Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 19 - The Aftermath

With Kalarel defeated and the Rift closed, we set out to have a better look at the room, searching for treasure, amidst some mumbling that we had been robbed of looting his body. Furthermore, Orcus being the Prince of Undead, there was the definite possibility of Kalarel returning to haunt us in some undead form later on. Nonetheless, after some searching, we find a nice sack of gold hidden behind the altar.

We leave the Keep for the last time and head to Winterhaven to give the good news to the townspeople. As soon as we arrive we go to Lord Ernest's manor, who is overjoyed at the news of our victory and immediately orders a feast in our honor. When asked about reward though, his joy turns to embarassment as he tells us that the towns finances are at it's lowest and he can't afford to reward us properly. Instead, he asks if anyone of us is interested in remaining in town as commander of the guard, being responsible for hiring and training a military force do defend Winterhaven. Lord Ernest's objective, now that peace had returned to the area, wants to turn Winterhaven into an important trading outpost, and the one that remained would receive a share of the profits. We promised we would think about it, though the only one with a remote interest in that was Ceteribus.

After the feast and a good night of sleep, we decided to head to Scart to visit Doven and receive the rewards for completing the quests given to us by Barley and Marla at the beginning of the adventure. When we arrive, we are surprised to find the former Winterhaven militia members Bob and Noddy in town. Apparently there were many other Winterhaven refugees staying there. When we tell them the good news they go around telling everyone of our deeds. Soon the whole town knew what we had done.. We find Barley the scholar and tell him everything we had found out about the Keep and he rewards us with a nice pouch of gold. Then we seek out Marla and tell her we had destroyed the evil cult of Orcus. We had brought along the head of the evil priest we had fought before Kalarel and several flags and tokens of their worship. Convinced, she awards us the agreed sum of 250 gold.

We find Doven at his house and tell him of our exploits. We then take the chance to ask him about the group known as the Bloodreavers, remembering the letter adressed to Kalarel that we had found in the Keep's caves. Being a seasoned adventurer he might know something about them, which he did. He said he had heard about them in his travels. They were a band of slavers composed mostly of Hobgoblins and Humans, who were preying the villages around Scart and the town of Fallcrest to the south. He didn't know anymore but advised us to contact the mayor of Scart, who might know more about them. We bid farewell to Doven and his family and went to see the mayor.

By now he had already heard of our victory over the cult of Orcus and was pleased to see us. Surprisingly, this little village had better finances than Winterhaven, since he decided to gift us all with Warhorses and some trinkets. When asked about the Bloodreavers, his happy demeanor changed into a grimace. He told us that they had been a nuisance to the villages in the region for some time now, but that there had been no success in stopping their actions so far and so they had been free to pillage and kidnap villagers to sell as slaves. He then ask us if we were interested in undertaking a quest to wipe out the Bloodreavers and rescue the kidnapped villagers. We immediately accepted and the mayor gave us a map of the region, where he had marked the location of the Bloodreavers probable base of operations, Thunderspire Mountain. According to him, underneath the mountain, there was a great network of caves where all sorts of underground creatures lived, including a dangerous clan of Duergars. It was rumored that the caves served as trading post where all sorts of shady deals took place. According to his spies, that was where they were hiding themselves.

After a short rest, we headed back to Winterhaven. We had promised Lord Ernest we would scout out the surrounding areas after we finished our business in Scart and Ceteribus had decided to accept the position of commander of the guard and retire from adventuring. When we arrived, the town already seemes livelier than before. The word of the cult's defeat had spread like wildfire and new people were arriving to town everyday.

Amongst them was a merchant named Barwyn who had set up shop in one of the abandoned houses. While we were browsing his wares and carelessly talking about Bloodreavers and the Thunderspire Mountain, he was listening in on our conversation. As soon as he noticed we were the only clients in the shop, he rushed to close the door and asked for a private word. Having heard we were soon to leave towards Thunderspire Mountain, he asked if we would be interested in assisting him with a business endeavour he had going on. He needed someone to take a package to a merchant named Gendar inside the Mountain, receive the payment, and return it to him. This Gendar had a shop in a place known as the Seven Pillar Hall, an outpost in the caves beneath Thunderspire. With the promise of reward, we accepted and he handed us a package with an ornate dagger. We were to trade it to Gendar for a set of drow fortune stones and he advised us to speak to noone about this deal. It was obviously something shady, but we had no problem with that, as long as the pay was good.

We spent the next few days scouting the surrounding lands around Winterhaven for any dangers that still remained, but found nothing threatening. Finally, the day had come for us to leave so we bid the Lord and Ceteribus farewell and departed for the Thunderspire Mountain.

