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. 

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 12 - The sage's journal

Finally done with the Keep's first level, we begin the descent through the winding staircase, aware that things were probably going to get serious from that moment on. So far we had dealt only with cowardly mercenaries and frail undead guardians and had yet to find any member of Kalarel's inner circle or of his cult. 

As we begin going down, Ceteribus suddenly feels a surge of heat emanating from the stone and as he takes it out of his pack, it emanates a bright orange coloured light. Under this light, we notice strange writings on the wall that weren't visible before. None of us can decipher the writing except Ceteribus, who in a sudden burst of understanding is able to translate the inscriptions. Written on the wall was "Path to the stars, between light and shadow, seek the shadow. In Heaven there is also darkness and light." We can also see an engraving with the same symbol that was carved in the ring we had found with the stone. Ceteribus touches the ring to the synbol on the wall, but nothing happens. We decide to carry on, as none of us is able to understand the meaning of those cryptic writings, and nothing else seemed to be happening. 

At the bottom of the stairs, we find ourselves in a small crypt. All around the crypt there are eight tombs, carved with similar writings to the ones we found before. In the middle of the room we find a staircase leading down, with a plaque inscribed with the sentence "In Heaven there is also darkness and light" written in Common. On the plaque, a symbol was carved matching the one on the ring. All of the tombs were perfectly sealed, with no sign of being disturbed for ages. Ceteribus attempts to read the inscriptions, but this time he is unable to do so. He then decides to do as before and touches the ring to the symbol carved on the plaque. This time however, something actually happened. One of the tomb's lids slid open and inside it we find not a corpse but a journal and a golden key. 

We quickly find that the journal belonged to a previous owner of the mysterious stone, who recounts the tale of it's discovery. There was once a young scholar who studied the stars and had undergone a great journey in search for knowledge. During  his journey, he had encountered an old sage, who possessed great wisdom but was also quite mad. From that moment on they traveled together and as they did the scholar learned much from the old hermit. At the end of their journey, the old man told the young scholar that he had found heaven on earth and that it was time for him to leave. Before that, however, he gave the scholar a small wooden box containing the magical stone and a note with the phrase "In Heaven there is also darkness and light" written on it. He then suddenly vanished. Throughout the ages, the stone had been passed on from one owner to another. These were always wise people, who could harness the stone's powers. The journal describes that the stone can grant it's wearer great power, but that after some time it must be passed on to a new owner, because it was too much for any single man to handle. Prolonged exposure to the stone's effect caused great addiction and could possibly even cause  death. 

Well, at this point Ceteribus starts to worry about his chances. The journal made it very clear that the stone could only be passed on to a willing disciple. Discarding it would do no good, as he would continue to suffer the stone's ill effects. The rest of us however, had a good laugh at the thought of him dying from addiction to the stone, and were rather glad we weren't the ones to touch it first. He tries to force the stone on us but he is out of luck. None of us is a willing disciple :).  He would have to find some way of getting rid of it, or he was doomed. More laughing ensued, and we decided to be more careful with what we touch in the future. Nonetheless, we wondered what connection the stone might have with the rift to the Shadowfell. All we could think of was that it had once belonged to one of the wizards who had closed the rift when it was last opened. 

We take the journal and the key with us and begin our descent down the staircase, intent on investigating this matter further at another time, if the chance arose. 

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 11 - Undead Guardians

We leave the caves moving towards the unexplored areas of the Keep's first level. As we move forward, we find some more Terror Runes blocking our path, but Kralho is able to disarm them all. Behind a door, we find a flight of stairs leading into an area of darkness, from which emanates a strong odor of rot and decay. Going down the stairs, iluminated by our lantern, we start hearing noises coming from a chamber to our left. It seemed as if a large number of creatures were moving towards us, probably atracted by the light. We prepare for battle and in a few moments we are under attack from a large number of Zombies and Zombie Rotters. Ceteribus salivates at the thought of using his Turn Undead for the first time... In fact, it was a rather easy battle for us, despite being vastly outnumbered, as the undead were rather frail and quickly fell. Ceteribus had his moment of glory, wiping out several of the weaker ones with his Turn Undead. 

We investigate the chamber that held these undead, and notice it continued further in that direction into a larger chamber. We decide to investigate this area later and instead check the many paths we could take now. As before, as we move through the maze of corridors, we find a few more Terror Runes, which were quickly bypassed.  As we move around a corner, we discover what seems to be a secret passage, but can't check it then because we are again under attack by a large group of Zombies, much like the previous one. These ones suffered the same fate and were quickly dispatched. After the challenges we had suffered in the caves, a bunch of zombies were hardly more than warmup. The battle won, Kralho opens the secret passage and Ceteribus moves inside to investigate the seemingly empty room, finding nothing. Kralho goes around checking the walls and when he touches the wall opposite to the entrance, much to his surprise, his hand passes through it to the other side. It was an illusory wall. 

