War for Gateway Session Recap #12
April 21st, 569 CR
After spending several days relaxing and exploring the Temple of Mardura, Wyvern Squad is on the move once more. They plan to return to the Sunken Temple and attempt to reconnect with the Cynalonian Army, but first they want to see where the odd portal in the portal room goes to. This one requires the keystone to be turned around and the middle gem fits into a round depression.
The portal takes Wyvern Squad a hallway with three other portals. All of these portals have a raised circular area where the large keystone gem can be placed into. Sann estimates that the group is now some 400' underground. It's clear from the dust and debris on the floor that no one has been here for a very long time.
A hallway leads away from this area. Along the way there are stairs going up on the left and right. The hallway ends at a pair of closed stone double doors. A faint light can be seen underneath the doors. Small openings are noted either side of the double doors.
A pair of smaller hallways circle around and each leads into a room with arrow slits that look out into the main hallway past the closed stone doors. Inside this kill zone are four Mardura Statues and the dead body of a cultist of Set lies on the floor. Both sets of doors in this hallway are partially open.
The stairs lead up to a second floor. Much of this area is made up of barracks, private rooms, and a mess hall. There are more arrow slits that look out into a large dock area. The far middle section of the lower area is open to water. Sitting on the water is the fancy barge that Herit was spotted on when the group killed the Least Son of Set back in Session #4. On the dock are more areas where hover barges were once kept. Two barges remain, but are partially buried when some of the ceiling collapsed. The dock leads out into a built canal that looks similar to the type the undead were building back at the Lake of Bones.
Herit is served by a dozen cultists and there are several flying serpents in the area. Herit looks like a flawlessly beautiful human female. She is demanding that her subjects find the key her brother used to possessed. The group figures this to the be Keystone that they have been using to travel through the portals. Without the Keystone, Herit is stuck here!
The group decides to approach Herit to find out if she is friend or foe. The first set of stone doors are forced open and a small hallway leads to the kill zone. The partially ajar door is opened wide enough to allow passage. This reveals the hallway with the statues and the dead cultist. As the group enters the hallway the shape of a serpent appears and hisses loudly! Just as quickly as it appeared, the serpent vanishes. It's some sort of Alarm spell that alerts those in the dock.
“Those who seek to Worship me may approach,” Herit calls out. Saladino, Eris approach with Daubney and Kendell close by. Saladino tries to charm the snake woman, but she responds with, “You're like old and leathery.” Herit demands the group return her brothers belongings. They refuse and battle ensues.
The cultist rush to attack in the name of their goddess, but are no match for the group. Sleep spells from Anik and Eris remove half their number. Herit utters a command word and the snake-like bracelet she was wearing transforms into a gigantic 25' long serpent! Everyone focuses on the giant snake as it moves to attack. Daubeny and Kendell rush forward and the serpent sprays poison from its mouth on them! Arrows and magic assault the giant serpent while Saladino rushes up the back of the snake and attacks its head from behind while Daubeny and Kendell strike from below. The snake dies and vanishes. The bracelet reappears on Herit's wrist, but the Daughter of Set has fled on her hover barge once more.
With Herit gone and the only other way out is by water, Wyvern Squad returns to the portal and goes back to the Temple of Mardura. From there they use the portal to travel back to the Sunken Temple. As the portal starts to take form, movement is noted on the other side. Several dwarves in plate mail armor are spotted battling goblins! The portal is noted by the dwarves and a human among them takes notice as well.
Wyvern Squad passes through the portal as the fighting is settling down. The human introduces himself as Sorvani Caladon, part of the Cynalonian Army. The dwarves are part of a unit allied with the Cynalonian Army as part of this campaign. They are called the Goblin Kickers and specialize in close quarters combat. They are led by a Lieutenant Stonebeard and a Sergeant Shalecrusher. Ma Granite is the groups healer and a Priestess of Berronar Truesilver. Berronar is a dwarven goddess of Safety, Truth, Home and Healing. She is the wife of Moradin, the creator god of the dwarven race. The faiths of Berronar and Azrella have some similarities.
This group is part of a larger unit from Fort Graystone that is chasing after the broken enemy army. Their mission is the remove as many of the enemy as possible, locate their bases and destroy them. This unit is commanded by Sir Justin Moore, one of the Knights of the Golden Griffon, the order of knights in direct service to the King.
While trailing the enemy this group discovered a goblin presence in the Sunken Temple and eliminated it. Aiding Sir Justin is his Squire Armon Flamehilt. Other humans of note besides Sorvani include Kayla Sertan, a Priestess of Mystra, the Goddess of Magic, and Mara Korvin, a ranger in the service of Ehlonna. Many regular human soldiers are among the group as well. Wyvern Squad shares some of their story including the destruction of the Eagle's Nest outpost.
