Session 20 Report

General Summary

Haymin’s Heroes traveled west along the road for the majority of the first day. Along the way they stopped by the Cornwall villa to check up on their first clients, who greeted them with tea and pleasant conversation. Later in the day, the party came across some travelers who warned them of potential dangers farther down the road. A merchant wagon had been attacked and there were at least two men dead. Later, when Haymin’s Heroes reached this wagon, they examined the site. Two men, armed an armored like hired guards had been slain by arrows. The wagon was off the side of the road and had clearly been looted. No other bodies, or survivors could be found. Titta Morco examined the scene while Ladigo Farthon examined the surrounding area. Titta found enough evidence to suggest there were at least six assailants, humanoids, probably orcs or hobgoblins, judging by the width and shape of their boot prints. Four humanoids, most likely humans were taken captive and forced away with their attackers. This attack must have occurred within the past twenty-four hours. In the woods to the south of the scene, Ladigo found their trail leading away. Haymin’s Heroes concluded that they must be coming from the caves around the Temple of the Eye. They hoped they could catch them before they reached their lairs and hurried after them. Titta tried her best to follow the tracks, but it proved a difficult exercise at pace. They were forced to slow down, search again for the trail, and continue. As their day’s travel was nearly spent, they eventually made camp in the forest. The next day, Titta picked up the trail again and followed. It did not appear as if they were making any ground with the prisoners likely forced to march at pace by their captors. Late in the day, the party reached a stream flowing west to east. At this stream, they lost the tracks. They decided to follow the stream west and after about an hour, it led them to the ravine they were searching for. They could make out some of the cave openings along the slopes of the ravine, matching them with their map. There was not much activity in the ravine, mainly some birds, but it appeared as if most land bound creatures avoided the area. With only a couple of hours of daylight remaining, they resolved to rest for the night and come back in the morning. Everything labeled on the map was either nocturnal, or could see in the dark. Haymin’s Heroes opted for caution, not wanting to get caught at a disadvantage when the sun went down. They camped to the southeast, expecting the denizens of the ravine to travel most often north towards the road. Throughout the night they heard sounds coming from the direction of the ravine, but spent the evening in the cold darkness, undisturbed. About midmorning they returned to the ravine, waiting for the sun to be high in the eastern sky. The kobold cave would be their first destination. They could not be sure which creatures had the prisoners, the orcs, the hobgoblins, or maybe, they had been given to the Temple of the Eye. Given the layout of the ravine, they again opted for caution, starting low, with the kobolds, then planning on continuing with the goblins. They were the two weakest races and their locations were the easiest to reach unseen. Plus, the party feared getting caught from behind if they began their search deeper within the valley. They entered the kobold cave at the bottom of the northern rise. They had to enter single file as the entrance was short and narrow. Inside, however, the cave widened to where they could stand two abreast. It was dark inside, but they illuminated their surroundings with an everburning torch and a sunrod. The corridor went twenty feet before splitting in a T intersection. As they examined the intersection, Auren Sylynn spotted some kobolds hiding in an alcove to the northeast. Another pair of them came down the corridor from the east to investigate the lights the party were carrying. Titta rushed into battle first, but unknowingly triggered the pit trap at the intersection. She fell down ten feet and watched as the opening began to close automatically. As the others charged forward as well, Sinjin Fairchild, Pyzar Zim, and Ladigo riding Pennig, all fell into the pit, failing to clear the jump around the corner in the middle of the action. The resulting chaos affected the fight drastically. Three dire rats came from the western passage to attack, biting at party from around the corner, unwilling to jump down into the pit. Auren jumped across to face the kobolds, but Selia Roselyn Maxwell, Mogi Delvin, and Fisher remained in the entrance passage, unable to cross the pit as the ledges surrounding it became occupied. Then four more kobolds attacked from the rear, following them into the cave. Titta managed to climb out of the pit, clinging on to the auto-rising panel and pulling it down to get a grip. Sinjin used his psionic ability to run up the wall and escape. Pyzar picked up Ladigo and helped him up while Pennig jumped and clawed his way out. Eventually, Pyzar climbed out himself to join the battle. Many of the party were wounded, the group split between three kobolds to the east of the pit, four kobolds to the south, and the dire rats from the west. Ladigo cast Entangle on a large group of kobolds coming down the eastern passage, preventing them from joining the fray. Then he focused on healing those hurt. In the course of the fight, Selia was brought down by a dire rat after attempting to kick it. Then Fisher fell, surrounded by kobolds and a dire rat. Eventually, Haymin’s Heroes finished off the remaining kobolds and dire rats. Auren rigged the pit trap to stay closed, wedging it shut with a kobold spear. And when the Entangle faded away, they readied to face an onslaught of kobolds from the eastern passage, a combination of armed and armored males and females. Early on in this fight, a handful of kobolds were defeated by Titta’s scimitars and Pyzar’s greatsword. The pair of them held the front line in the corridor, outmatching the pairs of kobolds that faced them. Then the kobolds retreated into a large chamber to give themselves room to maneuver and hopefully surround the intruders. Whereas this seemed to work slightly in their favor, it was not enough. With the full force of Haymin’s Heroes bearing down on them, the kobolds were soundly defeated. Then Haymin’s Heroes regrouped and healed what they could with the few remaining spells and potions. After catching their breath, they decided to continue onward. They could use the kobold lair as a place to rest, but they had to make sure it was entirely clear. They followed down a northern corridor they had passed while pursuing the kobolds a few minutes before. They came to another T intersection. To the west there was a short hallway that ended in a door. To the east the corridor was much longer. As they cautiously stepped into the intersection, arrows came from the east, where they could see at least three kobolds wielding shortbows.

Campaign

The Heart of Embril

Protagonists