Author's note: From the next installment and forward, i will be retelling the Adventure Logs of Wizards of the Coast Thunderspire Labyrinth adventure, thus resetting the count. Our gaming group is intent in following the first adventures released for 4th Edition as a linked campaign, so you can expect logs for each of them, as we go along.

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 18 - The Shadow Rift

With the denizens of the unholy cathedral defeated the only path left for us was to descend into the depths of the dark pit, where we suspected Kalarel was performing the necessary rituals to once again open the Rift into the Shadowfell. However, despite the feeling that urgency was necessary, we couldn't help but hesitate at the thought of climbing down into the deeps. For one thing, all the blood that was coming from the altar where the dark priest was standing before was running into the pit, and as far as we could tell from what little we could see from the bottom, it formed a pool right beneath it. On the other hand, the full length of the pit was about 50ft down, a nasty fall if we slipped...

All hesitations were soon forgotten however, because we really didn't have any other choice... Since there were only four chains, the rest of the party went ahead, while i started my descent after them. Well, that didn't go quite as well as we could expect. When most of the party was almost to the bottom of the pit, which they could now see opened into a larger chamber, and after managing not to make any advancement in my climb down, i slip and failing to grab myself to the chains or one of my companions, i fall to the bottom face-down into the pool of blood... Not quite the entrance i would have hoped for...

Surviving the fall with just a few injuries, since the pool of blood reduced my impact on the ground, i collected my thoughts and took a chance to look around. I emerged from the pit into a very large room, as large as the room above it. Still lying in the ground, i look ahead facing west into a massive altar of bone, surrounded by large pillars. A set of steps led to the altar and at the bottom of the steps, standing guard, were two Skeleton Warriors, clad in armor and wielding sword and shield. Before the altar, a human figure, clad in heavy armor and wielding a skull-capped rod, was chanting some sort of prayer or incantation, keeping his eyes closed and his arms outstretched. To my left there was a massive black portal, constantly in motion as if something was trying to break through. In front of the portal a magical circle had been drawn on the floor in blazing red runes. To the opposite side stood a massive statue of the Demon Prince Orcus, wielding a skull-capped wand and pointing straight into the portal.

My clumsy entrance had the merit of breaking the human's concentration, who at this point could only be our quarry, the evil priest Kalarel himself. His chanting ceased and turned to face me with murderous eyes. Battle was inevitable and thanks to my clumsiness, the advantage was theirs... My party was not to far from reaching the ground however, and within a few moments, all except Sora, who had a little more difficulty descending the pit, were now standing in the pool of blood ready to face our foes. At this point, we notice that to our backs, opposite the altar, stood a Deathlock Wight, attempting to hide behind some pillars. Attempting any conversation was useless as we called Kalarel a few names, he called us a few, and battle began. There we were at last, face to face with Kalarel, the final battle... and i was still lying face-down into a pool of blood... How embarassing..

My first actions in combat were getting up to my feet and healing my wounds by drinking a potion. Afraid to advance, since we didn't know if there were any traps nor did we know the capabilities of our foe, we let the enemy take the initiative, while waiting for Sora to get to our position. We certainly didn't expect their strategy though... Kalarel immediately teleported himself into the circle of blazing runes in front of the black portal, while his two Skeleton guards rushed to his side, covering his flanks. The Wight attacked us from a very long distance with it's Grave Bolt, which could not only damage us but also immobilize us. She attacked one of our frontliners in an attempt to prevent him from reaching Kalarel and succeeded. Soon two of our number were prevented from moving, while the Skeletons and Kalarel held their ground in the circle.

We decided to ignore the Wight for the moment, since it's damage was minimal and the immobilized condition was easily circunvented, and focus on Kalarel. The first to reach into melee range of Kalarel and his guard was Sora, only to find they had a nasty surprise waiting for us... As soon as Sora approached within 15 ft of the portal, a massive clawed arm bridged the rift between dimensions and attacked her. So that was why they had positioned themselves in that place... Some sort of beast from the Shadowfell itself was granting them protection against any foes that approached them. There was no choice however but to have our meleers engage them there, while myself and Ceteribus attempted to attack from beyond the creature's reach. Our first attacks focused on Kalarel, "testing the waters", to attempt to discern what weaknesses he possessed, if any. Well, after seeing all of our attacks fail miserably, we realized we were facing a foe unlike any we had fought before... Kalarel proved extremely hard to hit by any means.