Kralho sticks his head behind the wall, and is immediately attacked by yet another group of zombies, only four of them this time. Yawn... Another easy battle ensues, leaving us with liberty to investigate the area. Behind the fake wall, was an old armory, with decaying armor racks with pieces of armor in very poor condition, arrayed in the left and right walls. Standing against the wall opposite to us was a suit of old armor mounted on a stand. As one of us approaches it, a deep booming voice speaks:

"A wondrous treasure, valued by all, sought by many. Found in both victory and defeat, yet never at the bottom of a treasure chest. It marches before you like a herald, and lives long after you are gone. Of what do i speak?"

A riddle! We discuss it amongst ourselves for a few moments and Ceteribus comes up with an answer we all agreed  was likely to be right. Moving towards the armor stand, Ceteribus says "Honor". He must have gotten the answer right, because as soon as he spoke the word, the armor begins glistening with a bright light and changes from an old piece of junk into a magical Blackiron Scale Armor. Chuck, the fighter apreciated it much.

Leaving the room, we continue investigating the corridors. We find a large stairway, that seemed to continue further down. Since we still had a path left to investigate, we leave it for the moment and go back to the chamber where we first battled the zombies. Moving beyond this area, we come into a broad torch-lit hallway, lined with sarcophagi along both walls and ending in a metallic double door. Suspicious about the sarcophagi, and having already fought hordes of undead in this general area, we decide against disturbing the coffins and go ahead and check the end of the hall. On both sides of the double door, there was an altar, completed with imagery suggesting this was some short of shrine dedicated to the god Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, god of justice, protection and honor. Sora, being a devout worshipper of Bahamut, kneels before one of the altars and begins praying. Meanwhile, Kralho performs a careful search of the altars and finds a secret compartment, holding inside five small statues representing Bahamut. We each keep one, mostly for selling later, but Sora keeps it as a memento of her faith. Kralho also checks the doors and finds that they aren't trapped or locked. 

We open the doors to find a small crypt with a stone coffin carved with the figure of an armored warrior with a sword laid across his chest, at the opposite side of the doors. When we enter the room, the coffin's lid slides open and a skeletal warrior in plate armor and holding a longsword comes out. Much to our surprise, the skeleton speaks, in a voice from beyond the grave... "State your business, or prepare to die!"

No reason to lie, i say we have entered the Keep with the purpose of destroying the evil priest Kalarel and his cult and preventing the Rift to the Shadowfell from reopening. This seemed to appease the skeleton's wrath somewhat, allowing us to speak with it. He reveals that he once was Sir Keegan, commander of the Keep, charged with protecting the Rift. Thinking back, we realize we had heard that name back in Winterhaven. There was an old legend about a Sir Keegan, a paladin that had lost his mind and murdered his famliy and most of the Keep's garrison, before being slain himself. After some negotiation, as the skeletal Sir Keegan proved most suspicious of us, we manage to convince him of our good intentions. He then reveals that he had fallen under the evil influence of the rift and forced to commit terrible crimes. Being past redemption, he could not leave this crypt but could still grant us aid, by giving us his old magical sword Aecris. He also recommends that we seek Bahamut's blessing at the altars outside. 

Before we leave him to his rest, Ceteribus asks him if he knows anything about the stone we had found in the caves. Sir Keegan's memory is fuzzy due to his undead status, but he remembers that the stone is connected to a secret society of chosen people named "Heaven and Earth". The stone was said to grant wisdom to it's wearer. We leave the room and pray at Bahamut's altars, seeking his blessing. Somehow the lights in the hallway seem to shine brighter for a few moments, but we don't feel any different.

Tired from a long day of battles, we decide to rest in the secret passage we had found before. Most of us decide to sleep for a few hours. Ceteribus, being an eladrin, enters into a trance they use in place of sleep, but finds he can not rest properly. His trance is filled with nightmares and visions of battles, blood, gory decapitations and of great treasures. As he ends his trance he feels somewhat weakened physically but with his senses enhanced. Somehow the magic stone was affecting him, but he couln't help but feel that he could not simply discard it. We would have to try and discover more about it before taking any rash course of action. 

All rested and fresh, it was time we took the stairway down into the next level. But that is for another installment of Keep on the Shadowfell. 

