We went in the back door? Report

General Summary

1489 DR - Summer - 1, Flamerule (7) - Sword Coast - Khundrukar

• -The crew, rested, begins scouring the top fortress level, moving toward the entrance.
• -They find more startled orcs, and slaying them, also free some prisoners who are grateful and are left to sneak out the back.
• -They sneak further forward, only to surprise the bridge guard archers from behind and slay them easily
• -Sneaking into the archer guard position, they find a sleeping guard, Fallen attempts to drain his life, only to have the orc ring the alarm bell before dying.
• -The other guard posts open fire, and the crew rushes back to the bridge, only to find orcs there trying to cut it off from the other side.
• -Damien attacks with a javelin, Lucyan with Burning Light, Huden with bolts of magic and Fallen traverses the tight rope and engages the orcs directly. None of this stops them from cutting the bridge before being slain.
• -Damien finds the other secret door is wedged shut, and the main gate slams closed behind them.
• -Worgs attack Fallen from the hallway and he retreats along the cliff face. Laughter comes from within the cavern.
• -The secret door is pried open and orcs begin to pour out, only to be obliterated by Huden's Shatter spell.
• -The final orcs are cut down, Fallen makes it back across, and the wolves retreat into the fortress again.
• -The crew inspects the entrance and then travels back into the main barracks looking for the source of the laughter.
• -They find quarters and are ambushed by the Worgs and Ulfe the OGRE
• -The fight is the most difficult faced yet! Fallen twisting and draining Ulfes legs, Huden crushing his mind, and Damien slicing off whole shanks of felsh, while Lucyan defends the group from being flanked by Worgs.
• -Fallen is slain by a crushing axe blow, Huden is cleaved nearly in two by Ulfes incredible swing, and Damien is knocked out with a back slash. Lucyan stands alone, but then reveals his ability to transform into a swarm of vermin, becoming rats and regenerating in order to revive Damien, who then slays Ulfe.
• -Fallen and Huden find themselves in complete void of light, and are spoken to by someone inhabiting what looks like Sabyn. They are told that they do not have permission to pay this price yet, and two strange creatures are sacrificed to pay their blood debt for them while they watch. -Both are miraculously healed from outright lethal wounds, and yet do not fully understand why, but still feel some type of dark power radiating from inside.
• -The team spends some time recovering, barricaded in Ulfe's chamber, however the fortress seems now void of orcs and quiet as a tomb.
• -They travel back to the lower level and discover the resting places of the dwarves who defended the mountain, they rob the graves without remorse.
• -They break their way into a barricaded cave through an organic mud door and are ambushed by a crowd of trogolodytes.
• -After clearing the trogs out they venture into the shamans lair, only to be ambushed by a giant lizard, which they dispatch with some surprise. Only to be ambushed by a spellcasting trog who sets them all alight and then puts the party to sleep. Only Lucyan stays awake being immune and retaliates, slaying the shaman.
• -The crew then murders the remaining trogs and their offspring, and discover the corpses of the prisoners they rescued earlier.
• -The team takes some time to reflect as they feel they have become more powerful.

Rewards Granted

Some fancy equipment, potions, scrolls, and a pile of money.

Missions/Quests Completed

Cleared the orcs completely from the fortress, wiped out the trogolodyte den. Huden and Fallen realized that there really IS something watching over them and guiding them, but for what purpose?