Meanwhile, always supported by his Skeleton Warriors, Kalarel was engaging our melee fighters unleashing powerful attacks with his Rod, which beyond the damage it dealt on each hit, unleashed a necrotic toxin to poison our fighter's bodies. On the other hand, he wasn't definitely sharing our difficulties in striking true with his attacks. The Skeleton Warriors followed his every move, never leaving his side, preventing any possible flanking situations and attacking his target's. Also, to add insult to injury, as our movement capability near the portal was very reduced as our warriors could only make small shifts to avoid attacks from the creature beyond the portal, the Deathlock Wight kept immobilizing the meleers. Furthermore, neither Kalarel nor his guards seemed interested in leaving the blazing circle, which was probably granting them some sort of unknown bonus. Luckily for us, the unknown creature was missing most of it's attacks. However, we were effectively prevented from applying mobility and flanking tactics to try and turn the battle to our favor.

We turned our focus on the Skeleton Warriors, trying to clear Kalarel's flanks, since due to his high defenses, flanking would be a definite must to be able to hit him. From my attacks, we deduced that his only weakness was probably his Reflex defense, but we couldn't get Kralho, who excelled at hitting against Reflex, into flanking position to apply his sneak attack. After some effort and a little help from Ceteribus's radiant damage we managed to down one of the Skeletons. This allowed Kralho to finally flank Kalarel and dish out some pain. He paid for it dearly though, as the attacks he suffered afterwards forced him to use his final healing surges, which meant he had to leave melee combat and start attacking from a distance. We kept attacking the other Skeleton and Chuck even tried to push him into the portal with Tides of Iron, but failed. He would go down eventually though, leaving us more at ease to focus on Kalarel.

Chuck and Sora attacked Kalarel as they could, achieving very few hits, while the rest of us attacked from range. At this time, healing options were becoming scarce and we began noticing that Kalarel's wounds were healing themselves. It was probably the circle's effect, but nothing we tried made him leave that area, where he was still covered by the creature beyond the portal. Even our ranged attacks were having little effect. Ceteribus, tired of not hitting Kalarel, strode off to engage the Deathlock Wight, which was still pestering us with Grave Bolts. He had a special advantage against it, because he was resisting the Wight's necrotic damage due to his magical armor, and his radiant damage was lethal against undead. Thus started a duel between them that lasted for a while, with Ceteribus's being the victor thanks to his unique advantages against such a foe.

Kalarel was the last one standing of his number, and what a fight he was giving, hitting Sora and Chuck mercilessly with his unholy Rod, and taking very few hits in return. The battle was far from won, despite our superior numbers, and it soon turned to desperate as Chuck was hit into unconsciousness by a vicious attack, bleeding profusely on the ground. There was no choice now. Being the only one who could hit Kalarel with some degree of eficiency and even though he had no chance to be healed, Kralho risked his life to flank Kalarel and attempt to kill him or die trying. Sora kept Kalarel busy, while myself and Kralho attacked him relentlessly and Ceteribus kept having difficulties in landing a hit on the evil priest. Finally, after some devastating attacks from Kralho, Kalarel went down. As he fell to the ground, the thing from beyond the portal grabbed his body and pulled him into the Rift and to the Shadowfell itself. After this, the black portal was closed and the evil priest's plan to unleash Orcus's legions into the world was undone. Victory was ours. All that was left was explore this room and go back to town for fame, glory, and hopefully some nice fat loot.

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 17 - Nearing the end

With no more traps left to bother us in the large room with the statues, we finally get a chance of opening the doors blocking our path forward. As soon as we get the doors open, we notice a rather foul smell of decomposing flesh and notice that we are once again beset by the undead. It was a large room, with a set of stairs to the east, and inside it were at least a dozen of Zombie Rotters, a couple of Zombies, a Ghoul and a construct we recognized as a Clay Scout. We were immediately swarmed by the undead mass, but they weren't much more of a threat than most of the undead we had fought before. Again Ceteribus and Sora have their moment in the sun, killing off a large number of Rotters with their Turn Undead and Dragonbreath, respectively, while the others attempted to deal with the tougher Zombies and Ghoul. 

Despite the large number of the enemy force, we were making good progress, despite the constant harassment by the Clay Scout's dazing attacks. The undead were no match for Ceteribus's radiant energy attacks and so the Rotters were soon destroyed, followed by the larger Zombies and the Ghoul, which despite being much tougher than the rest, couldn't cope with our focused firepower. All that was left was the single Clay Scout, which we had avoided enganging, because we knew due to my arcane knowledge, that it had a way of redirecting attacks against it to nearby creatures. He managed to rebound an attack against Chuck, which was of no consequence, because he would soon fall to a barrage of ranged powers. 