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 10 - The caves

We arrive at the Keep at the break of dawn. There were no guards at the entrance to the underground, but we proceed inwards with caution anyway. As we advance, we notice that in several paths there are some sort of drawings on the floor that weren't there before. Examining it closer, myself and Ceteribus recognize the pattern as a Terror Rune, a magical trap activated on contact, with a fear inducing spell. Kralho is unable to bypass it, so we position ourselves at some distance, while Sora valiantly moves to activate the trap. When she touches the trap, it activates and it is then that we realize we greatly underestimated the trap's range.. It was able to affect everyone in the party except Ceteribus, so we start running around wildly in fear. At the same time, an alarm sounds throughout the area. 

Luckily the fear effect passed quickly, and noone showed up to check on the alarm. As we advance back into the caves we find more Terror Runes, but this time Kralho is able to disable them. Back in the caves, we bypass the area where we had fought the rats and the gelatinous creature and move forward. After some time, we reach another large chamber, where we could hear some kind of insect noises, a lot of them. Kralho approaches with Stealth and is able to see about 20 giant insects of varying sizes. Unfortunately, his stealth abilities didn't seem to be enough to hide himself from the bugs and they began advancing on our positions. None of us is able to recognize them, but we immediately notice that they can burrow through the earth and stone of the caves.

There were a very large number of smaller ones and four much bigger ones. We get first move and Ceteribus starts up the battle by moving and getting himself falling into a pit trap... Luckily, since he is an eladrin, he uses his racial teleport ability to get out. We can't complain too much about our luck... We find two pits and the ones to fall in them are always the ones with teleport. The insects start surrounding our frontline and manage to get a few good hits in, despite suffering heavy losses. Most of the smaller ones were quicly killed, but the larger ones were much harder. They surround Sora and Chuck, who were the most obvious threats and cause some serious damage. They prove to be very resilient and the battle lasts for a while. We finally defeat them thanks to plenty of flanking maneuvers and effective power usage. We proceed towards their nest and find a corpse of a half-eaten goblin. The corpse had a pouch with some gold and a couple of potions of healing. We also find some gold and a chest in the nests. Inside the chest was some more gold and 5 amethysts. 

We continue exploring the caves and in the last place we still hadn't checked we find a bronze double door, half covered in moss and fungi. Written on the door was the inscription "Stay out, really". Well, that decided it... What better incentive could we have in opening a door than a clear sign of danger... We definitely couldn't back out now. Kralho checks the door and finds out that it's neither trapped nor locked. Chuck, as the frontliner, opens the door while the rest assume battle positions, expecting trouble. The doors open into a small room with a large pool of dark waters and a small patch of land in the center of the pool. It looked as though this once served as a cistern. At first glance the room was empty, but we proceeded carefully anyway. It seemed there was something in the small island, but none of us would brave the dark waters without checking them first. So, we tie a rock to a rope and throw  it into the waters to attempt to determine its depth.

Immediately after ther rock hits the waters, a great bubbling begins close to the margin and Sora and Chuck are hit by what seems to be large bubbles and both get dazed and weakened. Chuck is then hit by a large chunk of some slimy substance. At this time, we manage to see that the source of the attacks is a large mass advancing through the dark waters towards our positions. Chuck had been hit badly, so we retreat towards the door to recover and see we if we could flush out the creature. The creature kept advancing and when we finally get a glimpse of it, i recognize it as a Blue Slime, a gelatinous creature with tremorsense and strong acid attacks. The meleers approach the pool to attack the beast, but we quicly realize that they were taking way to much damage and dealing too few. The Slime seemed largely unnafected by our actions. 

After a few rounds of battle, we start thinking of retreat, since this foe seemed too much for us to handle at the moment. However, after some good hits we notice that the slime has taken substancial damage and regain hope. At this point i use my daily power Curse of Dark Dream, which could force the slime to move towards us and leave the water, leaving it in a much more favorable position for our figthers. My spell hits, dealing a good chunk of damage, but im unable to force it to move. Apparently, it must have been immune to the charm side effect of the power. We continue hitting it as hard as we can and after a few tough rounds we manage to beat it down. A very tough battle... Whatever was in the small island had better be worth it.

With the slime gone, Kralho swims to the small island and finds several interesting things. Scattered around the island were the remains of several victims of the creature. Among the remains were a potion of healing, a pouch with gold, a magical Shield of Protection, a wooden message cylinder, and a small ornate chest. Quite the haul.. Kralho brings it all back to the shore and we examine the message cylinder first. It contained three scrolls. One of them was a map, with the location of Shadowfell Keep marked. Another one contained a message for Kalarel, signed by a Chief Krand of the Bloodreavers, who had heard of Kalarel's activities in the region and was offering to buy captured humanoids from him, to work as slave labor in a place called Thunderspire. The last scroll contained a message presumably for the carrier, with instructions to destroy the message tube if Kalarel wasn't interested in the offer. Most curious... Probably the message never reached Kalarel, or his response was not a positive one... 

