Session #35 18/7/2214 Battle on the Docks of Woe

Finnris followed by dwarf arbalesters joins the main battle; strange Daray Sea Folk emerge from the deeps to join the attack; their leader summons mephits who blanket the streets in fog. Confused and frightened, many of the defenders retreat. After the fog lifts detachment of Lomari Pride of Nergal are surrounded in a street; Aeshma negotiates with them.
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Vorstag account of last session including start of battle: the waves rolled like exploding thunder  as the ship pierced the waves ,it slid across the waves traveling towards the vile slaver base that of which had its defenses sabotaged by me. The ship docked violently next to the pride of nergal the bronze lions roared for they knew they would kill many a man and they would fall in glory. The powerful priestess cast an impressive wind spell, the dwarfs at the front fell down and a command from me was misinterpreted as i said get up they thought I meant to charge towards the lions and their commander allowed it and charged towards them himself. the dwarf's were quickly slaughtered as they fell for the lions trap. aeshima teleported toward the priestess only seconds after the priestess transformed her into a goldfish and put her in her water skin. the dwarfs retreated after being decimated ,the marines had already set up defenses as the dwarfs had retreated. I bravely jumped off the ship to rescue aeshima from the priest I bravely charged towards the priest i attacked her and almost killed her but it mattered not as my goal had been accomplished our friendly neighborhood warlock had been rescued. The lions had gotten onto ship and were fighting the marines. Thankfully an army rose up from the sea and the king of their nation was able to get the bronze lions to retreat until he dispersed his spell eventually the bronze lions realized they were outnumbered so they called a cease fire and a quick negotiation ensued.           

Session #34 Assault on the Fortress of Woe (lv 9-12)

14/7/2214 Escape Fortress of Woe, pursued by Pride of Nergal and tracker hounds.
15/7/2214 Reach hidden boat on beach, rest until dawn - two shambling mounds pass close by. Row out and rendezvous with Lomari war galley.
16/7/2214 Return to Hurhun and meet with Admiral Azarde.
17/7/2214 Fleet departs Hurhun
18//7/2214 Attack on the Fortress of Woe; 3 war galleys enter the harbour and the assault begins.

Escaping the slaver citadel, PCs return to Hurhun and lead the Quodethi assault fleet against the fortress harbour, meeting heavy resistance from the Pride of Nergal detachment.

The Raid of the Isle of Woe – Part 2

With the boom disabled, we go over the wall and aim to return to the cove where we left the launch so we can take the information we have back to the Quodethi fleet. Not too far away is a grassy knoll and we decide to go that way, planning to use the knoll to screen our departure from the guards on the walls.

On the far side of the knoll looking out on the approach to the harbour we find a somewhat dilapidated watch tower garrisoned by a squad of guards. Aeshma tries the same con as before but succeeds only in spooking them. As the alarm is raised, Vorstag and BB manage to kill the guards’ captain but the others are able to retreat into the tower before we can catch up with them.

The guards pull back to the roof and are able to drop the trapdoor access just as Aeshma gets there. Unfortunately she is seconds too late and instead tries to force open the trapdoor. Amos uses the Thundersword to smash through one of the remaining doors at ground level and finds an alternative route up the back half of the tower. Leaving that door open for BB, Amos and then Vorstag focus their efforts on the trapdoor while Aeshma descends to try to find another way up.

Evidently bored by trying to break down the trapdoor by conventional means, Vorstag assumes his giant sized form, shattering a good portion of the aging tower and nearly knocking Amos off the now seriously damaged staircase. Both are injured by the falling rubble, but Amos takes advantage of the prone Vorstag as a soft landing pad. With BB attacking from the other side the guards are soon dealt with, the last falling to Aeshma’s Eldritch Blast.

Moving towards us from the town we see a group of reinforcements heading by a group of heavily armoured warriors who we recognise as the Pride of Nergal from their armour. Being heavily outnumbered we flee into the cover of the jungle and are able to outdistance the Lomari hoplites.

We return to the launch and, taking cover next to it, decide to rest. Nearly an hour later a pair of shambling mounds wander along the treeline casually feeding. We are sufficiently well hidden that they pass us by without incident. Once they have moved clear we set sail in the launch back to the Quodethi fleet in Hurhun.

We make our report to Admiral Azarde on the presence of the Pride of Nergal and our sabotage of the boom. For the attack we are posted to the lead war galley along with a squad of dwarf silver shields and another of arbalesters as well as a company of Quodethi marines.

The galley gets into the harbour without hindrance but as she manoeuvres next to the dock a large group of Lomari soldiers form up on the quay to oppose us. They are supported by scorpion archers and a pair of Red Chimera warriors. For the moment there is no sign of their priestess.

Seeing them in formation, Aeshma plans a spell to disrupt it but as she casts it the Lion Priestess appears from the shadows and counterspells it. The fight does not start well: a mistaking of Vorstag’s shout of encouragement to the dwarves as an order to advance throws them into the front line of the Lomari who start killing them with their renowned efficiency.