With the battle won, we were free to look around the room and noticed the remains of the undead's past meals... There were discarded humanoid bones and pieces of decaying flesh as well as tattered clothing and pieces of armor everywhere. Amidst this mess, we were able to find a nice Bag of Holding, which would make carrying loot around much easier. The only way to go now was the eastern staircase, which ended in another pair of double doors. As we approach the door with caution, we can hear some sort of chanting coming from the other side. Kralho checks the door and finds that it isn't locked, but that it seems to be heavily fortified from the other side. Fearing that the chanting could mean that Kalarel was already conducting the ritual, we saw no other solution than to attempt to break down the doors and interrupt him. The rest of our party pushed themselves against the door as hard as they could, while i prepared to attack any hostile creature behind it. 

The combined efforts of our stronger members were enough to push through the barricated door and we were able to go in. The door led into a huge room that in ancient times must have served as a cathedral, but was now obviously being used to commit unholy sacrifices. The center of the room was very brightly lit by three blue-green pillars, which emitted an eerie greenish light, giving the room an unsettling atmosphere. In the center of the room, there was a square pit and streams of blood were issuing towards it from the back of the room, where a dark robed figure stood before an altar, chanting in a misterious language and holding a sacrificial dagger. Upon the altar, was the priest's latest victim, it's blood gushing and joining the streams of blood that led into the pit.

Noticing our entrance, he turned towards us, revealing a face tattoed with a ram's skull, ceasing his chanting, and looking at us with murderous eyes. However, we could still hear muffled chanting and to our surprise it seemed to come from the pit in front of us, which meant it probably led into another chamber, and that this dark figure was not our quarry, Kalarel, but more likely one of his minions, left behind to prevent us from interrupting him. If this was true, it meant time was short, and that we had to deal with him quickly. Nonetheless, we advanced carefully, because it was definitely suspicious to find only a single figure expecting us. 

Our suspicions were proven right, because as we got closer to the pit, two Human Berserkers ermerged from their hiding places behind the shining pillars, with a third one appearing from our right. To our left, a small group of Vampire Spawn were poised to strike, accompanied by a shadowy creature we recognized as a Dark Creeper. We prepared to hold our ground at the door, letting the foes come to us, thus preventing them from isolating any of our number, which could prove to be deadly. Besides, there was the proximity of the pit worry about, especially because we had no idea where it would lead, how deep it would be, or what was expecting us at the bottom.

After unleashing a few handaxes at us, the Berserkers were the first to close into melee, fighting with great rage. They were soon followed by the Vampire Spawns and the Dark Creeper, as the dark robed figure advanced barking orders: "Kill them all, Lord Kalarel must not be interrupted". As we suspected, he was not yet the one we seeked, which did not lessen our resolve. It was clear we had to win fast and reach Kalarel before he could complete his goal. Ceteribus's Turn Undead proved useful once again, wiping out most of the Vampires. The Berserker's and the Creeper however were giving us some trouble, fighting with great ferocity. Meanwhile the dark priest stayed in the back, attacking us with powerful ranged attacks and bolstering his allies. 

A combined effort from our strikers took out the Dark Creeper, which exploded in a burst of darkness, blinding all of us around him temporarily. About the same time, the first of the Berserkers went down and Chuck attempted to push another into the pit with Tides of Iron, unsuccessfully. They learned after that and avoided fighting near the pit for the remainder of the battle. The Berserker's were dishing out a hefty dose of damage and kept blocking the path to the priest striking us from the backlines. Finally, after a lot of back and forth attacks we managed to kill the Berserkers and headed straight to the priest, who, without any more minions to cover him, was no match for our combined firepower. 

We quickly looked around the room and concluded that the only exit was to descend into the pit, which had four tightly wrapped chains, one in each corner, that could be used to ease our descent. We had no doubt now that we were heading into the final battle, where we would have to win, or watch Lord Orcus's forces come into the world as a consequence of our defeat. Learn all about it, in the next installment. 

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 16 - Deadly Traps Part 2

When we left off in the previous installment, we had just escaped a dangerous trap and were now going to investigate a secret passage we had found, thanks to Sora's keen eye and Ceteribu's magic stone. Beyond the passage there was a small closed room, it's walls decorated with eight panels, each carved with different images. In the center, there was a small table, surrounded by carvings on the ground, representing the cardinal points. Before the table, written on the ground there was the same inscription as outside, "Time is life, time is death". On top of the table there were eight small statues of human mages, each one holding an alphabet letter in it's hand. The letters they were holding were "R", "E", "S", "I", "V", "E", "U", "N". Loooking around the room, we also notice that in every wall there were orifices, placed evenly near the ceiling. 

