The Adventures of the New Party Continue:
Scouting Expedition
Gunther wanted us to scout out the forest to the north, and clear it of any elven presence. All of the previous expeditions into the forest have failed, the scouts died before even entering the forest. It's up to us to clear the forest of elves to make Gunther's northern border free of the enemy. Gunther wasn't sure if we could do it alone, so he got a new recruit from the barracks to join up with us temporarily, he was named Toric. We thought of many different battle plans: horses and just charge in, tower shields forming the turtle, building a tank out of a wagon and tower shields, and many other ludicrous ideas. We ended up using tower shields to get us into the forest, and then formed the turtle when appropriate. We encountered elves that were always 70 yards away from us. And we kept on killing them or chasing them off. We tracked some of them to a poorly covered entrance in the ground. We opened the door and followed the tunnels north. We came upon a Kobold that was chained outside a pair of double doors. The Kobold introduced itself as Blurp, and that this is the entrance to a Gnomish city. Blurp proclaimed Mr. Amnesia as his master after Mr. Amnesia freed the Kobold from his chain. We encountered a image of an Elven Queen, and she tried to convince us to talk with Gunther and put an end to the conflict between Gunther and the Elves. We informed her that we would do as she wished, but that we can't guarantee anything. We then followed a different tunnel which headed south and we came upon a rope ladder. The tunnel continued south, but we decided to explore the ladder. It ends up taking us out onto the plains between the forest we had just entered and Gunther's Keep. A large contingent of knights on horseback galloped past us into the forest; they were the real scouting party.
Second Summoning
We started heading back to Gunther's Keep when we were once again summoned by the same human female, this time it's to fight some centipedes that she couldn't handle. She expected Ogres, but she got us. After defeating the centipedes, a few members of the group assaulted her, and tied her up. We started to explore this new region, and found out that we were within a complex with many buildings, somewhat in ruin. We killed Skeletons, Goblins, Kobolds, Baboons, Rats, Hobgoblins, and Ogres. We also found a fountain. Tiberius was thirsty, so he took a drink from the fountain, and he got stronger. A couple others drank from it, and they got clumsy, smart, strong, puke, paralyzed, blinded, healthy, and/or weak.
We explored the entire upper complex and found a staircase going down, where we encountered more Hobgoblins and Bugbears. While Mr. Amnesia and I were paralyzed, and tied to a tree limb, the rest of the party explored a lower level of the dungeon. They found a Kobold enclave and killed many Kobolds. But had to retreat back to the fountain room. Once Mr. Amnesia and I recovered from the paralysis, we ventured back in the dungeon and to explore the first level. We found a room with many forges in it, Toric was killed while we were fighting about fifteen Hobgoblins and Bugbears. We rescued a Dwarven smithy who was helping the Hobgoblins craft weapons.
We found the Hobgoblin King, and Tiberius killed him before the King could react. So Tiberius proclaimed himself as King of the Hobgoblins. The Hobgoblins that were the former King's personal bodyguards followed Tiberius as loyal subjects, until early in the morning, when they attacked us in a futile attempt to show who really was the dominant race. Within the Hobgoblin Kings chamber were two chests, when Mr. Amnesia tried to open the first chest, a poisoned dart hit him in the head and he died. We finally found a way down to the next level, where there was a huge maze of tunnels. Down one of the tunnels were some fire lizards that killed Dhayne, and almost took out Tiberius. And finally the summon spell wore off, and we were teleported back out onto the field halfway between the Elven Forest and Gunther's Keep.
"The puny mortals ran in fear of me. I, the great Fyrentennimar, knew that they would flee before even seeing me. How could they have killed a dragon, when they were dying against Hobgoblins, Fire Lizards, and a simple trap from a chest. Pathetic!!! They will never be of the caliber to handle a dragon... I doubt they could truly handle a Golem, not even some of the weakest ones... Stone Golems, unless they were to do something stupid like... umm... Wrap them in curtains or something foolish like that... Nah, that would never work."
The Elven Army
Unfortunately we were not alone out on the plains. We were a mere 50 yards behind the Elven Army's lines. There were siege towers, and hundreds, if not thousands of elves massing in this field. We realized that we were close to the hole in the ground, so we made a run for it, carrying and dragging our dead. We were spotted by a few elves and they started to pursue us. We all got down in the to hole, and fearing that our dead would slow us down, we dropped them off in the tunnel to the north. Then we proceeded to run to the south. After traveling for a couple miles underground, the tunnel came to a dead end. There was a rope ladder hanging from thirty feet up. Lynx climbed the ladder and opened a trap door. We found ourselves in a barracks room. We cut the ladder, pulled it up, and exited the barracks room. Outside the room, there was a note nailed to the door, saying that this room has been closed by order of Ornin Carl.
We headed towards Gunther's main house, and were greeted at the door by guards, and I said that I am Malyus, apprentice to Master Dilherst and wished to have an audience with him immediately. The guards ran off to get another apprentice, and he was very surprised to see me. They thought we were dead. We informed Master Dilherst of the massing Elven Army to the north, of our adventures for the past few weeks in the distant land of Alram, and of the secret tunnel into the barracks. Lord Gunther and his advisors gathered for another meeting, with our tales being the subject of the meeting. Master Dilherst reiterated his position to flee the Keep, while the Captain of the Guard continued to insist that there was no need to flee from pansy elves. The matter of Ornin Carl was brought up, and he was a former commander in Gunther's Army, but he tried to assassinate Gunther. He fled to his home north of the Free Vineyard. Previous parties tried to get Ornin Carl's body, dead or alive, but had failed miserably. So Gunther told us that we were to assist the previous party's survivors to get Ornin Carl's body. This was where we met Krytir and Ahlara. Tiberius was ordered to join the Military, and he was given command of his own unit.