Aeshma tries to take the fight to the priestess by teleporting next to her, but instead becomes polymorphed into a small fish that the priestess carefully places in a waterskin. BB moves forward to engage one of the Chimera fighters while Vorstag orders the dwarves to fall back to the galley. Once they have re-embarked, he sneaks forward and manages to land a powerful blow on the unsuspecting priestess, breaking her concentration and returning Aeshma to her normal form.

Flanked by Aeshma and Vorstag, the priestess stands little chance and with seconds is killed. Aeshma declares her death to the Lomari soldiers who cry out in anger and, following their priestess’ last order, advance to board the ship while the as yet untried Quodethi marines steady themselves to hold the line against them…

Session #33 14/7/2214 - The Isle of Woe (lvl 8-12)

In the jungle PCs meet a renegade Daray freebooter, BB, being chased by a giant troll. Kill troll. Questioning reveals there is now a platoon of Lomari Pride of Nergal - the greatest warriors in the world - at the slaver fortress town. Reach the Fortress of Woe that evening, infiltrate via stream gates north of the fort, get into the wall towers and seduce/kill 2 lots of 3 guards; reach northern sea tower, wipe out the Reaver garrison of 10 and kill Captain Vilstrak, get 6000 gp from his treasure chest. Sever the boom rope and destroy the winch with Thunderblade.
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The Raid on the Isle of Woe (Part 1) Judith/Aeshma

With the launch hidden under the vegetation, we head through the jungle towards the Margish Slavers’ fortress. A couple of hours later the typical jungle sounds are drowned out by the din of a Dhari warrior crashing through the undergrowth pursed by an enormous troll. The Dhari cries out for help and we oblige, attacking the troll. The Dhari, BB McGinty, turns out to quite a skilled warrior but on his own would still have been outmatched by the monstrous troll.

As we rest after the fight BB tells us that he had been a mercenary in the employ of the Slavers but had been forced to run after killing another of their mercenary soldiers in a fight over a girl. He goes on to say that shortly before he fled, he observed a band of armoured Lomari disembark: forty of the Black Lions of Nergal, a Lion Priestess and their entourage. Even such a small group of such renowned warriors will stiffen the resistance of the Margish against the attacks of the combined Kal Zinan and Quodethi forces.

Soon the jungle thins and we reach a ridge line overlooking the natural harbour where the Slavers have built their fortress. A cluster of buildings are surrounded by a curtain wall about 15’-20’ high, punctuated by watch towers and ending in two larger towers that make high walls protecting access to the harbour. Looking at the two harbour towers, Aeshma thinks it likely that they support an underwater boom to defend the harbour, and that the boom will need to be sabotaged to allow the Quodethi galleys into the harbour to land.

The town looks like it holds a little over a thousand people but most of those are likely to be slaves held in large warehouses. The wall has a sturdy main gate, a smaller postern gate and a water gate that allows a small stream to run under the walls and into the town. With the vegetation having been cleared near the town walls we decide to use the cover of darkness and the stream bed to approach the walls.

Being stealthier than the others, Aeshma and Vorstag go forwards to open the water gate and are quickly joined by Zerda. The others soon join us and after we dodge a group of inebriated soldiers – with a little help from Zerda – we decide to use the walls to access the nearest harbour tower. Aeshma and a disguised Zerda, aided by their minder, Vorstag, con the guards into letting us in to the tower, while BB, Amos and Finnris wait the chance to follow.

Vorstag kills two of the guards while with equal speed Aeshma and Zerda kill the third before any alarm can be raised. We take the crimson sashes that identify the Slaver soldiers and start along the wall. Aeshma cons her way through the next two towers by pretending to be a new officer on an inspection patrol.

Soon we reach the harbour tower which is manned by a squad of guards who are both tougher and less gullible than the wall guards led by Captain Volstrak. He allows Aeshma and Vorstag into the tower to explain what they are doing. While these discussions under way, the rest of the party decide to find their own creative way to get into the tower: Zerda, disguised as a woman, convinces the guards on the parapet to throw down a rope to let her up while the others climb. Unfortunately there are more guards on duty than they expected and one is able to give the alarm.

Unsurprisingly the discussion downstairs are quickly curtailed by the alarm being raised and the increasing sound of fighting on the roof as Zerda is quickly joined by BB, Finnris and Amos. Taking advantage of the distraction Vorstag focuses on assassinating Captain Volstrak before he can join the fight and his men last only a few seconds longer. On the next floor down we find one end of the huge winch mechanism used for raising and lowering the harbour boom. Using the Thunder Sword Amos smashes it into unusable splinters and cuts the rope releasing the boom to fall to the sea floor.

With the main harbour defence out of action for at least a week we focus on getting back to the launch so we can alert the fleet to the presence of the Lomari contingent…

Isle of Woe Slaver Fortress

Session #32 20/5-14/7/2214 - Ruins of Hurhun (lvl 8-11)

Ruins of Hurhun

20/5: Dwarf Masters thank the PCs for rescuing Aybrel Arn and agree to commit 500 dwarf warriors to a joint attack on the Isle of Woe, mustering at the ruins of Hurhun. PCs are joined by Amos of Iron City, an Ammurath barbarian survivor of the ambushed slave caravan near the Shrine of the Chalice.