After the dangers we had faced in the previous room, we were obviously very suspicious of such a strangely set place, so we immediately began searching for any signs of a trap. We couldn't find any sign of danger, but soon realized that the letters held by the small statues could be removed and that each of the statues was facing one of the panels arrayed at the walls. This was probably some kind of riddle, so we began thinking for possible words that could be created using the letters given. It took us a while to figure it out, because we were all trying to find a word beginning with a consonant letter, and didn't remember to try a combination starting with a vowel. After some time though, both Ceteribus and i came to the same conclusion at the same time: the only possible word we could form was UNIVERSE. It was now a matter of arranging the letters the correct way and see what would happen. 

Finding no relation between the letters and the carvings, we decided it was time to experiment a little. Kralho suggested we arranged the letters clockwise, starting from the statue facing the North cardinal point. With no better ideas we proceeded in doing that, with immediate results. As we placed the final letter in it's place, the room started to shake and the stone door behind us closed immediately. Moments after, sand started pouring in from the orifices on the walls. Now we could understand what was meant with "Time is life, time is death"... We had a brief moment of despair then, seeing our impending doom, but when we regained our wits we estimated that at the current rate it would take about three hours  for the chamber to fill completely. We would need to find a solution much sooner, though, because it would be no good to know the answer when the mechanism to aply it is buried beneath the sand...

Afraid to try out other combinations, we put our efforts into finding out what the solution was, since any attempts to reopen the door had already failed. When we were starting to despair again, for lack of any new ideas,  Ceteribus's stone placed in his mind a little hint that would save the day. He said, induced by the stone, "the path to the stars" and suddenly all became clear. One of the panels in the walls had the depiction of a star system. Perhaps all that we had to do was begin the sequence with the statue facing that panel. We placed the letters clockwise starting from that specific position and as the last letter was placed, the sand ceased falling and the stone door reopened. On top of the table there was now a map, depicting a location none of us could recognize. The map was also clearly related to the stone, as it had the same symbol as the ring written on it. 

Relieved on escaping such a deadly trap, we returned to the large room with the titan and dragon statues, thinking of investigating the map later on. Perhaps someone in town could tells us something about it. All that was left was trying the door behind the titan statue. Kralho moves ahead, intent on searching the door for any more traps, while the rest of us remained near the titan. He had however, chosen the wrong place to search for traps, because as soon as he walks by the two closest cherub statues, a magical force field appears all around the four statues, and water starts pouring in from the vases the cherubs held over their heads. Kralho was now trapped inside the magical field as it filled with water, while the rest of us watched with surprise. Despite his potentialy desperate situation however, he was quick to react and realized that to disarm this trap, he had to disable the two cherub statues that had activated the trap in the first place. Also, now that the trap was active, me and Ceteribus could notice arcane patterns in their working that if deciphered could assist in disabling them. So, with our help and a remarkable display of thieving skills, Kralho was able to overcome yet another potentialy deadly situation. He is not so good at finding them, but he is definitely able at disarming them...

Tired of traps for life, we could all use a good battle to unwind. Perhaps, opening the door would bring us our wishes... But that is for another time. 

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 15 - Deadly Traps Part 1

Back at the Keep, we descend back into the second level. Just to be safe, we take another look around the area the Hobgoblins were using as barracks, but nothing seems to have changed since our previous visit. There was only one path to follow now: a long corridor heading south from the room where we had fought the Hobgoblin horde. We go down the corridor until we reach a large domed room with two closed doors, a stone double-door to the south and a wooden door to the west. At a corner of the room there was a humanoid corpse, covered by a cloak. Finding this somewhat odd, we investigate it, but it had nothing interesting about it. It was probably just a victim of the Hobgoblins, left there until they could dispose of it. 

We decide to check the door to the west first and find that it leads into a corridor turning south further ahead. At the end of this corridor there was a wooden double door nailed shut with wooden planks. Scraped on the wood was the word "Closed". Seeing this as an obvious invitation, we force the doors down and proceed inwards. Inside we find ourselves in a corridor with two alcoves to the east and a corner to the west. We head into the west corner first and go into a small room with a door to the east. Inside this room there were two zombies, who immediately attack our party. We engage the zombies, expecting an easy fight like our previous encounters with the undead, but these proved much sturdier.

As we were busy fighting the undead, we are suddenly surprised by the appearance of a third foe right behind us. Sneaking up on us, a translucid creature we recognized as a Gelatinous Gube engulfs Ceteribus, who was the one further to the back. Ceteribus manages to escape the creature's hold and we try to quickly dispatch the undead and focus on beating this much harder foe. Sora is the first the engage the cube in melee and pays for it by becoming the cube's primary target. The cube keeps focusing his attacks on Sora, who is unable to escape his grasp, and is severely wounded. It took a while, but we manage to kill the cube without having to expend too much of our resources.