Ornin Carl
We did a little shopping before we headed out to get Ornin Carl, we purchased magic items, sold gems and jewelry, purchased provisions, Blurp made a Chariot that's his size, and got a war dog to pull it, and I made some leather barding for the dog. Then Krytir and Ahlara led us to Ornin Carl's place. We made it to the complex, which was a two-story house, with a tall metal fence around the perimeter. Inside the fence was an over turned wagon and a well. The well was a secret entrance into the dungeon, but we never figured that out. Inside the house were three archers that attempted to stop us from getting to the house, but they failed horribly as we were able to get inside and dispose of them in a short manner. There is a door in the floor of one of the rooms, and we proceeded to enter the dungeon.
We were able to sneak in a little, pretending that we were the guards from above and that it was time to change shifts. They let us in through the portcullis, and we killed the guards. We found a jail, and told the jailer that we were new recruits, and he told us to head down stairs. There was another portcullis that we were able to parlay our way through, but we met heavier resistance this time. We fought in this guardroom and in the mess hall a bit later. Then we discovered where Ornin Carl was located. When we busted into his room, he was escorted by a Priest and a Mage. The Priest cast Hold Person, and stopped Lynx and Krytir in their tracks. So all that's left was Blurp, Alahra, Me and my pets. The Mage died quickly, followed by the Priest, then by Alahra, and then Ornin Carl. We bandaged Alahra, and then looted the bodies and room. After cleaning out Ornin Carl, I Embalmed him, to ensure that he stayed nice and fresh for the trip back to Gunther's Keep.
We then tried to leave the dungeon, but when we got back to the main stairway, we found out that the house was on fire above us. So we started to look for another way out. We went down a corridor and discovered two statues behind the curtains, Blurp cut down the curtains and 'tied' them up. They animated and were unable to move, so the two Stone Golems died. Unable to find an exit, we took over the lower barracks as our campsite. By morning, the house was done burning, and we were able to leave, only to find out that the Free Vineyard was also burning to the ground...
Gunther's Keep
We found out who burned down Ornin Carl's house and the Free Vineyard. It was a group of Elves, as I suspected. When we entered the Free Vineyard, we found Mangra dragging charred bodies out of buildings, to perform some death ritual on them. We decided to bring Mangra with us to Gunther's Keep. When we approached it, we noticed an army outside of the Keep, the House of Deluse, and Elves on horseback entering the Keep alone and leaving the Keep with two additional elven passengers. We didn't notice any structural damage to the Keep, so we decided to approach. When we got near the front gate, a human guard recognized Lynx and told us to get Ahlara, one of the many half-elven daughter's of Gunther, out of here unless we wanted her to die. The guard then noticed us with Ornin Carl's body, and told us to get rid of it unless we wanted to die. We also learned that Gunther, and possibly Master Dilherst, were taken prisoner.
So we headed back to the Free Vineyard to decide what to do and to dispose of Carl's body. It was nighttime by now, so we started to gather wood for the night, and it started to snow. We took cover in the only building that remained standing in the Free Vineyard, a Winery made of stone. During the night, two Winter Wolves came to the building. Lynx shot two arrows at the doorframe, he meant to shoot them at the Winter Wolf at the door's entrance but missed horribly. Meanwhile, Mangra was using his Psionic abilities to boost his strength, and he charged outside after the closest wolf, Ahlara and my three skeletal wolves followed him. The Winter Wolf did not last longer that the first round; the other Winter Wolf started to flee. The next morning, I skinned the pelt off the dead Winter Wolf and Blurp cut off its head and is planning on making a new Chariot out of it. I then decided to grab all the interesting spells out of the newly acquired spell book. We also decided to go and try to find out more information about Gunther and how he was defeated without a fight. We thought it best for us all to rest for at least a day, this allowed Mangra to heal all of us with his Psionic abilities, Thanks Mangra.
The Rescue
Everyone disguised themselves as we headed back to the Keep. Upon arrival, we found Robert the Warhammer at the Keep's entrance giving a speech to his army. We notice his army consists of two different groups of humans: those that came here with him and the students of the academy. When his speech is done, we walked into the Keep unnoticed and went toward the market district to find out more information. The magic shop was open, and inside we found a storekeeper named Darren. Darren told us that Robert the Warhammer came here and told Gunther that he was here to help him against the elves. Robert then led his army north to engage the elves, and returned shortly thereafter in victory. During the night was when all hell broke loose, the elves showed up and helped Robert the Warhammer take control of the Keep. Darren believed that Gunther was still alive in a prison, and also told us that all the half-elven males and aggressive females were being held prisoner in the parade grounds.
We decided to save Gunther, so we went to the Big House. We were stopped by guards, so we had to find another route in, and we found a secret entrance through the wine cellar. It led us inside to a bathroom, and then to a hallway which led us to the jail. Inside the jail, we found Tiberius, Master Dilherst, Gunther, and the rest of Gunther's council. We freed them and Gunther told us to go after the Windsword, and then meet him at his cousins. Then we would regain control of Gunther's Keep.