“It sounds to me that your band had a large hand in causing the siege to break,” Sir Moore observes. “Its difficult to control such a large and unruly group as it is, but take away their food and drink... That's when they reach the breaking point. Well done!”
“The dragon attacked Fort Graystone a few days ago, but we were able to drive it off,” Sir Moore continues. “The foul beast is called Emerald and it has plagued this region for years now. Keep your eyes open for the beast overhead.”
Food and drink are offered to Wyvern Squad. The group follows along with Sir Justin's band. The fleeing goblinoids left a very easy to follow trail that eventually leads back to Bollo's Shield. There, the large unit sees four hill giants trying to break their way into the ancient dwarven fortress. There are holes in the outer walls of the complex thanks to the hungry giants. Sir Justin charges into battle and attacks one of the hill giants with his lance. Then he dismounts to directly attack the lumbering giant. The group follows, splitting up to attack the giants. After a fierce battle the four hill giants lay dead.
However, the way into the fortress is now block. A hill giant tried to crawl into the entrance way, but was killed by spears and missile fired from the arrow slots along the way. The portcullis was then dropped on the hill giant, pinning him in place. This must have happened a few days ago, as now the hill giant corpse has reanimated as a skeleton! His skin has been shed and this gigantic skeleton now blocks the way into the fortress!
War for Gateway Session Recap #12
War for Gateway Session Recap #12
Try it and find out!
Re: War for Gateway Session Recap #12
GM Notes:
As noted in session, there was another part of the Sunken Temple complex that the group didn't find earlier. It was through a cave and led to several rooms that used to connect to the complex that group searched. There were several chambers the goblins and their worgs lived in.
You've caught back up with the Cynalonian Army once more. The terms of your enlistment was that you would work for the army until Gateway was liberated. Once that is accomplished you are free agents once more. The group was seen emerging from the portal multiple people. What story are you going to tell them on how you did that?
Here's the map and Key for the area I call the Hub, the subterranean dock where Herit was encountered.
Hub Level 1:
1 – Portal Hallway - The M is the location of the portal back to the Mardura Temple.
2 – Long Hallway – The arrows are stairs going up.
3 – Secured Hallway.
4 – Defenders Chambers – These 2 rooms are identical. They allow missile fire into the kill zone.
5 – Kill Zone – Chamber has 4 Mardura statues in it and a dead cultists. Doors were partially open.
6 – Large Ancient Dock Area – Hover barges were stored here in the past for use on the underground canal. (That's what the rectangles are on the map.) Now only 2 barges remain, partially buried under rubble.
As noted in session, there was another part of the Sunken Temple complex that the group didn't find earlier. It was through a cave and led to several rooms that used to connect to the complex that group searched. There were several chambers the goblins and their worgs lived in.
You've caught back up with the Cynalonian Army once more. The terms of your enlistment was that you would work for the army until Gateway was liberated. Once that is accomplished you are free agents once more. The group was seen emerging from the portal multiple people. What story are you going to tell them on how you did that?
Here's the map and Key for the area I call the Hub, the subterranean dock where Herit was encountered.
Hub Level 1:
- wfg015.jpg (67.87 KiB) Viewed 1852 times
1 – Portal Hallway - The M is the location of the portal back to the Mardura Temple.
2 – Long Hallway – The arrows are stairs going up.
3 – Secured Hallway.
4 – Defenders Chambers – These 2 rooms are identical. They allow missile fire into the kill zone.
5 – Kill Zone – Chamber has 4 Mardura statues in it and a dead cultists. Doors were partially open.
6 – Large Ancient Dock Area – Hover barges were stored here in the past for use on the underground canal. (That's what the rectangles are on the map.) Now only 2 barges remain, partially buried under rubble.
Try it and find out!
Re: War for Gateway Session Recap #12
Hub Level 2:
7 – Circular Hallway.
8 – Armory – Much like the Mardura temple, this area was abandoned and very little left behind.
9 – Defensive area overlooking the dock down below.
10-12 – Mess hall, kitchen, pantry
13 – Barracks.
14 – Private rooms.
Current Hit Points:
Daubeny – 32 of 54
Kendell – 62 of 64
Saladino – 21 of 43
Now what?
- wfg016.jpg (101.57 KiB) Viewed 1851 times
7 – Circular Hallway.
8 – Armory – Much like the Mardura temple, this area was abandoned and very little left behind.
9 – Defensive area overlooking the dock down below.
10-12 – Mess hall, kitchen, pantry
13 – Barracks.
14 – Private rooms.
Current Hit Points:
Daubeny – 32 of 54
Kendell – 62 of 64
Saladino – 21 of 43
Now what?
Try it and find out!