Finally we investigated the small chest. Inside it was a small stone in the shape of a rose petal, which was obviously emitting a magic aura. However, at first glance we can't identify what it is. Ceteribus decides to touch the stone to examine it better and as he does so, the stone emanates an orange coloured light and while he is holding it he feels somewhat smarter. We each try to touch the stone in turn, but it doesn't produce any effect for any of us. As the stone only reacted to Ceteribus, we decide he should carry it until we could discover more about it. In fact, while holding it, he gets the strange feeling he should investigate the small chest further, and as he does so, he finds a small golden ring engraved with a strange symbol. Something in his mind tells him that the symbol means "Heaven and Earth". Apparently, the stone was some kind of powerful artefact with the capability to communicate with it's wearer by placing thoughts in his mind. The ring was probably related to it, so Ceteribus carried it with him as well. 

We were done investigating the caves now, so all that was left was to investigate the remainder of the Keep's first level. Tune in next time, as we battle the Undead haunting that area.

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 9 - Strangers in the night

So, leaving the rescued hostages safely behind, we go ahead to explore the natural cave area we had found earlier. There was no light in these damp caves, so we had to light a lantern to illuminate our way. We enter in a large natural chamber, it's walls filled with moss and small crawling insects. Only a few moments after we arrive, we start hearing noises coming from around a corner in the cave. Chuck goes to investigate and finds that a lot of Giant Rats were coming our way, possibly atracted by the prospect of fresh adventurer meat. 

Most of the rats focus on Chuck, but it becomes obvious pretty fast that they were not very threatening. In fact, with Chuck's Cleaves and Sora's Dragonbreath, we manage to kill a whole bunch of them, before some sort of gelatinous creature which none of us could recognize shows up. The creature starts beating up Sora, putting her in critical condition. Meanwhile, there were still a lot of rats around us, and we were missing more than our usual share of attacks. I, for once, wasn't hitting anything... Sora, after being healed, focuses on the jelly, while myself, Ceteribus and Chuck focus on getting rid of the rats. Kralho, suspicious of the gelatinous creature, takes away Sora's sling and bullets and starts hitting it from a distance. When the rats had already been killed, and after taking quite the beating the creature splits into two, which scared us quite a bit. However, when split, it seemed to grow weaker and we finally managed to kill it, despite it doing quite a number on Sora, who could take no more battles that day. We investigate the surrounding area but couldn't find anything worth our while. 

So, with Sora injured and most of our resources spent, we decide to head back to town to rest and take the rescued hostages to safety. We arrive in Winterhaven in the middle of the afternoon and go to see the Lord intending to update him on our progress. It turned out that the hostages were not from Winterhaven, but he would be glad to assist them as he could. He was not convinced however  by my attempt to extract from him some compensation for the money we had spent in saving them... He was also not very happy that we had left the Goblins go, but hey, a deal is a deal.

Anyway, and since we were the first to return from the Keep in ages, he asked if we had found any precious artefacts he could buy. Apparently he was a collector of sorts. We show him some of the stuff we had found, and he seemed most interested in the mirror we had found at the dig site where Doven was held. We found that somewhat suspicious and so we refused to sell it. Also, if Kalarel was looking for it, it could still be of use in preventing the rift from reopening. We leave the Lord and go off to the towns merchants to sell some of the loot we had found. Meanwhile, Chuck goes around town searching for the former innkeeper Salvanna. He finds her living with her husband at his parent's home and manages to talk with her alone, attempting to solicit a second sexual encounter. She refuses however, saying that she had already paid what was due. 

When the night comes, we go to the lodgings the Lord had assigned to us to get some rest. Strange things were about to happen though... In the middle of the night, whilst sleeping, Sora wakes up to the sound of someone opening her bedroom's door. She immediately prepares herself for an attack, and when the door is opened, a black clad female figure comes in, with obvious hostile intents. Sora leaps out of the bed in anger, intimidating the assailant so much that she ran away immediately, leaving behind a pink bow, commonly seen in women's dresses. After dressing up, Sora defiantly attaches the pink bow to her armor in an attempt to cause a reaction from the culprit if they crossed paths, and goes forth to warn the others. Before she leaves though, she notices her bedroom had been marked with a red cross.

Meanwhile, across town, Chuck also receives a late visitor. Salvanna shows up in his room. He immediately believes she has reconsidered his offer, but all she wanted was to give him a small bottle with a magical substance which would help us with our quest. He takes it, but rembembering Rebecca's warning, decides not to drink it, for now. He then insists for her to come in and do the deed... Scared by his lustful demeanor, she rans away. 