Free to explore the room, Kralho checks and opens the door to the east. Behind the door there was a small bedroom with two small beds and a chest with the symbol of Bahamut. The chest was unlocked and inside it we find some old children's clothing and toys, a gold necklace with the inscription "Drystan Keegan", a bracelet inscribed with "Ceinwein Keegan" and a magical Safewing Amulet. These things probably belonged to Sir Keegan's children. We take the necklace and bracelet intending to show them to Sir Keegan, and take the magical amulet for ourselves. After this, we go back and check the alcoves, but find nothing there. The only path left to go was the stone double doors at the large domed room. 

Kralho checks the doors and thinks that they are safe to open, so we do so. Behind the doors, was a huge room, so big that we couldn't light all of it with our lantern. As we enter we notice that the room is full of statues. In the middle of the room there was a huge statue of a sword wielding titan. To the east there were two statues of dragons, one in the north corner and the other at the south corner. All along the west wall, there were several statues of human mages. Behind the titan, we could glimpse four cherub statues, two on each side of a passage ending in a set of double doors. Finding this place highly suspicious, Kralho, Chuck and Ceteribus, the ones in the party who were better at searching for traps, start investigating the room while myself and Sora stay at the door. While passing between the titan and one of the dragon statues, Ceteribus triggers a pressure plate, activating a nasty trap. 

When the trap triggers, both the dragon statues and the titan become animated, though they do not seem able to leave their places. Also, the doors behind us immediately close themselves.  The dragon statue closest to Ceteribus, immediately blasts him with a breath of energy, pushing him backwards towards the titan. Then the titan swings his massive sword, hitting everyone within 15ft of himself. Only myself and Sora aren't hit by it's swing. The statues keep attacking us whenever we get close, but we soon realize that there are some blind spots in the room where none of them can reach us. Looking around, Kralho notices what seemed like a hidden switch atop the titan statue, while myself and Ceteribus notice arcane patterns on the dragon statues that we could use in finding a way to disarm them. Putting himself in harm's way, Kralho climbs unto the titan statue to examine the switch, while we attempt to decypher the arcane patterns on one of the dragons. After a few moments, Kralho manages to disable the titan while we  fail on disarming the dragon. Kralho climbs down and braves entering into the dragon's blast area to attempt to disarm them as well. Meanwhile, being no use in disarming traps, Sora is looking at the humans statues aligned at the west wall and notices that one of them isn't standing against the wall, like the others. She decides to see what happens if she tries to push the statue towards the wall and when she does so, a secret passage opens up beside her, much to general surprise. We finally manage to disarm another dragon statue, but fail in disarming the other. Well, as long as we kept far away from it's range, it would pose no problem. 

We decide to check the secret door and find that it is just a small corridor leading nowhere. However, written on the wall were the words "Time is life, time is death" and Ceteribus's stone begins to shine. Under the light of the stone, he finds a small carving with the same symbol as the one on the golden ring that came with the stone. He presses the ring against the carving and immediately a new passage opens up at the end of the corridor, leading into a closed room. See what we found there, in the next article of Adventure Logs.

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 14 - Ambushed!

Weary after the big battle we had fought against the Hobgoblin forces guarding the Keep's second level, we leave towards town to restock on supplies and get some rest. Some of us were wounded, especially Kralho, so we couldn't risk going further onwards without being replenished. We pick up our horses and start riding towards town. As we pass by the crypts near the Keep however, we encounter an unpleasant surprise. The road was blocked by about a dozen or so skeletons armed with bows and the female Elf we had fought back in the Keep. She screams out a challenge, saying that this would be the end for us. 

We hesitate for a moment, wondering how she managed to get here, especially because we had investigated the area she had fled to, and had found no traces of her or of the Deathjump Spider. The only explanation was that she had fled towards the path we had not yet explored, and somehow managed to slip behind us before we faced the large Hobgoblin garrison. She must have been quick about it though, because we hadn't wasted much time between the battle with her and the epic battle that followed. It was either that, or there was another way out of the Keep we did not know about. 

Anyway, this time we had to make sure she would not escape us again. Sora responds to her challenge, attempting to Intimidate her into surrendering, but to no avail. Battle ensues, and we are forced to take special care with this one, as we are very low on healing. Kralho is forced to hang in the backlines, being the most injured of us all. Luckily for us, the skeletons were incredibly weak and most of them are quickly dealt with thanks to Sora's Dragonbreath, Ceteribus's Turn Undead and my Eldritch Blasts. Chuck focuses on the Elf, forcing her into melee combat. When the battefield is almost clear of the undead, Kralho flanks the Elf, attempting to hit her whith his Sneak Attack. We are soon able to swarm her and she goes down quick after that.

