as he realised that the adventurers weren't going to give up so easily, he beckoned them closer, luring them into the path of the guard drakes. At an opportunistic moment, he commanded them to attack. The humanoids also turned their tools into weapons and descended.

A fierce battle broke out. As the guard drakes bit viciously at Giovana and Marvin, a strange spectral apparition appeared on the opposite site of the excavation. It appeared to be none other than Kalarel himself! He immediately cast dark magic, and an evil cloud of smoke flew around Marroar, forming terrible claws and paralysing him in mid-air.

Scrindrel took up a sniping position and began to loose arrows at the evil priest. Marroar was able to free himself from the evil smoky claws but they then reformed around Scrindrel. Giovana summoned her deity's light to smite the humanoids, as Marvin continued to tackle the drakes, and Searos headed for Agrid to take him out.

As each humanoid was slain, terrible words of magic were heard from Kalarel and they were reanimated as undead soldiers. Marroar cast a terrible thunder wave which destroyed most of the humanoids and bloodied the drakes, and finally Scrindrel freed himself of the terrible smoke and continued his assault on Kalarel.

Eventually the undead humanoids and the drakes were slain. Searos and Agrid were locked in a terrible dance of gnome-on-dwarf violence. Hammer strikes and pick-axe blows were traded back and forth by the vertically-challenged foes. In a dying breath, Agrid screamed "Kalarel! I have failed you!" and collapsed in a moderate-sized heap. Finally the group could turn their attention to destroying Kalarel, but as he was defeated they realised that he was just a spectral apparition, and not the real Kalarel.

Searching the dig site, bound and gagged and hidden under some blankets, Marroar discovered Douven, the explorer who had been missing from Thornvale for many weeks. Delighted to be freed, he made a gift of a +1 Amulet of Health to the group, and went on his way.

The party was overjoyed by their triumph (and edging ever closer to levelling up). But Marvin reminded them of his father's quest, and after making camp and enjoying a good rest, they set out to destroy the kobolds once and for all.

Keep on the Shadowfell: Part One

This is part one of a continuing series documenting the heroic deeds of the worthy adventurers I DM for once a fortnight. It's primarily here so I can remember what the hell was going on in the last game.

Searos Swordsteel, the brave dwarven Paladin, joined forces with Marroar Kittenstouch, a newly qualified eladrin Wizard, in the small town of Thornvale, to create an adventuring party called "Action Against Evil". Almost immediately their talents were called upon by the wife of local eccentric explorer Douven Staul. Douven had travelled three months ago for the distant town of Winterhaven to explore the ruins of a dragon's tomb, in search of treasure. Douven was a cautious explorer who should have returned weeks ago. His wife begged Searos and Marroar to locate her missing husband, and in keeping with their alignment, they agreed.

As they packed up to leave Thornvale, they were visited by Marla, priestess of the Great Church of Pelor, who warned the adventurers about death cultists that have been travelling to Winterhaven. Marla told them of a dangerous priest named Kalarel who was rumoured to be assembling a cult for some nefarious purpose, and she offers 250 gold pieces in return for proof that the cult has been destroyed.

Several days travel pass without incident, but not far from Winterhaven, the party is set upon by a small band of Kobolds. Springing from behind boulders, they launch a surprise attack with their spears and swords. Marroar unleashes terrible magical thunderwaves, but Searos struggles to maintain the grip on his second hand battleaxe. The fierce battle reaches a crescendo of dazzling magic and clashing steel, when suddenly Scrindrel Munificent, the elven Ranger, appears on the scene and after loosing a single arrow, sits down to make a small fire. Marroar's magic defeats the last of the kobolds, and welcoming Scrindrel to their team, the adventurer's finally reach the village of Winterhaven.

They spend the night at Wrafton's Inn and learn more information about the location of the dragon's tomb, as well as disturbing information regarding some sort of ruined keep to the north. Lord Padraig, the authority of Winterhaven, offers the adventurers a reward of 100 gold pieces to vanquish the Kobolds once and for all. The next morning they upgrade their armour and weapons at the local market before heading out of town to the south, to investigate the dragon's burial site further.

However, as soon as the team leave Winterhaven, they are ambushed by Kobolds, one of whom carries a sling with magical ammunition. Marroar is set on fire, and Scrindrel is immobilised by a strange white gooey substance. The battle is fierce, despite the intervention of Avandra, Searos' deity, who helps to incinerate a Kobold with divine light. It looks like all may be lost, as Marroar is knocked unconscious and must receive a laying on of hands from Searos. Finally, thanks to some powerful magic and some well-placed arrows, the Kobolds lie slain.

Will the adventurer's finally reach the dragon's tomb without incident? Stay tuned!