After Sora manages to get us all together, as we were sleeping some distance apart from each other, we realize that the only one who had been attacked and whose bedroom had been marked, had been her's. This was definitely most curious, because Sora was the one responsible for keeping the party's treasure. It seemed obvious that whoever had attempted to attack her knew this, and had done so with the intention of robbing us. We agreed that it was probably a member of Kalarel's cult, attempting to steal the mirror from us. From that moment on, we would definitely not sleep separated anymore, even if we had to sleep out in the streets. It was also curious that this happened after the Lord had attempted to buy the mirror from us... 

We leave town still in the dark of night, attempting to make the most of our time, and head back towards the Keep. By now Kalarel and his denizens must have realized that the Goblins had been defeated, so we were expecting some sort of surprise when we returned. Check out what we found in the next installment of Adventure Logs. 

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 8 - Cowardly Goblins

As you learned in the last installment, we had finally entered Shadowfell Keep. After winning our first battle, we head inwards towards a path to the right side of the entrance. After a while, we arrive at what is obviously a torture chamber, complete with iron maidens, racks, a fire pit and other such instruments for inflicting serious pain. The wall and tables were thick with bloodstains. The place had seemed to have been used extensively. Inside this chamber of horrors we find another enemy force, composed of Goblin Sharpshooters, a Goblin Warrior and a black armored Hobgoblin wearing a mask, who comes at us armed with hot pokers. 

This time however we were better prepared for the Goblins attacks, having learned our lesson from the previous battle. So, while Chuck held his ground against the Hobgoblin and Goblin Warrior, the rest of us focused on taking down the Sharpshooters, who had proven deadly before. Using this tactic, we managed to score an easy and swift win, leaving us free to explore the torture chamber. The chamber itself held nothing of value, unless we were intent on torturing prisoners or some masochist fantasy, but the Hobgoblin's corpse held a nice surprise. He was wearing a magical Bloodcut Hide Armor.

While we were investigating the area, we start hearing cries for help, coming from someplace nearby. We look around and find three cells meant for holding prisoners. In one of the cells there was a rather shabby Goblin, screaming to be released. Good, a chance for some information, and a nicely prepared torture chamber at hand... Unfortunately, there no need for torture as the Goblin revealed himself a coward and squealed immediately. In exchange for information, we offered to release him and let him out of the Keep. He revealed that his name was Slug and that he had been imprisioned unfairly by his brethren, a mercenary group lead by a Goblin known as Fat Boy. They had been hired to guard this level of the keep and prevent any outsiders from reaching the lower levels. Pressed for more information, he revealed that the Goblins were performing an excavation nearby on this level, looking for treasure. He also told us about a secret passage only he knew about, at the excavation site, ang gave us directions on how to find it. Pleased with his information, we lead him to the exit and let him go. 

Following Slug's directions, we reach the excavation site unopposed. It was a large excavated area at the end of a hallway, 10ft deep, with small islands of elevated terrain connected by wooden planks. Before we could even see whoever occupied the place, we could clearly hear the sounds of someone digging. We approached with care, trying to sneak up on the workers. I advance stealthily along the wall and peak to see what we were facing. I manage to go undetected and i see that the room is occupied by three Goblin Sharpshooters and a couple of Guard Drakes.

Concentrated on their work, they weren't paying much attention to anything else. Obviously they hadn't heard about an invasion on the Keep.. I move back and tell the others what i see and we decide to strike first, using the element of surprise. The enemies were not very hard, but the tactical situation could prove dangerous. To reach the lower excavated area, where the drakes were, we would have to navigate the planks, which didn't seem very sturdy. Having the best ranged attack, i strike first as my companions enter the room. Chuck is the first to try out the planks and as soon as he steps into one, it breaks in half and he falls flat on the area below. After this, the rest decide it's probably best to climb down. As usual the Sharpshooters proved annoying, because they kept mostly to the elevated ground sniping away, and forcing our meleers to climb up to the platforms to engage them. Anyway, despite the terrain problems, we won this battle without much difficulty. 

During the course of the battle, we noticed to our backs that the previously pantless Goblin shows up, this time accompanied by some friends and with his pants on. He still doesn't engage though, and leaves soon afterwards. Still wondering about this strange Goblin, we decide to loot the corpses swiftly and look for the secret passage Slug mentioned to us. Among the corpses we find the results of their digging so far, which inclued some gold and a magical holy symbol of Bahamut. However, after some searching, we aren't able to find the secret passage, and after a while the strange Goblin returns, with a bigger party and waving a white flag. Apparently, he wishes to parley. 

