Session VII: The End of the Shire Report

General Summary

Balin's rescue

A mysterious trail

Nalan and Oswald Fleetfeet are resting at the campfire near their hut when they see Rognaz passing by. They question Rognaz about Balin Thornbow's whereabouts, to which he answers quite weirdly that he's off hunting in the jungle. Not much later they hear a weird noise at the back of the hut. Upon investigation they find two bugbears dragging some sort of sack forth. Tristan Zabaleta follows them stealthy and sees them disappearing in the weedfields. Upon closer inspection they discover a secret hole in the weedfields with a ladder. They decide to descend the ladder and inspect the following rooms, discovering a tripwire activating a fire trap just in time. They circumvent triggering the trap and reach the hobgoblin mass grave. Shortly after, they reach the cultist altar with Tovzol standing near a Balin strapped to a torture X-cross. They decide to attack Tovzol, who animates one of the gargoyle statues. During the fight, Tristan manages to help Balin get to his equipment who in the end knocks out Tovzol. Although the adventurers nearly lose to the gargoyle they manage to come out victorious and tie Tovzol up. Upon awakening they quickly realize Tovzol is too mad to deal with and they decide to end his life. Upon inspecting the coffin in the room they discover the true Sloniz is long dead.

The meeting with Jens

After battling Tovzol the adventurers continue down the path, avoiding another trap, and Tristan recognizes the red curtain in the other rooms: they are below the Quartermaster's. The adventurers decide Tristan should continue going to his meeting with Quartermaster Jens, while the others lay in ambush behind the curtains. When Tristan meets with Jens he urges to speak with him in his basement, instead of making a stroll around town. Tristan fails at his persuasion however, and him and Jens make a nice walk. Upon interrogating Jens, Tristan discovers Jens wishes to take over from Sloniz and asks the support of the adventurers in this. Furthermore, he reveals that he knows about Tristan's friends laying in ambush, having heard them torturing Tovzol with the 'Knee in Neck' move. In the end, Tristan and Jens descend into Jens's basement and the adventurers agree to help Jens. Jens ensures he will make sure they can leave safely if they kill Sloniz, or who/what ever has taken his place, though they won't be able to count on his support should things go awry before this. He hints at them it would be wise to take out Driamzos before the fight, as he will certainly come to Sloniz's aid should need arise. In addition, Jens will ensure the bugbear guards of the Shire are distracted to give the adventurers time to finish off Sloniz.

Battling Sloniz

Taking care of Driamzos

The adventurers decide to take out Driamzos before dealing with Sloniz. They crawl under his hut, make a hole in the bamboo floor and enter his hut where they encounter Driamzos, Lars and another goblin. They are able to almost silently finish each of them thanks to Oswald's Sleep spell. Nevertheless, a bugbear guard is alarmed who comes to the hut. Luckily, Oswald succeeds in mimicking Driamzos' voice through a Prestidigation spell and the guard leaves them alone. Upon reading Driamzos's diary, they discover Jens is in truth his cousin, making them further doubt Jens's true intentions. Nevertheless they decide to continue their fight against Sloniz. Outside of the hut they signal Jens's people who distract one of the bugbears guarding Sloniz's tent. The other bugbear is killed silently, by a combination of arrows from Balin and Tristan. After getting rid of the body, they enter Sloniz's tent to confront him.

Sloniz's tent

Upon entering the tent, they see 4 goblins sitting in the middle of the tent with Sloniz residing in the back. They confront Sloniz that he's an impersonator, upon which Sloniz reveals his true identity: he transforms into a Dremora and reveals his true name Sarados. He tells them of the history of the Shire and indulges them on his divine master Sanguine. He offers them a peaceful outcome, in which he answers one question of the adventurers. They refuse however, and combat ensues. Suddenly, the plants next to them transform into Imps. Sarados repeatedly attempts to cast 'Crown of Madness' on Nalan but to no avail. He awakens another Weakened Gargoyle. In the end, the adventurers defeat all their foes, although nearly dying at the hand of gargoyle. Upon slaughtering Sarados, his body disintegrates leaving nothing behind. They find a powerful magic item, Sanguine's Rose, and level-up to level 4 (#LEVEL 4). Shortly after, they hear Jens shouting in the distance that rebels have come to take the life of Sloniz.

Rewards Granted

Sanguine's Rose. 120 GP (Driamzos's tent) Diary of Driamzos

Campaign

The Island of Runaar

Protagonists

Tristan Zabaleta

Level 5 Human Neutral Ranger (Monster Slayer)
(Innkeeper)

/ 38 HP

Nalan

Oswald Fleetfeet

TN halfling(gnome) (cloistered scholar)
wizard 5

26 / 26 HP

STR
8

DEX
15

CON
13

INT
19

WIS
16

CHA
10

Report Date

13 Aug 2020

Primary Location

Shire of Sloniz

Secondary Location

Rhunaar