Session XVI: Action in the Night Report

General Summary

The Mansion

Exploring the Mansion

After the battle with the husks, Balin Thornbow and Oswald Fleetfeet decide to scout the room beneath the hatch. After checking the room they encounter a table with experimental records on lyrium exposure and a mortar with 2 g of lyrium shards. In addition, Balin is curious about a painting of Gnel on the wall and decides to check the painting. He discovers a small key which after some fiddling by Oswald is found to fit in a portion of the wall. Upon returning the key to the lock, a hidden stone door opens and reveals an old dwarven room stashed with relics of the past. Among them are three dwarven tablets and a magically charged pickaxe with the word "Direstone" inscribed on it (Direstone (Weapon)). The adventurers gather all loot and return upstairs.
Upstairs however Nalan and Tristan Zabaleta are met by a gathering crowd of goblins asking what is going on. Nalan gives a marvelous speech on how they rid the goblins of Roger and his oppressing band and how they will bring glory to these goblins, if they only join their new faction. The goblins are first very enthusiastic about this proposal, though curious as they are no Chieftains. After a while they start asking about food, as this is one of the duties of a Chieftain. Baffled, Nalan responds they will bring food later and gives them his remaining rations, causing a brief fist fight to erupt. As the crowd starts to dissipate, the adventurers discuss how they can make the goblins stay. To give an idea on the content a quote by Nalan is shown here.

Well I have two reefers we could give, but I hardly think that will win us the war

Nalan 1471 - Island of Rhunaar in Ban Grond

A Disturbed Rest

As the goblins left, the adventurers decided to take a Long Rest in the mansion, with Nalan taking first watch and Tristan taking second. During Tristan's watch however he sees a massive amount of torch lights nearing them from a distance. He wakes his fellow adventurers who have around 15 minutes to prepare. As they come closer Balin recognizes the bugbear with the large white cudgel riding the white Warg: it was Bokun, left hand to Zulk who branded Balin on his leg. Balin decides to hide in the mansion's attic near a window, aiming his readied crossbow on Bokun.
As Bokun approaches Nalan takes the lead in conversing with Bokun, as Bokun asks them to leave the mansion. Nalan responds by telling him how they cleared out the bandit band of Roger and are now entitled to the Mansion. Bokun reluctantly agrees to them holding the mansion but tells them they should surrender their amassed goblin forces as these are bandits by law. He strengthens his words by sharing how it would be a pity to ask the fletchers to replace their lost arrows. The bugbear who surrendered to the adventurers decide to charge Bokun, being beaten to dead by one hit of his giant cudgel. This does give Balin time however to warn their two other goblins inside, Harold and Jurgen, to flee the premises and return tomorrow. The other goblin is dragged by his neck by one of Bokun's accomplices, who bids them good night. The adventurers return to their resting to wake up around 11 in the morning the next day.

Diplomatic yet Treacherous

The adventurers wake to meet up with Aard's contact in one of his bars. Balin and Nalan decide to go while Oswald keeps translating the dwarven tablets and Tristan starts brewing some of his famous liquor. After a bit of small talk with Aard's contact, Balin & Nalan agree to ally themselves with the Brown Chests, proposing they steal the Black Hands' weapons and or food. The Brown Chests agree, though do tell them they won't come to their aid, should the adventurers be caught. They agree on a nice reward after the skirmishes are done, but do not inform the Brown Chests of their true intentions with the stolen goods.
Afterwards, Nalan returns to the Mansion to train Harold & Jurgen in combat, while Balin goes to the smithy in the Craftsmen's Quarters to meet his kobold contact. The kobolds ensure they can smuggle in small portions of weapons if they are left by the farm. They agree the kobolds will begin their uprising as soon as shit hits the fan with the civil war, and the kobolds mention they can sneak away some food on the farms if so desired. The kobold thanks Balin for their help and escorts Balin out with large amounts of smoke.

The Dwarven Tablets

Through the combined efforts of Balin and Oswald, the dwarven tablets found in the mansion were translated to a more readable dwarven dialect.

What a marvelous kingdom Grond has built here, it would make Tethras proud of our craftsmanship. We are lucky enough to have our human allies in Gildin led by the Gundyrs, as we alone may not have managed against the dangers this Island presents. Our magnificence is shown through our many accomplishments among which the great halls of Khazat and the Stormstride palace. The great lightning diverter found at the palace has always helped our marvelous Stormguard in battling the Ors and Mer, though I'd wish they would be less secretive on their methods and tunneling.

We pray to our almighty father Tethras to ward us for the days to come. We pray to his wife Andraste to keep our children safe while we warriors wage our war against the treacherous Dunmer. I do not no when nor how, but soon conflict will erupt and we will require the harsh hammers of our uncle Ares to guide us through the nights. I merely wish my kin to remain safe from harm, but by my axe they will.

I once travelled to the human capital of Gildin to lay my eyes upon the great sights myself. Though not as crafty as us dwarves, I have to admit their architecture has its moments and their library is magnificent. And the Salmon, oh I wish I could bring more home but alas. Were it not for the vile sorcerers corrupting the place, I may could have accustomed to longer- perhaps permanent stays to this delicious city. Whatever malice Thorlok and his mages conjure in their cathedral and the Indolian Battlespire I wish to stay far rid of.

Tablets recorded during the ancient days of Ban Grond - Recovered by The Resourceful Ones from Gnel's Mansion in 1471

The Temple Quarters

The adventurers wait till midnight before venturing from their mansion to the Temple Quarters. They cross Zulk's crossing with little to no effort intimidating the goblin on watch. They split at a ruined building close to the barracks after which Tristan and Balin are made invisible by Oswald. Tristan & Balin sneak to the barracks and scale the walls. They learn of dungeons located below as well as the existence of a mess hall. After around 30 minutes have passed, they still haven't located any weapons or armor, deciding to return to Oswald for another round of spellcasting. On their second visit, they travel up the stairs of the main building to discover the commander's quarters. In the room they find a battle map with Black Hand units occupying the Council Halls. In addition, they spot a sealed coffin as well as a snoring Hobgoblin. They return downstairs and decide to give the dungeons another go as well as the hatch found in the mess hall. Tristan discovers a weapon stashing in Dungeons and reconvenes with Balin. Balin is to burn their supplies, providing them with a distraction to leave the barracks with the weapons. They manage to set fire to the supplies and bring 3 bundles of weapons with them, losing 3 while escaping the premise.

Rewards Granted

• 2 g of Lyrium shards
• 3 dwarven tablets
• Direstone (Weapon)
• 3 bundles of weapons (each holding around 8 weapons)

Missions/Quests Completed

• The adventurers cleared Gnel's Mansion
• The adventurers confronted Bokun in a non too pleasant way
• The adventurers sided with Aard's Brown Chests in Ban Grond's civil war, agreeing to raid the weapons and or food supplies of the Black Hands of Azaroth
• The adventurers successfully regrouped in the Temple Quarters of Ban Grond, taking 3 bundles of weapons with them and lighting a portion of the Black Hands' barracks on fire, as well as most of their food supplies.

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

30 Dec 2020

Primary Location

Ban Grond

Secondary Location

Gnel's Mansion