Finding this extremely curious, we decide to hear him out. He tells us that he has a message from his leader, Fat Boy, requesting a meeting with us. At first, we are not very keen on this, because it might be an invitation for a trap, but after some discussion we decide to see it through, but on our terms. We tell the Goblin that we would meet with his leader, but only on the condition that the meeting ocurred in neutral ground. We suggest the entrance of the Keep, giving us a chance to escape, if things turned bad. We were definitely not following them into their lair and risk being surrounded. He says he needs to ask his boss for permission and leaves to inquire if he accepts. He returns shortly after, with word that his leader had agreed to our terms. We then follow the Goblins back to the entrance, and quickly realize that Fat Boy didn't fully fullfill our requests. We were at the entrance allright, but a large Goblin force was around the room, blocking the exit, and there were three human hostages standing over the pit trap. A Goblin stood ready to activate the trap. Amidst his guards, there stood a rather large and foul Goblin, who could only be Fat Boy. Despite the situation, the Goblins didn't seem interested in fighting and looked scared and uneasy. 

Amazingly, despite his gruesome appearance, Fat Boy was rather polite and revealed that he had been forced to use such tactics, due to his forces being largely reduced by our attacks. They didn't seem that reduced to me, though... He then inquires us of our intentions in the Keep. Noticing their cowardly demeanor, i tell him that our only objective in the Keep is to destroy the evil cleric Kalarel and his cohorts. Fat Boy tells us that he and his band were just hired mercenaries who had nothing to do with whatever Kalarel was doing in the lower levels. He hints that an arrangement can be made to allow us passage, in exchange for allowing the remainder of his band to leave this place. The sleezy bastard wanted money... With little choice but to negotiate, especially since we were cut off from the exit and because of the hostage situation, we strike a deal with Fat Boy. In exchange for the magical holy symbol we had found earlier and 50 gold pieces, they would give us the hostages and leave the Keep. I couldn't help but feel that we had been robbed, though...

After all the Goblins and their women and children leave the Keep, we investigate the area they were using as living quarters and get ready to move on. They had taken all things of value though. However, we do manage to discover that the secret door Slug told us about was a back door into the area the Goblins were occupying. If we had found it's entrance at the excavation sooner, we could have used to surprise attack them and possibly achieve an easy win, despite being outnumbered. 

The hostages were in decent condition and we promised to take them to Winterhaven after we investigated the area a little better. We had found a path leading into some natural caves and wanted to go further. More on that, in the next article. 

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 7 - Assaulting the Keep!

We wake fresh the next morning and start making preparations to leave for the Keep. The first thing we do is buy ourselves some horses. We finally manage to scrape enough coin obtained from our  looting efforts and the pittance the Lord has been paying us. We also buy some much needed potions of healing. Finally, we say goodbye to Doven and Daniel, who were returning to Scart that same day. Done with our shopping and goodbyes, we head out to the town gates and leave for the Keep under cheers from the townspeople. Apparently everyone already knew what we were going to attempt...

Moving on, we knew that the path to the Keep would take us about 2 to 3 hours. We decide to thread carefully since its our first foray into that area. Along the way we start getting a weird gloomy feeling and sometimes notice movement on both sides of the battered road. We can never get a good glimpse to see if someone is following us due to the thick and overgrown woods surrounding us.

As we start to get close to the Keep, we notice what seems like a large cemetary complex,  with three prominent crypts. We decide to take a look around, especially in the crypts. Graverobbing wasn't definitely a problem for any of us... While we were deciding how to best investigate the tombs, thinking they might be trapped, Chuck goes ahead and enters one of the crypts, immediately triggering a trap. Luckily, it was just a fear inducing trap, and whilst the thought of watching the Fighter run around in fear was funny, we managed to hold him down until the effect passed, preventing him from running wild into the woods. We proceeded with much more caution, though. Kralho did his job and investigated all the crypts for traps and treasure, but could find nothing of worth. 

We finally reach the notorious Keep, to find it was now mostly in ruins, with debris everywhere. However, there was a large portion of debris that had been removed, revealing an entrance to the underground. Guarding this entrance, were 2 Goblin guards who, at the sight of us, immediately left their posts and ran inwards. Great, we had just arrived and immediately managed to alert whovever occupied the ruined Keep to our presence... Heh, we were already well versed in ambushes, so onwards we go, after tying the horses somewhere. Don't know if they would still be here later on, but one can hope...

As expected, as we went down the stairs , we found an enemy force waiting for us. Looking around we could see that we must be on the underground levels of the Keep as the walls are masonry, although in somewhat poor condition. We enter into a small room with doors left, right and front, with four pillars spread throughout the room. This could prove a nasty tactical situation. Anyway, all that was expecting us were a few Goblin Warriors and Goblin Sharpshooters, including the guards we noticed above.