After the battle is won we investigate her corpse, finding a few gold coins, and a message written in a sheet of vellum. It was signed by Kalarel and revealed that he was aware of our meddling and wanted her to deal with us. The message contained intructions on how to raise the dead so she could use them against us. Furthermore, Kalarel warned her that he was close to completing the ritual and that he should not be interrupted. Finally, the message also contained the pass phrase to get by the guards in the second level: "From the ground, some magic was found". All of this meant that we must be causing a lot of trouble for the evil priest and also that we needed to deal with him fast. If he completed the ritual, all would be lost. 

And so we ride to Winterhaven as fast as we can, intent on returning as soon as possible. When we arrive to town we are surprised to see that some people were leaving and many houses had been abandoned. Even Bob and Noddy from the militia were nowhere to be found. We head to the Lord's house to give him an update and ask what was happening. When we arrive before him, he tells us that many of the townspeople were leaving because they did not believe we could deal with the task at hand, and were trying to get as far away from the Keep as they could. We found this to be strange, because we had been successful so far, having returned from the Keep twice. Considering noone had managed to do that before, i'd say those were pretty hopeful signs...

We update the Lord on our doings so far, and leave searching for an abandoned house in which to pass the night. After the attack on Sora's room the last time we were here, we weren't taking any chances. Before that though, we go to the remaining merchants to sell some of our loot and buy some potions. Meanwhile, Ceteribus goes searching for Valtrum, the town scholar, to try and find out some more about his "cursed" stone. After looking at the stone, the ring and the golden key, Valtrum seems to remember something and amidst his old records and tomes, he finds something of note. He confirms that the stone had existed for a very long time, always being passed from master to apprentice. Eventually, a cult arose dedicated to studying and protecting the stone and its wearer. The stone was said to possess all the knowledge in the world and was suspected it held the secret to opening a path to Heaven. The cult grew very powerful over the times, embolden by the knowledge and power of the stone. Their power and influence drew the jealousy of others and the cult became persecuted and eventually wiped out. At that time, the stone went missing, staying out of history books until now. Much to Ceteribus's regret, Valtrum could also confirm that the stone could only be passed on to a willing disciple and that it had perilous long term effects.

We find an abandoned house near the town gates and rest there for a few hours, without being disturbed. This time there were no red crosses marking our door. All rested and restocked on potions and rations, we leave for the Keep, hoping that the next time we return to Winterhaven would be carrying the head of Kalarel as a symbol of our victory. 

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 13 - A warm reception

We reach the end of the stairs and enter a large well-lit chamber decorated with numerous flags bearing the symbol of Orcus, with exits left, right, and front. In the middle of the room is a cage containing a huge spider, bigger than a horse. All around the room there are several Hobgoblins poised to strike, though not immediately agressive. One of the closest one yells out to us: "Shadow seeks shadow". They were obviously testing us to see if we were friend or foe, expecting us to give a specific response. We hesitate for a while, as we hadn't found anything that was clearly meant to be used for such purpose. Ceteribus however, induced by the stone, responded with "in Heaven there is also darkness and light". Well, that didn't work out so well... It was clearly the wrong answer, as the Hobgoblin screams "Intruders!" and most of them assume offensive positions, as another one releases the giant spider, which we recognize as a Deathjump Spider. 

Battle is joined, and Kralho gets first move. In what proved a tactical mistake, we decide to enter the room and engage them head on. Eager to use his First Strike ability and Sneak Attack the closest Hobgoblin, Kralho engages and dishes out some pain. He paid for it dearly though, as the Deathjump Spider leaps on him, hitting a critical spot, poisoning and knocking him prone. Also, he is immediately swarmed by the Hobgoblins and gets hit very hard and into critical condition. With no space to easily maneuver, Sora and Chuck engage the Hobgoblins swarming Kralho, trying to come between them and our wounded comrade. Ceteribus heals him  and i start focusing on the Spider, which seemed the tougher opponent. Meanwhile, from one of the rooms adjacent to this one, a female Elf shows up sniping at us with a longbow and giving orders to the Hobgoblins. 

The Hobgoblin forces were composed of mostly Hobgoblin Grunts, an easy prey, but there were also four Hobgoblin Soldiers, who proved much harder. Kralho manages to get up and strike back at his attackers, as we realize that the Soldiers were not only hard to hit, but could also dish out some major damage with their heavy flails and squad tactics. Sora and Chuck manage to cleave a path placing them besides Kralho and in melee with the Spider, which is getting most of our attention. The Soldiers keep attacking in formation causing us great difficulties, though. Our focused fire on the Spider manages to put it on the run, towards the passage to the right. Concentrating our attacks on the Soldiers, we manage to take two of them out. At this point, the female Elf seems scared by foreseeable result of the battle, and flees towards the same direction as the Spider. The Hobgoblins however fight fiercely to the death, being finally overwhelmed by our superior numbers and firepower. 