23/5: Departure for Quodeth.

5/6: Arrive in Quodeth, meet with Queen Deyane & co.

12/6: Leave Quodeth on a fast Xebec back to Kal-Zinan.

22/6: Arrive back in Kal-Zinan.

25/6: Leave Kal-Zinan at the head of the dwarf army on the Road of Smoking Waters.

1/7: Autumn solstice. Leave the mountains.

3/7: Reach Hurhun. Battle skeletal cyclops, chimera and band of scavengers; Amos proving adept with the dwarven thundersword. Aeshma tells the scavenger gangs the Good Word of Mithra.

10/7: Quodeth fleet under Admiral Azarde arrives at Hurhun quays. Plan is made to send PCs as scouts to Isle of Woe, dropped off on a ship's boat away from the island.

13/7: Evening - PCs arrive at Isle of Woe on a jungle beach 12 miles from the Fortress of the Slavers. Council boat & battle zombies & ghasts.

14/7: Dawn - PCs set off for the slaver fortress.

The Chimera of Hurhun - by Aeshma

Once back in Kal Zinan we are introduced to a Quodethi Myrmidon, Amos of the Iron Hills, a survivor of the troglodyte raids on merchant caravans. With limited employment prospects from the dwarves, he agrees to join us for a short time.

Zerda negotiates with the High Master about the alliance against the Margish forces on the Isle of Woe. It is agreed that 500 of Kal Zinan’s heavy infantry and arbalesters will march from the dwarf city to rendezvous with the Quodethi fleet at the deep water harbour of ruined Hurhun.

Following his abortive discussions with the Lomari, Durmuth Ursk, High Priest of Nergal, feels that it is likely the Lomari will ally with Marg now that Quodeth has forged an alliance with Kal Zinan. Aeshma feels that Durmuth Ursk is checking we will be suitably belligerent as the dwarves’ allies given his natural preference for the militant approach of Lomar against Quodeth’s more mercantile attitude.

We return to Quodeth in company with the Indefatigable carrying the armaments purchased by Vorstag on behalf of the Sedarnels. Zerda reports back to the Palace where it is confirmed the Quodethi forces will be under the command of Azarde Two-Blades while Zerda is to be the liaison between Quodeth and the Kal Zinan dwarves. Finnris visits the gypsy fortune teller whose last card is turned to reveal a rearing lion: perhaps a portent of war with Lomar?

Leaving the Autumn Moon in Quodeth we take a fast Xebec back to Kal Zinan where Aeshma is able to collect the shield that Tarm has enchanted for her. She now gives her magic bronze shield bearing the sunburst of Mithra to Finnris.

As planned we march with the dwarven vanguard towards the ruined city of Hurhun. As we walk amongst the shattered building we hear the alarm raised by the dwarvish scouts ahead of us. Seconds later a skeletal cyclops looms over a broken wall but Vorstag and Finnris are able to react more quickly and destroy it before it can make its strength felt.

Aeshma and Vorstag are able to spot movement in the shadows as a leonine monster tries to take advantage of the distraction offered by the cyclops to ambush us. Amos too had an inkling of its presence and charges to take it on with his greatsword. The creature, a chimera, counterattacks with terrifying effectiveness, tearing gouges with its claws and spitting poison from its snake-like tail. Vorstag tries to use his harpoon to drag it closer to us but the chimera proves too strong and leaps away.

Finnris pursues it followed by Amos while Zerda and Aeshma use magic against it: a combination of eldritch blasts and a flaming sphere. Eventually they bring it to bay in its lair and, although by this point seriously wounded, Amos is the one to land the killing strike.

Exploring the lair we find 1400gp, a Spider Pot and a magical stone eye, identified by Zerda as an Eye of Dhuoth. As it is an artefact of the Great Old Ones Aeshma advises giving it into the keeping of her patron Kallesh Gan at the Church of Mithra where it can be studied and kept out of the hands of those who would use it. Vorstag thinks it might be used to research a cure for the Plague of Eyes. All this discussion is moot when Amos uses the Thunder Sword borrowed from Finnris to shatter it.

A little while later as we rest following the fight with the chimera, we are attacked by a band of scavengers. Most are killed but the last two surrender, saying they had only attacked because they were hungry. Aeshma pays the dwarven commissary for some rations to feed them and warns them against the lure of dark cults.

The next (edit) week, the war galley Pride of Quodeth arrives carrying Admiral Azarde Two-Blades. In a rare departure from their usual sniping conversation, Azarde warns Zerda about Niram Terinth, another of Queen Deyane councillors as well as being a particularly wealthy merchant and Guildmaster of the Mint whom he suspects of being a Set cultist.

Bearing in mind the possibility of the Margish slave citadel being reinforced by Lomari troops Finnris then Zerda propose a small scouting party go ahead to the Isle of Woe to make a reconnaissance. Aeshma agrees with one of Azarde’s aides a code of light flashes to enable us to report on the Margish and Lomari presence on the island.

Using a borrowed launch we safely reach the island and drag the launch up the beach to hide under some vegetation. From the lie of the land it looks like it will take a couple of days to reach the Margish fort…