Battle ensues and i get first move. Overconfident at the small reception comittee, and eager to try for the first time my Prime Shot ability, i decide to approach the nearest foe, perform my Warlock's Curse and attack. Well, the funny thing was that right in the middle of the room there was a 10ft wide pit trap, with a 10ft fall. To make matters worse, i find that i am not alone in the bottom of the pit. There was a Ratswarm looking at me as if it had just found dinner... Luckily for me, being a Fey Pact Warlock has its advantages and i manage to get out of the pit using a teleport power, before the nasty looking rats could strike me. 

Things started to go downhill though... Between the pit and the pillars, there was very little room to maneuver and now we had the Ratswarm to deal with as well. The Goblin Warriors advance, covering the Sharpshooters, who were sniping at us from a safe distance. In a bold attempt to flank the Ratswarm, which seemed the toughest of the enemies, Kralho gets beyond the pit and suffers a barrage of attacks that rapidly knocks him unconscious. To make matters worse, reinforcements show up from the sides. With no room to maneuver, Chuck focus  the Ratswarm's attention on him, while Sora attempts to reach Karalho, and pull his unconscious body out of the melee, so we can heal him with safety. Ceteribus takes to melee as well and i stay behind blasting away what i could.

While this was happening we notice to the left side a latecomer to the fight. A Goblin showed up, still putting his pants on, and was just watching the fight's progress. Throughout the whole fight he didn't engage once and later disappeared in the direction he had come. Anyway, we manage to kill a few, and after Sora pulled Kralho into the backlines, Ceteribus covered for them as they tried to revive the Rogue. They revive him, and after some effort all that was missing were the 2 Sharpshooters at the enemy backline. Although they were a hassle while at range, in melee they proved very weak and went down easily. 

After looting the corpses, we had several choice of paths. We immediately decided against proceeding towards the left path where we had seen the pantless Goblin, because he had probably ran to warn more defenders. In the end we decided to proceed right. We'll look into that in the next installment. 

Memorable Moments: "Whazzup!"

Time for another one of our groups most memorable and at the same time embarassing moments. This one happened with the same party from the previous installments and will be the last story about those pitiful adventurers.. Really!

So, after exploring the mountains around town and getting tossed around by Fire Elementals and Basilisks, for some reason we end up attacking the local church. Apparently they were up to something not so good... Anyway, the denizens of the temple put up a hell of a fight and the party had to expend most of their resources to win. Both my Bladesinger and the Cleric had almost no spells but that didn't prevent the Monk and Rogue from wanting to go on. We had discovered a secret entrance in the temple, which we knew probably led to some serious opposition... Both me and the Cleric thought that we should rest and recover our spells first, but somehow we got dragged in continuing on to the church's underground, despite my constant reminding them that "I have no spells!". 

Anyway, we go down the stairs and have several choices of paths to take. We could go left, right or through a closed door right in front of us. We took some time deciding, with seemed to upset the Monk somehow, who seemed to be in a rush for combat. So, while we were pondering what to do, he decides to kick the door down and screams "Whazzup!" at the top of his lungs, much to our dismay... Nothing happened though, but now we had no choice but investigate the room, which at first glance appeared to be empty. When we had all entered the room, suddenly a Firewall appeared behind us, blocking our exit through the door, and a flying Imp appeared above us. Initiative is rolled and we start the battle against what we thought was a single imp.. We couldn't be more mistaken...

Being a mostly melee party, the darned imp would give us some trouble if he decided to keep on the fly, which he did, forcing us to use our ranged weapons with which we were not very adept.. Well, we quickly found out that we weren't against a single Imp, but several almost always invisible, flying, Fireball hurling Imps with lots of Wizard levels... We rapidly found ourselves nearly dead to a point where retreating through a Firewall would most certainly kill us.. The Cleric and the Rogue were the first to fall, the Rogue failing to save against the Fireballs and thus evading them completely. To add insult to injury, when there were only me and the Monk still alive, a couple of large demons teleported into the room to finish us off. Ironically, thanks to his high saves and Evasion ability, the Monk responsible for alerting the whole complex was the last one to die, killed by one of the larger demons. 

In retrospect, the DM told us that this battle was punishment for our recklessness throughout the whole adventure, and that after the Monk's actions it was time for us to die. To tell you the truth, i think we deserved it...

Adventure Logs - Keep on the Shadowfell 6 - Rescues and Revelations

Having defeated the Goblin Irontooth and his Kobold minions, we head out to rescue Doven and the townspeople who are being forced to work as slaves at a nearby ruin. When we arrive close to the location of the ruins, we are able to get a good glimpse of the site, incredibly managing to stay out of sight long enough to assess the situation. The ruins had been turned into some kind of archaeological dig site, with the hostages being used as manual labor. It was guarded by several Humans, a Halfling and a Gnome. The draconic-like beasts Daniel had warned us about were no more than a couple of Guard Drakes, a much lesser threat than we expected...