In retrospect, this could have been a much easier battle, if we hadn't rushed inside. We greatly underestimated the Hobgoblins strength and overestimated our own ability to take them down quickly. The escape of the Spider and the Elf probably meant that the remainder of the forces on this level would soon be alerted and embolden with increased numbers. Anyway, we quickly check the surrounding rooms and find nothing more than a barracks and an old office, filled with records of the Keep, before it's downfall into abandonment and ruin. The only way to proceed was to the right passage, following the Spider and the Elf's example. 

We proceed cautiosly, wary of a possible ambush, and reach a large chamber with a tall unmarked altar near to the passage we were coming from. The room had three exits: a closed door to the left, a corridor to the front and another corridor to the right. Kralho investigates the altar and the door, finding nothing onf note. We check the door first, finding only a small room with two beds behind it. At this point we hesitate a bit, because we dind't know which way was best to follow. Depending on the layout of this area, we were at a definite risk of being surrounded, no matter which path we took. We end up deciding on the front corridor and proceed that way. 

The corridor ended in a corner turning right. At this point there was also a sturdy door to our left, from where we could hear some noise. Kralho checks it and finds that it isn't locked but that it seemed heavily barricated. We try to open the door by force, but can't open it no matter what. Whatever was inside wasn't intent on letting us in. Keeping an eye on this door we proceed further down the corridor, into a large room with a large table in the center. There were two closed doors in this room. As soon as the first of us enters the room, we start hearing lots of angry voices coming from both doors. Also, the sound of large objects being moved starts coming from behind us, from the barricated door we couldn't get open. Damn, they had definitly planned a trap and were in the process of springing it. I immediately react and order the party to retreat to the room with the large altar, where we could use the cover it provided as a tactical advantage. If we blocked both sides of the altar with our meleers, we could force the enemy into a bottleneck. Also, we would be fighting with our back towards the exit, allowing us to make a combative retreat if overwhelmed. 

We retreated as fast as we could, always followed by the angry snarls of Hobgoblins, and took up positions around the altar. Much to our surprise, moments later we see a small Hobgoblin force coming from the path we hadn't tried yet. At the sight of us, they seemed unsure what to do. Probably this particular group hadn't yet heard of our intrusion, as they just stood there watching us. That wouldn't last long though, since we were expecting other Hobgoblin forces to arrive soon and they would surely join the fray. Not giving them any time to think, i immediately blast the closest one, starting the battle. At least we could try and kill as much as we could from this group, before the main force arrived. 

Enraged by my assault, they move towards us and engage our right flank, protected by Chuck and Kralho. Moments later, a veritable army shows up from the other path, with multiple Grunts, several Soldiers and a couple of Archers, leaded by a Hobgoblin Warcaster and a Warchief. A fearsome battle ensues, and at first our flanks were holding fine against the Grunts, who were bottlenecking around the altar, as we predicted. However, the sheer numbers of the enemy force and the attacks from their ranged members were harassing us greatly. I was blasting Grunts left and right, while our fighters held their ground admirably. But as they ran out of Grunts to throw at us the Soldiers charged and began using their highly efficient battle tactics to great effect, forcing us to shift positions. Running away was now a definite choice for us and we began retreating into the corridor, beginning to despair at the massive numbers and firepower arrayed against us. 

However, when things were most desperate, the tide of battle seemed to turn as we slay the first Hobgoblin Soldier. Enraged by our resistance, the Hobgoblin Warcaster approaches the frontlines and unleashes a massive Force Pulse, hitting a large area around him, including his own companions. The burst of force hits almost everyone in it's radius, knocking them prone and killing one of the Hobgoblin Archers and a couple of Grunts. Still unable to reach the Warcaster, we focus on the remaining Soldiers, managing to get another kill. At this point the Warchief finally engages into melee and Chuck keeps him at bay, while we try to kill the pesky Soldiers. Chuck and the Warchief fight a fierce battle, with attacks going back and forth. Finally, as we start to run out of heals the Soldiers are down, and the Warchief falls soon after to Chuck's Cleave. All that was left were the Warcaster and a single Archer. We mob the Warcaster, who in desperation, unleashes another Force Pulse, killing the other Archer, before finally falling himself. 

We collect all the loot we could find and check the area where they had come from as well. In the Warchief's bedroom we find a magical Vicious Short Sword, a nice reward for our efforts. We still had one path left to explore, but after this incredibly hard battle we were very low on resources, especially healing sources. Some of our meleers were severely wounded, and needed rest, so we decide to head back to town to stock up on potions and get a well-deserved break.