Session XVIII: Charge!!!!! Report

General Summary

Moving the Frontier

Conquering a Bridge

The adventures fight valiantly against the Black Hand hobgoblins of Azaroth. Balin Thornbow takes a sniping position at the western ramparts, while Nalan rides his warhorse Ioris into battle. Unfortunately, Tristan Zabaleta started to feel ill during the battle and remained in the back riding Fusd to glory. Meanwhile, our wizard Oswald Fleetfeet sneaks from statue to statue to get into mayhem's range.
Unfortunately for Nalan, Ioris is quickly felled by the plethora of hobgoblin arrows, and as he continues on foot he meets a hobgoblin unit he had not encountered before: a Zealot. The Zealot strikes down his mighty sword on Nalan, calling upon the smiting wrath of Beliar dealing critical damage to Nalan. He is able to regain his strength and manages to defeat the Zealot. Alas, the duel left him weakened and he is later downed in the battle. Luckily, Tristan comes to aid with Cure Wounds and he manages to bring Nalan back into the fight.
While Balin keeps the cover fire up, concentrating on the hobgoblin Black Hand, Oswald uses his Flaming Sphere to suppress the enemy forces. It is then that Aard shows his true powers, shouting multiple hobgoblins to pieces with a "Fus Rho Da" shout. The Black Hand brings up a final resistance by resurrecting one of his fallen comrades as a zombie to fight again. The zombie meets its end however by a hidden Glyph of Warding. Although Nalan had been heavily wounded, the Brown Chests amass victorious through the adventurers' helping hand.

Northern bridge of Ban Grond at night

A Trapful Tower

Aard marches his forces to besiege the Council Halls of Ban Grond, while the adventurers take an interest in a large tower close to the Council Hall. Aard grants them a regiment of goblin archers to position on the tower for cover fire. As they hack down the door, Nalan is met with another Glyph of Warding, dealing great damage. The adventurers scale the stairs but not before discovering another Glyph near the end of the staircase. Oswald decides to Misty Step over the glyph, looking for means to spring the trap on the other side. Nalan grows impatient and decides to jump on the Glyph with his shield, hoping it reduces the damage. Unfortunately for him, he's left with little health.
As the adventurers and the goblins position themselves for suppressive fire, Balin notices there is far too little arrow fire coming from the Council Hall, compared to the army he'd suspect there. The adventurers grow suspicious and Nalan decides to contact their kobold comrades. Oswald checks the southern bridge, but only finds the torches there are no longer lit. As Nalan talks to the kobolds about the farm to the south, they tell them something isn't right about the kobold placement in the mines a few days even before the tremor. Nalan doesn't trust one bit of it, and with a successful Constitution Saving Throw, he makes it to Aard in time to call of his charge on the Hall, as the ballista just downed the first gate to the castle bailey. He gives the adventurers a short time to investigate the Temple Quarters and find out what Azaroth is up to.

An Unweary Surprise

The adventurers are met by a few hobgoblins guarding the church. As soon as they realize they are outnumbered, they retreat to the church and barricade the main door. All window entrances have been barred by wood and the adventurers discuss what to do next. One of the bugbears Aard sent along had enough of it, and starts hacking at one of the barricades. Once it has been removed, his face turns pale and he makes of toward Aard. The adventurers hear a growling sound and discover the fate of the missing Black Hand kobolds: they have been turned into undead cannon fodder.
The adventurers decide to take on the zombies and take up stand in a nearby ruin, while a Magic Missile is released into the air upon which a full volley of arrows is launched from the Council Hall.

An overview of the Battle. Marked in Yellow is the aforementioned tower, in red the Church where the Kobold zombies were encountered and in black their stand against the zombies.

Missions/Quests Completed

The adventurers managed to halt Aard's charge on the Council Halls, warning him in time for a possible threat. They now must face a horde of undead, to stop Aard's army from being pinched.

Created Content

The Tower of Ban Grond.

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

28 Jan 2021

Primary Location

Ban Grond

Secondary Location

Temple Quarters