Bolstered by our defeat of the Raider's camp earlier, we threw away all thoughts about careful planning and charged the camp head on. We managed to get pretty far before the guards noticed us and engaged us in battle. Apparently they were more intent in watching their prisoners than for any outside strike. The first ones to close into melee were the Humans and the Guard Drakes, while the Halfling ang Gnome sniped us from a distance. The humans turned out to be poorly trained mercenaries and were easily and rapidly beaten. The Drakes however, were much tougher, taking a beating and still standing to give one back. Busy with the Drakes, we continued to get sniped by the remainder of the guards. With the Drakes dealt with, we were able to focus on the ranged attackers and defeat them as well. 

Guards defeated, it was time we checked on the prisoners, loot the corpses and scan the area for something else of interest, so we split up to deal with these tasks as soon as we could. Night would be coming soon, and we were travelling with wounded and weak townsfolk. We find Doven tied and gagged in a corner off the dig site, next to a small crate. We immediately release him and he is extremely happy to see his old friends and son and even more surprised that we had come so far to find him. He explains that he had come to the ruins looking for remainders of a dragon's hoard but that when he had found it, it was already being explored and he and his companions had not managed to evade capture. Apparently, from what he heard from his captors, the excavation was ordered by someone named Kalarel who wanted an old relic from the Nerath Empire, that ruled these lands a very long time ago. The relic had beeen found and was contained in the small crate, awaiting to be taken to Kalarel, at the Old Keep. As a reward for rescuing him, Doven gives us his magical amulet, which we found on the body of the Gnome, after removing the portrait of his wife from it. As for the relic, it was an ornate mirror, which we toook for safekeeping. 

Doven's revelations made clear that what we had suspected was true. Kalarel, the fallen Cleric, and his Death cult were behind all the strange happenings in the region, manipulating everything to give them the time they needed to find a way to open the rift for their master, the Demon Prince of Undeath, Orcus. We head out back to town, intent on speaking with the Lord about this matters, taking the tired townspeople and Doven with us.

We arrive late at night to a most disturbing sight. There was flames and smoke just over the walls. We rush to see if the town was under attack, but as we arrive we find that the Inn was on fire. The militia had managed to control the flames from spreading but there was nothing to be done about the Inn. After the initial shock, we go to ask Salvanna what had happened. She was hugging one of the prisoners we had rescued, a Halfling, who we realize must be her husband. However, all we could get from her were some more ramblings about ghosts and curses. We leave her and her husband, Chuck giving him a weird look, and go to the Lord's house to discuss what we had discovered. 

When we arrive at the manor, we discover that the Lord was already expecting us, having heard the news of the release of his townspeople, and had summoned both the scholar Valtrum and Sister Leonora to speak with us. News travels fast in Winterhaven... After hearing what we had to say, the Lords asks us to forgive him, but when we had first arrived in Winterhaven he had ordered Valtrum not to reveal to much information regarding the Old Keep, until he knew we could be trusted. This was now the time for the full story. Although they knew very little about the cult and they didn't know that they were occupying the Keep, they knew what had happened in the Keep ages ago and what it contained. 

Valtrum explains that today only a select few know that the Old Keep was in old times named Keep on the Shadowfell. The Keep had been constructed by the now extinct Nerath Empire not only for defensive purposes, but especially to watch over a most dangerous anomaly: a rift to the Shadowfell, a region of Hell ruled by the Demon Prince Orcus. Once, the rift had been opened and the legions of Orcus poured out of it and laid waste to the region until they were driven back by the forces of the mighty Nerath Empire. The Empire's wizards had managed to seal the rift, and the keep had been built to guard it. However, the Nerath Empire had eventually collapsed and the Keep became abandoned and unmanned long ago, casting the shadow of the rift over the region. Valtrum believes that the seal must be weakening for a long time now, because strange things started to happen and the road to the Keep became dangerous. Legends of the Keep being haunted grew in the region and nowadays noone dared to travel that way. When asked about the mirror we had found, he could provide no information about it. 

After this, the Lord asked us if we could attempt to vanquish Kalarel and his cult. His militia were too few and too weak to pursue this task, and there was no Empire to count on for aid this time. If we didn't do it, there was nothing stopping the cult from opening the rift and unleash Chaos into the world. Moved by the sense of impending doom and the promise of reward, we accepted and promised to travel to the Keep in the morning. Since the Inn had burned down, Lord Ernest found us lodgings in the homes of his townspeople, where we could rest for the night and prepare for a very busy day...